Muggy summer runnin'

As promised, I will be sharing my initial measurements going into my half marathon training for the second time.  From head to toe, drum roll please...

Neck = 13.25"

Upper arms = 11.5"

Chest = 38.75"

Upper rib cage = 35"

Waist = 33.5"

Hips = 41.5"

Thighs = 25.75"

Calves = 16"

Weight = 167.6 lb

Size = 8-10

I'm far from Sir-Mix-A-Lot's dream lady, but whatever.

Thanks to my mom for helping me awkwardly take all of these measurements!  Some things I'm hoping to improve upon are shrinking my arms, thighs, and hips since these appear to be the least toned.  I know the last time I was training, I was down to 150 lbs, but really, I'm trying not to focus on the weight, but rather how fit I feel and toning of my body (which I hope that's how EVERYONE feels about fitness).  Muscle weighs more than fat anyway folks!

Today was my first legitimate Saturday run which consisted of 3 miles.   Since I've been sporadically running this distance with my "regular" workout routine prior to this, I wasn't terribly worried about it.  I was hoping to increase my speed to under a 11 min/mile, but unfortunately my body had other plans in mind.  I went to the Madison farmers market earlier this morning and was not patient enough to wait for my "ultra healthy" blackberry scone to digest a bit more before tackling the run.  

I had a side stitch for the first mile and a half, but once I conquered my breathing strategy, I was able to finish strong enough to cut off a minute off my original pace.

I'm actually rather proud that my boyfriend and I had to go out to eat before a party tonight, and I stuck to my guns and got the chicken cashew salad with fat free raspberry vinaigrette.  I think focusing on the little accomplishments is what's important.  Looking forward to a night of drinking and running a 4 mile hangover cure Sunday morning.  I'm hoping to try a new healthy recipe this next week and post how it goes.  Stay tuned!

Getting the running gears greased up

Since I last blogged I've been a bit of a lazy bum unfortunately.  Apparently there's been a summer cold going around and I just had to catch it.  Seriously, wtf.

Today I finally felt up to par enough to get back on my training schedule and keep up with my race preparation.  I was at a bit of a time crunch since I wanted to put in an extra hour at work (to make up for taking sick time on Tuesday) and I had a newbie dinner with an executive of my company at 6pm.  Instead of skipping my workout and pigging out on free and yummy food, I decided to push myself and run the fastest 5K I could.

The result?  I ran with an 11:36 minute/mile, which wasn't my fastest, but was still challenging after a few days of sickness.  I actually ran faster (11:03) the previous Friday in Lodi with more hills, not on a treadmill, which I thought was strange.

I decided to take a picture of my sweaty self before madly dashing to dinner, so here ya go:

Cotton makes workouts look WAY more impressive/sweaty.

I also decided to finally mark up the ol' calendar with my training regimen.  I'm a bit further along than I "should" be according to "The Non Runner's Marathon Guide For Women", but I'm viewing this as a good thing; allowing me to focus on speed the second time around.  Tomorrow is a rest day (which I might cross train for since I skipped so many days earlier this week) and I have a 3 mile run on Saturday.  Hopefully I can push for under an 11 min/mile!

I'm hoping to take some measurements before my next blog and record those so I can let the cyber world know my physiological changes as well as my physical accomplishments during this journey.  So... don't judge ;)

Back on the bandwagon!

Well hello again my digital brothas and sistas!

Long time no see!  I have been looking at my last postings, and I realized I have not posted since the beginning of my final year in college.  A LOT has changed since then, but one thing apparently hasn't... my will to run and tell the world-wide-web about it.

I did indeed graduate from UW-Madison with my geological/geophysics & geoscience degree in May 2014 AND found myself a big girl job.  After hours upon hours of resume sending and mostly digital rejection, I got a position as an environmental scientist with Ayres Associates in Madison, WI.  I am lucky enough to work with engineers and geologists and it's pretty neat using my 6 years of knowledge I've acquired.  I have a wonderful new boyfriend that I adore and am currently looking at apartments closer to work that I can afford with all the college debt I now owe.

Anyway, now that I'm in the grown up world, it will be a different experience training for ANOTHER half marathon in October :)  My first half marathon went splendid if I do say so myself.  I did acquire the good ol' runners toe on my left foot which I am STILL covering with nail polish for the summer flip-flop months.  The half marathon was challenging, but it was rewarding and it didn't scare me away!  I ran the whole way (even up the hills) and got a time of 2:36:45 which is an 11:58 minute mile on average.  My boyfriend at the time got a sweet action shot of me finishing up the race and I still have a smile on my face!

Tyranena Half Barrel Run: Nov. 2nd, 2013

My plan the second time around is to improve my time a bit since I've dropped a few pounds and inches since then and have more free time now that I'm not studying every waking second.  Ayres Associates is participating in a run in Eau Claire, WI October 19th and I've been upping the mileage on my runs for the past few weeks now.  The original plan after Tyranena was to do the Madison Marathon in November, but with the new demands in my life, such as a new career, that got pushed to the back burner for now.

This training may prove to be a bit more difficult than last time since I did start smoking for a few months before graduation up until recently.  It wasn't until I was running 3 miles on the treadmill a couple weeks ago and feeling AWFUL that I thought "why the HELL am I still doing this to myself again?! I ran 13 of these babies a few months ago with no major problems!"  So from then on, I quit and I'm upping my goals.

This time around, I look forward to posting more frequently, posting pictures of my newer diet (but that's not to say that I don't eat fast food sometimes with my naturally high-metabolized boyfriend), posting my physical results if any, and my goals/accomplishments as I go through this process once again. 

I guess I decided to start this blog again to not only document my progress for my self benefit, but that I may also inspire someone to look at their own life and decide to make some changes too.  I'm just an average 20-something that likes to party and have a social life, but also aspires to kick butt in her new dream job and stay healthy in the process.  I have seen many of my old college/high school friends struggle with their fitness as they move on to this new chapter in their life, and I just hope those people realize that they can do what I'm doing or find their own way of adapting.