Only 14 Miles to Vegas!!

Yet another week of training has flown by!  We're (un)officially into Week 6 (we didn't run yet this week, so it won't be official until tomorrow).  I can't believe how fast time is passing!  I guess between the 40+ hours per week at work and the ever-increasing number of miles we're running, plus all of the extracurricular activities, this is to be expected, but DAMN!

Last week was a pretty good running week for me.  We ran Tuesday-Wednesday-Saturday last week.  I can't remember if we "cross-trained" (read: walked) at all - it's all a blur. 

We ran our 4-mile runs before work both Tuesday and Wednesday.  Tuesday I remember being so, so, SO cold during most of our run.  And I was haulin'!  I'm not sure if it was the 2 full days of rest (Sunday and Monday) before running again or if it was the fact that it was so cold at 5am, but something kicked me in the rear end and kept me moving that day.  Wednesday my left knee was really sore again, so it slowed me down a good bit.  Also, Suz and I slowed to a walk and before we knew it we had walked a quarter mile because we just kept chattering away at each other.  Oops!

Thursday was not only rest day, but it was THANKSGIVING, which could only mean one thing in this household... FOOOOOOODDDDD!!!!!! 

Suzanne, Nick and I cooked a full Thanksgiving spread at our place on Thursday.  Suzanne and I were really worried about how dinner would turn out, being that it was our first time actually cooking to this extent, but EVERYTHING turned out so, so yummy!  We were actually emotional about the simple fact that we cooked dinner.  I was trying not to cry as we started eating.  It's silly, but it meant a LOT to me (us) that we managed to pull this off.  Suzanne tackled the turkey (cleaning AND cooking) and mashed potatoes, and she baked a pumpkin pie on Wednesday evening.  I took on the stuffing and the gravy, with no actual recipe, just verbal directions and a general list of ingredients/cook times from Mamaw, plus the memory of what Mamaw's stuffing and gravy should look and taste like.  I hit both spot-on.  Boo-yah.  Nick was in charge of sweet potato casserole, dinner rolls, and apple pie.  It was all perfect!!  And, of course... (Warning:  I'm about to get sappy!)...  While I couldn't be with my family or most of my friends/favorite people, it was wonderful to spend the day and share this first-time cooking experience with two of my closest friends.  *Tear*

Friday I had to work (boo), but my counterpart Scott and I agreed to skip out early and make up the hours this week, so I was home by 2pm and Suz and I hit the Scottsdale Fashion Square around 3:30pm.  While we did not actually exercise on Friday, I think it's safe to say that shopping for nearly 6 hours sufficed as cross-training for the day.  And if my body didn't get a full workout in that day, I assure you that my checking account did!  ;)

Saturday morning Nick met me at my place and we set out on the canal for our first 6-mile run.  I have to admit... it wasn't all that bad!  Except that it was COLD!  It was only 39 degrees when we set out around 9am.  Say what?!?  WE LIVE IN ARIZONA FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!  This is unacceptable.  But after just a mile and a half, I was quite toasty and had to shed one of my three shirts during our first stretch break.

Since we ran northeast from my place, McDonald was the halfway point.  Once we reached it, we'd just double back to my house, and that would be exactly 6 miles. 

When we started, it seemed like it was soooo far away, but about a 1/2 mile from McDonald when I spotted the bridge over the canal, I realized that it really wasn't all that far.  When we reached McDonald, we stopped for maybe 5 minutes to stretch and strategize.  Since I don't want to hold Nick back on his training (and since he's 6'4" and has a stride length that probably doubles mine), I encouraged him to run ahead of me and meet me back at my place since I hid my key under my car.  I also challenged him to make it back before Ohio State kicked off at 10am, which gave him 28 minutes to cover 3 miles. (He made it back at exactly 10am and managed to catch kick-off!  Yay for Nick!)

For the second half of the run I was battling myself more mentally than anything.  I watched as Nick's red t-shirt became a blob, then a dot, then completely disappeared as he ran ahead of me.  But I used that as my motivation to keep pushing ahead.  I kept telling myself to keep running just in case he decided to stop and wait for me, because if he had done that, I didn't want to keep him waiting any longer than necessary.  Probably a strange way to motivate myself, but it works for me (I used the same method when we ran at the Tempe Town Lake for our 5-mile runs - pushing myself so that Beth, Steve and Nick didn't have to wait so long for me to catch up to them). 



My round trip with 2 stretch stops and minimal walking was 1:11:00.  If you shave off 5 minutes for stretch/rest/strategy stops, it works out to a 10:47 pace.  I'd like to think that my first few miles I'm pacing faster, and then the last half of my run I slow down.  Actually, I know this is the case because for the first half of the run, Nick slows his pace to run with me, but I also know that I increase my pace to try to keep up with him.  (I'm gonna start calling him Ichabod Crane because his legs are so damn long!)  Either way, knowing that I AM SLOW, I stopped for a few minutes along the way, etc., I'll take this pace!  I've never run a good mile pace.  The best I ever ran was in 12th grade when I ran an 8:24 mile. 

Speedy Gonzalez I am not. 

But I'm doing it!  I'm running the required mileage each week.  And each week it's getting easier.  I'm still nowhere close to ready to run the entire 13.1 miles, but each Saturday when we knock out another long run, I feel more and more confident that I might actually be able to do just that! 

In 5 weeks of training I have run/walked over 68 miles in 16.5 hours and burned approximately 5800 calories.  WOW!

This week we'll be running Tuesday-Wednesday with our long run on Friday (6.2 miles) after work because on Saturday morning we leave for Vegas!  My good buddy Scottie's getting married!  He and his FABULOUS fiancee Maresa are getting married in a run-thru wedding during the P.F.Chang's Rock N Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon!!  I'm so excited to share their special day with them, and the fact that they're running similar race as we are, it's given Maresa and me even more to talk about and bond over!  I love her already and am SO excited to finally meet her in person!! 

So, in a sense... Only 14 miles to Vegas!!

Feed Me Seymour!!!

Week 4 is officially behind me.  In only 4 weeks, on foot I’ve covered over 45 miles.  And according to my Workout Calendar on MapMyRun, I’ve burned over 3800 calories!!  Holy crap!

Last week we changed up our routine a bit, running Tuesday & Thursday instead of Monday & Wednesday.  I think this was actually very beneficial to me.  Mondays I’m usually dragging – after coming off the weekend, working a full day… By the time I finally get home around 6pm on Mondays, the last thing I want to have to do is run!  So knowing on Monday that I didn’t have to do that after work was great!  

Tuesday I got tied up at work later than usual, so when I was finally walking out at 6pm, I told Suzanne she could go ahead without me, and that I’d run alone that night.  By the time I got from my building to the parking garage to home and out the door, it was 6:45pm.  I’m not sure if it was (1) my late start (and therefore a strong desire to get home), (2) the fact that I was running alone at night (albeit on busy streets), or perhaps (3) the fact that I really AM starting to feel like my training is working, but I pounded out a pretty darn good run – 3.5 miles in 43 minutes (with a few minutes of walking in there).

Wednesday morning we got up at 5am. (I think I just threw up in my mouth a little – I HATE getting outta bed that early!) to do our cross-train workout.  We set out on “The Fruit Loop” as I call it, our 2.7 mile loop that we’ve been walking/jogging on-and-off for months.  By the time we got out the door it was 5:18am (so, I move a little slow in the mornings!).  Once we rounded back onto Osborn, Suz suggested that we run home, mostly because she was on a time crunch.  We walked in the front door just before 6am, which was perfect for her since she had to leave for work no later than 7am that day.  

Let me tell you how amazing it was to get to come home from work Wednesday evening & not have to run!!!!  Ahhhhhhh, sooo, sooo nice!  But what do we end up doing?  Going to the mall, of course!  Which means we were walking around for 2 hours anyway.

Thursday evening we had to run 3.5 miles again.  I felt good the whole way, but Suz’s shins were hurting her, so we walked a little bit here and there.  I knew exactly how she felt when she said that she felt as though she was wearing flippers on her feet as she ran.  It sucks!  That’s how I had felt the week before when my shins were hurting me!  No bueno.  Despite this, we still finished in a decent time, though.

Friday was “rest” day!  I didn’t get out of work until after 6pm Friday, so I was glad that we didn’t have to do anything!  At this point it’s merely a faint memory, but we sat in front of the TV all evening and watched Dirty Dancing and Hannah Montana:  The Movie.  Yeah, that’s right!  Do. Not. Judge.

Saturday was our second 5-miler!  Nick, Beth, Steve, and I ran at the Tempe Town Lake again.  Since Ironman Arizona was hosted at the Tempe Beach Park on Sunday, there was a lot of activity around the Town Lake this weekend.  There were LOTS of super-duper-fit men and women buzzing around, getting ready for Sunday’s event.  I was a little worried that this may be intimidating, but I actually found that I didn’t really care that they were around.  

This Saturday’s run was pretty decent! I still had to walk for a minute here and there, but overall I felt really good.  Nick even commented about halfway through the run that I was keeping up a lot better than I had last week.  WAHOO!  My body was definitely kinder to me this week.  My knee did not bother me at all!  I had a little bit of an issue with my shoe rubbing my foot, but that wasn’t until the last mile(ish), so I just ignored it until we were finished.  I did struggle a little bit on the last quarter-mile (or so) stretch.  Beth and I were running and chatting and suddenly I felt like I was NEVER going to finish.  I get this feeling sometimes on shorter runs too, but this time it was really bad!  It makes me nervous about Race Day.  If I feel like this on a 5-mile day, what is Race Day going to be like?!?!

The last two weekends, I feel like all I’ve done is eat!  After our run on Saturday, Nick and I stopped at Einstein Bros. and got food to go so we could go back to my place to watch the Ohio State v. Iowa game (wow, was it a close one!).  I was actually hungrier AFTER I ate my wrap than I was before.  Luckily only about an hour and a half later, Suzanne said she was hungry, so she volunteered to go on a Subway run for us since we were watching the game.  Even after that, I was STILL hungry!  O.M.G.!!! 

Suz & I did a little shopping Saturday evening – stocking up on the necessities since we’re cooking Thanksgiving dinner!  After we finished shopping we agreed to go to the Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  Mmmm… Red meat!  Surprisingly I didn’t eat as much as I thought I might, but it was OH. SO. GOOD.  Yum!

Since I LOVE food, I’ve always joked that I wished I exercised like Michael Phelps so that I could eat like Michael Phelps (He eats 12,000 calories a day when he’s training!!!  So, so jealous!)  But now that I feel like all I do is eat, I think I’ve changed my mind about wanting a diet like that.  It sucks to constantly be hungry, and considering that I’m not exercising THAT much yet, I can’t even imagine how he must feel.  The poor guy must, literally, ALWAYS be hungry!!!  

Looking ahead to the next week…  We run 4 miles, cross-train 2, run 4 more, and then finish off the week with 6 miles on Saturday!  Working all week, plus increasing our mileage, plus cooking Thanksgiving dinner?  This week’s gonna fly!  

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, FRIENDS!!!! 

21 Days

They say it takes 21 days to make or break a habit.  So now that we’re over 3 weeks into our training, our running “habit” should be made, right?

Week 3 didn’t seem so bad, but then after typing this up, I’m not sure I’d call it “good” either…

We’ve gotten out of the habit of getting up at 5am to run and opted to run after work instead.  For me, nothing good was coming from dragging myself out of bed at 5am, forcing myself to run with poor form, minimal energy, and nominal effort.

Last Monday’s run wasn’t horrible, but wasn’t ideal either.  I started off with my shoelaces tied too tight.  After briefly stopping to retie my laces a bit looser, I wound up with the right side being TOO loose, so I had to stop again shortly after.  My shins were hurting about a ½ mile into the 3.5 that we had to cover, and once they started hurting, I felt as though I was running with lead weights tied to my feet.  I even remember saying around mile 1.5, “I feel like I’m trying to drive a car with four flat tires.”  On our “homestretch” from Hayden to home, across Osborn, was tough because we were running against the wind.  But we stuck it out & actually ran most of that stretch.  I can’t remember what our time was.  I need to get better about keeping track of that!  (By the way, I use www.mapmyrun.com to create our routes, track my progress, etc.)

Since Tuesdays are cross-train days, we usually walk.  I don’t remember much from it last week, really.  Walking has become pretty uneventful.  That’s probably a good thing.  We could run these days also.  And we both are planning to buy cheap mountain bikes at Wal-Mart in the next week or two so we can do something besides run or walk.

Wednesday we had 3.5 miles again.  While we didn’t run fast, we did run almost the entire loop, which was a huge accomplishment for us!  Suz & I agreed that we were subconsciously pushing each other – it was awesome!  It’s hard to work all day and then come home knowing that we HAVE to run, but when we’re finished, it’s so fulfilling to know that I didn’t just come home & veg out on the couch! 

Hooray again for Thursday-Rest-Day!!!

The entire week I was feeling more and more sluggish each day, despite sleeping fairly normally all week.  In hindsight, though, I had a lot going on again last week.  Monday my grandmother was admitted to the hospital for several different issues including severe dehydration.  She had been in severe pain for a week and had been unable to keep any food/liquid down for the same time.  Tuesday she was transferred to a different hospital, where they were running test after test after test to try to diagnose her.  Wednesday they told us she has congestive heart failure, but were still running more tests.  Later Wednesday night Mamaw was in a great deal of pain in her arm and chest, and she was afraid that she was having a heart attack.  We learned Friday afternoon that the pain in her arm was an ongoing muscle spasm, potentially caused by a needle hitting a nerve when they drew blood for her tests… or something like that??  I’m not really sure.  I can’t keep up anymore!  Every time someone calls with an update on Mamaw, it’s completely different from the last time I heard anything, and everybody’s versions are different.  Mamaw came home Saturday, but went back to another hospital again last night.  It is my understanding that she must undergo an angioplasty, but given all the different reports, that could’ve changed since last night when I last spoke with my mom...

By Thursday I was so mentally exhausted that I couldn’t think straight.  I literally had to stop one of my co-workers mid-sentence and have him start from the beginning because I simply couldn’t process whatever it was he was saying to me.  It was awful!  Totally could’ve used a mental health day that day!

Saturday was our first 5-mile run (dah-dah-dahhhhh)!!!  Suz opted to go out on her own early Saturday morning.  I was up putzing around by the time she got home & she said she felt good – ran the entire time.  YAY FOR SUZ!!!  J

Nick & I had agreed last weekend that we’d run the 5-mile loop around the Tempe Town Lake.  By Friday evening we had roped in Beth to do the run with us, and where Beth goes, her hubby Steve goes, so it turned into a group run!  By the time we actually started running it was probably about 10:30am, but the weather has been GORGEOUS, so we didn’t have to worry about it getting too warm that day. 

Nick has an application on his Droid that tracks our distance and time.  He paced at a little over a 10-minute mile.  I had to slow down to a walk a few different times because I felt sick to my stomach, then during the last stretch my knee was killing me, so I had to walk again (boo!).  I hadn’t been having any issues with my knee for the past 2 weeks, but it’s possible that I mis-stepped at some point toward the end that caused it to hurt so badly.  We were running against the Arizona Animal Welfare League & SPCA's Walk to Save Animals, so there were a few minutes where we had no choice but to walk – we were running again a wall of people and their dogs!  Thank goodness I didn’t take Percy with me!  She’s such an attention whore, especially around other dogs, that I wouldn’t have been able to walk, let alone RUN, with her in tow!

Speaking of Percy...  For those of you who have met my dog, you know how crazy she can be!  Well, over time, she’s developed this habit that doubles us over in hysterics.  Every day when we come home and change into our running clothes, Percy starts “talking” to us as though to say “I’m ready to go, Mom!” or, “Let’s go, Auntie Suz!”  Sometimes it actually sounds like she says “Hurry up!” which is HILARIOUS!  The barking and “talking” gets progressively louder and more comical the more-dressed we get – for example, once I sit down to put my socks on, Percy is jumping around and convulsing so hard that you’d think she’s having a seizure!  Sometimes she’ll even bite our toes & try to pull our socks off of our feet out of sheer excitement at the possibility of going out for a walk/run.  And, of course, we narrate what we think she’s thinking, “OhMyGodOhMyGodOhMyGod-LetsGoLetsGoLetsGo-HurryUpHurryup-OhMyGodOhMyGodHurryUpOhMyGodLetsGo!!!”

I can’t really describe in words how she “talks” – it’s somewhere in between a growl and a whine, maybe??  I always try to imitate it by saying “Wroowww, wroow, wrow.”  She doesn’t say “bow wow” or “arf, arf” like normal dogs.  I really NEED to catch her on video & upload it because it is so, so, SO funny! 

Only 60 days to go!!!

PS - Check out my friend JeVon's blog for training tips, info, motivation, etc!   http://jevonikner.blogspot.com/

The First 2 Weeks

Since I’m a big believer in journaling, I figure it will be good for me to keep record of my overall experience training for my first-ever half-marathon.  This is the first time I’ve trained for a long distance race.  To date, I’ve only run 2 short races:  The SkirtChaser5k in February 2009 and the 4.2 mile Pat’s Run in April 2009.  For SkirtChaser, I paced myself with my BFF’s mother-in-law, so we walked more than we ran.  And somehow, still unbeknownst to me, I managed to maintain a just-a-little-over-10-minute pace for Pat’s Run, finishing in 43:02.  Not bad for having not trained AT ALL for that race.  (Oh, wait.  I did go for a 2-ish mile run a few days before race day.)

In October 2009 I started training for the half marathon with the intention of running a half marathon in January 2010, but had a few factors working against me that caused me to throw in the towel.  Most of it was in my head, but here are my “justifications” for stopping halfway though my training:

1.      I got bored running alone.  Particularly after my first 5-mile run.  Even my dog couldn’t handle anything over 5 miles and she NEVER gets tired, so I was 100% on my own!  Ultimately, Me + iPod shuffle + 6 miles = B.O.R.E.D.

2.      I had 2 solid weeks of travel scheduled in the middle of my training program:

a.       5 days of which I spent floating around in the Eastern Caribbean, celebrating my best friend’s 30^th birthday.  Sure, I could’ve run 8 miles on a treadmill in the ship’s fitness center...  Or run 80 laps on the 1/10 mile track on the top of the ship.  But really?  If you think any of this was going to happen while I was on vacation, then clearly you do not know me.

b.      The 2^nd part of the 2 weeks was spent “stranded” in Florida for 2 extra nights because of a huge snowstorm that hit the northeast the day before we ported back in Miami.  I was supposed to fly into Baltimore on Saturday evening, but couldn’t get a flight out of FL until early Monday morning.  Instead of finding somewhere to run, I opted to visit with family whom I hadn’t seen in years, and then pretended I was a Nicosia for an evening.

c.       The final stretch of my vacation was spent over Christmas, in 27 inches of snow, with nothing but family, a TON of home-cooked comfort food & shopping with Mom and Dad to occupy my mind.  You do the math.

3.      Sheer lack of motivation.  I started out strong, feeling good about my training for the first several weeks, but mentally convinced myself that I simply couldn’t run 13.1 miles.  I suppose I hit THE WALL and never moved past it.  But this year I’m not letting that happen.  I’ve told myself that I WILL FINISH THIS RACE.  And not just finish it, I WILL RUN IT (no matter how slow my “run” is!  Hah!).

So that brings me to now…  Two weeks ago, my roommate Suzanne & I started training for the 2011 P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Half Marathon on January 16.  Our friend Nick is training/running as well, but he is doing most of his training on his own because of our work schedules and because we live too far away from each other to run together every single day.

Week 1

We started training on Monday October 25 with our first 3 mile run… at 5am.  Not so bad, considering we hadn’t been running AT ALL up to this point.  But still not an easy, leisurely run either. 

What was annoying is that it wasn’t my lungs giving me trouble, as I had expected (due to lack of CV exercise over the past few months).  It was my nagging high school cheerleading injuries that made it so difficult!  Sure, they flare up when I start a new regimen, but this was BAD, and by the time we rounded the corner for the last 20 yards or so to our front door, I seriously didn’t know if I was going to make it.

Monday late afternoon/early evening I was already getting sore…  Tuesday morning I hurt from head to toe & by midday Tuesday I could barely walk.  Even getting up from my desk at work took every ounce of effort I could muster up.  I’m sure for anyone watching me, I was quite a spectacle, hobbling around like a 98-year old woman suffering from osteoporosis (and, no, I shouldn’t make jokes about that since it runs in my family!).  Thank goodness that for our 2-mile cross-train that day, we agreed just to walk.  It was ugly.  And I could tell that Suz was super-annoyed that I couldn’t move any faster.  (Hey, short, sore legs don’t allow for brisk walking!)

Wednesday I was still sore, but managed relatively well through our 3 mile run.  At this point I don’t remember all that much about it, but I know I got through it and was already feeling better about my physical capabilities.  Apparently I bounce back quickly, which gave me confidence that I really CAN do this!

Thursday = Rest Day = HOORAYYYYY!!!!

This week was additionally stressful because on Tuesday I found out that my dad’s little brother had passed away as a result cancer that had spread to his entire body.  While I did not know my Tito Harlan, I was (of course) deeply saddened to learn of his passing, particularly because when I woke up on Tuesday morning, I was “stuck” on the fact that my dad needed to go visit Tito Harlan before it was too late.  I literally lay in my bed early that morning, consumed by the idea of my father going to San Diego ASAP.  I finally sent a text to my mother, and ultimately my father, insisting that he get there as soon as he could swing it.  On my way home that evening, Dad text me to tell me that Tito Harlan had passed around 5am that same morning.  Kind of freaky…  I guess it just goes to show that no matter where you are, or how well you know (or don’t know) your relatives, there’s some sort of supernatural connection linking you to them.  It’s especially strange to me since I didn’t personally know Tito Harlan.  And even stranger yet, my sister and cousin had similar feelings/experiences on that Monday night/Tuesday.  But I digress…

I wound up meeting my parents in San Diego for the weekend to spend quality time with Tito Harlan’s family and the rest of the Quiambao siblings (except Tito Bernie, who wasn’t able to make it into town until Tuesday for the services later in the week).  Carlo and I were going to run my 4 miles on Saturday morning, but it was raining pretty hard, and we had already ventured out to do The-Family-Thing before it cleared off.  It turned out to be a fun, enjoyable, beautiful day (despite the sad circumstances that brought us all together), but we all agreed that Tito Harlan would have been happy that we were able to spend time together, as it has been a very long time since that had happened.

Ultimately, as advised by my marathon-running BFF Beth, I skipped my first “long run” on the training schedule & picked up as scheduled for Week 2.

Week 2

Where did Week 2 go?!?!?  I seriously can’t remember each specific day!  Between traveling over the weekend prior and an INSANE work week and running or walking almost every day and anticipating the upcoming weekend (specifically Nick’s birthday celebration) and… HOLY MOLY!!!  Let’s just say that the week FLEW by!

Both Suzanne and I were EXHAUSTED on Wednesday after work, so we decided to move our run to early Thursday morning instead. The only “win” that came with that run was the fact that we got up before work to get it out of the way for the day.  We both were sluggish, walking a good bit, but still finishing in a reasonable amount of time.

We had agreed to wake up early Friday morning to go for a walk, but unfortunately I barely slept Thursday night, so I didn’t get up.  Poor Suzanne!  She came in to wake me up and I snapped at her.  I slept a total of about 3.5 hours Thursday night, not all at once, so I was in no mood, nor condition to be up at 5am for a 3-miler.  No. Freaking. Way.

Saturday was my first “long run” - 4 miles.  Whatever I did Saturday morning should not be called running.  I think I was still “hungover” from my lack of sleep Thursday night, combined with a long work day, then spending Friday evening at the fair.  I was on-the-go ALL day Friday.  And despite a fairly peaceful, all-but-8-hours of sleep on Friday night, I was still exhausted and sluggish Saturday morning.  But I finished...  With some (read: a lot of) walking along the way.  We finished in about an hour, which, all things considered, was acceptable (though I’m not bragging about it!).

The past few months I’ve been neglecting myself – very minimal, if any, exercise; eating whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted… it got ugly for a while.  I allowed myself to gain back the 8-ish pounds that I was SO happy to lose in the late spring, and instead of digging myself out of my dietary slump, I wallowed in self-pity and nearly let it get out of control.  I attribute this slump to a few things:  a late-summer job hunt and all of the highs, lows and frustrations that are associated with the process; my sheer laziness and lack of motivation and the vicious cycle that it created, making it even harder to dig myself out.

After merely 2 weeks of training, I have to say that I’m amazed at the physical differences I’m already noticing in my body.  Everything seems to be a little less wiggly-jiggly each day.  SWEET!  I have noticed a significant tapering of my calves and ankles.  Like many women, my thighs are my least-favorite part of my body, but even they are even starting to change!  Silly as it seems, I’ve always been a fan of the iliotibial band (for those of you not in-the-know, it’s the flat band on the outer thigh that becomes more defined as your thigh muscles become more toned/defined).  So now that I can see and feel mine more, I’m getting excited.  In my crazy little brain, I’ve always used this as a gauge of my own physical fitness/appearance, so now that it’s coming back, I’m a happy girl, especially knowing that it will only become more and more defined the more/longer I train!  (It’s the simple things in life that make me happy! J)

I can also already see a difference through my core.  I’m starting to see a SLIGHT definition in my abs, something I haven’t seen in a while!!  WAHOO!  Aaaaannnnd… My muffin-top is shrinking already!  Double WAHOO!  Even my arms are starting to look and feel more toned, despite not incorporating any sort of upper body training (at least not yet).  Obviously if I incorporate core and upper body training into my regimen, I’d see and feel results faster, not to mention that my overall fitness & running will improve.  But so far, I’m just glad that I’ve been sticking as close to my running schedule as I have and finishing the mileage that I have covered thus far. 

As of today, I have covered 24 miles (some walking, some running, depending on the scheduled workout) in the last 15 days (would’ve been 28  if not for the rain in San Diego last Saturday morning!).  Only 142 miles to go til race day!!! 

PIECE O’ CAKE… Wait.  Make that a CUPcake!   (From Sprinkles, please!)