Because I'm obsessed...

Our names on the official entrant list for Rehoboth Beach, Half Marthon - December 8th, 2012! YAY!

I've been hitting a really good pace lately for long and short runs which has me really optimistic that we will for sure meet our 2:30 goal - shooting for 2:20 actually!

I know this isn't a huge accomplishment to most runners but for me it is a great long distance speed to be able to keep it under 11min/mile the whole way and that is our goal for this race.
2013 I'm hoping to drop that down to a 10min/mile average on long runs. I can keep that up for 4 or 5 miles right now but beyond that it slips back to 10 - 10:30 which is still AWESOME for me and the best long runs I've been able to do since I started in 2011.

The cold weather has been a huge help to me getting faster, I don't overheat and get as cranky/dizzy which helps me to learn how to push and regulate my breathing. Hopefully by the time the warm weather hits, my "fast" pace will be more of a "comfortable" pace and I can keep it up over the summer.

... now to just keep training and convince my right shin that it is NOT hurt and to stop being annoying :-p

O yea by the way, last Saturday - new outside 5k PR: 30:18 :) My run overall was a little slower than the week before but still a great pace and if it hadn't of started raining on us we would have turned that 8 miler into a 10 miler but I'm still feeling confident for the race, espec. with 2 long runs ahead of us before we taper down.

5 Year Anniversary - Ocean City, MD & Assateague, MD

For our 5 year anniversary in September Lukas and I took an overnight trip down to Ocean City, MD. Unfortunately it was a bit chilly that day but we were still able to play some on the beach.

We stayed at a hotel right across from the beach which was super convenient. I was brave and decided to get in the water and swim since we had our boogie boards ~ super cold afterward since we didn't bring towels but super fun during our playtime in the water!

King sized bed - I need one of those!

A nice big king suite - even if just for a day it was comfy!

We couldn't find the boardwalk the first day but found out we were a few miles down from it and that is why we never saw it when we were on the beach. They have a HUGE boardwalk in Ocean City so we went down and walked around for an hour or so in the morning.

There was a kite club that had some really awesome kites up on the beach so ofcourse I had to take tons of pictures of them :)

For the rest of the day we headed to Assateague National Park to go kayaking and see the wild ponies. It was super windy and therefore chilly that day but we still had a good time (other than fighting in the kayak about who is paddling wrong until we realized it was the wind that was causing us all the issues haha.)

It was cool being so close to them! We were in our kayaks in the water right in front of them - they probably could have walked over to us if they wanted to - and thank goodness they didn't because wild ponies bite lol.

Even tho it was super windy, Lukas wanted to play in the ocean for a while. I had a good time watching him boogie board while hiding in my hoodie trying to stay warm and out of the sand-blowing wind.

It may not have been the big 5 year anniversary trip we'd dreamed of but it was nice to get away for a couple days and explore someplace new together! 

Belated Post - Indiana in July

I am sooooooooo bad at getting posts with pictures up! I finally synced all of our pictures to Picasa Web Albumns so now I just have to play catch up for the past few months!

In July we went down to Indiana to visit my Dad, sister, and her kids. We decided to go with my dad and the kids to the Michigan Dunes for the day to check out the beach. The kids have gone on school trips once each but Lukas has never been so it was a fun little excursion. Unfortunately the week we were there it was in the 100s every day - YIKES!

We made the stupid mistake of trying to climb the dunes with the kids ~ let's just say it ended badly for all and we were glad to run as fast as we could to get back across the parking lot and into the lake again! Inspite of that bad decision, we all had a pretty good time together. I would definitely go again if we have the opportunity.

Otherwise we spent our time hanging out in my Dad's pool in the backyard. Relaxing for me in his giant chairs, exhausting for Lukas throwing the kids in the pool repeatedly - and lots of fun for everyone :)

 Looking forward to our visit next Summer already ~ espec. since it has been cold, rainy and windy here lately - these pictures make me long for the sun!! :)

How do you strengthen your shins?? Anyone??

I went running with Lukas on Tuesday and decided to wear my old running shoes because I figured they should have some mileage left in them. I transitioned to my new running shoes earlier than I should have, because they were pretty and I wanted to wear them, lol. Apparently tho I was wrong - those poor shoes wanted to be retired and to prove their point - I got pain in the inside side of my shins on BOTH legs afterward. Ahhhhhhhhhhh no fun :-/

Thankfully we only ran 3 miles that day because I had to go vote before work and didn't feel like getting up even earlier to run longer. After stretching some it feels a little better and today I ran using my newest shoes and it didn't make the pain worse so I'm hoping it will go away soon.

I didn't realize that was what this pain was until my co-worker told me today when she has shin problems, that is where it is - I figured shin issues would be in the front. Oddly enough, that is where I get some pain in my right leg when I wear my vibrams too often - that and the normal sore tight calf from using them too much too fast.

So the question is... how the heck do you strengthen your shins?! I want to be able to wear my vibrams - after our race in December one of my goals is to work up to doing a 5k in my vibrams with no pain or calf tightness. I could go run 10 miles in them if I wanted to, it is just afterward that everything hurts - espec. when I wear them repeatedly even for shorter runs (2-3 miles) that my shins start hurting.

Any advice... 1 or 2 people out there reading my blog? Let me know if you come up with anything ;-)

I'm bbbbbbbbbaaaaaaaacccccckkk.... and have more PRs!

Wow - I have had such a busy October! And now somehow November has already snuck up on me, with election day tomorrow! Yeesh...

I have lots of things to blog about and some pictures too but I don't have access to those right now so all you get is some rambling about running ;-)

This past Saturday I had the best run EVER! Lukas was doing service so with a little coaxing from him I drug myself out of bed and over to the park to run alone. I needed to get in a long run for the Rehoboth 1/2 to be a possibility because we haven't run more than 5.2 miles since our last race.

Weather was in the low 40s - felt more like high 30s - my nike hyperwarm shirt and brushed fleece pants were the perfect temp to keep me warm in the beginning and not overheat later on. Everything felt great, I was able to zone out - and o buddy... did I have an AWESOME run:

My 5k (3.1 mile) pace was 9:47 - a new outside PR at 30:21 woo hoo!
My 9 mile pace was 10:13 - fastest pace I've ever been able to kee up for anything over 3 miles honestly, so exciting!! Finished in 92:06 - even with a 90 sec absolute stop at the car for water/chomps.

Soooooooooo happy! As I got closer to 8 miles I was still feeling fantastic so I was thinking of shooting for 10 but my knee started hurting a little around 8.5 so I decided to just do 9 and play it safe.

I was honestly expecting to have a cruddy 5 mile run and be done with it because I hate running by myself, and I definitely surprised Lukas with my news when I got home too. Apparently I am a much better runner than my head allows me to be sometimes and I need to remember that on the crappy days and not let it get me down! (... someone remind me of this when I'm throwing a babyfit and refusing to run anymore because i'm having a bad running day... yes, this happened recently and thank goodness Lukas did not smack me upside the head lol.)

That run reassured me that I haven't lost everything by being so lazy after our half marathon and also made me realize that flat + cold weather is my best friend and I can definitely hit a good pace at our next race in those conditions.

Speaking of which....... I signed us up for the Rehoboth Beach Half Marathon today!! We were going to wait until next weekend so that we could both get a long run in again but after stalking the website for 4 days and seeing the remaining slots go from 90 - 20, I begged Lukas until he finally let me sign up today. I wasn't going to miss my chance at having an awesome race just because we waited too long to sign up!!

To prove to him that I was dedicated I even drug myself out of bed at 6am this morning inspite of menstrual cramps and 35ish degree weather - brrr! We had a great 4 mile run with a 10:28 average pace which is better than what I've been hitting outside lately so that felt good too to know that Saturday's good run wasn't just a fluke - espec. since today's run was not all flat.

Happy happy happy happy... a little nervous but mostly just excited :) I could have finished a half marathon this past Saturday and would have def. been under 2:30 so I'm feeling good about Rehoboth since I have 3 more 9/10 mile runs left before we taper down.

December 8th... I am absolutely going to beat my time goal of 2:30 and Lukas and I are going to have a great time running our second half marathon together!! Wish us luck and good health!

The whining will stop now :)

And now I'm over my little pity party - just ignore the crazy lady behind the blog :)

It rained all day yesterday and was foggy and super humid after work with a bit of drizzling but I went jogging anyway while hubby walked the dog. (Yes - I do have to give details about the weather because it makes me feel even better about myself for going! lol)

2 miles
Mile 1: 9:22
Mile 2: 10:00
(mile 2 included walking for 1:30 too)

Feeling = AWESOME :)

Nothing hurt thanks to my 2 days off of running and tons of stretching. It was hard but amazing and I'm looking forward to doing it again.

A few things I want to work into training for our next half marathon:

1. Speed work - we are planning on running 4x's a week with a long run on Saturdays so my hope is to get my 2 x 3 mile and 2 x 5 mile runs during the week down to a 11 min/mile average or under.
The 2 x 3 mile runs will probably be speed work of some sort to get down around 10 or under like yesterday. I think by focusing on speed during the shorter runs it will help me not be so stressed about it on the long runs and will ultimately help my long runs be stronger and faster in the end.

2. Interval change - I am really sick of 10:1 - watching the clock that much drives me nuts and I just enjoy running and want to keep going. I am not ready to just run the whole thing and I don't want that to be my focus since I only have 9 weeks of training ahead of me. I think this round I want to try 15:1 and see how that works on my long runs. I know I can do it on my short runs and if I stick to it even when doing speed work, I think it will be really beneficial for me when Im running longer and slower on Saturdays.
It will be hard at first, but hopefully I'll be able to build up to it and stick to it even around miles 7-11 which will prepare me better for our next race.

3. Hill work - we worked this into the second half of our training plan last time and I am soooooooo glad we did or else I would have had to walk even more at the last half marathon. I am proud of myself for doing so well (finally! lol) but I want to continue the trend and work in more inclines and hills since most races around us are in PA and I don't want to be scared of hills. Beat the hill - love the hill ;-)

4. Strength training - yesterday I did a few lunges, donkey kicks, leg lifts and a little bit of arm work. I am trying to take it super easy since 5 lunges on each leg last week made me sore for days haha. I don't want strength training to mess with my running plans, but I also know I need it to be a stronger and healthier runner with less injuries so I am making it a priority from the start and building up little by little.

5. Cross training - This will be harder now that we are in a new building for work that doesn't have a gym. We do have a bike and elliptical at our apartment gym so maybe I'll have to force myself to do that on rest days (other than Sunday). Also just making a conscious effort to go out and walk on my lunch break when it is nice and go for walks with the dog in the morning and evening with Lukas will help - I need to increase my "active time"  to be a happier, healthier person, without increasing my running time too much and causing more injuries.

I'm done obsessing about our last race, happy with the training we did and the effort we made, and looking forward to this next round of training to be faster, stronger, and better prepared for the next race with hopefully no injuries!

... I also need to start using my vibrams again slowly, I miss them! I was having some calf issues so I stopped using them over a month before the race and now I need to start back over from ground zero and just walk in them. That will help with #5 above tho because walking is a great way to get used to them again. I'm going to take it slow and continue to focus on strengthening my calf muscles so that I don't have issues with them this time - nothing major last time, they just made my right calf too tight which was an issue for training so I want to avoid that as much as possible.

Running keeps me sane - so glad I was able to get out there last night and just get out of my head, stop obsessing, and get back to reality :) Hopefully the weather will clear up so I can go again this week and Saturday we are hitting the trails which is going to be AWESOME because we haven't been able to do that in a while either.

Feeling a bit... disappointed :-/

In my year+ of obsessing over running and reading other people’s running blogs, I found it interesting that people seemed a little depressed/stir crazy after running their much anticipated event. I can completely relate now tho!


First of all, it is really hard to train for something for 6 months straight (in my case) and then not be able to run for a few days. Being lazy and not running is one thing, not being able or allowed to run is way worse! I know it is only Tuesday but I took Sunday off (as always) and Monday too. Even tho I felt like I would have been ok doing a few miles, I decided to play it smart and went for a long walk instead. Luke’s foot is bothering him from the race so I didn’t go by myself this morning and I am absolutely regretting it now because it is supposed to be rainy ALL DAY LONG today – yuck! I’m starting to get stir crazy and antsy for a run – slow and short is fine, I just need to get out there and do it! I might just have to brave the rain showers tonight if they are not so bad – 30 minutes is all I need to calm down and get out of my head!

On top of not running for a few days, I feel a little lost. Training occupied my thoughts daily for the past 6 months – whether I was running that day or not. It is weird that the much anticipated half marathon has come and passed and now I’m just in limbo. It is a weird feeling – good because you know you’ve accomplished something, but it leaves you a little empty/confused/lost at first.

So what is the best thing to remedy the way I am feeling? Sign up for another race of course! Haha.

We have 9.5 weeks until the Rehoboth Beach half marathon and once I get running again this week, I’m setting my sights on that fast and flat race. We were so close to our goal time in PA with all those hills so I know we can hit 2:30 or under in December at Rehoboth. It is weird being at the beginning again tho – feels a little strange/uncomfortable but hopefully once I get back into the swing of things and get out there, those weird feelings will go away and I’ll be in comfortable training mode again.

You definitely don’t need to race to have a reason to run but I also kind of feel like I let myself down in PA and need to redeem myself in Rehoboth. Stupid right? It was my FIRST RACE EVER and I honestly do feel like we did a great job, especially with it being rolling hills the whole way with 2 huge hills in the middle. I couldn’t have asked for a better race in those conditions. Logically I know I should be super proud of myself and just be happy… but there is a nagging voice in the back of my head saying “booo!!!”

I’m not just insane tho, I swear lol - I think it is that last 5k that is messing with my head. It was such a difficult 3.1 miles and even tho I’ve definitely run that slow before, I kind of HATED that part of the race because I felt the minutes ticking over our time goal and had to walk sooooooooo much and it kind of soured the experience for me. Somehow that last 38 minutes is pushing the first 10 miles of fighting hills and winning out of my head and makes me feel like I failed somehow – even tho I finished and was under my 12 min/mile pace over all. *sigh* So annoying but sometimes you just can’t help the way you feel, even if it doesn’t make logical sense, so hopefully getting back out there and hitting the road tonight will help me to just get over it, be happy with my accomplishment, and look forward to the next one. If not… well… I’ll keep the whining to myself and just move on lol.