week 2

New and Old

Talk about what a difference a week makes. So I got my new shoes this weekend and I LOVE them!! The new ones are on the left.
Well this is the second week on training for the half marathon and I am tired again, but for different reasons this week. Last night I decided that I was going to try a track workout that GoRun hosts every Tuesday at Friends University. I did my very best not to talk myself out of it ( I have some serious anxiety issues and am very capable f talking myself out of anything) so I kind of got crabby before I left just because I was stressed. I got there ok and I walked up to the track. Not many people were there so I asked a girl if she was there for the GoRun workout and she said yes, so I was happy I wasn't late. Kevin got there and i talked to him briefly about how nervous I was, he said to do a lap to warm up and relax a bit. So I did. (Did I mention it was well into the triple digits yesterday?! Crazy me decided this was the perfect time to try a track workout! HA!) I had a hard time breathing just on the warm up! Then we did some more warm-ups going the width of the infield. ( I was plenty warm let me tell you!) The girl next to me had her Garmin on and told me that thsoe were about 1/2 mile in distance.....and the practice had not started yet!
I was starting to get a little upset that I wouldn't be able to do the workout because I am not in shape enough, but I toughed it out....Fernando said he wanted to do a timed mile....so we did. I was dead last ( non pun intended...) at 11:50, which for me was not all that terrible. But you have to realize that the people at this work out were anywhere from 6 - 8 min milers! Oh well I was trying. Then we split into teams and did a 4 person, 4 lap relay.....ugh. Lap one - hot, but got it done, Lap two - tired, hot, finished it, Lap 3 - looked at the ground the entire time willing myself to not pass out!, Lap4 - Fernando put a sub in for me (thank you!) I was beat...that was not easy! I do want to try and do more of these!
Before I left the workout I asked Kevin what I should do for my run today ( I was scheduled 3 miles) he said to see how I felt around 2 miles....well I got up and dressed this morning and that was about it... I was pretty sore from yesterday and decided that I needed a rest day. Tomorrow I plan on getting up and doing an easy 3.
Oh and most important news!! Carrie and I broke up!! (sounds weird, but I am sooo sad) She decided to do the novice plan instead of the beginner, which is probably a good thing, but I am still trying to do that plan...I really want to improve! The runners at the track seriously motivated me. I feel so damned fat lately and I want to lose a few jiggly areas!! I don't know we shall see!

who to run with!?

Yay!!! Week one is OVER!! I can honestly say that it was actually a great week. I got al my runs done, Mon 3 miles, Tues 2 miles, Wed 3 miles, Thurs 3 miles and Sat 4 miles. It was hard not going to lie. The other day I wrote about how tired my legs were, well they were not this morning! I ready. I was however scared about doing the group run today because of how many people were supposed to be there (they keep telling us that over 600 people registered) so my anxiety was kind of high. Where to park, when to leave my apartment, pick up Brandi, and the list could go on and on, but it was really great.
I picked Brandi up about 6 this morning and we chatted all the way out east to the GoRun store, got parked with minor hiccups and managed to find Carrie - finally! - in a huge crowd!!
I was getting worried about who I should run with right before we started, should I try and run with Brandi because I couldn't find Carrie or should I start screaming her name to locate her (heheh, I was tempted!) but she found me! Brandi was really cool too though. When we all started she ran with us a little, but you could tell we held her back, so I told her she could keep going and she did. We passed her she passed us at the turn around area and she looked great. Carrie and I met up with a new girl and she was our speed, maybe slightly slower, which was cool. When we got to 1/2 mile left I saw Brandi! She had turned around and run back to meet up, which I thought was SOOOO cool. I ran with her in, kinda felt like vomiting, because she is so much faster! but it was fun!
Tomorrow is an official rest day and boy am I going to rest! I am kind of excited for next week's training to start! And in 3 weeks I get to do the Titan 10k !!! Carrie and I did have major shoe envy this morning with everyone in their new shoes and us in our old ones, so she is on her way to come pick me up for some shoe shopping and lunch!
Life is pretty good right now!!

Tired legs

Oh man are my legs tired, and my body, and my eyelids! Seriously though, I wish I could fall asleep at night so I could wake up rested, but it is just not happening. Well my alarm went off at 5:15 this morning and I was pretty certain last night that I would have a hard time convincing myself to get out of bed and run today, but I didn't. I figured with Kevin not home and Carrie out of town that I had lots of excuses I would use, but nope I was up and I got dressed, granted it was pretty slowly, but I still felt motivated :)
Last night I did decide that I was going to drive to SCP this am to run because I get so bored running in my neighborhood, not really sure why I don't get as bored at the park, but I don't. It rained a bunch last night and the radar looked like it still may rain, unfortunately it did not. I have been trying to keep my pace more consistent, but it does not seem to be an easy task.
Overall I was happy with my run this morning. Now I need to OD on some caffeine to wake these heavy eyelids up! So if you see me coming at your animal with a syringe and shaking hands, no worries! I tend to always hit the vein!! ;)
Laters.

Banana Oatmeal Peanut Butter Muffins

I really hope these come out edible! My track record with banana and oats is not something to brag about! I had 4 medium sized banana's that I have been waiting to make the "perfect" bread with, but I have no crushed pineapple (Mimi's recipe - something you never alter!) So I needed to figure out an alternative or throw out mushy banana's, which never is an acceptable answer.  They are in the oven now, so we shall see in about 20 minutes. Peanut butter banana oatmeal muffins.

So I have started my half marathon training and so has just about EVERYONE in Wichita! Seriously! I just found out a classmate (who I may add, bad talked running when she found out I ran, because she is a "hard core yogi" ) is in the S2F. Ugh. I honestly do not think that she will finish and actually run the half, but maybe she will and maybe she will learn to not talk crap on other people's hobbies! Anyways, now that I feel better by getting that off my chest...

Me and Carrie pre-run

Met up with the one and only Carrie this morning. It was not a great run. I think she was mentally not in the game today, which - hey, we all have our days, so we just took it SLOW!. It was so humid, it was really gross. I love the summer and all, but I could so do without the humidity. When we first got started I really was disappointed that we were only doing 2 miles and I kinda played with the idea of doing more at home after, but that idea went out of my mind quickly! She really is such a great friend I can not honestly think of working out with any other person on such a regular basis as I do with her!
Well gotta get the muffins!

New week needs new attitude!

I have been very negative lately. Maybe not so vocal about it, but definitely negative. The only excuse I have is the stupid meds that I am on, paroxetine, I am trying desperately to get off them and it is HARD. I have been having some serious vertigo/dizziness and hot flashes. The vertigo is almost unbearable, the room feels like it is tilting and spinning and if I move too fast I feel a little nauseous. I read up on SSRI withdrawals last night and it says that it generally lasts from 11 days to 2 months. My fingers are crossed it is the former!

Anyways, tomorrow I start my second S2F plan for the fall half marathons that I am planning on doing, yes plural...lol. I think Carrie is secretly trying to kill me! However, I did agree to it. I am really excited though, because I have honestly been terrible at working out since the River Run. I like the motivation that the plans give me. I think that I really need to try and push myself a little harder this go around though. Last time I went into GoRun, one of the coaches, Fernando, said it looks like I am dogging it when I run, which I think a lot of the time I am, but it was interesting to me to realize that someone (an elite someone I may add) actually noticed this. This little sentence from him really is inspiring me to pick it up a bit! My next race is the COlor Run, which is not timed, so I really have little motivation to try, but then about 2 weeks after that I have another 10K that I signed up for. I think Carrie was going to run it with me, but I honestly do not think that it interested her much as she is scheduled to work that weekend, so this will be a chance to prove to myself that I can run with full feeling in it and finish a 10k. I am shooting for better than my 1:25, but I need to be realistic, I haven't run in a week and a half.... so my goal is an even 11 min mile, which makes it finish in 1:13. I can do this! I will do this!!

The color run is next as I mentioned above. I guess the plan is that we ( Carrie, Stephanie, and I) are going up on Saturday and getting a hotel room. We are going to have a nice dinner and take lots of pictures and just have a fun girls weekend. I think this sounds amazing. I need a vacation super bad!! Can't wait!

Training plans!

Finally! I once again have no excuses! We got our training plans for the half marathon! Yay! I am really excited to have no reason to not run. This plan that Carrie and I are choosing to run is a little bit, err....a lot tougher, it has us running 5 days a week instread of just 3. I am slightly nervous about that, but I figure that if we get exhuasted then we can always go back down a plan. I need to remindmyself this  is not an excuse to be eating crap!

Boys weekend

Geez, where do I even start? Well Friday I had off from work, because we were going to see Nickelback in concert, which I was super excited about!! Kevin had his buddy Duane and brother Chris come down to join us. Dewey got here around 11 and Chris around 2 and then it was all beer from then on. No seriously, that is all they did all weekend...drink and get drunk. I swear I am the best girlfriend ever. Who else would put up with that?? Especially when we live in a ONE bedroom apartment!
Anyways, the concert was awesome, I had nearly no voice when it was over because I was having such a good time rocking out!! Then Saturday was movie day. Literally they must of watched a thousand movies. Brian and Brandi brought Weston over for a short time, love that little boy!, and the guys finally decided to get up and we went to Cabela's - woo hoo.....sense my sarcasm? Well I drove them all weekend. Just writing this all out is making me tired of the weekend again, I'm over it.

River Run

I did it! I did the entire run with NO walking, all 6.2 miles. It was actually a great run. I did not sleep much last night. Carrie texted me this morning around 5 and I was already awake. I was sooo nervous. I had my phone navigate me to Century 2 since I had no clue where to park. I was pretty sure that I would just find a spot. I ended up parking at Gander Mountain. Carrie and I met up and walked to the GoRun tent. It was very lonely, just her and me. I was pretty cold when we were just standing around, but I knew I would warm up. Brandi and Brian met up with us, we took a couple pictures together. Weston "made" I am proud of Aunt Kim sign. Very Cute! Well we finally got in the start line, Brandi found a friend and Carrie and I were alone again. We got going and we were QUIET. It was kind of a faster pace, but comfortable. I do have to say I hate running on bricks, anywhere there were bricks it was just tough. Somewhere between one and two miles I tripped pretty bad, but I surprisingly did not face plant :). Carrie kept telling me who she dedicated each mile for: 1-Elliott,2- Paul, 3-Me, 4- Her Dad (very emotional) 5- Her mom 6.2 - Her. I thought that was a great idea, but I felt so bad it mad her cry. At around 3 miles I asked her if she was getting her second wind yet, she said it was more like a breeze! I love that!! Anyways, we really did get an extra boost, but I was starting to get pretty tired around 4.5 miles and my left achilles was starting to really hurt. We kept talking about how we really wish we had cheerleaders to get us through to the end, but we didn't. At 5 miles, two GoRun guys had started to walk back and they spotted us and started cheering us on, it gave me goosebumps! Just after 6 miles we saw Brian, Brandi, and Weston.. They started cheering us on, and Weston was giggling so much it was making me choke up, he is too cute! Then Steph was there with a sign and she ran with us a little, which was pretty cool. Carrie and I came in side by side to the finish and we were proud!
Tomorrow, I am going to Stephanie's wedding and tonight I am finishing my online class. Not a bad weekend!