January.... in review....

I can't believe the first month of 2007 has pretty much come and gone. Crazy. With that note, I was reflecting on my numbers and quite pleased. Even though January has been really busy, as I assume the first part of February will be as well, I am happy with how I was able to get out there and do what I wanted to get done!

January Stats:

• 39.055 miles running... . ... was shooting for 40, so I am okay with this!
• 21.7 miles spin .... this will be better in February. Spin didn't start until a couple weeks ago.. so I have a good excuse!
• 30.52 miles biking... good...good..
• NO swimming. That's okay. the pool hours are rediculous, but I am itching to get back into the pool. I miss the feeling of being totally exhausted from head to toe!

Tonight I made it to Spin. Sis and I got there a little early, so we started with some very brief lifting, only doing a few machines. From there we did some warmup laps around the track. Then we hopped on our spin bikes and went at it! 45 minute = 10.7 miles! Almost a mile more than last week! I pushed myself harder than last week, mostly becuase last week was my first time in over 3 months and I didn't know how much my body could handle! Tonight, my left calf started to cramp up, which has never happened before, so I know I was pushing pretty hard as the lactic acid was building up!

Workout summary: lifted, ran 1 mile, spinned 10.7 miles.

I am very much ready for February!

Happy running, y'all!!

Beautiful pink sunrise as I was arriving at school.

amazingly crazy life...

... As some of you had read in my previous post, I was unable to do my long run on Sunday due to "losing" my student ID to get into the Wellness Center. So yesterday, after I drove back into town from school, I quickly ran to get a new photo ID made ... paying ten bucks, and quickly headed to class for 5 hours. Yeah.

Today, after school I had a terrible headache and almost thought I would can my intervals for the day and head home to rest. But, since my evening class for tonight was canceled (due to professor being ill) I took advantage of my free evening and hit the gym. When I was walking into the gym I found my ID that I had lost, in the back pocket of my wallet...I never put it there. I was just floored!

All in all, I was able to accomplish my intervals and some lifting. And, my headache was gone before I knew it. I don't care what people say about running....running is my therapy! It may physically wear me out, but all worries about my students and classwork dissapear the second I increase that speed on that thrillmill!

Workout summary: Last week's results in blue, this weeks results in red. I took it easy last week due to the fact that I had added another set of intervals and I didn't want to wear myself out too early. I also noticed this week that I was really struggling with my adding/subtracting skills last week. Something wasn't right with my 200m walks.... But, this week, when I got on the treadmill, I remembered to switch the clock to time elapsed rather than time remaining so I didn't have to think too hard!


800M warmup run - 5:45 / 5:48

400M run - 2:40 (6.2 mph) / 2:28 (6.3)
200M walk - 2:38 / 1:46

400M run - 2: 34 (6.5 mph) / 2:24 (6.6)
200M walk - 2:20 / 1:45

400M run - 2:28 (6.7 mph) / 2:18 (6.9)
200M walk - 2:12 / 1:44

400M run - 2:20 (6.9 mph) / 2:14 (7.1)
200M walk - 1:49 / 1:45

400M run - 2:15 (7.2 mph) / 2:08 (7.4)
200M walk - 1:45 / 1:43

400M run - 2:07 (7.6 mph) / 2:02 (7.8)
200M walk - 1:45 / 3:48 (this was 400M instead of 200M)

800M cooldown run - 5:36 / 10:54 (I did mile cooldown instead of 800M)


Total Miles --> 3.875 (I will count the 5/1000 of a mile!)



Sports Commentary:

Those of you not interested in sports, disregard this portion of the post! I am sooooo pumped that the T-wolves were able to break the Sun's 19 game winning streak! Especially for how poorly the Wolves have been playing and for how awesome the Sun's are! And what about the Kobe suspension....?!?!?!? RE-DIC-U-LOUS! That's just crazy. This is basketball people! I haven't always been a HUGE Lakers fan, or a Kobe fan, but I must admit it...they're pretty decent... and I guess I do support them...somewhat.... as I sit hear typing my post wearing a Lakers champion sweatshirt from the 1986-1987 season...thanks Dad!


With a good nights rest tonight (due to not having class until 10pm) I look forward to a great ride in Spin class tomorrow! And..maybe a nice 1 mile warmup jog!

Happy running, y'all!

SIOUX-per!!

Dont wanna wait til tomorrow,
Why put it off another day?
One more walk through problems,
Built up, and stand in our way ,ah

One step ahead, one step behind me
Now you gotta run to get even
Make future plans, dont dream about yesterday, hey
Cmon turn, turn this thing around

Right now, hey
Its your tomorrow
Right now,
Cmon,its everything
Right now,
Catch a magic moment, do it
Right here and now
It means everything

Miss the beat, you lose the rhythm,
And nothing falls into place, no
Only missed by a fraction,
Slipped a little off your pace, oh,
The more things you get, the more you want,
Just trade in one for the other,
Workin so hard, to make it easier, whoa,
Got to turn, cmon turn this thing around

Last night our hockey team successfully finished off the weekend of hockey by sweeping the Minnesota Gophers...in Minnesota!! It was soo exciting and fun to watch. The Gophers (who were ranked #1 in our conference) couldn't keep up with us. Which surprised a lot of us, since the Sioux hasn't been doing so great the past couple months! It was great to see them play their "A" game! Friday night's score: 5-2. Saturday night's score: 7-3. In the words of Dick Vitale ... it was "Awesome Baby!"

Right now, hey
Its your tomorrow
Right now,
Cmon, its everything
Right now,
Catch that magic moment, do it
Right here and now
It means everything
Its enlightened me, right now
What are you waitin for
Oh, yeah, right now

The best part of last night's game was a shot made frm 170 feet away from the net by Robbie Bina! Take a look at the youtube video I posted below this entry!

Right now, hey
Its your tomorrow
Right now,
Cmon, its everything
Right now,
Catch that magic moment, and do it right,
Right now
Right now, oh, right now
Its whats happening?
Right here and now
Right now
Its right now
Oh,
Tell me, what are you waiting for
Turn this thing around

I have been itching to get to the gym for my long(er) run since late yesterday afternoon. Mostly due to the fact that I was very sick of doing homework. But, that didn't happen. I drove all the way to the gym with my sister and realized I didn't have my student ID. crap. Went home to look for it and it was no where to be found. So much for a nice long run. Now I have to get a new ID and will hopefully get a chance to do that before my 4pm class tomorrow. Darnit.

I could have ran outside.... in the 20 below weather (NOT!). Instead, I did my my 57 pilates. I will hopefully be able to switch around my schedule a bit to get it in there, otherwise I will just can it and go on with my week. Crap happens, I guess!

Happy Running, y'all!

Robbie Bina's Shot and Goal

This guy is awesome!

Sweet E "motion"

Last night I spent the evening resting and relaxing (and as usual...stretching). I was hoping to get some paperwork done, but that wasn't as successful as I would have liked. Instead, I spent a lot of time downloading new "old" tunes for my nano. I am sick of the music I have been listening to, so I was looking for songs from my past and found so many that I really liked and miss...you know...like songs I really miss from my high school and early college years! I forgot how much I liked the Goo Goo Dolls, Collective Soul, Blues Travelers, Aerosmith, The Fugees, Godsmack, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Limp Bizkit, Everlast, Oasis, Tantric, No Doubt, Van Halen, Sugar Ray, Tupac, Dr. Dre, etc...

While spending a great deal of time downloading music, I sipped a glass of red wine and cheered Clemson on in a very close game with Duke. If they could have only won, it would have been even a better evening!



Workout Summary: 3.1 miles and lifting.

.25 mile warmup walk

• Mile 1= 11:09
  
• Mile 2= 10:32
  
• Mile 3= 11:07
  
• .1 = 0:55
  
• TOTAL TIME= 33:43 (Avg. pace = 10:52)
  

.15 mile cooldown walk

(Avg. HR = 156, Max HR = 186)
Total Distance = 3.5 miles

What a sweet run, it felt so good. All the splits were better than last week! I did stop between each mile to write down the time, so I know if that were to have been straight through it would have taken a little bit longer becuase the brief breaks were beneficial. I did do some minimal walking during the second mile, but sped up towards the end to make up for lost time... and boy did I!!

Now, I hope to clean up, eat a decent dinner, do some paper work and grab a couple drinks later with some friends!

Happy Running, y'all! Happy Friday!

"Let the Bodies Hit the Floor"....

.....did spin tonight and pretty much felt like "hitting the floor" when I got home! Oh how I remember that song! What a great song for sprinting, I can't wait to load it up to my nano and sprint to it the next time I do intervals!

Sis and I met up at the gym and did some warmup laps around the track before spin. From there we hopped on our bikes and hit the hills! Ahh, how it felt so good. I couldn't believe how much I was sweating! I ended up biking exactly 10 miles in 45 minutes. My cadence reached a max of 126 which I thought was pretty good! I HEART SPIN!

After we were finished we decided to hit another lap around the track to make it 1 complete mile of running tonight. Okay, we didn't just hit a lap...we full out sprinted it! Ahhhh!! I don't think I have ever ran that fast before in my life! It felt wonderful!

After we were finished, I hit up the weights. I ain't gonna lie... I felt kind of intimidated by the large quantity of men all around. So, I pumped up on three different machines to the point of exhaustion and got out of there. It was just too busy to lift at that time of day!

Workout Summary: 1 mile run, 10 miles spin, and brief lifting

Tomorrow's a well deserved rest day as I will need the evening to do some paperwork!

Happy running, y'all!

Slowly becoming Faster

Since today is Tuesday, I looked at my schedule and noticed that I had intervals on my plate for dinner! Not only that, but I had bumped it up to 6x400 from 5x400. With that thought and the fact that I just did a "makeup" interval session on saturday, I started slower than usual and "slowly" worked my way to a "faster" pace. Let's just say I was quite wiped afterwards. Definitely didn't have the speed in me that I had Saturday morning, but I am definitely okay with that. Tomorrow is a scheduled Spin day. I really look forward to it and hope to do some light lifting before hand. I don't want to do too much becuase we do a lot of strength training on the arms during spin and I don't want to be weak for that!

800M warmup run - 5:45

400M run - 2:40 (6.2 mph)
200M walk - 2:38

400M run - 2: 34 (6.5 mph)
200M walk - 2:20

400M run - 2:28 (6.7 mph)
200M walk - 2:12

400M run - 2:20 (6.9 mph)
200M walk - 1:49

400M run - 2:15 (7.2 mph)
200M walk - 1:45

400M run - 2:07 (7.6 mph)
200M walk - 1:45

800M cooldown run - 5:36


Total Miles --> 3.25

Happy running, y'all!

Healthy Obsession?

My workouts for Saturday and Sunday this week were make-up workouts from this past week...then there are going to be some changes from here on out starting Monday. (Read the rest of post to know what I am talking about.)

Saturday's Workout: INTERVALS, 5x400 meters. LIFT. I think my arms are going to be nice and sore tomorrow!

800M warmup run - 5:05

400M run - 2:22 (6.9mph)
200M walk - 1:42

400M run - 2:15 (7.2 mph)
200M walk - 1:41

400M run - 2:10 (7.5 mph)
200M walk - 1:38

400M run - 2:00 (7.8 mph)
200M walk - 1:30

400M run - 1:48 (8.0 mph)
200M walk - 1:24

800M cooldown run - 5:34 (5.5mph)

Total Miles --> 2.88

Looking at my intervals from last week, I have done better on speed for both the running and walking! I am having a hard time with getting the time right. By the time I get the thrillmill up to the speed I want to run at, it has gone .02 miles and taken about 20 seconds. Maybe I will have to try it with my stopwatch.


Sunday's Workout: 3.1 miles on the wonderful thrillmill!
Mile 1: 11:17
Mile 2: 10:54
Mile 3: 11:12 (had to walk 1/5 of a mile)
Mile .1: 0:52
Total time = 34:15 (11:02 avg. page)

.25 mile cooldown walk -> Total Distance = 3.35 miles

*Kind of sore. I probably pushed myself too hard after a hard set of intervals yesterday. Arms and pecs are tender today, but a good tender. Quads felt a little tight. I don't think I stretched, iced, or drank enough water yesterday (especially with the consumption of a few coctails last night!).


Monday: REST DAY! Will definitely be needed!

__________________________

Okay, so I start to stress out when I am not able to juggle work, school, and my running. Actually, I start to freak out. It becomes an obsession. I guess it could be worse. I could be obsessing over "unhealthy" habits.

But, after a well needed weekend of rest away from school, working out, and a little fun in between, I took some time to look over my running/workout schedule, trying to figure out what wasn't working. It's just no feasable for me to workout 7 days a week. I don't know what I was trying to do, but it was crazy. I can't run 4 days a week, spin 2 days a week, do pilates 2 days a week, and lift 2 days a week. Just not going to happen. And I have accepted that. Done.

With that accceptance, I feel a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I hate to admit it, but it doesn't take much for this chica to stress out. I guess I just put too much on my plate and wear myself out trying to do it all.

I am a woman who needs a schedule. I obsess over schedules (just like making lists). It feels good to know that I am not the only runner in bloggerland who needs a schedule. I am right there with you, Tara! So, I ripped apart my schedule, and this is what I have decided:

• Monday will be a day of REST and Stretching. - I have class from 4-9 so this only seems to make sense. It will be well deserved after an eventful Sunday (see below).
  
• Tuesday will be my day of INTERVALS or TEMPO runs. - I have a couple hours between school and class, so why not use it wisely.
• Wednesday will be my SPIN day. I will attempt to do some lifting those days as well, since I do not have class and I can take my time. I am hoping Spin will help me with my endurance for my long runs.
  
• Thursday will be another REST day. If I am feeling up to it, that being I am not too tired, I will ponder CROSS TRAINING or doing my PILATES or TURBO JAM video.
• Friday will be my 3.1 MILES day. - I don't usually like to workout fridays, but I have enough time to do this in the morning, clock my splits, and get my Friday dose of coffee all before heading out of town for work! That way I can feel as if I accomplished something and be able to enjoy my evening!
• Saturday will be another REST/XT day. We'll see how I feel that morning before deciding whether or not I will do anything. All I know is I won't feel guilty if I don't becuase Sunday will be my hard day!
  
• Sunday will be my LONG(er) run day. I will keep in mind that I can switch this day with Saturday if necessary. Along with the LONG run I will LIFT again and squeeze in my weekly session with Mari Winsor for some feel good work on my powerhouse (Pilates).

"Be led by your dreams, not pushed by your problems." ~ Roy Williams, UNC Tarheels Coach

Happy running, y'all! Enjoy your obsessions!

Reflect...Reschedule..Rest

Reflect...
...looking back on this week, I don't know what to think. I am just feeling a little frustrated, overwhelmed and just down-right-tired.

...things at school were crazy with some of my students, dealing with a couple issues. Lying. To me. One of my biggest pet peeves. Hate it.

...too much paperwork to do with none-to-little amount of time to do it at work and not much energy or motivation to do it at the end of the day...most likely after 7pm.

...staying on top of school work.

....getting my workouts in.


Reschedule....
...there needs to be some changes made. I feel that if I want to accomplish what I want to accomplish in a weeks span, I cannot have a social life. none. what. so. ever.

I need to figure out how to balance my time better. A lot better. Becuase, I need that social life by the end of the week. You would too if you spent most of your waking hours talking to, with, and about children ages 8-12.


Rest...
...ah, rest. And that my friends is why I chose to take a rest day today. I needed one.

Due to having a lack of energy to do my 3.1 miles yesterday (I chose to do pilates instead), I was going to do it this morning. Before work. But, when the alarm went off at 5am this morning, I said to myself:

"Self, if you get up now and do 3.1 miles, you will end up sleeping your friday evening away."

I just couldn't do it. I will make up my 3.1 miles this weekend. I hope to get in a nice 3.1 miles one day and my intervals the other day. With some decent weight lifting as well.

I am going to make some changes to my workout schedule, maybe putting a rest day in the middle of the week. I don't know. We'll see what happens. I might be attempting too much with my schedule.

I think I first need to try and get as much homework and paperwork done over the weekend so I don't have to fret during the week. This same crap happened last semester. One would think that I learned my lesson the first time around! But, it's different now. Different from last semester. Things are crazy busy with paper work and assessments right now at school. Come mid-February, things I hope, will be a whole lot better!

I have to remind myself that in 4 months... I will be all done with Graduate School. LESS than 4 months! Yippee!

Happy running, y'all!

It's only Wednesday....

.... and I am already wiped.

It's been a crazy couple of days. The water that was supposed to be off from Monday until Tuesday afternoon, wasn't. So I didn't get up early yesterday to work out. Instead, they decided to shut it off from 7pm last night until 3 or 4pm today. Yeah. That means that I had to get up before 5 this morning to get to the gym, workout and shower. Thanks to my sister, she boiled some water yesterday so I was able to brush my teeth. Oh how I hope the water will be turned on by this evening. I can't handle another early morning with this crazy schedule. Thank god for the gift of coffee...becuase I needed it today!

Yesterday I went to the gym between school and class. That gave me a good amount of time to do some serious exercising. With the extra time, I planned to workout for a minimum of 60 minutes and that is just what I did!

Tuesday workout: 3.5 miles on thrillmill and 25 minutes on the eliptical.
mile 1 - 11:36
mile 2 - 11:10
mile 3 - 10:10
.5 mile - ? (slow jog)
Total time = 39:00 (very brief walking between each mile)

Wednesday workout: 25 minutes on eliptical (too tired to run). I won't be making it to SPIN tonight, I am too tired and have some paperwork I need to get done!

Thursday? I plan to do a nice 3.1 miles in the evening and then maybe some biking.

Happy Running, y'all!

No what?

No water?

For 24 hours?

Okay.

I got home today from meeting with a partner on a project for class and found out that we will not have water for the next 24 hours! I guess some main pipe system under some of the garages next to our building burst and they had to shut off the water. For 24 hours. Yeah.

So, sis and I packed up our bags and hit the gym, planning to shower there when we were finished. Fun times. Now I guess I have an excuse to get up early tomorrow and hit the gym before school... so I can shower. Again.

Today, Sis and I did a warmup run, 1 mile. From there we went our separate ways. I hit the bike attempting to get up and over one nasty hill! Even though I worked hard today, I feel as if I need to have a couple longer workouts during the week. 35 minutes just isn't cutting it anymore.

Yesterday (Sunday): Another rest day due to being out of town most of the day.

Today: 1 mile warmup run (10:38). 24 minutes on the bike doing 1 hill (5.5 miles).

Tomorrow? I will attempt 3 easy miles on the thrillmill in the morning. That's about all I will have time for.

5x400 Intervals

After a well deserved rest day yesterday, I got up this morning and planned on doing my 5x400 intervals. Sis went to the gym with me and we planned to do a 1/2 mile warmup on the track. It was going so well that we completed a mile before hopping on the thrillmills.

With the help of Neese and her tips for intervals, I was so pumped to get out there and do it! When I do my intervals, I usually run 400/ walk 400. Today, I ran 400 walked 200 with the fourth interval walk being 400 due to a side stitch! Here's what it looked like!

1600M warmup jog - 10:36

400M run - 2:24
200M walk - 1:44

400M run - 2:19
200M walk - 1:44

400M run - 2:15
200M walk - 1:41

400M run - 2:13
400M walk - 3:51 (side stitch)

400M run - 2:10
200M walk - 1:42

800M cooldown jog - 6:09

Total Miles --> 3.5
Total time --> 38:48 (I believe I added right!)

It all felt wonderful! The leg was just fine!

Happy Running, y'all!

Cake or Beer?

Question of the day: Which would you rather have tossed into your lap, cake or beer?

Ha! Watching the Nuggets game last night had to make me chuckle. One of the players had bumped a beer tender in the process of saving a ball, nocking all drinks onto a few peoples lap! And earlier in the game, a fan had a cake thrown into his lap but the Nuggets mascot! Ha ha. Too funny! (I think I would rather have the beer!)

I HEART Tarheels! Way to pull out another W! Number 1 Baby! And I must give a round of aplause to Georgia Tech! Awesome job on kicking Duke's rear end!

Yesterday's Workout: Didn't happen. I was too tired in the AM with going going going on Monday and Tuesday between working out, school and night classes. So, I designated it as my REST day.

Today's Workout: 3.1 miles on the thrillmill at 5:30 am! Wahoo! 34:49 minutes. How refreshing to start the day off with a good run and a warm cup of mocha! Plus, I am to school 15 minutes early.... thus being the reason why I have a few minutes to write this post!

Tomorrow's Workout: Turbo Jam in the AM! 40 minutes of pure bliss! (pure bliss = sore thighs, arms, and butt)

Oh, and by the way...we are just starting to get our "normal" weather up here in ND.... Woke up this morning at 19 degrees...and it will be slowly decreasing throughout the day...getting down to I believe 5 degrees with a windchill of -25 degrees! Ahh! To top it off, I saw a runner outside this morning at 7am! That's not dedication...that's stupidity in my book! Brrr!
Happy Thursday...and happy running, y'all!

Sunset

Driving to the gym this evening I realized how clear and perfect the sky was. So blue. Only if the air wasn't so brisk and hard to the touch of your skin...how I would love to be running outdoors today. But, that wasn't in the cards today.

Once I got to the gym I hopped on one of my favorite treadmills facing the southwest side of the building, where two the whole outside wall consists of huge windows.

And there it was.

The most georgeous sunset.

The most beautiful sunset in the most clear North Dakota winter sky.

Pink, orange, a little purple, some more pink.

Mostly pink.

You know, that bright, bold pink.

When my friend past away in November, we were given the most beautiful pink sunsets and sunrises so often the few weeks after her death. And everyone spoke as if they were given from her... for pink was her color.

Thank you, Liz...for this wonderful sunset you have given us... ... ..once again.

I hear the following song on the radio the other day and just thought it had wonderful lyrics and were sung by one of the most beautiful voices in country music. I thought I would share it with you all--->

Anyway
by Martina McBride
can spend your whole life building something from nothing
One storm can come and blow it all away
Build it anyway
You can chase a dream that seems so out of reach and you know it might not ever come your way
Dream it anyway

Chorus:
God is great, but sometimes life ain't good
And when I pray it doesn't always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway, I do it anyway

This world's gone crazy and it's hard to believe that tomorrow will be better than today
Believe it anyway
You can love someone with all your heart, for all the right reasons, and in a moment they can choose to walk away
Love 'em anyway

Repeat Chorus

You can pour your soul out singing a song you believe in that tomorrow they'll forget you ever sang
Sing it anyway, sing it anyway

I sing, I dream, I love, anyway.

Today's Workout: Ran 1 mile in 10:33, started really slow and sped up to 7 miles per hour. From there I did 6.39 miles on the bike covering one nasty hill over 25 minutes.

Tomorrow's workout: Due to things going on, I am just going to plan on doing Pilates 57 at 5am...again!

Now I am going to hit the hay. What a busy couple of days it has been already.



Make the most of life... it's the only one we have.

5:30 AM Run

Quick update during my ever-so-long lunch break. . . . Note sarcasm.

I got up this morning at 5am and hit the gym for a nice and easy, slow three miles. 36:00 flat! I said I took it nice and slow. I was somewhat surprised how rested and awake I felt. Weird. Probably due to sleeping in on Sunday until 11-ish!

Tomorrow is a scheduled day of intervals, but I want to take it easy and not put too much pressure on my left leg(knee/ankle). I will probably hit the bike or eliptical instead, maybe with a one mile warmup on the thrillmill. Maybe towards the end of the week I will do the intervals.

Happy running, y'all!

Previous Post... Addendum

So I said it was a rest day. Well, it was until this evening when I was tired of not doing much all day. I felt that I had to do something!

So I got up off my butt and did Pilates 57 and free weights for my arms!

Ahhh. .. ..Now I feel better and will sleep like a baby!

Out of curiousity I wore my heart rate monitor while doing Pilates 57. Who knew you could burn 180 calories doing that?

Nice.

I've Been Tagged!

I have been tagged by Neese, so here goes.

A-Available or Single? Definitely Single

B-Best Friend? Hmm... probably my sista sista

C-Cake or Pie? Cake, chocolate

D-Drink of choice? Red Beer

E- Essential Item? computer

F-Favorite color? yellow

G-Gummi Bears or worms? Bears

H-Hometown? Bismarck, ND!

I-Indulgence? chocolate of all kinds

J-January or February? January

K-Kids & names? No kids...just the one's I teach, which is enough right now!

L-Life is incomplete without? friendship and love

M-Marriage Date? N/A

N-Number of siblings? 2 sisters, both younger

O-Oranges or Apples? Oranges, if their ripe

P-Phobias/Fears? Meetings with "hard-to-work-with" parents

Q-Favorite Quote? In the midst of a hard time, stop, and remind yourself how thankful you are. It's these hard times that prepare us for something better to follow."

R-Reason to smile? I'm alive and making the most of my life while enjoying it all!

S-Season? Fall

T-Tag three people: Brooke, A.Maria, and Jess

U-Unknown fact about me: I'm obsessed with being on-time/early for everything. See below.

V-Veggie I hate: cooked couliflour (sp?)

W-Worst Habit? setting 2 alarms and checking them multiple times before falling asleep. I have a fear of oversleeping which therefore could make me late, which I am never late unless it is due to someone else.

X-X-rays you've had? Don't ever remember having x-rays. I have never broken a bone!

Y-Your favorite food? Shoup Noodla...mmm

Z-Zodiac? Sagitarrius

Today I took a REST day, since I did not rest on my scheduled rest day (Friday). According to my schedule, today was supposed to be a 5 mile run, but I wanted to wait one more day before I got back on the treadmill. Tomorrow, I hope to get to the gym by 530 to do a nice 3 mile run since I have class in the evening. If I get there in the morning, I will still plan to follow my schedule and do some stretching and strengthing at home after class!

Here's to a wonderful week ahead of us all!

Feel the hills

Friday: First and foremost, I DID get up yesterday to do my Pilates 57 (minutes)! I was not able to do the whole 57 minutes becuase I ran out of time. I am thinking I did about 50 minutes becuase I was up before 5am! Wahoo! Go me!

Saturday: I hit up the gym and warmed up with a 1 mile run around the track and then hit the bike for 12.13 miles! within those 12 miles were tons of sweet-leg-burning hills!! Wonderful! For a grand total of 613 calories.

Tomorrow I hope to get in a nice 3 mile run. I have been looking over my 8 WEEK 5K Plan and have decided not to concentrate too much on the long runs right now. I don't want to push myself too hard right now with my leg.

As far as job hunting...haven't done to much lately besides get rid of those locations that I am not interested in.... here's what was left:

Chicago
Minneapolis/St. Paul
Boulder, CO.
Denver
Seattle
Colorado Springs
Raleigh, NC
Atlanta
Pheonix
Madison, WI
Fort Colins, CO

A couple states that I am looking at as well: South Carolina (becuase I LOVE the Carolinas), and Virginia. I have been told to consider Connecticut becuase they have the highest paying teachers....we'll see.

Happy runnings, y'all!

My other best friends...

First of all, let me say a nice and loud THANKS to all of you who have commented on my previous post in regards to me moving to another city. It was all very helpful and insightful! Although it has pretty much consumed my mind over the past 48 hours and I have been googling jobs and cities, trying to get stats on schools, such as their calendars and salaries... Kind of scary. I noticed that one county in NC pays less then my hometown of Bismarck, ND which I absolutely love. Why would I move there to earn less when I am pretty sure it won't cost less than Bismarck to live there? Who knows. I am fretting over something when I don't even know what I want to do! I just don't want to leave applying for jobs for the last minute. I would like to have a job lined up before the end of the school year. We'll see.


Now, to the other purpose of this post...

Here they are.... . . . my other best friends. Meet Mr. Peas and Mrs. Carrots...

Oh, how I am getting tired of "hanging" out with them!

We spent a good hour together tonight and I am not enjoying it too much.... They can kind of give me a "cold shoulder" everyonce and a while. Not very amusing or entertaining. Kind of boring.


I REALLY have to start spending more time stretching after ANY kind of workout. With my left leg bothering me this week and thinking that it is due to something pinching up in the back of my knee, I really think it is due to lack of sufficient stretching. All of last week, when I worked out, I barely took any time to stretch following my running (with constanting being on the go with my sister). And there is NO excuse for not stretching. IT MUST BE DONE!

With this "problem" with my leg, I am beginning to have a HATE relationship with running. Am I the only one that has a LOVE/HATE relationship with running? Just...just when I feel like I am getting back into the swing of things... something happens! And... with that I have to put things on hold, once again. Maybe I am pushing myself too hard and doing too many miles before my body is getting used to it. But...come on. ... 3 miles?

I did my scheduled 3.1 miles today. Hoping all would be good and I could get a decent time. but going into it I was a little leary and decided to take it slow and walk when necessary. Yeah, this girl did way more walking that she wanted to. I left the gym feeling like I hadn't really done much.

I haven't ran since tuesday, when I did only 1 mile because I didn't want to make things worse from feeling sore from my 5K on sunday. You know, the one I did SOOOO much walking in? Yeah, that one. I was sore. Stupid me. That part of your foot, on top, the muscle or tendon that connects the foot to the ankle on top?? Yeah, that one was bothering me on both feet the day of the race. So I had to do some walking. And, when...that is when I decided to do some more running, that part of my foot/leg was so stiff, I felt like the only way I could run a bit was by "kind of" running on my tip-toes. Probably the stupidest thing I have every done while running, but I just wanted to run sooo bad and move faster, becuase I felt like it was more dangerous to walk fast on that snow then run. Plus, I had the mental ability to do so AND I wasn't tired...I just wanted to run!! Can you blame me?

So maybe that is why my leg is bothering me. Who knows. It's all in the air. So, I am going to take a couple days off from running and do some cross training. Until this goes away. Far..far...away. JUST GO AWAY!!

Schedule for tomorrow?? - 57 minute Pilate workout...at 5am. let's see if that happens!


Wednesday: 20 minute pilates workout (to strengthen and increase flexibility), and did A LOT of stretching.
Thursday: 3.1 mile run

By the way... did anyone happen to see that Timberwolves game last night?? They were awesome! Sorry Duncan...you lose! And Horry?? What the heck was your deal? You coudn't do anything right!

Happy running, y'all!

25 Best Running Cities in America

Well, I am attempting to get back to reality this evening. I got back into town this afternoon, unpacked, went to the bank, did a little workout, grocery shopped, and now I am just relaxing. Making a nice long post before the week begins and I get engulfed in paperwork! The next few weeks at work are going to be crazy, but I am so ready to get back into the swing of things! I can't beleive I only have 129 days left until I graduate! Wahoo!

I have been doing a lot of thinking about where I am going to be applying for jobs this spring. A big part of me wants to move out of state and do my own thing. A little part of me is having a hard time figuring out where I want to go and if I really want to be that far away from my comfort zone (home).

I was talking with my family a little bit about this and told them that at Christmas I was just going to have everyone one put a city down on a piece of paper and I would draw 10-15 from a bag and choose from one of those. But.... everytime I asked someone where they think I should move, it just brought me closer to home! .... . . . . So much for that idea.

Then my Dad was telling me of an article they had in Runner's World about the 25 Best Running Cities in America! So I checked it out and this is what they listed:

1. San Francisco
2. San Diego
3. New York City
4. Chicago
5. Washington, D.C.
6. Minneapolis/St. Paul
7. Boulder, CO.
8. Boston
9. Denver
10. Portland, OR
11. Austin, TX
12. Seattle
13. Philadelphia
14. Colorado Springs
15. Dalas
16. Anchorage
17. Raleigh, NC
18. Salt Lake City
19. Honolulu
20. Atlanta
21. Houston
22. Pheonix
23. Madison, WI
24. Monterey, CA
25. Fort Colins, CO

They all sound like great places to live, although there are a few on the list that I wouldn't consider moving to right now... . . Hmm. Any thoughts?


Today's Workout: Ran 1 mile (warmup), did my biking (2 nasty hills = 6.5 miles) tonight, since Spin doesn't start until next week. Overall 437 calories.
(Left leg still a little bothersome....feels like a pinched nerve behind my left knee.)

Happy New Year!

Hello 2007!

Looking back on 2006, I have noticed how much I have improved, and how much room there is for further improvement in my world of running! I have been looking at my goals I made for 2007 a couple weeks ago and wondering how I am going to do it all. I have been dreading the thought of going back to reality tomorrow with school starting up on wednesday and classes starting once again next monday night.

What is it that I really want to accomplish in 2007? I want to improve my 5K time, immensely. I want to up my mileage to work on my endurance. I want to add in weight training and more cross training. How does one do it all?? You MAKE time. So with that in mind I have created a schedule by editing Hal Hidgon's 10K Training: Novice. And this is what my next 8 weeks will look like:

• Monday: Stretch and Strengthen
• Tuesday: Intervals (5x400 the first 4 weeks and 6x400 the second 4 weeks)
• Wednesday: SPIN 45 minutes and some light pilates to follow
• Thursday: 3.1 miles
• Friday: REST
• Saturday: Cross train 40-60 minutes or run 3-4 miles
• Sunday: Long run (working up to 10 miles, hopefully)

This 8-week schedule will get me into late February. Then, I will look for another schedule to follow to suit my needs. Maybe a Novice Half Marathon Schedule. By late March and into April when the days get longer and the weather gets a little nicer, I hope to do some more running outdoors. One can only handle the thrillmill for so long.

Happy New Year, runners!