Treadmills…

Sooooo I know, another post about treadmills and running in the winter.  I’ve really not had much going on with my running in February, except for trying to make the best of running on the treadmill and I need to post something, so this is it!

It’s been REALLY cold here lately, like sub zero cold (I know, it’s been REALLY cold everywhere else too, I’m not alone!) but it’s also snowy on the trails and I work until it’s dark out most of the time.

Luckily, I have a treadmill!  I really hate running on it, like really but it allows me to get my runs in when I wouldn’t be able to otherwise.  To make it through, I find fun things to watch on Netflix to keep me occupied!  It takes my mind off of how sucky running in place is, and I get to watch movies and shows that I meant to and never did or ones that I hadn’t seen in a while.
Lately my choices have consisted of Wayne’s World, The Naked Gun, Family Guy, Parks and Recreation, and the Office.  I love laughing and watching something fun while I run!

What do you do to make it through running on the treadmill?  Different strokes for different folks and I’m always up for new ideas and tricks!

I also started training for the Harper’s Ferry Half Marathon in May!  I’m so excited for this race!  Harper’s Ferry is such a neat place in West Virginia!  I was nervous to start this week since there was so much snow, but the treadmill has turned out to be my saving grace!  So I guess I really can’t say too many bad things about it after all : )

My 2nd Runniversary!

Sooo today marks 2 years since I began my relationship with running!  I said it last year and I’ll say it again this year but I NEVER saw myself as a runner, but I’m SO happy that I am!

This year in running was pretty good for me, the beginning of my running year started off kind of rough due to an extreme amount of snow the day we got back from Houston and it didn’t let up until late March… so that lead to a lot of treadmill running and days off = no good.

After I ran the Nike Women’s Half in D.C. in late April I got more on track with my running and started getting back to the consistency that I had before.  I also got married the day after I ran in D.C. to my amazing runner husband!

I ended up running 18 races since last January 17th, running at least one race in every month except for March.  I also totaled my mileage at: 872.07 from January 17, 2014 – January 17, 2015.  I definitely dipped from last year but like I said I took WAY too many days off in the beginning of the year but it’s not gonna happen again this year!

I feel like this was the year where I would have quit running if I were going to (I know crazy talk!) but I feel like since I made it through this second year and freaking love it even more that this is going to be a hobby that sticks for life!!!!

Goals for this running year:

One is the same as for my calendar year, to PR in 4 distances (5k, 10K, half marathon, and full)

Keep running!

Run more races than last year

at least have 1000 total miles by January 17, 2016

All of my running shirts from the races I ran this year!

How long have you been running?

What keeps you motivated?

Thanks for reading!!

Run to Read Half Marathon

Sooooo I ran the last half marathon of my running year but my first race of 2015.  It snowed last week and I worked night shift so I tried my best and got in runs, but none of them were high quality or more than 3 miles.  I was very anxious about running this race since I didn’t feel nearly as prepared as I had hoped I would.  I get nervous before most races but it’s usually due to the excitement, the possibility of a new PR, the outfit I have on, and cause I just paid some money to run so I had better make the most of it!  But I actually felt nauseated thinking about running this race…

The race was at Prickett’s Fort State Park in Fairmont, West Virginia, the fort that’s there isn’t the real one though, but a recreation (here’s the link to a web page about the state park: http://www.prickettsfort.org/ ) The local rail trail runs through part of the park and across the Monongahela River, I had never run on it before but was excited for that part of it.  The weather wasn’t actually going to be as cold as it had been that week which was good and we had been told that the local parks department had cleared the trail in the past so I wasn’t very worried about that.  Josh however took a warm up run and decided to inform me that at mile 5 the trail was going to be packed snow, and for who knows how long… another reason I was anxious!!

Me before the race!

 

The race started however and I surprisingly felt very strong, I settled into my pace and fell into that wonderful running trance and I stopped thinking and worrying so much and just ran.  We ran through an old train tunnel between miles 1 and 2 (Picture below)

 

Then mile 5 hit and I couldn’t wish the race to be over soon enough.  I know, packed snow doesn’t seem that bad… but it is… especially when 150+ people have run on it before you have.  I did my best to stick with it, but I could feel the callouses on the balls of my feet pinching and rubbing on each uneven, snow-packed step I took (when I got home I noticed that I had blood blisters on both of my feet by my fabulous callouses, sorry for the over-share!)

The last 4 miles got progressively slower, as I’m sure they would’ve had I been running on pavement the whole race, so that didn’t make me too upset.  But when I saw the finish line I was SO excited I couldn’t stand myself!!  I got my medal and high-tailed it to the car to warm up and get home to take a nice, long, hot bath!

The finisher’s medal

My take away moments were that I was so happy with myself for finishing this race that I wasn’t sure I even wanted to actually do in the first place and that I didn’t feel as bad as I thought I would when I finished!  All-in-all it wasn’t a bad way to finish out my running year or kick off the calendar year!

Just a little more info about the race itself:  The proceeds go toward the Literacy Volunteers of Marion County, there will also be a 5K and one mile race held this summer, the 3 races comprise a “triple crown series”.  There is race day registration if there are still open spaces (the race usually caps off at 400 racers and I don’t think they’ve hit that number yet).  For this race the entry fee included a toboggan, gloves, medal, and chili after the race.  Overall the race was beautiful and scenic but the conditions for the last 8 miles were less than enjoyable for me.

The End of Another Year

Sooooo it’s that time of the year again, the time to reflect on the year that’s passed and look forward to what the new year may bring.

I’m not gonna lie, I really dropped the ball this year on the blogging front… I just didn’t keep up with it for a myriad of reasons, reasons that I won’t go into and bore you all with!  BUT  I have begun to use my Believe Training Journal and one of the goals that I made for this year is to be better about blogging.  I really and truly love writing about my thoughts and experiences related to running, but I let too many petty excuses stop me.  Life happens and I just need to be better about prioritizing and getting on here!  But on to what happened with me this year.

This year was a pretty great calendar year for me!  I got married first off!!  And although my second year of running won’t officially be complete until January 17th, I accomplished a lot in 2014 and am pretty proud of it.  Last year I wrote out my “ideas for 2014” and I just want to quickly reflect on them!

Idea #1 was to keep my enthusiasm for running and I can say that I have fallen even more in love with it!  More so than I EVER thought I could!

Idea #2 was to try to incorporate other areas of exercise into my routine.  I was very successful at this in the beginning of the year, I made it through the p90X3 system once and it definitely helped me make it through the Nike Women’s Half Marathon since my running training wasn’t quite up to par.

Idea #3 was to keep running races and challenging myself.  I ran 16 races this year consisting of 5K, 10K, and half marathon distances.  I also ran my dream race, the one huge half marathon that I have wanted to run since I first began running, the Rock N Roll Las Vegas half marathon!  That was the highlight of my year!

Idea #4 was to keep up with my blog… we all know how this turned out!

Sooo I’d say I did okay this past year with my goals, but there is definite room for improvement this year.

My one pretty big running goal for this year is to PR in 4 distances: 5K, 10K, half marathon, and the marathon.  I think with more consistent training and dedication I can complete this goal.

This past year has made up most of my second year of running, which I think could’ve ended up making it or breaking it for me as far as continuing running or not.  It definitely made it for me!  As I said earlier in the post I fell more in love with running this year and I cannot wait to see what 2015 has in store for me.  I have one last race to complete before I begin my 3rd year as a runner, a local half marathon that I haven’t run before.  It’s probably going to be cold but the course is mainly flat so I’m hoping for a good race!

What are your goals for this year?  I also think it’s important to make personal goals as well, it’s important to strive for improvement in all areas to maintain balance.  I’ve set personal goals for this year, but won’t post them here since they really don’t relate to running.

Here’s to the new year and the adventures that we will all encounter!

Summer Runnin.. had me a blast!

Soooo Labor day happened, which basically means that summer is pretty much over.. EVEN THOUGH it has seemed way hotter outside lately, what’s up with that?!?  Anyway, I was sitting here reflecting on my summer and it wasn’t a totally terrible one!

For me, this was “the summer of the 5K” cause that’s pretty much the only kind of race that I ran with the exception of a 10K.  I started out the Summer in late May (I know, summer didn’t really start until June, so I ran an unofficial summer race I guess) at the Open Hearts 5K in Clarksburg, it rained and I do love running in the rain and I also won my age group, so great way to kick off my summer! Below is a pic of me, Josh, and cap waiting for the awards at the Open Hearts race (my actual race pictures were terrible haha)

 

In June I ran 2 races, the Cecil Jarvis Greater Clarksburg 10K in Clarksburg and the RDVIC Father’s Day 5K (the next day) in Morgantown.  The 10K was grueling and my first 10K in over a year.  I had trained and run a lot but didn’t hit my goal time and was slower than my previous PR, it was okay though I finished!  The father’s day race went much better, and for the day after a 10K race I felt really good running.  I almost placed in my age group, but for some reason this race had done my age group 14-25, but the next age group was 26-30… makes no sense!  Oh well!

I only ran one race in July, the Run to Read 5K in Fairmont.  Josh had a very successful go at this race, but me, I once again made it to the finish and that was about all I could say…  I had still been running very regularly and even starting to do longer runs once a week, but hilly Fairmont had other plans for me that day.

I ran a little more in August, just 2 races, the Rush Run 5K in morgantown and the Pet Door Rescue 5K in Buckhannon.  The rush run had an amazing turn out for the first time the event was run, the atmosphere was great and I was excited to run since this was the same course as the Father’s day run; with fresh legs I may be able to PR!  The course was flat and during the second half of the race I was passing people left and right, I felt really good!  I even raced one of the local weathermen (Jason Parrish from channel 12 news if you’re local) to the finish but he beat me by a split second! The picture below is us racing to the finish line.

 

Yes, the time on the clock is in the 27’s… BUT WHEN I LOOKED AT MY WATCH IT WASN’T EVEN AT 3 MILES!!!!  The race wasn’t even 3 miles long!!!  How does that get messed up?!?  I was just disappointed that I ran so well and of course that I paid for a 5K and it wasn’t even that… oh well, the weatherman won that day but I’ll get him next time!  The race in Buckhannon was beautiful and the weather was perfect!  The race started at a local college and wound through the streets and onto a river trail.  I really was feeling great this run and I finished and looked down at my watch and saw 27:45… and the race was actually 3.1 miles, a new PR!! And I ended up winning my age group!  For this being my last race before labor day, I would say it was an excellent way to unofficially end my summer running!

September is picking up for me as well, I’ve got 4 races scheduled (3 5K’s and 1 10K) and I started training for my second marathon!!!  The Houston Marathon in January!  I’m so excited to run another marathon and even more excited that I’ll actually be prepared to run this one!  One last super exciting announcement (for me at least) is that Josh and I signed up to do the Rock n Roll Series Las Vegas half marathon; I’M GONNA RUN DOWN THE VEGAS STRIP AT NIGHT!!!!  They also added a 5K the day before as part of the “Remix challenge” they started recently.

I love summer and everything but I cannot freaking wait for this fall!!!!

Do you have any exciting plans for this fall, running related or not I’d love to hear all about them!  Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

 

 

School’s Out!!

Sooooooo school’s out for me when it’s starting for everyone else… but I now have my BSN!!! (Bachelor of Science in Nursing)  I’m really excited to be done with this part of my schooling, I had to get this degree seeing as most hospitals only want to hire nurses with a bachelors degree and should I continue with school to get a masters degree (which I most likely will) a bachelors degree is essential.  The program was online through West Virginia University so I was able to work full time and complete the program.

The main reason I’m so happy that I’m finally done with school is so that I can use my free time to hang out with Josh and Captain and also get back into this blogging thing!  I have hardly talked about any running or well anything really, on here in months!  It’s so sad, but now I really have no excuse to not make at least one post a week.  So that is what I will commit to, posting one time per week.

I will make a post soon about a race I took place in last Friday, as well as a post about my thoughts on this summer (I’ve been thinking about the Summer one, well… all summer, but I just haven’t had the time to write it all down yet, soon I promise!

How has your all’s summer been?  Hopefully there are some of you out there who have gotten to slow down and enjoy your summer!  Thanks for reading!

M.I.A.

Sooooo I kinda fell off the grid for a couple of months… oops.  Seriously, I hate that I haven’t posted anything since Valentine’s day and I will try to be better about it, promise!  I had a busy couple of months adjusting to my new work schedule (with shifts that change about as often as ), I’m still enrolled in school working toward my Bachelors in nursing (the semester just ended and I have a whole two weeks until I go back for more!), I started P90X3 (I WILL post about this), training for the Nike Women’s Half Marathon in D.C., and making sure things were planned for my wedding!  So to sum it up, a lot of stuff going on all of the time, however, I really need to make this a priority this summer seeing as I love connecting with new people and reading new blogs!

Anyway, my running was totally sporadic thanks to all of the lovely snow and winter weather we had, living up a holler makes it hard to get anywhere to run, oh and having the rail trail covered in a foot and a half of snow makes it hard to run as well, so I had to form a relationship with my treadmill.  We’re sort of frienemies… Treadmill miles are way different than actual running-on-your-own miles, so getting back to doing all the work was a bit of a challenge.

By the end of March I was able to run outside regularly since snow had finally melted away!  I didn’t run nearly as many miles this winter as I should have to properly prepare for my half marathon however, so I was going in with a mindset of “just finish, don’t worry about running your best time or anything”.  So after having a stressful evening navigating the streets of D.C. the night before, I made it to the start line with 14000+ other gals and we began our run through D.C.!  I kept telling myself “you’re just on a jog with 14000 girls in D.C., that’s all, don’t stress about this”, and it actually worked cause I was so relaxed and felt the best I’ve ever felt running a half marathon!

(Above, me before the race)

(a picture during the run)

(One of my favorite pictures, the stand said “We Run” and it glowed, we were in a tunnel!)

I tweeted and tagged my instagram picture saying that I PR’d, and I honestly thought I did, but I forgot that I ran a 2:24 before, so my 2:26 will just have to take second place, but I was totally shocked with the results considering how training went!  Aaaaand I stopped to pee 1.3 miles in and the line was so long that I was stopped for about 6 minutes so maybe had I not stopped to pee I would have run a 2:20 and PR’D?  Who knows and who cares, in the end I got to the finish line and got my finisher’s necklace!!!

(I’m finishing in the purple shirt, Mr. Body finished just before me! haha)

(Me getting my necklace)

(the front of my finisher’s necklace)

(the back side of my necklace)

We had a very short visit to D.C. though since we left that night to go to Las Vegas (well, we were supposed to but our flight got delayed… long story) so we left on Monday, which is the day we were getting married in Vegas, and didn’t make it to Vegas until 2, didn’t get checked in the hotel until 4:45, and were getting married at 6, but even though it was rushed I ended up marrying my best friend, my running partner, and most importantly the love of my life, and that was by far the best moment of the weekend!  I don’t have any pictures because we weren’t allowed to take any in the chapel (they gotta make that dough I guess), but I will surely make a photo album of some pictures when I get them!

Like I said a lot going on, none of it was really super eventful until this past weekend so I didn’t want to bore you guys with some loooooooooooooong post about nothing ; )   I will post soon about P90X3 (this week is “Victory Week” and I’ll finish on Saturday!!) and I’ll try to post more frequently again!!

Thanks for reading!  I’ll have another post soon!

-Samantha

Sole Mates

Sooo today is Valentine’s day, and I couldn’t help but think about how this is the 10th Valentine’s day that I will spend with Josh and only the 2nd that I get to spend with my new love, running!

This time last year Josh and I were crowded in our tiny apartment in France coming back from a run and eating left-over soup for dinner and watching our favorite American shows on one of our laptops; be jealous.  I was so lucky however, to discover my new love in the city of love, Paris!  I’m also lucky that both of my loves get along so well together.

See, running is still new to me, I mean we’ve only been “going steady” for a little over a year now.  We had kind of a rocky start and I’m not gonna lie, I pushed the relationship to the limits (at almost 3 months I did run a marathon) and I wasn’t sure that I wanted to keep seeing running after said marathon.  Once I let the relationship cool down a little and got back to just running to run it became fun again, and we began to like each other much more.  To this day when I think about a new race or the possibility of running another marathon I get nervous and I fantasize about how it could go and of course about the bling that I’ll get afterward.  Right before I start a race I get butterflies, the anticipation kills me (much like when I first started going on dates with Josh).  I’m still learning about running and that’s fun, I’m totally happy I decided to give running a shot and I hope that we end up happily ever after.

Now onto my first love, my main squeeze, my motivator, my man, Josh.  Like I said, we’ve spent many Valentine’s days together, and everyone has been different, in a good way of course.  This particular Valentine’s day I was lucky and didn’t have to work, Josh not so much, so I ran 8 miles and completed my P90X3 workout for the day (I’ll write about that another day) and waited for Josh to get home from work.  He got home and of course he fell asleep in bed, I on the couch, and when he woke up it was his turn to work out.  We are now sitting on the couch watching the Olympics and I’m getting my feet rubbed; and I’m 100% happy with how today went!  I am lucky that like I said, both of my loves get along with each other!  Josh is also a runner so he gets why I need to run for over an hour and then cross train with yoga or P90X.  There are many couples who don’t share the same interest in exercise, and should one in the relationship not understand running well…

Now that being said, Josh and I don’t run together.  In France he would do a recovery run with me, but since he’s taken things to the next level we don’t run together, and we’re totally okay with that!  We share our love for running in other ways, by looking at races that we will both run, talking about our runs, trying to convince ourselves that we need to run despite the million feet of snow we have outside or if it’s raining, hanging our medals up, and of course watching televised running events!  I love that the two things I love most go hand-in-hand and that I don’t have to keep one separate from the other!

Do you and your significant other share a passion for exercise?  Do you do the same type of workouts or different?  How do you handle differences if one of you exercises and the other doesn’t?

These are some awesome running valentines from Runnersworld.com

Happy Valentine’s day and thanks for reading!!

Happy Feet

Sooooo after a long run or long shift at work my feet ache!  I have always had problems with my feet hurting and have tried many different ways to relieve the aches and pains over the years and I these are some of my favorite ways to soothe my feet!

• Socks with aloe vera or lotion infused in them!  I had always seen these socks and just never really gave them a second thought.  My mom gave me a pair and after a particularly rough run slipping in the snow I put them on and let me tell you my feet felt so much better!
• Repairing foot cream/scrub.  I really enjoy putting on a foot cream or using a salt-based scrub on my feet before bed.  I’m not sure if they work for everyone, but my feet certainly feel refreshed when I wake up the next day!
• A foot rub from a certain someone…  Yes, I’m guilty of persuading Josh to rub my feet from time to time!  The socks, creams, and scrubs are fine but nothing quite compares to a foot rub!
• Pedicures!!  I’m pretty sure I had only had one pedicure in my life before I got one after the race while I was in Houston, and after that moment I declared that I will continue to get them at least once a month!  I opted to get some sort of salt scrub after my nails were clipped and oh man, the woman rubbed my calves and that felt SO good, not to mention when she rubbed my feet too!

 

My feet after my pedicure!

We only get one pair of feet unfortunately, and it can be easy to neglect them and just hope that they feel better on their own or take a pain reliever.  Sometimes trying other ways to relieve pain can be just as beneficial as pain relievers!  I found a great article in Women’s Running Magazine that had good recipes for foot scrubs and soaks to relieve muscle soreness and aches that I can’t wait to try!

What do you do when your dogs are howling?

Thanks for reading!!

2014 Aramco Houston Half Marathon

Sooooooo last Sunday I ran in the Aramco Houston Half Marathon in Houston, Texas!  This was my first big half marathon (about 25,000 people in this one) so needless to say I was pretty nervous!

Josh and I got to Houston on Friday afternoon so we could have time to settle in and we were able to  pick up our packets that day as well so we could beat the crowd on Saturday.

Packet pick up is a BREEZE at this race!  An email was sent to me that I needed to print out and take with me to the expo.  Once there, I had to find the booth that my bib number fell under and give them my paper to scan and then I was given my bib and other race info.  After that I proceeded to the t-shirt tables to get my participant t-shirt and then find the “hero” booth so I could get my “hero” bib.  A “hero” is someone who fundraised a certain amount of money for a local Houston charity.  I fundraised for my sister’s former employer, Bering Omega Community Services, a non profit that provides dental, day center, and hospice services to those in the area affected by HIV/AIDS.

My sister lives in Houston, so Josh and I stayed with her while we were there.  Friday we rested up and Saturday we went to the Galleria for a bit (the Galleria is a million-block-long mall that has every store ever in it).

Sunday, race day, came way sooner than I expected!  We got to the civic center around 5:30 in the morning, the race started at 7, so we had plenty of time to check our bags and get ready to run!  Sara came to watch us, so it was nice that we didn’t have to drive ourselves and all of that.

 

My sister and I before the race, she made really baller signs for Josh and I!

As I made my way to my corral to wait to start, I got really nervous and anxious as I usually do, and that’s about the time when those really awesome thoughts start coming  into my head like: what have I gotten myself into?  Why did I sign up to do this? and so on, and so forth.  But as I finally crossed the start line, there were SO many people yelling and cheering for us, all of them strangers to me and I was instantly calmed and happy and excited!  I get nervous before many races but soon after I start I remember why I run in the first place.  Races have such great energy, those running in the race are inspired by spectators and other racers, and spectators are inspired by those running and participating in the race.  The atmosphere is so awesome that it is hard to feel discouraged no matter how bad you may feel during the race.  I was definitely feeling bad at certain points throughout the race but then I remembered that I had worked 6 out of the 7 days before the race on 12 hour night shifts and only had 2 days to try to get back on a “normal” sleep schedule and the weather didn’t give me many opportunities to run outside.  So, I took the race for what it was and decided to enjoy the day rather than stress and feel bad about myself during the race!

I can barely describe how I felt as I rounded the final turn and ran to the finish line.  There were so many people cheering and I found my sister in the crowd and I was so happy and proud that I had finished the race!  I got my medal, slowly walked to get my finisher’s shirt, and hobbled to bag check to get my bag so I could change and then find Josh and my sister.

 

Josh and I after the race, don’t we look so tired? haha

All in all, it was a great weekend and I was glad to have time away with Josh and that I got to visit my sister, and run a really awesome race!  I highly recommend considering this race if you have a chance to go to Houston!

 

As always, thanks for reading!!