Stone Arch Bridge Trail

So yesterday I went for a nice long run with my new friend John. This is the guy who convinced me, while I was drunk late one night in February, to start training for a race of some kind. We ran for 50 minutes straight (other than when my right foot fell asleep), probably about 4.5 miles or so, around a trail at the stone arch bridge. I went on a bike ride around the trail today to take some pictures.

This is where the trail starts. Perfect view of the city.

John said sometimes the water is moving fast enough that it will splash up and cool you off. 

Just really liked this building.

Grainbelt Love!

Kayaking! you can run on some of these bridges, but you can't bike on them :(

Water break. there are several of these located along the trail.

Beautiful!!!

There are a ton of restaurants located along this portion. Can't believe it took me until I was graduated to make it down here. Makes me wonder about all the other things i'm missing.

The hill of death....

John lives less than a mile away from the trial, so I biked to his house (only about a mile) and we left from there. It was a gorgeous day out and I really enjoyed the trail. John knows his way around the trail quite well, and pointed out not only all the wonderful sights, but also the places I could easily stop to get water.(For those of you who don't know, I'm an avid water drinker.) we talked a lot about running while we ran. John informed me of the races he had run, and also about all the different parts of training, and the fact that training for each race is different. So much goes into training, that I'm baffled that anyone ever has time to accomplish such a feat, as running an entire marathon or half marathon. But I will some day. I promise.

All in all, I had a great run, and me and John agreed to try to get together sometime next week to run again.  

Goals/ Reward/ training program

I have a lot of extra time right now since I'm only working 3 days a week, and have no money to spend on extra activities. Pure boredom. So I came up with this plan for training(posted below.) Things will get a bit more complicated when I start my new job and summer school in june. And I just got my schedule for next fall and it looks insane. It's making me doubt my ability to accomplish a half marathon ever. I decided it might be best to put it off until next summer. I don't want to, but I don't know that I'm going to have much time to train while working full time and going to school full time. Anyway I decided what I really need is to set some goals and if I accomplish them I can reward myself.

Goal number 1- Get my teaching license. This should be done on May 11th of next spring. 

Reward- on May 12th I will get a tattoo. I have been wanting to get another one for awhile. on my left hip I will be getting "I hear them all...." This is a quote from one of my favorite songs by Old Crow Medicine Show. This is how I am approaching my teaching. I want to hear every single student, and find ways to help them all. 

Goal number 2- Finish a half marathon by the end of next summer (2012.) 

Reward- Another Tattoo. I know, I've been a bit obsessed since I got the first one. I will be getting "Perfectly Imperfect" tattooed down my right side. This is the way I've tried to start thinking about my body since I've started running. I've wanted this one for a long time, but just couldn't decide where to get it. I want to get it on my foot, but for most job in schools you have to keep tattoos hidden, and I've decided that vertically down my side would be awesome. 

here is my current training program

Sunday- Cross-train or run 2 miles
Monday- Run 2-3 miles
Tuesday- Run 4-5 miles
Wednesday- Cross-train/ Lift
Thursday- Run 2-3 miles
Friday- Run 4-5 miles
Saturday- Rest
Cross-training- 3-4 miles on elliptical or 15-20 miles on bike

There's Too Many Questions to Why I Love You.

I love this weather we've been having :) seriously. I went for a run this morning, and realized I just don't know how the hell people work out in the morning. Everyone says it is the best time of day, but I just don't have enough energy. I ended up walking about half the time. I got up ate and had a nice big glass of water before I went, but this didn't do anything. Surprising considering I'm a morning person and all....

On the plus side, there were some really hot guys outside running without their shirts on. I love summer!

Today I made chocolate cupcakes. my secret ingredient is coffee. Yes, coffee. And I usually try to switch the frosting every once in a while. Today I made cream cheese peanut butter frosting. My magic bullet allowed me to make just enough for the dozen cupcakes I made. I posted the recipe below.

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup peanut butter
4 tablespoons low fat vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup powdered sugar

I just blended these ingredients together until well mixed. So good!!!

Gonna Sing You One More Love Song

I'm officially signed up for my first race, granted it's a short one, but a race none the less. I will be participating in the Annual Dairyfest Cheese Chase 2 mile run in my hometown.

In other news I have been running. quite a bit. Last wednesday I did 4.5 miles, it was so gorgeous out I just couldn't quit. Thursday I did about 3 miles, Friday I did a short 2.5, and Saturday I did 3.5. Saturday was a a slow day. I walked quite a bit, mostly because it was the morning and I was still tired and dehydrated, but also because I had a blister on my foot from the night before. Friday night I went to Northeast Minneapolis down by the river with some friends. This was a great time. It was beautiful down by the river and I wondered why it has taken me so long to get there. I plan on running down there to run once I'm up to my 5-6 mile trail.  Here are some pictures from the evening.

I also talked to the guy who convinced me to start training and decided I'm going to start running with him this summer. It'll be nice to have a running partner this summer because i'll have work all day and class all evening so I won't get around to running until it's darker out, and thus scary and dangerous to run in our neighborhood as a 21 year old female all alone.

Sunday I took off, because my ankle was hurting a bit, and today I did 3.5 miles on the elliptical and 3 miles on the bike at the gym. I hope to run tomorrow morning and cross train again on wednesday. I have the week off of classes, so I spent a lot of my day cleaning.

I also started another blog. I'm posting something daily (the posts are much shorter than on here.) If you'd like to follow here is the link.

Shoot the Moon...

Sickness. I can't seem to shake it. Mono has ruined me. I've spent the entire weekend in my bed, which is not what I had planned for my last spring jam as an undergrad. But we can't control these things, in fact, in life, there isn't much we can control. You can plan for things all you want, but sometimes things just have a way of popping up in a time and place you least expect them.

So my sickness has put me behind in my studying for finals, and has caused me to once again be unable to work out. I can't focus on anything. I feel like tidal waves keep crashing in on me. I feel like I'm finally starting to figure out a small portion of my life, and then some small wave comes crashing in as hard as a typhoon, and washes away the small glint of knowledge I think I've procured. 

So I don't want to spend another blog post just ranting. This post has a point, a small one, but a point no the less. I went to get out my Yogi Sleepy Time Tea (lets face it, i can't afford to lose more sleep,) and a really great thing happened. The tea bag always has a quote on it. And this one had to do with running. Well not really running, but in a way it had to deal with running. 

The quote stated "You can run after satisfaction, but satisfaction must come from within."  I can chase my expectations all I want, but those unexpected things are going to happen. Sickness gets in the way, money gets lost in the shuffle, I might get injured along the way, but satisfaction will be found if I search within myself. I can't find it from anyone else. No person, and certainly no tangible item will leave me satisfied.

Now, one more quick thing I need to get out before I finish this blog post. I should mention that not all of these "tidal waves" are bad. I've had a lot of really great unexpected things happen to me as well.   The best of them was falling in love. I don't think anyone my age goes into a relationship with the intention of falling in love. I found it where I least expected it. And even though it has made the last year of my life a living hell, I'm grateful I found it at all. How's that for ending optimistically?