Slow and steady may not win - but it'll get me across the line.

I used to worry a lot about how fast I was running - or how slow for that matter. Always worried what other people thought about me while I was going along - "Man, that girl might as well be walking" or "She calls that running?!?" So I would continually beat myself up and shoot for better times, no matter how much it hurt or how miserable I was. And in the end, I was never happy with my results and resented the whole idea of running and training.

Recently though, I've begun reading Hal Higdon's book "Marathon" and realize now that to get thru this first marathon, I don't need to worry about speed. I just need to worry about getting the miles in during this training period, and crossing the finish line in January.

Yes, it would be a lot easier on my body to run faster & therefore be off of the course in less time. But mentally for me right now, it's hard enough to simply run and control my breathing and posture (thanks to back problems and an ankle injury) - I don't think I could manage to focus on upping the speed too - I'd drive myself crazy.

I know that with time my pace will increase as I get more miles under my feet and get my body and lungs/heart used to the long distances. But right now that's just not my focus - my focus is getting thru all of the training runs, no matter how long as it takes - as long as I get from the start to finish without injury. Now all this doesn't mean that I'm just strolling along - I'm going at a conversational pace for me, but still pushing. Granted, my pace isn't going to be comfortable for other people - Ryan probably can't stand it, but he's nice enough to stay with me! Would probably drive some runners absolutely NUTS to go as slow as I do.

However, in my "old" age, I'm figuring out - it doesn't matter what other runners or other people think. All that matters is that I am happy with my progress and happy with the end result. (Although I will probably have to remind myself of this every now and then!)

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On the Road Again

So yesterday I went for my first run since returning from GA vacation. I've learned two lessons from this...
1. DON'T wait until 8:15am in the summer to head out for a run, regardless of whether or not it's a "short" run.
2. DON'T take a week off from training ever again.

Not only was it really hot, but my legs felt like lead and it felt like I was trying to breathe with a plastic bag over my head. On a happy note, my ankle didn't hurt too bad after that blasted twist in Piedmont Park after Peachtree.

Today my legs feel pretty good - I can tell that I ran after a long break, but they're not really sore. My ankle is a bit sensitive though - which probably means I should start doing my physical therapy again, and pay close attention when I'm running so I don't roll it again.

Now it's time for breakfast and eventually a road trip to see one of Ryan's friends from back in middle school while he's visiting the Sunshine State!

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That's a Wrap

It came and went faster than I could imagine - GA vacation that is.

We started the trip with the 40th running of the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta on the 4th of July (to be clear, it was the 40th year for the race...3rd for me and Ryan). We got into ATL on Friday afternoon after sitting in traffic for a while on I-75 just outside of Macon. After a hearty pasta dinner, me and Aunt Jeanine did our traditional Nail Painting of Stars and Stripes. Then it was off to bed early in anticipation of the early start on the 4th.

After our up & at'em at 6:15 we were ready to head down to grab a light breakfast and head over to the start with the other 55,000 runners. All the gals had in our wonderful 4th of July themed hair bows (thanks Karen Kreiter Popp!). Mom, Ron and Jeanine went to the sub-seeded start area, Tam and Megan went to coral 5 and me & Ryan made our way to the back of the pack in coral 9. The official start of the race was 7:30am with a nice cool temp of 72. Ryan and I crossed the start at 9:00!!!! The sun was warmer, but it wasn't bad.

We were off at a pretty good clip, running our first 3 miles much quicker than normal. (It's amazing how much the "taper" before a race helps!) After mile 3 we both took a gel and kept going - then the hills came! We ran up the first one maintaining a pretty good pace. My pea-brain thought this was the dreaded "Cardiac Hill" so I was feeling rather proud. Then I realized I was WRONG and saw the real Cardiac Hill looming in the distance. This one kicked my butt! I had to walk about 3/4 of the way up, and even that took ever last ounce of energy I had. Ryan was still plugging along and I had trailed several feet behind him. It took me another gel around mile 4.5 to get me going again. Before we knew it, we were cruising across the finish line. Although we still averaged slow miles, we were both glad that we managed to jog the vast majority of the race - afterall, we've been doing the Jeff Galloway method of run/walk intervals. This was our first outing in several months where we jogged the entire time, walking only at aid stations.

Neither one of us had much pain along the course, which was great. But it was too good to be true - I managed to step in a hole on Piedmont Park and twist my left ankle pretty good, nearly falling on my face! But, I managed to limp over and get my finishers shirt and start the hike back to the hotel. (Although we took the MARTA part of the way, I think we managed to still walk about an extra 4 miles after getting lost a couple times!)

Once we were back to the hotel (at 12:30!) we got cleaned up and started our journey into Cleveland for our 4th of July celebration - and the real "start" to our vacation. We had a great day with family which concluded with a great fireworks display put on by Al and some of his friends. We eventually dragged ourselves back to the cabin and went to bed.

The rest of the week was spent tubing down the Chattahoochee, hiking, and eating & drinking! We did the typical tourist things - i.e. visiting all of the junk shops in Helen, and then buying some Pioneer Porrige from Nora Mill and wine from the Habersham Winery.

You can see all of our pictures here. (We're still adding some, so check back in a day or two to see the rest of them!)

All in all, it was a great trip. Great to see Al, Kim and the Kids and the rest of the family that came into town for the 4th. We even got to catch up with Ken and Amanda, whom we haven't seen since they moved to Tallahassee.

We're already starting the plans for a trip up there again - hopefully for Thanksgiving. And then there's always July 4th next year!

Now that we're thru the Peachtree, we just need to stay on track with our training so we're all set for Disney in January which is the next big race we have planned. Wish us luck!

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