At the end of October 2010 I decided to try and take up running...little did I know it would take over my life.  I found myself at the ripe age of 26, very over weight, and wanting to get myself back in shape.  I never enjoyed running, but I always looked at running as a true gauge of how fit a person was.  I wanted to become a runner and decided now was as good a time as ever.  This is the re-cap of my adventures in my first year of running.

    It all started when Noelle, a fellow teacher, mentioned that she was running the Jingle Bell 5k at the beginning of December and I thought, "Hmm...I wonder if I could ever run a 5k?"  At the time I couldn't run for more than a minute or two without becoming terribly out of breath.  I decided why not and registered for the race without any training.  I figured I had to register in order to keep myself accountable.  I revisited the Couch to 5k program that I had started and quit multiple times, but this time I knew I had to stick with it or that 5k was going to be miserable!  Luckily, I was able to get some other friends to register as well and we had a great day of running followed by some chili and snowflakes! 
I learned a lot from this race:
**DON'T EVER line up at the starting line for a race, you will get a lot of elbows to the face
**Even though it's below freezing, you really don't need 3 layers of clothes to stay warm during a race
**Enjoy the experience because it ends all too fast!
Thanks to everyone who ran that race with me and all of the supporters!  I can't wait to run it again with you all this year.  Hopefully we can get some others to join us!

    After taking some time off of running in the winter due to some soccer injuries I was ready to start training again.  I talked to my brother and convinced him to run a 5k with me!  We started training in February and ran our 5k early May!  This race was out in Indianapolis and I was excited to run with my brother and experience running in a new city.  I was able to shave about 3 minutes off of my previous 5k and Fred did an awesome job on his first!  He has continued running with some friends in Indy and has since completed a second 5k and plans to run a half with me in the Spring! :)

    After that 5k I instantly had the itch to find another race.  After reading many running blogs and magazines I learned about the Warrior Dash.  I decided that would be the best thing ever and quickly found out when it was going to be in Ohio and signed up!  This race wasn't until June so I had a lot of time to train, but I was super pumped.  It was the weekend that school got out and I figured it would be a great way to celebrate the summer!  In the meantime I also wanted to try a race that was a little bit longer so I registered for a 10k as well.

    Fast forward to June - Warrior Dash in early June was one of my favorite memories of the summer.  A fellow teacher from school ran with me and my Mom came to cheer us on!  She took some great pictures and we were COVERED in mud! :)  I cannot wait for Warrior Dash 2012.  I'm going to have to recruit some more people to join us this time.  Then on June 12th it was time for the Columbus 10k.  I convinced some friends to run the race with me and Janene (a coworker from camp) was running it also.  On the morning of the race I woke up with a fever and was not feeling very well.  I managed to eat some breakfast and keep it down and figured I had to go to the race...I got these other people to sign up, I can't bail on them now.  I just decided that if I felt bad during the race I'd stop and walk.  Well Janene and I had never ran together and little did we know we were pretty much at the same pace.  We were able to run and chat pretty much the whole time (at about Mile 4 we pooped out and focused on just finishing).  I was feeling good most of the race and was able to run the entire time.  At the finish line though it all caught up to me and I almost passed out.  That was quite embarrassing and scary, but I learned from it.  I won't run with a fever anymore and will drink more Gatorade on the course no matter how gross it tastes. :)

    After this race I was feeling slightly defeated, but after a few days I was feeling better and looking to see what the next step was.  I was hoping to just keep up with running for an hour and staying in shape.  After a very long day of van training at camp, and many awesome discussions with fellow camp counselors, I started to debate running a half marathon.  I figured it would be a good way to cap off my first full year of training.  Janene was a huge inspiration in that decision.  She started running at about the same time as me, but had already finished a half marathon and decided to train for a full.  If she could do all of that then I knew I could run a half in the fall!  Janene and I had many conversations where we swapped training stories and strategies throughout the summer and talked about if playing soccer at camp could count as speed work or cross training.  :)  As camp ended Janene and I decided we needed to keep in touch and after Janene's full marathon was over we did some long training runs together to prep for the Columbus Half Marathon.

    Fast forward to October - It's now time for the Half!  I knew Janene and her new husband Ian were running, and I talked my friend Nate into running the race also.  I felt ready for the race, but also very nervous.  Our longest training run was only 10 miles and I had no idea if I'd have enough left to finish the last 3.1.  I was very excited for the race to start as I stood there shivering at my starting corral at 6:30am.  I think I asked Nate like 12,000 times if he was excited or nervous and he kept telling me no. :(  HAHA  I don't think he was happy to be up that early.  After we spent a while looking for Janene and Ian I was about to give up on finding her and was just hoping to find her somewhere on the course.  With only a few minutes before the gun goes off I hear someone in the crowd of 17,000 people yell "CARRIE!!!"  I couldn't believe it but there was Janene and Ian and her friend Gracie.  Janene and Ian had just gotten married the Friday before the race (crazy right...) and they were appropriately dressed for the occasion.  Ian sported a tuxedo t-shirt and Janene had a pink tu-tu and veil.  They were super cute costumes which warranted many congratulations and comments from the crowd.  About halfway through the race Janene and I decided it was important to dress up for EVERY race from here on out!  As the race progressed we lost both of the boys to the Port-o-Potties, but we had to keep on keepin' on.  Nate caught up to and passed us around the 10k point, but we were still going strong.  We were pretty amazed as how good we were feeling and we decided we were going to keep pace until around Mile 11 and then step things up.  And that's exactly what we did!  YAY NEGATIVE SPLITS!  At mile 11 we definitely sped up and actually ran the 13th mile in under 10 minutes! :)  We set a goal to just finish the race, but also to finish in less than 2 hours and 30 minutes.  We officially crossed the finish line at 2:28:47!  WE DID IT!!!! :)  That was one of the best days ever!  A huge thanks to Janene, Ian, and Nate for running with me as well as my Dad, Mom, and Chris for coming out to cheer us on!  After the race Nate and I capped off the exciting morning with Chipotle thanks to our Buy One Get One Coupons from the race! :)

    Now that my year of running is complete I can't wait for what year two of running will hold!  I couldn't have survived this year without all of the wonderful people in my life that have supported me.  Who wants to run a race with me this year?

I found this sweet website that helps you make word clouds.  www.tagxedo.com  I made this cool one with the words that show up most frequently on my blog!  I'm thinking about using it to make some interesting word walls in my classroom this year.  :)

So Week 1 is in the books...
Surprisingly it wasn't too difficult to get all of the workouts in...but the 4 miles on Sunday were harder than I anticipated.  I think I was just a little too busy over the weekend and buy Sunday night I was burnt out.

I am now on to Week 2.
Today I did the Run and Strength that I am actually supposed to do on Thursday.  I know I won't have time for both on Thursday, so I did them tonight.  Let me tell you...running after lifting was TOUGH.  I'm excited though for this journey.

All I know is running in the summer is HARD.  This heat is killing me.  It may be the fact that I'm outside all day and then trying to run, but I have learned that I definitely enjoy running in the cold versus the hot.  Oh well... :)

So I wasn't supposed to do any running today...an interesting way to start training.  I played soccer at camp for quite a while and decided to go to a spinning class at the gym.  I guess this was more like cross training than it was stretch and strengthen...but I did some stretching...I just have to do more strengthening.  Someday I will enjoy weight training...someday...

I'm excited though because more and more friends are getting into running.  A few fellow camp coworkers have decided to run the same Half or even the Full (YIKES!), so we commiserate about early morning runs or super hot runs.  Janene asked me to join her for a running club on Thursday nights which will be so much fun!  And some college friends are starting to run and we may get together to train.  It's still my mission to get others to run a race with me, but they will succumb to my peer pressure someday! :)

I know in my last post I mentioned that that it was my first day of Half Marathon Training...however, that didn't seem to go as planned for various reasons:
*Work Schedule - I started working at 7:30 every day and I'm not a morning person...so getting up at 5am is HARD
*Knee Issues - Old soccer injuries coming back to haunt me
*Heat Advisory - Hard to get motivated to run when it's 100+ degrees with heat index
*Wrong Training Plan - The last training plan was too drawn out and didn't keep me interested...

Regardless...I know these are just excuses and I need to get my butt out of bed and get running or run when I get home from camp.  I decided I'm now going to do the Hal Higdon Half Marathon Training Plan.  I know a few friends that have used this plan and really like it.  I also think I've talked my brother and a few friends into running this race with me.  Knowing there are others counting on me will really make me stay on track with my training.  I think now I just have to register for the race to guarantee that I'll train.

Anyone want to go running with me?

Today was Day 1 of the Half Marathon Training and it was ROUGH!  I don't know if it was the fact that I got up at 6:00 and actually ran before work or if it was the week that I took off from running to recover from my cold, but I was STRUGGLIN' this morning.  When my alarm went off I was really debating just sleeping an extra hour instead of getting up, but I finally convinced myself to get out of bed and get moving.  I figured once I got moving I'd probably wake up and be happy I was running.  I did seem to wake up, but boy was I sloooooow.  I think I'm still battling the ending of this cold and trying to get motivated.  I also think I have this training plan all figured out.  It works out well that Monday is a Rest day and that is the day I have to be at work at 7:30.  All of the other days of the week I don't go in until 8:30 so I just figured I can get up at the same time every day and still be able to get my runs in before work...at least until my mileage increases and I need more than an hour of running time.  I guess we'll burn that bridge when we get there ::Insert Brooks & Dunn Song Here::  It probably is better to run in the morning though instead of trying to run after camp.  I KNOW I won't have motivation to run then.

On another note, camp is going well.  Today was only the 2nd day, but we haven't had any MAJOR catastrophes and everyone seems to be getting along well.  I am excited for tomorrow because it's POOL DAY!  Pool Day is always fun!  Keeping my fingers crossed for no sunburns! :)

Happy 1st Day of Summer!

Tomorrow I'm officially going to begin my training for the Columbus Half Marathon.  I am still very nervous about this one and I'm not quite sure I have what it takes just yet, but I'm going to try it out.  I figure go for it right?  What can it hurt?  Completing this Half Marathon will top off a great 1st year of running for me!  I started running around the end of October 2010 when I decided to run the Jingle Bell Run.  From October 2010 to October 2011 I will have completed Two 5K's, a Warrior Dash, a 10K and now a Half Marathon!  I started this running business with just the thought of trying to possibly run a 5K one day...who would have thought I'd ever attempt a Half Marathon! 
Now to find a running plan that I like...  I think I'll start with the plan on the Columbus Marathon Website and see how that goes...

I may be addicted! :)

This Sunday I reached another one of my running goals!  I ran a 10k!! WOOHOO!!!  After I finished running a few 5k's I decided it was time to try and step up the mileage.  A friend and I were discussing the possibilities for running a 10k and we decided to go for it.  I used the One Hour Runner plan to prepare for the race, however, this race didn't really go as well as I had hoped.  I ran 6 miles the week before the race, so I thought I was good to go and I took a few days off before race day.  On Saturday I started to not feel so great in the evening, but I thought that just relaxing and going to bed early would help me on Sunday.  I woke up Sunday morning with a 100.3 temperature and feeling like death.  (If figures that I didn't get sick ALL school year, and then end up with some cold/fever thing the first week of summer!)  I managed to eat some breakfast and drink some water, but I didn't want to over do it before the race.  I was hoping that once I got moving I'd feel better.  I was really debating if I still wanted to run or not, but I thought about all of the time I spent training, the money that I already paid, and the friends I had running with me and decided to still go for it.  I told myself that if I start feeling really bad I'll just walk.  As the race time approached I was feeling ok, so I just went for it.  Steve, Sarah and Janene were there to run with me and Brooke, my Mom, and Dad came to cheer us on.  I HAD to run with all of these people here to support me. :)  At the start Steve and Sarah were quite a bit faster than me, but I found out that Janene (my new friend from camp) and I pretty much run at the same pace.  We were able to run together and we talked during most of the race.  It was nice having someone to talk to (and actually being able to talk) while running.  I would say the race went well until about Mile 4 when it started to get quite hilly.  Needless to say, we all finished and I only walked through the water stations.  That was my ultimate goal...run the whole time and just finish.  I finished with a time of 1:10:08 and was exhausted but happy to have reached this goal.  Not too long after finishing I started to feel rather crappy again and felt as if I may pass out.  Luckily with lots of water and an oatmeal bar from mom I felt better rather quickly. :)

**What I learned from this experience**
        -Running with a fever is not fun...not sure I'll do that again
        -Now that I'm running more miles I need to pay more attention to what I eat before/during the race
        -I still have a lot to learn about running

Now I'm debating signing up for the Columbus Better Health Half Marathon in October...
PROS  - It's a half marathon!  How awesome would it be to say that I ran that far!
            - As Meghann said, I'd be able to get one of those sweet 13.1 stickers for my Soul!
            - I'd reach another one of my goals
            - If I don't run one in October I'd have to probably wait until the Spring
            - I'd be able to lose some more weight... always a plus

CONS - I'd have to train and add a lot of miles during the hot summer months
           - It's the day after a wedding I'm supposed to go to
           - There's a lot going on this summer...I hope I can commit to the training

The jury is still out...I'll keep you all posted on what I decide.  I'm sure you all are waiting with bated breath.  HAHA

I apologize for my lack of blogging.  I'm still trying to get into the habit of updating this and it hasn't quite caught on yet.  Also the last few weeks have been kind of crazy for multiple reasons.

Reason 1 - School's Out!
I can't believe that I just finished my 4th year of teaching.  I think that this year was actually my favorite of all of my years (No offense to the people I've taught with in the past, we had fun in our own ways!).  At this time last year I was laid off and feeling quite down.  I was even thinking about going back to school and finding a different career.  When I got called back in July and was told I was going to be at Southmoor I was kind of scared.  It's not in the best neighborhood and has a reputation of being one of the worst schools not only in the district, but also in the state.  I thought to myself, "OK, it's a job.  Just do it for one year and then you can interview into other schools."  Little did I know that I'd love it there.  There are some great people that I'm working with and the kids were awesome!  I never dreamed I'd want to stay here, but it's been great.  Thanks to everyone that made it so wonderful!

Reason 2 - WARRIOR DASH!
I don't think words can explain how much fun I had at Warrior Dash!  I've always enjoyed physical challenges and this seemed to be the most extreme of 5ks.  There was actually very little running being done due to the storms the night before that made the course very muddy.  Also the extreme hills down in Logan, OH brought a major challenge.  I recommend everyone try out a Warrior Dash.  You can't be afraid to get muddy and expect to get some bumps and bruises, but I GUARANTEE you will have fun!  Thank you Stacey for running with me and coaching me over the scary high parts.  Check out my pictures page for some good laughs!

Reason 3 - Up-Coming 10k
So after running the 5k on my birthday in May I decided to try out adding mileage and signed up for a 10k.  I really don't know what I was thinking, but I was looking to challenge myself more.  I used the One Hour Runner plan to help train for this and I never thought I'd make it.  Some of these runs were tough, especially since it got up to 90+ degrees really quickly.   During my first 60 minute run on Wednesday I was able to make it 6 miles, so I'm just hoping that on Sunday I will be able to finish the 6.2.  Sunday is the true test!  My ultimate goal is to just finish and run the entire time.  My secondary goal is to get as close to 60 minutes as possible.  I'm not so worried about the time, but we'll see. :) 

I am starting to understand why people love running so much.  I started out just running to lose weight and I thought that if I finish a 5k that would be a miracle and I'd be content.  Now I'm starting to really enjoy it and I feel weird on the days that I don't run.  I enjoy the little adventures I find myself on when I go out for a run.  It's amazing the things you notice about your surroundings when you are running that you'd never notice when driving.   Crazy.

I was lucky enough this Spring to have my cousin Mary and her husband Ben ask me to play on their sand volleyball team.  We play at this little volleypark that is behind a bowling alley.  I know it sounds shady, but it really is great!  This was the 3rd week we played and I must admit I am having A LOT of fun!  Our team likes to laugh and joke around during the games, but we also like to play and win.  Our silly antics seem to get under the skin of some of the other teams and it just cracks me up.  The league is so laid back that there aren't even any referees or line judges and yet some teams are taking it so seriously!  It cracks me up when people get so frustrated with us that they don't even shake our hands after the game.  We in no way are disrespectful by any means...just laughing at ourselves and having fun.  It's nice to get outside and have some fun.  Hopefully next week it won't be raining buckets like it was today! :)