Mission Accomplished! March 4, 2013

I’ve been wondering how I would write this particular blog post. How could I possibly put into words exactly how I feel? Ironically, I was composing this as I was running yesterday; it all became part of my mantra.

I didn’t run today…want to know why?

 

I ran a half-marathon yesterday.

 

Yes: 21.1 kilometers.

I didn’t exactly set out to run the half yesterday; it kinda just happened. I was already prepared to go for a long run. I ate some complex carbs around 12:15pm and again at 3:30pm. I also had a few pieces of Gu at 4:15pm. My plan was to go further than my previous long run which was 16K. I was thinking 17…maybe 18K. That sounded good. The weather was great: warm, but not hot. There was a slight breeze as well…all the makings for a good run.

I ran the first 5K with my friend Emily; once she left me alone on the track, I turned up my tunes and continued on. I was running at a good pace when I hit 10K. “Easy,” I thought, “I could maybe try for the half today.” It was more a fleeting thought than anything else. I don’t know if I really believed at the time that I’d be able to do it. It didn’t seem possible…mainly because I had never done it before! But instead of thinking of the elusive 21.1, I just thought short-term. “Gonna hit the 12K mark soon,” I thought. Well, what’s another 8.1K after that? I know, it’s a crazy thought, but sometimes achieving your goals is all about tricking your mind. It’s all about the psychology.

As you can now imagine, I reached the 12K mark, then 14K (I ran with 2K goals in mind). I had already run 16K a few weeks ago, so I knew I could do at least that. Getting past this point was exhilarating, though. “What? I’m at 17K already? If I run 4.1 kilometers more, I will have run a half-marathon! I wonder how far I can go…?” Once I hit 18K, I started to get nervous. What if I couldn’t do it? What if my legs gave out? What if I collapsed on the track? Who would be there to pick me up? To save me? I couldn’t let these negative feelings take over my groove; I had to keep going, if just to prove to myself that I could do it.

All of a sudden, I realized that I had run 20K. I could feel tears start to well up in my eyes; this made it difficult to breathe and run at the same time (you’d think I’d be out of breath just from running at this point, but I wasn’t). “OK,” I said, “control yourself. You only have 1.1K left to go. You can do this. Do it for baba (my father), do it for Ella, do it for yourself.” I was pep-talking to myself. At that point, I was willing to do whatever it took to finish the half. And then it happened.

At 2:33:16, I finished my first half marathon. I wanted to cry, but I was in too much shock to cry. Instead, I called my husband:

“Babe?”

“Yeah? You okay?”

“Babe, I did it!”

“Wait…did what? Did you…did you just run a half?”

“Yeah babe, I did! I just ran 21.1 kilometers!”

It was the best phone call of my life! All of my emotions came pouring out during that phone call. I was laughing, I was crying…I went from one extreme to the other. Ironically, part of me felt cheated that I had to run the half alone; that there was no one at the finish line waiting for me; that there was no medal to collect. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this is the way I would want it to be: alone with my thoughts, alone with my emotions, alone in my glory.

For those of you who have been following me on my journey and supporting me with your kind and motivational words, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your encouragement has been a lifeline for me. I feel truly grateful to be able to share this momentous event with all of you. xox

After the 21.1K

02.Mar.2013 March 2, 2013

GREAT app for all your workout needs!

 

It’s the weekend.

The weekend!!

I so love my weekends. Sleeping in, jammie time until noon, hot coffee, feet up, random documentary on…it is pure bliss.

Well, it should be.

On Fridays,  however, it doesn’t quite work out that way. Ella has swimming lessons in the morning, which means jammie-time-until-noon is out (I have to get dressed to walk her over to the pool, don’t I?) Once we get home, it’s bath time, 2nd breakfast (she gets understandably hungry again after swimming), and play time. Then, and only then, can I sit down to a hot cup of coffee and a random documentary. Feet up? Obviously.

I don’t usually work out on Fridays because I just don’t have the time. Saturdays, however, are another story. I still slept in today, but once I was up, I was up. Oh, how I would have loved to just lounge around with my jammie pants and a t-shirt, hot mug of coffee in my eager hands, but I know I can’t do that. I have to work out. I have to. (note that I said “have to” and not “want to.”)

NTC has become another one of my best friends, but you already knew that. I love this app. I am never at a loss for a workout because this app has everything. I completed a 30 minute circuit challenge today and I was dying by the end of it. But it was a good kind of dying, you know?

Tomorrow I am planning my long run. I’m not sure yet how far I will run, but–weather and health permitting–I am hoping to run at least 17K. I need to do this. I want to do this. I need and want to make this happen.

(Note that I said “want to” and not “have to.” Big difference.)

28.Feb.2013 February 28, 2013

Yesterday morning I made my way to the gym yet again. It was just after 5am when I got there. I always marvel how I can get anywhere–especially at that time–when I’m in such a comatose state. I guess what motivates me is knowing how bad I will feel if I don’t get there. Guilt is sometimes a good thing.

 

I did some circuit training; I used NTC on my iPhone and did a 30 minute arms and abs workout. Today, my triceps are burning (a good thing, right?) and my stomach feels like it’s been repeatedly punched (is this a good thing? not sure. I’m still figuring this one out…) The point is I got my sweat on (eww. that sounds so gross) and felt great knowing that I had completed the workouts I set out to do.

 

After school I went for a 5K run around the track. I think I could have gone longer, but I had progress reports due today and I really wanted to finish grading before I went home. Besides, it was already 5:30pm by the time I got back to my classroom.

 

So. What did I accomplish yesterday?

 

Arm workout + abs workout + 5K run = a very happy woman! Tired, but still happy!

25.Feb.2013 February 25, 2013

What a day it’s been. It started off okay this morning. I was up at 5am and went over to the school to work out. Got a good sweat going before 6am. I thought, “You know what? Today is gonna be a good day.”

 

Well, I was wrong.

 

I was so glad to finally come home from this horrendous day and go for a run. I really needed it, you know? Running has become a form of meditation for me. I practice my breathing. I pace myself for the distance. I talk to myself…sometimes I even answer. What I’m saying is that sometimes a run is exactly what I need at the end of a stressful day.

 

Don’t get me wrong. I still grumble and mumble as I’m putting on my running clothes. I’d still rather be horizontal on my couch than running a 10K. But once I’m out there, I never regret it. I never think, “Man, I shouldn’t have run tonight.” It’s always a positive experience. Always.

OMG…it’s been *how* long?? February 24, 2013

 

OK, so I haven’t posted since October.

Really??

WTF??

Well, I’ve been very busy. Very very busy. So busy, in fact, that my current busy makes my normal busy look lazy.

Yeah, that kind of busy.

As most of you now know, the Ashtons are making another move: this time, to the city-state of Singapore (kinda has a nice ring to it, donchathink?) so I have been busy doing paperwork, medical check-ups, and research since about mid-November. At the same time, I have been busy organizing and keeping up with my daughter’s ever-growing social calendar (how can a 5-year-old have so many things to do in any given week? It really boggles the mind!). Furthermore, as my husband comes closer to completing his MBA, I have been busy playing the role of his pseudo-agent/sounding board/editor. Of course, in between all this I am teaching three classes of IB seniors and two classes of IB juniors.

 

Oh, and did I mention that I am training to run a half-marathon?

Yes, you read right…a half marathon.

21.1 kilometers.

13.1 miles.

And yes, you are also correct in thinking “wtf???”

You know when you toy around with an idea for a while but never allow it to come to fruition because you’re not really sure you can do it? Well, this year, I decided to see if I could do it. And I am happy to say, I am doing it!

So far, my longest distance has been 16K.

16K!! That’s really only 5K away from 21.1K. And after you’ve run 16K, what’s another 5K anyway?

That is my attitude this year.

Plus, I am turning 40 in May and I want to say that I’ve accomplished something. Some people jump out of airplanes (no thanks), some people travel the world (been doing that for a while now), and some people buy an expensive car (why? I don’t get that…).

 

Me, I just want to run.

 

 

01.Oct.2012 October 1, 2012

Need I say more?

My cold is slowly getting better. Now I have sinus issues. How can such a small cavity in your face cause so much pain? If you had been home with me this morning, you would have seen me first use my neti pot, and then place my hot mug of ginger and lemon directly onto my right sinuses. The heat relieves the pain, but it’s only temporary. Well, I wasn’t gonna let a silly thing like sinus pain ruin my day! I packed my gear and headed off to school, knowing full well that I would be supervising a group of kids for our after school Running Club.

We did HIIT today.

We HIIT it!

HIIT stands for “high intensity interval training.” Today we used the track for our HIIT session. We all ran a warm up lap around the track first, then we sprinted the straight parts of the track (100m x 2) and jogged the curved parts (100m x 2). When we reached the point where we had started, I had students perform a variety of exercises. I was prepared to go easy on them today, but they said no. I said, “OK, let’s go hard,” and they said “no.” Well, what the hell do you want, then?

“We want medium.”

Really? Who does “medium” HIIT?

Anyway, so here’s my medium: after they finished the first lap, they all did 10 jumping jacks (gotta keep that heart rate up!); after the second lap: 10 crunches; third lap: 10 lunges; fourth lap: 10 squats.

After four laps we had a two-minute break, then we did the whole thing all over again. Once we finished, I asked one of the students to lead us in a cool down stretch.

It was pretty awesome, I have to say.

I think the best part of today was when I told them, “Remember, you’re not competing against each other; you’re competing against yourselves.” And they actually listened! They totally went at their own paces.

Very cool…

30.Sept.2012 – Aaaaaaaa-chooooooooooooo!! September 30, 2012

I love that there is a meme for everything. This pretty much sums up how I feel…

 

What a weekend.

I wish I could have ended the statement above with an exclamation mark because I was out partying-it-up for three days straight, but I can’t.

My body is in no condition for partying.

This bloody cold has knocked me out since Thursday. I am telling you, it came out of nowhere and just attacked.

Congestion and losing of the voice on Thursday.

Sore throat, more congestion, and complete loss of voice on Friday.

Voice back, tickly throat, continued congestion on Saturday.

Today? Sinuses. Runny nose. Phlegmy cough.

W…T…F???

Of course, in the midst of all this, I felt guilty for not working out on Thursday, so yesterday, I actually dragged myself to the gym (oh yes, there was a lot of dragging involved) and completed a brief workout.

Brief: like I only worked on my arms and abs. But it took me 30 minutes, so I felt like I accomplished something.

All the research I’ve read says that working out is actually good for the common cold; I still don’t know if that’s true, but I had to try. It must have done some good, since I’m actually standing and walking today.

What else? Lots of ginger, lemon, honey.

Oh, and one concoction I swear by. If you have a phlegmy cough and are finding it difficult to cough those suckers up (ew, I know that’s gross, but it happens to the best of us), then take a teaspoonful of çörek otu (Latin:  Nigella sativa, aka fennel flower, nutmeg flower, Roman coriander, blackseed or black caraway) with a teaspoonful of honey. Don’t chew, just swallow.  Çörek otu (as it is known in Turkish) seems to break up the phlegm right away; the honey just makes it more palatable (the taste, not the phlegm!).

This is what Çörek Otu looks like.

Tomorrow I have running club after school with some students. I don’t plan to let them down, so while I type this, I am sipping on some hot water with grated ginger and lemon juice. The sweat from tomorrow’s run should do away with any more nastiness.

Wish me luck!