Oh I have lots to catch y'all up on...

Just got back from the beach.

I'm about to run my first 8-miler.

I'll give y'all the play-by-play later on.

PS: About halfway through my run is a hill that includes a 400 foot elevation change. I'll save you the math-- about 40 stories. Yeah, it's freaking huge.

Eek!!

MINI-UPDATE

I've run over 100 miles since I started this journey. 

100 miles.

That's a long freaking way.

But I ain't nowhere near finished.

Here's one of my "oh hell yeah I'm a running beast" songs. It gets me pretty pumped/makes me feel super badass.

Makes you wanna get up and go, doesn't it?

Little Rock 5k... CHECK!

While my lovely little Saturday morning jog wasn't exactly as speedy as I would have liked (40:33), it was by far my best run. While I would love to share every little step along the way, I shall (in the fashion of my last 5k recap) provide my highlights in the ever-fabulous bulleted list.

• I ran every single inch. Yeah, I don't think this needs much elaboration. The excitement of this went away, though, when I realized that my run-walk-run (thanks, Jeff Galloway!!) ratio was gonna include about three miles of running to about a quarter- to a half-mile of walking. And it's gonna happen about four cycles worth for the half. Whoop. Whoop.

• Those damn hills didn't stop me!! While Conway is a quaint little town with many positive attributes, it's probably the worst place in Arkansas for running. You get handy little downtown, with all its stoplights and crosswalk zones where you get interrupted/try to save yourself from psycho drivers who can't seem to pay attention to anything other than themselves/their phones/their kids; then you factor in the complete absence of sidewalks; and, oh yeah, the fact that there is no elevation change whatsoever. So when I realized that there were hills-a-plenty (which happened as I was running up the damn hills), I was a little freaked, but they didn't stop me!! They've definitely made me move slower since Saturday, though, because apparently butt muscles are activated 100000x more running uphill than on level ground. They've been protesting.

• I maintained a steady pace throughout, hills and all. All three miles were run at a fairly steady pace, which is currently unknown thanks to a discrepancy in my Nike+ and official time/distance/pace. I do know, however, that my fastest mile (by about ten seconds) was pretty much straight uphill. Maybe I just really wanted to get it over with?? I'll know a better guesstimate of my actual pace soon, because I'm getting a handy running waist-pack (AKA fanny pack), and I'll be able to loop my big Forerunner on that, instead of my wrist.

I'm really proud of this run, and I'm so looking forward to exiting the "fun run" category and entering the  longer runs. My ever-eloquent dad said "you have to walk before you can run.... or run before you can run? Whatever, I'm proud of you." I even got him to commit to running the Disney World 5k the Friday before the marathon! Oh, and Sara Ann and I are submitting our Odyssey Funding Proposal soon... Wish us luck!!!

Hi, my name is Savanna and I look about twelve.
Whatevs, it's Medal #1!

My dad said I'm "slackn on the blog"

And he's right. But, hey, I'm doing better than Sara Ann!! (Sorry, doll!)

This past week has been one filled with injury and triumph.

(That sounds so epic!) 

On Thursday afternoon, after a wonderful run, I was walking down the stairs, stepped wrong, and sprained the bejeezus out of my ankle, as you can see. I don't mind pain, I really don't. I was honestly more pissed off than anything because I knew I was going to be out for a while. I only missed Saturday's, Monday's, and Tuesday's runs, but still. I was most definitely freaked out at all of the websites that said that these damn things can take months to heal... I don't have time for that. I am freakin' ecstatic to report that, with the help of my new best friend (AKA my handy-dandy ankle brace) I've managed two four-milers this week!!!!

Yesterday's run was great for the first 1.7 miles... I honestly don't know what happened for the next half a mile. It was horrible, it was slow, it was getting dark, and I was having trouble finding the motivation to keep picking my feet up. At mile 2.2, I paused my Nike+, sat down, and had a little heart-to-heart with myself. I said, "Self, you are over a mile away from school, it's getting dark, it's getting sketch. You need to get your ass up, get focused, and finish this damn thing."I sat there for a couple of breaths, picked my ass up, and finished the last 1.8 miles at an 11 minute mile pace. That may not seem expeditious, but I'm kinda slow, so that was a nice little personal (removal of head from ass) triumph. And I'm quite proud of that. 

Tomorrow's run is supposed to be a five-miler- the first, mind you- but I registered for the Little Rock Marathon 5k, so the five-miler's gonna have to wait until Monday. I'm honestly more comfortable with that, because it gives my body a little longer to fix my ankle before I piss it off too badly... I hope I'm not getting too ambitious with this, given my ankle situation, but I'd like to finish the 5k in 37 minutes... I'll let you know how it goes!!!

Swollen and bruised. Cute, isn't it?

PS: Better, Daddy?