Post Half Running

Since I've been home in Arlington, with the wonderful tracks-to-trails program, I've been trying to get back out and run. Post half marathon has been really hard. I took a week off, and then the next two weeks were dead week and finals. I ran twice during dead week, none during finals. Cluster of waaayyy too much work and I really needed sleep before I needed running.

Now that I'm home I've run twice, once just to get out and jog around Arlington, a leisurely 3.5 miles in the awful awful wind that has gripped this small county/city.  I took a day off and then the day after, the day I had PLANNED on running, the wind was insane. I mean 30+MPH gusts of wind.  I don't mind the cold, really I don't. I do better in the cold, but the wind? I can't BREATHE in the wind. It takes my breath away, it's awful. So I held off till the next day (Christmas Eve) , hoping for better weather. Only to wake up to my house sounding like it was going to fall over due to the wind. 

After going out and running errands that morning...which by the way no one should go out and buy anything on christmas eve. I almost screamed while in Harris Teeter. 

Anyway After errands, putting my gingerbread hosue together with royal icing (omg SUGAR DEATH) and making a pumpkin pie with the fam I went out for a run.

I wanted to put in 6 miles but put in 5.5 instead. It was glorious. Wasn't too cold, no real wind, my brooks shoes are still being awesome and I was surprised at how good I felt with so little running since my half.  

I'm a little achey today, my hip flexors and abductors (eh?) feel rough but otherwise my body is bouncing back wonderfully.   I had a hard time for a bit. Thinking I wouldn't want to get back into the swing after finals. I felt lazy, tired...just wanted to sit around all the time. Weak from a hard semester. 

Well I've finally rested enough. I'm back to craving runs. 

Excited to go out tomorrow and use my NEW GARMIN! 

I've been borrowing my boyfriend's long-term style but now that he's bought a road bike he's going to need his back and my parents got me my own!

SO excited! 

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday.

Run Happy Y'all! 

Oh hey the south IS warmer.

So yesterday I left Atlanta at 7am and made it here a little before 4pm.  SUB NINE HOURS. Thea and I should have totally gotten a ticket somewhere because that's just ridiculous.

My knees are a little achey from the drive, man saying that makes me feel old, but it's glorious to be home. I slept for 10 whole hours last night. Passed out at 9:30 and had my loving huge dogs wake me up at 7:30.  I have all my cold weather running gear laid out for a run today just haven't decided when. I think I should just go early/soon.  I'm waiting for the sun to finish coming up.  

I struggle with winter because I'm such a morning runner but it's so much colder in the morning!

Oh and so much colder when you travel 500+ miles north of your original running area.  It's 44 in atlanta, it's feels like 18 here in Arlington.  

EH??

Well I'm off to finish my coffee and don my running apparel so that I can bake with the family all this afternoon.  

Oh baking...this is going to certainly be a struggle of a holiday when it comes to sweets.

The Biggest Muscle

Today shall be remembered in all of history.

Ok maybe just the history of my school career. 

It is monday, the first day of finals week, and today I had 2 finals, in the first two time slots offered. 8am. 

I woke up to take a final at 8am. It was like 10 degrees here. 

10.

And snowing. 

"It snows in Atlanta?" you might ask.

Yes. yes it does. 

So after a total of about 4 hours of testing, one final in Mechanics of Materials and the other in Heat Transfer (yes, it is all as hard as it sounds), I am at work. Vegging.  My brain feels like mush and I have 2 more finals to look forward to.

I haven't ran since Thursday. For one its been so cold here I can barely feel my face outisde and two I've been so stressed out and crammed for time I just couldn't do it. I had a few (my first!) panic attacks yesterday and knew I just couldn't sacrifice the hour or so it would take me to get a run in. I know, it sounds lame, but being an engineering student is really busting my ass. This weekend was either sleep and study, or run and study, but I couldn't do both. And my one rule for finals is, always sleep.

Ok, time to start the gauntlet for the next test.

Hopefully I'll get a run in tomorrow. 

Till then, stay warm everyone!

Winter runs

I have now successfully gotten up twice this week in the frigid 20 degree weather to run.

Man, nothing makes a hot shower feel deserved like an ice cold run.

Tuesday:

I had been conned with ice cream into staying at the boyfriend's place that night knowing that I'd have an opportunity to run the Silver Comet trail in the morning.  Stayed up a bit too late studying (1am) and when my alarm when off at 6 I felt like I hadn't even fallen asleep yet.

To be completely honest I was extremely nervous about this run. I've never run in cold like this, ever. I didn't know if I was prepared for it or not. I have some NikePro long tight/warm weather gear pant things and underarmor. So as I donned all of my apparel I kept thinking "is this too much? is this not enough? is that tiny space between my tights and my socks going to feel like ice the whole run?".  

Walked outside and the cold immediately took my breath away (I had a hat and gloves, but nothing prepared me for that first step). It was 18 outside. 

18.

A TEEN NUMBER.

In ATLANTA.

Hello? Mother Nature? Yes, this is the south calling, we're upset.

Anyway I took a deep (cold, harsh, dry) breath and set off. 

My legs responded beautifully. 

I've been taking it pretty easy since the half and I wanted to make my morning week runs shorter but faster. So I chose 4 miles. 2 out, 2 back, very straight path but with rolling hills the whole way.  

I knew I was moving quick but when I hit the 2 mile turn around at right over 18 minutes I did a double take on my Garmin.

Err what? 

So that's when I decided I wanted to kick my 5k time's ass. The last 5k I did was in June, it was my first race ever. My goal was 30 minutes, I ran it in 28:45 (or something like that, 28 high).  I hit the lap button so I'd know how fast my third mile was and took off with gusto.  New 5k time: 27:36. I shaved a minute on that last mile and then kept going to do another 9 minute mile.

I guess I didn't need to be afraid of the cold. My body seems to like it. It reminds me of diving into a cold pool for a race. That immediate jolt of OH SHIT. 

My hot shower felt so good ...the only reason I got out was because I was starving.

Today:

Got up, struggled to get out of bed. I'm having a rough dead week/pre finals week. Very stressed. I caved and had mac and cheese for dinner (AH I knowwww it's bad) and wans't sleeping well. Got outside, again, 21 degrees...cold. Ran 4 miles, did 4 freshman hill (read: HELL hill) sprints...somehow managed to get my cold ass back home and ready for school.

My new shoes are holding up wonderfully. My underarmor and Nike pants are keeping me mostly warm...

If only finals were as easy as running.

Speaking of I need to go study.

Till another time,

Run Happy!

Study

Soon I will post about my sub freezing run yesterday that lead to a PR of my 5k time.

Right now I must finish the last chapter of my materials book.

Amusingly though I just tweeted this: "I would rather be running."

Sigh. To be free. 

If ONLY.

Study study!

Finals food vs. Running food

In the past six months I would say I have become an avid runner.  In these six months I've learned a LOT and a lot has changed in my life. One of the biggest things is probably my eating habits. 

I have frequently posted/complained about my constant hunger. 

It's bad. 

This morning I had a huge bowl of cereal and a yogurt. Probably at around 8am. 

By 10am I needed more food. I had a fiber bar.

By 12:30 (i'm in class for all of this) I'm starving.

By right now I'm eating peanut butter, carrots, and popcorn.

The runner snack of champions as I call it. 

I just made that up.

Anyway as finals approach everyone jokes about "finals food" and how everyone orders pizza at 3am and consumes large quantities of coke and coffee and junk food and chocolate. It doesn't help its the holidays and in my apartment right now we have 3 types of candy out on the bar. 

I may-or-may-not have bought them.

So as my stress level for the next few weeks skyrockets I know I will have to keep myself under super-control. 

In my new eating habits I have what I see as "runner food".

Popcorn for example. Great snack, really light. You can eat some now, eat some later, not hard to eat and then go for a jog if need be. 

Peanut butter, eating it now. Keeps me full, high in good fat/protein. Absolutely live off of it. I carry little jiff to-go cups. 

I drink water like its my job. I make sure I eat enough protien in a day, I keep my sugar intake low (half for running, half for pre-diabetes in my family). I'm good about grease etc. I don't eat out a ton.

Finals food is NOT this food. So this finals I will be fighting the finals vs. running food. Healthy vs. convenient/fun.

I am craving pizza however...

Winter

So I'm not sure if anywhere else in the country was like this, but this "fall" Atlanta has been...well...finicky. 

That's a good word for it.

One day, its perfect fall, 50+ degrees and clear. The next its 80 and hot and muggy. And miserable.

December 1st rolls around and mother nature goes "oh shit, I guess I should make it cold" and BAM we have a 30ish degree day with wind. It was pretty  miserable. And the whole time I'm wondering "how am I ever going to run in this weather.."

Either way, I went against my loved ones/friends and ran yesterday and didn't wait the 1-week-rest period after my half marathon (which I still owe pictures of my awesome medal). I just went out for 20 minutes to test the new Brooks Adrenaline GTS 11's.  I sadly had to retire my GTS 10's right after the half. Not going to lie I got a little teary-eyed. They've done me well for the past 6 months and I've thoroughly worn them out. That and I almost had to wear RED shoes. Thank god Pacers had them in blue. I can't wear the forbidden colors of U[sic]GA.

I always thought they looked pretty new, and then I put my new ones against my old ones. Many my shoes are white. Gotta get out on the trails and fix that! 

Anyway the new shoes are great so far. I want to get more miles in them before I do an official-ish review.

Speaking of miles. Mine have been too low this week.  Here's a cute video that always makes me want to run more. 

Time for some more studying/finishing up at work then maybe a short run before trivia tonight. 

Till next time, run happy y'all!

I'm on a plane!

I'm on a plane right now, flying back to Atlanta from Arlington after a much needed Thanksgiving "break". I really studied/did homework or helped my mom with stuff the whole time, but it was worth it. I love seeing my family (including my doggies). I took the time off and didn't run at all post Half-Marathon. 

Yes I ran it, yes I know I haven't updated in...20 days. 

New Years resolution will be to keep up this blog I think. Clearly staying in shape will not be one of my worries/resolutions. 

When I get home and get a chance to take a picture of my medal (AWESOME) I'll post how the race went. 

I was going to show y'all goofy picture of me running but marathonfoto is not the best site I've ever used. It's currently down.

Again.

Hope everyone is ready to bounce back from thanksgiving stuffage and hit the roads! (I sure as hell am)

Happy Running!

Lame

I am LAME.

I am lame for not writing about the past few weeks. They have been epic. 

I had a rough rough cold after that 7 miler two weeks ago. It held on from Thursday till the next Tuesday. I  missed my long run, and my Tuesday morning run. Got back into the gym for weights on Wednesday and then had a lovely, hot, humid, muggy, early 5+ mile run on the silver comet. Mmmm flat road. 

That week (last week) I had my goal set. I had missed a long run and I had one more weekend before I could sign up for the half with the 55$ price tag. 

I was scheduled via THE PLAN for 8 miles. But I wanted 9. I set it out. I mapped it on map my run and knew on Monday that's what I'd be running Saturday. I wanted it. I dreamed of it. I told everyone I could that I was going to do it so that I could really celebrate Halloween. So I had enough people that knew I was going to do it that I wouldn't back down.

Saturday morning I rolled out of bed, meaning popped up like it was my life plan, at 7am and was out the door by 7:30. I had most of a power bar and had a gel in my pocket and was READY. I think I literally said "ok i'm ready" out loud as I left my apartment complex.

I had some issues with my left shoulder cramping up really bad, and a sidestich on the same side but they went away after about ohhhh 4 miles or so.  I can't believe I can say that so nonchalantly. 4 miles. MEH no biggy!

I found out how tough North Avenue was, the hills are absurd, and managed to finish in 9.2 miles in 1:41:11. I think I almost cried when I got home I was THAT happy. I promptly officially signed up for the Half on Thanksgiving psyched to get a personalized bib!

It was glorious, and my legs didn't even feel that bad! They felt a little sore/heavy after halloween but I think that was from my heels/falling/being absurd.

Tuesday I turned around and ran 6 miles in the morning with sub 10 min/miles. GLORIOUS. Legs felt great, everything felt great actually. Tummy has been acting up but the mileage is doing it.

So then this morning, I get up, ready to do another 5 and it's raining. And cold. I mean really cold and rainy. I was not feeling it. So I skipped. I feel awful, but I just couldn't go out in the rain before the sun came up when it was cold out. It felt like running into my own horror movie. I was going to get snatched up by a chainsaw-trucker or something. So I went back to bed. 

And watched my 20 mile week go BYE BYE. unless I make it up tomorrow or Sunday.

Saturday however, is going to be it. It's going to be my first double digit run. It's going to happen and I can't WAIT. 

I actually might cry. 

Really. 

Real Pain

Saturday. 

Saturday, saturday, saturday. 

Saturday mornings are long run mornings! 

Yesterday was the first time I did a long run by myself.  I slept in a little bit, woke up at 7 and was out the door around 7:30 with the goal of 6 miles. I detoured through Atlanta and by mile 3 I said I'd do an extra half mile just for kicks. 

Well between my detours and just feeling pretty damn good, I hit 6 miles and was not very close to my apartment.  The longest I've ever run is a 10k, so 6.2 miles.  

Saturday, this past Saturday, I ran 7.14 miles. SEVEN POINT ONE FOUR. Holy balls I almost cried. I almost quit a few times too but I refused. I was in so much pain, I had a side stitch so bad on my left side I was clutching it with my hand, my iPod had died and It was getting steadily warmer outside than when I started, but I finished it. I ran all the way to where I started running. 

I have officially felt new pain. Real pain. Real running pain. Nothing has compared to that pain I felt Saturday morning. But it hurt so good. I have now officially run over 50% of the distance I'm training for, and I'm a week ahead of schedule in my little training schedule for mileage. 

I also averaged 10:24 mins/mile. Faster than I really wanted but it just happened. 

Real pain has never felt so good. Even the next day it still feels good.

Catchup

I'm not sure if it's the sudden real training plan or my body just hates me but I HURT. Everywhere. The weirdest muscles in my legs hurt. And my feet. And my arms. 

Whatever, it's all part of the big plan right!?

Saturday was a 5 mile long run with the BF. It was really good, I know I can run without problems at an 11 minute pace.  I had a few speedbumps on the way...

Me:"Hey, slow down"

BF:"What, I'm not speeding up..."

Me:"liar yes you are!"

BF:"damn my tricks don't work on you anymore."

Etc. Etc. I wanted a slow recoup run. Somehow I don't feel too recouped. 

My 3 miles this morning felt awful. I don't know what it was but damn was I feeling rough. Like I hadn't slept or eaten in days. Just drained. 

Tomorrow is weights. By Friday last week I couldn't move my arms much over my head. I was sore EVERYWHERE. I'm looking forward to feeling like that again actually.

Till then,

Happy running!

Day 4: Running Crashers

Today was a 3-4 mile run as marked out by my lovely little planning calender. 

The BF decided last night he wanted to stay over and crash my run in the morning. More affectionately he just wanted to run with me. Which is always entertaining. 

I've finally stolen for extended use one of my friend's Garmin watch's so now I can actually track my pace on my own! I told the BF we were going to the park and back, which is right over 4 miles. 4.2 to be exact. 

Well it's all hills, and I have never ran it without stopping on purpose. There's stopping for stop lights in the middle of Atlanta and then there's me just giving up on some of those hills.  Well this morning the BF didn't give me that option. We finished with a 10:24 min/mile pace and with the sun coming up in Atlanta. It was a gorgeous morning and a very good run. I can't wait for my 5 mile run on Saturday morning. 

Today all I did was study heat transfer. Besides the feeling of impending doom of exams I've been a sore mess.  I lifted last night for the first time in a very long time and I am feeling it in every muscle above my abs. It makes me want a beer.

Mmmm Beer.

Day 2/3

Ok sorry I didn't post yesterday. School may or may not be killing me right now. 

Yesterday was day 2 of training and involved a light 3-4 mile run. I got up at 6 was out on the turf fields by 6:30 running laps. 

Who ever thought running laps was fun? Goodness gracious it's 3 laps to a mile. By lap 5 I was getting dizzy. Mind you these are big laps but still. Ridiculously boring. 

Anyway I'm not sure what pace I was at since my BF has lost his garmin watch charger....failure...but I think I was a little under 11 min/mile. Which is exactly where I'm ok sitting. I know now that to get up into those double digits I'm not going to be able to just run my little heart out at whatever pace I want. The 3 miles felt like nothing! The good news is the weather has gotten considerably better here in Atlanta. Especially in the morning. I actually had to pull out my running pseudo leggings and a sweater. It's amazing how little you sweat in the cold versus the heat. Until I stopped running, then I started pouring sweat out from every pore. 

Speaking of sweat, just to ramble about things I've learned since running.

                                                     

These (sock-ish-things stage Left)are the most amazing things EVER if your shins hurt (lightly). Once upon a time I tried to run and ignored my shins. This ignorance resulted in stress fractures and put me out of the game for 4 months. These are compression thingys. You can buy them with socks attached so that they're literally compression socks but I bought them to wear when I sleep to help my shins not feel so battered. I scoffed at the 40$ price tag but they were so worth it, especially when my shin splints were beginning to plague me again. Now I always wear them the night before runs.  Plus they're warm. Who doesn't want warm calves in the winter?

Back to the sweat. Stage right is my new (as of when I began running) deodorant. I may or may not sweat a lot. It's a problem. And not very cute, says the BF. He gave me this. It's men's deodorant. This was a conflict at first for me but DAMN does it work well. It is now my every-day deodorant. Seriously, if you sweat or stink like I do, this is for you. It's the best investment I've ever made. Those girly little deodorants don't hold a candle to this stuff.

Ramble done. Today is a weight lifting day. After a failed meeting this morning at the god-awful time of 5:45am I will be going later today. After I study system dynamics and heat transfer until my brain explodes. No worries, that won't take too long!

Tomorrow is a 4 mile run, I think I'll run to Piedmont park and back. Now that my feet and ankle are feeling much much better I'm willing to run some (aka a shit ton) of hills to get to the park. Hopefully my legs hold up.

This is me being lame and showing off my frogtown medal. 

I ended up 23rd overall in Women and 77th overall in men and women of 331 participants. Not too shabby eh? I also averaged an 11 min/mile, which for the amount of walking involved to get up the trail hills and get across the log crossings is pretty damn good in my opinion.

Off to study. Happy Running everyone!

Day 1

Well today started it.

I have committed to this plan.

I will stick to this plan.

This plan scares the be-jeezus outta me. 

"THE PLAN"

Written in inviting and colorful pens to help me through this process.

Tonight was my first attempt at tempo runs. Since I am slow they were at 9:45 min/mile and because my school gym is packed with people when I went today I only got 2 mile reps in. BUT it was a good start. Then I swam with MF and watched House...

 I would have done more but my feet are still killing me from overexertion last week (? no idea how THAT happened) and after near-breaking my ankle a few times on the rough trails of Frogtown the outside of my left ankle/leg is a little unhappy.

My super-cool-Asian friend bought me these capsicum patches? No idea if they work. I put them on but so far...no good.

I'll just have to wait and see. Tomorrow I have an easy 3-4 mile run planned. Probably going to either run flat and run around our turf fields or inside. I want to baby my foot/leg before I jump into ridiculous hill stuff.

I'm still nervous thinking about this in the long term but I think week-by-week views will be less intimidating.

I want to do this. I want to run this half, and I want to do it well. I want to do it right. I know I can, I just needed a kick in the ass (IE my colorful schedule) to get me going.

Overall: good Day 1. 

Tomorrow is a new day, see you then!

The Uber Planner

First order of business: I won my first running medal! I placed second in my age group (for women) and 23rd over all (for women). Frogtown is definitely one of the most fun races I'll ever run. 

I got a medal, a shirt, and a lot of free swag as well as a sore ankle from nearly busting ass on the rough trails. I LOVED IT. 

Second order:

So yesterday, while I was hungover from a  night of debauchy celebrations with The BF, I made my half-marathon training plan. Randomly too. I just needed to see it on paper. So I pulled out my fancy super-awesome-super-fine-point-super-nerdy color pens and went to work.  I only have a little over 7 weeks to do this. Fingers cross I can manage it, but since I put it down on paper it feels a lot more manageable.

Long runs on Saturday morning, goal longest is 11ish. Jeez, double digit numbers scare the hell outta me! I've calculated all my long run and tempo run paces...laid out my cross training. Now It's time to get to work. Starting today with a few miles and some time in the pool.

I'm not sure if I'm giving myself enough time for this or not but I think I can do it. It may not be the fastest half ever or the most comfortable but I need to start somewhere and I need to just push myself to start training at all. 

Here's to hoping all goes well!

Half or Half-assed?

Yesterday I was on the phone with my mom and mentioned coming home for Thanksgiving and that we needed to buy plane tickets. Her response "well aren't you going home with the BF?" (she doesn't say BF I just keep confidentiality here). 

Me:" errr well I can?"

Mom: "well I mean you'll be back 3 weeks after that...It's no big deal and I'm sure you'll be fine with the BF's family."

Well damn thanks mom.

This whole time I've been dreaming of baking with my sister and hanging out with my dogs and seeing Arlington and DC in their gorgeous fall colors and now guess not.

I was also looking forward to getting perpetually tipsy with my mother via mimosas at breakfast beer at lunch and wine at dinner/desserts. But hey, here's to hoping. 

So I'm staying here and going to the BF's for Turkey Day. No biggy. 

Actually this opens up a good opportunity that I'm going to sit on for a while. Atlanta Track Club's half marathon on Thanksgiving Morning. I have till October 31st till the application fee goes up again but It's going to be brooding in my head for a while. I'm nervous to set a bar so high. It's high for me at least. 13.1 miles?? Just walking around for 2 hours  makes me tired.

Damn. 

So I'll be working on that decision for a while.

Good things from today: I'm an official card-carrying member of ASME now. Sticker went on my nalgene and EVERYTHING.

I also have a 4.3 mi trail race on Saturday! In the middle-of-bumble-fuck-Georgia. Fingers crossed it goes well. Poor BF will be running the 10+ mile race and...well...he's going to hurt Saturday afternoon.

Just have to get through some tests first. Here's to a good week! Cheer y'all.

LAZY

If no one has taken notice, I will say it out loud, I have been LAZY lately. 

For one I've been skimping on blog entries which means I've probably gone slightly insane. For two I've been putting off my 'get back to schedule for running' mode every week. 

Today, I said NO MORE. 

Ok well this week I said no more, but today was a big deal.

After a few bad weeks of just not waking up, ipod being dead, feet being dead from heels, and general fatigue, I've finally kicked my ass back into gear and am ready to train for a half. Don't know when, but I'll just say that's my goal. 

Sunday I ran 3+, probably closer to 4, miles on the treadmills at the CRC while watching NFL, because I'm like that. 

Monday I had swim practice but we played sharks and minnows so I jogged a light 1 mile before just to get warmed up, cause god knows I hate sharks and minnows. 

Tuesday morning I woke up and decided to run to Piedmont park and back, its 4 miles of hills. ALL HILLS. But it went ok.

So this morning I woke up and felt like my body was going to sink through the mattress onto the floor.  My muscles were tired, I was tired, and the BF was sound asleep next to me and was going to get to be asleep for an extra hour and a half. This is not the definition of motivation. Actually this is precisely why for the past few weeks I've only managed to get up for one of my two scheduled tues/thurs morning runs a week. The minute I start moving the BF rolls over and vice/bear grips me in his sleep.  

Today I was lucky and he was tired. So I laid there staring at the ceiling, fairly awake, going "get up, get up, get up, you need to run, get up".

Once I did I felt totally fine, grabbed my ID's, got dressed, threw my shoes on, kissed the BF/Bear goodbye...I just needed my house key that was on the BFs keyring. 

So I asked him where it was, he groggily answered, and I went to look.

Not there.

Me: "Baby are you sure you put them there?"

BF: "uurrrrhh? yahh *snore*"

Me: "hmm..." and begin to hunt. 

He eventually got up and we realized, he really had put them where he said and they were gone.  Well after a little investigating and finding out my roommate had come home shmammered last night she had mistakenly grabbed them and put them in her room. 

Yeah, I know, strange. 

I had even checked the trash, the fridge, the freezer, the drawers...anywhere she would have drunkenly put them.

Ok so anyway back to my running story. I finally got to leave and head over to the gym.  Before I got there I felt like crap though, my legs felt slow and heavy. I hurt everywhere, I hadn't taken my inhaler, and in my head I was like "well I'll just run 2 miles and lift/do abs"

Got on the treadmill and something happened for the first time in a very very long time.

I couldn't feel anything.

Ok exaggeration, but really, I couldn't feel my legs hurting, I couldn't not-breathe. Honestly, I felt AMAZING. I ended up running 4 miles and felt like I could have kept going if I hadn't had the time crunch. 

Maybe it was the amusement of the morning, or maybe I'm finally going to get back into the groove I had going right after I ran my first 10k, but I feel great and today was great. Everything is great. 

Makes me wanna train for a half. Bad. 

I'm supposed to be doing weights in the morning, and when I say morning I mean like 5:30, with some friends. We'll see how I feel

I have a 4 mile trail race next Saturday that I'm SO excited about! Plus there's a beerfest the same day!!

Fantastic. 

Time to do more heat transfer.

Fooottbawwwlll

That's right folks.

Footbawl. 

It's that time of year again. Where every Saturday is blocked out if we have a home game to tailgating. Drinking, eating, being merry.

Generally NOT running on Sunday mornings..

This weekend was particularly awesome as it was GT's first football game at home.  A 1PM game (AKA death for people who tailgate too hard...IE for me and the BF) against a crap team which caused me to not feel sober or not hungover until the next morning. 

No worries, I ran on Monday. Monday morning you could have bottled my happiness and sold it, there was that much of it oozing out of me. 

I think BF got annoyed. 

We planned a run around Kennasaw mountain but when our alarms went off at 6:30..well that didn't happen. I rolled out of bed an hour later and to my amazement it was absolutely beutiful out! 59 degrees and some nice sun. And it stayed cool out! I was in shock. 

In that moment I craved pumpkins and pecans and fall leaves and sweaters.

And running that doesn't make me want to die of heat/humidity.

After finally getting the bear of a BF out of bed we got to the mountain, ran an easy 3+ miles and called it a day. 

And then I bought an apple cider candle and did HW the rest of the afternoon. 

I do a lot of HW these days when I should be doing fun things, or playing outside like normal people who crave to be 13 again. 

Football pictures to come.

Petition for 36 hours in a day

I'm surprisngly busy this semester.
I'm busy every semester, not like a working 9-5 busy, or even grad school busy, I'm just...busy. I have more HW than I've ever had since I've been at tech, I'm trying to keep up reading in my textbooks as we go through the semester and I swear that hours of my day are sneaking off to hide somewhere. 

To be fair, I can't complain about this while I'm blogging, because this is where those hours could be hiding. Hah, found you!

Since my last post I've ran 3 times for a total of...
ah quick, math
4.5 + 3 + 4 = 11.5.
Why did that seem so hard?
Anyways, the short run was fully outside and reminded me just how much I wish I lived somewhere flat. I don't know why but I have yet to concur the campus pi mile/loop.  It's deceivingly hard with its long hills and sudden changes in incline.
Plus, there's freshman hill, and no one likes that.

Right now I'm hurting.  I ran 3 miles sunday afternoon, I swam last night (yes, I got in a pool and didn't sink), and ran this morning at 6:30.
Let me repeat: I hurt.
I felt like such a baby last night. I swam just under a 2000yd practice and my arms were jello.  It felt good afterward, and I was proud for going, but when at my peak I could do 4500yd practices...
Like I said, baby.

So here's the goal:
Monday night I'll swim at night with the team, Tuesday morning: run/abs, Wednesday morning: lift, Thursday morning: run, Friday morning: lift again.

To do these early morning practices however I'm going to need a little more time in my day.  I'll just have to submit that maintenence request to God.
Hey God, seriously, throw me a few hours a day? Not sure if I can stay on top of reading, HW, and get up that early everyday. Just gotta try it out first I guess.

For now I'm going to read and do homework so that tonight I can fully celebrate my roommates 21st!

Motivation

Welcome! to the almost end of August. God I cannot wait for this month to end. 

This morning I set out for a nice long run after a horrible Monday with an extremely bad headache. I woke up at 6 and was, miraculously, out the door by 6:15. (I may or may not be a diva before I run and usually take 30 minutes) As I stepped outside I felt a very very missed feeling. It was kind of cool out...

THATS RIGHT! 

I felt fall. Right there on my front stoop at 6:15AM. No fog, no humidity, probably below 70 degrees. I felt fall. And now that I've had a taste, I need my fix. 

So it may be another month before I really get that, but it's good to know the mornings should slowly start cooling down. 

The fall feeling got me extra excited to get a much needed good run in. They are few and far between and I have found myself drifting away from my ever-craving-working-out self. The two week break between summer and fall killed my mojo, and made me feel a litttle extra jiggly from all the sweets I was indulging in. 

So, by 7:45 when I rolled back into my apt I had logged around 5.2 miles! 

FANTASTIC!

And it felt good, my knees hurt some, my shins are little blah, but other than that I'm happy. It felt good, I did some ab exercises and called it a day.  

So here we go again, starting my fall semester I'm finding my motivation. I've laid out my schedule, I'm working 20 hours a week, taking class for 14 and running at least four times a week. It's a goal and It's going to happen.

This is the first semester I've had without a single fluff-ish class. Everything is ME this and ME that. It makes me want to be even better than I've ever been. Do better in every class, and sign up for some races!!

Oh and of course, there's football, which always gets me in the mood to do something epic. 

So here's to the new semester. Fall weather, I await your loving embrace. I can't wait for the mornings with a few goosebumps. Bring it on fall. I dare you.

Ok August, you win.

I ran twice while I was at home.
TWICE in a WEEK.
I am a failure. One was 4.15 miles and the other was 3 miles exactly. This month has been kicking my ass.

It's so hot, and so humid all the time and I can't seem to slow myself down enough.
Take this morning as a great example, and one that was recent enough I can still remember it.
Plan: wake up at 7 am, out the door by 7:30 for a light jog around campus with a goal of ehhh 4 miles or so.
Actuallity: woke up at 9am, out the door at 9:30.  Temperature was 89 degrees with a humidity of 97%. NINETY-SEVEN! I feel like that close to 100% it might as well be raining. That or you should just go swimming instead, because that's what this morning felt like.  I was wheezing after .3 of a mile. Hard core wheezing too, the kind where people look at you funny. I could not find any oxygen in the air, it was like breathing hot water. I think I did about 3 miles but it was painful. My legs felt dead halfway through and I'm not sure why. 

I am most definitely in need of a boost to overcome this month.  It's been so long since my last run that just felt awesome. I can't remember it and it's becoming a little scary.  I dislike failure especially when I was doing so well just a few weeks ago.  Maybe there's a 10 week plateau/stall when you start.  Or maybe my body just doesn't feel up to it in this weather, who knows.

I do know however that I will be back out running Friday morning and hopefully getting a few treadmill miles in tomorrow or Thursday. 

Home Sweet Home: Artery Clogging.

Long time no post.

I'm finally home, in Virginia, after a nice little 9+ hour drive with the BF. We averaged 80mph and were sans-cops the whooollle time. It was great.  Lots of chatting, dancing, generally just being happy to not be in school.

And now, I'm home. After 24 hours here I remember why I absolutely love it here but can only really be here a week.  The food is amazing, boutiful, and there's always a dessert. I just cannot help myself. I'm almost never home! 

It helps that I'm allowed to eat this much since the first thing my father said to me was "have you been eating??" as he hugged me and called me a stick figure. 

I ran before my this past Thursday, probably a little under four miles. It was...rough.

Ross talked to me last Saturday about a "shovel" on our run around Chickamunga (err?) Battlefield. We were both kinda struggling, I was cramping really bad and was at the end of my 17 mile week, and he started being all coach-y on me. Trying to relate running to swimming..

Ross: "you know those rough days, when you're in a distance practice, and you've already been swimming forever and you're not sure if you can make it.You're already in so much pain and you don't know if you can go further."

Me: *huff,puff,die* "yeah"

BF: "Well those are the days you have to pull out your shovel. You have to dig for the motivation."

Me: *glaring* "alright, I'm digging"

BF: "Some days, you dig and dig and you just don't see it, but you have to keep digging."

Me: "Can I have some water?" (he carry's my water for me, what a good BF)

Anyway, I really liked what he was saying to me. It's very true. Some days you wonder, why the hell am I doing this? And then dig a little and you find your motivation. Some days though, you dig forever and you end up digging the whole time.  This past Thursday, I think I left my shovel at home. I'm not sure if it was because I had a final that day, or because I've been trying to rest my legs so I don't get injured (lots of pain lately, not good) but I was not in it.  I didn't want to be out there, not one bit. 

I always want to go run, seriously. It could be a planned run at 6am and I usually want to go run, I love it. But the past few runs, not so much.

It sucks, but sometimes, you just have to take a break. If you don't want to run, it's not worth it. It's lazy, it's unproductive, it's just not worth the time.  When I run I want to be putting in work. 

Always carry a spare shovel. 

Eventually, you have to just get back in the groove.  It's time. So tomorrow, I'm digging the shoes out and I'm going to try and clear out some of the artery passageways that I've clogged in 24 hours at home and run around my hometown with the BF.

Happy Running!

Cake or Death?

Well no run today. I really couldn't do it. Slept till after 9 dreaming of killin' my fluids final on Thursday. I'm still pretty achey all over, feet are sore, legs and knees aren't happy.

So I've been sitting around studying and of course my roomies birthday is tomorrow and her mom brought a 3 tier cake to our apt.  The day I don't run there's cake everywhere and I have the Study-Noms.

Failure.

Still, I'm going to try to convince the BF for some ice cream tonight. I have a feeling he's going to get all "oohh nooo I want to run tomorrow" on me. 

This from the boy who ate half a gallon of blue bell cookies and cream ice cream before his first marathon.

Yeah, he's real strict with himself.

Well, tra la la off to study and eat etc.

 

Chill out.

I'm trying to come to terms with the fact that I do not need to, nor should I, run tomorrow morning with the BF. He finally doesn't have work, neither of us have class. We can sleep in and make a late breakfast like most college students. But he's going to get up and run instead, and is basically demanding that I don't run tomorrow after my fiasco this morning.

We'll see how I feel in the morning...The BF won't win THAT easily.

It's totally the stars.

Weekend over, now to begin my finals week.

Er, Final week, just one.  It's just Fluids, no big. 

So in running news, Saturday morning I found myself in Ringgold Georgia and planned on running around Chickamunga (bless you?) Battlefield with the BF.  Alaram went off at 7...Not really sure what happened after that. I tried to wake him up and then I fell asleep and then I woke back up and tried to wake him up again...then I fell back asleep. 

Viscous cycle. Made me miss clocky.

Ok, only a tiny bit.  Clocky is the electronic devil.

We finally got out there around 10 and lucky for us it was overcast and not too hot.  Did a leisurely 4 miles around the park at a 9:50 pace ( I think).  Definately was a struggle for me however. Had some really bad cramps to deal with and really didn't think I had four miles in me but apparently I did.  My total for last week was at 17.35 by then.  

HOLY CRAP 17.35.  No wonder my feet hurt and my knees are starting to yell at me. Goodness gracious. 

Moving on from Saturday, it is now a NEW WEEK! And a new month.  Happy August! 

First off, I have found, and have purchased, the most amazing food contraption ever. Portable Peanut Butter. 

Heaven

I frequently struggle with trying to bring Peanut Butter and pretzels (or whatever else I feel like) to work or when I'm out all day in class.  The dilemma: If I bring the whole jar, it WILL be gone. I have a weakness for this stuff. My solution was to pack servings of PB in a little tupperware. This is just annoying in general but I do it.  And then I found these babies. These fine looking super awesome portable peanut butter packs.  God's gift to starving runners all across the world. 

Maybe just all across the US. But still.

I am one happy camper. I will be taking one of these to work today with my pretzel sticks.

  Second topic for today, my run this morning. 

Well lets just say it was...er...a run? The BF had a final at 8am this morning so I told him I'd get up at 6, wake him up, go for a run and get back in time for him to leave for his final.  Between snoozing and having to wake up, drink some powerade, eat a lil sommin sommin and stretch etc (and having to wrestle the hibernating grizzly bear out of my bed) I didn't leave the APT till about 6:40ish.  It is exceptionally UGLY here in Atlanta this morning. I stepped out to a gloomy, dark, very very humid, post rained city.  I could no longer see any sky scrapers.  It's not that it's super hot (maybe 75 degrees by now) but I felt like I was breathing water.  

To skip ahead of the story, I had wanted to run four miles this morning, but by the time I had hit 2 I was feeling a little like death warmed up. I decided to cut my 4 goal down to 3 (ugh) because not only did my feet hurt, but my left knee was bugging me, my shins were starting to hurt (oh dear) and overall I felt like crap.

Portable Peanut Butter = happy camper

Horrible run = not happy camper

Maybe the stars were aligned funny and that's why my run sucked. 

Right? 

Right.

I ended up running 3.3 miles with a 9:27 pace.  I'm pretty sure my first mile and half I was running 9 min/miles and honestly that is just way way way too fast to start a 4 mile run for me. Between that and last week being my longest running week ever I think my body is just angry at me. So now I'm recouping and hoping that I won't have to rest tomorrow.  My recoup tools this morning consist of coffee, cereal, IB Profin, and compression socks (that are kinda big for me). 

I <3 IB Profin

No worries everyone, I only took 4. Between that and the BF's compression-tube-thingies and a cup of coffee the size of my head, I'm doing better.  

Super Sexy. Please work.

Now I just have to go to work and sit for 6 hours. And study, or stare at keys all day.  We'll see how that works out.

Hopefully some recoup will allow me to run tomorrow and actually run the 4 miles I need to.

Now off to pack some snacks for work. 

You know what THAT means. 

PORTABLE PEANUT BUTTER