7 Miles! And a confession.

Due to series of obstacles, I didn't get in the Tuesday see-how-far-I-can-go run that I had planned, so I just picked up my marathon schedule this weekend and headed out for 7 miles. I've run 5 here and there over the past few months, so I was pretty sure I could bang out just 2 little miles more.

Fortunately, I was right.

But I have a confession. I had a Chocolate Outrage GU at mile 4. Which I know is kind of ridiculous for a single digit run.

Confession #2: I don't regret it. The last 2 miles were a.m.a.z.i.n.g. Like my last mile was my fastest amazing. Like sprinting out the last block amazing. Like grinning for the next hour amazing.

My rule used to be no GUs unless it was a double digit run. I'm thinking now the new rule is 7 miles or more. : )

What about y'all? When do you bring out the fuel? Or do you do Gatorade for a medium distance run? I'm curious to see what everyone else's rules are.

Saved by the May Marathon!

Thank y'all for your encouragement and for not outright calling me out as crazy!

Honestly, if we trained really thoroughly for the next two months, we could walk/run a marathon in March.

But, honestly, am I very good at training thoroughly? And who wants to walk/run a marathon when they can run one?

Luckily, just in the nick of time, my sister discovered another possibility! There's a new marathon in Ashe County up in tiptop northwestern part of the mountains of North Carolina on May 7.

I'm so thrilled because....

1. I LOVE Ashe County. I did my student teaching there, we hiked and biked there with my family when I was little, we kayaked through there when I was a camper, and it's just beautiful and peaceful and gorgeous. It's about 40 minutes from Appalachian State where I went to college and my friend Sarah and I drove out there for our first brick when we were triathlon training.

2. The race sounds perfect. It's the New River Marathon. It will be mostly flat because it's by the river, perfect 50-60 degree running weather, and beautiful scenery.

3. And best of all, it's 16 weeks away! I can actually train realistically!

Yay!

Short Term Marathon Training?

In December when I started running again, I had a March 20th marathon in mind. Which would have worked out beautifully, because it was just in time to start my 16 week training plan. Then, it got cold and snowed and my marathon partner was out of commission for a few weeks and I thought we had just bagged the idea of a March marathon.

I've been googling around for weeks, but never really found a April or May marathon anywhere even kind of close. (My sister did find the "Broken Ankle Trail Marathon" but anything that has an injury reference in the title does not make my list. Also, this will be my friend's first marathon and I don't think I'm quite ready for 26.2 on trail.)

This week, my friend called me to report she just ran 7 miles and did I want to get back on track for the March marathon?

I'm really excited because I'd love to run it with her. We were roommates in college and did a lot of working out together. We ran a half marathon together and I'd love to do this race too. We both realize this is a late start to get really get going on marathon training, but she said she would be fine with walking part of it- as long as we finished.

Soooo....this race is 2 months away. I'm going to see how far I can go on Tuesday and if I can hit 8 or 9, I'll feel a lot better. Then I'll actually register.

Anyone have any short term training ideas or plans?

I escaped!

Yesterday, after the weird sensation of teaching fourth grade on a Saturday (we had a snow make-up day and will next Saturday too), I was very excited to take advantage of the warmer, less icy, more sunshiny conditions and get outside!

Since I simply don't know what's good for me, I still dragged my feet about actually getting geared up in my running clothes and there was less than an hour of daylight when I finally got out. I never wear more than long workout pants and a long sleeve dri-fit over a top when I run in the cold. I almost always shed the longsleeve within 5 minutes. Yesterday, however, I considered going back in and getting a jacket and/or gloves...it was pretty chilly.

Once I got a little ways in though, I felt fine. I was SO relieved to glance at the Garmin and see that my first mile was sub-9:00 without me trying for any kind of speed. (I'm not really focused on speed at all, especially now, but it is so discouraging when it seems like a struggle to just get a sub-10:00 mile on the treadmill. It feels so much easier on real ground.) I slowed down a little after that, but kept happily plugging along past the turnaround and up to 3.5 miles.

All of the sudden though I just felt so tired. I think my body just realized that 1. I hadn't fed it anything but junk that day, 2. It's only been doing 1 mile a day all week, 3. It's been fighting off a cold for a week with only sporadic medicinal help from me, and 4. It wasn't really used to running in the cold.

I walked a little ways, not out of necessity, just out of tired/laziness, but couldn't for long because I immediately became cold again. It would have been ideal if someone I knew came driving by and I could flag them down and just ask for a ride the rest of the way home. (Which is not an unlikely fantasy in this small town.) I sucked it up though (I wasn't miserable or injured, just tired) and jogged the rest of the way home.

So, it wasn't a dramatically amazing escape from the dreadmill, but I'll take any 5 miles outside over the best 1.01 on the treadmill.

The Treadmill: A Necessary Evil?

Confession: I have been bugging my husband, literally for years (which is impressive since we've been married less than 3 years) to get rid of our treadmill.

He bought it right after we got married, amid my protests, ironically, because I was the only runner in the family at the time. He used it for a while and I gave it a half-hearted effort, but it never really caught on as anything besides a clothes hanger. After some period of guilt about being a treadmill-hating runner, I forgave myself, declared myself an only-outdoors runner and have been advocating against ours ever since.

Confession #2: I'm eating my words now. It's freezing, it's icy, and I'm pretty sure my already low productivity would have sunk to zero without the treadmill the past week. Even though I still really hate it, I've been climbing on that machine every day.

Confession #3: My idea of a treadmill workout is one in which the screen reads "1.01" when I'm finished. As in 1.01 miles. I absolutely know that 1 mile does not a workout constitute. I also absolutely know that I'm not going to go any further on the treadmill.

I can. not. wait. for the ice to melt and to hit the open road and run 3, 4, maybe even 5 miles. (Let's be realistic- it's not going to be anymore than that until I've been running a few weeks again.) But until then, 1.01 is going to have to cut it.

What about y'all? Treadmill, no treadmill? Do you hate it, love it, tolerate it? I'm in near-coastal North Carolina so I cannot imagine the dilemma of someone living, say, in Michigan. What do you do?!

101 in 1001

I finished my list! Click on the tab above or here to see my 101 goals to meet in the next 1001 days. Keep me accountable!

Getting all my digital ducks in a row.

Since returning to blogworld, I've been trying to work out some of the digital kinks.

I have at least five different Google accounts that I have set up at different times for different times, projects, and purposes. The main problem with this is having to log back in and out to check my email or to blog. I have finally accidentally discovered a solution to this problem: a browser just dedicated to blogging. I know that Google Chrome is the cool way to get around the internet now, but I just haven't been able to break it off with Firefox yet. But I've found I can be logged into one Google account on Chrome and another on Firefox! (Which is such a simple solution that it's kind of embarrassing that this Instructional Technology major didn't figure it out earlier.) So now, on my computer, Chrome is just for blog reading, commenting, and writing, and Firefox is for everything else.

I've gone back and forth about how to log my (ridiculously low but better than what I have been doing- which is nothing) mileage and I've finally decided to just post the dailymile logo link. Their widget choices were not very satisfactory, but I like all the graphs and features and whatnot.

I've got my blogs I like to read mostly updated and organized on the left and right (Am I the only one that doesn't really like Google Reader and just prefers glancing at my blog lists on my site?) although I keep finding ones I've left off.

My header finally stretches across the entire width of the page, but I really need a new good picture of me running. (Maybe I should enter another big race?) Later, I want to mess around more with the background options too but right now, I like the color and that's good enough!

I'm getting close to finished with my 101 in 1001 list and that will be my last big addition for now!

Since we have a snow day tomorrow, I might just be wild and crazy and hit the dreadmill treadmill for a almost-bedtime run! (And then I'll have more fodder for the treadmill complaining post I'm planning next!)

Running is my reset button.

Sunday afternoon, planning to go back to work after a two week break, I was not happy. Even though I missed my students, I dreaded getting back into the daily grind of early rising, paperwork, and busyness. It was making me a grump.

I had no desire to go running. None. at. all. I KNOW that I feel better when I run, but without a concrete goal, it's just so hard to get my lazy self in my shoes and out the door.

Since it was only January 2, however, I knew in my heart that it was little early to give up on New Years resolution. So I laced up.

Before I even got to the end of the block, I felt a million times better. It was beautiful out, and I was on my feet and had music in ears. By the time I hit 1 mile, I was starting to get excited about going back to school the next. When I hit the 2 mile mark (McDonalds, ironically) and turned around to end home, I was in my happy place.

It is absolutely amazing how much better I feel when I run. And it is even more amazing how ridiculously resistant I am to getting out the door.

Running is my reset button. Ninety-five percent of the time, it takes me from grumpy/frustrated/stressed/pity partying to normal/happy/perky in less than 2 minutes. Why do I ever hesitate to push the button?

New Year's Resolutions

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm just going to let myself down if I pronounce specific resolutions that I'm going to keep for the next 365 days. I'm actually working on a 101 in 1001 list, but I'm not finished quite yet. (I had just been throwing ideas into a word document as I thought of them and thought that I surely had too many. When I numbered them, however, I only had 49. So I'm still working on that.)

So I'm keeping my resolutions intentionally vague this year:

More

• Running
• Cooking
  
• Reading
• Fruits and Vegetables
  
• Organizing and planning ahead
  
• Water
• Vitamins
• Flossing
  
• Blogging
• Staying present in the moment
  

Less

• Junk food
• Internet browsing without purpose
• Worrying about or focusing on things out of my control

I'm enjoying reading around and seeing everyone else's resolutions too!

2010 in Review

I realize I've been completely absent from blogland, but the past few weeks have just been really, really needed relaxing/catch-up time. I know it's 1-1-11 and time to get ready for the new year, but I want to pause for just a second to look back on the past year.

2010 was not a year of neat checked boxes for me. I didn't achieve any new athletic feats or blog much. I started preparations for a marathon and a thesis and then, after careful (and correct, in retrospect) consideration, abandoned both. We lost two people we loved. Our ridiculous schedules put a strain on myself and my husband. 2009 was much simpler.

Summed up, this was my 2010:

• I continued with my beautiful little class of 3rd and 4th graders and 2 more classes in my grad school program.
• In March, I ran a half marathon that I hadn't properly trained for and really struggled the last 3 miles. I think I've FINALLY learned my lesson about undertraining!
• I finally broke down and bought a Garmin after a 10K where I really wished I had one.
• My husband's grandma became sick and passed away.
  
• My husband became a runner.
  
• I organized a 3 mile race with 116 participants!
• I taught swim lessons this summer for the first time in several years.
• I went back to tackle the Kure Beach Triathlon.
  
• Over the summer and fall, I worked for my school district in an internship with curriculum and technology.
  
• One of my best friends got married in Las Vegas and we had a lovely trip there.
• Two more of my childhood friends got married and I played the piano for their weddings.
• I helped to organize Take the Lake and ran the 15 mile course with my mom. It was a great run, but after that, I decided it would not be practical to continue training for a November marathon. I only ran 6 or 7 more times the rest of the year.
  
• Sarah and I ran the Warrior Dash in New York!
• I ran the Biggest Loser 5K in Myrtle Beach and ran alongside Bob Harper for a minute!
  
• My husband worked 7 days a week, pretty much every waking hour for months leading up to November 2nd and helped successfully re-elect our congressman.
  
• I took 9 hours of graduate classes and wrote my thesis proposal while working full time this fall. Between that, two trips to Iowa for my grandpa (which would have been worth it no matter what the time constraints), and the stress of my husband's schedule, October was a very difficult month for me.
  
• I hadn't run at all for over a month. I just felt like I could never sacrifice the time. Finally, I felt so stressed, I just put on my shoes, hit the ground and ran 5 miles. I expected the stress to melt away like it usually does when I run. It did while I was running. When I stopped, I immediately felt tense again. I ran once with my mom and aunt and then our local 8K, but I think that was it until December.
  
• My grandpa was diagnosed with cancer and we flew to Iowa to visit one more time. He passed away a few weeks later.
• My church nominated me as an elder.
  
• I decided to drop my thesis. I didn't need it for my degree and I decided it wasn't worth the time and work if it wasn't necessary.
  
• My husband and I took a trip in December sans cell phones, laptops, textbooks, and work. It was absolutely what we needed.
  

Looking back, I'm just surprised by much of the year was unplanned. On January 1, 2010, I knew I would run some races, but didn't have any of the above events planned. I didn't have any traveling plans, but I've ended up flying more in the latter part of this year than I have since the semester I studied abroad. I had no idea I would organize a new race and help manage another. No one could have anticipated losing two grandparents.

It is what it is though. I'm entering 2011 more prayerfully and stronger than any previous year. I do have some New Year's resolutions (we'll worry with those tomorrow), but I know despite all my plans, the things that will really define 2011 might be completely out of my control. It's a little scary, but a little exciting. Ready or not, it's a new year!