Why I run…part 1,000,000

So… after my half-marathon and after my injury, I kinda stopped running. I guess you could say I lost interest. I still liked it..but I could never seemt o find time to do it later than 7 in the morning…which, in Illinois is currently dark and freezing. That could also be a fact for not really wanting to run.

So Friday I didn’t run. And Saturday I was at a friend’s house. When I got back I FELT like I could run at least 6 miles… but that didn’t happen. I stayed up late Saturday and then Sunday though I would have liked to squeeze a run out of my tired body I instead went shoe-shopping and made turkey cookies.

By Sunday night, I was frustrated, hyper, and feeling rather fat.

This is what I wrote last night:

I’m so aggravated.

Lately, it seems that I’ve gotten an extra burst of energy. I can’t sit still for more than five minutes. I have to be jumping or twirling or kicking or singing or something to get all this pent-up agitation OUT!!

Also, I have almost zero tolerance. I just want to say immediately what pops in my head, barking at my little bros or saying something obnoxious to a friend. i want to punch a wall…

…I wanna go. Be outside. Run. Bike. Swim. Jump. Swing. Be active. But I’m so busy. I don’t have time. I wanted to run yesterday, but I couldn’t. Yesterday, iknew I had energy for at least 6 miles. That’s 6 miles of energy that carried over to today. i wanted to bike after church, long and leisurely or hard. 3 miles out, 3 miles back. But I didn’t. I made food instead. I’ve got restless legs.

I want to move. I am wamr from all the energy inside of me.

I want to be loud, I want to scream. I want to sing. I want to cry. I want people to listen and understand. I want to be LEFT ALONE…

Clearly, I was in a mood. Quite upset.

But today… I got to run! 6 miles. I haven’t run more than 3 miles since my half-marathon! And I kept at an average pace of 8:30 minute mile! I was SO happy when I finished my run! And tired. And sore. But HAPPY! And not agitated, aggravated, or annoyed.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

That is why I run. Cause it keeps me sane. And happy. (And fit.)

So, cold winds, snow, and winter aren’t keeping me from my trails.

That’s probably a good thing.

A grumpy Claire is not a fun Claire

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I run for FUN!

When I was training for my half-marathon, I used a Runner’s World plan that I got from their magazine at the library, copied it, and hung it on my wall.

Perhaps, it was illegal but it got me through my half-marathon with only minor dying. 🙂

So, then someone recommended Hal Higdon who I had never heard of, but is, apparently, famous for all these running plans he makes.

My new goal being getting fast, I decided to print out an advanced 5K program. This you all know. That was last week.

I followed the plan for a whole week! And then I stopped.

Why?

Because I run for fun. During the weekend, I was supposed to do a 4-mile run and then a 60-minute run. I would have no problem with this except that I felt it was a “must”: one more thing I had to do that would take up precious saturday/sunday time.

So, I quit.

I decided, if I want to run faster, then I should…run faster.

Wow. Big breakthrough here!!

Anyway, this morning I went for a run against my own will (well, half of it since the other half of me forced the whole of me to go outside and freeze my butt off… 🙂 ).

It was hard. I ran my first mile at a 7-minute pace and my second mile was probably a 7:30 minute pace and my last mile a 8-8:30 minute pace. I’m not really sure cause my Garmin ran out of batteries. Whoops. 🙂 Anyway, I will get faster. Just not by doing sprints and long runs and short runs on the appointed days.

When I run, I will run

fast.

Coolness

(Post from yesterday)

Today I went on a run.

I felt SO unmotivated! Truthfully, I just wanted to skip it. But i really felt like I should go cause I went to my friend’s house last night and ate pizza and lots of ice cream and pop and today I went to a party and knew I would be eating alot so I figured I should get in some exercise. And I knew that if I hadn’t run today I would’ve been mad at myself. 😛

So, I went. I pulled on my clothes and went.

It was a BEAUTIFUL day!!! SO lovely.

But I felt weird.

You see.

Last night at my friend’s house, I went rollerblading. Now, I rollerbladed every single day this summer. But slacked off once the school year started. And oh. my. goodness. My abs are SO sore!!!!

So, I was gonna run 4 miles at an 8-minute pace today. Nope. My first mile was 8 minutes. My second mile was 8:30-minute pace. My 3rd mile was 9-minute pace. And my last mile I walked cause my abs hurt so bad. 😛

Last night:

Rollerblading!!!!!!!!!!!!

That’s me the night before!

On my run:

And yes, I am so very proud of this!! My first-ever comic strip! And hopefully not my last!!

Pixton.com rox

 

Yes, this is a picture courtesy of pixton. And I highly suggest you check this website out cause it ROCKS!!!!! 🙂 And it’s really fun to make the comics. It can take awhile but it’s really fun! 🙂

 

I can’t hear my own thoughts today!!

Agh! All day music has been playing in my head!!! So so very annoying. and kind of entertaining. Even if I get weird looks from people, as I gallop down the halls humming the Mario Bros. theme song!!!

Currently, I have a Taylor Swift stuck inside:

And also, a song from band practice:

It doesn’t really sound like that that much but whatever…

Anyway, today was my busy day!

At 6:40, my alarm went off and I laid there trying tore member what day of the week it was and WHY my alarm was going off (this happens often).

Anyway, today is Thursday if you are wondering. And that means running. I was gonna skip it.

Sadly. it has become a bad habit of mine to skip my Thursday runs, mainly because during my half-marathon training Thursdays were my 6 mile runs and who in their right mind wants to run 6 miles at 7 in the morning by themselves? It gets lonely. Music would be nice. Because the one time I DON’T have a life soundtrack is when I’m running. All songs escape my brain.

Kinda.

You are my strength when I am weak.

You are my breath when I can’t breathe.

(And no! That is NOT what she is saying. This is my runner brain singing!! 🙂 )

This is one of my absolute favorite songs in the whole world.

Where was I?

Who knows!?

I love that song too.

And of course:

Check out this ♥ blog for an update on them!! And the CMA’s.

And yes, it is fun to hyperlink random things, if you were wondering.

 

A Day at School

I am gonna be a teacher.

Like my aunt.

I got to visit her classroom today.

It was SO fun!

I have been begging for YEARS for her to let me come visit her class for the day and finally she agreed!!

I spent last night at her house and then got up early this morning (well, early for me: 6:15). We stopped at Mcdonald’s on the way for a sweet tea for her and a peppermint mocha for me (it wasn’t really that great).

We got to the school at 7 and set up a bunch of different things before the kids arrived. I met some of my aunt’s fellow-teachers who were all really friendly and said I looked “just like your mother” and that the last time they had seen me I was “this tall” (which is very short).

At 8:30, the kids come. My aunt teaches first grade and the kids are SO cute!

They are really good for the most part! 🙂

It was Bring Your Stuffed Animal Day so they all had stuffed animals. We wrote paragraphs about our stuffed animals and then read them to the class.

They took spelling tests.

They had gym and art. I went EVERYWHERE with them, including gym, art, recess, and lunch! 😉

It was fun and tiring!

But now I know for sure that I’m gonna be a teacher when I grow up! 🙂

Kids are so cute and fun to be with!

My aunt is an AMAZING teacher. I know this because I have seen it and been told it by many of the other teachers there. It’s true. She is no-nonsense, but very fun and creative. She’s been teaching for a LOOOONG time and she’s got everything figured out! 🙂

I got to talk to one of the employees at the school who ran the Chicago marathon this year. She wanted to know how my half marathon had gone! So, I talked to her for about half an hour. She gave me lots of advice about shoes (always buy half-size larger) and my knee (:P ). And she told me about a really cool website that has free training programs! I am SO using that! 🙂

I hope that I can go back to the school soon to help out again soon!!!!!

 

Merrily I limp along

Truthfully.

It is killing me to not be able to run.

Today, I went “speed-walking” with a friend. It was really fun and I was glad to have that time to actually talk to her instead of just panting alongside her.

But still.

Every day, I am not running I am losing endurance.

And it drives me CRAZY!!!!!

The only thing that is keeping me from running is the fact that I will get sporadic pains throughout the day.

My knee.

Ugh. It hurts SO bad. It’s like I can feel the little nerves passing the message along upa nd down my leg.

Ouch.

Of course, today was just kind of a bad day. I was so tired. And I have lots of school. So if the pain from my knee jolted some tears today… well it was a mixture of things. But it does hurt.

I want this hi-tech knee brace to work. I want to get back to my running regime!!

I have another 5k race this week.

I’m gonna have to walk it.

That’s gonna kill me too.

I mean, 5K’s are the easy stuff. I love them cause I always have the chance to get a new PR and they are short and normal. I know I can do it cause I do it every Tuesday morning.

But this Saturday, I am gonna be one of the walkers. One of those people who come in last instead of 12th… 😦

Mom said, “Just wear your ‘13.1 Finisher’ jacket when you do it”

NO KIDDING!

Ugh. Heal stupid knee.

I wanna run again.

Agent P’s Rendition

I didn’t get to run by a skeleton (how about a shower curtain??)

This girl just ran her first half-marathon!

Where do I even begin???

I can’t believe I actually ran it!!!! After all my training. I am finally a half-marathon finisher!!!! It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my WHOLE ENTIRE life.

I loved it!!!!!!

I ran it in 2 hours and 11 minutes which is GREAT!!! I had an average pace of about 10- minute miles. I had to stop every mile to drink and walk. So, I think next year I will be faster cause I (hopefully) won’t have to stop as much!!! But, I am SUPER thrilled with my time!!!

I love race atmosphere. It’s so friendly and fun. Since, this was a Halloween race a bunch of people were dressed up. That was cool too!! I saw some people dressed up as bride, groom, father of the bride, etc. And they are actually having a wedding in November. So that’s awesome!!! That’s so me in 12 years!!!!

Mom bought the awesome "monster" hat for me cause I was so darn FREEZING

Yep! My dear friend T came after all!!!! I was so glad to have her there! As well, as Abby, my mom, my Nana, and my aunt. They are great cheerleaders!

Little Miss Nothin-Gonna-Take-Me-Down

Yeah, I like making weird faces. That is before my race and I was SO SO SO excited!!! I had 10 million dreams the night before about my race and in all of them it went really great!! So, I was feeling pretty can’t-touch-me. Of course, as soon as the actual race started I realized I had some issues.

1. My knee hurt– and I mean like SEARING pain. For the first four miles, I just gritted my teeth through it.  When I did gymnastics, I got Osgood Schlater (did I say this already??) and i still feel the effects of it sometimes.. 😛

2. My belt was very bouncy– so I had to hold it down with one hand and then the other. It was annoying. Eventually, I drank enough water and it didn’t bounce anymore so I could pump both my arms.

3. I hadn’t run for 5 days– meaning I was a little out of shape. Whatever though, I had handled that before.

can't catch my breath but so very proud!!

stretching out hurts with sore legs and a bad knee

Anyway! I am going to do better next year. Here are my reasons why:

1) I (hopefully) won’t be sick…or recovering from a sickness next time!

2) I will continue to train and train and train…and train all year long!!! And get faster!

3) All runners continue to improve with every run.

But I am happy with how everything worked out!!

water, food, and a medal!!! I am set

And I am sorry that all my pictures are sideways but I cannot for the life of me remember how I flip them.

It’s really gonna bug me!!

More lovely pictures of me running to come as soon as they post them on the website!!!!!

I think I actually gained weight through this whole ordeal. 😛

I have eaten SO much good food!!!! Tonight for dinner I had blue cheese stuffed burgers, pesto fries, gluten-free brownies (so much better than they sound…they had orange extract in them!!!! mm…)… and yesterday after my race we went out to eat at Honey which was my choice and they have THE BEST mini burgers in the WORLD!!!!! I burned a thousand calories on my run…I think I have eaten a million!!!

I so love food.

I so love running.

I am so killing myself again for another half-marathon.

Countdown almost over!

Wow! The countdown’s almost over!

3 days.

You know, I have noticed that many people don’t get too excited about their races. Even if I run a million, I will never be one of those people. I love to run and I love to race. I will always be excited.

Another thing I know is that this will change my life forever. Now, this may seem a) shallow, b)dumb, or c) a little overreactive. But, it’s not…well, okay maybe it’s a little overreactive, but that’s me so get used to it. The thing is, this is going to an accomplishment that I will never forget for the rest of my life. It’s going to be high up on my list of accomplishments. And I will SO do it again!

A couple things:

1) My knee… when I was younger, I did gymnastics and kidna busted up my knee. At the doctor, they said I had Osgood Schlatter symptom. But, I don’t think I have that, anymore. I think I have too-much-running knee. I got it last November too and had to stop running for the year. it’s jsut starting but I REALLY don’t know what to do. SHould i ice it? I vow to stretch before and after each run I ever do from this point forward!

2) Sorry that I haven’t posted on here for a couple of days. 😦 I have been too busy writing the world’s most magnificent paper ever. Well, not quite…but I am really proud of it! I will put it on here Sunday. ( It’s due Saturday and I don’t want any plagiarism!!!! :O )

3) Guess what my wonderful brother (and Dad) bought for me? A running belt!! I love it! I took it with me for the first time yesterday when I went running early with my Loyal Running Friend! I brought my camera.

What a beautiful morning! I love running at sunrise!

Me and my LRF

That’s her by the way! I run with two little fingers. 🙂

4) Halloween decor at 7 in the morning is WEIRD!! One house actually scared me. Another house had legs sticking out of the ground and as we ran past I was like, “Why is someone doing a handstand in their front lawn at 7 in the morning?”

5) I’m excited about Christmas! Yesterday, I walked around my house singing and dancing, “Need a Little Christmas” for… a long time. Then I realized it was probably kinda annoying! I ♥ to sing though!

PLEASE PRAY THAT EVERYTHING WILL WORK OUT FOR MY RACE AND THAT MY KNEE WILL HEAL!!!!!!!

The countdown has begun

I tried and tried to find a widget I could post on here to countdown to my half-marathon but I couldn’t find one.

Oh well.

For the record, there are 5 days left!!

I am super excited and I am ready!!!

But my knee hurts.

Which is bad because this hasn’t happened in a long time.

Since last november when I hurt my knee running.

I am praying!

Hopefully, it will get better. Although it’s not to that horrible point where I can’t run it’s just kind of a pain…

Regardless!

I came up with my after-half-marathon running plan!

I don’t want to run super far anymore cause I don’t really have time for it so here’s my weekly plan:

Tuesday: 3-mile, fast

Thursday: 6-mile, ( I’ll work up to fast)

Friday or Saturday: 3 miles, easy

That way, I can keep the abs and all those other wonderful muscles I’ve got!!!! And I can get FAST!!!! I am hoping to get my 5k time down to 21 minutes and get my 6 mile pace down to 8:00 miles. That’s my plan for what I’m doing through the winter.

I’ve kinda been forming it in my head for awhile but today, I woke up at 6:30 and I was so excited about my running plan!!!!!

I ♥ to run. have I ever told you?