running crazy

My workout today wore me out. Royally. I am not even kidding. I felt great afterwards and as if I could have ran another mile, but I quit. I had to run an errand before Grey's Anatomy was on. Anyway. My PLAN was to run atleast 2 miles, and then head to Spin class. I know, I know...crazy. But, I didn't get to the gym in time to do 2 miles, so I did 1.25 and then went to Spin. Once again, Spin was an awesome workout. Who would have known holding your arms in the air and moving them as if you are lifting 5 lb weights would actually be a hard workout while peddling?! My quads were burning through most of the workout, especially when she would make us freeze...thus only moving our legs, none of the upper body. Ouch! When I was done with Spin, I actually still had more in me ... Here is where crazy enters the picture. I got back on the thrillmill! I was just planning on doing .75 to make my 2 miles for the night, but I did 1.25, again. Oofdah! In a nutshell, my workout tonight consisted of 2.5 miles running and 9.8 miles of spinning! Yeah!

Every once and a while when I am at the gym, I notice things that appear out of place to me. I thought I would share a couple and see what others think. When I was on the thrillmill for the second time tonight, I noticed a girl wearing something unusual on the eliptical. She was wearing a speedo swimsuit with those "swish, swish" kind of pants. Weird? or Just me? And another thing that I noticed tonight that I have noticed before was this: A couple holding hands. Is that really necessary in the gym? I find that really odd. Don't get me wrong, I love holding hands, but do you really need to hold hands when walking through the weight lifting room? Now that takes a real man!

Tomorrow is a rest day. I was going to do an easy 3, but since I 2.5 tonight, tomorrow I will take it easy!

Happy running, y'all!

Building Self-Esteem

Today was my long day of the week. I think sometimes I make it longer. I teach all day. Head to the gym to workout and then go to class until about 10pm. By the time I get home and settle down, I am so wound up from the day, that it takes me quite a while to fall asleep, so I usually do some blog reading to tire my eyes.

Tonight was Spin night. I like doing Spin on tuesdays rather than wednesday. It gives me a better chance of getting it in two times a week. This way, I can spin on thursday too. So, tonight I met my sister at the gym. I somewhat wanted to lift first but remembered last tuesday's spin session and the resistance band. Nope. Wasn't going to lift. So we warmed up with a nice 1 mile jog and then went to spin. It felt great. I took Jodi's advice and lowered my seat a bit. I asked my sister if my knee was somewhat bent and she said "barely". Huh? I was only able to lower the seat about a 1/2 inch more before it was all the way down! But, I lowered it a little more and began peddling. What a wonderful workout! 8.68 miles later, I was feeling it all...the running and spinning! Doing both really works all parts of the legs! I can see why triathletes love what they do!

On an educational note, in class tonight we talked about building self-esteem in our students. We did an activity where we had to put our name on top of a piece of paper, pass it around and everyone had to write something about us on that paper. Yes people, these are the kind of things we do in class.... don't make fun! So, on an ending note... here is the list that was written beneath my name:

• kind hearted
• great friend
• I like your hair color - is it natural? - - > is this for real?
  
• I enjoy your outgoing personality
• funny
• you rock girl! I love your energy and enthusiasm!
• cute
• I love the way you are always punctual! :)
• Sincere and honest!
• always willing to help and know what's going on.
• ambitious (where do you find time to workout?)
• I love your obnoxious laugh - I heart you! - - > This could only come from my obnoxious laughing partner!
  

Happy running, y'all! Tomorrow is a rest day!

I'm BAAACKKK!

We didn't have school today, so after a long weekend of bachelorette party fun, I got back on the horse and went for a run. I was going to try 2-3 miles on friday morning, but my sister and I just weren't feeling it. So, we did a little over a mile around the track and then went to shoot some hoops.

Today I was hoping to get up at a decent time, around 7ish and head to the gym. I didn't get there until after 10, mostly due to being extremely tired from the weekend. Yesterday I had a really sore throat, so I wanted to get as much sleep as I could last night... and I did.

Well, ladies and gentleman....Teacherwoman is back and at full-force! I think. I went to the gym, lifted weights for a while and then hopped onto that wonderful thrillmill (not). My plan was to be on there for 40 minutes, whether I ran most of it, walked most of it, or did a lot of both. I was just hoping that would give me enough time to do 3 miles if I had to do a lot of walking. Results? 40 minutes...and 3.4 miles. Yippee! I did some walking but not too much! My running wasn't too speedy, but that is a-okay with this girl! I stretched afterwards and felt fine! Ahh, how good it feels to be back!

Those of you who have President's Day off...enjoy it!

Happy Running, y'all!

Work hard...play hard...

Okay, so I caved to peer pressure last night and went out with a couple guys from class for a few drinks! Ahh. It was fun but a late night. I actually got to see a couple girls I haven't seen in ages, so that was nice. I haven't gone out on a weeknight this school year, so I wasn't too excited about the idea. But, I did it anyway and today was our friday because we don't have school tomorrow. Gotta love the compensation for evening parent teacher conferences!

Tomorrow, I plan on hitting the gym. For what, one might ask? To run. Yep, all is good here and I plan to try a very easy 2-3 miles. I make sure to let y'all know how it goes. I haven't gotten to spin yet since Jodi gave me the idea that my injury could be due to my seat being too high, resulting in hyper-extending my legs, according to Lance... But, when I do get back on the bike, I plan to lower my seat a little more and see how it goes!

After that, my sis and I are headin' out of town! Yep, we are going to a nice cabin in MN for the weekend to meet up with some girlfriends and cousins for my sis' bachelorette party! Wahoo! So, until then, have a wonderful weekend! Remember, work hard...play hard!

Happy Running, y'all!

I HEART life

Before I get into the main purpose of this post, I want to quick make a comment about my injury. I have to give my Mom some credit here (and Wes) for putting in my head that my difficulties with my leg could possibly be stemming from Spin. Oddly enough. My Mom had mentioned to me that she struggles with bicycling becuase it bothers her knees (but she is able to run half marathons)... and then Wes had mentioned how when one gets on their bike, you use different muscles and can also injure different parts of the body. So, tonight I went to the gym hoping to get in a Spin class at 430 but didn't get there in time. So I had an hour to kill before the next class and chose to do some walking. I walked a little over a mile and then decided to test the running. I will admit, I was scared, but I did it. I went a mile and decided to stop. I didn't want to push it and knew I was going to Spin so I didn't want to wear myself out. All and all, I put on 2.25 miles on the thrillmill. Afterwards I grabbed a bike, adjusted everything to meet my needs and started moving. Yep. Kinda felt it. That feeling behind the back of my knee on the outside. Not pain. Just tightness. What the heck! I pushed through and did 8.6 miles. Tuesday night Spin is a whole lot different then Wednesday night (besides the different instructor). Tonight I knew it was going to be difficult when she passed out those elastic stretch bands. Oh boy. We used those to strengthen our arms while cycling slower a couple times throughout the session. Hence the reason why I only put on 8.6 miles. But, it was wonderful and I am already feeling the soreness in my arms! So, I came home tonight after class, stretched, iced and will be looking further into why my leg is bothering me. I am almost sure it is Spin now... but I don't want to quit that either!


Once again...Valentine's Day is pretty much here. Ah, the over-commercialized big day of the year! Don't get me wrong, I love the big Valentine's Day, but sometimes it can be too overrated! And I am not just saying that becuase I am single... Even when dating, it wasn't that great. With being single this year (first time in 5 years) I am going to make the most of it with a couple friends...I think! Dinner and a glass of wine? In honor of Valentine's Day, I made a list of things I love...to remind me of what is important in life!

1. LIFE!
2. My parents - they have given me so much and I must say they did a wonderful job on molding me into the superb adult I am today! ;)
   
3. My sistas! Oh how I have learned so much from them as they are both so different...as we all three have our differences...and similarities as well!
4. The rest of my family... sometimes we all take for granted how lucky we are to be so close!
   
5. My lovely friends.. Those near and far.... Those who support me in my running ups and downs, ins and outs (RBFer's, family and other friends)... Those who are there to wind down with after a long and stressful week, especially my "shaken' on the dancefloor partner, k-dog".... Those who I can vent to, because they know exactly what I am going through...
6. Did I mention LIFE???
7. I HEART learning... Education was probably the best field for me to go into... I will be required to constantly educate myself to become the best teacher I can be... next on my list of education: work towards my ASD credential (Autism Spectrum Disorder)
   
8. My students...oh how I have learned so much from them and hope that they learn a little in return!
9. I love watching my sports... especially basketball... I HEART my Tarheels!
10. I love being active. Running... cycling (spinning)... swimming... (basketbal, volleyball, etc.) ... Is there a possibility of a Tri in the future???

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!

What Goes Around...

For it being Sunday, I was quite busy. I did homework from the moment I got up at 8am, until 3ish in the afternoon. Then I went to the gym to do a really good lift session before Spin. Spin went really well, I cranked the tension up hard during some drills and boy could I feel the burn.

All and all it was really good and I was able to complete 9 miles. I felt a slight pain that appears a few minutes before finishing. Today, the pain was coming from the outer-back of the knee down to the outer ankle area. Weird. So, I went home and iced, and iced, and iced. Is this nonsense ever going to stop??

Now, I am going to have a pitty party for myself and enjoy the Grammy's while doing some IEP paperwork. Did I mention that I "secretly" heart JT....Justin Timberlake?! Yep. Hey, if anyone can write their own music, sing, dance, AND play the piano...they've got my heart!


Tomorrow will be another rest day and then I will spin Tuesday night.

Keep on, keeeping on!

P.S. Congrats to Maryland for defeating Duke! Hip Hip Hooray! Now Duke is faced with their longest losing streak in 11 years!

Subtle Pain

I went to the gym tonight with a mindset that I was going to try 3 easy miles and not push myself hard. It was planned to be just 3 very very easy, slow miles and nothing more, unless there was no pain what-so-ever.

My ankle hasn't bothered me since tuesday night, so I had a positive feeling about this run. I grabbed a towel, hopped on the treadmill, turned the tv channel to watch PTI on ESPN, turned on my tunes, and started a decent walk to warm-up a little bit.

Once I reached a tenth of a mile, I started a very slow jog. 5mph to be exact. There was a bit of a slight pain that wrapped around my ankle each time my heal came into contact with the belt of the thrillmill. It wasn't an excruciating pain, but it was more like an achy pain that was noticiable with each stride. Once I reached 1/3 of a mile, my breathing and strides were insynch and I didn't notice the pain as much anymore. Overall, I was able to fork over 3.3 miles and everything was perfect, except for my leg.

What I have noticed in the past week or so, is that when I start to run, there is a weird pain that a part of me tells me that I should stop. But, as stubborn as I can be, and as hard as I can be on myself, I run through it and it pretty much disappears. It is later, when I am not running anymore, possibly the next day even, when a pain that is worse than it was when I was running, shows up.

I don't know what to do. Many things run through my mind as to what the case is. So, from here, I will just plan to take my ibuprofen and then ice as much as I can over the next couple days. I will continue to stretch, as I have been really good about this over the past couple of weeks. Any ideas, thoughts, or comments would be greatly appreciated and helpful. Tonight I will refer to my Women's Running book to figure this out and decide what I need to do. This is a little frustrating and I don't want to make it worse.

Tomorrow will be a rest day.


On a light note, here is my new favorite snack. I like to call it Stacy's Trail Mix! Roasted peanuts, raisins, some m&m's, the rainbow goldfishes, and the pretzel goldfishes. Mmm.
Happy running, y'all.

Head Spinning

Went to spin last night with a weak stomach. Didn't know how well it was going to go, but all and all it was qutie successful and my quads and glutes were quite sore after a near 12 miles! What a wonderful workout!

Sis and I decided to make a nice dinner of spaghetti with some garlic bread! Mmm. That sure hit the spot. Once dinner was over, I waited patiently.

Patiently.

Patiently for the biggest rivalry game in NCAA basketball.

Yep, it was time for the UNC vs. DUKE game.

Let me just say, the first half was really hard to watch. I couldn't beleive how poor they were playing. But the Heels persevered and pulled through in the second half. They were rebounding better, had more steals, and just darn right played better!

79-73 baby! DUKE is going down!

Tonight I hope to get in an easy three miles. We'll see!

Happy running, y'all!

Wednesday is almost here...

and I am done with class for the week! Ahhhh.....

(ahh...now I have to spend the rest of the week doing paperwork and homework!)

Tonight I went to the gym before my class. I didn't know what I was going to do, especially with my ankle slightly bothering me. But, I felt I could atleast go and get a good lift session in and walk the track to get moving a bit.

So, I lifted my heart out. I really pushed my self hard and can feel it now... what wonderful feeling!

Afterwards, I thought that I would just attempt some *light* running ... yeah... ...only went about 1.3 miles and had to force myself to stop. It wasn't a really bad pain, but it was there and I was afraid I would make it worse.

So I stopped. How frustrating. Oh well. Tomorrow night I will attempt another mile, and do 45 minutes of spin. Then I will try to do a few miles on thursday! If all is well with the ankle that is...

Did I mention it was -36 with the windchill coming home tonight? Brrr. If this isn't more motiviation to really start looking for a job in the Carolina's...I don't know what is! It's so cold that my car didn't get the chance to warm up much between campus and home...which is a good 10 minute drive.. you try icing your legs after being out in these frigid temps! Kind of hard, but you do what you gotta do..

Keep on keeping on!

Looking forward to wednesday....becuase...

....monday's can be disasterous with leaving home at 7am and not getting home until after 9. especially when you realize you didn't have really anything to take for lunch... and you probably won't get to the grocery store before wednesday evening....

.... tuesday I will start the day of with a meeting with the PT, OT, SLP, Strategist, Principal, classroom teacher to discuss assessment results with parents of a struggling student.... and to plan out a new IEP....just...

..... to be followed by.... an observation of my wonderful teaching skills...done my my university mentor....

.....and then another late night of class ...until 10...

Hopefully on wednesday I have time to get to the grocery store... so I will be able to cook a decent meal... so I have left overs to take for lunch thursday... and maybe friday...

For how long and tiring the beginning of my week can be, it sure goes by fast. Before I know it, May will be here. Oh how ready I am for May temps. Woke up to -32 this morning. Thankfully my car started.

Did I mention my ankle is bothering me? If it's not one thing, it's another... sometimes I stop and wonder why I do this running stuff... But oh how I LOVE it so much.

Lack of Structure

Friday was quite eventful with the CEC conference and then hitting the gym for a nice long run and some lifting. But, I chose to go out with some friends, some of them whom I haven't seen since July and had a few drinks. That totally throws my weekend out of wack, with me sleeping in and wasting a good portion of my day. Plus, I feel completely icky and mostly dehydrated. I was hoping to hit the gym saturday afternoon but just couldn't do it. Not enough structure what-so-ever.

Workout: Today, I did things a little differently. I did 45 minutes of pilates late this morning, went to the gym and lifted arms and legs...then, I did my 3.1 mile run! I have read that lifting before running helps with weight loss....even though this isn't a huge concern of mine, I wanted to see how well I would be able to run after lifting. Results? I did a total of 3.3 miles, with 3.1 being done in 31:49 minutes! An average 10:15 minute mile! Yeah! I have a feeling I am going to be sore tomorrow...but a good sore.

Now, I am saving my appetite for yummy apps and taps at a friends house for the Superbowl! Yeah! Go Bears...or Colts?!?! I can't decide. I am just looking forward to the commercials, a few drinks, a lot of food...and some football!

Happy running, y'all!

ONE SINGLE(ton) SHOT!

Sports Commentary:
I got home just in time last night to watch the last half of the Duke vs. Virginia game. Let's just say it came down to ONE SINGLE SHOT in overtime, made by Virginia's player, Singleton to win the game! Wahoo! Virginia hasn't been able to beet Duke in 9 games (since 2002)!

Workout related:
A bunch of us RT's left the conference a little early so with that I was able to get to the gym at a decent time. Today was supposed to be my scheduled 3.1 miles, but when I was driving to the gym, I felt like I needed to do more. I had the time, why not. So, I decided I would do the run/walk thing for 60 minutes and then lift. And that is what I did! I pretty much ran 5 or 6 and walked 1.... for 60 minutes. I was able to complete 5.3 miles! That is an average 11:19/mile! How refreshing. My knees were kind of making a weird clicking noises at times, but that went away. So I instantly iced when I got home!

Now it's time to have a wonderful evening.... I plan on meeting up with some friends that I haven't seen since this summer!

Happy running, y'all!

Gym Class Heroes - Cupids Chokehold

Check it out!

Body-numbing, snot-freezing, head-aching....

Random thought:
Cupid's Chokehold...such a weird title for a song. But, I guess I have heard worse! Cupid's Chokehold by GYM CLASS HEROES is my favorite song at the moment! If you are looking for a new song to jog to, try this one! Just saw the video and thought it was weird, but I like the beat!

Tomorrow I will not be going to school. Nope. I quit! No...not really. I will be attending a CEC (Council for Exceptional Children) Conference here in town. I am quite pumped! You can never learn to much, right? With that note, I am so pumped that I don't have to drive all the way to school (35 miles) and park my car out there. I don't have a block heater and the high tomorrow is supposed to be -10 with the windchill reaching a near body-numbing, snot-freezing, head-aching 40 below windchill! Who would want to leave their warm home in that kind of weather? Not this chica! Thanks to my Sis, she will be getting up early to drive me to the conference and pick me up at 4! That way I won't have to worry about my car not starting...becuase it probably wouldn't!

Today was the 100th day of school! In most schools, that is a big day in grades K-2/3! So, most of the kids were walking around with necklaces made of 10 sets of 10 fruitloops. The Kindergarteners got 10 sets of 10 different dot stickers to do what ever they wanted to do with them...on paper that is. The kids were pretty excited! Not as excited as the teachers realizing that we are more than halfway over the hump! I am excited because I only have 99 days until I graduate! Wahoo!

Exercise related..... I did not do anything today. I got into town after school, changed, and headed to the coffee shop on campus. I was there until a little after 9pm working on an assessment report that we are going over in a meeting next tuesday. Eeks. This is the first time I have done one of these, and boy are they a lot of work!

Tomorrow, I hope to go to the gym after my coference for a nice 3.1 mile run! We'll see.

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!