Speed push and 16.5 miles!!!

Wow, okay, lots of running action in the past few days.

Thursday: Speed push. I wanted to see how fast I could go so I switched to 2 min running, 1 min walking intervals and then upped my speed to 5.0 running, 4.0 walking for 2 miles. It was HARD!!! But I pushed to 12:32 minute miles (including the walking) which is pretty amazing for me. Yay for 2 min per mile improvement!

16.5 mile run today: It was humid as hell. We were dripping with sweat within an hour. The first 12 miles was easy. I held up very strong and was shocked at how long I could go without getting tired. Then once we started mile 13, I started getting tired and on mile 14, I got serious calluses on 4 of my toes. This was VERY painful so the last 3 miles was pretty much hell. What's funny is that it wasn't because of fatigue-it was because of the pain from my feet. I'm still limpin' pretty good and am trying to stay off my feet. I got a good tip to put vaseline on my toes for next time so I will try that and see if it makes a difference.

My nutrition was really great this week and I got in 25.5 miles total this week...WOW!!!! By far the most I have EVER gotten in in one week. I'm hoping for a great loss. We shall see!

I've made some decisions about my spring training season. I've decided not to push too hard. Every year I will do the White Rock full marathon with Galloway but I'm thinking this spring I'm just going to do 2 half marathons. The training for that isn't too bad and will feel short compared to what I'm doing now. I'm choosing to do:

Cowtown Half Marathon in Ft Worth-February 27th, 2011
http://www.cowtownmarathon.org/

and

Big D Half Marathon in Dallas-April 10th, 2011
http://www.texasmarathon.com/

ANYONE WITH ME????
I'm really excited about these 2 races because I will strictly be working on speed. I really want to beat my previous time and I'm excited about just having only 13 miles to train for. Will be nice...

That's all I have for now! I will update on the weigh-in on Monday! :0)

Oh yeah!!

Tonight was awesomeness. Yes, I said that. I got to have a much deserved dinner with Christina and then we hit the gym! Today was a time breaker for me! Remember when I said that my focus was going to be speed? Well I bumped my speed up tremendously and figured I wouldn't make it or at least it would kill me...NOPE! I did AWESOME!!! I was really surprised at what I could do. Even at my most in shape before, I would take 47-48 min to run 3 miles. TODAY-39:59!!!!! OMG I could not believe that I did that. I was running 12:00 miles!!!!! (The walks were 15:00 pace and that's how I ended up with that final number...remember I'm walk/run training) And the best part...it wasn't that hard. I am hitting a new level in my running and I am SO. INCREDIBLY. PUMPED!!!! I still remember when running 4.0 speed killed me. Now I'm running 5.0 and am fine. I love it!!! Looks like my training and awesome nutrition is really paying off.

And I HAVE to say...Christina kicked ASS tonight! I was pretty shocked at how strong she held up...WAY more than me when I started. I have a feeling we have a finish line in our future :0)

Jeana is also doing well. We are e-mailing eachother our daily food intake and it's really helping. It's fun doing it with peeps...Jeana, my mom and Christina are pretty much my support system in this process.

So yeah, I'm pretty much on cloud 9 about my new found strength. I weighed in yesterday for my first hardcore week's weight loss! 4.9 lbs lost!!!! I was so proud of that number. I earned it!

I feel great. Strong, healthy and ready for Saturday's 16 mile course from hell! BRING IT!!!

Gettin' my run on!

I am so pumped about tomorrow's run! I found an amazing new course that I'm dying to try...it's in a nature preserve right by my apartment complex. I've planned to complete 3 miles tomorrow but I think I'm going to make it a free spirit kind of run: just go until I feel like finishing. It will also be my first run with my Garmin, I am oh-so-pumped!!!! It feels so great to be motivated again and I know it's time that I will strive to reach new limits!

I'm currently reading "Chicken Soup for the Soul-Runners" ...AMAZING book! So inspiring. Here are my two favorite quotes from today's reading:

"Find your edge, then take one step beyond it." ~Dean Karnazes

This is so true. I remember when I first decided to train for a half-marathon...I just made up my mind. I knew it would be hard, but I also knew I could do it. Once I completed my first 11 miles, I knew I could do 13. It's truly amazing what you can do when you are determined...

"I've learned that finishing a marathon isn't just an athletic achievement. It's a state of mind; a state of mind that says anything is possible." ~John Hanc

I love this quote. He's right, it's so much more. The hard work along the way means so much more. And when it all comes down to one moment...when you think you cannot go on another second, until you see THE finish line, and all the sudden you can conquer the world...no words for that kind of feeling. The accomplishment, the success...nothing can touch you when you are in that state of mind. The strength developed during this proccess has changed my life.

I still haven't quite wrapped my mind around 26 miles just yet, but I'm slowly getting there. I saw the course for the 26.2 miles for the White Rock Marathon I will be running in December. I freaked. The map is freakin' huge because it covers so much distance. AND...it has allllll this mileage, and then off to the side is a little White Rock Lake, which we run around completely. That lake is HUGE and 9 freakin' miles long and it's a very small part of the course!! That's when it really hit home. This challenge is a beast. But I've learned-the harder you work, the better the high when you finish...and I cannot even imagine how amazing that finish is going to be. 3 more months-let's see what I can do!

5 Mile Breakfast Bash!

This morning, we completed the DRC 5 mile Breakfast Bash. It was greatness! The course was super-short and the weather was gorgeous. Unfortunately, I woke up this morning with a sore throat and not feeling great and it's confirmed, I'm getting sick. But, I knew I had to finish the race first. I ended up running with Carrie, our pace group leader and we held strong the entire time with a record pace time of 2 minutes faster than normal. Amazing what the change in weather can do.

I'm pretty excited about this new found focus. I know I am finally on my way to slimming down again and creating new milestones. This next Saturday we are running a 16 mile course. We're definitely getting into the intense part of training...bring it! I am going to do everything right to prepare for this. Today, I bought a running/food journal that I feel fits best for me....this is great for accountability and monitoring progress. In addition to this, I bought a Chicken Soup For The Runner's Soul book that will help me remember how great finishing feels.

And I have officially become part of the cool club. I became a member of the Dallas Running Club and I bought a Garmin! The Garmin watch keeps track of time, distance, heart rate, pace, and intervals. It also saves your runs to upload to a computer to view your progress for analysis. I'm pretty stinkin' excited about my new toy and it's the best gift I could have given myself. With this, I will have a clear focus on setting new goals.

This week, I am going to focus on speed. If I could go a faster pace today, I can go a faster pace always, and I need to start striving for that. I'm going to sit on my couch feeling sicky for a couple days, then hopefully will be good to go by Monday night.

Oh and for those of who you are in need of some inspiration....watch this video.(About an hour in length)...

http://www.hulu.com/watch/52585/ford-ironman-world-championship-2008-ironman-world-championships

It is of the 2008 Ironman World Championships. Just a reminder of the length of an Ironman:
2.4 miles of swimming
112 miles on a bike
26.2 miles running-Full Marathon

That is INSANE!!!! But if anything, it just shows what the body is capable of...even if it's nuts! Can you imagine the feeling of that finish? Oh man, no words...If this doesn't inspire you, nothing will.

Today was good for me. I have all the tools set in place to be successful and I'm ready to push hard and set another milestone on Saturday!

A great week and some changes...

I'm finally having some time to get my blog on. I've had a GREAT week! I made some changes. If I eat a little bit of crap (35 flex pts)... then I end up eating way too much of it and I can't break the cycle. Because of this, I've decided to go back to my original nutrition plan: VERY little white foods..switch to whole grain/wheat carbs, natural sugars, tons of protein and absolutely NO CHEATING!...I've done perfect nutrition this week and the cravings have FINALLY gone away. On Monday I ran 3 miles, Tuesday-2 miles and tonight-2 miles. I wanted to do more but it's been a busy week and I've worked late a lot. However, I do feel that I'm fully prepared for Saturday's race.

Saturday we are running the DRC (Dallas Running Club) 5 mile Breakfast Bash. We run a 5 mile course and then they provide breakfast. I'm pretty excited about such a short course and even more excited about the cooler weather. For breakfast, I've heard they have unhealthy food but good choices too, so I will only eat the good stuff. I'm sure that will be a tough temptation because after races you're so tired and are tempted to think "Well, I just ran 5 miles, what would it hurt?" Nope, it always hurts.

Anyway, I'm feeling MUCH better about things and I feel great to finally have some focus. I'm really excited about Monday's weigh-in. I will be happy with a 2.5lb loss or more. Cross your fingers!!! :0)