Update and nerves.

Monday- Swim with my 6:30AM older Chinese ladies posse at the gym. CHECK

Tuesday - Easy or fast run, depending on my legs. I'm hoping for a 6 miler. CHECK

Wednesday - Walk + Run interval on the treadmill (barfhateBORING), and weights. CHECK (and not so bad)

Thursday - Fast run. CHECK

Friday - Swim and weights.

Saturday - Whatever I feel like, and that won't kill me. Carb party.

Sunday - 20+ mile / JUDGEMENT DAY.

Today is Thursday (like I needed to remind you), and I'm so nervous.

I realized yesterday that what I've been doing above is not ideal, and that I might break myself, since it's less than a month from my marathon now. I didn't plan well, which I NEVER do. I decided to run this thing last week. I must be insane bananas.

But I HAVE to get this 20 miler down, otherwise I'm never going to make it. I know I can do the 20 miler, but I'm afraid of what it would do to me on the day of the marathon (which is on the 25th).

You thought this was going to end with some coherent thought at the end, but nope. I got NUTTIN. I'm just fraackin' nervous.

I guess I just have to look forward to that Carb Party. Anyone want to join??? Blueberry muffins at Souplantation!

P.S. I've been Twittering: find me, I'm lisa_speaks. I love Twitter, but not to follow my friends. Love them to death, but I can care less if they're eating or drunk or illegally updating from their car in traffic (if they're in CA). What I LOVE about Twitter is following celebrities, like Shaq, Peter Segal, and Christopher Walken. It's like I get a joke from them everyday.

Holy shitty run, Batman!

zomg. 

I ran 13 miles today, and it was the shittiest 13 miles I've ever ran.  It has SHAT on my confidence about this marathon. 

To start off, I went to a very fun carb-filled party last night, and wasn't too smart about what I was eating, or what I was drinking.  Basically, I ate too many fatty and salty foods, and I drank soda and sake.  Smart.  I've adapted this "I can shove anything in my mouth because I'm training!" mentality, and today is proof that the above is NOT true. 

What ticks me off even more, is that today was GORGEOUS.  I was such pleasant weather.  There was a nice breeze, the temperature was just right, and I was so excited to go on the run.  The first 3 miles, this time around, were actually not too bad.  Number 5 and 6 were so so.  7-13 were absolute disasters.  I was getting really dehydrated (and still had not gotten any kind of water pack), and I started getting a cramp in my stomach.  It's the type of cramp you get when you first start as a runner.  That cramp that you get on your first run EVER, where everything hurts around the 2nd mile, and when you get that sharp pain on your side.  THAT one.  Ugh.  I had to stop and walk a couple of times, which I hate doing, because it brakes my tempo.  Then, around the last mile, I TOTALLY. ATE. SHIT.  I fell, stubbed my toe, scraped a little of my knee, and if I weren't holding my broken watch, I would have done a number on my hand.  Thankfully, my watch took the impact and is all scratched up.  

I've tripped before, but had enough strength in my legs to not fall down.  I suppose my limbs were weak at that point, and I just fell.  A car passed by, and totally saw the whole thing, and stopped and reversed, but as soon as she saw me get up, she went on her merry way.  I'm fine, but it was just the poo icing on the crap run.  To top it off with ca-ca cherry, I'm prettttyy sure I saw a dead cat on my route.  It was sprawled out on the grass, and looked as if it was napping, but when I saw that it's eyes were rolled back and kind of lifeless, it didn't look as endearing.  I wasn't sure, though, and I ran past it and didn't have the guts to go back and check.  Sorry, cat.  I later went home to my parents' and saw my dog in the exact same position in our backyard, but he was happily snoring, and it made me feel a little better.  

Sigh... now I'm QUITE nervous.  I'm still going to tackle the 20+ mile next Sunday, but this time around, I'm going to eat at Souplantation, instead of a Filipino family food party, and opt for the salad bar instead of the lumpia bar.  I'll save the lumpia bar for AFTER my 20+ miler.  

Here's my plan for the week:  

Monday- Swim with my 6:30AM older Chinese ladies posse at the gym.  (I am one of the youngest people at the gym at that time, and am CLEARLY the youngest person in the pool.  The pool is dominated by Chinese ladies in their 50s - 60s, and they treat me like Michael Phelps, because I can do more than doggy paddle.  They are really sweet, and try to include me in their gang. )

Tuesday - Easy or fast run, depending on my legs.  I'm hoping for a 6 miler. 

Wednesday - Walk + Run interval on the treadmill (barfhateBORING), and weights.

Thursday  - Fast run.

Friday - Swim and weights. 

Saturday - Whatever I feel like, and that won't kill me.  Carb party. 

Sunday - 20+ mile / JUDGEMENT DAY.  

My toe still kind of hurts.  And my ring toenail has been blue for about a week.  I have disgusting feet, and I am proud of that.  

18.25

That is the number of miles I ran last Sunday, and what prompted me to sign up for this year's Los Angeles Marathon.  

Yes, it's a month away.  But I'm PSYCHED (which is a word I've always associated with a little craziness, and I think it's particularly appropriate in this situation.)  

So, let me tell you how this  18.75 went down.  

The most I've ran before that was 15 miles, which I only had done once the week before.  That 15 was painful at the end.  My legs were gelatin-like, and I was also getting really thirsty.  ( I had never carried any water during my runs, which is something I'm thinking about.) 

I told myself that if I could do 17 miles, then I could do reach 20+ miles a  couple weeks before the marathon, which means that I have enough mileage to finish the race.  So off I went.

First of all, I tried to leave early (around 8:30AM), but it was already warm.  At the end of that day, the temperature rose to 90+ degrees.  It was HOT.  I would have left earlier than 8:30AM, but I had a late night on Friday working on some things and also chatting with my roommate, who I rarely see. 

My legs felt like deadbolts the first 3 miles.  This is often the case, but usually by the 2nd mile, I pick up.  The 1st mile is always the worse, but on that day, I struggled a little longer.  After around mile 6-7, I felt a good pace, although I was aware that I was going considerably slow.  I decided that if I was going to last until the end, it's OK to go slow, so I trucked along.  I went a little further than my planned route, and really pushed toward the end, but suddenly felt light around 15-16.  It's funny how that happens.  Sometimes, the last 2 miles are the fastest and the lightest.  

I finished 18.25 miles in a little under 3 hours (and by little, I mean seconds), and it was already 89 degrees outside.  I decided that I had it in me, and signed up 2 days later.  

I know I said I'd never do a marathon.  WEeeellllll... yeah.  Woops!  This week, I'm taking it easy and going to bust out 13 miles.  Next week........ 20.