The race that started it all.

When I was amidst of finding out whether or not I had a sacral stress fracture a few weeks ago, I felt pretty down with the possibility of not being able to run the Mt. Summit Challenge. I was already signed up for this race way before the term ‘stress fracture’ even entered my mind. And once I was cleared to run again by my orthopedic, Dr. Aaron Mares, I was ecstatic that I was still going to be able to participate in this race. You see, the Mt. Summit Challenge is the very first race that I ever ran - my very first finish line, a life changing moment for all runners and walkers alike. The date was April 10, 2011. This race landed on my plate after being convinced by a friend to sign up. Not even thinking in terms of a race that is ‘one of the toughest races in Southwestern Pennsylvania’ (3.5 miles that climb over 1200 feet), I mailed in my application. Yes, mailed. I like the traditional standpoint of the race. I was finally going to have the chance to re-run the race that started it all.

I may be sporting propeller hair, but what I love most about this picture is that I’m smiling. Fear didn’t stand a chance that morning. When we received our cue to start, it’s the first time that I truly felt like a runner both inside and out. I was no longer the girl who could barely make it through the warmup in gym class. I was a runner. I was no longer hiding. I was completely exposed to the world as I pushed my way through the crisp, cool air.

The race started as a challenge between two friends, who were both talented runners. Rumor has it, that they were challenged by a group of guys to run the summit, from Uniontown. And they took them up on the challenge. Turns out it was in the middle of night and in February!

I know you may be questioning me as to why I didn’t just run this race last year. Last year, I was a week or so away from running the Pittsburgh Marathon, my first full. I, like many other runners, suffered from extreme taper madness. Paranoia struck me fierce, and I was convinced that my legs were going to break in 73 places if I were to breathe wrong. Okay, it wasn’t that bad, but you get my point. I didn’t want to take any chances in jeopardizing my performance on May 6, 2012.

It took me a little over an hour to get to Hopwood. I’m not typically one for driving far away for short distance races, but this race holds a special place in my heart. I met up with 2 members from the Steel City Road Runners Club, Kimberly and Clint, both of whom I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting until Sunday. They are both so incredibly nice, which I expected them to be. I felt like I already knew the both of them very well, even before meeting them in person. We all stood around praying not to be blown away by the gusts of wind and chatted until it was time to gather together at the starting line. Within the short amount of time that we were lined up, the wind picked up even more so than before. “Great,” I thought! Wind and a hill - the perfect scenario. It was time for us to show everyone what it truly means to be a Runner of Steel. I managed to run just over 1 mile before I started my run/walk strategy. My goal was to make it to the top without dry heaving.

Here I am running next to Kim - not exactly sure what point of the race this was. We pulled one another all the way to the finish line. I look like I’m either in deep thought or trying not to throw up.

It was definitely the headwind, but this meme is way too funny not to share. The conditions were windy, rainy, and chilly. That morning, we ran against the wind 100% of the time. Runners of Steel indeed.

When we finished, Kim and I congratulated one another with a cheerful high-five. We “MOUNTED THE SUMMIT!” I really wanted to beat my time from 2011 (45:57), but I ended up taking a smidgen longer to finish this year (46:38). I heard a lot of people talking about how it took them longer because of the weather conditions. There’s always next year! Kim and I already made a pact, “same time, same place!” :)

We stood around and spectated the finish line for a little bit as we waited for some of Kim’s friends to finish. As the goosebumps on my chicken arms began to multiply, I noted the same constipated look on everyone’s face as they ran up the final steep incline into the finisher’s chute. To give you all an idea of what we accomplished that morning, here is the course:

The elevation is comparable to a 7.5% incline on the treadmill.

It’s definitely a challenge, and I still can’t believe that this is what I chose as my first race back in 2011 and more so what my friend ‘chose’ for me. Apparently, this person had faith and believed in me. I’m just grateful that I found faith and belief within myself. And it left me wanting more. Here I am in 2013, 31 races later. Time sure flies.

Most people run or walk back down the Summit, and I would have, but I didn’t want to risk re-injuring my IT band after finally beginning to make some progress. One of Kim’s friends drove us back down, and we all said our goodbyes. I drove home and took a much needed nap! There’s nothing quite like running up a 3.5 mile hill with a headwind in the cold rain for fun! Call me crazy, but I can’t wait for 2014!

Catching up on my training.

Okay, let me travel back in time to Monday, the 4th. I’m bringing up the 4th because I received a crazy phone call that night while I was asleep.

The next morning, I did what I usually do when first waking up. I checked my phone for any missed calls or text messages. I had a missed call and voicemail from an unfamiliar number. I listened to the voicemail in a complete fog and heard something along the lines of “blah, blah, blah calling from the Dr. Phil Show blah, blah, blah…” To be sure that I wasn’t losing my mind, I listened to the message once more. “I’m not sure if this is the same Adrian that was on the Today Show…” I was a bit awestruck and started freaking out on the inside. I immediately thought, “oh my goodness…am I going to be offered the chance to be a guest on the Dr. Phil Show?!” It was the craziest feeling having heard such big news the very first thing in the morning! I got ready for work and couldn’t wait to tell my coworkers the exciting news! They were all thrilled! I jotted down the number and was more than eager to call them back during my lunch break. It was on my mind for the entire morning, which made the time pass by very slowly. I rushed to eat my lunch, then I went to a private area and made the phone call.

I told the woman my name and that I was returning her call from the night before. She was puzzled at first and questioned who I was. She had her “aha” moment and began to explain the reasoning behind the phone call. Dr. Phil was looking for woman who’ve lost a significant amount of weight, such as myself, and are now very attractive. The catch? Their current spouse or partner is having trouble handling the situation. She then asked me if this pertained to me. I assured her that my boyfriend, Sean, is very supportive and proud of me. She basically applauded me for my success and healthy relationship, but she closed the opportunity with an “unfortunately, we can’t move forward with this…” We said goodbye and ended the call on a very awkward note. The conversation was quick and to the point, but it was enough to leave me with a negative aura. Some people were like, “you should have just lied!” Why? To get a free trip to L.A.? No.

A trip to L.A. isn’t worth making Sean look like an insecure jerk in front of America.

I was very taken back by the entire thing. It was just a strange phone call. Naturally, I got my hopes up, but I was also let down very quickly. Oh well. I mean, it’s still pretty cool to even receive these types of calls in the first place, but it would’ve been even cooler to be able to go to Los Angeles, California. I was born in southern California, so I’d absolutely LOVE to be able to go back some day. I’m sure if I ever have the chance, I’d never want to leave again! One of my biggest dreams is to be able to take my mom to California for a week long vacation before it’s too late. She was born and raised there, and she misses it terribly. I don’t blame her. I’d miss it too. Someday…

…fast forward…

The day after my comeback race, Sunday the 9th, I kicked off week 3 of P90X with Chest & Back / Ab Ripper. I still despise pushups.

I feel your pain Mr. Potato Head.

For some reason, I’m not seeing much improvement in that category, but it’s still the beginning. I’ll be the first to admit that I struggle the entire time during this DVD, but I still get the job done. And out of all of the DVDs so far, this is the only one that I don’t really enjoy. So I simply “do my best and forget the rest,” and move on. And I know I’ve said it before, but I truly can’t believe how dedicated I’ve been. I used to lose interest in DVD workouts pretty much as soon as I’d hit the play button, plus I’m also training for a half marathon. Double whammy.

I was a little antsy on Monday because it’s Plyometrics day. I love plyometrics, and it’s really beneficial for runners. But being that I just raced hard 2 days prior, I was worried that it was going to be horrific or perhaps cause an injury of sorts. I ended up feeling great! My heart rate wasn’t as high as it typically gets during plyo, but that surely didn’t keep me from sweating cats and dogs the entire time. If I can recommended any one of the P90X DVDs as a means of cross training, it’s this one.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are double days for me - P90X before work and a run after work. It’s pretty intense, especially considering the mere fact that I’m also on my feet for more than 8 hours between these sessions. Tuesday, the 12th was going to be my first run since the March Mad Dash. Here’s my recap posted that day: I definitely expected this run to be a total disaster after racing hard on Saturday. I was also pretty exhausted from broken up sleep last night (stupid bladder). I almost made the decision to skip this run and push it off until tomorrow. That’s how barf-tastic I felt - body and mind. Still, I decided to lace up my shoes, give it a whirl, and see how I felt after the 1st mile. Around the 1st half mile, my left calf muscle began stiffening up. I decided to take off my knee strap and the stiffness subsided a lot - weird. This was my 1st outdoor run sans knee strap, and the decision was made on a complete whim! I didn’t have any discomfort around my knee for the entire run! And considering that I just raced (a 10 miler to boot), I was surprised. My “recovery” run ended up being better than a shuffle (9:34 average pace), and I somehow managed to pull off consistent negative splits! Woo! I’m so glad that I decided to get out there!

Thursday morning, P90X: Legs & Back / Ab Ripper was on the agenda - another awesome workout. That evening, I planned on running 6 miles, but not everything goes quite as planned. Here’s my recap posted that day: The weather outside was chilly and very windy, but the sunshine set all of these problems aside or at least made these factors more tolerable.

The sun has been hibernating for much too long! I definitely surprised myself with my pace - I think my speed is slowly coming back. (That kind of sounds like an oxymoron.) This was supposed to be a 6 mile run, but upon turning around on the bike trail and making my way back to Lysle Blvd, the railroad crossing bars were down. This always seems to happen to me, so I figured that I’d do what I typically have to do…wait out the train for several minutes. When I took another glance, I then realized that the train was PARKED. It was on a complete standstill. “What the heck am I supposed to do now,” I thought? I looked to my left and saw a ridiculously curved bridge in the far distance that was recently constructed to give any passing trains necessary clearance as well as offering a means of exit for trapped cars/pedestrians on the opposite side - such as myself. I had to backtrack in order to get to the bridge, but I didn’t really have any other choice. I wasn’t going to stand there all night trying to concoct some train dance in a pathetic attempt to make the train move.

It felt like it took an eternity to reach the bridge, and after crossing the bridge, I had to essentially run back to where I 1st started when I realized my predicament. Only this time, I was on the opposite side of the train - YOU DON’T SAY? I was finally able to head home after unintentionally adding over 1 mile to my run. It’s a good thing that I was feeling tip top! Talk about an intense day. Over 1 hour of P90X in the morning, and a 7.2 mile run after being on my feet for over 8 hours at work. My beast mode switch was definitely on!

Splits:

Mile 1: 9:18

Mile 2: 8:59 <—-1st sub-9 minute mile in a training run since the fall!

Mile 3: 9:08

Mile 4: 9:05

Mile 5: 9:10

Mile 6: 9:21

Mile 7: 9:38 <—- Cool down.

Mile .20: 1:51 (9:15 pace)

Saturday, I learned that extra sleep can cure anything. Here’s my recap posted that day: Originally, I was supposed to lead the 8 mile, 10 minute pace group downtown with the SCRR, but when my alarm clock went off this morning, I was less than eager to get out of bed. I didn’t feel rested at all. My sleep has been chip-choppity all week long, so I decided to try and catch another couple of hours of sleep. Best decision ever, but unfortunately, this meant that I wasn’t going to make it to the group run after all. :( Sorry guys…

When I woke up a little whiles later, I felt a lot better. The extra sleep was just what I needed. I decided to head to the Waterfront in Homestead to run on the trail there. The temperature was cold, but not holy-crap-I-can’t-feel-my-body cold. I actually warmed up rather quickly. I planned to run 2 miles out and back in one direction and 2 miles out and back in the other direction. But during the 2nd round of out and backs, I was feeling exceptionally good and decided to shoot for 10 miles instead of 8.

Sweet, sweet double digits.

The verdict? This was an awesome run! I saw so many other runners, including a married couple that I personally know! :) Small world! Plus, I ran with myself. What I really mean is, that I was completely in-tune with my mind, body, and spirit. I ditched the music and ran to the beat of my own methodic breath and the sound of my cadence - my own metronome. It’s definitely nice every now and then and made for a very enjoyable time. I could’ve done without the headwind though.

Blue. Bliss. Brooks. Be.

March Mad Dash - The Comeback Race!

This was my first race since completing the Marshall Mangler 50K back in November. And most of you know that I’ve been battling back and forth with IT band issues since that time. I finally felt ready to race, so I chose to run in the March Mad Dash -  the 10 mile option after kindly being offered a complimentary race registration from the race director upon reading about my story (thank you so much!). As race day approached, I became ultra paranoid about every little twinge and paid super close attention to everything from the tippy-top of my head all the way down to my toes. I stretched, foam rolled, and iced more than usual, and my usual is already pretty frequent. I was also anxious because heck, I haven’t raced for nearly 4 months. I started thinking in terms of what I should wear, what I should take with me, and so forth. “Ahhhhh,” said my inner thoughts!

Last Friday evening, I assumed that I’d be an emotional basket-case, but instead of encompassing myself with negative energy, I decided to reflect on all that I’ve accomplished within the last couple of years. Negative energy produces negative thoughts, and that’s the very last thing I needed the night before my comeback race. I mean, I already spent enough time throughout the week being on edge as I thought about the race. I felt the very same way that I did the week before my first full marathon - mind spinning with meandering thoughts.

Lo and behold, race day was knocking on my door. After waking up, I stretched and rolled for a good 30 minutes, and then I got myself together…composure sanity and all.

When I finally left my house, my stomach began to sink and pre-race jitters set full sail as I got closer to North Park. It takes me nearly an hour to get all the way to North Park, so I left pretty early in the morning to not only pick up my race packet, but to get a good parking space as well. When I arrived, I waited a few moments to regain my composure before heading into the Rose Barn to grab my “race swag…”

How fitting that everything was handed to me in a Brooks Running bag. A.) My main goal for this race was to RUN HAPPY. & B.) I’m currently sponsored by Brooks Running for the year of 2013. After receiving my bib, I walked back to my car, climbed inside, and took a few deep, methodic breaths. For some reason, I was hesitant about pinning my bib. And until the night before the race, I was hesitant in regards to publicly announcing my race. I was terrified of the possibility of an “I did not finish” slipping off of my tongue after people asked me how I did. I eventually came to my senses and decided to once again, CHASE FEAR. And so, my bib was pinned, and my chip was tied tight.

I ran in my Brooks PureDrift shoes.

I utilized my extra time by rolling out my muscles with my Roll Recovery massager! I love this handy-dandy piece of equipment.

I tried putting off standing in the cold for as long as possible, but my bladder decided it was time to party. After taking a trip to Porcelain City, I bounced around within the starting area in a pathetic attempt to stay warm. Did not work. But before I knew it, we received our cue to take that first stride towards greatness.

There I am in the middle, kind of…to the left of the girl in the green pants.

My initial plan was to start at a very diligent 10 minute pace, but I glanced down at my watch after a few minutes and noted my stats. You can see below that my plan clearly fell through. I surprised myself immensely.

Splits:

Mile 1: 9:02

Mile 2: 9:05

Mile 3: 9:07 <—-Saw a disgusting opossum kidney along the course. I kid you not.

Mile 4: 9:04

Mile 5: 9:05 <—-I did a complete body check before making the choice to run through the additional loop banner as opposed to the finish line banner. I felt good enough to continue on, and so I did.

Mile 6: 9:01

Mile 7: 9:05 <—-Saw the disgusting opossum kidney once more. Gag.

Mile 8: 8:54

Mile 9: 8:50 <—- Hello!

Mile 10: 9:01

Avg HR: 172 bpm

Max HR: 189 bpm

Resting HR: 61 bpm

This is quite possibly the derpiest finish line picture ever. I always think that my finish line photos will look awesome-sauce, but then I’m left to stare at something like this tragedy. But at the same time, I also love this picture because it once again reminds me that I chose to chase fear and stomp it to the ground.

My pace was pretty consistent until I decided to pick up the pace towards the end of the race. The last mile ended up being slower than anticipated because my calf muscles started feeling extremely stiff, so much in fact, that I legitimately thought that I was going to biff it and land face flat on the pavement. Therefore, I stopped to walk for about 15 seconds and once I started back up, I felt good again! It was really strange. Aside from that predicament, I can’t recall any true discomfort during the race. And I still feel pretty fan-freaking-tastic! Good sign! Very good sign!

On a side note, I didn’t take in anything during the race, no water, nothing. I was afraid of losing my focus, but I also didn’t really feel like I needed much of anything to begin with. Naturally, I would’ve given my body what it needed if I felt compelled to do so.

Results:

Overall place: 100 out of 125

Age group place (20-29): 18 out of 41

5 mile split: 45:57

Clock time: 1:31:41

My official finishing time for 10 miles on the nose was 1:31:30, which is 38 seconds faster than my time of 1:32:08 last year (same race, same course). While 38 seconds may not sound like much, I’m absolutely thrilled to accomplish this as I’m continuing to bounce back from an injury, sans speedwork! I didn’t think that I still had this pace in me given my most recent training runs, but there’s obviously something magical about a race and something more magical about a finish line. The finish line feels like home for me. I found my way home again. I’m back.

Post-race bliss! The 2 girls on the right are fellow members of the Steel City Road Runners! The girl in the pink jacket is actually one of the runners that I’m currently coaching to run the Pittsburgh Half Marathon. This was her comeback race too, and I’m super proud of her!

After I got home from the race, I took my mom out to lunch since we don’t get to spend as much time together as I’d like to. We both agreed on keeping it simple, so we went to Eat ‘N Park for breakfast. It was lunch time, but we were both craving breakfast. I’m the type of person who can eat breakfast foods for every single meal and never ever get sick of it. Pancakes hold a special place in my heart. Flat circles of carbohydrated goodness. Lo and behold, I ordered the whole grain pancakes and a side order of fruit.

Nom City.

And to further celebrate my success from the morning, I couldn’t help but treat myself to my favorite cookie ever…Eat ‘N Park’s famous smiley cookies. Sean hates them, and that absolutely breaks my heart. :( But I feel like he should at least learn to love this little guy since he is full-blown Irish and all.

Even with your droopy eye, you were still quite scrumptious.

I rarely eat them, but when I do, they taste glorious! Well, most not-so-good-for-you treats taste extra amazing when you choose not to have them often…to me anyway. After the Pittsburgh Marathon last Spring (May 6, 2012), I had a smiley cookie in each hand, and I unshamelessly ate both.

This was literally a few minutes after I finished. I had cookies in my cheeks, haha. After running 26.2 miles that morning, I think it was well-deserved, no? Oh, how I truly miss full marathon training and the marathon distance itself. I’ll get back there again. Patience, Adrian, patience. All in all, I had a fantastic morning, and my happiness/pride carried with me for the rest of the weekend.

This has been an intense week!

Since I had no choice but to drop down to the Pittsburgh Half Marathon, my training has been cut in half - shorter runs 3 to 4 days per week. It’s been an emotional battle, but instead of sulking and throwing pity parties, I’ve decided to use my extra time to focus on something positive until I’m safely able to run longer distances again. I made the decision to start the P90X program this past Sunday. I’m very excited to see my progress and transformation as I build my body’s overall strength.

I need this challenge. I need something to keep me from conjuring up negative thoughts. And this is the perfect opportunity for me to connect with the areas of my body that have been ignored for quite some time.

I’ve already finished the first week and let me tell you…so far, I love it. It’s not a walk in the park by all means. And I surely didn’t expect it to be. Except for the weekend, I’ll be waking up at 4 A.M. every single day to complete a P90X session before work.

My favorite workout so far has been Plyometrics, which translates into “jump training”. There were hundreds of airborne moves, squats, lunges, and more that had me soaked in sweat by the end. My heart rate increased all the way up to 167 beats per minute. Keep in mind that my resting heart rate is in the low 60s. This workout requires a ton of cardiovascular fitness, which is right up my alley, so I certainly got the job done.

The hardest workout so far has been Chest & Back. Why? Two reasons. Pushups and pullups. At the moment, I can’t do a single pullup, so I’ve been supplementing with a resistance band as suggested in the P90X program. As for the pushups, I’ve been doing a modified version on my knees, but I sill give it everything I’ve got on any particular day.

As a matter of fact, any move that involves arm strength is my current weakness. I think that I will see the most progress with my upper body strength/muscle definition since I currently have wet noodles for arms.

I also find Yoga pretty challenging because I’m not very flexible. And I’ve already talked about my sweet coordination skills, so the balance poses left me looking like a Weeble Wobble. One of the balance poses was crane, which is very advanced for me.

Instead of the risk of bouncing my head off the floor, I decided to stay in child’s pose until they moved on from crane. One of my goals is to be able to steadily hold crane by the end of the 90 days.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are highly intense days for me. Both days, I’ll complete my scheduled P90X session in the wee hours of the morning, go to work for 8+ hours, then come home and go for my planned training run. Tuesday’s run was without a doubt…noteworthy: The temperature outside wasn’t too bad, but it was raining, and the wind started picking up. I’m usually a huge fan of running in the rain, but around the halfway point, the rain turned into hail. Being pelted in the face with ice balls doesn’t feel all too well. Then, I endured 5 drive-by tidal waves. Car after car drove past me, and another wave of water covered me from the waist down. Thanks guys. But you know what? I still ran happy. I enjoyed this run, despite the elements, and it’s a run that I won’t soon forget.

On Thursday morning, I did Legs & Back + Ab Ripper, and then I ran 6.2 miles after work. This run was uneventful, but here’s my recap: My breathing has been so choppy lately, which has been affecting my pace a bunch. I’m still getting over a lingering cold, so anytime I’m outdoors, the cold air aggravates my asthmatic symptoms, and I become highly congestive. I did feel good otherwise. It’s going to take a ton of work in order to get my pace back to where it once was. I know that I have to remain diligent and patient at this time. But I did it once, and I can certainly do it again.

Oh and I was totally flabbergasted with my finishing time.

Seriously? 1:01:01?! I could never pull that off again!

Friday, I released a ton of pent up tension and anger with P90X Kenpo. It involved a multitude of punching and kicking moves with a few brief cardio intervals (high knees, jump rope, jumping jacks, and X jumps). It went by extremely quick because I was having so much fun! Here’s a very tragic picture of me amidst X jumping…

Total derp face. I clearly need to work on this move. I’m sporting Dorothy Beal’s (aka Mile-Posts) I RUN THIS BODY shirt. It’s one of my favorite shirts ever! Those bins in the corner are jam packed with running and general workout gear. And there’s my wall of motivation in all its glory.

This morning, 7 miles was on the agenda. As for P90X, today is a “rest or stretch” day. Here’s my recap: There’s nothing quite like a solid run to revamp my confidence. The snow and wind didn’t keep me from running happy, and I was more than thrilled to finally run with the group! It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve been able to attend a group run because I’ve been paying close attention to my bum knee - it’s been finicky. I volunteered to be the pacer for the 7 mile, 10:00 minute group. The 16 milers and 7 milers ran the first 4 miles together, and then we split off in opposite directions after the Birmingham Bridge (evil, evil hill). Upon that, I was the only pacer in my group. My group did fantastic! There were several slick areas, but we all managed to kick it up a notch for the last couple of miles, even with the challenging stretch across the 16th Street Bridge. We finished RUNNER OF STEEL strong! I’m super duper proud of every single one of them! Some of my runners completed their longest run to date this morning! Woo-hoo! We high-fived each other after finishing! I loved the enthusiasm! And being told “thank you” after bringing them ‘home,’ gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. You don’t need to thank me. You guys did the work too. :)

Splits:

Mile 1: 9:59

Mile 2: 9:55

Mile 3: 9:51

Mile 4: 9:51

Mile 5: 9:47

Mile 6: 9:35

Mile 7: 9:27

New coaching gear!

I’m so ready to bring my A game during the 2nd week.

I turned my before into an after and my after into a forever.

You can too.

My week in a nutshell…

This past Monday, I decided to focus solely on strength training. My workout consisted of squats, lunges, hip ab/abductors, leg press reps, dead lifts and a multitude of core work. I felt great, but boy did I feel it for the next 2 days! The next day, I’m surprised that I didn’t leave work with “penguin” as my new nickname. My inner thigh muscles were screaming, so I developed an uncontrollable waddle throughout the day.

Delayed onset muscles soreness (DOMS) is the worst! I wasn’t feeling too confident about my 5 mile run that I had planned after work on Wednesday, but I still decided to give it a whirl. I started at a relatively slower pace on the treadmill and progressed from there. Once my legs were loose and warmed up, I felt pretty good until the last mile. My legs suddenly didn’t want to move anymore, and I felt like I was going to fly off of the treadmill. Also, my breathing was super choppy - I’ve been having some trouble controlling my asthma lately. I don’t know how I managed to finish this run, but I did, so I’ll take it. It’s normal to have a rough day every now and then. I try not to let those days discourage me.

Thursday, I focused on cross training by utilizing the CrossRamp machine. I love this machine! It’s been helping immensely in maintaining my cardiovascular fitness while get my iliotibial band syndrome under control.

Friday, I wanted to keep my run short, but sweet. My goal was 4 miles at a 9:30 pace. Even as my speed progressed throughout the run, I felt great. I was able to surpass my goal pace, which left me feeling confident. I’m not sure how on earth I ran 4 miles in exactly 37:37. I know that I have a lot of work to do before I can get back to my pre-injury pace, but I have no doubt in my ability to get there. I finished up my run with my longest wall sit to date - 5 minutes! I was shaking, and my legs were on fire, but my goal was 5 minutes and 5 minutes it was. I also noted how much worse bruises look as they begin their healing process.

Yesterday, my main goal was to run 8 miles at a sub-10 minute pace. I’m not really sure what my goal is for the Pittsburgh Half Marathon. I’m more concerned about re-building my weekly mileage as opposed to getting my speed back to where it was. I don’t feel that it would be a good idea to focus on both factors until I personally feel ready to do so once again.

I decided to run on the Boston Bike Trail because it’s flat, and it would allow me to focus on my running form. I jumped on this opportunity since the trail was finally snow/ice free! It was also “warm” enough to complete a pre-run warmup comfortably.

Splits:

Mile 1: 9:48

Mile 2: 9:31

Mile 3: 9:32

Mile 4: 9:36

Mile 5: 9:46

Mile 6: 9:47

Mile 7: 9:52

Mile 8: 9:46

Avg HR: 162 bpm

Max HR: 173 bpm

My splits were all over the place, and I’m not exactly sure what happened during the 2nd half of this run. I felt awesome, but my pace certainly didn’t reflect it. As a matter of fact, this run was just all around wonderful. I saw a small handful of runners, and we all gave one another the runner’s nod of approval. I got an intense runner’s high, and I never had the urge to stop.

Scrunchy nose. Post run.

I felt like I could’ve kept going and going, but then I would’ve risked re-injuring myself. I didn’t have any noticeable pain during this run, but I felt some twinginess in my left knee upon finishing. But once I stretched and rolled my leg muscles, the pain dissipated. Still no aftermath pain! Phew!

I was happy all day long. I closed up my day of bliss with a fun night of bowling with Sean and his friends - well, now they are my friends too. The last time we went bowling was on our 1st date. Bowling is not exactly my forte as I’m the most uncoordinated person ever. I’m the type of person who would still manage to get a gutter ball even if the bumpers were up, haha. I think my highest score was 80 something, and my lowest was 30 something for the night. I still had fun, so that’s all that matters to me. My nickname on the big ole’ bowling screen was “Rocky’s Wife”. Sean’s was “Sean John Silver.” Yeah, I don’t know either…

I should’ve known better than to wear skinny jeans with bowling shoes.

Then again, my fashion statement can’t nearly be any worse than this monstrosity that I found in Target this weekend. They are on clearance. SHOCKING.

He may be a butt-head at times, but…

…I love him. (PS. He better never buy me the moon shoes pictured above.)