Brooks

I got my Brooks ID discount today.

My poor, poor, bank account.

I'm going to be poor.
Poor.
Like my bank account.

Long run time! It's 65 degrees out. FYI.
Amazing.
See you soon!

Bad Poster

Man, I am just AWFUL at keeping up sometimes. I vow this week I will stop posting only once a week.

Vow, promise, swear etc. 

I'm currently sitting at work, sipping my coffee, prepping for a long day in this office which I just opened at 8am. And I will be closing at 8pm.

Tricky right?

Anyway as I sip my coffee and peruse the running world websites I frequent I find myself wondering if sometimes, even though I fail to write on here, I peruse too much and don't do enough school work. 

Goodness, there, I said it. I'm preoccupied with my training. School is getting more and more difficult to focus on.  I'm stuck in this mode where I don't want to graduate, but I really want to graduate, so I'm at a standstill.  Kind of stuck in limbo honestly. I'm always/generally more than willing to get up and go for a run or go to the gym...but try and get me up early to do a lab? No thanks.  I like school, I really do, I'm just a little...well tired of it. 

Enough about that blah blah. 

My 5k last weekend was wonderful, I got a PR by 2 mins and was first in my age group! With a 26:47. Not the best time in the whole wide world, but I was very happy with it. I started off at a 9 min/mile pace because I was pacing someone else and then progressively got faster. It felt good, and smart, and like I could definitely run one faster.

Good news, I have that opportunity in a few weekends! Another free 5k! 

I'm very happy I'm an Atlanta Track Club member. 

I have a 7 mile run planned tomorrow and I am legitimately excited for it. The weather in Atlanta is supposed to be beautiful!

Look at THAT!

That's all for now. Later I will be posting everything I will be/want to order from the Brooks website.

I may-or-may-not have a very long list.

I need an overhall on my running apparel!

Snow Days good? NO!

Alright so my new rant this week has been about the 3.5 epic snowdays that GT recieved last week after the south got hammered by a storm.

I loved them at the time. I was lazy. I sat around with the boyfriend, worked out lazily, complained about being cold. Got a ton of sleep.

And also didn't get used to my new schedule. I don't know about everyone else but one thing I love about the first week of classes is that I can get used to the actual time factor of the schedule of school before I have to get used to the workload.  Well now, this week, even with Monday off, I'm having to get used to the time part, the school work ALREADY, and a new training schedule! Holy smokes! 

I am very tired. As my last random post already stated.

I've decided the snow days SUCKED. I am now scrambling to get used to everything at once. I have a test and 4 assignments due next week already.  I'm sore as hell from working out, and I have a 5k tomorrow!

That's my rant, and I'm stickin to it. 

As for training, I'm in my light week for weights and am just a little achey from it. Not exceedingly sore but it's not nothing. My arms already feel more toned (I'm technically on week 2 of lifting) and I'm looking forward to my medium weight week next week. 

As for running goes, I've been pretty much rockin' it this week. I think that time/experience is finally becoming a good factor. I feel faster, just naturally. 

To be fair, it's been 8 full months of running, it's about time I got used to it. 

I've run 12? eehhh 13 miles this week. 4+ of hill training Monday, 5+ on a random (read: awesome) run on Wednesday, and around 3+ miles during my very FIRST speed workout ever.

Talk about pain I haven't felt since swimming descends. Goodness. I did 200m repeats. For my first workout I was a little confused as how I was going to react to it. First I did 5x200 (in a row) where I was sprintishing/supposed to be a mile time for one 200m then slowing down for the second and alternating. With a 3min rest in between sets.

I did the first set, got through the second set and then had to take my little grey warm weather capris off that I had under my shorts. (I had to run to the gym to get to the track and it was FREEZING out). And then decided to see how it would feel doing 200m, walk half a lap (which is 200m), and alternating that way. I tried this because when I got to my 3rd set I was dying and had to stop. I liked it better cause I was already really tired so I finished up this way.

PS. dumbass (this girl, me, that's writing this) forgot to take her inhaler. Idiot.

After I finished I did some core stuff and dragged my tired, sore, body home. 

I don't know why but this week has just seemed so hard. No amount sleep is enough. I've been up at 6 or 6:15 every day, some days not sleeping well at all and haven't had a workout rest day since Sunday. Part of it has just been a funk I'm in. School is starting to wear on me. 

BUT this morning I have gotten a second (third? fourth? millionth) wind. I've been very productive, which I consider this post in the productivity range, and will continue until I leave work at 8pm today.

I have a physio ball workout today that will be fun. I love stretching out on those things! 

Time to go get some of my never-ending school work done.

Happy Friday everyone! Run Happy!

Tired

I'm finally having to go to class and participate in full days of school + work. I am TIRED.

Worked out this morning, my leg is giving me some problems, it's making me really nervous.

I'd love to give a detailed breakdown of the past few days but I couldn't sleep last night and was up at 6am and have to be up at 6am again tomorrow.

So for now, I'm going to go look over my lab manual and crawl into bed. I love you all. I will write tomorrow. Pinky-internet-promise.

Doing it all

Last semester was the first semester I really felt like everything CLICKED. Well, at least in the past few months it's felt like that.

I had a rough spot from about last New Years till August/September. 

Wow that's a long rough spot looking back.

Anyway, I had a bad relationship, I lost my car before I even saw it, I had lots of health problems and friend drama all thrown in.  By July/August I'd started to get my feet back underneath me. By October I was sprinting. My grades were out of this world good, was working 20 hours a week and was training for my first Half Marathon. I was happy. 

Very happy.

I was also very organized. I knew what I wanted, when I needed things done by, how every day would go.  I had plans for just about everything. It seems kind of cyclic/boring to most but for me it worked. And the busier I was the better. Nothing could get in my way! Half marathon? So ready. Finals? Breezy. (comparitively) Yes I had a few  panic moments but otherwise, I did great! This was my best semester grade wise. I applied, and GOT, an internship with Atlanta Track Club working with kids AND now this sweet Brooks deal.  I have a wonderful boyfriend who supports me all the time and the best friends anyone could ask for. I really am doing it all right now.

I've found, after having some of the worst luck possible, that a positive outlook and a set plan really works. Yes some luck is involved, but when I set a goal I'm positive, I'm calculative and I'm persistent.  I know my limits but I also know when they should be pushed. I make sure that I wake up every morning with a positive outlook and knowing what I have planned for the day.  Maybe that's not everyone's cup of tea, but so far it's worked wonders for me!

Here's a nice little article by Active about setting goals. It's short and to the point, and if you can master all of these aspects of goal setting for running you can set goals for just about anything else in life.

http://www.active.com/running/Articles/Defining_Your_Goal.htm

I think today is a rest day for me. My butt is still in quite a bit of pain.

I hope this ice/snow goes away soon. I need to run long this weekend!

Sitting Down

So, in case you haven't heard, Atlanta has been covered in ice/snow for a few days now. I haven't been in school for THREE days. Georgia Tech is like pulling a prank or something. 

Anyway despite the snow and ice and awful conditions I've been getting back into the swing of a training routine for my second half. Last night my roommate Thea and I sat down and really worked everything out for the next 10 weeks. It was a lot more involved and intense this time than it was for the first half marathon. My first one was really more for completion than for time. This time around I'm trying to shave off 17 minutes and run it in 2 hours or less.

Monday, Day 1 of the Snowpocalypse, I ran some hill workouts on the treadmill and did a few thera-ball exercises with the BF in his baby gym in the house complex he lives in. I sweat my little ass off. Clearly I've been running outside in the cold too much because I forgot how much sweating I do inside.  Tuesday I got on the stationary bike as a XT and did legs.  This involved some lunges...and some machines...

I can NOT sit down without pain, my ass hurts so bad. 

Today I ran 3 miles with some speedwork thrown in, a bunch of abs, and arms. 

These first few weeks are going to SUCK. But I'm fully ready to commit to the work that I will need for this. I want to run this well. I want my time cut down. I want a PR. And I know that by adding lifting, some speedwork and hill work will do it. I think it's going to get me past the plateau I'm on.

This morning I was up at 6:15. Alarm went off and after 3 weeks of sleeping in, it actually felt GOOD to get out, get back showered and out for breakfast and back before 11am. I feel like a champ today.

Time to try and be even MORE productive in the snowy ice snowpocalypse that's struck Atlanta.

Why?

I started this blog after I got my favorite pen and started to write down all of my runs in my little 'running notebook'.

I got the pen from the Peachtree Expo.  It was a Brooks pen and it said "Run Happy" on it.

I was obsessed with it for some reason. I loved the slogan, and after running the Peachtree, my first 10k, I wanted to start documenting and sharing why running made me happy.  I named the blog after the Brooks slogan because I believe it, and I love their product. The running community built around them is filled with good people.

Through some various things, I am now a proud member of the Brooks I.D program.

Brooks Inspire Daily. I'm so excited to represent Brooks and their philosophy. I hope I can work more at sharing my experiences on this blog and I can't wait for the coming year filled with RUNNING!

I'm beginning my training plan for my next half marathon on March 20th. 72 days. I'll be upping my speed work and adding a lot of hill exercises as well as more weights. I'll keep y'all posted.

Run Happy!!