Rock and Roll Seattle Half Marathon

I'm not sure what happened but I wasn't a very good blogger about my training. ha!

Well, the half marathon was last weekend and guess what, I did it! I finished in 2:22:06 which I don't think is too bad or my very first half AND never having been able to run more then 7 miles. I battled injury after injury for my training. Nothing major but enough to put a damper on the whole thing.. including getting a customized pair of orthotics made by my physical therapist. WHICH STILL are not perfect and they are remaking my right side, again. Third times a charm, right?

This past Saturday I ran a 5K in 28:32.

Work it, make it, do it, make us, Harder, better, faster, stronger...

That's right folks. I did my very first "long" run today. Long meaning 58 minutes... I had planned to do 60 but ended up at home two minutes faster. Once I did arrive I did feel like I could have continued but now I know.

I hit about 6.4 miles in this time which I was pleasantly surprised. Not that I was super fast woman or anything BUT it gave me a start of how far I could go in an hour. So, that's how I will spend an hour on either Saturday or Sunday but the hardest part is finding routes to run that wont have me getting plowed down by a car.

Next month I might try a "running group." I need to put my feelers out first because I am a little finicky when it comes to how I run and little things can throw me for a loop.. like someone talking to me.. Doh.

But I am definitely feeling that I did something Not of MY NORM today. Ha! My body is feeling stiff and in need of maybe a little more stretching but I keep telling myself "now I know."

I Am Woman....

I looked out the window this morning and realized it was lightly snowing. I told myself that the only way I was not going to run was if it was too slippery out there. By the time I walked out the door the sidewalks and roads were covered but it wasn't as cold as yesterday when I about froze my face off. So, I managed to do my 3.1 miles with ease. It was actually a nice change to walk out there and see something different. The run itself just felt different. I even kind of enjoyed it. Did I just say that?

This weekend I am going to try and do an hour out there. During the weekday mornings I only have an allotted time to get out and back so I've never been able to see how long I can really run. Once it starts getting lighter earlier in the morning I can push my runs up earlier, maybe?

I had a bunch more to say yesterday when my internet was down so now I'm blank. I'm sure it will come to me later.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful

and the snow is so delightful.

Well, not really. I woke up this morning to snow. Not alot like the couple feet we had in December that seemed to last FOREVER but about an inch covering everything. The plan this morning was to go mountain biking with a friend. Change of plans. We like to pretend that we are "hardcore." But with weather, not so much. We are both pretty wimpy in the cold and riding bikes with the wind whiping past ya, ehhhh, not really fun.

So, that brings me to running. I haven't been a fan of running in the cold either. No matter what I wear I just can't get over that cold air burning my lungs and freezing my entire face off. Oh, and my feet. Brrrr. So, Winter's kind of messed me up this year. How do you all do it?

My goal this week is to run 3 mornings, mountain bike on the weekend, and lift weights 3 days. Need to build up those muscles. I don't really consider mountain biking part of my workouts though. Just because I don't go at it alone and I am with other people so to me that's called "hanging out with my friends."

I Love Lucy

As I grow a little bit older, despite feeling like I am 25 still, I am realizing the importance of my comfort over trendy. I go through spurts of wanting to wear cute fashionable clothing but then realize that my trips to the local Safeway or espresso stand isn't winning me points on the cover of Vogue.

So, over the last couple of months I've invested in a few really cute quality comfy yet fashionable workout items. I think my favorite purchase, despite the price, was a pair of running pants from Lucy (http://www.lucy.com/). Of course now they aren't on their website but what I do see is a trend that is hitting alot of outdoor sports recently... SKIRTS!

See that skirt? I think I might need it. I actually think it might make me run just a little bit faster.... and if it doesn't, I really think that the shirt might actually seep into my blood and turn me into the runner that I want to be.

I'm coming out of my shell and I've been doing just fine...

Let me begin by saying I am NOT a runner. Yes, I run a couple of times a week but it's not really "running" it's called jogging. I don't run fast and at times I walk. Somedays I struggle just to run 3 miles because I am just not feeling it or my brain says, this is dumb why are you out here. I've entered two runs in my life. Both 5Ks done 6 years apart. Ironically, the one I did this past December was only 27 seconds slower then when I was younger and in, what I thought was, good shape. Let's just average the two and say my 5k is 30:21. So, not fast and not slow. Just ehhh.

It's 2009 and it's time for me to focus on one thing that is just me. This year that one thing would be running. Be it a 5K, 10K, half-marathon, and a lofty marathon that is what I will be working towards as the year progresses.

I needed a place where I could say Hey, look what I did today and hopefully get a few followers and friends that I can follow that are working on the same type of journey. Or hey, if you just want to say good job or slacker... that's fine, too.

With that, let's begin...