snails pace

not-so-good-things about today's run
-it was still hot and humid at 5pm
-i found myself face to face with a potentially rabid raccoon
-i accidentally took the last two days off, aka today's run kicked my ass

i don't think i've ever run slower in my entire life

good-things about today's run

sarasota sunshine

SPRINGBREAK2K11 get cRaZy!

Okay, not quite. It's spring break week, and while most college students are out getting plastered at the beach with their biffles, I'm spending the week doing what I do best, eating, running, laying in the sun, and sleeping. all in the company of my parents and grandparents! I am certainly not complaining, as we all know how often it is that I get the chance to do absolutely nothing, and that's exactly what I've been doing this week. I still have a mountain of reading to get through before classes resume on Monday, but this hasn't been a priority yet. I can't say that the rest of the week brings anything exciting except more laying in the sun, sleeping, eating and running, and I couldn't be happier to do exactly that.

peanut butter cups.

I would say that about the same day I was diagnosed with mono, I became readdicted to peanut butter cups. I say readdicted in that reese's pb cups were my favorite candy pre-lactose intolerance diagnosis. Seeing how pb cups have "lactose" listed as an ingredient, they definitely fall on the "do-not eat list." Last month when I had mono I decided I was immune to the effects of eating lactose and bought two large bags of easter colored reese pb cups at rite aid while filling a prescription. Well, my mono is finally gone but the pb habit has not ended, thus each time I go to rite aid or the grocery store I restock.

Why I find it necessary to inflict bodily pain upon myself in the form of reese's, I'm not really quite sure. As I am now more than one week into half-marathon training, I have decided that I must kick this reese's habit once and for all. Dairy has a way of making me cranky, tired, hungry and bloated, among other things, all of which are not conducive to pleasant runs. I have decided that if I am going to be dedicated and successful in this half-marathon, I must too dedicate myself to kicking the reese's habit.

If I can run 13.1 miles, I can live without them, right?

ben comen

Yesterday, at the Women's Leadership Conference I attended, this video about a local cross country runner was shown.
A true definition of dedication, determination, and heart.




Thank you Ben for reminding us all
to not let our weaknesses define us,
and to let our strengths shine.

morning motivations

It's half-marathon training day three! Thursday's tend to be my marathon day anyways, with classes straight from 9:30 until 3:30, and teaching the kids at Upstate directly after until 7:30. I know myself well enough to know that tonight after work I'll be able to come up with plenty of excuses as to why I could get away with not running today, so instead I set my alarm for 6:30 and was off to Fike by 6:45. There are definite advantages to going to the gym before 10am (ie. I was able to get my favorite treadmill). Running this morning so early reminded me of the summer after graduation when I would get my booty out of bed circa 5am just to squeeze in a workout before my 8am shift started at MGTA. I had forgotten how awake I feel after a morning workout, I'm arguably more awake now than if I had slept for another hour and a half and grabbed coffee on the way to lab. Although as my runs become longer and longer, I'll have to wake up earlier and earlier, I have a feeling I'll be making my morning workouts a habit!

oh hello there world!

Has it really been a month since my last update? I honestly believe it. Somehow in the month and a half, thanks to karma, I somehow got mono? Not really quite sure how that happened, but either way it did, and it explains why I felt like death for so long. Unfortunately mono completely wipes you out, and there isn't really anything they can do for you, at all, besides let you sleep, meaning that I have no desire in the entire world to drag my ass out of bed and go running.

Towards the end of last week I finally woke up and didn't feel like death, which was such a wonderful surprise, and just in time for my sister to come to town too! I had such a wonderful visit with her while she was on her spring break, it makes me miss being in Worcester and eating dinner at 148 on the regular!

Either way, today I ended my running hiatus with a quick little run after biology lab (where I hide in the corner from all the WHEAT flour sprinkled around the room). Today I not only ended my running hiatus, I started my 1/2 marathon training plan. I've unofficially choosen the Twin Lights Half Marathon in Gloucester, MA on May 15. It will be the day after my sister's graduation, so I'm hoping my parents will be more willing to come and cheer me on, especially because its a little far from home! I have until April 1st to sign up and still be guaranteed a t-shirt (a requirement) so that gives me a few weeks to see how this plan works out for me, but I'm hoping I won't back out!