Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Bugga...
The knee is still feeling out of sorts, so I took a rest day today. I thought about going in and doing all arm stuff again, but the shoulders are a bit sore after that workout yesterday. I'm not sure why I thought doing strict presses and push-ups in the same workout was a good idea. Perhaps I didn't think that through quite fully did I? Hmmmmm..... hindsight is really always 20/20 isn't it? Yar... curses... :P
Monday, October 13, 2008
So much for being a spectator...
Well, my plan today was to go into CF and be a spectator. Truthfully, I'm still not walking right and am still having a lot of pain in my knees after the race. But, when I got to the room, all I could think about was finding a way to modify and get a workout in. It killed me to miss so much time the last two weeks, and I'm really raring to go. Now it's totally bumming me out that I can't just jump right back into things. But seriously, the knee needs ice and some time to heal, so I need to be smart and not my usual stubborn stupid self.
But regardless, I was determined to get a workout in, so I modified. So, when all was said and done, this is what my workout looked like today.
1 round for time
20 Chins
30 Strict press (55lbs)
40 Push-ups
50 Abmats
40 Push-ups
30 Strict press
20 Chins
Time-22:00 yup... on the button... :)
The original workout called for two runs between the 40's and 50, but no way could my knees take that. My knees also could take the high pulls, slamballs, and box jumps, which are what I subbed out. I kept the chins though, so it felt good to be back on the bar today. I know that I probably seem crazy, but CF is hard to give up for me. So, I really wanted to be back at it today.
Since we're off today, I'm probably going to spend some more time icing down my knees in an attempt to make the swelling go down, and hopefully I'll be back ready for a real CF workout by the end of the week. We'll see.
Thanks again to everyone who signed my shirt and supported me and congratulated me on my race! I'm so glad I did the race, but I'm glad that it's behind me now! LOL.... :)
But regardless, I was determined to get a workout in, so I modified. So, when all was said and done, this is what my workout looked like today.
1 round for time
20 Chins
30 Strict press (55lbs)
40 Push-ups
50 Abmats
40 Push-ups
30 Strict press
20 Chins
Time-22:00 yup... on the button... :)
The original workout called for two runs between the 40's and 50, but no way could my knees take that. My knees also could take the high pulls, slamballs, and box jumps, which are what I subbed out. I kept the chins though, so it felt good to be back on the bar today. I know that I probably seem crazy, but CF is hard to give up for me. So, I really wanted to be back at it today.
Since we're off today, I'm probably going to spend some more time icing down my knees in an attempt to make the swelling go down, and hopefully I'll be back ready for a real CF workout by the end of the week. We'll see.
Thanks again to everyone who signed my shirt and supported me and congratulated me on my race! I'm so glad I did the race, but I'm glad that it's behind me now! LOL.... :)
Saturday, October 11, 2008
The Baltimore Under Armour Half Marathon... UPDATED
Wow... you know... this whole race thing is amazing to me. I've spent so much time waiting for this race, agonizing over this race, worrying about this race, that now that it's done, I'm not quite sure what to do with myself. :P Actually that's not true, I know what I want to do with myself. I want to lay on the couch and heal up, and then get back to CF. :P
I was really super worried about this race. I had no doubt that I would finish, but I really didn't want to walk. I wanted to run the whole thing. And you know what? I fell JUST shy of that goal. My first 7 miles actually felt pretty good. My knees were bugging me a bit, but I fell into a pace and just kept at it. I forgot my watch so I have NO clue what that pace was (Brilliant I know!) but I just sort of fell into it. Along the course people were commenting on my shirt and I had a lot of other people say that it was their first time too, which was pretty cool. I could have picked a flatter course for my first time, but eh, hindsight is always 20/20 right? :P
Around miles 8 and 9 I started to slow quite a bit. What bothered me, wasn't that I was slowing because I felt the pace was too fast, it was that my knees really started to bug me. Quite frankly, they were throbbing. I had anticipated that miles 8 and 9 were going to be my sticking point, and they sort of were, because I also started to cramp up in my calves, so I had to pull off the course and stretch for a little bit just so I could keep going. I slowed my pace considerably but was able to keep running. My REAL sticking point came later.
The people along the race route were great supporters, but man by the end, I was so tired of them saying "It's all downhill after this" I wanted to hit them. Because they kept saying it, and then I kept seeing ANOTHER freakin' hill. Yar! Anyhoo, they were great, but to be honest, I also slapped hands with some pretty scary Balitmorians who looked like they hadn't quite made it home after a heavy night of drinking yet. Either that, or they were getting an early start on college game day! :P Anyhoo, after I hit the mile 10 marker, I really started to feel like I could really finish this thing. Until that point, my knees were hurting so bad that it really felt like it was in question. I kept my pace slow and stayed to the side trying to stay out of other people's way. People who were going waaaaay faster than I was. But then again, a lot of those people had a goal time and were out to push themselves. My goal was just to get to the pretty balloons at the finish line. :P
As I came down the final slope into mile 11 my knees were throbbing. I had taken medicine before the race, and back on mile 8 and I was feeling it. They hurt like a mother. So I had to back the pace off to basically a light jog. It bothered me that the reason I had to slow down had nothing to do with my breathing or my pace, but had more to do with my body. It was very frustrating. I really wanted to quit. On mile 11, I wanted to throw in the towel. But I couldn't let myself do that. 2 miles seemed so far, but was so short when I considered how far I'd already come. I REFUSED to let myself quit. I forced myself to slow down and walk. So between miles 11 and 12 I did my only walking of the race basically (water stations not withstanding since I couldn't run through those). I walked maybe and I mean MAYBE a quarter mile. It wasn't consecutive either. I would walk a little and then run again. I would walk a little and then run again. I was just trying to give my knees a bit of a break.
Once I saw the marker for mile 12, I started to feel like I was really going to finish (again). I was really going go to do this. The final mile was flat and I was never so happy NOT to see another hill. :P It's a bit deceiving though because the street is straight and there are people lining the sides to cheer you in, but then you go into Camden Yards and you're all by yourself because spectators aren't allowed in. So just when you feel like you're going to finish and you feel this surge of adrenaline, it sort of dies a little when you're all alone again. You see the kids fun run banner so you know you're close to the end, but you're still NOT there. But then, you exit Camden Yards, and come around the corner, and you can hear the announcer.
An annoying loud man has never in my life sounded so good. And then just like that, as you round the corner you can see the final crowds. You can see the final mile markers telling you that there is just .1 left to go. You can see the balloons. You can hear the announcer and every emotion that you have fought during that race seems worth it. You are proud of yourself because you know you did what you set out to do. You are proud of yourself for accomplishing a goal. You are proud of yourself for not giving up. You are proud of yourself because this whole thing was about you and showing yourself what you can do. You are proud of yourself because you were right all along. You DO have heart. You DO have guts. You DO have pride. And more than anything, you DO have strength.
As I started to come into that final homestretch, I nearly started to cry. My eyes welled up and I had the biggest feeling of pride and relief. But it's sort of hard to run with a giant lump in your throat, so I had to knock that off, and keep running for the last .1 mile. I got my medal, and my sister and I plus her boyfriend who also ran the half, all got our pictures taken at the finish line. I can't wait to see the pictures. More importantly, I can't wait to see my chip time. All in all, there were 7500 half marathoners yesterday and 20000 runners in total, including the relay and 5K. That's quite a few times to keep track of. The tracking page is not up yet on the marathon site, but will hopefully be up later today or tomorrow and I can find out what my time was exactly. I know it was close to my goal time, but we'll see. As I crossed it was roughly 2:39 and some change. But the half-marathoners started in waves, supposedly separated by 5 minutes. If this is true, then I should be just under my goal because I was in wave 3 (10 minutes behind the official start of the race and the clock). Not only is that 10 minutes from the first wave to the second, I also was a little bit towards the middle of my pack, which should allow me another few seconds if not a minute of lag time until I chipped in. If the times are off, well, I may not have hit my goal time, but I was pretty close, and you know what, I'll take it! :) So, here's to accomplishing a goal. I earned this one! :) I AM A FINISHER IN THE BALTIMORE UNDER ARMOUR HALF MARATHON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
I was really super worried about this race. I had no doubt that I would finish, but I really didn't want to walk. I wanted to run the whole thing. And you know what? I fell JUST shy of that goal. My first 7 miles actually felt pretty good. My knees were bugging me a bit, but I fell into a pace and just kept at it. I forgot my watch so I have NO clue what that pace was (Brilliant I know!) but I just sort of fell into it. Along the course people were commenting on my shirt and I had a lot of other people say that it was their first time too, which was pretty cool. I could have picked a flatter course for my first time, but eh, hindsight is always 20/20 right? :P
Around miles 8 and 9 I started to slow quite a bit. What bothered me, wasn't that I was slowing because I felt the pace was too fast, it was that my knees really started to bug me. Quite frankly, they were throbbing. I had anticipated that miles 8 and 9 were going to be my sticking point, and they sort of were, because I also started to cramp up in my calves, so I had to pull off the course and stretch for a little bit just so I could keep going. I slowed my pace considerably but was able to keep running. My REAL sticking point came later.
The people along the race route were great supporters, but man by the end, I was so tired of them saying "It's all downhill after this" I wanted to hit them. Because they kept saying it, and then I kept seeing ANOTHER freakin' hill. Yar! Anyhoo, they were great, but to be honest, I also slapped hands with some pretty scary Balitmorians who looked like they hadn't quite made it home after a heavy night of drinking yet. Either that, or they were getting an early start on college game day! :P Anyhoo, after I hit the mile 10 marker, I really started to feel like I could really finish this thing. Until that point, my knees were hurting so bad that it really felt like it was in question. I kept my pace slow and stayed to the side trying to stay out of other people's way. People who were going waaaaay faster than I was. But then again, a lot of those people had a goal time and were out to push themselves. My goal was just to get to the pretty balloons at the finish line. :P
As I came down the final slope into mile 11 my knees were throbbing. I had taken medicine before the race, and back on mile 8 and I was feeling it. They hurt like a mother. So I had to back the pace off to basically a light jog. It bothered me that the reason I had to slow down had nothing to do with my breathing or my pace, but had more to do with my body. It was very frustrating. I really wanted to quit. On mile 11, I wanted to throw in the towel. But I couldn't let myself do that. 2 miles seemed so far, but was so short when I considered how far I'd already come. I REFUSED to let myself quit. I forced myself to slow down and walk. So between miles 11 and 12 I did my only walking of the race basically (water stations not withstanding since I couldn't run through those). I walked maybe and I mean MAYBE a quarter mile. It wasn't consecutive either. I would walk a little and then run again. I would walk a little and then run again. I was just trying to give my knees a bit of a break.
Once I saw the marker for mile 12, I started to feel like I was really going to finish (again). I was really going go to do this. The final mile was flat and I was never so happy NOT to see another hill. :P It's a bit deceiving though because the street is straight and there are people lining the sides to cheer you in, but then you go into Camden Yards and you're all by yourself because spectators aren't allowed in. So just when you feel like you're going to finish and you feel this surge of adrenaline, it sort of dies a little when you're all alone again. You see the kids fun run banner so you know you're close to the end, but you're still NOT there. But then, you exit Camden Yards, and come around the corner, and you can hear the announcer.
An annoying loud man has never in my life sounded so good. And then just like that, as you round the corner you can see the final crowds. You can see the final mile markers telling you that there is just .1 left to go. You can see the balloons. You can hear the announcer and every emotion that you have fought during that race seems worth it. You are proud of yourself because you know you did what you set out to do. You are proud of yourself for accomplishing a goal. You are proud of yourself for not giving up. You are proud of yourself because this whole thing was about you and showing yourself what you can do. You are proud of yourself because you were right all along. You DO have heart. You DO have guts. You DO have pride. And more than anything, you DO have strength.
As I started to come into that final homestretch, I nearly started to cry. My eyes welled up and I had the biggest feeling of pride and relief. But it's sort of hard to run with a giant lump in your throat, so I had to knock that off, and keep running for the last .1 mile. I got my medal, and my sister and I plus her boyfriend who also ran the half, all got our pictures taken at the finish line. I can't wait to see the pictures. More importantly, I can't wait to see my chip time. All in all, there were 7500 half marathoners yesterday and 20000 runners in total, including the relay and 5K. That's quite a few times to keep track of. The tracking page is not up yet on the marathon site, but will hopefully be up later today or tomorrow and I can find out what my time was exactly. I know it was close to my goal time, but we'll see. As I crossed it was roughly 2:39 and some change. But the half-marathoners started in waves, supposedly separated by 5 minutes. If this is true, then I should be just under my goal because I was in wave 3 (10 minutes behind the official start of the race and the clock). Not only is that 10 minutes from the first wave to the second, I also was a little bit towards the middle of my pack, which should allow me another few seconds if not a minute of lag time until I chipped in. If the times are off, well, I may not have hit my goal time, but I was pretty close, and you know what, I'll take it! :) So, here's to accomplishing a goal. I earned this one! :) I AM A FINISHER IN THE BALTIMORE UNDER ARMOUR HALF MARATHON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
****UPDATE****
They finally posted up the chip times. My official chip time... wait for it... wait for it... wait for it!!!!!!! 2:26:36!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOT! That's right within my goal time! I was aiming for somewhere between 2:20 and 2:30. I also finished 1837 out of 3673 women, and was 468 out of 898 women. It doesn't get much more in the middle than that!!! :P My mile pace averaged out to 11:12. I wanted to stay within the 10 something miles, but I'll take it. In my goal time, and right smack in the middle of the ladies. Not a bad showing. Maybe next year.... ;) Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Friday, October 10, 2008
If I thought it was good yesterday...
It's even better now! :) Thank you to everyone who took the time to sign my shirt! I know there are many that I missed and I'm sorry. Were I more organized this week I would have done this earlier and had more time. :( But a HUGE thank you to everyone for their love and support! I don't feel quite so alone anymore!!!! I will be running with about 30 of my friends on my back. :) That's a great feeling... :)
Thursday, October 9, 2008
It's ready...
The hours, minutes and seconds are ticking by and race time is drawing ever so slightly closer. I spent my evening being productive... ;) I made my t-shirt. :) So you should all come to CF tomorrow am just so you can sign it! :) When I am on the course all by my lonesome and I start to think that I won't make it, I will think of all those signatures and know that my family, as well as my friends (especially those from CFOT) are pulling for me. That will be all I need to get me to that line. Well, that and the promise of my super cool medal, and my T-SHIRT! :)
As a special reminder to myself, I also bought some team bands. You know, those rubberband things that people wear around their wrists? I'm not a huge proponent of stuff like that, but today, when I was standing there looking at the package... a lot of the words hit home with me. I put them on as a reminder to myself. The ones I chose to wear I think reflect qualities that I have, but sometimes lose sight of. The ones I will wear through race day quite simply are: Heart, Pride, Guts, and last but not least, Strength. Least I forget, I shall be reminded. It doesn't hurt that the colors will go well with my race day outfit, which I also bought tonight as well. See? I told you it was a productive evening. :)
Being smart...
So, no one ever accused me of being the sharpest knife in the drawer, but nonetheless, I'm trying to be smart this week. (This may be a first, you might want to write this all down.) Saturday is the half. I'm terrified quite frankly. With all the school stress and doing 5/6 days at CF the running sort of fell off. I am fairly certain that I'll be able to make it through about 8/9 miles. After that, I have a feeling all bets are off. Those are going to be my sticking points. Honestly, I think CF has me in much better shape than I realize, and I think me taking time off these last two weeks has actually helped me. I'm not achy, I'm not sore, and I think I'm actually a lot stronger than I realize. So, I know that I'm in good shape. The problem is, I'm not necessarily in great 'running' shape. So I have a feeling that what's going to happen is I'm going to hit a wall on miles 8/9. And I'm just going to have to rely on sheer grit and stubborness (which AMAZINGLY I have in ABUNDANCE) to get me to the end. This is NOT the best plan to have when you go about running a 1/2 marathon... just FYI for those of you who were ever thinking about doing it... :P
So anyway, the point is that in my being smart, I'm taking these days off CF. I really wanted to go yesterday and even thought about going this morning, but had we done anything with legs, I'd probably be screwed for Saturday. And you know, with all the stress and with getting sick etc. that I've had going on lately, maybe some time off isn't such a bad idea for me anyway. Holy crap... did you feel that? I think the Earth just shifted... :P LOL. I know, me, the CF addict is taking time off. Don't worry... I'm sure the world will only be out of sync for a few days... I'm sure by Monday of next week it will right itself. I actually said I wanted to go to CF on Sunday, but I think I'll still be with my sis in B-more. Besides, chances are, I'm not going to be able to walk on Sunday anyway... :P Ah... yes... fun times. BUT I get a cool shirt for this! And a medal if I finish... WOOT! T-shirts and medals... that's what it's all about! :)
So anyway, the point is that in my being smart, I'm taking these days off CF. I really wanted to go yesterday and even thought about going this morning, but had we done anything with legs, I'd probably be screwed for Saturday. And you know, with all the stress and with getting sick etc. that I've had going on lately, maybe some time off isn't such a bad idea for me anyway. Holy crap... did you feel that? I think the Earth just shifted... :P LOL. I know, me, the CF addict is taking time off. Don't worry... I'm sure the world will only be out of sync for a few days... I'm sure by Monday of next week it will right itself. I actually said I wanted to go to CF on Sunday, but I think I'll still be with my sis in B-more. Besides, chances are, I'm not going to be able to walk on Sunday anyway... :P Ah... yes... fun times. BUT I get a cool shirt for this! And a medal if I finish... WOOT! T-shirts and medals... that's what it's all about! :)
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
No CF again...
So last night at work I was feeling... off... not quite right. Not really bad, just not my normal self. I felt sort of warm, but attested that to the fact that I was wearing a lightweight jacket over my uniform because normally it's freezing in the restaurant. Well, I thought, maybe they finally turned the heat on and I'm being uber sensitive. So I took the jacket off, got cold, put it on, took it off, put it on... I think you can see a pattern here... anyway, at the end of shift, I decided to go purchase a new thermometer since my old one tanked on me.
So I went to the 24 hour CVS where luckily I also remembered that I needed soap! :P So I bought my thermometer and lo and behold when I got home and took my temperature there was a very slight fever. I attribute it to several things... school stress, long hours (it was 11pm by this point and I had been up since 445), and poor diet. So, I went to bed, and set the alarm for CF anyway. Well, I had a wild series of dreams last night that involved me on a train to Connecticut... WHAT? Where the crap did THAT come from? And woke up feeling even worse this morning. My fever is now slightly more pronounced and I'm actually willing to call it a low grade fever. So I opted to take off from CF... but nonetheless the fearless teacher is at her desk and ready for another day. Were I not so completely unorganized this week due to my crazy hectic weekend of work and run watching, I probably would have taken a sub. But my plans for today are so scattered, I can't leave another human to deal with this mess. So... off I go, ready for another fun filled day. Regardless of how close to death I feel... the 1/2 t-shirt will be purchased today... mark my words! :P I think I may even bring it to CF to have people sign... just a thought...
Until next time, the feast is mine! Yikes and away!
So I went to the 24 hour CVS where luckily I also remembered that I needed soap! :P So I bought my thermometer and lo and behold when I got home and took my temperature there was a very slight fever. I attribute it to several things... school stress, long hours (it was 11pm by this point and I had been up since 445), and poor diet. So, I went to bed, and set the alarm for CF anyway. Well, I had a wild series of dreams last night that involved me on a train to Connecticut... WHAT? Where the crap did THAT come from? And woke up feeling even worse this morning. My fever is now slightly more pronounced and I'm actually willing to call it a low grade fever. So I opted to take off from CF... but nonetheless the fearless teacher is at her desk and ready for another day. Were I not so completely unorganized this week due to my crazy hectic weekend of work and run watching, I probably would have taken a sub. But my plans for today are so scattered, I can't leave another human to deal with this mess. So... off I go, ready for another fun filled day. Regardless of how close to death I feel... the 1/2 t-shirt will be purchased today... mark my words! :P I think I may even bring it to CF to have people sign... just a thought...
Until next time, the feast is mine! Yikes and away!
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