Sometimes You Deserve a Treat

Last week J and I finally decided to give in and splurge on the ultimate post-run treat.



Nothing helps you to get over the pain of a long run more than watching "Rock of Love" in HDTV. Sweet Jesus, what happened to Bret Michaels face? There is such a thing as too much botox.

Other than that, not much exciting to report on this week. Busy with work, life, blah, blah, blah...

I had a meeting last week with Footworks.They are the running store in South Miami that does the huge marathon training program that I used last year while training for the Miami Half-Marathon. I have been asked this year to be a team leader (along with two others) for the 10:30 pace 5:1 group. J has led one of the faster paced groups the past two years and it was pretty nice that they asked me to help out. Especially since I have never actually run a full marathon yet. Maybe I'm supposed to keep that part a secret, hmmm... Thankfully, the main leader in my group has been doing this for a few years and has it mostly under control. I'll just stand around and act like I know what I'm doing ;)

Anyway, the program starts again this Saturday for the Miami Full Marathon training, so it will be interesting to see how J and I manage to coordinate our long runs. For example, this week Miami has a nice short 3 miler, but we have a 20 miler scheduled for Columbus. Not too bad, but as the weeks go on, it could get pretty hard to juggle it. We'll see.

Training has been great. I kept up with all my runs, made it to the gym one day and had a awesome 18 miler (another first!)

Sunday, 7/22 - gym, lift, abs, 30 minutes elliptical
Monday, 7/23 - 6.1 miles/61:14 - 10:01 pace
Wednesday, 7/25 - 5.65 miles/57:00 - 10:05 pace
Friday, 7/26 - 2.9 miles/27:55 - 9:37 pace
Saturday, 7/27 - 18.02 miles/3:06:38 - 10:21 pace

Total Weekly Mileage: 32.67

Pretty good mileage, not as great as I had planned, but it was good.

I had a little scare with an odd foot pain on Friday, hence the short run. I stopped a short run even shorter since I was doing 18 miles the next day. It was an odd sensation on the top and side of my foot, but thankfully it has gone away and not returned. Phew.

My 18 miler was great. It was my first long run back with J and while I was scared since I had toned down my pace a little in the past few weeks, it felt great to run with him again. Our pace was right on this week too, 10:30 the whole run. It was pretty hot, but I somehow had a lot of energy. I even cut out the walk breaks the last mile. I think I may be getting used to this running thing.

Ask me next week after my 20.

Never Say Never

I never thought I would see the day when I thought a 12 mile run was "short".

I also never thought I would believe that 79 degrees with 78% humidity was cool for 5am.

Never say never.

Todays run was short and cool as mentioned above (shorter and cooler than last Saturday). I think I may finally be getting into a groove of summer Miami marathon training. My running has been getting a bit easier again as I finally stuck to all my runs during the week. I still need to get to the gym two days a week though. Next week, next week...

Monday, 7/16 - 6.1 miles/60:50 - 9:57 pace
Wednesday, 7/18 - 6.1 miles/59:40 - 9:45 pace
Thursday, 7/19 - 6 miles/60:29 - 10:00 pace
Saturday, 7/21 - 12.69 miles/2:20 - 11:40 pace

Total Weekly Mileage: 30.91

In other news, I bought new running clothes the other day!!! :)

Nothing revs up the old drive and inspiration like some new running clothes/shoes/gadgets. I have been having a problem lately with excessive sweat from the humidity soaking my shorts and causing them to ride up during the ends of my longer runs. I found an awesome pair of Adidas shorts the other day with a softer, looser waistband and compression shorts built in underneath. I wore them for a 6 and 12 mile run this week and they work GREAT so far. I'm pretty excited. Only downfall is that they don't have a pocket of any sort. That and when I went to the Adidas Outlet store today I found the same pair in a better color for $14 cheaper. Grrrr... Oh well, at least I know where to get my next pair.



Sexy, I know. It was 4:45am, what do you want from me?

I also love the two new singlets I got as well. Woo-hoo! I have more than one summer running outfit now!

Finally, Sweet Micki tagged me as a RAWKIN BLOGGER GRRRLLL!!!



Thanks Micki :)

Now I get to do it back to everyone else. Funny thing is, a lot of my favorite blogs have already been tagged. If you have, no need to redo it, unless you have a few more homies you want to recognize.

First up, back to you Micki.
This girl is forever PR-ing and I love reading her get stronger and more confident as a runner everyday. Plus, she has the cutest kiddies!

Second, there is Sonia.
Like a true Canadian, this girl is as friendly as they come no matter how many miles she is running. Her laid back attitude is contagious and makes for feel-good reading. She is the kind of person you feel like you have known forever I always leave her blog with a smile on my face.

Third there is Marcy.
Marcy is always good for a LMAO and a few LOL's!! She has a sense of humor for days, is a way better runner than she gives herself credit for and reminds me of some of my most hilarious friends.

Fourth there is Josie.
If you haven't read this girls blog PLEASE do it now! You will not be disappointed. Her sarcastic sense of humor, witty writing style and total honesty about running and life in general always leave me cracking up at my computer.

Last but not least, there is Irish Blue.
First of all, she is from Ohio so there are a few cool points right there. On top of that she is honest, funny, down to earth aaaannnd we are both running our first marathon in Columbus! It's fate!

A New Land Speed Record!

Well, maybe not the speed part. But I ran pretty damn far today!

Sixteen miles to be exact, my longest to date. It was hot and sooooo not as easy as I thought (based on my long run last week). But there were actually a few things worse than the "running 16 miles" part. Here are a few:

1. Getting up at 4:30am for our 5:15am start

2. Running through a puddle of vomit, probably from only a few hours earlier

3. Running past a dead possum, not smelling good in the Miami heat

4. Trying to get into every bathroom because we decided to pass up on the first one, only to find all the rest of them locked along the way

5. My shorts riding up incessantly after they were soaked with sweat, resulting in very chaffed legs

6. Almost getting run over by other runners who REFUSE to run single file when passing on a narrow sidewalk - jerks

7. Triple Berry GU is NOT as digestable as the Chocolate

8. The last two miles of the run having NO trees. NO trees = NO shade. And it was sunny. SUN-EEEEEEE!

9. The pain I felt in my legs that I never experienced as a Half-Marathoner

10. Realizing when I was done that I would still have to run another TEN miles to finish a marathon. Stupid math.

11.Trying to get down on the ground to stretch. HA!

12. The Ice Bath - Also a first for me



Yeah, an ice bath is nooooo fun. Who would have thought by simply sitting down in a bathtub, I would actually almost have a heart attack? I mean, this was shocking. Probably would've felt good if I had just walked in from the run, but since I stretched for 15 minutes in the AC, it was just cold. But I will admit, my legs feel way better now. I'll suffer for 15 minutes to be able to bend over and put on shoes for a few days.

Other than that, I had two other good runs this week:

Wednesday, 7/11 - 6.11 miles/61:00 - 9:59 pace
Thursday, 7/12 - 6 miles/60:55 - 10:00 pace
Saturday, 7/14 - 16 miles/3:06:56 - 11:40 pace

Total Weekly Mileage: 28.11

This is not nearly enough running to get me in marathon shape and I need to try to be better about being consistent. It's just hard with Dakota visiting for us to get to the gym. That and it's way more fun to sleep at 6:00am on a Monday than run 6 miles. Sigh.

Lastly, I finished The Nonrunner's Marathon Guide for Women. this week. It was a great book. A super easy read and hilarious. I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who has a sense of humor, likes to runs yet feels a bit grumpy about it from time to time. It is not a serious running manual by any means, just a humorous look on a sport that is taken waaaaaaay too seriously by a few people from time to time, which is probably why I like it so much.

Sometimes Slow is OK

First of all, Happy Belated July 4th to everyone!



I hope everyone's day was a good as mine. I got to spend it wih my husband, stepson (who is visiting from California for three weeks) and a few good friends at their new house on a lake. It was a great time. Here are some more pictures of our fun-filled day and fireworks extravaganza!

Training this week has been a little slower than usual. With Dakota (my stepson) coming in and the holiday, regular training has been a little messed up. J and I can no longer run together in the mornings because we don't want to leave Dakota alone while we're gone (even though he is old enough and would be fine, we still don't feel right about it). So basically we are both on our own. We've been taking turns running and for the next three weeks while I run with our friend Marissa on Saturday mornings, he will be doing his long runs alone on Sundays. Poor guy.

Unfortunately, this week I only got in three runs:

Monday, 7/02 - 5.6 miles/54:41 - 9:37 pace
Thursday, 7/05 - 3.2 miles/30:04 - 9:20 pace
Saturday, 7/07 - 13.16 miles/2:36:32 - 11:53 pace

Total Weekly Mileage: 21.96

It's getting a little frustrating to get further and further into my training only to be getting slower and slower with each run. Jeremy keeps reminding me that it's only the weather and that my body is getting stronger and is able to work through so much more now that when fall comes along my times are going to be insane and blah, blah, blah...

Of course I know all this. I was blessed with common sense, thank goodness. But it still sucks, I don't like it.

The Monday run was awful. The Thursday run I did at the last minute after it stopped raining for five minutes. It was so muggy and thick. I hadn't run that route so slow in months and I really felt like I was giving it my all at the end.

Actually, my best run in weeks was this morning. Marissa met me at my house at 5:30am to set out for 14 miles. Since I am used to running around a 9:45 pace on my long runs with Jeremy, the slower pace was just what I needed to boost my confidence. The almost 12mm pace, which seems really slow to me for some reason, really didn't feel all that slow in the heat this morning.

Screen shot from weather.com @ 5:30am today.


It felt great actually. We talked the whole time, I didn't feel angry or wonder why I was doing this crazy running thing like I normally do on my long runs lately. My fuel belt didn't even bother me. It was just really comfortable and I finished strong. Unfortunately, when I mapped the route later on runstoppable, I found out we only ran 13.16, not 14. Oh well. Either way, I am looking forward to running with her for the next couple of weeks. It's nice to mix things up a bit.

Another reason I think it went so well is I discovered a new little ritual for myself in the mornings before a long run. A very small cup of coffee with a lot of water helps to get things moving before I head out so that they don't start moving around mile 2 (I aint talking about my energy level either). If you don't know what I'm saying, here is a hilarious post from Josie that will put it all into perspective for you. Lets just say the coffee 30 mintes before I ran really helped me out. Finally, I have found the cure!

Lastly, I am excited tonight that I finally picked up a copy of The Nonrunner's Marathon Guide for Women.



I've read reviews about it numerous times and honestly it seems that it may be the only running book I will ever truly be able to relate to. I'll let you know how it is.

Hot Fun in the Summertime.

We finally made ourselves get a fuel belt last weekend.



I think Zero enjoys wearing it more than I do (And she really didn't like wearing it).

We tried it out on one of our shorter 5.6 mile runs on Monday morning and what can I say? I just hate running with anything attached to my body. I was awful. I didn't even make it one mile before I handed it off to J so he could wear it the rest of the run. Maybe it was the weather (almost 90% humidity at 6am with NO BREEZE), or the fact that I did lunges for the first time in 3 years the day before and could barely walk (idiot). Whatever it was, I just was not feeling it. Luckily J has given in to his inner "I don't wanna look like a dork" mentality and has decided to take one for the team and wear it for our long runs so that he and his wife can stay hydrated in the sweltering Miami summer. I have a good man.

Not much else to report on. The weather is only getting worse. We usually begin our runs in the mornings to escape the actual heat from the sun, but humidity levels are at their highest then (80-90% average) and the temps are still in the 70-80 degree range. Then, I do one evening run a week with Mercy through her neighborhood at around 7:30pm. The humidity is a bit lower, but the gnat problem is out of control. When we were done running Thursday night I went to her bathroom to wash my face and my neck was COMPLETELY covered in dead gnats. I was pulling them out of my hair and ears all night (even after I showered) and later, I kept getting shivers just thinking about how many were actually on me. I also kept psyching myself out thinking they were lodged in the back of my throat. Uggh!!! I can't win.

Here's my training this week.

Sunday, 6/24 - Gym, abs, lift, lunges :( elliptical, 40 minutes
Monday, 6/25 - 5.6 miles/53:54 - 9:37 pace
Tuesday, 6/26 - rest
Wednesday, 6/27 - 3.2 miles/29:42 - 9:13 pace
Thursday, 6/28 - 6.5 miles/1:08 - 10:31 pace
Friday, 6/29 - rest
Saturday, 6/30 - 12 miles/1:57:38 - 9:48 pace (Long, hot, but way better than last week)
Total Weekly Mileage: 27.3
Lift Days: 1

Here are some pics from after the 12 miler this morning. My fingers were so swollen they looked like lil' sausages.



My shorts are soaked here. I had just wrung them out.

Always a Little Crazy on Every Run

I've been busy with so many little things it's been hard to update lately, but training has been going pretty well for the most part despite the weather. It's funny, we run early (6am) to avoid the heat, but the humidity levels are at their highest here that time of the day. So, its the lesser of two evils I suppose. This morning the weather at 6am was 73 degrees, but the humidity was 82%. Uggh.

So here is a quick update on my training over the past two weeks. I want to make it short because there is a really funny story about last week's long run I HAVE to share.

Last week:
Monday 6/11 - 3.4 miles/32.:38 - 9:39 pace
Tuesday 6/12 - Gym, lift, abs
Wednesday 6/13 - 5.6 miles/52:40 - 9:24 pace
Thursday 6/14 - 6 miles? /56:30 - (not sure of exact distance during this run)
Saturday 6/16 - 8 miles/1:28 - 11:10 pace (not sure what happened to our pace here)
Total Weekly Mileage: 23
Lift Days: 1

This week: ( I slacked a little since I was out of town a few days)
Wednesday 6/20 - 5.6 miles/52:38 - 9:23 pace
Saturday (today) 6/23 - 10.38 miles/1:37:35 - 9:24 pace
Total Weekly Mileage: 15.98
Lift Days: 0 Booo!

Todays run was very warm, but I felt pretty good until mile 9 when we had to cross back over the Rickenbacker Causeway. For those of you who never saw my last post on this bridge, here is a picture of it.





I have run this bridge before and never had any problems. But today it sucked. It felt about 10 miles long and on the way down I actually had TEARS welling up in my eyes. Good thing I had sunglasses on or I would have never heard the end of it from J. Ha! But I DIDN'T STOP and ran all the way to the end of the run. However, I seriously think it was some of the hardest physical activity I have been through in a long time. It was worse than anything I felt running the Half-Marathons. I suppose I will have to get use to this pain if I am going to do 26.2.

So anyway. Last week...I'll try to make it short.

So we are running 8 miles last Saturday, which sucked because it was raining the WHOLE time. We thought about cancelling, but what kind of marathon runners would we be if we couldn't run in a little rain? Basically it sucked, by mile 4 our clothes AND shoes were soaked to the bone and the whole run we had our heads down making sure we didn't splash through any unnecessary puddles.

Around mile 6, we passed Cocowalk, a fairly busy pedestrian mall with many outdoor restaurants, bars, shops, etc. and were making our way back on a road called Main Highway. It is a busy road and on Saturday mornings it is always bustling with runners, walkers, bikers and drivers. It is called Main Highway.

So we are runnning, minding out own business, passing random runners, etc. when all of the sudden J bust out with a sudden warning,

"O.K. this guy is naked."

As if to say, "Watch out, he might be swinging that thing!"

I look up and sure enough, there is a guy walking towards us, TOTALLY NORMAL looking, young guy (18-23), clean shaven, not looking a bit drunk/stoned/tired/crazy whatsoever. And he is TOTALLY naked. No clothes at all. Not even shoes. He was walking towards Cocowalk with a newspaper in his hand, not to cover himself with but more like as if to say,

" I'm gonna go to Cocowalk on Saturday morning and get some breakfast outside and read the paper...where there are a ton of people...and cops...and I'm gonna do it naked."

And that my friends is why I love running in Miami. Cause you always see a little crazy on every run.

I'll play along...

I've been tagged by a couple of you (Michelle. and Irish Blue) to post 6 weird facts about me. Hmmmm...

1. I have moved a total of 11 times since I moved out of my parent's house in 1993. In those years I have lived in Tampa, FL, Athens, OH, Circleville, OH, Columbus, OH, Memphis, TN, Starkville, MS, and Miami, FL. Quite an eclectic mix. I am not in the military, I just like a change of pace.

2. One of my favorite meals is pasta with cottage cheese. I know, it's odd. I think it is from when I had no money.

3. I gave a guy CPR one time after he electrocuted himself while standing in a puddle of water and plugging in a refridgerator. The EMS guy said he would have died if I hadn't done it. It was very surreal and I still have trouble believeing it happened, even though it was over 10 years ago.

4. When I was a kid in the early 80's,I was obsessed with You Can't Do That on Television. I would hold a tape recorder to the TV to record the audio of the show and listen to the tapes over and over in my room at night. For about a year, I couldn't sleep without one playing.

5. I am 1/4 Lebonese and 3/4 Slovak.

6. I hate Goat Cheese. It's pretty much the only thing I wont eat.

There are many more, but I was only asked for 6 so, I guess that'll do.

More on running later. :)

It's On!

Today is the day!

This morning J and I got up at 6am for our very first run of my very first day of training for my very first full marathon. It was short and more than hot, but I survived it.

3.38miles/32:38 (9:39 pace)

Good thing too, I need some structure in my life, I have been a major slacker lately.

I haven't really done any running in two weeks. Last weekend I spent Thursday through Sunday in Fort Lauderdale photographing the NASSM conference for J. It is an annual Sport Management Conference that is hosted every year by a different university. This year J and his collegues from UM hosted it and my job was to come to this fabulous beach resort where it was held and sit by the pool, drinking Pina Coladas and every now and then, photograph a meeting or lunch. But since it was the first day of hurricane season, it rained for four days and looked pretty much like this the whole time.







Needless to say, I ended up taking a lot of pictures. Although Tropical Storm Barry made a short visit, the weekend was a huge success! And lucky for us, Sunday (the day we were leaving) the sun came out and we got to hang out for a few hours at the hotel's amazing pool.







I did manage one treadmill run at the hotel gym while I was there. I hadn't run on a treadmill in almost a year and was a little apprehensive. For a long time in my life, a treadmill was the only way I could run. Once I finally got the courage to really give outdoor running a try, I became addicted and felt clausterphobic running indoors, so I gave it up all together. This run was actually OK though. It was a nice change for my knees and it felt good to start at a pace that I used to finish on as my sprint in the past. My average time on a treadmill run in the past was about 2.7/30:00. This time I ran a 3.1/27:10. It's amazing the difference a year can make.

It's also amazing the difference a couple of weeks can make. I have worked out twice in two weeks and feel like I have gained about 30lbs. Other than the treadmill run, the only other exercise I have gotten has been random dog walks and a long 6 mile walk on South Beach with J this past Saturday morning. I brought my camera and spent the first 2 miles shooting a lot, which J looooves by the way (sarcasm), but I picked up the pace for him the last four miles. Of course, the waffle breakfast we had at Big Pink afterwards pretty much cancelled out any health benefit to our walk. Here are a few shots since I know how much you guys like the beach.













Here are the rest if you are interested.

So yeah, I haven't gotten much excercise in and pretty much ate whatever I wanted and drank a lot of beer, but whatever. I know the next six months will be very long, hot and miserable, so I'm ok with it.

By the way, the weather here has been out of control. I know I complain about it a lot, but be prepared for a long summer of me whining incessantly about the humidity. I am apologizing for it now. There was a "feels like" temperature of NINETY DEGREES the other night at 12:30 PM!!! AT NIGHT PEOPLE!!! There was NO SUN! CONAN O'BRIEN WAS ON FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!

Sigh.

Happy Memorial Day

Things have been pretty damn hot around here lately. The run this morning was brutal (7:45am). I can't believe how flipping hot it is outside. During those wretched 3.2 miles today, I decided that I will no longer run in the mornings if the sun is out, which should be interesting considering the sun comes up now around 6am. I just can't take the Miami summer heat. The run this morning can only be described as thick. The humidity made it feel similar to what I would imagine running in maple syrup would feel like. If the maple syrup was boiling on the stove that is.

Yesterday's run was no walk in the park either. Actually I did a little walking in the park at one point since I was exhausted from the heat. We were going to do 8 miles, but had to cut it down to a little over 6. And I felt those 6 miles for the rest of the day.

Here is my week so far. A little more motivated than last.

Tuesday - 5.6/53:02 - 9:28 pace
Wednesday - 6 (?)/58:30 (Run with Mercy, not sure of exact distance)
Saturday - gym, lift, abs, 30 minutes elliptical, 20 minutes stepmill :(
Sunday - 6.14/1:08:42 - 11:11 pace (did I mention it was warm?)
Monday - 3.2/28:40 - 8:54 pace (not bad pace, but miserable run)

I'm not sure how much running I will get in this week and over the weekend since I will be in Ft. Lauderdale with J helping him with his NASSM conference he and his colleagues are hosting. Apparently, I am the official photographer which is seriously going to cut into my pool/pina colada time. Oh well. When I get back it will be MARATHON TRAINING TIME!!!! I better get in some R&R now.

Busy wasting time

So I had to change things up a bit here. As a graphic designer I get a bit bored looking at the same visual stimuli for too long so I changed my template. I also started a new photojournal in an attempt to force myself into shooting at least once a day. I love playing with my cameras and take one with me everywhere I go so I'm hoping this little experiment will help my photography skills as well as a give me an easy way to document my life with as little typing as possible.

I also finally posted a countdown clock for my first marathon that I found on Micki's page. Maybe if I stare at that clock ticking down it will inspire me to get off my butt and run some more.

Last week was ok. I got a few good workouts in.

Monday -05/07- Gym - Lift and Abs
Tuesday - 05/08 - 5.6 miles/51:32 - 9:12 pace (good run)
Wednesday - 05/09 - off
Thursday -05/10 - 3.2 miles/27:01 - 8:23 pace (NEW PR!!!)
Friday - 05/11 - off
Saturday - 05/12- 10.71 miles/1:44:36 - 9:45 pace
Sunday - 05/13 - Gym - lift, abs, 45 minutes elliptical

Not too shabby. During the 10 mile run on Saturday we ran past a 10K that was going on. We didn't even realize we were running on their course. We were like,

"Why are there traffic cones and cops everywhere?"

Then all the sudden a few thousand people were running towards us. It was pretty funny. It also gave me the motivational boost I needed to get moving.

The Thursday run was pretty awesome too. Another PR for the campus loop. Only ONE SECOND shy of a sub 27 minute run. Oh well. It's coming soon, I can feel it.

Actually I think I was feeling inspired running with Jeremy that morning since it was our anniversary.



Awwww...four years of wedded bliss. We both worked all day but had a nice dinner later at Flemming's Steakhouse. And of course, a super-fast run with him was a nice way to start the day.

This past week wasn't so good as far as running is concerned. I wasn't feeling so hot earlier this week so I just took some time to sleep in before work. After work I was feeling exhausted so I just relaxed. I did manage to get in two workouts at the gym.

Monday - 5/14 - Gym - Lift and abs
Sunday (today) - 5/20 - Gym - Lift, abs, 40 minutes elliptical, 10 minutes stepmill

I was beating myself up about it. Then I realized in a few weeks I would be running my brains out in the Miami summer heat at least 5 days a week while I train for my first marathon. That made me feel better.

Oh yeah, and I went to the beach again yesterday!



Not that I'm trying to rub it in or anything ;)

Aaaannd the Pendulum Swings Back...

So, yeah...

Remember what a badass I was a week and a half ago when I ran all those miles in one week (31:11 miles to be exact) and was so cool and proud and felt like a rockstar and blah, blah, blah...? Well, it seems as though old Newton's Law of Universal Gravity (what goes up must come down) is in full force as far as my running is concerned.

Last week I ran a total of...drumroll...

3.1 miles

(Insert Debbie Downer soundbite here)


I'm not quite sure what prompts me to run my ass off one week, then decide the next week that I can become totally lazy. It's not like I was tired from the mileage. I wasn't burnt out at all. I'm not injured. I'm not busy. It's almost like something in my brain gets all fired up and tells me I am a dedicated runner (something I am still coming to terms with since I was never an athletic child/teen/young adult). I make a plan and go, go, go. Not all Type-A, but with regular common sense. Then, I reach a short goal (a good mileage week, five pounds lost, a PR on an easy race, etc), I get all cocky and something deep down inside tells me,

"It's OK. You can quit pretending so hard to be a healthy athlete. Sit down and relax and be the lazy bum you really are. You deserve it, you ran over 30 miles last week! You wouldn't have done that 10 years ago!"

Stupid devil's advocate.

It seems to me that I have a severe case of Bipolar Running.

It always seems to happen this way. I get on a roll for a short amount of time. Then I pat myself on the back for a job well done and reward myself with laziness (my favorite treat), not just in running, but with any excercise program and eating in general, which is the main reason I have always had issues with my weight and health. I guess it's just annoying that as I've gotten older I seem to have gotten a grip on this aspect of my psyche with every issue except running and eating. I often wonder how many other runners and people in general out there who always seem like they have their sh%t so together go through this very same thing.

Anyway, enough whining. Last week wasn't a total bust. I did go to the gym last Monday to do some light lifting. And those 3.1 miles I ran were for the Mercedes Benz Corporate Run in downtown Miami. It was a decent race, but HUGE (21,000 people running a 5K). It was also extremely hot (upper 80's). I ran a good time (29:07) considering the conditions. I actually wasn't even going to run it that fast, but my friend Mercy was runnning with me and wanted to try for a good time. Actually out of the people that ran from our company ( I think about 20-25 ran), her and I were the 3rd and 4th fastest back and the first girls. Here we are after the run at the company tent.



Look how happy she looks! She will kill me if she see's I posted this picture.

And finally...
the main reason I didn't do a long run this weekend was because we put it off until Sunday, then when we woke up it was so beautiful we decided to spend the morning on South Beach instead.







Yeah, I guess sometimes running can wait a day or two.

Going and Going...

I did some serious running last week.



I logged 31.11 miles from last Saturday to this past Sunday. That is the most I have ever done in one week and that includes the times I was training for the two half mary's. Considering I'm not training for anything and just running to run, I am pretty proud of myself. Although, lets be honest...this wont be an every week occurrence. I think I just had a alot of energy.

After last Tuesdays 3.2 miler around campus I was inspired. Wednesday morning I had a nice run with J and Kevin around the golf course (5.6miles/52:41/9:24 pace). Thursday after work I ran with my friend Mercy around her hood which she said it was slightly over 6 miles (56:26). Although I love running with J, it was nice to switch things up and run with someone different and in a new environment. We also talked the entire time which made the run fly by.

Friday and Saturday I took the days off (mostly due to an excessive birthday celebration). Then Sunday morning J and I did our long run. We totally lucked out and woke up to a beautiful, sunny, warm, yet low-humidy filled morning. The run was great. Well, at least for the first six miles, then I started to wear out. We ran from the circle to the toll booth to Key Biscaye (10.71 miles). After we were done I realized why I was so dead. Our time was 1:44:13 (9:43 pace). While it was no world record, it was definitely faster than I have ever run that distance before. I was exhausted for the rest of the day.

Monday I went to the gym to just do some easy lifting before work (yawn).

Oh yeah, and I cut off all my hair.



Yes, it's very short and I love it! Just in time for summer!

Bragging Rights

OK, I don't usually post more than once a week, cause after sitting on a computer all day at work, I just can't do it when I get home. However, tonight I was just way too excited about my run and needed a moment to pat myself on the back.

I came home from work tonight and decided to go for a short run since we missed out on the gym this morning. It seems a Telemundo event at UM (our gym) was hogging all the parking so we came home and walked the dog instead. Anyway, I had a lot of energy after a long days work and the weather was warm and pleasant without being horridly humid.

I headed out alone and not only did I run a PR for my normal, short 3.2 mile campus loop. But I ran it in, (drum roll)

27:28!!!!

For those of us "mathmatically challenged" folk, that's a 8:31 pace!!!

Splits
1 - 8:55
2 - 8:31
3 - 8:23
1.38

Look at all those EIGHTS!

I really can't believe it. I don't know why I am so happy about it. I PR on this course often since I run it so much and since I have been running with J my times have been getting faster, (of course, it doesn't feel that way when I am running next to him cursing under my breath about him not slowing down for me, but whatever...).

For some reason though tonight, it seemed really fast. Maybe because I ran it alone and wasn't running fast just to look good in front of J's buddies, or to keep him from having a slow run. It was just me, and my random neighbors watering their lawns I needed to impress. I really can't believe that one year ago I was struggling around the same 3.2 mile loop, cutting my runs short and barely maintaining a 10:30 minute mile pace for 3 miles. I am so proud of myself for coming so far in my running in the past year, doing it smart and staying injury-free (knock on wood).

OK, I'm done.

We also had a good run Monday morning around the golf course with Kevin and Kenia.

5.6 mile - 53:29 (9:33 pace)

No PR, but a really nice run, and I felt great at the end of that one. Unlike my wonderful run today in which I felt I was going to drop dead on my front lawn for about 20 seconds when it was over.

Whatever, I still feel like a rockstar. Of course, I have to get up in 6.5 hours to go for another run. And we all know how rockstars are in the morning...

Spring Training

I'm back in the swing of things after sitting on my butt and whining all last week. I'm feeling better, more energetic and ready to get serious again about running, lifting weights and getting in shape in time for the upcoming marathon training and summer in general. I really need to spend the next few weeks eating better and toning up. I have come to the realization that I can run all I want, but my body is stuck and I need to get serious about NOT skipping my gym days. I always feel better after lifting, especially after a weekend-long food fest when family comes to visit.

Last weekend my parents came to town to celebrate J's birthday. It's always great to see them and we had a nice time showing them around Miami and relaxing around the house. Of course we ate waaaay too much, but what's a celebration without food? And alcohol. And more food...

I was also pretty excited to get my brand new t-shirt quilt that my mom made for me.



She decided a few months ago she needed a hobby and settled on quilting. I told her I always wanted a tshirt quilt so she was excited to make one for me as her first project. I brought her a bunch of old tshirts the last time I was in Sarasota that I dont really wear anymore but can't bring myself to throw away. I am a tshirt JUNKIE, I'm talking dozens and dozens, so I had no problems finding old shirts for her to use. It came out great and I love looking at it and reminiscing about all my old favorite bars, restaurants, concerts, places I've lived, etc. Maybe one day I will get a running quilt.

Anyway, here are my workouts since my last post.

4/14 (Sat) - 3.22 miles/27:56 (8:40 pace) Hot, humid and miserable
4/16 (Mon) - 5.6 miles/53:33 (9:33 pace) Decent run
4/18 (Wed) - 5.6 miles/ 51:21 (9:10 pace) Beautiful morning, great run.
4/19 (Thurs) - Hour long walk with Zero
4/20 (Fri) - 5.66 miles/51:34 (9:06 pace) Farthest run EVER without stopping once! Felt great. Yay me!
4/21 (Sat) - Gym. Abs, Lift, 30 minutes elliptical
4/22 (Sun) - 5.78 miles/54:58 (9:30 pace) Late run so very warm, but nice breeze.

Not bad. I'm finally feeling pretty motivated. It was hard to get back into it again after the Sarasota Half.

Every excuse in the book

I've been busy with work, life, etc. and haven't had too much time to write. I have also been extremely lazy, which keeps me from having too much to write about in the old running blog.

I was pretty good last week. Not as well as I had hoped with my newly dreamed up plan, but not bad.I had three really good runs and racked up quite a few miles.

Sunday - Gym - Lift, 40 minutes elliptical
Monday - 5.6 miles - 53:12 Humid and pretty tired
Wednesday - 5.6 miles - 52:54 REALLY humid, but a decent run
Saturday - 10.7 miles - 1:45:39 Really good run with Jeremy, perfect weather, sunny and in the 60's.

Good thing we did the 10 miler because later we went to Taverna Opa on the beach with some friends for Kevin's birthday.



It's a greek place with good food (and a lot of it), good ouzo,



and lots of dancing on tables and napkin tossing.



Anyway, it was a good night. Then the next day was Easter where we proceeded to eat waaaaaay too many dishes prepared with cheese. So good yet so bad. Oh yeah, and chocolate. Dont' forget that. Cadbury Creme Eggs have some protein, right?



So, after that Monday's run pretty much sucked. We went out for out 5.6 miler, but cut it short after about 4 miles, (which I haven't done in FOREVER). My stomach was bothering me and I was feeling really bloated and dizzy. Also, it's always hard the first week or two of humidity to get back into the swing of things.

Last month my excuse was the time change, now it's the humidity.

Anyway, since then I have been finding every excuse not to get up and run. From an early morning downpour (excusable even though we could have gone to the gym instead) to late nights up because of work obligations (could have run after work) to now cleaning the house because my parents are coming for J's birthday this weekend, I have every cop-out down to a tee.

I really am running in the morning. I swear.

Sooooo Sleepy

I have no idea why, but I have been sooooo tired the past few days. Simply exhausted. I'm not pregnant and don't feel like I'm getting sick, so I'm not really sure what's going on. All I want to do is nap though. I think we should be allowed to nap more often, who's with me on this?



This week has been a pretty slow running week. I only did one run on Wednesday around campus. Actually, I must have been on some running high from the Celeb 5K, since I ran it in my best time ever, (3.2 miles - 26:45). So that was pretty cool. I have to admit, I was getting a bit cocky thinking about how great it has been to run so many PR's in such a short amount of time.

Then I ran 8 miles on Saturday.

Ha, that one definitely knocked me back down to my level. It was not good. My stomach was killing me the entire time and I was just so tired. Jeremy was a trooper and hung with me, even though I could tell he was itching to go a bit faster. And I even felt bad about the snotty way I yelled "You're killing me!" when he started the run way too fast and waited too long for the first couple walk breaks. Poor guy.

Today we went to the gym and did some light lifting about 40 minutes on the elliptical machine. I think we are going to try to get back to our old training routine of:

Monday - run
Tuesday - gym
Wednesday - run
Thursday - gym
Friday - rest
Saturday - long run
Sunday - gym

We'll see how that goes. Especially now with all that energy that I dont have.

Celebrity 5K

We had another race this weekend. Luckily it was 10 miles shorter than my last couple of competitions.



The Celebrity 5K to benefit the Homeless was this past Sunday on Miami Beach which we went to with our friends Andy, Glenna, Kevin and Marissa.



The weather was beautiful (sunny, breezy and in the upper 70's), it was well organized, lots of entertainment and there were plenty of Port-O-Potties at the start (my personal favorite). They did however use the term "celebrity" pretty loosly in this case. With the exception of course, of the Queen of Miami herself, Ms. Gloria Estefan.



Don't ask me who the guy is behind her.

The race started at the Miami Children's Museum. While we all hung out before the race, we split up at the start since I wanted to run for time. I hadn't done a 5K since the Turkey Trot in November and wanted to see if I could beat it (28:31). Jer and I took off at the start and maneuvered our way through the throngs of people in front of us. There was a pretty decent crowd, around 3,000 and we we didn't bother to make our way up to the front in the starting gate while we were waiting, which we paid for when the race started.

I have to admit, I dont really remember much about the run. It seemed so much shorter after running a couple Half-Marathons, but it wasn't easy since I was running at a faster pace than I normally do. Plus the whole race was into a headwind facing the Miami sun, which is NOT cool. Oh and the bridge...I forgot about that. That sucked too. So basically I was not happy the whole time I was running. Jeremy told me later, he looked over at me during the run and I looked really angry, so he didn't talk to me. Funny, that's WHY I needed him to talk to me, to take my mind off my misery. It was pretty nice to see mile marker 3 though and know I didn't have 10 more miles to go.

All my grumpiness paid off. I came in at 26:45, a new 5k PR!!!!

My chip time said 27:42, but they didn't have a mat at the start and were going by clock time. Here are the old splits:
1) 9:10
2) 8:26 (not bad for the wind and bridge)
3) 8:21
.1) :45

I came in 11th out of 137 in my female age group (30-34)!!! I thought maybe we were just slow, but I looked in the age group under mine (25-29) and I would have been 19th out of 160, so it's still a pretty decent time, (dumb I know, but I was curious). :)

I was so excited! That is 1:44 off my best time! I have to say alot of this is thanks to Jeremy. Even though he didn't "talk" to me, I would have slowed down without him. Of course, for 26 minutes he pissed me off, but my lazy-ass needs that push. I would have never run that fast if he hadn't been there. Funny how he pushes me without saying a word.

After the race we met up with everyone and went to the afterparty at Nikki Beach, where they fed us a gourmet brunch (fancy bagels) and gave out awards.



It was really nice and I joke, but the spread was really good. Also, it was the first 5K I have ever been in that gave out medals to all finishers. And not dinky ones either, but really nice spinner medals, pretty impressive. Afterwards we hopped on a shuttle that took us back to the start (another very well organized part of the race).



All in all it was a great run. If anyone is in Miami in March looking for a 5K to run, I highly recommend it. And it's for a really good cause.

Listen to Your Instincts

Sometimes it's hard to hear that little voice inside your head that is telling you to do all the things in your life that are good for you.

Even if it's screaming at you.

Jeremy and I had planned to go for our 5.6 golf course run early this morning which was totally fine with me. Until I decided to polish off a bottle of red wine last night while catching old episodes of Sex and the City. I woke up without a hangover but was really tired. As Jeremy sat in the living room at 5:45am waiting for me to get dressed, I hemmed and hawed in the bedroom trying to think of every excuse in the book not to go. Although the windows were open and the last few remaining days of humidity-free Miami weather were calling to me, I just wasn't having it.

I walked to the living room and whined.

"I don't feel like going..."

Instead of encouraging words, his response was brief.

"Fine"

GUILT!!!

This is why running with your husband is wonderful and terrible all at the same time.

Anyway, I went (stupid guilt) and it was a beautiful morning. Once I got out there I felt great, very light and calm for some reason. Our friend Kevin was there when we arrived so we started our run together.

One of my goals for this year is to try to run a 10k without doing walk breaks. I always do 3-4 miles walk-break free, but anything beyond that I usually add them, including our 5.6 mile runs in the morning. Even if we cut the walk breaks back, I usually do at least three. Since Kevin was there and he doesn't do them I told Jeremy we should try to just run the whole thing (by WE I meant ME since we all know they can run circles around me walk breaks or not). He asked if I was sure and since I was feeling so well around mile 1 I decided it was a good day to try.

Long story short. The run rocked. Not only did I cut out all walk breaks (with the exception of the mandatory stop we do for water around mile 2), but I also ran an average of a SUB 9 MINUTE MILE the WHOLE TIME!!! The 4th mile was rough, but having the boys there talking helped to take my mind off things.

Final stats:
5.6 miles
50:14 minutes
Ave pace: 8:58 per mile
PR for course!!! Next goal sub 50 minutes (soooo close)!

Moral of the story: Always run when you are trying to find excuses not to. They are always your best bet. It's fate's way of tricking you into keeping up the excercise.

I'm on to you Fate.

Lazyyyyyyy...

...well, until today that is.

I have to admit, I didn't run 5 steps the week after the Sarasota Half Marathon. Is that a good idea for the whole "training" thing? Probably not. But it felt sooooo good to be totally lazy again. Lucky for me, I now know better than to stick with that plan for too long.

I did manage to make it to the gym a couple of times for some weight training and some fun on the elliptical machine. But that was about it. With the whole early time-change, it seems harder than normal to drag myself out of bed in the morning. So I pretty much slept in every day and went to work. Imagine my surprise when I would come home from work stressed out and mad every night and couldn't figure out why.

Then last Wednesday after work the sun was still shining and the weather was beautiful so I decided to go for a short 3.2 mile run around campus. It was so much better than I had expected (29:31), considering I hadn't run since Sarasota and the difference in how I felt when I was done was amazing. All the sudden my stress was gone...imagine that. So yeah, I started running again.

Saturday, Jeremy and I went on a 7.2 mile morning run up to Cocowalk and back (1:12). It was a little warm out, but only because we didn't start till 10am. Then this morning we went for our morning 5.6 mile run (53:51). I was perfect. Not too fast, but not slow. It stayed nice and dark almost until the very end (which I love) and the sunrise at the end was beautiful. Oh yeah, the no humidity, slight breeze and cool weather helped too.

Guess it's time to stop being lazy and enjoy the cooler mornings.
Sigh...

The 2007 Sarasota Half-Marathon

Well, the Sarasota Half Marathon is over and it was a huge success. So huge in fact, I still can't believe it myself.

Chip time - 2:09:32.

That's right, 15 minutes off my Half Marathon time from just 5 weeks ago! I knew I was holding back a little bit during the Miami Half, but I really didn't expect to do a sub 2:10. I think maybe I was hoping it somewhere in the back of my mind, but I didn't want to say it outloud in case I jinxed myself. Actually, had the weather not been so perfect, I'm sure it would have added a minute or two (or five) to my overall time.

Jeremy and I drove up to Sarasota on Thursday night after work. Since it is about a 3 1/2 to 4 hour drive, we got in around 11pm, talked to my mom for a bit and went to bed. Friday we got up early and headed downtown for lunch. Afterwards, we strolled around the bayfront as I played with one of my new camera lenses.





We went to the expo at around 4pm to pick up our packets but didn't stay too long. It wasn't the biggest expo in the world, which made it easy to walk through it quickly and avoid spending too much money. The race tshirt was cute too with the little grouper logo on it.



Sunday morning we went to the Broken Egg for breakfast with my parents and ate blueberry pancakes the size of my head. We all hung out the whole day and later my dad made an awesome spaghetti dinner for us with garlic bread and a salad. I didn't get to take a bath like I like to do the night before a race but I did stand in the hot shower for about 20 minutes. It helped loosen up the muscles and relax me for a good nights sleep.

On gameday we woke up a little after 4am. We packed our bag the night before so we pretty much just got dressed, drank water, ate half a Cliff Bar and took off. By South Florida standards, it was pretty chilly outside (HA! - in the 50's) with just a slight breeze, so it was really, really nice. Pretty much perfect conditions for running.

We drove to Ringling Museum of Art where the race began and parked fairly easily. Of course as soon as I got there I had to use the bathroom so I got in line to wait.



But after about 15 minutes of standing still, I decided to just find a bush. Aahhh, the realities of running. Why is it there are NEVER enough port-o-potties?

After that we gathered in the corral and only waited about 5-10 minutes before the race started. The weather could not have been better and I felt great. I was also really excited about running with Jeremy. Since the Miami Race, we have been running together at least 3 days a week and it has been really nice. He gets me running faster, but he never pushes me or makes me uncomfortable. He is truly a great running partner.

Awwww..shucks.

The race began at 6am with the Half and Full starting together. The first few miles were through a neighborhood that had NO lights, so that was a bit rough in the dark with 2,500 other people. Somehow we managed to not get run over. It also made it a bit hard to take walk breaks at first so we tried to jump up in the grass when we had to slow down. Jeremy did a pretty good job of giving me a fair warning when our breaks were coming so I could maneuver around everyone. We had decided to try to run the first few miles around a 10:30 pace (with 5:1 walk breaks) and did a good job of pacing ourselves right on. As the sun came up and the miles wore on, we both felt great and the scenery started getting better. As a matter of fact, for about the first 8 miles, I barely felt like I was running at all. I attribute this to the perfect climate and good company.

After the neighborhoods, we did a stretch down US 41 which was a bit boring and a little scary since half the road was still open to traffic. We were a little to close for comfort to some of these cars driven by random retirees when it's barely light outside. Who drives that early on a Sunday morning anyway?

Then we came to the new John Ringling Causeway which is beautiful, but a lot taller than I remembered.



Especially the second time we had to run across it...with a headwind...at mile 8.



As we turned around and headed back to the museum, that's when I started feeling it. US 41 didn't seem so short and sweet on the way back. And since when was it uphill? I lived in that town for 12 years and never remember 41 being on an incline. Once we got back to the neighborhoods, I didn't care as much to look at the quaint houses in the daylight as I had thought I would when we were running out.

Our strategy going into the race was to see how I felt at mile 10 and then we could forgo the walk breaks if I was up for it. I thought I could do it, but luckily Jeremy made me stop one more time at mile 11. Good thing, because the last 2 miles were a lot harder than I had expected. I knew I could do it, but I was feeling a little nauseous and I REALLY wanted one more walk break. The hard part was, I had no idea where we were or how far we were from the finish. The final half mile was filled with all these twists and turns and banyan trees. I saw what seemed like a million runners walking towards us with their medals around their necks cheering us on, but where were they coming from??? I wanted to kill one guy when he said,

"Good job guys...come on...only two more football fields to go!!!"

Um...I am no football whiz, but at that moment he may as well have told me I had another 20 miles to run. Football fields are HUGE!!!

But there was Jeremy, whispering to me how strong I was and how I could do it and not to leave it at mile 12. It sounds so stupid, but for once, I really, really neeeded someone to cheer me on. A hard thing for me to admit.

When I finally saw the finish and looked at my watch I realized I was very close to running a sub 2:10. We took off as fast as my feet could go and ran across the finish. It was a total blur and definitely much harder than Miami, but I wasn't dying and after about 3 minutes, I felt fine. It was an awesome run, perfect weather and so much fun.






Here are my splits:
1) 10:37
2) 10:21
3) 10:24
4) 9:47
5) 10:14
6) 9:32
7) 10:19
8/9) 19:36 (missed a mile marker?)
10) 9:44
11) 9:28 (no wonder I was getting tired)
12) 9:35
13.1) 9:51

It was such a great day and a huge accomplishment for me. I kind of feel like a dork saying it, but I am really proud of myself for this. It's amazing how much a 13 mile journey can change someone's perspective.