Friday, December 31, 2010

2010 Send Off

What do you do when the following things are true:
  • It's December 31st
  • It's 50 degrees outside
  • Your training plan calls for a rest day
If you're me, you go for a run.  I couldn't think of a better way to end 2010.

Distance: 3.0 miles
Time: 27:11
Avg. Pace: 9:04

This was massively better than yesterday's 3 miler.  I don't even want to think about that one, I'll just give the stats for the sake of being honest.

Distance: 3.0 miles
Time: 32:30
Avg. Pace: 10:50 (Ugh!)

Anyway, I'm off to consume some goodies (cheese, crackers, shrimp and vino) with The Husband.

Have a Happy New Year!

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

A Flurry of Activity

It's been a crazy busy couple of days in Furball land. It all started last night when I got home from work (running late as usual), suited up against the arctic temperatures and headed out for the first 3 miles of training for the Eau Claire Marathon (124 days from race day - now 123). I used this run to start breaking in my new running shoes - the Adistar Salvation 2.0 (I have over 400 miles on my previous pair).



Things did not go according to plan. The first mile was okay, but after that I had to stop approximately every 1/2 mile to re-tie my shoes so I didn't feel like my heel was going to come out of them! On top of that, the front of the shoe is so stiff that my foot didn't really roll properly on each step, so I felt like my feet were sort of "slapping" the pavement. Sigh. We'll see what happens after they get a little more broken in. I loved my first pair of Salvations and I really don't want to have to go through the process and expense of finding another shoe to run in!

Anyway, my last mile was uphill and into the wind. Ugh. Let me say now that I've never been happier to get back into my warm house!

Tuesday's Running Stats:
Distance: 3.1 Miles
Time: 29:22
Avg. Pace: 9:28

After that, I jumped in the shower, attempted to sort-of blow dry my hair, added a little make up and Mr. Furball (aka The Husband) and I were off to meet some friends for dinner.

While we were there, one of our friends mentioned that his company is doing a team running event in February (Valentine's weekend) and they were in desperate need of more females to run for them. Of course I agreed immediately, so I now have my first race of 2011 scheduled for February 12th. It's an 8k (approx. 5 miles) course and it's practically in my backyard. Yay for not having to travel to a race!

The five of us at dinner also discussed doing another race later in the summer. Doesn't this look wild?!?!

Warrior Dash - Minnesota

It looks like I'll be organizing a group of somewhere between 4 and 15 people to do the event in Minnesota in July 2011.  I can't wait!  I've never done a mud run before!

Finally, it looks like Mr. Furball and I will be destroying painting and redecorating our home office this weekend.  Stay tuned for before and after pics as I attempt to channel my inner Young House Love and enjoy New Year's Eve and Day festivities!

What are your plans for New Year's?

Monday, December 27, 2010

How Do You Eat An Elephant?

Management types and motivational speakers have asked and answered this question ad nauseum, but I think it makes sense in this case.


I'm going to attempt to eat one of the big elephants of distance running 18 weeks from now. I want to run another marathon. More specifically, I want to run this marathon:


From past experience (read: I've only done this once before), I know that the next 18 weeks of training aren't going to be easy. There will be days that I just don't want to work out. There will be days where it's cold and snowing. There will be days when I'd much rather see friends than go for a long run by myself. I also know that at the end of those 18 weeks there will be one day where I get to cross the finish line of my second marathon and spend the next few months feeling like I'm ten feet tall and bulletproof. If you've never had that feeling, I highly recommend it!

So here goes nothing!

(Per my training plan, today is supposed to be a day of rest, but since I was feeling antsy, the husband and I went for a freezing cold 5 mile walk!)