February and First 2010 Race

Well, here is my month in review for February:

• 93 Miles run
• 180 minutes of weights
• 40 minutes of biking
• 60 minutes of BodyPump
• 1 5k race!
• 10 rest days

I'm pretty happy with this month! It's a short month, so even though I didn't get to 100 miles (last month I had 103), I would have if I had those 2-3 more days :) Next month, I hope to cut down to only 1 rest day a week and add more spinning/bodypump/bodyflow.

Now onto my 5K race report:

Since Thursday night I had done my first BodyPump class, I was still sore when I woke up on Saturday morning for the 5K. I decided to go out for a mile when I woke up to get the legs moving and see how they felt. I felt pretty good so I knew I would at least be able to run a tempo run for the 3 miles, but wasn't sure how fast they would be!

The 5K was at a park just a few miles from my house. It had snowed about an inch Friday night so it was beautiful, but the roads were quite slushy, which concerned me a little. The race was only $4 and we didn't have bibs or anything and the course wasn't even marked out. So I was hoping the people around me would know where they were going!!

The bell was rung at 9:35 and we were off! The race started by going up a really steep hill. Luckily that was the only steep incline. After the hill, the first mile went through the main roads of the park. I felt pretty good and managed to finish the first mile in 7:51. As the second mile came, I felt myself slowing down a bit and couldn't speed up! I hate when that happens. We made a turn out of the park and on the sidewalk of the main road around 1.5 miles. We then turned into a side street where I decided to start picking up the pace since we were halfway through. I ended up passing the guy in front of me and felt myself getting stronger. Mile 2 was 8:02 and I was not happy with that! I realized if I wanted to get near 24 minutes, I would have to go all out on the last mile. Luckily we rounded a corner into the park and went downhill. I passed another woman and knew we were in the home stretch! My 3rd mile was a super speedy 7:20! I got to the last .1 and knew I wasn't going to PR, but gave it all I had.

I finished in 24:17. Just 12 seconds from my PR. I was really happy with that considering all the conditions! I also finished 2/21 in my AG, 5/36 females and 30/95 overall. Not too shabby! :)

Pump it up!

Tuesday and Thursdays are my strength training days. I usually run a mile or 2, do a boring machine routine for about 45 min, and run another mile or 2. I am SO bored with this. So much so that I didn't even go to the gym Tuesday because I dreaded it (and because I was being a lazy arse).

The solution? BODYPUMP! I was super nervous to try something new (as I always am...) but it was so fun! And a greattt workout! I felt like a wimp with such small weights I was using, but was told that I didn't want to overdo it my first time, or I'd never come back!! I definitely had some issues with the pushups and the plank, but I can't wait to keep improving and get stronger!

I just have to say that I love my gym. Everyone is SO welcoming and nice. The teacher has the woman next to me "coach" me through everything and give me some tips before we started each part. That helps so much!

I'm VERY excited because every T/Th there is a BodyPump class from 5:30-6:30, which just happens to be when I'm at the gym on those days! Woohooo!


In other news, I'm supposed to be running a 5K on Saturday. It should be interesting because it hasn't stopped snowing/sleeting/raining here since Tuesday morning! I went to the store after the gym and there are huge puddles everywhere! We are under a flood warning. So we'll see if it stops in time for the 5K! The website says they have never cancelled a race, so it will be me being a wimp if I don't end up running it! lol Come onnnn weather!

Tequilla = Success?

So last night was the gathering with my bridesmaids to put together the invitations. It was great time!! I even had a margarita! I usually don't drink the night before running days (esp long runs), but I was craving a yummy drink!

Well, today I had an amazing run. 12 miles in 1:46:05. Which is a PR for me annnd an 8:50 pace, which is my goal for my half in 5 weeks! I had negative splits for every mile, except the mile with crazy hill that is almost the whole mile (at mile 11 mind you), which I ran in 8:50!

So, maybe I should have tequilla EVERY week before my long run! I'm willing to give it a shot ;)

Love, Birthday and Invitations!

This week has been/is a busy one! Not only is work CRAZY and I haven't worked just 8 hours in who knows how many days, but this week was Valentine's Day and my Lovely Fiance's birthday!

Valentine's day was packed full of LOVE, hehe. We spent the day together, cooking, eating and watching a movie. What could be better :) I'm one of those sappy girls who supports the greeting card companies on Vday! lol

Fiance's birthday was yesterday. It was a snowyyy day and he had to work (who works on thier bday?? I always take mine off!). After work, we went to dinner with DF's dad and his GF. It was fun! I got a delicious pulled pork sandwich. mmm! I hope he enjoyed his day! :)

Of course I have been running between it all! DF looked at me a little crazy when I hopped on the treadmill while he was showering before his bday dinner. Hey I'll take any 18 min to fit 2 miles in that I can! Tonight we went to the gym and I got in my tempo run for the week - 7 miles with 5 at HMP (8:49). Felt glorious! I love speedwork. Saturday is a big 12 miler!

Also on my brain constantly is the wedding that is now 93 days away!!! Friday a bunch of us are meeting at my mom's house to put the invitations together and address them! Should be a fun night! I also keep remembering things to add to my registry and got my first shower gift, even though the shower is still a month away!!

And that is what's on my mind tonight! Night all!!

Perservering through a "hard" run

On tap for today was a lovely 11 miler. For some reason this distance was intimidating me. I have run plenty of 10 milers, an 11 miler, a 12 miler and heck even a half marathon, but as I got ready to run this morning, I was nervous! Go figure!

Like any other long run day, I woke up and had a whole wheat bagel. While I waited for my food to digest a bit, I mapped out my run and had decided to try a new route to mix things up a bit. The forecast said 20 with NO wind and I thought 'heck that's better than 30 with wind'! So off I went!

The first 2 miles were blissful. The 9:30 pace felt easy, legs were loose and ready to go. I thought wow these next 9 miles are gonna be great! Then came mile 3. I turned onto another road and saw a steep hill up ahead. I am awful at hills, but I thought I was doing great, what's a hill gonna do? Well a hill caused me to start panting, which caused a bit of phlegm to get caught in my throat, which caused me to try hacking it up for the next mile. While hacking, I came to an intersection, saw where the sidewalk continued and went ahead, only to realize that I had taken the wrong turn.

Still hacking (and running), I started stressing about whether this run was actually going to happen and where the hell was I running to?? I decided to keep going until the sidewalk ended and turn around unless I knew where I was. Then, I looked down at my garmin and saw 2.93. How was this STILL mile 3? I look down again and realize my watch wasn't moving! I forgot to start it at the stoplight. Who knows how long I had been running! Felt like a mile but probably wasn't (turns out it was only .34 miles!!). Finally I hacked up the phlegm and was faced with another long hill.

Reaching the top of this hill I realized where I was, just a mile from home and I seriously considered turning back home, but decided to go the other way. Back into familiar territory, I relaxed a bit and the next 2 miles weren't too bad. I kept a 9:30 pace despite the long slow hill climb. Soon I got to where I was going to turn around originally and realized I could still do that since I was just over 6 miles and the spot I knew was 4.8 from home from previous runs, or so I thought! The climb back down the long slow hill was BRUTAL. I was going to stop for my clif shot at the DD at the bottom of it, and the wind was making sure that came slooowly! My face was ready to fall off from the cold and I needed to put my gloves back on.

Finally I got to DD, quickly took my clif shot (mmm vanilla - but not as good as vanilla hammer gel!) got some water and was off again. As soon as I started again my legs felt like bricks. I didn't know how I was going to make it through the next 3 miles. Speaking of 3 miles, I realized I was wrong. At the turnaround I was only 3.8 miles from home (not 4.8) and so I was 2 miles from home with 3 miles left! I spent the next mile deciding if I should turn back home or go another way and get that last mile in.

The wind was back in full force as I made my way up the last big hill on the way home. I kept going by "competing" with a little boy riding his bike on the other side of the road. lol I won that battle since the boy decided to walk his bike up the steeper part of the hill! When I got to a mile from home, something deep inside me said "It's just an extra mile, what's that when you just ran 7 hell miles?" Ok I thought, here I go!

Well, little did I know, the next mile's sidewalks were FULL of snow and ice. I was swerving all over the place trying to avoid it and slowing down to a crawl when I couldn't. Seriously people, why don't you shovel your sidewalks??? Anyways, I got through that mile and when I realized I only had one mile, I picked up the pace (as I usually do) and I realized that I had just pushed my body so far, and yet I still had speed and energy left in me. That made me speed up even more, and I finished my last mile at a respectable 8:49. Exactly my secret goal pace for my half marathon!

I was ecstatic. Still am really, almost 12 hours later. I can't believe that I made it through when all the odds were against me. It was at that point that I realized how dedicated I was to running. A year ago something like phlegm stuck in my throat would send me walking home, but now it's just another obstical to overcome.

Finishing this run means so much more than just crossing another training run off the list. It's about pushing through the pain, realizing that even when my mind is telling me that I should turn back, take a short cut or take a break, I CAN perservere.

I guess it's true: We're all stronger than we know.

Now PLEASE running gods, let me NOT have a "hard" run like this on race day!!!! lol :)

And with that, I'm off to bed!

Is it all in my head?

So I had a very speedy speedwork tonight! 8 miles with 4X1600 at 8:00 pace! I split it up because it's snowy out so I wanted to go to the gym with my lovely fiance since his 4wd truck is more reliable than my car. Anyways, that's not my point.

So I ran the first 5 miles with 3 of the speedy miles at the gym and felt awesome! I felt strong, fast and felt like I even had more speed in me! But I kept with my pace. Then we drove the 2 miles home and I hopped onto my treadmill for the last interval/3 miles. I felt so so so slow! The 8:00 mile I had to run felt torturous and like it was 3 miles long itself!! Then, even at 10mm I was breathing heavier, even though it's my "easy" pace!

I have always thought that I was so much slower on the treadmill than outside. But now that I'm thinking about it, maybe it's just MY treadmill? Maybe it is calibrated wrong? Or maybe it's the fact that it was $350 at walmart, while the treadmills at the gym are probably $1500! Or maybe it is all in my head and I am imagining this issue since at home I'm in a stuffy office.

I have no idea, but I thought it was interesting.

Anyways, the important thing is... I ROCKED MY SPEEDWORK! I'm beginning to LOVE speedwork! I love the feeling of getting my heart rate pumping and reaching the goal paces. I can't wait for my 10k and half marathon so I can put this speed to good use! I am also going to look for a local 5k because I'm interested to see if I can get a PR (currently 24:05). If I can do speedwork at 8:00 and feel like I have more speed in me, on the treadmill no less, then maybe I can break the 7:45 barrier in the 5k! :)

So basically I love running. That is all.

Resting is for runners! Well, sometimes!

Well, I'm officially a bit less angry about my shin splints! Lol my previous post's rant was a titch overdramatic! Oh well.

I am on day 3 of the 4 day running hiatis I gave myself to get rid of these shin splints! And I'm thinking more than just my shins are happy about it! I feel pretty good, even if I'm itching to hit the roads!! I suppose sometimes the body just needs some rest and I'm sure my shins acting out was my body's way of telling me that!!

Here's to listening to your body and giving it a rest now and then!

Now hurry up Monday afternoon so I can RUN! :D

Are you kidding me?

Well. Seems I have shin splints. It hurts to flex my foot up, which after reading a bit is a sign of shin splints. UGH. This upsets me because I know the only way to get rid of them is rest rest rest! Doesn't my shin know that I am running a half marathon in less than 2 months???

I'm confused as to how I got them though, since I have only been running 25-30 miles per week, with a cutback week every 4 and only increasing by 1 mile a week! Seems pretty smart to me...

What also sucks, is that it hurts to shift. And I drive a standard. Sooo how am I going to get better if even driving is irritating them??

I'm even more upset because I had a great run tonight!! 7 miles, with 5 @ 8:49 pace. Felt so great and was one of those runs where you feel like you can go forever! GAH!

Welp, that's my rant for the night.

My First Post!

Well, here I go! I'm not much of a writer, but figured why not give this a try!

Let's see, a little intro: I am 23, living in MA with my soon to be husband. We will be married on May 22, and I can't wait! I am a runner, training for my 2nd half marathon on March 28th! I plan to be a marathoner by the end of the year, but I'm trying not to jinx it! I am a financial consultant, but I'm not too thrilled about it. I'm searching for what I really want to be when I grow up!

I mainly plan for this blog to focus on running. But who knows where it will take me!

I have been running since high school. At first it was because I wanted to do a sport in the spring, but softball wasn't my thing, tennis required too much hand-eye coordination and the only other option was Track. Ok, let's try that one out! Well, I tried to join the sprinters, that didn't work out too well. I came in last. I figured ok well maybe I can run longer than anyone else! Seemed to work ok, definitely was the fastest at the 32oo on my team, out of the 2 girls running distance! lol

I never really LOVED running though. I did it because it was something to keep me busy after school and active/in shape for soccer. It wasn't until years later, after high school and college, and taking some time off running, that I literally fell in love with running. I remember back in high school complaining about the 3.7 mile run we had to do several times a week, and that 7 mile run our coach once made us do! Now, when I run 3 miles, I think "That's it? Can't I keep going?" It's amazing how perspective changes when you aren't "forced" to do something!

I love running because it gives me a goal, something to strive for. And when I obtain that goal, I can reach for another, be it a new distance, a new speed, etc. I love the numbers, watching the times drop, analyzing pace, watching the mileage rack up. That probably comes from my inner Math dork - I do have a Math degree! Most of all, I love running for the freedom it makes me feel. Going out for a run is a wonderful stress reliever! There is nothing like coming home from a stressful day at work and letting your mind escape on a run, think about whatever comes to mind, if anything at all!

Ok, that's it for now! Hope I didn't bore everyone away :)