Kentucky Mini-Marathon

I might be stupid, but I just registered for the Kentucky Derby Mini-Marathon. Aside from the fact that it's crazy stupid to run 13.1 miles, this is the weekend after the Go! St. Louis half marathon. But, I think I can do it. I remember I wasn't really that sore last fall after running 13 miles so I think I can do it.

Amazingly enough I'm more excited about the Kentucky one now. I get to go and run with my aunt (actually, I don't really think she's an aunt, but a distant cousin, maybe). Either way, I'm stoked to get to run with her. And, I'll get to drive down with my good friend Betsy. She's way awesome and I don't get to spend much time with her at all. I CAN'T WAIT!

This week I've once again taken it easy. It snowed a good 7 inches this week. I did go do my 2 miles on Monday (in the sleet). It was really funny cause I thought my pony tail was smacking me in the head, but come to find out it was freezing ran. And, if you didn't know, freezing rain feels like tiny pieces of glass hitting your face. Hopefully I'll get my 5 miles in on Saturday.

Week 3 = week off

confession... I haven't run AT ALL this week. Not unless you count Monday night as I ran to the printer and back (seriously, why is my work station the absolute farthest away from the printer... probably for some interval training!).

Do I feel bad about not running? Kind of. But, I've determined that this time I'm going to have to give myself a bit more grace. Let me tell you about my week and you'll understand.

Tuesday we held our Acts 29 Quarterly which I was in charge of. Which meant TONS of preparation on my part. So, I opened Monday morning (at work at 4:30 a.m.), went straight to the office, then to set up, then to a meeting at 7 p.m., back to the office until 11 p.m. Tuesday I got up around 5:30 to run some last minute errands before getting to the event. I spent the entire day at the quarterly until late afternoon and by then I had to go back and get caught up the e-mails I'd been ignoring for a week. Wednesday I was back at sbux at 6:30 a.m., came home worked on Journey stuff till it was time to go to community group. Thursday I went to the office to unload my car so they could actually have a church service on Sunday. Then I went back to sbux for the evening. Yesterday I opened again. I could have snuck in a run that afternoon, but if I didn't nap I think I would have lost my marbles. Now there's today. I opened once again. Realistically I could go for a run now, but I won't. Why? I don't really have an excuse other than I'm tired and need to do laundry and pack for Chicago.

As I look back on my week there really wasn't a time to get a run in at all. I knew this going into training and accepted it. I have to have grace for myself and realize I built in some extra time for this. So, I'm not freaking out. I'll start back up next week.

INSPIRED!!

One of my friends is having a give away on her blog... She's amazing and I really want the give away.

So visit Inspired Kara and tell her how I inspired you to comment!!!!

I'll be back to blog about the running adventures...

week one... check

I've officially finished the first week of training. Overall it wasn't bad. I'm getting back in the groove and am enjoying it thus far. I think there will be several of my friends running it with me (and by with I really mean ahead of me). The day I registered one of my co-workers commented on my facebook status that she was thinking about doing it. That night she came to work saying she registered for it. I laughed and then we proceeded to say everything we did that night was actually strength training.

I made a good decision to start training during my "vacation." I only worked at Starbucks last week so I had time to burn. Who knew that working 40 hours a week would feel like a vacation to me. Our vacation week is over so we'll see how this week goes. I've got the whole schedule down in my calendar... that's the first step.

Run on friends!
Katie

193.5 to go...

Thanks to the generosity of a couple at my church, I am now registered for the Go! St. Louis half marathon. This means I MUST start training for it.

As you probably know from my lack of posting about running and talking about running, I haven't been running. I went out about a week ago for a 3 1/2 mile run and actually felt pretty good. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't as bad as I had imagined.

Today was it... the day I officially started training. I ran 3 miles. At first I thought, only three! I can do that. I've done 13 this is nothing. But then I actually started running. I'm trying to knock a cold I got on Christmas Eve. Nothing is worse to me than trying to run while sick. I made it by walking several times. But, I made it.

I'm really excited for this race and training season. It's sad how horribly I take care of myself. But, I'm shocked at how my mindset changes when I have something to work towards. Now all of a sudden I'm thinking about what foods I'm taking in and how much water I'm drinking.

So, I've started. Only 193.5 miles to go till race day (math that really shouldn't have been done)!!

trail subscription

For the past three months I've received a trial subscription to Runner's World. Go! St. Louis sold my name and address and I couldn't thank them more. They've convinced me to shell out the $20 for the two year subscription. One of my co-workers also received the subscrition and read an article about the New York City New Years' race and is now obsessed with running one. Apparently St. Louis is not offering a race of this magnitude. That's not stopping her... she e-mailed Fleet Feet, SLTC, Ghisallo Running, Big River Running, etc to ask if they'd be interested in such a race. I have a feeling I'll be running in the new year this year! She told me I was broke and alone which meant I had nothing to do over this holiday. While I do have something to do, I guess I can wear black and/or white running cloths to the Black & White Ball I was going to go to and take off from there.

one month...

It's official... training starts in one month.

That means the Go! St. Louis (half) Marathon is only 22 weeks away. Which coincidentally means I've got to get my but off of the couch* and start training again. I haven't registered yet. Actually I'll start training trusting that someone will pay for my registration fees. It's on the Christmas list.

I went for a run yesterday. It was awesome! It's getting chilly now and dark ridiculously early. I could have headed out earlier and avoided the dust to dark run, but I've only been getting about 4 hours of sleep a night and really needed that nap. As the sun was setting, I got into this running trance as I listened to my breathing and feet scurrying through the fall leaves hitting the pavement. At one point I had to take my headphones out so I could enjoy the oh so brief moment of running bliss.

There comes a time in one's life when you realize you need to start taking better care of your muscles. Today that moment came as I was putting (or trying) to put on my shoes. I know... I'm 26 years old,putting on my shoes shouldn't cause major injury, but damn I got a charlie horse. I've gotten several in my day** and still don't know exactly how you're supposed to take care of these things in the moment. I get that I need to eat more bananas, but while you are cussing like a sailor and hobbling around, what exactly are you supposed to do?

This brings me to another point... I like taking risks. Like the risk I take every time I walk out the door for a run. My shoes are past the point of supportive. I need new shoes. I'm risking injury. They're on my Christmas list too. Goodnight I hope my family thinks practical this year.

Well, as you can probably tell from the randomness, I really need to get to bed...

* and by couch I mean make time to actually run. It's another job and I've already got two of those. I'm tired all the time.
** including a rather embarrassing and humorous story of having the flu and losing all control of bodily functions.