New Year; New Goals

I keep going back and forth on whether to start up and attempt to keep up my little blog here.  I've got big goals this year and kind of want a place to talk about the adventure that lies ahead!  So, here goes!

I'm not a big fan of New Year Resolutions.  I typically don't make them mainly because I'm crazy stubborn and HAVE to keep them when I make them.  About every 5 years I end up making one or two and yes... end up actually keeping them.  Here's what I started on Jan. 1:

Lose 111 pounds.
Never leave the apartment w/o doing hair, makeup, and coordinating outfit (workouts and grocery store runs do not count).
Make my bed every day.
Use mint.com to keep my budget in check.
Give more sacrificially.

What I've done so far...

• Joined Weight Watchers online.  There's an app for the iphone that is amazing!  It makes keeping track of points soooo much easier.
• Participating in a weight lose competition through February.  So far, I am in third place overall!  Whoop!
• Training for the Disney Princess Half Marathon!
• Making my bed every morning (it takes approx. 3 seconds and makes my room feel cleaned).
• Continuing to use Mint.com (started in December)  Been a rough couple of months financially, but have made it work probably thanks to this tool.
• More than doubled my monthly giving. I figured if I wasn't having to actually budget in my giving, I wasn't giving enough.  I love giving, but it's hard when you are constantly strapped for cash. I now HAVE to budget it in or I won't make ends meet at the end of the month. I HAVE to make decisions based on the fact that I want to give.

What I learned this morning...

• horrible storms at night does not equal storms in the morning
• if it doesn't look like it will rain and weather.com says it won't, I have no excuse for skipping a long run
  
• bootcamp kicked my princasse yesterday
• half an apple is a horrible pre-run snack
• there's not always a deer on schoolhouse path
• Doing 6 miles on tired, sore muscles IS possible
• Cracker Barrel is a great motivator for early morning long runs
  

Running my PrincASS off!!!

It's official!!! I'm going to Disney World!! I'm super excited!! I mean, where else can you run in a tiara?!

We've got 7 girls going down to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon in February. This means we're getting a suite and taking a vacay!!

But, I've got to earn the privilege of running in a tiara... training!

Recently I've been incredibly tired. Not so much tired as lethargic with absolutely no energy what-so-ever. I'm getting plenty of sleep, eating well, low stress levels, etc. I'm guessing my iron levels are crazy low, so I've been trying to remember to take my iron and eating the right stuff. It will be tough, but I'm gonna have to grill up a steak... I mean... for my heath and all!! The ironic thing about low iron is all you want is a cup of coffee (or 5), but caffeine blocks the absorption of iron. Blah... I want coffee!!

This week: 15 1/2 miles and 2 bootcamps

There's a muscle there?!

One thing is different this go around... bootcamp. I've built it in as my strength and stretch day. Before I'd half ass this day with a couple sit ups and push ups. That's not exactly how I'd describe bootcamp. Bootcamp is an hour long session of pure torture. We do planks, squats, lunges, sit ups, push ups, swings, mountain climbers, jumping jacks (holding a weight bar of course), etc, etc, etc.

Yesterday we did a new move... the side plank. Did you know you have muscles along the side of you?! Cason does. I do too now. Also, never challenge the trainer to do a move with you. He can do it but for longer and thus make you do it for longer as well.

Today was a short 3 mile run. One small problem, it's 97 degrees here with a heat index of 105. I made a deal with myself at 5:30 this morning: get a couple more hours of sleep and run in the a/c on a treadmill. One small problem...I hate treadmills... with a passion. They are stupid. I'm not a rationale human being at 5:30 a.m. Allow me to explain my disdain...they don't work for training. I mean, sure, you get a workout, but where (other than on a treadmill) will the ground move under you in one nice neat level grade. All you really have to do is pick up your feet and presto the ground moves!! That's not real! Not to mention you are sweating and breathing heavy a little too close to the stranger next to you. No thank you, I'll brave the heat.

Luckily, it cooled off a bit this evening and I got a run in outside, on a hilly route I was unfamiliar with and without proper hydration. I survived, not gracefully, but I survived.

Tomorrow... two miles followed by bootcamp (insert HUGE question mark here)

finishing the race I started

It's been too long, but I've resurrected this old blog as I start training once again for the Lewis and Clark Half Marathon. I tried blogging my way through my last half marathon training and did so with minor success; I'm making no promises this time. But atlas, today I once again started training as I attempt (hopefully succeed at) the Lewis & Clark Half Marathon on October 3.

Since today was my first training run for this race, I thought back on my first ever training run. It was right around this time 3 years ago for this exact same race. I remember the run clearly. I just made it to Tower Grove Park which was only about 3 blocks from my apartment when I realized my uncle was just about to go into surgery. He was diagnosed with methothelioma (cancer caused by exposure to asbestos) and was undergoing an 18 hour surgery. As I ran I just cried and prayed for him. I felt strangely connected to him at that moment.

Fast forward about 8-9 months. It's September and I'm off to the race with my parents and friend to run 13.1 miles. We knew it was going to rain, but had no clue what we were in for with Hurricane Ike coming through. When we finally made it to the parking lot (10 minutes after the start of the race), there was water up to our knees. I had to make the call in tears to go home without even starting.

That evening turned out to be a gorgeous day in St. Louis. Since I was already hydrated and carbo-loaded, I decided to go for a run. I figured I'd do about 5 miles or so since it was getting dark. At about mile 3 I thought "screw it... I'm doing a half marathon today!!" So... I did. Probably not the smartest thing I've ever done, but I'm stubborn and when I set out to do something I'm gonna do it. As I finished late that night, I thought about my uncle as I had every single run that year.

The next morning I was awaken by a phone call from my cousin. My uncle lost his battle just a couple hours after I had finished running my 13.1 miles. After calling the family and making arrangements to head to Florida, I reflected on the past 8 months. Every single run I did I prayed for my uncle. I'd laugh saying, if he could, he'd be out here with me... such a lie... he'd be sitting by the pool with a whiskey soar!! In some weird poetic way, we started this race together and finished together.

The following spring I would finish not one, but two, half marathons in a week. The latter being with my aunt who raised money for cancer research by running. This fall, I'll finish my fourth half when I finally officially complete the race I started training for with my uncle Steve.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

Well, Sunday is the big day! From my lack of posts you can probably assume a.) I've been crazy busy, b.) I've not been training as I should, or c.) my computer was broken for 3 weeks. If you guessed all three than you would be right.

Wow! This came much quicker than I would have ever thought. But, I think I'm as ready as I can be. Yes, I skipped some runs. And, yes, this hasn't been my focus. I will say though, after talking with a friend that I am proud of the miles I was able to get in. I mean, who would have thought I could average working 65 hours a week and still train for a half marathon and try to have a life. That's a huge accomplishment... or it will be Sunday afternoon when I'm finally finished!

We'll see how I do and if you are in St. Louis, come out and cheer!

**it happens

I basically forgot I had this little piece of blog land. Sorry folks... both of you! Life has been crazy busy. I'm not sure exactly what I've been so busy doing, but I'm sure it has been interesting and fun none the less. Apparently this blog is about my training so let's start there.

Tuesday I did my "long" run. This week is pretty easy considering it is supposed to be the 10K race week. Considering I'm broke as a joke, I'm not entering any races other than the big ones. Instead, I ran around Forest Park. It was a gorgeous day! The kind that makes you think spring is here only to find it to be in the 30's the next day. But, it was beautiful!! I opened that morning which meant a get out of bed time of 3:45 a.m., followed by a trip to the office. This meant I was on my feet for 7 hours and then sat for another 3. Needless to say, my legs weren't in tip-top shape. Everything was going fine until I felt what could have been a drop of rain hit my arm. It wasn't. I look over only to find bird poop running down the top of my arm. I maneuvered my sleeve to wipe off only to get a little on my had. I spent the next 4 miles repeating the mantra "use the left hand, use the left hand." Reminding myself to not wipe the sweat away with the poop infected hand. I laugh to myself thinking how can this happen twice* in one lifetime? This run seemed longer and harder than it should. I mean it really is only about 6 miles, but I was exhausted the whole time. The next day I was really sore.

My schedule has just got me all screwed up and my legs can't handle it I guess. I took Wednesday off and yesterday went for a 5 mile run. It was good. Today I was supposed to do another 5, but I just don't think I could. I'm sore. So, I'm not going to and instead spend the evening watching movies and sleeping**. I'm glad this week was a light week and hopefully I can get back on track next week. Did I tell you I'm three weeks ahead of schedule? My plan is to continue as I am and just build the miles. That way, I hopefully won't die come marathon week.

Are you ever sore for no apparent reason??




*The other time was an unfortuneatly timed walk to the metro link for work. Again, I thought it could be rain that hit the top of my head... I was wrong. Once I got to work I spent the first 15 minutes in the bathroom trying to figure out how to wash my hair in the sink. That night at Praise and Worship, it was announced that a bird crapped on me... I loved my friends.

**another 3:45 wake up call.