New Year

Wow, I just re-read my old posts and wish I hadn't taken such a long break. It's good to go back and read about what my workouts were like and what I was going through. I can't believe it's been over three months since I've posted anything. Let's see, I've run a 10K and a Turkey Trot and am less than 8 weeks away from my half marathon. I'm scheduled to run 9 miles this weekend. The 10K was great considering I wasn't trained for it. The Turkey Trot (8K) was awesome- I averaged an 8:33 pace which is great for me!

Right now I'm kind of stuck in the doldrums of winter training. It's cold and I don't like to run in the cold- especially 9 miles. Tomorrow morning I'm facing 7 miles on a treadmill with speedwork thrown in. I'm afraid I won't be able to get all my miles in before getting kicked off the treadmill. (There's a 30 minute time limit.) The gym was packed with people and their New Year Resolutions so, I'll have to see.

My leg has been acting up which is my biggest concern. It was super sore last week. Fortunately it was my recovery week so I took a day off and just had two four mile runs to do. It doesn't hurt at all now, but I have a 20 mile week this week and a 21 mile week next week. I hope it holds up.

I'm excited for the race, but at the moment I can't fathom running 13.1 miles. It seems so long! After my last 8 mile run I was beat and I couldn't help wondering if I could possibly do another 5. I have to say the answer was a resounding "NO!"

Iron Girl x2

I'm officially signed up to do the IronGirl Columbia next August. I was surfing the internet last night and decided to check out the website. To my surprise, not only was registration open, but it was getting full. There were over 100 M's registered! I panicked slightly and contemplated waking up my husband to see if I should register then and there. I decided to take my chances and see if it was still open today.

Well it is, and I'm registered. I'm excited to train again (this time I won't start so early) and improve my time. Now I have two goals, the half marathon and the tri.

Week one down

I'm done with week one of my training. I'm not blogging to say that. I'm actually writing to laugh at myself. I ran 5 miles today. The run started off really well. It was cold outside, but I warmed up quickly. I had no time goals, I just needed to get 5 miles in. Around mile 2 1/2 of an out an back course, I remember thinking how well the run was going and I was having one of those days when I feel like I can run forever. I haven't had one of those in a long time. I thought, "I wonder if I'll actually run further", which led to "I wonder how far I can run?".

Where's the laughing at myself part of that, you ask? Well it came of the back side of the out and back. The reason I was having such a great run is because the wind was at my back on the way out. Needless to say, the run wasn't as effortless on the way back. I chuckled to myself as the wind hit me in the face. And no, I didn't run any further than five miles.

day one down

I went to the gym at 5:30 this morning and ran 3 miles. Just like I was supposed to. I forgot my ipod which really irritates me. I can't log in my miles manually so it says I'm three miles behind on my training log. For a exercise control freak like me, that's annoying. Oh well, I'll consider it therapy.

Now that I've exercised, I need to get control of my eating. I'm off to a good start. I usually fall apart mid-afternoon so I'll try my best to get through that.

back on the wagon?

I have been undisciplined, unmotivated and discouraged for the past month. I haven't exercised much and have struggled with how to get back into it. I wonder if it's post triathlon blues? Really. I worked so hard for so long and then didn't have any goals. I just fell apart. I think (hope) I'm finally ready to get back on the exercise wagon.

I downloaded a 10K training program from Nike.com. I can track my progress using my iPod. Tomorrow it officially starts. I run 3 miles. This weekend it's 5. It takes me through January and I'll max out at 8 miles. That gives me 7 weeks to jump to 13 before my half-marathon. It may not be enough time. I'll have to see how it goes.

I did The Biggest Loser workout this afternoon. It was hard. I'm out of shape. It's discouraging how quickly it happens. A few weeks ago I was in great shape and now I'm back to mush. Wouldn't it be nice if once you got there, you stayed there? In my dreams. I sound like a whiner. Where is Jillian to kick my whiney butt? She would too. I know she'd probably make me cry like a baby and make my body do things it can't. It would be good for me though; that is, after I stop crying and can walk again.

All signed up!

I'm officially signed up for the half marathon. I'm excited! I've also joined a group at sparkpeople.com of women who are also running it. I'm hoping it will motivate me to lose those 10 (now 15) pounds I've been struggling with.

I'm running a 5K this weekend at my 20th high school reunion. Just typing that feels weird. How did 20 years go by so quickly? I don't feel that old! Sometimes when I catch a glimpse of myself at the right angle I look that old, but most of the time I'm in denial and think I still look pretty young. Well, I'm not trained for the 5K (I'm noticing a pattern here.) It's on the cross country course which I think means it will be a little harder than running on the road. But, on the positive side; it's better for my legs. I think I've run maybe 4 times since the 10K and gained 5 pounds. Should be interesting...

from Iron Girl to Princess?!!

Oh, I crack myself up. I am an obsessed person in need of some serious help. So this is what happened.... I got my latest issue of Runner's World and I'm looking through it when an advertisement catches my eye. It's the Inagural Disney Princess Half Marathon. It just happens to be when our family goes to Florida every year. There's a Family 5K and various kids races. How perfect. I've been searching for a new goal and this fits perfectly. Okay, I'm officially training for a half marathon in March.

As I'm reading through the information on the website, I happen upon the part that says if you can't prove you can finish the race in under 2 hours and 45 minutes you get placed in the last corral. Well, I can finish it in under that time (that's a 13:30 minute pace). What do I need to do to prove it? They accept any race results of a 10K or higher dating back to 2006. What, 2006? Not 2002?! I ran a 10 mile race and marathon in 2002, but haven't even come close since. What am I going to do? I don't want to start in the last corral!

When I was training for my triathlon I thought about doing a 10K to support Special Olympics. After my hard recovery and lack of motivation I wrote about in my last post, I decided not to. I've only run 3x since the Women's 4 miler and I don't race unless I feel like I can do my best. Well, guess who just went against all her own rules? Yup, me. On Saturday morning I was lining up with 400+ people to run a 10K (6.2 miles) that I wan't exactly trained for.

I was so pleasntly surprised by my results. I ran it in 54:58 which comes out to a 8:52 minute pace. I was thinking I could run it in about a 10 minute pace so I'm really happy. I also ran the race really smart. My first mile was 9:18 and I picked it up from there. My last mile was very tough, but I pushed myself at the end.

So, I'm a woman with a goal once again. I'd like to drop 10 pounds before March because I think it will help my running immensely. I feel much better.