Running diary

Here's an update on my running. Skip it if you don't care--I just have to share.

After the 1/2 marathon, I felt like a total weenie. Sure, I ran 13.1 miles and all, but my time was so slow. I know I kicked it in that last 4 miles, and ran a 9-minute-mile pace, but my first 9 miles, combined with an 8-minute IT band stretch at mile 10 added up to a very slow overall time. I had been so anxious about running 13 miles that I saved up WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too much energy for the last 3 miles. Still, I was proud of myself for going from 0 miles to training 34 miles per week and finishing the 1/2 marathon without walking. Truly, that was my only goal.

My slow time gave me inspiration and motivation to run another race. This time, I have a time to beat, and I'm not starting from totally flabby-out-of-shape-zero. I'm starting out with runner's legs able to run 10 miles at a 9:40-per-minute pace. I did this last Saturday along the Columbia River. It was my first 10-miler since the race, and I was so nervous to run that distance again. But it was actually not too bad. In all, I ran 33 miles last week. That puts me in the zone for my new training program, which started this morning.

I have 16 weeks until the Las Vegas Rock N Roll 1/2 marathon. I no longer want to simply finish without walking--I want to fly. I want to kick my old time in the butt. I know I can come in under 2 hours. I would love to do 1:37:00 and have guaranteed entry into the 2010 NYC marathon, but that may be a little extreme for me right now. I would have to carry a 7:20 pace for all 13 miles, though. I think my goal will be to beat Abram's time of 1:52:50. A mother of 7 should be able to run faster than her 15-year-old son, right?

Mark is still on track to qualify for Boston in Las Vegas. He ran 17 miles Saturday with 7 of those miles at a 7:00-7:15 pace. He's got to hold a 7:30 pace for the whole marathon to qualify for Boston. We'll see what his body can do in the next 16 weeks.

In the meantime, it's sleep, eat, run for both of us. It's getting darker in the mornings, which makes it a little harder to get up, but the peer pressure keeps us both from sleeping in.

Some good news is that I finally have lost 10 pounds from all this running. The math (1 mile=100 calories and 3,500 calories=1 pound lost) says that I should have lost 20-25 pounds by this time. But my body has a special way of doing things in ways that defy logic and science. Textbook physiology and biochemistry do not apply to Jill's body. Although the weight loss is only 10 pounds, I know that I definitely LOOK like I have lost more than that. I just tell myself that I've gained 10 pounds of muscle. One reason I picked running of all the available forms of exercise, is that after watching the Olympics last August, I really, really wanted runner's legs. There's just something amazing about runner's legs. I didn't really notice that my legs had transformed until last week as I was running and my shoe was bugging me. I looked down at my shoe, and I couldn't believe what I saw--there were runner's legs in my shoes! The muscles I had been dreaming of were right there attached to me!

That's enough to keep me running.