I PR’ed…… June 1, 2009

…. by a whole 2 minutes! Hah. Sadness. To say I was disappointed would be a major understatement. I am so frustrated. I ended up alternating the entire time between feeling completely nauseous and intense stomach cramping. Needless to say, I feel like I spent more time in the portapotty lines than in the actual race.

 

The first few miles were pretty good-all sub 10 min, but I knew from the very beginning that I just felt…off. Eventually it came to fruition around mile 6 when the stomach cramping came in. I think the cramping can be attributed to that time of the month, but I have NO IDEA where the nausea came from. I was only able to down a gel around mile 7, after that I knew it would upset my stomach so I didn’t have any more. Plus, it felt like the Cytomax offered along the course made my symptoms worse, so I only stuck to small sips of water now and then.

 

I guess I should be grateful that I did better than last year, but in reality, I’m just frustrated because I know I could have done A LOT better. The entire marathon I was absolutely miserable, but was still able to crank out another sub 10 miler at mile 25, which just proved to me that  had I not had those issues I would have been so much faster. It’s funny, between mile 13 and 14 I passed my condo complex. My unit faces out to the street, so I looked up longingly at my sliding glass door. If I had had my keys on me and didn’t have people waiting for me on the route, there is a high probability that I might have just quit then. When I was running, I of course thought about how I would never put myself through this again, but as soon as I finished I knew I’d be running again. I’m the type of person that knows what I can achieve, and until I do, I won’t be happy. Plus, I HAVE to beat Oprah. I love Oprah, don’t get me wrong. But I think I should be able to beat her. And once I beat Oprah, I’m going after Diddy. Heh.

Anyways, I finished with a time of 4:57:35, hyperventilated along the route countless times and welled up like a baby at the end. I’m glad I finished though, for sure. The only issue I have now is a tight IT band from the 2 miles running up the 163. I wish they could reroute the course because I had super pains in both hips, plus the leg after those miles, just like last year.

And besides the fact that the rubbing between my thighs probably could have started a small fire, I’m happy to report that the Body Glide I tried out provided only minimal discomfort.  Success!

I’ve already started researching my next marathon. I’ll definitely be doing a lot of halfs, including America’s Finest City in August and the Nike Women’s Half in SF in October. I’m looking to the Long Beach marathon as a possibility, but that’s one week before the SF half so we’ll see. As Dori says in Finding Nemo, just keep swimming, just keep swimming…

Neeervvouuusss May 30, 2009

Sometimes I question why I do this to myself. I get SO nervous when it comes to races that I wonder why I put myself through all the stress and training. But then I run, and the feeling of accomplishment afterwards always answers my question. One more day left to the SD RnR. My leg is causing me  A LOT of concern, as that is what did me in last year. I had IT pain starting at mile 5, by the time I got to 13 I was in a world of hurt. I feel like this time around, it’s more the back of my knee that has issues, so hopefully I wont have a reoccurence with last year. Anyways, no more Debbie Downer!  Nobody likes when Debbie comes to the party. Orrrr a blogger meet-up!

Last night I met Meghann, Bobbi, Ashley, Katie, Hallie, and Derek. All very nice people. I was hesitant in going first because it was my first meet-up and I still have my nerdy/shy tendencies from childhood.. but alas, I gotta get over them, right? Right! Anyways, we met up at Trattoria Fantastica in Little Italy. Good food, good times, good people. All in all- a good night!

20 miles! May 16, 2009

Even though I ran the marathon last year, I’m still surprising myself with what I can do. I guess because during last years training the farthest I got to was 16 miles, I still had doubt that anything over that I could do.

So I finished the 20 miles and did it in a time that blew me away… 3:11, which equals 9:33 miles. I was shocked. I didn’t think I could sustain that pace the whole time. It just gave me so much courage for the SD RnR. Up until the 20 miler, I was constantly in doubt and stressing over the 26.2 miles. This gave me a renewed belief that YES, I can do it. After I stopped running for a few seconds and thought in my head, “wow, I DID it”, I started to choke up. I think I need to have more faith in myself… self-doubt will get you nowhere. It’s believing in yourself that let’s you achieve. With the 20 miles under my belt, I KNOW I can do this, and it’s only up to me to keep that thought in my head.

Love love love May 11, 2009

I LOVE this video. Why can’t there be more peace in this world??

I hate getting older May 6, 2009

Yup, true story. It freaks me out. Then again, who likes getting older? Besides, kids. They don’t count.

This past year has been pretty hard for me. It seems like every time I look in the mirror there’s one more wrinkle, one more weird red spot on my chest. Not to mention losing weight- I’ve been trying the past 2 years and have gained 8 lbs. What is THAT? I think it just all goes downhill after you turn 21. There’s not another age to look forward to. I think I’d stay 21 forever. Or 22. Or even 23. Cause then you don’t have that stigma of being a 21 year old. I take it back, 24 would be my ideal age. It’s before you hit quarter of a century, and before all things physical start heading south.

You might be sitting there wondering how old I am. Well, I’m not gonna tell you. Nope. But I WILL give you a hint: it falls somewhere between 25 and 27. I know, I know. Not very helpful.  I think I’m gonna go check out some anti-aging creams online. Then obsessively stare at my face in the mirror for a bit…. Come to think of it, how come when men get wrinkles it makes them sexier, and when women do, it just makes them look old? I”m telling you, life’s not fair.

Cravings March 22, 2009

I NEED chocolate right now. Yes, I know the difference between need vs. want. And I NEED chocolate.

If I wasn’t so lazy right now, I’d go to the store and pick up some of this

 

 and possibly a carton of this

not to mention these:

 

I would eat it all. And all would be right with the world.

(And no, I’m not pregnant.)

A Buggy Run March 22, 2009

I’m currently in training for the San Diego Rock ‘n Roll Marathon. This will be my second marathon, I ran the RnR last year as well. This year is so much less stressful though, because now I KNOW I can run it. Last year I obsessed over every little ache and pain, good runs, bad runs, food, hydration…

Anyways, I ran 12 miles today for my long run. The whole time I was running I kept running through large swarms of gnats. Now we all know I can’t exactly STOP breathing, so inevitably I sucked a few in. Super gross. I think the people running opposite of me probably thought I was a spaz, since I kept swatting the air in front of me and making disgusted faces as I inhaled the bugs. But I wonder, does this still make me a vegetarian?

Oh and note to self: Do not apply sticky lip gloss prior to run, or you WILL collect an assortment of bugs on your lips. Not a good look…

Quick story from last year’s marathon: The morning before the big day, I met up with a few friends for breakfast. Being as obsesso as I was, I chose to for-go (sp?) the delicious looking french toast, choc chip pancakes, etc for a boring english muffin with butter. I was worried about upsetting my stomach with food, or eating too much and having issues the next day. If you are a runner, you probably know what issues I’m referring to. Which, by the way, is a very valid worry, as my friend who was stationed at the end of the route can attest to. And which, also, was a close call for me as well. I know, that was probably TMI and I very likely just scared off any future readers. Oh well.

So we sat around the table and the group asked me what I wanted to eat after the marathon. All I could think of was Islands (a restaurant around here) fries. Oo boy can I eat those fries. I have a bit of a fry with ranch obsession, which I explained to the group. Lo and behold, a pic of my awesome friends at the end:

They thought it would be good motivation along the way. Did I mention they were awesome?

I gave in. March 21, 2009

“Gave in to who?” you ask? Well, myself. One day I googled something (not quite sure what) and happened upon someone’s blog. I found myself reading post after post of her clever writing, and from there I clicked on her blogroll, and that person’s blogroll and so on and so forth until I was following a massive amount of blogs. I guess the same part of me that’s obssessed with reality tv found reading small snippets of people’s lives just as interesting. It’s like taking people-watching to a whole other level. Anyways, I gave in because a. I like to read others blogs, and b. I like to write. Whether I write anything anyone ELSE finds amusing, I have no idea. But I guess since I amuse myself, that’s all that matters. And since I’m already boring myself with this “beginners” blog, I’ll shut up now.