Friday, August 31, 2007

Avoiding the hills

Well, last night's 5 miler was funny. I took all this time on plotting a route that would avoid a ginormous hill on my usual 5 miler, and ended up with not only the same hill on a different street, but about a block and a half of visibly rolling hills right after it. Good grief. My knees are a little sore today, but i feel otherwise good. Nothing that can't be fixed with Motrin & ice packs. Then again, what can't? Heh.

I also wrestled with the little voice again. The first mile and a half I had to talk myself out of quitting. It was beautiful out, and i felt fine, I just wasn't in the mood. But I made myself continue, and once I hit mile 2, all was right with the world again.

My Sunday run is my last longie before the Half. It's next Sunday--yikes! Naw, i'm psyched for it. Bring in on.

(Yeah, watch me blow a knee or something)

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Dead legs

Holy hell. My run last night was rough. My long run on Sunday was uneventful, and I felt great afterwards, but good God, did I pay the price Monday and Tuesday. Sunday, i barely ate a thing after my 10, and wasn't really hungry; just thirsty. (That makes me want to quote Forrest Gump) Monday and yesterday I couldn't stop eating. I was craving pasta like you wouldn't believe. So yesterday I gave in and ate a bowl of spaghetti at around 4:30. It helped. I didn't eat anything after that, though. I know I needed some protein, but my weight loss has been so slow since i started training, i didn't want any more calories.

I set out for yesterday's 5 mile run around 7pm. I couldn't seem to get out of the house. My daughters have decided there is nothing worse in their lives than my departure for a run. There was clinging. There were tears. There was howling and relentless sobbing. For the love of Christ, I'll be right fucking back. Does anyone need an explanation for why I run? Exhibit A.

So, the night had cooled off a bit, which was great, but it was still humid. My legs felt like they each had a 5lb weight strapped to them. I thought about taking a shortcut twice, but fought the urge. I also considered lopping off a half mile at the end, but ignored those thoughts as well.

All in all, I was pretty proud of my run last night. It's great to have an awesome, smooth run. I live for those. But on the flipside, maybe it's the crappy runs that are really a symbol of your achievement. I had several opportunities to make it easier on myself, but chose to fight through it and reach the goal I had laid out for myself that evening. I'm awesome.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Sunday's 10 miles

Yesterday was 10 miles, which is the longest I've ever run to date. I ran a 10 mile race in June and finished in 1:36:44. Yesterday's 10 took me almost 2 hours! That was kind of disappointing, but I did eat a giant steak dinner the night before, and had much wine, so maybe that made me sluggish. I know race time is always better than training time, but 25 minutes is a big window.

I felt good while I was running, and took a few walk breaks so I wouldn't burn out my legs. I'm terrified of injury right now since the Half is less than 2 weeks away, so I know I'm not pushing myself as much as I usually do. My legs were tired afterwards, but not sore. The knees were okay, too. I'm really feeling strong for this.

I need to take the time this week to map out a plan for the race weekend. There's no race day pick up, so I have to haul my suburban self into the big ol' city twice. Blech. It's against my religion to pay that much for parking once, let alone twice. Maybe I'll take the train like a big girl. The day of the race, I don't even know exactly where I'm going, or where I need to park, or anything. I'm considering just staying in the city for the night, and I can pick up the packet the day before on the way to the hotel. But I'm afraid I won't sleep as well in a strange bed. Or maybe I'll miss my wakeup call. Aaaargh. I have such issues.

I'm really excited, but the little details are messing with my head.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Morning run

I am not usually a morning runner, I prefer to run in the early evening. But, we had all kinds of crazy-ass weather blow through Thursday night, which cancelled my scheduled run. I had to either run it yesterday (Friday) or skip it. The Half is 2 weeks away, so i don't want to skip. Joe's birthday was yesterday, and I had invited people over for dinner, so an evening run was not in the cards. Friday morning it is. I woke up at the crack, and headed out a bit after 6. It wasn't so bad. Joe needed to be gone at 6:50, so I knew I couldn't do the whole 5 in that time, but I came pretty close; I did 4.5. I was really surprised how many people were out that early. I was also surprised that I could run that far on half a banana.

Unfortunately, I strolled in at 6:51, and Joe's head was exploding that I was running him late. If I could drag my ass out by 5:45, I could do a morning run again. I don't see it happening, though. That is just unreasonably early.

I love the changing weather. I can't wait for fall. I've had enough summer. Fall running is both good and bad. I love the weather, of course, but the short days make getting out a challenge. It'll be getting dark right around the time I usually go, and I don't like running in the dark. It's scary, and my eyes play tricks on me. I pick up all kinds of little things in my peripheral vision, and it makes me too jumpy. I'm also quite sure that white mailbox up ahead is the large white jacket of a homocidal stalker. (Because creepy killers tend to wear obvious, brightly colored outerwear, right?) But in order to run in the daylight, I have to take the girls in the jogger, which I don't really mind, but I can't go for as long. After a half an hour they get bored and start firing questions at me. 4 miles of hills are NOT a good time for Q & A, and I get all cranky at them. That sucks for everyone.

Tomorrow is my longie--10 miles this week. I seriously cannot believe i only have two weeks left. I kind of don't know what to do when I'm done training. I'm not sure how to go back to regular running. I guess I'll worry about it in two weeks.

Monday, August 20, 2007

9 miles

Yesterday (Sunday) was longie day. I woke up and it was pouring. I waited a bit and it stopped, hooray! So I got myself all dressed, took a handful of Motrin, filled all the little bottles on my belt with ice, Propel, and water, and prepared to leave for my 9 miles. I open the door and it's pouring again. Fuck. So I moped around the house for a couple hours, recharged my ipod, added a new playlist, and waited for it to stop.

Finally, I decided to give up and do it on Monday instead. Then the lightbulb went off. Um, perhaps it rains on September 9th? Am I going to skip the Half I've been training for all summer because it's raining?

Of course not, so I strapped my shoes back on, and headed out into the rain. I shit you not, not five minutes in, the rain stopped. Not a drop for the entire rest of the run. So weird. It was perfect out; cool and overcast. I had a great run: finished strong, and didn't suck wind the entire time. I am so ready. Three weeks to go.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Signs of progress

My run last night was great again. I think I'm in the zone right now. My left leg is a little sore, but not unbearable. I'll ice it in a bit. I did 5 miles to make up for cutting Wednesday's run short. I never know the time of my runs since I lost my pedometer and don't have a watch for running. At the end of my run I walk a block up a steep hill for my cooldown, and then stretch a bit outside before coming in and checking the time, so I know it's way inaccurate. Last night's five plus my cooldown walk and a little stretching were all done in about 45 minutes.

I've spent the last few days trying to figure out how to get a picture of myself onto this blog. I have no direct connection from my camera to my laptop because the cord was stolen when our house was robbed a couple years ago. (I know I can buy a new one, it's just not one of those things you think of while you're out shopping) I have a mac, but no mac email, so I can't send it from iphoto. I am completely computertarded, and have no idea what my other options are.

There's a reason i bring this up. I went to google myself, to see if there was a race photo of me somewhere that I could use, and I found something interesting. I always refer the 2000 Turkey Trot as my first 5K . But I was just reminded that THAT 5k was actually my second. In 1999, right after i found out I was pregnant, I did the Cincinnati race for the cure. At the time, I had never used a computer, so i never knew my results. Or cared, for that matter-it was totally for fun. I lived there for a year and a half, and a friend was visiting me, and we decided to do it. My time was 1:01:03. For a 5k. That's a 19:42 minute mile.

I've come a long way, baby.

(But no, I still haven't figured out how to get a fucking picture on here.)

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Wednesday's run.

I've been bad this week. I blew off yoga on Monday to do someone's hair for a party. But at least I picked up a couple extra people and booked a gig. Yay $$$! I'm working with a new makeup artist, and she's awesome. She advertises, though, which means i've gotten a bit busier than my retired self is used to working these days. It's fun work though, so I shouldn't complain.

Anyhow, i also blew off Tuesday's run for no good reason (who am I kidding--a nice bottle of wine is an excellent reason) so up until last night i had zero activity logged for the week.

Soccer practice got moved to another field, and that worked out well. The new field has a nice 3/4 mile path around it. So i planned to run it 6x to get in 4.5 during the practice. I got around 5x, and all of a sudden the lightening siren started blaring. I got all freaked out and ran over to the kids, and cut the run short. There was no lightening in my area, barely any rain, and I totally could have done the last one. I kicked myself a bit afterwards for quitting.

I'm going to do 5 on Friday to make up for it, then I have 9 on Sunday. I've got to get more of those magical little gel things. They are truly gag-worthy, but I've got to say, they work.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Sunday's long run

Sunday should have been a great day. Should.

9am is a great time for a regular run, but I think I'm going to have to bust my chops to get out earlier for future longies. It was already getting pretty hot around 10am, and I had a couple miles left to go. Still, my 8 miles were awesome. I filled 2 bottles on the beloved fuel belt with Propel, and 2 with water, packed a gel, and hit the road. I cruised the whole way. Around mile 6 I felt it in my knees a little. (Next time I'll take 3 Motrin instead of 2) They are fine today. No worries.

So I got home, feeling all glorious and sweaty and awesome, and find out I have a houseful of people coming over in two and a half hours.

Come. On.

Then my mother calls me and says she has decided to:
1) Drive 12 hours to Atlanta...
2) alone...
3) without a cell phone...
4) now.

Come. ON.

Joe got on the computer to find her a flight since my head was exploding at the prospect of her wildly unsafe impromptu road trip. He found one, but not without starting a huge fight with me somewhere between "what time does she want to fly out" and "window or aisle".

Plus, we now have only an hour and a half until company arrives. And I still have not yet showered, because this all happened AS SOON AS I WALKED IN THE DOOR.

So my awesome running high that should have carried me through the day was erased an hour later. Ah well. It was great while it lasted.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Woo Jenksie!

Viv was right about the brightside, cuz i had a GREAT run today! :) Bummer that my Elvis-night plans got cancelled, but I'll survive.

Same route as my last one. It's an awesome route. It may be my permanent 4-miler. Very challenging hills at the right times. Anyhow, today was totally one of those runs that makes you understand why you run. 4:30pm, 85, sunny, breezy, awesome. Took off feeling great, then the weird left calf immediately started getting pinchy. But I said "fuck you, weird left leg pain", ignored it, and it went away. Smooth ride the rest of the way.

Seriously, it was the best run I've had in a couple weeks. I felt like I was flying on the downhills.

And for the icing, the Sox won. Bobby Jenks tied the AL consecutive out record. (He's my guy. I have his autograph on my visor.) It would have been great to be at the game, but oh well. Guess I'll forgive my too-busy babysitters. Who am I kidding? They know I'm at their mercy. LOL

Thursday, August 9, 2007

New toys.

Tuesday's run was great! Totally needed it. I took a new route. It was very hilly, but the road itself was very flat; no sloping down on the sides. Good deal. I went out and bought some new running necessities yesterday. I finally got some body glide for my thighs and i got a hydration belt. Even 4mi in this heat, i'm dying for some h2o about 2mi in. No way I could survive 8mi on Sunday, and I hate carrying a water bottle. It's the burbs, and people are so paranoid about litter on their property, the bottles would get tossed in 5min flat if i stashed them en route.

The belt I got is good, and will serve it's purpose. It holds more than the one I planned to buy, but better to have more than i need than not enough, right? It's so not hawt, heh. The bad news is the salesperson at the store told me I should buy a large instead of the medium that I was holding, since they run small and SHE herself "is 100lbs and takes a medium". Skinny bitch. The damn thing is too loose and now I've got to drag my kids back to exchange it for the medium I was going to buy in the first place. Hmmm. Imagine that. My fat ass wearing the same size as her 100lbs. Grrrrr. What a waste of time. Why do i listen to others, when I so clearly know EVERYTHING?

Tonight we're celebrating my sister's birthday (yay cake) and tomorrow we're going to Elvis night at the Sox game (yay beer). I don't know when I'm going to get in my run, but with all the good eats I need to try. If i can unload my son on someone, I can take the girls out in the jogger. There's no way he can follow us on his bike, it's way too hot. The poor kid would have a stroke. Maybe I'll just call a sitter to sit here while i go. That's probably the best plan. It's too hot to be pushing that thing for 4 miles, anyhow. It kills me a little to have to pay someone else so I can go running, but whattaya gonna do?

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Gypsies stop here.

I swear to God, if a big yellow bus stopped in front of my house today, I'd put my kids on it regardless of its destination.

I am counting the seconds until Joe gets home so I can strap on the shoes and head out for a run. He may not even make it in the door. I may be halfway down the block as soon as I hear the garage door.

My recently purchased shoes are broken in and awesome. I had my doubts since the model changed a bit, and so did my size as a result. At first, I thought they felt a little off, but it's now been a month and they are perfect. I also changed the lacing, which was a big help. My heel was slipping, which wasn't a problem in regular width shoes, but since my wide-ass Flintstone feet required a wide size this time around, I had some issues in the heels. All better. I'm doing four tonight, maybe a little over. It's hotter than hell outside, though.

Since my hellion children can't follow directions, the baby is awake after a very short nap. If they are all alive at the end of today, I will consider it a victory in parenting.

Monday, August 6, 2007

Sunday's run

Yesterday's run was kinda rough. It rained all morning, and when I headed out at 11am it seemed nice and breezy and sunny. My plan was to do 7 miles, and about halfway through all that "breezy" part had disappeared. I was now just fucking hot. I did it, but had to walk a couple of times because it was so hot & humid i was having trouble with my breathing. Clear reminder why I run in the morning or evening. 11-12 is not the time for a run. Dumbass.

Still, it fit in perfectly with my weekend. Did a wedding on Saturday, and the bride's family was fucking crazy disorganized. They shafted me on the pricing and kept me there for 6 fucking hours. I was looking forward to my run to blow off steam, and steam is definitely an appropriate word for what was seeping out of me.

Sunday, August 5, 2007

I'm a runner.

Okay, I admit it. I'm a sheep. A blog is totally out of character for me, as i would never in a million years publicly share this much about myself all in one spot, since I'm completely paranoid and watched too many Oprah episodes on the dangers of online goings-on. However, i post with a bunch of awesome (yes, I loved the 80's) runners on the WW message boards, and blogging is the trend, so i hopped on. I'm neither witty nor eloquent, and not at all creative with the written word. But, i love to talk about myself, so there it is. If you're interested, great! If not, beat it. This will be the other thing that's all about me.

Running background: 7 years ago I never ran a step in my life, and would put my new baby in the car to drive six blocks to a friend's house. However, pregnancy made me fat, so i wanted to do something to make myself less fat. (Okay...bacon sammies during said pregnancy made me fat. Whatever. Details.) Anyway, my adorable firstborn wasn't a big fan of health club daycare. (Alright, fine...I was a psycho-newmom and I thought they were incapable of caring for my precious child for a whole 45 minutes. Cripes. I see why my mother always said never to put anything in writing--you have to be so bloody honest) So, I got myself a jogging stroller for walks. The walks got a little faster. Then there was some jogging added here & there. Next thing i know it's Thanksgiving and I'm at the start of my first 5K. There was no going back. I was an addict.

I am a runner. There. I've said it. Among the daily, weekly, and monthly routines i follow as a career-less wife and mommy, the one thing I have that is all about me is running. As much as i sometimes hate dragging myself out the door, and as lousy as that first mile can sometimes be, nothing compares to the feeling that comes with it. Even whilst pushing 80+ lbs of jogging stroller+daughters, there a sense of release from everything else. Six blocks? Please. Give me six miles. No car required.

This summer i decided to train for my first half marathon. It's five weeks away, and i can't wait. A couple months ago I ran in a 10m. I can't believe I had doubts as to whether I'd finish it. Of course I finished it. I'm a runner. Someday, I'll call myself a distance runner. I don't completely feel it yet, but I know it's in there.

Next year, I'll run my first full marathon. I know I'm totally unprepared for what that means. There's a huge gap between saying you're going to run a marathon someday, and tying on your shoes, herding up to the start line, and crossing the finish 26.2 miles later. The WW running Lovelies are a huge inspiration to me, and when they say "if i can do it, so can you" I believe them. Because I'm a runner.