Well homies, it's official. I registered for the Lehigh Valley Half marathon last night. 13.1 miles through my hometown. The race advertises a stadium finish, which is true, but somehow running through my high school football stadium doesn't quite qualify to me as a stadium finish haha.

As I mentioned in my last post, I was only going to register last night if yesterday's run went well. And I guess needless to say, it did. I started with a 5-minute warm up at 12 minute miles and then kicked it up to 11 minute miles for the next five minutes. For the middle 10 minutes, I kept it at 10 minute miles and then ended with 10 minutes back at the 11 minute miles.

Overall it felt good. I was beginning to get a little tired at the end when I had about two or three more minutes left. But I like being able to push the speed a little bit.

Tonight's run is a scheduled easy run. One of my goals is to decrease my easy run time from 12 minute miles to 11 minute miles. I'm pretty sure I can do it. So that's my goal for tonight, 25 easy minutes at 11 minute miles.

In non-running news, my Terps beat UVA last night, which was important because it kept us in the middle of the pack in the ACC as we enter the heart of the season.

I took yesterday as a rest day because Monday I ran hard on the treadmill. I'm not sure what inspired me for such a kick ass run, but I was cranking the speed up like I never usually do and then leaving it there for five minutes before knocking it up up some more for another five minutes.

I eventually brought the speed back down from 9:13 minutes miles to 12 minute miles for the last couple of minutes.

Man it was one heck of a workout. And it felt good.

But because I went light on the stretching Monday because I was time-crunched, my calves still weren't loving me yesterday so I took the rest day. It was what I needed though because things are feeling great today, and I'm planning another "push-it" run today.

Last night I made up a training schedule for the half marathon, although I still haven't registered for it. I'm going to see how tonight's run goes and if it goes well then I think I'm going to register.

Terps play UVA tonight. I'm hoping for a much-needed ACC win so we can bounce back after Sunday's loss. Game's on ESPN at 7 p.m. if you want to check it out! :o)

...so I'm writing up a quick post.

I spent the weekend down in College Park visiting my friends from school. We had an awesome time. Went dancing, hung out, pretended like I'd never left.

By the time I got home on Sunday I was way to tired to go out on that run I had thought about doing. So I didn't. Instead, I went to the grocery store, did my laundry, and watched my Terps lose to Duke. What a depressing ending to an otherwise great weekend.

I'm still really freaking tired today, but I'm reminding myself that I took all weekend off from exercise, and that I'm paying insane amounts of money to belong to a gym. So therefore, I should probably go to said gym. Plus my favorite personal trainer might be there tonight lol.

On the half marathon front....still not sure what I want to do. My mom reminded me how hard it is to train for a long race in the winter when the days are short and it's hard to find daylight hours to run outside. So, yea I'm not sure what I'm doing about that. I'll be sure to keep you posted though.

I decided to swim yesterday at the gym. It was the first time I'd been in the pool in a while and my arms were definitely feeling it during and after. In running we don't use our arms so much, but in swimming, well, you kinda do.

I was only in the pool for about 25 minutes or so. But I was proud of myself for even getting to the gym. I was exhausted by the end of the day and really the last thing I wanted to do when I was leaving the office was go to the gym. But I did it. So I pat myself on the back a little bit for that one.

I'm toying with the idea of registering for the Lehigh Valley Half Marathon at the end of April. I'm not 100% sure I can be ready in time though. I mean it's about 13 weeks away, so I probably could be, but that doesn't leave much wiggle room for injuries or anything.

What do you guys think? I need to make a decision sort of soon because there are only 200 spots left and I don't want it to sell out before I make a final decision.

I was horribly let down at the gym last night because the personal trainer that I love to look at while I'm working out wasn't there. And it was sad because he is like Lisa's Doc. McDreamy. My friends and I have taken to calling him Hottie McHot Trainer. I kid you not. It doesn't sound as good as McDreamy, but whatever it works LOL.

Anyway he wasn't there last night, which made the 25 minutes I spent on the elliptical feel looooong and boring. I mean I had already punked out on upper body strength work (I told you, I have an irrational fear of the weight room.) And then I couldn't even run because I was still tight. So the elliptical sounded like a plan because of the whole no impact thing.

I kept it short too, only 25 minutes because......I'm gearing up for this weekend.....when I want take my landlady's dog out for a run. It's supposed to be 46 degrees on Sunday and I think even my wimpy, afraid-of-the-cold self can handle that. Plus it'll be a good chance to get to know the area a bit. And no one is going to mess with me if I'm running with a Rottweiler.

Tonight's workout will either be another short bout on the elliptical or a decent swim. I've got stuff in my gym bag to do both. I've been craving the water lately, but we'll see what fancy strikes me when I get to the gym tonight.

After seeing the Shave your 5K image on just about everyone's blog, I decided it was time to step up to the challenge. And what a challenge I had finding a 5K somewhere around me that time of year. But I managed to find a few that are possibilities so I think I'm good to go.

In workout news, I'm sore. I ran again yesterday at the gym, but because I was feeling a little tight in the hip flexors when I got there, I knew I needed to take it easy. I went with a R3/W1 making sure the run was no faster than a 12 minute mile.

When I woke up this morning, I realized I'm a little sore in th quads mostly, which is a little strange for me because I've never really been tight there before. I know it's just my body getting used to running again after so much time off. The tightness also serves as a reminder that I need to remember to take it slow as ease back into building my base.

My plan for tonight at the gym still depends on how I'm feeling. I know I'm not running, and I think I might just use it as a night of upper body strength work. But we all know I hate the weight rooms in gyms....so we'll see what happens with that.

Whoooo hooo I finally joined a gym, which means I finally got to work out yesterday! YIPPIEEEE!!!!! (Okay, so maybe I missed running a little bit!)

Even though it was on the treadmill the 2.7ish miles I cranked out still felt good and not too tediously boring. In large part that can probably be attributed to the fact that I was just glad to be running again after something like 3 months off because of sickness, moving and some random laziness at times.

Overall the run went well. I set the treadmill at a 12 minute mile pace, figuring that even though I had worked past that this season, I should probably start back at square one to not risk getting hurt. Things were feeling pretty good, so I pushed it to an 11 minute mile for a few minutes before backing off again. And then I even kicked it up to a 10 minute mile. I made sure I always returned to the 12 minute mile though. I didn't want to do too much and be too sore to work out today and I definitely didn't want to get hurt my first day back.

My plan is to crank out another couple miles tonight depending on how my legs feel when I get back on the treadmill after work.

The next few weeks I plan to use to slowly build my base back up to where it used to be. Granted it will all have to be on a treadmill because I cannot stand being outside in the 25 degree weather around here.

Maybe if I'm getting real ambitious I'll even start to take a look at my race schedule for the rest of the year to start planning things out. Whooo I'm dreaming big LOL.

P.S. Have any of you heard anything about the marathon movie that's going to be shown on Thursday at various movie theaters across the country? It's like a special one night thing. Is anyone planning on going? Here's a link for more info: Spirit of the Marathon.

Hope everyone has a fabulous Tuesday.

I have officially been in the real world for three days, which I feel is a decent amount of time to give you my first impressions. (After day one I wouldn't have had much to say expect paperwork isn't fun.)

But after three days, I've actually done some real work. I've been posting on the blog (see previous post for link) pretty much everyday. I guess I should have clarified in my last post that I'm not the only one who writes in the blog. One of the other business reporters does fairly frequently as well. Apologies for any confusion. Our names are under the headlines though so you know who wrote what.

I also just finished writing my first full-length story today. And was super surprised to find out it is going to run on page A1 tomorrow. It's about bowling pins. You can check it out here (on Thursday).

In work out news, I'm trying to find a gym to join up here. I've been to La Fitness and a local private gym that gives corporate discounts. I'm still trying to process my thoughts and that can be an entry all of us its own. So I will save it for another day. I want to be a member by the beginning of Feb. though because it's too dark and cold in the mornings and by the time I get off work to get a run in outside. Plus I still haven't figured out where it's safe to run by myself yet.

Only two more days of the work week left....yay! haha!

Well as you all know I started my new job this week...and part of my new job is to blog (how perfect is that!)

Just wanted to throw out the link to the other blog in case anyone was interested in checking it out: Mind Your Own Business.

I promise for a more full report on what it's like to be a real person later!

Ok that cruise had to be the most amazing trip I've ever taken in my entire life. Five days in the most beautiful islands and cities in the Bahamas and Florida. The weather was beautiful...mid 80's and sunny every day, and my roommates and I had an absolutely great time.

Our room on the ship was teeny tiny, but we made do. We shopped in Nassau and then spent the afternoon on the beautiful beaches by the Breezes resort. The second day was spent in Coco Cay, Royal Caribbean's private island in the Bahamas. When you picture an island paradise, Coco Cay is the island you picture. Crystal clear waters, white sand beaches. We snorkeled and saw all kinds of fish and even a sting ray!

Our third day was spent in Key West, Florida. We had some of the most delicious key lime pie I've ever tasted in my entire life. We shopped and walked all over the place and found the end of Route 1 sign.

Our time spent on the boat each day was also amazing. We got seated at our table at dinner with a really sweet couple that were students at the University of Wisconsin. We had a great time with them. The pool on the ship was amazing. We spent a lot of time lounging poolside reading. The food was amazing. Our waiter and waitress were the nicest people ever. Really everything was amazing. Every night when we got back to our room our towels had been folded into cute animals. The entertainment on the ship was fun.

Overall I just had a great time. But enough of me summing it up...time for pictures!

Well I'm back from Florida and the Bahamas, and I promise a full report soon. But that won't be happening today because today I have to pack my life into lots of boxes because I move to start my new job tomorrow. I'm hoping that moving in and getting everything set up won't take too long because I have some great pictures that I'd like to show you all. So keep an eye out for them tomorrow.

Just a quick summary....the vacation was a blast! And yes, Jess, I was on the Majesty of the Seas.

Well I'm still not feeling 100% better. I can't believe how much this virus has knocked me out. It's been five days now.

But I think I'm definitely healthy enough to get on my plane on Sunday to fly to Miami to leave for my cruise to the BAHAMAS! I'm so excited! My roommates and I decided that because I graduated in December and wouldn't be around for a fun spring break that we would do spring break over winter break. So one of them found this cruise for $280 per person on Royal Caribbean! It's Monday through Friday, and we spend two days in the Bahamas and one day in Key West.

I've never been on a cruise in my life so I'm freakishly excited. And I'm even more excited because I'm finally starting to get over this stupid virus. I'm thinking Wes is right: That some sunshine and sea air might help kick the rest of it, and that by the time I get back I will be healthy and able to hit the gym again.

And here's a couple pictures from graduation because I never put them up before:

Because I spent mine curled up in bed, sick as a dog. So much for the party I was supposed to go to back at school with all my friends. I could barely drag my butt out of bed. My head hurt, my throat hurt, my stomach hurt, I was all congested. I was achy. Really everything that could have felt like crap did.

Seriously the number of times I have been sick this past semester has been ridiculous. I have no idea what's up with my immune system deciding to randomly start sucking. I am not happy with it.

Also this was slightly unfortunate because I would get sick literally the day AFTER I got kicked off my parents health insurance. And obviously since I don't start my job for another two weeks, I'm not covered under my own yet. So yea, I paid $130 bucks at the doctor today to be told, "It's a virus. Rest and drink lots of fluids."

Seriously, people! It makes me want to scream. So not only did I shell out a shit ton of money, but I'm also still sick and can't do anything about it. And I'm supposed to leave for the Bahamas on Sunday. And I can't get on a plane if I'm still all congested. My head would like explode as a result of the changes in air pressure.

Rawr what a frustrating way to start off the new year!