It's the Journey that Matters Most

"Every day is a good day when you run." -Kevin Nelson

I'm sorry Mr. Nelson, but I think I'm going to have to disagree with you. I think in most cases (for most situations in life), there will be good days and there will be a few bad ones sprinkled in so that you really appreciate the good days. This is exactly how I feel about my running "journey."

Today I did things out of turn from the usual. 1) I ran today which is not on the schedule as Mondays are supposed to be rest days 2) I didn't run in the early AM like I've been doing on my short runs with AK Tuesday through Thursday and 3) I did my workout BEFORE I ran... big mistake apparently.

I completed a total of 5.4 miles today but 0.75 of that was on a treadmill because I needed to calibrate my Nike sportsband. Apparently it thinks that I run a little faster and little further than what I actually do, so I had to test it and compare the treadmill's info to the sportsband and it turns out that I have been running those 4.8 and 3.5 mile distances; well almost. The sportsband is only off by 0.02 miles which is fine by me. It may not be the most accurate device but it pretty d*mn close and it's relatively inexpensive; a mere $39.99. Anywho, I digress (yet again).

Oh yeah, the good days versus the bad ones. Up until now I hadn't experienced a "bad day." In fact I felt SO incredibly awesome on Saturday after doing 4.8 miles, that I felt that I could have probably done even more. Today on the other hand, I just wanted our run to be OVER! Truth be told, if I wasn't running with lil AK, who is all about finishing what we started, I would have turned around and went home a looooong time ago. My body felt tired, both of my knees (not just the tricky left one that bothers me from a old dance injury) were KILLING me and honestly, I don't really know how I was still running. My usual words of encouragement, you know the "just keep pushing," even seemed to somewhat fail me. I wanted out. I wanted to stop, call it quits but I could never bring myself to say it out loud, although my mind was screaming it over and over again.

Although, I feel pretty crappy, you gotta finish what you started and AK was trying to be encouraging as well. At one point she even told me to think about what I was going to eat afterwards, in order to take my mind off of running. For those who know me, you know that whenever I work out, I have this habit of daydreaming about what I'm going to eat after my workout is completed. I don't know why this happens but 9.5 times out of 10, you can bet that floating around in my mind are thoughts of food. However, in this case not even the thoughts of my post-run meal nor my words of encouragement were satisfying enough... hence why I call today a "bad day." Having this "bad day," has made me appreciate all of the good and sometimes "great days" that I've had thus far though. One little blip isn't going to stop me. November 12th, it's on and I'm taking what's mine... The sense of accomplishment, the 13.1 magnet that I plan on slapping on the G35 and self-satisfaction knowing that I finished what I started.

A new/old friend of mine commented on my Facebok wall after I made a status about my no so fun run today and said, "It's more of a journey than a destination. I promise that you will look back on 6 miles as a "easy" run in a few months." I look forward to the day that I can call 6 miles an "easy" run and I know that, that day will come soon. Just gotta keep pushing and try my best to enjoy this journey of mine.

Just Keeping Pushing...

Yesterday, I completed my second long run with my small group, The Zebras. My friend Amy was out of town so I was flying solo and was slightly nervous; for what reason, I do not know. Somehow though, I felt ready. I had my double chocolate protein bar, my water and lemon-lime Gatorade, my iPod shuffle, my Nike sportsband and my shades.

I got to the Richmond City Stadium at a 6:45 AM because my coach, Mary Kay was VERY adamant that they would leave at 7:05 AM and if we weren't there, we'd be left. So early is on time and on time is late according to my Pops and I was there early. Ret-ta-go!

I did 4.8 miles that morning in under 46 minutes and felt awesome! So awesome, that I even took an hour-long Body Pump class afterwards. I wouldn't say the run was easy but I've learned to know when to it's really time to quit versus when my mind says "I'm tired of doing this... let's stop now." When my mind tries to say "stop," I just start saying the same thing over and over again... "just keep pushing." It may sound kinda lame but it actually works. And when I say it, I smile because I think of Dory from Finding Nemo when she says "just keep swimming."

I imagine that when November 12th finally arrives and I'm on mile 6 or 7 of my 13.1 miles, I'll say that to myself and although I may be a little tired, I'll smile to myself and I'll cross that finish line.

My sweet t-shirt that I got on Saturday. Half-Marathon Training Team bay-bee!!!

Journey to the finish line...

"If you want to become the best runner you can be, start now. Don't spend the rest of your life wondering if you can do it." -Pricilla Welsh

So a little over a week ago, I began my "14-week journey to the finish line." This is what the Sportsbackers half-marathon head coach, Ro calls it. My friend, Amy convinced me to drop a good amount of coin on this 14-week half-marathon training group which guaranteed that you'll make it to the finish line on November 12, 2011. Seeing how I am totally new to this whole running thang, I figured it was probably in my best interest to join the group.

So last Saturday, Amy and I headed over bright and early to the Richmond City Stadium to do our first group run; a mere 3 miles. It was pretty great actually... I felt awesome after I completed the total 3.2 miles. And I discovered that apparently there are A LOT of runners in Richmond. According Ro, a little over 940 people signed up for the training alone which means there will be sh*t-ton of people at the actual race who decided not to pay the $125 to be "taught how to finish this race."

Since there are sooooo many people, they divided us up into 9 different groups. These groups were arranged by your level of experience and your average pace. Amy and I are on TEAM ZEBRA which is a novice group. There's an intermediate group called "Red-bellied Cooter," which I don't know what that is and I'd rather not find out. I'll take being a Zebra, thank you very much! ...Anywho, the cool thing about this half-marathon group, is that it's supposedly a great way to meet new peeps which is pretty great because you're guaranteed to already have at least ONE thing in common... RUNNING.

Anywho... at the end of our 3.2 mile run, we received our training book which I'm basically referring to as my "Runner's Bible." The book is great with some pretty kick-a** inspirational quotes and the most important thing of all... our training schedule which goes a little something like this:

Sunday - cross-train
Monday - rest (although I will be at my local Gold's doing some weights instead)
Tuesday - short run (3 miles)
Wednesday - short run (3 miles)
Thursday - short run (3 miles)
Friday - rest
Saturday - long run (4+ miles)

Each week, the long runs get longer and after about a month the short runs during the week increase as well... Oh joy! lol I figure, if I follow the advance of my personal trainer at the gym and my Runner's Bible then I have no doubt in my mind that I'm crossing the finish line and poppin' some champagne bottles in celebration of the completion of my half-marathon journey! Wish me luck ...although I don't think that I'll need it ;-)

Just call me Forrest.



Me in the pink tee (on the right) just cruisin' along on my first group run :-)