chimesblog

Maybe.

Just maybe I’m back.

And I can thank my fabulous former roommate for running a marathon last month — 20 minutes faster than she anticipated even!

What am I talking about?

For those of you who’ve forgotten, I used to love running — in fact, that was the ENTIRE purpose for this blog in the first place. It used to be called “Life plus running” and be over at blogspot.com. Then I obsessed over it and ran a marathon. Then we broke up for a while. And then running was a huge pain in the ass because I had to be strategic about it, so it became a chore instead of a beloved pastime.

But now //

// I think it’s fun again*.

And I can blame my old roommates. Both of them. One of them got married and the other came and stayed with me for the evening before the wedding. Danielle and I used to run together a lot in the 4 years we lived together. That’s how I got my start. In fact the last time I ran any significant distance with anybody was a 7 mile run right before the marathon 2 years ago with here.

What better way to get back in the saddle than by enlisting the help of a friend to make running fun again?

So we ran about a 10K. I haven’t run more than 3-4 miles in at least a month. In fact, I hadn’t run AT ALL for 2 whole weeks. And the weird part? I didn’t miss it a bit. Not ONE tiny bit. I was actually DREADING our Saturday run so much that I put it off until we absolutely had to go in order to get the rest of our stuff done before the wedding that evening.

Then it started again. That feeling. The almost giddy feeling I used to have every day knowing that when all my work was done that I got 45-60 minutes ALL TO MYSELF (and, let’s face it, 5 years ago Slipknot was there too). My time to relax. My time to think things out. My time to pound the pavement and bust out all the bad feelings I felt before I made it home and they eeked out into the rest of my life.

Sunday I RAN my errands. I had to pick up a prescription, and guess what? HyVee is on my 5K route. So I ran a 5K. THE DAY AFTER I RAN A 10K.

The thought of being injured again made me very wary of running two days in a row since the PT lady told me not to do that 2 years ago when she released me back into the wild after 3 months of physical therapy. But I’m lifting and training specific muscle groups now. I’m seeking chiropractic care once a week. I’m being SMARTER and I know my body and my limits now.

So all that being said? Yeah. I think it’s back. I ran a mile yesterday too — 2 laps backwards in fact — which makes 3 days in a row of running. Not of running significant distances like before, but the victory here is that I want to run again. It makes me happy. No more hours plugging away at boring cardio machines or workout videos. I have the option to run. Whenever I want. And most importantly I have the drive to run again.

Where am I going with this? Nowhere in particular. I haven’t set any weird crazy goals for myself — except not to get injured again and to continue to enjoy being outside running like I used to. And of course, to get some of the awesome gear associated with running.

*Sorry for the weird typography … I’ve been reading  the typography bible and I’ve been wanting to try some new things for separators.]

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It’s Drake Relays time!

That means … I’m really busy.

But seriously. It means streetpainting, Beautiful Bulldogs and lots of races. I’m not running in the Drake Half Marathon this year — no way am I going to top shaving off 20 minutes from my PR —  but I am going to go check out some of the fun events this week. And you should too!

Here are some of my favorite photos from Drake’s flickr galleries.

The winner of the Beautiful Bulldog Contest was Lucy Brown! (the ! is part of her  name) and she is suuuuuper adorable. And probably pretty slobbery.

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Since it’s been a MONTH since I ran the half marathon I’d been training for since February, I thought I should probably post the results.

First off — I need to re-calibrate Nike+ SUPER hardcore bad.  It was almost a mile off when I finished (so I run faster than the device tells me that I run).

Here’s my results via nike+

and here are my official results

I finished 23rd in my age group, 73rd in my gender and 321st overall. There were 353 women and 863 participants overall. I’m not sure how many people were in my age division, but if I would have hit 1:45 (the time I was shooting for) I would have been in the top 10.

To compare, here are my results from 2 years ago, the first time I ran the race.

I finished 208th in my gender and 32nd in my age group.

However, if you notice, I SHAVED 20 MINUTES OFF MY TIME. So really, that’s the big news. I kicked ass.

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I can’t believe I’m already into week 3 of my half marathon training. So far, so good. I haven’t missed a run yet and I’ve been keeping up with my cross training on my off days (except last Saturday — but I danced my ass off at prom).

Today’s a cross-training day, so I’m going to hook up with my favorite trainer, Jillian Michaels, for some hard core cardio in my living room.

Anyway, my runs have been pretty decently paced so far. I ran outside for my first 6-mile run (in the snow) for week one and managed to keep it at 8’25ish per mile.  Last week’s 7 mi run was on a treadmill and averaged 8’17/mi.  So pretty decent.  If I can keep my pace no more than 8’30/mi on longer runs, I think I’ll have a pretty decent time for the race considering I’ll likely step it up a notch.

Here’s my training plan for this week:

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I went to the Bell Center today to run on a treadmill. I set out to run 45 minutes or 5 miles — whichever came first.

Welll … I ended up running for an hour.  Which was somewhere between 7 and 8 miles (I need to recalibrate my nike+ hardcore).

Anyway, here’s my run:

Notice my playlist is titled \m/ \m/ … that’s for metal.

I spent a good 20 minutes stretching out and LO! I can touch my left toe!!! I haven’t done that in years. Especially since I’ve been injured.

I’m currently enjoying my new favorite post-run treat. A faux-chocolate malt.  I haven’t quite gotten an official recipe down, but this is kinda what I’ve got going …

1-2 frozen bananas (peel/slice before you freeze)
1-2 bananas
5-7 ice cubes
1/4 c milk (you might have to add more towards the end
chocolate milk mix to taste

Toss it in a blender … ice and frozen naners first, add regular bananas and milk. Blend until desired consistency … add chocolate milk mix. Tastes like a chocolate malt!

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I’m doing it. I’m running that damn half marathon this year.  I’m going to leave my old record in the dust: 2:08:01

Today I created my training program on nikeplus.com.  For starters, I decided to do the beginner level, which pained me greatly.  I’m not a frickin’ beginner runner by any means; however, it’s been so long since I ran distances over 5 miles that I figured it would be best to just bite the bullet and do the beginner program. I mean, I am somewhat still injured (and will probably ALWAYS have problems with my left leg), so I shouldn’t push my luck.

Anyway, starting February 1, I will be training for the Drake Relays on the Roads Half Marathon.  But first, I need to purchase some new running shoes!

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wow this is  a pretty productive morning (for blogging anyway — not so much for getting ready for work!).

I got more wings from my friend Kim the other day and these are GLORIOUS!  I’ve asked her to develop a painting for me in the style of the sketch page she sent and I’m going to refine one of these sketches into a tattoo for my ankle.  She’s sooooo good at wings…and she’s really great with color combos!

I like the wing as is, but I want to add some things to it to see what it would look like. Ideally I’d have a wrap-around type piece, but if I can’t come up with anything, I’d be happy to have this little guy on my ankle…and a coordinating one on my other ankle after I complete my first race since my injury (5Ks don’t count. we’re talking a 10K—half marathon here!). Ideally…when I complete a half-marathon in under 2 hours.

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