I am way overdue for an update on my training for the Run Disney Star Wars Half-Marathon, The Dark Side!

There are rumors a’swirling that this race may be going away (or re-themed) which makes me super sad since I love the theme and the time of the year, and was hoping to make this race an annual thing. We’ll see.

So, incorporating Orange Theory Fitness into my training has been challenging but OH SO EFFECTIVE! Challenging because I can’t do it the day before or after my long runs and it’s hard to do on the 3 days a week that I work. So you can see my opportunity;). But 2X a week it has been working out and I am feeling stronger and seeing not only faster times, but also some muscle definition. Michelle Obama arms are my life goal, so we’ll keep going and see what happens. I should tell you, I love it but it is TOUGH. After over a month, I’m just now feeling comfortable and not like I’m going to die each time. But so worth it for the total body workout I get in 1 hour!

Last week was supposed to be a “step down” week for me on mileage (most training plans ramp up, ramp up, ramp up and then step down a bit to help with recovery) and I didn’t even do my 6 miler scheduled for the weekend. I want to talk about what happened because it’s never happened before and it was very odd.

I was having serious trouble with motivation. Not just “I’m lazy and don’t want to go” type thing, but serious DREAD about what should have been an easy effort. My legs felt like lead and I just felt horrible. Not sick, just heavy and blech.

I got dressed, put my shoes on, dug deep to find my inner race horse, drove to my regular route and . . . ran 1/2 a mile and turned around and came home. I just couldn’t. Not WOULDN’T, couldn’t. Things weren’t working – legs weren’t moving like they were supposed to and it felt like someone had encased my shoes in cement.

I know I made the right call. That one run isn’t going to matter come race day, and had I pushed on I feel almost certain it would have turned into something bad, if not physically than psychologically. When I added OTF, I kept doing 2 other runs mid-week, and since you run at least 2 miles typically during class, I think the mileage was just too much and my mind and body said “hell to the no, Crazy Girl.” (side note: this might be WHY they encourage that “step down” week. Just a thought.)

I truly believe the most important thing to stay injury free and running for decades is self-awareness. I know when I’m just being lazy and need to put my big girl pants on and just go. But this was different.

This week has been really good – great runs, felt strong, and I have high hopes that Saturday’s long run will go as planned. Only a few more weeks of long runs and then WE TAPER! Almost there! Really, only 3 long runs left which is hard to believe.

Oh, and I’m SUPER excited because I added an extra day to my weekend. Which means I can leisurely recover post-race and not fly home until Tuesday. I alsoc can’t wait to see people I love and don’t see enough at my happy place! Oh, and also, too, THE RUNNING!

Last thing: I’ve definitely decided (mostly;) on what I’m WEARING! I don’t really do costumes but I do like to match the theme of the race so it will be the Racecation Tank in black and white and most likely the Pocketopia capris in Persevere print with the race magnet skirt (nothing built in) in black. I LOVE the race magnet skirt because I’m horrible with safety pins and don’t like to poke holes in my super cute Skirt Sports stuff. So, I’ll look similar to this gorgeous model from the website but reverse the print on the bottom. This may change if it’s SUPER warm, but even when it’s warm I like capris for half and fulls. I don’t really know why, I just do.

Side note: if you want to order anything from the new adorable spring line, use discount code

1SSCAPT20

for 20% off EVERYTHING.  If you have any sizing questions, just ask. Since I own almost everything, I can tell you what runs a bit smaller and what size to get if you’re broad in the base, as I am (I just came up with that term – I think I like it;).

Are you training for something? Please tell me about it! Here, or on the FB page!