nice run, longest yet

I did it! Longest run evah. 4.5miles. It didn't get too hard until the last 0.5 miles. That was a whole mile over my previous record! Wow.

I ran with Becky in Wibraham. I was thinking that out of everyone training for this marathon I have the crappiest training route. Christa is at the tip of Long Island, that's gotta be the best. Ali is in Burlington, need I say more. Tara has a nice country road. Becky has a beautiful town with beautiful landscaped houses. Even Karen has some areas that are more interesting than where I live. Runnability is going to be a major factor in our future house hunting.

I don't know what my time was. I brought my watch but forgot to wear it. It doesn't matter. I'm sure it was somewhere around 11min. My legs are pretty tired now. I need to strengthen them. I started doing some simple strength exercises on my off days.

I wore new running shorts today. Becky gave me a pair. They were awesome. Gotta start a list of things needed for race day. So far the list goes something like this: (not necessarily things that I need to buy beforehand, just things I need to have on hand that day)
towel
tank top
running shorts
watch
hat (or visor? I get so hot and sweaty I wonder if a visor would be cooler)
ipod and headphones
sunglasses
sneakers
socks
underwear
some kind of food
water bottle
water

Any other suggestions welcome.

1 in 10

I think that's what Ali said..... 1 out of every 10 runs is that dream run, the one you strive for every time you run. Today was that run. I did 3 miles, which isn't the most I've done, but it's right up there. And it was great. My mind was wandering all over the place. I completed the run in 32:56. Consistency is my middle name.

So now I have 9 sucky runs to look forward to. sigh

still a challenge

It started and ended difficultly. The middle was ok. I am proud that I made it the full 3.5mi but a little miffed that it doesn't seem to be getting any easier.

I did the interior neighborhood zigzag loop. 3.5 laps. It's boring but safe. I need to do 4.5mi this weekend and I think I may do a loop that takes me far from home (well as far as a 4.0 mile loop can take me). I'm nervous about being that far away from home. I may take a fanny pack and bring my cell phone.

My overall time was 11:19 per mile. The first mile I actually broke 11:00, 10:49! I really hope it starts getting easier from here on out. I'm getting nervous that there's only 5 weeks left and I haven't gone above 3.5mi.

catch up

I fell behind this week. It was a tough week. I'm going to blame it on the cold that I seem to have come down with. The week started off tough and I thought it would pick up, but it never seemed to. Each and every run was hard. But I stuck with it and only came in shy 0.5mi for the week. Unfortunately I wasn't able to do a 4miler like I was supposed to. (I posted a link on the right to my training schedule)

I'm pretty proud of myself for going out and doing a couple of miles today even tho I feel like crap. I wish I could say I felt better afterwards, but..... still feeling pretty crappy. Going to bed soon. Tomorrow will be a day of rest.

I find it quite interesting that I ran faster today then I normally do. My first mile I did in 10:39. That's considerably faster than my normal 11:00. Guess I just wanted to get it over with.

yesterday, 3mi

I did 3mi yesterday. Broke it up and did 2miles then had to come into the house to blow my nose and get some water. It was a hard 3miles. I was supposed to do 4 but...... oh well.

not an easy 3

(posting for last night's run)
Yes, I made it. It wasn't easy. I'm feeling it today too. Lesson learned: do not take 3 days off from running, it will set you back.

Got in a discussion with my neighbor this morning about running (again). She keeps saying "I'm not a runner", "my lungs aren't made for it", "I run like a smoker", etc....... I'm sorry but I think that's such bullshit. I don't think anyone's lungs are made for it. I use to think just like her, way back before I had it in my head to start running. But the truth is you can train your body to do anything. You just need patience. You aren't going to run a 5K right away. You start with 30 sec here, then a mile, then a few more.... Given time I could probably run a full marathon. It might take me 3 years to get there, but with patience and perseverance I'm pretty sure I could do it. Now the question remains, do I want to do it? And at this moment in my life I'm going to say an emphatic, NO WAY!!

not so easy, not so breezy

only 2 miles. Taking 3 days off makes coming back all the harder. Still, 2miles is way more than I could have done a year ago. I like to look at the positives.

Not much to say about the run. Glad I went. Glad it's over.

easy breezy 3.5

I did it! My long run for the week. 3.5mi, the most I've ever run in my life. Are you sick of hearing that yet? I'm not!

I went down through Whittier development and back, 2mi then a mile and a half around my neighborhood loop. It broke up it.

an orange cat peeked out from behind a car, a dog ran out after me with fangs (owner called it back), 2 ducks flying overhead, a very cute brown border collie with beautiful eyes who assumed the play mode at me with a tennis ball (wish I could have played with him/her), a black lab on leash who leaned toward me, a house for sale, new on the market, that looks a lot like ours and had a free handout with all the specs, larger interior than ours, not too many people out, the border collie's family was nice, little boy, little girl, father smiled, listened to DMB (my new favorite to put me in motion), Sarah Mclachlan, Shawn Colvin, Lyle Lovitt, wonder what he's doing these days, too bad he and Julia didn't last, wonder why they got married in the first place, is she pregnant again? OOh pain in my side, glad I'm on the last 1/2 mi, have to go back and get that handout on the house to show matt.......

OK, enough of my ramblings. I'm sure there were more, but those were the highlights. I had my watch. My first lap was 2mi which I did in 22:05, the next lap was 1mi that I did at 11:02. I may be slow but I sure am consistent. Now if I can just keep that up for 5.5mi we'll be all set.

1+ mile on 'mill

It wasn't on the spreadsheet but I just felt like it. We went to BJs at lunchtime and I ate some samples. Figured I'd burn some of them off. I just did a mile running then walked the rest. 42min worth. That is all.

'mill, slightly better performance

I set the 'mill for 3mi, did 1.5 running, 0.5 walking, 1.0 running. It was hard, but it felt good. Especially now that it's over.

It's snowing again. sigh

dreadmill...... so true, so true

I dreaded it. And because I dreaded it, I didn't perform well. I did my 3miles, but not all at a run. They were 14.3 min miles. That's not even going to get us across the finish line. Good thing the marathon isn't on a treadmill.

That's all I'm going to say about that one. It's not even worth the blog space.

3 miles baby!

I made it 3 whole miles. So now I know I can do the first leg as long as it's 37deg, sunny, I have music, my hands aren't freezing, I have kleenex and it's in my neighborhood.

This will be a quick message so I can go out and play in the snow with the kids......

the stats:
mile 1 - 9:17+1:35 (stop in between for kleenex and gloves)
mile 2 - 11:38
mile 3 - 12:04

I intentionally slowed down in the last mile so I'm not surprised to see that. All that's important now is that I made it. Yay!

confident run

Today I did not want to run. I was supposed to run yesterday but blew it off. Running on the 'mill is to be avoided at all cost and I wasn't able to run after Matt got home. So I put it off until this evening. And I DID NOT want to go. But I made myself. The spreadsheet is god. It says I run 2.5 miles, I run. (ignoring the fact that I just edited that spreadsheet the other night and if I wanted to change all the entries to 1 mile I could do it). But what I am trying to say (in not a very quick way) is that every time I go into a run thinking I don't want to run it, I come out of the run feeling awesome and so glad I did it. Why can't I remember that? Maybe I do and that's what got me out there in the first place. I don't know.

But it was an awesome run. It was easy. My lungs burned here and there. Mostly on the little hill. But I tried some deep breathing exercises and that helped a lot. I had a side cramp for a few seconds that went away with the deep breathing. I ran with my sneakers very loose. My toes never felt numb. In fact it felt like I was wearing slippers, just like the salesperson said it should. My legs felt strong the whole way. I could have gone 3mi. I was thinking I would but decided there was plenty of time for that. In fact my next run is 3mi and with this new found confidence I'm sure I can do it.

Here are my stats: (wore my watch, thanks to M@'s reminder)
I did my favorite neighborhood zigzag loop (see previous posts)

Total distance: 2.5mi
lap 1: 1mi, 11:08
lap 2: 1/2mi, 5:50
lap 3: 1/2mi, 5:27
lap 4: 1/2mi, 6:00
Total time: 28:25

Music: (that I can remember and in no particular order)
DMB Spoon, Louisiana Bayou, #41, Say Goodbye
Alanis Morisette Head over Heals
BNL Jane
other songs tried to start but I forwarded by them. Guess I'm beyond the Tom Petty kick. Or maybe just taking a break. DMB was the music of choice this time around.

Oh yeah, the neighborhood was buzzing even though it was 33deg out there. A local newspaper was soliciting all over, there were probably about 6 teenagers that I passed over and over. People were out shoveling. A dog tried to trip me. Someone beeped at me (I think). I'm not comfortable with the audience. Hopefully that will be different when they are actually cheering me on.

run, interrupted

I waited for matt to get home from work. I made him and the kids their dinner and got myself all ready. Went out around 5:35 and got done around 6:05. So that was 2.5 miles in 30min. Yes, that's what I said, 2.5 MILES! It hurt, it burned, but it wasn't all that bad. My thighs still hurt from painting this past weekend. Sounds kind of strange but I guess I must have done a lot of deep knee bends. I did a different loop. maybe I'll post the route some other time. Not feeling the motivation to do it right at the moment.

I got a cramp. Becky jinxed me. She posed the question yesterday, what to do about cramps? I half listened to Tara's response. All I could remember was the part about holding your arm above your head. So I did that, but it wasn't going away. I probably ran with it for about .2mi until I got to my house, which was the 2mi mark. I was determined to make it 2mi without stopping. I walked it out in the driveway then did another .5mi. Does that count as doing 2.5mi? I didn't stop moving in between.

On the advice of my teammates I have upped my mileage. I think it's true that on raceday that the adrenaline will get me through the last half mile, but I've never done this before and think I'll need to prove to myself that I can actually run 5.5miles. The extra confidence will calm the nerves on raceday. Right now it's hard to believe that I'll actually be able to do it. That's over an hour of running. OMG!

2miles, what a breeze!

who knows why, maybe it's running in the morning, maybe it's a change of music, maybe it's because I had a glass of water beforehand, but today's 2miles was soooo easy! I need more like that. I am amazed every time I get to this point, that I've gotten to this point! If that makes any sense whatsoever. I just feel so utterly amazed that I can do this. It feels great.

I did my usual loop around the neighborhood. I had a mix of some of my favorite songs on the pod. I made the mix for the car but it works well for running. I find that I don't need rockin' tunes for running. They just need to be songs I like. They can be real slow or real fast, it doesn't matter. They don't even need to have a specific beat. I was listening to Break Your Heart, it's super slow. But I was singing, well lip syncing and it totally got my mind off of my feet.

Speaking of my feet. I wore my new sneaks and made sure I had thin socks and my toes didn't go numb! Yay! I notice I keep my toes really tight even when there is plenty of room for them to move around. I was conscious about loosening them up a bit.

OK I had more to write, I was thinking of things as I was running. But that was about an hour ago and I've forgotten most of what I meant to type. Gotta go help with the trim painting now.