This view really impressed me this morning!

Monday Funday
5.52 miles, 54:07
Mizuno Wave Rider 15

This morning's weather was a-mazing. In fact, it was what made me get out of bed this morning! I worked all weekend (typical) and I stayed up too late watching the Olympics. I was looking for a reason to roll over and go back to sleep this morning when my alarm went off. When I saw that it was 69 degrees and "only" 80% humidity, I decided to get up. There's something about the weather in the 60's that really pumps me up. I know it was BARELY in the 60's but I really don't care. Plus, since I'm a wanna be Olympian, I had to get up and pretend to be an athlete.

Despite the weather, my heart wasn't in it at first. I dawdled on my coffee longer than normal. I considered staying home. I set out planning to do only a 5k, but I went a bit longer. I love it when that happens! I took a slower pace so I could cover more distance. My legs were a bit sore - maybe from standing all weekend - but the heel felt fairly good.

Plan for the week:
Tuesday - Speed work
Wednesday - Off day (aka I'll be sleeping all day after working Tuesday overnight)
Thursday - Long run (hoping for at least 7 miles - I will have to get up quite early and need to start pumping myself up for this now)
Friday - Slow, short, easy run
Saturday - Work, off day
Sunday - Work, off day


I don't usually run when I'm on weekend shifts because the shifts are so long and I want to spend time with Monster and Hubs when I get home. I usually only get about 6 hours of sleep on those nights, so it's hard to sacrifice any more precious sleep time. I'm really not hardcore enough - that's what it boils down to.

I'm putting my plan out there to keep myself honest. Have a glorious day, runner folks!

Better Late than Never

This applies in most life circumstances, except pregnancy - babies arriving late is frowned upon in my household. Anyway..

Friday's run (7/27)-
3 miles, 26.01
Shoes: Brooks Ghost 4

I was hoping to do a long run on Friday morning. This fell through because I'm very intelligent and forgot to set my alarm. I woke up at about 5:30a and was able to squeeze in a run before the hubs left for his commute. I took the opportunity to work on speed - which has always been my least favorite thing. However, I have realized that I'm as fast as I'm going to get without doing any speed work. I've been running for about 3.5-4 years now, and I've always been ok with my snail's pace. I figure I might want to speed it up some, especially if I'm going to cover 26.2 miles before the sun goes down. I have already started seeing a difference in my speed and I've only been actively trying for about 2 weeks. I don't know why I put it off for so long! I also feel 60 pounds lighter when I'm running because I have been going without the jogging stroller.

I read about this idea to make it a "game" - starting after at least a 1 mile warm up - I think I found this in Runner's World or some other running blog on-line:
1) 10 strides as fast as I can handle it
2) 10 strides at normal, conversational pace
3) 20 strides as fast as I can handle it
4) 20 strides at a normal, conversational pace, etc.

You get the point. The point of the game is to get to 100 strides of each - or in my case, stopping when you are sucking wind too hard to continue to run. I made it to 100 paces today, so I think I will try something new next week, maybe 30 second blocks.

The weather on Friday was warm - about 75 degrees at 5:30a and 80% humidity. I am battling a sore heel - but it seems to feel better despite work (and standing on my feet for the better part of 12 hours/shift) because I have been making a conscious effort to stretch. I have a really tight right calf and tight hamstrings - stretching helps me wind down at night but seems to be helping the foot, too.

I'm looking forward to my run on Monday morning. Stay tuned.

Oh, and keep your dogs out of the heat. I'm sick (and emotionally tired) of having to euthanize dogs with heat stroke.

Here's a picture of a gorgeous early morning sunrise while out making my fat cells scream!

Today's workout: 4 miles, 39:43
Shoes: Mizuno Wave Rider 15

I got up at the crack of dawn (ahem 5am) to go running before the hubs went to work. This is particularly impressive because I mostly work NIGHTS and getting up that early is like a normal person waking up at 2am to go for a run. It was a bit warm (75 degrees and 85%+ humidity) even before the sun came up. It seemed a bit cloudy as my satellite signal was terrible- I couldn't get either Pandora or Songza to load!

All in all, it was not a great run. I ate too much Mexican food the night before and the Monster woke up several times during the night so I was plain tired. I was a tad slower than normal. I had a few moments where I thought I was going to have to share my morning coffee with the pavement. BUT, I felt great when I got home. Running is tricky like that. Sure, I felt like I was having a heat stroke for a few minutes, but once I stretched and had some water, I felt human again and I was glad I didn't turn off my alarm.

My schedule at work rotates every 12 weeks and this is our first week on the new schedule. I'm not sure which day will work out best for my long run - but I'm hoping to do that tomorrow morning.

So, here's the thing. My name is Kristin - I am a mom, wife, and runner. I go to work on the days where my name shows up on the schedule (this happens more that I'd like most of the time!). I eat too much Mexican food. I have a "too close to two" year old little monster. I am constantly struggling to juggle the demands of my life. My house is rarely clean and there is too much dog hair on the couch. So, in a moment of self loathing, I decided to torture myself and train for a marathon. A full marathon. Like - 26.2 miles to be exact.

I know what you're thinking. Well, actually, no I don't. But, if I were you, I'd be thinking, "So what?" The thing is, I've run six half marathons to date. I did my first one when I was about 14 weeks pregnant with Monster. On that day in 2010, I was just happy that I was able to be away from a toilet and didn't have to wear my sea sickness bands for about 3 hours so I could finish. I thought I was happy with the 13.1 distance and never needed to be "crazy."

Well, when you find yourself saying that you will "never" do something, God somehow makes it something that you end up doing. He has a sense of humor, you know.

So, when I was feeling the most unaccomplished and useless, I decided that I'd squeeze marathon training into my life. I also decided that I'd create this handy dandy blog. Its main purpose is to provide me with a type of training journal - so I can look back and remember what life was like before I broke my (insert name of bone, tendon, or ligament here).

If you'd like, you can tag along. Maybe I'll encourage you to make time for yourself, eat more Mexican food, or even join me for a run sometime.