I can do it!

After a very sick weekend battling strep throat, laryngitis, and a sinus infection, I got up this morning trying to decide whether to spend one more day sleeping it off, or actually get out of bed and do something.  Motivated by the extreme jump in my weight after a weekend of inactivity and stuffing my face with rich delicious foods and candy, I rounded up Elijah and Britnee and set out to do three miles of running.  After the first mile, both kids were feeling sick, so I went on alone.  Wow!  Eating hoardes of halloween candy right before bed must have given me extra energy, because I felt fabulous while running!  I decided to go ahead and make it five miles, which I did in 48:59.  Not a great time - my energy was good but my muscles felt tired and sore.  After my run, I remembered that I was supposed to meet some friends at the dance studio to practice some of our tapping, so I tapped for about 45 minutes.  Then, after some shoe shopping, I headed back home to do my P90X legs workout (minus the back) and ab-ripper.  This evening I finished it all up with some swimming at the pool - I did 100 lengths following the same workout as I did last week.  I ate really good all day, except for a small sliver of pumpkin pie with whipped cream after the swim.  I balanced it out with a raspberry protein shake, though, so I think it's okay.  :)

I started my day with P90X Cardio X.  Then I finished my day with an hour of yoga at the rec center.  That's pretty much it.....

This morning I got up and did a 5K run in 29:06.  I followed that up with P90X Shoulders and Arms, then Ben and I celebrated his birthday with a trip to the sushi buffet!  Yay!  This evening we celebrated by going to spin class at the rec center.  I only made it through a half hour, then my ankle really started to bother me, so I got on the treadmill and ran 2 more miles in 17:16.  After that, we took the kiddies to the pool and swam laps.  I only did 50 lengths, but I figured it was enough to justify a big bowl of ice cream when we got home.  Actually, it was a SMALL bowl of ice cream, but then I had to have another....so tasty!  :D

I felt pretty tired this morning, so I decided to do P90X Cardio X again instead of Kempo.  I figure I need to start resting up for the half marathon this Saturday.  This evening I went to yoga class, but there was a substitute, and it was really more of a stretching class than yoga.  Probably what I needed.  :)

Day before a race....I still haven't decided whether I want to really race it, or just use it as a training run in preparation for the marathon in two weeks. Anyway, today was an easy day. I did P90X Ccre Synergistics this morning, then carbed up all day long - YummY!

Race Day!  I woke up this morning TIRED.  I really thought I didn't have it in me today.  After the marathon, I realized that I was capable of coming in sub-two, but I wasn't sure if today was going to be my day.  And after the first two miles of steep downhill running, I felt like I had spent it all - my head hurt, and I figured it was going to be a bad race.  I ran the first two miles in 14 minutes, and completed the first three in about 22 minutes.  I hadn't been taking my walk breaks, and my heart-rate was WAY too high.  I felt really lousy.  So I forced myself to slow down, take my walk breaks, and forget about trying to PR.  It wasn't until after the seventh mile marker at 1:01 that I realized I just had to keep running, and I would make my two-hour time, but only just barely.  So I kept doing my thing, taking my walk breaks, forgetting my ego, and letting people pass me.  To my surprise, I came in at 1:54:26!  I was quite pleasantly surprised.  Another PR for me!  This was 20 minutes faster than my previous race time, and a good eight minutes faster than my fastest 13.1 miles!  I finished 101st out of 503 overall, and 20th out of 74 in my age division.  The headache lasted most of the day, until I finally realized I probably just needed my minerals replaced.  Then I was able to take care of it in 5 minutes. 

Ben and I finished off the evening with a short 10 mile bike ride on our mountain bikes.  It took about 50 minutes.  I am SO ready to go to sleep!  :-)