Second wind

Running is such a mental thing. Many of my friends who are not runners don't understand this at all. They think it's all physical training. I've come to understand that the physical aspect of running is cake compared to the mental stuff.

I was reading Dean Karnazes' book, 50/50, and he was explaining what a "second wind" really is. They've done some studies with bike sprinters that prove this effect does exist. What’s generally believed to happen is your body is doing fine, but your brain decides, "WHOA, hang on there, buddy. You are going to burn yourself out at this rate, so you better slow down and back off." While you're running (or doing whatever it is you do), your brain is subconsciously starting to worry you might run out of fuel, so it starts trying to convince your body to slow down in an effort to conserve resources. Unless your brain receives new information that makes it reverse its decision. Maybe you take a swig of sports drink or a gel, and your brain goes, "Ding, ding, ding! More fuel! Carry on!" Or, you realize you're closing in on your goal, and your brain goes, "OKAY! Almost there! Kick it!" Other things can influence your brain to reassess and summon your reserves...someone cheering the right thing at the right moment, an inspirational thought, a friend's encouragement...but whatever it is, your brain will suddenly let go of the subconsciously-induced restraint and your body can dig into the resources you were holding yourself back from.

That means it really should be possible to run better due to the power of positive thinking. You have to constantly work to convince your brain that your conscious self knows what its doing, regardless of how badly the self-preservation happy subconscious side wants you to stop. My runs are always much easier if I go into them thinking, "Yeah! I get 10 miles of peace and quiet time!" and go enjoying the amount of “me” time I have left before me instead of, "Ugh, do I really have to do 10 miles today?" and mentally slogging through thinking about how much longer I have to go. I’ve written about it before. Being positive does make a HUGE difference. So my goal this week is to replace every negative thought with a positive one, while running and doing everything else. Second wind, you're mine!

Challenge update

Whew! It's been a busy week and getting busier! Yesterday was our second team practice for the Summer season, and it didn't rain on us!! The weather report looked bleak, but the sun even peeked out on us for our 45 minute run. I didn't run in my new shoes because I didn't want them to get wet in case it DID rain (I know, they're going to get thrashed eventually, but I wanted to do it gradually instead of all in one run!) It was a nice run, if a little short, but I'm easing back into my miles slowly. I have plenty of time before the big race in June!

Speaking of which, I know this might be considered cheating a little, but I'm going to extend my $1500 fundraising challenge until March 15th. Why, you ask? Well, my fantastic 7-year old son is putting together a fundraising event through his school. He's going to get up in front of the whole school and tell them all about Team in Training and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Then he's going to offer "Love Bears" for sale. All of this was TOTALLY his idea, and he even scheduled the meeting with his principal to propose his plans. I'm so touched and proud of him. He's a pretty amazing kid. So...since his event isn't until March 5th (and because it takes about a week for brand new donations to clear the fundraising account), I wanted to push my date out a little further to give him a chance to participate. That means there is $636 (this includes some donations that haven't cleared as of today but have been submitted!) to go and 22 days. I know we can do it!!

Summer Team Practice

Saturday was the kickoff practice for the Summer Season of Team in Training's marathon team. We're training for the Rock 'n Roll San Diego and Seattle marathons. I'm a mentor this season, which means I get to help, encourage and cheerlead. I hope I can help other people have the same fantastic experience I did my first season running with the Team!

This practice being the first, we only ran for about half an hour. Since I'm still "technically" on recovery from the Surf City run, I figured this was okay. Our coach said I should be fine to keep my long runs relatively short for a while as long as I'm keeping my weekday runs up around 4-5 miles, which I am. So it'll be a few weeks before I up to longer runs again on Saturday. It's a good break for my body.

Meanwhile, my super incredibly awesome husband bought me new running shoes for Valentine's Day!! I'm so lucky and blessed to be married to a man who knows me so well! We went to A Snail's Pace and I got refit. After trying a bunch of shoes, Nikes, Addidas, New Balance, Brooks and Mizuno, I finally settled on Mizuno Wave Riders. They are MUCH lighter than my old Nike Max Motos, though I thought they were not as cushiony. After running in the Mizunos yesterday, I've decided they have a lot more cushion than I thought, and they have a great ride! I really like them, and had my fastest mile ever while running in them! Not sure if that was the shoes or just me being excited to run again after "resting" for a bit. Haha! We'll see if I still like the shoes when the miles get longer...

Surf City!!!!

WOW. I don't know what else to say!! It was supposed to be raining and cold on race morning in Huntington Beach. It turned into the most gorgeous day for running you could ever ask for. And the course?? Right along Pacific Coast Highway for most of it, with a turn up a hill leading to a GORGEOUS view, then back down along the ocean for the finish. All that, AND I finished in 2:35, shaving off 13 minutes from my previous half marathon time! I haven't even mentioned the super awesome surfboard shaped medal yet!

I felt pretty good coming off the start, and kept my pace in check so I didn't burn myself out too early. I felt like I had a good flow for the first 7 miles and I'm very pleased to say that I was keeping up about an 11:30 pace really nicely. Then I started feeling some soreness in my left hip and tried to move to the inside a bit more to avoid the canting of the road. My left toe started to hurt somewhere around mile 8, and my lower back had a bit of a muscle cramp that became a bit worse about that same time. Still, I managed to stay on pace. I was hitting some of the water stations, but not stopping. I didn't stop once during the whole run, and I never walked. I saw some friends at mile 9 who spurred me on, and that got me through to about mile 11. I slowed a bit from 11 to 12. I started to feel I was hitting a wall, but I talked myself out of it and just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other for the next mile. I ran into another friend just after mile 12 who took a very funny picture of me jumping in the air!! (Maybe I'll post that one later. Ha!) Where did THAT energy come from? Next thing I knew, I could see the finish, and that stash of extra energy that I didn't know was there came flooding out of me. I sprinted. I felt like I was FLYING to the finish!! And as soon as I hit my watch and realized I'd turned in a Personal Record time, I started shrieking. People around me started cheering, and I cried. It was amazing. I HOPE the Brightroom Photography people got a shot of that finish!!!

All in all, an awesome, awesome race. I am still on cloud 9, although at this moment I am reclining on said cloud with some ice on my knees! Yes, I'm a little sore and a lot tired, but it was SO very worth it!

What's next?? I will definitely be doing San Diego Rock 'n Roll, but will it be the half or the full? I still have about $800 to raise by February 28th to meet the challenge I put forth...so we'll just have to wait and see...

Happy running!!

To my support team

I want to take a moment to say THANK YOU to all the friends and family who have supported me in this crazy endeavor I've taken on to become a runner. To all those who have donated to my Team in Training cause, you are AWESOME and I would not be where I am today without your amazing generosity. You are helping me run AND helping to fund a cure for blood cancer!! I appreciate you so much.

I also owe a HUGE debt of gratitude to my wonderful family. Without my husband's unfailing support, I would not be able to do what I'm doing. He keeps the boys entertained every Saturday morning so that I can get my long runs in, and he never complains or gets irritable about it. He also works to arrange his travel schedule so he's always home for my Saturday runs. He and the boys are my constant cheerleaders, never failing to ask me when I walk in the door, "How was your run?!" Not only that, but no matter how crowded, parking challenged, boring or otherwise uninteresting a race I'm doing might be for them, they always want to be there to scream "Go MOM! We love you!" from the sidelines. Words cannot express how grateful and blessed I feel to have this kind of encouragement and love.

I've kept my runs easy this week with the race coming up on Sunday. It was supposed to rain, but thanks to the storm moving a bit faster than anticipated, it's looking like the rain will hit Friday and Saturday, clearing up by Sunday. Whatever the weather, I'm sure it'll be a great day to run. I'll be ready because I have an awesome team of supporters behind me. Thank you all!!