Jen's Runnings and Ramblings

#SelfbragSunday

2012-02-05T11:45:00.000-08:00

Negativity is a disease.

I believe that. Negativity spreads like a virus. It infests and infects our lives and the people around us. It can eat you up inside if you dwell on it. I am a firm believer in the power of positivity and positive thinking. That is why I'm starting Selfbrag Sunday (#selfbragsunday). Every Sunday on here and Twitter I'm going to post something positive about myself or something I did that week. And I encourage everyone else to do the same. Put your positivity out there and feel good about yourself!

Today's #selfbragsunday topic is: Name one part of your body that you love.

I love my calves. I have nice, muscular calves. They are strong. They make me strong. I can see all of my running and walking workouts in my calves. I think they are one of my nicest features.

(Not my calves)

What is your favorite body part and why?

Today I am thankful for: Nautical stripes - they scream spring to me and make me happy.

Scenes from a long run

2012-02-03T09:56:00.000-08:00

Picture post from my last long run.

It was a gorgeous day to be out for a run.

I had the BEST running companion ever. He lasted about halfway and then conked out.

Rockin' my Newtons. I am seriously in love with these shoes.

Stopping at the turnaround for a re-fuel and a stretch.

Not a good picture but there's a great little wooden bridge that I cross. It's always picturesque.

The Tunnel. This goes underneath a major four-lane road.

I always love seeing the tunnel because it means I'm only a half mile away from being DONE!

And of course, my reward for completing a good, tough run.

Getting ready for a run

2012-01-17T07:10:00.000-08:00

One of the big differences for me between pre and post pregnancy has been just getting ready...for anything. I have to add on about 30 minutes to an hour of my estimated "get ready" time to get this little human ready to leave the house. There is so much to pack and do and it never fails that there is usually a last minute diaper change required before walking out the door (sometimes an outfit change depending on how big the blow-out was). Just to give you a better idea, here's a break-down of getting ready to go for a run pre-pregnancy and post-pregnancy:

Pre-Pregnancy

Decide to go for a run!
Put on running clothes
Head out the door
Start Garmin
Run

Post-Pregnancy (and I'm sure I'm leaving out a few steps)

Decide, despite a considerable lack of sleep and zombie-mom status that I should go for a run to 1. get me out of the house, 2. get me out of my pajamas and 3. it's good for me.
Is Baby Z in a good enough mood to last for 3 miles?
Go pee
Feed Baby Z
Change Baby Z
Make sure Baby Z has on appropriate clothing for outdoors
Pump so "the girls" won't be screaming while I'm running
Go pee again
Put on SUPER heavy-duty, ultra-restraining, spandex that rivals the strength of the Man of Steel sports bra
Put on running clothes
Make sure jogging stroller tires are inflated properly
Put Baby Z in car carrier
Put car carrier in jogging stroller.
Triple check that carrier is latched in properly and safety straps are buckled
Make sure Baby Z has enough blankets, toys, pacifiers to keep him happy
Go pee AGAIN
Head out the door
Start Garmin
Run

But I wouldn't change it for the world. When I look down at the stroller and see him smiling up at me it just motivates me to push a little more and go a little longer. I love my little running buddy and can't wait until he does his first kids fun run.

Today I am thankful for: flavored coffee creamers

Welcome 2012 & future goals

2012-01-02T08:49:00.000-08:00

I do not like New Year's resolutions. That's just not me. I don't think resolving to do/change/quit something one day a year is effective or healthy. I like to continually re-evaluate my priorities and goals and adjust them according to life's curve balls. Life is never static, so why should my goals be?

But since the start of a new year is time to spill your guts, I'm putting my current goals down.

Most Importantly
First and foremost I want to spend as much time as I can with this precious angel!

After 3 years of trying and over 1 year of Assisted Reproductive Therapy, I thank God everyday that he finally made his way to us. He is such a blessing. He's almost 3 months old and he has changed SO much just in this short time. I don't want to miss a second of him. He no longer looks like a newborn. He greets me with a smile and a giggle every morning and melts my heart. He is now a little person with a hilarious personality. They are babies for such a short period and I can't get this time back. He has changed my priorities from an obsessive "me" focus to more of a "whole picture" focus.

Religion
I have a good relationship with God. I talk to him daily. I thank him daily. But I don't have a good relationship with church. I've been lazy. We haven't gone much. I plan to change this.

Health/Fitness
I used to obsess over running...."When's the next race? I gotta get at least 30 miles in this week!"...to the point that I let other fitness fall behind and that often left me with knee issues. Instead of hitting the gym like I should I often ran through the pain or had to take weeks off of running to heal.

I lost a lot of muscle definition during and after the pregnancy. I want to focus more time on weight training and cross training as I slowly get back into running. I need better strength, flexibility and balance. I also don't want to obsess over running races this year. With Baby Z being so young, breastfeeding him, and not having family nearby to watch him, my race obsession will have to tame down a bit. I'm going to focus on a few local races (and one big marathon) and mainly my overall fitness. I'm not so obsessed with the bling right now. He's my bling.

I do want to get a better hold on my eating habits. While pregnant I pretty much ate whatever my body was craving at the moment. I want to get back to Kind Life ways and eating more of a Kind Diet.

I plan to focus my diet around fruits, veggies, nuts & healthy grains...oh and water....LOTS of water. I'm not ready to make the total vegetarian jump yet, but I can fit in more flexitarian days each week and make better, kinder food choices.

Life/Work

I want to blog more. I used to blog regularly about pretty much everything. It was cathartic. I miss it. Even though this is a running blog I plan to just blog more about life in general: the good, the bad, the training, and the poopy diapers.

I also need to study for and take my second exam for my Certified Safety Professional designation.

This is the first of several designations I want. The better trained and certified I am, the better commodity I am. I plan on becoming a badass environmental scientist!

Today I am thankful for: baby footed pajamas

Baby Z is here!!!

2011-10-28T07:23:00.000-07:00

I've been MIA that last few weeks, but I have a wonderful reason. Baby Z arrived on Monday, October 3rd! I have been ensconced in baby explosion since then.

My (sometimes) Running Buddy & Guilty Pleasures

2011-10-02T08:39:00.000-07:00

I saw several online news posts this week about an ugly rumor that Apple is going to discontinue their iPod Classic and iPod Shuffle. If you felt a tremor on the Richter scale yesterday that was probably from the decibel level of me screaming "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!" I love my shuffle. I mean love, LOVE (other than the gawd-awful 3rd generation re-design debacle). I don't always run with music. If I'm running with people or just on a short easy run I don't bring music. I enjoy the conversation or soak up the environment around me. Now if I'm on a long run by myself or being forced to *ACK* run on the dreadmill then I bring the tunes along. They motivate me and keep me from crazy dreadmill boredom. I've even listened to audiobooks while on the long run.

The iPod Shuffle is just the perfect little running buddy. It's small, clips anywhere I want and is cost effective (= cheap). And 2 gigs of music is WAY more than I'll ever need on a long distance run. Plus, I do not like having anything strapped to my arms. I have tried running with a Nano and my iTouch. Meh. I kept getting distracted by this ginormous velcro blood-pressure cuff strapped around my arm. There was a lot of grumbling in the Twitter world amongst athletes about Apple's rumored decision. I'm not the only one that loves their shuffle. I imagine that Apple will try and market the Nano 6th generation as the "new" and "improved" running buddy. I'm not buying it. I sweat profusely when I run. My clothes are usually soaked. The idea of clipping a $150 nano to my body to get drenched in sweat just isn't as appealing. I've already been through two Shuffles. (Side note: they do not like it when you pour Powerade all over them). I usually keep one or two in my desk as "back-ups to the back-up Shuffle". I don't know what I'm going to do if my little running buddy goes away. If Apple makes their announcement this week I suspect there will be a mad rush on Shuffle purchases - most of them by athletes. I know I will stockpile several for use until I can find a decent alternative.

*awkward segue*

This whole Shuffle thing also got me thinking about updating my current Shuffle and what songs I like to put on it. Now I know all runners talk about playlists ad nauseum:

what are the best songs for a running playlist?
what songs are between 160 to 180 bpm (for cadence work)?
what songs motivate you best?
(and so on and so forth...)

We're not going to talk about that here. We're going to talk about guilty pleasure songs. You know, those ones you have on your playlist that you're embarrassed to admit. The ones that are full of cheese, bad boy-band pop or ones that link you back to some good, gooey memory in your past. I have quite a few guilty pleasure songs on mine. These just get me moving and grooving. I have a hard time keeping myself from running, singing and spazztastically dancing when these songs come on (yeah....picture it). I thought I would share so that we all can come out of hiding and wave our uncool music proudly. Don't judge. :)

L.O.V.E. - Ashlee Simpson
Good Times - INXS
Cherry, Cherry - Neil Diamond
Baby (You've Got What it Takes) - Brook Benton & Dinah Shore
Cecilia - Simon & Garfunkle
Love Somebody - Rick Springfield
Now that We Found Love - Heavy D and the Boyz
Maniac - Michael Sembello
The Lion Sleeps Tonight - Tokens
54-46 Was My Number - Toots & The Maytals
Everybody (Backstreet's Back) - Backstreet Boys
(You Drive Me) Crazy - Britney Spears
Barbie Girl - Aqua
Stir It Up - Patti LaBelle
The Other Woman - Ray Parker Jr.
Humpin' Around - Bobby Brown
I'm Free (Heaven Helps the Man) - Kenny Loggins
Faded - soulDecision

What are some of your guilty pleasure songs?

Today I am thankful for: cool, crisp fall weather and pumpkin spice lattes!

Hating the taper

2011-09-22T15:59:00.002-07:00

Taper. It's a dreaded word by many a runner. It's that time when you significantly reduce your weekly mileage before a big race to let your body rest and prepare. After months of slowly increasing mileage, building endurance, and seeing tangible gains and accomplishments it's hard to downgrade back down to a couple of weeks of easy mileage. While I understand and agree with the necessity of the taper I still dislike it. What is it that we hate so much? For me it's the mental game and the waiting. First, I am not a patient person. I'm not good at waiting. Also, it's often in these taper weeks that questions and self-doubt start to creep in. Yes, idle hands (or feet) are the devil's playground.

"Will I beat my PR?"
"Am I losing fitness with this little mileage?"
"Am I prepared for the race distance?"
"Will I fall on my face?"
"Can I even do this?"

I am entering the last few weeks (days actually) of my pregnancy and I find I'm struggling with the same issues. I'm in a pregnancy taper so to speak. My body isn't allowing me to keep the "mileage" up that I'm used to. Even normal daily routine things have become difficult or just plain uncomfortable. The doctor says Baby Z could come at any time now, but they can't tell me when. I'm having to rest. I'm having to wait.

As with marathon training, the taper sucks.

"Will I be able to handle childbirth?"
"How will I handle the life change?"
"Am I truly prepared to be a mom?"
"Will I fall on my face?"
"Can I even do this?"

Instead of questioning and freaking out about the race, I'm questioning and freaking out about Baby Z. I am running the emotional gamut from excitement for his arrival, to denial (is this really happening?), to fear. One of the things that I find comforting (as cheesy as it sounds) is reflecting on marathon training. I survived the wait then. I completed both marathons with a finishing time I was proud of. I came out on the other side better and improved for all my hard work, perseverance, and patience (what little I have). I CAN do this!

So my question to you is what are your thoughts on the taper and how do you deal with it?

Dealing with jealousy and runner envy

2011-09-20T15:28:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful lunch today with my two best running pals. They wanted to take me out for a birthday/pre-baby lunch. I loved seeing them and catching up with them. We talked about babies and books and life and running. They are training for and running the Mississippi Blues Marathon in Jackson, MS in January. It will be one's first marathon and the other's second.

As I sat there and listened to them talk about training plans and fitting long runs in and planning for the next long run, I started to get jealous and full of runner envy! Me, Miss Chatty-McChatty Pants, got all quiet and clammed up. Who was this green-eyed monster rearing it's ugly head? I was upset that I couldn't be out there training with them and sharing the miles and stories. I was upset that I wasn't going to be able to have this experience with them. I felt left out and frustrated. That then lead to feelings of embarrassment and shame. I should be 100% supportive of my friends not bratty because I can't run this race with them. I was dealing with resentment: towards them for running without me and towards this pregnancy for keeping me from something I love: running and training for big races. Ugly, ugly, ugly...

I came home, had a good cry, and meditated/prayed on it. I decided I needed to put on my big girl panties (I hate the word panties but love the saying) and GET OVER IT! No more whiny self-pity indulgences. My friends need my encouragement and support! I need my encouragement and support! So what if I can't be out there logging miles with them right now. What I CAN do is support them and be a part of their training in my own way. Some of the things that I came up with:

Compile and text/email them motivational running quotes before their long runs
Put together 20 miler care packages (ibuprofen packs, menthol foot cream, carb-loading cookies, etc.)
Meet them for coffee after their long runs to be a sounding board about the grueling mileage
Meet them at the end of the long runs to run in those last grueling miles with them.

I know I'll be back out there with them in 2012! Working on my 2012 race schedule helps me deal with my runner envy. Knowing I have some great races planned gets me excited and vamped up for postpartum recovery and training. It's my way of encouraging and supporting myself.

How do you deal with runner envy?

Inside the Mind of a Runner

2011-09-02T09:14:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite posts from my old blog. I thought it was worth a repeat here. Enjoy!

To run or not to run

Sitting on the couch, outfitted in my running clothes, I have visions of Cameron in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. “He’ll keep calling meeee…. I’ll go. I’ll go….I’ll go”

Trying to motivate myself, I pull my sluggish body off of the couch, “I’ll go. I’ll go….I’ll go!”

Slowly I walk to the end of the block to my starting point - the stop sign. I bargain with myself, “One lap; that’s all you need to do. Just get through one lap. One point eight miles – you can do it. Easy.”

Ipod shuffle. Check. Shoes laced. Check. Deodorant. Check. Let’s go.

0.5 miles

The weather is great today. That rain really cooled things down. Nice breeze going, lightly blowing against my face. Ohhh… here comes a guy running the other way. OK, pick up the pace a bit. Look like you know what you’re doing here. Look like you’re an avid runner. Wave back. Smile and head nod. OK, he’s gone. Slooowww back down. Back to the agony.

1.0 miles

I hate the first mile. Man, this hurts. Where is that runner that was training for the half marathon? I liked her. She was smooth, strong, … confident. Where did this jiggly, spastic stride come from? Awww, what a cute dog. THEY won yard of the month? Would fajitas be good for dinner?

1.5 miles

OK, now I’m finding my stride! This isn’t so bad. I am an efficient running machine! Breathe in, breathe out…breathe in, breathe out. Relax your arms and shoulders. Ohhh…I like this song! I think I’ll speed up the pace a bit.

1.8 miles

OH MY GOD – that’s the longest song EVER! I hate that song! Fast forward. OK, coming up on one lap. How do I feel? Should I go for one more? Lungs, how’re you holding up?

“We’re a little tight, but holding on! Keep going!”

Heart?

“Still pumping away! Keep going!”

Legs?

“We’re just getting warmed up down here! Keep going!”

All right, knees you’re the weak link in the system. How are things with you guys?

“Wee’r givin’ ‘er all she’s got Capt’n but I don’ know how much longer she’ll hold.”

(Why my knees sound like Scotty from Star Trek I don’t know, but it makes me smile.)

Consensus – Keep going!

2.0 miles

Here comes the guy again. Head nod. Smile. I wish he would quit passing me! It’s hard to keep this pace up.

2.5 miles

I’m really finding my pace today. This actually feels great. How about adding a little speed work? Ok, sprint to the end of the street. Ready…Go!

2.7 miles

Ouch. That hurt.

3.0 miles

I’m rounding the last corner. Only half a mile to go. Relax the arms and shoulders. OK, time to trade out my tired legs for “NEW LEGS”. Commence with Operation New Legs.

3.4 miles

Bring it on HOME. Strong finish…The stop sign is only a few feet away now. I think I can, I think I can!

3.5 miles

Wow – what a high! I feel amazing! The runner’s still in there – I just had to dig a little for her. I feel like I could conquer the world right now! All right stop-sign, same time tomorrow. See you then.

You know you're a runner when...

2011-08-30T10:52:00.000-07:00

After tweeting with @Dubyawife this morning it really got me going and thinking of all the great little gems we do, see, and learn as runners. I will list several of my own and several more compiled from twitter runners. Hilarious stuff and I'm guilty of most. Please comment on my blog or tweet me with your own and I'll add them!

You know you're a runner when:

you know how long it takes for a black toenail to grow out.
you know how long it takes for a black toenail to fall off.
you have painted the skin where you toenail should be.
you are an expert in anti-friction creams...and not for dirty reasons.
you think compression clothing is sexy.
IT stands for Illotibial Band, not Information Technology
you can hold your own with any medical talk regarding piriformis, illotibial, popliteal, meniscus, plantar fascia or medial tibial stress.
you have a specific "race fee" fund set aside in your budget every year.
you logged more weekly running miles on your shoes than you did on your vehicle.
you can easily convert kilometers to miles in your head.
breakfast is followed by 2nd breakfast and lunch is followed by 2nd lunch.
you actively analyze the color of your pee.
you refer to a new race distance as your "first" race at that distance (as in..I'm running my "first" marathon this year).
your outside training motto is similar to the US Post Office "neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow...

your nips are like fine grade sandpaper. I use them for finishing work. ~@jeffswain
your kids' bedtime story is just about "bunions" and a blue ox, no "Paul" ~@razmataz6969
you mistakenly put on Body Glide instead of your deoderant. ~@Jen423
you look down your nose at the folk out running in cotton t-shirts. ~ @Lochrie
you see runners when you are driving and feel compelled to shout to them that you are also a runner. ~@eobeara
the first item on your hurricane evacuation list is a long run. :) ~@Gemini_Runner
you find bodyglide in your purse and don't question it. ~@rshill37
you quietly judge people taking leisurely bike rides as they pass you while you are running. ~Nicole
snot rockets are totally acceptable during a run. ~@acokertx
you get excited to see a bruised toenail (true story from last night) ~@DubyaWife
you have more running clothes than regular clothes in the laundry pile. ~@DubyaWife
you spend more time looking 4 run routes than other stuff when traveling 2 a new place. ~@DubyaWife
you hear PR and you think "personal record", not "public relations" ~@DubyaWifeyou
your holiday wish list includes nothing but running gear. ~@DubyaWife
your runs take longer than your commute to work! ~@DubyaWife
you get jealous when you're driving in your car and pass runners. ~@DubyaWife

Limited

2011-08-16T07:01:00.000-07:00

As a sufferer of knee issues (meniscus tears, IT band issues, popliteal issues, osteo-arthritis...) I've dealt with my share of running limitations. I've had orthopedists tell me I shouldn't be running. Luckily I found a GREAT one here who is an athlete himself. He is constantly surprised at the amount of running and compensation I'm able to do with the shape my knees are in (he actually asked to use my scans for teaching at LSU...yeah, they're that jacked up). But he never dissuades me. He encourages me and helps me stay on the road. He understands the need to keep the body moving and pushing one's boundaries. Physical therapy, listening to my body and ibuprofen gel have worked miracles. With this I have been able to keep at the activity I have grown to love and depend on: running.

Although I have chronic aches and pains (what runner doesn't?) I push through them. I ice. I stretch. I rest. I run. I have never felt "limited". If my body wouldn't cooperate I would compensate, adjust and keep on moving - keep on pushing. With this pregnancy this is the first time that I have truly felt limited. I have to be more in tune with my body and Baby Z's little developing body now. This has been a real mental struggle for me. I struggle with the issues of feeling less worthy, less committed, less of a runner if I don't fit in at least 30 miles a week, if I don't push my runs to the brink, if I don't have several races on the horizon.

I have had a super smooth pregnancy so far. I'm healthy. Baby Z is healthy. I'm fortunate that I'm able to move at all. But I feel like I'm getting sidelined more and more. Heartburn, fatigue, round ligament pain, bladder pressure, the heat....they all have been run killers lately. When I found out I was pregnant I vowed to keep running, so long as my doctor cleared me. I was able to keep my mileage up and even train for and run a half marathon well into my second trimester. As I approached my third trimester my runs became less and less frequent. And now at 33 weeks I just feel blah: slow, flabby and blah. I feel all the past years of running progress and training slipping away from me. I feel limited.

This became even more evident when I couldn't participate in the New Orleans Red Dress Run this weekend. After chatting with Katie (of KatieRUNSthis) on my way downtown she advised against participating. It was hot. The crowd was huge and drunk. Not really a good place for a pregnant lady. So, I opted out, turned around and drove back to the house, again feeling limited. Only good thing is I have a fabulous red outfit for my next half.

I have to take a step back though and realize how unlimited my body really is though. I am producing billions of cells a second and I actually feel great while doing it. I am able to move. I am able to smile. I am able to breath. I am able to create life. I am blessed. Instead of being a running brat I'm trying to readjust my attitude and be thankful for and recognize the things where God has shown me that I am truly unlimited.

Yes, my running career will have to basically start over, but look at who I get to start it over with...Baby Z! What a great prize.

So from here on out I plan to focus on the positive:

Starting over and starting fresh means I can concentrate on my running form more and practice on my mid/fore-foot strike.
Recovery running will help me melt away the post-baby lbs.
Yes it will be tough, but I gain a greater satisfaction from a difficult job well done than one that comes easy.
It will be fun to see my huge race PRs from races immediately post-baby to future ones as I am getting back into pre-baby shape.
I already have 3 post baby races lined up. Great motivation!
I already have a great race outfit! (see above pic) :)

Although I may be somewhat limited right now, my plans for the future and positive outlook can make me limitLESS.

...But you're so tiny!!

2011-08-03T20:13:00.000-07:00

This will be somewhat of a blog rant. This has been festering in me for a while now so if you do not want to be subjected to the rants of a crazy, hormonal pregnant lady please stop reading now.

I am pregnant. I am over 31 weeks along. No, I am not HUGE. YES, I am healthy!!

One of the first things people say to me when I tell them how far along I am is "But you're so tiny!" I have heard it over and over and over and over...ad nauseum...to the point where I am now self conscious about it. I have even gone so far as to ask my OB/GYN on SEVERAL occasions whether everything is on track for me and Baby Z. I am healthy, have gained a healthy amount of weight and Baby Z is exactly in the 50% for his age. Perfect! Right where he should be. In addition, I am one of my doctor's most trouble free patients. I have been blessed with an easy and healthy pregnancy.

The problem is, after the "tiny" comment I often get "the Look". The one where they size me up and down and you can see the thoughts forming in their heads. Yes, I eat. In fact I eat a LOT. Ask my husband or anyone who follows me on Twitter. I'm eating constantly. But I also exercise. I walk, I swim, I hit the elliptical, I run, I play with my dogs. I also watch what I put into my word hole. I try and make healthy choices but by no means restrict what I can have. If I want ice cream, I eat ice cream. In fact I've been craving ginger ale floats like crazy lately. I don't drink sodas. I haven't regularly drank them in years! But, since I'm craving them I listen to my body and give in...in moderation.

My friend Katie's blog post on mommyrexia really got my blood pumping too. She said that the Today show implied that running moms are mommyrexic. That. Is. Ludicrous!! I completely agree with Katie in that most running moms that I've had the privilege to know and associate with are also some of the most healthy people I know. The benefits of exercise throughout pregnancy are huge and documented over and over. An active pregnancy can equal less complications, less stress, less fluid retention, better rest and easier labor and delivery. All of this means happy momma and happy baby. If you are medically cleared to exercise through pregnancy, then by all means, get your booty moving! It does NOT mean that you are mommyrexic.

Being an AMA preggo (*gasp* Advanced Maternal Age) I was worried about how I would be able to physically handle pregnancy. My OB was even worried at first. I was considered high risk early on, but have blown every test out of the water. My doctor now calls me his "easy patient". I truly believe that my exercise habits and active lifestyle are major reasons I've had such a great pregnancy.

So before you judge a pregnant woman by what you perceive her size should be, just remember that ALL pregnancies are different. All women are different. But the one thing we have in common is we really don't want to hear your opinion.

P.S.: HUGE shout out to For Two Fitness for the AMAZING pregnancy running tank. This thing fits like a glove, is SO comfy, doesn't chafe and is cute as a button!! Definitely a must have for active moms-to-be. Check them out here!

I am a bad blogger

2011-07-27T11:48:00.001-07:00

So....ummm....yeah.... Haven't been on here in a while....like WAY over a year in a while. I'm a terrible blogger. I just haven't had the desire to keep up with it what with all the other social media I dabble in plus work, plus family, plus, plus, plus...

Here's a short summary of the last year:

* My husband has now become a half marathon bling snob. LOL. He ran his 1st race last year and is now hooked. We ran the Mardi Gras RnR half, Nashville RnR half and Philadelphia RnR half together last year. I LOVE running with him. We don't go out to kill it, we just go out to have fun and race together. I'm so glad he's caught the running bug with me.
* My knee pain and ITB issues have been manageable of late. I will never be able to run completely pain free, but I do know much better how to manage it and try and prevent it as much as possible. Stretch, strength and ice are my buddies.
* I ran my 2nd full marathon last October. The Marine Corps Marathon was an AMAZING experience. I highly recommend it to anyone. GREAT course with amazing race support and such inspirational runners on the course with you. I trained like crap (half-assed) and ran with a killer bladder infection (Sorry, TMI), but still made it under my 5 hour goal. Win! AND I got my first set of black toenails. Such a proud runner. :)
*Lastly, we are pregnant!!! Baby Z is a little boy and is due on October 2, 2011!! We have been trying and struggling for 3 years and we were finally blessed with a positive result. I am so overwhelmed by the blessings and grace that have been bestowed upon us!! We are now in full on baby mode. But I already have by BOB Ironman put together and I am ready to RUN it OUT with Baby Z. I am still running a few times a week, but my run has turned into more of a shuffle/schlog. But I don't care. I'm out there, I'm moving, I'm wheezing and it feels great. I feel great!

OK, I don't want to go into blogger overload. I promise. I will try to be better. May even *gasp* post pictures next post!!

Happy running everyone!

Endings and New Beginnings

2010-01-26T13:52:00.000-08:00

I've had this post rolling around in my head for a while ever since the beginning of the new year and I finally am at a peace of mind where I can write it. I have been off of the blog world for a few months now. November and December were hard months for me. No, I mean really and truly trying and difficult. The kind of months that make you pray to God for the strength to just survive the day.

About two weeks after the (awesome) half, my knee started popping. It would pop during the run. Mainly it was just irritating at first. Then it started popping worse during the run. Then it started popping just while walking around. Then running became so painful that I couldn't get any farther than 1 mile without having to limp back to the house in pain. I tried to take two weeks off from running. That didn't work. I was fearing the worst....surgery. The more I researched about it, the more it sounded like ITB issues pulling my patella out of alignment. I started to foam roll every day. That helped some. Then some great twitter friends (@ginaharris1 and @turtlescanrun) told me about stretches for your ITB. I learned those and religiously did them every day. After about 3 days of stretching and rolling I noticed a difference...the popping had lessened. Then after about 5 days the popping stopped! I completely rested from the running and just concentrated on elliptical and biking at the gym to keep my cardio endurance up.

In the meantime, during all of this, my husband developed a severe case or iritis (an inflammation of the iris...basically the body attacks the iris). We just thought it was a case of pink-eye at first, but then the normal pink-eye steroids & antibiotics didn't work. A week later, I'm rushing him to the emergency room because his eyeball is so swollen and he's doubled over in pain. We managed to get him into the ophthalmologist's office and the doctor confirmed that he indeed had a raging case of iritis. But, then the doctor dropped another bomb on us. Usually that means there's something systemic going on in the body. The laundry lists of possible causal illnesses was frightening...lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, histoplasmosis, sarcoidosis.... We had to go to a internist to have a ton of blood vials drawn to run a battery of tests. While they were drawing blood he passed out cold and had to stay in the internists office throwing up for the next 2 hours. They had to finally give him a shot of finagrin just so he could get over the nausea and get home. So, for a week we were on pins and needles waiting to hear the results.

After much prayers and wishes we got good news. All the tests were negative. They couldn't find any causal link for his iritis. The ophthalmologist said that about 30% to 40% of the time they can't find any reason these things flare up.

We managed to get through that ordeal (he's 100% better now and regained full sight in that eye - no damage whatsoever!) and then the holidays hit. Mad dash to the in-laws for Christmas. They're great people, but tend to stress both of us out. So, there we were, exhausted and already stressed from everything that was going on and then had to "play nice" for the family. That just about did us in.

And in all this, I didn't have my stress reliever. My running. I felt frustrated, empty, and angry. I had to step back from the whole situation and re-evaluate myself. All I can say is thank God I have a wonderful husband and super, supportive running friends who got me through all this.

With New Year's week I decided to put all the mess and pain and stress and injuries behind me and leave them in 2009. I decided 2010 is going to be an amazing year. I wanted to start the new year out with a slow and easy run to test out the ITB. And guess what. I did it!!! And it didn't hurt!! It was a GREAT run. And to me it was just a sign of what's to come in the months ahead. I'm already back to my sub-10's and just had a great 6 miler today with two miles of sub-9's! I'm trying to run smart. I'm only running about 3 days a week and cross training at the gym the rest of the time on the bike or elliptical.

I didn't really make any big new year's resolutions this year other than to be thankful for the three F's (my family, friends, and my furbabies) and to be thankful for our health. It doesn't take much to put it all into perspective.

Slainte.

P.S.: Marlene is having another uber cool give-away for $24 of even MORE COOL Lift Your Sole stuff. Check it out!

Time is Relative

2009-11-04T08:58:00.000-08:00

7 minutes

When you think about it, 7 minutes really isn't that long. Just 7, little, measly minutes. I've waited patiently on hold for that time. It takes me longer than that to eat my lunch, shave my legs, vacuum the house. Seven minutes seems so trivial, but oh how daunting they can be in the running world.

I am 7 minutes shy of breaking the 2 hour half marathon mark and those 7 minutes are going to be the death of me!

Seven minutes means lowering my average pace by a little over 30 seconds. Again, 30 seconds....pffff...what's that?? A 30 second difference in pace is the difference between pushing to win and pushing to throw up! I am determined to shave those minutes and seconds off, one race at a time.

I went out this Saturday to run the Jazz Half Marathon with three other ladies that I run with on the weekends. I picked it up at the last minute because my plans to run the Napa half with my husband fell through. Now, keep in mind, I really hadn't trained for a half. Not trained well, anyway. Napa was going to be my husband's first half and I had been running longer distances with him. Being a new runner, we kept the pace slow and easy. Good for the mileage, but not much for improving speed for me. We were just going to go have fun with the Napa race, so I hadn't pushed myself too much. Not until these last two weeks when we officially started training for the R&R Mardi Gras Marathon did I run at even a "tough" pace. I had a few tempo short runs here and there and kept my long runs right at 8 to 9 miles. Good enough for a fun half, not good enough to conquer it like I want.

So, I had no expectations whatsoever about Saturday's race. I just wanted to run a half with some great, fun gals and damn the time. Ok, so I had a bit of a goal time to try and meet (2:10) but I wasn't going to be upset if I didn't reach it. Again - hadn't really trained for this. The weather was perfect for the race - mid 50s to 60s and NO HUMIDITY (which is rare for Southern Louisiana). The race was kept small at about 2,000 entrants. I had run the route before on prior New Orleans half mary races. It's a nice, flat, easy course. The gun fired and we were off. That first mile is always a little rough until the field opens up. Between dodging other runners and crappy New Orleans street potholes our pace was good, but slower that what we usually run. Then the field opened up and in the next several miles we found our groove. We hit the halfway mark in stride and I realized that I could easily hit my time goal if we kept up the pace. I was feeling great until about mile 10/11....right where my long runs usually ended. Mile 11 was torture for me and it shows in my mile splits. I slowed down quite a bit. But, as I hit that mile 12 marker I looked at my Garmin and realized my time. I was going to not only beat my time goal, but smash it! I found a new energy reserve somewhere in the bowels of my running soul and kicked it in. I burned in that last mile for a 2:07. A new PR for me!

I am so proud of that time considering everything I've been through these last several months with the knee issues. The knees felt great and were relatively pain-free post race. I was ecstatic. If I can pull that time in a last minute pick-up race, imagine what I could do if I actually trained. So, I went right home and developed a new training schedule. I can add speed work back to my running routine now that the knees have healed. And I have signed up for one half a month over the next four months. Hopefully, I will keep creeping closer and closer to my sub-2:00 goal!

7 minutes....thy name is Jennifer.

Today I LOVE: post race highs that last for days!

"Free" Running

2009-10-05T10:46:00.000-07:00

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by technology? I have a love/hate relationship with it. With all the great running gadgets out there it is easy for a nerd-o-file like myself to track exercise data for everything: pace, speed, mileage, elevation, heartrate, power songs, nike+, calories burned....I could go on and on and on. And don't get me wrong, for the most part, I love doing it. Minnie has totally changed how I think about running and I owe her superb pace tracking to the fact that my pace is faster than it was a year ago. But, I find myself often tied down to the technology. I have even been known to postpone a run because Minnie couldn't find the satellites. When I go out for runs, I'm thinking about everything all at once - my mileage, my pace goal, my mile splits, my halfway splits, my stride, my breathing. I have found that sometimes it clouds the purpose of those 6 miles in the first place: to just run and enjoy it.

So, I have made a pact with myself to add one day of "free" running to my weekly workouts. Technology is not allowed on these runs. It is just me and the road and pace be damned. Exact mileage be damned! If I run 4.68 miles..so what? If I run a fun, free run at a slow pace...so what? I think I need these runs to get back to running fundamentals and to just go out there and, well, do it. Running is fun and it's very easy to lose that aspect when surrounded by the pressures of training runs, upcoming races, stats, pace, strides, goals...all of it.

So, I'm off to run a fun and "free" 3 or 4 or 5, or maybe 6 miles. I don't know, and I don't care to know.

Today I Love: the cool weather we're FINALLY getting!!! It finally feels like FALL!

Off Celebrating My Birthday!!!

2009-09-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

I'll be back to post shortly....meanwhile I'm tearing it up for my birthday this weekend!! :)

How do you define a runner?

2009-09-11T18:45:00.000-07:00

I get this question all the time..."When did you become a runner?"

I took up running about three and a half years ago. And I mean really running: running several times a week, tracking my mileage, signing up for races, and reading books, articles, and magazines to learn more about training. Committing to the sport. Before that I was a part time runner - just on occasion here and there. Before that I was a gym rat. Running was for "those crazy people". What pushed me to running? Well, really two things:

A rough engagement break-up (not the amazing man I'm married to now). The stress of ending a seven year relationship and engagement, moving, working and commuting in a completely different city pushed me to find a way to relieve stress. I was also traveling 90% of the time with my job and had a hard time always finding a gym at the hotels. With running I could just pick up and do it pretty much anywhere.
Meeting some amazing friends on-line through another blog (believe it or not) who supported and encouraged me through signing up, training for and completing the Chicago Half Marathon - my first race EVER!

I have met up with these gals at various races and we still keep in touch, supporting each other through our running aches and pains.

But I never really know how to answer that question. When DID I become a runner? Am I a runner now? What truly defines a runner?

For the most part the running community is such an amazing, supportive, open-armed accepting group. If you run, then well, you're a runner! I have run with several groups and although I am always nervous that I won't fit in, or I'll be the slowest person there, I am never disappointed that I went. I have always been welcomed and encouraged no matter my speed. That is one of the draws that I find so appealing about running. If you go out to any race now you will see runners of all shapes, sizes, and ages and they are all cheering each other on.

Running is hard work.

Only a fellow runner can know what you are going through training for that big race. Only a runner can relate to the shin pain, knee pain, hip pain, sore muscles, fatigue, and bad run days. And only a runner can understand the amazing stress relief of a good run and your elation during those AWESOME run days when everything just clicks.

But there are those few runners who still place themselves in a special running clique. If you don't run a 7:00 mile then you are not a "runner". You are a jogger/schlogger/part-timer. I simply detest this attitude and find it both elitist and insulting to all the amazing people out there who are middle to back-of-the-packers like me. Do I not throw up my dinner during tempo runs? Do I not hobble around for days after a hard race? Do my knees not scream at me after upping my mileage? Are my clothes not drenched in sweat from the long run?

ALL runners have to start somewhere. My friend Melissa just started running this year. I love reading and hearing about her training and all the great strides she's making. It reminds me sooo much of myself three years ago: the struggles to fit in a run, the struggles of "can I do this?", the struggles with finding pace, the struggles to define myself as a runner. She just amazes me everyday with her training commitment and "can do" attitude. To me she is MORE of a runner because this is so new and such hard work for her - yet she keeps coming back for more.

I guess the point of this post is how do you define a runner and when did you define yourself as a runner?

I think after that huge endorphin rush of my first race I knew I was hooked. I knew I was a runner. The previously non-existent athlete in me came out and said "Hey! This is something we can do!" For me, I will always be a runner at heart - even if hobbled to schlog on my knee pain no more than twice a week. I will find my way out to the pavement.

Today I LOVE: the running community!

I am addicted to O.N.E!

2009-08-28T17:02:00.000-07:00

I had read several runners talking about coconut water through their blogs and Twitter. I was curious what the hype was about. The extra potassium and fluid sounded great! I had to try it. I tried our local grocery store and could only find another brand of coconut water. They were infused with juices and lots of sugar. I bought one of each and one O.N.E. Acai Berry juice to try. I blogged about it several weeks back and the wonderful people at O.N.E. offered to send me some samples to try out of their coconut water and juices (and to get me addicted, IMO - smart little juice pushers, they are!)

I am now addicted to this juice!!!

The coconut water is outstanding! I really love the fact that they don't load it down with sugar. This stuff is so refreshing after a run - especially in the summer during my sweat-fest, long runs. My favorite by far is the coffee berry juice, made from coffee fruit (the fruit around that little bean of heaven). I figured anything with the word "coffee" in it had to be a sure hit. It has 950% of your RDA for vitamin C....that's right....950%! Holy smokes - that's some killer anti-oxidants. I really like the cashew fruit drink too. It's a little sweeter, but a great juice to start your day in the morning. It's chock full of vitamin C too - 148%. The Amazon Acai juice is a little different. It's definitely an acquired taste. I didn't care for it too much, but the acai berry has substantially more natural anti-oxidants than a pomegranate or blueberries.

So I highly recommend the O.N.E. juice line - very refreshing, great nutrients, and natural ingredients. I'm sold on it and I'll be a repeat customer for ages. Oh - you can find it easily at any Whole Foods store or buy it by the case on amazon.com.

Running Report

I am happy to report that I have started to ramp up the running mileage with good response from the knees! I ran 6 miles with the girls on Saturday and 9 miles with the Hubs on Sunday last weekend. The knees were sore - but normal running sore - no severe pain. It felt good to go out there for a decent, long run again. Running with my husband has been fun. He's a newbie to these distances and it's interesting to watch his inner battle of running confidence, "I can't go that far. I'll have to walk some it. I'm not sure I can make it." Of course, he makes it. Of course, he runs that far. It's always a bit a chore to get him out the door for the run. He grumbles the whole time. But when we are done, and he completes the mileage, he is so excited and proud of himself. I'm proud of him too. He's really doing great! Napa Half - here we come!

4 miles ran today AND had physical therapy an hour later. Whew - I got my butt kicked! I may try for 6 tomorrow, depending on how I feel. It will probably be good to run out some of the soreness. Another long run planned with the Hubs on Sunday.

Today I LOVE: my O.N.E. juices!!

I have a sore boo-twah!

2009-08-22T12:51:00.000-07:00

I had my fourth session of PT yesterday and my therapist (here on out referred to as "Gorgon the Torture Master") has been upping my sets and weights each time. This time we added a bunch of bootay work. I was like, "Pfff - bring it, Meat! I can handle it!"*(see footnote) Umm....Gorgon won this round. Yesterday's torture session consisted of:

IT band stretch on the roller of death (10x each leg)
Resistance band hip flexors of torment (4 positions, 3 sets of 10 on each leg without holding onto anything. Balance AND resistance - whew!)
Single leg dips with Gorgon pulling on leg with torture resistance band. Had to stabilize and dip at the same time. (3 sets of 15 on each leg)
Bosu ball balance on single leg w/ Gorgon nudging the ball periodically (3 sets of 30 sec each leg)
Clamshells with higher resistance band of death - it was red - go figure , to remind me of the firey depths of hell maybe? (3 sets of 15 each leg)
Bent leg 90 degree leg raises w/ diabolical ankle weight resting on knee (3 sets of 15 each leg)
Straight leg lifts laying on side - no extra weight but to failure at this point anyway (3 sets of 15 each leg)
Booty bridges with heels on Swiss exercise ball of malevolence. Had to stabilize and lift my booty. (10x, holding at top for 10 seconds)
Leg Press w/ unholy amount of weight (3 sets of 15)

An hour and a half later I am hobbling out of there like the tin man from the Wizard of Oz. My hips and general buttock area were already getting stiff last night. I keep trying to get my husband to rub my butt but he's just not jumping at the offer. Maybe it's the smell of the Ben-Gay or the zombie man walk I'm doing now?

I met my running girls this morning for a nice 6 mile run to hopefully work some of the soreness out. One of the other girls is just coming off of an injury too. So, we're pacing ourselves right now. I love running with these gals though, we're all about the same pace. The humidity was KILLER today. I was seriously soaking, freakin', wet by the time we got back. But we managed to hold a 10:06 pace and push through. Not too bad running with two injured gimps. LOL. Tomorrow is supposed to be an easy, slow 7 with the Hubs. It should be in the 60s, so I'm stoked. MUCH better running weather.

Today I LOVE: Girl talk and dinner with friends.

* Note to self and others going to physical therapy - Do not antagonize or "f" in any way with your therapist before your session. Leave that to after the session - or even better after your LAST session.

PT - also known as legal torture

2009-08-14T15:56:00.000-07:00

I am SUCH a bad blogger lately. I'm so sorry guys - life's just getting in the way and work is always crazy this time of year. It's the end of fiscal year so time to spend, spend, spend which means work, work work for poor lil me. (but I have a great job - I ain't complaining).

I had my first week of PT this week. Tuesday I went in for the initial evaluation and I really, really like the head guy. He said a lot of things that really made sense to me. And he says that we can alleviate a lot of the cause oh my issues through PT. He said my main culprit is that I have weak hips. He said it's very, very common in girls and that my injuries and pain are very common. Yeah! - not quite as jacked up as I thought. He even said that we can fix a lot of that leg length difference through stretching and strengthening. Women's hips are flexible (for birthin' babies) and he said it doesn't take much for them to get out of whack, especially if they are weak. We did some stretching and adjustments and man, I'll be damned if the suckers didn't even out! We measured before and after and I was shocked! So our focus over the next few weeks will be hips, IT band and evening out upper legs (quad & hammies - about 2 cm difference).

Today I went for my first full session and boy did we work out my hips! Here's what I had to do:

Clamshells: 3 sets of 15 on each leg with resistance band.
Leg raises laying on my side (don't know if there's a nifty name for those): 3 sets of 12 on each side
Bent knee (@ 90 degree angle) leg raises - kind of a cross between a clamshell and leg raise: 3 sets of 15 on each side
Reverse clamshells with ankle weight: 3 sets of 12 of each side
Hip drops (stand on one leg on a stair and drop opposite leg a few inches and back up using only your hips): 3 sets of 15 on each side
Bent knee quad lifts with ankle weights: 3 sets of 10 on each side, holding in top position for 5 counts each time.
IT band stretch and massage: THIS SUCKER HURT!!! OMFG!!! Back and forth across the ITB 8 times on each leg.

It was a tough workout, but it really felt good. And I could feel a big difference with the ITB stretching. I was just walking easier afterwards. So, I'm feeling really good about PT and hoping for good things to come out of it. He gave me some exercises to do at home and I'm supposed to concentrate on standing correctly when I'm on my feet. No shifting side to side and re-distributing weight. Both feet firmly planted on the ground and weight evenly distributed. Otherwise it distorts the hips.

I've been running moderately lately. Just 3 miles here and there, nothing too strenuous. The knee is doing much better, but it lets me know if I overdo it. I was on my feet all day these last two days doing building inspections and that was rough on both knees. But I'm just working on short distances and consistency in cardio. Working it back up. I'm a little slower than I like right now, but I know it will come back with just a little work.

Today I LOVE: the after endorphine rush from PT!

The Knee-mesis

2009-07-31T10:00:00.000-07:00

Sigh...good and bad knee news at the doc. As suspected there is some damage and deterioration of the knee joint. The MRI shows damage to the PCL, a new lateral cartilage tear and wearing on the patella which is causing some of the inflammation and fluid retention in the joint. My options are:

PT and take it easy. Ease back into exercise - especially anything high impact. The doc said no running more than twice a week, especially until I can get that right quad strengthened to stabilize the knee joint or I risk damage to both knees. (the right b/c of the damage and the left b/c it's taking all the compensation from the right) I can bike, elliptical, walk, swim as much as I want - just keep it low impact.
Cortisone shots. But this is mostly for inflamed joints in a lot of pain. I'm really and truly not having pain.
Scope the knee to repair that lateral cartilage damage and poke around. Surgery, but with fairly speedy recovery.
Meniscus replacement where they grow me new cartilage using stem cells and then repair and replace the damaged cartilage on both sides of the knee joint and smooth out my patella. This would constitute flaying my knee open and would ultimately result in longevity of the knee, but would constitute lots of pain and a long recovery.

I went for option 1. I just don't think I'm to the surgery point yet. I'm honestly and truly not in pain. The knee does feel weak, and it definitely lets me know if I overdo it. But, I think I can overcome a lot of that with PT and by strengthening that leg back up. And any pain I do have is manageable with ibuprofen and topical creams. So I'll be hitting PT twice a week for the next six weeks. At least I know I'll be getting a minimum of two workouts a week. LOL.

I'm trying to stay positive about the whole thing. I'm bummed that I have to cut way back on the running, but the doc suggested just putting that same effort into the elliptical until I can get back out on the roads. That way I'll keep my stamina and cardio fitness up and may even strengthen my legs even more if I crank the resistance way up. I'm hoping I come out of this stronger and better! Plus, it's really hard to run as much as I like in this summer heat and humidity anyway. So, I'm thinking hit the gym like a maniac, get my legs strong, lose a few lbs that are lingering around and the come back like a bull in the fall. (that's my plan anyway!)

I have to go back in 10 weeks to see where we are and re-visit the options. If the knee is still really bothering me in 10 weeks, then I would say, yeah, we may need to discuss surgery. But I really want to try out all non-invasive options first and then work our way down.

On that note- I'm heading to the gym! :)

Today I LOVE: counting my blessings and the power of positivity!

I'm back, I passed and feelin' alllright

2009-07-22T12:53:00.000-07:00

Thanks everyone for the AWESOME words of encouragement. They really, really helped! And I PASSED, I PASSED, I PASSED!! I don't know my exact score yet, but I do know I passed. They print it out at the end of the exam whether you passed or failed and thanks to little baby, tiny Jesus, and my brain stuffed with safety regs and measurements I passed. Whew! This test was grueling. Five hours allotted time and it took ALL - FIVE- HOURS. My brain was so fried afterward. I seriously could not even speak. I couldn't think of everyday words like refrigerator and gasoline. No joke. Only one more exam to go to get my safety professional certification. I want to take it ASAP while the knowledge is still fresh. Then I'm on my way to super nerd-dome.

Knee update:

I went to a new orthopedic doctor a week and a half ago. He was great - loved him. I had the initial x-rays done on my knee and he could immediately tell from the x-rays that I have some osteoarthritis going on (which I suspected). I still have the scope pictures from when they scoped my knee back in '93 (they're my little trophy, to say "Hey - see what's been taken out of me! Cartilage here, here, here, and oh yeah...here...") They helped him determine some of what's going on based on past and current trauma. He found some old and new stuff:

He suspects an old ACL AND PCL strain. The knee is really wobbly, but I'm also very, very flex jointed. Most of my joints will bend freakishly backwards with no pain.
Floating patella - old - knew that.
Possibly a new cartilage tear on right side of knee
AND my legs are crazy different lengths. Just a rough measurement, but almost 1/2"! No stinkin' wonder I have so many aches from running.

He ordered an MRI so we could find out more about what's going on with Princess Patella. I went for the MRI on Monday (which is a crazy, weird, soul-finding experience...YOU lay perfectly still for 35 minutes in a tomb and tell me you don't do some thinking.) I go back in on Friday so he can tell how really messed up I am.

Oh, funny thing though, my knees are so wonky, weird that he wants to use my films, etc to teach his interns at LSU. FUNNY! I'm famous for being so jacked up! All genetics...thanks Mom and Dad. But he did say he was WAY impressed that I run as much as I do and that I compensate for everything that's going on so well.

In other good news, the darn thing is finally starting to feel better! I ran 5 miles on Sunday and 6 miles on Tuesday with little to no pain. I was stoked! And very little swelling in the knee afterward. I'm a little stiff today, but my whole body is stiff from lack of running. Getting back into it is a little frustrating after all the work I put in before, but I know I'll get there. Just taking it one run at a time.

OK - time to get back to it. Going to check on everyone's blog and respond tonight. Gotta catch up!

Today I LOVE: The promise of a rainy day. It's looking mighty overcast out there!

Brief Update

2009-07-10T06:50:00.000-07:00

I'm here - just swamped with studying right now. I have a major certification test coming up next week and I've been studying like a mad woman. My test is on Wednesday. (Ack - just five days away!) Please send some good luck my way. I need all the help I can get here!!

I ran a good six miles this morning and the knee did great. I had my knee compression sleeve on coupled with my patella band and it was a relatively pain free run. I LOVED it. I was totally sucking wind the first couple of miles. I could definitely tell I hadn't been running. I was wheezing like a 300 lb fat guy who smokes two packs a day out there. But after about two miles my body settled into it and we had a great run. And I felt like I sweat off about 10 lbs of crap. My clothes were SOAKED, but man it just felt great to get out there and push my body again.

I'm heading to the orthopedist this afternoon so he can check out the knee. Of course - it's feeling better today, but I'm going anyway. I want to talk to him about possible orthotics (if they would help me) and anything else I should be doing for the knee. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

I'll chime in next week and check on all you guys. Sorry I'm MIA, but I'll be back soon. I promise.

Today I LOVE: making flashcards...the best way to study!

Knee Update & Book Review

2009-07-03T12:25:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I've been wearing my patella stabilizer band for most of the day the past few days. I also upped my glucosamine and chondroitin supplements. Believe it or not the temperamental sucker is feeling a lot better! SO much so that I ventured out today for an easy 2.5 mile jog to test it out. There was some pain during the run, but nothing crazy. I took it slow and easy and warmed up walking and cooled down walking for a total of a 3 mile workout. I was worried that it might swell up when I got back home but it didn't!! I'm more stoked about that! No swelling is a HUGE improvement. Fingers crossed and praying to the kneecap gods that I'm through the worst of it. Now to just ease back into running. I'm going to keep the mileage low and the pace slow for the next week and just try things out.

One of the things that I think might be contributing to my knee issues are my new shoes. Yes, my brand stinkin' new ones!! I think I'm really overpronating on my right foot. I can feel it when I run/walk in those shoes. I don't think they're giving me enough support and stability. I threw on my Asics today for the short run and I could tell a difference. The Saucony shoe I'm in now is more of a neutral shoe. So, I may go to the running store this next week and see what they recommend.

I hope, hope, hope that I can get back on track. So many great Fall races that I need to start gearing up for!

Book Review

I have read/skimmed through a number of running books in my running life. I've read through beginner's running guides, women's running guides, nutrition for runners, nutrition for endurance athletes, guides to run faster and longer. Each of the books had something to offer and I usually took away an interesting tidbit of knowledge or some valuable coaching advice, but usually it was nothing new or nothing that I couldn't find on runner's websites or magazines. This book however gave me something the other books didn't: Full on stitch-in-the-side belly laughs.

Dawn Dais writes the book as a beginning runner training for her first marathon. She takes you through her trial and tribulations and gives some helpful hints and advice along the way. She also gives a HILARIOUS look into the runner psyche. In her initial "Should I Train for a Marathon" test she asks the "real" questions:

"Any sport in which people have been known to literally die of exhaustion while participating is just the kind of sport I've been looking for. T/F"
"I'm interested in finding out exactly how many muscles I have in my legs. T/F"
"I have no problem being athletically inferior to someone twice my age. T/F"
"I've been sleeping in way too much, so I've been looking for something to take up a few hours on my Saturday mornings. T/F"
"I want to perfect the art of peeing in a shrub without being seen by anyone. T/F"
"My knee joints are overrated. T/F"
"Sometimes when I'm driving long distances of, say, fifteen miles or so, I feel the overwhelming urge to pull my car over and simply run the rest of the way. T/F"
"I have a very good health plan. T/F"

The book is just hilarious. Having completed my first full this last year as a beginner, I could TOTALLY relate to everything she was going through. Through the laughing and tears I must have said, "Oh yeah, I've done that" or "Oh yeah, I've been there" at least a dozen times. Her diatribes on spandex, chaffing and the "water-holder butt thingy" (her words - not mine) are so on the spot that you think she was somehow channeling your last few runs.

The NonRunner's Marathon Guide for Women isn't going to give you any major running revelations. The training plan is a good beginner plan and straightforward. It's the author's brutally honest portrayals of her marathon journey that make this book a must read.

Oh - and I almost forgot - I'm up to 60 push-ups and 60 sit-ups three times a week! Slowly working my way to 100.

Today I LOVE: Jelly Belly sour mix jelly beans!

Still struggling

2009-07-02T05:54:00.001-07:00

I'm still on the running bench. I have really been taking it easy; laying off the knee and letting it heal. It was starting to feel substantially better this week. I was going to try to put in a few miles this weekend as a test run. I had to do some field work on Tuesday - tromping around an open warehouse and looking at a bunch of old transformers (the electrical kind, not the cool alien-robot-that-changes-into-a-car kind). This required a lot of bending over and squatting to try and find the ID plates. Well - that aggravated the knee again. By the time I got home it was really swollen again. Soooo...back to ice, elevation and rest. Again, it's really not that painful. I can just tell that the knee is weak and swollen though.

So, that means no four on the fourth race for me. I don't think it's a good idea to push it. Depending, maybe a few easy runs next week.

This one has me a little worried. My knee will flare up on occasion, but I can usually baby it for a few days and it's back to running form. This time it's taking a lot longer and I've noticed more swelling than usual. I must have done a good number on it. *sigh* This may require a doctor's visit.

Today I Love: My four day weekend!! Yeeehaw!!

Knee update

2009-06-26T09:04:00.001-07:00

After having completely rested for 4-5 days, much ice, ibuprofen, lots of Tex-Mex, and a few margaritas I took the ole princess (my right knee) out for a spin around the block to see how she did. I over-geared up trying to give it as much support as possible: extra thick thorlo socks, zensah compression sleeves, patella stability band. My runner nerdness was ready to go. My goal was an easy, 3 miles. No records here, just nice and easy does it. I took it slow and played with my pace and stride some to try and find the most comfortable spot for my knee. I finished in 30:33, decent considering. The run was relatively pain-free, but I could tell that the knee is still a little weak. And it's already starting to swell some (that's why it's puffy in the picture). So, I'm slapping some ice on it. I don't think it's quite ready for the long run or any races just yet, but it's progress. I'll keep the runs short and easy over this next week and try to just ease back into things. There's a local 4 on the 4th race that I really want to do next week. Hmmm....may just rest, rest, rest and have a fun race.

Today I LOVE: iced coffee on a hot day.

Sidelined

2009-06-22T06:07:00.000-07:00

...for the moment.

I've mentioned this in past posts, but it's back again - I have bad knees. Both are bad, but my right knee in particular gives me the most problems. I've had them both scoped at different times when I was younger - mainly for torn cartilage. The right knee suffered the most damage and had the most cartilage removed. In addition I have a floating patella - meaning my kneecap just floats around willy-nilly thinking it can do whatever the hell it wants and go wherever the hell it wants, damning the pain it causes the rest of the joint. (my knee cap is such a princess...it gets that from me).

My knee injuries and pain stem from a number of reasons:

I'm a spazz - I run, walk, crawl, talk, chew like a spazz. Very uncoordinated.
I'm a girl of German heritage = I'm a curvy gal. I have wide hips which means my legs are at an angle (think V). This angle means I put a funky pressure on my knees when I strike the ground.
I have less cartilage which means less joint lube which means bone on bone rubbing.
I should be wearing my patella stabilizer band all the time during runs, but I don't. I'm lazy and impatient and I forget where I put it and decide "ahh, the heck with it" and run out the door anyway.
I think I'm superwoman and can just run and add mileage without any problems.

So, needless to say my right knee is very, very angry and swollen now. My knee had been a little sore last week, but nothing crazy. I noticed it was more sore after the long run on Friday morning. By Saturday it was really sore. I decided to take the day off and just give it a rest. Then it started to swell up. By Sunday it was really swollen. I would ice it and elevate it and it would go back down. As soon as I got up to go outside and help my husband plant it would swell to the size of a grapefruit in minutes. I did a good number on it this time. I'm really not in much pain though - just some soreness and stiffness. I'm hoping if I just lay off of it for a few days it will calm back down. So, looks like I'm stuck to the bike and elliptical for the next few days. Good thing is, I'm on travel this week and I can easily go to the gym and get a few non-impact miles in and I won't feel guilty for not joining the running groups.

I think this is my body's way of telling me to slow it down. I think I upped my mileage too quick, too soon. I think my knees are stupid.

Stop by The Happy Runner's blog for another cool contest and giveaway!!

Today I LOVE: A clean house (ok - my closet's still a mess, but the rest is clean.)

You know you're a runner when...

2009-06-19T06:53:00.001-07:00

...you try and coordinate your wedding anniversary celebration and a half marathon! LOL!

Well, I managed to do it. I found a great half marathon that will segue into a nice little anniversary vacation for me and the Hubster. We're doing the Healdsburg Half Marathon this year in Sonoma County, CA. Some super cool things about the race:

We get to run through 22 wineries.
We start at the Francis Ford Coppola Winery. His claret is one of my favs!
We finish at the Wine & Music Festival near lake Sonoma.
It's on Halloween so there will be some crazy costumes
It will be the Hubster's first half!
And did I mention there will be WINE!!

I'm so stinkin' excited about this race. The Hubs is getting all into it, comparing different half training plans. I can't wait to start training with him. We're just doing an easy novice plan to get him into running consistently. He runs on occasion and works out like a crazy person - he's more of a gym rat than I am. But, we just have to work on his running consistency. We're totally going to take this race nice and easy and have fun with it. Mainly it will be a "just to finish" fun race because it's his first and I want him to enjoy it and I want to stop and take lots of pictures too.

Image of The Bitch via Snooth

So, if anyone wants to come out and join us, come on out!

In other news - it's hot, hot, hot, hot, hot. WARNING: From now until October I will continue to bitch, moan and whine about the heat. Yes, I am a high maintenance, bitchy runner and I want the weather to be 60 degrees with low humidity all the time. Is that so much to ask? So if you don't want to read about it just skip that section unless my whole post is about the heat and they very well could be. You'll just have to muddle through my whining then.

Speaking of heat: it just completely obliterated me yesterday and today. We had our usual Thursday night speed work session last night. It called for 6 x 800 repeats with one mile warm up and one mile cool down. Only three people showed up - one of which only because I guilted her into coming. :) We start at 6:00 p.m. and it's getting to where that's still too early to start in the evening. It was 95 degrees with a heat index in the 100+. We brought water knowing it was going to be bad. She made it through 2 and half 800s. I made it through 4 and we were done. It was just too damn hot and I started to get that light-headed, nauseous, over heating feeling. We just slowly jogged the last 2 800s and then took it back to the shop for 5 total miles. It was bad.

This morning I met the girls for our usual 8 mile maintenance long run. We started at 6:00 a.m. to try and beat the heat but it had different plans for us. It was already 83 degrees F when I woke up at 5:30 and the humidity was through the roof. This run was especially hard today. All three of us had to stop for the occasional walk break and that's unusual for us. We usually keep a good, steady consistent pace. We just could NOT get our bodies to cool down. There was no breeze and no relief. I felt like I hadn't run in weeks. My body was tired, my legs were lead bricks, my head was spinning. It was just awful, awful, awful. We managed to keep a 10:30 pace which is pretty good considering all the short stops and walk breaks.

I think I'm going to take tomorrow off. Either that or just head to the gym for an easy 3 or 4 and maybe some weights/elliptical work.

Today I tried some of the Carb Boom! Energy Gel on the long run. I had the apple cinnamon flavor because a few people had recommended that as one of their favs. I'm generally not a big goo or gel fan, but it's one of the necessary evils on long runs. And I've tried, but I just simply cannot do the chews. The thought of physically chewing something while running just makes me want to urp.

The apple cinnamon flavor was surprisingly refreshing and the texture wasn't as thick as some other gels I've had. The flavor wasn't overpowering and it wasn't sickeningly sweet. It also went down a lot smoother and it didn't take as much water to flush the taste out of my mouth (another thing that bothers me - gotta have a clean mouth. I told you guys I was high maintenance!) These gel packets are bigger too - 1.4 oz as compared to the normal 1.1 oz in other gels. My running shop just got these in and the flavors they had were really limited, but I'd really like to try out some of the other flavors. I may order a few more online to check them out. But, I'm giving it a thumbs up.

AND please go send out shouts of support to RBR who has the Ironman Coeur d'Alene this weekend!

Today I LOVE: That the weekend is MINE to toy with!

Running in the a.m.

2009-06-16T11:49:00.000-07:00

Six miles logged this morning - start time 6:30 a.m.

When I started running a few years ago I would talk to other runners and read running blogs about the crazies who got up at 5:00 and 6:00 in the morning to go run. Now I liked to go workout and was an elliptical gym queen, but never in the morning. I tried working out in the morning several times and it just was not for me. I couldn't get up. I would grow faint. I had no energy. I had every excuse in the book. Now generally I was a night owl too. Mornings were not my thing. Ever since I switched jobs and was forced to take on a more "morning friendly" schedule I've had to adjust. Now I wake up at 6:00 or earlier regardless of the day - weekend, weekday - it doesn't matter.

My schedule allows for me to work at home one to two days a week. I love it because I don't have to deal with the hour commute into downtown those days. I gain an extra two hours a day. It's heaven. My long run gal pals are both morning runners. They have convinced me to get up early and start running with them these one to two days I'm at home AND on Saturdays for the long run. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm really enjoying the early morning runs. My main reasons:

It gets my butt productively out of bed
It's the coolest part of the day (rated in temperature - not awesomeness)
The trace is less crowded (less bikers running over me)
I get my exercise in and I'm done for the day. No thoughts of the gym looming over my head.
The energy I have for the next few hours is amazing.

The only drawback I see is that I am ready to gnaw off the arm of anyone holding anything resembling food all morning. I'm completely famished. So, if you don't want to draw back a nub, don't come into my cube eating a cookie or crackers or popcorn or even have the faintest smell of Cheetos on your breath.

And I have found that if I don't fuel properly before and after the run I get faint during and then crash around mid-afternoon. So I eat a light high-protein cereal bar before and a big breakfast is a MUST afterward. Carrying healthy snacks with me to the office helps too - almonds, light popcorn, fruit, V8 juice (spicy only!), etc.

So, now being all "morningy" (I swear I'm turning into my mom) we decided to up the meeting time to 6:00 a.m. for our long run this weekend. Yup, I'm now a crazy morning runner.

On another cool note:

Between the Miles wrote a post comparing coconut water and Clif Shot Electrolyte drink powder. This really got me curious about coconut water. I had never heard of it but really liked the nutrition facts and tend to enjoy and consume mass quantities of coconut flavored liquids (Pina coladas, coconut rum, for example...). I figured I should probably try a coconut liquid that doesn't leave me in a stupor a few hours later.

I couldn't find the O.N.E. coconut water but did find the O.N.E. Amazon Acai flavor. My grocery store did have coconut water made by Vita Coco though. I picked up three different flavors and threw them into the fridge to cool down. I just sampled the coconut with pineapple and must say that it was really refreshing. I love the Vitamin C counts (240% PDV) and the potassium is great for a real sweat fest (680 mg) to replenish. The sugars were a little high, but from the ingredient list it must be coming mainly from the pineapple. I'd like to try just the plain coconut water and see how I like it (less sugar and calories). Overall though, I give it a thumbs up for a nice treat away from sports drinks.

AND I learned today that I am a "flexitarian" from No Meat Athlete's blog. I do not eat red meat or pork and only limited chicken, turkey and fish (about 3 days a week). If you haven't already, go check out his blog. He has great recipes, tips, advice for exercise, living healthy and eating healthy (and NO you do not have to be a vegetarian or flexitarian).

Today I LOVE: Target's C9 Long and Lean running tanks. I need to go buy a few more. They adequately cover my bellah without riding up. Love 'em.

Weekend-ish recap

2009-06-15T06:28:00.000-07:00

Sorry for all the multi-day posts lately. I'm having trouble keeping up more frequent posts. Darn life's just getting in the way of my blog. :D

THURSDAY

Group run speed work was on the agenda for Thursday night. I was seriously tired all day Thursday and my legs were pretty tight AND it was scorchingly hot and humid. I had a case of the "don't wannas" but I made myself go, deciding to just give it my best. The speed work called for 10x400 repeats with a 1:30 minute rest in between each one. Ryan figured out our pace and said I should be pacing myself right at an 8:00 mile for each 400. That felt a little slow for the first few, but I was very glad by the time we were hitting our 6th and 7th ones. Whew. I really didn't think I'd like this speed workout. I'm not a fast runner and not a good sprinter at all. I tend to run flat footed. But, I really enjoyed the 400s. It gave me a chance to open up my stride, but I still had to pace myself. It was a challenge both mentally and physically. I held an average 8:02 for all 10 of those bad boys, in the 90 degree heat and 86% humidity!

SATURDAY

Varsity just got the Zensah compression sleeves in the store this week. A few people were trying them out during the run Thursday night. They said they could really tell a difference in how their calves and knees felt during and after the run. I've been toying with getting a pair of compression socks anyway for recovery after long runs but have just been a lazy butt and haven't ordered them online. Since I could now buy them locally I ran by the store and picked me up a pair on Friday - in PINK of course.

I wore them around on Friday night for about an hour just to see how they felt. They do take some work just to get them on. Picture stuffing 5 lbs of poo in a 1 lb bag. :) I was worried I had gotten the wrong size, but once I struggled and got them on (after a bit of cursing, a decent tri workout and some blood, sweat and tears) they felt really good. They really support and squeeze the calves.

I decided to go all geek runner on Saturday and wear them during the long run. I figure if the running cap, huge pace watch and completely unflattering fuel belt didn't geek me out enough, these pink compression sleeves would definitely clinch my status in dorkdome. But, as a runner you tend to get past that. Having to drop trow for unexpected bowel issues or throttling snot rockets so you can breath gets you over that real quick.

The 8 mile run went smoothly (as smooth as can be expected in summer in Louisiana). It took less time for my legs to warm up. Usually it takes a good mile for me to feel "good to go", especially after speed work days. I noticed less calf pain during the first mile too. AND, not sure if this is attributable to the sleeves, but my knees (especially the really bum right one) didn't feel fatigued toward the end of the run - AND I wasn't wearing my patella support band at all.

SUNDAY

My test was going to be how fatigued and sore my legs and joints felt on Sunday. Usually I roll out of bed Sunday morning and it takes my legs a few minutes to function properly. I do the old man shuffle to the bathroom and then the stiff, tin-man walk to the coffee machine. I rolled out of bed with...(wait for it!)....FRESH LEGS!! No joint pain. No stiffness.

I. Was. Shocked.

I'm sold on these things. They were a little warm for the run. I'm not sure if I'll wear them during the long runs or just throw them on after to aid recovery. I'm thinking about wearing them during Thursday speed work though to see if they can make me run REALLY FAST. :D

Today I was going to go out for a leisurely 5 or 6 miles, but my stomach is rebelling right now. Not sure if I have a stomach bug or fiber overload. Either way, I can't stray too far from the bathroom (TMI - I know!) Hopefully I'll feel better by this evening.

Today I LOVE: That I have the flexibility to work from home.

New R&R Mardi Gras!

2009-06-11T06:11:00.000-07:00

The original Mardi Gras Marathon and Half Marathon has now partnered with Elite Racing as one of the Rock 'n' Roll Marathons. This is exciting because it will increase the race size, hopefully improve the support and entertainment on the back 13 (which I heard was the worst) and improve race organization (which wasn't terrible but they had a few kinks to work out). AND the first 500 people get in for only $50 for EITHER the half or the full!! I took advantage yesterday and signed up. You can sign up here. I'm also excited because that's one more R&R race that I can do cheaply and work toward my multi-race R&R medal!

I've run the half a couple of times and it's a great, fun race. The course is flat, flat, flat and the scenery along the way for the first 13 is amazing. I wouldn't aim to PR on this one because the first few miles are through the French Quarter which is very narrow and you can easily get boxed in, plus the roads down St. Charles to the park and back are full of cracks and potholes. So, you're dodging obstacles the whole time. But, it's still a really fun race. Something about running through the French Quarter at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday, watching all the drunks come out of the bars to cheer you on is hilarious. I encourage people to come! Even COOLER my friend Sarah is signed up and coming!! I'm so excited!!!

I've pretty much made up my mind to run Tulsa too. I'm just waiting for payday so I can pay for the race entry. Now to decide on marathon training plans. Anyone have a favorite that they can suggest? I'm thinking of using an intermediate plan this time. I've averaging about 25-30 miles per week right now.

I LOVE starting training for a new race. I get so excited. Fall marathons are killer for me though. I'm running my long runs in the killer Louisiana heat and humidity. At least Tulsa is in late November so it should have cooled off a bit by the time I'm hitting 18+ miles.

SUMMER SERIES 2 MILE FUN RUN RACE REPORT (Whew! That's a mouthful!)

Yesterday was the first 2 mile race in a four week summer series of fun runs sponsored by our local running store. Yesterday's run was entitled "Mystery Run". The e-mail they sent out said this race would be more of a physical challenge than a running race and the words "chill out" were used, alluding to something to do with water. Ack! I put on some old running clothes and older shoes just in case. You had to have a teammate for this challenge. Susan and I decided to suffer this one together.

They didn't reveal the mystery until right before the race. They had frozen 50 wet t-shirts. The shirts were balled up tightly and frozen in zip-loc bags. The challenge was to thaw out the t-shirt as quickly as possible. You couldn't take off running until you could put the shirt on: head and both arms. One person had to put the shirt on and run with it for one mile and then you had to switch out with your partner at the turnaround for the last mile. It was hilarious!

It took us about 10 minutes to finally thaw that sucker out! I was holding it between my legs. We were rubbing the heck out of it. We were banging it on the ground. We were pulling and tugging on it like crazy (it actually ripped holes in a couple of places). Finally we got most of it free - enough to put in on....so I thought. The neck hole was still frozen up! I'm trying to put the shirt on and it will NOT go over my head and we already started to jog off. Ha! I finally wrangled it free and we took off.

If you've never run in an XL cotton t-shirt that is soaking wet and has been previously frozen and is covered in dirt from banging it on the ground, I do not recommend it. It felt good at first in the 90 degree weather and ungodly humidity. Then it just got icky. It felt like it weighed a ton. It didn't breath for anything and it just made you hotter and sweatier. Ugh.

I really struggled with this run. We managed a crisp 9:00 pace, but I really, really had to push through the pain. I was tired from the 4 mile elliptical lunch workout and ripping that t-shirt apart really wore me out too. But we finished strong and it was a nice, fun workout.

Today = speed work. I don't know if it's 800 repeats or 400 repeats today. The website changed the schedule. I guess I'll find out this evening. Wish me luck!

OH and stop by The Happy Runner's blog for a GREAT birthday giveaway!!!

Today I LOVE: My hot pink cardigan sweater. It keeps me warm in the office and the jolt of color makes me smile.

Shorts Run Race Report

2009-06-09T09:30:00.001-07:00

Whew! Another crazy week/weekend just full of activities. Let's see...since I last posted I will catch you guys up and break it down by the day.

THURSDAY

Speed work at Varsity Sports again. They called for 4x1000 repeats with recovery in between. Ryan, the owner, calculated what my split times should be based on my last 5K. He said to aim for 5:15 (about an 8:30 pace) for each 1000 and to really just try and pace myself and keep it consistent. Last week I went out too hard and too fast for that first 1600 and just wore myself out. This time (with a lot of help from Minnie and Susan pushing me) I managed to hold 5:15 for the first three and 5:09 for the last 1000. It was a great workout and I was so glad that Susan came again. She and I are perfect pacers for each other. She would push me and I would push her to keep the pace up and consistent. It was a total 5 miles in all with warm up and cool down jogs. My legs were tired, but I wasn't dead like I was the week before.

FRIDAY

I had intended Friday to be a rest day in preparation for the 4 mile Shorts Run race on Saturday and to recover from the speed work on Thursday. Thursday night Claudia and Lourdes (my long run friends on Saturdays) e-mail me saying they can't run on Saturday and ask if I can meet them for an 8 miler on Friday. I was off on Friday and figured I would go ahead and run it to get my mileage in. So, I got up at 5:30 and met them at 6:30 for our morning run (yes - ON MY DAY OFF I GOT UP THAT EARLY....I AM a crazy person). We had every intention of running it slow and easy on Friday morning but a nice little cool front had rolled in the night before and really cooled things down. The cool, breezy air just made the run pleasant and the conversation carried us easily to the 4 mile marker. The 4 miles back came just as quickly and easily. I checked Minnie when we got back to the car and I couldn't believe that we held an average 9:47 pace for all 8 miles. I think that's the first time I've broken a sub 10:00 pace for that distance. We all went to Starbucks after to sit outside and cool down and drink some coffee to re-energize. It was a great run.

SATURDAY

Susan really wanted me to come run the 4 mile race with her so I decided to just suck it up and go run and have fun on Saturday morning. My legs were pretty tired from Thursday and Friday's runs. She got her booty kicked at boot camp on Friday, so she was tired too. We decided just to treat this race as a recovery run and have fun with it.

I parked about a half mile away from the race start to try and get my legs to loosen up a bit. I snapped some pics on my walk down toward the Lakefront.

This is just a view down the historic street toward the lakefront. I love how it's lined with all the trees and greenery.

Vianne's Tea Room - serves high tea and lunch. Such a cute, cute place.

This always cracks me up! You can get your documents notarized, get married and buy all your Christmas gifts in the same place! One stop shopping!

This little guy was just hanging out on the front porch taking in the morning sun and quiet.

This is a glassworks art studio. The mural is an old soda pop advertisement that they are repainting and bringing it back to life.

Varsity Sports - the race start!

The "official" race course map. I loved that they put "*Drawing not to scale" at the bottom!

Everyone lining up to get their race numbers.

And I was SOOO thankful that they had coffee out there. I was in desperate need of some go-go juice.

Annnddd....we're off!! See - I'm so fast I'm a blur! Heee...

Running along the lakefront.

The finish! Finish time 36:23

I was pleased with my finish time. My legs were pretty tired from the previous two days' runs. I just went out and had a good, fun run with the race. I'm a total middle of the packer in races. I just tried to keep my pace steady and strong. I wasn't aiming for a PR or anything. I ran it in strong and had a great time at the race. Susan had a great race too and finished just a few seconds behind me. It was so good to have her there for the support. We decided to stick around for the awards and bananas and oranges and door prizes. They posted the race results and , yup, there I was right smack in the middle. But, on closer look I finished 3rd in my age class! What tha??? AND I only missed 2nd place by one minute. Argh!! They only gave out prizes for 1st and 2nd in each age group. Had I known I could have totally pushed it. That's what I get. Ha. I'll know better next time. Overall it was a great, fun race.

I'm stoked about my third place finish!

My race shorts (you don't get a race t-shirt with this race, you get a pair of Asics running shorts) and my race number.

SUNDAY

Rest day. I was thinking of running another local 5K, but my knee objected. Three days in a row of running (and 17 miles) my right knee was having none of it. I decided to listen to my body and rest. And I had to drive up to Jackson, MS (2.5 hours away) to pick up my niece, so I figured I should rest up and relax for the drive. I had a full two days of non-stop 8 year old ahead of me. :)

Today I LOVE: Rest...sweet, much needed rest.

Lovely Blog Awards

2009-06-04T06:33:00.001-07:00

Whooohoooo!! I got an award for something - finally! DC Runner Girl tagged by blog as one to follow. AND I even got a "How cool is that?" from her. Ohhhh the pressure now to live up to the hype. :D And yes, I totally agree with her that the award photo is hideous. It looks like a cross between my Grandmother's "sitting room" (where we're not allowed to touch anything or actually sit in there) and a Southern cotillion chiffon-fest. I can just smell the powder potpourri emanating off of the photo!

The rules behind this award:

1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.

2) Pass the award to other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Here are just a few of the blogs that I think warrant a shout out - new and old. They're guaranteed to inspire you or make you feel guilty for being a lazy-butt and eating that last pint of Bluebell ice cream while laying on the couch catching up on the latest America's Next Top Model (not that I've EVER done that or anything...)

Of Course - DC Runner Girl's awesome blog. She's a runner, swimmer, cross-trainer extraordinaire. The girl does it all.

My friend Sarahthequeen1's blog Belle of the County. This girl is amazing. She coached and supported and inspired me through my first marathon training. I am forever indebted to her. She is also a morning workout crazy-head. She's one of those 4:30 in the morning type people who can actually function productively at that time.

Run Bitch Run's blog keeps me in stitches. She's just freakin' hilarious with her trials and tribulations regarding all the biking and running she does. 'Nuff said.

Marlene's Mission to (a)nother Marathon blog is fantastic. This girl just slays half marathons like they're nuthin'! I am constantly inspired my her PRs and hope to one day join her in the sub-2 hour half times.

Shut up and Run! is a new one I just found through a blog of a blog of a blog... and I love her already. She's running the San Antonio R&R this year - my first full last year. I'm so anxious to hear her race report and how she likes the course.

Planet Ynnep Running gets an award (even if she's a Tennessee fan) because she's a runner, she works UNGODLY hours, still finds time to run and she's a fellow dog-lover.

And last, but not least I couldn't leave out See Willie Run. Now Willie, I know this is kind of a girlie award, but you can handle it. Willie is like Flash Gordon fast. And he makes it sound so easy and nonchalant. "Oh - I just went out and ran three miles at 6:30 pace and I didn't even break a sweat and it was an easy, slow recovery run day and..." OK - maybe I paraphrased him a little, but he's super fast and just picks up marathon races at the last minute FOR FUN. He's a coo-coo head runner who LIKES the sun, but fun and inspiring all the same.

Argh - so many to choose from. There are so many great blogs out there. I have a running blog list on the side of my blog and they're all fantastic if you need some new inspiration and great support system.

Group run today. Repeats again, but shorter ones. No 1600s today (Whew!). Oh wait, I take that back, I just looked, 4x1000 meter repeats today. Ugh... Hopefully the rain will let up in time and cool things down.

Today I LOVE: all my awesome running blog buddies. Thanks for always motivating me!

Great group run, bad long run

2009-06-02T05:37:00.001-07:00

I had a good week last week. I am starting to slowly find a happy medium between my running and my workouts. It's taking some adjustment, but I'm starting to make it work. I've divided this post into two sections trying to catch up from last week.

Group Run

I decided to go out on Thursday and meet up with the Varsity Sports running group. They hold a group run every Thursday night at 6:00 around the lakefront area. I've been reluctant to go because I'm a slow runner and these guys are crazy, fast, hard-core. I'd be the one huffing and puffing in the back just desperately trying to keep up. They usually just run 4, 5, or 6 miles at your own pace. Recently they started to do speed work on Thursday nights. I generally abhor speed work and usually only do it on a treadmill and only because I'm bored to tears. I decided, what a better way than to share my misery with other folks? And - I'm not gonna get any faster if I don't try. So, I laced up my shoes and drove over to the store.

For the first 5-10 minutes we're all standing out front of the store waiting, stretching, gearing up. I'm looking around and I'm the ONLY girl. Great. Just great. It's a fairly hot and humid day and all the guys are taking their shirts off to run. I am NOT going that far to fit in. My girls will stay double layered covered up, thank you very much! I'm getting more nervous because these guys have super sleek runner's bodies. Not a jiggly thigh or muffin top in sight! Then Susan walked up. Susan is an older woman (I would guess late 40s?) with ROCKIN' legs! Oh - if I could only have an ounce of the muscle she's sporting in her legs. We gravitated to each other and I found out this was her first time too. Sweet! We can get lost together! We determined that we run about the same pace too. Even better.

We started out with an easy warm up run to the area where the mile quarters are marked off. Susan and I kept a good 9:30 pace and just talked away until we got there (about 1 mile away). Then the hell started. Repeats. I never knew such torture existed. The plan was 1600x2, 800x2, and 400x2 and slow recovery jog back to the shop. A total of about 4.5 in all with warm-up, warm-down. I smoked that first 1600 - 8:34! We rested a bit and hit the 2nd 1600 a little slower (9:00). The heat and humidity were starting to get to me. We attempted the two 800s and then my body was done. Spent. Susan was exhausted too. We decided to just slowly jog back to the shop along the lakefront then. It was so great to meet her and run with her. We just clicked and started talking away and supporting each other on the run. We exchanged e-mails and have agreed to meet for the Thursday runs as much as possible. I have a new running buddy. Yeah!

Long Run

Sunday I decided to head out for my long run. My goal was the usual 9 miles - from the trailhead to the next trailhead and back. We've had really nice weather, but it's starting to get warm now. I wanted to walk the dogs that morning before it got too hot. I was feeling a little lazy and was just basking in the morning quietness so I didn't get out the door until almost mid-morning. The temp read 82 degrees, but it felt a little breezy and cool. I got to the trailhead and started my run, holding a great pace. My legs felt strong and I was just enjoying the run. I kept it at 9:30 for the first 4.25 miles. I had to push myself but it felt good. It was starting to get hot and I was sweating like crazy. I stopped at the trailhead and stood under the misters for a bit, drank a ton of water and took my orange Gu (I prefer the chocolate) for the run back.

About five minutes into the run back it hit - exhaustion and waves of nausea. Not good. I slowed it way down. Nope - my body was having none of it. I ended up walking back the majority of the 4.25 miles back to my car. Thank goodness I had a huge water bottle and a powerade waiting for me there. I gulped those down and started to cool down finally. The temps read 90+ with 65% humidity. Ugh. No wonder. I overheated. Not a good run - not at all. 8.5 done...slowly. Summer's definitely here - no more mid-morning runs. 6:00 a.m. - here I come, WITH fuel belt in tow.

Today I LOVE: that my husband makes me grilled cheese when I don't feel well. He's the best!

Progress

2009-05-27T09:52:00.000-07:00

I was naughty and pushed my Day 4 workout back a day. I was just jonsing for a nice, long, peaceful run. It was overcast all morning which had really cooled things down. I laced up my shoes and headed to the trace to get some good mileage in and try to work out some of the soreness and water retention in my body. As sore as I was, my goal was for a sloppy 5 or 6 miles. It seriously took about 3 miles for my legs to finally loosen up. They felt like lead bricks the entire time before. But once they got warmed up, it was on! My pace increased by about 20 seconds.

I hit the 4.5 mile turnaround and decided to head back. The clouds were really rolling in and I could hear thunder in the distance. Just after mile 5 it started to rain. At about mile 5.5 it REALLY started to rain. There was nothing I could do but run in it. I just ran and had fun with it. The cool rain on my legs felt great! I was soaked from head to toe and thank goodness for my running cap. It kept the water out of my eyes.

I finally sloshed my way back to the car after 9 miles, dripping, soaking wet. I checked my split time on Minnie and I had improved my pace by 40 seconds per mile from the first split! Wow. Now if it could just rain like that for every race I could PR without any problems! :)

The run really worked most of my soreness out and it helped me flush a lot of the water weight I was retaining from the gym workouts. I did Day 4 yesterday and although it was still killer, I had to modify the moves much less. And I really concentrated on my form this workout. I'm still having some issues with the side planks and frog push-ups, but I'm getting there. And I managed a 2 mile tempo run yesterday after the workout. I killed it on the treadmill busting out two sub-nine minute miles. Sweet!

Today is day 5 and then two days rest time. I think I shall enjoy my days off by running. HAHAHA! Sad, I know.

Let me just say though that I have a WHOLE new appreciation for all you CrossFit folks!

Today I love: Sugar free jello chocolate swirl pudding. Yum!

And here I thought I was in shape...sorta

2009-05-25T04:55:00.000-07:00

So, I bit the bullet and started the Making the Cut workouts this week. Oh. Mah. Gawd. Let me tell you, Jillian is a torture queen. Those workouts are killer!! Funny that my only respite were the sprints she has you do between circuits. I actually looked forward to the sprints to let me body rest a bit and get back to something familiar...running. Day 1 kicked my ass. (I would have usually opted for "butt" or "booty" here to be a little less abrasive, but ASS seemed most appropriate for how I felt after!). I was dripping in sweat and my quads and arms were shaking from the strain. I thought I would get in some decent cardio afterward...thought. I barely squeeked out a 3 mile run/walk. My body was just spent. The Day 2 workout was a little better. My form on all the lunges is improving and I'm finding the exercises I like and the ones I dislike (push-ups SUCK and I totally cannot do them right).

Day 3 was rest day and BOY did I need it. My whole body was screaming at me. All I can say is that Aleve is my friend. No run after Day 2...again just too completely exhausted. I thought I'd fit one in during Day 3 since it's an off weight training day. Nope. The in-laws are in town this weekend and they're a bit high maintenance. I couldn't break away for a run, plus my body was really, really sore and tired. I figured I might could do with the rest.

Today is Day 4 and I opened up the book to look at the workout. It's a repeat of Day 1. The killer one! *&%$! I can do it...I can do it. Tomorrow is a repeat of Day 2 and then two days off. Sweet!

I'm still struggling to find balance between the gym workouts and running. Hopefully I can get through this first week unscathed and settle into a better routine. And hopefully my body will stop screaming at me at some point. Jillian suggests breaking your workouts up into mornings and evenings - weights and cardio. I may seriously have to start doing that. I'm really struggling to fit it all in at the same time.

Happy Memorial Day to everyone. Everyone please take a moment to remember and pay tribute to all of our service men and women and the amazing sacrifices they have made and still make everyday for us.

Today I love: The red, white and blue and everyone who has served to protect it. (Really that's everyday, not just today).

Fitness Test

2009-05-22T10:25:00.000-07:00

A couple of friends of mine were talking about this book, Making the Cut by Jillian Michaels and how it really helps you lose those last 10 lbs and gives great results. So, I got on amazon.com and ordered me a copy - curious about the program. I really love watching Jillian on TBL (and Bob too for that matter) and would LOVE to have her/him train me just once and kick my butt. This book outlines a 30 day plan of eating and exercise. The exercise routines are really similar to the CrossFit plans that I've seen. Single sets, medium reps on constantly different muscle groups with no rest. So, essentially your body is getting a cardio workout and you are constantly challenging different areas. I think the P90X is similar too, but I've never really tried it - only seen the infomercial.

She outlines a menu that she wants you to follow for those 30 days, but mainly it's about eating within your caloric allowance (based on your BMR) and adhering to the right protein/carb/fat ratio (mine's 30/40/30) based on a short quiz that tells you your oxidizer type. The diet says to limit the caffeine, processed foods, sodium and sugar as much as possible. And of course, drink lots of water. All doable.

I'm seriously thinking about trying this. I've concentrated so much on running that my upper body strength and ab strength has pretty much been ignored. This was blatantly obvious by the fitness test you're supposed to do before and after. There's an aerobic endurance test (doing step-ups for 3 minutes and then pulse check), ab strength test (as many sit-ups as you can do in 1 minute), upper body strength test (as many push ups as you can do in 1 minute) and a lower body strength test (hold a wall sit for as long as you can). I performed pretty much as I expected, but the upper body strength test threw me for a loop:

Aerobic endurance = Good (one pulse count away from Excellent! Thanks Running!)
Upper body strength = Below Average (seriously...real push-ups are killer. My little stick arms were shaking!)
Abdominal Strength = Average
Lower body strength = Excellent (I held that wall sit forever...I was shocked! Thanks again Running!)

This was a bit of a wake-up call for me. I just stuck with running to stay "fit", but I'm not balancing out my whole body. I need to focus on strengthening my core and upper body as well. I know it will ultimately help my running. But, I always have trouble justifying those "lift" days and time. I just want to run, run, run. So, I think I may try this plan. The workouts are tough, but only about 45 minutes. Adding that plus running will be tough, but it's worth a try.

Got a good 5 miles in last night while the weather is still cool. I slowed down a little from the previous run, but the wind was pretty brutal. Managed to average a 9:47 pace...still below 10:00 so I'm a happy gal!

My question for today then is how do you guys find balance between running and the gym?

Today I LOVE: four day weekends!!!!

Is this Louisiana...in May??

2009-05-21T05:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, the weather guy is up to something. I don't trust him. It's been too pretty this week. Lows in the mornings of 57 and highs of 80. And where did our humidity go from last week? It's been perfect running weather. Too bad this is only supposed to last a week and then it's back to the Purgatory that we call "summer" in the deep south....unbearably hot, ungodly humid and mutant radioactive-waste-sized mosquitoes that will suck you dry of any blood cells you have pumping through your veins.

What a difference a few degrees makes though. I went out for a 5 mile run yesterday to enjoy this weather while it lasted. It was cool enough for me to wear my running tights. Remember when you were a kid and a new pair of shoes made you feel like you could run Super FAST?? My running tights do that for me. Anytime I put them on, I feel like I'm the Queen of the running kingdom. Anyway, I cranked out my five and enjoyed every bit of it ...well, except for that first mile. The first mile always sucks. I got back to the house and saw that Minnie said I averaged 9:37 pace for the five! SHUT UP!! I couldn't believe it. I had been feeling a little frustrated because the heat really slows me down. I've been struggling to keep a 10:00 pace on just three miles lately when I run outside. This cool evening run really boosted my confidence back. I'm Ok. I haven't lost my speed and stamina from this winter. It's still there - just hiding from the humidity.

I'm so glad we have a long holiday weekend coming up. Whew - I need it. Hopefully this weather will hold a little longer and I can get some good runs in. Hubby's parents are coming in this weekend, but I can usually squeek a run in before they wake up in the morning. I think I'll still run the usual 8 with the girls on Saturday. I missed running with them last weekend and I really need to get a long run in.

Oh - just have to share this picture. I had a great weekend babysitting my niece. We painted nails (of course) and I let her pick the color. She wanted bright green with blue stars. HAHAHA...She loved it! I quickly took it off as soon as I got home. :) Husband said I looked like a witch. (umm...thanks...hahaha!)

Ok, back to the grind.

Today I LOVE: how frisky my dogs get in the cooler weather.

Food Hangover

2009-05-14T11:12:00.000-07:00

If eating healthy and (mostly) sugar-free and feeling great hadn't convinced me, my massive food hangover from last night has. After my workout yesterday (3.5 mile run with sprints on last mile) hubby and I decided to go out and get something to eat at our favorite local eatery. I mentioned that since I upped my workout mileage I've been famished every few hours. This was no different - in fact probably worse. I had just worked out. I'm usually pretty good when we go eat here, choosing the fried shrimp basket with side salad (dressing on the side, of course!). Nope - not last night. My stomach had somehow developed a mind control device and forced my mouth to form the words "Fried shrimp po' boy with sweet potato fries, please" (at least my stomach is polite if not a masochist).

And I finished Every. Last. Bite.

ANNNDDD of course two hours later I felt completely miserable. Acid reflux - check. Distended belly from bloat - check. Sudden urges to rush to the bathroom - check. And I woke up this morning feeling completely sluggish and blah. I was meeting a friend at the gym for an 8:30 a.m. workout. I barely made it through 3 miles of elliptical and incline walking. This, in turn, made me even more mad at myself. So I decided to punish my smart-mouthy stomach and go for a sweaty, humid, jog (or "shlog" - shuffling jog) for 3 more miles outside. It was ugly. But I felt a lot better after that major sweat session.

No more eating like crapola. The moment's pleasure was soooo not worth the 24 hours of pain and suffering. And I didn't like how it affected my workout - at all.

Back on track now.

On goal for 30 miles this week! Sweet! I'll try and squeeze one more workout in on Friday to round out the 30 and then it's on to girl's weekend babysitting my niece!

Today I love: Having a good work-out week!

Pink is Awesome!

2009-05-13T05:54:00.000-07:00

Shocker of all shockers on The Biggest Loser Finale last night! It was a night for the older folks to dominate. Jerry - the 64 year old (oldest contestant ever) dominated the "at-home" contestants and lost 177 lbs to take home the prize,and dark horse Helen, won the overall competition at 48. That's right...64 and 48! That's just freakin' AWESOME! How inspiring. Seriously. If I can't get my butt off the couch to exercise and eat right while they can...well, I just have no excuse. Funny too that pink has now dominated for three seasons in a row. Someone from the pink team has won overall for the last three seasons. I knew I loved pink for a reason! It's now synonymous with strength, perseverance and drive.

Good workout last night. I made it up to the gym and got in 3 miles on the elliptical machine (to loosen and warm my legs up) and then 4 on the treadmill. I ran the first three and then did speed work the last mile. I was going to do an arm workout, but I was pretty wiped after that. I stopped there. I'll try for arms tonight.

Do you ever have those times when you feel your running isn't improving? That you've plateaued and you're just not getting the results you want? I've been there a bit the last couple of weeks. I know it's partly because the summer weather really slows me down. Running outside in 90 degree heat and 70% humidity just zaps my speed. That's frustrating to me. I was easily running 9:30 and 9:40 during the winter/spring and now I'm lucky to get under 10:30 in the heat. But I can still maintain a good pace on the treadmill. Last night I was able to hold a 9:15 pace for three miles and then with the speed work I was holding at 8:06 for over a quarter mile at a time (recovery and repeat). So, I know the strength is still there. I just need to keep up the consistency and push myself out of that comfort zone.

Today I Love: that my hubby is meeting me for lunch. Yeah!