outside

I went running in the bitter cold this afternoon. Probably not quite the full six miles because I deviated off my google-mapped course. But I couldn't help myself. I had to indulge in roads of old-time Vineyard. Plus then I had to be back home by a certain time. Anyway, I have good news about my Nike Plus system. Apparently there is a little attachment you can hook to your shoelaces to keep in your tracker in instead of buying compatible shoes. Thanks to Brent for hooking me up with said invention!

nano, nano

Greetings, from Planet I-now-own-an-ipod! Marti gave me the biggest birthday surprise ever! Thanks to a most amazing MIL!! I can't wait to fill it up with songs and an audiobook or two to help me stay distracted during those 26 some odd miles!

Wind Sprints Report

Seriously, I am so tired/sore today from doing this last night. I hope dearest Dana that you are not planning on having a zippy companion on our 3 miler tomorrow because I fear for the zippiness factor.

With that being said. I ran .40 miles more in the same time than I normally do. I think these wind sprints might do exactly what I need them to and get me to my 10 minute mile.

di·lem·ma

Yesterday on my way to the gym I was listening to my favorite radio station when I hear an ad telling me that Dave Ramsey is coming to Salt Lake for his Total Money Makeover Tour.

Dave is my guru when it comes to all things financial. I've read both Financial Peace and The Total Money Makeover and he totally inspired me and showed me how it is really possible to become completely debt free (including our mortgage) in the next 5-10 years.

So when I heard he's coming to town I just know that Ryan and I are so going. But then Sadie distracted me somehow (she probably wanted to sing itsy bitsy spider as she is obsessed lately) so I missed them telling me the date. No worries though, I call Ryan and ask him nicely to look it up on KNRS's website. He is nice enough to do so and tells me that it's on May 17th.

For about two seconds in my head I'm thinking "I know that date, what is happening on that date?" and then of course it hits me, May 17th is the Ogden Marathon. I won't lie and tell you I didn't think about giving up the marathon for Mr. Ramsey but that didn't last long and then I was just sad that two things I really want to do are on the same day 5 months from now.

I'm thinking about e-mailing Mr. Ramsey and asking him to move his event up or back a week. What do you think my chances are?

goals

What I like about the goal of a marathon vs. a goal of weight loss is that the latter is so intangible to me and then I end up not seeing progress fast enough and then give up. Don't get me wrong, I want to lose weight as much as any other media-brainwashed-American woman, but I really like that it is just a perk rather than a focus.

On a note to my Utah counterparts: I ran outside yesterday. Be proud of me.

Wind Sprints

I've been doing some research as to how to increase my speed. I ran for 30 minutes last night and the last 10 minutes I was running at a 3.9 but I was running so that's something.

After discussing with a running guru (Xanthe) she suggested wind sprints. You are all more wise then me. The premise of wind sprints is that you run flat out as hard as you can for 1 minute then walk to recover. You continue to do this for the length of your training session. It should be done as one of your running training days so you would do it however long you would normally run that day. This helps you to eventually build up speed. I plan to start incorporating this for next week.

If I'm really going to do this I need to be running at least a 10-12 minute mile which at this stage is not happening.

Overall I can really feel my wind developing and also my leg strength. I'm pleased to say I might actually become a runner after all.

who's excited to run five miles this saturday???

I am! Does it make me less of a runner if I do it all on a treadmill? I'm building endurance for the outdoors.

core secrets

After Penelope was born, I found myself suckered into the Core Secrets infomercial and spent $100 on DVDs I only ever used like twice. But now I can rid myself of my spending guilt because I've begun to use it on really cold cross training days!

20 minute day

I just finished up my run this afternoon and man was it hard. My legs were seriously tired. It was all I could do to run the 20 minute minimum. I don't know if this is normal or not. Hopefully by Wednesday I will have some recovery and can run for at least 25 if not 30 minutes.

I Hate Running

Need I say more.

in the beginning

I ran four miles today and needed someone to be impressed. Hence, the creation of this blog, where my fair cousins, my sister, and I (and, incidentally, anyone else who seriously decides to join our marathon-training entourage) can electronically cheer one another on.

I told Dave that if there's one thing I hope to get out of all of this, it's to be able to publicly pee my pants (a common marathon occurrence) and have it be okay. Dave told me, though, that that sort of thing was only for the hard core and would be utterly unacceptable for me to do, as there are port-a-pottys lining the route.

Hmph.

Bummer.