Melting...

5 miles.....decided that I'd do 5 once I was out at 5:11am. ha!
70 degrees & I melted. 9:39 pace
Yoga after work today!

Memorial Day

Remembering all those that have served or have/had someone close to them serve...
God Bless Our Troops!

Monday: Jillian Michaels 30 min yoga & ab ripper P90X

That's it....joints are sore from sitting in the movie theater for some reason.
We saw, "Bridesmaids" with some of the chicks from SNL in it. Totally hilarious!
At one point I had tears streaming down my face, I was laughing so HARD!
Seriously, it's rated R, don't take your kids but go even if you go alone.
Best comedy I've seen in a VERY LONG time!

Planning on a quick, sweaty 4 miles in the am tomorrow, Lord help me!
Next Saturday is Mary Belle's wedding in Nashville so I'll probably just do 8 miles Sat morning.
We'll be out late Sat night. Should be a great wedding & good times catching up with some folks.
At least this next week is a short one!

Stupid 11 miles

I forgot to take my enduralyte pills & forgot my electrolyte water.
I ran with my new fuel belt & didn't even bring enough gatorade & water. Seriously, stupid mistake.
Where was my brain?
On a positive note, got the fuel belt half price at FF. Last one in my size on friday. SCORE!
Got Joe another running hat & myself a new running outfit.
To treat my knotted up, stressed back, I got a reflexology massage yesterday in the Cool Springs area near the theater while Joe & the kids watched the panda movie. It was their Grand Opening....I got a flyer somewhere but can't remember the name of the place. The woman spent around 1 hour 40 mins on me & I was in heaven. She got all the knots out of my back & when she started on the left foot, I could feel the IT Band issue rear it's head. Reflexology massages rock!  $85 w/o tip & worth every penny! 

Ok, back to my miserable 11 miles....yep, decided to go out 5.5 & turn around on Nolensville Rd due to the fact that we had the kids & I didn't want us to drive somewhere to run this weekend.  That route works on me mentally but not having enough fuel on a hot morning was just stupid on my part.  10:40 pace overall.

Mile 1: 10:00
Mile 2: 9:42
Mile 3: 9:31
Mile 4: 9:22
Mile 5: 10:05
Mile 6: 9:54
Mile 7: 10:02 (wheels falling off)
Mile 8: 10:16 (out of water & gatorade)
Mile 9: 11:31 (walking a lot of the hills)
Mile 10: 13:23 (just plain died)
Mile 11: 13:31 (ugh! stupid, stupid, I know better to not have enough fuel!)

Not a smart run with it a sunny 65 degrees when I started but it takes something like this to remind me of what I ALREADY KNOW about running in the summer. I kept saying in my head, "you know better, this ain't something you don't know about, you must be more brain dead than usual, etc...."
Next weekend will be a different story.

2 weeks...

2 weeks at new job...
2 weeks of getting used to the village full time...
2 weeks of trying to run in "not my usual" places...(miss East area)
2 weeks & I finished off friday pretty brain dead.
So much to get used to & learn & I have little to no patience for myself.
2 months from now I hope I'm much more happier with myself.
I hate being the "new" person.
All that said everyone seems really nice & in the 2 weeks I've been there we've had 2 nearly 2 hr lunches. LOL! Love the "You Only Live Once, Sugah" restaurant in Greenhills!

I did manage to get up early a few times to work out despite the bad storm & the fact that I'm plagued with yet another inconsiderate asshole neighbor who throws their dog outside at night to howl!
We called the 'hood security but apparently the people weren't at home. Trust me, this WILL get taken care of or I will be beating on their door myself. Before anyone says I need to move to the country, a friend of mine who has a huge cabin on 10 acres in Lynchburg is battling coyotes. Her husband shot a coyote in broad daylight in their front yard last week. She's got wild critters keeping her awake & bothering her animals.

So, where'd I leave off....
Thursday: Did about an hour of yoga after work. Slept in because of the storm.
Friday: We did get up early & run 4 little miles. (9:31 pace)  My goal is to get my long run in early Sun morning. Going to run how I feel....not sure how long or far.
Today I'm not doing squat as far as exercise. Been a long time since I've not done squat.

Our plans so far today are to open Ascend accounts for the kids. I heart my credit union. Joe may even open an account there also.  No frills, no idiotic charges...
And we'll see a movie I'm sure....

Happy Memorial Day Weekend Everyone!

Who turned up the heat? bleh!

Monday: ab ripper in the morning & yoga in the afternoon.
Tuesday: yoga in the morning & a miserably HOT 5 mile run at a 10:09 pace in the afternoon. Bleh!!!
Wednesday: ab ripper & a hot 3 mile run after work at a 10:03 pace. Bleh, again!

Hope the weather starts cooperating in the mornings for some runs.
Everytime I think I'm going to run in the am, the weather gets crazy, I don't sleep, etc....

Hoping to get another 5 miler in sometime in between the heat & storms this week.
Not sure what the long run will be....

No real plans for the long weekend & that's A OK with me.

Uneventful weekend

Did the P90X ab ripper Fri am but nothing after work....kid's recital.
Jessica rocked out her Katy Perry "You're hot & cold" song. LOL!
Good thing I got those tickets for the Aug concert at Bridgestone.  :)

Saturday, my exercise involved push mowing, cleaning, & moving the last of the big stuff.

Sunday, we ran the Moon Pie course. Amazingly enough the cicada's left us alone but you could sure hear them. Sounded like the freaking World Cup minus the horns out there on "Happy Valley" road.
I think we started about 7:10ish. Nobody else showed & I didn't care. I wasn't running a "talkative" pace for me. ugh!  9:47 overall for 10 miles. Sad, I know...but I've done training runs out there before at around that pace. 

Mile 1:  9:34
Mile 2:  9:31
Mile 3:  10:09 (here the hills come & I'm suffering from humidity already!)
Mile 4:  9:36
Mile 5:  11:12 (Yep, I walked THE hill & the garmin was reading an 18:30 pace. ha!)
Mile 6:  9:19 (relief & I kept it here for 2 miles)
Mile 7:  9:19
Mile 8:  9:42 (more hills)
Mile 9: 9:50  (just wanted it overwith!)
Mile 10:  9:59

Happy that I only had 2 miles over a 10 minute pace but this tells me that I will most likely get a PW on June 18th.  Eh, well...it's about the food at the end, right?  I'll want a popcicle, please.
Thinking we may head over there again early morning on the 4th for another go of it...we have Mary Belle's wedding that evening/night so no early Sunday run for sure.

We did the Pancake Pantry for the first time...had to wait in line probably 30+ minutes.
Checked off my "to do in Nashville" list & probably won't go back. So much food!

Stretching & doing yoga today & tomorrow....
Joey graduates from the 5th grade tomorrow night & the kids are out after Tuesday.
Hello Summertime!

Ironic?

Is it ironic that the village ice cream truck passed me 2-3X on my 5 mile run after work today?
(At one point playing "silent night"? weird!)
At least it went a little better than the Tues run. My body was tied up in stressed knots.
A big whopping 19 miles for the week for me. (Note sarcasm)
Next run will hopefully be on the Moon Pie course early Sunday morning.

The light bulb is blinking a little....already!

So, I'm actually grasping a few things on my 3rd day. I can't wait till the learning curve is over & I KNOW EVERYTHING!!!  ha!

My drive:
Takes anywhere from 35-45 mins in the morning. Depends on if all the damn red lights are in working order, if anyone's been murdered, or if anything's caught on fire, etc... (Yes, my coworkers go through the same thing so we'll all bitch together at 8am every morning.)  The afternoon is not near as bad so far....

My coworkers:
So far, I know it's only been 3 days but they are absolutely adorable, nice, sweet, & VERY helpful. They are a group of about 5-6 women & everyone has seemed GREAT so far. The tiny one in front of me...I just want to pick her up & squeeze her. She's so cheery & helpful. In 3 days she's given me all the ins & outs of the place, seriously. LOVE HER!

I called one of my former coworkers during lunch. He said he keeps going to my desk to talk to me. He's still not broken the habit after 3 days. Bless him!  :)
Ok former coworker viewer, reveal yourself...I can see in the stats that someone is viewing me from old job & someone from TUB is viewing me. Who do I know working at the Tullahoma Utility Board?  Strange!

On a not so great note, the week after Moon Pie my running will definitely take a back seat, probably. We'll be downtown at a conference all week long...staying downtown. Oh well...my actual marathon training will start after that anyway.

Happy Hump Day!

Overwhelmed but this too shall pass...

Wow, so much to learn but the people are exceptionally NICE at the new gig.

Ok, fess up, who at my old job keeps googling this website?  LOL!

Friday needs to get here so I can breathe.......

Not much going on work out wise...lots of stretchig, P90X ab ripper, Jillian's yoga, & a painful 5 mile run that never loosened up. Ouch! 

What the hella, patella?!

Since Wed afternoon, I've had some pain around the left knee. I figured it was IT Band related but my IT Band had never hurt me this much. Just plain annoying pain. I iced it, took ibuprophen, stretched it like the devil!! This is the price I pay for not making time for yoga much the last couple of weeks. I wasn't planning to run Thurs & Fri anyway & well, other things like moving & the rain made me move my 9 miler to Sunday instead of Saturday. It went great, though!  I wore my Mueller band under my left knee along with my trusty compression socks & felt fine the whole way. Of course the cool down this weekend with overcast skies sure helped!

Mile 1: 9:58
Mile 2: 9:19
Mile 3: 9:47
Mile 4: 10:04
Mile 5: 9:52
Mile 6: 9:10
Mile 7: 9:00
Mile 8: 9:09
Mile 9: 9:31

You can sure tell where I ran the hills! ha!  I took it real easy the first couple of miles to see what the knee would do. I took 2-3 short walk breaks on the tough hills.

All I'd done since Wed was weights at DW Wilson & of course move the last of my small stuff from the house. All we have left to move is 2 dressers, a full size bed, 2 bed frames, full length mirror, push mower, tall lamp, & some cleaning supplies to move next Saturday morning. Ya think that will all fit in the back of a Silverado truck in one trip?  Ehh, hope so or we'll be making 2 trips to the 'homa next Saturday. I have very little left to clean up there, thank goodness.

I'm excited but a nervous wreck...it's not every day I change jobs. I hope to learn a lot, be challenged, & love it. It's such a nice area of Nashville. If it pans out that I stay there then I'm treating myself to a new pair of running shorts at the Lululemon store up the road.  :)

Joe sent in our "run thru Vegas wedding" info to Owen Vandy Business mag. LOL!

Whew!

I can be sentimental at times & at other times notsomuch…
What am I going to miss here?
Definitely the people I work with even though it’s not always been a smooth ride.
They’ve been like family to me, much like the people at the job I had before this one!
I’ve been spoiled & I realize it. Kinda scares me.
A whole new set of folks who may or may not like me…
I hate being judged by people who don’t know me & we’ve all done it.
It’s just a part of human nature!
When I think about all the friends I’ve made over my “working years” I think of Sheila from Germany, Cheryl from Texas, & Annmarie from Clarksville. I wouldn’t know these folks if I hadn’t been forced to change jobs. We’re all scattered across the U.S. now but keep in touch.
I’ll miss my running buddies here even though I’ve not run with anyone lately other than Kim C. I figure that I started running totally alone here years ago so why not run alone the last week I’m living here. Ha! I will miss the East area of town the most. The miles I’ve logged there in the extreme heat, the cold, the dark, with the blazing sunshine on my back…. The Halloween runs I did running past the trick or treaters were the most memorable. I’ll miss biking though the base, getting off my bike to move turtles out of the road, watching the fish jump high out of the water, & the deer running literally right next to me, etc… I will miss the almost NO TRAFFIC of the base in the early weekend mornings!

There’s plenty I won’t miss but I won’t go into that. Ha!
This move should’ve happened years ago truth be known but what can I say.
You get into a comfort zone. I’ve often looked for work outside of this area but it just wasn’t meant to be until now. I’ll be closer to a lot of folks that I don’t see that often.
My Aunt Becky (20 mins up the road), Sharon (in Westhaven-friend from way back!), Hannah (15 mins closer to the ‘boro), Arlene (in Watertown), & lots of running peeps!

Lots of settling in to do & I’m sure we’ll find more stuff to sell on craigslist.
I’m left with only two Broyhill end tables in the ‘homa to sell. Any takers? LOL!

This morning (Wednesday): I got my arse up at 5am & was out the door at about 5:20am.
It was nearly daylight, quiet, no sign of cicada’s, just me & the garmin. 4.5 miles at a 9:16 pace. It took me about a mile to really wake up the legs. They’re tired this week for some reason. All I need is my 9 miler Saturday morning & that’s it for the week. Next Sunday morning, (the 22nd), Joe & I will trek to the Moon Pie course EARLY to run. He’s never run it & boy is he in for a treat. He is going to love that negative split!  :)

Heat Acclimation!

Sunday:
3.1 mostly flat HOT miles with Joe (9:07 pace)
(He ran 3.25 the day before, which was his first run post CMM marathon)

Monday:
Stretched & did a little ab ripper P90x in the AM
5.5 hot, mostly flat miles out East area (9:35 pace) after work
(Joe ran 4 mi before Jess's soccer game at a 7:50 pace)

Tuesday:
Mucho stretching & DW Wilson after work for weight machines/ab work

Wednesday:
I hope to get my arse up out of the bed to run 4.5 early.
It will be around 65 degrees at 5am after all!

Hello Summer time!

chicken with head cut off...

Yeah, that’s me!

I’m kicking myself for not using craigslist sooner to get some things sold.
Hopefully, by the 14th almost everything will be gone, though.
I’m just thankful my washer & dryer sold!
I’m pretty fired up & totally running on adrenaline.
I hope to finish “Summer & the City” this weekend & then brush up on some Microsoft skills that I don’t use all the time. Prepping for whatever comes my way.
God help me, I hate the learning curve at a new job.
In the meantime, I’m getting in the workouts (or I would be crazy!)

Last Sunday: I did 1 hr elliptical & weight machines
Did squats with 8 lb weights. (been a while)
This was my last work out at Harvey’s before I cancelled it.
They are giving back nearly all the $ I gave them in Feb.

Monday: Ran 5 mi at something like a 9:38 pace
I felt stiff…definitely the squats from Sunday & the fact that it had been nearly a week since I had run at all. Yikes!  Did ab ripper & felt it. I could tell I slacked off the previous week due to so much going on… (Ran into, "literally", TQ. He really LOVED pacing his 2:15 halfers last Saturday & wants to do it again.)

Tuesday: 30 mins Jillian Michael’s yoga AM
Weight machines at DW PM (Will miss Ted, Charles, & company!)

Wednesday: Ab ripper AM
Ran 8 hilly miles which included the Mach Tenn course PM.
Around a 9:35 pace…. OMG, I felt it Thursday!

Thursday: 30 mins Jillian Michael’s yoga AM
Mowed yard after work

Friday: Rest-got too much going on…sold big green chest that was in my way!

Saturday: 6 miles at 9:21 pace with some hills.
Old couple in huge car tried to run me off the road.
Old lady actually screamed at me from her passenger side window.
I yelled back & if they had stopped, I would’ve gladly stopped my garmin & given them a lesson on road rules. What idiots! Probably heading to eat their Hardee’s lard breakfast. Ha!

We’re registered for the Moon Pie 10 miler June 18th & the Murfreesboro ½ Oct 15th. The ‘boro ½ will be 3 weeks & 1 day before the NYC marathon. Should be a good tune up race. That means our 20 miler will fall the weekend of Oct 8th. I pray for a cool October this year!!

Happy Mother's day weekend everyone!  :)

Shock Mode

-I'm shocked at the damage done in the south by last weeks horrific weather, specifically Alabama. God bless them as they clean up, rebuild, & regroup. So many prayers...last week was just scary!!!
-I’m still in shock that I actually have a new job as of May 16th.
-I'm still in shock that the Preds made it to the 2nd round of the play offs.
(Man, that was a GREAT game we went to last Sunday!!!!!)
-I'm still in shock that the weekend is almost over & my MI cousin is heading back, probably later tonight.
-I'm still in shock that Joe did a 4:14 & NO change on the hilly, heated Country Music marathon course with a groin pull. He babied it along the way & it paid off. Amazing!
My mind is in overload & well, I'm amazed, grateful, & scared all rolled into one.
My cousin, Faith, put it best last week. She basically told me that God has opened a door so take it. Even if things don't work out at the new job, it's leading you somewhere. I take comfort in that. :-)

My workouts last week or lack there of...

Monday: push mowed the yard for an hour after work

Tuesday AM: 40 mins elliptical & P90X ab ripper
Tuesday PM: 5.5 miles (9:42 pace, mostly flat) & some weight machines

Wednesday: Too much to do to get in a workout!
Thursday:  Walked around downtown & Expo, wouldn't call it a workout!
Friday: Same as Thursday
Saturday: probably walked/jogged approximately 4 miles, if that, downtown, looking for Joe, Patti, & John on the course. (Patti & John walked/jogged the half in just under 3 hrs)
Sunday: 1 hr elliptical & some weight machines

Met Ryan Hall & got our pic with him this time around. (It's on Facebook) Had heard him speak last year & got an autograph. Got it again this year, plus pic! Listened to Kara Goucher speak. She looks like a 16 yr old girl, I swear. Got some great deals on things as usual at the Expo. I may not ever run the CMM full or for that matter the CMM 1/2 again but I sure like shopping the Expo.

Now to my many, many lists of things to get done & YES there will be some running some time this week for sure!!!

Lots of "H" words.....

Hot, Humid, Hilly, Heat.....
Bleh, bleh, & more bleh...
As they say, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.."
I overshot my goal of 9 miles this morning so I walked most of the last 1.5 miles of it.
Overall it was a 10:27 pace & I'm just fine & dandy with that since this is my first REAL dose of humidity this year for a "longish" run. (9.55 miles at 1:39:43)  Longest run I've done since my wedding day, Dec 5th in Vegas. Joe's got some groin soreness this week. Guess I spoke too soon a few blogs back. I pray that it isn't a huge issue on Saturday. Let's hope mother nature eases up on the humidity.

Yesterday, I did nothing other than the fit test at Endurance Sports.
I had a horrible time blowing the air out of my body & staying under long enough to get a GOOD reading so David estimated the results, bless his heart. Needless to say I wasn't that surprised at my BMI test results. I was not too thrilled to learn that I've lost 3/4 of an inch on my height in the last year. WTH?  Apparently, I can do nothing & still burn approximately 1400 calories a day. My V02 results were off the charts for my age bracket of 40-49. Superior is 36.9 but I got a 40.4!!  I'd pat myself on my back but that proves that I do NOT run efficiently at all. If there's anything that I learned from "Lore of Running" is the fact that even though your V02 results might be high, if you're a sloppy runner it won't matter one bit. They had an awesome treadmill there that I felt like I could fly on so that helped, I'm sure. WAY better than Harvey's treadmills. I snagged a good deal on a bike shirt there. Let's hope I find time to use it!

We went to the 'boro for burgers off the grill at the Heusers. Yummy!!!  Jeff can do up some great burgers!
Then we headed off to the Saturday evening Easter service at Murphy center. World Outreach Church is awesome & G. Allen Jackson has the best personality of just about any preacher I've ever heard. I just wish that we weren't 30-35 mins from that church. :-(  Totally enjoyed the service, which included Michael W. Smith singing also.

Today, we're heading to the first hour or so of the Sounds game then we'll head over to Bridgestone for the Preds play off game. If they win tonight, the place will be exploding with excitement.

Hope everyone has a wonderful & safe Easter.

And week it has been.....

Last Sunday: Rest (I should've been stretching more...)
Monday: 5 hilly, humid miles on the Mach Tenn Tri course 10:01 pace & 35 mins elliptical
Tuesday: 35 mins elliptical in the AM, weight machines/ab ripper P90X PM
Wednesday: 30 mins Jillian Michael's yoga AM & 5.5 miles w/Kim (my garmin was dead & she forgot hers but I feel like we were around a 9:30 pace chatting comfortably)
Thursday: P90X yoga (90 mins of stretching & I sure needed it)
Friday: 6.5 miles around 9:30am at a 10:06 pace. (I walked a few times so I'm happy with this hot/humid/hilly run)

Tomorrow morning I FINALLY get to use my gift certificates for the metabolism, V02, & BMI tests!
Granted I'm not in the BEST shape of my life but these tests will certainly tell me where I'm at right now.

The week started off rough & trust me there are things that I wish I could change about it.
Sometimes I open my mouth without thinking. I'm human & I apologized to the person but didn't hear from them. (No big deal!) 
I was also stalked by a idiot from the past at 5am on Tues as I was heading to the gym. It was a bit funny now that I think about it but disturbing at 5AM! 
I thought to myself, "Self, your world is just too small, be more proactive to get the HELL out of the 'homa!"
Things turned around in the afternoon on Tues when I got a call to come interview at a company I had applied at online the previous Thursday. Long story short, I interviewed yesterday & had the job in a matter of hours offered to me. (The written offer is coming via mail early next week.) I'll know more next week, but I'm excited & scared to death at the same time.

We did trivia in the 'boro with the Heusers on Thurs evening & came in 2nd. See, we're aren't stupid all the time!  Today, we're relaxing. Saturday, we're attending the World Outreach Church services at Murphy center. I can't wait. They always have a GREAT service. Sunday, we're going to the Predators play off game. Go Preds!

8 Flat Miles on Saturday

Running with Jill's Team Rio group won out.
I was up at 4:15am, out the door at 5:15am & at River Park parking lot around 6:30am.
Since what I had to do was run out 4 mi & turn around & come back I decided to try to push my pace a little the first 4 miles.
Mile 1: 9:32 (chatted with a woman doing Boston as a charity runner for a bit)
Mile 2: 9:15 (trying to keep Jill & her pink shorts in my sight)
Mile 3: 9:04 (finally caught Jill)
Mile 4: 9:16 (my turn around point. I was glad because we were on a concrete sidewalk. My body hates concrete)
Mile 5: 9:19 (feeling pretty decent)
Mile 6: 9:55 (took a wrong turn & stopped a walker to ask directions-ha!)
Mile 7: 9:50 (legs feeling tired)
Mile 8: 9:56 (realized I was going to be over .25 short so I ran around the Y parking lot)

Two guys stopped me for my pace & admitted they were trying to catch me. (9:31 pace)
I love running with others because it pushes me. :)
Thanks Jill for the invite.

We had Joe's family in from MI. Nice weekend despite the rain & wind on Sat.
Not doing much of anything today other than stretching.

Tomorrow I'm tackling the Mach Tenn Tri course hills in the heat. bleh!

GO PREDATORS!!!

Mid-April...bring it!

Monday:
1 hr elliptical & a few weight machines
No soreness from Sunday’s 7 mile hilly run

Tuesday:
Ahhh, ab ripper P90X…16 minutes long & I always break a sweat.
I’ve been doing ab stuff at DW Wilson, also.
I hear about people being sore from ripper but so far no soreness still.
5 mile hilly run on the Mach Tenn course (we added a flat mile to it)
9:46 pace which was way better than last week when I did the 4 miles
Started SUPER slow with an 11 minute pace (had to re-tie shoes!)
I negative split the 5 miles easily.
The Mach Tenn Tri run course is actually 3.88 not 4 miles.
I run per what the garmin tells me & every time it’s short exactly the same distance.
Some weight machines afterwards

Wednesday:
58 minutes of P90X “Back & Legs” in the morning.
I was so proud to be awake enough to do it & not sore from the 5 miles.
I am getting stronger…maybe? :-)
35 mins on the elliptical
Jillian Michael’s 30 min yoga after work

Thursday:
Ab ripper in the morning
Some weight machines & 35 mins on the elliptical afternoon

Friday:
Friday is 100% rain, thunderstorms, lightening...bleh!
Elliptical 1 hour

Saturday:
8 miles with some hills in the ‘homa OR get up EARLY & run 8 with “Team Rio” group at some Park off Concord Rd OR pay $40 for 2 races (run the Purity Moosic 5k, then “jog” the 10k.)
I’m only supposed to do 8 miles, not 9.3 so Purity is probably out.

Purity Moosic both races
Pro: I need a fire under my slow ass…a 5k would push me
Pro: Get to Joe’s earlier
Con: the 10k might break me…(7 miles is my longest run since Dec 5th!)
Con: It is $40.00 that I could spend elsewhere although it is a GREAT cause.

Run with Team Rio
Pro: Only 8 miles
Pro: FREE & with other runners
Pro: Get to Joe’s earlier than if I ran in the ‘homa
Con: Still have to get up early to get to a place I’ve never been…

Run in ‘homa
Pro: Sleep in a little
Pro: Free
Con: less motivation
Con: later arrival to Joe’s

(update on Joe’s CMM Full preparation: he’s trained well with no injuries so now if Mother Nature will smile on Apr 30th, that would be Fantastic!)

I’ve got hockey & baseball fever!!!!!

Heat, Hills & some race decisions

7 miles 10:22 pace with hills. I'll take that since I ran hills yesterday & biked for the first time in many months. It wasn't burning up hot yet because we were out shortly after 7:30am Sunday (62 degrees when we started & 67 when we finished.). I'm thinking this is the longest run I've done since Dec 5th so I'm ok with it. (at least it's not like LAST Sunday, bleh!)
Today I think we'll take a picnic to the base beach, mach tenn tri area, even though it's not open yet.
I'd love to soak in some sun, read, & just "veg".

Well, I have until the end of April to decide before race fees go up.
I'm thinking Joe & I will do the Moon Pie race this year. It will hurt my pride if I get a personal worst on it but I am planning 2 practice runs on it. EARLY in the am May 22nd & EARLY in the am June 5th.
2004 time:
1:30:14 9:05
2005 time:
1:31:14 9:08
2006 time:
1:28:59  8:54 
2007: time:
1:29:52  9:00 
2008: cracked shin
2009: we were at Disney World but my shin was still cracked.
2010: I didn't have time to train for it because I had just been given the go ahead to run late April.
So, I'm trying real hard to find an excuse NOT to do it this year but I can't. ha!
I guess my goal is to try to get as close to 1:30 as I can..anything below it will just be gravy for me this year.
I'm also tossing around the idea of doing the Memorial Day Dash. Joe should be healed from the CMM full by then & he's never done it. I think he'll like running around the Sounds field since he spends so much time there with the neighbors. Ha!

Gesh, the heat!

Gripes about weather:

We’ve had some hot, early Spring days but the fact that it snaps back to cooler weather overnight with the tornado threats makes my sinuses spasm. I know I gripe about this all the time but again, you can probably measure the barometric pressure if you plug into my sinus cavities. Arg! Don’t get me started with all this flowery stuff floating in the wind…bleh!

Gripes about my current “read”:

I’ve had a biography written by Andrew Morton about Madonna for a long time. I kept putting off reading it. (got it off a bargain table at Big Lots) I love/hate her really. She is a “sign” of my youth, though. Oh, how many times I’ve danced to her early stuff when nobody was looking. LOL! I dressed like her, bought her music, & saw her in concert. Love her but man, oh man, what a character… I’m learning stuff in this book about her that just isn’t too likeable. Eh, to each his own… I’ll keep the memory of listening to “La Isla Bonita” on the Ft. Lauderdale beach during Spring break ‘87 in my head & forget the “ugly” stuff. :-)(Amazing at how much Lady Gaga seems to emulate her.) Next up will be Michael Oher’s book, “I beat the odds”.

Gripes about my running:

At my age, I hope I know my limits. I have come to the conclusion that the P90X is keeping my legs sore & not allowing for a full recovery to run at a decent pace. Granted I’ve not been doing the “plan”. I’ve just been inserting the workouts here n’ there during my week. If there were 9 days in a week instead of 7, I could keep some of these workouts but that just can’t happen anymore. If only I didn’t love sleep so much & didn’t have to work. LOL!

After April, I’ve made a promise to myself to keep the Jillian Michael’s workouts in rotation (yoga & abs). I will keep the ab ripper X & occasionally I may do the yoga X. For me to stay stretched out & injury free, I have to keep yoga on the calendar no matter what. All the other stuff will just keep me sore/slow. Late Nov/early Dec, I’ll get back to some P90X. I’ve loved the variety, though! Also, I need time to get that little thing in my laundry room out on the road, too…the bike!

Monday: (actually still had some soreness behind my knees)

50 minutes on the elliptical
Some weight machines
Ab ripper X

Tuesday: (motrin PM night before. Ibuprophen Rocks!)

J. Michael’s yoga in the AM
6 mi run after work (9:43 pace, sure beat Sunday’s death march)
35 mins elliptical to stretch out legs

Wednesday:

P90X 43 min Cardio in the AM (sweatfest!)
Yard work after work (cross training!)

Thursday:

Ab ripper in the AM
4 mi run on the Mach Tenn Tri course (ugh, hills & heat at 10:18 pace for me)
Weight machines

Friday:

1 hr elliptical

Saturday:

A little local 5k sponsored by Northlake Elementary School.
As you know local 5ks are not “true” 5ks most of the time.
2.85 miles in 26:35…(hills & heat & I had to walk 2X to get my heart rate under control)
I was the 2nd woman in but hey…it was local. :-)
Couple hours later I dusted off the Fuji for 17.5 miles 15.9 mph with Jessie & Keena.
Ugh, headwinds/crosswinds & well, it’s just freaking hot right now & my body isn’t ready for it. There should be a law against it getting above 80 in April. Just sayin’…

“Arthur” is playing at the Drive In. Yeah!
If it’s not raining that’s where we’ll be tonight. :-)

Thrashed & dehydrated

6 hilly miles that turned into a walk/jog after the 2.5 mile mark.
I know better than to run w/o drinking water.
Running on nothing but coffee doesn't work & I'm a stupid idiot for doing it.
It was 57 when I started & pretty breezy so ideally, this should have been somewhat of decent run.
Then I reminded myself that this is the 2nd 6 mi run I've had since Dec 18th. (I looked at my log!)
My upper back was sorta tight from P90X yoga yesterday & my calves were incredibly tight.
I've not had any ibuprophen in over 2 days either..
All I know is that I'm logging 6 mi at an 11:44 pace & I'll live with that for now since it did involve climbing up a hill that makes the 4.25 mi hill at Moon Pie seem miniscule.
My legs felt thrashed but I kept reminding myself that I have well over 6 months to get ready for New York.
God help me.....

Last week of March

P90X, running, yoga, etc:

I’m putting off buying the pull-up bar simply because I just don’t have the time/energy to do the “arm/chest” specific dvds. Just don't see it happening....
Monday night I did “Back & Legs” for the 2nd time. Like before, when they do the pull up bar exercises, I use my 5 lb weights to do various exercises. Yes, I’m ONLY using 5 lb weights but believe it or not my arms/shoulders were sore this time around. Jillian’s yoga was a bit challenging on the mat Tuesday morning. I drove over to the gym to do the elliptical right after I finished “Legs & Back” for 50 minutes to loosen the tightness. Easy to do when you’re distracted by “DWTS”. LOL! (I’m rooting for Hines Ward & Ralph Macchio (Karate Kid-can’t believe he’s 50 yrs old!) It worked! No where near as sore as the first time I did the dreaded “Back & Legs”.
Tuesday afternoon, weight machines/30 mins on elliptical. (yoga that morning)
Wednesday, 5 mi (9:57 pace-calves were tight the last 2 m) & 30 mins yoga. I felt ok despite just being barely under a 10 min pace. Thank You, Motrin PM for a good night’s rest & almost no soreness on Wednesday AM.
Thursday AM, ab ripper P90X. (16 minute sweat!)
Thursday PM, weight machines & elliptical for 35 minutes…gotta get the gym time in!
Friday, 4 mi run after work (9:44 pace) & MORE elliptical. (what can I say, it loosens my legs.)
Saturday 30 mins Jillian Michael's ab dvd. (OMG, forgot how hard that thing can be!)I took a 45 min break & dived right into the 90 min P90X yoga. I feel all stretched out now.
Tomorrow is a 6 mile run in Joe's hilly neighborhood.

Anne Frank Center in NYC:

I am going to try to get to the Anne Frank Center in NYC when we head there for the marathon in Nov. I heard on the news that there’s talk it will move to the Ground Zero area. I’m not planning much this time around as far as sight seeing because I want it all to be about the marathon on this visit. Re-reading the famous diary has sparked my interest in the museum. When I think that it was only 67 yrs ago that they were found by the Nazi’s, I realize that my grandma was here living in Tullahoma raising her kids freely & happily. Really puts it all in perspective. I pray that nothing like this ever happens anywhere. This has to be one of the greatest tragedies ever written.

Seven Random Things About Me:

From what I’ve read on other blogs, they’re supposed to be stuff that most people wouldn’t know about you. I get these things all the time from people & ignore them but I guess I’m going to answer here.

1. I’ve never had the chicken pox…both sisters got it at the same time but I didn’t.
2. I’m the oldest of three girls. (Deb & Steph) Deb is 42 & Steph is 40.
3. I lost a baby in 1991. I was only 1 month along but some day I hope to see him in heaven. :) (I just know it would’ve been a boy because my sisters had all boys.)
4. My ex husband got me running while living in Germany. The greatest gift he ever gave me.
5. My first job was working behind a concession stand in the local movie theater. Oh my, if those walls could talk…we had WAY too much fun.
6. I feel naked if I don’t constantly have a book going, preferably a good biography.
There is something about reading what makes people tick that fascinates me.
7. I think of exercise as like “brushing my teeth”. I have to do some form of it every day.

April...Bring it!

Cold & Sweaty

We ran 3.59 miles to Harvey's this afternoon. I did some weights & off we went back to the house shortening the distance to 2.75 miles. Joe kept going to add some miles & drop his pace. Brrr, cold.
Glad I did it but my calves are a little tight. It was around 42 degrees & I was dressed well enough that I worked up a good sweat. My overall pace was only 10:01 both runs combined. (We were in harvey's maybe 20-25 minutes.) I'm going to try to put on a brave face & do the P90X Back & Legs dvd tomorrow. I'm not running again until Wednesday so I'm allowing for the inevitable left hip pain on Tuesday. LOL!

Wow....core synergistics!

I've only done this P90X dvd one other time & I was obviously well rested when I did it the first time.
I didn't remember how hard this one was...ouch! Of course my legs were still a little tired from the first 6 miler I've done in over 3 months! I'm cutting myself some slack & skipping Carla's pilates class this morning in favor of Jillian Michael's yoga. Besides it's raining "cats n' dogs" outside right now. I've got to get out later for a hair cut & groceries. We were contemplating trivia tonight or Daddy Billy's to see Kim's husband's band but I may opt for a movie at the house instead. I'm going to do something tomorrow that I've not done in a very long time....3 miles to the gym (weights for about 30 minutes) then 3 miles back home.
I'm all for variety these days. ha!

my opinionated week....ha!

Workouts:
Those days where I have a lot of energy out of “nowhere” are odd to me. You know the days where you seem to bounce off walls? Maybe it’s my coffee intake lately? The last 2-3 days I’ve been Ms. High Energy & not sure why. I’ve had problems sleeping for weeks but I’ve come to the conclusion that 6 ½-7 is ok for me for a few days anyway. I don’t need a straight 8 hrs to survive every single night but it’s nice to have 8 hrs at least one day a week. I actually got up early enough to do the 43 minute P90X Cardio workout Thursday morning. Lately I’ve been struggling to get up early enough to allow for 30 minutes of exercise. (Good ole Jillian Michael’s yoga fits well into those mornings.) I do like getting in the 2 workouts a day some days, especially if one is cardio & the other is weights and/or yoga. I’m only logging 12.5 mi this week running, next week 15...the slow build up…ah, patience, grasshopper! (I had a really nice 6 mi run with Pam, Marc, Kim, & Michele right after work today. My first 6 mi run since Dec 18th & it felt great!)

Books:
“Anne Frank”…I had forgotten that she addressed her entries “Dear Kitty”.
Wow, I had also forgot how insightful she was & how depressed this book can make you feel but at the same time, GRATEFUL! Her character analysis of the people around her cracks me up. Truly amazing that Anne’s father is the only one who survived out of the 8 in hiding. The pain that man must have carried in his heart is unthinkable to me. If you skipped it as a kid, read it. Makes me VERY glad that I was born in this country & that’s putting it lightly. I regret terribly that I didn’t get my butt over to the “Secret Annexe” in Amsterdam during my 2 yr stay in Germany in the early 90s. One day I’d like to cross that off my bucket list. (Yes, I went from reading a book Kristin Armstrong wrote to reading “Anne Frank” & I’m totally losing myself in it. Ha!) I feel naked these days if I don’t constantly have a book going.

Elizabeth Taylor:
I wasn’t a huge fan but did admire her spunk. Her work with AIDS was remarkable.
Like the news says, she brought the disease to the forefront when nobody else would.
She was a gorgeous young woman, who could act but she managed to break up at least two marriages. That…I’m not a fan...(Eddie Fisher-Debbie Reynolds & Richard Burton-Sybil Williams…yeah, I had to google it!) I do remember watching a movie she did with Montgomery Clift a very long time ago. It’s the one with a young Shelly Winters in it. It was called, “A Place in the Sun”. Shelly played the pregnant girlfriend of a guy that really wanted to be with Liz’s character. Apparently, it was nominated for quite a few Academy awards (I just googled that too. Ha!). I’d love to see “Giant” with James Dean someday. Speaking of Debbie Reynolds, I am SUPER EXCITED that she’s playing “Grandma Mazur” in the movie, “One for the Money”. (Attention: Janet Evanovich fans!)

Facebook:
Finally they’re trying to figure out how to delete under-aged users!
Shouldn’t this have been a priority in the first place?
I’m ALL for it. I don’t think it’s necessary for anyone under 13 to be on it, especially if they have access to tons of personal video games anyway.

Tennessee:
I heard on the news this morning that TN ranks #1 in the country for being the “laziest”.
(We’re also #1 in meth labs.) Incredibly Sad & appalling! When I travel & people ask me where I’m from I guess I will feel the need to throw in there that I fall into the % that does exercise. We have one of the greatest areas in the country for hiking, running, swimming, biking, etc… I don’t understand why Tennesseans don’t take advantage of our great state parks.

Something Joe found online this morning:
This is a scary statistic for the entire country in only 10 short years...
During the past 10 years, rates of obesity (defined by a body mass index of 30 or higher) have increased dramatically around the country.
In 2009, there were nine states where more than 30% of the population was obese, whereas in 1999, there were none. In 2009, only Colorado and Washington, D.C. had obesity rates below 20% of population, when only 10 years earlier, 32 states had that distinction.  (WAKE UP, AMERICA!)

My heros:
I have always admired those that encourage & set the example of leading a healthy lifestyle. Those that get out the door early in the morning (before the kids wake up) to run or hit the gym (in most cases before they have to get to work), you’re my inspiration. You tell me I have no excuses without saying the words with your actions. You may have unfolded laundry, you may have some dirty dishes in the sink, & sometimes you may have to skip/postpone your workout but you still get it done somehow. Even if it means running around the ball park while your son has practice or showing up in the grocery store sweaty because you had to run at a certain time…keep at it!

Whew, I need to shut up now & "veg".  ;-P