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!!

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! 

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!

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!

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.

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!