Running uphill against the wind

Don’t worry, that’s not a metaphor for my life. It’s just what I did this morning

A work day starting at 9 feels like sleeping-in to me. And instead, my body decided to wake up on it’s own at the regular 6:15 a.m. I’ve always had that “internal” alarm clock. Although it’s not flawless (very far from it), it does surprise me sometimes.

Like this morning. When I was awake and alert at an early hour, when I certainly did not have to be. So I took advantage of the extra morning time, and the cooler morning temperatures. I went for a run. I decided to try out a new route, one that was being mapped out in my head as I went. That will either make your run seem  a little bit shorter because of the adventure feeling….or it will make it seem painfully long because you realize “Ehh, this is a lot harder than I expected.”. This morning was somewhere in the middle. But do-able.

Random: We went and saw “Get Smart” last night. Hilarious. Three thumbs up (oooh, take that Ebert)! Seriously, we were all laughing so hard. And I must admit, Mr. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is one good lookin’ fella. I find it kind of hard to take him seriously, because..umm..he was “The Rock”. And now he’s an “actor”. Hmmmm.  Plus, how can you resist anything with Steve Carell (we’re going to forget about “Evan Almighty” here…) ?! Aaand Anne Hathaway. She’s so cute. Yup–good stuff, great movie, good laughs.

For my next three days off-starting tomorrow-I’ve decided my Mom & I have a project….re-doing the Study. It’s awful. Seriously. If I get really into it, I might even take before-and-after pics. We’ll see how that goes. I haven’t had a decorating project in quite some time. Living in a furnished apartment with limited time (and moneyyyy) really puts some restrictions on what you’re able to do.  So instead, I’ll spill my creative juices on our downstairs, and see how it turns out. And I loooove decorating/rearranging/all that stuff. And it probably means another trip to Target!

I Survived!

13.1 Miles. I survived. I made it. I loved it!

We (me + roomies) all piled into the Suburban and hit the road on Friday. We got to Em’s house around 8 and started cooking! Time to load up on carbs. On the menu: pizza and pasta. We couldn’t decide between one or the other, why not make both? Mmmm, delicious.

I could barely sleep, probably a little nervous/excited. I woke up before my alarm went off at 6:30, fixed my breakfast and was ready to Go.

Things started off a little rough. With the high for the day being an expected 45º accompanied by clear blue skies, I thought I’d be fine in my usual stretch-pants and a cute (New!) sleeveless running top from Target. I thought, despite the freezing cold morning temps, that it would warm up. Or at least I would warm up while running. Wrong.wrong.wrong.

LB and I turned out to be the only not-so-smart ones in the bunch. The only ones who weren’t wearing long spandex pants, or thin zip-up jackets, or even long sleeves, and gloves/hats/head warmers/etc. Ehhh, oops.

Luckily, LB had a light sweatshirt that she decided to wear, and gave me her little mittens so I didn’t lose my hands by the end of the race. Which definitely would have happened. No doubt.

Before we started, I realized my iPod was so cold that the touch-pad wasn’t working. I couldn’t select a playlist. Therefore I wasted time creating an Awesome ‘Exercise’ list that was over 3 hours long to keep me running running running.

Luckily, at the last minute it cooperated and let me scroll down to my songs. Starting off the race with a little Beyonce and some “Check on It”. Yeaaaa.

The trail started off with a big hill, and with each step up my left sock slid a little bit lower. I tried to stop and pull it up (this has never happened before, why today? why why why!), but it just slipped right back down. Fine, sock, have it your way. I ran the next 12 miles with a sock right below my heel.

Luckily it didn’t fall all the way off. And surprisingly, after about 5 miles it didn’t bother me.

I could feel my pace settle in and get comfortable. Right around 8 min/mile and content. A few songs always make me giddy and I speed up a little bit. Like “Can’t Stop the Beat” (Hairspray!), “The Queen & I” (Gym Class Heroes), “Romeo’s Tune” (Keith Urban) and “Glamorous” (Fergie). That gives you a small glimpse into the random-ness that is my ‘Exercise’ playlist. I loooove it. The music died right in the middle of the new Miley Cyrus song, and I had been waiting for that one. Gah.

Luckily, it lasted about 12.5 miles before that happened. For the last stretch I was left to my own thoughts.

It went by pretty fast. I never felt too tired, never had the urge to walk, and never wondered how soon it would be over.

The goal had been set the night before. I had no idea what would be a “good” first 1/2-marathon time. I wanted to have a goal, but it had be something reasonable so I wasn’t too disappointed if I didn’t get it. I decided on just finishing under 2 hours.

Coming around the last turn, the timer came into focus. 1:48:40. I got so excited. I made it in 1 hour and 49 minutes!

Then, after two bottles of water, two bananas, and grabbing bagels for the road, we headed off. We got in the car and drove right back to good ol’ Happy Valley. I slept a little in the car, and was excited for a shower, getting ready, and going Out. And that’s just what we did!

Ready for a ‘Short Run’

My bags aren’t packed, and I’m not ready to go. But I am ready to run!

As of tonight, I am finishing up the laundry and packing the over-night bag. No biggie. I’m used to the whole ‘quick-pack’ routine. After making a last minute visit to the website, I realized I have to print out a Registration form (yes, I have already registered. I’m not that bad) to bring with me at the Packet Pick-up. Ehh, good thing I checked on that! A last minute trip to Target to see if they have any cute running tops to treat myself to is also on the to-do list. Every occasion merits a new outfit, right?

This will be my first 1/2 marathon, so wish me luck! I’m excited and ready for the challenge. I know I’m prepared, so nerves aren’t setting in …just yet. Plus, this was just another opportunity for a roomie-road trip, so they are all on board (yes!). We’ll be heading out late tomorrow afternoon, consuming lots o’ pasta, and relaxing. There will also be post-run celebrating, of course! A night out on the town, dancing, and drinking….doesn’t get any better than that.

Off we go!

This is Me, Running

For the past few weeks I’ve been doing my “long runs” on campus. There’s a 5K loop around the campus that is used for a lot of different races, and I’ve used it as a basis for my routes. Last week I finally got a little bored with it, so this week I steered clear.

Between the long ones, I run in the gym on the treadmill, because it’s still cold outside. This has not been the smartest strategy. First of all, the only machine that’s not directly in front of a mirror has been broken for the last three weeks. So, I’m forced to stare at myself as I run along. I hate that. Then my eyes start to wander around and I can’t ever find the right thing to focus on. Should I pick a spot and stare at the floor? Boring. Should I try to watch the TV? Helloooo I’m gonna fall. Should I stare at my feet? Dizzyyyy. Should I watch the person behind me on the bike? Ehhh, awkward. Should I try to look outside through the reflection of the window in the mirror?!? Agh.

And let me just say, that when you are running outside for an hour, it’s refreshing. When you are running on a treadmill for five minutes, it feels like an HOUR.

I’ve decided no more treadmill. No matter what the weather this weekend, I have to run 13 miles outside, so I better just get over it now. On Friday I ran outside on my usual trail for the first time in mooonthssss, and it felt Good. I ran longer than I usually do, on a “normal” run, and I wasn’t tired at the end. Ego boost: realizing you have really increased your endurance in a short three weeks.

Today I did one last extended run before the race (on Saturday). Being bored of my campus loop, I stuck around here and just wandered around. I love not having a definite idea of what route you want to take, just giving yourself freedom to explore…..

This is what I found/learned/encountered…

…If it looks like a hill in the car, it feels like a mountain on foot.
…Slow traffic (likely due to the holiday) opens up a lot of possibilities. Like actually crossing that busy street and being able to explore the other side.
…Cops are not so appreciative of you running through the scene of the crime (car accident). Sorry Cops, but you were in the crosswalk. I’m just doing my civil duty and not jay-walking. How ’bout that.
…This little town really is not conducive to safe running. Once you get into the neighborhoods, most of them don’t have sidewalks. Plus the roads are extremely narrow. Bad combination. However…
…Behind the apartment complexes that are across/down the street, there is a HUGE park, and a “dog park”, and a lot of trails. New territory!!
…Even if I’m running, I always have the urge to go inside Target and have a little look around. That’s how much I love that place. Scary.
…Despite the weather; when you wear gloves, your hands get sweaty. When you take the gloves off (because, Ew, sweaty hands), you’re hands Freeze. It’s basic Chemistry. And I’m dumb.
…When you get sick of holding your gloves, don’t throw them in a bush and then forget to retrieve them. Even if they are $1 gloves from Target. Oops.
…There is not one single sidewalk/road/trail within a 10 mile radius of my apartment that doesn’t have a hill. Seriously.
…My pace always speeds up a little bit when each of the “Hairspray” songs on my exercise playlist starts up. I looooove them. And, quite frankly, you Can’t stop the beat.

According to advice from the lovely Miss Sass, the rest of the week will be ‘easy’ runs, loading up on carbs, getting lots of sleep, and (hoping the weather forecast of “Rain” for Saturday is Wrong!) Race Time!!

50+ year old Knees

After 12+ years of soccer, I knew I would have bad knees. A lot of girls I played with had knee problems, braces, even surgery. I lucked out and never had any of those, but I knew that eventually it would all catch up to me. But the key word there, was eventually.

I did a “long run” today, since I only have 2 weeks left before the “short run“. My knees did not agree with this. The first long one I did was a little over 7 miles. Nothing too extreme, but ~1 hour of running on pavement was no friend to me. About 30 minutes after I finished my knees started to ache a little bit. I didn’t think too much of it.

With the second long one I couldn’t measure the distance, but I just ran until I hit 1 hr & 15 mins. This was while I was home last week, and I was able to mix in some dirt trails to ease it up a little bit. I ate a banana every day (potassium!) and never got sore, which I was pretty proud of.

The third one was today. 1.5 hours on the pavement. Half way through I could feel it comin’. I felt good, I could keep running no problem, but my knees were on a different agenda. As soon as I stopped it hit full force. My knees were angry, and determined to be heard. Apparently I have expected too much from these precious joints in my short 21 years, and they are Not happy about it. No no.

Driving back home it hurt to be sitting because I had this urge to straighten out my legs. Ehhhh.

At least I’m finding this out today, and not two weeks from now. Two pain-killers later (Motrin IB, the strong stuff), and I was fine. Lesson has been learned: my knees have reached the age of 50 twice as fast as me, and would like to be treated appropriately. But we have to compromise, I need you to run for me and then I can spoil you. Deal? Good.

Gym ADD

8:30 a.m. Going for a morning run before a phone interview to relax. It’s pouring outside, so I head down to the gym. I’m thinking a nice little 30 minute jog, nothing too crazy, just to get the legs going.

What my brain failed to inform me this morning was that it was going to go ahead and have a little ADD today.

Once I get to the gym, I notice that the treadmill I usually use is “Out Of Order”. Great. Considering what we had to do to get our apartment office to change our carpets, after 3 weeks, am I surprised? Of course not. The only other two treadmills available are right in front of a mirror. I hate that. I can’t ever decide where to look, and when I watch myself I get dizzy because my brain tries to process that I’m running, but not going anywhere. Weird. Guess what this leads to…..Gym ADD (aka, not being able to think about one thing for more than 2 seconds. Thus making a 30 minute run feel like houurssss.)

Start off at a slow pace. Warm it up. Prepare the sore thighs.

Girl next to me is wearing a sweatshirt. On a treadmill, what’s that about?

We’ll call her “sweatshirt”.

Girl on the elliptical is texting. Seriously? I would fall off. I’ll call her “text”.

I can’t run to this song without wanting to speed up. Which is really annoying on a treadmill.

I wish I could see what’s on the TV. Can I run and turn my head at a 90 degree angle? Ah! Nope, let’s not try that again.

Why have I not taken this song off my exercise list? I always skip it.

Text seems to be looking at me. Annoying, please stop.

There are 3 bikes, and none of them are the same style. Whats up with that?

I’m so f-ing happy they finally replaced our carpets. I need to wash my sheets.

Why do people bring their phones to the gym?

Why do people wear sweatshirts while they’re running? Oh, the mystery.

Running outside on Sunday really spoiled me. This is not fun. Not fun.

On that note….Hey, Winter. We get it. That’s enough.

Spring, Hurry up!!!!

Going home in 3 days! Sweeeeet. 

Eh, I have to pack. I need to make a packing list. 

I should probably call J to make sure he’s still picking me up. 

Weather Forecast: Sunny and 70º. Gooood stuff. I can handle that.

Time check: 12 minutes left. ehhhhhh.

iPod: Find a song that lasts longer than 2 minutes. Settle. Deal. Keeeep goin’.

Final line-up: The Queen & I. Take Your Mama Out All Night. Amsterdam. Free & Easy.

Done.

Just a Short Run

13.1 miles to be exact.

LB and I decided today that we’re going to run the “Just a Short Run Half Marathon“. It takes place on March 29, about five minutes from Crazy’s house. Which translates to, road trip with the roomies! And a weekend in Pittsburgh! And running a little race with LB! Gooood stuff.

The course circles a lake as it loops through a golf course and a park. Which sounds perfect; not too many hills, pretty scenery, and minimal traffic. Aside from potentially getting hit by a golf ball, I think we’ll be good to go!

I have no desire to run 25+ miles for 4+ hours right now, but I just want a little challenge. The treadmill & talk-show-on-TV-above routine gets old. I’m bored of the loops around here, not that I’ve even been able to run outside in months. And every now and then, it just helps to have something you’re aiming for. Granted it’s not likely that I’ll get the perfect 60º-sunny weather that I looove, I’m hoping that a month from now we’ll at least be able to see the ground.

Since a typical run for me now is 4-5 miles, I’m hoping that the training wont’ be too bad. Things on my to-do list (so far) only include:

-Update iPod “Exercise” play list
-Purchase nicer socks (preferably without wear-and-tear on the heels)
-Find some local trails and pray that the sun comes out to play with me Soon

Oh, and Winter, now would be the perfect time to take a hint. It’s almost March, we get it. You have officially worn out your welcome. Please pack your things, and leave. Thanks.

Countdown: 32 days!