Realization of the day

If these legs can run 12 miles and I can't find a pair of pants that fit right, that's the fault of the pants, cause there ain't nothing wrong with my legs!

I am amazing

I am really really amazed at myself today. I ran 12 miles... Our run today was the Stanford Dish - which is suuuuuuuper hilly, and then around Portola valley, which was much flatter.
The dish (hilly) section was about 6 miles, and Erin and I only walked up a few of the nastier hills and down a few of the nastier hills. Because really, running up huge hills you feel like you're running in place, we seriously walked faster. And I know this because usually one of us would start walking and start beating the other person. Once that was done we had 6 miles of reasonably flat reasonably shady terrain. We'd stretched at aid station, and said, OK, we can do this. And we went for it.
We did the last 6 miles with no walking!!! I've never run 6 miles without doing the run-walk thing, and to do that immediately after 6 miles of mostly running on crazy hills?
I am so impressed with myself. And with Erin, the greatest running buddy ever.

Go team! Wooooooo!!

This week

This was an intense week running wise. I couldn't do my normal crosstraining at lunch time Monday or Wednesday, so I ended up just running. This is what my week looked like:
Monday: Ran 3.5ish miles around town
Tuesday: Track practice
Wednesday: Ran 3.5ish miles around town
Thursday: Ran 4ish miles around town
Friday: Yoga/Pilates class
Saturday: Rest day...spent the whole day reading Harry Potter 7
Sunday: Ran 4.6 miles (after I finished reading Harry Potter)

My run today was awesome. I was dreading it, but it turned out really really good. I just ran straight down Cowper for 2.3 miles and turned around and ran back. It took me just over an hour, and the most exciting thing - I RAN THE WHOLE WAY. No run-walking, no resting, I just went for it. I ran pretty damn slow, but I didn't have to stop and walk, and I'm not even dead! I've never gone that far before, it's one of those signs that really shows me how much I'm growing. The first week that we went 4 miles I was at my limit, and now I can just go do it.

The marathon is still a little daunting, but if I keep improving like this, it's going to be awesome :)

And we're into double digits!

Today our regional run was in Woodside. It was trail running, which means lots of hills and prickly plants trying to poke at me from next to the trail. Rough terrain, narrow pathways, heat and hills make running a lot more diffiicult. I went for 10 miles.
The first 6 were really good, then the 7th I started getting really tired, I was getting cramps and my stomach was hurting. The 8th - 10th mile I walked almost the entire way, cause I was just miserable every time I tried. Yuck, I just felt gross.
But I still made it 10 miles! And even though I pooped out and had to walk a lot, I feel like I learned a lot about how my body works. Much more liquid the day before and the morning of, more whole grains, fiber, and eat eariler in the morning before running...which means waking up even earlier.
Came home and filled the bathtub with cold water, put in a couple of trays of ice, and sat. Then showered, napped, and went about my day.

Running on my own

Last night I ran 5.4 miles. I know I've run farther than this, but this was the first time I did it on my own. It's alot different to wake up at 6:30 in the morning, go meet 100 teammates, have aid stations, and the trail marked.
I went to Lake Lagunita on Stanford Campus...which is really just a big hole in the ground, I can't imagine when it last had water in it, although it still has signs that say "No lifeguard on duty" and "boating at your own risk."
I used my new $6 Target watch to time myself, so I ran the whole way doing 5 minutes running with 2 minutes recovery. It kept me pretty steady the whole time, it was great.

I also used my new fannypack water bottle holder thingy, which was really wierd. And I ate Jelly Belly Sports Beans, which were tasty.

I think this running thing is becoming a habbit......

In the water

OK, I found a (blurry) picture of us in the water in Half Moon Bay. Good times!