A new year, a new start, & new shoes!

It is a new year and I feel like my workout goals are off to a GREAT start! I ran 5 days last week - only 1.5-2 miles and then some elliptical and weight work around that, but it felt great! I will only get in about 3 days of running this week because I've been so busy but I am getting in 2-2.5 miles a run and still feeling good.

While we were in Germany we went running twice but I kept it at 15 minutes and a comfortable pace - probably around 11min/mile. I didn't want to push it after taking 2 weeks off completely but I needed to start somewhere. Started up again at jogging only 15 minutes last Monday to start off the new year and have been adding on around 1 min/day. No ITB-knee pain so far and I feel like my endurance is getting better and I am getting stronger. 2.75 miles yesterday (including .35 walking at a brisk pace) was a tough stretch - esepcially pushing myself to run 2 full miles before taking a .1 mile walk break was rough but I did it. I am getting around a 10.5-11 min/mile average pace which isn't so bad, especially with the walking breaks here and there. Just doing my best to take it slow, build up slowly, and listen to my body. If all goes well I will be up to 4 miles by the first Saturday in February and ready to start 1/2 Marathon training the first full week in Feb - wish me luck!

To help with this new start to training, Luke and I both got new running shoes. Instead of upgrading to this year's model, we decided to save 50% and get the same model we currently have. I was REALLY lucky tho and was able to get mine in PURPLE! Happy happy joy joy haha. Have started slowly breaking in these babies during my rehab runs so that they will be nice and comfy for when I start 1/2 marathon training again. It is fun having a new color and "new" shoe with it still being the same model I am used to and comfortable with.

Def. good to not get swept up in the "I need the new color and enhancements!" craze, especially when those enhancements don't make much of a difference if your old model was super comfy already, and it sure saves a lot of money on expensive running shoes especially when you need 2 or 3 pairs a year!

Hope your goals are off to a good start this year and if not, you have plenty of time to work on them so get started today! :)

The running blues..

Runs this week - aka all I was able to do before my ITBS pain started - Tuesday1.6, Thursday 2, Friday 1.1, Saturday 1.25... LAME :(

After running a 5k at almost PR speed on Thanksgiving morning I REALLY thought this week was the week I was going to get back into running steady 5ks. Monday's run at the gym killed that and killed my mood for the day, that is for sure.

After Thursday's run I hoped that I could at least stick to 2 miles and work up from there... now I am not even so sure I can do that and it has me down down down :(

Guess all I can do is run as far as I can each day, stretch, and do those stupid strength training exercises at home that I hate... and hope for the best. We were supposed to start half marathon training in January after our Germany vacation but I know I won't be up to a steady 3-miler by then. Hopefully by Feb. 1st I can do 3 - 4 miles without any pain and start working up from there and start a 12-week half-marathon training schedule. If not, I will cry.. and whine... and you will hear all about it :-p

New Title Explanation and other ramblings

You may have noticed that we have a new blog title - "Die Fische haben keine Beine".
This translates into "fish have no legs".

I know a certain Canadian living in Alaska that may get a kick out of this title, as this is one of the German phrases I taught her and she uses it well haha. It has no deeper meaning, just a product of me being a master of the obvious in German class ;-)

Just thought it was time for a change and since I'm usually rambling about us Fischers going running, it seemed appropriate :)

Speaking of rambling... I have some more for you!

Last night Lukas and I decided to check out "map my run" after I came home cranky and frustrated and needing to get out and work off some energy. I HATE that it is dark by the time I get home from work on Mon/Fri and none of the parks by us have lights. Seriously people, do you think all joggers have no jobs and only use the park during the daylight? Ridiculous... especially when we are still having 50/60 degree weather at the end of November... we need light!

So after finding no where to run, we decided we need to make our own running path and this is where 'map my run' comes into play. It is a free site where you can do just like the title implies - map your run. It will tell you the distance and elevation change and even your average speed and calories burned if you put in all your personal and workout information - not bad! We found a 3.3 mile loop from our house, up the road at about a 200ft elevation change, and back. A little nervous about this path because Lukas had run it before and said it is difficult with the constant incline on the way up and downhill all the way down, but if the weather dries up tomorrow night we may just give it a try.

Today is a yucktastic rainy day tho, so I will be attempting a 5k inside at the gym. Wish me luck... I'm sure I'll add to this post afterward to complain or share my good run ;-)
.........................................

Yep, definitely time to compain ... ahhhhhhhhhhhh! I made it 1.6 miles but the ITBS knee pain started and I forced myself to stop. I wanted to push through it and just keep going but I KNOW from experience that is just bad bad bad news.

I am so frustrated tho... I want to scream and cry and kick things :( I am going to go back down to just running 2 miles and see if I can get through that without pain... once I can do that I will work my way slowly up probably 1/2 a mile at a time if I can. Apparently jumping from 2 - 3.2 was a bad idea but man... it felt SO good last Thursday... I hate this rehab crap!!

*sigh* ... time to suck it up and get back to work... whine whine boo hoo...

Rehab running, I'll take what I can get!

I was good all last week and did not run at all at the gym but in the nice sunny weather on Saturday I could not resist! Lukas and I went up to the reservoir and I ran 1.1 miles (1 lap) with him and then walked 2 more laps and then ran another .25 at the end. Probably that last part that ended up making my knees hurt later... silly me. I couldn't resist tho... I'm an addict and this withdrawl is bad stuff! haha

I forced myself to just do the bike on Monday and have been using the foam roller daily and stretching which seems to be helping. Soooo I decided I should start running this week :) I came up with a great plan for walk/jog/walk but then ignored it once I was at the gym haha.

I was able to jog 1.8 miles of my 5k and still did the whole walk/jog 5k in 36 minutes so I was pretty happy with that. Walked between 13-14 min/mile and ran at 10 min/mile. I think the alternating between walking and jogging is really going to help in my rehab, lets me run so I don't go insane, but keeps my IT band and knees from getting stressed out. Will try to tone it down a bit tomorrow and not go overboard like yesterday but *sigh* it is just so hard to walk sometimes when you just want to RUN :)

One thing I'm still neglecting is my strength training... that is going to be essential for staying injurgy free when I start jogging so I really need to get on that. I keep saying I will do it at home but it never happens... maybe tonight? Maybe tomorrow? haha

No race day for us :(

The sad truth is that we will not be racing this coming Saturday. My IT Band issues are worse and I couldn't even run 2 miles without it being a problem and making me limp on that side. Glad I gave up after 2 tho and just did the elliptical because it was sore and painful on Sat. and Sun. ... don't even want to think how much it would have hurt if I had tried to run more!

I cried a little at the gym when I told Luke I needed to stop and the compression band was not helping... fortunately it was our work gym and no one else was there on the weekend. He gave me a hug and I stopped being a baby ;-) I am just really frustrated and disappointed but o well... it happens to seasoned runners too so it is not like I did anything wrong or there is anything wrong with me. I will just have to stay off the treadmill for 2 weeks, stretch a lot, and hope to slowly build back up to a 5k by the end of the month with luck. I guess the elliptical and the stationary bike are going to be my new best friends for a few weeks.... LAME haha but better than nothing.

Luke decided not to do the race either - we will both train over the Winter and shoot for a faster and stronger half marathon in the Spring together.

All in all training was great and I made A LOT of improvement... here are a few highlights:

March - started at 15 min/mile - could barely run 1 mile
Now - My fastest 1 mile pace is 9:24, my fastest long run pace (8 miles) was 10:30/mile, my best outside 5k pace is 33 min, and my longest run was 9.5 miles total - not too shabby for 6 months of work!

I also lost 15 lbs and went down 2 jeans sizes which is always good... 5 more lbs to go until all of my "graduate school" weight is gone and I'm back down to around what I was 4 years ago when we got married. Very enjoyable side effects :)

So... I'll stop my whining, be grateful for what I've accomplished, be smart about resting and rehab and will start again in December at a slower pace and build up my strength and speed and kick that half-marathon's butt in the Spring! :)

Good luck to all my friends racing this weekend and in the upcoming 30 days - so excited for all of you and the progress you've made! You are going to rock your races!!

Scary... last chance run test tonight - last chance run tomorrow!

I am freaking out on the inside, trying to not let it come to the outside since I'm not home yet and out of the public eye haha. I have not been able to run all week, not even half a mile, so lame! I biked 2 - 10ks and that has been it for me - lots of ice cream and snack cakes tho, but I digress.

So, once I get home tonight there should be a UPS package waiting for me with my compression band in it. I am going to test it out at the gym tonight and see if I can run a mile or so with it without sharp shooting pain. If it works, I will do my last training 10-11 mile run with it tomorrow, either in the rain/snow/yuck we are getting or we will come to work and use the good treadmills here and be in for a REALLY long boring indoor run haha.

Seriously, I would MUCH rather have a long boring indoor run than no run at all! No run at all or at least not a successful 10-11 mile run tomorrow means no race for me next Saturday. I am all upset about this and it has been all I could think about for the past week - seriously, FREAKING OUT!

I know it is not the end of the world or my new running career... but it is still super upsetting because we have worked so hard and made so much progress to be cut off a week before the race :-(

... just had to post even tho I don't have an update, just had to get this out of my head and share it with... I dunno... anyone? lol *sigh*
AHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

Last training week... not looking good :(

Maybe I picked a cursed race date or something because I REALLY think fate is working against me on this one :(

Our 8 mile run on Thursday was GREAT but there is no way I could have any longer at the park that day - my leg was already pretty sore by the time I was done. I was hoping Saturday would be just as good and I could run longer but it def. did not turn out that way.

I made it 2.6 miles and needed to walk for a bit - tried to get going again and just sent Luke on by himself. Just could not get into it and my leg was hurting and I felt like throwing up for the first few miles... not fun at all.

Luckily for me my friend Leslie came jogging by after I had walked about half a mile alone so I turend around and jogged with her. She is training for the same race that we are! We ended up doing 4.5 miles together which was awesome - way more than I thought I was going to do that day! The distraction of having someone new to talk to really helped me to keep going even when the pain started getting a bit worse. She finished her laps and went home and Luke and I started off on another lap so I could do 10 miles for the day - did not happen. I could barely make it .3 and my leg was screaming at me in pain... walked the .3 back to the car and just waited for him. SO LAME :(
In total I jogged 7 and walked 8 - a lot better than it seemed like I would do that day after the rough start but less than I needed to do 2 weeks before race day :(

After a hot shower and an ice pack, my leg was ok for the rest of the weekend, thank goodness, but I am REALLY disappointed about our training and the chances of me running the race are not so good at this point. It is just so hard to face that possibility after last Thursday's run - we were doing a faster pace than I ever run, made it 8 miles and it was great - I was so psyched up and positive. *sigh*

So... plan is I will take it easy this week and hope for the best on Saturday. Saturday is our last long running day before the race and the last day we will sign up for it.
I need to run 4 laps on saturday (10.4 miles) and still be able to walk just fine after that in order to sign up for the race. If I can barely walk after 8, which is what has been happening lately, there is no point in paying money to try and run 13.1 and just not being able to do it and pushing myself too much out of frustration and injuring myself further.

Incredibly disappointed but still hoping that maybe, just MAYBE there is a chance that a rest week will help. I will just do a 5k tomorrow and bike the other 3 days of the week at work and hope my leg feels like behaving on Saturday. If not ... well... at least I know I gave it my best try. Physically I can def. do the 13.1 - I am fit enough and have trained enough - it is only that knee pain caused by my IT band that is holding me back. Without the pain I would have run 4 laps at the park by now and would have been ready to go for race day.  *sigh* O well... you live and learn I guess. If we have to postpone until the Spring that is life... very sad and frustrating... but so is life :-p

Wish us luck... maybe it will help! ... 5 days until I sign up or declare defeat :(

Another PR!

Man someone must have put the crazy juice in my water this week because we set another PR on our longer run yesterday! Another 5k in 33:17 - and our full 8 mile run was 84 min of running, plus a 4 minute break at mile 5.2. Running was 10.5 min/mile the whole time - add in the break and we are still at 11 min/mile - AWESOME! If you want to know a secret, we also walked .2 of that because of my knee... so the running time was really fast for me to keep up that average!

If we could run that pace the whole race on the 5th then we could hit 2:30 for our race time - I would be SO happy. Only issue would be the hills... PA is VERY hilly, especially Lancaster County - which is why I won't beat myself up too much if we don't hit 2:30 - anything under 3 hours is fine with me because at this point I am just going to be happy to run the race!!

Speaking of which... right now it is looking like a 75% chance that we will be running in the race. Tomorrow we have 4 laps scheduled at the park - 10.4 miles. Not 100% sure I can hit that after yesterday's fast 8 mile run, espec. because I am having major problems walking this morning. So bad I messaged my boss this morning and asked her to bring in an icepack since she comes in a few hours later than I do and was still at home - it is that sore and stiff :( Next week I am only doing 3 - 5ks and then our long 10-11 mile run on Saturday and that is it - need more stretching and resting time for this poor leg of mine. If I can live through next Saturday and can still walk, we are def. signing up for the race.

Wish us luck! 2 weeks from tomorrow... ahhh it is getting SO CLOSE!

A new 5k PR!

Although our training plan called for a 6 miler yesterday, getting home only 20 min before sunset makes that a bit difficult. Luke had a headache and since running alone is boring, I decided just to do a 5k. To justify a shorter run, I decided to work on speed and guess what.... I set a new PR!! 33:15 - my best time before was 35. Felt SO good even tho I thought my lungs were going to burst on that last quarter mile. My goal by the end of the year is to get a 30 min 5k on the treadmill with a 1% incline - but for now I'm SUPER happy at shaving 1:45 off my current outdoor PR. Happy happy kid :)

My knee wasn't bothering me too much during the run, just a few pricks of pain here and there. Hoping that if I rest and roll and stretch today it will be ok for our longer run on Wed/Thurs (whichever ends up not being rainy - boo to weather interfering with training!)

19 days... just 19 more days to go :)

20 days and counting down!

Let's talk about Shot Bloks... do they have a physical or just a psychological effect?

In this package are 6 little gummy cubes that are supposed to give me energy while running more than 1 hour. I'm not sure if they really work, but even if they are just a placebo it seemed to help my run on Saturday! 9.5 miles and I wasn't dragging the last couple like usual. Now, this could be due to the fact that sharp shooting pain in my knee made me walk .5+ of a mile within the first 2.5 miles, as well as take 2 drink/shotblok breaks where I was able to sit down, rest my leg, and catch my breath... but considering the fact that it only took me 2 hours to get through 9.5 miles, I couldn't have been THAT slow. (Slow is a relative term... we are talking about 2 hours not being slow for someone who runs a 11-12 min mile on average :)).

The draw backs to these little gummies include the following:

1. Hard to chew while running - must stop to chew up 3 and drink enough fluid to get them down

2. You spend the next 5 min focusing on licking them out of the crevices in your teeth, which may slow down your race pace due to lack of concentration

3. The package is hard to get open - I had to chew it open

4. These little things are STICKY which is ok for the first 3 but the other 3 that you roll back up in the package and put in your pocket to eat in 45 min might be a bit of a mess

All in all they were tasty and I do think they may have helped sustain my energy level and keep me from hitting "the wall" - but not very practical.

Wednesday we will run 7 miles so I figure at mile 4 we will try a Gu this time around:

A small packet of less solid goo to slurp down with water while running - should have the same effect as a shot blok - just easier to carry, open, and no chewing involved. We'll see if I can gag it down or not ;-)

... as far as a training update let's just say that my IT band is causing me issues but I'm going to keep trying to work through that in these final 2 weeks of training. We have 20 days until Race Day and I have every intention or holding out hope until the last minute that I will be able to run. The 29th will be our 11 mile run and the last Saturday before the race - we will decide then if I can do the race or if Lukas will do it alone or not at all.

Run - roll - stretch - strengthen - rest - repeat will be my life for the next 20 days - wish us luck!

Dear leg - you suck - love, Tiffany

Apparently I hurt myself a lot worse last Saturday than I knew. I was in pain on Sat. and Sun. and come Monday stairs of any type made me just want to cry. I think it may have been my IT Band that got stressed out last Sat. because the area on the outside of my left knee sounds very much like what all the IT Band injuries online describe.

So... TRYING to be a responsible adult, I put training on hold this week. Tuesday - Friday I've been doing a 5k-10k on the exercise bike and then 1-2 miles on the treadmill and that has been going well. My knee/leg was hurting so bad on Tues/Wed/Thurs, working out seemed to be the only thing that helped. Today it is feeling a lot better but I'll still go for the 5k stationary bike and 2 mile plan just in case.

Tomorrow we are scheduled for a 8-9 mile run since we did not go on Wednesday. I am super excited about it, but a little nervous. If I can't make it this week on my long run, I might not be able to do the race. After this week we only have 2 more weeks of training and both have a 10-11 mile run in them. I NEED this run to go well tomorrow... send positive energy my way please!!

On a good note however, my short runs have gotten a lot faster! Even on a 1 incline on the treadmill I ran my 2 miler on Wednesday in 20 min and my 1 miler on Thursday in 9:24 - so exciting! Today I am hoping for a 19 min 2 miler... we shall see. If I can keep it at 20 I'll be cool with that too. At least its some improvement, helps ward off the disappointment of putting training on hold for the whole week.

So there is my whine, yes I would like some cheese with it :) Wish us luck and hope you have a lovely weekend!

3 more weeks... the countdown starts!

(No pictures... just lots of rambling about running... you've been warned! :))

Only 3 more weeks of training to go and then a "light running week" on race week - I'm getting so excited but so nervous too! We still haven't 100% decided if we can/will do the race or not. We are waiting until the 22nd to decide and will either sign up then or find another race in the Spring to train for.

Last week was a mix of good and bad days.
Monday was awesome - we ran 5 miles at 11:10 min/mile pace which is the best I've been able to do outside and the best I've been able to do for that distance.
Wednesday was AWFUL and slow and blegh but we still ran our 4.4. It was too hot, I was too cranky, and it was just a bad running day all around.
Thursday was better, our timing was great other than me feeling like I was going to throw up and needing to walk half a mile in the middle of our 6 miles and sit down for a few minutes. Not sure what was going on but we finished and still only averaged 12 min/mile including the walking time.

Saturday... the big mileage day ... turned into a bit of a fiasco. It was hot out again and super sunny so I wasn't doing so well with that. We still kept it around 11:15-11:30/mile and we were doing pretty well(other than me needing more drink breaks) but around mile 6 things started going bad. All in all I ended up with a cramp in my right thigh, a cramp in my left calf which then moved up to my knee which then settled at the side of my knee and calf for the remainder of our run and the whole weekend as well.
My pinkie toe also turned into a full blister, seriously like 50% of my toe was and still is a blister... so that was not too fun either. I was limping and upset and not a happy kid at all for the last 1-2 miles. I told Luke to go on ahead and I finished my 8 in the end with some walking/jogging /stretching alternation and he finished 9.

Saturday's issues really worry me because with only 3 weeks left I can't be getting cramps and leg pains and huge blisters or I won't be able to do the race :(  And after a painful weekend for my legs I'm still feeling sore and my knees are screaming at me when I'm going up and down stairs. I'm a little nervous about our 6 mile run today and especially nervous about our 9 mile run on Wednesday. I guess all I can do is get out there and give it a try tonight and see how it goes. :-/

Wish us luck! :)

Cold weather speed boost!

Thanks to browsing the internet and tips from someone which whom I went to HS, I've started doing leg exercises for my quads to help out those painful knees of mine. The dog was very confused and wanted to attack me as I lay on the floor kicking my legs around and the hubs was rather amused at my patheticness... but I got through the suggested reps and most of the exercises on my list last night.
I'm going to try to do these exercises 4-5 times a week and hopefully will see some improvement and not just soreness - like this morning :)

Saturday before General Conference we went to our favorite long loop at the park and ran 8 miles. I will admit that I was pathetically slow and we averaged about a 13 min mile for the whole thing, but at least we did it and at least it was a steady pace! That included stopping for a quick potty and drink break, but I still can't blame the slowness on that.. *sigh* o well. Slow and steady might not win the race, but it will help me finish the race injury free!

Fortunately it was a bit colder last night when we went running after work and somehow that gave me extra energy because I pushed my pace the whole way and we averaged 11:10 / mile for the whole 5 miles. That is probably the fastest I've run outside this year - felt GREAT! Hopefully I can get close to that tomorrow on our 6 mile run and get my 8.5 mile run on Saturday down to 12/mile instead of 13. Wish us luck!

Due to the colder weather setting in I was finally able to wear my awesome purple tights! O boy... do I love them! They are so comfy and there is no riding up, rubbing, etc. and they keep me warm enough to be comfortable but not over heated. If race day is in the 50s I'm going to have a GREAT race!

I've noticed a rather odd thing while running with Lukas tho - I'm always cold at home, and he is always warm - but while running, I get over heated quickly and need to wear just a tshirt, while he is cooler and needs a fleece jacket - strange right? I figure its probably because running at my slow speed is more taxing on my body than on his, since he runs around 8-9 min/mile, so maybe that is why he is cooler. Who knows... but that is why someone invented the idea of layering... so you can strip while running as needed haha.

Other than a head cold that set in on Sunday, we had a lovely and relaxing weekend. General Conference  was fantastic and there were some really great talks that I personally needed to hear. I am looking forward to the Ensign (church magazine) coming out with all of the talks in it so that Lukas and I can reread them together and discuss them more indepth. Looking forward to Stake Conference this weekend... mostly because that means no Sunday School or Relief Society, haha, but in general its always a good experience as well. Some how General Conference is more motivating for me to set goals and try to make positive changes than New Years - I guess because its based on inspiration and not just the "end of the year - must make a change!" fever that everyone gets. I definitely will be writing down some personal and spiritual goals and try to improve between now and the next conference in April.

Definitely not the bee's knees!

**Update** - saving you from reading my whining below lol:

I called the doctor today and got an appointment 1 hour later - sweet! I just needed to make sure, for my own peace of mind, that nothing was injured with my knees and that I am ok to keep training. I also needed to talk about my new and ongoing knee pain (2 different areas) and find a solution.

Before I went I did some research and it seemed like my under the knee pain is just runner's knee, need to strengthen my thighs (quads). The inside on the side of my knee pain is just due to stretching.

... paid $30, doctor checked out my knees, bent my legs, moved them around all weird (awkward in a skirt, yikes!) ... and agreed with the above. He prescribed me 12 visits to P/T. I called when I got back to work and found out that it is a $50 copay per visit for P/T. Nope, I will not be going even once - thanks tho doc! :-p

Honestly, I'm glad I went and eased my mind about my knees. I don't have crappy knees... just weak thighs. Apparently sexy muscular thighs are useful, not just good looking... I need both of those benefits so time to start on the thighmaster! Haha just kidding... I found some good exercises online for both stretching and strengthening my quads so hopefully by the time we run the race ( 5 more weeks of training, ahhh!) my knee pain will be gone gone gone gone GONE.

AND knowing I don't have bad knees gets me more excited for a long running career and who knows... maybe one day even a full marathon! No worries... that's even further off than my "one day I will get pregnant" and we all know how far THAT is...(if you don't, its VERY far off in the future, so far I can't even imagine it lol.)

Anyway... peace of mind was worth $30 and now I just need to do daily exercises to work on those muscles and maybe I too can have the bee's knees type of knees ;-)

... speaking of which, do bees even have knees?

***End of update ***
--------------
Is it weird to be jealous of someone's knees? Haha. Luke is doing great during training and doesn't mind going slow with me which is a huge help. We are both adding on the mileage together and feeling good about our goal. Unfortunately for me, my knees are just not the bee's knees... meaning they suck... majorly lol - and I am super jealous of Luke's pain free knees :(

Usually I get the "under the knee cap" type of pain but starting last Friday I have developed this weird "on the inside side" of my knee pain. After doing a 5k on the treadmill both of my knees hurt in the same spot, as if I had been banging them together while running - which I assure you I was not haha. Then we went to a movie on Friday night (The Help - so good! :)) and I felt like an 80 year old woman trying to stand up afterward... pain, so much pain.

No clue what I've done or am doing to cause this pain... just wish it would go away. Its ok that I'm wheeze-mc-fatkid and need to run slow and build mileage slowly, but this knee pain is really putting a damper on my half marathon training and I don't like it one bit.

Our 6 mile run on Saturday turned into a 3 mile run - partially due to lack of time but also because I could not handle the extra distance. This week our mileage should be 5/6/4/8 -... do you see that big fat 8 for Saturday? How can I do that if I can't walk after the other 3 days of training without pain? *Giant Sigh*

Whine whine whine whine.... and now that that is over... what do I do?

Purple People Eater!

I think my love of running may stem 50% from my love of work-out clothes haha. Maybe I just run so I have an excuse to buy cute things... hrm... o well, at least its a healthy habit ;-)

Our 1/2 Marathon is scheduled for November 5th, which I'm thinking is not going to be track shorts weather. I LOVE my new shorts for training and will wear them until it drops below 60 but I figured I may want something a little warmer for the race.

I found these lovelies on nikestore.com and knew they needed to be mine:

Nike low-rise running capri - so comfortable and super cute! I love that they come below my knee and are snug, have a zipper on the back waist band for my house/car key, and sit right on my hips and do not ride up at all. Fantastic all around!
Nike had them on sale for 30$ but they did not have my size. I found a coupon and went to buy them at Dick's Sporting Goods on my lunchbreak yesterday and found out they were on sale for 30$ there too - jackpot! I ended up getting a matching purple sports bra and the pants for the original price of the pants, what a deal! Super happy kid... now I wish it was cold enough to wear them!! :)

Get out of your head and on the road!

#1 most valuable fact I've learned this week about running - it's hard!... and your head makes it harder than your body!
Its fun (most of the time), its rewarding, sometimes its easier than others, but in general it's hard... and it should be!

Some days are more difficult than others tho... and yesterday was definitely one of those days.

Issues that caused a bad run:
1. Weather - only in the low 70s but overcast, humid and sticky
2. Knees were sore from Monday's 4 mile run
3. - and the most problematic - Bad day at work, no motivation to run, and I just could NOT get out of my head!

1.2 miles into our 5.2 mile run I gave up and walked. Luke did not abandon me, just kept going and circled back for me... so after .1 of walking I started in again. Jogging... walking... jogging... walking. Finally Luke just stopped and walked with me the last .4 of our 2.6 mile lap. I grabbed a quick drink at the car and started up again - the next 2.6 mile lap was way better - hard physically but easier mentally and I finished it. I ran 4.6 miles of our total run and only walked .6 so that isn't so bad for such an awful start. Sometimes you just have to give yourself that angry walking time, get over it, and keep going.

Things that made my run better:
1. Walking a short distance and then going again
2. Walking the last short stretch of the lap and starting fresh on the next lap
3. - and the most helpful - a supportive husband who does not push me or get upset with me, just sets a good  example and circles back for me once I've had time to cool down/calm down.

Thanks sweetie - you are the best running partner I could ever hope for :)

So, note to self: Not every day will be your best running day, not every day will make you happy and feeling awesome, but if you calm down and keep on going, you'll feel a lot better in the end instead of giving up and being frustrated.

2 more training days this week - 5k at work on the treadmill on Friday and a 6 mile run on Saturday.
I can do this, I will do this, and it will get better.

After this week we only have 5 more training weeks and then a slower rest week before the race... yikes!

Run Fischers run! - A weekend update

Interrupting my Alaska posts for a little weekend update:

Friday - had a great 4 mile run in 46.5 minutes. That may be slow to some people but it was a good pace for me, especially since .35 miles of that was uphill in the beginning. Averaging around 11.38 min miles the whole way... not bad! That is probably the best we've been able to hit outside at the reservoir - that course is so short (1.1 miles) and slightly hilly so I'm usually super slow up there so I was feeling really good after we did so well.

Saturday -

In the morning we watched the Philadelphia Temple Groundbreaking Ceremony through a live broadcast at church which was awesome. If you would like to know more, please to go: http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/philadelphia/

It was a great occasion to remember why temples are so important in our church and to strengthen my testimony of temples. It was also a good reminder to us to plan as a family to make going to the temple more of a priority.
The temple in Philadelphia will not be completed until around 2014 so we will still be driving down to DC for the next few years, but eventually it will be nice to have one less than an hour away. We will actually be heading down this Saturday since we just realized there are only 2 weeks left this month - yikes how the time flies!

After the temple groundbreaking broadcast, we went out to ice cream with some friends. A great way to get ready for our 7 mile jog in the evening! haha. Had a bit of lunch at home and then took a 2 hour nap... lovely way to spend the day.

In the evening we headed over to Glasgow park for our 7 mile run. That is the most either of us have ever run and the longest stretch of our half-marathon training so far. Over 1/2 of the distance we will have to run on race day.... and we made it! Slow but steady - took us 88 minutes - so about a 12.5 min mile average once you could in my quick potty break haha. The 2.6mile course makes it a lot easier to run long distances than our usual 1.1 mile course so it was not so bad running that long. In 2 weeks we will have a 8 mile run... hopefully we'll be up to it by then!  Slowly and steadily we are getting ready for this race... so proud of us, especially myself because I am definitely NOT athletic and am proud of the progress I have made so far.

Sunday -

No muscle pains after the long run on Saturday! Yay for us!

Church was good and we just chilled/crafted/etc. afterward for a nice relaxing afternoon.

I love weekends.... why is it Monday now? Why.... WHY!!!????

New favorite store - Delaware Running Company!

Last year Lukas and I went to Delaware Running Company and found out how we both pronate - one of us over and one of us under - and got new shoes that correct our issues. Mine took away most of my knee pain within the first week of running and his are pretty comfy too. 9 months and several false training starts later we are sticking to our half-marathon training and our shoes are holding strong!

Then, the DE Running Co. offered me a suggestion of the Feetures socks to solve my sore toes/sliding socks issue when I went in to browse/complain. I love them so much I bought a second pair on Saturday and refuse to wear any other socks while jogging.

And THEN, believe it or not.... to the rescue again came DE Running Co for my various shorts issues. "The legs ride up and my thighs stick, the top rides up way too high, if I roll them they are too short, etc." all solved by 1 pair of shorts! I bought these Adidas Marathon 10 women's running shorts on Saturday and took them out on a 5k that evening. It was super hot and the legs did not ride up at all - the silky material helped them slide on eachother and did not make my tighs stick together like my other shorts always do. They do ride up a little due to my exaggerated pear shape, but if I fold the band inside the shorts, they sit perfectly and feel great!

I ran another 5k with them today at work and decided I absoluately have to purchase another pair! DE Running Co had them on sale for 50% off and still has another color in my size so I'm going back today.

Happy happy girl with her new favorite store!

Thanks for helping me stick to my goals by solving my various wardrobe issues DE Running Company!

Love affair with my gym socks...

If loving my new socks this much is wrong, I don't want to be right! I tried my new "feetures" - multi-sport light cushion - socks out at the gym on Thursday. My feet felt like they were being snuggled on the elliptical and bike. My 2nd toe on my right foot always gets a blister right by the nail and it hurts everytime I work out. Also, last week during our "practice training week" the bottom of my feet were getting rubbed by my old socks and were really sore. I took these lovely new socks on a 6 mile jog yesterday and had no sore toe, no sore feet, and even when I stepped in a massive puddle my feet were dry within 5 minutes while I could hear Luke's shoes and socks squeeking and squishing for a lot longer than that. Amazing! If these give me the same wonderful results on Fri & Sat I will def. be buying another pair after vacation.

So yea... 6 miles yesterday... it was hard but awesome! We went to Glasgow Park in Bear, DE which has a 2.6 mile loop - way better for long runs than the 1.1 mile loop by our apartment. We finished our 6 miles in 70 minutes - averaging 11:40 per mile - way better than my 12-13 min average last week. Not too sore today so I think I will do some light crosstraining at lunch, a 4 mile jog on Friday, and we should be ready for our 7 mile long run on Saturday. So excited - that is a little over half of our total distance and if I can do that on Saturday already with 8 more weeks to train, we can def. get ready for this half marathon in time. Yay! It feels so good to accomplish something you've wanted to do for so long and push yourself farther than you've gone before... I'm def. getting addicted :)

Saturday we also happen to be hopping on a plane and flying to Fairbanks, Alaska for the week. Even more excited about that than my run that morning ;-) My good friend MC is living there and working on her PhD so we will visit her for the week, go check out Denali National Park while she gets ready for a conference, and generally just enjoy visiting a new state and having a week off work - woot woot! :)

I'll probably be too tired and busy to blog on Saturday, so lets just assume I live through the 7 mile jog and unless I get eaten by a bear, I'll be back in Sept. with lots of pics and stories of our Alaskan adventure. Happy Labor Day weekend everyone!

Good news, cheesecake, and gym socks - a winning combination!

First - the good news:

I passed my entrance exam for the NYU Certificate in Translation: German - English program! YAY! I was so worried that they were going to take a long time to evaluate them but apparently they had nothing better to do over the weekend :) So relieved and happy! I will probably postpone until January for my first class but I should still be finished with the 6 course program by the end of next year, yay!

Next - check out this cheesecake!

Its not even just cheesecake... its a recipe for oreo cream cheesecake cupcakes - wow, are you drooling yet? I know I am!

Luke and I are going to try a new recipe once a week for dinner and a new recipe each weekend for dessert. This is #1 on my dessert list for sure! Just have to force myself to wait to make them until we get back from vacation. Homemade mac'n'cheese might be first on the dinner list as well - I'll keep you posted on our "Kitchen Adventures" in September :)

Last night Gina, Lukas and I went to get fro-yo on Main Street. One thing I love about where we live, we can take a nice long walk to Main Street for dinner or dessert. It was a lovely cool evening and it was nice to take a stroll together. I've learned from one of my new favorite blogs - The Hungry Runner Girl - that Fro-yo and/or ice cream are essential parts of the training process ... who am I to doubt an expert? haha.

Next door to the fro-yo place is the Delaware Running Company - where we purchased our wonderful shoes last year. My feet have been getting sore in various places lately while jogging so I went in search of some new socks and came back with these lovelies:

Feetures multi-sport light cushioned socks. They have awesome ribbing around the center that hold onto your feet to reduce slippage, great cushioning in the heel, toes, and bottom, and are also moisture wicking to keep your feet sweat free during a long run. The great thing is they also have a lifetime garuntee. They feel like heaven on my feet just walking around the house - excited to try them out for cross training today. I'll let you know what my verdict is this afternoon - I'm expecting a lot from a $10 pair of running socks but the review all seem to be positive so I have high hopes.

Hope everyone has a lovely Tuesday!