California Runnin'

yes, i know. my blogging has been a little lax this past week, but for very good reason. I was sunning and running in Californ-i-a. I flew out Thursday night to visit my friend Kaddie in Malibu and woke up Friday morning to 73 degrees and sunny weather, so I headed to Zuma Beach for my weekly long run. Thankfully, this week it was only an 8 miler. There's a 5 mile long boardwalk that I spent some time on, but most of my run was surfside in the sand, which I LOVE, for the sake of my shins, plus the extra workout it gives my legs. Beach running is just so much fun to me. The run felt really great, and I finished in 71 minutes, great pace considering the sand running.

I took a break from running on Saturday and Sunday, since shopping in Santa Monica, touring Hollywood and walking around Disneyland all day gave my legs plenty to complain about. That's right, I finally got to go to Disneyland. I felt like a 7 year old trapped in a 23 year old body.
But Monday, I was back out to the beach, this time I headed a little south to Will Rogers State Beach, near Santa Monica. I had to soak in all the California running i could get before I headed back to Kansas. I spent most of the run on the concrete path, and surprisingly my shins did not hurt at all. I think they were just happy to be in Cali.

I got 13 miles of spectacular running in during my vacation, now I just have to get out of the post-vacation funk and get ready for this saturday's 16 miles, and the St. Louis Half Marathon next weekend. Springtime in Katieland is just full of excitement!

I should've known I was getting myself into trouble....

Standing on my precious feet for 3+ hours in a smoky bar is not the ideal way to spend the night before a long run. Not to mention, somebody sprayed pepper spray in the bar and I nearly coughed up a lung trying to escape. But hey, it was St. Patrick's Day and I was enjoying my position as designated driver for my friend Jessi. With 14 miles looming ahead of me on Saturday morning, I knew I had to be responsible, limit myself to two beers early in the evening and get to bed at a semi-decent time. So we left the bars midway through the second half of the KU game and got home in time to see Bradley send the Jayhawks packing their bags. Fantastic!

Note to self: in the future, do not plan to be up by 5:15 unless you go to bed before 11:00. Well, somehow my alarm didn't go off and I woke up at 6:30. Great, i'm half an hour late for the start with the team and I still need to eat a Powerbar and let it settle. Luckily, those Powerbars seem to understand my body by now and I didn't have any trouble with an upset stomach. I arrived at the park around 7:00 and thankfully there were two alumni there to tell me which running route to take. So, I headed off into the unknown by my lonesome....just me and my ipod to keep me company. It was nice to at least encounter fellow team members along the way. I did enjoy running at my own pace, so the 14 miles weren't bad at all. I think my ipod thought differently, 14 miles?!?! are you kidding me? no way, i'm too tired for that, and the battery died at mile 9. After that, I just figured I might as well get this run over with and picked up the pace. Miles 9-11 clocked in at a 8:45 pace. Probably a bad idea. Stopped at mile 11 for some more GU and my legs were very reluctant to move. Just 3 more miles.

They finally got back to rhythm and I finished my first half marathon in 2:05, with no hoopla or fanfare or anybody else within sight. I just ran a HALF MARATHON!!! That felt incredibly great, and i finished my 14.15 miles in 2 hours 15 minutes. Anticipating how angry and confused my legs would be the rest of the weekend following my longest run ever, I stopped at the QT and picked up 3 bags of ice. I'm sure I looked a little weird, considering it was trying to snow outside. But that was probably the best ice bath I've ever had. 14 minutes immersed in icy water with a mug of hot cocoa and some Van Morrison playing in the background, I was actually sad when the ice was all melted and I had to get out.

A roundhouse kick to start my day

I'm heading out of town tonight and can't run with the team tomorrow, so in order to stick with the scheduled weekly mileage I had to get my 8 miles in sometime today. And what better way to do that than to head to the gym at 5:30 am and spend some quality time with Mr. Treadmill? Ok, that's a dumb question because realistically there are LOTS of better ways, but this is how i decided to do it. Let me just say that 8 miles on a treadmill is bad enough, not to mention running at a time when I should still be sleeping. And to make matters worse, my entertainment options were the morning news or Walker, Texas Ranger. Morning news is good the first time you see it. But really, who needs to watch 3 broadcasts of the local news? not me. So that leaves me with Walker, Texas Ranger. 80 minutes of Chuck Norris' roundhouse kicks might be exciting to some people, but it was 80 minutes too many for me. Thankfully, i had my ipod and some berry flavored GU to help me make it through. And now, my body is a calorie burning furnace for the rest of the day.

On a very exciting note....I've reached my recommitment (halfway) goal in fundraising 20 days before the recommitment date. And a very Big Thanks to everyone who has donated! Keep them coming:

Please make a donation to fight Leukemia

Puddle hopping and GU popping

Saturday's 6 a.m. 12 miler went much better than I'd anticipated. I've always enjoyed running in the rain, so that just made me all the more excited as I drove to the park in the light drizzle. And I don't know what the starting temp was but I was getting warm after the first 2 mile out-and-back so when we came back to rehydrate I put my gloves in the car and switched to a lighterweight jacket. I had my first experience with GU at mile 5. Wasn't quite sure what to expect from the packet of oozy energy gel. I'm not gonna lie, the Espresso Love was rather tasty, I think I've found a new favorite running treat. The rain gradually came down harder and colder as the miles added up and even though I was angry at myself for not wearing gloves, the run felt really great. Popped another GU at mile 9, and by the time 12 miles were up, I didn't really want to stop. That's a good sign, considering I had just run 46% of a marathon. Way to go, ME!
Total mileage this past week.....19.5 miles
Fundraising total......$1723.10 or something like that

And the winner is.....the little runner girl!

Set the alarm for 5:50 so I could get myself up and run since there will be no time after work tonight due to a much anticipated concert. (WOOT!) Not that 5:50 is anything new to me, because that's when I've been getting up on Saturdays to go run with the group. But it's so much harder to actually get up when nobody is expecting you to be there. Hence, the heated argument my mind had with my body as I lay in bed. My mind is very conniving and tricky when it comes to situations like this, telling me to enjoy the comfort and warmth of my bed and just make today a rest day. And my mind had me convinced for about 20 minutes that it was right. Of course I deserve to sleep some more, I've been working out really hard for the past 10 days, I need a rest day. But then, that little runner girl inside of me started complaining about how angry she would be on saturday for the 12 mile run if I didn't run today. It's a good thing the little runner girl is stronger than my mind, I really enjoyed my 25:30, 3 mile run as the sun came up and the birds began to sing. The only problem is that running 7.5 miles on concrete this week is slightly making my shins upset. But they're just going to have to learn how to deal cause I'm not too keen on treadmill runs when it's springtime in Kansas. This saturday morning run starts at 6:00 am, so let's hope my mind is still sleeping when the alarm goes off at 5:00....

I'm on the brink of being crazy

Saturday morning went something like this....
PowerBar....check. Coat of Vaseline on my face....check. Brush the snow off my car.....check. Awesome, not only is there a blanket of snow on the ground, but it's a 'balmy' four degrees and below zero windchill. I don't even know the exact windchill because anything below zero is pretty much the same...awful. And by awful, i mean intense torture and pain. I was right earlier in the week when I said I'd be an icicle. There were times when I thought my thighs were going to freeze mid-stride and leave me stranded along the road until the warm spring weather would thaw me out. But we kept Gatorade refueling, Vaseline reapplying, and kept on running. It was all worth it in the end, as our 10 mile run was complete and the feeling of achieving another mileage milestone replaced the lack of feeling in my extremeties. And as if I weren't already frozen to the bone, I headed home to take an ice bath. Sad, but true, I'm kinda starting to enjoy the ice baths....especially when soaking in a tub of ice water is actually warmer than the run outside.

I'll be an icicle

I've been finding that one of the more difficult parts of this training is obeying the scheduled mileage. I'm not used to limiting myself to 2 or 3 mile runs during the week, so it takes some effort for me to make myself cool down when I feel like i've just warmed up. But I have found pure enjoyment in hopping on the treadmill to see just how fast I can run the shorter distances. Last night's 3 mile run felt great at 24:15, but I'd like to get that down to 22:30. And in a not-so-hot weather report this morning, I found out that saturday morning temps will be around TWO degrees. that should make for an absolutely spectacular 10 miles! The past two saturdays have been cold, even snowy, but overall pleasant for running. Like I told Josh, I'm really not too thrilled about running when the wind chill is less than my age. Not cool, mother nature, not cool.

crank it up!

Finally.....Saturday was my first Team in Training group run, and the fact that i had to wake up at 6am didn't faze me at all. But when I looked at the temperature and saw TWENTY FIVE DEGREES!!?!?!, I thought what am i doing? My question was answered though, when I arrived at the park and took off on the 6 mile run amongst the throng of fellow TNT runners. Six miles felt great and i was certain i could keep on going, until i stopped running and my knees felt like an elephant was standing on them. Not quite sure what that was all about, but I headed to our fitness seminar to hear our coach say, "ice bath, ice bath, ice bath." You've GOT to be kidding me, it's like negative fifty degrees outside and you want me to sit in a trough of ice?!? Well, I can't neglect my coach's words, so after another hour standing in the chilling wind doing some fundraising, I headed home, shivering, to face the ice bath. Made myself a hot cup of cocoa and began filling the tub with cold water. Still an ice bath rookie, i decided not to use ice, and thank goodness because the frigid water alone was enough torture, and it took me 3 minutes just to lower myself in. Even so, I'm looking forward to our 8 mile run this saturday, but the menacing ice bath afterwards is going to take some definite courage.

Please make a donation to fight Leukemia

Fundraising, Florida & February

I've had several requests to post my fundraising link so until i become more tech-savvy, you can click on 'donate to the cause' on the right hand side of my blog. Our Team in Training kickoff meeting is tomorrow, so my fundraising will get a kickstart from there.
I spent several days last week just chilling in Orlando and Cocoa Beach, and although it could've been much much warmer, i was able to enjoy a delightful 4.5 mile run on the beach. During this time i quickly learned three important things.
1. Do not step on the turquoise jellyfish pod looking things. they stink when they pop.
2. Running on sand makes my calves and hamstrings burn.
3. I live hundreds of miles from any ocean, and this needs to be fixed.

With February just around the corner, i'm really looking forward to the start of our early saturday a.m. runs & becoming a stranger to friday nights out on the town. But hey, it's all for a great cause so i can deal with it. Last week's mileage: 16 miles. 124 days until San Diego.

I know, i know. Bad blogger. I have been on a month long breakup from my blog, but the good news is we've decided to patch things up and get back together. And i can promise that i'll keep my training progress up to date and my relationship with my blog will be stronger than ever. I know this because last night I had my first Team in Training meeting and just being there gave me so much desire to run this marathon for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and all those affected by the cancers. I was so inspired by the stories that were told, that I know there is nothing* that can keep me from finishing this goal. (*serious injury or death are exceptions here) So now after taking that first real step and signing up and paying the race entry fee, it's metaphorically all down hill from here, with a few small bumps along the way. All that's left to do is a little* fundraising and some* running. (by 'little' i mean $4,000 and by 'some' i mean a lot) 135 days to go. No problem.

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

i'm very excited about the words of encouragement that i've been receiving from others, and the advice i've been given to help me deal with and lessen the pain of my shin splints. i ran in the Gobbler Grind 5K this morning with co-worker jamie and we made it our goal to run it in 30:00. I'll humbly say that jamie hasn't been running to the extent that i have so i did not run the first 1.5 mile like it was a race, but we were just out for a leisurely run amongst the thousands of runners. at the halfway point, jamie gave me the go-ahead to run on without her, so i ran the last 1.5 mile in just under 12:30. Finishing time was 29:40. Post-finish i felt great and even could have kept on running, or at least that's what i tell myself given the fact that i didn't actually have to run further. The shin twins did great, just a dull pain during the beginning of the race. Actually, i don't even know that i'd call it pain...they just let me know that they were still trying to control my running life.
this past week's total: 12 miles....2 mile track time...16:45 (which i, for some reason, decided to run on the coldest night of the week)
195 days until San Diego. that's less than 200. eeek!

Words of Wisdom for today's blog: If the benefits of exercise could be put into a pill, it would be the most prescribed medication of all time........And lately i've discovered that a day without my medicine is a day not preferred by me. The feeling after completing a run is one of breathlessness and thoughts of 'what have i gotten myself into?' But with that comes accomplishment, wellbeing, and ultimate satisfaction and these far outweigh any negative feelings. Even though some days it takes every last ounce of energy i have to lace up my shoes and stride away, I always feel better than if i'd let my body win the argument against my mind. My shins are without a doubt the loudest yelling body parts of mine. They scream at me every single day, every time i run up stairs, every time i take the first step in my run. But do i listen to them? no. I pound them on the pavement and tell them to shut up. "Just deal with it a little while longer, guys and get over it already." And they succumb to my orders and the pain subsides and i keep on running. Saturday was one of the best running days i've had thus far in my training, even though the wind gusts were enough to knock over a small child. I spent most of my run down in a valley, running on the Prairie Village streets covered by a tree canopy so the wind was not too noticeable. But the best part of it all was getting caught in the rain, which always gives me a unique kind of exhilaration to help carry me through my run.
This past week's mileage: 11 miles.....2mile track split: 16:50
Time til San Diego......201 days, 21 hours, 47 minutes

the mind wanders....when i'm running, it's just me, myself and my music. i've realized that running 26 miles without my ipod is going to be a challenge for me. even running 13 miles sans music will be a struggle. i should probably work on weaning myself away from the tunes, but it's just not as much fun running without the beats. many times, they're what keep me moving as i struggle up a hill or am running out of energy at the end of a run. here's what's on my 'RunninOn' playlist this month:
At the Stars- better than ezra
Leaving Town- dexter freebish
do you remember- earth wind & fire
josie- outfield
hold me now- polyphonic spree
jesus walks- kanye west
sugar magnolia- grateful dead
sweet marie- the anniversary
not the same- ben folds
daylight- better than ezra
all these things that i've done- the killers
my doorbell- white stripes
hollow- better than ezra
take your mama out- scissor sisters
jesusland- ben folds
well, i decided to hit the track this past week, which i haven't done since high school. Running in circles brought back a lot of memories and since i haven't been measuring my runs by distance, i wasn't quite sure what to expect. I ran 8 laps in 17:32, which i was pretty happy with and i gave myself a new goal to get my 2-mile time down to 13:00. just for the fun of it. so, figuring i run a little slower than an 8:45 mile when i run on the streets, i ran about 9 miles this week. could be more, could be less. shin pain is hovering around a 4.8, up a little bit from last week. i guess i'll be bringing back my long lost friends, mr. icy hot and ms. advil.

so far, so good...i made my decision to run a marathon a week ago, and since then i have logged 90 minutes of running in 6 days. amazingly, i even managed to get up at 8 am saturday to go for a run. i figure this is goodbye to sleeping in on the weekends and hello to running being more important than sleeping. i'm not so big into the mileage, as i am into keeping track of my time, mainly because i haven't calculated my mileage...too much work. but this is a huge step for me, since i haven't ran this much in over a year. shin update: on a pain scale of 1 to 10, (10 being 'please cut my legs off cause it would hurt less') they've been at about 4.35, which is very good for me. josh told me to run on asphalt instead of concrete, and that's made the biggest difference in the world. i've already received so many words of encouragement from friends & family which are really helping me stay focused. i'm still on a mission to get a friend to join me......
my countdown:
215 days until San Diego. oh my goodness, that's A LOT of days and A LOT of miles to run.

first things first. the reasoning behind my blogging beginnings: it stems from having some incredibly inspiring people in my life. While i could type forever about those who have inspired me, this is a running inspiration so i'll focus on them... my former co-worker josh and my long time friend crystal have both ran in marathons recently and upon hearing about their experiences, i've been doing some thinking. Running a marathon has been a goal of mine since as long as i can remember. This crazy desire started when my mom would let me tag along with her on her 5K races and i would run in the fun runs, desperately wanting to be allowed to run in the 'big people' race alongside her. It continued through jr. high and high school cross country and track, lost its luster when i went to college and resurfaced two years ago, only to be extinguished by severe shin splints and the need for physical therapy.

A recent trip to Chicago with girlfriends reignited my goal. I made a vow with jessi to run the marathon within the next 10 years. But this plan was put into action when kristin expressed her desire to run in the 2006 chicago marathon and i told her "what a great idea, let's do it!" Oh, and a shout out to erin, who was the inspiration behind the name of my blog (kitkat). I'm aiming to run the Rock n Roll San Diego Marathon in June and the Chicago marathon in October. I'm just praying that my shins stay strong and i remain relatively injury free. So here we go, there's no looking back, only running forward......