October in Review

My 7 mile "Time of Day Tuesday" run brought my October running to a close.  I was originally going to run today but the neighbors I was planning to meet decided to cancel this morning due to the weather which I was perfectly fine with. There's always tomorrow!

The October Details

October 2013 stats
122.92-- running miles
0-- spin miles
0-- jump rope fitness workouts
0-- core fitness workout
0-- Pure Barre classes
0-- Fitness App workout
0-- walking miles
122.92-- total miles

Current 2013 stats
1188.11-- running miles
67-- spin miles (3 classes)
19-- jump rope fitness workouts
1-- core fitness workout
12-- Pure Barre classes
1-- Fitness App workout
9.69-- walking miles
1,264.80-- total miles

2013 "to do list" check-in

2013 Running Goals
1. First and foremost 26.2 under 4 hours--enough said
-The best laid plans....a rough race and a finish time of 4:52....fail.....




2. Achieve a second sub 1:50 half marathon so I can remove the asterick from my current sub 1:50 PR
-I did run the RNR Cleveland 1/2 this month but sub 1:50 wasn't achieved there.  I am not sure that the opportunity to achieve this goal will present itself before the end of the year but I'm not counting it out just yet...




2013 Mini Running Challenges
1. Run 100 miles per month
-122.92 miles run in October.  Mission accomplished!
2. Run 1300 miles for the year
-111.89 miles to go to complete this challenge.

2013 Non-Running Mini Challenges
1. Cross-train at least twice a week
-Partial success and partial fail.  I did successfully complete the 30 day wall sit challenge this month.  In total I spent approximately 46 minutes "sitting on the wall" in October.  I didn't do any other cross-training during the month though.

2. Complete a jump rope workout every day
-Not a single jump rope workout completed. And...the trend continues...
3. Drink 50 ounces of water per day (based on my current weight, this is my daily water intake need)
-Done and done well.
4. Take my vitamins daily
-Vitamin taken every single day in October.
5. Continue to choose and cook healthier foods
-16 meals made in October.  I am very pleased with this one!
6. Learn to swim...better luck this year
-Ummmm.......yeah.......ummmm
October was great overall.  I enjoyed "time of day Tuesday", running for the "love of the run" and mixing in hills during my Sunday morning runs with the girls (and sometimes boys).

Amazing sunrise at the top of one of the hills during  my last long run for the month of October

Hill running with the girls (and boys)

The beauty that is the Metroparks

 Keep running, you're simply the best, and you inspire me!!

What's Been Going On In My World Wednesday

It has been awhile since I have done any blog posts.  I always have good intentions to sit down and write a post and then I get distracted by something and the blog falls to the wayside once again.  With that said, here's what has been going on in my world.

Every Tuesday since my marathon I have been making a valid effort to run for a set amount of time and just enjoy the "love of the run".  I have been able to do this every week so far.  I pick a length of time I want to run and then I start my watch and switch the screen so it shows the time of day only.  The best part of these runs is seeing my distance and pace at the end.  It is very therapeutic and I recommend everyone try it at least once!

Time of Day Tuesday!!

I had no intentions of running the Inaugural Cleveland RNR 1/2 Marathon but since I found a discount coupon and most of my Sunday morning running buddies would be there, I decided to go ahead and register for it.  The original plan was to aim for a finish time around 2 hours.  Let's just say the hills took their toll on me and I finished with a 2:05 or so.  I was happy with that for a training run.  I also helped a co-worker I came across at mile 11.  I ended up run/walking with him to the finish because he was in a world of pain.  I was happy to pay it forward.  There have been many races where other runners have done the same for me!

Let's Rock

Let's Roll

I am not a huge fan of hill running but I have to admit I am starting to enjoy running them.  Dare I say it's fun?!?!  On Sunday the plan was to get a long run in and run some hills during the course of the run.  Some hills turned into six hills total.  I was not a happy runner going up the hills but once to the top, it was so worth it.  The views were just amazing!  I can't say enough about the beauty of running in the Metroparks.  It also helps to have amazing people to run with.  We also managed to convert our friend Emily to an outdoor runner from a treadmill runner!  There were times that I wanted to hurt our friend John when he would push the pace.  Truth be told, I made myself keep up with him because I know it makes me a stronger runner.  Patty, Tony, and Dan are great motivators as well with their encouraging words as we power up the hills!  Just an awesome group of friends that enjoy sharing their love of running with each other!  I think Missi described it best when she captioned our photo:  "11 miles of hills and high-fives".

The only thing missing from this picture is Missi, she was behind the camera!

Just gorgeous!

Yesterday was Tuesday so the watch was set to time of day again and I actually embraced the hills that I encountered.  I may have even said they were a nice bonus.  My friend Kim asked me who I was with that comment!  I told her she was bringing me over to the dark side (hill running).

At the top of one of the hills we conquer (this photo was taken a week after my marathon)

 Finally, it appears some of my running friends and I are famous!  We got an email to sign up for the Santa Hustle 1/2 Marathon in December and sure enough we are the featured photo in the ad!  I am not sure I would have noticed it if I just looked at the email but I had 13 text messages waiting for me after my run yesterday with our photo included!  Go us! 

Who wants our autograph?  HA!

So, that's what has been going on in my world!  What has everyone else been up to?

Keep running, you're simply the best, and you inspire me!!