18 is tough

ONE DAY, just merely thinking about blogging is going to generate a blog post. But, for now...it's getting me no where. I have honestly *thought* about blogging quite a bit over the last month. I know, that means nothing because I did not actually write a blog post for over a month.  So, what pushed me to actually write up a blog post today? A combination of inspiration from a professor I had in college (I looked her up today and discovered her amazing blog! Click Here for inspiration from a wonderful lady, Dr. Carolyn Weber) and I ran 18 miles today.

I ran 18 miles today. I ran 18 miles today! Holy crap. Let me first admit that I quit early. I was going for 20 miles, which might have been an unrealistic goal considering that the farthest I had run before today was 15 miles.  18 is good. And, 18 is tough. I had a good friend of mine confirm that. She has ran 18 miles many times. I believe her (not that I didn't before, but I admire her marathon training and know that she HAS TO know!). I have three weeks to go until I run the Chicago Marathon. 20 miles would have put me in a better position, but perhaps next week I will accomplish that feat.  If not, I will be fine. I'm pretty sure that I will finish. No doubt, I could have put a little more effort into my training. I could probably put a little more effort into a lot of things in my life if I wasn't stretched so thin.  What's that my Grandma used to say..."if you're going to sweep the floor half assed don't do it at all!" Luckily, I don't feel that I'm stretched so thin that I am "half-assing" anything...but you get the idea. Crunch time!

Happy Sunday. I got my run in before 11am so I could watch football!

Decisions

I have made a decision to be sugar (as much as possible) free and alcohol free for the rest of my marathon training.

Tonight, I am deciding to skip a free lawn concert so that I can study instead. The weather is beautiful.

These decisions may make the difference. These are my decisions.

Motivation

I had originally planned on having a very successful training month during July, but in hindsight I realize that I was being a bit over ambitious, especially considering that my sister got married mid-month. However, I could have ran more than I did. I took two and a half weeks off.

I am now finding that I have a boat load of motivation. For starters, I am motivated by my two and a half week break. I know that I cannot do that again before my marathon on October 7. I have also found motivation in the fact that I signed up (on Instagram - totally official) to do 45 miles in July (#45milesinJuly) and actually made the comment that I would probably finish that feat in a few days. Well, the statement is true, but not because I was running 13-milers every week in July, but because I waited and am now coming down to the wire and want to make sure I follow through!

I have also been motivated lately by the Olympic athletes. It's hard not to be. They are so amazing and have worked so hard. When I think that I do not want to run or start to tell myself that it would be ok to stop early, I remind myself of them and all of their hard work. This is the same concept that I used for motivation previously, and still use. I went and watched my mom complete a full Ironman and I frequently tell myself that my mom did that, 10 miles is nothing! No distance I will run will be comparable to the Ironman, so it's guaranteed to work!

I am hoping for a much better August, no matter how busy I get. I have to get up to 20 miles. I will find a way to stay motivated throughout the month. Just a little over two months until marathon day. I'm considering creating a board of some sort like this one that I found. That, or writing inspirational quotes on my mirrors! Whatever it takes!!

Each person is different in terms of staying motivated. What motivates you?

50 Shades of....

I honestly cannot tell you why I even picked up 50 Shades of Grey, let alone bought it.  It's most definitely not my type of book. Maybe it's because I enjoyed the Hunger Games series so much and it was wildly popular, so I thought the public opinion on books could be trusted. Who knows? My issue right now is that I am not reading.  I just cannot seem to get into that book. Perhaps it is too trashy and unrealistic? I'm not sure.  I'm not hopping on my soap box to bash the book.  Each to their own. What I am saying is that it's not for me and I think I will be putting it down so that I can pick up a book that actually makes me want to read.

10 miles closer to 26.2

I ran 10 miles today and, I'm not entirely sure why but I'm really proud that I completed it. It's not a half marathon. It's not that long of a distance considering the whole distance I will be running in October. I think I'm just really happy about it because it was doable, and I could have definitely kept going. It was one of the first times that I've felt confident that I really can run a full marathon. And, there wasn't a single moment where I thought to myself that I could stop before the 10 miles was over. I don't know if that's normal for runners, but occasionally I will tell myself that I want to run say 8 miles and by mile 6 I'm telling myself "you could stop at 6" as if to say that 6 is good enough. I hate that. It's not good enough! But, I should give myself a break - it's usually when my legs are really tight or something is hurting that I say that.

Whatever the reason for my happiness in my success, today was a good day in terms of training. I'm a little behind schedule for my original running plan, but I'll be ok.  Things are coming along.

Last week I decided that my Asics were done for, so I started using just my Newtons. I was worried about doing this because when I first got my Newtons, my legs got so sore (from doing too much too fast) that I could barely walk.  I'm starting to feel more comfortable with doing my long runs with them and think that it may actually even be better because now that I think about it, my Asics and my Newtons are so different that I was probably putting myself on a path to get injured by switching between the two so often.  Running in my Newtons feels so much easier, that's for sure. I would like to have an alternate pair of shoes, so I'm in the market for a new pair to accompany my Newtons. I'm not sure what I will come up with.

Mockingjay Schmockingjay

I started reading Mockingjay a month ago. Yeah, a month ago. Although I have heard poor reviews for the last book of the series, this is not the reason why it is taking me so long.  My sister's book club members have been incredibly busy and are still on book 2, so I have been trying my best to wait for them. I went on vacation and purposely brought a different book. I've been pushing magazines and newspapers up to my face before the book. But, I can't do it anymore!  Although I just said that the reason I'm taking so long is because of my book club, I can't help but think that if it was that great of a read, I wouldn't be pushing it aside so easily. Hmm...

I have 200 pages left, I will finish this week! Please do not disappoint Mockingjay!

The Woods

We live near the woods and often take our dogs for walks back there, so it's safe to say that I go into the woods just about every day. I know this is a little strange, but after reading The Hunger Games (I am almost done with book one) I look at the woods a bit different than I did before. I mean, I'm not out there looking for non-existent mockingjays - I haven't gone that mad yet. But, I feel as though I am more alert and aware of the things that are lurking in the woods as a result of reading this book. Or maybe it's just my imagination. Damn you Katniss Everdeen.