Nervous!

Thank you all for your running vibes this morning! I honestly thought of everyone in the bloggosphere when I was struggling to keep going!

So let's see...

Obviously, I started out with a great attitude, really excited, ready to go.

But then around mile 2, it just wasn't clicking, and I knew it was going to be a rough run. I came this.close to breaking down in tears and stopping. It was not pretty.

I made a few mistakes, you see.

1. I had Mama Fu's for dinner last night - Spring Rolls, Spicy Green Beans, and Chicken Lettuce Wraps. Those things do not sit well in the stomach on a run the next morning. I had some serious heart burn.

2. I put sunscreen moisturizer on my face before I went for the run. This caused me to sweat a lot more than usual, and it was slimey.

When I got to mile 4, I thought to myself ok, 4 more miles, and then I get to see JJ. And get some G2 and a cliff gel, I'll feel better, I know I will. Just knowing I'd see JJ really helped me keep going. I think, for some reason, I lacked some motivation today. I'm really hoping that for the half, just being in Disney with a tons of other ladies and Crissy will help me keep the strength and determination up.

So, finally, around 7.4 in, I got to the elementary school parking lot, and there was my wonderful husband with the gel, G2 and the camera! What a good little blogger's-husband!

For some reason I had the hardest time keeping a steady (but much elevated) heartrate today. I felt like I was out of breath and my heart was going to jump out of my chest. When I got to JJ, I walked around the car a few times to slow my heartrate down, then I took the cliff shot in 3 bites, and followed it with the G2. It was like a liquified gummy bear, not bad, not great... Then I took off again. After about 30 seconds, I got a little side stitch, so I walked for about a minute, then got back to running. I can't tell if it really helped, maybe if I did go for 3 more miles, having the Cliff Shot would make a difference, but I didn't feel any different for the next 2.5 miles. I'm going to plan on having on during the half, just because it might give me an extra push the last 3 miles.

So I kept going and going, when I got to our neighborhood, it was starting to rain. And I was tired. I just didn't have the heart to keep going. My legs actually were very tired, so I stopped at 10 miles. I didn't do 11.34. Though I think, if I had to, and it was the half marathon, I could keep going for sure. I think. I'm going to need some serious pep talks this week....  I just feel so spent.

So when I stopped the iPod, somehow I hit the off button or something weird happened, and it didn't even track my run!!! I am SO MAD! I am getting so close to the next Nike+ level, and that was 10 miles that went unrecorded! So these 2 photos reflect that... and I look awful, but this is how I feel about Nike+ and my iPod right now.

So after that, I ate some breakfast, a Pom Chobani, and some G2 and water.

Then I think between the run, the cold weather, the sweat, and the exhaustion, I FROZE! So I took the space heater in the bathroom because it warms up so fast, and sat on the floor in there for 30 minutes while stretching. I know, it's probably weird, but oh well. At this point, you all know I'm weird, right? :)

I stopped by Starbucks and grabbed a Venti Soy Misto. Did my weekly food shop, and started to clean the house a bit.

Around noon, I decided to make some lunch. I was still freezing, so a pot of soup sounded fabulous. I really wanted some Suppe Toscana because I had a giant bag of kale, but I didn't have and sausage (nor did I want it), so I did a spin off. Here are the delicious ingredients...

And here is what I came up with!

In the pot was:

1 yellow onion

2 garlic cloves

4 cups chicken stock

2 cups water

1/2 cup quinoa

2 medium potatoes

1 15 oz. can fire roasted tomatoes

8 cups kale leaves, chopped

Salt and pepper

1 tsp. ground fennel seed

1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp. oregano

This pot of soup had about 850 calories in it, and I had about 1/3 of the pot. It was delicious and so so so healthy!

After lunch my co-worker came over so his wife could look at my old car, and they bought it! I'm so happy to be rid of that car once and for all.

Then I went over to the Jetta dealership to have my car detailed. It looks beautiful now! I'm so happy I got it, it's only been a week, but I'm so in love with Frau! I ran a few more errands, contemplated getting some fro-yo, but remembered I had caramel oikos at home, so I resisted.

For dinner I made polenta, fried eggs and a mushroom/pepper mixture. I'm going to be blogging it on A Year in the Kitchen, so if you're interested, check it out! It was my version of breakfast for dinner I suppose!

So now I'm just hanging out with the dogs and playing... don't laugh... Zoo Tycoon :)  JJ got it for me a few years ago because I was in a computer game phase, and I haven't played it in so long.

Of course I'm enjoying my oikos, apples and tea while playing :)

So to wrap up today... it's been rough. My run wasn't what I wanted it to be, but at the same time, I have confidence I'll make it through the half next week. But I am a little scared. I think that's natural though. I remember being really nervous for my first 5k and 10k races, but I did it. So I know I can do it....but I'm still nervous.