Joy to the World!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!  I know I've been absent for a while, but I'm up in Cincinnati visiting my family for the holidays... it's been really wonderful to see everyone.  However, I just thought I'd write a quick Christmas post before I return to the holiday festivities!

I had an awesome run today... the weather is beautiful here in Cincy, and it was nice to run outside for a change.  I ran 3.4 miles at an average 10:56 pace- so much faster than I thought I could, especially since it's really hilly around here!  Just another piece of evidence that my obsession with the treadmill may be holding me back.

And now, of course, I must share what I want for Christmas this year!!  This year, I want a 30-minute 5K, simple as that.  My family has made it a lot easier with all of their awesome running gifts- clothes, RoadID bracelets, iTunes cards- so now I just have to get out there and make it happen!

And now I must get back to my family and enjoy the fruits of my running labor- Christmas cookies!!!  Have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!!

Either I'm better at this than I thought or I'm just really stubborn...

Sorry it's been a while since I posted, but between final exams and coming home for Christmas, life has just been really hectic lately!  That being said, I'm now home sweet home, and I spent a really nice relaxing weekend listening to Christmas music, making a gingerbread house, and decorating cookies with my mom... something tells me that this is going to be a very good break.

Well, enough talk about relaxing- let's get to the running!  In general, everything has been going pretty well: no injuries or anything, though I have felt a little tired, but nothing that has stopped me from getting on the treadmill.  I'm really hoping to do a few training runs with my friend Courtney (she's coming with me to Florida to run a 5K the morning before my second half marathon), so hopefully that pans out.  She's just really busy all the time- she works two almost-full-time jobs!  Crazy.

Anyways, on to my exciting new of the day.  As I said in my last post, I was going to try to make 35:00 in the 5K this week.  Now, I'll admit that thirty-five minutes is pretty fast for me- that's an 11:15 minute per mile pace.  I usually run between 11:25 and 11:35, so I knew that holding 11:15 for over three miles was going to be a stretch for me.  Despite a pretty disappointing 5.5-miler on Saturday, I decided to go for it yesterday.  I paced myself pretty poorly and had to push an all-out sprint at the end, but I hit 35:00 on the dot.  I was actually kind of amazed by it; even though I had set the goal, I didn't necessarily believe I'd make it, and certainly not on the first try.  Like I said, maybe I'm better at this than I thought.... or maybe I'm just incredibly stubborn.  I said I was going to do it, and then I did it.  I've always kind of been like that- being told that I couldn't or shouldn't do something only made me want to do it more.  The really interesting thing is that I felt totally fine at the end, which means I probably could pace a little faster, avoid that mad dash to the finish, and maybe make sub-35 tomorrow.  We shall see....

Sadly, my Nike+ system didn't record my new PR... I've gotten a lot faster since I bought it, but I haven't calibrated it in a while, so I usually finish a little ahead.  Yesterday it only measured 3.08 miles (rather than 3.1), so it didn't record.  A little sad, but hopefully it'll work next time (aka tomorrow).   I want my sub-35 PR and I want it to be recognized!!!

Not just talking the talk...

When I first decided I was going to run the Tinkerbell Half, I was really nervous.  I honestly wasn't sure if I'd be able to do it.  As a started my training,  I just kept thinking, "What in the hell made me think I could be a distance runner?!"  Nothing ever seemed fast enough or (more importantly) far enough.  I wondered at what point I would be proud of my abilities; when would I finally feel like I was officially "on my way" to actually becoming an accomplished runner?  To me, five miles seemed like a good first milestone... when I could run five miles without stopping, that would be something to be proud of.

Guess how far I ran yesterday?

Five miles.

And not only did I run straight through those five miles, I felt incredible.  I kept a good pace, and felt just as good on the last half mile as I did on the first.  I can't really describe what is was like to run almost effortlessly for an hour, but I can honestly say I now know what they mean by "the runner's high".... for those fifty-eight minutes, I was totally unstoppable.

I think I've figured out the secret to better long runs: I was doing all of my running Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday, which meant that I was going into my long run with only one day of rest.  After a fairly fatigued long run last weekend, I decided to try something new this week and run Monday-Wednesday-Saturday.  Bingo!  That one extra day helped me feel nice and rested and super energetic; the only downside is that now I only have one day of recovery after my long run, but I'm already rearing to go for tomorrow's run, so I think this new schedule will work out nicely.

In addition to the general awesomeness that was my Saturday run, I also happened to set another accidental 5K PR.... my Nike+ watch recorded my 5K split at 35:47.  It really makes me think that I could hit that 35:00 I've been eyeing.  The next time I will run just a 5K (not as part of a longer run) will be in about a week and a half, and I am so ready to see what I can do.  35:00, I'm coming for you...

A quick news flash!

I've been meaning to post for a while now, but the days are just flying by!!  Final exams are in full swing here, so I've been keeping pretty busy, but I have three great things I really want to share...

First of all, my family ran a 5K on Thanksgiving- our first one all together!  It was very cold and a little misty over in Piedmont, but I really had a great time (and I think they did too).  We did have one unexpected surprise, though: HILLS.  And lots of 'em!  Having never been to Piedmont before, I had no idea what this race would be like, but I definitely didn't expect such a hilly course.  Even Nicholas, who runs cross-country and is used to a fair number of hills, said he'd never run anything even close to this before.

Despite the hills, I ran pretty well: I finished in 36:53, which is less than a minute slower than my 5K time for a flat course, so I was pretty satisfied.  My dad finished right around the same time as me, and my mom surprised us all by coming in around 41 minutes- not bad for a woman who has never run before!   But of course, Nicholas was the victor of the day, running the course in 20:20... he even placed third in his age group!  He got a ribbon and we were all very proud, though we would have been prouder if he had won a pie (the first place finishers got pies)....

Second, as I mentioned before, I was right on the cusp of hitting a new level on Nike+ before I left for Thanksgiving.  Well, thanks to a few long runs over the weekend, I'm now on orange!  That's 50 kilometers logged... not bad, right?!  I'm enjoying the glow of this victory while it lasts, because I'm going to have to run another 200 kilometers (about 110 miles) before I get to level up again.... it's gonna be a while!

And third, and perhaps most exciting of all, I've officially gone insane and registered for ANOTHER half-marathon in February: the Disney Princess Half-Marathon.  Only this one's at (drum roll, please) DisneyWorld!!!!  Now I know you're probably thinking, "Wait, aren't you already running one in DisneyWorld?" to which I'd reply, "No, no, no, the one I'm running is in DisneyLand here in California.  This one's in DisneyWorld, which is in Florida.  Big difference."  Basically, I'm participating in Disney's Coast to Coast Challenge, where you run two races within one year, one in each park.  I'm super excited about it!

I've also recruited my friend Courtney to come with me!  She's going to run the 5K instead of the half-marathon, but I'm still very excited for the company.  We'll get to train together over Christmas, travel together, go to DisneyWorld, and (best of all) go back to the Harry Potter theme park together!  We went two years ago and we've been dying to go back ever since!

Now I know it's a bit gutsy to sign up for a second race without running the first one, but I don't really care.  I just want to go and run and have fun with one of my best friends; how well or how fast I run the race is irrelevant.  It's just about the experience, and it's an experience I'm thrilled about!

I really must get going...  If this post sounded a bit rushed, that's probably because it was. :)  This is really just a study break, and so I have to get back to the books now.  I have big plan for a run on Saturday, so I'll try to post again this weekend.  Until then, cheers!