In an ideal world, I like to start my day off with a run. The combination of the time of the sunrise and my 8am classes do not allow for a morning run, shower AND breakfast. This week I have adjusted, and started running after dinner. I generally hate this for many reasons.

1) After dinner, I am generally already exhausted from the day, running just doesn't sound as appealing as crawling into bed with Grey's Anatomy.

2) It's STILL hot out.

3) There are large bugs and wild cats out at night. no joke.

4) After a whole day of eating and moving around and sweating, my body just doesn't feel as good when I'm running.

epic fail.

However, I have found that running after dinner gives me a reason to leave the apartment and get away for a bit. By 8pm I need to clear my head, and running is perfect for doing just that. Tonight I only managed a one-miler..not really for speed either. For the first time ever, I experienced an incredible headache and tightness in my chest about half a mile into my run. Not. Cool. I have decided that this is due to dehydration, judging by the amount I sweated during "pomping" the Gamma Phi Beta float this afternoon. (I have just realized that I haven't even discussed all of last week's events, we'll save that for another time)

Anyways, I have hope that next semester I will not be as much of an idiot to schedule all 8ams, thus allowing for more morning runs :)

getting started

I am so happy to be at Clemson, it's slightly ridiculous. Anyone who knows me, knows that Clark was by no means my first choice but it ended up being a learning experience, and if anyone could see me now, I know there's a difference. I feel comfortable here, there are plenty of things for me to do, it just fits.

Running on the other hand...

Classes started this morning; I start class every morning at 8am. I love waking up early, but when I went to go running at 6am this morning in order to shower and eat before class, it was still dark out! I don't really enjoy running in the dark, so I just did some sprints near the apartment because honestly, I was a little scared! This just means I'll have to adjust, running in the morning is convenient because for one, I'm up, and two, its so much cooler! I can't rationalize even running at 7pm when it's still so warm and muggy! I suppose this means I may have to investigate my options at the fitness center. However, it's only going to get cooler right? They still have fall in the south, right?

It's the beginning of day two at Clemson, and once again, I have gotten up, run, showered AND eaten breakfast before any of my three apartment mates have appeared from their bedrooms. I suppose I can't be to surprised, they have nothing to wake up for. Either way, this mornings run was everything short of spectacular, I'm just not used to running in all this humidity. My brand new iPod shuffle is a dream come true, I don't have to put it in my sports bra and ruin it, and I can easily control it. And it's pink.

I have high hopes for today, I'm going to attempt to cook a few things to stick in the freezer before classes start on Wednesday and things start to get busy, as well as finish buying my books and check out the organizations fair on campus, running club?

tiger

I am officially a Clemson Tiger.

Well, I don't know for sure, I don't have any Clemson stickers on my car yet, but once I do I think that makes it official. I'm all moved into my new apartment, and as my friends say, I am real adult because I have place mats.

I went for a run this morning to explore campus a bit. Campus seems small in terms of running mileage, but later when I went to walk to the post office, what I thought would be a quick walk, ended up being a twenty-five minute adventure. Mom and I are going to make the trek to the Post Office again, they weren't open when I went earlier! Other snags of this place currently include no cell phone reception in my apt (surrounded by brick buildings, screw you T-mobile) and not enough storage in the shower! These are all things we'll work out in time I'm sure, as I'm sure I'll get used to mile long treks across campus, just to get all my letters from Kayla Reeves :)

running with roger

This morning Dad and I went for a short little run. My father is by no means a runner but keeps active playing golf and often "walking for fitness" with my mom. I asked him on Sunday night if he would like to join me on Monday morning's run, but because of the early rain we were postponed until this morning. I was surprised that he accepted, but only after I allowed him to choose the distance.

I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised that he agreed to come along. Unbeknownst to me, on Saturday he came down to Beach to Beacon to cheer me on. I only saw him after the finish, wearing his newly purchased Hall Steps Foundation t-shirt, that I'm sure he bought with the intention of wearing it to the race. I usually ask my parents if they are going to come watch me at my races, but neither of them have really taken an interest. I suppose it could be that because Dr. Golden is opposed to my running endeavors, my mother has a hard time supporting me. It was nice to see my Dad there this weekend, cheering me on and supporting me. It was even more impressive that he was able to do so without his usual talk of strategies and technical details about form usually related to athletics. He's taken a different interest, in a different way than he has in soccer, gymnastics, or tennis. It's a sort of backseat interest, something that I can only respect him for, and wouldn't ask for anything more.

Expo Day Two, and Race Day

Yesterday was Expo Day two. After an extended ride to Cape Elizabeth because of traffic, Paige and I arrived at the expo about an hour late. We had a much more successful day of "Expoing," running out of brochures and chapstick and even selling a few t-shirts. My work for the Steps Foundation sometimes seems insignificant, but simply creating awareness for this new organization is beneficial. After coming home from Cape Elizabeth through all the weekend traffic coming into Maine, it was late, even later considering I had to leave the house at 4am this morning for the race!

3:30 came early this morning, and on my drive down I vowed I would never get up that early to run a race before, I couldn't rationalize the value of it in that moment. Once I crossed the finish line after just over an hour of running, it was worth it getting up so early. The race course was beautiful for one, gorgeous houses and views of the cape, hundreds of cheering fans outside their homes, playing music and spraying water. The first mile was a blur of people weaving in and out of each other that it was over before I knew it. Around mile four I realized that there weren't any hills, something I had been anticipating the whole time, so I was able to pick up my pace to fly by multiple runners on my way to the finish.

It was a rewarding experience, to see how far I have come since I was cleared to run in March, and my first experimental 5k in April. I guess now the next step is signing up for that Princess Half Marathon in Disney! I looked up the information today, but total cost may end up being a bit more than a poor college student wants to spend for a half marathon, especially because it doesn't fall during my Spring Break time. I have a few more months to think about it, and look for other half marathons to adventure into, but someday, I'll be a princess running through Disney!

Expo Days with Steps Foundation

Yesterday was Day One of the Beach to Beacon Expo. It was interesting to say the least. The only running expo I have for comparison is the Boston Marathon Expo which is much larger than B2B. The Hall Steps Foundation was recognized by more people in Boston, but people in Cape Elizabeth yesterday were still excited to hear about the goals and progress of the foundation. Our t-shirt sales were a bit lower than I had expected, but Day Two starts in a few hours, and I'm optimistic for a larger crowd of enthusiastic supporters.

Being involved in the Expo has put my training on hold once again, meaning my legs haven't been moving in the last two days and it is unlikely that I will be out running this morning, considering the incredible heat that has already presented itself for the day. I was interviewed yesterday for a small article in the local newspaper about the Beach to Beacon race and although we talked about the Steps Foundation at length, he choose to quote me about my training for tomorrows race instead. I may have told him that I had been training, but I sure wasn't lying about embarrassing myself tomorrow!

http://www.onlinesentinel.com/sports/localseagerto-run_2010-08-05.html

running out of options

I must face the reality of this coming Saturday. I am going to be forced to run 6.2 miles, with thousands of other runners, most of whom run faster than I do. My recent way of dealing with this has been avoiding running all together and focusing on the 8000 other things I need to do, but today I finally gave in and put my sneakers on, pledging to run everyday this week.

Instead of running I've been focusing on my work for The Hall Steps Foundation. Kayla and I have each been given two races to publicize and recruit runners for, meaning that I've been collecting contact information from all things running in the San Antonio and Las Vegas areas. Soon we will be sending out hundreds of emails to gain runners and support for our upcoming races in these cities! In addition, in the upcoming week, Kayla and I are going to be at the Beach to Beacon Expo on Thursday and Friday, selling t-shirts and raising awareness, just like the Boston Marathon Expo. If you're in Cape Elizabeth this weekend, come check us out :)