6.48 Miles Non-stop!

No "recovery periods", just 1 hour and 14 minutes of pavement pounding. I was sweating SO bad, and it only 68 degrees when we started at 5:15 a.m.!! It felt SO freaking awesome to run that far and know that I did it with out stopping! Prior to this my longest non-stop was 4.4 miles. I almost always have to walk a little (Have a mentioned I HATE hills? Those normally get walked) Not today though. I ran up those puppies :O)

Eight miles

Yesterday was my 8 mile run with the TNT group. 8 miles. So daunting...right? Not so much. I thought I would be so much more scared to run it, so much more tired after wards, and so much more sore today. I was a little stiff this morning. Other than that nothing. All my muscles feel OK, better than OK, they feel good. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't easy, but it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I did the first 4 miles as intervals. Run 4 minutes, walk 1 minute. The theory is you run faster in your 4 minutes b/c you have your 1 minute recovery period. I have debated about trying this method. Sure it makes your pace faster, but it's not running non-stop. That's my goal to run as long as I can non-stop. So needless to say, I didn't really dig the intervals. Not to say I won't do speed intervals, but I won't do the 4/1's again unless I'm injured. I like the run until you can't run anymore feeling. My pace is slowly improving, but I'm almost over the obsession with my pace. I know I'm slow, but I can run far. The last time I checked 26.2 was far, so I'm doing something right :O)

Goals

The other day while going through some papers, I found a sheet of paper that had my weight and measurements on it from Dec 1st 2008. That was 5 weeks after I had our son Harrison. I was 30 lbs lighter than I am now and about 2-5 inches smaller in every measured spot. So frustrating. I told myself I 'd never gain that weight back. I have learned to never say never, it will always come back to bite you in the ass. Anyway, I have decided that my newest goal(I have many) is to be smaller in every measured area on that list this coming December 1st. Even if it's only a 1/4 inch smaller, I want everything smaller. I feel that between personal training and running, this is totally feasible. It gives me one more thing to work towards. I've also been thinking a lot about after the marathon. What will my new goal be? I kinda jumped in head first, I really should have done a 10k, then a 1/2 marathon, then a marathon...I mean really, where do I go from here?? I'm trying to decide if I want to set a weekly goal, another race goal, maybe a time goal, I'm not sure yet. The only thing I am sure of this: Tomorrow is an 8 mile run...and I'm looking forward to it!

Skipped

I skipped my 7 mile run this week, Not on purpose the first day, totally on purpose the 2nd day. TNT runs are every Saturday at 6. I went to bed Friday night exhausted. I sat my alarm and crashed. Well, turns out I sat my alarm, but somehow set the phone to silent. So I didn't hear my alarm, I didn't hear Tiffany call or text, I didn't hear anything...until 8:30! I decided that it wasn't a big deal, I'd just run Sunday morning.

This morning my alarm did go off, and I hit snooze 3 times before deciding I didn't want to get up. So I turned it off and went back to sleep. It felt good too! You know what else? I'm not freaking out about it, and I don't feel bad about it. So I missed a run. I'll be back on the horse tomorrow and life will be good.

Doesn't run well with others...

That's what I decided to call this blog on Sunday. On Saturday we had our first group run. Erin and I started out together, however about a mile into it I felt like I was dragging her down. I feel so uncomfortable running with others. Once the crowd got split up a little bit, due to pace, I felt better. Once Erin went ahead and everyone else was either in front of or behind me I was able to feel good about my run. I'm a lone runner. I run better when I'm by myself. I know totally weird. Everyone says a running buddy is the way to go. I think since I've started running I've pretty much been running alone, so that's what I'm used to and comfortable with. However, I know I need to overcome it.

Which I'm working on. Today Erin came and ran with me, and I did OK. I had to keep looking ahead and not worry about her pace or mine. And we did it, 5 miles! I don't want to spend 26 miles alone, so I definitely want to learn to run with someone.

Last week I lost 5.2 lbs! I know that I won't lose that much every week, but I really needed that loss to kick start my motivation. I'm working out 6 times per week and keeping my calories between 1700-1800 calories. This is my schedule so you help keep me accountable

Monday-Run 3-4 miles
Tuesday-Trainer
Wednesday-Run 5-6 miles, it will increase later in the season
Thursday-Trainer
Friday-Off :O)
Saturday-TNT run, distances varies each week. We will gradually work up to 18 miles
Sunday-Runner's Yoga

Wheew, I'm tired just looking at it! It's so worth it though. I love how I feel after wards. I need to add some tempo training i. I think I will do this on my Monday runs. I want to increase my speed. I want to be a little sore too, and after my 6 miler I wasn't. I had a blister, but no aches and pains that a shower and a good night's sleep couldn't cure. I don't want to be injured, but I want to feel the burn!

A much requested update!

Official marathon training has kicked off! I altered their training schedule slightly since I'm meeting with the trainer 2x per week, and doing a yoga class. Wheew! It's a lot, but so far, so good. I've met with the trainer 3x. The first time we did machines, she called it an "easy" workout. I don't know if I'd go that far, but it wasn't as hard as day 2. Day 2 we did the BOSU ball. In case you don't know what it is, it's this. I did lunges, squats, push ups, and numerous workouts with the body bar, all while standing on it. My muscles hurt so bad the next day! On day 3, we did lots o' upper body stuff again with some ab and core work thrown in. As you can tell, most of my work with the trainer will be upper body. We'll do legs to, but she doesn't want me to get to tired or to sore and not be able to run. My personal training sessions are meant enhance my marathon training, not inhibit it.

4 of the 6 Team Derby girls walked in the Derby Days and passed out fliers for a fund raiser at Buffalo Wild Wings. It was sooooo hot! Below is a pic of us before the parade started, I already has sweat rolling down my back. We don't know yet how much we made, but hopefully it will be the start of a good fund raising base!

Amy, Tiffany, Me, Azure

Last night we at BWW to start planning our next fundraisers. Amy is missing from this. pic, but the others are there.

Erin, Jamie, Tiffany, Azure, Me

Tomorrow is our first TNT group run. I'm not sure how many people will be there. I know there are over 65 woman registered to run from the Wichita area, so it should be a pretty big group. I'm training level 2, which means tomorrow's run is....6 miles! GULP!

Please feel free to share my fund raising page and my blog with your friends, co-workers, ect. I have a big goal to attain for my fund raising and I can use all the help I can get.