Miles Miles and More Miles

This is the third week of my training plan for running the Chevron Houston Marathon, let me tell you it’s been interesting. The first week “sore” was an understatement when I finally had a cross training day I realized very quickly how important it really is. I decided to get on the stationary bike and I did some exercises on the big ole’ exercise ball and I felt so much better getting a chance to stretch out and wake up all my other muscles.

I dislike hate running in the sun and heat is my kryptonite, so even though I’ve claimed to dislike the treadmill I decided to go that route instead. Turns out I can at least feel cooler inside at the gym with the fan blowing at me and not melt. I have to make the treadmill interesting, so I take it a ¼ mile at a time, then a mile at a time and then 2 miles at a time. In each quarter mile I set my pace and increase it little by little and then start all over, at a mile I check my time and then try to improve it the next mile. Finally I’ll break at two miles reset the treadmill and try to improve all of it all over again. I know this sounds like a lot but let me tell you the treadmill.is.boring. very very boring.

I know if I attempted to go out in the heat I would throw in the towel I know myself and I know I would give up long before I hit 5 or 6 miles. So the treadmill has been my better than nothing go to. I pray for cooler weather, for an over cast sky and even for a little sprinkle but while the temps still hit 90 degrees plus and Mr. Sun insist on shining bright I’ll head inside and battle it out on the treadmill.

On the 19^th I ran the Kemah’s Toughest 10K and it was warmer than I would liked and this past weekend I did the B.I.G Love 5K fun run and by the time we got going 8:30am I was feeling a little hot too but each run was done and great - I’ll fill you in on those later :)

For now I’m adding on the miles and keeping my eye on the goal.  I had this fantasy that when I would increase the miles that my pounds would start melting off. Of course this is yet to happen. I am going to be the bigger person here (haha!) and understand that running more mile does not equal losing weight. This crazy thing happens when you go for a longer run – you get hungry like hangry kind of hungry and I might be guilty of feeling like if I just ran 6 miles then a bacon cheese burger should be my lunch. SO I am adjusting and planning my nutrition better and I am hoping to see better results within the next few weeks. I pray to the weight loss god’s that if they could please hurry up, the next bridge run is on Oct. 17^th and I’d really like to carry the least amount of lb’s up the Galveston causeway. Please and Thank you in advance!! 

The Aftermath

It’s been almost two weeks now since the Aramco half marathon, and I have had some time to think. I have been a little hard on myself about the finish at the Aramco, and I understand that some might think that just crossing the finish is a great accomplishment, I heard “I could never run 13.1 miles” or like my husband has said “13 miles means you get in a car and drive”. The truth is that I finished last year’s race about 10 minutes faster than I did this year. The more I thought about what happen the more upset I was about the whole ordeal.

Then last night I was getting after my son for not passing his Astronomy test, I was upset because he has the tendency of doing well in a class and getting so confident that he doesn’t study for the test or doesn’t use all his resources at hand...

That’s when it sank in, I was so sure that the half marathon would get done, I just ran the La Port Half only a month and a half before and somewhere along the way I stopped training as well as I should have. I was a little disappointed in myself to say the least, but it’s time to – let’s just say “Let it go”.

The whole year leading up to this race, although a not so great race for me, was a thing of beauty for all of us. The experiences that we shared throughout the year have been great. The experiences that we are going to face this year will be epic :)

 

All in all we ran, in the sun, under cloudy skies, in the middle of thunderstorms, in the heat, humidity and cold- we ran- tall, short, skinny, not so skinny, dark haired, red, single, moms, hardworking, wives, juggling home, kids and work – we ran – to keep our self’s sane, when we were stressed, overwhelmed, heartbroken, insecure, happy, sad, elated, mad and unsure – we still ran. We ran together while miles apart, in races at different paces, hundreds of miles logged, and while a hard run felt horrible on the bad days we felt stronger because of them, not just because of the run but because we were still doing something we never thought we could do. The strong we are physically makes us realize that we are stronger in everyday things that require no physical strength at all. We all have been empowered not only by our runs but by each other, I draw closer to my faith not just in me but in God and not only in running but in every other corner in my life. This year was awesome and the girls and I are beautiful, a different kind of beauty not measured by looks alone, or pounds gained or lost, not by pace or miles but by the inner determination to do what we do despite our circumstances and the ability to encourage and help each other lace up once again.

 

The aftermath of all of this? Is more. I have plans to do more with “Running in Faith” from monthly group runs to a 2^nd annual 5K. Ultimately I have long term goals, fitness, health and running. I am signing up for the Chevron Marathon next year and that means a different kind of training and clean(ish) eating – the struggle is real my friends because the comfort zone is real!! So the slate is cleaned off and it’s time to lace up and of course I hope you’ll catch a few miles with us :)