Favorite run of 2011

I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason. The other morning on the drive to school Rascal Flatts song 'God blessed the broken road' came on the radio. The lyrics made me reminisce on lots of things; things that I wanted so badly to happen and didn't, things that I never would have thought in a million years would happen and did. Crazy to think if I had made one tiny decision in the past, everything could have changed and I wouldn't be where I am now in life. Like a butterfly effect. And all those choices and blessings have brought me to where I am right now. Right where I am supposed to be. How cool is that?! Pretty cool!


Yesterday I DID NOT want to get up when my alarm went off at 4:00 a.m. for my 16 mile run. I was so extremely grumpy, which is unusual for me since I am usually the world's biggest morning person. I don't even think I smiled until I got in the car and heard a good song. Sheesh. But alas, I did manage to roll out of the bed, make coffee, throw on clothes, and meet my people downtown at 5:15 for our run. I really didn't start having fun until about mile 4, and it was all downhill from there. I don't even bring my ipod to run with anymore, I end up talking to my group or listening in on gossip the whole time. And it's better, because we laugh and make jokes which instantly turns me into a 4 year old and increases my mood. So my dreaded morning actually turned out to be my favorite run of 2011 so far, ha! I wasn't sore or tired afterwards, and my GI system cooperated the entire time!!!! (fist pump) Such an accomplishment. AND I didn't even need a nap.... until like 3 p.m. haha. I brought a Cliff bar to eat halfway through, which was my holy grail because I wasn't about to eat my seat belt on the way home this time. 


I actually behaved very well at a football party get together and only had 4 plates worth of rotel dip :) Healthy food didn't sound good at all, and I had a huge craving for cookies and beer...helloooo dinner! Love the weekends. Well the running and eating part. Getting back into the whole school thing is harder than I anticipated. I need better time management. Not so much procrastinating. Like what I'm doing now. Ugh. 

Hello World

Hellooo. Long time no see. For some strange reason I had the itch to start this thing back today. Feel like I should make some long list of excuses as to why I haven't blogged in a while...like I've been cheating or something haha. Not exactly sure what I'm going to say. Maybe just a lot of ramblings. It's therapeutic for me though. And a lot neater than my handwriting, ha. I blame it on the lefthandedness...yup.


Started marathon training two weeks ago (eeeee!!!!!) 10 miles two weeks ago, 10 again last weekend, and 12 this weekend. I've found some awesome people to go do long runs with, which rocks because there is hardly anywhere in Birmingham to run more than 5 miles by yourself without having a minor/major panic attack about someone kidnapping you. So. New running friends = awesomesauce. The only challenge is that I have finals the Monday and Tuesday after the Rocket City Marathon...hmmm. I'm going to train for it and hopefully do super well in my classes this year (fingers double crossed) so that I can do it! I'm excited already. Esp the running with people thing. So much more fun. Words cannot describe. My feet just kind of fall into harmony with everyone else's, kind of like a herd mentality haha, and gives me way more motivation. I like knowing there are people as crazy as I am. I woke up at 4 this past weekend to meet them for the first time...I was so anxious/excited that I didn't sleep hardly at all...seriously...the last time I looked at my clock was midnight, so I got 4 hours sleep max. Like a kid on Christmas morning! Well....okay okay plus I had a late snack around 9:30 of Cheetos and chocolate milk --was starving after work. I guess the sugar from choc. milk gave me a 3 hour sugar high, I haven't had that happen in years -- but of course it happens when I need to wake up at 4 a.m. the next morning. But guess what, I finished my 12 anyways! HA! I was worried the group of runners were going to be so much faster than me and leave me in the dark (literally...we watched the sun come up as we ran; glorious) but we were all about the same. Annnnd to top it off, some of them go out on the course beforehand and set out water and gatorade in coolers along the way, um new bff's? I think so. 


Okay that's all. More later. Peace out. 

Off days

....truly test my patience. I feel like I've accomplished nothing and somehow am always 3948395 times more hungrier than when I run. WHY?!?!? I know they are necessary and blahblahblah but seriously, they suck. They make me feel like this: --->

So in honor of my off day, I'm going to write about running to make myself feel better.

Weird things/routines I do when I run:

• I must wear earrings. Really. Just a silver stud will do. I feel naked without any. Weird.
• I must brush my teeth before I run. Or at least chew gum. I feel gross if I have bad breath and I'm huffing and puffing. I'd rather breathe fresh and clean. Weird.
• I have to tuck my shoelace ends under the criss-cross part of the top of the shoe for double security, along with double knotting. Double knotting alone always amazes me in that they STILL manage to magically become untied. And make me angry. Dirty little shoe games. Weird.
• I like holding my iPod or phone when I run. I'm one of those people that don't know what to do with their hands and look slightly special flinging them around....problem solved. Weird.
• When I wrap my iPod cord around my hand (I don't like the arm band holders because it's awkward to change songs....which I do ALOT) I only wrap the cord around my thumb, index, and middle finger. I have to have my ring and pinky fingers free. They feel claustrophobic if they're wrapped around the cord. I know, really weird.

NEW RUNNING SHOES ARE IN THE MAIL!!!!!!!!!! New running shoe day is probably better than my birthday. Forreal. For serious. For certain. YES. I'm so excited. (Actually....they're from my mom for my birthday. Ha...) Anyways, I'm getting the Saucony Grid Type A4. I'm trying to keep with the minimalist type shoes, but I also want to keep up the mileage and fitness level that I have...getting impatient already in the Vibrams. I've never run in Saucony's before, but these are supposed to have only a 4 millimeter difference from the heel to the toes, which is really good. The shoes I have now have a 12 millimeter difference. I really wanted the Mizuno Universe's, but I have midget feet and since those are unisex they don't have my size. Sad day. Hence the Saucony's. Crossing my finger's that my IT band will like them....

And since it's only 1 1/2 hours away...TGIF! :)

Motivated Monday

Monday surprised me this week..I've been in a fantastic mood alllll day! (I think the coffee was stronger than normal). One of the reasons for this is that I've started reading blogs again and have become re-motivated. I know, I'm a nerdy nerdster, but I love knowing that plenty of other people have the same interest (obsession) and hobby as I do, and therefore, I am NOT crazy. So thank you all. Full attentiveness in Pathophysiology at 8 a.m. is pretty rare, but I was in the zone. I was full of energy even into the afternoon and through my workout. Felt like a champion. Was feeling adventurous and ellipticalled on the hill setting, (side note--do not go to Indonesia, according to the elliptical they have some gigantic ones). Plus, Katie brought home a king cake....obviously we are soul mates. I am so thankful for her. She's my person. Another friend is supposed to bring a peanut butter pie over for dessert..YESSSSS. We didn't tell her about the king cake :) Monday night is our night out of the week to cook a good homemade meal, watch 2 hours of tv, and dominate some dessert. Awesome way to start the week!

Workout:

-45 min elliptical

-15 min bike

1 & 1/2 years, 2 half marathons, and one full marathon later!

So it's been about a year and a half since I've blogged anything...but thanks to my bff/roommate/running friend starting a blog, I've been motivated to try and begin again!

Since then, I've run 2 more half marathons (Nashville Country Music 1/2, and Birmingham Mercedes 1/2) and a full marathon! (Huntsville Rocket City Marathon).

Disclaimer: This is going to be long because I haven't actually written my marathon story out yet....sorry :)

What they say is true: "If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon."

My story: The marathon was both the best and worst experience of my life. I trained for a solid 4 months, doing my long runs on Monday mornings (class didn't start until 11 so it was perfect) with my boyfriend at the time. He came into my life at the opportune time because there was no way I was going to do 15+ miles all by my lonesome out on the streets of Birmingham. No thank you. So after my last exam of the semester, we head up to Huntsvegas and try to get some sleep. I was so incredibly excited/anxious. Boy was only running the first 10 with me, (he hadn't been training as long as I had for it) so I was glad to have some support for almost 1/2 of it. Mom and dad promised to be at mile 16 for moral support along with some granola bars for energy. Weather was reported to hover around 35 for the entire morning and about a 40% chance of rain. Lovely. So I took no iPod or phone because I didn't want them to get ruined...mistake. True to word, it was absolutely freezing. The sky had a depressing sheet of gray clouds for the entirety of the race, but no rain! Minor almost-roll-of-the-ankle at mile 2, no biggie right? WRONG. Very wrong. Everything was going very smoothly until mile 15. By that time boy had already left to go wait at the 22 mile marker and run the last 4.2 with me. I had to stop to use the portapotty. As soon as I tried to start running again, immense pain on the inner side of the arch on my left foot. I could hardly put any pressure on it without wanting to scream. Something was bad wrong. After walking for a little bit and deciding that there was NO way I was going to quit after all the training and being more than halfway through, I trudged on. Plus, mom and dad were supposed to meet me at the next mile, so at least I had something to look forward to. I found that the only part of my foot that didn't hurt to land on was my big toe...so for the next 11.2 miles, that's where I landed (you can imagine how that bad boy looked after). Well mile 16 came, and no sign of parents. I was devastated. That meant I wouldn't be seeing anyone for the next 6 miles. And 6 miles to where you can barely run meant it was going to be a loooong 6 miles. And it was. It quickly became the biggest mind game of my life. There were policemen at each mile ready to take injured runners or runners who couldn't finish back to the start line. I never wanted that to be me. I couldn't stand the thought of a big fat DNF by my name, even though my time was going to be anything but stellar. I had forgotten a friend had told me he would make a sign for me, and around mile 18 a big 'GO ASHLEY!' was blown up in bright pink. He said I was looking good, which was a total lie because I was very much doing some kind of grandpa shuffle. Finally, somehow I miraculously make it to mile 22 and see boy. I don't know what I would have done without him. I told him about my stupid foot and he gave me all the moral support I needed. He stayed and made sure I finished those last 4.2 miles, doing everything he could to make me laugh and get my mind off of the pain. Mom and dad ended up finding us at mile 24. Mom was about to have an absolute fit once she saw my sad attempt to run, trying to get me to quit while shoving granola down my throat. I was so mad at them, thinking they had forgotten all about our deal to meet at mile 16. But, that's after I had hurt myself. They said they waited and waited and assumed I had been faster than they anticipated and moved on to try and find me. I told them that I was going to finish this &*#!%*# of a race, and they could meet me and boy at the finish. I finished. 4:55. The worst part was after crossing the finish line, because we still had to walk back to the car. Miserable miserable miserable. I just ran a marathon with maybe a fractured foot, I did NOT want to move for the next week. I ate 2 whole bagels and a banana with an embarrassing amount of peanut butter and chocolate milk when I got home, and slept for about 5 hours. Champion in my mind. 26.2 I finished you!

ITBS: ..........The pain persisted in my foot for the next 3 weeks....that's 21 days. A long 21 days of dragging my foot around like Quasimodo. It made me depressed. Went to the doctor who couldn't find anything wrong with it. Cool. I wanted to snatch his PhD off the wall. WTF was hurting so much then. I'll never know. I blame it on my almost-rolled-ankle at mile 2. SO, about a month later, I was able to put enough pressure on my foot to walk around comfortably and attempt to run. But because I had been putting all my weight on my right leg due to dragging my left around and not wanting to put pressure on it.....instant enflamed unbearable pain on the lateral side of my right knee. I could walk upstairs, but could not walk downstairs to save my life. Pain that would leave me in tears. I would get stuck on the flipping stairs at school, turn around, and have to take the elevator from floor 2 to 1 and piss off everyone already on it. "Omg....someone is taking it down one floor...." "YEAH THAT'S ME, I'M SORRY. My knee feels like its about to explode." Was my response. Left that girl open mouthed. Ha. Self diagnosed ITBS (iliotibial band syndrome). Syndrome from hell. Every step you take you can feel that sucker tighten up and pinch. So I didn't run for about another month. Not fun. Missed out on the Mercedes 1/2 Marathon. Depressed. Got better by April. Decided to run the Country Music 1/2 with boy. Finished, but with crappy crappy time because I was afraid of overdoing it. Syndrome came back in July after I bought new running shoes. I overpronate, and the people at the running store told me I should wear the most extreme stability/motion control shoes they offer. Sounded good to me. NO. ITBS back in full force after a week. Extremely irritated, I began researching online and librarying scientific journals (I was getting desperate) to figure out what in the world I could do. Came across numerous articles about barefoot running and minimalist running. It was like stumbling across the holy grail. I picked up a pair of Vibrams....gloves for feet. They are absolutely amazing. No pain whatsoever. I feel like I'm running on air. Unfortunately, because I'm an extremely impatient person I didn't feel like taking the time to transition into them the right way. Instead, I switched back to normal running shoes once my ITBS felt better. It was fine until I started running in the double digits again. I ran the Mercedes 1/2 this past weekend. It was glorious. I've missed running distances like that. I beat my time by 5 whole minutes....finished in 1:50 (8:28 min/mile) which is really good for me!!! It kills me though, because my IT band started screaming at mile 9, so I had to cut back for the last 4 miles and not overdo it. The IT band has been back this past week....not nearly as bad as last year, but I had a hard time walking down stairs again. I'm determined to get rid of this mess once and for all. I'm switching over to Vibrams completely. It's probably going to stink being patient, but it'll be SO worth it. I'm excited :) Goodbye pain!!!!

Week 1 of FIRST

So I tried out the FIRST schedule for a week. I can sum it all up in one word... BUTTKICKER!

Monday: Key workout #1 - 2 mile warmup/6 x (1 min fast then 1 min easy)/1 mile cooldown
Easy right? Wrong! I could whine all day about the heat and humidity, but the fact is that I've never really done legit speedwork, so it killed my body.

Tuesday: Cross-training - Biking (cycling?) Which is it? Gosh. I'm such a n00b :) Truth is... I haven't biked/cycled probably since 8th grade. I had to dust cobwebs off my mom's bike (mine had been sold at a garage sale about 5 years ago..ha), pump up the tires, and raise the seat up. But all the hard work paid off.. I loved it! I didn't get super hot because the wind was all around me.. why have I not done this until now!? I used to think it biking/cycling was easy, I mean it looks easy to an outsider - like they're just gliding gracefully along - not exactly. I went about 10 miles altogether and my thighs were on fire! But after the workout and shower I wasn't sore or exhausted; I could tell in my legs that I had used different muscles than the day before. Pretty cool stuff.

Wednesday: Key Workout #2 - 2 mile warmup/2 mile tempo pace/2 mile cooldown
Once again, sounds easy right? Wrong! I went into this workout pretty confident, but it was HARD. I cheated... I couldn't keep the pace for the whole two miles. I actually have no idea what my pace was. Just faster than the warmup. I don't have a Garmin or anything :( so I just went faster than my normal pace. But it just made me more determined to do better this week!

Thursday: Cross-training - Biking/Cycling

Friday: Key Workout #3 - 8 mile run
Definitely my favorite out of the workouts! I felt like I could have kept on going forever after #8.. but since its been a couple weeks since I've gone farther than 8, I decided to stick to the plan and not risk injuries or anything.

Saturday: Day off - Packing for school!

Sunday: Day off - Moving in and all that good stuff!

I can't wait to start back tomorrow. I have confidence that it will help me get faster by allowing my muscles to adjust and repair themselves. Plus now I love biking/cycling! :) Hopefully once school is back in full swing I'll still be able to keep up my running schedule as well.
--CheetahGirl

Remember me???

Probably not. But that's okay ;-)

So after over a months break from a single blog post, I've decided to get back on track. Why did I stop? Honestly... I was bored. Of course I've still been running and such, but my runs became monotonous and there really wasn't much to say about them. I was more worried about adding up the miles each week than enjoying myself and having fun. Well, I'm now in the process of changing.

I've recently found a book by Runner's World called, 'Run Less, Run Faster'** and incorporates 3 days running and 2 days cross training. At first I was skeptical because I usually run 6 days out of the week... but cutting that in half? The more I read the more it makes sense. I need to allow my body to recover and repair itself in-between runs. Each run should have a purpose instead of filling up on junk miles. I plan to attempt my first marathon in December (whoo!!), and feel like I should give this plan a shot. Has anyone read this or used its methods??

-CheetahGirl


**Okay, so I didn't really buy it... I've just been reading it in Barnes & Noble each morning after my run and shower.... for free :)