The semester is almost here.

Miles run: 3
Average Pace: 13:57
Yoga sessions: 0

Good morning! So here we are....one week into my resolution to be my best me. I was still at home for most of it, so I didn't run until I came back to TX.

So I started marathon training with yesterday's "long run" (only 3 miles because you have to start somewhere and that's what the Galloway training says). I also got up and did strength training. I'm doing body-weight strength training (squats, lunges, planks, etc). It helped to stretch things out get me geared up for my run.

Considering I haven't run in over two weeks, my run went pretty well. Yes, I'm still a little slow, but that will come back with consistent training. I was inspired to keep going by friends and strangers that are running Dopey this weekend. Everybody looks like they're having so much fun and even though I know I'm a little dopey to take this on, I cannot wait for it to be my turn. 2 short years.

This week will be the true test of my resolution. I know, logically, that there is no reason I have to get to school as early as I have for the previous years I've been a graduate student, but at the same time, there's this phenomenon known as "grad school guilt" where it has been ingrained in me that any minute I'm not working on grad school things is a wasted minute and my life should be in that science building. What I have to work on convincing myself of is that the workout I'm doing every morning is a grad school thing, that it will help keep me sane and level headed as I face the inordinate task of finishing, defending, graduating, oh, and finding a job. And that everything will still be there when I get there after 8.

Other than that, we're doing okay. The semester starts tomorrow. Today I'll do some cleaning and whatnot around the house and go see Star Wars for the second time (yay!!).

This week I'm aiming for 8-ish miles. Wish me luck! See you next Sunday.

New Years Resolution

I want to write to you all more. I want to talk about what I'm going through. And moreover I want to be accountable for my training regimen. So I'm going to try and write once a week on Sunday's. 

I'll summarize the workouts I completed that week (runs +cross training) and I'll talk about whatever else is on my mind. 

I think this will help me and hopefully be interesting for you. 

I'm resolved to spend time on me everyday. Last year I raced too much and trained too little. And I let myself think that getting to the lab was more important than taking care of me. I'd skip a run because I thought what was waiting at the lab wasn't going to be there if I got there after 8. Which just isn't true. And just wasn't healthy for me. 

So I'm resolved to change. Take my me time for a run or to cross train Monday through Saturday. On Sunday I'll tell you about it. I hope you'll help hold me accountable for this. 

Until next Sunday.

Goodbye 2015, Hello 2016!

Hello friends! It's been a long time and I'm sorry about that. I've been working really hard to get to the finish line of grad school, which has included a whole lot of travel, which didn't leave much time for blogging.

Last time we spoke I was gearing up for September and I had started a diet. Well, the diet died, mostly due to all the traveling I was doing. But 19.3 mile September happened.

It started with one of the most fun 10Ks I've ever run: The Roller Coaster 10K at Six Flags. It was a 10K at the park before it opened and then a free ticket to the park to ride roller coasters! And there was the run and ride option, where after completing the 10K, I rode a 5K in roller coasters. So much fun!

The following weekend I ran another half, part of my four season challenge. I was originally supposed to run this in March, but had hurt my knee so I ran the one in September instead. So much fun! I'd never run a color run before, and a color half was 13.1 miles of fun and insanity. Plus, it was through a beautiful Audubon center. This was definitely one of my favorites of the year.

This was the color catcher sheet I put in the sink while I rinsed all the color powder out of my clothes!

Thus ended September and October dawned...the start of the insanity that was the end of 2015. I had a commitment every weekend in October, it seemed like. I saw Taylor Swift on the 1989 Tour as part of the month and I ran the Tyler Rose Half, which was gorgeous but was the start of some interesting knee problems I've been dealing with. But I finished in my best time since March and got a gorgeous medal.

The last week of October started 6 weeks of traveling where I would amass over 10,000 frequent flier miles. I traveled every week but Thanksgiving in November, but managed to run another half (#9 overall since I started running) and completed the Four Season Challenge.

I was supposed to run my 10th half at the end of November, running the same race I ran as my first half the previous year, but all my traveling had caught up with me and I had a nasty cold. Combined with the fact that the day of the race was cold and rainy and I still had one more trip to go on, and I decided not to risk it. It broke my heart, but I know it was the right thing to do in the long run.

My December race was my 10th half, which qualified me for Half Fanatics (Fanatic #13571 reporting!) and finished out Operation 2015. I did it! I ran at least one race a month in 2015.

So what is my goal for 2016 you may ask? Marathon training. I want to complete marathon training and start Goofy Training. Along with that, I want to get healthy: start some basic strength training and do some yoga on my non-running days to help improve my running. Eat better. I want to make sure I'm running Dopey in 2018 as my best me. I don't want to feel anymore like death than is natural after running 48.6 miles in 4 days.

What can I say about 2015? It was the year I fell in love with running. It was the year I ran a race a month, 9 half marathons, and 22.4 Magical miles in a 3 day weekend. It was the year I saw my first paper published and slept in the science building to finish some grant work. 

But it was also the year I said goodbye to my beautiful friend Sarah. I made new friends, saw firsthand the good humans can do helping humans, watched in horror at the bad we can do to each other, and earned over 10,000 frequent flier miles in 6 weeks. I laughed. I mourned. I cried because I was sad and because I was happy. I believed. I lost faith and found it again. I saw the beauty in a 10 mile run. I lived.

2016 will see the end of an adventure, a dissertation defended, and a PhD in hand. 2016 will see the start of my next great adventure, unknown just yet, but thrilling and terrifying all the same. I will laugh. I will mourn. I will cry happy and sad tears. I will lose faith and find it again. I will find the beauty in a 20 mile run. I will live.
2016: let's go.

Hullo September! A better me, training, final race registrations...

Well, hey there! Yes, I know, I failed to recap my August race. And I don't even have a good reason about it. I did it. It was a 10K. I got the coolest medal ever. And then I took my training indoors to the elliptical to escape the end of the Texas summer.

That week, I also decided to start eating better and less. If you want to be technical about it, I went on a diet, but I'm sure a lot of you will tell me there's no need. Well, when I tried to put on a pair of shorts that Monday, they would have argued with you. And because I don't want to buy new pants (which incidentally is why I started running), I decided to start eating better.

It started small, switching out my random lunches of who knows what to a salad, a greek yogurt and something sweet. Then I switched the sugary snacks at my desks for fruits and other healthier options. Then I stopped eating donuts and whatnot for breakfast and instead enjoy a bowl of special K. And most importantly, I started using a calorie counting app. Because it seriously makes you think twice about eating that second cookie or slice of pizza if you have to write it down and see exactly how bad for you it is. 

It hasn't been about major lifestyle changes, because I know enough to know that that will not work long term. But it's about eating less and eating better, but still allowing myself some of my favorite foods every now and then, just in lesser quantity. 

So far it's been working...I'm down 4 pounds. And more important, I FEEL better. It may not be a noticeable difference on the outside, but on the inside, I can feel the good I'm doing. 

The weatherman is predicting slightly cooler temperatures coming to Texas and it's just in time! My first September race is just under 2 weeks away so it's about time to take my training back out into the elements. I'm hoping for Thursday morning if the forecast holds. 

I've finally registered for my December race! And I'll get to see a friend I met at my first ever race for the first time in over a year! I've also registered for my first virtual race. I'm usually not a fan of virtual races because to me, it's not the same and standing at the line and running with hundreds to thousands of others. But the concept of this one intrigued me: I have to run 200 miles in the state of Texas in six months. And with marathon training in preparation for Dopey 2018, I will be able to do that easily. Those will be the final races of 2015 and among my final races in Texas. With my tenure as a graduate student slowly coming to an end and with the defense of my dissertation slated for the spring, I will not be racing like I have this year. I plan right now only TWO races in my town and that's it before I move. 

Anywho, that's all for me for now. I'll be lacing up for #19point3September and then 13point1October soon enough. Back to talk about those later.

Until then, keep racing. 

Operation 2015: A June and July Race Recap

Hey there readers!

Well, aren't I behind. I've run TWO races since we last talked. I'm blaming the grant. I know it seems like I've been blaming the grant for a lot lately, but now, the grant is over (YAY) and I can't blame anything on it anymore. Now I just get to blame things on my dissertation (see what I did there?)

So, in June, I ran the Jalapeno Half. It was the second race of the Four Seasons Challenge. You may remember that the first race, which I had run only a week earlier, went pretty terribly, so I was apprehensive about this. Plus, I'd never run two halves in back to back weeks. The good thing, though, was that I didn't really run the first one...

I drove up on Father's Day morning and someone was watching over me, because there were quite a few clouds. The venue was nice and I was feeling good. And my feelings turned out okay. It wasn't a PR or anything, but it was a much more respectable time than the week before. I had learned a lot from that race and wasn't afraid to make sure I kept my water bottle full at the water stations and take a second cup of water to dump on my head to stay cold. And that definitely helped.

This weekend, I completed my July race. It was a new distance, 15K, but for July in Texas, it was just the right distance. I'd never run a race with this production company, but I'm already registered for another race with them and am considering a third. I was not disappointed. It was a hot one to be sure, but this company were amply prepared to keep the runners cool with water, ice, cold towels and sprinklers. I never felt like I was going to fail. It was slow, to be sure, but it was hot. I ran in the shade and walked in the sun to keep from pushing too hard.

I'm still a little worried about a half in Texas in August, but I know that this production company will do everything they can to keep us safe and cool.

I'm working on getting back into my regular running routine. Here's hoping I can do it!

Operation 2015: A May Race in June and the kindness of strangers.

Well, it's been a while. Mostly because my May race for Operation 2015 happened last night. Yes, I know it's June. Yes I know I said one race per month. But I can't control the weather and my May race was unfortunately postponed due to flooding in Texas. And I made the call that an "Act of God" meant that my May race in June still counted.

Last night was my first ever night race. And it will more than likely be my last*.

To say it didn't go well would be an understatement. 15 minutes prior to start, it started pouring rain. Luckily, it was a passing cloud and the race officials just delayed the start a bit. However, it made the humidity a little terrible. Okay, a lot terrible.

Now, I've been doing better about running regularly since the last time I wrote on here. But, my long runs have been lacking due to time, heat, and feeling sick. So I knew making it 13.1 would be a challenge. But I didn't count on the challenge it actually turned out to be.

After mile 1, the humidity was too much. I had to stop running. I wanted to quit. I wanted to quit so so so so badly. But I couldn't. Because this race was for Sarah.

Now, some of you may remember me talking about Sarah in my March recap. And those of you who know me may have known Sarah too. Long story short, I had a friend named Sarah who got sick earlier this year and died last Monday. She was 25, too young, and the funeral was yesterday. I couldn't make it to Virginia for it, so instead I ran for her.

But after the first mile, I wanted to quit. But I couldn't because I was running for Sarah. So I kept one foot in front of the other and found a group of walkers to hang with. Eventually, their pace was even too much for me and I lost them. For a while I was alone and it was dark and creepy and I wasn't enjoying myself AT ALL.

And that's when I was passed by Emily. I caught up to her and I asked her if she was walking and she said yes. And I asked if she wanted company. And thankfully, she said yes. And she and I kept each other going for the next 7 miles (or more). She was the only reason I finished. Someone made sure we found each other to get each other through.

I like to think that someone was Sarah.

I finished. It was ugly, it was near the time limit, and I was second to last. But I finished without cutting any corners or giving up. And that's what counts right?

I may never night race again*, or at least not in Texas in June. Definitely not a good idea. This week I have to recover as much as possible and get my legs ready for my June race, which is next Sunday. Not ideal, but we'll make it work.

Run on.




*The only exception to me saying this will be if I ever find myself able to run the Wine & Dine at Walt Disney World. I would make that work. 

Operation 2015: When you just want to run away

Hi friends,

It's been a while since I wrote anything on here. I am still on my journey for Operation 2015, but lately, training has been getting harder and harder to find time for in my schedule.

So the last time we talked, I had PR'd my March race.

Well, while I completed my April race, it was a complete disaster. I wound up walking most of it because I have had sporatic training, at best, since Disney. But I finished, so there was that.

This month was supposed to be a 19.3 mile May, but I intentionally skipped a 10K last weekend because when I woke up on race day I didn't feel ready (amongst other things). But I have a half at the end of the month I can't skip. I'm already nervous about it because it's a night race, which is new territory for me, but to think that I'm also going back to being under trained is terrifying.

So what happened? Well, to be honest, I think it was the combination of several things. The first is that Princess Weekend was what I started running to accomplish. It was the BIG GOAL. And now I have no BIG GOAL. I mean, yes, I have races for the rest of the year I'm registered for, but they're not as exciting or BIG as Princess was. And another Disney race just isn't in the cards right now.

The second is that from the moment I got back from Orlando (and I mean the moment...I was fielding phone calls in the airport), all heck has broken loose at school. My labmates tried to run samples while I was gone and they did it wrong, which made the bosses mad. Then when I helped them straighten everything out, we accidentally contaminated the samples. Which made the bosses mad. Then I went back to my project and all my samples were contaminated in a different way. Which made the bosses mad. That happened the FIRST weekend in March. And since then, I've been trying to find the source of this contamination and get rid of it.

And it. Has. Been. TERRIBLE.

When I've needed the run the most, I haven't been able to take it, because grad school guilt is a very real thing and how can I take an hour to go for a run when I could spend that hour in the lab trying to make this better and make my deadlines.

Which has proven a terrible decision. Because not only is the run important for all these financial commitments I've made, it has proven important to my sanity. The stress of everything I've been dealing with has been almost more than I could bear with no outlet for this frustration in my science. I've wanted to run away for the past few days.

So now I'm trying to get back in it. I've gotten a weekday running buddy again, so hopefully the accountability will be helpful. I also have started a reward system for my training runs. I collect Disney Tsums and completing a certain number of runs every month lets me buy the ones I want from the new monthly collection the following month. I've also started using the Nike app to challenge my friends to a monthly mileage goal. Hopefully at least one of these things helps.


13.1 mile May is going to happen. Then we have another 13.1 mile June. And in July, a 15K and a new kind of training I'll talk about later. Just know I'm going to hopefully push myself a little further to meet a new goal I've made for myself.

Until then, keep running. I know I'm going to try to.