Quench Gum, Pepper Spray and the Pinewood Derby

Ok, so you're a little puzzled by my title, understandable. But, believe it or not, these items were key in my 18 miler success today. I'll explain.

Last Saturday, I "enjoyed" my favorite pre-run breakfast of peanut butter toast. Well, for some reason, that breakfast turned on me and my 16 miler turned into an 11.5 miler when I hurled in someone's front yard...TWICE! So this morning I did a HUGE no-no, I skipped breakfast. When I trained for my 1st half marathon, I ALWAYS ran on an empty stomach. When I trained for my 1st marathon, I was told in no uncertain terms, I should NEVER run on an empty stomach. Well, I did today and it was AWESOME! Not once did I ever feel nauseous. I happily chewed my Quench gum. Folks, if you haven't tried this stuff -- it is absolutely wonderful. And no, this is not a paid endorsement but Quench, if you're reading, call me and we'll talk...

After only 1.5 miles into my journey, I was startled by 2 dogs. Granted, they were someone's pets and not strays, but when 2 big dogs come out of no where, you don't pay much attention to whether they are wearing a collar and tags. I am a HUGE dog lover and normally would not have been scared but they were both barking, showing teeth and drooling! I stopped dead in my tracks and couldn't help but scream. At the same time that I was taking Pepper Spray out, a car came by and both dogs just froze. The driver of the car slowed down and kept looking back at me while I quickly walked away. When the dogs retreated back to their house, the driver, seeing I was ok, went on. Luckily, I didn't have to spray them but luckily, they didn't attack me. People, your dogs don't bite you because you're their owner. They don't know me and I don't know them -- keep them put up for goodness sake!

When my nerves finally calmed down, I started running again. And in the beginning, I took very few walk breaks -- it was amazing. My body seemed to drive this run. After last Saturday's run that was so mental and full of positive, self-affirmations, my body told my head "take a rest, we got this." I decided to end my 1st half at the church where Ian's cub scout troop was conducting it's annual Pinewood Derby. Although the race was over, I managed to show up just in time for a slice of pizza, a refill of my water bottle (with ice too!) and to see my son presented with a 3rd place trophy for the Weebelo's division. Not a bad mid run rest I have to say. I stayed just a short time -- I didn't want to get stiff. So off I went to finish out the 2nd 9 miles.

This had planned to be a blog about what an awesome 18 miles it was. Although in many ways it was the best 18 miler I've had in a long time, it was not without its challenges. At 11.5 the calves began cramping. This always seems to happen since it first happened in Little Rock. Sometimes it starts at 8 miles, sometimes at 13 miles, today it was 11.5 miles. It was so bad at times that I thought I would have to quit & call for a ride home. But I told myself that it didn't matter how long today took, I wanted and NEEDED to get all 18 in and well, I am proud to say, that's just what I did. Today, I found that person inside me that I thought I killed in Little Rock. But she was still there and I'm so glad she was. Today was the 1st time since LR, that I truly felt like I could do 26.2 again.

At 15 miles, I was running again. And even though I was averaging only 14 min miles by this time, I felt like a Kenyan! When the cramps would start, sometimes I could stop them by just slowing down. But, I never called it in and that's what I'm proud of most. Tonight, when I log today's run, I'm not going to log the time. I don't really care how long I was out there in terms of hours/minutes/seconds. I was out there for 18 miles -- yeah baby!

A couple of ibuprofen and some ice for the legs, I'll be good as new tomorrow but for now...

Gotta run!
Lisa

The Scale vs. the Start Line

This is a post that is long overdue. About a week ago, I had an epiphany - a virtual light bulb came on above my little peanut brain so to speak. Those who know me well know that my weight is something I'm very bothered by. For most of my life, my brothers "lovingly" referred to me as birdlegs. Then genetics decided one day to play a mean, nasty trick on me & bestowed me with thyroid disease and diabetes -- metabolism's double whammy. At the age of 40, having never had to battle a weight problem before (actually the weight became an issue in my thirties, but did I even really exist before I became a runner? hmmm) I decided to get off the couch & run. Like Forrest Gump, I just started running and I kept on... But, eventually the running took over (not complaining) and I quit making healthy food choices, blah, blah, blah... This post is NOT about how I got here - this post is about how I'm going to get THERE.

I'm a slave to the scale, or rather, WAS. Everyday I'd step on and if there was gain, I was depressed and the rest of the day was impeded with thoughts of "why try." If there was loss (rare, but it happened) I'd think of all the indiscretions of the previous day and say "if I could eat as much as I did yesterday and STILL lose, why, I can have cheesecake for breakfast today! Yay me!" Neither of these methods work by the way and any that you lose is quickly found again and those pounds have friends!!!!

On the drive home from work on Thursday a week ago, I was really giving myself a hard time about it. After all, I've run half marathons and marathons, I have discipline in this area of my life. Why don't I have any when it comes to this? Then the lite bulb went on and I started re-evaluating my approach. As with all moments of clarity in my life, they are always accompanied by some lesson I've learned from running and most often revolve around the marathon. You see the marathon is the greatest physical accomplishment of my life. I say "the marathon" because it's not one particular race, it's all the races (even Chicago) and all the training miles that lead up to it and all the recovery miles after it that make up this glorious event called "the marathon." You quickly learn that when you stand at the start line, you have to call your mind immediately into submission. If you stand there thinking, "I've got to run 26.2 miles!!!!!", you'll say to yourself, "no way, that's impossible" But if you tell yourself, I just need to make it to mile 1. When you get to mile 1, then goal then is to make it to mile 2. So basically, you run it 1 mile at a time - sounds a lot easier that way, right?

So, why not look at weight loss with the same mindset. Instead of standing on the scale and looking out towards how many pounds I have to go to reach my goal, why not focus on 1 lb. at a time. After all, who can't lose 1 lb a week? That sounds much easier. Then I started thinking that although it sometimes seems that way, the pounds did not show up all at once. They came on gradually. I began to think that 6 months should be my goal. Ok so let me do some math here: 1 pound per week for 6 mths or 26 weeks = 26 lbs. Hmmmm.....the marathon is 26 miles!!! I literally got chills. So there's my plan...

Fast forward to today, well, yesterday actually - weeky weigh in day is Fri. Remember, my epiphany came on a Thurs so I started on Fri. You can imagine my dismay when I saw that I had GAINED half a pound! Although I was disappointed, I resolved that I would NOT be discouraged. Not every mile is easy (in fact most are anything but) -- not every pound is going to be a given either. I looked at the past week and logically looked at things I did well as well as the areas for improvement. The "needs improvement" items far "outweighed" (pun intended) than the things I did well. Realistically speaking, that's good news. If I had done everything right and gained, I'm sure I'd be giving up today.

Anyway, sorry for the lengthy post but I felt I just had to share. Remember, keep your dream in front of you even if it seems farfetched and there's no better time than now, no better day than today to stand at the start line and take it one mile at a time...

Gotta run...
Lisa

Re-connecting with your past...

I LOVE Facebook!!! I have had so much fun reconnecting with dear friends from the past. It makes me wonder how we ever survived before cell phones and laptops!



Unfortunately, my attempt to connect with one particular friend ended in sadness and disappointment. I was excited to find her mom and 2 sisters on Facebook but my excitement was soon snuffed out when I learned that my dear friend Janet passed away 3 years ago. I felt like someone sucker punched me right in my stomach!! I realized at that moment how easy it is to let time get away from you. We all get so busy but is that really an excuse? How could I have let myself lose touch with someone who meant so much to me? All I can do now is to "resolve" not to let this happen again. I will cherish every moment with my friends and when I feel that time or busy schedules are causing those moments to slip away, I will remember Janet. I know I said I don't make new year's resolutions but I resolve that this year and every year I have left on this earth, I will remember what's most important -- relationships and I will put them first.



I heard it said once that the way to have true JOY in your life can be summed up in this simple formula:



J - Jesus 1st

O - Others 2nd

Y - Yourself last



Gotta run...

Lisa

Good-bye 2008!

I've never been one to make new year's resolutions. I believe if there are changes needed in your life, resolve to make those changes TODAY whether or not today happens to be January 1st, December 31st or anywhere in between. On Monday, 12/29/2008, I decided to make a much needed change in my running habits or should I say rather I decided to make some running habits. I had no substantial miles since the half marthon on 12/6 and I'm staring down a short 11 weeks until the Little Rock marathon in March! I tried to play catch-up with my training schedule but you can't go from 0 miles in 2 weeks to a 14 miler on Saturday. I decided to consult a very trusted source to see what I should do. Susan helped me to see that because my goal was too lofty, I was becoming frustrated and bitter and that was keeping me from being able to "get back into the groove." This was something I already knew, but sometimes it takes the opinion of someone you admire, trust and respect to really make it clear. So, I regrouped and found a new training schedule -- one that met me where I am right now rather than one I had to hurry and catch-up to. Monday, 12/29 was my 1st day on this plan and it was ugly. I was not discouraged. Tue, 12/30 was a little better but still not very pretty. I was not discouraged. So far so good.

Thursday, 1/1/09, the 1st day of the new year and my 3rd annual new year's day run tradition and everything just clicked. It's amazing how one really good run can erase all the bad feelings that have accumulated for so long. It's exactly what I needed to feel like it was all coming back to me. Fast forward to today, my 10 miler. It felt great! After 3 miles, I was really into it and feeling strong. At the 5 mile mark, my son joined me. And although he could only make it 2 more miles with me and I logged only 7, I really feel I'm headed in the right direction for the 1st time in a very long time. Besides, the day's not over and what's 3 more miles, right?

Like I said, I don't make new year's resolutions. But as we say good-bye to 2008, it's good to look back (as long as you don't look back too long) but it's even better to look ahead and resolve that this is gonna be a better year, I'm gonna be a better me and it's never to late to start over.

Gotta run...
Lisa =)