Winter and Studying!

It's Sunday morning, the big storm is coming for Pittsburgh. First they called for 10"-12" of snow, now it's 4"-8", who knows. I personally love snow, but the cold sucks. As much as it's a pain to drive in, the love the brightness and luminosity it brings, as well as the crispness in the air. Yeah, I love snow! HA. 

So as for running, in the past few weeks I have started to pick up the running as it's need with Pittsburgh marathon coming up on MAY 4th!!!!!!!! Only 2 months! I am excited and nervous at the same time. Nervous because I was cocky and waited until February to start my training, when everyone else started in January. I just wasn't ready for 15 mile runs, I was OK with staying in the gym and going for swims. But I'll be okay, as long as I run 3X/week and get my long runs in on Friday or Saturday. I did 13 last Saturday and 15 this past weekend. 10 mile race next weekend. Always good to have a race or two in your training schedule to break up the monotony and to also see how you are progressing! But then, of course I am excited at the same time. Excited because it's a race, and I love running races. I have become really competitive as I've gotten faster. More eager because Pittsburgh was my first full last year, and it was kind of a flop, in my opinion. If you remember, I got a 5:00:14. Great in some peoples eyes, but it was a major learning experience. I just hope I learned enough last year to run a great race this year. 

Pittsburgh Marathon 2014 GOAL TIME: 3:50:00 - previous PR was in Richmond in November 2013, 3:57.

Last topic: Studying for ACE Personal Trainer certification

As I continued to read through the chapters, the March 5th deadline of scheduling my ACE exam was fast approaching. I don't have to take the exam by that date, just schedule it. Since I was nearly done reading the materials (which I have just the appendixes to read at this point), I decided to schedule it for a month out. That should give able time for studying with my work schedule. I scheduled strategically for Friday March 28th at 8:30 am. This way I have that Thursday off for more last minutes refreshers and I can get it done in the morning and go for a run after it's over to decompress. I'm not sure if we get the results instantly, but I kind of hope we do. I'm really nervous. The pass rate in 2012 was only 54%. The retake fee is $199. I hope that I know enough and have learned enough to pass successfully. If there is anyone out there that has taken the ACE exam in the past, any help or tips!?!? ahhh nerves!