Take that, evil hill!

I was feeling great after another kick-my-butt yoga class last night (thanks Caroline!) so I got up early for another run this morning. I figured since the Queens Half Marathon is about a month away, I should at least attempt hill repeats. My neighborhood is basically one hill after another, but there’s one in particular that I will go to great lengths to avoid. It’s long and steep and EVIL. So naturally this was the hill I decided to run.

I got up before my alarm (it’s my weird 6th sense) and headed out for my run. I did a quick warm up, then stood at the bottom of the hill, sizing it up. It didn’t look as bad as I thought. So I took off HARD up the hill. In my head, I was going pretty fast, but in reality, I was barely moving. I was trying to remember all my hill training techniques- keep my head up, don’t lean forward from the waist, take small, quicker steps- and I was trying to imagine Coach Ramon yelling these things at me, as he’s been known to do. But about half way up the hill, I just wanted to pass out. I couldn’t think of anything, except stopping. I told myself I would do at least 20 minutes on this stupid hill, so I recovered down the hill and went back for more.

Every time I headed back up that hill, I tried to imagine Ramon yelling at me. I’m not usually that motivated to attempt unpleasant workouts on my own, so this helped. I asked myself “What would Ramon say?” He would tell me to keep my head up and RUN HARDER. I have this little mantra I repeat on hills. I just say “baby steps” over and over. It helps me keep my stride short and quick. There were people sitting on a stoop and they must have thought I was totally crazy talking to myself and running up and down this hill, but I don’t think I cared. I did the hill for about 30 minutes and went for a quick cool down run. You know what? I felt great. I felt like I wanted to keep running. The morning was beautiful and cool and my legs felt light and loose. If I wasn’t already running late for work, I probably would have kept going.

I don’t know why, but whenever I have a butt-kicking, gonna pass out workout, I always feel AMAZING after. I think I’ll be subjecting myself to this hill more often.

Yoga and Pringles

I finally made it to yoga! It was a super tough class and I felt all empty after. The good thing about that yoga drunk feeling is once it passes, you feel all shiny and new. Since my hard run on Saturday, I sort of didn’t want to think about running. But since I felt all brand new, I thought I would give it a shot.

This morning I got up early for a nice easy run. My legs still felt pretty heavy, but they weren’t as tight. I think a few more yoga classes might do the trick. I might even try hills tomorrow. Eek!

This might be really random, but I was in the drug store today and there was literally a whole aisle with every Pringle flavor known to man. Now I love me a good Pringle, but since when do you need Buffalo Chicken or Pizza flavored chips? If you wanted something that tasted vaguely like pizza, wouldn’t you just eat pizza? Anyone?

Harder than you think

I was both wary and excited for Saturday’s long run. My feet were starting to hurt and I was getting pretty stiff, so I was a little worried, but I had arranged a small, informal group run with some fellow ACS DetermiNation Mentors and a few of my mentees. (It was nice to finally meet some of them!) But you know what I was probably most excited about?

I got to try out my hydration backpack! Pretty, huh?

I got this as a free gift for fundraising for the New York City marathon. We had our choice of a few gifts, and seeing as how I didn’t have a fuel belt, I thought this was a good pick. I just never liked the idea of the fuel belt. Especially running in the city, there were also water fountains, coaches with water bottles, or even the occasional NYRR race. They never seemed to mind when we “borrowed” their water. But I was planning on doing about 9 miles so I figured hydration (and a place to carry my stuff) sounded like a good idea.

When I put it on I felt like I was seven going to my first day of school, if school was really dorky running school. It’s basically a backpack with a giant straw sticking out of it. (You can immediately see all the awesome uses for such a contraption, right? ) I think all the people on the subway thought I looked pretty cool. I could tell they were jealous when I didn’t have to fumble with a bottle, twisting and untwisting caps, trying to sip slowly in case the subway takes a sharp turn. No. All I had to do was stick the straw in my mouth and sip.

I had five other lovely DetermiNation athletes meet up with me for our informal run. We set off and things started well. The hydration pack was a little jumpy, but I adjusted the straps and tightened it around my waist and it seemed to be fine. I was definitely loving the ease of drinking. Not loving the sweaty back. About 3 miles into it, I started feeling icky. (Curse you, Harlem Hill!) I was going back and forth between feeling amazing, and feeling simultaneously light-headed and heavy. Not good. We (meaning me and Carolann) promised ourselves a Gatorade when we finished our first 6 mile loop. Let me tell you, that was the coldest, tastiest Gatorade I’ve ever had in my life. We drank our Gatorade, and waited for the rest of our DetermiNation buddies to catch up.

I struggled through the rest of my run, finishing at about 8.5 miles. My hydration pack fared well, but I don’t think I can say the same for me. I don’t know why, but I somehow thought that after training for a marathon, training for a half would be easy. You know what? It’s not. It’s still hard. My feet still hurt. My calves are still just as tight. My thighs are just as sore. I thought this would be easier, and I was a little down on myself because it's not. I’m just hoping to make it through the next 5 weeks and through the Queens Half and still be able to stand.

On that note, I did have a pretty awesome dream last night. I had a dream that I was in a race. Not sure what race, or why, or even where. It seemed to be through the halls of a building. But I ran this race and I WON! I won by just seconds, but I won! I remember breaking through the finish line tape and feeling A-MA-ZING. Maybe my mind was trying to give me a little pep talk. I know I'm not going to really win any race, but I can still get out there and give it my best.

But first, I need a GOOD yoga class.

Beating the Rain

Anyone in the northeast (or most of the country for that matter) knows that summer afternoons usually mean thunderstorms. I wanted to try to get in a run, so I had been watching the weather all day Wednesday. It was looking good for squeezing in an after work run.

I got home and got all ready before stepping out. In the 15 minutes it took me to get ready, it had begun to sprinkle. I remember the forecast called for light scattered showers. I looked at the sky and figured the light sprinkles would hold, so I set out.

And I was right… for about 10 minutes. It started raining harder but still wasn’t pouring. I didn’t mind because the slight mist was refreshing and keeping me cool. I thought I should just keep running so I could beat the heavy rain. I wasn’t planning on going on a particularly long run, so I just ran a little faster. When I’m literally at the furthest point from my apartment, the sky lets loose. People were scurrying for shelter, and here I am, like a crazy person, running in the rain. I usually make it a point to run with my MetroCard (in case I ever get hurt, or just plain don’t want to run any more) but since this was a short run, I didn’t bring it. I had no choice but to run home.

I just kept running and running and it kept raining harder and harder. It was raining so hard, water was getting stuck in my ear and I couldn’t hear my iPod. I ditched the headphones and just kept running. My shoes were making squishy noises. I leapt over puddles and rivers in the street. My clothes were sticking to me. Something about this whole thing suddenly struck me as hilarious, and I began laughing hysterically. It felt like when you were a kid and you didn’t care about getting wet or how your hair looked. It felt like I was playing and my wet run turned into something fun. So now I’m the crazy person running in a torrential downpour, laughing hysterically, having tons of fun.

The last 5 minutes was a little less fun. My shoes felt like they weighed 10 pounds each from all the water, but I still found the squishy noise they made hilarious. I made it home as quickly as I could, and wouldn’t you know, by the time I made it safely upstairs, the rain had stopped altogether. Just my luck.

I felt kind of like a wet puppy, so this is my sad, wet puppy face.

This goes to show- you may not beat the rain, but you don’t have to let the rain beat you! (That’s corny, I know, but I was trying to be positive.)

Summer is Here!

This has been a long LONG winter, but now, summer is OFFICIALLY here! One of my favorite things about Summer Solstice is free yoga in Times Square. I work in Times Square, so went to the lunch time Bikram session.

Yoga in the middle of Times Square is a totally weird experience. Here’s why:
1. Sirens pass constantly.
2. Tourists take pictures of you when you’re half naked and sticking your butt up in the air.
3. The street isn’t exactly even. I was standing on a huge incline.

But yoga in Times Square is also really awesome. Here’s why:
1. You get to be on the jumbotron! (I even saw myself)
2. It feels good to do your back bend and see sun and clouds above you.
3. It gives people a chance to experience the awesomeness of yoga for free.
4. With so many yogis in one place at one time, the energy is amazing.

See? This is about 1500 yogis in Times Square. We took over Broadway between 45th and 48th St.

I did a shortened class (because I can’t take two hours for lunch) but it still felt pretty great. I went back to work feeling energized and relaxed. My slanted mat was a bit of a challenge, especially when it came to balancing, but it was a good challenge. The whole experience was a practice in extreme concentration.

Later that day I went to my usual Tuesday night yoga. I’m not crazy, I just happen to work at the studio Tuesday nights. I was feeling like a rockstar from the Times Square yoga. My poses looked pretty good, if I do say so myself, and I was even offering posture advice to some of the newbies. But something must have happened between noon and my 8:30 class. I spent a lot of the class sitting or just trudging through the postures. Then I started thinking something must clearly be wrong with me. Why can’t I do this right? Why do I feel like I’m a beginner again? This is what I like about this kind of yoga. The struggle is good for us. It’s how we learn.

The good news is, it wasn’t just me. Everyone was having a hard time. Some people blamed the humidity. Some people blamed the solstice. I don’t think it really matters. The important thing is it was hard, but we all did it and I don’t know about everyone else, but I felt pretty amazing after- and starving. I rewarded myself with a slice of pizza the size of my head. Even after that, I STILL felt amazing.

All in all, a good first day of summer.

Traveling Lisa - Part 2

Last time, on the Adventures of Running Lisa…

When we last left off, I was trying to get to Sacramento but ended up in San Francisco with my very good friend that I hardly ever see. We spent our Saturday hanging out at the lake, herding geese and just talking. That afternoon I was able to catch a ride with my uncle and FINALLY arrived in Sacramento- well, Lodi to be precise.

I arrived just in time for BBQ, followed by birthday pie!

In case you can’t tell, that’s my Pop Pop standing in front of three different kinds of pie- lemon meringue, chocolate crème, and coconut crème. Yes, I tasted them all.

The next morning I knew I had to run. Since I only did about 3 miles on Saturday, the Queens half marathon is about 6 WEEKS AWAY, and I ate all that pie, I knew I had to squeeze in a long run. I don’t really know my way around Lodi, so for this run, I had to face my greatest foe- THE TREADMILL!!!

Scary huh? I turned my iPod to the Go! Team’s “The Power is On” and hopped on the treadmill. This song makes me feel like I should walk into a room in slow motion and do a roundhouse kick to a bad guy’s face. I figured it could help me get through my treadmill run. AND You know what? I kicked that treadmill’s BUTT! I did 7 miles in 68:49. Take that!

I decided to follow my run with a quick dip in the pool. I figured it would be like an ice bath, except not cold and much more pleasant. I just floated for about 10 minutes. It was wonderful.
Finally, no trip to California would be complete without a visit to the local In N Out.

This is a number 2 animal style. I scarfed it down.

The flight back to New York was very uneventful. I was SO tired and as soon as we got on the plane I passed out and woke up about 5 minutes before landing. I’m not exactly sure what day or time it is, but this weary traveler is happy to be home.

Traveling Lisa - Part 1

Well this weekend was…an adventure.

It began with trying to get from NY to Sacramento for my Grandpa’s 80th birthday, but the weather had other ideas. Everything seemed fine at check-in but just before boarding, they posted that the flight would be severely delayed, causing me to miss my connection. Perfect. Of course no one made any announcements, so it was mass chaos. I found the right line to rebook my flight and there’s only one person working at the counters. My mom and I double-teamed it- she was on the phone with the airline while I was in the line. It was looking grim for getting to Sacramento, but then I remembered, I have a friend near San Francisco that I never get to see! Several text messages and lots of waiting later, I had my flight rebooked to San Francisco.

Of course that couldn’t be all. Just before the flight was about to board again, it was like the heavens opened up and said “Lisa, you shall not fly.” Thunder, lightning, and hail delayed the flight again. I’ll spare you all the details, but after 7 hours of waiting at the airport, I was finally on my way to San Francisco. Andrea is a super awesome friend and came to pick me up after midnight and let me stay with her for the night.

Since this is a blog about running and not a blog about travel nightmares, let’s get to the running. Saturday I was planning on running 7 to 8 miles, but seeing as how I didn’t really know where I was and I’d been traveling for 13 hours, I just went for a short run. Running in a suburban neighborhood is totally different. There’s nothing to look at. No crazy people. No weird pizza-eating squirrels. Nothing. One thing suburbia does have are speed radars. I was clocked at 8 miles an hour. I spent the rest of my run trying to figure how many minutes per mile that was. I still never figured that out.

Because of my unexpected visit, I had the day to spend with Andrea! We went to Merritt Lake and went for a nice walk. There were LOTS of geese.

Why did the geese cross the road?

To get to the other side, of course!

Ok. I’m still exhausted and need a nap and some food. Stay tuned for the rest of my weekend adventures!

I'm not a celebrity

Today I did something I never do- I read a women’s fitness magazine. It had some good information- healthy recipes and stuff about sugar- but then I turn the page to a bunch of pictures of celebrities and a spread on how to get Jennifer Anniston’s arms or Katy Perry’s legs. For some reason this made me really mad. You know why all these celebrities look so fabulous? Because that’s their job! It’s their job to have flat tummies and “perfect” arms, and they work hard for those. (Any celebrity that says otherwise is LYING.) These people have personal trainers they can work with for hours a day. They people to develop specific diet plans and prepare meals for them. And God forbid, they gain 5 pounds. The public scrutinizes them for getting “fat.” None of that sounds fun to me. In fact, it sounds like a terrible existence. I’m perfectly happy looking like me and I try hard not to compare myself to other people, especially celebrities. We’re all different, and that’s the way it should be. It makes me mad that magazines are telling women that we should all look like “perfect” celebrities. Health magazines should be focusing on overall mind and body health, and not how to get rid of your jiggly thighs.

I'm running Lisa, and I love my jiggly thighs.

A Social Workout

Yesterday I stumbled across this site called Social Workout. The idea is kind of like twitter meets personal trainer. It’s a social networking site that helps you set lifestyle goals and connects you to other people that are attempting those goals. You can also create a group and you and your friends, coworkers, whatever, can set a group goal. It sounds like a really good idea, but I’m not quite sure how it works. So I’m giving it a shot. I like to think I’m pretty healthy, but the only problem I really have is late night after dinner snacking. I don’t usually buy snacks, but then I start turning things that are not meant to be snacks into snacks. It’s probably not good. So I set a personal goal to cut out all after dinner snacking. I’m hoping this site will make me feel accountable to something other than myself and I’ll stop the snacking. I’ll let you know how it goes.

In other news, my body is still doing this thing where it wakes me up earlier than I think is necessary, so today I decided to take advantage of it. For the last few weeks, I’ve been doing shorter distances, but I’ve been running harder and faster. Since I was awake at 6am (yea, I’m SUPER thrilled about that) I decided to go for a longer run. It still wasn’t too long, a little over 2 miles, but I felt super strong. At one point, I was listening to my iPod, running at a good pace, my arms swinging just right, and I felt like a freaking machine. Like I was a badass running super hero. That feeling never lasts long. Something always has to snap you out of it. This time, I think it was a giant pile of dog poo. Super heroes never have to dodge dog poo.

In Defense of the Pole

Last night I went to a friend’s bachelorette party. And what would any good bachelorette party be without a pole dancing class!

I must admit, I’ve been to a few pole dancing classes before, but I always forget how much work it actually is. We did an hour long class, where we mostly laughed and made fun of each other, and today my arms and abs are TOTALLY sore, especially that hard to reach flabby underarm area. Now, I understand some people (mostly women I assume) would have problems with a pole dancing class. It’s anti-feminist or it’s chauvinistic or whatever, but honestly it’s just silly. No one in the class intends to become a professional pole dancer. We don’t intend on ever sharing these skills with other. It’s just a ridiculous and fun way to get a surprisingly good workout. And I have no problems with that.

The rest of the bachelorette party may or may not have consisted of a pretty pink punch, boob cake, maple bacon pretzel rods, and a very special…visitor…but I’m not at liberty to say.

Harlem Hill, we meet again

Today was my first long run in the snazzy new shoes and I set out to do 6 miles in Central Park. Somehow I figured that I would manage to do 6 miles without hitting Harlem Hill. How silly of me.

The run began as any other Saturday morning run. I met up with my DetermiNation buddies at the mall in the park. There was a 10k this morning, so the park was a little crazy. On a side note, this race was a women’s only 10k. I got off the subway with hoards of other women runners, which was kinda cool. It’s great to see the ladies represent. Anyhoo, back to the run.

So I met up with my running buddies, we divided into pace groups and we were off. A few minutes into the run, the elite lady runners passed us. They really are a thing of beauty. They have such nice form. Back to my run again. There was only one other girl my pace that was doing 6 miles so we decided to stick together. Turns out she runs more like a 9 minute mile and she quickly left our group behind. Everyone else left me at the 102nd street transverse and I was left to do Harlem Hill- alone. Awesome.

For those of you that don’t know Central Park, Harlem Hill is a big giant hill at the top of the park. You stand at the bottom of the hill and you see this steep, twisting, never ending incline. It’s pretty scary so I try not to look at it. When I’m running alone, especially hills, I like to do two things:

1. I like to focus my eyes on the white lines on the road. It’s somehow very zen. It gives me something to focus on that is not the top of the giant hill. It makes me feel like I’m being led somewhere. If I just follow the line, I’ll be ok.

2. I remember from my previous hill training that we’re supposed to take shorter, quicker steps on hills. This helps to lessen the impact. To remember to do this, I always repeat to myself “Baby steps. Baby steps. Baby steps” over and over. Again, it gives me something to think about other than how much this hill sucks.

So using these two techniques, I got over Harlem Hill, and it wasn’t nearly as bad as the last time I attempted it. Running Harlem Hill alone also gave me some good thinking time. I’ve decided to add a new segment to this blog called As Seen On My Run. Why? New Yorkers are weird. They’re even weirder when they exercise. So here’s the first installment:

As Seen On My Run: People and their pets
I was coming towards the end of Harlem Hill and I’m approaching this woman from behind. This lady has a jogging stroller and I think “That’s pretty badass.” Harlem Hill is hard enough without pushing extra weight. I started to pass her and looked over to her stroller. I wanted to see if the kid was enjoying his ride. But there’s not a kid in the stroller. There’s a Chihuahua, just chilling. It’s nice that you want to take your dog for a run, but I think the dog should probably run. Otherwise, you just look silly.

I was laughing to myself about this crazy lady and her spoiled non-walking dog, when I came up behind another lady, this time on a bike. It looked like she was talking to herself, until I realize she has a green parrot climbing around on her shirt. She was trying to get the parrot to settle on her shoulder, but he was climbing all over her. I’m not really sure what to say about this one. I guess if bringing your pet with you will make exercise more fun, then who am I to judge?

This has been As Seen On My Run.

The rest of my run was pretty uneventful. I was getting a cramp in my foot around mile 5 so I decided to cheat a little and take a shortcut through the mall. I still did about 5 and half miles, so all in all. I say it was a successful morning.

Now I have to refuel and get ready for Amy’s bachelorette party tonight. That’s a totally different kind of adventure.

Bad Runner

I’ve been a bad runner. It’s been pretty darn hot here and I deemed it too hot to run, but somehow it wasn’t too hot to go to Bikram Yoga and stand in a 100 degree room with someone yelling “Push! Lock your knee!” Yes, I know. I think I’m officially crazy. Class sucked and I felt really blah and lackluster the entire class. But once I got home and showered I was riding the post-yoga high. I felt brand new. By the way, post-Bikram showers are pretty much the best thing EVER. You’ll never feel cleaner.

I knew I had to make up for the lack of running, so this morning I dragged myself out of bed to go for a run. I’ve been doing this thing lately where when I know I’m going for a run in the morning, I wake up like an hour before my alarm. This is NOT intentional. In fact, it’s super annoying. I guess my body is excited at the idea of a run it just can’t wait? Today I had a reason to be excited- I was going to try out my NEW SHOES!!!!

Is it sad that I’m more excited when I get new running shoes than I am when I get new regular shoes?

These are the same Mizuno Wave Riders as my last pair, they just only had this color in my size. I tried on other shoes when I went to the store, but my feet know what they like. The Mizunos are so light it feels almost like I’m wearing nothing at all! Plus, I think these are pretty snazzy looking. They have this chameleon-like quality when you go in the sun and parts of the trim turn a scaly blue.

Another benefit to the black shoe- they contrast nicely with my pale white legs and make my legs look even paler.

Sexy.

Feeling Hot Hot Hot

By now, you might be asking, “Hey, Running Lisa, what do you do when you’re not running?” Good question. If you don’t know me, you should know one thing: I hate the gym. I think it’s a place of torture and I refuse to go there, but I still need to do my cross training. I prefer to torture myself in another way: Bikram Yoga. In case you don’t know, Bikram is a set of 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises performed in a heated room. We’re talking over 100 degrees hot, plus humidity. Crazy, right? I started out several years ago with just regular old Vinyasa yoga. When I was living in California, I found a more intense class and I loved it. Then I moved to New York and I upped the intensity again with heated Vinyasa classes. I flirted with this for a while until I moved to Harlem. There’s a Bikram studio in my neighborhood and they had a 30 days for $30 special. I tried it and was hooked. I don’t know what it is about it that I love, but I’m pretty much addicted. Not only do I get a great stretch (and a great sweat) I’ve learned a lot about my body that can be applied to my running. Like how I have lots of muscles in my legs that I’m ACTUALLY supposed to use. Or like how your core ACTUALLY has a purpose. Who woulda thunk?

This time of year, I start to question my sanity. If you've never been in the city during the summer, it's HUMID and SMELLY. So not only is it hot in the hot room, it’s CRAZY HOT. Like so hot I ask myself "WHY AM I HERE?!?" I had one of those classes last night. I think I sweat out a small child. Recently I’ve taken to dreaming about ice cubes in class. I imagine myself completely covered in ice cubes up to my neck. This is how I know I’m really going crazy. But I still drag myself to class 3 to 4 times a week. It’s like the Yin to my running Yang. Plus, where else can you find lots of attractive sweaty guys in tiny little speedos?

This is Dandayamana-Dhanurasana, or bow pulling pose. It's one of my favorites. Can't you tell from the look on my face?

Embrace the Jiggle

Ok. I think it’s official. I’m a morning runner now. Yesterday was so nice, I got home from work and decided to go for a run. The weather was nice, but after a day of work (and sugary snacks leftover from the meeting) I wasn’t feeling so great. I felt really heavy and slow. It was not fun.

You know what was fun? Well maybe not fun, but I was still super excited. I got new sports bras and some new running shorts!

Is it weird that this makes me SO excited?

I just get the cheap sports bras from Target and they work great. Never had any serious chafing or anything. Luckily, I don’t have too much up top, so I don’t need a special sports bra to keep them locked and loaded. I also got new shorts, because it’s crazy hot and just the thought of wearing even capris was making me sweat. They’re a little bit shorter than I would like them to be, but I don’t blame the shorts. I blame the powerful jiggle of my thighs. The jiggle seems to overtake the fabric, and the fabric is forced to retreat. I don’t really mind. I’m pretty used to walking around half naked and sweaty in yoga, so why can’t I run half naked and sweaty? If anyone has a problem with it, too bad. I have jiggly thighs. Get used to it.

Go DetermiNation!

OMIGODOMIGODOMIGOD...Do you know what Saturday was? The first training run of marathon season! YAY! Sure, I’m not running a marathon this year, but a lot of my DetermiNation buddies are, so that means I have a ton more friends to run with! We met up in Central Park early Saturday morning for introductions and the whole training spiel from Coach Ramon.

We all look super excited don’t we? Hey, it was early.

Saturday was a great day for a run. The weather was perfect. There was a nice breeze in the air. The sun was shining. Everything you could hope for. I love group runs because you find a whole group of people that run at your pace and you quickly become BFFs. Or at least BRFFs (best running friends forever).

So here’s the run recap: Since pretty much everyone else is training for the NYC marathon and that’s not until November, they started off slow, with one or two lower loops of the park. Since I’m supposed to be training for a half that is now less than 8 weeks away, I did three lower loops (total about 5.1 miles). The first two loops were super fun. I was meeting new people, chatting with old friends, and the running felt great. The last loop was a little more intense. There just so happened to be a race in the park at about the same time that I started my last loop so I was running alongside people that are much faster than I am. I know I’m not as fast as they are, but there’s something about running next to fast people that makes you go faster. My last loop was slightly under a 9 minute mile. Oops! Needless to say, I was pretty tired. Luckily there were bagels waiting for us back at the meeting spot. I slathered one with cream cheese and shoved it in my face, then went home for a nap. All in all, it was a good morning.

I’ve been doing an experiment this week. I’ve been doing shorter, faster runs, in an effort to regain some of my speed. So far, it’s working. Today I was a minute faster than I was at the beginning of the week. My legs feel great and I’m starting to get used to that “Oh my God, I think I’m going to die” feeling that happens when you run faster. It's made me realize I need to do my training runs better. If I ACTUALLY care about my time (and let’s face it, I do) then I need to run more, run harder, and push myself. Ugh. Those are not things that I look forward to.

You know what I am looking forward to? Tomorrow is the first group run of the season with DetermiNation! Remember these guys?

I get to run with them again! Except for Josh. He's just a supporter. Yippeeeeee!

National Running Day- Part Deux

What better way to round out my National Running Day celebrations than with the DetermiNation Marathon kick off party? For those of you that don’t know, DetermiNation is a group of athletes that runs to raise money for the American Cancer Society. I’ve been running with this group basically since I started running so I know how terrified all the new runners are at the thought of training AND fundraising. This year, I’m acting as a mentor to the runners to help answer all their questions about fundraising, group practices, etc. It was great to see so many new people so excited about running a marathon, and most of them for the first time. It made me a little nostalgic. Just a year ago, I was one of them, all giddy and nervous and wondering “Why the hell am I doing this?” Our first group practice is Saturday and I’m super excited to run with them again. I love running for a cause. It makes me feel like my own hard work, physical pain, and discomfort is for something greater than myself. It makes me almost want to run another marathon this year…almost. *SIGH* I’m going to save that for next year. Chicago 2012 better watch out.

National Running Day

Aren’t you SOOOOOO excited? Today is National Running Day! Despite a particularly brutal yoga class last night (I think I sweat out about 5 gallons of water), despite needing to get to work early today, and despite the fact that I kept waking up to check the time (not sure what that was about), I dragged myself out of bed and went for a run. What kind of runner would I be if I didn’t?

The run wasn’t anything remarkable. Short and sweet. I’m even fully recovered from chasing that old man. But one remarkable thing did happen- my time was faster. WHAT? ME? FASTER? I ran the same route yesterday and today finished about 15 seconds faster. Today I even stopped at a really confusing water fountain that took me a while to figure out how to use. (Side note here: Water was squirting out both ends. I had to use my thumb to stop it up so there was enough pressure to drink. This process involved squirting a stream of water directly into my eye. Super fun at 7am.) And even with all that, I was faster. Score one for Running Lisa!

To round out my National Running Day celebration, I’m going to the DetermiNation Fall Season training kick off party! Which basically means I get to hang out with all my running friends when we’re not all sweaty. Yay!

PS- Now for your reading pleasure