Last week I was reminded that the human body has limits. When I run or workout in general, I don't always feel like I've worked hard enough if I'm not in some kind of pain, my lungs aren't burning, or the sweat from my head isn't dripping into my eyes. I want to end a workout knowing I pushed myself to the limit in order to make it worth my time. Working out is time away from my family, so I'm doing my best to make that time worthwhile.
Our run around the lake last week went well and I felt like I put everything into it. My husband pushed the 31-pound weight in the jogging stroller and ran with me the first time around the lake. The path was so busy that we couldn't even run beside each other. He ran ahead of me and I was drafting behind him. It works in cycling... it has to work in running too, right? It was a difficult run mostly because of strong winds. I don't think I've run in peaceful weather yet this spring, so I'm hoping its not a sign that race day will be awful too.
My boys pulled over after one lap and let me keep going. I wasn't sure how I was going to make it around another 1.5 times because I truly felt exhausted after the first one. My body finally got in a groove and before I knew it, I was half way around. I was feeling more confident. That didn't last long though. A few minutes later, my knees started to burn. They were hollering at me to stop. Stopppp!! I didn't. I wanted to, but I didn't. I ran the entire second lap around the lake making it 6 miles total.
My knees just couldn't make it another half lap around the lake. So many thoughts went through my head and I tried not to feel like a failure. I'm not above walking when I need to for the half marathon and I know that adrenaline on race day will keep me going far longer than going out for a plain old training run. I finally justified stopping for two reasons. First, I don't want to injure myself before the race or burn out my knees. Second, two days after this run, I had my first soccer game and I wanted to feel good for the game.
Going into the first game, I had some crazy nerves. I was excited, but nervous at the same time. I hadn't played in two years and even though I've been running -- in a straight line with a nice, slow pace for months -- I knew the game would be painful. And oh was it painful. I started out the game playing left defense. The first run down the field, I nearly tripped over my own feet. Good save. Whew. Second run down the field wasn't as lucky. It felt like a whole minute went by as my arms and legs were flailing wildly going down the field and I tumbled and rolled right in front of my teammates on the sideline. Just pathetic.
After that, I recovered, but throughout the rest of the game, I was gasping for air and realized my sprints weren't as good as I'd hoped they'd be. Everything is harder the first time around. By the second half, everyone seemed warmed up and I'm happy to report that nobody puked (at least that I'm aware of). We tied 2-2.
I was so sore in the 24-48 hours after the game, but it was a good sore. My body hadn't made those kinds of movements in two years and I was so happy to be feeling sore all over the place. My back was even sore and I swear my hamstrings shortenend by about 3 inches. My body certainly reached its physical limits last week both with the 6 mile run and the soccer game. But both times I felt great afterwards. Well, I felt great once my knees stopped burning and once the game was over and my sister-in-law and I chatted in the car for 45 minutes about how fun it was to be playing again.
I'm still working on pushing it to the limit every time I'm running, playing soccer, or doing some other kind of workout. Pushing it means its going to be painful and maybe not always very enjoyable, but in the end, that's what gets results and gets me in better physical shape. It burns the stress right out of my system and allows my mind to go somewhere else for an hour that doesn't involve toddler frustrations or work demands. I don't always enjoy it while I'm doing it, but I know its worth it in many ways.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Mothers
I'm one day behind, but happy Mother's Day to all you mothers and soon-to-be mothers out there! What a special day to celebrate being a mom. I spent a good portion of the day yesterday trying to teach my little guy how to say "I love mommy!" I think he caught on slightly because he said, "I... yuv.... Mommy!!!" Even if I told him to say it, it still melts my heart. I love that kid to pieces.
The countdown to race day continues. Four weeks to go! There was not one possible moment to squeeze running in this weekend, so its gonna happen tonight. It is. It has to. The rain must hold off!!
My goal: 7 miles
Seven miles was the longest run I did before the half last year and I'm hoping to get farther along this time around. My goal was 10, but we'll see about that. My husband and son are going to join me tonight for part of the run. We're headed out to a nice lake not too far from our house. It'll take 2.5 times around it to get to 7 miles, but I think I can do it. Hopefully I won't get dizzy :)
I'm looking forward to this run tonight. After a very busy, but very fun weekend, I'm in need of some hard work and sweat action. As I rocked my son at bedtime last night, I leaned down to give him a kiss and thanked him for making me a mommy. I couldn't be happier. If I didn't have him, I'd be getting so much more sleep and my house would be much cleaner, but none of that matteres when I see his cute face. I am so incredibly thankful for him. I'm thankful for my mom. She's the most hospitable person I know and rarely passes up an opportunity to hang out with me. She makes every moment special. Even a simple family dinner thrown together last minute somehow has candles and a little something from Lund's for dessert. I'm thankful for my mother-in-law. I truly am. She has a golden heart, is an amazing cook and begins all her emails to me with "Hi Dear." She raised quite the son, too. I'm thankful for both my grandmothers. Both of them are living and I've been fortunate enough to live relatively close to them my entire life. They both established traditions and values that have carried over into our own lives as my husband and I raise our son. Both of my grandmothers call my husband their grandson even though he has zero blood relation to them. They love him as if he was born right into their family. What an amazing gift I've been given.
The countdown to race day continues. Four weeks to go! There was not one possible moment to squeeze running in this weekend, so its gonna happen tonight. It is. It has to. The rain must hold off!!
My goal: 7 miles
Seven miles was the longest run I did before the half last year and I'm hoping to get farther along this time around. My goal was 10, but we'll see about that. My husband and son are going to join me tonight for part of the run. We're headed out to a nice lake not too far from our house. It'll take 2.5 times around it to get to 7 miles, but I think I can do it. Hopefully I won't get dizzy :)
I'm looking forward to this run tonight. After a very busy, but very fun weekend, I'm in need of some hard work and sweat action. As I rocked my son at bedtime last night, I leaned down to give him a kiss and thanked him for making me a mommy. I couldn't be happier. If I didn't have him, I'd be getting so much more sleep and my house would be much cleaner, but none of that matteres when I see his cute face. I am so incredibly thankful for him. I'm thankful for my mom. She's the most hospitable person I know and rarely passes up an opportunity to hang out with me. She makes every moment special. Even a simple family dinner thrown together last minute somehow has candles and a little something from Lund's for dessert. I'm thankful for my mother-in-law. I truly am. She has a golden heart, is an amazing cook and begins all her emails to me with "Hi Dear." She raised quite the son, too. I'm thankful for both my grandmothers. Both of them are living and I've been fortunate enough to live relatively close to them my entire life. They both established traditions and values that have carried over into our own lives as my husband and I raise our son. Both of my grandmothers call my husband their grandson even though he has zero blood relation to them. They love him as if he was born right into their family. What an amazing gift I've been given.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Six
In my last post, I told you about my 5 mile run. I was hoping to be further along with my training by this point, but sometimes you can't control what's going on with the rest of your life. Just gotta press on.
Two days after the 5 mile run, I did 3 miles at the gym in the evening after work. I am usually the one who puts our son to bed at night, but I missed out on that in order to run. I felt a little sad about missing bedtime, but I know I have to keep up the running and I know that my husband enjoys the bedtime routine with our son too... I guess I have to share. The routine is: put on jammies, drink 3 ounces of milk from a bottle (I can't break the habit... taking away this bottle means he is no longer a baby), say a goodnight prayer, sing "Jesus Loves Me" and then say "I love you" about 15 times before putting him in his crib. I love that routine. Simple, easy, short, but so precious. Sometimes I wonder if my toddler is thinking "Mommy, enough with the kisses! Put me down so I can go to sleep already!!!"
The run that night was good though. I'm glad I was able to get to the gym and knock out 3 miles in 30 minutes. It was similar to my 5 mile run. I felt great, felt happy, felt alive. I grocery shopped after the run and may have purchased a few unnecessary items due to post workout hunger. It happens.
That was Tuesday night. I didn't run the rest of the week to give my knees a little rest. It didn't work out in our schedule to run Friday or Saturday, so I knew I had to run Sunday. I think Sunday is quickly becoming my long run day.
My goal: 6 miles
Due to the crappy May 1st weather, I ran indoors at the gym. As I drove to the gym, I saw people running outside with winter hats and gloves on. I thought that maybe I'm too weak and should be running outside like the rest of them. But that thought quickly faded. Who am I kidding... I hate running in cold weather. I arrived at the gym and saw that my favorite treadmill next to the window was available. Yessss! I hopped on, pressed start and nothing happened. It was broken. Lame. I moved over one to the left (one spot further away from the window), which ended up being okay. Is anyone else as picky about their treadmill location as I am?
The run started off well. I listened to the David Crowder Pandora station again and gave a thumbs up to a few songs throughout the run. My mind wandered a little bit throughout the run. It was definitely more difficult than the 5 miler last Sunday. A couple reasons might be that first, the sun wasn't shining and second, I was hungry. I'm obviously a rookie runner because I went to the gym after church at lunchtime without having eaten anything since about 8:30 that morning. But more than anything, it was more challenging mentally yesterday.
Running is such a mental test. Especially running longer (for me) distances indoors. Miles 1 and 2 were just fine. At mile 3.5, I started feeling pretty tired (possibly the lack of food in my system). I stopped for a quick sip of water at miles 3, 4 and 5. I figured it was okay to take a quick water stop. I try to be invisible at the gym, so if I passed out by trying to not stop running and not drink water, people would really notice me flying off the treadmill scoring treadmill burn on my face. I don't want that.
Once I got to 5.5 miles, I knew I could finish it. My mental game got stronger and I told myself I could do it. Throughout the challenging 3.5 to 5.5 miles though, I tried to focus on the Harbor House. I thought about the young mothers who we're raising the money for and that I need to push through this for them. It helped.
I did it. I got to 6 miles and in pretty good time too. I don't have a goal time in mine for this race. I ran the half in 2 hours and 30 minutes last year, so I'd like to beat that as a personal challenge, but that's not on the front of my mind.
It felt amazing to come home and tell my husband that I accomplished the 6 mile goal. He had a huge smile on his face and congratulated me. Despite the challenges during the run, it feels so good to accomplish that goal. Maybe its sweeter knowing that it was difficult and yet I didn't quit.
I'm curious to see what next Sunday will bring.
Two days after the 5 mile run, I did 3 miles at the gym in the evening after work. I am usually the one who puts our son to bed at night, but I missed out on that in order to run. I felt a little sad about missing bedtime, but I know I have to keep up the running and I know that my husband enjoys the bedtime routine with our son too... I guess I have to share. The routine is: put on jammies, drink 3 ounces of milk from a bottle (I can't break the habit... taking away this bottle means he is no longer a baby), say a goodnight prayer, sing "Jesus Loves Me" and then say "I love you" about 15 times before putting him in his crib. I love that routine. Simple, easy, short, but so precious. Sometimes I wonder if my toddler is thinking "Mommy, enough with the kisses! Put me down so I can go to sleep already!!!"
The run that night was good though. I'm glad I was able to get to the gym and knock out 3 miles in 30 minutes. It was similar to my 5 mile run. I felt great, felt happy, felt alive. I grocery shopped after the run and may have purchased a few unnecessary items due to post workout hunger. It happens.
That was Tuesday night. I didn't run the rest of the week to give my knees a little rest. It didn't work out in our schedule to run Friday or Saturday, so I knew I had to run Sunday. I think Sunday is quickly becoming my long run day.
My goal: 6 miles
Due to the crappy May 1st weather, I ran indoors at the gym. As I drove to the gym, I saw people running outside with winter hats and gloves on. I thought that maybe I'm too weak and should be running outside like the rest of them. But that thought quickly faded. Who am I kidding... I hate running in cold weather. I arrived at the gym and saw that my favorite treadmill next to the window was available. Yessss! I hopped on, pressed start and nothing happened. It was broken. Lame. I moved over one to the left (one spot further away from the window), which ended up being okay. Is anyone else as picky about their treadmill location as I am?
The run started off well. I listened to the David Crowder Pandora station again and gave a thumbs up to a few songs throughout the run. My mind wandered a little bit throughout the run. It was definitely more difficult than the 5 miler last Sunday. A couple reasons might be that first, the sun wasn't shining and second, I was hungry. I'm obviously a rookie runner because I went to the gym after church at lunchtime without having eaten anything since about 8:30 that morning. But more than anything, it was more challenging mentally yesterday.
Running is such a mental test. Especially running longer (for me) distances indoors. Miles 1 and 2 were just fine. At mile 3.5, I started feeling pretty tired (possibly the lack of food in my system). I stopped for a quick sip of water at miles 3, 4 and 5. I figured it was okay to take a quick water stop. I try to be invisible at the gym, so if I passed out by trying to not stop running and not drink water, people would really notice me flying off the treadmill scoring treadmill burn on my face. I don't want that.
Once I got to 5.5 miles, I knew I could finish it. My mental game got stronger and I told myself I could do it. Throughout the challenging 3.5 to 5.5 miles though, I tried to focus on the Harbor House. I thought about the young mothers who we're raising the money for and that I need to push through this for them. It helped.
I did it. I got to 6 miles and in pretty good time too. I don't have a goal time in mine for this race. I ran the half in 2 hours and 30 minutes last year, so I'd like to beat that as a personal challenge, but that's not on the front of my mind.
It felt amazing to come home and tell my husband that I accomplished the 6 mile goal. He had a huge smile on his face and congratulated me. Despite the challenges during the run, it feels so good to accomplish that goal. Maybe its sweeter knowing that it was difficult and yet I didn't quit.
I'm curious to see what next Sunday will bring.
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