Save the penguins...

Really...I'm running for the penguins in my first 5K of the season at the Bronx Zoo. http://www.bronxzoo.com/plan-your-trip/events-calendar/run-for-the-wild.aspxhttp:// It should be a fun run, if not a little hilly. I'm doing it with my good friend - so that's a fun motivator. I started at 2 miles a few weeks ago and now I'm up to 4. I witnessed so many friends go down with injuries last summer. I'm a big believer in moving up slowly - quarter mile at a time, stretching, hydrating -and then rewarding myself with a Silk Chocolate Milk http://http://silksoymilk.com/nutriInfo/ChocolateSingleServe.htm which I've read is as good for recovery as gatorade. Every other day has been tough after the winter we just had but it feels good to run outside again, see the neighbors, watch the flowers bloom and load up my ipod with new motivational tunes. I'm sick of last years half marathon music after an entire season and many hours pounding the pavement. Anyone have some favorite tunes to recommend to keep me moving??

Baby it's cold outside

So once you finally reach the finish line of the half marathon its such a fantastic feeling you feel like you can take on just about anything. After the half in October I signed up for a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving, a Jingle Run around Christmas and then a winter running class seemed like a really great idea to get me through January and March. The problem is that in December you don't really remember what 13 degrees feels like. 13 degrees is INSANE no matter how many layers you're wearing! This past winter I had a no running under 30 degrees rule - well, those of us on the East Coast know how well that went over! So I discovered spinning. I was told it would keep up my cardio as well as running and maybe not set me so far back come Spring training. I got so into it I even participated in a 6 hour spinodyssey for charity http://http//www.news12.com/articleDetail.jsp?articleId=275543&position=1&news_type=news I really enjoyed it but, no - it didn't set me up any better for Spring training. For the second year in a row to get started again I jumped into the couch to 5K program. It is a weekly training program that gets you literally from running a minute all the way to a 5K in 9 weeks. Last year I started at week 4. this year I was able to jump to week 6. I found a great podcast that I downloaded from itunes. Its got an unfortunate name www.kissmyblackass.com/podcasts but the music is real songs as opposed to musak on other podcasts.

You never forget your first time

My first half marathon was October 9, 2009. It was the Westchester Running Festival sponsored by Westchester Medical Center. The start line was at Westchester County Center at the Bronx river Parkway and proceeded South to Scarsdale and then back up to the finish at County Center.

The day before my husband and I decided to drive it - BIG mistake. It was a LONG drive! I do much better when I don't know what I'm getting into. The next morning we all met at County Center. It was cold and we were all a bundle of nerves. It was pretty well organized except that they ran out of running bibs and had to hand write mine.

My friends and I found our spot with the slow runners near the back of the 700+ runners. We stayed together for most of the time but at about mile 7 one went ahead and one fell behind. I was on my own. There were entire mile stretches where I got lost in my own head - with only a handful of runners around me. I was able to high five my husband as he was headed back North while I was running South. He seemed to be making great time - ahead of another friend who is always placing and winning trophies. That gave me a big burst of speed. For some time it felt like it would never end but I remember be shocked to suddenly see the county center. It seemed to rise up over a hill and I truly couldn't believe I was going to finish this thing. I got it done in 2 hours and 42 minutes. My husband finished in 1 hr 51!

My friends weren't so happy with that race because they didn't like that it was there and back as opposed to a big circle. What I didn't like was that by the time Ifinished no one was there to cheer me in! Just really my friends and family. Massage booths were shutting down already. They actually ran out of medals and had to mail me mine weeks later. What a bummer! Regardless we were all very excited for each other. We trained properly. No one was injured or so incredibly sore. It was a grand finale to a season that began without being able to run 60 seconds a few short months prior.