Mental Blocks, Ackes and Pains

With 49 days or 8 weeks and 1 day to go until the Denver Rock and Roll Marathon, I am starting to feel like I may have bitten off to much to chew. I recently had a conversation with our cross country coach about my training. We talked about the mental blocks I am having a hard time getting over, my times, and the body ackes. He told me that I am on the right track and I have plenty of time until the Marathon so taking a week off to rest is okay. He told me:

"listen to your body, trust your instincts. You have been running 20-25 miles a week your can get injured easier and you can get sick real easy. Your body has less time to recover and if you push it to hard you'll be watching the Marathon from the TV."

I sat and marinated on his comments and thought to myself, Randy has been a long distance runner for 20+ years and has coached many great runners, I should really take his advice.

All week I have been resting and not getting out to run has been hard for me. I really feel better after I run, I feel like I can clear my head of all the noise of life and just "be one with the road".  I ran Wednesday for Rock Bottom, but it was such a bad run. We all have our off days but today took the cake. I couldn't wash out the noise in my head. It was that mental block I had mentioned a little earlier. The thoughts that many runners say that they face when training are things like:

• What am I thinking? I am never going to be ready for the Marathon
• I still have 8 weeks and I am nowhere near the mileage that I need to be putting in
• My training runs are not long enough or fast enough
• Why should I push myself on this run, I will just walk more than normal, who cares

All these mental blocks are difficult to get over. I feel that I am a fairly confident person and defiantly secure with myself, but this is something new to me. I have read about this and I thought to myself I would not be like the other runners, but you know what? I am like the other runners. I had been told that training and running a marathon will test your mental state and there will be alot of emotional journey's that you will go on. I though to myself these peole are just not tough enough. I was wrong and now I am eating my words. But you know what? It is making me more of a humble person.

So as I sit here all the while I am thinking of lacing up, but the leg ackes and foot pains remind me that I need to rest and take it easy. I am sure a week off will do my body good and I will be back out on the road soon.

Your registration would be paid. Want to run it?

So, yesterday I get a text from my hair dresser. It says:

"There is a 5K run tomorrow on the Air Force Academy.

Your registration would be paid. Want to run it?"

I thought this sounds like fun, to run at the US Air Force Academy, that is a one in a life time opportunity. Also, the idea of my entry fee being paid sounds great. Then I thought, what's the catch?

After talking to my hair dresser, and asking some questions, it turned out another client of her's has a business called Pikes Peak Respite Services they provide individualized respite care for your loved one with special needs as well as typical siblings. Our services include family advocacy for IEP meetings and family preservation planning. I would be running for them on a team and I would need to wear a shirt. Basically it is a marketing event for them.

I was so honored to be asked.

I showed up at Beverly's house and met the team, we proceeded to pick up a client and then off to the AFA stadium.  We got a little turned around while there. The US AFA covers 18,000 acres, so it is very easy to get lost there! We found our way after a few u-turns. We checked in and found out tent, set up and I started to stretch out. There were quite a few kids there with disabilities and chair bound. It was nice to see young cadets there that offered to push kids through the race.

The race started fast! It was down hill for the first mile then up hill for mile two. I don't train much on hills and the mental block that comes with them is hard for me to get over, I try to tel myself, if I just push this out to the top, then it's all down hill. Sometimes when your breathing gets labored and you feel like you legs weight 10lbs each makes it hard to pick them up and keep going. Also, the US AFA happens to sit at 6,800 feet above sea level, which is almost 800, feet higher than I am used to running at. At the turn around it was all down, hill so anytime that I added on the upswing, I got back on the down hill. On the down hill, the AFA bike escorts were circling back up the hill and they kept saying "good job keep it up" this really helped me out.

I started to pick off runners one by one, all those people that passed my on the up swing. Passing other runners just helps you push your legs out from under you and give you that extra push to go just a hair faster with each step. As I was rounding the final right turnI could see mile marker three and the finish line, it was uphill again, I kicked it into gear with all I had left, it was cool to have the crowd cheer you on, it makes me push harder. I had a strong finish and was overall happy with my time.

I stood at the finish line and waited for my other team members to make their way in. I got the opportunity to watch a few cadet push kids through the finish line. Just watching the kids faces light up was moving. The crowd would cheer really loud and the kids would raise their hands from their chair in victory, laughing and smiling.

Here are my splits:

As you can see mile two caught up with me. I was running out of gusto!

Official time: 00:31:10

Happy Day!

I can say I am a real blog! I just noticed today that I have a new follower that is not my family! Sorry Char!

So I wanted give a shout out to my new follower Carmelo! Thank you for showing intrest in my blog, and in return I will follow yours!

First off, welcome to the world of running, I hope that you can find your own path and you follow it where ever it may lead you. Running can push you to your limits but it can amazing what you can do when you put your mind to something if you let yourself go there. There will be miles that are hard and you feel like you are all alone out there, but always remember that you are doing something that many people only wish they can do.

Steve Prefontaine once said:
"A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways they're capable of understanding"

That being said, keep running and keep blogging!

25 Interesting Things About Me

1. I like to put fresh lavender next to my bed, I believe it makes me sleep better
2. I am a certified life guard, but I have a fear or lakes, oceans and the deep end of pools
3. I will run my first Marathon in October
4. I believe in ghosts and spirits, but not heaven or hell
5. I wore my hair maroon and blond for three years
6. I am a licenced Emergency Medical Technician, but cannot say the word ambulance
7. I prefer to be given a potted plan, than a bouquet of flowers
8. I have lived in all the states that start with the letter "C"
9. My favorite smells are clothes after they come out of the dryer and wet cement right after it starts to rain
10. I don't like my food to touch other foods on my plate, it messes with the flavors
11. I like to drink my coffee at room temperature and through a straw
12. My normal hair color is brown and it is curly
13. I believe everything has a meaning in life
14. I have to always have a napkin when ever I eat something even if I don't use it
15. I love dogs, but hate the smell of a dog
16. I have one tattoo on my hip, and will get another commemorating my marathon, it will be om my right rib cage of a running girl
17. I think that Halloween should be a Holiday, it is my favorite day of the year
18. I believe in reincarnation
19. I love to shovel snow?!? The cold air on my face some how makes me feel fresh and relaxed
20. Running in cold air is hard for me, I can't breath in cold air (asthma) but I love to run in sleet
21. Nothing feels better than slipping into bed right after it has been made, the tight sheets make me feel like I am in a cocoon
22. When I was in Kindergarten I asked the kid next to me to write my last name (maiden)  "because it was to long to write on my own"
23. The only numbers I know off the top of my head in my cell phone, are my home, My work and my parents home number
24. My Dad taught me "I would rather be an hour early than a minute late" to this day, if I know I am going to be even a minute late, I get anxiety even before I show up

And finally...

  25.  I am stage 2 cervical cancer survivor.