Train Twice, Race Once

      7 Comments on Train Twice, Race Once

So, as mentioned in a super-short post on Monday, I ran 11 miles on Saturday!

I have to admit, I really love being able to say that.  Even more, I love just casually mentioning to people that I ran through three cities last weekend. 😉 Okay, “through” is kind of a misnomer.  I didn’t run through Gibraltar—I started on the edge of it and then came back to the starting point at the end.  But I totally ran through Flat Rock and Rockwood!  It was definitely a fun thing to do.  And exhausting.  😀

I ran for about a mile and a half before I stopped briefly to take the cow picture.  Cows are cool, you know. 😛  Actually, I was just so enamored of passing cows on my run, especially when you consider that the area in which I ran was actually less rural than where I live, that I had to get a shot.  After that, I ran straight until I hit mile 6, when I stopped in downtown Flat Rock.  I ate half a GU and took some water while I walked for a bit, maybe 1/10th of a mile.  Then I stopped to do a quick IT band stretch before I started up again.  It was right after that that I discovered a surprising fact—there were no sidewalks after I got out of downtown Flat Rock. 😮 Oops!  I failed to check into that before I plotted out my course.  Running on the side of the road was a challenge at times, but I did it.

Right around the time I got to the Rockwood village limits, the sidewalk returned…yay!  I also took a quick break to snap a shot of the “Welcome to Rockwood” sign. (True confession: the other two sign pics were taken after the fact.)  I ran all the way into and partially out of downtown Rockwood (*snort* that’s kind of glorifying the village, but you can call their central area a “downtown” if you stretch it a little 😉 ).  At mile 9, I stopped to walk again, because although it was darn cold when I started (low 40s), it was getting warmer pretty quickly and I was getting tired.  I walked about 5/100ths of a mile (.05), long enough to take a drink and then spray some water on a squirrel that got too close to me (did I mention I dislike squirrels immensely?), and then I was off again for the last 2 miles.

Just like every run, as I got to the end, I was counting the steps until I was finished. (Which is funny, because I do that with 3 mile runs just as much as I do with 11-mile runs!) When I hit 11, I was still at least a quarter mile from my car, so I just walked and let my breathing return to normal.  In those few moments when I was done, I would have told you there was no way I could’ve done two more miles to make it to a half-marathon, lol!  But after I had a chance to catch my breath, I felt better, and most importantly, I felt really accomplished!

Not bad for a girl who has been running only about a year, I think!

I ran again on Monday with DS#1, who had a five-miler scheduled for before church on Sunday that we had to postpone because my husband didn’t get home from work in time. But luckily, it was a holiday weekend, so we were able to go out and do it on Monday morning.  He actually asked me if we could go to a specific Metropark (the same place where I hurt my knee two months ago!).  I figured it would be good for me to conquer that park a second time to help me truly rid my demons, and we did.

He did a great job!  He stopped three times, including one time to remove his long-sleeve Under Armor shirt which proved to be rather difficult for him due it getting stuck on the Garmin.  He started to get frustrated because he was so intent on trying to keep a good pace, but I told him it was okay to stop and fix it…the point was to finish, not to go at break-neck speed.  We had a good time and he really enjoyed his first run with GU. 😉

After the run, I came home to weigh myself, and was less than excited with the results.

Back up to 118, which puts me once again 5 pounds above my goal weight.  I have been so frustrated about this—how can a girl who ran 21 miles in a week and is following a maintenance program still gain weight?! I got so frustrated that I even bought another scale.  Yes, I am that desperate. Sadly, while the new scale showed me to be a little bit lighter than the old one, it wasn’t enough to make me say, “Ha! See! I told you my scale was totally wrong!” The new scale does have body fat and water composition measurements, so I’ll be able to start tracking that, at least.

But for now, I’ve finally decided it’s time to Get Serious about getting off this extra 5 pounds, and for that, I have officially gone back to full-on “weight loss” mode in my Weight Watchers eTools.

Ugh.  That’s not many points! But besides that, I’ve also recommitted myself to the following:

  1. Weigh and measure.  Turns out I’m good at eyeballing some things (rice, pasta, chicken, beef) and bad at others (cereal, wine, chocolate in any form).  Of course, it’s my favorite things that I’m having trouble with. I’m sorry, but who the hell ever thought that ¾ cup of cereal constitutes a serving?!
  2. No eating after 8pm.  This is tough for our house, because we typically eat late.  I’ve failed the last two nights, but I’m trying! And I’ve at least been able to stick to “no eating after 9pm.”   It’s hard, though—I’m a big “pre-bedtime snack” person!
  3. Get 8 hours of sleep.  I’d like to say I’m doing well with this, but…um, no.

One reason I decided to go back to weight loss mode is because I knew I would be earning a lot less activity points this week.  You see, I’ve decided to take this week as a mostly resting week because…

…wait for it…

…wait for it…

I’m running 13.1 miles on Sunday!!!

Yes, you read that right, I’m planning to do a half-marathon this coming Sunday, June 2nd.  {gulp} It was just a couple of weeks ago, after my 9-mile run, that I decided my body was probably ready to try for another half marathon, so I signed up for the Dexter to Ann Arbor Half-Marathon.  I’m excited if only for the fact that it’s another opportunity to “run with a purpose”—you actually run from one city all the way to another.  And as I’ve mentioned before, this map-loving girl loves to travel the roads and see new places!

Why have I kept this quiet until now?  Well, after my injury in March, just three short weeks before my original half-marathon, I was really hesitant to sign up for another one.  Honestly, the mental barriers were even greater than the monetary one.  It wasn’t just that I didn’t want to waste another $50…I didn’t want to fail again at achieving this very important goal I’d set for myself.  I also didn’t want to have the disappointment of having to publicize my failure at completing it after having told so many people that I’d signed up for it.

In fact, I have told very few people that I’m running a half on Sunday.  Pretty much the only folks who know are my sister, my mom (who is watching my kids the night before and then bringing them to the race for me), and my running friends Renee, Katie, and Jessica.  All three of them have been very excited for me, and have been so amazingly supportive as I’ve kind of tentatively taken this big step.  Renee is even going to take me to the race and drop me off so I don’t have to worry about parking and taking the shuttle to Dexter!!

I’ve also told many of my coworkers, since I felt the need to explain why I took Monday off work. 😉  Thankfully, they’ve all been very supportive as well.

I’m nervous and excited, but I really think that I’m as ready as I’m going to get.  Is my knee feeling great? No, definitely not.  But it’s feeling good enough, I think, and at this point, I just want to run a half-marathon already!!

Have you ever heard that carpenter’s expression, “Measure twice, cut once”? The idea is that you should be very careful about measuring so that your cut is as accurate as possible.  Well, for the last several weeks, I’ve been feeling like I’ve trained twice to race once.  I really do feel like I’ve trained for two half-marathons, and in reality, I pretty much have. All those hours and hours spent running in the freezing cold over the winter, right up until I was injured, pretty much constituted an entire training schedule.  Then, after my injury, when I started again, I had to ease into it, going back to 2.5 miles as my “long” run and working up from there.  After all that training—times two!!—I am so ready to be done with training and just run a damn race!!

I’ve taken it easy this week, with just one easy 3-miler today to help my son keep up with his training program.  He has to run 5.5 on Saturday, but I will be biking alongside instead of running.  I probably shouldn’t even be exerting myself that little bit the day before my half, but someone has to accompany him—he’s only 11, you know! 😉

For now, I’m taking it easy, eating less, trying to sleep more, and getting mentally prepared for Sunday.  I’m excited and hope to have a really great race report for you next week.  Thank you all for the support and encouragement these past several months—it all comes down to Sunday!! 😀

Thanks for reading!

7 thoughts on “Train Twice, Race Once

  1. Jenn

    Woot! Way to go, Steph… good 1/2 marathon thoughts headed to you for the weekend.
    BTW – I :heart: cows too and detest squirrels.
    OMG – I can’t believe you ran 11 miles in less than 2 hours (me thudding right now).

    Hang in there with the weight loss. I missed my meeting on Tuesday and I am not feeling very confident right now. Visiting family and having Mom cook for me is not a recipe for success. I did go shopping and bought lots of good things, but portion control is definitely not my friend when it comes to some of my family favorites (that I hardly ever get anymore). Nervous about facing the scale next week, but it will be what it will be. Just have to stay positive and recommit.

    Sending you loads of positive energy for both your race and plan.

    Reply
  2. Kelsey

    I actually thought of you today as I was running by cows! It’s pretty hard for me to go on a run in or around my town without passing a cow or two. When I run in the big city there are none.

    AND YAY!!! You’re so ready for that half! I’m super stoked to hear about it!

    And…congrats to the kid! That is a long ways! He’s going to be a marathoner someday! Think about how much this running (your running) could impact his life for the positive!

    Reply
    1. steph Post author

      Thanks, Kelsey! I’m really excited, too. And I like to think that my running influence is having a positive impact on him. Hopefully it’s not something he’ll need therapy for later. 😉

      Reply
  3. Dena

    I’ve never really had issues with squirrels haha..but geese. Oh man. I will turn and run the other way. I don’t like them one bit at all.

    You are such an encourager :0) I really sometimes only post because I know you are going to read it. Haha..And I feel like you are the only one sometimes. So there. And I will make it. And one day I will be crazy and do a half marathon like you 😉 And I probably won’t be able to keep it a secret, cause I would have to tell everyone in the world about it so I would actually train to do it! Geez!

    Good luck!

    Reply

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