Once Again Its On!!

Thanksgiving... Christmas... New Years... Birthday... Son's birthday... Super Bowl... Daughter being born... Valentines Day... so many days in such a short period of time to just eat JUNK!! I've put on 7lb since my last marathon 12/09. I can feel it too. Some people say "You need to gain some weight" and others say "I cant tell that you gained weight", but I look at myself in the mirror in da buff and can tell. My motivation to run has been at rock bottom... maybe it has something to do with the winter and the fact that I havent seen 32 degrees for a while, or that I'm just wore out. Not even going into my job situation causing stress, but it plays a major role in my mental state. But anyways... that too shall pass.

So I decided to get my fat butt (relatively speaking) back on the grind and put in the miles. Not nearly as many as last year, but a nice start. Did a 10 mile run a few days ago, and MAN was I sore the next day! I went very slow too, about 8:40 per mile, but still felt it. May had to do with having to hurdle over snowbanks, trod through 6in of snow and balance on sheets of ice while running. But the pain is a good pain, me knowing that I'm breaking the mold of being lazy. NO pain NO gain!

Being heavier and lazier, I know I am not near the shape of last year, so I decided to get some tempo runs in to jump kick my immediate fitness... low and behold, we get 6 inches of snow so the tracks are covered. The indoor track at the Y is like 11 laps per mile... I'll get dizzy and loose track of laps and pass out by mile 2!!! NOGO!! So last minute, I find a 4 mile race waaaaaay downriver in Riverview. I hate on-site registration because it costs more, but i needed the run and competition, hehe. Plus they gave a nice lil skull cap instead of a cheap cotton shirt for running. That was fine and dandy... but what REALLY won me over was the post-race food featuring... (drumroll)... PANCAKES!!!!! So you KNOW I didnt think twice!! Oh yeah, I usually dont spend that kind of money for a short race like this, but it was for a cause... 2 $1000 scholarships for students, I'm all for races for a cause.

I do a 1 mile warmup... it was cold, but not too cold, 30 degrees. Then its time to roll. My focus was to do tempo pace and hold it the entire race, which was 7:00 per mile. There was a guy running in just shorts and shoes... whatever!! The gun goes off, the whole time I'm thinking "Dont take off" and I started near the front, so of course i'm in the adrenaline. After 1/4 mile, my Garmin say I'm going 6:10 per mile... so i reel it in a little, but it felt like I was walking!! I was SO HARD to not race this... people passing me and vice versa... but I kept my focus, and said they'll die near the end.

Mile 1... 7 minutes flat!!! PERFECT!! During the next mile, I see the leader coming back after a turn-around, and its a female!!! I'm like WTH?? She gets a little closer and I notice its Dot McMahon... so I'm like "Oh that makes sense now"... she was 3rd in the World Cross Country Championships. Mile 2... 14:00 (another 7 minute flat!!). It felt a little smoother than mile 1. We run through a bunch of neighborhoods (I hate a lot of turns while running).  Mile 3... this seemed like it lasted forever! I was SOOOO looking for the 3 mile mark. Hit mile 3... 21:01, (7:01 mile) dangit 1 second too slow!! LOL. Now I was starting to feel it... the last mile was into a headwind and people were slowing down... I got like 3 people in the last mile, not that I was racing (haha). I kept my focus and endured the headwind... hit the finish at 28:11 (7:10 last mile).

11 seconds off my goal pace, but good enuff. This same distance last year I ran 6:45 per mile for 27 minutes flat on a hilly hot course. So now the fun begins!! I was first in line to eat!! PANCAKES sausage and french toast strips!! I killed like 7 of dem flapjacks!! LOL. So the awards ceremony comes and I win 3rd place and didnt even know it!! I got a silly glass as a reward. I didnt expect to win because I didnt go all out, but I guess the losers need to run faster next time. LOL!!

So, now I'm feeling a little better, but I think i lost about 15% of my fitness from last year.  My next marathon will probably be 15 minutes slower, but I dont plan on racing it, just running it. I havent run a long run >10 miles in a while... and my marathon is in a couple of weeks, LOL. I'm soooo in need of a running partner(s) to kill time during these long runs of 1.5hr and more... but i'll get over it, but until then, I run on...