6 years

I can't believe I almost forgot.

How could I let myself forget? I feel like such a horrible person. Dave deserves more respect than that.

Ironically, I was at a Team in Training fundraiser when I remembered.


I miss him.

2 Steps forward...

...3 steps back.

The 8 mile long run 2 Saturdays ago went surprisingly well. The run was through River Oaks (which I always love) & the weather was SUPER cold, which totally energized me. It was also fun to watch a makeshift Easter bunny (aka a guy on a bike) dropping Easter eggs throughout the neighborhood. Apparently the mass drop-off point was the Rose Garden because there were colorful eggs everywhere there! It wasn't long before I saw a group of runners come up to the area, pick up the eggs, & proceed to throw & smash them on their friends' heads, causing the colorful confetti inside to explode all over the place. It became a game of cat & mouse with them. It was fun to watch & made me forget about the fact that I was on my longest run in about 7-8 months.

About 2/3 of the way through the "run" (ok, so it's just a walk) my body wanted to run SO badly, but of course, I couldn't. So I tried to see if I could figure out a way to run without actually running. And by golly, I did it! I figured out how to do a race walk! It was much faster than my regular walk, but didn't have the jarring on my body that running does. My last 2 miles were 15 minutes each, which was a HUGE improvement. I was SO excited & felt I was really on my way to getting back on track.

Then came this past weekend. Mileage for this past Saturday was 10 miles. I was a bit nervous about it because I wasn't sure if my body could hold up that long, but I was determined to try. The route this time was to downtown, then back to the park via the trails through Eleanor Tinsley Park along Memorial. For the 1st few miles my legs felt like lead weights. I couldn't get up to my race walk... I just had no energy. Finally, about 3 miles in, the energy kicked in & I was able to sustain the race walk. My time for the 1st 4 miles wasn't as bad as I thought so I was still feeling positive. Then came the trails.

I'd never run the trails along Memorial before & actually felt like I was doing very well. I was able to keep up my race walk almost the entire time, only having to slow down to a regular walk a few times. All the mud slowed me down, but I didn't think it was that bad. I didn't look at my watch again until the last water stop (about 8 miles into the run) & I was shocked at how slow I seemed to be. I convinced myself that the coaches had lied to us about the mileage & it was really 11 or 12 miles, not 10. If that was the case, then I was doing very well. However, it wasn't the case. Actual mileage was 10.5 miles. I was SO pissed at myself! I couldn't believe how slow I was. I mean, it didn't FEEL slow. I thought I was making such good time. To find out that I wasn't was so shocking to me. I was beating myself up about it all weekend.

To make matters worse, apparently doing that race walk for such a long period of time after never having done it before wasn't exactly the best thing for my body. My IT band, calves, & lower back muscles were SCREAMING in pain the next day. I got out the foam roller & my stick & tried to roll it all out. Good GOD I was crying in pain. I've been rolling my IT band & calved every day & they're better, but still very sore. Today was the 1st day I could walk without limping so I walked about 2 miles (slowly) to keep things loose.

I'm off to Florida this weekend to visit my grandmother & I was going to try to get in about 5 or 6 miles over there, but I think it would be best for me to not push it. My official training season for Nike begins in a few short weeks & I want to make sure I don't over-do it, so for now I think I'm going to stop walking on the roads & go back to walking in the pool. A friend is also giving me one of her bikes, so that should help, too. I just have to keep reminding myself... baby steps... baby steps...

It's Official...

... I'm another year older.

AND... I have signed up for the Nike Women's Marathon!

TNT had an Alumni party last night as a way to introduce us to the joys of Nike (they even gave away a Tiffany bracelet!) After talking with the director & finding out there is an early start to the race, therefore extending the time limit from 6.5 hours to 8 hours, I decided to sign up for the full. I really, really, REALLY hope I can get strong enough to be able to do it, but at least I know if I don't feel I can go all 26.2 miles, I can at least do the 1/2 (the 1st 12 miles of the course is the same, then the 1/2 turns to the right & goes straight to the finish line) & still get that Tiffany necklace. :)

Kick-off is May 12 & the first practice is May 19. However, I plan to be back at practice this weekend. I've missed the last 2 long runs (I was in Dallas 1 weekend, & last weekend was my birthday extravaganza weekend) so I'm anxious to get back to it, especially knowing the temps will be back down to the 40's/50's.

Next week I'm going to look into hiring a trainer, too. I really need to lose weight, especially now that my back has been so bad, & I know how important exercise is to getting healthier, but honestly, I need someone to be on my ass about it, telling me what to do, or else it's just way too easy for me to stay on the couch & watch tv every day. So instead of using the extra money I'm making at the new job to buy a new couch or HD TV, I'm going to put it towards a trainer.

At least that's my plan. We'll see if I actually go through with it. (LOL!)