Last Long Run

Miles: 16 RPE: 7

Well, I'm definitely behind schedule. Or put another way, I'm on my own schedule. Though I should be winding my training runs down by now I had yet to run more than 12 miles and I really felt that my physical and mental preparation wouldn't be on if I didn't complete this run.

To be honest, I've tried to run this for at least three weeks but each time I had an excuse for not finishing it. Sometimes I just didn't run at all to avoid it. Monday I planned to run but couldn't get out of bed early enoough (partly because I had gone to bed late but mostly because I didn't want to do this run).

I was afraid.

"What if I can't do it? What if it takes me really long? How terrible is my marathon time going to be then?! What if I walk a lot?"

Monday I finished an 8-mile run. And I had a breakthrough. Yes, two weeks before I run 26.2 miles I'm still learning how to run, in my mind. I got to a part of the trail that's in an open field, no shade. The midday sun was more fierce than I anticipated. I started getting a headache. "Oh no! I'm getting dehydrated! What if I pass out?!"

And then it dawned on me, caution and fear are two different things. Caution is what compels me to hydrate before each run and bring Gatorade with me. Caution is what compels me to stretch after each training run, even my 4-mile jaunts. Fear, on the other hand, is what keeps me in bed, keeps me from running, keeps me from pushing myself. My loops Monday were 3 miles. The sun was hot, but not that hot. I wasn't going to pass out. It was going to uncomfortable, yes, but not dangerous.

I rested Tuesday and hit the trail today at 8:30am. It's a mile walk to the trail from my parent's house so I begin and end each long run with a walk. A good mental prep for what lies ahead. I ran 8 hard miles. I tried to convince myself my body and breathing were fluid, tried to focus on my 2-mile loop and not the many, many miles ahead of me.

On mile 9 I got a call to be interviewed for a job! The good news invigorated me, but only briefly. Soon it became a distraction and I thought to myself, "You've run 8 miles, you'll have gone 10 total miles once you get back. Preparing for this job interview is more important." I stopped at my bench to drink. I almost went home.

Then I turned on my iPod and kept running. I didn't want to tell my support circle (my parents, Stephen, Jordan and another running friend, Marc) that I didn't make it.

At about mile 14 my joints stopped cooperating, particularly my ankle and hip joints. My feet were swollen and hurt to run on. I walked the last mile and then that mile home.

And by walked of course I mean hobbled :)

These last few days leading up to September 26th I'll focus my mind during my runs on visualizing the marathon: when I'll start loosening up, when I'll have to toughen my focus and start my mantras, and when to use my iPod to will another step out of my battered legs.

No fear. Let's Running!

Progress, Small But Mighty

Scheduled: 3 Actual: 3 RPE: 4

I ran these 3 miles in about 40 minutes. They might always be my slowest; my body really resists the effort of running.

It was a little less humid this morning but not much. I woke up and told myself I was going to finish all the miles, so I did. Also, I made plans to call a friend back home so that motivated me to get out of bed in time to run and shower before the call. It really helps me to have things outside myself motivating me to do something. That's one of the reasons I wanted to do this marathon. I really need to learn how to make myself a priority! But it will be a process so I need to try and work with myself. Giving myself another reason to wake up on time really helps.

Lately, I have noticed that I don't feel tired or sore until after I've stopped running. In weeks past I felt every little ache and discomfort; I only stopped short of naming them. But after my 7-mile run last Friday I think my mind shifted a bit from the pain. It's there, I know it's there but I just keep running. It doesn't phase me anymore. I've accepted it as a fact of my training and now I just run with it, as if it's my running buddy. Small but mighty progress.

I sprained my ankle March of 2009 and I was worried how much of this training it could handle. Since February of this year I have had low back pain and knowing that running can be a strain on your back I worried how much training my back could take. But so far I actually feel much better on the days I run as opposed to the days I don't.

I haven't had any ankle pain at all. Sometimes during my runs my back aches a bit but after stretching it feels just fine. I don't run during the weekend and that's when I notice more back pain. I'm going to stick to this training schedule with days off but once I get back to running after the marathon I think I'll run as many days a week as I can since it seems to be helping.

To be honest, though it'll make me sound like a crazy person given what I thought last week, I am really looking forward to my Friday run.

Let's Running.

Day One of New Schedule=SUCCESS!

Scheduled: 3 miles Actual: 3 miles RPE: 5

First an update on my diet: I decided to cut out pop and french fries. I'd like to cut out all deep-fried foods but I know that if I set that rule I'd just want to break it because it seems too difficult. But by saying I won't eat fries I hope to make myself think twice before eating other deep-fried foods. I made breakfast for dinner Friday night but instead of hash browns I ate rice with my scrambled eggs and an English muffin with blueberry jam on the side. So far, so good.

It's still very humid and I started today's run pretty discouraged since I realized it'll be another three or four weeks before this humidity clears up a little. I ran and walked my first mile in 17 minutes. That's a new record for me...and not the good kind. My calf and shin muscles have been really cramped the last few runs and I think I've let that discourage me as well. I stretched half-way through my 17-minute mile but it didn't help too much. As I was getting to my house (the one-mile marker) I decided that instead of stopping like I normally do and having to will myself to start again I would just run through onto my second mile.

My legs were still cramped. My whole run I felt like I was on one of those tracks at airports that are like escalators just flat. Only that I was going the wrong way!

But I decided I was going to finish this run, run all the miles, and start week three off right. So I kept my eyes on the ground a few feet in front of me and repeated, "My legs are really sore but that's OK because that means I'm getting stronger." Eventually I shortened it to, "I'm getting stronger" and timed it with my breathing: IN IN-OUT OUT-IN IN. "I am/ get-ting/stron-ger."

And that's how I ran two solid miles without stopping. My leg cramps worked themselves out with about a half-mile to go but that's OK because I finished my run regardless.

Let's Running.

Week One=FINISHED!

Whoa. I just completed my first week of marathon training. That's four more days of running than I thought I was capable of!

After a lovely day in Osaka/Kobe me and my lovely boyfriend, Stephen, got back to Oku and immediately fell asleep at 10:30pm. We got up at 3:00am to watch the England vs. USA World Cup match. Due to a heart-breaking (for England fans!) error by the goalie Green it was 1-1.

USA! USA! USA!

After the game at 5:30am I went shopping at the 24-hour supermarket near my home. My intention was to then run so that I didn't have run in the summer heat. But it was lightly raining and cool so I went back to bed for another three hours. I woke up to rain. Real rain, not light rain.

Damn, I thought.

And then I went running. After thinking about my previous three runs and reading accounts of other first time marathoners in The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer I decided I had been going too easy on myself. On Friday I decided I would run all 5 miles without walking.

Mile 1: running 12 minutes. Mile 2: running 14 minutes. Mile 3: running 12 minutes. Mile 4: running 13 minutes. Mile 5: running 12 minutes.

When I'm strongest and most focused I run a mile in about 12 minutes. Hmm.

My first mile I let my mind wander; it seems that the novelty of running a first mile is enough to propel me with minimal effort. The second mile I was focusing on the pain in my ankles and knees and hips and this negativity really shows in my performance! By the third mile I realized I needed a mantra or I wasn't gonna make it. Focusing on how hard running is wasn't cutting it, believe it or not.

"Claire's doing this for her. You're doing this for you. I'm doing this for me."

And that's how I passed three miles. Sometimes I just used it to focus my breathing and strides. Other times I thought about different times other people or I would say each sentence. I felt strong.

I took a water break every two miles and a couple breaks per mile to stretch.

My RPE was 4 again. All the additional effort today was mental effort, just to keep going. It amazes me how tough my body is but how weak my will is. I always assumed it'd be the other way around. I thought my mind was pretty tough!

This week I ran 15 miles total. Whoa.

Let's Running.

3 Sleepy Miles in a Sleepy Town

It's Thursday. I am always exhausted by Thursday. I work at a junior high school. No explanation needed, probably. But not only is this Thursday, it's a Thursday in a week that has had me up about an hour earlier than usual.

My alarm buzzed. I wanted to kill it. I am unfriendly at 6:00AM. Probably just as well it's only me and Godzilla the spider who's taken up residence in my shower.

Miraculously, I was out of the house at 6:20AM to start my 3 miles. And my miraculously of course I mean that I chatted with myself, "Just get up, Claire. Just tie your shoes, Claire. Just fill up the water bottle, Claire." Sometimes "just" is a limiting, unimaginative word. In this case, I want limits, though. I want to convince myself that difficult things are really just little things.

Little things like my town. Oh Oku! In bed by 9:00 and up no earlier than 7:00. Even the traffic lights believe in this routine. Yesterday when I was out past the magic morning time I had to wait at crossings because the lights turn on at 7:00AM. Curious to know when they go off.

Today my body wasn't weak but my mind was so so sleepy. I think it's clear this training is going to be about my mind's endurance as much as my muscles'. Despite the sleepy mind I was able to run all three miles in the same time: 13 minutes running and 4 walking. I didn't think I was that slow but I just checked my notes and, yes I am in fact that slow. For now.

Today was the first time I didn't stretch between miles. I just briefly stopped for sips of water. I completed my last mile saying, "Run because you have to."

After running I love stretching. It's so relieving. I'm addicted. Right now I stretch for about 5 minutes after my run but I imagine as my runs get longer I'll stretch for longer too. I'm looking forward to that!

Let's Running.