Rough Return

I ran for the first time in a week yesterday. I decided to do just a short 4 miles from my new house. I ran from the house and then all the way down Grandview (the street that overlooks Pittsburgh) and then back. It was a scenic run but I couldn't concentrate on the view with my lungs burning and my struggling uphill. I thought the run only had 1 big hill but I was wrong...there were 3 - and that was just on my way out. I had to tackle 3 hills again then on the way home. It wasn't an easy first run.

Today my shins hurt from the hills - my legs aren't used to constantly running either up or down hill. I plan to run 8 or 9 miles tomorrow. I plan to run somewhere flatter...

14.65 miles down!

Saturday was a LONG run (14.65 miles to be exact). I didn’t try to run to fast since it has been a while since I have ran a long distance. I ended up running down Liberty to Ethan’s Green to Oakview, Liberty Hill, then back to SOM. Once I got to SOM I ran until I got to Baldwin (the street that come out right by my Grandma’s house), where she laid a bottle of water out for me to run the remainder of my way with. After I left my Grandmas house I went to the Tops shopping center to the connector street behind it. After that I continued to run on Solon Rd. until I reached SOM once again. As I was crossing the exit ramp to 422 I almost got hit by a car that didn’t even look right before pulling out into the road. After my near death experience I continued up SOM to Sherbrook, where I started my run home.
Overall I was happy with my run, I ran the run in a 9:55 pace which I was happy with because it was still under my 10 minute mile pace. I was also happy with it because I didn’t have to take a break until I reached 13 miles and that was only for 30 seconds. I cant wait for my next run. I’m hoping that it will be tonight and I might run from my house to Deer Run because Jon’ moved in this weekend!

Oh yeah I encountered a HUGE snake. I was running in Signature II, and I thought I saw a bike tire but it ended up being a snake (luckily it was dead).

My Return to Running...

will start tomorrow...maybe. I really need to get back into things. I'm very curious as to how my first run will go. I'm hoping to do that first run tomorrow - I just need to find a good place to run. It won't be the same as in Solon. I don't know the area and I don't think it would be good for me to run in my neighborhood (it's hilly and there are some places that I hear are bad to run in). I'll have to drive to do my longer runs - I'm sure ill get used to it and it will be a good way for me to learn the city!

Now that’s more like it!

Today was a good day! I had a soccer game and still got home in time to run. I ended up doing an hour run and I planned out my run almost perfectly. I did a loop around my neighborhood, and then around town (My Run). I gave myself an hour to run and I finished in an hour and one minute! It felt really got to be running again for a long period of time outdoors. I ended up running 6.37 miles which I was happy with after my poop performance yesterday! After I finished running I got a chance to do abs. I’m excited about my run tomorrow!

P.S. I got my postcard and I think I’m going to start a book called Lauren World Travels and add all my postcards from you too it!

Trying to get back into the swing

Today was a quick jog on the treadmill (which I still HATE). I did 15 minutes before I was going to cut off my feet of boredom. I don’t know what it is about the treadmill but I HATE THEM. I was watching house but I could not focus because all I could think of was I’m in my basement running nowhere. After my pathetic 15 minutes on the treadmill I did about 10 minutes of abs so I could feel like I did something with my life. I have a game tomorrow and hope to get home in time to run outside!

Ugh...SIck

This weekend was not as successful as I thought it was going to be. Going into Friday I was excited to get a 5 mile run in on Friday and a 13 mile run in on Saturday or Sunday. Unfortunately that was unable to happen. Friday after school I had a sore throat which I thought it was just from talking all week to the students, but by the time practice was over and I got home I was having a hard time swallowing without being in pain. Since I could barely swallow I figured running wasn’t going to be working at all.
Saturday morning I woke up feeling a little better, but I had a morning soccer game. We had to be at the busses at 9:00. Around then I was feeling good and still hoping I could get my run in after our game. To my surprise on the after the game I was feeling horrible and not only did I have a sore throat I had a pounding headache. With my parents out of town and no food at home I called my grandma who made me Chicken Noodle Soup. I ate dinner at her house around 4 then headed home. When I got home I watched a movie and fell asleep on the couch.
Sunday was the worst of them all, I had a headache, sore throat and my nose was running out of control. I spend most of the day on the couch (from 10 am-4pm ) and sleeping (5pm -7pm then 9pm-7am the next morning), hoping to get better for the school day tomorrow since I cannot miss any more days.

Luckily it was this weekend I got sick and not last, but I am very upset that I didn’t get a chance to run and hopefully I can get a really long on in next week,

Attempt but failure...

I tried to go for a long run today (between 12 and 14) but my heart just wasn't in it. I woke up pretty sore in new places since I definitely worked some new muscles on the rigorous hike yesterday. As the sun was beating down and I was struggling with each stride, I kept rationalizing why it would be okay for me to stop. One reason was that I did hike 8 miles yesterday and it had been a good workout. Another reason was that I was on vacation and I should enjoy myself and not suffer so much. I had asked Joe to bring me some water after about 55 minutes so that I could refuel. I had just run by a pretty cool thing so I decided maybe we should drive back so I could show him. The cool thing was Spouting Horn - it's like a blow hole in the rocks that sprays water out as waves role under it. AWESOME!

After showing Joe the wonderful natural wonder - I battled with myself and decided I should run back to the hotel rather than drive back with Joe. It was hot and hard but I'm glad I did it. Overall, I ran 1 hour 18 minutes and 32 seconds - probably around 9 miles.

I lost my nike sensor thing - I'm a mess with forgetting and losing things on the honeymoon -no good.

4 or 5

I'm about to head to the gym...to play with the touch screen treadmills...and run 4 or 5 miles. I plan to run a long slow distance on Sunday. We are hiking 8 miles on Saturday so hopefully I won't be too sore. It's hard to keep up the training when you're on vacation.

A Touch Screen!

This will be a quick one - I ran 6 miles this morning on the treadmill in the hotel. It wasn't too bad since I had my own personal touch screen to adjust my pace and watch TV! I plan to do a long run in the next few days...not on the treadmill.

Simple Seven

Today I was back on track. I had a little bit of time between school and my ice cream social (for the elementary school I am teaching at). I set my IPod for 60 minutes just to make sure I get back in time to shower and get back to school. To start off my run I felt like I was going at a good pace and not getting too tired. I headed down Bainbridge to S.O.M, and then up S.O.M until I got to the metros (after you talked about running the metros I figured I should run them also. After I got to the metros I ran until I got to the side street that took me to Cannon and continued to Solon Rd. and finished down Liberty. I was happy with my run for today for the most part I ran a 9.04 minute mile and 7.37 miles total.
The one thing that I like about running for time is that my IPod would inform me when I would reach 5 minute intervals. This helped me a lot because I was running I would aim to reach certain landmarks before my time hit the next interval.
I just wish I would have had more time today to get longer run in. I am looking forward for my long run this weekend!

Hope Hawaii is good and your running!

Back at it

Today was a quick run. I had a game at 7 in Heights, so I figured I would come home and run around the town. I did a run that I have done in the past and since it was in the middle of the afternoon I figured I didn’t want to cross any main streets. I went just under 4 miles in at a good pace (8:14 I think). I was happy with my results and need to pick up my training since I was slacking last week due to time crunches. I plan on having a long run tomorrow!

Another long one...

I ran a nice long 12 miles this morning. - hopefully removing some wedding stress! It was a long loop along SOM into the metros, down Solon road and back to my house through the ABC streets and Hunt Club. My mom was supposed to bring me water a some point along the run but she couldn't find me (aka She didn't listen to me when I told her my route). The only other tough part was that I had some terrible chafing from my shorts which made the run slightly unpleasant. Otherwise, I felt good to get a long distance in since I know it will be hard to do when I'm in Hawaii!

Day off

Yesterday I took the day off after our marathon. To my surprise my legs were not as sore as I though and I am ready to run again today if they weather clears up. I’m playing on doing a longer run since I don’t have practice tonight!

½ marathon done

Today’s ½ marathon went a lot better than I could ever expect. When I started I had one goal and that was to finish under 2 hours. Luckily I found a volunteer pace setter that was set for 1:55 so I decided to stick with him.
Toward the beginning of the race I was going strong and keeping up with the pacer, whenever I would fall behind I would sprint up and catch him. Knowing that if I would allow myself to get too far behind I would not catch up at any point. I was able to stay with the pacer for the first 11 miles. After that I was falling behind a little but still always had them insight. When I completed my run I was surprised to see what I ran the marathon in 1 hour and 55 minutes (8:40 minute mile pace) which was great for me because my 10 mile run pace was 9:20.
Cutting off 40 second per mile made me feel good and I am happy about it! Hopefully I am not sore tomorrow.

Half Completed!

Whooooo! We did it - great job! It was tough but we finished and did well. Having a running partners to push me really helped out. My time was 1 hr 46 min 40 sec - which is an 8:08 pace. It was a lot faster than I expected to go. I doubt I will be able to run the same at the full marathon.

Tomorrow

I am also excited for tomorrow. It will be a good test as to where we are at and what we need to work on! See you at 6:45!

Tomorrow's Half

Tomorrow is the half marathon! I'm excited to see how it goes - I think running this long distance in a race is much different than running it on your own. Also, we haven't even run 13 miles yet. It will be a test!

Since I missed runs early in the week, I semi-made up for it by running 7.5 miles Thursday and then 4 on Friday. Maybe having run less miles this week will give me more energy for the half marathon tomorrow?