EEP!

I was supposed to be in bed 45 minutes ago BUT I need to say...

I RAN TODAY!

Well, sorta. I think elliptical machines are cheating, but my work gym has ONE treadmill and I got in at the same time as a lady who was FOCUSED and knew what she was doing, so she beat me to it :/

So glad we had 2 ellipticals to fall back on... Little does Huck know, I'm stealing his resistance bands and doing something p90x tomorrow so I can get in some soul-crushing weights :D BUT! I did 3.1 miles, the first mile in 9:04, the second in 10min and the third was just zoning out a lot. Total, it took me a little over 30 minutes, but like I said, the third was me looking at a lot of birds outside. I've been around this guy too long:

Like I said, ellipticals are "cheating", so I might as well go faster on them!

Off to bed (should've been there almost an hour ago!)... EEP!

Here's to the next TV timeout! (or fun gym workout or P90x shred or...)

-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

Weirdest Mantra to Date

I found myself today thinking "this is so dumb" over and over again as I went for my run. I guess I should explain a bit of the background... Knowing I was frustrated by the "too easy" and "too hard" plans for 10ks I'd found, KR made me a "Goldilocks" plan- just right ;) Her setup had it as a MWF, but since I ran Sunday, I decided I'd make the first Monday today. On the list? 3 miles, easy. KR knows my pace, so "easy" was 12 min miles, enough to be able to hold a conversation while going along. 

I went to my friend's house to let her dogs out. This is typical of how it went: The boy leading, saying "let's GO!" and the girl mozeying, taking her time sniffing the sidewalk. Girls, seriously!

Before I'd driven to the house, I looked up a good 1.5 mile route that I could do an out and back, as long as I was already outside and away from work. The doggy-mom and I have run together in her neighborhood before, too, so I had some ideas, and knew that for the most part, the area was very flat. Its around a golf course, so no evil hills there!

Again, I set my gps/phone to give me updates pretty frequently. I didn't want to overdo it, especially since I'd never run 3 miles without a walk break before. Even during my 5k, I took 2 walk breaks, but those hills were mean! The first update told me I was going 6.3 mph, so I slowed a bit. Next one said 6.1, but I literally couldn't slow myself down. The mechanics wouldn't do it. Every time the nice MyTracks lady came into my ears to tell me I was going at 10min mile pace, I kept thinking "this is so stupid" but I kept running :) 

Overall? 3 miles, no walk breaks, in 30 minutes. I would've made a mad dash to the end, but the phone started to yell at me for low battery right about then. My usual post-run stretch routine was broken up by grocery shopping and I want to apologize right now to all the people at the WalMart Supercenter who smelled me post run. I swear, I bought new deoderant today!

We'll see how I feel tomorrow :/

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

Last blog/run of 2010

Well hello blog, we meet again!

This year has been full of changes for me :) I started off single, still working on the research for grad school, hating running and pretty much all exercise, and of course, this blog didn't exist! I end with an amazing boyfriend, research done, and loving running, then telling about it. Okay, maybe I don't love running, but I do love the feeling before/after, the conversations it sparks, the setting of goals that only you can set and fulfill, and oh yeah, that even Fred asks "so do you want a subscription to Runner's World?" Hee hee, why yes, because I am officially a "runner."

KR came with me on our spontaneous run. I didn't think I'd get a chance to run today, pre-tonight's festivities (house party?!) and my morning shower. Yes, with this much hair, getting it dry takes for.ev.errrrrr and I hate hair dryers. I didn't even own one until I was at least 21, true story. With my hair already washed and me already cleaned, the lazy bum in me went to work and said "well, no more workouts for me?" until I asked KR what she was doing. Behold, ta-da, everything fell into place!

We did my old 3 mile route. I was going to make the "out" portion longer to make the "back" section shorter and part of a long downhill, but as I came home, I realized all the runners were on the pavement of the scary twisty road that everyone speeds down because the ice/snow/slush was THAT bad on the sidewalk. 

Evil, evil quarter mile hill

I showed KR the route, and explained that there was a 5 min walk start built in, so we started after the 2nd cross street of our 3rd road. We got on the road, and she started running. Crap, had to somewhat keep up, so it was the hill. When we got to the top of the hill, ans subsequently, the 2nd cross street, KR gave me a "wait, did you just find the hardest, steepest hill to begin the run?!" and I reminded her the route hadn't technically started. Blegh! But I kept running, KR did a lot of running down the side streets as I trekked along. We sprinted one final driveway, then walked to the halfway marker. 1.5 miles in... 15 minutes :) There was a lot more walking on the way back, ack ack ack, but I think we did the full 3 miles in 35 minutes. Not bad for tons of walking at the end :/

KR and I are January babies, 354 days apart and when I was debating what to make for my birthday cake last year, we realized that making your own birthday cake is NO FUN! Hence, I made her cake and she made mine. Don't worry, I'll show that closer to the date, because no edible baked goods should have that color. BUT! As we walked back, we started talking about what we'll make this year. I think the current winner involves cheesecake :D MORE INCENTIVE TO KEEP RUNNING!

Here's to the next year AND TV timeout :)

-Syd

Rolesville 5k/10k

TA-DA!!! Done, done, DONE! All my whining for cold finally paid off and WHEW it was the coldest day this side of summer so far! Windy and cold, everyone thought we were CRAZY! KR was in running capris and a sleeveless tee, I was in shorts and a long sleeved shirt. All around us were people bundled up with pants, jackets, gloves and hats. By the time I got through the first song, however, I was SO glad I wore as little as I had. My hands just went numb, and I enjoyed the run in a new location. From the map at the registration, I saw that the course was an out and back, so every hill I went down, I knew I'd have to run up again! North Carolina subdivisions have some rolling hills!!! It was a quiet neighborhood, but cars were still driving around. I stayed on the asphalt most of the time because, darnit, I paid my money to run my race!!! (And yes, run your own race, was a key point my mom kept telling me!) 

I'm pretty sure I was one of the last people for the 5k coming out the start gates, but around that first turn where I was nice and warm, still jogging, TONS of people started walking. I didn't pass too many people, but had a few play cat and mouse with my steady pace as they walked then ran. Having people around kept me going nicely! I did the first mile in 12 minutes, the 2nd mile in probably 20 seconds faster. I didn't stop running until after the 2 mile mark, about halfway up this hill (coming back!). Yeah, no clue how to rotate it, sorry! I was pretty darn proud of myself for getting BACK into running after I walked. The key was to have the "you will run HERE" points.

The 10k route had the runners going right out of the starting gate, where I'd gone left, to do 5k, then had them wind back near the start/finish line and do the 5k route. I was just a little beyond my turnaround point when I saw the first 10k runner coming towards me! I was on my 3rd mile when I saw KR. We knew they gave out top 3 trophies for overall male/female finishers of both races, so in between talking to one of the mice that kept running/walking near me, encouraging her to keep running, I looked out for female 10k racers. There was one very early on, but the 2nd one I saw was... KR! When we overlapped, I yelled at her to keep going, that she was kicking butt! She just shot me the "ohmigawd why do you have SO MUCH ENERGY!!" look and said "get on it!" In her defense, she later told me she wanted to WOO at me and encourage me like I'd done to her. Its okay- she was on track to run her 6.2 miles in under an hour! 

I wasn't quite sure of where the end was, but at the last water station (woo for lots of those!) a volunteer was directing me out of the way of traffic and had his hand out for a high 5- I gave him a superhero leap and he told me the finish line was just around the corner. Downed the water, looked up, and saw the man directing runners into the chute. I saw the cones and realized...SPRINTING TIME! My legs were jello, but I got in! My goal had been to shoot for 40 minutes total- giving me enough time to walk if I needed it, plus I didn't know how hilly the course would be. What I turned in was a ~38 minute race! 12.25 minute mile pace!!!

They IMMEDIATELY made me stop so they could take off my foot chips- not cool!- but I went to grab some water, juice, chocolate milk and a banana. I beat the first 10k guy in (woo!), and knew with KR's pace that I had enough time to walk to the car to grab a sweatshirt and my camera. I kept jamming to my iPod, had the lady that I'd been encouraging come up and explain to her friend how I had been the person to keep her running (hee hee! always feels good), and waited for KR. She came in under 53 minutes, and I was pretty sure she was still the 2nd 10k female. 

Sure enough... we stuck around for the awards ceremony and KR took home a cute little trophy :) The age ranges once you got out of the teens were in 10 year blocks, so I went home empty handed, but hey- pain is temporary, pride is forever :) This was a great first race, I have a neat t-shirt that I can wear with pride, my bib has my time and a few notes on the back, and I AM HOOKED! 

Before today, I was soo looking forward to taking a break from running. I still will take the running down a notch, maybe just go for longer distances with more breaks, but still pushing myself, no training program. Case in point? Going with my friend for a run on Monday. She's so excited I'm into running now, since she got into it a couple years ago and always wants someone to go with her. I've warned her I'm slow, but at least now I know I can GO!

CLEARLY before :) See why people thought KR was CRAZY?!?! She warmed up quickly, too!

KR all done :)

My bib

KR's 2nd place trophy. The 3rd place girl grabbed it, so she had to go track it down and get her rightful trophy!

Here's to the next race and TV Timeout!

-Syd

My Mom is Awesome

I'm highly biased, but if there was to be anybody biased in the other way, it would be me. However... I think my mom is awesome. Whereas too many empty-nesters I know of just kind of settle down, stay content with the lives they'd built while dealing with unruly teenagers, my mom did the COMPLETE OPPOSITE! She's kind of like me where she has some awesome friends who have challenged her to go outside her comfort box. Even without them, she's pretty fearless and independent. After joining the military at 18, she's lived in Germany, visited Egypt, and took me around London. On the less-exotic front, she bakes, cooks, sews, and sings nice and loud at church every Sunday. 

During the bike ride across Iowa in Pocahontas :)

One of her empty-nest endeavors was .... RUNNING! She's done a 4-mile race in my hometown for a few years. She interrupted her training to ride her bike across Iowa to do it this year to keep up her 4-mile run :) My mom's even done a half marathon. Quite a legacy to live up to! With that in mind, she sent me the following advice, which I have also passed on to KR. 

Here's to the next TV Timeout and take it away, Mom...

Syd

1. don't wear any new clothes - including sock. only wear stuff you have run in before and are comfortable in. you never know what might itch or bind. wear comfortable clothes - this is not a beauty contest!

 

1.5 be sure your shoelaces are tied - and tucked into the laces some way so they don't get loose. nothing worse than having to stop to tie your shoes.

 

2. go to the bathroom before the race - go at home, and at least once when you get there - even if you don't think you need to. be prepared for long lines.

 

3. only eat food that you have eaten before - this is not the time to try something new! be sure to stay hydrated, but water is much better than caffinated drinks. drink on the race if offered, and don't be afraid to pour the water over your head if you are getting warm. advice i got for drinking on the run was to smoosh the cup so it's just a narrow sliver and drink from that.

 

3.5 chapstick or something on your lips

 

4. dress for at least 10 degrees warmer than the temp - you KNOW you'll warm up.

 

4.3 stretch a little before the race, then stretch more afterwards - you will feel much better the day after.

 

4.5 check out the finish line - or the whole race course if possible. it helps to know if there are hills or turns, so you can be mentally prepared.

 

5. don't go out too fast - it will be very tempting, the adrenalin is going, everyone is passing you - but go at your own pace. You'll pass a lot of those people as they run out of steam.

 

5.5 sometimes, especially if you are running by yourself, it helps to pick out someone ahead of you and try to keep pace with them, or pass them if they are too slow then pick someone else in front.

 

6. RUN YOUR OWN RACE! You are not racing anyone else, you are just running for you.

 

7. Have fun, go at a comfortable pace, but don't be afraid to sprint at the end! You'll be amazed how much energy you really have left!

 

I'll be rooting for you!!

 

Love, Mom

 

p.s. - our buddy Toni would say to set a goal - do you want to run 12 minute miles? 12.5 minute miles? 40 minute race? Only walk for a total of 5 minutes? Choose something, and see how you do.

Desperation

I've dome some crazy impulse things in my life, but KR might have just helped me do one of the craziest...

http://www.ecrun.org/docs/131entryform.pdf

So let me backtrack... I went to the treadmill on Sunday, thinking I could cover the screen, and just go. It sort of worked. I pushed to just a mile, but that victorious 1.21 miles was still looming over me. KB realized in our runs that I suck after I quit to walk, but I tried to go again. Bleeeggghhh. I did check out my form a lot in the mirrors in front of and beside me. Hooray for leg muscles :) 

I can feel the leg muscles again today- calves and shins OMG! As KR and I were plotting our races, we realized that our plan A AND plan B were full :( Crap. Punting... KR jokingly suggested this weekend. Well, a joking suggestion got me into this mess, so why not have another one get me over this darned hump?! I am officially registered for my first 5k to run (I've done tons of Race for the Cures, but walked them all). So, with that in mind, I went out and took all the advice KR had gotten after she posted her little announcement on Facebook. I had the "you can do this!" mantra and mindset and stopped looking at my feet. I used to like the measurement of my progress, concrete square by concrete square, but just looking ahead helped me just be and go. I ran the longest I ever had without stopping- a full 1.78 miles. 

Like I said, my shins and calves are KILLING. I'll do yoga (yay internet videos!) tomorrow and Thursday, as well as finding a way to go 4 miles, a combo of running and walking, taking Lucy with me to TIRE HER OUT- GRRR- on Thursday. If I can get out of my head for 4 miles, I can do the 3.1 miles, pushing myself like none other, on Saturday.

Now accepting any and all ideas/tips! 

Here's to the next TV timeout :)

-Syd

Still not really "fall"...

HI!

I’ve been distracted with the writing (and research for it) that I get paid for, but I’ve still been keeping up the training ;) My Sunday run was kind of fun because I came home, sweaty, RED and just exhausted. Fred didn’t know what to do with me!  The running: walking ratio has gone from 1:1 to 2:1, so its getting a bit tougher :P  Sunday’s run was just the 2.6 mile route, but I did the full 3 mile route yesterday. I’d been doing the 5 min warmup as part of my route, but did it separately yesterday. Oh, and I’d left Lucy with Fred at home on Sunday and dragged- literally- her along yesterday. 

Lucy usually is a fickle eater, waiting until she’s ready to eat her breakfast or dinner, then burping to indicate its post-meal-snuggle time, always rummaging around the kitchen to see if we dropped something while making dinner (which was potatoes, greens and pork chops last night :D Super easy to feel like a stereotypical Southerner!) since she’s the perfect height to get under the cupboards. She might come visit the roomie and I when we eat around the TV, and after mealtimes in the dining room, she wants to see what all the big kids are up to at the table, so after the clinking of silverware has faded, she starts chirping up. In general though, Lucy doesn’t really beg, so we were surprised to see just how worn out she was last night after the 3 miles: she begged for more of the kibble she usually sniffs at for an hour or 2, and of course, picked up scraps that might have ended up on the kitchen floor :/

After the panting super hungry dog, I’ve decided no more Lucy on the runs! I really felt her pain yesterday. Up to now, I haven’t had much pain after an outing, but yesterday was a real challenge. Right after a run, if I didn’t stretch , I’d have some left leg shin splints. Yesterday, however, I felt it in both legs as I was going. KB and Mr. Clean told me on Monday night that you just have to run through them, so that’s what I did! I tried sprinting down one of the hills, but it’s a frickin’ long hill and after 2.5 miles, I didn’t have it in me! Came home, iced up and took a few ibproufen. By the way, a fried egg and cheese sandwich cures all :D

Super exciting story coming next week!

Here’s to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

The neverending summer...

Its 78 outside now and it will be hitting the mid 80's today. Even stranger? It will come close to 90 in my hometown today- in CENTRAL ILLINOIS! I never thought I'd be happy to have it be cooler in NC, but, as the roomie reminded me, the cold spurt and then back to heat is part of Carolina falls. One day it will just be cold, until February when it will get warm for a couple days, go back to cold and then one day it will be 80 for the next few months. And repeat...

Yesterday was the last equal walk:run workout, so I upped my mileage to the full 3 miles, or rather, 4.98km. The roomie and Lucy came with me, and while they walked, I jogged as prescribed. While I was turning in 14 minute miles over the 2.6 miles earlier in the week, with the longer distance yesterday, I put in a bit quicker pace :D 

The Wolfpack are playing again and they've got a strong first half going, but we saw that last week, so NO hopes up! My Fighting Illini are in Pennsylvania today, too, but I fear what Joe Pa is doing to them!

Off to read more paper's for the thesis as I get pretty for a picnic with Fred, KR and others :) Oh yeah, Fred is my boyfriend, he's tall, smart, good dancer, and like me, wears shoes that are double digit sized :D His shoes are flanking one of mine, just so you can see how HUGE both sets of our feet are!

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

The journey of a thousand miles...

...begins with a single step. Today, I made that step. I've always said I only run if the cops are chasing after me or if my life depended on it, two situations that don't normally come up. My mom- who became a runner late in life- sent me an e-mail this past week, part mocking, but maybe part serious, telling me about an update to a run she'd done the previous year at my alma mater. They were going to have a 5k on Friday night and then a 10k, half-marathon and full marathon on Saturday. Doing the Friday run and a Saturday event gets you a special medal, t-shirt, and happy feeling :) This got me thinking... And then I remembered- I have had to run for my life this past year! As a grad student in ag (trust me, I'll talk about this more), I've spent some time in my life on some seriously weird pieces of machinery, like the one you see me on above. There's a container for coolant on the outside of that machine, and on Memorial Day this year, my boss was driving the machine. It was 5pm, we had 10 plots left to harvest, and he reached back to check the coolant levels. As soon as he did, this white cloud emerged and EXPLODED. I literally turned around and ran, for what I thought was my life. Knocking down the wheat plots in an effort to beat the creepy white cloud, I was sure that my boss had been killed, or at least seriously injured. Half a field away, my fellow grad student thought he was going to be the only one surviving the drive back home that night. Everyone lived and my boss had a nasty burn on his arm, but I realized that yes, I actually have had moments where I thought it necessary to run for my life, so why not actually go collect a cool medal with my mom.

I'll be following the cool running "Couch to 5k" plan since for all intents and purposes, I am a couch bum in the running world! I looked at the plan before I left to go to the gym, but the numbers got a bit messed up. I did the "brisk" 5 minutes at a 3.5mph pace, then did 90 seconds jogging, 60 seconds walking for 20 more minutes. My walking was around a 3.7-4.0mph pace and my running was a 4.7-4.9mph pace, although my last jog I pushed myself to 5.5, just because I knew I still had it in me :D I went 2.5 miles and sweated BULLETS!

I followed it up with 20 minutes on a stationary bike, just kind of ambling as I read my Real Simple magazine.

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd