Six months ago I was dealing with many different problems; Mainly i was trying to bring together a team that was falling apart due to severe issues. I wasn't really thinking about my running goals; a lot of things including running were put on the back burner. It definitely was a different time and I was in a very weird place in my life. I was still undecided if I would compete in track for the spring, but i knew that like the previous year I would take a week off after bball then jump right back into running. Since i had come into my senior season in probably the best shape of my life I was hopeful that i would quickly return back to that by May. Unfortunatly i was unable to train throughout the spring like i had intended but I did compete in track and right now I am ahead of where i was at this time last year. All in all things have been good, and I have stayed dedicated to my silent, internal goals.
I guess now is a good time to set goals then:
1. Run my first 1/2 marathon with Winkly!!
2. Go back to my bball reunion and beat the pants off the newbies in the run!
3. Get on the relay team for 4x8 in track
4. Take care of my body nutritionally as well as physically (knees)
5. Get to "the meet" in track for both indoor and outdoor
My knees are ok...I think. Monday i had a little bought of dehydration, i was at work and it just blind sided me. I tried to run Tuesday just for a short distance and then took wednesday off which was a good idea. In basketball my knees took a beating, especially this year. I beleive i have some small nerve damage but otherwise they are ok. Its just weird that this week my knees would act up and start hurting when i am not running long distances. It could be because of the two races in two weeks. I am supposed to be following my running plan from coach - 2 days slow, 1 day fast. Just keep going through that cycle, but i like to go fast and everyday lately I have been trying to get good times and improve. Hopefully icing the knees will help.
Upcoming events include running this weekend with Winkly. She is the one who wanted to do this 1/2 marathon so i told her i would run it with her. Shes a little bit slower than me but i think it will be fun because its always better to run with someone.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
It's Dark at 5am!!
I woke up a little bit earlier than normal this morning for my run because I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to get ready and still be to work at a good time. It was pretty dark out, but I haven't been running as early as I did last year so I kind of missed it. Its an interesting feeling running in the dark, it definitely makes me want to try a midnight run sometime. I would like to see how early morning runs compare to late night runs.
Something that i experienced a lot last year running in the morning was cold and warm spots of air. It was quite unique; I would be running and all of a sudden I would hit a cold spot, then just as quickly i would slip back into the humid hot air. This brings me to another point - goosebumps. I get goosebumps often for many different reasons but the strangest so fair would have to be while i am running. I think it was last year at the Boilermaker at about Mile 7.5 when i had goosebumps spreading up my legs even though I was very warm. I also experienced them in a very important basketball game my junior year; there was 30 seconds left and we were winning, I was bandaged up from my many collisions and i stood at center court and suddenly got goosebumps. Very odd!
Something that i experienced a lot last year running in the morning was cold and warm spots of air. It was quite unique; I would be running and all of a sudden I would hit a cold spot, then just as quickly i would slip back into the humid hot air. This brings me to another point - goosebumps. I get goosebumps often for many different reasons but the strangest so fair would have to be while i am running. I think it was last year at the Boilermaker at about Mile 7.5 when i had goosebumps spreading up my legs even though I was very warm. I also experienced them in a very important basketball game my junior year; there was 30 seconds left and we were winning, I was bandaged up from my many collisions and i stood at center court and suddenly got goosebumps. Very odd!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Weekend
What a weekend, and I still have most of Sunday to go!
Everyone always talks about their Garmins, I'm not big on those but on Friday i did find a watch of sorts that i would enjoy having. On "What Not to wear" on TLC with Stacy (i love her!) and Clinton they were helping Tara, an Olympic swimmer, update her fashion look.
The main point is that, Tara had this awesome white watch that told her what her heart rate was at that moment as well as how many calories she had burned. WANT IT!
Saturdays 5k was good and bad. I went out way too fast, with the first mile at 6:35, then progressively slower through miles 2 and 3. Surprisingly though i finished 4th in my age group with a time of 22:32. Last October I ran a 5k at school in 21:37 or something, so this race was good for me..JPG)
I know that i am way ahead of my training from last year but i still have a lot of work to do. I've realized that i now have a goal. I want to win a race, be the first woman to cross the finish line.
Thanks to B-rabbit, i have a nice little picture of me before mile 3, there were other ones but i think i look real funny in all of them. Overall it was a very enjoyable race, I just need to work on maintaining a more even pace, and learn how to push through the fatigue at the end of the race.
Everyone always talks about their Garmins, I'm not big on those but on Friday i did find a watch of sorts that i would enjoy having. On "What Not to wear" on TLC with Stacy (i love her!) and Clinton they were helping Tara, an Olympic swimmer, update her fashion look.
The main point is that, Tara had this awesome white watch that told her what her heart rate was at that moment as well as how many calories she had burned. WANT IT!
Saturdays 5k was good and bad. I went out way too fast, with the first mile at 6:35, then progressively slower through miles 2 and 3. Surprisingly though i finished 4th in my age group with a time of 22:32. Last October I ran a 5k at school in 21:37 or something, so this race was good for me.
.JPG)
I know that i am way ahead of my training from last year but i still have a lot of work to do. I've realized that i now have a goal. I want to win a race, be the first woman to cross the finish line. Thanks to B-rabbit, i have a nice little picture of me before mile 3, there were other ones but i think i look real funny in all of them. Overall it was a very enjoyable race, I just need to work on maintaining a more even pace, and learn how to push through the fatigue at the end of the race.
Friday, July 25, 2008
McGrouchy!!
Let's just say that this week has been stressful, tough, annoying, grumpy...the list goes on. The T.U.M. 5K is tomorrow morning which hopefully will start the weekend off right.
Problem #1 - Finding the "perfect" dress for a wedding. There are no good dresses out there. Either i look like im 12 or 80 years old. It's either too big, too small, too floral, too plain, too peasant, too fancy, too gross, too totally NOT me, or blah. I don't what the designers are doing out there. I am not good at art but i think that i could design a better dress than any of them!
Problem #2 - Finding time to fit in my best friends, roommate, high school friends, and parents into an already busy schedule. I try to stay balanced, there just isn't enough time in the day.
Ok so i got that out, i feel a little bit better, I really could go for a nice fatty/sugary snack! My weakness = swedish fish and cookie dough. I might just have to stop at wegmans and get some, probably not the best "night before a race i want to do really well in" food.
It has been rehydration nation here at work all day. (My roommate/best friend, J, came up with that sophomore year when we would stay up all hours drinking water and doing homework when we had a basketball game the next day.) I work in two different groups and of course today, FRIDAY, they both decided to give me "urgent" work. Ok so i'm kind of sparactic and rambling now, probably the lack of food. Let's talk about running - I ran this morning apparently a big no-no with the race tomorrow! It was 2.5 wonderfully slow miles where i almost got hit by a car twice! I dont know what peoples problems are but seriously I'm wearing a freaking REFLECTIVE VEST!!! wake up out there drivers! I dont want to die!
Now that i am on the subject of drivers I'd like to mention a few points. Ill preface this by saying that it has been raining on and off all week with a lot of thunderstorms and downpours. So i am driving home Wednesday night, around 5:30ish and its raining. Of course about a quarter of the people out there do not even have their headlights on! ITS THE FREAKING LAW! You have to have your lights on when using your wipers, or if its raining, or foggy or whatever. (ok im really worked up about this) If the police officers out there spent half the time pulling people over for not having their headlights on at the proper time INSTEAD of pulling people over for speeding at 11pm AT NIGHT then maybe this world would be alot safer! Also I would appreciate it it drivers would not try to get as close to me on the road as they possibly can! im on the outside of the shoulder and you still feel the need to drive right on the white line. Get off your cell phones and stop doing your make-up and JUST DRIVE THE CAR! Ok enough for now...I'm done.
Problem #1 - Finding the "perfect" dress for a wedding. There are no good dresses out there. Either i look like im 12 or 80 years old. It's either too big, too small, too floral, too plain, too peasant, too fancy, too gross, too totally NOT me, or blah. I don't what the designers are doing out there. I am not good at art but i think that i could design a better dress than any of them!
Problem #2 - Finding time to fit in my best friends, roommate, high school friends, and parents into an already busy schedule. I try to stay balanced, there just isn't enough time in the day.
Ok so i got that out, i feel a little bit better, I really could go for a nice fatty/sugary snack! My weakness = swedish fish and cookie dough. I might just have to stop at wegmans and get some, probably not the best "night before a race i want to do really well in" food.
It has been rehydration nation here at work all day. (My roommate/best friend, J, came up with that sophomore year when we would stay up all hours drinking water and doing homework when we had a basketball game the next day.) I work in two different groups and of course today, FRIDAY, they both decided to give me "urgent" work. Ok so i'm kind of sparactic and rambling now, probably the lack of food. Let's talk about running - I ran this morning apparently a big no-no with the race tomorrow! It was 2.5 wonderfully slow miles where i almost got hit by a car twice! I dont know what peoples problems are but seriously I'm wearing a freaking REFLECTIVE VEST!!! wake up out there drivers! I dont want to die!
Now that i am on the subject of drivers I'd like to mention a few points. Ill preface this by saying that it has been raining on and off all week with a lot of thunderstorms and downpours. So i am driving home Wednesday night, around 5:30ish and its raining. Of course about a quarter of the people out there do not even have their headlights on! ITS THE FREAKING LAW! You have to have your lights on when using your wipers, or if its raining, or foggy or whatever. (ok im really worked up about this) If the police officers out there spent half the time pulling people over for not having their headlights on at the proper time INSTEAD of pulling people over for speeding at 11pm AT NIGHT then maybe this world would be alot safer! Also I would appreciate it it drivers would not try to get as close to me on the road as they possibly can! im on the outside of the shoulder and you still feel the need to drive right on the white line. Get off your cell phones and stop doing your make-up and JUST DRIVE THE CAR! Ok enough for now...I'm done.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Secrets
Last night i finished the book i had been reading; Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella and it was actually quite good. Of course it was your typical "girly" book but sometimes i just need a break so i read one and it inspires me in some odd way. Its just like running, sometimes you have to go easy, have a less complicated run, remember why you are doing this and that you actually love it.
Everyone has secrets; recently i found the blog PostSecret and its been very inspiring as well, i also bought the book and its amazing to read other peoples secrets, I don't mind that i have no idea who these people are. Its the fact that there is so much joy and sadness out there in the secrets that we hold on to.
I know that i have secrets, maybe its an only child thing, maybe its just me. Secrets go hand in hand with lies. Ok ok before we get ahead of ourselves, I'm not a compulsive liar just because i have secrets. I know that i like to keep somethings to myself, sometimes its just too personal and/or painful to talk about.
Yesterdays run was good, Very foggy which was cool because as the cars approached me on the road, their headlights glowed in the fog. I just did a little warm-up then ran a fartlek/interval combo thing. It seemed to work well because it gave me some intensity but also a little break as i could feel i was tired from the Monday run, and work has been stressing me out as well as other "life" things. Today i tried to go fast, trying to prepare for this 5k on Saturday. I was grumpy though, last night there were thunderstorm with wild lightning and pounding rain. I love thunderstorms and lightning but sometimes a girl just needs her sleep!
Everyone has secrets; recently i found the blog PostSecret and its been very inspiring as well, i also bought the book and its amazing to read other peoples secrets, I don't mind that i have no idea who these people are. Its the fact that there is so much joy and sadness out there in the secrets that we hold on to.
I know that i have secrets, maybe its an only child thing, maybe its just me. Secrets go hand in hand with lies. Ok ok before we get ahead of ourselves, I'm not a compulsive liar just because i have secrets. I know that i like to keep somethings to myself, sometimes its just too personal and/or painful to talk about.
Yesterdays run was good, Very foggy which was cool because as the cars approached me on the road, their headlights glowed in the fog. I just did a little warm-up then ran a fartlek/interval combo thing. It seemed to work well because it gave me some intensity but also a little break as i could feel i was tired from the Monday run, and work has been stressing me out as well as other "life" things. Today i tried to go fast, trying to prepare for this 5k on Saturday. I was grumpy though, last night there were thunderstorm with wild lightning and pounding rain. I love thunderstorms and lightning but sometimes a girl just needs her sleep!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Rainy Run
I woke up this morning at 5:10am and rolled myself out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom. Ten minutes later i threw the dog and cats outside and headed down the driveway in my nice new shoes!! YAY no more foot or knee pain. They felt great, all cushy and comfortable. I had been hoping for a rain run all weekend and today i got it! It just sprinkled the whole 5.6 miles and by the end i was soaking with rain and sweat. It was quite dark when i started and it was so peaceful. Usually i can see the moon and stars but this morning with the rain it was overcast. I guess i have to choose either rain or beautiful skies.
The run was quite enjoyable - i was aiming for a 7:35 pace and i was actually on track until i reached the last 0.9 miles. As i turned on my road i was at 36:20 but my road is all uphill! I hate hills, they make me angry especially the one on my road. I try to run fast up it but it is not easy at all. I know that it will help me in my training but im stubborn and like to complain about them. I eventually caught up to my mom walking the dog, its really my dads dog but my mom walks her. Shes a 13 year old Siberian Husky and she is so cute and has a great personality. Sadly she had really bad ear infections last year so now she is deaf.
Although the run went well, the other parts of the morning were a mess. There was no english muffins so i had to stop and get a bagel on the way to work. I always eat english muffins with peanut butter because after running i cant have milk or cheese or any type of dairy. Its really weird, and im not sure if anyone else has this problem but I become lactose intolerant until i have solid food. I guess my stomach is just really sensitive. All of this started last summer so i have to be really careful what i eat after i run. SO i got my bagel and then i noticed that my mascara was all smudged under my eyes. I NEVER wear mascara so the one day i actually remember i get it all over myself! Then i got to work and got sick even though i hadn't had any dairy...maybe dehydration?? Not sure. Let's hope this afternoon is better.
The run was quite enjoyable - i was aiming for a 7:35 pace and i was actually on track until i reached the last 0.9 miles. As i turned on my road i was at 36:20 but my road is all uphill! I hate hills, they make me angry especially the one on my road. I try to run fast up it but it is not easy at all. I know that it will help me in my training but im stubborn and like to complain about them. I eventually caught up to my mom walking the dog, its really my dads dog but my mom walks her. Shes a 13 year old Siberian Husky and she is so cute and has a great personality. Sadly she had really bad ear infections last year so now she is deaf.
Although the run went well, the other parts of the morning were a mess. There was no english muffins so i had to stop and get a bagel on the way to work. I always eat english muffins with peanut butter because after running i cant have milk or cheese or any type of dairy. Its really weird, and im not sure if anyone else has this problem but I become lactose intolerant until i have solid food. I guess my stomach is just really sensitive. All of this started last summer so i have to be really careful what i eat after i run. SO i got my bagel and then i noticed that my mascara was all smudged under my eyes. I NEVER wear mascara so the one day i actually remember i get it all over myself! Then i got to work and got sick even though i hadn't had any dairy...maybe dehydration?? Not sure. Let's hope this afternoon is better.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Recovering
This week was once again super busy for me, and I final had the opportunity to sleep in this morning, but it was pouring at 930am and i woke right up. This weeks running was more on the recovery side after racing hard last Sunday. I know that i still have alot of time before track starts so i do not want to burn myself out. Its a whole different perspective now because usually the second week in September i have to be ready to start pre-season workouts for basketball. BUT not this year...
Yesterdays run at the park was quite interesting. It was way too hot and i was completely soaked by the end. Apparently my "morning" run wasn't early enough. I was hoping that it would rain because i love running in the rain. A few weeks ago when i ran at the park, it was raining. Theres no way to fully describe it, summer rain runs are perfect and usually leave me feeling refreshed and happy no matter what my time. When preparing for the boilermaker i did a few long runs. I specially planned out my route and at about mile 4 that early Saturday morning it decided to pour. I've never really been running in pouring rain but it was great. The leaves glistened and streams of water raced along the ditches.
Anyway, its been a long week but I think I've recovered. I may need a nap today. Last night was a friends from high school, college graduation party. I haven't seen some of those girls in 2-3 years! Of course there was alcohol, and i may have drank some, So todays run may be a bit slower than normal. I'm hoping 5.5 miles in a nice pace will happen sometime this afternoon, and if I'm lucky the rain will continue!
Yesterdays run at the park was quite interesting. It was way too hot and i was completely soaked by the end. Apparently my "morning" run wasn't early enough. I was hoping that it would rain because i love running in the rain. A few weeks ago when i ran at the park, it was raining. Theres no way to fully describe it, summer rain runs are perfect and usually leave me feeling refreshed and happy no matter what my time. When preparing for the boilermaker i did a few long runs. I specially planned out my route and at about mile 4 that early Saturday morning it decided to pour. I've never really been running in pouring rain but it was great. The leaves glistened and streams of water raced along the ditches.
Anyway, its been a long week but I think I've recovered. I may need a nap today. Last night was a friends from high school, college graduation party. I haven't seen some of those girls in 2-3 years! Of course there was alcohol, and i may have drank some, So todays run may be a bit slower than normal. I'm hoping 5.5 miles in a nice pace will happen sometime this afternoon, and if I'm lucky the rain will continue!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Boilermaker 2008
This was my 4th year running the Boilermaker 15k. I ran it after my first year in college and i instantly fell in love with it.
The atmosphere is great, so many people and I usually stay with my roommate and her family as well as some other friends which makes the whole experience that much more enjoyable. I had never run 9.3 miles before that first race and I wasn't sure I could do it. The whole experience helped to lead me down the path of realization that I am actually a distance runner.
My previous times:
2005 - 1:23:33
2006 - 1:22:15
2007 - 1:19:55
2008 - 1:16:15
This year i think that my shoes were ready for sneaker heaven because usually my knees/legs don't start to hurt until about mile 8ish but this time i was having trouble at the end of mile 5 into mile 6. I usually forget my watch but this year i didn't and its a good thing seeing as how the chip timing didn't work and all i had was a gun time.
It always takes us about 7+ minutes to get to the start. My goal was to run it in 8 minute mile pace and i was close but i think that the legs hurting caused me to slow down a bit at the end. Without my watch I would have been stuck doing math the whole race and thats really tough! The race always go so quickly, its like i get into this zone, i see people cheering but I feel like I miss a lot of the little details. Overall though a great race, and I cant wait till next year!
Friday, July 18, 2008
Untitled at the Moment
When I think about running, my mind always goes to the movie "What Women Want" with Mel Gibson. I love the part when he is pitching the Nike ad for womens running. (ill add in the exact lines later) When i watch that part I get goosebumps because about 85% of the time thats how i feel when i run. The road doesn't judge me, it doesn't say i need to go faster or say i look fat or ignore me!! Thats a big one, it is ALWAYS there for me no matter how long I'm gone.
I ran in high school, my mom was always pushing me to prepare more and run more. I enjoyed running, soccer was always about running and I wanted to push myself to be better. Junior year of Soccer i was probably in the best shape. We used to run 15 minutes before practice actually started. Odo would always lead my line, and we would do indian runs while she sprinted away at at blistering 6:30 mile pace!! Basketball was always different, never long distance just sprints which I am not the best at. And then there was track. I almost quit in 8th grade but of course my parents had a genius plan and told me I would be making dinner every night and cleaning the house if i didn't go out for the team. I hide from running then and began throwing shot put. Thats where I met Jen, she became my friend and mentor. I can't remember how far she threw...I should look that up. I went to my first big meet with her and I was very nervous. At the end of that season I was put into Pentathlon because i participated in hurdles as well. The sectionals were very interesting as i was the youngest girl in Pent but i managed to score (i think...)
I participated in Pent until junior year when coach took me out and put me in shot for sectionals. I was seeded as the #1 seed and I ended up winning sectionals! It seemed like i would have realized then that i was supposed to be in track because i had lost in finals in soccer and basketball and I really only could depend on myself. I played soccer, basketball and ran track my senior year and although a few colleges wanted me for track I wanted to play Bball instead. I played all four years in college and I wouldn't trade that experience for the world. Last year i ended my junior year and suddenly i was a new person. It was as if a fire had been lit inside of me. I had this desire to get up every morning and run.
My work schedule for the summer made it more difficult to run because the company went to summer hours after July 4th. I was working 40 hours in 4 days so my schedule went a little like this...
4:45 am - pull myself out of bed
5:00 am - walk down the driveway and start running
7:00 am - arrive at work
5:30 pm - leave work
6:00 pm - Lift/Shooting
7:30 pm - Dinner
9:00 pm - BED!
All the hard work paid off though as I led my basketball team and we had a great season. Spring brought track and i was persuaded by two teammates to go out for the team. I only threw shot but slowly worked back into the 800m. I was amazed that i could run so fast in the 800, my three races were 2:43, 2:42, and 2:41, all new PRs. In high school i never ran so barely got 2:50 for the 2 laps. I desperately wanted to break into the 30's but i have two more seasons left for that! I managed to also PR in shot which was great.
SO now its summer again, and its way too hot to run at night, so im back at it...running in the mornings. I get to watch the world wake up in front of me. I've seen so many beautiful sunrises and moon-sets! Usually at 5am its dark which makes it that much more interesting!
I ran in high school, my mom was always pushing me to prepare more and run more. I enjoyed running, soccer was always about running and I wanted to push myself to be better. Junior year of Soccer i was probably in the best shape. We used to run 15 minutes before practice actually started. Odo would always lead my line, and we would do indian runs while she sprinted away at at blistering 6:30 mile pace!! Basketball was always different, never long distance just sprints which I am not the best at. And then there was track. I almost quit in 8th grade but of course my parents had a genius plan and told me I would be making dinner every night and cleaning the house if i didn't go out for the team. I hide from running then and began throwing shot put. Thats where I met Jen, she became my friend and mentor. I can't remember how far she threw...I should look that up. I went to my first big meet with her and I was very nervous. At the end of that season I was put into Pentathlon because i participated in hurdles as well. The sectionals were very interesting as i was the youngest girl in Pent but i managed to score (i think...)
I participated in Pent until junior year when coach took me out and put me in shot for sectionals. I was seeded as the #1 seed and I ended up winning sectionals! It seemed like i would have realized then that i was supposed to be in track because i had lost in finals in soccer and basketball and I really only could depend on myself. I played soccer, basketball and ran track my senior year and although a few colleges wanted me for track I wanted to play Bball instead. I played all four years in college and I wouldn't trade that experience for the world. Last year i ended my junior year and suddenly i was a new person. It was as if a fire had been lit inside of me. I had this desire to get up every morning and run.
My work schedule for the summer made it more difficult to run because the company went to summer hours after July 4th. I was working 40 hours in 4 days so my schedule went a little like this...
4:45 am - pull myself out of bed
5:00 am - walk down the driveway and start running
7:00 am - arrive at work
5:30 pm - leave work
6:00 pm - Lift/Shooting
7:30 pm - Dinner
9:00 pm - BED!
All the hard work paid off though as I led my basketball team and we had a great season. Spring brought track and i was persuaded by two teammates to go out for the team. I only threw shot but slowly worked back into the 800m. I was amazed that i could run so fast in the 800, my three races were 2:43, 2:42, and 2:41, all new PRs. In high school i never ran so barely got 2:50 for the 2 laps. I desperately wanted to break into the 30's but i have two more seasons left for that! I managed to also PR in shot which was great.
SO now its summer again, and its way too hot to run at night, so im back at it...running in the mornings. I get to watch the world wake up in front of me. I've seen so many beautiful sunrises and moon-sets! Usually at 5am its dark which makes it that much more interesting!
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