4+ Weeks In, And I'm Still Going Strong

So looking back on my blog posts, wow its been a while. I'm sorry its been too long since I last posted. Xavier and my other endeavors have been keeping me busy. Though not too busy to get a good (enough) work out in from time to time. Over the last two weeks I've put in somewhere around 3 runs per week. Slowly getting my long runs to get longer in anticipation for the half, which is in just about another month. But as of now my longest came tonight, 5.8 miles from my house in Oakley to Kelsey's in Clifton. And for the first time ever, Here is how I got there:



It sure was an interesting run. It had everything, from super cold 30 degree weather, to runs through at least 5 Cincinnati neighborhoods (Oakley, Evanston, O'Bryonville, Walnut Hills, and Clifton), to me being way overdressed 2.5 miles into it and me having to ditch a long sleeve shirt I was wearing just past O'Bryonville. All in all a successful run. Only walked when I felt like vomiting (just once) and when I needed to not get hit by the rich AND poor people alike that I passed by. Or should I say, passed me by. Well, sorry to cut this post a bit on the short side, but I'm exhausted and need frankly don't feel like typing for much longer.

Next up, more running (with a hopefully 6.5-7 mile run in the near but not too near future). Hopefully I can steal someone's nice little camera and take pictures of the things, people, places I run by on my next adventure through half of Cincinnati. Hope you all enjoyed this and if you have any suggestions on routes to do, or possibly Pub Runs to do, I am all ears.

I'm still here, And running strong

Sorry my friends, it has been way too long since my last post. I'm assuming you thought I decided to quit, give up, become a sloth, or any of the other things I think is best not to mention (but you get the idea). The good news is that I have not done any of those...yet, or hopefully ever. Last week I came down with a cold, again. But I still tried to power thru it. I ran twice last week. Though the first run was pathetic and short [less than 2 miles :-( ], the other which I waited (perhaps too long to do it) was better. I ran this past Saturday when it was nice enough outside, a few 3-ish miles maybe more, idk, still it was a welcome run with a few challenges. The main ones coming from the hills in the neighborhood and the cold air. It still stings my lungs just thinking about running in this 40-something degree weather. I wish it was summer all the time. Maybe I'm cynical, but I would much more prefer running in 85-90 degree weather.
So in my goal of keeping up these crazy shenanigans of getting in shape and running a half marathon in less than 7 weeks, I chose to run indoors tonight to save my lungs and all of my exposed skin the torture of running in 41 degree weather. Since I just realized this sad fact that I have less than 2 months to get ready for this half marathon, I chose to ramp up my workout some. I naturally run a...relaxed pace by some standards (9-9:30 min miles), so this time with my lungs and other vital organs not subjected to terrible weather we have here in Porkopolis (and yes, I just felt like throwing that one out there), I absolutely crushed it. At least by my standards. Doing 3.75 miles in just over 30 mins. I was very proud of myself. I even feel fine now. But not to worry, I'm confident my body will let me know just how dumb that was in the morning. I'm good with that tho. A good run today, another tomorrow, sets me up nicely just for a relaxing day on THE best day of the year, my favorite holiday...St. Patrick's Day. A day to wake up very, very early and have car bombs, beer and breakfast at 6:30 a.m.
With that in mind, I will leave you with a song right for the occasion. Enjoy.

3 Runs Down & My First Weigh In

Well its Thursday now, after resting (and doing hw) yesterday, today I got back at it. Monday was a good 3.5 miles, so I decided that Tuesday deserved at least the same effort. Tho I chose to man-up and run outside on tues. Not a bad choice, Cincy weather is finally getting tolerable. I can thankfully say that I did not come close to getting run over, but its Cincinnati, sooner or later that can happen.

Today tho, I chose to take a different course thru Oakley & Hyde Park. It didn't hurt as much as the first two runs, but it was certainly more challenging. The hills in both neighborhoods are not kind. But running up Gilbert and into Eden Park isn't easy either. Don't think it helped that I decided to push this run a little extra (a whole 4 miles). I think its safe to say that the swelling in my legs has barely gone down since I began this idiotic journey on Monday.

When I returned home and enjoyed a nice 5 pints of water, I did think it would be an ideal time to keep track a bit more of how I'm doing. Besides doing this training because I obviously hate myself, it was also as a way to get in shape and lose some weight. I weighed myself the other day at X after my run then, and I chose to do it again now for the rest of you so you can see (and suffer) the same way I am. So here it is. My official weigh in today, 175.5 lbs. Not terrible (I weighed in at just shy of 176.5 on Monday) . But I'm hoping that I can use this as extra motivation to get down to around the low 160s (160-162 lbs would be legit).

So far I must admit, this whole running and keeping on a schedule has not let me down. 4 days in and I've knocked down 11 miles. Now if I can get another run in tomorrow and hopefully one more Saturday, I'll be pretty stoked.

I'm looking for new routes and places to run, so if any of you have some good ones in the area (less than 5 miles) I'd love to hear from you. Well. Thank you for checking in, but I gotta run.

And the Journey Begins with...Pain

After being sick for what felt like half of February, I knew by now I had no excuse. I was either going to start running today or decide not to prepare for the half marathon. I didn't back out last year and there was no way I was going to do it again. Now I just need to find the motivation to keep at this 4-5 days a week.

So now that I've decided to get off my butt, I went ahead and ran today for the first time in probably over a month. It hurt, (it still hurts now). OMG, I'm an idiot. Why am I doing this? All thoughts that went through my head as I was nearing the halfway point of my first run (which lasted about 3.5 miles). Throughout my workout, a few thoughts crossed my mind (besides doing more than one mile). One being, man I miss the Rec Center at UC. Since I'm now a grad student at XU (yes, I know I dont like it either), I was doing my running at their rec center. Makes you think, we sure had it good at UC. Secondly, Xavier kids are the most disgusting/gross ppl. Not a single person that went into the locker room showered after working out. Lastly, I can't wait until it gets nice enough to run outside. Treadmills are terribly boring to run on.

I'll keep you posted on how my next workout goes. But until then I guess I will leave you all with this, the song that closed out my run. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-UTPKL-UGY

The Journey Begins

A few months ago I thought that signing up for the Flying Pig Half Marathon would really push me to finally get in shape again. I ran the pig last year and finished with a respectable time, so I figured if I started training earlier and harder than I could do even better.

It has been two months since I signed up...and I've ran a grand total of 2 or possibly 3 times. Therefore I started this blog in order to help motivate me so that I can actually finish the race this year. I'll keep you posted as to how my goals and milestones are going. Hopefully you can all show me some love and support (and a call to get off my lazy ass and run some more when you haven't heard from me, would be very much appreciated too).