Yesterday was the Dormont Dash 5k. My goal for this race was to break 30 minutes and set a new PR.

I woke up in the morning feeling great: I had my usual pre-race breakfast (whole wheat english muffin with peanut butter and jelly), put on my clothes which I had lain out the previous night, and headed to the race place not far away.

It was a gorgeous morning, not nearly as hot and humid as it had been recently. The fact that it was 8am didn’t hurt, either. At this point , I was cautiously optimistic about achieving my goal. I haven’t really done much speed work (or any, for that matter), but my pace has steadily quickened over time, and it’s definitely within the realm of possibility that I could do this – I’ve gotten SO CLOSE!

Shortly after I arrived, I met up with N-Cat who was running the race as well. This was her first road race in many years, so she was adorably nervous and excited. I’ve done quite a few 5ks to date so I don’t get that same sort of charge at the starting line anymore; it was neat to live vicariously through her. (That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy doing 5ks, because I do, it’s just different now. If you run races, too, I imagine you know what I mean.)

N-Cat and I didn’t plan to run together since we had different goals: Like I said, my goal was to break 30 minutes, and N-Cat’s goal was simply to finish… ideally not last. I was confident that she would have no problem finishing and not last – even if she wasn’t. (Incidentally, she did awesome, finishing in under 40 minutes, with plenty of people behind her!)

J-Roc ran this race, too, but he arrived late so I didn’t see him until he crossed the finish line. Note to J-Roc: It’s important to arrive on time to road races!  :D

This course was described as having “rolling hills.” That’s a complete understatement. This course was like an M.C. Escher painting as it was almost entirely uphill, and yet the start and finish lines were the at the same elevation. Funny that…

I’m used to running on hills, but this course was absolutely insane. It started out uphill. Then you turn the corner and it was up another hill. Then another and another. Crazy.

Of course, there were some downhills, but I swear, they were few and far between. I did my best to sprint on the downhills because the uphills were so tough and I wanted to try to compensate for that.

About a mile in, I adjusted my goal from “break 30 minutes” to “don’t die.”

I’m pleased to say that I didn’t die, but I also didn’t break 30 minutes. My time was 31:07.3. Not bad considering the course, which was definitely not a course on which to set a PR.

Which means I have the same goal to strive for. It kills me every time I cross the finish line of a 5k and see a ’3′ in front of my time. I guess that means it’ll be that much more awesome when I finally get there, right?

My goal for this morning’s 5k was to break 30 minutes. Unfortunately, I missed it by this much: My official time was 30:27. So close!

I feel like I did the best I could so I’m not too upset. Also, even though I didn’t break 30 minutes, it was a PR, and my pace was better than 10 minutes per mile (9:49), so that’s really cool.

This is the first race I’ve done where my goal wasn’t to simply “run the entire thing without walking.” For this race, I knew I’d be able to run the whole thing since I increased my mileage so much by training for last week’s half. That makes the next obvious goal speed!

I haven’t really done much speedwork to date. I think I might work some of that into my next round of workouts and see what happens.

Speaking of new workouts, this week starts post half marathon training life. (Last week was recovery!) Tomorrow night, I plan to go to the Total Body Workout class at my gym, which I haven’t been to in months since my hip hop class was on Mondays. I’m really looking forward to it – I could use a total body workout… and a total body massage!

Most of my week has been spent lazing about. Ok, that’s not entirely true – it’s been incredibly busy work-wise. Workout-wise, though, it was much less intense than last week. Or the last 12 weeks, for that matter.

I haven’t run at all since the half marathon on Sunday. That wasn’t really my intention, but I’m not too broken up about it, either. I did walk twice: To complete a bunch of errands on Monday, and to a restaurant for dinner with my husband yesterday. Both walks were quite enjoyable! I rarely use running to complete errands because I get so sweaty and I’m always running to train, so even though these were walks, it was a nice change of pace. (Ha!)

I am missing the running, though. Luckily for me, I’m running a 5k tomorrow!

It’s the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Pittsburgh. This will be my third running of it, and 2 years ago, it was my very first road race. That gives it a special place in my heart.

My fastest official 5k time to date was last September, at 30:45, but that course was all downhill/flat. Tomorrow’s course is full of hills. Last year I finished this particular 5k in 34:51.

I would really love to break the 30-minute mark tomorrow.

It will be tough, but not impossible at my current level of fitness/training. I’m hoping that with the adrenaline created by running with 35,000 people, and knowing that I only have to go 3.1 miles (as opposed to 13.1!), I’ll be able to push myself to get the added speed necessary to give me a new PR, and under 30 minutes.

Wish me luck! And tune in tomorrow for the results!

Three months of training culminated in the half marathon I ran this morning. Spoiler Alert: Consistent training pays off.

Up at 4:45. Out the door by 6. Downtown parking garage by 6:30. Massive line for the porta-potties by 6:45. At the Starting Line by 7:15. (This is all thanks to my husband, King of Logistics! It was soooo wonderful of him to agree to be my driver, photographer, and cheerleader for the day. He’s the best.)

I successfully met up with Fast Willy C prior to the start (what did we do before cell phones?). The gun went off at 7:30, and 7 minutes later, Fast Willy and I finally crossed the Starting Line (we were in the last corral due to our (my) projected finish time).

As any runner can attest, the first mile or two is among the worst: Your body screams out – What are you doing to me? I don’t like this! Cut it out! – and then relaxes a bit after a few miles.

Today that was no different, though the first few miles weren’t nearly as difficult as the last few miles, but we’ll get to that in a bit…

About 3 minutes in, it started to rain. Just a light sprinkle at first, and then an all out RAIN. After a mile or two, it switched back and forth – Sprinkle – Rain – Sprinkle – Rain – for the rest of the race. At first it felt good, cooling off the surprisingly hot (and muggy!) morning. Then it was just annoying: Wet feet, wet clothes, water in your eyes. But as Fast Willy pointed out, there was nothing to do but just keep running!

I was feeling good for quite a while. Not great – I don’t want to pretend that any of it was EASY – but it was a good challenge. One that I had prepared for.

It was Mile 8 when things started to get very difficult. When we first reached the marker, I was excited – 8 miles! – and then I did the math: FIVE MILES LEFT. Oy.

It just got worse from there: My legs started cramping up. It felt like I was getting a blister on my right foot (I didn’t!). I had to go to the bathroom.

I kept going though, mostly because of Fast Willy C. I really wanted to walk. I mean, I didn’t want to, but I wanted to, you know?

When we got to Mile 11, it occurred to me that every new step would be the furthest I had ever run. That was very helpful mentally. Of course, I still had the physical pain. Even so, it was at this point that I told Fast Willy that I knew I would finish.

But I didn’t really know that. It was so hard. I had to keep slowing my pace – the last 2 miles were probably my slowest of the entire race.

At about 12.5, it was clear that Fast Willy still had a lot of energy left, whereas I had none. I told him he should run off to the Finish Line on his own and I would meet him there. He said “We didn’t run this far together not to finish together! We’re going to cross that Finish Line at the same time, arms raised in triumph!”

And that’s exactly what we did. (Photo not taken at the exact moment our arms were in the air, but I promise you, they were up there!)

It felt so good to finish. Right after we crossed, though, we hit a big traffic jam of people going through the chute waiting for their mylar blankets and medals and bananas and bagels etc etc. That part was insanity. And going from running 13.1 miles (!) to standing was very difficult on my body. I cramped up. I felt dizzy. I felt a little sick. Of course, I probably would have felt those things even if I was able to walk at the end, but who knows how badly.

My wonderful husband was there at the Finish Line. I heard him yell my name as I crossed, which was awesome. When we finally met up, he led me to the car – a miserable 10-block walk – and drove me home. And then made me lunch. And then let me take a nap. And is about to take me out to The Melting Pot for dinner. Because really, if there’s ever a good time to go to The Melting Pot, it’s on a day you just ran a half marathon :)

My official finish time:

11:03 pace – Not too shabby. Ideally I would have finished a little faster, but it doesn’t really matter: My real goal was to run the entire thing without walking, and I did that. If I had run any faster, I’m not sure I could have finished without walking. Hell, I was close to being unable to finish at a run as it was!

In fact, even at the pace I went, which was comfortable for me, I honestly don’t think I would have completed the entire race without walking if I didn’t have the support of Fast Willy C beside me. It was fabulous of him to run with me and keep me going, especially since I know he could have finished with a much better time if he had run on his own. I’m very grateful that he helped me reach my goal today!

And I’m thrilled that I did, in fact, reach my goal today. It was hard, but that’s what makes it feel like such a great accomplishment. Yay for me!

Tomorrow’s the big day! My longest ever race – and run – a half marathon (13.1 miles)!

The thing I’m most nervous about at this point is the logistics of the day, because it’s hard to really prepare. My husband has offered to drive me (so awesome) even though we’ll have to leave at 6am at the latest. That definitely takes a big load off. It’s still a little nerve-wracking though: There are a ton of roads closed and the garages are closed for a number of hours – the hours I would want to get in or get out (still not sure how that one works…).

There’s also meeting up with my friend, Fast Willy C, who’s doing the race with me. Have I mentioned yet how fabulous he is? He ran his first full marathon this past Fall (at 47!). He was planning on doing the full this time, too, but didn’t feel like he got in enough training, so he switched to the half with a new goal: Get me to the finish line. Pretty great, right?! He’s easy to pick out of a crowd since he’s so tall, but that means he has long legs, so he’s clearly faster than me. I worried about this for a while, but I’m not going to spend any more energy worrying about holding him back or not being able to keep up. I’d love for him to run with me, but if he’d rather run on ahead, he knows he’s welcome to do that too :)

All of these logistical things are pretty minor, though. It’ll all work itself out. I love that my husband is driving me: If worse comes to worse, he can just drop me off and then go off to find a parking spot on his own. Again, so awesome.

I’m currently working on doing the things I can do to prepare: I have my clothes in the washer. I’m about to make – and eat – the same delicious pasta dish I had last Saturday during my practice ‘run’. I’ll be updating my iPod (and charging the battery!) after dinner, as well as laying out everything I need for tomorrow morning, so I don’t have to do it at 5am (when I’ll instead be spending time in the bathroom, if you know what I mean…). Oooh – and I got a massage yesterday, which eased my sore muscles nicely!

I’m feeling pretty calm and confident about the actual race. I definitely feel ready. Over the last 12 weeks, I’ve missed only about 5 runs from my training schedule, and I’m damn proud of that. The vast majority of my runs have gone very well, too – even the long ones.

I don’t think there’s much more that I could have done. I’m prepared. I’m ready. And I’m going to go out there and have fun! You only have one first half marathon, right?!

Wish me luck :)

By the way, I’ll be using TweetMyTime to automatically update people on my progress, in real time, while racing. If you’re interested in getting those updates, you can ‘like’ Watermelon Waistline on Facebook or follow me on Twitter (@_kimbolina) – or both!

It’s exactly one week before the half marathon. Just 7 short days left!

I used this weekend to “practice” what I’ll do next weekend. For instance, last night, my husband and I made a delicious whole wheat pasta dish with olive oil, shrimp and vegetables. (Carbo-loading!)

This morning, I got up early, had a quick breakfast of a whole wheat english muffin with all-natural peanut butter & jelly and a small cup of coffee, did my… ahem… business, rubbed some biofreeze onto my bum, took an Ibuprofen, and went for an 11-mile run.

Two hours and seven minutes later, I returned.

I ran all 11 miles without stopping to walk at all. As always, it was challenging, but I did it! And with hills! Prior to this morning, the furthest I had run was 10 miles – all flat. Before that it was 9 miles – with hills – and I had to walk some of it.

So today’s run was a huge success!

I am now feeling much more confident about the half next week. I am now convinced that I’ll be able to run the entire thing! Especially since I just looked at the course for the first time, and it seems surprisingly un-hilly… at least for Pittsburgh. Maybe all this training on hills – difficult as it has been – will pay off!

Since today’s run went so well, I’ll eat the same thing for dinner next Saturday, and have the same breakfast on Sunday. I’ll also repeat the biofreeze/Ibuprofen combo if necessary.

Oh, and I’ve decided to get a massage on Friday to work out any knots I’m carrying around.

I’m still a little nervous about it, but now I’m more excited than worried.

11 miles. Wow.

By the way, I’ll be using TweetMyTime to automatically update people on my progress, in real time, while racing. If you’re interested in getting those updates, you can ‘like’ Watermelon Waistline on Facebook or follow me on Twitter (@_kimbolina) – or both!

Thursday was my glorious return to softball! When I say “glorious”, I mean that it was wonderful to play again, not that I played wonderfully. Well, I wasn’t too bad, actually, but there’s always room for improvement!

I pitched the entire game. It’s a lot of pressure, but I enjoy it. I did pretty well, too. Again, it could have been better, but I only walked a few people, I struck a few people out, and I did a decent job of fielding. (Though there are two balls that I really wish I had caught: One a line drive to my head (eek!) and two, a piddly pop fly that came down between me and the short stop. I could have had them both if I was a little quicker. Next time.)

Here’s the thing: All day yesterday and today, I’ve been suffering from what seems to be a pulled muscle in my left buttock that I believe is the result of the repetitive pitching motion. It’s incredibly painful. Incredibly.

Simply walking around my house makes me cringe, but I still had to do my run yesterday: 5 miles. I went out before dinner with the best of intentions.

And it hurt like hell.

I thought: Just keep going and eventually it will go away.

It didn’t.

I thought: How upset will you be with yourself if you stop halfway through?

A lot.

But I stopped halfway through anyway. I didn’t just stop as in walking. I stopped as in doing one loop instead of two and immediately going home. It was the first time ever that I did this, and I still feel miserable about it.

I know why I did it, and I know that it was probably the right decision: There’s no reason to push too hard during a training run and risk worsening an injury. But that doesn’t change how I feel.

Worst of all, I’m still in pain, and tomorrow I’m supposed to do 11 miles – my last long run before next Sunday’s half marathon.

Did you hear that?! The half marathon is one week away and I’m nursing a pulled muscle in my butt!

Geez louise.

I’m going to try a few tips my massage-ynist mother gave me: Sit in a hot bath for 10-15 minutes, rub the affected area, and treat with biofreeze. Hopefully that does the trick!

In case it doesn’t, does anyone have any other suggestions?

My run this morning was fantastic. FANTASTIC.

It was challenging (obviously), and toward the end I was really tired, but overall, I felt great.

I ran with two other girls: Friend #1 and M-Cat. Both are training for their first half marathon like me, but theirs isn’t until the end of May, whereas mine is May 2. That means I’m a few weeks ahead of them in training. As you know, 9 miles is the furthest I’ve run. That also happens to be the longest run for Friend #1, though she hasn’t run that far since the fall. M-Cat’s furthest run was 6 miles, and she has a knee that’s been giving her problems, so this was an ambitious outing for her, but she was willing to try it!

We set off running from M-Cat’s house at 9:06. It was a beautiful day – lucky, considering we’re in Buffalo and there was actually snow yesterday (Snow! In April!) – the blue sky was perfectly clear, the sun was out, there wasn’t much wind, and it was a great temperature, not too hot or cold. Beautiful morning for a run.

The girls told me to set the pace since it was “my” run. I started out a bit slower than I usually go, and they were both happy with that. I was afraid of going too fast since in my 9-mile run last week, I was out of energy after 6 miles.We ran out five miles, then turned around and ran back. At the halfway point, I was still feeling pretty good, and started thinking maybe I should speed up. M-Cat’s knee was starting to give her troubles though, and I didn’t want her to push harder than necessary.

Around Mile 7, we all put on our headphones to help us with the final three miles. Unfortunately, M-Cat’s knee had enough at Mile 8 and she had to bow out of the final two miles. She called in her back-up plan (aka: husband) who came and picked her up, while Friend #1 and I continued on.

We picked up the pace a bit, and I could really tell the difference. It felt good for a few minutes, and then the excess energy expenditure started to catch up to me… not to mention the fact that I had already run eight and a half miles. At about 9 miles, I told Friend #1 I had to slow down a little, knowing I wouldn’t be able to finish the final mile at that speed. She was happy to do so. (Incidentally, she didn’t seem tired at all – she was actually TEXTING at one point! Machine!)

It’s usually said that the first mile is the hardest. I agree, but only for shorter runs. On longer runs, the last mile is the hardest for me, so mile 9 was tough even at the slower pace. Friend #1 could tell that I was having problems (probably from my loud grunt) and told me that our finish line was “just around that corner.” That you could “see my car shimmering in the sun.”

I searched and searched for that damn car. It was nowhere to be seen. I swear she lied to me. It was another 3 or 4 minutes before I could see the car. Her vision can’t be that much better than mine! True or not, though, it worked: Thinking that it was so close kept me moving. SHE kept me moving. In fact, she asked me afterward if I thought I would have finished without walking if I was on my own. I’d love to say that I would have, but I’m not sure that’s the case. Maybe, but I was damn tired in that last mile. But now I know I can do it, so there’s that :)

I felt so good when I crossed the threshold of M-Cat’s driveway (at 11:03, 1:57:ish after our start), who immediately came out with big cups of water for us – so nice. Of course, as is pretty standard for me, the good feeling was replaced by a feeling of sickness. The sickness subsided once I was in the car for a few minutes, and went away completely within the hour.

Then I was just back to feeling good. Sore, yes. But still good!

I feel so proud of myself… of all three of us! M-Cat feels a bit disappointed that she couldn’t do all 10 with us, but her 8 was a HUGE accomplishment for her. Two miles further than her previous longest distance – and with a bum knee! Crazy. And now she knows she really has to get that knee looked at by a doctor, so that’s an added bonus.

Friend #1 kicked some serious butt, too. She said she probably could have gone at a slightly faster pace, but we were just concerned with finishing, and not overly concerned with how long it took. I’m glad I didn’t push to go at a faster pace even though I felt like I could go faster at times because it was so hard at the end that I may not have finished at a faster pace. It was a good call.

And now it’s time to go to bed, knowing I did an amazing thing today. Ten miles. Wow.

You could say that Sunday’s run psyched me out. More than a little.

Monday is an off day, but Tuesday is supposed to be five miles. Well, this past Tuesday, I simply wasn’t up for it. So for the first time in over a month, I skipped my run with no plan for a making it up.

Yesterday, I was still wallowing in self pity and – once again – wasn’t up for getting back on the proverbial horse. Even with everyone’s support and encouragement, both in the comments on my last post and from a few folks in person (THANK YOU!), I just couldn’t bring myself to get out there again.

And then my husband said something that struck a chord: Even though I knew I wasn’t “giving up” he pointed out that people rarely choose to give up. Rather, they put off whatever it is they want to do one day. And then another day. And then before you know it, they’ve given up.

I knew he was right. I don’t necessarily think if I skipped one more day I would have stopped training for this half marathon altogether, but it’s a slippery slope, and I didn’t want to cross that line. Plus, I knew that with each run I skipped, 1) I would feel worse about myself and 2) it would be that much harder to get back into it when I eventually did run again.

So I did my best to psych myself up, rather than out. I went for a 5-mile run at 9pm and spent the hour thinking about all of the encouragement and wonderful advice I’ve received recently. I shortened my stride and slowed my pace (a la Rachel). I cranked up the motivational tunes when it got particularly difficult. I considered how far I’ve come and how it’s truly not the end of the world if I do have to walk, but did my damnedest to push past those feelings, since – for the most part – it’s a mental thing not a physical thing at this point. I got in the “zone”, so to speak.

I ran all five miles. Slowly, but without walking. I felt much better when I returned home than before I left. So, as per usual, I was glad I did it… even though every fiber of my being was screaming “No! Stay on the couch in your jammies!” Now I’m back on track, with just one run missed this week. Not too bad, considering.

Saturday is the epic 10-miler. My first double-digit run ever. And I can do it.

I can do it… I can do it… I can do it…

See? I’m getting psyched!

Longest run to date yesterday: 9 miles.

It was completely unfun.

I wish I had enjoyed it more. Or that I didn’t have to walk a WHOLE  BUNCH during the last 3 miles. Or that when I was done I didn’t feel ill and sore all over.

But that’s not the case. I was miserable most of the time, and for no reason that I can pinpoint like in other runs that weren’t my best. There were hills, but they were all very doable hills that I’ve conquered over and over again. I didn’t eat a butt-load of terrible food that day. I wasn’t dehydrated or overtired or underprepared.

I just felt tired and weak. I got a few cramps in the final third of the run, and that certainly didn’t help. (I really need to try some of those core workouts from Runner’s World recommended by a commenter last week…)

When I got home, I took a shower and then a two-hour long nap. I wasn’t sleepy; the nap was accidental. The kind of nap that just happens after a period of laying in bed because you can’t force your body to move anymore and there’s nothing else to do but sleep.

What really worries me is not this one run, because – really – it’s just that: ONE run. It’s the next bunch of runs. I’m supposed to do ten miles with Friend #1 and one of her friends (the one I ran with at last year’s Turkey Trot) on Saturday. What if I can’t do it?

The week after that it’s 11. Then 12. Then the half marathon, which I really want to be able to complete without having to walk.

Am I being unrealistic? According to all sources, this is a totally reasonable goal. Maybe – for me – it’s not realistic. Maybe I need more time. Maybe I’ll simply never be a distance runner.

I don’t know…

Maybe this is just too ambitious of a goal for me right now. I’m not sure I can do it.

I don’t intend to give up based on one bad run. Or even 5. But man am I feeling more than a little discouraged.

Now accepting words of encouragement. Go.