I hate being sick!

IT WONT STOP SNOWING!

and I trudged to class this morning more miserable than usual because I woke up at 5am with my splitting headache pounding my skull! I trudged right back to my bed after just one hour of class because I couldn't stand to keep my head upright.

Why must I have a stomach virus! I have done nothing wrong - why did I get plagued with 5 days of painful stomach cramping and headaches?? Anyway, I am hoping that tomorrow will be a better day.

Maybe it was from yesterdays workout?

Warmup 5 laps (200m each)
2x600m - first 200m @ 90%, glide 200m, last 200m @90%
1x300m - first 50m all out, 150m in a floating motion, last 100m all out
2x100m all out sprints
and thats where i STOPPED - yes there was more!!
cool down = 1 lap!

What does GLIDE really mean - I just keep running and hope that my arms and legs are working right and I don't fall over and make a fool of myself in front of the whole team!!

I am determined to be better by this weekend as it is our conference Championships Sunday! We have a really good chance of winning (for both the mens and womens teams) and lucky me, I am signed up for 4 events for the meet! It should be a fun day, and then the roommates and I are having a mini Super Bowl party!

I am off to practice now - and by practice I mean I am getting on the bike (with my book otherwise I would be bored) and I am spinning slowly for 30 minutes!

A better day

Well today I am doing better - thanks for all the well wishes. I skipped class this morning and went to the health center on campus. The doctor was very nice and thought that I have a gastro-intestinal virus which has been going around. Thankfully my symptoms have been minor but I have to make sure to avoid as much dairy and fat as possible for the next few days when the virus will hopefully work its way out of my system.

She (aka the doctor) wants to keep me out of practice until Thursday but I stopped by my coaches office after my appointment and he said to see how I feel. I did run yesterday and felt fine so I think I will be good to go today as long as I don't push too much!

Yesterdays workout:
7x200m warm up
6x200m intervals @ 65% with 200m jog recovery after each
then 5x200m cool down

I went in the ice bath for 17 minutes yesterday and my legs are feeling good. My arms/abs on the other hand are not feeling too good. I did 50 push ups yesterday and now I am so sore from them!!!

Now I am just lounging around and resting!

************************

My track meet this weekend (besides the part where I felt sick) actually went well.

I ran the hurdles faster than before (10.39 seconds) threw shot decently, and then high jumped! For high jump I attempted 4' 8 3/4" and didn't clear the bar but I am happy that I got that far since I am a little rusty!

My head coach was amazing in helping me with high jump. A little background - My coach tried to get me to come out for track my freshman year but due to issues with the basketball coach I didn't run track until spring of my 4th year in college. Basically my basketball coach told me that if I did track I wouldn't start on the basketball team (obviously not the best coach - but I took care of that). Anyway my track coach this weekend kept relating high jump to basketball which was awesome and it worked so well for me! He made me do the motion for a lay-up and then he said ok great now do that when you jump! I just love having a coach who actually knows how to coach and knows how to get me to reach my full potential!

I don't know what is wrong

Well it has been an interesting past few days -

Thursday and Friday I was fighting off an extreme headache that actually woke me up Friday night. I took Tylenol and ibprofen but nothing really worked.

Saturday morning I was up at 5:20am and on the bus at 6:15am where I promptly fell back to sleep. I usually never sleep on buses but I slept the whole way to the meet. I started warming up and my stomach hurt. I made it through hurdles, shot put and high jump but pulled out of the 4x4 as I had a fever and was in pain.

The stomach pain continued but my fever broke on the way home from the meet.

Sunday, I woke up feeling a little better but still had some stomach pain and then also a lot of burping (especially after I ate).

This morning I had stomach pain again - I feel a little better but I am not sure what is going on. I feel fine other than my stomach - my energy is fine, I don't feel over tired or anything and I haven't thrown up.

So basically I think that all my worrying about pain last week may have been a side affect of what I am feeling now. If I don't get better I will be going to the trainers to see what is going on - I hate going to the doctors though!! It might just be a viral stomach thing.

Names

Yesterday it came to my attention that there happens to be another "J" out there. I was reading comments posted by others and came upon a comment by this other J and was very confused at first because I hadn't posted it!

Now the question is - what do I do?? Is it too confusing with two J's?? Should I change my name??? Ahh the dilemmas of everyday life!

Anyway - tomorrow is my next meet. I have to wake up at 5am because the bus leaves at 6am!! Why we have to go to such far away meets is beyond me! I need my sleep!

Oh and I was thinking - maybe my foot/leg pain has been caused by my shoes? They have a little over 200 miles on them and I bet I could keep running in them if I wasn't running on that hard track everyday. So I am not sure what to do. What if I get new shoes and it doesn't help??

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

TIART: Half Marathons

Just a little note here - I don't beleive I have ever mentioned this before but I am a sarcastic person. I guess it can be hard to tell that from writing but if you knew me (in person) then you would see that sass and sarcasm are as much a part of my life as eating and breathing (and running).

Anyway, moving on, it is once again time for TIART and this weeks theme from Runners Lounge is How to Run your Best Half Marathon in 2009.

Now I haven't done a long run, much less any running beyond 4 miles (in intervals) in about 4 weeks if not longer. Track has taken over my life - I read your blogs and this is what I see:

"I went for a nice 8 miler today, it was lovely - I just breezed along."

Wow 8 miles - just thinking about it makes me weak in the knees! Have I really turned into a sprinter? I used to run long miles and think nothing of it!! Did I really run a half marathon last September???

I have become a wimp without even realizing it! And so I am ashamed at what I have become. What advice could I give about running halfs?? I should be asking all of you for advice!! So I hope you will take the time today and post your own ideas on how to run your best HM! I look forward to reading them while I live vicariously through all of your long runs!

I can't believe it is almost the weekend! This week just flew by! Happy Thursday!


**Although rest would be ideal (Thanks for all your concerns) I really can't take extra days off. Hopefully in two weeks I will get a rest weekend. Meanwhile - my new best friend is the cold tub!! There is the slight possiblity that my pain is all in my head! I forgot to mention that yesterday I did 20 minutes on the bike instead of 20 minutes of running.

** Also thank you to everyone for the great book recommendations! Currenlty I am multitasking and looking up books from the library. Even though I got gift cards to book stores for Christmas, I am having a hard time spending the money on books when the library is free!

Pain

I am very tired.

My legs hurt at practice.

Left ankle => still feeling pain, not bad but its just there.

I fell on the ice Monday before practice and now I have a nice cut on my knee as well as a big bruise. And my knee started hurting tonight while lifting! This is just freaking great.

Reasons I feel this way:
1. I didn't drink enough water today or yesterday
2. My body needs a little rest

Today I did hurdles again - we have another meet this Saturday. My events will be = 55m hurdles, high jump, shot put and 4x400m relay. I just felt tired today - I am hoping that tomorrow will be better.

Yesterdays practice =
1200m warm up
2x450m paced with last 50m all out - rest 10 minutes after each
300m at 80% pace rest 30 seconds after then
5x 40m repeats with 30 seconds rest in between
cool down 400m

Tuesdays workout + Mondays workout = probably why I am tired

I just hope that there is nothing wrong with my ankle. The pain hasn't gotten worse but it isn't totally disappearing either. I don't want to go to the trainer because I don't want to get pulled from competition but I also don't want to do serious damage. : (



**Times from practice - First 450m = 84 seconds, Second 450m = 87 seconds, 300m = 55 seconds.

Monday Madness

Usually Mondays are 400m repeats but this week things got switched up. Warmed up like usual then did 7x200m repeats - there is less recovery time between each of these so I was fighting to keep my running form on the last two sprints.

We cooled down and then we were supposed to watch the tape from the meet but once again (just like last week) no one taped the 4x400m relay! I am never able to see how I look during these runs - maybe I wouldn't want to see myself since I am sure all the pain I was feeling was probably smeared across my face!

After lifting weights, I jumped into the Cold tub with Abby and Alison. The tub was 48 degrees and the trainers just kept pouring in buckets of ice water!! Brrrr!! But it is so worth it when my legs are not sore the next day!

On a NON-Running note:

I have finished another book (Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer; which was really good!) BUT now I don't know what to read. I took two books out of the library last week and both just didn't appeal to me! Any suggestions?? It can be fiction or non-fiction, a running book, a novel, ANYTHING!! If you have a book that you have read and you LOVED it then please let me know!! Thanks for the help!!

Track Meet #3

Even though it is Sunday, I am still so excited because of the results from the track meet yesterday!!

I did 55m Hurdles again (10.76 seconds), about the same time as last week but I managed to 3 step instead of 5 step. Every week its one more thing that is improved! Indoor is really nice because 55 meters goes by really QUICK where as for outdoor, 100m for hurdles now seems like a long way!!

I did long jump as well (4.53m) but I still am having trouble being consistent with my running approach. I just need to practice, practice, practice.

OK on to the good stuff (or at least I think so!)
THE 4x400m RELAY!!

I did my extended warm up like usual (1.5 miles plus strides after) but since there were 15 teams at this meet, every event took forever! We were in the first heat (the fast heat) running against a few of our big rival schools!

Abby ran this week as the first leg of the relay and she stayed right with the lead girl. It didn't look like she was pushing hard at all; at the last curve she sprinted and came in at the same time as the first place runner. I received that baton from Abby and beat the previously first place team (lets call them the Yellow Team) to the curve. The third place teams runner (lets call them the Blue Team) passed me again along the straightaway but I stayed right on her heels (and I mean that literally, I hit her spikes about 3-4 times the whole race). I was itching to pass her again but as I came across the 200m/start/finish line I could hear my coach. He said -

"Next straightaway"

That's all I needed to hear and I knew exactly what to do. It was like I was just running on instinct and pure desire. As we came to the straightaway (with about 130m left) I passed the girl from the blue team (the yellow team was in third place) and took over the lead. I knew I was pushing myself way beyond anything I had done before but I just did not want to let that girl beat me. I came off the last curve and everything just went blurry in front of me. After a few more steps everything came back into focus and I handed off the baton to the third runner.

I stumbled off the track and couldn't catch my breath. I leaned on a hurdle and all of a sudden my hamstrings and quads couldn't support my weight anymore and I sunk to the ground. Previously in other meets, I had been in pain after running the relay BUT nothing like this! It took me until well after the race was finished to recover. We ended up coming in 2nd overall with the Blue Team beating us (they over took the lead back during the 3rd leg and the yellow team came in third).

When I finally was able to walk over to my coach I found out my split -

63.84 seconds

I was in shock! I am just so happy that I ran that fast! The funny part is that Abby ran the EXACT same split as me (I know she can go faster though!) And the other funny part - I remember almost every moment of this race where as in previous relays everything just blurs together because it goes by so fast. The final time for our relay was 4:20.18 which is very good for this time in the season! We still have over 15 weeks to go till the end of the season!

Today I am sore in my legs and I am just taking it easy. The athletics website for my college had a picture of me from the hurdles yesterday but as it says my college name right across my running top I can't really share that (I look funny anyway!!) I am in the lab now trying to get my work done early this week so I don't stress out! I hope everyone is having a delightful weekend - Its actually about 30 degrees outside today, a wonderful change from the 3 degrees (feels like -15 degrees) it has been all week.

TIART: 5Ks and 10Ks

I really like Thursdays because:
1. Runners' Lounge has TIART
2. Its almost the weekend and most of my hw is due Thursday!

This weeks theme from RL is 5Ks and 10Ks and how they factor into training plans, etc, etc!

Well let me just say that I love 5Ks. Ok let's back up here ONE second. I would say I am an optimistic person so basically I love all races when I am not actually running them! Lets take the 4x400m relay that I run every week at my track meets! I love that race but NOT when I am on my second lap (on a 200m track) and my legs and arms are SCREAMING at me and I am so out of breath and oxygen deprived I can't even think straight to do simple addition in my head! (and at the end of the race I can't really even remember the race cause I was so out of it!)

Now I bet a lot of people feel this way (as mentioned above) but I think that is what running is all about. Its about the pain but also the love. The good times and the bad and hopefully you have more good times than bad (which seems to be the case from reading all the great blogs out there!)

But when it comes down to the big race (aka that marathon all you cool kids are into now) its about all THE LITTLE THINGS that you did along the way! Even when you didn't want to run that stupid 5K race (or 10K), you did it anyway and thats what makes the difference.

Keep up all the great work! You all motivate me to maybe run a marathon (well at least run another half marathon!)

Positive Wednesday!

IT IS COLD OUT!!!! VERY COLD!!! LIKE 10 DEGREES COLD! I know that isn't very cold for some of you but for me its getting preeeettty cold!

and of course I went in the cold tub after practice! My foot feels much better today - thanks for all the comments about it! I feel like it is just an overuse thing and so todays workout wasn't as long or hard which will hopefully keep my foot feeling fresh!!

I hurdled again! (I know some of you say you would never be able to do it BUT I bet you could if you put your mind to it!!) and then did 2 miles slow on the track then lifted weights!

I maxed out on bench press again and increased by 10 pounds since last time I tried. So now my max is 1o5 pounds!! I can definitely see the difference that lifting weights is making in my running!! If you aren't lifting weights I would consider starting, and if you already lift - think about maxing out on bench press just so you can see how much you are improving!

New Years Resolution UPDATE!
I have started and continued with my gratitude journal. I try to write in it every night before bed but I am human and sometimes I forget but I usually think about something I am grateful for everyday! I think it has really helped with the whole positive thinking!!

Thats it for me! Time for dinner then I am cracking down and finishing my work! Its due tomorrow so I really got to get it done!!

Foot Pain

I have been having some slight pain in my left ankle (more towards the inside, on the top part of my foot). It really hurt after the meet and I think it might be from my sprinting spikes and from long jumping. It also maybe from the meet plus running a total of 4.23 miles yesterday (plus we also sprint the same way on the track). Today at practice I didn't run the last sprint as it hurt too much. I soaked it in the ice bath in the training room so hopefully it will feel better tomorrow.

Workout -
warm up, resistance training, then 2x55m fly ins*
3x (120m and 150m) @ 90% with one lap walk recovery after each sprint
cool down and then weight lifting

Needless to say that I didn't run at 90%!! We will see what tomorrow holds!



Read on if you want to read my list of favorite things - thanks to Lacey over at Common Objects and Everyday Events for tagging me!

4 Favorite Memories from 2008
First Date with B-Rabbit**, joining the track team, finishing my basketball career, running a half marathon!

4 Favorite Movies that I Saw
Hancock, Sex and the City, Jumper, Iron Man

4 Favorite Foods in 2008
My roommates homemade mac and cheese, cookie dough, Salsa and Chips, and oatmeal (with a cup of coffee)

4 Places I loved in 2008
Every place I went which wasn't many beside home and school!

4 Things I liked in 2008
Running (track and road races), reading lots of books, scrapbooking my whole life, and starting a blog!

4 Things I am looking forward to in 2009
TRACK!!, graduating, running more races, and taking a vacation!


*fly ins are where you build up to your speed and try to hit your max pace when you reach the start line then hold that through the whole distance. We do these to work on speed after doing resistance training.

**B-Rabbit got his nickname from my roommate, who got it from 8 mile the movie, where Eminem has the nickname of B-Rabbit. I don't know how my roommate thought of it but it works for now and that way B-Rabbit has a neat nickname for my blog!!

Another typical day at the Track

I came, I ran, I lifted, I am now useless!

Warmed up with Abby and then got started on the workout!

6x400m at 65% pace with 2 laps recovery jog after each (times = 92, 95, 91, 90, 90, 90 seconds)

It was nice to run with Abby again, it really has been awhile since we did a hard 400m workout. As I was rounding the last turn into the straightaway I felt this sickening feeling creeping in my stomach and thought

"Is this what it feels like when you are about to throw up from running hard??"

But I didn't throw up, just felt a little funny but after the recovery jog I was all good.

And now I am sitting here, worn out and tired. My homework is hard and I can't figure it out and I just want to get back to my book, Breaking Dawn By Stephenie Meyer. I have about 175 pages left and it is due back to the library tomorrow!!!

Tomorrows goal plan - work hard on all work and get something accomplished!! Maybe I should have made my new years resolution to procrastinate less!

Track Meet #2

Good Morning!! The track meet yesterday went GREAT!!

Friday night I was nervous and sorta had trouble falling asleep, and then Saturday morning I woke up before my alarm. I made myself a big breakfast of raisin oatmeal, one egg, a banana, a super big glass of water, and a cup of coffee.

I got to the track at 10am and started warming up. My first three events went by very quickly since there weren't a lot of people at this meet. I was pleased with my times/distances but really was focused on the relay.

Hurdles - 10.7 seconds
Shot - 9.89 meters
Long jump - 4.20 meters

After all these events, all that remained was the 4x4 relay which I was running without Abby or Alison (they were in the 4x200m relay). I started warming up really early because I have realized that I need a longer warm up to get my muscles going for the sprint.

Before I knew it, it was time to go and the first leg was off (a distance runner). She ran very well and stayed right behind the lead girl the whole way. As she rounded the curve onto the final straightaway she sprinted and came in at the same time as the other girl. I had a terrible hand off with her but I got the baton and sprinted into the lead (I could hear my sprinting coach yelling for me to beat her to the curve!) I didn't know how far behind me that other girl was but I just kept thinking "there is no way I am going to let that girl beat me."

After I handed off we had about a 3 second lead (I think) and the other two girls carried it and we won by almost 2 seconds!

The best part of this was that I had the fastest split - 66.41 seconds!! A new PR!! I was ECSTATIC!!! I couldn't believe it - my first lap was 32 seconds (2nd leg 34 seconds) so I know that I need to work on getting my second lap equal to my first.

My head coach pulled me aside with another assistant coach afterward and said "You look like you are in really great shape and a good runner! Keep up the good work!" I had talked to my head coach previously about this race and he had said that he wanted me to be fresh (that's why I didn't run the 800m) so that he could see how I did in it. I am hopeful that I will have a place on the relay team and get to go to the big meets but I will have to wait and see!

B-Rabbit had a swim meet yesterday too and my parents and I stayed to watch it and he did very well! We went out for dinner afterward to Pizzeria Uno and I had one of those deep dish numero uno pizzas. Last night I felt sooo sick when I went to bed (it just came on suddenly) and then my roommates woke me up at 2am (cause they were drunk - no big surprise there!) and I still had a lot of stomach pain. Anyone else had anything like this? The only problems I have ever had when eating after running is with milk/dairy!

Anyway, I am off to watch the girls basketball team play today! Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

TIART: Do's and Don'ts

THURSDAY THURSDAY THURSDAY!!!
As per Runners Lounge's weekly TIART here is my simple do's and don'ts for running/training plans:

Let me say this first - I have not run a marathon and have only run one tiny half marathon so I have made a modification and this is the college students guide to running:

Don't
- forget your running shoes for event/meet/race, etc and then run back to your dorm to get them and almost miss the bus to said event/meet/race!
- pull an all nighter before heading home (to the east coast) from an event/meet/race on the west coast!
- fall off the treadmill and hit your head and get knocked unconscious!

Do
- listen to your body, it usually knows whats up
- sign up for as many events as you can for a track meet
- always have a positive attitude even if you know in 60 seconds you will be in more pain than words can describe!
- pack extra sets of underwear on all trips!

(Above experiences may or may not have happened to this blogger!)

Today's practice was fun but easy; I hit the Cold tub/Ice bath afterward and my legs feel pretty good! I felt bad for the distance girls (I am in the sprinter girls group), they had to do 8-10x 400m sprints with 90 seconds rest! Insane but still I would really like to do that workout cause I am glutton for punishment!

Did I mention that....I am VERY excited for the meet this weekend!!

EVENTS:
55 meter hurdles
Long Jump
Shot Put
4x400m relay

I think that's about it! I always think of good stuff to post about during practice/running but them once I get home I forget!

Speed Day

Just a quick post here! B-Rabbit is in the kitchen cleaning up from dinner (he is the best!) and if he comes in here and catches me on the computer, posting on my blog I am going to be in some serious trouble since I have to:

1. study for a test tomorrow
2. finish my lab for tomorrow afternoon

Oh well!! Today's workout was all about increasing speed! I feel stronger and better and I am excited about the meet this Saturday!!! (more on that later)

Anyway, I need to get to work!!

This is procrastination

Do Homework....OR....Check/post on blog!

I willingly went to the hurdle workout today! And had much success!!

My sprinting coach (also the hurdle coach) was there watching me struggle through the beginning exercises and then my head coach came over to watch as well. I started to get nervous! Suddenly everything just clicked and I found my rhythm as I scaled the hurdles with ease! And my coaches response - they clapped, they cheered and then they pulled me aside and said "Great job J, You are such a quick learner!!"

Well at least I can do something right!

I missed the workout with Abby and Alison though (although they were relieved not to run with me because apparently I push them too hard and make them run fast....) They did 3x 400m @ 60% with 2 laps recovery jog, then 3x 200m @60% with 1 lap recovery jog.

Luckily the sprinter coach noticed that I wanted to run, so he gave me a modified workout to complete. I ran with Jill (another hurdler/sprinter who has been out with a quad injury and is now back to running) and we did 3x 400m @ 60%. Splits were 98, 90 (opps too fast!), 97 - with one lap recovery walk.

I know that these workouts may seem long with a lot of specifics but we have a coach there, and the workouts are all printed out for us to follow. PLUS we have been doing similar stuff since the beginning of October and are used to switching between things. BUT let me tell you, these practices are no where near as exhausting as my basketball practices used to be! Don't get me wrong, my muscles are tired a little after the workout and lifting but its just not the same.

Overall it was another fun day at practice! And now its time for homework : (
Good Night!

Monday Madness

It has been a fun evening of laughter and procrastination as B-Rabbit has been putting off his homework and I have been unable to get a simple electronic devices to work!

It was back to practice (and classes) for me today. I was very excited to see my team again and I really did miss the workouts with them! We did a pretty simple workout but I felt strong and not at all tired afterward. I was grumpy though because I feel like the freshman just don't push themselves enough. They just wimp out when it gets hard or they get tired! I know that as Captain I should be encouraging and outgoing towards then and try to include them but I just get upset and frustrated by them and their poor listening skills as well as lack of motivation!

Todays workout:
1000 meter warm up
3x55m - skips, high knees, and fast knees
300m sprint - 100m @ 90%, 100m gliding, 100m @ 90%
rest 10 minutes
150m @ 80%
rest 30 seconds
then 5x 30m sprints with 30 seconds rest
800m cooldown

The workout went by really fast and we were soon in the weight room lifting all the heavy weights and making a scene like usual!! Thats all for me - It is time for bed!!

Me vs. The Snow Plow

Today's Run:

3.05 miles/24:32/ that equals a slow pace

I headed out early to avoid the stupid traffic on the road, my mom needed to hit Walmart and she would pick me up half way there. I was just getting warmed up about 0.7 miles in when the snow plow came down my road on the opposite side. They were cleaning off the shoulder of the road and I thought to myself -

"Oh that is really great! This town does care about the runners and walkers and wants them to be safe" (or something along those lines)

I continue on, I am heading up the first hill, towards the end of my road, at about 0.85 miles in and I hear this really loud noise. I look ahead and there is the snow plow coming back at ME! The guy had turned around and was going to plow the shoulder on the other side of the road AKA the SIDE I WAS RUNNING ON!!

I made a mad dash for the other side of the road, but I hate to think what would have happened if I couldn't have gotten out of the way! Where did this guy expect me to go? THE SNOW BANK??? I know he saw me when he drove past me the first time! Plus I was wearing my new bright orange vest which you basically have to be BLIND not to see!

So that was the excitement on today's run! Overall I just felt loggy plus at about 2.5 miles I had this sharp pain in my right lower rib area. I had to stop because with every breath I took in it hurt more. I haven't had a pain like that before but it could have been from the ice cream cone I had last night (yes I know its winter - I am weird). I am not sure though, any ideas??

Winter Running = No Fun

The original plan for today was to head to my indoor track at college and do some nice, warm intervals BUT of course the track isn't open until 5pm tonight! I don't know who makes the silly schedule but that is retarded!

The scheduled workout for today was 800m warm up with 4x350m at 90% then 800m cool down.

I ran about 0.75 miles over to a flat portion of the road near my house. I had mapped out the exact distance of 350 meters (which is 0.217 miles) BUT the wind had blown snow all over the road so there was no way I was going to be able to sprint on that part. I had to back track a bit and wasn't really sure if I was running the correct distance. (turns out it was 0.2018 miles which is 325 meters = close enough!)

Since I was running alone I decided to decrease the rest time in between intervals so compensate. Instead of resting for 10 minutes, I waited 5 minutes in between each repeat. I knew I wouldn't be able to run at 90% with the wind and cold but I did my best. I ran the intervals in 61.9, 63, 61.2, and 64 seconds. Not bad for running alone - I know that I can run 300 meters at about 50 seconds for repeats so I was satisfied (plus on half of the run today I had a slight uphill for the quarter of the run!)

My fingers were freezing, I couldn't really feel my toes much less run on my toes for the sprints! Oh well enough of my complaining - Now I am inside where it is warm! I really give you all credit out there for running intervals/repeats alone - I have been spoiled with a team to run with! Have a good Friday!

New Years Resolutions

Goodbye 2008, Hello 2009! This new year came in with a bang as we got another few inches last night and when I woke up this morning it was a nice 0 (ZERO) degrees outside at 8am! I really wanted to go running after being cooped up in the house for over 48 hours since my last running adventure BUT I waited until 11am when it was a warmer 18 degrees!

It was so cold that I just felt like I never warmed up (even though the sun was out). I ran 4.2 miles in 32:52 which just felt like a good pace but I knew that the cold was making me go a little slower. Tomorrow I am headed to the indoor track to do a speed workout and then Saturday I will be running hills again.

For 2008 mileage from March 1st to December 31st I ran 603.42 miles. I would love to have a year where I run 1000 miles but that might have to wait until 2010! hehe! I am content now with decreased mileage for Indoor/Outdoor Track!!

I have a few New Years Resolutions -

1. Start a Gratitude Journal; write down at least one thing I am grateful for each day

2. Encourage my teammates and lead by example

3. Positive thinking/positive attitude

Well that's about it! Hope everyone had a great New Years!!