oh, hi there!

Yeah, so, um I haven't been the best blogger lately, I KNOW. But, I have a good excuse - I've been SO busy with my marathon training!

The countdown is on and the training program is so far, so good. Amy and I are training for and running the marathon together (as long as I can keep up with her!) We are using Hal Higdon's Novice 2 training schedule, but we aren't actually following the plan until next week. For now, it's been the regular 5-3-5 mile runs during the week and then a 10 mile run on the weekends. Next week (week 4 of the plan) is the first long run with increased mileage - 11. I should not be worried about it because I've run 13 in a half marathon before, but something about pushing past that nice round number 10 gets to me. I need to get over that shit because pretty soon 11 will look like nothing (hopefully.)

I'm pretty sure I'm going to need yet another pair of shoes before this is all said and done. And that's another pair *in addition* to the brand new pair that is in reserve in my closet right now. I thought I could put a few (or 70) more miles on my current shoes, but they just didn't feel right on last night's run. A lot of people ask how you can tell if you need new shoes, and it's different for everyone, BUT for me - it starts off with not being able to tie my shoes in a way that doesn't make me want to scream. They are either too tight or too loose and I just can't quite get it right. From there, my knees and ankles start to ache, randomly and on either leg. That being said, I'm still planning on wearing my old shoes today because I'm only running 3 miles. I may break out the new ones tomorrow. And don't worry - if you've seen my shoes before, you know how incredibly obnoxious looking they are - my new ones are exactly the same :)

that was fun?

Today was my first attempt at running in the early AM before work. I tried to start on Tuesday, but I woke up to a DOWNPOUR. It was going to be miserable enough running at 6am, so I skipped it. I did do 45 minutes on the elliptical and a short arms & ab workout. Take that, rain.

Anyway, I headed out this morning right before 6am. And aside from the fact that it was 6am, it was not that bad. It was a welcome change to be running on the asphalt BEFORE the sun had cooked it for 12+ hours. It was still uber-humid though, even that early in the morning. I wore a short sleeved wicking shirt thinking that I might need the extra coverage of sleeves. Ha! It will be tank tops from now on.

All in all, it was a good run. I even had some company. I saw one walker and another runner out there with me! I run in a pretty small neighborhood and I've never seen anyone else out "exercising" so that was good to see. I'm not the only crazy person out there :-) In fact, the other runner was crazier than me because she kept going through the brief, but heavy, rainshower that hit me around mile 4. I hid out in my car for a couple of minutes until it passed and then I got back out there again for the last mile. I don't mind getting wet, but my Garmin and iPod do. Weak sauces.

I worried that when I got home this evening, I wouldn't know what to do with all the extra time I had. Never fear, I found plenty to do. I rounded out my long day with shopping for running shorts (more on that later), doing a new Jillian Michaels workout DVD (that was almost an hour long), cleaning the living room (dog hair galore), doing a couple nights' worth of dishes (with no help from D), and writing this blog entry (superb, isn't it?) And now I'm drinking some wine. I think I deserve it.

i'm not a purse snob

So why is it that the purses I like are the ones that are $99 ON CLEARANCE at TJ Maxx?? Seriously, I will carry no-name, faux-name, ho-name (whatever, it rhymes) purses, but the ones I like the best always turn out to be some fancy schmancy brand name that I've usually never even heard of. Sigh. It's tough being a girl.

picture from the race!

There's only one picture, but it's cute! This was taken at a Fuze beverage (whatever that is, although I hear it's good with alcohol!) booth. For each picture downloaded, they will donate $1 to your local Komen foundation. Thanks Fuze!

Race for the Cure 5K

This past Saturday I ran in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K. The event is so large that there were 4 separate run/walks that people could choose to participate in. I ran with A & J in the competitive 5K at 7:00am! The early start time meant that I had to leave my house at 5:15am in order to meet them at the shuttle buses at 6. Ah, reminiscent of early days at horse shows :-)

The race and the race day activities were great. An estimated 24K people came out and close to $2M was raised in the fight against breast cancer. There were tons of vendors giving away free stuff and I think we're all set on granola bars for quite a while! The atmosphere was jovial, but so very bittersweet. Many of the runners and walkers wore signs on their backs in memory of a loved one who had lost the fight. There was a father-daughter pair wearing signs in memory of their wife and mother, respectively. I cried on the phone telling my mom about it and I am holding back tears as I type.......

In spite of the sad, sad stories, there is so much hope. Hope that we will find a cure in the fight against breast cancer. I saw so many survivors at the race, identified by their special pink shirts. I was struck by how young many of them were. It serves as an important reminder of how important breast self-exams and early detection are. I've done my exam this month, have you?

summer runnin'

Is gross. I did not "have me a blast." I waited until around 8pm to run last night in hopes that it would be a little cooler. Cooler is not really the right word to describe it, so let's just say that the temperature was lower. I think that part of the problem is that I run on unshaded asphalt that has baked in the sun all.day.long. When I run, I can feel the heat radiating up in waves towards me. So it was hot - that part was bearable. This part, however, is just disgusting:

That's me after my run last night. And those black spots on my chest and neck are bugs. Gross little irritating bugs that BITE. That get inside your sports bra and BITE. That fly into your eye and BITE. Well ok none of them actually bit my eye, but I'm sure they would've if they could.

Also gross (seriously, I'm warning you): my hair. I have fairly long hair these days and I typically wear it in a ponytail when I run. The problem is that it's so long that the end of the ponytail rests against the top of my back. My very, very sweaty back. Gross is running along with your wet with sweat ponytail hitting your back with each stride. I need a new running hairstyle. The easy solution would be to cut my hair, I know. But I don't wanna. I could french braid it and then pin it up, but that takes so freaking long to do. I could try to loop it up in a bun type deal, but my hair is so thick (woe is me) that most hair elastics aren't strong enough to keep it doubled up. Any long-haired runners out there with any suggestions??

4-4-2

Four months, four weeks, and two days until my first marathon. Never in a million years did I think I'd be saying that.

it's OUR fault

This morning on the way to work, I had an unexpected and upsetting encounter. I live in a rural area, so I shouldn't have been surprised, and I'm sure it happens in suburbia as well, but it was just a hard thing to see. Especially because it is OUR fault and there's no really good way around it. This is what happened:

Not far from my house, I saw two police cars with their flashing lights on pulled over on the side of the road. My first thought was, "I hope D wasn't in a wreck on the way to work." My second thought was, "I hope that whoever is involved is OK." As I pulled closer, there was no accident involving cars that I could see. There were, however, two policemen standing by the side of the road looking towards the woods. One was holding what appeared to be a long white stick. I shouldn't have looked, I KNOW I shouldn't have looked. But I did. And what I saw, I can't get out of my head. A deer was laying on its side breathing very rapidly. As I slowly drove past, I held my hand up to block myself from accidently viewing more. I let out the breath that I was holding and then I heard it. POP. They shot it. Shot it on the side of the road.

I KNOW, OK, I know logically that this was the best thing for the deer in its scared and injured situation. And I know that some (many?) people will think I'm just some bleeding heart animal lover for getting so upset about a deer. But you know what, I don't care. I'm glad that I feel this way because too many people in this world today don't. I feel SO badly that the poor deer had to get injured at all and then that it had to lay there scared and confused waiting to die at the hands of someone who probably didn't really give a shit. I feel even worse that it's OUR fault. Our fault for encroaching on wildlife habitats because we NEED a bigger house and a bigger yard. You know what? We really don't. We don't need any of that, we WANT it, and I'm just as guilty as the rest of you.

With that in mind, I challenge you to do something today that is better for the Earth or for an animal in need. Just one thing people. It could be as easy as remembering to take your reusable bag into the store and using it even though the cashier makes you feel like you are a pain in the ass. Or you could turn off the overhead lights in your office if you work near a window and can see fine without them. Just do something. It'll make you feel good, I promise!

*this post brought to you by Earth day and my never ending guilt and need to fix the world*

race re-cap!

The weather stayed true to the forecast, and while we had some hellacious rain Saturday afternoon, it stayed dry all morning. It was pretty good running weather - about 60 degrees & overcast. It was quite humid though, but I'll take that over rain any day.

The course was a little (ok, a LOT) hillier than I was expecting. I train on hills every time I run simply because they're on my course, but I feel like I could've been better prepared. In spite of the hills slowing me down, I met my goal and finished in under 2 hours. My official time was 1:56:34. That's about 10 minutes faster than my first half marathon back in November. I'm definitely happy with my time, but I can't help but think that I would've been faster if I could lose some weight. I feel like that is really slowing me down.

So on that note, I started the 30-day shred again yesterday. I've never done it for 30 days straight before and I'm interested in seeing the results. I'm "shredding," as the kids are calling it these days, at 6:30am. That way I can still run in the afternoons. That's right, I'm shredding and running. And probably doing ballet one day a week along with horseback riding at least once a week. I'm going to be a busy girl. Especially when July rolls around because that's when I'm starting my fall marathon training.

Yep, I said marathon, as in 26.2 miles. I'll be following Hal Higdon's Novice 2 plan. The first week starts off with a long run of 8 miles. So from now until then I'm going to keep my weekly long runs at 8 miles and over. I'll be doing 3-4 weekday runs per week, ranging from 3-5 miles each. I'll probably throw some 5K & 10K races in there as my schedule permits. It feels really good to have a plan.

half-marathon eve

My ankle is still hurting a little bit today. I thought I had an ankle brace in my arsenal of joint supports left over from my dancing days, but I couldn't find it. I did find an ACE bandage sans the clips to hold it on, so I used some safety pins to secure it. It immediately felt better with a little bit of support. I'm getting ready to make a Starbucks run and I think I'm going to run in Target and check out the ankle braces. I need something more streamlined to wear with my tennis shoes.

In other news, the weather forecast is holding steady. We're still looking at clouds in the morning and temperatures around 60. I can deal with that :) Storms are expected in the afternoon, but that should be well after we finish because we're so fast!

so..........

My ankle hurts. It has been bothering me for the past week or so, but I've basically ignored it. Today while running errands at lunch it hurt to walk. I just took some ibuprofen and when I get home I'm going to *try* to stay off of my feet and rest for a little bit. I'm hoping that it is just the shoes I wore today giving me trouble. Grrrrrr.........I see lots of wine in my future tonight.

weather update!

The F-cast has changed a little bit since yesterday. In a good way. I may even start to think of the "F" in F-cast as Fun instead of F*&$.......... Now we're looking at a high of 74, a low of 62, and only a 40% chance of precipitation! Woot! Even better news is that the hourly forecast is now available and the outlook for 8am on Saturday is cloudy and 56 - that sounds like nice running weather to me!

In preparation for the possibility of rain, I've been doing a little bit of shopping. I am currently the owner of 2 rain jackets - neither of which I really like. Mostly because I'm cheap and I bought one at TJMaxx and the other at Marshalls. Don't get me wrong, these are 2 of my favorite stores, but you don't always get exactly what you're looking for. You don't pay 3-4 times as much either :) Anyway, one jacket is an Adidas wind jacket, which is a little too small and possibly not water resistant. The other is a Marker (some ski co.) rain jacket, which is a little too big, but it's made for the rain. I'm going to check out the TJMaxx and Ross stores near my work at lunch today and see what else I can find. Hopefully I won't need any rain gear at all on Saturday (please, please) and I can take them all back!

I realized that I haven't posted my pace lately and I don't know why because it's been damn good. In an effort to be nicer and congratulatory to myself - my pace for the past 2 weeks has been under a 9:00/mile in every run, culminating with last night's 8:26/mile :)

F-cast

Forecast for Saturday, March 28, 2009: Rain/Thunder. High 73. Low 59. Precipitation chance 70%.

Dammit.

4 days and 1 run

Not too much going on around here except that there are only 4 days left until the half! I switched up my runs a little bit this week so that I could have 2 days to rest before the race on Saturday. I usually do ballet on Mondays after my long run on Sunday. This week I did 4 miles on Monday, 3 miles today, and then I'll do 2 miles tomorrow. And that's it!

Training for this race has left me a little bit drained and unexcited. (there's another word that i'm looking for but i can't think of what it is, i'm too tired) The half last November was more exciting because it was my first race. That meant that almost every week in training, I was doing something that I had never done before. This time it's not as fresh and new. It's also different this time because it's more about pace over distance. I put so much pressure on myself to go faster and I have a hard time congratulating myself when I do well. Instead, I just think that I didn't do all that great and I can do better. It's good and bad. It's good in that I have the motivation to push myself, but it's bad in that I'm worried I'm going to push myself into an injury.

I think I am going to take a break from serious training after this race and try to give myself a little bit of a break. I want to enjoy running again, just like I used to enjoy dancing and horseback riding before I effed them all up with not thinking I was good enough. Ha! - it's funny what comes out of your head when you sit down with nothing much to say.

4am.......

This is what time I wake up every.single.morning. I have no explanation as to why, except that Fresh Prince comes on at that time and maybe my subconscious really wants to see it? I'm only awake for a few minutes; just long enough to look at the clock, change the television station, and roll over. It's getting to be an annoying little quirk, and I'd really like to sleep through the night. OK? Thanks.

Aside from my bizarre sleeping habits, not much has been going on in this girl's life. The weather has been crap for the past few days, which made for a super fun 12 miler in the rain on Sunday. Annnnnnnd I made the mistake of trying something new before the run. I decided to eat a small breakfast - just 1/2 a bagel and peanut butter - about an hour prior. BAD IDEA there. I usually don't eat anything at all before a long run and now I remember why. My stomach cramped up to the point where I was gasping for breath and barely shuffling along. In retrospect, I should've just stopped, caught my breath, and then continued. But, on par with my inability to give myself a break, I kept going, albeit slowly. I finally caught up with my running partners when they stopped for a drink of water. I managed to finish the second half of the run more satisfactorily, but still felt kind of down on myself. Oh, and I ripped holes in the bottoms of my pants because I am an idiot. Lesson learned: don't wear long pants to run in the rain because they'lll get soggy and heavy and stretchy at the bottom. And will end up over and under your shoes. And it will suck.

Fast forward to yesterday - I ran 5 miles. At an 8:57 pace. It felt damn good. Maybe I will not quit running after all.......

i'm so excited!

Does the title of my post make anyone else think of the episode of Saved by the Bell when Jessi Spano gets addicted to caffeine pills? I'm too stupid to figure out how to put a video in my post, so if you want to see it go here.

Anyway, that's not why I'm excited, although that is a powerful piece of film. I'm excited because I am signing up to take riding lessons again! It's something that I've wanted to do for a while, but I hadn't found the right barn yet. Now I think I have and I'd like to start taking lessons in April - after the half-marathon of course. I'm not going to quit running for the sake of riding, don't worry. Maybe this will just turn into a running/reading/riding blog.

Speaking of running, I had a decent 3 mile run last night. It was the last day of good (aka warm) weather that we are supposed to have for a while. Meh to that. This weekend is supposed to be rain, rain, rain, rain. I'm not happy about that, but at least the temps are supposed to be in the 50's and not the 40's. Fingers crossed that we'll have good weather for the half - in just over 2 weeks!!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go eat my lunch. At 11am. Apparently my appetite has returned.

the reading runner

You may have noticed the new widget I've added over to the side. I've always been a big reader, *nerd alert* it is honestly one of my favorite hobbies. I love it so much that, as you know, I listen to audio books while I'm running!

I know that I typically read a lot of books in a year, but I've never kept track of the number. This year, I'm using Shelfari to list and rate the books I read in 2009. I think it'll be really interesting to look back at the end of the year and see what I read. If you have any suggestions for my reading list, please let me know!

tuesday already?

I did not want to go out and run tonight. I haven't felt like that in a long time, especially not when the weather was freaking gorgeous. I don't know what my problem was tonight, but I just felt so sluggish and unmotivated. I am wondering if I overdid it this past weekend after my long run. I had actually been thinking that staying more active than usual after my long run was a good idea because I haven't felt as sore or as stiff as usual. I think I need to combine that theory with a little bit of rest as well. Live and learn.

I usually do a ballet workout on the day after my long runs. I did most of the workout yesterday, but sadly I had a skip some of the grand plies and the jumps because that shit is hard on the knees. It's so funny to think back to all of the YEARS I spent in dance class hoping that we wouldn't have to do jumps in the center or that the plies would be replaced by floor work. Now I am actually sad that my knees won't allow me to do them? I guess it really is true that you don't know what you really have until it's gone. I know that's cliche and I didn't mean to spin off into a post about dancing, but I really miss it and I'm sorry I didn't appreciate it more when I had the chance. Makes you think, doesn't it?

It took me a good 2-3 miles before I was really into my run tonight. I'm usually in a pretty good rhythm after 1 mile, so I was really stuggling. I even gave myself permission to take it easy since I've trained pretty hard the past 2 weeks. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE my Garmin, but damn that thing makes it hard to back off my pace. I look at it way too much and I speed up if my pace is not what it was the previous time I ran. Which meant that tonight I finished 5 miles in 45 minutes. While I am of course thrilled with that pace, I have got to give my body some sort of rest or I'm afraid I'll be looking at an injury. To top it all off, I have no appetite, which also happened last fall towards the end of my training. Whine, bitch, moan, I know. I'm sorry. I'll do better tomorrow :-)

spring fever

It's been a really nice weekend. The weather has been wonderful - 80's and sunny both yesterday and today. D and I spent yesterday working on things around the house. He changed the oil in the cars and rotated the tires. Yay for no more roaring noise from the tires! I cleaned the house and put new bedding on the bed in the guest room. I snagged a deal at Target on a complete bed set - comforter, shams, sheets, and dust ruffle - originally $80, marked down to $20!

It was so nice to have all of the doors open and the ceiling fans on (and the dogs outside!) to air the house out. D went to a friend's house last night to play pool while I stayed home to rest up for my run this morning.

The run this morning went great! Even though I felt like my legs were going to fall out from under me a couple of times. We did a couple of BIG hills and they took a lot out of me. In spite of that, we clocked about a 9:15 pace. Most of that was thanks to A for dragging us along. She rocks! I'm lucky to have found such a good group of girls to run with and I'm looking forward to the carbfest at J's before the half!

I thought that I would be too tired when I got home to do much this afternoon, but the nice weather kept me from sitting still for too long. D and I went out to our local disc golf course. D played a round while Bodie and I cheered him on. Afterwards we went to Sonic - how is it that no one has clued me in on how great Sonic is???? We had a nice snack of tater tots (yum!) and ice cream. Well, D got a Reese's cup blast (similar to a blizzard) and I got a stupid Strawberry smoothie. The lure of the non-fat frozen yogurt that is used to make it was too hard to resist. Yes, I know that sounds crazy, but fattie here is always looking for the healthiest (read: least likely to make me fatter) option. I knew in my head that I should get what I wanted to eat instead of worrying about what had the least calories, but I couldn't stop myself. I ended up being unsatisfied and eating half of D's ice cream. I'm going to call it a lesson learned and try to do better next time. At least I'm not beating myself up over it, which is definitely progress.

Anyway, now we're home taking a quick break after getting a lasagna assembled and in the crock pot for tomorrow night. Tonight we'll be dining on salmon burgers, asparagus, and baked potatoes.

In a few minutes, we're going to go out and do a little bit of yard work before enjoying some much deserved Coronas. Hell, we may enjoy the Coronas and yard work simultaneously....

so i'm thinking........

...........of doing this. Anyone want to join me?

sub-9, baby!

Tonight I ran 3 miles at a 8:58 pace! That is the fastest I've ever run and honestly not a pace that I expected to see. I really wasn't pushing myself too hard because my ankle was bothering me a bit. Who knew that possible injury = faster pace. Ha!

Honestly, I know that's not funny and I'm concerned that I am overtraining just a bit. My right ankle has felt funny all day - just a little bit sore if I move it a certain way. It felt OK while I was running. If I thought about it, I could feel a twinge but otherwise it didn't bother me. While feeding the horses after my run though, I noticed that my right knee was a little painful. Sigh. I noticed that particular pain while I was squatting down to squeeze under a gate. I think (and really hope) that if I am careful with how I bend and move then it should be OK. Ugh. I sound freaking old having to worry about that. I hate that my aches and pains are overshadowing my excitement about my pace tonight!

edited to add: don't you think "squatting" is kind of a gross sounding word? I was reading back over my post to make sure my wine-influenced grammar wasn't too horrible and that word just bothers me. Odd, I know.

R & R: Rain & Run

Yesterday morning I ran 9 miles. In the cold. And the rain. Ugh. It went better than expected though. I was 2 miles in before the rain started so at least there was that - lol. I know it sounds crazy that I went out and did that, BUT it snowed last night and today and I had no other time in the work-week when I could get a long run in. I surprised myself with my pace because I was giving myself a break and not pushing hard with the weather conditions. My beloved Garmin told me I ran a 9:49 average mile. Not bad at all.

What should you wear on a 9 mile run in a cold rain? Here is what I wore, with the disclaimer that I like to be warm when I run!

• long cotton/lycra blend pants
• long sleeved cotton t-shirt (I highly recommend Life is Good t-shirts for under a running shirt b/c the fit is perfect)
• long sleeved close fitting fleece
• zip-up running jacket
• gloves (cheapie 2/$1 cotton stretch)
• ear warmer (crucial!)
• baseball cap
• neck warmer

I added the baseball cap over the ear warmer and the neck warmer once it started raining. The running jacket served as another layer and also as protection for my Garmin and my ipod.

It was good to get that long run out of the way and I was only semi-sore the rest of the day. Now I'm working on scheduling my runs for the rest of the week!

5K in the 'hood

In other news, I ran a 5K Wednesday night. Well not exactly "a" 5K because it was just me, running around the neighborhood by myself. I only had a 3 mile run planned for that evening, but once I got out there I was feeling good. So I decided to add that .1 mile onto my workout - haha, I'm so hardcore. I was curious to see what kind of time I could pull if I tried to push myself. I ended up averaging 9:04 per mile! I'm pretty pleased with that number - it's the fastest pace I've ever maintained and the course I ran was pretty hilly. Definitely a good feeling!

weighty issues

I threw out my scale yesterday. Literally. I threw it outside on the cement pavers near our trashcan and hoped it would break. It did not. I went through a long period where I didn't weigh myself at all because I became too obsessed with the number on the scale. About a year or so ago I thought I could deal with having the hated contraption in my house again, but alas, our relationship has not worked out. Goodbye and good riddance.

regularly scheduled posting

The running has been going pretty well lately. I went on a cruise the second week of February and I really thought that it would mess up my training plan. I went prepared to run, though, as there was a jogging track onboard the ship. Notice I just said JOGGING track. Not walk around slowly in your bare feet sipping your coffee track. Running on a cruise ship sounded like such an exciting and novel thing to do. It is, sadly, highly overrated. I had to make 9 laps around the track just to run a mile. As if that wasn't unbearable enough, there were so many people in.my.way! Very frustrating. I really shouldn't complain though since I did get to run overlooking the Caribbean while my running group back home was overlooking the local lake.

I was really proud of myself for sticking with my running while on the cruise. I think that is honestly the first time that I have ever continued exercising while on vacation. I even had to get up early to do it, which is impressive in itself. While cruising, I ran my 6.5 mile long run on Sunday, 4.5 miles on Tuesday, 2 miles on Wednesday, and 4 miles on Thursday. We returned home on that Saturday, so I feasibly could've done my long run on Sunday, but we were busy unpacking and retrieving our dogs from their vacation spots. I ran 7 miles the following Monday, then 4.5 miles Wednesday, 5 miles on Friday, and then 8 miles this past Sunday.

Whew! Did you follow that? I think I'm caught up to this week now. Monday I did ballet, yesterday I ran 4.5 miles, and tonight I have a 3 mile run planned. I'm playing with the idea of adding another run in on Fridays mostly because I feel fat. I know that is not a good reason, but I'd rather do that than any other sort of cardio. Last year I was afraid to push myself into running too many days per week and honestly I didn't really want to. Now I don't dread the thought of it and my runs have felt good lately so I'm going to try it. I'll listen to my body and back off if I need to.

4th one's a charm?

4th background layout today - maybe I'll keep it. Me thinks I need more to do at work. Just don't tell my employers that, ok?

backgrounds

I keep changing the background of the blog because I cannot find one I like. Grrrrr. The one before this one (the pink and green one) was super obnoxious. This one is less obnoxious, but still meh, so I dunno. It may be changed again by the time you come back.

13.1 to 32

That's right, I'll be 32 this year. How did that happen? How did I reach my thirties without accomplishing a list of things that I thought I would have? Alas, I have no answers to these questions. Well actually, I guess that is the answer - that I have no answer. Because if I had the answer, I wouldn't be here, wondering what the answer is. Follow me? Do you ever look at a word and think that it looks odd somehow? That is how the word answer looks to me right now. Maybe because I've typed it too many times or maybe because of something more. Maybe it's a parallel to my life and what I am thinking right now.............








LOLOLOL................did you seriously think I was going there with it? Whatevs.

Anyway, the title of this post is in reference to the half-marathon that I am planning on running on March 28th. A mere 2 days before my 32nd birthday. Maybe I shouldn't be splashing my age all across the internets for everyone to see, but I really don't care. I'm pretty sure that you can find out anything you want to know about anyone if you try hard enough.

So, back to running. I'm using Hal Higdon's novice training plan again. I'm sure I could handle the intermediate plan, but to be honest the whole tempo and pace and 400 x however many K's just sounds confusing. I'm using the same plan, but I am pushing myself to go faster. That is a whole lot easier with my new Garmin Forerunner 305! (disclaimer: it's not that easy when you don't realize that there is a backlight so the only time you can see your pace is when you are under a streetlamp) I do *heart* the Forerunner so far, if only because it tells me that I am running faster and further than my nike+ipod. Yes, I've been wearing both for comparison and also to keep my balance. The Forerunner is not exactly small and sleek y'all.

Things I've learned lately: running in the dark and snow is not my favorite thing to do. Especially not when I lock myself out of the car and have to run home down a 55mph country road in the dark. Gah.