Running sporadically isn't going to work for this girl

Quick update in case anyone checks in...

#1 I just put my Hilly Hundred Report up...its way late
#2 I signed up for the IU Mini Marathon (a half) on March 31st 2012!
#3 I have not ran enough since the race (shall I say since my feet healed) to be worth anything

Let's talk about each of these:
#1 Read the post if you are interested :)

#2 I do not think I will run the half in January that I had previously considered. It is a night trail race. For me, that spells potential danger. My husband Alex is just recovering from an accident (2 broken wrists [that's both], 4 cracked ribs, and a tear in his kidney) and we are just now receiving the hospital, doctor, ER, and ambulance bills for that, sooooooooo yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaa - I am not going to run a trail run in January at night! Instead I will be running a hopefully much safer race around IU's gorgeous campus on March 31st. I am so excited! I have big plans for my training and hope for a major PR. I think some of my close friends will be running this race as well, so that will be awesome.

#3 All that being said, so far, my training sucks. I have ran 5-6 times since the race on November 5th...terrible. I am running twice a week with my work friend. We just did 5 miles today. That is the longest distance I have ran since the race. It really felt ok, but my lungs were cold and I didn't feel as relaxed as I did before the race. I am going to get back to it. It is just so hard when I have to work all day and it gets dark at 5 and we have to take Kenda to the park so she can run around...winter is difficult. Upside: Christmas is almost here which means a week off work! :)

That's my quick update. Right now Kenda is sleeping right beside me (I am sitting on the floor). She is so cuddly after 9:30 :)

Goodnight!

Stepping back in time...2011 Hilly Hundred Non-race Report

Between the Hilly Hundred and the Monumental Half, my sister got married. So yea, I was pretty busy. I still wanted to get a recap on my blog though (for memory purposes).

Honestly, I have waited too long to type this up (the Hilly Hundred was in the middle of October)...I do have a few fleeting memories though:

Day 1 of the Hilly Hundred is misleading. It is actually about 58 miles. Last year, I only completed day 1 and I completely bonked at about mile 40 - leaving me 18 miles of agonizing riding. It wasn't so bad this year and I count my better physical shape as the reason why. It was pretty tough, don't get me wrong, but I was making it the entire time. We stopped a good 4 times probably. At about mile 45 I just had to pull over and stand up straight for a bit. There was a good amount of climbing, but I made it up each and every hill.

Day 2 was rougher. Although day 2 of the Hilly Hundred is only 49 miles, my rear end hurt from so much time on the saddle the day before. I was absolutely miserable the first 4 miles. I didn't want to put my full weight on my butt so I was over compensating with my legs. This led to some slight cramping and I knew I would never make it all day like that. I eased into the saddle and every time I let a little more weight go, I winced. Seriously, why am I doing this to myself? I asked Alex if I could turn around, he said sure, but I would have to wait for him at the car...about 3-4 hours or so. I decided I could forge ahead. After 5 miles or so, the pain started to subside and once we were at the first rest stop (about 9 miles in) it was tolerable. We stopped, stretched, hydrated, and tinkled. Then it was back to it...and back to the terrible pain! Ughhh! It hurt all over again for 3-4 miles. My quads are forever going to be stronger because of this ride. I was holding so much weight with them while cycling, just trying not to put much weight on my saddle. Once we hit some hills, I was scared about what that would feel like, but I think my concentration on not falling and continuing to pedal won out and the pain was at the back of my mind, making it manageable. The ride went on like this. After each rest stop, which felt so good, the saddle hurt like whoa for 3-4 miles. With about 10 miles left, I was so ready to be done. It wasn't enjoyable, it was grueling. I made a promise to myself to ride more before the Hilly next year to "callus" my sit bones...if I don't, I don't think I will complete it again.

Best part of the Hilly Hundred: the scenery. I am convinced that Indiana residents probably don't understand just how beautiful this state is. The fall scenery that you are exposed to during these 2 days is breath taking. It is picturesque and even surreal at times. The sheer beauty makes me proud to be a Hoosier :)

When we crossed the finish line, I immediately took my bike to the side of the road, got off, and started walking, which had never felt more amazing. Alex asked if we could ride to our car (about 0.2 miles). I said, absolutely not - you can, but I am not riding again until next spring. It may take that long for the bruises to heal...He walked with me :)

Sunday Afternoon Football

Nope, not a running post...not yet!

Alex and I had the chance to go to a Colt's game via his generous boss who gave us tickets. The group we were sitting with was about 20 strong and included mainly people I did not know. I knew a few though. The Indianapolis Colts played the Jacksonville Jaguars. I am not going to recount the game itself, just the experience of attending...

Alex and I parked at his parents' and walked to Lucas Oil Stadium - about 1 mile. The streets were crowded, tailgating was in full swing, and although the Colts have not won a single game this year, there was not a soul in sight who wasn't wearing blue and white. As we approached the stadium, a man on a bull horn was shouting in a thick southern accent, "Welcome to Lucas Oil Stadium - shorter lines to the left." I, however, thought he was saying 'borderlines' to the left - Alex set me straight. It is impossible not to notice all the people asking for donations around the stadium. There were homeless people, cheerleading groups, school groups, charities, ect...I had no cash, but would have needed at least ten one dollar bills in order to give to everyone I walked by.

We had to wait a bit to meet up with everyone and get our tickets. I met and shook hands with all the people in our group. My favorite was a boy about 4th grade or so - he reminded me or me when I was his age. He was slightly shy, but polite. his Dad immediately told everyone that he was in the Indianapolis Boys' Choir, to which he quickly corrected, "there are girls in it too, DAD!" Alex asked if he had any Holiday shows coming up. He told us 2, and spared no detail :) I asked him about sports and he said he gave up basketball to do choir and spellbowl - a kid after my own heart! Then he articulately told about his upcoming spellbowl meet and although he was only the 2nd alternate he was expected to practice the words. There was more to the story, but I'll cut it short. It was adorable how excited about being the 2nd alternate on his spellbowl team he was. Throughout the game, I wanted to to talk to him more, but I never got to. I did figure out who he reminded me of (besides myself) - Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory! He looked like Sheldon from 4th grade!

Once inside the stadium, the crowd just got tighter. If I had a child, I would have been death gripping him/her. We got a coffee ($5.50 - robbery). We got to our seats and I just took in the stadium - its massive!

If I am not going to recount the game, this post is about over...but there is one last topic to discuss...the Colts Cheerleaders...Holy Moly. Skanktastic is the best word to describe them. After what I saw, I doubt I would ever let a daughter of mine be a cheerleader. DIE-SCUSTING. Seriously. That's all I have to say about that.

If only Peyton was still playing and the Colts actually had a shot...maybe next year with a little Luck! ;)

I performed minor surgery...on myself!

Remember on LOST when Jack was going to remove his own appendix or something? Well...I removed a good portion of my feet! (Ewww, I know.)

I'm walking normal, I've ran a few steps through parking lots and to cross streets here and there since Saturday. I think a short run is on the books for soon! Of course, I will be taking Kenda - she's 1 year old now! Her birthday was November 8th and we celebrated by taking her on a long walk and to the dog park (Alex took her) and we got her a new Kong toy :) And we let her stay up past her bedtime of 9:30 :)

We are putting our Christmas tree up this weekend (!!) Alex would like to wait, but I want to put it up! It is our first Christmas in our new house and I would like to enjoy the decorations through all of the holidays.

For now though, continued rest and recovery...

2011 Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon Race Report: Dang Feet!

Long time, no blog. I've been busy...

This post will contain a recounting of my first half marathon experience, nothing less, maybe a little more. Soon to come: a training update, a report on the 2011 Hilly Hundred, and more Kenda, Alex, dog park, running, life, Christmas decorating, ect...

Saturday was race day. It was chilly, dark, and crowded at the start. I had imagined what a few thousand people would be like, but experiencing it is something else. I lost my friend before the race even started. I was walking up and down the sidewalk looking for her about 5 minutes before the start only to realize that there were metal barricades between the sidewalks and the race participants..."uhhh, I need to be over there?" Without giving away all the embarrassing details, I made it into the corral. Metal barricades, pfffft!

The "Go" was totally lame. It was literally like this: "on your mark, get set, GOOOOOO!" I was like, what are we, 4 years old? Anyways, then came the shuffle to the actual start line (when there are thousands of people, you can't just take off). I just walked, others oddly jogged - I was ready though. My plan was a slow first mile. I did not want to get carried away and blow it on a quick first mile. This was easier than I expected, I would have had to bob and weave in order to run faster, which would have wasted energy...running along with everyone put me at 7:55 for my first mile, that worked, I would have even taken slower. Overall, my main goal was to break 1:45. In my heart of hearts, I wanted to average under 8 minutes per mile.

Miles 2-4 are a blur. They went by so. fast. The only detail to spell out is this: S. T. R. A. W. Straw. Read it and remember it if you are planning on running a long distance race.

**Let me tell a quick prefacing story: Friday night we went to Alex's parents house for dinner - Ellen made me fettuccine alfredo, my favorite. I planned on spending the night since they live about 5 minutes away from the start line. I had forgotten to pick up a straw, so I asked them if they had one. I received a couple confused looks and then the inevitable, "what do you need a straw for?" I explained and Bob went to a coffee shop around the corner and picked up muffins for breakfast and an assortment of straws - all shapes and sizes. I love them so much!**

A single straw cut in half made my race better. Hold a straw with you and at water stations, drinking is cake. I learned this from a fellow Bedfordite (I'm telling you, that place is crawling with high class endurance athletes - I saw 3 of them while running on Saturday!) At the first water station I took water (the 2nd station) I did not have my straw out of my pocket - so I took the cup, continued moving, and tried to drink. I sputtered, coughed, and coughed, and threw the cup, and coughed...sigh. Then I got my straw out and thought to myself, "I am going to hold this dang thing the entire race." Needless to say, after that I was well hydrated :) NOTE: cut the straw in half so its easier to hold and carry the other half with you - I dropped my straw at one point, but had the other half in my pocket so I was ok for the rest of the race.

Mile 2: 8:04
Mile 3: 7:46
Mile 4: 7:51

Miles 5-9 were slightly different for me. I really felt myself getting into a groove. I thought about holding my pace, about relaxing my upper body, about my stride, and about the pain that was creeping into my knee. Now, I believe myself to have a higher than normal pain tolerance, but who wants to run on a pained knee for 9 miles. It was tolerable, I was holding on easily - feeling strong.

Mile 5: 7:55
Mile 6: 7:48
Mile 7: 7:47
Mile 8: 7:51
Mile 9: 7:53

Then it happened. My dang feet gave up on me. By that I mean I developed blisters I could feel at each and every foot strike. Terrible. I'll spare you the gory details, but seriously, I mangled my feet. It is something I wasn't expecting at all. I worried about my knees, lungs, cramping, and ability to keep going, but not my feet. In all honesty, I developed this issue during mile 9, but at mile 10 I was really feeling it. I have never been more uncomfortable running in all my life. I prayed for them to hold out for the duration of the race. Looking back, I will take it as a blessing. When I run my first marathon and I am at mile 22, my quads will be screaming. I will be thinking (hopefully) at least the skin on the bottom of my feet is still intact (sorry to any queasy readers). I really will think that, its a fact. And the bonus: I wasn't even feeling my knee pain anymore, just my feet.

So, with every step being a struggle, I was faced with one of my biggest worries...this little voice in the back of my head started in: "you could just stop and adjust your shoes, maybe that would help," "you could walk a few steps, it might help,"you could stop, you don't want to injure yourself." NO - I'll keep going, thank you for your concern.

Mile 10: 7:59
Mile 11: 8:08

The end. Just kidding! Mile 12 took the longest to get to. I thought I was never going to get to the mile marker. It was here that the rest of my body really started feeling the implications of running this far. As I passed mile 11, 12, ect I was able to say to myself..."hey! you have never ran this far at once before!" It was exciting, and as every stride was painful, excitement was what I needed. But, as I was saying, the rest of my body...my abdomen was getting tired and my pace was accordion-ing, I wanted to be done. BUT. A very large and important BUT. But I was enjoying it immensely. Stupid feet.

Mile 12: 8:13

At this point I was thinking about what I was going to be thinking later in the day when I thought back on the race - ya follow? I knew I had to give it all I had. Everything. Leave it out there - or I'd beat myself up. I was doing good, I could meet my goal. I felt ok physically. AHHH if my feet didn't feel like they might fall off I could kick. But no, I was stuck feeling every. single. painful. step. Its a blessing, Jenna, a blessing...*through clenched teeth*

Mile 13: 8:06

I had managed to pick it up slightly. I was ready to be done.

Then I saw it, the finish. Yes.

Final time: 1:45:35

If it wasn't for my dang feet, under 1:45 would have been easy. EASY. So now, I have to figure out what happened and how to avoid it next time. I learned an unbelievable amount about racing, running, and myself during this race. Straws are clutch for proper hydration. Not training much during the month leading up to a big race is something I will regret. I will always wonder how quick my debut half marathon could have been - if only I had ran more consistent in October. And most importantly, I learned that I will never give up during a race. Ever. Maybe I already knew that though.

The end of the race was blissful. I will never take one of those aluminum blanket things, no way. There was so much food and all I wanted was water - I was not even a tiny bit hungry. There were a lot of people. I wanted my medal. I wanted to get to my husband. I wanted to leave the crowd. I wanted to sit!

All in all, I had a great time. I am already pushing up my next half marathon to about 2 months from now. I want to do this for real and see what I'm capable of. It is exciting. The only problem: right now I can hardly walk...

"Long legs! Must be a runner..."

It did rain allllll day, but cleared for a little 4-miler this evening. I should have gone further, but I didn't get started soon enough and a 6-miler would have put me into dusk. And I took a friend with me that probably shouldn't run 6 miles yet (Kenda Roo!). For those of you who don't know, Kenda is our puppy. She is almost 1, but I will still call her a puppy...probably forever. She's a red doberman and quite beautiful, but I'm a bit biased. Her full name is Kenda Roo Frist, but she goes by lots of names:

• Kenda
• Kenda Roo
• Kenda Roo Frist - when she's in trouble
• Kenda-Wenda, or just Wenda
• Roo
• Roogie-Poogie, or just Roogie (we don't call her just Poogie, ha!)
• Aroogala
• Pretty
• Sweetie-Petey, or just Petey
• Honey Bunny

You get the idea. We are in love. Pics coming soon!

She did well, like she always does. She looks up at me like, "Can we please go faster?" She runs beside me without much effort on my part until she sees another animal, whether it be a dog, a cat, a squirrel, or a chipmunk. When she sees an animal, she goes for it! This is bad because she is strong and pulls me forward. Don't get me wrong, I can gain control back quickly, but its just that initial jolt that really interrupts the run. Also, if its another dog out on the trail, she wants to try to play with it (she is super friendly, such a social butterfly!). While out for the run, she almost pulled me into a guy that was out walking his dog. It is a problem, I need to anticipate this tug and adjust before she goes for it!

Anyways, I was under 8 minutes per mile at 2, and finished up averaging 8:05 per mile so I think I did pretty well. Given the stop and go with Kenda, I will call that about 8 minute average :) It was fairly easy, although I was incredibly sweaty. My legs felt good, my lungs felt pretty good...I am so excited for my race! I need to think of a better way to put that into words or people that do read this blog (all 2 of you!) are going to quit reading cause all I ever say is that I am excited for my race!

In order to keep you coming back for more, I will write more about Kenda:

At almost 2 miles, a guy rode by on his bike. I could hear him behind me say, "Long legs! Must be a runner..." In my head I was thinking, "umm, creepy, but flattering, so thank y...he means Kenda." Sure enough, he went by looking at her and smiling at her. She KNEW he was adoring her and she jumped up ever so slightly (and adorably) and licked at his hand as he went by. I am convinced that she knows what she is doing and does it for attention. Whenever Alex and I have Kenda out on a walk, she gets so. many. compliments! She's beautiful! Awww! Such a pretty puppy! How cute! And on. and on. and on. I swear, if I was looking my absolute best on the Monon Trail with Kenda, SHE would get the compliments! But, that's ok, she IS so pretty! :)

I'm sure I will include more Kenda anecdotes after she turns 1 because then I will take her running with me more often! I am so excited to have her as a running partner :)

After the run was dinner: grilled garlic & peppercorn marinated pork tenderloin, oven roasted carrots and cauliflower, and quinoa. I love my husband more than words can express (and not just because he is an excellent cook/master griller-but that sure is a bonus!)

After dinner was TV: Chopped, The Office, and Whitney. I must say, The Office was excellent last night! Jim's book was classic Jim/Dwight and I am glad that aspect of the show is back (at least for 1 episode).

Here come the hills...

This weekend Alex and I will complete the Hilly Hundred! It is a 100 mile bike route split over 2 days that includes lots 'o hills! Notice I say complete not compete - it will be a feat just to get through it. Last year I only rode on Saturday (which was 56 miles). I bonked at about 40 meaning the last 16 miles were absolutely terrible for me. I wasn't in shape, so I feel more confident that I can make it this year. I plan on completing both days with Alex :) I will undoubtedly blog about it.

Tonight was 6 miles. I did it around 8:45 pace - some miles a little over, some a little under. It felt good after about 3. At about 2.5 I was thinking, "oh my gosh, I have to run 13.1 miles soon and 2.5 is a job...I am going to have to rethink my goal!" But I do not think I will. I'm feeling good about trying for a 7:45 average pace (really, 7:45, like on the dot each mile). I would much rather hurt during the race and meet my goal, at least come close, than run slower and feel better but not meet my goal. I'm an endurance athlete, what's a little pain?

With Garmin, I hope to succeed in hitting my splits. If we ever get a boy dog, I think I might have to name him Garmin.

Tomorrow looks like rain, hoping it will hold off so I can get another 6 in!

Migraine in my Brain

I finally got motivated to run Monday after work. I knew it wouldn't feel smooth, let alone easy, but I was actually looking forward to it. I set out chatting along with my friend and we were under 8 minute pace for mile 1. We were slightly over for 2, and I needed to stretch. We stopped for 5 minutes or so then continued on. Soon after we started up again I started feeling off. I was almost shivery- not good while running. I told her and quickly agreed when she said it was ok with her to turn around (we had barely gone another 0.2 miles). We walked a bit and it happened - I started to get the aura. Some "migrainers" will understand what I mean. My vision was screwing up and it only meant one thing...a migraine. The aura lasts about 5-10 minutes, then its on to the headache. We walked all 2.2 miles back...

This was terrible news for me. This sealed my fate for the entire evening (and the next day). I had my friend drive me home because I was squinting even with my sunglasses on. Another sucky migraine symptom that I get is sensitivity to light. When I got home, I slumped over on the couch and felt sorry for myself for a few minutes. Then I decided I needed to shower because I was pretty sweaty. I was feeling pretty terrible and the ache in my head was also in my eyes - my eyes were hurting. I got straight in bed and was able to fall asleep. I slept til about 8:45PM when I got up to eat. I went back to bed around 10:30 and slept til 8:30AM. When I woke up, my head/eyes felt normal - Thank God!

That is not the end of a migraine for me though...it couldn't be that simple! The day after I have one, I have a single spot on my head, near the front, that remains tender. If I move around too much, that spot will really hurt. If I stand up to quickly, that awful place will become painful. It only lasts seconds, but it deters me from too much movement the day after a migraine. I obviously did not run. I did walk over to the dog park with Alex and Kenda though, that went fine.

I hope to get over this and not have another one...well, ever!

*If you do get migraines with aura, talk to your doctor...it puts you (and me) at a much higher risk for stroke.

Wanted: Desire to Run

I need to run more. I am trailing off my pattern, and I know its not good. I want to post my September Round Up, but I don't have the motivation to type it up. What is going on?

I think about my race in a few weeks and my race in May and running marathon in the fall, but I don't think of wanting to run like I did earlier in training. Uhhhhhhhhh.

A little help?

2011 Indianapolis Corporate Challenge: Aprimo 5 Mile Race Report

This year, my company sponsored the 5 mile race in the Indianapolis Corporate Challenge. It was pretty cool because they said the "Aprimo 5 Mile" about 100 times over the loud speaker. I felt proud.

It was an early morning - we had to get up around 6:30 to get ready and drive downtown for the race. I had a small cup of coffee, some water, and a granola bar to fuel up. I was pretty tired, but it didn't take too long for a little adrenaline to kick in. We got to the event, I used the restroom, and I had to make my way to the start line...no time for a warm up. I did stretch for about 10 minutes because we were standing there listening to the Mayor and the National Anthem. And soon, we were off. I was going to try to hit 7:30's but I really wanted 7:20's. When I looked at my Garmin and my pace was 6:40 in the first minute or two, I knew I needed to back off. It felt weird letting everyone go ahead of me, but I felt like I would lose it all if I tried to hold 6:40. This ended up being a good decision.

Mile 1 came and went in 7:11. Boom. Confidence booster, now time to back it off further. Mile 2 = 7:18. Sweet. Mile 3 = 7:29. Push it. Mile 4 = 7:22. 1 more to go...Mile 5 = 7:06. :).

In the last mile, I tried to push. I could not see any women, or I think I would have pushed harder. It was successful. Sitting here typing this now, I wish I had another race like it coming up because I think I could go faster. But I have a half marathon on the horizon and I am getting super pumped to see what I can do in that distance.

I loved this race and I am so glad I had the opportunity to run in it. Competition like this is so fun and I am so glad that I started running and training again. I can't wait to see what I can do with my endurance and speed.

Alex was there to support me and when I had about 0.2 miles to go I could hear him cheering for me :). It really did help and I am so lucky that he is willing to get up, take me to the race, and cheer for me :).

On the downside, September was a step back in my training overall. A September Roundup is in the works, so you shall see just how much I stepped back :(...hopefully it does not ruin my training.

On the upside: with a 7:18 average for 5 miles, I may have to readjust my half marathon goal to 7:45's...we'll see!

More to come soon! Run hard!

Letter from Today

Hey You,

This is today. I hope you have enjoyed me so far. I tried real hard to have nice weather for you. I would like to see you outside with me. I know your body will thank you. Take a run. Talk a walk. Walk your dog. Sit on your deck. Do some yard work. Enjoy the nice weather I have for you. If you need motivation, look out your window.


Fondly,
Today

Easy run, better get going! :)

8's for the Win!

No one showed up for my after-work group run...sigh.

It can't discourage me for long! I drove home, Alex was already out for his ride (althought I called, he answered, I said I was stressed, he said "let me flip around and come home," I said "nah, I'm gonna run - you get your ride in") What a sweetie :) I set out for my run. Mile 1 = 8:04...let's see what it feels like to keep this up. Mile 2 = 8:03...right on! Mile 3 = 8:02...boom shakalaka...now for a rest mile...I think I could have held it though. Keep in mind, zero pain, just a slightly more labored breathing. I'm shaping up! Mile 4 = 8:49...that was on purpose. Mile 5 = 7:54...love it - literally fist pumped while running. Mile 6 = 8:04...done! Mile 7 = 8:50...on purpose again :)

Then we took Kenda to the park. Yada Yada Yada.

Then we had delicious chili, pulled pork nachoes with roasted brussel sprouts and carrots. Delicious.

Then I watched tv. A little 'New Girl' and a little 'Biggest Loser.'

I'm at 8's without really pushing? I can hardly believe it. Fist pump.

Running in the Dark

Sunday's laziness almost spilled over into Monday. The rain we had alllllll day didn't help either. Le sigh, it was hard to be motivated...

It was the perfect mixture of knowing I had to run, Kenda's face when she wanted to go do something, and the fact that Alex was willing to go with me that got me up, dressed, and out the door. It was close to 8 by the time we got started. I wanted to get 30 minutes in. It was getting dark when we first started and the light quickly left, leaving us running in the dark. People are not supposed to be on the Monon Trail in the dark, so we set off down Broad Ripple Ave to run on some side streets. This was a nice change of scenery, but the sidewalks were uneven, causing me to run the entire 30 minutes "high knees" style. I slipped in some mud once, but caught myself. The uneven pavement, slick, wet leaves, and the mud spots slowed the pace. We got 3.5 in 30:19. It was a run, it is miles for the week. Kenda did good :)

3-4 miles feels like a short distance now. I feel like I am capable of running so much farther when I finish with one of these shorter runs.

Hopefully there will be a nice turnout to my group run after work tomorrow...planning on at least 7 miles.

2011 Indianapolis Corporate Challenge: Cycling Race Report

In short, Team Aprimo won Division 3 of the Corporate Challenge Cycling event!

I was part of a 5 person team to participate on behalf of Aprimo in the 6.05 mile time trial. I was the only girl, but that was ok. Each team had to have a girl. I guess so it would be fair? Whatever. I was lucky because my teammates were all avid cyclists. We went out on a warm up ride and I knew Aprimo's chances were good when they were hitting 20 on this warm up. I was sucking wind, but I also do not ride anymore. As I was trying to catch up, a bee hit my hand in between my thumb and index finger and stung me. It hurt. I had not been stung by a bee since I was, like, 7. I flicked the bee off and then had to pull the stinger out of my hand. It swelled minimally, but hurt quite a bit. One of my teammates had a bee sting kit in his car, which consisted of a pre-soaked pad to rub on the sting. It didn't help much. It hurt all the way up to the time I was on the starting line getting ready to begin my TT, then the stinging just stopped.

I got going and hit 20 pretty easily and decided to maintain instead of completely wearing myself out. There was a decent headwind to deal with. I got down in my drops and pressed on. Mile 1 was the longest mile of the race. I kept watching my computer and seeing the tenths tick by...so slowly. I was going 20-21...come on! After mile 1, I got more focused on the course and making sure I did not make a wrong turn. I am so capable of making wrong turns. I thought the volunteers could have done better at pointing out directions. My guess is that they assumed we all knew the course. Ha! At one point, at an intersection, a cop car was perpendicular to the road dead ahead of me. I slowed to yell at the cop for directions. I was to go straight, and avoid the car...silliness. Anyways, I hovered around 19-21 througout, slowing for turns. My upper thighs started to kill around 4 miles in. When I made the turn for the finish, I got out of the saddle and pressed up to 25...Alex was cheering for me :) I crossed with a 19.5 mph average. That is 1 mph faster than last year on a 1 mile longer course...that spells improvement.

I ended up 51st out of 114. I was the 7th female to finish out of 25...shucks. My teammates were 9th, 12th, 15th, and 27th! We won our division! :)

It was a fun time, minus the bee sting. I will definitely participate next year and hope for more improvement!

Sunday was the laziest day ever. We didn't do anything except a few errands and taking Kenda to the dog park.

Big race on this coming Saturday...

Group Run Flop

The group run I organized turned out to be a bit smaller than I anticipated. My friend I regularly run with and 2 others showed. I was hoping for around 10 people at least...oh well!

We ran 7 and stayed close to 8:15 pace the entire way, finishing in under 58 minutes. I felt good - got a little pushback from my body during miles 6 and 7 but the "group" kept me going. I am confident that I could hold that pace for longer and I will try to do so in an upcoming run :) Since I would like to hold 8 or just under during the Monumental, I am going to have to push myself more in training!

This run pushed me to 30.5 miles on the week - my highest mileage yet! I might do a few miles tomorrow evening, but nothing much. I have a bike race Saturday morning that I need to be ready for!

We took Kenda to the dog park. She ran so much! We got to see her gazelle leaps multiple times (she cleared 2 beagles in a single bound). It is fun when she does that. All the people at the park "ooooh" and "ahhhh" over her, which I believe she understands and therefore continues to do it (for the attention). They say stuff like, "There's the athlete of the group," or "She looks like a deer!" We are just so proud of our little girl :)

I Will Follow You

Alex and I frequently "put words in Kenda's mouth" - since she can't talk. We say what we think she is thinking, what we think she would say if she could talk, and what we think she thinks of us. It's fun.

Tonight I cracked myself up when I started singing (in my Kenda voice) "I will follow you, follow you whereever you will go" when Kenda was following Alex around everywhere. Ok, that was funnier to me that it is sounding now as I type it out...

Things commonly said by Kenda:

I am so beautiful.
I am looking for a sock to eat, what do you think I am doing?
I love Daddy more than Mommy.
I'm an angel.


I took tonight off. It rained. I have a group run after work tomorrow that I organized. Way to go me.

Blogged from my iPhone 4

My new iPhone came today so I am obviously getting it all set up. I am adding apps and syncing and texting and adding contacts...and now blogging! It feels weird to have all this power in such a tiny device...this must be what the majority of cell phone holders feel like. I have never had a smartphone before...I think I'm going to love it!

Ran 4.5 miles with Kenda tonight. Oh no you did not just auto correct my baby's name to Kendal...

I'm feeling strong. The 4.5 tonight was easy...Kenda thought it was easy too :)

Running after work tomorrow on a cross county course and super pumped about it! I'll let you know how it goes...

Yes, I fudge the date sometimes

It is September 12th at 10:42PM as I am writing this. I will post this tonight. It will be marked September 12. BUT if I wrote about tonight's run tomorrow, I would alter the post date to say September 12th. Follow me? I don't know why, I guess I am a little compulsive about some things. I want each post to appear as though it was written on the day of the workout described within it.

If you read my blog on any type of consistent basis, first of all, thank you. The number of page views per day being over 5 makes my day :) Next, I have put up a few posts today (all marked different dates) and I want you to be aware so you can read them if you are interested. There is one with a bunch of pictures of food - start there.

Onto tonight's workout. 6 miles with my co-worker. We changed at work and ran from the office on the Monon. We averaged 8:12 pace :) I felt pretty good overall. We didn't talk too much, but the presence of someone else drove me to run just a little bit harder and during mile 4 when I hit a slight wall, I was motivated to keep it up because of my running mate. It was warm again, but I welcomed it. We finished in just under 49 minutes. I will so take that.

I have a bike race that I will not really prepare for on Saturday morning. It is a time trial style 6 mile race. I hope to average around 20mph. If I did this race back when I was training for Little 500, I could probably average 25-26 without a problem. I was beastly. It was awesome.

Then the following Saturday I have my 5 mile race in the Indianapolis Corporate Challenge (the bike race is part of the Corporate Challenge as well). I am proudly representing my company, Aprimo. I did the 5 mile last year and did ok (without training at all), but I have pretty high hopes for this year. I'm basically going to try to slaughter these 5 miles (at least slaughter in my terms). Meaning about a 7:30 pace. I do not know if I can do it, but I am going to try. I would like to be in the top 10 women to finish the 5 mile race and also the first woman to finish in my company's division (I believe there are 4-5 divisions, depending on the size of your company). Of course I will post detailed race reports. What kind of training blog would this be without race reports?

Going for a 31 mile week to get back in the swing of things. I am off to a great start with 19 done in 3 days :)

Goodnight! (10:58PM, September 12)

Better Late Than Never: August Roundup!

*Since its almost half way through September, I figured I better get this posted....

Month 2 down! Similar to my July Roundup, I will summarize my training in August within this post.

Weekly Breakdown:

End of Week 5: August 1 - August 5
8/1: 6 miles
8/2: 4.2 miles [0:36:00]
8/3: 4.8 miles [0:41:20]
8/4: 3 miles
8/5: Day Off

Total - 8/1 - 8/5: 18 miles
Week 5 Total - 7/30 - 8/5: 27.6 miles

Week 6: August 6 - August 12
8/6: 6.7 miles
8/7: 4 miles [0:34:34]
8/8: 4 miles [0:33:54]
8/9: Day Off
8/10: 5 miles
8/11: 3.6 miles
8/12: Day Off

Total - 8/6 - 8/12: 23.3 miles

Week 7: August 13 - August 19
8/13: 7 miles [1:00:34]
8/14: 4 miles
8/15: 6 miles [0:49:30]
8/16: Day Off
8/17: 4.1 miles
8/18: 6 miles
8/19: Day Off

Total - 8/13 - 8/19: 27.1 miles

Week 8: August 20 - August 26
8/20: 8.2 miles
8/21: Day Off
8/22: 6 miles
8/23: Day Off
8/24: 5 miles [0:42:45]
8/25: 3.7 miles
8/26: 7.2 miles [0:59:55]

Total - 8/20 - 8/26: 30.1 miles

Start of Week 9: August 27 - August 31
8/27: Day Off
8/28: 4 miles
8/29: 3.6 miles
8/30: 8.6 miles
8/31: 5 miles

Total - 8/27 - 8/31: 21.2 miles
August Mileage: 119.7 miles
Total Mileage: 82.8 + 119.7 = 202.5 miles

This month I took 8 days off (up 2 from the 6 days off in August), but my mileage was up by almost 40 miles. Ifso facto, I will overlook the days off. I completed only 3 strength/core workouts during the month of August, down from 12 in July. This has to improve. I will focus on this area moving forward in September.

My most confidence boosting run this month was on 8/26. Read about it here.

September holds some new challenges and tests. I will continue to up my long run. 10 miles will come in September and I am nervous excited for that distance. I will compete in the Indianapolis Corporate Challenge 5 mile race with the goal of a 7:30/mile pace. And, of course, I will up the miles. I hope the cooler weather of September will allow for more speed and faster recovery. Running in the fall brings back good memories :)

At the end of the last roundup I included my weight loss update. I started on July 1 at 154.6 lbs, weighed in at 151.0 lbs on August 1st, and dropped below 150 to 149.6 for my September 1st weigh in. Exactly 5 pounds lost in exactly 2 months. Honestly, I am not trying to lose weight. It is just a product of the running. I eat whatever I want, which probably needs to stop (ha). It does feel nice to put on some pants that used to be tight and have them fit. Once I shape up my diet a little more, we'll see what happens...

*Sorry for the interruption, back to the normal blogging, which I am enjoying very much :)

Solid Saturday & Sunday

Friday I messed up and bought tickets for the 7:20 showing of Crazy, Stupid Love. I should have got tickets for the 10:00 show. Because I chose 7:20, I did not have time to get a run in and we had to crate Kenda early. Crazy, Stupid Jenna.

The movie was good. I had been wanting to see it for a while. I enjoy the acting stylings of Steve Carrell, Julianne Moore, and the up and coming Emma Stone. None of them dissappointed. It was, to me, laugh out loud funny during multiple scenes. The plot was pretty intense for a romantic comedy - meaning there were more than a few story lines going on at once. I would recommend it as a good chick flick, but I heard Alex laughing in his seat a couple times, so fellas against chick flicks might enjoy it as well.

Onto the running. I owned Saturday morning. I ran 9 miles :) Alex was with me for 4 and Kenda was with me for 5 :) I took a GU after the first 4, which was new to me. It wasn't too bad. I was not running when I ate it, so it is hard to imagine what it will be like to open the package and eat the GU while running (right before a water station). I will be taking in GUs during all my long runs (over 7-8 miles) from now on to try to get used to them and prepare for race day. Kenda did great. She's going to make a great running partner in 2 months. For now, she's just going to go with me once, maybe twice, a week. 9 miles is more miles than I did last week TOTAL! Total run time: 1:21:36...slow and steady :)

Sunday morning Alex and I headed out for a quick 4. We finished in 34:30 and I had to rush to get ready to go to Bedford for my sister's bridal shower. It was a very nice shower and the turn out was great. It was great to see so much of my family! Lauren got a lot of good "loot" (in our Papaw's words). I got her nice everyday glasses and a pitcher that matched. She got other good kitchen tools and items as well as a comforter, sheets, and blankets that all matched. She looked beautiful and, most importantly, happy.

On the mom front, my poor mom still does not feel good. Her surgery is getting farther and farther away, but she has a pulled muscle in her abdomen and is in pain. She is to call the doctor today. Mom, if you are reading this, you need to call your doctor and let him know about your pain! I want you to feel better!

Monday here I come...

Skipped a week, NBD

Recently, say the past month or so, I started reading Runner's World magazine. I feel like I will get a jump start on all the news/details I need to know to really "fit in" to this so called runner's world I am trying to join. Ironic, eh? Anyhoo, every single issue that I have read contained the question: "What if I skip a week of training - will that ruin my training?" And everytime I read this I thought to myself: "I will never do that."

I did it. An entire week without a single run. I didn't mean to, it just happened. I biked 19 miles one day, which is my only saving grace for the week. How do I feel? Exactly like all the people that write in to Runner's World - like it will ruin my training...

So, I'm back to the grind this evening with 6 miles under my belt. I ran them quick and felt decent. I felt a little off, like my body/legs/breathing/stride weren't in sync, but with mile 1 completed in 7:40 (my fastest training mile time yet) I think the rest might have done my body good. Maybe the Runner's World experts are right, it won't ruin your training to take off an entire week. Let's hope!

Anniversary means Food for Frists

I'll cut right to the chase...I haven't ran since last Wednesday. I'm neither happy or upset about this. It is what it is. I'm about to hit it hard...soon...

I'd rather post about this weekend. I had 4 days off to spend with my husband. We celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary in Bloomington, where we had our rehearsal dinner at Farm Bloomington and reception  at the Tudor Room in the Union exactly a year ago this weekend. It was a great weekend. We ate more food than I would have ever thought possible. We got out on one 19 mile ride that included 3-4 decent hills. (Tour de Sewer for those who know Bloomington routes.) We had hoped to ride Saturday and Sunday as well, but did not. We took in the art fair on Saturday and sweat to death in the 100 degree weather.

To enjoy Labor Day in Indianapolis we slept in, took Kenda to the dog park (twice), shopped for a headboard, and relaxed.

It has been a great year full of blessings and happiness. Alex makes my life complete. I look forward to many more years with him :)

For the record, I am officially becoming a "foodie."

And now, the food:

Alex's perfect FARM Bloomington bison burger and chili fries

My FARM Bloomington coconut, cilantro & jalepeno ribs, potato salad, and Chef Daniel's own cole slaw

Alex's Scholar's Inn sea scallops, cheddar cheese grits, and asian cole slaw

My Scholar's Inn medium rare new york strip, horseradish mashed potatoes, and roasted asparagus

Our year old buttercream frosting, rasberry cream filled wedding cake :)

One portion of Scholar's Inn biscuits & gravy and fried potatoes (we both had a plate of this)

*For our anniversary, deliciousness ensued.*

Sore

With 8.6 miles yesterday, I wasn't surprised to wake up sore. It is a good sore, but I have to listen to it all the same. I stretched the tiniest amount, which was not enough, and then after work I set out with my friend to tackle 5 miles. We stopped and stretched a couple times, which I needed, and we completed the run in just over 43 minutes.

My quads are hurting. My legs feel somewhat stiff. I hope that a good night's rest and some more stretching will help because I don't want to take a day off just yet...

Kenda is still loving the dog park. Tonight she played with and 8 month old Doberman named Tyson. He liked her. We think she has a boyfriend. ;)

Ideas

Tuesday is the middle of my training week. I call my weeks Saturday to Friday. This is because my race is on a Saturday, and this is just how I want to do it. I skipped my long Saturday run, which really sets me back for the week. I knew I had to get a long run in sometime. I made it happen today!

I went the longest distance yet, but it was slightly broken up. I did 6.1, stopped at the dog park for about 5 minutes, ran 1 mile, stopped at home for about 5 minutes, and then finished up the last 1.5 miles giving me 8.6 miles total. I was running much slower than my usual pace, with some miles over the 9 minute mark. Whatevski, I got it done.

While running, I usually think about something, visualize myself racing, daydream, or talk to God. Most often, I do a little of each. I try NOT to think about stopping or how nice it would feel to walk a little bit. :) I have come up with movie ideas, business ideas, and now, a book idea. This book idea, in my head, is really cool and I do think people would read it. It is essentially a documentary style book that tells the story of homeless people in America (or maybe just the Midwest). I would want to focus on respectfully interviewing and photographing homeless people, and through each of their stories, create an overarching story of the homeless' outlook on non-homeless people, not the other way around. I would want to ask questions about what they think, not about what everyone else thinks of them. I think it would be important to allow them to explain exactly why they are in the situation they are in. I feel like it might take away some of the social stigma surrounding homeless people if we would just give them a chance to explain themselves. I almost think I should start working on it. But, ideas like this come to me all the time, and I have a full time job, a husband, a family, ect...I guess I'm not passionate enough about this idea to see it to fruition. I'll just let it fester in my mind for a few more runs and see where I get with it. If its good enough, I'll record it for later.

Here's a business idea, how about I sell MY ideas to others so they can see them through? I don't know that I have enough good ideas just yet, but with the amount of run time I have to think about things and come up with stuff, I could be on the way to quite an idea bank. Any takers? I would also be ok with someone offering to cover my costs while I took the time, in this example, to go to different cities and find some willing homeless people who would talk to me and share their story...

Why homeless people? When running, why did my brain take me to homeless people? The answer is simple: it is the beauty of running. Running, to me, is like stepping out of the world and into your mind. On days that I am less concerned about my pace, I find myself deeper in my mind then I once thought possible. Running, in and of itself, is addicting. It causes the release of endorphins in your brain. I can feel them. But when I get to experience what it is like deep inside my head, without the numbing noise of the world, the addiction is intensified. It might just sound crazy, but it is one of the best things about the act of going for a run - you get to know yourself better. What did you think all those runners you see were doing?

Slow Start

I skipped Saturday's run and only went 4 on Sunday. Then today I did a whopping 3.6. I'm in for it the rest of the week, but I'm up for the challenge.

August is wrapping up. It is hard to believe its almost fall...

Mission 30: Complete!

Friday's run was a huge success! 7.2 miles to be Garmin exact bringing me to the nice round number of 30.1 on the week. Nice effort, self, nice effort! The run was confidence boosting. I moved pretty quick...

Mile 1: 8:04
Mile 2: 8:22
Mile 3: 7:57
Mile 4: 8:28
Mile 5: 7:45
Mile 6: 8:13
Mile 7: 8:13

Total time 59 minutes and 55 seconds! I meant to push on 3 and 5. I also pushed slightly during the last 0.2 to come in under 1 hour. If I am going to run my race fast, I have to run at a fast pace during training. Needless to say, I am very proud of this run. Mile 4 was the best because I felt totally recovered after 1 mile. I was worried it would take longer to recover from the effort of the previous mile, it honestly felt easy. I plan on doing at least 1 workout like this in the coming week.

Saturday was a flop. I rested. Long run on Monday or Tuesday (8.5 to 9). Today I did 4 slow miles with Alex. It was nice to run with him and talk about the weekend in Bloomington we have coming up :)

33 miles on the roster for this week. Also, an August Roundup and weigh in are in order soon. For now, sleep - goodnight!

7.1 to go to hit 30

I completed 3.7 miles before I had to stop tonight. I didn't have to stop because of my body, I could have kept going, but I had to stop so I could go teach swim lessons. Just an update: they went very well :)

I had planned on doing around 6 miles, so I've got a longer run Friday to get the 30 in for the week. 7.1 to be exact. In addition to a longer run Friday, that puts me at 2 longer runs in a row (Friday & Saturday). At this point, I am planning 8.5 miles on Saturday...

This could potentially be good for my training. To run on slightly tired legs will increase performance when running on fresh legs. This thought alone will propel me through the next 2 days :)

In regards to my pace: I am easing into under 8:30 pace! I seem to be hitting my miles in the 8:20's more & more often. I like.

In regards to dinner: Alex and I have had 2 good food days :) Last night, he grilled white (alfredo) pizza with grilled chicken and turkey bacon - delicious. With that we had mixed herb salad with the lemon/evoo dressing that we mix up & walnuts. Tonight, we got takeout from a place called Al-basha's. Alex got gyro's and I got a chicken touak (?) sandwich. We got an order of their hummus & pita and baklava as well. It was all tasty. We'll be going back in the future. It is walkable distance, so Kenda went with us :)

That's all folks! 2 longer runs ahead of me the next 2 days! I'll update you on how it goes! Obvi!

Heat Shmeat...#2

When I first started blogging I wrote an entry about running in extremely hot weather...click here to read that post. At the time, I was only doing 3-3.5 mile runs. I was just starting out with my training. I've progressed and today my plan was to go 6. I had to cut it short because I was feeling pretty terrible. I ended up with 5 miles. I ran a good pace despite the heat and humidity, but today was the first day where the urge to stop running was unbelievably strong. I did not enjoy that feeling. I so badly wanted to walk. I was running with a friend, and that was probably what saved me from stopping. We finished 5 in 42:45, but it was far from fun.

I have ran in extremely hot conditions many times in the short amount of time I have been training and I ran in the heat back in the day (high school). I think there is a difference between doing something because it will make you stronger and doing something that is crazy. For us runners, I don't think anyone would call me outright crazy for running in this weather, but some people might. I listen to my body and I know when enough is enough. A part of why I enjoy being an endurance athlete is the feeling of being strong and pushing through the pain and the desire to give up. It gives me a sense of accomplishment that fuels me to continue. Endurance athletes regularly have to man-up, or in my case, woman-up in order to get better and gain the elusive endurance that we all seek.

Just like the article I wrote a while back about running in the heat, I am very glad that I completed the run today and I am a stronger runner because of it. I won't forget what running in the heat is like and when I am near mile 9, 10, 11 and so on in my race on November 5th, I will be grateful that it is not above 90 degrees and humid.

I am a firm believer in the statement: "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
I am also a firm believer in the Bible verse: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

When I put it that way, bring on the heat!

I couldn't possibly be getting lazy...could I?

I have not ran consecutive days since last Wednesday/Thursday. I have had 2 days off the last 2 weeks and I have already had 2 days off this week, so 3 weeks in a row. My plan from the start was to run 6 days a week. Am I falling off my training?

The answer is not really. I have picked up my mileage quite a bit. I have not had a 3 mile day in a while because I am running more miles per run. I will hit 30 miles this week (in 5 training days). I hope to get back to 6 days a week, but I am ok with what's going on.

My Monday run was quite good. I ran 6 miles in under 51 minutes meaning under 8:30 average pace :) A little idea of how that looked: Mile 1 = 8:06...Mile 4 = 8:22, Mile 5 = 8:22, Mile 6 = 8:28.Not half bad!

Tuesday I ate a brownie sundae instead of running...yea.

It's Wednesday and I have at least 4 consecutive days ahead of me - no excuses, no being lazy.

Mom Update: She is supposed to be released from the hospital today and she seems to be doing better :)

Weekend in Bedford

As the title says, I was in Bedford this weekend. I went to be with my mom after her colon surgery. She is making it and I am thankful to God and all the doctors that have worked on her. I am hoping that she can put all this behind her soon and recover to be in better shape than she has been in the past 2 years. Who knows...maybe she will even be able to jog a little :)

I capitalized on the not-so-fun reason I was in Bedford and ran with a big group of "townies" on Saturday morning. Let me just say something: Bedford cranks out endurance athletes. For a smaller town, the amount of quality athletes is amazing. It was great to run with the group (over 18 people). We all stuck together, which was nice. I just wish I would have been in better shape so I could have finished out the run with them. They were going 12, I had to stop around 8. I ended up with 8.2. It was a slower pace than what I usually run, but that just meant that I could chat with some people while running. A bunch of them are doing the Indy Monumental Half Marathon! Anytime I am in Bedford, I will try to run with this group!

Other activities worth mentioning: eating at Trojan Horse and Buffalouie's in Bloomington, visiting with my grandparents who just returned from a 75 day trip to Alaska, and a reunion at Indian Creek Baptist Camp where I grew up going to church camp. We got to spend time with my dad and sister (and my sister's fiance). Kenda got to run around a lot. It was a good weekend. I just wish my mom could have been feeling better.

The lazy news: I did not run on Friday or Sunday. I am still on track miles-wise. Back to it this week! Going for my first 30 mile week! :) 8.2 down...21.8 to go!

Pokemon!

My title comes from the gleeful screaming of a 3 year old and a 5 year old jumping into a pool. At swim lessons tonight, the boys were wound up due to 1. being in their swimming pool, 2. the fact that they both recently started new schools and are excited about it, and 3. they are little boys! The 3 year old had been wary of me until tonight... tonight he was all over me as though I was his personal jungle gym! I figured it out, everything has to be his idea for him to be interested. He is slightly afraid of the water and I tried all my tactics to get him to put his face in the water, to try to swim, to just let me hold him in the pool...nothing was working. So the last few lessons, I focused on his brother, who is 5. With him, things are going quite...swimmingly if I do say so myself. He can doggie paddle across the pool without touching the bottom once. He can successfully swim underwater, come up and take a breath, and continue across the pool without touching the bottom. He can float. He could not do any of these things before I started working with him. I'd say I have not lost my touch ;) This must have made the little one crave attention or something because for whatever reason, tonight he wanted to jump off the side of the pool a thousand times while I caught him each time. They jumped and jumped. They would wait for each other so they could jump in together, it was adorable. They screamed "POKEMON!" at the top of their lungs whenever they jumped in. I inquired about this and they said, "because that's the only show we watch." Duh Miss Jenna, why else would they scream POKEMON!

Before the lesson I had a successful 6 miler. It turns out that the other day when I wrote the "Running Blind" entry, I had gone 6 full miles :) I ran to that exact spot with my Garmin and it was 6 miles on the dot! I did slow down some, about 2 minutes, and that is perfectly fine. I got those miles in, and that is what counts! That's not the end of it though, I have a story...

While running on the Monon Trail tonight, I saw a girl with horrifically terrible form. I'm talking running form, I always see riders with awful form, but runners with bad form don't really stick out to me. This girl was somehow swaying from side to side while running forward. Talk about wasted energy. Her arms were crossing over her body like she was punching something, but she wasn't. It did not look intentional, it just looked like that's how she ran, and it looked bad. Needless to say (I'm brushing my shoulder off right now) I passed her, carried on with my run, and that was that...or so I thought. On my way back in, I was finding my rhythm, trying to keep a steady pace, and she was all of the sudden beside me! I thought I was going to get punched! I could tell she wanted to pass me, so I only sped up slightly (evil grin). I allowed her to pass but I put my hook in her back and stayed exactly 7-8 feet behind her for about 0.5 miles - until I had to turn of the Monon. Because of this, I was running slightly faster. All the while I was examining my own form, ensuring that I was not the victim of punchy-run syndrome. I hope that I am not, I don't feel that I am...

If I could jump into a pool and scream anything, it would probably be "THE OFFICE!" or "DEXTER!" I totally see where their logic is in yelling a TV Show title. Definitely.

Cross Country Course

I ran with my co-worker from her apartment to the Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School cross country course. We ran the course almost 2 times. Garmin clocked me in at 4.1 miles in a little over 37 mintues. It was a 9:07 pace according to the watch. I would pretty much agree with that data.

The course was mainly trails, which was awesome, and difficult. It wasn't wearing me out, it was just..."windy." It felt like I was running in a zigzag pattern. Because I didn't know the course, I couldn't anticipate the next turn which, in turn, slowed me down a bit. Even with the unfamiliar course, I was loving it. The ground was just slightly uneven, so my ankles got a workout. There were 4 or so extremely short but extremely steep hills that were a good change of pace. I could tell that I am not in hill shape at all. Sad. I will work on that more. The teams were there preparing the course for a race on Saturday by pruning back tree limbs, weedeating, and filling in some holes with dirt. It brought back some memories of running cross in high school. I'm headed to Bedford this weekend, so I might just have to run on my old course...

I did take the day off yesterday (Tuesday). I got lazy. It means no day off Friday, I'll hope for a motivated mood because I might try to run in the AM...tomorrow= 6 miles around 8:45! The key is changing to go run right when I get home...none of this sitting down business - I sit all day long! The couch just looks so comfortable and inviting somedays...

Running Blind

My Garmin battery finally died, so I had to run without it. First things first, I don't ever want to do that again. Once you experience the data Garmin provides, its hard to unknowingly run. How far have I gone? What direction am I headed (I have zero sense of direction)? What is my current pace? How fast did I complete my last mile? With a Garmin, you know the answer to all these and more at all times.

OK, enough Garmin talk. The run was somewhere between 5.5 and 6 miles. At a future date, when running with the Garmin, I will be able to determine my exact distance (I just can't stop talking about it). I ran with my co-worker and we decided to go until we hit 25 minutes, then turn around. We did this. We hit the 2 mile landmark at 16:50ish. Cool. We continued on to 25 minutes, turned around and stopped for 2 minutes to stretch. We also stopped at a water fountain - it was hot. We must've ran back faster because we arrived at my house in under 50 minutes (barely - 49:30). I was surprised because I felt like I was slowing on the way back. I was definitely not feeling as strong. If I had not been running with someone, I would have slowed. My training partner pushed me :)

Alex finished his ride and we were off to the dog park. I'm serious, I am enjoying it so much! We've met some potential friends and Kenda has a ball. She tries to get the other dogs to chase her, it is beyond adorable to an adoring  fur-mom such as myself. She will go up to a dog, any dog, and push her long nose into their side and then jump back (with butt in air) and wag her entire backside. If they take the bait, she's off like a deer. If they refuse the bait, she tries again until successful or until she is distracted. On the rare occassion that she is the one doing the chasing, it is usually a much smaller dog. Today, it was a Corgi. Alex loved it because he wants a Corgi someday. I'm unsure about that, we'll have to see. They are awful small, but there is something about those ears and that long body that I might be able to fall for...until fur-child numero dos, Kenda will do perfectly :)

At home after the park, we made breakfast for dinner...always a good decision. Tomorrow brings an easier run, probably 4.5 miles at about 8:45 pace. Garmin will help me achieve this :)

Easy Does It

Quick update: I put in 4 miles with another work friend. It was at an easy pace, which was nice. The run was pretty effortless except for a weird 'hurt' on the top of my foot. It was short lived and unless it happens again, I don't plan on thinking about it ever again.

11 mile weekend :)

7 Miles with Garmin = 7 Miles of Fun!

You read correctly, 7 miles done! It was my longest run since I started on July 1. I completed it in 1 hour and 34 seconds. That is 8:36 pace. I was shooting for 8:30 pace, so I have some work to do, but I felt good, and I ran 7 miles! I ran by myself, with Garmin and my iPod shuffle and it was a blast. I felt generally strong and the Garmin data helped me keep my pace up. I love the auto-lap functionality. It beeps every mile and shows my time for that mile. I knew that I was close when it was 8:33 for the first 2 miles, and then I knew I was slowing overall when it was 8:36 and then 8:48 for the next 2 miles. I knew I had sped up when it was under 8:30 for the last couple miles. Loving Garmin!

I did not get up and complete this run with the BlueMile group, I stayed up too late Friday night. Also, I am the opposite of a morning person. I will try to run with the BlueMile crew Monday evening and next Saturday morning...

Back to the dog park again today. I really like it! And Kenda loves it!! She looks so happy chasing and being chased by the other dogs, joining in the sniff trains, and greeting all the dogs as they enter the area. I want to take her everyday to see her explore and socialize. Then we also took her downtown to watch the Mass Ave. Crit. She was an angel!

Happy to have completed a 7 mile run, here's to another good training week!

First Time at the Dog Park

Didn't get it in. Instead we walked Kenda to the park and let her play. I was nervous as could be, and Alex pointed out that I might not be able to handle letting our future children go to Kindergarten, or possibly even play on the play sets that are in malls...he's probably right. Kenda made us more than proud. She played with the other dogs, was sweet and gentle with the other dog owners there, and she came to us when we called. I'll just get on with it and say that I am head over heels in love with that girl, she brightens my everyday! We will be frequenting the Broad Ripple dog park!

Like I said, no run. So not much to report.

Just a Run

This evening's run was nothing special. In fact, it was less than special because I cut it short...it happens. It was great weather which allowed me to breathe a little easier and push the pace. I didn't mean to push the pace but when I was clocking a couple miles well under 8:30 pace, I decided to keep up the intensity. That, and the fact that I started the run a little later than I had hoped and I needed to get ready to teach swim lessons forced my hand...sort of.

I ended up with 3.6 miles in under 29 minuntes. I was pushing. It was pretty fun, although it was not the most comfortable. I will say that it was not that uncomfortable. I had set out to do 5.3, but cut it short. I made it to swim lessons on time :)

I am going for 4 tomorrow sticking to 8:30 pace - really utilizing Garmin! Alex is running with me :) Afterwards, we will be taking Kenda to the dog park for the first time, so that will be interesting. I'll post a pic of our baby girl :)

What's nice about just a run? Just a run means you got it done!

It's safe to say 8:30 is a friend :)

I ran 5 miles tonight after work. I was with my friend and we changed and left for the run from the office, so I was still on the Monon, but farther North. It was a nice change. We discussed other places to run and it seems like we are going to go to some local cross country courses soon. I'm pumped for that. As always, it is nice to run with someone.

Garmin was ever present and I learned a little bit more about it. I think I am going to scale down on the screens that cycle through because currently it is going through 4, that's about 2 too many. We ran a decently even pace, with a quicker first mile followed by 4 slightly slower miles. We ended with an average pace of 8:33. It solidifies that I am consistently hovering right around 8:30 and I'm excited about that. I just have to keep building the miles and becoming more efficient as a runner.

I finally got the courage to post a link to this blog on my facebook page, so if you happen to come across it, thanks for checking it out :)

Last but not least, in the process of writing this entry, I came across a song that is going in my playlist:

Enjoy! :)

Case of the Mondays

Monday was blah. My workday felt slow. I was tired from my busy weekend. I could have used a day off to relax (let's face it, I could use an extra day to relax every week). There was an answer to my "case of the Mondays" though...looking forward to my run. Note: I won't lie...having another run with Garmin increased my anticipation.

The anxiety built throughout the day and when 5 o'clock hit, I headed home with my co-worker to strike out on a run in Broad Ripple. I called Alex on the way home and he said it was raining, but the radar showed it stopping soon. So, we got to my house and had to sprint from our cars to my screened-in porch because it was pouring. Inside, it seemed like it was never going to stop...

I'll stop right there and say a quick thanks to God for the rain, it was desperately needed and it cooled everything off. I've sweated for an entire month, I'm ready for high 80's instead of 90's...

Long story shorter, she left. About 10 minutes later the rain let up. About 20 minutes after that, Alex and I were on our way :) 4 miles (with Garmin, of course). He was impressed by the Garmin 410 and it worked great. It auto-paused, auto-lapped, and did everything but run for me. We held 8:24 average to finish just under 34:00. The last 200-300 feet were the fastest I have ran during this training yet. Alex took off, and because I woke up my competitive side this weekend, I had to stay with him ;) So I did.


I am writing this on Tuesday and today, I took the day off. It was rainy again (thank God again!) and my quads are sore (from lunges, not running). So, I did not run. Alex and I made cous-cous, arugula salad with walnuts and lemon dressing, and grilled salmon. I'm telling you ladies, get yourselves a husband with some cooking skills.

Back to the grind tomorrow and I can't wait!

New Toy

This weekend was busy! Saturday at 7AM I was 0.5 miles from my house at BlueMile getting ready to head out with a large group for a 45 minute run. More on that in a minute. After the run, I taught swim lessons to 2 little boys, then I rushed home, cleaned/spiffed up, and went to my friend's bridal shower. About 2 hours or so later, I was on my way home to relax.

Sunday I taught lessons again (before church, mind you) and rushed home to get ready for church. Church was wonderful. Then I spent a while configuring my new toy (again, more on this in just a second) before heading out for my run. In the evening, we drove downtown to celebrate Alex's dad's birthday. Alex grilled hamburgers (he's a master griller/cook) and Alex's mom made salad, potato salad, and corn on the cobb. I am blessed to have found such a loving family to call my own through marriage, but the fact that they can all cook is beyond amazing. When it comes to meal time at the Frist's, I feel like I bring nothing to the table. They accept me anyway :) There were lemon coconut cupcakes in the mix as well. It was a great food night!

So the runs:

Saturday I went with the group from BlueMile (I should mention that BlueMile is a running store in Broad Ripple and a few other locations). The schedule was for Monumental Runners to do 45 minutes. To me, that's 22:30 out and 22:30 back. I started the run and really no one clung to me as a partner. I didn't cling to anyone to run with either. It all happened so fast. I passed the majority of the runners and a few took off in what looked like a dead sprint and I was unable to catch them. So, again, I was by myself. I thought the group run would yield me a training friend. It did not. About 15 minutes in, I was ok with being alone, the run was feeling great and I was moving forward. There was a girl who I had seen at the shop before we left about 50 feet in front of me...I was closing on her. Here's where it gets silly. A feeling that was lost deep inside of me began to stir. It was my competitive side waking up from its long slumber. I sank a metaphorical hook in her back and reeled her in. Of course, when I passed her, I was as nonchalant as all get out, but on the inside I was filling up with adrenaline...

Time out. I was on a training run. Why in the world was I getting so worked up about passing this one girl? I felt silly, but I felt good at the same time. When I do something, I want to do it right. All I have to say is: ladies running the monumental half marathon better watch out (guys, I'll be after you too).

Back to the run...the adrenaline carried me for a short time and then it was gone. I had probably taken the entire run out too fast and then the spike in speed from my adrenaline rush pushed me harder. This left me pretty worn out and only half way done with the run. I turned around (with no one) and headed back to BlueMile, back towards my house. It was slower than the first half, but I felt ok. I passed a lot of people going the opposite way. No one caught up to me and no one was in front of me to catch all the way back. Being motivated to get up and run at 7AM is worth it though, I will continue to run with the BlueMile group on Saturday mornings!

Before getting to Sunday's run, I better tell you about my new toy...a Garmin Forerunner 410! Alex and I got it Saturday afternoon. I had been looking at them for a couple weeks, investigating the different options, features, and reviews. Unwilling to pay $400 for the 610, I wound up on the 410. I wish the 110 had current pace. If it did, I would have gotten that. Configuring it was easy...I'll post a full review after I use it for a week or two...

Sunday I set out with my new running mate (Garmin) and hit the trail for 4 miles. I was interested to see how accurate it was (based on what Google Maps said the mile markers were). It was pretty darn close. The Garmin would beep to tell me when I had gone 1 mile according to it - awesome. At that instant, I can see how long it took to complete that mile :) Mile 1 = 8:12 :):):) The times went up slightly from there and landed ultimately at 34:34 for 4. I will be including Garmin in every subsequent post I do believe.

This is a lot, that's all for now! Writing a much shorter post about Monday's run in a little bit!

Finishing Out Week 5

My fifth week of training is complete. It was the most confidence building week, as well as the biggest miles week with 27.6 miles under my belt for the week. First of all, I'm proud of that.

Wednesday and Thursday were quality runs. Wednesday I ran with my work friend and we took it a mile further this time going 4.8. I was feeling it (it being my unfit-ness) on this run actually, but I somehow also felt strong (?) Thursday was a super easy 3 mile run. This was confidence boosting because it felt so easy. It was the first time in my training that a run felt easy. I was going extremely easy, but the fact that it was almost effortless for me to run/jog 3 miles is a win to me.

Friday, today, was off. My legs needed a rest day. I feel ancy (sp?) for my run in the morning, but I completely enjoyed this day off of training!

Week 5 is a keeper. A strong long run on Saturday followed up by a couple more longer runs makes me feel like I am continuing to progress. I like it.

I am getting up unbelievably early for me (7AM) to run with a BlueMile group in the morning. I hope its a good run and worth the effort it will take me to put my feet on the floor and get out of bed. Honestly, that will be the hard part about tomorrow for me, the run will be just fine...Goodnight!

Canal Run with Alex :)

Tonight I told Alex I was running 4 miles and that I was going to have to find an alternate route sooner or later because the trail's getting old. I went upstairs to change and when I came back down, he had a 4 mile route mapped out along the canal in Broad Ripple - he's a keeper :) He ran with me too!

It was a little stop and go due to the traffic lights, but that was ok. I felt pretty good. My ankles feel sore or stiff or something...just not right. They feel worked out.

After google mapping it, it was roughly 4.2 miles actually. Overachievers? Nah.

Love Broad Ripple and the fact that our house is in Broad Ripple :)

First BlueMile Monday Run

Tonight I ran with my friend. We started from my house and headed to BlueMile to meet up with a group to run with. We got there and there were a couple ladies and one guy. They were...older than us...by about 20 years or so. They were super sweet and told us that we leave together and do our own thing. We were headed North on the Monon and we were supposed to turn around after 22 and a half minutes so we would all meet back at BlueMile around the same time. My friend and I were much quicker than the ladies, but the guy did pass us pretty quick and stayed in front of us. We ran about 5 miles in about 43:30 with a half mile warm up and cool down. 6 miles total. I think I will do the Monday run again to see if anyone else shows up that will run with me...

I have noticed that my 6 mile runs - so far only 2 - give me the best feeling after the run. I feel relaxed, good, happy...it's that famous "runner's high" that you hear so much about. When I run 3-4 miles, I do not experience the feeling. Sure, I feel good about getting a run in, but its not the same. It sure gives me more motivation to train enough to run longer runs.

I will say this: my legs feel tired/used! It is a good feeling, but its a worn out kind of tired.

After our respective workouts, Alex and I went to Red Mango. I had been before and we love the Pomegranate Blueberry smoothie. I had coupons so I got a small raspberry cheesecake yogurt with mochi, coconut shavings, and blackberries. It was so delicious. I'm officially a Red Mango convert. Then for dinner we had spaghetti with turkey marinara sauce and roasted cauliflower and sweet potatoes. Totally mmmm.

Run tomorrow!

July Roundup!

I did it! I trained consistently throughout the entire month of July! This is a milestone for me - I mentioned in a previous post that I have not trained for an entire month since March 2009...it has been 27 months! I'm back at it and in full swing. I am going to breakdown my training for the month of July, make a few comments about it, and divulge a little about where I see my training going in the future.

Weekly Breakdown:

Week 1: July 1 - July 8
7/1: 3.2 miles [0:29:54]
7/2: Bike Ride 20 miles
7/3: 3 miles
7/4: Bike Ride 19.5 miles
7/5: 3 miles
7/6: Day Off 
7/7: 3.2 miles [0:27:25]
7/8: 3.2 miles

Total - 7/1 - 7/8: 15.6 miles

Week 2: July 9 - July 15
7/9: 4 miles [0:38:00]
7/10: 3 miles [0:30:12] & Bike Ride 21 miles
7/11: Day Off
7/12: 3.2 miles [0:26:21]
7/13: 3.8 miles [0:35:16]
7/14: 3.2 miles
7/15: 3 miles

Total - 7/9 - 7/15: 20.2 miles

Week 3: July 16 - July 22
7/16: 5 miles [0:46:53]
7/17: Day Off
7/18: 3.2 miles [0:27:32]
7/19: 4 miles [0:37:00]
7/20: 3.2 miles [0:30:03]
7/21: 4 miles [0:34:30]
7/22: Day Off

Total - 7/16 - 7/22: 19.4 miles

Week 4: July 23 - July 29
7/23: 4 miles [0:40:00]
7/24: 3 miles
7/25: 4 miles [0:33:53]
7/26: 3.8 miles [0:33:30]
7/27: Day Off
7/28: 3.2 miles [0:26:31]
7/29: Day Off

Total - 7/23 - 7/29: 18 miles

Start of Week 5: July 30 - July 31
7/30: 6.6 miles [0:57:16]
7/31: 3 miles

Total - 7/30 - 7/31: 9.6 miles
July Milage: 82.8 miles

All in all, I am pleased with the month. I had some quick runs, good miles, and I feel like I got myself in the habit of running. I will count it a success. I did have 2 days off that I was not supposed to have off, but I am not bothered by this. Had I ran on those 2 days, I would be closer to the 90 mile range. I do want to try to have only 1 day off each week, but 2 is ok if it is unavoidable. I am happy that I did not have to have 2 consecutive days off and I will continue to make that a goal.

I completed 12 strength/core workouts during the month of July. These are just abs, pushups, light weights,   lunges, and other quick exercises done during the day. I have a strength/core workout planned everyday except off days. I will make it a goal going forward to complete this small workout more often.

Lastly, I will note that I can feel myself becoming more efficient. I can run faster and feel better. I can tell that running is becoming more natural for my body. I can tell that I want to go running. The more I train, the more efficient I will become. The more efficient I become, the faster I will be able to run :)

So going forward, I will just be slowly upping my miles. I will add in some tempo work and some fartlek runs. I will be changing the pace some and trying to run in different places/courses. I want to add more strength/core workouts. I will continue to ride infrequently and focus more on running. As for blogging, I have enjoyed it so far, so I will continue. I will try to blog about my day's training and whatever other random thoughts I might have.

1 month down, many more to go!

Not as important, but something I do not want to leave out: I started my training weighing 154.6 lbs. I weighed myself this morning and was 151.0 lbs. :) I am not focused on losing any weight, but with good diet and exercise lifestyle changes, shedding weight is almost inevitable. I will keep you posted!

Thou shalt not blog late much more...

Tonight it is 1:34AM as I start to write this entry. It is too late and I should be asleep. I stayed up chatting with my sister who is up for a party tomorrow in honor of my twin nieces, who are in town!

I'll cut to the chase...I ran 6.6 miles today! I am so pumped I can hardly stand it! I had an unintentional day off yesterday (Friday) and I was going to do 5 miles today, but as I was running and feeling good, I decided to continue! It was a great feeling and I felt totally fine on the entire run. It was hot, but what's new? I was sweating hardcore, but what's new? 6.6 in 57:16 - I'll take it!

I will post a July Breakdown tomorrow or Monday to tally up my work for my first month of training :) It is safe to say I'm in it for the long haul (me & running that is). I have enjoyed this past month very much and its nice to feel my progress...the breakdown post will allow me to see it :)

One other item to note here: I signed up for BlueMile's training program. It was $40 and I get to participate in 7AM runs on Saturdays and 6PM runs on Mondays with a group! With a group! I am ecstatic to meet some other runners and try to improve myself...and I got a sweet BlueMile t-shirt for signing up :) More to come on this topic guaranteed!

1:39AM...Goodnight!

Twilight

It is 1:37AM...I am up and blogging about my non impressive training...why?

Well, I just stayed up to finish reading Twilight, of course. I read the whole saga a couple Christmases ago and I picked up the first book last week out of the blue and started reading and loved it again. I was almost through Marley and Me, which I think is part of the reason - I don't want to read the end of Marley and Me. Either way, I will probably start reading the next book in the series soon.

I did get a run in tonight, but not 5 miles. I did my 3.2 out and back. 26:31. I stopped and walked twice, although not for long. I gotta get a couple longer runs in this weekend. I will - 6 slated for Saturday! 4 or 5 tomorrow. In order to be up for it, I gotta get some rest. Goodnight!

Family Trumped Running

For the second time in a short period I did not get a run/workout in because I was spending time with family and I am completely fine with this. We had to go to the airport, have dinner, spend time together, ect. It was great to see Drew and Tom, and it was even better to see the girls for the second time! Last time I saw them they were 2 months old. At 9 months old, so much has changed! They are beautiful, healthy, curious, babbling, crawling, adorable little girls. I am so excited to get to spend more time with them in the next few days :)

Without a workout there is not much to report for my blog. I got an email this morning that the Monumental Race was 100 days away. That got my adrenaline going just a little bit. I am getting really excited to continue upping my miles and training hard. I am going to start researching good workouts to do to prepare me for a half marathon. I am going to put a breakdown of the month of July post this weekend :) I can't hardly believe that I have almost trained for a full month - I haven't done that since my senior year in college (March 2009 to be exact). Sad, but true.

In an effort to be totally open and honest on this blog I will tell you that I had considered waking up early to run because I knew that I wouldn't get to after coming home from my in-laws. I hate mornings. It was not even close to actually happening. I want to make it a goal to run in the morning once a week during the month of August to see if I can start a habit of some sort. We'll see how that goes...

Hoping to put 5 on the books tonight :)

No Team Blues

Right after work I hit the Monon Trail with my friend. We did the same out and back - 3.8 miles according to Google Maps. We must've had a quicker pace because we completed it faster this time. Last week we completed it in 35:16. This week we were done by approximately 33:30. You know me, I love that progress!

We did stop at the half way point again to get water and stretch for a few minutes. That allowed me to recover, but it was well worth it. I was glistening profusely.

It was so nice to have someone to talk to during the run. I miss that. I think I am going to have to look for a team to join or something. I feel like I am going to need some people to push me. I know I need some people to learn from. Most importantly, I would really like to have some people to experience this training with.

Tonight is the night I have been waiting for! My 9 month old, twin nieces are coming to town! Alex's brother and his husband are visiting and bringing their adorable daughters! I cannot wait to get to spend time with them! Because of this, I might have to jump on the trainer tonight and log some spinning. The knees and the top of my foot think this would be acceptable. I want to do some type of training, but I will never run in the dark. I'll jump on the trainer in the basement and watch TV if its dark when we get home...

Sidenote: I am an avid Asics lover.I have had 6 pairs or more of Asics and I love them! That being said, I saw the new Asics commercial last night. I thought it was a commercial about saying no to meth or something. It was just way over the top and could have been much more tactfully done. It was downright gross really. Oh well...you can't please everyone I suppose!

What does debt ceiling mean?

I pondered my title question for about 2 seconds on my run today, among other things. Obama and the Speaker of the House addressed the nation in a way that seemed childish to me - why contradict each other? I felt no better after watching it and it cut into my puppy's walk time...just be smart elected leaders, didn't we elect you to be smart and take care of us? To do your jobs? I'll never understand politics...

My time keeps dropping, which I love :) 4 miles in 33:53! Below 8:30 pace! I ran the first 2 miles in 16:39, 8:20 pace, then must've slowed for the last 2 (after I turned around). I'm cool with it. I did not feel like I was running that hard, just sorta pushing. Honestly, my fitness was lacking and my arms were feeling tired. My legs still haven't hurt or burned in the least - but there are no hills to speak of. I need my heart to pump some more blood, and I probably need to do more pushups ( I hate them with a passion). I'm whipping myself into shape though. I can't wait to weigh myself on August 1 (one month after starting) to see if I have lost any weight. Weight doesn't matter to me, but I have been working hard and wonder what it is doing to my scale numbers. I can feel my muscles toning up and it appears they are a little more uncovered, which is fantastic!

I have a run tonight with a friend, the same friend as before :) I am just putting in more miles this week. I might trade a run for a ride one day, we'll see :)

A couple songs from my running playlist I have really enjoyed recently:

• Mushaboom - Feist (doesn't seem like a good training song, but I really like the beat/sound for running)
• Rumour Has It - Adele (her voice is like art)
• Call and Return - Hellogoodbye (this song/band is too much fun)
• Monster Hospital - Metric (something about this makes me go fast)

Check them out!

Weekend Update

This must be quick. It is late, I am typing this in bed, and I have only 8% battery life left - I refuse to get up to plug in my laptop.

Friday I headed down to Bedford after work. My sister is getting married so I had to try on a bridesmaid dress and do some things to help. Also, I wanted to see my family. I took Kenda with me, which was an experience. Let's just say I don't ever want to drive any sort of distance with my puppy ever again. She about wrecked us more than a couple times, but we made it. I ended up not running Friday, which is not what I wanted. Sometimes life gets in the way. Friday, a very good part of life got in the way - visiting with my family.

Saturday my run was around my house. Where I grew is is awesome. It is secluded and there is a big driveway from my house to my aunt, uncle, and cousin's house, and to my grandparents house. Plenty of room to run. I took off with Kenda for a 40 minute run. I had no idea about distance, but I will count my run as 4 miles - I think it is safe to say I covered 4 miles in 40 minutes. It was hot and Kenda was over it after 20 minutes, so I put her up and continued on. It wasn't bad, I got a good sweat on and I am glad that I got the run in. I saw a black snake. The scenery was very pretty. Like I said, where I grew up is awesome :)

Sunday I went to church with my family then had to pack up and head back to Indy. Kenda was a tiny bit better, but still...I'm not wanting to drive with just her in the car for quite some time. When I got home, I stepped out for a quick 3 mile run and forgot my watch. I was in a hurry because Alex and I had to be downtown for a dinner, so I ran a good clip, but I have no idea what my time was. I got it in, that is all that matters to me.

Looks like I am running everyday this week due to my off day on Friday. That is perfectly fine with me. 5% battery left, I could have been more detailed! I am going to do a little reading and go to bed though :) Goodnight!

Street Cred

I felt like putting this quick post up because I talk about running like I know what I am talking about (kinda) and in the same sentence I say that I have only been training for a few weeks. I do know what running is like because I ran for 4 solid years in high school and literally fell in love with the sport. I had some struggles: injuries, mono, and not joining the cross country team until my junior year because before I was in love with running, I was in love with golf. I ran track (800, 4x800, 1 mile, 2 mile) freshmen, sophomore, and junior year but quit my senior year because I was burnt out from being a year round athlete (I swam in the winter all 4 years) and honestly because the freshmen girls were faster than me.

I know what its like to feel the need to run. I know what its like to have a long distance day each and every week. I know what its like to get up at 5:30am to go to cross country practice and run 6 miles before its light outside and then practice again in the afternoon - same day. I know what its like to pschye myself up for a race and really push through the pain in the homestretch to beat just one more person. I have never trained for a race as long as 13.1 miles, let alone 26.2 or more, but I do know what running is.

All that being said, I am not an outstanding runner. I would like to be and I am pretty dedicated to become one at this point. I just want to put some credibility behind my statements such as: "Running is therapeutic" or "Running allows you to step out of the world and into your mind." I fell in love with this sport when I was 15 and ran a mile under 6 minutes for the first time and I am excited (about 10 years later) to fall in love with it again and train for my first half marathon.

Any 30 Rockers in the house?

"I need to protect my reputation. You take away my street cred, and I am Wayne Brady" -Tracy Jordan