Thursday Nov. 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am at home, just a quick update. I did go running today, it wasn’t planned.

I went with two members of my family. I was struggling less than 2 miles into it, I’m not sure if it was the change in altitude or the wind blowing in my face, but it was tough. We ended up running a little over 5 miles, it was a very tough run for me, even though it was less than what I have ran. It was nice to run with them though… and no, tomorrow isn’t my lazy day. We get to play a soccer game tomorrow… whoo! Have a great weekend and thanks for reading!

Distance: 5 miles

Overall Total Distance Ran: 64.5 miles

Tuesday Nov. 24, 2009

I thought I was on my way back home… but nooooo

Jeff came in tonight and wanted to go running. Well I couldn’t say no. I actually just opened a bag of chedder cheese popcorn (delicious)… screw it. I told them I was running with it, and I did. I ate a whole bag of popcorn as we ran, I thought I would get sick, but I was fine ha.

T-kakes came along too. It was a solid run, the last quarter of the first loop I sprinted because I had so much energy because I’m used to doing 6 miles. I was pretty tired at the end of the sprint so I was happy. Since I ran last night and was still sore, I didn’t want to push myself and I was pretty tired (sleepy tired). I didn’t keep track of the time, but it was definetly under 8 minutes a mile (probably around 7:30 per mile). Well I’m off tomorrow for home… once again… Have a great Thanksgiving

Distance: 2.5 miles

Time: around 7:30 per mile (estimated)

Overall Total Distance Ran: 59.5 miles

Monday Nov. 23, 2009

Here we go…

I had to get a run in before I went back home for Thanksgiving. I’m know we will be hiking and playing sports, but I wanted to get a good solid run in before I went back home. I was alone on this run tonight, just me, myself, and my Ipod.

About half way through the first loop I was actually pretty sore. I had to kick my own ass, which consists of cussing at myself and calling myself a baby (don’t ask, it works). Whatever, keep going. On the first loop around I almost got hit 3 times by cars, this made me very upset. And I was sore. I was in a crappy mood! Well run faster.

For those who don’t run or run short distances, let me tell you, mile 3 and 4 are the worst. The first loop (2.5 miles) is my warm up, the 2nd loop just sucks. I am dead and think “What the hell am I doing?”. That’s when I crank up the music and keep going.

I am coming down the home stretch on the 2nd loop around… and I got plenty of juice! It may have something to do with having to go pee really bad, but man, was I flying down that road! 5 miles? Keep going! I put on the old ACDC remedy and my legs were moving faster than I was. I hit 6 miles… and I had plenty of energy left over. The music REALLY makes a difference, I was flying. I could have ran more… but once again, I didn’t want to push myself to hard or get injured. I set a new low time, I wasn’t trying too, I just had a ton of speed/energy and surprised myself. Soon enough I will push for more, but not yet. Have a great Thanksgiving!

Distance: 6 miles

Time: 47 minutes, around 7 minutes, 50 seconds per mile (for 6 miles)

Overall Total Distance Ran: 57 miles

Monday Nov. 16, 2009

After a painful Friday (day after last post) I was very sore, but thankfully nothing was injured.

Well after a very busy last couple of days and this week full of tests, I thought I wasn’t going to get any running in. Jeff (my neighbor) asked me this afternoon is I wanted to go running tonight… well I couldn’t say no. I have been drinking a lot of water the last couple of days, and tonight I felt it, it really helped me a lot.

T-Kakes (roommate) and Jeff started off with me. We all brought out Ipods, we just put them on low and had some good conversations going. It was fun running with the two of them, time flies by when you run with other people. We did one loop (2.5 miles) and I asked if they wanted to keep going (Jeff stopped here last time). They agreed to keep going even though they were pretty tired. I slowed down a lot, they were just die’n. The pace was slow, but I didn’t mind. Jeff is recently single… just broke up with his Ex last weekend. Well what do ya know, we pass her when we are running. The 2 people out at 10 pm on a Monday night is her and her friend ha. We keep on truckin’, the pace was pretty slow and most of the talking slowed down. Coming down the home stretch on the 2nd loop, we decided to sprint the whole way (about 1/2 mile). It was a solid sprint, and they stopped while I kept jogging. I had a ton of energy left, and could have done another loop, but knowing the half-marathon is 6-7 months out, I didn’t want to push myself or risk getting injured. I sprinted another mile as hard as I could (pretty hard after running 5 miles) and looked down at the end to see that I ran a 7 minute mile for mile #6. Even though the whole pace was slow today, I had a lot of energy and really felt good.

I am a little worried about Thanksgiving break and Christmas break. Lots of food, hopefully I can squeeze some good runs in. I guess we will see…

Thanks for reading, like always, feel free to leave a comment or question

Distance: 6 miles

Time: 54 minutes, around 9 minutes per mile (for 6 miles)

Overall Total Distance Ran: 51 miles

Thursday Nov. 12, 2009

Just a quick update, we played our soccer game tonight. I was still sore from last night’s run, but I ended up playing the whole game. Near the end of the game my right leg started hurting, near my ham string. I am hoping it is just from the soreness, I guess I’ll find out when I wake up tomorrow. It was a great workout, I’ve been drinking a lot of water over the past few days, and am going to continue to do so in the future (no soda!). Depending on my hamstring, I may or may not be running the next couple of days. Have a great weekend and thanks for reading!

Overall Total Distance Ran: 45 miles

Wednesday Nov. 11, 2009

My neighbor Jeff asked if he could run with me tonight, he’s getting a little “snack pack” and wants to get into shape. He asked me to run a little slower than normal… no problem. We both had our Ipods but we put them on low. Well off we went, down the street. I forgot what it was like to run with someone haha. We joked around and told some stories, it was a good time. The pace was only a little slower than normal, so it wasn’t a problem. We got through one loop (2.5 miles), and Jeff stopped. We high fived and I headed down the road by myself. A couple of days ago, I made a “running” playlist on my Ipod, believe it or not, this actually helped a lot. It was all my “pump up” songs, and it came in handy.

Since it was a Wednesday, no one was really out tonight (around 10 pm), so it was a nice run. About halfway through my second loop, I actually was feeling better than normal, I guess it was because I started out slower than usual. I hit the homestretch, and blasted some ACDC. Well as you know, this gave me a second wind and I hit a gear I didn’t think I could hit after running 5 miles. I have a soccer game tomorrow night, and didn’t want to push myself, I didn’t want to be sore for tomorrows big game. Well that didn’t go as planned… thanks ACDC. I pushed myself past the regular 5 mile finish line and was flying down the road. Well the song ended, and I realized I hit 6 miles… my second time! I was excited and my adrenaline wore off…

Overall I am very happy with my progress. I don’t want to sound cocky, I am just happy with myself. Hopefully I won’t be too sore tomorrow for the big game…

Thank you to all the Veterans out there!

Distance: 6 miles

Time: 53 minutes, around 8.83 minutes per mile (for 6 miles)

Overall Total Distance Ran: 45 miles

Saturday Nov. 7, 2009

I ended up running late last night (about 10 pm). It was an eventful run. On every corner there were cops, drunk people everywhere, and I almost got hit by plenty of cars. Just another Friday night on a college campus.

So after Thursday nights two soccer games, I was actually a little sore all day. Once again, it was just my Ipod and me for the run. But I went out anyways and started down the street. The first loop was good (2.5 miles), same as always, the first one is the easiest. Starting on the second one was difficult. My legs started to tighten up and I was sweating a lot more than usual. Whatever, time to suck it up. I actually got really close to being hit by a couple cars. Here are the reasons: 1) People are idiots and can’t drive   2) People ALWAYS pull through the crosswalk instead of stopping before it   3) they never look “right” before making a right hand turn.

I don’t even bother with them or take chances, I always just go left and run behind the car. It is my new pet peeve, lets be honest, it pisses me off. Especially after running 5 miles and these idiots almost ram into your hip. Alright end rant.

So about halfway through the second loop (about 3.5  miles) I was really chugging along. I thought I was running slow so I cranked up the music. Coming up to the final stretch I found my moment. My pace was perfect for running long distance (for me), a song came on that just hit me, I found a second wind. I put the song on repeat and full blast and took off down the homestretch. I get to my place… 5 miles… but I’m not stopping! I feel like crap, my legs are dead, but I am in the moment. I ended up running 6 miles last night. I am very happy with myself, I wasn’t planning on running that far, especially after soccer last night and for how sore I was. Also, I was very surprised at the end to check my time, my pace was actually right where I wanted it to be (I thought I was running quite slow). I’m not sure if I am going to keep trying to hit 6 miles or stay with 5 miles. I feel it’s a little early to start bumping it up, but we’ll see. Thanks for reading, have a great weekend!

Distance: 6 miles

Time: 50 minutes, around 8.30 minutes per mile (for 6 miles)

Overall Total Distance: 39 miles

Thursday Nov. 5, 2009

Sorry for not updating this earlier, it was a very hectic week. Tons of stress, not only with tests but with what I am going to do with my career. I really wanted to run on Monday or Tuesday but couldn’t find the time.

Well I did not run today, but I did play soccer. We played 2 full games, I am EXHAUSTED. After the first one I was planning on coming back and running, but then another team wanted to scrimmage and we decided to comply. It was a great workout, my feet are killing me. I am planning a run for tomorrow night… we’ll see how it goes.

Total Distance: 33 miles

Thursday Oct. 29, 2009

First off, I gotta say thanks to Tiny for the comments, I sometimes think I am just talking to myself haha I really do appreciate the comments and the motivation.

Tonight was TOUGH. I played a soccer game (played the whole game) tonight. Thinking ahead, the earliest I would be able to run again would be Sunday night, and I didn’t want to take that many days off from running (Friday and Saturday I will be busy). So about a half hour after we got back from the soccer game, I got on my running shoes and grabbed the Ipod. T-kakes and my sister were obviously too tired, so it was just my Ipod and me. I taped the Ipod wire around my arm because the last time I ran it got pretty annoying flopping around. So off I went…

Right away, about 1 1/2 into it, my legs were already sore (from soccer earlier). I knew it was going to be a tough run, but hey, we’ll see what happens. About half way through my first loop, 2 cop cars flew right next to me and pulled over a drunk driver (this comes in later). So I continue on…

For those who don’t know, we got a cold front the last 2 days. No, it got really cold. Mondays and Tuesdays temp: 83 degrees, Wednesday: 57 degrees. 57! Today was a little better at 60, but man it was cold!! I still ran in shorts and a tshirt, but man, it was chilly.

I got around the first loop (2. 5 miles), nothing special besides the drunk driver. It was about 10 at night, and my pace was a little slower than Tuesdays run (it might have something to do with the soccer game I played an hour before…). I knew my pace was off, but I just wanted to run. So I kept going…

Halfway through my second loop, I saw the cops again (nothing exciting happens when you run in a circle, this was entertainment ha). They still had the guy pulled over, but he was in handcuffs and they were writing stuff down. I knew he was drunk cause he was stumbling all over and couldn’t stand up. It was funny, but at the same time very scary that this guy was driving.

My pace is SLOW. Very slow. Whatever, suck it up and keep going. I get to the final stretch, turn up the music full blast, and hit the turbo (last juice I had, and let’s be honest, it wasn’t very fast). I was hauling down the road when I approached 6 sorority girls (oh the joys of living next to sororities). They turn and start whistling and cheering me on. It was pretty funny, but after 5 miles, all I could do was give them a thumbs up and smile. I have to say, it was pretty funny. Imagine me, dead and running super slow, trying to sprint in 30 degree weather, with 6 sorority girls next to me cheering and whistling at me. Man I love college.

I am sore right now (which never happens)… it might have something to do with the cold, or the full soccer game I just played ha, tomorrow is going to be fun. Anyways, thanks for reading, like always, feel free to leave a comment. I will add my total distance below. Have a great weekend and a Happy Halloween!

Distance: 5 miles

Time: 45 minutes, around 9 minutes per mile (for 5 miles)

Total Distance: 33 miles

Tuesday Oct. 27, 2009

I went running again tonight… my first run after taking a while off and going on vacation this past weekend.

I timed myself this time, I have estimated in the past that I have ran a 9 minute mile. So I was running alone tonight, T-kakes and my sister were busy. I pulled out the Ipod and started on the run. After rocking out and signing along for the first 2 miles, I was getting pretty tired. It was a beautiful night out, a lot cooler than usual, and I had on an extra shirt and was sweating a lot. I made it halfway (2.5 miles) and kept going. I noticed my pace slowed greatly, I had to pick it up.

I was hustling pretty hard, I set a time for myself. I had to get there by 9:42 (left at 9:02 pm). It sounds stupid, but it gives me something to push for (I ended at 9:43…damn so close!). About halfway through I am struggling, I feel like I am going to throw up. I don’t mind, I want to throw up (clear out my system!). After nearly getting hit by 3 cars, I am almost there. I hit the homestretch and get 5 miles under my belt. I wasn’t feeling well, but I did it, I’m back. Thanks for reading, I would love any comments or suggestions (“Leave a comment” below). Keep on truckin’ and keep your dreams alive

Distance: 5 miles

Time: 41 minutes, around 8.2 minutes per mile (for 5 miles)