Let the fun begin!

So it's become apparent that I need running in my life. I've taken a nice long break! I actually haven't really run on a strict schedule since about October. That's not to say I've been sitting around, well that's not entirely true. I sat around and ate my way through the holiday's. I feel like I deserved it though having been abroad for three holiday season in a row.
In late February Dan and I started a program called P90X. They are these really intense DVD's. Now I have never been a believer of home video work outs and I was very skeptical of p90x, but I'd have to say it's one of the best work out programs out there! I didn't get the exact results that I wanted with it because I totally didn't stick to the diet like I should have. But I am by no means disappointed in the results. I can comfortably and with good form pump out over 20 push ups now and I could only do about five before. My body feels a lot more muscular which I hope will help me as I move into this running season. If you're really looking to get into shape and spice up your workout routine, I highly recommend p90x.

So I decided that the only way I'm going to get myself back out there and running is to get registered for a couple of races. I really want to do the NYC Marathon. I put in for a lottery place last year and didn't get it. That was a blessing because there is no way I could have moved from Japan, travel Europe, and started a new job while training for a marathon. A few weeks ago I put a bid in for the lottery for this year. I got to thinking about it though, this might be the only year I could run it. The following year I hope to start grad school and again I don't think I'd be able to handle school, a job and training that hard. So I plan to run it for a charity if I don't get a spot from the lottery.
In training preparation, I have a few other races that I'd like to do. I'm going to do the Laurel Festival 10k in June. I haven't been to the Laurel Festival in years. If you don't know what the Laurel Festival is, it's in Wellsboro and usually hot as hell. There's a parade and craft fair and other events like this race. Basically, little old Wellsboro shuts down for a few days to eat carnival food. I hope to find at least another 10k in early summer, but eehhh I'm not worried about it. Then I'm going to do the Rochester half marathon on September 14. Yup I'm going to torture my body on my birthday! This past year I did the Nike+ half marathon in October. It's virtual marathon. You just run the distance on that day with your Nike+ and ipod, then you download your run. So I'm sure I can incorporate that into my training schedule.
I will also be doing a few 5k's with my walk to run class. My co-workers and I signed up for it. The class meets twice a week and the goal is to run a 5k at the end. I probably don't need the class, but it's been a good jump start to wanting to train. I'm also really excited to see my co-workers getting excited about it. The schedule of the class is really manageable for a beginner runner so I hope everyone sticks with it. I'm really looking forward to sharing their first race experience with them. Plus it gets us up and outside two days a week and you can't beat that!
On the down side, I've injured myself before training has even really started. A few weeks ago, Dan got the great idea to build a little fort/sofa bed for us to be bums for a weekend and watch season 3 of Battlestar Galactica. The best show on tv for those of you who aren't familiar with Battlestar. Anyways, Dan pushed the two larger sections of our sofa together and put our spare bedroom mattress on top. It was lush heaven.

Well that is until I got the bright idea to get a running start and jump on it. In the processes I bent my two back and it hurt! All night I complained about the pain but it didn't look like anything and I could move it. When I woke up the next morning it was swollen and turning black and blue. By the end of that it looked like this...
The swelling went down after a few days and I gave it a weeks rest from all exercising so I would be healed before I started training. It's a little tight still but getting better everyday. So if I'm lucky that'll be the worst injury I encounter in training...keep your fingers crossed!