MM! :)

Motivational Monday picture!

This is so true. It's not about how fast you are or how graceful you run. It's about completing your goal. About doing it no matter how long it takes or how many breaks you need to take.

There are so many people who will not run because they do not think they can do it or are afraid of what people may say/think. At least you are out there doing it. Never give up!

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W4D1 - Here I come!

It's the day after Christmas and I'm not feeling this run. I was supposed to run yesterday but in lieu of the holiday, I spent all day with my family. :)

So here I am... getting ready to go to the bike trail for Week 4, Day 1 of the Annapolis Striders 5k Program. Will post more when I return.

Edit:
I finished my run today with a little difficulty.  Today I was supposed to run 3 minutes then walk 1 minute and repeat this 5 times (with a 3 minute warm up and 3 minute cool down).  The last run, I could not finish.  I had to break it up into three 1-minute runs.  But I ran for the 15 minutes required, just had to break that last one up. 

My calves were burning and I'm not sure if it's due to breaking in my new shoes or if I'm just not used to running outside very much.  So on Wednesday, I'm going to use my old shoes and hope it feels better.  :)

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I did my Wednesday run last night instead and it went pretty well. Though I'm still breaking in my new shoes and my shins were hurting a little bit. I finished the W3,D2 run and felt pretty good afterwards. My friend JJ went to the gym with me and wanted to do other things after running. So I showed him around the gym and watched him climb a rope with knots in it... I tried but could only get up to the first knot. Lol. Then we threw a 10lb medicine ball back and forth for a bit. Did planks for 2 minutes (though I think I only lasted for 1/2 of those 2 minutes). And we tried doing pull ups on the pull up machine. He was good. He could do it without any help but I had to use the foot bar that displaces some of your weight. I found out that I can pull up about half of my weight. Need to work on that for sure. Anyways... I'm sore today. But I have to do my 3rd run of the week so I have a day of rest before Week 4 starts. Off to do a bit of last minute shopping for Christmas... then off to the gym. :)

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Ugh!

Off to the gym after work. Why is it so hard?

Being lazy is just so much easier and fun... though the results from being lazy are not too appealing (hence the muffin top and various other rolls I have).

Blah. Wish me luck!

On another note... I got my grades back for my first semester in grad school (at Towson University)... andddddddddddddddddddddddddddd..... I got 3 A's. Making my first semester a complete success and my goal of graduating with a 4.0 is still on track! If only running were this easy! Hehe!

4 . 0 baby!!!

EDIT:
I had to reschedule this run for the day after (12/22/11) due to some unforeseen issues.

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MM- no, not the candy! ... Motivational Monday!

On Monday's I'm going to try and post something that keeps me motivated... whether it be words of advice, fat pictures of myself (yuck) or skinny pictures of what I want to be, motivational posters, quotes, etc.

Today's motivation:

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I'm trying to be a good girl today!

I skipped my run yesterday b/c I had company... so I had to do it today. Today was AS-5KP Week 3, day 1. I was so unmotivated but had to remind myself that if I don't do it, no one is going to do it for me. Lol. It was a bit harder than I thought it would be but gotta keep pushing through!

Today's Stats (Nike+ app on my iPod nano):
Miles: 2.34 miles.
Time: 00:34:22
Calories: 329

I ate a good lunch too. :) Chicken Caesar Salad, a slice of Pumpernickel bread with I Can't believe it's Not Butter, and a Diet Pepsi. :)

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Motivation...

I need some!

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Just Ordered...

I was at the Annapolis mall today and stopped by the Under Armour store! :)

My roommate/bff, Sarah, has an Under Armour shirt for running and swears by it... So, I decided I need to get one since the weather is cold. They didn't have my size in store (sucks being a chub! lol). So, I just ordered my first Under Armour shirt (pink is shown but I got it in black to go with everything):

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Race Bibs so far! :)

So far, these are the race bibs (and one medal I've collected from my races in 2011...

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Signed up for first 5k of the new year! :)

Remember how I said I want to do at least one 5k a month for 2012???

Well, I signed up for my first one! It's on January 2nd... thank God it's not the 1st b/c I probably will be too hung over to run. Hey! It's New Year's... don't judge!

Here's the race info:

January 2nd, 2012 (so weird to start writing/typing 2012!)
Starts at 11:00
It's in Vienna, MD (which is like an hour and a half drive across the Bay Bridge - which sucks)
Best part about it... Wine tasting after the run! :)

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Shoes! :)

Getting new running shoes right after work. Can't wait! :)

I think it's time. Mine have been through a lot with me since March and even been full of mud (zombie race). Hopefully I will find something cool!

Off to Road Runner in Columbia now! :)

Edit:

I got these shoes below. Also, through the "Shoe Dog" process, they marked me as Neutral Plus - Size 10 and wide width (I think it was like width D or something like that).

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Annapolis Striders 5k Program

Yesterday (12/13/11) I did week 2, day 2 of the Annapolis Striders 5k Program (which I'm going to refer to as AS-5kP... easier to type).

Here's the entire program:

Should use the following paces and run 2-3 times a week. If using a treadmill, put on 1-2% incline.

Week	Run / Walk	Repeat	Total Run Time (mins)	Total Time (mins)	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3
1	R 1:00 / W 2:00	8	8	28
2	R 1:00 / W 2:00	10	10	34
3	R 2:00 / W 2:00	6	12	30
4	R 3:00 / W 1:00	5	15	26
5	R 4:00 / W 1:00	5	20	31
6	R 5:00 / W 1:00	5	25	36
7	R 6:00 / W 1:00	4	24	35
8	R 8:00 / W 1:00	3	24	33
9	R 10:00 / W 1:00	2	25	33
10	2.4 mile paved trail run at Kinder Farm Park - Use week 9's pace or try to run continuously
11	Do a comfortable run once or twice early in the week. No running after Wednesday night

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Annapolis Striders & Reindeer Dash!

Yesterday I decided to join a running club. I need some motivation because it is so easy to just say screw it... and start after the holidays. But since Thanksgiving, I've been slacking and haven't been watching what I eat and exercising little. I had this mentality until yesterday when I got on the scale. :( I gained almost 6 pounds since Thanksgiving! WTH! So, I'm starting with my WW points again today and started exercising again last Saturday.

I did the Reindeer Dash 5k at Fort Meade. I'm not sure of my official time but my time according to my Nike+ app on my iPod Nano was 46:10. A little slower than the last run but I blame that on being sick (it's hard to breath properly) and it being 33 degrees outside. It was an awesome run though. Here are some pictures from it. :)

Sarah, me, and Katie!

Sarah, me, and Katie - fooling around at Katie's house after the race!

Sarah, JJ, Katie, and me... JJ was Papa Reindeer. Lol. We got free antlers and a red nose from the race but we already had those cute reindeer hats so only JJ wore his antlers. :)

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