run run baby

Run 5K...check. Yeah, baby.

Whoo-hoo!

Sonnie and I ran a 5K! And we didn't die! Whoo-hoo!

We ran at a medium pace and didn't come in dead last (though close to it). Sonnie finished in 33 minutes and 59 seconds, and I was right behind her at 34. It was pretty laid back, and the route wasn't too confusing (we were afraid we'd be so far behind that we'd get lost and have to give up half way through) and there were a few puppies running with their owners, which was fun. My knee bothered me when we were coming down on some of the hills and I had to keep reminding myself to breathe, but I feel great now!

The best news is that Sonnie and I now know a sweet 5K route on campus and any one who wants to (I'm looking at you, Mary!) (though anyone and everyone is/are welcome!) can train without going in circles or jogging in place. We talked this morning about doing it every Saturday (that's what she said) but that might have been the runner's high talking. Ask me again tomorrow.

Anyway, yay for 5Ks! I don't think I would have made it this far without the encouragement and camaraderie of y'all. I'm looking forward to improving my time and my endurance and my distance and meeting each of you at the finish line. <3

... or bust

Yes, Sonnie convinced me to throw myself at the mercy of 5K's feet. Baring bad weather, we'll be at the starting line on campus at 8:00am. I'm pretty nervous - I haven't actually run over two consecutive miles yet and somehow, I doubt that the last four weeks of travel and road food have really helped prepare me for a race. I keep telling myself that this is just to see how far along I am, what I'm really capable of, and also that some people will be walking the race, so I will most likely not come in last AND if I need to walk a few yards here and there, no one is going to throw me out and call me a failure. Right? Right. (Gulp!)

So wish us luck! Hopefully we'll have some good news to report back to y'all tomorrow.

Crick in my step...

Tomorrow is 5K day and I'm hoping it doesn't rain in the a.m. I just got back from a run at the outdoor campus track. *Jeffy I'm going to talk about TMI stuff now so you can click out of here if you'd like.*

I'm amazed at how hard I had to struggle today on my run. I know all women are different when it comes to their cycles and I am one of the unfortunate ones. Most of my pain I would say is in my back and in my legs and both continued to stay tight for the majority of my run. Ugh. It's so frustrating! *Jeffy...that was all...I hope it didn't make you cringe*

I was just about half way through with my sixth lap around the concourse (minus the hills) when a friggin' moving van started to back up onto the track to get closer to the Athletic building. Arrrrgh!

So, I stopped running and figured the van would stop soon but no it keeps coming my way. The only thing at the moment to do was to turn around and head in the direction I just came from.

I was thinking okay no biggie. I'll just run the other way. I picked up my feet and started to pound pavement and then the legs cramped up. Damn. I should never have stopped running. *sigh*

Up until this point the whole time I was running my legs were killing me because they were so tight. By the time I rounded the corner and counted my sixth lap my legs were just starting to loosen up until I stopped because of the moving van. Once I tried to start running again all the previous pain came back plus one to grow on.

I really do believe I could have completed 8 laps today which would have put me about 3.1 miles. I might have completed it around 45-50 minutes but I would have still accomplished my goal. So, even though I didn't manage to do 8 today I still feel encouraged that I can finish out tomorrow's 5K. Lord help me and please Ibuprofen be bountiful.

Sunless in Eugene

Hi ya'll!

I'm still here and keepin' on keepin' on.

I haven't ran since Friday, but I have been to the gym two other times to lift weights and work out on the elliptical. I have no pants that fit me to prove that I have been sticking with it. I have yoga tonight and I'll get back on the treadmill tomorrow morning. I have this week off so there is no reason for me to waste this time. In-between job hunting and grad school application I will increase my running distance. Watch out treadmill ... here I come!

My friend is coming from Portland tomorrow and if it is nice we'll be hitting the mountain for a little hiking action. I may have to put off the treadmill one more day, but most likely it will be still be raining and I'll be running alone and bored. This whole working out alone thing sucks the big one!

Oh and if the sun doesn't come out and stay out soon, I may scream.

Track Tuesday

Hey where are y'all? It's like the Sonnie show around here these days.

I went to the track during my lunch hour today.

I went around the outdoor track (Homer Bryce Stadium)a total of eight times and ran five of them. I ran the two miles in about 23-24 minutes. I was going to run the 3 miles but decided not too because I'm still feeling a slight twinge in my knee after yesterday's one hour recumbent bike ride.

Hope all is well. The weather in Nac is gorgeous!

Oh Moanday...

Chrissy and I have decided to definitely sign up for the 5K that will be this Saturday on campus. I hope more peeps will join us.

Yesterday, during my lunch hour I took a horror novel with me to the Rec Center and stayed on a recumbent bicycle for 60 minutes. I rode a little over 11 miles.

It made my right knee feel a little off.

Last night I met Chrissy and Mary at the Rec Center and we jogged and walked on the track. Our jogging and walking consisted of running two laps and walking one. We kept that up for about 30 minutes.

Mary and I stayed a little longer and did lower body weight training.

5K March 29th on SFA Campus

Look what I found:

5K in Nac!

Is anyone interested in registering for this?

I did it!

If I am using mapmyrun.com correctly then I accomplished running my 3.1 miles and just a bit more today. I ran the above route three times which came out to 3.25 miles.

I hit the pavement in my neighborhood and forced those miles out of myself. It took me 40 min 21 sec which is sloooooooow but ya know I'd rather worry about completing the 3 miles than worrying about how long it took me. I'll work on the time later when I can become consistent with pushing out a 3 mile run.

The weather today was warm which added a little difficulty to my run but man the little hills that I had to climb didn't seem like much in the beginning but after the second mile holy moly my calves were burning!

I'm so happy with myself today.

I hope everyone is enjoying this gorgeous weather of low 80s and sunshine. (sorry Kealy!!)

...

Last night I met the girls at the gym. All had been lax on the running gig so we all headed feet first into switching from walking a lap to running a lap.

Some of the laps that were ran were challenging sprints so we sweated quite a bit and I think we were all a bit exuberant about getting back into the groove again.

Tomorrow's Another Day

Well, after two weeks of getting thrown up on, sneezed on, coughed on, snot-wiped-on by my three sick mice (and my husband was out of town most of Spring Break), I am in big need of getting out to run again. It's been two weeks since I last did. The insoles that I bought help, but I need to get some better ones still. I only had enough on me to get the super cheap-o ones last time. I'm sure I'll have to start all over again by now!

---

Tuesday evening I met up with M at the Rec Center. Even though neither of us were very fond of the idea of running we actually pulled off two miles. Granted we had a lap or two of walking in between the two miles we still pounded them out. I'm glad we did it because I felt a bit more in the groove and in the end it felt good all around.

I think I'll be more focused once spring break is over. I'm starting to feel antsy and I know it'll be a relief to start running again.

walk it out

Yesterday I met Mary at the Rec Center and we sweated it out a bit at the track. We're both trying to get ourselves back into the game so we started out by walking a lap and jogging a lap for 30 minutes. I was energized afterwards and felt good to be back in the land of track dwellers again.

We'll be meeting up at the gym again tonight.

I've put on a couple of pounds while my parents were visiting from Ohio. Pants are feeling a bit tight and the extra weight is understandably making my knees very angry. That is not good, but I am getting back to it and happy to be sweating again.

(Gasp.)

Just ran 3 miles... (gasp) veryouttashape (gasp) this is dumb (gasp) kuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuugfm vjhhhhhhhvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvj (my face in the keyboard) (double gasp)

are there any 1Ks?

For you Nac. peeps there is a March of Dimes WALK 9 a.m. Saturday, April 19, at Pecan Park. (gasp)
You can sign up the day of at 8a.m. and there is a t-shirt contest for the team with the best T-shirt...

Hello!

I'm still here and going strong (sort of). I finally was able to run a 12 minute mile. Freakin' A. Took me long enough. I feel like I was the only one who couldn't do it. haven't been able to do 3 miles without stopping and I'm a little worried that I won't be able to make it by April. I've only been able to run 2 miles once ... and very slowly.

Here's my game plan:

I have 6 more weeks before the big day. I can almost always run 1-1/2 miles. I just need to increase my running distance by 1/4 of a mile each week. No problem. Who knows, maybe by the time I get to the big day I'll be able to go further. I need to stop focusing on time and just focus on distance. Speed will have to wait for the next race.

Still kicking...just not running this week.

All is quiet on the exercise front for me this week. My parents are visiting from Ohio and I have been enjoying just hanging with them.

I have been walking when the weather allows and luckily my dad is keeping up with the pups and I on our one hour long walks around the neighborhood.

I hope everyone is recovering from injuries, the I don't wannas, and whatever else that presents itself as an obstacle to our 5K mission.

Week Off for the Weak-Off

Hello pals,

This past week for me was extra lame-o running wise. MRT thinks I have hit a wall and need to do more cross-training to breach it. We'll see. My ankle is not too bad now, but it's not like I've been working it too hard.

Tuesday, we mostly just walked while I spilled job-related rage and frustration to Sonnie and Chrissy at the rec center.

Thursday I skipped because I ended up going to a meeting for and joining the Stepford Wives of Nacogdoches, who are very nice people that make terrible tuna sandwiches. But I don't mind. The spirit of volunteering is alive with them, plus another friend is in it. It's the perkiness that is creepy.

Saturday, I was too tired for serious crafting, plus I was busy eating pancakes and you know how that is.

So Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! I finally decide: okay, lame-o, let's get our runnin' britches on. So I decided to shoot for 5.3 pace on the treadmill, which puts my pace just over the 11 minutes/mile that I knew I could do. Well, I made it just short of one mile before I got a crick (crik?) in my back and had to return to fast walking for a couple minutes. When I returned to "running," I lowered the pace to 4.9 and was able to, between the first jogging section and fast walking, complete two miles in a very lackluster 26 minutes. Overall, I walked/jogged 4 miles on the treadmill.

I am really not progressing right now. I am disappointed, but I'm not going to quit. Anyone have some good tips? Should I bring my pace back down and go on some more 20+ minute sprees? Should I try to pick up the pace and just run in shorter bursts?

This week I am going back to trying hard again. Pancakes be damned! Any input is appreciated.

Sincerely,
Lame-O

Knee-ding to Recoup

I didn't run at all this week to see if my knee would start to feel better. And it is finally improving. It feels like there's a bouncy ball behind my knee cap. I hope it does just mean my muscles are trying to build up and it will soon stop! I'm going to get some inserts for my shoes, too, and see if that helps. My shoes look fine still. ... The Tyler 10K is definitely out. I won't be ready in time. I'm such a maniac! I don't know why I was pushing myself so overly-hard. I'll happily do the 2 miler. We'll see how running on Tuesday goes.