New Year, Fun Training, let the good times roll!

So how 'bout that blog?

Truth time:  I took some time off from blogging.  Honestly, my training has been pretty chill and my schedule has been pretty anti-chill (ie the usual crazy).  As much as I've enjoyed the 'run and exercise as you feel' philosophy I'm really excited to start up training (and blogging!) regularly again.  I'm still working to finalize my races for this spring, but despite my crazy indecisiveness and inability to make a decision, I have decided to embark on a training plan this Monday.  I just really feel like I need some guidance and structure to my training in order to feel like I am making some serious gains in fitness.  Plus, I have alot of new ideas and a new outlook on my training and I honestly can't wait to get started.

Ok, now is the time when I get all philosophical.  The thing is, I've done alot of thinking and reflecting on my Chicago experience and my racing in the last year or two in general.  And for a time, I considered 'giving up.'  Not in the sense of stopping running or exercising or anything, but in the sense of being in my mind a 'legit' runner.  Chasing PRs.  Structuring training to work toward something that means so much to me.  I felt like it has been so long since my running has been good that maybe I'm too late or too old or too whatever to hit my goals.  But the thing is, I'm not.  Plain and simple.  I'm not ready to stop working toward my 1/2 and marathon PRs.  I'm not ready to stop training like crazy as my 'third job'.  If anything, I am more positive and more hungry for the good things to come.  I have to work harder and smarter and with more focus.  I have to retrain my mind to overcome the mental barriers that have previously sabatoged my training and racing.  Although my recent racing history reads like a bunch of 'failures' it really is just a bunch of learning experiences that will take me into being a stronger and smarter runner.  I am so physched to see where I can go from here!

It is New Years and all.  And I do have goals for 2011 in running and life.  But for now, I will just leave it at what I said.  I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday season and are ready to tackle the new year head on!  Check back as blogging will now resume and I hope to have more specific training and racing plans laid out tomorrow!

Thanksgiving and other things

Good day blog world!

Amazingly, I am blogging only a few days after my last blog!  Yay!  Even more exciting, I am up north, which has been lovely.  We all arrived Wednesday night and had a great Thanksgiving full of my favorite things- running with both of my parents in the morning, lots of cooking, a NAP! :), wearing sweatpants the whole day, and of course EATING.  Yes, it was lovely.

Today, the weather is crazy cold/windy so I went out for a short run with my mom.  Currently, we are all sitting around debating going into town for some shopping or something.  Personally, I'm going alittle stir crazy at this point, but my family seems immune caring about being in the house this long.  I am starting to go alittle nuts, as I am incapable of sitting around all day!  If we don't get going soon, I may just hijack our truck and bounce!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! :)

Apparently I stink at Blogging....

So yeah, where did life go?  My life is so crazy busy it seems, plus I have like no set schedule with anything so I've gotten out of the blogging habit!  Hopefully, I can get back into it!

Soo...what's been going on?

Work, work, work.  I will spare y'all, because if you are a reader, you know I already whine about that enough!  So what do you do when working sucks away your life/blogging time?  Blog from work!  Currently my 7th graders are working on a paper so I took this opportunity to sit in the back of the class and blog..lol.  Teachers are human too!  I'm currently on day 9 of work in a row, with one more day to go before I get 4 WHOLE DAYS off from both jobs!  I did an extra market on Sunday (my normal 'weekend') and therefore, headed right back into this short week with no break.  Needless to say, I'm SO READY for thanksgiving!  Tomorrow will be a super long day; bakery morning, teaching until 2:30pm (seriously, who does that?) then driving home to my parents, dumping all the food that I bought for thanksgiving at the market into their car along with my stuff, and leaving for up north packed into the car!  4-5 hours later, we will get there...hopefully.  My sis and bro in law will be meeting us tomorrow night too.  I. Am. So. Pumped.  I picked up a 20lb. turkey from a farmer at the market that sells in the booth next to us.  20lbs of turkey, 5 of my family.  Yeah, there will be alot of leftovers!  But, I'm totally OK with that.  Mmmm, turkey.  My sis and I actually have a really good menu planned of mostly in-season, local foods.  I repeat- I. Am. So. Pumped.  4 days of food, family, and no work.  Yess indeedy.

So running.  Yeah.  It's been...going.  I actually got in a few quality swims in the last week, plus core work.  It feels great to be in the pool.  Last Tuesday was the light fest run, that I mentioned.  It was freezing rain, but alot of fun!  Two people from my running club and I ran together and had a good time taking pictures by the light displays and messing around.  Nothing else really monumentous.  Honestly, with work, my exercise in general has been much less than normal, which I'm OK with right now.  Yesterday was good though- 10 miles split.  It was misty and rainy but WARM.  T-shirt and shorts weather.  I did 6 miles in the morning, and couldn't resist tacking on a shake out 4 miler after work.  Amazing.  Except when I fell.  Yeah, I'm a dork.  I have a headlamp, but didn't wear it because I was running in the 'city' at night (vs. country roads).  There is one spot going uphill with about a 1/2 mile to my apartment that is pitch dark.  A car came over the hill with its brights on and I was temporarily blinded while I tried to move into the dirt shoulder (I was already in the bike lane.)  I rolled my ankles and got totally dirty and alittle scraped, but mostly my pride was injured!

Today started out warm and rainy, but the temp has been dropping all day.  Unfortunately, my run has to wait until the evening as I was at the bakery at the 4am hour today.  Popular bakery + days before thanksgiving = craziness.  I was actually HAPPY to get out of there today to go teach!  I'm thinking a pull-off-the-freeway-randomly run is in order for tonite!  I will wear my headlamp though!  Even though I look like a freak in it.....

Ok, that's it from here!  My head is spinning with all of the stuff I need to get done and packed up and such in the next 28 hours or so.  And what is really on my mind is Thanksgivingthanksgivingthanksgiving..........

And being UP NORTH!  Its been since Labor Day...much too long! :)

Long time, no blog!

Oh man, I haven't blogged in FOREVER.  I'm sure my devoted few readers missed me.  Honestly, I feel like I haven't had a whole lot of blog-worthy stuff going on.  My running has been good, but unplanned and pretty low milage.  The rest of my life is spent working or driving!  Hmm, I'll try to sum up a few highlights from the last week or so.....

Stream of consciousness time...The top 10 of the week:

1) I FINALLY got back in the pool for a formal swim session on Friday.  It has been atleast 6 months since I did any formal pool work and it felt GREAT.  I did 30 minutes on Friday and felt good except my triceps were sore/tired afterward!  Which was OK by me, especially since that is an area I really want to tone up.  I was looking at pictures from my sisters' wedding 2 years ago (when I was swimming alot at the time) and LOVE how my arms looked in my strapless dress!  So I'm a bit motivated by vanity...lol.  Today I hit up the pool for 45 minutes of straight freestyle.  Felt amazing.

2) I've also started strength training regularly.  I took a core class at the local running shop last Monday, then repeated the routine again on my own last week.  I really need the core work and I'm *trying* to get into it, it is just hard because I always go for the running when crunched for time.  But, right now I'd rather hit up lower milage + core vs. extra miles.  It is the 'off season' for me afterall!

3) The best run of my week by far was yesterday when I met up with a new friend/blog reader for a lovely winter-y feeling run.  We cruised the roads along a new route for 7ish miles where we met up.  Then, proceeded to drink coffee and chat it up for 2+ more hours!  Such a nice treat on a blustery Sunday!  I'm hoping for more of these runs to come!

4) Second best run was tonite when I met up with my mom post-work for a quick sunset run.  I love running with my mom!  And then we made grilled cheeses!  Niccce.

5) I'm currently watching "Dancing with the Stars" with my parents.  Being at their house for the night = nice.  This show = lame.  My parents' quarkiness = awesome.

6) I am sooo ready for Thanksgiving.  Up-north.  4 days off from both jobs.  Good food.  Family.  Enough said.

7) I feel totally weird not having any race goals set in stone right now.  I really don't mind not having a training plan, but I'm getting anxious not having a set race on the horizon even.  This may need to be remedied soon.

8) I don't have to work at the bakery tomorrow morning.  Best. Morning. Ever.  So, I will get to run, and do core before work!  Plus, post-work I'm running again with my running group at a "light fest" run.  2x running and 1xjobs = how ever day should be.

9) I've noticed my bullet points are getting shorter, which further exemplifies the fact that I don't have a whole lot of exciting stuff to talk about.

10) Yeah, I better just end this now.

Ok, well that about sums up my life.  I'll try to keep updated more regularly from here on out!  Have a good night everyone! :)

back at it!

I feel so weird not having a 'countdown' on my blog title!  But, honestly I have nothing to countdown because for the first time in a few years, I am not signed up for another marathon.  That's not to say I won't be doing one soon, it is just a fact that I haven't decided and am trying to be free and flexible right now.

As for running, I'm back at it!  Started last Sunday with a few miles with my mom.  Then, (perhaps stupidly) decided to run home from my mom's work on Monday.  10.5 miles in the dark in sub 30 degree weather the second day back running after 3 weeks off.....not so smart.  It felt pretty good, but I was a bit sore the next day.  The rest of my week has been filled with shorter, easier runs when I could squeeze them in between my jobs and 12 hour workdays.  Really, work is what has been dominating my life the past few weeks.  Hense my lack of time/motivation to blog.  I've of course been teaching as usual, but also taken on extra hours at the bakery.  Suddenly, my 15-20 hours a week there, turned into 30 hours!  It has been difficult, but I'm really trying to save up extra money for that yet-to-be-determined spring marathon trip.  We will see though.  My sanity is not worth any amount of extra money!  Plus, too much work = not enough time to train = sad me.

So yeah.  Atleast the 'school week' is over.  I got 12 hours at the market tomorrow, but if you've been reading my blog you know I have a slight obsession with the market.  I'm alittle nervous because it is supposed to be 20 degrees...yikes.  I'm hoping people will still be out and willing to buy bread and pastries from me though!  I don't have very many weeks left to go down there, and the more I sell, the more likely my boss is to keep me going!  Pressure is on!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Picture Time!

No don't worry, I haven't forgotten about my blog, or my loyal blog readers!  My life has just been work-work-work lately so I don't have a whole lot to blog about, seeing as I expect very few people want to hear about the drama of teaching middle and high school science or working crazy early shifts at a bakery.  However, my sis sent me a few pics from the marathon, and I decided to share!  I mostly look like a freak, but that's ok because we're all friends here!

This is me in front of the big ass 10-10-10 sign.  Since I'm a super-nerd, I'm holding up ten fingers in honor of my 10th marathon on 10-10-10.  Ha.  Props to my sister for shooting/successfully cropping out the 1001 other people in the area attempting to take the same picture, lol.  Although probably no one was quite as cool as me having it be their #10....

And this little beauty above must be from some point late in the race, as the word 'struggle' is pretty much written all over my face!  Actually, I don't look *quite* as bad as the guy grimacing next to me!  I do like this picture because of what my sister did making it black and white and the contrast and everything.  My sister is actually a really talented up-and-coming photographer.  You should check her out on her flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jessmartin24/

And last, but certainly not least is a lovely picture from post-race.  Yes, that is a bad of ice on my head.  Yes, it felt amazing.  This is myself and my bro-in-law waiting for the El.  I am attempting to give my signiture 'peace sign' however, it seems the heat and fatigue of running a killer-bad marathon has effected my fingers' ability to straighten.  Therefore, I look more like I am giving bunny ears to an imaginary friend or something...

So there you have it.  Pictures!  Such a rarity on my blog, especially since I put my sweet digital camera through the wash last winter....

And with that, I leave you.  I have an extra early, though extra fun day tomorrow.  I must be at the bakery a bit after 3am to get my morning stuff done.  Why you ask?  Because I am then going to this conference in Lansing about "Making it in Michigan."  Basically, a conference devoted to seeing if you have a food product to market and how to make it happen.  This is exciting because as you may know, it is my goal in the not-so-distant future to have my own bakery.  Plus, I am very into buying local and keeping my $$ spent on Michigan made products (hey, somebody has got to support this stuggling state!)  So, I get to spend a whole day (after the early bakery hours) listening and learning and sampling products.  While a sub babysits...err...teaches my students.  This is what I call a personal day! :) I'm very excited.

Ok, with that I am off.  I don't think I have ever had to set my alarm for 2:xx am.  But tomorrow will be a first....

T +7 days....The Recap

My Local Readers~

Ok, I finally have a time when all of the stars have alligned- 1) I am far enough away from the marathon where I can actually think about it 2) I am close enough to the marathon to remember it, and 3) I finally have a spare second to sit and write it all out.  So here goes....

My 10th on 10-10-10.  I have to say, my first thought is to write that it went 100% differently from the way that I had hoped.  But, upon further consideration, I think that is overly dramatic.  So, like any good teacher, I will start with the good and THEN go to the bad.  Always helpful at Parent-Teacher Conferences.  But I digress.

The good:  I was in Chicago.  I made it to 10-10-10 with alot of training and pretty much no injuries (knock on wood- even though its over, I still must knock on wood!)  I finished the marathon.  My sister and brother-and-law were amazing- even setting a record for their cheering skills by seeing me 5 times on the course!  Which is amazing considering the craziness of the city and layout of the course.  There were fun *parts* of the marathon itself (ie the first 8 miles when I actually thought it might be an ok day).  Hmm, yeah, that about sums up the good.

The bad:  Well, I might as well just come out and say it as I already alluded to:  I ran my slowest marathon ever.  Yes, with the most training I have ever done, on the day where I had originally hoped to run my best ever, I ran the complete opposite.  4:05:something.  And honestly, it still feels unreal to me.  I came into the race knowing that it wouldn't be a PR, but I didn't even know I was capable of running that slow.  I have NEVER trained that slow on ANY run.  Literally, the second half was at a pace I haven't seen before in my life.  It was so weird.  It was like it wasn't even me running it.  My long runs always average betwen 8:15-8:40, so the fact that I ran a pace so much slower during an actual race is mind blowing.  And I simply don't know why.

Well, that's a lie.  I do know sort of why.  I was facing a burn out going into this race and the last month of training, as I mentioned on the blog before.  It wasn't necessarily a burn out due to the summer of training, but rather the consistant 2 years of training I have been going at since starting training for my first Boston in 2009.  That feeling of going from marathon to marathon with little to no time between training cycles, all the while adding milage and racing anything from 10 mile races to half marathons to a 50K mixed in.  I expected this would lead to a PR, but more is better only to a point.  And I think I got to the point where it became counterproductive to my goals.  My paces weren't picking up and my motivation (gasp!) wasn't where it had once been.  I feel like the last month of training was an exercise in survival.  One bad run led to a lack of confidence which led to another bad run, which lead to more self-doubt, and so on.  Coupled with a body that although it was holding up well, was just plain tired, and I arrived at the Starting Line feeling like I should be arriving at the finish line already!  So I guess in that since I am proud that I did it.

Outside of the running craziness inside and outside my head, was my work schedule.  This year feels particularly challenging for me.  Teaching above full time at my school, with new classes to prep for has been alot.  Added to that, my boss at the bakery has been continually scheduling me more to the point where including the market I am working almost 30 hours a week at the bakery- on top of my 'real job' teaching.  So these 6 day workweeks that are many times 12 hour days, plus having to cram all of my prep work for my classes onto my 'weekend' on sunday has overwhelmed me.  I'm honestly not saying this because I think I am all that great or anything- I understand lots of people work long and hard to make ends meet- but rather because although these aren't 'running related' necessarily, I think work + crazy commute contributed to my end-of-the training blues.

On a purely physical level- it was hot.  85-90 degrees, which would have been fine in August, but I felt like my body adapted to the cooler September temps and the heat was a shock to my system.  And for some reason, I didn't handle it well.  The whole right side of my body started hurting by mile 10 and I knew it would be a long day from there.  I felt so sad and embarressed.  But when I finished I was so happy just to have it over with.  Despite how poorly I did, I just laughed it off for the rest of the day with my sis and bro-in-law and with my parents (via the phone.)  It was only that night, when driving home from the airport late that it sunk in and I just let the emotion of everything take over.  It was so hard to fathom all of the time and training that I put it, to run a marathon I probably could have done with 1/4 of the time and training.  That has probably been the most difficult idea to come to grips with.

So where to from here with me?  The good news is, I have proved that I can handle a new level of training.  And I liked that.  But, that doesn't mean that I need to train like that 365 days a year.  This is the first time in over 2 years that I am not signed up for my next marathon.  Yes, I have a few ideas on the horizon, but nothing official.  So I'm taking that time.  I'm keeping my workouts completely slim-none for the rest of the month.  I feel like especially with my work schedule right now, I need the physical and mental breather.  In November and December I will get back to it, but with running just as a part of my workout routine, leaving more time for swimming and strength training which I have missed for the last few months or so.  That will also give me time to decide my spring plans.  I don't plan to start any 'formal' training until atleast the new year.  I want to be totally hungry and focused when I start up again.

I did run once with my friend this week.  He was running a marathon today, and I am still awaiting the results.  He took me out to dinner afterward to celebrate my 10-10-10.  It was super-sweet thing to do.  The run was on Wednesday and it was hard.  I'm glad to be taking time off right now.

So yeah.  I feel like a 'fraud' runner right now, after such a less-than-ideal performance.  But, I have to get over that.  I'm looking forward to some time away from formal training and to getting my body in better all-around shape (ie better arms and core that come with strength training and swimming) over the next couple of months.  We'll see where I go with the blog from here.  I'm sure I'll be around.

Peace, love, and running,
T-mart.