Full Steam Ahead ...Sort of ...

As you saw in my last post, my race line up for the next 4 months is set. As most of you know, right now running is really an after thought since most days I have about 1 hour that I am awake, not at work, or not driving home from work.  With tax season ending in about 6 weeks, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Coming up with a training plan to go from now until the Baltimore Half with the 10k and the 10 miler along the way was a challenge. The biggest challenge is that my husband is running the 10k not the 10 miler but is doing the half. We run together but I know that I will be training for the 10 miler in June but he won't be. So after the 10-miler, I will be scaling back down so that we can start to train for the Half. I also have to keep in mind that I will be studying for the CPA which will be taking up another 20 hours a week roughly.

So my running since the two half's I did last year has just been running a 5-6 mile long run, occasionally a 3 mile mid-week run, and yoga on Thursday. Needless to say, no much but I just don't have the time. My first race I signed up for is a week after tax season ends ... I will not be trained but I am still excited for it and it will be fun. I am not worried too much abut my time but do have a goal.

As you can see - until April 17th, I am not really running much. And even at the "height" of training, I would say I run on the lower end of the spectrum and less than other people. My body tends to prefer it that way so I don't see the need to push it more at this point. I am never going to break and records and as long as I can get better compared to my self - I don't really care about others!

So after the Sole of the City 10K, I will be gearing up for the Baltimore 10-Miler.

Now after the Baltimore 10 Miler, the rest of the summer will be getting ready for Baltimore Half AND trying not to get hurt. I have been having random tweaks over the last few months, so I want to make sure that I don't risk not running it at all. My goal for this is to break 2 and right now my best Half time was 2:19. I know its lofty - but we will see!

The sad part is - I would have done it in excel just like that regardless of if I was posting it to the public.  I am a nerd ... I spent my only day off last week working on my spreadsheet. I even added an column for expected calorie burn. As of now,  Hot Yoga on Sundays is offered, so hopefully that will work out. I want to start doing Hot Yoga and hopefully some extra stretching will help keep my muscles from being less tight. 

How is everyone else doing? 

Sun Salutations ....

Since it is Thursday, that means I did yoga!

Let me back up a day for a minute though. I came home yesterday in a fairly grumpy mood. So while I wasn't planning on running, I ended up going to the gm on my way home from work.

It was about 7:45pm when I got to the gym - Planet Fitness. There is at least 40 treadmills and I literally got on the last open one. I totally expect that at 6pm but 7:45?

I have been making a conscious effort to get better at running on the treadmill for the sake of running in the dark/winter. Although I would gladly take Saturday's 30 degree outdoor run over last nights 90 degree run. I swear the gym cranks up the heat to make people think they are sweating lots and losing all sorts of weight. 

I was planning on doing about 2 miles but ended up doing 3.25 in 35 minutes including .25 warm up walk/.25 cool down walk. Cranked up my Rascal Flatts channel on Pandora and ran. I am such a loser haha.

So I know that the giant logo I just posted says "the judgement free zone" but WTF was the girl on the treadmill next to me doing? I know I do odd things, but seriously this was the weirdest thing I have seen.

So these are the treadmill that are at my gym:

See that front bar thing - I hate it. It makes me feel cramped and then I end up holding all sorts of tension in my arms and it just gets in the way.  I end up touching it and then I end up having to run further back than I want. The other two gyms I have belonged to have no such bar. 

So I frequently see people doing the crank up the incline/speed but hold on for dear life - but what I saw last night was far worse than that. 

She would literally crouch down and hug that bar part in the middle (with both arms) but keep her feet running. She did this about every 30 seconds for about half of my run. It was so odd!

Okay judging is over.

I did yoga today and that felt nice. 50 minutes of sun salutations, warriors, stretches, and final relaxation. Hopefully another 5-6 miles this weekend (I haven't checked the weather yet). 

Butter and Yoga?

So on Tuesday I did intervals at the gym and my feet and ankles have felt miserable since.  The treadmill is still giving me fits and last week was actually going well and Tuesday I ran with cinder block feet again and I think that is why my feet are bothering me since they were just sort of smacking the treadmill. I opted to skip cardio/running today and took a 1 hour yoga class (best part, its at work). Our work is pretty awesome and has things like a weekly yoga class right in the building.

So on the way home, what do I smell? Butter! Now - that would be weird, except for the fact I pass McCormick on a daily basis. So it fairly regularly smells like butter and pepper in the air. That got me to thinking, hey that is pretty cool that such a large company is so local. Although, I think one could agree that spices shouldn't be $5 for a little jar.  Then, a few miles more down the road on the way home from work, I pass by Kevin Plank's (founder of Under Armour) property as I see it sit up on top of the hill with amazing land surrounding. Might as well get it out there, but I think one could say that fellow blogger Kelly (Fit for Life Wife) and I love Under Armour.

Here are some photos I found online on the Washington Post.

I tried to take my own but it never came out right .....

I think that is my favorite part of running the UA Baltimore Running Festival. To me, the event has such a great hometown presence. I love the excitement on race day, I love the people outside there homes along the course cheering you on, I love people giving you high fives along the way, and how many people actually thank the police that help facilitate the event.  Oh and I love running through Camden Yards. I look forward to it every year, and every year I complain about the hills and wonder why I do it!

I will be doing the Sole of the City 10k in April and I am pretty excited (crosses fingers for no rain). The premium is Black Under Armour Escape Lightweight Quarter Zip. Here is the description:

"You want a fun, fast and scenic downtown course through Charm City? Check. 

You want food, a few drinks, and good times with friends and family after the race? Yup, got 'em, and done. 

You want a great race premium and bragging rights that you ran the newest event on the spring racing scene? Well-- that part is up to you-- be we've got the goods. "

Now, I am sitting on the couch with my achy feet in a bath of warm Epsom salt water. That always makes them feel better.

I will be looking for new running shoes this weekend! So look for a post this weekend.