I ran this morning. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I run almost every morning. But this morning I ran outside. Not the most brilliant of ideas I've had in a while. It's about 90 degrees out there right now at 8:00 am! With an added bonus of 85% humidity. Not the most ideal running conditions.
I had to do something today. The YMCA and it's air conditioned, low humidity lovliness was not an option today. So there was no other choice but to run outside. The first mile and a half went okay. I only thought about keeling over every few minutes or so. It was the last mile that liked to have killed me. That last mile had me running headlong into the wind and the blazing sun. I was outside a grand total of 28 minutes and I already had a funky tan line within the first ten.
The half-marathon will be ran in September. Last year's race (I only did the 5k) was a sunny, cool, still 55 degrees at the start and barely changed in my 28 minutes & 45 seconds. (Side note, I lost 3rd place in my age division by that 45 seconds. Bummer). My hope for this year is the same temperatures, and a completion in less than 3 hours.
3 hours is a long time to be running. I get scared everytime I think about it. I am fully confidant that my body will make it. I might collapse at the finish and battle a a few pains here and there along the way. It's my brain that is standing in my way. It did it to me today too. There was a brief internal debate on whether or nor I should even run today. Dedication won that fight. Then the whole time I'm out there, Brains is screaming "It Hurts! It Hurts! Stop running dumb ass it's too hot!"
How am I supposed to re-program the noggin to scream words of encouragement while I'm out there? I also have a habit of getting bored about half way into my run. So not only is my brain trying to tell me that I'm in pain, it's also telling me there's other things I could be doing like watching tv. So my new little side challenge is to get myself to think positive and keep myself entertained while running. If I can manage to run at least every 5 days, work on staying positive and entertaining, I think I might have enough adrenaline & endorphins in me to finish 13.1 miles.
It's a tall order (especially for me), but I think I can! ;)
Monday, July 11, 2011
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Nutrition?
I'm still here, and I am still currently trying to run at least 3miles a day for 5 days a week. It's a start and it's still hard to do. Do you know what else is hard? Eating right.
I am in no way saying my parents did a lousy job of teaching me to eat healthily. They did a fine job. I grew up with the food pyramid, breakfast cereal, and a hot, balanced dinner lovingly prepared by mom served everynight at the same time. My mom would allow soda and snacks, but she would not allow my brother and me to wash down the whole box of Swiss Cake Rolls with a whole 12 pack of Pepsi either. She instilled in us a sense of "it's fine, IN MODERATION." I was also pretty active growing up, so eating was merely fuel. Honestly, who wants to stop diving for rings or riding your bike on every street in town just to eat? It was only done unless you had no legs to get your butt to the top of the water tower hill.
As I've grown "Food for Fuel" has evolved into "I exercise to eat". I don't count calories or fat grams. I eat pretty much whatever I want, when I want and I exercise to be able to do just that. I've managed to maintain the exact same weight for over 3 years with only averaging 3 miles of running at least 5 days a week. Now that I am faced with 13.1 leg cramping miles at once, will I be able to do that without changing my diet at all?
I feel like I have the same level of energy while running if I've eaten fruit for breakfast or if I've had one of the kids' brownie snacks. I am well aware that the fruit sugars are way better for me than the refined sugars of the brownie. Both are enjoyable and both will give me heartburn, so why change?
Well, I am so freakin' nervous about this half-marathon that is in 83 days that I don't think I will change much. Why stress myself out more? I do intend to give myself every possible chance of completing this thing in under 3 hours and without puking at the finish line.
I am in no way saying my parents did a lousy job of teaching me to eat healthily. They did a fine job. I grew up with the food pyramid, breakfast cereal, and a hot, balanced dinner lovingly prepared by mom served everynight at the same time. My mom would allow soda and snacks, but she would not allow my brother and me to wash down the whole box of Swiss Cake Rolls with a whole 12 pack of Pepsi either. She instilled in us a sense of "it's fine, IN MODERATION." I was also pretty active growing up, so eating was merely fuel. Honestly, who wants to stop diving for rings or riding your bike on every street in town just to eat? It was only done unless you had no legs to get your butt to the top of the water tower hill.
As I've grown "Food for Fuel" has evolved into "I exercise to eat". I don't count calories or fat grams. I eat pretty much whatever I want, when I want and I exercise to be able to do just that. I've managed to maintain the exact same weight for over 3 years with only averaging 3 miles of running at least 5 days a week. Now that I am faced with 13.1 leg cramping miles at once, will I be able to do that without changing my diet at all?
I feel like I have the same level of energy while running if I've eaten fruit for breakfast or if I've had one of the kids' brownie snacks. I am well aware that the fruit sugars are way better for me than the refined sugars of the brownie. Both are enjoyable and both will give me heartburn, so why change?
Well, I am so freakin' nervous about this half-marathon that is in 83 days that I don't think I will change much. Why stress myself out more? I do intend to give myself every possible chance of completing this thing in under 3 hours and without puking at the finish line.
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