what i've been up to

I know I've been a slacker (on posting!) again. To make it up to you, here's an extra post for today.

The day after my 9.5 mile run I did a 5K walk - why, you ask? Well, because I'm crazy. No really, sort of. I participated in the 20th Annual Walk for Hope. The walk benefits the Foundation of Hope, an organization with the following mission statement: "To promote scientific research aimed at discovering the causes and potential cures for mental illness in order to develop a more effective means of treatment. Additionally, the Foundation is committed to raising community awareness and supporting effective treatment programs." I've wanted to participate for a couple of years now, but the timing never worked out. It's a cause that is very near and dear to me (for reasons which I may go into eventually) and I'm glad that we were able to take part.

The walk was officially a 10K, but you had the option of turning around at the halfway point to make it a 5K. We (D & I) planned on doing the full 10K, but I was still so sore and exhausted from my run the day before that we had to cut it short. I was OK with that, but I wasn't OK with being just a walker. I think I can really classify myself as a runner now because I was SO JEALOUS of the the people who were running the event as a 10K! I just have to sit and shake my head at myself because that is never something that I thought I would say. It is still kind of unbelievable to me that I have gotten this far with my running. The night before the walk, also the night after my craptastic 9.5 mile run, I told D that I was definitely going to run a marathon. There may or may not have been margaritas involved :-) But I have no doubt that I will run a marathon one day. Running has given me so much self-confidence that I've never had before. (That sounds so super lame, but it's true.) That also brings me back to the crazy - I think running has helped me with a lot of my "issues" and I will always be thankful for that.

up to speed

So, yes..........I am a little behind on my posting. Let me get you up to speed:

9/22: ballet workout
9/23: 2 miles (I had to take Casey to the vet that afternoon and I could only get in 2 miles before it got dark. Better than nothing!)
9/24: 5 miles
9/25: elliptical
9/26: rest
9/27: rest/slacker
9/28: rest/slacker
9/29: 8.5 miles
9/30: upper body workout
10/1: 4.5 miles
10/2: 3 miles
10/3: 4 miles
10/4: rest
10/5: 9 miles (group run)
10/6: upper body workout
10/7: 5 miles

Ahhhhhhhh, now I'm all caught up - maybe, just maybe I'll be able to keep this updated for one more month until I've completed the 1/2 marathon!!!! I am not nervous about it at all and I'm not sure if it's a good thing or not. My runs have been going so well lately, it's kind of hard to believe. Last night I did 5 miles with no problem at all - not even the knee pain that I usually experience when I start out. I also added a steep hill to my run last night and it was a lot easier than the last time I attempted it. I guess that means I'm getting better? No faster though - meh.

My training schedule for the rest of the week is tentative because of the weather. I will probably try to run today and tomorrow and then take Friday off. I'll do my long run (9.5 or 10 miles) Saturday morning because I am doing a charity 10K walk on Sunday morning. After that, I'll take a well deserved rest! For a few hours, at least................

well, crap

I found out that some people are actually reading my blog, so I *might* start making an effort to update it in a timely fashion ;-)

So where did I last leave off? Oh yes, I had run two 3.5 mile runs and one 5 mile run. Well just go back and read that entry because that's pretty much the same point that I am at now. I have decided that I am no longer running on Sunday nights because, well, at that time of night on Sunday I'm already drinking. Just kidding. Um, sort of. Seriously, I'm just not feeling the Sunday night runs. I usually spend all weekend running around, doing transports, taking care of my dogs and horses, cleaning the house, etc. By the time Sunday night rolls around, I am tired y'all!

For right now it is working out much better to do my long runs on Monday nights and then following up with my shorter runs on Wednesdays and Fridays usually. This week I'm planning on increasing my short runs to 4 miles each and my long run to 6 miles. I'm feeling good about being able to complete the distances, but I'm still feeling crappy about my pace. I was ready to quit last week when I continued to get slower with each run. I'm going to stick with it though and just hope that my slow pace is a result of a) increasing my distances, b) the heat & humidity, or c) my nike+ipod being a bastard.

a little vacation

I know, I know, I haven't updated lately. But it's not because I haven't been running - I have! I went out of town for the 4th of July and kind of got off track with my blogging. But now I'm back and ready to report.

I ran 3 miles last Thursday evening and quite honestly did not have the best time. I think part of that was due to my crappy attitude. I was just in a bad mood. I told myself when I left the house that I was going to have a good run and be in a good mood, but once I finished and saw my not so great pace..........my bad mood came back. Oh well, at least I did it.

Next up was my 4 mile run on Sunday. I didn't go in the morning as planned because I had a splitting headache. I ended up going out at about 8:15 that evening. The humidity, even at that time of day, was unbelievable. The air was so thick and heavy. In spite of that, I had a really good run. My pace was not the best, I think it was about 10:45, but I felt great the whole time. I never felt tired or out of breath. I really felt like I could've kept going. I ran at my parents' house so the change of scenery was nice. I need to find more places around here to go running.

Funny thing - I really should have put on bug spray before I went out. The gnats were so freaking annoying out there. Actually, instead of bug spray, I needed a bug deflector. I came in and went upstairs to take a shower - when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, I realized that I had bugs all over my chest! That's right, ladies and gents, I am a human bug deflector. GROSS.

OK -seriously - last update: my 3 mile run on Tuesday SUCKED. I was starving the entire time. I was planning to eat a snack of yogurt and granola before I went out. Unfortunately a storm started heading our way, so I had to move my run up an hour. I have never felt more like stopping on a run before. I powered through it though and unbelievably my pace was 10:35. WTF????? How can I feel great on a run (Sunday) and have a slower pace than when I feel like I am going to collapse? I.just.don't.get.it. I'm relatively new to this whole running thing though, so I guess I'll figure it out eventually.

I've decided that I'm going to post a "things I've learned" section at the end of each post. I learned this week that I *can* eat before I go on a run. I've been so afraid to eat within hours before running because I tend to get stomach cramps very easily. But on Sunday my mom and I had been shopping all day and didn't exactly eat lunch. I was starving so I ended up eating around 5:30ish and was fine in my run later. I was actually already hungry again, but I didn't want to eat too close to my run.

I didn't run yesterday as scheduled because we had another storm roll through. I did my ballet workout instead and I plan to go out and do 3 miles tonight. I'll report on that in a timely fashion and I'll let you know how my new audiobook is!