12 miles... oh my

This past Sunday was my last long run before the race. I met my fundraising goal so I'm excited about that. What I've been trying to do since then is train. I have tried to stick very closely to the plan, making sure I get in 1 speed workout, 1 tempo workout and 1 long run every week. Before the holidays, I was in a nice routine of  3 runs, 2-3 yoga classes and 1 extra cross training day. My runs were going well, I never was sore, and I never felt injured.

Since 2011 has started, it has not been the same. It might have to do with increasing my distance, but I think a lot of it also has to do with my lack of yoga and a little extra daily sugar intake! This past week, I ate a lot of sweets, like I mean,  A LOT OF SWEETS! I am ok with the fact that I did that but maybe it contributed to my poor run on Sunday. I also feel really tight everywhere, especially my hips and butt which causes pain in my sciatic nerve. I feel like an old person saying that, but it really bothers me.

Sunday, I started my last long run with Jeanne at 8:30 on the Swamp Rabbit Trail, right where it goes under that bridge. The beginning was rough, but sometimes it takes me a couple of miles to warm up so I thought, eh, I'm sure it'll get better. But as time went on, it never got better, it almost seemed to get worse. I felt like it took every single ounce of energy I had to run. We had to go from running a 4/1 to a 3/1 because I couldn't muster the energy to run for 4 minutes. I told Jeanne, this is not going well, I'm having a really hard time. I will say this, the thought came into my mind that I could just turn around because I don't think I can do this run. I knew better than to say that though because Jeanne wouldn't let me. I just kept pushing and Jeanne talked me through... all the way to mile 12. It was tough, it never got better, but I'm glad I did it and I'm glad it's over!

I tried to analzye all of the things that went wrong and what could've possibly contributed to such a bad run. I know that I ate a lot of sugar, I didn't get good rest friday night, i haven't been stretching properly, blah blah. It really could be anything or a combination of anything. I do know that sometimes, you just have a bad run. But as many people tell me (Holly and Jeanne), those runs make you stronger. So i'm just chalking it up for what it is, sucky run, still did it, did it in a good amount of time, so I'm ready for New Orleans.

Now I'm trying to do what I can to prepare. I'm doing easy workouts to keep me loose, I'm making sure to stretch and take yoga. I'm going to Southern Om tonight for the Southern 26 class... it's 105 degrees, that should be hot enough to loosen my muscles, and i'm trying to eat better. I actually eat fairly healthy, but I can over do it on the sweets, so I'm backing off for the next couple of weeks. There was a time when the thought of not eating sweets sent me into a panic, but because I know it'll help my run, it's not quite as difficult.

I have a couple of different goals for this race. One was to raise enough money which I did, so I can check that off. ($1800). Another is to finish the race with no pain. Last year, I couldn't walk after the race, this year, I would like to walk. I haven't had near the pain I had the year before, so I feel like it could happen. The last goal I have is to keep a 10 minute pace. If I do that, I will finish in 2 hours and 12 minutes. Now, I have not done that once in all of my training, so we'll see how it goes, but it's ok to have a difficult goal! I will report back in a couple of weeks.