New Years Resolutions

So I took a bit of a holiday hiatus and didn't do much running. Actually I'm not sure that I did any running. But that's besides the point. I plan on joining the rest of the people that made health related resolutions and get back to the gym. I've decided to run the Seattle marathon in June with my friend Megan. That leaves me 6 months to train, plus the bonus of getting fit for my wedding day. To ease back into my fitness routine, I've been playing a bit of Wii Fit Plus. It politely pointed out that I'd gained 4 lbs since the last time I used it a few months ago, but I feel pretty confident that that weight will be gone again soon. I just have to get through tonight, New Years Eve, and tomorrow is a new start.

In addition to the marathon, I have a few more goals for 2010.

1- Save money. I am going to attempt to not buy any 'extra' unnecessary item for the entire month of January. No clothes, no shoes, nothing...unless I buy it with my gift cards from Christmas. People budget all the time. It's time for me to learn how to as well.

2. Be more like Martha....as in Martha Stewart. I want to be more organized, more creative, and more homemaker-ish. In honor of this new goal, I'm even making a Martha dessert for tonight. Caramelized Banana Splits. Should be delicious.

Anyways, cheers to a new start and good luck with sticking to all of your resolutions. I'll let you know how mine go!

I think a lot of people are a bit concerned with my decision to run my first marathon 3 weeks before my wedding for fear of broken ankles or death. Well, I've been hearing your concerns (mostly Ryan's) and while I don't necessarily agree with them, I have decided to not run the Derby marathon in April. I am going to run a marathon, it will just take place at a different time. So there you go. Everyone take a big sigh of relief.

I still want to do a fundraiser during my training, so right now I'm looking at other marathons. Right now I'm leaning towards one at the end of June in Seattle. My friend Megan lives there, so I'm hoping that I can convince her to run it with me. I'm terrified of the hills out there though. It's like running in San Francisco! I'm going to look through my Runner's Magazine and see what I can find. The training is still on!

Another Day

Goal- 6 miles
Miles run- 6.15
Pace-8:45
Location- Central Park

This has been a tough week for me motivation wise, hence the lack of posting. (Is anyone even reading this yet?)

I went for a 6 mile run in the park again and had a decent pace considering how chilly it was. I think I like running in the park better at night. It's not nearly as crowded and I don't feel like I'm going to be run over by other runners when I take my walk break. The park is actually very safe at night and well lit. There are always still a lot of people out riding bikes, running, or walking their dogs. I did, however, almost get run over by a man that was not paying attention. Ironically, he had on a bright neon yellow shirt so I saw him very easily as he came bounding towards me. Luckily I got out of the way before becoming roadkill.

I want to do a 5 mile run today, but Hurricane Ida is giving us her wind and rain all day, so we'll see.

A Minute Lasts Forever

Goal- 6 miles
Miles run- 6.2
Pace-Not sure bc stupid iPod broke
Location- Central Park

Do you know how long a minute lasts? Apparently a really long time according to my watch. I was trying to set my pace for running by doing 4 minutes of running, 1 minutes of walking. This turned into a lot of watch staring. I think the more I looked at it, the slower time passed.

Today I did my first semi-long run of 6 miles in my favorite place in the city: Central Park. It's such an awesome backdrop when you think you might die because you haven't eaten anything yet and running without any food was stupid. Also, Central Park is where all the serious runners run. They make you not want to stop running, for risk of possibly being run over by the hordes of running groups. Seriously, these group are everywhere and they always carry on conversations while they run. I'm not quite there yet; I run and zone out.

I use Nike+ to track my runs on my iPod. This is a sensor that goes in your shoe and sends a signal to your iPod, which tracks your pace, time, distance and calories. Halfway through, the stupid iPod decided to not play music anymore. At first I was very not happy, because I need my Britney to get me through, but it ended up being kindof nice. I started doing people watching. People look really funny when they run. A lot of them flail their arms around. I'm not sure if this is a running technique, but I probably will not adopt it.

When I got home, I was starving, so I made my staple breakfast food that gives you energy for the whole day: Cocoa Buckwheat Pancakes.
I adapted the recipe from one of my favorite books: The Thrive Diet. You should really check it out because Brenden gives you a ton of information on what to eat after working out.
Here's my version of the recipe. Don't be scared of some of the weird ingredients. They really are good; even Ryan likes them.

Cocoa Buckwheat Pancakes (makes 1-2 servings)

1/2 c of Buckwheat flour
1 banana
1/8 ground flax seed
1/8 hemp protein (I like Living Harvest Chocolate Chili. You can get it at Whole Foods)
1/4 of water or rice milk/almond milk/coconut milk
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 c or more of cocoa
1/8 c or more of vegan chocolate chips (or regular if you eat dairy)

Put the banana and milk/water in a blender (I use a Magic Bullet) then mix everything else together and place on a hot skillet.

Let me know what you think!

Maybe this is crazy.....

I was once told by someone that I never finish anything that I start. This is generally true; I latch on to the idea of doings things, and not always the doing part. I suppose this was evident during my college years when I attended 3 different schools before finally graduating (sorry mom and dad). Or perhaps the endless amounts of languages that I've attempted to teach myself (I swear I'm going to use those Italian books someday!) I admit, I'm addicted to trying new things, and usually liking those things, but not having the drive and motivation to accomplish anything.

Hopefully I'm about to change that. I've wanted to run a marathon for a long time. Last year I began training for one, but hurt my ankle (that does not count as giving up!) I've decided that I'm going to give it another shot and run the 2010 Derby Marathon in April.

I think the reason that I've decided to write a blog about it is because I need that extra push to get my through the end...and an outlet for all my venting when I want to give up.

I know it seems crazy. What's the point of running a marathon? There's a couple of reasons that I want to do this.
1. I'm getting married in May and there's not much wiggle room in my wedding dress. I never can just exercise for fun. I have to exercise for a goal, and for me, running this marathon is the ultimate goal. My fiance thinks I'm a little nuts for doing this so close to our wedding, and maybe he's right.

2. It's about bragging rights. I watched in awe at the runners that finished the NYC Marathon on Sunday and wished that that was me. So now I'm going to give it a shot. It's do or die. Well, maybe not quite that, but I'm going to regret it if I don't finish what I started this time around.

And 3. If I'm going to run, I might as well raise money while doing it. I know the Derby Festival has preferred charity programs to run for, so I'm going to take a look at them and decide which one I think is the best fit for me. I'll post my decision later. I can't really decide to stop once people have donated money, right?

I'm trading in my heels for sneakers (cute ones of course) and accomplish something. Hopefully you'll find this blog funny and maybe a bit motivating. If you really like it, maybe you'd like to donate some money for a good cause. And if you don't like it, you can always comment and tell me why. I can take it.