Long time reader...first time poster!

Thought I would hop on here and say howdy before I spook anyone else...sorry Lisa! Thank you to Megan for allowing me to contribute to aid in motivation for training this winter/spring. I just did not feel right posting until I could honestly say I was "training!" So, I think I am back in the game after a couple weeks of getting out into the COLD consistently, although I have a long way to go! I am hoping to be running the full marathon, but will be listening to my knee over the next month as to whether it would prefer the half. Either way, I look forward to running with some of you in Pittsburgh in a few months!

Go Steelers?

12, no 13 miler

I've officially decided that this is my wimpiest running winter yet. I cannot comprehend how we would go out in sub zero temperatures every day...I did remember that Amber and I had unsuccessfully tried using some cheap (and tight!) balaclavas at one point that did not help with the breathing. I found a black fleece face guard this year and I love it - combined with my hat, only my lips and eyes are exposed. Normally I run at night or in the morning so people can't really see me anyways. But this sunny mid-morning I went out knowing that I would be miserable if I didn't wear it for the two hours of exposure. I was laughing for the first few miles as I pictured myself as looking like either a ninja or a power ranger....(and power ranger only because I was wearing red)...
The run went much better than I thought as I have a mental block of doing long runs by myself. It was also a run from the last marathon that I tried to do twice and never finished it (once due to the vintage grand prix) I ran past A LOT of other runners as well as two larger running groups and I couldn't help but smile as I'm pretty sure that most of us were training for the same marathon! The brief thaw left several inches of ice on the trails in both Frick and Schenley Parks forcing some small detours. I also thought it funny that the sun only came out as I was going downhill - all tough parts of the course were a bit gloomy! As I finished up, I was so excited that I was done for the weekend! No more procrastinating!

7 mile tempo

After finding the extreme temperatures a good excuse to cross-train like crazy the last week, I knew today I finally needed to actually go out and do my tempo run. I tried to leave work on time but realized it took me 15 minutes to change into all my layers (Thank goodness for my own office) before I flew out the door to catch the last hour of sunlight. I started at the trail head under the 16th street bridge and looped through washington's landing, the strip and downtown. I was really excited as I started out running next to the river as the 'glaciers' floated down the river. It was positively gorgeous and I even had to stop once or twice just to watch the river. That was the highlight of the first three miles. All other aspects were miserable. I had not really thought that the trails would be snow covered and that no one would take care of clearing the sidewalks on the 31st street bridge. Needless to say, it was difficult to manuever between icy packed snow and slippery slush (or both). The beginning took long enough that I could barely make out the lovely sunset over the Ohio as I ran through the Strip. I was bummed I couldn't make it to the Ft. Duquense bridge to see it but was very happy to be back out running again - AND very excited to do our track workout tomorrow! (yeah, packing eveything in at once!)

Just Me & My Husky Making the First Tracks in the Fresh Snow

I can understand the difficulty of climbing out of a warm bed in the wintertime to face single digit temperatures; however, when I hear the sound of snowplows in the morning I can hardly get ready quick enough to get out into the new, fresh snow. The sound of snowplows means that there's a fresh layer to make the first set of tracks in and I love the opportunity to do that. This morning, Fresca and I had a glorious trek through Emsworth enjoying the picturesque winter scene. It disappears quickly, though. By the time we were headed back, people were already venturing out to shovel their walks and clean off their cars.

Four Years Old!

Crazy Daisies is now four years old, which is kind of making ME start to feel old. I do marvel about those days back in 2006 that I actually went out in this frigid weather to do track workouts...seriously, WHAT was I thinking and WHERE did I find the time to do it? 2007 I was a slacker - brought clothes to Hermitage, but did NO running. 2008 - did some treadmill runs, but that was it. 2009 - I'm on pace w/ 2008, though if you note from a previous post, I DID use the incline function on the treadmill which is a big step (no pun intended) for me!

A Ponytail Workout

Guess what, I'm totally able to get my hair into a ponytail now! I'm up in Greenville and we hit up the Y tonight. Since I've just been running outside w/ a hat or headband, I haven't tried to get my hair back into a ponytail, so super excited that it works!

Also, I tackled the scary treadmill tonight...and I even did a program that used the incline. I had it up to an 11% grade - it is pretty tough!

Let the training begin!

It was an odd realization that we're all somewhat on our own for the Pittsburgh Marathon doing different training programs and even different races. Without the moral support (and organization) I almost missed the first week of training... But this morning as delays were being called as the snow covered the ground (Ok, only an inch or so), Geoff and I peeled ourselves out from under the covers and proceeded to do our "track" workout. (Now you're probably wondering why Geoff got up too...he promised to be my 'rabbit' for track practices. That way he doesn't have to run the whole thing, but I have someone to help me keep up my speed. So far he's made good on his promise!!).

The workout was 3 mile repeats with a one minute rest interval. (You can tell it's a hard program since there wasn't really a rest!) We did laps around the 1/2 mile block which made it seem so much faster. And it was fast, my times came in at 7:02, 6:56 and 7:13. That shocked me but maybe all my biking/rowing downstairs is paying off :) Ok, maybe it's just that I was chasing someone with much longer legs.

I have also decided that I'm only doing two 20 mile runs (vs. the 5 in the program) Mainly because one happens in Oregon and one in Hawaii....Don't think so! I am also going to try to do a lot of my long runs on portions of the marathon course. If anyone is interested to join, let me know!

P.S. Who is Mad Bomber? I just saw the name one day and it startled me.... :)

The First Run of 2009

I definitely let the holidays, Hawaii and busy workload excuses pile up since we ran the marathon, so I think today was just about my first day out for a run since the marathon. Fres and I did a frigid short run around the neighborhood.

I needed to get new shoes after the marathon anyhow, but I was definitely realizing that I needed to get new ones today because I trashed mine with red Hawaiian mud while hiking with Deb & Nick!