spot on...

I found this on pinterest...  my thoughts exactly.

Running...

Well I did it... I signed up for another Half Marathon at the end of September.... yikes.  I am the kind of person that needs an end goal to continue to work out on a daily basis- I need something to train for.  Maybe it is because I was an athlete for a long time and there was always something to train for... games, tournaments, races etc.  I find working out with no goal boring and eventually I just stop.  So I guess I'll just have to do a race every 3-4 months to keep me going.  I have never done a race so close to summer, where the majority of my training will be in the hot months of the summer... in Texas.  eeek.  I am thinking water is going to be my new best friend.  

For every Half I run, I pick up a new pair of running shoes to train and run the race in.  I just got my new pair, they are like running on the clouds.  I love new running shoes.  I never realize how worn out my old ones are until I put a brand new pair on.  For those of you wondering- I run in Asics Gel-Nimbus.  The new ones I got are the Gel Nimbus 13's... I have been wearing these shoes since they had gel nimbus 6's.  Love them.

First sprint day at the gym below.  Not too bad.  I do one sprint day a week... usually on Wednesdays because then I am fully recovered by Saturday's long run.  I only run quarter mile sprints.  Walk for 5 minutes, run for 5 minutes at 6mph, then .25 miles at 8 mph then I bring it down to 4mph for .10 miles, and then .25mi sprint again.  Repeat.  First sprint day this week, I did 8x .25mi sprints and then cooled down with a jog for another mile.  It felt great, and it shreds calories which we like.

Snacks that have been keeping me going...  Pistachios are my new obsession.  They are extremely addicting.  My little habit has gotten so out of control that the Jerbear bought me a couple of pistachio trees- hopefully they will produce next year.  Yogurt- I joke that we are on the Michael Weston diet around here.  (Burn Notice reference)  All four of us eat A LOT of yogurt.  Plain yogurt, yogurt with fruit, yogurt with honey, yogurt with granola, frozen yogurt, greek yogurt.... you name it we have it. 

If anyone wants to run/train with me for a Half Marathon let me know!  I'm always up for workout partners.  

I'm off to feed the Little Men some lunch, that will probably include yogurt of some sort...

Have a great weekend!

****Update****

I have had a few people ask about training schedule.  I am following week 1 this week.  I have pulled the training schedule from the book 4 Hours to a 4 Hour Marathon by Dave Kuehls, and modified it a bit to fit my needs. 

Running High....

It's a myth.  It's bullshit.  It doesn't happen.  Running sucks.  It's hard, it hurts and it's boring.  But I did it.  I completed the Half Marathon that I signed up for, the one that was on my 30 before thirty list.


To be fair, I have run one before, 5 years ago, pre-kids, you know- when I was in great shape, worked out everyday, weighed 25 lbs less and took care of myself.  But guess what... I only ran it 3 minutes slower than before, I crossed the finish line at 2 hrs and 15 min.  whew.


I trained hardcore this fall and then Thanksgiving hit, and I didn't run.  And then I didn't run some more.  Then January hit and I started to run a little.  Then I didn't run.  Then I realized I only had 2 weeks left before the race, and in typical Teddi fashion of procrastination I started to prepare.  The first seven miles were easy, I run 6-7 miles quite a bit, I was texting my mom and listening to my music, and updating FB, yeah that was me.  Then I started to get a bit tired, then mile 9 hit, and while I didn't hit what people refer to as the 'wall' I just got tired.  It was cold.  It was windy, and my feet weren't moving as fast as I would have liked them to.  Mile 11.  Mile 11 was a doozy.  I finally had to stop and walk a little bit.  An old lady passed me.  I started to get mad and so I started to run again, albeit a bit slower than before.  Mile 12.  whew only one mile to go.  I picked up the pace knowing I only had 10 minutes left and less if I moved faster.  That is one thing about running, the faster you go the less time it takes.  I just have to keep thinking that.  Mile 12 was uphill, a nice steady incline the WHOLE WAY.  That is just plain mean.  I passed a few people on that incline, mostly because when I see the end I can power through anything, I saw Jerbear and Lauren waiting for me and I crossed the line.  I immediately wanted a massive amount of food, a hot shower and a bed.


waiting at the start line...

halfway...

Finished!

Oh and guess what.... I'm doing another Half this spring.  I must be crazy!  But I am determined to get my time close to 2 hours.  If you don't know- I am crazy competitive on certain things... this, running, apparently is one of those things, board games is another but that is a story for another time.  And I am only competing against myself and the clock with running.  damn.


Before you ask- yes I was incredibly sore the next day.  Surprisingly it wasn't my calfs or hammy's it was my hip flexors.  Apparently I need to do some additional stretches, you know, cause I wasn't doing any...