I have hissy fits... ( my life journal )

Well the trail run was good, hilly and hard. I ran 33 seconds slower than I did in the Buffalo Alley Run. My times are consistent. The cool thing I found out today was that I finished 3rd in my age class which is recognized on the site. It's the first (and probally the last time) that will happen! I was pretty thrilled to see my name there though. So looking ahead it's time to move on and start training for the next race. I have 7 weeks and I need to blast my body for strength. I think the mistake I was making was running way to much and not working the muscles that I needed to work for fulll body conditioning. So with that said R is helping me build a different plan to help me train for the 10K in May:

• M,W - Short Run (30 minutes)
• Tu, Thur - WFH (Workout from Hell)
• F - Long Run (1 hour)
• Sat - Tracy Anderson Method & WFH
• Sun - Rest Day

R thinks my problem could be that I am counting milage and looking at my pace.  Instead of looking at the miles tick away he says focus on what you can do in a specific period of time. I'm good with that I just know it's going to take some time to adjust. Anyway I'm excited to move on and train for my first 10K!

I feel out of synch not running during lunch but I know my body needs to recouperate. Still waiting on when they are going to have my inhalers ready. To me it doesn't matter anymore I've been running without them and have managed to not drop dead so I guess that's a good thing. I also registered for my first 10K. It's the AFLAC Iron Girl race in Del Mar, the cool thing is that it's on mother's day! I would love for my son and mom to come out and support me.

My birthday is next month and I am gearing up for a tattoo. I haven't had one in years and it has always been my tradition to have one done. This year I am doing it, period. Just like running it's something spiritual about it that sets me right. I usually get one that describes my last year and when I get the tattoo it's like closure of those issues and that time period. I've already decided what I am getting and have the translator working on it. All of my tattoos are original and professionally translated. This one by far has the most meaning (personally) and will solidify a lot of personal feelings I've been going through over the past few years. Now my birthday needs to hurry up so I can get it.

Last night I did some thinking about my goals for running and I was reading on a website that the best thing to do to stay focused is to write out what you want to accomplish. So I wrote down in my Moleskine what I wanted to accomplish over the next few years and then transferred them onto my site. Looking at them in the timeline I'm a little afraid that maybe I'm pushing to fast to soon but then no one ever accomplished anything by sitting on their ass either. This year I wasn't going to push to hard to do the half marathon but I just said why not.

Runners just have a camaradarie that doesn't happen in most sports. We're encouraging and like to see each other succeed, I'll never get that anywhere else. There aren't many people that I communicate with day to day that share my passion, besides it takes a unique person to accomplish what I want to. I'm excited for the race this weekend and I'm hoping to do better than I did on my first 5K. I do have good motivation for finishing in a hurry, my son has a baseball game at 9am and I bet him $20 I would be there, he says I won't.

After work today the plan is to run a mile just to keep my body moving and my limbs loose (an easy run, under 9 minutes), some Kettlebell work and dynamic stretching.

I've been guilty since Monday. I love running, no I adore running. This week I've just used it for a different purpose, not to train or to keep myself fit. To hide. I hate when something can preoccupy my mind so much that I loose focus. My work sort of suffered too, lack of concentration and just having an incessant desire to watch 11:30am roll around so I could pound out 5+ miles. I've made great times and awesome mileage but for what? Because I'm upset. I only like sadistic running when I'm running hills because it's a good pain that makes me feel accomplished.

My son is home and for some reason his voice and his laughter really does me some good. Hopefully in the next couple of days I can get back on track. Race day is Saturday and I need to be completely relaxed and keep my mind focused and clear.

On a side note I was supposed to already have my inhalers (QVAR, Advair and Proair) but or course the pre-authorization is the holdup because of the amount I'm getting at one time and of course the steriod. I just hope I can get them before race day it would be helpful. In the last few days I noticed my peak flow readings have been 25 points lower then what they were last week. Still no word on the blood test, yet. Frustrating to say the least.

I've been seeing a few posts circulating in regards to "runners" vs "athletes", honestly this got me thinking. I'm never one to give a heated response out of emotion and I try to express myself in full comprehensible posts. So with that said I will explain why I believe they are similar and the only difference the two labels have.

The definition of an athlete is "a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina". When you look at a runners training, using myself as an example; I cross train. That includes weights, yoga, core work and cycling. I also participate in tennis, hiking and other physical activities. 

The definition of a runner is "one that runs". All that means is runners are athletes that happen to incorporate another activity that increases their endurance and stamina.

I don't care for labeling but if I have to be labeled then call me a runner. What I get from running cannot be felt from any other physical activity, basically you are carrying your body weight through a distance, if it's 1 mile, 5K, 10K or a marathon. Along with the mental anguish, pain, frustration and tricks you have to play on your mind to stay focused and motivated. As a runner I have been injured and a lot. I do believe there is one difference, runners have a never say die mindset.