Snowpocalypse, IT-Bands, and Energy Gu! Oh My!

So..I haven't blogged in awhile and I miss it! I think it might actually help me, because Im sad to say I kinda fell off the running wagon during Snowpocalypse 2011 and got really lazy for two weeks.  The good thing about getting lazy for two weeks is that it is great at first but then you actually start to feel like crap between all the pizza and laying around in sweats.  You start to think, "What the heck am I doing?..I need to get out there and run!" So I got back to the gym and back to putting in the miles.

Last Saturday, Erks and I did our first race of the season.  It was the Mardi Gras Run For Your Beads 5K.  It was fun but surprisingly harder than what I thought.  I thought I would breeze through it! I guess because it was really cold, only about 34 degrees, it made it harder??  The cold made my nose run and kinda messed up a good breathing pattern.  Then I got hot but was still cold.  Im not sure what the exact problem was.  But having said that, I did it in 30 minutes, which Ill take! :)  Plus, there was beer at the end of the race which Ill also take!  Next race..St Patty's Day 5 mile run!

So, last night I went to the gym to run 4 miles before I had to go to class.  I was down to the last half lap when all of the sudden I felt like my knee gave out.  It wasn't a sharp pain or anything but it felt "aggravated" if you will.  I had to hold on to the treadmill to take my weight off of it and finish.  Tonight I told my trainer and she thinks Im not stretching enough and I have a tight IT-Band.  She said Im treating my muscles like Im doing leisure cardio for 30 minutes, and that I need to REALLY stretch after I am done running and all through the day for that matter. Im icing my knee and IT-Band as we speak! :(

Finally, the last two and a half weeks I feel like I have worked out harder than ever before but I have not lost a single pound! Im going to say its that Im putting on muscle and ignore the amount of food I can eat after a long run! Obviously, its muscle! Duh!

Side Note: Energy Gu is the best invention EVER! Thank you Aimee!

This weekend's agenda..8 miles and the madness that is Mardi Gras!

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body

So I had an hour session with Carolina last night.  One hour of all upper body! After a half hour my arms felt very heavy and like they weren't going to work anymore.  The third set of reps started to become half the number of the first set.  I'm pretty sure it appeared to Carolina that I wasn't moving when I was doing my girl push ups, but I can promise you I thought I was and it certainly felt like I was! SIDE NOTE: I haven't been doing any sort of strength training. Bad, I know!  I am basically starting from scratch here.  She suggested I try and start doing some of the exercises we do at home, so I don't keep starting from scratch every Wednesday.  I interpreted this as a nice way to say, "WOW! You need a lot of help!" I somehow finished the hour work out with her and then did 45 minutes on the elliptical machine.  Driving home from the gym it hurt to drive.  It hurt to wash my hair, etc. I really thought that I would be in a world of hurt today! While I'm pretty sore, its not unbearable! I hope that doesn't come tomorrow!

There was a woman at the gym with a t-shirt on that said "PAIN IS WEAKNESS LEAVING THE BODY".  Love it!!

Anyhoo...Right after work I'm hitting the gym to run 3 miles and then I get to go home and relax! School was cancelled tonight! YIPPEEE!

Be safe if you have to be out on the roads!
~Shana

Anyone for a 30 Hour Day?

So this week is the first official week of training as well as my first week back to school. At some point yesterday I needed to run 3 miles.  My initial goal was to wake up at 4:15 AM go to the gym and run in the morning.  I slept in my gym clothes (minus my shoes) and put my alarm clock in the bathroom so I would have to get up out of bed to turn it off.  Well, at 4:15 AM I went into the bathroom in my gym clothes and reset the alarm to 5:15 and went back to bed!  So...I then packed my gym bag and brought it to work with me.  I decided to go straight to the gym after work, crank out 3 miles, then get home so I could get ready for class at 7.  I ran 3 miles, became a sweaty mess (safe to say I won't be picking up any guys at the gym), then went straight home.  I had a half hour to walk Buddy, make a protein shake (Chocolate with added raspberries is my favorite..its seriously good!), and clean myself up. 

I made it to my Microbiology class at 7! Whew!  Now, the class is supposed to get out at 9:50.  Last semester I had a class that went to 9:50 as well, but the latest we EVER stayed was 9:30 and that was one time that we stayed that late.  Sometimes I made it home early enough where I could even work out after class.  This class not so much.  We didn't get out til 10:05 and he said that it will be unusual for us to finish early.  By the time I got home, walked Buddy, and took a shower it was 11:15 PM.  It was a long day!  I think I'm going to have to tweak the training schedule a bit because Tuesday and Thursday's will be miserable.  I guess I won't have Friday nights off like I hoped! :(

Tonight after work is my second session with Carolina.  This is when we really get started! Yippee!

Thanks for letting me vent! Also, If it ever comes to a vote, I'm voting YES for a 30 Hour Day!
~Shana

YUM! VEGAN PROTEIN SHAKES

Last night was my first session with my personal trainer, Carolina.  Besides how petite and cute she is, I like her.  I don't want to hang out and go drink beer with her or anything crazy like that though.  She took it pretty easy on me last night.  We did a bunch of different lunges, squats, etc. just to work on technique and see how much weight I need for different excercises.  The best thing was she didn't freak out that I try to follow a mostly vegan diet.  I didn't try to explain to her Cheese Saturdays! :)  Most trainers freak out about not getting enough protein when I tell them that I work out and try to eat as vegan as possible.  She simply said there are alot of different soy protein shakes out there and I should find one I like because I need to have at least one a day.  My first experience with the chocolate vegan protein shakes I bought was not positive.  I didn't own a blender so I mixed the powder with a spoon into a glass of soy milk.  I took one drink...DISGUSTING.  I took a second drink just to make sure I was correct the first time, which I was, then poured the rest down the sink.  Luckily for me Santa gave me a Hamilton Beach Wave Crusher Blender for Christmas!  Doesn't my blender sound so intimidating??  Don't mess with us!  And how did Santa know there were protein shakes in my future? That guy! Anyhoo..when I got back from the gym last night I got out the Wave Crusher (Grrrrr!)  mixed a cup of water, some ice, the protein shake mix, and 6 strawberries and I got to say, not bad!  I drank the whole thing! Tonight's menu...Vegan Vanilla Protein Shake with strawberries and blueberries. Watch out!

Cheers!
Shana

It's Official!

Well, it is now official!  This morning I paid $86.20 to run the GO! St. Louis Half Marathon.  The $75 cut-off was 12/31/10, so it was $80.  There was some processing fee too.  While registering you have to agree to keep a 13:44 mile pace through mile 9.  I thought this was kinda funny, because what happens if you don't?? Do they throw you in the Mississippi?  Yesterday I bought a Under Armor Cold Gear shirt and pants, so Im ready to do some running outdoors in the cold!  This race might very well put me in the poor house between the gym membership, personal trainer, cold gear, and race fee!  I think I am all set now though. 

Everybody has been real supportive! Thank you soo much! Here is an example of some of the support I received this week from a co-worker in an email:
Just a little history ..Marathon is named after a man who ran 26 miles by the name of Marathon and then died at the end of it J
Thank you Michelle! Especially for adding the smiley face at the end!

I hope everyone has a good weekend!
Peace in the Streets,
Shana

Baby Steps

I have never blogged or run a half marathon before so bare with me.  I thought it would help hold me accountable for training if I blogged about the whole process. Im going to try and make the blogs a little funny so I don't bore anyone to death.  Plus, if you know me then you know funny/weird/freaky/unusual things happen to me all the time!  Im just a "lucky" person like that!  The half marathon is the GO! St Louis half marathon in the beginning of April.  It costs $75 to sign up so Friday (Pay day!) im going to go ahead and register.  Vergel, Aimee, Erin, and Robin are all training for the half marathon as well so at least im not alone!  Last night I joined v-fit in lafayette square so I have access to a treadmill.  Next Wednesday, I meet with my new trainer, Kelly. Im going to meet with her every Wednesday night until race day.  Tonights agenda: treadmill, treadmill, treadmill.  What am I getting myself into??
Deuces,
Shana