Post Half Marathon Run

It took me 6 days before I could bring myself to run again.

The half marathon was last Saturday but for some reason I simply didn't want to run. It was Friday before I finally told my legs there had been enough dilly dallying.

I managed to hit the gym for an hour Monday before my dearest friend Ash bo Bash helped me move box after box after box (plus a shelf and TV) over to my new living quarters. By the end of that day, I was so exhausted/dehydrated, I didn't even want to move.

For the rest of the week, I was lazy, sluggish and definitely didn't keep an eye on my diet. Except to watch it fly away. Grilled cheese sandwiches have never been considered healthy. Neither have donuts unfortunately...

Friday came and I was finally ready to hit the pavement with my running shoes securely tied on my feet. I must have forgotten to tell my legs I was ready because they certainly weren't. Just 1 mile in the run and my calves were tightening badly - and that was in spite of dutifully stretching beforehand.

Twice on that 6.2 mile run my calves hurt too much to keep up a pace and I had to walk for a block - usually until I saw another runner and felt I had to push through it or shame myself.

I still don't know if that run was so difficult because I hadn't run all week, or because running 13.1 miles and moving/unpacking most of the week took it out of me. Whatever the reason, I refuse to spend the next beautiful months of summer walking through the Avenues instead of running those hilly streets. I REFUSE.

Hopefully my calves won't put up too much resistance...

13.1 miles later... My legs hate me...

The first race of 2011 for me, and my first half-marathon since 2005, was the Salt Lake City Half Marathon.

I was up at 5:30am and out the door by 6am to take a Trax train up to the University of Utah Olympic Legacy Bridge. The run - aka 13.1 miles of hell - started at 7am. My brain wasn't even awake yet when the buzzer went off and thousands of runners started walking. There was no room to run til we all crossed the starting line.

The packed Trax train on the way to the starting line

The Trax train was even packed heading up there. Several of my coworkers who also decided to run the half, full marathon or 5k were late because of the 11,000 participants heading up to the starting line for the race.

I started out a little sore but steady as the route traveled down Foothill Blvd to 2300 East before hitting 2100 South and Sugarhouse. That's where the marathoners split off from the half marathon runners.

We took a different course down 1700 East before reaching Liberty Park at Mile 9. That's where my feet started feeling some pain unfortunately. I kept picking up the pace a few times and setting goals of reaching people ahead of me as motivation.

Ironically enough, I wasn't the only one with that idea. At Mile 11, two girls caught up to me and in the midst of panting and huffing, said I was their inspiration! They had been following me for a while and using me as a goal to reach ha ha.

I decided to stick with them til the end since I had been jamming out to my music on the run and missed talking to people. Albeit while panting. 

Me and a Spartan at the end

The last 2 miles was pretty easy and we kept each other motivated til the end. I finished with a time of 2 hours, 15 minutes - happy just because I hadn't stopped running the entire time. Next time I hope to pick up my pace and finish faster!

And at the end, I found this Spartan from Halo Reach (I think) - Not sure why he was there but I was happy to get my picture with him :D

What is running without Music?

I remember the days when I would go running with nothing but the sounds of the wind, traffic and occasional critter rustling past as I traversed roads in Layton and Clearfield.

But only barely... Nowadays, even the thought of going running without music has me untying my running shoes.

I don't know what happened. Just last Tuesday I realized how much I have come to rely on music when I run. I was stretching out on the floor of my room, feeling the typical pain of my legs that indicates I shouldn't wear heels ever again, when I suddenly remembered that I'd left my phone in Roy (30 miles north of Salt Lake City).

Ever since I bought the MyTouch 4g cell phone and learned how to download music onto it, it has been my constant running companion. Not only does it let me know when someone is trying to call - not that I ever answer - but it plays song after song into my distracted mind. I've even started gauging how fast/slow I'm running that day based on how far I've gone when a certain song (ones by Flogging Molly especially) starts to play.

So the prospect of going running without my phone had me contemplating a trip to the gym, or extra sleep, as an alternative to a music-free jog.

Thankfully I had an old 8gb Ipod just waiting to be charged that I was able to use for the run.

So I went on my typical 6.2 mile run, contemplating how much I've come to rely on technology. I won't go to the gym without a book or movie or tv show downloaded on my phone that I can use as a distraction to the monotony that 30 minutes on an elliptical machine and 30 minutes on a bike brings.

Maybe one of these days I'll be able to run without music again. But I have no idea why I would want that...

The Beginning

I don't know if I'd call it the beginning.

Exercise. Diet. Attitude. Activity. In my opinion - those are the things that make up a healthy lifestyle.

Since 2004, I've been a bit of a piggie. There are days when I'll run for an hour and feel amazing about my body. I would think to myself, this is the start of me getting back into shape. By the next day, the little piggie inside me would gobble up a quarter gallon of ice cream in one setting, or eat half a large pizza (or more, I can't bring myself to admit to more....), or even huge vat of Macaroni & Cheese would suddenly vanish from my cupboards with the only indication it used to exist being the now dirty pot with cheesy noodle residue.

I've used every excuse in the book. I have a test in the morning. I have to study. I have work. I promised a friend I'd go out with him/her.

But now school is over. I'm working a steady job and life is as scrambled as ever when it comes to finances, the abhorrent "dating" word and what next I want to do in my life. But enough is enough.

I can't fix my finances overnight. And dating - let's just admit that looking for love is an idiotic move and call it good. If it happens to find me, well that's nice and unexpected and maybe I'll consider opening my door.

Until then however, I'm going to fix the one thing I actually have some control over. My health.

If cancer (God forbid) decides to strike me, I can't really do too much to control that. But I can control what I eat, how much I eat, how I exercise and how often I hit up the gym or go running.

This blog will be my documentation - hopefully accurate - into my attempt at starting a healthy lifestyle.

I've already started, so now I just need to continue. This last week:

March 28 - Gym: 1 hour
March 29 - Running: 6.2 miles
March 30 - Gym: 1 hour
March 31 - Running: 6.2 miles
April 1 - Horrible date at 6pm that prevented my workout. Unless you count batting an idiotic date away from his stupid & fast advances. No! You can't touch me there! Seriously?!
April 2 - Running 6.2 miles - Legs want to kill me now

Follow this blog and I promise to document my attempt at getting into shape through a mixture of healthy eating and meticulous exercise. Ay yi yi....