6.62

Wow. I did it. The longest run I've ever done in my entire life.

Not so bad!

I ran pretty slow and steady the whole time. I was honestly pretty anxious about running it. The hardest part - hands down- was just getting out there and doing it. I felt more confident with every mile, but also stayed cautious to make sure I didn't overdo it.

It was a really nice run, it's 79 degrees outside- so strange, but I'm not complaining. At the beginning of the run, my new shoes kinda hurt the arch on my left foot. I just kept running and eventually, I stopped noticing it. I also felt my IT band starting to tighten up right as I hit about the middle of the run, but again, just tried to take it easy and keep going.

Here's a screen shot of my route, from Carrboro to the Old Well to Gimghoul and back to Umstead:




I also double-knotted my shoelaces to make sure they didn't untie while I was running. I didn't anything breaking my pace and my focus.... also meaning I was more tempted to stop running this time than usual. I did stop once at the Old Well to get a quick sip of water. I figured it wouldn't hurt to do that, since I'll be stopping at water stations during the half 'thon also. Plus, legend has it that drinking from the Old Well on the first day of classes would make sure you got good grades all semester- why it can't be a good luck potion for me while I train?

I also noticed that flowers are starting to bloom- there were daffodils in bloom and trees in the Arboretum with pink flowers on them. Looking a lot like spring, bring it on!

This is the point in my training where things really start to get serious. A week from today, I do 8 miles. I've decided that I want to dedicate this training and the half marathon to my mom. Anytime I start to feel like I'm weak or I can't do it, I think about how strong she was, and how she always encouraged me. She knew I was strong, too, and she knew I could do whatever I set my mind to. When I was running the Gimghoul loop, I noticed a shallow wooded ravine that reminded me of the view from the top of our Mountain Farm, where she's buried. She used to go up there to re-fuel and calm her mind. I try to think about how hard she fought and channel that strength to keep my mind open and help me keep running.

Tough week ahead, starting with 5 miles tomorrow.

3.10

Yesterday I ran the Torch Run 5K, put on every year by Raleigh Law Enforcement for Special Olympics North Carolina. My Uncle, Keith Fishburne, is the President of SONC, so my sister and I always try to go to as many of their fundraising events as we can. I like 5Ks or other events that benefit some cause- I feel like there's no reason any race or half marathon shouldn't have a good cause to donate proceeds to. The Quintiles Half Marathon is donating to a few charities, although I have to say I don't know much about either.

The Tarheel 10 miler in April donates to the UNC Lineberger Cancer Center, so I'm excited to contribute to that. I think it's especially important that I contribute to SONC this year, because they're losing funding due to the state budget cuts that are being implemented. This is one of my favorite Special Olympics commercials- I think it really illustrates the importance of this organization, and it's sort of a "lightbulb" moment for people who might not get it yet.

Special Olympics PSA: "Fantastic"

The route yesterday was definitely more difficult than last year- I definitely felt challenged. There were a lot of gradual hills, one right after another. Usually most of the routes I run are pretty flat for the most part, with only 1 or 2 hills in the mix. But I still did ok- my time was 27:41, with a pace of 8:55- woohoo!!! I came in 8th place overall for my age group (20-24 Females)- wow! So even though I felt like I was doing worse than usual, that's a pretty good pace! It's not my best 5K time (I think last year I did 27:20... or maybe 26:20, I can't remember), but I had to stop twice to re-tie my shoes. So annoying. I had my race chip tied into my laces, and I was worried if I didn't stop to re-tie, I'd lose the chip.

I also got new shoes yesterday from Fleet Feet in Carrboro. I've been using the same pair of tennis shoes now for.... at least 2 years. My uncle and sister were like, "Stacey.... go get new shoes TODAY." They say you're supposed to get new shoes every 6 months, depending on how often you run. So I'm excited to break the new pair in! Guess I'll be doing that today when I do my 6.5 miler.....aaaah!

Went to the The Umstead Spa yesterday and got a massage with Cassy. Holy crap it was amazing. Awesome deep tissue, I felt so rested and relaxed. I'm definitely going back for another one, my therapist was really great and knew I was training so he knew exactly what areas to focus on. It's an expensive habit, but in my opinion, there are worse things I could spend my money on.

Today is 6.5 miles. That will be the longest distance I've run in my whole life. Wish me luck, will post later.

4.17

I am exhausted.

Seriously. The definition of today's run was struggle bus. I'm talkin at least two flat tires. I don't think I'm getting enough sleep, but I'm also doing more intense workouts than before. This week I'll have worked out 6 days out of 7, and I'm currently on day #3 of 9 straight workout days in a row. I did it to myself- I chose to sign up for a bunch of free classes at HEAT in Raleigh and I'm doing a free triathalon cycling class on Tuesday. Why turn down free classes? Plus, I needed to change up my cross training routine anyway.

But... like I said, I'm worn out. I ran so slow today. The temperature was nice, not too cold. I wore more layers than I needed to. But I was soooo sore from the cycling class I did with Callie, Elisabeth and Lindsey- my butt hurt so bad from that damn bike! I'm definitely investing in biking shorts/pants (they have padding- whoever came up with that did the biking world a favor).

I think I've gotten a little too overzealous signing up for 5Ks and marathons and 10 milers... I need to chill out with that, even though I'm glad I'm enthusiastic about trying new things and pushing my physical limits. But part of pushing your limits is knowing them- I need to pace myself here. I signed up for the Tarheel 10 miler on April 9th with Callie, and I think Lizzy and I are going to sign up for the Ramblin' Rose triathalon on May 22nd. Saturday I'm running the SONC Torch 5K (my schedule has me doing 3 miles that day, so it's perfect). But I know myself, and I have tendencies to stretch myself too thin. Girl gotta get her lazy on sometimes!

On that note, I gotta get some sleep. Night people!

2.40 + 5.04 + 4.27

Haven't written in a while, I know.

Did the 2.4 in Dylan's neighborhood on Saturday. It was pretty easy, nice run. The houses in Asheville are so gorgeous. The weather was awesome, we sat on Dylan's porch all day and just chilled. I LOVE Dylan's house. It's honestly my dream house, and the beds are literally the most amazing beds I've ever slept in. It was perfect for all of us to stay there for the weekend. The pics in this post are some of my favorites from the weekend.











And then... BASSNECTAR!!!! We all got tickets and had a great time.




Sunday was Rachel's birthday, me, Cassy and Justin got up early and made everyone breakfast. Then we had to get on the road.... I had 5 miles to do. All I can say is, thank GOD for Smart Water and 5 hour energy shots. I felt awesome on my 5 mile run, which was really surprising considering the weekend-long party and how exhausted I was on Sunday. But the weather was great, I felt really strong, and I just really enjoyed the run. I felt so great when I got to the point where I new the run was almost over, it was the first time where I started to think that maybe 13.1 miles won't be so bad...

Today, Callie and I ran together again, we did 4.27 miles. It was a lot colder tonight than it has been in the past few weeks, so we were both a little reluctant to do the run. But, we did it! And it felt pretty good. Just goes to show you how much mentality can make a difference.

I signed up for the Tarheel 10 miler today, and I'm also doing my first class at HEAT Studios in Raleigh with Callie and Elisabeth tomorrow... guess I'm drinkin the Kool Aid now.

Til tomorrow... when I may be in a not-so-chipper mood, as I'm currently playing a Glee Drinking game with Garrett and Lizzy. Yeah.

3.09

Same route as Monday, much, much slower. My calves are so tight! It kinda hurt to run, I just did a lot of post-run stretching. It was a nice night out, not too cold. I was really lazy and tired tonight. I guess it really does make a difference what kind of diet and lifestyle you have- I think I felt lethargic because I ate my weight in Los Pos last night, and took a shot of Aristoshit Tequila. Had to! It was Ross's bday/welcome-back-from-Germany dinner!

I'm not wild about this three mile route, it's just an extra mile onto the 2 mile run I do on Umstead. The extra mile at the beginning and end of the run are on Estes, and there's no sidewalk and always lots of traffic. I don't like it so much... but it's well-lit and it's convenient.

One cool thing, I saw a fox. He was Fantastic. (Ha! Don't say I didn't warn you.... the Vernon Humor Disclaimer was given many posts ago.)

I think I'll try to meditate tonight. Maybe see if I can get some better sleep, since that's been rare recently. I don't really know why. But it's extremely annoying that I seem to have a hard time sleeping and have tense shoulders.

That's all for tonight. I'll be doing a 2.5 mile run in Asheville this weekend, I bet that'll be nice. Til then.

3.09

I ran faster today than I usually do. I got out of work a little early, and I really wanted to try to run before the sun went down since it was so warm out. It got to 70 degrees!!! It was kinda fun pushing myself, too.

I also ran fast because I had to meet this girl who was selling me her Bassnectar ticket!!! We got 2, we need 2 or 3 more tickets for this weekend's show in Asheville (I'm so excited to visit Kat and Rachel!!!!!!!)

Tomorrow, Ross comes back from Germany.... so I pretty much scheduled my week of training around that, and the insane amount of Mexican food I'll be eating tomorrow night... oh yeah, and Asheville this weekend....

4.30

This is the longest run I've done so far- and it was a beautiful day! Callie came with me, and it was really nice having her to run with. Sometimes it's really good to have another person there for support and to help you take your mind off the run (especially if it's a longer one and you're sort of dreading the distance). But in this case, I enjoyed both the company and the run.

It's 58 degrees out- PLEASE CAN IT PLEASE STAY LIKE THIS??? No more snow! It makes the runs so much better to have daylight and warm weather. Hopefully on the day of the half marathon it will be both- I'm sure it will, March 20th is late enough, I think...

Not much to report here, felt pretty good on my run. We ran at a good steady pace, hit a couple of good hills to keep us working hard. Just glad to be outside and enjoy the weather and do something to feel good!

3.13

I was supposed run 2 on Thursday and 2 today, but I skipped Thursday's run because I felt terrible and was super paranoid about getting the flu that EVERYONE and their mom seems to have right now. Johhny, Schwei, Kat, and my coworker Jason all have it, and supposedly Lizzy is getting sick too. I was just really worn down on Thursday after work, and I thought maybe it'd be better to try to rest and take it easy instead of pushing it, getting sick, and possibly falling behind even more.

So today, to make up for it, I did about 3. I'm guessing on the actual distance here, I used a new website to map the route called WalkJogRun.net. It's pretty cool, it uses Google Maps/Google Earth, which I like because I can actually see the Bolin Creek Trail and accurately map it into the route. (I was using MapMyRun.com, which was good too, but the maps weren't as accurate.) The other thing I really like about WalkJogRun is that I can see tons of routes that other people have mapped out and saved, with a brief description. I think that will be helpful when I start adding on extra miles and don't already have a route planned out.

Lindsey sent me an interesting article this week about training for a marathon with the right diet, it was pretty good. Some of the tips from the article that I'll try to follow are:

-Eat within 15-30 minutes after finishing a run to ensure proper recovery (I'm eating a yogurt and grape nuts right now)
-Your meals should be roughly 1/3 carbs/grains, 1/3 protein, and 1/3 fruits and veggies- carbloading isn't the best thing for running
-Before a long run, drink water about an hour before for the best hydration
-Stop at the water stations and gulp (not sip) your water
-You are allowed to eat cheeseburgers sometimes!!! (Great news since it was McGriddle Friday at work yesterday.... oh yeah. You're jealous.)

Phew. Starting to feel better here- today I felt so sluggish running. It may have had to do with the fact that I stayed up kinda late, slept in til 12:30, and didn't eat or drink anything before I went. Actually, that probably is everything to do with why I didn't feel so great. But, I ran slow, got it done and I'm feeling better now. It's a gorgeous day out, currently 51 degrees, sunny-- perfect day for a run. I should've just left my iPod at home, for all the help it was.... all of the songs on Shuffle were killin me! Nothing hype, nothing inspiring, all of it was just.... slow and sluggish, like I felt, so I kept changing the songs a million times.

Small confession: I only ran halfway up the hill, and then cut through a path to the parking lot. I did run through the rest of the parking lot, though. For whatever that was worth.

I think I've found my next event after I finish this half marathon- the Ramblin' Rose triathalon! They have them all over NC, but there's one in Raleigh on May 22nd (and one in Chapel Hill on October 9th, but that's a bit too far away to commit to right now). It's a 250 yard swim (5 laps), 9 mile bike, 2 mile run. I think Lizzy and Garrett and I might do it together- I'm trying to talk Schwei into it, but.... I won't hold my breath. Anyway, looks like it's totally do-able. Especially for someone like me, who might as well be swimming in a baby pool. Not really, but I'm sometimes surprised I was ever a lifeguard. I've just never been a strong swimmer. (NO REILLY, I'M NOT SAYING I CAN'T SWIM....despite the weird rumor you tried to make up about me...)

Alright, that's it for now... gotta go catch up on TV shows, or maybe read outside on the porch. Til tomorrow!

3.51

39 degrees and windy. Real rough to run in that kinda weather. But surprisingly not hard for me to run. Well, in terms of my energy, anyway. I can tell that it's taking a toll on my body, especially my joints. I just need to make sure I do a really good job of stretching before and after. Tonight I didn't stretch very well beforehand because it was getting late and I wanted to get out the door and do the run before it got too unbearable.

The worst part of this particular run is the fact that I CANNOT STOP COUGHING. Again with the asthma-like wheezy breath and hacking up half a lung. That's probably what I'm looking forward to the most about Spring and warm weather. And the fact that it won't be dark at 6pm... that just sucks. I'd be fine with the cold if it were light out.

I also think I just like running earlier in the day. Sometimes running at night is nice, but after a long day of work it's hard to be enthusiastic about going for a run. Especially when I walk in my room to change clothes and my awesome poncho-tent-blanket-hoodie-snuggie-but-way-better is looking me right in the face. (Yes, I am wearing it right now... if anyone was wondering.)

Until the next lung-freezing run... over and out.

3.50

Garrett came with me today, and we did the 2 mile run I usually do but adding an extra mile and a half on the Bolin Creek trail. That trail is one of my favorite routes to run, and I hadn't done it in a really long time. The creek was full from all the rain and was actually moving along. It was about 45 degrees out, which was pretty nice compared to the colder runs I've done this week.

Overall, it was a good run. I felt stronger and kept a better pace than I thought I would, and surprisingly I didn't have much trouble with the hill. For the last quarter mile of the run, I tried to up my pace a bit. It's strange to me that I felt so strong during the run, again because I went out with everyone last night. I woke up at 8am with a terrible headache and thought I'd be hung over all day, but I woke up around 1:30pm and felt fine.

Cassy finally showed all of us the video she made of the 5 of us (plus Dylan, of course). It was just random videos and photos of all of us from the past year when we lived together. She also put all our favorite songs in and had everything all timed out to the music. It was such a great gift- I think it might be one of my favorite things.

Pretty proud of myself for actually getting all my runs in this week, even with everything going on. Feeling confident and satisfied.

Alright- it's nap time. Need to rest up for the main event that will be tonight.

2.17

It's 36 degrees and drizzling. Not pleasant.

But I suited up and did it. I ran at a pretty slow pace, but steady nonetheless. I didn't feel like pushing myself that hard today, considering the weather and the fact that I went out last night for my birthday.

I even gave myself permission to walk up the dreaded hill, because I felt like just doing the run was good enough for today. But surprisingly, I ran up the whole thing. Maybe it wasn't so terrible because I just took it easy, so I didn't feel like I was ready to pop an air bubble in my lung by the time I got to the hill. Either way, got it done- and relatively painlessly. So I feel pretty good.

I had a fleeting thought that this was going to be as easy as it'd ever get, because starting next week I have to up the mileage. So much for my easy-peasy 2 milers. At least I can never pretend that doing an easy 2 mile run is really that painful- it'll be good remind myself of that when I'm trying to come up with excuses to be lazy after the half 'thon is over.

I also needed to do at least SOMETHING productive today, considering I had the day off and slept til 2pm. Glorious.

The birthday was pretty good, the sushi dinner was awesome, we had plenty of sake bombs, and then we went out for a more low key night, but it was nice to sit around with people and just hang out. At Sushi Love, we literally brought the entire restaurant to silence when we did the bombs- the first time we did it, we hit the table so hard that Lizzy's sake glass broke and a half full can of Sapporo fell over and spilled everywhere. And the sushi boat- seriously the biggest boat I've ever seen at a sushi place, and we ate every. single. piece. Of 18 rolls of sushi. It was amazing.


Before we went to dinner, I came home from work and my roommates had decorated my bed! It's the best...

And they got me the COOLEST super hoodie/snuggie/wearable blanket EVER from Urban Outfitters... I slept in it, I've worn it all day til I ran, and I'm probably gunna put it back on right after I shower. AND they got me an awesome Shark Encyclopedia book (I have a weird obsession with sharks. Cage diving with Great Whites is #1 on the bucket list.)









It's been so great having Kat and Rachel back, it's pretty much like they never left. It makes me very very happy. And it's not even close to over yet!!! Dylan should be here any minute, and then the group will be complete. I didn't realize it until someone said it, but a year ago this weekend was our huge Bday Rave Party... what an appropriate weekend for us to be reunited!

We'll see what happens with the 3 mile run I'm supposed to do tomorrow.... stay tuned.

2.17

I was realllly distracted and didn't wanna run today. First of all, I was really tired this morning... maybe because I don't ever go to sleep before midnight, and maybe because of the antihistamine/anti-allergy medicine I took that could've made me drowsy. Either way, even an espresso wasn't enough to stop me from wanting to pass out on my keyboard at work.

And I'm not gunna lie, I wasn't exactly motivated to run, even without the distraction of thinking about this weekend. (Kat and Rachel are coming TONIGHT!!! And against my better judgement, I may go out tonight with them even though I told myself I wasn't going to...) I guess there's part of me that enjoys having nothing to do when I get off work, having the option to work out if I feel like it or just relax, maybe go shopping, maybe go to dinner or whatever. As much as I need discipline to keep myself in shape, I also value down-time and not having anything planned or scheduled. I want to have my cake and eat it, too- big shocker.

Well, at least I did it.

And I ALMOST quit running and just walked up that damn hill... but I stopped running for a few seconds, then made myself jog up the rest of the way.

Now I can focus on the weekend ahead! (I'm not going to think about the two runs I still have to do this week until I have to do them.)