Long run done.

I am twenty-three miles tired right now.  If you're wondering, 23 miles takes the average 10-minute miler about 4 hours and 20 minutes to complete.  which was exactly where i landed.  I am just glad i finished it!!!  And i've spent the day lounging and cleaning at home, while the rain poured outside, feeling absolutely no regret for all the eting i've done.  omelette, sweet potato fries, pop tart, snickers bar... BRING IT.  

after the run, which honestly didn't kill as much as i imagined, i napped for a whopping ten minutes!!! i never nap.  instead i move about constantly until i crash.  which is what's happening now.  and is my own fault cause i'm a serial procratinator.  see? even my spelling sucks cause my eyes keep drifting off the page and shutting.  

please don't judge my writing skills on this blog.  I'm persistently sleepy when i do it.  I'm just trying desperately to tune my righting instrament on a daily basis like i said i would.  (see? spelling sucks when sleepy.)  so i'm doing that.  and that's about it.  I promise the post will get more interesting.  for now. night night.  

Pre-23

Apparently 23 miles of running is commencing tomorrow at 6am.  I find this fairly hideous.  We're only 3 weeks away from the marathon and i'm pretty sure any injuries now will certainly be even more prevalent after pounding pavement for 4 hours tomorrow morning.  Isn't this sort of wrong?  I guess this is one of those tests of "listen to your body."  But I am HORRIBLE at this.  (In most circumstances.)  When I have a job to do - whether it's work, or a running course to complete - I RARELY call in sick.  I just don't know how!  I always feel bad.  Like I'm letting myself and people down if I don't stick with it and muscle through - and I'm sort of perplexed by the idea that I have a limitation that won't let me complete the challenge.  Limitations are not okay.  So this penetrating ache above my left ankle - I'm just gonna keep ignoring that.

WAIT - i came across the most abnoxious pain on Thursday.  ARM-CHAFE.  gross.  what is arm chaffing you might ask?  Well, apparently, I wore the wrong tank top to run 6 miles in, and my arms in motion while running rubbed against the edge of the tank - resulting in PAINFUL arm chafe.  how does one get rid of chafe injuries?  baby powder? lotion? time?  ugh... so uncomfortable.  There is this genius invention called GLIDE.  Which apparently you just need to take a bath in to make sure all skin is coated.  Glide is amazing.  It is a lifesaver.  Way to go glide.

I'm in a conundrum.  In an effort to hydrate today I had pho for lunch.  I COULD EAT PHO EVERYDAY.  my office friends are sick of me cause i must have pho at least 3 times a week.  It is amazing.  It is a bowl of chicken broth with a large amount rice noodles, vegetables, and then an abundance of spiciness that i add myself.  When I went in today to pick it up the man was like "HAHA - YOU TWO VEGGIE PHO RIGHT?!"  And I felt like Miranda in that Sex & The City episode "Every night always the saaame!"  but seriously. it's amazing. so I supposed to see Book of Mormon tonight - YESSSS! - but now I've had 2 large Arrowhead bottles of water, and broth for lunch.  Insert Depends here.  Hopefully I can make it through the whole of the show without any emergencies crawling over people in the audience.

Also note - this was my attempt to continue writing SOMETHING daily - but not at midnight when i'm exhausted.  Hopefully something amazing will come of 23 miles tomorrow so that I can brag with my blog instead of making it the tedious last minute task it has become.  YOU'RE BETTER THAN THIS ANNE.  Don't be sick and slack.

#blog

#i'm tired
#ran6milestoday
#workedlikecrazy
#straightupforgot
#blog4now

OMG I almost forgot to blog!

I'm lying here in bed feeling so accomplished at the tasks I succeeded in this evening - 1) balancing my budget 2) washing/drying/hanging/folding laundry 3) making an amazing arugula & sweet potato salad - and just as I'm setting my alarm to wake up at 5:30am I realize... BLOGGGG!!!! It's only day 5 and I almost FAILED the challenge!  Getting in the habit of writing repeatedly is no easy feat!  Moreso, I have stories to tell and themes to expand upon and by the time I crack my laptop to do it I'm exhausted and cashed out.

At this point sleep is clearly equalling less than 6 hours - because I am DETERMINED to get up at 5:30am again and conquer the beast of Griffith park.  The hill.  When I started training for the marathon... I HATED that freaking hill.  I would run with my group and just decide - nope!  I'm walkin' it.  This hill is an asshole.  It's really tedious, steep, ongoing, and lame.  I will walk it.  The very first time i tried to tackle it - i was out of breath and lazy.  The second time I tried to tackle it I walked even more, because I knew how stupid it felt to be running.  The third time I tried to tackle it I thought -- okay... maybe halfway up running... and then I walked the rest.  The fourth time I tried to tackle it, I assumed I'd walk, but I'd kick it off with a run... and wouldn't you know, there was only one quarter left of the hill before I broke down to walk.  It took me completely by surprise.  My little butt and thighs were on a mission to prove my mentality wrong - and they charged me up that hill before I could cease.  And once you do it just once!  You know you can.  Now...I can tackle it.  A full little running motion all the way up to the peek.  And then I pass out.  BUT.  I hate every second and step of it, but every step gets you closer to the end... I will OWN this hill tomorrow.  and forever.  

aaaaaaand my eyelids are closing.  night night. 

Happy Feet

I MUST take care of myself.  Today at the office I just had one mini twix bar, one super-mini dark chocolate with almonds hershey, and one chocolate chip cookie.  Oh and the slightest sliver of leftover chocolate birthday cake.  And it all was consumed within a matter of 12 minutes because I walked away from my desk and into an avalanche of sweet temptations.  Did I mention I once worked at an actual bakery?  I thought that was worse... because the amazingness of sugary sights and smells was in my face for 10 hours straight... but somehow I managed to avoid shoveling it all in my cheeks.  It might have been the hidden cameras... which I did get caught on stealing a sea salt brownie one time.  But they were bite-sized! And only a dollar!  You'd never miss it!

What happens when I eat too much chocolate?  More pressure on my little feet.  I'm a size 9 shoe.  I'm proud to say this is fairly small for being 5'10.5".  As my coach once said "Annie you got preemy feet."  I took that as a compliment.  But when you get running shoes you need to get them a size bigger than normal shoes because apparently your feet swell when you pound the pavement for more than 30 minutes at a time.  Anyway, my point is, I got new shoes!!!  Size 10 black Asics with cool blue and pink accents.  It's all about the accents.  Shoes still need to be CUTE.  OBVIOUSLY.  These little babies will get me around the island on race day.  These shoes will get me leid at the finish line.  And these shoes were a fun $110 so they better do their job.  We have 3 weeks to get to know each other and break in.  I kicked off our relationship with a 6 mile run over the hill in Griffith park at a glorious 6 in the morning.  If they can get me over the hill here, I think we can cross Diamond head in Waikiki.  No more chocolate. Just fuel for my feet.

It's ALWAYS harder than you think...

...BUT you do it anyway.

Right?  I mean, it's only Day 3 of this little venture and I find it impossibly challenging to sit down for five minutes and type before my eyelids get heavy and I start writing inane sentences.  Thank goodness blogger doesn't have auto-correct like my iPhone.  THAT is dangerous.  But I deviate.  They don't call it a challenge for nothing.  Here is a conversation on the definition of "challenge" :

C - "Could you please tackle this intrusive task?"
H - "HELL NO"
A - "After you do, I promise you'll feel amazing."
L - "Let's see about that...."
L - "Let go, and run with it."
E - "Even quitters make a choice... DON'T quit now!"
N - "Never say never."
G - "GO GO GO you're almost there!"
E - "END!!!"

I guess that sums it up??? It does for now.

More better posts to come I promise...

Make time, Anne...

night night!

DAY 2 / RACE DAY / EXHAUSTED (in a month)

Yay! I've committed!  And a month from now at this moment I'll be sipping mai-tais, sea-side with a lei & a medal around my neck.

What I'm feeling today is nervous, but not just for the run.  Wait, did I mention this blog will not just be about running?  WHEW!  As if you weren't intrigued enough already... I know I will deviate from the theme at heart, but I think it all ties together when my feet hit the pavement.  That being said, from feet, to heart, to head... my nerves are in full swing.

Let's start from the ground up.  FEET.  For some reason everything goes wrong on my left side... Lefty has lost 2 toe-nails (GROSS. sparing you the picture.... but don't think I didn't think about it), endured 2 sprained ankles, and is a half size smaller than Righty... making her feel insubordinate and have to work harder on my stride.  At the moment a persistent ache/pull is occurring just north of my left ankle.  These are the moments I remember when I called on the amazing Dr. Beach.  (We'll call him that since he told me he lived by the beach with his I'm sure beautiful wife and beautiful children.)  But when I sprained my ankle, Dr Beach would caress it in his strong, moisturized, anti-bacterialized, big hands and all my pain would melt away. If Lefty gets bad enough I might have to stalk him out again for a visit.

Aaaaand... I'm dosing off to my own blog writing.  ZZzzzzz.  It's been a big weekend, and tomorrow will be a big day... and I will proceed to explain the "heart" part of the matter presented above.  

I promise the rest of this will be more engaging.  It's only Day 2.  I'm getting my groove back.  Time to sleep.  Like Jenny here.

(I promise I'll keep the Jenny-photos few and far between.....  hah.)