Saturday Run

On Saturday I started my training for my 2nd Austin Half Marathon. It was interesting to say the least. I am so excited about this race and doing better than last year that I did a bit too much. It was a pretty day, I had unlimited time to run, and I just ran. I started down a road new our apartments that is a pretty hilly road. I figured it would be good to get some hill training in since I don't really run in hills on a regular basis. The Austin course is has so many hills, some that are killer, so I need to be okay with hills. I started off great. I did not have my garmin watch with me because the battery is out so all I had to figure distance and time was my ipod. I grossly miscalculated how long it would me to get back and where I should turn around. I went way too far for the amount of training I have been doing. I have fun that far before but it has been a long time, like March. On my way back I started noticing sore knees when I started at street crossings. When I got about 3/4 of the way back to the apartment, I noticed my abs and foot hurting. I ended up running for 2 hours! I was so drained when I got back that I literally sat around the rest of the night, something I never do. I felt like I just ran a half marathon! I know I didn't but I estimate that I ran between 9 and 10 miles. I had only been running about 6 at the most. That was too sharp of an increase and bad planning on my part. I don't know why. I was too ambitious, I enjoy it too much, whatever the case may be, I have to be smarter so I can stay injury free. On Sunday I went to the eliptical for 30 minutes and I have not worked out today. I will pick back up tomorrow for some sort of work out.

A new dedication

It's been a while since I updated on my running. I am still running, but I have been very inconsistent this year. I am working full time now and it is so hard to fit my runs in. I am running mostly at night, which is fine, but I prefer running in the morning. I ran another half marathon March 14th in Dallas. I improved my time from Austin by 20 minutes. I registered and planned on running it alone. While standing waiting for the race to start I stuck up a conversation with a girl in my pace group. We were each looking to improve our previous time and wanted to finish around 2:30. We ended up running the whole race together and she really helped me. I definitely ran it faster than I would have without her. I finished in 2:20. The race was different from Austin for sure. It was flat, so a much faster course. I really enjoyed it and hoped to run another one in November, San Antonio. I broke a bone in my foot in August, so that did not happen. After 8 weeks of no running, I am finally getting back into the swing of things. I am back up around 6 miles and planning to run Austin again February 20th. I will be running this race with 1 and possibly 2 friends from work. I am determined to stay dedicated this year and hope to run at least a couple, if not more, half marathons. I would like to run my first marathon by the end of the year, but I will probably wait one more year. I will graduate in December so I should focus on school before I try to train for a marathon. I will update my runs more often so I can track my progress. I ran last night for 50 minutes and I hope to be able to do the same later today.

Austin Half Marathon Pictures

Austin Half Marathon

So I fell behind a little in my posting. I went back to work last week and I am running a little low on time. I did run on Monday and Wednesday, on the treadmill, 4 miles and 4.5 miles. So Thursday night I check my facebook messages and I have a message from a friend. She is a fellow runner that I went to high school. She was running in the Austin Half Marathon this weekend and had a friend that had to back out due to an illness. She asked if I wanted her friend's bib. Before even thinking about it I said "yes yes yes!" Then I really got to thinking. My longest recent run was 7 miles and I was actually hoping to get in 8 this weekend. I am not ready! My race is in April, that is what I have been preparing for. I am not sure what came over me but I could not say no and I could not back out. It all happened so fast. Needless to say, I ran it. I have never run that far but I did it. I did it well. I did not walk, at all! Honestly, I didn't even want to walk. I felt good until about mile 11. I started getting tired. But when you have 2.1 left and you have already run 11 miles, why would you start walking? I had come too far! There was a massive hill at mile 11 that I was not happy about. But I thought at least that is it and I can cruise on in. Right. Turns out, there was an even bigger hill at mile 13! UGH! I kicked it in and I made it up the hill. From that point it was smooth sailing. It was all downhill, literally. We circled halfway around the capitol and the finish line was about 400 meters behind the capitol. Once I saw the finish line, my legs took off. I wasn't even making them. Something about me craves that finish line! I ran as fast as my legs would take me and I took it to the house. I finished in 2 hours and 40 minutes. (my new personal record) We kept a 12:10 pace throughout the race which is not bad for first timers. It was an awesome experience and I cannot wait to do it again. This will make my race in April alot easier!!

Day 68

Ok, people my math is seriously lacking. I am not sure how I made such a miscalculation and how I am just now fixing it. My race is April 11th, and from today, I have 68 days left. Let's just say I was never great at math and move on. So, I did not run from Friday-Monday. I did not get to do my long run last week. That makes last week's summary remain at 9 miles completed. That is okay, but not what I wanted. Well, the whole reason I started this blog is for a little accountablity and here it is. I will be able to look back on my training and see where I went wrong. I ran on Tuesday, at the gym. By mile 3 I was so bored I didn't know how I would make it to 5 miles, but somehow I did. My hips are a little sore today. I may have to run at the gym again this week but hopefully by the weekend I can be outside and doing a long run. I am still hoping to get at least 7 miles this week for my long run. I must say I am enjoying running at the gym a LITTLE more, but I still get bored and it is not ideal. I just have to embrace it while Chris is out of town and it continues to rain. I almost just want to run in the rain, but I have been feeling a little under the weather and not sure if that would help. For more information on the run I am competing in here is the website: www.texasmarathon.com

Day 46

I ran today at the gym. How I cannot wait for my huband to get home so I can run outside. It actually was not too bad today. About mile 3, I got pretty board. I fought through though and made it for an hour at a little over 5 miles. My hips are kinda sore today and my legs were sore last night. I feel like I run so much faster on the treadmill but it is actually a slower pace. I still don't get that. I am hoping to run at least 7 miles this week on my long run. It will probably have to be Sunday evening since Chris should be home. I cannot image trying to do my long run on the treadmill with the kids in the nursery. Even though they are older now, I still worry about them getting tired or hungry and me not being there. Everytime I pick them up though, they seem to be having so much fun. Anyway, I am at 9 miles for the week so if I can get 7 miles on my long run I will be at 16 for the week. Almost back where I was before at 20, give or take. I cannot believe I am almost back to that kind of mileage. So great. I think I could have run the half marathon in March, like my original plan. I am glad I waited though. I don't want to try to squeeze my runs in and get injuried. Sometimes I have so much going that it seems impossible.

Day 47

Did not run on Wednesday.