Hello, July!
Well obviously I suck at this whole blogging regularly thing. In my head I want to do it, but I just don't have the time or energy to commit to it. So, I apologize. As much as I would love to finish writing about my honeymoon, I think I might pass on that seeing that it has been over 6 months since we got back. Fast forward to July!
The last month I have really started to pick up running regularly again, and my body is thankful for that. While I am sore and tired a lot, I just FEEL better. It is just so good to have this back in my life, and I want to really get back in shape again - GOOD shape. So what else to motivate me than training for marathon #3???
I signed up for the Twin Cities Marathon on October 3, and officially started training for it the first week of June. I haven't been 100% with hitting all my miles, but I am way more dedicated and regular with my running than I was before, when I would randomly run a few times a month and throw in a half marathon here or there without any training. Usually that does not work out, but I actually had a phenomenal race given my training back in March. Let's start from the beginning, shall we?
March was the month I really decided that it was time to get stronger. I have gained some weight since the wedding and had been feeling sluggish since the winter months. Plus, as I get older, I have noticed that running alone is not quite enough for me to achieve well-balance fitness. So I started doing yoga by signing up for a beginner's yoga class at the Yoga Center of Minneapolis. I always thought yoga was a wimpy type workout, but decided to give it a shot for a more relaxed but focused way to increase core strength and flexibility. In this class we learned about various types of yoga, and boy was I wrong -- it can be intense! But at the end of 4 weeks I noticed improved posture and my running felt more controlled. At the end of March I flew out to DC to visit my friend Jen and run the National Half Marathon in pursuit of my 50 state goal. I wasn't sure what to expect, since I was averaging 1-2 runs per week at the most up until then... but it turned out to be AMAZING! The weather was perfect, the course was beautiful and varied, and by some miracle, my body just felt great and totally connected. With exception of a few miles in the middle, my pace was very even, and I finished in 2:06... my fastest time in over a YEAR! I was just thrilled! So in April, I traveled down to Oklahoma City with my friend Heather for my next half expecting to have the same experience... not so. I was tired, sluggish, and did not have fun at all... finishing in 2:16. Blah. So I thought about the missing pieces? Well, my yoga class was over... and I didn't really run at all, not even 1-2 days per week. After this experience, I decided to do what I did last year -- I mentally "quit" until school was over and until other major events in May were done (Kevin's wedding, Alex's graduation) so that I wouldn't feel guilty for slacking or waste any more money on races I wouldn't be able to train for.
So come June, I planned out a training schedule that will take me through my later fall half-marathon in November. And the first 2 weeks I followed it to a T. The last 2 weeks were a little more hit and miss because I have been busy. Regardless, I have done more running and seen more improvement in both pace and feel. So to test my progress, I signed up for the Red, White, and Boom! Half Marathon, which was yesterday. And it was such a disappointment. First off, I woke up at 4:30 that morning with horrible intestinal cramps... not a good sign before a 13.1 mile race. By start time I got that under control and was ready to go. It was very muggy and humid though, 82 degrees at the START at 6:30am with about 87% humidity. By the end of the first mile I was just dripping sweat. Then the rain started, and it continued for about 7 miles, a majority of which includes a heavy steady downpour. It was actually refreshing in terms of humidty, but after you just get soaking wet and the water keeps pouring into your eyes it gets annoying. In addition, by mile 5 or 6 my shoes and socks were so soaking wet it was uncomfortable. By mile 9, I could just feel the blisters forming, and by the end of the race it was hard to maintain a normal gait because of them. Around mile 9 I also felt my intestines starting to act up again, so I had to walk a lot to prevent getting sick. I walked/jogged much of the last 5K, but I at least had a good last half-mile finish. Otherwise, I think my mistake was that I assumed I would do better and started out a little too fast. My first 5 miles were all under 9:30 (which for a half, I am usually more conservative and then gradually increase pace), but with the humidity and lack of endurance I got exhausted way too quickly -- by mile 7, I was just wiped! Overall though, I really enjoyed the course -- I don't say this about many races, but I would consider running it again under better conditions and training! I think I need to take a step back and stop rushing the process... need to focus on just getting the miles in gradually but consistently. It's just so hard for me to do that when I want to so badly be back to where I was 2 years ago, I just don't have the patience!!
In other non-running news, I have been keeping myself busy like usual. I was fortunate to find a summer position advising students in the College of Design at the University of Minnesota -- so no more Gap!! It's a good gig, but sometimes boring. I often find myself without anything to do, but I won't complain if they are going to pay me twice as much to sit in an air-conditioned office :) I am at the U of M three days a week, and I have continued to work at SCSU 2 days a week to make up for some flex time from last semester. I actually think it's a good balance, because I definitely have work to get done up there but I don't have to make the drive every day!
This last weekend my dear friend Ana came from to visit! We had a great time just catching up talking, and also played mini-golf, had some delicious burgers at the Nook, and went to the outlet mall for some shopping! On the 4th her brother invited us to his house in Shorewood for a BBQ and fireworks, and it was SUCH a good time. Wonderful food, hospitality, and conversation :-) It makes me wish I had more friends up here, but now that I am in my late 20s and I have so much going on in my own personal life, it's like I have no time to go out and make new friends in the area -- even if I did, I don't know if I would know how! Growing up you have organized activities like school, sports, and music that force you to be in an environment with a variety of people, and over a long period of time you develop really solid friendships. Growing up, you always think you will make your best friends in college -- but for me, I met very few, and in the end, my two closest friends are still the ones I met back in junior high. There is just so much more shared history there, the growing up together that has mutually influenced who you are and your friendship. Meeting more as adults, a lot of that has already been shaped, so it's a matter of fitting in to a life that has already been built. Does that even make sense? I just feel like it is much harder. Even when I do meet someone and think, wow I could really be friends with this person! it usually doesn't work out long term and is very geographically based... because that person already has their close circle, with no room for me to fit in. And what do you even do, just say "hey, can we be friends??" AWKWARD! So the solution seems to be to join organized activities like we did as kids, but I have so much anxiety that I don't feel comfortable doing that on my own... I need a friend to go with me! Double edge sword. So anyway, moral of the story -- it was soooo great to spend the holiday with friends, and I only wish it could happen more often!
Otherwise, I spend a good chunk of the rest of my time getting school work done. I am taking two classes this summer, First Aid & CPR and Nutrition. The First Aid class is at Anoka Ramsey Community College, and I am in a class with a bunch of idiots (give or take a few). So very discouraging. I need this class for my Community Health program and did not feel comfortable taking it at SCSU because of all the hands on activities with students I could potentially be advising, so I have to suck it up... but I will never take another community college class again! Nutrition is an online class through Bemidji State. So far I really like it, but the science side of it is very confusing to me... organic chemistry is not my friend! Thankfully it is just a basic level in terms of understanding digestion, etc. Otherwise it is mostly dietary recommendations, diet planning, education, etc. in common language :-) It is just a little difficult keeping up with everything on an online schedule, but having my weekends free really helps!
Ok, I will close for now... and try to update before 4 months have passed!
The last month I have really started to pick up running regularly again, and my body is thankful for that. While I am sore and tired a lot, I just FEEL better. It is just so good to have this back in my life, and I want to really get back in shape again - GOOD shape. So what else to motivate me than training for marathon #3???
I signed up for the Twin Cities Marathon on October 3, and officially started training for it the first week of June. I haven't been 100% with hitting all my miles, but I am way more dedicated and regular with my running than I was before, when I would randomly run a few times a month and throw in a half marathon here or there without any training. Usually that does not work out, but I actually had a phenomenal race given my training back in March. Let's start from the beginning, shall we?
March was the month I really decided that it was time to get stronger. I have gained some weight since the wedding and had been feeling sluggish since the winter months. Plus, as I get older, I have noticed that running alone is not quite enough for me to achieve well-balance fitness. So I started doing yoga by signing up for a beginner's yoga class at the Yoga Center of Minneapolis. I always thought yoga was a wimpy type workout, but decided to give it a shot for a more relaxed but focused way to increase core strength and flexibility. In this class we learned about various types of yoga, and boy was I wrong -- it can be intense! But at the end of 4 weeks I noticed improved posture and my running felt more controlled. At the end of March I flew out to DC to visit my friend Jen and run the National Half Marathon in pursuit of my 50 state goal. I wasn't sure what to expect, since I was averaging 1-2 runs per week at the most up until then... but it turned out to be AMAZING! The weather was perfect, the course was beautiful and varied, and by some miracle, my body just felt great and totally connected. With exception of a few miles in the middle, my pace was very even, and I finished in 2:06... my fastest time in over a YEAR! I was just thrilled! So in April, I traveled down to Oklahoma City with my friend Heather for my next half expecting to have the same experience... not so. I was tired, sluggish, and did not have fun at all... finishing in 2:16. Blah. So I thought about the missing pieces? Well, my yoga class was over... and I didn't really run at all, not even 1-2 days per week. After this experience, I decided to do what I did last year -- I mentally "quit" until school was over and until other major events in May were done (Kevin's wedding, Alex's graduation) so that I wouldn't feel guilty for slacking or waste any more money on races I wouldn't be able to train for.
So come June, I planned out a training schedule that will take me through my later fall half-marathon in November. And the first 2 weeks I followed it to a T. The last 2 weeks were a little more hit and miss because I have been busy. Regardless, I have done more running and seen more improvement in both pace and feel. So to test my progress, I signed up for the Red, White, and Boom! Half Marathon, which was yesterday. And it was such a disappointment. First off, I woke up at 4:30 that morning with horrible intestinal cramps... not a good sign before a 13.1 mile race. By start time I got that under control and was ready to go. It was very muggy and humid though, 82 degrees at the START at 6:30am with about 87% humidity. By the end of the first mile I was just dripping sweat. Then the rain started, and it continued for about 7 miles, a majority of which includes a heavy steady downpour. It was actually refreshing in terms of humidty, but after you just get soaking wet and the water keeps pouring into your eyes it gets annoying. In addition, by mile 5 or 6 my shoes and socks were so soaking wet it was uncomfortable. By mile 9, I could just feel the blisters forming, and by the end of the race it was hard to maintain a normal gait because of them. Around mile 9 I also felt my intestines starting to act up again, so I had to walk a lot to prevent getting sick. I walked/jogged much of the last 5K, but I at least had a good last half-mile finish. Otherwise, I think my mistake was that I assumed I would do better and started out a little too fast. My first 5 miles were all under 9:30 (which for a half, I am usually more conservative and then gradually increase pace), but with the humidity and lack of endurance I got exhausted way too quickly -- by mile 7, I was just wiped! Overall though, I really enjoyed the course -- I don't say this about many races, but I would consider running it again under better conditions and training! I think I need to take a step back and stop rushing the process... need to focus on just getting the miles in gradually but consistently. It's just so hard for me to do that when I want to so badly be back to where I was 2 years ago, I just don't have the patience!!
In other non-running news, I have been keeping myself busy like usual. I was fortunate to find a summer position advising students in the College of Design at the University of Minnesota -- so no more Gap!! It's a good gig, but sometimes boring. I often find myself without anything to do, but I won't complain if they are going to pay me twice as much to sit in an air-conditioned office :) I am at the U of M three days a week, and I have continued to work at SCSU 2 days a week to make up for some flex time from last semester. I actually think it's a good balance, because I definitely have work to get done up there but I don't have to make the drive every day!
This last weekend my dear friend Ana came from to visit! We had a great time just catching up talking, and also played mini-golf, had some delicious burgers at the Nook, and went to the outlet mall for some shopping! On the 4th her brother invited us to his house in Shorewood for a BBQ and fireworks, and it was SUCH a good time. Wonderful food, hospitality, and conversation :-) It makes me wish I had more friends up here, but now that I am in my late 20s and I have so much going on in my own personal life, it's like I have no time to go out and make new friends in the area -- even if I did, I don't know if I would know how! Growing up you have organized activities like school, sports, and music that force you to be in an environment with a variety of people, and over a long period of time you develop really solid friendships. Growing up, you always think you will make your best friends in college -- but for me, I met very few, and in the end, my two closest friends are still the ones I met back in junior high. There is just so much more shared history there, the growing up together that has mutually influenced who you are and your friendship. Meeting more as adults, a lot of that has already been shaped, so it's a matter of fitting in to a life that has already been built. Does that even make sense? I just feel like it is much harder. Even when I do meet someone and think, wow I could really be friends with this person! it usually doesn't work out long term and is very geographically based... because that person already has their close circle, with no room for me to fit in. And what do you even do, just say "hey, can we be friends??" AWKWARD! So the solution seems to be to join organized activities like we did as kids, but I have so much anxiety that I don't feel comfortable doing that on my own... I need a friend to go with me! Double edge sword. So anyway, moral of the story -- it was soooo great to spend the holiday with friends, and I only wish it could happen more often!
Otherwise, I spend a good chunk of the rest of my time getting school work done. I am taking two classes this summer, First Aid & CPR and Nutrition. The First Aid class is at Anoka Ramsey Community College, and I am in a class with a bunch of idiots (give or take a few). So very discouraging. I need this class for my Community Health program and did not feel comfortable taking it at SCSU because of all the hands on activities with students I could potentially be advising, so I have to suck it up... but I will never take another community college class again! Nutrition is an online class through Bemidji State. So far I really like it, but the science side of it is very confusing to me... organic chemistry is not my friend! Thankfully it is just a basic level in terms of understanding digestion, etc. Otherwise it is mostly dietary recommendations, diet planning, education, etc. in common language :-) It is just a little difficult keeping up with everything on an online schedule, but having my weekends free really helps!
Ok, I will close for now... and try to update before 4 months have passed!
posted by Laura at
8:38 PM
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