TAPER CLUMPS!

Holy Mother of God. (Sorry God...)
When I first started this whole mess, I could not WAIT to taper for the 2 weeks leading up until the marathon. Coming off of Sundays when I had to get up at 5 and run 20 miles, this week's 12 was a walk in the park. Usually on Wednesdays I had to run 8 miles...today I did 4. This Sunday's run is only 8 miles. That's absolutely CRAZY. I remember the first time I had to do 8 miles at once. I honestly thought that I was going to die, and it took me a while, and I vowed that I would never enjoy running, ever, and I pretty much thought my world was over. Now 8 miles is the final part of the taper, and I can not wait to run it. I guess we have come a long way.

However, despite the perks of tapering (the rest, extra sleep, time to do my homework, not having to run as far) there are some distinct disadvantages. Here they are:

1) My body is USED to getting up at the buttcrack of dawn to run. I can't sleep in. Between my time at Loras this summer (read about that fun experience here) where I was up by 6:30 every day, and my crazy schedule here, I have been getting early pretty much every morning since June. So on a Saturday when I have NOTHING going on, I still find myself wide awake by 7:30 or 8. Yikes.

2) With all of this extra time on my hands, I find myself doing TOTALLY useless things, such as:
-Learning how to play Taylor Swift songs on the guitar so I can seranade Alyssa (lucky her)
-Facebook stalking...more than usual
-Lurking into Marie's room to talk about NOTHING for hours
-Painting my nails
-Organizing my closet
-Late night food runs
-Online shopping.
**Note: these are mostly very "girlie" activities, the likes of which I try to avoid. This is exactly why I need to be in constant motion...**

Things I should be doing (but I'm not...)
-Icing my horrible shin splints
-Stretching
-Watching what I eat
-Mentally preparing to run 26.2 miles...ha. Like thats going to help.

3) I have excessive energy. Because I don't have to run a gigallion miles every day. And its killing me. And the worst part is, when I feel like this normally, I can go play basketball or rollerblade or something. But because the marathon is lurking very close at hand, and I have a tendency to get hurt doing daily tasks (I'm clumsy), I am trying to keep physical activity that may hurt me (aka, any physical activity) to a minimum.

4) I am no longer able to eat whatever I want, whenever I want. I still have to eat, and eat lots of carbs, now I just have to be smarter about it. Next week, I'm not supposed to eat anyting fatty/greasy/bad for me in general. However, a perk to next week is I am also not supposed to eat too many veggies the few days before the race. I'd say that's a fair trade off. I'm also supposed to eat carbs. And then more carbs. And then even more. But avoid cookies. What a roller coaster of food emotions.

Anyway, I used to laugh at people who talked about "taper madness". I thought it was a myth, like the Tooth Fairy or a cool Packers fan (sorry Packers fans, had to get a jab in there. Daaa Bears), but let me tell you, taper madness is real. And it will kick your ass.

11 days...oy.

-Katie

18....20....eff.

Oh hey world.
Yep. Basically you should be used to our random/not at all reliable posts by now. But look on the bright side, when we do update, its like Christmas morning for you! So Merry Christmas to all six of you!

So we have been doing some long runs. And by long, I mean distances that one would usually bike. Or drive. Or call a cab for. Or ride a camel or horse. But apparently to be ready to run 26.2 miles, we actually have to run 18, then 20, then 20 again. When I first looked at the schedule, I remember thinking, "damn self. Running 20 miles is going to be terrible. Good thing its so far away!". Heh. 20 miles has come and gone, and let me tell you, its not fun. At all. Now, we had our fun moments, like standing on the side of John Nolan Drive, in the bushes and weeds, laughing histerically at NOTHING (This was mile 16....) while Alyssa yelled "So THIS is what a runners high feels like...I like it!!". Sorry Alyssa, I think we were just exhausted. Or the time that we saw geese out by the hospital, and Alyssa decided she had to save them from the oncoming traffic, so she ran at them flapping. When my ipod ran out of batteries, I think I actually cursed God (sorry God, I was just tired), and that too was funny. When we first left this morning at 6am, there was lightning everywhere, and we could have died. But I was a hard ass and made Alyssa keep going. Oops. I think we dropped the F-bomb more times than either of our Moms would be happy with (sorry Annemarie and Barb....). And somehow, we survived.

Now for all you people who actually care about the running part, we broke the 20 miles into 3 smaller runs. We started with 8, then stopped back at our apartment for food/gatoraid. Then we did 7, and stopped again. We finished with a walk/crawl of a 5 miles. The time we spent actually RUNNING, not counting water stops here (which we try to keep short), was 3:36.33. (Yes I timed it to the tenth....I'm anal.). That puts us at 10.08 minute miles, which is actually faster than we did during our 18 mile one. Im not sure why the improvement, maybe the cooler temps, or were just getting used to it mentally and physically. Ok well maybe not physically, because the thought of standing up right now makes me want to cry. I'm just glad its all over.

Our next "long" run is only 12 miles! I can't believe I'm excited that I only have to run 12 miles! Barf! After that we do another 20, then its taper until the marathon. 5 more weeks!....

Happy Labor Day!!
Katie (and Alyssa too!!)

OUCH

Long distance running can be very painful. However, it's not like any kind of pain I have felt before. It's not like getting a floor burn diving for a volleyball, or getting elbowed in the face while posting up in basketball, or feeling like your hamstrings are going to rip off after sprinting 400m in track, or feeling like you're going to pass out/die/see Jesus after doing a 2k on the erg. No no, it's nothing like that. Today I ran 17 miles, my farthest run yet. During my run, I realized that doing anything over 10 miles feels like this:

-all of the cartilage in your hips have been ripped out

-your IT bands have snapped off

-someone is banging your knee caps with a hammer

-a hole is being drilled into your femur

-your hip flexors have turned into metal and no longer let you raise your foot passed your ankle

Yet the weirdest part is that not only does the pain never go away, but it doesn't really get worse. And walking does not make it feel better, so you might as well keep running and hope that you make it home before you collapse.

Happy running!

~A

Finding My Feet Again

Oh hey blog. Long time no post!

I apologize for my lack of contributing. So far running this summer has been...well, let me tell you. Just before the half marathon in May, my hips would get really sore when I ran. I didn't think much of it, I figure lots of people get sore when they run. It's normal. But then afterwards I started getting up to 35 mile weeks and the soreness turned to pain. So I went to see the good ol' doc and she said I strained my gluteus medius muscle (no, not my gluteus MAXimus aka booty). It's a deep muscle in the hip region. She prescribed me new shoes, taking a few days off then running 3 miles every other day and then back into my training plan, and physical therapy. Oh, I also changed my training plans-my dad was writing me one. He ran plenty of marathons in his day, now he race-walks halfsies. Anywho, as the pain grew worse I started to think that the plan he was giving me was a little bit much. He used to RACE marathons. I'm just trying to finish. So I asked Katie if I could see a copy of the plan she was using. The longest mileage my dad said I would get up to would be 50-70 mile weeks (closer to the marathon). In Katie's plan, the longest mileage week was 43. That's what my dad had me doing on average in July. So the doc also said to switch to Katie's plan.

Now this part is my fault. I got new shoes, ran 3 miles ever other OTHER day, and procrastinated calling the physical therapy office until 2 weeks ago. I know this isn't an excuse, but my boyfriend left for Australia a week and a half ago, so leading up to that we went camping and I was busy planning a surprise going away party for him. Running got put on the back burner until the day after he left. So now I'm back into full swing, but it's slow. Last week Monday I had to do 14 miles and I did it in 4 different runs: 6 and 2 in the morning and then 4 and 2 at night. It was more of a run/walk, but I got the mileage in which was my goal. Then yesterday I did 15 miles in 3 runs: 7 and 3 in the morning (which sucked with both slowness and soreness) and then 5 at night. That 5 was great! I was cruisin along at around 9.5 min miles and it felt good! I was so relieved that I still had a good run left in me. And it got especially better when my man Enrique came on my iPod singing "I Like It". The past couple days I had been running iPod-commando, and some days it was nice. But other days, I could only handle my thoughts for so long...plus, it's so much nicer when I have Enrique's sweet sweet voice serenading me :) Now that I'm back on schedule, I signed up for the Madison Mini Marathon on August 21. My goal is to run the whole thing, or at least beat my time from the May half marathon.

And for those of our 3 loyal followers, I am running the Chicago Marathon for a charity called Girls In The Game which is an organization that gives girls the opportunity to learn different sports and how to stay and eat healthy. I'm all for that, especially the eating part :) So if any of you would like to make a donation, you can do so here: http://www.active.com/donate/charityraceteam/alyssageorge It would be greatly appreciated!

Until next time (hopefully before October),

~A

My juggling act of a life...

SORRY!
I know I have not updated in too long...again. I really do not mean to do this, let me try and explain myself.

See, I work at a sports camp over the summer. It is the best 5 weeks of my entire year. I get paid to hang out with kids, play games outside all day, coach boys lacrosse, and work with some of the coolest people in the world. And for those of you who are looking skeptically at me, YES, I am good with kids. My snarky/sassy/sarcastic demeanor is not brought along with me to sports camp, and instead I spend my weeks brushing hair, tying shoes, leading obnoxious cheers/dances, cutting up chicken, discussing the relative merit of the Jo-Bros, Justin Beiber, and silly bands, and calling 7-10 year old girls "sweetie". Its almost like a totally different Katie.

Anyway, my days are pretty much full. I do get 2 hours off every morning while the girls are at their Major sport of the day, but depending on the day I either spend that time:
A) Running/showering
B) Learning the counselor dance for the camp dance
C) Dealing with "injured/sick" (aka homesick) kids
D) Dealing with kids who are really injured or sick
E) Napping (especially on days when a camper wakes me up 7 times the night before...)
F) Planning my daily "PADDLE" talk with the girls about being a good person
G) Filling out their evaluations/journals
D) Talking to head counselors about problems

The rest of my 18 hour workday, you can find me playing such games as Cricket, Cageball, Powerball, Passgoal, OmniBall, basketball, soccer, Captains Coming, PiloBall, and a variety of other made up sports. Or I may be coaching lacrosse for 3 hours, or supervising free time, or telling girls to "Push in your chairs and say please and thank you!" at meals. But seriously, its the best job ever. However, it leaves little time or energy for coming up with witty/entertaining blog posts. I know that you, the three adoring fans, deserve more, and I pledge to do better.

Oh, you want to know about training? Its going well. Dubuque is really hilly, but I have found routes that are fairly flat. Its summer, so its hot. I run a tad bit slower sometimes. Sometimes I am really tired and I run less than I should, but I always make it up at a later date. I ran 11 miles last weekend with Lauren and Dan, and that went well. Yep. This whole running every day thing gets a little boring, but I make up games to entertain myself, like "name that tune" when I shuffle my Ipod. I need to get one of those hydration belt thingies so I stop stealing Dan's gatoraid.

See, why would you want to read about boring training when I can tell you all about how I convinced my campers that I am a professional Cricket player in England!? Thats much more exciting.

Until next time,
Katie

1/2 Marathon...3 weeks later...

Oh...hey.

I was at a family graduation party yesterday and was reminded gently (and sometimes not so gently) that I had not updated the blog since our victorious and glorious 1/2 marathon on May 30. I guess I have had enough time to decompress by now. Hopefully. So lets try this:

The night before, my family and I headed out to Madison to hit up the marathon expo, which was pretty uneventful. We checked into the hotel, met up with Alyssa and her mom, and checked out the local Olive Garden for some cheap and abundant carbs. My brother D.J. told the hostess that Alyssa and I were twins (we do look alike) and that it was our birthday, so we even got free cake. Thanks D.J.! We headed back to the hotel and sat in the hot tub for a while, and tried to go to bed early. I could not fall asleep, I probably got about 2 hours that night. I was up at 4 to eat a full breakfast and tried to get back to sleep, but that was a fail, so I just laid in bed until 5:30. We left the hotel with Alyssa's mom at 5:45 and had no problem getting downtown and to the start in time. We warmed up and stretched like good little runners, hit the port-a-potties, and were ready to go! Then we watched the crazy marathon runners start. And then it was time for us to start!

The first 5 miles were easy. (Too bad there are 8 after that right?) Alyssa had to pee right away so we hit the first bathroom we could find, which caused us to lose our pace group, but whatever. They were crazy anyway. Those first miles were through campus, and it was hilly. We had some choice words for the people who plan the route on our way up the hill on Observatory, but we were on campus so we knew where we were and that helped a lot. We saw our families around mile 5.5, and that was great! I really don't remember the next few miles, but I know that at mile 7 I had to stop and pee, and that's when my body though we were done for the day. Sitting down was a terrible life decision. It took a lot of convincing to get my legs to believe that we still had 6 miles to go, but somehow they got the message and we kept chugging. There really weren't many people on that back half of the course, and it was getting HOT, and we were just not feeling it. When we hit mile 8, I got excited, because we only had 5 miles left, and that's less than an hour, and 5 miles is nothing, right? Ha.

We ran along the lake for a while, which was nice and cool, and then we looped around Menona Bay, which is where I really started to hurt. We saw 2 people being taken off of the course on stretchers, probably because of dehydration (it was 88 degrees and HUMID when we finished). Someone was blasting "Telephone" by Lady Gaga, and that was nice. People had their hoses out and were spraying us down, and that was even nicer. But I was not feeling it. I was trying to keep smiling, keep chatting, doing whatever it took to keep moving forward, at a decent pace. Because we only had 3 miles left dammit. And 3 miles is NOTHING. I should be able to FLY for 3 friggin miles. Finally, FINALLY we hit the one mile left mark, and I almost got excited, but for some cruel and evil and demonic reason, the asswipe route planners decided that the last mile should be UPHILL. People were just walking (or limping, or crying) everywhere, it was like a giant game of frogger, and I honestly thought I was going to puke up about a gallon of yellow gatoraid. But to our credit, we ran up that entire damn hill. And then just where I thought the finish line was...there was more hill. So we kept running. We heard our parents cheering for us, so we ran faster (showing off our studly skills....). And then....we ran up a little more hill. But then we were done! And I did not throw up, and we got our medals, and more water, and then we hobbled about looking for our families. Alyssa's watch said we ran it in 2:15.08 (not including potty breaks), and I was really pleased with that time. Our goal was 2:10, but seeing as it was hot as balls, and hilly, and our first 1/2, I can not complain.

We found our families, and drank more, and began to slowly move back to the cars. Stretching and walking back to the car took a while, but I stayed on my feet. We got back to the hotel, and I took a ridiculously long shower, and then was anti social and cranky the rest of the day, and ate 3 pieces of deep dish pizza for dinner. Because I earned it dammit.

I was really proud of us after the race, but I know we still have a lot of work to do before the marathon in October. I started Hal's 18 Week program this week, and I decided to do Intermediate I, because the novice ones looked like a huge step down in mileage for me, and I did not want to slide backwards. I know I have never run a marathon before, but I think I can handle it. We'll see how it goes. I leave for my counselor job at Loras All Sports Camp on Tuesday, so balancing work and training and dealing with random crises that arise will be an interesting and new challenge, but I'm up for it!

These last few weeks I have been getting back into my full training schedule, I was really sore after the 1/2. A few weekends ago I ran the girls on the run 5k downtown which was a blast! I had so much fun running with a great group of young women and their inspiring role models who did not care about time or splits or any of the other crap most "serious" runners care about. Despite the rain, everyone had a great time. And the medals are sweet. Shout out to my cousin Lauren who coached a great group of girls all spring! All I heard about for 3.2 miles was how cool "Mrs. Kaminsky" is, and how funny she is, and how awesome she is, and blah blah blah blah (just kidding Lauren, but seriously, they were quite enamored of you...).

Thanks to everyone who continues to support us during our training. Having you there for us (and knowing full well you will judge me if I just give up at this point), really helps! Keep the advice coming you crazy running people (I seem to be related to a lot of those types)....

Until next time!
Katie

CARBS!

Its finally here. Taper week. How long have I looked forward to this week you ask? Way too long. It seems that since day one of this ordeal, I have wanted to be able to carbo load and not do much else for an entire week, and let me tell you, it feels damn good. Despite my inherent laziness, and the joys of not having to run 8 miles a day, I do feel a bit "clumpy". For those of you who aren't Valenti children, "clumps" is the term my Mom uses when one of us has too much energy, for instance:

"D.J.! Do you have clumps? Go spike that volleyball outside!"
or
"Jack, stop biting Meg and go work out the clumps."
or
"Katie, stop lurking. Gosh you are clumpy. Go for a run."

My lovely roommate can tell you how I get when I get the clumps, but its somewhere between me after an exciting lacrosse game and me on mountain dew, with some extra crazy eyes thrown in.

And that about describes me this week. That and I get to eat all of the carbs I want and no one can stop me. (Not that any sane person would EVER get between me and my food, but you know what I mean).

I know at this point I should have a "race plan", and I should be worried, and I should know the route by heart and have my fanny pack ready and my shoes clean and my outfit laid out. I don't. I know I'm a bad runner, but I'm trying not to take this too seriously. And by trying not to take it seriously I mean I am being my lazy self and not really caring too much. My race plan is this: run until I finish, don't start too fast, walk through aid stations. My outfit....we can let Meg decide that one (she has always been the fashionable one). I refuse to wear a fanny pack. I will not get lost on the course because there are thousands of people and signs and arrows. Even I can figure that one out. And its really not in my nature to worry. Not about stuff like this at least. This is supposed to be fun (at some point at least, maybe the first mile or so...).

If you find me on a street corner in Madison at some point on Sunday, you can point and laugh and say I told you so! You should have prepared more you ignorant first timer! But then at least help me get back to the car please.

Off to eat another baguette! (Have I mentioned that I love carbs?)
KV

Did You Know...

More interesting things I've seen while running:

1. A squirrel pooping. It kind of looked like it was hunched over eating an acorn, but there was no acorn...

2. A woman picking her nose while driving. I guess texting isn't the only dangerous thing to do while behind the wheel...

Interesting things I've learned:

1. Sneaking in finger scoops of cookie dough before running is a BAD idea.

2. Vaseline does NOT help lube up your legs like Katie's "Body Glide." If anything, it makes them stickier and chafe more.

4 DAYS!!

~A

The final countdown...

Ya I suck at updating this, I know. Sue me. I'm at home now, and not wasting time on my computer NEARLY as much as I do when I'm at school. So I just keep forgetting to do this.

Anyway, running in the village has been good. Flat, full of traffic, hot, but good. It is hard to find long routes around here, because I don't have a really large area where it is safe to run. So basically I run around the perimeter of town, or zig zag back and forth across it. I think that as summer wears on, I will have to go downtown and run along the lake to get my longer runs in, because I can only run back and forth down Lake street so many times.

7 days until the half marathon. Seriously, when we started this whole training thing May 30 seemed like it was so far in the future, but time flies when you're getting disgusting blisters! Lets hope I'm ready. Last week was by far the most miles I have put in:
Sunday: 10
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 6
Wednesday: 8
Thursday: 6
Friday: rest
Saturday: 6
So this week I get to taper! And eat a lot. And ice various parts of my body. And maybe try that whole stretching thing again, I kind of fell off the wagon on that one. My two goals were to run a marathon and touch my toes, and right now the marathon seems a whole lot easier.

As for next weekend, we finally have plans for getting to/staying in Madison. My family is going to head up Saturday afternoon, meet up with Alyssa and her mom, check out the Expo and pick up our stuff, eat a lot, and then eat more, and then sleep because runners are crazy people and like to start physical activity WAY too early in the morning. If anyone is going to be in Madison running or cheering or just because you live there, hit us up! We would love to see you (and give you our water bottles to hold along the course...).

Until next time (which won't be another month, promise :))
kv

There's No Place Like Home

Interesting/embarrassing things that have happened on my runs since I have been home:

1. When I run, I tend to spit a lot, but I at least do it discretely to the side in the grass. But the other day I turned to spit and didn't hear the guy coming up about to pass me and missed spitting on him by nearly a millimeter...oops. My bad.

2. I forget how warm weather brings out the bugs, especially near dusk. So naturally, I run into a swarm of nats and i accidently eat one as I'm inhaling. So for some reason I thought it was a good idea to blow it out of my nose (even though it went into my mouth) and got snot all over my face. Fail.

3. Last Saturday must have been some high school's prom because I ran by plenty of limo's and girls in pretty dresses. I ran by a big group getting their pictures taken and became too distracted looking at the girls' colorful dresses that I tripped. Bad. Not just a little stumble, but the kind where you think you're gonna face plant and by some miracle your legs catch you awkwardly just in time.

4. After my tripping incident, I saw a school bus up ahead with its flashers on and was like hmmm that's interesting, I've never seen a school bus on a Saturday...and then I noticed a bunch of overly eager moms with cameras and thought no...no. But yes, there was a group of kids who took a school bus to prom! I was confused because I wasn't sure if wow, that's so funny/cool, or wow, that's so lame.

5. On the last mile of my 10 miler, I was going very slow. It was like the little engine that couldn't. But i was still trudgin along when a car passed me and some little teenage boy yells out "Come on, you should be sprinting!" Merrr...not the kind of motivation i needed.

Man it's good to be home!

~A

Freedom!

Hey Blog,

Man oh man it's been a crazy week. Since Sunday, I have gotten a total of 15 hours of sleep. As an art major, I don't have exams during exam week like normal people. Instead, I have final projects and critiques all this week, mixed in with school, and an art history exam. But today my friends, today at 5:35pm all that madness had ended! God save the queen! Needless to say, I am pooped. I know this is a blog about running and not Alyssa's time to complain, so on that note I'll admit this to you:

I haven't run since Saturday morning...

I just couldn't do it, and I didn't want to push myself with the minimal sleep I've had this week. To make up for it, I'm going to run 7 tomorrow and 10 on Saturday/or tag along with Katie on Sunday (which she doesn't know yet). And like she said, those two combined is more than I ran my first week of training, which was 14/15 also. We'll see how things go.

Xoxo

Gossip Girl (Alyssa)

HOLY SHIT THE HALF MARATHON IS 25 DAYS AWAY!

AHHH.

Remain calm. Heres whats been going on:

I realized that I ran more miles in the first two days of this week (9 on Sunday, 6 on Tuesday), than I did in my entire first week of training (14 miles TOTAL). Thats amazing. I have come so far, and thats exciting. But the fact remains that I have not run more than 9.5 miles yet, and a half-marathon is 13.1. So thats 3.6 miles longer than I've ever gone. I will do 10 this weekend, so we'll see how that goes. Also I have no idea what the taper schedule is for a half marathon, guess its time to google that ish.

Anyway, my schedule for this week is as follows:
Sunday: 9
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 6
Wednesday: 5, hills
Thursday: 6
Friday: rest
Saturday: 4, fast
Sunday: the big 10 (probably slow, but trying to stay at 10 min/miles)

My new mantra is hydration and calories. I have been feeling so sluggish on my normal daily runs (which are now 5-7 miles...) and I think that its because I am not eating enough carbs and drinking enough water. After drinking poweraid for an entire year last year, I had grown an aversion to the stuff, but lately I have been drinking more gatoraid. I guess my body needs that. Hmm. Especially now that the weather is getting HOT, and I am sweating for hours at a time (a wonderful vision for all of you readers, Im sure).

My other worry is that I go home in a little over a week, and as much as I love the Chi, there are NO hills anywhere. Madison is hilly. I have to deal with them every day here, and thats good because I will be running the half marathon here, and there will be hills in said half marathon. So my trick is going to be finding hills in Chicago to practice on. Which might be a struggle.

I'm sure the 3 people who read this LOVE listening to me complain and worry and moan. Thats why you are here for me, yes. If anyone has ANY advice about running 13.1 miles, please hand it over. Well just have to see how this all goes....

Happy Hump Day!
kv

Oh hey there!

Hey guys!
I was recently informed by my wonderful mother that its been a while since I updated the blog. She is correct. Last week was a rest week, I only ran 15 miles total, so I did not feel like there was much to share on that front. But this week I'm running 28, sooo thats going to suck. But there are some major life developments I would like to share with the 5 or 6 people who read this:

1) I am getting much faster. Last week I ran a timed mile, and I ran it in 7:06. Now this may not seem spectacular, but this was mile 4. So I was pleased with that.

2) I can see muscles in my legs/abs/arms again. Its a wonderful sight, right in time for summer.

3) I am eating about as much as a teenage boy (although that really isn't that shocking)

4) I have lost about 15 pounds. Which is a good thing. Last year while I was rowing, I was real thin, to the point where I was constantly injured and sick and my coaches were trying to get me to eat about 24/7. (In my defense its hard to take in an extra 1500 calories a day...). After I stopped rowing, I basically stopped moving, but my body still expected 5 meals a day (ahh the memories...). So as you can imagine, I put on a little chub. Thankfully, the chub is all but gone, and I am feeling good about it. Now I have to make sure I don't keep dropping weight, or I'll be back to the nasty, sickly, injured thing I was last year. BRING ON THE CALORIES!

5) I ran 8 miles on Sunday, all by myself! This was my first "long" run I had to do all on my own, and it went by fast! I made good time, my second half was 4 minutes faster than my first. I was just hungry. I need to start packing snacks...Yesterday I had an easy 4.

6) Today I will run 6 miles, tomorrow is off, Thursday and Friday are 5 a piece, Saturday is off, and Sunday I have a 9-miler. ewwww.

7) The Madison half marathon is in 33 days. Yikes.

Thats all for now! I hope everyone (meaning the 6 people who read this :)) is enjoying this wonderful spring weather!!

Peace Easy
kv

Oh Hey Blog...

Hi,

It's been a while...I'm sorry. Let's see what you've missed...

Over spring break I ran my first 9-miler. It was really nice weather, but no matter how fast or slow I went my legs just ached and ached. Heart rate was pretty low, but my legs were pretty sore for the lats 2 miles. I also ran to my high school track and hung out with the track team for a little bit. I tried doing an easy hurdle workout with the girls: 2xhurdles-100m down and 100m back. After doing that, I realized that marathon shape does NOT mean sprinting shape. Holey Moley. But it was fun to hang out with the youngins again.

Last week: back to school. It was a nutso week, bouncing between studying for my art pisstory exam on Thurs and going back to Milwaukee on Wed for an interview with American Eagle and then coming back to Madison at night. Needless to say I only got in 19 miles. Finished the week off with visiting Katie's family in Chicago! Like she said, we had an amazing weekend, and met with "Cubicle Dad" and ran 8 miles of hills. Ooh baby, that was a good one. It actually wasn't all that bad with each mile being broken up. Shout out to our friend Jacque who hasn't worked out in a while and jumped in to do all 8 miles with us. Wow. And shout out to our friend Marie who did 3.6 with shitty knee problems, you go girl.

To start off this week, I ran my world record 3 miler in 24:14. Soon into the run I realized that eating Gardettos and drinking Squirt beforehand was a bad decision...Friday I'm supposed to do a 10 miler...ohhh boy. I don't really know where I should go. Somewhere flat, but then again that's almost impossible in Madison.

OH MY GOD! Biggest and bestest news EVER:
I'M OFFICIALLY REGISTERED FOR THE MARATHON!!! Like omg totes official like forreal forreal. I'm running for a charity called Girls in the Game (http://www.girlsinthegame.org/) that support young girls being healthy and involved with sports to develop confidence and leadership skills. I just got emailed all of the fundraising details so I'll have to check those out. But now Katie officially won't be running by herself! Yay :)

Tomorrow's going to be a high of 77 degrees. Time to bust out the tank tops!

It's good to be back.
~A

CHICAGO!

This weekend, my friends (Alyssa, Marie and Jacque) and I took a weekend trip to Chicago, to relax and sight see and sleep a lot. Well...we saw the sights. Not sure if I allowed for much relaxing or sleeping. But that's beside the point.

Last Thursday, I saw Dan (Cubicle Dad)'s status on Facebook, something about how he was dreading the hill and puke blah blah blah, and I thought, "well, Alyssa and I will be in the area, we have to do 8 miles, a run like that is fun in a group, we should do it!". So I emailed Dan and asked for directions, without consulting Alyssa. (I'm a good friend like that...). Then Marie and Jacque (who are NOT training for the marathon and do not deserve to get their asses kicked at 7am on a Saturday), decided that they too wished to run up and down a hill for hours on end. I hang out with some weird people. But we get along great...

Fast forward to Saturday morning. I had set my alarm for 6am, thinking we could be out the door by 6:15 and to the hill by 7. When I woke up, I realized that it was way too light out to be 6 am, and when I looked at the clock it was 6:42. Dammit. Now I had a decision to make. I could either send Dan an email explaining what had happened, apologize profusely, and sleep an extra 3 hours, OR I could run downstairs, drag everyone out of bed and get to the hill a little late. Because I am THAT GOOD of a friend, I ran downstairs and asked what everyone else wanted to do. The 3 sleeping faces that looked up at me did not look happy with the idea of getting out of bed, but I knew that I had told Dan I would be there, and because I was set on going my amazing friends were too. (Im telling you, they are nuts...)

I would tell you how fast we got there, but all I can say is traffic was light and we made good time (always doing the speed limit...mom....). We rolled up in true Madison form, late, frantic, unprepared, but totally ready to go. We all just jumped in and hung on. It was awesome. I got to talk to Dan, and I met Dave, the guy who ran the marathon with my cousin Lauren last fall and wrote all about it (he was much nicer than Dan and Lauren described him...). As my friends and I ran back and forth, we laughed about crew workouts, sweated, swore, discussed what foods we would eat when we were done, and had a blast. Props to Marie and Jacque for even entertaining the idea of hills, let alone RUNNING THEM with us. When all was said and done, we were all glad we went, and I know that it was one of the best training runs I have done so far.

We got back from the hill, ate waffles (shout out to my Dad...), showered, lounged for a bit, then went downtown to the Museum of Science and Industry and fought past crowds of little kids to play with all the cool stuff. Then we went on a sweet segway tour (pictures to follow...) of the city, and made it home for some dinner (shout out to Mama V...) and a late night viewing of the ever-epic movie, "Space Jam".

All in all, a pretty kick ass Saturday!
:)
kv

Dragging...

Ah! Its been almost a week since I updated. Oops!

The mileage is really starting to build. When I started this schedule, running 14 miles in a week took it all out of me. This week, I ran 26.5. Part of that huge jump is because I did 2.5 extra miles on Saturday's long run, but still, thats a big jump. By the end of this 18 week buildup schedule, I will be running about 35 miles/week.

Here's how this week broke down for me:
Saturday: 9.5 miles with Lauren and Dan

Sunday: EASTER

Monday: 5 miles, nothing too fancy

Tuesday: (this is where the dragging ass came in. I could not get motivated to get off the couch and just run. So I broke schedule and took Tuesday off instead of Wednesday...)

Wednesday: 4 miles, out and back, first two at about 11:20 pace, second two at 7:15 and 8:34. I was happy with this workout, I knew I wanted to push the pace the second half but I did not know I had a 7:15 mile in me. Yayy fitness.

Thursday: 4 miles, hills, ew.

Friday (today): OFF!!

Tomorrow I think I am going to go run hills with Dan from Cubicle dad. Im going to be in Chicago for a weekend with my friends, and since they are running before anyone will even be awake, that should work out just fine! I am looking forward to a workout that will really push me. Especially after all of the ass dragging that took place this week.

Happy Friday! Hopefully this nasty weather realizes its April now and gives us a splendid weekend!!

kv

Its a miracle!!

Today I ran 9.5 miles with my cousin, Lauren, and one of her friends, Dan Malinski of Cubicle Dad! This is 2.5 miles longer than anything I had ever run before, so all things considered, I am feeling pretty good! We ran out by Dan's house through some pretty forest preserve areas (there were tons of deer. It was kind of freaky. Do they realize where they are?).

Anyway, when Lauren said I should run for two hours with them, all I could think was: HELL NO. Two hours is a long time. If I dont eat for two hours I usually get hungry. Two hours is four episodes of Barney (thats how I used to tell time when I was little, I would ask how many Barneys until...) I was fully expecting to die after an hour and a half, and I could envision them leaving me in the dust and gravel as I crawled amongst the deer on my hands and knees. But that did not happen. I kept up with them! I did not whine, I did not crawl, I did not throw up or pass out or get hungry. I ran for 2 hours straight and I am still alive. Truly, an Easter miracle.

I really enjoyed running with people. Usually I am an antisocial exerciser, I like to put in the earbuds and not talk, because I don't like to waste precious air on the spoken word. But today I realized what "conversational pace" means. It means a pace where you can talk and run. At the same time. Without feeling like you are going to puke/pass out/cramp up/die. And you know what? I like conversational pace. It was enjoyable and relaxing, and fun! Lets be honest, I never lack words to say when I am not running, so why should that change just because I am! I am praying that Lauren and Dan were not ready to kill me, with my chatter and skipping and jumping and questions and hurdling trees. They were awesome to run with and I can't wait to annoy them for 15 whole miles next time. ;)

I am going to continue my eating/napping/watching spongebob schedule for the rest of the evening. Then watch "The Ten Commandments" circa 1956 featuring Charlton Heston as Moses/God. Gotta love these Valenti Family traditions!

Happy Easter to all!
kv

Misadventures

Happy Spring break!

Thats right, this week all my runs will be taking place in the great old ROFO/OP. (River Forest/ Oak Park). Yesterday I ran 7 miles. Today I ran 3. I am sore. Yes, for the first time in all of my marathon training, I am feeling it. Not to bad, don't get me wrong. But just a little twinge here and there. The 7 miles yesterday went well, its nice that Chicago is so FLAT. But it was long and I did not necessarily enjoy mile 6. 7 was fine, 6 was what killed me. Don't ask why.

Today, after my lovely 3 mile drag (calling it a run would be very nice to what I did for a half hour), I dropped DJ off at volleyball and went down town to FLEET FEET! I am officially a serious runner. Or something like that. After getting totally lost and driving all over the North side, ( I was 3 blocks away, thought I had gone too far, so I turned back and drove down Montrose all the way back to Lake shore drive...twice) I found this stupid place. I was cursing under my breath as I walked in, I did not understand why I had to drive so far for a stupid pair of shoes. Now I get it. This dude had me try on 3 pairs, run in all of them, he studied my bio mechanics or some shit like that, it was intense. But the shoes I got are sweet. And they feel really good. So I guess it was worth it. The most exciting thing I learned is that I do not have to get a fannypack water bottle thing!! I asked the serious runner dude and he told me he ran the marathon without one, so I would be fine! That was a relief.

Tomorrow is 5 miles, Thursday is 4, Friday is 3, and Saturday should be rest, but Im going to do my 7 that day because even God slept in on Easter Sunday, right? Plus I will need my energy for the Easter egg hunt. ;)

Its going to be 70 tomorrow!!!

-kv

Speedy Gonzales. Arribarriba!

I am happy to announce that today was the first day I have officially passed another runner! Yes, that's right. Not a mom pushing her baby in a stroller. Not a fast walking old couple. An actual runner. It was glorious! Granted, he was probably going the same pace as I would be running any other day, but not today. Tuesdays are my speedy days: aka 3 miles at 25.5 minutes or under. I hit 25 today...I'm aiming for 24 in the near future, and I thought I was going to get it today, but there are these lovely beasts called hills that slow me down. The one problem with my place of residence is that it is on top of a hill, so no matter which direction you're coming from, you're going to be climbing up that mountain. Grrrrrrrr.

On a scarier note, today Katie came out of the elevator and asked me "Have you signed up for the marathon yet?!" My answer was "No..." Apparently registration is closed. I don't know what to do. I mean, I'm running this damn thing, but I don't know what to do...I guess if worst comes to worst, I'll just hop the fence and steal someone's number. Sounds like a plan to me...

...I hope not.

~A

Vitamins and Recovery

I am now officially 2 months into this mess. Its my second easy week on the schedule, which means I am not running today! The timing is perfect because playoffs for interrmural basketball start tonight and because of a few grave injuries to Team Baby Mama Drama, I will need to be in fine form this evening. I will run 4 miles tomorrow, Wednesday, Thursday, and just 3 on Saturday! It looks so calm and peaceful.

In other news I have begun taking a Multivitamin every day. A grown up one. I had bought gummy vitamins thinking that that was a sound life decision, and it was not. I went to give blood a few weeks ago and they told me my hemoglobin levels were really really scary low. Like they could not even read the amount because it was that low. This was shocking because the last time I gave blood I was able to give double red blood cells, because I had the hemoglobin levels of a muscular man. (Not sure if I was more impressed or embarrassed....). They told me to eat some red meat and try again later, but after talking to my Mom and learning that low iron runs in the family, I decided (or my mom insisted...whatever you want to call it), to start taking care of myself. So here I sit, staring at this huge horse pill I must take every day. It is helping. I have more energy, have been sleeping better, my breathing on runs is easy and low these days. I just hate taking these things! Those gummy ones were so tasty....

Happy Monday!
Katie

Marathon

I ran my first marathon! It took me a week to do it... this week I ran a total of 26 +a little miles and man is my body feeling it. It felt good during my runs, but afterwards I just feel exhausted. I think it might be that I'm not eating the right energy-fueling foods. I'm not going to lie, I'm a picky eater and a big fan of carbs...that's pretty much it. I drink V8s to supplement my fruits and veggies, but I don't think it's enough. Any running-meal advice would be greatly appreciated :)

I'm taking the day off to day to give my legs a rest, and then it's back to work tomorrow!

Wisconsin is playing Cornell right now, let's hope this game doesn't mess up my bracket like Georgetown and Kansas did...Go Badgers!

Happy March Madness

~A

Just keep running...

Hey friends!
Today was perfect. When I left to run at around 4:45 is was 63 and sunny. I was supposed to run 4 miles, but ended up doing a little over 4 and a half, because I wanted to be outside longer! The lakes are melting, the ducks are coming back, the grass is turning green, and the people of Madison are coming out of hibernation! It is beautiful!

I decided to take video of different places that I ran today, so that you can all feel like you ran along with me on this beautiful day! unfortunately, said videos are not uploading. I will work on this at a time when I do not have so much homework! But anyway, here is the route I took from mapmyrun.com.

On Sunday, I ran 6 miles again, which was great! It took less than an hour and I felt like I kept a very good pace, so I was pleased. Its nice to see that my body is adjusting back to regular movement, and I did not have trouble with breathing or heart rate at all. Monday was an easy 3 miles, and the rest of the week is just 3's and 4's, so nothing too big! The weather forcast is wonderful, so I am excited to get outside and run everyday. Of course they are calling for snow on Saturday night, but I refuse to accept that. Granted, it snowed here in April last year, so we are getting spoiled, but I will take spoiled over snow any day!

Sorry the videos did not work! I will work on getting them up soon! that or I'll take my digital camera with me for Friday's run, the quality on that might be a little better! I hope everyone is enjoying the sun and warm!

Happy St. Patrick's day!
Katie

8!

I did my longest run EVER: 8 miles! I did it Thursday afternoon. I was originally supposed to do 6, but then my dad was like "bump it up to 7" and then while running out I hit 37 minutes and was like what the heck, what's the extra 3 minutes out. I was feeling really good that day and I took a different route so naturally I was distracted. The weather that day was so bizarre. I ran on lakeshore path along Lake Mendota which was fogging like no other! It was crazy, I was running through clouds it seemed like. It was about 45-50 degrees out, but through the fog it easily dropped 10 degrees giving me a nice cool break. But instead of continuing the path to picnic point, i took it to the left and went towards Eagle Heights (where the 80 goes but you never really know where it is cuz it's so far). So I pass Eagle Heights and then get to Shorewood Hills. I should have just turned around after reading that sign. Shorewood HILLS. It should have been called the Shorewood Alps. But as tiring as it was, it sure was a beautiful sight. I was running along Lake Mendota Dr. which was a single road with hardly any traffic and the most beautiful homes placed on a cliff overlooking the foggy Lake Mendota. No wonder I got distracted from the time. I found my future house during this run. 3512 Lake Mendota Dr.-->the top room has 4 walls of windows and sky lights and is a studio. Can someone say H.E.A.V.E.N.? Then I had to turn around...I ran out of gas the last 2.5 miles of that run. I was just put-putting along. I wish I had a sign above me that said "On my 8th mile" so people would understand and not just think that I'm the slowest runner alive...oh well.

Going along with Katie's rant of intense people, I saw a guy cruisin with his water bottle belt on. I wanted to laugh at him, but then he was going at the speed of light. Damn those tiny light people. They can go so fast.

On a second rant, walkers are so stupid. Either you have the dumb 3-some of girls who walk in a line, which leaves no space on the side walk for me to run by. And they see me coming, but refuse to move so I'm left to run half in the mud and give the girl on the outside the chicken elbow. Or you have these crazy people who think it's a good idea to walk directly in the middle of the sidewalk and again refuse to move for the runner coming straight at them. And then there's my favorite. The zig-zag walking texters. They don't see you coming, and keep swaying to the left and right, so you can never predict where they're going to go and then you run right into them...awwwwkward.

Happy daylight savings!

~A

I am not intense....

I am not even close to the intensity level of some of these crazies out there. Today I was running behind a woman who was wearing:
a) ipod arm band
b) HUGGEE watch
c) heart rate monitor (over her shirt..I dont think she quite understands it...) which was attached to a watch on her other wrist (at least I think thats why she was wearing 2 watches)
d) a CamelBak. With the hose thingies going into her mouth. So she could drink and run.
e) Fanny pack butt thing.
f) Hat, intense jacket, sun glasses, intense spandex, all Nike of course.

I on the other hand tend to run with my ipod. Annnnd my keys tied to my shoelace. Thats about it. I don't understand why it is necessary to hook yourself up to 294839 contraptions to run. I get the heart rate monitor, we were required to buy one for crew last year and I get that it helps you see how hard your body is working. But I don't even like wearing that. It gets all sweaty and slides all up and down and I think that that would be one more thing to distract me.

I guess I just like working out to work out. I feel great when I'm done, and I really keep track of the numbers or stats or data all that often. I got so sick of that shit last year on the ergs, being ranked and evaluated and judged based on how good of a day you had. So I like to unhook, set a course, and just roll with it. Maybe this is a bad training strategy. Maybe that woman will kick my ass come marathon time. But all I know is today, while she was groaning and puffing and hitting various buttons to see various data, I breezed right on past her, with a huge smile on my face.

Suck it intense running people.

(ps sorry if I actually offended anyone who runs with 21387492 contraptions. I just have no idea what any of those do. Like previously stated, I am not intense.)

Happy Weekend!!
Katie

Fun Run!

IT WAS SO AWESOME TODAY!

So yesterday I was slacking...I had planned to do 6 with Alyssa early in the morning, but for some reason I could NOT sleep. I was laying in bed dreading getting up and running. It was 3:30 ish before I fell asleep, so I texted Alyssa and told her I was taking the day off. (I was already a day ahead on my schedule...). I dont know what was wrong with me, I was just psyched out I guess. I really do not like running early, and I just was not feeling the physical actvity as I lay in bed exhausted at 3 in the morning...imagine that!

This morning I woke up ready to go! I did six miles today, and I did them fast (about 55 minutes...not bad not bad!). I was just much happier mentally and physically, and I had a great time. I ran around downtown, mainly because as pretty as the Lakeshore path is, right now its muddy and gray and there is not much to look at but dirt and empty beer cans. State street was hopping, full of families and kids and street preformers and dogs to avoid. I loved it! The bad part about ending my 6 mile run by running down State street is everything smelled SOO good and I was hungry. But that is about the worst of my complaints!

I am wishfully thinking that treadmill running is over...but I have a sinking feeling I'm wrong. I mean, its March in Madison, we have at least a foot of snow left. Sigh. Keep your fingers crossed people!

Let the week begin...
Katie

Spring Fever

Today was another gorgeous wannabespring day! As I ran by melted masses of snow/mud I could catch the scent of summer's fresh cut grass and imagined the streets shaded by the tree's leaves. Ah I can't wait until summer. Not to mention new running clothes shopping! Like these: http://www.shopadidas.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3805691&shopGroup=R&cp=2019628.2039727.2020259.3878245&colorId= Yee yee!

Today I took a different route. Usually when I run on the bike path, I go west through a bunch of cute Madison neighborhoods, but today I took it east which led me to Lake Monona and the hundreds of ice fishermen. Don't they see that parts of the lake are back to liquid form? I don't get these people...they sit outside in the cold over a quickly melting lake for hours and hours. don't they have jobs? I would hope yes so that they have health insurance for when they fall through the ice and get hypothermia...

I did 6 today, goal is 4 tomorrow and then the big 7 on Saturday...ohhh boy. Wish me luck!

Enjoy the weather!

~A

ow.

HELLOOO March.

March is a great month. We got MARCH MADNESS, St. Patricks day, spring training for baseball...and hopefully I will be able to run outside regularly before this month is over. For the time being, I am still indoors. You want to know what running on a treadmill for a month and a half gives you?? Shin splints. Thats right, Bonnie and Clyde have returned.

Bonnie and Clyde (my pet names for my shin splints) have been crashing the party since my freshman year of high school when I ran cross country (that whole distance running fad only lasted one season...). But I also got them from time to time in basketball and lacrosse. Never in rowing. Probably because I was horizontal most of the time.

Anyway, all of these fond past memories with B & C have taught me some excellent coping strategies. For instance, that really cool penguin walk, where you walk around on your heels for a while. Did that one today after my run. I am also trying to stretch even more than usual, especially my calves. And I have some cute little Dixie cups full of water to give myself ice massages...However, I am looking for more tips/suggestions to help with my recent problem, because in the past the only way I can totally get rid of these two is to stop working out for a few weeks (usually that was between seasons of High School sports...) Anyone got any good tips for me or am I doomed to run like a grandma the rest of my days??

Happy month o' the shamrock shake (if you are into that sort of thing...)
kv

OUTSIDE!!! Alyssa's version

I second Katie, I also ran outside today and it was B.E.A.Utiful! I was loving it! Running up State Street today was quite a sight. I don't think I have ever seen so many letter jackets in one place. Apparently it's the state wrestling tournament in Madison this weekend, so there were plenty of beefy little boys thinking they're all that and a bag of potato chips with their cheerleader-letterjacket-wearing girlfriends and the shopaholic moms with the clearly too intense dad sporting every single item of their son's high school gear. It was great. Reminding me of the good old days...

Man, hills are the devil. Especially when in order to get back to your dorm you have to run up Bascom...It's sad when the squirrels are beating me up the hill...And you know what's ridiculous? My nose. It runs faster than I do! I'm constantly doing the nature blow or the arm wipe, but it just keeps on goin...I wish I could invent some sort of nose plug, or snot catcher, or something.

Today was also a very encouraging day for me. Last week I was having a really hard time fitting in runs, so I was feeling guilty that I hadn't hit my weekly goal, and then after I read Katie's post about how she hit 57 miles this month I thought I was really behind. But then I tallied all of mine up and I hit 60! I'm right there with you Katie! I also saw her Facebook status that her cousin was famous and had a link to the radio station she was on. "Forward is a pace." Whenever I think I'm slow, or want to walk, or want to just stop, I think of that. You're getting somewhere as long as you're moving forward, it doesn't matter how fast. So thank you Lauren for giving me inspiration!

It's shower time...I love you all!

~A

OUTSIDE!!

I RAN OUTSIDE TODAY!! It was so nice. I have forgotten what its like to breathe real air, and run a real distance, and try to dodge real cars! It was so refreshing not to have to stare at the numbers on the treadmill, and to soak up the glorious sun. Its 35 degrees here today, and it feels amazing. I'm about ready to bust out the shorts...ok maybe not yet. But soon!

This week I have been pushing the pace, since the distances have been shorter. And I can feel myself getting back in shape. It is a wonderful feeling, to finish a run at an all out sprint, and to feel good afterwords. Working out is like a drug, the more I do, the more I want to do it, and the better I feel after doing it. Did that statement make me sound like a druggie? hmmm...

I have run 57 miles in the last month, (yes I just counted)...and I'm excited to keep adding to that. Today completes my first month of "official" marathon training :) Next month...68. Thank you to everyone who has given me advice, presents, encouragement and inspiration this past month, I appreciate everything!

NOW GET OFF YOUR COMPUTER AND GO ENJOY THIS BEAUTIFUL DAY!! NOW!

Katie

Yayy recovery!

This week is a recovery week. Every 4th week on my handy little schedule, I get a week with less mileage. I am assuming this is to let my body rest up and not die midway to the marathon, so I'm all for a recovery week. Today was 3 miles, so I really pushed it, and it felt good. Especially considering my ipod ran out of batteries so I was forced to listen to myself breathe, which I hate more than anything. I found myself racing the people around me, and watching the UW dance team work it in the next room over. That was entertainment enough, let me tell you. I guess I'm just jealous I can not dance.

In other sporting news, TEAM BABY MAMA DRAMA DOMINATED last night. For those of you who are unaware, BABY MAMA DRAMA is our intermural basketball team. Last night we played the Air Force ROTC kids (we're in the competitive league...), and although we were down by about 20 at the half, and I had to guard a giant man child with hell in his eyeballs, we came out on top, somehow. Let me just say this, marathon training shape does not = basketball shape. I was dying out there. Looks like I'll be cross training with some short track workouts, or I'll just continue to look like a Gatorade commercial after 2 minutes of play. Either is attractive.

Happy Monday!!
K-tizzle

Summatime

Summer is here people! The sun is shining, the snow is melting, the birds are singing, the grass is brown, the smell of mud is in the air, it's beautiful! Yesterday was a high of 35 and I was ready to put some shorts on. I went for a 5 mile run, and man I was loving it. I can't wait for warmer weather, then I feel like I'll want to run even more. But I just thought you all should know, whip out your flip flops and tank tops because summer is finally here! Hollllaaa!

~A

Running vs. Rowing

Happy Thursday!

Just got back from the SERF, did 4 miles at a faster pace, about 9:36min/mile. Felt good, hard, but good. To distract myself, I made a nice long list in my head. A glorious list of the similarities and differences between rowing (crew), and training for a marathon. I now present that list:

Similarities:
-Both are endurance sports
-Both require me to play ridiculous mental games with myself (i.e. count the number of strokes/steps you take a minute OR watch your calories count up instead of looking at the time OR get through this minute and you can stop (Ya right...))
-Both make me extremely hungry
-Both require me to wear spandex
-Both require me to watch the ass of the person in front of me. In crew, it was to make sure the timing was right. In running, its because the girl with the booty shorts on the treadmill in front of me keeps bending over to stretch her hamstrings.
-Speaking of hamstrings, both make me realize how terribly inflexible I am

Differences:
-To run a marathon, I do not have to wake up at 5:30 to row/lift weights/run stadium stairs at camp Randall
-I have so far not puked ONCE while running (I averaged about twice a month with crew)
-You will never see my ass in a boat at the end of November getting splashed with waves in the dark of night whilst training for this marathon
-I get days off on my training schedule!!
-Crew made me extremely sick and tired and cranky. Now I have a ton of energy and am happy all the time. Yay for running!
-I dont have a small person sitting there telling me what to do while I run (for non-rowers, here is a video of what I mean... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JchCj2lcSD8&feature=related )


Have an awesome weekend!!
Katie

Awkward....

Hey guys!

Wanna hear an awkward story...I bet you do. So today, my naive runners ass decided to see if Walgreens had bodyglide. (Now that I'm running an hour at a time Im beginning to rub). So I walk in all smiley and happy and ask the nearest man if they carry Bodyglide. He gave me a funny look and said they did, follow him. He was all awkwardly looking at me and walking fast and hunchie. So we get to the aisle titled "feminine hygiene, family planning", and he pointed me in that direction. Confused, but not getting it yet, I looked at the shelf he had indicated and picked up the bottle labeled "BODYGLIDE- For her". Anyone get it yet? Well, I was looking at said bottle, and it suddenly dawned on me that "BODYGLIDE- For her" was not the bodyglide that runners use. No no, it was a feminine personal lubricant. Ugh.

Other than that awkward encounter, the training has been going well. I time my treadmill runs around Olympic events (tonight was womens snowboard cross), and try not to cry at all of the inspirational stories. I have worked my way up to 6 miles, and I actually am not in any pain yet (just wait, I wont be able to walk tomorrow). I think that my lack of sore has to do somewhat with this new technique I am trying out. You may have heard of it. Its called "stretching" and I hear some of the more serious athletes do it from time to time. Although its kind of radical for my taste, I someday hope to be able to touch my toes, like so many others can.

I also just finished reading the book "The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women" because my wonderful cousin Lauren sent it to me in a box full of inspiration. It was an awesome book, and I loved all of the stories and advice. I feel motivated and pumped and excited to eat a million calories of carbs a day!!

I promise to start updating this more frequently...oops! Gotta love midterms!!

Happy Mardi Gras!

Katie

Exhaustion

I'm beat. Like, I could keel over in a second sleep until morning beat. I went to Ohio to visit a friend from high school this weekend. A. Their work out facility is HUUGGGE! and B. I only got 4 hours of sleep before my flight home on Sunday. Then last night I was working on an art project until 3:30am, but I ran out of paper to finish my collage (the rest of my paper is in a locker in the art building) so I woke up at 7 this morning to go in early and finish. So as of right now, I'm running on a total of 7.5 hours of sleep from the passed to nights.

I don't want to run.

I took off yesterday, but I think I'm going to take off today too. I just can't. I feel really really guilty, but I can only do so much.

On a lighter note, I got new shoes!! They just came in the mail yesterday :) Here they are: http://www.shopadidas.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3348279&cp=2019628.2039726&colorId=G18293
They're super duper comfy, I love zem. I can't wait to run in them! Just not tonight...

It's 5:34pm and I'm signing off. Goodnight.

Treadmill issues...

Waddup.

So last night I ran for 45 minutes on the treadmill (due to the cold and snow). Lately when I have run outside, I have had a hard time breathing in the cold. It honestly feels like exercise induced asthma, but I have never had that before so Im not sure what would be causing that now (other than the 8 degree temperatures...lol). So Im going to stick to the treadmill for a while. My timing was perfect last night, I got there right in time to watch "A Duggar Delivery" on TLC. But I do have a few grievances with the treadmill:

1) I sit there and watch the time count down...not ok. I kept trying to cover it up with my ID and that worked but the clock on the wall kept drawing my attention. When I run outside I do not even look at the watch.
2)Its so hot! I was sweating like a greased monkey and it was not attractive.
3) I hate watching all the tiny little sorority girls walk or work out on the elipctical while either A: talking on their iphones or B: reading their English 100 notes to themselves WITHOUT SWEATING. My god Im already a foot taller than them, and now they dont have sweat glands....sheesh.
4)I just like dodging traffic and running outside, I feel like a hamster on a wheel at the gym. Oh well.

Woah I gotta get to class...oops! Happy Wednesday!

Katie

Time for Tylenol

My first aches and pains have finally set in...I'm not quite sure when it started. Last Friday I ran 6 miles (my farthest so far) on ze treadmill and things were good. Started right in time for two back to back episodes of this wedding dress show on TLC to come on. I was only gonna do 4, but I was feeling good so I kept going, also because I knew I wouldn't want to run as much on Saturday. Then comes Saturday...the lower right side of my calf was kind of tight. No biggie, it didn't bug me too much. Then yesterday I went out to do 5 miles and it was a sharp pain every step i took. I was worried it would hurt more and that I should've turned around, but the thing was that it never got worse, and it definitely didn't get better. Sooo I kept going. Then afterwards I did the calf stretch, but it didn't really get the right spot. So I iced it and tried to rub it out, and man is it sore today. I think I'll cut it back a little bit this week, just see how it goes. I'm bummed. It's like a shin splint, but not on my shin if that makes sense. Not sure what it is, but hopefully it goes away!

~A

PS I saw this lady wearing a funny headband thing that went over her nose. It was brilliant, but super funny lookin.

Advice!

Hey guys!

Sorry I have not written for about a week, we had some sad news this weekend. My grandma died on Saturday evening, and I was home earlier this week for the funeral. She was loved and will be deeply missed, and I have decided to dedicate this marathon to grandmas everywhere. I personally have 2 amazing grandmothers who are an inspiration to me. Their strength and dedication are amazing to me, and when I grow up I want to be them! Team sassy grandma is born!!

Anyway, about the whole training thing, it has been going well. I had to use a treadmill this morning because (due to the 3 degree temp) and that sucked, but I did 3 miles. Does anyone else think running on the treadmill is way harder than running outside? Boo and hiss. Im waiting for the thaw. I got a lot of great advice while I was home from all the crazy people who I know who like to run marathons. Some of the best points are as follows:

-Dont be afraid to set high goals and push yourself, because you never know what you can accomplish -Kurt
-Its good training in Madison for a race like Chicago because its so hilly here, and chicago is extremely flat. -Sue
-Its good to do short, sprint workouts as well as long training runs. -Kurt
-Chicago is a great first marathon place because it is so crowded along the whole course, and has a lot of energy. -Aunt Katie

So thats that for now. It was great seeing so many awesome runners while I was home, I came back really energized and ready to get training hard. I can't wait.

-Katie

Difficulties

Today, I realized another tough part about training for a marathon. The physical will be tough but hopefully managable, the mental will be even harder, but then there was one other aspect that I hadn't taken into consideration: Real Life. I first started training about 3.5/4 weeks ago. I was on winter break, had all the time in the world to sleep in, go for a run, stretch, shower, eat, be a couch potato, it was great. School started back up again last week, but it wasn't so bad. I still ran everyday after class, because I had nothing to do-->it was only the first week back. But today, oh lovely Monday, I was hit hard. I have readings in 3 different classes and 2 different photo assignments (which obviously sound fun, but there's a definite time aspect to them) and other drawing assignments. I'm beginning to realize that this is going to be a tough semester, and working out, nonetheless for a marathon, is going to be extremely hard to fit in. If I'm already having a hard time making time for a 3 mile run, what am I going to do when I get up to 10 and 12 during finals? Am I allowed to split them up during the day, like 6 in the morning and 6 in the afternoon? That's still 2 separate hours to fit in between class, eating, work, potty breaks, and homework. I'm geeking out. I know I can do the dang thang physically and mentally (since I'll have Katie right next to me :) ), but I have to be able to do the work beforehand in order to run the full thing. Ay yi yi. However, something else I found out after forcing myself to run the 3 stupid miles is that running is an incredible stress reliever. I just pop in my headphones and crank up the tunes, run to the rhythm, and dodge cars like Frogger and I'm all set! I can come back refreshed with a clear mind. So I know that when my days get busier and crazier, I can go out for a run and come back ready to tackle any beast. I think that's what will save me.

~A

Spandex

I love spandex.
Spandex spandex spandex!
You know what I love about running in the cold?

I get to wear spandex.

Oops, sorry I forgot to post something yesterday. Man, I had a pretty sucky run yesterday. You know those ones where you just wanna stop, not because you're in pain or can't breathe or anything important, but just because? Yea, it was one of those. I was going so slow I probably could have walked the same pace...but I did 40 minutes! So I was happy I finished what I wanted to. And I realized that running alone with no iPod sucks too (mine was out of juice when I turned it on for my run...perfect timing). Good thing I've had that puppy plugged in all night.
Today's goal is 3. Well, I should rephrase that to 30 minutes. I'm just assuming I'm running 10-minute-miles, which is what we're aiming for the marathon. -->4 hours and 20 minutes. I think it'll be doable, it's a nice and comfortable pace. I'm no Kenyan...

Ttfn
~A

Confessions...

To the 3 regular readers of this fine blog:

I have a horrible confession...
I am in terrible shape.

A year ago at this time, I ran 4 miles in 27 minutes. And it was not that bad. Less than a year ago, a 10k in under an hour was considered a "recovery day" for me. However, as soon as I was done with my last crew practice, I got quite lazy. I was so sick of working out until I puked that I just stopped working out. I started back up at the end of last semester, because I realized that eating college food and not working out were detremental to my health, but my winter break workouts generally conisted of me playing the game on Wii fit where you flap your arms like a chicken. Soooo when Alyssa asked if I wanted to go run 3 miles the other night, I just about peed my pants. I got through that run, but the first half was about the worst I have felt in a long long time. Ive repeated that same route these last 2 days, and Im starting to freak out...

I can hardly run 3 miles without just about dying. I can not imagine running 26.2 any time soon. Or ever. I know that I have to take baby steps, and not think about it like that, so Im trying very hard not too. Im going to sign up for the Madison half marathon in may, so that gives me an easier goal to get to much sooner. And I KNOW that I am physically capable of running this damn thing. Its the mental part thats going to be tough. I guess I'll just have to take it one run at a time.

By the way, since this is a marathon training blog, I guess I should tell you how far I ran today eh? ~3 miles, 28 minutes. (I contribute my better time to the fact that I was running at 7:30am and no cars were out...)

Hasta Luego for now!
Katie

"Number 2"

Ran ~4 miles today (41 minutes). Was it cold out? Yea, it was cold out. Was my butt sore? Yea, my butt was sore. But other than that it was fine. It keeps getting easier and easier, hopefully I'll feel the same way tomorrow when I go for 5.

Speaking of butts, during my run today I thought about something my boyfriend's aunt (who runs marathons and ironmans) told me at Christmas: "You're going to have to train your bowels to go to the bathroom before you run the marathon."

......excuse me?

I never even thought about that! I mean, sure I've had those runs where I go out and 2 minutes in I realize I need to find the nearest Starbucks or Walgreens asap so I can use their bathroom, but I can't exactly do that in the Chicago marathon can I? I mean, they do have Starbucks on every corner which is convenient. But to train my bowels?? I'm not sure how to go about this...Maybe I'll pretend I'm Pavlov's dog and ring a bell every time I gotta go #2. Then when the horn goes off for the start of the race I'll remember to find the nearest port-a-potty. But if it's a horn, then I'm going to have to train myself with something other than a bell...Like an air horn! Yea! I think that's a brilliant plan! When I'm sitting in my Art History lecture and feel mother nature coming on I'll just whip out my air horn and "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" it's potty time! I'm sure Professor J won't mind. Or when I wake up in the middle of the night, I'll just grab my air horn at the side of my bed and "EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" run down the hall to the bathroom. I'm sure Sami will get used to it after the 3rd or 12th time. Maybe...or maybe I should just use my Jedi mind tricks and tell myself to go. Or as Michael would say, my Spidey senses.

Ta ta for now!
~Alyssa

Genesis

So here's the story:
Once upon a time, two beautiful and talented girls named Katie and Alyssa were rowers their freshmen year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They quit. Then they figured if they could row 3x6k (Over 11 miles of full body death on a machine called an erg) why couldn't they run a marathon, right? After watching many inspirational people we know (Katie's cousin Lauren) and dont know (people on "Biggest Loser") run marathons, then shit...they could. I mean...they were D1 athletes...right?? We'll see.

And so the journey begins...

Today, we ran around the capitol and back, (exactly 30 minutes), so we figure that's about 3 miles. GOAL ATTAINED. Not a bad start if we do say so ourselves. This blog is to update you, our friends and family, on our success, and possible failures...and funny stories we are bound to get ourselves into (like running into each other and almost getting hit by 2 separate cars). We hope you enjoy. We know the Chicago marathon is a long way away, but lets be honest...we need all that time to get our lazy crew-less asses into marathon running shape.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Please feel free to let us know! We're open to those guys. Plus a large motivating factor will be how many people actually read our blog...so feel free to share!!

T-264 days..lets get it going.

xoxo (just kidding)
Katie and Alyssa