It's Official!

I'm registered for the Prairie Fire Half Marathon on October 14, 2012! There is no turning back now!

So the resumed Half training is going well! I ran 2 miles on the treadmill last Tuesday, early morning. Then Wednesday Kim and I did 4 miles at SCP. We did the 4 miles with intentional walking intervals. One of us would pick a landmark to run to, then we would walk for 60 seconds, and the other one of us would pick the next landmark, followed by 60 seconds of walking and so on and so forth. We had never done timed walking breaks before and it ended up working out really well! It was a VERY consistent run! Our first two miles were the exact same pace!

After my 7 miles!

I'd had 7 miles scheduled for my long run on Saturday. Kim had 10 miles and we were planning on running them together at SCP, and then I was going to bike the last 3 with her. She ended up going to Great Bend with her boyfriend on Friday night, so I was going to be doing it alone. Eek! I was very sad and felt like I wasn't going to be able to do it. I decided to go to the group run out East for my 7 miles. I started out with the 60 second walking intervals. I would run for 2 minutes and walk for 1 minute. I did this for probably the first 2 miles. Then I was able to go for much longer between walking breaks. GoRun had mapped out 6.5 miles, and I was just going to do that. They had water set out at 3 miles, so I stopped and filled up my water bottle and had a Gu (I also had one before I started. This was my first experience with Gu, and I think it helped... Hard to tell...) Then I decided that instead of doing the 6.5 mile loop, I was going to run another half mile, and then turn around for an out and back of 7 miles. The second half of the run was so much better than the first. When I passed the water again, I topped off my water bottle and continued on.

At about 5 miles in, I saw a bunch of kids running and two guys on bikes. One of the guys on the bike was in the middle of the path and I was thinking "Why is this dude biking in the middle" and was kind of annoyed. Then he saw me and did a fist pump in the air and started riding toward me with his hand out to give me a high five. When I gave him the high five, I realized that it was Randy, one of the co-owners of GoRun and one of our coaches! It made me feel really good that he acknowledged me and I felt so inspired and glad that I didn't quit my training!  I finished strong and was happy with my longest run yet!

I think these longer runs are good! I've gotten to the point where I can lose a couple of miles by just thinking about stuff, and I was never able to do that before!

 I also signed up for a 15k on September 9th. My long runs are supposed to be 5 miles next week, followed by 7 miles, and 8 miles, but I think I'm going to do 6 next week, followed by 8 and then the 15k... We will see how this goes!

Right now I'm on a workout streak! It started with the Glow Run last Saturday. It's looked like this:
Aug 11: Glow Run 5k
Aug 12: 35 minutes on the Precor Elliptical and Muscle Pump class
Aug 13: 4 mile run
Aug 14: Hip Hop Hustle
Aug 15: 2 mile run and 2 mile bike ride
Aug 16: 2 mile bike ride and 4 mile run
Aug 17: 5.5 mile bike ride
Aug 18: 7 mile run
Aug 19: 6 mile bike ride

Biking this morning with Elliott

I've been riding my bike a lot since I got it back and fixed! I got a baby seat for it last week and Elliott has loved going on the bike with me! Paul even rode with us a few times!

This week I have scheduled:
Mon: 2 mile run and Zumba?
Tue: 2 mile run and Hip Hop Hustle
Wed: 3 mile run
Thur: Biking
Fri: Biking
Sat: 5-6 mile run
Sun: Muscle Pump and Turbokick

I'll probably do some more biking in there as well, because I'm really enjoying it! I think it is helping with my running also!

Today is Paul's little brothers birthday. He is turning 24! I've known him since he was about 12! We went to eat with other family and a bunch of his friends to a Mexican restaurant that he works at. I had some chips and salsa. I ordered the fish tacos and ate half of it, plus my rice and pinto beans. Afterward, we went with Paul's other younger brother, Mark, and his wife (my BSILF (best sister in law forever)) Jennifer and their daughter Sarah to Orange Leaf. It's a frozen yogurt place. I got a little portion of peanut butter, brownie batter, and banana topped with blueberries and kiwi. I also tasted the watermelon and pineapple! They were all very good!

I also got my Foodie Penpal package in the mail yesterday from Alexandra and can't wait to write about it!!!

I'm Glowing!

Jen, Me and Sarah Pre Race

I'm still here.

I did a 5k on Saturday. The Glow Run. I was dreading it, because since I had decided that I wasn't going to do the Half, I pretty much quit running all together. So I figured the 5k was going to be awful! Stephanie, my SIL, Jennifer and my niece Sarah were doing it, so I was just going to stick with them and walk when they needed to.

When I went to pick up my packet Friday night, I saw Kevin, one of the S2F coaches, and I immediately felt guilty. Earlier in the day, I saw Lori, from S2F and also felt guilty when I saw her. Jennifer told her friend, who is training for the Prairie Fire Half, that I was training for it also, and I felt guilty. I was feeling guilty and ashamed...

Me, Sarah, and Jen Post Race

But back to the Glow Run....We started out, and I was surprised right away! Running wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be! I actually felt awesome! I stuck with Sarah and Jennifer as planned and walked when they needed to, but I could have run a whole lot more! I finished in 43:35, which is not my best, and also not my worst. I think the temperature had a LOT to do with it! The run was really fun! It was at night and everyone had glow necklaces, bracelets, glow sticks. There were 2 black light zones on the course with a DJ! It was a really fun race! And we even got medals!

Me and Stephanie Pre Race

Elliott watching Mama Race!

Elliott said "Yay Mommy! You run fast!" It made my night!

Me and Stephanie Post Race

On the way home, I told Paul that I thought I could have PR'd that race if I'd ran the whole thing! Then that night I started thinking about the Half and I decided that I am going to resume my Half training!

So yesterday morning, Kim and I met at SCP to do 4 miles at 5am! I maintained a 11:30 min/mile pace for the first 10 minutes which is super fast for me! We ended up walking a lot after the first mile, because she had been in Rhode Island for 2 weeks and we had a lot to catch up on, but it felt great to be back out there! We ran into about 3 animals, skunks and raccoons, we think, and they picked up our pace for awhile there! I also saw a shooting star! It was a nice morning run! I think that the heat wave is over and that my training will be much smoother from here on out!

I have a 7 mile long run this Saturday, which I'm nervous for. I've never run 7 miles before, but I'm going to do my best and finish it out.

I had to take my dog to the vet (my work place) this morning because she was limping. She had gotten a sticker in her pad and it was really irritating her. She has a little bandage on her foot now! Elliott said that she had on a sock!

Marley and her sock!

October 2011 vs Aug 2012

After that, I met up with a guy to buy a couple of child bike seats. Paul patched up my tires last night and we bought a helmet for Elliott. I'm hoping to take her out on the bike today, but it has been raining all morning so far.

I'm going to run 2 miles at some point today and I have Hip Hop Hustle tonight. I'm kind of thinking I want to try the Ultimate Strength and Cardio class that is before Hip Hop... we'll see.

Although I haven't been running, I'm still losing weight. Slowly, but surely. I'm down to 191.6. I want to be down to the 180's by September 1st.

First Race November 2011 vs Most Recent Race August 2012

I start my Girls on the Run coaching the first week of September. I just found out today that I am going to be working with 6-8th grade girls, which I'm not thrilled about. I was really wanting to work with the 3rd-5th grades. I don't think that the older girls will like me. I hate that I'm so self conscious! I just know that the older girls are going to be much more aware that I'm the fat one! :/

Well, I hope everyone is doing well!