Week's Recap

 I discovered how to access the elevation changes of my runs.Since  I am a data obsessed engineer, more data = happy Rena.

Non running things that happened:
-Convinced my guy friends to drive 30 minutes from campus to hit up a KFC. Then washed that down with a donut. But it's cool, I'm a runner.
-Got over my fear of running in tight long running pants. Since the weather has been getting cooler, I had to get over this fear sometime.
-Went for a spontaneous bubble tea excursion with a friend.

Yay sugar! I love long runs that allow me to consume extra calories.  

- Bought a pair leg warmers when I saw them on sale. I've always loved them but didn't wear them because I have short non-dancer legs. But I run now, and I'll wear whatever I want to. 

I pretend that I'm a dancer with my legwarmers. 

Monday: 5 miles 9:07/mile pace.
Even though this is faster than I normally run my easy runs, it felt good. And I was able to hold it.

Tuesday: Rest


Wednesday: 3 miles 9:33/mile
I decided that I was going to start following a training plan and start doing tempos and intervals. So I took it easy for preparation for Wed. I kept what was supposed to be my easy speed. It felt like I was going super slow, but it didn't feel easy.

Thursday: Rest
I was planning on a midnight run with the bf after getting all our work done, but didn't happen. Notice that also speedwork or tempos didn't happen. Right after my 3 miler, I decided that intervals and tempos were stressful and that I wanted to put it off.

Friday: 5 miles 8:29/mile
After a mile, I decided to really push the pace, even up a hill. I ran all the way up to the stables at my school. And used it as an excuse to stop/take pictures. I didn't get any good pics with my phone and managed to scare the horse. But I did have a great paced run.

I powered through the  beginning even though it's almost all uphill. 

Saturday: Planned 8 miles
Didn't happen.

Sunday: 8 miles 9:30/mile
Dragged myself out for 8 miles. It was miserable and slow, but at least I got it done. And I managed to justify why I wasn't following a training plan for my goal half. I convinced myself that I had a mental block against distances over 5 miles, so I just need to focus on running longer even during week days. Planning workouts during running is like going shopping when hungry. Not a good idea! I wanted to quit after 5 miles, but the bf joined me for the last 3 miles. Running is always easier with a buddy.

My bf, AKA running buddy. He's the one in the middle, not the kid on the left. That would make me a pedophile. 

It's great to have running buddies.

My running buddy when I'm visiting my bf's house. Best part is that he lives on a farm, so no leash for the dog.  He just sort of trots next to me or goes off and comes back every once in a while. No fighting with a leash! 

What was your favorite moment of your week? I hope it was filled with good runs. It's Monday tomorrow, have a happy run filled week! 

Trouble with Blogging

The main trouble with blogging is that I have a running blog. Meaning  . . . I have to actually lace up my Brooks and go for a run.

Napping > Running

 And the more I run, the more I feel the need to sign up for races. If I'm going to run 13.1 miles anyways, I may as well make it a race, so that I can get a shiny new medal and feel superior.

But then once you have a medal, it looks very lonely by itself. And two medals are more impressive than one.

Medals weren't meant to be alone. 

The more I run races, the more I'm running. And the more I'm running, the more things I can blog about on my running blog. And the more I blog, more people want to become virtual running, blogging, buddies (hopefully).

And the more people become my friends, the more I need to blog to keep my new friends. And the more I need to blog, the more I need to run in order to have something to write about.

And it's a vicious cycle that I accidentally got swept up in. This is the trouble with blogging. And this is also why I'd probably end up running for the rest of my life.

I hope you guys have a happy, garmin-catching Friday! And if you're thinking about starting a running blog, or already have one, IT'S A TRAP! There's no turning back. So might as well enjoy the ride. 

My URL

I am the kind of person who gets obsessed with things quickly. And they usually burn out fast. For instance, once during winter break, I found a book on making felt stuffed animals. That night, I spent a good amount of money on all the supplies and made them non stop for a week. That's seriously all I did for a week. Then, as quickly as it came, I lost interest and all the supplies haven't been touched since.

During the summer, I got bitten by the running bug hard.

Garmin wearin', compression socks wearin' running bug. He has sharp teeth for biting.  

After I found running blogs, I  read them obsessively for a week. Then I HAD to have one of my own. I had just gotten started with running.  And instead of thinking about good URL and researching what other people did, I just went and made one (milehogger.blogspot). 

Me on a run. I gave myself the liberty of having totally awesome tusks. What's a hog without tusks. 

Then I started reading more running blogs. And most of the ones I liked had the blogger's name and something about running. I started feeling badly about my URL. That I made the wrong choice. And that people would just see my URL and completely not even click on it. And no one would want to be my friend. 

Me crying in the corner. My sadness disappeared my awesome tusks. 

And then, now, I've grown to embrace it. Hogging makes me think of obsession, and that's fairly accurate. I'm obsessed with my mileage, races etc. And there's also sort of a relevant story to this. When I was nine, I used to play in the local park with local kids. There was one summer, where soccer was the big thing. Remember when I said that I get obsessed. Well, I got REALLY into the games. And there might have been an incident when I charged too strongly at the ball and gave a boy bloody feet. But then who plays soccer in sandals. Not my fault at all. And he may have told my parents that I charged at him like a bull and scared the crap out of him. Well, it sort of became the running (PUN!) joke in my family. And my parents still occasionally refers to me as a bull. And hog sort of has the same feeling as a bull. We both have pointy things on our heads that we can use to attack things. 

Additionally, I suck at drawing people. A round hog is much easier to deal with. I am a big believer in blog posts with pictures. However, I've never been the one to take much pictures. In fact, I have two photos total from my prom. I just never remember to carry my camera to places.

Basically what I looked like. Notice the corsage replacing my garmin. 

So I decided that MS Paint photos > No posts. I've had times when I didn't have adequate photos from my run preventing me from posting. And I will try to remember my camera more. 

So this is why I'm the milehogger. And if you were wondering, the header for my blog is from a poem by Frost. I just always think of it when I'm running. It's sort of like a nerdy motivational mantra. 

Now tell me something interesting about you! (Your blog, or anything else) Or a childhood memory that still affects you to this day. 

Halloween

Happy Halloween! And now to celebrate, here are things related to running that scare me the most.

1. Running without a garmin
I'm sad to say that this one makes it on the list. I am afraid to run anywhere without knowing my exact mileage every 0.1 miles and my pace every second. It's a problem, but unless they have a rehab for garmin addicts, I don't see this fear going away anytime soon.

Even with a garmin obsession, i still managed to notice my surroundings and take a call phone picture. In the path by the lake that my school encompasses.  

2. Being injured/Using foam roller
I am afraid of getting injured and not being able to run and missing my birthday race. That leads to my second point. Foam Rollers are scary. Even if mine is pink and supporting breast cancer.  But to avoid injury, foam rollers are important. Or so I hear.

3. Getting out the door
As much as I enjoy running, I always dread getting out the door. Because no matter how I might enjoy it,  sitting in my warm bed eating chips and surfing the internet seems way better than braving the freezing temperatures. But something makes me head out the door each day.

On the same route as the above picture. My school is pretty. 

4. That I will get really fast
What if I rock my training so much that I end up qualifying for the olympics at my next half marathon. And I would have to leave school to go train in Oregon at the Nike campus. And people I admire like Kara Goucher won't talk to me because I'm her competition?

Could happen. Maybe . . . In my dreams

5. Tempo Runs
For some reason, whenever you attach the word tempo to run, I psych myself out. 5K in 7:34/mile pace? No problem. 2 or 3 miles tempo run at 8:00/mile pace? Hells no.

What I probably look like when I see the word tempo

What are your scary running moments? Happy Halloween! 

Rain Run

I finally went for a run in the rain! I always have used rain as an excuse to skip out on my daily workouts in the past, but I just went out and did it. In central New York, it can rain for days, and I didn't want rain to be a reason to miss out on days of running. I wore warmer clothing than I have donned in the past, put on my old pair of  sneakers and set out to run four miles to work.

Luckily, all I needed today for work was a pen. I spend a few hours a week teaching international TAs English and today I just had to film their sample lectures and write down feedback. So I put a pen and my phone in the pocket of my handheld, which fit perfectly.

If the road was a runway, I was definitely Tyra.  I rocked that road. I just felt so hardcore chugging along in the elements. I did get a quite a few weird looks. I must have looked crazy with wild wet hair and a smile (which is not what you expect from a person in the freezing rain running). I did run into one other runner, but he kept his head down. I wanted to  give him a "We are totally bad asses" nod. The excitement definitely got to my head. I'm certain that at one point during the run, I considered trying out for America's top Model in case they decide to do a rainy sports shoot.

I got to work a little early to go to the bathroom to document my milestone. Yay for cell phone self portraits in bathrooms.

Very sexy. 

Note my jacket. I thought it was waterproof. I planned on taking off the outer layer and going into work in my "dry" shirt. 

Clearly not. In fact, it looked like I had awkward boob sweat even though it was just the rain. So I stayed in the wet jacket. 

To prevent my hair from looking too wild, I tied up my hair in a pony and also braided it.

Not too shabby for a windy rain day. Look how red my ears are. 

Unfortunately, the building that I worked in wasn't very warm. In fact people kept their jackets on, which meant that I was just cold in my wet gear. So on the run back, I didn't even wait for the garmin to catch. I knew it was a mile away and just ran it fast to get home. I thought it had gotten colder on the way back, but I wasn't sure if I was just making it up. But as I got home, it started snowing. I totally rock at this exercising thing. I even got in some good foam rolling! 

What was the best moment of your week? Between tests and projects for classes, this was the best I've felt all week. Running is awesome. And all your comments on the job posts were  very interesting. Thanks!

Or ran in it. 

Birds do it . . Bees do it

And so do bacteria and most importantly fruit flies. And there's this wonderful subject that studies this phenomenon of everyone doing it called genetics. And if you have been unfortunate to have never studied this wonderful subject, you should go to your nearest library and pick up a textbook. It will eventually cause you to go a little off the rockers and name your kid so that her initials will be the same as a start codon (AUG). That's what my genetics professor did. And if you don't remember/know what a start codon is, I envy you very much.

Not as happy as I look in the picture. Genetics is definitely evil.  And I probably will never use it again. 

So the reason for this post is that I've been thinking about things I like to do, and the career that will make me the happiest. I like to run. I love reading running blogs, signing up for races, etc. I'd much rather buy a cute running gear than other clothes. Especially since I've been throwing on a race shirt before running out the door to make it to class on time. Yes, everyone knows I've ran half marathons and 5Ks, and I will continually remind them with my race shirts.

But I'm not quite sure how to find the perfect career. I definitely want to do something that will allow me to continue to devote tons of time to running and thinking about running. So I guess investment banking is out.

That's me thinking about running. Not falling. Like I've been falling on my butt every day on this one part of sidewalk for the past few days. 

It would be awesome to work for Runner's World, if I was a world class runner with tons of advice and know-how. Or journalism skills. It would be interesting to design running shoes, which is sort of in the engineering side, but not chemical engineering. It would be the best if I was a world class runner and I get paid to train. But I guess that would make running stressful.

I am not quite sure what I want to do with my life. And also how to go about finding it. I also would like to have a running club at work. I guess the biggest thing is to get hired first somewhere. So I can figure out what I like and what I don't. Also, is it bad that whenever I have a job interview, I look up the town that I'd be working in to see how many races are nearby? I have a secret (I guess not so secret now) hope that at an interview somewhere, the interviewer will ask me about running. And we will hit it off instantly. And I will have a job and security and money to buy random running things that I don't need.

Sorry it's not very running focused. But finding a job that will also allow me to continue this running thing is important to me. So it's sort of about running. And I'm still working on making a reasonable training schedule for the half marathon coming up.

And thanks to everyone who suggested websites and ways to save money on things! They were very helpful. So how did you guys find your dream job? Or how are you looking for it? And what's a good way to look for a full time position? And if you happen to own a company looking for a chemical engineer, you're welcome. Now you can stop looking and start drawing up the hiring paper work. :P

Running on a Budget

Everyone who doesn't run has always told me that running is the cheapest sport. And while it's not exorbitantly expensive, like figure skating or skiing, I found that running does get expensive. I am not the most frugal person, but I get a serious case of buyer's remorse, so I try to cut back on some of the costs. And here are some of the things that I've thought about.

1. Compression Socks. I WANT!!! However, they do run up quite the coast. At least the ones that I've found have been upwards of $30. If anyone knows of cheaper ones, please share. Additionally, when I read blogs of some serious runners, they have compression shorts for the thighs, compression shirts, compression everything! So being the cheap/poor college student, I've started wearing my tightest jeans whenever I feel that I need to recover.

Clearly this is me. Nevermind that I actually don't own a pair of skinny jeans. But I like to pretend I look like this in my jeans. 

Verdict: To be seen. I really can't give an informed verdict until I get actual compression socks. But after races, when my legs are especially sore, an Advil does do the trick.

2. Good pair of running shoes These babies can cost about $100 dollars give or take twenty dollars, which is still more than I used to spend on running shoes. I used to get the sale sneakers with the cutest color. And for me, it wasn't too bad. However, when I seriously started training, I went to a specialty running store and got fitted for a pair, because that's what everyone else was doing.

Cleaner version of my current running shoes. I totally picked it because Ghost sounded cool. 

Verdict: It wasn't a necessity for me until I got into serious training. And even then, I am not sure, because I didn't attempt to run in non specialty sneakers for 25-30miles weeks. I'd probably continue buying specialty running shoes, because that's what everyone else does. And they've been doing it longer. 

3. Sports Massage I probably will never shell out my money for a painful massage. Maybe a relaxing one next to a pool, but probably not a hardcore sports massage. I just bought a $25 foam roller to work out my sore spots. It's just as painful but much cheaper especially since I don't see it breaking anytime soon. I am not even sure if it can break unless I try to cut it in half with a saw. 

Verdict: I will stick with my foam roller. But again I haven't tried a sports massage. 

4. Races I can't imagine not running races, so I will continue to pay the fees for a bib and a shirt. Although, since it is costly, I would probably keep on running cheaper local races unless there's a special occasion (birthday). 

Look, a bib, a shirt, and free water. And spectators next to me. Totally worth the $20. 

Verdict: I refuse to give it up. 

5. Fueling I've stopped spending money on energy gel things. I found that for a distance up to the half, I don't need any.

Verdict: I don't need them. But maybe I'll run faster if I do take in some fuel during a run?  

6. Garmin A must for me. It's the most expensive item, other than my laptop, that I own in my room. But I am obsessed with the numbers. Maybe too obsessed. But it saves me time from having to map out my route beforehand and time=money. Therefore, I've paid off for my garmin by now with increased time? I'm just going to believe that because it makes me feel better about the cost of a garmin. 

Verdict: Most important thing i have. 

What are some of you guys' methods for saving money? What things are a necessity for you when you're running? 

This makes me feel totally hardcore. And it's so true.