I'm Going The Distance

I'm going the distance,
I'm going for speed...

I can certainly apply some of the lyrics from the song "The Distance" by Cake. If you're not familiar with it, I have it at the top of my playlist. (I dig this song, but please ignore any other connotations it might have...I'm always the girl who belts out lyrics to a song and then years later learns what the song ''really" meant. How embarrassing. Let's think of this song in the context of my post.)

Back in June, I decided that it's about time for me to get back into the running scene. When my best friend from high school said she would be down in November to do the Inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon, I couldn't get it out of my mind. Then Honorary Indian posted about it. Then, Piper's soon to be teacher mentioned she was training for it. Everywhere I turned, I kept hearing about it. Since I had four months to prepare, I registered. I mean FOUR MONTHS! When have I ever trained for something for FOUR MONTHS?! And, once I was committed, I discovered that my best buddy, Dancing Queen, was going to do it too!!

Speaking of Dancing Queen, I want to give a shout out to her for letting me steal her marathon counter that her sweet husband, Wes, made. It's so cool!

Now, for those of you that don't know, there are two kinds of people in this world...sprinters and distance/stamina people. I AM A SPRINTER. I can give 110% for a VERY short time. The reason I am not a distance person is mostly because of the mental aspect. If I even get an ever so slight thought that I'm tired, too hot, thirsty, wonder if I can make another three miles, etc., I panic. The mental part defeats me. So knowing this, why didn't I just stick with my 5Ks you ask? I don't know. Perhaps I'm trying to step out of my box, my comfort zone. Don't we feel more accomplished when we try something new?

The summer was great! I got my groove back, although maybe not as speedy as I used to be. I was able to get a run in three times a week before the kids got up and before Carroll left for work. I set a goal time for this 13.1 miles...hoping to maintain 10 minutes per mile. I was feeling good and confident.

Then school started. Since I have to get up at 5:00 am, I can't run in the mornings anymore, plus I NEED DAYLIGHT to motivate me. And having to keep the strict bath time, dinner time, bedtime schedule, in addition to Carroll not being home early enough, does not allow for running in the evenings. So, that leaves Saturdays. And even though I get to the gym a couple times a week, there is no way I can treadmill run. That, my friends, is pure torture.

Tomorrow I'm supposed to run 8.5 miles (MamaMia's made up training schedule). From this point on, I add a mile each week. So far, my Saturday runs have been decent...6.5 miles in 1:02 minutes, 7.5 miles in 1:11 minutes...sticking with the goal. But this is the point at which I start thinking 8.5 miles is very long...even if I go another 3, I'm still not finished! So, I need you to cheer me on blogging buddies.