I did it!!

I did it! I did the Houston Half-Marathon last weekend and didn't die!

I was soo soo soo nervous about it this year due to a severe training deficit. But I did it, had a blast, and even had a decent time.

We forgot the camera, but if you want to see a pic - click this link to brightroom. (I think I'm going to buy two of the photos, they are expensive, but how many times do you get photographs while running 13.1 miles??)

This was my second half and it made a difference knowing what to expect. Last year I was completely freaked out by the number of people running. It's overwhelming to go from running by yourself to being surrounded by tens of thousands. This year I was able to have fun being surrounded by everyone. And instead of running at others' pace, I held to my own this year.

I did the run in 2 hours and 24 minutes - only two minutes slower than last year! Not too shabby.

And I ran in the skirt

I guess I get to put my 13.1 bumper sticker on my car now, right?

1/2 Marathon Confirmation

It's official. I'm running 13.1 miles on January 17th. I got my entry confirmation today along with my packet pickup information.

I'm so nervous, I had horrible dreams about it last weekend. Way too much anxiety about doing this. It's because I didn't train as much as I planned. Being sick for so long really took a toll.

Despite the dream and nervousness, I did jog 9 miles last weekend. It was my longest training run and probably my slowest. But I did it and didn't feel like total crude afterwards. That made me a little more hopeful (and ensured a much better night's sleep).

I was hoping to do another mid-length jog this week, but there is supposed to be an Arctic blast here (seriously, they are talking in the teens. That is REDUNKULOUS for Houston). And then we have a friend's wedding this weekend that will occupy a lot of time.

My 3-4 at the Y on the treadmill will have to suffice. I'm hoping to download some more music to my mp3 player in anticipation - any recommendations?

-b-

Where I lack motivation & am whiny

Remember when I mentioned the Houston ½ marathon . Yeah, well now it’s a month away and I gotta be honest – I am seriously lacking motivation. This fall I was pretty good about jogging or working out in some fashion, but December just doesn’t want to join the fun. Seriously, December has just been one month of me being a big ole sick lump.

I think my downfall came when we took a trip for Thanksgiving. We were out of town for a week and traveled to a place where jogging wasn’t really a possibility (really, it does exist). When I got back home I was off my schedule and had to force myself to return to the YMCA.

Then I got a sinus infection. That’s not fun while jogging or using gym equipment, so I took a break.

I ran a 10k with my sister after that cleared. Slowly, but I did it. If you click the photo you might see that my face is BRIGHT RED. During the run I swore that I’d jump back in. I should mention here that my sister kicked my butt (not that it was a competition, but still). She busted out a 8.5 minute mile. I was slugging along at 10.5min miles.

Then a day later I was crippled with a virus from my sister’s kids. I’m officially blaming my slow jog on the virus starting to form. Again, not fun while jogging or using gym equipment, so a break was in order.

Right now? The virus is still lingering and I seem to be having girly problems, and lastly, am so off a workout schedule that I just plain don’t want to. Three strikes.

I’m drawing from the reserves tonight after work and forcing a workout. I gotta get back into things.

A sweet girlfriend of mine sent me1/2 marathon-type gifts (a 13.1 bumper sticker and ID bracelet). I figure that I can’t put the sticker on my car unless I actually make it to January 17th!

Is that enough motivation? Not really.

Pride as motivation? More likely. I talked up this ½ marathon. I don’t want to struggle through it, and then have to tell people that I had a hard time and no fun. The point is to have fun and that requires training your body.

AND I have one of those cutesy jogging skirts that I can wear during the run - it’s not as cute if I’m struggling.

Pride. That'll do.

While not running

As I've said before, I'm offiically in my training period for the 1/2 marathon in January. October was 'eh', I did pretty well with keeping up - except that my foot hurt for a while and I didn't want to aggrevate it and work out. Turns out that I just needed a new pair of shoes. hmm. go figure. To make myself accountable, here is what October looked like:

The check marks are days that I accomplished my set goal, the red lines are days I missed. This weekend I skipped out on my long run (supposed to be 6 miles) and had fun with other things:

I had beer with pals on Friday night. It's been so nice out lately that celebratory beers to the weather have been plenty the last couple weeks. yea for fall!

On Saturday, Mr. Moto and I woke up earlyish and did yard work. No photo of me doing yard work, but here's a photograph of a fat ole monarch caterpiller munching on the aptly named Butterfly weed:

Since we finished the yard work quickly, we went and had some fun in the afternoon. We played like tourists and went to the San Jacinto Monument. I had been before, but the elevator to the top was in repair at the time and my husband has never been.

Its frickin hugely tall and proudly touts itself as larger than the Washington Monument. So very Texan of it!

Here is my view from the top: HELLO HOUSTON!!!!

We were extra touristy and had dinner in Kemah after riding the Boardwalk Bullet:

Its a wooden coaster and was AWESOME to ride. I think we both forgot how much fun a roller coaster is, and this one was even better with the slightly wobbly wood. Super fun.

Sunday was soccer, soccer, soccer! It started with a personal game at nine (we stunk, lost, and I was bummed). But then we went to watch the Dynamo during thier semifinals game...and we won 1-0 in overtime. It was exhausting to watch with all the anticipation.

After watching that game, we followed it up by eating seafood and watching LA Chivas take on LA Galaxy. Mr. Beckham's team won 1-0...again, a lot of anticipation in this game.

Then it was all over and we were pooped.

Hope you all had great weekends!

-b-

Training starts um, NOW! What are you doing, MOVE IT sister!

Last year was the first time that I ran a half-marathon and I loved the experience. The running was a little tough, but it was such a cheerful and positve day that I immediatly signed up for January 2010's run. Here is me last January with a post-run glow

Based on a recommendation from a super fit pal of mine that has run multiple full marathons, I use John Bingham's Marathoning for Mortals as my training guide.

For the 1/2 marathon, I have a 14 week training schedule that I've stretched out over 17 weeks. I have duplicate weeks to make up for things like traveling to see pals, Thanksgiving, and Christmas b/c I'm honest and know that my tush wants to eat/drink on those occasions and I probably won't complete all training.

This week is supposed to be my first week, so I set up the schedule this morning. Here is what it looks like for end of Sept/October:

Click to enlarge. I put checks or the little cross out circle afterwards to mark whether or not I accomplished my daily goal.

It's a little goofy this year and I've made some big changes to the schedule in the book to fit in soccer. Last year I was on one team and it was in a lower division. This fall I'm playing on two teams (one coed and one womens). In addition, I moved up a couple divisions and the games are a lot faster and tougher.

I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that this will work out for me. If I start feeling too tired or worn after the first couple of weeks, I'll have to modify.

In the meantime, I'm going to try to add the Daily Mile widget to my blog (ala FIT THIS, girl)

Maybe I'll get that together this afternoon/evening!

later

-b-