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.