The End of an Era...

There is something soothing about the early morning. You know...that brief period between "This is a ridiculous hour to be awake" and "Ugh! Why are there so many people on the road?!" Early in the morning has always been my favorite time to run, and my absolute favorite time to swim. When I woke up at the "ridiculous" hour this morning I wasn't 100% sure I wanted to get out of bed; but...

(Speedo was right)

Today I swam approximately 1.25 miles...

It's Only Tuesday...

~ Adam Goucher

.

Christmas was great and my vacation (which is still ongoing) has been uneventful, but training has been hard. On Boxing Day (Dec 26th) I did a 3.5 mile run on the sand...

...followed by an hour of plyometrics. Running on the sand is not easy at all! I managed to maintain a pretty decent pace for the first two miles, but by mile three I was exhausted...

The Struggle Is Real...but so is the Triumph ;)

Through a combination of a "congrats on finishing your marathon" gift card, a "take an extra $10 off" coupon, and an in-store discount at Dick's Sporting Goods, I was able to treat myself to an early Christmas gift...

There are a lot of great features the Vivoactive has that my Garmin Forerunner 220 doesn't (like the ability to track swimming and daily steps etc). The swimming feature was the biggest selling point for me because it's one of the forms of cross training that I tend to gravitate towards (albeit rarely) and I've never really been able to track my swimming sessions apart from mentally counting laps. On Sunday I did a very short swim to test out the watch (about 1/4 of a mile) and this morning I swam for 1/2 of a mile. I ended up stopping the swim session half way through in error but I completed the overall distance...

We're Different...

We've all seen "You know you're a runner when..." memes or other such social media posts that highlight (and sometimes make fun of) the things that make us runners different. And if you have any non-runner friends (NRFs), I'm pretty sure there have been conversations where they try to understand why you pay to run 13.1/26.2 miles... for fun. You know those conversations right? For me it normally starts with a NRF seeing me icing my knee or massaging an achy muscle and they ask "What did you hurt this time?!" immediately followed by "Please tell me why you do this again?"

If I had a great answer to that question I would tell you (and them), but the reality is, as much as I love running, sometimes I wonder the same thing: "Why am I doing this?" To be fair, I only ask myself that question when I can't run (usually because of an injury) and sadly I'm in that situation far too often. The "why?" question immediately precedes the "It's so unfair that running is so hard for me" whining statement; and if I allow it, I'll fall into a very sulky mood. 

So that's kind of how my day went today. At least five people asked me if I was limping (I was) and provided sage "advice on caring for my body" and "making my joints last". But my sulky mood wasn't just because my knee is still bothering me (it's been a week so that should have been reason enough), but also because I'm disappointed that the goals/plans/desires I have are not going to happen the way I hoped.

Updates, Reminders & Favorite Things...

Ok guys, if you signed up for the ZOOMA Run Love Virtual Challenge here are the training plans:

5K plan starting on Jan 4th 2016...

10K plan starting on Jan 4th 2016...

If you haven't signed up (but want to) you can register HERE.

**~**~**~**~**

What Scares You Makes You Stronger...

I've been hesitant to talk about my training recently because I've gotten a lot of "words of caution" from family and friends. And I get it (no one wants to see me injured again). And I appreciate it (even when I roll my eyes and sigh loudly). But I guess I'm already overwhelmed with my own insecurities about whether or not I can accomplish my running goals, so I don't really want to hear anyone voice these same concerns out loud. That being said, I really do get it and I really do appreciate it, but...

This morning I did my 18 miler. I signed up for the Weston half marathon earlier this week to take advantage of the closed route and water stops. So essentially I did the half as part of the 18 mile training run. I got to the start really early and parked in the volunteers parking spot (mainly because there were more people in that area but also because I couldn't figure out where the runners were supposed to park). My plan was to do 5 miles before the race and then complete the 13.1+ miles for the half.

First 5 miles...

Weston 1/2 marathon miles...

The Capital of Casual: Reggae Half Marathon {Race Recap}...

Friday (Reggae Eve):

Drive to Ft. Lauderdale >> Fly to Montego Bay >> Drive to Negril

My brother-in-law, Gavin, picked me up from the airport in Montego Bay and we took the 1.5 hour drive to Negril (there was a lot of traffic, it doesn't usually take that long). Once we got to Negril the first stop was the race expo for our packet pick-up...

This Is How I Zooma...

So I officially became a ZOOMA Ambassador for the 2016 ZOOMA Women's Race Series!!! 

#ZOOMANation

The ZOOMA Chicago Half Marathon in 2014 was my very first half and it was a really great race (despite the fact that I thought I was going to die all the way from mile 11 to mile 12). I'm excited to be an Ambassador this year because they are doing some fun and exciting things, including a virtual 5K/10K Love Run...

It will be held around Valentine's Day weekend ;)

In The Meantime...

I promise promise promise to have the Reggae Half Marathon Race recap posted soon :)  I have a lot of thoughts about the event (and the entire weekend) so I didn't want to rush through a post just to "get it done". Plus it's been kinda hectic (work stuff) and I've been kinda distracted (life stuff) so I haven't been able to dedicate the amount of time I need to write a proper recap. But I will by this weekend, I promise.

In the meantime I have a bunch of other stuff to talk about...

I'm supposed to do an 18 mile run this weekend if I'm going to stay on track with training. So I decided to sign up for a half marathon in order to take advantage of: (1) the closed course; (2) scheduled water stops; & (3) on-site medical help (you know, just in case). The half marathon of choice is the Run For Tomorrow Weston half...

The Year of the Full: Chapter 12: The Final Countdown...

Now that the Thanksgiving holiday is over I'm trying to get everything back on schedule because there are a bunch of things I need to do before I leave for the Reggae Half Marathon (link)...

I can't believe it's Race Week! 

This was supposed to be my final official race for 2015, but I set a goal to complete 15 events this year (Reggae will make 14) so I have to find another race/event before Dec 31st.

I'm still trying to improve on endurance and speed during my training runs and trying to push the running interval limits as much as I can. I did a 5 mile run on Saturday using 4:1 intervals...

Sunday was a cross training day so I went to the gym and did 1 hour on the stair master and light weights. Then I ran again on Monday (running a 1/2 mile: walking 1 minute)...