Signed up for the Marathon!

I signed up today and paid my money. No turning back. I'm going to rock this thing.

Also, I'm changing up my training schedule. We are now 18 weeks out so today will be Day One of Week 18. I'm also changing the weeks to start on Monday and end on Sunday that way my weekly mileage totals will not get messed up when I switch my long runs from Saturday to Sunday. Most training plans are 18 weeks long so today is the official beginning of training!!!

Double Digits Baby!

Yesterday, Sunday, I completed my first 10-miler. AND I did it in 1:45. No, not one minute and 45 seconds. One hour and 45 minutes. If my calculations are correct, which they very well may be wrong, I averaged 10:30 miles. THAT IS AMAZING. I'm starting to get the confidence to actually believe that instead of just finishing....I'm going to kick this marathon's a$$! Okay, so maybe that is an overstatement but with 4 months left to train I'm feeling really good about changing my goal time to 4:30. Okay....so maybe it is wrong to get ahead of myself and all the books say to just finish your first one and not worry about times, but 4:30 isn't a particularly fast time and I keep underestimating myself, so maybe just maybe I can run faster and longer than I think I can.

So, that is the latest news. I did a bad job of recapping last week because I was super busy and just a little disappointed in myself for not following my schedule last week. But, here is the update:

Sunday: 9 miles in 1:42 (sore from 5k so went super slow, but it was a good, fun run...i love running slow!!)
Monday: off
Tuesday: 4 miles on treadmill in 41 minutes
Wednesday: tired, stressed, busy + full of excuses
Thursday: same
Friday: same
Saturday: 4 miles on treadmill in 42 minutes

Big announcement later today...stay tuned. :)

1st 5k Report

So, I haven't been the best about updating the blog recently but time seems to be an issue with me these days. I ran on Monday (4 miles), Tuesday (5 miles) and Wednesday (4 miles) of this week. For Wednesday's run I woke up at 5 am to complete it before the research project in LA began. I'm super proud of myself for that....but then, on Thursday I was so done with everything. I was tired, work was stressful and long, and I just didn't find the time to get any running in. Friday was all day on a plane (almost literally) as my flight was delayed because of a faulty ceiling panel on the plane, so again no running. Ultimately, the week started out good but was ending poorly until....my very first race!!!!!

So, I haven't run a 5k since high school and was very skeptical of my ability to run fast. I mean, I know I can run at least 8 miles, but most of my training runs I only average between 10-11:30 minute miles. So, I was content to run this 5k and finish in the 30 minute range.

I barely woke up in time this morning. I was still tired from my day of travel and was a bit off because of the time change, but I forced myself out of bed. I didn't really eat healthy yesterday so as I was getting ready I warned Ryan that I might come in last place and finish in over 30 minutes. Ryan seemed annoyed and a bit disappointed in my lack of ability, but we wound up getting out the door by 8:15...only 15 minutes late. I arrived and got my number and then we waited....and waited...and waited. This was actually probably a good thing for me because it allowed me time to wake up. It also gave my competitive spirit some time to wake up as well. Ryan kept picking out people as goal people to beat and while I was skeptical, I really wanted to do well and not come in last place.

So the race began. This was a small race and it really started abruptly. I wound up by accident being the the front (on the far left side) while everyone was bunched up on the far right side. So, I just started running as fast as I thought I reasonably could maintain. I really had no clue how fast I should be going. There was a small pack in front of me and as I ran, no one was passing me. I just kept waiting and waiting for the crowds that were back at the start line to come up and pass, but they just weren't. It was really weird....but I kept running and trying to keep pace with this really old man that seemed to know what he was doing. There were no mile markers, but I must say I ran the whole first mile with no one passing me which was really odd. At some point, a guy that looked in his 40s passed me and I was running next to this little kid that kept sprinting then slowing down then sprinting then walking which got kind of annoying because I kept having to worry about where he was because we kept going back and forth passing each other. Anyways, we got to the first turn around, and much to my surprise, there was hardly anyone close behind me. As I kept running, I realized that I probably would beat most of the people Ryan told me I need to beat because it didn't look like anyone was running particularly fast, and a lot of people were walking by this point.

The race then recrossed the start line and went out and back for the final mile. This was really funny because at this point very few people had gotten to that point, so Ryan, assuming that I was going to be at the back of the pack, wasn't even watching. I turned the corner and happened to turn my head and I made eye contact with Ryan. He looked surprised and all he could muster was a thumbs up. He was really shocked to see me in the front of the crowd. I think he was really proud of me and I could see it on his face....along with the utter surprise.

At this point, I knew it was almost done and I started running as fast as I could. I usually like a really slow pace so I made sure to push myself to go faster than normal. I felt good and 3 miles is starting to feel pretty short to me which is a great feeling. One chick passed me but then lost steam pretty quickly, so I re-passed her. I wound up finishing in 24:20. I was the fifth overall female to finish and finished first in the 25-29 age group. I even got a medal!!! I wound up finishing at the same time as two 70+ old men which was kind of funny, but I did wind up beating A LOT of men which was fun. I probably finished in the top 20 overall. I think not many people took the race very seriously, but the big accomplishment is the confidence boost knowing I can run faster than I thought I could. Maybe this is a lesson that I need to start thinking more positively....

Week 4--Recap

So, I've been MIA, but that doesn't mean I have given up. Just had a busy weekend. On Thursday of last week, I completed the trifecta of not waking up for my morning run, but again, I made up for it in the afternoon. I ran 4 miles on the treadmill in a little under 40 minutes. I'm working to run faster on my short runs in order to improve my speed and get ready for my 5k that is next Saturday.

Then on Saturday, I set out to kick 8 miles's butt again. And.....I did. I completely rocked it and am so proud of myself. I stayed at my parent's house and so I ran in the back of their neighborhood. It was a great route and I really felt great the entire time. My knees hurt a little, but nothing that was too bad. I felt like I was going really slow and wound up finishing in 1:32, which is slow but good...and then I realized that I went too far in one direction so I actually ran over 8.5 miles when I relooked at my route map. But the great thing is, even if I had taken 1:32 to run the 8 miles, it still would have been a great run. I just felt really good, had a positive mental attitude, and actually felt like I had more in the tank when I was done.

So now Week 5 begins. I did a little too much imbibing on Saturday night at the LSU party, so I skipped my Sunday run. I plan to make it up this afternoon. Obviously it will be inside because it is a monsoon right now. And then I'm off to LA for the week, so now begins the ultimate question, can I keep up with my marathon training schedule while busy on the road???? The answer to that question and much more on the next installment of "iheartryan's running blog."

Hahaha, so much suspense.....

Week 4 -- Wednesday

Wake up FAIL. Again, I hit snooze too many times and did not make it out for a morning run. So, after work I went. Ran 5 miles in 53:23. I'm trying to run a little faster in preparation of my first 5k next week. I managed to meet my goal of running faster than 11 minute miles, but I would like to run the 5k in less than 30 minutes which obviously does not seem possible at this point. Oh well. If I could manage a 10 minute mile pace that would make me happy. It seems so easy on the treadmill, but when I get out on the open road, I guess I go much slower. Oh well. We will see how I do next Saturday.

Week 4 -- Tuesday

I hit my first major milestone on Tuesday.....I ate my first bug. Yep, I'm very proud of my accomplishment. It was just one of those days. I set my alarm for 6:45am and much to Ryan's chagrin, I hit the snooze about 4 times before it was finally time for Ryan to get up for work and he turned the alarm off altogether. So, no morning run for me. I left work about 4:45 and headed to the Y. Got there, and of course there were no treadmills open. UGH. So, I headed home to get ready for an outdoor run. Got all my stuff, except my watch, and headed out. Didn't make it to my route until 5:30, so there it began. My first race of the season.....a race against the sunset. So, I started out on my run and soon realized I had forgotton my watch. Oh well. Keep running. About half a mile into it, I ran into a swarm of flies. Ate a few, a few got in my eyes, and rest were stuck to my sweaty face. I was like a human spider web. Not my best moment. Oh well.

I made it to milemarker one and instinctively looked down at my left wrist. Yep, my watch still wasn't there. It unfortunately had not magically appeared. In my mind I was thinking, this could have been my fastest mile 1 ever and I would have no way of knowing, but deep down I knew it was much more likely that it had been my slowest mile 1 ever so I was sort of glad I didn't have a watch to make myself feel bad about it.

So, from there it was on to mile 2. I HATE mile 2. It is always my worst mile. I always feel like quitting. It is so funny how mile 8 can feel better than mile 2. But anyway, I soldiered on and conquered mile 2. And you know the best thing about finishing mile 2, is I get to mile 3, which is my favorite. Mile 3 always seems to fly by. At that point, I'm always sufficiently covered in sweat and for some reason that feels a lot better than the beginning miles where I am half wet half dry and I can feel the sweat tricking down. Once I get to mile 3, I stop feeling it and just accept the grossness and kind of hit my groove. Anyways, the last 2 miles were uneventful. I even got a bit of a kick in the end which is always fun. So, I accomplished 4 miles in about 43 minutes (give or take). Not bad, not good, but I finished them and tomorrow is another day. :)

Oh, and in other news, I signed up for my first race today. I'm going to be competing in a 5k on October 17th. 3.1 miles sounds really easy, but I want to get a good time so I'm going to attempt some tempo runs next week to improve my speed. Can't wait and I will post pictures after the race!!

Week 4 -- Sunday

Long time no see. Work/life got in the way of training last week. I'm really glad I got my 8 miles in on Wednesday. So, I didn't run on Friday or Saturday. But, overall it was a good weekend for other reasons.

So, here we are at the start of week 4. I decided to get out there this morning and run 6 miles to make up for my failure to run 4 miles yesterday, but the weather wasn't really cooperating. I wound up making it 5+ miles in about 1 hr, but then the waves on the lake prevented me from going any further down the path. As I turned to finish, the wind just about knocked me over. I was exerting a lot of energy but not getting very far, so I called it a day after making it to my car. I don't know the exact mileage.....wish I had one of those nifty garmin watches that tracks that sort of thing....

Week 3 -- Thursday

4 miles on the treadmill. 41 minutes 40 seconds. Felt good but a little long. Knee is now stiff. Oh well. See you in Madison....