Quieting the Mind- Opening the Soul

I have been really tired the last couple days. The good news is, I have been sleeping alot. I just joined the gym near my new apartment and with that I always make a decision to attend the fitness classes.

I have always dabbled with Yoga over the past few years, since High school actually. I go through phases where I practice once or twice a week for a few weeks before falling out of it again. I feel like more and more of my friends have been doing Yoga regularly and I would like to join them. They have Vinyasa at my gym and there is a studio on Sansom St that does Bikram, which is where a few of my friends go.

Bikram Yoga is done in an 120 degree room. I sweat when it is 50 degrees outside so I am sure I would lose buckets... But not one person had anything negative to say about it. I think I will give that a try the next couple weeks.

Obviously I will still be training, with 25 days to go, but I think Yoga will be a nice addition to it. I wish that I had the ocean at my doorstep to go to each morning and meditate and stretch. I do have the Schuylkill River right there and a new gym membership so no more excuses.

"Yoga is the practice of quieting the mind"

Many the Miles...

26 Days!!! Holy Crap! Yesterday I ran my longest run for this training, 20 miles! I went camping (well in cabins so kind of camping) this weekend and missed the team run at Valley Forge Saturday. I did my 20 at Kelly Drive yesterday from 2:15- 6:45…

Man, let me just tell you, there is nothing more powerful in the human body than the mind. I have been lucky to not have hit ‘The Wall’ in every one of my long runs, however yesterday was a different story. It was nice out, nice enough to run in my skort, a t shirt, and I brought the sleeves in case. What I did not think through was the sun going down around mile 18.5 and then I was freezing!

Anyway, so the wall… I ran the first 15 miles with the 2:1 interval, Run 2 mins walk 1. And it was good, kept about an 11-11:30 mile to that point. Then I started to get tired (Mentally I was coming up with reasons why this was harder then it needed to be) I switched my interval to 1:2 and thought that it would help so I could keep the running steady for that one minute and get to walk more.

My brain was just not having it. I started to feel my muscles ache and about then was when my left knee started to creek. In fairness the knee usually starts to hurt after 12-13 miles but when my mind notices and is looking for reasons to through in the towel the pain pulses in my mind and I can’t let it go. I started to resent the beep of my watch, even for 60 seconds I didn’t want to run anymore. The dilemma here being, I just needed to get to where I was going and I would be done. It wasn’t like I could just get in my car and finish the run. I was going to get the miles in no matter what.

About 16.5  miles in I heard someone call my name. It was my friend Suzy! We stopped and talked for 10 mins or so and I was so happy to see someone. Even though it was only 3 and a half hours or so of no talking, I was so happy to have a conversation.

Friday I did get to run 5 miles in the morning before work. I was laying in bed thinking of a hundred reasons why I should not get up but thankfully I got out there. I took some pics from that run:

Oh I forgot, Saturday I went Horseback riding. It was my second time ever on a Horse (Midnight). I had a lot of fun but a little soreness in the thigh area. 



Today I am sore city. I got a cramp in my left calf when I was sleeping Saturday morning, in the bunk and man it was painful. Usually I will punch my leg and cry until it goes away but it was 9am and there were a couple other girls sleeping in the cabin so I quietly held my leg with a death grip until I could swing it to the side and hop in my sleeping bag a couple feet. The pain was there about an hour after I was awake and went away, but today the left calf is a hurtin'. I laid in bed until the absolute last minute this morning, wishing I could sleep for just one more day.. But I got up and I am here, at work.. Wanted to Update this before I got back to the grind for real.

I have Nutrition tonight, which is pretty cool to take a look at, however I feel like I exclude myself from what we discuss. Like the fact that I ate eggs, potatoes, and a bagel this morning...I think the whole 20 mile run yesterday gives me a free bagel card  :)

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment." ~Buddha

It's when I think about the miles behind me and the ones left ahead that my mind gets overwhelmed, but when I focus on just this one minute or one mile, anything is possible.

Up Before The Sun

I actually woke up in time to run yesterday. Got a slow start but I thought if I could just get outside then God will take care of the rest. I started running toward the River and saw Hot pink in the sky from a few blocks away. It was a gorgeous sunrise.

On the way home I ran into Caroline and it was nice to see a friendly face so early. I tried to run through city hall but the cops have their paddy wagons blocking the 4 entrances. Occupy Philly has grown over the past 2 weeks and there are tents everywhere on the West side of City Hall. Everyone was still sleeping when I ran by but I snapped some pictures on the way.

I am exactly $300 from my fundraising goal with one month left! If you haven't already and can donate even one dollar, please click my donation link on the upper right corner of this page.

I am kind of looking forward to my 20 mile run this weekend. I know that sounds crazy but it is my farthest training run and once it is finished I will know I am in the home stretch of my training.

I watched 'Run Fatboy Run' the other night and I still love. Training for a marathon in 3 weeks, hilarious Brit humor. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly suggest it.

Here are some pics from yesterday:

One month 3 Days

Yesterday I ran 12 miles at Valley Green. It was a gorgeous day for a run. I feel like I'm the runner with ADD.. But nature can be so overwhelmingly beautiful that all I want to do is capture it. Pictures never justify the sites or moments but I continuously try to. Here are some pics from yesterday...

Pictures of the Journey

Valley Forge


Deer are so calm when they aren't being hunted




Purty




I love old houses and buildings..makes me wonder who used to hang out there and how old they'd be now




Nice place for a bench






I really want to check out that church. I can tell by the cannons outside it's gotta be awesome.

Letting Go of Old Ideas

Alright, things are really starting to move along now. Saturday I did 16 miles at Valley Forge. It was the first time that I have ran Valley Forge this season and we have done the actual loop (with all the hills), the other times we stayed on the River Path. I got some pretty neat pictures.

(*Will add later, computer is not cooperating all that well right now)

Two weeks ago I ran the Philly Rock N’ Roll Half and got 3 minutes faster than last year!

I am a firm believer in the walk/run now and I’ll tell ya why. I have been mixing it up between intervals of run 8 minutes: walk 2. And Run 6 minutes: walk 2. And I think I am getting faster! My body can run for 8 minutes, no problem. So what I do is just tell myself I only have to run for 8 minutes (or 6 depending) and then I get to walk (Briskly) for two and reset. I don’t feel as tired and I am still enjoying it.

I was surprised Saturday when I found myself not far behind people that are usually well ahead of me. It is not a race for speed for me but I was looking around like ‘what’s the deal? Is everyone having an off morning?’ They weren’t I was just doing okay in my walk/run. I didn’t run with anyone, because I was doing my own thing, headphone free, and it really was a very peaceful 3+ hours.

After the Half last week and a few hours after Saturday’s run I got a pretty massive headache. I have never had them after running before and talked to a couple people about it. One of my friends said she had been feeling that way too and thinks it is because of dehydration or low sodium and electrolytes. I think that could very well be the case. I need to make sure I am eating and drinking right and also SLEEPING, not just on long run days but the days before and after too. It’s convenient that I am currently in Intro to Nutrition because we are learning about just this. Between getting over a cold, long runs, and headaches it hasn’t been my best two weeks but yesterday I ate and drank better and already started to feel the impact of that extra bottle of water. I am going to run tonight after class and start making that initiative to really take care of myself: sleep, eat, drink, and run.


I am still about $350 away from my Fundraising Goal for November and have been brainstorming Ideas, because I will need to raise money for January too ($500)…Stay tuned and once I come up with my million dollar idea, I’ll be sure to post.

A couple years ago when I started training for my first Half...I remember specifically having the goal to finish without walking. And I did that. Now, during that Half in Tallahassee, there were people who would pass me then they would walk and I would pass them then they would run and pass me and I would trot along slowly and get madder and madder at them. I thought 'What the heck, here I am NOT walking but they are giggling and beating me.' It wasn't until this past year, meeting the people in the 24 hr race, talking with other TNT members that I finally was able to let go of the idea that I'm only a winner if I run the whole thing. I am a winner because I strap on my shoes and show up. I get the same medal, the same accomplishment, and I get to Thoroughly enjoy myself.

"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned,
so as to have the life that is waiting for us.
The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come."
- Joseph Campbell

Getting Back To It

Last night I ran about 6 miles after I got home from class. The past couple weeks I have been off my beam with training. Aug 1 my grandmom passed away and I kind of stopped everything. Work, school, running.. I caught up on sleep that week. Last week I was back to the grind but only got two short runs in.

I went to NY Saturday so couldn't make the team practice. This week I won't be able to make it either. It's easy to start feeling like a slacker when I think about all of the practices I've missed.

But last night I got a good run in, some cool pics, and made a decision to recommit myself to this. I'm happy when I'm running. I feel good.



Trying to capture the lightening in West Philly






The sky was getting ready..

About a month left until the Rock N Roll Half. This time last year I was talking about my slacking runs, and I never got my groove back before the Half. This year will be different.

Running in lightening can only take you so far, until the sky opens up.




Today I'm making a decision to get back to my routine.