day off

57 of 65 miles

solid week

i can't wait for the season to start.
i'm stagnant but more motivated than ever.


65 miles this coming week.

i just really love my outfit

UAWA

refreshing conversations

i am quite a talker and perfecting the art of listening.  
i wish i could talk to so many people from my past and just listen to what they have to say.
silence is beautiful, especially when you are listening.

eddie and i in NYC

eddie: i spent 2 hours speaking to my very dear friend second lieutenant eddie mobley.  this was incredibly refreshing in the sense that i haven't talked to him in months.  eddie and i go way back.  he was the guy i looked up too (and will always adore)  when i was a little measly 6th grader and he was a big, impressive, popular 8th grader.  sense all those years ago, we have developed such an obscure relationship.  we were both atheletes and leaders in our high school.  we had/have a lot in common. we talk so sporadically (which i hope will change but we both are up to our nose in busyness) but once we finally talk, it is like no time has passed at all.  eddie graduated from west point military academy 2 years ago and is now in flight school for apache helicopters.  he is a driven man doesn't let anything stop him from doing what he wants to do.  i have so much to learn from him.  after 2 hours, it felt only like 10 minutes.  this is the longest phone conversation i have had with anyone in such a long time.  i had such an enjoyable talk with eddie and it was really what i needed to lift my spirits.  when you actitively engage in someone else's life and genuinely care about what they are up to, that is one of the most rewarding experiences.  he had so much to tell me and i couldn't stop listening to all the crazy military and college-like party stories he had to tell me.  he is doing great, and that makes me happy.   

i believe everyone deserves to be happy.

haley asked me why this picture wasn't
on my blog.   well, hay, HERE IT IS :)
haley and connor on their first date

haley:  HALEY!!!! and i spent all day together yesterday.  we moved boxes, cleaned her apartment, cooked food, drove through starkville, actively recruited (very successful), and talked more than humans should talk in one day.  this could not have been more refreshing.  we talked about EVERYTHING.  when i say EVERYTHING.....i mean EVERYTHING from A to Z.  haley is one of the most bubbly people ever.  she loves green, and looks great wearing that color.  it brings out her eyes to match her stunning blonde hair.  haley has this way of relating to you no matter what you have been through and is always there to offer support or advice.  i really just enjoyed listening to her talk yesterday.  we shared really secret things and very personal things in order to see into each other's lives a little better.  i think a door was opened in our relationship. i can learn so much from haley. both of us have been really lonely lately, and being together all day yesterday we just fed on each other's lively personality.  i am so blessed to have haley as a friend, teammate, and sister.  as much as she may tell me that she loves me and that i help her, i promise you she helps me more than she will ever know.

"The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them."

— Ralph Nichols

oi me lot! c'mere en see me shiny gold mouth ya

so i took a brutal tumble in the bath tub while i were just a singin' like a canary.  this ol 'appened when i were just a wee lass.  i busted me mouth up prett bad en even got me a weasely  permanent scrap there on the toppy lip.  it all making me look like a gobshite. sure, i had me a cap puts on that useless chomper o mine, but it got old. but not to fret me fair lot....

'cause now i gots me a pearly new fashioned tooth lookin' delicateish .  a mouth full o a pot o gold me matey. sure, yez wonts be catchin' me without a toothy grin.  

wednesday is going to be a great day

fartlek and feeling good.
it's time.
it's time.
it's time.

11:37

11:44 (uphill)

11:24 (same route as first 2 miles)

finally, a fartlek

11 mile fartlek tomorrow at 5:10am.

2 mile warm-up

2 mile LT

1 mile easy

2 mile LT

1 mile easy

2 mile LT

1 mile cool-down

it's time.
it's time.
it's time.

yeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssss.

change of attitude, change of heart

on my way back to starkville, i drove
the natchez trace

hello.

it's time to be completely honest with my training and my physical performance over the last few weeks. i have been an idiot running too hard for my easy runs (an honest mistake that i get caught up in, especially without a training partner). i am in the best shape (endurance wise) i have ever been in.  my legs are absolutely roasted and my mind is fried.  i get 20 minutes into a run and it feels as though i should be finishing my long run.  my IT bands are tight and my back is strained.  i am constantly dehydrated and no matter how much iron and b-12 i take, i feel lifeless.

over the last few weeks, i have struggled to retain my mileage.  granted i never will hit my targeted mileage because coach and i have agreed that taking one day off every week is in my best interest due to my injury-prone past.

week 1- 35/35
week 2- 40/40
week 3- 45/45
week 4- 40/40
great runs with the team. great pace, great attitude, great atmosphere.


week 5- 47/50 (sunday off) in texas, legs are rocked by texas hills and heat, pace is too fast
week 6- 38/55 (don't finish tempo, i ran 5 miles out and just walked back. mentally said, "screw this i'm done." came back and had a great long run.  took sunday and thursday off)
week 7- 40/60 (took tues and sun off because of travel, took friday off because my legs almost fell off.  had a great tempo and long run on the treadmill; was in disney world and nearly walked 5 miles a day.  walking made my legs ache more than a half-marathon, especially after my 12 mile long run on the treadmill)
week 8- 37/45 recovery week (had a great medium long trail run at Eagle Creek.  IT band started flaring up. took meds and had 2 massages.  took sunday off.)

all in all, i am not angry or even slightest bit upset that i haven't hit my mileage in the 2nd mesocycle.  i know my physical effort was more than 100% but my mental strength was half-assed (not even questionable).  my legs have never felt worse in my life than the second mesocycle.  even the recovery week didn't show my legs mercy.  this is my fault for running my recovery runs at 7:00/mi or faster.  i'm an idiot.  i didn't get to take all but 2 ice baths during the 2nd mesocycle when i was accustomed to taking aleast 4 ice baths a week during the 1st mesocycle.

as i head into the last mesocycle before the season starts, i have a few goals. 

1. hit my mileage wilth good, hard effot
2. ice bath! EVERYDAY!
3. battle through the pain
4. listen to my body
5. dope up on iron, intravenously if possible (haha, ok just kidding, but seriously)
6. make recovery days, recovery days.
7. relax and steady on my tempo runs
8. 5:30am, every morning
9. have fun.
10. smile.

my ice bath quickly turned bubbly!

i know this was a partly negative post, but i am having a change of attitude and a change of heart (all for the better) as i am back in starkville.  finally running with the girls again has made me realize that running is supposed to be enjoyable and my passion, not my job.  running with the girls again made me realize that i don't have to pound every run and that i can have a conversation while running and still get my mileage in (and let my legs recover, recover, recover!)  i know i am in great shape.  i could not be happier with how my legs are developing and the muscles that are popping out.  i feel like a runner and my body is letting me look like a beefed up, taller version of anna willard pierce. i like this.  i am me and i am ok with it.

"the will to win is worthless without the will to prepare."

cleaning out this apartment!
thanks for the memories, but you will not be missed.
on to a bigger, and better abode.

i am moving out of my apartment, purging old things, donating used items, and feeling really good about getting the trash and junk out of my life.  once i move into my new house, it will be the start of something new in my life. it's like a new hair cut, or new clothes, or a new kitchen knife, or new toothbrush.  it makes you feel great.  my new house shared with 3 of my teammates and then 20 more of my teammates as my neighbors. oh, oh august 10th you can't get here fast enough.

after my run this morning, there was a rainbow over the track.  

i'm done with season 4 of dexter

WTF!

eagle creek

i woke up late (7:21 AM) and well, it was already like 90 degrees outside and the sun was going to instantly fry my skin, so i decided i would run in the shade (a very good alternative).  this lead me to run at eagle creek.  this is my all time favorite place to get lost, or rather, run.  i was supposed to run 8 miles at a moderate pace.  i was shooting for 7:00-7:15/ mi.  well, i ended up getting lost (like always because i'd rather look at trees and animals and the lakes and the ground than really pay attention to which trail i am on) anyway, i ran slightly over 9 miles.  i was scheduled to run 8 miles.

my legs felt much better today than they have since i left mississippi.  i think i needed soft surface/trails to run on.  also, the change of scenery helped out a lot.  i can't run with music and if there isn't something new every 20 feet my mind starts to beat me up.  i can't wait to start racing, my brute mental strength will surely kick in and no one will be able to stop me (my mind will especially not hold me back)

you all should be jealous that i got to run 9 miles of trails completely in the shade and completely on trails....i know, i know, don't hate me.

i took this picture in disney world

♥
reny

ready for the fall

my beautiful family at a luau

me and a statue of grete waitz! 

me dad and sis

disney world was a blast but a real damper on my training. i had to do all my runs on a treadmill (actually thoroughly enjoying, surprisingly) i hate walking and that's all we did a disney.  i was on my legs from sun-up (running at 5am) to sun-down (getting back to the hotel room around 10).  running, walking, standing in line, walking, more walking, occasional sit-down, walking, sleep, repeat.......a vicious cycle for my poor legs. i missed tuesday's and friday's recovery run due to the trip.

me and budsey about to tear up downtown disney

yes, my legs.

my legs have literally just felt worthless and my state of mind isn't much different.  i have not had continuous ice bath cycles in about a month.  my legs are taking the toll.  i have no one to run with so i can't wait to get back to starkville.  it's hotter here than florida.  we are in a drought and the heat index rises to 120 degrees.  this is ridiculous.  it feels worse than mississippi.  most of my runs are at 7:10 pace which i don't mind, but when every single day i am running near 6:45/mi to finish a run, my legs aren't recovering too well (especially with no ice bath or massage----MSU YOU SPOIL ME!!)

i am headed back home, to starkville.  that is truly where i belong at this point in my life.

i have decided that i am going to give vet school my attention.  i haven't looked into the logistics/scholarships vs. running/masters/all that jazz....but vet school sounds like a solid plan for me, a nerdy biology freak who has all the love and knowledge in the world about animals.  if i can't go to vet school and run, then i will probably get my master's in zoology (since i can still run and get my master's with my amount of eligibility left)

drinking coffee and watching dexter,
reny.

rawr!

my recent obsession.

rejuvenated

10 miles 

6:59 pace

along the canal on crushed gravel

22 lbs of ice for my ice bath

:) finally happy girl

needless  to say, i finally feel rejuvenated.  especially since i willed myself to sleep for 12 hours yesterday.  that is more sleep than i have been getting in 2.5 days combined.

my new clothes!

it's been a long month already not having anyone to train with.  i miss my bulldog family.

i don't know how people train alone.

i'm remembering my goals, my team goals, and being smart.  i'm working really hard on being patient and if i think i need a day off, i take it.  last week i took 2 days off, my body was nearly about to collapse from fatigue and straight-up tiredness.

this week (60-miler) should be a much better week.  i will have access to ice bathing EVERY day which will be supreme.  thank God for hotel ice-machines!

Lightning was interested in my ice bath.

 headed to disney world,
love noodle butt

DISNEY!

i'm reverting to a 5-yr old when i go tomorrow.

i deleted twitter

because i am tired of media depicting my every move.  i know i still have a lot of media outlets to be let-go, but twitter was my first move and already it feels liberating.

i'm never, never getting rid of my blog.
facebook and facebook on my phone are the next two that i am going to restrict.  also, the amount of time i spend on the computer is going to be minimized.

M.I.A since about 2 weeks ago EEEK

i have been missing in action for about 2 weeks now.  let me up date you.  i went to texas and had a great fourth of july.  while there i got some serious milage in.  however, i didn't sleep enough, the crazy hotness drained me, being in the sun all day long wore me out, staying up late to watch movies, the hill after hill after hill beat up my legs.  that was my every day.

i didn't finish my tempo on wednesday.  i got 3 miles out and decided i didn't want to do it anymore so i just walked back.  my legs felt like they are supposed to feel in december.  so....well, i took an ice bath.  i needed it.  it didn't do the job completely but iy helped.  i just haven't had the resources to take an ice bath.  even still my legs are jello-y.  i didn't run thursday.

today my long run was good.  i ran with my iPod but i still wish i had someone to run with.  i am constantly dehydrated and feel weak no matter how much water i drink or how much iron i guzzle.  actually, liquid iron is so delcious i think i could just drink it during dinner.

tomorrow is sunday.  i think i am going to take that off too.  my legs took a beating from texas.  with traveling and the hills, i feel like i just ran a marathon (or what i would imagine my legs to feel like)

next week i have 60 miles.  on top of 60 miles i am walking 6-10 miles a day at Disney.  this is going to be death.  i really don't think i'm going to make it.  my legs, my body will hate me.  awesome.

me, alison, ana

the boat died so we had to pull it in, well...the slave children pulled it in while i took pictures

ana and i TWINS

mud fight!  

LOOK! I FOUND SAND!

john and i laying on some floats

the girls!  HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY 'MERICA!

ok, now back to reading a fun book.....