Problems

Not sure if they're real problems but a girl can whine, right?
Checked the weather this morning, and it was 32*F outside. Thinking its smart to not wear my warm weather gear, I pull on capris and a windbreaker. Wrong. Stinking HOT!! Halfway through I had to stop to tie the jacket on and attempt to get the armband to not fall off my arm as tight as I can get it. How am I, of all people, too skinny for something one size fits all??!
As for the jacket, I believe this is a sign that I should buy a new cold weather top, and maybe pants. But really, shorts work better than the wedgies these pants give.
Now to shower, and trash the capris. And as for not running a bit, I still kept my time!!

Pride.

I'm going to take a moment to be proud of myself. I ran eight miles over last weekend. EIGHT MILES!! To me, that sounds like a lot. I can't even think where I'll start running now that the widest circle I know has run out. Now to expand westward!

No Internet

So due to issues with a bad roommate situation, I woke to find I have no internet. I'll try my best and remember to post this once I can get to a connection.
More importantly, my run today was great! I had a stitch in my shoulder blade again. Hopefully I'll take it easy today and tomorrow and it will take care of itself. Really enjoy my 5 mile loop, and need to check out a website Colleen told me about, mapmyrun.com where I can look up maps of my area and find where a good route would be for my next few weeks. Really pumped about all of this, and excited to start thinking about getting dressed up for the actual race. Big question, should I sew something, buy something, or alter something? Whichever way, so excited!!!
Now to bed. Good night!

Wine and Wind Down

Tried a little something new, a Brazilian Butt Workout. Turns out I can't maintain speed at extreme inclines. Ended up lowering the speed and keeping to the incline schedule. Finished the rest of the three miles with my usual 1-1-1 ratio and feel great!! Finished up with some yoga, with my new yoga partner, Katara, helpings with my pigeon, and Eve joining in on happy baby.
Opened up the bottle of wine Ivan bought my mom, and now we're watching The Bachelor!!
Great news from two places today! Morgan said she'd like it if I ran the Neverland Family Fun Run, and Mom is thinking about coming! Then I got the chance to talk to my Mermaid Princess Sister who registered for the Tinkerbell Half-Marathon and will run with me! Already so excited to spend January with my sisters!!

Inspirational sights

This morning I woke up really nervous. Up until now, the most I ran on the regular was 3 miles. With skipping the five mile run last week, I was nervous about possibly not making it. Wearing out early and missing my goal. I tried a new route that took me over past a church that has pretty good quotes on their sign. Last time I ran past, I had some personal issues and was praying very hard for my family, when I looked up to find the sign said "You always have a Father to run to, Earthly or Heavenly". Today, with nerves asking if I could make it, I saw "Give God your best, He'll take care of the rest." gave me the strength to pound on to get my six miles in. Feels good to prove myself wrong!!

Late starts.

The past two nights, I've been getting home fairly late, and as a result decided to reward myself with a little extra sleep. Bad idea! Running at 8:30 is so much worse than running at 6! The sun beats down, more people to watch, and I'm finding that I need a more sport-type sunscreen! Yesterday my 24 hour protection, SPF 30 lasted way less than an hour. Today, using waterproof SPF 50, I reached up to wipe off sweat and came back with a lot of sunscreen on my fingers. Not fun. Luckily my burn yesterday was a quick healer, haven't had mind to inspect today. Still all hot and red from my run. Yesterday was 4 miles, today was an easy 3. One more run to end Week Three!
Need to register for the race this week!!

Week Three!

Last week finished rough, with me missing two runs but I'm going to look at the positives and keep going :)
This morning was 3 miles and I finished in under 40 minutes so for an easy maintenance run I say it's pretty good!

Sweating Glitter

Today I went 4 miles in an hour. Kept up a good pace, and lost a lot of sweat! During my post run yoga, I reached to wipe the sweat off my brow and was surprised to find my hand all glittery!! If normal sweat is just fat crying (Pintrest) then what does that mean? Probably that my super fabulous headband is shedding. But it could also be that I'm that sparkly on the inside!! Keep in mind, the pic was taken after 4 miles and about a gallon of sweat!
In other news, today is my birthday. Going to take leftover meatloaf to work tonight and make my tummy very happy! Now, to bed!!

One Down, Thirty To Go!!

Today was the last day of my first week! Rather proud of myself. I checked my schedule and I ran over 14 miles this week. Feeling good, and I think my mind is adjusting to the 5:15 mornings. I know I need to go to sleep so I'm good to work later but I'm not tired. Maybe my body is adjusting to lack of sleep and taking the runs as a reward/replacement...

Beautiful Sunrise!!

I wish my phone could do justice to the brilliant sky this morning. I swear there were two morning stars shining in the pinkish-sky! I'm starting to love these early mornings.
My run was interesting. I found out yesterday I can use my Jeff App at the same time as Nike+ but today I learned that cheating on one program with another is just not fun. After my first mile, Jeff announced that we were going 3.5 miles more!! His gps doesn't keep well, since I ran a good 4.15 miles and he still thought I had a mile to go. My average mile was 12:14. That's twelve miles and 14 seconds!! I proud of me!
Now, back to bed. I have another long day ahead, and I need my mind to be fresh for my midterm.

Training Day Two.
     Today was my second run day. Started with my shins a bit stiff, but I cut back the stress on my run periods and ended feeling strong. Remembered last night that I'd read that Vick's Vapor Rub works for muscle strains, so I'm going to use that before going back to bed. Still on a 1-1 Run-Walk interval, but today I felt like I could have gone quite a bit further. Ran 2.3 miles with Jeff (The Jeff Galloway training app) and maintained a steady under 13 minute mile. Finished the rest of the 3 miles with ease. Ready for tomorrow!
     On a side note, yesterday I bought a large desk calendar and hung it on my wall so I can mark up what I'm running next. Doesn't help me until July, but it is hanging in wait! I may get stickers and random stuff to make it sparkle, not sure yet...
     Since I am new to stretching, I am glad to have found an article from Runners World about post run yoga. Great stuff! http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-241-287--13300-0,00.html

     Alright, it is beyond my bedtime, long day of school and work ahead! Good night world!! (At 7:01am)

Straight On Til Morning

"Second Star to the Right and Straight on Til Morning"
     Last year my sister wrote that on our race day shirts for our first 5K, the Neverland Family Fun Run for Disneyland's inaugural Tinkerbell Half Marathon Weekend.
     This year I'm hoping to be in shape for my first half marathon! Today marked day one of the first "official" training program I'm doing. I have 31 weeks, and am so very excited for both races! I'll start with a 10 week training program, repeat a week, and then start the Jeff Galloway Tinkerbell Half Marathon 20 week program.
     As per my training program, I ran 3 miles today, felt pretty good. Tomorrow is a rest day, and then I'll go 3 miles Wednesday and Thursday before tackling 4 miles on Saturday.
     I used a new app that kept me on a 1-1 run-walk interval. I liked it, but I want to find a separate timer so I can use my beloved Nike+ app
     So with week one just beginning I am stoked to get to the next part of this journey!!