8 miles in hell

I went into this run with positive thoughts. I stretched out well and thought i would do good. BOY WAS I WRONG. I think my body is just tired and not used to this much running. My calves and ankles have a tight achy feeling in them. And when I would try and slow my pace, it would hurt worse. I felt like I looked like I was hurting. But I plunged on through it and finished it. Now my legs are really weak and I'm ready for bed. I tried to keep good music bumpin' to keep me going which helped a lot. Now as I loaded my workout I noticed that I was supposed to do something a little different. i was supposed to run 2 min. hard with 1 min off. Kind of irritated i didn't do that, but my computer wasn't loading my training page. Oh well, next time i will do it right. Kind of thankful that I have tomorrow off and then its another 4 mile run.

5 miles

Today I was pleasantly surprised with my run. I dropped Jaxon off at school and the temp. was 34 degrees. Needless to say, I was NOT looking forward to my run. I was afraid I would be cold. So I wore 3 layers and wore my gloves and was just right. I probably could have gone without one of the layers. But anyway. I FELT SO GOOD THE WHOLE RUN!!!! I don't know what I did different but i enjoyed the run so much. The first mile or so I keep looking down at my watch and it was telling me I was running a 8 min. 4 sec mile. I had to make myself slow down because i knew I would die out if I keep that pace. I just hope I feel as good tomorrow when I do another 8 mile run. I ran the 5 miles in 42 min and 33 sec with a pace of 8 min 26 sec.

a beautiful sunny day

Today I was NOT motivated to run at all. I was so tired and all I wanted to do was lay on the couch. But I keep telling myself I can't waste this beautiful sunny day inside. So I laced up the ol' shoes and hit the pavement for a 8 mile run. Once again, it took me a good mile and a half to feel "in the groove". It is amazing to me how getting out there and doing some exercise makes you feel so good. I love running on sunny days. And I love long runs on sunny days. Today I tried to keep a slower pace to get used to it when I get into those 20 mile runs. It is really hard for me to run slower though. I think it takes a lot more energy to go slow and my muscles start to tighten up. So in all today was a good run. I completed the 8 miles in an hour and 8 min with a pace of 8 min 37 sec.

I am huge on thinking positive during a run. I always tell people that when I was training for my first half marathon I was so dead after just a couple miles and wanted to just go home. But I told myself that going home wasn't going to help me at all and I would improve if I cheat myself. And then when I finish the amount of miles I am supposed to do it feels good to not give into weakness. I still sometimes think, "oh, I'm to tired to do the full run. I'm not going to do the whole thing." But I very rarely give in. When i feel like I am dying I talk to myself telling me that I am strong and can finish. The weakness is TOTALLY in your head. If you tell yourself you can't do it, then your not going to. Once those thoughts enter you have to start thinking positive. A saying that I like is "pain is weakness leaving the body"

6 miles

I have been a total slacker and haven't logged any of my runs. I am so bad at this stuff. But i will try to be better now. Today I did a 6 mile run. I really didn't want to do it. It was foggy and cold. But once I got out there I felt amazing. Usually it takes me a good 2 miles to get good and warmed up and get moving good. But today I felt good the whole run. Except that I totally fell. I tripped and tried to save myself, but couldn't catch my balance. I landed on my hands but I am pretty sure that my feet were over my head. I am so thankful that I was wearing my gloves and my compression pants or I would have had some major road rash. My hands are kind of sore, but not bad. Anyway, i finished 6 miles in 50 min and 10 seconds. I love getting out there and running when it isn't raining. And I am so glad that I am finally getting back into the groove. I don't feel sluggish anymore. Tomorrow is a short 4 mile run.

Day 1

Today was my first day of training. It was a 4 mile run. I was excited for 4 miles because it was not far. Well it was one of the hardest runs. I have lost so much endurance in the last few months. I went from running a 8:20 mile to doing a 8:45 mile. I was disappointed but I will work my way back up. Looking forward to the runs to come. Tomorrow is a 6 miler. Hoping I feel better than I did today. One of these days i want to get my measurements and see how much my body changes in the next few months.

26.2 miles

Ok, I have ran 3 half marathons so far and loved every minute of each race. The sea of people all running the same race you are, the feeling of accomplishment and and the rush of running 13.1 miles and breaking your previous time overtakes you. The last half marathon I did in Eugene I broke my time by 3 minutes and felt on top of the world. I placed 85th out of a little more than 1500 people. After that race i felt like I could go and run another 13.1 miles.

After LOTS of thinking praying and stressing I have decided to run a FULL MARATHON!!! Yes I am going to run 26.2 miles. Now some of you are thinking why in the world would you want to torture yourself like that. And really I have no good answer for you. I feel that I need to push myself even further. And I know that if the contestants on the "Biggest Loser" can do it then so can I. Looking at my training schedule FREAKS me out. When I see those big mile runs like 16, 18, and 20 my heart races and I get really nervous. I think "how it the world am I going to run that far." And I got thinking. I am going to blog about my adventure in completing a marathon. Then I can look back and see how i felt and what I did. And you guys (if your interested) can follow me. I also hope that this will motivate some of you to step up and challenge yourself in ways you never thought you could. So beginning Tuesday I will have my first post about my first workout.

P.S. The picture above is from the Eugene Marathon, and that is just a small amount of the people in the race.

A wedded afair

Jaxon and I got the honor of being in my best friends wedding a few weeks ago. I was a little nervous at first when Desi asked if Jax would be the ring bearor but he did pretty good. He LOVED his tux. Here are a few pics I was able to get of us at the wedding.