Update

On February 15 I ran the Country Roads 5 Miler. It was very hilly and hard at first, but a little more than half way through I picked up the pace and finished strong. I have a 5k this Sunday and an 8k at the end of March. My group is running 7 miles on Saturday! My 10-miler is on April 5 so I think starting next week I'm going to add on a little more mileage than what the group does each week. We've got a really good core group and we all run about the same pace. I've started running on Thursday nights with them too. I'm feeling stronger and more conifdent which each run and I'm glad to be running 3 times a week. I'm trying to add on weight training and other activities on days I don't run. We'll see how that goes! I did get a gym membership though so I should use since I'm paying for it. Here's a picture from this past Saturday after finishing our 6.5 mile run! That's the most I've run since the 10k in November!

Races Galore

So far this year I've run in 3 races. The first was the New Years Day 5k, which I surprised myself by actually getting up to go and finishing strong. It was my first time running in the cold temperatures and it was brutal. It wasn't as brutal as the Shooting Starr 4 miler I ran a couple weeks later though. It was only about 3 degrees that day and it was horrible!! Each race has had less than 200 people participate and I feel good being one of those 200. The third race was the USATF Cross Country Community 4k. A couple of runners from my speed development group ran it also. We thought it would be a great run, being only a 4k and all and the weather was beautiful. It was ridiculous!! The hills were intense and we all thought it was a pretty tough course. Even more experienced runners who train on hills thought it was hard. The picture above is all of us from the program after the run. We're glad it's over and we finished in one piece! Our group is running a 5 mile race this Sunday and I think I have a 5k March 1. This year I'm running in race after race after race! I'll post info about the races and my times and all that later on! Enjoy a pic of me during the 4k...I don't look as happy as Marguerite does!

A new year, a new training program

I can't believe I've been out of it for so long. My classes ended around December 10 and I haven't done any sort of working out since. I did get an A in both classes though and I signed up for Personal Fitness 2 which starts January 27. I also signed up for a scuba diving class! I'm really excited to start that. And of course I'm going to keep running. My winter program, a speed development program, begins Jan. 10 and ends with the Pike's Peek 10K in April. I've run that race twice before and look forward to beating my time. I really hope to run a half marathon next year and I'm definitely doing another 10-miler. I'll do my best to update more regularly, especially since I have so much going on. I'm really looking forward to a great 2009!

Rockville 10k

Last week I was supposed to run with someone on Sunday but I got really sick. I spent Saturday night and Sunday morning throwing up so I wasn't able to run. I did run 4 miles at the track that Tuesday and our race was this past Sunday, Nov. 2. I felt great and finished strong. I ran the 10k in 1:05:39 which is a 10:34 pace. Not too shabby! Even though our program is officially over, we're meeting Wednesdays at a local track to continue running. I think we're also meeting Saturdays for a long run but I don't have all the details yet.

I feel great and I'm defiitely going to continue running. I just spent a good chunk of change on some cold weather running apparel and I'm not letting it go to waste! I've also been pushing myself in class and I'm now up to 275 pounds on the leg press! I'm getting stronger and hopefully leaner too! I'm definitely running a Thanksgiving race so I'll post those results when I have them.

The above picture is our running group pre-race (I'm in the middle next to the coach) and below is me with about a quarter mile to go giving it all I've got! :)

Still going

The week after the Army 10-miler I ended up not running. I justified it by telling myself I needed a week off after the race! Last Tuesday I ran 3 miles at the track and Saturday I ran 7 so I'm still in the game. I can't run this Saturday, but I'm meeting up with at least one other person on Sunday to run the scheduled 6 miles. Knowing I have someone waiting for me will make me get up and go. Tonight the coach wants us to run 4 miles at race pace and I have no idea what's scheduled for next Tuesday, which is our last formal run as a group before the 10K. I can't believe it's almost over! There isn't another program I can join before I move, so I'll be stuck on my own after November 2. It's going to be hard to run on my own especially with the weather getting colder and not having access to a gym anymore. Luckily I'll still have my 2 classes which are going very well.

My strength training class has been awesome and I'm definitely getting stronger each week. I've already added more weight in each exercise. The personal fitness class is good too, it's just hard to do both cardio and strength in 50 minutes. I would love to do 50 minutes of just cardio but that's not how the class is set up. I just need to add more cardio on my own. I'm only running twice a week (with the group) and I really should add a third day on my own. Did I mention it's getting colder and I don't have access to a gym? :)