good LORD it's cold!

This morning it wasn't that cold. In fact, when I put Thomas down for a nap it was probably in the mid to high 30s (sad that that's what I consider not cold nowadays). My friend's daughter came over after school to watch Thomas so I could get out and run. Before she came I ran outside (you have to go outside my house to get to my basement) to do some laundry and the wind was howling and COLD! Gah! Why couldn't it have stayed warmer just little bit longer??

I headed out and it was really cold and windy.  By the time I was under the Throgs Neck Bridge over at Maritime it was FREEZING! The wind was gusting so strongly that I was practically sprinting against the wind and going absolutely nowhere. Doing three laps of that SUCKED! But hey, it's done.

But was REALLY pissed me off was my iMapMyRun app decided to crap out on me. I use it to time myself and figure out how far I ran. I got back to my house and hit Save to stop the run and it said I only ran .8 miles. WHAT?? Nope, sorry, I did more than that!

Workout: ~4 miles
Times:~45 minutes
Next up: Need to get another 4 miler in sometime this week. Looking at the schedule, I might not be able to do it until Friday
Next long run: Sunday 8 miles. Be there or be square.

Bib #8103!!

It's almost here!! I got my bib number today! 8103. Sounds as good as any number to me! I think the number of runners is somewhere around 14,000 so I'm guessing that I'm not in the last corral. Sure, it may be second to last but I like the idea of not being last. The sweepers who stop runners who are going to slow frighten me. I really don't want to get swept! They are sweeping if you don't maintain a 16 min/mile pace. I have been running (ok, it's not running, it's more like something between a jog and a walk...a wog) at about a 11:30 min/mile but I like the extra time cushion in case disaster strikes and I need a bathroom break or need to walk more or, hey, I just HAVE to get that picture with Chip and Dale.

Yesterday I ran 6 miles. I actually ran into (literally, lol) one of the moms from Mommy & Me class who runs as well. I had been running for about 30 min already and we ran together for about 20 minutes.  I have to admit, it was awful. Don't get me wrong, I love this woman. LOVE! But she is so darn fast and SOOOO darn in shape! My legs felt like lead and I just know she was running so much slower than she normally does. After a while we split up since she lives a bit away from me and I finished up my 6 miles. It was really bad. I felt really crappy. I am still struggling with eating and drinking way too much lately (after Disney I pretty much haven't stopped) and it's making the runs pretty rough.

I'm hoping the weather holds out this week as there has been talk of even more snow. I would like to run 8 miles as my next long run next weekend. Then after that I'll run 10 miles and then after that is the big half marathon!!!

damn this snow!

so yes, i did go out and run after that last post. i did not, however, do a long run the day before we left for disney. the high that day was 19 degrees and i just couldn't get a long one in. i only did about 2.3 miles as i was totally freezing. i wound up not running AT ALL during our trip to disney. and you know what? i'm ok with that. we had a GREAT time. i ate and drank like a piggy but it was so fun!

i got in 4 miles yesterday and froze my butt off. i did ok with it and felt alright. but this snow is just out of control. it is more like ice-raining right now and it looks like i won't be able to get out tomorrow like i had hoped. it's supposed to snow all day. they will probably close the schools too. blah.

the race is getting closer and closer! i had originally hoped to do a 13 mile training run but it doesn't look like i'll get that high up. i think that's ok though as many training plans only have you go up to 10 miles anyway.

i have to go back to drinking my hot chocolate. it's cold out!

yeah, totally slacking today

there, i said it. i'm not running today. it's rainy and yucky and cold out. i canceled the sitter. she IS coming tomorrow so i can run. i'm feeling awfully lazy today. and hungry. this is the part of the winter when i decide i'm going to eat everything in the house and then spend the rest of the spring and summer trying to lose those 10 lbs i just gained. gah!

i'm allowing myself to have this day to veg. and tomorrow it's back on the wagon. if i come back here and haven't run tomorrow i give you all permission to e-slap me!

so much for LOSING weight!

more like gaining weight. oh well. i was in north carolina this weekend for my friend sarah's baby shower. i was away for one night. one glorious night of not having to worry about getting up with a baby! my first full night away from my son. and you know what? i wasn't nervous at all. i knew john had it all under control. sure, i'm sure they ate junk the whole weekend but guess what? so did i!

i ate chick fil a. i had a cookout milkshake (peanut butter banana thank you very much). i had bojangles and more homemade southern food at the shower. it was awesome. and now i'm just...bloated! i've been really bad about my eating habits. i know what i need to do to lose a few pounds but i just don't have the motivation. look, i'm already running alot ok? so just let me eat! lol. at least i AM running!!

i knew i'd be away for the weekend so i had my friend watch thomas and i set out on a 10 mile run. it was horrible! it was 19 degrees and the streets were craptastically plowed. i almost died no less than 12 times on my run! it took me just under 2 hours to complete the run which turned out to be about an 11 min/mile run. hey, it's not the fastest but it'll do for the half marathon. you have to run at least a 16 min/mile and i seem to be able to do that. even if all goes wrong during the last 3.1 miles, at least i know i'm capable of maintaining a decent pace for the first 10 miles!

i went out today for a 4 miler and again was SLOW. i think it's because all the fried food i ate slowed me down! at least it's over with!

we are leaving for disney on sunday! i need to do another long run on saturday before we go because i definitely will not have time for any long runs on our vacation! i will plan, however, on doing at least 2 short runs while i'm in disney. can't wait!!!

chug chug chugging along!

well i feel like we're really getting down to the wire! this past saturday i went out and ran 9 miles! it was slow and i felt pretty awful during most of it! i managed a 11:19 min/mile pace. but that is a big average. the first few miles i was running at about a 10:00 min/mile pace and i swear the last 2 miles i was going at a negative pace! haha! i just kept telling myself to put one foot in front of the other. there was a time when i had thought that because i ran 4 miles at a 10:30 min/mile pace that i'd be able to keep that up for the half marathon. yeah, who am i kidding? that is totally not going to happen. at this point i don't care if i have to crawl across that finish line! i'm a beginner runner, no need to worry about time.

what i really want to do, if possible, is have FUN during this race! disney works so hard to put these races on and have entertainment for the runners that it would be a shame for me to at least not TRY to enjoy myself! why not try to get some pictures, right? that's what these new tiny cameras are for! it's not like back in the day when your camera broke your back! i could probably just hold mine in my hand!

so, after the 9 miles i was really tired for the rest of the day and my hips were killing me. in fact, they've been bothering me ever since. i can't figure out how to stretch my hips! still, i managed to find a college kid in the neighborhood today who could watch thomas for an hour for me. i ran 4 freezing cold miles. FREEZING COLD!!! did the usual maritime college loop. hips are sore again but the massive amounts of pulled pork sandwiches i just ate for dinner should make me feel better...right??

workout: 4.2 miles
time: 43:22 (10:20 min/miles)
next: we're supposed to get ANOTHER snowstorm and i'm hoping that i will be able to get out on wednesday. if not, ugh, i don't know. i guess i'll go out thursday although i need to do a long run on friday since i'm going down to NC to my friend's baby shower this weekend!

two steps forward, three steps back

GRRR!!!!

i really feel like the universe is totally against me running this half marathon. well guess what universe? i'm gonna do it if it KILLS me!!! i got back into running after i got over my stomach bug and was doing really well. was getting in at least two or three runs a week which is not exactly what i wanted but considering it was freezing cold and it was next to impossible to get someone to watch the baby, i did pretty good. in fact last weekend i ran a 7 miler. it was long and slow but it was completed!

then of course i'm all set to run a 9 miler this weekend and BAM! sinus infection and cold. like, BAD cold. like, couldn't get out of bed cold. i was grounded again. i even had a sitter lined up for today but had to cancel. dammit! i'm hoping i'll be better tomorrow and the sitter can come again.

i must i must i must do my training! at least i know that i can do 10 miles.  sure, it was months ago but it was done. and i did 7 miles last week so that's over halfway there! i can do it! dammit! i can do it!

this winter has SUCKED as far as sickness!