BRITTNEY NICOLE WINTERS

today’s run

sucked at the beginning. it was sunny out, so i told myself i’d go to campus and run today’s 6m miles on the outdoor track. i got through a little more than 2 miles and realized that i hate running in circles and having to count so slowly for so long, so i got in the car and drove back home, went to the gym and hopped on a treadmill to run 3.75 miles and finish my workout for the day. i don’t know why but the treadmill is so much easier for me to mentally handle. i could run forever on one of those things, especially when i’ve got all the comcast channels i can imagine to choose from as my entertainment during the run. it’s almost mindless.

anyway, the almost 4 i ran on the treadmill went by with less effort than the initial 2, so i ended my run on a good note. that makes this first week of february’s mileage total 16 miles. doing hot yoga tomorrow and then my first 8 miler ever monday. not sure if i should be skipping over 7 but the 8 doesn’t really intimidate me, and knowing how i run, if i go 7, i’ll end up telling myself that one more isn’t really that much and just do it and get it over with.

so we’ll see how that goes.

okay so

as you all know, kessler and i are running the disney princess half marathon on the 26th, and as the day grows nearer, my nerves continue to calm. however, as we’ve been talking more about race day and making sure we’re as prepared as possible, i realize that i need as many tips as i can get under my belt before running those 13.1 miles. so far i’ve got:

• don’t overload on the carb loading the night before
• STRETCH SO MUCH
• get sleep
• bagel with peanut butter and a banana before the race
• pee A LOT before the race
• garbage bag for sitting on before the race/rain/keeping warm
• music? still undecided on this one—i currently run without but i watch the tv in the gym while i’m on the treadmill so i still have some kind of distraction, so this one is super up in the air
• bathroom breaks?
• run each mile for a different person

i’ll take anything. advice, stories, motivation, lectures, tips, pictures, websites, anything. fill me with running knowledge. please and thanks.

finally started running again today

after about a month of on-and-off sporadic running. i was actually pretty productive this morning, considering that i’m me. i finished my poetry paper that’s due today (i also pretty much started it this morning) and instead of going back to sleep i decided to go for a run instead.

and by instead of i mean because i couldn’t fall back asleep so the only thing i felt like doing was running because i may or may not have had a heaping bowl of ice cream and brownies last night and by may or may not i mean i did.

also i feel like i’m about to die and i only ran two miles.

good thing i’m training for that half marathon, huh guys?

also

i was more than happy to run today because a. today has been supremely shitty and b. i’m finally feeling 300% better after that terrible bacterial infection.

anyway, i made my way to the track, where i’d planned on running an easy three miles. my knees, on the other hand, had other plans for me. i made it one lap around the track and had to quit before my knees shattered beneath me.

this is literally the dumbest thing that’s happened all day.

what do i do to keep this from happening?

if you guys were wondering what was up with this whole “going to the track” business

which i’m sure none of you were, it’s because luke’s sister (the d of andelove) convinced me and kessler to do the disney princess half marathon with her next year.

as you all know, i’m a water person. swimming, water polo, anything involving the water is dandy. but i’m going to be honest, i’m kinda jealous of runners. i want to be able to run any distance without feeling like my limbs are about to fall off or like my lungs are about to collapse.

that’s why i started running last week. unfortunately this stupid bacterial infection has put a bit of a pause in that, but i need to get better soon because it’s the freaking disney princess half marathon and if it’s disney i’m doing it.

briefly, last night’s dream

i was running—in florida—before i had to go to school. and when i say school i mean high school, so it was sometime around six in the morning. i was running from my house to the beach, which in my head was three miles. by the time i got there, i was being followed by a white pickup truck, so i decided it would be best if i walked into a random house and hung out there until the truck was gone.

well, i picked a house that was serving snow cones, but you had to make them yourself. so naturally my brother was there when i showed up. i let him create his icy treat and made him come back home with me.

fast-forward to me, my brother, and my sister in my car. we’re driving towards the ocean, about to get to the bridge to cross the intracoastal. i turn around for two seconds to talk to my brother and by the time i turn back around, i notice that the bridge is going up. i panic, then i decide to just go for it. i step on the gas and my front wheels make it to the other side, but my back wheels weren’t as lucky.

my siblings and i fell into the water, but luckily the sunroof was open, so i told them to get out of the car and swim to the surface (i apparently told them this while we were underwater, slight formality, whatever).

i now had to somehow get back to california without driving—that’s where i was going, you know, towards the atlantic ocean but ultimately arriving in oakland. anyway, i ended up on a ferry-type boat, but the crew of the ship were all people i’ve met this summer. other random people were passengers on the boat, and then there was bowie. except he was more of a great dane in my dream than a boxer/ridgeback mix. as soon as he saw me, he ran up and jumped on me, flattening me on the floor.

and then i cried from happiness. which is why i knew i was dreaming, because my emotions (or lack thereof) don’t bring me to tears in real life.

i want to run

…what?