shoutout to my Nathan

Training for a marathon is serious business. IMHO, one cannot do it alone - whether through the support of friends, family or spouse (or kids), help is needed. For me at least. Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know that my marathon would not be possible without the support of Nathan. I know I'm only halfway through my training program, so I don't want to jump the gun. But to even get to this point, I could not do it without Nathan. You see, he does a lot for me. He nudges me when I need it, calms my nerves, encourages me, let's me run long on the ideal weekend day, watches Liam or stays home while he naps so I can run, helps me sort out my ipod issues, deals with my crabbiness... The list goes on and on. Thanks Nathan!!

to making it count

I had (what I thought) was a great idea during my long run today (14 - yeah!). I was out there running and wondering what the heck good it was doing anybody but me. I am not into doing a Team in Training for whatever reason. There has to be a way to make all of this running count for something.

Something Nathan and I have never followed through on is consistent charitable giving. Yes, we do give to our church and the occasional donation to disaster relief. I have started donating blood on a semi-regular basis (OK, I've done it exactly twice, but I am scheduled to give again next week!). So I propose this - for every mile run and every 3 miles biked, we contribute $1 to the charity of our choice. You know Nathan and I both keep all of our workouts on spreadsheets (dorks!), so this should not be hard to track. The person completing the mile (or 3) decides where the money goes at the end of the year. For example, last year I ran 800 miles, so I could donate $800 to the charity of my choice. I don't know how many Nathan ran/rode last year. Whoa, this may cost us some money.

I came up with this idea on Lap 1 of 3. In fact, I did my best "thinking" on Lap 1. Anyway, on Lap 3 I found a $1 bill on the ground. I almost ran past it thinking, "I am not going to pick up someone else's dollar!" But then I thought "I am not rich, I am not going to just run past a dollar!" Anyway, as I went back to pick it up and then continued on I realized that this could be "a signt affirming my great idea. What do you think?

PS - Extra points to the first person who can correctly identify the movie I got my post title from. :)

random thoughts 2/22/07

Here are some of the random thoughts that went through my head as I ran outside today:

Oh, that's what my Achilles feels like!

How can one not feel like a stud when running fast through the light rain with Metallica's 'Enter Sandman' blasting on the headphones?

Mental note - drive route before attempting first post-ice storm run outside to avoid looking/feeling like idiot on multitude of icy segments.

Other mental note - check weather forecast before heading out the door. Wind? Rain?

Don't worry, trust God.

Due to the excess of ice remaining on the sidewalks, I ended up getting in about 5.4 miles as opposed to the 8 I'd hoped to run. It was still a great run and I was so thrilled to finally get outside again. I'll get the rest in on the TM tonight - I don't have much to do since Nathan will be otherwise engaged, except to play on my new macbook. ;)

slippery Sunday

Not for me of course... I did my long run on the TM. Yes, I did complete a half marathon on my trusty treadmill. I almost named this post "torture" but of course do not want to offend anyone. After all, i am pretty lucky to be able to train in the comfort of my own home when weather conditions are not cooperative. It was a painfully boring 13.2 miles that I could not have completed w/o Nathan's support. I had little motivation (again!) knowing that I would have to complete such a long distance inside and then my ipod was on the fritz (again!) so that was really frustrating. I was ready to just throw in the towel for today but Nathan gently nudged me in the right direction (thanks, honey!). He even went so far as to re-create my playlist to the extent possible onto his ipod so I would have music to run to. What would I do without this guy?? So, I think this is week 8 completed. Next week calls for temps up into the 50s. Downright balmy!!

weekend roundup

This week has been a difficult running week. On Tuesday, we received several inches of snow and ice, paralyzing the region for the remainder of the week. While I was lucky enough not to be called in for snow duty (people are still working this weekend!), the weather still wreaked havoc on my running program. I did have some awesome treadmill runs (oxymoron?) both at home and at the gym. When I saw the weather forecast for this weekend, I was pleased to see that one day would reach into the 40's. No worry - I am an expert in cold weather running! Right. Now the forecast has changed - today will reach a high of 37 but tomorrow will be a few degrees colder and WINDY. You'd think I'd be concerned but the fact of the matter is that the sidewalks and trails are still solid ice (several inches) - it is too cold to melt. I checked the runnersworld.com marathon forums to see how other people were dealing with the weather and what I found is that basically you have to do your long run indoors. Ugh. Someone had done 22 and someone else 18. On a treadmill. Oy. This week's plan calls for 12-16, so I am aiming for 14. Funny, what I wouldn't give to be able to run outside in the cold and wind!

long run sunday

After a weekend of visiting with friends and family in celebration of Liam's second birthday, I faced the fact that I had 10-15 miles to run before Sunday was over. After putting Liam down for his nap, I pulled on my Under Armour, prepared my gatorade-water mix and got ready to hit the pavement. I'll admit I was moving pretty slowly. I downloaded some new music (highly recommend Gwen Stefani's Sweet Escape single for running) and headed out the door to complete my 12.9 miles. I decided to do 3 loops of 4.3 miles so I could stop at home for the inevitable potty break and gatorade. The first lap actually felt good, considering how hard it was to get out the door. The second was even better and so on with the third. My time for each loop got faster and it was an all around great run. Sure, I was a little out of sorts by the time I finished, but it's been about 5 years since I've run this far. Week 6 - complete!

firsts

I reached new heights today with regard to running. I was actually planning to get in a ho-hum 4 miles on the TM during lunch (yes, STILL butt cold and windy). But today was just one of those days when the legs felt so good. I kept increasing the speed on the TM to see how fast I could go. I normally top out at about 7.3 mph and can't sustain that for more than a minute or so. Well, today I am proud to say I reached 8.6 mph! For those that know me, I am a renowned slowpoke - the tortoise to Nathan's hare. For me to reach 8.6 mph is unthinkable, but I did. That is just under 7:00 min/mi. pace! I was able to maintain a fast pace for a good bit of the run... and the runner's high was well, euphoric.