Sick...ugh

It has been a while since I last posted. I have been very busy and will provide a recap in a later post. I am so sick today. I stayed home from work and don't plan on getting out of bed, except to go to the doctor. Not so great for training...oh well, there's always next week.

Sprinting Through My Day

I had a really great workout today: Standard warm up. Run 4 x 400 meters at 15 seconds per mile faster than your current 5K pace. Jog for 400 meters between repeats. Cool down with 800 meters of jogging.

I skipped yesterday's workout because I was absolutely exhausted from all of the craziness on Tuesday. Macie (little dog) and I did take a walk, though, and I spent a long time in the backyard with Bryant (big dog).

Since Eric left, I feel like I've been running sprints from the time I wake up until I crash at night. I am really hopping that in the next few weeks I settle in to more of a marathon pace; otherwise, I am not sure how great I'm going to be at enduring the coming months.

Fartlek = Fun...I'm not so sure

I began this morning at 5am with a 45 minute "fartlek," which according to Running Planet is the Swedish word for speed play. I would jog at a moderate pace for 5 minutes, and then speed up for one minute. There really was not much playful about it, but I got a good workout and in the end felt really good.

A few other things have kept me running today. These guys definitely keep me on my toes...

Bryant had his first training class today. He was definitely the worst behaved and the biggest one in the class. I was absolutely exhausted by the time we were finished. We are going to have to practice, practice, practice before next Tuesday!

I also mowed the lawn for the first time since Eric and I have been married...almost 6 years! It was reminiscent of the Thursday afternoon ritual growing up, except then we had riding mowers. I was fairly pleased with myself seeing as I had never used a push mower! The lawn could look better, but at least the neighbors will not complain about ours being a foot higher than every other lawn in the neighborhood.

Tomorrow should be a little less crazy...the morning starts with an easy 3 miles and we'll see where things go from there!

Day 1: Success!

Day 1 was easy...rest. I found this amusing since this is the first thing I was directed to do in the 12 week training program. However, I think I was fantastically successful! Tomorrow may be a different story. I did get up at 5:00 this morning to ascertain that I would be ready for rising early tomorrow morning.

T: Minus 2 Days

My training program actually begins Monday, but before Eric left we started running most mornings and we ran the UAB Dollars for Scholars 5k.

It was the hottest day of 2009 to date and our time was not impressive, but we had a fabulous time with friends and raising money for a good cause. The Engineering Alumni Association had a fantastic turn out...who knew engineers would rather run than go out for happy hour!!!

A Project with a Purpose

I really love this guy...

For the next 7 months, he will literally be on the other side of the world. Yesterday, I took him to the airport and then promptly secured these...

When we decided that Eric would take this position, I decided that I would use the time to do something for me. I wanted to invest in a project that would both occupy my time and afford me a sense of accomplishment.

I decided to spend the next seven months running...