{never did i ever}

Call me crazy, but I am contemplating on signing up for a run for every month thru April (and possibly longer). Last month I ran my very first 5K. This month I am signed up to run a Turkey Trot 5 mile run with two of Jay's cousins. On my way to work this morning I saw a sign for a Sleigh Bell 5 mile run for December. I am already registered for a Color Run 5K in January and think I could probably find a Valentine's Day run for February. Check that, just took a break and found one. It is a Seroogey's 15k in February within driving distance. There is a 10 mile run that I want to do in March, and then there is the half marathon I will bust out in April... addicted much?!

Never... NEVER did I ever think I would become a runner and then actually enjoy it... NEVER!

I am in full swing training for my half marathon, full swing being just two weeks in, haha! I have been actively working out EVERY week for the last two months. Typically at this point I get into a rut and then don't want to work out for a while. It has happened before and actually happened this past summer. Not good. But now I have a goal in mind and once that happens I stick to it. I had a goal of completing a 5K and I did and now I am going to complete a half marathon!

Never did I ever think that I would want to head outside for a run in 30 degree weather. NEVER! And okay, so I don't necessarily ever WANT to go outside in the cold weather, but I get up, get dressed in my workout clothes, lace up the awesome running shoes, and then blast some music and head out. It is just me, the pavement, and the music. Some runs are ugly and some runs have become cathartic. And sometimes I even get my best thinking done on them. All I need is that half hour to myself to decompress. There should NEVER be the excuse that you do not have time to work out. If you want something bad enough, you find a way to get it. I find a way to get my half hour in at least most days.

So far, with the Nike+ running app on my phone and the Nike+ Sportband I have logged 61 miles for 19 runs. I have not logged EVERY run with the app, so there is probably at least another 20-25 miles that I have ran since the beginning of September that are unaccounted for. Although lately I have become pretty particular about knowing how much I have run for any given run, so lately I have been pretty diligent about tracking them.

(Pardon me if you are sick of reading about me running. I think you'll survive another few posts, haha!)

This weekend I got my longest run in thus far.

I was shooting for 6.2 miles because I had a virtual 10K that I was a part of on Saturday, but I only made it 5.5 miles before petering out. According to my running schedule I was supposed to only do a 5 mile run, so I surpassed that. I was really pushing it by the end though. This weekend's run is 6 miles though and I am ready to make that run my biotch! Getting used to this running in the cold thing is harder than I thought though. I was pretty super proud of my 5.5 miles though! And then Sunday I busted out another 3 mile run and then an hour of Zumba that night with my bestie, Victoria. Zumba after a 3 mile run, a little harder than I thought it was going to be... that and the fact that we had a new instructor the other night who was totally hyper and did a lot of fast moving songs (which I semi appreciated because I did have a big bowl of ice cream right after lunch on Sunday.)

Last night was a no run night. Instead of running, I worked out with Chalean Johnson of Chalean Extreme and worked on my arm muscles. One of my favorite things to do when it comes to working out is bicep curls. I don't know what it is about them... maybe the fact that they are easier than some of the other moves... don't know, but the particular workout last night had a lot of arm moves. I think I am going to stick with something like that for Monday's. My non running days are Mondays and Wednesdays and then on Fridays I have decided to take the day off.

On Wednesdays I would like to start swimming. Our local indoor pool has adult swimming hours on Wednesday mornings and with Jay starting to go into work a little bit later now, I can head over to the pool for a half hour of swimming before he needs to leave in the morning and get my workout out of the way before the day even starts. Yippee! Tomorrow is my first proposed day to start it and that means getting up just before 5am. I know, that is super early, but I like to swim and haven't gone in a while, so I thought I might be good to incorporate that type of cross training on my non running days. Tonight... tonight, I have a 4 mile run scheduled, but honestly, it is going to end up being a 4.5 mile run because of the specific route I take. I don't really feel like trying to determine a route that is a half mile shorter, so why not just push it out. There is a chance that there is supposed to be some rainy freezing drizzle tonight, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that it holds off. Whatever though I suppose. My run will commence either way.

CIAO! LOVE ME!