Some Data Updates

Weight check: 139.8, oh yeah! Woop!! I have never thought of losing weight as easy, but (and don't hate me for saying it) losing this holiday weight has been surprisingly easy. I think maybe I'm just so busy I don't think about eating all day long. That helps!

Also, its time to tally January's mileage..62.93! Not bad! So my goal for next month is simply to beat that number...even if it is just 5 miles over!

It's 11:00 and...I have some analogies :)

I'm on the internet still. I have been up since 4:30 am, drove to clinicals, then skills lab after that, drove home, immediately got to work on a recent important assignment, took a break to eat dinner and watch the end of Friday Night Lights with my boys before I got back to it. The cool thing is that I got it done! One step closer to finishing nursing school! That's just going to have to be how I look at these things from now on. Every challenging assignment, every tough day, even every failure is a chance to make myself better, work a little harder, and before I know it I will be graduating.

It's kind of like training for a target race. You put in the work, keep at it even through the sucky days and workout-by-workout, before you know it, you surprise yourself and accomplish something amazing!

I am always pleased when I see parallels between my running life and another area of my life. Let me tell you about yesterday...yesterday was tough. I have been trying to keep my head above water while in school, stay motivated to dig deep and study/read even when I'm tired all while not losing my mind...you know the usual ;) But the stresses of home have gotten to me lately and I submitted aforementioned assignment totally incomplete and way off track. It was so lame I have to do it over. It was a serious bummer, I'm not going to lie. It was like flushing hours down the toilet, because even that lame assignment took lots of time. But instead of dwelling on my failed attempt, I gave myself 15 minutes to have a cry-baby-whiner moment. Then when it was over, I straightened my shoulders, wiped the tears from my cheeks and got a latte at Starbucks. I pulled on my big girl panties and came back fighting. By the time I drove home, I was ready to get plugging on the replacement assignment. And today, I was determined to have an awesome day. I ended up having the best day today thanks to that attitude! Instead of letting a bad day get me down, or worse, throw me into a panic (Ahhh! Am I gonna fail? blah blah blah...), I shook it off and moved forward, confident that my mistakes and failures don't define me.

I really have running to thank for the inner strength I managed to find this week. My old self a few years ago probably would have really taken the pooped-on assignment personally after puting so much work into it. But that didn't happen! The moment literally took me back to really hard runs where I thought I might puke my guts out, or where I was around mile 10, about to hit the wall but somehow found the strength to push past it and finish strong.

In the end, wallowing in failure and mistakes doesn't do anyone any good. After all, we are all bound to make mistakes, because that's life! If we stay there, and sit in the muck of our failure, it will start to consume us, then after a while, we will start to carry it around as if it kind of defines us. It will start to become an unhealthy influence for future decisions and might make us afraid to fail again so we don't take chances even when they could have amazing results. Or...we can realize how strong we really are...

and bust through that wall and come out stronger on the other side :)

Something a little different! And GOAL MET!

This was SO my motto today!

Today was a little bit different. I had a run scheduled for 5:30am, but I also had a big test in my nursing theory class...a test that I did not feel prepared for! So while I got up at 5:30 (which is getting easier by the way), I spent my wee hours studying. I was a little bummed I didn't run since my last run was Saturday. But with school, I have to be flexible and know when to spend a little more time on it (at the expense of other things/people).

That being said, my test went good! Not great...but good and I am happy with that! After a long day of lectures, I got home and I wasn't totally wiped out, so I immediately changed into running clothes so I was ready. My phone was nearly dead so I plugged it in to charge so I would be able to use my trainer app. In the meantime I helped kids with homework, reunited with my sweet husband, vacuumed, etc.

Around 5:30, our oldest son needed picked up from basketball, so after doing that, I got my run in! Woop! I'm proud of myself for working in a run in a time of day that is not typical for me.

Here was the workout rundown:
10:00, 10:00 per mile...1.00 mile
10:00, 9:30 per mile.....1.05 miles
10:00, 9:00 per mile.....1.11 miles
10:00, 8:40 per mile.....1.15 miles
5:00, 8:20 per mil.........0.6 mile

Grand Total:.................4.91 (painfully shy of 5!)

(Credit to the Pace Calculator. I swear I use this page several times a week!)

This workout was hard! The last 15 minutes especially were a real mental workout! There were times where I really wanted to quit. I kept thinking of my mantras...they are pretty simple really. "Don't EVER Quit." "You ARE strong!" "This is how you get faster!" "You can do this!" and just for good measure, "Kara Goucher doesn't quit! Neither will you!"

Style/Workout: 45 minute tempo run
Setting/Route: Treadmill, garage (when I am doing a pace-centered workout, the treadmill is just easiest)
Mileage: 4.91 miles
Progress: (running mileage): 4.91 today/62.93 this month/ 62.93 year-to-date (I'm really gunning for 60 miles this month...I HAVE MET MY GOAL!!!)

So today marks finishing Week 4 of marathon training! And I met my goal of 60+ miles for the month! I wonder if I can squeeze just one more run in before the month is over...

So the moral of the story is this...just because you don't get your "scheduled" run in don't lose heart...another opportunity may present itself later in the day :)

It'll Be Hard Now or It'll Be Hard Later

A Not-As-Long-As-I-Thought Run

Today was a long run! I went to my son's basketball games for the morning, dressed and ready for my run. Then while parked at the middle school, I started there and just ran through town. The weather was rainy and icky last night and this morning so I prepared to get wet. Thankfully I got a break in the weather throughout my run :)

Style/Workout: Long Run

Setting/Route: Outside...all over Seaside
Mileage: 8.86 miles
Progress: (running mileage): 8.86 today/58.02 this month/ 58.02 year-to-date (I'm really gunning for 60 miles this month!)

Like I said, the weather was great for the run. It was really wet out though and the sun reflecting off the ground was blinding at times. It was also slippery in places. But overall, it was great! Miles 2-3 were out at the Cove and the ocean was roaring! It really was an amazing sight.

I had my jacket on because I thought it could rain, but it ended up getting too hot so I had to tie it around my waist. Annoying! I ended up fixing my route so I could run past my house just to drop it off. The run went really smoothly until my phone died around 6+ miles. Right around that point, I got a bit of a side stitch that was stabbing! But it was manageable and I finished the last part of my route. The last 2 miles were tough, I'll admit but I had to finish all the way to the end because I had to get to my car so I could drive it home. I was a bit disappointed once I got home too, because I thought I had ran closer to 10 miles, but I topped out at 8.86. That's what you get when your phone dies and you estimate! Oh well, it is still a longer run than last week's long run and that's what counts! My body certainly wasn't as rocked as it was last week either which is good.

When I got home I took an awesome shower (isn't it funny how GREAT post-long run showers feel?) and realized I needed to clip my toenails. Don't be grossed out, if you don't keep your toenails clipped somewhat short, you might loose them ;) I also wore my compression socks today.

So there ya go! Long run-done! Once my phone was charged again, I stopped my app and Tim Tebow still congratulated me even though I "had not met" my goal. He said something about "maybe letting me hold his Heisman"...such a hunk!

42 Minute Interval Run

Today was intervals. Originally it was on the schedule for yesterday (or the day before) and today was my long run day. But because my week has fallen apart and been insanely stressful, it did not work out to get a run in until today (which is unnerving!) So instead of banging out a long run, I did my interval work-out instead, because tomorrow is going to be a really great long run day. And since my weekend should be a bit more low-key (just tons of studying and a few basketball games), I should be able to get some sort of work-out in every day, either running or cross-training (my hubby went and got my bike fixed without telling me-yay!)

Style/Workout: 42 minute interval run
Setting/Route: My treadmill-intervals work super easy on the 'mill
Mileage: 4.46 miles
Progress: (running mileage): 4.46 today/49.16 this month/ 49.16 year-to-date (I'm really gunning for 60 miles this month!)

Intervals:

6:00/10:00......0.6
3:00/8:34........0.35
6:00/10:00.....0.6
3:00/8:20.......0.36
6:00/10:00.....0.6
3:00/8:06.......0.37
6:00/10:00.....0.6
3:00/7:54.......0.38
6:00/10:00.....0.6

Grand Total:...4.46 miles today! :)

This run felt so awesome! I am thinking I could have run it a bit harder too...so next interval run I am thinking I will start at 8:20 and work my intervals up from there. I feel like I am ready! Man it just felt so awesome to run! I have had so many crazy stresses this week between nursing school, our son and his special needs' challenges (he's being evaluated for autism), all of my kids' extra-curricular activities and their schedules...I was sick earlier in the week and my oldest son turned 13! :_( It has just been "one of those weeks". Thank God for running, it sure gives me a place to let off all of that stress! 

Weigh-In

...at 141.4! Woop!

With all of this running, the holiday weight is melting off! It feels so great! I think it helps being back into my school schedule too, because I pack my lunches and stay busy all day. I also try hard to drink lots of water! One area that I know is lagging behind is dinner. I have so little time and brain power to cook nutritious meals. I need to get back to the basics and start doing lots of healthy stir-fry dinners and varieties of salads. What we've been eating hasn't been bad, it's just been super-unthrilling :(