26.2

I made it! The Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon was Sunday, and aside from a few aches and pains and still being thirsty to this moment, I'm feeling great. 

Yes, there was beer at the finish.

Recap to follow soon!

Psyching yourself up for long runs

Tonight, as I work from my laptop in the dark, sitting at a table under a big tent at the our outdoor movie series, and semi-watching "The Big Lebowski" on the big screen, I have begun the long and arduous process of psyching myself up. 


You see, I have to run a ridiculous amount of miles tomorrow, and I am anxious to say the least. Some of the thoughts running through my mind:


My IT Band isn't going to let me run 20 miles. 
I could really use my foam roller right now.
Why didn't I think to bring an ice pack to ice my knee while at work?
I'm up too late already; I shouldn't be working right now, I should be home and in bed.
Crap, I still haven't had dinner. 
I won't be fueled properly tomorrow morning.
What am I going to eat for dinner when I get home after 10PM tonight?
I should be chugging water right now. My bottle is almost empty.
F*ck.
Why am I blogging right now? Clearly there are other things I should be taking care of.
Wish I could have a beer. Everyone around me is drinking beer.
No, I wish I could have a White Russian. Nothing goes better with "The Big Lebowski" than White Russians. 
Nope, can't, gotta prep the bod for running twenty f*cking miles tomorrow morning.
F*ck!


Doesn't that all sound nice? 


Onward and upward - I thought I'd share some insight on how oneself can psych themselves up for a long distance run. 


Divide the distance into smaller sections. 
This tip comes to me from my wise runner friend Sheila. She told me to envision the 20 miles tomorrow as four 5-milers instead, mentally dividing each section.


Take in the scenery.
One of the things that I love most about long runs is looking around and taking in all of the details of where I am, and how different some places look on foot versus traveling in a car. When I ran across the Hoan bridge as part of a half marathon this summer, I was blown away by how different things looked... the bridge almost felt smaller than when I drive across it. By distracting yourself with the pretty scenery, the miles don't feel quite as long.

Think about your real reasons for running.
Sure, we all run for various surface reasons, but think about those deep down reasons that you're out there pounding the pavement. What is truly motivating you? For me, it's a combination of reasons... one big one is to get out there and just be. Running slows life down to each minute, each breath. That resonates with me. Some reasons are more personal, and I often think about them and how I'm honoring them when I'm out there on a long run. Whatever your reasons, thinking about them puts your body into auto-pilot.


Distract yourself with your favorite fuel.
I know that many people are against using food as reward, but I absolutely do this and it works for me. What can I say, I really really love snacks. Plus, when you're out on a long run, you need to take in calories to keep your energy levels up. In addition to your requisite gels or other endurance formula stuff (enough to cover your fuel needs for the run), sneak a few pieces of your favorite sugary candy in your fuel belt, or some pretzels or crackers. I don't know about you, but a 20-mile run seems more fun if a few Sour Patch Kids will be awarded at the halfway point. 


Bring along kick-ass music.
My secret to endurance running: music. Obviously you've got to be careful about where you wear headphones; you should exercise extreme caution if using them while outdoors, and alone. That said, it's incredible what a killer playlist can do for your workout. This is no new advice, I think pretty much everyone runs with some sort of music, however consider this angle: change up your music to suit your mood. I've found that classic rock songs about America or freedom motivate me more than anything else. What started with a cheesy playlist for a Fourth of July tailgate party is now my go-to soundtrack for running! Tom Petty's "American Girl," Neil Diamond's "America," Don McLean's "American Pie." A little tacky, but it works for me. Who knew? Plus, because these songs are of epic length, they take up more space on my playlist and help to pass the time. 


After tonight's movie at work, I am feelin' the need to build a playlist based on "The Big Lebowski" soundtrack... anyone? "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" would be awesome... or how about Gipsy Kings's "Hotel California?"

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You do the talking: What are your tips for psyching yourself up for long runs? 
And, what's your favorite sugary candy? I am partial to Sour Patch Kids, but also love Hairbo gummy bears and generic candied fruit slices, all three of which I plan on bringing with for the Pikes Peak Challenge next weekend!

Race Ready

I think I'm ready to run this freakin' half marathon! It's 8PM, and in 12 hours the race will start. Cra-zay. 
Today was all about preparation for the race. Though it goes against my rule of "nothing new" for race day, I picked up a new gear belt from REI. Which of course meant trying on three different ones in the mirror and making an ass of myself in front of fellow shoppers and REI's staff.

This is exactly what I mean. Haha!

This one felt way too much like a fanny pack. If I wanted a fanny pack, I'd seek one out specifically.

Winner! Too bad I didn't try on any of those sweet hats on the wall.

I spent the rest of the day doing chores around the house and yard, and then prepared to host a... pasta dinner!

I invited the girls over, and made Eat Live Run's linguine with shrimp and tomato cream sauce, quadrupling the recipe. It was fantastic!

Enjoyed with some crusty artisan bread, purchased this morning at the South Shore Farmers' Market.

My dinner companions, Stefanie and Nicole

Now, I'm sacked out on the couch with another piece of that lovely bread smeared with some dark chocolate PB, and various drinkables. 12 hours until race time. I'm ready!!!

If this won't help me have a great race tomorrow, I don't know what will.

Have a great night!

10 miles, and my legs didn't fall off.

Yesterday's 10 miler was tough!

I consider the run to be a PDR (personal distance record) because I haven't attempted to run that distance in at least one year. Though in the past I've completed a full marathon, and a 13.1 mile hike up Pikes Peak, the 10 miles yesterday just felt ridiculous. 

Ridiculous, but in a good way :-) That's the best way I know to describe it. It was humid, the sun was beating down on me, and I was battling a mild hangover (oops). The night before, I should have stuck with one drink + lots of water instead of two drinks, followed by Qdoba at 1AM. I wasn't feeling too bad, but it definitely couldn't have helped my cause. Live and learn, right?

Anyhow, I somehow got through and finished ok. Slow and steady, baby!

Something that may have helped... I wore my new shirt that I ordered from SkinnyRunner and I'd like to think it gave me super powers. Either that, or boosted my sarcasm by 10%. Love this :-)

Some stats, thanks to my Garmin Forerunner:

The run was split into two separate 'activities' because I took too long taking photos on my gel break, haha.

First Half:

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	01:03:39	5.31	11:59
1	00:12:51	1.00	12:51
2	00:10:43	1.00	10:43
3	00:11:04	1.00	11:04
4	00:12:15	1.00	12:15
5	00:12:39	1.00	12:39
6	00:04:03	0.31	13:08

Second Half:

Split Time Distance Avg Pace Summary 01:04:46 5.00 12:57 1 00:12:09 1.00 12:09 2 00:12:33 1.00 12:33 3 00:12:38 1.00 12:38 4 00:13:45 1.00 13:45 5 00:13:39 1.00 13:40

Avg Moving Pace:	12:38 min/mi
Best Pace:	09:33 min/mi

Heart Rate

Avg HR:	166 bpm
Max HR:	181 bpm

(The max amount is 98% of my capacity!)

Fuel:

Pre-run: Powerade + 1/2 PB sandwich

During: 1/2 Powerade / 1/2 water mix, 1 GU pack

After: Smoothie with protein powder, PB, spinach, chia seeds, cherries, almond milk

Thoughts:

- Do not go out the night before a long run. If sister is in town and / or socializing is otherwise imminent, reschedule long run.

- Now that marathon training has begun, this is how my entire summer will likely end up... no going out on Friday nights. Not sure how I feel about that.

- Pick an interesting route for your run. I used the Hank Aaron State Trail and passed the Veterans Affairs grounds, and Miller Park (Brewers Stadium). I ran through the parking lots and concourses, and it was like my own personal tailgate party.

You do the talking: What's your PDR? Don't be shy, let's have some show and tell. I know you're all badass gals (and maybe dudes?) out there! 
If you haven't run the distance in awhile, do you 'start over' with distances covered? Also, what interesting / cool places are on your running routes?

Honestly.

1. While I claim to love healthy foods (and it's true, I do), I don't necessarily always crave them. Most of the time I want to eat nachos.

With a great craft beer, of course.

2. While overall I'm very organized at work, I can never quite catch up with email.

Umm... yeah. 16,261 messages in ye olde inbox. That's the nature of the music business, though.

3. Running and does not come naturally to me, it still feels really difficult. Yet, I will be running a half marathon in two months, and a full marathon in five months. This scares me. I'm still waiting for that magic moment where I truly feel the "runner's high." 

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Yes, I imagine it will be something like that. Hopefully this moment will come soon.

4. I'm fairly obsessed with TLC's Sister Wives. I have told only a couple people about this.

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Also, Lifetime movies. I watch at least two per week.

5. While professionally I embrace social media, on a personal level, Facebook creeps me out. I've used filters for awhile to control who sees what, and have started to delete old photo albums and pare down my personal information. Do I really have 427 friends that need to read my business or look at my photos? Probably not. 

You do the talking: What are your confessions? Anything you'd like to share with the rest of the class? :-)