I’m wick-ity, wick-ity, wick-ity- WHACK!

….with a cracked back! =)

At the Rock n Roll expo I stopped by one of those Check Your Spine booths. I have seen these before at other expos but never took the time to stop. Since we were sans kids and trying to soak in the expo in its entirety I stopped and stepped up on the strange contraption. The nice lady did her assessment and told me I was carrying about 9 pounds more on the left side. She asked me if I was interested in seeing the chiropractor and I agreed. For $20 he would do an assessment and x-rays if needed. This was a steal! I have been wanting to go to a chiropractor ever since my hip started hurting but my insurance doesn’t cover chiropractic care. Dumb.

Monday I went in for my assessment. The Dr. was nice and also a runner. He talked to me about my hip pain. He was impressed that I was able to run through the pain, even at points where I scored it at a 9. Yep, remember the Million Inch Run? Honestly I would have rated that pain at like a 12 out of 10 but I didn’t want to scare him. He took x-rays and I left with an appointment for this morning. Long story short I went in this AM prepared to hear about my scoliosis and how I was going to begin shrinking in height any day now and how I was destined to be in pain or sleep in a stupid plastic back brace, sexy I know.

The news was good! The Dr. went over my x-rays and explained that I in fact do not have scoliosis! Hooray!! Ever since I was in HS I thought I had it! Even when I was in the Air Force they had to examine me to make sure it wasn’t too bad and I was indeed “Fit For Duty”. He explained that my back is crooked but it does not have the curve then return to mid line characteristics of scoliosis. Instead it just kind of veers off and never returns, I am crooked. Here is a bit of a diagram for you….(yes, I am an artist. Amazing, huh?)

So the good news is that I can fix this curvature in my spine, the curvature that is causing me such pain and agony! The curvature that is preventing me from reaching my potential!!! The BAD news is that it will be intense and pricey. The Dr. suggested 2-3 times per week for 10 weeks. Ouch, in more ways than one. I really want to take this on but it will cost me lots of $$$$. Thank goodness for my new job. I will think about it for now and decide if I will in fact commit to the fix option. The other option is to patch it by simply going in to have my back cracked, or popped every once and a while.

So I left the chiropractor adjusted and feeling really good. It was strange how I could feel my body in a new position, the muscles were wanting to go back to their comfortable place. I got home and put on my running clothes. I was ready to give my cracked back a spin. Today’s run was awful. I was tired, felt weird, wiped out and out of energy. But despite feeling like I was dragging the entire 6 miles I ran at a respectable 8:38 pace. Weird.

Yeah, mile 4 was running up The Spawn of Satan, that awful hill that no longer scares me….But it did kick me and I fought back.

So there you have it. I am now sitting here with an ice pack on my back. About an hour ago I got a call from the chiropractor asking me how I was feeling. I told him I was kind of sore and he said that was normal and I should ice it. Here it sit, ice and a computer.

Any of you ever go to a chiropractor? What was/is your experience with it? What would you do?

Today I am grateful:

That I may not have scoliosis (maybe I need a second opinion?).

Tomorrow is July!

My mom and dad got set up with a Skype account so me and LB can check in with them and see them often!!

that Jessica gave me the title for this blog post.

Chick and be Chicked…

When we arrived at the start line it was wild! Packed!  You could just see the excitement walking around.  We wondered around for a little bit, I think we were looking for a short Honey Bucket line.  No such luck.  The lines were SO long! Longer than I had ever seen before in my life! The lines rivaled those found at Disney Land.  Ridiculous.  I decided to forget it and wait as long as I could and hope for a short or no line along the course.  We headed to corral 14 to try to find Mom of the Littles friend. 

I saw a tent that boasted Bagels and Fruit. Dude, I was starving!  I grabbed a banana and scarfed it down and chased it with some water. Not too much though, I didn’t want to have to pee. We waited for a few minutes in corral 14 and didn’t see our friend and decided to head to corral 8, our starting place.

Ah, corral 8.  It felt cozy and inviting.  We saw the corrals ahead of us moving forward and we inched forward.  It was almost time to run.  Like I have said before, I had no expectations for this run. I wanted to do well but I wanted to feel how it was going to go. I didn’t want to go out too fast like I have a tendency to do.  I often take off really fast.  I guess I’m trying to get out of the pack, but in a race this size that is NOT going to happen. I new I had to hold back. At least for the first mile.

Finally it was our turn to go.  Our corral was released and the madness began!  The three of us, me,RED and Mom of the Littles, trotted off with the sea of peeps. My rule is to not swerve or weave or pass too much.  I try to either hug the center line or the outside.  This cuts down on extra distance.  G.Money chimed off Mile 1: 9:18.  I was glad that I had held back a little but new that I had to make up for that in the miles ahead if I wanted my sub 2 (and I did want it!).  RED and I chatted back and forth and she was taking inventory of her knee and back.  She was worried about some pains that have been bothering her over the last couple of weeks.  Never a good thing in the first few miles of a race.

Miles 2 and 3 passed by (8:39 and 8:54) and I was feeling really good.  I felt this way before, on my birthday half and reigning PR.  i recognized the feeling my legs were having, my lungs were working efficiently, my shoulders and neck were relaxed and not tense.  My hip was…well, I could feel it. That was weird. I haven’t had any trouble with my hip since OKC.  This was not a bad pain just a feeling to let me know “Hey you have hip”. Somewhere after mile 3 RED said she was going to slow for a second and I told her, “Ok! You’ll catch me!” And I kept going.  Soon after I saw Kerrie T.!!!  I made a B-line for her side of the street and was so excited to see her!  You would have though she was about to hand me a $1000 or something! I was that excited!  I came running toward looking for a High 5 but alas, her hands were holding a camera!  “Oh yeah baby! Photo OP!!!  Sweet!!”   Here are some of the pics that Kerrie snapped as I ran UP that hill!!!

After I passed by Kerrie and carried on my way the guy behind me in the black shirt and his friend kept yelling, “YEA! GO AMANDA!!” It was pretty funny, they were just jealous they didn’t have a cheering squad like me.  So we laughed about it and soon enough I was the ones lauging because they couldn’t keep up. He he!

Mile 4: 8:31.  Around Mile 5 we got into the part of the course where Sea Fair Triathlon is held.  I was familiar with this road, on a bike.  I came around a corner and headed down a seriously steep hill and turned again to see the Patriot Guard Riders and the road lined with American Flags.  Oh boy. Hold it together Amanda.  If you aren’t familiar with the Patriot Guard Riders then click HERE to read about them. They have been present at all of the military funerals I have attended and I am all too aware of the reality of their services.  I swung to that side of the street to give them all High 5’s and  to thank them for being there.  Holding back tears while running is hard, it messes with your breathing and your pace, it messes with everything.  At the end of the line of the leather clad men and women there was a line of women holding what seemed at the time like a 100 flags.  I found out later it was 40, to represent 40 fallen soldiers of the 5th Brigade.  I also found out through Jessica’s blog, (Mis)Adventures of an Army Wife that there was a group of women running in honor of these men and even some of the wives who lost their hubbys.  Talk about WoW! Humbling.  It really puts things in perspective, for me at least.  Getting out there is hard enough and I applaud these women for taking their lives and doing amazing things with them, for being strong and proving to themselves that the ARE strong. What better way to do that than to get out there and run a long, long way? =) And if you want a picture of what I saw at mile 5.74 click HERE (now I did NOT see these elite athletes as I was running, they were long gone).  Mile 5: 9:07.

After I gave about 60 people a high 5 I found myself settling back into my pace and decided this was a good time to eat a few Chomps.  As I dug into my Chomp bag and stuffed a few into my mouth I realized that I had just used the same hand that gave all the High 5’s.  Gross.  I wondered for a split second if I might have just swallowed a germ that would make me sick, so sick I couldn’t even finish.  But the though was fleeting and I shoved another Chomp in my mouth. Mile 6: 8:19, that’s what I’m talking about!

This part of the course was kind of ho hum, although it was along the beautiful lake.  I just kept thinking about how nice it would be to be on a bike, doing a triathlon. Before I new it we came to the hairpin turn leading to a steep incline that took us us to I-90.  I remember that during the tri i almost died on this turn, I’m not much of a bike rider.  I then realized that I was happy to be running up the bridge and NOT on a bike.  I felt like KatyPerry’s Hot then Cold song.  I passed a good number of people on this small hill, YAY for hill training!!  We split off from the full marathoners and headed into the dreaded tunnel.  I hate running in tunnels.  First of all you lose GPS Satellites so G. Money was mad at me.  It stinks like sick BO. It’s dark. It’s loud and echo'-y.  It is just annoying.  So I ran fast, at least I felt like it was fast, just so I could get out of there. Gave new meaning to The Light At the end of the Tunnel. Mile 7: 8:38.  This was the downhill slide.  Over halfway…my pace felt good and I felt good.  I could see Quest Field! 

The last half of the race was rather uneventful. This is when I really started to think about my dad and how this race was dedicated to him.  I knew I was running well and that this was going to be a sub 2.  I wanted to believe it would be a PR but I couldn’t be quite sure.  I would find out soon enough.  When I felt tired or a twinge of pain I thought about my dad, about his road ahead.  I was going to battle with him, blow for blow, step for step.  Whatever I was going through, emotionally, mentally, physically was not comparable to what he was facing.  So for my dad I ran…i could not allow myself to slow down.  Not this time.

Mile 8: 8:46  Mile 9: 8:57 Mile 10: 9:08 Mile 11: 8:54.

It was about mile 12 when I ran right past the front door to the hotel that we stayed in.  I thought for about 2 seconds that I could just head in there and take a shower and lay down. But then I had ran past and it was too late.  Not far to go…Mile 12: 8:27.

I wondered if I would ever get to the finish line. This race felt SO long…but finally I could see it. Mile 13: 8:24.  People were lined along the way! I got chicked.  But this girl chicked me WAY TO SOON!  Noob mistake, or not.  She just underestimated me and my skilz or she bonked at the last minute.  As I got chicked I chicked a few others then I decided that I should go ahead and put that girl out of her misery.  I realized I had some kick left and turned on the afterburners (ha! I am a super dork).  In all honesty I felt kind of silly because I was running so fast! You would have thought it was the State Cross Country Meet or something. I was going so fast that I couldn’t stop even after I crossed the line (in front of the girl who chicked me…Chick and be Chicked sucka!). I slowed down but it took a bit of time.  I had managed to come to a walk just in time to receive my medal.  I did it.  I knew the gun time clock said 2:03 or something so I knew I had gotten a sub 2.  I managed to check G. Money and realized it was a new PR: 1:55.33!!

What a run.

And in case any of you want to see a map of the course and think about this race for next year here you go…it was a great course and not too hilly at all, especially for a Seattle run.

 

 

 

And here we are in front of our hotel:

And there you have it, my first novel!  =)

RnR Recap! Let’s get this party started!

The anticipated race recap!

I didn’t really know where to start so I guess I will start at the beginning! Friday I dropped LB off at RED’s house and we (me, RED and Mom of the Littles [she has twins who are lovingly referred to as The Littles]) headed to Seattle for our Adult Time/Girl’s Night! All three of us are sans hubby for now (oh the joys of being a military wife) so this was a well-deserved and highly anticipated evening for all three of us.

Here we are heading to the EXPO! Yay!! Spending time at the race expos is pretty much a luxury we rarely get to experience with kids in tow! So this was awesome! We all got little massages at a hot tub booth and I even signed up to get a $20 Chiropractor exam including x-rays, more to come about that.

After the expo we tried to walk to the Spaghetti Factory for our Bloggy Meet up but somehow the fail proof iPhone walking GPS could not get us there. After walking too much in flip flops around downtown Seattle (and receiving a text from Tall Mom inquiring about whether or not we were coming) we were hungry and decided to flag a taxi. It was pretty sweet to just walk in the the Spaghetti Factory and walk into the the reserved room that Mel put together for us! The wait otherwise was ridiculous! It was awesome to meet so many other bloggers and just hang out and share in the excitement of the occasion!

After dinner we headed back to our hotel to retire early. Three girls in one hotel room away from kids for the first time in who-knows-how long=lots of fun!

We set all our stuff out nice and neat, or at least RED and Mom of the Littles had their stuff nice and neat, mine was more of a controlled chaotic pile…

We set our alarms for 4:30 AM and 5 AM and fell asleep a bit after 10, after my pile of gear was made fun of. Not everyone can be and OCD neat and tidy as them.

The 4:30 AM alarm went off and Mom of the Littles was so glad, she had been awake for an hour, or more? I have no idea, I was sawing logs…We got up and around. I had my cup of black coffee and half a bagel. I should have eaten more because by the time I got to the start my stomach was growling.

x

Here we are at about 5 AM getting ready to walk down to the shuttles. The shuttles were scheduled to run from 5 to 6 AM. We got there around 5:20 or so and the lines were out of control. We found a nice place to just kind of blend into the line, oops. Luckily we happened to slide in behind a man we had randomly met in the elevator the night before. So we starting chatting with him and his girlfriend and whala! We were in line. In the long run it didn’t really matter because around 5:50 AM the lines dissipated and people just sort of gaggled around the curb and the busses. We got on the bus maybe at 6 AM.

Here we are waiting for the bus:

One lady called us “Fresh and Perky”. I would agree. We were quite awake for 6 AM.

We were finally able to get on the bus and head to the race start. Of course, right on inconvenient schedule I got a call from The Hubs right as we got on the shuttle. It was loud, everyone was excited so needless to say the conversation was short. We got to sit in the back of the bus, the very back row, like the cool kids we sat there and bounced our way to the start line!

And this my friends, is where I am going to close for tonight. It just seems there is so much to blog about and this could get REALLY REALLY long otherwise! So check back tomorrow for the deets about the race!!!

Seattle Rock n Roll a New PR!

Well, I kind of wanted a PR today but you just never ever know how race day will unfold. I try to go into every race with no expectations. Today was no exception. I felt good so I went for it. I held back in places and let lose in others. But the race recap will have to wait until either later tonight or tomorrow. I am beat and sore. So I leave you with this!

New PR 1:55.33

If you can make anything of that above it says I was 1097th out of 12,560 Females! Wow! Pretty cool!!

Ok, more to come!!!

There is a Buzz in the Air!

What a crazy fun day!  There is a lot going on and it seems the running community of Seattle and beyond is all a BUZZ!!  I can feel the anticipation in the air, in my own living room! LB is even hyper!!

I have my overnight bag packed and in that bag is outfit #1 and #2!  Thanks for all of your input and votes! One of my favorite votes:

Navy Wife on  Diet:

I like #2's shorts, but #1's top. Mix and match?? Oh, and pigtails for sure. Being that its a rock n' roll, maybe you can find pigtail holders with spikes? I dunno...maybe too short notice.

Yeah, thanks for the suggestion, unfortunately my spikes are made of pure, solid steel and may weigh me down too much! =)

Thanks for all the encouragement!  Good luck to all of you who are also running tomorrow!!  It will be a great day!!

Cast Your Vote!

Sweet rest! 

Today was a rest day and I did rest, after I taught my water aerobics class.  I wish I could teach from out of the water but it is harder than it looks.  If I don’t get in apparently I kill the class, I work them out too hard. I’ve received comment cards.  It is really difficult to judge how hard a move is or how long you should go when you are not in there with them.  

Oh well, back to the topic at hand. Running! Or resting, rather. I decided to get this post up ASAP since I need your help picking Saturday’s running outfit.  I of course will have final say but I just wanted you to feel included. =)

Ok, #1:  I like this one.  The shorts are a size medium(*AHEM**). They are my first pair of Med sized Tempo shorts.  Exciting! And yes, that is the tag sticking out on my shoulder, I haven’t taken it off yet…

#2: This one is a fave but I am worried that the t-shirt (even though it is a running tech shirt) may get too hot and too wet.  It is comfortable but I kinda like my shoulders to be FREE!!

#3 takes me WAY out of my comfort zone with this shirt.  It is TIGHT and short and crazy.  I wore it once to lift weights in so I’m not sure how it will do on a run.  I fear it may ride up and expose my lovely love handles (can you say, “That’s hot!” ?) .  I love running in the tights too, but they may be too warm as well…

P.S. Lazy Dog thinks I am weird. 

So there you have it! Cast your vote! Remember, Saturday’s half is dedicated to my awesome, wonderful, amazing, strong DAD! Love you daddy!

Short and SWEET.

Just like today’s run, tonight's blog is going to be short and sweet.

Today I ran 3 miles and am pretty happy with my time: 25:33 at 8:31 pace.  I felt pretty stiff and when I looked at G.Money I expected to see a 9 min/mile pace. Surprise, legs and brain, y’all are movin’!

I have had a headache now for 4 days.  Yes, I have been drinking water. So I have no idea what the deal is…maybe my eyeballs? Now that I have this nugget of info regarding my eyes I may be a bit paranoid. We will see. Other option is it could just be stress.  I have a lot going on these days. I have taken some Aleive and am heading to bed.  Tomorrow, aside from water aerobics, is a rest day.  Thank goodness.

On a side note, I received a book in the mail from Stephen Paske, Breaking Stride.  Talk about taking me back to yesteryear!  This book, so far is really entertaining and is showing me just how disconnected I was from this type of running (what I am doing now) when I was in High School.  I am usually a slow reader but I am well on my way with this one.  So I’ll get a complete book report out as soon as I finish up!   So, since I brought up High School…can you pick me out of this pic?  I believe this was after our Area or Regional cross country meet my Sophomore year. Next stop STATE! I think we got 3rd in state that year?  or maybe it was the next… Kind of wish I could go back and give it another try…with what I know now I could have done SO much better!

Today I am grateful for:

Easy and convenient return policies.

My Brain is tough.

Yep, today I could feel it.  My legs were a little bit tight from last night’s speed work but I got  in my 5 miles.

I kind of tried to talk myself into only doing 3 but I love how my Brain and my Legs argue.  I swear it is like they are a couple of tweens being stubborn.  My Legs were like, “Come on, you can do just 3.  Tomorrow is supposed to be a 3 miler, you can trade…just turn around now. 5 is too much today.” And my Brain was like, “Dude, Legs.  I know you man…your gonna talk me out of 5 tomorrow and I am here now. I’m already going. I’m just going to go to the end of this street.”  Legs: “For crying out loud Brain! If you go to the end of this street by the time you turn around it will be 4 miles once we get home! Why don’t you just go into daydream mode and relax?”  Brain: “LEGS! NO! We are not TURNING! 5 it is!!!.”   Whew…that is what is happening.  The Brain vs. Legs battle.  Today the Brain won. 

5 Miles/44 min/ 8:50 pace

If today had been race day I’m not sure it would have ended in a sub 2.  We all have good run days and bad run days.  When a bad run day happens on a race day, well that plain stinks.  I guess that is what next time is for. Right? 

Thanks to all of you who left me tidbits of info about Fat vs. Muscle! I feel much, much better now! =) 

Also, today after my 5 mile run I took Lazy Dog on a nice 3 mile walk with Jessica.  I passed by an Antique shop and had to stop to snap this picture:

I will be at the Bloggy Event of the century, AKA Bloggy meet up for dinner on Friday after the expo in Seattle!  I look forward to meeting you all there!!!  Wooo who!!

Today I am grateful that:

My dad got his port put in so he can begin chemo.

All of you have been so amazing and supportive of me and my family. THANK YOU is not enough!

A little bit of speed….

Today as I was doing my speed work I found myself a bit baffled.

I was doing 400 sprints with a recovery 400 after each fast paced lap. I haven’t done speed work in quite some time and I actually enjoyed it. I felt fast and felt like it was easier than months ago. BUT…today I started worrying about doing too much before Saturday’s half. I haven’t really trained for this half at all. Sure, I ran 10 miles Friday, I ran 13.1 miles just a few weeks ago. I know, without a doubt I will complete Rock n Roll half no problem. But I have not trained for it. I am marathon training.

So when asked by two different people what my goal is for Saturday I had to stop and think. Of course I want to complete the race and I want to complete it sub 2. I think from here on out sub 2 is a given, it is my new homeostasis if you will. I am not good at setting goals. I run by feeling. I wake up and eat my Wheaties (ok not really, more like my toast and peanut butter and banana and coffee and whatever else I find….) and put my race clothes on and get my stuff together and get to the race. It is usually not until I start running that I assess how I am feeling and how the race is going to unfold. I will say, though, that if I am feeling good a 1:55 would be awesome!

So, back to feeling baffled. When did a half marathon become Just a Half? Seriously people, what is wrong with me? A half marathon is no small feat. It is a respectable distance and a difficult race. I was running my fast quarters and got worried that I might overdo it and be too sore to run well on Saturday. I am going about this week as normal, week 3 of marathon training except I am flipping this week’s long run (supposed to be a step back week, 6 miles) with 12 miles of week 5. I don’t really think this will be a problem. Business as usual. But the thought of just a half keeps running through my mind. This weekend is not just a half, but it is. See? I’m baffled.

Tomorrow I have 5 miles on the calendar, among a jillion other non exercise-related things….

And here is a random question for all of you: Does muscle REALLY weight THAT much more than fat? Here’s the deal. I have gained about 6 or 7 pounds since my marathon but, hear me out people…all my clothes still fit. My jeans are NOT tight, actually I still have to cinch my belt up tight. Nothing has changed. I have no idea where that 6 or 7 pounds sit! I have been lifting weights, not a lot though, swimming, doing Ab Ripper P90X, and lunges…yes lots of lunges. So what is the deal people? Oh well…

Today I am grateful for:

A fun day shopping and driving part of the course with RED. It will be a bit hilly! =)

A good workout at the track with Jessica!

A fun dog walk/bike ride with Lazy Dog and Little Buddy!

And if you DVR’s The Bachelorette then spoiler alert: Casey went home. Thank goodness that guy was a dork and a half.

*** I just realized that I referred to you, my awesome readers and friends as people THREE times in this post. Sorry about that. Hope it is not offensive?? But afterall you are people, it just seems kind of rude maybe. So if you prefer replace people with lovlies, or runners or even your own name. Thanks.

Protect Your Eyes!

Today is a rest day. Thank goodness. I didn’t really think I would be sore from yesterday’s weight lifting sesh but man, my arms, shoulders and back are ripped. Ha! I am sounding like quite the meat head. Dork. Oh well…

A while back I went in for what I thought was a routine eye exam, renew my prescription and order some contacts. I left with the scary news of being in the beginning stages of Glaucoma. WHAT? I know. Scary. I’m sorry but I am WAY to young for that. I’m not too sure about everything, I need to do a bit more research, but essentially there is too much pressure in my eyeball. I am sitting around pressure of 21 in each eye. They start to consider medicating for it at 22-25. Yikes. I have a follow up appointment next month. I wonder how hard it would be to be a blind runner? I’m sure I could do it. I heard that there was a blind man running the OKC Marathon. He ran with a(n awesome) friend who had him tethered to a rope around his waist. I WILL be taking applications for such a friend if need be.

Long story short, the awesome peeps at Optic Nerve sent me a pair or running sunglasses! Now I don’t think my problem can be solved by sun glasses BUT I do know that protecting your eyes is SO important! Did you know you can actually burn your eyes? People with light eyes are more susceptible too. So you need to wear sunglasses!

I know you have seen me wearing these glasses in a few pictures:

They are pretty cool! I like the way they look and they are super light weight. This particular pair comes with interchangeable lenses so that you can go lighter or darker, depending on the day. A huge plus too is that they don’t fog up! The only time I had a problem with them fogging is when I wore them with a hat that had a big, thick bill. It wasn’t a running hat and the bill came down and covered the sides so the air could not escape. But when worn alone or with my running hats they work great! Also, if you have long eyelashes they might rub on them. When I happen to be wearing mascara I have a problem with them hitting on my lashes.

Here I am with LB and my Dad after the OKC Marathon! I sported the glasses and they were awesome!

And again, me and my baby niece, and the shades!!

Click HERE to read about Optic Nerves Technology and the protection their eye wear gives.

These babies, Eyeque IC, come in blue, white or shiny black.

The first 3 people to let me know that they are in the market for a pair of running/cycling/ or whatever kind of shades will get a 25% off coupon to Optic Nerve!! Just let me know in a comment!

And one random person will get an Optic Nerve T-Shirt, hat, bottle opener, and a 25% off card. Just leave a comment….you have until Sat. June 26 after RnR Half!!

Exciting things are happening here at 5 Miles Past Empty! I have a few more products on the way to review for you all!

Today I am grateful for:

My dad. Happy Father's Day dad...you have shown me what it means to love, to be a father, a husband, a grandpa and what it means to be patient and forgiving. You mean the world to me! Thanks for being there, there for all the car problems, for all the ball games, and cross country meets and in my adult life for all the random things that have gone wrong while the hubby is away. You're never more than a phone call away. Love you, daddy!

End of Marathon Training Week 2

Today I did a bit of cross training sans legs. Least week I thought it would be smart to do a leg workout the day before the hilliest and most difficult 12k course in the area. SMART. It took my legs 6 days to recover from that run and I am pretty sure it is due to the squats and lunges, leg presses and hamstring curls that I punished my legs with.

It was pouring down rain this morning so I was so glad I got my 10 miles in yesterday. LB and I lounged around the house until I could take it no more. We headed to the YMCA. I warmed up with a 2.5 mile bike ride set on level 10. That was pretty tough and then I headed to the weight room. I spent about 40 minutes doing a good upper body workout. Followed by Ab Ripper P90x and Jillian’s 30 Day Shred at home.

Tomorrow is a rest day. I think I will be able to do that. Given that next weekend is the half my marathon training plan is shifted somewhat. Monday will now be a run day making Tue and Wed also run days. Leaving Thursday a cross train day and Friday a rest day. It all works out well in the placement on the Marathon Training Plan. I am super excited to be ending week 2 of Marathon 2 training! 16 weeks to go! Am I crazy for looking forward to 10/10/10? Why can’t I just look forward to summer? We haven’t even started summer around here! One day at a time, one thing at a time.

Today I am grateful for:

Making it through the day. LB is asleep about an hour earlier than usual and I am about to settle in with a book. I’m not thinking about the 5 AM wake up call due to the earlier bed time.

A sweet chance to win some cool Ryder sunglasses from Tricia over at Endurance Isn’t Only Physical HERE. And check out my dorky picture in her post HERE. =)

Respect the Runner

Today I had to get my 10 miler in. I needed a good run to make up for yesterday’s 1 miler, not to mention I needed a double digit run before next weekend’s 1/2.

During my 10 miles of fun I had THREE separate trucks roll up to stop signs, look left or right, see me and throw it in reverse so that I could cross the street. Wow! That’s right, respect the runner! It was nice to not have to stop or jot out into the oncoming street to go in front of, or jog behind the trucks covering the entire cross walk. On the other hand some woman with ginormous buffon hair was clearly late for a nail appointment. She blew through a four way stop and nearly flattened me. I did the whole head shaking and arms up in the air as to say, “What the heck? Don’t mind me, I’d love to be road kill today, thanks.” Pretty sure she never even noticed me.

I kept going down, down, down….as you can see in the elevation diagram below. Mile 3-4 was pretty much straight down leading to the flatness of The Waterfront. I enjoy running the waterfront when it isn’t jam packed with people trying to stroller walk 4 across or bike ride like it’s the freakin autobahn. I enjoyed watching the water and the fun sea life, birds and a seal (I think? This Oklahoma girl thinks it was a seal or maybe a sea lion?). It made me think of the Gulf of Mexico and how awful that is. It just makes me so sad. Anyway, I ran on and found myself passing a dad running with his two boys on bikes, one with training wheels. I got to the end and turned around. I ended up passing them again (they didn’t make it to the end). The one on training wheels sped up to either race me or keep up for a while. I looked back and told him he should probably go back to his dad. Cute kid. I think I crushed his poor little heart. He turned back like a beat down puppy.

I went a bit further until I had to make a choice: The Hill of Death and get home right at 10 miles OR Satan’s Spawn and get home around 13 miles. Hmmm…I have, after all, defeated Satan’s Spawn. I HAVE NOT conquered The Hill of Death. Until today. I turned right and headed UP. This is the type of hill you seriously need a rope at the top and you need to use it to pull yourself up. See for yourself.

Yep. I ran the entirety of this hill. I ducked my head and didn’t look up. I didn’t stop. I breathed and climbed. I may have gotten light headed from the sudden elevation change. My ears popped, I needed an oxygen mask. But I made it and ran the 2 miles home.

Today’s fastest mile: Mile 1 at 7:54/ slowest mile: Mile 9 at 11:33. Mile 9 was rough and to the untrained eye it may have looked like I was in fact walking up that stupid hill but I assure you…I was running (insert Forrest Gump’s “I was runnnn-ingggg”).

Stats for today’s run:

10 miles - 1:29.06 8:54 pace

Tacoma Hills-0 Me-2

Today I am grateful for:

All of you awesome bloggy buddies who left comments for me and who have been praying for my dad and our family. I cannot thank you enough…seriously. It really means a lot to me that you would take a moment of your day to say a quick prayer for us. so THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!! You all rock!

A new outfit for next weekend’s 1/2! Be on the look out for a sneak pink…I mean PEEK! =)

A fun lunch with friends!

Today’s Long Run

…was 1 mile.

Today I ran 1 mile.

For those of you who only want running blog material stop here.  The above two lines, three counting the title are it for running.

Yes, it is true. I was supposed to do 3 miles today and planned to do it after my water aerobics class and after my half mile swim.  All was going as planned and I was at .97 of a mile when my phone rang with the familiar unfamiliar number…Ah…a call from the other side of the world.  A side of the world where there is no marathon training, there is no down time, relaxing, or weekends off…There is only a ground hog day of sorts.  It is a world so unimaginable to me. The Hubs was calling, during my run.  Without hesitation I answered.  I could tell he was down and I turned off the mill and headed outside so I could listen to him.  I ended up listening to him for almost 20 min.  I am so glad I had my phone handy because this was a call I am glad I did not miss.

Needless to say my workout time was up and I had to head home to get ready for work. 

Today has been difficult for a number of reasons.  1) It is hard to hear someone who you know to be emotionally strong trying to remain emotionally strong when you can tell they don’t want to be strong. Does that even make sense? Anyway, on to number 2) I have been debating with myself for a week and a half now about whether or not to bring this up in my running blog, but I will.  My family just found out my dad has cancer. It is hard not being home, not being there to just see him or stop by and check on him, being so far away.  It is hard. And so our family is dealing with this news and moving forward.

For me running has turned into so much more than running and training. It gives me some sort of control in a time and a place where I often feel like I have none. 

I am sure one day I will look back on this time of my life and say, “Thank God I had running.” 

So for all of my awesome bloggy readers, if you are of any faith whatsoever will you send up a quick prayer for my dad and our family? And I am hereby dedicating next weekend’s Rock n Roll Half to my dad.  Every mile will be for him…

What have you found that helps you through difficult time?

I did something STUPID

And I have learned my lesson.

I had a very long and detailed post about how awful today’s run was.  It would have certainly gotten me in trouble.  You all would have yelled at me and scolded me. I don’t know what happened but for the first time in about 150 posts or so I lost a post…so it is a sign. I wasn’t supposed to tell you all about  my freaky run through downtown T-Town.  I’ll just say that for the first time I found myself uncomfortable and not wanting to be running alone.  I will not be running alone in this area anymore.

Today’s run got me thinking about joining the MMA gym down the road.  I would love to have the skills to just take someone down, seriously. Like, WHAM! BAM!  That’s right… Oh, is your nose broken? You might want to get that checked out. Peace.

Here are a few pics of me honing my boxing skills last summer:

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

So yeah, I wouldn’t mess with me!

As for today’s run I had a 5 miler on the lineup. Downtown T-Town is pretty hilly so this run was full of ups and downs as well as crosswalks (and creeps and transients and some whacky dude who asked to bum a smoke. REALLY?  Sure, let me pull on out of my sweet hat pocket).  Not my best run but I had to get it down.   5 miles in about 47 min.  tomorrow I have 3 on the plan and this weekend 9.  Since I have Seattle Rock n Roll 1/2 in a bit over a week I think I will try for at least 10 this weekend. 

Today I am grateful for:

Being at home, safe and sound.

A fun trip to the “lie-berry” to pick out some fresh new bedtime books for LB.

3 in 1

What a day.  And I’m spent. 

I feel like I was running around crazy all day…probably because I was. I haven’t had a day this jam-packed in a long, long time.  I am proud to say amidst all the business I got my 3 mile run in. 

I was texting with RED after Job Interview #1 and had about 2 hours before I needed to be ready for Job Interview #2 (yes, I had two job interviews today for two different jobs).  I was trying to get out of running my 3 miler, or at least postponing it until later. I had an interview at 4:30 then a Deep Water Aerobics Instructor Training at 6.  My thought was to run just before the training…

When I told her my dilemma, “Now the real dilemma is do I go run and have run hair for next interview?”  RED quickly replied, “YES! Run hair is definitely a good luck charm.  I, personally, get great run hair.” And I know this to be true…me, on the other hand…run hair is not so great. Anyway, I set out for my three miles of fun on the streets of T-Town.  I quickly made a right where I ALWAYS take a left and headed towards a nice sized hill.  Why?  Why! As I was running up that hill I could tell my legs were still tired from Saturday’s run. They felt heavy and sluggy but I kept on. 

Today’s stats: 3 miles/25:12/8:24 pace...

Mile 1    8:34   Mile 2    8:33     Mile 3    8:04

I felt pretty crummy because in the midst of my busy day I got hungry and stopped at Jack in the Box.  My chicken sandwich, fries and orange Fanta did not make me feel very good. In fact it made me feel heavy and gross.

After Job Interview #2 I had about an hour before my training started so I decided to head to the Y and get a swim in. Lucky for me when I got there the Triathlon Training group was working out!  I joined in for about half an hour and got a killer workout! After that I headed to the Deep Water Aerobics training where I spent an hour working out. Maybe I burned off half of my gross lunch?

OH! And how did I forget to tell you all… I registered for Rock n Roll Las Vegas Dec. 5 !  That will be Marathon 3 and my final marathon.  In 2010!!!  That is 3 in 1 year!! 

Today I am grateful for:

A nice end to a long day.

12k PR and 1st in my Age Group!

Today was the Sound to Narrows 12k.  I PR’d AND got first in my age group!!  Who cares that they had me registered at 99 years old!  I guess I forgot to put my birth year on the form, so the default is to put me at 99. Awesome! I’m a winner!

I remembered half way through why I did this race in 2008 then skipped 2009. It is rough.  Here is the elevation chart:

RED and I got to the race about 20 min to start time.  We parked and headed toward the start.  We really only had to wait about 10 min, just how I like to do it!

The race started in waves and we were in the third wave, the slowest one before the walking wave.  Just as I remembered the first mile, or by the chart above the first 1.5 miles is a decline which made for a speedy first two miles (8:15 and 8:19).  RED was taking it easy due to her 12 miler yesterday. So I pulled ahead. She yelled, “I’ll catch up with you later!” I laughed and new she was serious and probably right.  The miles that followed the first 1.5 were pretty much just me trying to get it done.  Trying to survive.  Trying to put one foot in front of the other and cover ground.  I normally pride myself in being able to hold a fairly steady pace.  Not today.  Today I ranged from an 8:15 to my slowest mile (7) at 10:19.  What?  10:19?  I can’t remember the last time I ran a mile over 10 min.  Oh yeah, in my marathon around mile 23.  At mile 7  a 10 min/pace is not what I expected of myself.  The one thing I can say is that I did not walk one single time during today’s  race!

Here is a little map of the course:

As you can see the 1.5 mile start that is down hill is 1.5 miles UP to the finish.  I think they like to see us suffer. At one point a poor woman looked ahead and said, “We don’t have to run up THAT do we?”  I told her “Don’t look at it…”.  I don’t think it helped her at all.

 

 

I’m a little frustrated that I am not where I was when I did OKC.  I know I haven’t been running like I should, or like I was. I am hoping it wont take long to get my running mojo back and to get my pace back down to the 8:30 range.

Today’s stats:  7.49 miles   

1:08.43 (about a 4 min PR)

9:10 pace

In the end RED nearly caught up with me.  I finished one minute in front of her.  She did awesome and I don’t even need to make an excuse for her, but she did run 12 miles on Friday! Here is a picture of me and Carrie before the race. This was our first race together in 2008! So, Happy Running Anniversary!

I think I can safely say I will never do Sound to Narrows 12k again.  Twice is enough.

Today I am grateful for:

A beautiful day of sun and fun shared with Mel at her birthday/housewarming party! And an added bonus of other local blogging friends, Kerrie, Jill and Zoe.

My rest day…

My plan this week was: Cross, rest, 3 miles, 5 miles, 3 miles, rest….8 miles.  I have a hard time resting, at least in the beginning of the marathon training plan.  In the end closer to the marathon when miles are up, yes…I will rest. I love the rest.  I NEED the rest. but right now I can’t rest. 

This is my rest day today:

Half mile swim (17:34)

Deep water aerobics

Strength/weights (25 min)

2.5 mile walk with Lazy Dog (I had the worst side ache during my walk! WHAT is up with that?)

Mow the lawn, with a push mower. 

I will be doing Ab Ripper P90x here in about half an hour.

That is rest, right?  Humor me, please.

I am super pumped about tomorrow’s 12k!  This was my third race, my first 12k in 2008.  I had done a 5k and a 10k and this 12k was awful.  I thought I was in shape and ready to go. I thought I was all that and a bag of chips. I wasn’t.  I heaved and hoed up the hills that are 5 Mile Drive and almost died.  This is the first race I ever did with RED!  She was in much, MUCH better shape than me.  We started out on the awesome mile long decent (that in the end is the soul-sucking stupid hill to the finish) and stuck together.  It was about the second hill in that I knew she was pulling ahead.  I think she said something like, “I’ll wait at the top of the hill!”  (probably what I heard) Or “I’ll see you at the top!” (what she probably actually said meaning I should run faster and catch her at the top).  Something along those lines…she never slowed and I never reached the top of the hill.  It is one of those routes that is up, level for a few steps, then up, and repeat. I ran that race in 1:12.42 at a 9:44 pace.  Actually not too shabby.  I am very curious to see how it goes tomorrow.  It could be good or it could be very bad.  This course is rough but I am up for the challenge!

So here is a picture of me and RED before our 2008 Sound to Narrows 12k…

Today I am grateful for:

Life!

Smiles!

Fun!

A good attitude!

And of course, Jessica for offering to hang with not only my LB but RED’s Red Heads so we can run!!

Down with the sickness!

Today my Facebook status boasted my scheduled workout: An hour of water aerobics, half mile swim, and 3 mile run.  Out of that status update I have worked out a deal with two of my girlfriends (who live on the opposite coast and in the city where I will be moving) to sign up for and run Las Vegas Rock n Roll Marathon!  Wooo Whoo! On top of that AN the RB has decided she is going to do it too! Girls weekend in Vegas AND three more people about to be sucked into the world of MARATHON! It is a bug, a sickness! A fever….you can’t fight it.  Just let it be.  Now the hard part: register (i.e. pay a month’s salary), plan and train for Las Vegas!

Today was a great day! I got up and went about my Thursday morning routine, fiddled around until the last minute then rushed out the door to get my Little Buddy to preschool.  I got in the car and realized I was 5 Miles to Empty (sound familiar?).  Shoot. I hate, LOATH buying gas.  This is how I know I am a runner: I was thinking to myself, “Just get LB to school THEN run out of gas.  I can run to the Y. It’s only about 5 miles, maybe 6. I have 3 on the schedge.  Never mind my water aerobics class starts in 20 minutes, I’ll run FAST.”  As I headed to the Y with each mile closer I got I knew I could run and make it, eventually.  I coasted in on fumes and 0 miles to empty. That’s how I roll.

I taught my class at about 80% of my normal intensity.  I then swam half a mile in 16:27! I’m trying to get a jump on Augusts' triathlon. Then…then it was time for my 3 miles.  THREE miles never felt so hard.  I take that back, it felt that hard during my first triathlon. The one where I accidentally put cinder blocks on my feet instead of shoes…yeah that one was rough.  But anyway, today I was fatigued.  I can tell I have been slacking on my weekly mileage.  By the time this week ends it will be my highest weekly mileage since the marathon. Yep, I’m back in the madness that is marathon training! 

Now, remember when I won RLAMs random Wednesday giveaway?  No?  Well check it out HERE.   I won an awesome running outfit from BornFit HERE!  It came in the mail today! YIPEEE! It is super cute and fits well! I haven’t tested it out yet on a run but maybe I will this weekend when I am doing Sound to Narrows 12k! 

I gave my Little Buddy the camera so he could snap a picture of me in my new out fit. 

This is what he got: Great action shot son….

   

This is a self-timer shot…love my Little Buddy!

Isn’t this a totally cute outfit??  Thanks RLAM and BornFit!!

Today I am grateful for:

My new outfit!

Friends catching the running bug! Misery loves company!

I am super coordinated…

For real! I had an excellent display of athleticism today.  You all would have been proud.

Have you ever hopped on one foot on a treadmill while it was going 6.7 miles per hour?  Didn’t think so. This is not something that was on my bucket list.  Not something I set out to do.  It just happened and I almost died, almost.  Thanks to my quick feet and athleticism I came out alive and was not thrown into the padding on the wall behind me.

Today’s plan called for 5 miles.  I was busy this morning so my first and only chance was to hit the Y with Jessica at 4 o’clock.  We got set up on the mills and I was plugging along with my iPhone for music instead of my iPod.  Somehow my headphone wires connected to the phone on the console of the machine got caught on my watch band.  The phone flew off the machine and was dangling and flinging all over the place.  It got wrapped around my right leg and was still stuck to my watch band, on my left arm.  So visual here: Hopping on one leg on moving treadmill with iPhone flinging all over the place wrapped around left arm and right leg.  Quite the spectacle.  I have no idea how I survived, how I fared as well as I did, how I did not fly off and smash into the wall.  No damage done, other than missing part of my phone case. It must have flown off during the madness and I didn’t notice until I was in the car, fiddling with the phone while driving…TISK, TISK, TISK.

So, 5 miles completed in 46:52.  A good day’s work.

So in other news, Mel Tall Mom on the Run is hosting a week of giveaways!  Head over to her blog for your chance to win some awesome SCAPE sun screen (which if you read about my Green River run you will know I NEED!) HERE and to win a great book The Ultimate Runner HERE! Let her know I sent ya!!

Today I am grateful for:

Not one but TWO job interviews next week.  What in the world?  I am grateful but also a bit baffled.  I have been looking for different employment for about 2 years and now and NOW I get two interviews in one week.  This is crazy because I am looking at a cross-country move in the next 6 months (or less).  More on that in the future when I actually know more.

Sorry for the Inconvenience…

Ugh. Whatever.

I was super stoked to hit the track this morning and do my 3 miler as speed work! I took my Little Buddy to pre school and texted Jessica. Usually when I hit the track she joins me and we can kind of run together. I was lacing up my shoes to run to the track and she beat me there. This is what she found:

Oh $@#$ %#@ ^%^&$%# @%#%# %#%^ #@! ^&* !!@#! July? Great. Fine. That’s just awesome.

Yep, that was my explicatives…it was actually more like, “Poo. What now?” We decided to head to Ruston Way and do a walk/jog. We ended up going 2.54 miles and had a great time just chatting. She had to head to work and straight up left me there…about 4 miles from home. What a friend. Sheeesh. Ok, so really I had told her I would just run home and she could go on.

From Ruston I have two route choices that lead home: 1) Run seriously straight up for about 3/4 a mile or 2) run a little less than straight up, but still seriously up for about 1 mile. I chose to run a little less than straight up for longer. Either way, either hill is seriously killer. Today is the FIRST time I conquered that hill! This is the hill where the guy threatened to take me back down to the bottom for trying to catch a ride up (read about it HERE) then yelled, “Enjoy!” as he drove off. But today, today I owned that hill! I ran the whole way up! Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to stop or crawl or cry but I didn’t. I kept on going. So my time was not the fastest but I ran the entire hill and didn’t stop at the top either. I am feeling stronger as a runner and that is a good feeling!

Here is the elevation chart:

Here is a little gem for you from the Green River Marathon Sat:

 
Today I am grateful for:

A phone call about a job interview from a place I applied to in March! What? I had given up on this one!! Not sure if it is the best option now but either way, I’ll interview and go from there!

The Second Amendment…and yes, I exercise this right.

I only did 13.12…

Only? ONLY. What is wrong with me? Why is 13.12 not enough? Why do I feel like I didn’t do enough? I wanted to do more. but honestly it is best that I didn’t.

Yesterday, the sunniest and warmest day of the year thus far, I participated in the Green River Marathon. I decided to do it kind of as a relay with my friend AN the RB. Logistically this was the most complicated race ever. It was a point to point so it is difficult to get everything in order. But we made our plan:

• Park AN the RB’s car at the end.
• I pick her up at the end.
• Drive my car to beginning.
• I run from the start to the half.
• AN the RB drive to 13.1 and run the half to the finish.
• I run A) the rest of the way with her or B) drive to mile 19, 20, or 22, park and finish with her.
• Drive from finish to my car, wherever it may be.

Sounds pretty easy. I picked AN the RB up at the finish around 8 AM (everyone was encouraged to meet at the finish at 7, but alas I make my own rules and like to be fashionably late…). She jumped in the car and we headed to what we thought was the start. It didn’t take long to realize what we thought was the start was actually only the half point. Oh shoot. Thank goodness for smart phones!!! We arrived at the start at 8:21. Perfect!! Only 9 min to start! I texted Mel and she was in the Honey Bucket line! We headed over to get our Relay Number written on our leg Triathlon style.

I saw everyone lining up on a small bridge. I decided I would stand where I was, where I THOUGHT was the FRONT of the pack. I planned to just jump in when I saw Mel. The guy said GO! and everyone ran the other way. Shoot. I was in fact about 50 feet behind the last runners. Grrrr…..off to a great start. I said bye to AN the RB and headed out for a short 2 mile out and 2 mile back. I was dead last…the back of the pack, bringing up the rear…the end, the tail, the one left behind. I started out in LAST PLACE. What the heck. This sucks. Oh well, it didn’t take long for me to start passing people. People who were running 26.2 miles. How many miles was I going to run? It also didn’t take long for me to decide I was going to stop at 13.1.

Shoot. I totally forgot to text my friend RED before the race started. She was also planning to come to the 13.1 mark and run some too. I took my phone out and texted her, all I could get out was “Running”. I kept running and was looking forward to seeing Mel when she would be running back. Sure enough right by the turn around I saw Mel and her friend. I waved like a crazy woman and she turned around to run with me. It was great to see her, it’s been tooooo long!! I was no longer in the back thanks to an 8:14 first mile and 8:35 mile 2.

When we approached the place where we started I saw the porta potty and knew I should use it. I didn’t want Mel to have to wait for me plus I could tell her friend was wanting to unleash the beast, something about being an Ironman….crazy dude! So I told her to go ahead. I hit the porta potty and continued on my way.

Things were moving along nicely and I was feeling good. Hot, but good. I’m not sure where I was but at some point I was running past a nice older man who said, “I hope you’re running the relay.” I slowed to run with him for a bit and told him I was just out to go as far as I wanted. He told me his wife had grumbled when he left to run, saying “You’re gonna waste this sunny day out running? When are you going to finish my deck?” We laughed about that and I may have been out of line but I told him, “Well, keep running and you’ll have a long time to finish that deck.” Our paces were not meshing and I slowly pulled ahead.

Around mile 10 I saw three bikers ahead cooling off in the shade. One of them yelled at me, “You running to Alki?” “We’ll see. I don’t think I could take all three of you for a bike…” They laughed. I laughed and kept running. About 5 min later they zoomed past me on their bikes and one said, “I’ll buy you a beer at Alki.” How bout a hamburger and water buddy? I didn’t see them again, they might just still be waiting for me at Alki.

As I drew closer to 13.1 I knew I needed to stop there. There really was no need to kill myself. I had nothing to prove. I am not in marathon condition right now. 26.2 miles is A LONG way and I have not been putting in the time, miles, and training necessary. I quickly decided that I would hand off to AN the RB and drive to mile 20, park and finish with her. Or maybe drive to mile 22…I saw AN the RB bouncing and waving up ahead! I got there, she handed over the car keys and I told her I would see her around mile 20. RED and her little Red Heads were there at 13.1 too! She had her double jogger loaded and ready! This woman is a running machine! I offered to keep the little Red Heads with me and meet her at 20 but they wanted to ride. They were ready to ride! So off she went with about 90 pounds in that jogger…I felt bad! But she didn’t! I’m telling you, she is a machine!

13.1 stats: 1:59 flat! 9:04 pace! Stops and cross walks and a porta potty! What?

So my friends were off and running and I was in the comfort of my car. I drove to mile 19 since there was not directions for 20 and then next stop was 22. RED had said that 20 was enough and I knew it would be. She had a stroller and it was HOT! So I got to mile 19 and waited for my friends.

First I saw Jon, Mel’s friends from the beginning. He was looking strong and said Mel was on her way. I got ready to cheer her on. A few minutes later I saw her round the corner. I didn’t even realize it but she mentioned in her blog that I was in the middle of the street! Oops! She said she was hot and tired. I truly wanted to finish with her but I had the keys to my car and two friends on their way. I couldn’t leave at that time. With one more non-runner this would have worked out fine. We took a few quick pics and she was on her way.

With Mel on her way I waited for the others. Check out her race recap HERE. First was AN the RB:

I cheered her along! By this point she decided she was done. I don’t blame her, it was hot! I think the majority of her leg was on pavement and in the sun. She decided she was done and I planned to go on and finish the race from there. At about that time we saw RED coming around the corner!

Look at this stroller! She and AN the RB ran 6.3 miles!

I decided not to finish the rest of the way. I really wanted to get in 20 miles but I knew it wasn’t smart. I knew it wasn’t the best idea. My hamstrings were already tight and my calves were sore. What did I need to prove anyway? So we decided to be done and loaded up in the car. We headed to the finish to get AN the RB’s car and return to the half point to get RED’s car. I must say that races that start and end in the same place are MUCH easier.

I felt bad not staying to cheer Mel in. I had honked at her at at least two other spots along the way. I wasn’t sure if she wanted to kill me or maybe she didn’t know it was for her, but I honked and cheered her on nonetheless.

In the end 13.1 miles done in a respectable time. Maybe someday I can just BE in marathon condition all the time. I could call it “Being in a State of Marathon”. but for now I have to be happy to “Be in a State of Half Marathon”….I’ll take that.

Here is a pic of my sunburn, just to prove that the sun does shine up here in the PNW.

Next time I’ll remember the sunscreen.

Today is the beginning of Portland Marathon Training!!!! Wooo whoo! good thing Sunday is a cross-train day! And Monday is a rest day. I think I am ready to be back in the throes of training! And next weekend’s long run calls for 8 miles, but I think I have just the perfect plan: Sound to Narrows 12k!!!

Today I am Thankful for:

The ability to run!!

Great friends who love to run with me!!!

Jessica and her willingness to watch my Little Buddy so I can run!

You, for reading this entire LONG post, if in fact you did! =)

Life…After Marathon.

Happy Memorial Day.

Today I went with Red to her gym. We were pressed for time and only had 35 min to run before the childcare closed. I planned to run 3 miles but soon realized that I did have time for 4, if I were so inclined. So I ran 4 miles in 34:47. I was drenched in sweat and it felt goooood. We went back to her house where I did lunges in her back yard and even did a few with a small human on my back. Talk about OUCH! Once I got home I finished up with Ab Ripper P90X.

**Warning: Emotional Girl Blogging to Follow…

There are times in life where you just have to take a breather. Well actually, breathing is kind of a necessity, but you know what I mean. You just need to sit back and evaluate. Evaluate everything. When I look back over the past 8 months of my life I am amazed, among other things. I have had so many ups and even more downs that I can hardly fathom them myself…thus the need for evaluation.

Sometimes I just need to prove to myself that I am strong enough. That is what my first marathon was to me, proof. I needed that marathon. It was proof that I am strong, healthy, alive, fit, and able. Proof that I can do anything and overcome anything. Proof that no matter how hard it is I can do it. No matter how difficult it is I can overcome it. No matter what, I will get from point A to point B, start to finish…I have to, I can, and I will. And sometimes there is just no choice, you do what you have to do.

I wonder if having completed a marathon gives me an unfair advantage in life? You know like I have a secret weapon that I should disclose, “…Yes but I must warn you before you challenge me, I have run a marathon. That is a full 26.2 miles.” Challenges don’t look the same as they did a little over a month ago. In the beginning of April the mere thought of 26.2 miles was unfathomable, far, scary…unknown. But today, I have a new perspective.

My dad, me and Little Buddy after OKC Marathon

Today I am grateful for:

Family.