LSD 7.9 miles, Goals for June.

Went alone today. GB was sleeping in( she keeps telling me not to write that because she actually is awake at that time- so whats preventing her from joining me??- lost the running shoes??). DH wanted to give his leg a rest- he apparentally strained a muscle while working on the elliptical.

Woke up at 4.45 AM, first thought was-lets not go today, next one was- if I dont go today then it will have to be tomorrow, so lets get it done and over with today. I am all for delayed gratification. Tomorrow I will sleep in , read in bed, drink tea in bed, just laze around.

Started at 5.33 AM, as usual the first 2-3 miles are really difficult. This is one thing I really need to understand- whether I do 2 miles or 5 or 10 miles, why are the first 2 so difficult. Its as if my body refuses to move. As if theres a big rubberband pulling me backwards. I have already done 2 miles a hundred thousand time in my life- why is it so difficult.

I was OK after the first 3 miles. R3min/W2min, approx but average speed is still 4mph. I have to build it to 4.3mph till the marathon. Its been 7 months since we started doing this and the speed is not increasing. We still have another 4 months yet, lets see. Weather was beautiful, slightly windy, cool, no sun till 7.33 am when I finished.

May done. We finished a half-M and that is good. I have become slightly more regular with the weights and the running sessions but need to incorporate yoga regularly. No change in weight so far- do not anticipate any. Given up on that end-for now.

Goals for June 2008:
1. 20/30 R/W sessions
2. 5-6 elliptical sessions.
3. 8 weight sessions
4. 8 yoga sessions.
5. Stretching after each workout- I have been missing those and I feel it.
Maybe try Pilates?

Speed session, new elliptical!!!

Dis my speed session which was much easier today. Every 3-4 weeks I try and go up 0.1-02mph om the speed scale, its difficult for 2-3 weeks and the last week it gets easier. Yesterdays and todays sessions were definately easier than last week's.
Tho I have developed shin splints, dont know why since I do, do my stretches regularly. Ice and stretch some more.
Did 15-20 min of weights and ab exercises in the AM, so minimal that I doubt these will ever change anything physically, I just feel better after I do the session.

Spent the whole afternoon surfing thru running blogs and there are so many who have the goal of first marathon this year. But very few are like us- straight couch to marathon in one year. I have to learn how to get their blog names on this page- will ask GB to do it. Very few also with the speed of a snail , like me, but still I think I will have some company.

We got a new machine- the elliptical. My husband has gotten into fitness big-time and he was getting tired of churning the same 3 miles every day on the tmill. Also apparently this does not have the pounding effect on the knees. Good for me, I now have something for XT purposes. So now will do the elliptical 1-2 times a week- will it help me cycle better if and when I get a bike??

Days like this- I am all set for the marathon!! Good day today.

Regular run and Wii-fit

Did my regular run of 46 min, tried to increase my running sessions and ended up getting shinsplints at the end of 30 min. Had them after a long time so back to the heel and toe raises. Ice helped later.

Went to GB's home for brunch. Shes bought the very latest offering from WII- the Wii-fit. So all of us- my in-laws, huband, myself got our body fitness done. Guess what- I am actually 45 years old, and my 78 yo F-I-L turned out to be actually 65 yo. He is pretty healthy and active for his age so that was no surprise, but what we noticed was that the deciding factor is the balance test and he did that test slowly and kept his balance for the requisite 3 seconds whereas I was hopping all over the place. Now I am going back and doing the test in 2 weeks again and this time will surely be 5 years younger.

I am not a video game person at all, would rather read, but I really liked this game. It has 1-2 min sessions of yoga/aerobic exercise/ strengthening exercises/balance exercises and its amazing how a simple thing like putting weight from one foot to another is so difficult sometimes. Those exercises remind me of Tai-chi.

I had done approx 6 classes of Tai-chi when I was younger and found it extremely boring- just stand in one place and move your muscles sloooowly in different directions. But that has changed and I think I would be more open to it now. It requires concentration, focussing, doing small movements, improves balance and in some cases bone density too. Yes, that is something I would like to try again, maybe this summer.

In the meantime I need to go back to doing yoga, which somehow I have lost the habit. It was helping me stay limber and loose. Next month again.

XT- River Parkway

Today was XT day , mainly walking and strengthtraining.

At 9.30 AM we decided to go for a picnic to the river, the same one where we had completed the halfM. So put together something to eat and drink, called GB and my parents to get ready, somehow made my 13yo get ready- shes always against any family gathering and that too in natural surroundings- never.

Reached the place and showed the family the historic pathway where Gb and I R/W for 3 whole hours- actually more. I went for a short walk along the trail by the river, it was so soothing- the sound of the water, calm- no crowds today.

We played darts, ball, observed the people around doing barbeques etc and I envied all those parents who were biking along with their kids, my daughters would never even try this with me.

Then I mentioned to GB and my mom that I would love to have a bike for myself. GB said shes not interested and my mom reminded me of the time a few years ago when I had joined them for a trip to Mackinaw Island and GB and I had biked along the coast.
Mackinaw Island is in north Michigan, it has a no motorised vehicle policy, the coastline is maybe 4-5 miles allaround, its beautiful.
The point is that I have completely forgotton the bike part!! I remember the hotel where we stayed, how the balcony gave a view of the white sand and the calm, light blue lake , i remember looking at the bikes , meeting with the parents after we were done, and as I am typing this, I remember the sight of the lake- varied shades of blue and green, craggy rocks, other families biking etc, but I dont know if that part is my imagination or the actual memory!!. So the point is, how can I forget something which i would really have wanted to do or enjoyed so much. If I actually biked that coastline, and if even my M-I-L remembers the story then it surely must have happened, how come the memory is so hazy to me. Why cant I recollect it as if it happened yesterday , since I so much wanted that experience?
So the question is, I am the one running after experiences, more than material things I want to have experiences--food, movies, marathon, bike ride, places, meeting people, sunsets and sunrises etc etc. But if I forget so much, esp. experiences I fought to have( this trip was the first time I left my daughters home for any length of time)then, are those fights and arguments worth it?? Should I keep trying to venture out of my comfort zone, if I am going to be forgetting it later on?

Time to inhale the almonds and other brain foods!!

NB

LSD 6.6m

My husband(DH) wanted to join us for this run. He does 3 miles of running 3-4 times a week and generally looks down his long nose at GB and my efforts.
But yest he was adamant -' I am going for the 7 miles with u'

Woke up at 4.30 AM, had my PBJ and 16 oz of water, got dressed, woke him up, called GB who didnt want to go because there was rain in the weather forecast.

So we started walking. We walked for the first mile , nice warmup, all downhill. Then I started running at my usual slow speed with my dh on my side smirking away to glory. Thankfuly we were doing a route which has some lovely old houses and for a couple of miles that got his attention.

GB and I had done this route around our 100-105th day of marathon preparation and it had been difficult- one because of the unknown factor, and also because we were so new then.
Today it was fairly easy, tho the time hasnt changed much, also helped by the cool weather. I didnt have the feeling of weak legs or hips by the end of it. Nowadays my criteria of a good session is if I can climb the stairs of my house without knee pain at the end of it,today I could.

We finished approx 4-5 miles, alternating slow running and fast walking. Then DH felt a twinge, in his left knee, on the outside of his left knee. So he could not run after that. So we walked the rest of the mile and half. I meanwhile was all set to go, but had to slow down because of him. This is one he will have to hear for a long time to come.!! The last mile was uphill, and poor poor DH walked the whole distance manfully. I was breathing hard thru out, I have learned to ignore that now as just something I do, but , but, I was the one smirking now!!

Came hme and he got to use the ice pack on his knee, which felt better after 20 min. He was very happy with the whole run/walk- activity in the AM makes the day go by better. I am just hoping he doesnt make a regular feature of it- I do like to go with GB- then I can smirk all the way.

Overall- satisfed with the session, LSD done for this weekend, 8 miles next time.

Pedometers and daily steps

Have you ever seen a sloth??

Thats me today. Slothful, lazy, defiant, sulky, mean, I will not move today. No valid reason. None.
So no workout. I know, I lost to my inner sloth. But sometimes one has to lose a round to win the game.
But my mind and the fingers seem to be working OK , so I spent the last one hour feeding the inner sloth and another sitting in front of the computer, my eyes glazed, frozen in the neck out, chest in posture which will make my upper back hurt but hey! who cares!

By now everyone interested even remotely in health and fitness has heard about the pedometer and the daily goal of 10,000 steps. I too bought pedometers rangeing from free from McDonalds to $ 4 at Walmart to $ 20 at a sports shop . I dont know how to set the fancy ones, too much math calculation required and so used them the way they came. There were days when I crossed 5000 steps but only if I had been especially active doing a small walk etc. There were days when I would be tired car-pooling the kids to and from soccer practice but the pedometer would read a measly 3-4000.

Ever since I started R/W ing I thought I must be doing OK in that department . Then I read somewhere, either the complete running site or some article , that 3o min of running/walking equals 3000 steps. That means the 45min I TRY to do most days of the week barely equals 4500-5000 steps and the rest of the day must be another 2-3000. So even when I push myself to move, I am not actually doing the 10,000 steps.

That is my conclusion. Now I am going to buy another one of those pedometers and see if I am right about this. If yes, I will have to increase my workout time to atleast 60 min. Beyond that, my family will divorce me!!

And that again underlines the fact that to lose weight and keep it off one has to be active thru out the day . Concentrated bouts of exercise followed by slothful behaviour have no major effect on your weight. I know , I know, your heart and lungs and the diabetes and cholesterol all thankyou for the movement but the numbers around the waist and on the weight machine - those remain the exact same, so there!!

Ok, now I should really log off before I start ranting against I dont know what and I dont know why.

Hope u see me in a better mood tomorow, I should be, tomorrow is official rest day!

XT--Walk

Today walked for the XT session.

This walk is a circle from my sub-division, very beautiful and somewhat difficult to do.
If I go clockwise, there is a short hill,followed by another one which is slightly longer but has a sharper gradient. Then there is maybe half a mile of flat road followed by a gradual incline lasting a mile and it gets steeper in the end. Then the last 1 mile is flat again.

I have noticed that when I do this clockwise I take longer to do it and feel more tired than if I go the anticlockwise way- which is walking a mile on a flat level, 1 mile of going down hill and then 2 short but steeper hills. Maybe its just my imagination , maybe it is something scientific related to muscles and how they trigger off, but I find it interesting and will surely keep a note of it. '

I like doing this walk for XT so each week I will do it in a different direction. Even tho I still take 50-60 min to complete this walk, today it felt easier. Good job!!

Speed session

Did 5mphx1min/3mphx1min and 2 sessions at 5.5mph. 33 min. The 5mph felt comfortable today, the 5.5mph felt as if I would fly off the tmill. And it took me more than a minute to regain my breath, I dont know if that is OK or not, will have to read up on it.

I do hope these speed sessions are helping me in some way, I dont get any extra soreness after these, and I feel good after.

Weight is still a problem, more than weight its the eating- too much indiscriminate eating going on at the present time. Stress?Laziness?

Speaking of laziness- you know the naturally slim people are also very active! Ok, duh!!
What I mean is that even tho I do atleast 30 min of exercise most days of the week , I am prone to sit on the couch/in my office chair the rest of the time. For e.g., I clean my house in 3 hours and spend the rest of the time watching TV which is the same as stuffing myself. Whereas a slimmer lady wuld take 6 hours to clean the same house and therefore be moving for those 6 hours, even if slowly.
If you observe me, I like to finish my chores faster and use the rest of the time to read. A slimmer lady would just keep on with her chores and complain about having no time to read, but she would have the pleasure of being her high -school weight.
So much for being efficient!!

Difficult day-junk miles?

Started off in the evening, on the tmill, with a nice program on the DVR, was feeling pretty good and actually was trying to increase my speed tp 4.4 instead of the 4.2mph. Stopped at the 20 min point to take in a sip of water and after that just could not run.

I have noticed this even during our long runs. I will be OK for the first couple of miles after the warmup mile and then as soon as I take in the water of gatorade, it is very difficult to get back into the rhythm again. Wonder what causes this?

Anyway finished the rest of the workout walking, didnt feel like it, only so can count it towards the 20/30 workouts I have to do each month. So this is what 'junk miles' means- a workout with no goal.

Lets see how I fare tomorrow. I get worried nowadays that I am not pushing myself enough. I read the blogs and everyone seems to be ending their workouts with soreness and pain- me, I am OK after the cooldown.

XT- walk

Today is XT day.
I had planned to walk in the evening but some friends called to say they would visit this evening, so plan changed to morning.
I love to sleep in the morning hours- as soon as it gets warmer in the summer, my sleep patterns change. I sleep early at around 9.30 pm, wake up at 2AM because am so hot and then get the best deep sleep in the early hours from 4AM till 6/7 AM.
GB also decided to walk with me, tho I think she wanted to run, but I am going exactly by the marathon training schedule, today is XT on that, so I am not going to push myself to run. So far have had no major physical setbacks and I hope that continues.
Started at 5.25 AM, nice cool breeze, finished at 6.35 AM, sun was out, but we were walking on a nice shady path so it didnt trouble us too much. I like this area of our town, we had done our first 6 mile run here, long back, and GB and I were recalling that day- we were so tired by the end of it!! We were dragging our feet, I was worried about a lack of restrooms, 6 miles now is childs play.
Next weekend LSD is 7 miles and we will do it again on this side.
So done for the day, might do some weights and stretches later on- actually have to, so will find some time for that.

LSD 6Miles

Today started out at 5.40 AM to beat the morning sun but even then part of the run was facing it.
Woke up GB at 5 AM, reached her house at 5.20. Started with walking for atleast 10min , then ran for a total of 2 miles, finished the first 2 miles in 26 min, then took a 5 min walking break to drink some Gatorade and that I think broke the rhythm, we just couldnot get into the previous running mode. Anyway, pushed ourselves for another mile or so, the sun shining bright on our capless heads and into our sunglasses deprived eyes, so that I was running almost with my eyes closed.
Then we came to a part shaded by trees, but that was a hill, so walked up that. On a side note, the maximum elevation at the San Francisco marathon is 375 m and this hill is almost that. But This one is short, maybe 0.4mile whereas the one in the marathon is longer. Anyway it was good practice, and I think we will incorporate this hill into most of our LSD.
After the hill, we got into sync, so that for almost another mile we were running in tandem- the way GB wants us to run, but we dont because one of us is either behind or in the front. I think we walked the last 0.3-4 mile and finished in 1hr35 min.
GB measured the route later and got 5.9miles, I did it and got 6.1 miles, so we averaged out at 6miles. So we are still doing a pace of 4mph, I dont think we are running slow, its the walk breaks , we just walk too slow. I saw a lady this morning on my way to GB's house who was powerwalking , thats the way I want to be able to walk.
I am satisfied with my run today, told GB that at 6 miles into our half-M, we had already started feeling the distance, and were tired. Today, I felt fresh even after finishing the session. I think the earlier start also helped, we were home at 7 AM, I have the whole day to do as I please. I did sleep for an hour, woke up with some stiffness in the knees which got better after icing.

Next LSD at 5 AM.

Overall mood-Satisfied
(copied from http://partystefanie.livejournal.com, she started running in March 2007, is an inspiration, has a cute frog at the end of her post which tells the mood of the day, I like her blog.

Regular run

Walked 3.7m, including 1 small hill in 60 min +2o min of weights and ab exercises.Yesterday.

2.4m in 46 min, 4.2mph/3mph, 1 min intervals. Today.

Its getting hot, not warm, hot!. Today is 100 degrees and it was bad running on the tmill at home. I had the windows open, we dont start the AC till we start wilting in the heat- cheap and global warming prevention together.
So there I was slogging on the tmill, dripping sweat- sorry, I know, I was past the stage of glowing and perspiring. My kids were in the room with me, watching Zoey101,which I think should be banned, but thats a different story.
So there I am , hot and irritated, and doing the last min of 4.2 mph, when my 6yo calls me - doesnt tell me why, just calls me-mama? And I, without knowing anything just started out yelling- let me finish..., why do you have to call me at the end of the workout?..., why not before or after...?? Just the fact I could yell at that level tells me I had a lot of energy still in me.
My 13yo ran down to see what it was and after I am done in the next 2 min, she tells me it was the neighbour .
I was mortified!!.
They have kids too, so I am hoping they will not think too badly about me. Even if they do, what can I do to change their perception? Sorry, dont cross my path when I am pushing myself on the tmill.

The heat has its own challenges, I have to drink water more often. I have to try and finish the workout in the AM- if you read my posts you'll see thats been a goal since the beginning. I will do it one day.

Slow progress

Did my version of speed session , 30 min.

Started with 5 min warmup walking at 2.8mph, did 1min sessions at 4.2, 4.4, 4.6 ,4.8mph and finally 5mph intervals with 3mph inb/w. Did this for 20 min and then a cool down at 2.8mph for 5 min.
Each week I am planning to do one such session in the hopes of increasing my baseline speed.
Its all in the numbers- there are some people who run the whole marathon at 5 min a mile and then there are some like me who aim to run at 5 mph.
Anyway I am doing something and if nothing else, because of this marathon training, I have something concrete to look forward to each day. The laundry, cooking, cleaning, the daily rut of a job, life passes by in those chores. The marathon preparation , the running community, the running blogs, the raaces, thats something I do for myself.

XT- weights and stretches.

Did a short walk to get my 6yo from GB's house. While going, the 0.8 mile was a fast walk, while coming played 'I-spy' with her on the way, and took slightly longer.

Later did free weights and 5 min of stomach exercises. Am apple shaped and since starting the running , it seems as if that shape is more pronounced. Everywhere I read , it says that walking/running more than 45 min a day should help in losing that region faster. Of course, it has to be combined with healthy eating too , which is the one thing I just cannot seem to do. I have started the weights and the stomach exercises in the hope that the soreness from that will be a reminder to eat less- weird, I know! No one likes to do the crunches and the abwork, but it helps, so this is what I did:
1) 15 bicycle crunches each side
2) 15 boat repititions-I dont know the exact name, but its a Pilates exercise in which you raise your arms and legs off the floor together for 10 seconds each time.
3) 10 upper ab crunches.
4) 10 pelvic tilts, tho those feel so good after the above that I dont consider tham exercise.

Gradually will build upto 2 sets of 15 each.

Free weights, I did 2 sets of:
1) biceps curls
2)hammer curls
3) 20 heel raises
4) 10 squats
5) triceps
6) side arm raises
7) front arm raises
I do these fast so that can usually finish both the sets in 12-15 min

Thats good , isnt it? Any feedback??

LSD alone

4.71m in 1hr13min.

Went alone- GB didnt want to, my husband offered, but in the morning couldnt wake up in time, My father wanted to but wasnt ready by 6AM.

I am doing some thing wrong , running outside definately feels harder and I am unable to maintain the pace of the treadmill runs. I walked the first mile, started out slowly in the 2nd mile to run, but the 1 min run felt harder so that I walked slower in between the running. I have to work on increasing my walking speed now.

But it was a beautiful morning, I am glad i started out at 6 AM, I spose by June/July I will be starting out at 5.30 AM.

Early AM workouts

Woke up early this AM and did 45 min on the tmill followed by 20 minof yoga.Now am free to break the couch for the rest of the day. I dont know when I got out of this habit of finishing the day's activity in the morning, most probably during the daylight saving time. Then realised theres still 6 months left before we go back to the winter time , which was easier for me, so might as well get into the routine of waking up early in the morning again. I still cant get over the fact that I dont have to work around the familys schedules to get in my exercise.

Was able to run some, but the yoga session after was heavenly, felt so loose and supple- after a long time. Did sun salutations -3 times , hoping to build it upto 12. Last time was doing 10 at a time and then stopped, dont know why.

XT tomorrow- yoga, weights and a walk in the evening.

How it all started......

Six months back, I was kind of bored with my life and wanted to try out something different. Had been reading about blogs lately, about how people use blogs to put across their ideas, some make money and how some people have made a business out of it. So one fine evening, mentioned this to NB with the proposal that I'll create a blog and she can write something on it, idea in my mind being that since she wrote journals, maybe she liked writing and maybe she could write daily on my blog which would make me some money or plainly keep me occupied as I was venturing in the world of blogs.

The next day she stops by my house with the idea of how both of us would run a marathon and we could create a blog about it just to log our progress. ?? run?? a marathon?? Stopp! I was talking 'blog' the night before, not 'marathon'. I was twice reluctant - not a great idea for a blog and no way I wanted to run a marathon. NB thought it was a wonderful idea and she always wanted to run a marathon - it was her dream. Me, being the nice woman I am, told her that I'll create the blog for her and maintain it while she can run and log HER progress and ofcourse I didnt want to have anything to do with the marathon. Well, she insisted that it would be so much easier and fun if we could do it together. I began secretly thinking that maybe I could lose some of my pounds along the way if nothing else and so, being the nice woman I am....

I didnt know what I was getting myself into. One month into it I realised that its the other way around 'you dont lose weight while preparing for a marathon, but if you want to run a marathon, you have to lose weight'. So there I was with no incentive at all, my blog money making idea down the drain, and every part of my body hating me.

I am 5 feet 3 inches tall, recently (around 9 months back, 3 months before the start of the marathon preparation) gaining around 15 pounds to be around 180 pounds. This is the weightiest I have been in my life and I do not like it :(. I have never been skinny but overweight (yes, I know, I am obese now) all my life. I have never run in my whole life (I am 35) till 6 months ago

So there I was, running this half marathon yesterday, wondering what I was doing on those lonely roads, what I was going to get out of this, but mainly and surprisingly thinking about how I had to lose weight if I wanted to run the marathon in October. I announced this to NB too, I really want to lose weight before I run the marathon in October else it would be foolhardy. Now, the only reason I want to run the marathon is that if some years later I am depressed at any time, this will count against me (Oh! and you couldnt even run a marathon) - I wont remember at that time that I didnt WANT to run a marathon. Another small reason, atleast IMHO, is that it is much easier to run with somebody, so NB may need me at marathon time ;). Yesterday, during the half marathon, in the last couple of miles, I saw many single ppl just falling behind with nobody to push them on, and I was thinking - had NB not been with me, I would have taken my own sweet time...

In the ideal case, it would be wonderful if NB's husband volunteered to run the marathon with her and start training with her, so that I can back out with some excuse and not feel guilty for not running the marathon. But that is not to be, her husband says no - I have been proactive and discussed this with him today, but he is not interested :(
So, I dont know, I'll focus on losing weight, if running becomes easier, I'll continue else will quit with some excuse ;).

WE did it, half-marathon done!!

So we are done with the half marathon.

13.1 miles in 3hours21min, 15.13 mph, r/w the first 10 miles , then mostly walked.

Beautiful day. All my apprehensions about running in the sun resolved by the time we reached the site at 7AM. Good arrangements for parking, atleast a 100 portapotties at the start site, you know thats the most important part in the beginning.

Got our packets, nice white t-shirt with the logo, nice white backpack. Kept all that in the car and filled my pocket with the trailmix I had bought yesterday, shared a banana with GB, looked around, some people were actually running around-trying to warmup??, why would you use your energy to warmup before the actual run??, I mean you can warmup during the run, cant you, Some people are just plain crazy- or not , is my conclusion now after the run. We did a few stretches and 15 min before the race took our spot in the 14minmile corral. The fact that there was no 15minmile corral should have told us to change over to the walkers group pronto but one-we were not thinking at this point and two , the walkers had already started off an hour earlier.

Surrounding us were very fit, very lean, very prepared looking runners. We clutched our fanny packs and turned this way and that , trying to look as if we ran half marathons on a monthly basis. The gun went off and so did we.
In the beginning it seemed as if were passing everybody, the lean guy with 10 small water bottles in his fanny belt, the overweight guy with his slim lady friend, the 2 elderly ladies belonging to a running group. GB wanted to do 5 minW/10minR. We did that session once or twice and came down to run till you are out of breath, walk till you can breathe again and then run some more. Not a good strategy.
Later on I realised we had started out too fast so that by mile 7 all the above mentioned people passed us. Around at this time our pace came down from 14minmile to 15min mile. By mile 9 we had lost sight of a running group we were following trying to imitate their walk/run sessions. By mile 10 the only one in front of us was a young couple who had more steam than us yet and a young guy who seemed as if he was strolling in the park. By mile 11 I had given up the R/W sessions and was trying only to walk consistently. By mile 12 I hated this whole world and all this marathon business. By mile 13 GB found her lost stamina and wanted me to push and cross the young couple and an elderly lady before them. I asked her to carry on but she waited for me and then we ran the last 0.1 mile together over the chip mat.
Finish time 3hours 21 min.

We walked over to get the finishers medal, its beautiful, got our water, chocolatechip cookies, subway sandwich, missed the orange flavored popscisles , because believe it or not we were too late!. I just could not stand straight at this point so we took ourselves under a shady tree, GB got a blanket and we flopped on it. Believe me in the whole day, that was the most heavenly moment I had. No major aches and pains, only the top of my feet and the toes are really sore, I am hoping its no stress fractures .

We are not last overall , tho I am last in my age group. GB pointed out that if we had been in the walkers gorup we would have been in the first 100. But I had confirmed that if we were going to be running even a bit we had to be in the runners group. And we did pretty good till mile 8-9, when we ran out of steam. I am sure the lack of the last LSD of 14 miles and low mileage in this last month has something to do with it.

Lessons learnt:
--I need to get in all my runs and XT sessions to build the stamina.
--We need to have a strategy, slow first, R/W at set intervals etc. Tried discussing this with GB this morning and she refuses to even think about the marathon at this point. She did tell me that she had started out too fast because I was mumbling something about being "last" and 'being passed by everybody else" What she forgets each time is that she is the official pace -setter of our group, I have no idea at what speed I am running , so I do what she tells me to-its all her fault.
--Food , pre-run, post-run, during the run, hydration etc was good, so no changes there.

Overall great experience, one day later, feeling good, all set to start the marathon preparation!!

No motivation

Bad day to get lazy, demotivated, feeling down, as if not worth it,dont know.

Was all set to do todays workout, but 13yo had soccer practice, so left her and got her, and the hubby hogged the treadmill, and I tried to get on it later, but then gave up trying to work past all the roadblocks.
I know, lame excuses all of them, but this one workout is not going to make or break the half for me(hopefully!!). I just have to get past my own mind which at this last minute is trying to play games with me.I have gone over my whole log and know that I have a somewhat good base, I did do most of the workouts as given by J.Galloways plan. Lets see what I missed- one LSD of 14 miles and maybe 2-3 other workouts. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I am able to finish this. I know I am going to be the last as the race is very small, just in its 2nd year. But its a flat course and theres no time limit so that should help.

Thanks Bobbiejo, at your recommendation did go on running room forums and they have some good discussions going on there. I visited that site approx 3-4 months ago and it did not have that much traffic then. But that is one site I will visit more often for the positive people on there.

Have tomorrow to get back into running mindset. Lets see.