You've got to want it to win it

This morning I got up at 2:45 to get ready to go to the marathon.  Bill came and picked me up and Kim took us to the stadium to catch the shuttle up to the starting line.  I relaxed for the ride up and then when we got to the start we got off the bus for a few minutes and figured out what to do for Devra's chip for her shoe which she had forgotten and then we decided to get back on the bus to stay warm.  Then the bus had to leave so we got off and waited outside.  A little after 5 I took my Gu and then I ran down the road a little bit with Bill and Devra and ran back to get warmed up enough to take off my jacket and long pants and put them in the drop bag truck.  Then we did a few strides before getting on the line.  When the race went out I stuck with Bill and Devra but I was a few meters behind them but I wasn't too worried about falling back but I was trying to stick with Bill since that was why I went.  The first mile was a 5:30 and at mile 2 I was at 11:19.  Then Bill and Devra were further ahead of me but finally since it wasn't as steep I was able to work up to them and run with them.  Devra went a little ahead when we got to the uphills but I stayed with Bill for those.  The end of the second hill was at about mile 8 and when it started to go down again Bill took off on the downhill and I didn't ever catch back up but he was able to work with Devra for some of the rest of the race.  I saw them both coming back from the turnaround and then I didn't see them again until the finish line.  The last few miles I was not feeling so great but I wasn't going to let myself stop until I was halfway.  I was the second girl until right before I stopped, a girl in black passed me around then.  After I stopped I walked down the road a little bit and there my dad was waiting at the water station so I took off my bib number and walked to the car and we drove down to the park so I could turn in my chip and then I waited around to cheer on the marathoners as they finished.  I was really sore afterwards but I made sure to eat some good protein when I got home.  I admire everyone who was able to finish, I really struggled just getting to the halfway point!  But it will be probably several years before I finish my first marathon so I will have better training when that time comes. 

This morning I woke up as my sister was leaving to go to cross country and she told me I should come because it was going to be easy so that convinced me.  I got up and got ready to go and we headed to Fairmont Park.  We did 2 laps around the park up by the swimming pool and then the pond and back down to the skate park and soccer field.  Then we stretched in a circle for a while and all talked about our races.  Then we did 2 more laps and then some to get us up to 4.  My calves weren't that sore but my quads were extremely sore and my shins were too a little bit.  When I got home I did a set of secondary strength exercises.

Tonight I ran 2 miles with my cousin Michael.  We ran to 1700s and back twice. 

This morning I joined the team for workout at Sunnyside Park.  We started with a warmup of going to the gully, doing 2 and a half laps, and then coming back up to the park.  Then we did drills which really killed because my quads are so sore but I did them all, they included butt kicks, high knees, power skips, karaoke, and worst of all lunges :P  Then we were put into teams for some drill relays.  For those we did karaoke, duck walks, and then strides to the fence and back.  Then we did a lap around the park for cooldown bringing us to 4 and then ate otter pops because its my birthday! =D

This morning we ran on Drycreek by the JCC.  As usual we took a rock in each hand for the first mile and a half to add to our pile.  Then we ran past that, we could do 6 miles or if we felt that our legs were ready then do 8.  I decided to do 8 so I ran out to the 4 mile mark and back.  I almost tripped a few times but fortunately I always caught myself.  My legs feel even more recovered now, its great :) When I got home I took a 15 minute ice bath and did a set of seondary strength exercises and abs.

This morning we met at the drinking fountain at Liberty Park for workout.  We did a lap warmup and then changed shoes and ran to the start line painted on the sidewalk.  Over there we did 4 strides before starting on 800s.  My hamstrings felt really tight during those so I stretched between strides, I guess I've been neglecting to continue doing the hamstring strength stuff since they haven't been bugging me recently.  I kinda got boxed in on the first 800 but I finished in 2:46.  Then after a half mile recovery I hit 2:45 for the second one and then 2:55 and 2:52 for the last two.  During the recoveries my left hip was really hurting, I think yesterday the impact of catching myself on that leg from almost falling so many times is what is making it hurt.  Afterwards I finished the lap I was on and went to 6 miles before changing shoes back to my trainers.  Then I did a mile cooldown.  When I got home I took an ice bath for 15 minutes and this time I made sure it was plenty cold because I dumped the whole ice box in the tub right before I got in.  I also took some ibuprofen.  After getting out of the tub I did 3 sets of abs.  My hip felt a lot better after the ice bath and ibuprofen.

This morning we got up bright and early to go out to Magna for those of us who needed long runs.  After taking a long detour to get there we finally met at the old Chevron and departed on our run.  We ran out on 8400w half of what we needed and back to get how many miles we needed for the day.  The first few were uphill and then they start to roll.  The roadkill got bigger and bigger as we kept going.  I ran out 5.75 and then turned.  On the way back I ended up having to stop at a light for a few seconds but the car that had the green light was waiting for me to go for some reason but I waited until they had gone.  While waiting for everyone to get back I got started on my core and finished when I got home but I ended up doing 3 sets of secondary strength and abs, that's the most I've done all week but I'm glad I got it done :)  When I got home I iced my legs for 15 minutes.  My hip had only hurt when starting but it warmed up and I didn't feel it the rest of the run.