Just a few days to go!

I am both excited and terrified about the race this weekend. I'm excited because I've been looking forward to proving again that I can handle long(er) distances, that the 2005-2006 season wasn't a fluke. I'm also really excited because this is the first long race I'll be running with my brother AND my dad! Yes, my dad decided to join in the fun. He hasn't really been training, but he did 8 miles a few days ago and wants to be there with us on race day. He and I will tackle the course together, slooowly....

This leads me to why I am terrified. I am in rough shape. I've been in pain for weeks. I've been doing all my long runs on machines at the gym, and I'm really afraid that my IT band and adductor issues will flare up on Sunday and I won't be able to finish. I've been going to the doctor about all this--I learned my lesson the first time. I'm set to start physical therapy the day after the race, twice a week until I feel better.

It's sad when I love to run so much but my body doesn't like it. :(

Oh well, my best is all I can do. Here's to a good race with Dad and B!

Tenner

Done. On the elliptical, but done nonetheless. Two weeks until race day!

Running with Rachel Zoe

I did 8 miles today on the elliptical at the gym. I've never done that before, but I figured it was better than struggling through a long run in the park. I've been plagued by quite a few injuries lately, so I thought this was for the best. I felt pretty good after my 1 3/4 hours, if not bored out of my mind. Special thanks to Rachel Zoe and the Planet Money podcast for helping me through!

ugh

today was probably the worst run on record. i felt awful. i didn't finish all the mileage, and it was supposed to be at 10k. oh well. i know what i did wrong: ate too big a breakfast and didn't wait long enough afterwards, didn't drink enough water prior and didn't bring water with me, and went too late in the morning, when it was already hot. (i decided to sleep in instead). several strikes against me! i'm calling today a throw away, and i'm going to rest for the remainder of the weekend. i have 4 weeks from tomorrow to get it together.

Just over a month to go!

The Portland half-marathon is October 4, and I am slowly amping up my mileage. I ran 7 miles at the beach in Maine two weekends ago (Dad hung in there for 6 with me!) and I almost conquered 8 last weekend. I say almost because my knee started to hurt and I had to walk the last little bit. I did do 8, though, and I had delicious Mexican food afterwards. Lunch of champions!

This week has been a light week, which has been nice. This weekend I'm resting, only doing one shorter run on Sunday instead of my usual two workouts. I remember when I felt like running a half was like nothing. It's amazing how long it takes to get back up to that kind of mileage! B is a little further along in his training than I am--he's already up to 10 miles. But I'm not focusing on that, or how much faster he is. (But we did joke about how he'll have time to go get brunch and then come back and watch me finish!) Just have to take my own advice, run my own race, and prove that I can do this again!