More and more

Last year I did exactly 2 road races- 2 half marathons to be exact. I just wasn't feeling the road race scene, and didn't have any clear running goals short of just being able to run. I have missed seeing friends at the local, shorter races, so this year I have made an effort to get back out there. A couple of weeks ago, I did a sub-par 5k. While the time stunk, I was happy to be out there and ready to do it again. I decided to sign up for a local 4 miler with a good grass-roots feel to it. Two races in 2012 already! Whoo hoo!!!!

Then, the night before the race, I stayed in the bathroom on the tile between the toilet and the bathtub, willing myself to hold down the vomit and willing everything else to come out. When I finally got back in bed, sweaty and clammy, at 6am...I thought the there is NO WAY I can be at a race at 9am. I finally got out of bed at 8am, put some food in my stomach (in hindsight this was a bad idea), and made it to the race before it started. I jogged for about 5 minutes, tried to do some pick-ups, and then just gave up on the warm up. Now, I really, really need a warm up for short races.....a LONG warm up. Oh well. It just wasn't going to happen. I just lined up and ran.

Of course the race wasn't ideal, but I am having a lot of fun reconnecting with people and pushing my body beyond my zone 2 comfort. Dang if my body just does not want to go any faster, but I am going to keep pushing it while I can. I really tried to latch on to some girls and make it hurt from the get-go today, which is hard for me to do mentally. I completely faltered after a while, but that is part of learning to race and care again.

The real victory in all of this is my motivation. 4 weeks ago, I would have stayed in bed. Zero motivation to do this, especially after such a crappy night (pun intended). But, my motivation and happiness right now is sky high, as evidenced by my getting out there over and over again. The obstacles I had for training a month ago seem to have disappeared. I am enjoying it all.

Feeling not-so-great, but smiling anyways.

Not really smiling towards the end. Not running very fast either! Just get me around the track, please!

This morning I surprised my Los Locos teammates by showing up for the 7am long trail run. The guys know I don't get out of bed that early on Sunday, but I made a special exception to run with my friend Alisha. :)

I ran 2.5 hours today on the trails with my buddies. I just looked back at my training peaks, and last year at this time I could barely run 8 miles. I definitely couldn't run 4 hard miles and then follow it up with a 2.5 hour run the next day. My year of consistent and healthy work has paid off.
Brandon- the last man standing with me today. He is always training for some ironman, so it is easy to convince him to just go "30 more minutes." :))))