What the French Toast Did I Get Myself Into?!

First off, I'm getting more and more annoyed with my inability to reply to comments here on Blogger -- I know I could install a third-party system or just finally make the switch to Wordpress and all, but the fact that I currently update from whatever computer I can get to, and don't want to download anything on them since they're not, you know, mine, makes that hard. Besides, can't Blogger get with the program already and get on that shit?! It's 2011, for crying out loud. (Sidenote: if there's some way to do this without downloading anything, and I'm just an idiot, kindly let me know. I'm somewhat technologically inept).

And now for the really fucking terrifying exciting news (as mentioned on Twitter).... I just spent 38 minutes going back and forth over actually going there and registering for the Boston Athletic Association Half Marathon.

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I mean, do I really want to run 13.1 miles? In just over 3 months? And essentially give up all other forms of exercise, just when I'm finally getting my head back into the game, spinning and Zumba-ing and yoga-ing my way through the week and really pushing to get my blood pressure back to a normal level? Do I really want to do that? Really?

Then I remembered Maura's post from Friday, when she wrote about how thankful she is to have her trainer and how she has been pushed to try things she didn't think were possible before. In the comments, I asked her if she ever felt intimidated or embarrassed to try new things at the gym, because I find that I have MAJOR anxiety over looking stupid and/or not knowing what I'm doing. Being the fantastic and sweet person that she is, she replied:

I feel you on the “gym shy” factor, but I bet you if you took that BodyPump class you’d be stoked because a) you’ll have tackled a fear, and b) you’ll probably sweat your ass off. Win/Win situation baby! I fought the fear to do spin and even though I’m still a little nervous, who cares. I would have missed out on a new hobby if I kept being afraid. Now go find out when the next class is and tell me how it goes

Ok, so maybe I haven't signed up for my gym's version of BodyPump yet, but I figured that this is actually something I'm even MORE scared of: a medium-term commitment, fear of failure and the bodily aches and general uncomfortableness that come whenever I run more than 2 miles at a time.

So, naturally, I put my hand on the mouse, moved it to the left of my screen and hit, "Register."

Sorry the pic is so huge but you couldn't see it unless I made it XL.

I did it.

Then I got a massive case of the, "OMG WTF DID I JUST DO?!"s because, to be honest, I am SCARED OUT OF MY MIND.

I don't do hills well -- and as Stephanie pointed out via Twitter, the course is known to be pretty hard, all downhill the first half and all uphill the second. I also haven't run more than a few miles at a time since, well... ever. I think my max, all-time, is 5.2 and it took me an hour of run/walking on a flat route to do it. Courtesy of my father's genetics, I was cursed with some of the flattest feet in the universe, so I'm constantly fighting to find the balance between the right speed, the right elevation levels and shin splints. Oh, and I can thank Dad for the asthma, too, and should probably remember to buy stock in Ventolin for the next few months.

To be frank, this challenge is going to be a real bitch.

But, as evidenced by this post (and this one), I decided back in January to take my fears into my own hands and made a list of all the things I hoped to achieve in 2011. I know that I haven't been giving my goals my all for the past few months, and I'm owning up to the fact that it's been out of a combination of sheer laziness and fear. I'm terrified of setting out to accomplish something and then failing to reach my expectations of it -- whether writing, a new gym class, or running a half-marathon is the task at hand. If I never try, then I never fail, and the dream lives on.

But it stays just that: a dream. A big, huge, "What If?"

So I'm trying. Place check marks in boxes #3 (Run a Half Marathon), #8 (Control My Reactions), #10 (Push My Limits) on your "Caitie's Kicking Ass And Taking Names in 2011" scorecards, please.

On a sidenote, I know that I'm very lucky for this opportunity. There are far scarier things in the world than being fearful that you won't be able to finish running a certain distance in a certain amount of time, and I absolutely acknowledge and own that this is kind of a WGP. Plus, I can take solace in the fact that I won't be doing this alone!

Because once I had my registration # up on the screen, I went back to the "Participant Registration" and hit it again, filling out the top part of the form, the part for "personal information", with a different name, the same address, and a different gender.

That's right! I registered Andrew, too (with his explicit permission, of course!).

So, now the two of us have each other for motivation and inspiration. I'm choosing to ignore the fact that he is a former varsity athlete who can whip 10-minute miles straight out of his ass whenever he feels like it, or that I have a bunch of other accomplished runner-friends who signed up this morning (I cheered one of them on during the Marathon in April!). I'm extremely lucky and thankful to have so much talent and wisdom to draw advice and inspiration from!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go look in to having one of those gas station-sized ice receptacles placed in my apartment...

Race Recap! St. Paddy's 5k Edition

I know, I know; you've been waiting on pins and needles all weekend, checking for updates to see how The 5k That Almost Wasn't played out -- well, wait no more! I won't hold you in suspense any longer!

After a rousing weekend full of bowling with coworkers and nice, long walks full of good conversation and this delicious hummus concoction from Pita Pit:

Whole wheat pita, hummus, tzatziki, cuke, tomato, spinach, romaine, onion and green pepper. YUM.

B and I went to bed early on Saturday night to account for the whole annoying Time Change thing -- can I just say that it's one of my FAVORITE days of the year, because it is now 6:30pm and it's still not pitch black outside?! -- but I have a tendency to get jet-lagged from it and needed that extra hour of shut eye for the big race! 

Sunday we woke up bright and early. As B snacked on his clementines (seriously, who eats clementines as his sole pre-race food?!), I ran around like a maniac scarfing a bagel thin/pb/chia/banana sandwich and making sure I had all of the goodies I had purchased for me and Katie to really get into the St. Patrick's Day spirit. If you couldn't tell from my coloring/name/shape that was "made for picking potatoes and plowing fields" (thanks, Mom, for that little self-esteem booster in 3rd grade), I'm pretty Irish. Therefore, the facial tattoos, Miley Cyrus $7 tee, pin, mardi gras beads and sparkly gold headband were clearly necessary:

Photo courtesy of Katie!

After navigating both the bus AND the T, not to mention picking up an overly friendly stalkers couple along the way, (how can you tell someone was not raised in the Greater Boston Area? They attempt to speak to you in public), we FINALLY made it to the race site, where we were directed to the pickup a half mile away from the starting line. Grand and all, and much as I enjoyed the bagpipes, I would have preferred the nice volunteer who sent us that way inquired as to whether we already HAD numbers, because it was cold, I had to pee, and I didn't really need to walk an extra mile pre-race. C'est la vie; at least the bagpipes were cool!

 

Once the gun went off, it took us 4:30 to get to the starting line -- apparently, when you're at the back of a pack of 6,000 runners, it takes awhile to get up there. We kept start/stopping and FINALLY, as we got close, I said good luck to B and Katie and we were off! 

I actually kept pace with the two of them for the first half mile or so; I decided to go with my "Motivate" playlist and was so busy jamming to hardcore running tunes like David Cook's "Dream Big" ::snark:: that I barely noticed the hill we were zooming up. At that point, though, B and K had gotten their strides and were pulling ahead -- so I had to get all Zen Master and recite to myself that I was running MY race, against MYself, and no one else.

I ran my first "official" 5k back in December, and was totally bummed that my time clocked in at 38:01:

My first race!

That was gun time, but I know it didn't take me 2 minutes to cross the starting line... and I'd been training at a 12 min/mi pace. I hadn't spent enough time running outside in the cold beforehand (I have asthma and exercise in the cold exacerbates it BIG TIME), and THIS time, I wanted to make sure that wouldn't be a problem. But when one door closes, another one opens -- I've been battling shin splints off-and-on the past few months, and I took a REAL hit while my sister and niece were here last month and I took a week and a half off of running. I did too much, too soon after, and as I started up the first hill of the race, I knew it was going to be as much of a mental battle as a physical one to set a new PR.

Sunday's course was definitely hillier than I expected -- the website said it was a flat course, and even after MapMyRun elevation mapping it, I wasn't planning on THAT many slow inclines. My shins were SCREECHING by the 1-mile marker. Like clockwork, though, my psychic iPod struck again and "Lose Yourself" came on just when I needed it. I kept running, despite every thought I had telling me to stop. I made it through one more hill and then re-strategized... as much as I wanted a PR and had planned walk breaks at the mile marks only, I decided to walk up the hills and run back down them.

Right as I was starting to wonder whether someone was going to have to roll my collapsed body out of the middle of the road, the psychic Eminem loving iPod struck again... with the aptly named, "'Til I Collapse." I don't know if everyone else was as obsessed with the Michael Phelps Spectacular 3 summers ago as I was (like, you know, going to the bar to watch him race), but ever since I found out it was one of his power songs, I've had it on every running playlist I have... and it never fails to disappoint. 

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As I pushed and pushed myself not to, well, DIE, I rounded a corner and the bike path that signaled the last .3 miles appeared in front of me. FI-NA-LY! The 2-mile marker had apparently been ripped down in the excitement, so I'd spent the past 1.75 miles wondering where exactly I was on the course. I trotted along for the first .15 miles, then, with the finish line in sight, slowed down to a walk for .05 to harness the power of my legs.

And with the last ounces of energy in my poor, throbbing calves/shins, I ran that last .1 of a mile in a time that would make Superman raise an eyebrow. 

And then I saw the clock: 40:14.

Then I hit the wall of people, shuffling aimlessly towards the mat while I darted anxiously between them, only to cross at 40:54... and immediately wanted to cry.

THEN, I remembered this was a chip-timed event, and that the guy at the beginning had been yelling, "ONLY 4:30 IN!" as I crossed the starting line... and realized that my time was actually a PR for a real, outdoor timed run... 36:14! And that I'd definitely spent more than :15 crossing the stupid finish line, and I'd made my goal of finishing in under 36 minutes!

Excitement Abounded

Needless to say, I was excited!! I still wish I had been able to eke out those other 3 minutes to hit 33, but at least now I have another goal for next time! Meanwhile, as I was hustling up those hills towards the finish line...

THIS GUY and Katie had obviously run ahead of me -- I'd been smack-talking them both up to each other all week (if you can't beat 'em, pit 'em against each other, that's what I say!) and they apparently spent the ENTIRE race duking it out for the win. Now, I wasn't a witness, but from what I can make of it, B was leading into the home stretch, and then decided to take an ill-timed walk break (this, my friends, is why it pays to map the course before a run). K took this as an opportunity to go all-out and gassed straight past him towards the finish line, and when B realized how close he was, he also kicked it into high gear to chase her down. Obviously, they both maintain that, had it not been for the clusterf(#* at the finish line, the respective party would have won. Officially, B clocked in a mere 5 seconds ahead of K, but I think this time is suspect and therefore have concluded it was a statistical tie, thereby necessitating a rematch at a later date. Either way, finishing in under 32 minutes in a hilly and COLD 5k is beyond my skill set at the moment, so I stand impressed by both of them! At least I got a medal!

I will say, the hardest part of this race for me was fighting the urge to push further and harder than I knew my body could handle. I knew going into the race that while I trained, I had really set myself back with that week-and-a-half break and subsequent too-fast build up, and that Katie has been busting her butt at the track and her times have been better than mine for at least the past six months. B is just a natural athlete who literally started running five weeks ago and was cranking out sub-10 min miles within his first four training runs. Holding back while the two of them jaunted off over the hill was REALLY tough, as was fighting the urge to push up those hills and knowing that if I did so, I'd pay a hefty fine for it later. Each time those, "you're walking again; this race is a failure" thoughts started to creep in, I had to remind myself that it was MY race, and I was running the best race I could, at that moment, with what I had. And I did -- even if I DID spend the rest of my Sunday like this:

Peas, Corn and Lego Harry Potter... what else can a girl want?

Unfortunately, public opinion (and my shins) dictate that I take at least a week off before I pick back up with my running -- I've been icing morning and night, and wrapping with Ace bandages under my pants when I remember. I'm DYING to get back out there, because I've got my eye on a few more races in the next two months and am gunning for that 11-minute mile, but I'm trying to look at the bright side: I haven't been to spinning or yoga in about seven weeks, and this is a perfect opportunity to get back to it! Caitlin at HTP coincidentally posted the night after my 5k about how she thinks yoga is imperative to keeping her injury-free and limber during her training, and as I pushed into pigeon in a pile of mulch before the race, trying to loosen up my left IT band, I had declared to B that I was going back to yoga this week come hell or high water. So, come 4pm, you know where to find me!

In other random news:

Vegetarian Adventure Update: Day 7

Today marks the end of the first FULL week of the Lenten Vegetarian Challenge. I have to say, I don't miss meat NEARLY as much as I thought I would; in fact, the only time I've actually really craved it was right after the 5k. I didn't go a great job of carb OR water-loading the day before the race, so that could have something to do with it. Our Restaurant Week dinner reservation is tomorrow night at a ritzy steakhouse, though, and I even got special dispensation from the Pope (or my Priest) to dig into a fat filet. Oddly enough, I was walking in to work this morning and fantasizing about ordering the salmon ... the times, they are a changin', indeed.

Possible 30DS Challenge?

Since I'm currently off the beaten running path until my shins decide to cooperate, I've been considering all the things I can do in the meantime to make me a better runner. HIGH on my list of priorities, in addition to yoga and more stretching, is to drop a few pounds (I know I need to lose more than that long-term, but I'm a one-step-at-a-time type girl!) and build up my strength again -- particularly in my core and my shins. I was up to 25 consecutive "real" pushups when I was doing the 100 Pushup Challenge before I pulled a muscle in my lower abs doing them, six weeks after I started skipping my regular Weds Pilates class. My abs feel like jello, and I noticed my back is hurting more while I run. So, I'm considering returning to an old standby, in addition to my normal gym routine -- I might be reincorporating Jillian's 30 Day Shred in the very near future. 

So, tell me: Have you run any races lately, or accomplished any major goals? If you are a runner, have you ever dealt with the evils of shin splints (and if you have, help a sister out and send me your tips!)? Did you shed a little tear for Nate Dogg, whose musical genius contributed to that athletic ode, "'Til I Collapse'"? Am I the only one who is borderline obsessed with the Olympics and finds them a perfectly reasonable thing to celebrate at the pub?

PS- If you haven't already, go check out Angela's Japan Disaster Relief Fundraiser over at Oh She Glows --- it's for a GREAT cause, and if you win the Glo Bars, I won't complain if you decide to share the wealth!!