I'm so excited

I can hardly contain myself. Chris comes home tomorrow. The last week always goes by so slow and I never have any motivation for anything because I am so giddy. I can't concentrate on school right now when my hubby will be home in less than 48 hours, c'mon. So, I will reluctantly go to school today and try not to think about so the time doesn't drag on any slower that it already does when I am sitting in classes. On a fitness note, I think I finally fully recovered from my 20 miler (ok, 18.2 miler). I had this weird dull pain behind my left knee kind of where my hamstring ends. I spent a couple of days icing it and it seems to be better. I have 8 more days until I have to go long again (22 miles).

20 miler, check...

Well, ok not quite. I didn't make it to 20 miles. Official Garmin mileage: 18.9 I think I hit 'the wall.' I did everything the same as my 18 mile week. No weights at the gym, took it easy Tuesday night at speed training, ate french toast Thursday night, pasta Friday night. What happened? It felt like my 16 miler, but waaay worse. Everything was going great starting out. I felt strong until around mile 14, then I started fading. Diana was doing everything she could to keep my mind of the pain that started creeping into my feet. Then they started into my calves. By mile 17 I was hurting...in a bad way. I managed to push through until 18.9, but I don't really know how I did that. I really wanted to go 20, but my body just gave up on me. I tried something new and I don't think my body responded very well to it. I ate Jolly Ranchers instead of gels. I think I will go back to the gels for my 22 miler in a couple of weeks. I am really freaked out about the marathon now. I was feeling so good from my 18 miler. I don't know what happened. I am feeling better after a swim and some good stretching today. Oh yeah, and the millions of times I iced my poor pathetic legs Saturday and Sunday. I am going to focus on how good I felt after my 18 miler and take that into my 22 mile run.

Holy Crap

Holy Crap, this has been a crazy week. School has been killing me. Tuesday I hit a low, big time. Thankfully I go to speed training on Tuesday nights with my running group. I felt much better afterwards. I think I had one of my miniature nervous breakdowns. I have to stop having those.

Things I am completely over right now:

1. Deadlines
2. Exams
3. College kids who think they know everything about the world, even though they are still being supported by mommy and daddy

I was reading a blog the other day ( still have to learn how to insert hyperlinks into my blog so you would be able to see what I am talking about) and she was talking about that Steven Covey book, 7 Habits...I remember reading that book about 7 or 8 years ago and she brought up the quadrant living concept. I didn't think much of it until I was swimming yesterday morning and I was concentrating on "quadrant swimming" and the light bulb went off. I totally remembered quadrant living. Here it is in a nutshell:

You life events can be separated into 4 categories:

1. Urgent/Important - daily things you do like feed your kids, eat, pay bills, etc.
2. Not Urgent/Important - these are things that enrich your life - reading a good book, talking a walk, going on a jog, chatting with an old friend, exercising, trying new things, visiting family, etc.
3. Urgent/Not Important - returning emails, answering phone calls, work dinners, stupid commitments, demands being made on you that you that have no real value, etc.
4. Not Urgent/Not Important - who really cares?

So, more of 2; less of 3.

Piece of Cake

So, last weekend I accomplished something I've never done before, an 18 mile run. Previous to that, the longest I had run was 16 miles (accidentally while training for a half). My good friend, Diana - who is training for Boston and humoring me by running with me for her base training, sent me the link from her Garmin and I freakin rocked it! 21 second pace faster than my 16 mile week. Holy crap. How the f did I do that? My 16 miler was absolutely horrible. I was in so much pain at the end, I didn't know if I should laugh or cry. No matter what I did; stretch, sit, stand...I hurt. I felt like my calves were going to seize up on me at any moment. Eventually of course, it went away. But none the less, I was really worried about my 18 miler and expected the worst. I was driving down to Portland to see my hubby for the weekend so I wasn't able to run with my Saturday morning group. Fortunately, Diana was there to save the day and offered to run with me Friday. Her being the veteran and myself, the newbie, she picked the course. Now, I'm sure you have all heard about the terrain in the pacific northwest. It is very hilly. Very hilly. But in the town of Gig Harbor, it is mountainous. Ok, not really but you literally can't run a mile without a change in elevation. And most of these are not just small hills, but significant climbs. Oyvay. We ran a gorgeous course will beautiful country roads, surrounded by leaves falling breathtaking colors. We ran for almost 31/2 hours in which time we managed to reorganize the IRS, banking system, and our political process. Now, if only we could figure out a way to become elected officials, without having to run for office...... Elevation Gain/Loss: 5,382 ft / 5,373 ft. So, Seattle should seem like a piece of cake right. Everything that I have read about marathon training tells me not to pick a time goal, just make my goal to finish. But all the runners I know always ask, what is your time. So, I have picked a time. 41/2 hours. I think that's reasonable. This morning I have an 8 miler on the schedule. Another piece of cake. I am really loving my long run schedule. 14, 8, 12, 8, 16, 8, 18, 8, 20, 8, 22, taper...

Get over it

So, yesterday was a horrible day. I actually failed an accounting test. Accounting people. That's my major, what the hell? The good news is, I think most people failed it (if you can even call that good news). The teacher wont curve anything until the end of the semester. What? So, a huge blow to the ego for our whole class. I feel like I picked the wrong major or something. So, instead of coming home and studying accounting, I did what any rational person would do: I bought a bottle of wine, sulked on the couch, and caught up on my recorded tv shows. (Hey, its up to almost 70% full). So, I was watching the new episode of Little People Big World, and I ended up balling my eyes out because Matt Roloff went to Iraq to visit a family who had three dwarf children. They were the happiest and most loving children I have ever seen. The whole television show really put things in perspective. I am sitting here bitching about failing one miserable test while across the world there is a family who is just trying to survive in a war torn country while dealing with potentially deadly forms of dwarfism. One of the little girls couldn't even walk. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our lives that we actually start to think the world really does revolve around us. Time to loosen the reins a little. Enough sulking. Time to be proactive and do something about this pesky little situation I have. After all, it could be much worse. Instead of moping I am determined to think of only things that I am thankful for today.

In the beginning...

In the beginning there was a girl, who thought marathon runners were crazy. Actually all runners were crazy. Run for fun. That's an oxymoron. Are you mental? But, somewhere along the way I have succumbed to the madness and have begun training for my own marathon. Seattle Marathon. This blog will record all my joys, pains, and accomplishments. I have run several races in the past, completed a couple of psycho xterra triathlons, and practically live in the gym, but there is something gravitational toward completing a marathon. I am already half way through the plan (middle of week 14) and so far so good. The longest run I have completed is 18 miles as of last weekend. So, whats on the agenda for tonight: Track Workout

1 x 3 mile @ PR pace

1 x 3 mile 15 sec. faster than PR.