Half Marathon number 2.

Saturday May 19th will mark 2 months since when I run my 2nd half marathon.  Time really goes by so fast when you are training for a milestone and when you are done it feels like you need to take a long vacation.  Well that is exactly what I did when I run my 2^nd half marathon and I spent a week in Siesta Key, FL with great friends.  After celebrating jumping that hurdle, shortly came my birthday celebrations, and a few pounds later I have been feeling so much heavier and slower 😊

Although I may not have shared my weekly updates about my training like I did the first time there was no difference when it came to the pain, hard work, sweat, tears and a few pain killers when needed during the training.  I thought this journey would be easier since I had done it before and I had told myself that I would probably be a lot leaner and fitter (yeah right).  None of that happened 😊 instead I felt slower and fatter and just had all these negative vibes going on in my head.  About 2 weeks before the race, we got an email from the race organizers that they were introducing a 10k to the route.  After I read that email my mind was torn between doing the 10k or the half marathon.  That temptation stayed dangling in my mind until the day of the race however, I just could not justify why I would take a week away from work and not run the half marathon while on the other hand I didn’t have to prove anything to anybody.

Race Day:

I earned my medal

The race started at 6:30 am and it was about 68 degrees F (20 degrees C) with almost 100% humidity which means it was too hot by the time we were starting the race. I had done all my training during the winter and with cold temperatures.  I was so hot, sweaty, and exhausted by the time I got to mile 1.  The start line had runners who were either going to run the half, first leg of the relay as well as the 10k.  By mile 3, I knew I was going to run the 10k and that was it and it was going to be ok with the decision I made.  From mile 3, there was another runner who had about the same pace as I did and we had kept pacing each other up until mile 6. At this point we were both huffing and puffing as well as listening to our individually played music so you can imagine what we both sounded like when we were singing.  My lovely friend Jackie came over to meet us and handed us water and showed me the 10k sign and asked me if I was going to continue with the half or just finish with the 10k since I had told her that my journey was ending at the 10k point.  As human beings, we are always quick to judge and make up stories about people just by seeing them.  I had compared myself to this lady who I had just met and who I will call Suzy (not her real name).  I decided that if she continues with the half marathon and I turn off at the 10k point she would have won and I would have failed.  That was my story and I was sticking to it.  So, I assumed that because we were both plus size runners we both must stop running because it is hot and we should both be exhausted because I was exhausted and felt I needed company to justify not completing the race that I had signed up for which was still going to be ok.

Well Suzy, went past the 10k turn off point while singing and I turned and looked at Jackie and told her I was going to keep going.  I didn’t have the right attitude and spent mile 7 comparing myself to Suzy and kept on wondering why she didn’t just stop running since I was now at a point I really hated why I continued the race.  Fast forward we started talking to each other during the race and I found out she was such a nice positive person who kept on encouraging me and reminded me that although we might not look like the other faster runners who we saw on the course we are both moving faster than anyone else on the couch.  We both finished the race and although the last mile felt a lot harder for me because there was a change in the course from the previous year we did it. 

My AHA moment after the race was that one should never compare themselves to other people in whatever journey you are going through in life.  You don’t know what they have gone through and you do not have a right to judge somebody because of how they look, how fast, or slow they move or whatever challenge or success they might be going through at the time.  A mile is a mile no matter how fast or slow one is moving and one’s attitude plays a big role in whether you are going to be successful or on how you will feel when you are done with any challenge.  I had to remember it was my race, my pace, my journey, and I thank Suzy for reminding me about the journey.  I did not do as well as I wanted to do but who cares I finished and that was the main goal.  Nobody promised that this be easy or even get easier with time, I just must remember that quitting is not an option.  One of my heroes always reminds me that all you must do is take a step at a time, be positive and it will be over before you know it. On to more adventures.

Longest mileage so far in 2018

This past weekend was not as cold as last weekend so I was a happy about the slight change of weather.  I still can’t believe I can celebrate temperatures in the 30s as great weather having grown up in a tropical country.  I sometimes wonder who I have become since there is a time not too long ago that I swore I would never run unless I was running for my life or even run outdoors.  Earlier in the week it was very cold and I was talking to a colleague and she saw somebody running outdoors and she pointed out to me and said “look at that crazy person running outside in this cold”.  I remember trying to correct her by saying “you should not call him crazy since you know I also run outdoors in these temperatures” and her response to me was “Oh I know and you are crazy too.  There is no way I would run outdoors when it is very cold”.   The conversation was a reminder that running is such a mental sport and not only physical as I had assumed before I started running.  I was reminded that although I may complain about running outdoors or even actually going out for a run whether it is extremely cold or very hot not everybody is able to do it for various reasons.

It is amazing how we are able to control our minds and decide on what we can or cannot do.  I believe our attitude plays a huge part in determining what our limits are or what we are able to achieve.  This could be done in your professional life or even personal life.  This weekend I run 9 miles and spent most of the time reflecting on how it felt like the first time I run 9 miles last year.  I haven’t run the same distance since early last year since I didn’t have any reason to run that many miles after I did my first half marathon.  I think I celebrated finishing my half marathon and remained in recovery without doing more than 5-6 miles for the rest of the year.  Just like last year, my strategy was to divide up the miles in my head as a pie divided up in thirds so that I don’t think about the whole number 9.  I would try not to focus on how long it would take me but think about different things a mile at a time.  I decided not to run with any music on so that I can pray, try and sing as well as try and focus on my breathing.  Those who know me know that I cannot hold a tune for more than a second so singing was going to be so much fun.

Different bridges a long the way

After about half a mile I gave up on focusing on my breathing because I didn’t like that I sounded like I was huffing and puffing to bring something down.  I decided that would be depressing and I would end up not finishing my run.  I started singing and realized that I never know any lyrics to any songs.  I guess am one of those people who would ask a DJ to play a song and not know the title of the song or even the words of the song and try to sound it out.  😊 My next thought was to focus on the first third of my pie which was my first 3 miles and count how many people I would meet along the way.  For my first 3 miles I met 17 people and 2 deer.  These deer stood by the trail like they either were waiting to say hello to me or were wondering what is this human doing this early in our area.  I had to stop and start walking with the hope that they would move but since I don’t run that fast these animals did not move and just stood in my way.  While I approached them, I found myself coughing loudly and tried to shoo them so that I could continue on my run but they first stood still and watched me until when I guess they realized I was harmless then moved on.  I went past wondering if they stayed laughing at me in their deer language about how I was trying to scare them. I was too scared to take a photo of them LOL.

The second third of my run pie which was from miles 4 to 6 did not have as many people as the first third but I spent most of my time focusing on being positive and determined on finishing that portion of the run because I would be more than half way done.  While I was in my happy space and it was beginning to get a little warmer than I had expected I realized that I was only able to see 7 people during that time.  I finally met up some of my running friends who were doing 10 miles while I was getting closer to my turn around spot which was such a relief to see familiar faces.  While I was warm and excited, I decided I needed to remove my jacket since I was warm and at that point my watch decided it would also take a break.  The watch was able to save slight more of my first half of the run and I was going to have to start my watch again for the 2 half of my run back to my starting point.  Those of you who know about the challenges of gadgets know how frustrating this can be especially when you have a rhythm.  I had no choice but to start the watch again which of course messed up my calculations on how far I had gone with my pie and what I had left to do on my way back.   For about a mile and a half I was just so mad and kept grumbling about my watch and how I need to have it checked or even buy a new one until when I realized that I should not spend too much time complaining about something that is still calculating my mileage. Oh well!

The watch issues happened at about mile 5.5 and I had grumbled enough that I decided to turn on some African music to keep me going until when I was done.  The joys of listening to African music is that not only does it take me to a happy place and make me feel like dancing it makes me stop focusing on what I can or cannot do or how hard the run.  I was able to push myself and of course my highlight at the end of the run was meeting my buddies wrapped up in their blankets still waiting for me to arrive.  I appreciate the friendship and support that we all share during this journey.  Double digits here I come even though it is a sign that the days to the race are also getting closer.

Happy New 2018!

Happy New Year to everyone and I hope this year has everyone thinking of new challenges and goals for themselves to make themselves better this year. Although it might seem like it is a little too late to say Happy New Year to people but I must since this is my first time reaching out to everyone. Although January seemed to be a pretty long month here we are at the beginning of February and know how fast this month flies by if we are not focused.  The beginning of the year always marks the beginning of new opportunities in one's life .This past weekend marks the first year in which I started my blog about my run/fitness journey and although I was consistent for the first half of the year life took over and gosh did I fall off the bandwagon on updating you on my journey.

I took my blog for granted and only saw it just as a way to vent about how I felt when I was training for my first half marathon.  I didn’t realize that I was inspiring some people who were able to make lifestyle changes.  I received a few emails from friends who said that they had come out of their comfort zones and either started running, walking or took on whatever exercise they preferred.  So, what does this mean for me in 2018?  One of my goals is to remain consistent with writing about my journey and to do it for the rest of year.  I plan to share about how I feel, what my struggles are and what my successes are during the journey.  I hope to fight Zeek (my negative personality) that keeps getting in my way and hope to succeed this year with the number of goals I have set for myself. 

I would like to thank those of you who have held me accountable by asking me the status of the blog and why I stopped writing or if I would continue to write.  You know who you are and have been given permission to hold me accountable in the future 😊.  One of the lessons that I learned from last year was that I never set any additional goals after my first half marathon and the Avon 39-mile walk.  So, when I accomplished these big goals I went into chill out mode and even though I did a few 5k and 10k races later in the year I found that I didn’t push myself the way I wanted since I had already achieved my goals earlier in the year.  This year I plan to set additional goals to push myself and see what I can set my mind to do and if am able to pull it off. 

In about 7 weeks I will be running my second half marathon.  My main goal is to do the best I can and enjoy the journey.  I will not beat myself up with how fast or slow I can do the race as long as I finish and get to enjoy every moment.  I am obviously still freaking out like I haven’t done this in the past and will have moments on self-doubt but am determined not to let that take over from the experience.

Run over the 270 highway last weekend

Yesterday, I run 8 miles which I had not done in a long time (more than 6 months) and it felt like I had just started my journey from scratch.  It was 12 degrees when we started and I can't remember when I last run when it was that cold.  For about 2 miles I thought I had lost my fingers and part of my face because it was so so cold.  My water froze and I didn't have any water to drink until when my lovely sister/friend met me and shared some of her water which made a difference and I was able to finish the run 😊  Nobody said this journey would be easy and there are going to be times when I will keep asking myself why I do this to myself but with the amazing support that I have from my run family I know everything will be ok and I shall be successful.  Here is to positive 2018 vibes everyone.