Richmond Training #2

Richmond Training - Week 2

Taking a page from Tracy's book, I'm not calling my training recaps "Sunday Sweats"...because they will probably never get updated on a Sunday.

Week 2 long run: ✔️ ! This weather today is everything 😍 Even after waking up later than I wanted, the awesome temps and almost non existent humidity let me push through to 6 miles. Richmond training is off to a pretty good start ! . . . #running #training #halfmarathon #13point1 #runrdu #runlikeagirl #fitsnap #raleigh #umstead

A photo posted by Lisa Marie 💀 (@lisamdee) on Sep 3, 2016 at 10:39am PDT

Rock N Roll Raleigh - Race Recap

My DC Weekend - Cherry Blossom 10 Miler

This past weekend was the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in Washington, DC where I got to see Alyssa & Tracy and run an awesome race in a pretty rad city.

What a great weekend with amazing people. 10/10 would do it all again ! After the race, @briandouglas138 and I got to hang around the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and the Air and Space Museum. Our step count ended up totaling 20 miles for the day !! 🇺🇸❤️🏁👟🌸 #cherryblossom10miler #cherryblossom #washingtonmonument #smithsonian #washingtonDC

A photo posted by Lisa Marie 💀 (@lisamdee) on Apr 3, 2016 at 4:46pm PDT

The Richmond Recap

As I started writing this post, I'm curled up on my couch in my Richmond Finisher's blanket, with my humidifier and hot tea, in the middle of a "Friends" marathon.  Because apparently the cold from hell decided to rear its ugly head and I am currently unable to breathe through my nose.  However, I'm proud to report that I ran and finished the Richmond Half Marathon this weekend.

Bloggers #RunOaks

I've been looking forward to this past weekend ever since Alyssa told me she was thinking about signing up for City of Oaks.  The fact that it's over already and I'm writing a recap doesn't feel real.  I hope that you've already been over to Alyssa's page and check out Tracy's as well.

I'm Only Doing this for Donuts

I was not about to let another Training for Tuesday pass me by without getting on board !

I'm Not Dead

Hi. Remember me ? I'm not dead [yet]. I just tend to fall off the face of social media for an extended amount of time. Especially one that requires thought and planning and effort and it's not that I don't love you guys but honestly

Story of my life for the past 2 months. Which I feel SUPER bad about and will probably apologize for over the next million blog posts.

Especially when the creation of this blog was to track my progress for a certain half marathon that, oh yeah, I KILLED in 2:14:14.

So would it be okay that even though I haven't been around in almost 2 months, I got a little braggy ? I mean, you do come here to read about me, right ?

Oh good.  Want some pictures ? Of course you do. And I just happen to have some right here:

(Finish line pic - Sweatband dude is my FAVORITE)

(YAY for this guy. I'd probably be dead if it wasn't for him)

(Let's talk about the unnecessarily GIANT finishers medal, shall we ?!)

And you'll never guess who I ran into (no not literally, she was TOTALLY done before me) ?! The super awesome Tracy !

It was one of those fun moments of "Hey ! I'm so excited to actually meet you and I smell and you're here with your family and I'm awkward and I really want coffee but high fives for awesomeness and I'm gonna go die now, kbye !" I only hope that one day I can run a sub 2:00 half like this girl. Damn !

THEN, I ran the Santa Paws 5K which was my first ever 5K last year. The course was in a different place than last year, I got lazy and hadn't run since the half and holy hills batman did that course hurt. But I still PR-ed with a 29:01 !

(Again, This guy ? Best. Ever.)

And lastly...I ran my first Turkey Trot 8K on Thanksgiving. That however, was not a fun run for me as my lungs have decided to suck A LOT. I still managed to do it in 51:58 but I walked WAY more than I wanted to.  Shout out to Big Mike for running and walking with me the whole time while I was pretty sure I was dying. [Asthma that has been dormant for about 15 years has decided to rear its ugly head again in the form of exercise induced asthma.  Currently on a steroid inhaler to kickstart my lungs so cross your fingers they stop sucking - metaphorically of course - and breathing becomes not so brutal.]

Otherwise I've just been relaxing and having awesome adventures (pictures to come once I get them all off my phone, obviously): Front row seats to a Hurricanes hockey game, fun trips to the zoo, Dracula the ballet, and lots of other fun things. I can honestly say for the first time in a VERY long time, I am so insanely happy with my life. Now if I could just get a job that doesn't make me grumpy...

What does the future have in store ? Once I can get my breathing under control, I plan on training for a TBD spring half marathon. Only this time ? NO WALKING. Now that I know I can complete one, I want to run the whole thing. And I also want to nail some PR's in the process.

I guess the only thing left is...are you guys going to hang out and see how it all unfolds ?!

It's Training Time !

If you couldn't tell from my hiatus last week, Life happened (as it tends to do) so blogging fell to a lower priority than normal.  Hopefully you didn't miss me and my crazy too much !

My head is constantly in 15 different places and usually those places aren't where I need to be at the time.  Go figure.  I left/went back into my apartment 3 times this morning because I would grab something and leave something else and have to go back and grab that.  Monday's and I are just not friends.  Add to that the fact that I will do anything and everything to procrastinate getting to work: I drag my feet at the coffee shop, check my phone a million times, find people to talk to - anything ! and I'm just as surprised as you are that I actually GET to work. So I give myself a pep talk in the car on the drive to work and I come in all ready to go and then...people.  I hate my job because the higher ups make my job WAY harder than it needs to be and completely ignore me when I tell them this or give them suggestions to fix it.  Le Sigh.

Oh well.  Such is life and it pays the bills for now.  Just needed to get that off my chest before diving into fun updates about half marathon training !

After an obnoxious phone call last week, I'm more determined than ever about my half marathon.  Not that I wasn't before, but hearing that I can't or won't finish this half marathon or the assumption that I keep joking about "actually doing this", my focus kicked into overdrive and I'm more pumped and determined than ever.  And yes, all of the work I've been doing has been so I could run a half marathon, but it's that time where I look at City of Oaks being 12 weeks away and having a very real goal with an end in sight.  That being said, last week was my first official week of half-marathon training !

Normally all of my runs are around 3 miles because honestly I've never pushed myself out of my comfort zone to try and run more for fear of not being able to do it and also for fear of hurting myself.  Last Monday I challenged myself to run the whole 3 miles-no walking.  I've been doing run-walk intervals to keep an eye on my IT bands and also because the weather was torture and I didn't want to die.  Now that the weather is no longer a suffocating blanket of humidity and my lungs can actually breathe air without being on fire, I decided why not ?!  I totally did a victory dance when I got back to my car. Not only did I run the whole time, but I was pretty consistent ! 

(The cabbage patch happened.  Not even gonna lie.)

I cross trained on Wednesday, went back to interval training on Thursday, and had my PT on Friday. I was thinking about doing my long run on Satursday, but I usually try not to run on the same day I go see Jessica and she works on my legs, because when she worked on them after the Raleigh's Finest 5K, I could barely walk (let alone run) for 4 days.  Which meant that Sunday was my first long run ! My "coach" had me run for 45 minutes and I decided on 4:1 intervals so my brain could process the math easier.  

May I present to you, for the first time since I wiped the slate clean back in June, my first official long run:

I didn't die

I know, I know....I'm a day late.  But better late than pregnant never, right ?! [For those of you who missed the golden girls reference, please leave this post, go here, watch the episode and then maybe I can forgive you.]

Let's get right down to it: my 5K on Saturday.

I woke up at the most insane hour of 6AM.  Thankfully I set up everything the night before because I knew I would be in zombie mode.  I dragged my feet to my car and drove to the boys place so we could take one car and also because I hate driving/parking in downtown and honestly, I don't function before 9AM.  I then spent the next hour trying to come up with every excuse in the book to NOT run.

(Sorry for the feels Dr. Who fans)

Once I got over my anxiety (and by "got over" I mean I could hold a conversation with friends without wanting to burst into tears), it was okay.  We took some fun pictures and they laughed at my shirt.  Don't hate me, but I don't actually have a good picture of it.  I was slightly worried about not coming in last in front of all my friends ! Oops !

(My eyes are closed but oh well !)

(at the starting line before I hid myself in the anonymity of the crowd)

I adore these people.  I only get as nervous as I do running around them because they are just hands down some of THE most awesome people I have ever met.  But back to my story.

Here's a quick rundown of what happened after that picture:

• Can't get a GPS signal on my watch.
• And they're off !
• "Shoot, Guess I'll just run until it picks up." (I should mention that my watch times my 3:30 run/1:00 walk intervals which it can't do when I'm trying to get the GPS to work)
• Running
• Feeling awesome !
• Nice view of downtown !
• Watch still hasn't picked up GPS
• "How long have I been running ?"
• Get GPS signal
• Start running 3:30 interval.
• "Pretty sure I'm gonna regret this when I'm done."
• "Oh, some uphill, no big - OW !"
• "Am I ever going to go downhill ?!"
• "Thank you directing traffic person !"
• My IT bands just noped the fuck out
• "I'll take 'What is Breathing' for One Million Alex."
• A montage of pain and confusion but I'm walking it off.

• "I have to be done soon"
• Brian comes backtracking and finds me.  I must have had an epic look of relief on my face because he started laughing.
• Meghan and Rita and Matt and all the awesome people show up to run with me.
• Less laughing/talking, more running.
• More Ow.
• Meghan teaches me how to breathe: instant relief
• Running fast !
• Yelling !
• Finish line !
• Run Walk quickly away from people and try not to throw up.
• Drink water and become normal again.

So in summary, I ran longer than I have in about 5 months, it hurt like hell (but I recovered almost instantly which was cool) and I finished sub 30.  When I looked at my watch it only tracked 2.6 miles which makes me figure I ran for about 8 minutes between a 9-9:30 pace before I took a walk break.  Bonus points for being able to go that long, but I feel like it would have made the whole thing easier overall if I had stuck to the original plan.

(The results)

I'm currently trying to figure out my next few races.  I've got just about 3 months to get ready for City of Oaks.  Let's do this !

Other noteworthy things of the weekend:

• Had my chiro appointment for my IT bands after the 5K - ice has been my best friend for 3 days
• Did a lot of laying around with the monsters. Mostly because I couldn't sit/stand/move without pain (BTW - so worth it)
• Finally saw Jaws for the first time ever.  Didn't freak out or have nightmares.  Major points for me.

There you have it ! I'm excited to run again tonight after taking yesterday and Sunday off to give my legs some time to recover.  Based on the 8:30 minutes I actually ran without stopping on Saturday, I'm going to see what I can actually do.  Time to start pushing my limits a little bit !

Hope everyone had a good weekend  (and a good Monday !)

Weekending - What's sleep ?

It's Monday again...funny how that seems to happen every week despite my objections.  Oh well !  I'm very excited for today's post because I can finally tell everyone how my 5K went this weekend ! And while I'm at it, I figured I could do another linkup as well :)  I love these because I'm finding so many interesting bloggers to stalk follow.

I love seeing posts about "Oh it was great to sleep in" or "I didn't have to set my alarm and it was nice."  On Saturday I got up at the ungodly hour of 6AM to run 3 miles.  My immediate thought:

Followed by:

It was a small race of only 108 people.  I spent a lot of time going back and forth in my head of "It would be cool if someone I knew was here" and "Oh man I hope I don't see anyone I know here".  I was nervous and excited and afraid I would screw something up (not quite sure how as long as I kept putting one foot in front of the other, but I'm a constant worrier so it happens).  About 15 minutes before the race was going to start, I had the best cheerleader I could have asked for show up with tons of good advice (as he'd run the course before) AND he ended up running with me during the hardest part of the course.  I pretty much won at life right there.

I stuck to my 3:1 but since I had music in, sometimes I didn't hear my watch or think to look at it so it ended up being more like 4:1 sometimes (I actually forgot my watch was set for that once I started and did 6:1...oops !)  I loved the course. It was a trail which made it interesting (I've never run on anything not paved before) and it was actually really enjoyable.

The end results were:

(According to my watch)
Time: 30:12.3
Pace:  9:58/mi

(According to the chip)
Time: 30:10
Pace: 9:43/mi

I'm going to go with my watch time for the more accurate results.  And I'm a little sad because it wasn't 3.1 miles (at least according to my watch).  Regardless, I still kicked butt ! When's my next race ?!

(I look ridiculous and gross after the race but I had too much fun to care !)

The rest of Saturday consisted of puppy time at the park, a quick nap (for them) and a birthday party for a 6 year old, which was awesome...except for the ridiculous amount of 6 year olds.  

Besides the 5K, my favorite part of the weekend was a Sunday night adventure around the NC Museum of Art.  It was probably the best way the weekend could have ended.  Now it's back to the daily grind of the work week.  Not sure about anyone else but I am SUPER PUMPED that this is only a 4 day work week.

How was everyone else's weekend ? Tell me, tell me, tell me !

Drumroll Please...

I know you've all been anxiously chomping at the bit to find out what happened with the bet I made for myself last night (at least pretend, okay ?)  The results are in:

Sadly, I didn't go 3.5 miles. Around the 2 mile mark I decided to be smart and pull back a little so that I didn't kill my legs.  Sore legs today, but I can walk so I know I did the right thing.  However, since I did manage to run a 5K distance AND because I averaged less than 9:56/mi...

As of 9:25AM this morning, I'm signed up to run my first* race ! (* I ran the Santa Paws 5K back in November '13 but since I decided to start clean slate, we're counting this as the first.)

I'm pretty excited.  It feels so great to set a goal, work at it, and see it happen. My goal at the 5K on Saturday is be smart, don't give everything away on the first mile, keep putting one foot in front of the other, and cross the finish line.  Go me !

Since I'm spilling here, something that I've seen Alyssa do every week are Humpday Confessions.  In an effort to keep myself out of becoming a one trick pony, I'm going to take a page from  her playbook today. Literally, because I stole the questionnaire she used this week. It's a linkup as well so here we go !

1. What's a nickname only your family calls you?
The running joke is that my name is JoJiLi.  Growing up my mom would try and yell at me but would start to say my brother's name, realize that was wrong, start to call me my sister and finally get my name.  My brother used to call me (and still does occasionally) Lala because he couldn't say Lisa.  My dad also calls me Fred. 

2. What's a weird habit of yours?

I have to tell the dogs goodbye before I leave the apartment.  If the words "Bye, mommy loves you!" don't leave my mouth before I walk out the door, I have to go back and tell them.

3. Do you have any weird phobias?

I'm super not a fan of gorillas but I don't know if it's a phobia.  Monkeys are cool.  The whole crazy, destructive rage thing that gorillas have going on at the drop of a hat though kinda freaks me out. Watching King Kong was an interesting roller coaster of emotions for me. Also terrified of anything that has more legs than a dog. But pretty sure that's not weird.

4. What is a song you like to jam out to alone?
I get made fun of often because when people see my playlists they vary from "Oh my god this song will change your life" to "oh my god please don't judge me".  I will jam out anytime but usually reserve my alone car rides for musicals. The most frequent go to songs are "Don't tell Mama" from Cabaret, "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid or "Don't Rain on My Parade" from Funny Girl. 

5. What's one of your biggest pet peeves?

Stupid people. That pretty much sums it up.

6. What's one of your nervous habits?

If I'm nervous I start picking at the skin around my nails. I don't even know I'm doing it and there's maybe one person I've ever met who actually notices when I do it.

7. What side of the bed do you sleep on?
Usually the left side of the bed (the right if you're looking at it).

8. What was your first stuffed animal and what was its name?

It was a little white bear.  I don't think it had a name.

9. What's the drink you always order at Starbucks or Dunkin?

I don't drink either. But my go-to at Cup A Joe is a Medium Iced Soy White Mocha Latte. My favorite is their Iced Chai Fusions though. Yum.

10. Which way do you face in the shower?
Usually away from the water unless I'm washing my face.

11. Do you have any weird body skills?

Apparently being able to fold my hands behind my back between my shoulder blades is weird ? And when I sit cross-legged on the floor I usually end up laying down over my legs or propped up on my elbows which is also weird ? I guess my flexibility is weird to "normal" people.

12. What is your favorite comfort food that you know is bad for you but you eat it anyway?
M&M's.  It's not a comfort food so much as I'm just addicted.  Chinese food is a must if sad/stressed.

13. What is a phrase or exclamation you always say?

Depends on who I'm talking to.  Usually "Will do" & "awesome".  There's one person who hears the phrase "I'm going to murder you...in your sleep" daily.

14. What do you wear when you go to sleep?
Um....usually a giant t-shirt. Let's go with that.

15. What did you used to wear that you thought was cool and now you realize it wasn't?
Butterfly clips.  My mom usually only bought the ones with glitter.  I f*cking HATE glitter.


So there you have it folks ! I'm still pretty new to this linkup idea so look for more in the future.  Thanks for reading !

Makeover & New Goals !

As if you couldn't already tell my blog underwent an AMAZING makeover.  The biggest thanks in the world to Natalie over at Revel And Design. You wouldn't be looking at the awesomeness you see before you without her.

That being said, I'm going to work on updating some things this week and making this EVEN BETTER !  I've been reading some things in other blogs and also hearing it from people directly about putting yourself in a niche with your blog.

So I'll be working on making this a little more well-rounded.  I think it's important to include more than just my training plan and accomplishments because I think everything will just get real old, real fast.  Mostly because I've realized that training for the half marathon is intertwined in my life a lot more than I let on.  I'll give you a minute to digest the fact that you will actually get to know me a little more than just how slow/fast I ran on any given day.

Are you still with me ? Good. For now I'm going to stick to what I've been doing until I can get enough things set up, pictures together, ideas formulated and executed, etc.

Now that you know my goals for ole bloggy here, let's talk about my running goals. First, a little recap from the past 2 days:

Sunday:
Time: 35:12.7
Dist: 3.50 mi
Avg. Pace: 10:04/mi
(Creative Loop around my apartment)

Monday:
Time: 30:12.0
Dist: 3.04 mi
Avg. Pace: 9:56/mi
(Hibernian run-less hilly route I found)

These times are INCLUDING walk breaks. So I started looking at my runs and my average pace and attempted to do math.  When that didn't work, I used the internet, and confirmed that I run about a 10:00/mi.  My goal for the City of Oaks Half Marathon is a 9:00/mi.  I have 4 months. That's more math that my brain doesn't feel like doing, but it seems like I can make it a reality. I just have to push myself and focus.  And to do that, I made myself a little bet.

Tonight I'm going to run 3.5 miles.  If my average pace comes out below 9:56, then I'm going to run a 5K on Saturday to give myself a timed race.  If I don't average below 9:56, then I'll keep working and look for one again in a week or two.  I still plan on signing up for Raleigh's Finest 5K in July, but I want to have little races here and there to track my progress in a way.  I just really want a starting point, a place to go "Okay, this is where I started, where I need to push from and what I can compare myself to at the end." I feel like this is the best way to get over all the negative energy in my head and start focusing on not comparing myself to other runners.  Cross your fingers for me ! I'll be following the advice of RuPaul, "Good luck ! And...

Thank you for reading !