5K

So...at the last minute I found out about this 5K happening in my area; found out last night, ran it this morning. Just wanted to get some experience with this sort of thing, so I won't be as "green" going to Vegas in December. I ran the race in 28:24, which comes out to just over 9 minutes a mile. I guess I'm not made for short distances...I do think I could do better, and I want to try again soon. In any case, I had a great time, and I'm really glad I jumped in at the last minute, thanks to a lot of encouragement from my friend Reina...who kicked butt with a time of 22:05, and 2nd place! After she finished, she ran back to find me and cheer me on!

World's Greatest!

I know I haven't blogged much since Monday...nothing really has happened, just been training as usual; had a couple 3.5 mile runs this week that went fairly. The only exciting thing that happened was at the end of my run on Thursday...I was almost through, had changed the route a little so that the end of the run was uphill, instead of the way I was usually running it with the downhill portion at the end. I was started to "run out of gas" when the next song on my iPod began to play...it was "The World's Greatest" by R. Kelly. This song is special to me, it has to do with Camp Oasis, and it's impossible to explain to someone who hasn't experienced camp. But for anyone who has, you'll understand why I got this surge of adrenaline and finished the run on a high note!
Today was my rest day, and tomorrow is supposed to be my easy cross training day...However, I talked to my friend this evening, who happens to be running in a 5K tomorrow, what a coincidence! So I've decided to join her; this is my first race ever! It shouldn't be too tough, only 3.1 miles, but my biggest fear is that I'll finish last...she promises that I won't, so we'll see...I'll let you know how it goes!

Back to the grind...

Just arrived back from my weekend cruise this morning. It was so much fun, and I'm exhausted, not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. Here's how the training went while I was on the boat...I did not train on Friday before I left for vacation, as previously stated, because of time and energy constraints. Friday night on the cruise was decidedly tame compared to the other nights, so when I woke up on Saturday I decided to go ahead and do the long run that morning. I usually do the long run on Sunday mornings, but didn't know what kind of shape I'd be in this particular Sunday, since I knew what the plans were for Saturday evening...So, I was feeling pretty good Saturday morning and decided to hit the treadmill at the gym on the boat for the 5 miles. Let me just say that it was so much fun running on a treadmill while the boat is rocking back and forth underneath it. I'm not being sarcastic; it was great! Once you get used to the motion, it's fun...plus the treadmill was facing the floor to ceiling windows looking out over the ocean, so I had a beautiful view. Could have run all day with that kind of view.
Turns out it was a good decision to run Saturday instead of Sunday, since I was not up with the sun on Sunday morning, due to the previous night's festivities. However, Sunday afternoon we were at the beach, and I found myself swimming for 30+ minutes, so I guess I can count that as my cross training...well, that and the countless times I had to climb 9 flights of stairs on this cruise, since the elevators were slow and always full.
So, now I'm back in town, sadly...and running on 2 hours of sleep...but the plan is to nap a little and then hit the gym for some easy strength training...and doing my first run of the week tomorrow, 3.5 miles again.

Vacay!!

At this very moment, I'm packing to leave for a weekend cruise to the Bahamas with some fabulous women...It's Norisse's bachelorette party, and I could not be more excited...or exhausted. I have been up most of the night trying to get "stuff" done prior to my departure, and today is the first day I'm going to skip training. Today was supposed to be an easy cross training day, and I thought I'd have enough time to squeeze it in this morning before leaving, but unfortunately even staying up all night did not allow me enough time. I'd like to postpone my departure for a few minutes in order to fit it in, but I'm sure the ship will not wait for me...I'm going to attempt my usual long run on Sunday while on the cruise, we'll see how that goes...Be back on schedule Monday!

Just when you think it's safe to go back in the water...

After Sunday's successful long run, I was actually feeling really good about my progress, thinking I might actually be able to pull this whole thing off...and then my run this morning changed all that. I added a 1/2 mile to my weekday runs, to make it 3.5, which I didn't think would be a big deal...but this morning was rough! I'm sure it had something to do with my lack of sleep the past several nights. I've been busy trying to get a lot done to prepare to leave town this weekend, and haven't been home much to eat or sleep...I guess it finally caught up with me. This was definitely the most difficult run so far, but it's taught me a lesson on the importance of eating right and getting enough sleep while training. Unfortunately I don't see my schedule changing much this week since, in preparation for my departure this weekend, my to-do list seems to be getting longer instead of shorter...so we'll see how the Thursday run goes. Excited about maybe cross training/rock climbing tomorrow...it's been a couple weeks.

The long run...

Even though the official start day for training isn't until Monday, I've been training for the last couple weeks, since I feel like I'm a little below the curve, having never done this sort of thing before. So...tonight was my second long run, 4 miles. I didn't expect it to be easy, since I didn't sleep a whole lot last night, and hadn't eaten well the last couple days. But, the miles flew by, I ran a good pace, and only walked about a tenth of a mile. Today is the first day I actually believe I can do this without really sucking at it...
Also, it started raining when I was about halfway into the run, and one of my neighbors, who happens to be a good-looking guy, stopped to ask if I needed a ride. Too bad I had to turn him down. I guess you have to make sacrifices to train...