Taking time off

Today I ran for the first time since February 6th -- and let me be the first to tell you that taking 10 days in between runs is a horrible idea.

The last week was kind of insane, and I guess this is where I can tell you a little bit about myself. As you already know, I am 21 years old. I am currently a senior at the University of Maryland, and I am writing this blog as part of an English elective I am taking this semester. I applied to 10 graduate schools this fall - all for counseling and school counseling - and am now traveling like a crazy person to all of their interviews. I am also a proud member of a sorority on campus, and am a member of the Panhellenic Association executive board. I am the risk management chair for approximately 1,500 women in the social sororities on campus. Our formal recruitment process just ended this past Monday, February 13th, and we were working around the clock over the last two weekends. I also work as a tutor at the athletic department - I tutor Division 1 athletes. Last Thursday I drove down to UNC for an interview, and came back late Friday night. Needless to say, there was not much time to run in the last 10 days.

Today I was organizing my Lilly agenda, my Google Calendar, and my work schedule. I decided that if I put running in to my Google Calendar, then I would have to run - especially since my computer and my phone magically sync and my phone buzzes when something is inputted in to my Google Calendar! It's awesome. Anyway, I put in to my schedule to run 3-4 days every week until graduation - May 21st. On run 10 days ago, I went my furthest distance at my fastest pace, I went 3.84 miles in 53 minutes. I was so excited. Today I decided that I was going to try to go 4 miles, and I didn't care how long it was going to take me. A 10 day hiatus proved to be extremely challenging. Today, on February 16th, I ran 3.2 miles in 47 minutes and 54 seconds. I knew that my goal for the day was too high, but I really thought I could do it. I was disappointed, but my running partner told me to not be discouraged because I had taken so much time off. I am planning on running tomorrow at either 3 or 5pm, and don't worry, I will keep you updated.

In order to track my runs since the beginning of January, I have been using the RunKeeper app on my iPhone. I recommend it to everyone because it tracks your pace, distance, calories burnt and total time run - it can be used as a GPS, so it just follows you while you run, or you can enter your treadmill activity and it will also give you all of your stats. It is also extremely useful because it keeps a log of all of your runs, so I don't have to look very far to see how far I have come.