Thursday, July 29, 2010

This week is a 30 mile week!

This morning, when I was running, I was amazed at the fact that this week will be a 30 mile week. A 30 mile week, wow! To me, this is a true milestone.

This had me thinking back to when I first started running. I mean, I ran in high school, but that didn't count. I was slow, could not run for very long, and had issues with hurdles...I was just lucky they needed people. I first really started running in July 2007. I was peer pressured into doing a half marathon. Lucky for me, the half wasn't until April 2008. This meant that the "official" training didn't start until January. I looked up a training schedule, and it started at 2 miles. I remember thinking, "2 miles. How am I ever going to run 2 miles?" I started off awful. I couldn't even run .25 miles, and I had to get to 13.1 miles. I wanted to give up right away, but peer pressure is a funny thing. My first run was some running, but mostly walking. That's how most of the beginning runs were. But I kept on pushing, and for the next 5 months I worked up to 3 miles. Then after that, I worked all the way up to 13.1 miles.

Dad was in Iraq while I was training for my half marathon. After every additional mile I added, I sent him e-mails updating him on my progress. Every additional mile was a distance I had never run before. This is from an e-mail to Dad on December 4, 2007, "WooHoo! I ran 3 miles last night! I did it without stopping once. My pace was around 11:40. Kinda slow, but I did it!"

I remember that 3 miles being a huge milestone. Then, I reached 5 miles. Wow, 5 miles...I was a real runner then. Little did I know then, the week of July 26, 2010 I would run 30 miles in 1 week. And never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that my goal for October 10, 2010 would be 26.2 miles!

It is amazing to me how far I have come in the past 3 years. It kinda makes me wonder what kind of runner I will be in July 2013. :)

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Schedule for July 26 - August 1

Monday - Rest
Tuesday - 4 miles
Wednesday - 7 miles
Thursday - Strength Training (Upper body dumbbells plus abs)
Friday - 4 miles
Saturday - Strength Training (Abs)
Sunday - 15 miles

Total mileage for the week: 30 miles

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Week of July 19

Last week, week of July 12, I completed all of my miles!

This week has not started off great. I was home sick from work yesterday because of a summer cold. This morning, I knew that I had to wait one more day to run. Below is what I hope will be my schedule for the week.

Wednesday - 4 miles
Thursday - 7 miles
Friday - 4 miles
Saturday or Sunday - 14 miles

Total mileage for the week: 29 miles

Wow, that's a lot of running!

"Part of the challenge of the marathon is pushing past what you think is physically possible. You can do more than you think you can." ~ Christine Hinton, a Maryland running coach

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Weeks of July 5 and July 12

I know, I know...I am very behind on updating my blog. I was out of town last week for the ZTA International Convention, and the last thing on my mind was updating my blog.

Because I was in New Orleans and very busy with Convention, my running suffered. I was able to squeeze in a 3 mile run on Wednesday the 7th and a 6 mile run on Thursday the 8th. I did do some walking around New Orleans a couple of days, so I consider that cross training. :) I also climbed stairs, lots of them. Our events were held on either the 2nd or 3rd floor of the hotel. With 900 women, the elevators were BUSY. Luckily, my hotel room was on the 5th floor. Most days, I took the stairs up and down. I wasn't completely lazy last week, but I was nowhere near my scheduled 24 miles.

Here is the schedule for this week. The long run on Sunday was supposed to step back down to 9 miles. Since I missed the 12 miles last Sunday, I see a 12 miler in my future.

Monday - Rest (I was so exhausted from my trip, I had to rest.)
Tuesday - 3 miles
Wednesday - 3 miles
Thursday - 20 minute ab video
Friday - 6 miles
Saturday - 12 miles
Sunday - Rest or Upper Body Strength Training

I will see to it that I complete all 24 miles this week!!

On a fundraising note: I have had 4 more people send me checks. These haven't yet shown up on my fundraising thermometer. I am now up to $255. Only $2,745 more till I reach my goal.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Study identifies best tests to predict Alzheimer's

I found an article today entitled "Study identifies best test to predict Alzheimer's." I found it interesting and worth reading.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38027677/ns/technology_and_science-science/