OC Marathon 2010

Okay...well, here we go. It's gonna be another long one so thanks for reading if you do.

Week Before:
I went out and ran the Ragnar Relay SoCal the weekend before on Friday-Saturday. My total mileage for the race was 26 miles. Ragnar left me exhausted and feeling SO sluggish all week. To be honest, all week I doubted that I could even complete a marathon the next Sunday. My longest run between LA Marathon and now had only been 12 miles. And I had done a couple other 10 milers here and there but I had mostly been training with short runs. And I had had several sucky runs. And the additional strength training sessions at the gym had me feeling wiped out for the past few weeks. I was now struggling when running 9min pace on most days :/
I tried to remain in denial about this race for the first part of the week but as the days progressed and it was getting close to the weekend I started to get really scared. I felt like this race was going suck just like LA because not only did I feel unprepared but I also felt tired.

Ragnar Relay Southern California 2010

This is my long overdue Ragnar race report!

What a crazy adventure it was! But one which I will cherish forever because I got to meet some great people who I am now privileged to call my friends :)

Where do I even begin?!

Feeling tired.

Been feeling so tired and unmotivated the past 2 days. I've cut my run short on both occasions. My mind just hasn't been in it and my body feels so heavy and stiff.

So I'm taking today off to rest. I really want to hit 35 miles this week again so this means no more days off this weekend and hopefully a successful long run on either Saturday or Sunday. I also have a weight training session with my trainer tomorrow and I am not looking forward to it.

*sigh* Only a week left 'til Ragnar SoCal and I gotta admit I don't feel prepared at all. And then a week later, OC Marathon. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. I need to just stop worrying about it.

Kick-starting my training

So today I joined a gym. I have always hated and been afraid of gyms. Something to do with my social anxieties.
Yes, everybody says that nobody looks at you at the gym and blah blah...but I swear I just feel so awkward in there. And I do find people staring! And I just feel really claustrophobic in there. Sigh.

Anyway, I have to get over it and get my ass in there now since I'm paying for it. I even paid for 3 personal trainer sessions. Why? Because I know NOTHING about weight training and I need somebody to show me exactly what to do in order to reach my goals.

I'm not going to the gym to lose weight. I'm already pretty lean, but I need muscle. And I need to strengthen my core, back, arms...my entire upper body is so week. Pictures of me from the marathon show exactly how awful my running posture gets when fatigue settles in!

And I never cross-train so I'm looking forward to doing some spinning and elliptical on days off from running. My legs can use the extra push.

I only did 30 on the stationary bike today because I'm still recovering from the race and I can still feel some knee pain when going up and down stairs.

This weekend I'm going to try and go for a longer run and see how the legs do. I already signed up for my next 2 MARATHONS! That's right! I am insane.

April 23-24 Ragnar Relay
May 2 OC Marathon
June 6 SD RnR Marathon

LA MARATHON 2010

Gosh, what a whirlwind of a month it has been!

I'm sitting here 2 days after the marathon and I think it has finally sunk in that it's over with and for the first time in 2 days I can actually smile about it :)

SRLA 18 Mile Friendship Run 2/21/2010

Here comes the race report!

Wow, today I spent most of the day laying on the couch snuggling with my dog...half the day passed out and the other half screaming in pain because EVERYTHING. HURTS. TODAY.

I made sure to start carbo loading on Friday night. Earlier on Friday I also went out and ran 6 miles, 3 of those miles I ran in the 8:40s to see if my legs could handle it. I'd had a couple of really slow runs the past week so I was unsure of how I'd be able to run on Sunday. I felt back to normal and the run put me in good spirits for the upcoming race.

Bay to Breakers 2010

OH AND I JUST REGISTERED TO RUN ING BAY TO BREAKERS IN S.F. THIS MAY!!!!
THIS HAS BEEN ONE OF MY DREAM RACES! I'M SO EXCITED TO RUN IT WITH FRIENDS TOO!!!