What's Next?

Once again conjuring up my inner "Josiah Bartlett". :) (Miss that show!)

In 2013 I planned to complete a spring marathon, a century ride and a half marathon. The last two in the same weekend. HA! Life sure has a way of humbling a person doesn't it? It's all good. I learned a lot about me and my body in these past two months; and I'm not done.

So the marathon didn't happen. The bike ride won't either. I toyed very briefly with the idea of doing a shorter distance but bagged that pretty quickly. I haven't put in any significant bike miles in over three months so I have no idea where I'm starting from. I notified the MS folks yesterday and will volunteer for the ride instead. :)

I've also decided that I won't be doing the Ocean City half either. I'll be in Ocean City on September 29th, I'm just not running. I love OC and the race. I'll cheer on my friends and a few hundred random strangers instead. A good time will be had by all!

I've decided instead to take full advantage of this opportunity I've been given to reboot.

30 Days of a New Habit

So today marks day 30 of trying to eat healthier. The day is not over yet but I'm confident I'll make it. :).

Was I perfect. Heck no!! A co-worker went to Ireland this month and brought back Irish chocolate caramels. So yeah, I had some. Proud that I had three over three days instead of three in one day. Also, I didn't stick to giving up creamer in my coffee. Wawa Dark Roast with a splash of Irish Creamer is good. I am being careful to keep it to a splash though. Just enough. This past Friday I had a totally "off the wagon" dive into the M&M jar at home.Not going to shoot myself over it but definitely not proud of that!

The key to that one is trying to figure out why it happened. Can't say for sure but this past week was the most disorganized of the 4 weeks. During the first three I was careful to plan out my three meals. What each would consist of and shop accordingly. I got out of whack this week, got a little cocky and tried to wing it. While I did keep the grains off my plate and I did manage to have protein, veggie and fruit at each meal I don't think I had enough. I was still hungry and Friday came and I lost it. And yes I know I should have gone for a veggie or fruit based snack. *Shrug*. Stuff happens.

Why Aren't You Eating Bread

Dave asked me this last week. Although in my head I knew I had good reasons I bonked on giving him an explanation. My attempt to verbalize my thoughts was feeble at best. Yet, being the good sport that he is, he nodded as if what I said made sense. Since then, I've been working on how to explain it better. Also there were comments left earlier that I think I can answer here.

#1) Basic old (currently less active) person biology/nutrition - Carbs break down into sugar which is stored in the body for energy. The body can only store so much sugar and the rest turns to body fat. I don't need/want any more body fat. I need energy but I'm choosing to get my carbs from fruit and veggies which give me more nutrition bang for my calories.

#2) Bread, pasta and cereal are processed foods that make for lazy ineffective meals. It's just too easy to pour a bowl of cereal or make a sandwich. Besides being too easy, these items fill me up quickly and leave little room for the more nutrient rich fruits and veggies. Plus after a heavy carb meal it's not too long before I'm hungry again and craving a snack. Without bread, pasta or cereal I'm forced to plan what I'm going to eat and make it worthy.

Each meal - three times a day - has some kind of meat, fish, eggs, or dairy (note the OR - not a meat AND a dairy product), a veggie and a fruit.

You Are What You Eat

So I've been giving thought to my nutrition habits lately.

About 5 years ago I made a conscious effort to eliminate excess fat and sugar. It was not a total deprivation thing. It was things like switching from 2% milk to fat free milk; no dressing on my salad; no sugar on my cereal; swapping out sodas for unsweetened green tea or water; and in general watching my portion sizes. I allowed cheating though. I concentrated on being "good" but allowed myself a piece of cake at our work birthday parties for example and the occasional sweet treat or soda as a 'reward'. This actually worked for close to a year.

Then I was diagnosed with exercise induced anemia. This was easily brought under control by iron supplements but then I started training for my first marathon. So my iron counts were good but I was still tired. Two things kicked in. First, I "needed"to reward myself for reaching mileage milestones. Second, being tired makes me crave and give into comfort food. Same thing happens when I'm sick. And let's face it, comfort food is mostly junk calories. Good thing I was running a lot. And lately, I've been a little down about the heart thing lately so more junk calories.

If You Are Not Having Fun ... Take a Detour

If you know me well you know about my family connection to the Olympics - Brendan Hansen, 2012 Bronze Medal in the 100m Breaststroke. I hesitated to write this post because I worry about boring peope. "OH there she goes again talking about that..." but I really believe there is a lesson to be learned by Brendan's story. Here is a recap:

• 2004 world record holder in 100 and 200 m breastroke; Silver and Bronze in the Olympics
• 2008 Olympcs failed to qualify for 200 m event and was edged out to 4th place in the 100; No individual medal; although he did take home a gold as part of the relay team that won Michael Phelps is 8th medal of the games.
• QUIT swimming competively in his signature event - the breastroke .

Why did he quit? He was working his butt off (seriously did you notice how small an olympic swimmer's butt is?) and not taking home the prize. Expectations were high and it wasn't happening. The articles written would say things like frustrated or "Why am I doing this?". Although I never saw these specific words being used, in my mind it boils down to he wasn't having any fun.

So he took a step back. He refocused his energy on something else. In his case the something else was competing in triathalons, getting married and (I'm sure) finding all sorts of other fun stuff to fill his time.

In 2012 he came back to take the bronze in a race that was truly fun to watch even if you aren't me or one of my extended family members. He became only the 13th swimmer in Olympic history to win a medal after turning 30.

Although most of us are not olympic caliber athletes we do have similar struggles. Sometimes the thing we are doing - even if it is something we love - stops being fun. Whether it be athletics, our work, or just life in general. Sometimes we have to take a step back and regroup or recover. Sometimes it's not a full step back but just a mixing up a little. Adding some fun or goofiness to what we are doing.

So when it's not fun anymore don't forget to keep smiling (it's next to impossible to stay down when you smile) and keep moving (even if you have to move in a different direction for a little bit).

Think about your goals for August. How will you get there? What will you do to keep the road to yoru goal fun and interesting?

100 Miles

- On a bike.
- I am going to do it. Don't even think of trying to stop me.
- I returned to bike riding after a 20 year hiatus on July 8, 2012.
- I will do the 100 miles as part of the ACS Philadelphia Bike-a-Thon. This year's ACS ride - July 8 - included a route option from the Ben Franklin Bridge through Wharton State Park which brought the rider's total to 97 miles. Assuming there will be the same or similar option next year that's the one I will do. For those of you keeping track, I'll ride 3 miles before the start if that makes you feel better.
- I have 50 weeks give or take to get ready.
- I will ride in memory of Lexi Speight.

I may form a team with friends and family. I challenge you to join me. I'm 52 and a half years old. The most miles I've completed since my return to riding is 13 miles. If I can do this so can you !!! You just have to believe, keep smiling and keep moving. If you are local we can train together in person if not we can do so through Facebook.

I can do this!

13 miles today. I feel great. I truly do.

This is my increase week. After two weeks at 25 miles per week. I am due for 27 this week (Mon-Sun). I wanted 13 today so I adjusted the rest of my schedule accordingly. Tues - 2 miles; Wed - 4 miles and Thurs - 2 miles. Sat - 13 miles and Sun 6 miles.

I did my 2 miles on Tuesday at the Audobon Loop HILL. I need hill work. I parked at the gravel lot and jogged over to the hill for warm up. I set my gymboss for 30 sec and 15 seconds. When I got to the hill I started the timer. I ran steady up for 30 seconds then walked down for 15. I repeated this four times. On the fourth time I continued past the beep to the top of the hill (the old stone tower). I'm happy to say I was almost there anyway. I turned around and jogged back down and back to the gravel lot for a total of 2 miles. Eventually I'd like to  I will get to the point where I can do hill repeats from top to bottom.

On Wednesady I met John T at the Chester Valley trail for a little over 4 miles total. I like these weekday runs with John and other Phillyfitters. I end up going much faster than I would alone and that's good for me.

Thursday I taught new member orienation at work. Typically I bag my runs after NMO. I am drained after them. I love doing them but it's a lot of work being 'on' for 8 hours. And for a girl who prefers sneakers or bare feet even the smallest heel is difficult for that long. But I'm really trying to have no tolerance for excuses so I brought my running gear to work and changed there. I stopped at Ridley Creek State Park and went out for two miles. It was awful. I did it but it was awful. It hurt and I felt like crap. However, I was pretty excited that I did it anyway.

I came into today determined to focus on my breathing and my posture. My watch was set to beep at mile intervals where I could take a walk break. For the most part I stuck to that. There were a few extra breaks; at the turnaround, the restrooms and one stop for gravel removal from John's shoe. I ran the first 3 with Russ, Maggi and John T. The next 2 with Maggi and John and the remaining miles with John. Bless him for sticking it out when he had only planned to do 9 or 10. Running really is better with buddies. :)

Focusing on my breathing was to keep me from going out too fast. I decided it didn't matter what this did to my run pace I have 6 miles tomorow I didn't want to be dreading that. I focused on my posture to avoid fatigue in my neck and shoulders. It worked :). I'm happy to say the limiting factor in today's run was my legs. By mile 11 they were feeling quite heavy. Even that wasn't terribly bad. I was certainly happy to be done at 13 but I also felt like I could have gone another mile if I really had do.

I am really happy with the pace too. It was a comfortable I-can-still-talk pace. Yet when I checked it periodically (about once each mile) it was around 10:20-10:30. With the walk breaks the overall pace was 11:36. Not bad for me right now. I have a long way to go to get to my 2:15 half marathon but I also have 8 months to get there.

I was pleased that through mile 10 I was not looking at my watch begging it to move faster to the walk break. I was often pleasantly surprised when it beeped.

Next week is the 4th week in this plan I've worked up so only 13 miles total for the week. All I have to do is get through the 6 tomorrow. After the successes of today I'm NOT dreading that. Of course my legs might be telling me a different story tomorrow morning but I'll get through it.

SUNDAY UPDATE: I finished the 6 miles. My legs actually felt ok this morning. Alleve at bedtime helped. My brain however was a little skeptical. I debated going out of my neighborhood - maybe on some trail at RCSP. In the end I decided on two 3 mile ciruits around my house. This way I wouldnt have to carry my water belt. I left it on the front porch and stopped their for a drink after 3 then continued on. I set my gymboss for 3 and 1's but put it in my jacket pocket. I only wanted to use that for backup. I really wanted to continue with 1 mile intervals. I didn't have to resort to the gymboss. :) My pace was pretty slow but also fairly steady and I only walked at the mile breaks for 1 minute each time. So all in all a good outing.

Oh and someone commented that 2:30 is slower than 10:20-10:30 pace. That is true. I should have made clear that was only through the first 10. I slowed up in the last three.

Recap of my week.

Well I did it. It wasn't pretty but I kept my promise to complete 25  miles for the week. Today was a test of the committment and I'm pleased to say I passed. After yesterday's 10 miles on the hills I needed 6 more today to get to 25.

Emma and I met Pete and John at Ridley Creek State Park for some trail running. The first mile my legs were fine. After that they were a little annoyed with me. "Hello!!?? Remember the 10 very hilly miles yesterday?" It was tough to ignore the whining. I bailed on the last trail hill up the white trail. If you know the park this takes you straight up from the lower part of the paved loop to the upper. I chose to run back on the paved loop and met them at the parking lot.

This put just under 4 miles on my total. So when we arrived home I let Emma back in the house and headed out for the balance. It was hard but I can honestly say I did it.

Nest week is an increase week - 27 wth 13 mile long run on Saturday. But first, a rest day tomorrow :) :)

Keeping up with myself; Lessons learned on a hilly 10 mile course.

Today, after much back and forth in the week leading up to it I finally settled on running the Quakertown Rotary Run for Youth. It is a 10 mile run that Maggi suggested - or as more appropriately HELPED Julius and I decide to run. I'm glad for her help.

I wanted to treat this as a training run. It was the right amount of miles; the race fee was for a good cause and given the weather conditions it was more likely I could run with people if I attended the race. As it turned out the rain pretty much stopped just before we started and the sun came out for my last half mile.

So as a training run I set my goal at anything under 2 hours. About 2/3 of the way through I was convinced I wasn't going to make it. I did not have my watch (I don't race with it) and being a local race there were no timers at the mile markers; only at the end.

This hills on this course made the 8th street hill in Media, the Audobon Loop and the Valley Forge loop look like child's play. We also had some nice long slow downhills and one 11% grade downhill but the ups got me. Good news is that the got my legs more than my cardio. I was also pleased that I didn't let the hills get into my head. I walked more than I would have liked but I still made it in less than 2 hours so all is good.

Maggi and Julius eventually (about halfway) put some distance between us and ultimately were a good half mile ahead of me. If it wasn't for Julius' tallness and Maggi's bright  colors I would have lost sight of them completely. It was after our separation that I heard footstesp behind me. Despite that this was supposed to be just a training run I couldn't help thinking I did not want to be passed or left in the dust by anyone else. This got me to pick up the pace for a bit and I'm happy to say it didn't hurt to do so - for a little bit anyway. I finally backed off again not wanting to risk not having anything left for the final hill. So the feet and the gentleman attached to them pulled up beside me and he said, "I'm having trouble keeping up with you". I replied "I'm having trouble keeping up with myself". We ran and walked side by side for another mile and then he too moved on ahead.

I got a lift at mile 8 because I never saw the number 7 on the road. Each mile was marked in green  chalk on the street in rather large numbers. Not sure how I missed it but it was nice to go from thinking I had 3 miles left to only having 2. :)

So today's lesson is DO MORE HILL WORK. Not that I didn't already know that deep down. I was pleased with my finish and pleased that I felt comfortable most of the time.

My schedule had 11 on it for today. I am happy with the 10 however and it's likely i'll do more than the planned 5 with the trail gang tomorrow so I'll still manage my mileage for the week. 21 down 6 to go.

7 miles on a weeknight

I am determined to keep with this new plan. Part of that plan is to presrve my weekly mileage. Wednesday night it rained buckets and then some. It was also very cold. If it's going to be cold and precipitate it should snow (but that's a rant for another time). Needless to say I bagged Wednesday  night's run.

I really wanted to make up those miles. A group was meeting at Oaks last night to run the Audobon Loop (4 miles). I was not excited about doing 4 with them and then 3 more. Fortunately it occurred to me (smack in the head occurred to me) that I could run 3 BEFORE the rest). And I did just that.

I'm not sure what was wrong with me last night. My comfort level for both sets was a 12 minute pace and recently I've been doing much better than that. It's ok that it was that way but I just wish I knew why. The only thng I can think of is that I did not sleep very well the night before. And now that I think some more my nutrition was not all that great on Thurday either. It could be something as simple as that.

Regardless, I managed 7 miles on a weeknight and including the travel time home and a 30 minute break between the first 3 and the last 4 (waiting for the gang to show up) I was finished before 7:30. This is good to know. There will be no excuses later when my mileage increases and I may need to do 7 on a weeknight to keep up.

Happy Friday :)

A New Plan

This running thing definitely keeps me busy and thinking. The past 2 weeks (maybe longer I tend to be obsessive about these things and lose track of time) I've been working on a new plan. I read a lot and as you may imagine some of that is about running. As with anything else I take in all the 'advice' and keep what makes sense to me and put the rest aside. Some I throw out but most I keep tucked away on the chance that it just doesn't make sense in my current mindset but might later on. But I'm digressing... surprise surprise.

I've started on a plan of tracking weekly mileage. I know that I must do the long runs if I'm going to survive the races I've entered but there are weeks when the long run is tricky because of my schedule. So I've opted for tracking weekly mileage and with some advance planning I can make up for lack of long run by adding the missed miles to my weekday runs. I'm also back to taking Mon and Fri off from running and going back to running back to back Sat and Sun whenever possible.

I looked at what I had been doing recently and settled on 25 miles to start. I also switched my view of the week. I was used to putting Sat and Sun at the beginning (ala Phillyfit) but switched that. This works better with my way of thinking which is that the week starts on Monday.

So this week, which began Feb 20 looked like this:

5, 3, 5, 0, 0, 8, 3.5 = 24.5

I only managed 3.5 and ran on Monday anyway because a) it was a holiday and b) I had been slacking prior to this. I'm working in 4 week cycles so the next three look like this:

0, 2, 4, 2, 0, 11, 6 = 25 (same total as week 1)
0, 2, 4, 2, 0, 13, 6 = 27 (10% increase over weeks 1 and 2)
0, 3, 7, 3, 0, 0, 0 = 13  (Half of week 3, and the weekend off)
The next 4 week cycle will start with week 3's total for two weeks then increase by 10% followed by 1/2 again. And so on. Stay tuned.

Ultimately I'd like to keep my long run mileage up and going up. Instead of "starting over" after every race. My goal race in 2012 is the Philly Half. I have other races planned but I'm going to treat them as training runs and keep up my mileage for those weeks. Somewhere I plan to work in a week off from running. Probably every 3 months. I'll talk about that more later when I have it figured out.
Today's run was 3.5 miles on the Rocky Run trail in Middletown Twp by the Wawa dairy. My ankle didn't like it, but I did! :)

30 days. What I’ve Learned; What I’m proud of; and What’s next?

I had to go back and count again. It’s hard to believe it’s been 30 days. I started on December 18th and sure enough, today is day 30. So here goes,


I learned any workout is better than no workout. I kind of new that already, but it really hit home these 30 days. There was more than one day in this 30 – today included – where I did not feel all that great. Because of this create-a-habit thing I went out anyway. And although it was a struggle it felt good to get the blood moving. I may spend most of the rest of today on my couch reading a book and napping, but I will feel less ‘sick’ and less like a slug because

I learned that the difference between a 5 and a 6 on the clock in the morning is mind boggling. My normal wake up on a work day is 6 a.m. On two days out of the 30 I had to complete the run before work. Those days the 1 mile minimum came in handy. I figured I could set the alarm for 5:45 – just 15 minutes earlier than usual – getup, put on running clothes, run 1 mile and be back in the house by 6 when I would normally get up. Sounded like a good plan and I’m happy to say I made it. Convincing myself to get out of bed with that 5 on the clock was difficult. Once I got past that – something I was only able to do because I refused to give up on the habit – I was fine. In fact, my whole morning seemed to go smoother with that 1 mile wake up.

I learned – I think – that running every day makes my long run weekends less stressful. I say “I think” because I’m not entirely sure it’s because I’m running every day or because I’m just having a good training fit right now. Maybe a little bit of both.

I finally understand “recovery run”. On Monday last week, I ran with The Running Place group. I ran faster than I usually run, pushing myself to stay with new friends. I followed this up the next day with a workout on the Art Museum Steps (preceded by a 1 mile run to be sure I got it in). We did new stuff at the AM workout and I hadn’t been there in months. By Wednesday morning my legs were feeling the effects of both days. Stiff. These are conditions where I would have skipped running in the past. I’d have convinced myself I had ‘earned’ a day off. Instead I went out for 1 mile both Wednesday and Thursday. Since these were the same two days that I knew time was an issue, it would have been even easier to bag it. I started out slow and in no way broke any speed records on either day. But after a few steps the legs loosened up and by the end of each I was actually feeling pretty good. By Friday morning the stiff and soreness was gone.

I’m most proud of starting this over the holidays and not waiting until the “New Year”. Doing so meant having to get out on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve; both days where it would have been just as easy to say forget it. I ran more than a mile on both days . Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day were covered thanks to group runs with my wonderful Phillyfit friends.

Somebody asked me how long I was going to do this. The goal is to create a habit where there are no excuses for not running. If successful it should be a self renewing thing.

So what’s next? There doesn’t have to be anything. I could just keep going as I am. I will keep going but I’ve decided to add another element to it. I’ve given this a lot of thought (are you surprised?) over the past few days as I realized I was approaching day 30. I came up with and discarded several things. The secret was to come up with a logical next thing without breaking the spell. In other words, baby steps.

So I’ve decided to take my success at getting up early and commit to going out before work three days a week; Monday, Wednesday, Friday. In the interest of full disclosure I have to say that Mondays is kind of cheating since I don’t have to be at work on Mondays until 9 (instead of 8). But since that means I have to work later on Mondays it’ll be nice to get home from work and no I’m done. Friday is a good day to go out early since we tend to have date night on Friday and since I have to have things in balance I’ll throw in Wednesday.
The challenge here will be that I do not want to cop out to 1 mile on M-W-F. The 1 mile minimum was supposed to be when I needed a break; either from fatigue or schedule constraints. So, right now I’m going to try to commit to at least 30 minutes each of those days; and I give myself permission to cop to just 1 mile if necessary.
Day 31 here I come.

8 Miles at Forbidden Drive

I began my day today with 7 other Phillyfitters. We had fun running along the left bank (coming off Northwestern Avenue) of the Wissahickon Creek. You can read about that part of my monring here.

As a group we turned around just past the Valley Green Inn at the 2.5 marker on the trail. At the 1 mile marker I told the group I was heading back out again. I wanted to complete 8 miles today. We were at 4.25 and I was concerned that if I went back to the start with them I would be tempted not to go back out again.

I went back out to the spot where we came down off the trails. I remembered that we were at 2.75 there so if I went back along the trail that way I’d be just over 8 miles when I finished. I also knew the trail would keep my mind off the miles and provide natural walk breaks ..or climb breaks anyway.

Without my friends to guide me (friends who had run these trails before) I wandered off the actual path a few times but not far. Every so often I’d realize I was picking my way through tree roots and rocks when there was a smoother path just below or above me. I enjoyed the run and took some extra pictures on the way back (see below). The sun was higher now than when we made our first pass so many of the icy spots were now less slippery but as a result more muddy. It was fun :)

Shortly after getting onto the trail I met two bikers. I had just come down a particularly rocky portion and they were standing there looking up. I said, “Good luck with that”. They laughed. As I approached Bells Mills Road (the end of the trail) I saw two guys running toward me. I’m pretty sure it was these same two people. The one had bright red hair and beard. Kind of hard to miss. I didn’t ask but I’m guessing they locked up the bikes and decided to run out Forbidden Drive and then back along the trail to their bikes.

I saw a few people and their dogs. All were friendly thank goodness (the dogs and the people). One woman had three golden retrievers with her. None on a leash and all disappointed that I did not want to stop and play. It was a good outing. I feel good.

Day 28 and counting…. Here are some photos from today's run.

Me and my shadow

Either somebody decided this log was too large to jump
Or they wanted a seat to watch the falls to the left.

The group came down these steps
I went back up

Pretty isn't it?

Day 21: Trail running!

I had the best time trail running with Phillyfit today. You can read about it here.

Day 21. Three weeks of running every day. I had 8 on my schedule. I don't think I quite got there. It was a little over 7 I think. All my gadgets failed me today. My watch measured .1 and then froze. After running about 5 (according to a friend's measurement) with the trail group I went out for another 2 or so. My friend John T came with me. We were planning to do 3 and 1's after running most of the 5 on the trails. My gymboss reset itelf again. It worked but not properly. *sigh*.

I ran in old shoes today know that we would get dirty and possibly wet. The shoes are not  completely spent but I will have to decide soon if I want to purchase trail shoes or just keep running on my regular shoes which may mean they will wear out quicker. That's a decision for another day though. I had too much fun on the trails to think about that now.

Oooops!

Ok so I can't count. I thought my half marathon this past November was my 10th. Turns out it was only my 9th. Here's the count of half marathons:

2008; PDR
2009; PDR, Philly Half
2010; Disney, PDR, Hershey
2011; PDR, OCNJ, Philly Half

I had to go count the medals and the hat (OCNJ) to be sure this time since I can't trust my head.

The good news is that April 29, 2012 will be my 10th.... and Emma's 1st! I like the eveness that. It appeals to my sense of balance. :)

Oh and today was day 20. The hardest one so far but I did my mile after work and the habit continues.

Day 15; Why am I doing this?

Today was day 15. I ran 4 miles with friends to start off the New Year. I had planned to do 3. Funny thing about running with a group. I did 4 and felt great. Had I been alone I probably would have struggled through the 3.

I have been asked several times since I started, "Why are you doing this?" (the consecutive days of running). There are several reasons. (If you've been reading this blog you may find a lot of this post repetitive.) First, after the year I had in 2011 I knew I needed a 'no excuses' approach to running. I needed to create a habit so that no matter how cold, rainy, hot or yukky it might be I would go out for at least something. I've set the threshhold at 1 mile. Even on my worst day I can run a mile in less than 13 minutes and usually average about 11.5. I figure how hard can it be to get out for 11.5 -13 minutes a day. I've joined the 100 Days Challenge on FB (John Bingham's page) so on the days I only go out for less than 3 miles I will have to find other things to do 'intentionally' to make up the time.

Another reason for wanting to get a running habit started is my goal of getting to under 2:17 for the half marathon. I did that in 2009 at the Philadephia Half Marathon. I've not come close since. So what was different then? Simply put, I was running more. I had signed up for the 2010 Goofy Challenge and I was so afraid of not making it that I pushed harder. I wasnt getting out every day back then but I was running more and harder than I did in 2011. I felt better too. I was in better shape and weighed less.

I am currently signed up for 2 half marathons and I have a total of  5 (maybe 6 ) that I'd like to do this year.

Lehigh Valley Half - April 29 (with Emma) - already signed up
1/2 Saur 1/2 Kraut - June 29
Pennsbury Half - End of August. This is the maybe race.
Rock N Roll Phlly Half - September 16 - already signed up
Ocean City NJ Half - September 29
Philly Half - November 18

Day 13

1 mile today the 13th consecutive day of running. It almost felt like cheating. I felt like I could have gone further. And maybe when I get further into this I will boost my minimum to more than 1 mile. For now though I'm happy to still be doing it.

I'll be running most Saturdays with the group from here through the start of Phillyfit. I'll use that for my longest runs as best I can making up any difference on my own. I'd like to do trail runs with Pete's group. That will certainly keep my pace down for the longer runs. I can work on speed during the week.

One run at a time. :)

Right now looking forwad to trails tomorrow with Pete's group and New Years day run on Sunday with a bunch of Phillyfitters.

I just did some addition on my training schedule and as of tomorrow (assuming I complete the miles) I will have completed 40 miles since December 18. Not bad for half a month. And there are 99 miles on the schedule for January. At this rate I'll need to start breaking in new shoes in mid Feb to be ready for Lehigh Valley.

Gymboss Fail

Today I went out for a run around Media. I took my gymboss not really sure if I wanted to do intervals or not. I strated off pushing the button on the Gymboss figuring I'd see how I felt after the first 3 and decided then. Well the Gymboss decided for me as it went kaplooey after the first interval. It got stuck on notifying me that the interval was over. Thank goodness I had it on vibrate not high beep or I probably would have had to go home. As it was it vibrated on my wrist for the entire 3 miles. I probably don't have to tell you how annoying that was. The upside is I ran about 99% of the distance.

I rebooted the Gymboss and it stopped buzzing. I think it needs a new battery. When it works though this is a fantastic tool for run / walk intervals. I can set it to whatever interval I want and I can have it vibrate when it's just me or have it beep loud when I'm with a group all doing the same interval.

Here's another challenge for this week. I had hoped to get a running buddy or two to meet me to run but I guess more folks have to work this week. I used up the rest of my vacation days. So the challenge is to keep getting out there Wed, Thurs and Fri alone. There are plans for group runs on Sat and Sun already.