I like the bugs..

Yo yo..

I read your list of pros and cons and agree with all but one. I think the bigs/flies are a pro not a con. I ran around Horn Pond today and I had to stop and walk at one point. After about a minute flies were all around me so it forced me to haul ass out of the fly swarm thus I stopped walking and continued to run.

I think I ran somewhere around 2.5 miles today. Probably a little less than that. I was impressed with myself. I plan to wake up early tomorrow and do the bike for a while. Then it’s RACE DAY! Ugh.. I hope my legs survive because the rest of me has been feeling great on these runs. Ok must go take psychology final. Laterrrrr

Outside vs. Gym

As you all should know already, I hate running. But, I usually can tolerate it for a 1/2  hour on the treadmill. Outside, it ain’t happenin. However, after running at the Quabbin and around my parents hood, I think my ways MIGHT be changing. I might actually prefer running outside. I have made a pros & cons list for you below:

Outside Pros:

1) You can visually SEE how far you have to run or you know markers.
2) You can’t watch the clock
3) You can’t really QUIT if you plan on ever making it home/back to the car.
4) You get vitamin D
5) You can pick items along your route and make up some games/strategies with them ie. sprint to the next telephone pole
6) People can actually see your efforts and you don’t want to look bad.

Cons

1. Nothing is MAKING you run
2. You can’t watch TV
3. People can SEE you
4. Bugs/bug bites/inhaling bugs
5. You might have to apply sun screen

Treadmill Pros:

1) something is forcing you to run
2) you can pace yourself
3) you can watch your fav show
4) you can immediately life weights/do abs/stretch after run
5) there’s a bathroom near by

Cons:

1) you can make up an excuse to stop
2) you aren’t really running anywhere
3) you constantly watch the time
4) if you fart, people are more likely to smell it.

This change of preference struck me today while I was sooooo bored on the treadmill. I watch constantly looking at the time. Told myself I could walk etc etc. No good! So, I think I will try to run outside more. I definitely do not see myself running during the following conditions:

high heat
snow
rain
temps below 50.

See ya at the finish line!
MBC

you splinter, me donatello

michelle. i’m sorry. shin splints really suck. i mean reallllly suck. i had them freshman year for both soccer and basketball. ouchies!

i got up this a.m. and ‘hit the pavement’ runnniiinnnnng. didn’t do map my run but i think it was roughly around 2.15 miles. i had a terrible stitch in my side yet again but i pullled a Dory from Nemo and told myself to just keep swimming! So i did and i reached my goal and made it back to my door ALIVE. Whoo so 2 good things came of this morning. A) I woke up early to exercise and B) I did it! yahoo. now for tomorrow’s mission. Run after work. 2.75 miles…Will She or Won’t She!???

splintered shins

Marissa is a star. I’m not ashamed to admit I will be eating your dust in this race. I bought a new outift so I will at least look good doing it HA! I went to the gym on Friday and did 5 miles on the bike. Saturday I ran horn pond.. 2 miles without stopping! I thought that was huge. The shins started throbbing around the first mile. I got new sneakers, Marissa but they still hurt. I don’t think my legs want me to run. I didn’t listen to them and ran about a mile yesterday and I have a soccer game tonight. My shins still hurt. I plan to stretch them out a lot and ice them tonight. I will probably go to the gym and bike for most of this week to keep my legs moving but to do something with no/less pressure on my legs.

I just had spaghetti and meatballs and a glass of milk. I drink a lot of milk. I thought it was supposed to give me strong bones. Damn shins!

and I would walk 300 milesssssss

Why hello my fellow runners! Actually, I am the only one blogging so I may be the only runner 😛

I went back to the Quabbin with Stefan and we had a goal of running 3 miles under 30 mins. At least thats what we told each other. I secretly had a goal of doing at least 2 miles. So we started off our run and Stefan thought he was some sort of marathon runner and was about 50 yards ahead of me for the first 1 1/2. I thought damn that boy has got to set a pace!
I paced myself nicely. I believe I was doing about a 6.0 (for you treadmill people). I ran the full 2 miles without walking. Stefan took a walk around 1.5 I started gaining on him & he did not like it! So he sped up. He thinks hes so fast! But I know the story of the tortoise & the hare!
Around 2.5 he was really slowing down & I caught up with him. We finished the last .5 together. Well I’ll say he was a step ahead of me cuz hes a poor sport 😛

We did 3 miles in 29 mins and 33 seconds! woohoo under 30 mins!

I am very impressed with myself. Now time for pizza (yes I am going to end every blog with me eating)

Wogging

Yesterday morning I wogged 3 miles with my mother-in-law. Wogging is a combination of jogging & walking. My MIL just started wogging and likes to jog 3 mins walk 2 mins. We finished in 45 mins. It was a nice enjoyable time. I wasn’t dying in the least.
Today on the other hand, I am dying. totally hung over. too much champagne. I don’t know if ill make it for a run. Time for a bagel.

Motivation

That was very motivating… I’m going to the treadmill for a small run before my larger run tomorrow morning. I am running out of time!

Don’t we pay town taxes?

Saturday I ran (jogged!) 1.5 miles outside which went pretty well. I believe I ran it in 15 mins. No super runner here just a jogger. Then over the week I only made it to the gym once. I think I ran about 2.8 on the treadmill.
Today, I biked for 25 mins at the gym and then Stefan & I made plans to try to run a 5k outside. I wanted to make sure this was feasible.
We thought we would run it on the track at the high school since its nice & flat & easily measurable. We roll up to the (very nice) high school campus and see that the gate to the track is locked with a sign that reads something along the lines of “No trespassing during school hours or after school hours without permission.” Um then when am I allowed to use the track that I pay for? Don’t I pay taxes through the nose to live in this GD family town? The least you could do is let me use your track once a year.

So I had a great thought.. why don’t we run the Quabbin Reservoir. We had seen it before but have never been there cuz theres no dogs allowed. This was a great spot for a run! It is so pretty & I will definitely go back. So we started our run and it was sooo WINDY. My ear buds were getting blown out of my ears, my nose was running and my feet were being blown as I took teach step.

First mile was a piece of cake. NBD. The second mile.. that was another story. The wind was really getting me down. I wanted to quit after mile 2 but kept on trucking. On the third mile I noticed there were drains every 50 yards so I would walk to one drain jog to the next walk to the next sprint to the next. you get the picture. finally after 33 grueling minutes we had completed 3.08 miles.

How am I so accurate with my mileage you ask? Well right before the run I had Stefan download an app that keeps track of miles & time for you!

I am hoping by game day I can at least jog the whole 3.2 miles.

My ‘weak’end attempt at training

So ya, drank my face off Thursday night and a little more Friday night why stop there?  OH don’t worry I didn’t.  I also had a few pops on Saturday afternoon and then some more at night. Then I had one drink at the 90th birthday party (ps that looked like an AARP meeting)  then i went to the wedding and proceeded to drink enough beer, wine and 1 shot of Jameson’s w/ Ryan W. until my head literally was pounding at midnight and my body hated me.

HOWEVER…I did run 2.5 miles on the treadmill at personal training on Saturday in 25 minutes. I walked as a warm up for the first 3:30 and then ran. My time was pretty decent due to the fact that I sprinted to make up for the lost time from ‘walking’ as a warm up.  I did 3-1 minute sprints at 8.0.   Now…could I take this to the streets?? DOUBTFUL.

Day one and two.. success!

I finally began my training and I’m pretty happy with my start. Yesterday I ran around the Wakefield lake.. well ran half and walked half due to throbbing shins. Then I played tennis for about 30 minutes until I ran out of energy. Then I went for a walk with Marissa. Great day 1! This morning I woke up early and bought new sneakers! I think this may be the cause of my shin problem. Todd and I ran around Horn Pond in Woburn. I had to stop again due to throbbing shins.. this could cause some issues but I plan on trying to run through the pain and hopefully the new kicks help. Instead of stopping the run completely, I walked, ran, walked, ran until I finished. Other than the shin pain, I felt great! Then me and Todd went to the gym and got in a little strength workout and some basketball. I suck at basketball. I remember why I switched to hockey. Now I want to take a nap.