Run bike swim run bike swim

I'm going to do the Rochester Autumn Classic Duathlon at the end of September. It will be a 2 m run, 10 m bike, 2 m run, 10 m bike, 2 m run. Naive me posted on Facebook "I can do that! That's easy!" To which my more experienced tri friends responded: "No, that's absolutely not easy." (I'm cross posting this first part from the Daily Mile with a few revisions because I'm lazy)

I'm still trying to build my running back up, it suffered during the move, so on Sunday I decided to do my own mini dual -- 1 m run, 5 m bike, 1 m run, 5 m bike, 1 m run. This was all after riding 20.

The first run felt great! I was under a 10:00 pace and sure that voice was there "slow down or you'll never make it" but silly me ignored it. Then I was off on the bike for 5 miles... which turned into just over 6 because I needed a place to lock it up.

I then went to run again. And wholly hell. My body was so confused. My legs did not feel right. But slowly I got back in the groove... just in time to get back on the bike.

The bike ride started out rough but then started to feel good, but by this point I am so tired and just want to be done. I'm dreading the run at this point.

Most of the run was rough until the very end, when I was just so happy to be done!!

Next time will be easier :)

Now back to that whole swimming thing...

After my swim lessons last week I realized that RAC's teeny tiny pool isn't going to cut it (plus it's way out in Perinton), so I'm back on the market for another place to join. I'm looking for a reasonably-sized pool with reasonable hours at a reasonable cost.

The first place I scoped out was the Y. I really liked the staff there, but unfortunately joining is impractical. I'd be paying $62 a month, and most of the stuff there I get at RAC.

Yesterday evening I went to Downtown Fitness Club. This seems like a good option. The rest of the club did not impress me, but I really liked the pool. It was quiet and a good size, and not crowded (and no screaming kids!) For $30 a month it's a pretty good option.

There are two other places I need to check out. The first is the Adams Street Recreation Center. It's a stone's throw away from my apartment and it's only $2 a session to swim. But the hours are extremely limited. There's another club called Harro East, but I can't find any information about it online.

2011's halfway done: 626 miles logged

2011 is halfway done, and thanks to Cleveland Marathon training I've logged 626 miles.

My top week was Apr. 18-24, with 44 miles logged. There was only one week I didn't run at all -- the one after Cleveland. There were only two weeks where I ran fewer than 10 miles, and 5 where I ran fewer than 20.

Miles by the month:

Miles by the week: 

The past year in training: 

The thought of this many donuts and cheezburgers gives me a tummy ache :)

So, lifetime to date I have 1,060 miles. Here are the lifetime stats:

I think 1,200 for 2011 is a reasonable goal!

107 days til Columbus!!

Cosmetic surgery for 1000 MILES!!!

What, cosmetic surgery for my blog, of course!!

Today I hit 1,000 lifetime miles! 567 of those 1,000 miles were run this year. So, to celebrate, I figured I'd give my blog a facelift. I'm no web designer -- heck I always buy black skirts because I'm inept at coordinating my outfits each morning. But I don't think it came out too badly! I can't change the color of the Daily Mile gadgets so I just made the rest of my blog pink and orange to match. I changed the title and description too. REDUX!! Because I am now on my second go around! 

I'm also updating my blog roll, so if you would like me to link to you please let me know!

I was going to wait until the end of the month to do another numbers post, but since 1,000 is a monumental occasion, we'll do a bit now! The lifetime Daily Mile analytics:

Monthly mileage for the past year (I started running last May): 

Today was another great MIT run. I did seven miles with the 10:30s from Ohio Health in Westerville. We had a little storm delay, but then the run turned out to be very pleasant. It was MIT's 10th anniversary so they had a party at the store after the run. 

Hitting the big 2-0... Now, I feel better

Today, I got up at 4:30 a.m. and ran 20 miles. Mentally I'm feeling great, race day is approaching very quickly and getting past 20 was a huge confidence-boost for the 26.2. Physically, my legs feel pretty much like you'd expect them to feel after running 20 miles.

This week was also my first 40-mile week.

The Cleveland Marathon is now 35 days away. May 15. Just over a month from now.

Most of the full marathoners were going early so I sucked it up, woke up at 4:30, and was at Thomas Worthington at 6. The first 9 miles were very peaceful, we ran on the Olentangy Trail to the gazebo, up through Worthington Hills and back to the school. Worthington Hill wasn't that bad the first time. The fatigue started to hit as we went up the hill to the school.

We met up with the full 10:30 MIT crew at 8 back at the school and headed out again. Things were starting to get sore, but I was distracted for the next three miles because the whole group was with us and they, just starting out, had a lot of energy.  (continued)

February stats: First 100-mile month!

108 miles! That's what I ran in February! First time over 100, and it was a short month too... bam!!

1 year ago I was treading in the obese category and was afraid to even take it up to a jog. I joined MIT in December but even then always kept telling myself that I could drop back to a half program if necessary. I didn't think I had the confidence to complete a full.

(Note: Right now I'm just rambling and I'm ignoring everything I know about proper writing and grabbing readers into the story and search engine optimization and all that jazz. And I'm fine with that. I'm also lying in bed listening to instrumental versions of Beatles songs, and it is absolutely amazing.)

This month I officially passed the half marathon mark and, for the first time since I started, am realizing that I do have what it takes to finish a full. Thanks to all of those out there who have helped me along the way. During relaxation in yoga tonight I was thinking about seeing that magic number "29" as I was finishing my first 5K. I thought about seeing the magic number "56" as I finished my first 10K. I remember being handed a first place plaque as I finished my first 8-miler. I remember hitting double digits. I remember pushing up the final hill past a lot of very tired people to finish my first 15-miler. I remember seeing the magic number "129" on the scale (I never did write that post. Too personal.) Almost more importantly I remember coming in from the many MIT long runs laughing and having a good time with the pace teams.

And the post I did in an exhausted haze Saturday has racked up a surprising number of hits, traffic in general has really been picking up.

Ok, enough with the sappy sentimental crap I probably lost most people on and on to the numbers, thanks to the Daily Mile :)

(And I finally realized what Charlie's tattoo is from in Lost. I should have figured that one out sooner.)

108 miles total. I guess I owe most of it to the Saturday long runs getting longer and longer. Here are the monthly totals:

(Another side note: I just logged onto the Daily Mile and saw one of my buddies there, also named Jessica, whom I have never met, also had her first 100 mile month. Yay!!!)

The lifetime analytics:

What's 633 miles from here? Myrtle Beach, Atlanta, Green Bay (yay team that beat the Steelers!), Des Moines (had a fun weekend there), and Memphis. Hard to choose (not really, there's snow in the forecast, I pick Myrtle Beach.)

And some fun YTD stats:

Reward for getting out of bed

I am so glad I got out there this morning, and I survived 14 miles to boot. My body was screaming at me when I got up, the same dehydration/achiness/headaches/sniffles that I've had all week. Normally I run with the 10:30s, today I started with the 11s and felt pretty horrid the first two miles. At the first water stop I dropped back to the 11:30s and then I started feeling better.

I noticed yesterday in spin class and the two miles I ran that my heart rate was way up, so I tried to pay attention to that today. My average was around 140 -- that's usually where I am at a 10:30 pace so I'm glad I dropped back. I missed the people I've gotten to know in the 10:30s, but the 11:30s were a very enjoyable group to run with.

The weather was nice, cold but not too cold. We were on the streets of Worthington, as opposed to the trail, so it was very hilly. My legs are rudely informing me that they did not appreciate the inclines.

The long run is 16 next week and 18 the week after. The next week is a taper week at 10, and I'm doing Conquer the Creek in Columbus.

I ended up with 24 miles this week, not bad -- all things considered. (continued)

MIT run: 12 miles!

Edit: I lifted this picture off of Fleet Feet's Facebook page.
Pretty crazy!

Ran 12 miles this morning through the streets of Worthington, which beat my old record of 11. And I'll be beating it again, and again, and again, until race day.

What a morning. Today was all about toughing it out. 

I almost didn't go. My stomach hurt when I got up, probably from eating too much Trader Joe's pesto tortellini. I've had cold symptoms on and off all week. But I'm glad I got my lazy butt out of bed (partially thanks to a redheaded greyhound who really had to pee). 

We usually run on the bike path but I guess it wasn't in great shape with all the ice, so we ran through Worthington neighborhoods. Those poor people, living on a quiet backstreet in suburbia, suddenly have 500 people coming through. Two kids were staring at us out their bedroom window. One guy was trying to back out of his driveway and was getting very irritated.

The run went very well, went with a good group of people as always. It started to rain/snow toward the end and I could literally feel bits of ice bouncing off my face. The ninth mile was the toughest, especially since we ran past the school where we started so it would have been so easy to just cut it short. Then the last two I was just on auto pilot.  

(Ok, I just bolted off the couch to grab my phone, literally every muscle I have protested). (continued)

January stats

I love The Daily Mile. It gives you all kinds of fun stats on your miles.

In January:
...I ran 88 miles
...That took 15 hours and 3 minutes
...Fastest run was the First on the First 5K at a 7:46 pace
...Farthest run was last Saturday, 10.9 miles

Lifetime stats (through Feb. 2):
...I've run 535.74 miles (from here to New York City!) in 142 workouts
...That's .02 times around the world
...It took 95 hours
...Enough to power 1,285 TVs
...Enough to burn off 19 pounds, or 363 donuts
...Enough to save 28.2 gallons of gas

Fun stuff!

A quick post for a lazy Sunday

This is going to be a quick post, namely because I just started watching Lost on Netflix and am seriously addicted. I just finished episode 4 of season one and all I can do is keep wondering "what did Kate do?? And Locke is a brilliant character.

First off, wanted to give a shoutout to my buddy Bill from MIT. The Marion Star, one of the papers I work for, ran a nice article about him. I'm also excited for my college friend Theresa, who is going to be starting the Couch to 5K program and blogging about it.

I had a great run yesterday, despite my Garmin dying a mile into it. Well, great for 9 miles, anyway. Ran next to a fellow journalist for the first leg and then on the way back ended up running with a really cool older guy named Bill who had all kinds of stories. The people in my pace team are all really wonderful!

The temperature was in the high 20s, which felt like spring compared to last week. (continued)

Race Report: First on the First, Westerville

I'm kind of a numbers wonk, so the fact that I can get all these graphs and stuff off my Garmin is the greatest thing ever.

I ran my first race with the Garmin today, the First on the First 5K in Westerville, and blew my last PR, 26:06, out of the water. It was a flat, easy out and back course and I rocked it, I finished in 24:27 and I was second in my age group. Full results here. My average pace was 7:46. Next time I'll use the lap button so I can figure out my splits.

I followed the 8:00 pacer the entire time until the very end when she slipped back (probably to finish on time since we were going a little fast). At the beginning I simply thought "oh dear god I'll never keep this up" but then I settled in. I was fine for the first 2.5 miles and then started to feel a little queasy. I realized I was way ahead of my goal pace so I started to drop back. But the guy running next to me kept urging me to keep up, and I did. Whatever was brewing in my stomach fortunately calmed down, and I finished at just under an 8:00 pace. Then they fed us yummy pulled pork sandwiches and black eyed peas.

Distance in donuts and cheezburgers

That's "cheezburgers", with a z.

I use The Daily Mile to track my runs, which generates all the widgets you see on the side of this blog. (Thanks, Kerry!)

I just added two more...

With the 278 miles I've logged so far this year, I've earned:

It'll update as I continue to log miles. I have no clue how accurate that is, they base it off calories burned, but it's a fun way to look at things.