Hello October!

October 1, 2010 by 7 Comments

Despite the hectic pace of September, I logged 70 miles – my highest monthly mileage so far!

And now it’s October – race month! I have been inspired by many of you training for your marathons, halfs, 10ks and 5ks. It’s helped me to stay focused and motivated for my first 10k race. Only 9 days till the Tufts 10k!

So my goals for October are simple:

  • Keep building the mileage.
  • Baby my tweeky knee — lots of ice!
  • Enjoy my race experience! Trust that I can do the distance, run my own race and take in the moment! If I can do that, it will be a great race (whatever the clock says will be secondary)!

So what are you planning for October?

Have a Great Weekend Everyone!
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Filed Under: goals, Tufts 10k

Open letter to Mother Nature

September 28, 2010 by 5 Comments

Dear Mother Nature –

OK girlfriend it’s time you and I had a little chat!

Have you looked at your calendar lately?

It’s officially fall!!

Here in the northeast that means, leaf peeping, apple picking and cooler temps! I didn’t slog it out running in the crazy heat and humidity you threw at us unrelentingly all summer to be greeted with more of the same now! I mean seriously, I went out for simple 3 mile run this morning and I’m a dripping mess! And throwing us a bone in the form of the occasional crisp fall day just isn’t cutting it! There is a reason that I and many of my fellow runners signed up for races in the fall….to enjoy the cool, crisp air on race day. Do you see where I’m going with this?

So please, I’m begging you…enough of the hot flashes….embrace your inner ice princess and please cool things down around here and try to keep it that way at least through December!

Sincerely,

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Filed Under: general musings, training, weather

Couple of Friday Shout Outs

September 24, 2010 by 2 Comments

Whew it’s Friday again! I feel like I’ve been in a whirlwind ever since the kids went back to school. Hopefully by this time next week we’ll all feel more settled into a rhythm around here.

Five miles with three at tempo was on the schedule for this morning – felt pretty good. On tap for this weekend is my usual Saturday morning pilates class and then a 7 miler on Sunday (Actually looking forward to the 7 – it’s a confidence booster for sure!).

Sending some Friday Shout Outs:

What have you got on tap for the weekend?

Happy Friday!

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Filed Under: Shout-outs, tempo runs, training

In no particular order

September 21, 2010 by 3 Comments
  • The running gods continue to be kind to me after Friday’s arse kicking! Today’s run was smooth, effortless…an easy 5K. Thank you Universe I’ll have another!
  • I’ve surprised myself that despite the beautiful fall temperatures we’ve been experiencing in my neck of the woods, I now actually prefer to run at 6:30 in the morning – when did THAT happen?!?
  • There are now 32 of you signed on to follow my little journey into madness…er…I mean running 🙂 Again, when did THAT happen?! I have to say your comments and encouragement are SO very much appreciated!
  • Running with Attitude is now a member of Healthy Living Blogs. HLB is a new resource for the health blogging community created by Lindsey of Sound Eats. The site is designed to enhance the positive community of the healthy living blog world. I’m really happy to be a part of this community and encourage you to check out some of the great health-related blogs they support here!
  • There are some CRAZY good giveaways going on in the blogosphere right now — especially if you’re a fan of Brooks Running. Check out “Great Giveaways” in my sidebar!
Happy Running!

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Filed Under: general musings, giveaways, training

Beauty of short-term memory

September 19, 2010 by 3 Comments

One thing I’ve learned as I’ve started to work to increase my mileage, is how important it is to have a short-term memory. If you dwell on a bad run, that run’s impact can last for more than for just those few miles…and self-doubt is not a pretty thing!

Nope one of the keys to running I’ve discovered is to have a short-term memory – the ability to chalk up a bad run for exactly was it was a Bad Run… not a signal of your failure to train properly, or your inability to run an upcoming race…or to be a runner at all for that matter. It’s just a bad run.

I had one of those really bad runs on Friday – truly craptastic! But today was a new day…and a new run! Today my 6.2 miles felt easy and smooth. Today I finished strong and with a smile on my face….ah yes, the beauty of short-term memory!

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Filed Under: observations, tough runs, training

Voice of a 5 year-old

September 17, 2010 by 3 Comments

Today was a tough run. One of those runs where you want to scream – “Why am I doing this?!?”

On paper it was suppose to be a 5 miler, with 3 miles at tempo pace. Instead it turned into a test of wills. Thick humidity, intermittent rain and some serious stomach woes were all conspiring to let me know that this was NOT going to be the run I had hoped for…no this run was clearly going to be craptastic at best. “Do you really need to do this?” that voice in my head kept asking and as I neared 2 miles I actually stopped and thought about turning for home.

But then I could hear the voice of my 5 year old as he was sitting in the backseat on our way to school this morning (ok we can discuss all the voices in my head in another post!) — “You are going to run today right Mom ’cause you didn’t run yesterday so you gotta run today, right?” And, I know my little guy will ask me when I pick him up today, “So how was your run Mom?” the same as he’s done after each one of my runs since I started on this journey. Could I really look at him and tell him that I didn’t finish? That I was having a bad run so I gave up and went home? Well not a chance of that happening so I finished my 5 miles, much much slower than I had wanted. But some how I know that when I pick him up today and look into those big brown eyes I’ll be happy to tell him that I did it!

Have a Great Weekend!
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Filed Under: kids, motivation, tempo runs, tough runs, training

4 Weeks to Go!!

September 13, 2010 by 3 Comments
If you think you can do it, or
if you think you can’t do it
you are right
                                     — Henry Ford
In just 4 short weeks I’ll be lining up to run the Tufts 10k for Women. This is a race I have thought about running for quiet some time, but never thought I’d get to a point where I could actually run 6.2 miles. Even when I signed up back in July, the thought of covering that much distance was daunting! 
But it’s amazing what a shift in your beliefs can produce — I have now completed my 6 mile loop multiple times and yesterday ran my second 7-mile run! With still 4 weeks left, I now know I can complete the distance! I also know it will be easy to get nervous and psyche myself out multiple times between now and October 11th, so I’ve printed out this quote and taped it to my mirror to remind myself it’s all mental now!
Happy Running!
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Filed Under: goals, Monday Motivation, Quotes, training, Tufts 10k

6 long miles, Friday Shout Outs & an Award

September 10, 2010 by 4 Comments

Thank Goodness it’s Friday!!
For a short week (due to holidays) it sure felt like a long one — does that make sense? While I was pretty pleased with myself for keeping up with my training plan while on vacation last week, tired legs definitely caught up with me this week! For what ever reason each run this week my legs felt like dead weight – this morning was suppose to be 6 miles with 4 at tempo pace. Well there wasn’t much tempo, but I did push through the overwhelming urge at mile 3 to cut the run short and finished the 6 in just over an hour. Those were some long miles! But I’m trying to focus on what’s working, right? So the big plus was that I stayed with it even when I was so sure I couldn’t take another step!

Friday Shout Outs also return today!  

Sending big shout outs to:

  • Amanda at MissZippy  for her half marathon this weekend
  • Molly at I’m a Sleeper Baker who taking on 26.2 on Sunday
  • anyone else who’s toeing the line this weekend to take on a race! Good luck!!
  • and, Claudia at ..and so I ran for being so sweet to pass on the Cherry on Top Award to me

So with this award I’m suppose to pass this on to 6 people and answer the question: “If you had one chance to go back and change one thing in your life, would you and what would it be?”

I believe everything that has happened in my life up til now has helped to make me the person that I am – and I good with that. I was an athlete in college and do wish I had more consistently stayed on top of my fitness over the years…but I’m doing it now so I guess that’s what counts, right?

Passing this on to:

Have a Great Weekend!!

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    Filed Under: awards, Shout-outs, tempo runs, training

    It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

    September 7, 2010 by 2 Comments

    For anyone who has kids….or at the very least has seen that classic Staples ad, you know what I’m talking about. Yep that’s right, it’s the first day of school!!

    Now don’t get me wrong – I love my kiddos! It’s been a good summer and we had a ball on our vacation! But I am really ready for them to go to school now. I actually bounded out of bed this morning when the alarm went off just before 6. And I swear as I headed out for my run, there was an extra bounce in my step!

    [Of course there is a downside to this time of year, the streets aren’t so quiet now as people return to work and kids await school buses….oh and the school bus drivers…yikes! They deserve a whole post themselves…but I’ll save that for another time!]

    Right now I’m going to enjoy this feeling that only the first day of school can bring!

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    Filed Under: back to school, general musings, kids

    Vacation and running coexist

    September 1, 2010 by 5 Comments

    After multiple hours in the car, two straight days of walking every inch of Hershey Park and eating “park food,” to say I am in need of a run is an understatement!

    I had planned on trying to run at least one morning while we were in Hershey, but sharing a room with Thing 1 and Thing 2 hyped up on all things chocolate made early morning runs on the treadmill not a happening thing!

    So on to plan B…..

    We’re now in the beautiful finger lakes of Upstate NY. I got up and out nice and early this morning and ran the rolling hills along the lake. There may not be a prettier sight than watching the sun come up over the water! There was a nice breeze coming off the water and aside from the occasional woodland creature, I had the road all to myself! A nice contrast to the last couple of days! And a nice way to say hello to September!

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    Filed Under: general musings