The BIG Day

We did it!

Well, I did it - I ran my first marathon! I can't believe it's already been 18 weeks since I started this journey... I'm not gonna lie, I was a little hesitant at first... I honestly didn't think I could run a full 26.2 miles. But, I DID! And another thing that came unexpected... I LOVED IT! Honestly, it was quite exhilarating. Well, here's how it went down...

Saturday afternoon Blake, Gary and I drove down to Columbus and went to our hotel. We went to the expo to pick up our shirts and bibs - boy was that an adventure! It was probably about a mile walk from our hotel to the convention center where the expo was held. Once we got there the people at the shirt distribution area told me they only had larges in the full marathon shirts... WTF? Dude, I signed up for this race and asked for a SMALL shirt five months ago! :-( So, instead of getting a shirt that's three times too big, I just took a small half marathon shirt - same design and color, just had 13.1 on it instead of 26.2. They also had a form to fill out if you wanted to exchange shirt sizes. So I did. No biggie.

I definitely earned that bumper sticker!

We walked around the expo and I bought my 26.2 bumper sticker! Eeeeeeeee!! =-D Then, after we walked all the way back to the hotel room and there was only 10 minutes until the expo closed, I came to realize that I no longer had my bib... I left it on the table when I was filling out the form to exchange my shirt! UGH! Of course I panicked, freaked out and we drove to the expo. It was no easy drive either... One way streets and traffic... Not a good combo. But, I made it in time and a lady in the back had my bib! Thank goddess! (and yes, I meant GODDESS - I heard one of the actors on True Blood say it and I liked it. :)...) Anyways... On our way out, I almost got clobbered by a giant sign that a worker was taking down. He didn't even apologize... And to top it off, guess what my bib number was? 3666! YIKES! lol I found it more humorous than anything though. :)

We went to dinner right after that fiasco with Christa from Grunt Girls and some other runners. What an energetic and pleasant bunch! It was a very entertaining dinner. :) The only downside was eating around 8:30 at night... My stomach didn't like that... I'm normally hungry in the morning, but not that morning and I couldn't get myself to eat my Powerbar. So, I had some Honey Stinger Energy chews - they're like little gummies and sooooooooo good!

Before the gun shot!

We walked to the start line, which was really close to the hotel. The race started at 7:30 AM. I was a little stiff in the beginning and nervous about the miles to come. The marathon was a record breaker in terms of numbers - 4,300 marathoners! That makes it the biggest marathon in Ohio! =-D So glad I was part of that.

Around mile six I felt a little tired and luckily Blake brought along some more of the energy chews, so we shared a pack, drank some Gatorade at the water stop and I was ready to go! I stopped at pretty much every water stop and had Gatorade, expect for maybe two stops in the beginning.

At around mile 15, Blake started to get a little slower, so I asked him if it would be alright if I went ahead and he said it was fine... Now, don't make fun of him, because he did not train nearly as much as I did. He only ran the long runs with me during the weekends. He never really ran during the weeks, which is crucial. If he would have trained more, he probably would have left me behind. So, don't go rubbing it in his face that he got beat by a girl, because that's just ignorant. Thanks. I actually felt bad and like a terrible girlfriend for leaving him... But, I trained hard for it and wanted to do my best.

Anyways... I felt GREAT, and got faster as the miles went on. I signed up for TweetMyTime through the Columbus Marathon website, so when I started, crossed the 10K mark, 15K mark, 20-mile mark and finished it posted my time on Facebook. It was pretty neat! It was great too, because then I could go back later and see my progress. People kept telling me that after mile 20 it all goes down hill, but I actually sped up after mile 20! Mainly because I had some GU around mile 17 or 18. It was the first time I ever had it, so I was kinda nervous because I heard it was nasty. But, they must of had the newer stuff because it was AMAZING! I grabbed a vanilla and it literally tasted like vanilla icing. NOM NOM NOM! After that, I was set! All the cheering spectators and 100's of bands also helped. My endorphins were definitely kickin'!

Although, around mile 18 my right hip-flexer and calve started cramping up - so I had to stop every mile or so to stretch them out and then was on my way.

Once I got to mile 25, I was in disbelief. Did I really just complete 25 miles? Do I really only have 1.2 miles to go? Then I saw the 1/2 mile sign up ahead and started striding it out. We have our names on our bibs so spectators were cheering us on by name and as I sped by one guy he was like, "Wow, there ya go Colleen, look at her speeding through!" :)

All smiles. :)

Then, down the hill of hundreds of spectators... The end was near! I could see the time clock and people crossing the finish line! I passed by so many people that 100-200 meters... According to my marathon results, I passed 347 runners between mile 20 to the finish and only got passed by 12. :)

I couldn't help but smile as I crossed the finish line. I took it all in as I crossed. I actually started tearing up, as lame as it sounds... But I was just so emotional by what I had just accomplished. I did was only 1% of the population has and ever will accomplish. I trained for and ran a FULL 26.2 miles! Now, I didn't break down crying like a baby, but there was definitely a tear. :)

I grabbed some water, waited for Blake to cross and we headed off to the food area! I treated myself to some chocolate milk. We headed back to the hotel - boy was that a painful walk/wobble! Blake and Gary had Chipotle while I got Panera! NOM! Then we headed home. And of course, I slept on the way home.

I was really happy with all the comments I received on Facebook. It really meant a lot to me that people cared. My hope is that people didn't take my blog or any of my posts about training for a marathon as narcissistic or  arrogant, because that was not my intention at all. It was to motivate myself and maybe even others to train for a marathon, half marathon, 5K or even just to get off the couch! It was to keep my friends who care up to date on my training and so I could look back and see what I did wrong and what I did right later.

On my "journey" I've learned A LOT. But the main thing I learned was that I can do ANYTHING if I just put my mind to it and commit. I know it's corny/cliche, but so true! Alright, I'm barely five-foot tall, weigh a little over 100 lbs, my body has been through hell with my eating disorder - yet my little body was able to run for four hours! Nothing but a little hard work and optimism, and I guess athleticism. :)

I'm actually hoping to run in the Toledo marathon in April or the Cleveland in May. It's just I really want to work more on speed for shorter distances, like 5K's. My goal is to finish a 5K in about 21 minutes. I really like the idea of blogging about my running progress - so I think I'll keep it up! Once I set my next running goal in the next couple weeks I'll start blogging again.

Until then, stay fit my friends! :)

Labor Day 5K: PRing and Missing the Power of Speed

1st Place Women 20-29!

Today was the Aurora Labor Day 5K at Sunny Lake Park. I not only finished first in the women's 20-29 age group, but also PRed! I ran about a 23:30 5K, a whole minute faster than my time last year at this race! Considering I haven't done ANY speed work at all, that's pretty damn good! My first mile was a 7:30 minute mile. I felt really good too, especially the first mile. The last mile though, I started to get a little tired and slowed down a bit.  But, I think taking a rest day yesterday was a good idea. My legs felt pretty fresh for the first couple miles. Blake was about two minutes ahead of me and his younger brother, Ian, was right behind me pretty much the whole time. I encouraged him the last half mile or so and then.... The last 200 meters the little booger sprinted past me towards the finish! -lol-

Adding on to my 10 + medals. :)

That's alright though, I'm just proud of myself for PRing! I've been running like 24-25 minute 5Ks lately because I don't train for shorter distances and I just run at a comfortable pace. But, after this marathon I'm training for SPEED! I never thought I'd say this, but I actually miss speed work! I used to despise it, but it's so worth it! My goal is to place in the top three overall women - and I know I can do it too! The lady who placed third overall today ran a 22:49! I hope to finish in 21-something at my next 5K, which won't be for a long time since it's already September...

Today is also Miles' 10-week birthday!! YAY! In a little less than six months he'll be running with me. :) Can't wait!

Well, off to take a shower and relax. Have a Happy Labor Day, everyone! :)

My little trophy showcase. Everything from 5Ks to Duathlons. 

Happy 10-Week Birthday, Miles!! :)

Slightly Disappointed, But Even More Proud

I'm a little disappointed in myself, but at the same time, proud. This week was supposed to be a 31-mile week, but ended up being only 21 miles... Why a ten-mile difference? Well, Thursday I was supposed to run eight miles, but it turned into a seven-mile run due to a pop-up storm and the fact that my legs were just killing me. Then, yesterday I was supposed to run 13 miles, but since I didn't wake up until around 9:30 AM and by the time I got outside to run it was around 10-10:30 AM and the humidity was hard to bear, my 13-mile run turned into a painful five-mile run... I was ready to give up around mile two! It was so hot and humid, plus my legs were still pretty sore... But, I pushed myself to get to the five-mile mark... Afterwards I felt like I ran 13 miles! I was sweating profusely!

Well, anyways... Like I said, I am also sorta proud of myself this week. Normally, I would have been so disappointed I wouldn't be able to stand it and probably would have kept running and hurt myself. I tend to push myself too hard and in the past it's led to injuries or burning myself out. It's not like I skipped out on my 20-mile run! It was just a shorter, long run - no biggie. Not going to lie though... I even Googled, "Is it alright to skip a long run?" -lol- Someone actually skipped out on a 20-mile run! Now that, that would be bad, considering I only have one 20-mile run in my training. Missing out on a full 13 miles won't kill me. Heck, maybe it'll make me even stronger for having a shorter mileage week!

Friday after work I went to Kent State's Recreation Center for the FIRST time as a KSU student! I went on an Elliptical for about 20 minutes and then did upper body. KSU's rec is A-MAZ-ING! I'm so used to BGSU's tiny little, old rec center. KSU has multiple weight room and cardio areas that I couldn't decide which one to go workout in first! Check out the YouTube video to the right about Kent's Rec Center. Pretty sweet, huh? I'm going to try to go there more often after work on Mondays and Fridays since I don't have classes - maybe even on the weekends for my cross training!

Well, today (Sunday) is going to be a REST day. Tomorrow is Labor Day, so you know what that means? The Aurora Labor Day 5K! That's the main reason why I am taking a rest day today - so that I can run well tomorrow and MAYBE even PR... Maybe... It's supposed to be a five-mile run tomorrow, so I'll run two after I get done with the 5K as a cool down. I'll do another post tomorrow to let ya'll know how I did! :)

Have a great Labor Day weekend! :)

Seven More Weeks to go!

Whew... Eighteen miles down this morning! Only seven more weeks until the BIG day! I can't believe how fast this training/summer has gone by... I start my first week of graduate school this upcoming week - YIKES! Excited/nervous at the same time. But, I've already posted about that, so I won't bore you with the details. :)

Anyways, this week was pretty good running-wise. I did five miles on Monday and Tuesday, with a full body strength training workout after the run on Tuesday. Rest on Wednesday, ran eight miles on Thursday and then another rest day on Friday.

Dinner!

Blake and I were going to run yesterday (Saturday) morning, but we decided to have Miles sleep in his cage since he's been sleeping with me in my bed every night. Not a good idea... he cried ALLLLLLLLLLL night. He may have slept for three to four hours at the most, which also means I only got about three to four hours of sleep on and off. I felt dead the next day... So, instead of dragging myself out to run, I took another rest day! I've actually taken three rest days this week. One was on Wednesday, Friday and then Saturday. I felt pretty good this morning though. We ran the same place as last week - the trail at Silver Springs in Stow. My stomach felt a little yucky when we first got there... The night before I had lemon-pepper chicken, whole-wheat organic macaroni and cheese and green beans for dinner. For a snack I had some Triscuits last night and then this morning about 30 minutes before the run I ate a Luna Bar. I think it may have been the Triscuits. Maybe I'll try having yogurt or something the night before.

Around mile 17 is when I started to feel it. I just wanted to be done! I was also getting a little hungry. But, I finished! We ran 18 miles in about three hours and nine minutes. Not bad considering we walked up some big hills and stopped a couple times to drink. Overall, the run was pretty good. I didn't feel as good as I did last weekend, but not too bad either.

After our run I drank some low-fat chocolate milk. :)

Well, this week is another 5-8-5 week and then a 13-mile run during the weekend. Not too bad!

Have a happy Sunday! :)

Anticipation...

So, I have a lot to anticipate for in the next couple of weeks and all this anticipation boosts my anxiety, which in turn means constant stomach aches, like the ones I get before a race which also means frequent stops to the restroom. =-/ BUT, they're all good things to be anticipating about!

These are the two male puppies I get to choose from. :)

One, I'm getting my puppy Miles next week Monday!! Eeee!! I'm nervous and excited all at the same time. I'm nervous because of the time commitment to taking care of a puppy. I know it sounds stupid, but as much as I'm going to love my puppy, I don't want him cutting into my training... I'm afraid when I get up in the morning he'll want to be with me and be sad when I leave - but hopefully he'll just stay asleep! I won't be able to run with him until he's between 6-12 months old to avoid any fractures while he's growing.

Two, I'm waiting to hear back from a graduate assistantship I had an interview for yesterday. It would be with the Financial Aid office at Kent State and, if I get it, I'd start next Wednesday! The next couple of weeks before school starts they'd have me working 40-hour weeks. I don't think I've EVER worked that much! But, that just means more mula! Not only would they be paying my tuition, but during the summer I'd get paid more than I'm making now! Plus a stipend every month during the school year. :)

Three, I start graduate school in THREE weeks! YIKES! I'm VERY excited about learning more about my future career in Public Health, but also nervous because I don't know what to expect with the workload. I've heard from a lot of graduate students that your exercise kind of gets set aside... I don't think that will happen with me, but it may be tougher to get the motivation to run on top of working, going to school, studying and taking care of my puppy... At least this time around I'll be commuting from home and not packing up and moving two hours away in BG!

And four.... Next week is the half-way point to my marathon training program! YAY! BUT, the last time I signed up for a marathon, the Cleveland Marathon last year, I gave up after the half-way point, week nine... Well, next week is week nine and I plan to stick with the program! This weekend I'll be running 15 miles, which is also the farthest distance I ran when training for the Cleveland... Luckily, the weekend after the 15-mile run is a half-marathon and then the week after that is 16 miles. My last training program had me running 15 miles one weekend and then 16 the next. I just felt burned out and lost all motivation... NOT THIS TIME! I've got TONS of support and I REALLY want to do this. :)

So, there's really nothing BAD that I'm anticipating, just a whole bunch of exciting things coming up!

Well, today is a REST day! I think I'm going to take advantage of it too! My quads have been really sore these past couple of days, so I think they deserve a little R&R. Not too sure what I'm going to do tomorrow, it's supposed to rain all day... I'm planning on saving my 15-mile run for Sunday with the Grunt Girls, but most of them are running 10 miles... May just do it Saturday if the weather is nice in the AM.

Have a happy Friday everyone! :)

Vacation Doesn't Mean No Running :-)

Our hotel!

Blake and I just got back from four days in Atlantic City, New Jersey. We stayed in the Taj Mahal, which is right in a casino. Unfortunately, we did not gamble... I wanted to, but we just didn't get around to it, even though we walked right through both casinos multiple times. The hotel was nice, minus the smoking in one of the casinos... BLAH! Our hotel was right on the boardwalk on the beach. Super nice! Each morning we woke up semi-early to go for a run on the boardwalk. In the evening the boardwalk is swarming with people, but it's nicer in the morning because it's mainly fitness walkers, runners and bikers.

Monday was the eight-hour drive to Atlantic City, so no running just driving and lots of walking once we got to the city since we got lost multiple times. Tuesday morning we ran four miles on the boardwalk at around 9:30 AM and BOY WAS IT HOT! Then we spent the rest of the day at the beach. :) Wednesday, another four miles and day at the beach. We were going to go to the Fitness Center early because if you go in before 8 AM you get in for free. There's a $20 fee for using the fitness center and pool after 8 AM, so I figured, "Man, this must be a nice fitness center!" Nope... It was shitty... Only two treadmills worked and they were very old. Only a couple bikes and elipticals. The machines were in pretty good shape, but there wasn't very many of them. So, we walked in and walked out! Off to the boardwalk we went! Thursday we only ran two miles since we had to check out of the hotel. So we ran to this nice little breakfast place. It was pretty nice running on the boardwalk, surprisingly. Except for, of course, those damn smokers! I would hold my breath as we ran post one and then take a big deep breath afterwards. I don't understand the appeal of smoking, to me it's the nastiest, most disgusting habit out there... I can go on a whole rant about smoking, so we won't go there.

Food-wise, not half bad! I'm always worried about vacations because that means I have to eat out everyday and I never know whether they'll have healthy options. Luckily, we used Blake's phone to check out what hotels were around and what was on their menus. One of my favorites was a place we ate Monday and Wednesday night for dinner, Pickles! Instead of biscuits or some kind of bread for an appetizer they give you a bowl of PICKLES!! NOM NOM NOM! I LOVE pickles!! I got the same thing both times too. Asian Chicken Salad (picture on the left)! It had grilled chicken, romaine lettuce, mandarin oranges, carrots and those skinny little white things (no it's not cheese) which I'm not too sure what they were but they were good!

Pickles at Pickles!!

Tuesday night for dinner we ate at a Ruby Tuesday and I got the white bean chicken chili and salad bar. For lunch we ate at this little deli where I got a turkey sandwich on wheat with PICKLES and cantaloupe. We also ate at the Rainforest Cafe where I had their Tuscan Chicken, red mashed potatoes and zucchini. Then on our home yesterday we ate at a stop on the turnpike where I got a side salad and some strawberries.

For Breakfast each day: Monday I ate at home - wheat bagel with peanut butter and banana; Tuesday - no breakfast, we ate lunch at 11 AM; Wednesday -  wheat bagel with peanut butter and banana; Thursday - we ate at a restaurant after our run where I got scrambled eggs with wheat toast and orange juice.

Not too bad considering we ate out every night! I didn't feel bloated or gross after I ate out. We also did A LOT of walking. It really helped having Blake's phone to check out the restaurants before going to them. Also, Atlantic City has a pretty good selection of restaurants with healthier options.

OH! Blake and I also got massages! We went to a little place on the boardwalk where we both got a massage for 45 minutes! It was pretty nice... I was kind of nervous because the two ladies didn't speak much English at all and I think they told us to strip down naked and then left the room, but I wasn't 100% sure that's what they said. So I stripped down to my underwear and bra and ran to the table to put the towel over myself. Once the ladies came in my lady unstrapped my bra... I think I was supposed to be nakie!! I guess that's what they do in the movies, right? Oh well! Anyways, it was slightly awkward, not only because they couldn't speak English and were talking and laughing to each other most of the time but also because she kept touching my behind! I kept my underwear on as I mentioned earlier, but she pushed my underwear up and into my cheeks like giving me a wedgie! YIKES! Then she massaged my whole backside. Don't get my wrong, it felt great, but I just felt strange having a stranger see and touch my butt and whole body... It felt great on my calves after running too! The ladies were super nice too! They both gave Blake and I a hug afterwards and said how nice we were and that he was handsome and I was beautiful. -lol-

I had a really good time overall. Eight hours of driving wasn't my favorite though.

Anyways, just got back from showering from a 5-mile run with Blake. We split up the seven-mile run I was supposed to run yesterday into two yesterday and five today. Fourteen miles on Sunday! WOOT!

Until then, stay FIT my friends! :)

New Training Schedule and NOMalicous Food

Hello there! Yes, that's right I created a NEW word - NOMALICIOUS. It means food that's so good you just want to NOM it.

So, I was on Hal Higdon's website yesterday and saw that he had TWO different types of Novice training plans... He only has one of them in his book, which is the easier one for those who've been running for less than a year (what kind of crazy  person would just start running in less than a year and run a marathon anyways?). Novice 2 is for those who have been running for a while and have done half marathons, 5Ks and such, just never a marathon before. That's me! Here's the schedule... It's really not a whole lot different, but the mileage is higher in the beginning and adds "pace" runs. I think those are either like tempo runs or race pace. We'll see how I feel. I am on my third week now, so obviously the first two weeks were different from this schedule, but not too much. This is the plan I'll be following from today on. I even ran four miles today instead of three because yesterday I only ran four when I was supposed to run five.

Marathon Training Schedule: Novice 2

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun
1	Rest	3 m run	5 m pace	3 m run	Rest	8	cross
2	Rest	3 m run	5 m run	3 m run	Rest	9	cross
3	Rest	3 m run	5 m pace	3 m run	Rest	6	cross
4	Rest	3 m run	6 m pace	3 m run	Rest	11	cross
5	Rest	3 m run	6 m run	3 m run	Rest	12	cross
6	Rest	3 m run	6 m pace	3 m run	Rest	9	cross
7	Rest	4 m run	7 m pace	4 m run	Rest	14	cross
8	Rest	4 m run	7 m run	4 m run	Rest	15	cross
9	Rest	4 m run	7 m pace	4 m run	Rest	Rest	Half Mar
10	Rest	4 m run	8 m pace	4 m run	Rest	17	cross
11	Rest	5 m run	8 m run	5 m run	Rest	18	cross
12	Rest	5 m run	8 m pace	5 m run	Rest	13	cross
13	Rest	5 m run	5 m pace	5 m run	Rest	19	cross
14	Rest	5 m run	8 m run	5 m run	Rest	12	cross
15	Rest	5 m run	5 m pace	5 m run	Rest	20	cross
16	Rest	5 m run	4 m pace	5 m run	Rest	12	cross
17	Rest	4 m run	3 m run	4 m run	Rest	8	cross
18	Rest	3 m run	2 m run	Rest	Rest	2 m run	Marathon

Blake ran with me this morning. It was a nice, cool, sunny morning. Perfect weather for a morning run. I didn't have to work until 11 AM, so it was nice to relax after my run before work. OH, and I got to watch LIVE with Regis and Kelly. :) Always a plus. I'm off tomorrow and of course Monday for the Fourth of July. YAY four-day weekends! Two 5K's this weekend too, one Saturday night and the other Monday morning.

Dinner tonight was Hawaiian chicken on the grill, corn-on-the-cob and homemade garlic red mashed potatoes. NOM NOM! Mom worked the grill. :)

I forgot to post the picture of my home-made chicken pot pie me, my mom and Blake made Sunday night. We made everything from scratch, including the WHOLE WHEAT crust. OMG, it was AMAZING! Blake and I have also been making our own smoothies pretty much every night. They are NOMalicious too! Ever had a smoothie from Pulp? Well, our's is better! We use about a half a cup of ice, cup of fat-free Activia yogurt, handful of strawberries, two bananas and two tablespoons of honey... Mmmm...

Tuesday night was turkey tacos with whole wheat tortillas, romaine lettuce, salsa and cheese. I had leftovers Wednesday. I think my seasoning made me sick though... Been running to the bathroom all day. =-/

Well, tomorrow is an off day for the legs! Going to do arms and abs. Then Therese and I are going on a hike at the Peninsula. :-)

Today I Don't Feel Like Doing Anything... Nothing At All...

Happy Friday! It's almost 7:00 PM and I haven't melted yet because I haven't ran or worked out. Hallelujah! As I mentioned in a previous post, I HATE rest days. But, today was an exception. I got up early to go into work early this morning and decided not to do my P90X Plyometrics as planned. I got out a little later than usual from work too. I had it set in my head that I was going to workout right when I got home - I was even somewhat annoyed when my boss asked me to stay later because I was thinking, "Dude, are you kidding me? Don't you know that I was planning on doing P90X soon? GRRR..." But, I soon got over it, extra money - yes please! :)

Instead of working out when I got home, I headed to me bed and took a nearly TWO-HOUR nap! It was pretty amazing... Much more refreshing than an hour of jumping around, at least today anyways.

This is a BIG accomplishment for me. If I say I'm going to do a workout, I do it and maybe that's not always the best for my body. Sometimes my body just needs a rest. Not only did I run yesterday, but I did strength training and went on a nice long hike with a good friend. I'm still struggling with that "voice" in my head from my eating disorder trying to tell me to not eat, to workout more, but I've learned to ignore it. So, maybe to some people missing a workout day is no big deal, it is the usual and working out is something to celebrate. For me it's the opposite. It's still a little hard to swallow that I didn't workout today, but I didn't do it and I'm sticking by my guns! Go me!

Eating my whole-wheat pizza with green peppers and broccoli now. NOM NOM! Blake is too, but his has pepperoni, lots of pepperoni, on it.

Noah wants some too!

Nom Nom

Well, that's it for today... Tomorrow morning is a 7-mile run. It's supposed to be a nice 70-degree day out tomorrow, can't wait! =-)

Stay Fit my Friends!

Colleen

Seize the Day!

I decided to change things up this week. I normally have a rest day today (Monday), but I got out of work and decided it was much too nice out to pass up a good to run, especially since it's supposed to "storm" all week.

Right before I hit the road, my right headphone went out! This is not a first... I've gone through probably eight different headphones over the past couple of years because of this. But, I think these ones are troopers. The same thing happened to me a couple months ago and it started working again. For now I'll just deal with music coming in through one ear. 

Also, I thought a 14-mile bike ride was nothing yesterday... Well, my legs think otherwise! My quads, calves and even my shins were throbbing the whole three miles today... I felt like I was going 10 miles per hour, but when I checked my speed on my handy-dandy Nike+ iPod it said I was going 8:30/mile. Not too bad for being sore and going up the hills of my neighborhood. I'm used to running at 6:00 AM and I ran at about 3:00 PM today so I was sweating like crazy! Even my sunglasses were fogging up... HAHA

So, I may just take off tomorrow to let my legs recover. I hate rest days though... In my head I'm like "Ohh ohh I wanna run, I feel like I can go 10 miles super fast!" But, my legs are saying "Take a chill pill, Colleen. We need to recover, damn it!" I usually don't listen to my poor legs, but I think tomorrow I will. :)

Oh, and an update on upcoming races... Saturday, July 2nd is the AMETEK Tree City 5K run for United Way of Portage County at 7:00 at Kent State and then on Monday, July 4th is the Aurora Fun Run 5K. I am deciding between the Kathleen Neitert Race for Hope 7.5 mile at Sunny Lake, which I've done for two consecutive years, and the Eddy's Bike Shop Sweet Corn Challenge on July 31st. These two are normally not on the same day, but this year they are... :( I've done the 50-mile ride with my dad and Blake for the past two years at the Sweet Corn Challenge... We'll see as it gets closer I guess... Also, I'm thinking about doing the Perfect 10-Miler on August 14th since I have to run 10 miles that day anyways. 

Well, I think that's enough for now. Have a great day! :)