Beth runs

running blog

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Marathon Training

Marathon Training

I was supposed to do my first full marathon in May of this year in Cincinnati. Because of COVID, it was postponed until October – now it is cancelled. Of course, no refunds will be given, but we had three options. 1) Defer until the event in 2021 2) Complete the race in October virtually, and 3) just donate the money you paid for the event ( Um…no) I have decided to complete the…

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Distractions

I feel like my running schedule has come to a screeching halt. I’m the tennis coach, and it is consuming all of my typical running time. Instead of running after practice or before practice, I’ve been telling myself that there isn’t enough time. Instead of running in the early morning hours, I’ve been staying in the bed. I feel a little bit like a failure, and I’m also really concerned about the…

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Time until Louisville Mini Marathon #TimeUntil

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New website!

I’m excited to announce my new website – bethruns.com!

All blog posts will be found at this new website. New blog post coming soon!

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Fuel

via Fuel

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Fuel

I’ve been trying to be aware of fueling my body. I reread the book The New Rules of Marathon and Half-Marathon Nutrition by Matt Fitzgerald, and this time I’m applying what I’ve learned. I’ve never in my life liked oatmeal, but I decided to give it a try for breakfast. I’ve read so many times that runners prepare overnight oats for the week so I found a recipe. I actually like it. The trick for…

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Just real

This blog post probably won’t inspire anyone. I’m simply going to be quite real about my experience in a half marathon last weekend.

I traveled to Florida for a 4 day weekend to spend time with family as well as take part in a half marathon. I had trained for this day – in varying different types of weather, from snow to sun to rain, from cold to colder – and I was really excited about it the…

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Dreadmill

I used to prefer walking and running on the treadmill as opposed to outside, but now I prefer the outdoors. The treadmill has become so boring, and I call it the “dreadmill”. I listen to music, but I get so tired of just watching the time go by on the screen. I like moving towards something, like a mailbox or the end of a road. Today I tried to watch Netflix on my iPad while on the treadmill, but…

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Damn dog

This past week, I completed 31 miles. I believe that is the most mileage I’ve had in a week so far. And, I’m not tired or sore.

On Monday (New Year’s Eve), I was coming around a corner that I’ve run down several times and a small dog started growling at me. Then it ran up to me and bit my calf – through my pants. I didn’t even have time to get my pepper spray out. I screamed “NO! GO HOME!” to…

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Goals, not resolutions

So, I’ve decided to set some goals for myself. I don’t like to call them resolutions, because for some reason, the word resolution has a temporary connotation in my mind. I did find a definition that I liked for resolution which is “stresses firm determination to achieve one’s ends” (https://www.merriam-webster.com); but, I’m still sticking to the word goals. I’m also choosing to write these…

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Goals

To this point, I’ve always said that I don’t enter a race to win something – I enter to finish something. While that still holds true, I’m not sure that it’s enough anymore. No, I will never be an elite athlete; however, I do want to get better (meaning faster). As I think about this year, I realize that I didn’t set any specific goals for myself. I’ve always hated New Year’s resolutions because…

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Mental block

I’ve been dealing with a mental block this past week. I almost wanted to stop running, but I haven’t – and I’m glad I haven’t. I ran in the dark last Friday night, and I got scared. I had the vest that lights up and reflective gear, but I felt really uncomfortable. (and I’m pretty sure some college students were laughing at my get-up! Oh well.)So, I probably won’t run in the dark again unless…

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Push

The past couple of runs, I’ve pushed myself. I’m running longer intervals with shorter and less walking intervals. It feels so good. I was afraid to push myself because I was afraid I couldn’t cut it – that I would feel bad about myself for not doing as well as I thought I should. If I decided to not run further, it was my decision – not out of necessity or giving up. Essentially, I was giving up…

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This is what I do

This is what I do

I have finally pushed past the mental block I was dealing with for a couple of weeks. I think I was being too hard on myself. I had started reading the book Meb for Mortals by Meb Keflezighi (an elite runner) and was actually starting to feel bad about myself instead of being inspired. Comparing myself to any elite runner is a stupid thing to do. I am just a normal, average person who likes to…

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Marathon

Just registered for my first full marathon. Let the training begin!

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No regrets

It’s at this point that I question my whole purpose. Why did I sign up for a half-marathon almost 5 hours away from my home on a Sunday morning at 7:30 am? I haven’t felt strong in my training runs this week, so I’m a little more nervous than usual. It’s not a question of if I can do it – it’s more a question of how strong I will feel during the event. I know it’s all mental at this point.…

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Races

Finally the weather is starting to get better for running. I participated in a 5 K a few weeks ago, and finished with a time of a little over 38:00. I’m kind of surprised that I did this well, considering I didn’t really feel like doing it. In fact, I actually forgot about it until the night before (around the same time I remembered I had taken a laxative a few hours earlier)! I waited until the…

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