10 days.

10 days people! OMG! 10 days til the half. holy moly. i have not done much running so far this week.....i have been a little under the weather. hoping to at least get in a decent run this weekend, and a few miles next week. i leave a week from tomorrow. 10 days people!

christmas was good. santa was good to us all again this year. the big gift for me was this little netbook that i love! i did not want a full laptop size computer, and this is perfect. nice and lightweight, and easy to carry around. thanks santa!

now time to focus on this trip. and race. 10 days people!!!!! yikes!! excited yet nervous as i don't know what and a million things to do before.

happy new year! my race isn't til "next" year, but still 10 days!

merry and bright.

merry christmas!!

12.

i am just now getting this posted, it's been busy. last saturday i was able to complete 12 miles! definitely a nice boost of confidence. it went better than the 11 miler did. the weather was cold, but not as cold as that day, and there was a light snow falling, which was nice....made it a pretty run! i bundled up better too....i know now that looking back on that 11 miler that was so awful, part of the problem was i didn't have enough layers on. i also used gu, which helped with my energy level. gu chocolate outrage is my new best friend. i still had to give myself a good pep talk to get out there, (read post below to understand), but all in all, it went well. i think i could have kept going, although it would have been quite slow, up to the 13. i don't think i will be doing a 13 mile run, as i had originally planned, so disney will be the first for that number! now it is down to tapering. less than 3 weeks til the half! wow!

frustrated.

this is a fussy, crabby, poopy, whiney post and you have been forewarned! i am just kinda feeling frustrated right now with this whole running thing. and this is my outlet. i don't know if it is the cold. well, i know it is the cold weather, for one thing, but i am just tired of it. tired of feeling tired all the time. of the cold. of the training plan. of the feeling that i am fighting a cold or something, if it is going to happen, just happen already and get over being sick! (it'd be nice if it held off til after disney though). the thought of going outside to run in this, long distances, and even now, just 3 miles. 3 miles is easy, piece of cake, in and out in a half hour. but i don't have the energy, the will, or the feeling of stamina to go do it. i did the treadmill yesterday, and i nearly died of boredom. it's funny how that used to be the only way i'd run. i think i am ready to be done with training for awhile. i am tired of feeling sore. 2 gaglion cysts and a black toenail from this stuff, and thankfully no injuries. i read you shouldn't be sore and achy, so why am i after every time,ok, not every time, but lately it seems like it, some worse than others......i do the stretches, i drink the chocolate milk, etc.! i read a lot of articles in the magazine i get, and then i start to over analyze everything. i am ready to not follow a plan for a bit. at this point, i'd rather just go out and do what i want when i want. i have been training for something for the last 10 months, and while it has helped me, i am ready for a break. and i do enjoy it. probably more so in the warmer months, which honestly surprises me, and also does not. i think a lot of it now is just anticipation of fear, excitement, and dread all rolled into one for the half, being sick of the cold already and it 's only december. (mid 20's today). i want to do the half, i think i am just a bit worn out from trying to stick with training. i realize now when i asked my boss near his marathon, how he was doing and he seemed to have the same reaction i am now. at the time i didn't see how he could feel like that (b/c i was barely halfway into my training and more "into" the plan for training at the time). i am sitting here all ready to go. got my layers on. i just need to go. i am digging deep every time i run now to find the energy to get through it. i had my first dream about the half, and it was not good. i didn't have a number or a timing tag, or my license to prove who i was. i was trying to text my mom to tell her that i was nearing the magic kingdom and it just wouldn't text, among other many mishaps. i woke up all stressed out. so here i sit, willing myself to go. i can do it, i can do it. now do it! crap......maybe if it weren't so cold. i miss fall running, even early in the summer mornings. i'm off. this must be what the phrase "hitting a wall" means. (sorry this post just went all over the place and makes no sense in proper grammar and paragraph writing set up....). i think, and hope, i'll be more positive about this in 2 weeks, after my last, big long run. kinda like i was maybe even a month ago!

christmas cheer.

::may your days be merry and bright::

power of the dream.

exactly a month from today is my half marathon. it's a phrase i never thought i would be saying. who thought i would have the guts, stamina, endurance, and determination to do such a thing, as well as train for one. not me. a year ago, at this time, it was a tiny inkling of a thought in the back of my head. now it is for real. the training is probably the biggest part of all this, to stay with it, not give up, and keep going. good runs, bad runs, overly hot weather, freezing cold weather, rain, shine, perfect temperature days, tired legs, feeling not so good days, you still have to try your best and keep it up. i have felt it all in these days of training, even during the summer training for the 10 miler. i have always liked this song, ever since i first heard it from the 1996 olympics. it was one of the first songs i put onto my ipod when i first got it. i had no idea it would be a song that i use to help me get through the long, often hard training runs, and it is one of the songs that will be on my playlist for the half marathon. it's my, "you can do it" song/motivation. 4 weeks to go. thanks celine.

39711.

that's my official bib number for the half marathon! the info came today, and it feels so official now!

11.

yesterday was a new first for me. completeing 11 miles. it was not a great 11 miles, but i got through it. it was cold. by the end i was so ready to be done, which usually i am, but this time i especially was. actually, miles before i was done i was ready to be done. i tried to preoccupy my thoughts with daydreaming, listening to the ipod, making a mental to do list, but nothing really worked like it has before. i just wanted it done! near the end, the last couple miles, my legs felt like jelly. i think they felt partially numb, which could have been from the cold as well as being tired. my fingernails were purple when i got home. i always have cold hands, but they were especially cold yesterday. a couple fingers were numb. and yes, i did have on gloves. that never happened last winter, feeling that cold, but this was the first time i have ever been out in the cold for that long. nearly 2 hours. i got the mileage done in 1:54, according to my watch. i am proud of this new accomplishment, but i hope it goes easier on future 11+ mile runs coming up. especially for the half!

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disney transport.

look what arrived yesterday!!! our magical express tags! it's getting close, and i am excited!

(yes, it says polynesian...i finally get to stay there, it's been a lifelong dream. got a good rate and it's my reward to myself for following through with this whole half marathon idea!!!)