Long time, no talk

Hello, readers! My apologies for my absence as of late! My schedule is just not conducive to blogging these days. Hopefully it'll ease up in August after I move (yay!)!

Maybe I do neglect the blog, but there's definitely something I don't ever neglect... Yep. It's training! Things have been crazy, and they're just getting crazier. I like sticking to plans though. It's like an addiction. Check out my recent schedule.



I've had a couple amazing runs recently! I've also had a couple not-so-amazing runs, but that just happens from time to time. As a new runner, it's still really hard for me to decide whether to suck it up and push or whether to ease my pace and relax, but I usually sort it out in my head before I'm totally out of steam.

FYI: When I say that it's really hard for me to decide whether to push harder or whether to slow down, I mean it's REALLY hard. I hate admitting weakness; I'm one of those people!

This morning, for example, I was scheduled to do a smooth 3-miler, but after biking 15 miles with my roommate last night, my legs were just not working with me. I had to walk a couple blocks around mile 1.5 and again around 2.5. As it was happening, I was so embarrassed. I never walk on my short runs. I hung my head for most of the day until I could talk to some other runners about the experience, and they were able to ease my mind a bit.

"Sometimes it happens, and it happens to everyone."
"People can't be ready to run strong 24/7/52/365/whatever."
"We're human."
"We have good days and bad days."

It doesn't mean that your training is down the toilet or that you're some sort of failure. It just means that that day is not your best and that tomorrow will be better. Keep on truckin'.

Running humbles me. Daily.

So... Let's talk about upcoming events! I have a couple races coming up, as you might have seen on the schedule above.

First, there's the Magnolia Run this Saturday.



It's a 4-mile run a few miles north of the city. Should be pretty flat and fast--I think it'll be a nice change of pace.

Then, next Saturday, there's Muddy Buddy!



Oh yes, my darlings! I'm doing another mud race! This one is a bit different than the Warrior Dash because you do the whole thing with a buddy. You and your buddy have one bike between the two of you that you share throughout the race. There are 6 1-mile legs, all separated with obstacles. For each leg, one buddy runs while the other one bikes, and then you switch running and biking at each obstacle. You don't have to do all of the obstacles together, but you have to do the last one together, which is crawling through mud! Woohoo!

I'm doing the race with my friend Rusty, who recently moved to Baltimore but is coming back to do Muddy Buddy.

My roommate Jessica is doing it, too. She's buddying with our friend Patrick. Our friends Paul and Emily are going to be buddies, as well! It's going to be SO. MUCH. FUN.

Here are some pictures of the buddies. This is Paul, Rusty, and Patrick:



This is Paul, Emily, and Jessica:



There's going to be some serious craziness on the course!