Sold Out

There has been lots of running going on around here! So much so, I can’t even find time to post once a week! I’m on week four of coaching (assistant coaching) the Royal Blue team in the Women’s Running School. They are doing an AWESOME job! Last week they ALL ran on their run interval every time! They even scored extra points for running more at the end of the intervals. I think it’s so exciting when they see how they progress each week and realize that they can do this. I remember being there not too long ago myself. Even though I don’t know much about running, I hope my support and motivation is helping them in some way.

I myself have been progressing as I am on week 5 of half-marathon training. The runs are getting longer each week and my body is definitely more tired afterwards. I know it’s all part of the process and eventually my muscles will get used to the longer distance. At least I need them to make it for the next two months and this one race! Since this is my first half, I don’t know if I will love it or hate it. There is an appeal to the half because of cool destination races and medals. In my mind there are other half’s I want to do (Rock n’ Roll series, Disney Princess, lot’s more) but I have to slow myself down because I may not even like this distance!

I was starting to wig out a bit last week about the half. Questions filled my head like do I need to wear a belt? Take gels? Carry a water bottle? What will the weather be like? What will I wear?!? I went on the Hershey Half website and read every detail about the race. I don’t want to be a head case and stress out about the race when it’s two months away. I want to enjoy this experience. So I put those questions out of my mind for now. I know I will figure that stuff out as the training goes on and I will get advice from my coach and running friends.

This past weekend we went online to register my hubby for the Hershey half and bad news, they are sold out!! I felt so bad because it was my fault since I kept forgetting to get him registered. He wasn’t sure he wanted to do it at first so I only registered. He was disappointed but got over it pretty quick. He was mainly looking forward to the cool Hershey Kiss medal! I even emailed them to ask about a wait list or bib transfers, but they don’t do any of that. Hey it never hurts to ask. He is still training and plans to do another half probably in town. Making two destination races in the fall is just not in the budget. So if there’s a race you really want to do and it typically sells out, register early!! Lesson learned.

I’ve got a 5k this Saturday and I’m supposed to do 8 miles. The plan has the 8 miles incorporated with the 5k (2 miles before & 3 miles after) but I’m not sure if I will do that yet (or can do that!). I may just do the 5k on Saturday and do 8 really easy miles on Sunday. My running buds are going to a new place on Sunday to run and I would like to check it out. I don’t have high hopes about having a PR for the 5k since my pace has been slower after the ankle injury. But it’s all good. I haven’t done a race since May so I’m just ready to get out there and have some fun!

Royal Blue

It’s been over two weeks since my last post even though I said I wanted to get back to blogging once a week. For some reason the past two weeks have been busy! I am on my third week of half marathon training and running is going great! Well, as great as it can be in for a NC hot and humid summer!

Some mentionable runs: one 3 mile easy run was cut short to 2 miles because it was so dang hot! I went out to do a 4 mile run on a Sunday evening around 7pm, not really feeling it. I figured I would do a mile or 2 and call it quits. But I ended up doing the full 4 miles! I was inspired by a three generation group of ladies (at least I assumed it was) running and so I just kept going! As we crossed paths the second time I yelled out "Woo-hoo! Great job ladies!" They seemed to appreciate it and hopefully didn’t think I was just crazy or delirious from the heat. Last Saturday I met a running buddy for a 5 mile run at 9am in a different area I’ve only ran a few times. It was SO HUMID. As soon as I got out of the car, my cell phone and water bottle were sweating! The route itself was nice; pretty flat and mostly shaded. We did the 5 miles but took a few walk breaks and stopped once to refill our water bottles. If my running buddy would not have been waiting for me, I would have walked right back in the house and chilled in the A/C. Monday was kind of a crazy and stressful day at work and I could not wait to get home and RUN. It was a 4 mile run through my neighborhood trails with just me and my iPod. And it was exactly what I needed.

Sometimes we just don’t feel like running or working out. Maybe we are too tired or busy or just plain don’t want to do it. But almost always (almost), we get out there anyways and you start feeling better and then just kept going. You know when you’re done, you will feel so much better than if you hadn’t ran or worked out at all. Sometimes you need to do it to clear your mind and de-stress. Even on my 4 mile run that I needed the other day, the third mile was tough (hilly) and I had already pushed my pace the first 2 miles faster than usual. So I slowed it down and had a walk break. It didn’t matter. I already felt a thousand times better. Love those endorphins!!!

The first run of WRS was last Thursday and Royal Blue is our team color! We have about 17 wonderful ladies in our group. If you remember, I am volunteering as an assistant coach this year (my first time coaching anything). Our head coach, Heather, was awesome! I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing (which is probably 85% true) so I just tried to keep the motivation going. They all did great! It’s a run/walk program that progresses over 10 weeks with the goal being the Women’s Only 5k. For most of the group, it is their first time running and their first 5k race. It’s so exciting!

The Streakers to the Quad group officially starts this Thursday, but I will miss it. Actually I will miss the first two months on Thursday’s because it conflicts with WRS. But that’s okay (my choice). We also meet on Monday’s so I will make those nights and after WRS is over in early October I can go on Thursday’s.
I have a 7 mile run scheduled this weekend, yikes! No more 3 mile runs on my schedule. They are all 4 miles or more. Time to start getting some mileage in or I may not make my 500 miles by the end of the year goal! Speaking of that goal, my June mileage was really sad. I’m not even going to tell you (well I put it in the sidebar gadget). But I basically took the entire month off because of my ankle. July mileage picked up for a total of 26.65 miles. So if I do the math, I have a total of 232.38 miles for the past 7 months and that leaves 267.62 miles to go. Hmmm…we’ll see.

One last thing…Body Glide. I’m probably the last runner to try this wonderful product, but heck yes it works. I’ve never had a problem with chafing (TMI?) since I usually wear capris instead of shorts. But because of this heat, I decided to give shorts a try recently and noticed some irritation afterwards. So I hit up ONR for some help and left with this magical product. It also says it helps with hot spots on your feet so I put some on there too. Again, it works!!

Here are some running goodies I got for my birthday earlier this week.

I also got a gift card to a local running store :)

No birthday would be complete without a cake. This was Strawberry. YUM.