Distracted...and full.

So today is my last day of work before heading off to Michigan. I'm honestly over this work thing...I know, isn't everyone. I have a lot of laundry and packing to do before our 5:30 AM departure tomorrow, and I'm starting to feel the stress. Contemplating and early departure from my work place.

I had a good run to the gym last night. My average stayed under 10's despite the monster hills and numerous traffic lights. I can tell that summer is on it's way because I was sweating like crazy....ahh the humidity. I suspected yesterday that I was not going to be sore from my Monday workout at IST, but I confirmed it today. No soreness, at all. Is this a good thing? I'm not sure. Either means I'm tough or I'm not working hard enough and I have no idea which one. I'm supposed to go in early to talk with the main man today. I'm a bit nervous because I've been sending him emails complaining about how expensive the training is. Then I checked with another personal trainer at the other gym that I go to...he charges $40/hour. Yikes!! I guess $15 isn't so bad. I'm such a dork. I think I can blame this one on NP. He's the one that made me so darn cheap!

This morning I drove to the gym to get a little cardio and physical therapy stuff in. Also to get another day at the gym since I was losing my lunch all last week and didn't make it in. Today after work I'll be going to IST again and then off to my community ed class. Hopefully I'll be able to pay attention with all the distraction floating around in my head.

I'm ready to get home and see everyone. It's been way too long!!

The Ups and Downs

So much has happened since my last post!! I'll try to take it in steps so it's not too overwhelming.

I think I mentioned my brief encounter with some flu like symptoms Tuesday morning. What I thought was going to be brief....turned into a three day battle for my livelihood. It was insane. I had the worst fever and body aches Tuesday night that I have ever experienced. I seriously wanted to die. The vomit was nothing but relief. I couldn't believe it. It took me two days to recover. All I could do is lay around all day, completely wiped out.

On top of my deathly flu, I was supposed to be preparing for a garage sale. That was nearly impossible. Luckily on Thursday I felt well enough to do a few things around the house while NP was at work. Then when he got home, we just starting hauling things out. We ended up with a LOT more stuff than I had expected. The sale was really successful on Friday with lots of street traffic, but a total flop on Saturday. We still made around $200, but it could have been a lot better. Now I have to deal with the mountain of leavings in my living room. Unfortunately, it may just have to stay there for a week or two.

By Sunday, I was finally feeling a bit more normal so I decided it was time to head out for a run. The weather was awful and I was lacking all motivation. I drove down to the WWT and sat in my car for around 15 minutes trying to talk myself into it. Then I got out with shorts on and a fleece. I started to run, but then realized I hadn't turned on my watch. While I was waiting for it to locate I got SO COLD! My legs were freezing and I finally had to get back in the car. I took my shoes off so that I could slip my wind pants back on....DANGEROUS. I had a serious urge to just start the car and head home, but I didn't. I put my pants on and my shoes on and I headed off. I thought I was going to die in the first minute, but then I leveled off a bit. It was pretty slow going, but I got through it.

Yesterday was my second session at IST. It was good. Not as hard on my shoulders as last time, and no cardio intervals. Kind of disappointing since I liked those. I'm a bit torn as to whether or not this is the best option for me. If it was more reasonably priced, I could see going down there all the time. But it's not. I just want to make sure that I'm getting my monies worth!! I don't think I'm going to end up as any sort of a power house with a once a week work out though. Bummer.

The worst part about those work outs is that I can never sleep the night after. It's kind of crappy. I was supposed to get up and run to the gym this morning, but I just couldn't do it. Now I'm going to have to do it in the yucky traffic after work today. Blah.

I'm not sure where tomorrow will take me. I've tentatively planned to go back to IST tomorrow after work. I'm not sure if a morning workout would be a good idea or not. I need the days at the gym though. I'll probably give it a shot.

Tomorrow night I have a mushroom growing class at 6:30, not those kind of mushrooms. Shitakes and stuff. Then I have to come home and pack. Yikes, it's going to be a crazy day.

I suppose I should finally get to that laundry today!!!

Sicky Icky

So last night I did my first class at IST. It was pretty cool. Luckily NP talked me out of going on a 5 mile run before I showed up. It was tough, mostly for my upper body. My legs get plenty of work and will probably weather the storm just fine. My arms are already pretty much out of commission though. I'm popping advil to help keep things level.

This morning I got up to run to the gym to make up for my lack of a 5 mile run yesterday. I made it to the gym just fine....cranking AC/DC the whole way, but things got a little ugly once I was there. I sat down to stretch for a minute and then I was assaulted by some crazy flu symptoms. My two little neighbor girls were passing around a flu bug this weekend and I'm pretty sure I've come down with it. It sucks. I'm really tired and a bit feverish. I'm ready to go back home and go to sleep. Another hour here and I'm done.

I'm really hoping I can beat this bug today because tomorrow is the last race in the NMTC spring series. I just found out that I'm 5th overall, so a good race tomorrow could be pretty exciting. I don't think I'll get any good prizes because I would still be about 10th to go up to the prize area (including the guys). But still. That's better than my 10th place finish last year!! Magney is a hard course so I don't know how well I'll do, but I'm hoping to at least come close to my normal pace.

Then I have to start gearing up for the garage sale. I have done nothing to prepare for it yet. I need to get my butt in gear!! I'm thinking it's all going to happen on Thursday night, unfortunately. Oh well, I'll be glad when it's over.

Last One!

So I did my last long run for this race. I went for 12 miles on Saturday. It was a great temperature, not too hot! I went out on the WWT and then added another 3.5 miles on the Munger. It was a bit boring, but not too bad. There were LOTs of people out enjoying the nice day. I dodged a lot of little bikers in training. My pace was okay. I didn't push too hard given my recent blood donation and I made it through just fine.

Afterwards I met up with my neighbor to go watch the boys climb. I even brought along my harness and shoes just in case I felt up to it. Turns out they had hooked up a nice little 5.6 that looked pretty appealing. I tied in and gave it a shot. I was a bit rusty, having not climbed in almost two years, but I felt good. I felt strong....funny because I know that a trip to the climbing gym would quickly remedy that!! The only bad part was that my toe nails were pretty sore. The two middle toenails are destine to fall off. Cramming them in climbing shoes and then putting tons of pressure on them....not pleasant. Once I got over that, no biggie. I just took my time and scurried up the wall. It felt great and really motivated me to get back in to climbing this year!

I did a bit of celebrating on Saturday night since I had such a great day, last of the long runs, and I got the big D in the mail on Friday! I was stoked. Maybe a few too many beers, but the smores were great. I'm so luck to live on such a great block! I don't know what I would do without all the company!

So Sunday....got some planting done, did some laundry, no working out. I took a few naps and ate way too much food. I'm paying for it on the scale today. My hopes of looking a lot better for my trip home are officially lost, but I will still keep plugging away.

Today I am set for a 4 mile run up to Enger Tower and then my first personal training session. I can't wait. Just hoping I'm not too sore tomorrow!!!

Friday Fun Day

So....I may have suffered a set back, but we'll get to that later.

Wednesday night was the all feared Chester Bowl run. Actually, I don't fear it at all, but NP dreads it. I showed up hoping to do well and as a result was a bundle of nerves, once again. It was a bit chilly and I didn't feel warmed up or really in any sort of running form, but I did it. I took off ahead of NP and never saw him again. This was the first race that I started to catch him at last year, but he sprinted to the end to beat me by a second. I didn't know how it would shake out this year, but he had an awful week so I assumed he would be a bit slower. The course was a lot hillier than I remembered from last year. Lots of long up hills and steep down hills. It was short enough that I didn't want to die though. I actually ended up beating a few people that I can never catch so I was pleased. And I took about 4 minutes off my time from last year. NP took two minutes off our time. It was a good race for both of us and the best part were the bags of Positively Third Street cookies waiting for us at the finish line!!! They were SO good, as always.

Thursday I went to boot camp again. It was HOT out. We ran down to Leif Ericson park in the little military/catch-up line. That sucked because there were some pretty quick runners in that group. And to top it off (here's where the set back comes in) I had given blood that morning. I felt a lot more tired than normal. The nurses had told me that I shouldn't work out at all. I decided to risk it, but made a point to stop and rest when I started feeling really tired. It worked out fine. Except the run back I guess. I was pretty much toast by that point.

This morning I went to Pilates and it felt AWESOME. She even changed up the routine a bit and incorporated some weight training!!!! And the best part, I think she even played the Beatles instead of Elton John!!!! Amazing.

So I was feeling pretty good until NP told me that my half marathon training was going to go out the window since I donated blood. I won't recoup all those red blood cells for another two months which is WAY past Grandma's on June 20th. I've talked to other people that say I'll be fine, but I don't know what to believe now. I'm bummed. Just when I thought I had a chance to PR, the wind has left my sails.

Magney to Munger and Back Again

I took advantage of the warm weather on Saturday to do my long run for the week. It was actually an interesting lay out for me since I'm normally a morning running. I had to work at a local flower/plant sale early Saturday morning, but was home by around 10:30. I decided to wait a bit to go running since I felt a bit sluggish. I laid down on the couch only to wake up at almost 1:00. OMG! I couldn't believe how long I had slept! I guess I was tired from a long work week and a few sleepless nights. Either way, I got up, ate some PB toast and headed out. NP brought the burglar along for a hike while I was running. We started out at the Magney Snively parking lot and ran the Superior Hiking Trail for about 3.25 miles. That took me across Skyline and through the woods to Ely's Peak and then down to the Munger trail. It was intense. The footing was tricky and I had to be super careful. Once I got down to the Munger I ran out another 2.25 miles and back to Ely's. Then up the trail again. The way back was even more intense because I was that much more tired out. I was really paranoid of rolling and ankle or falling. The last thing I need is to get hurt at this point!! It was crazy. The worst part was that, for the very first time, my watch seemed to have failed me. Having run out exactly 5.5 miles (according to the watch), I fully expected to be arriving safely at my car when my watch read 11 miles. However, I was smack dab in the middle of the woods when that happened! I was ready to cry. I so wanted my little adventure to be over!!!! I just had to keep running though. Luckily I dumped out on Skyline shortly after and just took the road back to the car. NP was just getting ready to go out and look for me when I got back...phew.

After the run we went out and I drank a LOT of water to go along with my beers. I wasn't sore or hung over the next day, yay!!

Monday I got out and did a good 5 mile run on the roads- down Grand to 40th and up to Skyline. It was nice to be out for just an hour and be done compared the the three hours I spent in the woods on Saturday. I made okay time. Then I came back, did some gardening and headed off to NP's mom's for a BBQ. I ate way too much and have continued that trend today. Everything feels tight- oh no!

I know it's shallow, but it matters. I want to look better than certain other females counterparts in my life. Right now....not doing such a good job of that. Time to regroup. I'm actually thinking of investing in some personal training sessions. Maybe that will help!!

Warm Weather...Cool Running

The weather has been all over the place lately, but I've still managed to get some pretty good runs in. I did about 4.5 miles up to Enger Tower and back on Monday night. It was hot, but I needed to get out there. My neighbors had also invited me to a BBQ right after I was done so I had extra motivation to pick up the pace. I finished my run, ran into the house to shower and was sipping margaritas in no time (not the best idea after a run, but I survived).

Tuesday I was bit hung over as I dipped into the 12 pack of Miller Lites in our fridge after the margaritas ran dry. So....I stayed in bed in the morning and opted for a trip to Petco that evening instead of a trip to the gym. oops.

Wednesday was the Western Waterfront Trail run. Again....SUPER HOT. I couldn't believe it. Almost 85 degrees or something crazy like that. I tried to keep a faster pace just because I'm so sick of being pokey all the time. I think I did okay. I fell off my pace quite a bit at the end, but I think the heat and dehydration got the best of me. I still managed to shave almost 4 minutes off my time from last year. Okay...so should I really be saying "shave"? Isn't 4 minutes more like hacking or gauging? Either way...I was almost a minute per mile faster. Not bad!!

Thursday I've been going to the evening boot camp class so I don't have to double up on Wednesdays. Normally this works out fine, but yesterday I showed up and the instructor said that we would be trail running in Chester Bowl. Um, what? Luckily a friend of mine showed up for the first time and he wasn't much of a runner. We walked a lot of the way. I was fine with that.

Today I am on a mission to find new running shoes. After my jaunt on the WWT, I actually ended up with a bruise on the ball of my foot. My shoes must just be too broken down. Probably doesn't help that I use them for step classes and all sorts of things that they aren't really meant for. I'm not excited about spending the money, but it will be worth it to save my feet a bit of suffering.

Tomorrow.....11 miles. I'm debating on doing it on the SHT trail just to be a bit easier to my feet. I'm concerned about water since I'll be out there a bit longer with the rough terrain. Do I just take my camelback? Or do I buy one of those fancy hand held water bottles? I think both options will annoy me, but which one will be less annoying? i'm guessing it's going to depend on how much those fancy water bottles cost....

10 down....11 and 12 to go!

So I did my first 10 mile run this weekend. I was tired so I took it pretty easy. I wasn't going for pace, just trying to get through it and I did. I learned some valuable lessons though! Always make sure your electronics are fully charged so you're not watching a ticking clock waiting for battery indicators to inch over to full. And always make sure to allow adequate time for breakfast and a full bathroom break. Man...that was a first.

So I limped along. I think I was some where around 11 minute miles. Not at all where I want to be, but at least I wasn't sitting at home on the couch. I think next week, for my 11 mile run I'll do some alternating. Maybe run an 8:30 mile next to a 10:30 mile or something like that. I have to figure out some way to convince my body to pick up the pace a bit.

Tonight I'm going to run up the hill by my house and over to Munger tower. I gained back three of the pounds that I lost last week and I'm pissed. So I will punish myself tonight. Two trips up the tower and two trips up the hill. That should be sufficient.

Wednesday is the Western Waterfront Trail. I'm sure I'll get my ass kicked there. Nice flat course...I'm doomed. NP will for sure smoke me. Excellent...should be a real confidence booster.

On a positive note, I did an insane amount of walking lunges last Thursday evening and only felt the threat of soreness. I was a bit stiff and achy, but not the mobility altering pain that I was expecting. Finally....I think I might be getting some where. Now I just have to get back on my bike!!

Discouraged

So, I've got a ways to go. I did the 15k spirit mountain run yesterday. I struggled a lot more than I was expecting too. I think it's a combination of taking last weekend off and this cold hanging on a LOT longer than it should. I guess I did okay. I hung in there for an under 10 min/mile pace, but it was hard. I didn't feel the wind beneath my wings. I think my hopes for a sub 2 hour grandma's just went out the window. I'm thinking this means that I'm going to have to do Whistlestop again just to see how well I can do there.

The other thing I realized yesterday is that I think I need new shoes. I'm having the same pain in the bottom of my foot that I experienced at whistlestop. It is way too early in the year to be feeling that. Maybe I did wear the shoes out in a year, I don't know. I don't have any sort of a mileage log so I have no idea how many miles I've put on them. I don't exactly have the cash to buy new shoes right now, but I think I might have to suck it up and do it anyway.

On another note....I saw some pics of me running the other day....yikes! I had no idea I had gotten so big. It's actually pretty depressing. I've been trying to lose weight for a while, and I've managed to drop a few pounds but I've now realized that I have so much further to go that I thought I did. Great.

So, the plan for this week is to run some hills tonight, spin tomorrow, goat run on Wednesday, boot camp on Thursday, and pilates on Friday. That's a moderate week that will take me into a ten mile run on Saturday. Being that I have to work Saturday as well, I'm going to have to get up early to squeeze it in. I hope I don't lose my motivation!!!

On Empty...no running

So I've been working too much and the illness finally got the best of me. I just haven't had time or felt like doing anything. I debated going on my long run Saturday morning, but knowing that I had to work all day and was going out afterwards....I didn't think it would be the best idea. That would be a tough day if I were feeling healthy, but with a cold I think it would have been impossible!

I ended up having a great time out on the town Saturday night. I started out the night with my two neighbors. They are great women...sisters who have little in common and look nothing a like. It's kind of crazy. We went out for Thai food and then hit up the local brewery. It was great. I found out a lot about them, and shared a few skeletons of my own. People always love hearing about the divorce. I'm so glad I've finally got enough distance between me and my life with the fat man that I can laugh about it.

We talked a lot about weight and weight loss. It's definitely planted a seed with me. I've been struggling with a pesky ten pounds since I moved out here and I'm ready for it to be gone. I had initially set a goal for June 10th when I go home to see my family. I think I kind of got off track the last few weeks, but I'm going to refocus and try to get this goal accomplished! I'm telling you....I'm striving for the trifecta!!! Degree, debt free, and hot!!! Then I'll be untouchable. If I could add a PR at Grandma's to that list.....that will be the ultimate! I think it's amazing that this is all coming together in my 29th year. I'm setting myself up to feel pretty darn good when I'm staring the big 3-0 in the face. I won't be married or have children yet, but I think that's okay. I've still got some time to get that figured out....hopefully.

So....the goal for tonight is a 9 mile run. Hopefully lots of stretching and warming up will keep me from having such bad knee pain like last time. And then no more 2 day a week running. That's terrible. I need to gear up!!

Swine Flu on the Millenium Trail

Last night marked the very first Trail run of the NMTC spring series. It was cold and wet, but a great run. My steady pace of training this spring helped me to shave off almost six minutes from my time last year. Insane. Just think if I do actually train all winter..... Getting under 30 minutes would be a thrill for any of these 5ks. Running in the mud with all the hills really makes your pace take a hit. According to my watch, I managed to maintain a 9:17 pace which is not too shabby. The official results haven't been posted yet though.

The good news is that the knee feels good. It was really sore after my Monday night 8 mile jaunt. I thought I was done for sure. I had to stop several times while I was running to try to stretch the IT band. It didn't help. I iced really good that night and the next day, and it seemed to go away. I think I got really lucky there. I took a chance running last night, but I knew the soggy trail would be fairly forgiving. I'm going to rest until Sunday when I'm scheduled for 9 miles. I'm going to have to get a bit creative in picking my route. Maybe I'll try to stay on the SHT or something. I think all the pavement running is starting to get to me.

The rest should also help with this swine flu that I seem to have acquired. It sucks. My throat is pretty raw and my stomach won't stop turning. I slept for a few hours before the race last night and I think that's what got me through. Today I'm taking some sick time just so I can try to sleep this off. I have to work this Saturday and I don't want to have to drag myself through a public event feeling like crap the whole time. It's just not fun.

Here's to feeling better very soon!

Hanging in there

I did a tiring 7 miles on Saturday. I love using my trusty Garmin watch to track my mileage and pace. However, I always feel like I'm working really hard to maintain the 11-13 minute miles that my watch frequently tells me that I'm running. I went out with NP and he had his watch on too. I asked what his pace was reading and it was almost two minutes faster than what mine was reading...despite us running side by side. Strange. I guess the moral of that story is that I'm usually running quite a bit faster than my watch is actually reading...relief.

I had planned to do 5 this morning, but I slept in. I got zero sleep last night due to a nasty combination of caffeine and contemplating my future. It sucked. I am now shooting for getting through this day. My goal is to take the dog out for an easy 4 after work. I think I'm going to head up to enger tower and check out the early flower buds. I'm thinking that might help to cheer me up.

I've never been able to function in a holding pattern. I'm not sure why I was thinking that I would be able to do that now, but I can't. I need to formulate some new goals and get them done. The sooner this money thing is over...the better off I'll be.

We're closing on our refinance deal on Thursday with a new low rate of 5.25%. It's pretty exciting except that it will add the closing costs onto the principal balance. Which means I'm stuck for a little while longer.....hmmmm.

Updates

Fail. I trusted my Tuesday workout to some one else and it turned out to be a huge fiasco! A co-worker of mine kept pressuring me to do an interval work out. So I skipped spin on Tuesday so I could go to a track to do repeats after work. Well what do you know, there was a track meet on two different tracks that we tried to go to. I was pretty bummed. It threw my entire week off, okay that's being a bit dramatic. I was not happy with the situation though.

Wednesday took me back to boot camp. It was a good class because we go to go outside again, finally, after a long winter. It was great to be down on the lakewalk to watch the sunrise. The 80 step ups didn't feel quite so bad....not really.

On Thursday I ran to the gym and back to make up for my skipped gym visit on Tuesday. I had always figured that it was about 5 miles to the gym and back, but now I'm thinking it's closer to 5.5. And those hills were a bear. I was tired all day after that one. Just think, I used to knock that out like it was no big deal. Funny.

Friday.....I couldn't drag myself out of bed this morning. I tried...a few times....and failed. I stayed up a bit late last night making some bean soup (not really a great idea since it didn't turn out that good anyway). That probably played a part in my excessive tiredness.

Tomorrow will be 7 on the Munger trail. NP and Shae will be coming along. Hopefully it will be another good trip.

And Sunday...I will be at the gym at some point to make up for my laziness this morning.

On a side note....both of my co-worker who had signed up for the half are now injured. They were both going all out with their training. I was starting to feel really stupid for only running three days a week. But now....I couldn't be happier with my conservative training plan. I hope their injuries don't set them back for too long because it would be really cool to have some company out there. I'm just seriously glad it's not me. The last thing I need is another injury!!

S U C C E S S That's the way we spell success!!!!

My mom's favorite cheer from high school. She still does it on occasion. Luckily, there are no splits or back flips involved.

I finally feel like I've had some success in my running. I did six with NP and the Shae Burg on Saturday. We ran on the munger trail, as planned. It was perfectly clear and proved to be a great location. My pace was pretty slow with company, but I continued on for my third and fourth mile solo since NP only wanted to do four miles. I was much faster on my own which was somewhat encouraging. I still haven't gotten my running log off my watch, but I'm guessing my pace around 11 minutes average. Pretty slow.

I took Sunday off, as usual, but ran 5 on Monday. For some reason, I got insanely little sleep on Sunday night to my plan to get up early to do 5 before work crashed and burned. However, when I got to work I realized I had to attend a Tiger Cub meeting that evening. I was screwed. I regret it ever single time I opt for staying in bed over getting up for my work out. So, I ended up taking two hours off in the afternoon to go home, run, shower, and eat dinner before my 6:30 tiger club meeting. It worked out great. I tried a new route that took me down third street, up 40th/Haines road to Skyline and back home. It was almost exactly five miles. I maintained a 10 minute average, even with a giant hill in the middle of the route. I was around 9s on most of the flats as well. I can't tell you how relieved I was. Prior to this run, I felt like I was throwing all this effort at something that was doing no good. Now that I know that 9 minute miles are really not that far off, I feel a LOT better.

Tonight, a co-worker of mine had conned me into doing some interval work on the track. I'm not too excited about it, but it should be a good time.

Pain in my Ass!!

I'm sore again, but I still got up and went to Pilates this morning. I've been really good about keeping my commitment to getting in three days a week at the gym so far. It's nice not to have to worry about going 12 days in a row at the end of the month! Today it's my butt and my stomach that are pretty sore. I'm walking like I have some serious medical condition...but no, just a sore ass. It's great.

I'm planning on six miles tomorrow morning. I knocked out four yesterday morning. It was okay, but it felt like it took forever. Tomorrow I might head over to the Munger Trail. It has been a bit warmer up here the last few days so I'm hoping that would take care of any snow that's still clinging to the trails. Out and backs work good for my longer runs because NP can come along with the Shae Burg and not worry about completing the full distance.

I've also been thinking about a route that would take me down to 40th Ave W then up 40th/Haines Road to Skyline. I could then either come down 24th Ave W or back down through the park. I have no idea how far that would be. I may need to clock it in the car beforehand so I know how much time to plan on.

Otherwise I'm really looking forward to Easter Dinner. I'm sure it won't help much in my quest to lose ten pounds, but it will be tasty! I'm still debating on getting NP an easter basket...

Happy Easter everyone!!

High Knees are the Devil!

So yeah, taking the winter off is the worst decision that I make every year. Getting back in shape has been a bear!

My calves were feeling better after last weeks stair torture in Boot Camp so I decided to run up the hill on Monday night for my three mile jaunt. It was horrible. All the pain I had experienced before came rushing back to my calves. They were obscenely tight and ached for most of the night. Luckily I talked NP into giving me a calf rub. That helped a lot. I was very nervous that I would be in pain the next morning, but they seemed to loosen up just fine. And spinning the next day was fine.

This morning, I had a strong urge to stay in bed, but I got up and went to boot camp. There was no stair torture, but plenty of high knees, mountain climbers, and lunges. I'm just glad she didn't think to throw burpees in there just to watch me crumble. To think this was all so easy just nine months ago. Man, I'm such a dumb ass sometimes!

Tomorrow I am tasked with a four mile run. This will be a test for me to see if I can get up early enough to squeeze that in before work. It will also be interesting to see if I have the guts to run up the hill again. I'm not sure that I could live through another day of calf pain, but the hills are so important! It would be great to get a glimpse of the view from Enger Tower too!!

For now, I am trying to make it through the rest of the day without getting too sore.

You can do it!

I'm trying to gear myself up to get up early tomorrow to squeeze in a five mile run before I work a long shift to educate the public on recycling do's and don'ts. Can I? Will I? Should I? I think I need to. I've been eating like crap this week. Running motivates me to take better care of myself and I really need to. Plus this crazy increase in my work load has got me all stressed out...which running helps dramatically. I'm hoping that I find it in myself to crawl out of bed by 6:45 tomorrow. I'm going to take the dog with me so that should be fun. Hopefully she doesn't crap out on me half way through....but she will. It's okay, she give me more of an excuse to stop and take walking breaks.

I ran on Thursday morning and was actually making some pretty good time. My calves were sore as hell from running stairs on Wednesday so I decided not to run any hills. Being on flat ground made everything SO much easier. I was even breaking 9 minute miles (fast for a chubby midget)! The WWT should be equally as flat and will hopefully bring the same result. As I increase my mileage, I will have to head down to the Munger trail for some good scenery. Yay.

Otherwise, I'm just looking forward to the end of a long crappy week. I keep finding myself in the middle of these life contemplation moments. I think it's spurred by other people. I don't know, maybe they see something in me that makes them want to ask what I'm going do, where I'm going to end up. How is this story going to play out. It's all just overwhelming.

Out Like a Lion

I'm tired today....really tired. I'm not sure why since I went to bed at a fairly decent time and didn't feel like I slept too terribly, but I am. I could not convince myself to get out of bed at 6 this morning to run. I am tasked with a 3 mile jog today. I'm regretting not doing it this morning because the weather is supposed to get ugly this evening and tomorrow. We could get anywhere from 6-18 inches with 45 mph gusts. Yuck. That will make running a little ugly for a while. The last thing I need is two feet of snow to derail me from my training. I'm hanging on by a thread as it is.

I got out for a 4 mile run on Saturday. I managed to stay upright, but almost fell quite a few times. It made me really nervous. I'm hoping I won't have as much trouble tonight.

I have lots of tasks for this evening- run, plant seeds for the garden in my little counter top greenhouse, fold laundry, etc. It's going to be exciting. I also have to put in an extra day at the gym this week because I slacked off on Sunday. Man.....

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to me!

It's been a great day so far....flowers from NP, a gift card to the fabric store, and a few more things await this evening. I love birthdays!

This is my last year in the 20-29 age group. I will miss it greatly next year. All those super fast people hang out in the 30-39 or 40-49 age group. It's okay though. I've never been a track star and never will be. I just do it for the work out, and the comradery I guess.

I missed my pilates class this morning because I was worried that I couldn't lay on my back. The bruise on my butt is now three shades of purple. I couldn't lay on my back in bed last night, so I figured laying on the floor for pilates would pretty much be out of the question. It just means that I will have to go to the gym on Sunday again. Not the end of the world, but I would really like to have a full day off on the weekend. No need for contacts, make up, or street clothes.

Tomorrow presents a challenge of upping my mileage to a 4 mile run. I think it will be fine, but it might take me forever. I'm somewhat looking forward to the 5 mile mark so that I can head out to the WWT. It's been a while since I've run down there. I'm sure I'll hit the Munger when I get a bit farther on the distance train as well. So far so good!

Here's to a great weekend!

Random thoughts

I bit it this morning. Went out for a brutal 3 mile run (first mile is up a huge hill). It was icy so I probably should have reconsidered, but I was determined to stick to my schedule. It was a pain in the ass, literally. I didn't injure anything, but it slowed me down quite a bit. And as I was trudging along, I entertained a series of random thoughts.

1) I HATE it when people hold on to treadmills. I was at the gym the other day and I watched two women walking on the treadmill. I have to commend them for cranking up the incline (maybe 10%) as they walked away. However, they both had a hold of the hand rails like it was their life line. What the hell is the point??? Do you have something in front of you to tow you up the hills when you're outside?? I didn't think so. Let Go!

2) Why do I go dormant every winter just to punish myself with months of pain and suffering every spring? It one of my most annoying habits. I vow every year to keep my training up through the winter, but I never do. I always get so engulfed by Christmas and then January makes me want to avoid the gym like the plague. I have an endless array of excuses. This year.....hopefully.....will be different.

3) I made some great chicken and wild rice soup last night. It was the first time I've tried to make it. The recipe called for a full bottle of white wine...tehe. My kitchen smelled like a bar for a few hours while the alcohol cooked off, but it turned out great. I was pretty proud. I haven't actually eaten any yet, just little tastes while I was cooking. I was looking forward to tonight's dinner as I ran.

4) What to sew next. Trying to decide between a dress for my neighbor's middle daughter, or something fun for their oldest daughter. And then there's the baby too. If want to make anything, I've got to get going on it. There are only so many more weekends of indoor weather. Once the warmth and sunshine arrives, I leave my sewing table behind.

5) Garage sale- we're really doing it this year. I have a lot of stuff from my previous life that I still need to get rid of. It's all hiding out in the basement, never to be used again. I could just donate it, but NP is all about selling it. It would be a major pain to list it all separately on craigslist...so a garage sale it is. Or should I say Yard Sale....no garage ; )

Well, there you have it. My random running thoughts for the day.

Back In The Saddle

It's been a while since I've posted so here's a quick update:

I am finally training again! It was such a long winter and I had little motivation to do anything outside of work and a few grueling house projects. I don't think I ran at all for three months straight, blah! I am paying for it now. Starting almost from scratch with running and fitness in general. I'm carrying extra weight too, which makes everything that much harder. I've laid out a basic running schedule that will take me up to the 13 miles that I'll be running for grandmas this year. I really felt like riding my bike helped a lot with my training last year so I'm anxious for the warmer weather to come!

I won't be doing nearly as many races this year since my budget won't really allow for it. I'm committing myself to Grandma's, The Brewhouse, Bangin' in the Brush, and maybe the Kickin Leaves Duathlon. That will be it except for the dollar races of course. The first dollar race is on April 29th. I've never really been in any sort of shape for the spring series. I've used that as a spring board in most cases to start or ramp up my training. I'm hoping that this year will prove to be a bit more successful with a solid month of training. I'm crossing my fingers everyday that an injury doesn't trip me up again. Trying to take it slow and make smart decisions...not always easy when you just want to get into it.

Outside of training, I've been sewing a bit again. I made a dress, hat, and bloomers for my boyfriend's niece-to-be this last weekend. It turned out pretty good. My next goal is to make a dress and bloomers for my neighbor's daughter who is three. Hopefully that will be equally as successful!

I'll be posting more often now that I've got something to talk about (not just sitting on the couch watching TV). Speaking of TV- Biggest Loser tonight!! This is truly the best season yet. I can't wait to see who wins!!