A Crazy Idea

We’re almost at the two week countdown to the Cayman Islands Marathon!! Wow. Did time ever creep up quickly! A Saturday evening post this week, since I’ll be traveling most of the day tomorrow. Yes, I’m off on yet another trip. In the 8 weeks from the end of September to the end of November, I’ll have spent 4 of them off island. Not that I’m complaining! A week in Boston, a week in LA/San Francisco, a week in NYC and early Sunday morning I’m off to Boston again for a week. I got in quite a bit of running during each trip and it was fantastic to run in cooler temps, zero humidity and to explore new running routes.

It's been too long since my last blog, but don't think I havne't been running! I'm still in the game so to speak and have made progress believe it or not!

First of all, and most importantly, I've lost weight! Running 4- 5 days a week has trim off some pesky areas that I was very uncomfortable with these last couple of months!

I started this journey doing interval training, but now have moved up to running 2 miles without stopping. On Sunday I ran 4 miles on the treadmill!

As for enjoying running, I'll be honest. I dont'. It's a bit boring in my opinion, but I'm happy to say that I'm actually getting out there and doing it. regardless I will also say that it's perfect for someone as high strung and stressed to clear my head for an hour a day and not think, but just run.

The Cayman Marathon is 26 days away, and I really am trying to "push it" and run 5 days a week. My goal this week is to run 4 miles (outside). Wish me luck!

Tonight I'm meeting up with James and the Wednesday Night Running club. Never thought thise words would come out of my mouth. Ever.

4 weeks until the Cayman Islands Marathon! Getting closer and closer to taper time! This post is a day late because I’m in New York and yesterday was the New York Marathon! CONGRATS to all who ran the race! It was an absolutely perfect day for running. The temperature was ideal, there was practically no wind and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Getting a race day with conditions like these doesn’t come along often. No wonder a new course record was set! I hope everyone enjoyed themselves out there!

6 weeks until the Cayman Islands Marathon! I missed posting last Sunday but it was a great day so I’ll talk a little bit about it. At 4:30am, 13 of us took on a point-to-point long run from Grand Harbour to Rum Point. We were all at different points in our training cycles so some ran the full route, some ran the last 15 miles and some ran the last 11 miles. No matter the distance, getting to Rum Point was a great accomplishment for everyone! I do want to mention that all of us got picked up at Rum Point…except for Crazy James Murray  who as part of his 100 mile training, turned right around and ran BACK to Grand Harbour. Awesome! I flew out later that day to Los Angeles, spent a couple days there for work, and then flew to San Francisco, where I spent the rest of the week for work and got home last night.  While I was in San Francisco I went for an incredible long run with one of my girlfriends who lives out there – our route took us across the Golden Gate bridge. Very cool.

8 weeks until the Cayman Islands Marathon! After a couple weeks of okay but not awesome feeling hard runs, I feel like I hopefully hit a breakthrough this week. My hard runs were tough but I felt strong the entire time. I LOVE runs like that! Don’t we all :).  Last week was a cut-back week so I’m sure giving my body some rest and recovery helped a lot too. I noticed that the one blog post I’ve written that’s received significantly more hits than any others was when I posted my training schedule. So…before I get into this week’s topic of running safety, I’ll post the details of my actual training week that just ended in the hopes that this is of some interest to people reading. You’ll note that while the type of run I did each day stays true to what I posted in my previous entry, the detail might be different. This is part of the flexibility I spoke of when structuring a training plan and allowing for life, how your body feels, etc. I don’t think I’ve ever NOT rearranged my week from I started out with.

9 weeks until the Cayman Islands Marathon! I know I didn’t post last Sunday but I was off island for a week attending a wedding and going to some client meetings. Sorry! I have three more trips coming up before the race so I will do my best to write entries in advance so I can post them when I’m away. This actually leads perfectly into my topic of discussion for the week: training and traveling.

So the weekend got the best of me. I went a little overboard with the drinks and spent all day Sunday on the couch. Totally disspointing in myself for missing my training Sat AND Sunday. YIKES. So tmo is a brand new day! I have a my weekly softball game with the Glovernauts at 8pm so I will def fit in a run after work. I got a week pass to Kings and it looks like I will splurg on a membership. It was nice to drive 3 mins from work and be gauranteed a treadmill. I have yet to run on the road, which is freaking me out a bit. Maybe next week...

Wish me luck!
Mo

11 weeks until the Cayman Islands Marathon! The time is flying by! I had another great week of training but the highlight of the week was participating in race #1 of 3 in the Fidelity 2 Mile Race Series on Saturday morning. There aren’t any races over the summer (thank goodness because the weather is way too gross to consider racing) so when the Fidelity 2 Mile Series rolls around it always puts a smile on my face because I know we’ve know officially started fall racing season. Unfortunately, this is the third year in a row that I’ll miss one of the Fidelity races. I’m off island for race #2 but am looking forward to race #3. Hope to see you there!

My view on Sunday - the one treadmill in my complex. I may need to get a member ship somewhere because the same dude is always using it when I want to run. I was thinking Kings.

I am not ready to run on the street yet. A: cuz I don't want ANYONE to see me, B: I still feel a bit foolish, and C: I don't want ANYONE to see me.

- Mo

12 weeks until the Cayman Islands Marathon! This week I nailed my hard runs and hit my target mileage. Can’t ask for more than that! The highlight of my week was the 90 minute deep tissue massage I had on Saturday at Body Works. Regular deep tissue massage is one of my strategies for staying injury-free, which is what I’m going to discuss in this week’s post.

Got them on sale at Sport Check in Canada!

Day 1:

I have to say this first and foremost: I am the most unfit, lazy, unmotivated person in Cayman. Hands down. I call myself a "skinny-fat person". I may look fit, but I am an out of shape disaster. I have never worked out a day in my life. So needless to say this new adventure is a scary one.

My 29th birthday was on Tuesday, so really what better way to begin the last year in my twenties than but getting healthy! I received my training schedule from James and ran for THE FIRST TIME EVER on the treadmill in my condo complex. It wasn't pretty. I was breathing pretty heavy, got majorly dizzy, and thought my legs were on fire. I wanted to film myself because I thought I may look like a baby fawn learning how to walk. I got thru the 30 minute run/walk and moved onto push ups and sit ups. Also, a trainwreck. I could only laugh at my efforts but quietly said to myself, the race is in December which leaves a lot of time to get "used" to my new lifestyle.

Anyways, I thought that would make you all chuckle with the visual. I must say tho, if I'm attempting this, anyone can. And hopefully I'll become a skinny-skinny person soon enough!

Thanks Shelly and James for this opportunity!

xx,

Mo

13 weeks to go until the Cayman Islands Marathon! Another solid week of training is in the books. I’ve had an overwhelming request for detail of my training schedule (okay, so three people asked) so I’ll post some specifics.

There are now 14 weeks until the Cayman Islands Marathon. I’m more shocked that in 14 weeks we’ll be into December than anything else. Where did the year go?? My training went well this week - I hit my planned mileage target and nailed the two hard runs that were scheduled. I still have a loooong way to go with respect to what my “fast” pace is for those runs, but that will improve with time and sticking to the program. I’m happy be able to write that I didn’t quit or shorten the hard portion of those runs, which is something I’m definitely guilty of doing! 5 x 1000m intervals? After suffering through the pain of the first 3 or 4, I can easily convince myself that’s good enough and bail on the rest. Let’s be honest, running isn’t always easy. But there’s a reason why the quote “If it was easy, everyone would do it” exists.

A friend of mine, Nicole Frolick of www.nicolefrolick.com, has blogged about a small technique on how to manifest more abundance in your life and while I'll be the first to admit I'm quite naive with regards to her manifestation theory and what it entails (I'm certainly not one to make lists of my feelings) I must admit that we are witnessing the manifestation of something special here in Cayman.

“That just isn’t physically possible”. Those were the words I thought to myself as I was running towards the finish line of the 2003 Ottawa Half Marathon, while watching runners on the other side of the pylons cross the halfway point of the marathon. It was my first half marathon, the longest I had ever ran before and the thought of running DOUBLE the distance seemed completely out of the realm of possibility. If anyone had told me then that 8 years later I would have finished 15 marathons, I would have laughed.

This week started off great as I hit the roads armed with plenty of enthusiasm and with my brand-new fancy watch on my wrist that told me my pace, tracked my distance and calories and timed my intervals – Splendid!  I started off well and managed a five mile circuit of a nice-paced walk (chest out, head up, walking with purpose) and then jogs for two minutes and walks for four (for about 45 minutes)...

When I first considered doing an ultra event here on island my initial plans were quite simple.  I'd run 74 miles the day/night before the marathon, show up at the start of the marathon and run 26 more miles to make it 100.  I envisioned Lauren and a few friends following me in a car as I toured the island.  Now a few weeks later the original plan is but a distant memory.  Don't misinterpret my sentiments.  I'm not complaining but rather reflecting on how naive I was/am about what is possible.  When we were in the design stage of our website I asked Lisa (the legend and my coach) for quotes she would like to appear on her page/slider.  I know they aren't on the site yet but they will be.  One quote she sent read "If you can dream it, you can do it."  An appropriate adage for our event and a great motto to live by.

Moments ago I just finished a Yin yoga class and my two week schedule.  I'm quite pleased to say I've stuck with my schedule for the last week, the first time in a few weeks.  I finally feel like I'm settling back in.  My body was in a bad place over the weekend and I pulled the plug on my long run after 2 hours of a schedule 8.  Not sure what exactly happened but my body temperature was way up and I spent most of Saturday and Sunday with a fever.  It was as though I had an allergic reaction but I hadn't done anything different or ate anything unusual.  It's very possible the extreme heat here in Cayman had something to do with it.  By Monday evening I was starting to feel somewhat normal again.

This week has been a bit of a non-starter for me unfortunately. As well as my bad back and knee problems I also suffer from migraines (I know right, hypochondriac much?!)…I had an attack which wiped me out for a few days so sadly I couldn’t get out and get walking over that period as I just needed to lie down in a dark room, hold my head and feel sorry for myself.  I felt much better after a couple of days so I did manage to get out and do 3k - Again I just took it nice and easy and walked but with a good and steady stride, head up, chest out and I actually felt pretty good afterwards – Nice to get those endorphins surging around my body...