Does the retraining ever end?

So, evidently, Team in Training has a 'no ipod' mandate. Apparently I'm supposed to 'talk' to my teammates. Um, don't they know I'm running?

Me and my ipod running together.

I kid, I kid. I know how the Team works and I'm totally down to work with my teammates, but learning to run without music is going to be a training in and of itself. I'm so used to singing along to my favorite songs, and having them there as a nice distraction from what I am actually doing. Not to mention, the songs that bring me out of the slump. So this will be a new experience and a new training for me. We did a pace assessment last weekend, and it was my first 3 mile run without my ipod and I can safely say it was the longest 3 miles of my life.

I feel like for every run I've done, I'm retraining myself in one way or another. On my very first run almost 2 years ago, I was training just to run - period. I remember hitting 1 mile and thinking I was going to die. I was ready to call an ambulance because I was convinced that somehow I had collapsed a lung. After 1 mile. Really. That first run turned into training for The Human Race 10k, which was longer than I have ever run in my life, so from training myself to run at all, I began training myself to run for distance. As I've said before, I was a sprinter in my younger years and didn't understand the mechanics of running distance. I found myself hitting a hard wall at 4 miles and didn't understand why I just couldn't pass that threshold. It was pointed out to me that I should probably slow down and I might be able to go longer. Wouldn't ya know, it worked. After that race, I found myself in an interesting predicament...I had nothing to train for, so no real reason to run. So it was at this point I began training myself just to run, even though I didn't have to. Obviously that wasn't going to last long, so I did sign up for another 10k, the hilly Firecracker Run! As soon as I got into this, I got pregnant with Tre, and I began the worst training of all - running while pregnant, nauseous, tired and sore. This was probably the worst 10k run of my life. By the end, I thought my hips were dislocated and I wanted to throw up, but was too dehydrated. But I did it, I don't know why I did it, but I did. After a little break for child birth, I began running again and was seriously disturbed that I was not only starting over in my fitness, but I was working with a body that just want not mine. I would like to introduce everyone to the idea of 'slinky stomache'. Whatever you're imagining, that is exactly how it felt. Since that's what I had to work with, I had to retrain my entire body. This was extremely hard. Because I had no core muscles, everything ached, but my back took the worst burden. I remember getting to 2 miles, and feeling like I had just accomplished something amazing. And really, it kind of was. I decided to sign up for the Firecracker 10k, the course that had defeated me just a year earlier, even though I had no business training for that distance in such a short amount of time, with the bad shape I was in. If you're not familiar with the course, all you need to know is that the first 3 miles are up a mountain. Enough said. Added to this, this was the first time I was training on my own without a running partner. It's extremely difficult to motivate yourself to get up and do the runs, when there is no one else counting on you, so I had to train my brain that I was committed to this for myself and that had to be enough. After accomplishing that, I decided to take it to the next level and began training for my first half marathon. This training was different than I had ever done before because I really had to learn to pace myself.  And finding new routes to span the miles was a challenge. Also, finding the time to put in to the long runs was not easy with 3 kids, my job and my always working husband. My long runs took upwards of 2 hours, instead of the hour runs I was used to. I really had to change my mindset. I knew I could fudge my way through 5-6 miles, but making the commitment to 13 was a whole different thing.

I find myself retraining again. I've done the miles and I know how to work it into my life, so now I just have to learn to do it with a team, and not as a solo runner. Before I would have thought that this was easier, because I had other people motivating me, but now that I'm trained myself into a self-sustaining mindset, I feel like I'm starting over. I know that once this run is over, there will be a new challenge and new retraining effort on the horizon...

First Team In Training run tomorrow!

Now that I'm done with one running journey, I'm ready to begin my next.

I've gone to a couple of impromptu workouts to meet my team and everyone of course seems super nice. I'm really excited to get to know everyone on a team again and end my era of lone wolf running. It was fun having the alone time, but it can be very lonely running for 2 hours on your own. And finding the motivation to get out there week after week, without someone else encouraging you, well, that was REALLY hard.

While I'm excited to get back to running after this week off, I also found myself in a state of panic this week for no apparent reason. It was almost like a delayed panic attack that I should have had on Saturday night, before the Pasadena Half. So there I was panicking about putting in the miles, running those distances and committing to training. I suppose it's better that this happened after, rather than before, but still weird. Especially since I did so well!

For this run, I think I'm going to focus on increasing my speed. At the Pasadena Half, I really just wanted to finish, which I did with flying colors! So now that I know my overall and split times, I can focus on going faster. I'm considering finding a 5k or 10k in the coming weeks to train for, and make myself sprint it! We'll see...the reality of my life is what it is, so I'll have to be flexible with what comes my way.

So here I go to my next adventure. San Francisco here I come!

Wow, I ran a half marathon.

I did it. I ran a half marathon!

And I look like I just ran a half marathon!

I intended on posting on Saturday, the day before my run, about how nervous and excited I was, but alas, life got in the way. And now, my story is much different than the one I would have told on Saturday.

When I woke up on Sunday morning, it was still dark out. This is not exactly the ideal time for me to run, seeing as that's usually when Tre is attached. But I pulled myself out of bed and quietly passed him off to Bear and luckily he cooperated. Getting in my car, it was drizzling out and I figured that was just the morning marine layer, and would pass. Boy was I wrong. The run was full of so many weird and wonderful things. There was the guy wearing a mini dress and Superman underwear underneath (at least he had the running skills to back up that kind of showmanship) and the girl applying make up at mile 5. Seriously. Where was she even carrying that make up? I could barely carry my Gu pack. But back to my run...
By the time the race started it was fully raining. And it kept up for about the first 7 miles. During one particular downpour, Jay-Z's Umbrella came on my iPod and the irony was just too much for me. I was laughing to myself and nearly shouted out RIHANNA WHERE YOU AT!? Around the same time, I passed Luluemon Athletica (which is where I get all my running pants and bras) on Colorado and bless those employees - they came out in the pouring rain, opened up shop, set up a DJ and were cheering their hearts out for everyone.
At this point in the run, I was still partially asleep. My feet were wet, my left hand was completely numb and I pretty much had no idea where I was. Right around mile 6, the route hit my usually running route and it was like an alarm clock went off in my head and I suddenly became aware of what was going on. Which made me incredibly aware of the rain and the aforementioned problems. Finally the rain let up, just in time to hit the hills at mile 8. Yes, they make you run 8 miles, and then throw in 2 miles of hills for fun. Somehow I managed through them without losing my breath or my sanity, and from there, it was 3 miles of downhill to the homestretch. As soon as I saw the mile 10 marker, all I could do was smile. My favorite songs were on my iPod, I could hear Rylee's voice singing along and my clothes were starting to dry out. Life was good. But then right at the end, I was running in at the same time as the Kiddie Run was going. Now, I can navigate around the kids no problem. They were just running along. It's grandma stopping directly in front of me to take a picture that I have a problem with. Seriously, I can't believe they let all these people onto the course when people are finishing a lengthy run like that. I can't believe I was almost injured at mile 13 of a 13.1 mile run. And naturally the person that caused it was completely oblivious.
But I finished and honestly felt like I could keep going. And when I did, my mom, my husband and my 3 beautiful children were at the end cheering me on with huge smiles on their faces. It made my day to have them there for me, even if it was for that split second at the end. And I so appreciate my husband for dragging the kids out of the house, even in the pouring rain to make sure that I had my family there.

So there it is. I can now say I have completed a half marathon. It felt great personally and physically. Now I'm ready to start my training for the next and see where that takes me. So please stay with me on this journey!

Running + Motherhood = Messy

Running is hard. Running as a mother of 3 kids under 5, well it's just plain stupid.

Having kids, for a long time, was accepting that my life was put on hold. And now suddenly, with 3 of them, I've realized that's total crap. But there's fine line between taking personal space and pursuing my own interests and outright just saying 'see ya later!' and I often have to cross it. But the funny part is, the kids seriously do not care that Mama is tired from her run and just wants to sit down for a minute. Oh no, once I'm back, it's game on. It's like saying, oh you just ran a marathon? Here, do it again, but this one lasts until 8p. 

Running with kids makes pretty much every run less than ideal. There's the pink eye run debacle (because seriously that would only happen to a mother) that I will hold for another time, or like my run last weekend...

I hadn't run anything substantial in 2 weeks because my work day runs are short for obvious reasons, and my husband had been working through the 2 weekends before that, so running was rendered impossible with 3 booger factories staring at me all weekend (and by staring I mean running, screaming, gardening, fighting, you name it). So here I was faced with an 11 mile run, which I totally did not want to do. Naturally all 3 kids woke up with the grace of lions and their screams could only be cured by pancakes. No, not a nice, easy bowl of cereal, pancakes, that Mama makes, from scratch. So I pancaked, I nursed, I drank my coffee, and then I realized it was almost 9a. Crap. At this point, it was already 80 degrees and felt like the sun was a fireball moving rapidly towards the earth, but I had to go. As I walked out the door with death rays in front of me and 2 arguing kids and one tired and crying baby behind me, I gave my husband a kiss and said, see ya later! And the first thing I did as I stepped out my front gate was twist my ankle on a step. After hobbling back in and taking my shoe off to make sure it wasn't swelling, I was finally off. On the recommendation of a friend (whose opinion is no longer welcome), I ran the arroyo river trail to get to the Rosebowl. Sure the scenery and temperature were amazing, but the dodging rocks, horse poop, death traps and lose mastiff, were not. I did make it there, to start my 6 miles in the by now absolutely blistering heat. And since I was at the Rosebowl, and since Kidspace is right there, wouldn't you know the kids just HAD to go! (This seemed like a REALLY good idea before I started running) I met up with Bear and the kids, and they were naturally overjoyed to see me, so much so that they raced off so I had to chase them. And Tre was just looking for the closest boob to latch onto. Once in Kidspace, there was running and screaming and jumping and chaos, and it was really just too much of me to ask to sit and drink the water my amazing husband brought for me. So, with my calves on permaflex, off we went. I realized at one point during an attempt to rest, that it actually hurt more to stop moving...sweet. 

But then there are the very rare days and runs that are like magic. The kids were in a good mood this morning, the weather was a cool 60 and overcast, I was wearing the awesome new water pack the family got me for Mother's Day and running felt great. But since a mother's run never ends, I finished my run at the girls' ballet class, and will be continuing this run until bedtime.

And I haven't even mentioned that running as a mother of a baby means doing this after getting little to no sleep. But, I ran over 12 miles today. I did it. And I know my girls were proud, because they asked me about my run and even said they want to run with me sometime. Doesn't really get any better than that.

Team in Training

I did it. I signed up for the Nike Women's Half Marathon with Team in Training. 

I've never done this run, but I've heard from friends that it is amazing AND there is a Tiffany necklace sitting at the finish line! I've never been one to seek out fancy or expensive jewelry, but the thought of owning my very own Tiffany just makes me tingle! And for some reason, running to get it, makes it that much better, like I earned it or something. So please, don't buy me a Tiffany and then tell me I can stop running. 

I'm really excited to be teaming up with Team In Training again, because they are awesomeness. My husband and I completed a century bike ride about 6 years ago, before those rascally kids came along, and we trained and rode with TNT. I cannot say enough about them. I don't have a single bad memory from that experience, and I rode 100 miles on a bicycle people! Oh wait, back up, one bad memory, but it's my own fault....

The first day of training, we were expected to ride 15 miles (which naturally seems trivial now). But I thought that would be a really good day to completely wean myself off coffee. Cold turkey. Only a handful of you have had the, ahem, pleasure of seeing me before my first cups of coffee in the morning. It ain't pretty. So of course this was a disastrous idea. I'm pretty sure by the middle of the ride, the entire team and coaching staff was ready to give me back my registration fee and kiss my skinny butt goodbye, but being the amazing people they are, they just smiled and laughed and said see you next week, and please drink your coffee. 

So, for the next few months, I'll be periodically posting about fundraising and my Team In Training runs. Please follow along as I fumble my way through this and provide as much encouragement as you can muster up!

A Running Blog?

Yes,  I know, it seems silly. Do people really want to read about my good runs, my bad runs, and the days that I am absolutely dreading the run? I don't know, but I guess I'll find out...

I'm Rebecca and I'm a runner. Never thought those words would come out of my mouth. Before everyone goes crying foul on me, I know I 'ran' in high school, but it hardly qualified as running. I was a sprinter. Distance to me was running twice around the track. I complained when they made me run the 300 meter hurdles - you want me to run almost an entire lap AND jump over hurdles!? I remember watching the distance girls and thinking (with the utmost respect of course) - those bitches be crazy! I never in my life thought I would run more than 2 miles, over the course of entire practice. You get the idea.

Somewhere along the way, I realized I like running. I like the rush of adrenaline when I'm done, I like the time alone and damnit if my legs aren't seriously rockin'. And I'm not too bad at it either. So here I am, a mother of 3, training for my first half marathon next weekend, and finally can admit to myself, that I am, in fact, a runner.