Baby It's Cold Outside

An ode to my bed. (Complements of Bing Crosby)

Baby It's Cold Outside

I really can't stay
Baby it's cold outside
I gotta go run
Baby it's cold outside
This night has been
Been hoping that you'd stay
So very warm
I'll wrap you up, you're cold as ice
My buddies will start to worry
Beautiful what's your hurry?
My friends will leave with out me
Listen to the warm kitty's purr
So really I better change
Beautiful please don't hurry
Well maybe just a half hour more
Darling, put your shoes by the door

But Meghan might think
Baby it's bad out there
Say.. what was that dream? 
To much ice out there
I wish I knew how to wake up
Your eyes are feeling heavy now
I'll hide your hat so you won't leave
I ought to say no, no, no sir
Mind if I fluff the pillows?
At least I'm gonna say that I tried
What's the sense of hurtin' my pride?
I really can't stay
Baby don't go out
(Both) Ahh but its cold outside!

It was a little chilly out there this morning! I fought the hard fight with the bed and I'm pleased to say I won! 6 miles 1:34:03. (Not the 13 as I had previously stated but I've decided its better to rest from now until race day which is now less than two weeks away.)

I hope you and yours had a very merry Christmas filled with lots of GU, trackers, shoes, clothes and what ever other gear Santa has decided to bring you!

Company

Today I had a little company on the trail. I ran 6 miles with a friend that I met through the =PR= training program. Jackie was able to push me a little harder than I had been able to push myself for a long time. It helps a lot when you have someone to distract you along the way. After 6 Jackie ran up ahead of me to do a total of 9 and I ran past that to do a grand total of... *drum roll please*

11!

I ran 11 miles today! That's double digits! Huge milestone for me. After going home and pluging in my nike+ I realized I had set a few more records on top of that.

Today I ran my fastest 1K, 5K and 10K. I also clocked my farthest, longest, and most calories burned. Over all I'd say it was a pretty great run. 11 miles, 2:48:57, pace of 15:18.

Now on a scary note... I'm feeling a fair amount of pain in my hip... I'm really hoping Its just sore from all my epicness. If that's the case, 13 next weekend.

How Did That Happen?

So I've been in a fair amount of pain all over since Sunday's epic distance run. So I really wasn't expecting a lot of this run. My hip has been sore, my heel has been doing its thing and there's a slight pain in my left leg too... But I got up and went out for 2 miles this evening.

Despite all these little aches and pains, I still managed to pull out 2 miles in only 30:18. Not sure how... But I did it with a pace of 15:09. I know that sounds incredibly slow, (and it is) but for me its a pretty good pace. Not sure how it happened but I'll take it and move on.

Runch

This morning I attended a Runch. A run followed by brunch at =PR= in Ashburn. I loved being able to run with my old running group again! Even if I'm slower than slow at this point. But I'm really glad I went because of the bit of free swag I got.

Free reflective jacket courtesy of Brooks Running! Its really exactly what I need for my night runs.I no longer will have to worry about being visible to traffic as I run.

Of course that meant that our running group was rather bright out on the trail on this gray morning. I may have been one of the last one out there but I'm almost cirtian that no one went as far as I did today. I ran 9.25 miles in 2:23:23. Pace of 15:30! I'm very pleased with myself. And the best thing is that this evening, I'm able to walk.

I was incredibly nervous for this run because the last time I attempted a 9 mile run I wasn't able to walk right for two whole months. So today I took it very slow, no shame in walking. But I am still pleased with my pace because it's well under the 16:00 minute requirement.

I also picked up a little something for my plantar fascitis.

They're a set of wooden massage balls that come in different sizes.

They were cheap ($10) and very easy to use. I'm hoping to get rid of this minor pain before it starts getting worse.

With Disney quickly approaching, I have laid out what I feel is a good training program for myself given my short time span.

Next weekend's long run: 11 miles
week after that: 13 miles
next week: (taper period) 6 miles
week after that: DISNEY 13.1

Runner's Feet

One thing that I'm learning through all of this is that runners don't have cute feet.

Calluses. So many calluses... My poor dogs are all tore up from forming calluses and losing them during my break from activity and now reforming them. A pedicure may be in my near future.

Not to mention the fact that I think I have developed this. It's a very common runner's condition and I'm starting to feel it in my left heel. Not to worry though. It hasn't affected me during my runs. Yet... I am beginning to stay more on top of it though as I'm seeing that as much as I want to ignore it, it's not going away.

Also, Santa... if you're reading this I have one more major thing on my Christmas list... I hate to admit it... but I need new shoes...

I'm starting to roll my ankles inward when I run again which is what led to my major knee issues earlier in the summer. This is a sign that I'm loosing support in my shoe.

(I'm really starting to sound like I know what I'm doing when I hit that pavement.)

In other news: I ran 3 miles tonight.

Twelve

I ran 2 miles on 12/12/12.

It would have been cool if i could have made it 12 miles but I'll take what I can in this case.

Tonight I wussed out and ran on the treadmill. It was just too cold and windy out for my taste. But at least I got out there and did it. I didn't skip the run completely. I swear though, I do worse on a treadmill than I do in the real world. Tonight I ran 2 miles in 32:31 which I know I was able to do better last week. Oh well. Maybe that will help motivate me to suck it up and run outdoors?

You also may have noticed I added a new picture. Its a photo taken by yours truly of a frosty sunrise. 

Predawn Fog

With the holidays just around the corner, my weekend was filled with family festivities and I completely ran out of time to do my long run for this week. I had to make a desion. I could either skip it and not worry about it and move on, or I could wake up crazy early Monday morning and run.

I chose to run.

I was out the door by 6 am on Monday and decided to start running towards my parent's house. The distance from my apartment to my parent's house is exactly 1.5 miles.

My apartment to parents and back =3 miles

I was hoping by the time I finished those 3 miles that it would be light enough to finish the last 4 on the trail. It was incredibly foggy that morning so I decided to run to my parent's house twice.

Photo taken at 6:20 am

I ended up running the 3 mile loop on the street twice and finished the last mile on the trail for a grand total of 7 miles in 1:55:12. Its not my best time but at this point that doesn't even matter. What matters is that I got up and did it. Tomorrow marks the 1 month mark until Disney. January 12th I'm getting up predawn and running 13.1 miles. Whether its cold and foggy or not.

Friday Night

Its Friday night.

And what did I do?

I ran 3.2 miles. My own 5K in 47:58. Pace of 15:33.

Pretty pleased with myself. So I'm doing my own victory dance.


Even if my Friday nights aren't as exciting as Katy Perry's.

What?

I want you to read today's date.

I'll wait here.




Its December right? You sure? I just ran outside in a tank top. Its 68 degrees. Its December. What the hell mother nature?

That's my Christmas tree. I'm in the Christmas spirit. I want it to be cold out...


Okay, I'll step off my soap box now.

In other news, I ran two miles tonight. My time was pretty super, 30:16, even through some tough times. I was really torn on weather or not I should go run tonight. I got held up at the grocery store and was generally feeling lazy. But due to working late the rest of the week I wouldn't be able to make it up and Disney is in 36 days weather I feel like running that day or not.

So I manned up and went at it. Things were going swimmingly until the last half mile. At this point my stomach started making some grumbling sounds. Now I was smart and I didn't eat dinner or have a big cup of coffee before running so this seemed to really come out of no where. I started to wonder if I ran fast enough if I could make it back to the comforts of my own home. I decided I couldn't.

Let me tell you dear readers, I have never been so happy to have decided to run on the streets. I quickly ducked into McDonald's, did what I needed to, and continued running. I don't want to think about what the outcome could have been if I had run on the trail during an episode like that. Let's just hope Disney has port-a-potties along the way.

Slow and Steady

I "ran" 5 miles yesterday.

I say "ran" because it was mostly walking with little bursts of running. I didn't quite make the incredibly slow goal pace but it doesn't matter because 5 miles is 5 miles no matter how fast you go.