Staying Tough, Mentally

It’s almost August – I really don’t know where July went. I suppose I spent it logging miles, nursing my little hound, and teleworking a lot.

As of August 4, I have exactly a month until my Half! I’m excited and looking forward to the challenge. The miles we’ve been logging (seven last weekend, six the weekend before, and five the weekend before that) have bolstered my confidence. Yet, I’m also scared out of my mind. 13.1 miles is a long way. I felt so accomplished last Saturday when we finished our seven mile run. As I cooled off and walked home with Hubs, both sipping our iced coffees, I realized that we will be running 6.1 MORE miles on the day of the race. Right now, that feels inconceivable.

I know I’ve come a long way during training. Where I am now, two miles, three miles, even four miles don’t seem like long runs anymore. These are no longer “stretch” workouts for me — instead they’re my evening runs. It’s what I do when I get home from work. I love that feeling and it’s so nice to see what my body can do. Around Memorial Day, I was worried about finishing a 5k. A month before that, I could have maybe run one mile (if chased). I really love the level of fitness I’m working toward. I love that I’m healthy enough to get out and sweat after a long day at work. It’s nice to know I’m pushing myself again.

I’m trying hard to stay positive and motivated. I try not to think about the mileage increases each Saturday. I just think about the next mile. However, I do catch myself sometimes thinking about Saturday’s long run in “how in the world am I gonna do that?!?!” terms. But, I get out and I do it. Having Hubs with me is super helpful and really spurs me on to keep running. I really enjoy the time we get to spend together on our runs. Even when we devolve into grunts and panted questions about which direction we’re going next, seeing him running beside me motivates me to keep going.

Have you trained for a distance race? How do you stay mentally tough during training? On race day? I’ll take all the advice I can get!!

Also, y’all, I am suffering from the worst planning mistake ever! My passionate love of college football (especially my alma mater, the University of Georgia) has collided with this race I’ve been planning for the past seven months. I failed to look at a football schedule. 😦 Georgia’s season opener, at the Georgia Dome, Saturday night prime time, on ESPN, is the night before my half. *Insert huge sigh here* I anticipate struggles sleeping anyway, so maybe it will be nice to have the tv on in the background as I try to fall asleep? Or, there’s always the chance I get sucked in, get worked up, and get little to no sleep the night before I run 13.1 miles. If that happens (and if we lose) I will be VERY, VERY cranky. All right, I’m done being melodramatic. It’s one football game, but I’m committed y’all!

Time Flies

Y’all, how is tomorrow the first day of September? I really cannot believe how fast this year had gone by! However, I am ready to welcome September with open arms because that means the return of college football!  Hubs and I love watching any and every team. A lot of times, if we have no pressing plans, we’ll start with Game Day in the morning and watch football all day long on Saturday — breaking only for meals. We are especially obsessive over Georgia Football! I can’t wait to see how our team does this year — I think we’re going to be the surprise success of the SEC. 🙂 The game on Saturday won’t be shown in our area, so we’re thinking of either going to a Georgia Bar (where lots of fans gather to watch the game) or getting GamePlan for the day so we can watch at home. We shall see!

My headache is hiding today. It’s right there, I can feel it. But so far it hasn’t made a pounding appearance. I still don’t feel entirely right, but I’m doing better than yesterday. Last night I felt pretty awful, but Hubs and I made a delicious dinner (Red Snapper and a quinoa-corn-pepper-onion-garlic salad) with a dessert of Edy’s Slow Churn Ice Cream (Double Fudger Brownie – yes please)! I am convinced that ice cream (and froyo, and gelato for that matter) have healing powers.

I slept like the dead last night and felt moderately rested this morning. I’m on an 8 hour day schedule this week (as opposed to my normal 9 hour schedule) because I’m traveling next week. That means that I’m off at 3:30! My plans for the evening include a nice long work out (racking up at least 3.75 miles to meet my August mileage goal), a fast and easy dinner, and then reading in bed until I fall asleep (hopefully around 9 or so). I really want to feel better before this weekend — we’re going to a wedding and then I’m headed to a week of travel so I need to get right with life before all of that. Hubs starts class tonight also, so it will be a quiet night alone for me. (I won’t lie, I miss him when he’s in class but I also enjoy having an evening to myself each week.)

I tracked my suitcase this morning and that baby is out for delivery as of 4:33 this morning. (I love how precise they are, ha ha ha!) I can’t wait to get my hands on it, look at all of its compartments, etc. I’m such a travel nerd — I even love packing!

Last night I started thinking about which books I want to take with me on the trip. I’ve mentioned here before how I always bring an extra book or two with me when I travel because I’m horrified of ending up stuck somewhere without something to read. (It has almost happened too!) I’m plodding, quite literally, through Anna Karenina. The story is interesting and I like the book, but it’s just taking me forever to read! I started the book about a week ago and am only 150 or so pages in. Since the version I have is almost 800 pages long, I’m definitely not going to finish it before I leave next Monday. I also have an aversion to lugging 10lb books around when I travel. So, I think I’m going to set Anna Karenina aside for my week of travel. Instead, I’ll be bringing along The Omnivore’s Dilemma and The Art of Racing in the Rain. I don’t know what my back up book will be yet — I may just put my hand down at random on my shelf of books to read.

On a side note, I’ve been toying with the idea of starting to run again soon. I took the summer off since I almost died running in the heat and the treadmill bores me ridiculously. However, now that fall is approaching the idea is becoming more appealing…

Do you watch college football? Who do you root for? Hubs and I love our Georgia Bulldawgs as we’re both Georgia Alums. Watching YouTube clips online gives me goosebumps! (I know, I know. It sounds lame, but trust me…)