Monday, October 31, 2011

Results....Run for the Water 10 Mile Race

Chip Time: 1:18:08

13th in my age group

275th place overall out of 1434 people

Splits:
8:23
8:20
8:09
7:54
7:41
7:54
7:30
7:34
7:19
7:06

All in all a GREAT race for me!

I have a question though....why is my chip time 1:18 while my garmin shows 1:15? That seems pretty far off right? And I could have sworn when I went under the timer it said 1:16....

Friday, October 28, 2011

Another Cragslist Gem



Jogging Partner


Date: 2011-05-26, 9:09PM CDT


I am looking for a person of athletic build to help me get in shape.
I hate exercising with passion so the plan of action is this: I ingest Rohypnol [you supply the roofies as I don't know where to purchase them] and you strap my body to yours [limbs to limbs using velcro] and take me along on a jog. Three nights a week. If you're capable and interested, E-mail me so that we can discuss the fee.

  • Location: Des Moines, IA
  • it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
PostingID: 2405055624






Thursday, October 27, 2011

Candy Corn Oh Candy Corn Where Art Thou Candy Corn




I have been seeing it in the store...




I have been seeing it at work...




And so far so good...I have not indulged.




But boy does it sound so good!




I am trying to be a good healthy eater this week since I have a race on Sunday.




Oh but when Sunday afternoon comes around...candy corn here I come!




Does anyone else like to eat it in sections? Ya, I am weird like that!

Monday, October 24, 2011

What Goes up Must Come Down

I am running a 10 mile race this weekend called "Run for the Water" it's put on by a well known local running group called Gilbert's Gazelles.

It's for an AWESOME cause!
http://www.gazellefoundation.com/

Reading more about this cause makes me realize that we don't realize how lucky we are! Water...something as simple as water. We can turn on the tap and it's right there...we can go down to the local store and buy a gallon or two. (Just reminds me I need to be thankful for what I have...for the little things...like water!)

From what I heard this is a very hilly 10 miles and that I should be prepared for a tough race. I went on to their site this morning and found this:



How cool is this!? I watched every minute of course and oohed and ahhed in my head on the uphills and the DOWNHILLS....there is a lot of downhills in this race.....bummer :(

I can do hills, I don't mean to sound cocky, because you might find me passed out on the side of the road this Sunday on the course...but I feel confident with the uphills...I feel confident I can push myself...but the downhills...not so much. I am slow downhill...I don't know why. Sometimes I think it's because I am afraid of getting hurt. You really feel the impact when you let go on the hills and I get scared!

The other day at my weekly running/speedwork group we did a "5K". We followed a route of a local 5k coming up this month. There is a girl I usually can keep up with on those days...and on that day every single time we hit a downhill she sped off...and when those uphills came I would start gaining on her. Never enough to catch back up with her though because she would pull away on those downhills.

I have been thinking about this a lot, and I feel like it's something I need to overcome somehow. A friend of mine has a friend (This isn't like a my sister's, friends, cousins, mothers, father in law type story) but she knows a lady who races marathons regularly. And this lady suggested that on the downhills you need to let go almost to the point of running out of control...Me come close to being out of control!!??? Ummm....that might be hard for me, but I think I might need to give it a try this weekend.

I am hoping I can keep a 8:30 pace for the whole 10 miles, that's my goal. (Though secretly I am hoping for around 8 minute miles...very secretly of course!)

So here's to hoping I can let go on some of these killer downhills this Sunday!



Should I have run?

Well it turns out I think I have the stomach flu...and I felt it when I woke up on Saturday morning, but I went on my long run any way.

I felt like crap the rest of that day. I took a nap which I almost never do, and went to bed early. Sunday I didn't feel much better.

I wonder if running made this worse? And should I have run if I wasn't feeling 100%?

I have a 10 mile race next Sunday, so I am just hoping this passes and I feel better and can get some runs in this week :(

I hate being sick!!!

Saturday, October 22, 2011

15 miler that Turned in to a 14 miler

So yeah for me last week...I planned on 13 and ran 15...Yeah for me this week I planned on 15 but ran 14!




14 miles at a consistent 8:30 pace. The fastest I have ever run that distance!

Lucky I did end up having someone to run with...Mick from Run Tex. He is pretty fast and I was a little worried I couldn't keep up with him. But I did, though that last mile I was pooped!

After running this morning we went to the pumpkin patch and the park...




Friday, October 21, 2011

Rant'n Ravin'....and Just Exhausted

Taking an idea from a fellow blogger over here....

So there are some things upsetting me today.....

#1
This week has gone unbelievably SLOW

#2
Phene's daycare...where do I start...First I felt like I wasn't given all the info I needed...I didn't know how or when or if I needed to bring more diapers/supplies for her....and then I kept calling for updates and asking questions and they said "talk to Miss Merideth"....well turns out Miss Merideth is like a wealthy banker and only works from 8-1pm...hours where I can't possibly leave work to go talk to her...so they told me to talk to her....but how the hell do I get a hold of this lady?????? Then I would ask questions....did she eat her lunch? Did she nap? Is she playing with other kids? I would get these one word answers...or "She's doing good" (generic no clue answer) It's her first week....don't they expect me to ask questions? They have been in the daycare business for awhile don't they expect this?????? Finally I kind of aired all this to the director and secretary and FINALLY yesterday afternoon Miss Meridith sent home an update paper....but geez...now I am wondering if we chose the right place...PLUS Phene is having a hard time at drop off...crying...and this morning she got so hysterical she threw up....So I cried all the way to work again....being a mother/parent sucks sometimes...I wanted to go back in the building and get her after I walked out because I saw her crying through the window....but I knew that wasn't the best thing for her. I feel EXHAUSTED this week....and sad :(

#3
I am not really upset about this....but I have no one to do my long run with tomorrow. I don't think I have done but one long run alone, so now I guess I have become dependent on having someone there to talk to. I am sure it will be fine I have run by myself many times. Just wish I could find some company. Planning on 15...we will see if my phone battery lasts so I can have music the whole time.

#4
As I mentioned earlier this week Phene threw up on the way to daycare the other morning. Well turns out her car seat reeks like vomit. (Even though Sean said she didn't throw up on it) So today at work I took it out of the car and put it on my hood in the sun. Hoping it kind of airs out....no less than 10 people have come to tell me I have a car seat on my hood. One guy said he was worried someone would steal it. (We work on a private steet and the parking lot is away from the road...and if someone wants to steal our old vomitted on car seat....well it would be inconvenient, but be my guest)
HA and as I am writing this I just had ANOTHER person ask me.....
MYOB people!
Sorry, but if I saw a car seat on someone's hood...I wouldn't say anything...it's not like I left Phene strapped in the car seat and left her on the hood....

#5
Did I mention it's been a long week? Well it's been a long DAY too! It's only 12p and I am ready to LEAVE!


Hope you all have a good weekend!

Wishing some good luck and some slow miles to my friend Erin over here. She's doing a marathon as training for the JFK 50 mile race next month....a marathon as training!! She's an amazing athlete!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Just an American girl, in the Tokyo streets

*Even though someone explained to me how to do the youtube video thing in my last post...I still don't see how to do it...computer retard moment!







*Phene is sick today....sick of daycare?? Sick with stomach flu? Probably the latter. Sean is staying home with her. I think daycare is going well. Though both times I went to pick her up she seemed really sad. And yesterday afternoon she just seemed so emotional after....This sucks and I feel guilty and sad and just WORN OUT this week!!! I just hope it starts getting easier and better for her.







*Achilles pain? It was in one ankle yesterday...in the other today....who knows. Very annoying. C'mon ankles! Get your crap together!! Can't complain of any other pain though which I guess is a good thing. I got an ankle compression sleeve for the ankle that was bothering me a few weeks ago. And that pain has completely gone away. So, I think I will continue using the sleeve for now.








*Why the heck am I running so many miles on the weekends? I have a 10 mile race coming up at the end of the month....but after that nothing of any distance until mid December. So, why the long miles on the weekend? I guess if a 1/2 marathon comes up between now and then...I will be prepared. Plus, I guess I am really enjoying the long miles, more than I thought I would.

*FINALLY it has cooled down here in Austin....amazing! Last night it was 42 degrees...and today it's supposed to be in the low 70's....SO glad the heat is gone...just hope we have some nice mild weather before winter weather descends upon us.

* The time changes here in a few weeks. I really dread it every year. It means I leave home when it's dark in the morning, and return home and it's dark in the evenings. Did you know in Hawaii the time never changes? Gosh, I really didn't appreciate that as much as I should have!

*In November Harajuku Girls (Gwen Stefani) is coming out with a kids line of clothing at Target! I am SUPER excited! Did I tell you that our daughters dress better than I do? I love buying them cute clothes! (Mostly used from ebay, craigslist, etc...but cute nonetheless!)



(I really love Gwen Stefani, I love her solo stuff, I loved No Doubt, and her style is amazing!)




*Oh and I love when my town makes the news...


http://www.kvue.com/news/Teacher-recovers-after-student-stabbing-132127953.html





Tuesday, October 18, 2011

You're My Wonderwall



Do you have a song that you really like...that when it comes on the radio you crank it and sing a long like a crazy person?


This was my song today


(BTW, is there a way to just post a video in your blog without having to have the link? Couldn't figure it out...but I know I have seen it!)

Monday, October 17, 2011

Too Personal?




Do any of you who write a blog struggle with what you should blog about? Obviosuly running is a theme on my blog...and most of you who follow my blog run, or are interested in reading blogs about running. I don't find writing about running challenging, or even writing about little tid bits about my life....But at times I wonder...when is too much information....too much information?

I have read a few blogs that were very personal...spoke of real struggles, or real feelings. These blogs to me are pretty riveting. And I respect a person who can lay it all out there and say how they are feeling....but would this be a blog I would follow and want to read religously? And if really laid it all out there would my followers (or potential followers) be upset? Unfollow me? Secretly think to themselves "wow that blog is a little too much?". (PLUS, there are some of my followers who I actually know in "real life" and what would these people think or say?)

I think about this sometimes....because as we all know life isn't perfect...and there are the struggles that are easy to talk about...but there are some struggles/issues that are harder to talk about...that perhaps others don't really want to know about anyway. (?) But they are there, behind our words we write here on our blogs.

Sometimes I think I should start a private blog that would be more like a journal. But wouldn't that kind of defeat the purpose of this blog? I don't know...I have just been thinking about this lately.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Another Long Run

Planned on 14..went 15...GREAT run!

Now I am exhausted!

(Oh and finally we have COOL nice weather!!!!! Yeah!)

Friday, October 14, 2011

Before & After

This is what I did on my day off....


BEFORE


AFTER

I hope to God

you see the difference!

Took me an hour to do less than half the kitchen...but I am on a mission to finish this weekend! This was a hands and knees kind of job...not too much fun!


And most of the day I entertained this little booger....




Tomorrow I have 14 miles in the plan. Wish me luck!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Never fails

It never fails...I will be flipping through the radio stations in the car...I will get a text or get distracted and stop pushing the scan button on the radio...and 99.9% of the time it stops on a tejano channel! And it's minutes before I realize that I am blasting tejano music in my car.


Now if this just happened once, perhaps it would be just a coincidence...but this happens to me almost every day.


(And yes, sorry I do text while driving, so if you see a black SUV on the 35 freeway...watch out I am texting!)

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Quickie

Just a quick bullet post update...as I have had a bunch of days off of work and need to catch up :)



  • My 1/2 marathon was cancelled...of course it doesn't rain (well barely) all year long and it's like a hurricane descended on Austin just for the morning of the race. Boo! I still got to make the hour drive down there and drive in circles only to be told it was cancelled. Another Boo! I went home and ran 6 miles....but all in all VERY disappointing as I was really training for this one race and decided to do this 1/2 instead of a few others that are coming up. And they aren't refunding my money...so my budget for races is pretty much blown for this month :(

  • My mother flew in from California to see me race...and though the race didn't happen we did get to spend a lot of time together which was nice. I really miss having my family close by. We did some really cool crafts while she was here. My mother is very crafty and very creative. I will try to post some pics of some jeweled things we made. It was a lot of fun!

  • Phene starts daycare next monday....don't get me started on that today! I am really dreading it even though I know after a few days she will get adjusted and be just fine. Change is always hard! I think we found a good place. It's hard to know. We have visited it a few times, and it seems nice....we will have to try it and see how she does. I am the most neurotic mother! This is what happens when a type "a" has a kid I guess. I just feel like I am always worrying and always thinking the worst about things. I need to let go a little, and it's hard for me. (See this type "a" thing works out great for running, just not so much in some other aspects of my life)

  • American Horror Story...oh boy, I could go on and on about this show. Very disturbing and a little graphic...even for me! But it's unlike any TV series I have watched, and for that reason I want to see more! I don't know what scared me more....Jessica Lange's daughter? The guy (?) in the black suit? The husband always being naked?

  • A very good friend of mine is having a hard time. It's weighing on me and I am just praying/hoping she figures out what she needs to do. And I hope she knows I love her very much!

Ok back to work. Hope you all have a great week!



Saturday, October 8, 2011

The Sweetest Husband in the World















My husband made these for Phene and my mother to wear on race day tomorrow...he even made one for himself.








Isn't he the sweetest husband??