Finally uploaded my post-race article

Our own Alexandra Haller completed her first half-marathon on October 21st, after sharing her months of challenging training, frustrating setbacks and mental preparation with Her Active Life readers. Here, Alexandra takes you along as she finally crosses that finish line.

Read the oh-so-suspenseful rest of the story here.

I know. I know. Haven't said more about the race

In the meantime, I give you Jim Gaffigan.

One of my favorite lines: "The vegetarian hot pocket. For those who don't like meat, but still like diarrhea."

I did it!

I know a lot of people have me in their thoughts. I appreciate that!
Sorry for being slow on the updates, but there's a lot of people to talk to.
Quick update:
I finished. Just under 3 hours. Feel plenty fine about that time. My knee hurt which caused me to walk a lot more than I had anticipated. Hell, it wasn't such a bad thing bc walking was much easier than running, but I still ran plenty ;)

More details (and pictures) to come soon!

My last article before my race.

The countdown is officially on. After months of training, hours in physical therapy and many road, treadmill and trail miles, I will finally stare down my goal this weekend. I’ll participate in the half marathon, 13.1 miles. This Sunday, before 7:00am, I’ll be lining up with over 10,000 runners for the 2007 Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Marathon. It’s probably an understatement to say the energy from the crowd will be sizzling. Bring it on!

to read more (and OH, I know you want to) click here

The countdown is on.

I've definitely got a few fears but I'm excited as well.

Catch my thought in my latest article. Click here.

I feel it all....

Just can't get enough of my sweet singing lady Feist:
I feel it all I feel it all
I feel it all I feel it all
The wings are wide the wings are wide
Wild card inside wild card inside

I have this song on my Work Your Booty playlist. Running for 7 miles on Saturday, I sure had time to listen to a lot of songs. In particular, I love this song. It's not necessarily the most energetic beat but sometimes the words do more to motivate me then the tempo. When I listen to these lyrics, I just feel that there is something wonderful inside me. And, of course, a run is a great opportunity to see what I'm capable of.

Well I am still struggling with my knee. I'm trying to tweak a few factors and, by trial and error, see where I can make some positive adjustments. I wore my old shoes bc I thought it was possible the new ones weren't that broken in. Well, that didn't make much of a difference. I did buy a new heel lift. That can never hurt. I tried running real slow and I think that *might* have helped. Plus I think some more walking breaks will help as well.

As to my training for this last week. Well I won't be attempting anything adventurous or dramatic. This is no time for increasing my risk of injury. I'll probably do a couple of short runs or maybe hit a yoga class. After all, the coolest boyfriend ever gave me a certificate for an early birthday present. Ah.....

latest article

view it here

Mexico! Mexico!

Today is my last day before vacation. I am so excited, I can't sit still!!

update:
Went to the gym yesterday. No running, which was nice for a change. I concentrated on upper body weights and then did 300 crunches and called it a night. I am definitely sore today.

today:
Some walking, maybe some 'light' running, depending on what the knee has to say. Then another circuit of lower body weights---again, keeping the strength of the knee in mind before exerting myself too much.

SOOOOO SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO VERY EXCITED!!!!!!

My (just barely) ten mile run

I met Ed at Hines around 7am for the 10 mile beast. I was totally glad to have the obligation of meeting someone bc otherwise there is no way I would have woken up at 530 am on a Sunday for a run. And yes it was 530 because I needed time to eat something substantial and let it digest. Then to kill time I cleaned my kitchen and started some laundry. (Be careful of becoming a runner. You might engage in similar freakish behavior at ungodly hours!)

I actually felt pretty good. Ed said that we should run as slow as I wanted and we definitely did. It's amazing how having someone to talk to makes the time go by without feelings of dread or impatience. By about mile 5 or 6 my left knee started feeling uncomfortable and tight. I have never had a problem with my knee before so I thought it would go away or at least not become more aggravated. Wrong! I had to stop two different times bc it was becoming really painful. The funny guy that Ed is, he joked about a 3rd stop requiring a doctor's note. At this point, I was getting really scared. I mean my knee hurt. It really did. It was not in my head. I mean if I weren't trying to act all tough around another person, I probably would have sat on a rock and cried. So finally around the 9.5 mark, we pause for the awful 3rd time and I cannot restart. I can't. I am limping just while walking. Clearly, this condition was not lessening.

Ed kindly asks if he should go get a car and pick me up. I am shocked! Am I really going to have to wimp out like this? I ask Ed if that will make be seem like a really big loser. Oh so casually, he replies "Yeah, a loser. I mean you only did nine and a half.' Ha Ha. Thanks a lot, smart ass! But he said in terms of training, another half mile will not break my readiness. He also insisted that if something was wrong, there was no need to keep walking on it and irritate it further.

That's how my run ended. With me hunched over a rock massaging my annoying knee, waiting for a ride back to my car. If it weren't such a beautiful morning, I might have seriously suffered a major depressive episode.

Live and learn, right? That's all I can do. There's no point in getting anxious and freaking out about the race. It's still 3 weeks out. I'll just ice my knee and try not to be so rough with it. I will definitely lay off of a run until I feel more healthy.