End of 1st month

Last night was the first time I have ran over a 10k since being back from being injured!! It feels great to finally feel like I'm getting back into running shape without anything really hurting me while I run :) When I started out last night I was planning on just doing 6. There's a loop out in the country that I know is a 6 miler starting from my house and I wanted to make sure I was out of the country area before it got too dark on me! I made it safely to the lit up area before complete darkness fell upon me. And after I did the first couple of miles I was feeling great.  As I approached my house, I wasn't at the 6 mile marker quite yet (only .15 off) and I like to make my stopping point a little distance away so I can walk back to my house a little distance. So I continued to run straight down to the next road into the surrounding neighborhood but once I got to the turn to go back towards my house I was already at 6 and a quarter so I decided I might as well just run 7 miles tonight since I'm so close anyways.  Then once I got to 7, I was only a few minutes away from running for a whole hour so I went just a little farther.  I got in that hour long run and 7.5 miles! I was pretty happy that I was able to increase my distance mileage without any pains going on in my legs and I think I'm going to try to do the same next Saturday if I'm feeling good too! Maybe hit 8 next weekend, slowly but surely increasing that distance :)

But this morning my white board calendar had ended the days on the month I have been working off of so it was time to erase and start the next month on it.  I decided it was time to add up my mileage from the starting day of May 22 (I have already donated 52 of my miles to my charity) to see where I am at.  Since May 22 I have logged 108 miles!! I'm hoping that next month it will be increasing by at least 50 more miles so hopefully by the end of July it will be another 150+ miles that I will be at. My shorter runs are starting to get longer and so are the longer runs so it should be pretty easy, I'm thinking, for me to long at least 150 miles in!

Tiffany

Busy Week

This week has been a very busy week, which is the reason for posting a week late.  Last Saturday I was able to run the 6 miles. I had gotten up at 4 in the morning and did insanity before I had to be at work at 5:30 to work at farmer's market all day then I proceeded to take a nice long nap when I got home from work for 3 hrs! After I finally woke up from my nap, I left to go running around 8:45-9:00.  I felt pretty good and kept a steading pace.
Then on Sunday my family went up to Pine Crest for Father's Day.  For those of you who do not know where or what Pine Crest is; it is a lake on the way up to Sonora about an hour and a half away from Modesto.  It was so gorgeous up there and the weather was absolutely perfect! We BBQed hamburgers and had a few side dishes to go along with it, delicious meal!! Did not actually get into the water since it was absolutely freezing; we've had a lot of snow melt off lately and that is what the lake is full of so there was no way I was getting in with the snow being on the mountain still a couple weeks ago! I did my run up there but made it a shorter one of 2 miles since the night before was a little longer.
Monday night ended up being an awesome run! I wasn't really looking forward to going out and doing it but once I got going I actually felt great. Before I got to running I was only planning on doing another short one for the night since I wasn't really in the mood but as I was going I decided I at least do 3 or 4.  Well I ended up going out even farther and completed 5 miles that night at a steady 7:45 pace so I was pretty happy with that!
Then Tuesday night, I was out at a friend's house. We went swimming after we ate some dinner and his friend got over to his house from work.  When we got out it was around 9:45 and I still had to go out and do my run.  I was able to convince him to go out with me (the same friend who ran with me last time) since it was later, I don't think he wanted me to go out by myself.  I told him we'd only do a mile but we doubled that and did a whole 2 miles! haha The first mile we held a good 8 min mile but then the way back we were running pretty fast keeping a 7:25 pace whenever I looked down at my watch.  So he is getting in a lot better shape than the last time we ran together because he was not dying on me this time!!
Wednesday morning ended up being a horrible run since the previous 2 nights had been harder ones.  Even though the night before was only 2 miles, I still ran pretty fast on both those runs so my legs were definitely feeling it! I did 3 miles but they were slow and my legs were screaming at me.
Thursday felt great again! I took the 3 girls that I'm cross training from the swim team out to the path by the river next to my house.  The sun was pretty intense already at 8 in the morning but not bad enough to not be able to run yet.  There were a few shaded spots on the path but most of it was out in the sun.  I ran a little farther than I had them go but they are getting faster and in better running shape than last Thursday when I ran with them so that made me happy and glad that they are starting to enjoy it more!
Finally, last night was a very short 1 mile run than was not fun to do at all. I was really tired because I had driven up to Chico right after I finished the run Thursday and had stayed up late Thursday night but worth it since I got to hang out with some great people! So by the time I drove back home yesterday and got my run in I was exhausted and I was having some pains going on so that didn't help the running.  But Friday morning I had an appointment with my chiropractor up in Chico, oh man does he work wonders! He used this tool and scraped at my ankle with it because my achilles was inflamed some from when I fell back in April on my ankle. When he bent my foot back before it was still in pain but after he used the tool my achilles was no longer in pain so hopefully the tissue will not build up again and stay un-inflamed.
Well I'm about to go on my run for tonight so I will catch you all later and I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend!!

A Few Days

Sorry guys its been a busy last few days here for me!  I've been working at this place called the Pure Joy Bakery/Lunchpail doing Farmer's Market and working the lunch shift in the store bringing the sandwiches out to the customer's so when I get home I haven't been taking the time to fill you in on my running progress.  This week has been going very good!  On Sunday I went running with one of my friends, he used to be in really good shape but he died on me that night haha. We ended up only doing 1.7 miles but we were keeping a really good pace of 7:30, I was hoping to get in 3-4 miles but I was fine with stopping when he needed to.  Then Monday through Thursday I have been doing 3-4 miles each time, slowly building my ability to keep higher mileage consecutive days in a row.  I've decided I actually really enjoy running at night time after dinner has been finished.  It is so peaceful out at night, sometimes a little sketchy but luckily my town/neighborhood is a pretty safe area so I don't feel uncomfortable running around at 9 at night.  Last night I went out at 9:15 and ran around 10, at first I wasn't sure how far I was going to be able to go but I ended up getting in a solid 4 miles and feeling pretty good most of the time.  While I was out running I got a little freak out when I ran past a skate boarder, he looked a little strange but he was harmless and went on his own way.  It's just a little more scary coming across some people at night rather than during the day, especially since I'm not running with my cell phone or anything to protect me but my own pure speed...which wouldn't help me much if someone were to grab me.  I am really looking forward to being up in Chico next weekend and being able to run up there for a few days! I'm going to try and make Saturday a 6 mile run so wish me luck and I'll be updating you after I finish it!  :)

Tiffany

Night Run

Ended up going for a night run tonight...and it felt amazing!!! I was only going to go out for a mile since it was 10:45 but as I got running I was feeling awesome so I just decided to keep going.  I ended up only doing 4 because I didn't want my mom to think something happened to me since the creepers are normally out at night time otherwise I probably would've continued for another 2 or 3 miles.  The temperature was absolutely perfect, it a was a little breezy but just enough to cool you off and not make it feel like you're running backwards almost.  I ran around the neighborhoods, it felt like the safest option rather than running out in the orchards or on the banks of the river where the bums hang out and sleep at night.

I'm really glad I have decided to do this goal of running everyday for a whole year because on the days where I'm just feeling a little bit lazy, I get up and get going and usually feel great afterwards and really happy that I got out there even if it ends up only being a mile.  Like today, I was originally planning on waking up at 4 am to get my run in before I had to be at work at 5:30 but somehow my phone got turned off in the middle of the night and my alarm didn't go off so I woke up to my mom telling me it was 10 after 5 and I was supposed to leave in 5 mins to get to work on time! So needless to say that morning run definitely did not happen leaving it to happen when I got home from work, which didn't happen until around 4:15 and by that time I was really tired.  Anyways it forces me to get outside and get that run in and tonight ended up being an awesome run but if I weren't doing this running everyday for a whole year challenge, I wouldn't have ever fit in that run.  I hope everyone is having a great weekend and making some plans for next weekend for Father's Day!! :)

Tiffany

Summer is finally here!

Since I have been home, we pretty much have still been in winter until yesterday! Yesterday was the first day we surpassed 80 degree temps :) It's nice to finally get some warm weather after all the rain we've been having lately. But it does make running a little more difficult if I don't get up and do it early in the morning because then I have to wait until after 8 to get it in. On Tuesday, I did my run around 8:15 and went on the trail along the river. I decided that I will probably no longer be doing that run at that time anymore...bad idea! Forgot that bugs come when the sun is setting, definitely got bugs flying at me in my eyes and mouth! Wasn't too much fun running with my eyes closed on a dirt path but I managed and ran through the swarm of bugs.  Also with the weather not warming up, all the plants and trees are not drying out which leads to allergies still being extremely bad which makes it really difficult to get up in the mornings because my eyes feel like I've been crying for days so yesterday ended up being a 2 miles treadmill run in the afternoon followed by a great weight workout :) sometimes there can be benefits to running on a treadmill haha.

So this morning's run ended up being just a little bit longer than planned. My swim coach Ervin is wanting me to cross train a couple of the girls on the swim team so I am taking them out running with me every Monday and Thursday.  Since they are not used to running at all, I'm slowly easing them into it. So Monday I took them out for a small 2 mile run but added in a tiny hill up the overpass to push them a little harder.  Then today I was only planning on doing a 3 mile run but the loop I took ended up being 3.8, also adding in 2 overpasses to today's run so we got in 2 little hills to climb up.  I wish I had a great big park to take them to here so its prettier/more enjoyable than running through town all the time. But one of the girl's lives on a ranch and so I think next week we're going to go there and do a run in the orchards!

Found a charity to donate to :)

http://www.crowdrise.com/yearlongfundraisinga1

Above is the link to connect to a website where you can connect to my page to donate to a charity called Tyler's Hope for Dystonia Cure Inc.  It is a non-profit organization committed to funding neurology research to prevent and cure DYT1 Dystonia; while creating awareness of this disorder. Dystonia is a neurological movement disorder characterized by involuntary muscle contractions, which force certain parts of the body into abnormal, sometimes painful, movements or postures. Dystonia can affect any part of the body including the arms and legs, trunk, neck, eyelids, face, or vocal cords.  I am hoping to help raise as much money for this charity as possible and I will also be donating as I continue to run my mileage every day!


Surprisingly on Sunday, the day after the finish of RTO, when I went out for my mile long run it was not near as painful as I was expecting it to be. I was still sore from the hill running and my calves were a little tight but if it wasn't for being out running at 10 pm or that I don't want to re-injure myself, I probably could've gone out for a 3 to 4 mile run.  Then yesterday I went out for my run after I finished swim practice.  I am now running Monday's and Wednesday's with a few girls on the swim team that my swim coach wants me to give them a hard workout running to give them some cross training.  So we only went out for a 2 mile run since they never really run and I didn't want to kill them too bad on their very first day of it! But we did run up and overpass and I made them run up a very small hill 5 times to give them a little bit a hard work :)


So far this adventure has been really fun and I love that it makes me get off my butt for at least 10 minutes everyday, not that I sit down much as it is, but sometimes those lazy days will creep up on you.  I hope you are enjoying it so far and now you'll get to hear from both Liz and me :)


Tiffany

RTO - Reno Tahoe Odyssey

The last few days have been some of the most tiring but fun days ever! Starting on Friday, June 3rd, I participated in a running relay event called Reno Tahoe Odyssey.  It consisted of 12 runner's who ran throughout the night completing 178 miles total :)  It was an awesome experience and I couldn't have asked for better teammates especially those who put up with having me in the car (April, Paul, Sonya, Ramon, and Jessica)! We started at 2 pm on Friday afternoon with April taking the 1st leg and finished around 1:10 pm on Saturday, June 4th, with Lisa pulling in the rear.  I ran a little over 15 miles total between all my legs and happily caught some people on the last 2 legs! I was so thankful that my legs and hip held up with me throughout all the runs.  I was afraid that either my shins or my hip were going to crap out on me during some point of the runs but they came out strong and not feeling bad today either so it looks like I'm getting back to being able to run longer without injury! I say that everyone who enjoys running should put themselves through the pain of doing a relay journey at some point in their running careers...totally worth the pain and lack of sleep!