christine's half/marathon life

I completed a half marathon today...

2009-12-13T20:48:00.002-06:00

formerly called am I ?)(king crazy... (the answer to that question is 'of course', by the way...)

a few days ago, Rick was seriously questioning whether or not he would be able to finish the full White Rock without severly injuring his ankle... he asked me if I wanted to do the half, I said if he wasn't going to do the full, I may TRY the half (no training since September - longest distance was 8 miles). he was kinda wishy-washy about it, so I just said FINE, I'll do the half... **that night**, I got charlie horses in my legs... and the night after as well... and my toenail looked 'off' and felt weird..

so I swore Rick to secrecy.... if I was going to fail miserably, I didn't want the world to know... only person I told was my twin and that was just last night. she's completed a marathon & half before so she was very helpful on the tips...

we stayed at a hotel to be close to the race, J slept in our room and was up - a lot!! sleep for me was sporatic at best...

we left for the parking lot a tad after 5am, getting to what turned out to be the perfect spot... a little sleeping and (too) little eating*... i just was not hungry... had 1/2 piece of marble loaf and a few sips of chocolate milk... tummy was already in gastro distress due to nerves and I didn't want to push things... immodium can only help *so* much... plus, the lines inside the AAC were crazy for the bathroom and this tooshie doesn't touch porto-lets if I can help it!!

I was in wave 'E' aka the slow people's heat... there were people my size, bigger, older, younger... a good mix! there were even the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!! and a guy who ran TWENTY-TWO half/marathons since February 2009! CRAZY!!

it took about 12 minutes to get to the actual start line, no fighter jets this year but confetti was apparently on clearance... lots of it falling..

speaking of falling (sorry, couldn't resist), there was this woman who did fall right at the start line. she was ok and got up right away.. I only mention this cause that is SO!! me.

mile 1 was thru downtown Dallas and way too hilly for my liking... it was funny to see all the bopping heads go up the hill...

the rest of the miles were primarily thru residential neighborhoods... VERY nice houses, a lot of the residents were outside cheering us on... very nice!

one stretch that stands out is mile 7-8... it was basically a (VERY) long u-turn... each 'line' of the U was well over 3/4 mile... it was dreadful!

the last 5k was through the Katy Trail... the only good thing about that was I didn't have to worry about getting hit by a car... yes, although I was not last, I was on the (really) slow side and there were maybe 100 people behind me, so they were opening streets to cars every once in awhile... although I did tell a cop about mile 8-9 to just let a car hit me so it'd be over ...

the bad thing about the Katy Trail is the lack of race support ... what would happen if I really couldn't make it? tripped, whatever?? and the fact that towards the end they had benches... very very bad thing... I'll admit I did sit to stretch for about 25 seconds about the 12 mile marker...

all in all, a crappy race simply due to the fact that I was not adequately trained and was SLOW (!!!!!)... I was so slow I did not get a finisher's shirt... they will supposedly mail me one... I missed the race set time cutoff by less than 5 minutes, but I missed it none the less... so what do i have to show for my efforts, achy body... entire body... from shoulders to tips of my toes, extreme fatigue and an amazing finisher's medal.

IF I choose to do more long distance racing, I WILL properly train...

I just realized

2009-11-01T09:45:00.001-06:00

one of the main reasons I have stopped running... I refuse to leave
for hours on end to train... I KNOW how hard it is with 2 kids and 2
dogs... I don't want to burden anyone with that... _I_ don't feel
burdened by the kids one bit, but the dogs... yup...

but I used to look forward to the weekends cause I got help with dogs/
kids... now doesn't feel like that... it just fucks up my routine..

christine
sent from my iPhone

ewwwww

2009-10-15T21:08:00.001-05:00

one of the most disgusting things..

2009-10-15T19:24:00.001-05:00

I'm shedding my blister like a snake... ewww

not for the faint of heart II

2009-09-28T20:47:00.001-05:00

same toe different foot

not for the faint of heart...

2009-09-28T20:45:00.001-05:00

OW OW OW!!

a piddly 1.38 miles

2009-09-27T11:58:00.001-05:00

and everything HURTS... my feet have re-re-re blistered, my thighs
and hamstrings are tight (sorry, TIGHT), my knees feel on the wonky
side... I'm a mess.. seriously.

feels like I went 13, not 1.3. i guess it doesn't help I'm
'functioning' on 3 hours of sleep.

schedule this week is 4, 6, 3, 11... it's only getting higher...
dunno if my body can keep up with the miles.

christine

owowow!!

2009-09-26T15:08:00.000-05:00

10 mile /fail

4 miles and a killer toe

2009-09-25T21:08:00.002-05:00

i should have stopped at 1.5 miles... omfg ... my toe is swollen to say the least.

10 miles is not going to happen tomorrow. it hurts just to walk. sucks.

my 4 miles was fairly boring. went the same route 3 times ... (had J in tow in the stroller)..

so yeah, blisters hurt like a MF...

so, since im not running tomorrow, sangriaaaaahhhhhhhhh

5 miles with the babe...

2009-09-23T14:10:00.002-05:00

since i refuse to go out when it's dark outside (sidewalks are too uneven and i'm one of the biggest (heh) klutzes i know) and J doesnt care for the gym daycare (cries ... err screams .. the entire time), i decided to try to do a short (HA!!) distance with him in his stroller. it's just a regular Graco, not an 800 dollar jogging stroller, but we'll see...

i've been home for a few hours and i'm still undecided on whether i liked the experience or not... yes, it was more difficult pushing him in the stroller (but i probably burned a few more calories), he slept most of the time (and he doesnt look like he's going to duplicate that rest at home - so no "me time"), i had to stay relatively close to home just in case ... so the route was SO f'ing boring... SO.FING.BORING....

but it was nice getting him outside.. when he was awake, i could tell he was enjoying it... so i'll probably do this once or twice a week while the weather is "OK"... i may just suck it up and do my regular 2.5 mile route (and back to make it 5 miles)

blisters are back on my right foot... same place. the good news is, they didnt start hurting until well into the 4 mile mark - as opposed to the half mile mark last time... tomorrow is an off day then 4 friday and TEN (omgTenMiles!!!) saturday...

a non-running friend

2009-09-19T14:56:00.003-05:00

emailed me and asked why the hell i do this to myself (run) if i hate it so much...

first of all, i really dont HATE it, per se... i hate the blisters and the achy body that i get when i do long distances (and dont stretch after), but the running itself - as long as it's outside *NOT on a dreadmill* - i'm ok with ... i am getting faster and to be honest, the only issues on my 8 miler today were my feet... my hamstrings were ok, right knee was a **tad** wonky towards the end, but nothing to seriously complain about... so yeah, not that horrible...

i just like to bitch and complain... i'm so good at it, it's practically an art! ;)

plus, where else can i burn 1768 calories in a bit over 2 hours!??!

oh lovely blisters...

2009-09-19T13:28:00.000-05:00

these f'ing hurt already...

8.13 miles today...
first blister on heel area. blisters 2, 3, 4 are on toes...
purple .. actually **between** my toes... blister 5 is on pinky toe...

oh running, how I loathe errr love thee

hi ... welcome to

2009-09-14T15:47:00.000-05:00

slackers r us...

im president, ceo, etc....

this can't be good

2009-09-11T05:52:00.001-05:00

right hamstring hurts like a bitch... stretching now and it's not
helping...

maybe I need to start seriously thinking about doing the half...

christine

next few runs..

2009-09-10T12:53:00.001-05:00

I'm going to try to do 5 tonight (no promises.. but I need to do
**something**), 4 tomorrow & 6 Saturday... 15 miles / 3 days...
yay... guess I need to buy some more Muscle Milk to get the cals in
me... mmmmmm... yum!

christine

excuses don't help you cross the finish line

2009-09-09T22:53:00.000-05:00

I was supposed to do 5 miles today but didn't... I could 'blame' Rick for keeping me up late, Joshua for waking me up no fewer than 5-6 times, whatever... it essentially boils down to 'i didn't get my extra large ass out of bed this morning to run'...

normally, it wouldn't be a big deal, but this time it is... I havent skipped a run this training period - until now... and tomorrow is a busy day - Rick is running in the morning & I have stuff to do the rest if the day... I could go to the gym after Rick gets home, but just the thought of 5 on a dreadmill makes my knees ache..

then there's the fact I have 4 Friday & 6 Saturday... that would be 15 miles in 3 days... 13 in 3 was horrid... add another 2??

I guess I'll see how well I sleep tonight...

speaking of - gnite

christine

long run

2009-09-07T14:40:00.002-05:00

well i had my long 'run' yesterday. 6 grueling miles. the first 3 to 4 miles were actually pretty decent. even that stupid hill was "ok"... i turned around at mile 3 and slowly (errr quickly) lost steam / momentum / whatever the fuck i had... by mile 5 i could see where i had to turn and didnt know if i was going to make it.

but i did. it truly sucked, but i made it.

today was supposed to be my 'rest day', but since Rick and i are on the same schedule, i wanted to change it so we had our long runs on the same day (especially since i'm so slow and the long runs are going to take me freaking forever.)

so i went 4 miles today. it actually wasnt *horrible* - well except for the fact that i thought my hamstring was going to snap in half..

i also need to consume more calories... i burned 1,338 yesterday and pretty much that's all i consumed all day... myfoodplate or whatever said i had to eat about 3,000 more calories ... that is after i ate quite a bit for lunch (stuffed french toast, muffin - few bites, etc...). so today i burned 881 cals and went to get a smoothie and smoothie king was closed... gahhhh!

so i'm off tomorrow - supposed to be a strength training day, but 13 miles in 3 days is enough for these old legs.

cheating...

2009-09-05T12:35:00.003-05:00

you know i f'ing hated every step of my 3 miles today. loathed it more than i can even begin to describe. i started out at the high school track and hated it (way too many peeps) and it was just blahhhh... .75 miles. ugh. so i got in the car and went to the gym. "only" 2.25 miles. i can so do this (ha!)

cursing every step. every.single.step. hated it with a passion. then a thought came... i dont "have" to do this... i can just get off and say Nike+ stopped working or i forgot to turn it on or whatever... but i'd really only be cheating myself. really - who gives a flying F if i go the full 3.0 miles? no one... but me.

so if i'm going to do this (and i am), im going to do it right. im not going to cheat myself out of miles (even though Nike+ conveniently does that for me - went 2.25, logged 2.03)...

so i burned 620 calories... that's what i'm going to focus on. caloric burn. cant burn calories by cheating.

just fucking do it, christine. just fucking do it.

race against the clock...

2009-09-03T12:57:00.004-05:00

in week two training for white rock. yesterday, i had my best mile EVER (13:23). today was the exact opposite. it was a struggle to simply do a 15:00 mile. yes, it was a struggle for a simple 4.1 miles an hour. :(

it got to the point where i was wishing they'd come get me because my son was crying... not so lucky.

i'd love to say that i'm SOOOO glad i did it and i feel so good hitting my goal, but i dont. my run sucked, plain and simple. i feel like a fraud even calling it a 'run'... yes, yes... i did get up to 5.5ish (maybe a tad faster, but it wasnt for long).. i took more breaks than i can count (at least 3 - i didnt just slow down, i s.t.o.p.p.e.d...)

only positive side... 767 freaking calories burned.

40 min cross training

2009-06-16T20:26:00.002-05:00

i couldnt decide what to do so i did half of both...

20 minutes on the elliptical & 20 minutes strength training.

strength training:

2 sets, 15 reps each on machines, not free weights.

leg press 100lbs *each leg* (so 30 reps total - 15 reps each leg)

leg extensions 52lbs both legs

leg curls 87lbs both legs

chest press 49lbs

gunna be sore in the morning. i probably could have gone longer on the elliptical, but i didnt have my headphones and i was too lazy to go to the car and get them. oh well, i could use the strength training.

i saw my doctor there while i was stretching... it was kinda weird/awkward... but, hey, at least she knows i'm back at the gym... ;)

40 minutes of fun...

2009-06-15T21:23:00.004-05:00

or something like that.... this is the longest i've been on a treadmill since before Joshua... it sucked... at 12 minutes i was wanting to get off the damn thing... i pushed myself a few times and actually ran the last 1/2 mile non stop... that sucked!!

the other 'spikes', i ran, but it wasnt for long at all... tomorrow is cross train day... i will try to do 40 on the elliptical or 20 & 20 ellip/strength... wednesday is an off day. yay!!

week 2 training

2009-06-14T10:00:00.004-05:00

today is a much needed day off. looks like cardio and cross training are upped to 40 minutes per session this week. we are leaving for Toronto on Friday at 6am! ugh

first long distance training - 5 miles

2009-06-13T11:27:00.005-05:00

lesson learned ... DONT DO strength training in legs the day before your long distance... dammit... my legs were achy at the start..

it was slow ... very very very VERY slow ... like almost 18 minute mile slow ... i did not run at all, hell i didnt even walk quickly (obviously)... but i got my ass up and i put in the miles. i also have to reevaluate my route ... there aren't many hills in Texas, but i found one at the start of my route.... MAYBE when i'm training for the full i'll work on it, but not until i'm in better shape... ugh

i have tomorrow off which is a VERY good thing cause my blisters are starting to get their own blisters .. yep, already. no one who does any distance running/walking has pretty feet ... i'll just have to deal.

i am going to need some new shoes very soon. i couldnt feel the normal cushioning that i normally felt, plus my left 'pointer toe' felt weird ... almost like it was rubbing weird or something... i do not want to lose another toenail... :( that was a nasty experience... but i can see it happening before August... at least it didnt REALLY hurt last time... it was just disgusting to look at ...

strength training - 12 June 09

2009-06-12T21:18:00.003-05:00

well, i was supposed to do 30 minutes of any activity that wasnt running ... i chose too much for my strength training and realized that after i completed 90% of my first set..

first set - 15 reps
second set - 12 reps except i forgot to do calf raises the 2nd set... Rick called me a slacker. :P

floor & free weights:
ball flyes
ball press
one arm overhead extensions
side lateral raise
ball grab*
ball bridge
weighted crunch - 10lb
crunch
lunges
reverse leg lifts
calf raises

on machines:
leg curl - 74lbs both legs at same time
leg extension - 44lbs both legs at same time
leg press - 80lbs one leg then the other

2009-06-12T20:35:00.001-05:00

30 minutes turned into 45+ cause I picked too much... will post later

2009-06-11T20:25:00.001-05:00

30 minute cardio complete.. setting up Garmin now

2009-06-11T13:04:00.001-05:00

supposed to do 30 min cardio today, hope weather cooperates

first day of training

2009-06-10T10:46:00.000-05:00

it was officially supposed to be my day off, but i wanted to kick start it today - basically did yesterday's plan. 30 minutes of cross training.

8 min elliptical
on ball - 2 sets
flyes 15
chest press 15
ball curl 15
ball crunch 35

machines - 2 sets
leg press 80 lbs 15 each leg
leg extension 44 lbs 15 both legs
leg curl 74 lbs both legs

week 1 training

2009-06-10T10:37:00.000-05:00

x = strength / cross train
30 = 30 mins on treadmill
5 = 5 miles

here we go...

2009-06-09T22:51:00.000-05:00

ok, so first post... setting the precedent for the blog ... heh, yeah, whatever.

history:
i lost a ton of weight, ran a 15k @ Disney World, got pregnant, gained 1/4 a ton back, had my gorgeous, perfect son and didnt lose much weight afterwards (mostly cause i sat on my ass and did nothing)..

sooooo ... as motivation, i have signed up for 2 half marathons and one full marathon...
half marathon August 23 - "Hottest Half" in Dallas
full marathon December 13 - White Rock Marathon in Dallas
half marathon March 14 - Rock & Roll Half in Dallas

i just signed up for the Hottest Half, so training officially starts tomorrow ... happy birthday to meeeeee...

here i hope to detail my training and when i run outside, post my garmin runs... let's play....

my old fitness blog - http://gotta--run.blogspot.com/