Let's do this

So finally, FINALLY, I'm getting back into training. I was bored at work on Sunday [watching dogs sleep for hours on end isn't exactly fascinating] and so I had brought along "Run Faster", which I was almost done with. I finished the book and then started looking at the training plans in the back. The half marathon plans are 16 weeks...well isn't that convenient, the BAA Half Marathon is in 16 weeks! And so now, armed with a training plan that I'm planning on following pretty closely [since I'll feel much worse about not running if I know exactly what I have to do], I'm going to go after a sub-1:40 half marathon. It's going to be interesting, and I'm sure there are going to be lots of random other races [and hopefully other PRs, since my 5K road PR really sucks right now compared to what I can do in XC/track...also my 10K could really use some work], but I think for now I'm going to make that my ultimate goal. It's so weird to me, training for 4 months or whatever for ONE race..not at all like XC where you're training but continuously racing so you see improvement over time, and its OK if you have a bad race because there's one next week. Training for a goal race...it's like, you've got one shot. But I feel like a half is long enough that it's a good "goal" [at this point I honestly think making a 5K my goal would just be too weird for me], and hopefully actually training for that specific distance will help me run a big PR. So yeah...woo! The first run of the training plan called for an easy 4 miles with a couple of hill sprints at the end [Brad Hudson is a big fan of short hill sprints because they give a lot of strengthening benefits and reduce injury...sounds good to me!] I picked a loop that's hilly for the first half and mostly flat at the end - it actually turned out to be a little over 4.5 miles but that's ok. I didn't feel that great and I honestly think I have to admit that I did get a little out of shape when I hardly ran for 3 weeks...but oh well. It probably didn't help that I was running 7:30 pace over hills - I really need to learn the meaning of "easy", since a lot of stuff in this training plan is at half marathon pace [goal = 7:35] so yeah...easy should probably be slower than that. :)

Non running related, I am really having a problem that I'm going to call 'bike envy'. Ahhh - I want a bike soooo badly! Every time I see a person riding around on a nice road bike I just have to stare at them for awhile and think about how great it would be if I had one. Seriously - I am still not over the amazingness of the triathlon. Sigh. I know this probably isn't what I should be thinking about spending money on - helloooo, I'm moving to Boston, living in a much more expensive apartment, etc next year - buuuut I just can't help myself. They have this cool thing in Madison right now where there's a scale "solar system" laid out on the bike paths...its like 25 miles long or something and there are signs for all the planets. I wanna ride it! But I'm not really sure if my roommate's mountain bike would last 25 miles without falling apart...oh well. I'll stop whining now. :) But seriously. Triathlons. Life changing? I think so. The BF and I definitely had a conversation at a bar last night [yes, a bar...the glory of not having a 9-5 job yet is you can go out any night of the week, haha] about when I would do an olympic, half-iron, and Ironman distances. I think we have Ironman happening when I'm like 32...so yeah, that's something to shoot for...mayyybe I should actually run a marathon first. :P

Hmm, well I guess I really don't have that much to say. I'm so lame lately - work, work, WORK! Hopefully as my training progresses I'll have more fun stuff to write about. I just found out that my club is going to host NIRCA regionals for cross country next year. That's super cool, and really exciting, but it was honestly the first time I kind of had a pang of sadness about not being here next year. I can't even explain how much I'm going to miss the WTC. The people I've met, the experiences I've had...it's everything I imagine being on a college team would be like, except minus the free clothes and practice every day and actually having to be good...and really, that's what's made the experience so fantastic. Talk about life-changing...I wouldn't be the person, let alone the runner, that I am today if I hadn't discovered the club, and my college life would have been nowhere near as incredible. <3 WTC <3

And on a completely random note, I just discovered my online journal that I started junior year of high school and kept going with until junior year of college. The bulk of the entries are from freshman and sophomore year of college - holy entertainment! This is why I keep these things...because the insanity and boy angst of those two years is quite hilarious in retrospect. I describe everything in INCREDIBLE detail...like, was it really necessary to document exactly what happened at each and every party I ever attended? Or who texted me at what point in the night? Haha but I won't lie, it makes for pretty awesome reading. One of my favorite lines so far: " friday night was quiiiite the shitshow, starting out with a power hour and going where only post-power hour nights lead." Oh dear. In case you haven't noticed, I write the way I talk [so if I was talking, I actually would have said quiiiiite that way] and that is more apparent than ever in these stream of conciousness entries. Since reincarnating this blog, I've at least started trying to form actual sentences, and use some grammar...not always though haha. :)

Well, this entry sure is all over the place. I think I'm going to start reading "Running With The Buffaloes" again, I love that book and it always pumps me up to get my ass out the door and running!