4 days of Core work...so far!

Man o man...I'm getting a jump start on some of my "New Year's Resolutions"! I've done 4 days of Pilates workouts. They are hard...especially if you are trying to do them correctly (which I am). I can feel my core, which I sure hope means I'm getting stronger. It's sad what just a little bit of core work can reduce you to. It hurts to laugh, but I'll keep laughing anyways!!*smiles* My hope is that if I keep working on my core, it will help me with the rest of training and my life in general! Here's hoping! My Goal is to master the teaser! Maybe by the end of the year I will be able to do the whole series of teasers without any help? Let's see....I'll keep you posted!

I have 3 Pilates DVD's to work from, and they are all hard...as suspect they should be. Pilates doesn't take a lot of time, but it does seem to work! WOO HOO!!

Just a random Thursday!

This morning I got up and did my 3rd day of Pilates Mat workout. Yes I really can feel my core now, no please don't tell a funny joke it hurts to laugh!

Jason and I had already decided to do a run today. It was supposed to warm up to about 38 degrees by 10 am and we thought that it would be the perfect time to be out running. It was also supposed to be sunny. Well it wasn't 38 degrees more like 33 and it wasn't sunny, it was overcast. We had a pretty good run though. It was hard converting the air from the cold outside into our warm lungs. I had a weird ankle issue (just weird pain) but it resolved itself during the run. It was probably from sliding down the snow/ice on the dog walk yesterday (ie: the dogs pulled me down to the ground so they could go say hi to a "new friend"). I did end up walking a little more towards the end to get ready for the last BIG hill. HA! Glad to be warm and cozy in the house now, just waiting for the shower!

Here is a link to the route we did.

Run Time: 42:11
Distance: 3.81 miles
Average: 11:04 /mile
Fastest Pace: 8:43 /mile
Climb: 256 feet
Calories: 499

Side Note: Doing this run means that when we go to Flemming's tonight, I get to enjoy the food and wine brought to the table! This is one HAPPY HAPPY Girl! It's Supper Club tonight!

Christmas Morning Run in the Snow!

What a wonderful morning. I woke up to it snowing here in Virginia. Yet again I get to have a "white" Christmas. The snow was falling in small flakes, but it was starting to stick just a little. I took Scout out for his morning walk and we enjoyed getting snowed on. The flakes got a little bigger, but it wasn't coming down to hard. Scout did all his Morning Business and we came back to the house.

I started thinking, it's not to bad out right now, and I don't know what it's going to turn into. Hmmm...if I go run right now I can get it out of the way and I'll be sure to get it in. I went into the bedroom and grabbed all my running stuff and got myself ready. I asked Jason if he wanted to come, but he was still cozy in bed. I took Scout with me, knowing that I wouldn't get 8 miles in with him, but I thought I could squeeze out at least 5 with him.

We took off and had a FABULOUS run! It was AWESOME running in the snow. I was probably trying extra hard to make sure I didn't slip on anything that my jaw hurts now from clenching so much. I did the Turkey Trot route with some extra loops, and Scout and I just ran around in the snow. At the end I took a quick picture to show we did it.

We got back just as everyone was getting up for Christmas. I toweled Scout off (and he was dirty from running in the dirty snow) and then got a quick shower before helping get Christmas under way.

I finally got a run in...

This weekend has been tough to run. With the Holiday Wine Club Party on Friday night, which meant Saturday was truly screwed, as I was hung over and dehydrated for most of the day.....plus so crazy tired it was impossible. Today I went to church to sing with my friends at the Christmas Carol Service and then to lunch afterwards.

But I made it to my friend Kim's house..finally...and changed into my running gear and off we went. Now I can't say that I wasn't hoping that secretly Kim would say...Nahhh, let's not run today lets just go get some Margarita's. I was going to make myself run in the hood if Kim decided not to run....but good thing she did want to run.

(Side note....I took like 6 pictures...because you know we can't have any double chin pictures on here...in most of them I'm always doing something funny with my back hand...not sure what...but there it is)

5 mile run in the wind and cold..

It was windy and cold, but not as windy and cold as it has been. So it was a nice run today. I'm so glad I got out there to do it. My friend and running partner Kim invited me to come run with her today, but I declined because I was feeling rushed. I thought a "quick" run in the neighborhood would suit my schedule a little better. So far it has. Hey and I didn't beg it off. WOO HOO points for me.

I saw a few things on my run that I thought I'd stop and take pictures of along the way, this didn't start happening until after the half way point, really 3/4 of the way point. Picture of the mostly frozen lake, the fountain in the middle is still going but the rest of the lake is glazed over, a Picture of my shadow, it was cooler when I was running along (but I can't run and take a picture so there you go), Picture of Rudolph, I love that they made their reindeer into Rudolph with a christmas ornament,and a Picture of the wind blowing the flag as I was trying to get up the hill

What's your temperature threshold?

Tonight while eating dinner with my friend and running partner Kim, instead of running in the crazy windy cold, we had a discussion about that the temperature threshold is. For cycling her threshold is 27 degrees. I'm not nearly as brave as she is...I HATE BEING COLD! My cycling threshold is probably about 40 degrees for a road ride, and 34 degrees for a mountain bike ride (I could probably go out in lower....but it's not likely). I think we decided that 22 degrees is the threshold for running.

So you have to understand that I live in the SOUTH. It doesn't get that cold in the winter....often. Today when we were planning to run it was 32 degrees out, but with the wind chill it was brought down to about 22 degrees. I got wind burn from walking my dog in my full length wool coat! Tonight it's supposed to get down to feeling like it's in the single digits! WHAT??? Again I live in the SOUTH!

So a road ride is 40 degrees, a mountain bike ride is 34 degrees, and running is 22 degrees. Now that the parameters are set it's time to get moving. But not tonight! *winks*

10 Mile Big Block Run

So my usuals didn't really want to run with me today. Well they wanted to run (some of them) but they didn't want to go 10 miles. Chris bailed on me, because he wasn't feel good. Kim and Jason didn't want to go as far, and Bob decided once I got there that he wanted to do less with Kim. Luckily Jess responded back to my email that she wanted to run. So I met Jess at the start of the greenway, after the other 3 started (without waiting an extra couple of minutes). We had GREAT RUN! In fact it was so awesome to be running 10 miles and having fun and enjoying it. I think I am a cold weather runner....even though I complain about being cold at the beginning! *smiles*

I actually feel like a runner today. Like going out for a 10 miler is no big deal, easy and fun. Running is fun??? How did this happen? I still get sore and a little tired, but I love it. Too much I think!

Jess and I at the end of the run. It's was cold and raining at the end.

Savannah River Bridge Run

What a Great Run!

Savannah is a Interesting City. I started off the weekend thinking it would be more like Charleston, but it's more gritty, more down to earth and maybe a little less "Cool", but it was so much FUN!

Jason decided that he did not want to come to Savannah and do this run, this year. No worries though, because my friend Chris was up for the challenge! Unfortunately, or Fortunately (depends on how you look at it) my car was still in the shop from the Pre-Thanksgiving wheel running over incident. So I still have the rental car, which is what we took down to Savannah. Nice to not use up miles on either my or Chris' car's. We did make a quick stop to South of the Border, cheesy little stop over. I will have pics up on my other blog! I think we left Raleigh at about 9:45 and got into Savannah around 4:30- it took as awhile to go up the road, but it was fun!

We kept hearing how hard the bridge would be to run. I thought nothing of it. People said Cooper River was a hard bridge, and we didn't really think it was. Well Folks, it was a HARD bridge to run!! It was a fairly steep incline and a very LONG incline! Ohh and you had to do it twice, run over and back! It was AWESOME! Hard, but AWESOME! Ohh and I got a PR! So we all know I'm not fast, but I'm proud of what I can do! Earlier this year when I did Cooper River (remember not as hard) it took me 1:11.51, this run took me 1:08.49. YAY me! I'm hoping this year's Cooper River will have me cutting a little more time off. Savannah also only had 5,000 people total doing the 3 runs (5K) (10K) which I did and the double pump (5K) + (10K). Savannah also had free beer, not good beer but free and stew at the end, along with banana's, oranges, and some weird danish thing. Ohh and a little sweat towel. They are my best friend! They had extra, so I now have 5 of them!!*smiles* You can see me sporting the towel in the pictures above and below.

Big differences between the two bridge runs

1. Incline (degree and distance of)

2. going over the bridge once vs. going over and coming back

3. 40,000 people vs 5,000 people

4. Free Beer and Brunswick Stew at the end vs Free Bagels at the end

Splits for my run which my run meter said was 6.31 mile.

mile 1- average 11:24, fastest 8:38, climb of 21 feet

mile 2- average 11:05, fastest 8:43, climb of 21 feet

mile 3- average 10:49, fastest 8:45, climb of 184 feet

mile 4- average 10:04, fastest 8:37, climb of 54 feet

mile 5- average 11:36 , fastest 9:03, climb of 106 feet

mile 6- average 10:15, fastest 8:55, climb of 82 feet

mile 6.31- average 11:32, fastest 9:35, climb of 0 feet

TOTAL- AVERAGE 10:54, FASTEST 8:37, CLIMB of 873 feet, CALORIES 873

This run also had some great costumes! To those who wear costumes while running, good on ya. I'm no where near being able to do that. I swear I just sweat to much for that! A couple of my favorites are these:

The Tortoise and the Hare

The Reindeer Girls

Run around the NC Central Campus...

(The last of the Fall Leaves...most of the trees are bare)

Today I met my friend Kim at her work (at the Wildlife Commission) for an afternoon run. We decided it would be nicer in the afternoon than in the evening. It's been getting cold in the evening. Brrrrr cold. Kim finished the Philly Marathon a little over a week ago, and she is doing AMAZING.

Anyways, it was a beautiful day for a run and we had a great time catching up on all of what's been going on in our lives. 3.37 miles, 37:53 min, 11:14 pace, 190 feet climb, 464 calories burned.

(Frost on the Roofs this morning.....brrrrrrr)

Ohh and I'm now in Official Half Marathon Training again. The Shamrock Half is 16 weeks away! It was a short break, but I'm glad to have a goal to work towards during the winter months that makes me go out and run.

Turkey Trot today..

We (Jason, Scout and I) traveled up to Virginia to see family for Thanksgiving yesterday after my crazy day and stressful time of running over a wheel on I-540 (which deployed my airbags).

We drove up on Wednesday night so we would be ready to do the Turkey Trot this morning. One key thing about here, is that it's COLD! I got up in the morning and took Scout out for his normal walk and it was chilly but it didn't seem to bad...until the wind started to pick up. While getting dressed for running the turkey trot I debated lot's of different levels of layers. I ended up with my long sleeve hoodie and my running vest, and running tights. Jason wore running pants and a short sleeve shirt and a running overshirt (long sleeve), Scout just wore his fur, he was good with that. We got there a little early to pick up our shirts and see what was up. As we were waiting around we just couldn't stand it anymore, so we decided to go on and start running. We started about 10 minutes earlier than the 9am start. We had a great run. Scout was funny and tried to pull me up to the fast runners as they caught up to us....and passed us. I think Scout would be a good little racer.

We didn't stick around for awards, mostly because if we won anything it wouldn't of been fair!!*winks* Plus the awards ceremony wasn't until 10:15.

FYI- Waynesboro is hilly!! So recap it was COLD and HILLY! HA!!

Ohh and we'll be out running again on Saturday....still gotta get my long run in!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!

10 miler....

Another Saturday of running, this time Jason decided he wanted to do the BIG BLOCK (which is the 10 mile loop we do). We decided to park at Panera again. Jason, Chris, and I had a good start...and Chris and I had a good middle....and I had a good end. The boys didn't have it in them today. To Jason's credit he hasn't run 10 miles since Disney, and he really hasn't been running during the week. Chris was just having an off day.

I on the other hand felt good throughout the entire run. My pace felt comfortable and I did all my intervals as they were. I felt good at the end, like I could run more....which is always a bonus. My runmeter (app on my iPhone) quit recording my mileage after 6.82 which is kinda funny. It lost GPS connection and I guess never got it back. I had to estimate my run as I know the loop is 10 miles, but I did a lot of running back to Jason and Chris sometimes to make sure we were all together. I'm pretty sure I did about half a miles worth of back tracking. Totally worth it though because it's nice to run with Jason.

Jason makes me laugh a lot on a run. Mostly he's just an inspiration to me. I've been doing this endurance athlete stuff for awhile, but he's just making his way into this crazy world. He's determination is AWESOME! Today I knew he wasn't loving the run because he started telling us how far 10 miles is in feet. Now I can't do that math in my head when I'm not running, but the boy is a smart one, and I think he helps him when he can engage in something else while getting through the run!!*smiles*

I might just be ready for a nap today!! Not sure I'll get one, but maybe I will.

I started a new blog...

http://livingthislifegiven.blogspot.com/

Come by and check it out!!*smiles*

Back to swimming....

I got back in the pool today thanks to a great birthday present...a swim workout book (Thanks Ruth)!

It's WATERPROOF!! Yeah...I said you can take it to the pool and not worry about soggy pages.

So Happy!!

Here's what I did....it was a good workout (set A), and I felt happy if a little tired. My shoulders and neck felt tight, but I'm sure that's just because it has been awhile since I've swam.

Hot Tubs are nice!!

Just sayin' that sometimes it's nice that we have a hot tub on the screened in porch. Some days/weekends/weeks need it more than others!

Jason and Chris were still enjoying after I got out. Just an FYI I spent a lot of time in the hot tub this weekend....ahhhhhh!!

What Can I Say??

I started today feeling great...I was coming off my Birthday High! My friend Chris and I were planning on doing a 10 mile run, but he was going to call me when he was ready. I know Chris and he's not an early guy at best, but I was happy to snuggle up keep warm in the morning (it was in the 30's). Chris called, I got ready for our run.

We headed over to Panera Bread at North Hills (a good place to start and end!!) and parked. We started the 10 mile Big Block run. I wasn't really feeling great on the run, but that's what happens when you run the day before and probably don't eat a great breakfast. As we were running along we got to about 3 miles into our run and decided we needed a little bit of runner nutrition (for me honey stingers, and for Chris some Gu). Lucky for us we were near a trash-can on the greenway so we could through out our empty wrappers. Off we went continuing on the run. You know it's 10 miles...if you've run 10 miles you know...you just keep going. We stopped and got water at the Shelley Lake water fountain, then Chris got another Gu before we went through the tunnel on the way to the Long Street entrance to the greenway. I'm telling you about all the stops for a reason...you'll see.

We made it all the way back to Panera (around 1 pm), which I was really happy about. Thinking about food and the ability to finally rest for a little bit. My body was tired, my hamstrings were tight, my feet were tired I was just ready to be done, and happy that we were done.

EXCEPT- when we got back to the car Chris noticed that the pouch on his water bottle where he keeps his Gu and the key to his car was wide open, and EMPTY. Yep, no car key and no real knowledge as where it dropped out. I called Jason and he went and got Chris's dummy key from his house and came to us, but the key did not crank the car because Chris has a Lexus and the key was a smart key with a chip. We ate something at Panera (because we wouldn't of made it otherwise) and then set out to look for the key, starting at the 3 mile first nutrition. We searched and searched going all over the greenway....to no avail. We finally worked on getting the car re-keyed. Jason and I finally went home around 5:30pm, Chris made it to our house after everything around 7:30pm.

Birthday Karma came back to bite me in the butt!!

It's My Birthday!!

So I'm not a stellar birthday participant. I don't usually enjoy my birthday not because I don't like getting older or anything like that, but just in past years it's usually sucky for me. To many expectations and not enough follow through!! *smiles*

I decided this year the cycle needs to end, and that I was going to have a FANTASTIC BIRTHDAY. And I DID!!

I started my day with a little light cleaning (it made me feel better). I had already decided that I was going to do a short run (I was thinking 3.7 miles in honor of me turning 37 today), and was thinking maybe a little yoga or pilates afterwards. I did go do my run (it ended up being 4.16 miles (averaged 11:09, with the fastest pace being 7:58) through the neighborhood. It was a beautiful day for a mid-day run. Then I came back and did 25 minutes of pilates. Awesome mat workout where I actually did 2 teasers! SO PROUD of myself!

I took a nap...because I could! Then got ready for my birthday dinner out with friends! We met at Saw Mill Tap Room, and had yummy dinner and good conversations...not to mention Beer! Then we went to Aladdins for dessert, I had carrot cake/cheesecake...and it's was as good as it sounds! YUM and FUN!

Overall it was a GREAT BIRTHDAY!

Getting my life back....

(Pretty Otja Face)


(This is one of the pictures I used to make the LOST DOG poster)


(Otja in her jacket, it's been cold in the mornings)


(Otja and Scout at the dog park)


(Another of Otja and Scout at the dog park)

It's been a crazy week. Last Wednesday my friend Janet dropped her dog Otja (Ridgeback, 2 years old) off at my house for a week long stay. Janet and her husband Jason are going to be out of the country for 3 weeks, and I had the first week with Otja. Janet is wise to of broken up Otja's stay into 3 separate weeks with 3 separate families. At first I thought, well I could probably keep her the whole time, but then looked at when they would be gone and the timing was bad. I could only keep her the first week.

A week with Otja has been enough. Don't get me wrong she's a sweet dog and I would PROBABLY dog sit for her again. However I'm ready for her to move on to the next house where they may have a little more patience with her (at least at first). On Wednesday when she got to our house Scout thought it was the best thing EVER! He and Otja played and played, and had a good first little bit. When Janet left Otja looked around for her Mom a couple of times and kept checking the door to see if she was coming back. Finally she started to settle down, and I went in to work for half a day. Thursday I worked a full day, but decided to crate Otja since she thought it would be fun to bring me my Pilate's DVDs (yep with her mouth). She went in the crate with only a little reluctance and was happy to have treats. Scout was happy to have treats outside the crate. Got home Thursday night and she was like a wild thing that had been caged for years. SOOOOO MUCH ENERGY!! The walk was hard, lot's of pulling and tugging but we made it through everything. Friday I was home. So the morning we did a walk, and then we hung out for most of the morning and afternoon. I couldn't really get anything done because Otja is a Velcro dog, she sticks right by you, gets under your feet and has to know every little thing your doing. Not easy to work on cards, or scrap-booking, or even cleaning. Then I went out to Holly Springs (a 45 minute drive) to take care of another friends dogs (they just needed to be fed and let out for a bit). I came back home and took the pups for a good walk. I then left to go to a friends house for a girls night of paper crafting. About 30 minutes after I got to my friends house I got a phone call from my husband letting me know that Otja had gotten out of the house. I immediately came home and we searched for her in the dark for 3 hours to no avail. Twenty minutes after we stopped looking for her she came back to the house. I'm pretty sure she was playing a game the whole night, and came back when she figured no one else was playing. Saturday I took the pups out for a walk, and then was lazy around the house, then took the pups out again, Otja was pretty worn out from her fun adventure the night before. On Sunday I took the pups out and then did a 10 mile run (the last 10 of Kim and Chris's 20 mile run). Jason came out and ran too, he did about 8 miles. We all went and got a burrito afterwards and then came home. Otja had regained her energy and was up to full strength. Man she really likes to play, to bad Scout doesn't always want to play with her. Monday morning I had to crate Otja again, and Scout was not happy about it. I think he's frustrated that we keep using his "special" area to keep the crazy one. (that is said with loving terms). Tuesday the same just add that she smacked me in the face with her head and it is still very tender. Now it's Wednesday and Otja gets to go to her next house. I am literally counting down the minutes until I load her up and take her to the next house. Is that bad? It probably is. I love that sweet, nut case of a dog, but I'm so ready to have my life back. I haven't been able to really do any kind of training (except my 10 mile run) because she just slam wears me out!

My hope is that after I drop her off I'll be able to pop that Pilate's DVD in the player and at least get some core training done tonight, maybe even a run (but I doubt it, since they got me up so early this morning and I haven't been able to rest yet).

strange week...hmmm

(OTJA the Spunky Ridgeback)

So I'm not writing as much...cause I've fallen off the post wagon (temporarily) while watching my friends dog. She keeping my attention, as in I don't have time or energy to think about anything else but what she is getting into. She's a sweet girl and just wants Scout to play with her, unfortunately Scout doesn't want to play as much as she does. Hence the looking for something to do or get into all the time. Arrrrgggggggghhhhhh. My 7 year old calm dog and I, have the life. I love the interjection of fun though. So I'll be back to posting etc as I have time.

On my rest day I VOTED....Did You??

The Polls here are open from 6:30 am - 7:30 pm, and I really wanted to vote before work, however I have to be at work by 7:15, and leave my house by 6:30 to accomplish that there was no way for that to happen. So I worked my day came home walked the pup and then headed down to the clubhouse in the neighborhood (they just changed our voting site to the clubhouse...YAY, it just to be at the firehouse where there was no parking). It was chilly out, about 50 degrees (which for the South is Chilly). I had to wait outside for about 25 minutes and then got to go inside and warm up a little while waiting in line (my last name always puts me in the longest line) to sign in. I VOTED though, and happy that I did. I'm also actually happy there was a line, that means that people are out there voting!



Jason had voted in the morning before work, and when he got home Scout was so antsy. He was in a playful mood, and Jason put his I voted sticker on his head. He totally didn't notice it for about half an hour, then he did and it was a mad rush to get it off. I love that dog!!

Nutrition Blah

Nutrition is always tough for me. I struggle with it all the time. There is the what I should eat to fuel my body and then what I really like to eat. I have really good days where I'm on target, days I'm under calories, and days I'm off the charts over. Balance is HARD.

Today my body was just HUNGRY. That happens when I've done a weekend of a lot of training (especially when I ramp up after not doing as much). I did not make good choices. I didn't make the most horrible choices either, but the Chubby's Taco's for Dinner was yummy, but not good. There is probably a reason they call it Chubby's!!*smiles* Lunch was Village Deli, which can be okay, but not the California Chicken Salad on a croissant.....yeah and sea salt and vinegar chips, no soda though just unsweetened tea. Breakfast is my hardest meal always. I didn't really grow up eating breakfast (at least not at breakfast time), so I struggle with getting something in me in the morning. I did have a granola bar, but I needed protein, and didn't get that.

Ahh but tomorrow is another day!

Monday Night is the nOg Run..

After a day of working...Yes I worked on a monday...it's been forever since I've had a temp Hygiene gig, I met Kim for the nOg run. I can say that my legs were tired and I had had enough. Usually the nOg run tend to be my fastest run of the week. It's about a 3 mile run and there can be up to 300 people running through the streets of downtown Raleigh. I think I just excited and wanna go be in the pack. This week I really could tell I wasn't winding myself as much, but I did a good job with my intervals. I did them all the way through, and I even ran all the way up the museum hill. Museum hill doesn't look like much of a "hill", and it's not, it's just a LONG "gentle" slope. I usually get to about the halfway point and go, yeah I'm walking this a little. So my goal for last night (in my head) was to run all the way up it, Yea Me! Kim and I even ran through one of our walk intervals, and then kept running through to the run as well. So the kicker was were running at a much slower pace 12:44, but hey that all good. My run meter said we ran 34:28 min, with a distance of 2.71, and an average pace of 12:44.

I ended up leaving after the run, Kim had to go home and take care of her pup and I figured I should do the same. Sometimes if I have friends who are staying I stay and play trivia (the run starts at 6, and trivia starts at 7) and they have a $1 pasta buffet afterwards (salad, bread, and pasta), and always beer specials. It's a fun group...so if you live in the area you should come try it out. Ohhh and if you come to 10 runs you get a free T-Shirt (it's a cool black tech shirt with the logo on it), and 25 runs gets you a beer mug, and the more you come to runs the more you get! *smiles* Last night I finally earned my t-shirt!! WOO HOO!!

Happy Halloween....and Sunday Ride!

It feels like it's been forever since I've had a really good ride on my bike, or any ride at that. I did ride last weekend, but it was only 20 miles, and it was just an easy hang out ride. Not to say the ride today wasn't an easy hang out ride, but it was 37 miles (which is decent), through hilly (but not that bad) N. Raleigh. It was a GORGEOUS ride! The weather is great and I was super excited to be able to get out on my bike and get it done.

Kim, Bob, and I meet at Pleasant Union School (so that we would miss the traffic infused areas on our bike roads) and took off for Falls Lake (Rolling View). The best part a surprise newly paved road. Nothing like nice smooth road to ride on! *smiles* While we were riding along down the route I've done a bunch with Kim (mostly last winter) I noticed this sign:

A little ironic that it's Halloween and I noticed this street sign. It would of been cooler if they had it all decorated up...ohh well.

We made it to Falls Lake and took a quick break at the boat ramps (where the bathrooms are), and I had Kim take a picture of me and Bob. I talk about him every now and again and though you all might want to see what he looks like!!*smiles* Bob is Kim's neighbor and "coach" for running. We were doing a normal Sunday Bob Ride for awhile, riding from Kim and Bob neighborhood and out to Falls Lake.

Now it's time for a shower and getting ready to go Trick or Treating with one of my Best Friends little ones! Happy Halloween everyone!!

Bob's Big Block Run...10 miler!

I woke up this morning happy that we weren't planning on meeting for the run until 9 am. It was COLD and FOGGY when I got up to walk Scout.


(the fog on the morning walk with Scout)

Jason decided to sleep in a little and go for a shorter run in the neighborhood, so our friend Chris came over and picked me up since we were doing the run together with Kim and Bob (who live where we were going to run). Chris made it to my house almost on time (he is notorious for being late for runs) and we headed over. The fog had mostly cleared and the temp went from 36 to 42 which is a pretty decent difference. I still decided to wear my tights, t-shirt, long sleeve hoodie running shirt (that I got at REI and LOVE) AND my Nike vest....ohh and some gloves to, that I knew I wouldn't hold onto for long but I had pockets to stuff them in.


(Kim and Chris before the run, Ebony -Kim's Dog- really wanted to be in the pic too)



(Kim and I before the run...notice all the layers)

The 10 Mile Big Block was EPIC....well it was interesting none the less. I've seen a ton of people running along Six Forks in the past, but I didn't know what the "official" route was. Not sure it's official anyways, but it sure felt right. I got a little lost and was glad the peeps didn't leave me yet when we got into the neighborhood, and the first part of the greenway. Kim, Bob, and Chris did an AWESOME job with their intervals and running. I on the other hand had a little hip issue and took a couple more walk breaks to work on stretching out my hamstring/glut area so I could keep going. At about mile 8 I was too HOT to keep all my layers on, so I went through the ordeal of shedding my AWESOME hoodie running shirt. Then when I was on the home stretch I got stuck going through the tunnel with the Asian Walking Group (whole big group of people WALKING at a slow pace and enjoying the day). After I got through the tunnel I started my run back again, got stopped by a phone call (weird because no one calls me, and everyone who knows me knew I was out running...and somehow I couldn't get it to go to voicemail...so I ended up answering the phone and telling the person I'd call them back after the run). I finished up my run with a 11:27 min/mile average, My fastest pace was 8:36 (I'm sure I was running downhill somewhere) I climbed 518 feet on the run and supposedly burned 1315 calories.

After the run we went to I HOP (which just opened down the street). Yum breakfast food after a good run. While waiting to be seated we were stretching a little on the sidewalk, and Kim looked down and noticed she had 2 different shoes on. These are not the shoes she ran in, she changed before heading over to I HOP. HA! Classic.


(Kim's Shoes 1= Saucony, 1= Brooks)

Friday Morning Run..

I'm back again....I'm going to try and be better about posting. This week has been rough (that doesn't excuse the rest of the time), kinda been in a funk. Ready to be back on track. Quick back track...after Disney got a wicked sinus infection, then the antibiotics literally flushed out my system so I had to deal with that for awhile. Now I'm just in the Fall Blahs.

Today I woke up and said...I need to run. More than that I need to get my sweet boy out there running too, it's finally getting cool enough that I can take him for short runs again. Scout loves to run, well he loves the first mile of running and then he isn't sure. It helps if I take him to Umstead (State Park with trails) or fun places like that. However today we just ran around the neighborhood. I'm really hoping to get him tired enough that I can get in and clean his teeth. (I haven't been able to do that for awhile, and when I called the vet for an estimate it was $415-$750....YIKES!). Since it's what I do (on people usually) I'm hoping that this run will tire him out enough for me to at least do some.

The morning was cool, we started running and the temp was 50 degrees, it didn't warm up, but I did. I decided to wear my Nike Vest (the one I got when I did the Nike Women's Marathon in 2008). It was perfect with a long sleeve dry-wick shirt, and shorts. There were a bunch of people out walking and some out with their dogs. It gets tricky running by people with dogs, I usually try to cross the street, if I can, just to avoid crazy dog greetings. While I was running up one of the small hills on Falls River Ave there were two ladies walking their two dogs (boxer and mutt) and I crossed to the other side of the street (where the sidewalk was closed), and of course the two dogs were barking and wanting to play (probably). If Scout is running he is usually focused on the task at hand, but he can still get distracted. We ran through the Estate section of the hood, which I usually like to do to add on some distance without having to go down the street that doesn't have sidewalks (Dunn Rd). Usually Scout puts on the breaks when I try to take him into the Estates section, but he came along just fine today (YAY!). As I was running up the bigger hill on Bedfordtown Drive the same two ladies plus one more, and the same two dogs were coming down the sidewalk. I was really hoping that since I was struggling running UP the HILL they would be nice and move to the other side of the street, but they were oblivious to most anything. So as I got closer and they still didn't move AT ALL (taking up the entire sidewalk), I ran up the hill of someones yard to let them pass. They ladies (bless their little hearts....it's a southern thing) could not even keep their dogs on the sidewalk, luckily for me Scout was being very good and he just sat there and didn't try to engage with the two dogs. The two dogs both pulled their owners up the yard hill towards me and Scout and finally they got them back on the sidewalk and past me a little bit, so I finished running up the hill. I think the little Grrr moment got me up the hill a little faster than normal.



(Scout and I after the run)


Anywho- now I'm going to see if I can get Scout to lie still for a bit so I can scrape at his teeth......wish me luck.

Disney Trip and Wine and Dine Half Marathon

What an AWESOME time we had! The race was AMAZING, the trip was fun and good times were had!!

We got there on Thursday....and got to eat at the Flying Fish. Yummy food.

Friday we spent the day at the Magic Kingdom, and ended the day with Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. We were trying to stay up as long as possible so that we could sleep in the next morning.

Saturday was race day. We hung out for most of the day hanging around the hotel and pool, went to the Expo (packet pick-up). We ate at Wolfgang Pucks in Downtown Disney and then got ready for the race. We had to be at ESPN by 8 pm. Which means we had to take the bus by 7:30 pm. The race started at 10 pm. Of course we had to drop off our bags to bag check. Then we sat around in the grass waiting. Finally we made our last stops to the porta potty's and water stop, then off to the corrals. 3 of us (Kim, Chris, and I) were in Corral B, and Jason was in Corral C...but we snuck him into the corral with us. We waited for a really long time and then the wheelchair racers had their start. And then off we went.

We started with a bang.....well firework to be specific.

We met lot's of characters along the way.

The 4 of us were together for the first mile or so, then Kim, Chris and I were hanging out together. Kim and I stayed together up to almost mile 11 and then I told her to go on..I needed a few more walk breaks.

Overall I had a great race! Everyone had fun and enjoyed themselves on the run.

The bag pick up at the end was a cluster. It was the worst race organization I have ever seen. EEEKKK! The after party was WAY to crowded. And the lines for the small bathrooms at the world showcase were ridiculous. I know next year if I do this race, I will have someone hold my bags, they can also use my taste and sip tickets, and once I finish we can leave!!

I'll write up more about this soon....but today I just wanted to get something up so people would know!!*smiles*

Packed for Disney...

Well today is the day we leave for Disney!!

It's been raining cats and dogs here. In fact the wind was blowing so much last night that we lost power for about an hour...of course I was awake for that hour (4:30 am - 5:30 am) cause the fan turned off and I felt like there was a flashlight shining on my face (in fact just the iPod from the clock radio clicking on).

Scout has been taken to the kennel...he was so HAPPY to be there with his friend Ebony. Normally Kim comes and watches him, but since she is doing the race to we decided to board the boys together. They are going to have fun at camp.

I think I'm ready. Pretty sure I have everything I need....plus some. We'll see if I forgot anything when we get there.



Saturday is the race! It is supposed to start at 10pm. So I'm super excited about getting there and having this fun run, plus just a good time in Disney.

It's getting closer.....

I bailed on my run yesterday...the rain did not help. I actually don't mind running in the rain (as long as it's not to hard) but driving downtown to do the run with the group was not in the cards. That means I'll be making up that run tonight! *smiles* Although this morning would of been a perfect time to run. I took Scout out for his walk and it's beautiful out (clear and cool with a slight wind to ward off the humidity). Ohh but I work today to no run in the a.m.. This is my last work day until Disney. WOO HOO!! Hopefully it won't be to crazy!

I started getting some of my stuff together....working out what clothes I need to bring and what supplies I need to bring. I'm so ready to go do this!!

Need more bike rides....

So this week we did a night run on Friday.
It didn't go so well. Eating at 6-6:30 and running at 8 was a little hard on everyone's digestive system. I think though that if we ran at 10 pm it would be okay. I guess for Disney as long as we are done eating our last "meal" before 6:15 pm we will be fine. I also had a massage on Friday which I think messed up my run a little to. My massages aren't the relax and be pampered type....they are the painful and make my body work type. I've had a really stiff neck lately, I don't know if I'm just carrying stress or all the impaction on my spine is finally catching up after this summer of mega running. All my other weird muscle stuff is happening as well. My piriformis is still a mess, my post tib tendons (both ankles) are acting up a bit, you know it's the end of a long training summer. Good thing this week is fairly easy (2 x 3 mile runs).

Saturday I got on my bike again and did a ride with my friend Kim. Yes...run on Friday night (about 6 miles), ride on Saturday morning. Maybe not the best plan. Usually our shortest rides are 30 miles...because that is our base. However we (read I) decided to do a 20 mile ride. N. Raleigh is hilly and taking to much time off my bike makes it harder. YIKES. Okay so at least the average wasn't to bad....even though it didn't feel great while I was riding. 16.8 mph. Kim had a faster ride, but she's a better rider than I am. Also she was very gracious to let me end a little early, and just happy to have someone out there riding with her. Kim's Mom was in a pretty major bike accident (which I talked about earlier on here) and had to have an elbow replacement along with other things happen because of it. Needless to say, it gets scary to get on your bike after watching someone you love go through that.


(me at the spot we decided to turn around, notice the nice glisten on my shoulders!)



(Kim at the turn around spot)

Ahhh but now the rain is here. I'm not complaining, as we really need the rain. It might change up the chance of riding more for me, as I don't ride in the rain. I will however run in the rain....even though I don't like soggy feet.

Tonight I'm running at the nOg run club....rain or shine....not sure that my friends will join me in the rain but everyone has their own comfort level!!*smiles*

last 12 mile run before the Disney Wine and Dine half marathon.

(Chris and I at the beginning of the run...Jason never wants his picture taken)

Today was our last LONG long run before Disney. It's the end of week 15 of our 17 week training program. I'm so glad. Of course I'm signed up for another half marathon 2 weeks after Disney...but we won't talk about that yet. *smiles*

We started at the McDonalds' parking lot by Crabtree Mall. We did the 4 mile out and back down the greenway, then we went the other way to Shelley Lake and around and finished past the parking lot (back up to Creedmore...almost). Jason started ahead of us, because he was ready to go. Chris and I said that we would catch up. Chris had a head cold and wasn't feeling great at the beginning of the run, but ended up strong like he always does. I ran with Chris in the beginning and we kinda just shuffled a little bit to warm up a little. We caught up to Jason and a little past the 3 mile mark. He said he wasn't sure if was going to do the whole 12 miles as his knee wasn't doing great. I told him to listen to his body and do what he could but not to push it. We are so close I don't want there to be any injuries right before the race.

Chris and I ran on. Chris likes to ask me how I'm feeling as we are running along. I don't like to think about how I'm feeling while I'm running because most of the time it's not wonderful and I don't want to dwell on it. Chris is funny and he has lot's of interesting things to say along the way. We had a discussion about strollers on the greenway, part of which was prompted by two guys running and pushing strollers side by side down the greenway. One guy had a "regular" stroller and the other had a double wide stroller...you can imagine how much room they took over on the trail. Don't get me wrong I'm glad they are out with their kids getting exercise....but a little respect for those around you. I personally HATE double wide strollers. If you have more than one kid that needs to be in a stroller, then get the front back kid stroller....enough said. We talked about the peoples running shoes (Chris notices everyone shoes). We also talked about the cute boy who ran past and Chris said "well hello", and the boy turned around to check him out as well. I had the experience of going down the dam hill (if you've been to Shelley Lake you know what I'm talking about) into 3 women walking across the path, and not moving as we were coming down the hill. Arrrggghhhhh. I know your a toothpick, but you take up more room than you think you do. So I guess this rant is about trail etiquette. Remember you are not the only one out there. I always try to smile (noticed I said try...sometimes I'm just in a tough spot), and say hey to people as I'm running by, around or through them. Not everyone is like me. Imagine that. I like it when people say hey back to me though....it makes me happy.


Anyways...back on track here. Chris and I also talked about Disney...as we often do during our runs. We are excited about getting to have a vacation at the happiest place on earth....and for Chris and Jason to do their first half marathon. Less than 2 weeks away and we'll be in Florida.

Jason met us on the way back to the car he didn't run as far, he went back to the car and stretched for awhile, and then he started walking to find us. He thinks he did about 9-9 1/2 miles. Still pretty good if you ask me. The last little bit of the run I started to having some tightness in my lower left leg. I always have piriformis pain on my right side, but I work at moving through that. I had to stop and rub out my leg (left) and try and relax everything down so I could finish. I think I did pretty good, but I can still feel it a little now. Chris is a rock star and did 12.25 miles, I stopped a little short because of my leg pain...11.72 miles in 2 hours 5 minutes and 26 seconds. That ended up a 10:42 minute mile....pretty awesome time for me.


(Chris and I after the run...in front of the garage)

As you can see....we are tired and ready for our showers! I'm ready for a massage really.......