week 9

well, I've been bad this week.....I skipped all but my Tuesday run.....and I really wouldn't really call Tuesday a run. Starting off on my normal route, I decided to see how fast I could go. I picked up the pace up the hill, as a result I stopped at the top to walk. I walked into the valley (which I had never been that far into, and found out there is an even steeper hill). Then I ran down the hill, back around the loop and then home. Total: only 4 miles.

I am not sure what was going on with me. I was completely exhausted everyday. I had so much grad school work. Reading, writing, more reading. I am beginning to dislike being a student.....ha! if my students could listen to me now. They might even convince me to stop giving homework. I am not really sure if I will make it thru this next week. I sneaked a look at the assignments.....it is almost double what I did this week. (sigh!)

of course, I still made time for my long run on Saturday. Nothing will stop me from that.....ha again! I would have never thought a 10 mile run would be on my MUST DO list. I wore my new shoes. Hideously ugly, right? But really cheap. As I laced up my shoes, I realized that it might not be wise to test out new shoes on a long run, but whatever. I was a wild mix of color. Bright orange shirt, black capris and my new purple shoes. 3 miles in, it started to rain.....Not drizzle, but actual downpour. It is really rare for rain in Kahala. The rain stayed with me as I ran along Diamond Head. I was the only one outside on Saturday morning.....eerie, but cool. Again, I am a hard core runner, out while others sleep. At KCC and the farmers market I almost got run over by a truck with a cop standing by.....thanks, man. The rain stopped as I made it to Kapiolani park. Suddenly I was in the middle of a run/walk race. Women in blue shirts, volunteers marking the route, more cops. I passed a slow runner (yay!) but then got smoked by a well-built guy. To avoid the parade in Waikiki (and the meth addicts), I decided I would continue up the hill of Diamond Head. This summer to get ready for running I used to walk this Diamond Head route (it is super steep - but with a great view). I had never made it running.......UNTIL NOW! The only problem was my shoes, which were slippery on the new concrete sidewalk. I slowed down so I wouldn't fall on my face. I weaved my way back home and it started raining again. Once again I was alone. But excited about what I have accomplished. I still have another 2 weeks of 10 mile long runs. But I think I am ready to push myself a bit more. Ha, a third time!

week 8

Yay! I have followers now.....I am not really sure what that means, but I know people are reading my blog.

Since my last post, I have only run once. But my long run was......interesting, let's say.

According to my schedule I was supposed to run 6 miles. At this point in my training, I am not sure why I dropped down in mileage (last week's goal 115 minutes which equaled about 10 miles since I only went about 105 minutes). I should probably check in with fellow runners. Are they resting after a bug hurdle? Also I am basing my training on Dawn Dais. She did mention that she is a slow runner (although I consider myself a slow running, my pace is about a 10 min mile, slow I guess can be relative). Maybe her 115 minutes is only about 8 miles

....anyway, this week I decided to stick with 10 miles and 115 minutes of running. I ran a different route (actually around diamond head, thru Waikiki, around Fort Derussy Park, ending at an ABC store). It was tough. I definitely felt it afterwards; I was limping around the library the rest of the day, but I MADE IT!!!!!!.... here is where it gets interesting.....and maybe I should avoid Waikiki. The Diamond Hill side is scenic. There is the aquarium, zoo, and Kapiolani park, all very safe. Tourists are out and about, even at 7 am, around their hotels. But this Saturday, as I ran, I saw the homeless, the walks of shame, and the meth addicts....hmmmm....I even saw someone actually smoking meth. Next week I think I will change the route.

My challenge for myself this week.....run on Monday. Last two Mondays I have been too tired, too hungry, too much work, to run. I've got to motivate myself - even if I don't go far, at least I get out there. The first run of the week WILL be hard, no matter what I do, but I've got to get past it.

week 7

aloha - I haven't written in awhile.....the teacher headed back to school herself..... and I guess I didn't quite realize how busy I would be. And will be for 1 and 1/2 years.

I am not sure how I am going to handle my more than full time job, training for a marathon AND getting a masters degree. So far every spare moment has been cramming some reading and my "homework" assignments have kept me up WAY past my bedtime. I haven't talked to my family in about 2 weeks.

ok - my fun teacher story. One of my classes was completing a lab - so they looked cute in their goggles and aprons. I accidentally turned on my itunes, "Hey Soul Sister" by Train came on the speaker. Suddenly my WHOLE class broke out in song. "Heyeh.....Heyaaaayeh..." I just had to smile. I excited, they also like GLEE - so we danced to "Don't stop believing" next.

back to running :-)

Saturday's long run was both good and bad.

GOOD, because I went 10 miles (more than the previous week), remembered to bring money, and headed home earlier, so I wouldn't be as far away from home (and water, bathroom, bed, etc). But BAD because I was suppose to go for about 2 hours. 9 miles went by faster than last week, but after that, my body gave up on me. I hit the 10 mile mark, in the bright sun, as I was headed up one side of Diamond Head (the easier side) and had to walk.....So if I want to end my long run on flat ground, I have to run thru Waikiki into town (get ready to walk 3 miles home) or run several times around Kapiolani park (boring!!!!). The next long run, I am scheduled to run ONLY 6 miles (I can't help cracking up :-) But I will probably try for 10 miles.

To recap this week: Skipped run on Monday to get some reading done for school.....Tuesday's planned 60 min run ended after 35 min, shin splits, shuffling feet, even after 30 minutes I wasn't in the groove and I still had to write my paper for school (write the speech I will give at graduation.....interesting assignment).

I have also decided I REALLY NEED new running shoes (Nike Free are too small, second pair should arrive in the next few days.) and that I need to eat an afternoon snack. Lunch is at 11:30 am. There is no way I can do that and still run at 4 pm. I must remember to snack/hydrate about 45 minutes before a run.

Wednesday is meeting day - good thing I made it rest day - too exhausted to get outside.

Brings us to today.....yay! I had energy at the end of the school day....yay! I dug out old running shoes to try......I decided to try for the elusive 60 minutes....The shin splints arrived at about the 15 min mark. I really have to learn how to focus my mind off the pain. I have heard of people who meditate while running. How do they do that? They can't be in Hawaii - since I am convinced cars don't seem to see me when I run and sidewalks have these obstacles. Are these the same people who feel those endorphins while running? I really think these people are urban legends.

I made it to 35 minutes before stopping to asses my blister situation. I forgot, these were the shoes I used to run the marathon. For some reason, I was often plagued with SERIOUS blisters on both feet. After walking for a bit, I finished up the 25 min.

I now have huge blisters on my feet (will they heal before Saturday?) and more reading to do for class. But I am content. I got out there to run.......well, that and I am watching football (yay! NFL season opener!)

week 6

It is midway thru the week, y'all. Again, this work thing is getting in the way of running. Ah, to be independently wealthy.....I mean I love, love, LOVE my job :-) what other job entertains with girls breaking out into gLee songs and boys breaking into snickers over a homework assignment called "What's in the sack?" (after the Shel Silverstein poem). Later in the year, I even get paid to watch movies at lunch.

Monday, after an "easy" day of classes, I was so exhausted. I got home and put on my running gear, but it was still too hot to get outside. So I picked up a book......2 hours later, I woke up. Oops! After dinner, I was asleep again.

Yesterday, I HAD to run. But I was so tired after school. I could have napped again. My shins started smarting after only a mile, I limped on. I felt like a turtle....wait, I am sure a turtle could have passed me. I thought it would get better as I warmed up. NO! Double NO! The entire 55 minutes was pain. I even scuffed up my shoes, because I kept dragging my feet. On the positive side, when I went to the Nike + stats, I had run 5.6 miles. So maybe turtle wasn't an apt description. Anyway, glad it was over.

Today I felt like I had a little more energy. I was excited to run. I got dressed thinking about the hill and running by the park. I even switched shoes and went with the Addias trail. Awesome idea, because my foot felt cushioned. No real pain in the first 20 minutes, I did have to stop to tie my shoe. Also to walk about the second (mini) hill because the recent rain had left a muddy trail and I didn't want to fall. In the end, I ran 6 miles. Not bad.

I will try to run once more during the work week and then prep for the long run on Saturday.

end of week 5

Well, this post is titled "Before I ran 9 miles and After I ran 9 miles (aka I can't believe I freakin ran 9 miles)"

School started and I can definitely see why running was so challenging for me last year. Life was great when I had no schedule. I lazed around all day (read, slept, ate) and then it felt great to get outside and run.

I was scheduled to run light on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday leading up to the dreaded long run today (Saturday).

After meetings all day on Monday, the last thing I wanted to do was run. But I did and it was tortuous. 45 minutes. Arrhhhh! My body hurt the entire time.

Tuesday brought a first.....I skipped a run. I was just so tired (again, meetings sucked my energy) and I knew that it was going to another bad one.

I decided to run on Wednesday. The run was actually better than the previous one. But again, I was exhausted the entire time. My pace was so slow....I was even passed by a woman running on the other side of the street....quite depressing.

Then with the first day with the kiddies, a long day of get to know you games and classes there was NO WAY I was going to run. I think I even went to bed at 7 pm. I thought it wise to rest up for the big run today.

Needless to say I was very nervous for the long run. Last week I ran for 60 minutes. How in the world was I going to do that and then continue for another 30 minutes? Especially after these two bad runs.....I kept thinking, "This is it. I can't possibly run a marathon. What was I thinking?"

So I tried to visualize myself having a wonderful run. I read some of John "The Penguin" Bingham's book, the Courage to Start. He is called the Penguin because he runs, but is maybe at the back of the pack, waddling. He writes of enjoying running when real young, but because he was so bad at it, stopped. Sounds very familiar.

I mapped out my route. I decided to run my usual route (4 or so miles), then I would get to the hill at Diamond Head. If I continued into Waikiki, then I could get 5 miles on nice flat ground.
Friday night I set out my running clothes and set my alarm for dawn.

And so, I set out, as the sun was coming up. I thought about how nice it would feel when I finished. I could read and hydrate the rest of the day.

As usual the first 2 miles (20 min) were painful. The sidewalk was steamy as I clopped along. My pace felt uneven. My calves burned. But after that, life was good (well, maybe not good, but I didn't stop).

I saw three fellow teachers on my way into Waikiki. It felt great to be outside and there were many people running. I actually got stuck behind one of the marathon training groups. I hope their pace was slow because I zipped right by them. With 20 minutes to go, I knew I could make it. With 10 minutes, my feet did begin to tire. But I was hard core determined to get back to the Diamond Head side of Waikiki and make 9 miles. Wahoo! I can't believe that I did it!

But I learned two things
1) I should carry money with me - because at the end of the long run in Waikiki I wanted a Gatorade, or coffee, or frozen yogurt, or that cute T shirt in the store. I passed a craft fair and the farmers market.
2) It may be a good idea to map my route better. After 9 miles, I still had to walk 3 miles home....that took an hour.

in the end, a very good day
keep on running :-)