thanks to some cooler weather and a bit of determination, i set a new PR on the bridge run tonight.  truly, i demolished my old PR!  i managed to run the roughly 5k with two “hill”s in 37:26!!!!  my previous best time was 38:14 so i managed to shave forty-eight seconds off it.  i am so stinking proud.  i’ve about decided to do another half marathon so maybe this is the start to ameliorating my training pace.  i’d love to make my goal time this time around!

i have very mixed feelings about the matter.  i thought i would cross the finish line with a sense of accomplishment.  i felt… nothing of the sort.  i felt relief at being done.  i felt pride in having such a truly awesome group of friends hanging around just to cheer me on.  but i did not feel like i had really DONE anything; it just didn’t feel like a big deal.  which made me just a little sad because, for me, this should have been a big deal.  it’s so much more than i ever could have seen myself doing.  not because i didn’t think i could but because i never had the desire.  about the only thing that i really felt good about was my time.  after all of my training, i was certain that it was going to take me three hours and fifteen minutes to run a half marathon.  i didn’t see any way around that.  my official chip time was 3:03:54.  i ran it more than eleven minutes faster than i realistically thought i could.  granted, i would have loved to have gotten down to under three hours but i finished knowing that there was absolutely no way that i could have done that today.  i left nothing on the course.  i also felt good about having a negative split.  the second half of my race was nearly two minutes faster than the first half.

hanging toward the back of the crowd to start - the blue shirt just right of my head is cargo starting his 2nd half mary

honestly, i had fun.  i really did.  the first nine miles, i was having just a great time.  after nine miles, i became aware of my legs.  they weren’t hurting or over-tired but i just suddenly felt them.  of course, that’s about the time that the course got a little lonely too.  it was an out-and-back course so the first half, i was able to cheer on all of the fast folks who were already heading back toward me.  when i finally reached the turn-around and started back myself, i had the slower folks still heading out to cheer on.  it made me feel good to cheer others on, whether they really needed it or not.  and it was a thrill every time we passed one of our friends; totally recharged me.  somewhere around the nine mile mark, we had already gone by all of the slower people so it was pretty much just me and my husband. 

at least there were some scenic stretches

look, i'm a runner

and, while i’m on that subject – my husband rocks!  i could not have done that race without him.  he bandited so that he could trot along with me.  he talked with me and kept me company.  he carried the camera to take pix of me and all of our friends.  most importantly, he did all of my aid station stops for me.  when we approached a table, he would grab the bottles out of my fuel belt and go fill them – one with water and one with gatorade.  i never had to stop at a table so i was able to do my walk/fuel breaks when i wanted or needed to rather than when the course dictated them.

my favorite pic of the day; i made hubby stop to take it. if you know him, you know why.

anyhow, i still felt pretty good going past the twelve mile mark.  i was a little surprised because i was sure i should have hit my “wall”.  i became confident that if i hadn’t hit it yet, i wouldn’t.  i looked at my watch and thought i’d be able to finish strong and beat three hours.  and then, the last half mile, there it was.  WHAM!  having never hit a wall before, i could not believe just how debilitating it was.  within mere seconds i went from feeling like i had it in the bag to feeling like i couldn’t possibly pick up my legs anymore.  i have no idea how i managed to keep them moving that last .5 mile.  by the time i finally turned a corner and saw the finish line in the distance, i was chanting to myself that i could do it.  luckily, that was the same time i started to hear my friends screaming my name and the very same sentiments.  that was what i needed to push me.  i found just enough energy to carry myself across the line and i was so glad to be done.  i had intended to pay attention to my finish line photo but i was just too daggum tired to lift my arms in victory.  my friend tat greeted me with a big hug and praise when i crossed and i couldn’t even lift my arms to hug her back.  i was done. 

DONE. in every sense of the word.

i walked around a while, choked down a banana, picked up my medal and my ugly purse, and went back to the line to wait for another friend who had not yet finished.  i walked up the course a bit so that i could meet her and cheer her to the end.  i am so glad that i did not finish with her.  the finish line had been taken down by the time she finished and the crowds were all gone.  i would have been so demoralized.  i’m not sure how she felt about it all but i’m glad that i was there for her.  she was crying by the time she finally crossed where the line had been. 

showing off my well-earned blingage and ugy purse

all in all, it was a positive experience and i’m glad i did it.  it was just a disappointment that it didn’t make me feel better about myself.  and, though the race was quite a bit of fun, the weeks of training were horrible torture that i don’t think i would readily endure again.  we’ll see though.  with this group of nutty friends, anything is possible.

it's official. i'm a half-marathoner

apparently, now that i’m just over a week from race day, i’ve given up on training.  i did do my eleven miler for last weekend’s long run and every second of it was torture.  my legs were just dead from the 24+ miles that i put on them last week.  the first lap of it, my legs were seriously tight.  the second lap, they had loosened up and i was feeling pretty good.  the third lap, i had absolutely nothing left.  it was seriously all i could do to pick my legs up each step.  i was so happy to finish that one.  there were other factors too:  it was hot, my audiobook had reset itself so that i had to listen to four chapters over again, not a single dolphin in sight, and we got a later start so i was famished half way through (though i did eat two strawberry newtons every 45 minutes). 

the rest of my week got off to a good start.  i surprised myself by getting my three miler over with the day after the eleven.  vast improvement from my first niner when i couldn’t walk for several days.  but then i was supposed to run four on wednesday.  and i just didn’t want to.  so i ran my five on thursday at the bridge and figured i’d go back and do four friday.  but hubby wasn’t feeling it either.  and i was supposed to do seven over the weekend but after staying up until the wee hours two nights in a row, i just don’t see it happening.  and i just don’t care anymore.  i know i can do 13.1.  and i know it’s going to be slow no matter how well trained i am.  judging by that eleven, i’m probably better off going on cold legs anyhow because it was so hard dragging my dead-tired legs eleven miles. 

this was my big week, aka let’s-make-my-legs-despise-me week.  and it worked big time.  the nine miles actually wasn’t terrible.  i woke up and set out with a positive attitude.  i made a conscious decision to not worry about my time or my pace or anything else.  i was not going to push myself into another leg injury like my last niner.  i stayed slow and steady.  i walked when i needed to and didn’t feel guilty about it.  nine miles was three laps of the bridge.  each lap, there was a pod of dolphins playing in the bay to help entertain me.  i love living here.  hubby walked along side me while i ran.  yep, that’s how slow i am.  and i’m fine with it.  unfortunately, because i postponed last week’s long run until sunday, that meant that in order to rest my legs after, i had to run three consecutive days.  my body is not meant for such things and i tweaked something funky in my left leg.  it was like a knotted muscle right on top of my shin.  so this week’s long run will end up being pushed to sunday and messing up next week all over again.  i want my legs to have as much time and icing as they need to get over it. 

also of interest, hubby carried the gps to the park one night and we found that the loop i’ve been doing there is actually 1.12 miles.  this means that last week’s 7 miler was actually 7.84 which makes me feel much better about the time it took.  likewise, the nine miles i put in there this week was actually over ten. 

thankfully, this has been a slightly better week for running.  it still sucks and is hard but my attitude isn’t quite as negative as last week, when i was totally ready to give up on this 13.1.  the bridge run was actually a great run for me.  i ran 6ish miles in 1:18:30 which is really a great pace for me, especially all things considered.  i tried to force myself to stay semi-positive by smiling (or at least contorting my face into a smile-like-mask while bracing against the cold wind).  hubby stayed with me for most of it and, on the way back, scooter and train slowed down to trot with me too… it was the first time i’ve ever run in a pack on the bridge!!!  let me tell you, it so helps to have people around you and talking with you.  i even managed to finish the last .01 mile with a nice little sprint. 

as has become the norm, no long run this weekend due to <insert excuse here>.  This one happens to be my inability to breeve thanks to a nasty head cold.  thanks, health, for conspiring against my efforts to be more healthy.

thanks to my recurring leg injury, i feel very behind on my 13.1 training after a highly slothful week.  a few days, i could really barely walk.  oh well, it’ll all work out somehow.

my first week of 13.1 training went very well, imo.  the second week, however, was nonexistent.  epic fail.  in all fairness, hubby’s marathon and a very agrivating illness derailed me.  which really stinks because i needed to do an 8 mile run last week but it had to be postponed until this week which made me feel like i had to up it.  jumping from six to nine… oy!  i did remind myself this week that walking in the sand is really, really good for my running legs.  i need to make a bigger effort to incorporate that into my training.  if i can walk at all tomorrow, i should take it to the sand.

it’s not that i haven’t been active at all, it’s just that i haven’t had the time or motivation for ranting in general for the last month or two.  there’s plenty that i have to say and show but it takes time and energy and i have neither.  anyhow, i at least need to get back to my weekly activity reports because i am officially in half-marathon training now.  i finally signed up sunday so there’s no turning back now.  holy crap!

really, the bulk of my exercise was walking all the stairs on the cruise ship.  i don’t do cruise elevators.  so we climbed up and down stairs several times a day, sometimes seven flights at a time.  i know it doesn’t sound like much, but it adds up and i could feel it.  that’s my story and i’m sticking to it!

i’m on vacation, give me a break!

meh.

seriously, i’m not sure i’ve ever had a busier or more tiring forty hour period as friday/saturday.  after work on friday, we made the drive down to orlando.  we got a late start and made a longer-than-normal dinner stop in tallahassee so our arrival was later than i had hoped.  hubby fell asleep after eating so he got a four hour nap while i finished out the drive.  we made it to my sissy’s by 00:30 but it was around 01:00 by the time we got our luggage in and got into bed.  though i was exhausted, i was unable to sleep so i angrily tossed and turned until the alarm went off at 04:30 – yes, we purposely got up after just 3.5 hours in bed.  my cousin picked us up at 05:00 and drove us out to clermont to meet up with her team for hills training.  there’s a residential street out there with a hill they call “big bertha”.  it seemed to be about the same height as our bridge but much less gradual.  i did it twice and only made it about a third of the way up each time before settling into a walk.  really, though, it wasn’t the incline that got me, it was the decline.  i was fine pushing myself up the hill but going back down killed my knees.  the first time down, i ran it full tilt and it hurt my knees.  the second time, i walked down in a zig-zag pattern and it still hurt my knees so i chose not to do a third repeat.  i did, however, run several of the side streets and ended up running a good bit of that side of the neighborhood, so i got in some pretty good mileage that way.  of course, i can’t say with any certainty, but my guess is that i did just shy of seven miles – by far my longest run to date.  and even with all of the hills (there were more hills than just bertha) i felt fine.  go me!  after the run and cool-down, we headed back to my cousin’s where she cooked breakfast for us and her family.  mmmmbaconandeggs.  when we left there, we walked the mile or so back to my sissy’s to refill our water bottles, change shoes, and be off to the next activity:  cheerleading!

niece¹ decided to give cheering a try for the first time this season.  and she must be pretty darned good because she had her mom and siblings, three grandparents, and an aunt and uncle there to watch.  she was absolutely the cutest cheerleader out there!  and very spirited – i heard her over everyone else.

look at that form!

getting great air!

after her game, dad offered to grab some pizzas and come by the house for lunch so we had a nice lunch with him and his wife before heading to nephew²‘s flag football game.  i’ll take this opportunity to point out how bloody hot it is in orlando right now.  i don’t know the actual temperature for our 06:00 run this morning but i can tell you that within the first two minutes of the run, i was drenched in sweat.  as hot as the bridge was on thursday, it is ten times hotter and stickier here.  ugh.  since we were tight on time between breakfast and getting to niece’s cheer, we didn’t shower and change.  and i felt a little funny about that.  but after sitting for an hour in the heat at her game, i was pleased with the decision.  thankfully, sissy has a nifty stadium tent that they brought to all the games to keep the direct sun off of us but the air was still stagnant.  i stayed drenched all day long.  and i stank something fierce.  but my family loves me anyhow and allowed me to remain under their tent.  anyhow, back to the narrative at hand… nephew had some great plays and his team won. 

totally intimidating the other team

going for it!

there was another game between nephew²‘s game and nephew¹‘s game.  we all sat around in the heat a while, getting eaten alive by ants, and then sissy, the kids, and i made a slurpee run just before nephew¹‘s game started.  he played awesome as well and also had a win.  i can’t believe how grown he’s getting.

look at that MAN barreling down the field

great pass!

after that game, we got a “recess”.  we all came back to the house and jumped in the pool!!!  the adults mostly stuck to the hot tub to rest their weary bones.  it was a welcome respite and gave me an opportunity to show off cobalt.

nephew2

niece1

nephew1

i ♥ cobalt!  after the pool fun, we made a quick dinner of various leftovers and got showers (way overdue, let me tell you.  we had to take our clothes down to the laundry room because after leaving them in our room while swimming, the stank slapped us in the face when we opened the door!) and then headed to the kids’ halloween dance.  niece¹ dressed as a puppy, nephew² dressed as tebow, nephew¹ was too cool to get dressed up – i guess you could say he went as a teenager!  sadly, hubby took the pix there but had the wrong setting on so they all came out terrible blurs.  you can take my word for it that there was a lot of cuteness there.  the dance was put on by the organization that does the cheerleading so all of the different cheerleading groups performed a dance number, which was really fun.  niece¹, of course, did fabulous.  the two oldest groups were much more choreographed and impressive but i was astounded at the provocative moves and costumes.  these kids are all thirteen and under!  we also got to meet nephew¹‘s girlfriend, who is in the oldest cheerleading group, for the first time.  it was amusing to see how they acted around each other.  they’d get within three feet of one another, look in opposite directions, smile out of the corners of their mouths, and then go different ways.  LOL.  i’m so glad to see that they have so much innocence left.  their “dance” consisted of texting each other from opposite sides of the gymnasium all night.  really, he spent almost the whole night with us old fuddy-duddies.  nephew², on the other hand, spent the night dancing with a group of the second-oldest cheerleaders.  he was totally a ladies man!  niece¹ just had a good time hanging out with her friends.  we made it home in time to watch the last bit of the gators game and then i finally got to go to bed after forty straight hours of being awake.  haven’t done that in years and it is much harder than it used to be.  we laid down in bed and both let out a huge sigh.  said i to hubby, “they do this every weekend!”  i just couldn’t do it… three kids going 90 mph in three different directions all the time.  gracious!

so anyhow, as tired as i was after my forty hour waking binge, i slept a whopping four hours before waking up and tossing and turning the rest of the morning.  insomnia rocks!  /sarcasm.  luckily, sunday was a much calmer day.  i gave up and got out of bed at 09:00 and started working on making plans.  i was hoping to see my brother since i haven’t seen him all year but i called both him and his wife and got voicemail on both.  i did make plans with my friend jenny to get together with her and the hubby for dinner.  that left us the rest of the morning and afternoon to do some much needed resting up.  and make a kohl’s trip.  dinner with friends was healthy and fun and we were in bed at a decent hour.

eh.  it really wasn’t a good week but i did run my farthest distance to date.

i was actually feeling really good yesterday because of that seven miles.  i was all kinds of “go me!”.  until i went to get dressed last night and found that a pair of shorts that fit me fine last week were incredibly hard to fit into.  it’s so disheartening, folks.  every time i think i’m taking steps forward, i get slapped back.  i don’t understand it.  i truly, truly don’t.  and all i want to do is cry.