A Lofty Goal

February = 1 year anniversary of running
Do I run every week? No. Do I run fast? No, I'm a frickin' tortoise. Do I run far? Not yet...

The Goal: Door County Half Marathon
The Date: May 4, 2013

I have 12 weeks. Fuck me. Remind me why I'm doing this.

To answer my own question - I'm not really sure. I think it's for several reasons that just keep multiplying. I started running because I saw myself becoming unhealthy and I really wanted to keep eating boxes of cookies and drinking lots of beer. Therefore, moderation is key and exercise will help to balance it out a bit. Another reason is because I don't see myself as good at any physical activity. For me, I can be good at running. I don't have to constantly compare myself to others; I simply want the damn finishers medal.

I'll be logging my runs and training here while being brutally honest.

Luckily, my gym is down the street, so weather is no excuse. That's not to say that I won't be running outside.

I won't be training with CARA or any other organization quite simply because I can't afford it. Though, I will be doing a few races and the Six Leaf Series along the way.

I need to have fun, eat chocolate and drink beer, otherwise I'm going to quit tomorrow.


Week 1 Day 1
First day running since December's Rudolph Ramble 8K. Like I said, I'm a frickin' tortoise. No, I am The Tortoise. Considering my Ramble pace was 11:00, I was pretty disappointed when my body just told me "no." Upon realizing this, I came to the conclusion that I'd go with 4:1 intervals. There's no shame in walking.
It's been so long since I've ran that I totally forgot about chafing. The inside of my thighs were burning thanks to my too short shorts, and I wasn't near halfway done. There are eucalyptus scented cooling towels on hand that sounded like a lot more relief than they really were. Lesson learned, bring the deodorant.
Distance: 3.14
Pace: 13:15

Week 1 Day 2
Okay, I get it - I'm not in the same shape that I was last fall. At least my thighs weren't burning; though, clearly I didn't use the deodorant high enough. I didn't think I had to worry about it so close to the bikini line!
Distance: 3
Pace: 12:30

Week 1 Day 3
The Door County Half organizers make no secret of miles 4-7 being a bitch. And these are seasoned, experienced, good runners saying this. Why is this my race of choice? I googled some treadmill hill training, but it seemed a little intense for my just beginning.

Anyone want to take me back to grade school? All I see is hell. 

So, I decided to start easy... or so I thought. It was supposed to be my "easy" run of "2miles."
I started with the plan of warming up at 1% incline, going on for a bit and then doing a half mile of 2%, winding back down to 1% at an even slower pace.
Why didn't anyone tell me that this was going to hurt so much? I was going even slower than my other paces and I wanted to ball my eyes out and quit within 1min of "running." I'm pretty sure my body was telling me to stop, but the gloom-and-doom of miles 4-7 are just haunting me. Also thought that maybe it was just a threshold that I'd just have to push through. And push through, I -kind of- did.
Everything hurt with every footfall until 1.25miles. After that, turning up the tunes seemed to help. Last night, I read an article about how to hold your hands while running. The basic elbows at your side, loosen up, and then "picture yourself holding 2 butterflies." Admittedly, the butterflies helped. The damn flutter-ers occupied my mind long enough to finish (without walking).Then, everything resumed hurting.
Tomorrow, I'm going to figure out how to make that foam roller lend some relief to my thighs. And why do my shoulders hurt?
Distance: 2
Pace: 13:00
Distance Climbed: 119feet