Sunday, December 14, 2008

What have I done?!?!

I'm definitely in one of those "oh-my-god-what-have-i-done-what-was-i-thinking" places right now.

Not having run for over a week, I still went out to the Wasatch Back Relay site and managed to get hooked up on a team with 11 people that I don't know with the purpose of running three portions of a 180-mile relay race in June.

Yes, yes, I know! I haven't run for over a week! I'm not fast! I'll slow the whole team down!

But, I've always wanted to do this race, but I can never find 11 other people dumb enough to sign up. I will run consistently if I pay for something AND ESPECIALLY if other people are counting on me. They claim to not be very fast, either, and say that they are just in it for the fun. (I really hope that that aren't full of crap.) And, I got caught up in the excitement since my friend, Nate, is also doing the relay.

The legs range in distance from 3 miles to a maximum of just 8.5 miles from Logan to Park City, but it's not the distances that have me freaked out. It's the elevation changes. Some of these are really difficult: a downhill elevation change of 2000 feet, an uphill elevation change of 800 feet (with NO flats or downs - just straight up a hill for FOUR miles), an uphill elevation change of 800 feet with one flat but the course description promises a beautiful view of Snow Basin (provided you haven't passed out from the lack of oxygen after the climb). Only one runner has an "easy" go of it with two moderate and one easy leg of the race. Everyone else has at least one "hard" or "very hard" leg.

Oh. My. God.

This is all Nate's fault. Being all excited and pumped. Maybe he's trying to kill me without getting blood on his hands.....

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Jinxed!

Like a dope, I type "in the groove" and jinxed myself, for sure!
Yes - it was just yesterday that I awoke at the butt-crack of 4:30am to run. It didn't suck, I didn't die, I had energy, I wasn't whiney for most of the day. So, it seems that I should do this daily, right?
Well, becuase I'm a dope and actually put figurative pen to paper, it figures that my best intentions would be hijacked by sources other than me!
I worked last night until 10:30 which wouldn't have been so bad. I could have still braved the dark morning solitude, but it would have been less fun. However, add in two screaming toddlers all night, and I was in no shape to run at the same time - or any time for that matter!
Don't get me wrong - I WAS awake at 4:30, but since I had been awake all friggin' night, I just wasn't in the mood.
Still - I gotta love 'em. They are the cutest toddlers in the history of little people!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Back at it

One day can't count as being "back in the groove," but my mindset is changing enough that I believe that I'll do well. After a week off, Lizzy and I ran up to the clubhouse and back (3 miles). I did not take a walk break during the gradual uphill from the church to the clubhouse. Yeah! At the end, I added an additional .9 mile as one lap through the cemetary. My overall pace was 11:43 mpm. Not bad - especially considering that I was up for over an hour with Ben around 1am!

Monday, December 1, 2008

IsabelleV and AlysenQ's pep talk

In response to an ultra-whiney e-mail from me about not finding time to workout (waaa-waaa-waaa), IsaV and AlyQ have sent me the following words of inspiration:

"There is so little in your world that you can control. If you took things listed them, you would find the "not within my control list" to be extensive. You CAN control your workouts and what goes into your body. When you are running, that is YOUR time. No excuses, no pity, no reasons why not. Your head feels more clear, you walk a bit taller because you did it. You don't walk around with that invisible troll on your sholders. The one that tells you you're fat and too lazy to work out. You know the voice: That nagging that stays in the back of your head whispering the mean words, feeding your feelings of selfdoubt, never letting up and not silencing in spite of the noise & activity going on outside of your head. YOU can silence that little bastard. The hour you find to workout goes a long way toward buying you peace. You run that troll into silence, at least for a day or two. Each time you making him weaker and weaker until when at home doing other things, you don't hear that nagging in your head telling you what a lazy fat butt you are. It can be done. It should be done. Eliminating that voice, that nagging troll of doubt that currently weighs on you makes you feel better mentally not just physically. That makes you a better, more focused wife, mother, employee, friend and blogger. You are declaring WAR on that bastard voice, TAKE IT OUT."

This one of the reasons that I love them both.