Not quite on schedule

Having a rough week keeping to what Hal thinks I should be doing. It is unfortunate that school interferes with my real life!

No matter how badly I want to run, it is school time and that is where my priorities must lay. If I can't be done with my run by 7 am, then it has to wait.

Monday was 3 miles. I usually do these on the treadmill with a 6% slope. I'm very slow, walking much of the way. There is a run in Savannah in early December over the bridge to SC. You can do either the 5k (once over the bridge), the 10k (twice over the bridge) or the double pump (both races). The bridge has a 5 - 6% slope. I believe the uphill is a full mile (including the road leading to the bridge). Since this bridge is the only "hill" in Savannah, I use the treadmill to help me train.

It just didn't happen yesterday morning.

But I lucked out and was able to take Billy to soccer practice all by myself. The road around this park is over a mile long, plus there is a lake with a loop that seems to be just over a half mile. I think my overall distance was just shy of 3 miles. No hills to speak of, but at least I got it done.

I also did pushups and situps on the edge of the soccer field. It amuses me to imagine what the other soccer moms must think of me. One kid, all she does is work out, must be one of the beautiful people. Yeah...

Today was 4 miles. I didn't want to go this morning, since I only just ran the night before. It wasn't until I dropped 4 kids off at piano, put the sleeping tot on the couch and set Petey up on Nick Jr dot com that I could go on. I thought I'd have just enough time to do the distance before my friend Laurie would stop by with my kids and some of hers, and stay with them while I ran to the store and then picked her kids up from piano.

I made it to 2.68 before she called and said her kids would only do a half hour, not an hour, since one was sick. Run...or grocery store with no kids...?

I got off, promising myself I would finish that last 1.32 miles later. It's 10 pm. Not going to happen. Laurie called at 730 pm and the sick kid needed urgent care. I'm typing this out on her computer while her kids sleep and she's checking her watch for the gazillionth time in the ER.

Oh, well, what can you do?

I think it's a 35 minute tempo run tomorrow. A slow buildup to race speed. It's also a school day. We're actually mostly on schedule for that. But it's only week 3. Hopefully we'll manage to stay somewhat on track for that...and hopefully, I will manage to get back on track with my running.

Almost beat a real runner!!

This AM went for a run. Old Hal says I should have done five miles.  About .5 miles into the run I notice a woman who is an Active Duty COL.  She lives down the street and is super fit.  She was kicking my ass.  I reasoned with myself that she has been running longer, blah, blah, blah...

She turned right, I turned left.  A couple of miles later I fell in behind her at the bottom of the long hill home.  I was supposed to run a long loop through a housing area at the top of the hill prior to going home.  I decided to pour it on going up the hill and see if I couldn't at least close the gap between us.

I did! I did!  I came fairly close to getting even with her and was willing to keep chasing this poor woman who was just trying to get home but I would have had to sacrifice yet another loop and thus shorten my run even more.

So I decided that competition can only do so much for motivation before it serves to undermine my entire training program! :)  I probably ran a little over four but definitely tried harder than I would have otherwise.  Wonder when she runs again?

more running, more blogging

Have you noticed that the closer we get to race day the more we blog about the running we are doing?
I am going to think about that while I lay in a nice, comfy, warm bed for a short, brief, lulling interlude.

Early mornings?

Note to self: getting up to run prior to husband's departure at 5:30 am is NOT worth the pain of the rest of the day that then follows on too little sleep.
Note to self: taking nap on antique couch which sits atop needlepoint rug results in two year old announcing, frantically,"PEE!!!" while standing in front of napper.
Note to self: figure out how to clean needlepoint rug.

Goal Work

In the Screwtape Letters, Uncle Screwtape wisely advises his nephew Wormwood that an easy way to distract humans from a goal is either to encourage them to live in the past or focus solely on the future. A backward looking person forgets to assess where he is today to see what more needs to be accomplished. And a forward looking person is discouraged by feeling like he must accomplish all future events right now.

This morning Cecilia ran my 1st loop with me, and I smiled to realize that the vivid days on which I desperately begged God to help me get up that hill are behind me. But already in my head I was dreading the 2nd and 3rd times up the hill today. The sun was higher and I was going to be more tired and what about tomorrow when I add 5 minutes to my run and thus a dreaded 4th loop?? I nearly let myself walk just picturing it.

Then Uncle Screwtape popped into my head, and I knew it was a trick. My moment of discouragement was happening while I ran downhill, not up. I decided instead to think about my goals for the race. I looked back and saw that I can run up a hill, but I won't stop to rest on my laurels. Today I need improvement. I headed out 2 hours later than I wanted...but I went. And real world conditions will work in my favor on race day. My goals for October...?

10 miles scares me. It scares me because I know that if I had to run it today, I couldn't. And every training run between now and race day means more work. I see them all layered on top of each other, an enormous mountain for me to run.

Deep breath. A short term goal would be more helpful than a race day strategy. How about I look forward to being able to run a full 30min--about 3 miles--four times this week? How about I happily notice that this is the last week of my pre-running training plan? How about I decide that today's worries are enough for today?

Follow directions!

I keep thinking that part of the benefit of training for the ATM is that it shows my kids how to reach a goal.  That incremental progress is good and that self discipline will ensure that progress continues.  I haven't really thought of it in terms of other life skills.
We talk about following directions nearly every day.  Sometimes yelling more than talking actually.
I ran six miles.  Well, most of six miles.  Walked some but NOT MUCH!
Kids were with me on bikes.  I don't think they realized that six miles isn't just around the block.  We mapped out the course last night on www.walkjogrun.net.  I reviewed the streets with them before we logged off.  Went over it again this morning before we left the driveway the first time.  The second time was when we came back to trade bikes because Eva's bike has no brakes. Maybe I should spend more time with them while they ride to evaluate their bicycles' performance??
We got through the first part of the course, the complicated part in my mind, and when I asked, "What is the next street?" neither one could tell me.  Voice in my head that tells me my kids would be okay if they were left / abandoned / lost / kidnapped and had to find their way home alone...that voice lies.
This went on for a couple of turns.  At the half way point they turned onto 3rd Street and waited for their old, slow Mother to arrive. Mother arrived and continued right past them to 1st Street.  They protested all the way from 3rd to 1st that they, "Didn't know! I thought it was the last turn!"
We arrived home...okay, Joseph arrived home and waited for Eva who was flagging at the end.  They waited for me on the front porch yelling down the street for me to hurry up.  I was walking.  Joseph informed me that it had been one hour and thirteen minutes and he wasn't going to stop the timer on his watch until I got to the driveway. "Okay", I said,"but the finish was back at the mailboxes [about 400 yds back]. Remember? On the map last night?"
"Oh." Joseph's shoulders fell and he looked despondent.  He was so sure he was timing me accurately.
I may make them go with me every Saturday just so we can practice following directions.

Hard core runner or nice mom?

I feel like I am constantly having a running identity crisis. The other day I convinced myself that I was a hard core runner because I was choosing to run outside at 2:30 in the afternoon (as opposed to getting up early). Several mental pep talks later, all on the subject of how hard core I am, how I eat nails for breakfast, how real runners fear not time of day...blah blah....., I laced up my NEW running shoes and looked up to find that Thomas was preparing to tag along.

Moral dilemma: Should I be a hard core runner and suffer alone in the high humidity and heat or should I be a nice mom and let him suffer with me?

I chose nice mom. And I chose it again when he bagged the 3rd lap and Cecilia asked to run it (can you read my eyes rolling?) with me.

The payoff for that painful run came this morning when I ran 25 min straight for the first time and didn't even notice that I ran up the hill that was killing me last week!

Go me!

Today I ran for 15 min and walked 5 x2. And I got up at 5:45!

Bad running day, may as well blog

Things have been going great guns with running.  I had my bike tuned up and new tires put on and have been riding.  What joy!!  Next on the list is swimming laps.  Haven't gotten there yet.  Sunday I ran for 1 hour continuously.  A red letter day!  Not sure how far that run was, honestly, but I am fairly certain it was over 5 miles.

I have also been doing the FLY Lady program in our house (more or less) with some noticeable improvements.  All in all, things are going well.

Then, WHAM!  This AM I had a headache while running.  Made it all of .5 miles and decided I needed to walk home.  Not exactly the runners' high I was hoping for to start off the day.

On the brighter side I get my hair cut today and have two days left before I can start seeing all the people who will be dragging me through the streets of DC in October.

Hal Hidgon with kids is the new, unimproved training plan.  Tylenol for headaches is the new drug of choice.

My training plan

No Hal Higdon or Runner's World's "New New Best 10 Miler Ever!" training plans for me. I'm using the Non Runners' Marathon Trainer. Unfortunately, because of the miscarriage I'm having to start late. But I will be prepared...1 week after the race.