A Blessing or a Curse

  It definitely seems Shauna is getting her strength and confidence back, if she keeps this up she will definitely be pushing me beyond my comfort zone and I am still not sure if that is a good thing or not, so far our distance has been increasing while our pace has been decreasing........ strange and hopefully this isn't going to come back and bite me in the butt during the long runs over 3 miles AND the Half Marathon, this Half may be the proudest race in my present life because I will be running it with my sister Shauna. Her longest run/s was 14 miles back in high school, and depending on how she does during the Half, she may be interested in a full Marathon between now and 2014.
  I will definitely keep updating after runs, I am going to start icing my knees though just to make sure nothing undesirable shows up between now and the Half.

Another Great Run

 I don't know if it is their GPS screwing up or my Garmin405 and my Android App, but mine are finishing us .1 mile behind what they are claiming. We ran supposedly 1.6 though my Garmin said 1.52, our pace was 9:45 which was pretty good. I cannot wait until I am comfortable in just a sports bra again, this heat is killing me!! This heat is extremely brutal, but honestly it isn't so much the temperature as it is that evil sun beating down on me. I do hope this will help during the Half Marathon which will be in great weather I pray, last year the temperature was somewhere between 50 and 65 degrees.
 No urge to pee again, this time I did not wear a panty liner so things are really looking up on that part.

First Saturday Morning Run in Months

   It was just slightly difficult getting up this morning, but once I got up and fed Dorian, pumped and got ready I was pretty much awake. My legs were feeling like logs, I will remember to save squats and other more hard leg strengthening exercises for the day of my long runs so that I will have plenty of time to rest my legs before the next run. Dorian did great, he slept 99% of the time although there were some bumps and our pace was a minute slower than Thursday evening was and I will reason it to be the stroller and the workouts I did Friday.
   I don't know how many other runs I will be able to take Dorian on, so I am spending everyday working with him on sleeping in his bassinet, at least on the Saturday mornings of my long runs, there has been a lot of progress in a week so I am hoping that by the time we reach 2 miles in 2 weeks he will have no problem staying in his bassinet while I am gone.

Another Peeless Run

  Last night was our second training run, 1.25 miles (but my Garmin and Phone app both said 1.12 :(.....) and I had no accidents at all. The only issue was when we had about 2 blocks left and Shauna and I gave our "kick", the muscle between my neck and right shoulder tightened up (first time). It didn't effect me too much, my thighs were feeling a bit heavy during the whole run (I did a few squats earlier that day) but our pace stayed just under 11 minutes so not bad for trying to get used to the heat and wearing a shirt. I really hope that after a month of training I will be comfortable with taking my shirt off again, and really it isn't so much my stomach that I am feeling self-conscious about but my thighs. They are still thick from the pregnancy and it is a little disappointing as they were just toning up last year and I was finally feeling comfortable with them.
   Saturday runs are in the morning at 7, which might be an issue though tomorrow is going to be low 70s and 1.25 miles so I think I am going to take Dorian with me as Cameron is not a morning person. I don't know if I would be able to take him on every Saturday long run, especially when they start getting past 1.5 miles because I haven't ran with him further than a mile AND I don't know if his patience would last. If not, then my long runs will just have to be sometime during the weekend when I can either have Cameron watch him or my mother.

Future Goals

  My sister posted my text to her yesterday on facebook, about how excited I am in running with her and training for the Half Marathon. She was very moved by it, but her husband came on and commented, wishing us luck and mentioning the Chicago or Boston Marathon which got me thinking........ the Chicago has no qualifying times needed but the Boston does and it wouldn't be a bad idea to train for the SIC Full Marathon next April, I mean once we finish the Half in October, we can use Jump Start and Team 13's training schedule as an example for our training schedule, or even find a group that is still training during winter. I mean it will be slightly difficult, training and increasing our mileage during winter but at this moment I can seem to find any other Marathons near us, but I will keep looking. Not a whole lot seems to happen here around Indiana, I mean there is the Indianapolis Marathon, but 2013's won't be until October which means I would miss the Half here in Evansville.......... hmmm decisions, decisions, decisions.........
   I guess, depending on how this year's Half goes will be the deciding factor on next year. I may never qualify for the Boston but I would love to push my goals past a Half Marathon and towards a Full within the next 3 years, and then maybe within the next 10 years my very first Ultra Marathon. I guess we will see won't we?

A Great Training Run

  Tonight first run was great, my sister and I ran 1.05 miles at 10:33 (10:03 pace) which was pretty good even dealing with the heat and having to wear a shirt, but from now on I will be wearing my shorts. Hopefully tomorrow I can go and buy some body glide, at least until my thighs begin to thin up again (who knows how long that will be). Good news is I didn't pee again, I did wear a pad just in case but it was nothing to worry about as I did not have any leaking issues so yay! Saturdays are still going to be a bit of a problem, as I don't know if it would be a good idea to wake him up that early in the morning and watch Dorian, at least not until Dorian is able to really work his neck and sleep by himself in the bassinet which hopefully will be in the next month or so. Until then I will try to do those training runs in the evening.

Oh Anticipation!!

  I am so excited, tonight is Jump Start's first training run this year and I cannot wait. I am watching the time and just counting down, my patience is killing me too. Dorian will be staying here with Cameron at the shop, I think I am going to get another infant car seat base for the jeep in case Cameron and Ethan want to head home on one my training nights that I will be gone for more than a half hour. Tonight we start at 1 mile, I don't know about my sister but I don't plan on taking it slow and easy, for some reason my body feels this overwhelming energy that doesn't want to be contained - free from all that weight gain and slowness I was dealing with during pregnancy. I am curious to see what pace I can keep; I'd like to get under 10 minutes but we will have to see, if they are using the same route as last year then I know that there won't be any hills to deal with. I will also remember to stop drinking about an hour before 6 p.m and try and use the bathroom as many times as possible. I am so excited!!!!! I am excited to get back into training, excited to get back into running, but I am really excited to have my sister joining me this year. She is 4 years older than me, and all through middle school and high school she was in track and cross country, and I stood back and admired her wishing I could join her but afraid and not able to keep a pace or breathing technique. She hasn't really RAN in 6 years, not more than 2 miles I  know for sure as those runs were with me in the last 2 years. Her husband isn't supportive and always telling her she will give up and quit like always, I am hoping and praying she won't, I am hoping that I can keep her going on this. My first Half Marathon was amazing, but this 2nd one will be much more if I can run and finish it with my sister. I am so excited!!!

A Good Run Alone

   Tonight I went for a run by myself while Cameron stayed with Dorian, but throughout the day I did the Plank position for a total of 3 minutes and 24 seconds while holding my kegal muscles. I ran for 1.57 miles with .2 miles of walking up a hill and did not leak at all so maybe that is a good sign. It felt good out there to run, the humidity didn't feel good but it felt good to be running again. I love my little angel and couldn't imagine how I was living without him, but I do miss running.

1st Full 1 Mile Run Since November

 Before my traditional walk with my mom and sister, I got to our spot early and tried for a run (with Dorian in the stroller), I wasn't planning or expecting too much but I was able to make it a mile sub 12 minutes which I feel great about, no walking at all! The only downside was that I kept leaking, and I didn't even feel the urge to pee and it was pretty bad. I guess I will have to wear some you-know-whats to prevent the discomfort, the only HUGE downside to pregnancy and delivery. I am extremely excited, Jumpstart begins next week and I am very confident that the pregnancy and decrease in mileage hasn't effected my running or pace. I am just a little nervous with leaving Dorian at the shop with Cameron (the shop is very chaotic), but we will see how things go.
  It felt good to run a mile, no stopping for the first time since November last year..... at least I am pretty sure that is the last time I ran a mile without stopping. I don't know if I will do any running this weekend, I might save my energy until next Tuesday but we will see.