2009 races

Other than a few runs here and there, I really haven't done anything respectable in terms of running since the half in October. In December I started getting kind of antsy and wanted to get out there, but the 20 feet of snow that dumped on us deterred me a bit. You would think that since my path that I run on is plowed, and I bought myself some fancy schmancy YakTrax, that I would be good, but I still didn't get out there.

Some days I had an honest to goodness decent reason. Like on Sunday I had to go out to salt the driveway so that the handsome Steve could make it back up after a trip to Meijer. I slid my way to the top of the hill, and then started sliding down. My brand new Columbia boots with their Omni grip had nothing on that ice. I finally had to hit my knees to stop myself from shooting out into the road at the bottom, and then crawled to the snow on the side. I guess I should have been better prepared when the handsome Steve called to say he did 2 360's on the way down. Regardless, that was just one day. What's the rest of the story that kept me out of my sneakers? (Isn't that a great word? That's what I'm calling my runners from now on).

Deep down, I guess I'm just a lazy girl. Actually, you can probably take that deep down part out.

So, I've planned out the year and I really don't have the option to be lazy anymore.

None.

It was fun reading a gazillion books for awhile, but I've got the Novi Martian Half Marathon on April 9th and training starts on Monday. And the Bayshore Half on May 23 with my dad. He's a walker. He walks fast, faster than I run, I'm sure. And he is doing his first half in Phoenix in two weeks.

The Plan?

March 21st - the Irish Jig 5k (as a side note, that's my wedding dinner day!!! We're getting married quietly on St Patty's day - 3 years to the day that we met - and then the fancy schmancy good time on that Saturday)

April 9th - Martian Half Marathon

May 23rd - Bayshore Half Marathon

June 27th - Reeds Lake 5k

Aug 15th - Fallsburg 1/2 Marathon

Sept 19th - Bridge Run 10 mi

October 18th - Grand Rapids FULL Marathon

I really don't think it is too much at all. When I did the half in October, I kid you not, it was the most fun I think I have ever had in my life.

Side note - I just got an email that The Running Warehouse is selling their bestselling shoes for $59.95 - remember, they have free 2 day shipping.

I love winter!

Last night I suited up with my mitten/gloves (so that I can get fresh air on the digits when they get hot), my warm headband that isn't warm enough anymore, my headlamp that makes me look super cool, and my other multiple layers that hopefully make me comfortable enough to not realize how completely crazy running outdoors in a Michigan winter is.

My running path gets plowed, which is nice. Of course, that doesn't solve everything. There was about an inch of snow on the path last night which wasn't too much of a problem. Who am I kidding, I thought I was going to break my leg. Or die. I would be trotting along at a decent for me clip and then it would get all slippery. Not fun. And then a half mile from my turn around spot I rolled my ankle. It really didn't hurt too bad, but I pretty much said "screw it" and turned around and walked home.

I'm going to get some Yaktrax tomorrow night. Gazelle Sports is having a 15% off everything in the store sale from 5-8pm, which I think is very nice of them.

Has anyone else tried them? or another little something that helps keep you upright?

NRR - but still amazing!

Today is the day I found the best blog out there. I don't know how I found it exactly, I think it may have been mentioned somewhere on Yahoo today. It doesn't matter, when you find perfection, you usually stumbled upon it.

This lady critiques Brian Williams tie choice daily and the way she describes them is amazing - but I'm sure she would have had a better word than amazing. Not to take anything away from her, but she is an English teacher, for crying out loud.

How does she do it?

I'm not willing to leave my friend Charlie Gibson. I just love the way he says "and I hope you had a good day." I really think he means it from his heart. But I am willing to flip over to Brian just to check out his tie so that I can better appreciate Nancy's delightful offerings.

I never thought I would see the day.

Do you remember when you were little and your mom made you wear a hat and you didn't want to because it was oh so uncool? I'm almost over that. I really have no need to impress anyone, so if I have to look silly sometimes, that's fine. But I couldn't carry that feeling all the way. At least not enough to wear a head lamp. I knew that things would be so much easier if I could see. I knew I wouldn't have to worry about stepping on a stick, having my feet come out from underneath me and breaking my leg. And there is also knowing that it might make me easier to see than just my blinky light. But I just couldn't make myself look like a miner. Couldn't do it.

Even with Terri talking about her's, still couldn't do it. I tried to tell myself that she is a pretty cool chick, and if she can get away with it, then I could too. But, nope, still couldn't do it.

But then I was at Meijer the other night and they had some cheapy LED headlamps. So I bought one along with Ashley's diet cat food (the handsome Steve thinks she is getting chunky, I say its just her fluffy fur).

I busted the light out last night and I am sold. Best $10 bucks I have ever spent in my life. I felt a little silly waiting to cross at the one corner I cross, but I got over it. I thought it would bop around a lot, but it stayed completely steady. I was worried it would annoy me, but I didn't even know it was there. I never even realized before how much I stressed out about stepping on some dog poo or slipping on wet leaves. And before last night, I never would have known that the two wooden bridges I cross are currently pretty icy. At least not until I crashed on my face. All I had to do with my third eye strapped to my head was run. It was great!

Moral of the story - I'm sold.

Drum roll, please..........

I am going to run the full Bayshore marathon in May. It took a lot of thought to get to this point. To turn away from the half so soon. After only one. What if I love the full and never to back?

I fell in love with the half. It was the most fun I've ever had. It is easy to train for. Whoa, whoa, whoa.....did I just say that? Let me make it clear that we all know that there was nothing "easy" about my training for the half this past summer. Nothing. It was hard. I don't think I ever cried, but still, it was very hard. Maybe I should rephrase that statement to say that with the half, training is easier to schedule.

I thought that I would spend the 9 weeks following the GR Half doing a couch to 5k plan and then figure something else out for a couple months and then start training for the Bayshore Half. Running isn't enough of a habit for me yet to just get out there and do it without something to work towards everyday. I need to know that if I skip a run, that I'll be paying for it come race day. I'm Catholic, guilt does amazing things for me.

Plus, all the love in my heart for running isn't going to keep me focused this winter. A planned schedule that will prepare me to move myself 26 miles on the other hand, that just might do it.

In other news - the handsome Steve just asked if I was going to mention the knee surgery he had on Friday. You should have seen me. I was in all of my Florence Nightingale glory. I made him is favorite snacks. I made sure he spent plenty of time on the couch. He made a little whimper, and I was jumping to see what I could get him. But by Saturday I realized he was in zero discomfort. Not only had he not busted out the Vicodin, he hadn't so much as needed an Advil. So then I had him walking all over the mall with me to see if they had an Avon kiosk (they didn't ). I also had him cleaning the ceiling fan in our foyer (not sure when it got that gross, definitely couldn't wait). By Sunday he got smart again and whined about it aching.

(Terri - I didn't forget that you tagged me, stay tuned)

Whatcha got there???

So, Gazelle Sports was nice enough to email me a $10 gift certificate for running the half two weeks ago and since I was pretty sure my right arch was going to fall off of my body in my old shoes...
You don't have to tell me! That is one sexy shoe!! I told the handsome Steve that I just might get hit on tomorrow morning when I bust these bad boys out for the first time.
Hey, it could happen...

Now what?

The Grand Rapids Half Marathon was just a small part of the big picture. The big picture? Being a runner.
The next step is to improve my running pace and to decrease my walking breaks. Those two things together should really drop my running pace. Or at least I sure hope it will.

I'm going to digress a bit and start a couch to 5k plan. Granted, it is kind of funny to be working towards a 5k when I just ran a half marathon. I think I needed to run the half first to prove to myself that I this is something I can do, now it is time to do work on the building blocks.

So, the next 9 weeks (or so) will be spent getting myself able to run a really solid 3 miles. I'm talking 10 minute miles. Or at least 11 minute miles. And then I will work on increasing the amount of miles I can do at that pace.

I also think that by running smaller amounts, my right shin will start doing better. I know that your bones need to get stronger when you start running, and maybe I started doing hour + runs before my shins were ready.

And since I'm only going to be running 20-30 minutes 3-4 times a week, I've got time for some other things. I'm talking a little Pilate's action. We'll see where all of this gets me, but that is the plan for right now.

I know a lot of other runners just did their fall races that they were working towards all summer, what are you going to do now?