An Early 6

Wednesday is the day that we usually do our early morning run. I'm definitely tired after today. On one hand, I love getting up early and getting my workout over with. That way, by the time noon rolls around, it's almost like it never even happened. After running 6 today, we did lower body weights. Lots of squats and lunges. Now that I've had a few hours to recover, I'm really starting to feel my tiredness kick in. I don't think my body feels sore and tired, I think it's more that I'm not loving the days that I have to wake up at 4:30. Yowza! Maybe I'll get to sneak in a nap today.

Long Runs

This morning was our long run of the week. Only 9 miles, so nothing too big yet. The temperature was mid 20's, which wasn't absolutely horrible, but it was pretty cold, I'm not going to lie.

I don't know why some days are better running days than others, but by the end of this run, I was exhausted. With two miles left, I felt like I was slowing down considerably. My whole body has been worked pretty hard this week physically, so I think that had a lot to do with it. Sometimes in the past after a long run, I've felt like, "Oh my gosh, that distance was so hard today, how am I going to manage a half or a full marathon?" But it always seems to work out.

Overall, good run, just done with a tired body. Ha, and we're only two weeks into training. What am I going to feel like after week 18?!

Monday, Monday (ba, dah, ba, dah, dah, dah)

This morning BFM and I did our regular routine of kicking our own butts while we were at the gym. We do circuit type training in the gymnasium that includes, lunges (I think we did a billion), push-ups, box jumps, jump rope, mountain climbers, and squats. It's seriously the best way to start the week.

Tonight was an awesome Zumba class. We had a great positive energy in the room. That always makes Zumba the best. I love loud students who will whoop and holler with me and shout, "ZUMBA" on their own. It's amazing!

This week starts our week #2 in marathon training. We're waking up early tomorrow to run our 3. It seems like such a short run, but it'll be nice to get it in early and get it over with. After running, we'll fit in some weight training. Every time I lift, I love it more and more.

I gotta keep working hard to get my body looking good for Hawaii in just over a month.

Here's to a good week.

Marathon #2, Here I Come!

Wow. I'm seriously going to do another marathon.

It's definitely one of those WTF moments for me. The last one I trained for was pretty intense. Don't get me wrong, the actual race was awesome, it was just the weeks of training leading up to the race that had me so burnt out on running that I actually quit during the whole process. The process of training, not the actual race. Oh, yeah, make it known that I ran that whole bad-boy. The race, I mean. Anyway, it was the training that was the worst part for me. BUT, never the less, I made it through. I decided not to run for about a year after my race, but I guess that's beside the point.

Now that I'm in Montana and have found an incredible running partner and BFM (Best Friend Montana), we've decided to take on the challenge of another marathon. She and I have both run one marathon before and it wasn't too horrible. We're hoping that together, we can help motivate each other and be the strong training partner that we both need. BFM is a faster runner than I am, but she's also made me a little faster than I was before too. My running inspiration from the beginning of my running days has always been my husband. He once told me that "You can't get better as a runner unless you run with someone who is faster than you." Totally true.

Our long runs are supposed to be slower than our marathon race-pace. We have a goal to run the marathon at a 10-minute mile. So we've decided to run our long runs at around an 11-minute mile. Today during our long run, I was constantly telling BFM to slow down. I'm good at being slow. She just kept on speeding up. Yesterday during our run, we were supposed to maintain marathon race-pace. She's sneaky though, because she was actually going faster and I was having to literally chase her. Damn her and her fast legs. I guess we're good for each other though. She'll keep me on pace on our fast days and I'll slow her down on our slow ones.

The Final Countdown (do do do do, do do do do do)

Well, it's two weeks away now. We did our 20 miler this week and it was amazing! Other than the two pooping breaks I had to take (luckily we were near bathrooms both times), it was a great run! Unfortunately it was only about 19 when it was all said and done because we changed our route a little to accomidate my bowel needs, but that is still so awesome! 19 is the farthest distance I've ever gone. Quite an accomplishment! I'm so glad that I stuck with it and I'm also so glad that it's two weeks away. I will definitely welcome the running break!

Struggling

I just want to say that training for a marathon has been the most challenging thing I've ever done. I've come inches away from quitting on many occasions, but have now recommitted to running my first marathon in three weeks. Wish me luck...I'm going to need it.

I need to remember these three things:

If running were easy, everyone would be doing it.

You can have anything you want, if you want it badly enough.

It's not called a walk in the park, it's a marathon. It's not supposed to be easy.

3 down, 22 to go

Today was an easy 3 miles on the TM. This week, I have to still do a 6, a 3, and the long run on Friday is 13!!! I'm going to be doing a half marathon this week. CRAZY! Hopefully the altitude change to Utah won't affect our breathing and performance too much. My brother also wants to run it with us. It should be fun! (Did I just say fun for a 13 miler?) I must be turning into a real runner.

Busy, busy!

On Thursday, I ran 6 miles on the TM. About halfway through, my chest started aching. Almost like my heart was literally hurting. I decided to walk for a minute or so. I did and then it totally started feeling better, so I ran again at a slightly slower pace and I was fine. I'm proud of myself because even just a couple of weeks ago, I would have just stopped and decided that it was going to be a short run. But this time, I persevered and kept on going the full 6. Way to go, Me!

Thursday night was TK. I had 8 people show up, which has been about normal. I think that 8 is a good number. Yeah, I'd like to have more, but I've got quite a few regulars that show up. I think that having 8 people is enough to ensure that I keep my classes. I would be heartbroken if either of them got taken away due to attendance.

Last night, Brandon and I went for our 12 mile run. It was awesome!! We were able to drop Sebastian off at Ali and Troy's for a night of baby sitting, so it was an added bonus not to have a stroller. Anyway, it was the type of run where I felt good the entire time. I love runs like that. This run was the first that I have had in a long time where I've completely let my body just take over and do the run. Auto pilot, all the way. Next week we'll be in Utah and we're going to attempt 13. I'm not sure how hard it will be with the altitude, but we'll give it a try.

My Everest

Since it is Brandon's long work week, we have to do our long run on his day off. That means today since I don't want to be doing a long run on the same day that I have TK (tomorrow).

7 miles was the goal for today. Although yesterday I was thinking I was hot stuff because I had taught TK twice and done spin class, I was TOTALLY regretting that today. I wasn't noticably sore from yesterday, which I thought I would be, but once we started running, my legs were screaming because they were so tired. I cannot tell you how much I wanted to stop during the entire run. I was also doing a little reminiscing about my runs with Ali during our half marathon training.

Amy: "Tell me something to make me want to keep running, Ali."

Ali: "You're doing great, Aim! We're almost halfway done. You can do this."

Let me paint a picture for you about how the run went today.

Me: "Honey, tell me something to make me keep going."

Brandon: "If you stop, you'll have to walk home and I'm going to lock you out of the house."

Hmmmm...

About a half mile further down the road:

Brandon: "If you stop now, that means you're a quitter, and you'll always be a quitter, and you'll never finish a marathon."

So you can imagine the mental beating that I was taking, yet still trying to force myself to take each new step. **Disclaimer** Brandon is in no way, shape, or form a mental abuser. In this case, he was just trying to be funny and make himself laugh. This is a case of a smart aleck husband!

The last half mile of our run was by far the hardest. I can usually get a second wind at the end, especially when the end is in plain sight. But I wanted to stop so badly! Brandon was a few paces ahead of me, and I even walked for about three paces. That was uncomfortable and awkward, so I just kept on running. Luckily, Brandon impressed me in the end.

Brandon: "Come on, you can do it. We're almost there. You're doing great."

When the run was finally over, he gave me a high five and told me, "Good job!" I then went on to tell him that the encouragement that he gave me at the end was what I needed, not the empty, funny-guy threats!

It's going to be a long road ahead during this marathon training if I'm going to put up with my husband on these long runs. It's a good thing that I have the ability to tune him out sometimes. Maybe I should get Ali to record some positive affirmations and put them on the ipod.

Holy Crap!

Dang...I haven't posted any blogs for a long time. We've had a busy month with lots of visitors. Anyway, my marathon training is in full swing. I'm just finishing up week 2 of my 18 week training schedule. My long run tomorrow will be 7. I'm really getting excited for all of the running that's coming up. I just wish my running stroller wasn't busted, then I could do more runs outside. Oh well. Luckily we have a treadmill. That will work just fine for now.

I'm also now teaching 2 TK classes a week at the athletic club. It's so much fun and I'm really glad that I am doing something that I love doing. I got some new Nike Shox this week that are just for my TK class. Hot stuff! I'm hoping that through my TK classes and my running, I will be a size 6 by the time the marathon comes around. I just got some new jeans. I got a 10, but after bringing them home and wearing them around, they're way too baggy. I'm going to take them back and get an 8. I'm just one step closer to that 6! Wish me luck with training!