Hello friends! Yesterday was the long-awaited day! A few posts back I stated that I would reward myself with pancakes after my 12 mile run... I did just that :) They were well worth the wait! I found a place called The Good Egg down here in Tucson. Its basically First Watch, Tucson-style. The pancakes were delicious and so was the cinnamon roll :) Hey! I did just run 12 freakin miles, lol.
Lets take a few steps backward and update you on the past few weeks' events! My 11 mile run last weekend was pretty good. I ran the same route as the previous week; however, the only animals I came across were deer and rabbits- I felt like I was back home in the Midwest :) I thought I would push my 11 miles to 12 but by the time I got to 10.5 I think my body knew how close to home I was and wouldn't let me go any further! I completed a 6 mile run mid-week through the beautiful U of A campus... makes a run a whole lot easier when the scenery is gorgeous! The campus is huge... so much of it I still haven't seen. Can't wait to explore more of it!
I FINALLY attempted to "tackle" this Tumamoc Hill I have been talking about for awhile. It is a "hill" that the University does research on, so it is closed during the day. I rode my bike about 2 miles to the hill thinking I was early enough to avoid the ground- I was definitely wrong about that! It is 3.1 miles from the bottom to the top and back down. My thought was that I would RUN the entire distance. If you don't remember, this hill's path is at about a 45 degree angle... for the first quarter of the way. When you hit the "half way to the top point" it then becomes 55 or 60 degrees!! I ran the first 1/8 and then walked pretty much to the top... it was THAT tough! I'm not sure even elite marathoners could tackle that with ease, YIKES!! Needless to say, I made it to the top- Wow, was it worth it! The view from the top is incredible!! You can see every inch of Tucson from the top of Tumamoc Hill... now that was breath-taking whether you like the desert or not :) I ran all the way back down, zig-zagging as much as I could, hoping to take some of the impact off my body. My next attempt will be next week. I'm hoping to "run" a bit more of it next week!
On Thursday, I found a track to run some of my 400m sprints on. And OF course, there was a high school football practice going on! I wanted so badly to run routes with the receivers and show them whats up :) At one point, a football bounced over my way. I thought twice about throwing it over their head and across the field (like the lady did in A League of Their Own, lol) and surprising everyone but I resisted that temptation- instead I threw a perfect spiral back to the boys ;) I haven't missed football all that much until that day... it was hot and muggy and smelled like a turf field. That definitely brought up some memories! But instead of joining, I continued with my 400m sprints followed by a few 100m sprints. It was really nice mixing it up from the usual routine :)
My twelve mile run had a rough start. I was a little more tired than normal, but after a few miles I settled in okay. I mapped out a slightly different route- again, not knowing what it actually looked like. I was nearing mile 3 when I began to realize that this wasn't going to be just another "easy" run. The further I got into my run the more hills I was seeing! Wait, a minute... I thought I was running in Tucson... a relatively flat area? NOPE! I think I found 80% of the hills in Tucson... one after another, gah! Obviously, this is great for my training, but when you are not prepared it definitely can be tough mentally! By the end of mile 8 and hill #6, I was pretty much done. I had a GU gel that gave me a little boost which was nice! Also, I used the motivation I got from the last two books I read (Running Hot by Lisa Tamati and The Extra Mile by Pam Reed) to keep me pushing forward. These two ladies are Ultrarunners :) and my new inspiration! They are pretty much ultimate badasses- of course, besides Mandy Beltz ;) They have completed some outrageous races-Badwater in Death Valley, several Ironmans, and crazy desert marathons. I kept thinking during my runs that "its just 12 miles! That's nothing compared to what they have done. Step it up, B! If you think you could possibly do what they do, you better be able to handle a short 12 mile run!" So my inner "rage" kicked in and I finished out the 12 miles in about 1:55. If I want to achieve my ultimate goal of completing the marathon under 4:00, I need to improve drastically!
To finish out this month, I ran a total of 96 miles :) Next week's long run is only 8 miles then it continues to increase week to week. I love my training so far! I am seeing incredible results, physically and mentally. I look forward to ever run that I have for many reasons but my favorite is that it is a form of therapy for me. Its a chance for me to get away from the world and to dwell in my thoughts and feelings about everything going on in my life. I can sort out my life if I wish or I can choose to ignore it completely- for the moment. This entire adventure, including my training, has been a life-changing one. I am trying my best to embrace it and learn everything I can from it! :)
NOTES of the Day:
* Temperature: 78-81 degrees
* Song of the Day: "Special Pets" by Otep
*Tip of the Day: Try a GU gel pack
*Quote of the Day: "Obsessed is a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated."
I FINALLY attempted to "tackle" this Tumamoc Hill I have been talking about for awhile. It is a "hill" that the University does research on, so it is closed during the day. I rode my bike about 2 miles to the hill thinking I was early enough to avoid the ground- I was definitely wrong about that! It is 3.1 miles from the bottom to the top and back down. My thought was that I would RUN the entire distance. If you don't remember, this hill's path is at about a 45 degree angle... for the first quarter of the way. When you hit the "half way to the top point" it then becomes 55 or 60 degrees!! I ran the first 1/8 and then walked pretty much to the top... it was THAT tough! I'm not sure even elite marathoners could tackle that with ease, YIKES!! Needless to say, I made it to the top- Wow, was it worth it! The view from the top is incredible!! You can see every inch of Tucson from the top of Tumamoc Hill... now that was breath-taking whether you like the desert or not :) I ran all the way back down, zig-zagging as much as I could, hoping to take some of the impact off my body. My next attempt will be next week. I'm hoping to "run" a bit more of it next week!
On Thursday, I found a track to run some of my 400m sprints on. And OF course, there was a high school football practice going on! I wanted so badly to run routes with the receivers and show them whats up :) At one point, a football bounced over my way. I thought twice about throwing it over their head and across the field (like the lady did in A League of Their Own, lol) and surprising everyone but I resisted that temptation- instead I threw a perfect spiral back to the boys ;) I haven't missed football all that much until that day... it was hot and muggy and smelled like a turf field. That definitely brought up some memories! But instead of joining, I continued with my 400m sprints followed by a few 100m sprints. It was really nice mixing it up from the usual routine :)
My twelve mile run had a rough start. I was a little more tired than normal, but after a few miles I settled in okay. I mapped out a slightly different route- again, not knowing what it actually looked like. I was nearing mile 3 when I began to realize that this wasn't going to be just another "easy" run. The further I got into my run the more hills I was seeing! Wait, a minute... I thought I was running in Tucson... a relatively flat area? NOPE! I think I found 80% of the hills in Tucson... one after another, gah! Obviously, this is great for my training, but when you are not prepared it definitely can be tough mentally! By the end of mile 8 and hill #6, I was pretty much done. I had a GU gel that gave me a little boost which was nice! Also, I used the motivation I got from the last two books I read (Running Hot by Lisa Tamati and The Extra Mile by Pam Reed) to keep me pushing forward. These two ladies are Ultrarunners :) and my new inspiration! They are pretty much ultimate badasses- of course, besides Mandy Beltz ;) They have completed some outrageous races-Badwater in Death Valley, several Ironmans, and crazy desert marathons. I kept thinking during my runs that "its just 12 miles! That's nothing compared to what they have done. Step it up, B! If you think you could possibly do what they do, you better be able to handle a short 12 mile run!" So my inner "rage" kicked in and I finished out the 12 miles in about 1:55. If I want to achieve my ultimate goal of completing the marathon under 4:00, I need to improve drastically!
To finish out this month, I ran a total of 96 miles :) Next week's long run is only 8 miles then it continues to increase week to week. I love my training so far! I am seeing incredible results, physically and mentally. I look forward to ever run that I have for many reasons but my favorite is that it is a form of therapy for me. Its a chance for me to get away from the world and to dwell in my thoughts and feelings about everything going on in my life. I can sort out my life if I wish or I can choose to ignore it completely- for the moment. This entire adventure, including my training, has been a life-changing one. I am trying my best to embrace it and learn everything I can from it! :)
NOTES of the Day:
* Temperature: 78-81 degrees
* Song of the Day: "Special Pets" by Otep
*Tip of the Day: Try a GU gel pack
*Quote of the Day: "Obsessed is a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated."
Nice quote. ;)
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