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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

So What Wednesdays...

So here we are, another month ending, another goal not reached.....But honestly, I should have known better than to set a weight loss goal with my half-marathon. I know my body, I know research shows it is a hard thing to do, I basically set myself up for failure! Oh well...I ran my first half-marathon, maybe that is what I should be focusing on!


Life After I DewSo today I am going to try my hand at So What Wednesdays.... Yikes!

So what if all of my Halloween ideas came from Pinterest, which would include my treat bags for my nieces & nephews as well as my Jacee's costume.

So what if every morning this week I have shut my alarm right off, as opposed to hitting snooze, which has resulted in zero morning workouts.

So what if during ChaLean Extreme, Chalene Johnson is totally rocking her 25-pounders & I am rocking out to my like 8-pounders.

So what if every week I tell myself "no more Starbucks" & then at the start of every week I'm making a trip there.

So what if I will never be a mom who is super organized & her kids are to school early every day, 5 minutes before class starts is considered "early" right?

So what if the hubby & I typically have a mini-date night on Wednesdays while the girls are at church & tonight, instead, we have a "Lets clean the house while the girls are gone" date because it is on the brink of disaster zone (what's a full-time working mama to do, right?).

So what if I participated in a weight lost challenge & for the final weigh-in today I was up 1.2 pounds from the start of the challenge....it could have been up 5 pounds, right?

For WIW, I've resumed my relationship with my scale for now. I got goals I gots to hit! So back to it I go....weighed in this morning & we shall see where next week ends up! 


Weigh In Wedneday 
Until Next Time ~
*krisha*

Friday, October 25, 2013

My First Half Recap

Yup. "It" finally happened! It has been in the works for three years!
2011 - I started saying "I want to run a half-marathon. I'm going to do it." But, in reality, I was too chicken to sign up.
Too afraid of failure.
2012 - I signed up SUPER EARLY. I was training. I was passionate about running. Then, my shoulder (from years & years of softball pitching) become unbearable & I headed off to the surgeon after putting it off for a few ten years. The problem with running was that I had a pinched nerve in my neck from my shoulder injury that when I ran caused an incredible amount of pain that shot down my back. He told me I was done,  no more running.
So I deferred my race registration to 2013.
When I did that I had no idea that after seven months of no running allowed I would hate it when I started.
I never once stopped to think I would have to start back over with working up to one mile.
When I first started running on this journey, it took awhile to find that runners high, that love.
I was so flippin' mad I had to go through that all.over.again.
So I struggled.
I struggled with running.
I struggled with wanting to run.
I struggled with how slow I was (and with that I fully acknowledge that I will never be fast).
I struggled with sticking to the training schedule.
But this was a goal I had set three years ago.
I am not a quitter.
Never have been, never will be.

Prior to race day, my longest run was 10 miles. You can read that here....it didn't go real well. A couple days after that run, I started struggling with a strained hamstring. So from that run until the race, the furthest I had done was a five miler. Otherwise, after resting my leg for about a week, I did little "baby" runs, two or three miles, tops.

I had some serious anxiety wondering if I would be able to cross the finish line. 
I had some serious self-doubt. 
Here is how I prepared mentally because I knew it would come down to the mental aspect as well as my amazing buddy, Kingsley, that I run for through an organization called I Run 4 Michael.

After carb-loading Saturday evening (I should run half-marathons more often) I woke up Sunday morning at 5, three hours before race time. 
I went to the kitchen to drink my Spark and found myself singing, "I'm gonna run a half-marathon. I'm gonna run 13 miles." over & over.
I was pumped.
I was focused.
I was just praying I was ready.

As I was waiting in the chute for the race to start, I was so inspired looking around seeing all the different shapes, sizes, & ages of the runners. All there to accomplish the same thing - cross a finish line. I was so ready! I reviewed my game plan, which was full of thinking about Kingsley & running for him & promising myself I was going to start slow & make sure I had enough "gas" in my tank at the end!


And we were off.
Immediately, people were passing me left & right. At first, I let it get to me. 
But, I kept checking my Garmin for my pace & reminded myself of my game plan.

Miles 1-3 flew by so fast. I maintained my pace, enjoyed the scenery, jammed out to some music, read cool shirts, smiled at others.
Miles 4-5 - I kept saying "wow, I feel really good. I am really going to do this, huh?"
Mile 6- I was feeling awesome. I knew then I was going to be just fine because it was mile 6 in my 10 mile training run that my legs were tight & it was my worst mile. But, I was feeling sweet!
Miles 7-9 had some inclines, nothing huge, but inclines. Just after mile 7 I saw another porta-jon. Not knowing where the next one might be, I knew I had to stop. It was a five minute wait - ugh!! Note to self: was super glad I had that kleenex in my running belt....it was out of t.p.! Finally, took right off running again. This stretch was when I really started passing people, which felt amazing & my pace was still pretty good (minus the bathroom stop that I wish for my own reference I would have paused my Garmin).
Miles 9-11 I don't really remember much. Other than a ton of random thoughts I had.....those were like a blur! I know these were the super tough mental miles. I was not running physically here, it was mentally. It was the quotes I had used all week. It was my own quotes I use during softball season. It was me telling myself that I was going to do this.
Mile 12...that was when the legs became ON FIRE! I was starting to struggle. But, up to this point in time, I had not walked at all. I was super proud of that & had already been thinking about telling everyone how I didn't have to walk. I wasn't gonna stop, I had to keep running, as I chanted "Kingsley, Kingsley..." over & over again in my head. 
But boy, they were TIGHT.
As we turned into the final stretch, I picked a couple of people up ahead that I could tell were struggling. I made a goal to get passed them....and yes, as I was passing some of them, some of the FULL marathoners were passing me...those peeps are amazing!
I finally stopped my music as there were spectators again yelling, you could hear the announcer talking, I saw the flag for Mile #13...."I'm really going to do this." Right as I got to the flag, I heard my girls cheering me on. Wow...what a moment to look over & see them so proud & excited. I picked up my pace & sprinted through the finish line.


I did it.
I ran a half-marathon with no walking.
I felt amazing.
I felt proud.
I felt like my legs were on fire....oh wait, they were!
I got my medal with the biggest smile ever.
I got my drink & found my family again.
"I didn't have to walk. Not at all."
My girls smiled big & I could see how proud (and shocked) my family was.

My question a few moments later was, "when is the next half-marathon."

I will run one again.

This is my youngest daughter in the bottom with her arms up in the air for "Mommy!"
And you better believe that this baby went up on my car right away!!! 

Until Next Time~
*krisha*



Wednesday, October 16, 2013

The Mental Side Of Running & Me

So, as I have mentioned in the past, I also coach High School Varsity Softball. One of the biggest ideas I preach to my softball girls is that the game is mostly mental. If you are weak mentally, you will fail. My main saying to them is, "I can, I will, I'm GONNA." So much that one year we had it printed on the back of our t-shirts. We don't even need to mention the millions of times I have talked about visualizing success.

SO................If I preach it, why don't I practice it?! Ever since I have started running again...or trying to get running again...since having my shoulder surgery last winter my mental game has been my BIGGEST weakness. I never give myself credit, I continually knock myself down. Instead of saying, "wow Krisha, you did great today. You got done 3 miles without any walk breaks," I will say "wow Krisha, you stunk...you used to be able to run 3 miles faster." I know this is doing absolutely NO good for me. Not to mention while running, I will hear myself say "you can't complete this run today, you have gotten so out of shape." Instead of something positive, "your body is strong, you can finish today."

I'm preparing my mental game this week for my first half-marathon on Sunday because right now I know this is my weakness. Yes, I will admit & I do know that I'm not in as good of shape as I was a year ago. But, there are reasons for that! When I was finally able to start running again once I was healed from surgery, it was starting all the way back over again! So, I am forgetting how fast I once could run a mile (which, in way is it really fast...but I was proud of it) & I am no longer remembering how far I could go without a break.

Here are some of my mantras I am reading again & again this week!

Love this first one!
 A little different take on the I'm Possible idea:
 TRUTH.


 Unfortunately, this one is my biggest fear! Because I didn't "train" really & I wish I would have now. But I'm sure there will be another half in my day! 


Today is WIW....the scale & I are still on a break-up. I plan to weigh-in at the end of the month. But, I can tell you that I've lost inches. My jeans fit much better & my belts have all gone down a hole! 


Weigh In Wedneday

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

My First Double Digit RUN!

So I'm currently on my plan that I have called: "oh, shoot! You have only 24 days to prepare for a half that you haven't ran for let alone trained for What. So. Ever. Just going to try to cross the finish line on just my 2 feet and not crawling on all 4s!" 

This weekend I never had a good chance to hit the road running for a long run. So I did it last night. I told my hubby I needed to do a longer run than 5 miles & my goal was to run for at least an hour & a half to help build up my mileage to try to catch up to training plans. Secretly, I was thinking how awesome it would be if I could hit the 10 mile mark but refused to say it out loud because of  my fear of failure. The longest I have ever ran is a little over 8 miles last summer. 


But, the beauty of your out & back running style is that you have to finish. Especially when you are on a trail run where there are no shortcuts & no one can come pick you up! So I turned around at 5 miles knowing I had to finish that 10 miles. 


The first 5 miles went great; I felt great. Then, I hit mile #6 and I am quite certain that each leg weighed at least a hundred pounds each. It was rough BRUTAL. Mile 6 felt like it would never end. Then I  hit mile 7 and then "Girl on Fire" came on my iPod & I felt amazing again. I was about to do something I had never done before!


Yes, I had some 15 second walk breaks in there (note to self- next time bring the entire box of Kleenex with you - ugh!!!) & some stupid stop & pick up my water bottle that fell out of my hydration belt for the 50th time moments. I also had some stop & stretch out my calves during the last 3 miles. 


But, I continued putting 1 foot in front of the other. Slowly, yes, but I continued on. There were moments I wanted to quit & just shut off my Garmin & walk back to my car. There were moments I wondered if I would be able to do 13.1 miles in 20 days. There were moments where my calves felt like they were seriously ON FIRE! But, I didn't quit....the word "quit" is not in my vocab. I stopped worrying about how much slower my pace was than what it was a year ago when I did consider myself a "runner" & just did it. 


When I was done, I was hurting. In fact, I went home & took my first ice bath - that's how on fire my calves were. Um....those things are NOT fun! But I felt better & I was afraid this morning that my calves would feel awful - but I feel great! I am still sitting here feeling darn proud that I ran 10 miles. Never in my life, before last year at age 31 thought of ever doing something like this. In my school days, I was an athlete, but running was always something I hated! 


One of my fave things about running is that it is the ONLY time this mama gets all by herself! As a full-time working mama who runs around most days with her head cut off, I sometimes forget to enjoy the beauty around me every day. Running on this trail allows me the chance to enjoy it! Especially fall - I can't wait for those leaves to change even more in color! 


Off topic....yesterday my hubby sent me flowers at work. This is HUGE y'all! He doesn't send flowers - I can't tell you the last time I got any! But, they surprised me & brightened my day & I did need the message on the card! 


Must run for now.....back to getting some work done today! 

Until Next Time~
*krisha*