Thank you all so much for the congratulations and love last week when I told you I was celebrating my 4 year Purge-iversary. It means a lot to know that I have support around every corner, and virtual support is sometimes the best kind.

“We” can hide behind the safety of “our” computer, writing all of “our” innermost feelings without fear of judgment and rejection. And by “we” I mean me…the over-sensitive, all-feeling former fat girl middle child.

And by “fat” I mean chubby.

In any case, at some point over the weekend, I got tired of hearing myself make excuses. I had 8 dozen cupcakes and 4 dozen cookies to bake, I was feeling “fat”, sick of watching reruns of The Real Housewives of (insert city), and I implored myself to stop the madness.

Yesterday, I went to a lovely Stella & Dot party [p.s...if you haven't had/been to a Stella & Dot party, do it. Their jewelry is adorable!], and when I came home, I wanted to run. I wanted to stop the madness. I wanted to stop making excuses.

There’s no excuse for health.

After a full 4 weeks of not running (or really doing anything sweat-inducing), I ran 2 painful, shin-splinty miles. It’s a start.

A re-start.

I’ll take it.

And now, we talk about devastation. Did you know that this morning, another earthquake hit Japan? Can you imagine having your life remain in such chaos for so long? It’s been a month since the magnitude 9 earthquake hit Japan, and they are still suffering through the uncertainty of wondering whether they will be detoured by another aftershock.

Horrific. Unsettling. Devastating.

This is my last opportunity to try to speak to your heart about our Blogging For A Change Rally For Japan. They need our help. I know that times are tough. We all have to buy groceries and pay mortgages, rent, and car payments. Unfortunately, we sometimes use these things as excuses to turn the other cheek. If it’s not happening to us, we can make an excuse to ignore it. Sort of like the way I use trashy reality TV as an excuse to be lazy.

Today, use Japan’s havoc as an excuse to pass up your latte. Donate that $4 instead.

That’s an excuse I can get behind.

Not only will you help someone in Japan make it through this disaster a little more comfortably, but you can also enter to win one of many prizes that have been donated by our caring sponsors.

The Rally closes tonight at midnight, so please…give as much or as little as you can…every dollar helps! So far, we’ve raised over $1,300 with the help of many generous people. Let’s see how much more we can raise before midnight!

There’s no excuse for kindness.

Tomorrow, we will eat cupcakes.

Today, however, we need to talk about sweating.

It’s all about balance, right?

A very interesting thing happened a few weeks ago after I declared war on running and told it to eff off.  I started getting better at it again.  The reason I started to get better is because I branched out.  I started lifting weights again (my 1st love), and I also went back to one of my favorite activities ever: cycling.

We call it “cycling” at my gym because we can’t call it “spin” because “spin” is copy-written.  I learned that this week.  Crazy, right?

Back in the day, I made it a habit to attend a cycling class every Tuesday at 6PM.  I loved cycling dearly, much like I love riding Blue Betty outside when it’s a little warmer out.  Cycling gave me the opportunity to have a moment with myself and “my bike”, and let me challenge myself just as much as I wanted to be challenged.

I hadn’t been to cycling since September 7th.  Due to an unfortunate chain of events, I remember that date very well.  I don’t know if I was afraid to go back to that class because of everything that happened after the last time I went, or if I was just generally avoiding all physical activity [probably the latter], but I did get back to my favorite class a few weeks ago, and I’m happy that I did.

I was also happy to see that my favorite instructor was still there on Tuesday evenings.

Candace Grasso is a badass PowerBar sponsored athlete and an amazing cycling instructor.  It feels really corny to say, but I always feel “new” when I leave her class.  She has a way of making her classes inspirational and fun, while still being a really killer workout.

During Tuesday’s class, Candace talked about the mind being the most difficult thing to conquer during an endurance event.  She said that when endurance athletes get to the most difficult parts of their event–the point when they feel like they can’t go any longer–they don’t freak out and have an asthma attack.  They relax.  They find a place in their mind where they can chill out and just “be”.  From there, she began telling us to relax our bodies; shoulders, legs, chest, tongue.  Yes, she even told us to relax our tongues at one point.

I thought she was crazy until I did it.

I haven’t stopped thinking about this little “lesson” since Tuesday.  After class, I started Googling, and I found an article on Active.com about relaxing your mind and body during physical activity.  I was intrigued, so I put it into action yesterday during one of my 3x weekly runs.  I wanted to run for 35 minutes using Galloway 5:1′s, as I have been since the Myrtle Beach 1/2 Marathon.

The goal for last night’s run was to do 5:1′s, but see if I was able to relax my way into a slightly faster pace.

The first thing I did was hit the “pipe”

This little thing does wonders for my breathing, so rather than wait for asthma to ruin my run, I’ve been preventing it with a couple of hits before I start sweating.

Then, I started my first interval.  The first 2 intervals are always pretty easy–I generally take them at a pace about 1-2 minutes slower than my normal running pace just so that I don’t start off too fast and burn out before my run is over.  When I got to the 3rd interval, things started to get a little ‘breathy’, but I just focused on the horizon, relaxed my tongue [yes, I even did this part], relaxed my shoulders, relaxed my mind, relaxed my legs even, and I just kept telling myself to “settle into it”.

“You can do anything for 5 minutes”

“You’re relaxed”

“This is a piece of [cup]cake”

“You got this”

What I noticed is that I was much much more chill about the whole thing.  It turned out that I felt like I could actually run faster.  If you’re a runner, you know what I’m talking about–that point during some runs when you realize that you feel great enough to go a little faster than anticipated.

So, at that point, I started playing a little mental trick on myself.  I’d start off my running interval at, say 5.5.  At the 2:30 mark, I’d turn it up to 5.7 until the end of the 5-minute interval, then walk for 1 minute.  When I began the next 5-minute interval, I’d start at 5.7 and run that for 2:30, then turn up the speed to 5.9 to finish the last 1/2 of the interval.  On the next interval, I’d start at 5.9 and increase to 6.1.  Before I knew it, I was running faster than I’ve run in months.  Since I was actively trying to keep myself relaxed, the progression didn’t do much to my body or breathing, but it did a lot for my pace.

So, it seems like relaxing helped me a whole bunch on last night’s run.

This is the detail from my last 3 months of treadmill Galloway runs (outdoor runs are excluded, due to hills and such).  Last night, my pace was 11:04, and I was comfortable.  The closest that I have come to that pace in the past few months was around an 11:30 pace.    In addition to being more relaxed, I would also attribute the increase in pace to my continued commitment to cross-training and lifting weights, since my body seems to like that as well.

Every time I get completely fed up with it and tell it to go take a hike, I end up realizing that my lack of skill in running is primarily due to my own laziness.  Not only do I need to RELAX, but I also need to cross-train my body.

Since I’m not a natural runner, I just have to try a little harder to get my body to cooperate.  This doesn’t mean that I’m going to run any more marathons in the future, but it does mean that I will try my best to keep a well-rounded training program.

I’m not kicking running to the curb because it turns out that I really do enjoy it when I’m doing it “right”.

So…tell me…are you able to relax your mind and body when you run/bike/swim/sweat?  If so, how did you train yourself to do this?

Did you see my post about the Cupcake Marathon Spring 2011?  Believe it or not, that was not just a shameless plug for Sugared Bakery–I was plugging this virtual run because EVERYONE can do it!  I’m not joking–I’ll even be doing it.

Here’s the deal…this is not your standard race.  The race begins on March 14th, and ends on March 26th.  If you choose to run the “marathon” distance, all you have to do is run 26.2 miles during the 13 days between March 14-March 26.  You don’t have to complete the distance all at once, and you don’t even have to run, so it’s possible for anyone to do this virtual race.

The best part is that by completing the miles that you sign up for, you will have the chance to win a whole slew of prizes, including Sugared Bakery cupcakes.  Cupcakes are a great reason to run!

If you’re up for the challenge, just go over to the CookTrainEatRace website and sign up for your desired distance.

See you tomorrow for CUPCAKE FRIDAY!

Sugared Bakery is the official sponsor of the Cupcake Marathon Spring 2011!!!!

Head on over to the Cook Train Eat Race website for full details, but believe me when I tell you that you will want to enter this virtual race.  In addition to the chance to win my goodies, Jason has a whole slew of other race prizes lined up, and he’s even designing t-shirts for the race!

There are lots of fun updates and changes happening with Sugared Bakery right now, so make sure to drop by periodically over there!  If it wasn’t for Jogger’s Life, there would be no Sugared Bakery!

Please do pour yourself a nice glass of your favorite beverage, get comfortable, and press “play”.

I’m going through changes.

I firmly believe that when a person stops changing, they’re not being the best person that they can be. None of us are perfect, and not only do we need to continue challenging ourselves mentally and physically in order to stay on our game, we also have to do it to stay alive.

You know…A L I V E! Not just (fingerquote) alive (unfingerquote)…but A L I V E!

Familiarity breeds contempt.

Doing the same thing over and over again makes us angry. OK, that might be a stretch…but you know what I mean. A few months ago, I was constantly slothing around on the sofa at every available opportunity. I was completely unmotivated to do anything. I didn’t want to work out, go out, bake cupcakes, nothing. I was all blah, and I was a little angry.

It’s a viscous cycle for me personally. Something happens to derail my normally healthy, active self, then I eat garbage to stuff away my feelings, I gain weight, and that makes me even more blah.

I can only be blah for so long. Not only does my brain begin yelling “HEY!!! YOU!!!!! SLOTH!!!! GET UP!!!! STOP IT!!!!”, but I also have some very honest friends who love me enough to speak up. Thank you, friends. You told me what I already knew but didn’t want to admit.

I needed to step up my game.

I’ve talked before briefly about my transition into running, but the basic gist of it is that I am not a runner by nature. This should come as no surprise to you, if you’ve read any of my previous stories about injuries and excessive coughing and snotting. What I haven’t really talked too much about is the fact that prior to running, I loved bodybuilding.

Love. Big, big, love.

My dream was to compete in a fitness competition [which still makes me chuckle], but I was actually pretty good at it. I loved the feeling of confidence and strength that came over me when I walked into the “boys” area of the gym and busted out a bunch of squats, dead lifts, and bench presses. I’ve talked to you (ad nauseam) about the struggle with my 15-year eating disorder. The difference between me and many other women who struggle with eating disorders is that I never wanted to be thin. I wanted to be fit. Muscular. Strong.

Unfortunately, by the time that I started bodybuilding, I was already under the belief that I couldn’t be fit or strong and muscular unless I starved myself or binged/purged my way there. Now I know that what I was doing was completely counterproductive, but at the time it was mostly just a way to cope.

I became obsessed with all things diet and exercise, and I eventually nixed weight lifting in favor of running only, since ‘on paper’, running burned more calories. More than regretting the many years of my eating disorder, I regret losing sight of the thing that I loved so much: bodybuilding-induced muscles!

…p.s…I’m pretty sure that I can look way better than this now that I actually eat. =)

I’ve been thinking about this fact for a very long time. As I complete races and keep running, in the back of my mind I have never stopped thinking about the fact that I desperately miss bodybuilding. However, the one thing that has been keeping me from it is FEAR.

FEAR! Isn’t that SILLY?!

First, it’s a little intimidating when you have to start over with something that you were formerly good at. Not to mention, I am not nearly as confident about myself or my body as I was 5 years ago. This makes me feel yucky, but I can get over the yuck in order to ultimately make myself happy.

Second, I have continuously tossed out the idea of getting back into bodybuilding because I have been afraid that it would awaken that eating disorder beast inside of me. When I think of the years when I was doing more weight lifting than running, those were also years when my eating disorder was the single governing body in my life. I actually mentioned this in a post back on October 5, 2009! Can you believe this has been on my mind for that long?

At some point, I started to associate my eating disorder with my love for bodybuilding.

I’ve worked it out. And, I worked out. I can’t describe to you how great it feels to do something that I’m good at for a change. I’ve spent the past 4-5 years trying to be something that I’m not.

I’m not a runner. I’m a jogger at best…but I’d rather be a bodybuilder.

I’m going through changes, and they’re good.

For the past 5 years of my life, I’ve seriously tried to be a runner.  I’ve trained my ass off, even waking up before daylight so that I could get my miles in before the sun started blazing down on me.  This is a major sign of devotion, considering how much I love sleep.

I’ve cried on the side of major highways, called my loved ones for rides, suffered through IT band friction syndrome, bursitis, and I even agonized my way through a marathon in a fairly injured state.  My body has lived in a varied state of dysfunction for roughly the past 3 years.

Last night, I ran/walked a measly 2.5 miles, and I’ve now apparently pulled “something” contained within that massive conglomeration of muscles, tendons, and wonky space behind my knee.  I thought that the solution to all of my running problems was switching to a walk/run/walk program, but in addition to janking my knee last night, I also janked my Gymboss.

I think it was a sign.  My knee and my Gymboss went to hell, both during the same run.

So…

Guess what, running?

No, like seriously.

You’re just like an abusive boyfriend.

I have this crazy, psychotic love for you, despite the fact that I know in my mind that you’re just no good for me.  I devote my time and attention to you, and I think that everything is going along swimmingly, and then BAM! , you turn around and bitch slap me for no good reason.

Then I cry and pout and stew, and you apologize.  You tell me that you’ll change, it’ll all be OK in the end.  You’re ‘different’ this time.  So I take you back.

Then, a week later, you beat my ass again.

And so, to this, I say “ENOUGH“, because “everyone has a limit”.  And nobody puts Baby in the corner.  And such.

I just can’t do this to myself anymore.  I have to own the fact that it’s just not working out for me.  Running isn’t my thing.  It never was, and as I continue trying to run month after month and race after race, I’m getting injured quicker and quicker.

I’m going to do my best to complete the 3 races that I have on schedule for 2011 (February, March & April), and then I’m going to have to move on to something that better suits my body.  I’ve said it before (remember 2010–the year of the triathlon?), but this time I mean it.

[p.s...can I take out a restraining order on myself in order to properly enforce this decision?]

Unfortunately, this opens up a whole new set of challenges.

I’m probably going to have to rename the blog.  ‘Bicycler’s Life’, ‘Weightlifter’s Life, or Wii Gamer’s Life just don’t roll off the tongue as easily.  All I know for sure is that “Jogger’s Life” will be a bit of a misnomer after April.

I’m going to have to start believing the fact that I’m not going to instantly gain 50 pounds if I stop running.  On the flip side, I’m also going to have to commit to participating in other activities that I enjoy (eating cupcakes is not a sport).  Otherwise, I actually might just gain 50 pounds.

I’m also going to have to really own the fact that there will be no more running in my life.  I’m going to also have to stop convincing myself that “this” time that I start running again is somehow going to be “different”.

It’s never different.  Stalk me as you may, running, but I know that you’re no good for me, and I don’t have to take it anymore.

[source]

J. Lo said so.

Here’s a newsflash…

I would be getting a lot more for my money if I actually took these shiny new Asics out of the bag, put them on my feet, and ran.  Although last week I had a mental kick in the pants as far as motivation goes, this did not result in a physical kick in the pants.

I am a chronic procrastinator.  I’ll just do it tomorrow.

Last week, I also received the cutest necklace from Sporty Girl Jewelry:

Mine actually says “26.2″ rather than “13.1″, in order to commemorate my marathon.  I thought this would be a nice way to remember my marathon, and hopefully give myself some additional motivation to get moving.  The necklace is adorable and dainty, and I haven’t taken it off since I received it…

But it didn’t make me run.

Now, it’s time for me to keep it real.  I’ve come to the realization that I’ve been doing this rationalization thing.  Anytime someone asks me about my 2011 race calendar, I say, “well, I didn’t really sign up for any because I hope to be pregnant next year…”

IronGirl Columbia, which is a race that is quite literally in my own backyard, will happen next summer, and I was “hoping” that I’d be pregnant, so I didn’t sign up.  In fact, all of the triathlons that I would have liked to do would occur next year at prime pregnancy time, so I didn’t sign up.  Although it doesn’t make sense to sign up for a bunch of non-refundable, non-transferable races that I might not be able to participate in, it also doesn’t make sense for me to put my life on hold because I am “hoping to be pregnant”.

Not to mention, the fact that I “hope to be pregnant” next year should not be keeping me from getting back on my previous schedule of working out, and YES…even training for a race if I feel like it.  If I get pregnant in the meantime, then fantastic.  If I don’t, then at least I’ll be feeling like myself again from a “professional sweater” standpoint.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Master Trainer, Master Trainer’s Wife, My Gazelle, Myself (and a few other ancillary people) are working on getting a non-profit organization set up.  Part of Team Rep Your City (TRYC) was the running club that I talked about last week.  Although the running club won’t be active until after TRYC officially launches in the spring, ideas are flying.

…and race calendars are being filled for TRYC.

This, my friends…will make me run.

Yes, I registered for the Yuengling Virginia Beach Shamrock 1/2 Marathon [please clicky and go look at the course map--you'll die].  I’ll begin officially training next week, with a short run this weekend just to ensure that I can even run 3 miles without keeling over.  I’m sure I can, but you know…I’m mostly just short on confidence right now.

I registered for this race because, 1) it’s sponsored by Yuengling.  Really…how can you go wrong with Yuengling? 2) the course is FLAT, 3) I’ll be running with my TRYC friends, and that’s all fun,  4) it’s Virginia Beach…so it’s like a built-in vacation.

I have decided to enlist the help of my friend, Jeff Galloway [we go way back], and his 1/2 marathon training plan for this race.  I will be purposely training to walk/run this 1/2 marathon, which will hopefully be a much kinder and gentler way for my body to participate.

Have any of you used the Galloway method to complete a race?

Am I crazy?

Wait…you should already know by now that I’m crazy.  Don’t answer that.

*[p.s...yes, that IS the Tory Burch bag that I mentioned in my post about Christmas last week.  I bought it for My Sista, but I decided to keep it.  My Gazelle thinks it's because it's adorable and I can't part with it.  Truth is, yes, it's adorable and I don't WANT to part with it, but the thing is ENORMOUS, and it would be way too big for her!  Lesson #1 in eBay buying: check the measurements!]

Habit, if not resisted, soon becomes necessity.  ~St. Augustine

I want you guys to know something.

I have bad habits.

Several bad habits.

Sometimes, I throw my dirty clothes on the floor and don’t pick them up for days.  DAYS, I tell ya!

I pick my teeth in public from time to time.  I know it’s gross, but it’s a habit.  It happens.

I have this annoying way of nodding my head and saying “uh huh” as people are talking.  Although I know that this is a horrible characteristic and implies that I’m not actually listening (even though I am), I still do it.  It’s a habit.

These are just a few of the little quirky things that make me “me”.  They’re manageable.  They’re things that won’t drasticaly change my life one way or another.

The ones that I worry about are the new habits.  The habits that I’ve developed over the past 6 months.  The habits that tell me at lunch time that I should skip my planned workout because I can work out “tonight”.  Then, when “tonight” comes, those damn habits assure me that it’s OK–I can just work out “tomorrow”.  Then, those same habits cause me to become fused to my sofa after 6:30PM Monday through Friday.  These are also the same habits that make me get up from said sofa to snack on multiple things between the hours of 7:30-10:30PM.

Sometimes, the word “binge” even echoes in my mind.

I’m not sure whether it’s me who is speaking that word, if it’s the new habits talking, or if it’s the ghost of eating disorder past.  No matter the source, when that “binge” word comes up, I react.

I feel out of control.

Out of touch.

Out of practice.

Out of belt loops.

I recognize that there are times when I reach this point in my life.  Times when I’ve gone from working out and eating sensibly for a long period of time, and then I hit some sort of life challenge, and things fall off for me.  I become physically lazy.  I just want to be at home.  I want to sit and think [or not think at all, and instead just watch Housewives of Beverly Hills].

The past year has been a challenge for me.  I went from constantly race training in 2009–from my first 1/2 marathon to my first 10K, then my first 15K, and finishing up with my first marathon–to feeling like a big slacker in 2010.  I realize that I did a 1/2 marathon and my first two triathlons during 2010, but admittedly, I could have done much more.   Admittedly, I put in about 40% of the effort that I could have.

I’m not telling you this out of guilt or remorse.  I’m telling you because it is what it is.  I know I can do better, and I’ve learned many lessons over the past two years in terms of my athletic goals and abilities.

I know that I want to run.  I also know that I want to feel fit.

I have learned that in order to take ourselves from a place of “bad habit” to a life of “good habits”, we need to feel motivated.  I have also learned that one of my largest forms of motivation is feeling as though I am making a difference and helping others get motivated.

While I was training for my races, nothing made me happier than receiving an email or comment from someone telling me that I inspired them to try something that they’ve never done before.  As cliche as it all sounds, for me, that makes all of my hard work worth it in the end.

Last night, we had our inaugural meeting of the Team Rep Your City (TRYC–pronounced “Trike”) Running Club.  I was intimidated by the prospect of joining (and being part of the launch of) a running club, because I’m not a very good runner.

I’m slow, I become injured, I snot all over myself…these are not the marks of a  true runner.

However, when I started learning about the people who were interested in joining the running club, I was overjoyed to find out that they were mostly all beginners.  I was immediately excited with the prospect of being able to make a difference and help others find their love for running.

Although I don’t always like running, I definitely love running, and like most people who are not particularly athletic, when I first started running, I never thought that I could even run a mile.  I like being living proof that anyone can be a runner, no matter how good they initially think they’ll be at it.

The greatest thing about TRYC is that it has motivated me to change my bad habits back into good ones.  I will get off of the sofa, and I will remember why I love being outside running, sweating, becoming myself again.  Starting today.

Bad habits are easier to abandon today than tomorrow.  ~Yiddish Proverb

What motivates you?

Sometimes, the only way that I’m able to get myself out of a rut, be it fitness, life, personal or career-related, is to make an impulsive decision and jump in with both feet.

Heck.

This is how I make about 90% of my decisions, to be honest.  I tend to be a very “go with your gut” kind of gal, so when things need a little shaking up, I make a crazy decision.

Heck.

The whole reason why this blog is in existence is because of a rash decision.  I signed up for a race that I had no business doing.  But, relative to any other physical accomplishments that I had ever made, I basically won that first 15K in my own mind, just by signing up.

Before I even finished that first race, I signed up for an even longer race that I REALLY had no business doing.

Then, I signed up for a race that I never (in my worst nightmares) believed that I would sign up for (much less complete).

After the injurious nightmare that was training for THAT race, I took a step back and reevaluated.  I don’t like being injured.  I like to walk without pain.  I really enjoy spending my Saturday mornings sipping coffee and baking muffins rather than sobbing on the side of the road, approximately 10 miles from home.

I owned it.

Distance running is not for everyone.

Distance running is not for me.

After that shocking revelation, I still didn’t learn.

Impulse struck again, and I signed up for the Disney Princess 1/2 in March 2010.  Again, I suffered through this race with IT Band issues.

Some people never learn.

I never learn.

Until recently.

Rather than focusing on how many miles I could run in 2010, or how fast I could run those miles in, I decided to focus on having fun. For some people, running long distances is fun. For me, not so much.  As a result, I signed up for my first triathlon.  Then I signed up for my second.

Despite the fact that I fought seaweed and zebra mussels, and had my life flash before me on several occasions during each of the races, I loved them.  Really, really loved them.

I learned a lesson.

Stick with the activities that make you feel good.  Do the things that make you smile, regardless of what ‘everyone else’ is doing.

As a result, I’ve taken a much kinder, gentler approach to my future athletic plans.  Because of everything going awry in my life since my August 7th IronGirl Triathlon, I’ve only been able to work out a handful of times since then.  Only recently have I been given the green light from my doctor to resume my normal activity.

Normal activity.

I don’t even know what my “normal activity” is at this point.  I ran 2.25 miles last Saturday, and that’s all I’ve really felt inclined to do (besides some mall walking during the week).  I’m OK with that, but something interesting has happened.

I want to run.

I actually want to run.

But just a little.

Although not nearly as drastic as a marathon, 1/2 marathon, triathlon, or even a 15K, I made an impulsive decision today. I needed to shake things up–remember why I love sweating so much. I signed up for the 2010 Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis this morning.

It’s a 5K.

I haven’t run 5K since August 7th.  I snotted, cried, sweated, limped, and chafed my way through a Marathon just a year ago, but now I need to actually train to run a 5K.  That kind of makes me smile.

I’m really starting from square 1 again, and that’s OK with me.  It’ll be fun.

________

I signed up for this race (again…you can read the pathetic story of my first experience here) as part of Team Rep Your City, which is a brand new running club organized by my running coach/bff (whose praises I’ve sung for the past 5 years, both on blog and off).  I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about TRYC in the near future, as we’re all working together to get the club up and running (ha…pun…).

If you’re local and you’d like to run with Team Rep Your City (or donate to the Arthritis foundation for our team), click through to our donation page, and choose either “General Team Donation”, or “Join Our Team”.

Merci.

Je t’aime.

The Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon is only a mere 13 days away.

That means that I will be in Florida in 9 days!

Nine.  Days.

Vacation in NINE DAYS!!  Yay!!

So.  Back to the matter at hand.  The Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon is only 13 days away.  I got slightly sidetracked for about 1.5 weeks due to the Great Snowpocalypse of 2010.  My gym was literally closed, so no running was to be had.  As a result, I missed one of my long runs (I believe it was the 7 miler), and it set me back a week on my training.

My running schedule has been very easy: Tuesday recovery run, Thursday is my mid-week longish run, and Saturday or Sunday is my long run.  That’s it.  Three days of running.  In addition to running, I’ve been doing kickboxing on Monday and Wednesday for 45 minutes (which is very high impact and intense), and one day of core and stretching.  I’ve tried hard to keep things well-rounded this time, so as not to revisit Joggerslife Kneehab, 2009 Edition.

In order to feel the least affect from my Snowmagadon-induced long run folly, I decided to bump up my weekday runs the following week.  I was supposed to do 2, 4, 8 that week, but instead I did 3, 5, 7–which put me 1 mile over my weekly mileage goal, but still didn’t have to bump up my weekend run to get there.  My past injuries have taught me that when I try to ‘kill it’ and bump up that long run before I’m ready, that’s when all hell breaks loose.

Since the Snowcation, I have been right on schedule with my runs, and last week, I even banged out my 2 mile recovery run in 20:15–which felt like a miracle of sorts.  Especially since I felt fantastic the entire run.  However, the fact that I ran a “recovery” run faster than even my normal race pace was maybe not the smartest idea…but it doesn’t appear that I’m any worse for the wear, so I’m just going with it.

In any case, tonight I did my first 10-mile treadmill run ever, and it went pretty well.  I just took it very slow–10 miles in 1:58, which is about 11:45/mile.  That’s slow.  I got wicked bored around mile 7, which is my major gripe with the treadmill.

The only thing that kept me going were these:

After searching for over a month for a pair of Vibram Five Fingers in my size (39 must be like the most popular size or something), I got sick of waiting.  After doing some research, I learned that these Nike Free 5.0 V4′s are touted as a barefoot running alternative, so I jumped on board.  I bought them yesterday for $85, which is basically the same price as a pair of VFF’s.

It might not have been prudent to inaugurate these bad boys with a 10 mile long run, but I went for it.  I’m impatient like that.  The verdict is that I like them, but I definitely feel the difference between these and my standard Nike Air Pegasus 25′s.  It’s been about an hour since I finished my run, and my forefoot and ankles feel notably sore.  However, research is starting to show that the mark of a good runner is in the strength of their feet, so this soreness is most likely just a sign that I’m running correctly for a change…that makes me happy.

I’m all about making 2010 an injury-free year, so hopefully my Nike Free’s will help me achieve that goal!

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Last night, I ran 4 miles.  It was my longest continuous run in 3 weeks.  My leg didn’t really get wonky until the very end of the run.  I forgot to wear my Cho-Pat band (I’ll be writing a full explanation of this later), so this could be the reason why it got wonky at all.  As soon as I got home, I iced and put the Cho-Pat band on.  Within 10 minutes, all wonkiness had subsided.

I’m not really writing to tell you about that though.

I’m writing to tell you about something very exciting that happened during my run.

I became competitive.  Yes, me.  The one who jogs.  The girl who could really give a crap about where she finishes (as long as it’s not dead last).

It all began on a hill.  I could hear her breathing behind me.  Does everyone know that eerie “a stranger is breathing heavily in my ear” sound?  I normally only hear this sound for 3 milliseconds because I’m so slow that it only takes that long for people to pass me.

However, I’ve been doing a lot of cross-training, so hills are much easier than they’ve ever been.  My pace was really good last night (ahem…for me).  Up until the last mile, I was running nearly 10:00 miles, so that put me almost in other peoples’ comfortable pace range.

So, coming up the hill, I felt good.  Besides the fact that the breathing was really distracting.  This breathing even broke through “Crazy Bitch” by Buckcherry.  It was really close!

I decided to continue with my pace.  I was comfortable and I knew that I couldn’t push my IT band too much too soon, so I let The Breather pass me.  She didn’t actually pass me until I was recovering at the crest of the hill, so I just let her go.  I wasn’t giving up, rather, I was plotting.

This, my friends, is when I grew my competitive cojones.

The feeling was so foreign.  I realized that I was right on her heels, and all I had to do was pace myself a little to get in front of her and stay there.  I stayed on her heels down the next two small hills because I didn’t want to speed up downhill since that seems to mess with my IT band.

On the next small uphill, I smoked her.

OH, THE RUSH!

I glanced at my watch, and I was running a 7:07 pace.  All was beautiful in my universe.

I maintained that pace for about a 1/2 mile, then I heard The Breather approaching again.  I smiled and let her pass me.

Again, I wasn’t giving up, just plotting.  All plotting.

There was a small hill coming, then I was going to veer the opposite way to the sidewalk, where we would be running side-by-side, but I’d be going uphill and she’d be going downhill.  I knew I could take her again because my hills are strong these days.

I gave her a few seconds to set into her pace and get comfortable, then I smoked her again.  All the way up the hill.  Left her in the dust.  By the time I turned to head home, she was walking.

I feel slightly guilty about this, because I don’t like hurting people’s feelings or making them feel bad.  Isn’t that silly?!  I grow some competitive cojones, and I have a guilt complex about it.

Truth be told, the feeling of having been faster than someone not once but twice was very confidence-building.  It was really an awesome feeling, and it carried me all the way home.

Are you competitive?

Do you have a moment like this where your competitive nature exploded and you grew cojones?

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