brief, tired.

Saturday's eight miles... oh boy. It was tough. I was at a slower pace than I've been in a while but I don't give a shit because I still ran eight miles. It took me an hour and a half. Over an 11:00 min/mile pace. Whatevz.

Running my first official 10K this weekend! It'll be nice to have an easier long run day (although the race is on the beach, which may prove more difficult than I'm anticipating). I'm going to enjoy the mileage cut back because the following week is 9.5 miles. HOLY. SHIT. How am I going to do it? My brain is my worst enemy on these runs. Boredom is brutal. Must find entertainment. But even though it seems unfathomable, I know I'll manage, even if I want to die and sleep in a lawn before finishing.

Early to bed tonight and for the rest of the week. I've got some serious sleep to catch up on.

i'm back!

I feel like I haven't posted here in forever, but it turns out it's only been a week. Since my last post, I've been keeping up with my runs and on Saturday I ran the longest run I have ever run in my entire life - 7.17 miles. I seriously feel like such a badass. Me? Run 7 miles? Straight? Yep, that's right. I celebrated the achievement thoroughly at our homemade pizza party that night. Now every Saturday is going to boost my confidence even more as I continue to beat my own records.

Today for my 4 mile run, I ran a route that I used when I had my four mile 'long' run. I remember running it back then and stopping RIGHT when I hit the four mile mark, even though I usually just make it back to the house before stopping, regardless of if I go a little over on the scheduled miles. That day, though, I didn't even make it back to the house. I did what I had to do and not a bit more. I basically gave up. Today I made it back to the house and felt good. It totaled 4.32 miles and I ran it in 46:27. My progress is clear and it is awesome.

My mood has been a little weird lately. I've been feeling a little out of place in my world. Running is my therapy.

keeping momentum.

I switched my Tuesday run to yesterday since I had the offer of company! A pal of mine rode a bike with me while I did my four miles. It was nice to have someone there to chat with and definitely made the run more bearable. I only checked my time once as I was in the home stretch, just to see where I was sitting with my time. Right on schedule - I was at a 10:40 min/mile pace and finished the run in 43:19.

I'm glad I have a few days off before my next run, my legs are tired today!

This week will also mark the longest run I have for sure ever done in my entire life - seven miles. I feel 100% confident. From here on out, every week will be a new record for me. I am entering unknown territory and it feels awesome.

feelin' like a badass.

Not gonna lie, this morning has been pretty awesome. My alarm went off at 6:45AM, and I'll admit I hit snooze once or twice, but I was out of bed by 7AM. I grabbed a pre-run snack, got dressed, and started my run. Six miles. One of the longest runs, if not THE longest run, I've done in my life. With the way my 5.5 mile run went last week, I was a bit concerned, but holy shit this run was amazing. I felt strong the whole time. I did 6.04 miles in 63:29. So I'm still keeping a sub-11:00 min/mile pace. According to the HRM, I burned 857 calories. Daaaaaaaaaamn. I'm ready to eat pasta tonight!

I bought a new pair of running shoes and a running belt yesterday. The shoes are the Mizuno Wave Runners. I'm not sure how I feel about them yet. I took them for a short test run yesterday and I felt like my legs were tweaking a little more than normal, but if I remember correctly my old Asics did the same when I first got them and now I love them. They have certainly been good to me. I'll keep them around for the long runs until I break in the new shoes with the short runs. I wore the running belt for the first time today and I kind of love it. It wasn't remotely uncomfortable and I liked being able to carry the water bottles around and stay hydrated during the run. I feel like that may have been a contributing factor to my terrific run today.

The folks are coming into town soon. Our pasta dinner will be made with homemade tomato sauce (from homegrown tomatoes) and homegrown eggplant. Did I mention I can't wait to eat pasta?

terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

Well, maybe not THAT bad. But I've got a lot weighing on my mind lately. I planned on going running as soon as I got off of work since I was off a bit early, but instead I fell asleep on the couch for an hour and a half. That couch is dangerous territory. I should know that by now. Settling in to watch just ONE episode of Intervention or some other shit on Netflix almost always ends up turning into either multiple episodes or a nap. Sometimes both. So from now on, the couch comes AFTER the runs.

I woke up around 7:30PM and got my ass moving. I felt pretty good for the first 2.5 miles or so, and then I literally felt like I had hit a brick wall. I don't know if I was dehydrated (I shouldn't have been, I drank 8 cups of water at work), still tired from the nap, or if I didn't fuel well enough (I guess cheddar cheese rice cakes aren't ideal, huh?) but it was miserable. I trudged through the rest of the run, wanting to walk but refusing to let myself. I finished 3.63 miles in 39:23, setting myself at a 10:50 min/mile. I was very surprised to see that I was still sub-11:00. I will definitely be sticking to my usual banana or peanut butter on bread before runs. What works, works.

Quiet night in tonight. Watching TV with the roommate and probably going to bed at a decent hour. I want to get some things done tomorrow, including a hair cut and oil change. Maybe bringing a pup or two to the park, as well. Saturday the folks are coming into town so we'll probably go out to lunch or dinner.

My 10K is in three weeks and my half marathon is in two months. Hell. Yes.

new year, new runs.

I started off the new year with a badass run. It was Monday's three miler (3.13, really) and I averaged at a sub-10 min/mile pace! The run took me 31:02, which gave me a 9:54 pace. The run was hard but I pushed through. Today I've got a 3.5 mile run on the schedule and I'm trying to enlist my pal to ride a bike along with me for company.

I'm going to buy a new pair of running shoes this weekend, I think. It's about that time, and with the half marathon only two months away I want to have time to break them in but not overwear them.

Also, I already broke my no booze goal for January by having one beer last night while out to dinner with the girls. I'm not going to worry about it, though, because it was a pretty stressful day. Another goal that I'm tweaking is the run a mile super fast every Wednesday goal. I've decided I'm going to do start this after the half marathon. I don't want to run the risk of hurting myself beforehand.

January 2012 goals.

I'm going to make monthly mini-goals to keep focused. Here's what I've got on my plate for January:


1. complete all of my training runs
2. run the Surf N Turf 10K in less than 69 minutes (maintaing at least an 11 min/mile pace)
3. eat 6+ servings of fruits and vegetables every day
4. get at least 7 hours of sleep every night
5. no booze, no cigarettes

Rock on. I'll check in on February 1st and see how I made out.