Two!

Just finished my first two mile run since March! 

I changed my form a bit by leaning forward. It felt awkward, but I only had minimal back discomfort. 

I remembered my high school track coaches telling me I ran with my back arched- almost like I was leaning backwards. There are pictures floating around somewhere that prove my form was off.  

Making this little correction helped reach my seemingly illusive goal of running two miles without stopping.  

My next short term goals: run 3 times/week, run 3 2 mile runs without pain over the course of a week, run a 5k!!!  

Long term goals: run 6 miles, complete a 10k then a 1/2 marathon. 

I would love to complete the marathon I'm signed up to do in November, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen this year.  

For now, I will be happy with running two (very slow) miles. I am happy, but not content.  I must keep trying to do more. 

On another fitness note, The Best Man and I finally joined a gym.  We have been going at least 3x/week, doing a little cardio, a lot of weights and loads of stretching.  I'm hoping this will help with returning to run. I need to continue to strengthen my hip abductors and stretch my hip flexors and piriformi. 

Run happy! 

Back on track....

I'm on fire this week! I have run 1.5 miles. TWICE!

Okay. So this may sound wimpy, but its the farthest my body has let me run since the marathon in March.

Here's hoping I can run Richmond in the fall! 

(Okay, let's be honest. I will probably have to downgrade to the half. But hey. Its a start!)

I ran a marathon on Sunday, what did you do?

I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but I decided to run a marathon before turning 30. I had been wanting to do it for years now and figured I should shoot to do it before the big 3-0. Some how The Best Man felt obligated or inspired to do this with me.

Training had been going well until mid January, when we ran 18 miles. My right hip started "talking to me" and then began screaming. I had to limp the last 2-3 miles home. I had "gluteus medius syndrome" from muscle imbalances related to my SIJD (sacroiliac joint dysfunction). With this injury and started a new job our training was slim to none the 6-8 weeks preceding the race. 

The race itself went well. I felt sluggish around miles 14-15, but managed to slog on.  The Best Man began to complain of knee pain a few miles later and we ended up walking a good bit of the last 5-6 miles.  We lumbered across the finish line in just under 5 hours. 

Sub 5 hours isn't sub 4, but it sure looks better than having my time start with a FIVE. 

I had a lot of energy at the end of the race and was dreaming about signing up for another marathon before we even finished. Must. Get. Sub. 4:30. 

Needless to say I was really sore the days following the race, but nothing that was unexpected.  That is, until a few days later.  Monday we took it easy and got to see a taping of Jay Leno.  Tuesday we walked around the San Diego Zoo all day (Amazing!).  Wednesday we had planned to run, but I wasn't feeling up to it just yet, so we walked twice.  The second walk was on the beach. Afterwards, I noted what I thought was a gnarly trigger point lateral to my distal tibia (that's shin bone for you lay persons). 

I tried to massage it out, stretch it out, iced it, took ibuprofen. It was bothering me all Thursday at work and got worse after lunch when I was forced to limp around due to the pain. That evening I tried to diagnose my self like any self respecting hypochondriac would. With all the bending and twisting and tugging I made things worse. 

I couldn't get an ortho appointment until Monday, so I went to urgent care and had some x-rays taken. I am currently sporting a fashionable air cast walking boot while waiting to hear back about the x-rays. Wish me luck!

By the way, The Asics LA Marathon was awesome! The course started at The Dodgers Stadium and went west towards the coast to end near Santa Monica Pier. We got there early and were pleased we were able to hang out inside the stadium for the two hours prior to the start.  What a treat! There were so many great spectators along the course (with the exception of the bit near the end through the VA) cheering, clapping, and handing out goodies (oranges, water, beer, pretzels, candy). There were a few tough hills near the beginning of the race, but otherwise nothing to complain about.  The weather was perfect. The medal and technical tee were top notch.  I would definitely do it again.  Oh and did I mention it was on St. Patty's Day which meant I had an excuse to wear my all time favorite color: GREEN! 

Obligatory New Year Post

Well, it's a New Year.

This past year I lived in Texas and California.  On New Years Day we drove from my in laws to my sister's place in NC.  We ate all the "lucky" food she could think of to give us all luck over the course of the year.

We then stopped in Memphis, were amazed by Graceland and underwhelmed by Beale St.

The drive then took us through some boring states to end up in big, 'ol "Everything-is-bigger-in" Texas!

The Best Man and I lived in Fort Worth Texas for about 7 months.  We lived "downtown" and loved walking to restaurants, shops (well, I did anyway), and the local trail system for running and biking.  The two of us got more into running and ran several races (a couple of 5k's, one 10k and two 1/2 marathons).  We made some really good friends with my local co-workers including other travelers.  The Best Man also found some local work and really liked have co-workers (especially local ones) for a change.

Some how we survived the summer in Texas, though it was not a pretty sight!

We then packed it all up at the end of the summer (including my new cowgirl boots!) and made for California.  Along the way we went to Monahands State Park and sand dunes, hiked the highest point in Texas (Guadalupe Peak), explored the caves of Carlsbad Caverns and wondered at the bats, hiked along and under the rim of Bryce Cannyon, hiked Angles Landing and the Narrows in Zion National Park, stood on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, and hiked to the bottom and back up to the top of the Grand Canyon with hundreds of pictures, a few scraps and just as many new friends and one scorpion sting to show for it.

We've been living in California for the past 3 months.  The weather is perfect.  There is so much to see and do.  We have only been down to San Diego a couple of times, however have plans to continue exploring the city and the surrounding area.

Here's to 2013 and more adventures to come!

Testing, one, two, three

It's been a while. I know.

Here's the news.

I got married. We went to Greece for our honeymoon. Then we moved to Boston.

It has all been amazing.

I am now getting back into running. Last month we ran a 10k in CT in just under an hour.

Last weekend we ran The Devil's Chase 6.66 miler in Salem, MA. We made it in 1 hour and 4 minutes.

Next up: begin training for my next half marathon: The Dallas Rock 'n' Roll next March. I'm hoping that The Best Man (now, The Best Husband) and I will actually be able to run it together- assuming I can keep up with his long legs.

In other news, I just got asked to be in the wedding party of a good friend from high school. I am so excited! I love a good excuse to talk about weddings and dresses and shoes!

PR, BABY

Here's my gimic:


The Dietary Student told me to "Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth!"


We finished.


And I totally PR'd...8 minutes off my time. . .

Place	Bib	Age	Name	City/State	Chip Time	Gun Time	Pace
244	1235	25	KRISTEN SHERIFF	GREENVILLE SC	02:06:56	02:08:33	00:09:49

1/2

Just ran the Greenville 1/2 Marathon today. I didn't train too much, but I think I PR'd. The official time hasn't been posted yet, but I think I did it in under 2 hours and 10 minutes, which is at least 5 minutes faster than the last one I ran in March. I plan to post intense pictures and the official time once they are up online.

I'm hoping to get motivated this week to actually train for the Richmond half which is next month. . . but at this moment, as I'm hobbling around, I don't want to think about running another race so soon.

To Run or Not to Run...That is the Question

At this point, I'm fairly certain of the two halves (can I add them to make a whole?) I want to do at the end of this year.

First, I'm interested in running the Baltimore 1/2 in October. This would be a great race for many reasons: 1) Good excuse to visit the Newly Weds, Martha & Brett, 2) Cool to do a race in another state!, 3) BIG challenge to do a race that is anything but flat!



Second, The Richmond 1/2 in November. It was a toss up between this race and the OBX race which is the Sunday before. Since I'm not Super Woman, I will not be running two races in a week.

Surprisingly, I have not done this home town race before. This is actually the first year they have brought the 1/2 back. It has just been the whole marathon for the past several years. This is a good excuse to come home and run through my home town that I'm sure to be missing at this point of the year. I'm going to have to make my family sign something saying that since I choose this race over the more scenic OBX race they will not only watch me, but CHEER me on! Also, I'm hoping I can con The Best Man into doing this race with me...or at the very least traveling into town to cheer me on!



If I do indeed find the money, time, energy, time off, running partners, and cheerleaders required to do these two races in such a short time span, I'll have completed THREE halves this year- bringing my total up to FOUR halves.

Wish me luck and happy running!

Update: Thought I should check out the races in and around the Greenville area. I stumbled upon this:


Yep, that's a half IN GREENVILLE. And it's just a couple of weeks after the Baltimore race. AND The Best Man will be visiting at the end of his road trip. What to do...what to do...?