It's a rest kind of day

Since I'm still following my Runners World training app I followed their instructions in taking today as a rest day. At around 6PM I wanted to get out there and run a few miles because it wasn't the best of all days today and I needed to let off some steam but held out. Rest days are just as important as training days, right?

So, now I'm debating on running a 25k this Saturday to help me out with my long run since, lets face it, running these are just harder to accomplish when you do it alone. I was hoping that I would find a half marathon but what's an extra 3 miles??? OK, maybe a lot after you've ran 13.

Oh and before I forget, I have never had a foam roller but feel like I should get one. I may have to purchase one sometime this week.

Happy running!

Morning Time

Yesterday: 5 mile (easy) run

Instead of doing 800m intervals yesterday like I had planned, I went with what my Runners World Training App on my phone advised, which was an easy 5 miles. Since I lost my watch a long time ago and am too lazy and too cheap to buy a new one, I've been using the timer on my IPOD Shuffle which is a little difficult to use for keeping an accurate time. So, I clocked in my time somewhere around 42 minutes which wasn't bad since I am very out of shape! 

I was probably the last runner to track my runs with my car...

Also, I discovered a great tool to track mileage on a website called runningmap.com where you can actually route your own runs and save them to pull up later as well as share it with other people around your community! This is WAY better than what I used to do, which was drive around in my car tracking the speedometer.

Blisters anyone?

A second recent discovery of mine that I thought I'd share is an amazing anti-chafe stick that I smother all over the arch in my right foot because I am prone to get the biggest and ugliest blisters there. I'm talking, every time I start to increase my mileage this nasty thing shows up, spreads throughout the majority of my arch and hurts enough to keep me from running for days because its just too painful - even after popping it! - gross. 

When I was visiting my mom, a wonderful lady at Run On recommended this as I was perusing the many different types of socks that are made to keep your feet in running form and I am so thankful she did because my blisters are finally starting to heal!

Speaking of socks, I'm not one to go out and buy all the latest, fanciest running equipment because, first of all, I'm too broke. Second of all, I am somewhat of a minimalist when it comes to my running. I mean, its nice and all to have a sleek looking dry fit tee and all the fun little running gadgets, but when I ran cross country in high school I was running in Soffe shorts, homemade t-shirts that read the classic running quotes, and NO music! Every once in awhile I try to run without the ol' IPOD to revisit days passed but its very rare. I can't resist having some good Lady GAGA and GirlTalk tunes blasting into my ear to keep my pace up.

A couple of running supplements that I've tried

I'll even tell you my funny story of the first time I tried Gu. 

  

yep, this stuff. 

I was running my first marathon and had never tried Gu, never even heard of it! I'm telling you, I'm a minimalist. When I got somewhere into mile 17 or 18 I came across a water station and was looking for a snack. They where handing this stuff out and so, while running, I ripped off the tops and squirted this bad boy into my mouth.... Oh no... I thought that maybe I had grabbed the wrong thing and just ate Vasoline! My mind went to thinking, "how horrible! I've come all this way to potentially be poisoned by Vasoline!" Turns out it was just a really icky flavor.  So moral of the story there is to maybe read the package before eating - or maybe not test out new things mid-race. 

It takes me awhile to learn from my mistakes though. During the half-marathon I did recently, my good friend and long distance running partner (her name is Virginia and she's in some of the running pics from my last post) had these fun little things:

She handed me a few to try out so I stuffed them into my little key pocket in my running shorts to "boost energy" throughout the run. Since I was out of shape for this half, I thought "I need all the energy boosts I can get!", so I waited until mile 5 and popped one in when I realized that it is very difficult to breathe and chew at the same time. The result was me choking while running and that's never fun. I guess the people at Gu and their idea to make it with a Vasoline-like consistency have something going there. 

Photo Montage of Previous Races

Before I head outside to take on the Oklahoma winds for some 800m intervals, I thought that maybe I should post some pics from previous races.

 Here, I believe this is the Dallas White Rock Marathon from 2008 and I am looking oh so hardcore!

 This wonderful photo was taken with some good friends before the Tulsa Run in October. Since this race took place on Halloween day, we dressed up in our best 80s gear! That wonderful guy to the left is John, aka Richard Simmons, and we are his workout ladies.

Another pre-race photo before the Tulsa Post Oak Half Marathon, my most recent race from two weeks ago.

This was taken from the Tulsa Route 66 Marathon in 2008.

My mom (also a marathon runner, ultra marathon runner and Boston qualifier) consoling me after I finished with the family dog, Eisenhower.

Last photo of the day, my little brother, me and my step-dad after the Turkey Trot 8 mile race in Dallas.

First Post

I'll begin by explaining a little bit about myself. I am a 23 year old recent college grad who is, for the most part, undecided about what I want to do with my life. I majored in International Studies with a minor in Business and French and like most people that I tell this to, I'm struck with the question of, "what are you going to do now?". My answer is almost always "I have no f'n clue".

For now, I am a waitress until I begin my service with AmeriCorps in mid-April in hopes that I will survive off of their meager income (averaging about $5/hour) and gain experience so that I will be able to finally get one of those full timers with big fat paychecks... or most likely go back to selling my first born to finance more student loans so that I can go back to grad school.

Until this moment, I have wanted to keep a blog but figured that writing about my complaints in the restaurant industry, updates about my boyfriend, how my dog is doing, etc. is not exactly what I'd call good reading. But through a thorough self-assessment I discovered that I may have one topic that others may find interesting, at least others with the same interest, and that is RUNNING!

My Running History:

I first began running through the influence of my mom and step-dad who are, and continue, to be HUGE runners. I was one of those little kids you see racing my heart out to get through the 1 mile fun run at 5ks. When I was 8, my mom enrolled my older brother and I onto a club track team and I would run so hard on the 1500m race that I would cry every time I finished. I was never the fast kid, though, but I'll tell you one thing, I was still competitive and would fight hard for that 3rd place!

After my season on the kids track team, I went on a running hiatus until I finally agreed with my mom to go to one of the summer workouts with the high school cross country team right before my freshman year in exchange for a trip to the mall. It definitely took a lot of convincing because I wanted to be one of the "cool kids" and I didn't think being a cross country runner would get me there. But,  I went and I ran and thought I was going to die but kept going back. I ran cross country and track until I graduated four years later and continued to run (non-competitively) throughout college and here we are today!

While there have certainly been months where I have ran maybe as much as 3 miles, I somehow almost always come back and now I'm at it again to train for my 5th marathon.