Getting Honest

Honestly I do not want to write the rest of this sentence, but I did not go Saturday to the Team Training :/ I didn’t think it through and stayed up late Friday night. When the alarm went off on Saturday I decided to sleep longer. I volunteered Sat and Sunday this weekend; 3-8 and I had a feeling if I didn't sleep Saturday I would not have the chance to catch up before Monday. My mentor did email me though to see if I made it out and she is going to let me know when she hears back from the rest of her mentees on the team. She is trying to put together a car pool for the kids in the city. This week is Sat at Valley Forge but I have Tam's Wedding Shower and next week is the wedding..So now my first practice will be the first week in June.
I talked to Alyssa, who I ran the NJ Marathon with. We were discussing the change of the training schedule. Now we are going to run for time instead of miles during the week (according to the schedule), but I told her I think it will work if we just treat the min as a ten min mile. So whenever we see run 40:00 we can translate that to run 4 miles. That way we are getting the same mileage if we have a slower pace.

Sunday I met with a friend, in the AM then got a little cleaning done before going to the hospital. When I got home I put some laundry in the washer, went to Wawa to get my lunch for Monday, went back and changed the clothes to the dryer, then went for a run. I ran 4.3 miles in 45 minutes. Went up 2nd Street to Chestnut, to 20th then to Walnut (tried to run through Rittenhouse but the sprinklers were on), then came all the way back on Spruce. It was nice. I find myself picking up the pace when people are watching, then when I am out of view I am like huffing and puffing. I am so grateful to live in the city though because although it probably isn’t the safest to run at night, it is well lit. When I was living at my mom's I used to run around and around the same few streets because the Black Horse Pike is not the most runner friendly street, but there was no running happening at night there. I did have a car though so I could, if I really wanted to, drive to somewhere that was ok to run around at night, but that never happened.

Yesterday morning I was planning on running outside but since it was raining I went to the gym. I was not feeling it. I haven’t been to the gym in probably over a month. I ran a little but walked mostly..2.2 miles in 25 minutes as I watched The Patty Duke Show, which I actually really liked. I thought I was watching Leave it to Beaver when I first saw the mom and dad talking but then it was about Patty, she so irresponsible lol. Anyway I ran/walked as Patty tried to get money to the bank but it was closed and then she lied to her parents, such shenanigans. I really like Black and White television though. When life was simple or so it seemed to be...

I feel like a chump for not making it to the first practice but at the same time it was only a couple miles. I will get there in June and have a goal to make at least two new friends. It is actually kind of hard sometimes to go right out and make friends but luckily there are a lot of people like me who just show up alone and so they start talking and get the opportunity to meet some really awesome, down to earth cats that are all there for the same cause. Then you start talking about why you chose Team in Training and well one thing leads to another and before you know it you are crying together over either a survivor story or someone running in the memory of someone who lost their battle with cancer. It really is a great experience I don’t want to miss.

This morning I ran the Ben Franklin Bridge. The forecast was rain, but luckily 6-7:10am it held off. I was prepared though with my hat and jacket. It was pretty humid and foggy. The picture I took (below) is not the best but it is neat with the train coming over and the skyscrapers engulfed in the clouds. So from my house to the bridge (I ran down Front St by accident but gave me some more mileage) and back was about 5.5 miles. I ran with my friend again, and we walked some of it, so it took about 70 minutes but forget the time I am happy with the 5.5 miles. Can’t forget the .5 either, that is 5 and one half mile bud ha.
This morning when my alarm went off I had to remind myself that I used to wake up at 5:30 every day when I had to be at work by 7am, which was only 5 months ago… And it definitely helps knowing that someone is meeting me, because I know that is at least one more person getting up to run at that hour.




Ben Franklin Bridge 6:45am Wednesday May 18, 2011



I feel good! It is only 9AM, and I am ready for the day :)

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit."~Aristotle