Half Training - Week Six

It's been awhile! Much to catch up on. Topics from this past week:

1. It's Halvsies in Halfville as I'm offically halfway through my Half training. HALF!
2. 12 people were laid off in my department and it was ridiculously horrible.
3. Run for Haiti!
4. I ran my 9 miles on Saturday in 1:34:57.
5. I hate snow even more than I thought I could.
6. I have a cold...nooooooooooooo!!!!
7. PUSH UPS YES!!!!!

So yeah, halfway through! Things I've noticed? When I first started out, after my hiatus, my lungs were not up to par with the rest of my body. It partly had to do with the cold air (much colder than it's been these past few weeks at around 15 degrees) as well as still recovering from my NYE cold. Now, particularly during the 9 miles, I realize that my lungs bounced back more quickly than my body could keep up with. I have aches and pains in places I didn't know I had, but breathing couldn't be easier. My hope is that in the next six weeks, things will balance out and my body will catch up.

Back in 2007, 30 people were laid off in my department, including my sister and best work friend Nicole. Not fun times. At the beginning of 2009, maybe 3-5 more people were let go. But now we're back up in scary territory as a dozen more got the chop, including two other best work buddies. Yeah I'm lucky to STILL be here after all this, but that makes me much more sad than happy or relieved. In good news, all my close pals who lost their jobs here and now doing bigger and better things (or at least getting paid way more), so I'm sure the same will go for my other buds.

The same day of the Big Layoff, was my Virtual 4mi Run for Haiti. So I tried funneling all of my anger and frustration into the run. I made the mistake of doing it after work, instead of at lunch, where I may or may not have been indulging in a pint of Spotted Cow in honor of my fallen comrades. So traffic was a nightmare to deal with. I also screwed up my timer, so I couldn't pause it at stoplights. I had to watch the timer go by and keep track of all the seconds to deduct from my final time. SOOOO frustrating! In any case, I timed around 37:33, although the website has a different idea about "Virtual Time" which I don't really understand, but that was 36:44. ~stats here, if you filter to Milwaukee, WI.

So while the watch/traffic screwing up my race, the awful awful work day, and the lovers quarrel that followed that evening all got me pretty down, my 9 mi on Saturday picked me right back up! I ran it a little faster than I should've...I wasn't out of breath by any means, but it averaged 10:30min miles...an average that maybe I should save for actual Half Day. But it felt good, so I kept with it! As I mentioned above, however, my legs were screaming at me. Ugh. And I couldn't really walk correctly until about three hours after the run! It freaks me out because I'm like: "if its like this after 'only' nine miles, what will 13.1 feel like?!! Or worse, the 14 that I have to do in THREE WEEKS???" Freaks me out. Did I mention that? So I just need to take it easy, and again, not go so fast that my legs are wondering what the deal is. The good news is my knees are getting better, I can feel it. I haven't felt the need to ice them (tho I probably should).

Snow. I am soooooooooooo OVER IT. Like I mentioned for my 8mi, I ran the lakefront path and it was clear for the most part, but sections were pretty bad. Well for some stupid reason, despite the fact that we got MORE snow last week, I thought it'd be a stellar idea to run the same path. It was even worse! On the one hand, it kept me at a slow pace, but on the other, it didn't even matter because I was huffing and puffing so hard from the bounding I had to do over all the snow piles. Not to mention trying desperately to avoid rolling my ankle...unsuccessfully I might add. At one point, I wanted to throw knives at people because I got to a stretch of sidewalk...SIDEWALK...that snow had completely drifted over...at least three feet. This whole time, I had been trying to keep an even pace, at least a jogging pace over the snow, but I finally was forced to completely stop in order to step into pre-made footholes inside of the mountain of snow. I mean, it's really frustrating when you're already in 4miles, have a good pace going, and just have to stop for some stupid reason.

Ok I'm done complaining. It's supposed to be FIFTY this Saturday!!!!

But speaking of Saturday...the day I'm supposed to run 10 miles...double digits...FINALLY. So yeah, in the wee hours of the morning, around 4:30 or so, I awoke to someone throwing knives into my throat. In other words, I'm getting a cold. Another one. Now, I usually have two colds in the winter...pretty typical. But I thought, maybe with my new healthy lifestyle I'd avoid the second one. Totally jinxed myself. So I'm sucking on Zicam, throwing down water and tea, and peeing like it's going out of style. And I'm already planning on a sick day tomorrow. Not because I can't work with a cold, because clearly I'm not that sick, but just so I can reeeeeeallly get some sleep in. At this stage in the game, any sickness or injury is such a liability. I mean I still remember my posts from the Hiatus Comeback and how the phlegm from my cold was SUCH a damper on my runs. If I wasn't such a Mucus Queen, it wouldn't be a problem, but I seriously have crazy leaky faucet nose even when I'm perfectly healthy and its 55 degrees outside. I'm supposed to go 4.5mi tomorrow, and while I currently feel well enough to run, I shouldn't push the envelope as there will be NOTHING that stops my long run on Saturday. NOTHING.

Finally, one of my fave running chicas posted this Push Ups Challenge that looks like something I'm pretty much going to definitely do. Six Weeks | 100 Push Ups. Now, I am NOT a push up person. And my arms are my absolutely least favorite body feature. So with six weeks left in my Half Training, I think this will be a great addition to my cross training schedule. So along with Beth's Kickass Motivational Greatness List, I'm going to print out the schedule and get crackin', cold or no cold!

Good luck out there to the rest of my running friends!! Spring is right around the corner :)

PS My next post, if not devoted to how much I hate getting sick, will discuss all of the running gear and accoutrements I've been coveting these past few weeks!! And SOME of which I may be able to actually buy because guess who just got her ATT Uverse Rebate Cards in the mail this afternoon!! HOLLA!!!!! (Sorry I just got this news and it totally made my day!!)