It's OFFICIAL!

I've finally registered Jon and myself for the Cincinnati Half Marathon NEXT weekend in my lovely hometown!

I've been procrastinating our registration for two reasons:
1. I couldn't find my checkbook in the move and I'm too cheap to want to pay the $11 processing fee online... Turns out, it's at my mom's... She tried to send them to us but it didn't work, so I finally got us in (with the processing fee) right under the deadline for the tee-shirt ordering!
2. I was afraid to sign up because even though I did "run" a half last weekend (I say "run" because I walked a TON starting at mile 8 when my sciatica/whatever that weird pain in my back right butt area was popped up again for the 2nd week in a row), I'm still really intimidated and nervous.

That said, here we are, no refunds from Active.com, so I gotta do it now!  I'm nervous AND excited, so we'll see.  I think it might be really cool that the half is the longest distance for the day--won't have to compare myself to the ultra awesome marathoners!

Any tips for my first BIG, LONG, SCARY race?

GREAT run (and photos for Christina)

I know I have been limiting myself to my weekly re-cap to try and stay on track, but I just wanted to stop by and say that this morning's run was AWESOME and here's why:

1. Got PLENTY of sleep so I was pretty awake and ready to go at 5:30am when my alarm went off
2. Sahara also got a lot (i.e. the same amount) of sleep and looked so eager to go that I decided to make this a puppy run at the last minute
3. My knees felt great the whole time
4. It was MUCH cooler than Sunday (since it was dark at 6am vs. sunny at noon)
5. I didn't walk AT ALL (and only stopped once to cross at a light)
6. I kept a 13:05 pace, which is at the fast side of my suggested LSD pace
7. I felt so good that I even decided to go a bit longer (extra .5)—could have done more, but, alas, had to get ready for work
8. I've just felt GOOD after and it's helping me stay on track for the day
9. The extra calories burned help make up for my several bites of queso dip last night
10. This is the first run I've had so far in training that I've actually really ENJOYED.  I've missed this feeling.
11. (Was hoping to make this a top 10 list, but alas) Tried out the Pandora app for the first time and got to change it up and listen to some new music.  Katy Perry station?  Yes, please.

So, awesome!  I feel like I deserved this run after how hard and mentally painful Sunday's run was.  Maybe this run was made possible by how hard I pushed Sunday?  As Jon said, "Now the pain means something to you and next time you might 'enjoy' the pain."  Not sure if I'd go QUITE that far, but who knows!  We have some hill repeats scheduled for Saturday night (hot date), so we'll see.

Oh, and Christina wanted photos in running gear, so here's me before/after this morning.  Sorry they aren't great!  I'll try and snap some of me and Jon in our gear this weekend!

Sorry for the doofy faces... It was hard trying to get photos of myself where I didn't look like a total idiot.  These are the best ones.  Interpret that as you like.

Now I'm really looking forward to Thursday's run: 5 miles w/2 at tempo!  I think I'll try the same strategy and get lots of sleep and get up early and run.  :)

Half Marathon Training: Week 2 Re-Cap

Tuesday:  Got myself up and out of bed for the first time EVER this summer and went for a nice morning run for my slotted 3 miles EZ.  I opted for 8/2 intervals and got some decent speeds for each interval in the 10-11min range.  My right knee started really hurting at 2.5 miles and I felt like I ran/limped my last half mile.  Other than that, the run was great, mostly just proud of myself for getting out of bed.  Trick: slept in my running clothes.  No lie.  12:06 pace.

Thursday: Set off for an early evening run and planned to do 8/2 intervals around and adjoining neighborhood.  I think I definitely found a good hill for some hill repeats.  (Guess that’s why there’s the word “Hill” in the neighborhood’s name?)  This run didn’t start off well with arch pain and when my knee pain from Tuesday hit me with a vengeance at mile 1.5, I called it a day with 2 miles and cut the slotted 4 mile EZ run in half.  I went home and did some knee stretches and exercises and called it a night… My knee REALLY hurt when I went to straighten my knee anytime that night, so I’m glad I didn’t push it… even if I’m sad to have gone off plan.  12:10 pace.

Saturday:  Jon and I actually skipped this run unintentionally.  What was meant to be a quick rearrangement of stuff in my mom’s garage so that I could put some of my packed boxes there vs. my bedroom ended up turning into a full scale clean up of the garage… that filled ALL our garbage cans plus a few boxes… and that was only half the garage.  Jon plans to attack the rest when he’s in town at the end of the week so that we can have an epic garage sale this weekend.  We also went and saw Harry Potter 7 Part II for a hot date since Jon has been diligently watching the other 6 movies in preparation for the past few weeks.  I cried a lot during the movie… just like when I saw it the first time. 

Sunday:  Jon and I overslept (unsurprisingly) and we set out for our run at noon.  There were a few moments of cloud cover, but mostly this was a run in the sun.  I am REALLY not good with running in the heat (will need to work on this before moving to Alabama, that’s for sure) and I really struggled with this run.  Jon was patient as ever as we stuck to my suggested LSD pace of 13:00-14:00. 

Even that pace was REALLY difficult for me in the sun and, while the first 2.5 miles were pretty easy for me, the last 2.5 were the hardest I’ve had since I tried to run on Auburn’s campus too late in the morning last summer.  Not going to lie, it was a REAL struggle (read almost wanted to cry) to finish this run and I did walk a few times (though no official intervals).  Jon and I had originally planned to shoot for an extra mile (making it a 6 mile EZ over a 5-mile EZ to make up for Saturday), but I couldn’t do it and he graciously walked with me the rest of the way home.  I’ve never had a run be this hard—I came home after and we tried to get lunch together and all I could get down was a cup of milk and a few bites of yogurt.  I actually felt sick… I’ve never had that happen before.  I did feel a bit more justified about being effected by the heat when I went to put on PJs last night and noticed that I had a sunburn in the shape of my running tank.  So there.  Best parts about this run: running and spending time with Jon, keeping a consistent pace, and most of all: no knee pain.  I think the extra day of rest really helped. 

Overall:  This week was just OK for running.  It’s a lot harder getting back into it than I thought it would be, but I have faith that if I can just push through this, I can actually get to a point where I enjoy it again.  Right now, definitely not enjoying it.  Here’s to Week 3:

     •  3 miles EZ

     •  5 miles w/ 2 miles @ tempo (between 11:23-11:53… see above)

     •  3 miles EZ (Jon and I are thinking about doing this hilly interval workout Sat night)

     •  6 miles LSD (13:02-14:02)

Total mileage: 17 miles!  Woo!

Columbus Half Training: Week 1

Instead of boring you guys by posting about each run, I figured it'd be more interesting (and manageable) to just sum up each week's runs in one post.  This week's half training schedule consisted of three 3-mile EZ runs and one 5-mile long distance run on Sunday for a total mileage of 14 miles for the week.  I was really intimidated this week because it'd been over a month since I'd run at all and well over a month since I'd had a full week of regular run.

Tuesday (3 miles): Before this run Mon night, I really didn't eat and fuel my body well (donuts? Margarita? Great life choices) and this run let me know it.  I also chose a new place to run: a newish 5 mile trail near my house that is all rolling hills.  That really showed me how much I need to find hilly places to run while I train this time.  Avignon was flat and Athens is too (hello, running by rivers) and, as a result, I'm not good at motivating myself through hills.  Will try to regularly run there in the next 5 weeks.  All in all, I did a decent amount of walking for a total of 3 miles at a 12:24 average pace.  I'm glad I dragged myself out there (wore my running clothes to my eye doctor appointment) and now I know what I need to beat next time.  This half training is going to be hard and not pretty, but I want this.


Thursday (3 miles):  Fueled and hydrated better for this run after seeing how hard Tuesday's run was.  AND since I knew I wouldn't be motivated to run, I made sure that I changed into my running clothes early and wore them to go pick up Jon's and my NEW TABLE for our apartment.  The run was pretty good--it got dark on my run, but I felt pretty safe since I brought my vicious beast along with me.  Walked a few times, but still averaged around 12:30 for the run.  All in all, was just pleased to get out there and power through another run as I get back into the swing of things.

Our super awesome new table (and 2/4 chairs) in its former home.  

Can't wait to get it settled in the new apartment in under a month!



The vicious beast.  Clearly.

Saturday (3 miles):  Jon came into town so we decided to run together since we a) don't get to spend much time together and b) it was an 'EZ' run so my much slower pace wasn't a problem.  Because Jon isn't a fan of run/walk intervals, he helped push me to run longer and not stop, which really helped.  I know I've mentioned being thankful for him before, but just to reiterate: I'm so thankful I have him to help me with training.  Not only is it awesome to share in this with him and be able to motivate each other, but I alway really appreciate when he runs with me (and never is anything but supportive of my slower pace) because I know his EZ pace is minutes faster.  He's a keeper.  Plus, this run ended up being hillier than I am used to... with almost the whole back leg of the run being uphill... Whew!  That was hard, but I'm SO happy I managed to only walk 2x briefly to get my heart rate back down under 190BPM and stop panting.  Improvement! See?  Check out this elevation chart:  


Sunday LSD (5 miles): We set out together today for a later morning run and were pleasantly surprised to see that it was still mild and not too sunny outside.  We ran all the way from my house to the head of the new trail before turning around... Looks like I have a good idea for future long distance runs!  This run was the longest I've done in awhile and it was pretty hard (hence the pace of 13:48), but I'm pleased to say that aside from crossing the street, that I only stopped to walk 3 times.  Getting better already!  Felt great all day after this run.  Feels great to get back into the swing of things.

I know it's not a HUGE elevation change, but it was a definite change for me and my flat-elevation France tendencies! 

Overall commentary:  My knees have been hurting a bit on these runs so far.  Not consistently, but still, any knee pain is unwelcome.  I thought it might be my new (well new to me using them) running shoes and the 'breaking them in' period, but I wore my old favorites and had the same feeling... I've found the sheet with all the exercises Chris gave me last year and will start doing them this week... Hope it helps!


Here's to week 2: 3/4/3/5 mile runs, so a 1-mile increase in distance.  :)  


Total mileage: 14 miles

Pre-training Day 1

So it looks like it's about to rain here, thankfully I just got back from today's run.  Not a long one, but MUCH better than my first run earlier in the week.  For sure.  This time I did 2 miles in 24 minutes doing 5 run/1 walk intervals.  I walked 2 minutes before my last interval.

Still pretty hard, but I'll get there.  The 10 week rookie half training plan officially starts Monday for the Oct 16th race, so this weekend's two runs are to prep me for that.  I'm debating doing run/walk intervals for the entire half this time.  Does anyone have any insight on this?

Until we move to Cbus I'm planning on doing light weights at home and yoga until I get my pass to the OSU rec center. 

And now, off to start my day!  And by start my day, I mean take a post run dip in the pool. Sorry for the short post!