Chief Maloney 5.6 Mile Unity Run/Walk

Ran 3 miles

Walked .5 miles

I wanted to write this post Sunday. But I was so exhausted after the Unity run/walk and my step-dad, Mike's, "surprise" birthday party that I went to bed at 7 pm. I was even reckless with my school work. I had originally planned on napping for an hour or so and then getting up and doing my discussion board post. However, I just kept on sleeping. I have never not done a homework assignment before. This was literally the last thing I had left to do in this class and I already had enough points for an A without doing this - so I decided to go right back to bed.. Still probably not the best decision I've ever made, but I was exhausted. Sean kept mentioning at the party how it looked like I was going to fall asleep just standing up.

Anyways - Sunday was the Chief Maloney 5.6 mile Unity Run/Walk. The course went from the Portsmouth, NH police department to the Greenland, NH police department and was to raise money for the Chief Maloney Memorial Fund. Chief Maloney was murdered in the line of duty last year. I ran it with Savannah who was pushing her daughter Paige. We were interviewed prior to the start of the race and we made it into yesterday's article!!!!

At the start of the race, there was a moment of silence and then we were off! The almost 1500 runners were led by police officers on motorcycles.

There was a man who ran holding an American flag.  

The first mile felt great. It was around the 1.25 mile that I needed to stop and walk for the first time (those dreaded hills!) Savannah did great. I'm pretty sure she could have ran the whole entire thing at a much faster pace with no walking breaks if it wasn't for me. But it was great to have her by my side for the entire 5.6 miles. She kept encouraging me to run further than I wanted to by setting goals for me to meet before I could start walking. When I started looking like I was going to walk, she would start talking to me to make me not stop.. Many of the times it actually worked.. There were a few times that I was like.. no.way.must.stop.now. It was an incredible experience to run this race. I typically always make sure that I thank the police officers who come out for races to keep the runners safe, but I made extra sure that I thanked each one that I came into contact with that day.

Savannah around Mile 1.. I'm hiding behind the police officer

Coming into the finish

Almost there! I look like I'm going to die while Savannah looks like she could run another 5.6

Finishing felt great.. I wish I could have finished it without taking any walk breaks, but I truly feel like I tried my hardest. I had wanted to come in with a time of an hour and 15 minutes - we ended up crossing at an hour and 19 minutes - not horrible considering I hadn't properly built up my mileage. 

WE FINISHED!

Adorable Paige at the end of the race

After the race there was a post race celebration with beer and food. I gave my beer ticket to Sean and we purchased another food ticket because, of course, Sean wanted to partake in the post race food. We hung around for a little while before we left to go pick up the cake for Mike's birthday and then head over there for the celebration. 

In other news, I finally decided to sign up for the YMCA. I signed up last night and I went there for the first time. I really liked it. I'm hoping to wake up super early tomorrow morning and do a spin class. I have never tried spinning, but have wanted to try it for awhile now!

Today I ran 3 miles with Danielle and a new friend Deb. I was proud of myself because yesterday I had set a goal to run for at least 1.5 miles straight, which I ended up meeting! We turned around at the 1.5 mile mark and walked for a few minutes before starting running again. I think I actually could have made it a little longer, but since I had that 1.5 mile marker in my head, I stopped as soon as we hit it. 

Our run today!

I also signed up for the American Cancer Society Bark for Life. Sully and I will be walking in this event on June 9th to raise money for support for cancer patients as well as research and community programs. I have set a goal of $100 and am currently at $85. Would you please consider donating to this great cause? Please visit my personal page if you wish to donate. Even a $5 donation can add up! I want to thank those -- my mom & dad, grandparents & my cousin Ashley -- who have already donated. It is truly appreciated! 

Excitement & Frustration

Ran 2 miles
Walked 2.5 miles

Today Sully and I met up with Courtney (from the Mom's Run This Town running group) for a 2 mile run. I was incredibly excited because I ran under a 12 minute mile for the first time in I don't even know how long. I have had a few runs in the past couple of weeks where I was on track to run under a 12 min mile, but would always come up short finishing in 12:15, or 12:30. Today we ran our first mile in 11:52! I know that this isn't super impressive, but I am proud of it. In the past, I have focused on increasing my distance - right now I am trying to work on my speed. Ideally, I would like to be at or under a 10 minute mile.. I'm moving in the right direction! The frustration was of COURSE that I had to stop and walk. I had to walk for a minute at about 1.11 miles, and then again at 1.75 miles (that stop I probably COULD have pushed through since we were only .25 miles away, but there was a hill and I just couldn't.do.it! My plan is to not increase my distance over 2-3 mile runs until I'm down to a 10 minute mile. I also really need to work on hill work.

I get really mad at myself when I have to stop and walk - but especially when I am running with somebody else if I make them stop running. It's weird because I know that if I weren't the one needing to stop, that I wouldn't be upset with the other person, but I can't stop beating myself up when I'm running with somebody else and I need to stop! It's already bad enough that I'm a super slow runner.. GEESH! I hate feeling inferior! 

The 5.6 mile charity run is coming up on Sunday. I'm fairly confident that I will not be able to run the entire thing -- but I am not planning any official walk times..  I'm just going to go and see how my body feels. I'm really excited because Savannah is running it with me. We've only been talking about doing a race together for 8 months now! I'm happy that I can do this one with her considering it is meaningful to her. She is a police officer in a town pretty close to the one whose Chief was killed in the line of duty. I believe some of the officers in her department knew Chief Maloney. 

In other news, I finally made a decision about the gym. I am going to leave my current gym and join the YMCA. I looked at the classes and found a good 5 classes a week that I can make. I made up a mock exercise schedule including runs, group classes (mainly spinning with one yoga class per week -- if I end up liking it) and also weight training. I really think that this is something that I can make work and I am super excited! I'm going to go to my current gym tomorrow to notify them of the cancellation, then hopefully next week I'll be able to sign up for the Y. :)

I weighed myself in today and was excited because I am back down to where I was a month ago at my last dietician appointment before I went all crazy for 3 weeks and ate whatever I wanted. I need to try and remember this tomorrow at the Olive Garden.. must.resist.lemon.cake!! 

I'm looking forward to starting the "Run Everyday" challenge again soon! I'm definitely on the mend and feeling almost back to normal -- besides this nagging cough...But, I'm not sure yet if I'm going to run tomorrow or not, because of the race on Sunday I may just go for a walk with Sully. 

                                       
 

 

Just 5 More Minutes... please!

Ran/Walked: 3 miles

I don't know what it is with me - but I always have the WORST time waking up in the morning. I am the snooze queen and will literally hit snooze until the very last second. Case in point - today. I was meeting up with Danielle for a 6 am run at her house which is a little less than 20 minutes away. I WANTED to wake up at 5 so that I could eat something and let it digest a little. I went to bed last night with my alarm set for 5 am determined to not hit snooze.. EPIC.FAIL! I woke up at 5 -- even climbed out of bed and went to the bathroom -- then immediately crawled right back under the covers. I'm not sure why I do this? I know that that extra 5, 10 or even 15 minutes is NOT going to have any real benefits to me. It's especially hard when my husband is still in bed.. Typically he's up that early and I'm the one sleeping in until 9 am. So when I wake up and he's still in bed, it's even worse -- I want to be in bed under the covers with him next to me and our dog at the foot of the bed. This morning I slept in until 5:30, which meant that I had exactly 10 minutes to get myself dressed and take Sully to the bathroom.. Needless to say, I was a few minutes late this morning. A blogger that I have been following for a few years says that she sleeps in her workout clothes - I think I may need to try that for my next early morning workout. 

I wish that I could say that this was my only "5 more minutes" fail of the day. When I got home from running, I stretched and immediately went back to bed. I was back in bed by 7:30 and slept until 9:30. Considering I have to be at my desk for 9:35, I was thankful that I work from home and that I had already taken care of Sully's bathroom needs. 

Our run this morning was good. I'm still recovering from being sick, so it's back to being inconsistent with running.. Though I guess I'm always pretty inconsistent with my running - healthy or not. I really need to lose this excess weight. I cannot believe that I gained back so much of what I had lost. Especially considering that I still had weight to lose. Ugh. If only it wasn't so easy to gain... and SO hard to lose. I really need to start going back to the gym. I know that it will only help me improve my running by A) losing weight and B) strengthening my core. I literally.just.hate.it though :( It's so easy for me to get out and go for a run - especially now that I am running with others, but I cannot for the life of me get to the gym lately. I have been seeing a dietician and I know that I have been losing muscle mass, but for some reason - I just can't make it to the gym.. there's always an excuse. 

I've been thinking about cancelling my gym membership and joining the YMCA. I'm really torn about what I want to do. Here are the options:

1) Keep my current gym membership. Pros: It costs $20 per month with a $40 per year annual fee for both myself AND my husband (though he doesn't use it.) They are less than a mile from my house - in the past I have even run to the gym, worked out and then walked or ran home. They are open 24/7. Cons: They do not have any exercise programs. They also do not have an indoor running track or pool.

2) Leave my current gym and join the YMCA. Pros: They have exercise classes included in their fee (I've been DYING to try spinning). They also have an indoor pool and indoor track. They have childcare for when you are there (obviously doesn't matter now, but may come into play within the next couple of years.. *I hope*). Cons: It is more expensive. It would be a $75 one time joining fee and $42 per month just for myself. They are a 10-15 minute ride away, depending on how you hit the lights. Obviously this is not super far, but when you are used to less than a mile away -- it makes a difference. They are not 24/7.. Now I don't think that I'd be wanting to use the gym before 5 am or after 10 pm, but it is nice having the flexibility of a 24 hour facility. Also, my friend Sarah has informed me that they do close on a lot of the holidays and when it snows.

3) Have both. The best of both worlds. I know that this sounds ridiculous - but the way that I am looking at it is that Gym A covers myself and my husband. If he were to get a membership to the gym on his own, it would cost $20 per month easily. However, he has also been to the gym less times than I can count on both of my hands.. in 8 years - so I think I'm just reaching here. I'M.SO.TORN!

Other than this decision, which isn't a huge one - but is taking up a lot of my time lately - things are good.. I had mixed emotions on my run today. I had to walk a couple of times because of side stitches.. WTH. I've NEVER had side stitches.. I have had - a stress fracture, shin splints, a knee problem that I don't even know what it is, tight calves.. but never side stitches.. I don't even know what they are.. Sean used to be a cross country runner and says that it has to do with how you are breathing. He said that it's common when you are chatting with another runner.. and yes, I was with Danielle today. However, we weren't even really talking any more than I've talked on other runs.. I did notice that my breathing was hard to regulate today... which could be because we were going faster than I normally run, or because I'm still getting over my cough. I was excited, though, because my pace seems to be naturally increasing. When we were running today, we were running at an 11:40 minute/mile pace. Now if only I could keep that up for an extended period in time. I'm excited to run with Courtney, a mom from the Mom's running group, tomorrow. I am going to try and run with the cough drops again and see if that makes a difference with my breathing.. We shall hope!

Running With Cough Drops

Ran 2.05 miles

Today was my first run since I started getting sick. I had planned on meeting up with a woman from the Mom's Run This Town running group yesterday, but had to cancel due to getting no sleep. We decided to reschedule for this morning.. 

I went to bed early last night, but had a hard time falling asleep.. The alarm went off at 5 am and I BRIEFLY contemplated cancelling - I hate mornings!! But I decided to put on my big girl pants and get out of bed. I'm still not 100% better, but I knew that I could probably muddle through a run. 

I ended up taking Sully with me.. I think he thought I was crazy.. I can't even remember the last time that I was up in the car at 5:45. The run felt pretty good. It's always nice to run with somebody else, it makes me forget about the time and just enjoy the company. I had to run with cough drops the whole time and stopped twice to walk for a minute, but other than that - I was proud of my first run since I got sick last week. We ran the first mile non stop, a 12:23 mile. The second mile was mostly running with two short walking breaks. It felt great to be back out there after a week of not running. I am not planning to start back immediately with the run every day challenge until I'm feeling better. In the meantime, I'm just going to run when I feel up to it. I have a 5.6 mile race on Sunday and I want to make sure that I don't overdo it before then. 

Shockingly, I really enjoyed running @ 6 am.. This comes as a surprise to  me because I REALLY love my sleep - like, sleep until after 9 am every day. I loved that there weren't that many people out and about and that I got my workout done and still had my whole day ahead of me.. I do have to admit that I got home at 7:15 and immediately went back to bed for 2 hours. I'm sure that I won't be jumping out out of bed every day at 6 am - but I am looking forward to future running meet-ups that may possibly be at this early hour :)

Till the next run.. 

 

What a Let Down!!

This past almost week has been so frustrating! Wednesday I decided to put the "run every day" challenge on hold while I focused on getting better. I ended up going to urgent care that night because I had a fever - so I KNEW that I had a sinus infection.. Lo and behold.. a sinus infection. I was thankful that the doctor knew that I had my fair share of experiences with sinus infections and let me tell him what medications worked for me. Typically the doctor tries to prescribe me Amoxicillin, despite the fact that I have told them countless times that it doesn't work for me.. Growing up I had about 9+ strep throat occurrences per year, and ever since I had my tonsils out in high school, it's been 4-6 sinus infections per year.. Amoxicillin and Penicillin do NOT work for me. So, I left urgent care with the Z-pack and cough syrup with codeine. 

Thursday was just plain awful.. My sinus infection was getting better - but the cough was worse. I ended up not getting ANY sleep Thursday night. I went to bed at nine and got maybe 2 hours of broken sleep between then and 5:40 when I woke up for the last time. I laid in bed from then until 8 am unable to get any more sleep. 

Friday was worse. I literally could not stop coughing. I would go maybe a minute without coughing at the most. This is when I started doubting whether or not I'd be able to run the Stonyfield 5k the next day. I had decided that even if I didn't run it, that I was going to go out anyways and support some friends that were running it. I called the nurse after work and they decided that they wanted to see me again. The doctor prescribed me a cough medication that cut off all cough reflexes, as well as hydrocodone for pain and to sleep. When I got home and took the medication, I immediately felt relief. I was so excited because I was not coughing, and with the vicodin and cough medicine w/ codeine, I was definitely on my way to a good nights sleep. The relief was short lived because as soon as I laid down, I started immediately coughing non stop again. At about 5:30 am, I was on the verge of a mental breakdown from no sleep in 2 days - so I called the nurse line AGAIN and she suggested falling asleep with a cough drop - which actually worked.. though I'm not sure it's the smartest thing to do because of the choking hazard it presents.. oh well.. I got some sleep. 

I obviously did not end up going to the 5k that Saturday. I was super bummed. This was the first race that I've had to miss because of sickness. And not only was it a race - but I was running it in memory of the events of Boston last week. A few members from the Mom's Run This Town group were going to dress up in Boston gear and take a picture @ the start line.. I can't believe that I had to miss it :( 

I was starting to feel better yesterday, so I had planned on meeting up with one of the mom's for a 6 am run this morning. OF COURSE my body decides to give me another sleepless night - so I ended up having to cancel that.. I'm running a 5.6 mile run on Sunday and I have barely run all week..  UGH! I really hope that I'm better soon.. I WANT to do this challenge so bad. I also WANT to get back to the gym. I started back on the clean eating wagon today and so far so good - but I want to go at it 100% - which I really can't do right now because I'm not getting any sleep to be able to actually get up and workout.

Here's to hopefully getting better soon so I can get back on track!

Admitting Possible Defeat...

Today was supposed to be day 5 of my "run everyday for 30 days" challenge.. and OF COURSE I wake up this morning.. sick.. Last night I had a really bad cough and knowing what my husband just got over.. I was dreading this morning.. This morning I woke up with a full blown sinus infection. I have not (yet) been diagnosed by a doctor.. however, I get these enough -- every 10-12 weeks -- that I know exactly what I'm dealing with. I'm currently toughing it out at work right now, hoping they will be able to spare me so that I can go to bed. 

I have been struggling all day with whether or not I was going to run tonight. My dilemma is that, I committed to doing this challenge and I WANT to finish it.. On the other hand, I know that I need to get better to avoid feeling worse. Also, I have a horrible cough and I'm having issues breathing clearly without putting myself further into a coughing fit -- so obviously running would make this harder. I just keep going back and forth.. Part of me keeps saying - I only have to go out and do 1/2 a mile.. 1/2 a mile and it'll be over in a little over 6 minutes -- I might even feel BETTER after going out for a run. The more sane part of me is telling me to just go to bed when I eventually get out of work, that it is just a challenge and that I can start over once I am feeling better. 

Thoughts? What would you do in this situation?

The Lunch Run Disaster

Day 4 of run every day challenge

Ran .52 miles

Walked .50 miles

I should have known when I decided to sleep in this morning, that it would not be my only poor decision of the day. Since I'm running every day, some of my runs have to be really short. I just ran 2.62 miles yesterday, and I had planned on meeting up with a new runner friend tomorrow bright and early (now rescheduled) so I had intended on running a mile. We are celebrating my step dad's birthday tonight and I have to head over immediately after work. My goal was to wake up before work and run a mile.. Seriously, this is no huge deal.. I work from home and have to be logged in by 9:30..  But instead of waking up and doing it, I had this bright idea that I would sleep in as long as possible and run on lunch... ha! They say hindsight is 20/20. 

Seriously -- I have the BIGGEST problem with waking up. No matter how early I go to bed, I will sleep in until the last minute possible. It is a rarity that I do a before work workout. The only exception to this is when I am meeting somebody. If I have plans to meet somebody, I will wake up because I have to. (Hence why I am meeting up with somebody this week to run.) 

Now here's the problem, I have never ever successfully done any sort of activity on lunch, besides taking my dog for a quick 1/10 of a mile lap around our neighborhood. I am not sure why I had this bright idea that I would run on lunch -- anything to justify that extra sleep I guess. Since I work from home, I typically make my lunches, which means the 30 minutes is usually just enough time to take the dog out, make and eat lunch, grab a water and take a quick breather before heading back into work. My husband was home sick today, so I figured it would be the perfect opportunity to order lunch (he could accept the delivery), head out for a quick 1 mile run, and then come back and eat lunch.. Brilliant plan, right...? WRONG!

I wanted to go by myself -- but as I was heading out the door, Sully was giving me his sad "I know you're leaving -- please, mom, take me with you" eyes.. (see above) which I can never resist when I'm heading out for a run. Now, when you come out of my complex - I can either head to the right, or to the left.. The right is my usual route. The route is pretty flat with some small rolling hills. Now the left... The left starts off heading down a huge hill, which of course means that you have to run UP the hill on the way back. It is about 1/2 mile of hill. My hill work has just plain sucked lately. I keep wanting to go to the left, and at the last second will head off to the right. So, I'm running out of my complex today, and I'm just about to head to the right and at the last second make a quick decision to head to the left. WORST.DECISION.EVER!! The first half was great. At my turn around point, I was on track to do an 11:15 minute mile -- which I have not done in FOREVER! Then I turned around (which by the way just happened to be at the bottom of the hill) and I couldn't do it. My calves were hurting so bad.. not even just a feeling of tightness... hurting.. bad.. I stopped running immediately and wobbled home. So much for that bright idea - maybe next time I should start out on a smaller hill.

Other than that - tonight we celebrated my step dad's birthday. Which, of course, involved lots of food - chocolate, laughs, hugs from my adorable nieces and family time. I needed that today. I also had a ridiculously entertaining debate with my mom after my sisters, their boyfriends and my nieces left.

I had forgot to mention that yesterday I signed up for the Chief Maloney 5.6 mile charity run . Chief Maloney was on duty last year when he was shot and killed. I had wanted to do this last year, but had scheduling conflicts. The race is less than 2 weeks away and my longest run post stress fracture has been just a little over 3 miles. I no doubt will have to walk at some point during this race. I typically do not sign up for races when I don't feel prepared to run them. My usual race goals are to a) finish b) run the entire race c) to not finish last. However, this is a great race in support of all of the wonderful men and women that put their lives on the line each day to protect mine. It's a great cause. I am going into this race knowing that I will need to walk some, and I am okay with that. I am excited because my friend Savannah (who is a police officer for one of the surrounding towns) will be doing this with me. Some of my other runner friends will be there as well. I.can't.wait!

For You Boston

Day 3 of run every day challenge
Ran 2.62 miles
Walked .5 miles
 
My heart is breaking for the Boston marathoners and spectators today. (and of course anybody in Boston today not specifically for the  marathon). Anytime a tragedy like this happens, it is shocking and so incredibly painful -- even for a person who was not directly involved in the events.. But, as a runner - this one hit a little too close to home for me.. 

People that I considered friends were running/spectating the marathon. People who I have never met but respect immensely were there. I just simply do not understand why something like this would happen. Thankfully, everybody that I knew running/spectating the event is accounted for and okay. I am filled with worry for the people that cannot say the same about their loved ones.

I cannot even begin to gather my thoughts to process this. Many of those who were injured lost their limbs... Seriously - is this a sick joke? Boston Marathon runners are ELITE runners. They run in a race and then a bomb goes off and they lose their legs? - never to run again. Many would say that they are lucky they are not one of the dead - try telling that to any elite runner that I know.. Running IS their life. Then all of the people who may have trained for years just to get to this point and don't get to finish? People are so cruel and unfair sometimes. 

Then, of course because I'm human - this is so incredibly scary to me because this. is. MY. GOAL. Thankfully, I am a long way away from being able to qualify for Boston - but I want to complete a Marathon within 2 years. What if something like this happens at another marathon? and another? - like with the various school shootings and killings that have happened over the past few years. I know, I know... bad things can happen no matter what - I cannot put myself in a bubble and protect myself from everything - even though I want to! But things like this make me want to avoid similar situations. I know that I cannot quit running, and I cannot live my life like that -- it just hits too close to home. 

I wanted to honor the Boston Marathoners and spectators in my own way. Sully and I ran 2.62 miles tonight. 10% of a marathon. Although it wasn't much, we ran for the entire running community. Around 1/2 of a mile, my calves started feeling tight again. Thankfully, I did not feel any pain and I continued on. After I hit a mile, I felt great. Mile 1-2 felt amazing - I was running with a purpose.. running for those that no longer could. Around mile 2 my feet started feeling numb.. I have never truly understood why this happens to me.. but sometimes it does. I just pushed through and was able to finish exactly what I set out to do - run an entire 2.62 miles. This was very bittersweet for me. As you can see from my previous posts, this has been a tough running week for me mentally and physically. I was happy that I was able to push through whatever physical or mental block I had going on and actually run the entire distance that I set out to run.. I just wish that I was doing it for a better reason. 
 
Such a sad day for the running community. Tonight my heart aches for those who were affected by this tragedy.. Tonight I am thankful to have my entire family safe for one more day.. Tonight I hold them a little closer.

 

And the Frustration Continues...

Day 2 of run every day challenge..
Ran .65 miles 
Walked  7.25 miles 

I went out this morning with the intention of running two miles. I knew that I was meeting up with my friend Savannah to walk the trails with her daughter and our dogs, so I did not want to do anything major.. I. couldn't. even. make. it. one. mile!! Talk about frustrating.. I don't know what is going on with me lately. Immediately after I started running, I felt the tightness in my calves, as well as a familiar pain as when I first started developing my stress fracture... this time in the opposite foot. I turned around at the .65 mile mark and walked the rest of the way home. I just felt.. defeated.. I am determined to not give into this challenge.. even if my days consist of crappy running days like this one. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. 

Anyways - the highlight of my day was meeting up with my friend Savannah, her daughter Paige, and their dog Harley. Savannah and I have been friends since middle school. We have certainly had our ups and downs, but we always manage to pull through. Her daughter Paige is simply adorable. She is only a little over 10 months old and was so well behaved throughout the majority of our walk. Towards the end she started getting a little fussy - but the poor baby was exhausted and hungry! We walked for over 2 hours! At that point - I was tired and grumpy.. If throwing a temper tantrum in public was acceptable for an adult, I probably would have joined her. We walked approximately 6.5 miles. The dogs had a blast. Much to my husband's chagrin, Sully was off the leash. He had a blast running up ahead of us and then charging full speed ahead back to us, giving Paige a kiss each time. I really love that he is well behaved off the leash and I get so much joy out of watching him run around uninhibited (for the most part). We did, however, pull off approximately 10 ticks that were on him. Needless to say, I was lectured. 

Sean and I differ a lot in our approach. I'm very relaxed and laid back with Sully. I get so much joy out of letting him be free and actually be a dog. I don't worry much about mud, or water, or ticks.. Ticks, they seriously give me the heebie jeebies, but the way that I see it - we protect him as much as we can with an annual Lyme vaccine and monthly flea and tick preventative - then we just need to make sure that we thoroughly check him. Sean, on the other hand, worries about what the worse case scenario is and, because of this, prefers that I keep Sully on the leash. I sense very different parenting styles someday :)

Despite the setbacks in my running distance this weekend, I am very happy with what I accomplished.. I managed to get out both days and be active, despite having a boatload of homework to do. I also was able to socialize with a bunch of friends -- my running friends, my mother & sister in law, and Savannah -- and I was a good dog owner. Sully is beyond exhausted right now. He went to daycare Thurs & Fri, then we walked 3 miles yesterday and 6.5 miles today. I love weekends like this!

Unfortunately, because I put off my homework all week & weekend, I was stuck cramming it in before midnight.. I finished it just in time, with a little time to spare to write this blog entry..Now I can go crash - and hope my sick husband doesn't keep me up all night snoring ;) 

Here's to a better run tomorrow!

 

An Enjoyable Active Day

Day 1 of run every day challenge
Ran .75 miles
Walked  6.75 miles

I'm not sure if it was the fact that I was on a trail (not used to trail running) or if I was just having an off day, but my right calf muscle was really bothering me today. Once I stopped running, I kept meaning to start running again - but I was chatting with some friends that came with me today and just couldn't get out of that mode. Oh well, we did a total of 4.5 miles and then I did another 3 mile walk with my sister in law, Marissa, and our dogs. Not too shabby. I needed the calorie burn to make up for dinner tonight. 

Other than the fact that I walked more than I wanted (was planning to run 3 miles with the group), I really enjoyed myself. I struggled mentally with having to stop after less than a mile, since I run more than that all the time. Since my stress fracture left me out of my running shoes for 4 months, I am now ultra cautious and stop whenever I feel any sort of pain or discomfort that isn't "normal" Speaking of the group.. that was so much fun! I just recently started running with other people, and I wish I had started a long time ago. Also, this was a group run that *I* organized. I never would have done that before I started running. Anything that I used to do previously, was something arranged by somebody else. Now I'm joining groups and organizing group runs with my runner friends. I almost don't recognize myself. A couple of people couldn't make it for various reasons, but there was still 5 of us that made it out. It was a good group of people. Hopefully we will be able to organize another run soon, and actually run!

The other trail was really nice, too. It was one I previously did with my friend Brittany. We ran the trail the only time I ever did it, so today when I was walking, I noticed different things that I hadn't noticed before.. I knew that there was a pond/lake at the 1.5 mile mark, because that was where we turned around, but I neglected previously to notice that the trail ran ALONG the other side of the lake. It was nice because I haven't spent much time with Marissa lately, and Sully hasn't seen her dog, his "dog friend" Dakota, in awhile either. 

Now I get to relax for a little bit before I have a girls dinner with my mother in law and sister in law :) <-- Thankfully I burned a few calories today, I'm sure I will MORE than make up for it tonight!

The Beginning...

So... I've started a blog.. Now what? I'm not much of a writer, so I'm not even sure that this blog will be very entertaining.

I started running a year ago this past January. I completed the Couch to 5k program and completed my first 5k in April of 2012. Since then, I have completed a handful of 5ks, a 5 miler, a 10k and a half marathon! I developed a stress fracture during training for the HM, which took me off my feet for a good 4 months. Needless to say, I am not where I want to be running wise after just starting again, and I gained some weight back that I had previously lost. :(

I recently married *09/02/12* my husband Sean. We've been together for almost 8 years. We live in New Hampshire with our golden retriever, Sully, and our two cats. Sully is the perfect running partner. I am branching out and making new friends through this running thing. I joined a HM training group last AUG, met some new runner friends at work, and very recently joined a Mom's Run this Town running group (I'm a dog mom, it counts - sort of). I have really discovered a lot about the woman I am over this past year. I am putting myself out there and doing things that I never thought I would do even two years ago. I am discovering that I am a lot more independent than I used to be - my husband remarked on this fact a few nights ago. 

Present Goals: 

* Run everyday for 30 days - at least a mile on "rest" days
* Lose 60 lbs - weekly weigh ins on Friday.
* Get under a 10 minute mile!! (Currently a 12 at my fastest). 
* Get back on track with my diet.

I'm meeting up with a group of friends tomorrow for a running date. Hoping to run 3 miles - hope it's not too muddy!!