You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares and go...

Downtown!

[Question about foam rollers/compression sleeves at the end...maybe you can help me out?]

No strippers and margaritas this past week! But it was sticky sweaty HOT anyway. Being inspired once again by Claire's post, I gathered up my guts and decided to run outside last Thursday instead of my usual gym run. I plotted a 5 mile stretch and said a prayer. I had two things going for me: it was overcast and only 92 degrees, rather than sunny and nearly 100 the day before. Well it didn't matter because I still seriously sucked at it. I got only 2.5 miles through it before I seriously wanted to stop and head back. At 3 I decided to cut through the loop early and before embarking on a hill with an official 3% incline, I gave up and walked. I started up again when I got lost in suburbia where all the houses look the same and everything ends in a cul de sac.

I ended the run a quarter mile shy of 5 miles and was relatively satisfied that I at least tried it. But pretty depressed knowing full well that if the Half Marathon is anywhere close to 90 some degrees and humid, I just won't be able to rock it. Yes that's a defeatist attitude, but at least I'm prepared. And yeah yeah, I signed up for a Half Marathon in July and I have no one to blame but myself ;) Seriously though, I have no idea why they aren't starting it at 7am. My Chicago Half in September started at 7:30. There's a big difference running the last few miles at 9:30 vs 10:30 on a hot summer day. Chicago changed their start time relatively last minute, so I have hope.

Speaking of suburbia, I officially love running in the city way more than in nature. What's wrong with me? I trained most of my first Half along the lakeshore path in Bayview/St. Francis...and yeah it was really pretty! I've been doing most of my long runs this time combining downtown and the lake front and I just adore it. There's so much to look at, so many people I pass, lots of distractions, yet super relaxing. I've also stopped listening to music when I run downtown. I find myself way more calm when I can listen to the music of the traffic in the city...Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty...How can you lose? Seriously, maybe Petula Clark was singing about her training runs.

And speaking of the concrete jungle, no matter how much I claim to feel better running in my Newton's, I still have some all-over leg pain after these long runs. Running on a lot of concrete will do that I'm sure...no matter how you are foot-striking. Therefore, I'm wondering if a foam roller and/or shin compression sleeves will help? Anyone out there use either of these? The pain isn't centralized in any one location...just a general soreness everywhere!

I've got less than a month until the Half now. My 10+ mile training runs are pretty much over I think. This weekend I'm heading down to Claire's territory to run the Lighthouse 10 Mile! Doesn't look like it'll be too hot, so I'm stoked about that!! The Saturday following I am in Chicago for a design conference. As much as I would absolutely LOVE to run through the streets of Chicago for an 8-10 miler, I think the delicious food and DRINKS Saturday night will prevent this from happening.

So I'm in somewhat of a home stretch here. And I'm going to try to promise myself that Half Training is over for 2011. Yes yes the bright lights and neon of Vegas are like an evil siren temptress, but I will refrain and focus on minimal/natural happy running over the remainder of the summer!

Chicago Half 'Cap

Alright then! So here are some thoughts I took from the Chicago Half Marathon! Neg stuff outta the way first.

Did you know that 20,500 people registered for this race and only 13,500 finished? So apparently I wasn't the only one unprepared. But I DID finish! While my time was a mere three minutes slower than my first half, I worked my ass off to BE three minutes slower. Huh? Let me explain. While part of the three minutes contained a very small handful of breaks to briefly stretch and take iPhone photos...


a majority of it was me falling apart in the last three miles. In fact I was ahead of schedule up until then and by a lot! See, at the Expo the day before, I grabbed this free 2:15 pace tattoo. They had them for all 15min increments between like 1:30 and 3:00 or so. Pretty freaking sweet. And you KNOW I looked hardcore with a ginormous pace tatt on my forearm!! Anyway, so up until miles 9 and 10 I was AHEAD of my pace by upwards of, wait for it...three freaking minutes. For example, mile 4? I hit it around 38 minutes. My 2:15 pace tatt screamed 41 minutes at me. And while I cockily pumped my fist to the sky mouthing the lyrics to "Empire State of Mind," I should've been SLOWING THE EFF DOWN. Well, as I said, I learned my lesson in the final three miles when I literally wanted to die. In fact I passed people who looked dead on the side of the street or on stretchers and I thought: Hm yeah, that's about right.

My friends, the sun was hot that day. The temp was crisp and, indeed, hinted at autumn. But the sun, my God the sun. I didn't wear sunglasses thinking for some reason that I'd be fine. But I probably poured like seven cups of water over my head throughout the second half which was entirely facing south into that giant white ball of horror. HOW was it so hot??? A friend just wrote me that he was at the race rooting for his wife's sisters and spotted me at mile 12. He said I was smiling. Squinting in burning agony is more like it.

Aside from my too-quick start and the sun, two additional debilitating things were 1. being nauseous the entire race--like the ENTIRE race--and 2. my feet.

Not sure why I was nauseous?? Perhaps it was eating a half of a PB sandwich at 5am. They say never change what you eat before a race, so therefore I guess I should've eaten nothing. But that was TWO HOURS before I actually ran, so should've been fine. I only ate one gel at the 3-4 mile mark as I couldn't stomach another one. That might've killed me in the end too.

And my feet....HURT. As I said some other time, I wore the shoes I trained in the first time around...my orangies. The orangies are far from broken in and were replaced for a reason, but preferable to the pinks ones that I've given up on. So ALL pieces of my feet felt shattered by the end of the race from my arches to my heels to my ankles and Achilles to the toe part where bunions typically form (that area was the worst). Sighhhh shoes. Sidebar, you know what didn't and still doesn't hurt? My KNEES! The one part of my body that gave me the most trouble for the past year and a half. I think I might have to thank the 2-3 flights of Kohl's stairs 4x a day. Go go gadget quads!!

Now maybe I should stop pointing a finger at all this stuff and see those other three fingers pointing right back at me! As I started this post...Yeah I was unprepared. Even with my jump start and being ahead-of-the-game for the majority of the race, the second half was horrible because I didn't train as hard. Sure, I didn't fall apart so badly I had to pull a DNF. But I felt like I was scraping at an old frying pan for the last bits of caked on food particles, ANYTHING to fuel those final minutes. I don't regret not training as hard. But now I know better. Now I know how it feels to be unprepared.

MEANWHILE. I had fun.

WHAT?? Haha! No really, this race--this entire WEEKEND--was an absolute freaking BLAST. I said I was going to do this for enjoyment and I totally did. I mentioned the Jay Z fist-pumping right? That was a huge highlight. I felt amazing at that mile 4 moment, like nothing could stop me.

Another highlight? The weather. (But you just said??) Ah whatever, the sun sucked, but the perfect blue sky looked gorgeous behind the Chicago skyline and refreshing breeze felt absolutely wonderful.


Best highlight? The crowd...having spectators lined up along THE ENTIRETY of the race route, cheering us on. And because we had our first names on our bibs, people would find them and yell them out! I mean seriously!! But the cherry on the top was when I felt like absolute crap and I passed a teenage girl who said, "...Aw, I want to start running." My eyes well up just thinking about that. I mean I couldn't have asked for anything better at that point.

And finally...the moment. The finish line. The medal.


I will admit that the phrase "I want to quit" crept up in my mind a healthy portion of times...I saw people stop and just leave the course in the middle of the race. Buuuut I heard my inner whiny child-voice say, "no, but your medal!" Haha! Man it's like a dog without a bone! So I passed the finish line, perfectly satisfied when I stopped my watch at 2:18, and stumbled (literally stumbled) through the crowd with my sweaty mitts on my medal (SERIOUSLY Katie, you did not WIN the Chicago Half Marathon). Then I was handed a bottle of water, a banana, a granola bar, and...oh my sweet Lord, a delicious chocolate chip cookie. It was like manna from the Gods. I shoved it directly into my cookie hole, chocolate smeared everywhere. Oh it was glorious!

And with that I took note of the fact that this is why I race. I mean in addition to the ability to shove cookies into my mouth, I think I race to undergo that incredible transition from feeling the worst ever, to feeling the best ever. And this is the recipe for life. We don't know ups unless we know downs. The sweet ain't as sweet without the sour. Despite being probably the toughest and most painful of the handful of races I've done in the past 14 months, this particular race will probably go down as my favorite: From the conversation-packed ride to/from Milwaukee with my friend Mark, to the absolute hilarity and scrumptiousness at carb-loading dinner with Mark, Monica, Tim (plus Crystal's tiramisu cot and my lemon pounding).


From my silly stupid pre-Half dreams ("you can race it, but you're not getting a medal"), to the feeling of pure happiness post-Half, as I vegged on the couch, Miller Lite in one hand, a piece of Lou Malnati's pizza in the other, watching the Bears sort-of win....ahh it was perfect, absolutely perfect.

Where is she now?


My legs are like twisted pieces of rubber, doused with Sriracha cock sauce, and lined with barbed wire that has been coated in hawk talons and anacondas that are squeezing every muscle fiber till they all pop. I think it took me 20 minutes to walk downstairs yesterday and at work I've resorted to the elevator. I put off going to the bathroom as long as I can so I can avoid getting out of my chair. And this is ALL after immediately replacing my glycogen (see: chocolate chip cookie), replenishing my fluids (bottles of water and Poweraid PRE AND POST-Miller Lite), and stretching lots and lots and lots. Clearly I must've worked hard because I didn't even feel a fraction of this aftermath when I ran that 16 miler. Sigh. I look forward to being able to walk without looking like a 90 year old who rode a horse for twenty-five straight days.

And when I can RUN again, what's my plan? I have a 5K in two weeks, an 8K in four weeks, a 10K in six weeks, and a 15K in seven weeks. So that's all sounds doable hey? Yikos. Better heal up quick!! And invest in SOME sort of footwear while I'm also barefoot training. Ah barefoot training...that should be interesting.

Anyway, thanks Chicago Half Marathon for some seriously awesomely good memories!! See you next year, questionmark??? ;)


~stats

Running!!

Now that the weather is cooler and the humidity is gone, running is wonderful again!! Ok I've only run twice this month. TWICE. And I have a half marathon in less than a month?? Ooook. No but get this:

1. I've come to terms with this Half not being the Half for me. Some people can train just fine in the humidity. Maybe they don't like it, but they do it anyway. I'm looking at you Claire ;) The winter was brutal, but I kept at it. When the wind was just too icy I bought a balaclava. When the sidewalks were covered with a foot of snow, I barreled through them. But in my own mind nothing can help humidity...except running indoors. Now, next year I think I might invest in a gym membership during the summer months, but that doesn't battle dreadmill boredom. Which leads me to...

2. With a month left, I was so fed up with not being able to run, I attempted to find some sort of indoor access. I had to rule out a day pass (do these still exist?) at the Y because I wasn't sure how I'd be able to handle running 144 times around the track (to do 12 miles). I also ruled out the Pettit Nat'l Ice Center's track because of the Wisconsin State Fair burgling the parking, causing its close to the public. I finally decided on using my parents' Nordic Track which is NOT a treadmill and five billion times harder than running!!! I could only do an hour. Which in Nordo time is apparently THREE MILES??? You've gotta be kidding me. I wasn't aware at how much different the muscle usage is...it's like riding a bike basically only standing up. The bottoms of my feet killed (like peddling would do), and my quads were worked like you wouldn't believe. Overall a GOOD workout for some cross training but not such a good substitute for a 12mi run. And staring at my parents' basement wall covered in Lord of the Rings posters and Presidential Exercise Awards "signed" by Bush himself, failed in the scenery department. All I had were the soothing sounds of Ira Glass to whisk me away.

3. The humidity broke this past Sunday and I didn't have time to squeeze two hours in, so I saved it for bright and early Monday morning before work. 5am, two hours and eight minutes, a SPECK shy of 12 miles. The weather was PERFECT. The two episodes of TAL eased the time. And I felt pretty good. Except for my feet...which brings me to:

4. Shoes. I've barely put 250miles on my current shoes. Maybe 300? But seriously not enough to require a new pair. But my feet KILL. I know your feet aren't going to feel the greatest after 12 miles, but honestly?? There's no way I'd be able to take much more and there are people out there who run like 50miles at a time! They just, I don't know, HURT. The bottoms. It's not blisters...it's just the whole foot. Like in the bones. Now as much as I never wanted to admit it, I don't think this current pair of shoes was ever for me. I've had problems from the getgo. Like the outside of my arch hurting. What causes that?! So yeah, I'm going to bite the bullet and buy a new pair. And REALLY get checked this time. The girl who sold me my first shoes (my former HS classmate) did a great job. Those ASIC Cumulus ruled. But these Kayanos I picked out myself because they were $40 off. Stupid. In addition to my feet killing me, I did something to that tendon that's right on the top of my ankle. Some kind of tibial something or other. It got all super puffed out and bulgy about 3 hours after my run. Ice and wrapping it did wonders though as now it's fine. I've never hurt that part of my foot in my year and a half though, so now I'm wondering if THAT'S a shoe issue as well!

5. EXCITED ABOUT RUNNING! Buying new shoes for over $100 MAKES you into running again! I also downloaded the iPhone iMapMyRun app because I don't own a Garmin and I heard that this app is actually surprisingly accurate. I bought a little pouch thing that snaps around my waste to carry my gels and my iPhone fits there just fine...so I'll test it out one of these days...use the app as well as map out/time my run manually. Cool weather is right around the corner. Just gotta get through August and the Indian Summer of September. Then I'm golden! Ready to take running by storm once again!

6. With that said, because this Chicago Half Marathon is a wash for getting anywhere close to a PR (just have NOT trained hard enough), I've got my eyes set on possibly running another Half on November 6...8 weeks from Chicago. It's like long enough to retool my training but short enough where I won't just slack off and lose interest (see: the past few months). I've also got three other races on the docket in October: an 8K, a 10K, and a 15K respectively, in that order. So that'll be good for training too.

7. The end!

My One Year Running Anniversary

So I'm going to admit that I almost completely forgot about today and how huge of a travesty would THAT've been?!! ;)

In any case, I've probably told this story several times on this blog, the Intro here and the Massive Epic Novel here. But to make a long story short, I was never able to run more than a few minutes and after that few minutes, I literally felt like absolute crap for the next couple days...sore legs and coughing...for DAYS! That shit ain't right! With several inspirations, namely my stepdad and my sister, I seriously wanted to give running one final try. If this didn't work, nothing would. I followed a very simple Beginner's Running Guide. It all began with the babiest of steps (in my mind at least): Walk a minute, run a minute, for 14 minutes.

One warm and sunny March Sunday, one year ago today, I walked a minute, and ran a minute, for 14 minutes.

And every week after that, I added an additional minute of running, per interval, to that schedule. I never strayed, aside from Week Six that I had to repeat because I just couldn't grasp running for six minutes straight all that well. It sounds so silly now, but this is my point! I started at a very very low end of the athletic scale. A place where ANYONE that has two working legs can start. Honestly.

Once I completed Weeks One through Ten, the sky was the limit. I hit all kinds of Personal Records:
-my first 5K
-my first 8K
-my coldest run (only 15 degrees which isn't that bad actually!)
-my most amount of miles in a month at 58 in February [FYI my least amount of miles was 0 in December d'oh!!]
-my fastest average pace ever: 8:04/8:13 (my watch/the race clock) min miles for my 5K last October.
-And of course, my longest distance at 12 miles this past weekend.

The Half Marathon is one more goal on a long list of goals that never really ends. And that's what rocks about running... I'll never be the runner who runs for her health, and in fact, it's probably hurting me just as much as it helps (damn my knees!) But it's the goals that push me every day! I absolutely love plowing through those imaginary finish lines and I may or may not be addicted to patting myself on the back for new PRs...I will totally admit it.

You know what I also love though? Other runners. I have found this whole new group of comrades with whom I just love reading, discussing, gushing, and complaining. Friends I never knew I had. We stick together. The best runner friends are the ones who are with you every step of the way, maybe not physically, but they're there, out in cyber Blogland or Facebook, cheering me on. I love cheering them on too, it's all part of the camaraderie. Running is a very personal sport and as the quote at the top of this blog states: "It's important to realize that whatever you're doing - it's your first attempt at it." You can't get mixed up in other people's PRs and goals and let them tangle you up. They are GREAT motivators to reach beyond yourself, but if you find you're doing it more to prove yourself to others, you'll probably get pretty disappointed. Despite its personal nature, however, most people need the support of others. I definitely need the support of others. I love it. And I hope I never stop offering my own support to my running buddies!

Anyway, looks like I made this long story long again. Classic Katie. But I just wanted to gush and, ok yeah, pat myself on the back a little. One year can abso-f'n-lutely change a person. And drastically. I can't say it enough, I COULD NOT RUN. I couldn't! I really really sucked at it. But a year later? I'm actually doing something! I thought an 8K was daunting a year ago (my original goal I wanted to reach when starting this escapade)...now I'm training for a Half that's in less than a month?!?! How Did I Get Here??? Well, I'll tell you how. By getting the heck out there on that pavement. By being in pain. By suffering setbacks. By kicking ass at goals. By my family. By my friends, personal and blogging, who cheered me on. And above all else, by having a freaking good time. Even my worst running days were running days which are GOOD days in my book.

So I've said it before and I'll say it again: anyone stumbling across this blog who has wondered what it would be like to be a runner...try it. Just give it a whirl. I mean I never really even wanted to run up until March 11thish, 2009. Something clicked in my head and I said: why not? Ok ok, it might have had a LITTLE to do with a guy I was seeing, but don't these things usually?

So to celebrate, today is actually one of my cross training days, but when I get home from work, I'm going to put on my old orange Asics, and I'm going to walk one minute, run one minute, for 14 minutes. I'm going to truly grasp how far I've come in these 365 days and 386.9 total miles!

Half Training - Week Seven

I am over the hump! Over the halfway mark and officially over the single digit mileage!!

With the aid of half of a bottle of Zicam, a Starbucks Vivanno, four giant cloves of mashed garlic in tomato soup, spinach salads, literally like 500 gallons of water, LOTS of sleep, and refraining from alcohol....my cold lasted less than one week. This is a record in my life, my friends. An absolute record!

So with that, I took my 10 mile run by storm on Saturday! It was about 45 degrees and crystal blue skies...an absolute DREAM for Wiscy in March!!! I wore my running tights, but only a thin short-sleeve t'shirt and I felt perfect. So because my routes are getting longer now, I actually have to write crib notes on my hand haha!


It really would pay to have a Garmin, but hey, I'm old school?? I did take my phone along this time because I was a little nervous and wasn't sure if something would go horribly wrong. Like I'd need to be peeled off the pavement or God knows what. BUT! I got to take a lovely photo of my route!


That's downtown waaaaaaaaay off in the distance on the left-hand side. So far away!

The run felt great during miles 1-4. I went niiiiice and easy just like I said I would. But somewhere between 4 and 5, things unraveled a little. Nothing major, but I was definitely feeling some pain creeping up in my legs. This of course was the exact same time that I entered the park and about 70 percent of the path was covered in lakes of melted snow! (If it's not one thing, it's another hey? haha!) So my new pinkies got REAL dirty and my socks were absolutely soaked. This made for a pretty shitty second half, let me tell you. Running in soaked socks just isn't fun at all. My toes felt all chaped and raw. I think the puddles just caused me to lose my focus or something because then the leg pain just came with a vengeance. It wasn't anything dehabilitating, but for example, in my new shoes, there's this extremely strange pain I get at the top of my foot (where the leg and foot connect...in that crook). It's as if there's a part of my shoe that's digging in there, but no matter how I adjust it, I can't find the problem for the life of me!! So miles 5-7 I just had to deal with it...there was nothing I could do.

Suddenly between 7 and 8, it kinda went away, as did any other pain...or perhaps I just regained my focus and decided to not let it bother me? I picked up the pace and ran the last two miles at a pretty good clip! SO much so that I was incredibly winded by the time I crossed my imaginary finish line and it took awhile to regain my composure! So my final time was exactly one hour and 47 minutes - 10:40 min miles. So I think my next hump is running for over two hours! That's just going to be a trip, seriously!

Two recovery items I have noticed:
-My calves are really tight. I never have a problem with my calves after a run. So I'm not sure if I just forgot to stretch them for longer, or what. But even today, still pretty tender.
-My knees don't hurt at all! I iced them twice the night after the run...so that must've helped!

So this weekend, I'll be skipping 11 and going straight to 12 miles. For this run, I am going to forget completely about time (I may even leave my watch at home)...and focus on keeping my body healthy. This means, STRETCHING! I rarely stop to stretch during my runs, and I think I'm at the point where I really have to be careful in these final weeks. I'm going to take a solid five minutes every 3-4 miles and make sure all muscles have some quality TLC. The other reason I don't really want to bring my watch is that I know if I get my time, I'll be too tempted to predict my Half time and there is no way I want to be disappointed by anything after that race.

Oh I'll end on this lovely note: I got home from my 10mile and guess what had come in the mail. HOORAY!!!!!! Too bad it hadn't come BEFORE the run though ;) I look forward to the 12 mile to see if the music distracts me from my legs. Hope so! Anyway, here's Orange Bomb and Floyd, new and old, passing the torch! I like how there's a piece of ATT mail accidentally in the corner. Thanks ATT Uverse!

Next up...

...Asics GEL-Kayano® 15!

SO basically I love my Asics...and love my GEL-Cumulus® 10s even more. Especially the fact that they are orange, which is why my whole blog was orange and such. ORANGE! Anyway, I wanted to either find the same exact pair, or bump up to the new Cumulus 11. But I figured going with the 10s would save me money, like they'd be on sale or something, being the old version and all? Not so much. I scoured the internet and basically they were going to cost $95 no matter what, which is what I paid for my pair last March.

Well, I got a coupon for $20 off $100 at FleetFeet in Brookfield from racing in the Steve Cullen, so I thought: "Omg what if they have my shoes! That would be a savings of a lifetime!" Drove on out there, but not so much. They're a fine establishment, but they don't really have too many Asics in general. Ah well. Luckily there's a Sports Authority right down block. They did NOT carry my Cumulus, but what's this? Kayanos that are normally ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY DOLLARS on sale for $99.98???? SOLD!!!!!



Well not exactly sold until I researched them a little on my phone first. But I mean for $140, they better be good right?! So I tried them on and literally ran up and down the shoe aisles for awhile. Mama likey! And the pink is always good...it's no orange, but I dig it.

I got these Saturday, so I was actually kinda bummed that I couldn't try them out right away on my Sunday long run...but I didn't think busting out 8 miles in a new pair of shoes would be quite the stellar idea. So I'll start the break-in on my 4 mile tomorrow. Speaking of, it's actually a 4 Mile Virtual Race for Haiti! Because it's through Map My Run (the site I use to keep track of everything), you just plug in your info once you're done and post it to the race site. It's $30 and 100% of the proceeds go to the cause.

SO yes, I've changed up my blog to match my shoes, just like any fashionista would (I am like the exact opposite of a fashionista). And I will leave you with the most geeked out photo EVER...my new shoes receiving an imaginary torch from my old shoes...you know cuz of the Olympics and all.


oooh, white and shiny!!

Half Training - Week Three

Before I get started here, I just want to wish a fellow running blogger a very special good luck on her Half Marathon this weekend. She just started running this past August, so it's quite a feat for a noob. Oddly enough, it's BECAUSE she's a novice doing a Half that I'm doing my own. I've got a competitive streak and I'm definitely one to be inspired by the goals of others :) Anyway, I'm very excited to see how it goes!

Ok sometimes I like to just blabber on about my runs...like every little detail. Clearly people reading could really care less about these stupid little observations, but I find them entertaining. And that's what I like about running. Each run is different in some distinct way. Sometimes this part of your body hurts while this part finally feels great. Sometimes people around you are annoying and making cat calls. Sometimes you come across a bizarre situation. Sometimes you run into someone you know. In any case, in this particular post I'm in the mood to talk about tonight's little details.

Tonight was my 6 miler and let me start off by saying that it was virtually perfect. I felt great, even better than last week's 5 which was all awesome n' stuff. This is because if tonight's run was a vacation spot, it would be the Bahamas...aside from the temp of course...in that I took it eeeeaasy like Sunday morning! With that said, reason why I took it easy: my first step onto the pavement. Nightmare. My left knee just shot with pain immediately...step after step after step. So much so that I was limp-running! I was like: uh this isn't good...but me being me, I just dealt with it and ran super slow and super light, like ginger baby steps. This went on for a mile, so I probably did it in like 11-11:30 minutes! Yipes! The great thing about this, however, was that my breathing felt like laying in a hammock on a June day in the late afternoon...ahhhhh.

Next up was the part where I passed a condo's gym with giant windows and inside I saw an older gentleman walking the treadmill with a button down, sweater vest, and khaki slacks on?!?

Then my running tights felt like cactus and were reaching into areas I didn't know existed, until I literally had to stop (which I hate doing) and adjust everything.

And then, because a large snowstorm is approaching and because I ran downtown and on the lakefront, it was blustery as all get out. Luckily I was running with the wind...unluckily I had decided to put my hair in a ponytail instead of two pigtails like usual. So my bangs don't really stay up. So here's the gale force winds whipping my bangs into my eyes and mouth until I let out an extremely frustrated sigh and tried to re-ponytail everything WHILST keeping up my pace (which is still like 10:30 min miles, mind you...haha!). I ran another mile and it just didn't work. I know bangs in your eyes and mouth probably sounds like a walk in the park, but I seriously wanted to start throwing things, what I wouldn't GIVE for a couple of barrettes. Finally I took all of my hair down and started over, putting the two sides into pigtails. STILL running! And because I was running, it took me forever, and the people I passed by probably thought I was nuts!!

After that, I said to myself: alright Katie, let's get the heck out of this hammock already! So I picked up the pace. Approaching the last mile and a quarter, I looked at my watch: 49:00 Aw crap! I'm so NOT going to do this in under an hour am I?? I kicked it up several notches. I crossed my imaginary finish line...one hour, one minute, fifty-five seconds...deece.

Ahh, I crack myself up. Anyway, Week 3 was great! I'm up to two 3.5mi runs during the week. The second one I did at a 9:30min mi pace which is really getting back in the swing of things! I'm truly getting back to my old self and it makes me feel great! I did some more kickboxing this week too which was a ton of fun! I'm learning the moves and I don't feel so stumbley!

I had to do my "weekend" long run tonight because tomorrow I'm heading to Madison for the Wisconsin v Michigan Hockey Classic in Camp Randall as in outdoors! I can't wait!! So WALKING (and beering?) will by my cross-training tomorrow ;)

Ok! One of my near-future goals is to get a new pair of shoes. I'm starting to notice some slight discomfort and it'll be good to break in a new pair for the Half. Thanks to ANOTHER fellow running blogger for the advice!! :)

*SIDEBAR!! THIS JUST IN! I looked at my MapMyRun training log and for Week 3 I ran exactly 13.1 miles!!! It like suddenly hit me: Ok! That's what you did this week, in nine weeks, you'll be doing all that in ONE DAY!!!! WHOOOOOOOOSHHHHHHHH!!!!!

whoa.

Prelude to My Future Career in Running...

...or something?? All I want to be able to do is actually run for more than a couple minutes without feeling horrible. It isn't like I'm some lump on a log either. I weigh less than 120lbs, I walk 2.5 miles 5 days a week to/from work, and I work out at home for 20 minutes whether it be cardio, weights, yoga, or pilates. Yet I'll go and head out into the concrete jungle and hit the brick wall every time. Perhaps it has something to do with my asthma. Make me laugh and I'll cough for the next three days. But I think it has more to do with biting off more than I can chew and getting discouraged. The key is to start slow to work toward a greater goal.

My first goal is to follow this Stage One 10-Week Schedule I found here


My second goal is to be able to run with my sister. She is Inspiration #1. She ran her first 5K last fall, and ran it incredibly well! The second she crossed the finish line (which I idiotically missed), I was so proud, impressed, and inspired!

My third goal is to be able to run with my step-dad. He is Inspiration #2. He has run in like millions of races haha! AND he ran a marathon not too long ago. Maybe he doesn't think he did that well, but c'mon, it's a MARATHON! I can't even imagine.

My fourth goal is to reach and accomplish the Stage Two 10-Week Schedule:


My MAIN goal is to be able to run in Al's Run, an 8K, this October 10th. I have over twenty weeks before the race, so this should be plenty of time to get to this point, even if it is a lofty goal for a beginner.

I have other inspirations...my mom, for example. Even if she can't go for runs much anymore, she started running once she met my step-dad, and being a not-so-athletic person, turned into quite the athlete! She's 50+ and amazingly healthy all due to this decision.

Another inspiration is the ~$100 pair of Asics I bought last night :) During a time when money is incredibly tight, an expensive pair of shoes isn't something I can just toss into the corner of my bedroom to collect dust! I better earn these pups! FYI, if you live in the greater Milwaukee area and need a new pair, please visit Performance Running Outfitters. A friend/coworker recommended them to me and it turns out the place is owned by my former high school classmate and her husband! She was so helpful! These guys take the extra time to fit your specific foot shape and size. You can even run on a treadmill to get a feel for the shoes! Such a great experience, particularly because I came in a half hour before close and I didn't feel rushed at all!

And thus begins my journey into the unknown. I know I have plenty of brick walls ahead of me, but I just gotta plow on through. I'm going to try and be positive and look forward to those *good running days!

I believe Sunday will commence Stage One, so I'll be back to log in my info (via Breaking the Tape) and officially put this plan into action.