Sunday, October 3, 2010

Prayers and Funnies!

First I would like to ask my blogger friends who pray, to pray for a dear friend who lost her Mother to cancer this week.  She has been on my mind a lot this week and many previous weeks as she graciously helped her Mom through chemo, sickness, and dying.   Pray that she and her family will find peace in knowing that her Mom is no longer suffering.

The funnies - (ha ha)
*the night, or 2nd night after posting my last blog, I was in bed watching tv.  Suddenly it occurred to me that not only did I use the incorrect grammar on my last post, which I had intended to do,  but I misspelled it too, ha ha.  (if you read it after I corrected it, I had originally put - "ant life grand", instead of ain't life grand)  Too funny!  You have to laugh at yourself, and if you read it prior to my edit,  I'm sure you had a laugh too.    In addition to giving you a laugh,  I was assisting in keeping the typical stereotype of "Southerners being ignorant", alive and well.  ha ha
Really, in the South, there are many SMART people, don't judge by MY posts.  Ha Ha

*so I'm running this morning, the hubs was so sweet to drop me off up the road so I would be able to run with the wind at my back.  (more often than not, I will not do this because I think training with "what the weather gives you", is good race day prep, but today I decided I wanted the wind at my back.  Hey, I raced a 5k yesterday, and I have a full marathon training run coming up, so running with the wind at my back sounded good to me.)  Back to the funny part, so I am running along in the dark and some cars are approaching.  I am running on a 4 lane road which has a nice wide shoulder.  Perfect for running. (see pic below, but imagine it DARK) 
In the darkness I see what I think is a large piece of tire.  I jump, to go over it, and as I'm in the air, I realize it's skid marks on the road.  Ha Ha Ha!  I'm sure the approaching cars where thinking look at that drunk fool, running in the dark and jumping around. 

The funnies - (weird)
So I've been running for like 24 years (eeekk).  I have read many times about breaking your runs into small portions and that really make them more manageable and doable.  Through the years, I have tried to implement this, but it has never worked for me.  I often wondered how people trick themselves into just thinking about only that segment, when many other segments will follow.  All of the sudden,  it has actually worked for me a couple of times this fall.  Today, I had 18 miles, which I broke down into 6 mile segments.  It really worked.  Not sure why, but now with the  miles increasing, it's pretty easy to think about a 6 mile run, and think....6 miles...no problem.  Weird, right?  Hope it continues to work for me.

Ran another 5k this weekend.  This one was a true 5k - 3.10 miles.  The official results - 23:59 (23:55 Garmin)  hee hee, finally, officially on an accurate course, SUB 24.  So silly, I know, but it makes a difference to me.  Still hoping to see some larger improvements in my 5k performance this fall.  I know the higher mileage/ marathon training is holding me back from 5k improvement, but still hoping for a late fall jump in my 5k times.  It can happen, I know it can.

Next weekend will be the Run For Life 26.2 mile training run in Madison, MS.  I will take it nice and slow, walk when I want, and take pics along the way.  I enjoy racing, but I really enjoy relaxing too.  It will be hard, but FUN.  Also next weekend, my local friend Terry, will be heading to Chicago for the marathon.  Hope he, and all the bloggers heading to the windy city will find cool temps & low winds, or "the wind at your back."
Ending the week with 65 miles.  Iced after the 18 miler this am, and feeling good today. 



11 comments:

LMC said...

I'm sorry to hear about your friend's mom. You're very thoughtful to ask for prayers on her behalf. I do hope your friend finds some peace soon.

I laughed at the tire incident, but recognized it as the result of the crazy stuff that we runners (mostly me) do when running in the dark. It's just hard to make stuff out in the dark!

Glad you're getting closer to your desired times for the 5K. You've made pretty good progress so far! Have fun at Run For Life next week, can't wait to see the pix!

Have

Robbie said...

Great article. I love that you share the funny things in life, especially those pertaining to you. I would have love to seen you jump over the tire marks!! Might would have wrecked laughing so hard though.

Keep up the training; you're still my hero!! Aren't we lucky to have great hubbys?? Mine follows me to give me water I may need on my long runs (well, they are long to me).

Lindsay said...

funny, random tidbits today :) i didn't notice "ant" but maybe you had already corrected it by then. i used to be able to split runs up, but i'm in an "off" mode for that right now. hope it sticks, cause it does help! oh and i have definitely gotten freaked out by weird non-objects when running in the dark. sticks really get me, lol.

sorry to hear about your friend's mom - thoughts and prayers to her family/friends!

have a great week!

Johann said...

Well done, end of a great week for you! I’ve been running for 29 years and I still battle with breaking races into smaller parts. I find it easier on trails than road. I sometimes set certain milestones along the way and that works for me. Prayers for your friend from this side!

Jennifer said...

I have been thinking about A. too. I hope she's doing OK (and the family too) and hoping we'll get to see her soon. I have never broken my entire run up, I have however done it for the last 3 or 6 miles on long runs. I'll have to try it. I am still chuckling thing of you jumping all over the road!

Black Knight said...

Congrats for the sub 24 and good luck on the marathon.
Sorry for your friend's mom.

Petraruns said...

I am so sorry about your friend. It has been that way here as well - in the past month 3 people I know have lost a loved person in their life and it's so hard to watch your beloved friends in such sadness. You're a good friend to her though!

And good going on your running! All your strategies will work!

Jill said...

I have never been able to split runs up...I've tried but it never seems to work. That's cool you were able to, I bet it just feels different. Your running is going great and a sub 24 is so AWESOME! Yay! It is the small things - one hurdle at a time. Very sorry about your friend's mom, that is so hard. I'm glad you're such a good friend to her!

Iron Mike said...

Sorry about your friend's mom, I hope they find peace.
Wow, killer mileage this week, I'm envious.
I like that idea of breaking the runs down into manageable pieces. Sounds like that's your plan going into the run. I often find myself resorting to that mentality mid-run, but preparing for it beforehand must be better.
Hmmm, and you've been running for 24 years!
I tried to think of things I've been doing for 24 years, and all I came up with was breathing.
Keep pushing that 5K pace during marathon training, that's a full load.

chris mcpeake said...

Great week of training ... way to go

Anonymous said...

Great 5k race!
I did a 17mi run this morning and broke it up into segments and it really worked for me as well. Running is such a mental battle and thinking of it as 2 6milers and 1 5miler was so much easier than the daunting SEVENTEEN MILES.