Category Archives: Random Tuesday Thoughts

Random Thoughts about Soft Foods and Going Soft

Posted on by Run DMT
5

Yesterday I had my follow up with my dental surgeon for my wisdom teeth extraction.  Everything looks good. My body is just taking its sweet ass time to heal itself.  *sigh*  I’m still experiencing pain particularly in the bottom left side of my jaw, but the 800 mg ibuprofen helps control the pain.

He also said he wants me to continue on a soft foods diet for 2-3 more weeks until my next follow-up visit.  Have I mentioned how shitty a soft foods diet is?  If someone has any suggestions besides potatoes, toast, pasta, oatmeal, soups, yogurt or applesauce, I am all ears.  I feel like I’m carb loading without the luxury of being able to burn the carbs.  Speaking of carb loading, my doctor said I could drink beer which is good because wine was burning my steenky holes.

And if someone tells me one more time about all the weight they lost on a soft foods diet, I may just throw my yogurt at them.  I haven’t lost a pound because my body just doesn’t work like that.  It’s like my body feels a famine has hit and shifted into survival mode to begin storing fat.

I haven’t started running yet, but my surgeon said I could start whenever I feel ready.  I figure I would just judge the pain each morning.  If one day I wake up and feel nothing, then I’ll run.  That just hasn’t happened yet.

On good days when the pain is minimal, I try to do house work.  However, I think I’ve tried to do too much too soon because the next day, my jaw hurts like a mother.  Then, I waste the day doing nothing but lying around until the pain subsides.  It really sucks.

I really hope I feel better enough to run an easy 3 miles soon because Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon is only 2 weeks away.  YIKES!  Someone please tell me that I can do this.  I’m sure it’s all
in my head, but I feel like I’ve lost my strength.  I feel so weak, which I am sure is a result of the pain and this stupid soft food diet. I guess you really are what you eat.   I would love to be able to run an easy 10 miles with my friends, Faith and Chrissy this Sunday.  We’ll see.

The worst part is I brought it upon myself, like a sadist.  I should have done it 20 years ago when I was younger and my body would have healed faster and my parents would have paid for it and my mom would have played nursemaid and done all my laundry for me.  But I was too busy having fun living life.  Now I have a real life with a family and children depending on me and I can’t do squat except sit around eating fattening soft foods all day.

But there is an upside to all of this!  I’m being forced to rest which probably a good thing given the problems I had with my heel and my self-diagnosed plantar fasciitis.  Either all the ibuprofen in my system has helped with the issues in my foot or not being able to run.  Either way, I haven’t felt any pain in my foot for weeks.  When I wake up in the morning, I can walk flat instead of using the sides of my feet.  It’s all very strange.

Speaking of plantar fasciitis, Suncoast Running is hosting an injury prevention clinic this Thursday at 6:30.  I’m planning to attend even though I seem to have healed my heel, but I’d still like to go to learn how to avoid the issue in the future.  Hopefully, I’ll learn some good tips.

Mmmmmm…tips.  Great.  Now, I’m hungry for beef tips.

Picture of Beef Tips and Artichokes with Merlot and Black Pepper Gravy Recipe

*Proudly submitted to Stacy Uncorked.*

Stacy


Random Thoughts about Pain and Steenky Holes

Posted on by Run DMT
5

Last Thursday, I had four wisdom teeth extracted. The days leading up to the procedure, I was a basket case, but everyone assured me I would only experience some pain and discomfort for a few days and then I would be fine.  I figured I would be up and running (literally) by mid-week.

Nope.  Five days later, I’m in excruciating pain.  I can control the pain with the help of 600-800 mg ibuprofen, but if I forget to take any pain reliever, then I’m suffering all over again.  It’s awful.

Since the pain was so bad, I assumed I had dry sockets and begged the surgeon to squeeze me in for a quick examination.  No dry sockets, but I’m just taking a really long time to heal which has something to do with my… eh hem…age and deep, long roots that touched my jaw bone which required about 1 mm of my jaw bone to be removed.

I was told after the surgery to refrain from any exercise until my follow-up on the 23rd, but according the surgeon after today’s visit, I may need to wait even longer due to my slow healing process.  Fantastic.

This means I may have to wait even longer to resume my half marathon training.  I had hoped to be able to pick up at 10 miles this Saturday, but I won’t know until the 23rd and even then, I may not be able to jump back into running.  With the Rock ‘ Roll marathon only few weeks away, this is not good.

Honestly, I don’t know what I was thinking.

Plus, I’m on this soft food diet. Have I mentioned how much I love food, I mean real food?

Being laid up for a few days, I’ve spent a lot of time watching TV and surfing through Pinterest.  Playing around on Pinterest staring at food I can’t eat was torture.  But at least I have some fabulous menus planned when I can real food again and some wonderful play date ideas when I’m ready to get out and play again and some outstanding organizational skills to start implementing when I’m feeling better.

Yeah, I’ll get right on that.

I feel a bit like Ren of Ren & Stimpy because all I have left are stinky steenky holes.

I wish I had photos to share of my gnarly, bloody wisdom teeth to at least make this post a bit more interesting.

But I got nothing.  No photos.  No running, just Pinterest to make me feel even more inadequate amuse me and make me hungry.  Fan-f*cking-tastic.

*Proudly submitted to Stacy Uncorked, because when I blog about my training, it’s usually pretty random.*

Stacy

Random Thoughts about Mii and Janathon Days 8, 9 and 10

Posted on by Run DMT
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PhotobucketBasically, the Janathon is a commitment to run or do something every day in January and so far the second week of the Janathon is going better than the first.

Although Day 8 (Sunday) was a bust because I didn’t do much of anything except “recover” from my long and horrible head cold I caught. I had hoped to do some Wii Fit and yoga, but my bed won that battle.

Speaking of the Wii Fit, I was not happy what the Wii Fit trainer did to my Mii!

Just look at the junk in my trunk!  Obviously, my Mii needs to stop throwing back the beers is in desperate need of some Pilates!  Apparently, the Wii has no appreciation for juiceful butts.

Actually, the Wii Fit does not account for muscle.  At least that’s what I’m telling convincing myself and it’s nothing a few hula hoops sessions can’t fix.  My Mii is still smiling, though.  So it can’t be all that bad.

Thankfully, the weather has been more like a typical Florida winter and I’m loving it because it gets me outside running instead of staring at my big-bottomed Mii.

For Day 9 of the Janathon, I ran 3.1 miles.  I was a second faster than last Monday.  Hey, one second is one second and I’ll take it!

Janathon Day 9

3.1 miles

Time 32:11

Ave Pace 10:24

Max Pace 7:58

Today was my sprint day.  Yay.  I’m not sure if the sarcasm in my tone is evident, but I really hate sprint work.  No, really sprints suck and they hurt, but it’s a necessary work-out to get faster.  So, I suck it up and do sprints and for the most part, I feel really good afterwards.

Today I started with a 1 mile warm-up followed by a 6×400 attempt with a 1 mile cool down.  For someone who hates sprints, I think I did all right.

Janathon Day 10

1.7 miles

Time 11:46

Ave Pace 10:05

Max Pace 8:36

 

Lap 1 – 0.25

Time 1:55

Ave Pace 7:42

Max Pace 6:02

 

Lap 2 – 0.25

Time 1:59

Ave Pace 7:58

Max Pace 6:10

 

Lap 3 – 0.25

Time 2:02

Ave Pace 8:10

Max Pace 6:50

 

Lap 4 – 0.25

Time

Ave Pace

Max Pace

 

Lap 5 – 0.25

Time 1:59

Ave Pace 8:04

Max Pace 6:22

 

Lap 6 – 0.25

Time 2:06

Ave Pace 8:20

Max Pace 6:41

 

1 mile

Time 10:09

Max Pace 8:06

Now, I just to add some hills to my training.  Yay.

I forgot to mention that I am having four wisdom teeth extracted on Thursday morning (yay) which means I’ll miss a few training days and Janathon days while I heal.  Here’s hoping the soft food diet I will be forced to endure will help thin Mii down.

*Proudly submitted to Stacy Uncorked, because when I blog about my training, it’s usually pretty random.*

Stacy

Random Thoughts about Joining the Janathon

Posted on by Run DMT
5

Janathoon 2012 Participant LogoIt’s been over a week since I last ran.  I caught a really nasty cold a few days before Christmas and then my Achilles started bothering me again.  Even though I wasn’t running, I wore my running shoes to help my heel.

Christmas Eve, I spent a lot of time on my feet cleaning the house barefoot and I think it only aggravated my Achilles more, which I find so ironic.  With all the talk about barefoot running, you would think it would help the situation.  I seem to experience the opposite whenever I spend my days barefoot.  It only makes my Achilles feel worse.

Not running for a week combined with bad eating habits made me feel weak and sluggish, so I decided to break my week long break with a three mile run this morning.  I also wanted to test out my newly refurbished Garmin.  With my foot still giving me some trouble, I was a bit slow-moving to get out the door.

Weather.com forecasted a 50% chance of rain by 8:00, but an orange-pink sky appeared to say otherwise.  Then about halfway into my run, the wind picked up and the sky began to turn dark gray.  The storm rolled in right on time which soaked me and my new-to-me Garmin.  Great.  Let the Garmin corroding began!    

3.24 miles

Time 35:08

Ave Pace 10:51

Max Pace 7:37

The  Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon is only five weeks away and after this morning’s pathetic run, I’m not feeling very confident about my performance in that race.  It may be time for an intervention.

Suncoast Running is offering a boot camp training program plan designed specifically for the short turn-around time for this race and I plan to find out more about it at the informational meeting tomorrow evening.

Obviously, priority number one is to get back into a regular running routine.  I’m hoping the Janathon will help with that.

I joined the Janathon for my second year.   Basically, all participants commit to running or some work-out every day and log it online at Free Running.  Lord knows, I need the accountability aspect of the Janathon to help me stay focused and motivated.  Although this year, I doubt I’ll win any prizes as I’m having my wisdom teeth extracted on January 13 and I’ll be down for a few days after the surgery.  Nice, huh?  Yep, I already have an excuse in place for slacking off.

As for getting back into a regular running routine, I plan to run 4 miles tomorrow with some intervals later in the week, followed by 6-7miles on Saturday.  I just need to get moving again.

*Proudly submitted to Stacy Uncorked, because when I blog about my training, it’s usually pretty random.*

Stacy

Random Thoughts about Revving It Up

Posted on by Run DMT
1

Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Receiver With Heart Rate Monitor.Opens in a new windowThe other day, I sent my Garmin Forerunner 305 to be refurbished or replaced.  Seeing how the face fell off to unveil its completely corroded innards, I believe it’s beyond repair.  Once it’s returned to me, I’m looking forward to knowing how far and how fast I’m running again.

Since I’ve become so attached to my Garmin over the years, I’m pretty lost without it. Maybe it’s the holiday hullabaloo, but I can’t seem to remember when I last ran.  Normally, I just look at my stats when they’ve downloaded to my computer and it’s all there.  But with no Garmin, I have to remember to track my runs on Map My Run, but I never remember to do that and my absentmindedness leaves me with absent runs.

Part of the problem is also waking up and determining if it’s a run day based upon the pain in my feet due to my plantar fasciitis.  Some days, I can walk and other days I can’t stand up with falling over.  The last two mornings were definitely “I can walk” days which immediately became “I am going to run” days.

I remember I ran last Thursday because I ran 3 miles for Julia with the Suncoast Striders and my friends, Jackie and Faith.  It was Julia’s birthday and she would have turned five.  Faith and I wanted to be there for Jackie and remember sweet Angel Julia.

My flaky brain and pathetic feet just need to get with the running program again because Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon is only two months away.  That’s 8 weeks to improve my half
marathon performance.  Eight weeks to rev it up to Rock ‘n Roll!

Yesterday, I ran an easy 3 miles.  Today, I decided to take on some speedwork to help improve my overall time.  Boy, did my body balk that idea!  I ran one easy warm-up mile and then attempted four ¼ mile sprints.  After the first ¼ mile, my hamstrings started to hurt and then I got stitch in my side.  My body was not onboard with the whole revving it up idea.

But it could also be the baker’s dozen I’m carrying in my backside that’s weighing me down and holding me back, because there has been a lot of baking and a lot of tasting going on here.  So much so, that my backside is starting to look like a Snickerdoodle.

However, the sprints got easier after the first one.  Easier is the wrong word choice because the sprints were certainly not easy by any means.  I mean, I think I took the first ¼ mile sprint a little too hard and I didn’t push quite as hard on the second, third and fourth sprints.  I pushed myself, but not to the point where I got a cramp in my side.  (If only I had my Garmin to know exactly how fast I ran!)  After all the sprints, I finished my speedwork with a mile cool down.

Overall, the speedwork felt good.  My legs hurt, but in a good way.  And thankfully, I can walk.  Hopefully, tomorrow morning will be an “I can walk” day too so I can run 6 miles with Tracey of Suncoast Running.  And hopefully, the rest of the week will be filled with more “I can walk” days so I can run and rev it up some more.  Now if only I can remember when I do.

*Proudly submitted to Stacy Uncorked, because when I blog about my training, it’s usually pretty random.*

Stacy

Random Thoughts About Cooling My Heels and Starting Over

Posted on by Run DMT
4

StacyOn the Sunday after the Space Coast Marathon, I could barely walk.  My whole body hurt.  I was in a ridiculous amount of much pain from my heels all the way up to my left bicep.  I’m still not entirely sure why left bicep hurt so badly.  I assume every time I felt a pain during the race, I tightened my left arm and clenched my fist, but I’m not really sure.  All I know is my arm felt like I did 1000 bicep curls and it hurt!

Sunday after the race, I took a hospital strength ibuprofen (800 mg) and once we were on the road back home, I fell asleep in the car.  When we arrived at home, I tossed a water bottle in the freezer to help heal my heels and legs.  Between rolling a frozen water bottle under and the ibuprofen, I hoped to reduce some of the swelling and repair some of the damage.

On Monday, I still could barely move.  I popped another hospital strength ibuprofen to help relieve some of the pain and rolled the frozen water bottle under my foot several times throughout the day.  The stairs hurt the worst and since my left arm was still sore, I couldn’t lift Little Lion Man.

On Tuesday, there was still some soreness throughout my body, but now it felt like the results from a really good work-out.  You know the kind where it hurts, but it’s a good hurt.  My legs were still pretty sore, but the stairs were more manageable and lifting Little Lion Man was less of a chore.

By Wednesday, there was little pain left and I was amazed at how quickly my body healed.  At the mid- point in the week, it felt like only a week of recovery was necessary.  Judging from the way I could barely move on Sunday, I thought it would take at least a couple of weeks for my body to heal.  I suppose, since this is my third marathon, there must be some muscle memory somewhere inside this post-pregnancy body.

Thursday and Friday showed no signs that I nearly crawled over a marathon finish line almost a week ago.  I even mentioned on Facebook to my running friends that I felt like I could run on Saturday, but I opted to take one more day of recovery.

Sunday was my first day back to running, exactly one week after the marathon.  I ran about 3 miles, but since my Garmin has moved onto to greener pastures, I have no idea about my pace.  About halfway into the run, my Achilles started to bother me, so I stopped to stretch and continued running.

After a marathon Christmas cookie baking day on Sunday and standing on my feet all day drinking lots of champagne and wine, I decided to rest on Monday.  Thank goodness I did!  We had our family photo session Monday evening and I chose to wear high heels.  Man, that was a big mistake!  During the photo session, I didn’t realize how badly I had unraveled my heel healing.

This morning (Tuesday), I ran another 3 miles.  Again, I have no Garmin and no idea about my pace, but it wasn’t until after the 3 miles that my heel Achilles started to bother me.  After my run, I stretched and then spent the rest of day in my running shoes just to fix the damage caused by my heels the evening before.

So, basically at this point, I’m starting all over again with short easy runs.  In a couple months, I have the Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon and I really want to improve my half marathon time at that race.  To prepare for the race, I started reviewing Hal Higdon’s Half Marathon Intermediate and Advanced plans as well as Cool Running’s Half Marathon Intermediate and Advance plans.  Both Cool Running and Hal Higdon incorporate hills and sprints (fartleks) into their advanced plans.  Instinctively I knew I needed to add hills and speedwork to improve my finish time, but I also don’t want to push myself too hard too quickly.

For the rest of this week, I think I’ll just do some easy runs up to 5-6 miles and see how my heel holds up, which means lots of stretching based upon everything I’ve read about plantar fasciitis (when I wake up, before a run, during a run, after a run, etc.).  Then, depending how the easy runs go this week, I’ll start adding some sprint work next week.  But then, Allan and I are attending an office holiday party this Saturday evening and I really want to wear high heels again, which means I could undo all my heel healing again.  The price I’ll pay to look hot! UGH! 

As for my Garmin, I learned I could send it back to Garmin to be repaired for a small fee or they would send me a refurbished one in its place.  Sweet!  Hopefully, my Garmin can be returned before Christmas so Santa can surprise me with it in my stocking! *Fingers crossed!*

 Speaking if surprises…Don’t miss out on this one! 

Photobucket

 

Random Thoughts about Some Challenges, My Heeling Process and a Footnote

Posted on by Run DMT
6

For the month of October, I committed to the Unprocessed Challenge and by doing so, I swore off processed foods.  Basically, participants had to refrain from eating foods they couldn’t reproduce, bake or cook themselves, such as foods that can only be produced in a factory.   Thankfully, store-bought beer and wine were acceptable.

Seriously?  In October?  What was I thinking?  I freaking love candy corn and other Halloween candy.  I think I ate even more of it because I knew I couldn’t on account of the challenge.  It was tough and I think I lasted (at most) two weeks.  And then I devoured some Tyson hot wings.

For November, I’m participating in the 30 Day Giving Challenge for the third year.  I love this challenge, but I’m not going to lie.  It’s hard, even when I plan out all my gifts for the month, because schedules change, kids gets sick and sometimes things just don’t always go according to plan.  I’ve done well though and I’ve given 15 gifts and then some in 15 days so far.

Speaking of gifts, my t-shirt giveaway didn’t attract as many people as other giveaways have in the past.  I tweeted, Facebooked, linked up at giveaway blog hops but still only 4 people entered the contest, including my SIL, Kirsten and my friend, Chrissy, who won as a result to all her entries.  Obviously, she had the best chance, which is what you hope for when hosting a giveaway.

Has anyone else noticed a drop in giveaway participants?

I had this whole 12 Days of Christmas giveaway plan in the works, but after this giveaway, I’m rethinking the idea.  It’s a lot of work and if it doesn’t generate a response, I’ll be disappointed.  Oh well.  But I’ve got other fun bloggie Christmas plans in the works, like a blogger ornament exchange and a virtual cookie recipe swap!  Stay tuned for more details!

This Sunday, as part of my giving challenge, I’m volunteering at the Women’s Half Marathon water stations with Suncoast Running.  I’m so excited to give back to a sport that has given me so much.  I’m looking forward to cheering and encouraging all the runners while handing them a cup of cold water with a smile.  It will mean the world to each participant, whether it’s their first half marathon or the fiftieth.

Do you remember that almost 21 miler I did a couple of weeks ago with little to no pain?  I even survived walking around Universal Studios the next day (minus a hamstring pull from 25 pound toddler squats all day).  Then, I didn’t run for two days to rest.  I ran about 3 miles on Tuesday and then on Wednesday, I ran almost 10 miles.  And that’s when it all went downhill.

I had some serious heel pain, like my heel was being stabbed with a knife.  I’ve never had this pain before, but I knew it wasn’t good.  I researched about heel pain and learned that I have heel spurs possibly as a result from increasing miles too quickly or running in old shoes (shoes without support). I’m inclined to believe it’s the latter because I’ve been pretty careful to not push myself too far too quickly.

As for healing my heel, everything I’ve read recommends taking a week off from running.  But, my marathon is in 12 days.  12 DAYS!  And I can’t run or even taper!

So now, I need new shoes.  But new shoes need to be broken in before I attempt to run 26.2 miles in them.  Plus, I don’t have any extra cash at the moment and I was really hoping Santa would bring me some new running shoes.  My friends over at Suncoast Running told me that they will have some great Black Friday specials. But I’m still nervous about running a marathon in new shoes.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) will be a week since I last ran and it still hurts to walk or put any pressure on my right heel.  I tried some light hiking when we went camping over the holiday weekend and the pain would gradually increase.  I’ve read that I can do alternate work-outs like cycling or very low impact aerobics, but I don’t think my heel could handle any impact.  Plus, I’m still scared to get back on my bike.  So resting and yoga is the plan for a few more days until I get some new shoes.  It seems my running plans have become a footnote and I’m not liking it all.

Oh and there’s this other nagging other issue I keep forgetting to do.  I haven’t booked a hotel room for the race yet.  I know. I know.  What am I waiting for?  I was waiting until I registered, which was delayed until I knew I could come close to a marathon distance again post-baby number 3.  Well, I’m officially registered (as of October 22) for the Space Coast Marathon and now I can’t find an available room.  But it doesn’t matter really because it appears that I will have to buy shoes instead of a securing a hotel room.  Looks like I’ll be sleeping in my car the night before the marathon. Yay.

As you can see, lots of challenges lie ahead this month.

*Proudly submitted to Stacy Uncorked, because when I blog about my training, it’s usually pretty random.*

Stacy

Random Thoughts About My Juiceful Butt and the Runs

Posted on by Run DMT
6

Having a juiceful butt is my curse.  Or maybe it’s my superpower which is everyone else’s kryptonite because no one can resist it.  Sometimes in certain pants, my butt is just out there more and it draws people in like moths to a light.  Inevitably, someone will smack my ass and say, “I just couldn’t help myself.  It was just right there…in front of me.”  I know…I know. *sigh*

However, I don’t think my butt will hold up to all these random ass-smacks much longer and I’m scared.  I need to insure my juiceful butt like J-Lo did.  It’s my only commodity and I believe it needs proper coverage of damage besides panties.

I survived the Frankenfooter Half Marathon and I won Best Costume, but I’ll have a full race recap later this week.

I am suffering from serious Halloween Hangover from all the candy I can’t stop eating.  Major sugar crash!  Then, the day after Halloween was Allana’s 10th birthday and we had family over for dinner and cake to celebrate.  Then, over the weekend, we went to Orlando.  With the time change, Halloween hoopla and birthday hullabaloo and time change, I feel so run down.  I’m exhausted.

While walking around Universal Studios on Saturday, I pulled a hamstring and groin muscle from constantly chasing and lifting my 15 month old.  It was equivalent to doing 25 pound squats and lifts all day long.  I was in so much pain on Sunday.

After my 19 mile run last Friday, my legs were sore but nothing hurt like they hurt on Sunday.  I doubt it was delayed on-set pain from running because it was too specific to how I was lifting Liam.  He is one heavy little man!

As I just mentioned, I ran 19 miles on Friday.  With our Orlando trip over the weekend, I knew I wouldn’t have time to fit it in over the weekend.  So, I woke up at 3:30 a.m. Friday morning to run 19 miles.  I begged my running friends to join me for any number of miles to break up the long, lonely miles.  Only one friend, Sarah, ran 2 miles with me and it was a very soggy, wet 2 miles.  But at least I had company!  There’s nothing worse than being soggy and lonely.

Yes, it rained for most of my 19 miles and it totally sucked because I checked the forecast before I left the house.  I started using Weather Underground because the forecasts on Weather.com have been so inaccurate and off.  Well, based on Friday’s experience, it appears that Weather Underground is not any more accurate.  The forecast said, “0% precipitation, 0 mph winds”, but it was more like 100% precipitation and 6 mph winds.  Those underground bastards lied. Now I know why they’re “underground”. They’ve pissed too many people off with their wrong forecasts. Stay in your hole, you fibbing forecasters!

It started raining around mile 6 and I forced myself to keep going.  It totally sucked, but I did it.  (Have I mentioned that I hate running in the rain?)  Then, around mile 16, my Garmin died so I had to guesstimate the rest of the way.  I went a tad bit over in miles but I still finished in about 4 hours, which is what I was aiming for this distance. So even though I was miserable in the rain, I was pretty pleased with the results.

11/04

20.74 miles

Time  4:00

Ave Pace 11:35

Max Pace 8:47

Honestly, I was a little nervous about my 19 miles, but it nothing to do with rain, storm drain clowns or running in the dark.  After my 17 miles a few weeks ago, my knees swelled during our adult Halloween party, which has never happened after a long run.  However, after that particular run, I took a nap to survive a late night and I think my body went into shock, because I never rest after a long run.  Typically, I don’t have that luxury.  Whenever I return home from a long run, I’m usually chasing after my kids, doing housework or running out the door for some family fun.  There’s never any resting!  My swollen knees were a warning from my body to keep moving next time.

So after my 19 to almost 21 miles, I didn’t rest.  Actually, I couldn’t rest.  I had to be at my kids’ school for an award ceremony.  I had barely enough time to shower and get dressed before I bolted out the door.  Once at the award ceremony, I stretched the entire time.  I’m sure I looked strange to the other parents, but I didn’t care, because it made my legs and knees happy.

But I wonder if anyone thought about smacking my ass while they saw me stretch.  I need to be more careful.

More runs

10/25

4 miles

Time 43:48

Ave Pace 10:58

Max Pace

 

10/29

13.1 miles (Frankenfooter Half Marathon)

Time 2:21:39

Ave Pace 10:47

Max Pace 7:44

 

10/31

3.35 miles (I also threw in a quarter mile sprint.)

Total 33:04

Ave Pace 9:52

Max Pace 7:05

0.25 mile sprint, Ave Pace 8:12, Max Pace 7:05

 

11/02

8 miles

Ave Pace 10:38

Max Pace 00:08 <– That’s some serious sprinting!  I was flash of light!

 

*Proudly submitted to Stacy Uncorked, because when I blog about my training, it’s usually pretty random.*

Stacy

Random Thoughts about Creepy Clowns, Witches, Toads and Other Creatures

Posted on by Run DMT
5

I love running through my neighborhood this time of year because of all the Halloween decorations.  Even though the weather has still been sticky and muggy, the Halloween decorations take my mind off the chore of running in such terrible weather.  I enjoy looking at all the glowing pumpkins, orange lights and inflatable Halloween characters.  And as I run past all the fun and spooky delights, I find myself singing the song from The Nightmare Before Christmas. This is Halloween.  This is Halloween.  Halloweeen!  Halloween!  Halloween!  Halloween!

Running during the wee early morning hours of Halloween Town could explain all strange creatures crossing my path.  The full moon hasn’t helped ease my fears, except that its illumination is so bright that there’s no need to use my flashlight.  With the full moon, there’s also been a strange low lying fog.  I’m expecting werewolves to jump out at me.

I’ve come to believe there’s a witch living in my neighborhood.  Oh wait.  That’s me. LOL  I kid. I kid. No, I mean a pointed hat, broom riding kind of witch with her double, double, toil and trouble spells because there have been a ridiculous number of toads hopping around in the streets.  I think she’s flying around turning people into toads.

And that witch is also dropping snakes all over the place as she’s flying around casting spells because you would not believe how many dead, squashed snakes I’ve seen in the past week.  It’s crazy!

And I can’t forget to mention the spiders!  Those crazy arachnids were scurrying in front of Tracey and me last week during our mid-week run and each one would get increasingly larger as it ran out in front of us.  I think they were running from the witch and her cauldron.

Oh and there was a black cat as well who darted in front of me on my run back home the other day.  I think he fell off the witch’s broom.

Then, this morning I ran through a spider web which caused me to scream and jump into convulsions and a spontaneous dance like I had been possessed by the devil.  It still gives me the eevie jeevies just thinking about it.

But there is one creature of night that I can’t handle crossing my path and it seems clowns are haunting me from every direction, from the storm drains to the mailboxes. One neighbor felt a clown mask on their mailbox would make a wonderfully evil addition to their Halloween décor.  Every time I ran past or even drove past this house, I would go into a panic.  I can handle fake bats and spiders, skeletons and decapitated heads.  But when you stick a clown in your yard, you’ve crossed the line.

This horrible, evil clown was located at the beginning of my housing section so there was no way to avoid “It”.  Those beady eyes and fangs followed me as I ran past It.  It had got to go!  I had to take action!

One dark early morning, I planned “Operation: Stuff It in the Mailbox”.  But It wouldn’t fit in the mailbox.  It’s fat, hard silicone head wouldn’t budge.  I panicked, so I put it back on the post but faced it towards the house.  A sense of victory came over me.  But as I sprinted off, I couldn’t get the sensation of It’s red curly hair and rubbery face off my fingers.  Deep cleansing breaths seemed to help.

Since It’s repositioning, the owners decided to take It down.  Thank God.  Now, I don’t have to worry about evil clowns eating me and I can go on with my regular training schedule.

As long as a witch doesn’t turn me into a toad.

But then, maybe the witch has already turned me into a toad because my running is “toadally hopping” lately! HA ! HA!

Things are going great since I incorporated strength training into my training schedule and my runs are improving tremendously!  I feel stronger too.  I attempted 15 miles again since my last attempt wasn’t very good and I shaved 27 MINUTES off my time!   This morning, I shaved 4 minutes off my 4 mile time from last week!  AMAZING!  Here’s a week’s worth of distances and times.  You be the judge.

10/6  -  6.2 miles

Time 1:11:15

Ave Pace 11:30

Max Pace 8:51

 

10/11  - 4 miles

Time 47:13

Ave Pace 11:49

Max Pace 8:55

 

10/12  - 7 miles

Time 1:22:20

Ave Pace 11:45

Max Pace 8:23

 

 10/13  -  5 miles

Time 58:56

Ave Pace 11:48

Max Pace 9:08

 

10/15  -  15 miles

2:57:36  <— BOOYAH!

Ave Pace 11:51

Max Pace 8:40

Calories burned  1541 <—Love that!

 

10/18  - 4 miles

Time 43:54 <— 4 minutes faster!

Ave Pace 10:59

Max Pace 8:35

 

*Proudly submitted to Stacy Uncorked, because when I blog about my training, it’s usually pretty random.*

Stacy

Random Thoughts about Saddlebags and BFFs

Posted on by Run DMT
5

After Allana’s remarks about my muffin top and viewing the photos from our girlfriend getaway, I cranked up the strength training and muscle conditioning last week.  I’m not being too hard on myself.  Trust me.  My girlfriends and I were having a Hangover moment looking at the photos.  “Ewwwww!  “Oh God!”  “What the…?!”  I vaguely recall as some of the things said as we flipped through the images on Kelly’s camera.

At the time the photos were taken, we must have been wearing some heavy duty beer goggles, because we thought we looked HOT.  The next day….not so much.  So, after a week of recovery and detoxing from our little weekend bender, I knew boot camp and kickboxing with my BFF Sharon Mann would be the only way to bust these saddlebags.

But I forgot we canceled the TiVo, which meant I lost all my prerecorded exercise programs.

Yep, after years of hanging out with my happy little TiVo, we canceled our service and honestly I really do miss his smiley little antennae head.  But we already have cable throughout the house, so the extra cost for TiVo didn’t make much sense since we can add DVRs at no additional fee.  Therefore, it was time to say good-bye to TiVO, my BFF Sharon Mann and all her work-outs I knew by heart.


 
But the beauty of cable is all the On Demand programming at your fingertips!  All I had to do is find the Exercise TV On Demand channel and search for a work-out in the menu.  And that’s where I found my new BFF Amy Dixon.  Amy and I did an Advanced Boot Camp work-out and a kickboxing work-out and she totally kicked my ass.  I had delayed on set pain for two days.  It rocked!

I tweeted about my new BFF @amydixonfitness and our ass-kicking kickboxing saddlebag-busting work-out.

And she tweeted back!  How freaking cool is that?!

Sharon just never appreciated me.  Amy gets me.  She’s my sole mate.

On Thursday, my Garmin was dead, but I guestimated that I ran 3.1 miles in about 35 minutes.  And then halfway through my run, my MP3 player died.  Good times.  So although it only took me about 35 minutes, it felt like FOREVER without any music.

Later that day I discovered why my Garmin wasn’t working.  Little Lion Man keeps messing with the electronics on my desk and his little grabby, pudgy piggy fingers knocked my Garmin off its cradle.  He’s getting out of control with his climbing and reaching for stuff.  UGH!

The weather has been GORGEOUS for the past few days.  A cold front rolled through over the weekend and took the humidity with it.  It’s such a pleasant experience to open the door and be greeted by cool air instead of sticky, thick, hot air.  The morning lows have been sitting around 58 degrees which is PERFECT running weather.  I even shaved 3 minutes off my 5K time.

Monday, October 3

3.1 miles

Time 32:15

Ave Pace 10:25

Max Pace 8:19

 

Tuesday, October 4

4 miles

Time 41:48

Ave Pace 10:28

Max Pace 8:14

 
On Saturday, I ran the Race for the Cure 10K and it was a great race. Expect my recap post later this week.

 

*Proudly submitted to Stacy Uncorked, because when I blog about my training runs, it’s usually pretty random.*

Stacy