breath, move and focus

as i'm sure was the case in many a household this week, we were BUSY with M's elementary school graduation, Father's Day plans and bouncing from facility to facility at work. i put in the extra effort to squeeze all my runs in for a grand total of 39 miles...woohoo! i'm feeling good about my new running schedule too.


i did yoga this morning....it's been awhile....and oh, how my poor muscles rebelled! still, i found comfort in a few of my favorite poses and lingered there for awhile as the class moved on. i like this particular class alot and now with my long runs getting done on saturday i'll be going on sunday mornings more often.

yesterday's long run of 11 miles wasn't nearly as emotional as last week. seems i'm settling into my skin a little better and not feeling totally sorry for myself. i have alot to be thankful for and it's all right under my nose half the time.

i'm not going lie and say it's all good again and that i'm not a little lonely sometimes when training but i know this " phase" i'm going through has a purpose. as much as i want to connect with other active humans the relationships i need to nuture are closer to home.

it is absolutely gorgeous outside. we're planting pumpkins and sunflowers out in the front yard and basically sprucing things up around here.

Happy Father's Day to all who have assumed those duties ....male or female....and if you haven't already, let that special someone know you love their guts!

Group Run

so, i met up with the wednesday night trail run group finally. the run was at Sibley...a place i know well...no getting lost this time. it was a pretty diverse group as far as age goes but they were all pretty fast (though a few of them cut the run short) it wasn't long before i was left in the dust. a hot and hilly 7 miler that i would never have done alone after work, so it was all good.

incendiary thoughts

i deleted yesterday's post. it was an honest account of how i felt at the time but it's a bit of a downer and i didn't want it around anymore. writing and posting was enough. deleting it feels like taking a match and setting it on fire.

i'm not apologizing or anything i'm just feeling less emotional about things today but because those heavy thoughts accomapanied me every step of that 16 plus mile run yesterday i couldn't post about it without including what was actually going on in my mind.

incremental progress is still progress.

Change of Plans

well i never hooked up with the group. not for lack of effort or fear. i just have no sense of direction and couldn't find them. i thought i knew where the meeting place was and because i accidently deleted the directions i called and asked for them over the phone. while the guy on the other end was quite friendly he wasn't quite sure how to get me there from where i was coming from. after a few minutes i thought i understood and proceeded to Briones staging area.

from what i could remember of the directions though i should of been at a EBMUD trail head but of course i didn't really make that connection until about a half hour after the scheduled mtg time. so after the initial anxiety wore off i switched over to annoyed and contemplated just going home. but as fate would have it i noticed a few solo runners heading out.

as i sat in my car debating on what to do a car pulled up next to me . it had a handicap placard and a rather large older woman emerged from the vehicle. she wasn't a runner but was there to get her walk on. i watched for a minute as she headed for the trailhead and slowly worked her way down the path.

it was she that got me motivated to move my ass. it was a bit after 7pm by this time. instead of taking arbrigo trail i opted for the shorter but steep motts peak. the first 20 minutes bit bad. i really wasn't into running much less climbing right off the bat!

my goal was 3-4 miles walking or running and i decided to stop stressing and just enjoy the scenery. as i rounded the corner i noticed one of the runners from earlier and waved as we passed eachother. she was happily bouncing down as i labored my way up. i didn't know at the time but she had just finished one hell of a climb herself from the opposite direction.

isn't it funny how some hills can look scarier than they really are? in my already not-in-the mood-to-run state of mind the hills were downright evil but as i got closer they really weren't so bad.....that is, until i saw what lie ahead.

as i crested the last hill i saw "THE MOTHER OF ALL HILLS" i swear to god, this hill was steep and a mile long. i immediately perked up cause i happened to be at the top of this sucker and was in for a fun fast descent. my mood changed instantly and i bounced at full speed all the way down.

i got back to the car another 20 minutes later and came home to BBQ steak dinner.

so, i'm glad i didn't let my temper and negative tude get the better of me and now i have a new challenge at Briones. when i go back i'll definitey check this trail out from the opposite direction.

 

thunder thighs
man calves
thick ankles
born to run trails.
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Do one scary thing everyday

a new run/swim shop recently opened up near my neighborhood. i p/u a few things and noticed the manager was a 30 something woman i had met before at another store. the sales associates were all YOUNG. i overheard a couple of them talking about their track and field conquest and was immediately intimidated.

they have a group that meets on wednesday nights at various trails. i haven't gone yet because i'm a chicken butt and am worried that it will be a bunch of young track hotshots and i'll be the only frumpy middle aged woman.
T agreed to p/u M so i could meet up with the group tonight since there meeting at Briones which is on my way home.

aahhh.....i'm working today and would really like to check out this run...partly because you need a permit to run there and i can access it with this group...but i'm SCARED i'll be too slow


i don't know if i'm gonna go or not.....but i'll pack my gear...just in case i stop being a chicken butt.

If it doesn't kill you it must be good for you.

occasionally i will post a question on my blog. last week i was wondering about speedwork and running frequency. neither question was answered and it got me thinking that when that happens i usually already know the answer and am merely looking for confirmation.

so i've determined that YES i can take 2 days off and be prepared to COMPLETE my marathon. as for track vs tempo/fartlek all of it is necessary to build speed and endurance... considering my goal for this race is to have the endurance to finish preferably with my dignity intact and i want to have some kick left in me in those final miles.

i jogged a couple of warm-up miles and then ran 3 sets of 440's at the track. i took walk breaks in between stopped to stretch and drink a little.
nothing special. it's still so hard. i just do the best i can. clearly i'm not built for speed. bleh!

oh well, off to the salt mines. have a good one:)