Week 4 of 2012 and Week 9 of Marathon Training
After last weeks disaster of a long run I was REALLY hoping this week would be better...and IT WAS! :)

Monday - 3 miles - 5th and King Loop - (35:12 - 11:43 pace)
Monday is usually rest day, especially after a long run, but a friend at work asked if I wanted to run and I really can't pass that up.  Especially on the short runs (which I hate for some reason) it's always better to have a running buddy.  I also knew this week was going to be super busy and had to fit the runs in wherever I could.  Since nothing was going on after work on Monday I went for it.  We ran a loop down 5th Ave and up King.  We've run this loop before but it was extra hard this time.  Our first mile went great.  We were going downhill...and also down wind, but we were loving it.  THEN, we turned up King where it is uphill most of the way and against the wind, so we were pretty much hating life for the rest of the time.  But...we did it!  We survived the loop...hills, wind, etc.  One older lady walking her dog even told us we were making good time because we passed her once on 5th and then again towards the end.  That always makes you feel a little better.  :)

On Tuesday we had a lovely fun staff meeting with HR where we were informed of the next steps in our school closing at the end of the year.  Nothing ends a day better than one of those meetings.  UGH.  As frustrated as I was and wanted to run, we went to get Mexican food instead.  :)  El Vaquero always makes you feel better...or something.

Wednesday - 7 miles - Treadmill - (1:13:29 - 10:29 pace)
After having Parent/Teacher Conferences until 6:30 the last thing I really wanted to do was run.  I was supposed to go meet up with some friends from the soccer team for wings and the Buckeye Basketball game.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, I'm not sure which)  by the time I got there only 2 teammates were left so we chatted for a bit and watched some of the game and headed home.  I got home around 8ish and still needed to run.  I wasn't about to run 7 miles in the dark, cold rain so I drug myself to the workout room at the apartment for a nice jaunt on the treadmill.
I'm not sure how much you recall of my love of the treadmill, or the apartment workout room for that matter, so I wasn't really looking forward to this.  When I got to the workout room the door lock thing was broken, so I got some instant anxiety.  I walked in the dark building and proceeded to turn on all of the lights and the TV as loud as possible.  One perk of working out late is no one else is there and you can watch whatever you want.  American Idol was on so I decided to watch that, but unfortunately it was only an hour long and I only caught the last 15 minutes.  However, afterward the new show Touch was on and it was GREAT!  I highly recommend everyone to watch it!  Apparently it doesn't start again until mid March so now you just have to wait. 
...ANYWAY...as I was running and getting sucked into this show I temporarily forgot about the fact that I was in a public place and was not able to lock the door behind me.  When I was about 5.5 miles in to my run and one of the most exciting parts of the show I look over and there i a girl STANDING RIGHT NEXT TO ME!  I screamed and almost fell off the treadmill...no joke.  She was just there to work out and getting on the elliptical but it scared me!  I was like, "Oh...sorry I didn't even hear you come in...sorry the TV is so loud."  And then I spent another 15 awkward minutes running next to her.  HAHA  Luckily I haven't had to see her since...

Parent/Teacher Conferences happened again on Thursday and I was dead to the world after work on Friday so no running happened.

Sunday - 10 miles - Olentangy Trail Out & Back - (1:51:21 - 11:08 pace)
Sadly Janene's legs are still hurting so I was on my own with this one (Get Well Soon Janene!).  I managed to get up early and went to the 1st service at churc!h (And I saw Bobby Carpenter there), so I was able to get my run in earlier than normal.  It was nice and sunny outside and I was really looking forward to spending some time outside.  At the park where I start there weren't very many people, so I made a loop around the pond before setting out on the trail.  As the day progressed more and more people started popping up on the trail.  I was doing a pretty good job of keeping my miles at a steady 11:08 pace (except for mile 5 and mile 10 when I found some bursts of energy somewhere and ran 10:39 and 10:16 respectively).  I always love when my last mile is my fastest mile!

A couple of things I learned on this run: 

1. I really enjoyed having Fruit Punch Powerade in my water bottle.  After my hands stopped freezing from holding it, I was loving it. 
2. I really do not like Mandarin Orange Gu.  Last week Janene gave me some Gu since she doesn't really like it.  The Vanilla Bean she gave me was AWESOME!  It tasted like frosting.  The Orange that I bought however...YUCK!  I'm not sure if it was the flavor or the fact that I was washing it down with my Powerade, but it was not doing it for me today.  For those of you that have never tried Gu, it's a little packet thing that is supposed to give you extra energy.  You are supposed to eat them after like 45 minutes to an hour of running.  They are the consistency of molasses and there are all kinds of interesting flavors.  You have to drink a lot of liquid with them to wash them down and then just PRAY that they don't upset your stomach...especially when you are miles from the car or a bathroom.  So yeah...of the 3 flavors I've tried I would rank them 1 - Vanilla Bean, 2 - Chocolate, 3 - Mandarin Orange.  We'll have to try some of the others and see where they fall in the ranking.
3. Some people make running look too easy and I can only wish to make it look so effortless some day.  I know I'm a hot mess when I'm running, but I just embrace it.  :)
4. I hope they find the lost dog that I saw multiple postings for along the trail :(

By the time I made it back to the park the lovely blue sky and sunshine that I started with turned into gloomy gray skies and big dark clouds.  I stopped on the deck of the pond to stretch and as I was untying my car key from my shoe it started to snow.  And not just a little bit...it was like snowing sideways blizzard-like conditions.  I was very happy that I was done and excited to get home.

So that's the recap of Week 4.  January is almost over and I'm only 62 days away from the Marathon!  AHH

Slapbet Total = 81 miles (Only 919 to go!)

Week 3 was quite the roller coaster actually.  I made it out for 3 runs this week and had to brave the wintery elements here in Ohio.

Tuesday - 3 miles - Out and Back (29:51 - 9:57 pace)
This was actually one of my best runs ever in my life for multiple reasons.
1.  I finally broke 30 minutes.  I've done that on a treadmill, but not actually on the road.
2.  My 3rd mile was in 8:35!!!  I don't think I've ever ran a mile that fast in my life.  Not even in high school.  Now, it was quite windy and the wind was at my back during this portion of the run, but I felt like I was flying! 

I had to run down the busy road by my apartment which I kind of like to do when I'm sick of the loop around here.  I normally run down on the left side of the road, touch the street pole, and then turn around and head back.  I eventually cross to the left side once traffic thins out.  Well this time there was TONS of traffic and I never got the opportunity to cross.  Maybe braving the traffic helped me run a bit faster so as to get off the busy road, but it was pretty awesome. 

**Thanks to whoever decided to chop up the fallen tree that was on the berm.  It made my life much easier.
**A big NO THANKS to the creeper that decided to honk at me 3 times.  EEK

Thursday - 6 miles - Tempo Run - Blacklick Woods (1:06:30 - 11:05)
I had the brilliant idea to bring my running gear to work and head out to Blacklick Woods.  I thought it was much closer than it actually is.  However, I did not realize that it was supposed to start snowing pretty much as soon as I was planning on running.  As I started out the trail was a bit snow covered from some early afternoon snow, but it wasn't too bad.  By mile 2 some flurries started to fall, and then mile 3 it was a snowy downpour.  I was supposed to run 3 miles at a Tempo of 10:50.  I decided I was going to do a 2 mile warm up, 3 miles a Tempo, and then a 1 mile cool down.  I managed to do the warm up pretty slow.  Tempo miles were at 10:48, 10:47, and 10:35.  Then by the cool down mile it was snowing like crazy.  Snow was in my eyes and I could barely see so I decided that the last mile I just wanted to get back to the car...so I ran it in 10:41. (OOPS!)  It was kind of fun running while it was snowing, but the black ice was hard to avoid and I'll have to find a way to keep the snow out of my eyes.  It then took me 45 minutes to get home, I took the world's fastest shower, then met Janene for dinner at Hounddogs!  I felt much less guilty eating pizza after running 6.  :)

Sunday - 13.1 miles - Long Run - Around Campus Area (2:43:53 - 12:31)
I don't know if I'm mentally prepared to talk about this run.  Janene and I were STRUGGLING!  We started out just north of campus and went down the Olentangy Trail for a while.  It was a frozen slushy mess and we were less than excited about it.  After about 2 miles we found a random parking lot that was nice and clear so we decided to take a lap around it for some solid ground.  We then decided to walk up to Olentangy Road and ran up to King.  By this point we were pretty aware that this was going to be a crazy run and once again it was Choose Your Own Adventure Sunday!  As we headed down King the path we were going to get back on was blocked off by a fence, so we scaled our way down a snowy hill and ran back up the slushy path we were on before.  (NOT FUN)  Now we found ourselves back at the car only 4 miles into the run.  We shed some layers and stretched a bit before heading back out.  This time we went North on the trail, but a detour caused us to venture off the path and onto the city streets.  The sidewalks were all slush and we were desperate for some dry land.  We had the bright idea to make our way down towards campus and run down High Street.  By this point we were just wandering aimlessly and decided to make a lap around The Ohio State University.  We were reminiscing about old times and discussing buildings that we spent many of hours in (or ones we were supposed to be in).  By the time we got to Mirror Lake (6 miles) we took a pitstop to use the bathroom and refuel with some Gu (I think Gu is growing on me, but I'm not completely convinced).  It was strange being back in there, but good memories.  We criss-crossed our way across campus and back up High Street.  At mile 10 I dropped Janene back off at her car, ditched my hat, gained my iPod and set out for the last 3 miles.  I didn't want to venture too far, so I went back on the slushy trail for another jaunt next to the semi-frozen Olentangy River.  I got honked at by some Swan-Goose Hybrid that we previously nicknamed a Swoose and I somehow made it back to the car...all in one piece...without getting attacked by the Swooses (Sweese?).  I ended up absolutely frozen and happy it was over, but glad that we did it.  There were a few walk breaks to work out some aches and pains but in the long run I guess it was good...or something

_I hope Janene's knee starts feeling better so we can keep running!  I know I wouldn't have even went on that run if I had to do it by myself.

Slapbet Total = 61 miles (Only 939 to go!)

Edit: Janene's update reminded me to post the ridiculous route we ran. :)

Week 2 was quite a success.  I actually missed one 3 mile run, but I still ended up with 21 for the week so it's all good!

Tuesday - 3 miles through Grandview  (00:37 - 12:22 pace)
    It was a rough day, to say the least at school for Noelle and I, so we decided to go for a run to blow off some steam.  The route we took started with a gradual downhill and ended with a gradual uphill.  It was nice to run outside without it being too cold and just chatting it up.

Thursday - 6 miles - Neighborhood Loop x 4  (01:07 - 11:12 pace)
    So I had the bright idea again to get up at 4am for an extended morning run.  I am still to chicken to venture outside of my neighborhood when it's that dark, so I managed to run the 1.5 mile loop 4 times for a lovely 6 miles.  It was a humid 45 degrees outside and was a constant mist most of the time I was there.  After the first loop I had to get ride of my gloves.  By the end of the 2nd loop I was debating a strategy to ditch the sweatshirt, but that proved to be too much of a hassle so I just kept it on.  This run was going to be my first attempt at a Tempo run where I was supposed to run 3 miles at a 10:55 pace.  I decided to do a 1.5 mile warm up, 3 miles @ 10:55, and a 1.5 mile cool down.  It turns out, I'm not so great at keeping a Tempo.  Mile 1 = 10:42, Mile 2 = 10:58, Mile 3 = 10:30 (oops)  It's really hard to make myself run slower than I feel like I want to run.  Oh well, I guess I'll figure this all out eventually.
    I've decided that I really like running at 4 a.m. (at least for this run).  There's something about being out there before everyone else is awake.  It's almost like it's this secret time of day that no one else has discovered yet.  I know that sounds weird! HAHA :)

Sunday - 12 miles - Long Run - Sharon Woods Loop x3 (02:22:11 - 11:51 pace)
    The lap at Sharon Woods is 3.8 miles so I decided to go and run 3 loops plus a little bit extra.  It was SUPER cold on Saturday so I decide to postpone my long run to Sunday.  Instead of running on Saturday I decided to go Snowboarding at Midnight Madness instead.  Staying up until almost 4am, getting up for church at 10, and then running 12 miles is enough to wear you out!  Although it was sunny on Sunday it was still about 25-30 degrees outside.  I was able to convince Noelle to go and run a lap with me which was very enjoyable.  Then she left and I had to run the other 2 laps myself.  The path was mostly cleared, but there were a few treacherous icy/snow covered spots.  It felt like the run was more stressful than it had to be by just making sure you didn't wipe out.  By the last lap the 3 decent sized hills almost got the best of me, but I was victorious! :)  I managed to survived and then went home and crashed hardcore!

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how this week worked out!  I really enjoyed most of the running and I'm still working on pacing and keeping my tempo! :)

Slapbet Total = 39 miles (Only 961 to go!)

Week 1 of 2012 is officially in the books and so is Week 6 of marathon training!  I must say it was a fairly productive week for me...at least in the running world.  I was able to log 18 miles this week which will put me right on track for my 1,000 this year.  I also had the opportunity to walk 4 miles with my dad yesterday.  I won't count those miles towards my 1,000 though. 

Today I had the pleasure of running with Janene.  We have been off and on training buddies since we met this summer and it's always fun to get a long run in with her.  We made our way to Sharon Woods Metro Park to partake in today's long run.  I had never been to Sharon Woods before, but I heard that they have a nice 4 mile trail that has like 3 decent sized hills on it.  Janene is a champ and had to run 14 today so she got to the park early to get 7 in before I got there.  Amazingly enough she was finishing her loop right when I pulled in so everything was working out perfectly.  After I got myself situated and Janene ditched some of her gadgets we started out on my maiden voyage of the trail.  Janene informed me that the hills are kind of grouped together towards the end of the trail so we had to debate whether or not we wanted to attack them at the beginning of our loops or at the end.  Then the brilliant idea was hatched that we'd group the hills in the middle by changing our direction after the first loop.  You have to be crafty when it comes to those dang hills!

The first lap was going well.  Janene and I were chatting up a storm.  It was so nice to have someone to talk to during a run.  I often times get bored when I run by myself.  We decided to take a potty break in between laps because I drank waaaaay to much coffee and water this morning.  Unfortunately, as we finished our fist lap (Janene's like 3rd lap) she got a pretty wicked cramp in her leg and some knee pain.  After some stretching Janene decided it would be best to call it a day (even though she really wanted to run at least one more to get to 30 miles for the week, crazy, I know! P.S. Dailymile did round up! haha).  As Janene left I decided to get my iPod out and take my 2nd lap.  I did the hills again and was feeling pretty strong.  I think I'm starting to like the hills (at least that's what I'm telling myself, maybe someday it will really be true).  The 2nd half of the loop was quite flat and really enjoyable.  The sun was out, good songs were coming on the iPod...it was a great Sunday!

After running I stopped by Target to pick up some random groceries and headed home.  I really want to apologize to anyone I encountered at that Target...I didn't realize how sweaty I really was.  Oops :) 

All in all, a good week in Marathon training.  This was a step back week, so next week is going to be a little more tough. 

Tues - 3 miles
Weds - 6 miles
Thurs - 3 miles
Sat - 12 miles (EEK!)

Tony...18 miles down...982 to go!

I'm debating an angry/frustrated run today...or maybe just a nap.  BLAH!!!  At least it's Friday!

I was really debating running today.  It's my 3rd day in a row...tomorrow is going to be 50 degrees...my long run is going to be on Sunday instead of Saturday.  BUT, I was scheduled to run 3 today, it was 45 degrees and sunny in Ohio on January 5th, and I really just wanted to run...so I did.  I decided I was sick of my neighborhood loop after running it so many times yesterday morning so I figured I'd run along the "busy road" outside of my apartment complex.  It's not the busiest road, but definitely not a neighborhood street.  This road is always an adventure.  It runs right along some railroad tracks on one side and a rock quarry on the other.  You never know what you are going to come across on this route.  Tonight was no exception. 

Tonight I had to:

• Hurdle a dead raccoon
• Avoid a fallen tree
• Saw multiple random items along the side of the road (shoes, CDs, clothes etc. Do people just throw these things out the window?)
• Smelled the lovely stench of what resembles mulch, although mulch is nowhere to be seen (and it always smells like this)
• Got honked at twice...kind of weird

At the turn around point there was a bit of road construction, but I HAD to touch the street pole before I could turn around.  So I trudged my way through the mud, touched the pole, and made my decent for home.  Note to self...trying to run with loads of mud caked on your shoes really makes running a little extra difficult. 

I tried really hard to finish in under 30 minutes, but I had to settle for 30:07.  If I didn't have to waste time scraping mud off my shoes I probably would have made it...oh well...maybe next time!

In other news...today at school we had fun trying to convince 8th grade girls that Albert Einstein was not in Back to the Future.  Oh how I love my job! :)

EDIT: 11 miles down - 989 to go!

I don't know what has come over me lately, but I think I've caught the running bug again.  I know I've been running all along, but it was less than spirited.  However, the last few days I have become addicted again and it's a great feeling.  After my crazy 2 a.m. run on Monday night I ended up being up until 5 a.m.  I don't know what my problem was, but I had no interest in sleeping.  Luckily, Tuesday was the last day of Christmas break so I was able to sleep until about 10:30.  I still felt tired, but made myself get up so that I'd be able to sleep that night.  I actually never stepped foot out of my apartment on Tuesday, but I was rather productive inside.  It was a great way to spend the last day of freedom.

For whatever reason last night I had the brilliant idea to run my 5 miles before going to work tomorrow.  Now, I already get up at 5:30 for work so at my turtles pace I was going to have to get up at 4 a.m. in order to get them done.  Upon discussion with some friends and coworkers and a few questioning my sanity, I decided to give it a shot.  I was informed that there was going to be a pretty sweet meteor shower from 3-5 a.m. so that would at least give me something to look forward to (and apparently increase my science teacher awesome-ness).

I didn't make it to bed until 11 (for some reason I washed my bed sheets as my last load of laundry and had to wait for them to dry) and that made me question the 4 a.m. wake-up call.  To help in the morning I laid out all of my clothes so that I wouldn't have to think too much.  I was able to sleep well until about 3 when I started to worry that I would over sleep and I just laid there until 4.   When the 4:00 alarm went off I had a major internal argument with myself about if this was really a good idea or not, but I forced myself out of bed and got dressed.  I checked the weather and it said it was 19 degrees but feels like 13...fabulous...

Now, I told you about my mom's TruTV addiction and all of the stories that have been pumped into my head about how I'm going to be abducted at any given moment.  Well, mix that with my fear of getting hit by a car when running in the dark and I was a hot mess.  I decided it would be a good idea to stay close to home and just run the neighborhood loop 3.5 times.  The loops is 1.5 miles, so I knew I'd get just past my scheduled 5 miles. 

As I was running I was trying to keep 1 eye on the sky in hopes of seeing a meteor and 1 eye on the icy streets beneath me.  This would be much easier if I were cross eyed, however, thankfully I'm not and I soon gave up hopes on the meteor shower...it was too cloudy to see much anyway.  The 1st lap went well and I was really enjoying myself...the 2nd was a struggle (I was so cold my teeth hurt)...and by the time the 3rd one came around I was really debating if this was a pleasant experience or not. 

After 55 minutes of running and a bit of walking to cool down I made it home before my 5:30 alarm went off.  I took the world's hottest shower and was actually able to sit down and eat my breakfast instead of scarfing it at work before the kids show up. 

I'm still not convinced that I'm going to make early morning runs a part of my regular routine, but they may show up every once in a while.  I may have to branch out of my little apartment neighborhood or I may die of boredom, but we'll see.  I was quite awake and ready to go by the time I got to work so I guess it was a pretty good idea overall. :)

P.S. I guess I don't have to worry too much about getting hit by cars at 4 a.m. because I didn't pass a single car until the last 1/4 mile of my run.

It happens every time...whenever I'm on break from work I always have one night where I stay up RIDICULOUSLY late for no apparent reason.  I was trying really hard this time to not let my sleep get too far off track.  I made it until my last night of freedom and then it happened. 

All day I was dreading the run I had because winter finally decided to rear it's ugly head today and it snowed for the first time.  I usually love the snow, but I haven't quite embraced running in it yet.  After the debacle that was the Ohio State game today I decided to just go and get this over with.  I made my way to my apartment to change when I convinced myself that it would be a good idea to just do these "easy 3" on the treadmill at the my complex fitness center (I still haven't committed to joining a real gym since mine closed a month or so ago).  So I scurried over there with less than warm enough clothes just to realize that the only other guy I see consistently running around the neighborhood had already claimed the sole treadmill.  So I retreated back home and bundled up to run outside.  As I was about to leave I thought to myself, "WAIT! Today is Monday.  Mondays are rest days!"  I can't tell you the excitement I had when I realized what day it was and I didn't have to brave the elements!

I enjoyed the warmth of my apartments until I went to dinner and was preparing for a night in.  I came home and did some laundry, had some dessert (EEK), and started reading some of the running blogs that I've been following.  As I was reading them I started to feel guilty for bailing on my run...although technically it was a rest day.  Before I knew it midnight rolled around...then 1am...then 2am and I thought "Screw It!  I'm going to go run now...I bet that guy is done running by now."  So I put on my running gear, and ran to the fitness center.  The many hours my mom has spent watching TruTV has caused her to enlighten me on every young girl that has ever gotten kidnapped and the stupid things they do.  These stories were running through my head as I ran the 0.1 miles to where the treadmill awaits.  I made it in safely and made sure the door locked behind me.  I proceeded to close all of the blinds and turned on some ridiculous show on the TV.  I decided to run a 5k and managed to run my fastest 5k ever!  I guess the fear and desire to make it safely back home was motivation enough.  After the run I skated back across the ice and up the 2 flights of stairs in record time back to my apartment safe and sound.  :)  I don't think this will become a regular occurrence.  My apartment complex is relatively safe and all, but there are better ways of doing this.

That being said...since this ran happened at 2am does that count for my Tuesday run or do I have to run again when I get up?  I guess we'll see how I feel.  :)  Regardless, Week 6 of Marathon training has begun and I am 3 miles closer to winning the slap bet!

I have been thinking for a while about what my goals are going to be for 2012 and this is what I came up with...in no particular order.

• Get more involved at Church
• Run a marathon (or 3)
• Be more organized (both at home and work)
• Finally reach my goal weight
• Run 1,000 miles (I have a slap bet that I need to win!)
  
• Get my average pace to under 10 minutes per mile
• Participate in 10 races throughout the year
• Find a man ;) 
  

Let's see how many of these I can cross off before 2013.