Run, Sole Sisters, Run!

Facebook--My accountability partner

2011-12-01T13:49:00.000-08:00

I love Facebook for a lot of reasons--today I love it because it provides me with a 366-person accountability team. I again faced the sluggish monster today as the clocked rolled around to 12:00 and it was time for a lunch break run. Though the day was beautiful, sunny yet chilly with a lovely breeze--I really just wanted to skip my run. I grappled and grappled with it. Finally I posted this on Facebook:

"Why do I not feel like going for my lunch time run? It's beautiful outside with the perfect balance of sunshine and chilliness--why am I not springing out of my work chair and into my running shoes today?? OK, Facebook, I'm going to let you hold me accountable...off I go."

As soon as I hit "post" I felt this compulsion to go because now everybody knows! While I was running I thought a few times, "I so just wanna stop and walk" but then I thought of the RunKeeper post that would occur at the end of my run, and I didn't want everyone to see that I only went .75 miles. It was a real motivator! In the end I went 3.01 miles in 30:51 minutes and was proud to have it posted on Facebook as proof that I had slayed the sluggish monster once again. Thanks, Facebook--you came through for me today!

Look Who Still Has A Blog

2011-11-29T13:54:00.000-08:00

Heeeeeeeeey I'm still here! Bet you (cyberspace and Kellie) thought I had disappeared forever. Nope. Just going with the ebb and flow of life.

To recap the last two weeks of running...there wasn't much. I believe that in the last two weeks I have run 4 times--but, in my defense one of those runs was 9.5 miles long. Anywho, it is what it is. I guess that running, like everything in life, is fluid. However, I am confident that I have built enough love and addiction to the sport now that I will always come back to it. :) Went out for a lovely lunch time run today and realized how much I miss the wonderful post-run feeling...so relaxed, so peaceful. Ahhhh, does a body and soul good.

Guess I don't have a whole lot to say today, just that it's nice to be back. :)

How many calories in a Hershey's kiss?

2011-11-08T16:38:00.000-08:00

OK, I'm not really sure what that subject line has to do with this blog post, other than that I have not been doing super great with my eating recently and that I have had 4 Hershey's kisses from the bowl on my desk at work today. Fortunately, upon investigation I discovered that they only have 22 calories each...

Speaking of not doing super great with my eating, I am NOT doing super great with my eating! OK, let's be fair to Terri...I am still tracking it, and I am still eating WAY better and WAY less than I did before I began making choices to change my life and my body...but not so great as I was a couple of weeks ago. I'm still hovering around 1200-1400 calories each day, sometimes a bit more and sometimes a bit less. At times it really gets to me and I get this paralyzing fear that I've hit that point where all this jazz about exercise and diet has become so blah that i stop doing it and put all those hard-earned pounds back on. At other times I dismiss the thought and choose to ignore it.

Right now, as I face the issue nose to nose, here's what I think: this is a life that I am living, not a diet plan. I am not on an episode of "The Biggest Loser" where I eat, sleep, breathe weightloss. I am a normal woman trying to live a normal life, and make good choices in the midst of that life. I'm not on a diet wagon, so there's no way to fall off of it! There are just choices. Today I chose to go on a lunch date with my hubby and eat a salad with dressing on the side, potato soup (lots of cheese...) and chips & salsa. Probably more calories than I've had in a meal in while...BUT, I had a lovely date with my hubby and given the choices on the menu I did pretty good! So I am going to choose to accept my choice as part of who I am, love it because it's a part of me and move on. :)

In case you hadn't noticed, this is almost exclusively just a pep talk for myself. :)

Despite my best intentions, I haven't made it back into the running shoes since my 9 miler, but I'm going to apply the same rule of love toward myself--a few missed runs does not derail me. Instead, I continue to bring my running bag to work and next time I'll choose to go running.

And then there were 9...

2011-11-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

A photo from mile 6

Can I just say that never in my life have I thought that I was capable of running 9 entire miles…or 5 for that matter…or 2 for that matter!! But here I am on the other side of a 9 mile run and in awe of what God can do with a body when you surrender it to the task. Friday afternoon I had the privilege to once again spend my afternoon in Monterey running. It is amazing to me that somehow this has now happened 2 weeks in a row—I wish that somehow my life could accommodate this as a weekly thing!! I don’t see that happening, but a girl can dream. Anyhow, I began this run at the wharf in Monterey and ran till the bike trail ended at Lover’s Point, then continued on these beautiful, ice plant lined paths that go right by the water…seriously, RIGHT by the water. This run blows last week’s run OUT OF THE WATER as far as beauty goes!! Amazing to spend 105 minutes running beside the majestic aqua waves crashing on rocks and sand…it was surreal. Toward the beginning of the run there were lots of people on the path, but toward the end of the leg out (ran out 4.5 miles and back 4.5 miles) I was alone midst the ice plant, sand, rocks, waves and beautiful sun. AHHHHmazing.

Beyond just the scenery, I did pretty well with the run as far as the endurance and strength required by my body. I hit these moments every few miles where I think I might die, but if I ignore them and just keep going before I know it I discover that I’ve run another mile and I’m still alive. J Much to my dismay, I did this entire run with no walk breaks!! I did think about it A LOT, but just never ended up taking any—I was pretty shocked.

I also decided to start figuring out what my body needs in regards to fuel mid-run. About 30 minutes before my run I had a power bar with all kinds of “slow burning” and “performance boosting” claims on the packaging—I knew nothing else about the bar. Then I brought another one with me and kept it tucked away for when I started to feel run down. At about mile 5 I decided to open up the second bar and see if I could eat it. I took a bite and discovered that it was much, MUCH easier to eat while running than I anticipated. However, it did make me feel a little nauseated. I don’t know if it was actually the taste of the bar (pretty nasty) or if it was just that my body didn’t want to have anything in my stomach. I’ll try again next time—some other kind of fuel—and see how it goes.

This weekend I have 9.5 miles on the horizon—which now doesn’t sound nearly so daunting as it once did. However, I do not know how I am going to accomplish this run. I won’t have the spectacular luxury of running by the beach again, and I’m not sure how to find the time block without having to wake up at 3:00 am…so I am praying for some kind of running miracle. I’ll keep you posted! In the meantime, short runs will ensue—hoping to run 2 miles each day just to keep things warm and loose. J

Seaside to Monterey to Pacific Grove and back--8 miles

2011-11-01T14:11:00.001-07:00

Dear Blogger.com,

I would like to know why you deleted my last, detailed and lengthy blog post? It took me precious time to write, and now it is gone; I blame you. However, since without you I would have no blog at all, I will forgive you out of the immense benevolence of my heart.

Sincerely,

Terri

OK, moving forth. I can’t guarantee that this post will have the same flair that the one before it did since now my post-writing time has mostly escaped me, but I will try.

Friday I got to punch my motivation-slump in the face—pretty awesome! Early in the afternoon my boss came by my desk and let me know that since everyone else was gone already and he was planning to head out soon, I was welcome to leave early if I so desired…no chance I was going to turn down that golden opportunity! With excitement my brain ran through the many scenarios that my afternoon could morph into given this newfound time: 1) Pick up the girls early from daycare, 2) Leave the girls at daycare till the regular pick up time and use this time to clean the house, 3) Ditto, but take a nap instead or 4) Ditto again, but go running instead. I opted for #4 J I had already made plans in my head to wake up long before the world is awake on Saturday morning to go try another long run, but boy did it sound better to do it on a Friday afternoon and sleep in on Saturday morning (you know…till 6:30 am, that is sleeping in for this Momma). Not only did I decide to run, but I decided to run a route that I have been dreaming about running since day one of this endeavor, and that is the bike path that follows the beach line, then through downtown Monterey, by Cannery Row and back to the beach line. Yay J

It was an awesome run—parked my car and ran 4 miles out, and 4 miles back…in case you’re tired that’s a total of 8 miles. Yes, I said 8 miles. Definitely a new distance PR for me! The run was beautiful, smooth and enjoyable. I did have moments of pure exhaustion and self doubt, but with a little perseverance I got through those moments and was able to complete my run with a smile on my face. Around mile 6.5 I decided that I was going to need a few walk-breaks if I was going to make it to the end so I did some run-walk-run intervals that really helped. Even with the walking, I still managed to pull off an average speed of 5.1 mph, which I am absolutely content with. I was so pleased to get out and prove to myself that I can and WILL be able to finish the half- marathon in January J As luck would have it (or, rather, as God would plan in his infinite wisdom) I will actually have this very rare chance to repeat my long-run by the coast this Friday afternoon—I plan to go 9 miles…I will report back J After this long run my runs will only increase by .5 mile each week until two weeks before the race, at which point I will have reached 14 miles. The last two weeks I will continue my short runs during the week and do a much shorter “long” run on the weekends to be sure that I am rested and ready to go. YAY!

Went out for another run today at lunch—it was a shorty at only 1.25 miles, but still good to get out.

Turkeys

2011-10-29T18:53:00.000-07:00

Had a great run today! Was able to get in 4.5 miles before church this morning. Had a PR of 13.12! Terri is motivating me with er 8 miles run on Friday. The farthest I have gone is 7 miles. I am going to run again in the morning and am going to try to make 8 miles.

Today mile one was good, 13:20 Mile two was great 13:12, mile three always seems to be the hardest. I was feeling very tired, yes I had not run in 6 days but come on 15:42 really. Mile 4 was better 14:20. Mile 5 well 1/2 of mile 5 was great 6:05.

Other good news I have now officially lost 90 pounds!

There is a pack (not sure what a group of Turkeys is called) of Turkeys that I have come across a few times on my runs recently. Darn Molly who as a lab SHOULD be a bird dog is not. She is not interested in them at all, no barking, no trying to chase them, no pulling at the lead, and not an ounce of trying to protect me from them. These Turkeys are not afraid of my clapping or yelling at them, They would not get out of the way, with no rocks in site I decided to just run and yell like a loon and hope they would move. Bear would have eaten at least 7 or 8 of them. Must remember to put a few rocks in my pocket for next time.

Thank Goodness for Co-Workers!

2011-10-26T14:01:00.000-07:00

As the noon hour drew nigh, I sat at my desk battling with my motivation level. One part of me said, "Terri, this is part of your committment. And you enjoy running! Get out there!" the other part of me gave excuses like, "But, I went yesterday and according to Jeff Galloway you shouldn't go everyday" and "I will go tonight after we get back from AWANA" (at 9:00 pm...after a long day...with laundry and a host of other things to do when I got back...not a chance). Just as I was about to give in to the excuses side of the argument, my co-worked piped up over the cubicle wall "So, Terri, how many miles are you going to run today at lunch?" Did he actually hear the debate in my head?! I couldn't very well fess up that I didn't feel like going, so I just said, "Aiming for 2 today!".

That confirmed it--I was going! And now that I am back I am, of course, so glad that I went--and ran 2.55 miles. Thank you to my co-worker (who I know was prompted by my awesome God) for giving me a little nudge. Nudge by nudge, I fully plan to make it through this little funk.

On a side note, I realized today that I have been running completely pain and pain killer free--don't know how long! Ahhhhh, remember when I was terrified that I'd never run again? So dramatic...thanks again, God, for keeping this change in myself alive.

Another Run...

2011-10-25T16:48:00.000-07:00

Got myself out the office door at 12:15 pm and went for a run. :) It wasn't my best feeling run ever--probably more mental than anything, but I ran 2.54 miles in 28 minutes and put it in the win column. I will show my complacent nature who is boss by kicking this motivation wall in the junk. :)

Motivation Nose-Dive

2011-10-25T09:59:00.000-07:00

Yes, I've hit it. I didn't expect this since I've been so gung-ho about running, to the point that I went crazy with running cravings when I couldn't run for a day. But, I am there. I've heard that it happens to even the best of runners and I am just praying that I push through and make it to the other side without discovering that I have yet again started and dropped a hobby. I have encountered my first real motivation wall. It's not that I don't still love running when I'm out there doing it, but suddenly the shimmer is gone. Suddenly, I don't feel like I'll die if I don't get on those running shoes. Suddenly eating lunch on my lunch break sounds a little bit better, and sleeping a little longer in the morning sounds more pleasant. Suddenly the thought of running 13.1 miles sounds daunting and non-motivating. *sigh* I must push through the disillusionment. I've experienced this before--like that moment in marriage when you realize that the knight in shinning armor that you said "I Do" to at the alter is actually just a normal human man with flaws and kinda gets on your nerves sometimes. The honeymoon is over, and you're left with a decision--do I continue to make the choice to get up everyday and do this thing because I have committed to it or do I throw up my hands in submission and give up...

Saturday morning was a huge running downer point for me--one that I have not yet fully emotionally recovered from. According to my training schedule I needed to run 7 miles on Saturday--totally doable. If I can run 6 miles, I can run 7 miles--it's just one more mile. Squeezing time out of my life for such long runs is tricky, but I woke up at 4:30 am on a Saturday morning while hubby and children slept to accomplish this. At around mile 3 boredom took over my body. I DID NOT WANT TO KEEP RUNNING. Not that I couldn't, not that I was too tired, not that my body wouldn't allow me--I just plain didn't want to. I pushed through, determined to complete my 7--after all, I woke up early on a SATURDAY for this, how could I just give up and call it quits early?

Sounds like a can do attitude, right? The can-do attitude got me 1 more mile. At the close of 4 miles I gave in to myself. I was horribly disappointed in myself and immediately began to doubt that I would ever be able to cross that 13.1 finish line because I'm such an unmotivated loser. It was not my best morning.

Sunday I continued to dwell in this funk--no running. Monday morning I woke up at 4:30 to get out there and try again but was derailed by crying and then extremely awake baby. No running again. Lunch break came...no running again. Loser. Loser. Loser. Or at least that's how I feel.

HOWEVER--yes, there is always a however--I AM GOING TO STICK TO THIS. I have put too much time, energy, love, passion and excitement into this endeavor and I am GOING to do it. Like everything else in life, things lose their initial luster after a while...but if you just stick with it, you get through the down time and find yourself once again on the mountain top before you know it. I've discovered that running is a lot like a relationship--it takes a lot of continual effort to keep the fire alive and burning, and when the fire burns low, you just gotta keep at it. You'll reap the rewards in the end.

So, I'm going to forgive myself for bowing out of my 7 mile run on Saturday. I'm going to forgive myself for wallowing. I am going to forgive myself for contemplating giving up all together. I am going to put on my running shoes at 12:00 pm and I am going to run. I am a runner. I AM a runner. I am a RUNNER. I AM A RUNNER!!

2011-10-19T17:19:00.000-07:00

I am alive, I know you were worried right? I have been able to fit in a few runs so far this week....I am including last Saturday as this week.

Had a wonderful time at the Women of Faith conference this past weekend. My wonderful sister was able to come down and spend the weekend. We were invited to sit in one of the luxury boxes by my dear friend J. It was great to be able to praise the Lord with some wonderful ladies.

One of the best parts......................Terri and I got to RUN. I think we kicked butt! Just a short 3.6 miles early Saturday morning but it was great. I did have some knee pain but nothing that I was going to die from.

I was able to get in a nice run on Monday also. 4 miles on the treadmill while watching the biggest loser.

I am now officially down 84 pounds, 99 pounds more to goal. Motivation for this week is to be able to fit in my Running for Him tee.

Back out there :)

2011-10-17T15:39:00.000-07:00

Oh, you noticed that I didn't write any posts last week, did you? Were you thinking, "She's running so much that she just doesn't have time in between runs to blog about it!!" Ha ha ha, I wish. Nope, last week I did not run one bit--not a mile, yard or footfall to be found. To recap--I ran the 10K on 10/8 then just stopped running for a whole week. That looks so silly when I read it back to myself; I wrote "A whole week" as though I were writing "A whole year" or "A whole millenia". A week is just seven little days, but in the runner world it feels like a milenia. In my defense, I didn't just wake up Monday morning and say, "Nope, no running for me thank you." I just had a very busy work week and didn't take a single lunch break--so, no lunch break=no run. Yes, I'm sure that if I had suspended reality and really worked at it I probably could have found another time to run, but instead I decided to embrace that even though I'd love to live in a world where everything fits perfectly into the 24 hours allotted in a day, I just don't. SO, no running.

I did, however, finally get a chance to put on the old rusty running shoes on Saturday to go for a run with my sister Kellie--woo hoo!! We did awesome and ran for 58 minutes--in which Kellie ran her fastest and her longest consecutive running time :) So exciting to be part of a PR! It was amazing to get to run with my sister, wish I could do it every day. Maybe someday...

As I look ahead at my running calendar, I see the 13.1 looming quite ominously and was excited to get back out on the pavement today during my lunch break. Unfortunately for me, the sun was also excited to get back out there. In runners terms, it was about 185 degrees at noon today--that translates to 85 degrees in normal terms. I did run, but only 1 mile till I decided that I would be worse for the wear if I died of heat stroke while training for a half marathon. No biggie, there's always tomorrow! And the next day, and the next day, and the next day... :)

Until tomorrow!

2011-10-13T19:39:00.000-07:00

This made me laugh.

Bad Blogger

2011-10-13T19:37:00.000-07:00

I am still here, still running, has just been hard to find the time to blog. Next week I promise more posts. I did sign up for the Fleet Feet training program for the Shamrock half in March.

10K--for REALS

2011-10-10T14:08:00.000-07:00

Saturday was my first 10K. It was...hard. I loved it--especially when I was done, ha ha ha--but it was HARD. First off, I learned a lesson on Saturday that I will not forget: NEVER wear something new on race day that you have never worn before. This did occur me to me before I wore it, but I didn't think it would be that big of a deal...it absolutely was a big deal. I bought some cute little running shorts a few days before my 10K because I've been a little annoyed with the fit of my current jogging pants. First off, I was very self-conscious in the shorts. I kept looking around at all the other people wearing shorts and humbly noted that I did not see any jiggly cellulite anywhere but when I looked stright down...I kept hoping that I was the only person in the group checking out everybody's legs that were wearing shorts. Secondly, about 5 steps into the race my worst fear (in regards to the shorts, anyhow) came true--they bunched up TERRIBLY between my thighs. At first I tried to ignore it thinking that maybe it wasn't so bad, until I looked down once and noticed that when I took a stride forward you could actually see the little hem on the leg-hole of my panties. It was terribly distracting! So every 30 steps or so I would have to reach down and try to pull the shorts out from the crevace that they so longed to be in. *OBNOXIOUS* Third, and probably worst of all, around mile 3 of the 6 miles I began to have what my hilarious sister calls "chub-rub" on my thighs. As always it started out with just a little sting as my legs/running shorts rubbed together, but by mile 6 it was a burn. SO, the moral of the story is two-fold: Always try apparel out in my personal runs before wearing them to a race, and I am not yet ready for shorts!

OK enough about the shorts. Let's move on to the race itself: It was a 5K/10K that basically was a 5K loop and if you signed up to do the 10K you just ran the loop twice. I don't know exactly who planned this, but the entire 3rd and 6th mile (the same stretch of road since the 10K was a double loop) was u-p-h-i-l-l. Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!? You're going to put an entire mile of uphill at the very end of a race? It was brutal. I think my running steps were barely as long as the length of my foot while I was trudging up those hills. I felt like I was keeping a fairly good pace, although I finished 4th from the last. Despite being one of the slowest runners out there, I am still pleased with having kept a 12 minute-mile pace (5mph) throughout the race even WITH the uphill. I finished at 1 hour 12 minutes exactly--and that aint bad. I think I was just running with a whole bunch of very experienced, avid runners for whom this was just a daily jog. There was a guy who was running with a double running stroller (with two toddlers in it) that finished the 10K 5 minutes after I finished the first 5K...wow. Maybe someday we'll be that fast? Who knows!

Much as it may sound like an unpleasant experience, it was not at all. I very much enjoyed getting to run it, even with all the personal complications. I also loved that my hubby was there for the first time along with my girls to cheer me on--yay for cheerleaders!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-05T21:12:00.000-07:00

Bad Morning=Fast Running!!

2011-10-04T16:36:00.000-07:00

I won't go into the boring details, but I had a not so fantastic morning at work. Nothing bad happened in my actual office (didn't get yelled at or anything like that)--we just had a big SNAFU with the hotel reservations that I made for the trade show in two weeks and it was a hectic, infuriating mess trying to sort other people's mistakes out and fix the situation. Anywho, so I headed out at lunch with a whole lot of irritation pumping through my veins...my hope was to spend some time soaking in God's presence so that all my annoyed and very negative feelings would release and vanish. What happened next I was not anticipating...I starting my run and soon discovered that I was FLYING. Possibly running faster than I had ever run before. My legs were just pumping, pumping, pumping and I was bookin' it down the road. I kept wanting to check my phone to see how fast I was going but thought that might actually derail me. I decided to keep it up until it felt uncomfortable--I was shocked at how long I was able to go that fast. At the close of mile #1 I finally settled back down into a more normal speed. I waited till the end of my run to check and see just how fast I had gone...now I realize that RunKeeper can sometimes be inaccurate, but considering how my body felt I think this is actually pretty realistic--I ran a 9.5 minute mile!!! Seriously, crazy. I am not a speedy runner! Usually I settle in about 4.5 mph and occasionally up to 5 mph. During that first mile my peak speed was 7.6 mph. I guess all that irritated adrenaline really put my legs into high gear. Rest assured, I have not become some Kenyan runner--my second mile was back to 4.6 mph and at times even slower than that. But it was quite an experience to feel my body just get up and go!

50 Miles

2011-10-03T09:12:00.000-07:00

After updating my miles run the other day I noticed that so far in September I had run 46.9 miles, leaving exactly 5K till I reached 50 miles. Well, one can't have that knowledge and not do something about it! So, on Friday I headed out for one last 5K for the month of September. It was a delight...I ran through "my town" a little bit, but then I headed off down a little stretch of road that I have not run down before. This little stretch of road connects "my town" (also known as Spreckles) to highway 68. The road has fields on both sides of it and is lined with big, tall trees that have grown over the top of the road. The leaves on the trees are all in various stages of autumn, creating a veritable painters pallet of auburn hues--breathtaking. Rather than listening to my usual playlist for running I actually listened to my Christmas playlist! Between the crystallic voices of Celtic Woman singing "O Holy Night" and the picturesque autumn backdrop...I was in runner's heaven!

As I ran, I became a little overwhelmed with emotion about this change that I have made in my life. I have a recurring dream that I've numerous times since high school. In this dream I am running--usually through a park, or somewhere beautiful--it's not a scary running-away-from-the-boogie-monster kind of running. In my dream I am running with ease, as though my body is weightless and I have all the endurance in the world. I am smiling, I am joyful, I feel the wind rushing through my hair and wooshing past my face. Then I wake up and I think to myself, "Man, it would be so cool if I could run like that! Just to run and not get tired." I was reminded of that dream while I was out, and I suddenly realized that I have actually had a bonafied dream come true! Granted, it's not like I don't get tired when I run and I do NOT feel weightless...but I do have as much joy and peace when I run in real life as I have always had in that dream. The realization of this was so intense for me emotionally and spiritually...crazy as it may sound to some people, I almost feel like that recurring dream may have been from God...kind of his own special way of using foreshadowing in my life. A way of showing me that even since high school--all things that are happening in my life right now were in the works and in His hands. Very cool feeling!

In the next two weeks I have two events that I am greatly looking forward to :) This coming Saturday I will be running my first 10K race--not only my first 10K but also my first race that Patrick gets to come to! Super excited. The race is part of a family fun day and we'll be staying afterward to play games, eat some yummy food and enjoy time together :) Yay!

Then the FOLLOWING weekend I get to be with Kellie at Women of Faith!!!!! So, so, so, so excited!! I have childcare all lined up for my munchkins (thanks to Auntie Christina!) and I'll be headed up solo for some rejuvination time with my beautiful sister and my wonderful Father. How blessed I am!

Long week TGIF

2011-09-30T21:38:00.000-07:00

I had visions of a night time run today, the weather was cool with a nice breeze. When I got home I discovered this nice gift the dogs, or more likely one dog in particular left me.

Do I look like I could damage a thing?

Yes that is down feathers EVERYWHERE!

Looks like snow drifts in the front room.

So I spent hours cleaning up and no run. Maybe God is trying to teach me patience?

I did run twice so far this week.
Monday was a 3.14 mile run with a shorter time then the weekend 5k. I was still motivated from running with Terri.

Distance:	3.14 mi
Time:	46:29
Avg Pace:	14:47 min/mi
Elevation Gain:	50 ft

Wednesday morning I was able to get a long run in 7miles. Not as fast as the 5k pace and sooooooo boring running by myself.

Distance:	7.04 mi
Time:	1:59:39
Avg Pace:	16:59 min/mi
Elevation Gain:	134 ft

Next post I will review of the Fit Bit. My fried J* turned me on to the FitBit and I will say it has been a motivating factor this week.

Magic 10K

2011-09-29T14:29:00.000-07:00

Being as I have a 10K looming on my calendar and I had yet to run more than 5.5 miles, I deemed today to be the day that I prove to myself that I can run that far. I didn't want that day to be the race day because then I'd be worried the whole way through thinking, "what if I don't make it?!?"

The day couldn't have worked out better for this run. It was a cloudy and chilly morning, but forecasts promised it would warm to at least mid-70s if not higher. So, with fantastic wisdom, I decided to take my lunch break early at 11:00 while it was still foggy in hopes that I could get my run completed before the much warmer sun came out. BRILLIANT plan, I must say. I've said it before and I'll say it again, heat is my nemisis. Running in the chilly air was so much easier--my body must spend a lot of energy trying to keep cool when it's too hot. Anyhow, I set RunKeeper to beep when I had completed 10K (6.2 miles) and headed off. I won't go so far as to say that the run was easy but it wasn't unbearable either. Actually what made it most difficult...*ahem* is slightly off-color, but I will share it anyways just in case another reader finds themselves in this position someday. Around mile 2 I discovered that my body needed to...eliminate. I was determined to keep running because I am the type that once I stop, getting going again is very, very difficult and I wanted NOTHING to derail me from my mission. So for nearly 4 whole miles I fought the fact that my body was telling me quite fiercly that it had to go. Finally, at 5.92 miles I gave in and ran to the public bathroom in the park--it was "eeeeeeeeew yucky" as Kaia would say, but what are ya gonna do?! Anyhow, important business completed, I thought about just calling it "close enough" but then thought, "SERIOUSLY?!? Terri it's just another couple hundred yards! For crying out loud, just do it." So I ran another little lap just around the park and finally my phone alerted me that my 10K was done. 1 hour and 15 minutes :) Feeling much more confident about my 10K race happening in just a week!

P.S. Just as a public service announcement...those flimsy little toilet seat covers adhere quite strongly to sweaty skin...that's all I'm gonna say about that.

P.P.S. The sun came out while I was driving back to my office after my run :)

Run for Mercy

2011-09-27T19:22:00.000-07:00

We Rocked It!

At last Terri and I were able to run together again. On Saturday we ran in the Run for Mercy 5k and we rocked it. I had a bit of nerves before hand as this was my first race. I was so glad that Terri was by my side. I was excited to have personal record, fastest mile yet 13:35, when I started this running adventure I was at 22 minutes so a dramatic improvement if I do say so.

Things I loved: Running with dear Terri, having hubby, the parents and the little girls to cheer us on, finishing, having a PR, NOT BEING LAST!
Things I hated: It was HOT. I am used to running at 0300 or 0600 when it is nice and cool. Saturday was hot at 0900 in the morning. Sunday was cold, to bad the race was not on Sunday.

Can't wait for the next one!

Woot we finished

Proud Parents

Pre-Race

The Happy Hubby

Rockin Momma and her girls

Kaia giving the don't you dare take me away from my auntie look

Fast-Slow Intervals

2011-09-27T16:12:00.000-07:00

Firstly, just another log in the log-book: 30 minutes running today, 2.5 miles. I decided to try some fast-slow intervals today to see if I could shorten my mile time...so on mile two I did six 15 second sprints followed by a number of minutes of regular-speed running and recovery. However, it appears that I must have made up for any extra speed by slowing down during the recovery time because my mile time was actually slower! Oh well, it was something new. :)

I was looking back through my blog posts and noticed that at the beginning I waxed eloquent with nearly every run, filling the screen with epiphanies and anecdotes about my runs. However, as running has become less of a novelty and more of just a daily part of me my blogs have become just a quick record of steps run. There’s nothing wrong with that—it is very telling of how deeply running has become a part of who I am. However, despite that, I am still learning much from my runs so I thought I would jot down just a few of the things that running has taught me over the last 4 months (it’s only be FOUR months???):

· It is exhausting to run. It is even more exhausting to not run.

· Running makes my feet look uglier…perhaps giving me license to get more pedicures??

· When I am warming up I breathe in 6/8 time (“1-2-3” inhale “4-5-6” exhale). When I settle into the groove I breathe in 4/4 time (“1-2” inhale “3-4” exhale)

· There really are NO rules when it comes to running—it is as individual as the individual.

· Ibuprofen helps.

· I love my husband. Not like I didn’t know that already, but praying for him while I run always makes me feel a little more giddy about being married to him.

· Running with a buddy=FAR SUPERIOR RUNNING EXPERIENCE.

· My hair looks better after I run & sweat.

· Life is a lot like my runs—regardless of the terrain, heat or circumstances, how much I enjoy it is entirely up to ME.

· People are very impressed by running.

· Running makes me hungry.

· My perfect run would occur in the chilly evening followed by a hot shower, jammies and sliding into bed. GREAT night of sleep!!!!

· Running is addicting. Either that or running appeals to people with addictive personalities. Either way—I’m addicted.

· If you don’t keep up on clipping toenails, you’ll end up with bloody socks after a long run.

· Never under estimate the value of a well-fitted sports bra.

· Crossing a finish line feels incredible!

· I am capable of way more than I think—I just have to push past my own insecurities and assumptions about myself. This is true in the world of running and my every day life.

More gems to come your way at a later time...

A fun run!!

2011-09-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

Saturday was our first running event as a team--and Kellie and I kicked it!! :) It was so much fun running with Kellie, I can not wait to do it again. Seriously, can not WAIT!!

Just got back from another lunchtime 2.25 mile run...not much to report except that it is nice to have an exercise routine that I adore. :) Another lovely run on the books.

Running meets prayer

2011-09-22T09:31:00.000-07:00

I am digging this whole praying-while-I-run thing...it's kinda like running with a partner because it totally passes the time! Yesterday when I went for my Runch or Lun, not sure which one I like better (or either...maybe just stick with Lunch Run) I decided to not pray for my own family but pray for a friend and her family who were in a crisis yesterday. It was such a beautiful way to lift my feet off the pavement and pass the run time. I did another shorty, which works well on my lunch break--another 2 miles and 24 minutes to add to the books. :)

Can hardly contain my excitement for our race this weekend!!! Praying for Kellie's knee to be ready and with the program :) YAY!

I will not freak out, I will try not to freak out.......ok I am freaking out!

2011-09-20T19:29:00.000-07:00

Weigh in was today......I was hoping to hit 80 pounds lost but that did not happen. Ok I an just going to say it....I gained and not just a little. I gained 9 pounds in one week being ON program. Ummm ok trying not to let it get to me. I did hurt my knee and have been taking Motrin, and my feet are swollen which is weird but 9 pounds???? Ok so next week will be a 10 pulse loss right?

Happy

2011-09-20T12:56:00.001-07:00

Here I am on "my table" after my lunch run :) 2 miles, 28 minutes--peaceful smile...

Ouch

2011-09-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

Icing my knee and watching the Raiders.

Not sure what I did but my knee is not happy. There was no pop, click or sudden pain, more so a gradual soreness that developed during my long run on Sunday. Now it is a pain. Hurts more to go down stairs then up, ice helps but just a little. Not happy!

So excited to run with my Sole Sister Terri this weekend!

Unseasonably Warm

2011-09-19T16:19:00.001-07:00

Went for a run on my lunch break today but decided to call it quits after 1.25 miles because it was just too warm for all that running! It was nice to break my day up though :)

Longy Long

2011-09-19T09:12:00.000-07:00

Friday I did a long run on my lunch break which actually took a little bit longer than my break, but fortunately I have an easy-going boss. I pushed myself to run 4 prayer laps, so Kaia got her own lap this time. :) Total run was 5.03 miles, 60 minutes of running time. It's not the fastest running time ever, but it was the longest run I've done since "The Injury" (pretty sizeable event in my life, worthy of quotation marks and capital letters) so I was pleased.

I read about how seasoned runners tend to develop a pre-run routine that help them to get in the groove and perform their best. For now, I've discovered that my pre-run routine includes drinking a bunch of water in the few hours previous, and 1 hour before my run taking 800 mg. of motrin :) Both seem to make a HUGE difference in my performance!! It would be nice if I didn't need the motrin, but for now it's a necessity. Not that I can't run without it, but I can't run as long without it. So for now, it's just part of how I gear up for a run!

SOOOOO looking forward to my first running event with Kellie this weekend. :) YAY!

Shorty Short

2011-09-15T13:57:00.000-07:00

Today I went for a short little run on my lunch break. I had something important that I had to be back in the office for and I wanted to be sure that I had enough time to cool down and get back to "professional" post run :) So I ran just 1.68 miles today, but it felt lovely.

I love the way I feel after running. First the rush of endorphins, then the calm & sweet relaxation my body feels for the rest of the afternoon. What I'm loving most about my lunchtime runs is that at the end of each run I have a particular picnic table at the park that is in the shade and kinda out of the way a bit where I lay down and stretch. With soft music in my ears, the endorphins pumping, the breeze on my face and my eyes closed...I feel so free... A freedom that I haven't felt since college when I truly was carefree! I lay there and just smile as I soak in the feeling of just being ME--in that moment I am only responsible for myself, I have nothing pressing on me, no time constraints, no limits...it's beautiful. I feel like I could reach up and stroke God's face in that moment. It's just enough serenity in the midst of an otherwise chaotic (but wonderful) life to remind me how important it is to take a moment to just be. I realize that I'm totally wandering off the topic of running, but I wanted to share the words from a poster that I saw in high school that totally stuck with me:

Be still and know that He is God.

Be still and know that He is.

Be still and know.

Be still.

Be.

2011-09-14T14:14:00.000-07:00

I was able to get up early 0300 and before work on Sunday and got a short 2 mile run in. The temperature was lovely, not a sole on the road a Molly was a doll. It was a great run. I decided not to time my intervals and just run until I was tired, then walk.

Today I got up not so early 0700 on my day off and go for a run. Today's run was not go from the first step. In the beginning my heal was hurting, I just kept going. The my left knee started to bug me. Nothing horrible but I could tell it was irritated. They city was doing maintenance on the bike path so i had to alter my route. At one point I could see further down the path a group of animals. I was not sure what they were (thanks parents for these wonderful eye gens) looked like possible turkeys or maybe some foxes or coyotes? They were pulling or pecking something on the ground. Mellow Molly of course did nothing.......Bear would have been pulling me closer and braking at them. I looked at Molly and said you are going to scare them away???? I then tried to make some noise to scare them off, clapping yelling and nothing they were not moving. I kept getting closer and at that point could see it was just a pack of 15 or so wild turkeys. They made no movement as we passed, only about 10 yards from each other.

At the end of the path I was following the city was adding more length the the bike path. Mind you they have been working on this for a while I have never actually been there when the work was being done. Today was another story............2 bulldozers and 2 large dump trucks hauling dirt and the men to drive them. So I had to turn around and head back. At this point my right hip groin started to hurt and I decided to call the run over and walk home.

I am now getting nervous about the up coming half.........................

Breaking News--Terri, not as fat as she thought she was.

2011-09-14T12:06:00.000-07:00

Sooooooo

Today's Run

2011-09-13T14:15:00.000-07:00

Today was my regularly scheduled lunch time run. Oddly, today I didn't feel like going...but I pushed myself out the door anyway. I really love running around my new little neighborhood :)

Yesterday I ran 2 laps around the perimeter of the town and my goal today was to run 3 laps around it--which I managed to accomplish. Again I played some gentle worship music--some Kenny G-esque sax hymns that make my soul sing--and this time I decided to pray while I ran. The town is quite literally a little square, so each lap has 4 sides to it. On my first lap I prayed for Terri--side #1 I prayed for my spiritual walk and my role as a Christian woman. Side #2 I prayed for TERRI--the woman, outside of all her other roles in life, just me. Side #3 I prayed for myself as a wife and side #4 I prayed for myself as a mother. Lap 2 I did the same cycle, but prayed for Patrick. Lap 3 I prayed slightly shortened versions of that cycle--half the lap was for Rachel and the other half was for Kaia. It was great! Hopefully soon Rachel and Kaia can each have their own lap. Ran 3.7 miles today.

Ha ha

2011-09-13T10:04:00.000-07:00

I just noticed that there is a Papa John's Pizza advertisement at the bottom of our blog...lol--not exactly what I want to see when I'm talking about running and weight, but maybe it'll bring in a few pennies!! :)

Junk Run (or Running Junkie??)

2011-09-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

So yesterday at lunch I went for a "junk run"--meaning a run in between previously scheduled runs. I did this for two main reasons:

1) I want to jumpstart my metabolism and kick my body out of homeostasis and into overdrive (see pervious blog post)

2) I've been feeling down about my running, yesterday particularly, and I thought that perhaps a run would get some endorphins going that could override my negative emtions

3) I'm a running junkie. I have a very addictive personality and I think that I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I am addicted to running....gotta say, there's a whole lot worse things a girl could be addicted to, right?!

I thoroughly enjoyed my junk run. Because it wasn't a scheduled run with a goal time, distance or mile speed I didn't feel any kind of panic or pressure--I just enjoyed the run. I did use RunKeeper so that at the end I would know how far I went, but I turned off all the alerts. Also, instead of listening to my typical running playlist which is mostly upbeat Glee tunes with a little Katy Perry and Hot Chelle Rae thrown in, I listened to the worship music that I'll be singing this Sunday at church. What I noticed was that while listening to pumping, up-beat music gets your blood flowing, it also kinda "hops you up" where as this music was relaxing. It seems that if you want to keep running you would want to be all hopped up, but honestly listening to relaxing, soft, spiritually uplifting music made my run feel less like running and more like meditatitng. From a music/biological standpoint I think that it also helps to keep your heart rate down. In music classes from college I learned that our heart has the tendency to try to "keep time" with music we hear--fast music=faster heart rate, slow music=slower heart rate. SO, it stands to reason that if you listen to gentle music while running, that your heart rate will tend to stay lower and thus get less exhausted. OK, that may not be scientific fact--all I know is that it seemed to help me yesterday. :)

When I ended RunKeeper said that I had run 2.5 miles. Yay!

Oops, and I ran :)

2011-09-12T08:40:00.000-07:00

In the middle of the deleted blog post was the record of yesterday's run. I went for a nap time run and ran 3.56 miles the walked another 2.37 for a total of 5.93 miles. Hoping to be able to RUN 5.93 miles soon...

Frustrated

2011-09-12T08:32:00.000-07:00

Why is my body always so interested in maintaining homeostasis?!?! I have reached yet another plateau in my weightloss which is starting to really annoy. Remember a few weeks ago when I was all excited because I finally reached 198.6 lbs (under 200, was the grande excitement)...welp, that's where it has stayed. Not an ounce under--occasionally a little heavier depending on the day, but generally that's where I'm at. Still. That is a grand total lost of 20 pounds in the last 3 1/2 months. I used to be able to lose 20 in 1 month. I keep thinking that I must be eating too much, but after weeks of tracking my calories, that just isn't the case. Everyday I am eating between 1000-1200 calories. I am running 7-9 miles a week plus strength training exercises. What more do you want from me, body?! Seriously, do you want me to starve you?

WOW...OK, so I don't know what happened but I wrote a MUCH longer entry then what you see above. But when I his "publish post" the bulk of it disappeared...which is a little ironic because the entire blog was a Terri bashing session on how I'm not running as much as I want to run, I'm still fat, I'll never make it, blah blah blah. HA HA, I seriously think that God hit the delete button.

I'll take the hint...stop worrying about what if I__________ or how come I'm not ___________ and stop enjoying every moment of each day that God has blessed me with.

I get it, God, thanks for the memo!

Lazy running

2011-09-09T19:10:00.000-07:00

I was able to get out for a nice run this morning. It started of great, cool breeze, not to hot, Molly was doing well and I was feeling strong. I got started late and it was going to be getting hot so my plan was to do 3-4 miles. I was going to push it. I think I have gotten a bit sloppy and lazy with my running. Kind of just getting my and not really pushing myself. That will be my focus for the next, really working hard even if i am only running 3 miles.

Lunch Run

2011-09-08T14:58:00.000-07:00

I went for another lunch break run today :) I don't like it nearly so much as running at night, but I feel more safe and until I can work back up to runs longer than my allotted time, I will keep heading out at noon. I discovered a couple of things on my run today:

1) Apparently I am not the first person to discover the simple and quaint beauty of the little neighborhood that I am running in. I think it's actually a "town" because it's called Spreckles and there is a Spreckles Post Office...but the "settlement" is only a little over a mile in circumfrence so it's tiny. There is this big (relatively) beautiful ful park in the very center of the town and I noticed that all around the park there are cars parked with people in them eating lunches, taking naps, playing on their phones, listening to music--and they all start arriving between 12:00 and 12:30 and leave about 30 minutes later...I think I've found the official "lunch spot"! Having said that, it is so still, serene and quiet in the town that you would never know.

2) RUNNING WITH SOMEONE IS SO MUCH BETTER!!! The only time I have ever run with someone was that quick run at Fish Camp with Kellie--and it was pretty awesome, but I haven't gotten to run with anyone since. Well, today another runner came up behind me and probably would have passed me because he was running much faster than me, but he slowed down to match my speed and we chatted about running! For like 1.5 miles we ran together and that time FLEW! I didn't feel tired, didn't feel sore, it was great! Man, the distractions help. BTW, he was there running on his lunch break too--he works around the corner from me, ha ha!

3) My heart must be getting healthier because my heart rate returns back to normal so much faster now than it used to.

4) My haircut is AWESOME! Somehow, it manages to look even BETTER after I have run, gotten all sweaty and the wind has whipped it to and fro...go figure.

I ran 3.5 miles today--longest since my injury break--and was pretty satisfied by that. I have noticed that I definitely can not maintain the pace that I used to before the injury, but I'm still content with my speed. Can't wait to run with Kellie in just a few weeks!!!

YAY!

Hello 250's

2011-09-06T21:40:00.000-07:00

Today I have officially lost 75 lbs and entered into the 250's. I am excited and proud of this accomplishment. At the same time I am having a battle with the overwhelming magnitude of the journey still to come. Terri your post today could not have come at a better time. Just when I am feeling over whelmed with everything, you give me that extra motivation and voice of reality. I mean really 75 lbs 50+ miles like get over yourself already right!

Catching Up

2011-09-06T10:11:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh, I finally thought ahead. :) Friday evening was slated to be a run, but when I went to bed Thursday night I thought about the fact the Patrick would be working on Friday night and his Dad would most likely be going out with his girlfriend on Friday night, which would derail my plans to run after bedtime. So, since my run lengths are still working back up to where I once was, I decided to make a lunch-time run date with myself on Friday!

I drove down to this really cute little neighborhood just a little way from the office, threw in my headphones and off I went. I ran 2.27 miles which isn't 7 miles like I'd love, but it's still progress toward the goal :) Felt good about it!

I was going to try to go for a long run on Sunday night...but I had this really creepy feeling that it was not safe. With it getting dark so much earlier, my entire run at night is now in the dark and usually that doesn't bother me, but Sunday night it did. I decided that it was better to be safe than sorry, so I listened to my premonition and did not go. However, I did get to go on Monday during nap time. :) I wanted to run 5 miles or so, but knew that I'd have to allow myself to stop earlier than that if my body was telling me otherwise--particularly with it being mid-day on a pretty warm day. I ran 2.67 miles before my body said it needed a break, but I continued walking. I was able to keep a walking pace of about 4.2 mph and every few minutes I would run a little bit, then go back to walking. In total, I went 6.2 miles. :) Wish I could have run all of it, but I remind myself that it is all work toward one goal and every minute counts. My next goal is to go for a 5K run so that I am confident that I will be ready for the 5K on the 24th. Hoping to do that on Wednesday--I'll keep you posted.

Ode To Kellie

2011-09-06T09:58:00.000-07:00

53 miles. Kellie, you have run 53 miles since we started this adventure! That's 17 entire 5Ks, 8.5 10Ks, 4 half-marathons or 2 full-length marathons--take your pick. And, this is only counting miles that you've logged on this blog so any others that didn't get mentioned are in addition to all this incredible running. Amazing! I bet that if someone had asked you back in April if you could run 53 miles you would have laughed, and laughed, and laughed and laughed...and look where you are now!! Since neither of us are very good at positive self-talk I just wanted to take a moment to highlight the hardwork you've put into this so that your soul and be uplifted and see what a truly incredible person you are. :) You have made a committment and stuck to it--through injuries, good days, bad days, falling shorts--you're doing it. Not only are you daily taking strides toward an atheltic goal, you're making fantastic life choices for your body!! I bet that if your body could send you a thank you card, it totally would. :) You're tossing out "bricks" left and right and actively doing things to take care of the body God has blessed you with. Regardless of what you think of the number you see on the scale--you are currently much more healthy than probably 80% of the people that you see on a daily basis!! Very well done, my sister. I love that we're on this running adventure together and absolutely can not wait to run the 5K with you in just 20 days!!!!!

2011-09-04T16:20:00.000-07:00

Sooooooooooo the crankiness has left this chick! Thank goodness God gave me such an understanding and patient husband.

I did get out for a run this morning, started at 0700. I decided last night that I was going to do a 1 mile walk as a warm up and the run 4 miles followed by a 1 mile cool down walk. My plan did not exactly fall into place the way I wanted it to.

After about 15 running feet my shorts were falling down! Yea fir weight loss, boo for flashing my bum to the world. I hiked them back up and started again only to feel them sliding over my hips and heading for the ground. That was a sign to stop running and to simply have a nice walk.

(Do not Google "shorts falling down" you will not get any good images.....or bad bad things.)

Runkeeper decided I needed an ego boost and kept telling me I was running a pace of 6 minutes something a mile and ran 10.5 miles. Sooooo not reality, but nice to dream that someday that will be my running reality. Not a fan of that app lately. I have had a number of runs that were not tracked correctly. Not sure if it is the app, my phone or an act of the tech gods. Next weekend run I will take hubbies phone and see if the issue is my phone.

Molly did great, many people on the trails/path this morning, and the weather was great. I was able to listen to music via Pandora for a while. I was thinking of stopping the music so I could have some quite time to pray. When my music stopped working about 2/3 the way through my walk I figured God was tired of waiting for me.

Cranky Blahhh

2011-09-03T21:44:00.000-07:00

I have been one cranky lady this week. I have not run since last Sunday....this might be contributing to the mood. Hoping to wake early no bad attitude and go for a run.

Learning to Listen

2011-09-01T17:00:00.000-07:00

I went for another delightful run last night. I didn't have a distance goal, only a pain-scale goal. Learning to listen to my body is hard work for me--I have always been of the mind that I am in control of my body, not the other way around. While it is true that I am in control of my body, God did make my body to be intelligent and to communicate with me and I've discovered how important it is to be receptive to that communication! I went 2.25 miles at which point my groin started to whisper to me that we had gone far enough for the night. Went home and did more toning exercises with Patrick--one of my new favorite activities. :) May not have been the longest most exciting run ever, but it was pleasant. Yay for running!

It was also my first run out with my brand new haircut--which sounds dumb to notate, but I was a little concerned that it would annoy me because it is too short to put in a ponytail. Happily, it did not bother me at all and even looked really cute post run! I've attached a photo of me a few minutes after the run with my new 'do.

I bought some new stretchy running pants at Savers today for $2.99--size, drum-roll please, MEDIUM!!! Whoa-Nelly. Granted, they are stretchy pants...it's not like I could wear size medium jeans or anything, but still, neat to be sporting an "M"on my label.

Think I might try some yoga tonight after the girls go to bed :)

Such a liar! :)

2011-08-30T09:40:00.000-07:00

Sooooooooooooo, I totally lied. Yup. I said I'd wait another week...I gave in. I feel like a running junkie. BUT, in my defense...Ok there's no defense, I'll just tell you about my jaunt out on the road.

Last night after the girls went to bed I looked forelornly at Patrick and said, "I wanna go run." So he asked me a series of very medical-professional sounding questions about my discomfort level, then told me the words I wanted to hear, "Well, in my vast experience with this type of injury, it sounds like you may be ready to try a test run. As my doctors have always told me, let pain be your guide. Head out for a SHORT run, and pay very close attention to your body. If it is sore, go easy because that means it's doing OK but your body is just getting used to the newly rebuilt muscle. If it hurts, stop and give it more time."

THHHHHHRRRRRIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLED!!!!! I think I yelped, even.

So, on went the running shoes and off I went. Did some good stretching before and I was a good girl and did pay very close attention to my body. I discovered that if I kept my stride fairly short and didn't push my speed that it was just barely sore and some of the time felt completely normal. I ran just a short 1.25 miles then stopped and did some more stretching. I thought I'd try going a little further, but decided that I didn't want to push it so I called it a night. I stretched out that muscle--and many others--so it was nice and relaxed. I did not feel ANY pain--a little bit of soreness, but NO pain. :) Then Patrick helped me through some strengthening exercises for my abdominal muscles and arms to keep my heart rate up. Then the showers, and into jammies. Soooooo happy!

I was thrilled that cardiovascularly I felt fantastic throughout the run and really felt that if my body hadn't hindered the process I could have easily run somewhat indefinitely--that helps me to feel better about getting back up to the run lengths that I was at pre-injury.

Today I am still pain-free :) Again, a little bit of soreness, though my abs and arms are WAY more sore than my groin thanks to my drill-instructor trainer named Patrick. So happy. Really praying that this is going to stick and I'm on my way back up. Can't wait to run alongside my Kellie!

BTW, I love the idea of running "together" on the phone! Since the iPhone headphones have a microphone that will work perfectly. :) I might even be able to make it out of bed early in the morning if it means being on the phone with Kellie...as long as you don't mind my panting in your ear! When I'm up for some longer runs, let's totally do that!

Well, world, that's it for now. Until next run...

Sunday Runday

2011-08-29T20:53:00.000-07:00

Sunday was my long run day. I was very proud of myself, I ran 7.49 miles. Fastest mile was 13:14 and longest was 19:28. I know some people don't count their warm up, time spent at a cross walk waiting for the light, or picking up after the dog into their time, but I figure why not. It will take more time to pull my phone out and pause then to just keep going. I may think differently at some point but not today so there. I have been using the run keeper app, not sure how accurate it is. I would love to get the new Garmin Forerunner 610 but there is no way I can swing that expense right now. It looks wonderful though.......but this is a want not a need so I will just have to gaze longingly at the web site for now.

I have a goal this week to get my three runs in. Off to bed in an effort to wake early and run before work.

A Daydream

2011-08-29T16:27:00.001-07:00

I am not sure what if any value this post has, but I am going to indulge my sweet-tooth for daydreaming simply because I have a public stage to share it on. J

In my dreams, my ideal day would unfold like this: Wake up early—but not too early—just early enough to be ahead of the rest of the family for a smooth cup of coffee and some quiet time with my Lord. I’d sit in my favorite comfy chair in my clean, sweet smelling 4-bedroom home that is decorated just perfectly to reflect our family’s personality and tastes. Just in time I’d take my last sip of coffee, tuck my Bible away for the next morning to the sound of stirring from the kid’s rooms. I’d head upstairs and spend my first-thing-in-the-morning snuggle time with my 3 kids (yes…I know we only have two…but I am convinced that God has a third one that will complete our family…it’s a weird, but very real impression on my heart). Then it’s off to the whirlwind of getting the kids all ready for school, getting breakfast in their tummies, checking back-packs, making lunches, kissing the husband good bye on his way out the door, getting the kids to the bus-stop and waving good bye. I come home…and I have my home to myself for another day to care for and create loving spaces for my family. I clean up the breakfast mess, walk through the house putting away the odds and ends that got pulled out in the morning rush, then head to my trusty running shoes and workout clothes. Completely unhindered by time and space I head out for my daily run—enjoying the beats wafting from my headphones and the feeling of each footfall on the pavement…crisp fall air fills my lungs, brown and orange leaves scatter in the gentle breeze. After my exhilarating run it’s time for Mommy to shower, get dressed and face the day. My next hours are spent doing laundry, vacuuming, sweeping floors, organizing Tupperware—if I’m done a little early I sneak off to my scrapbook room to do a few more pages in the family album. Then my favorite time of day—when everyone returns home from their day out in the world. Hugs and snacks all around, help with homework, play time in the yard with Bella. Then it’s time to fill tummies around the dinner table where we share the joys and concerns of our day with each other. After dinner it’s time to clean up, then everyone scatters to enjoy the evening in their own way—maybe someone will sit with me on the couch to watch a few re-runs of Glee. J Before bedtime we all pile onto Mommy & Daddy’s bed for some family time with God, and close the day with prayer. Teeth brushed, backpacks read, everyone gets tucked in. I settle down for a few minutes of relaxed reading or snuggle time with sweet husband, then it’s off to the coffee pot to prepare tomorrow morning’s cup and off to bed…happy, content and at peace.

I Miss Running

2011-08-29T15:32:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd get on to complain for a moment. I miss running. I MISS running. I miss RUNNING. I miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis running. I miss ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunning. I miss the exertion, I miss the endorphins, I miss my running shoes, I miss the air in my face, I miss feeling my leg muscles power me forward, I even miss feeling too exhausted to continue. Someone once told me that running would become and addiction...never ever thought that could possibly be true. Much like a smoker who quit smoking yesterday misses their cigarette as though they haven't had one in a year, I miss running. Just thought I would share.

I have not yet been successful at backing up all my positive can-do talk the other day about doing all these other exercises to keep from deconditioning (yep, that's the right word--I learned it from one of the many sites that I looked at to figure out what exercises I could do...). I think the problem is that I keep thinking that I'll wake up early to do these exercises, and I've discovered that even though I am a morning person, I currently suck at waking up extra early to do anything. So, tonight would be a normal run night and I'm going to see if I can get my butt in gear to do some stretches and exercises during run time.

My groin feels better each day and one side of my brain (the impulsive, fun, but completely untrustworthy side) keeps saying, "I bet you're fine, head back out!". But, per the suggestion of my sister Kellie, I am choosing to listen to the kill-joy yet rational side of my brain that says that I need more healing time or I'll be in for another round of hurt and an even LOOOONGER break from running. I think I'll commit to one more week off then go out for a very short, very easy test run (we're talking 5-10 minutes max) and if I hurt at all, I will take that to mean that I should continue resting that muscle.

Have I mentioned that I miss running?

I also miss Kellie! We need to be much closer...imagine if we got to go running TOGETHER every week?! How much fun that would be!!! Looking forward to running the 5K with you. :)

One more thing--doing good with my vow to not spend my money at Starbucks. :) It has been a challenge (that's so sad that it's been a challenge...wierd how much I love that place). I did have ONE Starbucks beverage that a friend bought for me, but I got a tall, soy, sugar-free drink that I just pretended was a cup of soymilk. :) Go me! I imagine it will get a little more tough when some of my season-shaping favorites come out...but it can be done!

K, I am talking your ear (or...eyes??...) off for now. Ta ta!

I miss running....

Runs for the week and other fun running stuff

2011-08-27T08:12:00.000-07:00

Sunday I was able to get in a 5.5 mile run. It felt ok but I was really feeling tired.

Monday I did 45 minutes on the treadmill at a 4 mile/hour pace with an incline of 7. Keep telling my self next trip to Yosemite I am kicking the Mist Trails butt!

Wednesday mom had surgery again. The rest of the week she has been very ill so no more runs.

I am planing for a run of 6-7 miles tomorrow morning. Still nervous for the 5k, silly I know but maybe because it's the first real race. Maybe because it is the first time in a long time that I get to run with my sister again.

Ok now some fun running links.
Cool Esty finds here

My new favorite saying at the moment

No matter how slow you go, you are still lapping everybody on the coach.

I Am An Athlete

2011-08-25T09:14:00.000-07:00

I never thought I would be able to say that statement--I am an athlete--but now I can say it with full confidence. And how do I know that I am an athlete? Because I have a pulled groin (pretty sure only atheltes do activities that can cause this) and have used Icy Hot (in my brain that is a strictly atheltic thing to do). Sooooooooo, I went out for my run last night and much to my horror at about .5 miles my brain told me that I should stop running because it hurt so badly. However, I ignored my brain thinking that if I just kept going the pain would go away...at mile 1.75 I new I had to stop because my run had turned to a slightly accelerated limp and I was only going about 4.1 mph--which at the time felt like 7.0 mph due to the pain. I was devatstated. I turned around and started limping home, tears streaming down my face in defeat. I probably waaaaay over-reacted, but at the time I was crushed. Running is the first athletic thing I have ever been able to do and I love it, and I do NOT want to stop--even if it's just a continued hiatus to heal. I'm worried that if I have to take an extended break that I'll never be ready for the 1/2 marathon in time and at this point may not be able to run the 5K in September. I feel like running is the magic ingredient that is causing my body to lose weight the right way and I'm terrified that if I take a break not only will all weightloss progress halt, but all 20 of my shed pounds are going to climb back on. When I got home I blubbered my tale of woe to a very empathetic Patrick who then listed off the sports-related injuries he's had and all of the healing time he's had to take off due to injuries. He assured me that every athlete in the world faces this feeling--despondance at having to stop something you love, irritation that your body isn't as resilient and impervious to injury as you'd like to believe and frustration at seeing others around you continuing on without injury. After a careful examination and hearing my detailed description of the pain he diagnosed this issue (still the same "hip" issue as before) as a pulled groin, applied the Icy Hot and snuggled with me to help me feel better.

After a night to sleep on the matter, I wake up today with a new spin on the situation: Research and learn. If I plan on continuing to be a runner (which I absolutely do!!) injury is bound to be part of my life. I can't let it crush me everytime, instead I must learn from the experience. So, my plan is to research groin injuries--how they happen, how they can be treated, what exercise you can do that won't injure it more, how they can be prevented in the future, etc. I want to learn this thing to death and implement what I learn. I will continue with my eating and strength training, and integrate other cardio exercises that I can do while I heal. I am not bowing out of the running scene, I am not bowing out of any of our upcoming running events (unless of course the time comes and I CAN'T run in them). I am going to continue on just like every athlete does, and keep growing while I heal.

I'll share any gems that I glean from my research :) Don't know when I will get to run again--hopefully sooner than later. In the meantime, I'm still on the team and looking forward to running with my teammates soon!!

Motivation

2011-08-23T19:03:00.000-07:00

Motivation

While listening to one of my new favorite pod casts I heard this gem: When one person starts to train for a marathon they positively impact 20 people around them. At one point I would not have believed this to be true, however I can see this happening around me. I can say for a fact that Terri motivated me so there is one person for her.

Just wanted to share.....................more on motivation in a later post.

Finally, Back In My Running Shoes

2011-08-22T08:17:00.000-07:00

Never has 10 days felt so long!! 10 days without a single run, walk or anything. Seems crazy that my life used to not contain any exercise and now I'm so addicted that 10 days off makes me feel a little crazy. Anyhow, I digress...

So Saturday night I went out for my first post-injury run. I was a little nervous, but very excited to be back out there. To my delight, I felt good! I could feel a little pull in my hip, but I had done some good stretching and was confident that I'd be OK. I decided to only run 2.18 miles so that I could easy my body back into things, and I wanted to be sure that I quit before I felt like I couldn't go anymore. Part of me (the over-achieving part) kept saying, "Go more! You need to make up for lost time! You've gotta go at least 6 miles!!" Fortunately, the sane part of my brain superceded. Finished my quick run in 25 minutes so I walked another 5 minutes and called it quits. I did a lot of post-run stretching as I think this may have something to do with the injury I incurred (I never stretch...ever). Felt good on Sunday with no hip pain--yay!!

This morning I headed out for run #2. Usually I run at night but we are going to be at a baseball game tonight (thank you State Farm for the free tickets!!) and I really want to be sure that I'm back in the running game. So, I got up at 4:00 for some early morning running. I took Bella with me for the first time in a LONG time. I am reminded at how much better I run at night. Morning running ZAPPED ME!! I never thought that the time of day would make such a big difference! Kinda worries me since all the events are in the morning. I felt much more exhausted at 2 miles this morning than I did on Sunday. I pushed myself to 2.5 miles and then walked the rest of the way home. Normally I would be super bummed, but I remind myself that I've got some working back up to do so I put it in the win column. :)

Wednesday will be another morning run because Patrick is playing in his first softball game of the season on Wednesday night--hoping to get to 3 miles.

SO looking forward to running with my sis Kellie in about a month!!! CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!! We are going to kick that 5K together :)

OH, and in other news, the one thing about taking a break from running is that for some reason it seems to kick my weightloss into high gear....wierd...perhaps it's just a part of keeping the body guessing. Anyhow, I was delighted to step on the scale this morning and see that not only have a few more pounds come off, but I have broken through to a number in the 100s!!!!!! 198.6 lbs this morning :) Ahhhhhhh, hello number 1...how I have missed thee! Let's become good friends. No offense number 2, you were a good companion for a while but I don't plan to revisit you ever again. Godspeed, 2.

Running for Him

2011-08-21T09:07:00.001-07:00

Workout number 1 done for today. I was determined to have a better run today then yesterday and thankfully I did. I did have to stop three times though, once for a rock in my shoe and twice for shoe lace adjustments. Only did around 5.5 miles, cannot tell you exactly due to both of my run apps stopping after mile 3.

I can across a very cool site the other day, Running for him. Run to inspire, run to save.

Isaiah 40:31 “but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Check it out.

Magic mile done

2011-08-20T19:17:00.000-07:00

So at some point, hopefully not yet you will grow tired of all the Jeff Gallay talk. In his training plans he talks about a magic mile, no not like the perfect mile but more of a way to measure you performance and a tool to pick your training intervals. This morning I gave in and ran my first magic mile. I ran at a pace of 16:03. I was not partially happy with this number. I would like to be around 9-10 minutes but SHOULD be very happy with 16 considering I started at 24 minutes. I am trying to be a proud member of the slow runner club, it is not about speed it is about getting out there and doing it.
Overall my run this morning was so-so. I started out with a ½ mile worm up. I am finding that it is taking longer for my muscles to worm up these days, not sure way, maybe because there are more of them? After the worm up I ran the magic mile, which went really well. Then I started down the road in a new direction because my current route is getting boring. Molly was a little sketchy on the new path, kept looking back to make sure I was with her. She kept crossing in front of me and stopping, not very fun to come to a sudden stop…….makes the knees hurt. The about mile 4 I got a rock in my shoe errrrrr. I had to stop and take my shoe off. Then about ½ mile down the road another rock in my shoe double errr errr. I kept going but was not feeling it. I ended up at 6.10 miles. I will try again tomorrow.

Kicking My Plateau in the Butt!

2011-08-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

Just came from an epic pity party hosted by yours truly...the theme was "Feeling Sorry for Terri Because She Isn't Losing Much Weight" with a sub-theme of "Feel Down About Yourself Because You Are Injured And Can't Run". As much fun as that party was, I decided it was time to leave.

So here I am. Facing a few truths about myself and making changes--here are the facts:

1) While I have been running for a few months, I have not been doing any other exercise. No walking on non-run days, no weight training, no extra cardio--nada. I think I have been fooling myself thinking that running 3-4 (often only 2) times a week was going to make the physical changes that I am aiming for. The reality is that if I want to make these changes, and make them PERMANENT I need to step it up a little bit. My new exercise goal is to get a minimum of 30 minutes of cardio 5 days a week (including my runs, of course) and 20 minutes of some type of strength/toning exercise on 3 days of the week. This is doable--if I can manage to carve out time for my runs I can find time for this too. It may mean 20 minutes up earlier in the morning or 30 minutes out on my lunch break but I CAN and WILL do this.

2) I am kidding myself if I think that my eating has been exemplary. Yes, I have been watching what I eat and being somewhat careful about my meals--but throughout the day I have little snacks here and there that are not healthy and needless. Not that snacks are bad--but I need to make some better choices in my snacking. Also, I have a really bad habit of eating a little something before bed--completely uneccesary. My new eating goal is to download a calorie-tracker app and carefully track what I am taking into my body--even the piece of Starburst that I just had justifying that it only has 20 calories. I want to know what I am putting in! I am also going to revisit my meal plan and plan for some healthy snacks to keep around at work so that when everyone else is having their afternoon latte and snacks from the candy dish, I can have my carrot sticks and low-fat cottage cheese.

3) No. More. Starbucks. Coffee has always been my allowable treat--I love it. It makes me warm, happy, content... Yes, my order has become fairly low-cal and healthy with sugar-free syrups and soy milk, but I have let it become more than a treat. If I look back at my bank account, I see that I spend close to $40 a month at Starbucks--sometimes more!! WHAT?!?!?!? Rediculous. Unnecessary. Ludicrous. Yes, it's yummy and tasty and not the worst thing in the world I could indulge in, but I do not need it. Further, a membership at the gym near our house is $30 a month--if I cut out Starbucks, I can afford the gym membership. 'Nuff said--I'm done. Already, my brain is rebelling against this--"But, it's so yummy! What if it's a special occasion? Or Christmas? Ooooooo, you just can't go through the holidays without a Pumpkin Spice Latte or a White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha! Maybe just every once in a while?" NO. On principle, I will say no. How about this, brain--AFTER you finish that half-marathon, IF you want a cup of Starbucks you can have one as a special you-did-it treat. Maybe some day when I have gained control of my eating and my exercise I will once again allow myself this treat--after all, there really is nothing wrong with this treat in moderation--but for now, it is off the menu. Period.

OK. It's all out in the open. Crazily, that Starbucks one is really driving me crazy. I keep reading the paragraph and wanting to delete it because if the public doesn't know, then it can't hold me accountable...I will push through. Hitting "Publish Post" now...wish me luck.

Running Lull

2011-08-15T13:27:00.000-07:00

I'm in a slump, and I don't like it! First came my week of no running due to schedules and childcare, and then came "the injury". I mentioned this before, sort of flippantly hoping that I could ignore it but I have decided that it shouldn't be ignored anymore. I hurt something in my hip region on my first 5.5 mile run a few weeks ago--not like I fell or had a major incident, I just noticed the second day that it really hurt when I took a step. I have been running since then, and each time that I run the pain goes away while I run but the next day it is back in full-force and worse. On my last run, which was Wednesday, when I got to the last 10 minutes of my run I heard all these bells and sirens going off in my head that said, "You need to stop or you are going to seriously injure yourself!" I didn't listen at first, but then had this great image of my hip breaking like an old woman and falling off the treadmill, then never being able to run again, growing old into a big chubby blob and being sad. SO, I stopped. Since then I have not run, or even gone for a good walk. Just regular walking causes me to feel the pain a little and the few times that I have tried to take a few jogging steps the pain is pretty serious and alters my gait. I read somewhere that pain from running doesn't necessarily mean that you can't keep running UNLESS it alters your running gait, in which case you need to stop until it does not alter your gait anymore. *sigh* I am bummed. Perhaps this evening I will try to go out for a slow walk with Bella and see how I do. I have this big fear that I'm going to lose all the momentum that I've built up...wait...I sound like someone else I know!! And I believe that when the shoe was on the other foot my advice was something like enjoy the rest and don't worry, you'll get back at it soon and you'll be able to build back just fine. Perhaps I should listen to myself...

So, for now, no running. I hope that the recovery is SHORT and I can get back out there as I totally miss running. Hoping also that this is not a visit-the-doctor and pay for a really expenseive MRI type deal...I hope it just goes away with some rest. We shall see...