After having a good run on Thursday, I decided to take myself back to my old cross country days and entered the Kris Kringle 5K, giving myself a goal of 27:00. Woke up this morning just as the snow was starting to fall, and i thought to myself, 'This is going to be awesome!' I'd never ran a cross country race in the snow before so i was pretty excited as roommate Catherine and I drove to Swope Park to brave the frigid temperatures and fluffy white stuff. The field of about 60 runners got off to a fast start and i got to thinking that most people would think we were all crazy to be running three miles in the snow. I, on the other hand, thought it was the absolute best thing to be doing on a winter morning, that is until I realized that there was a really long hill ahead of me. The course was not the easiest, with several steep uphills, two small creeks to run through and the frozen solid terrain that refused to provide much cushioning. But as i ran along, i thought back to my days in high school, running over golf courses and fields with my friends, not always enjoying the difficult runs, but always enjoying the comraderie and feeling of accomplishment when done. I knew I was well ahead of my goal pace and took the time to enjoy what i was doing, and having Catherine there to cheer me on only helped me savor the thrill of it all. Finishing time was 25:25, much better than i had anticipated, and i finished 2nd female overall and 1st in the 18-24 age group, earning me a really pretty blue ribbon. I was giddier than a school kid winning the three-legged race.
Total distance this past week: 11 miles (+6 elliptical).....168 days until San Diego!

Why must my body do this to me?!?!

Or, maybe it's the other way around...why must i do this to my body? Kind of by accident, kind of due to holiday parties, i took off from running the entire last weekend. I prefer not to go more than 1 day without running, so 3 days off was just unacceptable for me. And that's probably why my body replied with such evilness and revenge. I hopped back on the treadmill Monday night, and it felt really great. Shins did great, pace was great, and I ran 4.25 miles in 35:00 (which seems to be my new favorite thing). Everything was going great until i stepped off. OUCH, ouch, OUCH! My left shin, whom i have named Luci (short for Lucifer) was practically screaming at me to cut off my own lower leg. So began my 3 day limp. In retrospect, i did this to my body by taking 3 days off and then hitting it hard. Luci was not a big fan of my new training schedule and he let me know that. It hurt to walk, so i resorted to spending some quality time with the elliptical machine on tuesday, which i don't mind but i feel like i'm not getting as good of a workout on that thing. So Thursday i knew i needed to work out but Luci was still upset at me so i let him play on the elliptical machine for half hour. I spotted an open treadmill and hopped on it, knowing of the impending doom, but choosing to ignore it. I told myself i would try to run 10 minutes and see how the shins felt. Started off at a 9:30 pace and there was definite pain, but i kept on jogging. 10 minutes passed and i told myself i'd run 10 more at 9:00 pace. By the time i hit 15 minutes, the pain was gone and i was running on at 8:30. I ended up doing 3.75 miles in 35:00 and i stepped off the treadmill and lo, and behold....no pain!! It was like Christmas had arrived early. I guess sometimes i just need to have a 'down and dirty' fight with Luci and show him who's the boss. That's right, ME....I'm the boss.

This will be short and sweet....
Winter wonderland is here and as much as i love the snow, it certainly makes it difficult to keep up on my mileage. I went to the gym last night and hopped on the treadmill for the first time in a couple years, and i was kinda dreading it. Now, I can't decide if i liked it or not. On the plus side, i was able to keep track of my mileage and keep up a good pace. But, there's not much to look at while running in place. I had a great run though, 4 miles in 35:00. Started out with a 9:00 pace, then was down to 7:45 pace the last mile. Felt good and my shins didn't hurt as bad as i thought they would on a treadmill.
Last week's mileage: 14 miles
This week's mileage so far: 11.25 miles. I didn't do my track workout this week in an effort to avoid the bone-chilling wind. I hope to fit another 4 miles in somewhere between our office holiday party tonight and college graduation parties tomorrow.

ok, ok, so i've been neglecting my blog the past week and a half. but no need to worry, i have not been neglecting my running. as if anyone is concerned about that....well someone should be, because one of these days i'm going to wonder why i decided to take this journey and really start questioning my sanity. and when that happens, when my logical left brain takes over my emotional right brain, someone will be needed to psychologically smack me upside the head. but until then, i will do better at blogging. i got me some new kicks last week since my old running shoes were probably, correction: definitely, about to turn 2 years old. 2 year old tennies, not too good for the shinnies. I broke in the new shoes over Thanksgiving when i went back home to my parent's farm. I gotta tell you, there's nothing quite like running on a pasture trail as the sun sets on a cold fall evening. good times, good times. our dog, skittles, used to make the run with me in high school, but he's pretty near death so my brother took his place one night. and that run ended with him sprinting home to get the car to come pick me up 1/2 mile down the road. anyway......
last week's mileage: 12 miles.......2 mile track time 17:15
this week's mileage so far: 10 miles......2 mile track time 16:20
days until San Diego: 184 days