5/31/10--And so, it starts.

Today's run: 4 miles

Week to date: 4 miles

Month to date: 45.76 miles

Not a bad month. Not bad at all...

And, as of today, I am officially committed to a half marathon. http://www.marquettemarathon.com/index.html Yup. A half and full marathon up here. I'm so excited. September 4. :)

So, game on.

5/25/10--Hot in... so hot in herre!

Today's run: 3 miles

Week to date: 3 miles

Month to date: 41.76 miles

Sweet! Officially over 40 miles for the month! That is awesome.

It has been downright hot up here for the last few days. Between that and entertaining a friend who is visiting, there hasn't been much running.

However, tonight my frustrations over a lot of things really came to a boiling point. Therefore, I stormed in to my room, changed, came back out saying "I don't care if it's boiling, I need to run or I'm going to go on a shooting spree." OK, not really, but I was super bottled up and needed to let some anger out via trail. So, I did. Between that and the frozen Coconut M&M's, I do feel better.

5/20/10--No creative title line, sorry.

Today's run: 2 miles

Week to date: 11.02 miles

Month to date: 38.76 miles

I barely wanted to do this. I just knew that I needed to get out and go. So I got out and went. Yup.

5/19/10--Booyah!

Today's run: 7.02 miles

Week to date: 9.02 miles

Month to date: 36.76 miles

Yeah. 7! :) I'll talk more about it later, though.

5/18/10--Zoom Zoom!

Today's run: 2 miles.

Week to date: 2 miles.

Month to date: 29.74 miles

Got back in to Marquette around 7:45 this evening. Quick stop for groceries, unload the car at home, then jumped out on the trail to get a quick 2 miler in. I think the days off and the biking helped, because I felt much better today than last week. Sweet! :)

5/17/10--Bicycle! Bicycle!

Still up visiting the boyfriend. Therefore, being here without my shoes, I knew a workout today was going to have to be a bike ride. Safe to say, I think my childhood obsessive love with bike riding is coming back.
No, seriously, I would spend HOURS during my childhood/preteen years riding my bike around. Could that be why I only weighed about 70 pounds in 6th grade? Maybe. Who knows. Anyway... I woke up to another BEYOND gorgeous morning. (Seriously, UP? Thank you for this. It more than makes up for that snow garbage you gave me 10 days ago). Since I have the morning/day to myself while the boy sells paint, I decided to venture out on my own to get a bike ride in.
My original plan was to just bike along the road from Houghton to Chassell and back--about 11 miles. However, I made it about 1 mile and decided I needed to get the heck off the highway, especially since my helmet is AWOL. (Marquette, maybe? I don't know. I will remedy this ASAP.) I knew where I was at that the trail still ran parallel to the highway, so I jumped on there and headed back toward Houghton to do the same loop I did on Saturday with my boyfriend and his roommate. It. Was. Beautiful. Seriously. Just a perfect late spring morning--warm, sunny, just enough of a breeze to keep me from overheating. With my little addition, the ride came up just shy of 9 miles. Not bad--it felt good to get out in the sunshine and fresh air and to get moving. I really wanted to run, but not without my shoes. Oh well. Back to MQT tonight or tomorrow, and then a long, slow run then :)

Introducing...

Well, I'm up visiting the boyfriend this weekend. I, however, forgot my running shoes. I know, I know, failboats. But, when I arrived I found I had a present! (I knew it was coming, but that's not the point.) I now have a new-to-me bike to use! :) It's originally the boyfriend's mom's bike, but she can't use it anymore, so they're letting me. It's a pretty nice recreational roadbike, and while the seat needs to be adjusted it rides like an absolute dream. It's a beautiful day and it's going to be a beautiful evening, so when the boy is freed from the paint store for the day, he and I are going on a bike ride together! I can't wait! :)

5/13/10--Tank on E...

Today's run: 4 miles

Week to date: 12.85 miles

Month to date: 27.74 miles

I took Tuesday off after how rotten I felt on Monday's run. Then, yesterday I didn't run either. That was just a combination of having little energy and previous commitments. Today I had no subbing, so I decided to try a 4. The good news? I did it. The bad news? I was just slow and drained. I finished it, but it didn't feel that good, and the whole time I wanted water, a sandwich, and a long nap.

But! I went. Yes, I got my lazy arse out and I went. Good things good things good things.

Oh, and with this run, I officially broke 100 miles for the year. :) That is pretty darn awesome.

5/10/10--3 and 3

Today's run: 6 miles

Week to date: 8.85 miles

Month to date: 23.74 miles

OK, I'm doing an exercise for myself here. I was VERY negative on my run today. And, you know, sometimes it's OK to have some of those thoughts, and sometimes you have to let them out or they'll eat you up inside. So, I'm going to say three things that were negative about today's run, but I'm going to balance them with three things that were positive about today's run.

Three negatives:

1. My iPod was irritating the crap out of me, as it kept shuffling through the same 4 songs. There's 2 hours worth of music on that shuffle, why are we listening to the same 4 songs??

2. This run truly hurt. My knees hurt, my right ankle hurt, I got a side cramp just after mile 5. It just plain hurt today.

3. I was overdressed. Again. That sun is starting to get some power to it.

Three positives:

1. It really is a beautiful day out there, and I am lucky enough to have the morning off to go for a run in it.

2. Coming in to the last 200 yards with your college fight song blaring in your headphones is just plain fun, no matter how bad the rest of the run was.

3. Hell, I ran 6 miles again! A year ago, 2 miles was an average day and 3 was really kick ass. I've done 2 6 milers in the last week! Clearly, I'm doing something right here.

And--my usual affirmation: At least I went out there and did it. Unless today somehow ends up in a massive injury later, I will not regret this run down the road. Veni, vidi ,vici.

5/9/10--Failboats.

Today's run: 2.85 miles

Week to date: 2.85 miles

Month to date: 17.74 miles

Well, Brandon got me using mapmyfitness.com to plot out my runs. Well, today, through some glitch, I thought I had plotted out a 4 mile run. It didn't seem right, but whatever, maybe that stretch was longer than I originally thought. Well, I ran it, and when I finished I immediately thought, "either I'm WAAAAY stronger than I thought, or that run was not 4 miles." Well, I plotted it again... and it was 2.85 miles this time. Yeah. FAILBOATS, mapmyfitness. FAILBOATS!

The run itself wasn't bad. I just really wanted to do 4 today.

5/7/10--Seriously?

Today's run: 2 miles

Week to date: 14.89 miles

Month to date: 14.89 miles

In this edition of "Hey, look what I wore to run in today!", we bring you the latest in late-season cold/snow ensembles:
Yup. It is indeed the 7th of May, and I am wearing pants, a long sleeve over a t-shirt, a vest, gloves, and a hat. It is 35 (feels like 26), and we have a winter storm warning. No, I'm not kidding:

See. NOT KIDDING. :( I mean, yes I do consider myself a "Yooper", and yes, I realize these things do happen up here, but come on...

Oh well... the run. Basically it went down like this: I knew today was probably my last shot at getting out this week, so I took it. I went 2 because, well, I knew the rain that is kicking these festivities off was quickly approaching. So I went 2, and I ran like I was being chased. Was it fun? Not as much as I would have liked. Did I get out there and do it? Yes. Is that the important thing right now? Oh yes.

OK, time to make chili and some hot chocolate and hunker down to ride this out.

5/5/10--How 'bout them apples?

Today's run: 6.03 miles (!!)

Week to date: 12.89 miles

Month to date: 12.89 miles

So, today was starting to become a bad day. And, I knew I had two ways of dealing with it. One involved sulking in my room. The other involved getting out there and taking out my frustrations on the streets and trails of Marquette. And, since I'm updating, I bet you can guess which option I went with.

Today also included another piece of what I will now call "Inspiration Wear"--I saved a long-sleeve tee from my senior season of high school track from the GoodWill pile when I was home this weekend. That was absolutely the year that I was the most successful and was in the best shape, so what better to wear on today's long run? (Especially since it's too warm for the All-Star toque.)

The run itself, aside from the distance, was pretty unremarkable. It was a nice jaunt around town, but I'd only mark it up as "average" in terms of how I was feeling.

But, hey, I ran 6 miles. I can't even tell you the last time I did that. So, yeah. I'm pretty pumped about that. And you know what? I do feel better now. Much more pro-active than sitting in my room watching a stupid movie and pouting.

5/4/10

Today's run: 3 miles

Week to date: 6.86 miles

Month to date: 6.86 miles

Another run with the boy. Only, he took off on my slow, penguin self, and then he led me the wrong way. Oh well. It was still fun, and he discovered a new loop that is a bit of an arse kicker. I definitely plan on doing that again!

5/2/10--Who Says You Can't Go Home?

Today's run: 3.86 miles
Week to date: 3.86 miles
Month to date: 3.86 miles

Happy National Runners Month!
Checking in from my hometown, Traverse City. Coach Mom, Little Sister, and I all went downtown to run on the trail down there. It was great. I only meant to go 3, but wound up taking a detour down Front Street and then through some neighborhoods. It felt great to get out and get moving after spending the last two days in a car!

April was my best month yet for running! I'm so excited. But, May is going to be better! :) First race of the year is on Saturday! Wheee!

I'm off. Have fun, kids!