tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76701545247265729702024-03-13T23:58:23.254-05:00Niki's Neverending AdventureNikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.comBlogger510125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670154524726572970.post-14370151638341784562010-10-11T15:34:00.001-05:002010-10-11T15:34:59.332-05:00In Case You Missed It…<p><font size="3">In case you missed it… I moved!! I have a new blog that I will be blogging at from now on! I will no longer be blogging at this site.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Please come check it out: <a href="http://www.trainhappyblog.com/">Train Happy</a> </font></p> Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670154524726572970.post-34986969896054675132010-10-09T17:14:00.001-05:002010-10-09T17:15:23.802-05:00Come On Over To My NEW BLOG!!<p><font size="3">Hey y’all!! The time has come for me to leave this blog and move forward to my new blog: <a href="http://www.trainhappyblog.com/">Train Happy</a>!! I have been wanting for a long time to own my own domain and self host, and I decided a whole new blog was in order to be able to focus on races and training. </font></p> <p><font size="3">So please come on over to my new blog <a href="http://www.trainhappyblog.com/">Train Happy</a>. I will be blogging there from now on and will not be blogging here at <a href="www.nikisneverendingadventure.blogspot.com">NNA</a>. So make sure to change it in your google readers and follow my new blog.</font></p> <p><font size="3">I am also changing my twitter name to @Train_Happy so if you see that, it’s me!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">Hope y’all enjoy!!</font></p> Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670154524726572970.post-45542618203596849642010-10-09T15:02:00.001-05:002010-10-09T15:02:45.857-05:00Quick Update + POM + Big News!!<p><font size="3">I know I have been MIA the past couple days… I’ve been quite busy :) To catch y’all up on my training, I did an easy 3 mile recovery run on Monday. My legs felt tired and so sore from my 9 miler the day before but I had to get some miles in! My legs loosened up around mile 2 and by then, my run was about over!! I didn’t run again until Friday (due to 12 hour clinical days) and I just did another easy 3 miler because I had a 5k the next day (this morning) and didn’t want my legs to be too tired! I didn’t even wear my Garmin for this run, it felt so weird not to have it on! But anyways, my mileage will be a bit smaller than I would like this week due to my lack of time. Oh well, as long as I get my long run in tomorrow I will be happy!</font></p> <p><font size="3">*************************************************************************</font></p> <p><font size="3">The wonderful people over at <a href="http://www.pomwonderful.com/">POM Wonderful</a> sent me a case of these cute little bottles of their pomegranate juice to try! </font></p> <p><font size="3"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_x5f-gCQ3ghY/TLDKXyE7PqI/AAAAAAAADtE/diKxBwFOdek/s1600-h/010%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="010" border="0" alt="010" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_x5f-gCQ3ghY/TLDKYrgJeDI/AAAAAAAADtI/vxMQid5-eUI/010_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="420" height="320" /></a> </font></p> <p><font size="3">My husband is in love with this stuff and has been drinking them left and right! I am not a huge juice drinker, usually because of the sweetness, but this pomegranate juice has the perfect amount of sweet and tang! It’s very yummy!!  </font></p> <p><font size="3">From the <a href="http://www.pomwonderful.com/">POM Wonderful</a> website:</font></p> <ul> <li>guaranteed to be 100% Pure Pomegranate Juice </li> <li>contains the juice of 4 whole pomegranates per 16 oz </li> <li>no added sugars, colorants or cheap filler juices </li> <li>packed with powerful antioxidants </li> <li>is what you should buy if you want to Get Real</li> </ul> <p><font size="3">This is good stuff people! I definitely recommend trying POM juice if you haven’t before!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">*******************************************************************************</font></p> <p><font size="3">And last but definitely not least, my exciting big news!! I am officially launching my new blog this afternoon, so stay tuned for the blog name, address, and first post!! I will post it here on <a href="www.nikisneverendingadventure.blogspot.com">NNA</a> so everyone should be able to find it pretty easily. Stay tuned friends… :)</font></p> Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670154524726572970.post-76343147459837013522010-10-03T15:44:00.001-05:002010-10-03T15:44:41.386-05:00Long Run Sunday<p><font size="3"><strong>In case you missed it, I announced the </strong><a href="http://nikisneverendingadventure.blogspot.com/2010/10/st-jude-blog-raffle-winners.html">St. Jude Blog Raffle Winners</a><strong> yesterday!!</strong> </font></p> <p><font size="3">I had a long run on the schedule for today. How long you ask? Well 9 miles, that’s long for me right now :) I made sure to have a good dinner last night and get into bed at a decent time. Who am I kidding, I’m always in bed at a decent time! I like my sleep! Anyway, the weatherman said it was going to be chilly this morning so that means I can sleep in a bit later and don’t have to get up at the crack of dawn to run!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">I ended up waking up around 6:30ish. I have FINALLY figured out some pre-run fuel that sits well with my tummy. GU’s. I know it’s not much, but it’s better than nothing and has been the only thing this far that doesn’t give me tummy troubles during the run. So I took one GU before my run and one at mile 5 and carried my handheld water bottle with me. I am really digging my handheld. I definitely wouldn’t be hydrating enough if I didn’t have it with me!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">It was quite chilly this morning! My phone said 48 degrees when I was about to head out for my run. I was a little unsure of what I should wear since it seems like forever since I have run in the cold weather!! I decided to tough it out and wear capris and short sleeves. I’m glad I did because I ended up sweating by the end of my run! It was pretty windy too which made it tough when I was running directly into the wind. And of course, my very last mile was directly into the wind. I felt like I wasn’t moving at times! Haha. </font></p> <p><font size="3">I actually felt really good the entire run, until the very end when my feet were really hurting. I am very happy with my time, seeing as my average pace was a lot faster than the previous two 8 milers I did. So I feel like I am right on track for my half marathon.</font></p> <p><font size="3">My splits:</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 1: 10:45</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 2: 10:34 </font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 3: 10:39</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 4: 10:33</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 5: 10:41</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 6: 11:21 (walked for a minute to take my GU)</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 7: 10:44</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 8: 10:45</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 9: 10:26</font></p> <p><font size="3">Total:1:36:27</font></p> <p><font size="3">Avg Pace: 10:43</font></p> <p><font size="3">I am very happy with this run!! My legs and feet are sore now, so I’ve been icing my feet and stretching a lot. My plantar fasciitis is giving me lots of problems, which is more annoying than anything. I probably could have benefited from an ice bath, but I usually don’t do those until I get up to 10 miles. Yes, I realize it’s only 1 more mile but I like to “save it” until I hit the double digits. I know, I’m weird :)</font></p> <p><font size="3">I am happy with all my runs for this week. I got in all 4 with a grand total of 21 miles. Not too bad. Wish I could run 5 days per week but 12 hour clinical days kinda limit my time :) <strong>How many days a week do you run?</strong></font></p> <p><font size="3">I think that’s it for now, going to go and relax a bit more and ice my feet again. Have a great Sunday!</font></p> <p><strong><font size="3"></font></strong></p> <p><font size="3"> </font></p> Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670154524726572970.post-8246274447394852622010-10-02T16:19:00.001-05:002010-10-02T16:39:10.656-05:00St. Jude Blog Raffle WINNERS!!!<p><font size="3">Hello!! It is time for me to draw winners from my <a href="http://nikisneverendingadventure.blogspot.com/2010/09/st-jude-heroes-blog-raffle.html">St. Jude Blog Raffle</a>!! I definitely think this was a success!! I am only $25 away from hitting my fundraising goal for my <a href="https://waystohelp.stjude.org/sjVPortal/public/displayUserPage.do?programId=401&eventId=108867&sectionStyle=subMenuTwo&userId=536165">St. Jude Heroes Fund</a>! So thank you to everyone who donated and entered the raffle!! </font></p> <p><font size="3">I am using Random.org to draw the 3 winners. I put everyone’s entries into a <a href="https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AhBlIw84dWgydFpaR0VIY0RJTDQ5Y1pETUpMdTBVQkE&hl=en">spreadsheet</a> so I could keep up with them. So without further ado… </font></p> <p><strong><font size="3">The winner of the Zensah Compression Sleeves is: #39 <a href="http://runforwine.blogspot.com/">Kristen Barret @ Will Run For Wine</a></font></strong></p> <p><strong><font size="3">The winner of the CEP Compression Socks is: #8 <a href="http://www.themoorediaries.com/">Erin Moore @ The Moore Diaries</a></font></strong></p> <p><strong><font size="3">The winner of the Nathan Quick Draw Handheld is: #28 <a href="http://gobetweenthelines.wordpress.com/">Lauren Owens @ Go Between The Lines</a></font></strong></p> <p><font size="3">Congrats y’all!! Please email me your addresses by next Saturday, October 9th. </font></p> <p><font size="3"><a href="http://www.themoorediaries.com/">Erin</a>, please also include your color choice for the compression sleeves and your calf circumference at the widest part (for sizing). </font></p> <p><font size="3"><a href="http://gobetweenthelines.wordpress.com/">Lauren,</a> please also include your color choice for the Nathan Quick Draw Handheld.</font></p> <p><font size="3">**********************************************************************************</font></p> <p><font size="3">On the running front… I have had 12 hours clinicals the past 3 days so this morning was my first day to run since I last posted. I was so exhausted and slept in until 10am! That is unheard of for me but it was definitely needed! I am still tired from my busy week!! I just needed to do an easy run because I have my long run tomorrow. I decided 3 easy miles would be good. Well, the run went ok. It was hot, I felt tired, and I also felt really dehydrated which made this run not so easy!! I am hoping I feel much more well rested for my long run tomorrow, otherwise it’s not going to be pretty!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">I’m trying to mentally pump myself up for my 9 miler in the morning! <strong>Anyone do their long runs already this week? How did they go? Anyone running long tomorrow?</strong></font></p> <p><font size="3">Well, that’s really all I have for now! I am still in need of $25 more dollars to hit my fundraising goal, so if anyone would like to donate please go to my <a href="https://waystohelp.stjude.org/sjVPortal/public/displayUserPage.do?programId=401&eventId=108867&sectionStyle=subMenuTwo&userId=536165">St. Jude Heroes Fund</a> webpage and do so!! Thanks y’all! Have a great day!</font></p> Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670154524726572970.post-42448857722065403392010-09-30T21:14:00.001-05:002010-09-30T21:14:14.123-05:00Blog Raffle Ends Soon!!<p><font size="3">Hello bloggies!! Just wanted to remind y’all that my <a href="http://nikisneverendingadventure.blogspot.com/2010/09/st-jude-heroes-blog-raffle.html">St. Jude Blog Raffle</a> ends tomorrow night!! Please enter if you haven’t all ready! I’m raffling off some great products :) I’m almost at my fundraising goal, and I know I can get there with your help!! Thanks friends :)</font></p> Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670154524726572970.post-1847003119933973722010-09-28T14:38:00.001-05:002010-09-28T14:38:27.524-05:00Awesome Morning 6 Miler<p><font size="3">Y’all, I seriously had the best run this morning! It’s been a long time since I was able to run a longer run at a fast pace (for me!). I had a 6 miler on the <a href="https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AhBlIw84dWgydGZlX1N4QmZ0cVFpUl9NazV6ODJWWGc&hl=en&authkey=CKz93YYL">training plan</a> and I really wasn’t sure how it was going to go. I slept in and really had a hard time dragging myself out of bed! I was just so comfortable!! So around 8am, I headed out to conquer this run!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">The temperatures have been awesome here! It was in the low 50’s when I started out this morning. Another great thing about cooler temps: I get to sleep in and don’t have to wake up at the crack of dawn to run just to beat the heat! Love that! Anyway, back to the run… my first mile was a bit tough due to my plantar fasciitis. The first mile of ANY run always sucks because it’s painful. I hate PF and wish it would go away! But, I am happy that it really doesn’t bother me too much after the first mile. </font></p> <p><font size="3">I ran a hilly 6 mile route that I haven’t run in a long time. Probably since this time last year when I was training for a half marathon! It was nice to break away from my usual routes and get a change of scenery! Some lady did try to run me over coming out of the Sonic parking lot though. She was too busy stuffing her face with Sonic to make sure to look both directions before pulling out. Good thing I was paying attention! Geez people!</font></p> <p><font size="3">But other than almost getting run over, this run went really smoothly. Every mile I finished, my Garmin beeped with a sub-10 minute mile. And I just kept thinking, I’m going to pay for this later at the end of the run! But I never did! I just kept feeling better and better! I was really pushing myself from hill to hill and felt great!! </font></p> <p><font size="3">I think I was due for a great run because my past two 8 milers have been really tough and slow, which made me a little worried about my half marathon goal pace. But after today’s run, I feel much better :)</font></p> <p><font size="3">Stats:</font></p> <p><font size="3">6 miles in 59:04</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 1: 10:16</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 2: 9:56</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 3: 9:50</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 4: 9:51</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 5: 9:42</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 6: 9:27</font></p> <p><font size="3">Avg Pace: 9:51</font></p> <p><font size="3">I will take that!! I am super happy :)</font></p> <p><font size="3">After 4 days of running in a row, my legs are ready for a break. I have clinicals for the next 3 days so I won’t have time to run anyway, so my legs will get a nice break! Well, except the fact that I’m on my feel all day at clinical. But, at least a break from running :) </font></p> <p><font size="3"><strong>How have your runs been going this week? Are you training for something?</strong></font></p> <p><strong><font size="3">And don’t forget to enter my <a href="http://nikisneverendingadventure.blogspot.com/2010/09/st-jude-heroes-blog-raffle.html">St. Jude Blog Raffle</a>!! I’ve got some GREAT running gear to raffle off to raise money for my <a href="https://waystohelp.stjude.org/sjVPortal/public/displayUserPage.do?programId=401&eventId=108867&sectionStyle=subMenuTwo&userId=536165">St. Jude Heroes Fund</a>!! I know y’all want to enter, it ends Friday!</font></strong></p> Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670154524726572970.post-40478536400822230882010-09-27T16:25:00.001-05:002010-09-27T16:25:46.545-05:00Toe Blister HELP!<p><font size="3">Hello, hello! Hope this fine Monday is treating y’all well! I don’t mind Mondays so much when I don’t have to go to clinical :) I go Wed-Fri this week. That’s the good thing about 12 hour shifts, you only go 3 days a week :)</font></p> <p><font size="3">Anyway… I have a few runs to share with you. Let’s back up to yesterday. I had an easy 4 miler on the schedule. I have issues with “easy” runs because I am always trying to run faster and faster. For the most part, my “easy” runs turn into progression runs where I keep trying to run each mile a bit faster. My easy pace is supposed to feel easy and well, this run felt moderate, definitely not easy. Oh well, I’m sure I am benefiting from a faster pace! Just hope it doesn’t hinder my recovery and such. This run was quite uneventful. I spent the entire run thinking, which I normally don’t do! I usually zone out but my mind was going a mile a minute! Mostly about my blog raffle and launching my new blog (more on that soon!). So the run ended up flying by, which is nice!! Plus, the weather was awesome, 58 degrees!</font></p> <p><font size="3">4 miles in 39:21</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 1: 10:30</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 2: 9:54</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 3: 9:44</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 4: 9:12</font></p> <p><font size="3">Avg Pace: 9:50</font></p> <p><font size="3">***************************************************************************************</font></p> <p><font size="3">And today I decided to do a 3 miler, supposedly easy but I ran it moderately again! It was super windy today, which reminded me of how much wind comes along with cold temps. I absolutely HATE running in the wind. But it wasn’t too bad today! Again, another uneventful run. I did see some people out running this weekend though! I have lived in my town over 2 years and have never seen another runner (besides my old running buddy), until this weekend and I saw 3! Crazy, right?!? Guess the running thing is catching on out here in the boondocks :)</font></p> <p><font size="3">3 miles in 28:56</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 1: 10:15</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 2: 9:45</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 3: 8:58</font></p> <p><font size="3">Avg Pace: 9:39</font></p> <p><font size="3">I was really booking it for that last mile :) Sometimes it just feels good to run fast and hard!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">************************************************************************************</font></p> <p><font size="3">Alright, now on to the title of this post: Toe Blister Help!! All of a sudden, this past week I have started to get these blood blisters on the bottoms of my big toes. They hurt too, especially while running!! I’ve tried using body glide on my feet, doesn’t really help. I thought it might be my thin socks I wear, so I bought some new socks yesterday at the running store and am hoping those help. But do y’all have any other suggestions for blisters? They are so annoying and I am afraid they are going to mess up my long run this weekend!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">********************************************************************************</font></p> <p><font size="3">And last but not least, have you entered my <a href="http://nikisneverendingadventure.blogspot.com/2010/09/st-jude-heroes-blog-raffle.html">St. Jude Blog Raffle</a> yet?!? You have until Friday and it’s for a great cause! And it’s only $5 people! I know y’all have $5 to spare!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">Have a great day :)</font></p> Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670154524726572970.post-16468220381690985762010-09-25T16:24:00.001-05:002010-09-25T16:24:09.165-05:00Hill Repeats<p><font size="3">Hello! Happy Saturday! Hope y’all are having a great weekend!! I went to bed super early last night because I was exhausted. Besides the fact that I have to get up at 4:30 am 3 times a week and go to clinicals for 12 hours, I am not sleeping well AT ALL the night before clinical. It’s just nerves, because it’s all still new, but I wish I would start sleeping better! Needless to say, I slept in until around 8am this morning, which is pretty late for me!! Luckily, the weather has cooled down a bit and wasn’t scorching for my run this morning. Plus, it was pretty cloudy for my entire run. It’s nice when there is no sun beating down on you!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">My <a href="http://www.stjudemarathon.org/"><a href="https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AhBlIw84dWgydGZlX1N4QmZ0cVFpUl9NazV6ODJWWGc&hl=en&authkey=CKz93YYL">St. Jude Half Marathon training plan</a> </a>said I was supposed to be doing mile repeats this morning. I hate mile repeats and was totally not feeling it, so I decided to do hill repeats instead! I have a nice, steep hill exactly 1 mile away from my house, which makes for the perfect spot to do hill repeats. The hill is exactly a 1/4 of a mile too. I started out with a faster than normal mile warm-up. I just felt like running a bit faster, so I did. Then I did 6 hill repeats, each with a cool down jog back down the hill. And I ended my run with another mile as a cool-down, for a total of 5 miles.</font></p> <p><font size="3">I enjoy doing hill repeats. I love really charging up that hill and pushing myself hard. I like to think of hill repeats as a type of speed work, because I am definitely pushing it hard and a lot faster than my normal pace. Plus, I run a lot of hills and do races that have hills, so it’s definitely an important aspect for me to incorporate in my training!<strong> Do you like hill repeats or speed work better?</strong></font></p> <p><strong><font size="3">***************************************************************************</font></strong></p> <p><font size="3">I recorded a show called <a href="http://endurancetraveller.com/">The Endurance Traveler</a> on FSN that many of you would probably like to watch (I saw an ad for it in Triathlete Magazine). It was all about the Brazil Ironman today and it was awesome to see all those people racing an Ironman and all the planning and thought that goes into a race of that distance!</font></p> <p><font size="3">I’m trying to just kind of relax today and catch up on stuff. I rented the movie Letters to Juliet to watch tonight, (although I’m sure hubby won’t be too thrilled that I rented that movie) I think it looks cute!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">******************************************************************************</font></p> <p><font size="3">Have you entered my <a href="http://nikisneverendingadventure.blogspot.com/2010/09/st-jude-heroes-blog-raffle.html">St. Jude Blog Raffle</a> yet? I am raffling off some great stuff so please enter. It’s all to help me raise money for my <a href="https://waystohelp.stjude.org/sjVPortal/public/displayUserPage.do?programId=401&eventId=108867&sectionStyle=subMenuTwo&userId=536165">St. Jude Heroes Fund</a>!! There’s not very many entries yet so that means a good chance of winning!! And please spread the word!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">Have a great rest of your day!</font></p> Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670154524726572970.post-80571940724787149312010-09-23T11:36:00.001-05:002010-09-23T11:37:46.624-05:00St. Jude Heroes Blog Raffle!!<p><font size="3">Hey friends!! It’s time for my <a href="https://waystohelp.stjude.org/sjVPortal/public/displayUserPage.do?programId=401&eventId=108867&sectionStyle=subMenuTwo&userId=536165">St. Jude Heroes Fund</a> Blog Raffle!! I am very excited to be doing this and hope it helps me reach my goal for the kids of St. Jude!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">As many of you know, I am running the <a href="http://www.stjudemarathon.org/">St. Jude Half Marathon</a> on Dec. 4th as a St. Jude Hero and raising money for the kiddos of St. Jude along the way!! My goal is $500 and I am a little over halfway there!! I just know I can hit my goal, but I will need your help! I thought a Blog Raffle would be a fun way for y’all to win prizes and for me to raise money for St. Jude!</font></p> <p><font size="3">So, I have 3 separate running related items to raffle off and I will be drawing 3 winners! I figured that gives y’all a better chance of winning something! Let’s talk about the products I’m raffling off!!</font></p> <p><font size="3"><strong>First raffle item: Zensah Compression Leg Sleeves in Red</strong></font></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_x5f-gCQ3ghY/TJuB9-Zg6zI/AAAAAAAADss/X23BeucpMUA/s1600-h/zensah%20leg%20sleeves%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="zensah leg sleeves" border="0" alt="zensah leg sleeves" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_x5f-gCQ3ghY/TJuB-ZZpMcI/AAAAAAAADsw/DfA3ZrZZvDg/zensah%20leg%20sleeves_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="320" height="320" /></a> </p> <p><font size="3">The awesome people at Zensah were nice enough to send me these leg sleeves for my raffle!! I have talked to lots of people who LOVE their leg sleeves!! According to the package, the leg sleeves: </font></p> <ul> <li><font size="3">cause increased performance by increasing oxygen blood flow and circulation</font> </li> <li><font size="3">make for a faster recovery</font> </li> <li><font size="3">help you have fresher legs</font> </li> </ul> <p><font size="3">The Zensah fabric is anti-microbial, thermal regulating, moisture wicking, and ultra-breathable. I need to get me a pair! These sound fabulous!!</font></p> <p><font size="3"><strong>Second raffle item: CEP Compression Socks (you pick the color!)</strong></font></p> <p><strong><font size="3"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_x5f-gCQ3ghY/TJuB-a35JkI/AAAAAAAADs0/wpxSWVkDmFo/s1600-h/cep%20compression%20socks%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="cep compression socks" border="0" alt="cep compression socks" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_x5f-gCQ3ghY/TJuB-6XNzbI/AAAAAAAADs4/z5_s78A6gNI/cep%20compression%20socks_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="246" height="246" /></a> </font></strong></p> <p><font size="3">I love the pink ones :) The wonderful people at <a href="http://www.sportscompression.com/">sportscompression.com</a> were nice enough to let me raffle a pair of their CEP compression socks!! They also gave me a 15% off coupon code so if you don’t happen to win these socks, then you can buy them at a discounted price!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">To use the coupon code: go to <a href="http://www.sportscompression.com">www.sportscompression.com</a> and put in “BLOG15” in the coupon code box at checkout. (I will be putting this coupon code on my sidebar also).  Easy right?!? I’m definitely getting myself a pair (pink of course!!)</font></p> <p><font size="3">Top 5 reasons to wear CEP Compression Socks:</font></p> <ol> <li><font size="3">CEP is made with over 50 years of experience by a WORLD LEADER in medical compression products, medi, with "medi Ultimate Compression Technology. (</font><a href="http://www.cepcompression.com/"><font size="3">www.cepcompression.com</font></a><font size="3">) </font></li> <li><font size="3">Medically tuned compression designed specifically for the athlete to improve performance, recovery and overall quality of life. </font></li> <li><font size="3">Clinically proven to increase performance by 5% * </font></li> <li><font size="3">Prevent shin splints, calf cramps, achilles issues and other lower leg indication </font></li> <li><font size="3">Graduated medically tuned compression to help prevent blood clots and swelling during travel.</font> </li> </ol> <p><strong><font size="3">Third raffle item: Nathan Quickdraw Plus Handheld Bottle (you pick the color!)</font></strong></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_x5f-gCQ3ghY/TJuB-3xA_5I/AAAAAAAADs8/hrmALoipfTo/s1600-h/waterbottle%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="waterbottle" border="0" alt="waterbottle" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_x5f-gCQ3ghY/TJuB_H_erDI/AAAAAAAADtA/mNb8j13T5Ig/waterbottle_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="320" height="320" /></a> </p> <p><font size="3">I am a huge fan of this water bottle!! This is what I carry on all of my long runs now!! The little pocket in front is the perfect size to hold keys, small cell phone, or gels! From the website:</font></p> <ul> <li><font size="3">Moisture-wicking, adjustable Airmesh hand strap </font></li> <li><font size="3">22 oz. (650 mL) Hydration Bottle with Clipless Cap </font></li> <li><font size="3">Zippered pocket with Key Clip </font></li> <li><font size="3">3M Scotchlite™ reflective trim</font> </li> </ul> <p><font size="3">So those are the raffle items! Hope y’all like them!! I guess I should tell y’all how to enter the raffle right?!?</font></p> <p><font size="3"><strong>Initial Mandatory Entry: </strong>$5 donation to my <a href="https://waystohelp.stjude.org/sjVPortal/public/displayUserPage.do?programId=401&eventId=108867&sectionStyle=subMenuTwo&userId=536165">St. Jude Heroes Fund</a>. For every $5 you donate, you get an additional entry into the raffle. Example: $5 = 1 entry, $10 = 2 entries, $15 = 3 entries and so on. Be sure to leave me a comment telling me how much you donated so I know how many entries to give you!!</font></p> <p><font size="3"><strong>Additional Entries: </strong>After you do the mandatory entry, you can get additional entries each day by:</font></p> <ul> <li><font size="3">posting about my raffle on your blog</font> </li> <li><font size="3">tweeting about my raffle- be sure to include @nikiruns and a link to the raffle in your tweet</font> </li> <li><font size="3">posting about the raffle on your facebook page</font> </li> </ul> <p><font size="3">Make sure to leave me a comment each time you do an additional entry so I can give you credit!! And remember, you can do the additional entries each day!!</font></p> <p><font size="3"><strong>The Raffle starts NOW and ends Friday October 1st at midnight CST. </strong>So that gives you a little over a week to build up your entries and to spread the word!! Good luck to everyone!! And remember, we are doing it for St. Jude!!</font></p> Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670154524726572970.post-39800550146291123262010-09-23T10:41:00.001-05:002010-09-23T10:41:36.010-05:003 & 8 milers<p><font size="3">Hello! Happy Thursday to ya! Yay for it being that much closer to the weekend :) I just wanted to write a quick post about my last 2 workouts…</font></p> <p><font size="3">On Tuesday, I had 5 miles on the schedule. Well, I slept in late, (I had to wake up at 4:30am the day before so I was tired) making it necessary to run on the treadmill inside because it was already 90+ degrees outside. My treadmill run went AWFUL! I was totally not feeling it and kept getting these annoying side stitches. So after 3 miles, I called it quits. Hate runs like that!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">But this morning’s run was much better!! I decided to knock my long run for the week out today so I could possible run another 5k this weekend :)  8 miles was on the schedule this week again for my long run. I was just hoping it felt easier than it did on Sunday! And it did!! It still was tough at the end, but I ended up running the 8 miles 5 minutes faster than I did on Sunday! So I say that’s success!! I still wish it was faster and felt easier, but I’ll take it. I did the same super hilly 8 mile route as I did Sunday. Those hills are killer and my legs are super sore right now!! I have major tummy issues if I eat anything and run within like 3-4 hours, which makes it hard to fuel before early morning long runs. I decided to try out a GU before my run to see how that worked and carry a half Gatorade/ half water mixture during the run. The GU before seemed to work out!! Gave me some extra energy and my tummy felt fine the whole time!! I like the Gatorade/water mix a lot but I honestly think I like plain water better! I just felt like the Gatorade was not quenching my thirst! So I guess I’ll play around a bit more with my fueling options :) <strong>How do you fuel before and during your long runs? </strong></font></p> <p><font size="3">That’s about it for now!! I am starting my St. Jude Raffle today to help me raise money for my <a href="https://waystohelp.stjude.org/sjVPortal/public/displayUserPage.do?programId=401&eventId=108867&sectionStyle=subMenuTwo&userId=536165">St. Jude Heroes Fund</a> and have some really good items to raffle off! So be looking for another post shortly!!</font></p> Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670154524726572970.post-69420714919266916322010-09-19T15:02:00.001-05:002010-09-19T15:02:30.779-05:00New Blog Name + Tough 8 Miler<p><font size="3">Hello! Hope this beautiful Sunday is treating you well!</font></p> <p><font size="3"> My morning started off with my long run. I had an 8 miler on my <a href="https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AhBlIw84dWgydGZlX1N4QmZ0cVFpUl9NazV6ODJWWGc&hl=en&authkey=CKz93YYL">St. Jude half training plan</a> so I made sure to be up and out the door by 6:30am to beat the heat! Immediately my legs felt like lead and I just felt tired. I knew this run wasn’t going to go well, I could just feel it. The route I had planned was hilly too, which didn’t help with my legs of lead. By mile 2 I had already had to take a walk break and was so ready to call it quits, this run was just awful! But after some major self motivation and realization that I could do this run, I continued on! I told myself to throw all time goals out the window. I didn’t care about pace, I just wanted to finish these 8 miles. I took a lot of walk breaks, my body just felt exhausted. I took a Vanilla Bean GU at mile 5 and that perked me up a bit for the last 3 miles. I liked the Vanilla Bean flavor too! Tasted like vanilla frosting :) When my Garmin beeped 8 miles, I was so happy to be done! This was probably the hardest and slowest 8 miles I’ve ever done!! I will NEVER do a long run the day after a 5k race again! My legs were just dead! I really think that’s what made it feel so tough because my last few long runs have been great! So, I’m hoping next week’s long run will be easier with fresh legs.</font></p> <p><font size="3">On another note, I carried my handheld water bottle with me for the entire 8 miles and didn’t hate it! I actually really loved having water whenever I wanted it. I’ve had this handheld since last Christmas but have only used it a few times because after I used it a few times I decided I didn’t like carrying anything. But, I think my mind is officially changed! I didn’t even really notice it!! Plus, it was nice to have somewhere to carry my GU also!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">************************************************************************</font></p> <p><font size="3">I’ve been talking for a while about getting a new name for my blog. I want to take my blog in a more running/training related direction and I want the name to reflect that. So, I have come up with 2 names that I really like and I want your opinions!! So here are my 2 favorite options:</font></p> <p><font size="3">1. <strong>Pounding The Pavement</strong></font></p> <p><font size="3">2. <strong>Train Happy</strong></font></p> <p><font size="3"><strong>What do you think? Which do you like best? Do you have any other suggestions?</strong></font></p> <p><font size="3">I am planning to switch to wordpress, get my own domain name, and self host. I am going to try to transfer all my current blog stuff over to the new blog but who knows if that will work! So I may just end up starting fresh. Either way, I’m fine with it :) I will let y’all know when I switch over so you can still follow me, so be on the lookout for my new blog at some point in the near future! But until then, I will still be blogging here at <a href="www.nikisneverendingadventure.blogspot.com">NNA</a>!</font></p> <p><font size="3"><strong>What features/topics/pages would you like to see in my new blog?</strong></font></p> Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670154524726572970.post-81815729502709790672010-09-18T17:04:00.001-05:002010-09-18T17:04:24.112-05:00Women Run Memphis 5k Race Recap!!<p><font size="3">Before I start my <a href="http://www.womenrunwalkmemphis.racesonline.com/">Women Run Memphis</a> race recap let’s back up a bit and talk about my running earlier this week… Since I now have clinicals for 12 hours, 3 days a week, I have limited days to get my running in so I have to be extra vigilant about it!! I wasn’t good about waking up for <a href="http://nikisneverendingadventure.blogspot.com/2010/09/first-days.html">Tuesday’s run</a> and ended up on the treadmill , so I knew Wednesday I had to get up early and get my 5 miler started before it got too hot!! My <a href="https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AhBlIw84dWgydGZlX1N4QmZ0cVFpUl9NazV6ODJWWGc&hl=en&authkey=CKz93YYL">St. Jude Half training plan</a> told me I had 5 easy miles to run at a 10:45 pace. That seemed a bit slow for me even for my easy runs but Runner’s World seems to know what they are doing so I tried to stick to that pace… didn’t work too well :)</font></p> <p><font size="3">5 miles in 52:22</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 1: 10:42</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 2: 10:29</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 3: 10:33</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 4: 10:27</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 5: 10:13</font></p> <p><font size="3">Avg Pace: 10:29</font></p> <p><font size="3">I’ll take that for an easy run!! My 5 mile route is not my favorite running route but it went fine. Nice and hilly! Haha. It makes such a difference when I get my butt out of bed and the majority of my runs are done before the sun is beating down on me! Although, this will change once it gets cold and I will be begging for the heat from the sun!</font></p> <p><font size="3">******************************************************************************</font></p> <p><font size="3">And this morning was the 5k for the <a href="http://www.womenrunwalkmemphis.racesonline.com/">Women Run Memphis</a> group that I’ve been going to on Monday nights. So sad it’s over! I had a blast running with these ladies!! The 5k went well! I took 6 seconds off my time from the <a href="http://www.forrestspencefund.com/">Forrest Spence 5k</a> I did a few weeks ago so I’ll take that! This run felt tough though! I was hot and probably dehydrated. Another bad thing about being at the hospital 12 hours the day before a run: no time to hydrate. I probably drank only 1 or 2 bottles of water the entire day yesterday! That always makes for a little tougher of a run! But I was happy with my time and happy that race was over! I was super tired at the end!</font></p> <p><font size="3">3 miles in 28:39</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 1: 9:03</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 2: 9:03</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 3: 9:32</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 3-3.1: 1:02 (8:56 pace)</font></p> <p><font size="3">Avg Pace: 9:12</font></p> <p><font size="3">I didn’t have my paparazzi there with me today (AKA my family) so I didn’t get any race pictures :(   I did take some afterward of myself and the pretty pink medals we got though!! I think all races should give out finishers medals, I love them!!</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_x5f-gCQ3ghY/TJU3XikB_II/AAAAAAAADsU/XuRvXaDoJ94/s1600-h/003%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="003" border="0" alt="003" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_x5f-gCQ3ghY/TJU3YCbB9eI/AAAAAAAADsY/MLxSwqlJyaU/003_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="420" height="320" /></a> </p> <p><font size="3">Me and my medal in our pretty pink tech shirts we got also!!</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_x5f-gCQ3ghY/TJU3YfH6lVI/AAAAAAAADsc/8xqpdISc-Hg/s1600-h/004%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="004" border="0" alt="004" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_x5f-gCQ3ghY/TJU3Y-72KsI/AAAAAAAADsg/p8_3jewNdNg/004_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="420" height="320" /></a> </p> <p><font size="3">Race bib and medal</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_x5f-gCQ3ghY/TJU3ZWQbK-I/AAAAAAAADsk/fL5wQed5lwA/s1600-h/005%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="005" border="0" alt="005" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_x5f-gCQ3ghY/TJU3ZwfuP7I/AAAAAAAADso/ZGL9HSMJmmU/005_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="420" height="320" /></a> </p> <p><font size="3">Medal close up :)</font></p> <p><font size="3">I loved this program and definitely hope to do it again next summer!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">Well that’s all for now, I have a long run tomorrow so hopefully that goes well!! Have a great night!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">**Please donate to my <a href="https://waystohelp.stjude.org/sjVPortal/public/displayUserPage.do?programId=401&eventId=108867&sectionStyle=subMenuTwo&userId=536165">St. Jude Heroes Fund</a>!! I am almost to the halfway point! Any donation helps!! **</font></p> Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670154524726572970.post-37290581806421973672010-09-14T18:03:00.001-05:002010-09-14T18:05:05.984-05:00First Days!<p><font size="3">First days are always a little nerve wracking for me. You just never know what to expect! Yesterday was my first day of clinical (in the OR!) and the first day of my half marathon training plan!</font></p> <p><font size="3">I was so nervous for clinical that I slept awful Sunday night, which didn’t make my 4:30am wake up call vey nice. Yep, that’s right, I have to be at the hospital around 6am! But, my day was great! I was with a wonderful preceptor who actually let me do stuff! I got to start some IV’s (it’s been over a year since I’ve done one) and intubate! Made me very happy about the career path I’m heading down :) </font></p> <p><font size="3">Luckily, I have today and tomorrow off, so I got to sleep in this morning!! Felt great to sleep!! My training plan started off yesterday with a rest day. I obviously had no time to run seeing as I got up at 4:30 am and didn’t get home until 7:30ish. Plus I am always tired after 12 hour days! So today was the first run on my training plan: a 4 mile tempo run. By the time I woke up this morning, it was already hot outside and I knew I would do better on the treadmill. I started my warm-up mile and felt awful.  I just knew this run wasn't gonna be easy. I was just so not into this run at all and the boring treadmill wasn’t helping. I tried to distract myself by watching Bachelor Pad I recorded last night but that wasn’t help either! So I decided to switch it up from a tempo run to a fartleck run, much more treadmill friendly! I did my favorite 5-4-3-2-1 fartleck run and stopped at 3 miles. That’s literally all my mind could take! Not the best way to start out a new training plan, but at least I ran, right?!</font></p> <p><font size="3">So here is my <a href="https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AhBlIw84dWgydGZlX1N4QmZ0cVFpUl9NazV6ODJWWGc&hl=en&authkey=CKz93YYL">St. Jude Half Marathon training plan</a> for all of you who want to know :) I will be changing up the days some according to my schedule but I am hoping to keep the mileage and types of runs the same. I made this schedule according to one I pulled out of Runner’s World a while back. I never have done specific speed training and tempo runs during training so this will be new to me! I got the paces off the Runner’s World training calculator for a 2:15 half, so I am gonna try to stick to that, even though the easy runs seems a bit slow! So, what do you think? Anything you would change?</font></p> <p><font size="3">And last but not least, please donate to my <a href="https://waystohelp.stjude.org/sjVPortal/public/displayUserPage.do?programId=401&eventId=108867&sectionStyle=subMenuTwo&userId=536165">St. Jude Heroes Fund</a>!! I am not even halfway to my goal and I need your help! Any amount of donation helps!!</font></p> Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670154524726572970.post-20755019215003687122010-09-12T18:23:00.001-05:002010-09-12T18:23:16.201-05:001ST Day Tomorrow!!<p><font size="3">Hello friends! It’s been a few days since I posted last, I’ve been a bit busy. I have some GREAT news! I passed my comprehensive drug test so I will be starting clinical tomorrow!! I am so happy/nervous/excited!! I got the email with my first case tomorrow which makes me even more nervous… it’s a robotic case! Should be a great learning experience and very interesting!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">Anyway… back to the stuff y’all really care about, workouts!! On Friday, I had an awesome swim workout. And the longest one I’ve done to date!! I decided that since my school’s pool (read:free) is about a 40 minute drive, then my swim workout must be at least 40 minutes long to make the drive worthwhile! I found some swim workouts online and I thought I would try them out! Here’s how it went:</font></p> <p><font size="3">Warm-up: 600 meters freestyle</font></p> <p><font size="3">Drills: 50 meter kick, 100 meter pull, 200 meter breast stroke (repeat twice)</font></p> <p><font size="3">Cool-down: 300 meters freestyle</font></p> <p><font size="3">Total: 1600 meters (1 mile!)</font></p> <p><font size="3">This is the farthest I’ve ever swam before and I felt great! I am still a bit sore in my arms but it was so worth it! I loved changing it up a bit and doing the different drills. Kick is so hard for me, which is why I only did 50 meters at a time!! Definitely something I need to work on! I also practiced doing flip turns, but they make me so dizzy! Does that mean I’m doing them wrong or is it just something you get used to? Anyway, it was a great swim workout and I am looking forward to my next one!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">And then on Saturday I ran an easy 3 miles. I was planning to do a long run today (more on that in a bit) so I thought an easy 3 miles would be good for my legs. I was so dehydrated from not drinking very much water the day before, that this run felt extra tough!! I ran at a 9:57 average pace but it felt a lot harder than that! So I learned how important it is to hydrate!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">Like I said above, I had planned on doing a 7 miler this morning before church. But as I thought about how this is my last day to sleep in (I have to get up at 4:30am for clinicals) I decided I would take advantage of it and sleep in and skip my run! Plus, my half marathon training plan starts tomorrow, so I thought I better let myself get a break before I dive into training hardcore!</font></p> <p><font size="3">So, my mileage wasn’t the best this week, but like I said training starts tomorrow so I’m fine with that!! </font></p> <p><font size="3">Well, I need to get back to learning about my first case tomorrow so wish me luck on my first day!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">And if you missed my <a href="http://nikisneverendingadventure.blogspot.com/2010/09/blog-advice.html" target="_blank">last post</a>, I am taking ideas for a new blog name and I need help! Get those creative juices flowing and let me know what you come up with!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">And last but not least… please donate to my St. Jude Heroes Fund!! I am not even halfway to my goal and every little bit counts!! A BIG thanks to my Nana and <a href="http://gobetweenthelines.wordpress.com/">Lauren</a> for donating!! Y’all are great!</font></p> Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670154524726572970.post-61841949324783285242010-09-09T13:15:00.001-05:002010-09-09T13:15:38.217-05:00Blog Advice!<p><font size="3">Hello blog friends! Happy Thursday to ya! I have been doing a lot of thinking about my blog and have decided it’s time for a change!! The main reason I am thinking about changes is that I want my blog direction to be more focused on training, running, triathlons, and races (with some baking thrown in of course!)  I am such a beginner with all things technical and computer so I need your help and advice! </font></p> <p><font size="3">I am thinking of closing out <a href="www.nikisneverendingadventure.blogspot.com">NNA</a> and starting up a whole new blog with a new name! That’s where y’all come in! I am so uncreative, so I need y’all to help me to think of a good blog name! Something fun and catchy that revolves around running and triathlons. I know y’all can help!! After I find my top 3, I will let y’all vote on the best! Fun right?!</font></p> <p><font size="3">I am not the biggest fan of BlogSpot and will definitely be changing my new blog to Wordpress. So my questions to y’all are… <strong>Should I self host or just use wordpress.com? Also, should I transfer everything from </strong><a href="www.nikisneverendingadventure.blogspot.com"><strong>NNA</strong></a><strong> to the new blog or just start from scratch? </strong>I’m open to either option. <strong>Does anyone have any recommendations on people to use to transfer blogs or that do really neat blog designs? </strong>I know, full of questions, but I am so clueless on all this stuff!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">**************************************************************************</font></p> <p><font size="3">Alright, enough of that! I had a totally sucky run this morning!! Like I said in my last post, my stomach has not been a happy camper these last few days and today is no different! But, I decided to suck it up and head out for my 5 miler anyway. My stomach was cramping from the very beginning and I just felt nauseous and gross. I made it 3 miles and called it a day. Oh well, you win some you lose some. My pace wasn’t that bad for how bad my stomach felt! 10:05 avg pace. So I’ll take it! I just hope it starts feeling better before my long run this weekend!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">Have a great day! And don’t forget to give me advice and help on my blog questions!!</font></p> Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670154524726572970.post-18867737328561363112010-09-08T09:33:00.001-05:002010-09-08T09:33:07.324-05:00The Past Couple Of Days…<p><font size="3">Good morning!! I have had a really busy and stressful past couple of days!! For those of you who don’t know, I am in CRNA (nurse anesthesia) school and I had the biggest test of my life (so far) yesterday!! It was a comprehensive pharmacology test over 100+ drugs, all case scenarios! I have been stressed to the max studying for this while still having a full load of classes! And it’s finally over!! I have to pass this to start clinicals on Monday, so hopefully I did! I should know within the next couple of days so I will keep y’all updated!! It’s such a relief that it is over, but my tummy has been paying dearly for all the stress. I have had the worst stomach ache the past 3 days and it is still with me this morning, so I decided to push back my 5 miler until tomorrow and rest. It’s such a dreary day here too, so it’s making me feel lazy :)</font></p> <p><font size="3">I did have a nice run on Monday though!! I set out just do do an easy 4 mile recovery run, since I did my long run on Sunday. My legs felt tired but not too bad. I ran my usual hilly 4 mile route and felt pretty great the entire time. I wasn’t trying to push myself at all, just trying to get some blood pumping through my tired legs!! The goal was to keep my pace around my long run pace, but I ended up going a bit faster.</font></p> <p><font size="3">4 miles in 40:51</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 1: 10:36</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 2: 10:10</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 3: 10:11</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 4: 9:56</font></p> <p><font size="3">Avg Pace: 10:13</font></p> <p><font size="3">*******************************************************************************</font></p> <p><font size="3">I am trying to put together a really awesome blog raffle to help me raise money for my <a href="www.mystjudeheroes.org/nikiruns" target="_blank">St. Jude Hero fund</a>!! I’ve been contacting companies to get some really awesome running/fitness related products so stay tuned!! And if you have any ideas or specific items you would like me to try to get for the raffle let me know!! I’m open to all ideas and suggestions!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">And last but not least…. a big THANKS to my sister in law Angie and good friend Megan for donating to my <a href="www.mystjudeheroes.org/nikiruns" target="_blank">St. Jude Hero Fund</a>!! If you would like to donate, check out my <a href="https://waystohelp.stjude.org/sjVPortal/public/displayUserPage.do?programId=401&eventId=108867&sectionStyle=subMenuTwo&userId=536165">donation page</a>!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">I hope y’all have a fabulous day!!</font></p> Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670154524726572970.post-3471532298807638672010-09-05T17:55:00.001-05:002010-09-05T17:55:04.781-05:00Awesome Weather = Awesome Runs!!<p><font size="3">We have been having the most awesome running weather the past 2 mornings!! Let’s back up to Saturday morning… I knew the weather was supposed to be cooler this weekend, but when I woke up Saturday morning and checked the temp, I was definitely not expecting to see 53 degrees!! That’s pretty chilly when it’s been 90+!! I had totally forgotten what to wear when I run in temps of the 50’s so I opted for capris and a short sleeve shirt. It worked out well, although shorts would have been fine too!! I was so pumped to run because it felt so nice!! I only had 3 miles on the schedule and my long run planned for Sunday, so I was trying not to push myself hard but it was very difficult! I just felt like running fast!! I just kept telling myself to slow down. All in all it was a great run! Here’s the stats:</font></p> <p><font size="3">3 miles in 28:54</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 1: 10:17</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 2: 9:37</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 3: 9:01</font></p> <p><font size="3">Avg Pace: 9:38</font></p> <p><font size="3">Obviously by the last mile I had totally stopped listening to my reminder to slow down! It really felt like a great run!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">And now on to my long run this morning… as I said on Friday, I decided to start upping my long runs a bit more quickly than I had previously thought, so I can be ready for the <a href="http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CFPage?storeId=10151&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&appID=512" target="_blank">Bass Pro Half</a> if I decide to run it. So 7 miles it was! I got up at 5:45 and headed out to my parent’s house so I could run out there. It’s my favorite place to do long runs. The temp was reading about 50 degrees when I started, and I could immediately tell a difference in how I felt this morning compared to my long run last week in the mid 70’s. I felt wonderful!! According to the Runner’s World Training Calculator, I should be doing my long runs around a 10:45-10:55 pace to hit my time goal for the half. This seemed a bit slow when I first read it, but they seem to know what their talking about so I am going with it. I tried really hard to keep my pace between 10:45-10:55 but other than the first mile, I failed!! I just couldn’t keep it that slow! Better faster than too slow, right?! </font></p> <p><font size="3">The 7 miles flew by and I felt great the entire run! I never really got tired and was even able to push it at the end! I love runs like this and I’ve just been on a runner’s high all day!</font></p> <p><font size="3">7 miles in 1:13:15</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 1: 10:49</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 2: 10:34</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 3: 10:30</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 4: 10:36</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 5: 10:30</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 6: 10:21</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 7: 9:56</font></p> <p><font size="3">Avg Pace: 10:28</font></p> <p><font size="3">So I ran about the same pace as I did my 6 miles last week but ran farther and felt much better this week! Gotta love it!! I really love long runs, it’s nice to run slow and it’s such a huge accomplishment when you finish!! <strong>What’s your favorite type of run?</strong></font></p> <p><font size="3">****************************************************************************</font></p> <p><font size="3">As many of you know, I am running the <a href="http://www.stjudemarathon.org/">St. Jude Half Marathon</a> and raising money for St. Jude!! I am trying to work on some fundraising ideas and I think it would be fun to have some sort of raffle! So my questions for y’all are:</font></p> <p><font size="3">1. <strong>What type of items would you like to see in the raffle? Fitness/running related?</strong></font></p> <p><font size="3">2. <strong>Does anyone know of any companies that would donate items to put in a blog raffle for St. Jude?</strong></font></p> <p><font size="3">3. <strong>Does anyone reading this want to donate items for the raffle? :)</strong></font></p> <p><font size="3">Let me know if y’all have any other ideas for me! I gotta make it to at least $500 for St. Jude!! And if you would like to donate, please go to my <a href="https://waystohelp.stjude.org/sjVPortal/public/displayUserPage.do?programId=401&eventId=108867&sectionStyle=subMenuTwo&userId=536165">donation page</a>! Any little bit helps! Spread the word too friends!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">I hope y’all have a fabulous night and great holiday tomorrow!</font></p> Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670154524726572970.post-29350374826661639002010-09-03T19:02:00.001-05:002010-09-03T19:02:44.271-05:00Locked Out!<p><font size="3">TGIF! I know many of you have fun plans for this holiday weekend, but not me. I have the biggest test of my life thus far coming up on Tuesday so I will be a shut in this weekend doing nothing but studying! Ok, well maybe a few other things as I procrastinate studying! Haha. </font></p> <p><font size="3">I had a nice 4.8 mile run yesterday morning. I did 4.8 to balance out Monday’s 4.2 miles. Yes, I am that crazy runner girl who must have even mileage! Ha! My legs actually felt very tired on this run, which is odd since I didn’t run the day before. Maybe swimming really fatigued them?! But anyway, the run was rather uneventful. I changed up my normal running route a bit so that was nice. I’m starting to get really bored with running the same routes over and over. It’s definitely time to mix it up! So here’s my stats:</font></p> <p><font size="3">4.8 miles in 48:20</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 1: 10:17</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 2: 9:59</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 3: 10:03</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 4: 10:01</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 4.8: 8:01 (10:04 pace)</font></p> <p><font size="3">Avg Pace: 10:05</font></p> <p><font size="3">Overall I was happy with this run. I wish I could have been a tad bit faster to get my avg pace under 10:00 but there’s always next time right?! I was only planning on doing 6 miles as my long run again this week but I think I may step it up to 7 miles and start increasing my mileage a bit faster than I had planned. I am still considering doing the <a href="http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CFPage?storeId=10151&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&appID=512" target="_blank">Bass Pro Half</a> in November, so starting to increase my long runs a bit faster would ensure that I would be ready for it!</font></p> <p><font size="3">I didn’t do anything today. I was supposed to bike but was totally not feeling it so I just didn’t do it. I need to get a spare tire kit for my bike and until I do that, I’m a little nervous to go out on longer rides! I’ve already got a flat tire once when I was a long way from home! Not fun! So I used that as an excuse to skip my bike today… Must get a spare tire kit!</font></p> <p><font size="3">I did manage to lock myself and Sadie out of the house today though! Somehow when I was taking her for a walk, I forgot to bring my key with me and locked the door. I don’t know where my brain was, well actually I do, it’s overloaded with anesthesia drug knowledge! So we had to sit and wait for my mom to bring us a spare house key to get in! I was so mad! Luckily my mom was at home and only lives about 30 minutes away, but I was still so mad at myself for doing that!</font></p> <p><font size="3">Well friends, that’s about it for now! Don’t forget to check out my <a href="https://waystohelp.stjude.org/sjVPortal/public/displayUserPage.do?programId=401&eventId=108867&sectionStyle=subMenuTwo&userId=536165">donation page</a> and donate to my St. Jude Hero fund! A big thanks to Gayle and Tom and <a href="http://www.raspberrystethoscope.com/" target="_blank">Nicole</a> for donating!!</font></p> Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670154524726572970.post-45752776148982847762010-09-01T20:09:00.001-05:002010-09-01T20:09:12.002-05:00Swimming Stress Reliever<p><font size="3">Today was an awful day! I will spare y’all with the details of what we had to do at school today, but let’s just say it’s something I will never do again! And it made for a very uncomfortable and stressful day. And what’s a better way to relive that stress than working out?? Well chocolate and wine maybe…. but today swimming was definitely my stress reliever!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">I’m still kind of unsure of what I should be doing in the pool, so all you triathletes and swimmers, please provide me with some guidance! But for now I’m just winging it! I started out swimming 500 meters freestyle then finished up with another 500 meters alternating breast stroke and freestyle every 100 meters. So my grand total was 1000meters. Took me about 30 minutes and I felt pretty good with that. I am hoping to keep increasing my swim distance every week so this is just where I’m starting! Something about the pool is so calming. Most of the times when I’m running I think about a lot of stuff but not when I’m swimming! My mind is a completely blank canvas. It’s quite nice to not think!</font></p> <p><font size="3">Well, that’s really all I have for tonight!! Don’t forget to visit my St. Jude <a href="https://waystohelp.stjude.org/sjVPortal/public/displayUserPage.do?programId=401&eventId=108867&sectionStyle=subMenuTwo&userId=536165">donation page</a> and help me raise money for the kiddos at St. Jude!! A HUGE thank you to my first two donations: my parents and <a href="http://www.littlebittybakes.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Liz</a> from <a href="http://littlebittybakes.blogspot.com/">Little Bitty Bakes</a>!! Y’all are so fabulous!! Also, if you have any good fundraising ideas, please let me know!! Have a great night!!</font></p> <p><font size="3"> </font></p> Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670154524726572970.post-19166212049944089412010-08-31T17:49:00.001-05:002010-08-31T17:52:34.930-05:00I’ve Made My Decision!!<p><font size="3">Hello my lovely blog friends!! I want to thank y’all so much for your thoughts on my dilemma and on which half I should do! Well, I have finally made my decision… and it wasn’t either of the options I presented to y’all! Woops!! After posting my options for you this morning, I found a third option that just seemed perfect!! </font></p> <p><font size="3">I found out that I could sign up for the <a href="http://www.stjudemarathon.org/">St. Jude Half Marathon</a> if I signed up as a St. Jude Hero! The requirements for being a St. Jude Hero are that I have to fundraise $500 for St. Jude. I definitely think I can do this and I have officially signed up as a Hero :) When I read about this option, I just KNEW that’s what I was supposed to do! So, I’ve made my commitment and I’m sticking to it! $500 or bust! Haha!</font></p> <p><font size="3">I am not a big fundraiser, I have never been into fundraisers, but I’ve worked with these kids, I’ve taken care of these kids, and I have a huge place in my heart for St. Jude kiddos! For those of you who don’t know, before I started CRNA school last year, I worked as a RN in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at LeBonheur, and we work closely with St. Jude and take care of many of their patients after surgery and when they are critically ill. So really y’all, I know how tough it is emotionally, physically, and financially on these kids and their families and I am happy to work to raise money for them!! I am super excited about this and I know that it will make this race so much more meaningful for me!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">If you haven’t noticed yet, I have an awesome new button on the right hand side of my blog that links directly to my donation page! You can also visit my <a href="https://waystohelp.stjude.org/sjVPortal/public/displayUserPage.do?programId=401&eventId=108867&sectionStyle=subMenuTwo&userId=536165">donation page</a> by going <a href="https://waystohelp.stjude.org/sjVPortal/public/displayUserPage.do?programId=401&eventId=108867&sectionStyle=subMenuTwo&userId=536165">here.</a></font></p> <p><font size="3">I would love for y’all to donate to me if you feel led to! Remember, anything counts! $1 is better than nothing right!! Also, please spread the word for me!! Thanks friends!!</font></p> Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670154524726572970.post-40711804885850453832010-08-31T07:32:00.001-05:002010-08-31T07:32:31.911-05:00Opinions Wanted!!<p><font size="3">Good morning friends! I have a dilemma that I need your opinions on! Last night, I went to go sign up for the <a href="http://www.stjudemarathon.org/">St. Jude Half Marathon</a> on Dec. 4th only to find out that the half is officially SOLD OUT. I was so upset, like literally in tears! I ran this half last year and loved it and I really wanted to run it again! Plus, I have a lot of friends running it. I can’t believe it is sold out. I checked a few days ago and it wasn’t. So now I don’t know what to do! I have 2 options that I need your opinion on. What would you do?</font></p> <p><strong><font size="3">Option 1</font></strong></p> <p><font size="3">Pay to run the full St. Jude Marathon but only run the half. The pro is I obviously get to run the race! But there are a few cons… First, it’s more expensive by $25. It’s not a ton, but remember, I am a poor grad student!! And the second con is that I will not have an official time because I didn’t finish the race I signed up for. Not to mention, I will be the girl with the marathon bib coming into the finish of the half marathon looking like I just couldn’t do the race I signed up for.</font></p> <p><strong><font size="3">Option 2</font></strong></p> <p><font size="3">Run the <a href="http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CFPage?storeId=10151&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&appID=512">Bass Pro Shop Half Marathon</a> in Springfield, Mo on Nov. 7th. The pros of this are it’s a cheaper race, my grandparents live there so I will have somewhere to stay and get to visit them, and I’ve never run this one before and it’s always fun to run new races!! Plus, I will get an official time! And now the cons… First, it’s a whole month earlier than St. Jude so my training plan would only be 10 weeks long starting yesterday! I think I will be ready for it but the extra month of training for St. Jude may improve my race time. Second,  it is out of town, about 5-6 hours from me, so I will have to travel there, but my mom did already say she would go with me.</font></p> <p><font size="3"><strong>So, you see the dilemma? What do I do? What would you do?</strong></font></p> <p><font size="3">*******************************************************************************</font></p> <p><font size="3">Our <a href="http://www.womenrunwalkmemphis.racesonline.com/">Women Run Memphis</a> group run went well last night. For the second week in a row, no tummy troubles!! I am attributing this to eating waffles for lunch. Did it the last 2 weeks and had no issues!! We started out with a mile warm-up then proceeded to do a negative split workout. We ran for 12 minutes in one direction, then the coaches blew the whistle. We turned around and had to run back to the start faster than 12 minutes to achieve our negative split. I definitely got a negative split! I ran 12 minutes the first direction than 11:14 the second direction, cutting 46 seconds off my time! I liked that one! Then we did a cool-down giving me a total of 4.2 miles for the entire run. I am so sad we only have 1 more group run left!</font></p> <p><font size="3">Well friends, I’m off to start my day. Please give me your thoughts on my half marathon issue!! Thanks!!</font></p> Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670154524726572970.post-91340970477873158502010-08-29T18:57:00.001-05:002010-08-29T18:57:03.823-05:00Product Reviews, Long Run, and Wedding Pictures!<p><font size="3">I’ve received some fun stuff the past couple weeks that I have gotten to try and review!! First up, the people from the <a href="http://www.foodbuzz.com/"><a href="http://www.foodbuzz.com/pages/tastemaker-program">Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program</a></a> sent me some <a href="http://www.arnoldbread.com/thins/?gclid=CMLayKDs36MCFZRa2godoQO5Rg">Arnold Sandwich Thins</a> to try out!!</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_x5f-gCQ3ghY/THrzxcXcCdI/AAAAAAAADrs/dazpsili3cI/s1600-h/sandwich%20thins%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="sandwich thins" border="0" alt="sandwich thins" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_x5f-gCQ3ghY/THrzxjzY-DI/AAAAAAAADrw/HlVl3t56Qjg/sandwich%20thins_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="234" height="320" /></a>  </p> <p><font size="3">Now, this wasn’t the first time I’ve had these before, but they are super yummy so of course I said I would do a review of them!! So far we have used them to make some awesome sandwiches, garlic bread, and as buns for turkey burgers and hamburgers!! These sandwich thins are VERY versatile!! And they don’t take away from the actual flavors of the sandwich or burger! You know how sometimes all you taste is bread? Well these sandwich thins eliminate that problem! They’ve got great nutrition info too!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">And onto my next item… The kind people at Thermos contacted me to see if I would like to test out one of their water bottles, the <a href="http://www.thermos.com/product_details.aspx?ProdID=957&CatCode=HYDR">Intak vacuum insulated hydration bottle</a>! Of course!! I am seriously, water bottle obsessed and this is the best one I have used to date!!</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_x5f-gCQ3ghY/THrzx9mBq7I/AAAAAAAADr0/5Iduz18g2Uo/s1600-h/001%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="001" border="0" alt="001" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_x5f-gCQ3ghY/THrzyIwCFmI/AAAAAAAADr4/LUeMpajK1Rk/001_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="245" height="320" /></a> </p> <p><font size="3">Love the design on the outside and the fact that the straw/sippy thing is hidden so no germies get on it! It holds 18oz and is made of stainless steel.</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_x5f-gCQ3ghY/THrzyl71pNI/AAAAAAAADr8/cs6roGHf8DY/s1600-h/002%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="002" border="0" alt="002" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_x5f-gCQ3ghY/THrzzMXFnCI/AAAAAAAADsA/gzunwR9FBzs/002_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="420" height="320" /></a> </p> <p><font size="3">It is supposed to keep water cold for 12 hours!! Well, I haven’t left water in their for 12 hours straight yet, but I have for about 6 hours and this bottle definitely kept it cold!! Plus, it doesn’t sweat so no water drippings or rings on your tables!!</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_x5f-gCQ3ghY/THrzzq2Vy4I/AAAAAAAADsE/hSnWl1UeW1w/s1600-h/003%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="003" border="0" alt="003" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_x5f-gCQ3ghY/THrzz_PyYQI/AAAAAAAADsI/yUBLf_ou2Po/003_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="420" height="320" /></a> </p> <p><font size="3">And of course it’s BPA free!! This is the straw/sippy thing. All you do is push the little button on the front of the bottle and the top flips up and there is your straw for you to sip away on!! Seriously, love, love, love this bottle! You must go get one!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">**********************************************************************************</font></p> <p><font size="3">Now onto my long run from early this morning… It probably wasn’t the best idea to do my long run after racing the <a href="http://www.forrestspencefund.com/">Forrest Spence 5k</a> yesterday (<a href="http://nikisneverendingadventure.blogspot.com/2010/08/forrest-spence-5k-race-recap.html">recap here</a>). But I decided to anyway since my long run right now is only 6 miles. I got up super early so I could drive out to where my parents live and run out there before church. I needed a change of scenery since I run the same routes by my house all the time!! I’ve run the 6 mile route that I ran this morning many times and it has a good mix of hills and flats. The temp felt pretty warm this morning and definitely humid. I was drenched by the time I finished!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">I started off my run and immediately my legs felt tired and my PF was killing me! I knew if I just made it through the first mile, my legs would wake up and the PF would disappear. And it did. The first couple miles have some good hills and I was definitely feeling it. I thought I might have to take a few breaks but I tossed that thought away, did some positive self talk, and kept pushing on! Mile 3 came and went and I knew I was halfway done and could definitely finish this run! I stopped and took a quick sip from the water fountain around mile 4.5 and then went on to finish the 6 miles! Another reason I love running out by my parent’s house is that there are some many other runners out all the time! Where I live, I think I am seriously the ONLY runner! I have never seen anyone else run!! I was tired at the end but felt pretty good! Gotta love that!! Here are my splits:</font></p> <p><font size="3">6 miles in 1:02:50</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 1: 11:01 (Super slow because of my PF)</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 2: 10:22 (Feet feeling much better!!)</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 3: 10:24</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 4: 10:30</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 5: 10:33</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 6: 10:11</font></p> <p><font size="3">Avg Pace: 10:29</font></p> <p><font size="3">I’ll take that!! Pace isn’t too bad for a long run pace. Hopefully I will be able to knock that down soon!! Overall, definitely a good run! </font></p> <p><font size="3">I discovered the BEST post-run refuel: Chocolate Milk!! Yummy!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">*****************************************************************************</font></p> <p><font size="3">And last but not least… My professional wedding pictures are FINALLY online!! If y’all would like to look at the go <a href="http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/store.aspx?p=22833">here</a>. Click on Nikki and Al and the password is douglas. Let me know what you think! I am beyond happy and can’t wait to get my album!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">Have a fabulous night!!</font></p> Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670154524726572970.post-2757372556286774052010-08-28T16:16:00.001-05:002010-08-28T16:16:59.833-05:00Forrest Spence 5K Race Recap<p><font size="3">Hello! Hope this nice Saturday is treating you well!! I had a great 5k race this morning! Like I said, I decided to kick off my racing season with the <a href="http://www.forrestspencefund.com/">Forrest Spence 5K</a>!! The weather was really nice this morning, pretty cool for the most part, I believe it was in the 70’s. It did get a little hot during the race, but luckily a lot of the course was shaded!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">My mom went with me this morning as my paparazzi and support crew!! This race was larger than the usual 5k’s we have so there was a lot going on when we got there!! Finally it was time to line up at the start!!</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_x5f-gCQ3ghY/THl8yZwwc-I/AAAAAAAADrk/KWH27sExnKA/s1600-h/004%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="004" border="0" alt="004" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_x5f-gCQ3ghY/THl8y5ncoVI/AAAAAAAADro/bQ1qHTLgFB0/004_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="420" height="320" /></a> </p> <p><font size="3">I really didn’t have too many goals for this race since it is the start of this racing season, I was just hoping for under 30 minutes (which I totally knew I could pull off!) My 5k PR is 26:55 from last spring so I am hoping to get back there at some point!!</font></p> <p><font size="3"> It wasn’t too crowded as we started off, everyone was kind of spaced out. I hate the feeling of being smashed in between people and not being able to run the pace I want to! This didn’t happen the whole race! Love that!! Some how my camera got turned onto video so I don’t have any more pictures to share :(</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 1 came pretty quickly. According to Garmie, I hit mile 1 at 9:07. I felt pretty good about this. Didn’t feel to tired at this point so I kept on. Mile 2 came pretty quickly too! I had never run this route before so it was kinda nice to keep guessing what was coming next!! I hit mile 2 at 18:16 (9:10 pace). Still felt good so I was going to keep pushing at this pace. Right after mile 2 I saw my mom and some friends I used to work with at LeBonehur! I love seeing people I know when I’m racing!! Towards the end of mile 3 I started to feel tired but I knew I had to keep pushing!! I hit mile 3 at 27:26 (9:10 pace). Garmie was a bit off (or the course a bit long) so I ended up completing 3.17 in 28:45 with my last .17 at a 7:50 pace! I was booking it!! My average pace for the race was 9:05!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">I was definitely super happy with my time! I think that’s a great place for me to start out this race season!! </font></p> <p><font size="3">After the race, my mom and I hung around for the awards and then went to get some breakfast at Panera!! I got the Cinnamon Crunch Bagel and it was AMAZING!! I will definitely be getting that again!!</font></p> <p><font size="3">Well friends, I must get back to studying :( Have a fabulous day!! <strong>Anyone else race this weekend? How did you do?</strong></font></p> <p><font size="3"> </font></p> Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7670154524726572970.post-44721101454284639502010-08-26T11:05:00.001-05:002010-08-26T11:05:51.737-05:00When Awful Runs Turn Amazing!<p><font size="3">I had to do a quick little post to tell y’all how awesome my run was this morning! It’s one of those runs that reminds you why you run and train so hard! What can be better than that??</font></p> <p><font size="3">I woke up this morning around 6am planning on doing my long run for the week. But when I woke up, my head hurt, my nose was stuffy, and I just felt blah. I definitely didn’t want to get up and do a long run. So I quickly thought about what other day I could do my long run, rolled over, and went back to sleep for another hour. I finally pulled myself out of bed and knew I had to do some kind of run today, especially since the temp was right at 70 and that’s cooler than it’s been in a LONG time!! After I got up and stretched out a bit, I felt a little better. My sinuses are just going a little crazy! I decided 4 miles at and easy pace would be doable, and I headed out.</font></p> <p><font size="3">At the beginning of my run, my PF was killing me!! But I know once I hit the 1/2 mile mark, it usually goes away. But it was killer this morning! I felt really good by the first mile and decided to pick up my pace a bit. The second mile came and went really quickly and I picked up my pace a bit more! After seeing my mile split for my 2nd mile, I knew I could really push it and have my fastest 4 miler in a LONG time! So I did!! Each mile I pushed it a little more and I felt AMAZING!! Sinus and PF troubles were out the window by mile 1 and I just couldn’t hold my legs back!! Plus, the beautiful weather was helping so much!! I finished with a huge smile on my face and after looking at my time, yelled “YES!!”. People in my neighborhood probably think I’m crazy, but I just couldn’t hold my excitement in!! So here’s my stats:</font></p> <p><font size="3">4 miles in 38:23</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 1:10:17</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 2: 9:48</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 3: 9:22</font></p> <p><font size="3">Mile 4: 8:58 (!! Who knew I had that in me!!)</font></p> <p><font size="3">Avg Pace: 9:36</font></p> <p><font size="3">Holy cow people, my speed is returning to me!! Thank goodness! Speed, oh how I’ve missed you :) This run has really pumped me up for the <a href="http://www.forrestspencefund.com/">Forrest Spence 5k</a> on Saturday!! I think all the hills and speed work we have been doing in my running group on Monday nights have really helped bring my speed back!! So yes, I’m pumped about this and just wanted to share!!</font></p> <p><font size="3"><strong>Have you ever had a run that you though was going to be awful, and turned out wonderful?? What do you think it the most important way to get speedier?</strong></font></p> Nikihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03494517703288685836noreply@blogger.com4