A Request

Dear God,
Please hear my prayer. If it all possible, it would be great if it were not windy on race day. Yesterday while doing my 3 mile run outside it was very windy which made 3 miles much more challenging than I'd prefer. 13.1 miles will be difficult enough, so please don't make it harder with wind. Thank you for listening.
Jennifer

In The Zone

I found the running "zone" yesterday. I was wondering where it was. I mentioned several posts back about how I felt like I had found the runners high, but I still hadn't found the zone. The "zone" is referring to the time in your run where you just kind of zone out and keep running. You don't need to stop to take a breath and you mostly just feel like you could run forever. I FINALLY found the zone yesterday. After I hit about 2 miles of running, I just kept going and going. I felt like I never needed to stop. I was so completely focused. Finding the zone was eye opening for me and gave me a chance to see how far I've come in the last few months. That was a nice piece of encouragement.

Eight Miles!

Yesterday I ran eight miles, which is officially the longest distance I've ever run. It was my long training run for the week.
YES! I am so proud of myself for doing it. After the last few weeks, I was nervous about getting through it, but I did it! It felt great.
The first thing I did? Went to the cemetery to visit my Dad and tell him about it. I'm sure he'd be proud of me too.

It's hard

The title of this blog really says it all. Why I haven't been writing and why the training hasn't been going so well. It's hard. Training is hard as I get closer to the race, obviously. Longer runs, more intense training and more dedication makes the training difficult. But you know what makes training harder? Just feeling depleted with your heart not in it. I want to run this half marathon. It's a commitment I made to myself and a goal I really want to accomplish, but so much in my life has been changing lately that is has been really difficult to stay focused. I recently moved back to my hometown of Fargo for a few months to be with my family and work at a performing arts school for the summer. I know it was the right decision, but coming back to Fargo has been difficult to adjust to and it has affected my training in ways that I didn't expect. I've been getting frustrated and angry when I've had tough runs, which makes me more discouraged and less motivated. It is a vicious cycle.
Instead of focusing on what I AM accomplishing, I've been focusing on what I'm not. Not improving my times, not feeling strong and not getting that extra workout in has taken over my mind. It's toxic.
And you know what else? I really miss my Dad and wish he could give me a pep talk. That's probably the root of it all.
But I'm pushing through. Yesterday I had a great run and I had a good cross training session, so I feel back on track. It's a process.

Going Strong, Feeling Sore

I'm totally back on track! This week has been a pretty awesome training week so far, if I do say so myself. By "awesome" I don't really mean easy though. Because I've been...ahem, slacking...in the last few weeks, runs this week haven't really been easy, but I've gotten through them.

Tuesday morning I did a 4.5 mile run. It wasn't my best time, but I was pretty proud of myself. I'm still not running totally consistently and have to stop occasionally for walking breaks, but I walk fast and seem to be running a bit faster lately as well.

Wednesday morning I went to a strength training class as my cross training day. This class was serious. Since I'm currently in between jobs, I went to the 10:30 am class, which seemed to be full of very serious actors who were all in great shape AND checking themselves out a lot in the mirror. I sort of felt like the cow in the corner, but I did my best and got a killer total body workout. The class was challenging, but kept moving pretty quickly, so it didn't feel too long. Afterwards I was beat though. Since I haven't been doing that much weight training, it was a major wake-up call to my muscles. 

Thursday morning I woke up a little sore and wasn't sure how my 4.5 mile run would go. It was....sort of successful. To be honest, I probably walked more than I ran. But I was so sore, so I was just trying to get through it. Afterwards I spent a lot of time stretching my sore muscles and felt much better.

I'm proud of myself for being intense for a few days though and really working hard to get back on track. Today is a much needed rest day. This weekend is a 7 mile run and likely a hike. I'm in North Carolina, so I want to take advantage of some mountains!