9 went well...10??

This was a great wknd in so many ways. I will put up more pics later from Mike's surprise wknd for me to celebrate our one year anniversary. We stayed in DC, got a hotel, went to dinner, and I loved it all. We went to the Cherry Blossoms on Sunday and spent hrs walking around and going in the paddle boats on the Tidal Basin. Running wise everything was good too. I went for 9 miles on Sat morning before we left and it was rather successful. I did not have to stop and walk once and I felt that I was in a pretty good rhythmn all throughout the run. It took me 1 hr and 36 mins which I am pleased with. So the race is in 6 days and I think I might acutally be able to pull it off!

Running at 540 AM

While Mike is trying to get back into running after his foot surgery he is more on pace with where I am right now than where he usually is, which is a lot faster than me. Today we went running together in the morning before he went to work. Since he gets to work a lot earlier than I do we had to go rather early. I think we got out the door around 540AM. That is such an ungodly hour it is hard for me to think about it. Once we got out there it was rather nice. There was barely anyone around, we saw maybe two people on the trail, and it was incredibly quiet. Mike wore my headlamp so we were not running in the complete darkness as well. 10 days to the race and today I feel that I can do it. We'll see what happens when I attempt 9 miles on Saturday before we go away for our wknd trip!

One Year and the Running 11 days

Today is Mike and my One Year Anniversary. Pretty Awesome too! What a great year it has been in so many ways. I am thrilled that we have reached this milestone as I never imagined one year of my life could be as amazing as it has been with him. Here are a few pictures to represent that.

He has pushed me to do so much in this past year esp with getting healthier and running. The 10 mile race is 11 days away and that goal seems like a big one but I am really hoping I can make it happen. As long as the blood sugars stay in line and I dont do anything to screw it up I still want to give it a shot right now as opposed to a few days ago when I wanted to throw in the towel.

Should have been 8

On Sunday I attempted to run 8 miles and it did not go very well. Started off okay and made it to mile marker 7.5 which I haven't seen since before the Vegas race. This made it about 4 miles and I turned around to run home. That was the beginning of the end. My blood sugar must have dropped suddenly as my hands and feet both felt tingly and I just couldn't run. I ran/walked to mile marker 6 and then just couldn't do it anymore. I had to walk 1.5 miles on the trail and then the rest of the 1 mile home. It was ridiculous and took me over two hrs to do all this. I was so mad that this happened as I really thought I could do 8 miles. This makes the whole race in two weeks seem not very likely to happen. At this pt it is going to be a wait and see approach.

Animals on the Trail

Last week I was running in the morning and for the first time ever a dog came out of nowhere. He looked at me and ran away. It made me think what would I do if an animal attacked me while out on the trail. Its basically just me, a few bikers and other runners, and that is it. I still have not come up with a solution to that issue besides squirting water in it's face or hitting it with a stick. Anyway today I was running and this odd looking cat ran across the trail. It was not a raccoon and not a normal sized cat. So this is what I think it was. A Scottish wild cat, which makes its home normally in Asia and Europe. The real question is then what is he doing in Maryland???

Ran 4 miles today, no ipod and no water bottle. Not having the water really hurts me at times but I wanted to go without it for once.

Goal is 8 miles on Sunday, 2 weeks and 2 days until the race.

made 7

I ran 7 miles in 1 hr 15 mins on Saturday. Finally getting back to where I want to be again. Hopefully this continues as seeing ten miles seems a little bit more realistic now! And Pitt got a #1 Seed in the tournament for the first time ever.

Finally 5

Ran 5 miles yesterday for the first time since the Half Marathon without feeling like I was going to pass out. I started out slow and kept a rather steady pace throughout the whole time. It felt good to run 5, without stopping, and to feel good about it at the end. Hopefully this is a good sign of things to come and not just a one time deal. It gave me new found hope that I might actually be able to run the 10 mile Cherry Blossom race in a little over 3 weeks. We'll see how this wknd goes! I want to run this race and do well so badly I just want to feel good doing it as well!

Attempting 6

Well at least I dont run into poles like this one guy did, but running lately has been overly difficult. I remember running 10 miles for the first time and how easy it was and how well it went. Of course I dont remember the months upon months of getting to that point. As the Cherry Blossom 10 mile race gets closer I am losing confidence that I'll be able to do it. Which is equally horrible b/c I really want to do it. Sean said the race itself is great and the course is perfectly flat which helps a lot too. I went for 6 miles on Sunday but probably only made it about 3 running and walked 3. My blood sugars have been dropping while I run and it makes it impossible to keep going. Everything else feels fine though so I keep thinking this is going to change and it just hasnt yet. The goal this week is 3 miles Tues, 5 Thurs and 7 on Sat. Hopefully this goes well b/c I need a good run to boost my self esteem again!

Attempting to get back into it

My running has been seriously lacking. The 10 mile race is almost exactly one month away and I just don't know if I can do it or not. 10 miles was always so easy for me to run before the half marathon as I did it w/out having to walk at all. I want to get back to that, but it is difficult. This weather is not helping. It was absolutely frigid when I tried to go 5 miles in Warren, OH on Sunday and I ended up walking more than I have ever had to do before. I was supposed to try for 4 miles today but the temperature was at a stellar 10 degrees when I woke up and that just didn't seem reasonable. This cold weather needs to pass soon b/c it is hurting my running way too much. I just hope I will have enough time left to be able to actually make 10 miles again.