A fun long weekend

Pat and I don't get much time off together, so when we do, we use every minute! I had a four day weekend and we spent Friday driving all around southeast MI buying various fun things: a new laptop, a bedroom dresser and coffee table from IKEA, a garbage disposal from Home Depot, and even driving downriver to look at patio furniture. We never found any outdoor furniture that we liked, but it was fun to have the whole day to spend doddling around. We had to leave the dresser and coffee table at IKEA since they wouldn't fit in our car and we left the laptop at Best Buy for them to do the startup software. So, after buying all that, we actually came home with one mixing bowl :)

Saturday my parents came over to help install the new garbage disposal and let us use their van to pick up the dresser and table from IKEA, it was perfect! All went well and Katie and Ra'naa came over later for a yummy dinner BBQ. Pat really is the best chef around! And, I got to use all my new serving dishes from Sayulita :)

Sunday, Pat had to work a day shift, so I had the entire day to myself to get things done. I really needed it, since I've been so lazy after getting back from our honeymoon. I hooked up our new wireless printer - so cool! - and completely rearranged the living room furniture - which of course, required a trip to pick up a longer coaxial cable so I could move the TV. Overall, I love the new living room, it seems much bigger and allows a lot more light in the room :) Pat agreed once he got home after 3am.

Monday we headed to the nearby metropark for a picnic. I had packed everything the night before (even freezing half of a laying-down bottle of koolaid!) and was ready to go when Pat got up. We had our picnic lunch, played some catch and then hit the path for 34 minutes of rollerblading! It was so much fun! Pat is a way better skater than I am, but I love doing it, so I'm okay with being behind him all the time. We rollerbladed down the path about 1 1/2 mile when it started to rain. It felt great though, since it was so hot. So we turned back and skated the rest of the way back to our car in a downpour. We were in good spirits though :) Our plan for after rollerblading was to swim, but the rain only got worse, so we came home for a nap :) Fun day indeed!

Burns Park 5K

This race took place on May 2nd and I planned to run the 10K to keep me from stressing about our wedding that was taking place that coming Saturday. Well, I was exhausted and hadn't really been running much lately, so I only ran the 5K. I think the problem was that I was intimidated from the beginning since the loop was a 5K and the 10K was just running it twice - those always mentally break me down. Also, there weren't many people at all running the 10K - less than 300 it seemed, so I was so nervous about being the last one. This was also a hilly course, but the 5K felt good. After finishing that race in 33:15, I ran back to my car to go home. I was bummed that I hadn't finished the 10K, but a 5K is better than nothing!

Martian Marathon 10K

I did it! I was so intimidated to attempt the 10K, but it went great! After running my 5Ks around 30 mins, my goal for the 10K was 1) to run the entire time and 2) finish between 75-90 minutes. It was in Dearborn and was a large loop around the city. It was a gorgeous day and there were lots of runners out that day. There was a marathon, half-marathon, 10K and 5K. The cool part was that we ended the 10K route with the half and full marathoners. When I thought I was getting tired, I just looked at the people running by who were on mile 20+. As soon as I saw mile marker 5, I had a new surge of energy and finished the race in 67:04.4 :) It felt great, I loved the entire thing - it was my favorite race so far!!

I have no pics of any of the races as I run them all by myself :/

Running Fit 101 Class

In prep for the upcoming 10K, I finally decided to take Running Fit's Running 101 class. There is a store right by work, so it was convenient. It met once a week for 5 weeks and we had a group run and then a class. I can't say I got a lot out of the classes, but I enjoyed the group runs and like my new shirt! It was great to have a group to run with and we ran 3+ miles each time. It felt great!

The coolest part of this class is that the first class a New Balance rep was there and let us test drive a new pair of shoes for the run. I always thought running stores were trying to scam us with $100 shoes, but after running in them, I was sold! I bought myself a new pair before the next week's class :)

I might take their half-marathon prep class, but I still don't consider myself a real runner and am still a bit intimidated by everyone. We'll see how that goes :)

Shamrocks & Shenanigans 5K

This time, I talked my entire family to coming to the 5K in Ann Arbor for Shamrocks & Shenanigans on March 14, 2010. Pat, my mom and dad, sister Katie and her bf Tommy all came out together. Pat and I started running and the others walked and ran a bit throughout. The course was a loop that we ran twice for the 5K distance. There were a lot of people there and I hadn't run much or trained properly since the Dexter Holiday Hustle. I finished this race in 33:20 and was exhausted at the end. The hills on this course were brutal, but it still felt good to run the entire thing without walk breaks.

Holiday Hustle 5K - Dexter

The Dexter 5K was the first one I was training for and took place on December 5, 2009. It was cold, but I was excited for my first timed race. I hated every second of the race and couldn't wait for it to be over. My goal was to at least match my 32 mins from the GOTR race, but I secretly wanted to be under 30 minutes. As I crossed the finish line, I was ecstatic to see the time of 29:59.06! At that point, I remember loving the race :) Either way, I felt great afterward and was very proud of myself.

Girls on the Run 5K

As I was preparing for my first 5K in December, I decided to try the GOTR 5K with some of my girls from school to see how I was doing. I even talked Pat into running it with me. It was a fairly easy course around St. Joe's campus and untimed. It was all about girl power and getting the girls motivated to keep on going. Pat and I started out together and then met at the finish line. The course was kind of thin and bottle necked at the beginning, but I ran the first 2 miles through before stopping for a short walk break. I finished in 32 minutes and felt very proud of myself. It felt great!

The Beginning

I first started running after I walked the Big House, Big Heart 5K with my sister Colleen on October 4th. We walked a 5K in just under an hour and after that I put my mind to running a 5K. I trained on my own, following a run-walk program and it wasn't long until I was totally into it. I did all my training on the treadmill at the gym, watching junk tv - it was great!

A New World

It hit me today as I was out on my first run of the month that I need to start a blog. Something to track my training for my first half-marathon. I started running in October and really enjoy it! I've lost 30 pounds and competed 4 5Ks and 1 10K since then.

After taking most of this month off from running as I got married, I'm now excited to get back into it and prepare for Detroit Free Press Half Marathon on October 17, 2010. Hopefully by tracking my progress online, I'll keep myself motivated for the next 4 1/2 months. I'm pretty sure I'm the first Hacker to do so - as far as I know :)