Gaining momentum

Chugging along!  I've exercised 8 of the last 10 days.  Prior to that, in the month of January I'd only deliberately exercised 3 times (in 18 days)... the current ratio is much more likely to get me to 1/2 marathon shape for March 10.  In addition to working out, I'm also diligently stretching.  I would like to recommend the Nike+ App for this - I do 15 minutes of stretch, either the Shawn Johnson full body stretch or the <insert famous runner's name here> running stretch.  Both are excellent and I find that I'm much less sore after running and much more comfortable while running (goodbye sore knees and ankles!!)

This weekend I ran Friday night (yep, I'm cool), Saturday mid-day and then Sunday morning.  Saturday's workout was terrible.  I kept having to slow down the treadmill........ wait, treadmill?! yes... sidenote, did I mention I joined a gym? I found a Groupon for a gym back in August and I joined in November for 6 months, but didn't actually attend until this month.  Thank goodness I joined a gym  - there was a few centimeters of snow covering everything for a little over two weeks.  While in most cities this wouldn't be a problem after a day, in Amsterdam nobody does any shoveling, so the snow just stays until it melts, making it very difficult to run outside.

anyway, Saturday was a terrible run on the treadmill, but Sunday more than made up for it.  I've figured out how to watch TV on my iPad, so I'm watching Glee and speeding up during songs.  I ran 5 miles at a 11 minute pace, but most importantly, I didn't have to slow down at all. That's progress :)

Thanks for reading,

Liz

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaacccccccccccck...

Heyo everyone,

This week marked the beginning of training for the Italy 30km, 1/2 Marathon on March 10th and a 1/2 Marathon in May 2013.  This is all very good news because I've been doing some heavy duty slacking in December and January.  November was also pretty slacky, but I did get my butt in gear to run once per week.  In December I ran twice and did Nike+ training once per week.  January has seen running only yesterday and hardly any Nike+.  It's time to get back in gear.  

Who's with me on this round of runs? 

March 10th 1/2 Marathon: me, Marc, Britt, Ian, Annie

May 1/2 Marathon: me, Marc, Annie, Wendy? Britt? Ian? Katie?

Italy run: me, Marc, Britt, Ian, Annie?, Katie?

Katie is an ironman runner who will be moving from Chicago to Switzerland in March... maybe she'll join the Amsterdames as a Zurichdame blogger occasionally... :)

Anyhow, I'm going to follow the Marathoning for Mortals program to 'Run a Marathon' - which will mean training for 26 miles though I'll only be running 18 in Italy - the race will be on a slight incline and much hotter than we're used to, so I figure the extra training is a good idea.  Here's the course: http://www.cortina-dobbiacorun.it/percorso_it.html

This training program has you train 6 days a week to get in tip-top shape.  I am not excited about that or trying to fit in a 40 minute workout on Wednesdays with game night, but, the MM book is my running bible, so I'll do what it says.

I would also like to officially invite anyone/everyone to join us in Italy that weekend... it will be a lot of fun so please feel free to sign up to race or just come cheer us on...

Last week we were in the Laplands to hunt for the Northern Lights.  Here are a few pics to enjoy.  Thanks for reading! 

Love,

(Formerly Lazy, but no longer) Liz

Me and Annie, decked out in winter gear

Anna, me, Marc in our gear

Sunrise (10:30am)