Holy Weather Day! Lots of snow and ice today in the midwest. I had an awful nice last night. A good friend of mine really let me down and made me feel very worthless last night. I am so disappointed, and I have had a bad day because of it.
I played fetch with Lucy, but the bitter cold kept me from running. I am going to try on Day 11 to run, but it supposed to be freezing again… SUCK IT UP JENNIFER! Real athletes brave any weather!
I’m really disappointed today. A year ago today I ran my very first marathon. At almost 6 hours, it was one of the best experiences of my life. What a rewarding day!
I am so sad that I couldn’t live up to my expectation of being able to run it again this year, faster, stronger and better than last. Over the last year I let my running life go. That obviously is the reason that I started this blog: to keep myself on track. I had a great 2010, one of the best years of my life! I am so thankful for everything I accomplished and all the good that came into my life. I am not gonna let this sour too much though. I have to Keep Moving Forward and go on to the next challenge. I got a good dose of motivation today, and I took it with me on a 3 mile run.
See, what i’ve come to learn as a runner is that it is only a competition with myself. The rest of the world fades away and it is just me against myself… I am going to be an incredible athlete in the sport of running. I just have to take it one day at a time….
Keep Moving Forward!
Wow, has it been cold the last 2 days! I took Lucy running with me that last 2 days, and the wind has been so terrible we have cut both runs short. I am sad to say that I have only run about 7 miles this week, but you have to start somewhere. Today makes 16 weeks until the OKC Marathon, so we are starting with high miles next week. It’s cold, but I am fortunate to be able to run, so I need to suck it up and keep going…
Keep Moving Forward!
Well, life isn’t always as easy as it should be. For the last 2 days, I have felt overwhelmed and WAY behind. I have a free weekend coming up, so I know I can catch up, but it is still a feeling I hate!
Day 5 came and went, and I didn’t run, or blog for that matter. I taught class all day, and that was followed by basketball games. I know, sorry excuses. I should have gotten up and ran in the morning, but I didn’t. I’m not perfect, and this is great evidence of that. I will be making up the workout this weekend though, then I will feel better about it.
Today was a good day. I didn’t go into work, because my class was over, but I did do a 2.5 miler. My heart rate is getting very high on these runs, and while it recovers fairly quickly, I feel that I need to investigate Zone training and work from there. It will be fine, and I will figure it all out.
Life is never gonna make being healthy the easiest thing. I went to the grocery today and bought tons of vegan items. I am excited to try new things and find stuff I really like. I want stuff to fuel my body. I am still working on changing my lifestyle to be healthier, but that will take more than just one week….. We will get there in good time…
I think I have misled my readers (if there are any) on accident. I really did start training last September for this year’s WDW Goofy Challenge (1/2 Marathon Saturday, Full Marathon Sunday). The reason I stopped for what was supposed to be a little while was plantar fasciitis. Brutal plantar fasciitis! After stopping activity for a bit, it seemed to go away… Or so I thought.
Day 4 into the new year and running challenge and it’s back with a vengeance. So, i figured that it would be a good night to try another type of workout. Wow… All I can say is Wow!
I got on Netflix and found an ab and arm workout. It was a GREAT workout, sort of a boxers workout, but it was very weird! The head trainer on the video wore and eye patch, but not just the plain old pirate black eye patch. It was a silver fluorescent eye patch! And it was freaky!!!
Anyway, back to the running tomorrow…
What an awesome run Lucy and I had tonight! First of all, I am so proud of her. She is doing such a great job at running, and it is so fun to have her with me. Second of all, I am proud of myself. I went and ate mexican food with my boyfriend’s parents tonight, and when I got home at 8:30, it would have been very easy for me to just call it a night. I didn’t. I went out in the freezing cold weather and ran. The distance may not have been far, but it was worth it, and it made me feel great about myself.
Another day down, and another good run…
Well, I decided to do an evening run today. It was close to dark and dark by the time I got home. I just wanted to do a short run, because I had been coughing a bit all day. I ran a short 1.5 mile route, then stopped at home to get Lucy. She has never run with me before. Bulldogs are traditional runners because they have bad respiratory system. They generally snore and snort, but Lucy isn’t like that. She’s got pretty long legs for an English Bulldog, and she has walked a 5k race with my mom before. I decided that I would try for a half mile jog with her, just to see how she would do.
She did AWESOME!!! We got back to the house, and she wasn’t even panting! What the heck?!?! I sure was! She did really great, and I am going to take her on a longer run next time.
Anyway, I ended up going about 2 miles total, and had a pretty good run. My left knee was still sore, but overall, no major complaints…
Until tomorrow…
What a day! 1/1/11… I got up early, let Lucy (my English bulldog http://disneydogblog.com) out, and then went back in the warm bed to cuddle. For the last 4 months or so, I have been reading Kathy Griffin’s book Official Book Club Selection. I really loved her writing, but I just haven’t had time to sit down and read it. As one of my new year’s challenges, I decided to read at least 52 books… either a book a week or just 52 over the course of the year. Well, I am proud to say that after about 4 hours of reading, and enjoying every minute of it, I finished! What a great book! I love how honest Kathy is, and she really is a very hard-working person. I admire that a lot. Good Job Kathy!!!
I wanted to start my year out right, and I knew that that meant having something fitness-related be involved in it. Well, let’s see. The blog name is The Running Year, so guess what I did! That’s right. Nothing like a new year’s day 5k! It was very snowy and slick out, and I am still getting over a wicked cold, so I took it slow and just planned to finish. My left knee was a little sore, but I haven’t run in a while, so I think it went pretty well. I have decided to include my Daily Mile widget with each run so that you can see my progress…
Day 1 of 2011 down, and I am feeling good!
2010 has been a wonderful year for me. My life has changed dramatically. I finally feel that I am thinking like an adult and not a selfish kid. It only took me 27 years to get to where I am, but it has been worth the long journey. I have figured out who I am. I have come to terms with my faults. My likes and dislikes are clear cut. My values and convictions are my own, not those of my parents or teachers. I am my own person, and I love who I am. I am proud of who I am.
Over the past year, I have done grown up things. I started my own business and have had a lot of success. I am finding ways to make money and pay off the mistakes of my younger years. But the thing I am most proud of is running a marathon. It was something I never thought I would do or have the discipline for.
I love running. I wouldn’t say I am good at it. I am very slow. I don’t have great equipment, but what I have works. I trained for a whole year for my first marathon. After I ran it, I sat here for almost a whole year waiting to figure out what to do next.
So here I am. I have decided to devote 2011 to my running life. I want to get better. I want to be faster. I want running to be my release. Learning to fuel my body is a goal, and keeping my body healthy is vital. I’m very excited about it, and I know it won’t be easy. But I am up for the challenge. I am challenging myself to run at least 1,000 miles in the year 2011.
So this is the beginning. December 31, 2010, I am making this declaration.. 2011 is My Running Year!
Running From Everything 