I fought the wind and...WON!

That's right! Yesterday, I set out. Three layers on top and two on bottom with a toboggan on the head. I started running towards a fun little trail, the Capital Crescent trail to be exact, and then there was the wind! It attacked, but I, I was prepared! I had a wind breaker on. I then ran and ran and ran because that's what you do when you train for these things. It was when I turned the corner that I almost broke down. The wind was blowing harder than I have experienced in a LONG time. My eyes began to water, and I might have tripped, but I hate to digress. OOOOoo, on my run, I got a "Hey, Baby" too. See running is good for the self-esteem in many ways!
Just on a personal note, like I said I am in DC, and despite the wind's attempt to hamper my spirits, I love this place! Today my brother's girlfriend, Deidre, and I went to the American History museum (my fave!) and to the Washington Monument. After all my attempts (two) to get tickets to go up the thing, I finally succeeded! It was way cool (in all senses)! We had lunch at Old Ebbitt Grill, and Andy met up with us then. We walked by and said hello to the Obamas at their house on Pennsylvania Ave. In front of the White House was a lady dressed in white (funny) singing absolutely terribly. She kinda made me feel pretty awesome about my singing abilities (use your own judgement/experience to understand how bad this lady was!)!! After taking a few pictures (to last a lifetime), we headed back to Bethesda. There was NO running today. It was suppose to be a cross-training today, and my choice of cross-training was walking, of which I did a ton! That's all for now. Oh wait, Callie has 26 followers and we only have 5. I am envious of Callie and want more, so please help a poor girl out! ok, great! We're off to do fun late night things! And remember: I can. I will. I am able.

seriously...seriously?!?!

so you know how i had a previous injury--my ankle..now it is the back of my knee. had to go to the doctor tonight because there is a huge egg on the back of my knee. so now i get to do an mri soon and then they can help me out.

I SWEAR. GOD DOES NOT WANT ME TO DO THIS!

i have been having a great time running and training when i can foreal...but it truly sucks when something hurts too bad to do anything. FML.

maybe I will awake in the morning miraculously healed!! HEAL!!!!

i have no other good stories, nothing motivational, nothing positive, nothing remotely interesting in fact.

except that i did have an amazing Christmas!! and i hope you all did too!

PATTY IS RUNNING WITH US!!! i have just now learned!

at this point---the odds are looking that i will be leisurely walking the 13.1 miles, but hey it is alrighttt with me. KIDDING KIDDING MK.

okay, sorry to bore you all. lots of love

xoxo, katie

Hello from the Capital City!

 Yes, that's right I'm in the District, well actually at the moment I'm in Bethesda, MD at my brother's apartment but close enough. The last week of pre-training went so well. I ran 4.5 miles on Tuesday, and I felt like a million bucks afterwards!!! It was the longest I had run thus far. I was so excited, and the rest of the week was just as great...then I came to DC. I had it all planned out. I was going to run down the Mall, along the Potomac, and maybe even by the White House for my big run today of 5 miles. I was so excited about it too because I had always seen people doing that and just thought it was great. Well I set out this morning about 9:30, and it was 35 degrees...with a 10-20 mph wind. I thought that it would be better once I got downtown, but I was wrong. I set out from the Capitol building for my run and didn't make it five feet before I thought I was going to literally be blown over. I could no longer feel my fingers or my legs, so I decided to abort. That's right. On the first day of real training, I gave up. Things aren't looking so great, but I'm thinking it's ok because people have to go on vacation while training for these things( right? ), so maybe this week will just have to count as mine due to the frigid weather that is NOT conducive to running.
On a better note, I have been working on my running mix, and so far, I have 33 pump-uping, keep-running, what-the-hell-are-you-doing songs to listen to as I run. I have found that I run better to rap music, so yes, my friends, I am listening to rap music outside of fraternity court, please be impressed! Oh, also I got the greatest news yesterday, Patty is going to run the half marathon with us!!! WHOO HOO!!! We're up to four crazy, crazy, people! Great, hey, if the majority does something, then it's considered normal and okay right? Well anywhoo, I'm going to get back to enjoying my time here! Peace and don't forget: I can. I will. I am able.

Mini Accomplishments in Route to the Big One!

Well, here we are, the end of the third week. In three weeks I have run 35 miles, and I'm pretty sure before this training that's the most I have run in the past five years. Let me say that again: I have run 35 miles in 3 weeks. That's half way to Atlanta from Dalton. That's more than twice the distance I have to run (on March 21st). Oh right, that distance, 13.1 miles all has to happen at once. When you look at it that way, I guess that's what the next 13 weeks are for. I still feel quite accomplished right now though. Speaking of accomplishments, I've had a few this week, and it's important that I mention these because after all that's what this whole thing is helping me do. I'm learning that even the steps along the way are mini accomplishments that will ultimately lead to the big one on March 21st. Here they are: I got my grades for the semester and this was my best semester I've ever had. It would have been perfect if some crazy person hadn't invented the plus/minus system! I also took the GRE and exceeded my goal. I finished my Christmas shopping with one week to spare, wrapped too! My credit card is lower than it has ever been and will be paid off next month (if you know what I've done this past year, you will think that's AMAZING!)! Lastly, I finished yet another week of training, and I still enjoy running!
As I mentioned in an earlier entry, I read a book (The Non-runner's Marathon Guide for Women) to guide my training. In the first chapter entitled "The Decision", the author provides a test to see if the marathon running thing is for you. The "Should I Train for a Marathon?" Test includes some of the following questions:
1. I have on real need to get anywhere when I run, I enjoy running for hours only to end up in the same place I started. True/False
2. I enjoy eating as many calories as I want and not gaining weight. True/False
3. I've been sleeping in way too much, so I've been looking for something to take up a few hours on my Saturday mornings. True/False
4. For a good time I prefer to
a. Eat Tacos
b. Watch TV
c. Watch TV and eat tacos
d. run around in circles for hours
Naturally, you might take this test and feel that you should not run a marathon, or in my case a half, but you'd be wrong. The correct answers to those questions are bogus, and if you did answer the correctly (which you don't even know which ones they are, but I know you're smart and can figure it out), you might need to see someone about some personal problems. Since that is probably not helpful in making the BIG decision, the author also suggested to make a pro/con list of reasons to make such a crazy decision. Here's my pro/con list:
Pro: I will be in the best shape of my life. (This could prove to back fire seeing that I'm only 21, but whatev)
Con: I might be in the most pain of my life.
Pro: I will feel accomplished after crossing the finish line.
Con: I might have to be carried across the finish line.
Pro: I will be able to eat lots of fun food without any added guilt.
Con: I hear you have to eat a lot of pasta... YUCK!
This week I learned that I cannot yet run my miles with my dog because he seems to have a faster mile pace than I do (and he definitely hasn't gone through this training, something's not right there), but I guess that's my next goal: to be able to train with Mickey. I also ran my 3 miles today WITHOUT music. My ipod died, and I was stuck with just my thoughts for three whole miles. Needless to say, I won't be doing that on a long run. I was making my own playlist, and something tells me that I should stick with education and not go into the DJ profession...it wasn't pretty. On that note, if you're driving around this break and see someone running (especially without headphones), please roll down your window and cheer them on. You just never know what goals they are working toward. Also, as a personal note, please look both ways (maybe a couple times) before making that turn. There just might be a runner coming, and if it's freezing cold, please be ever so kind and let them pass first! To end, some encouragement from my handy book: I can. I will. I am able. PEACE!!

pool=pain

So my sprained ankle is not healing AT ALL. it is a terrible thing considering I was supposed to run 4 miles today. I read in my running book that injured runners train in the water and they get even better than they did before they were hurt!!! >..ha we will seeee about that. But anyways, have any of ya'll even tried to run in the water? Now let me explain how you do it. You do NOT touch the bottom at ALL. You go into the deep end and pretend you are running (yes, arms and everything). It is extremely hard to stay afloat, and im sure it is even harder watching ME try to stay afloat. Let's face it..I look like I am trying to swim but don't know how and i am sinking. If anyone judges...they just don't understand my hardcore training methods. But yes. Yesterday I did this for 30 minutes and today I did it for 40 minutes! KILLER. My legs feel like cinder blocks attached to my body, but that is GOOD. I AM TOTALLY GETTING STRONGER LEGS!!! I hope. Oh yeah, I have GOT to stop eating all of these christmas cookies and desserts around my house. That is all for now.

xoxo!! Katie :)

My First Training Milestone (pun intended)

Hello All! Yesterday my accountability (Katie) texted me to see how far I ran. I responded with "our training says only 1.5 miles, so that's all I did." Did you catch that? I said ONLY. A month ago if you had told me to run 1.5 miles I might have looked at you and laughed, but yesterday, the word ONLY preceded the amount of 1.5. Now, you may not think that that's impressive at all, especially if you are of the unique running breed (ie, Abby), but that's HUGE for me. It's proof after just two weeks of training that I am getting somewhere (not literally because I start and finish running in the exact same spot, usually at my house) figuratively speaking of course. I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I woke up this morning (yes, SATURDAY morning) at 7 AM to run 3 miles. Do I get extra credit for running SO early AND when it was 28 degrees outside? I think I should. Anyway, I felt pretty good during the whole run and have yet to have an ibuprofen....so much improvement in so many ways. To reward my efforts, I guiltlessly ate a plump, delicious burrito at Moe's! I'm starting to think this whole training thing is going to be good for my appetite, and by that I mean, I love to eat (and am not shy at all), so this training might help balance the input and output of calories a tad....we'll see. Now I'm off to guiltlessly lay on the couch and watch tv for the rest of the afternoon.

and it begins!

oh boyy...so I am very excited about this little marathon, but I am slightly fearful of this training...and the race itself. I am not the most athletic person in the world...not even close. In fact, I already sprained my ankle. This did not happen from the training though. I kind of jumped off a little stage. No worries though--I have a sweet aircast and today I started working out again. (elliptical, circuit, and bike) I am not sure how long it will be until the ankle actually feels better or when ill be able to run. But that is A okay because the 1 week of training that occured last week almost killed me.

I must say, I would never in my life be doing this alone..so THANK YOU MARY KATHRYN! Seriously, she is so positive and always makes me workout, so SHE will be the death of me. (but also the life) hahah joking. LOVE YOU MK!

Now the main problem with this training so far (other than my ankle), is the whole eating healthy thing. In fact, MK and I just made a nice cookie cake. Oops :) The Dummy's Guide to Running a Marathon tells me that we must eat healthy (meaning no cookies, candy, cake, ice cream, etc.). I, however, am just trying to cut back on those things because I would die without them.

Okay, now that we have this whole blog thing set up, we registered for the ING HALF MARATHON (for $70 bucks), AND have started training...I AM SO PUMPED! But I'm tired just from thinking about it...more coming soon though no worries :) xoxo !

Week 2: Only 14 more to go!!!

Well Katie and I decided about a month ago to run a half marathon. Why you might ask? Secretly (I guess not so secretly anymore) we both want to be able to put one of those 13.1 stickers on the backs of our cars and have people wonder what it means, but seriously, we both have made the choice to train for a half marathon to get in shape. What better way to do such a thing, right? OK, so we know we're crazy, and that there are a million different ways to get in shape, but on March 21st around 9:30 in the AM, we're going to feel so very much accomplished when we cross that finish line. I must take this moment to add that Abby is also running, but because she is a running guru, we aren't letting her train with us. Did I mention she is running a half marathon this Saturday? Yea, Katie and I are on our own for this training, but Abby has already been a great supporter and reassures us that the training will be worth it. After reading the journal entries in my running book (I'll talk more about it later) Katie and I decided to keep a blog of our training highs and lows. Hopefully we'll provide a honest, VERY honest account of training for a half marathon, and maybe we'll inspire some of you to do one too!! We will update our progress hopefully at the end of every week to let you all know that yes, we know we're crazy, but we're still going through with it and getting closer to our goal of 13.1 miles!

Here we are halfway through our second week of training (and by that, I mean pre-training). That's right we are training for the training, but after reading my newly adopted running companion, The Nonrunner's Guide to Marathons for Women by Dawn Dais, it is perfectly fine to train for the training. This book provides an honest, blunt, and rather sarcastic look at training for a marathon/half marathon. Needless to say, I absolutely love it. It lightens the mood a little when my body is in so much pain! I read today that I definitely don't have the right running accessories. SANTA: please bring me running accessories! They are quite important. I know that sounds crazy, BUT I got my first blister (which doesn't hurt thanks to the many years of dancing on my toes) because I don't have the right kind of running socks. Who knew such things existed? Anyhoo, I am going to look into said running accessories over Christmas break, which began on Monday. I just looked and on Christmas our training says we are running 3 miles....MERRY CHRISTMAS, here's a three mile trot. Now, hopefully I'll look back on this and think how funny it is that I agonized over a 3 mile run, but now, it's no joke. I'm not a runner, and one must slowly get acquainted to this "sport". I'll be honest, my body is taking its sweet time. I'm learning that my new best friend is the ibuprofen bottle and there's no shame in ending a workout early to make sure you get in an adequate cool down and stretch. My body is getting old. Well my body needs a rest, until next time...