End of the year

So here we are, the last hour of 2013 for central time people like me. I officially logged 370+ miles on my Nike running app. Super excited about that as I am also excited to see what the New year will bring. Finally revamped my 15 week half marathon training schedule. Getting a little excited to train even as I sit here with ice on my right shin..Lol..
Dedication, determination, or crazy..Lol don't know which. It actually has rest days put in the schedule three of them as I am no longer considered a novice runner. Yay. No elite runner by any means, but no longer qualify for novice. The novice training schedules start with low mileage of like 3 to 4 miles being the first long run of week one. I am definitely not back tracking to a 4 mile long run. So in revamping my schedule, instead of increasing my mileage by a mile a week, I did it in half mile increments to help prevent injury.
Well I learned a lot this year, and hope to continue to learn more this year.
I have one challenge still going, that of trying to log 75 miles in 30 days. I have until January 6th. We'll see. Lol Mona has already completed and then some.
The new challenge by Faithfully Fit Forward starts Jan 1st that I am doing. You are required to log 365 miles in 365 days, run, walk or crawl to log the miles. Looking forward to it.
So here it is, New Year, new miles. Happy running my friends. Keep your goals attainable, and yet reach outside your comfort zone or you may never find your maximum potential.

What I have learned.

So my first run back after a week off was Christmas day and it was a great one. I did 4.27 miles in 38 minutes. It was sunny and the perfect temp. Merry Christmas to me. It was a great day. My girls had fun. We enjoyed a lovely meal with the Konzelman family.
I went out again on the 26th and did a little 5 miler. I felt like I had lead legs. I wore my Newton Lady Issac S's. Last year at this time when I got them, I thought they were the most amazing shoes and they are still really great shock absorbers for those distant runs but dang if they didn't feel like they weighed over 2 tons.  I realize how much I like my Brooks Pure Connects. They are very light weight on my feet. I ran yesterday a little over 6 miles. It wasn't a fantastic run but I got out there and did it and was happy that I could.  I took today off as I am trying to listen to my body. Come first week of January starts my half marathon training. It's a four month training schedule. I am already ahead of the game this time. Last time this year I was struggling and just beginning to find my groove. This year I already have distance on my side. It's all going to be mental for me.
Looking forward to seeing how much I have improved from April 2013 to April 2014. I also am excited to see how I fair on the 10k I have coming up in Jan.  I ran it this last Jan in 1 hour 18 mins. I hope to by far surpass it this next year.
I also have the Feb 1st double bridge run coming up too. Excited as I only ran the 5k portion this last year. This time I am doing the whole 15k.
I can tell you what I have learned in the last few weeks.
1. listen to your body.
2. respect rest days for what the are meant to be.. (for those that are saying I told you so...hush, as some of us are more stubborn and want to go out side of our comfort zones and I am apparently one f them)
3. eating crap will make you feel like crap, shit, sluggish or however you want to word it, when you run.
4. Cyber running friends are the best. Thanks to Mona Dervin, Erica Montes, Dawn Pohlen and many more who encourage me to keep going and might I add, put up with my run challenges.
5. Nike + running app is a great way to log miles and to have that friendly competition to spur you on.
I am now 3.2 miles away from logging 365 miles for the year. I know I have done more as I switched apps from runtastic to Nike but it's nice to see it on my Nike app. I have 10days to log 35 miles for the 75 in 30 days challenge. Mona has already won but now I just want to get there. I can say I have already logged 67.3 miles for the month of December and I have a few days to go.
Thank you to all my motivating running partners, near and far.
so as the new year looms and you think of your goals, ask yourself, what is attainable? It makes you keep going if you set a goal that is attainable. If you surpass that goal, then you are on your way to being a 'rock star'
Happy Running my friends.

 my happy face on Christmas Day after my run.

Waiting

So I have not run in a week, come tomorrow. I have been down in the dumps over it. I didn't realize just how much of a mood elevator it was for me. I started having more intense shin splint pain, but knew it was worse than that as the pain kept me up at night, and I was not able to fully bear weight on my right leg. Dr ordered xrays, still waiting on the results. IF it's a stress fracture it may not show up on the xray unless it's in the healing phase, in that case she may be ordering an MRI. PRoblem I am having is, I had the damn xray last tuesday. They need to call me asap. I need to know if a weeks rest is good or am I out for 6-8 weeks. I have two runs in the next 6 weeks, one of which is the Pensacola Double Bridge Run 15k. I have been super excited to run that race this year. I will be extremely saddened if i can't run it. So praying for good news.
I am allowed to bike, so will be investing in a bike to continue to exercise.
I think part of why i hurt so bad this time was that I did what I had set out to do and that was picking up the pace. I have done some research and that can really aggravate and stir up problems.
I am thinking of my 2014 New Year's Resolutions. One keeps playing in my head. I want to run a marathon this year. I know it will require a lot of mental and physical energy but i am just as determined to accomplish this goal as i was the half marathon this year.
Christmas is a couple of days away. i hope you all are having some happy Holiday Running. Merry Christmas from my family to yours.

yep, reaffirmation that running hurts

So it's been a few days since my last blog. I have been running everyday in an effort to complete the December run challenge. I have run a few days of only one mile to preserve my shins. Sunday I started a new challenge. I must complete 75miles in 30 days and I have challenged Mona Dervin to run it with me. So far she is about four miles ahead of me as I have been battling shin splints and trying to complete this December run everyday challenge. Saturday my family and a couple of good running friends ran the Blizzard on the beach run with me. It was so cold but I was proud of my girls. They loved the tutus that my friend Sam made. We got complements on how well they looked. Hannah my oldest girl kept up with me for almost 3/4 of a mile then we stopped and waited for my husband and youngest girl Hayleigh to catch up then she ran with them. I tried to catch up with Melissa and Amanda. I pushed myself to catch up. I finally found Mel and slugged her arm as I ran past her. I finally seen Amanda. She was a little harder to catch. I said it before, she has a nice stride so was chucking along nicely.. She slowed down to fix her tutu and it gave me the opportunity to catch up. We ran together for quite a bit then I picked up the pace. I finished in a decent time and waited for the others. I can tell u all this.. I have self diagnosed myself with Raynauds disease. My fingers go stark white and numb in the cold. It has been happening since I was in high school and my dummy self just realized what it was. As a nurse I should have seen it long sgo.
Todays running extraordinary event brought forth some PR's for me. I ran my fastest 5k.ever..26:24 sec. Idk how it happened but it did. I was on a high after todays run.

Pain, oh the pain,

So day 4 I ran only one mile and did it in 9:08 seconds..  I was happy about that.  Today I was only going to do  2 miles but felt good until 2 miles in. the shin splints kicked in hard core. I tried to ignore the pain. I rain another half of a mile trying to ignore the pain, then I stopped and walked a bit, then picked back up and ran the rest of the way until I hit 3 miles. I was never so damn happy for m app to announce '3 miles".. I stopped the timer and walked the rest of the way home. MY poor shins had me in tears, literally.  I guess  I should be thankful, I didn' t have the shits plus shin splints..lol
anyhoo, day 5 challenge complete,   I pray I can finish this 31 day December run challenge.
happy running everyone

December Run Challenge

So December 1st was my first day back out there and let me tell you I was not pretty.  I was very weak but I managed to do 4 miles.  December 1st started the first day of our December run challenge. You must run every day for the month of December, minimum mileage per day is one mile. Today is day 3. I have completed on day one 4.0 miles, second day 4.1 and today I ran 9.15 miles.
Let me tell you about today. I was tired and fighting dehydration. I have been on antibiotics for 6 days and yesterday evening I started with diarrhea. I was upset, my stomach was aching.  I couldn't believe it. So I started pushing fluids as  I had already planned on running 9 miles the next day.  I was up all night running to the commode.  Talk about tired.
I stuffed some toilet paper in my capri pants and headed out.  I started feeling the cramps about 4 miles in but they went away. Believe it or not it was the heat that got to me. I should've gone earlier when I got up to get my youngest on the bus.  Thankfully their is a drinking fountain on the trail so I had that to look forward to. I am exhausted an my legs hurt. It's not from running but from doing a damn squat challenge this month too.  I must be crazy. lol 
anyway my 9.15 was completed in 1:39:54 sec.. my average pace 10:55.  my splits 1- 11:12, 2- 10:46, 3- 10:02, 4-10:25, 5-10:38, 6-11:02, 7-10:38, 8-11:55, 9- 11:08.  as you can see mile 8 was a killer.
Big shout out to all my friends doing the December run challenge with me :) Thanks for keeping me motivated.
I also have 4 days to complete the 60 mile challenge in 30 days. I have 4 days to get the remaining 7 miles done.. I believe I might actually do it this time
Happy Running my friends

Grrrr Sickness

Haven't run in a few days. I have been wiped out with a double ear infection, sinus infection, and bronchitis. I felt heavy pressure in my chest and my ears ached deep inside and my voice was completely gone. I decided it was time for follow up. Doc put me out for several days from work. I still feel weak, but starting to feel a little better. Voice is starting to come back.
I am a little disappointed as I was scheduled to do a 10k run tomorrow and  I had to cancel. I am not ready to run that far just yet. I will however start a run everyday challenge starting December 1st. Even if I only run half a mile sunday or other days, the goal is to run every day for the whole month.
It's possible.
I am thinking I again won't be making my goal of 60miles in 30 days due to this damn illness. I have 8 days left to log too many miles. Completely disappointed.
I did do some research and found athletes are more prone to cold infections. Taking a supplement 200 mg or more (not to exceed 2gm a day) can help prevent cold infection in athletes.
worth a shot to me
well gonna sign off.
Happy running  my friends.

Just a run to get my Zen back

       Just when I thought I was getting better, I get slammed again with another bout of freaking illness. This crap is for the birds.  I have completed a total of three runs since my last blog. None of which are any PR times for me but I had to get out there and do it.  I ran 5.35 miles on the 23rd and I can tell you, my legs felt like dead weight. I just didn't want to pick them up or put them down. Then on Sunday, I felt achy in my back and neck but headed out for a small run. I knew I as tired and not feeling well, plus I put my compression capris on in the dark, but while I was running, my pants kept sliding down. I though "surely I couldn't have lost that much weight?"  Then as I got further into my run, I kept seeing this annoying shadow off the side of my leg. I finally investigated it further. It was the damn tag that is usually on the inside of the pants.  I had put my damn pants on inside out. I'll blame it on the illness. I contemplated hopping off the trail to fix them but then remembered I had on hot pink panties that would be a beacon for any other runners or bikers on he trail. I left them just as they were.  My youngest was sick with cold and fever so I had to stop on the way home after my run to buy some cough medicine. I only did 4 miles but by the time I got home, I was running a damn temp myself.  WTF? I can't seem to catch a break from these back to back sicknesses. Thankfully, I wasn't scheduled to work that night and then I got put on call Monday. I slept for like two days.  Today, I still was feeling a little weak but was so damn frustrated with some personal things that I had to get back my mojo. I went out and did a small 4 miler and let me tell you, it gives you some immense peace after a run. I wasn't running hard or fast, just going with it. It was 50 degrees and misty out. I thank God that I can get out there and do it. Saturday, Amanda and I are doing a 10k race to benefit type 1 diabetes.  It's a color run at that. Hopefully the weather will be nice and we can enjoy the run.  I have11 days to meet my 60 mile goal. I have logged 35.78 miles so far, which means I have 11 day to log 24.22 miles. I believe I can do this. If I can accomplish that task, then I will up the anty and go for a bigger goal.
Happy running everyone.

Running Withdrawals

        So it's been since the13th of November since I ran.  I had originally wanted a couple days off due to achy shins but then I came down with a dang head cold that had me hacking up my lungs. I couldn't breathe through my nose, my head hurt from sinus pressure and I had an 80 year old smokers voice. All in all, probably just me being whimpy. LOL.  I was having severe running withdrawals but I knew I couldn't do it cause I felt overall just weak.
       I decided to go for a run today, I knew it was going to probably be causing some coughing spells but I needed it.  I took two puffs off my inhaler and headed to the trail. I thought, "just a few miles and I'll head home"
       Lo and behold I felt great except for the fact that I had to run with my mouth open to breathe and if I tried to breathe through my nose, I was snotting every where. Yep that's me, the sexy, beast princess, running with snot slinging from my nose. So, I chose to breathe with my mouth open.  I did indeed hock up my lungs for the first 3-4 miles then it settled down. I seen a bunch of squirrels and thought "oh how cute" then I seen a fox. It got me thinking.  What the hell would I do if I came across a bear?  I remembered what my friend Amie Pace said, stand still, or at least I think that's what she told me. It's been a couple of weeks since that discussion.  Then my inner being said, "girl, no, you better run cause you don't know what's out here"  Amazingly, I was making good time with that thought in mind.  Then my mind started thinking other crazy thoughts, like,  "what if someone jumped out of the woods and grabbed you, what would you do?, Would anyone know you where you were?" (I had left the spouse on the couch snoring as he has to work tonight), then I thought, hey dummy, you have a gps tracker on your phone.  I think I was getting a little paranoid after the bear thought and the sun was starting to set so it was getting darker.
     I just kept going.  I had NO intention of running 8 miles today but I let my heart guide my legs today.  My splits weren't too shabby.. Mile 1 10:34, Mile 2 9:21, Mile 3 10:29, Mile 4 11:27, Mile 5 10:51 Mile 6 11:47, Mile 7 10:58 and Mile 8 11:19   ...... AVERAGE PACE 10:52. According to the Nike app, I ran my fast 10k ever 1:06:08.  Not too bad being sick.
       I was getting cold fast, so tried to pick up the pace. Apparently my mouth was open wider than I thought as it happened... I swallowed a damn bug (total of two on the way home, but the first one really got me). It flew right into the back of my throat, which commenced the coughing and gagging and spitting like a man but I did NOT care. Another attractive thing for others to witness.. LOL
    Finished the run and the coughing and wheezing commenced but I just don't care. Sometimes you just have to GO FOR IT.

Reset my monthly goal on my NIKE app

I set a goal last month to run 60miles in 30 days and I missed it by about 10 miles.  I was a little disappointed but with my hectic schedule I was doing good to keep my training up for the Marathon Relay.  As of today I have 25 days in which to log 49 more miles. I believe I can do it. I did get out there and run today. I only logged 3.38 miles as my legs felt heavy today and the wind was kicking it up out there. It made me feel slow. My distance splits today were ok, especially my last mile. I was quite surprised by my effort. My first mile was 10'22, my second was slower at 10'58 and last mile and heading home it was 9'25.  Shocker right there.  Short blog today. I have lots of homework to do.
Happy Running everyone.

Pensacola Marathon Relay : Killer Bees

Today my team the "Killer Bees" ran the Pensacola Marathon Relay.  The original team was tweaked a bit. I received word Friday that a team member may not be able to participate in the race, leaving me almost NO notice to find a replacement. I racked my brain to think of who I could ask to participate and Kelly came to mind.  I called and texted her and told her it was NOT set in stone just yet but I would for sure let her know Friday night, or sometime Saturday.  Amanda and I had training in Marianna on Saturday and was not able to get to our cell phones all day. By mid morning my cell phone battery died. As soon as we were done with training we got ahold of Dawn and  she let us know our 4th member had cancelled on us.  I tried to contact Kelly again with no response. I thought, "dang she probably decided not to do it after all" I knew she had been running some but NOT 5 miles or more.  I had it in my mind that I would run the first and last leg of the race to let our team's hard work and effort not go to waste.  I arrived home and took a quick shower and hit the sack as I had been up since 4am.  Around 9:30 pm I received a phone call from Kelly. She was still in the game. I was super stoked as was my team.  I told her to meet me at my house at 5 am and we would all pool to Amanda's and ride over together to the start line.
Happy Birthday Marines:::::: 4 am rolled around and I was up and getting ready when the door bell rang. Kelly had arrived.  We headed out to Amanda's and set up at the start line.  I was nervous as was my team. I kept telling them, "all you need to do is stay above 14 min pace to avoid the sag wagan"   I am sure they were annoyed with me, but I wouldn't be my Marine self if I didn't push like I was pushed. I knew that Amanda was going to PT for her Achilles and taking antibiotics for  a toe infection. Dawn hadn't run over 6miles in a month due to shin splints and Kelly was restarting her training and was only up to a little over an hour at a time going out.  I knew the odds were against us but I had faith. I figured if I pushed and kept them motivated they would believe in themselves as much as I did in them.
I took the first leg (which I was suppose to do the last leg originally) which consisted of 7.2 miles and a lot of uphill windy length of road. Believe it or not, I felt great and the view was beautiful. I was so inspired at all the runners of all shapes and sizes out there. I had taped a slogan on my back that read "PROUD 2 B A USMC VET"  It was my way of saying "Happy Veteran's day and Happy Birthday to my beloved Corps all in one.  I received numerous taps on the back from random strangers thanking me for my service. It brought tears to my eyes. 

 

Mile 6 I was slowing down and getting a little tired but I was determined to not walk any on this Marine Corps birthday.  I rounded the corner and there was the transition area. Because I had started my NIKE app before I crossed the start line  I had actually run 7.53 miles in 1:24:28 seconds. 
 Dawn was running the second leg of 6.8 miles. The farthest she had ever run.  We hung out there until she got back as Amanda was next up. 

 

So my husband and girls showed up at this time and hung out with Amanda, Kelly and I . They were showing us support.

 

We waited for Dawn and I watched the other teams run past us and was getting nervous that she may be injured as she had told the girls before I arrived to hand off the belt that her "calves were tight" I wanted them to all have injury free fun.  We waited and waited and I got more nervous. I called her on her cell to check up on her and she said she was just around the corner.  I ran back and ran with her over the transition area. I feel that it was my job to motivate my girls as I was team captain. I don't know how effective I as in that endevear I 'm sure one day they'll tell me. Dawn ran 6.8miles today. So proud of her.

 Off Amanda went. I wasn't to worried about her because as I said before, she has an awesome stride and yes she hadn't ran over 6 miles before, I had no doubt she would succeed and rock it.  Her stride is something to envy. The pupil is surpassing the teacher.  Later she tells me "I'm beast 2" I asked her who was beast one?  she says "YOU"  lol.  I'll take it.  So on her run, Amanda sent me some funny motivating pics of her view, (motivation for her, I might add)

These guys were Marines I believe with Alice packs filled to the hilt on a march for wounded Warriors. So motivating.

 

We drove to the new transition area so Kelly could get ready. I had to pee so bad and there were NO portapotty's at the transition areas, I was a little disappointed. So for the first time ever as a runner, I squatted over a bush to pee. A little later I see my girl running up a hill and I run her in to the transition area.

She ran the farthest she has ever done 6.4 miles and did it in a wonderful time. I think I may have brainwashed her into doing a half marathon with me. I think she will only continue to get stronger as will Dawn.

Kelly started off and we all prayed for he safety as we headed toward the finish line/ mile marker 26.

We waited and waited and cheered others on.  We waited some more. I was getting this sick feeling in my stomach that she might be hurt. I headed out about a mile from marker 26.  I finally see her, limping. I run up and tell her it's ok, "go to the side walk, i'll run us in"  I text Amanda that she was hurt and that I would be flying past them to finish up, which meant that we all couldn't do it together.

I rounded the corner and gave that last mile my all. I finished and earned our medals or I should say helped earn OUR medals.  I went back to Kelly and  we walked the rest of the way back to the finish line. She wanted to complete the run no matter what  and she did it. So very proud of these girls. All of them. With time, they will all get stronger.

 

Kelly iced her knee and will be okay. Dawn came away with new knowledge for further runs and training. Amanda came away with more mental motivation to do another 10k this month and will possibly be running a 15k and half marathon with me in Feb and April, respectively.

Myself, I can say I can further attest to mental fortitude. If you believe t you can succeed it. I will continue to train and enjoy what I love.

Last set of pics is our prerace dinner minus Kelly who had to work.

 

 

 

 

 

Semper FI Marines.

Running in the RAIN

So I am in school for my BSN and one of my classes seems to be a bit more frustrating than the others.  Today, after being some what under the weather, having absolutely ZERO sleep, battling frustration related to school work, I decided to run in the rain.  I went out to Blackwater trails and had a thought in my head that I was only going to do 3 or 4 miles and that it wasn't going to be any PR run, it was to just get out there and de- stress. 
I thought I was moving so slow, when my NIKE app announced I had hit my first mile in 10:51. I was so excited that I was moving faster than I thought. I then moved into my second mile. I can tell you that the smell of the rain on that beautiful forestry landscape was wonderful. It almost smelled like cinnamon to me.  I hit 2 miles at 20:59. I kicked it in to high gear. I don't know what I was thinking other than, I wonder how fast I can run a mile in.  At one point I looked at my NIKE app and found that I was running a 7:48 second pace.  I hit mile 3 at 29:55. MY 3rd mile pace average was 8:56. I was in complete shock. I knew I couldn't hold out that pace much longer so I slowed it down. My goal was to make the 4 mile mark under 40 minutes or just at 40 minutes. Ladies and gentlemen, I did it. I ran 4 miles in 39:57. Close, but dang it, I did it.
I stretched it out and headed home.
More great news, my youngest came home from school and made top reader of the week in her class again. She also made Bulldog of the month. She was super happy about that.
I have found more friends who run. It is so motivating to me to be able to discuss running and running techniques with my friends.  My friend Melissa Clark is a running nerd like me.  I gave her a list of races I have signed up for the next several months. We are contemplating doing a triathlon. I know I won't be doing an ultra, but a half ironman triathlon I would love to give a whirl.
For the half triathlon it's 1.2 mile swim, 56 miles biking, and 13.1 running. It will be a long training session if we decide to do it.
9 days until the Marathon Relay: Dawn Pohlen, Donna Domiano, and Amanda Brown. I am super excited to know that Melissa Walters is going to cheer us on and my husband and kids will be there as well.
Well I am getting back to homework. I will sign off saying:
Run while you can, run when you can, and run what you can. Happy running my friends.

Getting stronger mentally and physically.

So Friday, I went and did the Glow Run with Amanda Brown. It was a cold night, but fun, I lost her in the crowd. It was so packed. She was battling her own ankle injuries, she completed the run though. Super proud of her..I did run the 5k according to my Nike app 32.40, and it said I actually ran 3.16. Not too bad. My legs hurt afterward. I took a couple days off and then went out and ran 7.1 miles today. I met some new PR's for me. I hit the 5 mile mark in 55:39, and my fastest 10k in 1:08:47. My legs hurt, mostly had crampy calves. Total time for the 7.1 was 1:19:43 seconds. I was super excited about that.
Got to see what our Marathon Relay Medal will look like. Time is ticking and soon all of our team will be earning that medal.  Amanda  Brown, Dawn Pohlen, and Donna Damiano and I will have done a first. :)
Pics, are from the Glow Run.

 

Happy Running Everyone. Remember, keep having fun and every run is some kind of progress. Oh and be sure to use anti-chafe glide when going for those longer runs. You don't think you will chafe, but you will, in those unknown places. You won't feel it until you hit the shower, buttocks crease, undersides of breast, thighs and even where my sports bra loops under my armpits.  Today's advice is brought to you by the case of sweaty booty crease. :) that I kept from chafing due to my glide.  Just keeping it real folks.

Personal Record set...twice this week

Super excited. This week I set two personal records. On Tuesday I ran 6.1 miles in 1:11:02seconds with an average pace of 11:37. I ran my first 10k this last January in 1:18 minutes. I have realized that I am making progress. I was so happy to see this.
Today was even better. I ran a time that I have not run in years. I ran 4.1 miles in a 10:08 second pace.  I hit the 2 mile marker at 20:30 seconds and picked up the pace at the turn around. I hit 3 miles at 30:08. I was so happy to hear that as I was under my Marine Corps standards of 31 minutes.  Not my fastest that I ran in the Corps but here I am 17 years out from my enlistment day and I ran a 30:08. I continued on finishing the last mile with the thought that I wanted to run 4 miles under 42 minutes and by the grace of God, I did. I ran it in 41:40. I am on cloud nine.
To think I was going to not run today as I was tired and crabby. School has been stressing me out but I got out there and I did it. I talked to myself the whole way. Building myself up for  a strong finish. Little over 2 weeks until the Marathon Relay, with Dawn Pohlen, Donna Damiano, and Amanda Brown. Each have been battling there own injuries during training. This will not be about winning any awards but doing the best we each can do and finishing. I am proud of them all for their hard work and for doing this race with me.
Tomorrow is the Glow Run. super Excited for it.

Rest day

so Amanda and I ran yesterday and we ran about 2.5 miles with a pace of around 10:40. Pretty good for both of us. Then the shin splints kicked in. I had run three days in a row. My body was telling me it was time to rest. We walked the rest home, which equaled over 3miles. I iced my shins and knew I was not going to run today. I also took my girls on a walk at Blackwater Trails. I think that will be my new long run track. It's  nice place to run.
got my tutu for the GlowRun next week. I'm super excited about it. The marathon relay is fast approaching. Next week I will have to either hit 5.5miles or 6, what ever my body is telling me to do.
Ate unhealthy today for the first time in a month and man oh man do I feel icky. Now I know why I don't need to eat shitty food.
I doubt I'll run tomorrow too as I think two days of rest is good and I will get some exercise walking at work. I will probably run again on Saturday morning.

Set your mind to it and go for it.

Sometimes you just have to set your mind to it and go for it. I was exhausted after working all night. I even had to drink a cup of joe to get out of the sleepy doldrums.  On the drive home I had a conversation with myself and said I out loud, "you will run 5 miles today' 
I got home and realized how nice out it was. It was sunny yet still cool. I got dressed, taped up my legs, put on the sleeves and went to find my phone. Wouldn't you know it, my ear buds were missing. The ones I normally use died during the Color Run on Saturday.  I had to run over to Kmart and pick up some more.  I did some speed walking in Kmart to count it as my pre warm up. Got to fit it in where you can, when you can.
Hit the road.   I hit about 3 miles in and I could feel that ache in my legs, my calves to be exact.  I knew it was lactic acid build up. I stopped and walked for about 15 -20 seconds then I stretched. I felt better after that. I could now feel the warmth in my legs. I just kept going and enjoying that sweet pumping music.
I could feel that my body had slowed down I the 3rd mile. When I hit mile four, I stopped and stretched again. I looked at the paused timer. It said  48:48 seconds. It meant I had less than 12minutes to finish this 5 miler. It was part of my original goal.  I kicked it into high gear. At one point it said that I was running a 9:07 pace. I was ecstatic. I wanted that under 60minute 5 miler.
I was getting so close.  Then the crap cramp brigade started in my gut.  I kept going. I was trying so hard to NOT crap myself.  Ugh, that damn cup of coffee screwed me over. Anyone who knows me, knows that coffee is my natural laxative.  I hit the 5 mile mark at 1:00:55 hh/ss.  I was so disappointed, but kept running. I ended up running 1:03:53sec for grand total of 5.25 miles.
Today, I made my goal distance. I almost made my goal time. It's okay. I got out their and ran today, did you?
One last excited thought for the day, I am registered for the GlowRun. I am so excited and Amanda Brown and I are going to pick out some awesome outfit gear on Thursday. My friend Brit is going to be there too.
Loving life.

Sometimes you stop the training just to have some fun

Today, I ran a 5k run just for fun. The Color Run in Mobile Alabama with Amanda Brown.
It was so fun. I think we walked a 5k just to the starting line..lol
We had discussed just walking it, but for some reason, I don't know if it was her idea or mine, we started running. She did fabulous today. We did stop to smell the roses as you might say, or to get blasted with Color but it was all in the name of fun.
My shins hurt some, but I hadn't really planned on running too much so I didn't tape nor wear my compression sleeves. I wore something entirely different. :) We ran the 5k in 40:39 seconds at a 12:25 minute pace. Slow, fun and several stops the color stations.
Tomorrow, God willing, I will be hitting a 5miler. Time's a ticking for our Marathon Relay, less than a month a way now. I hit 4.5 miles last week so time to up the anty.
Making some dinner and future plans on our outfits for the Blizzard Run. Can't wait. Fun runs relief some of the training stress.
Pics  and a "celebratory completion dance after ColorRun" video to follow. Hope you enjoy and have a blessed day. Today is great because I ran, did you?