Worries

Well, I did not get back to running over the weekend. It turns out the "sickness" I felt on Wednesday night was the start of my kidney cysts aggrivating my system. I was in some pain and just didn't feel like I had the energy to go running. I decided it was better to be safe at this point. This morning we did go for a 4 mile run. It went really well. I didn't feel as fatigued as on Thursday. I think my body just needed to deal with the internal pain. I'm just so worried that I wont feel better by the marathon which would interfere with my endurance. I just have to think hopeful. I can do it. It just may take a long time. At least I'm back to my normal weight. Weight: 118.5 pounds Breakfast: cereal, orange juice Lunch: Lean Cuisine Dinner: chicken, apple sauce, lots of chocolate chip cookies (oops!)

Turkey Trot...Not

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! This morning I woke up and felt a lot better than I did last night. By the time we got to the check in for the Turkey Trot the sun was up and shining brighly. I estimated my time to complete the 10 miles at 2 hours and 18 minutes. We had to write our estimated time down on a tongue depressor stick. We started out with a lap around the park and then up the dreaded Diamondhead road hill. I was wiped out. It was like I was running in molasses. I did not have the strength and my breathing was very labored. At the top I took a drink of water which was refreshing and headed to Triangle park. The water and a little bit of shade gave me temporary relief, but I just couldn't do it. Even though I felt better this morning, whatever was attacking my system last night took all the energy out of me. I turned around and walked back up the hill. I ran for a little bit more, but the walk through the park to get to the car was exhuasting. I couldn't believe how much my body was straining. I decided it was best to try and save my strength for the marathon. Yikes, that day keeps getting closer and closer. I hope I have the strength and energy needed to run it. After getting home, I weighed myself. Maybe I didn't have the energy because I lost 2 pounds in one day. That can't be good. Well it's lots of rest for today and tomorrow then back for a 5 mile run on Saturday. I need to keep my hopes up for the marathon! :) Weight: 117.5 pounds Breakfast: bagel and cream cheese Lunch: Dinner: LOTS and LOTS of food. Went to a buffet at the Radisson. Two words: CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN. *drool* it was soooo delicious. Yummy I wanted to dip everything into the chocolate fountain. I ate healthy portions of Salmon, garlic mashed potatoes, stuffing, crab, vegetables, and CHOCOLATE covered everything! Well, I only dipped the fresh fruit into the chocolate. I also had a little pumpkin pie.

It's Creeping Closer

The marathon is very very scarily close. I ran 3 miles this morning for workout and felt good. When I got home from work, my insides felt knotted. I was so weak, it was hard to make food. I thought I would be okay and just tried to drink lots of water and sleep. Tomorrow is the Turkey Trot. Shouldn't be too bad since it's only 10 miles and I know the course. It will just be like any other weekend training session. Weight: 119.5 pounds Breakfast: 2 eggs, milk, cranberry juice Lunch: soy pattie with bun, Hershey's bar Dinner: Lots of pasta, garlic bread

Final Countdown

Less than 2 weeks to go, to be exact 19 days until the marathon. eeek. I'm getting a little nervous. But, I have faith that all this training will get me through the marathon. Today I did half the exercise. It was supposed to be warm up and then 8 x 5 minute threshold and 2 min. walk. I knew I didn't have the energy for 8, so I ended up doing 4. It still was very challenging and I felt like I had accomplished a lot after the exercise. Over all a good workout. The fishies are looking happier, it has taken a lot of work to get the water conditions better. I have hope that the remaining fish will be okay. Weight: 119.5 pounds Breakfast: bagel with cream cheese, milk Lunch: soy pattie with bun, brownie Dinner: chicken taquitos, chicken burger

"And The Fishies In The Sea Have Gone To Sleep..."

Yesterday we bought some fishies for the home. They are so fascinating to watch. It is very amusing, even more so than TV. (did I just say that?) Unfortunately 3 wee-little Tetra fishies have already gone up to the big fish bowl in the sky. I guess they just couldn't handle the change. We also have one missing tetra fish? It probably is not a good sign.
Anywho...Today I did not do the run that was scheduled. Instead I felt a great need to work on my strength training. I did The Firms' "Upper Body Split" DVD. I love that one. It has a great upper body workout as well as a lot of Ab work. I felt great during and after.
When I got home from work, a few more fishies had gone to "sleep". It was very sad, but it taught me a valuable lesson. 12 fish cannot survive together in a 2 1/2 gallon tank. Weight: 120 pounds Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs, milk Lunch: leftover pizza, cookies Dinner: chicken, apple sauce, mashed potatoes.

"So Run To The Sun..."

"...here's one for the road. And may god's love go with you. My tears are starting to show. Whoa."
This morning we reached Diamondhead road just as the sun started to rise. In all the times I've ever seen a sunrise, I've never seen one as beautiful. It was bright orange and there was a pink cast along the pretty clouds in the sky. The air was so clear I could see the outline of Maui. It was the most incredible sight I've seen while running thus far. The sunrise was in front of me for about a 1/2 hour. I couldn't stop staring. Then my eyes started to hurt so I had to look away for a bit.
The run itself went very well. There were times that my hip started to hurt again as well as my knees. My toe felt surprisingly good. It was a struggle the last mile or so to keep going. I just knew I really needed to push myself if I wanted to make it through the marathon. I felt good after the run, there wasn't any dire need for food like in previous weeks. And surprisingly I did not need to take a nap. I'm very excited about these last few weeks of training. :)
Weight: 119.5 pounds
Breakfast: 1/2 bagel with cream cheese, orange juice, 2 scrambled eggs Lunch: roasted chicken sandwich, chocolate chip cookies, Jamba Juice Dinner: pot roast, mashed potatoes, corn, blue cheese, 3 glasses of red wine (one too many :)

Sleepy

I slept in this morning completely ignoring the fact that I should have got up for a run or at least cross-trained. Today the actual marathon is heavy on my mind. The next three weeks will probably fly by. Tomorrow's run should be okay for me. 2 1/2 hours will probably get us to Triangle park and back to Ala Moana. I'm excited about running. Maybe it's because there is only 3 more weeks, that every run will be fun and exciting. Luckily my toe is looking and feeling GREAT! My ankle feels better, a little tender but it doesn't hurt to walk or put pressure on it. Weight: 120 pounds (I'm not eating very healthy lately) Breakfast: cereal, orange juice Snack: oatmeal fruit cookies, crackers Lunch: 1 vegetable soy patty with bread Dinner: pasta, garlic bread

Almost There....

I can't believe it's only 3 1/2 weeks until the marathon. I'm starting to get excited and nervous. The larger shoes are definitely helping out and they don't feel loose. I ran 4 miles into Waikiki this morning. It felt great! I really hope I can survive the marathon. Sure, 4 miles doesn't seem like much to me anymore, but I just remember the anguish of 18.6 miles. I can do it, I know I can. My spirits are high and I am confident. Weight: 118 pounds Breakfast: cereal, orange juice Lunch: 2 vegetable soy patties, yogurt smoothie Snack: oatmeal fruit cookies Dinner: chicken and mashed potatoes and apple sauce

The Other Side Of Waikiki

I learned a big lesson over the weekend, I needed bigger shoes. That was the reason my big toes were taking a beating. My feet would swell and my big toes would rub up against the leather part of my shoes instead of the soft meshy part. I bought bigger shoes (8 1/2) on Sunday. This helped out tremendously. They really meant it when they said to go 1 full size bigger when buying running shoes.
My ankle was a little tender when I woke up, but my toe is now feeling really really good. I went out for a 5 mile run down Waikiki. 5 miles puts me at the edge of Waikiki near the Kapiolani Park. It was good to see more of Waikiki, it's so beautiful in the morning. I didn't really feel pain in my toe or ankle or knees, so it was a good run. After the run my ankle was still very tender but not as bad as yesterday. I still limped around a little bit today but I feel like my endurance was strong throughout the run. Breakfast: cereal, orange juice Snack: Popcorn Lunch: 2 vegetable soy patties, yogurt smoothie Snack: "fun" sized 3-Musketeers Dinner: Salmon

Enough with the Pain!

I did not go running this morning. My ankle was so tender and soar and I don't even know why. It hurt as if I spained it or something. I don't know, excruciating pain on the inside bone of my ankle. I don't ever remember twisting it or bumping it so I have no clue what is causing the pain. It is so tender to the touch and walking is really difficult. Breakfast: cereal, orange juice Lunch: 2 vegetable soy patties, yogurt smoothie Dinner: chicken and mashed potatoes.

Downhill

This weekend we were supposed to run for 3 hours. I tried my best. My toe was in lots of pain and when I started up the hill, it just got worse. I decided to turn around at Triangle Park which was after 1 hour and 15 min. At least I got my hill practice in. On the way back, I felt like the start was so far away. My knees started to give in and were in lots of pain. Sigh, I felt like my body was giving out. I only have 4 more weeks until the marathon, I just wanted to get through it. I had to stop for about 8 minutes or so and just walk. It felt so much better to walk. My knees were thankful. When I reached the beginning of Ala Moana Park, I started to run again. The pain in my knees went away and my toe wasn't as bad. After the race, I felt so hungry. That awful starving feeling that was there last week came back. It wasn't AS bad but still I needed food IMMEDIATELY. After I ate and drank some orange juice, I felt much much better. I need to figure out what to do so that I don't have that awful feeling of hunger after a race. Hmmmm. This has only happened in the last two weeks. I don't know why. Throughout the day, the pain in my toe got much much worse. I took of the pressure bandage which helped a little, but OUCH! The bruise hurt, the toe nail felt like it was on fire. It felt awful, I couldn't do much to alleviate the pain either. When I went to sleep, it was too painful so I took some Advil, tried cleaning it with hydrogen peroxide and put a banaide on it. This helped a little so that I could at least sleep. Weight: 118 pounds Breakfast: power bar, 1 gel After run: Banana pancakes, 1 egg, orange juice Lunch: slept through lunch Dinner: salad, mixed drink, bread, potato wedge, spicy chicken piece, crab cakes, little bit of garlic mashed potato.

4, 3, 2, 1....Threshold!

Today was new. It started out with 10 minute easy run. Not too difficult, I rather enjoyed it. Then started a sequence of 4X (10 min. Threshold with 2 min. walk in between). The first Threshold seemed to go quite smoothly. It felt great to be going so fast. My heart was racing by the end and I was glad to have a 2 minute walk break. 2 minutes sure does fly by quickly and before I was ready, we had to start another 10 minutes at Threshhold. Well this one went well, however I just didn't think I could do two more sequences. I was glad it was half over, but really couldn't imagine finishing the entire workout. It seemed impossible. During the 3rd Threshhold, I was dragging a little bit. It was tough to push so much for 10 more minutes. After I completed the 3rd, I protested about doing the 4th and final. Part of me just wanted to give up and jog back home. But, I realized that when I do all the exercises, I do really well and improve. So I started up again for the last Threshhold. I was breathing pretty hard and sweating buckets. My stomach felt gigantic, and the top layer of fat seemed to be tearing away from my bottom layer of very thin muscle. It was an awful feeling. I can't believe it, but I did in fact complete the last Threshold. I was so excited and happy that I was able to finish it. It felt so wonderful to have accomplished it. The easy 10 minute jog back was such a relief. In total it was 68 minutes exercise. It felt great to have achieved it. As tough as the morning exercise was, I knew I needed to strengthen my upper body. My sholder/back has been feeling better, but still not good. I did the Upper Body portion of The Firm: Body Sculpt DVD. It was a good challenge and got my upper muscles to work a bit. I really need to start building up muscle so that I have less of a chance of injury. Weight: 120.5 pounds (this explains why my stomach felt so large) Breakfast: 1/2 power bar, cereal Lunch: 2 vegetable soy patties, grapes, 5 cookies Dinner: Salmon, brown rice, 1 sugar cookie, 1 wine cooler

This Little Piggy...

Is in incredible PAIN!!! OWE! My right big toes' nail is just detaching itself ever so slowly from my toe. I'm in such pain today. I had made an appt. with a podiatrist for next week, but I just can't wait. So I am going today. Hopefully he will at least be able to help ease the pain and help it so that I can go running tomorrow. On a good note, I did run 4 miles this morning at a faster pace. I felt good and still challenged. The pollution bothered me everytime I breathed in, but I just had to push the thought of the harm that all of the exhaust, smoke, and garbage is doing to my lungs out of my mind. I will update after I see the doctor. ----Just got back from the Podiatrist. The doctor was so nice and seemed to really know his feet. He told me I have Greek feet. He showed that there are two types of feet Roman (where the toe next to the big toe is longer than the big toe) and Greek (Where the big toe is the longest). All running shoes are made for Roman feet, therefore my big toe does not have enough room and that's why there is so much friction in my running shoes. He numbed up my toe and drained the blood beneath. It looks a lot better :) and it's all nice and numb WooHoo! He said the numbness will wear off in 3 hours and that I will feel pain because of the pressure bandage. So my toe feels great! I don't feel any pain. He didn't want to do anything drastic like remove the toenail because I still have to train and run the marathon. But, he did suggest if it gets worse that I should come back after the marathon. Weight: 118 pounds Breakfast: 1/2 bagel w/ cream cheese, orange juice, milk Lunch: popcorn, roasted chicken sandwich, 2 chocolate chip cookies, rootbeer (no caffeine) Dinner: Pasta, garlic bread

I Can Feel the Marathon

As I pushed through the 4 mile run this morning, I felt great about my training. The marathon is almost here, I feel confident I can do it, I just need to get through the next few weeks of training. Luckily, this coming weekends' practice will be the longest run until the marathon. 3 hours will be about 13+ miles for me. It's approximately how long it took me to run the half marathon, so I know I can do it. After this weekend, the training regime tapers down so that we aren't too burnt out by the marathon day. I can't believe I made it this far. I'm having such a great time training and pushing myself with the marathon training, however I am looking forward to letting my body rest a little bit and to try something new for exercise! :) I'm so happy that I am doing this and love the challenge. I can't believe I could barely run a mile when we started. Weight: 118.5 pounds Breakfast: 1/2 bagel w/ cream cheese, orange juice, milk Lunch: 2 basil soy patties Dinner: Vegetable lasagna, 1 piece of toast, yogurt

"Don't Stop Me Now...." - Half Marathon Race Day!

"I'm having such a good time, I'm having a ball." I was so sleepy this morning and wasn't enthusiastic about running the race. I was so scared that I had lost my interest in running. I ate an entire power bar and some water and a fizzy Emergen-C drink. It was pouring out which did not help my enthusiasm. By the time we parked the car, it had slowed down to a light drizzle with lots of puddles around. It was so dark and so cold, I was glum. The rain stopped at the start of the race, but I unfortunately had to make a pit stop at the ladies room. It put us behind all the other people, but it was necessary. Then as I tried to re-establish my proper pace, I felt all out of rythmn. I almost felt like I was going too fast. But, it got me back with the pack of people at my pace. After conqering the two big hills of Diamondhead Road, my spirits picked up. It was a very comfortable weather and I felt like I had lots of energy. I felt so wonderful, I didn't want to stop!! :):):):) As the sun started to rise (behind the clouds) I started to cheer up. I felt great. I felt like I was going a lot faster than usual (which I was). When we reached the gas station aide stop, I ingested a "Lava passion flavor" gel. It tasted disgusting. But, it gave me the energy to keep going on the highway. People were already coming back when we started on the highway. It made me feel more a part of the race with everyone around me. I felt strong on the way out and it didn't seem so far before we hit the turn around point. I was so happy it was halfway and we were making good time. On the way back on the highway, my neck started to tense up and I started to slow down a little bit. I made it back to the gas station aide stop and luckily there was still water left. After ingesting another gel, I still felt really good and knew I had the energy to make it to the end. Yes, it was still tough to get over the hills of Diamondhead, but once I was on the way down, I felt so energized. The last 1/2 mile to the finish line, I really pushed myself. There were too females in front of me that for some reason, I wanted to beat to the finish line. I pushed as hard as I could and went full force for the last 1/4 mile. I felt so great going so fast. It was exhuasting, but it felt so good when the people were cheering us on at the finish line. I was so happy! :) I felt good still too. Exhuasted, but good. It ends up I was running at a 13 1/2 minute miles. Which, sadly, is a big improvement from my usual pace. My stomach immediately started to rumble after the race. I took a piece of banana and fruit juice to go and started home. After I washed, I felt faintly hungry. I felt like I was sick again and would faint if I did not get food immediately. We went out to a diner and I ordered banana pancakes and an egg. I just couldn't even sit up straight. I felt so awful. I think I still had some of the bug left in my system. Once my food arrived I inhaled the egg in a few seconds and started on the pancakes. It all tasted so good, but I didn't feel much better. I drank some orange juice and water and finished most of my pancakes. I felt a little better, still not great. I just needed to give the food time to digest in my system and then I was feeling back to normal. Just really physically tired. We went to see a movie, so I ate a ton of buttered popcorn. It tasted so good, I just kept eating. I think I ended up eating half or more of the tub of popcorn. But, I was feeling great after the movie, I felt alive again. For the rest of the day, I didn't do much. I took a nap and watched more TV. I felt pretty good. My legs were a little tired and it was tiring to sit up straight, but I didn't feel terrible. I am now in a happy mood about running. I don't know why I felt so down about it. It could have been that nasty stomach bug that spent so much time in my system and made me feel bad about everything. Now I feel so energized and enthusiastic about the marathon. I'm so scared of how long we will be running. Probably about 6 hours! That's going to be such a long time. Weight: 117 pounds Pre-Race: 1 power bar, Emergen-C drink, water During Race: water, gatorade, 2 gel packs After Race: 1/4 banana, orange drink, banana pancakes, 1 scrambled egg, orange juice Lunch: Buttered Popcorn Dinner: Spicy Chicken frozen pizza, chocolate chip cookies w/ ice cream

Preparation for the Half Marathon

Today I just relaxed and prepared my body for the half marathon I will be running tomorrow. I made sure to try and drink lots of liquids and get enough carbs and protein. I did wake with a terrible headache which did not subside even with lots of water and pain killers. I knew it must have been the overload on carbs yesterday and the lack of protein. Once I started eating lunch, I immediately felt a lot better. I'm still a little nervous, but I know I can at least finish since this is much less than 18.6 miles. Weight: 117.5 pounds Breakfast: Bagel with cream cheese, cranberry juice Lunch: Chinese food buffet (Tofu bean curry, fried rice, chicken wings, tea) Dinner: Pasta w/ baked chicken and garlic bread

Anticipation

This morning, I went out for a 4 mile run. Usually it's so beautiful to run along Waikiki, however it was raining this morning. And Waikiki beach was still beautiful. I did not feel so strong which makes me a bit anxious about Sunday's Half marathon run. I feel very fatigued right now at work. I just want to take a nap. Tomorrow I will be sure to get lots of rest. Weight: 118 pounds Breakfast: Waf-fills, banana, cranberry juice Lunch: left over manicotti and vegetables Snack: Cup of Noodles Dinner: Pasta and garlic bread

Are Those Really My Legs?!

Today was a day of rest for running. I decided to work on my Upper Body strength and did a Firm DVD. I feel like I'm getting a little stronger in the upper body. As I was hunched over to a Lat pull exercise, I noticed my legs, or so I hoped. They didn't really look like my legs. They were muscular and thin and looked nice. No, those can't be my legs. But they were. I was so happy in how they looked. I only wish my mid-section looked that good. But, it is still untoned, flabby and weak. It just doesn't look pleasant. Well, I wish I was doing more for my upper body and stomach, but I guess the sporadic workouts are better than nothing. Weight: 115.5 pounds Breakfast: Potatoe soup, cranberry juice Lunch: left over chicken and garlic mashed potatoes Snack: Twix Dinner: Manicotti, vegetables, chocolate ice cream

20 Minutes / Forever....Same Thing

Today's run was 10 min. easy 20 minute threshold, 10 min. walk, 20 min. @ Marathon Pace. 20 minutes of Threshold felt like forever. Exhuastion took over and I was on autopilot to get through the threshold. It felt great to have 10 minute walk afterwards. Gave me a chance to catch my breath. When I started back up again for the 20 minutes at MP I was struggling. I was going a little bit faster than my "easy" pace which is truly what I can run during long races. It felt like forever to finish that 20 minutes as well. During lunch time I felt naseous again. Grrrr when am I gonig to start feeling good? I'm so tired of feeling sick. Maybe someday soon, I will feel 100% better. In the afternoon, I ate some ramen. Yeah, I know it's not that healthy and kind of disgusting. But, It made me feel so much better. I didn't have that awful yucky feeling I usually carry throughout the afternoon. Maybe my potassium level drops too much in the afternoon making me feel slow and sluggish. I must find a better way to incorporate more salty (yet somewhat healthy) foods in my afternoon diet. Weight: 116.5 pounds (I'm so happy my weight is staying the same) Breakfast: cereal, banana, cranberry juice, milk Lunch: left over chicken and garlic mashed potatoes, raspberries Snack: Ramen Dinner: Salmon, Reese's Peanut Butter Cup

Back to Running (Finally feeling better)!

I rested well throughout the night and felt great when I woke up this morning. I was a little bit nervous to go out jogging, but knew I needed to start back on track if I wanted to make it to the marathon. I didn't follow the exercise schedule (today was supposed to be a rest day). But, I did 3 miles easy this morning. I did feel a little weak, but my endurance held strong throughout the entire run. My leg muscles felt fatigued but didn't have any problems handling the workout. I feel great. I even made it to work without any trouble. I seem to have lost 3 pounds. I know I wanted to loose weight, but being sick was not worth it. I wonder how long I can maintain the weight loss. Well, I'm feeling about 95% good today. I'm so happy I was able to go out jogging this morning. It felt good. :) Weight: 116.5 pounds Breakfast: cereal, banana Lunch: roast 2 soy patties, raspberries, little bit of candy Dinner: Salmon, garlic mashed potatoes