Well, I started out okay and felt good at about 2-4 miles but then 5 and 6 really sucked. Now I can't stop complaining and Brian says he is going to trade me in for a newer model. Hopefully tomorrow will be a day of recovery. I can't believe we have to double that run in just over a month or so.

She moved so easily all I could think of was sunlight..

Got out early today, beautiful morning for a run. It's scary, but I felt really good for about three miles, then I started to tire a little bit, when I hit five miles my body was like "what, we are going to keep going?", but I did keep going and finished in just under 71 min. Today I was noticing how the thin people seem to run so effortlessly, while I plod along. It's like I'm a water buffalo lost in the gazelle herd. Oh well, these things take time. I'm going to reward myself with a beer and some buckeyes. Happy miles everyone.

Lingering Fay

So it's been raining for the last 24 hours here in Knoxville so I moved the run inside yesterday and it went well. 4 miles in just under 46 minutes. I may attempt to do 4 again today seeing that I will be in the car tomorrow and then I can attempt to do the 6 on Friday. We'll see. I have to admit it is starting to feel good to run and the funny thing is I was looking at the training schedule and on Wednesdays it has the 2m run or crosstrain which I was usually walking for about an hour but I think I am going to start running the 2. The weird thing about it is I feel like 2 is nothing now. Run for less than 25 minutes sounds great!!

Hello everyone, just finished the 4 mile today and was checking to see exactly how far I went with the little map your run icon...I love that little jigger. Today was great, well the first mile was rough, my knees always take a little warming up but at 2.5 miles in I started to think I could go for a while longer. Then at like 3 miles I actually started to speed up. I was so excited to be enjoying myself while running, which has never happened in my entire life! Anyways I also talked to my sister-inlaw Patti who lives in Col. and she and her friend are going to do it also and perhaps join us, though they might be a bit faster than most of us. I told her to log on and join the chat. This definitely keeps me going. I still have not lost an ounce and my clothes are shrinking, I think I need to cut out the trips to McDs in the morning...I am hooked on egg mcmuffins! Keep plugging along!

Fat bottomed girls you make the rockin' world go round

Monday - 4miles, 49min.
Today - 4miles, 47min.

I felt tired through both of these runs but I also had some periods where I felt pretty good. It's hard to get down when the weather is so nice, the trail is speckled with sunlight and a nice little breeze is blowing. Had some good tunes to pull me through the tough spots. Looking forward to the six miler. My ass is starting to regret ever getting so big...

Must be getting results...

So I just had to make note of this to all my ladies...I hate the scale. I stay away from it. I go on how my clothes fit. The problem is certain things are still just not fitting and I think they should be so I don't think that I am losing weight. I have come to conclusion that having a baby really does change your body shape cause I have had 3 people in the last 24 hours tell me that I have lost a bunch of weight but I didn't think so cause still certain things are not fitting the same. So that is my good news that I wanted to share with all of you. People are noticing a difference and the makes me feel good. Makes me want to do the run today!!! Happy 4 miles ladies!!

A little worried...

How's it going ladies??? Not to much talk about the long this past weekend. Mine went good. Similar to Amanda's. I thought this doesn't feel so good. This is going to be rough and then I ended up shaving about 3 minutes off of my time which I didn't intend to do so in the end it went well. And I didn't feel horrible at the end of the day. Just tired. We had our fantasy draft right after so it was a long day. I have to admit I am a little worried about doing two 4 mile runs and a 6er this weekend. I also have to throw a bachelorette party in there as well so I need to pray I won't be hungover cuz that will suck. I need to squeeze it in with that party plus Brody is turning 1 on Saturday and we are having a little party for him in Columbus. I hope all you ladies are doing well. Everyone is a little quiet these days. Have a great week!!

Going down the road feelin' bad...

So, I took off for my five miler this morning feeling tired. This bummed me out because I had hoped after two days of rest that my legs would feel stronger. Thinking about all of you definitely kept me going today, I imagine you guys in your various neighborhoods chugging along, perhaps with the same pained look on your face that I make. The shocker is that I did improve my time from last week, 5miles, 58min. Next week it really gets tough! Keep on keepin on.

New Additions!!

Hey ladies! I just wanted to let you know that I spoke with my girlfriend Nicole who lives in Columbus and we found out that we were both doing the half marathon and didn't know it. She is doing it with her friend but would love to find other people to do it with. The people that they know doing it are more experienced and I offered to do it with us.

Totally freaked out...

So I did my run outside at my normal spot. I start at the beginning of the trail cause it's marked very nicely and if I start at the beginning I don't have to do any math to figure out where to turn around or stop. Well F that. I am rethinking my strategy. Tomorrow I am going to park in the middle so halfway through I can down some delicious cold beverage cause I started freaking out at about a mile to go yesterday. So dehydrated I just couldn't go on. I spent more time and energy walking and jumping into the shaded areas than running. I have never freaked like that. I was so mad cause the beginning felt great. The first mile perfect other than have to run into the woods to pee. Let me just tell you how lovely that was. There was a KPD doing laps around the neighborhood plus this is a pretty swanky area. It's a neighborhood on the river with anywhere from half a million dollar homes to multi-million dollar homes and has this beautiful park that runs thru it. People peeing in the bushes is not a common thing so just keep your fingers crossed that I didn't get poison ivy going into the woods and dropping my drawers....Have a great week ladies!!

Hello Girls, Sorry I haven't "blogged" in a couple of days... I have been out of town and super busy but still keeping up with the runs. I ran the 5 on Sunday and it was painful, I had never ran that route and it was slightly uphill for quite awhile and that really sucked! Amanda, I totally was thinking about how I peeed my pants that one (maybe twice if I am really honest) and I thought that perhaps the 13 miles might be enough to put me over the edge once again. Hey is Laura doing this with us or not? I thought she was but then I haven't heard from her yet? Well keep up the good work, Lori

Half of the time we're gone and we don't know where, and we don't know where...

Often as I'm running I like to let my mind wander. Today I was thinking about soccer practice at OSU. Lori peed her pants once. And this other time I scored an amazing goal, no one remembers it but me I'm sure, but it was the sweetest shot I've ever hit, real far away and a real zinger. Because I never got to play I really loved practice. Anyhoo, you just got a glimpse of the craziness, bet you can't wait to hear about my ruminations during the five miler. Oh, the run felt good, but I didn't improve my time 3.5miles, 39min.

You've gotta fight for your right to party

Momma had herself a few well deserved beers on Saturday night, and I think they were still with me today. I had heavy legs from start to finish, but I did finish. 3.5miles, 39 min.

There she is...

There is our fearless leader cheering us on....I did my 5 this morning. I have moved it inside. I am just not ready to do my longs outside with inclines and declines. My week was rough...I'm not going to lie. Both my runs went pretty horrible but mostly because of the heat. I have been doing my during the week runs around 4...right after work...while the sun is just beating down and I don't do so well with that. I would love to be able to wake up before work but it's just not happening. I don't have that gene in me. I overheat bad because for some unknown reason I don't sweat until after I am done running. I will a little but it pours down after. It's weird. Anyway..I am going to continue during the week outside and just stick it out. So now I finally get to my point. My run went great today but little did I know I was going to feel like an 80 year old lady by the end of the day. I did it in 61 minutes and I only walked for about 5 minutes of it so I am pretty proud of myself. I think I am catching on to the whole keep a nice steady pace instead of trying to get it done as quick as possible. I felt great the whole run. Never really felt winded but I did need to walk to give my hips a rest. The pounding after about 4 miles was really getting to me but I think once some of this weight starts melting off it will help. I felt great most of the day and then I took an afternoon nap with Brody and woke up and could barely move. My legs had basically frozen up. It did not feel good. Once I got moving they felt better but I am definitely achy. I think I need to make sure that I have the day after the race off cause I can't imagine what 8 more miles will feel like....which leads me to a question..ladies are we going to plan a little celebration after the race where our significant others cook for us, rub our feet and backs while we all drink beers??? Just putting it out there ladies to think about. I hope that you guys all had a great 5 and are still able to move about. Who ever said that 30 is the new 20 never trained for a marathon. I think they would seriously disagree if they did.

Shake it, shake it - shake it like a polaroid picture...

OK, just to recap, Tuesday's 3.5 - great, Thursday's 3.5 not bad. Then today, the dreaded 5 miler. Ugh. But guess what? Not so bad. You heard me right, it really wasn't so bad either, and I'll tell you why. I've decided to stop poo pooing and start trying to be more positive. Yes, my ass is jiggly, yes, my legs are tired, sure there are octogenarians running past me like I'm standing still. But fucking A, I'm doing it, and I'm getting better. So take heart girls, chin up, you are marathoners! Go get em this weekend!

No Weight Loss Here

Hey ladies. Amanda & I completed our 3.5's today. It was tough for me - REAL tough. I did however play soccer last night & then went out for a few beers which I think you can always feel the next morning. We're planning our 5's for tomorrow since the weekend schedule doesn't work out so well for us this week. SHould be nice & crippled after that. I also am not losing weight, but I remember after I had my baby I started just walking & then jogging a little & she was born last August & I went until after Christmas before I felt like things were changing on my bod. Then all of a sudden around Feburary the weight did just start falling off. I hope this will be the smae situation - honestly I dont care how much I weigh if my clothes get looser & I am firmer I will be happy. SO keep it up everyone I am so proud of all of us & can't wait to cross that finish line! Have a great weekend!!!

Totally agree...

I think it just helps with the theory of getting faster at the distances. Also I think it will help with the mental aspect of it casue that is what I have the biggest problem with. I start freaking out and what to get it done as quick as possible so I end up going faster and then need to stop. Anyone else finding it almost more mentally challenging than anything else?? Physically it's hard but I start freaking out at times.

Here's the thing

I'm at Gil's with all the kids, she is out doing her run then when she gets back it's my turn. I was just reading what Kelsey's friend said. This sounds like a person who is a runner. I would warn against cutting any mileage. If you can run for 40 min. then 50 then 60, that's great, but what if you are only covering 4 miles in that hour? When it comes time to run the 13 it helps if you know that you can cover the distance. I don't think it's a bad idea to mix the theories a little bit, but I would make sure that you can complete the mileage of the long run each weekend.

Keepin on....

No problem. I don't know if things seem like they are going easier. To be honest...I seriously struggle during the week. I did my 3.5...outside...on Tuesday and it sucked. I have serious issues with the inclines here. It's like achilles area cramps up so tight but I am going to stick with it and stay outside during the week. I guess what is good when I gear up for my long run on the weekend it's by far my best which makes me feel good. And no....I am not losing weight just yet which fustrates me. I feel like certain areas feel a little better but certain pants that I thought would be baggier by now are not. I guess it's only been 3 weeks. I think if we just stick with it, it will all of a sudden start melting off. We'll be doing the marathon in biker shorts and sports bra!! Yeah right but we can hope!! Hope everyone is having a good week. I feel like our fearful leader has abandoned us!!

Thanks Kelsey, that information is good, I think I will try to keep it in mind when I am running and not fret if I miss a day like yesterday (the short 2 miler- I am trying to heal that stupid blister). Today I did the 3.5 and it felt pretty good, it definitely is getting a little easier day by day. The first 3-5 minutes is rough, but then thankfully my knees go numb. Is anyone losing weight doing all this running? I am NOT! and I am pissed! Brian tried to tell me it was because my fat is turning to muscle but I don't buy it and it did not make me feel any better! Lori

I just decided to copy and paste what Sean said. I am going to kind of combine both of them. I want to keep maintaining my times but I am going to kind of throw out the trying to get times faster cause what he is saying is kind of making sense to me. My problem is that I ran outside today and I kept the slower pace but trying to go slow up hills is way hard. I think I am going to try to do my runs during the week outside and then treadmill for the long. Maybe if I am doing the shorter ones with hills and somewhat complete it, it will be easier on me for the long ones and actually be able to complete it. We'll see. It was hard outside I have to admit but it was a nice trail so I am going to stick with it. I will be doing my 5 outside in Cbus though so maybe I'll run into some of you. Glad to see you ladies are still sticking with it.

Hi Kelsey, thats great that your taining for the half marathon. Im thinking about doing the full marathon so maybe I will be down there for that. So they key is to build slowly over time but I guess you only have about 7-8 weeks left so it is getting to be the time when you should be doing a long run once a week. I would just try to run for time now and not worry about how many miles you are running. Settle in to a pace where you can run comfortably for 30min to 45 during the week however many times you run. I really do reccomend every other day to keep your body healthy and yourself motivated. Then on the weekend you should gradually increase your time. At this point I would say 15 minute increments per week would be a good place to start. So this coming weekend I would try to do and hour or an hour 15. Then on Sunday the 24th or Saturday the 23rd try to run an Hour and a half, and remember you should start off very slow, slower than normal, as if it almost feels too slow. You are trying to train your body to burn calories more efficiently for longer periods of time. Make sure you have water or Gatorade with you or out on your course at selected points for your run. The weekend run is the most important. This is the one that will simulate race day the most as you get closer to the half. So to recap, during the week every other day for 30-45 minutes and build your weekend run by 15 minutes each week until the last two weeks before your race. Let me know if you have any other questions. Good luck, Sean.

If you guys have any other questions that you want me to ask him let me know. Hope everyone has a great week!!

Hey Guys, I am still here also. Plugging away...I am trying to stay on track and I was just telling Kacz that I think two weeks has made a world of difference in my tolerance to running. I never would have thought that I would have been able to run three miles without stopping and felt pretty good through it. Slight set-back...got a blister because I tried a stupid pair of new socks that didn't stay up and I rubbed a spot on my achilles. Now I am a little stumped as to how to get around it, I know that sounds really stupid, but I don't want to keep irritating it and yet I don't want to miss a workout. I think tomorrow I am going to ride a recumbent bike. Today I wore my old running shoes hoping they hit my heel in a different spot and it somewhat worked. Any suggestions??? Four miles went pretty good on Sunday and like others out there I am trying to shed minutes because I want to see improvement, but I was thinking that was a good way to go about it, is the marathon guy saying no its not? Anyways, ditto to I love checking in on everyone and it is definitely helping to hear from everyone! Lori

Tramps like us, baby we were born to run...

Still here. One bad week ...made me feel a little pouty, but I ain't quittin'! I am gong to get all my miles in this week and I had a great start today. I feel as though I am making some serious progress in the battle against my ass. My 3.5 (39 min) today was the best run I've had since starting the program. I felt really good the whole way and in the end my legs actually felt like they had something left instead of feeling like dead weight. Olympics 2012 here I come! Ok, maybe not, but hot damn I felt good today, don't know if it will hold up for the rest of the week but a girl can dream...can't she? I hope all of you that haven't reported in aren't thinking about giving up, one bad week doesn't mean you have to quit altogether, just pick up this week and get on with it. I'll be kicking some old lady ass tomorrow night in soccer then back on the road for Thursday, I'll let you know if today's run was just an anomaly or if I'm actually making some progress.

POLO!!!

I was just getting ready to leave a post asking the same thing. I hadn't heard anything lately so I was thinking either I was being too obsessive about it or maybe we have had a few casualties.

I hope everything is going well for everyone. Things with me are going but there are definitely more bad days than good. I have tweaked the schedule a little bit too but keeping the mileage up. I did my 4 miles on Saturday and it felt good. Shaved almost a minute off of my time but I need to stop doing that. I need to keep myself at a more slow steady pace but it's so hard for me not to look at time. I attempted to run outside here and it was impossible. At least through my neighborhood. I am going to attempt a path outside today. A co-worker ran it yesterday and he said the whole path is lined with trees so it's pretty shaded and not so hilly. So wish me luck. I spoke with a friend of mine who is very experienced in marathons. He has done the iron man several times and running a full is not even a problem. I asked him some advice and his advice was similar to the training schedule but there were some differences. He advised to run every other day but mostly focus on time, as in length of time not how fast. And then do the long runs on the weekend and every weekend add 15 minutes to it. If any of you want more info on what he advised cause it sounds more suitable to them let me know and I can send you his message. There's more details to it than that but that's the brief overview if it at all sounds like it interests you. I think in the end it's just finding what best suits you cause there are a ton of different schedules.

Well I hope everyone is doing great. I am still plugging away down in Tennessee. I feel like October will be here before i know it. I will be in Cbus a few weekends before the race so if anyone wants to run with me let me know. I'll actually be doing my 5 miles somewhere in Cbus this weekend so if you see a busty blonde passed out on the side of the road or a jogging path don't worry it's just me!! Have a good week ladies!!

Kels

Marco!

Ladies, where is everyone? I had an off-week last week but am trying to get back on track this week. I'm slammed so I haven't had a chance to write to you about it, but being the ADD person I am, I keep checking for updates on your progress. I need you to keep me going!

Just wanted to let you know that I'm still trying to do this in case anyone else out there is feeling a little too busy themselves.

Where was my cheerleader when I needed her!!

Let me just tell you ladies how bad I needed a cheerleader next to me on my run yesterday. I was all pumped yesterday. I felt great. I thought this 3 miles is going to be my best yet. Maybe even do the whole thing at a decent pace...well at least most of it. IT WAS HORRIBLE. It was my worst yet. I barely made it through the first mile. I did the 1st mile and the last 2 I went off and on. In the end I shaved about 40 seconds of my time which I can't believe. I did it in about 36 minutes. But the whole time I hated it. If it wasn't for this I would of quit and I desperately needed a cheerleader next to me. I don't know what happened though. I felt like the acid in my stomach was halfway up my throat. Mentally I couldn't do it. I felt horrible the rest of the night. Anyway. I just had to vent about how horrible it was yesterday. I am going to walk today and then run outside tomorrow since it is going to be way cooler this weekend. I hope everyone is doing better than I did yesterday.

Back on Track

Yo yo yo, I too have been a little under the weather, but I was feeling a little better yesterday so I went for my four miler and it went pretty well. It took me 51 min., not great, but I felt pretty good the whole time, and I only walked for two one minute periods. The dream continues...

Minor Speed Bump

So ladies...I hit a speed bump in my first week. I went to Pittsburgh this weekend but was all prepared to do my 30 minutes there and then come home and run on Sunday. Well, to start the story out, Brody woke up Thursday night and puked all over me...twice. He seemed fine the next morning so we packed up and got on the plane. Well he proceeded to hardly eat the next few days and got a serious case of the runs on Saturday. Not fun but he seemed to be acting fine. When we got there though it seemed like a decent place to run so I was going to do my 4 miles on Saturday but then realized I left my sports bra at home and for all you ladies who are familiar with the fellas a bra is absolutely necessary if I don't want to knock myself out the before the first mile was over. So I just said I would run Sunday and just drink the whole bottle of vodka that I bought on Saturday. Hey it's a family reunion with Gary's family. It's needed. Well we were halfway home yesterday on our 2 hour layover in Cleveland and I realized my stomach is not feeling too hot and realized that I now have what Brody has had for the last 2 days. I pretty much prayed the whole hour flight that I either wouldn't have to puke in the barf bag or run to the bathroom. I made it except I proceeded to puke on the car ride home from the airport. Yeah it's been fun. So I passed on the run yesterday but feel extremely guilty about it so I am heading to gym this afternoon to do my 4 miles. Hopefully there won't be any setbacks. Good job to all you ladies for completing it!!! I am sorry that I wasn't able to complete with you but while you guys are enjoying your stretches I will be hopefully completing that. Happy Monday!!

I Can't Believe IT!!!

I cannot believe that I actually just jogged 4 miles! I did not have to walk any of it, though I swear I would have been moving faster than my jog at times. I can't say that I have gotten to the point where my pains ever go away but there is a point where I said "I am going to make this" Have any of you used that "map your run" tool on the blog site. That is what I used to figure out where I was going to run, and I'll tell you what, either my treadmill is lying to my or that tool doesn't work...I am hoping it is my treadmill! The run today took my 45 minutes and each mile took about 10 min 30 sec.. I felt like a slug today and when I am on the treadmill I struggle to run one mile at that pace. Well only time will tell but I am encouraged today!

Did The Four My Legs Are Rubber How Will I Do 13???

Good morning ladies! I just did the weekend 4 miles. Walked .25, ran the 4, then walked .25 to cool down. Time? 50 minutes of HELL. At this rate the 13 will take me 4 hours and a stretcher. I switched my Sat & Sun workout because tonight is our 15 yr high school reunion - Amanda isn't going what a cop out - and I have a feeling I might be a bit hung over tomorrow. The baby & I will do a nice bike ride or something less traumatic.

The run actually wasn't too horrible. The temp this morning was nice & the humidity down a lot. I still feel incredibly out of shape however & was being passed by people who looked like they are my mom's age. Still, if I can do it I can guarantee the rest of you can. I'm going to try & stand up from the computer now:) Good Luck Gang - hope everyone makes it through our first weekend!!

Scorecard: My Ass - 2 Me - 0

So, for the first time I played an entire half of soccer in my old lady league on Wednesday and woke up Thursday morning to a body that couldn't or wouldn't move. Should playing soccer make even your arms sore? Needless to say the morning run didn't happen. Then, Gillian called me and gave me the little kick in the ass that I needed (she said she would watch my kiddies for me), so I headed over to the bike trail by her house around 4pm, I'd say the temperature was somewhere between the inside of your oven set to broil and the surface of the sun. I made a deal with myself before setting out that I was going to run five minutes then walk one minute, and just keep that up until I finished. It took me 39.30 but hot damn I made it. There was a brief period after my first run and walk that the aches and pains actually started to melt away, and I felt pretty good, then as usual, I started to get tired and the legs start to get real heavy, but I dragged myself to the finish any way. "Take that, Ass!" You may be winning the early battles, but I will win the war! Looking forward to doing NOTHING today, I am going to do 4 tomorrow, because the family is going to Cedar Point on Sunday, I hope 8 hours in 95 degree heat at an amusement park is equal to a 30min. cross train.

This is UGLY!

Well, I ended up taking a rest day yesterday and did 3 miles today (in 38 minutes, UGH). This is a far cry from the 6-7 minute miles we used to be able to run in college. It really sucks being out of shape. Right now I am just terrified that I am not going to be able to do this. I have to take a short little walk at 2 miles right now. Oh my goodness, Amanda, what did you get me into! Each day will get better, right???