Leavin' on a Jet Plane...

It's here! The Day of Travel.

I woke up groggy around 7:45 and couldn't drag myself out of bed. Whuh-oh. I reset my alarm for 8:15 and shut my eyes and of course, it seemed like a second later that 8:15 had arrived. Eep. Hopefully this doesn't mean that I'll be too tired for a 6:30am start time tomorrow morning?? Surely not.

I checked outside - SO foggy and cold! - and put on some warm running gear. I ran around the park near our apartment.

44 degrees - ack!! It'll be at least 10 degrees warmer tomorrow.

slowwww poke.

I was running comfortably. I didn't want to push myself. I can tell that my back is still a little sore so I'm going to take some acetaminophen before we get on the plane to help. I put on my compression socks immediately afterwards, and will wear them on the plane to help with leg swelling.

This is my "I guess I'm ready?" face.

So guys... here I go. The next time you hear from me on this blog, I'll have run a marathon!!

Bye!!

The Last NTC

Yesterday I completed the last NTC of my marathon training schedule: Intermediate Get Toned Kickin' It. SO weird- I didn't realize it was my last one until I finished it!

3 Minute Warm Up

4 Minute Strength Training, 2 Minute Cardio

5 Minute Strength Training

5 Minute Cardio

2 Minute Strength Training, 1 Minute Cardio

4 Minute Strength Training, 2 Minute Cardio

2 Minute Cool Down

This workout was nicely split up into Strength Training and Cardio, and I always like switching it up. I had to keep listening to the app to make sure I needed weights, because some of the moves didn't call for them.

Here's a summary of my total training with NTC, for a total of 764 minutes of strength training! Wow!

October 2013

September 2013

August 2013

July 2013

Not as active as I should have been in September- ah well, you win some you lose some.

Now I've got 3 days of rest until running 2 miles on Saturday before we fly to San Francisco. SO CLOSE.

Easy Eight

On Monday afternoon, I ran an easy eight miles. It felt so good to be outside: it was 55 and sunny, and I deliberately ran past the small beach that's near our apartment so I could see the sun reflecting off the water.

I wasn't worried about pace or how far I was going, just wanted to focus on the joy of running to mentally set myself up for running 26.2 on Sunday!

I had some random toenail pain in the first mile, but I recently read an article on Runner's World about phantom pains during the taper week of the marathon, so I tried not to think about it as I ran. I also almost face planted into the sidewalk but found my footing fast enough so that didn't happen!

Kirkland is strange..

It was a wonderful way to spend my last long run before the marathon. Calm before the storm, right?

Eep!

I wore my half marathon finisher shirt for some good karma... I hope it worked. ;)

12 Miles and OU STILL SUCKS!

Saturday was a big day and started pretty early for me with an easy 12 miler. Did I ever before think that I would call running 12 miles "easy"? No. But perspective, people... 12 miles is certainly easier than 20. I realized the other day that I ran over a half marathon distance for the whole month of September and the first weekend of October. Whoa!!

I accidentally forgot to change the setting on my Nike Plus app to Outdoors, so it really just tracked my pace rather than by GPS. Fortunately it was still syncing up with the mile markers on the trail so I'm sure I still ran 12 miles.

No map :(

Sweet - Negative Splits to the halfway point at least!

Sunshine through a sea of clouds

49 degrees is coollddd! For some reason it felt so much different than 55 degrees, which is the median temperature of my last few runs. I wore my fleece while driving, but ended up wearing it during my run because I was so cold. I wonder what the weather will be like in San Francisco on Sunday...

Right now weather.com says there's 0% chance of rain and it'll be mostly sunny. Well that's exciting! All this next week, Seattle is supposed to be sunny, too. I'm so excited!! I feel like the last week has been a mess of clouds.

After I ran 12 miles, I watched the Texas/OU game at 9am and let me just say HOOK 'EM!!!

Oldie but a goodie- me with really short hair!

Circa 2011 - Bevo!!!

Me and my mom with Hook 'Em!

I got pride. We rock. :)

Then I went to the U-District to host one of The Dinner Detective Shows. If anyone is interested in tickets, click on the image below!

I stayed at the site until about 10:30, and then met JW at our friend's apartment in Seattle for some Dirty Scrabble. Words like "Boytoyin'", "Sexloaf", and "Vlag" were used. Use your imagination ;)

We left around 1:15 and I hit the sack as soon as I got home. We didn't wake up until 1:30pm! I sure did need it.

What's Next:

I need to be sure I get enough sleep, eat fairly well, and mentally prepare for Sunday's marathon. Technically I need to decide before Monday if I'm going to be running in the Seattle marathon, but I'm leaning towards no since I feel a little burnt out. I think I'll take the time between after I finish the marathon and Christmas to do some yoga, strength train, and SLEEP so I feel refreshed and recovered. In my heart, I want to run more than one marathon, I know I do. But if I push it to run two races within 6 weeks of each other, I'm afraid I'll get sick of it. 

I'll let you guys know what I'm up to. I'm always in training for something (hence the name of this blog!) and I won't stop posting after the marathon! :)

Preparing for a race? Which one?

Catching Up

Lots and lots of workouts since I last posted. I've been trying to catch up ever since I took an unexpected day off on Monday, but that plus rehearsals for a new project I'm working on plus subbing for what was essentially four classes at a dance studio... Let's just say I was pressed for time to write a blog post about it all.

Now I've finished my voice lesson for the day and finally have the time to give y'all an update!

On Wednesday I had two workouts to do. First to complete was the NTC Beginner Get Lean Jump Start.

Two Minute Warm-Up

12 Minute First Round with 30 Second Recovery

8 Minute Second Round with 30 Second Recovery

5 Minute Third Round (no recovery)

2 Minute Cool-Down

Then, I ran 4 miles on the treadmill.

Then, I walked an extra .67 miles to round out my time on the treadmill to 1 hour.

I was pretty wiped after both of these workouts!

On Thursday, after my rehearsal and subbing two classes, it was back to the gym with another 30 minute NTC workout: Beginner Get Strong Muscle Definer.

3 Minute Warm-Up

11 Minute First Round (no recovery)

10 Minute Second Round (no recovery)

3 Minute Third Round (no recovery)

3 Minute Cool-Down

I was super fatigued after this workout.

FINALLY, while watching The Price is Right this morning, I completed the Gabby Douglas Perfect Alignment workout.

And now I'm finally all caught up! Tomorrow is my last "long" run - 12 miles - and then I run 8 miles on Monday. Then it's no running until the day before the marathon... eep!

As the marathon looms into view, I find that I'm getting more and more nervous. The running dreams have returned - I dreamed that I was going on a road trip but by running, without a car. Phew! That'd be exhausting. I'm trying to calm down and not really think about it, but I find myself worrying about small things like if the plane will be delayed or if I'll get to the expo on time, etc. etc. I'm sure it'll be fine... I just have to stop worrying!

Knee Issues

I skipped my workout on Monday - I was supposed to run 6 miles, but there were a few factors that deterred me from really pushing to complete it:

1. My knee has been bothering me ever since my 15 miler on Saturday. I've worn my knee brace to rehearsals and during the day, and I didn't want to push it.
2. I was waiting on an important phone call on Monday morning. I didn't want to be in the midst of a run when they called, so I was chained to my desk and my phone for the morning.
3. I had the first day of Snowflake Lane rehearsals from 12-3, so it was a large chunk of my day.
4. The important phone call was returned in the afternoon, and I was busy with that until 4.
5. I had a callback at 8 that night, until 11.

Basically, I didn't want to run in-between the phone call and the callback, because I'd have to shower twice. Meh. I just pushed it to Tuesday morning. Unfortunately it was entirely in the rain.. ah, well.

It was an okay run - I wasn't pushing myself because of the knee issues (which have now fortunately disappeared, yay!) and I listened to my audiobook.

It rained the entire time, but I didn't feel my knee twinge once! Yay.

How is your training going?

Foggy Fifteen

Well friends, the musical is over! Closing weekend was fantastic. We had a great last show - one of the cast member's grandmother's was in the audience, and she got so excited that she literally screamed every time she saw her grandson come onstage. It made for a pretty entertaining 3 hours and was a great way to close the show! :)

On Saturday, I ran 15 miles. It started out pretty foggy and dark for the first half of the run, but it turned into a pretty beautiful day. 

I ate chews at miles 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13. I felt pretty good, but I'm pretty sure that was just because of the gorgeous weather we were having and I was pretty distracted watching the sun shine through the trees. 

I listened to my audiobook, and now I'm having a crisis - during the actual marathon, do you think I should listen to an audiobook or try and find an energizing playlist? In the past, music has motivated me most of all, but lately ever since I've started listening to my audiobook during long runs, I find that my mind drifts and some of the miles fly by. Do I want that to happen during the marathon, or would I rather be present for my very first marathon? I just don't know!!

I've officially reached tapering - phew! This makes me a little nervous because I just don't feel ready for the full 26.2 quite yet... but I know in my heart I am. I've done all my training runs, I've only rescheduled a few of them, and I've only skipped a couple of NTC workouts. What's next, on my schedule:

Monday: 6 Miles
Tuesday: Beginner NTC
Wednesday: 4 Miles
Thursday: Beginner NTC
Friday: 15 Minute NTC
Saturday: 12 Miles (last long run!!)
Sunday: Rest
Monday: 8 Miles
Tuesday: Intermediate NTC
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 2 Miles
Sunday: MARATHON!!

Ack! I can feel the nerves already!