Pssst

Shh...I know I said I wasn't going to update anymore until after the marathon.  Then, on Saturday morning I realized how many nerves actually come along with a marathon, so here I am.  Honestly, I didn't think it was possible to be this nervous/excited/anxious/ready/not ready for one race.  If you don't follow current events you wouldn't know that just one week ago, there was a distinct possibility that the marathon could actually be cancelled, due to the government shutdown.  Luckily for the 30,000+ registered runners, that got resolved (for the moment) re-opening national parks and monuments, and freeing up the course.  So now the threat of cancellation is gone, the marathon is just 6 days away, and I am READY! OOH-RAH
At least, that's what I keep trying to tell myself in between my moments of panic.  Maybe it's crazy, but I keep thinking of all the what-if moments.  What if I miss the start time, what if I can't find my running group, what if I get injured, left behind, picked up by the straggler bus....  I have a hundred more what if's too, they just keep running circles in my head.  I've been doing my best to ignore these swirling thoughts, but it is HARD!
I know I'm as ready as I can be.  I ran the 20 miles, I did the long runs, the short runs, cross training, everything the experts say you should do.  Perhaps I didn't follow the best diet, but I didn't go too crazy, eating junk all the time.  When I ran, I ran with gels, gus, gummy bears, belvita, and anything else I thought would give me the extra kick when I was starting to slow down.  I carried water, timed my runs, and ran in all types of weather.  From an outside point of view, I couldn't be more prepared.  Yet I still can't get rid of the nerves. Sunday seems so close and so far, so exciting and so scary.  Honestly I never knew one person could feel so many conflicting emotions at the same time, and not explode.
In preparation for Sunday I ran a few races last week.  On Columbus day I ran a 5k around Lake Quannapowitt with Cynthia and Murdock.  We ran for time but didn't really make it.  I keep telling myself that's because we haven't been speed training, so it's not a big deal.  But still, I felt kind of pathetic not being able to make a 5K in under 25 minutes, when I've done it before.  Just yesterday I ran one more half in Newburyport.  The race officials said it was flat, but I disagree.  There were plenty of hills to be found throughout the course.  Overall it wasn't bad, but there was a stretch between 11 and 12 that was all industrial park which killed the scenery.  Usually we run together for runs like this, but Murdock decided to run for time, so he took off, and Cynthia got stepped on and fell behind.  I didn't realize I had lost Cynthia until long after she fell back, so I ended up running it alone.  Not a big deal except that it was sort of boring and I only had myself to talk to.  When I needed an extra push I had to talk myself through it in my head, which really made the last 3 miles long.  Since I wasn't really running for time, I wasn't pushing extra hard.  However, when I was close to mile 6 I realized I might be able to beat my best 10K time, so I pushed it just a bit.  Unfortunately, I still missed my best time by a few seconds.  Again at mile 12 I realized I was right on the cusp of hitting another sub 2, so I tried to power through, but still ended up coming in at 2:01.  Considering this was only my 3rd half, it wasn't a big deal, but I was kind of bummed that I didn't make the 2.  This was the first course where I had spectators on the side lines cheering me on, so that was nice, especially since they were at the end, miles 10 and 12.5 respectively.
Of course I've been keeping up with boxing as well.  Even though I have no idea if it's actually helping, I try to go to at least 3 classes a week.  Last week I went to 4, which I think was a mistake when I was planning on running a half.  Since the marathon is on Sunday, I'm planning on only going to the Tuesday and Thursday classes.  I really like the Thursday afternoon class because the trainer makes us work real hard, but the kickboxing has been leaving giant bruises on my shins.  That part I'm not a fan of.  And of course, I'm panicked about breaking a toe or some other crazy mishap that would take me out of the marathon at the last second.  Basically, I want to lock myself up in a padded room until Sunday, but I want to stay overly busy to not think about Sunday at the same time.  At least the boxing helps channel some of the nerves into power, so there's that.  Anyways, I'm trying my best not to over-think this whole thing and remember to enjoy the experience when I'm there on Sunday, but it's proving very difficult.  In the meantime, here are some pictures from the past few weeks.

The Electric Run at Gillette.  That wig did not stay on long.

Handing out water at the Stone Tower 5K/15K

5K around Lake Q

Pre-race, all pumped up.

Post-race, all tired out.

Post race.  I know I look like a 12 year old.

kickboxing bruises. Owwwww

A note from a 5th grader, always nice to hear when you're turning 29. 

Birthday flowers from Ryan! (I mean, Nala and Stella, according to the card) They smell and look awesome.

23 days

It's serious now.  Don't expect much (anything) from me on here until AFTER the 27.  I need all of my spare time to freak out silently be calm, cool, and collected, in order to be ready to run further than I've ever run before, or thought I would, or cared to for that matter.  So, see you in November, I'm sure loaded down with pictures of medals, misery, and mega-relief.

Wicked awesome half

Today I ran the Wicked half-marathon through Salem and Marblehead.  It was a great day for a run, not too sunny, not too hot, even though the weather said 95% humidity.  Didn't feel like it though.  Plus, we ran down by the beach in Marblehead and got a great sea breeze.  The goal for today was to break a 2 hour half.  If you recall, the time of my last official half, the run to remember, was 2:01.  Just one minute OVER my goal.  Ugh, I know, lame right?  So, today I was really hoping for that 2:00 or under.  Now, we've been running this Marblehead route as part of our training runs, and there are a lot of rolling hills.  The scenery is nice but it doesn't offer enough distraction from the uphill battles.  So our first three miles started off great, under 9 minutes, and we even picked up Holly at mile 4.  She ran for a few with us, which was lovely.   But these hills are killer.  As it figured, we had to stay at a 9:10 or lower pace in order to come in under 2 hours.  Unfortunately on the hills, we hit a 9:22 for one mile.  Later, I hit a 9:11 and another over 9:10 pace, but I'm not sure exactly what it was.  Overall though, we managed to keep the pace right where it needed to be.  By mile 7 I wasn't really feeling it anymore.  Then I grabbed a double latte gu from one of the race volunteers.  At first I kind of thought it was gross, but halfway through sucking it down, I changed my mind.  It's actually an ok taste, sort of like super melted coffee ice cream, except a bit thicker.  Whatever the taste though, it definitely helped.  I got through those last 6.1 miles no problem.  Well, ok, maybe not NO problem, but I was able to make it.  According to the timing chip, when I crossed the finish line, my final time was 1:58:49.  YES! Almost 2 minutes under two hours, and 3 minutes off my previous best half.  Talk about a PR.  Needless to say, I'm feeling pretty great today.  Of course, I'm sure the boxing classes have something to do with my overall endurance, as well as the summer runs in Lynn Woods, but I'm pretty sure it's the longer runs that are making the 13 easier.  Suddenly 13.1 seems so do-able, when you know in just 5 weeks, you have to add on another whole 13.1 to that.  Here's a map of my run, just for fun and a picture too.  I'll try to get some more up later.  Keep an eye out for the porta-potty shot!

Oh btw, my Garmin was about .10 off from the race time/miles, which is why it says 1:59 at 13.1.  I'm going with the race time on this one though!

The end is nigh

Apparently next Wednesday is the last Lynn Woods Run of the season.  What AM I going to do with my Wednesday nights now?  Extra boxing? A new running club? The possibilities are endless.  It's a little sad though, I'll miss the weekly woods runs and all the people around.  Being part of a group is a nice feeling, even if you never talk to anyone outside of your little circle.
Marathon training is still going strong.  There's a half on Saturday in Salem that I am most likely running.  Someone from the woods club had a number that they can't use anymore, so if that works out, I'll be running bright and early Saturday.  At least this time, I can aim for a PR and actually have a goal in mind that I know is do-able.  If you remember my last sanctioned half, I was pretty nervous, and mostly unsure that I could ever finish it in under 2 hours.  I'm still not sure if I can finish in under 2 hours, but I like my chances, as long as the weather stays cool and I take tomorrow as a rest day.
My week has been super busy with workouts, so I'm pretty excited for a rest day.  I've been running or boxing since Sunday, which is not that fun, if you can believe it.  Not much else to update about right now, everything is still chugging along nicely. Oh wait, I know, one more thing.  Tonight I tried spaghetti squash for the first time and I was pleasantly surprised.  What I was expecting was a gross mash of squash that tasted like regular old winter squash, but what it was, was so much more.  At first, it was a bit of struggle to get over the crunchy-ness of the spaghetti threads, but after that, I actually enjoyed it.  I'd eat it again if I had to.

Back at it

Another long run is in the books.  A real long run too, none of this 10 mile weenie crap.  Sorry, that was uncalled for, and after this marathon, 10 miles will go back to being a long run, so don't be offended.  I will regret that statement in due time, I'm sure of it.  Tonight we did 14, following a familiar route.  We started at Tides in Nahant, ran down the beach, through Swampscott, into Marblehead, and then turned around and looped back through Swampscott to Tides again.  Since we went at 5 pm we got to enjoy an awesome sunset over the ocean and a lot of cool air.  Fall running really must be the best.  The air is perfect, the weather is fantastic, and soon enough, there will be awesome Halloween decorations out everywhere.  Salem might be a bit too crowded for running, but it would be some great scenery.

Here's the route we ran tonight.  We had a great time without all the humidity, it was the 3rd fastest half marathon I've ever run.  The fastest still stands as the Run to Remember at 2:01.  All of my running buddies have big races next weekend, so I'm on my own for that I guess.  Two of them are running a half in Salem and the other two are doing the Spartan beast, which is just crazy. 

I don't have many runs planned before the marathon actually.  Just the Electric Run at Gillette Stadium the first weekend in October and the last few Lynn Woods Runs.  There is a 15K or 5K for the running club, but I don't really want to risk that so close to the marathon.  It's 2 weeks before, and with my luck, I'd break something running through the woods.  Plus, from the sound of it, the 15K is a bunch of loops through the woods, which sounds awful because that's a lot of hills.  Most likely, I'll stick to long run Sundays and boxing for endurance.  Then, after the marathon, I can go back to running for fun, which I am really looking forward too.

Oh, one more thing, I made it through Once Upon a Time season 2 (in record time) and I'm pumped for season 3.  And yes, I know the town was frozen for 28 years, but I still don't buy the Snow White, Prince Charming, Emma Swan family thing.  It just doesn't fit with me.  However, I do love Mr. Gold.  My worry is that they're going to turn Peter Pan into something awful and he's one of my FAVORITE story characters, so I really hope they don't.  Lastly, I feel like they could have held off on a spin-off for a few, but whatever.

Once upon a time

Season 2 is finally up on Netflix! WOO WOO!!!!!! I was going to do a lot of things tonight, but suddenly I forgot them all.
Ok, I really wasn't going to do much anyways, except correct some math tests and go to boxing.  I know, I know, I shouldn't skip boxing, but I swear, I'm going tomorrow morning instead! I'm a little worried about the boxing endeavor now that the club has upped the workout ante, but I'll stick to it, because, well, because I paid for it already. Tonight though, tonight is a Netflix, pizza, and maybe some moscato evening.  Depending on how far I make it through, I might actually even correct some of those tests.  Then, Sunday, I'll be back to the long run.  Watch me blow the marathon out of the water in a month.  (Struggle through, whatever you want to call it.)
On a 100% completely unrelated note, how is it even fair in this world that people look like this?

I know it, you know, he's adorable. Don't get me wrong, I love Ryan and I think he's just the handsomest person I know.  But still...this is an unfair life advantage.  If I was ridiculously good looking, I'd be right right now, and in this moment, I could use all the money I can get. 

Back to Once Upon a Time, why haven't they done a cross-over with Harry Potter yet?  That would be FANTASTIC.  I love a good Disney fairy tale, or just a regular Grimm's fairy tale, but Harry Potter would definitely bring this show home.  Speaking of Harry Potter, apparently there's a new movie coming out.  Take a moment and go back to reread that if you have to.  A NEW MOVIE.  BUT, it's this: http://www.buzzfeed.com/ellievhall/jk-rowling-harry-potter-new-movie-fantastic-beasts-newt-scam

So, if you're like me, you probably don't know how to take this news.  I love Harry, but I'm not overly pumped about Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.  I mean, how much Harry Potter is this film actually going to be? WHAT is this film going to be?  I'm so full of questions right now, I don't even know how to handle it! Now, so are you.

Oh, and realistically, there's no way Snow is a believable mother to blondie.  They're obviously the same age.  Nice try, Once.  Since we're on the topic of fairy tales though, if you're a fan of the show, you should check out the Unfortunate Fairy Tale series by Chanda Hahn.  The books are pretty fantastic, even if they are written for young adults (or teenage girls, let's be serious here.) My only issue with the books is actually that the author seems to take way to long to write a book and after reading from her website, seems to act like she's doing us a favor and doesn't even need to write the books.  In short, she seems pretty rude on her website.  I'm willing to overlook that, if the next book comes out in a reasonable time, with a good ending. The books are similar to the show in that they incorporate fairy tales into the story line, complete with some characters.  Right now there are 3 books, and they're a nice easy read if you're looking for one, so get on it.  

I'm still here

I've been having a serious motivation problem lately.  Not about updating, but about getting out and doing my training runs.  Thinking back, I feel like it came on the heels of that awful 17 miler I did about a month ago now.  After failing to run the second half of that at an acceptable pace, I kind of let myself get defeated.  For a while, (read, until today) I really didn't even want to keep going with this whole marathon things.  Seriously, who in their right mind decides to run a marathon, just for fun?  It's not like I'm trying to BQ and I don't really plan on running anymore, so what was the point.  Luckily, thanks to a power hour at boxing today, I finally pulled myself out of that mindset and back into the marathon pump up.
Let's stick with what I know.  I KNOW I can run a half, in good weather, in 2 hours and 1 minute.  So, given the idea that I want to try and come in around 4:30, that leaves me another 2 hours and an extra half an hour to get in the last 13.1.  On top of that, if I can do 17 in 3 hours and 4 minutes, that STILL leaves me an hour and half (give or take a few minutes) to finish the last 9.2.  I know I've done a 15K in 1:34, which is almost exactly what I'll have left.  So, putting it all together, assuming the weather is good, I can make a good start and keep up a fairly regular pace without too many stops, I should be able to come in right around my goal time.  Of course, my goal time is an entire hour slower than what it would take to BQ, which is why I say I'm not even attempting it.  But, I am attempting to finish in a reasonable amount of time.  If for no other reason, I really don't want to run for 5 hours.  Who does?  Especially when I have the prospect of a 6 hour drive home ahead of me after the marathon.
So, I know I slacked, and I know I'll pay for it.  At least I've been boxing on top of my training, so I'm hoping that will improve my endurance.  If you're wondering how power hour got me back into my pumped for the marathon state, it's simple.  Usually there's a trainer or two walking around having people hit the pads while you work on combos. Today there was 4.  That's double the amount that usually circulate.  These four weren't going easy either.  It was always just one more round, just 10 more hooks, a 100% combo burn-out.  In short, there were no excuses.  If the trainer was in front of you, you were going 100%.  Lucky me, I got visited by all  four trainers at different times, therefore forcing me to dig deeper and work harder.  And on the heels of that push, came the push I needed for the marathon.  So, to the awesome trainers at Title, who won't let you quit, thanks for getting me back on track!
You know what else helped?  Ryan telling me that I should just not do it, because it's crazy and who wants to do crazy things.  I know he meant it and didn't mean it all at once.  I think he seriously means it, because he doesn't want to drive down there, and to be honest, I think that's the worst part of all of it, I don't want to make the drive either.  But, I know he didn't mean it, because he doesn't want me to give up, so when I'm whining about actually giving up, he pulls out the old reverse psychology and makes me NOT want to quit anymore.  He's slick, but he knows what works.  And I know even though he hates the whole thing, he'll be at the finish line, being disgusted by the runners and happy for me all at once. So, at least I have that motivation. Thanks Ry!
In other news, I got my donorschoose project funded, so that's all set and it's awesome.  School has been going great this year and all the children seem happy to be back.  I actually made some cool crafts for school, which I'll share later. Right now, I'm trying to stick to marathon training updates.  I want to try and run from heartbreak hill to Copely as a shorter training run, a few weeks before the marathon, just to get a feel for it, and be able to say I at least ran part of Boston.  Other than that, I think I'll stick to regular routes and aim for the 20 miler this weekend.  Here goes nothing!