WE DID IT!!!

 Saturday morning we headed over to the Georgia Dome to pick up our race packets and goodies. It was the first time I've ever been on field level at the Dome and only the second time I've ever been there. We learned A LOT about what to do/eat/wear/breath before/during/after the race. Katie and Abby got some miracle sticks. No really. They make miracles in your muscles happen. I'm too cheap to even purchase a miracle stick, but I did buy TWO 13.1 stickers!!! Seeing as that was my original reason for running this thing, I figured I should get two. After leaving the Health and Fitness Expo at the Dome. We drove around the race route and it definitely looked doable. We headed to Atlantic Station for lunch. I got to act as tour guide and chauffeur for the weekend, and I loved showing the girls Atlanta! For dinner that night, we went to Buckhead to a place called Figo. I had never been before because I had heard that it was a "GREAT" pasta place, and well, I don't do pasta. I decided, though, to take the girls there because I know that carb loading is a plus before the race. It turned out to be a really great place. I had soup and a salad and really loved it! We called it a night pretty early since we would be getting up at 5:30 the following morning.
Sunday. Race day! We woke up at 5:30, fixed our blueberry bagels with bananas, got dressed, woke Abby up, and headed downstairs. We met Abby's parents in the lobby, and mine were frantically driving. No really, I thought my mom was crying because she was about to miss my start. Seriously though, I would have been sad had that happen, BUT good news: it didn't happen. My parents arrived about 15 minutes before the race started. They met us and brought me a Team Bruner singlet that I wore during the race. It's clearly hard to run at all and not think of John, but especially after training for four and a half months, I felt it necessary to run for him. He was always such an inspiration to me, and even though it has taken me this long, I have finally been able to run in his memory.
Back to the race, Abby, Katie, and I headed to the start line. Abby started ahead of us, and Katie and I never found our corral, so we broke in front of everyone too. Once we got to the start line, I literally sprinted (bad choice) to get out of the crowd. I was slowed down back to my race pace and was just trotting away listening to my jams when at mile 1, my ipod died. WHAT?! It was completely charged when I started. I guess after 3.5 years it's little ipod heart just gave out. Well hello 12.1 miles WITHOUT tunes. Let me tell you, I have the rest of my life figured out. That is a LONG time to be with your thoughts (oh and 17,000 of your closest running buds too). The race was very hilly. You don't actually get that when you're driving so much. UP and DOWN (repeat for 13.1 miles). It was a great route though. We went through all parts of downtown Atlanta. We finished the race running around Tech's stadium. Did you know that that's pretty much straight up hill? Well, it is. It was a tough ending, but I won't lie. I shed a few tears as I crossed the finish line. I had just completed the greatest accomplishment in my life thus far.
You might think that I have run my feet into the ground, but I haven't. I'm afraid to admit that this is the start of a new hobby for me, MK. I love running! I just hope my body feels the same way for a really long time!
Guess this is good-bye. I hope that you too will consider setting some sort of trianing goal and reach it. You'll feel so accomplished too, and I know you can do it! If Katie and I could train for a half marathon, anyone can. I promise! If you need help, advice, or encouragement, talk to us!!!! Remember you can, you will, and you are able!
Peace, MK

Katie, Abby, and Me after the Race

DONE.

quite possibly the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life.

i have officially completed my goal AND got the sticker...and I never plan on running 13.1 miles again in my life.

I finished in just under 2 hours and 12 minutes and I got 239th place out of 538 in the women age 20-24 division. Much better than I expected!

Okay i'm too tired to type anymore...

Great Experience, Great Time, Still Alive.

love life xoxo

ahhh

AHHHHH i cannot sleep I am so so so nervous for sunday!!! oh dear oh dear! also, yes i have a sinus infection and yes i did not do one physical thing for 3 days in a row the WEEK before my race. but its okay i will CRAWL across this finish line if I have to! Right now i am just very worried about my sleeping schedule because the race is at 7 AM on sunday which means i have to be up at like what 4 AM??? I don't even know. Does that mean I have to go to sleep at like 5 PM on saturday night? So yes I am more nervous about getting enough sleep than running 13.1 miles at the moment. cool.

first 10k baby!!!

hello hello! well yesterday MK and i ran in the Reedy River Run and did our first 10k ever! that is 6.2 miles...very very hilly miles that is. I finished in 54 or somewhere around there with MK in front of me by about 30 seconds it said in the paper...i felt pretty proud not gonna lie. however, it made me terribly nervous for the half marathon because I was so so tired just from 6.2 miles and i gotta do 13.1. oh well its gonna be an INTENSE 2 weeks. I am so burned out but i AM going to finish this thing. I need to find a 2 week diet that will help me eat the right things before this race because I don't think I am getting the right nutrients and vitamins these days...okay im making out a new running schedule to up the ante a bit.. here it goes...

8 Monday: weightlifting, 10 miles

9 Tuesday: pilates, 5 miles, circuit

10 Wednesday: 3 miles, abs, and kickboxing

11 Thursday: pilates, 5 miles, circuit

12 Friday: 4 miles

13 Saturday: 10 miles

14 Sunday: Spinning, circuit

15 Monday: weightlifting, 3 miles, kickboxing

16 Tuesday: pilates, 5 miles

17 Wednesday: kickboxing

18 Thursday: pilates, 4 miles, circuit

19 Friday: 4 miles

20 Saturday: 2 mile jog

21 Sunday-----> HALF MARATHON!!!!

22 Monday....i have my life back! countdown to graduation!

love life xoxo

Well it happened....

What happened? You might be wondering what the answer could possibly be. Well it has taken me a week to get up the courage to say.... I fell face first last week while running. Oh, you say. It's fine because you were probably just jogging along and tripped over a very large tree branch that fell just as you were crossing the street of a small neighborhood. Well, you would be wrong. It all began as Katie and I set out for a nice 6 miler (on our day off). We were feeling pretty good after a rough couple of days and a rough start. It was about at the 2 mile point when we were falling into step (excuse the pun). We had just turned onto Jacobs Highway (yes, you read that right HIGHWAY, meaning four lanes with a turning lane, so make that five lanes of traffic) and were approaching the stop light (yes, where several cars were pausing to create a nice flow of traffic). When all of a sudden, I was on the ground. I remember it vividly as I'm sure you remember one of the most embarrassing things you've ever done too. It went in slow motion. My legs continued to move, but my feet did not. My hands (my life(face)savers) led the way to the ground. My knees followed. I remember thinking, "Hmm, now would be a great time to ask Katie for help!" Just like that, I hit the ground. BOOM! SCRAPE! TEARS (both meanings of the word, just in case you are in 3rd grade and are learning about homographs) (lots of tears)! My left foot decided to hang out in the shoe lace of my right foot for a second, without my consent, and down I went. Remember how I was on that four slash five lane highway. I was mortified! How embarrassing! But good thing I was running with such a great, wonderful, caring friend. Katie didn't act embarrassed (though, how could you not be when running with such a klutz!). No, she just sat down on the grass with me as I shed some tears, and saw that my pants were ripped. Looking back, I think the tears were from the ripped pants more than the embarrassment because those things are NOT cheap! Anyhow, I got some pretty sweet bruises and cuts as a result of this occurrence, and after Katie was able to assure me that life would go on and people wouldn't forever remember me as that girl who tripped over herself on the four slash five lane highway, she and I walked home.
I have since learned that falling is apart of running (that's what I've told myself at least) and all good runners have done it, so hopefully that means I'm getting some where. You'll be happy to know that I have since also gotten new shoes with shorter laces, and I'm still running! Training has been a bit slow lately, but Katie and I are running in a 10 K on Saturday for practice with the whole racing thing! Ours is TWO weeks from SUNDAY!!!!! AHHHH!!! Ok, hope you're doing well! Peace!

ONE MONTH!!!!

Ok, here's the deal: OUR 1/2 MARATHON IS ONE MONTH FROM TODAY!!!!! I'm super excited about it too. I ran about 10 miles on Friday. I actually ran for 90 minutes. In Clinton, that's definitely 10 miles, but I was running in Dalton, which is FAR hillier. I'm not a fan of hills, just in case you were wondering. I don't think Atlanta (location of said race) will be as hilly as Dalton, should be pretty flat!
Anywhoo, so training is going well. I just need to start eating better. I have noticed that when I eat healthy things I run better. Well, I haven't been doing much of that lately because I think I'm invincible or something like that, I suppose. When it comes to food, I simply say, "Well, you ran ________ miles today, so why not have as much as you want of whatever you want." In the beginning that was fine, but now that the milage has increased, and my body needs some real nutrients. Now this transition might just become the hardest part of the training. I need help! I was able to read a book that told me when/how/where to run, and now I need directions on how to eat. All advice is appreciated.
Here's my life aside: I just spent the weekend in Nashville visiting Jenn (who is also running a 1/2 marathon! See everyone can do it!). We experienced a little bit of Dance Marathon with the hypnotist, not so much dancing though. Jenn gave me a tour of Vandy, took me to the Apple store to replace my power cord (alas, it died), and then we went to the UK/Vandy game (excellent game for those who might have missed it). Last night, we went out for drinks and caught up on life. Oh how I miss her! After traveling through TN, GA, and SC, I've finally made it to school. I'm now not doing my work and writing this blog. I did not run at all this weekend, shame on me, but I'm really going to try and pick it up this week (Katie ran 95 minutes today!!!! YAY!!!).
Now, I must try to be productive so that I will have time to run this week. Hasta Luego (No worries, I'm not back in Spain)!

finally...an ACCOMPLISHMenT!!!

yesterday, Monday February 15, I, Katie Lee Whitten ran for 70 min. straight. yes 7 and a 0!! that is over 7 miles for me!! im so proud of myself. once i got past 4 miles it was really really easy, i couldve kept going if it werent getting dark outside! today i am not even very sore! i'm confused on what i should run today though because yesterday I was suppose to run 5 and today 6 so does that mean i run 4? nah, im gonna try to do 5 i believe. okay im pumped and def. am remotivated for training! yippee! my only problem is that i need new shoes desperately so hopefully i can go home friday to get some! i have blisters that are so painful all overrr! esp on the bottom of my feet!! xoxo -klw :)

get it together...

I NEED TO START TRAINING FOREAL AND GET IT TOGETHER. SEriously...this past week all I did was eat a LOT of junk food and sugar---this week i will eat healthy and train hard. that is all i have to say. PEACEEE.

During the time, I've been away...

You are probably wondering where I have been , and the only thing I can say is that I turned 22. I know that might not sound like much, but if you haven't done this, it can be taxing! Ok, so I get that I'm not that much older, but my body is beginning to experience its appreciation (rather LACK of appreciation) for this whole half marathon training thing. If my body were writing this blog right now, it would say something like this: "I can't believe she hasn't stopped yet. I've tried to cramp every muscle she has. I've even made her aware of a million muscles she never even knew she had (I'm sneaky like that), and she still hasn't given up. Guess I'll have to try something else. I don't know how much more I can take!" Though each day I do find a new muscle, I can't lie and say that I'm not super excited that this past weekend I ran close to 9 miles! I was scheduled to run 8, so I ran for 80 minutes. My mile time is close to a 9 min/mile, which I know for you runners that's practically standing still, but for me, it's almost "as fast as lightening"! Anywhoo, I also feel like I am making loads of progress. The shortest run on the schedule from here on out is 4 miles. Remember that time in my life (slash just two months ago) when 1 mile was a battle in itself?? Well now I run four miles and feel like I could do more. It's like a little break....uhh who is this person typing?? 
With all this running, I have had an unusual amount of alone time with my little thoughts, and let me tell you, I have probably had enough time to figure out the world's problems (mine are still in question!). No, but seriously, I have been doing a lot of thinking, and I have decided that I am very happy with where I am in life right now (you can clap or whatever you want because that's huge!). Sure I have a million things to stress about: each day I am responsible for cramming new information into 50 kids' brains; graduation is on the horizon (and by horizon, I mean I'm at the ocean and can see it!); the whole job thing is still panning (or at least hopefully) itself out; oh, the list could go on, but I'm sure you have better things to do than read about the things that should be stressing me out right about now. Where was I? Right, this training thing has given me an opportunity to think about all of this and more; however, the thoughts are usually interrupted with a "oh my goodness, are my knees about to fall off", "it feels like there are daggers in my shoulders", "I've got to pee", "I've only been running for 10 minutes? It feels like 100!". Ok, so the thinking part is something I want to work on, but nevertheless, I digress.
Anyway, I will continue to stand by my goal of promoting a physical lifestyle among my friends and family. I have found how beneficial running has been. I clearly wasn't a "runner" when I began this training. I was just the average girl that loved to pig out and then go "work it off" at the gym or vice versa, but I have learned that exercising has given me a much needed confidence boost, and I am on my way to accomplish a goal that I never dreamed possible. If you are reading this and still thinking she's crazy I could never run a half marathon, start by going to the gym and walking on the treadmill for say 30 minutes three (or one) times a week, and you'll start to notice a difference in your self image! I promise!!
Ok, I'm off my soapbox. I will be back though! Hope y'all are loving this lovely weather we've been having. It's added an extra challenge to this whole training thing. Oh right, I was hailed on today as I was attempting a 5 miler. The 5 miles did not happen, but I can now check "run in the freezing cold hail" off the life to do list. Hasta proixmo tiempo!

this is my WEEK.

this is my week to shine. hardcore training ahead. watch out.

mk ran an impressive 7.5 miles on saturday! congrats to her!!! :)

so i gotta get re-motivated and caught up.

physical therapy is going well-i went on friday and will go next friday too. the doctor really seems to know what he is talking about and has given me some great exercises to work on.

today i did 10 min. bike-3!!!! sets of circuits and 30 laps swimming. tomorrow is 4 miles..worddd.

time for rest i suppose. xoxo- klw

misaligned.

so i don't even feel like going into detail about my retarded little body but if this gives you any hint of how big of a joke my body is... i went to the doctor for my mri results and he sent me to the physical therapist... the physical therapist just loved me so much! he told me he wanted to do a case study on me for one of his classes (i guess he teaches college anatomy or something smart like that). now i would totally be honored to have a case study done on me any OTHER time, but he wants to do this not because of how perfect I am, but how IMPERFECT my alignment in my body is. He said I should have had surgery before I was the age of 12 and that he doesn't understand how I can physically exert enough energy to run everyday. He also said I should "probably not try and pursue a career in athletics" or anything that remotely had to do with running. what a JOKE. He does want me to do this half marathon (i guess because I started tearing up a few times as he told me my issues) but that i should "retire" after i finish. I wish i could explain these alignment issues better but basically it just makes me walk and run completely wrong which makes me have issues in the knees, ankles, etc. OF COURSE. anyways I am trying to be positive but it sure is hard and I am failing miserably at it. I want to run this race SO SO bad!! The physical therapist gave me lots of exercises to do this week and I go back to him on friday. Not allowed to run this week--but I can do the elliptical and bike. Yesterday, I did 15 min on the bike, 65 min (6 miles) on the elliptical, and 15 min bike cooldown. It felt good especially because I was reading the BEST BOOK EVER! or at least one of them..."The Last Song"- Nicholas Sparks. I'm a sucker for anything he writes. Alright. Time for bed, not that I am tired or anything because I have literally been reading in bed most of the day. Gotta get up early and cook b-fast for mk to celebrate her job interview!!! AHH I HOPE SHE GETS IT SO BAD! :)

xoxo- kt

A Week of Firsts!

Oh what a week it has been! Katie got some pretty heart-wrenching news this week: her ankle is not working properly. I'm sure she'll tell you the full story soon, but as a result she has to take a hiatus from the training. I am very saddened by this news as you might expect. We were just getting into a running routine. As sad as I am, I have to continue with the training, but I can't wait till she is back in working order!!
Due to faculty meetings on Tuesday and my work schedule for Wednesday, I was forced to do my distance for those days on the...treadmill. Thank goodness it was only 3 and 4 miles respectively. I'm not sure I could have made it further than that. On Tuesday, I got the treadmill with the broken tv, so I ran for 3 miles with just my thoughts... on the treadmill. Awful! I got lucky and on Wednesday I had a great episode of NCIS to watch while I struggled through those 4 miles. I did however run them in 36.11 minutes which was my fastest time yet (that's 6.7 on the dreaded thing for those of you who speak treadmill). That was the first time I have run that far on the treadmill. I usually give up out of boredom after 10 minutes! Great self discipline there my friends!
Also, another first would have to be after a night of celebrating our teacher work day on the following day (Friday), I woke up at 5:45 AM and ran 5 miles. Yea, not so sure how that one happened, but it felt great when it was over!!!
Today was my last first of the week. I ran S-I-X miles. That's right, SIX whole miles!!! Never in my whole life have I ever, EVER run that far at one time. My body aches, and I was feeling pretty terrible afterwards, BUT I did it! I also ran in the rain for a bit, which was miserable; HOWEVER, there was an incredible rainbow after the rain stopped. I haven't seen a rainbow that amazing since this summer while driving to Illinois, but that's another story in itself I think.
Anywho, tomorrow I'll be running 3 miles and having my first interview for a job, post graduation, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME. I get to run 4 miles on the big day, Tuesday. Best birthday present ever...uhhh! Just kidding y'all! Alrighty, it's 10:00 PM, and I'm hitting the sack. I had a great weekend at the SC Leadership Forum and am just plain tuckered out! Check ya later!

Better Together

Our last semester of college has official started, and the first week has already passed. Katie and I ran twice this week together, and it is definitely easier to run with someone else, fo sho! We ran 3 miles on Thursday and 4 yesterday. Both runs felt pretty great, but yesterday it was slightly cold (and by slightly, I mean extremely); however, today it's even colder! Right now it's about 18 degrees outside. We're about to take Katie's friend (she met in LA) Carly to the airport (she came to visit for a few days), and we're going to do our five mile run in Greenville at a fun little park. It's bound to be blistering cold, but we have to do this. We've both learned to wear lots and lots of layers. In fact, we wear so many different pieces of clothing that we probably look like cute little marshmallows. If you happen to see said marshmallows running (or laying) down the road please feel free to honk and wave eccentrically. We love it! 

On a personal note, I have officially survived my first week of student teaching, and I want to go back for week number two! That in itself is a good sign I think. The teachers at my school have formed a little family, and they have welcomed us into it. The kids are great! Needless to say, I love 3rd grade! Hope y'all are staying warm out there!

a goal achieved! finally.

I RAN 4 MILES TODAY and it was EASY!!! exciting i know. OMG it was so freezing though. but i actually enjoyed the run--never ever thought i'd say that in my life! WAHOOOO!!! okay that is all. xoxo :)

...

i have not done a single thing in the area of working out slash running since TUESDAY. today is SATURDAY-almost SUNDAY. fml. WAY TO GOOO MK FOR BEING HARDCORE THOUGH! LOVE YOU!!!