Week 6

I am chugging along quite nicely. On Monday I headed to the gym and ran three miles instead of the four that was on my schedule. Baby steps, right? I felt pretty good running that distance, but could tell I was winded when I finished. Tuesday (my fourth day in a row of running) I ran two miles on the treadmill and this wiped me out. I was just so tired! By Wednesday I wasn't quite sure what to do. I didn't want to head to the gym because I knew I wouldn't be able to do four miles on the treadmill due to the time contraints on the machines. I also wasn't excited about it being my fifth day in a row of running. So I decided on a compromise: running that evening outside. I waited until the kids went to bed at 7:30pm and by this time it was pitch black out. I had never run at night before and I set out to just do three miles. While I was running I changed my mind and decided to go for four. Doing those four miles was TOUGH. So much of my running is mind over matter. If I set out to do three miles, I will start to feel very tired around that mark. So deciding to change my distance in the middle of a run is hard for me, but I wanted to kind of go out with a bang. I knew I would have two days of rest after and I also wanted to get up to running four miles because the six miles I had to run on Saturday would seem more do-able. I didn't make great time on my four mile run (I finished in exactly 42 minutes) but I was happy just to have done it.

Saturday morning brought lots of butterflies in the stomach, but some excitement as well. We had a cold front come through so I shed my usual running shorts for some capri yoga pants and a long sleeve T-shirt to take on the thirty degree temperature. I had also bought a hydration belt to hold a water bottle and my GU. I have to admit, I don't love the hydration belt, but I think I will get used to it during my practice runs and won't use it for races. I set off on my usual course, to the freeway and back for two miles total. After that I turned down a new road I had never run before and always been scared of because it has a slight hill (a slight hill to a new runner is quite steep :)). I kept turning down side roads to run and avoid the big hill, but I knew I wanted to conquer it. Finally I just took it on and won. Some advice I had heard about hills was to make sure you always exert the same amount of energy as you do when you are running on flat roads; ie. SLOW DOWN NICOLE. So I did just that and yes I was more out of breath at the top, but I recovered very quickly. I had completed 3.5 miles and pulled out my GU for a pick-me-up. I am in love with this stuff! I didn't feel this huge energy boost and start sprinting, but I felt a little better and like I wasn't so tired. I was able to pick up my pace a little bit and before I knew it I was on mile 5 and realizing that I should start heading toward home. The thing I absolutely love about my GPS watch is that I don't have to plot out a route beforehand; I can just go whereever my body takes me. I let myself lead the way and I like that.

When I saw my watch tick to six miles, I stopped and walked. I felt so much joy at being able to finish this distance. It is the farthest I have run yet and it makes me see that if I set my mind to doing something, I can do it. I am training my body to run longer and longer distances and my body is responding. It's funny how hard it was to get into running. I hated doing it at first! I dreaded going to the gym because I knew I would be so tired. And I knew that I was hardly running any kind of distance yet and it just felt so discouraging. Now I run four times a week and try to make 2-3 of those times outdoors and I love it. My body feels good, my happiness is improved and I feel like I can do anything. I felt on top of the world when I completed my run on Saturday. This alone is motivation for doing the half. Can you imagine how I will be feeling when I cross that finish line? I can't wait!

This Saturday is my first race. I am running four miles and I am excited and nervous at the same time. I have no doubt that I can complete the race, as I've run this distance many times before. My goal time is forty minutes, but we shall see what happens. Unfortunately with Richard being out of town I won't be able to do any runs outside so I'm stuck on the treadmill. At least I'm getting my running in though! I was able to run four miles on the treadmill today and did it in 40:26. Tomorrow I go for two miles and then 3-4 miles on Wednesday before taking two days of rest to prepare for Saturday. Wish me luck!

Oh another new thing I've discovered is tech shirts (they are made of synthetic materials, NO COTTON)! I LOVE THEM! I sweat a lot when I run and when I wore this shirt for the first time today it was completely dry when I finished my run. My cotton shirts are always drenched and I felt much lighter and cooler with this one. It's amazing what a difference something so small can make. I am for sure not looking forward to training in the heat in a few months, but at least I have these shirts to help a *little* bit.