Week's Recap

 I discovered how to access the elevation changes of my runs.Since  I am a data obsessed engineer, more data = happy Rena.

Non running things that happened:
-Convinced my guy friends to drive 30 minutes from campus to hit up a KFC. Then washed that down with a donut. But it's cool, I'm a runner.
-Got over my fear of running in tight long running pants. Since the weather has been getting cooler, I had to get over this fear sometime.
-Went for a spontaneous bubble tea excursion with a friend.

Yay sugar! I love long runs that allow me to consume extra calories.  

- Bought a pair leg warmers when I saw them on sale. I've always loved them but didn't wear them because I have short non-dancer legs. But I run now, and I'll wear whatever I want to. 

I pretend that I'm a dancer with my legwarmers. 

Monday: 5 miles 9:07/mile pace.
Even though this is faster than I normally run my easy runs, it felt good. And I was able to hold it.

Tuesday: Rest


Wednesday: 3 miles 9:33/mile
I decided that I was going to start following a training plan and start doing tempos and intervals. So I took it easy for preparation for Wed. I kept what was supposed to be my easy speed. It felt like I was going super slow, but it didn't feel easy.

Thursday: Rest
I was planning on a midnight run with the bf after getting all our work done, but didn't happen. Notice that also speedwork or tempos didn't happen. Right after my 3 miler, I decided that intervals and tempos were stressful and that I wanted to put it off.

Friday: 5 miles 8:29/mile
After a mile, I decided to really push the pace, even up a hill. I ran all the way up to the stables at my school. And used it as an excuse to stop/take pictures. I didn't get any good pics with my phone and managed to scare the horse. But I did have a great paced run.

I powered through the  beginning even though it's almost all uphill. 

Saturday: Planned 8 miles
Didn't happen.

Sunday: 8 miles 9:30/mile
Dragged myself out for 8 miles. It was miserable and slow, but at least I got it done. And I managed to justify why I wasn't following a training plan for my goal half. I convinced myself that I had a mental block against distances over 5 miles, so I just need to focus on running longer even during week days. Planning workouts during running is like going shopping when hungry. Not a good idea! I wanted to quit after 5 miles, but the bf joined me for the last 3 miles. Running is always easier with a buddy.

My bf, AKA running buddy. He's the one in the middle, not the kid on the left. That would make me a pedophile. 

It's great to have running buddies.

My running buddy when I'm visiting my bf's house. Best part is that he lives on a farm, so no leash for the dog.  He just sort of trots next to me or goes off and comes back every once in a while. No fighting with a leash! 

What was your favorite moment of your week? I hope it was filled with good runs. It's Monday tomorrow, have a happy run filled week! 

Race Recap

I lost. And even though I expected it, it kind of sucked. Mainly because at this race, by losing, I was dead last. And this race was a huge mental struggle. In fact, I feel that I may have burned more calories from my neurons firing and me doing weird stuff than the actual run itself.

One good thing, some of my friends came to cheer me on.

She was the first to get here. She even wore a pretty dress to cheer me on. Although, she usually dons pretty dresses so maybe it wasn't all for me. This was also the starting line at my school's arts quad. 

And then we took some failed jumping photos of the atheletes. 

I've been the one on the left. If you were confused about my gender. And we spent the better part of last night looking for dorky white head bands and a baton for the boys. 

But then everything went downhill. The first leg guy ran the leg really fast. In the beginning, I sort of kept up with him. And then I saw my pace and realized I needed to slow down. but idiot me kept a fairly consistant fast pace. Let's just say that the first three miles were faster than my goal half marathon pace for a flat race (8:45/mile)  and that was me slowing down.

Then it was time for the second leg and I didn't see the second legger at all. This was the starting point of blisters! (For the record, I did go out and buy specialty running socks). And self doubt. I began to question why I was doing this when i should be logging my required 12 miles with my clif shot blocks to try out before the half and doing it at a consistent long run pace. I got so angry at myself, I didn't know whether to harness it to run faster or just sit down in the middle of the road and cry. I did neither. Then I started hating my bfriend who basically set me up to lose and do it so horrifically with blisters and chafing just because he wanted to run a relay with his friends. Yup, the
chafing started too. And this made me question why I signed up for another half in two weeks when it would just be discouraging and painful. But I kept on chugging along, albeit a lot slower, but my legs were pumping.

I guess misery loves company, cause then my brain went on to all the things I had to do for this weekend and how behind I felt in some of my things. And also how I haven't logged as many miles as i wanted this month. Then sometime, the second leg ended and I tortuously started the third leg, even though all I wanted to do was just turn away from the course and sleep. Third leg was where i really lost time, because I kept on having to stop and dry heave. Maybe it was the temperature or that I only had huge drinks of water every three miles, I started feeling like I actually had to throw up.

I am fairly certain that I went crazy somewhere in the middle. Because I took off my top and started running in my sports bra even though I never do that. I just wanted to cool down and keep on running. I figured it would just look ridiculous to walk in just a sports bra. Yup, told ya I went crazy. But I did finish out the race.

And despite everything, I am not dropping out of the half that I'm signed up for. I guess I will have a horrific run and it's better that I get all this out of my system now rather than in three weeks. And I'm proud that despite everything, I didn't stop and cry. I didn't turn around and go home. I didn't give up and just walk the entire thing. And my garmin caught from the beginning! And I guess what makes me a runner is that despite the fact that I sometimes wanna never run again, I do continue. And I do lace up my sneakers and go on the next run. Because not running is way worse than a terrible run. And I will always have friends that cheer me on no matter what.

Besides, that was the worst run possible right? How much horrible can my next half be? Oh, the course wasn't exactly 9 miles, it was more like 8.7 and I ran it in a slightly faster than 10 minute per mile pace thanks to the last leg. But I did round out to a 9.2 miles by running a little more at the end.