I know there are a lot of people who are discouraged about becoming a runner.

Believe me, I never thought I would be training for a half marathon! Yet, here I am, Garmin strapped to my wrist and my face still rosy from having just completed a 4.5 mile training run in the cold. [...]]]>  

I know there are a lot of people who are discouraged about becoming a runner.

Believe me, I never thought I would be training for a half marathon! Yet, here I am, Garmin strapped to my wrist and my face still rosy from having just completed a 4.5 mile training run in the cold.

And 4.5 miles is a “short run”!

I used to be a “sprinter” in high school. I think I was the 3rd fastest girl in my grade. I loved to run fast but I dreaded running for a long time. A couple months after my knee injury and subsequent surgery, I began to run on the treadmill a bit, to get back into shape. At first I could only go for 15 minutes before I had to stop. I worked my way up to 30 minutes before giving it up. 

In university, I remember going for my very first real outside run with JH. (JH has been a “real”  runner for a long time. She was even on the cross-country team in university for a year.) I remember getting outside and realizing that it was cold. We started running and my ears began to burn with pain as the cold wind blew into them. I was out of breath within 10 minutes. I told her to run ahead. And I gave up on running once again.

At some point in my Senior year, I decided I wanted to try running again. I’m not sure why, but this time I was much more motivated. So JH and I went. And this time, I didn’t give up! We went on more runs! I remember the first time I ran for 40 minutes I was SO proud of myself.

I continued my running after graduation. I was up to running for an hour! A co-worker of mine convinced me to train for an 8k race with him. I thought with all the running I was doing, why not channel it into training for a race! So I did! I soon began to understand the love/hate relationship with running. When you’re in training mode, sometimes running just HURTS and some days you just DO NOT want to run anymore. But I persisted. And my persistence paid off and I placed 15th out of 80 in my age category in my very first race!

I definitely developed racing fever after this and immediately signed up for a 10K race a month later. I continued to train hard and ended up placing 56th out of 490! (There were a lot more participants in the 10k).

 
Above is my friend Alli and I showing off our participant medals after we finished the race.

And then after that… I took a break from races. I actually took a break from running altogether for a while.

I think it was a much needed break. I needed to do something unstructured for a little while.

But now, I’m back to training! It feels really good to have something to work towards!

Running isn’t for everyone. Running is HARD. I’ll admit, during today’s run I was FREEZING and out of breath and sore.

Running takes a long time to get “good at”(whatever that means, right?!) and it takes a lot of patience. It’s not something you can DIVE right into, because you might get injured. So you have to take it slooowww. I started out only being able to run for15 minutes. 

You get out of it what you put into it. And, on some days, like today, it HURTS!

So, why do we do it then?

Because finishing a good run makes you feel like a million bucks. Because getting your second wind when a heart-pumping song comes on your ipod is such a rush! Because it’s a CHALLENGE! Because you can do it anywhere, with anyone or with no one. And because running makes you feel STRONG, ACCOMPLISHED and HEALTHY!

Why do you run? Or why don’t you?

On the way out I grabbed a Tropical Fruit Tart Larabar.

After some errands around town I came back for a late lunch.

Hmm it looks sorta gross in [...]]]> So in order to stick with my drink more water plan, I carried around my trusty pink CamelBack (BPA free of course) with me all day!

On the way out I grabbed a Tropical Fruit Tart Larabar.

After some errands around town I came back for a late lunch.

Hmm it looks sorta gross in picture form but I assure you it was delicious!
Lettuce, tomatoes, the sweeeeetest red peppers, strawberries topped with a crumbled amy’s california burger. Dressed with some EVOO and apple cider vinegar. Plus some Food Should Taste Good “The Works” chips and a side of water bottle

So I decided to go for a run today.
Um..it didn’t go so well.
There’s something you should know about me, I have THE WORST sense of direction out of anyone I know. Seriously, I was born without that part of my brain or something. Combined with my lack of memory skills this led to an interesting attempt to run across the Brooklyn Bridge this afternoon.

And what’s hilarious is that, I’ve ran there… SEVERAL times! Never by myself.. but still. Already knowing I wouldn’t remember where to go, I google mapped the route.  Sadly, Google maps led me astray. I totally followed the directions it gave me but needless to say I did not end up at the Brooklyn Bridge.  I wasn’t lost because after realizing I was not getting anywhere near the BB, I just stuck around the area I was already in. Which happened to be the worst.running.area.ever! I think I did more waiting at stop lights then actual running. And there were so many people I had to walk a lot of the time. I guess that’s NYC for ya.

I really have to 1) Figure out the way to that bridge and 2) Get me some decent running routes!

Here are my stats from my garmin for what it’s worth: 

HA! Oh man… well at least I got out there for 43 mins! I feel like my actual running time was probably 20 mins and my waiting at stoplight/walking through huge crowds was the other 20! I haven’t run in while, so something is better than nothing, right?

I came home and made myself a yummy dinner:

Brown rice pasta + roasted veggies (zucchini, red peppers, yellow squash and crimini mushrooms) with San Marzano tomato sauce. 
And an un-pictured side of water bottle.

This is definitely one of my go to dinners, veggie pasta,  it’s just so quick, so easy, so tasty and so healthy! I had 2 bowls of that deliciousness. Sometimes I make it into a baked pasta dish by layering it lasagna-style with a bit of mozarella and parmesan cheese and then bake in a casserole dish for 30 mins. So yum!

I’m off to find something sweet (some dried mangos perhaps?) and then go out for a bit of exploring! The bf is working late tonight. Hopefully we’ll be able to go out for a late night drink or something.

Hope you have a fantastic friday night!