When you start running and your knee hurts before you get to the two minute mark…you know its not going to be your day. I am disappointed with my 2:41 finish (I’ve set PRs in every half I’ve ran and this was not one), but it was the best I could do today.

Today started off with a 4:35 a.m. wake up call and some foam rolling. I was out the door by 5:20 a.m. to meet my friend Brian to take the train downtown. We got on the 6 a.m. train. After finding the bag check and a quick bathroom stop, the race was about to start.

The weather was perfect! It was a little rainy, but my socks were dry the whole time so no complaints from me. Since I had knee pain from the beginning, I did a run-walk. I pretty much walked every four minutes. As the race went on, the pain traveled from my knee up my hip. Can we say IT band?

I was so happy to see my family at mile nine and then again at mile 11. They gave me that extra push I needed to finish and since I was running alone, I really appreciated that they got out of bed early to come see me.

Thank you to everyone on Twitter and Facebook for your support. Your cheers and well wishes made my day.

And now I am off to foam roll and probably cry…

Source

On Sunday, I am running the Pittsburgh Half-Marathon. It looks like its going to be another rainy one, just like last year. Fun.

After Sunday, I’m taking a break from long distances, including the half. I’ve decided not to run the NYC Marathon this year either. My knee really hasn’t gotten better, even though I’ve taken most of winter off from running like the doctor suggested. Since I’ve been training again, I will get random knee pains here and there. I’ve been training very conservatively and haven’t trained as well as I should have. So conservative, I’m afraid this is going to be my slowest race ever. I wish I could tell you this is not going to bother me, but it is.

In order to get a little faster and have a goal, my plan is to run a 5k each month of summer and run the Great Race again in September. I figure this will be a more reasonable goal, especially since I’ve started school again. Only two more summers to go! With school, I really don’t have the time to train for distance. Others may be able to do it, but I cannot balance it.

With a shorter distance to focus on, I’m hoping to get back into weight training more and attend a yoga class or two each week. I’ve never really worked on speed since I’ve been running long distances. I’ve only ran one 5k in the dozen or so races I’ve participated in. Fingers crossed that my knee issues don’t flare up and that foam rolling, icing and stretching keep it under control.

What are your summer training plans?

One semester of school down, eight more to go. Its been amazing to have my evenings free for the past week. I am going to be so sad when I have to give this up in a month!

I kinda got derailed from the marathon train during the crunch time for school. Luckily, I’ve kept up my long runs so its not going to be too hard to get back on track. I’ve been running with three girls that I graduated with from high school – they are running the Marine Corps Marathon the week before mine, which I’m planning to go to DC and support them at and one of them will be coming to NYC to support me. Its so nice to get up early on the weekends knowing a group is waiting for you to run (with bagels too!).

I’m running in two races before the big one – my first 10k at the Great Race on September 26 and the Hershey Half Marathon on October 3.

My training game plan for this week is:

• Monday – rest day
• Tuesday – 3 mile run
• Wednesday – speed workout
• Thursday – 4 mile run
• Friday – rest day
• Saturday – 8 mile long run
• Sunday – rest day

Its not perfect, but I’m still tweaking my plan and I have some commitments that are making me move things around. I have been slacking on the mid-week runs, so I’m keeping the milage light for now. One of the rest days will most likely be a cross training day. My goal is to just finish and enjoy the marathon right now. Once I get further in my training I’ll be able to decide on a time goal depending on how things are going.

Polly’s Yoga For Runners has been a lifesaver for me and if you haven’t done it you really should. I am awful at stretching before and after a run, so I’m trying really hard to make more of an effort to do so. If anyone has any good resources or tips for stretching, I’d love to see them!

What a day! It started with a 4:45 a.m. wake up call to be ready for my 5:30 a.m. ride to the Pittsburgh Half-Marathon with my friend Jen.We hung out in the parking garage with Julie for a bit until we headed over to the porta pottys and by the time we got thru the line, it was time to line up!

They were calling for rain and thunderstorms, but it was nice and overcast when we started the race. I was hopeful the rain would hold off since I refused to acknowledge the possibility of rain all week. It started to rain at mile 1.9 and did not stop for the entire race. I lost Jen before mile two and I think Julie and I separated before mile four or five. I felt bad leaving my friends but I knew we all had to run our own races.

And the rain was not that bad for the first half of the race. Around mile eight or so, I just got really annoyed with the rain. I was soaked to the bone and I could feel the water swishing around in my shoe. I was miserable. But, I was still able to hit 10 miles in about two hours. The last three miles were hard and I took a ton of walk breaks. Races like this show you what you’re made of. I’m tough and I don’t quit.

I really wanted to set a new half-marathon PR and get around 2:20 or better, but it just was not in the cards today. I finished in about 2:40. I’m kinda disappointed, but I knew I did the best I could today given the weather and my so-so training.

I just about fell over once I got to the finish. The chute for water/medals/food was pretty bottlenecked and the combo of not running almost caused my legs to give out. Luckily, they had a ton of food at the end, so I grabbed the food and went to sit down, so I could eat and let folks know where I was. Jen was going to come meet me, but she wasn’t able to because there was a bomb threat and they stopped the race! Luckily, they were able to take care of it and divert some of the runners. Such a scary thought since I ran right by it most likely!

I’m not feeling too bad right now, my hips scream every time I stand up and I think I’m going to have blisters given the wet socks. I took a cold bath when I got home and tried to keep moving today, so I don’t think I’ll feel too bad tomorrow. But, I do know I’ll still feel awesome for competing a race in less than ideal circumstances.

Thank you to everyone that offered words or tweets of encouragement and congrats, it is much appreciated and I love being part of such a supportive community. And major props to all the volunteers on the course who handled their duties with a smile, thank you!

P.S., Like the new name and design? I’m still working out some of the kinks, but I think its a great improvement over the pink so far!

After my ankle issues last week, I decided it was time to finally get new shoes. I realized I ran my last marathon in them and was WAY overdue.

I decided to not go with my usual Nike brand (I have brought the same pair of shoe four times in a row!) and decided to switch it up with Saucony, the ProGrid Guide 3 to be exact.

The shoe is good for an over pronator like me and I decided to get inserts for my low arches. I ran four miles on Saturday and they made a huge difference and I am kicking myself for waiting so long to get new ones. Since my training has been such a mess lately, I have until the end of April to work my way up to ten miles and will be okay for the race. I know I can do it. I feel so much better about the half now.

And on my run, I got pooped on by a bird, then came back to the house to find I was locked out and then had to wait 30 mins because I couldn’t get in and then had ten minutes to get ready to meet my Realtor. Way to start the day!

Found a place I kinda liked, but I’m still wavering. Going to think about it some more, but you can’t wait too long these days. So, if its meant to be, it’ll all work out.

Today I did some volunteer work and then celebrated my grandmother’s birthday. I made the cake below from scratch. Tomorrow is her birthday, but a lady never shares her age. Happy Birthday Grandma!

P.S. Anyone catch Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution on tv tonight? I think its a show that has some promise, but I’m not sure if he’s going to be able to accomplish his goals. Of course kids are going to choose pizza over chicken and rice. And you don’t mess with the lunch ladies.

I need to add about four hours into my day to get everything I need done. Or just learn how to manage my time better. So glad its the weekend.

Things on my mind lately:
* Taxes. If you are going to move from state to state, I recommend moving on December 31. That way, you do not have to do two state tax returns and deal with headaches. I am thisclose to paying someone to do it all for me, but I am not getting a huge chunk of money back and I’m cheap.
* House hunting. I started looking at apartments and was all like, $600 for a crappy place to live and no one was calling me back, so then I decided it would be much more fun to buy a place. Nope, my money does not get me what I want and I refuse to be house poor. Odds are looking very slim that I am going to find something that I like and can afford before the first-time homebuyer’s credit runs out. I am going to look at more places with my realtor tomorrow. Fun. Some days I feel like I am going to be stuck in my parent’s house forever.
* Meatless eating. Still going strong and have not given in! You try walking into the house and smelling homemade chicken soup and not eating it. I have eaten some fish though. My issue is planning meals and having space for my meals when the fridge is pretty full to begin with. Keep meaning to check some cookbooks out from the library and have not gotten around to that.
* Running. Now that it has stopped snowing all the time and the sidewalks are clear, its time to get back into my A-game. What I am running and what the training schedule says is very different. I have two months to get back into running shape. Very excited about going for a run this weekend that just requires me walking outside, no getting in my car to drive somewhere to run.
* Blogging. Finally brought my new domain name and am getting started on the redesign stuff I need to do behind the scenes. Speaking of blogging, I found out last week that I got a free conference pass by receiving a Bloghership. I must remember to scan my paperwork and send it in this weekend. I have the roommates and hotel taken care of, so thats one thing I don’t need to worry about until August.

That’s why I’ve been pretty low-key lately, I don’t have the brainpower to do anything else. Hoping to catch up this weekend!

Like my friend Julie, I just signed up for a certain 13.1 mile race here in the Burgh this spring.

I can’t wait to get back into training mode and hope to set a PR at this distance. This will be my third half, crazy!

Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving and good luck to those of you that may be running in races tomorrow a.m.!