January 2012 in Review

This month I ran 107.22 miles.  Yay!!!  Finally a month over 100 miles.  That is a record for me.  It would have been more but ( excuses, excuses) I only ran 12 on Sunday when I was supposed to do 20 and today I was supposed to do 5 but stayed late at school and by then i was too tired to go to the gym.

No races this month.  Too cold.  Still in training for the Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon on March 4.  So excited but scared too.  I think this is a feeling i will have with every marathon.

I am looking forward to warmer weather so that I can run AND race outside.  I know, I know.  I have might have mentioned that I would rather run in cold weather than in snow but I am still a “chicken” when it comes to running in cold weather.  I cannot handle it.

So far we’ve been really lucky with the weather in Chicago. I hope I did not jinxed it.  I remember last year we had that terrible snowstorm and caused me to miss 3 days of school.  Yes I was happy to be home but I remember being bored and then not happy when I had to make them up at the end of June.  I am hoping this year we do not miss any school days because I am planning to participate in the Ragnar Relay, June 8-9.

I continue to run in my Brooks PureCadence.  I have not experience major pain except in the outer part of my feet.  I don’t know if it’s the shoes, my feet, or increased in mileage.  The pain does go away when I stretch my feet.  Next on my list of shoes to run in are the Brooks Green Silence.  Yay!!!

I bought two running skirts from Zappos:  Brooks PR Mesh Skort II and Skirt Sports Gym Ultra.  I just briefly tried them on but will write about them once I run in them.

Run Happy!!

Happy Belated New Year

I know I am really late with this post.  I hope you are all having a great year so far.  I can’t believe we are halfway through the month!!!

I spent New Year’s in San Antonio.  Love the weather there!  Great times there.  All I did was eat and watched movies.  Yeah, fun times!  I also went downtown a few times but only ran twice.  It is definitely hard to run while on vacation.  How do other people do it?

I got a late start to running this year.  My first run was on the 4th but better late than never.  To date I’ve ran 58.22 miles.  Can I make 100 this month?  I hope so.  The New Orleans Marathon is less than 2 months and I am excited about it.  My goal is to beat my time at the ING Hartford Marathon of 5:25:22.  Can I also aim for 4:59:59 or less?  Hmm, I’ve heard that New Orleans is hilly but anything is possible right?

So far I am signed up for 5 races.  My goal is 20 races this year.   I made a calendar of my races and I have 15.  Yikes!  I need 5 more!!  The names in green are half marathon.  Miriam at 12 Half 12 Club is aiming for 12 half marathons this year.  Awesome right?  However, for some reason not enough of them in the Chicago area.  I guess I can travel to another state right?

  1. Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon: March 4, 2012
  2. Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle: March 25, 2012
  3. Chi-Town Half Marathon, April 1, 2012
  4. Wrigley Start Early 5K/10K, April 21, 2012
  5. CARA Lakefront 10 Miler: April 28, 2012
  6. Run to Remember 5K, May 5, 2012
  7. Y-Me Race at Your Pace 5K, May 13, 2012
  8. Alivio y Salud 5K, May 19, 2012
  9. First Midwest Bank Half Marathon, May 6, 2012
  10. Fleet Feet Sports Soldier Field 10 Mile: May 26, 2012
  11. Fleet Feet Women’s 5k/10K, July 15, 2012
  12. Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon, July 22, 2012
  13. Oak Brook Half Marathon, September 3, 2012
  14. Marine Corps Marathon, October 28, 2012
  15. Philadelphia Marathon, November 18, 2012

December and Year in Review 2011

This month I ran 82.61miles.  No races this month.  I am too much of a chicken to run in the cold.  Oh well, that will change once I get back to Chicago to continue my training for the Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon.  Just a little over 2 months to go.  So far I have been training on the treadmill but feel like I should get out there.

Total miles ran this year is 736.54.  Last year I had set a goal of running 1,000 miles by today.  Yeah, that did not happen.  I’d like to blame it on the slow months of February (20 miles) and July (17 miles).  I remember in February I got hurt and could not run hence the 20 miles.  This summer I went on a 3 week vacation to Mexico, Ecuador, and Peru which left no time for running (17 miles) but A LOT of time for walking.

Besides the marathon I have signed up for the following races:
CARA Lakefront 10 Miler, 4/28
Fleet Feet Sports Soldier Field 10 Miles, 5/26

I’ve done both races in the past and LOVE them!!! I will also sign up for the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K.  Another great race!  However, registration doesn’t start till tomorrow.  🙂

Thanks to Katie at Live Half Full, I found out about the Chi Town Half Marathon & 10K on April 1.  Looks interesting.  I will wait a few months (early registration ends March 4) before I make a definite decision on whether I do it or not.

This year I ran a total of 15 races.
Marathon-1
Half Marathon-3
10 Miles-3
10K-2
8K-1
3.14-1
5K-4

My goal for next year is to run at least 20 races.  That is only 5 more than this year.  For sure I can do it.

What is the most races you’ve done in a year?

Happy New Year and Run Happy!!!

Little accident

Yep, I was running Tuesday morning along the streets of San Antonio.  I ran a little over a mile and then turned around to head out for a different route.  The plan was to run 4 miles.  Well, I was running against traffic on the street (there was no sidewalk) and I saw a few cars coming my way.  I decided to jump back on the grass to avoid getting hit.  Well, I miscalculated and brushed against some plant.  Immediately I started bleeding.  I stopped the bleeding and thought about actually keeping on running.  I saw my leg and blood and decided not to.  Luckily I was not too far from my sister’s house so I called her to pick me up.  Total miles ran was 2.04.

Today the cut did not look much better.  I had forgotten to put Neosporin on my leg yesterday so it looks like it might be infected.  Sigh.  Also, I did not run today.

Hopefully tomorrow it will be better.

Feliz Navidad

I hope you’ve all having a good holiday!  I sure am.  My sisters and I and my nephew came to San Antonio for the holidays.  We will be here till January 3rd.  So glad we came.  The weather has not been so great but it is supposed to warm up this week.  I don’t get back to work till the 9th so at least I will have a few days to relax in Chicago.

I have been a good girl this year so I decided to treat myself to some running shoes.  I already own a pair of Pure Cadence which I love so I bought Green Silence and Ravenna.

I LOVE the colors of the Green Silence.  I also love that they’re so lightweight (about 6.4 oz).

Feliz NavidadThe Ravenna feels so comfortable!

Feliz Navidad

I cannot wait to run in these shoes.  So did you get something for yourself for the holidays?