On the Road Again...

...just can't wait to get on the road again...

..NOT!

Whew. To quote Murtough from Lethal Weapon, "I'm getting too old for this shit." :)


I knew April was going to be a crazy travel month. All I can say is "Thank God April is almost over!" I have one more trip this week, but it's an easy one. I have a conference in sunny, Orlando, Florida today through Wednesday. Conferences are pretty easy and laid back. The weather's supposed to be gorgeous and I think there's a running trail near the hotel. Plus, the conference is actually on a topic that I'm actually interested in. I'm hoping it will be a good one and not a waste of time like they so often turn out.

I had a good exercise week last week. I managed in five days of running/cardio. I'm trying to mix things up a bit. I was stuck in a hotel most of last week, but made myself head to the fitness center and workout. I halved my time between the treadmill and the elliptical and it really seemed to work. I didn't get crazy bored and my legs weren't sore this week. I think I may try and keep that up a couple days a week when I'm home. I like doing my speed work on the treadmill and finishing out the workout with 30 minutes on the elliptical seems to boost me even more.

I still need to hit the weights. I know I need to do it. I have my workouts all planned and printed (thanks to my hubby and women's health). I just haven't found the motivation to do it. I know, I know. Maybe if I go bathing suit shopping. That will send me into a spiral of self-hatred and force me to hit the weights. Ha.

Ok, off to finish laundry, pack, get a quick run in this morning and then off to the airport to play with Mickey!

Today I Love: that April is almost over!!!

Slacker

Yup - that's me. The SLACKER!! MUHAHAHAHAHA!!!

These last few weeks have been marked by travel, travel and Oh, Did I mention that I have been traveling a lot?? I knew April was going to be crazy for me. March was marked by several trips to Arkansas. April is consisting of trips to Arkansas, San Antonio, Fort Worth and finally Orlando, FL. At least Orlando is for a conference at the Walt Disney World Resort. I consider that more a fun trip than an actual work trip. One of trips to Little Rock I tried to do in one day. That day ended up lasting 16 hours. Ugh. I'm getting WAY too old for that stuff. It took me almost two days to recover.

I had to lay off the knee for a bit after the dog tweaking incident. But it's back to full form now. The weather has been GORGEOUS here lately too. I can't wait to get home and get a nice run in. I think I'm going to take my long run on Friday. I'm going boutique shopping on Magazine St on Saturday with a friend. Yeah! Fun! Can't Wait!

I've missed two of my favorite races this year due to family committments. :( I didn't get to run the Mardi Gras Half Marathon or the Crescent City Classic (10K). I'm bummed and really itching for a race right now!! I've been somewhat maintaining, but I'm ready to start training again. I always do so much better with a goal in mind. I wanted to do either the Country Music or OKC Half, but it's the week/weekend that I have to be in Orlando. So, those are out. I'm now looking at the Dallas Heels and Hills half in May or the Renaissance half in Mississippi in June (yeah - crazy hot, but it sounds like fun). Plus there are a ton of fun 5K races right now locally.

I just discovered the Runner's World training calculator and I LOVE it! If you haven't seen it go to http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/trainingcalculator/ and plug in a recent race time or a desired race time and distance. It then calculates what your training paces should be. For me I plugged in the 2 hour half. I'm pretty darn close with the pace trainings. I need to up my tempo runs a bit. I've been running them right around 9:10 or 9:00 and it says I should be running at 8:50. So, I have that to work on.

Ok - off to work and catch up with everyone!

Today I LOVE: the chocolate bunny that was waiting for me on my desk!

This'll shut them up!

When I tell people that I run I constantly get comments from them (always non-runners I might add) that I'm wrecking my knees. Women's Health magazine has an article posted online 6 Reasons Why You Should Run. And look here at number 3.

3. Your knees will thank you

Contrary to what your mom says, running doesn't wreck your joints. Osteoarthritis (the most common type of arthritis), occurs when joint-cushioning cartilage starts to break down. The biggest osteoarthritis risk factor besides age? Body weight. A National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey found that obese women had nearly four times the risk of knee osteoarthritis than non-obese women; for men, it was five times the risk. Runners are much more likely to be at a normal weight than members of the sedentary population, significantly decreasing their risk of osteoarthritis.

It goes further than just the benefits of weight loss, too. Running bolsters your cartilage by increasing oxygen flow and flushing out toxins, and by strengthening the ligaments around your joints. Hitting the trail also gives your bones a boost, helping to prevent osteoporosis.

Though it's important to treat all running injuries and to replace your shoes often, in the end, running will build your joints up, not tear them down.

Very nice indeed.

Bad week

Total mileage this week - 19 miles - yup, 19 measly miles.

I tweaked my knee the middle of this week. Weird thing it was my OTHER knee - my "good" one (and when I say good - the one that had less cartilage removed.) And to top it all off, I didn't tweak it running; I tweaked it walking the dogs. *sigh* Sarah is a brute of a dog. She's about 80 lbs and all muscle. We were told she's a lab cross at the humane society, but she's REALLY short and stout and has a massive, flat head. Similar features to a pit bull my dad once had. Hmmmm... She's a totally sweetheart though. NEVER shown an ounce of aggression, even when another dog bit her. She's a lover, a licker and a player. So, this all goes to say that she loves to pull on the leash when she sees another critter to play with (squirrel, duck, cat, dog..) Somehow I must have braced or planted wrong walking her with her harness and tweaked my knee. I felt it happen, but it really wasn't too bad and I thought I could walk it off. I finished the walk and it felt better toward the end. But the rest of the week it's been pretty sore. I've had my patella support band on all week and have tried to lay off it. So, no good mileage this week, but I didn't want to risk hurting it further. So, I'll take things slow and easy this week and get back into the saddle.

On other interesting notes. I bought some Luna Moons this weekend. I'm anxious to try them out during the long run. I'm typically a goo gal, but the moons looked pretty good.

Some good links to check out:

Dane from TBL is at it again. After the marathon controversy last time he is going to run the Country Music Marathon next month and asking people to run with him. Hopefully this will be a much better experience for him (and the media won't LIE about his time). You can check out the story here: http://blog.nola.com/running/2009/03/biggest_loser_contestant_back.html

AND Brooks has a contest to win your own running gazebo. You win an eco gazebo/shed for your back yard, furnished with treadmill, water cooler, surround sound, flat screen TV, etc. You can sign in to win once a day through March 30 at http://www.runhappyplace.com

That's all I got for today folks!

Today I LOVE: quiet mornings working from home.

Last week wrap-up

Tuesday - 3 miles (too sore to even walk on Sun and Mon)
Wednesday - 6 miles (slow...)
Friday - 6 miles
Saturday - Rained out
Sunday - 12 miles to make up for Saturday (WITH negative splits I might add!! 1st 6 = 10:46 pace and 10:00 the 2nd six)

Total mileage = 27 miles. Off by 3. Drat. Will try and make it up this week.

Although last week's 16 miler felt awesome at the time, my legs tended to disagree with me all last week. Seriously - it took about five days for my legs to recover. Ouch. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday's runs were very slow and a bit painful. By Saturday I was pretty well good to go for my long run, but it was raining heavily all day and I refuse, (REFUSE, I say!) to run that kind of distance on a dreadmill. So, I just pushed the long run back to Sunday which was probably a good idea since it let my legs rest an additional day.

Sunday's 12 miler was good. I kept things slow and easy for the first six to try and let my legs ease into the run. They were still pretty tight from last week. It seriously took until about mile 3 before I felt decent. The last six came a lot easier than I anticipated. I upped the pace a bit and kept a steady 10:00 min/mile. Nice thing, I'm not so sore this week. My legs feel really good today - so I learned my lesson and didn't overdo it this time.

I was 3 miles off last week of my 30 goal. I was just so sore that I didn't want to push it. I'm going to try and make it up this week, weather and legs permitting.

We went to the running store this weekend because Jeff needed a new pair of shoes and I wanted to look at sunglasses (my cheap Target ones broke). I found a great pair and a nice cool Brooks running hat. Even though I wear sunscreen on my face everyday and sport sunscreen before I run, I'm a little paranoid about over sun exposure (that's why I'm pasty). So, the hat just adds to my over-geared up dorky runner appeal. :) Oh - and I found this GREAT Brooks shirt. My new fav!





















Today I LOVE: that all the azaleas are in bloom! Beautiful!

What the hell...might as well.

Saturday = 16 miles, avg pace = 10:19

Total mileage for the week = 30.5 miles

It was such a gorgeous day yesterday!! I got up early and headed down to the trace to get a nice, long run in. Originally I had planned to do a nice, easy 10 or 12 miles leaving just 4 - 6 for Sunday to wrap up my 30 for the week. I started out the run and it just clicked. The weather was gorgeous, slight wind - just a perfect spring day. I was holding a great pace and it wasn't tiring me out. I got to the 5 mile turnaround and said "ehhh...I'm not ready to turn around yet." 6 mile turnaround - nope. I decided to push to the Abita trail head which has a nice water stop and park. I turned around and looked down at Minnie and was shocked to see my average pace for the first 9 miles was 10:04! Wow. And I still wasn't fatigued yet! It felt great! I started slowing down finally around mile 13 but still managed to hold a 10:19 pace overall.

This run was such a testament of how far a person can come from running just in one year.

- This time last year I was struggling to hold a 10:19 pace for 4 miles. Now I'm holding that for 16 miles!
- This time last year I was scared to death of running anything over 10 miles. Now I'm running 16 just for the heck of it - because it felt good.
- This time last year I struggled with "I can't" and now I say "Sure, why not? I can!"
- This time last year I was such an inconsistent runner. Now I love lacing the shoes up five times a week.
- This time last year my goal was 15-20 miles per week. Now I'm getting 30 mpw without too much struggle.

I'm paying today for the 16 miles. I'm sore, but really not as bad as in previous days. I can still manage a slow run. I think I'll take the pups for a nice stroll today and try and work out some of that lactic build-up. Maybe a slow run tonight?

Today I LOVE: How "I can'ts" turn into "I can".

Some days are good. Some days you puke.

Wednesday - 2 miles, pace pitiful

I'm on travel to Arkansas yesterday and today. I meant to get three easy miles in yesterday but work got away from me and travel delays exhausted me. By the time I got to Little Rock, all I wanted to do was check into the hotel, eat a light dinner and go to sleep.

Well, the light dinner consisted of an apple, a banana, a Luna bar (never leave home without a couple - just for this), and a snack pack of Oreos (provided free from Hampton Inn). I know...not the best dinner, but I didn't rent a car and the Bennigan's that was next door to this hotel last year had been torn down. SIGH.

I went to bed early and resigned myself to just get up early, run my easy 3, shower and eat breakfast and wait for my ride to pick me up at 7:30.

The alarm went off and I dragged my butt out of bed after tossing and turning most of the night (the first night in any hotel always kills me). I got dressed in my running gear, drank a glass of water and trecked downstairs to the fitness room. I started the treadmill out slowly to try and warm up.

The first mile was excrutiating. I had a hard time just keeping a 10:10 pace. I thought that maybe I needed to increase the pace to get a more comfortable stride. I increased the pace to 9:30. That lasted about a half mile. I finished out the second mile back at 10:20 with my body screaming at me the whole time.

I thought I'd just walk out that last mile for an even three. That's when the shakes set in and the nausea came. I stopped the treadmill and sat down to catch my breath. Didn't help. I had to run to the trash can and through the waves of nausea, proceeded to lose the water that was jostling in my stomach. Thank goodness no one else was in the room!

I have now officially "run till I threw up". Ha. Not a good feeling at all. The only thing I can figure is that it was a combo of things: not fueling properly, exhaustion from the travel, the room was hot, and altitude change (from below sea level to the Arkansas mountains).

On my way home this evening. I am going to sleep in a bit and slowly make my way to work. The weather is suppsoed to be gorgeous at home. It'll be nice to get a decent outside run in tomorrow - back in below sea level altitudes! :)

Today I love: going home!!!

9 miles so far.

Sunday, 3 miles - avg pace 9:36
Monday, 6 miles - avg pace 9:28

Ahh - it finally warmed up to about 53 degrees yesterday afternoon. Bearable for a nice little outside run for me. It took about a half mile for my body to warm up and then it felt great. I hit four and felt like it was one. Five miles - legs felt great, slowing a little, but not really breathing all that hard. I pushed through to six and ended with a good pace - 9:28 overall. I held that for six miles! Wow!

Sunday was an easy three to get my legs back running without killing myself. I need to do an easy three today to recover from yesterday. Tomorrow will have to be a rest day since I'm traveling all day in Arkansas and won't get home until late.

Today I LOVE: cherry tomatoes! Man, I'm eating these things like candy - and I used to HATE tomatoes. Funny how your taste buds change as you get older.

Biggest Loser or Biggest Liar??

I'm a huge fan of the show The Biggest Loser. Jeff and I have been watching it now for about four or five seasons and just love the inspirational stories behind the contestants. It's amazing to watch how far they come, how hard they work out, and how they work through not only the physical but the emotional baggage that got them to that overweight place. This is a bit of a late post regarding this week's show, but I didn't watch it until yesterday (thank you, DVR!)

On this week, Dane, a favored contestant, got voted off by the Blue Team (in a stupid move in my opinion). After each contestant is voted off they do a sort of "where are they now" recap to show how the contestant is doing at home. On Dane's interview he talked how his wife was training for her first marathon and he decided to do it with her. The footage shows them both crossing the finish line at 5:53 and talking about what a great feeling it was to run an entire marathon. I totally sympathized. Having just run my first one last year, I was overjoyed that they did theirs together. Then the shot pans to a before and after picture of Dane showing how much weight he lost. The text below the pictures, to my shock, stated that Dane finished his marathon is 3 hours and 53 minutes. WTF??!?! So, of course I rewind it and look again at the clock...sure looked like 5:53 to me. SOOO, then I get online to see if anyone had posted about that or if NBC corrected their mistake. THEN I find out that he didn't even run the full thing!

He and his wife entered a race that shuts down at 6 hours. Knowing they weren't going to make the 6 hour cut-off, the producers put them in their van and drove them 3 miles and dropped them at the 20 mile mark to finish - so they could get their shot. So, the producers not only took away this major accomplishment from Dane and his wife, but then they even felt it necessary to lie about it on national TV, fudging his time??

This whole thing just infuriates me. Why couldn't it be good enough that they just ran it and finished it -damn the time?? I mean, 26 miles is 26 miles - it hurts and is a major feat to finish regardless of time. And why did they try and lie about it even more saying that they finished in 3:53?? I know some elite runners who would KILL for a 3:53 marathon!! And to try and say this guy who only trained for 8 weeks is able to bust out a time like that, just somewhat belittles what so many people push themselves to accomplish in their own marathon experiences.

NBC has "sort of" come out and apologized over the whole thing, but I really feel the worst for Dane. His first marathon experience is now tainted. Apparently he felt so bad over the whole thing that he, his wife and his brother went back and ran those 3 miles later that evening. But still...

Grrr.....

Maintaining

Sorry for the big gap in posts. I've been on travel here and there for the past few weeks. This week is San Antonio and the weather is seriously GORGEOUS! It's in the 60s and 70s. Perfect spring weather.

I've been really just maintaining running until I can decide on the next race that I want to do. Little Rock is this month - killer hills but a freakin' awesome medal. OKC and Nashville are next month. Decisions, decisions, decisions. But, I've been averaging about 23-24 mpw. AND I'm keeping a 9:40 pace for my 6 mile runs! So, my speed is definitely improving.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent and I have been racking my brain trying to decide what to do for my Lenten promise. I toyed with giving up meat for the 40 days. I have almost completely given up beef and pork (I say almost because I love me some bacon!). And I eat non-meat meals twice a week. But to give up chicken and turkey (and fish too???) would be a huge sacrifice. I also toyed with giving up sugar and/or caffiene completely. But, I figured that would be more of a punishment to my husband than anything else since I would become a total beeyotch from Crankytown. So, I think I have decided to make a promise to run 30 miles a week instead. It will be a sacrifice of timen a test of willpower and a true committment, but it will benefit my physical health as well as my spiritual health. I sort of started this in January, but fizzled out because I let life and laziness get in the way. If I truly want to become faster then I need to run more consistently and log more mileage and run speed drills. So, for the next 40 days I shall commit to run 30 miles each week.

Today I LOVE: strolling along the Riverwalk in San Antonio.

For Better or For Worse

I know, when we got married that I agreed to take my husband and all that he is for better or for worse, but did that really mean his germs too?? The stinker gave me his stupid, dang cold. Blah. He was sick late last week. I thought that I was safe and missed it until late Sunday night when I started feeling tingly and run-down. Monday = fever. Tuesday = fever. Ugh. It wasn't a terrible cold; really no congestion (thank God), just a mild fever and scratchy throat. Enough to make you feel like total poo. The fever finally broke on Tuesday night and I really felt much better yesterday. Not having run for three days, I decided to go out for a nice easy run last night.



I might have overdone it.



I just wanted to get an easy three miles in. The weather was perfect and it really felt good to stretch my legs out and work up a good sweat. Well, three miles turned into four which turned into five. And I finished out at a 9:45 average pace. Yeah - I pushed too much too soon. I still felt really good last night and then I woke up this morning to a scratchy throat and some congestion. Grrrrr.... So, I'll take it easy. Luckily I have a FOUR DAY WEEKEND starting tomorrow!! Whooohooo!!!!

OK, so Marlene sent me these interview questions that I've been meaning to answer.

1. What has been your best race experience?

That's a toss up between two races - my first half marathon and my first full marathon. My first half I trained and ran with some girls I met through an online blog. Before that the farthest I had ever run was 4 miles! So, it was a huge accomplishment for me to run 13.1 and to be surrounded by such awesome women to boot. And of course my first full marathon was amazing. Painful and exciting and joyful and exhilarating all at the same time. I was just shocked to have finished and now I'm jonesing for another one!

2. Describe your ideal day.

It's a nice spring day (read - low humidity) and I wake up early and get in a great long run. You know - the kind of run that just "clicks". I come home, shower and my husband and I go eat breakfast at our favorite little bistro on the lake. We take the dogs for a walk and play outside with them. I read my book for a bit and take a nap while an afternoon shower rolls in. We cook out on the grill that evening and finish up the night with a nice glass of wine and a good movie.

3. What were you doing 10 years ago?

I had just graduated college and had started my new job in Houston, TX with an environmental consulting firm. I was engaged (to a different person) and definitely NOT running. Still really trying to find my way.

4. What accomplishment are you most proud of?

Again - two major ones for me 1.) marrying my wonderful husband and 2.) finishing 26.2 miles without crying.

5. What would people be most surprised to learn about you?

So many...I've had knee surgery on both knees, I'm double jointed at my elbows (it freaks people out), I play the piano (took lessons for 10 or 11 years)...

To play along:1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview others in the same post.5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Today I LOVE: Clean Eating magazine. My sister turned me onto it and it has some GREAT recipes (all very healthy of course). You can check it out at www.cleaneatingmag.com

In the great words of RBR...

"BOO YAH!!!!"

The weather here is GORGEOUS!!! The mean, ole, nasty cold front finally moved through and it's going to get up into the 70s today! Yeeeehaaww!!!

I've been stuck to the 'mill for the last several weeks. I've done really well and tried to do a lot of speed work, but I don't really acknowledge my speed on the treadmill b/c I know it lies!! LIES like a convict (I was going to say "dog" but my babies never lie to me!). It doesn't take into account added road friction (coefficient of mu - that's for you Willie you enginerd!), wind resistance, incline, cars, dogs chasing you, snot rockets, etc...

Yesterday I went outside for a run because it was beautiful and I wanted to take advantage. I only had a short time, because we were going on a couple date for dinner. I figured I'd just go get a quick run in and do a couple of miles. I started off, my ipod freshly loaded, expecting a "comfortable" speed around 9:30 or 9:40. The wind was blowing steadily so I knew that would slow me down a bit. Well Minnie tells me "Nope, Sweetheart. You're running an 8:46!" I finished out three miles at an average 9:05 pace, WITH the wind fighting me, AND I wasn't about to fall over out of breath!

Hee..hee...I'm just exstatic at how I'm improving on my pace times. Sub 2:00 half marathon..here I come!!! (eventually...)

Today I LOVE: this spring like weather and my girl-date to the movies today!!!

Toot, Toot!!!

Yup, that's me tooting my own horn. I ran 30 miles last week. Whoohoooo!!! ALL on the treadmill too...ack. It was freezing cold in Atlanta all week and I didn't pack appropriate running clothes for outside. Plus, Jeff's parent's subdivision is teeny-tiny so I would have to do 10 laps just to get five miles in. I'll take the treadmill over that any day.

We drove back early, early on Monday morning. I was going to try and make it to the gym Monday night, but I was tired and I totally just bummed out. AND I didn't do a darn thing yesterday either. I think I had to take a couple of days to mentally decompress. Dealing with the in-laws always stresses me out. And you could tell that by the way I was constantly shoving food in my mouth. If it wasn't tied down I was trying to eat it. Thank God I was at least working out or I would have seriously packed on the lbs.

We watched The Biggest Loser last night and that totally got me back in gear. That show just makes me want to sprint to the gym. I love watching their workouts, their weightloss, their inner struggles and battles with self confidence. I too battle with ALL those things and it's nice to know that you're not the only one.

So, tonight I'm going to head to the gym before I sit down and get lazy. On the agenda - 6 miles. Jeff put me through a KILLER arm workout on Saturday and my arms are STILL sore now four days later!! Holy CRAP it was brutal. But I'm craving more. We did chest and tris. Now I want to do a killer bicep workout too. No more wobbly turkey waddle arms for me!!!!

Today I LOVE: Being back home with MY pillows, MY fuzzy blankets, MY favorite fuzzy slippers and control of the remote!!!

Oh 'mill of competition

"Hello. My name is Jennifer."

(Group responds) "Hi Jennifer!"

"I am a nosy, competative runner when on a treadmill and I need help."

Off the treadmill I could care less what other people are doing or how fast they're going. It's just me and Minnie on the open road. The wind at my back (hopefully) and a spring in my step. Minnie tells me my pace and I slow down or speed up according to how I feel. "Oh, look! Another runner just passed me. Enjoy your run speedy runner!!" I shout at their backside as I eat their dust. And I could truly care less.

On the treadmill at the gym however I am Xena Warrior Runner Princess! Hear my primal roar!!! I am drawn to glance at other people's paces to determine how fast they are going. And then I have to increase my speed to beat theirs. "Nu-uh...no way that little gym rat, soccer mom with her cute little Nike hat on is going to out pace me!" ...annddd I speed up. ...annnnnddd I run longer. Where is this animal coming from? I'm truly not a competative person by nature.

I think part of it has to deal with what Willie posted about a few weeks ago - runner snobbery. "I don't need to come to the gym. I'M a runner. And I'm not going to be outdone by theses GYM people." Pfffff... But, the good thing in all this is that I am pushing myself to speeds I never thoiught possible. Like today I ran three miles at 8:50. Crazy fast for me! But the sociology of it all is interesting to me. The mind games we play with ourselves.

Great week so far. I've logged 24 miles all while on travel. Give it up for me and my gym willpower! I even made myself go twice in one day a couple of times while I was at the hotel. I'm going to need all that stress relief this weekend as I have to deal with the in-laws until Monday. :S

Today I LOVE: my capris running tights. I always "feel" like a runner when I wear them.

GOOD LUCK WILLIE AND TATER!!!!

Sending a shout out to my boy and girl for the Mardi Gras race this weekend! Sorry I won't be there to run with you guys, but I'll be thinking about you on Sunday! Go kick some running butt!!

I'm in Atlanta all week at a training and then to the in-laws at the end of the week. I am starting to change my complete hatred of the dreadmill to a relationship of tolerance. :). Actually, I've come to enjoy it for recovery runs. On those days where I'm a bit sore the treadmill is a great tool to log a few miles. The impact is much less on the joints. It's also great for speed work and confidence building. I've been able to run several runs at a sub-nine pace on the treadmill - something I thought was impossible. The downsides are still boredom, boredom, and yes, boredom. Runner's World this month had a great treadmill tip: press a button on the treadmill every few minutes. Alter speed or height frequently to keep from getting bored.

I'm still doing really well with the mileage. Here's my question though: I really have to take breaks from running to give my joints and shins a rest. On those break days I'm trying to get time in on the elliptical. Does mileage on the elliptical count toward total mileage??

Willie you're off the hook.

Monday = 12 miles, avg pace = 10:13

Sorry, sorry, sorry....I've been a blogger slacker lately. Last week was CRAZY. They are re-configuring our office and I had to move cubes and it took a couple of days for them to get my internet connection back up and running, not to mention the time-consumingness of having to go through the huge accumulation of CRAP at my desk. (But I got a half foot more space!! WHOOHOOOO...it's the little things in life.) Seriously, do I really need to hold on to that presentation that so-and-so did three years ago? Do I REALLY need to hold on to the Life Safety standards FROM 1996???? Do I REALLY need the Emergency Response Guidebook from 1992?????? So, needless to say, I was a purging fool last week. And I decided to take the time to take my cube from chaos to organized chaos. I was on a mission.

AND speaking of mission, I've been a running fool lately!!! I logged 25 miles last week and 23 the week before. I think I'm going to sign up for the V3 challenge - 30 miles a week for six weeks. I wanted to ease my body into it by slowly ramping up the mileage. So far so good - no knee pain and little to no soreness. AND I'm still in shock over how much faster I've gotten. I'm still not fast by any means, but I can hold a 9:40 pace for six miles. That has now become my standard pace. I ran an out and back 12 miles yesterday. The cold front was moving in, so the wind was brutal and fighting it slowed me down a bit. But, I still came out at 10:13 for 12 miles!! That's the best I've ever done for that distance - races included!

Willie and Tater - I'm not going to make Mardi Gras this year. I'm bummed, but we're going to be in Atlanta visiting the in-laws. It just worked where that was the best weekend to go in. We'll be able to spend time with the whole family and it's my MIL's birthday. So, we're going to celebrate that and have a Superbowl party. I'm still bummed I won't get to meet you guys. We'll all have to coordinate a race this year. Willie - when's OKC this year? I have several friends running in that one.

On another note....I'm getting REALLY, REALLY tempted to run the Chicago full. I know SOOOO many people that are running it and it would be an awesome race to enter. I think registration opens Feb. 2nd. Do I want to put my body through that torture again? Bad thing about that race is that it comes relatively early in the fall - which means that I'll be training my long runs in the August south Louisiana heat and humidity. UGGGGHHHHHHH......

Today I LOVE: NOT being sore after a long run!!!

Not. Saying. A. Word.

The Time Has Arrived!!!!

IT'S THE DAY FOR THE BIG GAME!!!!! GO GATORS!!! GO GATORS!!! GO GATORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm wearing my orange and blue today. :)

I had to stay a little late for work last night. By the time I got home it was dark and Jeff's not real keen on me running at night by myself. So, I made myself go to the gym (yeah me!) and not sit on my rump like I really wanted to. I had to face that dreaded treadmill again. Blech. I only ran 3 miles, but I did a speed workout with those three miles. I would crank that puppy up to 8:50 mph and run as long as I could and then recover at 10:00 for a couple of minutes. Repeat. I managed to hold that pace for a mile! I was shocked. So, it was a good workout, albeit short. I should be getting home early enough today for a nice, long run outside. I miss running outside (ha - I've only had to run on the treadmill twice now!)

I mentioned The Biggest Loser yesterday. I truly heart that show. It is just so inspirational what the human body can do! I'm always amazed at how much these people can tolerate and withstand, and they're in terrible shape. There's NO reason I can't push myself like that. What I would give for just one training session with Jillian or Bob!

Jeff and I decided at the beginning of the year to do our own little Biggest Loser thing. We both weighed in Saturday morning for our starting weight and we both have a goal weight to achieve. We have to weigh in each Saturday morning in front of each other and then we write each week's weight and % loss down on a spreadsheet that he developed (he loves spreadsheets - the enginerd is coming out in him). Let me tell you, it is truly keeping me accountable! We're both using The Daily Plate to track our calories and we are both working out consistently. Knowing that I have to weigh in Saturday in front of him has pushed my butt to the gym and really motivated me.

Ok....back to work now.

Today I LOVE: that it's potato soup day!!

Rain, rain, go away!

Of course....as SOON as I get all geared up and step out the door to go for my run yesterday it starts raining. *sigh* So, I had to un-gear and then load up and head to the gym and run on the (ACK!!! BLECH!!! ICK!!!) treadmill. I truly dislike running on the treadmill. I get bored to tears on it. But, I pushed out 5 miles at an average 9:45 pace. The only thing I like about the treadmill is that I tend to do a lot of speed work while I'm on it to keep from getting so bored I pass out. So, I did several sprint and recovery sessions. And I guess it's a bit easier on my knees to do some treadmill work every now and again.

My most favorite running store in the world, Varsity Sports (http://www.varsityrunning.com/mandeville.html), has started the year off with a bang! They have three sets of challenges for the next six weeks. The challenges consist of:

1. Running 60 miles, 120 miles or 180 miles over the next six weeks - depending on the challenge,
2. Volunteering at a local race,
3. Performing two core or weight workouts each week,
4. Completing one super workout (5 miles in the a.m. and 5 miles in the p.m. or 10 miles in the a.m. and 10 miles in the p.m. - again depending on the challenge), and
5. Running a set distance on a specific marathon race course.

They're posting charts in their store and you can go in and update your progress each week. I think it would be a blast to take on. I just have to decide if I want to do the V challenge (the 20 mpw) or the V2 challenge (the 30 mpw).

Today I LOVE: that the new season of The Biggest Loser started yesterday!!!

Nice start

Mileage this week = 32 miles - YUP that's right! 32 miles baby!

I had a good start to the new year. I just got the running bug and went out and ran and ran and ran. It felt great! One of my goals (NOT a resolution, mind you. I hate New Year's resolutions) for 2009 is to log at least 20 miles per week. Last year my total mileage was 652 according to Minnie. Now that doesn't include any treadmill work and a few runs where I was missing Minnie. So, I'm thinking it's probably closer to 700 miles. Not bad considering the two hurricanes we had to deal with last year.

I got a new hot pink ipod shuffle for Christmas from my wonderful hubby to replace my old silver one. And of course I just had to test out my new toy by running with it. It has twice the memory, so twice the songs. LOVE IT. AND did I mention that it's HOT PINK!! And hubby got me some awesome lightweight fleece jackets and vests from Land's End. Love 'em!

My 10 miler this weekend was good. I averaged a 10:21 pace which included one water stop and bathroom break. The humidity here has been horrendous. That slowed me down a bit. Willie - you're going to HATE it. Ugh...seriously, I hope it lets up for you before the race. It was 72 degrees yesterday and I was sweating buckets during my run because of the 85% humidity. Whew. Running in shorts, short sleeves and STILL sweating in January. Crazy.

Cool thing about the Mardi Gras race this year is that they opened up a half-marathon relay for the first time. I'm excited about that. I had a total blast doing the marathon relay in Little Rock last year. I might have to grab three friends and do the relay next year.

Ok, work is piled up from being off last week. Gotta get back to the grind.

Today I LOVE: coffee breaks