Thought I'd add a quick post...  I did 8 miles last Saturday, and believe me, Rock Tape is a lifesaver. My right knee was a little sore that day, but my the next morning I felt like I could run another 8. Although, the goal is to get my legs and muscles strong enough to run without anything, but the tape has helped me go further without injury.

Also, I went to my first Ragnar meeting. I'm so excited now. My team has awesome runners, most of who have already done it, and who all have a great sense of humor. Can't wait!

Well I'm still training. Which despite of how dull that may sound, it's a really good thing. I've never lasted this long a single exercise program. It's hard sometimes because I don't feel like I've progressed that much, but when I look back at where I started, I think I've done pretty well. Yesterday I did my longest run so far, which was 7 miles. That's more than half way to my goal of a half marathon, Yay! It was easier than I thought it would be. The only down side of running further is my knees. After about 5 miles, I really start to feel the strain on them. R.I.C.E. (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevate) helps a ton, but lately my right knee has been giving me a hard time. It's taken longer and longer to recover. I've seen runners with tape on their knees and figured I've give it a try. I bought some Rock tape from Salt Lake Running co. and put it on. So far I'm really liking it. I'll have to see how it works out when I do my long runs.

I've also decided to run the Park City marathon this summer. That's right, a full, 26.2 mile marathon. It's something I've always wanted to do, at least once in my life. So I figured if I'm going to be putting in all this training, I might as well go for it. Plus it's supposed to be a beautiful run through park city. Maybe it will take my mind off all the pain I'll be in. For now I'll just keep running.

Registration

It's official! I finally registered for the Salt Lake half marathon. No backing out now. It's set for April 16th at 7:00 am. I'm starting to excited now. I'm up to 4 miles and running is coming so much easier than it did at first. I think having music to listen to made all the difference for me. I used to run at work and just watch whatever was on tv, but I'd get really bored really fast. So I had my husband create a playlist for me on my mp3 player that just had fun upbeat workout music. Now, I really enjoy my runs. Not only am I getting healthier, but I get a little 'Me' time.

Last Saturday was the hardest run I've done. I ran outside for the first time in months (first mistake) and not only did I freeze my butt off, there was a strong headwind for the first half of my run. Then to make things harder, I thought it would be a great idea to take my dog with me (second mistake). He's a Schnauzer/Dacshund mix and not very well trained. He actually did pretty well as far as keeping up with me, but he was so excited to go for a walk he kept running right in front of my feet and weaving back and forth. So I could either step on him or awkwardly try to leap over him the last second. It's makes it a lot harder to keep your pace and breathe when you're constantly worried about falling over your dumb dog. Lastly I hadn't checked out the route before hand to see if there were side walks or room on the road to run (third mistake). So for the second half of my run, I had to run through dirt and gravel next to the road, and make sure I didn't get run over by a car. But I've learned my lesson. For now I will definitely stick to the treadmill.