Well, There Goes My Turnout

So, if you saw my last post, then you saw that I just was not feeling like running yesterday. I felt exhausted and I wanted nothing more than to just lay in my bed and sleep.  It didn’t help that when I got out of my class meeting last night, there was a fire drill outside of the gym.  This meant I had to wait outside the gym until we received the clear.  I was so close to just going home and forgetting about the run.  But then I remembered the promise I made myself, to run at least three times a week, so I waited patiently to get to the track.

Before I knew it, I was on the track and I felt really good.  I didn’t even realize how long I had been running!  Usually I check my time after every mile, but I didn’t think about it until I ran about 17 laps (which is a little over two miles).  I just had so much fun!  My workout ended after thirty minutes, but I was so close to four miles, so I added about 30 more seconds.

In the end, I ran four miles in 30:30.  That’s an average pace of 7:38! When I posted my run on RunKeeper, I happily typed, “First run of the month!” Then I realized that the Disney Princess Half is THIS month. I mean, I guess I knew that, but I it didn’t really hit me until last night.  

I am so nervous! I’m hoping to run a half this weekend because the last time I ran a half was, well, October…so that HAS to happen!  Luckily, the weather looks good for this weekend!

I’m closing with this video because it has ALL of the Hercules songs in one video. You’re welcome.

WE’RE ALMOST TO THE WEEKEND, GUYS!!!!!!!

As I said before, it’s been a crazy week for me. It has been a week full of ups and downs, and I cannot wait for it to be over! I co-lead a high school small group at my church, and we’re hanging out all weekend! It’s called myLIFE and small groups stay with a host home all weekend! AND, apparently my group got the best house. Our hosts asked if we wanted to me s’mores. IS THAT EVEN A QUESTION!?

Anyways, so Tuesday I did intervals because my knee is still bothering me. I only ran 3.58 in 30 minutes, but hey, every run matters! Anyways, I was going to run this morning, but I had to get caught up in one of my classes, so I’m hoping I can run tonight or tomorrow morning. Either way, I have ran the most this month than eve before! I have gone on 15 runs this month and have ran 61.2 miles! Yay!!

 I really just want to maintain a tight running schedule, especially with the Disney Princess Half Marathon getting closer and closer. I hope to run at least three times every week. I already have two down, I just need one more!

Anyways, how are you guys doing? I hope your Thursday is going well! <3

I woke up yesterday very excited, yet concerned about my workout. As you all know, I was planning on meeting up with Brandon for a run and then some Ab workouts. He is trying to get ready for the Air Force Basic Training so he’s been doing Crossfit for the past two months. There has been a major transformation, but I won’t get into that now. Because of his new workout regimen, he wanted to show me some Crossfit-inspired ab-workouts. Shutter.

But before all that, we did running (my strong suit). We went to a small park near his house. I wanted to run a 5k, and he just wanted to run a mile (he wanted to do more, but his foot started hurting.) Brandon and I ran together for the first mile (and the average pace was 6.46! Holla!), but then it was his time to stop and it was just me. The weather was a little colder than I expected and I may or may not have been trying to run fast so that I could get warm….But I then got to this point where I wasn’t thinking about the weather, the distance, the upcoming race, I was just running! It felt great!

And that’s the point when I accidentally paused my RunKeeper for a good bit….but I kept on running and it didn’t affect my time (I don’t think). I still ran and pushed hard. I ended up running a 5K at 24 minutes on the dot! Yay!!

Then, we went back to Brandon’s house and he made up this workout:

• 100 Crunches
• 100 Bicycles
• 50 A-Frames
• 50 Mountain Climbers
• 100 Toe Touches
• 100 Hand-Clappers

And we had to do that TWICE. If you did your math, that’s 1000 reps. I repeat, 1000 reps. I really wanted to die, but we were playing a Passion Pit playlist, so it didn’t feel thaaat bad.

After we finished, he made pancakes while I cleaned up (some friends came up for the weekend and would be staying at his house). Bottom line: we survived!

Now to take a rest day! Boy, have I needed it! Happy MLK Day! <3

Ok..maybe that’s a little extreme, but today’s run was really awesome!

Since it’s my last few days of holiday break, I’m taking advantage of sleeping in!  I didn’t get out to my run until around four this afternoon.  While I was suiting up, I was reminding myself not to push myself too hard and not to stress myself out.  

I got outside and began warming up.  For the first time in a long time, I began praying.  Just telling God how much I love Him, how I wanted to give Him this run, and how I was doing this for Him and for no one/nothing else.  

My run began and I just felt so much joy!  I was just so happy to be running!  I tried not to push myself too hard, but I was surprised every five minutes when my RunKeeper chimed in with my average pace being in the 7:54 realm.  How exciting is that!?  With my run/walk on Tuesday and my race on Sunday, this was just what I needed! 

I am so thankful that God gave me this boost of confidence!  I’m thinking about doing a short run tomorrow, just to be safe.  Anyway, it felt great giving God this run.  It reminded me exactly why I do it.  It felt like, well….see picture above ;)

Oh…and I’m one run closer to

This is about how I felt after my run on both Tuesday and Wednesday.  Not even kidding.  I was so tired and I felt sick after both.

I have to take a prescription for my cough and it makes me so tired.  Tuesday I was so tired that I waited to run until four that afternoon.  All I could muster was a 5K, but it was rough.  I actually took a walking break for a bit to take a breather.  All I could think was, “Me?! A walking break?!”  Vain, right?  I’m trying to get better about giving my run to God.  Anyway, my time was 8:28.  Not bad for taking a walking break.
 

As I said, I had a conference from Thursday until today.  In order to maintain my running schedule, I ran the day I was leaving.  But because I was tired and was about to undergo a three-hour drive, I only ran for 20 minutes.  My distance was 2.43 and my average pace was 8:15.  Which isn’t bad, but my ending running pace was around 9 minutes.
 

With both runs, I felt heavy and my stomach was upset.  I talked to Brandon and he reminded me that I’m not in my usual setting, so my diet is different and that effects my running.  But I tried to finish as strong as possible and tried to remember that every run matters.  I also try to remember that I’m one run closer to the Disney Half!! AAAAHHH!!! :)

I’m not going to let that bog me down.  I am planning on running for an hour and fifteen on yesterday.  I’m hoping that goes well because my 15K is in a week!  EEK!! So, I really hope my stomach is better under-control.  

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Yesterday was my birthday!  It was filled with wonder, love, and cake.  A huge slice of German chocolate cake.  I’m not going to complain about eating it, because it was so good and it was my birthday.  NO REGRETS!!  I had already decided that my birthday present to myself would be not getting up at 5AM to run this morning.  I’ve been so exhausted lately, and I thought sleeping in to 6:45 would be good.  …It was, by the way.  Almost as glorious as that cake…..mmmm.

Anyway, with my half-marathon approaching and the idea of doing Tough Mudder, I really do not want miss any exercise days.  I want to keep to the six-day exercising/one-day rest ritual.  I want to be in tip-top shape before I even start the training for Tough Mudder (the training requires me to do pull-ups…like, do I even look like I can do pull-ups?  …Right.)  I made the decision to try and do a later run on the indoor track at my school.

I was hesitant about the run.  I loathe running around in a circle because it makes me feel like a hamster.  I didn’t know if I would get bored, how to document my time, or if I would even have the energy to perform my best (I’ve never ran in the evening before).  On the way to the track, I toyed with the idea of doing intervals, but I decided that I would only get to that if I was too tired to complete the run or, let’s be frank, to pissed off to complete the run.

My RunKeeper doesn’t work inside, so I was left with setting an alarm on my phone for 30 minutes and keeping track with how many laps I ran.  I started my Slacker radio and began running.  I was…surprised by how good I felt!  I smiled the whole way!  My playlist was delivering the best music to get me inspired, I wasn’t trying to beat the clock, and before I knew it—I was on lap 30!

When I finished my run at 30:10ish, I had ran 34 laps.  On the track, eight is equivalent to a mile, so divide 34 by eight and the product is 4.25.  I ran 4.25 miles in 30 mins and 10 seconds!!  Again, it was indoors and it was on flat, track, but I still felt awesome and proud of myself that I completed the run.  I probably could never do it for more than 30 minutes, but this could be a cheaper alternative for me on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

So thankful and blessed to have just completed the run!  Tomorrow is ab/arm day!!  Good night, all!