Sour Apple and Athlete Bio

Well, I didn’t get a run in on Monday and now the weather is back to clouds/rain … bummer!  I did manage to get in a 3 mile run on one of the campus treadmills yesterday and it felt wonderful after not running or working out at all last week…

last week… oh boy… I’m not gonna lie, it was a rough week.  I had so much stuff going on, especially at school, that I was exhausted and drained physically, mentally, and emotionally… not to add, frustrated…  I was in a bad place last week, and I hate to say, but it’s kind of spilled over into this week.  I just can’t seem to get caught up and when I feel like I finally have, even more is added to my list of things to do with no time to do them.  By the way, thanks to those of you who left uplifting comments and those of you who have emailed me uplifting words… they really have helped!

This weekend, I have a “Silent Weekend” for school which is voices off and everyone is silent except for using their hands to sign with each other or writing back and forth… I’m excited because it’ll be nice to get away for a weekend in a beautiful lodge while getting to improve my ASL skills with my friends, but at the same time… I have tons of stuff to do and that means I have no time this weekend to them.

On another note, Dorothy from Mile Posts featured my athlete bio on her blog today!  Go check it out HERE!!  Thanks Dorothy! :)

I can’t promise that I’ll get around to any of your blogs until spring break as I had to kind of procrastinate my swamp-pile of homework to write this lol… whoops… so you all will just have to keep me updated in the meantime!  :)   Meanwhile… my blog posts will be few and far between for the next month… I have 2 reviews I really need to do because I’m behind and I’ll try to keep up with my Weekly Roundups, but I can’t promise you anything… know that I still care about you all, and miss you guys!

Sorry for being kind of a sour apple today, but this is how I really feel… a little depressed and a lot stressed lol… I’m usually upbeat and happy on the blog which is a real reflection of how I usually feel, and I wasn’t gonna post today because of my mood, but decided I’d be real with you all… so now… tell me what’s been goin on in blogworld! :)

Wordless Wednesday: All Day PJ/Homework Party

3 Things Thursday without the bulleting ;)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

haha, yes, I realize it’s already January 12th… but I haven’t posted since New Year’s Eve lol…

This is the last day of my 2nd week of classes this quarter and OH. MY. GOODNESS…
It’s been crazy so far!!  I’m here at school (yes, I’m blogging at school for the very first time ever) on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8am – 10:30pm …
Not to mention that it takes an hour to get here and an hour to get back home… so I leave my house at:

6:30AM

and get back home at:

11:30PM

By the time I get home I am so ready for bed! lol… but I really am enjoying all of my classes… this quarter!  I actually start to learn how to interpret… I’ve already gotten to interpret a few sentences… start out slow right?! ;)

I have found the locker room and weight room here at school and got to run a nice 3 miles on the treadmill on Tuesday which was really nice… and they have free exercise classes here too… My schedule will allow me to take either yoga or zumba between classes so that’ll be fun… I’ve never actually gone to a fitness class like that to workout with other people before…

Well, I just wanted to give everyone a quick update and let you know that the aliens did not come for me on the new year… i’m still here ;) ALSO…  I will be hosting a Valentine’s Card Swap… similar to the Christmas Card Swap… different name… different holiday ;)  So, just a heads up to let you know that signups are coming sometime this weekend! :)  Hope everyone is having a lovely evening!!  (I still have 5 1/2 hours til I will be getting home)    ;)

Weekly Roundup: September 26 – October 2

Monday:  2.00 miles in 21:36 [15 pushups; 80 crunches]
Tuesday:  Rest
Wednesday:  6:04 @9:35/mi (1 @10:27, 1 @8:25, .5 @10:51, 1 @8:25, .5 @10:47, 1 @8:20, 1 @10:55)
Thursday:  Rest
Friday: Rest
Saturday (10/1):  20.00 miles @11:42/mi (3:54:00)
Sunday:  Rest

Total for Week = 28.04 miles
Total for Month = 20.00 miles (October)
Total for Year =  280.73 miles**

**Starting in March since I forgot to keep track, but I didn’t run much in Jan and Feb
*** @=outside run (refers to pace)  in=treadmill run (refers to minutes)

March 31.02 miles
April  46.71 miles
May  20.5 miles
June  2.47 miles (wedding month)
July  36.13
August  52.45
September  71.45 (personal monthly best)

School, School, School

School is going pretty good, I’m in the 3rd week already… which doesn’t seem right lol… it’s taking up a lot of my brain power, time, and energy! This is my first time being back in school FULL time… Spring and Summer I was only part-time.  I enjoy all my classes though and my professors are great! :)

I do need to catch you all up on my last 3 races… so I will try to get at least 1 race recap done this week ALSO… WE GOT OUR WEDDING PICTURES!!! I will be posting those soon too!  :)

Blog Posts From The Week

YMX Giveaway Winner!!
18 Mile Long Run Recap (9/24)
9/28 - Speed Work at the Track

Registered Races

10/08/11 – Cancer Care 5k
10/16/11 – Columbus Marathon

Days Left Until My First Full Marathon:  12

Could My Life Get Any Better?!

Seriously… I’m in good health, I have a job (actually 2 lol), I’m running a half marathon in May, I’m getting married June 25th, I’m running my first Full Marathon in October…

AND

I registered for classes!!!  I’m going back to school in March!!! :D

I’m so excited!!  I know you all remember this post… if not, let me refresh your memory:

I graduated with a  Bachelors degree in Organizational Communications… That’s not necessarily the degree I want to work with, it was just a stepping stone to finally get the job I really want… to be a Sign Language Interpreter!

So, Sunday night, my fiance stayed up til 12:30am chatting with me and encouraging me online over AIM, while I tried to get into the classes I wanted.. I was getting discouraged because it’s a mass registration, so the server kept kicking me out and then I wouldn’t be able to get back in.  Finally after 20 minutes of trying, I got back in and got into the classes I wanted!!

I’m refreshing my memory by taking a few classes in the spring and summer quarters (made sure it wouldn’t interfere with my wedding of course) and I need to make sure that some of my sign classes will transfer and then I hope to start the program up full time in the fall!

I’m really excited!  Not only am I FINALLY able to take classes of what I want to do, but I get to go to a different school, meet new people, and commute about 50 minutes each way to get there and back… ok, i’m not really excited about the last part, but I am just so thrilled to be able to go back to school after graduating last summer!  I think the reason why I am so excited is because my future seems to all be coming together… I’m on the road to getting the job I want and I think getting married just makes everything exciting! ;)

I hope everyone stays safe today who got pounded with snow, sleet, and ice!! All we get is 40mph winds lol… I’m off to work a double.. Happy groundhog day!

 

143 Days Left!

I'M OFFICIALLY GRADUATED!!!

I did it!! I turned in my last big internship paper today and now I am officially graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Organizational Communications!! :D My plan is to go back to a different school in the spring to finish up my sign language interpreting degree which will take 2 years or less! I am so excited to move on to what I actually want to do with my life, but for now I am content with just relaxing, working, and enjoying my next 2 quarters off! :D This is a picture from the spring commencement that I got to walk in even though I wasn't going to graduate til this summer:

WOOHOO!! Anyways... on to my long run recap! I got all my stuff out the night before because yes, meeting someone at 7:45am is early for me, especially since I was up past midnight working on my paper!

And yes... that envelope is a race registration, thanks for asking! ;) I sent in my registration for the Sweetcorn Festival 5k today. The race is on September 4th at 9am... races always make me nervous, but a good nervous.

I woke up this morning at 6:30am and ate 1 1/2 pieces of peanut butter toast and got dressed and checked the weather.. 59 degrees?!! I wore long sleeves for the first time running today! It felt so nice though! I headed out the door around 7:30 and met Jess at her place at 7:45am... right on time! As soon as I walked in, she was beaming and told me she just got of the phone and got the job she's been wanting!! Congrats Jess!! God knew you are perfect for that job!! After saying congrats and smiling ALOT, we headed out the door and she asked me "do you want to do a flat course, or hills?" Well, not being one to back down from a challenge I said "hills for sure!" We started out at a nice crisp pace, I really didn't pay attention because I was having too much fun talking to her... she's such a lovely person!! We did about a mile and then comes the "hill" part... I'm telling you, this was not a hill, it was a mountain!!! seriously... it was the steepest, longest hill I have run to date!! I felt like walking or crying, or both! Jess just kept saying "you can do it!" "you're almost there" "its downhill once we reach the top" Thank you Jess for encouraging me because I'm pretty sure thats the only thing that got me up that crazy hill! lol Well, that and my legs were completely numb by the time we hit 1.4 miles of our 7 mile run!

After that our run felt really good... I felt like she was pushing me, and she felt like I was pushing her... and pretty soon we were back to where we started 7.03 miles and 1 hr and 9 minutes earlier! Let me tell you, I am so proud of that run!! Our average pace was 9:48 min/mile and it felt great!! Jess had to go to work, but I left with promises on both ends that we would definitely run together more often! We both had a blast! I headed over to the park to continue my run... I didn't really tighten up yet because its less than a minute from her house. I did a couple loops around the park for a total of 2.26 miles in an average pace of 10:37 min/mile which is still faster than i had expected!! TOTALLY AWESOME!! Today was one of those days where everything goes well and the run is fun and better than you had hoped and everything just clicks!!

Long Run Total: 9.29 miles (longest run to date)

I then went and stretched beside the pond and believe me, my legs were dead!! (still are) I finished stretching and headed to kroger on my way home to pick up some chocolate milk and ice and when I got home I had me one of these:

First one in about 1 1/2 years (since college basketball training) it felt so good to submerge my dead tired screaming legs into the frigid water!! Then after soaking a bit I got a shower and pulled on my Sigvaris recovery socks!! I love these socks!! Thanks to Erica at I Run Because I Can for having the giveaway that I won!! These socks ROCK!! **Review to come in the next week**

And yes, my dog likes the Sigvaris socks too! :D Speaking of giveaways there are quite a few going on out there right now... check out my sidebar!

Countdown til my first half marathon: 28 days 7 hours and some odd minutes and seconds... less than a month!!

What are some great recipes for runners? Carb loading recipes, pre race recipes, post race recipes... I'm wanting to try some new recipes out so if you have any good ones please share!

Long Weekend and First Blog Award!

It's been a really busy, hectic, crazy weekend!!! Friday morning, I ended up getting up at 6am to help pack my little sister's stuff into 2 cars to take her to college. We left around 8am for a 3 hour drive and ended up waiting another hour in line to park to unload her stuff. She seemed indifferent to be moving in to college for the first time. I think she was just nervous and had mixed emotions... nervous, excited, scared, missing home... I'll spare you all the details of the day but we got her moved in and took her out to eat and then she didn't want us to leave because she didn't know anyone and her roomate had left with her parents for the evening so we stayed a little longer and left to come home... we got home a little after midnight. It was a LONG day!!

Needless to say, I haven't run since last week. I completely missed my long run on friday. I was going to make it up on saturday or sunday, but didn't feel well at all so stayed in bed drinking fluids and took care of some things on Sunday. I decided to just count it at a loss and continue with my training as scheduled. This week I have:

Tuesday: 6 mile tempo run inc 1 mile warmup, 4 miles @ 9:37, 1 mile cooldown

Wednesday: 2 mile recovery @ 11:08

Thursday: Rest/XT

Friday: 9 or 10 mile long run @11:08

Saturday: 2 mile recovery @11:08

Sunday: Rest/XT

TOTAL: 19 or 20 miles

I actually dont have my training plan with me right now because I'm at work so I just guessed at the paces lol and I may add 1 mile to the recovery runs just to add some mileage to make up for the crappy week of running/exercise I had last week!

Some fun things in bloggy world...

I joined the Distance Dreamers over at Higher Miles

I also joined the 100 Day Challenge to a better you over at Run, Courtney, Run

~100 days to fulfil some of your goals and your goals can be anything, not just running related!

And last but not least... Adam over at I am Boring tagged me with a little award of sorts. It's the Cherry On Top Award.

THE RULES:

#1: Answer this question: If you had the chance to go back and change one thing in your life, would you and what would it be?

#2: The second thing you have to do is, pick 6 people and give them this award. You then have to inform the person that they have gotten this award.

#3: The third and final thing is, thank the person who gave you the award.

MY ANSWERS:

#1: I'm actually answering like Adam... I dont think I would change a thing! Everything I've done, everything that has happened to me... it all has a purpose and has brought me to where I am today.... It's made me who I am and I'm really happy with where I am in life right now and where God has led me so far! I've learned a lot of lessons along the way and have truly become stronger because of different things... so no, i wouldn't change anything! :D

#2: Wow, 6 people to whom I give the award... this is a tough choice because all the blogs I read are awesome!

- Christina over at Making Healthy the Norm

- Dawn over at Running: the Dawn

- Alanna over at Running 42km

- Stacie at Impossible is Nothing

- Bethany and Ryan over at Our Love on the Run

- Laurie at The (Mis)Adventures of a Jogging Stroller Mom

#3: Thanks Adam for tagging me with the award!! I'll get to making that poncho, sweat wicking, wearable blanket in the non-existant future ;) lol... Also, I do not think your blog is boring... just sayin' ;)

Well, I'm going to get back to writing my last paper of my degree!! I'm hoping to turn it in by tonight or tomorrow morning! I'm working all day today so will get to my tempo run tonight around 9:30 or 10pm... therefore on the treadmill! Does anyone else have to run on the treadmill after working all day long?

Random Thursday - My Thoughts Are a Bit Jumbled

1. I ended up meeting up with M on Saturday to run... she just started getting into running... I got there at 9am. I had a sad face cuz she wasn't there yet... she didn't show up til 9:30 and we headed out and she ended up wanting to do more walking than anything but it was still fun none-the-less... we got to catch up on life since I haven't seen her in ooo... 6 years lol. We ended up running less than 1 mile and walking about 7 lol.

2. I'm drinking 7up right now... does that make me a bad person since I normally only drink water or gatorade?

3. My youngest sister is going off to college for the first time tomorrow... I made her a fleece blanket to take with her... it'll be like a big hug waiting for her whenever she needs it :)

4. Said youngest sister had a going away party with a few friends a few nights ago and someone wore these!! First time i've seen them in person, they are pretty sweet... im now intrigued haha... I restrained myself from trying them on for a few obvious reasons lol ;) (mainly cuz I didn't know the person and because they look pretty used tehe)

5. My boyfriend agreed to do a track workout with me so we headed to the track yesterday after we took care of some college things (which took longer than they needed to) my plan was to do 7 miles of a speedworkout but it was so stinkin hot... i ran in my sports bra which is major since i have some body image issues... especially in front of my boyfriend lol... I just couldn't take it anymore and neither could he so we only ended up doing about 4.5 miles

6. Challenge update: I've done lunges twice and hardcore stuff once... I'm planning on doing hardcore stuff tonight and then lunges and hardcore after my recovery run on saturday

7. I have a long run planned for tomorrow... my training plan says 8... but i kind of want to do 9... i ran 8 two weeks ago... should i go with 8 or 9? I may have to make saturday my long run day this weekend because i may have to drive some of youngest sisters things to her school for her.

8. I have exactly one week tomorrow to finish up my big paper so I can graduate... so far I have 2 pages lol...

9. Im starting to get excited for my half marathon!! :D Only 36 days left!! I'm starting to think about what i'll need to take for my mini vacation but especially for my race and what songs I want on my playlist.... any suggestions?

10. I keep getting emails saying "you won a $500 walmart giftcard" "pick up your $1000 walmart giftcard today" and while i want them to be real... they just aren't!

11. I won 2 blog giveaways!! I won sigvaris compression recovery socks from Erica at I Run Because... I Can and a Salonpas water bottle, pain relief patches, pedometer, and towel from Beth at Shut up & Run! :D

12. I was looking to get another part-time job (probably minimum wage paying) when I realized that I will officially have a BACHELORS degree in a week... so i decided to do something a bit more ambitious... I'm thinking about substitute teaching... maybe :)

13. Also, I am getting tired of getting almost bit, snarled at, chased after, and scared enough to pee down my leg by the dogs at the end of my road... I started carrying a long stick to beat them with if they dare try to bite me again... maybe I should call someone about them? They are allowed to just run around outside (all 4 of them) while their owner isn't home... and I feel very much threatened by them everytime I put my running shoes on... stupid dogs!

Well, I'm going to bed... tomorrow could be a very long day for me... we shall see! By the way... does anyone else really really really look forward to their long run days? (I do)