8.6 miles and a bloody toe

Hey everyone! Emily here. Wow, I kinda dropped off the face of the blogging world for a little bit. Sorry about that. But, I have some great news! I finished my first really long run on Saturday! Woohoo!! I ran/walked a total of 8.6 miles! I never thought I could do that!

In other good news, I got my first official running-related "injury." Thank goodness it was only a bloody toe! I was all excited because I thought it was the nail itself, but later I figured out it was a nail that was a tiny bit too long and cut the toe next to it. Still pretty cool. I feel like I can call myself a real-live runner now!

The reason I ran so long was because of the new schedule I put myself on. I finished reading The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide by Dawn Dais and it totally got me pumped for a half-marathon. I looked at the schedule in my area and the one that best fits the schedule is on Mother's Day in Fort Collins. Hmmmmm.... normally I would be spending Mother's Day sleeping in and having breakfast in bed. But no, this year it's a half marathon. What the heck am I thinking? Oh well, I'm excited.

This weekend's run was a real milestone for me in that it totally changed my attitude. The longest I had ever run before that was about 4 miles and 13.1 just seemed SO far away. Now, I feel like I could actually do it. I have watched my mile time drop from a comfortable 12+ minutes to feeling comfortable at about 9:40, which is huge for me. I've never run a mile that fast before! I do have to add a portable water pack to my own wish list though. Since it still freezes in CO until about April the city doesn't have the public water fountains open, so by the end of my run I was melting snow and drinking it. I think I read somewhere that that's really not good for you, but I was parched. Anyways, enough rambling from me. Have a great week everyone!

Emily - 2.8 miles

Good afternoon everyone! Emily here again. Today I started the New Year with a 2.8 mile run/walk. I ran most of the first mile (except for the really icy parts) and then had to walk the 2nd. Two reasons I had to walk: 1) it was SUPER icy in the neighborhood south of mine. I thought about calling their HOA and complaining that they didn't pave the paths very well. (okay, so I won't really call, but I thought about it!) 2) I was in a LOT of pain today during the second half. My calves were killing me, especially on a big downhill part. There is also a twist to my half of this project for the first 21 days, but you won't know about that until after it's over! (muahaha, I love leaving you in suspense!!)

Since Liesl posted pictures of her shoes, I thought I would do the same. I picked these up shortly before Christmas on a B1G1 1/2 sale at Famous Footwear. They are Avia running shoes. They weren't too expensive as I have a hard time justifying paying that much for a pair of shoes. They are comfy though, and I can definitely tell a difference from my old pair of shoes, which had holes in the toes and the soles were starting to fall off.

I plan on posting pics of these like Liesl every 100 miles I reach. My friends Sarah and Tanya were also talking about how we should start posting pictures of our toes once we start training for a half or full marathon. Something about our toenails turning black and falling off? Gross. We shall see!! Have a wonderful day everyone!

Present #2

Aren't they pretty? I know that that's not the most important part of a running shoe (in fact, it shouldn't be a factor at all). But, still, it's pretty fun :)

These are my first pair of running shoes. I've been wearing cross trainers until now. So, I'm pretty excited to have some real running shoes. I did the best I could to pick a pair that fit. We don't have a running store here in Gallup, so, I'll have to make it to one before the marathon for sure!

The average life of a running shoe is 300-400 miles. So, looks like I'm looking at 3 pairs over the next year, crazy huh?

Here's the plan: I'm not going to wear these shoes until the first day we start counting miles... Then, since we'll be keeping track I figure it will be really easy to know how many miles I go in them. Then, evey 100, or so, miles, I'll take pictures and we'll see what they look like through all the wear and tear.

They're Women's Nike Compete. Thought I'd put it out there on this blog. Hopefully, they'll be the perfect pair right from the start. Then I know what to get the next time I need shoes.

What kind of shoes do you wear? Do you have a favorite brand? Have you ever been to a

running store and been fitted? I'dlove to know what you think!