PROGRESS!

Hey everyone! I will start off by saying I had another great week of training (as I sit here icing my knees with bags of frozen veg tables!). I am finally beginning to see my endurance improve! I can officially say I am OBSESSED with running AND all things running.

In the beginning of the week I was having a lot of knee pain (primarily in the knee cap) and was starting to freak out. It's too early for any injuries - so I went to the Dr. to check things out. I have since started taking Glucosamine Chondriton and Flax Seed Oil (thanks Rena!), both which help lubricate the joints. That, along with icing my knees and popping the occasional Ibuprofen has REALLY helped the discomfort. I was even able to increase my mileage this week without over doing it.

I feel like every week I have a running break through. This week I reached the milestone of getting through my 6 and 7 mile runs without feeling like I was gonna die. In fact, I learned I can actually carry a conversation well past mile 5 - trust me...that's huge! I also focused on a faster pace (another milestone which we will get to later!).

Over the course of the week I ventured into no man's land AKA Grafton, MA (which is beautiful). It is literally farm after farm - we even made a new best friend, a horse that we named Ginger (seriously, we come up with the most ridiculous things to keep us from getting bored, naming random horses is one of them!).

I just returned a few hours ago from our 7 mile team run. I didn't feel my best today, but I definitely exceeded my expectations. The morning didn't start off very well - I forgot my breakfast and resorted to a packet of GU (energy gel) because my stomach was going crazy before we even started the run. Thanks Coach Kevin, if it weren't for you I would have been toast this morning!

Kristina (another teammate) and I ran together today and boy did we kick some major (excuse me mom!) ass. We were flying! We ran to Westboro and through Tuft's Vet school where we saw some lamas, really big cows, roosters etc.

When we came to our last hill we decided to try out Coach K's hill climbing strategy - running up the hill in a zig-zag form. I'm not even kidding when I say we ran up that hill pretending like we were airplanes (wings out and all!) - I spent more time laughing at myself and "flying" then I did paying attention to the hill I was climbing. Whatever gets the job done!

When all was said and done we finished in 72 minutes (that is INCLUDING 4 short water stops). MUCH better than I expected. I have never been able to carry a 10 minute pace that long - yay for improvement!

Workouts Last Week:
Sunday: Off
Monday: 3 miles/ Body Pump (weight training)
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: 4.2
Thursday: 6.2
Friday: 0ff
Saturday: 7

I also want to thank everyone who has helped me reach the point I'm at. I owe my friends, especially Megan, a BIG thank you for letting me vent about my training and share my successes. To everyone who has contributed to help "wipe out" blood cancer - I can't thank you enough!

If you haven't and would like to contribute, there is a link to my TNT page in the top right-hand corner of my blog.

xxo D