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Showing posts from October, 2013

The Inferiority Complex

Don't worry, soon I'll be back on a training plan and will be able to actually post about the things I really like to talk about. Well, at least the things I think I'm good at talking about. Training and racing is what makes me human. It's the one thing I feel that I have total control of (even though occasional injuries like to make me think otherwise) and it's my happy place. My pain cave is dark but there's great music in there. source Anyway, the point of today's blog is to talk about how to handle that pesky inferiority complex. I don't know if any of you are like me but I have a hard time recognizing my own accomplishments. I had this discussion with Miss Jessica the other day: Me:  She makes me sad that she's so hard on herself Jess:  I'm pretty sure you're that hard on yourself in some ways, so there's something to think about Me:  I'm not THAT hard on myself Jess:  Maybe not hard, but I feel like you get disap

Marathon Hangover

Well it was only a matter of time before the post-marathon blues set in. Earlier this week I was too exhausted to recognize what was happening but this morning I figured it out (with some much needed help from Jess ) that it is the Marathon Hangover! The hangover is closely related to the Marathon Monster but it's much sadder. It's essentially the death of the Monster who is so desperately trying to hang on and beg for higher mileage to sustain its life. Alas, the Monster eventually loses, the mileage dwindles and you're left feeling sad, fat and bored. source Or maybe that's just me. Am I the only one who needs a goal to stay motivated? I don't exercise for the sake of exercise and being healthy although I'd really like that to be the case. Honestly, I run for the races. I train to accomplish something. Without a race I literally just go through the motions. I can ride my bike but I'm not going to push up hills or anything. I'll lift weights bu

Louisville Dream Factory Marathon Race Recap

Welcome friends to the blog of a two-time marathoner! SPOILER ALERT! I finished the Louisville Dream Factory Marathon with second in my (super tiny) age group! I've said this about a billion times already to people not on the internet that it was truly the race you dream of! Leading up to race day the weather was sketchy at best and the day before was a miserable cold, drizzly day so I had my fingers crossed for Sunday. Luckily it was dry and calm when I woke up though very cold. I think it was in the low 40s so I was glad to have a throwaway shirt to wear for the first few miles. Otherwise it was sunny and pretty, a perfect day for marathoning! I'd forgotten how different waking up before a marathon is than any other race. I put my timing chip in my shoe and planned to attach it in the morning since I always wake up super early for race days and I did but I didn't take into account how long it would actually take to put it on. It was one of the old school chips wit

Throwback Thursday - Marathon Style

I'm not a huge TBTer but in honor of a little race I have coming up I thought I'd take you back to where the journey to M2 (Marathon #2) started. Let's bring it back to April where I watched Shalane Flanagan among others throw down on the Boston Marathon course. source I was participating in my usual "watch live feed online coverage of a major race while attempting to do something more important" ritual and got hooked in. Out of nowhere my brain said to me "Do another marathon." And my body said "Ok." And that was that. No profound realizations just simply, "I'm going to do another marathon." This was before any tragedy struck. This was early on when the Rita Jeptoos were finishing. The tragedy did nothing to sway my opinion, if anything it just strengthened my resolve. Fast forward to June and marathon training had commenced. My most memorable run in the past 16 weeks was the very first long run on the calendar. I

Marathon Monday

Well my friends, we are now officially under 1 week until marathon day and I have a lot going through my head but am surprisingly less panicked than I was expecting to be. I'm still panicked. Trust the training. I'm panicked that my mysterious leg injury will flare up and cripple me. I'm panicked that I didn't get that 20 miler in because of said leg injury. I'm panicked that something will happen this week to throw everything off. Was I right to swim and bike in place of running when my leg was really acting up or should I have run through it? Or should I have seen a doctor and now my leg is too weak to carry me through? Endurance events are hard. I don't think I'm shocking anyone with that groundbreaking sentence but there's so much more that adds to the difficulties than just the sheer distance. The great Kara Goucher once talked about how amazed she is by marathon runners who aren't professionals because not only do we have to balance tra

Inspiring Inspirational Inspiration

That pretty much sums up my weekend. I'm a big fan of being inspired. I love watching documentaries and becoming obsessed with the subjects and their relentless pursuit of whatever random feat despite their randomly difficult circumstances. There's nothing like watching someone overcome something. Anything. I would watch a documentary of an aspiring hand model getting rid of a hangnail in order to compete in the World Amateur Hand Modeling Championships and start googling nail technician programs so that I could someday be equipped with the necessary tools to aid other aspiring hand models in the future. Not only am I easily inspired, but I also like to be involved. The problem  with my obsession with inspiration is that it always leaves me wanting more. It makes me want to go harder, faster, longer! *insert our collective immature giggles here* As I sit here fresh from watching 10 hours of coverage of the Ironman World Championships on Saturday and 2 hours of the Chicago M

KT Tape to the Rescue!

How was your weekend? It was a wet one here. Very, very wet. So wet in fact that we made The Weather Channel's Facebook page! Yes, I liked The Weather Channel on Facebook. Anyway, due to the weather both group workouts planned with a few of the lovely ladies from my tri club fell through so aside from a quick and hilly (oxymoron?) 3 miler early Saturday morning I didn't do much to get moving over the weekend. Since I'm in a full taper now for the marathon (did someone say 2 weeks from yesterday?) in addition to wrapping myself in bubble wrap and preventative ace bandages I've also been trying out KT Tape to see if it could do some work on my mysterious leg injury and nagging hip ailment. I think the only reason anyone knows what KT tape is is because of the lovely Kerri Walsh, I mean, she's even on the box! Anything I can do to A: replicate Kerri Walsh and B: cure myself before getting to the start I'm willing to do so I headed out to Fleet Feet

Just Click It!

This just happened! For three days I've been going to the Ironman 70.3 Raleigh website, clicking the "Click Here to Register" button and staring at the screen. After a few hours of leaving the tab open I close it and go about my business. Not today! Today I did it, pulled the trigger and clicked submit and now I'm doing my first Half Ironman! Look out Raleigh!