Wednesday, December 29, 2010

sitting around really is for the birds...

I've been sitting around most of the day reading & restless...
Being that it was just over 7 yrs ago that I had my right baby toe flattened, I really didn't remember too much about the recovery time other than I wore the boot about a week & was running in just a few weeks. The numbness decided to wear off last night. Little bit of ouchiness to it but not enough to take anything. Since, I'm thinking yoga will only irritate it when I am in balancing poses, I decided not to try it. Especially since we'll be heading downtown tomorrow, Dec 30th for the Music City Bowl after all. (some big time walking)  I snagged 2 tickets under face value in sec 139 near the tunnel. I hope we're near the "Pride of the Southland" band.  (Turns out we may have a little "relay" reunion in parking lot N with Kim, Michael, Michele, Ronnie, Pam, & Marc.)  :-)

I'm over half way through GW's book, we saw "Black Swan" yesterday, & I'm hoping the fitness wave dude finally calls us back to come in.....remember how I won 2 certficates at a benefit last December for $30 but worth $200!?  I won two & we've not used them yet!  So, sitting & waiting is driving me a bit nuts.

As for my opinion on "Black Swan"....it was good but I left there needing a good laugh. Gesh, incredibly disturbing.  I was drawn to it over the hype I had heard, plus the fact that Portman is pregnant & engaged to her costar in it.  Little bit over the top for us but I do see what the buzz was about. Truthfully, it was NO "Blind Side" but movies like that just don't get made every year.  So, now I can't wait to see the "Little Fockers" just so I can laugh.  That looks really funny!  Can't go wrong with Ben Stiller most of the time. "The Dilemma" with Vince Vaughn looks funny, too.  So, heck...we may head to the movies tonight again. Who knows... wrapping up the toe/foot & moving along....

I

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

ok, so we're going...

Just did my bills for the end of the month & then got on stubhub.
We're going to the Music City Bowl after all. GO VOLS!!!!

Closing down a frustrating December

First of all, the social security system is jacked up. A perfectly good copy of my marriage certificate wasn't good enough to get my name changed on the damn card. The original was in Nashville, I'm in Tullahoma today, hoping to get shit done. NOT going to happen. At this point my name can remain Smith forever for all I care. I'm not getting anything changed until the social security card can be changed. Why bother...

I did however get my left baby toe flattened yesterday by Dr. Bell & was in & out in less than hour with a boot on my foot & the toe wrapped up. At least somebody is efficient this week. ha!  Absolutely no pain right now. The worst of it was the shots to numb to the toe. Ouch!  Next Monday, the stitches come out & I'll probably be running in another 2-3 weeks. Sweet!  We have errands in Nashville later today but we hope to come back here for New Years.

I went to John's (Patti's super cool boyfriend) Lifetime Fitness gym Dec 23rd for 2 hours in Rochester. GREAT gym!  If I could move a bed in there, I could live there. A cafe, hot tubs, indoor/outdoor pools, LARGE cardio/weight areas, exercise rooms, tennis, basketball, you name it.... If Nashville had one, I'd join in a New York minute.  I jogged/walked 2.6 miles for 30 mins on a treadmill, 10 mins on stair machine, 20 mins elliptical, some weight machines, & time in the hot tub & sauna. Felt great & relaxing!

Dec 24th, Patti, John, & I attempted to run outside. That lasted just about a mile. Too many icy spots.  I just couldn't take the risk of falling & going to the ER.

Dec 27th, ran 5 super slow miles in the village with Joe. My body was tired from lack of sleep, lack of proper hydration, being in the car for 9+ hours on the 26th, & just overall low energy level. Let's just say that it was a 9:59 pace with about 4 short walk breaks in there. (at least we kept it under 10!)

Today, provided the wrapped toe/foot will allow me, I'm attempting some yoga. I need it for sanity.

Christmas in Michigan was good...(All pics on facebook, don't care to load any here on the unhidden blog anymore) :-P Got the gifts I asked for & more. (cash is always a good thing too!) Crissy made a GREAT wedding pic frame, Joe's mom made up a wedding album from Vegas for us. I got two prs of CEP compression socks, & G.W.'s new book. LOVE IT! I find myself laughing out loud. I've always liked his sense of humor & it's all over this book. Whether you hate him or love him, it's a VERY interesting read. I cried through the chapter on 9/11 (like I thought I would) but by the next chapter I was chuckling again. Call me a geek, but I love the fact that he's a runner. One of the comments that made me laugh out loud was something about him running past the church his parents were walking out of during the Houston marathon. His dad, ever the calm, quiet, dude, said something like, "Good job, son." Barbara, however, screamed at the top of her lungs, "George, get going, there are a lot of fat people ahead of you!" She's a damn hoot! I dived right into this book on the way home so Meb's book will have to wait till I finish this one.

We thought about going to the Music City bowl but most likely won't...no real big plans for New Years at this point & that's ok. I'm tired of running all over the place. It's time for some down time. I'm truly GLAD the holidays are over. (There is something to be said about staying home in your own bed during the holidays that's for sure.)

As for 2010, it's a been a pickle to say the least. I'm praying 2011 will bring us some loose strings attached, good health, etc...
As for training for anything, if you have been reading this blog, you know Joe & I are automatically in the NYC marathon for 2011. If that's the ONLY race I do next year then I'll be a happy woman, seriously. If I do any local races they'll be ones I've never done before. I totally enjoyed the "Run chicken run" in the boro this year. It was my first "come back" race. I exceeded my expectations for it that's for sure. That may be the only race I duplicate this year, who knows...
Joe's training for his first CMM Full. (His parents got him a garmin, thank goodness)  I tweaked a very conservative plan for him since it's his first. I DO NOT WANT HIM INJURED BEFORE WE TRAIN FOR NYC.  Who knows how his schedule will be while training but if it doesn't go well, he can always downgrade to the half. John & Patti plan  to make a QUICK visit for the half, also.

Here's to some happy running in 2011. Cheers!!!

Sunday, December 19, 2010

29 - 32 degree weather running is where it's at...

Saturday:
7.57 miles 9:11 pace with some hills...yep, I'm slower lately but I've been BUSY.  (Gave me a little less guilt for eating today at least.)  29 degrees during this run & I managed a good sweat.

Sunday:
5.25 miles 9:39 pace (tried to keep it easy), mostly flat with a dog following us for 4 miles of it. He had NO ID on him but did have an electric fence collar. Gesh, you spend $$ on an electric fence but don't get the $2 ID for your dog. Doesn't make sense. He smiled & ran with us while we screamed at him to get out of the road all the way out of Macon down & around Tara & to East. I loaded the goof ball in my car & took him back to Macon Manor. I sure hope he lived somewhere over there.  Sweet dog!  Blonde lab & full of energy. 32-33 degrees on this run & the sun was out.

I did manage 30+ minutes of yoga today & I sure needed it. The next 3 days I won't get a workout in due to early to work, an appointment on Tuesday, & 9 hours in the car on Wednesday. I hope to hit up Patti's gym on Thursday & maybe get out to run on Friday. Back from Michigan later in the day next Sunday.

Friday, December 17, 2010

I’m dreaming of a smooth haired fox terrier (mixed even)…..

As if my life isn’t busy & complicated enough, I’m thinking that I want a puppy, maybe…I’ve already said that 2011 will be a year of serious changes & why not add another family member to the mix? So, who knows…We’re thinking about it. After all it is an added expense, you get attached, they chew, they need house training, attention, etc…But I can’t help thinking how much I’ve missed my dog! This breed is super smart, so loyal, & loving. Nothing gets past them either. My foxxie alerted me to a peeping tom once while I was on the phone back when I lived in Texas. She was awesome. I agree with my friend, Elaine, on this statement. “I love & trust animals so much more than humans. Unconditional love with no strings attached.” So, we’ll see…this may be a January thing that I have on my agenda. I REALLY want a smooth haired fox terrier. When I see my aunt’s new dog soon, I know I’ll REALLY want to explore this idea even more. (my very first email was foxxydidit@ficom.net …ex husband didn’t realize I spelled her name, foxxie.)

If I said things had calmed down a bit this week, I’d be lying. Ha!
It’s been interesting…weather SUCKED! When I have to be out on the roads, I absolutely HATE this type of weather. Snow, ice, sleet mix, you name it. Then low & behold I wake up Thursday morning to 45-50 degree weather. I should have got my butt out to run but that temp didn't last long.

Sunday:
30 min Jillian Michael’s yoga & her 30 min ab dvd.
Good Lord, on Monday, I felt like someone had kicked me in my sides.

Monday:
I did about 30 minutes of yoga
Did Jillian’s harder version of abs, which is also 30 mins long. Gesh!

Tuesday:
Nothing in the morning due to early morning at work.
Headed to Nashville after work for an early Wed morning appt.
A no "work out" kinda day.

Wednesday:
Nothing in the morning due to early morning at work.
1 hr spinerval dvd after work

Thursday:
Nothing in the morning due to early morning at work.
30 mins of weight machines , some ab work, & 3 miles on deadmill at gym. (10:00 pace which felt awful on the dang thing. Hate treadmills!)

Friday:
Nothing, early morning at work, errands after work…Tired.

Saturday:
Hoping for at least a 5-6 mile run before making some awesome sausage stars for Trisha & Clint’s (cousin in the 'boro) mid-afternoon Christmas party.

The countdown to Christmas-New Years vacation begins…
Next Wed, we’ll be heading to Michigan. I hope the week after Christmas brings me some “sleep in” mornings & don’t think that baby toe surgery is going to keep me from getting in some exercise. It won’t!
I will, however, wind down on the Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum series of books before Jan 1st. I’ll be done with book 15 (next to the last book) by this weekend. They’ve been a great escape during my lunch hours. I’ll most likely read the Meb Keflezighi book after Janet’s book 16.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

4 days of no exercise makes me cranky!

I finally had time & energy for a run this morning. 7.3 miles at a 9:25 pace with some hills. My achilles is telling me I did plenty of hills so I know that to be true. :-P I feel decent, no pain anywhere...
The next few days will be filled with yoga, spinervals, & kettle ball. I probably won't have time to get out for a run until Thur or Fri. Tis the season.....

Friday, December 10, 2010

Catchin' up...



Dec 2nd….last Thursday…

I went to Dr. Bell about flattening my left baby toe.
He said, “It’s been 7 yrs since I flattened your other toe?! Seems like yesterday.” Ha! He started quoting Dr. George Sheehan & talking about when he used to run trail races. He is by far the ONLY doctor in this area that understands patients who run. Just love him to pieces! So, on Dec 27th at 3:00pm he’s going to do a little surgery on the left baby toe so it doesn’t keep rolling up under my foot. Yippee! He also showed me an exercise that should help strengthen my knees/quads. (Happy Birthday to me!)

Vegas-Fremont experience!

We left early Friday morning for Vegas & were there by “vegas” lunch time. Joe’s parents picked us up at the airport & while getting bags, I ran into Hannah on her way to get her bags. She flew from Nashville, Alexa (Jeff’s daughter) flew from Chicago, & Jeff flew out of Detroit that morning. Joe’s parents got in on Thursday out of Detroit & Jake & Crissy got in late Friday night out of Detroit.

I liked Vegas but I won’t be beating a path back to it any time soon.
Don’t get me wrong, it was everything I thought it would be but the next trip in the distant future will be centered around the Grand Canyon with maybe one day on the strip. I thought the hotels were fabulous. Caesars seemed to be the biggest from my perspective. Loved New York, New York & the Paris area! We saw the Lions at MGM, walked across the replica of the Brooklyn Bridge, went into the replica of the Eiffel tower, saw the flamingos in the Flamingo, & saw Donnie Osmond’s “Dancing with the Stars” outfit & trophy from when he was on the show. Cool!

We did the Fremont experience with Joe’s parents on Friday night. Neat but I don’t care to go back there. Joe’s parents took us to get our license which took all of 5 minutes it seemed & we did the packet pick up of all our Santa stuff for the Great Santa race.

The Expo!

We did the Expo Friday afternoon also at the Venetian & the high light of the Expo was meeting Meb Keflezighi!!!! I was so excited I was nearly jumping up & down. I told him how Joe & I stood near the finish line of New York’s marathon in ’09 & cheered for him. I’ll never forget him pointing at USA on his chest as he passed us. He was so sweet. I took a blurry photo of his 2004 Athens silver medal along with his NYC marathon which were on a table next to him.
I bought his book & got him to sign it. The Expo overall is smaller than Nashville’s but Nashville’s never had Meb as far as I know….totally awesome!
Later in the evening, we all met up at a café in the Venetian for dinner. The Venetian is just beautiful!

The Great Santa race Saturday morning was fun!

Hannah, Jeff, Alexa, Joe, & I all rode together to the Old Town Square, which is right outside of town (short drive from the strip). It was an experience to remember being with roughly 12,000+ people in Santa suits all running (or walking). LOL! We broke the world record that day so I wonder how long it will stand… Since they didn’t do timing chips, we stopped running at about the 1.5 mile & decided to walk. Joe & I knew we’d be walking around the rest of the day & there was the “wedding” race in the morning. (Plus it was warm! Low - mid 60’s the whole time we were in Vegas!) The Santa run was totally enjoyable & I would do it again if in Vegas at that time of the year again. We hit up the Gold & Silver Pawn shop afterwards. I already knew jewelry wasn’t selling well & for a brief second they did consider my ring but decided to pass on it. The only interesting things (to me) in there were the Super Bowl rings. Very neat but sad at the same time…how someone can win something so coveted as a Super Bowl ring & it end up in a pawn shop is just SAD! Much like I suspected, the pawn stars were not in their shop. Oh well, no big deal. They had all sorts of things you could buy related to their show. I didn’t buy a thing.

Las Vegas ½ marathon

Saturday afternoon, we had to make a 3:00pm meeting at Mandalay bay with all the other couples who were renewing or getting married. (59 couples). Finding that meeting was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. We ran through the hotel trying to find it with 2-3 other couples. Crazy! Sarah Reinertsen was there with her husband. She renewed her vows. It was weird seeing her since I had read about her in Runner’s world like 5-6 yrs ago!

The wedding coordinator, Marti, had some volunteers who didn’t pan out so she asked us if any of our family/friends could help out in front of the Venetian in the morning. Joe called Jake & Crissy (his brother & sis-in-law). Jake being VERY tall stood at the course holding up a sign & directed wedding runners into the ceremony area & Crissy handed out roses to the brides.  LOL!



The morning of the race we took the monorail down from our hotel. We stayed in the very nice & quiet Springhill suites across from the Hilton. We bought 3 day passes on the monorail & we got our money’s worth out of them. ($28 each but well worth it to zip up & down the strip.) Now actually going into places to find the monorail was a chore. You had to walk through the smoky casinos which all looked alike to find them but we found short cuts after a day of that. We had to be at Mandalay bay at 5:45am for basically a head count & photos. The running Elvi were there for photos. LOL!

There was a guy in a Sponge bob Elvis costume that weighed 23 lbs. He was a hoot! He did the half since he had done a full the weekend before!




We took off a little late behind our corral due to Joe’s bathroom stop but caught up pretty quickly to most of the wedding runners. According to my garmin we did 2.27 miles in roughly 19 mins. I forgot to stop it when we saw Jake holding his sign. So, I really have no idea how long we were in the run thru wedding area. I thought maybe 20-25 mins but Jake seems to think it was closer to 30 mins. (which means we probably had a 2:05-2:10 half marathon in us that day, maybe) I know one thing, I got hungry as hell by mile 7. All they had on the course was gu so I took one & washed it down with water. I took several walk breaks after mile 7. (You would’ve thought I would have planned for this since I’ve only run 8 marathons & about 10-12 half marathons! Ugh!) The final 10.83 miles were at a 10:14 pace so that’s not too bad considering how many times we stopped for pics & I walked. Overall finish time was 2:40 and some change. By far my slowest half but pretty dang fun! (FYI, I didn't drink any alcohol at all & we played the slots for maybe an hour the whole time we were there! LOL!  We truly aren't Vegas types!!)

We ended up getting a ride from Jake & Crissy at the finish line back to the hotel.  After a few hours of rest, we went back out to walk the strip & explore. By Sunday evening my feet were toast. Thank God for compression socks because I wore them Sunday & Monday. My calves felt great. The area on my left leg that I was nervous about didn’t give me one single problem at all during the race or afterwards. The IT Band area on the outside of the knee started killing me the last 2-3 miles of the race but stopped hurting by the time I showered, took ibuprophen, & rested. I had to cancel my Dr. H. appoint for the 13th due to other more important appointments I have lined up. December is turning into an interesting month. Ugh!

On Sunday evening, we all went back to the Old Town Square to eat at Brio. (A fabulous restaurant.) Loved the food! Monday morning, Joe & I booked a trip in a hummer to go to the Hoover dam & the new bridge. It was just us two & the guide. Awesome!

Like I said above, great race, nice expo, awesome seeing the hotels but Vegas is now off my list. Neither one of us had ever had the opportunity to go there & it just wasn’t high on my list of places to visit but now it’s done. Somewhere down the road we’ll head back for the Grand Canyon I’m sure. You can’t live here in the US & not see certain sights at least once in your life in my opinion. The Grand Canyon, Lady Liberty, Ellis Island, etc…Love history & love this country.

It’s only Dec 10th & it’s been stressful, tiring, fun, & interesting so far. I’ve got A LOT going on & it’s going to be a race to the finish line for Christmas in Michigan. I think by New Years I’ll just go into hiding & not leave the house.
More pics in no particular order since I don't have time to make this post organized & pretty. Happy Holidays & God Bless!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

December-always crazy...

The more research I do the more I’m thinking that I strained a tendon and/or jacked up my left knee a wee bit. It could very well be runner's knee that I have right now. This doesn’t feel too much like the stress fracture because it took me about 6 months to even realize I had a stress fracture. (the fracture never hurt!) This actually has some discomfort to it. I’m going to see Dr. H. on Dec 13th. I’ll be ok during the 1/2 marathon Dec 5th even if I have to walk/jog it. I’ve trained too well not to be ok. I’ve had some really decent runs & up until last week, had no real issues. I’ve NOT over-trained that’s for sure but something is causing some little issue. So, no running at all this week & I’ve told myself to walk/jog the fun run 1 miler with Hannah, Jeff, & Alexa Saturday morning (Great Santa Race). There’s no law I have to run that 5k, especially in a Santa suit. LOL! As for the Vegas ½, with that pit stop to get married at mile 3 we knew we weren’t going to be racing anyway. So, if I have to walk, I’ll obviously walk, no big deal…get to the finish, get the medal, & go have fun. We’ve got some really cool things to do on our agenda & it isn’t all about gambling & drinking either. I could care less about free alcohol & losing $. I’m cheap & I’ve never been that big on alcohol. Heck, I’d rather save the calories for a good meal. :-)

Sun: 1 hr spinerval dvd

Mon: 30 mins with Jillian Michael’s yoga & 30 mins light spinning in front of the news

Tues: weight machines & ab work at the gym

Wed: 30 mins of good ole Jillian Michael’s yoga & 30 mins Jillian Michael's ab workout (it was not easy!)

(Love the yoga so much that I ordered her Abs DVD!)

Thurs: no time for anything

Fri: We fly!

As for the rest of the month, my head is spinning. I've spent a lot of time thinking about how to get everything done. I’ve had some unexpected “appointments” that I pray turn into something GOOD!  Who knows...

Go USA!  Hoping they say Nashville will be a future venue today for the World Cup.