Long Run - 4 miles - I feel great!

So, the plan for today was to run 60 minutes or 4 miles (which ever came first.) I am still on a walk/run program so I wasn't sure which would come first. I was on my own today, no running partner, so I found a park near me that had a 1 mile path. I figured all I had to do is run my stop watch so I knew when to switch from walking to running and if I finished 4 laps before 60 minutes I would be done. I was pleasantly surprised to finish 4 miles in 46 minutes 50 seconds!

The first mile was tough. I didn't really warm up besides my 2 minute walk so my run was more a jog the first lap. My heels were feeling a pull so I made note that maybe a longer warm up would help loosen that up faster and also make sure to do some foot, ankle, and calf stretches regularly and of course after my run.

By the end of the second mile I felt awesome. My run was getting faster and I feel like the 2 minute walk was plenty of time to recover before I had to
run again.

Even though I didn't get out to run until almost 10am the temperature was comfortable and there was a nice breeze the whole time.

After my run I walked a little more around the park and did some stretches....came home and downed some Rehydrate before I got in the shower. After the shower I rolled each foot over a tennis ball to massage out the band that goes under my foot and up through my heel and Achilles tendon. Then I used "The Stick" on my quads and hamstrings, then did the DREADED foam roller over my quads, hammies, and IT band. (As much as it hurts, it does feel better afterwards.)




Check out my new headband thanks to the awesome website: Sweaty Bands. They have tons of great designs and I highly recommend checking it out! I already bought 3 (I think it might be my new addiction!)

Tomorrow I plan to hit up a pilates class for a little strength and more stretching.

Can't wait until my new running shorts come in the mail...maybe today?

Enjoy your weekend!

She used to be a weight lifter...

Welcome to my new blog. Some of you may be my old blogger friends and some of you may be new, but either way thanks for following me! I figured it was only right to start a new blog, because I have a new journey...a new goal...and it's much different than My Life as an Amateur Fitness Competitor. This year...this month...(May 30th to be exact) I begin training for the Nike Women's San Francisco Marathon...my FIRST marathon...EVER.

I never in a MILLION years thought I would ever be training for a marathon...in fact, I think I remember telling my self I would never be crazy enough to do it...so how did I end up here? Well, I subscribe to a bazillion fitness related emails...and most of the time get so many I just end up deleting them...unless the subject line catches my attention. I think this one said something about entering your name into the lottery for the NWM. For whatever reason I opened the email clicked on the link and without giving myself time to back out filled out the registration. The race is 12 days before my 30th birthday and I figured if I was going to run a marathon the only way would be if I was "randomly chosen." There are 20,000 runners in this race (half marathon and marathon combined) and Team in Training and college students get an automatic bid into the race...I thought, my chances are slim...well here comes the morning of Wednesday, April 27th...I'm not even out of bed and I grab my itouch...immediately check my email and see that I have a "Congratulations! You're IN, baby!" email. I started to laugh...WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?!

I'm not gonna lie. For a girl who said she would NEVER be crazy enough to run a marathon I was checking my email and bank account 10 times a day to see if my account was debited. I was anxious to throw myself into a NEW challenge...one that would help get me back into shape after 2 years off from competing in NPC fitness. I'm excited about the challenge of having to get back on a strict training schedule, and more importantly eating healthy. The last 2 years I abandoned the "clean eating" lifestyle (ok, not entirely, but instead of 90% clean 10% fun it was more like 30% clean and 70% fun) and now I am paying for it. Up about 20lbs from my April 2009 competition weight I am READY. I'm SICK of the pants being too snug and with summer a month away I am definitely NOT beach body ready (well at least in my eyes...I'm still "better off" than the average American woman my age, but who wants to be average?)

So, sit back and enjoy the ride. Feel free to comment, ask questions, or post advice for me. I look forward to meeting new friends as I transform into an endurance athlete! Like I said, "She used to be a weight lifter..."