This past Saturday, i had ran in the Summerfest Rock N Sole half marathon in downtown Milwaukee, WI. The finish line is on the Summerfest grounds and the race occurs a week before the kick off Summerfest. I look at the race like the ground breaking of summer. In March, after my fiance and I ran the St Pats 5K, our first race together and his first race ever, we decided we felt motivated enough to sign up for the half marathon. When signing up you have the option to race a 5K, Quarter Marathon or the Half Marathon. We saw that we had enough time for me to develop us a great training program and get prepared for the half so we went all in!
Little did we know that life was going to hit us, things were going to get hard, and training was going to be placed on the back burner. I developed a great training program for us, i had the schedule on the fridge, what we would be doing on our days of cross training planned out to the T, and i was motivated and ready!
(if you need a training schedule or have fitness questions please email me! LiveForFitness@gmail.com)
We stuck to the training program for about 2 weeks. Then i found out i was pregnant, which explained why i had been feeling so worn out and unable to workout. I let pregnancy get the best of me. I gave into the lethargic feelings, i embraced the couch, i grew more depressed. I would look in the mirror and complain- Im Getting Fat (in reality i stayed the exact same weight), im ugly, im no good. The usual self loathing comments. Non of it was true, but im the type of person who will mentally become fixated on something, turn a thought into a fact and then get pissed off or depressed.
Things got harder, training became an idea instead of a must do. Laziness was my queen and depression was my king. Positive Mental Attitude was not a strong suit of mine. But after all that happened (read link above ^ ) i finally picked myself up. I started to take action. Some days its a lot harder then others, and if all i do is get in a run and watch some Netflix, hey its a good day! Other days, i can be motivated and accomplish my entire to do list.
My training still suffered though, i halfheartedly resumed it, but i ran a total of 18 times between march 17 and june 12 (day before the race). That is not much for training- its running 3 weeks of a 12 week training schedule- and running sporadically and inconsistently. It takes 2 weeks for your body to fall out of shape, 8 weeks to start to get back into shape. Its safe to say, im still getting back into shape. My training felt weak, my asthma felt like it was back (and it is). The endurance and speed i had built over the past few years was gone. This was the longest I had gone with out working out consistently and maintaining a solid base.
The Thursday before the race, i took a hot yoga class. I loved it! I could feel the after affect in my shoulders and a bit in my legs the next day, but i felt great. I was finally able to do a full camel pose, and ive planned to start attending this class regularly. My yoga practice has helped my running and mindset in the past, so i need to add that back into my life. Especially for the ease of mind and serenity practice brings me. That evening, i picked up my race packet and the nervous jitters started to set in! Friday night, i didn't sleep very well. I was to nervous and overly anxious and just playing mental games with myself. The dreaded "coulda woulda shoulda" game. One that has no benefit to keeping a positive mental attitude and that i am working on shutting down permanently.
Race day finally arrived!! We left the house around 5:40am and parked downtown by 6:15am. We got to the starting line village (thats what it was called) by 6:30. A friend of ours was also running the half so the 3 of us decided we would run together. I was seated in coral B, Ryan in coral C, and Paul in coral E. You are allowed to move back a coral but not forward. So, we moved back to run with Paul. Best decision i made!
The start of the race, being a bit further back, we had a lot of traffic and congestion to deal with. Our first mile started out pretty slow, i noticed and told the guys we should pick up the pace a bit. We had a great time running together. Having those 2 next to me, kept me out of my head, smiling and motivated to keep going. The route for the half is awesome- the lake front is shut down, we get to run on the Hoan bridge- also shut down to traffic. Its just so awesome that so many people come together to run, i cant help but smile!
When we reached mile 7, we start to go up layfette hill- the hill i did my "Hill Training" on the last 2 summers. I decided- stupidly, to try and sprint up that hill. Game over. My asthma decided to come with me. At mile 8 i could no longer breathe with ease and my mental game was weak. I stopped to walk. Paul looked at me and said "No" and i motioned for him to go ahead, that i would catch up. And i did catch up, only to give up. I was not mentally in this anymore. I let myself drop back. Mile 10 i started to feel my right knee throbbing and was having intense pain in the arch of that foot as well, with the pain running up to my Achilles. My form changed and i was limping. At 10.5 i pulled over to try and massage my knee. A woman ran by and gave me a biofreeze packet! THANK YOU! I started to try and get my mental game back but the pacers for 2hours had passed me and i had internally given up. I was crying- silent tears, and ran the rest of the way with my head down. I felt discouraged, weak, like a failure, in pain and couldn't breathe. But, i finished! I finished and i had no baseline of training behind me.
I am proud of myself, not of my time, but that i finished. My best half is 45 minutes faster. I learned a lot about myself through this process, and im planning to sign up for 2 more half marathons this year. One in August and one in September. And i have time to train and get my mental game strong! Im glad i didnt give up. I knew that my fiance was waiting at the finish line for me and that kept me motivated. I am excited to get back into my training and where i used to be as a runner. I know i have to have patience and it will take time, but its a journey im willing to take.
QUESTIONS FOR YOU
WHAT MOTIVATES YOU TO KEEP GOING WHEN YOU WANT TO GIVE UP? HOW HAVE YOU OVERCOME OBSTACLES?
WHAT IS THE NEXT RACE YOU ARE TRAINING FOR OR PLANNING TO COMPETE IN? ARE YOU EXCITED, ANXIOUS, MEH ABOUT IT AND WHY?
Little did we know that life was going to hit us, things were going to get hard, and training was going to be placed on the back burner. I developed a great training program for us, i had the schedule on the fridge, what we would be doing on our days of cross training planned out to the T, and i was motivated and ready!
(if you need a training schedule or have fitness questions please email me! LiveForFitness@gmail.com)
We stuck to the training program for about 2 weeks. Then i found out i was pregnant, which explained why i had been feeling so worn out and unable to workout. I let pregnancy get the best of me. I gave into the lethargic feelings, i embraced the couch, i grew more depressed. I would look in the mirror and complain- Im Getting Fat (in reality i stayed the exact same weight), im ugly, im no good. The usual self loathing comments. Non of it was true, but im the type of person who will mentally become fixated on something, turn a thought into a fact and then get pissed off or depressed.
Things got harder, training became an idea instead of a must do. Laziness was my queen and depression was my king. Positive Mental Attitude was not a strong suit of mine. But after all that happened (read link above ^ ) i finally picked myself up. I started to take action. Some days its a lot harder then others, and if all i do is get in a run and watch some Netflix, hey its a good day! Other days, i can be motivated and accomplish my entire to do list.
My training still suffered though, i halfheartedly resumed it, but i ran a total of 18 times between march 17 and june 12 (day before the race). That is not much for training- its running 3 weeks of a 12 week training schedule- and running sporadically and inconsistently. It takes 2 weeks for your body to fall out of shape, 8 weeks to start to get back into shape. Its safe to say, im still getting back into shape. My training felt weak, my asthma felt like it was back (and it is). The endurance and speed i had built over the past few years was gone. This was the longest I had gone with out working out consistently and maintaining a solid base.
The Thursday before the race, i took a hot yoga class. I loved it! I could feel the after affect in my shoulders and a bit in my legs the next day, but i felt great. I was finally able to do a full camel pose, and ive planned to start attending this class regularly. My yoga practice has helped my running and mindset in the past, so i need to add that back into my life. Especially for the ease of mind and serenity practice brings me. That evening, i picked up my race packet and the nervous jitters started to set in! Friday night, i didn't sleep very well. I was to nervous and overly anxious and just playing mental games with myself. The dreaded "coulda woulda shoulda" game. One that has no benefit to keeping a positive mental attitude and that i am working on shutting down permanently.
Race day finally arrived!! We left the house around 5:40am and parked downtown by 6:15am. We got to the starting line village (thats what it was called) by 6:30. A friend of ours was also running the half so the 3 of us decided we would run together. I was seated in coral B, Ryan in coral C, and Paul in coral E. You are allowed to move back a coral but not forward. So, we moved back to run with Paul. Best decision i made!
The start of the race, being a bit further back, we had a lot of traffic and congestion to deal with. Our first mile started out pretty slow, i noticed and told the guys we should pick up the pace a bit. We had a great time running together. Having those 2 next to me, kept me out of my head, smiling and motivated to keep going. The route for the half is awesome- the lake front is shut down, we get to run on the Hoan bridge- also shut down to traffic. Its just so awesome that so many people come together to run, i cant help but smile!
When we reached mile 7, we start to go up layfette hill- the hill i did my "Hill Training" on the last 2 summers. I decided- stupidly, to try and sprint up that hill. Game over. My asthma decided to come with me. At mile 8 i could no longer breathe with ease and my mental game was weak. I stopped to walk. Paul looked at me and said "No" and i motioned for him to go ahead, that i would catch up. And i did catch up, only to give up. I was not mentally in this anymore. I let myself drop back. Mile 10 i started to feel my right knee throbbing and was having intense pain in the arch of that foot as well, with the pain running up to my Achilles. My form changed and i was limping. At 10.5 i pulled over to try and massage my knee. A woman ran by and gave me a biofreeze packet! THANK YOU! I started to try and get my mental game back but the pacers for 2hours had passed me and i had internally given up. I was crying- silent tears, and ran the rest of the way with my head down. I felt discouraged, weak, like a failure, in pain and couldn't breathe. But, i finished! I finished and i had no baseline of training behind me.
Summerfest Rock'N Sole - HALF MARATHON
I am proud of myself, not of my time, but that i finished. My best half is 45 minutes faster. I learned a lot about myself through this process, and im planning to sign up for 2 more half marathons this year. One in August and one in September. And i have time to train and get my mental game strong! Im glad i didnt give up. I knew that my fiance was waiting at the finish line for me and that kept me motivated. I am excited to get back into my training and where i used to be as a runner. I know i have to have patience and it will take time, but its a journey im willing to take.
QUESTIONS FOR YOU
WHAT MOTIVATES YOU TO KEEP GOING WHEN YOU WANT TO GIVE UP? HOW HAVE YOU OVERCOME OBSTACLES?
WHAT IS THE NEXT RACE YOU ARE TRAINING FOR OR PLANNING TO COMPETE IN? ARE YOU EXCITED, ANXIOUS, MEH ABOUT IT AND WHY?
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