Running Buddy

At our post-race celebration lunch on Saturday, lots of people started asking if Fred ran, since I'd been demonstrating my running prowess for weeks ;) His answer surprised me, sort of. I knew he hadn't run in a while (science calls!) but I had noooo idea that he could run a 5:40 mile in high school.

My weeks of joking that I could out-run (and now, out-pushup) him led to a huge *gulp*, especially when Fred agreed to go running with me Tuesday morning. Have I mentioned how much of a morning person he's not?! I actually made sure to get to bed early and set my alarm, picking him up at 6:45 for a 2 mile route I thought was way more flat than it was.

Guess I totally forgot about the extra hill that made the end of the run go \/\ , not the easy /-------\ I expected it to be. Do my little slashdot hills make sense? Anyway, my 2 mile course was a bit more of a kicker than I thought it would be, and when I had an empty tank going down the last hill, Fred finally broke away. 

It was only 70 outside, but I was drenched in sweat and stretched it out a lot afterwards. Even after a day spent running around a forest hunting for ticks in jeans (don't ask), and gladiator training that had lots of cross-fit added into it, my chugging water, stretching and smart eating led to a pain-free me today :) Well, except for the swelling on my hand from hitting it with a hammer while trying to get the rebar for the combat crawl in to the ground. The hammer was evil evil and had a meat tenderizing end to it and evil point on the other end so you had to watch your eyes AND your hands and I missed some times ;) 

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

The good, the bad, the muddy!

Sooo I have another 3 run stories for you today!

1- THE GOOD

Wednesday night's No-Bo run. It was a 2.5 mile loop that was a slight down hill for the first 1.5 miles...so of course that means an evil straight uphill for the last 1 mile, but I was super proud of my people and myself that we didn't quit! I even had enough to sprint it in :) I forget how long it took, but for as hilly as the course was, I remember being happy with the timing!

2- THE BAD

After Saturday's run (that's next!) I mapped out a 3 mile course, making sure I parked on the low ground. I thought it would just meander up the hill, then speed down it.

Except I was probably dehydrated.

And wearing black.

As it was rreeeally sunny.

And no shade on the uphill.

And the hill was the eeennntiiiirrreee 1.5 miles.

I started bargaining with myself- "run to the fire hydrant!...okay, see it flattens a bit, run to the next fire hydrant!...run until you get to 1 mile... run til you get to the next street! run to the shade!" and once I got up the hill, I took a song to walk, and meandered down the hill through campus back to my car.

Lesson learned? Run the first half of the course again... but halfway up the hill, throw a water bottle into the woods. Turn around at the top of the hill and grab water bottle when I need it on the way back down. Oh, and not running at 11am when the sun is beating down on you would be good. And not running on a dehydrated body after a race which leads me to...

3- THE MUDDY!

With a group I've been training with for a few months, we did a "5k" on Saturday morning. While I'll save the criticism I had for the race to the post I put on active.com , I did have a good time, thanks to the people I was with! (The race organizer did send out a "this was our first time, bear with us" e-mail this morning, but my main gripe was, and continues to be, no water on a 2.5 mile obstacle course on a sunny day in May.) I shall now tell the rest of the story in pictures :)

Our team (and one coach)

Mean faces!

8 ft wall

Getting hoisted over- I am not that white, I had underarmor, I swear!!!

I can tell you, my exact thought was"uh okay...how do I get down?!"

Out of the woods, more than half-way there!

The "mud"

"Valley of Tires"...uh sure...if you say so!

FINISH LINE!

After!

How I felt...Braiding by KR :)

Towards the beginning...when I still had tons of energy!

With Fred at the end :)

Here's to the next TV Timeout!

-Syd

Mystery Run

I went for a run today. I got a little bit lost, but thankfully, this man pointed me in the right direction.

There were lots of pretty gardens...

More statues...

A HUGE library...

And a nice gravel path. Oh, did I just give away the locale?!

I started (and ended) the run at THIS building, though!

That's right, Fred and I are on a random jaunt up to DC to see his family, and later, the Air and Space museum! Its not that far of a walk, and I've never been! I always come up here during major tourist times, so hopefully a random Saturday afternoon will be chill.

I also accidentally crashed a small 5k so that I could run ON to the mall and its gravel path. There were some random stages set up, so I ran to them, just to see, and behold! It was the set up for George Washington University's Commencement. 

Once I'd seen that, the rest of the area was pretty familiar (and ripe for running tomorrow!!!) so I headed back...and UP Capitol Hill. Yes, I finished my 3 mile and change run in under 30 minutes, including the times I stopped at crosswalks, took pictures, admired the view and ran up the evil hill. I read something yesterday that talked about how to attack hills, and they basically said DON'T attack. Keep your rate of turnover (how many steps you take in a certain time) the same, shorten the length of your steps, focus on getting up, look up and sort of tell the top "hey, I'm going to get to you and DO THIS!" It worked, oddly enough! I was huffing, puffing, sweating but darn proud of myself. 

Stretched out TONNNNs when I got back to keep the muscles in my legs happy and even and thus, keep the KNEES happy and even :)

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

April Injuries bring May Victories :)

Wahaha! It even RHYMES! 

Anyway...the almost 2 weeks off did what it needed to do. I didn't completely stop doing stuff- there was still Gladiator training , walking at NoBo, and a stern "why aren't you doing more arms/ab stuff?!" from the Army recruiter. Whoops...

But, thanks to a spontaneous trip to DC with Fred this weekend, I knew I wouldn't be running with the group on Saturday, so I said "to heck with the 14 day rehab!" and figured I'd let 13 be my lucky number- as I write this on Friday the 13th ;) But! I was super nervous to be running again. Would I be able to keep up with my group? Would I be able to handle the hills? Would anybody notice my cute new shorts?! Oh wait, that doesn't really matter... 24 minutes and 2 hilly miles later, I was sweating but smiling :)

I came home to ice the knees- front with corn, back with a legit ice pack- and haven't had much pain since! Thursday night, I also went to a great seminar with this lady and learned about the knee, the pains that result from running, treatment, and when you CAN'T run on them. OMG, I feel SO much better about the two different types of pain that I have, and way more excited that I know how to deal with them, that they're not eventually debilitating, and even when it feels like I want to cut off my leg to eliminate the pain, I know how to treat it. 

Fresh Haircut!

I might be a slight running nerd now :P

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

Randoms

>> Yes, I totally woke up at 4:30am, made scones and drank Earl Gray tea to celebrate while watching the wedding, so my mind is frazzled! With this in mind...more LISTS!

>> The usual Wednesday night run/walk was cancelled due to the threat of tonadoes, the same line that killed over 200 people, so I totally get the worry for our safety!

>>The roomie and Lucy are BACK so I no longer have an empty house. I never realized how much of a difference another person and a tiiiiny little dog make in how a house feels!

>>I totally liked Catherine's dress- very classic, elegant, total homage to Grace Kelly, and I oddly loved the pleats in it. Can't wait to see what other dresses she changes into tonight!

>> Oh, and that tiara? and those earrings?! Amazing "borrowed" and "new"! 

>> Watching this totally makes me want to have a grand formal church wedding. If only I had millionaire parents and a prince...

>>Eep, sorry. RUNNING! Err yeah...

>> Did I mention the scones? So flippin' good, but that's what real butter and cream do for ya!

>>Alright alright, no running Wednesday, so I went to Thursday night's "Social Run" where one of my ladies always says there's nobody to run intervals with her. Alas, no lady, all people wanting to run intervals!!!

>>I love Fleet Feet, mainly because I know people and they're chill and when you look like a tired runner, they're really nice to you :)

>>Last night, was running 3/1 intervals with the runs at 9:30 pace, not bad considering I was doing 10min miles when I was last running consistently. And then... about 1 mile in, my side just flared up with the worst lactic acid cramp I've felt in all my running time. So. Not. Cool. 

>> I turned around, walked back, ran a little bit. Not a happy camper :/

>>Back to the loving Fleet Feet, my friend L that works there told me it was totally okay for me to do stuff with the walk groups for NoBo the next two weeks as I try to give my knee a legit rest. When I do get back to running, I might have to rebuild strength and endurance, but at least it won't be with a constant nagging injury that makes even a simple walk to the mailbox after a run seem dangerous. 

>>Final thing. There's a few Food Lions around where I live, and I usually try to avoid them all like the plague. Yes, its an NC based company, but they seem to me to have cruddy selection, not-cheap store brands (I rarely buy the name brand), and every single one I've been in has this scuzzy feel. Because there's so many, they get referred to as "The really ghetto one close to the house that you don't go to after dark" (there was a shooting there), "super scary one by work" in a shopping center I also try to generally avoid and finally, "campus Food Lion" which is what I stopped in to last night to buy the final 2 ingredients for this morning's scones. Keep in mind, this picture is from the *least* sketchy of the Food Lions...

Why yes, I'd like to buy my chicken and fish in Hefty bags packaged at this store!

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

Feet-eeps!

So KR and I went on a walk  last night. The brief "spring" is officially over in Raleigh, and as part of my usual transition to the heat and humidity (THAT WILL ONLY GET WORSE!!!), I have this time of hating everything the winter required. Namely? Socks. If I had barefoot shoes, I would've worn them last night. Instead? I picked my "kicks" that I wear quite a bit during the summer without socks. When my heels started to blister up, despite the fact that it was a mile home on sidewalk, off came the shoes!... and I realized that the calluses I used to get as a kid running around barefoot were sorely lacking :/

Want to know just where the blisters on my feet are now?! Apparently, this is a long term problem, found in the socks I grabbed to wear to Gladiator training tonight (funny story about that when its closer!).

So those holes in my socks are currently stupidly sore spots on the pads of my feet. And yes, pads. I'm part cat ;)

I had some fun running last week, with a verrry special running buddy- my MOM! We did her Couch to 5k program in beeeautiful Charleston, SC. We did the historical stuff, Ft. Sumter (you know why that matters, right?!), saw a rainbow after a storm that flooded the formerly-marshed-below-sea-level downtown, and drove across a bridge that made my mom come super close to hyperventilating. There was tons of walking, lots of yummy eating, and much enjoyment of Southern-ness :)

I also brought along mi madre to the no-bo group on Saturday. We're up to 4/2 run/walk intervals, and we did 12:50 minute miles over the 2.25 miles, faster than Mom's usual pace! During our Charleston exploration, much talking about running ensued, and we talked about pushing your pace- you can't get faster unless you try it sometime! I am quite proud of her :)

Off to bed to rest my hurting feet, but I think I just let in a bug :/ Please don't let it freak out in my room tonight while I'm home alone!!!

Here's to the Next TV timeout!

-Syd

One

I had a random encounter at my running group today that seemed to tie together so many crazy thoughts I’ve had recently. With the help of quite a bit of wine, and without wine since, my roommate has noticed that her life is pretty much stress free at the moment. Her biggest worry was getting her super long hair cut, and that finally happened Thursday. Now? Well, the power and internet have been sketchy today thanks to storms, but we’re safe and sound, so in the big picture, her life is super blissful. She’s gorgeous, healthy, gainfully employed, and has wonderful friends and family.

There are times when I am stupidly intimidated by this, given the lack of permanent job (but huzzah for gainful summer employment OUTSIDE!!!), the last $3 in my checking account before payday this week, and, oh yeah, the molar I chipped about 1 hour after all my insurance-covered dentists were closed for the next 67 hours on Friday afternoon. The tension built up to a physical manifestation in me last night and carried through to this morning. I even woke up before my alarm, thanks to the overactive mind.

In this state, I went off to running this morning. By doing training for obstacle course 5Ks with a group, I’ve gotten to talking to more and more mentors during the pre-run times. One guy, let’s call him Tim, and his wife are both mentors and in the obstacle course prep group. Tim’s wife is off to a cruise, so I naturally ribbed him about watching his wife go on a tropical vacay without him, which is when he told me how they can’t afford a trip, so she was actually filling in for someone who had to drop out last minute and didn’t have to pay for it. We started swapping stories about how we earn a paycheck. I realized just how I look up to elite runners. I think of them as machines- if they can train their body efficiently, push through the pain I hit when I go too fast with KR, then I just presume that they’re college educated, run as their distraction from the corporate world.

I don’t know quite what I’m trying to say, but running, for as individual of a sport as it is, has drawn me in to more and more people. “I’m a runner” is such a conversation starter, a sort of secret handshake, but we’re all human. The simplest form of transportation and exercise unites the Olympian, flailing grad student, equestrian, interior decorator, project manager and unfulfilled produce man. I get why people who run are drawn to each other, because even thought it might just be something you do for 30 minutes, 3 times a week, it takes heart, soul, strength, discipline to go pound pavement in the calm of the morning, rush hour sidewalk, or hidden trail.

As my right IT band makes my right knee creak (it’s a Powerstroke diesel to the left knee’s 2mph Prius), I remember why I run and long for a run that feels good inside and outside, that feeds my soul and recharges the endorphins. If I wasn’t a mentor for this running group, I would definitely take Dr. KR’s recommendation and just take off 2 weeks from running completely, but I just do intervals on Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings. The people are catching up to me as they get better and I fade, much to my chagrin. I hide it cleverly with funny stories, energy during the walking intervals, and the sly smile that asks if they want to run it in when we can see the finish line, but I can feel the “blegh” settling in. Am I still a runner if I’m injured and fading?

I get to see my mom and Charleston, SC next week. Maybe a change of settings with the mom who is just awesome will clear my head and heal me- inside and out.

Here’s to the next TV timeout

-Syd

Running makes you...

Take more pictures

Look forward to both the downhill AND uphill because while the downhill is easier, you have to contain your movements, and the uphill gives you this sense of "wahahaha! look what i have conquered!!!"

Appreciate your Saturday afternoons after a morning run

Pick up random bugs when you run under trees

Get tan lines in early April :)

Keep your watch on you at all times so you can be a good running mentor and time your run/walk intervals, because not having them makes you depend on one of the random people in your group, but its okay, because you have really happy nice people in your group who just thank you for being there and more excited than Kelly Ripa at 8am on a Saturday morning :)

Go for more walks

Bake more

Have a blast "playing" your guitar as your friend rocks out on her ukulele

Happier!

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

1+2=3 for 4

Writing the title made me think of this song, and now it's in my head!!!

The No Boundaries run last night was a solid 1 mile, still doing 1 minute run, 2 minutes walk. Needless to say, that was sort of easy. Thankfully, there were 3 other women who wanted to do more, and, ta-da, at my pace!!! 

So off we went for 2 more miles, making 3 miles for the 4 of us :) A nice 5.6mph clip, while talking, made for a nice evening run.

Its literally taken me hours to write this, my brain is dead, and oh the thoughts rumbling through there. Let's just say, Gladiator training might just kick my butt...

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

LOL OMG

In honor of the newest words in the Oxford English Dictionary, I had a total "LOL OMG" run today :) I'm helping mentor (ha! yes, I know, my thoughts exactly! Since when am I a potential poster child for running?! But I am!) a running program called "No Boundaries" through Fleet Feet here in Raleigh. Its an awesome store, and yes, I'm biased because I bought my awesome shoes from there and a good friend of mine works there. The program has groups for people who just want to talk and who want to improve their sub-11 min mile time, all aiming for the June 11th Race for the Cure in Raleigh.

Our first run was Wednesday with lots of just getting used to what was going on, nothin' fancy! I'm a mentor for the walk to run group, which is lots of fun. I'm hanging out towards the back with some awesome women that are trying to step up their games, literally! And yes, there are men, but not so many. Explain this one to me!!!

We're doing intervals of running and walking, so right now its just 1 min of running, 2 min walking, but its a good time. I like being in shape enough to be able to talk a lot during the running parts. You know me, able to talk about prettty much anything with pretttty much anyone :) Wednesday's run was a mile, today was 1.5 and then, knowing I might actually be a runner, I came home and did another 1.4 on my own. I started out a bit too fast so when I went up the half mile hill, there was some definite soul searching and gut wrenching "come on! you can do THIS!" After telling it to others, its weird to say it to yourself.

So that's my running! I've been doing more weights/yoga/pilates recently, so we'll see if that helps with the increase in running. I love HAVING to run at least 2 times a week! 

Who am I and what aliens have abducted me?!

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

PS- Gratuitous Lucy picture! She's showing off her "best" side ;)

Tweak

Have you ever found a great recipe, be it for bread or stir fry or a casserole? What happened when you tried to make it better or easier? I've done this hundreds of times in my cooking career and while my narrow scope of knowledge (if savory? add more garlic! if sweet, add vanilla!) usually keeps me in the know-how, sometimes I end up with yellow cupcakes that taste like cornbread...true story :( 

Anyway, with my new "summer slaying" plan mapped out, I set out to do 3 miles today. I totally shouldn't have hit snooze on my 5:45 alarm. I was actually sort of awake, but it was dark outside :( Boo hiss time shifts! By the time I actually woke up and got moving, work was calling my name. Yes, the evil mosquitoes needed me. THEY WANTED MY BLOOD! But no bites today :D why do I suddenly fear the onslaught tomorrow?! No wearing black tomorrow...

So with a morning/day run out of the question, I wanted to see what the gym was like at 10pm since its open until 11. Here, ladies and gentlemen, is where the "tweaking" starts. Instead of caramel apple bread, however, I ended up with cornmeal cupcakes. The place was still crowded, I am easily distracted by people with... unusual?... form on machines, no basketball/sitcom/drama/news can really hold my attention, treadmills give you too much feedback and I hate having sooo many people to compare myself to! 

The final total was 2.5 miles in about 29 minutes. I took some walk breaks, switched between the NCAA tourney (was rooting for Clemson in their "play-in" game... for a 12 seed?!), and realized something truly profound: If it works, keep at it! I have good routes that are outside, and maybe it means I bring a 2pm snack to work so I won't want to attack the kitchen when I leave work at 5, instead opting for a nice run. I could always just switch around work hours, go in later and wait for the sun to come up enough to get in my miles. Finally, I'll adjust the schedule so that long runs try to fall on Saturdays when I have the time and daylight to do what I need to do :) Plus, I am so much happier when I run in the mornings. By 9am, I'm showered and have this huge "to-do" checked off my list!

Oh, and the bright side to tonight, besides the epiphany? I came home to this cutie, minus the devil-eyes, I swear! Blame the dark living room and camera flashes!

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

How dare you try to look at me in the eyes, you peon!

Red Rock

Hi!

I did 2 runs this week and halfway through the run tonight, I realized I hadn't blogged about my enh-run on Sunday... and why that was my last run in Vegas!

But, I ran tonight :) It was dark, sort of cold, and it attempted to rain during the last mile. With as much as I heat up, the moisture was nice and cooling, so I didn't mind. The first 2 miles were with my friend Elliot, but when I could feel my hair coming undone, I took a minute to secure it again, and she went off on her crazy good pace. She's recovering from an injury and the only thing that *doesn't* hurt for her now is running up hills- perfect for this out-and-back route that was down, then back up! Running with her for 2 miles, though, was a nice challenge since we were talking the entire time. I'm way too much of a Midwesterner, that I suck at asking questions but have awesome stories to tell. Maybe running with other people will force me to shut up and listen more?!

But, my last run in Vegas was on Sunday night. I could've done another run on Monday morning, but lolling around with Fred was just so much more tempting! Plus, Sunday's run was not an encouraging one. We had just come back from grilling out at the park where I'd chased around some nieces and nephews, so when I got a cramp only 1/2 mile in, I knew I was in for a cruddy run. I kept powering through, but then even my knee started to fail!

I gave myself some credit because just a few hours earlier, I'd gone up "trails" like this:

To get to views like this:

With my big brother!

We have the same eyes when we smile!

Anyway, I have this awesome master plan to get me running more often. The weather is changing, the clocks will change, I miss my awesomely fit/toned running body, I will need something other than sweets to relieve my stress since I'm giving them up for Lent and yes, I realize this somewhat conflicts with my "more yoga/strength-training, less running" of a few weeks ago. Life life, make mistakes, make adjustments!

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd