1,2,3

Theres been lots of reasons why I've been failing at updating. First. I havent been running as much. The heat is truly kicking my butt. My 3 miles this morning ended up being 2, a hilly 2, but the humidity made it impossible for me to catch my breath. The hill I've become so accustomed to destroying? Yeah that was 1.5 into my route this morning and I was thankful to get 75% of the way through it, took a detour to walk and then ran down. 

What I found on my detour- a Rose Garden! I stopped, smelled the air, and took pictures :)

I also had a "so bad I don't want to blog about it" run last Tuesday. We had 50 minutes and KR and Huck convinced me we could do the 4.5 mile route...and the the people talked for 5 minutes and the pressure was on to do 10 minute miles. Have I ever explained how badly I fail at running under pressure?! I waived KR and Huck on after a half a mile, said I'd wind my way back to the store and started bawling. Yes, some of it was the oppressive heat and (again) humidity, but I still wasn't over the crap race the Saturday before and the news that my dad's once full thick head of hair was coming out in chunks, thanks to the chemo. As much as I try to stay cool and calm, the surface keeps cracking and with less pressure now.

The second and third reasons I've been a running slacker? Well, they make me much happier. I started biking to work, which is only 4 miles roundtrip, but, being Raleigh, you're either pedaling for your life up a hill or coasting down its backside. Along with that crosstraining, I've been following through with my self made promise to get more weights in. Sometimes its just 18 burpees in the lawn, but last night it was 1/3 of the p90x video that made me hate Tony Horton. For the record, we're doing better, Tony and I, thanks Huck :)

The last reason? Well, he's cute and fluffy and 5 weeks old and still mastering the pounce. It's super hard to wake up and not just let my little Wiley man play all day. The first day I had to leave him and go to work?! Slayed me! Now I get the anxiety women get leaving their babies to go back to work! But, we're getting into a routine now, and I'm fairly confident Wiley will live, and he's growing with minimal parasites on/in him :) and like I said, he's mastering the pounce!

I fear I might have to give up running outside soon. When it was 63, the coolest part of the day, and my lungs couldn't keep up?! No bueno! When I get into a real job, I'll probably check out these gyms that advertise for $10/month memberships and go run on a treadmill and take classes, too! Until then, I'll run as much as possible, keep biking to work (after my "saddle" heals some!), and fall in love with Tony. I've already agreed to do the bi's and tri's tonight, heaven help me! (UPDATE: did it. rocked it! WOO, baby!)

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

Yep...he might be cuter than Lucy, but don't tell the roomie!

"Oh my gawd, you're beautiful"

I'm still in that post-run high, so with apologies for the scatterbrained, here goes the list:

1.  Loving that song right now! Hit play, and keep reading :D
2. Also super happy the weather in NC cooled back down a little so I didn't have to wake up before the sun to beat the sub-50's to start my run. Started out around 9am when it was sunny but 48*. As a "thank you" gift for mentoring for the 8k program, we got Brooks compression arm sleeves, and I had one on my right arm. No real reason except I wanted to rock the one sleeve look?! I took it off when I started warming up, about 2 miles in and tucked it into my shorts. Was suuuuper tempted to tuck it into my back and give myself a tail but when you're already wearing a neon green shirt that says "I got lucky..." on the front, well, I was standing out :/ Oh, and I totally rocked my aviators! I got "sport" sunglasses but they keep  trying to slip off my face, so I decided that even though my $10 polarized metal frame aviators aren't DESIGNED for running, if they work, go with it!
3. Totally about to make these babies when I'm done, although I am lacking green chiles. Good thing the Grub Cat around the corner has less than zero standards for my post-shower high fashion!
4. 
   Had an AMAZING post run high going on (will explain later), and even realizing that Huck and I had been locked out of his place didn't dim it much. Again, the weather was BEAUTIFUL, so we watered the new plants in the front, the food garden in the back, even the brussel sprout plants the bugs are devouring, and sunbathed on his deck as we relished the fact that at least BOTH of us stank :) Huck now has lantana and a blue (fave color) hydrangea (favorite flower) growing in his front yard. It looks super put together now. He's raising the bar for all his neighbors, muwhahahaha.
5. I'm going to probably keep running for as much as I can this summer, even if it means dying in the heat. Might have to do the run 6 days a week thing and make the runs short and at the crack of dawn...so I say in April when July's heat and humidity hasn't begun to wreck its havoc, but if I build up momentum, I won't want to lose it. I've decided the next goal is a 2 hour marathon, which equates to about a 9 min pace. Keep in mind that I just did a 2:30 half, which is a 11:20-ish pace. That's 2 minutes/mile over LONG distance to cut. Oh, and the goal race is a nice and hilly one in November and has just become the NC Half Championships- no pressure! If I increase speed, doing long runs will be less annoying and time consuming and I might start being in the first half of the finishers for races! If I want to keep running into my 70's, I've got to build some speed to lose over the next half century! So, 7 months (including the brutal NC summer) to drop 2 minutes off my race pace?! That's why Huck said "suck up the pain for your legs and let's go." His lower calves are killing him, so going up hills was painful for him and watching Huck admit pain isn't something I see that often, especially since he likes to be all macho and tough for me ;) Meanwhile, my shin splints make hills somewhat of a relief. Yes, my gluteus maximus and thighs kill, but at least the shins go "wheee!!!" for a bit. Yin and Yang, Huck and I are!
6. Out of somewhere, which now that I think about it, I have no clue where that came from, Huck decided our magic min. distance for today should be 5 miles. I mapped out a course from his place, threw in a killer hill that's about a mile and when you've almost conquered it, ratches up the incline just as a "hey, how do you like me NOW?!" I always have to tell myself to just. keep. running. even after I get to the top, teach myself that yes, you can kill the hill and then keep going :) For speed nights with the 8k training group, we used to go .15 miles down the street and RUN up that hill, then do that 6 times. That makes ANY other hill you ever have to do seem like a breeze, straights feel like downhills and downhills feel like you're more than coasting :) Oh, and this hill was about the halfway point of our run. But, once we got to the top, I caught my breath and gave Huck the "we're through the worst of it, I promise!" and he kept plodding. 
7. We walked through the shopping center a bit after the aforementioned evil hill. Don't want to tackle/dodge Whole Foods Saturday morning shoppers! Oh, and its the complex where Fleet Feet is, I was wearing a shirt that boldly proclaimed my FF allegiance, sooo I decided to set a great example!
8. We had to stop to cross a super busy road, and we knew from about that corner to our stop corner was 2 miles, straight shot, a few busy streets to cross, so Huck and I looked at each other and just said "kill it?!" We know I can run 10:30 miles for a while, so our goal pace for this 5-er was to drop the pace by 10 seconds. Not much, but enough to make it a little uncomfortable but attainable. If we'd set 9:30s or even 10s for the goal pace, when we kept going too slow, I'd have burned out and gotten way too frustrated. 7 months to drop pace, this was a long steady run, so only slight pressure. I'd started my running app (I'm on to Map My Run now, btw since I can load my pre-determined routes onto it and then make sure I'm on track if its roads/turns I'm not familiar with mid-run) before we actually started, so it kept telling me I was doing 12, then 11 min average pace, while Huck's more accurately started app said we were doing 10 somethings. He hadn't given me an update in a while, so standing at the stoplight, we agreed to start leaving more of ourselves on the sidewalk- major hill killed, less than 2 miles to go, knew the pace needed to drop a bit to be on goal. Green light...
9. GO! Slight downhill, and I was just re-warming my legs up after standing at the stoplight for longer than my shins liked. About halfway up past Meredith College, Huck suggested we kick it up, but we were a bit too far from the stoplight for me to steadily maintain the burst I knew I had. There was this patch of shade and it looked like around there was where the sidewalk got another few degrees of incline, so I spit out a "not yet." We kept plodding, although this plodding was quite an attack, but under that tree, I just ZOOMED! Out of Huck's mouth? "Oh my gawd, you're beautiful," even as I had to maneuver behind a car that was coming out of the intersection and threatening to derail my utter slaying of the hill and leaving the bf in the dust. Best. running. compliment. ever?! 
10. We had to stop at the light at the almost apex of the hill and Huck paused RunKeeper, saw our new average pace and said "flippin' A, we're killing it, but I'm not telling you because I don't want you to slack off. Let's just keep going like this and... wow!"
11. Nothing like the past minute to keep you motivated, so we kept going... and going...and going... hit one more stoplight and plotted. "Leave it all out here? Less than a mile 'til home? Its okay if we can't keep it up, but let's just see..." as we faced these rolling hills. They sort of suck because you can't see the valleys from even 1/4 mile away. It just plain seems EVIL, darnit! We got down, up, down, and I eeked out a "I make no promises to X street", the next top of the hill "driveway!", telling Huck I promised the driveway halfway up the hill. But then we got there, and I was letting out some growls to remind the hill that I that it was my b**** and just. kept. going. I could see the top of the hill and downhill slope to our stop point, sooo why not keep it up? 
12. I pointed out a car that was a bit before our stop street to end at, just to make our cool down longer since we'd gone beyond 5, so really, the harm of an extra 200 feet of cool down? Nada. Huck agreed and after the last cross street it was ON! We raced and sprinted to the end and it was about this time that Huck checked his phone, stopped it IMMEDIATELY to not let our lazy walking interfere with this apparent miracle we'd pulled off. 
13. 5.3 miles. 9:56 average pace. Goal pace de. STROYYYYED.

14. Yeah, I sort of feel like the bug now. Half that, and half "I wanna go dance party it UP!" But its amazing to have that under your belt and know that your 600 calorie burn for Saturday morning is dunzo :) 

Have an AMAZING Saturday!

Here's to the next TV Timeout,

-Syd

Mic check....

So… I’m back. And when I say I’m back, it should also be noted that I’m about to take it easy. Whiplash yet?!

Let me backtrack… when last we met, I believe I was still slaving away at the thesis, dating Fred, looking for a job and chilling on the running because North Carolina in the summer isn’t the best for avoiding heat. Now, the thesis is done, degree in hand, Fred… is still Fred but not mine, details on the latest version eventually, back to looking for a job, and yes, almost about to take a break from running because its already 60* at 7am nowadays.

I got back into running in September. Yeah, no clue why I got back into it when it was SEPTEMBER and still suuuper warm, but I knew I needed to get back into some sort of routine. Maybe there were even a few cooler days that gave me hope?! I stopped writing stuff down, so who knows. What I did discover was that I was faster! I hadn’t lost the “speed”, but I could go faster! I started back on KR’s 10k plan, and then got boy whiplash and thought that maybe I’d ratchet it up to a half marathon in…January?!

But FIRST! The roomie, the mom and I dressed up like fools for a Turkey Trot 8k on Thanksgiving Day. What better way to make sure you won’t gain as MUCH weight from the turkey and stuffing and pies than to rev up the metabolism before all the goodies?! I tried to rev up quickly for a couple of halfs in January, but shin splints, traveling for Christmas and the realization that apparently yes, at 25 is when your body decides it wants to break down led to 0 half marathons for January.

Except… you see… I’d done something crazy on Thanksgiving Day, darn post-race endorphins! But let’s keep this chronological! Having conquered my own 8k, I volunteered to mentor for Fleet Feet’s 8k Training group. Making it even more fun?! I knew I’d have someone to drag, I mean, keep my company twice a week. The roomie had gotten into running, starting with the couch to 5k plan and was ready to go be faster, stronger and generally more bad-ass!

So, with our first run a chilling 2 miles on a Tuesday evening in January, the roomie and I were off! We were both in the 11-13 minute/mile pace group. I started off being comfortable at the back, but as the weeks progressed, I sometimes had to be the mentor at the beginning of the pack. Those 11 minute miles got trimmed to 10:30s and shorter, while talking, and before I knew it, it was the last week of January which meant…

MY half marathon training started! On Thanksgiving Day, I’d signed up for the first NC Half Marathon at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. There were a few other races in that general time frame that I was considering. I figured late March would mean it would still be cool, maybe rainy, but warm enough to run without 50 million layers. The one I’d originally had my heart was soon ruled out. Never underestimate the power of bad word of mouth!

The roomie’s friends had heard that my “target race” was on a great course, but the people running it didn’t know what they were doing. Messed up logistics? Yeah, that sounds like a recipe for disaster at my first half. Plus, that was the race where KB got injured and was a hobbling fool for weeks afterwards. I started looking around and, having family near Charlotte, figured that driving 2 hours to go race was totally sane, so why not?!

I did the 8k with the training group, rocked it, but dear heavens, the HILLS around here! I realized I’d pushed myself more than I planned to or remembered when I went to go run the next day. It totally did not happen. I think I did 2 miles, and cried like a baby for the last mile. Always great walking into the house and explaining to your boyfriend that, despite being out for 25 minutes, you only went 2 miles and yes, your face is caked in snot and tears, Cosmo’s surefire way to attract men!

At this point, I had to juggle the Runner’s World half training plan I’d been following with what my body would physically allow me to do. I did most of my long runs, but my mid-week runs weren’t as long or as fast or inclusive of the speed work as I would hope or plan for. The two “perfect” examples were the 8 mile run that didn’t happen and the 10 miles of pure suck. The 8 mile was supposed to happen on a Thursday evening, about 2 weeks after the 8k. I’d run 2 miles on my shin splints the Sunday before and knew that if I could just get 5 minutes in, the pain would just be numbed and dull and I could power through.

Except… I couldn’t get out of my own head. This is a seeeerious problem for me, but that night, I just panicked, didn’t want to keep pushing through the pain, yelled at my training partner (aka dear sweet willing to mess up his workout schedule for me boyfriend) for always staying 2 steps ahead of me, not by my side, and other random thoughts just took over and I was DOA. I maybe did 2 miles? And that was it. Buried the thought of that run, shook it off, moved forward.

A trip to the beach that weekend threw a huge wrench in my 10 mile plans for that weekend, so I decided I was still on shin splint recovery rest, and had a much better and motivating 2 mile run with the bf and a dog that can actually run! (Yes, I still love Lucy, but the gremlin rebels at walks up hills, she can’t pace you for 2 miles!) There was still another weekend to do a 10 miler, so I marked on the calendar in Sharpie, planned out a challenging but scenic route, made sure the phone with music was charged and headed out! At 10 am... when it was really sunny…with plans to just get water/Gatorade at random gas stations and fountains along the way…and some darn evil hills…and a part with just the side of the road, no sidewalk…and one of the most stressing things that could happen to a girl less than 48 hours old … I did 10 miles.

Did. I didn’t run the whole way. Might not have run even half of it, but Huck (so bf has a nickname, its “Huck”…continue on) refused to let me turn around unless it was on the route. He let me walk some, took pictures of the snakes on the sidewalk near the arboretum, downed the world’s best Gatorade at mile 8, looked at me like a CRAZY person when someone that I knew (but didn’t explain to him that I knew) stopped to give us water, but most of all kept me moving and reminded me WHY I was doing this and that I was doing this for ME and HE was doing this for me, darnit! That’s love, ladies and gentleman.

They say awful training runs set you up for some pretty awesome races. You know, sort of like how awful dress rehearsals in band or for a play get out all the suck, so that all you have left when it counts is the awesomeness you have inside of you?! Well… today was awesome. There were signs that said “embrace the suck” but I didn’t, because there wasn’t any left. I’ve had some pretty awful days since the shin splints reared their ugly head, and not just because of running, but the kind of days where you have to consciously and deliberately remind yourself that its just a bad day in a good life, or an awful day in a flipping AMAZING life, focusing on the positive, working on the parts of your life that you CAN control. Today, I blocked it all out.

The butterflies grew noticeable as I was standing in line waiting to pee when it was 7:26 and the race was scheduled to start at 7:30 and I didn’t know exactly where to line up. Thank heavens for lightning delaying the start! Oh yeah, by the way, tooootally saw lightning driving into the speedway. Not scary at all! But, I peed like a champion speed demon, found Huck, and found my way to the start line, my pacing group and started the music, after taking a picture or 2, of course, and posting it to Facebook. Priorities!

There was a lot of “ok, run YOUR race, know YOUR goals, forget about the people around you, they didn’t train like you, their shins don’t hurt like yours, they might just be faster than you, this tank needs to last you longer than anything you’ve prepped for so its okay to be conservative now” running through my head for, oh, 2 miles?! I ran into people I knew at the first mile marker, had someone else talk to me shortly after that, and my mood was just ON!

The music was great, I ran into more spectators and runners that I knew, and at mile 6, picked up a running buddy. BJ was walking, but I told him to get back to running, he was almost through the worst parts! We ran into mile 10 together, when he peeled off for the bathrooms. He and I had the same goal pace, and were both super excited to not be crawling (yet…or do I?! keep reading!) and setting personal distance records with every step we took. Reason #918 I love running- you can make new friends mid-race and make 5 miles feel like a walk in the park.

Other highlights include:

    kid with the sign that said “slap sign for extra power boost”- I hit it twice!

    Running over US 29 on a pedestrian bridge that had some bounce to it. Later found out that a few years ago, one of those bridges collapsed! Seriously excited I didn’t know that before the race!

     I was on the 4^th mile when I saw the eventual winner, and he was in mile 9. Yeah…he did it in half my pace, but he didn’t look as happy as I did across the finish line and he probably didn’t get as many hugs as I did!

    I never. Stopped. Running. No walk breaks. NONE! I told myself to get to 10 miles, and once I got there, I pulled a mental switcheroo and said “enh, you only have a 5k left, no walking, suck it up!” and it worked! Personal pride, determination, not just to say “I didn’t walk” but also to just get this thing DONE with were amaaazing motivators!

     The course went around the NASCAR oval, then out around that track, around the dirt track and down and back over the drag strip, around the outside of the NASCAR track then, and this is the cool part, you ran through the tunnels to get onto the asphalt again. Something SUPER chilling about running through a tunnel, and then emerging to the light and lots more spectators and a finish line that, yes, is 2 miles away, but that you can at least SEE!

   

And last…but oh.my.goodness…not least. I smiled I ran across the line, and I cried for a second because I was done, I did it, in 2 hours and 27 minutes, without walking, and hey, here comes a super awesome medal. Seriously, this medal has cars that move and LED drag strip lights that do the countdown. I got my picture taken, grabbed food, found Huck, and just reveled in the glory that was my first completed half. Yeah, I said first. This might be a regular thing!

Every muscle in my legs is on fire, my upper abs even took a turn at being in pain, but the pride of what I did makes it all worth it. The medal is hanging on my door right now, but I need to find a place of honor to hang it in my room. Yeah, I’ve got my master’s, but right now, the accomplishment I’m the most proud of culminated with two and a half hours on a Sunday morning in Charlotte. Maybe it’s the post race endorphins, but dang they’re good and strong, and I wouldn’t trade my hobbling body for the world right now!

…pictures to come!

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

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

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!

A new partner

Last week, I went over to our neighbor's house to talk about something, and the husband mentioned seeing me running one day , apologizing for not waving back because he had no idea what this running blond was doing waving at him! While we were on the topic of running, they mentioned how their relatively newly-adopted dog, Tessa, had tons of energy, so I asked if I could take Tess running with me some time. Lucy's top speed is no match for me anymore (hee hee hee) and Tess was a bit bigger. 

Today I took Tessa out for a test drive :) She's a bit frightened by runners, ahead of or behind her. It wasn't until the 2nd half of what I'd decided was a very quick 1.5 mile route that she calmed down, realized what this "jogging" thing was and that no, I wouldn't run way or mow her down, that we got into a rhythm. After quite a bit of plant, hedge and sign sniffing, that is!

Isn't she adorable?!

The short half run/walk got me my much needed vitamin D, but its time to complete a real workout for the day. Exercise TV on Demand, ho!

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

Easy does it

So I actually went running yesterday morning, but the evening went crazy and so now I have time to tell you about it :) 

Reason #9184 last night went crazy??? I had an appointment to give blood! 

Only, I seem to be cursed when it comes to giving blood in NC. The first time I tried here, the on-site location didn't have my online registration, but they were also running an hour late. I thought it would be easy to do on my lunch hour, but I had class to go to! Fails #1 and 2. I successfully gave blood with this organization in a van in October (then tromped off to the State Fair :D ) but oh, my, everything that could go wrong did yesterday. They sent me away with only 20% of what they needed because the girl facing me had passed out and lost control of some bodily functions while giving blood. My clotting line thanks to an awful stick *shudder* seemed insignificant after that.

BUT! Before all of this, I went running before work and the day warmed up to be 76 and sunny. Yes. In February :) I even ate lunch outside on a blanket!

The run was my 2.5 mile route, running half of my hill. I also cut through to an apartment complex, way off road and sidewalk, trying to avoid the scary no-sidewalk or shoulder portion. New areas always weird me out, so I hesitatntly ran on the streets or from short sidewalk to short sidewalk, knowing about where it should dump me out to where I needed to go back to my sidewalks and happy known path.

No clue how long it took- and that's still fine with me :)

I asked the neighbors to borrow their larger-than-Lucy dog for a walk/run tomorrow. Will probably be keeping it around home since it's my first run with her, so if I need to change the pace, alter the route, no big. Also, you never know how a dog reacts to a car ride!

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

So I did it again

I ran.

I have no clue the pace. I think it was about 2.25 of the 2.5 miles in my route because, quite frankly, I didn't feel like running up the evil hill and feeling "blegh" for the entire route as a result, so I just walked when I felt like it. But then I ran.

I also sort of cried. My Sister's Keeper?! Suh-laaaaayed me! I was listening to the last 20 minute of the audiobook. Twist ending and tearrrss! But I tried to just keep breathing and not let my throat swell up like I wanted it to. 

Oh, and it was the perfect night. Seriously- upper 60's in February with a beautiful sunset. It was still light enough outside when I was done that I took Lucy for a little walk. We ended up at the top of a hill and I literally just stood there, admiring the view for a minute. *Breathe in... breathe out...* My bronchitis is pretty much fading, only cough a few times a day, and the pregnant boss doesn't send me home anymore :)

I did yoga last night after weight circuits, the third time since the evil donut run that I did. It feels so good, and I felt all nice and stretched out today :) Things hurt, but it was a "yay!" hurt!!!! With weather like this, I realize people will start seeing my arms and legs now, so they can be all nice and toned as they emerge :)

More running coming up! Still loving the yoga/cross-training!

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

P.S. And yes, she knew I was writing about her, so Lucy, uncharacteristically, snuggled up to me. Especially weird since her mom aka The roomie, is 4 feet away... She gets a haircut in a week :) No more Teddy Bear, hello naked mole rat!!!

Still Sick :(

As the title says... I am still sick :[ I swear, this evil little bug KNEW I was planning on finally getting active, going for a run either tonight or tomorrow and so it knocked up the intensity of my cough again! I had the runny nose and body aches, but those are gone. Once again, its this darn evil stubborn cough. The general rule of thumb for exercising is that you should take it easy when you have symptoms below the neck. However, a week of doing that was driving me stir-crazy!!! 

"Don't make me go on this walk!!!"

Hearing my mom's voice in my head tonight, I looked at Lucy, apologized, and dragged her out for a nice walk. Yep, just a walk. Earbud in one ear, gloves on to protect from the "cold" and a nice excuse for her to stop sleeping and me to get out of the house. It was quite a nice ego booster- no makeup, hair hastily thrown back and random clothes to keep warm led to me getting honked and waved at by 3 cars. I wonder if they thought I was someone else?!

 It was nice and light when we left, but by the time Lucy started doing her "oh! THIS IS TOTALLY THE WAY HOME!" trot, the sun was down, the mercury went the way of the sun, and I may or may not have been skipping to keep warm and make the door appear sooner as we neared home.

Being sick is seriously bringing all of me down :( I'm ready to be healthy, to get out and keep doing something- anything! With the cough as evil sounding as what I have now, going to group classes doesn't really feel like an option either. People would fear my germs, and rightly so!

Anyway, at least I got out, did something?!

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

Home Alone!

This is usually the time that I'd slap on some aftershave and SCREEEEam, but instead, I show you Lucy's "snuggle" position and 

"srsly...why must you WAKE ME?!" position :)

The Roomie is off on a grand adventure, so, in my mass boredom, I shall tell you what I've done :) And yes, I have a boyfriend, but he's stinging over his team losing a game they had and withering away in the lab. Be kind on Fred, I gave him some news this week that's enough to make lots of people bust out the Home Alone "SCREEEEAM" :/

Anyway, I decided to test my endurance by running both Friday and Saturday. Both were supposed to be "fast" days, but I think only Friday really was. I did a nice 2 miles in 20 minutes. I ran fast, but also took walk breaks every now and then. Realizing that I a) really need to hydrate through the day and avoid the awful dry mouth and b) I need to figure out how to better fuel myself up. I eat pretty healthy, awful Target gnocchi-in-a-pack from tonight notwithstanding, but I feel like my tank is on empty wayyyy too often/soon!

I did my 3 miles today at the evil trail where I last rolled my ankle. I ran with C, the sheepdog owner, and if she wanted me to talk, I had to walk! The hills on that trail are eeeevil. So steep that going downhill is awful because you have to hold back or prepare to lose your footing and tumble down the paved trail. 

My web searching of the day also confirmed what I was fearing/hoping would go away if I ignored it- I definitely have shin splints. Much worse on my dominant (right) leg, and it hurts after, for a while, and on the inside, so at least its not ITBS. It comes from upping mileage/time/hills too quickly. I need to keep running and getting faster, especially given a very defined goal that's in the near future, so I might just cut out the evil hills for a bit, focus on getting fast on the flats while upping the distance.

Back to my awesome Saturday night, home alone :) Might even go to bed EARLY! Yes...this is the life of a 20-something with a boyfriend :D

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

Red Randoms

Today, my brain doesn't really process full thoughts, so you get a numbered list instead...

1. Due to the ice (see above), I tried to go do the 3 miles for Tuesday on a treadmill. 
2. The gym was packed to a level I have literally never seen. All machines had someone on them.
3. Instead of waiting around for someone to hopefully yield after their 30 minutes, I came home and tried our tv's "fitness on demand." 
4. The first lady had  "Madonna arms."
5. The second lady was entertaining and had way less distracting arms.
6. Somehow, pilates and yoga have made my arms, especially triceps, hurt. A lot.
7. I scoped out the sidewalks today on my drive home from work. The 3 mile route sidewalks were clear. The 2.4 mile sidewalks? Not so much. BEHOLD A SIGN FROM THE RUNNING GODS!!!
8. So I did my 3 miles. After the first half mile, my legs literally kicked into gear. They knew the hill was done, and it was all pretty much level from then on. Good little legs :)
9. My mom got me a Cookout t-shirt for Christmas. I forgive you if you've never eaten there because you either live out of their area or you don't want to swell up thanks to their burgers, shakes, chicken nuggets and onion rings. By the way, you can get one of each of those for under $6. 
10. There's a Cookout in walking distance from my work...doom doom!
11. Anyway, the point of the Cookout story is that I wore it today on my run :)
12. As you can see below, its bright red!
13. By mile 1, my arms were the same color. 
14. There was lots of wind today! It was a headwind on the way out and a tail wind on the way back. 
15. I got so used to breathing in to the wind that when I turned around, I had to re-figure out how to breathe.
16. I get post-run cough these days. My mom got to hear the full effect of it during our Sunday talk this weekend and I fear she will hear it tonight during our Wednesday talk.
17. We only talk Sunday/Wednesdays, I swear. Usually. Unless something great/bad/cooking happens :)
18. No clue how long the 3 miles took. Loving the arm band. Fred does good :)
19. By the way, Fred got rear-ended today. Thankfully, not his fault, but the poor boy is hurting. Haven't seen the car yet but Fred's descriptions sound slightly foreboding...
20. Large scary man was "walking" 2 dogs and by "walking" I mean "getting pulled by" and so I waited til there was a break in the busy 4 lane divided highway to step on the blacktop, off the sidewalk, to pass the stopped man and leering dogs. Large scary man then yelled "hey! get off the road!" at my back....seriously, dude?!
21. I feel a little hardcore running in sub-30* weather.
22. Unfortunately, this weather makes me twitch a lot. My muscles get unusually tense or loose these days. Nothing feels weird when I run, but when I stop and the next few hours after, things feel a bit off. Still running, just cautiously.

Woo Cookout shirt :)

I wanted this to show that my arms matched my shirt. They did...but then I cooled down a bit :/

 Here's to the next TV timeout :)

-Syd

In prep for the storm...

We had "work at home and fear the storm!" day again today :) Even Lucy got in on the action at the table, at least for a bit! See the evil snow coming down?...yeah, its weak, even by NC standards.

With the impending snow, KR convinced me to wake up not one, but almost 2 hours before sunrise on a Monday morning to get a gym workout in. I had a feeling that yoga would be canceled due to weather, so I did 15 min on the elliptical, then another 20 minutes on the bike afterward. This was not fun- I got super sweaty and my legs yelled at me the entire time. 

 

They continued to yell at me at work later when my boss asked me to do the evil bending/leaning/moving-terra-cotta-pots-around task. By the way... my jeans? Don't really fit anymore. I've always thought fitness bloggers were crazy when they said they couldn't find jeans that fit, but omg... Jeans that fit 2 weeks ago are rebelling! I had to keep pulling them up every time I leaned over, for fear of blinding them with crack! Totally okay with having a problem like this, but oh dear... I live in jeans! And my dress pants, which I will hopefully have to wear for some mysterious real job in the future, don't like to stay up anymore either. Hurry up summer so I can wear skirts and dresses???

 

Here's to the next TV timeout! (And maybe even non-snowy weather tomorrow? I need a good 3 miles!!!)

 

-Syd 

Armband Buddies

So Lucy is now apparently smart enough to brush her own teeth, thanks to the use of a child's toothbrush from the standard neighborhood dentist and chicken flavored toothpaste. Personally, I like my Crest, but to each, their own :)

I went back to the site of my freakish 3-in-30 to run with C, owner of the sheepdogs today. KR had "3 miles, slow" on the agenda for today. Unfortunately for C, she usually just goes out and runs at whatever pace and distance she wants, and has built up to a 9-10 min pace. She bounced. A lot. Meanwhile, I had a lot of grimacing, looking at the ground, cursing my iPod for going on "all" shuffle, not just my "running" playlist shuffle. That's the only explanation for hearing this around the 2 mile mark... Not a very motivating song!!! Both C and I had our iPods in armbands, me listening to lots of Glee, C listening to lots of Muse. She's obsessed. Just a bit ;)

C was sure her route was just 3 miles, but, having run there just this week with GPS in my ears, I knew we had gone farther, so when we got to the playground about a half mile from her house, I ran towards the swings, not home! We took a nice swing break before finishing home. I LOVE SWINGS! They're still my favorite playground equipment, although slides are pretty fun!

Sure enough, the route was 3.4 miles :) No clue the timing Thank you gmap-pedometer! I had side stitches for the first time during a run and oh the sore pains I have now :P Shoulders, shins- what is it with these things hurting?! Will be super-sure to keep stretching. Trying to talk KR into yoga tomorrow as I type. It'll be packed with returning students and January joiners, but I want group stretching!!!

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

Three in One

Maybe its the Illini in me, but when I hear "Three in One" I think of this:

But, to catch up, you get three posts in one :)

First... Santa (aka my Aunt) was awesome and brought me... RUNNING TIGHTS! 

So of course, I had to test them out on Christmas. Can I once again say how amazed I am that I actually was EXCITED to run, especially on Christmas?! But I went with my mom to a little trail, and by little, I mean 1/2 mile. It will eventually link up with longer trails, but I didn't check the distance before we went out. Oh well :) I did a good 1.5 miles while my mom walked with Lucy. Part of my mom/Christmas-ness was a new Droid (go Verizon!) so I have 4 apps to track runs and 5 to play radio/music.  

I also realized I really need to work on crosstraining- aka weights! I have minimal arm strength and realize that better leg muscles should help limit the injuries. The legs had gotten nice and muscly, but the post-race/injury hiatus has led to them being loose again :( Also, while losing weight is somewhat of a goal, I'd rather weigh more and go faster, stronger. Plus, at 5' 9", I can weigh over 150lbs and still be in a healthy weight range, but qualify for "Athleta" divisions at races :)

Women's Health Magazine has some great workouts online, so I've decided that non-running days will be strength days. Many of them only require your body weight or light weights, which I have. There's something wrong with me and the fact that I love lunges and squats. Plus, the burn afterward? Yes it hurts, but you know you earned it!

Last but not least... I've decided its time to start working on the 10k! I want to be faster and go further- doesn't everybody?! So for now, I'm accidentally doing sub-3 mile distances, but according to the Droid apps, at faster pace- 11 min mile pace, even! And that's outside with natural changes in elevation :) I looked around at plans online and although there was one I loved, I knew I loved it because it was doable... and I need a challenge. So the one I picked includes a) hill work b) speed work and c) tempo work- everything to help me go faster and further! Right now, I'm thinking 10 minute miles as my goal- long term. If I can do a 10k at 11 min pace, I'll be happy- for the first one, at least! 

My little 3 mile route was derailed by 2 things today. First, I forgot Mom's ultimate rule of running: go pee before! About half a mile in, singing along to the radio was the only thing distracting me from the fact that omfg, I needed to PEE! Sorry, I realize its maybe TMI but it was not cool! Second, the sidewalks looked like  this:

Uh... no thanks! I've already shown how prone I am to falling on straight, flat, non-snow-covered surfaces! When I got to this chunk of sidewalk, the little voice in my head (aka Google myTracks) chirped up that I'd done 1.5 miles at 11 min mile pace. I could see my car, so I scurried back. 

This Eastern snow storm has me going "dang nature, you're scary!" a lot. When I came home today, I started hearing this crackle/crash sound and risked running on my walkway that looks a lot like the scary sidewalk above to get to the porch alcove. Its somewhat sad when you have to choose between potential fall on the ice or whatever scary ice/snow is about to come crashing to the ground. Thankfully, I got under the safety of a roof without falling and had nothing crash on me :)

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd