I'm Back

So I have kind of been slacking on my running for the last few weeks, but I'm back and ready to get serious about my 1/2 marathon training.

I went 10 days without running....10 days. What was I thinking. I was so busy, but was set on getting a good St. Patric's weekend run in even if I struggled through it. I was in California babysitting my sisters kids and was excited I would be running in the sun on the beach while my friends in Seattle were running in the snow.

I left their house, reached the beach and headed towards the pier for about 2 miles before heading back home. It felt great to be back out running. The weather could not have been more perfect and the crazy people that live in Orange County are always fun to watch. I was glad to be back out running and even more relieved it was relatively easy.

3/14/09 - 4.06 miles, 44.56 minutes


The weather held out so after work I went for a run around Greenlake with a friend. I just was not cut out to run with guys. There longer stride and quicker pace remind me how slow I run. I thought I preferred to run alone, at my own pace, in my own head until my run Saturday. See below.

3/17/09 - 3.00 miles, ? minutes (my iPod was out of juice which means no nike+)


The treadmills at the gym were full so I headed to Greenlake again. While it's beautiful, I'm kind of getting tired of this run. I started off and my feet felt like led and I was feeling every step. I walked a lot and around mile 2 I wanted to stop, lay on the grass and give myself a good cry. EVERYONE was passing me and I felt like I was never going to finished. I pushed through and pretended my running friends were ahead of me encouraging me to finish. It worked. Thanks Sunny, Janey, and Kristen for the imaginary pep talk.

I was on the home stretch when I saw someone ahead that looked like my 6th grade boyfriend Brady whom I have not seen in over 10 years. What do you know....it sure was. We exchanged hellos as I kept running it a bit of shock. So random.

I finished and you know what, my body was playing mean tricks on me. I was running fast and finished in a pretty decent amount of time, but thank goodness for my Saturday run discovery.

3/19/09 - 3.00 miles, 32.45 minutes


I was up and out the door by 9:00 which is a miracle for me on a Saturday morning. My friends Kristen and Caryl were with me and ready for our 6 mile Magnolia loop. Caryl lasted about 2 seconds and was off running like the professional she is. Kristen and I trotted along. It was her first time running on hills and I warned her there was a spot or two that you just plan on walking.

Kristen runs at a slower pace then I do, but I was all for it. The sun was starting to shine and the temperature was ideal. We made it up the steepest part and I was feeling great. Kristen's pace was PERFECT. Usually the first 3 miles are a struggle but I was feeling great. Breathing at a healthy rate and feet still moving with ease.

As we were on the last mile I was so stoked. I finally figured out why I have been dragging on so many of my runs. I'm running too fast. We finished and thanks to the slower pace we only walked for about 3 minutes total and I could have easily kept going. We also ended up running at my average run hard, walk more often, feel more tiered at the end, pace. I heart running with Kristen! She taught me a valuable running lesson.

Now I just need to find a way to better pace myself when I run alone.

3/21/09 - 6.15 miles, 68.47 minutes