Pile on the Miles 2012

This is gonna be great! (source)

 

I came across Pile on the Miles (POTM) on Monica’s blog, Run Eat Repeat. Basically, it’s a way to keep motivated to pile on the miles instead of the pounds during this holiday season when yummy treats and delicious food abound. I decided to set a goal of 50 miles for the challenge, which goes from November 1 (today) to December 1.

So to get myself started (and to see how my legs feel after my first half) on POTM, I ran 2.5 miles today at a pretty comfortable pace. There were a couple of hills, but they weren’t too bad. I was able to run with a couple of girls from work, who are pretty awesome. (We’re all running a 10k together on December 1–which should be really fun.) Anyway, my legs felt pretty good the whole time, just a bit of tightness in my IT bands. I’m going to the PT tomorrow, so we can see how my plantar fasciitis is doing/what the next steps are. I’m really pleased that I’ve been able to run through the injury and that ASTYM is working so well. I’m a believer.

In other news, I have a couple of cool giveaways for ya (that aren’t hosted by me). SkinnyRunner is hosting a Oakley sunglasses giveaway, and Marcia at Marcia’s Healthy Slice is giving away a full Puma outfit.

Know of any other cool giveaways? Link up here!

 

FFR

10 Running Questions

So these questions (originating at anothermotherrunner.com) have been floating around the runner-blog world, so I thought I’d just go with it and post my answers too.

Me and The Husband after a race we ran together last year.

1. Best run ever: It’s hard to nail a run down as “the best,” but I went on a 5-mile run with The Husband a couple weeks ago that was pretty dang awesome. We kept each other going the whole time and stuck together. The run was really special to me because we normally run our separate ways on Saturday mornings. I hope we can have more running dates in the future.

2. Three words that describe my running: Fun (mostly). Liberating. Empowering.

3. My go-to running outfit is: A Nike Dri-Fit shirt, capris, SmartWool socks, and my Saucony Mirages/Brooks Launches.

4. Quirky habit while running: I don’t know how quirky this is, but I pump my right arm higher and faster than my left. Maybe I think it makes me go faster or something.

5. Morning, midday, evening: I love mornings, but when I’m too lazy to get up, I run after work.

6. I won’t run outside when it’s: Dark. I’m too terrified to run alone outside in the dark. I might go if I have a running buddy, though.

7. Worst injury—and how I got over it: Well, I’m still getting over some moderate left-foot pain due to some plantar fasciitis and bad tendons, which might not be my “worst” injury, but it is definitely my longest-duration one. Now I get to go to physical therapy for some ASTYM (basically stimulation of the body’s healing process). (I’ll go into more detail later.)

8. I felt most like a badass mother runner when: Well, I’m not a mother runner–yet–but I feel most badass when I run further than I ever have before.

9. Next race is: Provo Halloween Half Marathon on October 27–I can’t wait. AND I’m so excited to be running it with my dear sister-in-law. 🙂

10. Potential running goal for 2013: No injuries! And to finish a few more halfs–and maybe a triathlon!

How would you answer the above questions? Copy these and paste them to your own blog post and share a little bit of yourself with the runner community! 🙂

I’m back.

Well, after I twisted my ankle, I ran/exercised a handful of times before the end of the year. It sucks sometimes what injuries do to you, doesn’t it. This one made me just plain lazy, and since it was the holidays, I thought it totally necessary to gorge myself on holiday yumminess. So, all my progress went practically out the window.

Anyway, I’ve pulled myself away from my sugary treats for the most part, and I’ve started a couch to 5k running plan so I can get into the habit of running again. I started week 1 on Saturday and finished it today. I really think it will help me get into running shape without overdoing it and putting tons of strain on my weak ankles. I am also signing up for a fitness program at our local university. It’s a great program that I’ve done before. It provides some great cross-training and will help with getting more cardio. I’m also going to start lifting at the college’s gym. It’s really cheap per semester, and since I’m an alumna, I can still join. Yesssss. Oh, and lets not forget that I’m a co-chair of my church’s women’s fitness group.

Thank goodness I love working out, or this might be overkill.

Did I mention I’m overhauling my diet too? No, I’m not dieting, but I am making better food choices. In fact, here’s a great article from Harvard about our daily nutrition. It outlines 10 tips for healthier eating and has links to other parts of the site.

Happy 2012!

FitWhit

p.s. I’m running the AF Canyon Half Marathon on June 23, 2012. Very excited!