Day 80: Lazy Daisy

I honestly have no clue how Kendra & I have stuck to this running thing so long.  I mean, besides the fact that we're forced to spend more time hanging out when we run together (hehe!), we really don't enjoy running that much at all.  The only thing we maybe sorta like is the sense of accomplishment when we finish those big long runs or when we run a short distance kind-of quickly.

Our running buddy, Ben, tends to think his positive influence has helped us stay focused on the goal, sticking to our running regime, and only after last night do I actually believe him...

Kendra & I knew last night would be a late running night, but we planned to start our 5 miles through the streets of town at 9:30pm regardless - afterall, we were running out of time to go for our 2nd and 3rd short runs of the week!  Well, when Kendra & I arrived at our starting place and found out neither Ben nor Jenna would be joining us, we somehow went from a 5 miler to a 2 miler to a no miler!!

Yup, that's right - last night we skipped a run!  We sort-of felt guilty for not running, but our knees are still achy from our two consecutive long runs.  Plus, we decided that after a busy week, a little extra sleep would be much better for our bodies!

So this evening we knew we had to run - no excuses or laziness (and, by the way, I don't actually believe we're lazy, it's just that sometimes it's really hard to find the motivation to run... haha!).

Kendra & I ran the 5 mile route around the developments by my house and completed it in 49:50.  We were pleased with the run, but most importantly we regained our confidence in our motivation to run.  With the marathon just a few short weeks away, we cannot afford to skip any more runs!

Day 79: Sweaty Muellers

We are always a little tentative setting out for the short run following a long, weekend run.  Athena's and my knee joints were especially not looking forward to tonight's 4 miles.  This is the first time my patella has acted up ever since we started training, which is a bit disturbing to me.  Athena's knees have given her problems since the beginning, and Ben's also developed major issues following the 18 mile run.  I've sympathized with them (my hips causing the pain), but have never actually experienced that particular discomfort before. Great.  


Ben was kind enough to share his new Mueller knee strap with me for this run as his knee was feeling quite good tonight.  Athena also wore her new Mueller strap on her right knee AND an entire knee brace on the left leg!  Apparently our bodies still reject the notion of us running over 20 miles at a time....


It was quite a warm night for a run and the second most noticeable feature of this run (besides knee problems) was the amount of sweat we pumped out our pores!  Kinda nasty, but I felt like a new person, having all that liquid leave my body in under 40 minutes.  : )  The poor Muellers...they were rather moist after our jaunt to the track and back.  It feels like summer is approaching already...


Posted by Kendra 

Day 78: Last Long Run

This was OUR LAST LONG RUN!!!  And, I'll have you know that I had to edit 15 minutes of video footage to get this clip down to less than 8 minutes... apparently, as we run longer times, we have more to talk about!!  We will be writing about the last 3 weeks of training before the marathon, so keep following our blog to see how we do in our 26.2!

Day 77: Development of the Cul-de-Sacs

This evening was another 5 miler, and I do believe they seem to be getting easier... It also helps that Athena has now tried to cut down on hills (see Blymire run two Wednesdays ago).  This evening she and I took a little running tour of the developments and cul-de-sacs surrounding her house.  It was light out (6:30pm), sunny, and well, just a beautiful night for a run.  There were a couple hills involved, but most were short and not too terribly steep (I believe I have been harassing her enough that she's finally catching on to my flat-route-agenda, haha).  It was fun to run a new course, look at the huge doctors' houses that we can only dream of owning one day, and do all of this in the daylight!  Overall, a good run.  Nice work, Athena!

Time: 50 minutes, 49 seconds.  (The extra 49 seconds are attributed to a political campaign that stopped us when we were but half a mile from our final destination--A HALF A MILE!-- Apparently John Hartman, folks, is running for school board.  Vote your hearts out!  There.  I've done my duty.) 

Posted by Kendra 

Day 76: Estimate...

Well, tonight Kendra, Ben, & I met for a 9pm run around Dallastown.  We actually didn't map it out, but knew we needed to run 5 miles, which usually translates to 50 minutes of running.  So, we started off with a run to the development beyond Grandma's house, then to the other end of Dallastown, then back to where we started.  According to Google Earth, which we checked after the run, it ended up being 5.3 miles, so it makes sense that we ran it in 53 minutes and 26 seconds.  Really, it was quite the uneventful run, but it was kinda cool that we estimated it so close to the actual distance we needed to run!

Day 75: ATypical Runs

Today's run was a sticky situation in that it generally difficult to squeeze a run into Monday's evening activities.  But we couldn't let another rest day just slide by since we already rested on Sunday from our 20 miler on Saturday.  So we thought, "We're not softies!  We can't loosen our shoe laces yet!  We've got to push through!"  So even though its difficult to pass up another rest day, we chose not to...

...because we are marathon runners, and it's just what we doo...

So the next decision was how far we were going to run.  We had to modify our training schedule, so tonight's run left us with two options: 1) Run 6 miles, or 2) Run 4 miles.  No one oozed with enthusiasm over option #1, and finally Athena said, "I have to go with #2," so 4 miles it was!  

Our pace was brisk! I could feel the sweat dripping and several times I had to wipe my brow.  It was just a run beyond grandma's and back, which is always nice, knowing that there is a potential bathroom stop halfway, if needed.  This often leads us to discuss the natural laxative we have found in running.  As you can imagine, this conversation is, well, rather unpleasant business, but we don't even notice.  Our brains must be constipated, or running just gives us (as my dad would say) diarrhea of the mouth.  Either way, we are clearly too comfortable with each other...

...It's time we flush this crazy marathon idea down the toilet...

Well, that's about the extent of our run tonight.  I will confess that we had to stop tonight and take a breather on the sidewalk curb (no stool in sight).  Crap...this better not happen again...  

Day 74: Rainy Day Fun??

Today we ran 20 miles.  It was pouring down raining and the wind gusts were up to 40mph.  Actually, we ran through a thunderstorm with lightening & thunder.  When we finished our run, we learned there was a tornado warning until 11pm that night.  CRAZY!

We were soaked from head to toe and probably were carrying around at least 10 extra pounds of soaking wet clothing (yes, we weighed it!) by the end.  Our time was a little less than desirable (3 hrs, 43 mins, 45 secs), but given the conditions, I'd say it was just fine!!  I mean, survival was our ultimate goal, and we lived to blog about it!!  :)

Check out the video for more details on our 20 miler...

Day 73: Jenna's Birthday Run!

So, in honor of Jenna's birthday yesterday (WAHOO... HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JENNA!!!), we decided to allow her to pick the run in her neck of the woods.  AND... it may be the last time we let her do that... haha!  :)

Actually, the run wasn't HORRIBLE, but it was a bit difficult because of all of the hills.  When we started, Jenna told us there were 2 hills, but of course the number of hills increased as we encountered them!  Also, since Jenna is THE RUNNING GODDESS, her pace is a little faster than we'd like - especially for a hilly route...

Kendra, Ben, Jenna, & I started running around 7:20pm and ran the 3.6 mile route in 35 minutes and 25 seconds.

Our starting location...

Day 72: Could we outrun you??

As much as we'd love to be able to run in the daylight, sometimes we simply cannot coordinate our schedules to do so... grr!  Today was once again another 9pm run for Kendra, Ben, & I. 

The three of us ran 4 miles in 39 minutes, 45 seconds.  AND... I think Kendra was happy that I agreed to us doing 4 laps around the upper parking lot and then turning around at Kendra's Grandma's house (KENDRA'S favorite route) INSTEAD of 2 laps around the upper parking lot and then running to the end of the little apartment complex beyond Kendra's Grandma's house (MY favorite route).  Ahh, the sacrifices we make for friends!!  :)

After we were finished running, we must have felt ambitious (or maybe our conversations weren't over for the night??) because we decided to walk 2 laps around the track as our cooldown - not something we typically do.

During that time, we had an in-depth discussion about the fact that we could probably outrun most on-foot pursuers (cops, for example) if necessary.  It was kinda funny and pretty random, but it's probably somewhat true!  I mean, we are getting to the point where we can run for 10 miles sort-of easily, and we're assuming that not too many on-foot pursuers could accomplish that.  All we would have to make sure is that the pursuer doesn't catch us in the first couple of miles... haha!

Day 71: Cats and Dogs

Lots of cats and dogs joined us on this run as we sprinted through rain puddles, dodged huge rain drops, and generally made a mess of our new running sneakers.  It was pouring.  Ben, Kyle and I had 5 miles to do and the weather had no mercy.  About 1.5 miles into the run, however, we realized that once you are totally soaked and rain is just running rivers down your face, it's really not that bad.  The half-dry-half-wet state at the beginning is annoying, and the imminent wet car seat afterwards is also unfortunate, but during the run, eh, rain?  No biggy.  We did the normal grandma-->upper lot-->track-->5 miles.  

Thanks to Kyle for making our threesome complete since Athena was unable to join us tonight!

Day 70: A "short" long run...

Athena's run:  For my 8 miler (technically a "long run", though it is considerably shorter than all our latest long runs!), I met up with Leah, who will be doing the Marine Corps Marathon with me at the end of October 2011.  We ran on a trail close to her home in Lancaster County and headed out around 10:30am.  Our college roommate, Anna, came along on bike (which was AWESOME!).  We did the relatively flat 8 miles in 76 minutes - 9 1/2 minute mile pace!  Check out the video for more fun details!!

Anna, Leah, & Athena

Kendra's Run:  I did an 8 mile tour of my town.  It was me and the trusty ipod shuffle in the early evening.  A rather uneventful run that lasted about 80 minutes.  It's sometimes grueling to run a long run by yourself, but on a beautiful evening, only doing 8 miles, I actually enjoyed the solitude.

Day 69: Blymire run = no fun!

Since Kendra picked the run yesterday, I got to pick the run today!  WAHOO!!!

So, ever since we've started this running thing, I've wanted to do a run that includes Blymire Road.  I know those of you that are familiar with this area are thinking, "She should probably have her head examined!"  Right??  Well, I just liked the idea that Blymire lends itself to making a nice big loop through Dallastown.

Kendra & I talked Kyle into coming out for this run.  He didn't know what he was getting himself into.  And he may not run with us ever again.  In fact, Kendra might not ever run with me again either... ha!

Seriously, though... the run was SUPER HILLY, and we figured out (with the help of Google Earth) that the elevation change over the course of the run is 331 feet!  That seems like a lot to me.  If it doesn't seem like a lot to you, then maybe you should go out and run the loop!!  :)

Anyway, our five miler ended up being about 5.5 miles (oops, I overestimated the mileage a little bit!) and we assume we did it in just under an hour, though we still have no watch.

We'll have to see whether I have any running friends on the next run...

Day 68: Flattest roads of Dallastown...

Today we (Kendra & I) embarked on a 6 mile run around Dallastown's flattest roads.  She planned out the run, and by now we all know how much Kendra enjoys running UPHILL (HA!), SO... it was relatively flat indeed!

We started at Kendra's Grandma's and then ran all around Dallastown.  I probably couldn't even tell you where all we ran, but we got the miles in and that's what counts.  We finished the 6 miler in 61 minutes - not too bad for a longer short run...

Jenna joined us for a post-run celebration at Sheetz

Day 67: Reminisce

Kendra & I did our 4-miler by ourselves today... sorta like when we first began running together!  We've come to the realization that, though there are THOUSANDS of different reasons why we enjoy having lots of new running buddies training with us, it's also sort of reminiscent to have just the two of us counting down the miles together.

(insert teardrop smudge here)

We started at Grandma's house.  We went into the apartment complex TWICE (which we've never before done) and then went to the track and back.  It's always interesting to switch up our starting location and some of the details of our classic "Grandma's house run" - it keeps us on our toes!

Neither Kendra nor I have watches, so we had no way of telling what our time was...

(HINT:  A watch may be a good gift idea for our November birthdays or for Christmas.  Kendra likes nice looking silver watches.  I want a small GPS watch.)

Day 66: EIGHTEEN MILES???

We are getting to be legit runners.  We run in snow.  We run in rain.  We run EIGHTEEN MILES!!!

Today, Kendra, Jenna, Ben, & I all gathered in the early afternoon for our weekly "long run".  We've begun to dread the weekends because these long runs are no longer all that fun (but then again, were they ever fun??).  Regardless, we stick to our training schedule and keep running these crazy amounts of miles!

We were hoping to plant a vehicle at one end and then run only one-way, but due to Goldie's unfortunate starter issues, we had to come up with alternate plans.  We started in York City at mile marker 20 on the Rail Trail, ran 9 miles south to mile marker 11 (just past Seven Valleys, for you locals), stopped to stretch (and try our new "Gu" for energy!), and then ran all the way back (Kendra & I inserted two additional stretch breaks in the last 5 miles).

It was a little cloudy/misty starting off (and we actually postponed the run maybe like 30 minutes because of the rain), but then it turned out to be a GORGEOUS sunny day!!

However, if my memory serves me correctly, this was a painful run for all of us - even JENNA, THE RUNNING GODDESS (and you know it's bad then!)!!  I got a blister because of my new shoes... it hurt, but it's a pretty sweet blister!

Anyway, Ben & Jenna went a little bit faster than Kendra & I on the last 9 miles, but then they broke up (ha!) and Ben finished in like 3 hours and 6 minutes or something (CRAZY BOY!).  Jenna came in a little bit after him, but it was the first run that she seemed to NOT enjoy.  Kendra & I came in at 3 hours and 23 minutes.  We all were certainly glad to be done.

We celebrated at an Italian restaurant afterward - mmm, CARBS!!

Check out the video for more about our 18 miler!  Oh, and by the way... people say that if you can run 18 miles, you can run a marathon, so this was a pretty monumental run for us!!

We utilized two Camelbacks, Gu, and Gatorade!

The runners - SUCCESS!

Our new kicks!

Can you see Athena's blister??