13.1

Well, there was some bitter and some sweet. First the bitter. It was cold as balls....colder than balls, really. I woke up at 4:15, got to the finish line at 5, rode the bus to the starting line at 6, then found out that the race was postponed until 7:30. I sat in the Freescale careteria for over an hour before waiting 15 minutes in line for the porta potty. That's not even the good part. At about 8.75 miles, we were crossing Mopac on a bridge. I had a pebble in my shoe so I thought it would be a good idea to jump onto the sidewalk and get the pebble out. However, the sidewalk was completely iced over, so I slipped and fell. I fell mostly on my ass, but managed to pull something in my knee, which initially hurt really really bad.

OK, now on the good part. When I fell, I was totally kicking ass (for me) on my pace. I didn't want to give that up so I gritted my teeth and kept on running. The fact that I could still run was also a good thing. I passed the 10 mile mark at 1:48, beating my 10 mile run by 8 minutes! I ended up finishing in 2:20, which was a 10:41/Mile pace, almost a minute faster than my 10 mile run. Overall, I'm very pleased.

When I got home, I still felt ok, until I took a shower. When I got out, I was cold, way cold, and I couldn't get warm. I think I just didn't have enough blood sugar left to warm myself. It was pretty intense. So, I'm sitting here in multiple layers of clothes and a blanket, with the heater on, a roaring fire, and a heating pad. I ate an orange, drank a cup of coffee, and then had a Sonic double cheeseburger, fries (no guilt, I assure you) and am finally getting warm. The knee hurts, but less after 3 ibuprofen. The kids are asleep, I'm watching copland, life is good.

Now, after a short (hopefully with the knee) rest, I'm going to start working on my speed, starting with the Cap 10K.

getting ready to freeze my patooties off

I've been enjoying the nice weather in the last two weeks leading up to the half marathon. I've been taking it easy, not even wearing the GPS since I've been "rest" running. Yesterday's running weather was positively balmy. That's all about to change though, starting with tomorrow's run (40's). What's worse, its probably going to be in the 40's and raining on the morning of the race..... Suckage.

Looking like a solo race for me as I haven't been in touch with Reagan regarding running the race together. Although the race ends up at Northcross mall (right by my mom's house), I think the weather is going to work against having anyone cheering for me. That's ok though. Some of my best runs have been solo, and I'll still have somewhere to dry off and change clothes right after the race. I'm planning on parking at the mall (at 5AM...ugh) and then riding the shuttle to the starting line. That way, after I'm done, I'll have the car right there.

One other thing I'm kind of excited/amused by is the fact that they have a special clydesdale division for men over 190 lbs. You have to get yourself weighed at when you go pick up your packet. I think they should have a "big dog" division for men over 250, but that's just me. I'm going to try and get myself entered in that group for fun.

10 miles yesterday

Yesterday morning's run started and ended at Barton Springs. When I got there, I already knew that Justin and John were going to be out, but waited a little while for Reagan since he had said he was going to show. Reagan didn't show. So, at the first, I was a little disappointed at having to run by myself. However, I have to say that doing the run solo was a lot of fun. Very peaceful. I didn't even take the mp3 player, just listened to the morning sounds of the hike and bike trail. It was a pleasant surprise how good it felt, too. I was taking my sips of gatorade every 15 minutes per the plan, and running pretty fast (about 11:35/mile). I ran the whole 10 miles and then took off my shoes and soaked in barton springs for about 10 minutes. Man, did that feel good! I think that that's going to have to be a regular deal on the long runs.

After thinking about it for a while, I decided that I deserved to feel this good not only because I had put in the training, but also because I had been really careful about my diet and about getting my rest the day before. I think I'm a believer in the whole diet thing now.

Anyway, this was the peak for the training prior to the half marathon itself in two weeks. I'm excited, I think its going to be fun.

P.S. I feel pretty good today too. The ankles held up better than I was expecting. Woo hoo!

Everything Hurts

Today was tough running, although it was only 3 miles. My ankles and shins are noticing what I'm doing to them these days. John had some aches and pains as well. I think I'm hitting a wall of what my body will put up with if I don't accompany the exercise with changes in diet and getting a lot more sleep. I've also found out that I don't have the time, energy, and youth to exercise enough to make up for my diet. I saw some early results just from exercise, but I'm going to have to change the diet and the sleep to keep making progress. Sunday's 10-mile looms. I'm hoping its not going to kill me and knock me out of training. Going to have to be good to myself tonight and tomorrow.