Owls Roost Rumble 2013

We did it! Bestest and I ran the whole 13.1 trail miles. No falling. We passed 16 runners and beat 38 folks (of 195). Finished with a chip time of 2:34:41. The weather was perfect and the course was beautiful. Perfect race day complete with post race day drinking on the patio. Loved it! Now its time for a little training break. I'm aiming for some lower mileage raced this Summer and maybe another half in the late fall or winter. I'm hooked :)

10 Miler

When: Saturday, January 12, 2013- 9:45ish
Where: Burr Mill Park, Greensboro, NC
With Whom: Bestest
Distance: 10:02mi
Duration: 1:57:27
Pace: 11:43 min/mi
Splits: 

Distance	Pace
1 mi	10:41 min/mi
2 mi	11:48 min/mi
3 mi	12:44 min/mi
4 mi	12:34 min/mi
5 mi	11:27 min/mi
6 mi	11:10 min/mi
7 mi	11:55 min/mi
8 mi	11:31 min/mi
9 mi	11:34 min/mi
10 mi	11:13 min/mi
10.1 mi	10:53 min/mi

How'd It Feel: Pretty rough! Basically, I was convinced I would die. Miles 4-7 were so painful. But I am so grateful and glad that Bestest wouldn't let me quit! I HAD to stop and get a bottle of water at mile 7.75. So, I'm not as proud of my first ever double-digit mileage run because technically it was not non-stop although we did run 10 full miles.

There were some lovely views on the trail we ran during miles 2-4.

Does the "B" stand for Bliss?

We celebrated my co-worker's birthday on Monday by taking her out to a delicious dinner at an Irish Pub followed by a slice of heaven  cake at Maxie B's.

5:20am workout + ab video + 3.5 miles run = MAYBE the equivalent of this:

Red Velvet.

Was is worth it? Hell Yes!

Coworker birthdays should be celebrated monthly. At a minimum. 

unanticipated trail time

I had intended to sleep in. It didn't happen. I'm grateful for that because it hasn't yet reached 80 degrees outside and I got to try out some new (inexpensive) hazelnut coffee while watching my favorite CBS Sunday Morning. I hadn't planned on a run this morning because I did 5.5 trail miles yesterday, but as soon as I felt a cool breeze in the air this morning, my mind was changed.

I love running through terrain in the shade in the summer (or anytime really). I just wish I had a local running buddy with whom to enjoy it. Finding a running buddy is as hard as finding a boyfriend. They have to fit perfectly. Until then, I'll enjoy the peace and quiet and soul searching that running solo provides me.

And then I will search out an amazing bloody mary and fantastic brunch. Perfect Sunday? Perhaps :)

Trying to Establish Balance

At this point in my training, finding time to run is more difficult than the actual miles. I'm a busy lady. I commute to work (40min one way) and I usually spend about 10 hours in my office a day. So thats nearly 12 hours daily devoted to my M-F job. I also have a horse that I am training to ride competitively. I aim to ride him 5 days a week but am pleased if I get in the saddle 4 times a week. This leaves little time for running. The office and the horse depend on me and running is one of the only things I do for which I am the only person holding me accountable Its easy for running to get thrown on the back burner when others are depending on me for everything else.

I am incredibly blessed that my boyfriend/roommate is one of the most supportive individuals on the planet. He makes my life so much easier for me. He is a teacher and we live only blocks from his school, so he gets to be home a lot more than I am. He could use that time to relax or be lazy, but he goes out of his way to do house work, laundry (mine too!) and usually had dinner ready for me when I come through the door (around 8pm on weekdays). I also have to find time to just be a girlfriend and a lover to him. I'm always trying to accomplish X amount of everything every week, that I forget that just spending time with him and strengthening our relationship is something that is well worth my time and energy as well.

So I am trying to stay motivated and dedicated to trying to fit in miles every week. I'm also trying to be creative and find ways to involve my boyfriend. He isn't a runner, but we often enjoy going for long walks with our dog. I took a day off from running this week and spent it with my boyfriend and our dog walking for almost 2 hours around the campus of his Alma Mater. It was a great way to talk about our week and enjoy each other's company without making me feel like a complete slacker for skipping a run. The on the afternoon when I planned to get 5 miles in (at my very favorite park about 15min from my house) I asked the bf to join me with our dog. The dog enjoys running with me, but she can't keep up in the summer. She's got short legs and a dark coat and in the summer months, even 3 miles seems to be too much for her. So my plan was for the bf to start of running with me and for him to stop and walk when he needed to and I'd keep going. When I turned back around at the end of the trail and headed back, I would meet up with him again and he'd run with me until he needed to walk, then I would reverse at the end and meet him and cool down walking back to the car. It sounds complicated but it wasn't! It worked really smoothly and didn't overface the bf or puppy dog but it allowed me to get in 5 miles!

I still haven't found that perfect balance: when do I ride, when do I eat, when do I run so that its not: dark when I run the road, I've had time to digest dinner, etc... but I think training for this marathon is as much a practice in finding a balance in my life as it is being able to run 13.1 miles... and I'll get there.

PS: I'm lusting after THESE and I lost one by $1 on ebay this afternoon... bahhh!

 Nike Sports Band

Week 2

Was horrible!
Thanks to giving blood on Tuesday, and visiting a friend (well worth it) then going with my BF to play trivia (after being slightly guilted) then going on a 4 day vacation... I ran exactly one day.... 3.1miles. Not very impressive for week two. But now I'm back in town and have a relatively lightly scheduled week.

I got off on a good foot today (my Monday) by hitting the road at 8:30. I ran sidewalk and side-of-the-road-grass until I felt that it was too dark to safely be on the shoulder of the road. I finished up the last 10 minutes of my 47minute run by looping my apartment complex. I felt pretty good even though I didn't give my dinner enough time to digest before setting out for my run. I think I did at least 4 miles and only had to walk about 5 minutes of my run. Its looking like this week may be much more successful than the last one was. Thank goodness I have months to prepare for this!

The best place to start is at the beginning.

Hello and welcome to training journal for my first 1/2 marathon.

I've been toying with the idea of this 1/2 for over a year now. The race is held in my home town and I've got T-Shirts from multiple years of the marathon. I feel like a poser when I go for jog wearing one and often thought about doing the 8K. When I mentioned this crazy notion to a friend of mine who ran competitively in high school and college she convinced me that it wasn't completely crazy and said she wanted to run it with me. All it took was a little peer pressure! I started running again last week (I'm really an on-again-off-again jogger) and logged 10 miles this week. My friend and I paid our registration fees this week and now we are really committed.

This is probably crazy, but theres no turning back now.