82 days to go... or not

So I'm feeling extremely discouraged. I haven't gone running since Thursday, the date of my last post. I was planning on going Saturday, but that morning as I was loading groceries into my car, I pulled the same muscle in my back that I hurt the previous week while on the treadmill. This time it was much worse though. I barely made it home and up the stairs to our apartment - I was in so much pain I was in tears. The rest of the day (and Sunday and today) was spent on the sofa with Advil and a heating pad. It's been frustrating. I'm not one to sit around and do nothing. I like to be active and getting things done. Laying on the sofa all day has been torture. It's hard to find a position in which I don't feel any pain. I feel like I need to be out running but I also know I need to take care of myself. My husband has been doing a great job of taking car of me and our place - doing the laundry and all the dishes, putting meals together, and keeping me company - which makes me feel bad because I have a hard time being waited upon. I'm not sure what is going to happen with the race at this point. It all comes down to time. I have until March 1st to change my event registration to the 5K instead of the half. I don't want to do that, but I also don't want to hurt myself even more. I'm not sure I can build up my endurance enough to run 13.1 miles between now and April 29th. The soonest I would start running again would be the later half of this week, maybe even Saturday. If you believe in God and the power of prayer, please pray for healing in my back and that I could run this race if it be His will. Thanks.

86 days to go

After a five day hiatus, and much consulting with my running friends, I was back in business today. I was hesitant to start after Saturday's back pain, but everything was fine. I meant to focus more on strength training the past few days since I wasn't training, but slacked off and only did this last night. That's okay. Sometimes a body just needs to rest. I think I'm going to continue running four times a week and slowly add more miles. Next week I'm planning on running an average of 3-3.5 miles per run except for the long weekend run. I'm still deciding how long I'll make that one. Run time: 3 miles in 34 minutes Total time: 3.6 miles in 43 minutes.

91 days to go

Bad news... this morning I planned on running 7 miles, but at 5.5 miles in, a muscle in my back started giving me trouble and forced me to slow down and eventually stop.  The funny thing is that I felt really good up to that point.  I kept up a 5.5 pace for over 45 minutes, breathing was easy and not labored, and I maintained an even stride.  I was really enjoying my run up to that point.


I ran 6.6 miles (in 80 minutes) today, but probably should have stopped by 6.  I had my mind set on a 7 mile goal, though, and once I get my mind set to do something it's difficult to not do it.  (Especially, when I know I have friends and family reading up on my training - I want to prove I can do this!)  It didn't help that my husband and I spent the rest of the day walking around at the Philadelphia Auto Show.  My pedometer tallied up 5 more miles as a result and my legs are beyond worn out.


I think I may be pushing myself to go too far too quickly.  Only last week I started adding a fourth run to my weekly schedule.  On top of the extra run, I ran almost 7 miles last Saturday (my farthest run yet).  I ran this past Thursday too and covered 5 miles in 60 minutes.  I need to be smarter not only about eating right, but also about how often and how hard I run.  I've read in a few sources that runners aren't supposed to increase their weekly mileage by 1-2 miles.  Here I am increasing my mileage these past two weeks by probably 5 or 6 miles.  Needless to say, this week I will be taking it easy.  Hopefully that pulling muscle in my back was a once and done incident.  Please keep me in your prayers as I train!

94 days to go

I had every intention to run at least 4 miles today. A friend and I were going to run outside this afternoon, but something came up and she had to back out at the last minute. I decided to run outside anyway since I already had my gear with me. Now, I am NOT a cold weather person and despise having to run when it's chilly outside. I think the high was something like 44 degrees today. That translates to "cold" in my book. Everything under 50 degrees is cold! Anyway, I went to a local park and ran the blacktop trail they have there. It looked like it was marked as being a one mile loop. I ran around three times and felt pretty good. My legs felt strong, I had a lot of energy, and I was moving at a good pace. I expected running outside to be a lot harder since I have only been training on the treadmill and the last time I ran outside was early December. The sun was beginning to set at that point, so I decided to call it quits for the day. When I got back to my car I checked my cell phone. I had set it on to the timer mode before I started. It had only been 25 minutes! Either I ran a lot better than I thought, or the trail at the park was very off. I doubt I ran faster than a 6 mph pace (AKA 10 minute mile) so I'm guessing that I ran between 2.25 and 2.5 miles which kinda bums me out. Oh well. Tomorrow is another day.

96 Days to go

It's been a long day.  Maybe my body hasn't fully recovered from Saturday's run, but I'm tired.  I started receiving an email from runner Bart Yasso describing a weekly training plan to prepare me for the race.  The last couple of months I've been trying to run three times a week.  Now that the race is getting closer and I want to make sure I'm thoroughly prepared, I am upping my number of runs to four times a week.  This is going to make my life even more crazy, but in the end I think it will be worth it.

Today I ran 4.3 miles in 52 minutes, including the warm up and cool down.

On a side note, my copy of The Complete Book of Women's Running finally arrived today!  I wanted to do nothing but read it this evening, but unfortunately it got put on the back burner as some school work was necessary.

98 Days to go

Big day today! I trudged through the snow to the gym and ran/walked (mostly ran) 6.9 miles in 85 minutes – a new distance record for me! I ate breakfast this morning, but after I got home from my late morning run I started feeling sick to my stomach. I big green salad with tuna, beans, pasta, and cheese fixed all that. My legs feel super tired, but other than that I feel pretty good. ☺ I’ve been more self-conscious of what I’m eating recently. I’ve always been pretty good at eating a healthy diet, but I’m making an extra effort to eat more fruits and vegetables along with drinking more water. We haven’t checked the mail yet today, but I’m hoping there’s a package from Amazon when we go out later tonight! On a side note, I can't figure out why my posts are not in paragraphs. They are when I write them, but for some reason they disappear when I post. Sorry!

100 days to go...

Cross-training took place today! I rode a stationary bike instead of running. I rode a total of 11 miles in the interval training mode (slow, fast, slow, etc.) over 40 minutes. Saturday I'm planning to do my weekly long run with a total of 6.5 miles as my goal, which I haven't run since the end of December. My Runner's World book hasn't come in the mail yet, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will arrive before Sunday. It would be nice to get some reading in while I have some down time over the weekend.

102 Days to go

Last night I spent time viewing the website for the St. Luke's 2012 Half Marathon and to be honest it was a little intimidating. I've gone running in the area before, but my runs were only 1-2 loops around the lake and that was all. The half-marathon involves 2 loops around the lake, plus like 9 more miles through another park and along a river. Sometimes I have to take a step back and think, "13 miles... do I really want to put myself through that?" but then my competitive spirit comes out and tells me to go for it. And so the training continues. In 102 days is my race. Today I focused on speed work - running at a quicker pace than usual - and did better than I expected. Here are today's numbers: Run length: 46 minutes (including the warm up and cool down) Mileage: 4 miles

My Latest Adventure

It's been almost two years since I last posted in this blog, which was originally intended for me to keep in touch with friends and family while I was away at school - my big adventure at the time (hence, the title of the blog). Since then, I've graduated, landed a fantastic job, met a wonderful man, and got married. My adventure is no longer grad school (or planning a wedding - man, was THAT an exhausting adventure and I didn't have had time to blog anyway). Instead, my adventure has recently become something else... and because I don't have anyone around to keep me accountable, I've decided to re-use this old blog - hoping that YOU will keep me accountable and inspired. So, here goes... In October, a dear friend of mine encouraged me to run a half-marathon with her. Now, I never ran track or played sports in high school (unless you consider marching band a sport). However, I do think I have athletic ability and a competitive nature. (Just ask my husband or watch me play Frisbee or Dutch Blitz!) Also, running a half marathon is on my bucket list of things I want to do before I die (along with visiting every national park in the contiguous United States, but maybe that'll be my next big adventure.) So, anyway, running this half-marathon in April is my latest adventure and I'm inviting you to come along for the ride and listen to my experiences, joys, and frustrations. Since getting married this past summer and moving away, I don't know anyone well enough in my area to be my running buddy. I began running 2-3 times in the fall, but now that I'm only 4 months out from the "big day", I need to start stepping up my game plan. Yesterday I ordered "Runner's World Complete Book of Women's Running" to help me educate myself as to how to go about training in a healthy and safe way - not just the running, but for eating the right foods, and injury prevention and such. Today was Day 1 of my serious training, though I wasn't very tough on myself after a very lax Christmas vacation immediately followed by a nasty cold. But here's my first report: Exercise: Running/walking Time: 55 minutes, but walked half the time. Calories: 360 Like I mentioned, I'm encouraging you (maybe asking or begging would be the correct terminology) to join me in this big adventure. Comments and encouragements are welcome!

Student Teaching: Part 1

It felt so good to get back into the school environment this week! My first week of student teaching went well, even though I didn't get to actually teach much. I get along great with my cooperating teacher and she is extremely knowledgeable. I'm finding that the more I learn about running a school library, the more I don't know. Coming from an elementary background, I'm unfamiliar with a lot of the authors and books that the students are asking for. I'm not too worried, though, because I figure the longer I work as a librarian, the more I'll learn. I'm hoping to take on more teaching responsibility next week!