RUN

“The greatest pleasure in life, is doing the things people say we cannot do.”

Philadelphia Half Marathon, November 2010

I DID IT!!!! I ran a half marathon, so now I’m looking for a new goal.  Any suggestions?

For those of you who are interested, I followed  Hal Higdon’s half marathon schedule, but got antsy and ran the 10 miles earlier than planned.  I also changed around some of the days to fit my schedule.  Twelve weeks is a long time, and if you’re like me, sometimes life gets in the way of working out.  During those twelve weeks, I had bronchi sinusitis (whatever that is), serious shin splints (I even got them x-rayed), and I started a new job.

That being said, I was a little nervous about not following the schedule exactly, but you have to listen to your own body.  If you’re too tired for a run, there’s no harm in doing it the next day (just make sure you get the long runs in at some point during the week).  I always made sure that I worked out at least 4 days a week (2 mid-length runs, 1 short run, 1 long run) and I tried to do yoga and some cross training.  Sometimes I skipped the short run if my body was aching or if I just simply didn’t have the time.  Please feel free to ask me any questions.  My e-mail is livelaughloveandrun@gmail.com.

ING Half Marathon: September, 2010

Were you always a runner??

Anyone who knows me knows that sports were never my thing. I was always that girl who was picked last for gym class. If someone mentioned the word running, I would cringe at the thought.  Actually, I’m pretty sure that I described my relationship with running as pure hate until about 6 months ago, so no way.. i was definitely never a runner.

6/21/09 Prostate Cancer 5k

Prostate Cancer Run 6/20/2010

If you’re so un-athletic, why are you writing a blog that incorporates running?

Although I was am very bad at any sport, I have always enjoyed a good workout.  I’ve avidly worked out for the last 4 or more years, and have been very dedicated to living a healthy life.  My workouts have/do include kick-boxing, spinning, swimming, pilates, strength training, Jillian Michaels, and I even had a personal trainer for awhile there, I just never had the motivation was terrified to start running.

A few months back, my cousin asked me if I wanted to run the Breast Cancer 5k with her and one of her friends.  Our grandmother is a breast cancer survivor so I figured this would be a great way to support her.  Although I was terrified to start training, and couldn’t even run for two minutes without wanting to stop, I decided that I would try it and walk if I had to.

My cousin later told me that she didn’t have time to train so we would be walking.  The night before the race, she called to tell me that her other friend wanted to run so she was going to try to run.  Keep in mind that I hadn’t run for weeks and could count the amount of times I’d run 3 miles on one hand.  I sucked it up, and ran anyway.  It was the most exhilarating experience to finish that race.

I couldn’t believe that I had been so afraid of something that was so much fun for me.  Since then, I have run 2 more 5k’s.  Although I’m a fairly slow runner, I’m not running for the time.  Instead, I’ve decided that my goal is to finish.  I figure that I can work on times later after I become a little more comfortable running.

I think that I was so afraid to run because it is something that is very hard for me to do.  At 25, I’ve had to train my body how to breathe, how to keep going when my legs want to stop, and how to push my limits.  My purpose of writing this blog is to show myself and others that the impossible is possible.  Hey, if “the girl always picked last” can do it, you can too!

Philadelphia Half Marathon: November, 2010

“Ability is what you are capable of doing.
Motivation determines what you do.
Attitude determines how well you do it.”

Race Times:

HALF MARATHONS

Philadelphia Half Marathon ~ November 21st 2010 ~ 2:08:53 (9:42 pace) (1/2 marathon PR)

Philadelphia ING Half Marathon ~ September 19th 2010 ~  2:15:08 (10:30 pace)

Philadelphia Half Marathon ~ November 22nd 2009 ~ 2:25:21 (11:08 pace wohooooo) (Garmin pace ~ 10:59ish)

10K’s

Revolutionary Run 10k ~ July 4th 2010 ~ 1:06:41 (10:42 pace)

AJ10K ~ May 22nd 2010 ~ 1:04:46 (10:25 pace) (10k PR)

5K’s

Gary Papa Run For Your Life 5K ~ June 19th 2011 ~ 29:03 (9:21 pace) (5k PR)

Susan G Komen Race for the Cure ~ May 8th 2011 ~ 30:03 (9:41 pace)

Gary Papa Run For Your Life 5K ~ June 20th 2010 ~ 29:52 (9:38 pace)

Sesame Classic 5K  ~ May 16th 2010 ~ 29:48 (9:30 pace)

THON 5k ~ November 1st 2009 ~ 31:20 (10:07 pace)

Lupus Loop 5k ~ October 25th 2009 ~ 30:19 (9:45 pace)

Missy Flynn 5k ~ August 9th 2009 ~ 32:13 (10:22 pace)

Prostate Cancer 5k ~ June 21st 2009 ~ 34:16  (11:02 pace)

Breast Cancer 5k ~ May 10th 2009 ~ 35:15ish (11:34 pace)