Looking Up

Things are looking up. Last Sunday, I ended up running 7 miles at an average speed of 6.0 miles/hour. Not bad given my crappy performance the prior week.

Then, on Tuesday, I ran a 5K in 29:30 which made me really happy. I am working hard to get rid of my 30 min 5K curse this Sunday, so if I am able to keep up my training, I'll be OK.

Thursday was another productive day - 4 miles of running, 1 on the elliptical to cool-off. Let's hope things stay this way. I will have a lot of time on my hands in the next month, so there's no excuse to suck at training.

Tomorrow is cross-training day...I'll probably go to spinning and still run a couple of miles slowly to prepare myself mentally for Sunday.

Sunday should be fun...5K + Beer = Awesome times.

Wish me luck! I'll let you know how it goes.

A Tough One...

I am fighting with my inner runner this week. So far, I have only logged 4 miles, but I am hoping to run a long one tomorrow (6 miles). To compensate, I have gone to my spinning, body combat and body attack (which is amazing), but I still feel guilty.

I have a 5K scheduled for next week and MUST break the 30 min curse. My best 5K time to date is 30:09. If I can cut that time by 9 seconds, I may cry of joy.

Oh - I was also impressed with biggest loser Darris. It's amazing that he was able to run a marathon at ~4 hrs. Inspirational, really.

The birth of "Confessions of a Struggling Runner"

I decided to write this blog to chronicle my attempts to become a better runner. As a former overweight child, running had never crossed my mind until my late 20s (ugh - still not used to admitting my age). I struggle, probably more than most, to stay motivated and to stick to my training plans...but, all said and done, I love the feeling I get after I run. I just hope to get better at it one day.

To give you a little bit of context, I have been running for a little over a year. I am pretty happy with my progress, but I am well aware that I have a long way ahead of me. Still - I deserve some recognition (right?). Just so you all know...The first time I tried running, I gave up after 2 minutes and told my loving and caring significant other to run by himself.

The last race that I ran was a 10-mile run through the city of Philadelphia, the famous Broad Street Run. It was a hot and humid day, and I moved slower than I would've liked to...borderline speed walking speed at a 10.5-minute/mile pace. But I survived, and I have a long-distance race under my belt. That's a start, isn't it?

My goal now is to complete a half marathon in September. I don't have aspirations with regards to speed, but maybe that's the wrong approach. Part of me thinks that I should at least strive to keep 10-minute/mile pace? I have a training plan and a couple of shorter races scheduled to keep me going.

Wish me luck everyone.