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Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Well I've forgotten to post in the past few days. I ran two miles today after work. Tomorrow is a group run in the evening. It's 3 miles, the first time I've done that long. After that we're all going to Golden Rule to have a post run get-together. That should be fun. We're going to Jackson, Tennessee to see my husband's parents so I'm going to have to take my running gear and run while I'm up there. The dog is going with us, so he'll be running with me too.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

My run yesterday wasn't much of a success. It was supposed to be 2 miles, but for some reason after 1.25, I had to stop and walk. I was pretty disappointed, but oh well.

I think I might have been running too many days in a row, so I took today off. Tomorrow is a 6 am group run so I have to go to bed early tonight. Joy.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Since the group run today is in the evening, I ran on my own this morning. I can't go tonight because we're going shopping for new work clothes. I finally got a job and it starts next Monday so I need some new clothes.

The run today was 2.5 miles. The last .5 seemed to last forever! Linus went with me and he loved it, like always.

After we got back home, I decided to conduct an experiment. Whenever I run, I always have to wait about 30 minutes before I shower. If I don't, I'll still be sweating when I get out. So instead of waiting, I hopped into a freezing cold shower to see if that stopped the sweating. I think it slowed it down a little, but not completely. And it was way too cold to be worth it. So I won't be doing that again.

Tomorrow is only a 2 mile run.

Saturday, August 18, 2007


There was a group run scheduled this morning, but I didn't make it up there. It thundered and rained all night here, so Linus (my dog) whined and kept waking us up. This morning it was still kind of sprinkling here, I just decided to stay at home.

Instead I ran through the neighborhood with Linus. I didn't go until about 10:00, but it's been cooling off (only 86 degrees) so it wasn't that bad. Linus loved it too. I haven't been taking him in the 100 degree weather since he doesn't know enough to drink a lot of water beforehand.

Today was day 5 of week 1, so I get a rest day tomorrow. The schedule for next week is:

Day 1: 2.5 miles
Day 2: 2 miles
Day 3: 2.5 miles
Day 4: 2 miles
Day 5: 2.5 miles

We're going to Six Flags next Saturday, so it looks like I'm going to be running 5 days in a row. Unless I run tomorrow and then take off in the middle of the week. We'll see how I feel tomorrow I guess.

Just for kicks, I've included a picture of Linus.

Friday, August 17, 2007

I went to another group run yesterday at 6:00 pm. It was around 100 degrees out, so it was pretty painful. Ran another two miles. I am proud to say though, that this time I was not the last to finish, but the second to last! One of the trainers was nice enough to run with me at my pace. It was nice to have someone to talk to, it made it not so painful. I really wanted to quit soon after the first mile, but made myself keep going. Again, I felt great after it was over.

I'm taking today off and then going to a group run tomorrow morning. The run should be much better then. I might take Linus with me since it will be early and he'll be able to run without getting overheated.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Couch to 10k

I decided to start a blog to chronicle my journey through the world of running. First an intro post. I always said that I hated running. Growing up, I took a lot of dance, and thought that running was boring. After school, I stopped dancing, and gained some weight and lost a lot of fitness. It's almost ten years later and I've decided to do something about it.

I dabbled in running a few years ago. I did really great and got up at 5:00 in the morning for a few months in the summertime. Then I stopped for some reason. This last May, I finished grad school and decided that it was time to start again. I had no school, and hadn't found a job yet, so there was no excuse not to do it. So, I decided to use the Couch to 5k program from coolrunning.com. I successfully finished the program about a month ago.

The problem is, I live in Alabama where it is extremely hot. This past week the temperature has been in the 100s. So I kind of slacked off. I ran a bit on the treadmill indoors, but it's just not the same. Somehow I found out about Danny Haralson's Couch to 10k running program. I wen to the informational meeting last week and decided to join. The plan is to run a 5k race, the 10k Vulcan Run and then eventually the Mercedes Half Marathon in February.

I've done three runs so far this week.:

  • The first was on Sunday at 4:30 in the afternoon. It was 100 degrees, literally. There are two training groups, 101 and 102. I'm doing 102 since I've been running for a short while. This week we're supposed to run 2 miles each time. It was so hot on Sunday that I could only finish about 1.25 and then had to walk the rest of the way. I was the last of the group to finish along with one other girl.
  • My second run was at home on Monday afternoon. I waited until 7:00 pm to run when it was only 95 degrees. It's amazing how much difference those 5 degrees make. I was able to complete the 2 miles still feeling pretty good.
  • I took Tuesday off and went to the group run at 6 am Wednesday morning. It was dark when I got up, but the sun had come up by the time we began running. It almost felt chilly outside compared to the heat we've been having! Again, I was able to finish the two miles. And again, I was the last person of the group to finish, by a long way. There weren't as many people at the morning session.
I try not to let it get to me that I'm the last one to finish. The important thing is that I'm out there doing it. There is another group run today at 6:00 pm. Here's to hoping I'm able to finish this one too.