Tomorrow is the Day!

Tomorrow is my first official training run for the marathon. Hal finally came through (it only took two reminder calls and me emailing him a template for him to fill out) and faxed me my training schedule through the end of this year. When I talked with him yesterday he told me to get in three two-mile runs this week. I knew that would be hard for me to do since I can only run a mile without stopping and the last thing I want is to start this training off by feeling bad about what I can't do.

Luckily when I received Hal's training plan, it has me starting out nice and easy with 1-3 miles between now and the new year. In fact, my first 3-mile run isn't until December 8th, which just happens to coincide very nicely with my next 5k.

So tomorrow it is...my first training run! Starting out nice and easy with one mile.

More then.

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Better Than I Thought!

The race results are in and I did better than I thought by about 40 seconds. Which I normally wouldn't care about, except this means I broke 40 minutes, which makes me happy. Check it out:

Molly Fast Santa Monica, CA 354 F-28 39:49.

How cool!?

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I Did It!

Well...I completed my first race of the pre-marathon training. It's funny because I did this just so I could kick start my training and I guess in some ways to see what kind of shape I was in. But I also did this because I wanted to set a goal and just stick with it. I had made a decision over a month ago to do this race, and then didn't really do that much training or preparing for it.

I knew going into this that I could run a mile without stopping...that much I knew for sure. Everything else was just going to have to be discovered along the race.

I didn't have the best night of sleep, which was a total bummer. It started off with me getting into bed and just as I was about to fall asleep I sat up and yelled "Fuuuuuuck." I had left my car in the parking lot of the grocery store next door for hours and hours and hours. I knew I couldn't leave it overnight, that would just be asking for trouble So I had to get dressed and walk next door to move my car (after, of course, ensuring it was actually still parked there!).

Once I got the car sitch all figured out, I crawled back into bed for a fitful night of sleep. The next time I got woken up was to our freaking fire alarm going off (I am still unclear as to why exactly it went off). No sooner do I register that it's the fire alarm that I hear Steve screaming "GET UP GET UP." I shot up out of bed, again, and started running out of the bedroom only to discover that nothing is on fire in our apartment...luckily. I get back in bed and start laughing hysterically, with Steve, about the absurdity of the situation and how unbelievable funny it was that he just yelled "GET UP GET UP" and saved my life in our fake fire alarm.

After my friggin' heart rate went down, I drifted back off to sleep and woke up at 618am to my own alarm. I took a shower and then got in the car and had Steve drop me off at the start of the race.

After Chris O'Donnell (yes the actor) thanked us for our participation, we were slowly on our way. I didn't have a game plan...I just wanted to finish the race. Ideally, I wanted to run the entire time, but knew that may not be possible since I literally couldn't (and can't) remember the last time I ran for three miles and I didn't follow anything resembling a training plan. So really, I just wanted to show up and do the race. Anything on top of that was going to be great.

I ran the first mile feeling okay, listening to a Grey's Anatomy podcast while my body left a little sluggish. At the one mile mark I kept running and then just beyond it, I stopped to walk for the first time. I needed to catch my breath and at times I felt like I could walk faster than I could run. I started back up again as we crossed Pico Blvd. and then walked again. Then I started back running again until almost the two mile mark or so.

I had Steve & Clancy planted at the turnaround point (which was probably about 2.5 miles in) and then I knew Susannah was planning on being at the finish line. So I continued the running/walking bit and then I spotted Steve & Clancy who came up beside me and ran next to me for about a minute. As I turned around and headed back down Ocean Blvd. towards the finish line, I heard Clancy barking as he clearly didn't understand why he couldn't run with me. I kept running for quite a while this time, I think I may have stopped once, and then just tried to keep a somewhat steady pace and not have the woman walking beat me. I saw Susannah when I had about 30 seconds left of the race and it was a welcome sight. She gave me just the little burst of energy I needed to cross the finish line where they announcers said "Molly Fast- you're done." (Susannah told me this later, my iPod shuffle was too loud for me to hear anything. As I caught up with Susannah, I saw that she was crying! Which was really really really sweet.

Here's what I feel about the race:
1. I'm really happy that I did it.
2. I'm really proud of myself for sticking with the goal of running it even though I knew I wasn't prepared.
3. I'm not being judgemental about the fact that the clock said 40:22 as I crossed the finish line.
4. I'm also trying to not be judgemental about the fact that I walked for probably close to a mile of the race.
5. I'm trying to focus on the positives.
6. I'm actually looking forward to my next race, which I've already registered for.
7. I can only improve my 5k time from here on out!
8. I did it!



Anyway, so all in all in the race was a great experience and I great jumping off point. More good news is it didn't turn me off from running. It only made me more exciting for what I know I can accomplish in the upcoming year.

I forgot how amazing the energy at a running race can be.

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Race Day Tomorrow

I should be nervous considering I haven't run three miles in Idon'tknowhowlong, but I'm not. I'm proud of myself for sticking with the run even though I haven't trained as much as I should have. I'm happy that I'm just getting out there and doing it. And I'm excited to kick this all off!

Wish me luck! I'll report back on the race itself tomorrow.

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F'n Root Beer

Last night I was out to dinner with my girls and the waiter brought us our drinks. I took a sip of my diet coke and then continued to completely space out and try and keep my composure for about 10 minutes before I finally broke down crying and told my friends what the f had just happened that caused me to zone out and completely change my mood.

Although I ordered a diet coke, I actually got root beer. Not a big deal normally right?

Right.

Except the last time I had root beer was August 26th, 2004. My mother, sisters, aunt, uncle and my dad's two close friends and I were standing around my father's hospital bed taking turns drinking out of a 16 oz. plastic root beer bottle. We even soaked one of those stupid sad swabs and gave my Dad some. It was one of the first things my Dad requested after his operation and was the catalyst for us realizing that he was not getting better...funny how root beer leaking out of his body, yes actually leaking. out. of. his. body, can make you realize the seriousness of the situation. After the root beer leaking incident, everything went down hill. And he never spoke again either.



I can't even begin to say how caught off guard I was at that stupid f'n root beer. I mean I totally cried at the dinner table in the middle of the restaurant. It was sad.

Today I'm still all blah and crying at times thinking about how horrible that memory is. It's amazing that a friggin' bottle of root beer can do that to me.

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Finally Made A Plan

I was going back and forth about what the f I was going to do for my birthday this year. As I mentioned in a previous post, I usually do the dive bar pizza thing and drink too much and eat entirely too much, and I knew for sure I didn't want to do that this year. Tonight, after talking it over with Steve, I've decided to get a handful of my girlfriends together (14, which is really good for me, I usually try to include every single person I know into these kinds of celebrations) to have a nice low-key dinner/celebration.

As I said in the invite, I wanted my birthday to reflect the direction I want my entire year to go in- low-key and not so much focused on how much I can drink and eat. But rather, I'd like to take more time to relax, be with close friends and eat a good meal!

I'm really looking forward to it.

More than that, I really and truly believe that this reflects on one of the most important changes that I've been making over the course of the past year. Which is to take better care of myself.

I also decided to send the following email to my sisters and mother...which is very un-Molly-like. But again, felt like I needed and wanted to speak up about what I wanted for my birthday:

Hi There,

Sorry to be so forward, but I thought I'd give you all some ideas (if you want them) for my birthday...as you all know, I am going to be focused on getting in shape over the course of the upcoming year, even more than I am now. Plus I'm going to be running a marathon in just over a year and I need to prepare.

Here's what I want/need:
gift certificate to YAS for more spinning and yoga classes, lucy where I get my running pants and bra, Title 9 cause they have good running pants and undes and I might get a new running watch OR Top to Top where I get my running sneakers and socks.

Again, these are just suggestions, but I wanted to put it out there. Please don't take offense to this, or roll your eyes, or forward this to your friends to show how crazy your sister/daughter is.

xo
Molly

It's going to be a good year!

For now, I'm going to bed and getting some much-needed rest. Both Clancy and I got a little messed up in Arizona. He's a little worse off than I am- see for yourself below!

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Go Me!

So I started this post last Saturday, but I'm just now getting around to actually finishing it.

But the title refers to the fact that I had just come back from my second yoga and spin class of the week! In this post I talked about bringing my friend Mandy to work since she had an injury. It was great that she asked for my help because it forced me to go to spin class for the first time at YAS. As I mentioned, it was a goal I had in the month of September and that didn't exactly pan out as I had hoped. So having to bring the actual instructor to class was just the motivation I needed.

I'm happy to report that the spin class itself was fantastic! I felt so fortunate to have Mandy's guidance before and during the first class. It was helpful to have that extra support. I was instructed not to get up out of the seat during the first class unless my crotch hurt (gross, but true). So my goal for that first class was to just pedal the entire time. And I did it! It's an intense workout. I spent the entire time sweating and pedaling and just getting my heart rate up there. I loved the sprints, the pedaling as fast as I could, the constant motivation, direction and instruction. It was great! Then after I did spin class, I walked across the hall into the yoga studio (after changing clothes, of course) and attempted to make it through an hour-long yoga class. That was...really really hard. My legs were wobbly and my body was just really tired overall.

However, as expected, when class was over I felt amazing. So amazing that I signed up to do it all over again on Saturday.

This time though, I did the spin class first and then yoga. Seriously, it made a huge difference. The spin class was great and at times I felt like I was actually holding myself back. I sat up out of the chair much more. It's very cool to see how standing up out of the seat really does intensify the entire workout and how much it engages parts of your body that you don't normally work that much- abs and inner thighs. I really loved it. And, the yoga class beforehand was really good too.

I'm really proud of myself for doing such intense workouts and am really looking forward to continuing with the spin and yoga. I'm glad I've found two activities that really move me (spin) and ground me (yoga) and I can't wait to keep it up!

In the meantime, I'm just going with it.

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Subtle Changes

We all measure change and success in many different ways. For me, in this body and mind makeover journey, I've been trying hard not to make the changes just about a number on the scale or weight loss alone. It's been difficult for me to take my own advice. In fact, when I have focused only on a number (of what's on the scale or how many pounds I have- or have not- lost) it's set me back. It has caused me to get off track, to become disappointed and to diminish all of the hard work that I have been doing.

But there have been some changes over the course of the past few months that have helped me realize that some of this is sticking!

1. I no longer look at my week and figure out when I'm going to be able to fit in my weekly cheeseburger. In fact, about a week ago I went to The Counter and ordered a grilled chicken breast and didn't feel like I was depriving myself. I don't actually know when the last burger was that I had!
2. My birthday is coming up and I'm seriously struggling with deciding what to do to celebrate. I really look at my 29th year as an opportunity to focus big time and get myself into the best shape I've ever been in both mentally and physically. So I'm not thinking about doing the dive bar, pizza, get drunk and then eat some more to help ward off a hangover thing. Which is really new for me!
3. Also, when I think about my birthday, I think about things that I want and it's so different from a year ago or at any other point in my life. Things like more spin or yoga classes, another sports bra, running sneakers, socks, more workout pants, real running tops (not the cotton shirts I always wear)...all those kinds of things to help make me a better runner and a more focused individual. I usually just want money or some other frivolous things. But again, next year is about so much more and I feel like I want my birthday and my celebration to reflect that.
4. I actually haven't had a million and one things planned during my "free time." I am more careful with my time and have been spending lots of time relaxing and having Molly time.
5. I have really been loving working out. I do it because it makes me feel good, not just because it's good for me.
6. I'm taking more chances with food! I'm eating things I've never eaten before (trying all different kinds of sushi. I almost missed out on eating Santa Barbara shrimp because they didn't look good, a decision I base lots of food related choices on, but luckily I came to my senses in time.
7. During one of my previous posts, I actually contemplated whether I wanted to have a Blackberry or not. After taking two weeks to think about this really hard, and even talking it over with Steve, and using it, I have decided to keep it. I really can use this to my advantage...but the fact that I even thought about how it would impact my life (and Steve's) is a huge step forward for me!

So, there are lots of other changes, but these are some of the big ones that have helped me see just how far I have come.

And you know what, I'm proud of myself. I really am!

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