In January of this year, I decided I was going to run a half marathon. I had doubt - prior to that I'd only run 4 miles and was so not in love with running. But I do like to challenge myself, I like pushing [then breaking down] my boundaries so I can explore what lies beyond them. I cannot recall the exact moment that I fell in love with running, I just know that one day I began to look forward to running and hated when I missed a run.
So I trained hard, and lined up for my first half marathon; with a pounding heart but complete faith in my training. I didn't follow the plan to the letter, but I only missed one long run during the 12 week program. I ran, I felt good; and I did better than my expectations. The lesson I took from it actually didn't have anything to do with running at all - it had everything to do with post race hydration and nutrition. (I failed to adequately hydrate and had a rough couple of days after the race.)
I felt good enough to sign up for one more half; the Rock n Roll half on October 20th. I focused on skating, and did fairly well skating my first skate marathon of the season in Wisconsin. The week before that, I made the decision to run the Garden of the Gods 10 miler - I was actually more nervous about that one than my half!! But I ran strong, and I felt great; and I hydrated like a mad woman afterwards so I didn't have any issues like I did after Colfax.
At this point I'm starting to feel a little more bold, and a little more confident. I signed up for the Sand Creek half marathon on July 13th, and the Highlands Ranch 4th of July 5k for fun. I picked up the training again at about the halfway point (8-9 mile Saturday long run) and set my focus on Sand Creek. I knew that some of my running pals had signed up for the Castle Rock half marathon but with it so close to Sand Creek, I pretty much ignored the conversations about it. Well, I tried to anyway. Castle Rock is on June 29th, which is just two weeks from Sand Creek. My training schedule had me running 11 miles on the 29th so the argument became 'what's two more miles?' So I went ahead and registered...
I had to tweak my training, this week became a taper week rather than a ramp up week. The mental aspect of it is what I'm struggling with most, I know it's not a matter of whether or not 'people' can run back to back half marathons, 'people' do it all the time. I know people who can do that back to back a day apart - not two weeks apart. But I'm not people - I'm me. I'm still discovering my boundaries and my limitations. I'm still pushing and testing. I'm still trying to get used to being a runner; I still don't consider myself to BE a runner. Not sure why? Maybe after this year is over and I look back over everything I intend to (and WILL) accomplish; maybe then it will sink in.
In the meantime, I am focused on my approach. These next two races won't be about time, or getting PB's, but more about endurance. Listening to my body. I plan on taking it fairly easy the two weeks between my races, concentrate on good nutrition and hydration - before and after. The good news is that aside from some aches and complaints in some muscles, I feel really healthy. Most of the naggy little aches in my legs fade around mile 5. My main concern is what I do afterwards to stay feeling healthy. I had some issues this past Tuesday, I ran 3.75 miles around lunch time (81 degrees) then spent an hour doing weight training; I ate lunch but something I ate was probably borderline bad because I got a really bad stomach ache. Instead of just taking it easy, I did ANOTHER run (3.3 miles in 90 degree heat) with my guts already upset! (That was by far and away the most uncomfortable run I've done yet...) I did not adequately hydrate with electrolytes like I usually do, and was sick all day yesterday. Awful! I have got to make sure to take care of myself during and after! The running sorts itself out - the nutrition is all on me.
This is shaping up to be a pretty big year as far as athletics go. After Sand Creek, I'll tone down the running and crank up the skating, I am doing a duathlon in Minnesota on August 3rd (skate a half, run a 5k) then it'll be total skate focus for the Northshore Inline Marathon on September 14th. I'll have 5 weeks from that to get ready for the Rock n Roll half!!! My plans for November and December are to do a few small races and focus on maintaining conditioning through the winter!! All good stuff.
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