Finally Finals.

My classes are officially over for the semester, so I have 1 final project to focus before I'm officially done. It's crazy to think how cast this all went and how soon the race is! Basically I've got a month to fit in some good runs, including a few in the double digits.  I'm away at a conference for the weekend, but I'm hoping to fit in a fun run tomorrow morning - a good way to see a cool new place as well as start myself on the right foot for the last month.

Here goes!

A.

6 minutes later...

A busy November indeed - I have 2 weeks left of classes in my first semester of grad school! Yikes! That also means that January is coming verryyyyy soon.

Here's what I've been up to:

Last weekend I did my second 10K. You can check back in the June archives, I ran a 1:09 for my first race, and I was happy to have finished it.  For this one, I had one big goal - take 1 minute off of my mile time, so about 6 minutes off the total race.  I'm very happy to announce that I ended with a chip time of 1:03.48 - 24th in my division of 49 women. Those 6 minutes = gone!

This course was significantly hillier [more hilly?] than the first 10k, so it was still a challenge. Had it been flat, I think I could have dropped another minute or two off my total time. On the course, I met two people who inspired me - one was a Marine who ran the half marathon in full fatigues, boots and a backpack. If he can do that [and so, so much more] who was I to complain? That image will stay with me for a very long time.  The second was an average looking guy, maybe in his mid thirties, with a great attitude.  I believe he said he was running the full marathon. We had close to the same pace, so I saw him a lot, and he was always smiling, always calling out to thank the volunteers and people cheering us on 'thanks for the cowbell!'.  Around mile 5, I asked him if I could run with him, and when we got to the last stretch [which was uphill... who does that!], he kept cheering me on and raced me to my finish line [the longer races continued straight on] and he cheered for me.  I was so touched that a total stranger would do that. I wondered afterwards how the rest of their races went... I hope they know that they touched someone that day.

Running around here has been much more hilly than back North, and especially lately, my knees and hips have been feeling the burn. I've been trying to mix things up, adding some biking and new stretches into my week.  I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving sales so I can get a new pair of sneakers - I'm sure mine have enough miles on them at this point to warrent a fresh pair for the last stretch.

I've learned that I really enjoy the 10K distance. Even if I never become a marathon runner, I think this is a race that I'll stick with. It's just enough time for me to push myself, enjoy the run, and not feel like dying after. I probably won't fit in another before January, but I'm looking forward to a few in the spring down here. 

I've got a bit of a stomach bug, and it put a damper on my 10 mile plans for today, so I'll shoot for it next weekend. End of semester = stress = everyone is sick.

Hang in there, J! I'm so proud of you and I can't wait to see you!!

A.

PS. One of my friends snapped this about 100 yards from the finish line. The guy in the white shirt was my new friend who was cheering me on. Yay for a strong finish!

I miss sleep.

Grad school is way more time consuming than I ever expected.  Fitting in runs hasn't been easy, and I've been spending 12 hours a day on campus, especially as the second half of the semester picks up.  I'm really hoping to fit in a few good ones between Friday and Sunday this week. The mind is willing, but when it's 11 at night and I get the choice between the treadmill and studying for another hour before I drag my tired butt to bed, studying wins.

I talked to my mom about this recently - mostly that I'm jealous that I don't have as much time to dedicate to running as I'd like.  She reminded me that I'm here now because school is my focus and running is supposed to be fun, not an extra stress in my life.  It's hard to accept since I really want to do well in January. I guess all I can do is my best at this point, just to get through my first half but maybe the summer will give me an opportunity to dedicate more time to a second race.

I'm still doing the 10k in November, don't worry.

Sleep now. xxoo
A.

14 Miles

Over the weekend I was told about a new website Map My Run and I tried it this Monday to map my 14 mile run. The website allows you to search for runs in your area that other users have posted but I didn't see one that I liked, so instead I mapped my own run. I can also get the Map My Run app on my phone that when used during the run will record my actual distance and time. I didn't have the app running on my phone prior to my run so I didn't use it but I plan on testing it out on shorter runs this week.

When it comes to my long runs I'm trying to avoid hills because Disney won't have any hills that I'll need to train for (although i'm still keeping hills in my shorter runs). It is hard to truly avoid hills so on my long run this week I walked up all the hills but ran everything else and it worked out very well. At no point in the run did I feel like it was too much, which is a really great feeling.

The run lasted for 2:37:51 and didn't actually end back where I had started, instead Shawn had to come pick me up because the route I had mapped took me over into Mystic - going first through North Stonington, Stonington and then into Old Mystic before ending up on route 1. I timed it so that I got to the end point about 20 minutes before Shawn which allowed me to stretch and have a nice cool down walk.

Truthfully I have no idea what runs are up for my week - but I have to figure it out quick because I have to run tomorrow, Thursday and Friday to get me back on a Sunday long run. This weekend my long run will be taking place back down on the cape along the canal - I'm excited!

J.

Half Marathon High!

I have so much catching up to do. Since my last post, back in September, I've had two weeks of attempting to complete 12 mile runs. The first attempt went pretty well and I walked maybe a mile in total, the second attempt I just didn't have it in me and I walked about 5 miles (oops!). With all the ups and downs of training I had decided to sign up for a half marathon to get me back on track.

This Sunday I woke up at 5am and traveled down to Newport, RI to race in the United Healthcare Half Marathon. Luckily I have people that support my goal of completing the Disney Marathon and Shawn also woke up ridiculously early to drive down to Newport with me. We got Newport around 6-6:30 in the morning and took the shuttle to the start at Easton beach. The race didn't start until 8am so we had an hour for me to freak out about what I was about to do, Shawn kept reminding me that I could do it and that I had trained for it and I would be okay.

Freaking out about 5 minutes before the start of the run!

The course was both a half and full marathon, at the halfway point which brought us back to Easton beach, those like myself doing the half marathon were at the end.

http://www.amicamarathon.com/courseinfo.html

As I rounded the last turn and entered the downhill stretch that lead back to Easton beach, I realized that I was completing my first half marathon and I almost started to cry. I don't think I can put into words the sense of accomplishment I feel, I'm not sure I've ever felt this way. I was able to run 13.1 miles without stopping in 2:17:32 (thats 10:29 minute/miles)! I've pushed myself to do something that I don't think I ever really thought I was capable of. 

Sprinting towards the Finish Line!

Maybe (just maybe) better than completing the half marathon was completing my 4-mile run today with 10 minute/miles and not feeling sore!! I've just got to keep this momentum going for the next 81 days.

Last but certainly not least - Thank you Shawn for supporting me on Sunday, the fact that you only got to see me start and finish and had two hours to kill in between is pretty impressive. It was great to have a smiling face waiting for me at the end.

J.

B-I-N-G-O!

My dad came to visit for the weekend and we were busy the whole time he was here (mainly playing bingo). We spent 13 hours at the casino, all for two high stakes bingo sessions. Although neither of us won it was a blast. Today was an impromptu trip to Mass and by the time I got home this evening I knew a 12-mile run just wasn't going to happen. Instead I figured I'd continue on and redo the week but move my running days to Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Finally getting myself back on track for Sunday long runs.

Another 4 - 6 - 4 - 12 miles week! My goal for the week is to find a new 4-mile run, I'm getting a bit bored with the usual one and it's about time I switched it up.

J.

Keeping On

I don't necessarily look forward to the runs but I also don't feel as negatively about them as I used to. I credit some of that to the weather, the cooler temps and lower humidities have made the runs easier. This last week or runs I haven't walked out the door already in a sweat and my times seem to have improved, the 4 mile run on Wednesday I completed in 42 minutes.

When I was first starting out and participated in the B.A.A 10K I ran the 6.2 miles in 1:05 and I had put everything I could into that run, I don't think I could have gone much further by the end. Today was my medium length run at 6 miles and I finished in 1:06 and felt like I could have continued on. I even think I would have had a quicker time had it not gotten so dark and I slowed down in areas where I couldn't see the road.

There are only two more runs this week: another short 4 mile and then the long run of 12 miles. I have the 4 mile run tomorrow and Monday will be my long run. I'm trying to switch over to a Sunday long run day since my work schedule is changing starting in October. Also I signed up to run a half marathon in Newport, RI on Sunday October 16th so I need to switch over for that as well!!! Never a dull moment.

J.

Falling in.

This week has made me especially homesick, partially because I love fall in New England so much.  I'm starting to get into a good routine balancing school/work/running, but we had a very abrupt transition from 80 to 60s and the weather won't make up its mind.  It's nice that it's not sweltering every time I go for a run, but not the same as being back home.  I enlisted two friends to run with me this week, and while I loved their company, it wasn't the same - I miss you J!

This fall is our unofficial 2 year anniversary of being friends - I was thinking about it last night.  One of the first times we hung out outside of work was at a local cider mill, on one of those perfect New England fall days. While the south is great, I'm longing for New England right now.  Those crisp, sunny days, where the sun is warm and the breeze is cool. 

I may have to turn my fan on, just so I can snuggle into my blanket tonight.
Enjoy some cider for me!

A.

If you believe it you can do it!

This week of runs went very smoothly. I needed a new loop for the five mile run since I was getting very bored with my usual one, using gmap-pedometer I found a loop that brought me down near the river and around a very beautiful neighborhood that reminded me of Sudbury. I finished the run in 54 minutes (totally mind boggling since my best 5 mile up to that point was 56-57 minutes). I thought that maybe gmap-pedometer had lied to me about the distance and the following day I took my car out to double check, it was in fact 5 miles. The third run of the week came on Saturday after work before my night out in Providence with Shawn to celebrate one-year! I cut it by .2 miles and did 3.8 instead of a full four but was booking it and finished in 40 minutes.

On the drive to Providence I found myself talking about how I am of the belief that things will work out in life the way they are meant too. That doesn't mean that we have don't have a say, everyone can make their life what they would like. It's just my belief that even in tough times (ex. the year at Miami) things will turn out okay and they do (ex. I ended up with one of my best friends to this day still from that year and I ended up at Northeastern and eventually in Tahiti because of that). I guess it'd be called an optimistic view on life, I've never doubted that my life would, will, is a good life, despite the hiccups along the way. Yet I realized this morning that it wasn't translating into my running.

Running is a mental game for me, to a point where running on a certain side of the road will end up in a better run. I'm at a point where a 4 mile run isn't hard and yet when I run on one road in Westerly about 2 miles into my run without fail I will want to walk. I'll talk myself through it and as soon as I turn the corner off Clark St. my mind switches and I continue on to complete the run without wanting to walk again. This morning I practiced some positive thinking and told myself the run would be great, it wouldn't matter how long it took, I wouldn't walk, I would just continue going until I hit the end. I repeated "I am a marathoner, I feel good, This run is easy" pretty much on a continous loop as I ran today.

With all the positive thoughts streaming through my head, I ended up completing 11 miles in 2:04 today!! Woohoo. Each coming week will be as good as this one has been, because I believe it will be :)

J.

Double Runs to Get it Done

The week of runs went almost as planned, most of them uneventful, no honks from cars or comments from passerbys. Tuesday was a 4 mile run, Thursday was a 5 mile run and Saturday was suppose to be a 4 mile run but I only did 3 because I had a bachelorette party that I had to get too!

After the fun weekend of dancing at the club to celebrate Lizzie's upcoming nuptials, spending the day at the Ledyard fair and running errands came my long run. The long run this week was ten miles and I made the mistake of trying to run at noon (again!). It would have been the 2nd time for a ten mile run since I've missed the last two weekends due to a hurricane and a weekend away. I decided just to take my 5 mile loop and run it twice to make the full ten miles. I set out around 11:30am but I guess my praying for cooler weather doesn't actually make it cooler, I ended up three miles into the run hot and out of energy. I ended up walking the last two miles and instead of making another loop I went home.

I didn't want to give up on the ten miles so I waited for it to cool off in the evening and went back out at 6:30pm, although I felt better the second time around I only made it three miles and walked the last two again. I always feel disappointed in myself when I don't complete the runs as I had anticipated but I had to remind myself that I finished a total of 10 miles and that it is likely during the marathon that I will stop and walk. I've realized I need a goal that is a little more tangible since Disney still feels so very far away, and so as long as my new work schedule allows for it I'll be signing up to run a half marathon in Newport, RI in October.

Another thing that helps my motivation is that Shawn and I have booked part of the trip and a dinner reservation at Jiko's (best restaurant at Disney!). I'm super excited to show Shawn all the parts of Disney that make it my favorite place in the world.

J.

Update: Today marked the new week of runs of 4, 5, 4, and 11 miles. I couldn't find my watch today so I don't know the time on my run today but it felt great. Tomorrow will be a 5 mile run some how fit in before I start a new bowling league in the evening (will be needing a new team name, something ocean or aquarium related - ideas are welcomed!)

To-do's and turtles.

Team Speedy Turtles took the town by storm last weekend, as part of the annual sprint triathlon.  It's common for teams [mostly students] to dress up, so we weren't that crazy.  I was the runner for our team, and while three miles should be a piece of cake at this point, it may have been my most difficult run [maybe].  The race didn't start until 1pm because of the tides, so I didn't run until about 2pm. In the south. On a blacktop road with no shade and one waterstop.  Since it was a team event, the runners all left at different times, so it was hard to pace when you're  racing but running alone.  Needless to say, no one was feeling great about it, but I finished in good time. Our team didn't place, but we weren't last either. We all celebrated with a barbecue and jumping in the water afterwards - overall a great day with new friends, and a fun way to spend a weekend.

Back to the grind, I'm still trying to find balance between school, my new job, all of the reading and homework that comes with school, maintaining relationships back home, and oh yes, running. I fit in three solid days last week, but I'm still struggling as to where to put the 4th run in.  If only I could convince myself to get up early and run before class once or twice, but alas, my body fights me every time I try.

I'll get better at this, even if it takes a turtle's pace :)

Ainsley

F&I Fun Day

Today was the annual F&I fun day. We take off from work at noon and spend some time relaxing as a department at the beach. It is definitely one of my favorite days despite the fact that the few hours we are at the aquarium are very rushed trying to fit a days worth of work into only 4 hours. Most of my days lately have been spent running around between feeds and backwashes barely having time to stop and chat with anyone besides a quick hi here and there. Going to the beach with the department allows me to socialize with everyone in such a nice setting. The food is always plentiful and delicious - this year were wrap sandwiches, chips, cookies, Sarah's amazing bean dip (I forced her to make it), more cookies and more chips. I indulged a bit to much and spent a few hours after on the couch digesting.

By the time I got my butt out to run I realized that I would be hitting sunset and running on a major road at night isn't really ideal. I decided to take it to the gym for the first time and run on a treadmill. Everyone says running on a treadmill is easier  but I found it to be harder. I get distracted running when on my own passing different scenery or wrapped up in my mind, on the treadmill I couldn't get into the run. Despite the tv's on four different stations in front of me or the people around me I just wasn't feeling it. With the lack of motivation it is really hard to get through a run, even though I wasn't tired I quit at 3 miles when I should have done 5 today.

I need to figure out how to schedule runs into the shorter daylight hours and I know now that running on a treadmill just doesn't work for me. In order to make up for the poor run today I plan on running 3 miles tomorrow. Saturday is a 4 mile run and this Monday will be my second 10 miler. Hurricane Irene really got in the way of my runs and I missed 3 runs last week so I never got my long run in, time to try again.

J.

Still moving along

While I'm not up to 10 miles, I'm still moving, I promise! This week is 4-3-3-race for me - I'm doing the running leg for a sprint triathlon team down here [Go, Speedy Turtles!].  It's a short 2.5 mile fun run, but it should motivate me and keep me going towards more distance. Runs around here are challenging, since the city is so hilly and well, a city. The current 3 mile loop I have crosses 3 major intersections, which either involves perfect timing or a stop-go pattern which gets very old quickly [there's always just dodging the traffic as well, but that can get tricky...]

I'm hanging in there, the heat is slowly starting to get better. I'll try to post pictures of my tri-team after this weekend, it should be a fun time!

Take care, y'all!

A.

X

Quick catch up from last week - I ran 5 miles on Friday around 7pm and woke up Saturday morning at 6am to run another 3 miles. Normally I wouldn't schedule the runs so close together but I was leaving for Cape Cod right from work on Saturday. I figured a run so early in the morning would be nice and cool but it was more humid than the run on Friday night, wasn't exactly the refreshing run I had pictured.

Sunday was a day of rest and anticipating my first double digit run - a lovely ten miles. Monday while still at the cape Shawn had the brilliant idea to run the Cape Cod Canal.

http://corpslakes.usace.army.mil/visitors/album/images/E600406-3_jpg.jpg

The canal is 7 miles long and is marked starting at 0 miles, every half mile, to the end. Shawn brought along a bike and provided some much needed company for me. The first five miles were hot, without any breeze and seemed to drag on forever for me. Shawn stayed by my side, we pointed out things along the trail to one another and having him next to me kept me from giving up. When I hit the five mile mark I turned around and Shawn continued on to bike the full 7 miles. As soon as I turned around I could feel a breeze and all of a sudden the run didn't seem so hard. I picked up the pace slightly trying to see how far I could get before Shawn biked the extra 4 miles and made it back to me. The canal was flat and I finished 10 miles in 1:54 minutes. 

Finishing my first 10 mile run was an amazing feeling and I couldn't have picked a nicer run. The path was full of other people biking, running, walking their dogs, rollerblading and fishing along the canal. Everyone was very friendly saying hello, good morning or giving a wave. The best of all the interactions was from an older couple walking the canal - as they saw me running and Shawn biking along they commented "uh somethings not right with this picture" we laughed and replied that he was motivating me. Towards the end of the run I had Shawn bike ahead to mark the end so I would know when to pick up my pace. As he took off on his bike, another biker came from behind me and said "is he trying to make you run faster?" once again I laughed and explained he was marking the end for me. At times it was easy to distract myself from the run when I had so much going on around me. 

This week I'm going to stick with 10 miles for the long run but incorporate hills. Today was a 4 mile run, tomorrow will be 5. Saturday is another 4 and then Monday will be 10! Let's hope this hurricane doesn't blow my plans (get it hurricane = winds = blows, hehe)! 

J.

I Still Exist!

I'm here, I promise! August has been crazy, as I expected it to be. So here's a recap to date:

I've known for a few months that I would be moving to take a new opportunity in the south - exciting, but still sad to be leaving all of my friends in CT. I was hoping to keep running 2-3 days per week for the first 2 weeks of August while I packed up my apartment and did all sorts of going-away things. I got 2 runs in on the first week, but the 2nd week, I didn't fit any in. Last minute hanging out with friends > running.

I got to my new destination on Saturday, and have been unpack and sorting out my new place since then. I uncovered my shoes yesterday morning, and mapped out a 3 mile loop, which ended up being very hilly, and partially on a busy street with no sidewalk (yikes!). It was a slow start, but I've got plenty of time, so I'm not putting pressure on myself.

 I'm also in the south which means heat and humidity, even at 9am. The new apartment complex I'm in has an indoor workout room, so my plan is now to do 1 indoor run (which can be day or night) and then 3 runs outside (early morning or dusk if I can find a safe neighborhood to run in). 

I've got more unpacking to do, and then I'll have my indoor workout tonight. If I can get back on track, I'll start with a 5 miler this weekend and take things from there. If it goes well, I may jump ahead to 6 or 7 for the next week, but we'll see.

Be good, y'all!

A.

FAIL

Today was a major fail on the running part. However on the plus side I now have a very nice dresser for only 15 dollars for the 2nd bedroom. I was going to wake up early and go to the aquarium to run before I started work, since this afternoon was booked because of plans to go get the dresser from Rhode Island. I woke up, got dressed, got back into bed and fell asleep until I had to leave for work. FAIL.

I went to work and was originally suppose to stay until 6 to move some new fish onto exhibit, after doing this I was to run over and pick up Shawn so that he could help me with the dresser. The fish move was canceled which allowed me time to run before having to go pick him up. By the end of the day my stomach wasn't feeling so hot, mainly due to having a skimpy lunch I think. I started off on my run but my stomach wasn't up for the 3 miles. I got about 100 feet, stopped, turned around, and walked back to my car. FAIL.

Continuing on with my plans to get Shawn and the dresser, I figured I would get back in time to get the run in once I had some food in me and my stomach was feeling alright. The trip to get the dresser ended up including some random stops (Olympia Sports - needed new running clothes, Sleepys - to check on buying a mattress, and Ocean State Job Lot - ended up buying pillows for 2nd bedroom at a very good price) and had me returning home much later than expected, at this point it was too dark to run. FAIL.

Since this week is slightly busy I've had to come up with a new game plan. Tomorrow night is our interns going away dinner, taking place down in Misquamicut, which is a great place to run! My 3 mile run will now occur after dinner tomorrow. Thursday will be an off day since I have to go to Providence to pick up a boxspring I found for cheap. Friday will be my long 5 mile run. Saturday I'm headed to the cape so likely in the morning or late evening will be a 3 mile run. Sunday will be an off day just enjoying the cape and Monday will be a long run at 10 miles! Lets hope the rest of the week goes to plan and I don't crawl back into bed when I'm suppose to run.

J.

8 miles - finally!

According to the program I've been following it should have been an easy progression from 7 to 8 miles as the next jump is straight up to 10 miles. However I struggled with completing 7 miles a few times and the only other time I tried 8 I didn't even make it 3 miles into the run. Some of the problems have been my own fault - I either tried running at noon in 80 degree heat and humidity or I forgot to bring water and was parched part way through the run and couldn't talk myself through the rest of it. The second scenario almost happened tonight, this time I was successful at forcing my mind to shut off and just run.

It was muggier out than I thought it would be and I ran very slow, it took me 1:42 minutes to complete the full 8 miles but I was ecstatic that I finally completed the run!! Tonight will be a celebration with shirley temples.

 I keep meaning to do a post titled - things said to me on my run - as pretty much everyone run I've had people make comments to me, eitehr along the lines of keep it up or the occasionally whistle or honk from a passing car, but this run was very quiet. No honks, which is a good thing because usually they scare me, no words of encouragement from passerbys. Just one drunk man stumbling down the road who may have tried to say hi but it was slurred.

On a side note: A has moved out :(  She has decided to make a move and I am so excited for all the new adventures she will be having. The next time we get to see each other will be at Disney for the runs! The whole motivation for my training is that at the end of all this hard work is a trip to Disney with my family and friends!!

 J.

Break

I had a few very bad runs last week, the three mile run was even a bit of a struggle, which hasn't been normal. After a bit of a cold came over me I decided to take the rest of the week off. I'm feeling better and excited to get out running. I'll take a step back to the 3, 5, 3, 7 week instead of trying to move on to 8. I swear at some point I will pass 7 miles!!

I'm also in the market for new shoes and spotted these asics shoes, in pink of course. I'm now on the lookout for them in stores to see how they fit because I feel weird buying running shoes over the internet, especially when they need to really feel good for me to run such long distances in them.

Until then I'm just counting down until fall, looking forward to running while the leaves change color.

J

Can't Beat the Heat

I've tried running 3 times this month around noon time and each of these three runs were unsuccessful. They have all been my long runs of the week, twice I was suppose to finish 7 miles and today I was suppose to finish 8. The closest I came was finishing 5.5 miles when I was suppose to run 7, today was much worse only completing 2.5 miles when I was suppose to run 8. I ended up walking and did a total of 4.5 miles today, still no where close to my projected distance.

I think the biggest lesson I can learn from this is to stop running when it is hot and sunny out! I have had two successful 7 mile runs, both took me about 1:23 minutes to complete and both those runs were done around 7-8pm, once the sun was setting and the cooler temperatures were creeping in.

I now need to repeat this week of 3, 5, 3, 8 miles but will make sure my 8 mile run is much earlier in the day or much later in the day. It's frustrating when I don't complete the distance and makes me worry about how the marathon itself will go. I've been trying very hard to dismiss the negative thoughts and focus on the next run and so far it has worked. Each 3 and 5 mile run I've been running up to this point has gotten slightly faster and each time I try to push myself a little more. And although I love this hot weather, because it means I get to spend days at the beach, out on my parents new boat, or playing around at Brownstone I cannot wait for the crisp days of fall to approach so that it might actually feel nice to break a sweat. But until I'll keep running.

J.

Days go by...

And we're still running. I promise. We've just been so busy that neither of us have had time to blog about it.

Let's see... last weekend, I attempted my 8 miler. It wasn't as successful as the 7 miles, and I ended up walking part of it. I did a lot of thinking over this week, and decided that for the next 3 weeks, I'm cutting back on my runs to 3 days a week. I've got so much going on with the move coming up, and I want to make sure I spend enough free time with the friends that I won't see as much of.  The 8 mile run was the hardest, and I think the deal breaker for me - my boyfriend was at home waiting to eat dinner for me, and I spent an hour and forty five minutes running and wishing I wasn't. 

The short runs have been going fine for me, and I found out about a sprint triathalon in September, and I may do the running leg of it as part of a team.  I'm going to keep finding short runs for the fall to keep me motivated and interested in racing.

Time to get back to work!

A.

7 miles in heaven

 Well it wasn't quite heavenly, but about as close as a run can get. On Sunday, I made it all the way through my 7 mile run by tring a new location. Much less hilly, way more ocean view. The loop had me going through the town next to ours, and half of it was on the beach/boardwalk main street.  I could see the ocean for 6 of the 7 miles, and the last few along the main drag were lots of fun [fun! running? what?!] because I was people watching and just enjoying the beautiful weather as the sun set. This week, I'll work up to an 8 miler, possibly just extending that loop. 

I've tried several times to run in the morning, and I'm noticing that it just doesn't work for me.  I can wake up and go to work, wake up and go run errands, but waking up to run [especally on my weekend] just doesn't happen. Therefore, I will continue running at night for now, and eating at 9pm.

Stay cool! It's going to be a hot week for sure!

A.

Run in the sun, run in the rain.

Oy, business. I promise I've been running too. Last Saturday was a 7 miler for me. It was my first attempt at the distance, and I had a loop mapped out that sounded good on paper. Sadly, I forgot about the [massive] hill about 2 miles in. It's a pain to drive on, let alone running. So yes, I walked the hill, but I made the rest of the loop. Close enough...
The rest of the week was 3, 5, and 3 yesterday. Yesterday was a beautiful day for a 3 miles, not too hot, not humid at all. I'd love more days like that, but we're not always that lucky. J already mentioned our very wet 5 miler - running while soaking wet is interesting... soaking wet shoes add a few extra pounds, and I kept wiping water out of my eyes. We were honked at twice, and someone asked if we need a ride somewhere. We sure kept going though. I'm not sure if it was the rain, or running with J, but we made awesome time and did 11 minute miles.

Before we ran, we had a good talk about some of the challenges we're facing - motivation, making time for running, how much distance we should be aiming for etc.  I've been pressuring myself to keep up the distance as the book suggests, because I want to get a good base under me before school starts in September, but J was saying that if I really enjoy the 3-5 miles, I should keep at those distances for a while before moving up more. I'll see how things go, but I'd still like to keep increasing a bit more. We'll see what happens...

A.

Waterlogged

Waterlogged = Saturated with or full of water (according to the first definition that comes up on google!).


My past two runs have had me water logged one by being full of water and the other by being saturated with water. I mentioned in my last post that I completed the 7 mile run, I may have even said that it went great. That part is true, the run went great, I didn't even feel like I couldn't finish or keep going. My pace was slow and steady throughout the run and with the purchase of a water bottle belt, I was able to keep hydrated. I took sips of water throughout the run, just enough to keep me going, but not too much. The problem of being waterlogged (in this case full of water) happened after the run, I was so thirsty once I completed the run that without really thinking about it I downed all four bottles of water on my belt. I came back to my apartment to stretch and had another glass of water, it was at this point that I felt very unwell. Apparently too much water is a bad thing after a run and I found out the hard way, let's just say it didn't all stay in my stomach. 


I skipped my three mile run this week which would have been on Tuesday because I opted to go to boot camp class with some friends instead. I originally planned on going to the boot camp and then running the three miles before heading home. After boot camp I started to jog, got to the end of the road and quit, my legs were sore and I was not going to make it to the end of the next road, let alone three miles jogging. I figured that although I didn't complete the three miles that the exercise was more than enough to make up for it. This left me with a file mile run on Wednesday. 


Now on Wednesday is started to rain around 6:50pm, I was planning on going out for my run around 7:15pm. A and I both had 5 miles to run and figured we would run it together despite the rain we still went out. The little bit of rain turned into a downpour not even a mile down the road but we kept going, for the whole 5 miles. This run left us both waterlogged (the saturated with water kind of waterlogged). Our shoes, clothes, shirts, socks, and headbands were a dripping, wet mess. On the plus side running together helped motivate both of us to run quicker and we finished 5 miles in 56 minutes! On the downside I don't know if my running shoes will ever dry out. 


Next up: Harry Potter midnight showing! another 3 miler tomorrow and an 8 miler on Sunday! 


J.


"And now Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure" - Dumbledore 

Behind on the blogs but not on the runs

I am very behind on blogging about my runs as this training program progresses into the longer runs. In the past two weeks I've completed all 8 runs necessary and they all tend to blend together. Last week was a 3, 4, 3, 7 mile week and while away in Saratoga at a family reunion I completed the last 3 mile run of the week and attempted the 7 mile run. I say attempted because I only completed 6 miles. On a happy note I repeated the week and completed the 7 mile run yesterday in 1:23!

Most of my runs lately have been taking place around 7 or 8 at night because I've been at work until 6 or 7 most nights, I don't necessarily like running so late as it throws off my dinner schedule and I end up eating later than normal and going right to bed after. Although I don't prefer running late I'm making the runs a priority so I won't skip them, this has me saying no to hanging out with friends more than I'd like but the marathon is a commitment and thankfully my friends understand.

Today is a day off and will be spent relaxing on the beach! Tomorrow is back to the runs and I'm even going to attempt to take a boot camp class at the gym with friends. I will not let it go another two weeks before I post again.

J.

Recovery week recap

I'm happy to report that I made it through recovery week, which ended on a shaky, sweaty 5 mile run/walk bit on Saturday. It was far too hot to be running, and I kept talking walking breaks to keep from overheating and passing out 3 miles from home. I need to remember that the temperature at the beginning of an hour long run is not the same as the temperature at the end of that hour. Oh, summer. Oh, humid summer. Consider my lesson learned.

I did some shopping over the weekend for a few accessories - more wicking clothes, a sweatband, and a water belt, so I can keep hydrated as I go. Super stylish, but I can't wait to try it out! I started this week on a 3 mile run on Monday the 4th, as it turns out, I'm really enjoying 3 miles. I sang patriotic songs to myself the whole time. This weekend, I'll attempt 7 miles, another big milestone for me.  At this point, I need to work on my mental fitness - my brain understands running for 45 minutes, but when it gets to an hour or more, it doesn't understand why I'm still running.

Here goes another week...

A.

So it wasn't just me?

I was very relieved to hear that I wasn't the only one who had a hard time getting back on the road on Tuesday. I set out planning for a slow 4 mile run, and got about 1.3 into it before I my legs felt like total jell-o.  I ended up walking a full 4 miles, with a few more short burts of jogging, but it was a lot of convincing my legs to keep moving so I could get back to my car.

I was feeling discouraged at first, but then did some thinking: I've never run 6 miles before. EVER. And I've never run 6 miles that quickly. So naturally, my body needs some recovery time.  I am hoping to get back into the swing of things tomorrow, maybe 3 or 4 miles, and do a 6 mile run on Saturday instead of upping the milage to 7. Next week, I'll increase the milage like the schedule says, but I just want to get everything moving again this week without pushing too hard and getting hurt.

We're starting to look to future runs, I'm thinking of a 10 mile road race at the end of July, and then I'll need to pick a few for the fall so I can keep up the pace for January.

Just gotta keep going forward.

A.

Not My Greatest

Today should have been an easy run, only 3 miles, especially since I finished 6.2 miles on Sunday, what I didn't expect was how tired my legs would be. I set off on my usual run around the aquarium and managed to hit both hills but at the top of the second hill (about 1.8 miles in) my legs just felt tired. It was somewhat surprising to me because I haven't felt very sore or tired in the last two days.

Normally I would chalk this up to be a failed run, the first failed run of the training program, but since I just finished my first 10k, I don't feel like I failed, just that my legs need to get a little stronger. I did stop and walk once I hit the top of the hill, but I started right back up at the bottom of the hill and continued running about another .6 miles. I then proceeded to walk again and started up again nearing the very end of the run for another .3 miles, all in all I ran 2.7 miles instead of a full 3. Instead of letting this be a set back I plan on continuing with the program and running 4 miles tomorrow. 

I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse. -Walt Disney

I have always loved this quote, to me it is the epitome of everything Disney and how much can be accomplished from such a small thing. It may not seem like the ideal quote to motivate someone, but it motivates me, especially since all of my hard work training will pay off with a trip to my favorite place on earth! Not finishing this one run is a small hiccup in a larger plan.

J.

B.A.A. 10k

We arrived at the Boston Common around 7 am so we could get our t-shirts and check everything out before the race started at 8. Since this was my first race EVER I had butterflies in my stomach from the second I woke up that didn't go away until I started running. When the race started everyone really took off and I had to keep myself from going all out as well, I needed a slow pace to start to warm myself up. But as the race continued I found myself really kicking it up a notch, wanting to keep up with the people in front of me or pass those around me that were slowing down. 

Surprisingly I was so focused on everything going on around me that I barely realized how much I was pushing myself, I think thats why I was able to finish the 6.2 miles in 1:05:36!! 

All ready for the run!

  

Erin passing quickly by despite possibly having walking pneumonia. 

Right around mile 6, not much further to go!

A and J!! We're runners now.

All pictures are courtesy of Shawn, who I'm so happy was there providing support, coming out just to watch us run by and then wait an hour for us to return to run by again! 

J.

I guess that makes us runners now.

Well, it's Sunday afternoon. You know what that means... I finished my first 10k this morning! One hour and nine minutes after I started, the announcer called my name as I ran across the finish line. It was a pretty amazing experience - there were several thousand people gathered for this race, including some of the top runners in the world.  As I was on mile 1 and 2, I could see them finishing up their last leg [I'll be ok if I never run a 30 minute 10k]. The first two miles went by pretty quickly, as I was trying to get into my rhythm and just take in the whole scene. It suprised me that people were already starting to walk that early in the race - I just assumed that anyone who pays to run a race is serious about running it.  Mile 2-3 was a straightaway with a turn at the 5k halfway mark. Close to the turning point, I saw a familiar face running in the opposite direction! J was about a 30 seconds/per mile pace a head of me. It felt to see her coming at me, knowing we were both completing our goal. We exchanged a quick high five and kept going at our own paces. Mile 4 was the hardest for me.  Since I was near the end of the race, the people around me weren't serious runners, so they were slowing down, and there were a lot of people walking.  It was hard for me to not join them, but I kept pushing and reminding myself that I was here to *run* the race. Two of the songs I usually sing in my head are 'River of Dreams' by Billy Joel and 'Do You Love Me [Now That I Can Dance]' by the Contours. I kept repeating those until mile 5, where I just started telling myself I had a mile left and I had to keep going. When I got to mile 6, I kicked it up and gave it all I had for the last block, and finished hard.  I almost cried when I heard my name called, I was just so happy to have completed this huge goal.

After the race, there was free food and drinks, and we each bought a race t-shirt in addition to the one we got free. Did I mention we also got finishers medals? [Pictures coming soon!] I need to find a good place to display that. The rest of the day has been spent relaxing, eating lots of good food, and we're off to a double date movie night with our boyfriends in a bit.

So glad that tomorrow is a rest day!

A.

Tomorrow, tomorrow...

The weather report for Boston calls for "pleasant and sunny" tomorrow, with highs in the mid 70's. Sounds like a perfect day to go running!

Yesterday was my last run before the 10K, a flat run to give my legs a break from all of the hills I've battled this week.  Today I'm running errands and relaxing before we drive up to Boston tonight. I've been doing a lot visualizing lately - I picked out my race outfit a few days ago [white tank top, pink shorts], picked out my race day breakfast [banana, bagel with peanut butter, gatorade] and I have my time in mind. My goal is to keep running the whole time, the race closes after a 15 minute mile pace, and I typically do a 12-13 depending on how long the run is, so as long as I keep going, I'll get there. The point is, I'm doing it. I'm doing something that I've never done before, and that in itself is exciting and impressive.

You'll hear from us on Sunday night, with our tired legs and victorious smiles on.

Cheer for us wherever you are!

A.

It's Almost Time

Today was my last run before the big 10k and I really pushed myself. It was a 3 mile run and I went my usual route around the aquarium. I always take it a little slower at the beginning to help warm myself up and slowly increase the speed. This run the warm up was short before I started moving quicker and I maintained the quicker pace the whole run. I took 2 minutes off my previous time and feel ready for the race on Sunday.

I've got a time in mind that I would like to finish by for the 10k, I'm being conservative allowing myself a little more time than I may need. But either way I know that when I finish the 6.2 miles I'm going to be psyched!

J.

Making time for... everything.

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but the reason that I chose to do the 1/2 marathon rather than the full is that I'm starting grad school in the fall [yay!]. However, this means that in the next two months, I'm finishing up a night class, editing a paper with our vet, and preparing all of the details necessary to shuffle my life down to North Carolina. It's becoming quite the juggling act, especially with the longer runs coming in to play, so I'm still figuring out how to fit everything in.

Meanwhile, I ran 5 miles. FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER. If there could be a fanfare or a crowd of people doing the wave right now, that would be lovely.  This was a huge step for me on Sunday.  Like I said before, I've never been a distance runner. This was a very big moment for me. I'm picturing the [flat!] 10k on Sunday to be doable now after the very hilly 5 miles that nearly kicked my butt.  In the end though, I made it through and felt pretty good - ending on a big downhill has that effect.

I'm off to sleep! Must be well rested this week... Sunday is not too far away!

A.

2007 to Now

It's truly amazing how much of a difference there can be between two of the same things. I say this because back in 2007 I first attempted this training schedule, back then I had a goal in mind of the Chicago marathon. I started the training sometime in June or July after returning from an internship at Disney World, although I can't recall what my motivation was exactly. Despite following the exact same training program I don't remember having as good of a time with it as I've been having. Each run although challenging at times has felt great this time around, in the past every run was a struggle (or at least thats how I remember it). I bring this up because this week is a 3, 4, 3, 6 mile run schedule and it was after the 6 mile run last time that I quit.

I ran this morning on what is now becoming a familiar and favorite route of mine located near the aquarium. It has a two larger hills, a few minor ones and runs through a nature preserve and along the river at points. This morning was my first run of the week and at only 3 miles I figured I could push myself a little, I'm even proud to say that the second hill of the run, the one that I have to talk myself up the whole time seemed better, shorter almost. Today was probably my favorite run of the entire program, I think I'm finally understanding why runners like to run. I could definately see myself long after this program is over continuing to run on a regular basis.

I can say with confidence that I won't be quitting this time around after the 6 mile run!

J.

On a sidenote: I bought a new water bottle this weekend since I need to up the amount of my water intake. I found one from Camelbak at Target that has a filter inside the water bottle, now the plan is to bring it everywhere I go!

7 days to the 10k!

There is exactly one week until A and I run our very first 10k! This came in the mail yesterday for us, it includes: course and race day information along with our bibs! 

J.

Sunday Run-day!

When I lived in Albuquerque we (the aquarium sunday crew and myself) would call it Sunday Funday. We didn't have any supervisors on duty that day and although we always got all of our work done we took a little bit of liberty with our day. Sunday Funday included sitting in front of the shark tank in the morning and enjoying it without guests around, we usually only sat for about 15 minutes. At ten o'clock break (this isn't us slacking, we received a break at 10 everyday and everyone took it together) we would send someone out to get us breakfast burritos from Golden Pride. Outside of Albuquerque I have yet to find a place that has a comparable breakfast burrito. Now that I no longer live in Albuquerque and Sundays have become my Saturday's I don't normally refer to it as Sunday Funday, except when I do something really fun.

Since I've reworked my running days Sunday has now become my long run day. Today is the first long run at 5 miles. I've decided I will now refer to it as Sunday Runday. I did a little bit of research this morning on coolrunning.com and active.com about proper meals before long runs and how much time to wait between eating and running. I haven't been very concerned with my diet up to this point but as the runs become longer and longer I feel it will be necessary to come up with a plan for meals.

Postrun: I wrote the rest of the blog before going out for the run, trying to kill time between breakfast and  the run. Now I've completed the 5 miles in 59 minutes - its a minute quicker than I planned! I picked a loop that for the first half was relatively flat and the second half was a lot of uphill climbs. Althoguh feeling very tired on some of the uphills because it ended on a slowly descending down hill I felt good at the end.

The rest of the day will be spent on errands and enjoying the beautiful weather outside.

J.

I guess it's my turn...

As I mentioned last week, I was away for a few days, taking a nice long weekend.  I still managed to fit in 2 days of running while I was gone, and got to do some sightseeing while I ran.  One run was out on Star Island (in the Gulf of Maine) which was a very rocky, windy morning run; the other was in Portland, Maine.  I was a bit suprised at how chilly and windy it was out there as I ran near the water, so my 3 mile run was slower than I had anticipated.

Yesterday was another big milestone for me - 4 miles! I'm very happy to report that I made it through the whole run, and I'm the first to admit that I'm still just as slow. So what if it took me 50 minutes ... [52 actually]... Today is another 3 miles, and it looks like it will be a bit rainy.  Saturday is supposed to be the big 5 miler, but I may push it off until Sunday so I can go visit friends on Saturday night. 

The 10k is getting closer and closer... I'm starting to feel good that I'll be able to run the whole thing, no matter how slow I'll be.

Here comes the weekend!

A.

4 miler!

 This post is a little late but I was just so excited about completing 4 miles and how good I felt after that I forgot to post, oops!

I spent most of Tuesday thinking about my upcoming run that afternoon and trying to talk myself up. 4 miles just seemed so long and so much longer than the 3 mile run on Monday. Basically while walking around the aquarium I kept telling myself "I can do this" "It won't be that bad" on repeat until the end of the day. I mapped out the route earlier in the day and after work headed out, with a built in extra long warm up walk. During the warm up walk I felt a little worn out which didn't bode well for the rest of the run. The weird part was once I started running I felt better, the part of me that was tired, that felt worn out seemed to fade away. Two minutes into the run I started singing (silently of course) "I feel good, na na na na na na, like I knew that I would, na na na na na na, so good, so good, so good, I got you, woo woo woo woo" The feeling lasted through out the run and I finished 4 miles in 46 minutes.

Up next: another 3 miles, should be easy :)

J.

My Monday

My Mondays are a little different than most everyone else's due to the fact that they are my Sunday. While everyone is headed back to work I get to sleep in late, run errands and veg out. Although this means I don't have Saturday off, I would take the trade off any week. I used this Monday to do all the things I love Mondays for - I slept in until 9, completed important errands (taking my car in for an oil change), relaxed on the couch watching some trashy tv and now added to the list: ran!

The last few days have been rainy, overcast and unmotivating. I was suppose to get in one more 30 min run before switching over to mileage but due to the bad weather and my lack of wanting to get that wet while running I never made it back out. I woke up this morning slightly undecided on whether I would make this the last 30 min run and start the mileage late or just go for the 3 mile run since my longest run was 2.75 miles and I figured I wasn't that far off. I finally came to the decision to go for the mileage because in less than two weeks I have the 10k coming up and I need to start increasing my mileage.

The run I decided to take was relatively flat along the river. I completed the 3 miles in 32 minutes! I took the first 2/3 easy and really pushed myself at the end.

I used the time running to plan out how the next few weeks will progress, according to the plan this week should include 3 miles, 4 miles, 3 miles and 5 miles for the four runs of the week. I've found that at the end of my work week I have no energy to run after work so Friday and Saturday will be set days off (unless something prevents me running earlier in the week). Sunday will become the end of my running week with the long run. We will see how this works out but I think having set running days will be the best course of action to help me stick to the plan.


J.

Rain Delay

Today's run was postponed on account of the crazy thunderstorm that took up most of the evening. I'm already 2 runs in to the week, so I'll try for tomorrow and Saturday.  I'm going away for a few days [hoorah!] but I'm packing my running gear with the intention of running Saturday and Monday.  It should be fun to check out some new scenery and enjoy some much-needed time off of work.

The 30 minute mark hasn't been too hard for me at all, so now I get to decide if I should do another week at 30 minutes or start pushing for milage... with the 10K approaching, the milage might win. So far, both runs this week have been over 2 miles, and we're only going up from there!

Don't forget the sunscreen! And the umbrella! And the sweatshirts! [Oh, New England weather...]

A.

I'm not a Morning Person

I have never been a morning person, it doesn't matter how early I get to bed (and I go to bed early) I just don't have energy first thing in the morning. But I forced myself up, quickly put on my running gear and drove to the aquarium. This way I couldn't just fall back to sleep and skip out on the run. I won't lie though once I was at the aquarium I debated just changing into work clothes and getting some computer work done since it was a little early to be clocking in and starting work. I'm happy to say that I talked myself out of this idea and went for the run, even taking the path with the most hills along the way!

I only have one more day of 30 minutes before moving onto mileage.

J.

Heat Wave

It might be a bit of an overstatement to call our warm weather right now a heat wave but it seems to have come out of no where. I know mid-summer will be much worse with heat and humidity than what we are currently experiencing but I figured I would delay my run until the evening when it had cooled down a bit. I used that extra time in between to be productive by washing all the dishes that had accumulated on my side of the sink and to cook myself three different meals for the week. Now I have some variety when it comes to my lunches and dinners (for those that are wondering I made a spinach-potato casserole, chicken and mushroom hash and pasta salad with goat cheese and broccoli). Cooking took me a little longer than expected so I didn't start my run until almost 8 o'clock. I wore my super cool looking reflective vest just to be safe and headed out down Rt 1 running 2.75 miles in the 30 minutes.

Today is suppose to be just as hot as yesterday and I was planning on running in the morning while it was still cool. Although I woke up at the required time, mainly because my cat Jack decided to bring a toy into bed and expect to be played with, it was not a well thought out plan as I awoke sore and very tired from my late night run yesterday. I'm not ready for two runs so close together so today has now become a day of rest and I will attempt the morning run on Thursday instead!


J.

Sunday Fun-day!

Many know this but every sunday I religiously check the Postsecret website. There are often secrets I can relate to, some I find humorous, others shocking but always interesting. I'm very proud to say that this secret is not one I can relate to:

                                                   postsecret.com


After a quick motorcycle ride to breakfast and scenic ride back home, I put on my running shoes and had Shawn drive me 3.1 miles away from my house for my first run of 30 minutes. I figured based on my pace of 11min/miles in the past that it would be an appropriate distance away. The route was again filled with hills and went great. In fact the biggest compliment I could have received was from Shawn after I returned from the run, he said I looked like I hadn't even run, I was in that good of condition on the return! I felt like I could have continued on running but I'm sticking to the plan so that I don't overdo it and burn out.

The rest of the afternoon was spent at a winefest at the Jonathan Edwards Winery. Shawn, A and myself along with some other friends sampled wine and cheeses and spent a leisurely time in the sun listening to some great live music.


J.

MILEstones

How many weeks are we into this? I'm already losing track.  This week's suggested run is 25 minutes with a 5 minute walk, though I may just skip right to the 30 minute run.  I set out with a distance goal today - the 2 mile mark. I've come frusteratingly close in the last 2 weeks, but today was the first time I ran the full 2 - 2.27 to be exact :) I rewarded myself with some snazzy new shorts and running shirts for summer, since it's starting to get quite warm out. Expect a fashion show at some point.

I did some poking, around my old pictures, and found these from my first (and only) 5k that I ran in college. I've walked others, but this was a very big deal for me, so I was pretty excited, if you can't tell from my face.

Check out those guns!  

I can't remember how many people ran that race, but I know it was more than 82, and that was fine by me. [I think it was somewhere over 100, actually]

With the 10K coming up in 20 days, I don't think my milage will be quite where I want it to be, so my big goal is to run the whole thing, and not to come in last.

Here we go!

A.

Dead ends and sunny days.

I guess you could call it a busy two weeks... but that seems like an understatement.  Although I wasn't involved in the wedding, I was happy to attend and dance the night away, but it was a crazy week at work.  I still managed to fit in all of my runs last week.  This week was another step up - 20 minute run, 5 minute walk, 20 minute run. Happily, I made it through all 4 days, and it even felt pretty good afterwards.  I could get used to this feeling. The weather has also been cooperating most days - not too humid or rainy, so it's hard to come up with an excuse not to run.

I've started to suprise myself with how far I can get in 20 minutes, and have come across 3 dead ends that I didn't know existed, simply because I hadn't made it to the end of those streets before. Pretty cool. It still gets frusterating that I'm not getting as far as I'd like to - I haven't made the 4 mile mark yet - but I keep telling myself that it's much further than I was running a month ago, so progress is good, no matter so slow. The 10k will be a big milestone for me, so I've got 22 more days to get ready for it.

Next week, I move up to 25 minutes of running, 5 minutes of walking. I don't think it will be too hard of a transition, especially since I'll be able to push myself and know that there isn't a second set of running to repeat.

Here goes!

A.

Hills

I asked my coworker who used to run around the aquarium a lot for a route to switch it up with today. I don't like running the same way over and over again so I'm trying to constantly alternate where I'm going. Her suggestion was a little more than the distance I needed but sounded like a great run, minus one small (or very large) thing - hills!

I started out in the direction she suggested but wasn't necessarily convinced I would proceed with the run, I kept trying to think of alternate routes but couldn't come up with any that I hadn't already done at least once. It was at this point that I figured the past few runs this week have been good, not easy, but not hard and I was up for the challenge. I turned right and ran up the first hill, my legs burned, but as soon as I hit the top and ran where it was flat again they recovered and quickly! I hit the second hill, more burning, more flat ground and more recovering. The final hill seemed never ending as I was running up it but obviously it ended and I was able to recover and to continue running. The feeling of accomplishing something I couldn't do a month ago, two weeks ago, even last week was amazing. I ended up running 2.5 miles in just over 28 mins!

Although I never thought this was possible - I think I'm starting to like running (which is really good seeing as I'm in this for the long haul - 219 days until the marathon!)

J.

Busy as a Bridesmaid

At some point my posts will hopefully occur more than once a week, but that has been impossible as the past few weeks have been crazy, this one was no exception.

My goal for the week had been to run Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday so that the weekend could be dedicated solely to being apart of Alyssa's wedding. This didn't exactly go to plan. I ran Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, then Thursday rolled around and I was exhausted. I just didn't have the energy for the final run of the week so I figured I could try and fit it in on Friday prior to the Bachelorette party. Yet that also didn't happen. This left me with only Saturday to get the run in as Sunday is the start day of each new week for my runs. Saturday was already jam packed with work, getting my nails done for the wedding and the rehearsal dinner, so the only feasible time was to run over lunch (and I did just that!). I'm only allotted approximately 45mins-1hr for lunch so instead of a 20min run/5min walk repeat, I skipped ahead to next week and ran for 25 mins. This went very nicely as it still allowed me time to scarf down food and get back to work before the hour was up.

After some very busy and exhausting few days (mind you I'm only a bridesmaid, I cannot imagine how crazy things are for a bride!) Sunday/Wedding day was here! I had high hopes of a morning run prior to all the getting ready and festivities, but I slept through my alarm and ended up having to skip the run by the time I woke up. The wedding was fabulous and I figured that all my dancing must have counted towards some form of workout, I danced until the DJ kicked us out. Plus as it is early on in the week I'm not to worried about getting all 4 runs in, I completed the first one today with a late run through Westerly, along the river. I haven't decided how I'll space the other three runs out but I have no major plans for the week besides some rest and recovery from the month of May, so it shouldn't be to hard to fit them in.

Nearing the end of the night - no one but the die hards left dancing!

Congratulations to Alyssa and Mershon! The wedding was beautiful and I'm so happy I was able to be a part of it.

J.

Slow and steady.

I made it through a very rainy and humid week last week with 4 days of running, but felt pretty discouraged at the end. By the 4th day, I was so exhausted from work that I barely managed to squeeze out a 20 minute jog. Not my best, though still better than nothing. I took the weekend off to relax and recoup.  This week is another week of the 15/5/15/5 interval, so I started off today feeling fresh and recovered.  I decided to take it even slower than my normal pace [was that possible?] in an effort to make it through the full set, as I was having trouble with it last week. Slow seemed to work quite well for me - I made it through the first set without cramping up at all, and the second set went just as well.

As an aside, I was out shopping this morning and trying on sundresses - we have a wedding to go to on Sunday! I noticed in the mirror that my calves look absolutely huge. I'd like to thank Ithaca College for being on the side of a hill, and having a job that keeps me running up and down stairs all day for those. So I decided - my legs are ready for this. Those rediculous hills and stairs have given me the base that I need. I just need to make sure my brain is in the game now :)

I think the 10K in June will be a great milestone for both of us. Until now, the longest race I've done is a 5K, so I'm looking forward to this new experience. If you want to come cheer us on, feel free! We love having our friends support us.

LLS fact of the week:
In fiscal year 2010, LLS invested $72 million in blood cancer research.
LLS receives no federal funding. Because of the continued support of you and our partners and sponsors, in fiscal year 2010 we were able to:

• invest $72 million, which includes funding for 103 new grants to researchers in academic institutions and $8 million in contracts through the LLS Therapy Acceleration Program
• support 347 research projects in the United States, Canada and 9 other countries
• provide financial assistance to patients
• sponsor scientific conferences around the country
• produce educational materials and videos
• run dozens of Family Support Groups nationwide

You can find out more about how donations to LLS make a real difference at: http://www.lls.org/#/aboutlls/researchsuccesses/.

Here's to another week of running in the rain, and looking great at Sunday's wedding!

A.

Week 5

Sunday was technically a day of rest, however instead of running I stayed active with a walking 5k in Hartford. It was just something fun to do with my parents and Shawn and turned out to be an entire day spent up in Hartford, ending with a Jason Aldean concert that Shawn had won tickets for on the radio!

Randomly through out any given week intern Sarah (even though she is no longer a intern, I still distinguish her this way from the other million Sarah's in my life) and myself will have gym dates, as long as our work and vacation schedules allow, lately they haven't. We mix it up between Zumba, Body Sculpt, Boot Camp and Spinning. This morning we met up early for a Body Sculpt class, which includes weights, resistance bands and aerobic activity for an overall body workout. After a good, hard workout, a trip to Dunkin's, and a few small errands I made my way over to Misquamicut Beach for the start of my week 5 runs. 

This week is 20min run/5min walk repeat. I have already found myself getting bored running the same few routes, although I wasn't running on the beach, the fact that I could smell the saltwater and hear the waves provided some new excellent distractions.  The run went extremely well and the course I took can be found here. 

Also as a side note - I just registered for my very first 10k! It's taking place on June 26th in Boston, I'll be focusing on this smaller goal for my immediate future and hope to continue to do more side events leading up to the marathon itself, so if you hear of any in the MA/RI/CT area let me know.

J.

A Disney State of Mind

I was unable to figure out a way to post from Disney and this is the first chance I've had to blog since returning on Thursday so I'm now very behind (on blogging, not running!).

If you are reading this then you probably know me well enough to know that Disney is my favorite place on earth. I often wonder why I didn't base my career around my love for the company and the parks, it is my love of Disney that even has me training for a marathon anyway. The few days away were pretty wonderful, in between park and hotel hopping I managed to get three runs in!

On Monday I flew in, Emily was waiting for me at my gate (the perks of being on a flight that landed a half hour after hers!) and we jumped on Disney's Magical Express bus service that brings you to the hotel. After a quick check-in and visit to our room we immediately headed back out to Epcot. We stayed in the park until almost the very end, I say almost the end because we didn't stay for Illuminations. Since it was only about 9 when we arrived back at the hotel I figured a run that evening would be better than one super early the next morning. I'm still on the 15run/5walk repeat interval so I stuck with this and ran around the three All Star Resorts (Sports, Music, Movies).

Tuesday was filled with Harry Potter, a nap by the pool and a visit to Downtown Disney and the Boardwalk hotel, in short no time for a run.

I have no idea how I had the energy to get out of bed at 5am on Wednesday to run, but I did. This way the run was over and down with and our day in the Magic Kingdom could begin. I'll spare you all the super fun details but lets just say I loved it, the new expansion is going to be amazing, the new show at night that takes place on the castle is amazing and I've already got my countdown started for when I get to run through the park in January (229 days if you're wondering).

Thursday was a day of down time because we were flying home that evening. Our only real plans were that we didn't have plans, this allowed me to sleep in until 8am and then go for my run. It had sounded like a wonderful idea, until I was actual out running and it was already hot and muggy (this is when I remember why I don't live in Orlando, I dislike hot and muggy weather) but I managed to get through both sets.

I took Friday as a rest day partially because a trip to Disney always requires some rest after and because I had tickets to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie (never as good as the first but still an entertaining movie - love Capt. Jack!).

Saturday's run was uneventful and ended this week of runs!

J.

Now it's personal.

While some people are off tanning in Florida, the rest of us are in rainy CT. To fill you in on my progress, last week was last week of 3 days of interval training, and now I'm up to 4 days of training per week. The book suggests that this week is 15 minutes running and 5 minute walking, repeated twice. Sunday was close - I made it through the first 15 minutes, but only lasted 10 for the second set. Today was my longest training day so far: 12 minutes running, 5 minutes walking, 17 minutes running, 5 minutes walking, 8 minute running. In the rain [booh-yah!].

Now on to the important things... the Disney marathon and half marathon benefit the The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society® - www.lls.org. Over the weekend, I found out that a friend's father was recently diagnosed with leukemia. Most people associate leukemia with kids, but it can and does affect anyone.  My heart goes out to him and his family, and it was just the motivation I needed to get through todays very rainy run. 

From the marathon's website: "LLS uses the WALT DISNEY WORLD® Marathon Weekend as a platform to create awareness of this life saving cause, as well as to raise much needed funds for research. Participants and volunteers have the opportunity to make donations to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society directly at the point of registration or by visiting our website at runDisney.com/DisneyWorld. Each year, roughly $7 million is raised through participant and volunteer donations along with the Team in Training fundraising program. "

I know that everyone is strapped for cash at this point, as am I, so I'll try to use this as an awareness-raising event, not just a fundraising event.  As it comes closer to race day, we'll post links for online donations through the race website.

Tomorrow is a running-free day for me, and then I'll go back to the 15/5 interval for Thursday and Friday.

Cheers!
A.

Sick Day Extended

Saturday was already set to be a day off from running as I was working all day and immediately after heading down to the Cape for a quick one-night getaway. The plan was to run Sunday while on the Cape and then take today off because I'm flying down to Disney for a quick three-night getaway! However I didn't run yesterday, after having a bit of fun on Saturday night I woke up coughing (hacking cough - it was not fun) and couldn't see myself running like that. While I still attempt to recover from my cold/allergies/whatever is not making me feel well it has turned into an extended sick day. The running is set to be resumed on Tuesday, regardless of how I'm feeling, but because I'm going to the Happiest Place on Earth I can't imagine feeling sick down there! 

I also will most likely not be blogging, unless I get some downtime and figure out how to do it on my phone. So to keep you in the loop I plan on running both Tuesday and Wednesday while at Disney, repeating the 15min run/5min walk repeat this week. The other two runs will occur once I return.

Now I'm off to hang out with Emily and Mickey Mouse! 

M-I-C See you later K-E-Y Why because I like you? M-O-U-S-E!

J.

Sick Day

Yesterday I wanted to blog about my day but the server was down, so here's a recap.

I was feeling very unmotivated and spent most of the day talking myself up for the run. I came home after work and quickly changed into my clothes because I knew I had to get right back out for this run to happen. Once out running I felt great, the first 15 minutes are easier than the second 15, but I still completed both. However after the run and during my cool-down stretching I suddenly had this horrible cough that stayed with me intermittently through out the night. I was definitely not feeling at my best and was hoping sleep would help.

Then comes today.

I didn't get enough sleep but despite being a bit tired I had a plan for my day. After work I was to go to the laundromat, obviously then do laundry, while taking naps in the backseat of my car during the wash and dry cycle (like I said I was tired). From that point I would run home, change and head out on a run. Here's how the day actually panned out instead. I didn't make it to the laundromat as early as I had wanted, but I did get the naps in! After finishing up and heading home I was hungry and knew I wouldn't last for a 45 min (run/walk combo) so I changed the plan to a snack first and then a run. After the snack I still wasn't feeling up for a run and although I hate to admit this last part, the run finally got cut out completely. I'm calling it a sick day. I'm also taking tomorrow off for a trip to the Cape, but will be back on the running wagon come Sunday. Plus maybe two days off while finally kick this cold. Now if only allergy season would end, I'd be all set.

J.

Going the distance

I took a break from interval training yesterday to do one solid distance run.  We were going to a friend's house for a pre-summer bbq and campfire, so I decided to run the mile and a half after work to get there. Thankfully, my lovely roomie brought me a clean change of clothes so I wasn't so smelly all night. It was a really good feeling - being able to run with a goal and destination in mind, and not having to look at my watch every few minutes.  I'm proud to say I wasn't totally dead after it either.

Cheers to sunny days and feeling good!

A.

Trail Run

Heading out on my run today I left the aquarium with no real direction in mind. After the initial warm-up walk I ended up over by the overflow parking lot in which there are some trails that connect to a nature preserve, so I figured I would check them out. Although it had some benefits, it is not a run I would repeat. I ended up doing the first 15min run in the woods, but the whole time I was concerned about roots and awkward foot placement that I wasn't concerned with how long I had been running for (benefit) but the prospects of spraining or breaking my ankle (negative). After completing the first half on the trail run I went back out to the main roads for the second half, another day done!

J.

Medical mystery.

I'll admit, the past week didn't go quite as I had planned. After a week of having strange pains in my spleen - it's the organ under your left rib cage - I didn't want to chance anything like having it rupture (apparently running is bad if your spleen is enlarged. Ask anyone with mono how much fun it is to sit still for several weeks...) I had a doctor's appointment today, and everything looks normal and healthy, though it's still sore. Hopefully, I'll get back on track this week, stay healthy and keep trecking along. The weather forcast looks great!

Now go google spleen!

-A.

Update

Using googlemaps I've recreated the path I ran today! Enjoy.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4492395

J.

So begins another week

Yesterday started week 3 for me on the plan I'm following and I planned on going for a run, but didn't, oops. Instead I'll be starting today, this week consists of 4 runs of 15min run/5min walk repeat. For run #1 this week I'm about to lace up my sneakers and head over to Westerly, the nice weather makes it easy for me to want to go for a run. 

Plans for the day once the run is done:

           bring Jack outside.

           finish bedazzling my flipflops while outside with Jack.

   

J.

RAW is winding down...

It has been a crazy, busy week. I wouldn't have thought that attending a week of lectures on fish would be tiring but it truly is. Although that may be due to the hospitality suite, seriously what other conference provides copious amounts of beer to its attendees? Tonight was finally a change of pace as they sponsored a boat cruise out into Chesapeake Bay, the water was calm and the mood was very relaxed. I'm sure the hospitality suite is open again tonight but since A and I are presenting tomorrow we have decided to keep it low key. Plus I figured I would finally get my third run in tonight. I'm hoping the run will help calm my nerves for the presentation tomorrow.

J.

On the boardwalk

I was a bit too full after dinner last night to run, so I woke up at 6 this morning and hit the boardwalk. Well worth it! It was just after sunrise, so the sky was beautiful and pink, and there were runners and walkers all over the boardwalk. It felt very inspiring to be in such a beautiful place - running next to the ocean, and sharing it with all of these strangers. And to top it off - the running [jogging] isn't quite as painful anymore. Score!

We're off to bed soon, so we can wake up and do it again tomorrow. This time we'll try to get a picture to share.

Sweet dreams from the beach!

A.



My post has nothing to do with running, that will be saved for tomorrow morning, instead I wanted to give a quick update about the conference. After spending what would have been a regular workday listening to lectures about topics such as life support, fee-based interaction programs and fish propagation I realized how very much I still have to learn in my field. It makes me both a little nervous at how very green-thumbed (if I can even say that?) I am in the field but also very excited for my future. Today ended with a trip to the Virginia Aquarium for some food, free drinks, backup tours of their facility and my drooling at the fact that they have six Spotted Eagle Rays (yeah, I'm jealous!). Overall I would say a successful first day at my first RAW conference and am looking forward to a sunrise run with A tomorrow and another fun filled day of learning! 

J.

P.S. Happy Birthday Annah!