week 7

aloha - I haven't written in awhile.....the teacher headed back to school herself..... and I guess I didn't quite realize how busy I would be. And will be for 1 and 1/2 years.

I am not sure how I am going to handle my more than full time job, training for a marathon AND getting a masters degree. So far every spare moment has been cramming some reading and my "homework" assignments have kept me up WAY past my bedtime. I haven't talked to my family in about 2 weeks.

ok - my fun teacher story. One of my classes was completing a lab - so they looked cute in their goggles and aprons. I accidentally turned on my itunes, "Hey Soul Sister" by Train came on the speaker. Suddenly my WHOLE class broke out in song. "Heyeh.....Heyaaaayeh..." I just had to smile. I excited, they also like GLEE - so we danced to "Don't stop believing" next.

back to running :-)

Saturday's long run was both good and bad.

GOOD, because I went 10 miles (more than the previous week), remembered to bring money, and headed home earlier, so I wouldn't be as far away from home (and water, bathroom, bed, etc). But BAD because I was suppose to go for about 2 hours. 9 miles went by faster than last week, but after that, my body gave up on me. I hit the 10 mile mark, in the bright sun, as I was headed up one side of Diamond Head (the easier side) and had to walk.....So if I want to end my long run on flat ground, I have to run thru Waikiki into town (get ready to walk 3 miles home) or run several times around Kapiolani park (boring!!!!). The next long run, I am scheduled to run ONLY 6 miles (I can't help cracking up :-) But I will probably try for 10 miles.

To recap this week: Skipped run on Monday to get some reading done for school.....Tuesday's planned 60 min run ended after 35 min, shin splits, shuffling feet, even after 30 minutes I wasn't in the groove and I still had to write my paper for school (write the speech I will give at graduation.....interesting assignment).

I have also decided I REALLY NEED new running shoes (Nike Free are too small, second pair should arrive in the next few days.) and that I need to eat an afternoon snack. Lunch is at 11:30 am. There is no way I can do that and still run at 4 pm. I must remember to snack/hydrate about 45 minutes before a run.

Wednesday is meeting day - good thing I made it rest day - too exhausted to get outside.

Brings us to today.....yay! I had energy at the end of the school day....yay! I dug out old running shoes to try......I decided to try for the elusive 60 minutes....The shin splints arrived at about the 15 min mark. I really have to learn how to focus my mind off the pain. I have heard of people who meditate while running. How do they do that? They can't be in Hawaii - since I am convinced cars don't seem to see me when I run and sidewalks have these obstacles. Are these the same people who feel those endorphins while running? I really think these people are urban legends.

I made it to 35 minutes before stopping to asses my blister situation. I forgot, these were the shoes I used to run the marathon. For some reason, I was often plagued with SERIOUS blisters on both feet. After walking for a bit, I finished up the 25 min.

I now have huge blisters on my feet (will they heal before Saturday?) and more reading to do for class. But I am content. I got out there to run.......well, that and I am watching football (yay! NFL season opener!)