Saturday, April 4, 2009

Long Time No See...

Wow, it's been awhile. Didn't realize how long until i saw the date from my last post was from January.

Since then, I've started school (hence the lack of posting) and now the semester is half over. This week was spring break and I can't say I used it all that productively, except for working out. Which leads me to spending this entire weekend catch up on all that I should've been steadily working on. Procrastination at it's finest!


I ran my 4th half marathon back on March 16. I can say I'm rather pleased at the result - a new PR! I ran it in 2hrs 21 minutes, for a 10:48 pace, something I didn't think possible when I ran that race the first year.


I've also found out in the last month or so that my brother's girlfriend is pregnant. Normally this would be good news but my brother is only 20 yo, lives at home while working part time and going to school, and his g/f just barely turned 18, never had a job in her life, and just lost her golf scholarship to sac state. I think the shock has worn off and a very very small part of me is excited to know that I could be an aunt. Scary, yes..but gotta make the best of it.

The funny thing is my parents had a joke years ago about which of the 2 of us would have a child first. I don't know who should've been more insulted - me or my brother, but alas, I don't think it was what anyone expected. We are planning to have children after i'm done with school sometime next year but our situation is only slightly different. Ok, a lot different - I'm married, 31 years old, and my husband and I have steady jobs with good salaries.


I fully intended to run one race a month but the last few weeks my motivation has been lacking. I still love running but I think the structure of training for the half has me burnt out on having to run by a schedule rather than just doing what I want. So, one race a month (approximately), is what it has become. My next one will probably be May 3rd - the Fair Oaks Fiesta Sun Run. It's a 5-mile race in Fair Oaks, complete with aptly named hills - Grand Daddy Hill, Hernia Hill, The Beast and Last Gasp. Bring 'em on!


Ok time to get back to work..hopefully it's not another 2 months before I post again but I make no promises. Enjoy the nice weather while it lasts!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Enjoying the peace that is a quiet Sunday morning.

The last few days have been uneventful which is fine by me and running is back to being kick-ass as opposed to mediocre - woo hoo!

Started the half-marathon training group yesterday and I'm definitely excited. I feel like the coach has a lot of wisdom to impart which I'm looking forward to as well. Although, I think her Louisiana accent helps quite a bit, too. It's just fun to hear her talk, haha. The run itself went well - 6 miles total. No pains to speak of but I definitely need to remember Kleenex in the future. It's amazing how much your nose can run, even if it hadn't been running when you started.

The company I work for has started their own "Biggest Loser" contest a couple of weeks ago. I can't say I'm impressed with my results so far (a .5lb over a week) but I guess I can admit that I haven't been trying all that hard - pizza one week, nachos another - combined with a lackluster week of running definitely showed on the scale. Ah well, a loss of any amount is better than a gain, that's for sure.

It's also got me following the actual "Biggest Loser" show on television. I think part of it is seeing the success stories of the participants and the other part is seeing Jillian Michaels kick ass. If I ever have a trainer, she's the type I'd need. Not only does she get results physically but she really helps them address the emotional side of why they got to where they are, which is usually more of an issue than just eating and not exercising. For those who might be interested, she does have a radio program that you can either listen to live online on Sunday mornings, or download to your mp3 player - KFI On Demand. Highly recommend it.

The New Year got me thinking about setting new running goals. I've seen a lot of improvement over the last few years and I can only attribute that to the things I've learned since I've started. I remember one of my first runs and oh my gosh, it was awful!

I had tried to do 5 miles with some people I knew and I can't think of many things I did right - ok, maybe one-I had gotten good shoes. But everything else was so far off that if I could go back and slap myself, I probably would. I wore the wrong clothes, didn't bring anything to drink, and did I mention this was one of my first runs - hello, 5 miles? Wow..I'm amazed I can run today because I didn't kill myself then.

But I guess my point is that you learn a lot of things along the way - both in running, and life in general. You realize your mistakes, learn the lesson(s), and grow as a person. So, stay with your goals and make the most of the new year, taking all the opportunities you can to learn along the way.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Back to what I know...and love

Well, I finally broke down. After a year or so without a gym membership, I finally caved and joined one (befitting with the true theme of "new years resolutions"). I loved having access to a gym when I canceled our membership (our implying my husband went once the entire year we had it) but the gym itself left a lot to be desired.

So this time, I decided to raise my standards and pay a little more for somewhere better. It's only been a few days and I can say I'm impressed and am anxious to utilize everything they have to offer. I'm also hoping it helps my running since I'll have access to more/different avenues of exercising and keep me from being bored as well. I'm sure I'll have more to say on that when I've been there awhile.

On the running front, things are better. I've resolved to run a race every month this year so that has me excited, too. My first will be next weekend, a 10K benefiting the ALS (I can't remember what it stands for) or better known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Tomorrow I'm going to do a 5-miler to ensure things are ok and I am ready. Then, in February, I'll be doing a 4-miler on Valentine's day, and March will be the ShamrockN Half Marathon the weekend before my birthday. So far so good on the resolution front.

I've also ordered new running shoes to kick off the new year. The Asics 2140, an update to a shoe I have and love so i'm hoping these are just as good. Hopefully they didn't change too much. That also reminds me that it's time to clean out the closet of shoes past...oh what exciting times.