Week 3: Half Marathon Training Part I

ON THE ROAD AGAIN...


Ok, so this week isn't going as planned. First of all, I'm still "injured". Maybe it's heel spurs? I don't know. But needless to say, my husband kept me from the gym yesterday because he knew I would over do it, and today I have night class immediately after work, so Tuesday is a "non gym day" anyway. Sad. Tomorrow is my big day back, I have to make up my miles!!!


Being back to work after break is, well, work. Tough beginning of the week, but we'll see how it ends up. The kids are a little wild and all of us are craving another break...the line going around school is, "I need a vacation from vacation!" The ride back from VA Beach was great, it went by really quickly. We thoroughly enjoyed our game "Read the town sayings" below the town's name. For instance, the town I'm from, Manchester CT, has the slogan, "City with village charm". It's hysterical. Next time we go to VA Beach we will write them down. (We're nerds, leave us alone...)


Till next time, do what makes you feel BEAUTIFUL!

Week 2: Half Marathon Training part IV

AGHHHHH! Sore ankle! Yes, that is singular. It's so annoying! My ankle is killing me. This happened back in November I think, I remember I thought I had sprained my ankle somehow, but it was just sore. There is no way to get rid of this but wait and rest. I'm not happy. This really cramps my style!!! Remember Kerri Strug?! AW, America's gymnast sweetheart! Anyway, She injured her ankle on the first vault of the last two vaults and she went on to get an amazing score and capture the gold for the USA Women's gymnastics team. Sigh. Don't think I will be able to grin and bear it through this one. Wisdom says rest it. I hate it.

Any thoughts, remedies or experiences?! I'm sad. No running today.

1/2 Marathon: Week 2 Part III 10 MILES!

YAHOO!!! I finally made it into a double digit run!!! Sunday was supposed to be my long run, so I did it, but my hands were so cold I only made it about 9 miles. Today it was SO beautiful out, 55 and sunny, that I couldn't resist going off my training schedule and trying another long run!!! It was SO hard, especially since I forgot my water! It was beautiful...I even got some tan lines! I ran to the Back Bay Wildlife Refuge off of Sandbridge Beach. This picture is of the path to one of the trails...obviously I didn't take it, but it was so beautiful I couldn't resist it!!! I ran on a paved road surrounded by dunes and the bay. SO BEAUTIFUL! I couldn't have had a more perfect day to run. It did take me a while, but I completed it and it felt SO good. It gave me some confidence about the approaching race day (April 26!) that I will be able to finish it. I wanted to try to do the full 12, but Brian made me stop bc I was clearly tired!

Yesterday I did cross training, elliptical, bike and treadmill, and a rowing machine. Good prep for today!!!

Till next time!

Week 2: Half Marathon Training Part I

SOOOOOOO today was an odd day. I have been following this training schedule: http://www.runnersworld.com/charts/hallchart.html. It is a pretty easy training schedule, and when I saw it, I thought to myself, "Self, this will give you structure, and it's totally doable, DO IT." So, I've been doing it. We are now in Week 2 and today was a 5 x 1000 meter day. I was a bit confused by this at first, but the way it helps you is that it builds up your "start up" potential. You run 1000 meters (About .6 miles) and then walk for 1-2 min, and repeat that 5 times. It builds your stamina in case you have to stop, drink water, etc. during a race. At first I thought I wouldn't like it, and last Tuesday I just ran 3 miles straight through, but I did it today and could really feel myself building up and cooling down, it was definitely more work that I thought it would be! Plus this is still a "recovery" day from the long run I did Sunday. Mondays are nothing days, so I'm probably going to focus on pilates type moves or light weights.

Above is where I've been running!!! My parent's house in in this beach community in Virginia Beach called Sandbridge. Here http://siebertrealty.com/cgi-bin/previews09.pl?id=32708&unitfile=units2k9 is the link to look at the BEAUTIFUL home! My parents did some rennovations to the kitchen, and it looks great. We've really been enjoying spending time here, even though it's really cold and the beach isn't too enticing with the wind and low temps! But we've been working out and loving it. (I will not mention the awesome valentines day sugar cookies that keep finding their way to me with a cup of tea. That never happened. Don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise!)

So, thus part one of 1/2 marthon training has been detailed for your reading delight! Anyone who wants to join my half marathon-ing just let me know!!! I know the race I want to run is April 26, but I plan to do a second one on August 30. If you want to run in it, my church is organizing a group to do it together. You can only register by March 1 because if you do, you dedicate any money you can raise to donate to cancer research. Otherwise, it's a hard marathon to get into so you get a guaranteed entry. Here is a link all about the race: http://www.halfmarathons.net/usa_half_marathons_new_york_ny_city_half_marathon.html.

Till tomorrow! Give me your ideas, tips, etc!!!

1/2 Marathon: Week 1

SOOOOOOOOO This is officially week one DONE of my half marathon training!!! It's been great. I did a long run on Sunday and it was 8 1/2 miles! I LOVED it; I went over the Queensbridge into Manhattan, ran to 5th avenue and 59th st, and ran up "Museum Mile" till 96th st. (Museum Mile includes the Met and the Naturual History Museum amongst a TON of others!) This week I'm on February break in VA Beach with my (amazing) Husband and we are jump starting my training in (Slightly) warmer weather....which means 10 degrees warmer than NYC :-( But we'll take what we can get!!! The half marathon is in April, but the picture above depicts a future possible half marathon...my church is organizing a running group to run in the NYC Marathon, but only do the half, and raising money for cancer all at the same time! I'm really excited and pumped about this, so I'm in a 10 week training program and I'll keep you updated. I'm sure you're all avid readers and want to know ;-)

For Valentines Day we woke up at 5:40am and got in the car by 6am to drive to VA Beach! Along the way Brian had some surprises; we at breakfast at Perkins, a chain restaurant that Brian loved growing up. And the second surprise was visiting outlets and a winery in Delaware, SO much fun! The best was this blueberry wine, it was a "red" but semi dry, so strange that it's 100% blueberries!

Alright all, till next time...

Sick but contemplative

So this weekend we had a conference at our church which was REALLY rad, I love my church! I'll detail a few things from that. Ha ha that picture is REALLY big that I posted! Hopefully it's not as big in the blog! Some main points were made such as we should walk away from services reflecting on how great God is, not how skilled a speaker is. I know I do it all the time! He also really got down to the tug and pull of people who are trying to live for God and are also sinning, and how that makes you MISERABLE, it really opened my eyes to a lot of people I know that I've been talking with about God. Also, realizing God's magnitude and holiness, and how being in awe of that should be enough. It was really touching, and I know this is a brief recap but if you look up his podcasts you'll get a feel for it. The messages were so real and applicable, he wasn't calling you to do anything extra crazy, but love God and show the world THIS is our difference. The conference was called "Awakening", it was really true. One of the songs we sang went "Awaken my heart/awaken my soul/awaken this life for you oh God" it was so great. Brian and I had SO much to talk about after each service we didn't even go out with anyone! Plus...I'm SICKKKKK.

Yes that's right, a blessed cold has finally gotten the best of me as it has gotten basically everyone around me (My fellow teachers, students, husband, neighbors, yea, I'm the last one on this sickness train!). So that's hampered my idea of running a half marathon...well, my training at least. I'm resting so I can come back strong. I finally broke the 4 mile wall. It's been really hard to run in a gym because it's SO hot and I can't take it after 3 miles, but thankfully I broke through the wall...just in time to get sick ;-) Oh well, I'll be back and better than ever in no time!

Brian was telling me I need to change my blog name from *May*keover....anyone remember that?! It was last may, go back to my original post. Last April I weighed myself to discover I was WAY beyond what I had been in a while, thank you teaching! My job change really effected my weight. So I made practical life changes and jump started healthy life choices for May. It turned out really well, and by mid June I had lost 12lbs! Now I'm down 16lbs from where I was last May, and it feels good. I can't believe I kept it off, but it took really being committed to making permanent changes. Now I splurge every now and then, but I felt really accomplished the other day when I realized I have kept my weight off for almost a year. Now of course it's the wedding etc that helped, but I'm really excited to be able to attempt the half marathon. Keep it up all you challenged lifestyle changers! I hate the word diet...that's why I like weight watchers, because it's a LIFESTYLE change; if you focus on the "can't have's", you're going to want them. If you focus on the positives, like healthy eating and creative cooking, and of course balance, it's really satisfying.

Alright signing off! Give me your thoughts!

More pictures!!!!