I'm baaaaaaack!

I feel like I have a lot to catch up on here, but I also feel like I haven't done much of anything the past few months. After the Hershey Half Marathon, I had shin issues and ended up only running nine miles in the entire month of November. I spent a lot of time on the couch and eventually in December I decided it was time to stop being lazy and get my butt back in gear. Not surprisingly, I had to take it really easy since my shin splints came back as soon as I started running again. I ran through them though and they got better pretty quickly (with lots of ice, stretching, and compression as well). My biggest goal for 2014 is to run 1000 miles, so I've been trying to run 20 miles a week and have been successful so far.

The Scranton Half Marathon is in twelve weeks, so that means training starts now! I had plans to stick with the training plan that I used for my first half, but I honestly think I'm just going to wing it and try to get at least 20 miles in per week. I'm willing to cut it back if I end up feeling overly fatigued or injured, but I think I'll be able to swing it.

It's sucky that all my runs have been on the treadmill lately but I just can't force myself outside to run when it's less than 30º. I know people run in much colder weather, but I'm just a wuss. All I want is for it to warm up, but I guess I have to whine for two more months until spring arrives. :(

So other than getting back on the running wagon, I've also gotten on the healthy eating wagon. We were able to snag a juicer for less than $50 from Bed Bath and Beyond, so I've been venturing into that territory and I love it! We've been cooking a lot more from scratch lately too and that feels like an accomplishment in itself, besides the fact that we've been making healthy food.

 

On the wedding front, we've been kicking ass and taking names. We did our menu tasting (FANTASTIC!), started a registry, booked our honeymoon, and ordered save the dates! We are officially less than six months away and I'm starting to seriously get things done.

In totally random news, another leaf just unfurled on my very favorite plant and now I'm thinking I want one of these for every room in my house.

I'm going to try to do weekly training recaps again because I feel like it really helped keep me on track and accountable during the week. After the Scranton 1/2, I'm hoping we can get into the Broad Street Run, and I also signed up for the Oddyssey Half Marathon in Philly on June 8th! :)

Half Marathon Training: Week 4

I'm one third of the way through my training! I can't believe how fast the summer has been flying by... This week was a little crazy and hectic, but it was my last week working the full-time schedule at work so I'm hoping next week will be better!

I didn't want to run at all on Tuesday, so Joe and I decided to take the dogs for a 3 mile walk instead; however, we only made it 1.5 miles since we couldn't figure out where we were going (more on that later). I added the other 1.5 miles onto my 4 mile run that was scheduled for Wednesday morning. I ran my other 3 mile run on Friday instead of Thursday and my long run (7 miles) on Sunday instead of Saturday. I was scared my Garmin was going to die, so I saved my run after 3 miles and used Map My Run to track the rest. I love the long weekend runs, it's so exciting to up my mileage every week!

So in regards to the getting lost, apparently we have a state game land trail for running/biking very close by and I was really excited when I found out about it. It starts out near a quarry, but the trail we were on quickly turned into a swampy area with tall grass over growing the trail. We ended up walking through the quarry and not being able to figure out where we really needed to be. I think next time we're going to try entering from the other end of the trail and see how that goes instead.

On non-running related news, we went to tour the barn again where we are getting married next summer and they built this amazing ceremony space in the woods since we were there last! I can't even begin to explain how excited I am about all the stuff we are getting done for the wedding.

Aaaaand back to running. I sold a TON of nail polish to put towards a Lululemon purchase and am so thrilled with the stuff I ordered! These Speed Shorts are so stretchy and comfortable and I love how flattering they are. I'll show the other stuff that I got periodically on the blog! :)

See you next week!