Day 4

Rest day! Or running rest day at least - I will still go to zumba. :) Andy and I had to be creative with our schedules in order to run together so we actually have two rest days in a row, which I think is great news for my heel. It actually feels much better today (I know you are all relieved). Have you ever seen those socks that are meant to help plantar fasciitis? The idea is that they keep your foot stretched so it can't tighten-up overnight while you sleep.

Strassburg Sock - $85

Well, not only do they look strange, but they are ridiculously expensive. Andy jerry-rigged one for me last night using an ace bandage, and miracle of miracles - I can walk! The consequence of stretching your foot all night is that your calf muscle is flexed as well. My calf is SO tight today. But I would much rather have a tight calf and be able to walk than not. I am still icing and wearing tennis shoes (jeans again at work! - if only I could wear them everyday). I'm officially on the mend.

In other news, team Liquid Courage was crushed last night. After 5 innings we were down 4-15. In kickball, if there is more than a 10-run lead at the end of the 5th inning, they cancel the game. So pathetic. We knew we were in trouble when the other team arrived - the guys weren't wearing shirts and were very muscular and had lots of  tattoos. They seemed pretty "bad ass." My team is nice and friendly, but I would never ever describe us as "bad ass." Eh, it meant we got to go to Jeremiah's sooner. But what about your diet, you ask? That's right friends - I just hung out there (had a diet coke) and waited until I got home to make a pbj. Booyah! And it wasn't even your typical pbj because it was made with powdered peanut butter. Wha??? Yep. 45 calories for 2 Tablespoons - you mix the powder with water and voila - you have strange peanut butter paste stuff that is not too bad! Andy refused to try it, but if any of you are interested, I'll bring you a ziplock baggy. Sarah - you are getting one tonight!   

Day 3

Sadly my heel did not get the memo that it needed to get better by 7:30am today - apparently feet don't read blogs. Guys, this heel pain is intense. Nothing like a little plantar fasciitis to start off a training program. I know with injuries you're supposed to RICE - rest, ice, compression, elevate. So what did I do? I ran 4 miles this morning - that's what I did. HA!

Seriously though, they were the most pathetic 4 miles I've probably ever run. I looked ridiculous because I was so afraid to put weight on my heel. Eventually I did, and after a mile and a half it wasn't too terribly painful. But additionally, I felt super thirsty and out of breath. I kept trying to slow down so it wouldn't feel so hard, but that wasn't working either. I hadn't mapped a route so I was running willy-nilly (surprised I just used that word aren't you?), and ended up purposely going in any direction that would force me to stop at a red light, just to take a break. I probably stopped 10 times! Oh well. I did it. And now my heel is REALLY letting me know that I did it.

Bonus of plantar fasciitis? Getting to wear tennis shoes to work. And of course since I am wearing tennis shoes, I am also wearing jeans! I just couldn't be one of those "work ladies" in work clothes and sneakers. I'm not that old yet. :)

Food-wise things are going really well. My healthy grocery shopping has paid off - I'm eating well and not even feeling like I'm missing out on anything spectacular. So far this week, my go-to breakfast has been plain greek yogurt with splenda (seriously that stuff is tart, I couldn't eat it straight up), cinnamon, a banana, and 1 tablespoon of walnuts all mixed together. It's pretty decent. I also cooked up my first pot of red quinoa on Monday.  I like it, but if you look close... man that stuff looks weird!

Tonight is kickball, although with my stupid foot I'm not sure how valuable I will be to the team. Tomorrow is zumba!! I'm actually not running again until Saturday, so hopefully my heel will heal (har har) by then.

Total Miles Run: 7.14
Total Weight Change: -2.9 pounds (I have no idea how that is possible, probably just water weight... it is close to my "special time")

Day 2

Today is a rest day - thank goodness because yesterday I wore new shoes to work and now have a blister on the bottom of one of my toes. Who gets blisters there? I also woke up with (and still have) some pretty serious heel pain in my left heel. Why!?!? It has until 7:30am tomorrow to get better, or I'm going to be pretty mad.

In other news - I GOT MY NEW PLANNER TODAY!!!!

Isn't she beautiful?

Day 1 for Realz!

It's here! It's here! Official marathon training has begun! I've been waiting for this day to come. I've NEEDED this day to come. I'm both excited and relieved that it is here. I truly need this right now.

On Sunday, Andy and I coordinated our schedules and planned our first week of runs. I made a little calendar to hang right by our front door so there's no way we can forget when we are running. I also went to Wegmans last night and stocked up on healthy groceries. And tomorrow the fall Vera Bradley line comes out, so I will get my new planner, which I am very excited for. I'm ready for success!

All of that build up and our first run was only 3 miles long haha, but we got up and did it bright and early (before it got too hot). Anna came along as well, so it was quite the running party. I was excited about the route I mapped out, but alas... mapmyrun.com, while amazingly helpful, does not always understand that people can't go everywhere cars can go... we improvised and made it work. It felt great to go to work knowing I had already accomplished Day 1 of training.

But training isn't only running - if I'm going to do this right, I need to change my diet too. Lately I've been pretty unhappy with both of my jobs (especially Midtown), the talk of promotions and raises has stopped (but I will not let it die), and I am having a hard time dealing with the fact that I have to work 6 days a week (sometimes 7) while the majority of my social circle has a good portion of their days free to have fun. I miss having summer vacation. Shoot, I miss having TWO days in my weekend. I know I'm just wallowing in my own pity party, but it is hard. Anyway, I've basically been medicating myself with food (and not healthy food). But it's time for that to end. Unhappy with my life or not, I must eat well. And I know that once I get back into the habit of being healthy, I will feel happier automatically - even if everything else stays the same.

So that's it! Day 1 done! I think I'll keep track of how many miles I cover during this training. I'm also going to keep track of how many pounds I lose (I thought about telling you all how much I weigh, but I'm pretty embarrassed, so I think I'll just update you on pounds lost).

Miles Run: 3.07
Weight Change: 0

Tomorrow - Rest day, but I'll try to at least go for a walk after lunch or something. Tuesday is always my busiest day since I work both jobs.

Looking Ahead - Jungle Jog 5k on Sunday!!!

Firecracker 5 Mile

I think it might just be me, but I loved having the 4th of July fall on a Wednesday this year. Yes, I had to go back to the office this morning, but only for two days. Two days people! I wish I had every Wednesday off. Forever. Ok while I'm wishing, let's just throw in Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday as well. Oh and Saturday too since I work two jobs... 

Anyway, without further ado, I give you my Firecracker 5 Mile recap! On the ride out, Sarah helped me realize that perhaps the course wasn't as bad as I remembered... or wouldn't be as hard. She had a good point - it had been two years since I ran this race... I had probably built it up to something much bigger and badder than it actually was. Confident she was right, we headed to the starting line and I was feeling good about my decision to give this race another shot. 

Well readers, she was right. I had not remembered the course over two years as well as I thought I had. I had remembered the first mile being all uphill. I was wrong. Thanks to my trusty Garmin watch, I now know the first mile and a half are all up hill! And they are steep hills!! After the hills you make it to the canal, which is nice and flat and should be a nice recovery (I remembered that), but it was not so great because there was no shade and the sun was already blazing hot (forgot about that part). But seriously though, besides the heat and the hills, it was not so bad, although after 3.5 miles the thought did cross my mind that if I had signed up for the Brighton 5k, I would have been done already. I can't say I'm dying to sign up for it again next year, but maybe in two years my memory of the heat and hills will fade enough to make me want to give it another try (I guess I better not go back and read this in 2014).

My time was 51:15 - a 10:15/mile pace. I can totally live with that. Now here are some pictures for your enjoyment!

And to include some non-running fun, the rest of my holiday was pretty awesome. Post-race brunch at the Gorton's (delicious), laid around our air-conditioned apartment (excellent), had a cheeseburger for lunch (delicious), went to Home Depot to buy supplies to make a Plinko Board for work (not fun but it was good to get it out of the way), then to the RPO's VIP event downtown which included a make your own ice cream sundae station (delicious) and an open bar (excellent). Plus fireworks. A very happy 4th indeed! 

Confession

Don't count your chickens before your eggs hatch. I spoke too soon - I, in fact, did not run with Andy last night. Instead of a three mile run, we went on a three mile drive to get ice cream cones. :) Oh well, I'm not going to beat myself up about it. My RW Marathon Training book says to consider instances where you miss a run as bonus rest days. Now I will be fully rested for the race tomorrow morning, haha.

Guys - I'm so excited for tomorrow's race, which I think is strange because this really is not my favorite course. I ran this race two years ago with Carrie and Andy. It was blazing hot, the place you park is not exactly close to the starting line (not convenient), the entire first mile or so is up a gnarly hill, and then the finish line is at the top of another hill (cruel). I actually disliked it so much that I convinced Andy to do the Brighton 5k on the 4th of July last year instead. But seriously folks, he and I are going to be marathoners soon, so if we can't handle some heat and some hills, we are in trouble.

 Come back tomorrow to read how it goes. I'll even post a picture or two!

One Week until Official Training Begins!

Can you believe it is already July? The month of June flew by. That means official training starts one week from today!!! I had originally planned on doing the Fleet Feet Beginner Marathon training plan - I've used their programs in the past and have felt 110% prepared. However, it has you running 5 days a week and starts off with a 9 mile long run. I'm not exactly ready to run 9 miles... So I did some research and I've now decided I will use the Runner's World Beginner Marathon training program. It only has you run 4 days a week and the first long run is 5 miles. I can totally do that. But over the weekend I started getting nervous... how could a program starting at 5 miles get you as prepared as one starting with 9 miles? I figured it out! The FF program is only 14 weeks, not 16! By the time I get to week three in the RW program, I'll be at 9 miles, so it all works out perfectly. Blah blah blah, this is boring, but basically I am just excited that I have found this RW program. I think running only 4 times a week will help me from burning out, and it will also allow me to keep going to zumba (woot woot) and kickball. :)

Time to update you all on my short-term goals. The running is going well. Thursday after zumba we had a running party - Andy, Alyssa, Sarah, and I ran 3 miles. Then Sunday morning, Anna, Andy, and I ran 4 miles. Both have been at a pretty decent pace considering how hot it's been. Tonight Andy and I are going to run another 3, but we're going to go after dinner in hopes that the temperature will go down a bit. So there! Three runs before the Fourth of July. Goal 1 accomplished!  

Goal 2 was not as successful. Rebecca deserves a gold medal as she saved me from myself during Friday's breakfast club. I even tried to negotiate with her... convince her that I didn't have to write about it in my blog. But no, she was amazingly strict and I was glad for it. However, Rebecca was not at Midtown on Saturday to save me from myself. Saturday morning as I was getting ready to go to Midtown I started crying because I hate the shirts we have to wear (I feel like a stuffed sausage). I got to Midtown all sad, and there were muffins. And I ate one. And it wasn't until Sunday that I realized I totally broke my "no work badies" rule. Oh well. There are still two days at the office to get through, so I am back on track and will be good again. 

Less than 48 hours to the Firecracker Five Mile race!