Gasparilla Ultra Amber Challenge & Throwback Thursday
One month from today I will take on a race that is testing my limits and ability. I will be participating in a challenge run of 25.5 miles in two days. Normally I average that kind of mileage in a week when running for a half marathon, so in two days is quite a lot. I should average probably about 30-35 leading up to the day. The race is on February 23-24. The 23rd as I have stated before is the 15k and then right after a 5k. I will have a 20 minute wait time, if I run it right. My average 15k time is 1 hour and 41 minutes. The 15k starts at 7:00 am and then the 5k at 9:00 am, luckily I will have those couple of minutes to just breathe, get some water and then get right back in line for the next one. Then on Sunday, the 24th, is the half marathon, straight 13.1 miles.
I am excited for this challenge because I am really pushing myself, my limits, my body and my comfort zone. Training for this is going to be a bit hard, because I am trying very hard to map out a training plan where I can do back to back long runs. Some weeks, I just might not be able to get some back to back long ones, but small ones and consistency might just be my key. This week since I was off yesterday and today, I was able to get the back to to back long runs. Yesterday I did 9.23 and today I did 9.34.
It was tough. When I woke up I was a beat tired, I got a little bit over 4 hours of solid sleep and I was just not feeling it. I am so used to after a long run, taking a rest day, but I knew I couldn't make any excuses and I just had to do it. It has been very chilly here for us Floridans lately, so I bundled up as best I could and took to my route. I was going to run the same distance and route as yesterday and do the same with water fountains. Yesterday I ran 9:00/1:00 walk for the whole 9 miles, which was good. But today, my right quad was killing me. Just really tight and sore, so instead of the 9:00/1:00, I did that for the first mile and then the rest I did 6:50/1:00 and started to feel much better.
Here's the thing with the walk, it makes a world of a difference in my pace, speed and recovery. Plus my splits improve and I can catch my breath. Will I eventually get to be a better runner from it, I surely believe it. Jeff Galloway's system is genius and it has made me a stronger person. I have no shame in my game with the run/walk, at the end I am not burnt out and I can continue on. I listened to the pain my body was experiencing, because I have never put it through that, I went down in the time. Once I got going, I got going.
The pain was still there and eventually both legs were really hurting, but I kept repeating Mind OVER Matter. The wind was insane against the water today and I felt like I was pushing a brick wall a lot of the times. I can deal with cold or hot, but wind, we do not get along. I hated the wind. It made it so hard to breath, my lips were burning and the resistance was insane. I stopped 4 times for water, and it was hard to get down because my mouth was so dry from the wind. I also stopped to pee and blow my nose twice, but other than that, it was a decent run.
I just pray that either day there is no wind.
I am not trying to win challenge or set PR's. I am just doing it overcome a challenge, push myself and finish.
After the run, I was very excited to use my Dunkin Donuts free coffee coupon and it warmed me right up. I got home and enjoyed a nice hot shower and then made some lunch, I am posting tomorrow about the lunch and what I am loving lately.
James was off too and he had one too many drinks last night, so he was happy to just lay around. I rested my legs and evaluated them all day. I took a 2 hour nap and just laid around. I didn't worry about laundry or cleaning, I can do that any day. We watched movies and our shows and went to Pollo for dinner. I tracked everything.
I have been super hungry because of all that I am burning, but seriously I know tracking is for me. I eat my activity points back and refuel and have been making good choices, hoping this improves Tuesday.
To end this day...
Here is a little Throwback Thursday for ya:
I am excited for this challenge because I am really pushing myself, my limits, my body and my comfort zone. Training for this is going to be a bit hard, because I am trying very hard to map out a training plan where I can do back to back long runs. Some weeks, I just might not be able to get some back to back long ones, but small ones and consistency might just be my key. This week since I was off yesterday and today, I was able to get the back to to back long runs. Yesterday I did 9.23 and today I did 9.34.
It was tough. When I woke up I was a beat tired, I got a little bit over 4 hours of solid sleep and I was just not feeling it. I am so used to after a long run, taking a rest day, but I knew I couldn't make any excuses and I just had to do it. It has been very chilly here for us Floridans lately, so I bundled up as best I could and took to my route. I was going to run the same distance and route as yesterday and do the same with water fountains. Yesterday I ran 9:00/1:00 walk for the whole 9 miles, which was good. But today, my right quad was killing me. Just really tight and sore, so instead of the 9:00/1:00, I did that for the first mile and then the rest I did 6:50/1:00 and started to feel much better.
Here's the thing with the walk, it makes a world of a difference in my pace, speed and recovery. Plus my splits improve and I can catch my breath. Will I eventually get to be a better runner from it, I surely believe it. Jeff Galloway's system is genius and it has made me a stronger person. I have no shame in my game with the run/walk, at the end I am not burnt out and I can continue on. I listened to the pain my body was experiencing, because I have never put it through that, I went down in the time. Once I got going, I got going.
The pain was still there and eventually both legs were really hurting, but I kept repeating Mind OVER Matter. The wind was insane against the water today and I felt like I was pushing a brick wall a lot of the times. I can deal with cold or hot, but wind, we do not get along. I hated the wind. It made it so hard to breath, my lips were burning and the resistance was insane. I stopped 4 times for water, and it was hard to get down because my mouth was so dry from the wind. I also stopped to pee and blow my nose twice, but other than that, it was a decent run.
I just pray that either day there is no wind.
I am not trying to win challenge or set PR's. I am just doing it overcome a challenge, push myself and finish.
After the run, I was very excited to use my Dunkin Donuts free coffee coupon and it warmed me right up. I got home and enjoyed a nice hot shower and then made some lunch, I am posting tomorrow about the lunch and what I am loving lately.
James was off too and he had one too many drinks last night, so he was happy to just lay around. I rested my legs and evaluated them all day. I took a 2 hour nap and just laid around. I didn't worry about laundry or cleaning, I can do that any day. We watched movies and our shows and went to Pollo for dinner. I tracked everything.
I have been super hungry because of all that I am burning, but seriously I know tracking is for me. I eat my activity points back and refuel and have been making good choices, hoping this improves Tuesday.
To end this day...
Here is a little Throwback Thursday for ya:
.JPG)
.JPG)
I think it's so awesome that you are doing this challenge. I hope to see you out there, I'm doing the Lime challenge (15k and 8k)!
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome!! I would love to meet up before the 15k or before the 8k!! It seems like it would be some great races and challenges for the both of us.
Delete