Being selfish.

Over the course of the past week, I learned something that will be key to my "big race," exactly ONE month from today.

I need to be selfish. 

Let me explain. 

Long story short, this weekend was my sister's college graduation from Arkansas State University. My brother Nic and I flew out on Friday so as to not miss work, but did not arrive in Jonseboro, Arkansas until 1am. Knowing this would be the plan, Coach Dave and I came up with an alternative to my run schedule during our lovely 20 mile run last weekend at Waterfall Glen: 

-Long run Friday

-11miles broken up on Saturday

-11miles broke up on Sunday

-therefore still hit the 70-75 miles intended for the week

It all seemed like a pretty simple plan, and truth be told it was executed perfectly. 

I went to bed really early on Thursday night to wake up early Friday morning to run the prescribed 5x1mile workout.

Little did I know it would be snowing. On May 16th. Only in Chicago.

Last time I did this workout as 6x1mile, my splits were 6:20, 6:03, 5:56, 5:48, 5:40, 5:38 and that was with Ryan's help and on a beautiful 50 degree day.

This time, I had 15mph winds plus snow to deal with. Mentally, I reminded myself it was about the effort and that needed to be my focus throughout this workout.

I split 6:14, 6:00, 5:47, 5:42, 5:38. And couldn't feel my hands until I got to school (despite wearing gloves).

Both Dave and I were very pleased with the workout, and I went to school pretty darn happy and excited going into the weekend.

Everything went well with our flights, and we arrived in lovely Jonesboro around 1am. Nic and I woke up to run with Kristina at 6:30am....did I mention that their "easy" day is pretty freaking hard in my book? The only miles we split that were over 7minutes were the last two when I literally dropped back because I was dying. 11 miles in a sub-7 average after the workout I did on Friday about killed me.

I didn't have much time to allow my body to get sore as we quickly showered and headed out to Kristina's graduation ceremony.

Not only did this stud graduate with Honors from the Nursing Program, but she also set 4 school records (1500, 5k, 10k, and DMR) and made it to NCAAs twice (possibly three times). 

To quote her, "Nothing is impossible." Words to live by.

 The last Aubert to officially graduate from college! So proud!!

After Kristina officially graduated, we all piled into our cars and headed to Memphis for her graduation celebration. We went out to Charles Vergo's Rendezvous restaurant (you know, the one where Prince Harry and Prince William's friend had their rehearsal dinner at), had some Memphis BBQ, and headed to our hotel to get ready for a night on Beale Street.

Love this lady!!

One of my best friends from college, Mary, lives in the suburbs of Memphis and came out to see me. She also completed her first triathlon (Memphis in May...more about that in a second), so it was really wonderful to congratulate her in person!

Ryan and I headed in somewhat early as he was crazy enough to be competing in the Memphis in May Olympic distance triathlon the next day. Note: the triathlon, despite being called Memphis in May, is actually in Mississippi, a mere 40 minute drive from Beale Street.

After debating back and forth, Ryan and I decided it was best that I not go with him to the triathlon in the morning. He didn't want me missing out on sleep, and more importantly, we didn't want me to miss my flight back home. Though this was 100% the right call, it would have been pretty freaking awesome to watch this stud WIN the whole triathlon!!! 

 Only Ryan Giuliano can WIN a triathlon on no sleep.

Oh yeah...did I mention THIS is what the race looked like? Little bit of rain.

After Nic and I flew home, I went to the store and bought all of my healthy food for the week. I'll definitely post a blog about eating healthier leading up to the marathon, but WOW is it time consuming. 

 Meals for the week: lunch.

 Jac's healthy breakfast bites.

Lunch every day. Check out all the colors!!

Here is the part where I talk about being selfish:

My Monday run was awful. I woke up Monday feeling exhausted, so opted to run in the afternoon despite knowing it would be close to 80 degrees out and windy. I of course factored this into my run, but WOW did my legs hate me. After Tuesday's 6x2min HARD/2min easy workout felt equally as draining, Dave and I again evaluated my week.

Conclusion? Lack of sleep = poor recovery = exhausting runs no matter the pace.

Duh.

While I don't regret anything about the wonderful weekend in Memphis, I have to keep my race goal in mind. Running a 2:42:59 is no easy task, and if I really want it, I need to do everything in my power to prepare myself to get to that finish line before the clock strikes 2:43.

From this point forward, I am going to be asking myself a question Dave has told me to ask to keep my focus: "Will doing this help me get to the Trials?" If the answer is no, I need to find a new option or eliminate the choice. 

With very limited training (as in 2.5 months post Ironman) to gain more pure run fitness, every step I take needs to be putting me in the right position to run a sub-2:43. 

So, bye bye social life, sorry in advance for focusing on myself, and THANK YOU for understanding that being selfish will help me reach my goal.