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"Running is a celebration of life!"

Today I ran the Flower City Half Marathon in Rochester, NY. Despite doing it on little sleep and probably not enough training, it was by far one of the best racing experiences I've had.

As we lined up at the starting line, Sweet Caroline came blasting through the speakers immediately preceding "Runner's on your mark, set, go!" With the recent tragedy in Boston, the running community has banded together and starting a race with that sentiment was just a hats off to the reasons we run. 

We run for camaraderie. We run to push ourselves. We run to be happy, to get out frustration, for health. We run because we are masochistic and actually enjoy the suck that comes with the hill in the Mt. Hope Cemetary and Hylan Park from miles 7-11 (yes, that happened, and yes, they sucked). 

Whatever the reasons, runners love to run. And that has never been more apparent to me than in today's race. There was an enormous amount of support for each other and support from some spectators (including one of the best signs I've ever seen, which said "Chafe now, beer later!"

After 7 miles of a strong pace, I hit the hills and started to feel it. But I reminded myself that it was only a feeling.That's it. It was temporary pain and it would be worth it in the end. At mile 11, I met up with the 2:00 pacer and the group going for it. Through the last two miles she pushed us and encouraged us.

And then in the final half mile, a man on a bike rode by us and exclaimed, "Remember- Running is a celebration of life!" And that was it, our pace group dug deep and found some extra gas in the tank and pushed through the finish. At that moment, I felt an extreme amount of gratitude for the life that I live- even if that life involves killer hills at the half-way mark of a half marathon.

Happy running everyone!

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Oh my thrusters...

WOD:

100 thrusters (65#)

10 extra (10, 20, 30...etc) of double unders or bar jumps

Excuse me while I go die...

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Morning crossfit

Warmup: 2x 3 walk out push-ups with handstands 10bicycle hangs 24' broad jump Max snatch. I've never done the whole movement before so I was practicing technique with 45lbs Work out: 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 reps of Power clean (75lb) Chest to bar (assisted) Kettle bell swings (35lb) I don't think I'm going to be able to raise my arms to wash my hair...

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So I did a thing.

And that thing was join a crossfit gym. About 3 weeks ago. I had my first big girl class today (I was just doing fundamentals before.) I'm toast!! Warmup: 3x 75 skipping jump rope 20 walking lunge 10 sit ups 10 sumo high pulls 10 dips Workout; 1000m row 40 hands off push ups 60 box jumps 40 hands off push ups 1000m row And then because apparently I felt like killing myself, I ran 4.5 miles at an 8:00 pace. What is wrong with me today?! 6 days til the flower city half marathon though!! Running for Boston

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I'm going streaking!!

Going on a running streak, that is… Day 1- 4 miles
 Day 2- 4 miles Day 3- 2.5 miles Day 4- 3 miles Going for as many days in a row as possible! Anyone wanna join me?

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I'm going streaking!

Going on a running streak, that is... Day 1- 4 miles Day 2- 4 miles Going for as many days in a row as possible! Anyone wanna join me?

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Just registered for the Spring Forward 15k on 30 March and the Run to Remember Half Marathon on 26 May in Boston!

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Tuesday Lifting Day

5 rounds of the following super set:

7 pull-ups

15 standing chest press

20 goblet squats

Hellllll yea. I love lifting. 

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Ran 4.5 miles.

Because it was nice out and 3 just didn't seem like enough.

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Home is the most amazing place.

It's a place where 6 miles is effortless and at the end you get pasta with your sister and cuddle time with her puppies. 

And then after you get awesome times with family.

I'm going to miss this place. 

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Making Progress

Several big life things happened this week.

I ran for 70 minutes straight last weekend.

I registered for a half marathon in late April- my first race since breaking my leg.

I got my own phone plan and got me a smart phone.

I FOUND OUT THAT I'LL BE STATIONED AT PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII FOR THE NEXT 21 MONTHS

So, that's a thing. And, because of that, I have been feeling very inspired recently. I started on a half-marathon plan and also started tracking my meals. And overall I've just been walking on air and very excited about the progress that I'm making :)

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Just registered for my first post-broken-leg race!

The Flower City Half Marathon in Rochester, NY on 28 April 2013

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Fat kid logic: The sooner I eat all of these cookies, the sooner I won't be tempted to eat cookies anymore.

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5 miles

No shin pain, no ankle pain, just 5 miles of pure bliss.

At least as much bliss as you can get by running on a treadmill...

I'm too tired to try to be witty and write more.

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It's a simple choice: we can all be good boys and wear our letter sweaters and get our little degrees...or we can blaze! Become legends in our own time, strike fear in the heart of mediocre talent everywhere! We can scald dogs, put records out of reach! Make the stands gasp as we blow into an unearthly kick from three hundred yards out! We can become God's own messengers delivering the dreaded scrolls! We can race dark Satan till he wheezes fiery cinders down the back straighaway! They'll speak our name in hushed tones, 'Those guys are animals,' they'll say! We can lay it on the line, bust a gust, show them a clean pair of heels. We can sprint the turn on a spring breeze and feel the winter leave our feet! We can, by God, let our demons loose and just wail on! - Quenton Cassidy (Once a Runner)

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Falling on my ass, Cross Training, Breaching 5 miles, and a successful PFA

That's how I can sum up the last couple of days of workouts.

Friday- 60 minutes of the running machine followed by abs and push-ups

Saturday- 5 miles! The war memorial loop in 45 minutes

Sunday- Spent all day learning how to ski. I fell a couple of times and have some pretty sweet bruises as a result.

Monday- 15 minutes of running just to shake out the pain from skiing

Tuesday- a PFA (ran the mile and a half in 12:20, which isn't as horrible as I thought given that this was my first PFA since last spring)

Wednesday- 25 minutes of interval training on the elliptical followed by a leg workout

Overall, my ankle is pretty great and I can feel myself starting to build back up! I'm planning on registering for a half marathon in early May so I can have a goal to work towards :)

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Yesterday's Miles

There were 4.5 of them!

That's my longest run since returning back to non-broken-leg life. And it was fantastic!

I started off doing 1.5 miles, followed by sit-ups and push-ups to do a mock PFA. I rolled in at about 12:20, but I was definitely not pushing as hard as I could. I only was trying to see if I would make it within the 13:45 cut-off (no problems there). 

After my mile and a half, I grabbed my ipod and went out for a little recovery to stretch my legs after that. And my recovery turned into 3 miles. And I'm not mad about it.

I finished up the day by doing resistant band training for my ankles.