Redemption Sunday!

Yesterday’s run was no good. In fact Amy declared it “sucky run Saturday.” So I know I wasn’t alone in my terrible, awful, no good run.

So I just forgot about it. How my stomach hurt, how I couldn’t run even 4.5 miles. How I fought with everything I had to just eke out 3.1 miles. And you know what? Today’s run rocked!

9 miles. On the treadmill. (It was raining and cold) and I don’t want a cold so I suffered on the treadmill. I stopped once to refill my water bottle and another time to use the restroom, but otherwise, this run was great!

By the numbers:

9 miles.

1:32:42

Ave. pace: 10:18

First 7 miles I ran at a 10:31 pace, the last 2 at a 9:31 pace.

It was hard, but not so hard that I didn’t think that if the half marathon was tomorrow, I could run it all, no problem. Good thing I’ve still got about 2 months!

I just looked back at my dailymile stats from last year when I was training for my first half marathon: Today I shaved off 21 minutes from the last time I ran 9 miles nearly a year ago!

Have a great Sunday friends! 🙂

Today’s 8 Mile Run, By the Numbers:

55-Degrees outside. PERFECT running weather!

14-Dogs I saw being walked on the trail.

8-Miles I ran.

5-Bike riders

4-Random teenage boys who “Whoo-hoo’ed” at me as I ran by.

3-Honks from 1 car full of three 20-something-year-old dudes. (thanks guys!) 🙂

3-Other runners on the trail.

And countless other walkers enjoying the gorgeous weather!

Enjoy your Sunday Friends! 🙂

Sooo….

…Training for the Lincoln Half-Marathon begins soon. I think I’m going to do the Hal Higdon Intermediate Training Program. I did the Novice one for my first half last year. I run enough that I think its time to move up to another level in my training. Here goes nothing! 🙂

Lincoln Half-Marathon

Registration opened today. The race is May 6th. The site said the registration opened at 10am…I was registered by 10:45am! So Excited to run my 2nd Half-Marathon! They only let 10,000 people run it, so CupcakesandChaucer and LindsayDoesLife, lets do this together!

Its supposed to snow Saturday. My meteorologists at work say the models say 4-8 inches are possible. I’m running a 5k on Sunday with Cupcakes. I haven’t really done any snow running, so this could be fun!

Who would have thought just a few years ago that I would be so excited to spend $60 to run 13.1 miles in May? I can’t wait! 🙂

Have a good day friends!

10K’s, Half-Marathon’s, and Fridays!

I have a 10k run on Sunday that I’m not quite sure I’m ready for. I haven’t run more than 5 miles since my half-marathon on May 1st. However, once I get past the first few miles, I always feel like I can run forever. So I’m hoping that will help me!

I’m still debating if I want to run the Omaha Half-Marathon. It’s September 25th. Just about 100 days away according to Lindsay from Lindsay Does Life, its only 99 days away! The timing is not the best, but I love running and training for half-marathons…so we shall see. That may win over timing issues!

It’s Friday! I’m excited for the weekend and relaxing! Have a great day!

Half-Marathon Recap

I ran my first (and not my last!) half-marathon on May 1st! What an amazing experience! I may be remembering it with rose colored glasses, but I loved running the half! It was hard. I had to push myself through the last 3-4 miles. But I did it, and it was amazing!

So I had to be lined up by 6:50, but I didn’t get to cross the start line until 7:33am! I lined up in the 12:00 min. mile groups…behind the 2:45 pacer. That was a little longer than I was hoping to run, but I wanted to give myself some space. I have always said that I like running because it is a solitary sport. I like that I can do it whenever and wherever. But I have to say, as I was standing in line waiting to begin the race, I was lonely. Then about 5 minutes before the run began I ran into some friends, we chatted and then it was time and we were off!

It was AWESOME!

I started running down by the UNL Coliseum, that’s where the start line is, and I wasn’t about to start by walking! I was ready to go, I had been training for this day for months! And my run started out great. In October, I ran my first road race ever, a 5k. We took some of the same path that the 5k took and boy, was it ever different from the half to the 5k. I felt so much better and more prepared for this race. I set a nice easy pace, and off I went. Soon, I was passing people! Me, passing people! What a cool feeling!

There were already people walking only a few miles into the race, but I didn’t need to. And I knew if I walked I wouldn’t want to start running again! So I kept going. I saw my parents with my sign at mile 3, just before the 5k split and first aid station. My mom took some great pics! I got my first drinks, took a gel and kept going. Soon, we were across town and I didn’t even feel it! I kept looking around thinking how far I had come since I had lost the weight. What a great feeling.

I got to mile 9 without stopping running. But this is where The HILL is. Its pretty much the only hill on an otherwise pretty flat course. So I ran up the hill, and then my heart was racing too fast, so I walked for a bit, then took off running again. Those last 4 miles, my knee was hurting and I was having trouble with a stitch in my side, so I kept having to run/walk. However, I was able to run most of the race, only ran about a mile.

My final time was 2:42:57. I beat my pacer, and kept ahead of the 2:40 pacer for a lot of the race! I am officially addicted to running. I am planning on running a 10k next month. And am looking for more runs the rest of the summer. What an awesome experience!