Just Plodding Along

Okay so there wasn't really much madness going on this month. Actually pretty tame. Monthly mileage equaled 64.5 miles, a little on the low side but I did take some time to rest after running a gazillion (3) 1/2s in February. I have started incorporating speedwork once a week (I have done it twice but still think it deserves a round of applause). I have run 212.6 miles since January 1st. I have also tried to incorporate more days of running and slowly up my weekly mileage. I would eventually like to be in the 30 miles per week range but want to take it slow since increasing intensity with speedwork (okay quicker plodding) with more miles seems like a recipe for injury and me being stuck spinning. I am also teaching myself to not hate the treadmill. That is slow going. I ran one half this past month the Arizona Distance Classic  in 2:14 and obtained one medal. On the agenda for April: Lake Havasu Half, Horsetooth Half, and Mount Lemmon Half in that order...

This morning the alarm went off at 5a.m. and I again had anger issues with the early hour but managed to roll myself out of bed, down ice coffee and be ready to go by 5:30. New Razzy Roo headband for the win. Apparently at 5:30a.m. I look slightly deranged but am loving my outfit D got up to take me to the race. That was a nice surprise since he hadn't been feeling well the night before and no one feels good at 5a.m. There was only a 30 minute drive to the start/finish line in Oro Valley which was next to Ventana Medical Center. There were real bathrooms and porto potties for everyone. They also had a VIP area where if you paid extra you got to eat a bagel in a roped off area and a zip up jacket plus your own porto potty to share. There was probably more involved but I only saw bagels and toilets. They had pacers for every 15 minutes that had yellow balloons with the estimated finish time attached to them. For a brief minute I thought I should ru...

This morning I woke up and my legs still felt a little sore so I headed out with the dogs for a stroll around the neighborhood for about an hour to see if it would loosen things up. Seems to have worked and these lazy butts  mutts got some exercise. Win win. I meet up with my friend C for some carbo loading lunch at the macaroni grill and to celebrate her birthday! So that is really a win.  Stuffing your face is more fun in pairs. She also brought me my weekly fix of celebrity news. So that is what I will be doing tonight. I also laid out my outfit for tomorrow. We are headed over for margarita's with some friends later tonight so it is probably good that everything is ready to go tomorrow. Tequila and race prep probably don't mix well. Fingers crossed tequila and half marathons do.

Today I woke up and was planning to run three miles. But my legs were sore and I was exhausted so I decided to skip it. I have been reading the Hunger Games trilogy and can not put it down. Pure awesomeness. Twilight can suck it. Hunger Games is where it is at (yes I am 13 years old on the inside, thanks for noticing). Apparently staying up till midnight reading and then trying to get up at 6a.m. to run doesn't work too well. Huh who'd a thunk. This afternoon I headed up to Oro Valley to pick up my race packet for It was being held at All About Running and Walking It was very small, no swag or booths. Just numbers and shirts. I had never been to this running store but it was nice on the inside. Quick and easy to get my stuff. Short Sleeve Nice shirts and a cute gear check bag for everyone and personalized bibs. They also supposedly had race hats for sale though I never saw them. I am looking forward to doing a race close to home this time!

It is that time again. I am running the Arizona Distance Classic  on Sunday. I feel like I have not done a half in forever. I guess it has been about four weeks. So practically forever. I would like to say in those four weeks I trained hard but that is not the case. I took about two weeks off to rest some aches and am just getting back into it. So I don't expect any big breakthroughs. Plus my longest run since my last half has been six miles. So I may be a bit out of shape. The course is not overly hilly but they are there. At least the finish is downhill. The course is out and back in a beautiful area with great weather so it should be a nice morning. For this race I would like to try to head out more conservatively. Usually I start so fast that by two miles in I have set a mileage PR but feel like I want to die. Trying to avoid that this time. I would also like to learn how to drink out of a cup while moving without drowning or soaking the volunteers. Good to have goal...

One of my favorite ways to waste  pass the time is to read other runner's blogs. Some of the blogs I read....they are just amazing. Million mile training weeks, marathons every other day, and in no way am I exaggerating. Okay so marathons every other weekend but still there are some pretty amazing runners out there. All of this reading about others training and running marathons has made me lose my mind  more motivated and now I want to run a marathon. I almost signed up for the Marine Corp Marathon on a whim. I have visited the Richmond Marathon website 3 times in the last two days. I viewed the course video of the San Fran. marathon. And I want to do them all. So why have I not signed up......cause I am afraid. The last time I was training for a marathon I broke myself. And it is just so far and so much running. Plus I gotta finish 30 before turning 30. If I end up broken again that could severely hamper my half marathon goals. But even knowing that I st...