Addicted to Sugar

Running this week has gone really well so far. I have run three times since Monday, only two more runs to go. Recently the run hasn't been the hard part its going out in the cold. After every run all I want is roasted red pepper tomato soup with grilled cheese, three dinners in a row.

Monday:
Great 4 mile run, would have gone farther if I had time. It surprising how much my body seems to remember about running. Even if I only run once in a while my body gets right back into it. I was surprised on Monday how easy 4 miles felt, it was fun. I am just constantly in shock over the difference in running this year compared to last. Its a whole new game. Monday was great. I ate alot of sugar after, oops.

Tuesday:
Was a fast three mile run. I didn't have much time to get into it and there was alot of traffic on the sidewalk. Good and easy, pretty good speed.

Wednesday:
SO COLD. Running in the cold is hard. It is nice not to be as thirsty all the time but so painful. I decided to run the Ben Franklin Bridge (windddy and cold). I am trying to practice hills on a weekly basis since the DC marathon is hilly. Hopefully it will pay off. I felt pretty good about the run. I didn't have my watch so I have no idea of the timing. I ran around 6 miles in total.

The rest of the week I hope to run another 6 miler and 12miler. I know that the 11-12 miler will happen but I am having a hard to fitting in the other 6 miler.

Feeling like I am in marathon training, woot.

Lea

Running in the Dark

Feeling very proud of myself after a great three-mile early-morning run today. After five weeks of living and working in DC, this was the first time I actually got out of bed and ran before work. Something I hope will become a much more regular occurrence in the weeks to come.

It was COLD, windy and dark. It’s been 30 degrees for the last week. I had no idea that temperatures in DC got this low and stayed there.

The other facet of running in DC that has been a shock to my system is the hills. The entire city seems to be going either up hill or down hill, sometimes gradually and sometimes sharply. That was definitely not the case in Philly and South Jersey.

So far so good with the marathon training plan. Two weeks nearly done, fourteen more to go!

Leslie

Philadelphia Half Marathon

Its been 2 weeks since my Philadelphia half marathon. I meant to write earlier when everything was fresh in mind but It got lost in many other tasks. The run was great! I did it in 2:23mins.

I feel really good about my time because its such an improvement from last year. I also hardly trained for the half marathon and it felt easy... until the last hill that took me to the last 1.5miles, then it was difficult. It was really astonishing how good I felt throughout the run. Miles 1-8 were a joy! Yes a JOY! I love this course because it takes you through the some of the best parts of Philadelphia.

Unfortunately, I have let myself go since half marathon. There was Thanksgiving, and then... I got a cold... So I am starting running today. I plan to run four miles. I am going to try and run 4-5 times a week until the Shamrock Marathon in Virgina Beach.

Also, Leslie recently moved to DC making it pretty hard for us to run together. We are going to use the blog to keep each other motivated so when you notice someone writing with superior knowledge of the English language, you will know that it is Leslie.

Hopefully In my next post I will be able to tell you how my butt I have been kicking by running.

-Lea 

I am not Air Jurek...

I know it was so sad for me to realize too. Unlike Scott Jurek I have been completely preoccupied the last few months. I have run on average once a week. Everything is about to change. I am training for the Philadelphia Half Marathon on November 21st, 2010 and then I will go on to do the Shamrock marathon again in the spring. I really do love running but my life has been all over the place and I haven't been able to make time. Things have slowed down so here I go again!

Air Lea, air!
Run Lea, run!

I'm excited to run in the snow, really I am. Also another change is that Leslie, my running partner, will be moving to DC! I know! So we will be in a long distance running relationship to keep us running lonnng distances. We are going to use this blog as a way to support and keep each other accountable.

keep on trekking on!

Okay soo... I never told you...

..I started marathon training two weeks ago!

Its been going well so far. We decided to use a training plan that schedules us to run 5 times a week. I haven't made it past 4 yet. This week I think I may be able to brake my cycle. It has been so hot and I have been so busy that I have had to miss one day each week. I am hoping to break my bad cycle.

I am in the bad habit of running real slow. I think that I just get so comfy and distracted. I just don't realized I am going so slow. When I push myself to go faster it isn't impossible to go faster but I forget to push. I need to keep my attention on it. A GOAL. Another goal is to do weight lifting and abs more regularly. I have been doing them more but not regularly. We are also working in hills this time, very excited.


I'm ready to kick-ass this marathon!

New PLAN

Sometimes I think that I run more for the calmness it brings my mind then my want to be fitter and stronger. At this moment in my life my mind is LOUD. For some reason when I’m out running it quiets and lets me enjoy the fight with the pavement. Running isn’t easy but its soooo helpful. I’m getting excited for our next challenge. We have signed up and made a training plan for the Philadelphia Marathon. It will also be my one year anniversary running. Within my first year of being able to run more than one mile I will have run 2 marathons, 1 ½ marathon, and broad street. I think that a pretty good first year.

My time goal is ambitious for the Philadelphia Marathon but I think it is also doable. I think this marathon will be much easier this time around. It was basically impossible feeling last time so there is only up from here. Yesterday I ran a very slow 7 miles. I’m really into distance but because I haven’t been running much its hard to do distance a good pace because I’m out of shape. Getting in to shape now, please.

My Love Letter to Running

Dear Running,

You have been so good to me and I appreciate the pain and the happiness that you have brought me. I am so glad I found you nine months ago. You have changed me and my life. I have decreased the amount of miles a week I have been doing significantly. Now that the Broad Street run is over I can start to focus back on distance. I don’t want to lose my speed but I want to go back to weeks where I will run a minimum of 35miles. I feel good when I run distance. I am excited about running in the summer after Broad Street. It was challenging but it felt good. I am going to use running as a way to find focus this summer as change happens all around me. I feel good and I want to keep feeling good. You help this. I miss you even though I haven’t stopped but I have been running less because of stress in other parts of my life. Running, I’m coming back to ya.
love, lea.

PACE PACE PACE

I want to change my pace. I have had a really good time running really long distances very slowly. I now am very focused on running shorter and longer runs much faster. I feel like I am re-teaching myself to like running. Running fast feels reaaaaal different and much more difficult. Today I ran 6miles at a 10min pace, which felt like a challenge. I am going to keep experimenting with challenging my natural SLOW pace and  teach myself to be much quicker. Its actually really fun to be "fast". Everyone's idea of fast is different. I think that all of my paces are considered by most runners as slow, but thats okay with me. When you run fast your body feels like its working really hard and you get home faster which is nice when you've been at work all day. Faster equals lots of endorphins!!

I think one of the things I like best about running is that there are quantitative outcomes. There are so many things that I try hard at in my life that don't have as clear of outcomes. I run more= running becomes easier. I run faster= i can run longer faster. I really like hoe the amount of self motivation can really affect how well I will improve. I work hard at running faster and I am confident that running fast for long distances will become easier. My body will rise to the challenge, thats pretty neat. As always running feels pretty darn good. Inspiring every time I put my feet on the ground.

Long Lost Blog

Okay I took a reallly really long break from my blog...BUT I'm back! I have been doing some runs nothing longer than 10miles. I am getting back into it and next weekend I will run 15miles. I am really excited because i'm going to start training to do really long bike rides too. I love this weather its so easy to be active.

Schedule:

May 2nd: run broad street
July 4th: ride bike to long beach island
Nov 21st: RUN MARATHON


I may do a lot of other things in between but thats what I am thinking at this point. I want to incorporate long runs into my schedule all summer. I am a bit afraid of the heat but i think i am working it out. Running has been really challenging for some reason but I am hoping that I will find my groove again.

Finished My First Marathon!

So I really did it. I finished my very first marathon. It wasn't easy it wasn't fun all of the time but it was rewarding everyday and every mile. Thank you again for all of your support.

The marathon: I started out strong I was running easy 12min miles for the first 14 miles, I think. And then... Something happened. My whole body started to hurt and I slowed down. I tend to get a little down on my running skills but I want to try and take the high road and be pleased with my accomplishment of finishing a marathon. I did it! I ran 26.2 miles, that is something when seven months ago I couldn't run 2 miles without stopping. So this is just the beginning. I really have learned to love running! I want to try the marathon thing again! I think I can grow off of what I have learned this past weekend and rock it next time. I cannot wait to get out there again!

WHOHOOO I AM A MARATHON RUNNER!

I could have not done this marathon without my amazing running partner Leslie and my friend's and family's support and love. Life changing weekend. 

SO FREAKIN CLOSE

4 Days from now I will be in the middle or running my first marathon. I am nervous and excited as always. The weather used to be scattered thunderstorms but things are looking up since this morning. It is supposed to be party cloudy and 70 degrees (HOT HOT HOT!). I have no idea what to wear now that the weather is supposed to be so warm. I have a lot of stuff to do tonight.




WISH ME LUCK!

ONE WEEK

Today marks a week from my very first marathon. It has been raining alllll weekend. Very grey and very miserable. I ran 5.5 today because of the weather. I would have run longer but I was getting so damp from the rain that I thought 5.5 miles today would do. I have so much excitement and nervousness for this coming week. I can't believe that it is finally a week from the marathon. The first of many!

I don't know if i'm prepared but its happening in 7 days!!! And then off to Puerto Rico for 6 days and 5 nights!

I hope this works out! I can't wait to feel the satisfaction of running the marathon. I love running.

10 days till marathon!!

I did my last 10 mile run tonight before the marathon. I'm planning on running 8 on saturday or sunday and then taking it easy and doing just a few 3-5 mile runs next week.

Tonight's run was actually really fun. I felt great for the first 9 miles. I felt light and strong! I think that eating vegan has helped my body feel better when I run. I felt like I was just galloping along, it felt really natural. I'm really pleased that I have gained more than anything a sense of ease and pleasure when I run. I was skeptical that I would every get there. I also wore the exact clothes that I plan to wear during the marathon. Everything worked out. I'm a little worried about being too warm or too cold. I'm not really sure what to do about that. My plan at this point is to wear long pants and a long shirt.

Anyway.... I am very excited about the marathon. Still a bit nervous but extremely happy too. I love the idea about feeling to physically strained and content with myself. This is something that I never thought I would every do! I have exceeded my athletic expectations of myself! I can't actually fully except that I have become a runner because it feels so surreal. After having such a pleasant run it is hard to ignore that  YES I AM A RUNNER!

Thanks to all of the support of my friends and family your support has been amazing and extremely helpful.

Feeling REAL GOOD!

"[He] coluldn't quite put his finger on it, but his gut kept telling him that there was some kind of connection between the capacity to love and the capacity to love *running*. The engineering was certainly the same: both depended on loosening your grip on your own desires, putting aside what you wanted and appreciating what you got, being patient and forgiving and undemanding." Chris McDougall (Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen)

I Finally Feel Better

Today was my first day feeling better after my awful head cold. I ran 4miles after work. It felt good but my stamina feels like it has weakened because of my cold. Hopefully with some good workouts this week I will gain it back. I can't believe the marathon is 13 days away. I feel like its going so fast. I am really nervous and scared. Tapering feels good but I am loosing my confidence in my distance running. I think i will gain it back as this week goes along and running starts to feel better after my cold.

13 days! CRAZY. I will be focusing on my food and my runs this week. My goal is to run 26 miles this week at the least. Today I ran four in 42mins and 23seconds. Hopefully I will run faster as the week goes on and I rebuild my strength. I am also going to weight train 6 days this week.

Very excited. Very nervous. Very excited. I wish Scott Jurek was going to be there.

Tapering feels AMAZING!

We have begone our tapering. We ran 10miles yesterday and have another 20 left to go for the week. I am coming down with a really bad head cold. I am hoping i will be able to make up all of my runs this weekend. I am trying to WILL my cold away. I've been trying alot of vitamin C all day. I am really hoping i feel better tomorrow. I wont to do all of my miles this week. So hopefully I will write more this weekend about finishing my runs for this week!


RUN, RUN, RUN, GOOOOO.

The next step

Yesterday was the last long run I will do before our marathon in 21 days! We ran 17miles but i'm not sure how long it took me. My legs felt like they had been threw the washer machine. I don't think I fully recovered from my 24mile run last weekend. I think its just been a solid two weeks of a good amount of miles from 47 miles last week and 35 this week.  I am very excited about our 21 days of tapering. I think I will focus on having faster runs and also doing a lot more weight training to keep up my muscle tone. Very excited for the extra time to recover and focus on other things. I am also going to try to eat dairy only on Sundays. Leslie and I are going to do it together. Tomorrow I am going to start planning out some meals and keeping a long of what I am eating.  I am going to try and see what Scott Jurek is talking about.


 I am so jealous of the Mardi Gras Marathoners today I hope they had a great run. It looked like a really fun marathon. The weather has been awful but I am hopeful that its on the up. I just hope that the sun will be out during our marathon. 


I'm off to watch the very exciting hockey game with Canada and the United States, its getting really good.

Thursday

Thursday end up being usually a good running day for me. For some reason I am able to push myself to go faster on Thursdays. This Thursday was pretty good. Yesterday I had a really hard 9mile run with Leslie after work. I just felt like I couldn't do it for some reason. I felt beaten before I even started.

Today I ran inside on the treadmill. I ran only 4.12 miles, I had intended to do more but got lazy at the end. I ran the 4.12 is 40min which is good but I want to be running faster on my short runs. I have a goal that is feeling more and more out of my reach as the days go by. My goal is to train to run 9min miles for the Broad Street run on May 2nd, 2010. I am feeling a bit over-whelmed by my goal but I want to keep reaching for it because whether or not I reach it I know it will challeng me to build my speed. I will end up faster either way then I am now.

Thinking about the progress I want to make has me looking back at the progress that I have made. When I started running in late September for the Philly Half Marathon I was struggling to run at all and my pace was a 12min mile at the fastest. Now if I am not concentrating on running a distance I can run a 10min mile if I focus. So maybe I can build off of my experience and growth to make a really large improvement in my speed.

I am mainly focusing on the Marathon that is now 24 days away! I am thinking about food and my eating patterns for the next 24 days. Today Leslie (my running comrade) and I mapped out the rest of our training! I am so nervous and excited. My nerves have me searching for reassurance and information. So I stumbled upon some great information. I listened to a really great radio show with Scott Jurek (hero) and Chris McDougall (person who gave me such good information) that was on Doctors forum. Check it out: http://www.pcrm.org/doctorsforum/forum_archive.html.

After listening to the show I am thinking about being a vegan for 21 days and trying to visualize running more than 26.2miles which Scott has done over and over and over again. He has run 100miles races in the mountains and the heat. I'll be just running in the mild Virgina Beach flat marathon, how wimpy! Maybe one day i'll be as hard core. I am feeling excited about all of the growth and miles I have to go! THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING!

Rain rain and more windy rain.

Today and yesterday's plans of running have been ruined. Usually the weather wouldn't keep me from running but the last few days have been miserable. I have become addicted to running. My days haven't felt satisfying without it. I feel like I'm forgetting to do something but wait no I've made a decision not to run, I'm not forgetting.  I have really missed it. As long as the weather improves and my resilience is refound i will run the next four days and rest on Sunday. After this week Leslie and I start tapering to reserve our strength for the SHAMROCK MARATHON! Instead of running I have been cooking. Yesterday I made falafel and today I made saag paneer, i think that both were a success. I have made falafel many times but saag paneer was completely new. If I had a camera I would have posted a picture. I followed a recipe very loosely. Using alot of garlic, onions, spinach, cumin, curry, marsala, salt, kefir, and yogurt. It was not as rich as what i have eaten at a restaurant but delicious anyway. Goodnight friends! I need to sleep in order to accomplish the runs i have planned for this week. I will report back soon on my progress.

25 days 8hrs ...

This blog will have some stories about my life and my journey to out-run the antelope..everyday. Determination has become a close friend of mine.

Over the last 6 months I have taken up running. I have never been a runner in my life but always fantasized about having the ability to run because it felt good. I am beginning to get there. Last week I had a break through. I ran 10 miles three days in a row and ran my longest distance ever of 24miles. In total I ran 47 miles last week. I believe my breakthrough happened for a variety of reasons. 1) I made all of my runs and added miles 2) I read most of "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall. I am completely obsessed and inspired by the ultra runners and the Tarahumara tribe in Copper Canyons of Mexico. The book has many inspiring ideas and stories about running and the anthropological reasons why humans are meant to run long distance (hence my blog title "out-runningtheantelopes").  Here is a link to a Washington Post article about the book: Book Review "born to run"-Washington Post. I recommend everyone read it! It really inspired me to think differently about a bunch of things in my life. I believe running is a big reason that the last 6 months of my life have been so enjoyable. The endorphins are real!