Spoiler

My recap of yesterday's race will follow soon, I promise. But in the meantime, I thought I would send out this one small spoiler beforehand.

Nailed it (though, today it feels like I'm the one who got nailed). 

I set a new PR for myself.  And in my world, this blows away my previous PR from several years back of 1:56:46.  I, honestly, could not believe my time.  What I mean is,  I truly refused to believe this was my actual time until a couple of hours ago.  You see, my Garmin was apparently way off.  I know it was because it gave about the same time as the actual gun time on finish line, which I knew was wrong since I didn't start near the front or gun time.  But, I still couldn't believe that I had shaved so much off of my pace.  My legs could believe it (OUCH!!!), but I couldn't.  The Hubs kept telling me that the results were right because he was watching my starts and splits times the whole race and he swears it all matches up.  I've even stalked all of he comments on the race Facebook page to see if anyone has reported too-fast results.  Nope.  Apparently, this is legit.  I actually killed this race.  I think it set in just as I typed it.  A new PR!

One Day And Counting....

We are at one day and counting for the BCS Half Marathon. Actually, as I write this, it's 11 hours and counting. 

I woke up feeling really sore and tight this morning, so I spent about half and hour foam rolling and then another half hour stretching. I keep a yoga sequence saved on my tv for days like this, but this morning I wasn't feeling it, so I just searched YouTube for 'stretching for runners' and found a great video (do you still call them videos?!?  I guess "video" died along with Blockbuster stores, huh?). 

Pigeon Pose

After doing around-the-house chores for the rest of the morning, it was time to pack up for the race. Let me tell you, this is very stressful for a runner. The idea of getting all of the way out of town without my socks or Garmin or Lord-forbid, my shoes is terrifying. I must have ticked off my running list five times before finally deciding I had it all (please let me have it all!). 

We drove straight to the expo for packet pickup. Expos are always fun. I rarely buy anything, but I love looking. 

Luckily, I have an amazing friend from college who lives up here and she is letting us crash at her place (visit a long-time friend and have a free place to stay, this race weekend is already awesome!). She took us out for dinner tonight at Amico Nave and the pasta was AMAZING.  Of course it would have been better with wine...

Not my actual meal.  I ate mine way too quickly for there to be pictures.

And now it's all about the couch and bad Saturday TV movies. 

On The Bright Side

This work week has been looooong. It's been stressful and busy (not really bad, just super busy...and stressful... and busy... did I mention that already??). Several times I found myself thinking, "I am way too busy, this stuff will never get done before my deadlines, and there is no way I can go out of town for a race this weekend."

But, then two things happened that have me looking on the bright side. First, it's Friday. Things always look brighter on Friday!  Second, I opened Facebook and saw these from the race coordinators. This made me very happy and very excited to run this weekend:

 

And even the weather is looking on the brighter side. A teeny tiny bit. 

And what makes me the happiest of all?  Carb Loading. 

Not So Encouraging

Well, this isn't exactly the most encouraging of news:

 

 

I keep telling myself not to worry, the weather in Texas changes ever hour  (or is that just Houston??).  Unfortunately, this forecast hasn't changed in days.  It's looking like it's going to be a wet half marathon in College Station for me.

 

I don't mind too much that it is going to rain while I run.  What I mind is that it might be raining while I wait to run.  That is the absolute worst!  I can't stand just standing in the corral waiting to run as rain pours down on my head.  It's not natural.  What's natural, when the sky opens up on you, is to try to get the hell out of the weather and find a nice, warm, dry spot where you can wait it out.  That, or at least pop an umbrella out over you. 

 

Time to turn this negative thinking around.  They say never to stress about things that you have no control over (you remember that I'm trying to work on my stress levels, right?).  And, the weather is certainly one of those things that I have absolutely no control over.  It is what it is.  I will run on Sunday come rain or shine.  But, if whoever does control the weather is asking, my vote is for shine.

 

 

**What's your favorite rain/run gear?  If it's raining, even a little, I throw on my trusty visor.  It keeps the water off of my face and out of my eyes.  I'm iffy on rain jackets.  I have a great running rain jacket, but I always get hot and sticky in the rain, so I usually skip it if I'm actually going to be running. 

7-Eleven

Seven facts about my eleven mile run this morning:

1.  I decided to take it nice and slow today. I've been pushing pace a lot lately and figured it was time to trust in my speed and just get the miles in. Thank you to my neighbors for reminding me to take it easy. 

2. Pretty sure this is illegal or something, but it still made me smile. 

3.  Anything over 10 miles requires some serious distraction for me. I love my marathon mix and all, but today's run called for a new audiobook. So far, it's pretty entertaining. Thank goodness the trail was relatively empty this morning, because I found myself laughing out loud. 

4.  I was overdressed again. It's December, so my brain tells me it's time to layer up. After three miles, my body tells me to stop listening to my stupid brain!  By the time it was over I had my shirt tied around my waist and my headband around my wrist and I was still hot. Tank tops in December... thanks Houston. 

I haven't had much sleep this weekend and damn, it shows!  Remember when we were young and could go without any sleep and still look fresh-faced and relaxed?

5.  The fence decorators are at it again. 'Tis the season. 

6.  Got two thumbs up today.  This one was the first: 

The second came from a passing bicyclist passing. As I ran, I heard from behind the usual, "On the left." But then as the cyclist passed me, he gave me a big thumbs up and yelled, "You're going great."  Thank you stranger. You reminded me why I love it on the long run with all of you other people. 

7.  And, the first rule of fight club is...

***Bonus pic: 

I have a very sweet husband. He may sleep through all of my long runs, but at least he knows how to feed me afterward. 

Single (Digit) Minded Thinking

Well, we are officially single digit numbers away from race day.  In nine days I will have run my last half marathon for the year.  2014 training will be over.  And that's got me thinking....

 

Pre-Race Thinking.

I can't help but thinking I'm under prepared.  As I the race approaches and the realization that in nine days I have to run 13.1 miles hits me, I can't help but second guess myself.  I can't help but think I didn't train long enough or hard enough.  I know it sounds crazy because I've spent a long time in training (due to almost back-to-back half-marathons) and I've followed my training program really well, but there is still that voice whispering, "it's not enough."  I think this feeling simply comes from the fact that a half-marathon does not take as long to train for as a full marathon.  Because I keep my weekly long runs at a decent distance year-round, I'm never starting from the couch-stage.  I can usually get in shape distance-wise relatively quickly for a half marathon.  Maybe it's because of that that I find myself always doubting my preparation as a race approaches.

I'm also starting to think about tapering.  Knowing that this weekend's long run is the last significant run I will do before the race is a weird feeling.  I may throw in a short easy run early next week, but I am basically down to one more training run.  Tapering is such a weird feeling.  You know that your legs need the break, but your brain starts going a little crazy while you wait to run.

Post-Race Thinking.

I'm not going to lie, I've already got my eyes on a nice little training break starting in ten days.  I'm not going to say that I won't run at all for the rest of the year, but I sure won't do any training for the rest of 2014.  I don't know exactly how to explain it, but running while you're training is just different than running for the sake of running alone.  It has that "have to" element to it and after months and months, it feels less like a choice and more like a job.  I'm looking forward to a nice little break.

 

And, knowing that I have a nice little break coming up has me thinking of what I'm going to do with my extra time.  No. 1 on the list: drinking on Fridays!  What can I say?  It's the holiday season and I don't need any more reason that that for wanting some Friday wine.  Also on my list for things to do with my spare non-training time: Bar Method.  I have noticed that my muscles just aren't what they were earlier this year.  I've only been averaging about 2 classes per week lately and I am SO ready to get back to 4 classes a week.  I can't tell you, although I always do,  what Bar Method does for making me feel strong and lean and what feeling strong and lean does for my self-esteem.  Okay, so that's about it.  After nine days, drinking and Bar Method are going to be my main goals for the remainder of 2014.  They may not noble, or very compatible goals, but nonetheless, they sound good to me.

Relax?!?!

Relax --  It's one of my least favorite words and one I don't react all that well to hearing.  Just ask my husband how, "calm down," goes over in our house.  Relax.... yeah, as if it's that easy.

 

Lately, I've been hearing the phrase, "relax," more than I would like.  In the last couple of months, I've had numerous medical tests (none of them fun or relaxing) and the good news is, there is no evidence of any disease or injury or other medical condition.  I am healthy!  The bad news is, there is no explanation for my symptoms and no treatment for the pain.  Do you know what my doctor keeps telling me?  He keeps telling me that I need to relax (now obviously, he hasn't talked to my husband about what that phrase does to me). He says that my symptoms are likely stress induced and that I just need to work on being less stressed.  You can only imagine how relaxing it is to be told that there is nothing that can be done for your symptoms and that you will continue to face extreme pain, unless you learn how to remove all stress from your life and live in peaceful tranquility.  Just in case  you didn't catch it, that last sentence was loaded with sarcasm. 

As you can imagine, I haven't been very happy about being told to relax.  In fact, I've been pretty un-relaxed about the whole damn thing.  I've told anyone who would listen (willingly or unwillingly) how absolutely stupid it is to be told to relax.  I mean, WTH?!?!  RELAX!?!?  As if it's that easy.  As if I have some sort of choice in the matter.  Life is STRESSFUL.  I am STRESSED.  I don't like being stressed.  Of course I don't want  to be stressed.  Of course, being relaxed and peaceful all of the time sounds wonderful.  It's not like I'm intentionally choosing to be stressed....

 

And then there it was, right in that exact spot of my monologue.  There was that voice.  I don't know where it comes from (inside, the Universe, God??), but you know what voice I'm talking about.  And you know what that voice said, right then, right when I was lamenting about how I'm not choosing feeling this way??  It said:

 

"Oh, but you are."

 

BAM!!  So, there it is.  Oh, but I am.  I am choosing to be stressed.  Stressed isn't something that is done to me, it is a choice I make about how to react to my circumstances.  Sure, things happen that are out of my control, but my reaction to those things is 100% under my control.  Isn't that some bittersweet news?  It's so easy to blame everyone and everything else for making you feel stressed out (it's not my fault, it's the fault of my job, my lover, my friends, etc.).  It's so hard to accept responsibility for the not so great feelings you are having.  But. isn't it also nice to know that we have the power to change how we are feeling?  Just as I have chosen to feel stressed out for the last.....I don't know, all of my life, I can now choose to RELAX.

 

But, how?

 

Now, that's the question.  How do I break the cycle of responding to life with stress by choosing calm?  I think it's going to be very long and very deliberate process.  Changing ones habits is never easy.  But, I've come up with the first step in my quest for relaxation:

 

RECLASSIFICATION - I came up with this theory as I was going through the list of all of the things I have to do during a day that make me feel stressed out.  As I made my list, I realized that the majority of things on the list were actually not things I "had" to do, but things that I "wanted" to get done or things that "could be done" or things that "could wait."  Not everything from 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. were things that I had to do.  I need to reclassify all of the "haves" on my list to what they really are. Reclassifying doesn't mean I won't still jam all of the things on my list into my day, but when I'm not staring at a day full of things I have to do and instead looking at a day full of some things that I have to do, but plenty of other things I want to do, or would like to do, it's suddenly not so stressful.  Instead of being upset because I HAVE to get to the gym by 5:30, I can be happy that I'm getting to do something I want by working out in the morning.  It's all about perspective.  Doing things you want to do is way more fun than doing things you have to do. 

 

 

Like I said, I think the road to stress-free for me is very long and certainly won't be solved by reclassification alone, but if I start now with one small baby step, somewhere in the long run maybe I'll manage to find this relaxation thing everyone keeps talking about.