Today was my taper run so I was not planning to set any records, but to my surprise when my run ended I had set three. I ran my fastest mile, fastest 5K and fastest 10K today which was pretty cool. My total distance was 8 miles in 73 minutes, so about an average of a 9min/mile. It's been a fun journey getting to this spot in my training, and I am both excited and nervous for my race next week!
I was stretching before my run started today and was staring at the playground that is at the beginning of Keystone trail thinking about what my dedication should be. I was looking at the slide when my favorite little angel came to mind, Carson. I decided that todays run was for him and all of the love he gave to so many people while he was with us. During my run I thought about all the happy memories I have of him in my heart. I remember the first time I saw Carson at Comeca I was amazed at how tiny he was, but also how perfectly God had made him. It was so much fun to be able to watch Carson grow into the fun loving, dancing, mischievous, happy, silly little 4 year old he was until he was called home.
I know that technically Carson was not my nephew, but it still felt like I had lost a nephew when I got the call about what had happened. There are so many different emotions that surround the death of a loved one, and not a whole lot that can be done to bring peace to those who are hurting besides being there for support. I remember everyone kept thanking me for being at the service which surprised me because I would not have missed it for anything.
It's funny how God knows what you are thinking about. I was at the very end of my 8 miles, so almost back to the playground which brought Carsons memory to mind in the first place, and when I hit 8 I was stretching facing away from the playground. When I finished, I turned around to see a smiley, bouncy little blonde haired girl playing on the swings. I could tell she had down syndrome and when she saw me looking at her she gave me a great big smile and blew a kiss to me, just like Carson would do. Our God is so awesome.
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Day 90
I have not forgotten about my blog, the last month has just been a crazy whirlwind of finals, moving, moving again and starting new jobs that I simply have not had the time to sit down and write! The last few weeks my mantra has been about the same every time I run--finish strong. I had been dragging for awhile, thinking that this seemed impossible. My negativity showed in my run last week where it took me 1 hour and 50 minutes to run 10 miles when my goal was 11 but I simply couldn't do it. Today I ran 12 miles in 1 hour and 57 minutes, a great improvement from last week and a mental confirmation that I can do this.
Todays run was dedicated to my number one fan and the human that I have literally known the longest in my entire life, my Mom. I think that running for her today was what made me able to run all 12 miles with each mile being under 10 minutes.
I have heard the story of my untimely birth time and time again from countless relatives, but had never really put a ton of thought into what it was really like for her to go through. I can't imagine carrying the promise of a new life for 7 months and then not knowing for the last part of pregnancy what my child was going to be like all while being bedridden. That's terrifying. By some miracle everything was ok and I am here today thanks to my mothers doctors and her strength.
At one point in my run I tried to think back to my earliest memory of my mom. If you have never tried to do that, do it. Thinking back that far is interesting and I have no idea how old I was in the memories that I brought up, but I remember sitting on the couch with pillow and pink bear and mom reading the book "Are you my mother?" to me in all the different voices. I remember playing on the little tikes slide outside under a tree that used to be where the gazebo is now. I remembered mom sewing me a dress with little lambs all over it and lace on the pockets, and I remember her later then patching all the holes I put in it accidentally while riding a tricycle. I remember mom taking my picture outside while using a little plastic watering can to water flowers and how I could not use the watering can right and it kept coming out the top. I remember laying in a gray stroller next to her on the 4th of July watching fireworks explode in the sky. I remember holding on to moms hand while our neighbor dropped off her little girl who was crying because she did not want her mom to leave, and by the end of her visit Carissa and I were great friends. I remember going to Hobby Lobby with her and her buying me crafts to create everything and anything because that is what I loved to do. I remember beading with her. I remember mom spending countless hours on making me birthday cupcakes with adorable little flies on them wearing party hats to match the awesome piggy cake she made me, and then the flies accidentally melted by the time of my party due to storing them in the hot tub room and then they were piggy poop cupcakes. I remember going to the store in Holdrege with her so she could shop for new beanie babies because they were going to make her rich in the future. I remember going to Island Oasis, to Pioneers Park, to Breckenridge, to the Capitol building, on picnics and on fishing trips with her my sister and our close friends the Freeds. I remember how her and dad would alternate tucking me in to bed at night. I remember making homemade ice cream with her. I remember her playing with playdoh with me and cecelia at the kitchen table.
There are so many more memories, I could create a book. She never missed a volleyball game, a basketball game, a dance recital, a gymnastics meet, a track meet, a tennis tournament. Even when I was in 5th grade at R-4 and was completely terrible at what I was trying to do. I know that everyone says this about their mom, but my mom is truly the best mom out there and I could not have been more blessed by getting to be her daughter.
Todays run was dedicated to my number one fan and the human that I have literally known the longest in my entire life, my Mom. I think that running for her today was what made me able to run all 12 miles with each mile being under 10 minutes.
I have heard the story of my untimely birth time and time again from countless relatives, but had never really put a ton of thought into what it was really like for her to go through. I can't imagine carrying the promise of a new life for 7 months and then not knowing for the last part of pregnancy what my child was going to be like all while being bedridden. That's terrifying. By some miracle everything was ok and I am here today thanks to my mothers doctors and her strength.
At one point in my run I tried to think back to my earliest memory of my mom. If you have never tried to do that, do it. Thinking back that far is interesting and I have no idea how old I was in the memories that I brought up, but I remember sitting on the couch with pillow and pink bear and mom reading the book "Are you my mother?" to me in all the different voices. I remember playing on the little tikes slide outside under a tree that used to be where the gazebo is now. I remembered mom sewing me a dress with little lambs all over it and lace on the pockets, and I remember her later then patching all the holes I put in it accidentally while riding a tricycle. I remember mom taking my picture outside while using a little plastic watering can to water flowers and how I could not use the watering can right and it kept coming out the top. I remember laying in a gray stroller next to her on the 4th of July watching fireworks explode in the sky. I remember holding on to moms hand while our neighbor dropped off her little girl who was crying because she did not want her mom to leave, and by the end of her visit Carissa and I were great friends. I remember going to Hobby Lobby with her and her buying me crafts to create everything and anything because that is what I loved to do. I remember beading with her. I remember mom spending countless hours on making me birthday cupcakes with adorable little flies on them wearing party hats to match the awesome piggy cake she made me, and then the flies accidentally melted by the time of my party due to storing them in the hot tub room and then they were piggy poop cupcakes. I remember going to the store in Holdrege with her so she could shop for new beanie babies because they were going to make her rich in the future. I remember going to Island Oasis, to Pioneers Park, to Breckenridge, to the Capitol building, on picnics and on fishing trips with her my sister and our close friends the Freeds. I remember how her and dad would alternate tucking me in to bed at night. I remember making homemade ice cream with her. I remember her playing with playdoh with me and cecelia at the kitchen table.
There are so many more memories, I could create a book. She never missed a volleyball game, a basketball game, a dance recital, a gymnastics meet, a track meet, a tennis tournament. Even when I was in 5th grade at R-4 and was completely terrible at what I was trying to do. I know that everyone says this about their mom, but my mom is truly the best mom out there and I could not have been more blessed by getting to be her daughter.
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Day 62
Today was the first time I did an evening run and the weather was absolutely perfect. It was overcast, barely any wind, about 60 degrees and due to the rain everything was green, flowering and beautiful. I ran 7 miles in 1 hour and 9 minutes and three of my seven miles were under 9 minutes! It was a hugely successful and rewarding run and now Im eating pizza because everything needs balance, right?
Today I ran for my Cristina Yang, my Monica Geller, my Kimmy Gibbler, my Carlton Banks, my Kurt Hummel, my Stacy Barrett, my best friend, Katherine Weed. This time of year with there being only 2 weeks of school left, multiple moves coming up in my future, a new internship starting soon, I'm starting to get stressed out and feel overwhelmed. I know that God never gives us anything we can't handle, and a lot of the time I look to Katherine as a role model. If you don't know Katherine, she is a full time student, a full time mom to the worlds cutest baby, she works full time, and she STILL manages to keep most of her sanity and finds time to see me either in Lincoln or when I visit home. She is basically a rockstar. So many obstacles have been thrown her way, yet she still shines as a fantastic human being and is always there when I need to talk.
Growing up, Katherine and I were literally attached at the hip. First it was dance classes, then I started going to Holdrege for school and from that point on basically where there was Charlene there was Katherine and vice versa. She is the person that I can do everything, anything, and nothing with. Just being around her makes me feel so happy and I feel so blessed to have a friend that I can confide in 100% and know that she will always be there for me. We were going to take on the world together when we went to college together. Life happens though, and plans change. Don't get me wrong, we are still taking on the world together. There's just more distance between us than planned and one more tiny beautiful soul to love (Mason is seriously perfect).
So 7 miles gave me quite a bit of time to think about everything that is awesome about Katherine and I could sit here and type forever about all the memories we have made (from going through drive throughs with masks on, to when we needed the troops, to all the cakes we've baked, to how we were each others rock freshman year of college for various reasons, to how our lives changed when we ordered our life planners, to all of the tennis matches, dance routines, senior dance, laughs, smiles, tears, fears, and dreams) I simply can't convey how great she is through words. I know that she is my best friend and always will be, from now until that day where we both are married living on the beach with our rich husbands with houses that connect with underground tunnels with private tennis courts, to the day we die (hopefully we both die at the same time because I can't live through the thought of her funeral), she is my person. Love you bestie <3
Today I ran for my Cristina Yang, my Monica Geller, my Kimmy Gibbler, my Carlton Banks, my Kurt Hummel, my Stacy Barrett, my best friend, Katherine Weed. This time of year with there being only 2 weeks of school left, multiple moves coming up in my future, a new internship starting soon, I'm starting to get stressed out and feel overwhelmed. I know that God never gives us anything we can't handle, and a lot of the time I look to Katherine as a role model. If you don't know Katherine, she is a full time student, a full time mom to the worlds cutest baby, she works full time, and she STILL manages to keep most of her sanity and finds time to see me either in Lincoln or when I visit home. She is basically a rockstar. So many obstacles have been thrown her way, yet she still shines as a fantastic human being and is always there when I need to talk.
Growing up, Katherine and I were literally attached at the hip. First it was dance classes, then I started going to Holdrege for school and from that point on basically where there was Charlene there was Katherine and vice versa. She is the person that I can do everything, anything, and nothing with. Just being around her makes me feel so happy and I feel so blessed to have a friend that I can confide in 100% and know that she will always be there for me. We were going to take on the world together when we went to college together. Life happens though, and plans change. Don't get me wrong, we are still taking on the world together. There's just more distance between us than planned and one more tiny beautiful soul to love (Mason is seriously perfect).
So 7 miles gave me quite a bit of time to think about everything that is awesome about Katherine and I could sit here and type forever about all the memories we have made (from going through drive throughs with masks on, to when we needed the troops, to all the cakes we've baked, to how we were each others rock freshman year of college for various reasons, to how our lives changed when we ordered our life planners, to all of the tennis matches, dance routines, senior dance, laughs, smiles, tears, fears, and dreams) I simply can't convey how great she is through words. I know that she is my best friend and always will be, from now until that day where we both are married living on the beach with our rich husbands with houses that connect with underground tunnels with private tennis courts, to the day we die (hopefully we both die at the same time because I can't live through the thought of her funeral), she is my person. Love you bestie <3
Monday, April 13, 2015
Day 50
The thing I've learned from running so far is that the days where I would rather do anything else except run are the days that I benefit from it the most. Today I ran my four miles in 37 minutes and every mile leg I ran was under 10 minutes and I also set a new 5k record of 29 minutes. When I am in Lincoln I usually run on the trails behind Goodlife Fitness. There are three trails to choose from, and I have ran on two of them often. Today I chose to run on the trail I have only ran on once and it was the trail I ran my first training run on when I started this. I remember my first run. There was still snow on the ground, it was windy and cold, I could barely go over a mile without being out of breath and my side hurting.
I set out on this trail with no particular dedication in mind. Recently I have had a lot on my mind as far as school and internships that I have been stressed about those subjects to think of much else. Within the first few hundred feet of my run, I passed three robins who were standing on the trail. They didn't fly away when I ran by and seemed content on being on the trail.
I decided to dedicate todays run to the man who I fell in love with first, who always has my back no matter the circumstances, and who is never afraid to tell me when I'm being stupid and I love him for it. Seeing the robins on the trail reminded me of my father (his name is Robin) and I know that I am incredibly lucky to be blessed with such an amazing daddy. As my run went on I was surprised by how many elements I passed that reminded me of my dad. All along the trail were what I would call wild flowers, but my dad would call weeds. After the first mile and a half I passed a man and his daughter fishing on the river bank off of the trail. If you know anything about my dad, you know he loves to fish and I have spent many hours on a boat or on a shore casting lines and catching fish (I believe I had my own pink fishing rod at some point.) As my run went on I started paying more attention to the trail itself and realized that there were many cigarette buds on it. I do not judge my dad for his habit, but he has smoked for as long as I can remember. It's not my favorite thing about him but recently he has been trying really hard to cut back the amount he smokes. I know that that can't be easy and admire him for trying. After I reached the halfway point of my run I turned around and almost started laughing because on the road up ahead that intersected the trail a bright yellow four door ford truck was passing by. The odds of that truck (which was the exact same style of truck my dad drove for years and just recently got a new one) being right there as soon as I turned around were crazy. With about a mile left of my run I realized that there was absolutely no wind on this trail today. Dad hates wind, like most farmers do.
I've been praying for my dad extra for the past couple days. He has a doctor visit tomorrow to hopefully clear his conscience of a few things. I know no matter what the outcome my dad will be strong because after all, he is the best dad in the world.
I set out on this trail with no particular dedication in mind. Recently I have had a lot on my mind as far as school and internships that I have been stressed about those subjects to think of much else. Within the first few hundred feet of my run, I passed three robins who were standing on the trail. They didn't fly away when I ran by and seemed content on being on the trail.
I decided to dedicate todays run to the man who I fell in love with first, who always has my back no matter the circumstances, and who is never afraid to tell me when I'm being stupid and I love him for it. Seeing the robins on the trail reminded me of my father (his name is Robin) and I know that I am incredibly lucky to be blessed with such an amazing daddy. As my run went on I was surprised by how many elements I passed that reminded me of my dad. All along the trail were what I would call wild flowers, but my dad would call weeds. After the first mile and a half I passed a man and his daughter fishing on the river bank off of the trail. If you know anything about my dad, you know he loves to fish and I have spent many hours on a boat or on a shore casting lines and catching fish (I believe I had my own pink fishing rod at some point.) As my run went on I started paying more attention to the trail itself and realized that there were many cigarette buds on it. I do not judge my dad for his habit, but he has smoked for as long as I can remember. It's not my favorite thing about him but recently he has been trying really hard to cut back the amount he smokes. I know that that can't be easy and admire him for trying. After I reached the halfway point of my run I turned around and almost started laughing because on the road up ahead that intersected the trail a bright yellow four door ford truck was passing by. The odds of that truck (which was the exact same style of truck my dad drove for years and just recently got a new one) being right there as soon as I turned around were crazy. With about a mile left of my run I realized that there was absolutely no wind on this trail today. Dad hates wind, like most farmers do.
I've been praying for my dad extra for the past couple days. He has a doctor visit tomorrow to hopefully clear his conscience of a few things. I know no matter what the outcome my dad will be strong because after all, he is the best dad in the world.
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Day 48
Today I set two records on my watch! I ran my fastest 5K and finished my longest run of 6 miles in 1 hour. After a week of gloomy misty days today was very much appreciated. 73 degrees, sunny with a slight breeze is much more fun to run in rather than 40 degrees, wind and misty rain.
Today I dedicated my run to something I am horrible at and always have been: patience. I remember growing up my mom always would tell me to be more patient with just about everything. I don't think I will ever be good at being patient, but at least now I understand that it is a necessary part of life. I know that God always has a plan and he knows what is best for me, but it can be frustrating when I can't see how the future will unravel. Right now I am struggling with having patience in finding an internship for the summer. Many places it is a waiting game for them to call you back, I have heard countless "We will let you know hopefully by the end of the week's" that I may lose my mind if I hear it again. I am very hopeful for one opportunity at the moment, I have been 'patiently' waiting since Tuesday for a call back. All I can do is wait and trust that there is a right time for everything.
By mile 4 of my run all physical hardships seemed to leave and I felt like I could keep at that pace for the next six hours if I needed to. It was an interesting experience that I have not had that early into a run yet, so instead of concentrating on form, breathing, and cadence, I started to let my mind wander. It brought back an article that I remember reading a couple months ago that I found online. The article was from a sons perspective as he sat talking with his father who was in the hospital dying (optimistic, right?) The son remembered his father telling him to not spend his life waiting for the future to get here and for the next big thing to come but to rather live in the present and appreciate the god given moments of life that otherwise may pass you by. It was a sad, but interesting article that relates back to being patient. If I am constantly waiting for tomorrow, a call, the semester to be over, this mile to be over, summer to be here, to move, to graduate, to start a big girl job, I may miss out on little moments of life in the here and now that make life so meaningful. My grandma Eileen always tells me to be careful with life because you'll blink and 50 years will go by. In high school I would laugh and shrug it off, but now I am close to graduating college and I feel like I haven't even blinked yet.
Today I dedicated my run to something I am horrible at and always have been: patience. I remember growing up my mom always would tell me to be more patient with just about everything. I don't think I will ever be good at being patient, but at least now I understand that it is a necessary part of life. I know that God always has a plan and he knows what is best for me, but it can be frustrating when I can't see how the future will unravel. Right now I am struggling with having patience in finding an internship for the summer. Many places it is a waiting game for them to call you back, I have heard countless "We will let you know hopefully by the end of the week's" that I may lose my mind if I hear it again. I am very hopeful for one opportunity at the moment, I have been 'patiently' waiting since Tuesday for a call back. All I can do is wait and trust that there is a right time for everything.
By mile 4 of my run all physical hardships seemed to leave and I felt like I could keep at that pace for the next six hours if I needed to. It was an interesting experience that I have not had that early into a run yet, so instead of concentrating on form, breathing, and cadence, I started to let my mind wander. It brought back an article that I remember reading a couple months ago that I found online. The article was from a sons perspective as he sat talking with his father who was in the hospital dying (optimistic, right?) The son remembered his father telling him to not spend his life waiting for the future to get here and for the next big thing to come but to rather live in the present and appreciate the god given moments of life that otherwise may pass you by. It was a sad, but interesting article that relates back to being patient. If I am constantly waiting for tomorrow, a call, the semester to be over, this mile to be over, summer to be here, to move, to graduate, to start a big girl job, I may miss out on little moments of life in the here and now that make life so meaningful. My grandma Eileen always tells me to be careful with life because you'll blink and 50 years will go by. In high school I would laugh and shrug it off, but now I am close to graduating college and I feel like I haven't even blinked yet.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Day 39
What a week this has been. My long run last Saturday was probably one of the best runs of my life. I ran with my cousin Terri in Florida and we ran on this really pretty running trail close to where my aunt and uncle live. I ran 5 miles in 51 minutes and never felt winded, never had a side cramp and the thought of stopping never crossed my mind. I don't know if it was because I was so excited by new surroundings, but it was a great run.
Monday was my short run and leg day and I ran my fastest three mile ever (27 minutes!) I also changed my lifting pattern this week. Instead of my usual 12 or 15 reps for three sets I did 5 reps for 5 sets and upped my weight by a lot. Like a lot a lot. I surprised myself multiple times during legs and also the next day with upper body by how much I can lift when I try to go heavy!
Today was Zumba day (yay!) which also meant short fast run (boo!) but I managed to beat my record last week by running a 7 minute mile! All sorts of good things have been happening this week, I hope my luck continues tomorrow with my interview for an internship.
Friday, March 27, 2015
Day 33
Between spring break and getting ready for spring break and internship hunting, I have not posted in awhile but I still have been training! It's been pretty smooth sailing these past two weeks, plus I also have had running buddies every now and then (thanks Anna and Rachel). This week in Florida my schedule has been a bit different, but I still have managed to workout all of my scheduled days except one. Monday was my shorter run, Rachel accompanied me and ran most of my run with me. We ran 3.5 miles in the rain around the neighborhood where my aunt and uncle live, and my time was exactly 35 minutes. Yesterday there was sadly no Zumba, but I managed to do my fast mile which I usually aim to run in 8 minutes in 7:25 minutes! The week before this for my long run my little Anna ran with me, and we ran around the section at home which is a total of 4 miles. Once again, I ran it in 40 minutes. Next week I plan to go back to my normal routine.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Day 18
This week at a glance so far has been fun, challenging, rewarding and again challenging. Here's what my days have been like.
Monday was my short run and lifting. I ran for 3 miles on the trails behind good life fitness gym and then lifted back and legs. Lifting was normal, but my run was adventurous. Last time I ran on the trail I went right, this time I went left. The trail had a few winds and curves and then turned into a new trail called Jamaica trail. Now I have never been to Jamaica, but I can only assume that it is nothing like this trail was. It didn't matter though because it was beautiful weather for early March in Nebraska and I am not going to complain about that. I was running around 2 in the afternoon, right in the middle of the day on a public trail on a gorgeous day. I was getting close to my turn around point when I ran by an abandoned picnic. I thought that was somewhat strange, but kept on running. I was approaching a bridge that went over a creek when I noticed a trail of clothing leading to the bridge. Then I heard laughing. From a boy and a girl. And I was afraid that it was going to get real weird real quick running over this bridge. But I thought its the middle of the day, its only March, maybe they have swimsuits on and are just sitting on the rocks, so I ran over the bridge anyway. And they were definitely skinny dipping. On a Monday afternoon. In broad daylight. On a public trail. In March. In Nebraska. Did I mention it was like 2 in the afternoon? When I reached my halfway point and turned around the clothes had disappeared but the picnic remnants were still there. I finished my run of three miles in 27 minutes and 30 seconds, so a little over 9 minute miles which is better than my usual pace! Not by much, but by some.
Tuesday was fun because my friend Bekah was visiting me and we went to the gym together. We lifted all upper body and core and it was awesome and we got juice stop afterwards which was awesome and I had a lifting buddy which was awesome. Bekah is pretty awesome and I'm glad she went with me.
Wednesday was SOOO nice outside! It was boot camp day and I was ready to play outside! The teacher who instructs boot camp on Wednesdays is one of my favorites and now she is one of my bosses at Good Life because I got accepted as an instructor there (yay!) We ran outside, jumped rope outside, and did pushups and squats outside for a warmup. Then for one of our circuits we had to run around the building to where the tire pile was, grab a tire and then run with it up the hill right next to the gym. If you do not know what the hill by good life looks like, imagine the highest incline a treadmill goes and then add some. It's like a tiny mountain and when you're supposed to run up it with a tire, well it looks even more giant. But I accomplished that, ran back down the hill with my tire where then we had to do 30 overhead tire presses and run back inside for the other circuits. The rest of bootcamp continued from inside to outside, and then I left and sat in my wine lab smelling like outside sweat and tire. It was awesome. I apologize to my classmates.
Which brings me to today. Today I definitely felt the fronts of my legs from running up mini mount everest the other day. When it got time for my sprint mile though, I was ready to bust it out and be done with it. Unfortunately I did not finish my full mile because I was afraid of hurting my shins, but I kept my pace high for what I did run. I ran .75 miles in 6 minutes, which means I would have completed my 8 minute mile if I didn't stop. I don't regret stopping early though. It gave me adequate time to stretch my shins out and do some therapeutic exercises for my legs before Zumba. Zumba was great, as always, and I always leave there feeling refreshed and happy. After Zumba I utilized the Rec Centers injury prevention center for the first time in my life. The girl working there was really nice and she strapped two bags of ice to my shins with plastic wrap. Walking felt so weird, but as I am writing this now my legs are numb and it feels so good. The girl asked me if I was a runner when I asked for ice and I laughed and said no but that I was training for my first half marathon. She smiled at me and said that that inspired her, which made me feel good about myself that I could inspire someone.
Yesterday I officially signed up for the half marathon in Kearney. They have my name. I have my number. They are expecting me. I am expecting them. Hopefully I can reach this goal.
Here are my ice wrapped numb feeling sore legs. Aren't they beautiful?
Saturday, March 7, 2015
Day 13
Today was absolutely beautiful. It got to be 60 degrees in the afternoon, sunny with a slight breeze. I am home for the weekend so I got to run in the area where I grew up at, which was refreshing and fun.
I ran right after I had some yogurt and granola for breakfast. Todays distance run was 3.75 miles, not too far. It was about 10 in the morning when I headed out the door and onto the gravel road. It was the first run of the year outside in a tank top and it felt amazing. Today while running I never had a side ache. I never had pain in my shins. I never felt incredibly out of breath. I kept my breathing pattern the whole time and finished my run in 37 minutes. Even without looking at my time I am really good at sticking to my 10 minute mile pace.
Running on the gravel road by my home today made me think of growing up on the farm and all the memories I have of this place. I first passed my schoolhouse where I went to kindergarten all the way through 7th grade. It looks so desolate now, but I can remember a schoolyard full of children and classrooms full of learning. Down the road I could see where one of my childhood best friends lived. I remember going over to Carissa's house numerous times after school to go sledding, bake cookies, play in her yard, and our favorite, to make crafts together. I also ran past the home of where 'the country garden' is. I remember visiting that yard in the 5th grade for art class. The class got to roam around the huge yard, pick wherever they wanted to set up and draw their view with oil pastels. I turned around to start my journey back home shortly passed Malina's house. Malina was a little girl who had to have been in 2nd or 3rd grade when I broke my wrist in 7th grade during recess and she brought me flowers after my surgery. The whole run home I was thinking about how lucky I was to have grown up where I did. I would't change a thing.
I ran right after I had some yogurt and granola for breakfast. Todays distance run was 3.75 miles, not too far. It was about 10 in the morning when I headed out the door and onto the gravel road. It was the first run of the year outside in a tank top and it felt amazing. Today while running I never had a side ache. I never had pain in my shins. I never felt incredibly out of breath. I kept my breathing pattern the whole time and finished my run in 37 minutes. Even without looking at my time I am really good at sticking to my 10 minute mile pace.
Running on the gravel road by my home today made me think of growing up on the farm and all the memories I have of this place. I first passed my schoolhouse where I went to kindergarten all the way through 7th grade. It looks so desolate now, but I can remember a schoolyard full of children and classrooms full of learning. Down the road I could see where one of my childhood best friends lived. I remember going over to Carissa's house numerous times after school to go sledding, bake cookies, play in her yard, and our favorite, to make crafts together. I also ran past the home of where 'the country garden' is. I remember visiting that yard in the 5th grade for art class. The class got to roam around the huge yard, pick wherever they wanted to set up and draw their view with oil pastels. I turned around to start my journey back home shortly passed Malina's house. Malina was a little girl who had to have been in 2nd or 3rd grade when I broke my wrist in 7th grade during recess and she brought me flowers after my surgery. The whole run home I was thinking about how lucky I was to have grown up where I did. I would't change a thing.
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Day 11
Thursdays are my training day that I never know how to feel about because I hate sprinting but I love Zumba. In the end I think it balances out, and todays sprint actually went really well. (Hooray!) I got to the gym shortly before 8:30 to get my sprint mile out of the way and let me tell you, 8:30 is a busy time for the gym. In the entire building there was only one open treadmill and I felt lucky to get it. Anyway, I got on and warmed up by walking .30 miles on a slight incline. The whole warm up I was dreading the run because of how last week went which wasn't the best attitude to start my short run because every day is a new day and you shouldn't dwell on the past, but it's hard to forget. After my warmup I set the speed to 7.5 and got going.
At about .70 through my mile the thought of stopping crossed my mind (I was breathing heavy, sweating hard, you get the picture) and it reminded me of a conversation I had earlier with my little Anna. Earlier today we were talking together because she has a hard decision that she needs to make. If you know me, you know I am terrible at decisions. They stress me out and make me feel anxious, but she is coping well with the cards she was dealt with and I know she will pick the right path. Thinking about her situation and decision making in general, I decided that for the next two minutes or so that it was going to take me to finish this 8 minute mile that I wasn't going to stop because I know I am capable of finishing it no matter how many times my mind would tell me I'm tired. I finished without stopping and it felt good. Like, real good.
Zumba went wonderfully afterwards. I love my class and the energy they bring to dance. Today I had about 30ish people. Throughout the entire class there was this one girl who did not have a rhythmic bone in her body. She would frequently get the steps wrong, turn a wrong way, throw up the wrong hand, but throughout the entire class she had the biggest smile on her face. She was smiling, laughing, calling out, just in general having an awesome time no matter if she messed up or not. She could have been upset and walked out half way through class (I have had people do that before) but she chose to make the best of what she was doing. She chose to be the best class participant today, and it warmed my happy Zumba heart.
At about .70 through my mile the thought of stopping crossed my mind (I was breathing heavy, sweating hard, you get the picture) and it reminded me of a conversation I had earlier with my little Anna. Earlier today we were talking together because she has a hard decision that she needs to make. If you know me, you know I am terrible at decisions. They stress me out and make me feel anxious, but she is coping well with the cards she was dealt with and I know she will pick the right path. Thinking about her situation and decision making in general, I decided that for the next two minutes or so that it was going to take me to finish this 8 minute mile that I wasn't going to stop because I know I am capable of finishing it no matter how many times my mind would tell me I'm tired. I finished without stopping and it felt good. Like, real good.
Zumba went wonderfully afterwards. I love my class and the energy they bring to dance. Today I had about 30ish people. Throughout the entire class there was this one girl who did not have a rhythmic bone in her body. She would frequently get the steps wrong, turn a wrong way, throw up the wrong hand, but throughout the entire class she had the biggest smile on her face. She was smiling, laughing, calling out, just in general having an awesome time no matter if she messed up or not. She could have been upset and walked out half way through class (I have had people do that before) but she chose to make the best of what she was doing. She chose to be the best class participant today, and it warmed my happy Zumba heart.
Monday, March 2, 2015
Day 8
A couple posts ago I talked about dedicating runs to a different person or idea, so after the last couple days I dedicated todays run to being present. It is absolutely beautiful outside today so I decided to do a 5 minute warm up on the bike at Good Life gym and then do my run on the trails that run right behind the building. Today was the same distance as Saturdays "distance" run, three miles. Saturday went terrible, but today went so good.
After my warm up, I went out to the trail to get started. There were two different paths to choose from, one was paved and one was gravel. I chose the gravel road because it reminded me of home and started my run. I went at a comfortable pace the whole time and really paid attention to my breathing, to my rhythm, to me legs, and to my surroundings. I did not check my running watch to see how far I had gone or what my time was, I was focusing on being present in what I was doing and really just noticing what was around me. It felt so good to run outside and before I knew it the first mile was over. After that I ran for a bit longer hoping it was around a half mile and then turned around so I would end up back at the gym at three miles. When I turned around I thought how funny it is that you don't notice wind until you are running against it. Shortly after I had turned around my side started to ache with that annoying feeling of having knives in your stomach. I kept pushing through it, still trying to stay present and trying to remember to honor my body with what I was doing. After a couple more minutes of this the song "Walk it Out" came on my music on shuffle and I took Gods hint and took a quick walk break until the pain subsided. I continued on and felt really good all the way back to the gym where I checked my watch and still had .25 left until my 3 mile goal and my time had roughly 2 minutes till it reached 30 minutes of running. I finished out my last bit of distance and finished my 3 miles in just under 30 minutes. It was awesome.
When I went back in the gym I still had my SS training left. I did the same as I did last Monday, 30 minutes of lifting legs and back and stretching. I also incorporated some of the leg exercises to bring more strength into my shins in hopes of keeping those shin splints away. When I left the gym I felt great about myself and to make it all even better, the sun was shining.
Be present in what you do and good things will come back to you.
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Day 7
Today I went to Red Dirt Running Company to get some help for my shin issue. The woman that helped me gave me some exercises and stretches to relieve my shin splints and strengthen my shins. I never really knew what shin splints were and she explained that what happens is your calf muscle gets too strong for your shin and the shin muscle literally tears itself from the calf (which is super painful.) She also had me stand on a pad that analyzed the pressure points of your feet and can find what side of your foot you favor and if you have arches that need support. Then she had me run on a treadmill and there is a camera that records how your feet strike the ground and if your ankle has any sort of pronation at all. After all of this she told me I would benefit from a shoe that had more arch support and more stability for the inside of my ankle. She went back and pulled three different models for me to try on and I found a pair of sauconys that fit perfectly (and they were the cheapest, how lucky am I?) The real test will come with how this week goes, but I am hopeful that it will get better from here.
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Day 6
I woke up this morning, jumped out of bed and was instantly mad. How in the world am I already developing shin splints? Right now it is barely noticeable but I have done track before and I know what it feels like when they start to appear. I had barely run a total of 4 miles this week, what am I doing wrong? (If you google it, there is about 600 million things I could be doing wrong so that was helpful…not.) I still went to the gym to do my distance run before work which was 3 miles. Nothing too hard, right?
When I got to the gym I was somewhat scared to run because I don't want my shins to get any worse. Shin splints are quite literally the most miserable thing in the world to deal with. I decided to run at 6mph so it would be an easier pace and hopefully easier on my legs. I ran a total of 3.2 miles in 34 minutes (including warm up and cool down.) Not the best time in the world, but also not the worst. I stopped twice to stretch my legs out quick but overall not a bad run. I noticed that once my body was warmed up my shins did not hurt as much, which was helpful with my run.
Since I work today, tomorrow I am going to stop by the running company and talk to them about what to do. The running company is a running club/shoe store in downtown lincoln. They analyze the way you walk and run, can tell you what side of your foot you favor, can determine if you should be using any type of support, and can help (or at least try to help) with any sort of running ailment. I hope they can help me stop these stupid shin splints from developing into anything worse.
When I got to the gym I was somewhat scared to run because I don't want my shins to get any worse. Shin splints are quite literally the most miserable thing in the world to deal with. I decided to run at 6mph so it would be an easier pace and hopefully easier on my legs. I ran a total of 3.2 miles in 34 minutes (including warm up and cool down.) Not the best time in the world, but also not the worst. I stopped twice to stretch my legs out quick but overall not a bad run. I noticed that once my body was warmed up my shins did not hurt as much, which was helpful with my run.
Since I work today, tomorrow I am going to stop by the running company and talk to them about what to do. The running company is a running club/shoe store in downtown lincoln. They analyze the way you walk and run, can tell you what side of your foot you favor, can determine if you should be using any type of support, and can help (or at least try to help) with any sort of running ailment. I hope they can help me stop these stupid shin splints from developing into anything worse.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Day 4
Now I know that the title of my blog is somewhat contradicting to what I am working for, but if there is one thing that I am definitely NOT it is a sprinter. I have known this forever, I remember in 8th grade track wondering how in the WORLD to people sprint that fast in 100 meters? Or that fast at all? My legs just don't go like that (curse you legs.) Yes I can run but no I do not do well with running super fast which is why I decided to pair one of my least favorite things with one of my most favorite things: sprint mile training on Zumba day. So my Thursdays will consist of getting the evil bad thing over and done with before I go teach a dance party for an hour and call it a night.
I got to the Campus Rec Center about 30 minutes before I teach which gave me enough time to warm up, bust out a mile, recover, clock in and head to Zumba. During my elliptical warm up I decided to aim for an 8 minute mile, which would be running at 7.5 mph. For a lot of people that is no trouble but I usually average a 10 minute mile, so for me that is busting butt. I was excited to get going because I do not teach Zumba till 9pm, which means I have waited around all day for a workout and I can get antsy towards the end of the day if I still haven't done anything. After my warm up I jumped on a treadmill, set it to 7.5 and got going. By .20 of my mile I was ready to run slower. By .50 I was pouring sweat and breathing heavy. By .75 I was afraid of potentially vomiting. By .80 I stopped running for 10 seconds for a slight recover. After 10 seconds I got back on and was so mad that I stopped I bumped my speed to 8mph and finished my mile in 8 minutes! It was awful. And great. And horrible. And awesome, all at the same time. Then I got to teach Zumba for an hour and life was good!
At the Rec this week we have been having an event called Celebrate Every(body) week, which has been really cool. In a nutshell, it basically is promoting positive body image to college kids. I do not struggle as much with my body image today as I used to. I remember freshman year of college I was having a lot of mental issues with how I looked and what others thought of me. The beginning of my freshman year I also had no active routine and didn't know that I actually had to still keep eating vegetables even though mom was not there (sorry mom, I know better now.) To me it's crazy to think about, and others probably have not noticed, but I actually now weigh 20 pounds less than I did at Christmas my first year of college. (And I am a lot stronger, woohoo!) It took me a long time to really understand that the scale does not define me, I define me. Once I started to work out for fun and compete against me and not the numbers, it just got better and better. One other aspect that has helped tremendously with my own body image is (sorry, I am going to get sappy for a second) my awesome boyfriend who never fails to tell me how beautiful I am. It's truly great being surrounded by people who lift you up rather than tear you down.
Tomorrow is rest day. Hopefully I can stick to that…or at least just do yoga.
I got to the Campus Rec Center about 30 minutes before I teach which gave me enough time to warm up, bust out a mile, recover, clock in and head to Zumba. During my elliptical warm up I decided to aim for an 8 minute mile, which would be running at 7.5 mph. For a lot of people that is no trouble but I usually average a 10 minute mile, so for me that is busting butt. I was excited to get going because I do not teach Zumba till 9pm, which means I have waited around all day for a workout and I can get antsy towards the end of the day if I still haven't done anything. After my warm up I jumped on a treadmill, set it to 7.5 and got going. By .20 of my mile I was ready to run slower. By .50 I was pouring sweat and breathing heavy. By .75 I was afraid of potentially vomiting. By .80 I stopped running for 10 seconds for a slight recover. After 10 seconds I got back on and was so mad that I stopped I bumped my speed to 8mph and finished my mile in 8 minutes! It was awful. And great. And horrible. And awesome, all at the same time. Then I got to teach Zumba for an hour and life was good!
At the Rec this week we have been having an event called Celebrate Every(body) week, which has been really cool. In a nutshell, it basically is promoting positive body image to college kids. I do not struggle as much with my body image today as I used to. I remember freshman year of college I was having a lot of mental issues with how I looked and what others thought of me. The beginning of my freshman year I also had no active routine and didn't know that I actually had to still keep eating vegetables even though mom was not there (sorry mom, I know better now.) To me it's crazy to think about, and others probably have not noticed, but I actually now weigh 20 pounds less than I did at Christmas my first year of college. (And I am a lot stronger, woohoo!) It took me a long time to really understand that the scale does not define me, I define me. Once I started to work out for fun and compete against me and not the numbers, it just got better and better. One other aspect that has helped tremendously with my own body image is (sorry, I am going to get sappy for a second) my awesome boyfriend who never fails to tell me how beautiful I am. It's truly great being surrounded by people who lift you up rather than tear you down.
Tomorrow is rest day. Hopefully I can stick to that…or at least just do yoga.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Day 3
Today was a day where I really wanted to skip everything that was life and stay at home. It was snowing outside and gross (yesterday it was 50 and beautiful) plus before my scheduled gym time I ate probably 8 mini cupcakes from Hippies birthday. My entire upper body was sore from my work yesterday and sitting sounded a whole lot easier than doing. The sugar from the cupcakes was making me feel sluggish and not excited about going to boot camp, but I did anyway knowing that I would feel better afterwards.
Which is not a lie, I did feel better after my workout. But during it it was hard. Really hard. I blame those damn cupcakes (they were really good, just not good an hour or so before the gym.) On Wednesdays, my absolute favorite bootcamp instructor teaches class at 3:30 so that made it better. She is just the right amount of fun, motivating, and funny. For anyone who doesn't know what bootcamp is, it is a total body one hour workout that you do at your own pace but still in a group fitness setting. So in an hour you do both cardio and strength exercises back and forth. I couldn't tell you everything we did in class today, but one thing that I remember was towards the end we did a leg circuit which consisted of basically 7 or 8 leg strengthening moves with weight that you would do 20 reps of one exercise and move on to the next one at your own pace until you completed the list. Once you completed the list, you would start back at the top and keep going through this cycle until the allotted amount of time was complete. I thought ok, this is fairly simple no big deal and when time began I started my round. After a few minutes, the instructor decided it would be fun to hold up a sign that said Burpees and shouted that it was now burpee time. So you had to stop where you were in the circuit and do burpees until she put the sign down. I silently cursed the instructor in my head the entire burpee time because I don't like surprises, especially in my workout. Then she put the sign down and we continued, but before I finished one circuit she held the sign up two more times only with 'squat jumps' and 'star jacks' written on the board (which wasn't as bad because I was expecting this now.)
I always feel better after the gym but somedays getting there seems so difficult. I can't wait for it to finally get warmer outside and stay warmer so I can run more outside. I probably won't always make a post for Wednesday's because Wednesday will be my bootcamp days and there's not really a lot to say about them except for that they are usually a good workout.
Which is not a lie, I did feel better after my workout. But during it it was hard. Really hard. I blame those damn cupcakes (they were really good, just not good an hour or so before the gym.) On Wednesdays, my absolute favorite bootcamp instructor teaches class at 3:30 so that made it better. She is just the right amount of fun, motivating, and funny. For anyone who doesn't know what bootcamp is, it is a total body one hour workout that you do at your own pace but still in a group fitness setting. So in an hour you do both cardio and strength exercises back and forth. I couldn't tell you everything we did in class today, but one thing that I remember was towards the end we did a leg circuit which consisted of basically 7 or 8 leg strengthening moves with weight that you would do 20 reps of one exercise and move on to the next one at your own pace until you completed the list. Once you completed the list, you would start back at the top and keep going through this cycle until the allotted amount of time was complete. I thought ok, this is fairly simple no big deal and when time began I started my round. After a few minutes, the instructor decided it would be fun to hold up a sign that said Burpees and shouted that it was now burpee time. So you had to stop where you were in the circuit and do burpees until she put the sign down. I silently cursed the instructor in my head the entire burpee time because I don't like surprises, especially in my workout. Then she put the sign down and we continued, but before I finished one circuit she held the sign up two more times only with 'squat jumps' and 'star jacks' written on the board (which wasn't as bad because I was expecting this now.)
I always feel better after the gym but somedays getting there seems so difficult. I can't wait for it to finally get warmer outside and stay warmer so I can run more outside. I probably won't always make a post for Wednesday's because Wednesday will be my bootcamp days and there's not really a lot to say about them except for that they are usually a good workout.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Day 2
When I woke up this morning my legs were a little sore. Not to the point of painful, just to where I was aware of them. My past running routines have usually been intervals (walk, jog, run) so my body is not necessarily used to locking in at one set pace and running.
Today my plan called for 30 minutes of SS. I am used to strength conditioning though so I did my usual 60 minute workout. For warm up i did 10 minutes on the elliptical while practicing different running breathing techniques. Last night I was reading more on running and having a breathing pattern seemed to help many people (I have known about this before but have not put it much into practice.) The best pattern for me would either be 2:2 or 3:3 (take two steps breathe in through nose, take two steps breath out through mouth and 3:3 is doing three steps). I worked most body regions from the waist up to balance out what I did yesterday, so bis, tris, shoulders, chest and abs. After my workout I took a little more time to stretch out my legs and arms than I usually do. It is so easy to forget to slow down after a work out and to take the time to stretch.
A fun idea that others have done is when training or just running for fun, they dedicate their run to something. Usually I hear this concept a lot more in yoga but it is also done for running. On my running days I decided that on most runs (not necessarily every single one) I will dedicate my efforts to either a person, an idea, an emotion, whatever is on my mind that day. Whenever something seems difficult, I can redirect my mind to what I dedicated todays run to and hopefully that will help me reach my goal.
Today my plan called for 30 minutes of SS. I am used to strength conditioning though so I did my usual 60 minute workout. For warm up i did 10 minutes on the elliptical while practicing different running breathing techniques. Last night I was reading more on running and having a breathing pattern seemed to help many people (I have known about this before but have not put it much into practice.) The best pattern for me would either be 2:2 or 3:3 (take two steps breathe in through nose, take two steps breath out through mouth and 3:3 is doing three steps). I worked most body regions from the waist up to balance out what I did yesterday, so bis, tris, shoulders, chest and abs. After my workout I took a little more time to stretch out my legs and arms than I usually do. It is so easy to forget to slow down after a work out and to take the time to stretch.
A fun idea that others have done is when training or just running for fun, they dedicate their run to something. Usually I hear this concept a lot more in yoga but it is also done for running. On my running days I decided that on most runs (not necessarily every single one) I will dedicate my efforts to either a person, an idea, an emotion, whatever is on my mind that day. Whenever something seems difficult, I can redirect my mind to what I dedicated todays run to and hopefully that will help me reach my goal.
Monday, February 23, 2015
Day 1
Today it started. I began training for my first half marathon! I couldn't be more excited for this opportunity and I am so excited to see how this turns out. Yesterday I was thinking about how far I have come in my fitness these past two years. I like to keep challenging myself because it is to easy to fall into an exercise rut where you get bored and lose enthusiasm. I went from not working out (ever) to now I am a group fitness instructor (Zumba is my fav). I love taking boot camp classes, I enjoy boxing, running, cycling, and the most surprising to me is lifting. I used to hate weights and now I love them! I never considered myself a runner. When I think of a runner I think of someone who has the endurance of an ox and can run for six hours straight. While I can run for thirty minutes and not think much of it, I have never really pushed myself for those long distances because I always thought there is no way I can do that.
Yesterday the thought of running a marathon came across my mind. I thought about it, and knowing that you have to walk before you run, I decided that I was going to challenge myself in a way that I never have before and aim to run a half marathon. Not knowing much about this area of fitness and training, I looked everywhere I could online for different plans, tips, training techniques, and so on till I settled on a 16 week preparation plan I found. Still skeptical of this idea in general, my next search was a race date. Figuring that I could travel to another state for something like this, I searched for Half Marathon Races 2015. I found a list that showed every race in the nation for the year and looked for a time 16 weeks from today. I was absolutely STUNNED that in exactly 16 weeks there was a half marathon in Kearney, NE, which is the area I grew up in. I knew then that God had planned for me to do this.
My plan is fairly simple and still allows for me to go to boot camp, strength train, and teach Zumba. My main running days will be Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Today, being week one, I had to run a distance of 2 miles and then SS (Strength Train and Stretch) for 20 minutes. I ran my 2 miles at 6.5mph and including my warm up and cool down finished in 22 minutes. The run was fairly simple, towards the end I became a bit tired because I haven't ran in awhile but I was still ready to lift afterwards. I lifted legs and back after my run and called it day. Day one is complete and I am feeling good about myself!
Yesterday the thought of running a marathon came across my mind. I thought about it, and knowing that you have to walk before you run, I decided that I was going to challenge myself in a way that I never have before and aim to run a half marathon. Not knowing much about this area of fitness and training, I looked everywhere I could online for different plans, tips, training techniques, and so on till I settled on a 16 week preparation plan I found. Still skeptical of this idea in general, my next search was a race date. Figuring that I could travel to another state for something like this, I searched for Half Marathon Races 2015. I found a list that showed every race in the nation for the year and looked for a time 16 weeks from today. I was absolutely STUNNED that in exactly 16 weeks there was a half marathon in Kearney, NE, which is the area I grew up in. I knew then that God had planned for me to do this.
My plan is fairly simple and still allows for me to go to boot camp, strength train, and teach Zumba. My main running days will be Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Today, being week one, I had to run a distance of 2 miles and then SS (Strength Train and Stretch) for 20 minutes. I ran my 2 miles at 6.5mph and including my warm up and cool down finished in 22 minutes. The run was fairly simple, towards the end I became a bit tired because I haven't ran in awhile but I was still ready to lift afterwards. I lifted legs and back after my run and called it day. Day one is complete and I am feeling good about myself!
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