Hi there! It's Nic this time :)
So as I've said before I'm just starting to train again after an on-off relationship with my running shoes. You might ask: why the heck are you planning on running a marathon when you can't even run an entire 5K yet? Well, I like big goals and the pressure they put on you (1st year grad student ahem!). Also, I've done it before so I know I'm capable, it's just a matter of putting in the work to get back to where I was.
Cut to last week; I'd been back to training for a few weeks and was pretty comfortable in my walk run ways and I decided to turn off the alerts on my watch, you know, just to see how it felt not being a slave to the beep. Tuesday: scheduled 1.5 miles, ran the whole way! I bloody did it! I managed to get my breathing under control and I made it! Wednesday: scheduled 3 miles, I ran 3.6! The time sucked but that is what it is...something to deal with later!
I think the point to this is that running isn't just physical, it's also mental. Once I had overcome my mental barriers about needing walking breaks, even on my puny 1.5 mile runs, that was it. I was able to run over twice that distance without a break. And now I know I can do it, there is no stopping me! When I'm tired and wanting a break I can say to myself: Hey, you did this a couple of days ago...you can certainly do it now!
Right now, all I'm concerned about is getting out there and getting the mileage done, speed will come later. For anyone interested, I am following Hal Higdon's Novice Supreme training program. This is a 30 week schedule with 4 days of running plus one day of cross training per week. I liked that it starts out easy so I could use it to build up to running continuously and progresses slowly to the higher mileages. I'm probably going to tweak it though, since I'm not sure about running 10 miles mid-week!
Anyhow, that's about all I've got for you right now. I'm heading to J'ville for Memorial weekend to hang out with NiCole and some other friends and also to do a 5K! We're planning on working on that other joint blog as promised, about our previous weekend together here in Gainesville.
Cheers!
Nic
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Just 3 miles....
I remember when I first started running and thought 3 miles was really far to run. Now I just scoff at running 3 miles because I feel like that is nothing compared to how far I have run in some of my races. Some days I have a good run and other days it can be a struggle. Most of the time when it is a struggle I can pinpoint why I am having issues as I am running. Usually I can chalk it up to not drinking enough water during the day. I blame work on that most of the time. Since I work in a lab setting I sometimes forget to drink as much water as I should because my water bottle sits outside the lab.
I really do need to set a timer and go have a drink every hour instead of waiting until I am thirsty. As I was perusing Pinterest the other day I saw an idea that I am thinking of implementing into my training plan. I am going to take a water bottle and draw lines to indicate how much water I should have consumed in an hour. It is amazing what you can find on Pinterest by the way.
So my goal for the next week is to drink more water during the day so I can avoid cramps and just not feeling my best when I am running. This is really important since it is starting to get a hotter here in sunny Florida. Pretty soon that wonderful Florida summer will be here and the even more amazing humidity will be upon me as I embark on some more serious marathon training! With this in mind I am going to make sure I stick to drinking enough water during the day and also to get out there to log more miles. I have had some difficulties this week because I am preparing to move this weekend. Soon enough I will be in my new place so I will not be torn between getting stuff ready to move this weekend and running.
P.S. I believe we will be writing another joint blog post soon. After all we have some amusing tales of the races we have run.
That is all from this half of Nic squared for now anyways!
NiCole
I really do need to set a timer and go have a drink every hour instead of waiting until I am thirsty. As I was perusing Pinterest the other day I saw an idea that I am thinking of implementing into my training plan. I am going to take a water bottle and draw lines to indicate how much water I should have consumed in an hour. It is amazing what you can find on Pinterest by the way.
So my goal for the next week is to drink more water during the day so I can avoid cramps and just not feeling my best when I am running. This is really important since it is starting to get a hotter here in sunny Florida. Pretty soon that wonderful Florida summer will be here and the even more amazing humidity will be upon me as I embark on some more serious marathon training! With this in mind I am going to make sure I stick to drinking enough water during the day and also to get out there to log more miles. I have had some difficulties this week because I am preparing to move this weekend. Soon enough I will be in my new place so I will not be torn between getting stuff ready to move this weekend and running.
P.S. I believe we will be writing another joint blog post soon. After all we have some amusing tales of the races we have run.
That is all from this half of Nic squared for now anyways!
NiCole
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
The story so far...
So...Hello!
This is (or will be) a joint blog chronicling mine (Nic) and NiCole's journey to the Space Coast Marathon on December 1st!
But first, who are we? We are 2 friends who met at work in Jacksonville, FL back in 2008. We started running together and after a 5K or two decided we needed a bigger challenge, so we signed up for the Gate River Run 15K training program. After completing the 15K race, I managed to keep running for a few weeks before it got too hot and I got too lazy!
Even though I got lazy, I still liked to run races (it's just the training that sucks), so I joined NiCole in some 5Ks, a 10miler and even a couple of half marathons. With minimal training those longer races are tough! Not just the actual race, the following few days HURT!
So, fast forward a bit, I moved to Gainesville last year to start grad school at UF and lost my running buddy :( Once I'd settled in to school and the new town, I decided to resume running in an effort to lose weight and get fit again. So far, the furthest I've run since starting training again is 4.66 miles, but I'm ready to go!
This is the other half of Nic squared, NiCole. In fact, we remained friends after she went back to England to finish her degree since Nic had come over to the "states" as an intern for a year. During those first few months of our friendship we ran a few races but it really didn't become serious until after she came back to Jacksonville to work before going on to school.
During that first year Nic was back in Jacksonville we did end up doing quite a few races and actually improved our times, lost weight and learned a few lessons about proper running shoes and other equipment. When we first started out we were very low "tech". We would use watches to do intervals at first and maybe each of us would have an iPod. Even though we don't run that much together now I still run with one of my earbuds in because we used to have random chats during our runs and I just got used to being able to hear other things besides music all the time.
Just like Nic, I got lazy after we run that first Gate River Run and stopped running. Sometimes I even had trouble getting up early to make it to the group runs on the weekend. I really like sleeping in on the weekend so I always had to motivate myself to get up. I also liked to run races and so we did decide to run some long races with little training but we did have nice shoes! That first 10 mile I could barely walk after it for a few days. We have gotten smarter and actually train to run that distance now instead of just running even though we had fun doing it but paid for it later.
After Nic moved to Gainesville to go to graduate school I convinced another woman at work to join me in training for a half marathon on Thanksgiving day last year. There is a half marathon training class in the fall every year that is led by an incredible runner who likes to share his experiences. I ended up running two half marathons last year even though at the start of the training class I wanted to run three half marathons in three months like Nic and I had done in 2011 (don't forget that was without training because we are a little crazy). Unfortunately, life and a slight ankle injury after saving a turtle got in the way. I did run both of those half marathons faster than I had the previous year and I also had a blast doing it. It was a little weird to sign up for these races since Nic had left because she was a big part of my running routine but I did it and have improved my times as I went along. I finished the Gate this year in my best time yet but I have slacked off recently and need the motivation to get moving again.
Now that Nic has gotten used to her class schedule and things aren't as hectic for her we have decided to train for a full marathon together but in different cities. So we sign up for races in each others cities and try to visit each other once a month to keep the energy and motivation going. We are following a similar training plan and motivating each other through text, phone calls or IM. You name it and we have usually talked to each other that day with one of those options.
This is our journey and I am sure there are going to be some stories. We already have some pretty interesting and funny running stories that I am sure we will share throughout this journey along with the new ones.
Oh, and one more thing....we really like beer. A lot.
This is (or will be) a joint blog chronicling mine (Nic) and NiCole's journey to the Space Coast Marathon on December 1st!
But first, who are we? We are 2 friends who met at work in Jacksonville, FL back in 2008. We started running together and after a 5K or two decided we needed a bigger challenge, so we signed up for the Gate River Run 15K training program. After completing the 15K race, I managed to keep running for a few weeks before it got too hot and I got too lazy!
 |
| Waiting for the Gate River Run to Start |
Even though I got lazy, I still liked to run races (it's just the training that sucks), so I joined NiCole in some 5Ks, a 10miler and even a couple of half marathons. With minimal training those longer races are tough! Not just the actual race, the following few days HURT!
So, fast forward a bit, I moved to Gainesville last year to start grad school at UF and lost my running buddy :( Once I'd settled in to school and the new town, I decided to resume running in an effort to lose weight and get fit again. So far, the furthest I've run since starting training again is 4.66 miles, but I'm ready to go!
 |
| Our bit of graffiti at the Expedition Everest |
This is the other half of Nic squared, NiCole. In fact, we remained friends after she went back to England to finish her degree since Nic had come over to the "states" as an intern for a year. During those first few months of our friendship we ran a few races but it really didn't become serious until after she came back to Jacksonville to work before going on to school.
During that first year Nic was back in Jacksonville we did end up doing quite a few races and actually improved our times, lost weight and learned a few lessons about proper running shoes and other equipment. When we first started out we were very low "tech". We would use watches to do intervals at first and maybe each of us would have an iPod. Even though we don't run that much together now I still run with one of my earbuds in because we used to have random chats during our runs and I just got used to being able to hear other things besides music all the time.
Just like Nic, I got lazy after we run that first Gate River Run and stopped running. Sometimes I even had trouble getting up early to make it to the group runs on the weekend. I really like sleeping in on the weekend so I always had to motivate myself to get up. I also liked to run races and so we did decide to run some long races with little training but we did have nice shoes! That first 10 mile I could barely walk after it for a few days. We have gotten smarter and actually train to run that distance now instead of just running even though we had fun doing it but paid for it later.
After Nic moved to Gainesville to go to graduate school I convinced another woman at work to join me in training for a half marathon on Thanksgiving day last year. There is a half marathon training class in the fall every year that is led by an incredible runner who likes to share his experiences. I ended up running two half marathons last year even though at the start of the training class I wanted to run three half marathons in three months like Nic and I had done in 2011 (don't forget that was without training because we are a little crazy). Unfortunately, life and a slight ankle injury after saving a turtle got in the way. I did run both of those half marathons faster than I had the previous year and I also had a blast doing it. It was a little weird to sign up for these races since Nic had left because she was a big part of my running routine but I did it and have improved my times as I went along. I finished the Gate this year in my best time yet but I have slacked off recently and need the motivation to get moving again.
Now that Nic has gotten used to her class schedule and things aren't as hectic for her we have decided to train for a full marathon together but in different cities. So we sign up for races in each others cities and try to visit each other once a month to keep the energy and motivation going. We are following a similar training plan and motivating each other through text, phone calls or IM. You name it and we have usually talked to each other that day with one of those options.
 |
| At the end of the Jacksonville Bank half marathon |
This is our journey and I am sure there are going to be some stories. We already have some pretty interesting and funny running stories that I am sure we will share throughout this journey along with the new ones.
Oh, and one more thing....we really like beer. A lot.
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