Almost the New Year!

It's official!  I am GOING to do a half-marathon in 2011.  BUT the question is how soon?  There is one in March!  Is that too soon?  Would I be ready in time?  Would I be able to continue increasing my time and distance through the winter months.  How serious am I about increasing my miles?  I am going to research some plans and see how intense the training is. 

On a happy note--Tina and I did a quick run indoors yesterday!  About 40 minutes!  Felt really good. 

Ran outside today SOLO :( It was a nice little quick run.  Did 2 miles in 18.04.  Felt like I was really truckin'.  Super Glad I went.  The weather was perfect--streets and sidewalks mostly melted and only had to dodge a few icy spots. --steph

Obsessed!

As I was on runnersworld.com checking out the "who knows what" information covered, I have come to the realization that I have become obsessed with all things running.  I am consumed with reading books, tracking my times, writing this blog, reading the "blogs" of others, reading forums, and incessantly talking about running.  Is my family tired of it?  They haven't said they are, but as my dear husband lie sleeping beside me, I couldn't help but think that maybe they could be in the future.  I certainly don't want anyone to resent the fact that I put so much thought into running.  I am so happy and proud of myself for starting to run.   

 I have made a little pact with myself!  I would only talk about running with people who do run!  I will NOT talk with others about my running unless they ask first.  This will be VERY difficult because
#1 I am not a shy person and I like to talk,
#2 I am so passionate about running that I want to share what I do with others,
and #3 I am trying to decide if I want to do this "half-marathon" and my desisions are made more easily with input from others. 

I know today is a non-run day, so my plan is to scrapbook!  :-) But I am so excited to scrapbook my race pictures and document my progress over the past 10 months of running.  (Seems kind of contradictory)  Don't know if this will happen today for me or not, but as of now that is the plan! 

New product found online http://www.bondiband.com/  I can't wait to try one of these!  The new Runners World magazine comes out in just a few days!   One last little tidbit. . . . read on one of the Beginner Forums last night what the difference between a runner and a jogger is.  It has nothing to do with your speed.  People who run will call you a runner and people who don't run will call you a jogger.  So I say, I am a runner!  Slow and steady, but I am a runner.  --Steph

Shoveling Sidewalks

I made a call this morning to the City of Evansdale about the frustration with the lack of sidewalks that are shoveled.  Our trail system is strictly volunteer (they do a very good job), but our "within a reasonable amount" of time ordinace for sidewalk shoveling isn't heavily enforced.  Also the "extra wide" sidewalk that connects the trail to town isn't really the responsiblity of anyone to plow.  Hmmm!  She was going to check more into that to find out for sure!  I really DO want to be able to run outside, but NOT if it's going to have to be on the streets for the most part. 

Tina and I did have a pretty good run 2.94 miles (half trail and half street).  And I must say, you do get a pretty good work out running on snow!  The weather was perfect and sunny.  I was able to try out my new c9 semi-compression cold gear shirt with my jacket and was perfectly warm.  BUT my poor fingers were cold in the new gloves (exchanged UA extreme cold gear for 180's) and ended up returning the 180's for a pair of down mittens that I am hoping keep my little fingers warm.  --Steph 

Great Inside Run!

With Lisa being out of town to Florida (so jealous), Tina, and I went to Young Arena and ran on their little track!  ugh (but yeah for warmness).  I had shin splints to begin the run, but thankfully after about 20 min or so they worked themselves out.  We were planning on just going for 30 minutes, but we kept a pretty slow pace and ended up running about 50 min :-).  I had some hope on the run that maybe a half-marathon in March is not such a far stretch.  If I can just keep on increasing my time running, I just might be able to do it!  Still up in the air about the whole thing!  Waiting for some epiphany http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/epiphany to show up so maybe I can make a decision! 

http://www.iowalakes.edu/smithwellnesscenter/events/loch_run_registration.htm

Tina got some new outside running gear for Christmas so we are hoping to run outside today!  Hoping the trails are groomed!  --Steph

Yeah Outside Run!

After this semi-crazy week at work and getting ready for Christmas, I was SUPER excited to be able to get outside and do a quick little run.  Still frustrated in the fact that people don't shovel their sidewalks, but started early enough that most of my run was in the light.  Did @ 3.24 miles according to mapmyrun.com.  Decided to go unplugged without my GPS (Wanted to just run and not worry about how fast or far, I guess until after the fact!).  The temp was perfect for Iowa roughly about 30 degrees with no wind.  I wore my running jacket with a semi-compression cold gear shirt under and was perfectly warm.  I am not caring about the temps so much as all the SNOW that is covering the roads and sidewalks. --Steph

Had a great run with the girls last night at our indoor track!  And thanks to Lisa for the cute little "RUN" sticker.  I can't wait til my car is clean so I can put it on my window.  I want to wish Lisa a safe trip down to Florida and hope her 5K on Christmas weekend goes well.  I must say I am super jealous that she gets to run and see the ocean. 

Not what I expected!

Well the temps were warm enough (17 degrees with little wind) that I thought, hey, let's try a little run outside!  I wanted to try out my new running jacket! 

First, let me say, PEOPLE do NOT shovel their sidewalks very well.  AND Running in the snow is like trying to run on hard sand.  AND not everyone shovels their sidewalks at all.  So much of my route had to be run on the road with traffic.  I am very thankful that I chose to try and run in the daylight instead of running at night as I usually do.  

All in all, I do feel like it was a good run!  3 miles in tonight with a time of 28 min and 55 seconds--which I say is not too bad while running in the snow and dodging traffic!  :-)  Lastly--the jacket did keep me warm and I could have worn two layers instead of 3.  I was kinda warm by about the end of mile 1. --Steph

Running inside!

Running inside does have it's advantages but also being able to be outside seems to work much better for me! As long as I don't have to go doen on the treadmill (that can get pretty boring) running all alone! I like running with my girls! We are going to Young Arena as of right now so that is working ! Hopefully we can find a few good days to get outside! :) --Tina

Day 1 of Iowa Girls Running blog!

Hmmm . . . Here in Iowa the weather is now quite cold.  A group of us 4 girls have been continually running outside all summer and fall.  This past week when the weather/wind chill was below zero, we decided to nix the outdoor running for an inside track.  Not sure how this blog "thing" will go, but hopefully we can all work together to make it fun and interesting.--Steph