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I had an utterly amazing run this morning at Valley Forge.  The ice patches were scarce - finally - and I ran with two teammates who really kept me going and motivated throughout the entire 7.84 miles!


I'm so excited to be able to say I've run (more than) half of a half marathon, and just felt like I could do anything after completing this morning's run.


Unfortunately, by 2 PM I really hit a wall.  I had a splitting headache and my whole body was/is achy all over.  


I've put together a list of my top 10 lessons learned and musings from today.


1.  Hydrate hydrate hydrate - before, during, and after
2.  Running with others is so motivating - my teammates and I kept one another going the few times we felt like quitting, and it was so nice to have others to help me keep my pace
3.  Running while it's snowing is not so bad - at least you don't overheat...and it's so pretty!
4.  Orange slices are a great mid-race snack - they really rejuvenated me for the 2nd half of the run.  I think I was smiling from miles 3.5-5 from ear to ear thanks to that little orange at the TnT water stop :)
5.  Stretch stretch stretch
6.  <3 my iPod
7.  I need to come up with a better, more specific meal plan for pre and post run
8.  There are seriously seven people in the world - I keep running into people that are somehow connected to Dad and our family.  It's unreal.
9.  I could never in a million years be doing this without Melissa's support (and nagging) for me to stick with the training plan - apparently doing 20 minutes of Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred DVD doesn't count as half marathon training...

10.  My sister and I really are going to accomplish this goal of finishing our first half marathon!

Next week Melissa will be home for spring break - so we get to run together!  I am so excited to have my frister (friend + sister) back!

Till next time -

Victoria

Melissa-1, Weather-0

...for today at least! I feel like the weather has won a lot over the last few weeks but today I beat any imminent bad weather! Let's back up to the beginning of the weekend first...

I was feeling pretty discouraged on Friday when my IT band started acting up, but I decided to try and not let it get me down. In the afternoon my roommate was driving to the gym (I usually walk) and I decided to hitch a ride and do some strength training since I couldn't run. I pumped some serious iron and felt much better after!

Yesterday my legs felt better, but not perfect...so I decided to take one more rest day. I stretched a bit and decided it was a good thing I was taking a break because the pain was definitely less constant. Instead of working out, I watched a movie with my roommate. Guess what we watched?

you know you love it!!!!

Last night I checked the weather and it said it was supposed to snow today, and I came to terms with the fact that I would probably be running my 8 miles inside. However, when I woke up it didn't look bad out at all. I checked the weather again and it said it wasn't going to start snowing until 2 or 3pm (now it says it's not going to start until 7pm!). I decided that I would try and beat the snow. Just before I left Vic called and said that she had just gotten back from her run with TNT and she said she had done about 8 miles and that it had gone great! I was so unbelievably proud and I knew that if she could tackle 8 miles so could I, so off I went! 

It was a little bit "misty" out as I was doing my warm up mile, but I figured I'd suck it up for a little and by the time I started to run it was only partly cloudy and there was not a trace of rain or snow! I went down to the trail where I usually run, and it was incredibly snowy, icy and muddy all at the same time! I ran 4 miles there (2 miles out and 2 miles back) and I was going to do that one more time, but I was starting to get frustrated with slipping with every step and being ankle deep in snow at times. It also caused my time to be pretty slow, so I decided to get off the trail and hit the road. 

 

this is what I felt like!

I ended up finding a stretch that was about 1.3 miles up and back that was snow-less, so I ran that 3 (plus a tiny bit) times for a total of 8 miles. It was an extremely hard run because of the first 4 miles and in the last 4 miles I tackled some mini hills, but I feel so accomplished now! Here are my splits:

Mile 1: 15:50 (warm up)

Mile 2: 10:18

Mile 3: 10:45 (I was ankle deep in snow for part of this one, which definitely slowed me down)

Mile 4: 10:43 (see above)

Mile 5: 10:38

Mile 6: 10:27

Mile 7: 10:09 (check out these negative splits!)

Mile 8: 10:18 (IT band started to hurt a little, see below)

Mile 9: 9:45

Mile 10: 17:06 (cool down)

.18: 3:03 (cool down)

For a total of 10.18 miles in 1:59:06. The running took 1:23:47.

Throughout my run I kept "checking in" with my hips and IT band to make sure I wasn't over doing it. They weren't in pain, just felt a little bit weak (if that makes sense) for the majority of the run. Once I'd been running for 7 miles (8 with the warm up) my IT band was nagging me a little bit, but I figured it was just because I'd been running for an hour at this point and not because of anything serious. When I got home I stretched, and I'm icing my legs now so hopefully that will help! 

Not only was this run a little more physically challenging than usual (because of the first 4 miles through snow, and because of my hips/IT band) but it was also a mentally difficult one. I wasn't quite prepared to do an outdoor run today and didn't really give myself time to process that I was, in fact, doing a run outside today! When I was doing my pre-run stretch I was doing a calf stretch called the spider walk, where you lie on your back and I almost fell asleep again! Needless to say, I was kind of tired today and it caused me to almost quit running and walk a few times (but I didn't!!). As I was running if I started to think negative thoughts, I would say out loud "you can do it!". If anyone had been nearby, I probably sounded absolutely nuts, but it seriously helped! In my last mile I picked up my pace and I said out loud "come on!" several times, which helped me get a sub-10 min mile. These aren't my usual mantras (and I usually just pump myself up in my head) but they helped me get through a tough run today. 

I'm off to relax for the rest of the day and I'll probably stretch and ice a few more times. 

--Melissa

Frustrated

I am frustrated!

 

Why? Because my IT band is really bothering me! On Wednesday it was a little tight, but I went to my spinning class because I actually thought it would help to get my legs moving. On Thursday I woke up to go for my run, but I knew I was in too much pain to do it, so I decided to take a rest day and stretch a lot. I did all sorts of stretches, from calf strengthening to hip strengthening to your basic IT band stretch (stand with one foot over the other and push your hips to the side until you feel it in your outer torso, hip and upper thigh). I thought that would help but when I woke up this morning it was still just as sore! Argh! 

I had planned on doing my long run for the week today, but I think I need to wait. When I originally injured my IT band I ran through pain for at least a week (maybe even 2! So dumb!) and while it drives me crazy to take days off from training, I think it's what I need. I was going to do my 8 miles today and a shorter run on Sunday, instead I think I'll do the 8 miles on Sunday and cut the shorter run from my week. Hopefully my IT band is on board with this plan :-/ and hopefully I'll be posting on Sunday after a great, pain-free 8 miles!

--Melissa

Snurricane?!?!

Ok, so I know I promised to stop talking about this awful wintry weather...but there is going to be a snurricane this weekend! What is a snurricane you ask?? A snurricane (I just really like saying that word) is essentially a snow hurricane:"a storm that will deliver near hurricane-force wind gusts [with] blinding snow falling at the rate of over an inch per hour". Um...what?! I'm not usually one to freak out about the weather, but in this case I'm freaking! Not because I'm nervous about it (well maybe I am a little...hurricane force winds?!) but because I'm going to be stuck doing my runs inside! (Mom, try not to panic!)

This morning I woke up to rain. I thought about doing my 5 miles outside, but decided to stick to the treadmill since at 6:30 am I was still half asleep and didn't want to have to worry about deciding where to run or pacing myself. I trekked to the gym in the rain and was kind of beating myself up for ditching my outdoor run (I couldn't just switch to an outdoor run because I didn't have the proper gear on) but then it started sleeting and it hurt! So I made a good call on the gym this morning! I changed up my speed pretty frequently and I wasn't wearing my Garmin, so I'm not sure what my splits were exactly. I had the treadmill on a slight incline and ran 5.25 miles in 49:37, then I walked for the last 10+ minutes for a total of 6 miles. Not too shabby before 8 am!

If the weather is as bad as they say it's going to be it looks like I'll be inside for the rest of the week :(

I'll leave you with this little cartoon that I thought was funny:

Come on Spring!!!

--Melissa

Running Music

Today my training schedule had a 3-4 mile run. When I woke up I really didn't feel like going for a run. My legs were still kind of sore from my long run on Friday, and I was tired. I think that there are definitely times when you need to listen to your body and take a break. However, today was not that day! I was just feeling kind of lazy and I knew once I was out running I would feel better. I laced up my (still muddy) sneakers and headed out. I went back to the trail because I like running there but it was still pretty gross. Today's splits:

Mile 1: 16:01 (warm up)
Mile 2: 10:09 (.1 was still walking)
Mile 3: 9:18
Mile 4: 9:27
Mile 5: 9:08
Mile 6: 16:44 (cool down, .1 was still running)
.19: 3:18 (cool down)

The trail was snowy/icy where I usually start running so I walked through this part and then ran a little extra at the end. At about 2 and half miles I was running over what I thought was a snowy patch, but it turned out it was ice and I twisted my ankle a little. I kept running, but was freaking out because I was worried that I really hurt myself. After a minute though I felt fine. Phew!

When I hit 3 miles running I was about ready to quit. I was near the start of the trail (I was planning on doubling back for a half mile to finish the 4 mile run), and I was just ready to be done. Right when I was about to call it quits, the next song on my iPod came on. It was Rock & Roll by Eric Hutchinson. Now this song would probably pump anyone up, it's got a good beat and is just fun! But this song is extra motivational for me because Daddy loved it! He is actually the one who introduced it to me, which is rare in our house where I do most of the music recommendations. So instead of stopping I picked up my pace and finished those 4 miles! I love that just thinking about Dad can motivate me so much!

Here are a few more of my current favorite songs for running (in no particular order):
Everything's Magic- Angels and Airwaves
Hologram- Katie Herzig
How Fast- Rocco DeLuca (it's only about 2 minutes long, and one of lyrics is "how fast can you run"...so appropriate!)
Bulletproof- La Roux
Stripper- Soho Dolls
3- Britney Spears
Bad Romance- Lady GaGa
You Make My Dreams- Hall & Oates
Believe- The Bravery

Some of those are not songs I would usually admit to having on my iPod haha. But, they pump me up and are great for running! My cousin Jon sent me a mix recently (thanks Jon!) and I can't wait to add that music to my running mix too!

--Melissa

The Muddiest 7 Miles

Hi! Sorry I've been MIA but it was just one of those crazy weeks where you barely have time to sleep...let alone blog about your half marathon training! To quickly recap, I did a shorty run on Sunday outside because we were supposed to get more snow and I was worried that I would never get to run outside again! I did a treadmill run on Tuesday because it was just looking a little too slippery out even though it only flurried here.

Vic wrote about how she conquered her fears last week, and today I conquered one of mine! For some reason, I was SO nervous about today's run. TNT's schedule said 7 miles, and even though I've run that on the treadmill many times, I was shakin' in my Nike's thinking about doing it outside. I think I was nervous because I had done my past few long runs inside and this run would be much further than any run I'd ever done outside before. I could have chickened out and done this run inside because it's still pretty snowy on the ground around here, but I know that if I want to tackle the half marathon in a few short months, then I need to do more runs outside.

Dad was always up for challenges. We were so proud of him with his awesome new office building. Now I'm pretty sure Dad wasn't "afraid" of this, but it was still something he went into head on and accomplished. I plan on taking this attitude for completing the half marathon, and for many other aspects of my life.

 Dad in front of his office as it was being built, January, 2008

Anyway, the weather was gorgeous today, and before I left I even decided to ditch a layer of clothing. I walked down to the trail by the river, but when I got to the path that leads to the trail it was completely covered in snow! I decided to trek down a little further to where the actual trail is and saw that there were some snowy patches, but it looked okay. Well, I was wrong! On the spots where it was snowy it was really difficult to run because it was kind of slippery (not dangerous slippery, but annoying slippery). On the spots where it wasn't snowy it was SO muddy. I was ankle deep in mud and it was really tough to run on it! My beautiful white sneakers are now a lovely shade of dirt! :(

I decided to suck it up though and kept running. However, at about mile 1.25, the trail stopped and it was all snow. It was at this point that I also saw 2 of the biggest geese I have ever seen in my life. Seriously, they were huge. Anyway, I turned around and continued on the slippery/muddy path. When I got to my starting point I thought about hitting the streets, but decided to keep going on the trail (it goes for about a half mile in the other direction too) and then I did the whole trail again plus a little more to get to a total of 7 miles. I have no clue why I decided to stay on the path instead of going on the streets! Oh well.

Before my run I thought about possibly walking for some of it, but once I was going I was in the zone and I didn't stop once. When my Garmin finally said 8 miles (1 mile warm up plus the 7 running) my legs slowed to a walk and they felt like they weren't even attached to my body! It was so crazy, but it made me glad that I didn't stop to walk because I'm not sure I would have been able to start running again (after walking for about a half mile my legs felt normal again though).

Because of the conditions of the path, my pace was significantly slower than normal. In a way, this is a good thing, I've been trying to get better at pacing myself instead of going all out and not being able to finish the half. I would love to say that I could finish the half at my fastest pace, but I'm just not sure that's realistic, so my main focus is just finishing it! Here are today's splits:

Mile 1: 15:15 (warm up)
Mile 2: 10:12
Mile 3: 10:28
Mile 4: 9:59
Mile 5: 10:04
Mile 6: 10:19
Mile 7: 10:16
Mile 8: 10:02
Mile 9: 16:48 (cool down)
.11: 1:49 (cool down)
The 7 miles of running took 1 hour 11 minutes and 23 seconds with a total of 9.11 miles in 1 hour 45 minutes and 15 seconds.

I hope the next time I head down to the path it's less muddy, otherwise I'll have to find somewhere new to run! I'm off to stretch!

--Melissa

ICE ICE BABY

This morning I got to go ice skating - oops I mean running - with the Philly summer team for Team In Training at Kelly Drive.  Needless to say, it was a bit slippery out there!  


We started the session off with an inspirational story of a Leukemia survivor, some tips from our coaches on pacing for a longer run (you should be able to hold a conversation), and most importantly - how to run through the slippery and icy conditions we were about to face.


The coaches told us to look a few feet out in front of you for any icy, or black ice patches, and walk where necessary.  We were also warned of an unplowed section of the path around mile 1.


Running through the parking lot to get to the trail (about .2 miles) was just fine and completely clear, but by the time we made it onto the path I was already walking - or shuffling along.  It was very icy and I was extremely nervous about falling.  


After another .2 miles, I realized I was getting no where fast, and decided to face my fear and start a light jog.  There were points where I had to walk, and I definitely was slipping a bunch, but fortunately there were no season-ending catastrophes.


Around mile 1.4, I reached the unplowed section.  At this point I had caught up with a group of runners from another TnT team, and we were running/walking/stopping single file in a one foot wide section of packed down snow.  After about .4 miles of that, we saw a plow at the end of the path ready to start cleaning the area up after we passed by!


I literally had to climb over the plow, hanging on to the tires and all, to get to the next icy section of the trail.  This portion is where I really hit my stride, I wasn't even noticing how cold it was out!  


At this point, a crazy fast runner sped by me, which really inspired me, and started me thinking about what else inspires me and keeps me going in the face of my fears.


My Mom was at the top of my list.  In the face of our family's biggest fear - losing Dad - Mom is setting such a great example for Melissa and me.  She's successful and motivated when it comes to work, getting things organized at home, and hitting the gym regularly.  She was quite a champ shoveling our massive driveway through the blizzards this week too! (She and I did a WAY better job than the city folks over on East River Drive...)


Melissa as well is such an inspiration to me.  She's kicking butt in her last semester of school, working 30+ hours a week, and would most likely be lapping me at the Lehigh Valley Half Marathon if we hadn't committed to racing together!


Of course, Daddy is our number one inspiration for racing this half marathon.  He taught us how to seize life and make the most out of any situation.  In the midst of his cancer treatments, he could be found working hard, and playing hard.  He even had a Hole In One last summer - in between chemotherapy sessions.  He never acted scared in front of us, and always seemed to just roll with the punches.  Daddy was fearless.


By the time I got to the halfway point - around mile 2.6, I had harnessed that fearlessness of Dad's. I was truly invigorated and very proud of myself for making it to the halfway point.  I trudged back through the snow and ice and finished the 5.3 mile loop in a little over an hour.  I know that time isn't anything to write home about, but given the conditions I was still quite pleased!


What today's run taught me, along with my experiences grieving over the past weeks, is that sometimes you have no choice but to face your fears head on.  You might slip every once in a while, and you may even fall.  But that's okay!  I'm fortunate to have a support system of my entire extended family, my Team in Training team, and my friends to help pick me up those times that I do fall.  


Thanks for helping me conquer my fears!
Victoria

Half of a half!

Yesterday Mommom sent me this picture of her, Grandpop Victor, Aunt Joyce, Aunt Helene, and Daddy. I don't know that I've ever seen a picture of the 5 of them, so it was pretty special!

 

Anyway, last night I was thinking about my workout schedule for the weekend, and realized that it made much more sense to do my long run today rather than tomorrow. My legs felt really fresh from taking 2 days of rest and it would be silly to waste that! I also figured that all this snow isn't going anywhere anytime soon, so regardless of whether I did my run today or tomorrow it was going to be inside. So I ended up doing my long run today, I'll do a light bike ride tomorrow with some strength training, and maybe I'll run a few miles on Sunday. Even though that wasn't my original plan, sometimes you just have to be flexible!

On my own training plan I had 5 miles scheduled, TNT's plan had 5-6 scheduled. I decided to shoot for 6 because I was doing my run on the treadmill. But I ended up running 6.5 and then walking to cool down a little for a total of 7 miles! I was worried that I would get bored, so I decided to do intervals and I played around with the incline. Splits: 

0-.5 5:00 1.0 incline 

.5-1 4:17 1.0 incline 

1-1.5 5:00 1.5 incline 

1.5-2 4:17 1.5 incline 

2-2.5 5:00 2.0 incline 

2.5-3 4:17 2.0 incline 

3.-3.5 5:00 2.0 incline 

3.5-4 4:17 2.0 incline 

4-4.5 5:00 1.5 incline 

4.5-5 4:17 1.5 incline 

5-5.25 2:30 1.0 incline 

5.25-5.5 2:09 1.0 incline 

5.5-5.75 2:30 1.0 incline 

5.75-6 2:09 1.0 incline 

6-6.5 5:00 .5 incline

Running total time: 60:38 

6.5-7 7:22 (cooldown) 0 incline

7 miles in 68 minutes 

Phew! It was tough! I was a sweaty mess afterward. But it was half of a half marathon! So I just have to double that and I'll be ready for race day! I have a very fun weekend planned, hope you all have a good one too!

--Melissa

Planning

I made a mental note to stop talking about snow on here, because I've written about it so many times. But after yesterday's insane snow storm, I feel like I can't just ignore it! I woke up yesterday to a sea of white. I knew that getting to the gym was out of the question so yesterday quickly became my rest day. I was kind of glad because even though I love waking up and hitting the gym, I could tell my legs needed a rest. The gym ended up being closed an hour or 2 later, so I definitely made a good call on that one. There was so much snow, around the corner from our house someone built a GIANT snowman:

Hard to see, but that's me standing next to it!

Today I had a 2 mile run scheduled. Obviously running outside wasn't going to happen. The gym also didn't open until 8am, but since I have class at 9 I knew that wouldn't be enough time to get there and back and shower, etc. So I decided just to nix my workout for the day.

At first, I was pretty bummed about this. I rarely take 2 days off in a week, but I've realized that you have to be flexible or else you are going to drive yourself crazy! I love to plan...whether it be my workout schedule, class schedule, a to do list or a shopping list. I live by my planner and write everything down. However, every once in a while things are beyond your control and they don't go according to plan and you just have to LET IT GO! I just adjusted my plan for the weekend instead of worrying. Instead of Friday rest, Saturday run, Sunday cross train. I'm going to do Friday spinning, Saturday run, Sunday cross train. I think my legs got plenty of rest these last 2 days and that I'll be fine. Of course if my legs tell me otherwise I'll just re-plan!

We also got an email from our Team in Training coach saying to be safe, and not to overcompensate for miles missed this week. It is much better to miss 1 or 2 workouts than to over train and end up getting injured and missing weeks of workouts.

I ended up kind of getting in a workout anyway today when I dug out my car! Woo! My arm muscles are screaming now!

Let's hope all this snow melts quickly and I can start talking about spring!

--Melissa

Snow Memories

Due to the weather, I thought I'd start today's post with some snowy daddy memories. I have several, but I'll just tell a few stories. Here we go!

1. I remember one snow day we were sledding on a hill up the street from our house. There were 2 hills, one was much smaller than the other and I was perfectly content sledding down that hill over and over again. Dad, of course, was trying to convince me to go down the much bigger and scarier hill. I, of course, refused. Just before we were about to go inside, Dad somehow convinced me to conquer that giant hill. I ended up with my head in a huge pile of snow! ;)

2. One birthday when I was little (I think it was my 5th birthday), there was a huge snow storm. Our power went out late at night and our alarm was going crazy! Mom, Vic and I were all huddled under a blanket. Soon, it was Dad to the rescue! He got home from work (you know him...always working late) and took us to the Four Seasons hotel. In the morning there was a candle in my pancake! 

3. This one isn't so much a story, but Dad LOVED a good snow day. He was just like a kid-- excited to go play in the snow!

I can't say that I share Dad's enthusiasm with the snow. Sure it's fun for about 5 seconds, but after the initial thrill wears off I'm ready for the snow to be gone!

 

Last night as I was walking back from my night class, which by the way is approximately a 47 second walk away from my house, I realized just how COLD it was! I checked the weather when I got home (47 seconds later) and it said that the "feels like" temperature for the morning was 5 degrees! No way was I running in that! The sidewalks were still a bit icy in spots too, so I figured it would be safer to run on the treadmill. Our training plan for the day said 2 miles, TNT's training plan said 4. Since this was an inside run, I decided to go for the 4 miles and run at 1.0 incline. Here are today's splits (by the way, I made a mistake when typing up Sunday's splits and they are fixed now):

Mile 1: 9:49

Mile 2: 9:40

Mile 3: 9:31

Mile 4: 9:13

Mile 4-4.5: 10:00

Then I cooled down with a .5 mile walk.

After my run, I bundled back up and started to walk home. I was pretty bummed that I had decided to run inside because it was really sunny and a lot of the snow had melted! With all the snow that we are about to get I'll probably have to do Thursday's run inside too. Oh well, hopefully this weekend's run will be outside! 

--Melissa

Train Endure Achieve Matter

This week, as Melissa mentioned, we had our Kick-Off Party for Team In Training at The Great American Pub in Conshohocken.  While the event itself was underwhelming - it was mostly focused on fundraising and meeting teammates and coaches - it was very nice to see my sister, and we did get some cool paraphernalia including:


-  A Team In Training Bag
-  A Team In Training Training Shirt
-  A Team In Training Bracelet


I've added the bracelet to my wardrobe to go along with my other anti-cancer (is there such a thing as pro-cancer???)  jewelry:

Cancer Sucks Bracelet made by the Hahnemann Nurses for Dad (with a "P" for Phillies!)

TnT Bracelet

Whenever I'm feeling down I can just look down at my wrist to remind me of why I'm training so hard, and they also serve as a constant memory of Dad.


Today I ran another long run, this time on my own, and sadly in the gym because of the foot and a half of snow on the ground.  Our Team In Training run at Kelly Drive was canceled due to the weather - which was a bit of surprise because they claimed to never ever cancel a practice no matter what!  Anyway, it was nice to be able to sleep in.  Unfortunately I forgot my iPod - but that's a much better mistake to make on week 4 of training than to make further down the line when we're running for hours at a time!


Hopefully next week we'll get a warmer, outdoor run with the team.
--Victoria

Ready for Spring

So I'm going to pass on the recap of the kick off because it was just okay and I have other things I want to write about today! Here's the one picture that I took at the kick off though (so much for needing to charge my battery!):

 

the sign out front...very exciting I know...

Anyway, as I'm sure you all know it SNOWED this weekend! Danielle (my roommate) and I went on a little snow adventure on Saturday. It was nice to walk around campus and have a sort of "active" rest day. We took lots of pictures! Here are a few highlights:

 

the church

 

red!

 

Alumni Memorial Building

 

we built a snowman!

 

Snow buddies!

 

Now that our snow adventure is out of my system I am SO ready for spring! Last night I was debating about whether or not to do my run outside. I finally decided that it was better to put safety first and avoid the icy roads/paths and I did today's run on the treadmill. The plan that Vic and I designed for ourselves called for 4 miles today. The Team in Training plan that we got at the kick off called for 3-5. Since I was doing my run on the treadmill I felt like I was cheating just a bit and since technically the TNT plan said it was okay, I decided to run 5 miles today. I walked to the gym which is probably a little more than half a mile and I called that my warm up. Then I hopped on the treadmill, I put it at a 1.0 incline to simulate running on a road a bit more than running without an incline--the splits:

Mile 1: 10:00

Mile 2: 9:49

Mile 3: 9:40

Mile 4: 9:31

Mile 4-4.5: 9:22
Mile 4.5-5: 9:13

Those 5 miles took a little more than 48 minutes, and then I walked to finish off the hour for a grand total of 5.78 miles for the day.

It's definitely easier to get negative splits when you don't have to pace yourself! As I mentioned in my first post, I used to love, love, love running on the treadmill. I kind of see everyone's point now about how much better running is outside. At about mile 1.25 I was bored already and I wished I could have been outside. However, by the end I was in a groove and didn't mind it so much. Running on the treadmill is physically easier (in my opinion) than running outside. I hope that all this snow melts quickly so I can be back to running outside later this week! 

--Melissa

Run pictures (finally!)

This morning I decided to bring my camera out with me again so you could see what I see when I run! I started by taking pictures during my warm up walk across the bridge to the path that I run on.

Sunrise and the steel mill to my right

and this pretty view to my left!

Then I noticed that my camera battery was going to die :( at first I was bummed, but then I realized this was a blessing in disguise! If I hadn't brought my camera on my run I would have never charged it today and then I wouldn't be able to use it tonight at the Team in Training kick off!

Anyway, I had a short 1.5 mile run scheduled for this morning, it was actually really tough! I was huffing and puffing! Maybe because the path was so snowy!?!? (I managed to quickly snap a few more pictures before the battery died.)

I don't know if a snowy path would actually make running harder? Oh well. Here are my splits for the day (are they considered splits if you don't even do 2 miles??):

Mile 1: 17:21 (warm up)
Mile 2: 9:02
2-2.5: 4:23
2.5-3.5: 17:18 (cool down)
3.5-3.69: 3:30 (cool down)

On my cool down I saw these 2 guys:

 

I bet they were cold! Vic and I will post later about the kick off! Have a good one!

--Melissa

Double run

Hi everyone! I only have time to quickly recap this morning's run...here we go!

My Garmin still won't hook up to my computer (I got a computer virus over the weekend), so I set my watch up to tell me my splits at every half mile instead of every whole mile. I only had 1.5 miles scheduled for this morning and I wanted to know how fast I did the last .5 mile.

I ended up not needing to set up my watch like that though because as I was approaching 1.5 miles I decided I wasn't ready to stop. 1.5 miles quickly turned in to 2. But why stop there right?! Before I knew it I had done a 3 mile run! Oops! (at least it was a good oops!) Here are my splits, broken down by half miles:

0-.5: 7:43 (warm up)
.5-1: 8:07 (warm up)
Mile 1 Total:  15:50 (warm up)
1-1.5: 4:20
1.5-2: 4:21
Mile 2 Total: 8:41
2-2.5: 4:23
2.5-3: 4:34
Mile 3 Total: 8:57
3-3.5: 4:29
3.5:4: 4.24
Mile 4 Total: 8:53
4-4.5: 8:13 (cool down)
4.5-5: 7:52 (cool down)
Mile 5 Total: 16:05 (cool down)
5-5.09: 1:31
For a grand total of 5.09 miles in exactly 1 hour

My leg feels really sore now and I don't want to hurt myself so I will definitely be more careful in the coming weeks. Because of this run, I will be increasing my mileage by more than 10% this week. A lot of running experts say not to do this. I'm going to stick to my plan for the week anyway (1.5 miles on Thursday, 4 on Saturday or Sunday) but I'll be careful and listen to my legs.

See ya!

--Melissa

5k day

I just got back from what I would consider my first "real" training run. I don't mean to say that the runs I've been going on haven't been "real" and I don't mean to insult anyone; but, in my head for ME it's not really a workout unless I run at least 3 miles. Today was that day!

Let's back up to earlier this weekend. Friday night I stayed in with my roommate, Danielle, and just watched a movie. Okay, okay we watched Titanic...no shame!

When the movie first came out I was in 4th grade and I went to see it with Mom and Dad in theaters. I thought it was the GREATEST movie ever (still kind of do haha) and Dad used to tease me and make fun of the scene at the end where they were all in the water. He would walk around going "bob, bob, bob" and imitate the people in the water. I would get SO mad!

Saturday morning would have been perfect to go for my run because I hadn't done the usual college student Friday night. However, it was so cold that I don't think I would have made it very long. I think the "feels like" temperature was about 8 degrees!!!! So I got some work done (kind of), went to my cousin Connor's basketball game (they won!) and decided that I would run on Sunday instead.

All of this seemed like a good plan, but then I decided to go out last night. We went to Looper's (a cute little bar with fancy martinis). I had a little too much fun. I might have had one of these:

 

2 of my roommates and me

Anyway, the point of all that was that I woke up this morning and was not feeling well at all. I wasn't sure I would be able to get my run in. After sleeping a little longer and drinking lots and lots of water I decided to suck it up and get going! I was motivated to go because of all of YOU who are supporting Vic and me in our adventure! 

Not only was I dreading the run because I didn't feel so hot, but I thought it was going to be really cold again. This time I was pleasantly surprised when I went outside though. It was a beautiful day for running! I was even a little warm in all of my layers! I was also excited about this run because I had a new set of headphones! My old ones broke:

They still worked fine and since I'm a snob when it comes to my headphones (ipod ones only!) I didn't want to go shell out the cash for a new pair. But, my roommate, Mimi, happened to have a spare pair that she wasn't using and she was nice enough to give them to me! 

With my new headphones in, I headed off for my run. I warmed up by walking to the trail, I had 3 miles scheduled for today but as I was running I decided to go for a 5k, and then I decided just to finish off that quarter mile so I ended up running 3.25 today. It felt great! It was fun getting to go further down the trail today too. Here are my splits:

Mile 1: 14:54 (warm up)

Mile 2: 8:33

Mile 3: 8:55

Mile 4: 8:56

Mile 5: 14:06 (ran for .25, walked for .75 for cool down)

.51: 7:43

For a total of 5.51 miles in 1 hour, 3 minutes and 10 seconds

My Garmin is having issues connecting to my computer, so I can't analyze the miles and I'm not sure how fast I ran the .25 but I'm really happy with my stats for today. For ME that is an excellent time for a 5k! Now I only need to add 10 miles to today's run and I'll be ready for race day! 

--Melissa

First Team Run

So yesterday I had my first outdoor run with Team In Training...in sub-zero degree weather!


We met up at 7:50 AM at Valley Forge to do a 2-3 mile loop...which ended up being 2.54 miles according to my Garmin watch.


It was great to meet all of the coaches, and some of the teammates who will be racing at Lehigh Valley in April with my sister and me - including a nurse from Hahnemann who had worked with Dad, and a friend of one of my coworkers.  It is such a small world.  There are also teammates training for other races around the country that will take place in the Spring/Summer season of 2010.


The coaches said that this run would most likely be one of our most challenging:  it was our first run, the coldest day of the year, and at our toughest course - as Valley Forge has more hills and is windier than any other training site.


The running part was fine - and I was able to stay at the front of the second fastest group of runners, and various coaches would come up and run with us for a segment of the run to keep us motivated and energized.  This was nice - but I am definitely not used to talking while running - especially when my face is frozen from the cold!


As for temperature, I had taken an emergency trip to Bryn Mawr Running Company on Friday to stock up on gear.  I got some lightweight but very toasty pants, and a nice jacket to wear over a thin under armor top.  My body temperature was perfect for the run.  My feet were fine too.  My weakest point were my hands - which even a heated steering wheel couldn't help with on the drive home!  It is COLD OUTSIDE!


It was much more entertaining to run with a group than on my own - and I'm so looking forward to training with the team!  This Thursday we have our Kickoff Party in Conshohocken - so I'm looking forward to getting to know my teammates outside of running.


I want to send a quick shout out to all of our friends and supporters of our race.  We've already raised over $14,000 - in only 2 weeks of having the website posted - which is $10,000 more than we had originally set as a goal.  We can't thank you all enough for supporting our cause!


Happy February!
Victoria

Decisions, decisions

This morning I had 2 goals for my one mile run that I had scheduled. Both of which I failed to accomplish (sort of)...however, the reasons were out of my control so I don't feel bad about it!

Goal 1: Take pictures on the trail I run. I figured that for a 1 mile run it wouldn't be annoying to carry my camera like it might be for a longer run.
Goal 2: Run FAST. I was just curious to see how fast I could do 1 mile, not that I would actually run this fast for the race or anything, just out of curiosity.

This morning I woke up late because I accidently left my phone on silent after my night class last night. Luckily I naturally woke up around 6:50, so I still had plenty of time. This morning was slightly different from Tuesday morning!!

Anyway, last night when I checked the weather it said it wasn't supposed to snow until 5 pm, but Weather.com is a liar! When I walked outside this morning I saw this:

Snow!!!

I almost went back inside, but I really wanted to run this morning. I thought about maybe just walking to the gym and running inside, but was honestly a little afraid because that's where I got my injury in the first place. I immediately decided not to run across the bridge and to the trail where it is not heavily populated. I had a vision of myself ending up like this:

 

I decided that I would run my route from the first few runs-- on the streets off campus. Then while I was doing my warm up walk, I decided that it would be nice to take pictures around campus, so I thought I would do my run through campus today.

 

Alumni Memorial Building

 

Then I changed my mind because I remembered that the ground through campus is mostly brick. 

 

Brick+snow= slippery+running= disaster 

So I went back to Plan A and decided to do the off campus streets. All this decision making was done in the time it took me to do my warm up walking mile! Talk about not being able to make up your mind!!! 

 

Dad was always so good at making a decision and just sticking to it. He helped me make so many major decisions in my life (going to Lehigh, choosing to do my internship last summer at KPMG) and some minor decisions (like what to watch on TV).

Once I made up my mind to run off campus I stuck to it and headed off to run my 1 mile. Here are today's splits:

Mile 1: 17:34 (warm up, stopped to take pictures)

Mile 2: 8:13

Mile 3: 16:09 (cool down)

I definitely ran faster than usual today (goal 2), but because of the snow I had to tread carefully in some areas which definitely slowed me down. Once I got home, I checked out my pace for the whole mile, and at one point I was running at 6:42 pace! I thought that was pretty cool! If it's not snowing next week, I might try this again just to see what I can do, or I might just focus on getting my mileage up. We'll see! Happy Thursday!

--Melissa

What time is it?!

So here's a good one...

I went to bed super early last night because I was tired and I knew I had to wake up early if I wanted to get my run in (which...duh...of course I wanted to get my run in!).

When I woke up I thought to myself: "hm, it doesn't feel like 6:30". 
I squinted at my clock and only looked at the minutes it said something:28. "Oh I guess it is almost 6:30, time to get up!" 
I hopped out of bed and went down the hall to the bathroom to brush my teeth. "Hm, that's weird, my roommate is up at 6:30".
As I'm brushing my teeth I remember that I never heard my alarm on my phone go off and I hustled back to my room to catch it before the annoying beeping started. But when I picked up my phone I saw that it was something:32 and my alarm hadn't gone off. "Well that's strange" I checked to make sure I had set my alarm. 6:30, still set.
Then I looked at my clock again...it was only 12:32!!!!!!!!

I got back in bed, slightly annoyed because I was ready to go for my run. Eventually I fell back to sleep and then I woke up again at 3:30 and was almost fooled again!!

Finally, I woke up at 6:30 and got ready to go for my run. My hips were really bothering me yesterday so I was little nervous about running today, but I stretched for a while before I headed out in hopes that would do the trick. I did the same route as Sunday's run (minus a little running because today was only 2 miles instead of 2.5). Here are my splits:

Mile 1: 16:00 (warm up)
Mile 2: 8:27
Mile 3: 9:03
Mile 4: 17:02 (cool down)
.05: 00:47

I got stuck at a few lights, but my warm up and cool down were super slow today...I'll have to work on that! I didn't do as good of job at pacing today and my legs felt kind of weak. That combination made for a less-than-stellar run, but oh well...there's always Thursday!

--Melissa

ps I stretched a lot after my run and my hips are feeling much better

The Capacity To Love...Running

Today was another "long" run day - which for week two of our training plan consists of a 2.5 mile run.  It's so nice to not be running on a treadmill.  I took a scenic tour around Bala Cynwyd for this run - just running around down to the library and through side streets till I hit the 2.5 mile mark and walked back home.


It started off a little rocky - I had a few technical glitches.  For one thing, I had left my iPod connector at work, so I had a week-old playlist that was too short for this run, and had the same songs I had been listening to for last week's run, 5 hours on a plane, and 6 hours on a train over the weekend, so that was less than perfect, but at least I knew all the words to my 7 songs!


Also, I couldn't get a reading on my heart rate monitor, so I decided to forgo that metric for this week so I could get outside before the rain started here (Meliss - I guess I was luckier than you because it was just lightly drizzling for a few minutes during my run).


When I started to get bored with my playlist, and wondering yet again what the heck we have gotten ourselves into, I began to think about the book I just started "Born to Run"  by Christopher McDougall (Melissa - your copy's in the mail).  I just downloaded this book on Friday, so I'm only 28% through it (Kindle-speak), but there are really some amazing stories of endurance athletes, that make our paltry 13.1 miles look like nothing.  Overall, it's been really inspiring and I can't wait to read more!


Some of the parts that have really stuck with me are the commentary that there "must be some kind of connection between the capacity to love and the capacity to love running."  This made a ton of sense to me - not that I'm quite at the level of claiming to love running - but I do love the fact that Melissa and I are training for this half marathon to show our love for our Dad.


The other part that I've enjoyed so far, was that those who truly excel at running are those who find joy in doing so - not those who use running as a means to a cuter rear end.  


I hope that as I continue on this training journey I can find joy - if not love - in the running itself.  Until then you can find me at least loving my bright yellow sneaks.
Victoria

Rainy Run

Yesterday, it was beautiful, warm, and sunny. I should have gone for my run then! But I had a little too much fun on Friday night and decided that waiting til today for my run would be a better choice. Instead, yesterday I went to my cousin Connor's basketball game and got to spend a little time with my aunt Nancy. Then I ran some errands and did some homework. It's all about balance, remember!

This morning I took my time getting ready and checked the weather, I was happy to see that it said that the rain wouldn't start until 5pm. After stretching, I opened my front door to see that it was raining!!! I didn't even think twice, and headed out for my run. A little rain wasn't going to stop me!

I started with my usual warm up mile and discovered a fun fact: the walk from my house to MacGrady's (a bar, for you non-Bethlehem readers) is only .4 miles! I felt kind of silly for all those times when we whine about walking home (maybe it's because of our heels!).

Roomies' feet!

My plan for today was to find the running path across the bridge by the river. I was glad to find that if I walk a short route to the bridge and across, it's just under 1 mile. I finished off my warm up mile on the trail and then started to run!

Originally, I didn't really feel like going for my run today, maybe it was because I went out again last night...oops! Or maybe it was because of the rain. Whatever the reason, I'm glad I talked myself into actually going for my run because my legs felt great today! I was only scheduled for 2.5 miles today, but it's still the longest distance I've ran since my injury and boy did it feel good! So good in fact that I ran an extra tenth of a mile by accident. Here are my splits:

Mile 1: 15:51 (warm up)

Mile 2: 8:55

Mile 3: 8:55

Mile 4: 12:09 (I'm not 100% sure but I think the .6 that I ran took about 5:32 and the .4 that I walked for cool down took about 6:37)

.53: 8:36 (cool down)

For a total of 4.53 miles in 54:28.

I was thrilled that miles 2 and 3 running were exactly the same pace! It felt comfortable too and I definitely could have kept going (maybe not for 13.1 miles, but for a little while at least). Despite the rain, I would say today's run was a success and I definitely liked running on the path and will be doing that again. I have a 2 miler scheduled for Tuesday, and a 1 miler on Thursday. I'll write back with recaps, have a great week!

--Melissa

Balance

Wow! We've raised over $10,000 in a little more than 1 week! How incredible!! I can't thank you enough for all of your support!

Getting back to school the first week was tough. I had to try to figure out a good balance of all the new things I have going on: my Lehigh class, my CPA review class, work, training, and fun!

Study, study, study

Run, run, run

Play!

Dad taught me the importance of this balance. Anyone who knew Dad knew that he ALWAYS made time for fun! Even if it was the middle of busy season, he somehow found a way to fit in a game of poker. And when the weather got warmer, even though he was far from a morning person, Dad made time for a round of golf at the crack of dawn. Dad worked hard, but he also played hard. I like to think that I've got this balance down pretty well!

I also have found balance in my training program. I think that the reason I got injured in the fall in the first place is because I was running so much--both in distance and in frequency. I think it's good for me mentally and physically to not run on consecutive days. Mixing up my workouts with biking and strength training has been a great change of pace. Hopefully I can fit in a Pilates class too at some point!

Today is my rest day of the week, and then tomorrow I have a run scheduled. (Crossing my fingers for good weather.) With all this talk of balance, I should probably go study! 

--Melissa

Brrr!!!!

Hi! I went for another early morning run today and it went much better than Tuesday's run! I woke up 15 minutes earlier than Tuesday and made sure to stretch before my run. The only problem with today's run was that it was FREEZING! When I walked outside this morning there was frost on all the cars. (I almost went back in to get my camera but decided that I might not want to leave my house again if I did that!)

brrr!!!

It was so cold that by the end of my run my face was numb! When I went inside my lips felt swollen, it was so strange! Let's hope for some warmer weather!

Anyway, once I got over the shock of the cold I headed on my way across the bridge to the north side. I forgot that right across the bridge there is a huge hill. Right now, I'm trying to avoid hills because of my hip. So instead I just ran back and forth across the bridge. (Don't worry mom, there's a path!) It was a lot shorter than I thought it would be and I probably looked crazy running back and forth. When I finished my mile (that's all that was on the schedule for the day) I started to do my cool down mile. At mile 2.5 my hip was feeling good and my legs really wanted to run, so I decided to run again. I originally was going to do another half mile, but my hip started to hurt so I stopped after a quarter mile. Then I walked the rest of the way home and gave myself a decent (not great) stretch. Here are my splits:

Mile 1: 16:01

Mile 2: 8:29

Mile 3: 13:43

.5: 7:47

I got stuck at some lights again today, but my walks still seemed slow. I have a 2.5 mile run scheduled for the weekend. I'll probably do it Sunday and I'm both nervous and excited for it! I'll write back with how that goes after. Tomorrow I'm going to a spinning class for my cross training day (it was canceled on Wednesday) so that should be fun too! 

--Melissa

Solutions

Last night I kept thinking to myself that I wanted to do more than 1 mile today. I was tempted to nix the warm up and cool down miles and run them instead. I know that for my hip doing short runs is important to ease back into running. After I talked myself out of extending today’s run, I checked the weather. It said snow—yuck! I went to bed and luckily it was not snowing or raining when I woke up. I laced up my shoes and was out the door for about 10 seconds when I realized that I forgot to stretch which was really not smart. Since I have class on Tuesday and Thursday mornings I felt rushed and decided to just forget it and continued on my way. I got stopped at several lights and was inhaling bus fumes from the millions of buses that drove by. Then I started to run and felt really nauseous. No fun at all! I just powered through my single mile because I wanted it to be over so badly (so much for wanting to run 3). Then I walked a mile back home again getting stuck at several lights. I felt rushed because of class, even though I had plenty of time and I skipped my post-run stretch too.

Here are my splits:

Mile 1: 15:37

Mile 2: 8:34

Mile 3: 16:07

During my run, I honestly doubted myself for the first time since the crazy idea of running a half marathon popped into my head. But, instead of letting this doubt get the best of me, I’ve decided to come up with some positive solutions:

1. Find a different route for my weekday runs. I ran the same route as Sunday, and over the weekend the streets of Bethlehem are definitely less crowded than on a Tuesday morning at 7:30 am when everyone is on their commute to work.

2. Remember to stretch!!! It may be a pain to do it, but I’ll be in more pain if I don’t stretch.

3. Don’t skip out on the mile warm up and cool down. For now. This is important while I’m getting back into the swing of things and even though I didn’t end up skipping it, I definitely considered it.
4. Wake up earlier. I like to give myself a ton of time in the morning and hopefully this will help me to feel less rushed.

5. Remember why I’m doing this. Dad <3

December 2007, Carmines for our annual NYC trip

Anyway, even though this morning didn’t go so great I’m just going to move forward and get excited for Thursday’s run. I think I’ll go over the bridge to the north side. Tomorrow’s cross training is Wonderful Wintry Women’s Workout Wednesday (or the 5 W’s) with one of my friends who just joined the gym!

--Melissa