It's Official...

OK folks, it's official... I just signed up for the Phoenix 10k Doubleheader (10K+5K "back-to-back") and the Shun the Sun 1/2 Marathon. Whoop Whoop!  

I hope Jessica makes it down to join me for the Phoenix 10K!  It kinda sucks that I have to keep running even after I finish the race but the race day motivation will easy my pain... Plus it gives me something to do while Tim is out at the sand dunes with the boys!

I have been eyeballing the Shun the Sun event for some time now and finally just went for it!  I am following this first-time/non-runners guide to running a marathon and it has one long run a week.  So I have a 12 mile run in week 7 and jump to a 14 mile in week 8... no 13...  So now I will be adding a mile to week 7 and running the half marathon...  :)   I hope that it doesn't mess me up too bad!  

The best and most reassuring thing that comes from doing organized races is safety.  The last few times I hit the road running, I have been getting a little too close for comfort with dogs!  I now have a pepper spray can that I will be running with.  I just don't know what else to do because now that the weather is nicer people are leaving their dogs out. (Nicer meaning the dog isn't going to die if they just leave it outside)  Also a big safety issue for me is running alone in a city with extremely high crime (scary).  I am in fairly good health so I don't think that I would need medical attention on a run, unless I got hit by a car or something, but it's always nice to have help just in case!  I hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!  Stay out of trouble... and be safe! 

**~KRISTAL~**

 

The Big Ten!

What? Did I just run 10 miles? Sure did! 

It felt awesome to hit the road and finally complete a double digit run!!!   Mark it down, I am officially something like a bad ass!  I love the feeling after defeating a milestone, I am on top of the world right now.  I could probably go back out an run another 10... OK, so maybe not 10 but you know what I mean.  I left the house a little later than I wanted to (7:30am), it was 73 degrees when I finished (felt way warmer).  Mile 9 totally sucked and I finished a little weaker than I was shooting for but there is always redemption next week! 

Next Saturday I have plans for 11 miles!  I might to the Phoenix 10K doubleheader... It would be the 10K and the 5K race back to back... then I would just run an additional 2 miles...  (Hope Jess comes down, it would make it super fun!) 

It was a big week, not only did I do my first double digit run but I also pushed into the 20+ miles a week!  Its amazing how far a little determination will get you.  For any of you out there thinking of taking on this challenge, I know you can do it!  Nobody said it would be easy... but the hard work is the fun part! 

Hard Work + Motivation = More Hard Work

**Seems like the harder I push myself the more I want to!**

(Or a "positive feedback loop" for all you smart people out there!)

**~KRISTAL~**

My Ankle...

I was super worried yesterday because my ankle was hurting just pressing in the clutch driving to school.  I woke up today feeling good so I headed out on my 3 mile run.  I made it!  My ankle felt good at the start but every time I rounded a corner I felt a sharper pain.  Other than cornering, it felt pretty strong.  As I was finishing, my ankle started to feel a little week with a dull pain.  No run tomorrow, I hope a little more rest will do me good for my 10 miler on Saturday!

3 Mile Splits- 7:35, 7:29, 7:29  (Total- 22:34)

Super excited for Saturday!

*~KRISTAL~*

Break It Down

Oh WOW!  That all I have to say about that!  

I am gonna have to break down this run with some bullet points... 

THE FUNNY

• People having nativity scenes in their yards year round... but that isn't really the funny part!  The witches, ghosts, goblins, pumpkins, spider webs and all the other scary Halloween decorations chill'in with baby Jesus is the funny part!  And it seemed that the more elaborate the nativity scene the more the Halloween decor was too!  Maybe its just me but just something about it was hilarious! Passes at least 3 of these bazaar set ups.

• People can't have just one chihuahua....  If there was one chihuahua in the yard, there was at least 4-5 more of those yippy little sh*ts around somewhere.  I must have passed 10-15 houses with multiple chihuahuas in them. 

THE SCARY

• Dogs... BIG DOGS, not chihuahuas...  People can we please not have your pits chasing and barking at me while I am trying to squeeze in a couple miles??   Two pits gave me a good scare today.  I probably ran into about 20 or so dogs that weren't on a chain/leash or in a fenced in yard...  They were just running around the streets!  The little ones aren't so bad but the big ones are scary!  See that heart rate jump just before mile 3?  Yeah that was the pits!

THE UGLY TRUTH

• I live in a nice little neighborhood.  The houses and yards are well kept, people drive nice cars, we even have little community parks with green grass and little playgrounds for the kiddos.  But within 2 miles or so of our perfect little neighborhoods, people are living in some of the worst conditions!  Houses held together with plywood and metal scraps... broke down cars... mangy mistreated animals... children that should be in school walk'in the streets... It's just a darn shame!  I feel super selfish right about now, I need to find a way to help!  Any ideas??

THE BAD PART OF THE RUN

• I twisted my ankle!  BOOOOO and not like a scary ghost BOO but a this might really suck BOO!  It doesn't seem to be that bad but bad enough to make me finish my run and come straight back to the house and ice it....  I don't have to run tomorrow so I hope that a day rest will be enough!!!!!

THE GOOD PART OF THE RUN

• Did I total just smash this run? Yes, yes I did!  I ran 5 miles in 39:02.  Oh yes, that is correct, a 7:48 mile pace!  Aside from my ankle stiffening up on me at the end, it felt good, and I kept pace pretty good!  

I have a short 3 mile run on Thursday and the BIG 10 mile run on Saturday!  I am excited! 

*~KRISTAL~*

I rock my own socks off!

At this point in my training I thought that I would be struggling both physically and mentally. Surprisingly neither have been an issue, yet!  On Sunday it felt like I was starting to get shin splints but I squashed it with some anti-inflammatory meds and stretches.  I am certain it was because the uneven surfaces on my lake run Saturday.  Everything I read emphasizes that running long distances is a mental game, it's all in your head, and after running 8 miles of hills I am convinced it's true!  When it comes down to it, I know I can!

What a scary week!!
So what does Halloween have in store for this running maniac???...  I have two major hurdles to overcome!  This week I will running my first 10 mile training run and I will be breaking 20 miles for my weekly total!  This week will be like going trick-or-treating, it's in the bag, guaranteed.  More miles behind me!

*-KRISTAL-*

Camping, Running, Good Times!

I wish I could stay at the lake forever!  I finally got the view I had been hoping for BUT all good things come at a price.  The price for my beautiful desert lake view-- 8 MILES OF HILLS!! Ouch! Yikes!  Not only did I have a hilly terrain to conquer, I also left the campsite without my water and sun glasses!  I was wishing I had water from about mile one... at mile 5 I spotted a water fountain outside a restroom area, finally a little water!  I planned the remainder of my route around restrooms in the park that I would be able to get some water from.  I found myself squinting a lot but managed just fine without the sunglasses.  My legs felt like a bowl of Jello, I would have to say it was a pretty good run, it was a success!   

(8 Miles, 8:10 Pace, 1:05:24 Total Time)

A view from the top!

Me and my boys! (Tyson, Kristal, Tim and Jack)

When I am not running I live in Crocs!  

I am sporting khaki shorts, mid calf white socks and Camo Mammoth Crocs!

You Know You Love It....

*-KRISTAL-*

The Ultimate Fairgoer!

Go big or go home!  There is nothing quite like ruining a run day by going to the fair!  It all started at the house when I was getting ready... I ate a caramel apple!  YUM!  I arrived at the fair grounds hungry for the good greasy food that was sure to be at any decent fair.  I started out with a burger topped with cheese, pickles, lettuce and tomatoes (No Sauce! Yuck!) and of course a basket of fries.  YUM!  It was dripping with grease and I ate up every little bite!  We walked around aimlessly for a little while (Played the AZ Lotto, hope'n to win the mega million!) and worked up an appetite for sweet corn.  Who goes to the fair and doesn't eat sweet corn?   YUM!  Then we rocked out to Blake Shelton!  Awesome!  Once again I was ready for another snack... I headed straight for the funnel cake stands, I opted for the classic funnel cake with powder sugar topping!  YUM YUM YUM!!!  We road the Ferris wheel and I was ready for more!  CHEESE FRIES!  A huge block of cheese fries!  YUM!  I don't think I need to eat for at least a week... I had a blast, every bite was worth it!

In the sheep barn!

Play'n the Lotto, wish us luck!

Blake Shelton concert! 

Death by cheese fries!

It was a good day!  I ran an amazing run in the AM and ate like a queen in the PM!  Now I am going to have to work extra hard on Saturday to make up for my night out!  Although it felt like I walked at least 10 miles last night, I still feel a little guilty!  Time to get back to work!!

*-KRISTAL-*

What The 62 Degrees Is Going On Here???

The Run
I can't believe it myself, must be a dream!  I got up this morning and put on my usual shorts and tank-top.  I was prepared to sweat my little patooty off.  To my surprise I was cold... I know but it's true... only 62 degrees!  The sky was a dark blueish black, I thought for a minute that I might get dumped on but I was successful in dodging the rain.  Not only was the morning cloudy with a cool breeze but I also ended up running faster than I normally do!  Kristal is on a ROLL.  She is a running machine and is super stoked right now!  Life is good!  I ran 3 miles in 22:19, 7:26 pace!  Oh how I am gonna miss my 3 mile runs...

Arizona State Fair
Because I did so well this morning, I think I will reward myself with a trip to the state fair.  I will eat lots of junk food and rock out to Blake Shelton!  OK, you got me, I was already going to go but now I won't feel so bad for spoiling myself!!!  (Jess I know how much you like pictures so I will report the fair and post pictures for you!)

Camping This Weekend
This Saturday I have a 8 mile run planned but I will be on some campground here in AZ.  No worries, my Garmin will work at the lake!  Talk about a way better view than the ghetto streets of Avondale!  My run report will have to wait until Sunday.  (Jess I know how much you like pictures so maybe I will have Tim ride his bike next to me and snap a few shots of me running for you!)

*-KRISTAL-*

Mr. Cloud; How I longed to see you in the sky!

Can you say clouds?  YES! YES! YES!  Finally getting a break from the warm/hot running temps and that blistering sun!  A girl could get used to this!  Whoop Whoop!

It was 66 degrees when I started my run this morning and only 67 when I finished.  It was beautiful from start to finish.  Above is the starting picture from the house and below is the ending picture.

Today was a medium length run day, only 5 miles.  It was a good run from the get go!  Some days you just want to run, today was that day... I soaked up the motivation and hit the road.  I completed the 5 miles in 40:01, averaging an 8:00 mile pace!  Here are the results from this mornings run:

It even looks like I am starting to get some muscles....

Thursday is a short recovery run day of 3 miles.  Saturday will finish up the week with a long run of 8 miles!  Sometimes I think to myself that I should run more... I should be putting more miles down!  I am following a beginners/first time marathon running guide and it stresses increasing your miles slowly.  Increasing miles to quickly or not taking days off can lead to injury and that is just no good!  Miles will come with time... by week 10- 34 miles a week and week 12- 36 miles!  

I HEART RUNNING!

-Kristal

3 miles of bliss!

I was feeling a little unmotivated this morning. So tired, so so tired!  Even after I got out of bed I was thinking to myself... "It's only 3 miles, how is missing 3 miles gonna matter much?"'  Needless to say, I put on my running shoes and sluggishly headed out the front door.  As I was doing a little pre-run stretching I realized this run could go one of two ways...  I could let my unmotivated spirit take over and just complete the run OR I could fight myself and get motivated for an awesome run.  I chose to fight, get motivated and have an amazing run!!  Not only did I have a good run but it was my fastest 3 mile run since I began this journey.  I am crossing boundaries that seemed impossible at first and I am so excited that I have the strength to accomplish my goals. Another 3 blissful miles in the books, 16 more for the week! 

3 Miles

Total Run Time: 23:10

Mile Splits: 1st-7:53, 2nd-7:41, 3rd-7:35

Too Late... Too HOT!

I hit the road running at 9:30am... big mistake!  The sun was high in the sky and there was no shade in sight.  I told myself to start off slower because I knew I would never make it if I started out fast. I wanted to average between 8:15-8:20.  I ended up averaging 8:26 for the 7 miles, I'll take it!  Although it felt as if death was upon me at about mile 4, I kept going... and at mile 5 I ran out of water!  It was about 84 degrees during the run, I would have bet it was in the 90's!!!  When I got home, I chugged a whole bottle of ice cold water! SOOOOO GOOOD!

Now its time to eat a bowl of MultiGrain Cheerios!  Good workout, good start to the weekend and an awesome end to Week 3 of training! Only 13 more weeks to go!! 

Kristal OUT!

Pace Yourself...

Well today I had a short run, only 3 miles, so I thought it would be a good day to concentrate on my pace!  I am quite pleased with the results.  My first mile was 8:00, second mile was 7:59 and I finished my third mile at 7:53.  I haven't really set a goal for my pace during the Marathon, I hope I have a better idea once I get to running my 16 and 18 mile days in weeks 9-12.  Just as long as I don't walk, just keep running, I think I will be happy!  Tomorrow I rest and Saturday I finish the week with a 7 mile run!  WHOOP WHOOP!

Words of Wisdom!

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

Today was a 4 mile run, felt good! I finally set up my Garmin so that next time I run, I will have split times for each mile! I am working on my pacing (I really suck at it!).  Not so important for short runs but for long runs... I might die!

My route this morning. Not too bad but wish I had something more beautiful to look, there are power lines in that big empty section and its just brown and desert-ish. I have to find a good place for Saturdays ("long" run days), so I can really put some miles behind me!!!!

The Average Run

Today was an average run. Wasn't fast, wasn't slow... Wasn't easy, wasn't hard... Wasn't hot, wasn't cold... But do you know what it was?  It was another 3 miles down!!!  It was the start of week 3!!!  I feel good!!!  I have a total of 17 miles to run this week, I am super excited.  It really felt great Saturday to put some miles in (6 to be exact), this Saturday I have a 7 mile run!  Although my "long" run days increase by at least a mile each week, I get to hold on to my "short" 3 mile run days for another 2 weeks!!   I kept somewhat of a pace this morning which is good.  All is well in Kristal-World...

Breaking point... or not?

Well I didn't make it to the Cactus ChaCha run but I still had a 6 mile run to do!  

At about 3 1/2 miles into my run I hit a wall and it felt like I had 20 lbs weights on my ankles... I seriously wanted to quit, just walk home!  Instead of giving up, I blocked out all of the negative and kept pressing on. The next time I looked down at my Garmin, I had already ran 4 1/2 miles.  Just a mile back I wanted to quit and now I felt strong again!  It is amazing what determination can do, it is a powerful drug!  Other than catching a stoplight at the end of my run, I stayed steady and finished with a decent pace for 6 miles (8:15). 

(Green Line: Elevation, Blue Line: Pace, Red Line: Heart Rate)

Triathlon??? For Sure!

Tim and I biked 8 miles tonight! It was a good change up from running! Made me want to get a road bike and start training for triathlons!!  I see a triathlon in the near future, one hurtle at a time... I need to finish this marathon first!!!  Tomorrow I am going to show up and try to last minute register for the Cactus ChaCha trail run! It is a 7 mile trail run in the White Tank Mountain Regional Park, sounds exciting!!  Hopefully I can drag Tim out of bed to snap some photos for me. Now that Jess showed me how to post my Garmin results I will show you tomorrows run. Wish me Luck!!!!!

Piglets and Breakfast!

It's not uncommon to find roadkill when running! Earlier this week I saw a flattened snake and a stiff chihuahua... but today, today I saw a piggy! I felt so sad seeing a roadkill piggy that I came home and cooked up some bacon and sausage!! Dang, that was some good pig! (Not the roadkill pig, the pig I had in my fridge!) YUM YUM YUM Oh yeah, the run was good, it was a "short" run day so I only had to run 3 miles! Saturday is a "long" run day, so I will be running 6 miles! 

My total run time was 23:25, average mile split was 7:48. My heart rate was between 160-171 BPM and I burned 321 calories! I will be contacting the all so intelligent Miss Jessica to get some graphs posted but for now... I give you my breakfast! 

Jessica's Post!

Jessica, my dearest cousin... You have requested for me to "start posting your garmin stats! Elevation, HR and Pace!"   I tried to find a way to copy the cool graphs from my Garmin Training Center but me and computers don't do well together so I hope this will satisfy you!


Average HR-165 BPM 
Max HR- 173 BPM
Resting HR- 59 BPM
Average Pace- 7:57 Per Mile
Max Pace- 6:55 Mile
Average Speed- 7.5 MPH
Max Speed- 8.7 MPH
Total Distance- 4 Miles
Total Time- 31:48
Total Calories- 427 
Total Ascent- 262 ft
Total Descent- 271 ft


Route! Sorry about the extremely squiggly lines.... but this is roughly where I ran this morning!

The Five Mile Reward Program!

Ran 5 miles this morning... Completely ruined my workout by eating a delicious Smash Burger for lunch! (Well worth it I might add!)  It was 82 degrees when I hit the road running this morning at 7am... I finished slow but I finished! Timmy rewarded me with some fancy new shoes, shorts, tank and reflective belt! Exercise gear is expensive, I think I am up to 4 sets of running outfits now! Something like a BAD ASS!!!!