Training Proogram Selected

As the title says I have selected a training program. I have decided to go with the Hal Higdon Novice 1 training program. I looked at a bunch of options and decided that this one fit into my everyday life and was the most flexible when it came to having to move runs around. Because I work freelance sometimes my long runs need to be on Fridays and sometimes they need to be on Saturdays and this program allows me to move long runs around between Friday, Saturday, and Sunday due to the fact that scheduled Friday is a rest day, Saturday is cross training, and Sunday is long run.

This week we are in right now my long run will be tomorrow Saturday and I am hoping to hit the 2 mile mark so that when I start in on the Higdon training I am right up to mileage. Next week my long run will be on Friday because on Saturday morning I will be driving to LosAngeles to see the Chinese Theater as well as the walk of Fame and then flying back to Missouri.

Ok so I have included the plan I will be following as well as the link to the Hal Higdon website because he has a bunch of training programs for all different distances.
http://www.halhigdon.com/ 

 Have a great weekend everyone!

-Felicia

Welp here goes nothing

All right so this blog is back in action! This afternoon I did a crazy thing and set a goal for my end of year race. I may not meet all of my 14 in 14 races this year but I will run my first half marathon! That is right you heard me correctly I have officially registered for my first half! So what that means is that this blog has just become my outlet of all things good, bad, and other wise about training for this half.
About my new adventure... I will be running the NYCRUNS Running Festival of Lights on November 23 in Sore Road Park Pier in Brooklyn, NY.

 

Th rest of this post for the most part is going to be clips from the website about the race.

The route claims to be fairly flat the only downside I see to it is that it is a double loop which means you are looking at the same scenery for the whole time...something I usually try not to do so that I don't get bored with what's around me and start focusing on the fact that my left leg hurts or my right side aches a little or my left foot fell asleep a mile back...but I will start early incorporating this into the training plan. 

Alright well there you have it the details of my first half marathon. Training will start for real at the top of next week. This week I will find a training plan I like and I will try to increase my short run to 2miles. 

-Felicia

Week 4

Wekk 4 went great the weather was perfect and it just felt good. It left me feeling happy and confident that I could do this. I finished stations 6 and 7 of We Get LOST in Running during week 4. I am very close to finishing the We Get Lost in Running Series which means I am going to need some more virtual runs/races to enter. Virtual races for me are like setting goals. Though there is no one else there to run with me it is my way of setting a distance goal and a training period to meet said goal. i have also found that in my line of work doing big races in person is almost impossible because I very rarely know where I am going to be for an extended period of time.

I started week 5 today and will be starting it again on Wednesday. It didn't go well so I am going to try Week 5 Day 1 all over again. I had to walk the last running section because I was feeling over heated and like a hunk of metal instead of a person. But this will not get me down I am determined to finish Couch to 5k before I leave California for the summer!

Well time to shower and head to the beach! I hope everyone has a lovely Monday.

-Felicia

Only Time Will Tell

I have been away for a while I know the third year of graduate school was killer! But it is over and I can happily say that I now have 2 MFA degrees one in lighting design and one in scenic design! However I can also say that I am not the 9 mile runner I was before year three started, which is a little sad but sometimes you have to postpone one goal to reach another. Now that graduate school is over I am on to my next grand adventure and right now that means living in California.

Let me tell you if you have not ran in a long time California is the place to start over! The weather is always amazing you don't have to deal with those 100 degree days or the fact that it has rained 12 days in a row. I have been here since the middle of May and can tell you it has not rained one time since I have been here and that it has been 65-70 degree and sunny every day! (I am getting spoiled) I have decided to start over from my beginning which was the couch to 5k app back in 2011. I chose this path to start over because it worked so well for me the first time. Couch to 5k for me was an easy increase in time and distance that led me to being a 9 mile runner.

My goal for the summer is to finish the couch to 5k program as well as to get a  full running 5k back under my belt. Right now I just finished Week 3 Day 3 of an 8 week program so I am well on my way. My next goal following the running a full 5k is to get said 5k under 40:00 this is something I want to do more than I can explain.

I will say life is tough right now I live in a three hour time difference from all of my family and my other half which means talking to people is almost impossible on a regular basis. I also have found that the only time I really find me is when I am running all the rest the time I am worrying about how my relationships are holding up in this weird time warp I feel like I live in.

I don't think I will be an every day blogger again for a while but I will try and post at least once a week about my runs and the cool things I get to do in California!

-Felicia 

Coming back

I have been gone for a long period of time from this whole writing thing. I have also been gone from the healthy eating and running thing...This month marks my 2 year anniversary of running!

Two years ago someone told me that I was getting fat and I needed to do something about it before they left...so I did. I started running I found a home and friends in the running community. That person is now gone from life and I still am a runner. I run now because it helps to keep me sane and to help me feel better about myself. I have been out of running for a few months due to injury, ice, and thesis graduation, but all of those things will be done and over on Friday...MEANING I GET TO START RUNNING AGAIN ON SUNDAY!!!! Ok lets be real it will be Monday, i will take the weekend to sleep and catch up on the mountain of homework I am behind on...But still excitement is upon us!

-Felicia

2014 Goals

I have been putting off writing this post for the last 7 days...and here is why it is yet again another new year which means another set of new goals...and lets be honest most people don't stick to there New Years Resolution. But I shall write them any ways and ask that you guys help to keep me on track.

Goals:
1) Run my first half marathon
2) Loose the extra weight...close to 20-25lbs.
3) Graduate with my MFA
4) Write more meaningful posts
5) Finish 14 in 2014
6) Learn more about plant based eating and what works for my body to feel/work it's best

As of today I weigh 161lbs and by this time next year I would like to weigh 135-140lbs. Also as of today I am on regular 2 mile runs and as you can see I would like to run a half this year...I need to find one that I like/will be around to do and register because then I will do the correct training to make this goal possible.
This year I finished 13 in 2013 and loved every second of it and this year I am registered for 14 in 2014...I will be doing mostly virtual races due to the fact I move around so much right now it is hard to know if I will be around the time of a race happening.


I hope every one had a lovely holiday season and hit the ground running!

-Felicia

A Year this Weekend

This weekend marks one year since I ran my first race. Yep that was the coolest feeling in the world. However in the last year I have had some peaks and valleys in my running. Peaks include completing my goal of 13 in 2013. This means that between January 1 and December 31 I have run at least 13 virtual or registered races. The valleys have been sickness, and a knee injury keeping me off the road.

One of my favorite things I started this year is the Get LOST in Running series. I have earned the medals for the first 3 stations which hang in my house. These 3 medals are a total of 16.8 miles! This series for me has been a great reason to stay motivated. These three medal where each one race for me so one day I completed the 4K, one day I finished the 8K, and one day at the end of the summer I ran the 15K.

 

In continuation in this series I have one medal sitting on my dresser that I want to take out of the package so bad! It is a 16K which is a total of 10 miles! I am so far from being able to run 10 miles at one time right now coming out of this valley I am in. So my plan for this medal is to make it my training medal. This means that as I build in my miles on my weekly runs they will add up to the 10 miles. and help me get to the ability to run the full distance at one time for station 5.

To finish out the original series I have to finish stations 5 and 6. Station 5 is a 14. 3 mile run. My goal is to make this my first half! I want to make station 6 which is 26.1 miles break into 2 half's. Upon finishing the original 6 stations means that I have earned the series medal, however Joe added the last 4 stations from the show

into the series so for me until I finish the last original 3 stations and the added on 4 stations will I truly have earned the series medal.

When all is said and done this series will equal a total of 88.3 miles! This series allowed me 3 races (maybe 4) virtual races in 13 in 2013 and will give me 6 races (maybe 7) in 14 in 2014. Oh right my goal for next year is to run 14 in 2014 like I did in 2013! My other goal is to run my first half marathon before next November, and to break my PR of 39:00 minutes on my 5K. With goals in hand, which I will elaborate on more in a different post, I am ready to start my second year in racing.

-Felicia