7 Miles

I experienced my first "COLD" run this morning!! 43 Degrees and I WAS FREEZING! Joints felt tight! I never seemed to loosen up and I thought I really should have with those HILLS this morning!! Wore Nike Compression Capris, tank, Dri Fit long sleeve over it, Dri Fit Headband. NEED gloves for sure next time and I'm also going to try to do shorts, tank, arm warmers, skull cap to see how that works before San Antonio in 2 weeks.

Kept my pace slower since my calf has been hurting me after last week's race.
Felt good.
11/2 cups of coffee and a banana this morning. 4 oz of water during run.

*side note* GO TO THE BATHROOM before leaving the house even if I don't feel like I have to! :o)

Day 2

Cool morning, felt great. Legs still feel a little stiff, especially my lower right leg between my knee and ankle...not excruciating, but definitely aches...wonder how long this will last?

Tried to pace out each mile, 11, 10, 9:30.
Happy with 10:23 average! Showing improvement! :o)

Day 1 Austin Marathon Training

Today was Day 1 of Austin Marathon Training, Hal Higdon style! Our first week will be:

3,3,3,7

Should be interesting switching from runs by the minutes to runs by the miles midweek now. Here we go!

The Chosen Half Marathon

Details over here!

Now We Begin Marathon Training!!!

Kim and I before our 1st Half Marathon 10/23/10

This lady has been by my side from DAY ONE! She keeps me laughing, is always there at the crack of dawn knocking at my door or picking me up for a run, follows along on my crazy NEW plans/ideas! It all started with a little 5K, moved along to a 10K and jumped on over to a TRIATHLON (totally HER idea though!), now it's 2 half marathons in 2 weeks and then on over to our FIRST MARATHON in February!

We began with doing walk/run intervals and while training for this half, Kim agreed to ditch the intervals and straight up RUN! And we did it! WE ARE RUNNERS!!!! :o)

It only took 2 ladies and some crazy goals and here we are! Running with a buddy is the best and I HIGHLY encourage any of you out there with an idea to maybe try something NEW, grab a crazy friend and GO FOR IT! It is LIFECHANGING! We run for different reasons but I don't think either of us would be where we are if we were doing it solo.

So what's next for us? Hmmmmmm......Boston......Ironman......WHO KNOWS! LOL

Love you Kimmers!

MY FIRST HALF MARATHON!!!

RACE WENT GREAT!!!!

More details to come!

Garmin Time: 2:27:08
Miles: 13.15
Pace: 11:10


I BEAT MY GOAL BY 2:92!!! YES!!

Tomorrow I RUN!

Tomorrow I run my FIRST HALF MARATHON!!! I am beyond excited! NOT nervous, EXCITED! For some reason I've totally been discounting this race, making it seem like it's NOT a big deal, but it IS! It's hard to feel like it's a big deal when some of my friends are doing the FULL at the same time. But I'm over it, for some reason, I am just over it. Just like that! I've prayed for my negativity to be lifted from my heart and IT HAS!!! I am joyous! I WILL CELEBRATE my success tomorrow. :o)

Adrianna made some signs for me (ALL ON HER OWN, NOT PROMPTED BY ME!!!) along with a bracelet for "good luck"! It has the first letter of everyone's name in the family and is the BEST gift I could receive! :o) I made TShirts for the kids, and yes I know it's probably a little silly since it's only a Half Marathon but I'm ME, I CELEBRATE EVERYTHING!

Even though I've run this distance twice during training this race is something different...it's what I've trained for! I will finish, and I will finish STRONG!

After talking with a friend the other day I started thinking, "Why do I run?". It's a good question and I think the answer is much more simple than I thought. I wanted a reason that sounded "uplifting" , "motivating" , "glamourous" ....ha....but truth of the matter is, it's simple:

I RUN TO PROVE I CAN GO THE DISTANCE AND MAKE IT TO THE FINISH!

My life seems to have been filled with TONS of challenges, LOTS of obstacles to overcome, MUCH insecurity, and a whole lotta hope in what is to come. The theme in my life is typically, "knock me down, so I can get back up just a little stronger than I was".

I'M A FIGHTER.

I PERSEVERE.

I AM STRONG.

I WILL NOT QUIT.

Running has magnified these phrases for me.

It has made me realize my value.

You go out there with lots of stress, different things to think about and focus on and you leave it on the pavement!

TAKE IT OUT THERE AND LEAVE IT THERE!

Very wise words from a running friend of mine....SO VALUABLE!

So tomorrow while I line up with all my friends, some doing the half and some doing the full, I will be happy for them and encourage them along,

BUT THIS IS MY RACE! :o)

Last run before the Half!

Treadmill by ginaauditore at Garmin Connect - Details

Well, that's it! With Chris out of town I had no choice but to hop on the treadmill in the garage and push out a quick 30 minutes as my last run before Saturday! I went today and got my gels and gum and am now all set! Going to attempt to make little tees for the kids with 13.1 appliques on them for race day since I didn't get around to making halloween shirts and now have 3 black shirts I bought last year...LOL! :o)

I've been working on my iPod, spent some time this morning praying about Saturday's run, praying for my calf muscle and drinking lots of water today since Saturday is going to be warm...joy! Ha!

I would like to get my Garmin setup to beep at each mile and to beep if my heart rate gets too high...hopefully I'll get that done before we head out to New Braunfels tomorrow afternoon. I'm picking Adrianna up and heading to the hotel an hour and a half away, then joining friends at Carinos for pasta dinner! Chris will meet us at the hotel straight from the Austin Airport around Midnight (hopefully I'll be sleeping, but I doubt it!) Will mix up my Accelerade bottles for my fuel belt in the morning and pack up my gear!

• 11/2 hrs before start, eat toast w/peanut butter and drink coffee.

• 1/2 hr before start eat banana

• I take my grose Tangerine Gel 2xcaff 40 minutes into the race

• 80 minutes into the race I take my Razz Clif Shot (o caff)

• Hour 2 I take another PB Tangerine, not sure if I need to be doing this or not but I felt fine during the 14 miler . Haven't decided if I'm going to do this or not but will bring it since you aren't supposed to do anything different on race day! :o)

Focus for today and tomorrow...drink my water!!

GETTING EXCITED!!!

3 Miles

Hated the humidity today but felt fine! My face was RED HOT!!! LOL

3.02 Miles
33:40 minutes
11:02 Pace

Easy 10K

I started this run off worried since I hadn't really run much during the week since we had just came home from vacation and my legs HURT! A very trusted running source told me to NOT focus on injury, just take it easy and listen to my body which is just what I did.

It took about 2 1/2 miles for the pain to go away in my right leg but then I felt great. Didn't push myself so overall it was an easy run!

6.2 miles
1:16:39 time
12:21 pace

I should have run Monday AND yesterday but really had to recover from the weekend!! We got home at 1am yesterday morning and I was BEAT! I didn't think running the 14miler, showering and packing up to head out to lunch and airport was going to be that big of a deal...but add the 2hr time difference when we got to Vegas and the rush I got when we arrived, I couldn't "relax"....LOL!

There was no way I could have run yesterday, I could barely walk! I am concerned why my right lower leg just ACHES after these runs when I push myself...is it supposed to hurt? I hobbled for the first 5 minutes or so today but then felt fine. I don't know, this is all new to me...I'm a NEWBIE runner for goodness sake and am just trying to figure it all out!

Ran today at 9:30 and it was GREAT! Weather was awesome, sun was shining....this was the perfect morning for a run! I felt like I was awake and energized!

2.9 miles
30:00 min
10:42 pace

14 Miler!

Well, it was my LONGEST run to date and it was AWESOME!!!! Felt great, no stomach issues, NO PEE BREAK....just a really great run! Made me feel confident about the Half Marathon coming up and excited about the long runs for my marathon training! :o)

Took an ice bath as soon as I was able to creep up the stairs and then we were off to Vegas for our 10 year anniversary!!! Walked all weekend, half the time in heels....ouch! LOL

14 miles
03:05:49
13.16 avg pace

Pushed myself today for sure! Started off with one sore shin, ended with two sore shins and a side stitch but I feel okay now so that's a plus! :o)

I tried to drink some Accelerade to see how my stomach does before Saturday's 14miler but I couldn't swallow it...did NOT like it! I think I may have measured wrong and will have to check it out to make sure.

I'm really torn about this training thing. Not sure what to do. Some say PACE TRAIN, HEART RATE ZONE TRAIN, JUST RUN.....oh boy, decisions, decisions.....

I think I'm going to order this book today but may see if I can get out to take a peek at it first.

Untitled by ginaauditore at Garmin Connect - Details

Trying to track my training using Garmin Connect instead of Daily Mile. I love that it has all the elevation and heart rate details but I can't figure out how to track the miles for my shoes or how to have the little widget on my blog...hmmmmm!

Untitled by ginaauditore at Garmin Connect - Details

Sore Throat, Ear Aches, Congestion....ugh...

Oh these allergies will be the death of me!!! Is it allergies? Is it a cold? Gotta love living in the Austin area...NOT!!! I don't know what's going on! I do know that two of my good friends both got sick right before they did their triathlons so what goes on in your training? Does your immune system get compromised when you are running and/or working out 4+ times a week? Why do alot of us get "sick" symptoms when we are doing something that's supposed to be "healthy" for us!?

I'm only running 4 days a week and watching what I eat, but maybe I'm not eating enough? I don't know!! I wish I had a nutritionist sometimes I swear! Just give me a meal and running plan and keep it stupid simple for me PLEASE! Well I know that's not going to happen so the internet is my friend or maybe my enemy..."frenemy"???!! Who knows! All I know is that this whole training thing is new for me. I can follow a plan, but it has to be put in very simple terms...the more complex the less "fun" it is and we all know Gina needs it to be fun! LOL

Not sure what I'm doing...

Taking Zyrtec...check

Drinking Emergen C twice a day...check

Trying to get better at my water intake....check

Trying to stay on the vitamin bandwagon...check

Oh Consistency...where are you?! I NEED MORE CONSISTENCY!

Well, off to brunch with friends and then my 4 miler today!

Happy Sunday!

Getting excited about my first Half Marathon in 3 weeks!! Not about doing the 13 miles, but more about it being the halfway point to doing my FIRST MARATHON in February!! *WOOT*

I'm doing this race to support a very special family in their journey to adopting a child from India. If you'd like to read more about it, check out their story over here. You can also donate to their cause on that page.

GO TEAM SEARS!

The Real Me by Natalie Grant

This song came on my iPod this morning and it helped me get through my run. The allergies, coughing and tailbone pain was making it tough for me today!