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.