I officially have less than twenty four hours until my race. And you know what? I'm kind of totally freaking out about it. The past week, I've run a total of eight miles. Normally, I run around 25 to 30. I know, I know. Trust my training. I've told myself that time and time again. I'm sure every runner feels totally unprepared the day before a race. Right?
Last night was my last official day of training. I ran a mile and a half. I've had my running log duct taped to my door for about five months now, and last night I finally took it down. Bittersweet moment. It'll be nice to be able to run whatever, whenever I want to after the race. I'm going to have so much free time I won't know what to do with myself!
Throughout the week I've totally been obsessing about my eating habits. What I can or should or absolutely must not eat. I told myself no desert, but come on, I love sugar. Not possible. But I figure if I ruined that throughout the week I can at least get it right tonight. I ate spaghetti, a lot of it. But I promise, I didn't overeat. I drank a Gatorade yesterday and today and have drank a lot of water tonight. Again, not too much that I feel like I'm going to puke water all over the place.
What am I worried about? I'm worried that I'll wake up with an upset stomach. That's what happened last weekend before the 10K, and I hardly ate anything. This goes without saying that I was really hungry during the race. I'm also nervous that I'll get lost. Don't laugh, it's possible. I'm directionally challenged. But I'm trusting that their will be enough police officers and others to guide me. It's supposed to be warm tomorrow, close to ninety. This is something I absolutely cannot let myself think about. It's out of my control. Besides, the weather shouldn't be that warm between seven and ten in the morning.
Tonight, we drove down to pick up my number and race-timer-thingy (I just forgot what it's called!). My number is 445. This all feels so unreal. It's not really me doing it, you know? I feel like I'm living someone else's live for just a few moments. I mean seriously, me, running a half marathon. Yeah right. But I am going to do it and it is going to be awesome.
At this point, I just want to get started. I feel like I can't wait another moment. I'm waking up at five tomorrow morning to hydrate and fuel myself and I know that those two hours before my race are going to be excruciating!
"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start." -John J. Bingham
Let's do this thing!
Friday, May 18, 2012
Sunday, May 13, 2012
10K
This weekend I ran my second race EVER. The first time I ran this race was when I was in eighth grade. Six miles seemed like a lot before I began training for a half-marathon, now it's just a part of my training. I know I'm supposed to be tapering this week, but this was such a great opportunity for me to get a "practice race" in before my big run. Besides, this wasn't about me, this one was about my sister, Anna. She and my mother have been training for this race since I started training for mine. I wanted to see them finish.
This race was a community race to raise money for the school districts. It was the fifth annual race, so it's pretty small, at least for a serious runner. I thought there were a ton of people there! I was going to take it easy, but then I realized that I could place in my age division and I couldn't risk not trying. After all, we all know that next weekend's race will be more about me finishing than anything else.
I had hoped to get in six miles in under an hour. I'm beginning to think that I'm just setting myself up for failure when I time myself. I blame it on the humongous hills along the route, some of which I had to walk up. My time was 1:06:39 with an average pace of 10:43.
My sister came in second in her age division, which is awesome! She does this with her middle school and the girls always take first, second, and third in their age group. She had a time around 1:13 along with my mother.
To brag on myself a little, I got first in the women's 15 to 19 category. This race wasn't about me finishing. Like I said before, I run six miles on an average basis with my training. This race, for me, was about knowing that I can do my half-marathon and experiencing the hyper-activity of a race before I get caught up in it next weekend.
Am I nervous for next weekend? Unimaginably so. Nerves put me in a bad mood. Always. So I'm going to have to fight that this week along with my anxiety. It's horrible for me to want it to be over. This is going to be an awesome experience!
For training this week my program has me running three miles both Monday and Tuesday and one mile on Friday. I was told to cut down my running even more than that so I'm not sure what I'll actually be doing. I will be staying away from any food that is spicy - can't eat that before a run! And I'm going to try, TRY to stay away from anything too sweet. I want to be in the best shape possible for next week. "Trust your training." I don't know how many times I've heard that. What I really want to do right now is go out and run twelve miles. Not really, though. That sounds exhausting.
Pray for me! I know I'll be saying this verse hundreds of times during the race. Isaiah 40:31 says, "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Moving On
As the school year is coming to a close, I begin to realize how quickly things change. Many of my friends are seniors this year, going of to live their life. Partying it up at college (just kidding). I'm no different from the next person when I say I hate saying goodbye's. They rip me apart inside until I feel as if I can't feel anymore.
The reason I'm writing about goodbye's is because one of my senior friends is leaving particularly early. He's going to be a counselor at a youth camp, which is totally awesome, but I'm totally going to miss him. So as I was mourning the loss of a friend not yet gone I realized I was being selfish and stupid. Sure, yeah, some of the people I care about are going places. But they're going places! They're following where God is leading them. Here I am being all mournful and tearful at their departure when they're doing God's Will.
The reason I'm writing about goodbye's is because one of my senior friends is leaving particularly early. He's going to be a counselor at a youth camp, which is totally awesome, but I'm totally going to miss him. So as I was mourning the loss of a friend not yet gone I realized I was being selfish and stupid. Sure, yeah, some of the people I care about are going places. But they're going places! They're following where God is leading them. Here I am being all mournful and tearful at their departure when they're doing God's Will.
On my way home from youth group on Tuesday, as I was bitterly contemplating what it will be like without the seniors, this song came on the radio. "We only got 86,400 seconds in a day to turn it all around or to throw it all away. We gotta tell them that we love them while we got the change to say gotta live like we're dying." Maybe it's just me, but this song was totally speaking to me. I realized that I can't mourn someone who isn't gone. Salvage the time you have left to spend with those you love, even those you don't. We only have so much time to share God's Word with others. If that means he's calling you to move out of state, go for it.
Jeremiah 29:11 says, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'Plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you hope and a future.'" He will take care of you. Trust Him.
As for me? I need to trust God to take care of my friends. They're going to do amazing things, wherever God leads them. Use your time wisely because "every second counts on the clock that's ticking. Gotta live like we're dying."
The Dreaded Swimsuit
It's almost summertime. Ladies, you know what that means. Yes, it's time to dig deep into your closet and pull out your swimsuit. As you do this I'm sure you'll be crossing your fingers that it still fits . . . or that you can even find it!
Middle school was around the time I began to feel self-conscience in a bathing suit. I'm sure this is true of everyone. My first swimsuit dressing room horror story was in eighth grade. It was a week before my class trip my mother and I were shopping for swimsuits. I was so excited, until I realized that NOTHING LOOKED RIGHT! I'm sure I tried on a hundred suits (and just as many tears) until I finally decided to "throw in the towel" and chose the next one on the sales rack.
Swimsuits are a pain. I just don't even know where to begin. For me, the most important part of a swimsuit is that it's appropriate. That's kind of a difficult task, obviously. Nothing in swimwear will ever be modest. The next thing is I have to feel comfortable in it. I will never wear a bikini. That's a personal choice.
I guess the inspiration of this post was that I just bought a new swimsuit. I went shopping with the intention of buying a new pair of running shorts and ended up in the swimwear section of the store. I'm normally hesitant to shop for a new swimsuit, but I saw a cute one and just had to try it on. To my surprise, I didn't hate it. Which is better than most of the swimsuits I buy. Why waste a good thing?
What I'm trying to say is don't worry too much about what you look like on the beach, or in my case, on our nasty lake sand. Everyone is way more worried about how they look than how you look. Have fun, enjoy yourself, stay modest if at all possible. Remember, if you feel good, you look good.
Middle school was around the time I began to feel self-conscience in a bathing suit. I'm sure this is true of everyone. My first swimsuit dressing room horror story was in eighth grade. It was a week before my class trip my mother and I were shopping for swimsuits. I was so excited, until I realized that NOTHING LOOKED RIGHT! I'm sure I tried on a hundred suits (and just as many tears) until I finally decided to "throw in the towel" and chose the next one on the sales rack.
Swimsuits are a pain. I just don't even know where to begin. For me, the most important part of a swimsuit is that it's appropriate. That's kind of a difficult task, obviously. Nothing in swimwear will ever be modest. The next thing is I have to feel comfortable in it. I will never wear a bikini. That's a personal choice.
I guess the inspiration of this post was that I just bought a new swimsuit. I went shopping with the intention of buying a new pair of running shorts and ended up in the swimwear section of the store. I'm normally hesitant to shop for a new swimsuit, but I saw a cute one and just had to try it on. To my surprise, I didn't hate it. Which is better than most of the swimsuits I buy. Why waste a good thing?
What I'm trying to say is don't worry too much about what you look like on the beach, or in my case, on our nasty lake sand. Everyone is way more worried about how they look than how you look. Have fun, enjoy yourself, stay modest if at all possible. Remember, if you feel good, you look good.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Taper Time
I did it! I am in the last two weeks of my training program. It is so crazy how fast this has gone. I mean, it felt like it was never going to end when I started, but now that it's almost over I realize how fast time has flown by. Isn't that how it always is?
I ran my last ten miles yesterday. Because I had to work, I wasn't able to run in the morning like I prefer. It was really hard to get my butt in gear after working. I took a two hour "break from life" and headed out as the day started to cool off. My mother is a saint and rode her bike with me the entire ten miles. She said it's nice because it takes a lot of control to ride that slowely. Plus, mother-daughter talk time is the best! It was a really great run. Halfway through I had some strawberry bananna GU, which I think tastes amazing. Honestly, I really like that stuff. GU is an energy gel (kind of like condensed Gatorade) that replaces your glycogen, which is kind of like a long-term energy storage and is made by the liver and muscles. By the last mile of my run, my knees really began to hurt. I know that this is a side effect of running. You can't really avoid it, so I just iced my knees when I got home. Now I'm hoping for the best!
Since Saturday was my last long run, it's taper time! In order to rest up your muscles before a race, athletes take a period of time to slow down before race day. And yes, I consider myself and athlete. You have no right to challenge me until you have run a half-marathon or greater. Anyway, for a half-marathon, the recommended taper is two weeks. I will, however, be running a 10k next weekend (six miles). My mother and sister have been training for this for twelve weeks and I decided to run it with them. I wanted to get a "practice race" in before my half-marathon.
A lot of runners have a hard time with tapering. Probably because they get the feeling that they are going to gain weight or lose muscle mass before the race. Of everything I've read, you won't lose anything you've worked for in two weeks. I will have no problem taking it easy for the next few days. It will be nice to run three miles instead of six, and six instead of ten.
Of course, as I get closer to race day I think of everything that I might have done wrong during my training. When starting I had no idea what I was doing. I just began running. As I look back, I realize that I should have paced myself. Every run I've been running at an easy speed for me. I should have done fast runs, slow runs, and some runs in between. But whatever. Another thing that drove me crazy at first was when I had to skip a run because I was busy. I soon learned that in order to be a happy racer I had to give myself some leaway. We can't all be hardcore trainers. For my first race, I'd say that I've had a very successful training.
It's probably crazy to think ahead to another race before I've finished this one. But now that I've gotten this far and realized that I can do it, I can't imagine not doing a full marathon. I'm not talking about in the next six months or anything, but in five years? Yes, I can see myself crossing the finish line of a marathon five years from now. In the meantime, I'll focus on my speed. I can't imagine running for six hours!
My race is in thirteen days. That is so crazy! I don't know what I'm going to do when my race is over. I feel like I've been putting all of my energy and time into training. As much as I have enjoyed having something to work towards, I can't imagine being a die heart racer. Living from race to race does not sound like something I would enjoy.
Wish me luck! And happy training.
I ran my last ten miles yesterday. Because I had to work, I wasn't able to run in the morning like I prefer. It was really hard to get my butt in gear after working. I took a two hour "break from life" and headed out as the day started to cool off. My mother is a saint and rode her bike with me the entire ten miles. She said it's nice because it takes a lot of control to ride that slowely. Plus, mother-daughter talk time is the best! It was a really great run. Halfway through I had some strawberry bananna GU, which I think tastes amazing. Honestly, I really like that stuff. GU is an energy gel (kind of like condensed Gatorade) that replaces your glycogen, which is kind of like a long-term energy storage and is made by the liver and muscles. By the last mile of my run, my knees really began to hurt. I know that this is a side effect of running. You can't really avoid it, so I just iced my knees when I got home. Now I'm hoping for the best!
Since Saturday was my last long run, it's taper time! In order to rest up your muscles before a race, athletes take a period of time to slow down before race day. And yes, I consider myself and athlete. You have no right to challenge me until you have run a half-marathon or greater. Anyway, for a half-marathon, the recommended taper is two weeks. I will, however, be running a 10k next weekend (six miles). My mother and sister have been training for this for twelve weeks and I decided to run it with them. I wanted to get a "practice race" in before my half-marathon.
A lot of runners have a hard time with tapering. Probably because they get the feeling that they are going to gain weight or lose muscle mass before the race. Of everything I've read, you won't lose anything you've worked for in two weeks. I will have no problem taking it easy for the next few days. It will be nice to run three miles instead of six, and six instead of ten.
Of course, as I get closer to race day I think of everything that I might have done wrong during my training. When starting I had no idea what I was doing. I just began running. As I look back, I realize that I should have paced myself. Every run I've been running at an easy speed for me. I should have done fast runs, slow runs, and some runs in between. But whatever. Another thing that drove me crazy at first was when I had to skip a run because I was busy. I soon learned that in order to be a happy racer I had to give myself some leaway. We can't all be hardcore trainers. For my first race, I'd say that I've had a very successful training.
It's probably crazy to think ahead to another race before I've finished this one. But now that I've gotten this far and realized that I can do it, I can't imagine not doing a full marathon. I'm not talking about in the next six months or anything, but in five years? Yes, I can see myself crossing the finish line of a marathon five years from now. In the meantime, I'll focus on my speed. I can't imagine running for six hours!
My race is in thirteen days. That is so crazy! I don't know what I'm going to do when my race is over. I feel like I've been putting all of my energy and time into training. As much as I have enjoyed having something to work towards, I can't imagine being a die heart racer. Living from race to race does not sound like something I would enjoy.
Wish me luck! And happy training.
An Art of Sorts
I consider myself an artist. Yes, writing is an art. After all, it is called Language ARTS for a reason. For the last term of school I decided to take a photography class, which is crazy for me because I'm not "artistic" in the way photography needs you to be. You know, the camera with film as old as your cassette player? I got lucky and my mother still had our old film camera. I didn't realize how much preparation it took to develop film. Taking pictures is alright, but developing them is so relaxing.
I don't particularly enjoy developing the film, however. But once you get to see the negatives, it's so exciting to print your own photographs. I was in the dark room by myself for a little while on Friday. It's so quiet and peaceful back there. To develop pictures there has to be a constant water flow. With the lights dim and the trickling water, it just takes the edge off your day. I absolutely love it! It is a shame that we have gone to digital. It's magical to see your photo appear on the photo paper. Film photography is where it's at!
"Beauty can be seen in all things, seeing and composing the beauty is what separates the snapshots from the photograph." - Matt Hardy
I don't particularly enjoy developing the film, however. But once you get to see the negatives, it's so exciting to print your own photographs. I was in the dark room by myself for a little while on Friday. It's so quiet and peaceful back there. To develop pictures there has to be a constant water flow. With the lights dim and the trickling water, it just takes the edge off your day. I absolutely love it! It is a shame that we have gone to digital. It's magical to see your photo appear on the photo paper. Film photography is where it's at!
"Beauty can be seen in all things, seeing and composing the beauty is what separates the snapshots from the photograph." - Matt Hardy
FOCUS
I am sure that you've all heard by now, but let me tell you a little secret: It's finally May! With the weather getting increasingly warmer every day it's hard to remember that we still have four weeks of school left. I mean, really, the school year is o-v-e-r. Eighteen more school days and we'll be having late night bonfires and burning our unnecessary school materials. (Not that we would ever do that.)
I had a teacher tell me that once you start a countdown, your grades go down also. Out of all of his "words of wisdom" this one might be true. I am definitely losing focus as the year comes down to a close. The problem? We have advance placement exams for the next two weeks, and I need to study along with the rest of my high school.
I am really just ready for this year to be over. It has been tough, there have been tears, but I have done it. Almost. After AP exams, it'll be a breeze from there on out. My father was talking about summer today and meantioned that we have less than a month until our vacation. This is going to be the craziest month of my life! At the same time, as eager as I am to see this year gone and over with, I can not believe I'll be a senior next year. It's crazy how fast time flies. Especially when you're not sure you're ready to grow up.
So let's kick this last month in the butt. We're almost finished, let's finish strong.
I had a teacher tell me that once you start a countdown, your grades go down also. Out of all of his "words of wisdom" this one might be true. I am definitely losing focus as the year comes down to a close. The problem? We have advance placement exams for the next two weeks, and I need to study along with the rest of my high school.
I am really just ready for this year to be over. It has been tough, there have been tears, but I have done it. Almost. After AP exams, it'll be a breeze from there on out. My father was talking about summer today and meantioned that we have less than a month until our vacation. This is going to be the craziest month of my life! At the same time, as eager as I am to see this year gone and over with, I can not believe I'll be a senior next year. It's crazy how fast time flies. Especially when you're not sure you're ready to grow up.
So let's kick this last month in the butt. We're almost finished, let's finish strong.
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