the road goes on forever...

Warm up and cool down with a 2.5 mile tempo at 6:45.  Wanted to do a 5k tempo but wasn't able to hold on.

It's rained over 8 inches since intervals, which is why I haven't run. It's been crazy here, but today is gorgeous and sunny, with a high of 80.

Bending-over muscles are doing better, I took it easy on 'em the past few days. I can juggle 3 balls up to 4 rotations now, but that's it. It will be a while before I combine the juggling with the running. I'll let you know when I reach my next juggling milestone! 

A bunch of people from the track club did their last Boston long run today, so I joined them for part of it. It was a much-needed change of pace to run with other people.

2 easy, fartleked around for 3 miles, 1 easy. I enjoyed this no-expectations fartlek... I just ran hard for as long as I felt and then took however long I needed to recover. Sure it wasn't as good of a workout as intervals would have been, but sometimes a run you really enjoy is better for the body than one that is really hard. 

6 easy miles, with a half mile at 5k pace (it was supposed to be a mile but it was uphill and killed me!)

I had my oral defense today (of my written comps) and I passed, so I am officially a PhD candidate, and ABD (all but dissertation)! Yay! At least now I don't feel bad for letting my running suffer so much because of school; it makes it a little more worth it.

I have a 5k tomorrow, which at the beginning of the year I thought would be a chance at under 19 minutes, but because of school and other circumstances resulting in lack of training, I will now will be happy with under 20. But once again, my comps put this all into perspective and I hope just to enjoy the race no matter what. It's the second biggest race in Tallahassee and should be a ton of fun. I even have an after-race party to go to, and then an Easter celebration with my young adults church group. Should be a fun, busy day. Hope everyone enjoys their Easter weekend!

I accomplished all of my goals for this race: go under 20, don't be too hard on myself, and have fun. With my lack of training I was still able to run my second fastest 5k ever, which makes me really excited to see what will happen in the future when I have the time to train hard.

I attempted to recruit a bunch of girls to join in intervals and the track club, which will obviously mean more competition, but in most circumstances I'd rather run a good time than get a good place. I ran the entire race with Micah from the track club and it was a lot of fun, it almost felt like I was back on my college team. I also tried to recruit her and another girl on the track club to run the Disney marathon with me in January. It would be great to have people to train with!

As for race details, we ran negative splits, mostly because we went out a little too slow (6:26). I was okay with it though because I feel like I definitely used everything I had. The after party was at the Palace Saloon, and there was an after after party at a guys house, both of which were pretty fun, and I used to kind of celebrate my comps.  

Now I get to celebrate Easter with my bunny :)

Easter Bunny Story (Warning: My family is weird):

When we were little apparently my parents put raisins in the front yard to make it look like Easter Bunny poo, and we loved it. My older brother (27 years old) is very young at heart and to this day loves telling poop jokes. It's become a big joke in my family. So for Easter I mailed my family a care package with candy and other goodies... and sent my brother a baggie containing some goodies from my bunny. The baggie had a place where you write the contents, so I of course wrote "Easter Bunny Poo." Weird, I know, but he loved it and called me all excited about getting poop as a present in the mail. 

My parents hire a bunch of family members to work as secretaries in our tax office during tax season. My cousin Tasha was working the day the poo arrived (Thursday), and she is a complete germaphobe. So my brother decided to put it on her desk (still in the baggie of course) and say I sent it to her. She actually got really excited about it, and decided to use it for her kids who are at that stage where they love gross things like poop and puke. They usually leave a carrot out for the EB and eat half of it. This time, they also left a trail...

So my Lewis actually got to play Easter Bunny today! 

On an unrelated note, I had an interesting experience today. On Easter morning my church has a sunrise service at 7am at the downtown park, where homeless people often go after getting kicked out of the shelter in the morning. My church group (about 8 people) decided to get together to give them lots of fruit and bagels and juice. So we made bags and handed them out (we made 30 bags, were able to get rid of about 20, and then left 10 behind in the gazebo in the park).

I went back to check the status of the bags, and 5 gentlemen were sitting in the gazebo. I said good morning to them, and they were very interested in talking to me. So I stayed for a little, they told me about themselves, how they feel about Chelsea Clinton (I think they thought I said Chelsea instead of Kelsey) and some of their hobbies. One of them likes to read, and showed me some of the books he is reading. Another said his glasses broke so he can't read anymore and joked "his arms are too short" (because he can't hold the book far enough away). After I went back to church for a while, I was on my way home, and couldn't get over the fact that he couldn't even read if he wanted to. I stopped by Dollar General, picked him up some reading glasses (only 6 dollars) and a case so they would last longer. I also got some crackers and gum for the others (I figured if they don't brush their teeth it could help keep them a little healthier).  I went back to deliver my new purchases and they said "Chelsea is back!" The man who I gave the glasses to smiled and said "I can read again." The one who loves to read (who I just gave crackers too) hugged me.

I had odd conflicting feelings during the whole thing. During the actual church service in the park only one homeless man was present. He sat there right next to the pastor the whole time. During part of the service the pastor talked about Jesus' suffering, and different types of suffering now in the world (e.g. cancer, homelessness, addiction). When I visited the gentlemen to check the status of the bags, the one present through the service told me that he was there, and that we were talking about him- with the cancer, homelessness and addiction, although he is "no longer an addict, but an alcoholic". It's tough to see things like this and know that I can't really do anything to help them turn their lives around, I can only help them fill their stomach.  All five men at the gazebo were already drinking (it was 10am), and one was obviously very very drunk. He was the only one that was at all rude. He was very beat up, black eyes and scrapes, and apparently got in a fight with a woman the night before. The other men said they weren't letting him drink anymore for a little while, and that they had cut him off. He dropped an "F bomb" while I was there, and the other men yelled at him for cursing. Except when one yelled at him he said "don't use that g-d word" and he felt realllly bad and looked at me with wide eyes and apologized. I said it was okay, but the others said it was not. So I said, well I forgive you, and he seemed to accept that. 

The conflicting feelings come from the fact that if they weren't drinking they could have afforded all of the things I bought, although I do not think they should go without glasses and food because they are alcoholics.  If alcoholism and mental illness were not part of the picture I would feel more able to make a change in their lives.  I wish there was more I could do, but I feel pretty helpless with it all. There was that article in Runner's World about the girl who ran with the homeless people, but that is obviously impossible to do until they are sober (at least in the morning).  For those of you who didn't read the article, her program was very successful, made the men feel like equals with the doctors and lawyers and other people that they were racing, and many of them sobered up and ended up getting jobs, finishing a half marathon, and improving their lives.  I spoke to some people in my track club about it and they are very, very interested in starting a group like that, but I just don't think I'd have the time and resources to accomplish this during my time in Tallahassee. 

The man who loves reading said he reads in the gazebo every morning, so I hope to take him a new book some time soon, and maybe some breakfast every once in a while so I can use that time to hopefully provide a positive influence in his life.  Don't worry, I won't go alone (I promised Jason) and I will be careful.

If anyone has any ideas on how to do more I would love to hear it.  I think my church group could really make a difference if we new the right way to do it. 

Great run!  Best training run I've had in a while. Now I get to go pick up my Easter basket my mom sent me at the post office :)

intervals with the track club

2x1200- 4:36, 4:36

2x800- 2:57, 2:54 

2x400- 75, 75

another good workout, with good results and no pain. i am on a roll these past few days!

i am running a tempo thursday night with some people i have never run with before. i am excited to try to do more running in groups, and i know that although tempos can be miserable, they are a great workout. then i am running a 5k this weekend for the fun of it... should be interesting after a fairly intense workout week!

hope everyone is having a great week! 

Met up with a Thursday night tempo group and it was a lot of fun. Running with other people is awesome!! We did a mile warm up, then a 5k tempo (3.2 miles actually) @ 6:55, then a cool down. Not a bad time for a few hills and the really bad trail footing (sand and roots and stuff).

They just updated the Grand Prix standings and I managed to stay on top after the big races! Pretty exciting! I don't need to win but I would love to still plaec over all by the end of the year.

http://www.gulfwinds.org/grandprix/2009/grand%20prix%20standings%2009.htm

On Boston weekend I feel dumb talking about a teensy 5k but I will anyway! Went really well, it was perfect weather but the course was hilly and perhaps a little long so I am very proud of my time. There was no male competition there so I was only about 15 seconds away from winning it all! I really wanted it but couldn't catch the two guys in front of me. 

My splits were something crazy, like 6:16, 6:15, 5:56, and then my watch said I ran 3.17. Another woman's said about 3.2 as well. So I don't really know what happened, but I would be shocked if that last split was right. I did feel like I ran hard but that looks pretty impossible.  

This is the first race in a while where I was completely out of breath the whole time... which I am taking as a positive because it means I pushed myself hard. I knew I'd be close to a PR and raced the clock at the finish to no avail.

I am especially happy also because I worked out hard this week and it looks like it didn't hurt my race much.

Oh, and I won a plant. Sweet!

Very enjoyable 7-mile jaunt... started out 8:30 for my first mile as a warm up, then sped up with each mile ending at 7:22. 

6 x 800

All were between 2:52 and 2:58, except the last which was 2:43... I got "yelled at" for sandbagging but I think I just need to start out faster.  There is a faster girl that I am going to try to run with next week which will make it more of a challenge.

Still feeling great, no lower leg pain. Knock on wood. 

Ran with the same tempo group as last week, dropping over 30 seconds off my time (21:30 for a little over a 5k). This is about the time I would like to run week to week.

Just registered for the Disney marathon (January 2010)!! I am really excited about it, and glad I finally committed.

This probably means I won't be doing a fall marathon (I have a ton going on with weddings and stuff), but I look forward to taking the time to train and really doing this one right! 

It's a disgusting 82 degrees in my apartment right now. I like to test my willpower with the air conditioner.  It hit 90 degrees yesterday (outside not inside), meaning the hot, uncomfortable running weather is coming quickly. Booo. 

A few months ago I read on someone's blog that they like to try to get a little walking in after each run (if it is you let me know!). Ever since then I have successfully walked about half a mile after every single run. I'm proud that I've kept up with it and it's actually become somewhat enjoyable.  On an out and back I always make sure to go out further to get my walk in.  Today on my post-run walk some guy yelled out the window and told me he loved me. What a nice thing to say... I think. 

4 x 1200

This workout felt horrible. I haven't hit a wall like that in a while, and was very close to not finishing. But I finished, although embarassingly far behind the rest of my group. I guess some times you just have to suck up your pride. I think I was extra tired because I ran about 5 seconds faster than normal on the first two, so was put in group one. Since I was in the back of that group, I got 2 minutes less rest than usual. Anyway, it ended up with me going about 20 seconds slower on the last one... but I finished.

Grand Prix race this weekend, so I am going to take it easy the rest of the week. Judging by today's intervals my legs reallllly need it.

9 days til storm chasing. 

It's Wednesday but I decided to do a little research on my 1200s to make myself feel better. About 2 months ago I ran 4:50, 4:44, 4:37, 4:27.  Yesterday I ran 4:25, 4:25, 4:31, 4:4x. So not as bad as I thought, especially with the shorter break, it just felt bad. 

easy run, resting the legs up for the weekend.