I won!

I think my excitement for speed work yesterday was a tad premature. I was excited to push myself, but I forgot how hard it was going to be. Man, was it hard! I ran 7 miles total with 5 miles at a 8:27 pace. The first three speed miles were okay, but the last mile and a half was brutal! I had a really huge battle with my mind and body which were both telling me to stop. I really doubted whether I could do it. I kept having this conversation with myself telling myself that I needed to do it. If I stopped short of my goal I would doubt myself and be mad at myself. The last 1/4 miles was torture but.... I did it!

I felt so great when I finished. Well, actually, I felt horrible. I had a mile recovery and I had to walk the first few minutes. Let me change that. After I recovered, I felt awesome. I did it! I didn't give into my doubts or my body and I finished my speed work.

Now I'm ready for a nap.

looking forward to speedwork

I know this sounds crazy... it is crazy. I can't help it though. I'm looking forward to my speedwork workout tomorrow. I've dreaded them during this whole training program-and tomorrow I'm not. Why you ask? I'm not exactly sure, but it seems my attitude to training has changed somehow. Part of it is the previously explained Biggest Loser insight to how your mind controls your body. Part of it is the fact that my husband has been out of town this week and I've missed 2 workouts.

I feel like I can do so much more than I give myself credit for. I limit myself so much by my thoughts (there's deeper spiritual insight there). I'm not a super confident person, but I feel like it's time to change that when it comes to running. I want to run a 1:53 half marathon. Who's to say I can't? If I want to do it- I can!

Tomorrow I'm supposed to run 7 miles- 5 at an 8:29 pace. I don't think I can do it- I know I can... and I'm going to!

kudos to Bob and Jillian

Okay, a shout out to The Biggest Loser.... again. I am obsessed with that show. There are so many good things that come out of seeing people transform their lives. This season is SO much better then the last. Everyone gets along and is positive. It's great to watch. So, why did I pick the title of my blog?

A few weeks ago, Bob was struggling to get someone on his team to run for 30 seconds on the treadmill without stopping. He was so frustrated because everytime she got 10 seconds away she would stop. I've never seen Bob lose it like he did. Of course, Jillian and her team were watching. The woman eventually did it but Jillian made a comment that just stuck with me. She said the woman didn't believe in her mind that she could do it, so she couldn't. The next day on her weekly show recap she quesioned "What is your mind telling you that you can't do?"

I've really been thinking about how our minds are so powerful. What am I not doing because I think in my mind I can't? Relating to running- do I just think I can't run faster because I'm afraid to- or my mind is telling me I can't? I'm challenged to try to work past this. I've had a few hard workouts this week and everytime I'm tempted to stop because I think it's getting too hard; I fight my thoughts. It's really worked so far and I'm excited to see what happens. I've always known the mind is a powerful thing and that so many athletes use sports psychologists and I'm starting to understand the mind/performance connection a little better.

That's why it's called speedWORK!

Whew! I did my speedwork workout this morning. I only got in 7 miles out of the 8 I was supposed to do because my husband had to leave early to go on a business trip. But let me tell you, I worked harder in those 7 miles than I thought possible. The end result: I was soaked and exhaused, but more encouraged than I've ever been.

Here's how the workout went: (I'm doing this more for my own purpose so I can look back on it and rmember what I did and actually see it really happened.) I warmed up for a mile at a 9:23 pace. I was really unsure if I could run a mile at a 7:51 pace and decided to work myself up to it. Speed mile #1 at 8:13 pace. I felt pretty good and did a 1/2 mile recovery. Speed mile #2 started at an 8:06 pace and I decided to run the last 1/4 mile at a 8 min pace. Again, I was pretty tired and took my recovery 1/2 mile at a 9:30 pace. I decided that I could run a mile at an 8 mile pace. Speed mile #3 started at an 8 mile pace and I ran the last maybe 1/8 of a mile at a 7:53 pace. Okay, when I was done, I thought I might fall off the treadmill. I even slowed it down to a walk for a few minutes. After speeding back up to a run I had a little conversation (more like battle) with myself. I knew I was running out of time and was temped to just jog the last mile of my workout and stop at 6.5 miles. I also know I'm obsessive about my workouts and would feel like I failed if I didn't do the whole speed session. So, speed mile #4 looked like this: first 1/4 at 8:24, second 1/4 at 8:13, third 1/4 mile at 8:06 and last 1/4 mile at 8:00. I finished with a 1/2 mile recovery.

No, I didn't do 4 miles at a 7:51 pace, but I ran faster than I ever have. I actually ran a whole mile at lower than an 8 minute mile. More importantly, I pushed myself to places I've never been. I battled my mind, and I won. I didn't give up when things got tough and pushed myself harder than I thought I could.

another one bites the dust

I made it through my treadmill workout! I'm so psyched. It was one of the hardest workouts I've ever done- and I was sore the next day. I tried not to be intimidated by the 8:28 pace I was supposed to keep over 5 miles. I started out at a 8:40 pace and kept increasing my speed each mile. I ended at an 8:27 pace. I didn't exactly do what I was supposed to, but I was happy with the effort.

Today's challenge was a 9 mile run. I was dreading it, but it too was good. My pace was 9:50 per mile and my goal was 9:51. Perfect. BTW- these aren't just random time goals. I'm following a half marathon training program from Runner's World. Each day has a distance to run and a pace to run it at. My next run is a slow 2 mile run. However, on Wednesday I have a 8 mile speedwork workout. 4x1600 at a 7:51 pace (ha, ha) with 800 jogs in between. Go luck to me!

I am getting excited though. 7 weeks from today I'll be running my half marathon. I'm encouraged by today's run.

New Year

Wow, I just re-read my old posts and wish I hadn't taken such a long break. It's good to go back and read about what my workouts were like and what I was going through. I can't believe it's been over three months since I've posted anything. Let's see, I've run a 10K and a Turkey Trot and am less than 8 weeks away from my half marathon. I'm scheduled to run 9 miles this weekend. The 10K was great considering I wasn't trained for it. The Turkey Trot (8K) was awesome- I averaged an 8:33 pace which is great for me!

Right now I'm kind of stuck in the doldrums of winter training. It's cold and I don't like to run in the cold- especially 9 miles. Tomorrow morning I'm facing 7 miles on a treadmill with speedwork thrown in. I'm afraid I won't be able to get all my miles in before getting kicked off the treadmill. (There's a 30 minute time limit.) The gym was packed with people and their New Year Resolutions so, I'll have to see.

My leg has been acting up which is my biggest concern. It was super sore last week. Fortunately it was my recovery week so I took a day off and just had two four mile runs to do. It doesn't hurt at all now, but I have a 20 mile week this week and a 21 mile week next week. I hope it holds up.

I'm excited for the race, but at the moment I can't fathom running 13.1 miles. It seems so long! After my last 8 mile run I was beat and I couldn't help wondering if I could possibly do another 5. I have to say the answer was a resounding "NO!"