Catching up Again...

  The reason I haven't been updating in a long time is honestly because I haven't been running.
  Back in November I was struggling with some back issues and over Thanksgiving break I threw my back out really badly and then started having a shooting pain travelling from behind my knee to my lower left butt.  It got to the point after a week that I couldn't even walk - I just laid on the couch for an entire weekend in fetal position crying my eyes out due to the pain.
  After seeking medical advice from one doctor and realizing their fix wasn't what I was looking for (pills and shots) I changed to a different doctor who worked specifically in Chiropractic measures.  I'm happy to say that after 2 months the pain is completely gone, he's readjusted my hips and now we are working on fixing my spine.  My knee has been acting up a little bit with the new change in posture but that's to be expected and I'm working through it.
  I'm also happy to say that I ran for the first time since October this weekend.  I was planing on waiting until April to start training again but the weather was just too beautiful and it was calling my name!  I threw on the old workout gear, made a new iPhone playlist and hit the ground running.  I made it .8 miles before I had to stop and breathe.  I wanted to hit a mile but with my allergies weren't about to let that happen.  Overall I ran about 1.5 of a 2.5 mile loop.  Not bad for my first time back in the game again.  Made sure to do some hills as well so my body is used to them.
  And other exciting news - my first race will be an on-campus race on 4/20 for Sexual Assualt.  I'm also hoping that the Disney Wine and Dine won't be sold out before April because I won't have the money to register until then.  Fingers crossed!!
  I also realized last night while I was running that with all the struggles I've had, all the bad situations I've lived through and survived, nothing seems harder than starting to run all over again.  Knowing I was a 9:30-9:45 min/mile and ran 2 half marathons and now I'm struggling to run 1 full mile.  Made me think of life - no matter how hard it gets, I can get back to where I was and sometimes I just need to look at those medals and race bibs to remind me that before long I will be back there again.
  So, the plan is to keep updating as I run and run into situations. Hopefully you'll all continue to keep pace with me along the way!

Round 2

  So I was asked to bring the blog back up.  I can't promise I will be as good as I was before, but I'm going to try.
  I recently accepted a new position and moved from Tulsa, OK to Tennessee.  I am very excited and happy yo be closer to home, friends and the life I want.  I'm also excited to be running on a hilly campus and area again!
  Since I've been back I've run a 5k and am planning to sign up for the half marathon in April.  I've been running 2-3 times a week in the mornings before work, averaging about 2 miles each run.  My plan is to up that gradually and start adding Saturday runs when football season ends.
  I'm also back to the gym 5-6 times a week.  Right now I'm on cardio machines with slight weights as I get used to a new gym and new machines.  On the thigh machines I'm up to 80 lbs already with 5 sets of 10 presses each.  Goal for next week is to start on medicine ball crunches.
  I'm still looking for a Zumba class as good as what I left.  Two are offered here on campus but I've only been to the one which works best with my schedule and her style isn't what I'm looking for.  I may start looking off campus so I can find different styles that I like and prefer until I find one I'm happy with.
  When I first moved my schedule didn't allow me to run as much as I had been so I lost my mileage and gained about 5 lbs. I've already lost 2 lbs but working on toning as well. I want to look like I did when I moved in July.
  The goal is to start running a 5k a month again and slowly work my mileage up to where it should be so I can handle 13.1 in April.
  Thank you for your support and for taking the time to read.

  My apologies for being so nonexistant with the site this year.  Life has taken a few crazy turns and I haven't had the time to update and, to be honest, I haven't been racing and training like I was last year.
  I'm still running - but due to other things going on in life, running has taken a backseat to life.  It happens and I'm ok with it.
  I am happy to report though that I did do two races in April.  With very little training (and I don't ever suggest anyone do this!!) Eryn and I ran our 2nd Half Marathon.  She learned of it about 2 weeks before it happened so since we were already working on longer weekend runs we went for it.  She finished with an impressive time under 2:30.  I was around 2:45 due to some issues on the course but I was happy to be done and receive my medal.  I'd like to do another one in the future but that will depend on when and where I am at that point in time.
  The Half Marathon included a 5k which one of my awesome staff members ran.  It was her first 5k and I was so proud to be there to see her when we crossed and hear about her time.  Great feeling!
  Last weekend a few of my staff, myself and Eryn ran the "Race Against Racism" 5k in town.  I ran the 1st one last year so it was nice to be at the 2nd with more people.  Many of my girls ran and some walked up until I made them run across the finish line. : )  I was like a proud momma.  They were great!  I hope that they now realize a 5k is nothing and they will do more in the future (as well as encourage others).  Time will tell.
  Sadly, after my Half Marathon on Easter weekend I received news that one of my favorite students had passed away in a car accident.  A great deal of April has been spent mourning her loss and doing what I can help to comfort my staff and students dealing with her loss.
  I am hopeful things will be on an upswing soon this summer and I'll be back to updating and running like I used to soon.  Phoebe will be my summer running buddy since Eryn graduates this Sat!!  Going to be going through a lot of changes in the near future but running will be there to keep me sane and I'm thankful for that. ; )

Route 66 Half Marathon - Check!

  I did it!  I finished the half marathon and survived!

  Sorry for taking so long to update - I'm currently on a much needed vacation and the internet isn't the best here.  And my computer is crap so the combination = not good. (and this update took 1.5 hours to get only up to the second set of pics).

  Anyway, on to my update...

  We went to the expo on Saturday while others were doing the 5k.  It was so much fun - we got sucked in for 2 hours and it felt like no time had passed!

  Eryn and I have been training for this weekend since July... it was so scary to realize it was finally happening.  She had her knee wrapped while we were there and I shopped a little (prices/deals were not as good as the Tulsa Run expo).

  I found a great sticker I wanted to buy this sticker for my best friend who finished his first full marathon the week prior...

  I bought a few stickers and some snacks for the race.  I wanted to get an "I run Tulsa" shirt but they were $10 and I had $9 cash on me so I didn't get it.  We picked up our tags

  My nerves kicked in big time when I walked out of my apartment earlier in the week and found this sign in front of my building... a sign that there was no turning back!

  This was that "make it or break it" moment for us.  And we made it! : )

  We were all praying for a no-rain/nice day.  We got half of what we wished for!  It didn't rain but it was freezing cold!  I originally figured I'd run with a hoodie and take it off and run in my thin hoodie or my tank top underneath.  Instead, I kept the hoodie on the whole run as well as my gloves!  I think the temp reached 46 degrees by the time we reached the finish line.

  I read in a few different places that as long as I slept well on Friday night I would be good.  Surprisingly, they were right.  I slept so well Friday night after having to stay up until 3am the night prior but suffered on Sat night.  Nerves kept me up until 1:30am and then I woke up an hour before planned - 5:30am.  I wished I could have slept longer but since I was wide awake, I figured I'd take advantage of it.

  I grabbed all my nicely laid out items from the night before...

  And checked my map again (we were the red route) so I knew where to go, where not to park and where I was going to finish.

  Getting up so early allowed me to actually enjoy my breakfast before a long run - something I never get to do.  I ate two pieces of toast smothered in chunky peanut butter and about 16oz of Gatorade.  I checked my email, sent some texts to friends, updated facebook and did some much-needed stretches before I left the house.  It was wonderful!

  When I arrived at the start line I walked around a little bit, checked my bag (I brought clean clothes for after just in case) and saw a few students who were also running.  Eventually I found Eryn and Erica and huddled in a building entrance trying desperately to stay warm until we had to line up in our corral.

  I copied some pics from the website at the event as well.  I'm thinking of buying one of the real ones but we'll see how Christmas goes first...

  When we got into our corral I started to realize it was really happening.  I was about to run over 13 miles.  Everyone else was bursting with excitement and I was just there.  Usually I'm nervous/excited/freaking out.  Not this time - I didn't even have a nightmare the night before which is unheard of for me!  It was very surreal.

Then we hit 8am and didn't move.  At all.  Then 8.05 and 8.10.  Finally we started shuffling forward a little after 8.10 and made our way to the starting line around 8.15am.  Now I was nervous/excited.  I was ready to put all that I could into it and go.  The gun went off and we hit the ground running.  I stayed with Eryn and Erica for the first quarter mile and then set off on my own.

  Part of the course was one I had run for Tulsa Run as well as trained on so I knew where the first few mile markers were.  It both helped and hindered me - I tend to prefer racing without knowing where my stops are but I pushed through with flying colors (I kept under a 10min/mile my first 2+ miles!) and beat those huge hills at the start.

  Somehow my iPhone knew exactly what songs I needed to push me through as well!  I hit shuffle and it played every song I use to keep myself going when I am struggling.  I was beyond happy and made it to mile 6 before I had to skip a song!  That always makes me happy.

  This one made me laugh because I was in the middle of singing "Transform Ya" and they snapped me.  I hadn't hit mile 2 yet.


  Eryn gave me great advice before we started the race - imagine running each mile for someone in your life.  That way you won't want to let them down.  It worked - I didn't slow down until around mile 8 when I knew Ashlie and my godchildren would be ok with me walking for a minute.  I made it that far before I had to stop and stretch/walk it out.  In total I believe I walked less than a mile which is totally fine with me!

  My soft goal was a 2:30 and my hard goal was sub-2:45 and I came close to my soft goal!  I pushed super hard on the last mile and crossed at 2:30:50.  Can't beat that!  I was so happy. : )

Can you tell I was a little proud?  My momma made me bring it with me on vacation so she could see it in person and then made sure to tell all of our relatives about my race.  Made me laugh each time.



It's so weird after months and months of training to realize you have a life again.  Eryn has mentioned a full marathon but I have no desire to do that.  I like my half.  There is a quarter marathon I learned about today that is in Feb. - I may consider that one.  I'm still debating about doing the OKC half.  I want to but am still exhausted from training so much.  We'll see.

  For now, I'm happy to go back to 5k's and work on getting my time faster.

Helloween weekend...

  Yeah, the title pretty much sums up my weekend.  It was hell.  But, I learned the lesson that every runner must learn to fully understand... don't change your diet before a race!

  As I mentioned many times, the Tulsa Run (our local 9.3 mile race) was this past Saturday.  I was beyond psyched to run it and set my first PR for a 15k race!  But, that didn't happen as planned.

  I have been told (and read) many, many times to always stay with what you know the night before a race.  Don't change your diet, don't change your routine.  It causes stress on your body and may result in not favorable outcomes.  Well, I didn't listen.  On Friday campus only had cold food at the caf so we trekked across campus to the Union Center to get lunch.  I hadn't had Subway in a while so I went there to get what I would have gotten in the caf - tuna on wheat with a ton of veggies.  Ate it with staff and walked back to my office.

  Left work and Eryn and I headed off to the Expo to pick up our race packets and look at what everyone was selling.  I made some super awesome purchases - totaling under $30 in all!  These shirts and some stinger supplies...

  Needless to say, I was on cloud nine when I left and feeling great.  Sadly, that didn't last long.

  We were both starving so we decided to go to a local pizza joint in town.  Put in our order (exactly the same thing) and sat down to eat.  The food was amazing but about half way through I started having stomach pain.  I thought that was odd but figured it would pass.

  Got home that night and watched some tv to relax before going to bed.  Stomach started really hurting - like something was just sitting in there and not happy.  Figured I'd do what I usually do - go to bed early and then when I wake up it will be gone.  No worries.

  Went to bed at 9pm, fell asleep right away and woke up around 7.30am and the pain was worse.  I felt nauseous and didn't really want to even walk but I told myself "you are going to do this! You paid $40 and you promised Eryn you'd be there."  So I got up, dressed and went out the door to meet her so we could meet everyone for the race.

  Eryn wanted to warm up for the race by jogging the five blocks to the site from where we parked.  As soon as I started I thought I was going to throw up.  Not a good sign before a race.  I kept it together and let her know that we'd be running the race separately so I didn't keep her from a good time.

  We started out and I began with a 10 minute mile pace.  Made it just past 1 mile and a bit and couldn't do it -  which depressed me even more because it was the same course we did the previous weekend and I rocked that!  I ended up running maybe 3 miles total and walked the rest as fast as I could.  Sadly, I spent most of the "race" doing my best to not throw up and keep moving.  I just wanted to cross the finish line and not feel like a complete failure.

  I finished around the 2 hour mark.  I still haven't looked up my official time - too embarrassing.  After the race we went to the massage booth and I asked them to look at my legs.  They said my calves were extremely tight and were surprised by that.

  I went straight home and ended up sleeping for about 14 hours on and off for the rest of the weekend.  By Sunday I realized I was for sure sick - food poisoning we suspect (from Subway since Eryn never got sick).  I am just now starting to feel human again.  Last night was my first attempt at eating more than cereal for a meal.

  Of course people have yelled at me for being so "stupid" for attempting the race but when you put your mind to something like that, the last thing you want to do is give up before you even try.  Yes, me attempting was probably not the smartest thing in the world and it more than likely made me even more sick, but at the end of the day, I did it.  I crossed the finish line and finished the race.  Just not at a time I am happy with.

  All I can do at this point is learn from my weekend (and missing Halloween sadly) and go back to what works for races.  This weekend will hopefully get me back on track.  We have a "mock marathon" for training - we pay $5 and they give us a sneak peak at what we'll be running in 3 weeks on race day.  Hopefully by then I'll be back to normal and can achieve a decent PR for my first marathon.

  Wish me luck!

Back to the Grind!

  I haven't blogged in a while because I've been slacking on my running routine due to work and didn't want to actually see it in print.
  I'm supposed to be running 19-22 miles a week and with my current schedule and working the last 2 weekends straight I've been averaging about 5-8 miles a week.  Not good.  This past week I managed to somehow only get 2.5 miles in before my long run.
   I'm happy to say that even with all that time off, I was proud of myself.  I managed to get 7.05 miles in staying close and under 10 minutes the entire time.  I ended up losing the running group on Riverside and cut my run a little under a mile short while I later learned that Eryn ended up running 2 extra miles because she also got lost.
 

  The weather was perfect - I'm hoping it's that nice next week when we run the Tulsa Run.  The only downside was that since I arrived 40 minutes earlier than Eryn to the finish line, I was freezing while waiting for her.  Sweat and cold weather don't go very well together.
  I've been needing to get new sneakers for a while now.  I've had my old pair since the summer started and they are finally starting to die on me.  That, and along with the fact that the arch isn't very high and they cause shooting pains in my arch when I run more than 8 miles or run more than two days straight.
  I had originally planned to just swing by Fleet Feet and talk to them about my arch and try on some shoes. Instead I ended up buying a pair on sight and getting better arch support.
  The shoes only cost $100 (better deal than Foot Locker) and although they didn't have more than one color, I couldn't say no.

 

  The arch was sized for my shoe - and I can take it out and change it in the others if needed.  It cost $45 and is supposed to help my running.  She said to wear it 2-4-6 hours in the first week.  I'm excited to break them in on a few long runs before the Half Marathon.

  I'll let you know how it feels.  Probably not going to use them during the Tulsa Run just because I don't want to have any issues on a race, but I will definitely try them out the week after on our 12 mile run.

  Very excited to start getting back into training mode, working out regularly outside of my classes, adding more miles and bringing weights back into my workouts.  I have tended to not push myself on Tues and Thursday but I need to work on it.  I need to stop slacking - not good!!

  So last week was not good for running - at all!  I can't lie - I was no where near where I should have been or wanted to be for training for our half.

  Part of it is my schedule this semester - it's insane, and part of it was I was being lazy and just couldn't do it.  My nights have become lost to meetings.  I try to get 2-3 miles in before Zumba at 5.30pm and then run home an hour later for a quick dinner before running to my 9pm meeting which ends around 10.30pm and then bed.  Tuesdays and Thursdays are the attempt after work to run and do weights (Eryn and I have cancelled on one another every time for the past 3 weeks due to meetings and things) and yoga from 8-9.15pm, then home and bed shortly after.  Wednesday is pretty much my only weeknight off right now so I try to spend it relaxing and working on early Christmas presents.  Thursdays this semester we have our weekly events so depending on when they start, I can't do the gym or I have to skip yoga so my Thursdays are all over the place right now.  And I can't go out Friday nights due to early training on Saturdays.

  Needless to say, life is crazy.  This week was my final "on-duty" week until 2012!  So exciting!  That means no more carrying my phone to yoga class or Zumba class and no more worrying about getting coverage for my Saturday runs!  That makes my life a little more mine, which is always nice.

  I didn't do the long run this past Saturday because they were going to the next town over and I didn't remember to ask someone to cover for me so I set my alarm for 6am and figured I'd run 8-9 miles around town by myself and do what I could.  That... didn't happen.  Got a 3am duty call and when I woke up to my alarm 2 hours later... I couldn't do it.

  Thankfully Eryn wanted to run after she got home from NYC so we hit the gym before my meetings tonight.  I was so happy to be back in there - and did a very nice, strong 3 mile run around 28 minutes.  We also realized Eryn's Nike+ is way off.  We ran 3 miles (she ran possibly less since she ended up behind me) and her gps said she did 3.44 and mine said 3.01 so I felt better that all the miles she'd been hitting may not have been right (I was feeling like a failure lately ha ha).  We're going to calibrate it to the track tomorrow so we're more in sync.

  I am hoping life calms down this month although I'm not expecting it.  I leave for a conference in AR this weekend with some of my staff and the weekend after I will be in Philly for a wedding of a dear friend from my undergrad.  Not sure how much running I will be able to get in being out of town two weekends in a row but I'm hoping to do as much as I can before I go.  Hopefully Sarah will be willing to run with me at least 3 miles on Sat before the wedding (hint! hint!). ; )