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.