Dreadmill Encounters

Lets just begin my entry with this statement: Attempts at training for my half-marathon have been sub-par pathetic.

Also, I'm in a bit of a pickle with CVS...woopsies. I guess taking 10 days of vacation without actually accumulating any vacation hours has put a real damper on my attempts at requesting anymore days off in the future (quite possibly the rest of my career the way things are looking right now).

I requested the 17th of October off yesterday, thinking that it would be ample time for the schedule coordinator to work my schedule around this day, but instead received an email back asking if I had any vacation time left to do so. Confused, I called back telling the coordinator that I didn't have any vacation hours accumulated and thought that she could work my hours around it....apparently not. She said if I took any more time off within my first 13 weeks, I could lose my chance to enroll for full time benefits...yikes!

So, with that, I don't even know if I'll be able to run the marathon...which really pisses me off, so I'm going to talk with the DM about it, to see if I can clear this nonsense up.

As far as training goes, I will really have to amp it up if I even want to complete this race. Training while vacationing is extra tough. Now I know what you're thinking:

"Are you SERIOUS?! You are on VACATION! You should have all the time in the world to train!!! "

If it were anybody else, I would completely agree with you. However, my family vacations consist of getting up at 6am (or earlier) and going non-stop until 12-1AM. My dad is OBSESSED with getting in as much activity as possible to feel like he is getting his monies worth.

I will say though, that walking around all day must be some kind of endurance builder...I did lose 5 pounds on this trip, even though I ate myself into oblivion on some nights.

I did manage to squeeze in a few sessions with the "dreadmill", when there was such time to do so (only 3 times out of ten days). I did 4.5 miles on the first encounter, which I felt pretty good about. Then, I attempted to complete 7 miles with my second encounter with the dreadmill, but after walking around all day, plus no air-con in the fitness center, I only managed to complete a little over a 5k...dissapointment. My third encounter only gave me enough time to complete 2 mi. So, overall in the past ten days, I have only completed about 10 miles. This makes me nervous/ashamed.

My chances at completing/running this half marathon are looking quite dim at this point, so like I said, I really have to amp up the training now if I even want to attempt this.

I also have a question for all of you: When running on a treadmill, does the pace set by the machine ever seem faster than usual to you? For instance, when I set it for a 12 min pace, my body felt like I was running at a 10 minute pace, and when I sped up at a 10 minute pace, it felt like I was doing an 8min pace and got wiped out pretty quickly. Do any of you feel the same way about this?

One more thing. Ultra Marathon Man. Read it on the plane to and from Florida. PHENOMENAL. phenomenal. Get it. Read it. If you've already read it, read it again. Be inspired.