9 miles 2:22:48

Patty was right about learning a lesson each long run you do...They are tough lessons at that. Today's lesson on the agenda was the importance of not breaking in new shoes (not new really but first time out for a "run") on a long run. Yeah lets just say I have blisters on ever toe and ALL up my heal from those damn shoes.... yeah lesson learned.

See when I headed out I told the hubby I was going to do today's 12 miles in 3 mile increments to avoid injury and also to spread it out during the day seeing how I am already struggling with the miles.
Well 1.5 miles (the turn around point) turned int0 2 miles turned into 3 miles and having learned last weekend the valuable lesson of hydration I was sure not to learn that lesson again and brought along the hydration pack "just in case" seeing how I am learning pretty quick its about how you feel once you get going that will determine how far you will go.
So at 4 miles I called home to tell him not to lock the door because he was leaving and I was going to be at least another hour he says "Oh I though you were only doing 3 miles"
"Yeah well my body decided other wise"
My first 4 miles were pretty strong I aimed to run at least 1/2 of each mile and that was still a struggle at 4.5 miles on my way back I noticed another path and decided it looked as if it went pretty far and it was all up hill (I was still feeling pretty good at this point) and I wanted to challenge myself so I decided my 8 miles was going to turn into 9 miles that way I would have less to do later in the day. Well I headed up the hill for the 1/2 mile and then jogged back down; talk about BURN!! Anyways it was all my body could handle and I think I pushed a little to hard because my legs became tree trunks and it took all my mind, body and spirit not to call the hubby to come get me. The last 3.5 miles were HELL so much so that by my final 1 1/2 mile I was barely walking it was more of a stroll and it took EVERYTHING in me just to finish. There were 2 short cuts on my way home that I could have taken and I kept telling myself "Screw that you did not run that hill for nothing!!"
I made it just barely. My feet ARE KILLING ME!! So much so I actually filled the bathtub with COLD water and put my feet in for 5 minutes. I also iced my shins by kneeling in and tried to ice my thighs a little too but it was SO COLD I could only splash water on them.
3 more miles tonight. **sigh**

Reflection: Today was a really tough day and the last 2 miles aloud me to really think about this whole running situation. I promise Patty I will do this 1/2 marathon we have coming up and really work as hard as I can but the more I think that our full marathon is in 3 months and I only have 16 more weeks of training the more I am thinking I am going to have to postpone my full marathon. I was thinking I may do the 1/2 in Detroit and then start the training from scratch to do the FULL LA marathon in March. That way I will have a year of training under my belt. I really feel the struggle with my miles right now some of its the altitude some of it is the extra weight I am carrying around and I am working to fix both. Today my max run was 1/2 mile and I could barely finish the 9 miles. I am not saying I can not push myself to do the full I am just saying I would prefer to not have to walk 1/2 of it. I would like to be in better shape and at least be able to run 13 miles when all I can do now if I REALLY push is 1 full mile maybe 1 1/2 but then I am beat.

We will see what the future holds I am just thinking out loud here.

2 miles in the rain

I tell you what. Thunder and lightning sure make you move a lot faster than normal.... I had headed out for 6 miles and I realized it was drizzling a bit so I just layered up and headed out only to be chased back in by the rail that was the size of gold balls.

3 miles

And it took forever. I am hoping my body will let me run come Thursday I have 6 miles then have 12 on Sunday which I am mentally preparing for because its going to be a LONG one and I am going to aim to do as much of it at one time as I can.
It was good to get back out although I only "jogged" a bit of it and that was to chase after my dog...

3 miles walking

The wonderful percent of body fat... UGGGG
This is my official weigh in on my scale....


Oh and big news. I joined weight watchers last night. It was time. I have been putting in all these miles and I am not losing weight so I needed that push. Also I know that the reason I am not able to "run" that far is also because I have all this extra weight I have. So 60 pounds is my goal sounds like A LOT however I weighed in @ 189.8 pounds. So yeah 60 pounds.
And these are my official before pics.
My best girlfriend has had MUCH success with the program and is down 20 pounds. I am hoping this will be "quick" way to jump start my ass saying goodbye party.

2 miles walk + 8 = 10 miles for the day!!

WEEHOOO I seriously did not think I could go out for the other 2 miles but my dog is so friggin cute and shes been sick so we went out for a nice little stroll and SHE LOVED IT...... So did I, I even worked up a little bit of a sweat @ 7:30pm...

8 miles 2:10

So today I learned the valuable lesson of dehydration and chest pains. I was really sick last night and I had to give myself an injection which knocks me out, good thing is I get a GOOD rest, bad thing is that the next day I am like a slug very groggy and lethargic oh not to mention the injection dehydrates me.
Anyways I headed out for my run and had intentions of only doing 6 miles then doing 4 later in the evening because I am "just" getting back to it and I do not want to burn myself out.. ok where was I . Oh I was headed out for 6 miles and at the end of mile 3 I was feeling good so I thought "ok lets do 8 miles instead of just 6 then you only have to do 2 miles later"
Well I failed to be prepared and I was only ready for 6 miles at mile 3.5 I was out of fluids which was not a horrible thing because I usually do not really drink all that much...... until I started to feel sick and I dry heaved for a few minutes and barfed what little fluids I had left.
So I walked because I was 4.5 miles from home and I was really unsure what I was going to do. I walked slow and my body started to ache and hurt. Well THANK GOODNESS these wonderful bike trails I run on our city owned and I remember that at the baseball diamonds I remember there were bathrooms. Fingers crossed (that they were open) I walked a little quicker thinking I could always drink out of the puddles if I needed to and the baseball diamonds were only another mile and a half away I was SO dehydrated I EVEN STOPPED SWEATING!!!
**Note to self valuable lesson #1 when re hydrating ones self YOU NEED TO DO IT SLOWLY or you are going to BARF your face off**
So yeah the bathrooms were open and I downed LOTS of water only to immediately vomit it back up. Some friendly bikers stopped to see if I was ok and I just laughed and said I swallowed a big bug (seeing how I could have chose to use the bathroom to barf I did it outside to avoid whatever grossness was in the toilet from splashing back up at me. I sat and stretched for about 5- 10 minutes while SLOWLY drinking some water and then headed back out to finish up.
The last mile was hell I am not sure if its because I knew it was only another mile before I could stretch and sit and shower or because my body had just given up.
BUT WEEHOOOO my longest distance yet even though I walked most of it

2 miles with the dog tonight.

Oh and I started having chest pains about every mile which I think was just a mix of anxiety and the rest of the medication wearing off which I was even surprised I was able to get up and get going. Only really worried me about 2 times because I was winded but it I listened to my body and they wore off so I kept going. Not as fast as usual but I DID it!!

4.25 miles 1:07

So I was going to do 5 but there was not enough time because I was a little "slow" getting out of the gates this morning. I do admit though getting the run out of the way before my eyes are even open is a WAY better way to do this. That way I have no excuses and I can come home from work and have "me and hubby" time.

I will do the other .75 miles with the dog today after work on her nightly walk.

3 miles 48:20

I walked the dog and tried to keep it as fast as possible.... I sweat quite a bit so its good. I am taking tomorrow off (Wed) and I am making it up on Friday and taking Sat off before my 10 miles on Sunday.
I am getting really excited for my 1/2 marathon coming up in 6 weeks!! I need to really keep up with my runs and give it my all. We are getting a gym member ship at a gym that is open 24 hours so I will have NO EXCUSES!!! Also the weather here is a little weird. Tonight I was getting ready to go out for a 5 mile rollerblade then it starts to POUR!!!

6 miles 1:30

OH YEAH BABY!!!(you can re-read that if you need to because I was JUST AS SHOCKED!!!)

The best run/walk EVER. I was supposed to do 9 miles today but in listening to my body and just getting back into things I am going to stick to the schedule for all miles this week to get back to where I was with the exception of today. My back started to spasm a bit towards the end of mile 5 and I was coming back to the house to do the last 3 with the dog but after I stretched and almost barfed I decided to make the executive decision and not push it too hard.

The breathing is still really hard when I get going I just try to work through it as best I can taking long deep breaths and cheering myself on seems to work! It will come though I just need to be patient.

15 minute MILES!!! WEEHOOO which is a HUGE improvement!!! It felt SO good today. My first 3 miles we strong I even ran 1/2 mile straight in my 3rd mile. I tried to run as much as I walked and it showed.

I AM SO PROUD!! And so excited at the same time!!! Now all I have to do is double that with the same time by marathon time and we are good!lol

One day at a time! Ha ha there were some "real" runners out today covered in mud (we had a huge thunderstorm) and as they ran past me and left me in there dust I just plugged along in hopes that, that WILL be me one day!!

Patience!!

3 miles 48:51

So yeah I was going for 5 but my body prevented me from it.... its so frustrating its one step forward and another back. This FRIGGIN altitude is kicking my ass in a bad way. I was up to running at least a mile of the 3 and now I can barely run 2/10ths of a mile before my breathing makes me stop.
Not to mention the dizzy spells I have been having for the last week too... but everyone says it will go away.
Heres hoping!!

6.11 miles 1:43:07

My first 3 miles were not so bad giving the altitude and everything. 6200 feet above sea level so the air is thinner. I tried to run but was having some serious breathing issues so I just took it slow and steady so that I could finish the 6 miles. I was going to aim for 8 but the last 2 miles of my journey I was fighting the need to poop. Really poop. So bad that I almost had to squat but I was unprepared without my tissues because the first 20 times I went out and took them I never used them... always the case.

Anyways good news is I am back on track and it feels GOOD!!! Oh and some more good news!!

THIS TOWN WAS MADE FOR RUNNING (biking actually but I am going to steal it for myself)!!! I found the SWEETEST 10 straight miles of city owned and cared for bike paths. They are UNBELIEVABLE and beautiful and safe. And although I only did 3 miles of it today because my first 3 miles I ran on the road then followed these bike riders up this HUGE hill only to find these AWESOME trails I am really excited about this. They have maps and are full of people biking and walking and a few runners and everyone says hello and good morning.

I think I may like it here. (after I get used to the altitude) But WEEEHOOOO something to be super excited about.

Oh and I also told the hubby that with my first pay I am buying a bike so that on my off days (days after long runs when I am scheduled to run) I am going to go out and bike 2 times the distance of my scheduled run.