5 miles in Old Town

We had a group run on Saturday starting out in downtown Old Town Alexandria and then along the Mt. Vernon Trail along the Potomac River. My body is not exactly "on board" with the increasing mileage, but I survived my run using the 3:1 run/walk ratio. We started out along the streets of Old Town with views like this:


The uneven cobblestones were a bit tricky for a clutz like me, but I survived :)

We then made it down to the river and took a left onto the Mt. Vernon Trail. The views were great...we even saw a very big frog along the way! This is what I saw for mile 1.5 through mile 3.5:

I ended up walking the last 1/3 mile due to the fact that 1) it was all uphill and 2) my knees were not happy campers. I went home and iced for a bit and then went to a brunch where I chowed down. I am still pretty sore today. I need to stretch a lot these next few days. As much as I don't like the pain that I feel from running, I also don't like cancer, so I run!

I am 33% to my fundraising goal...woo-hoo!

25% of fundraising goal!

Thanks to Emilie Manhart for pushing me over and above 25% of my fundraising goal!

I am hoping to get out tonight for a nice 2 to 2.5 mile run. This weather is PERFECT for running. We have 5 miles this Saturday in Old Town Alexandria. I think I will be sticking with the 3:1 run/walk ratio. I had a great 3 mile run on Monday on the Capital Crescent Trail in Bethesda.

In other news, my puppy has doubled her size in 3 weeks! 12.5 pounds. She checked out great at the vet (thank you Dr. Britty!).

Beautiful 4 miles

What a beautiful morning it was today. The humidity has FINALLY left the building and we had nice, cool temperatures and crisp air. We had a 4 mile run at Hains Point in Washington, DC. It is a penninsula that has great views of the Potomac River and the monuments. I decided to do a 3:1 run/walk ration today. It was good decision...I felt great! If all of my runs feel like this, I am golden!

I treated myself to a pedicure after the run and BOY did that feel good!

I got my fundraising letters out this week and am looking forward to getting closer to my goal of raising $3,000. This morning we were reminded of the cruel nature of Leukemia and Lymphoma in that a 23 year old woman lost her battle yesterday. I am honored to run and raise money to find a cure for this disease.

Molly continues to be a handful. She is currently running around barking like a mad woman at my cats. Their worlds have been rocked! My hope is that we will be one happy family once she is out of her crazy puppy stage.

Have a great labor day weekend!

The Hills of Glover Park

I went on a run today right in my neighborhood. I needed to stay close to home due to the crazy Miss Molly. I needed to do 2 miles with hill repeats based off of our Team in Training training schedule. Here is the hill that I ran up 4 times:

I tried to run farther each time. I definitely didn't do hill training last year for the half-marathon and I am hopeful that this will help...plus, I have a feeling I am going to have to be creative with my running locations due to Miss Molly. (I can't believe it has only been 16 days since I first met her...I feel like my life took a huge 180!

I am really enjoying using the nike+ program on my itouch. It is nice to keep track of how far you are running and be able to upload it and track your workouts on the nike website.

Off to bed (but, need to walk the dog first :)

First Group Run...3 miles...umm

...this past Saturday, we had our first group run. I am not sure if it was the heat, "puppy mom" exhaustion, or just that I am out of shape, but it wasn't easy! I did the 4:1 ratio and ended up walking the last 1/2 mile. It might have been the fact that we were on a track as well. I tend to prefer trails when I run...more things to distract me and less of counting down effect (of laps around the track).

I was super proud of my friends Lindsey and Jen. They are going to do AWESOME in their half-marathons at Philly. They were running effortlessly.

I am going to do the hill training this week that our coaches are recommending. 6 x 2 minutes running up a hill. We shall see :)

On another note, Molly is getting more acclimated to her routine in DC. She is the talk of the neighborhood and her puppy waddle is too darn cute :) She literally runs up to people and rolls on to her back to get her belly rubbed. Puppies crack me up!

4 miles this Saturday....might go with a 3:2 ratio. Might be necessary!

So many places to run in DC!

Yesterday was an absoultely gorgeous day in DC. The humidity was gone (thank god!) and the air was cool, the sun was shining, and the lighting was gorgeous when I went out for my run at 5:15 along the Georgetown Canal towpath.

I used my nike sensor and itouch to track my run. I plugged in a 5k workout and started running. Right away I knew that I wasn't going to be able to do a full 5k doing my 4 minute run/1 minute walk ratio, so I just said "do it for as long as you can and then improvise". I ended up running/walking for about 40 minutes and did 4.5k which is about 3 miles which is what I wanted to do anyway!

I also am sooo happy that I am already at 15% of my fundraising goal and it is only 8/26! WOO-HOO!

Puppies and Training?!

So, I was all set to start my training regime for the half marathon and low and behold I decide to adopt a puppy. Threw a real monkey wrench in my training schedule :) I have some minor concerns about my ability to get in the training and still take care of Molly. I think a dogsitter is a priority!

I have already begun fundraising and have raised $400/13% of my $3,000 goal. YAY! I love my friends. You rock!

Saturday morning is our first group run. 3 miles. No problem.