Don't Talk About It - Be About It!

Alot of people talk a good game but fail to follow through when it really counts. Well I don't want to be one of those people. I have once again been inspired by one of Marisa's blog posts. (Check her out on the side bar - Evolve) The post was about race day preparation and it made me think about my own preparation. I have less than a month to go before my race and I really need to buckle down and get to work.

When it comes to the running portion of my training I am doing very well. I haven't skipped any major runs and I've been pretty consistant with my cross-training. There are some things that I do need to work on though and that is what I am going to focus on up until my marathon.

I will improve my diet - I don't need to make any major changes just practice a little more self control and plan out my meals. I tend to make bad decisions when I have to make last minute choices on what I am going to eat for dinner. If I make sure to plan things out and buy all the ingredients in advance then I will be able to do better.

I will do my core work like I am supposed to - for example, even though I am tired and I had a pretty hard hill workout today I am still going to do some core work before I go to bed. Not only will this help me out in the marathon, perhaps it will help me finally get the abs I have been working towards!

I WILL get more sleep - tonight there are several shows that I want to watch but instead of watching them I am going to go to bed shortly after I finish this post. To be honest, I am also going to bed because my stupid DVR failed to record Grey's Anatomy and I am PISSED! I will just have to watch it on the internet tomorrow. Too bad I don't have flash on my work computer or I'd watch it during the day tomorrow, Dang it! LOL!

So all in all I am going to BE about it. (OH, I will also talk about it because imagine me not talking, ha!)

Recovery Day

I was so happy when Marisa agreed to let us do a short easy run today instead of hills. I'm pretty sure that there was no way in heck I was going to be able to do hills today. My legs felt so heavy and sore during the short run we did today. Hopefully with some heavy icing and stretching they will feel better on Thursday when we actually DO have to do some hill work. Not to mention, I have a 21 mile run scheduled for Sunday.

I really have to get some rest. I was so tired today at work that I just knew I might fall asleep at my desk at any moment. At one point I contemplated going into one of the phone booths and taking a nap but figured that it would be just my luck that someone would come looking in on me and that probably wouldn't be good.

I have less than a month until the marathon. I plan to be consistant with my core work, improve my diet and increase the amount of sleep I get. Doing all these things will allow me to do my best on the day of the marathon. I'm starting to get nervous.....just one more thing to keep me awake at night, LOL.

Not For The Faint of Heart

Running is not a sport for weaklings. It is not a sport for those afraid of pain, those unwilling to push themselves, or those looking for something easy to do. That being said, if you want to be a casual runner then you can do so and not have to worry about any of that stuff. But if you're doing in casually with no specific goal/race in mind then it isn't really a sport anyway..

Today we ran 19 miles. I say we because even though I didn't run with someone right beside me I was still running with a group. Knowing that I had people waiting for me at the finish inspired me to not only keep going but to push myself. That's the benefit of joining a running group. Had I NOT had someone waiting for me I certainly would have not made it through the entire run this morning.

My stomach was hurting ALL yesterday. I started getting dehydrated and I just didn't feel well at all. I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to make it for the run this morning. I made sure to drink as much water as I could to make sure I was properly hydrated for a long run. This morning when I woke up it still didn't feel much better...

Have I ever said how much I love being a woman? Well, I do! However, about the same time every months I have the tendency to curse my womanhood and entertain the fantasy of being a man. Imagine a little monster in your abdomen, twisting your insides like he is wringing out a wet towel. (Yes, I said HE because I am most certain this monster is male.) Now imagine that occuring while you are trying to complete a 19 mile run. Around mile 17 this little monster decided to leave my abdomen alone but he didn't leave....nooooo, he travelled down to my lower calf where he proceeded to punch it for the rest of my run. Oh well, despite the troubles it was a pretty good run - my longest yet and I feel ready for the next long run!

After the run it was ICE BATH time! Holy crap - that is some cold water! An ice bath is definitely not for the faint of heart. It's also not for anyone who has a problem with their heart stopping momentarily because I'm pretty sure mine did. It took me about a minute to lower myself all the way into the tub. Around minute 3 I started shivering uncontrollably (is this normal?) But as Marisa said, after I made it past minute 4 I was okay and I managed to stay in there a full 10 minutes. My leg felt better afterwards so I think I will definitely add this to my post-run routine. Oh and The Husband wouldn't help hold me down either so don't feel bad Dena!

Now I'm off to find something eat, I'm starving!

Change of Plans

UGH! I am not having a good day. My stomach has been hurting since last night. I'm hoping that it will be better soon but at least by the morning so I can do my long run without any problems.

Also, after talking with Marisa on Thursday I realized that this weekend ISN'T my longest run, it's next weekend. So tomorrow I'll do around 19 miles and then the next weekend it will be 21. Even though I was looking forward to running part of the marathon course tomorrow I wasn't really excited about running alone. Plus, I don't really need to run the marathon course ahead of time. This way it will be more of a surprise, LOL.

I think I will have some pasta for dinner and then relax for the rest of the night. I didn't get as much sleep last night as I would have liked so hopefully tonight will be better.

Sleep Diary - 2

Uhhh so still no luck on the sleeping front. Last night was only about 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep. OK, clearly I really need to get this sleeping thing together.

I do have a lot going on right now so perhaps after all of this calms down then I will be able to relax and get a little bit more sleep. At least I hope so...

Blah

BLAH.....that's how I feel right now. My legs felt SO heavy during today's run. It ended up being a pretty slow run but I guess it is just like that sometimes. I hope my run Sunday goes a lot better than today's run. Actually, I know that my run will be better on Sunday so I'm not going to worry about it.

I had plans to write something more entertaining but now that I'm home and showered and sitting on the couch I don't really feel like it anymore. Oh, and I miss my running buddy so she needs to get her foot in shape so we can run together again!

Sleep Diary

Marisa's post on sleep has really had me thinking about the level and the quality of my sleep. I think I am really sleep deprived! I wonder how much better I would feel if I actually got the amount of sleep that I probably need. I decided that I would start keeping track of my sleeping habits as well as the things I am doing (or not doing) to increase my ability to have a good night's sleep. Hopefully this analysis will help me figure out what will allow me to get a great night of sleep.

Tuesday night I slept for about 5 hours until SOMEONE kicked me and woke me up. After that I woke up about every 20 minutes until my alarm went off.

Wednesday night I slept for about 4 hours before I had to get up to pee. After that I woke up about every 30 minutes until my alarm went off.

Soooo....not off to the greatest start. It seems that once I am disturbed from my sleep that I have a hard time getting back into the rhythm. Also, I need to figure out when I should stop drinking at night so that I won't have to use the bathroom during the night. Finding the balance of hydration and having to use the bathroom is a struggle. I always seem to feel dehydrated in the morning which causes me to want to drink more at night.

I have to admit that I haven't exactly started following the suggestions that were provided about the TV. I have decided to eliminate some shows from my viewing schedule so that is a start. This is a process - I'm not trying to go "cold turkey" on the television habits! We'll see how this goes.....