Monday, July 13, 2015

Chicago Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon

I'm in, and I'm off to run my 26th Half-Marathon, 
My 24th state:
Chicago Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon: July 19th. 
Yeah, I was a little bummed because I thought this was state #25, but then I realized I ran in DC (For those of you not familiar with the US - DC stands for District of Columbia. it's where the US Capital is located.)
Next half, I will be halfway finished with all 50 states! 
Woo-hoo! 
Let's hear it for Half-Crazed!
And so far, I've only suffered two proximal hamstring strains! Speaking of which, my arse is killing me today. And you gotta see how many squats and lunges, jump squats and jump lunges, split squats and burpees I'm doing each week! It all probably contributed to my exhaustion yesterday on my long run. I finished with an average 8:45' mile pace - but that was my "pushing it".

I think I was so tired because I hardly ate anything on Friday, and Saturday, and I worked my but off getting my son's party together to finally celebrate his graduation from high school. I prepared a ton of food, Ron made BBQ chicken, hamburgers and hot dogs, and we had tons of watermelon and homemade desserts from Grandma and Auntie! So being tired from the party and running later in the morning heat left me absolutely spent. It was the first time that I stopped before my last mile to yell at myself, and try to psyche myself up to finish. I had to count to ten, over and over, just to get through the last mile. Then after the last mile, I threw my hands up in the air, and screamed, "I'm done (some expletives), I'm finally done!" It was a relief to know I was done with my long run.

I hate running in the heat.
Yesterday, my head was pounding, I was hungry, thirsty, cranky! Usually running through the local park, I stop to sip water from the fountain - it just didn't seem to be enough yesterday! Even my one Gu ration wasn't enough. It was the first time ever that I ran a training run and wished for another Gu! Gu to me is a gross, but necessary evil.
The celebration party was well worth it though.
My son, his friends, and all the family had such a great time. I know Johnny had fun because at one point during the party, he was lifting me in the air and threatening to do power cleans with me:
Pre-Press Threat!
How was your weekend?
Are you struggling through any long runs this summer?
Anyone going to Chicago Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon next weekend?
Ever have someone use you as a human barbell?

3 comments:

Char said...

There is nothing good about running in the heat. Nothing! It's winter here and we're having the coldest snap that we've had in Brisbane for decades and I love it! It's invigorating and running is so much easier. Dreading the return of heat and humidity.

Black Knight said...

Here the heat is terrible too and the runs are difficult. Our workouts always include paths with fountains.
Good luck on your half!

Ilka@ilkasblog.com said...

I just found your blog. You are such an inspiration. I had a pretty bad long run yesterday myself. I was totally relating to you in your latest post. Running in the heat is hard. There is nothing easy about it. Good Luck on all your races. What a great marathon time you had! :)