First Run Back

And there you have it...my first run after last week's DNF.

Headed out this morning for my first run in a week. My legs felt like brick weights but it felt great to get out there again and confirm that I am in fact still a runner! I may have been painfully slow, but what matters is I did it! 3.13 miles in 32:12 and I am thrilled with every last second of that time! Of course that 1.2 miles is going to haunt me until I conquer it. Sure enough, the first time I looked down at my watch today...1.2 miles exactly...seriously, I couldn't even make that up!!

My husband won a cruise through work so we will be heading out tomorrow morning. The kids will be in the very capable hands of grandma. I'm looking forward to running on the cruise ship. I figure I will try and get up early before it's too hot to even consider running.

This afternoon I signed myself and my daughter up for a local 5K next Saturday. My plan is to run the race for fun with my daughter and some of her friends. Of course, I am assuming that they will be running ten minute miles or slower and that there will be some walking involved. Then again, they may just school me...you just never know with kids! Either way, I am going to thoroughly enjoy all 3.1 miles with a great group of kiddos!

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

February in Review

Today's 8 mile run brought my February training to a close. Today's long run was scaled back since I am running a half marathon next weekend. According to the training schedule it was to be an easy run. I felt really good out there and it truly did feel easy. However, I had some very impressive mile splits. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing but at any rate here they are.

Mile 1-- 9:04
Mile 2-- 9:02
Mile 3-- 8:59
Mile 4-- 9:13
Mile 5-- 8:57
Mile 7-- 8:50
Mile 8-- 8:20

Time-- 1:11.27
Avg mile-- 8:55

February Stats

76-- running miles
22.1-- elliptical miles
1-- stairclimb mile
99.1-- total miles
150.8-- weight as of February 28, 2010
5-- number of miles missed (due to headache and pure exhaustion)
45*-- warmest outdoor run
23* (feels like 13*)-- coldest outdoor run
My newest photo (taken on February 26 before an Awards Ceremony)

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

Splish Splash 11 mile Dash....

Yesterday it was 47 degrees here! I set out at 8:30 AM for my long run. Of course there was a threat of rain but I decided to go for it so I didn't have to put in 11 miles on the treadmill. Within the first three miles of the run it started pouring. At this point I could have headed back home and finished my run on the treadmill but I figured I was soaked already so why not just finish the run outside. By the time I hit mile nine I was running through the puddles on purpose, acting like a kid again! The funniest part of the run was the drivers attempting to splash me. Really people, there is literally water dripping off the visor part of my baseball cap how could you possibly think splashing me would bother me at all at this point. I just kept on running and laughing and acting like a kid. It was fun! I was completely shocked that I managed to run a 9:51 mile pace for the entire 11.08 miles especially because the wind was so fierce at times that it felt like I was standing still.

When I got home from the run I was literally drenched with water still dripping off the visor part of my baseball cap. My shoes were soaked and making that "sloshing" (is that a word) sound. I realized at this point that my workout clothes were really heavy so I actually decided to weigh them to see how much extra weight I was running with. Turns out my workout clothes weighed 5.2 lbs (not including my shoes). I was talking to a friend last night at her daughter's birthday party about how I technically ran with an extra 5.2 pounds on my body. She looked me in the eye and said do I have to remind you how much extra weight you were carrying this time last year? I immediately realized she was absolutely right. Last year I was carrying an extra 42 pounds on my body so in the grand scheme of things, 5.2 lbs is nothing!!

Today is a scheduled rest day. Good thing because my legs are sore!!

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