new shoes!!!

What better motivation is there for going out for a run on a cold wintery friday night than a new pair of shoes, a spanking brand new neon yellow vest and a head lamp? Ok so i'm on something like my eighth pair of gel nimbus' but these are even cooler b/c check out the name of the shoe's color..."Brown/Rootbeer/Latte" Maybe the rootbeer shoes will help me reach all my new goals! I'll keep you posted. Maybe I should start drinking rootbeer as well hmmm... maybe there is a theory in here somewhere...

Running in Snow

So is it weird that i woke up early the day after thanksgiving... looked out the window and said "it snowed! i'm going for a run!"? Now, had i looked outside and saw that it was gray and just kind of wet - i wouldn't have been so excited about running - but the fact that it snowed was enough to get me up and moving. This run was pretty cool b/c of the weird fall we've had... while the ground was covered with snow and even the streets had not been totally cleared - there we still leaves on the trees. This one particularly beautiful yellow that looked like it finally gave in once the snow came b/c on top of the snow was a beautiful ring of freshly fallen yellow leaves. While i was running i was thinking about an article in runners world that was talking about not gaining weight over the holidays. The one articles said get out there and run, even if it's not your best run, the longer you keep your legs moving the more calories you burn up. Well maybe that's not what it said - but that's what i got out of it. Let me tell you that was the only thing that kept moving that day - my legs were like lead! When all was said and done i ran about 4.5 miles at about a nine minute pace -- not real quick - but i burned off some turkey and got to see some really awesome sights of fall clashing with winter.

Turkey Trot

So Steve and I ran the turkey trot for this first time this thanksgiving. let me tell you - i am so glad that we signed up ahead of time - b/c there is no way i would have gotten up that morning to go run if I had not already paid my money and had my goofy turkey t-shirt in hand. Let me start by saying i love running in the snow...but i hate hate hate running in 34-40 rainy cold nastiness -- and that is exactly what was in store for me when i woke up the morning. funny it was 65 degrees the previous afternoon -- ahh gotta love ohio. So anyway I decided to just get the five miles in - not to worry too much about my time -- - just get out there and run. Well the race started and I almost got run over by some chocolate lab that was not on a leash - that was just having a grand old time running in between all the runners and barking at other dogs. there were an awful lot of dogs out there on thursday -- not sure why. but i digress -- the first mile was sooooo long and when i got there the guy said "9:20" and I was like oh well guess it's going to be a bad day. then i remembered to check the time on my watch... "7:45" much better. So instead of slowing down on mile two like i always seem to do - i made it my goal to catch as many people as I could. The race went really well from there on out. The only real tough part was where the race turned to go down and around brown's stadium. I was thinking to myself - oh good you can speed up here on the downhill -- not so much -- the wind was blowing so hard and the rain had turned into sleet/ice so i was running with one eye shut trying to make it down the hill. Now i have fallen down hills before -- but i have never had this much trouble getting to the bottom of a hill!! it was a relief when we turned to go back up the hill and the wind was at our backs! Anyway - five miles - final time 40:55 -- 26 out of 198 in my age group-- and something like 549 out of 1875 or something like that -- i am very happy -- goal next year - -top ten in my age group and next five miler -- breaking 40... enough rambling for now... happy running!!

funny outfits

ok - since i haven't written in so long i have a lot of thoughts to share today. Yesterday - got home from work and got dressed for my run. Black running tights (very proud of myself - have gotten over enough self-consciousness to actually wear tights in public with out shorts over them) bright orange long sleeve shirt, water belt, reflective vest for safety and topped it all off with one red glove and one teal glove. For those of you that have run with us - you will note that steve and i have about four sets of these one teal glove, one red glove combinations -- why we can't pair the correct colors together you ask? not sure - apparently we think dressing like a clown will help our run. who knows. well i was sitting there looking at how stinking dark it is outside thinking to myself -- so much for the running ephinany of earlier in the day - i do not want to go out into the dark. then i looked at myself in the mirror and said i should not go out in public like this -- i look insane -- kind of like a rambo crossing guard -- i tried to take a picture with my cell phone but it didn't come out real clear - hopefully i can upload it. But looking at my ridiculousness i realized that this is part of why i do this... is it ridiculous to go run in the dark where there are no sidewalks dressed like a clown when other people are sitting on their nice warms couches? yes it is - and that is exactly what i love about running. I took my watch - not to time myself - simply to make sure i had some idea of how long i was out there for - and i just ran. I simply ran - I got stuck in the middle of hillside road where it was pitch black with no sidewalks. i had to jump out of the way of several cars who apparently could not see my stylish vest -- but i made it safe and sound and thoroughly enjoyed my run. I felt like I was jogging the whole time - not putting out to much effort -- i mapped out where i had gone when i got home... 6.5 miles at exactly a 9 minute pace -- pretty good for being just an easy jog for me. Imagine if i would have pushed it...

i'm back

i've had an ephiany of sorts - i may not know how to spell the word - but i'm pretty certain that's what happened -- a running ephiany. this ephinany occured to me on monday november 18th. here's the story. I haven't been running too much lately - i've been exercising - don't get me wrong - but i've been exercising to lose weight - not to train for anything specific -- there is a very big difference between the two. When you are just exercising to lose weight - you'll do what ever is easier and more convenient - hence why i've been getting most of my workouts on the bike trainer. With my schedule as hectic as it has been - i'll take a calorie burning workout whenever i can - and most of the time it's at about eleven o'clock at night (and even in our safe city - i don't think that's the best idea to go for a run at that time of night by myself) or at 5:30 in the morning it's a lot easier to drag your butt out of bed to just go down to your warm basement where you can work out while watching whatever shows you've tivo'd during the week than it is to get your butt out in the dark to go for a run. Oh and the pool at the rec center has been closed for i think about five months -- so here i am spinning a lot and running when I can. The only redeming this is I am doing well on the weight loss front -- went from a size 10 - 157 lbs to currently a size 6 - 133 pounds. I'd like to be on the other side of 130 - but these last few pounds are slow going. So here's the weird thing - running less - not training for everything - so not calculating all the miles and all the minutes - and i find i'm getting faster. Is it merely b/c of the weight loss? is it b/c i'm for once not over analyzing myself?

well back to the ephiany - I ran the pigskin 5k on saturday - my goal was to run eight minute miles -- guess what i did it -- finished in 24:54 which is just above an eight minute mile. and guess what -- if i hadn't freaked out that the first mile was too fast and that if i didn't slow down i would end up running a forty minute 5k -- then i probably could have run maybe a 23 something. I swear i am my worst enemy when i comes to running - if i'm going to slow - i get way down on myself - if i'm going to fast - i say woah slow down you can't go that fast. so i started thinking about running and what i've accomplished since i started back up again. so i went through and i made a file of pdf's of all the races i've done since steve and i started back to running in 2005. Here's what i've found -- i've accomplished a lot - 2 marathons and 3 half marathons - plus a ton of other races. I'm pretty proud of myself. But when i look at my times - i know that i can do better. most of my 5k times are around 29 minutes -- and not that there is anything wrong with that - but back in the day when i was not nearly in as good of shape as i am now - i could bust out a sub 21 minutes 5k. So I started thinking about it, trying to figure out what is holding me back - is it the crazy work schedule, along with getting married in 73 days along with trying to redo an entire house, perhaps a bit - but the real culprit is me. So - here's the challenge i'm issuing myself -- stop selling yourself short - you are capable of more than you think. Number two - i'm putting my two main goals out there for everyone to see (well steve and elizabeth - the ones who read this blog anyway)

#1) sub 21 minute 5k
#2) sub 1 hours 50 minute half marathon
#3) sub 4 hour marathon
#4) complete olympic length triathlon

I've got a long long way to go to get there -- namely cutting 48 minutes off my marathon time -- but i know i'm capable. it's no longer a matter of can i do a marathon or a half marathon -- now it's a matter of getting my butt through that distance a whole lot faster

who needs to train for a half marathon?

Ok - so it's been a rough couple of months, my leg was hurt, my back was hurt etc... i know whine and complain whine and complain. Well i took about two - two and half months off of running. I started swimming a bunch and spinning on the trainer to keep in shape - but no running - save the 5k chili bowl that I ran. I missed st malachi and to catch a leprechaun (i'm pretty upset about not having these shirts) So long story short - a while back i signed up for the DC National 1/2 marathon. Steve and I were planning on going down there, do some sight seeing, visit his cousins and I would run the race. Well seeing as how I haven't run over six miles since I crossed the finish line at Nike on October 22nd - i wasn't sure how this race was going to well. Well i just started running - up behind the capital building - down to the washington monument... it was one of the best feeling races I've ever run. I ended up beating my first half marathon time by a minute or two and I finished that race with the biggest smile on my face ever. I looked over at Steve and said "Who says you need to train for a half marathon?" I was so happy that i was able to run the race that well let alone run the whole thing with out being swept off the course. I didn't think I had it in me after such a long break. So post race rap up - everything felt really good - think my leg is back to normal back isn't doing to bad - so it's back to running this week. Hopefully when the cinci 1/2 marathon comes around in 5 weeks I'll be a little more physically prepared and hopefully I'll be able to run it just like DC -- no overanalysing -- just enjoying the run for the sake of the run. I'm thinking about doing the towpath marathon in the fall -- anyone have any thoughts on that one?

what kind of clown hurts themselves while bowling?

Ok -- it's February 12th, 355 days til the wedding - and even scarier - 6 weeks til the DC 1/2 marathon. Haven't been running for the last oh -- 3-4 weeks -- having some pain in my right leg. Stopped running -- leg was still hurting. Stopped bowling -- leg stopped hurting - bowled two nights in a row ( i know i know you're thinking how can someone have such a stellar social life that they bowl once a week let alone two nights in a row?) Leg hurt like heck after the two nights of bowling!! Well anyway I really think i have been hurting myself from the way i shift my weight when i throw the ball! What kind of weirdo am I? Here i am being all sad and fat from not running -- and it might be because of bowling!!! Well i ordered new running shoes and got new inserts for my shoes. So -- going to try for a few miles on the treadmill tonight before pilates. Hopefully the new shoes combined with a new bowling style should correct my leg issues so that i can run this dc half marathon in a somewhat respectable time!! Wish me luck on this one kids!

passwords passwords

Am I the only person out there who can not remember their login and passwords to all of the eight billion online accounts that they have? I have had such problems recovering my username and password for this blog - hence the long absence! But ok - i'm back. So - since we've last chatted I've been very busy trying to get back into the swing of things and plan our upcoming wedding. The wedding is taking up a lot of time what with different appointments and stuff - but it is also motivating me to get back to running. Did you know that they make wedding dresses 2-4 size smaller than real dress sizes!!!? that means i'm trying on size 14's!!! I don't want to remember my wedding dress as a size 14! That being said - I've got a lot of work to do. I took my first pilates class on Monday (figured I needed to add some more strength training and toning to my regimine.) Let me tell you - i must have the core muscles of a large wet noodle! I am finally not sore today -- it's Friday!!! isn't that crazy? I'm excited to go back though - maybe I'll finally get my abs into some sort of shape! I'm currently trying to figure out what races I am going to do this year. Any suggestions for my first triathlons this summer?

Need to Run

I went to a really nice dinner this week with some Marathon Runners from TNT. We sat around and ate really good food and discussed all of our marathon experiences. It was a really amazing to learn that we all felt the same way... that running our respective marathons had truly changed us, and that the experience of Team in Training was something we never could forget. We also talked about how we didn't want it to be over, we wanted to keep running. I haven't run in almost two weeks now (since the San Fran marathon) and I am crawling out of my skin! Not only do I feel like a whale, I'm tired and crabby. When did I become a person who needed to run? Well as a group we decided to get together and run the Cleveland half in the spring. So there we go -- my first goal for 2007 - the cleveland half (i'm excited about this one because they have really cool medals - and it will be the 30th anniversary of the race I believe) So - steve is on his way to the doctor as we speak -- keep your fingers crossed that he will get good news about his legs!

first timer

Ok,

So I don't know about this whole blogging thing. seems to be the thing to do though...so i thought i might give it a try....i know what you are thinking ... and yes if everyone jumped off a bridge...i might jump too! ha!