Race Week

It's finally here. Everything I've been talking about and building up to for the last, I have no idea how many months. I've raised my money, I've run over 9 miles at least times, but I think more like 4. I've trained and followed the program to the tee... minus a week of snow... so I am hoping that i'm ready.

My goal time is 2 hours and 15 minutes
I hope I can AT LEAST finish in 2:20 if I can't hit my time. I haven't finished with a 10 min mile yet, but you never know how you'll feel on race day. My last post, I talked about how my 12 miles was hard, i was hurting, and i didn't have any energy. I took a look at the week before and saw a lot of things I did wrong in order to prepare. So this week, I'm have a goal to hit each day.

1) eat healthy... I eat pretty healthy anyways, mainly lean protein and lots of veggies but I tend to go a little overboard on the sweets. That week, I REALLY went overboard. Like, I ate a couple of desserts a day. That ranged anywhere from a snickers bar to brownies to cake, I mean, I was all out. So this week, I am trying to reel that in a little. I did eat some cookies last night, and those little mini candy bar things... so day one, i didn't hit my first goal, haha. But I still have 5 more days and so far, I'm on track for Tuesday!

2) Drink PLENTY of water. The week before the 12 mile run, I did NOT drink water the way I should have, especially towards the end of the week. It's so hard for me to remember to drink, especially in the cold. I'm trying to remember to drink at least 2 of my cups (the one I have at my desk which is probably about 30 oz) at work, and then drink 1 liter before I go to bed. I think I was a little slack on the water during the day, but I for sure drank a liter before bed last night. I made myself do it and then my tummy was really full when I went to bed, but I got it in!!

3) The Stick

The stick is my friend. I am going to use this on my legs every night before I go to bed. Last night was the first night and I did it, I am so very proud! I rolled each part of my leg for 30 seconds, or really, me counting to 30-who knows how accurate that is time wise, it's basically 30 back and forth rolls with the stick. I even did the sides of my butt, haha, trying to get my piriformus tendon. That's really kind of hard to do, so I got my husband to rub my butt too. What I really need is one of those foam rollers. I think they're better for that kind of stuff. Maybe they'll have one at the Expo!!!

I'm also going to the chiropractor (visit Dr Rob at the Joint at McBee Station downtown - he is awesome and he works out, so that somehow makes him more of an expert to me!!). Whenever my sciatic nerve is bothering me, going to the chiro helps.

4) The last thing is I'm going to yoga. Yoga helps me stay flexible and helps me not get injured. So I'm trying to go every day. On http://www.livingsocial.com/, I bought a month of unlimited yoga from 90 degree yoga for $30. It's nice to be able to go anytime I want, and the heat helps me loosen up more than if I just too yoga at the Y. My calves stay amazingly loose.

5) I guess I said the last thing above, but that wasn't the last thing. The OTHER last thing is that I'm doing some easy jogging. I am running in the morning, just an easy pace for about 45 minutes. I'll probably do that again either friday afternoon or saturday morning and that just keeps my legs, again, loose. The week before my 12 mile run, I did not run at all and I think it was a shock to my system, ha. My legs were tight and they were aching and that's usually what happens when I don't run.

So, I am hoping that sunday morning, I'll get up, have my usual pre race meal, get to the start line, run the race, feel strong, be happy, be able to walk when I'm done and have a new PR. I'll let y'all know how it goes!!

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.