One last schweaty run?!

Okay, so maybe the title is pure wishing, but it was so cool this morning, the roomie and I opened up the doors, aired out the house, and didn't end up with a humidity and heat induced glow! This all blew in last night, about the time Mom and I left the house to go pick up Chinese for dinner :)

Sooo maybe I run because I eat that, but it was a super special Mom weekend! Anyway, when we left, the rental car told us it was 81*. By the time I'd gotten totally lost talking to the cashier when she told me my frequent user card was only for Chinese people, gotten my food and re-started the car, it was 74. But...Um... I know a couple of Japanese people at work, but no authentic Chinese people, so how did I end up with this?! She told me it was only for students, so I explained I used to be a student at State, I just tend to lose and find these cards! It might have been the one KR gave me :P We swap fro-yo rewards cards for Chinese, win win!

 Okay, so yeah, it was typical warm and humid yesterday morning! The sun didn't come out til that last mile when we were on a tree-lined trail, and for that, I was truly thankful! We did a nice as-flat-as-Raleigh-has-to-offer 6 miles on mostly tree-lined greenways around a lake, behind/between housing and apartment complexes, and chatted about all sorts of things. For example, the main person I run with from my group is probably old enough to be my mom and she recommended Hope Springs, the Meryl Streep movie. A new person dropped down to our pace group and she's about my age, and she had good things to say about it. What?! Urgh...fine. Sooo that's what my mom and I ended up seeing yesterday, and she was thankful I would go see it with her, sparing her the humiliation of being that middle-aged woman sitting alone in a clearly-aimed-at-her movie.

 We'd been warned about this beforehand, but we saw something similar to this:

 Okay minus the striking, fake screaming or water balloon. More like this:

 Thankfully one of the faster pace groups saw a guy like this just getting warm (or cool?!) on the trail and while the participants just stopped and backed off, a fellow mentor SPRINTED back with a pep in her step saying "Copperhead COPPERHEAD in the trail!" I stopped our group there, turned around to pass on the message. I was ready to strangle a couple of runners that were like "oh, COOL!" until I realized they weren't from our training group, so if they wanted to tangle with this venomous {see, Huck! I listen} creature, more power to them- and no legal obligation to our training group!

He eventually slithered off, and you could still see the majority of his body continuing to go into the grass by the time we passed. Shudder! Totally gave our group an adrenaline rush and I'm pretty sure we dropped average pace by a few seconds even with our 30 second pause!

The group is experimenting with in-run nutrition and I'm realizing that running for 70 minutes means I need to eat twice. That last mile, I could feel my brain start to shut down, I talked even less clearly than normal (which if you know me says a LOT!) and had to seriously focus on getting through. I had a chocolate outrage Gu that had caffeine, and I really liked it. The consistency and taste were definitely chocolate icing and I wouldn't want to down one of those without water to wash it down, just to get the super intense sweetness out of my mouth. Sorry if this is TMI, but coffee makes me have to pee, so for long runs, the last thing you want to do is need to pee when you're 3 miles from the closest bathrooms, so I liked that this flavor had caffeine built in. Morning runs demand caffeine! I definitely stayed up til past midnight on that shot and a 20 minute nap!

I'm super-nerding it up this week, determined to take advantage of these cool mornings, so I have not just my work outfits laid out but my running outfits! Sports bras and non-cotton socks included :) My legs are getting tired and my right knee bugs me after long runs, so I'm taking the advice of the other mentor for my pace group and going to keep running on tired legs to build up the endurance. I'm going to use shorter runs to get my mileage, even though it might mean a 3 miler before work and another couple after. Tuesday's cross training will be some elliptical, too- "mileage" without the impact.

Off to get in some upper body strength :) What good are awesome legs if you have pudge arms?!

Here's to the next tv timeout!

-Syd

So many things

1- I SURVIVED (barely) Illinois' toughest 15k. I have the medal to prove it:

The medal is hanging around my nec.k... don't know how I have enough energy to smile

2- It was h-e-double-hockey-sticks! I don't run when its above 70 outside by choice. It was 70 at the starting line, before I had to go up this evil hill twice! I killed that hill the first time, was doing well despite an absent water stop pre-hill, even when I got lapped by...well... a lot of people! But... somewhere around that first loop near the zoo, even after going past one of my best friends who was doing a lock-in (Zoo Znooze) , the leg that pressed on the gas pedal for 13 hours a couple days before cramped up, the heat exhausted me, and the impending meet up with my dad started to suck the happy go-go-GO right outta me. I got down the happy little hill, had a spectator tell me my braid looked cute and whimpered at the sight of the hill again with no water break until I was up it and started to walk like a pro. My chest exploded and hamstring cramped up like never before as the heat and panic rushed over me to have me bawling right before mile 7. I thought about this picture:

And kept going. I knew that right after mile 7, it was down one hill, 2 miles of straight and flat at the end with my momma and sister waiting to cheer me in after they'd done the 4 mile race.

Oof.

3- I didn't run much after that. Serious amounts of pain. I even put this Biofreeze gel on my leg to try to numb it, and omg it got numbed and I smelled like mint and couldn't feel my leg the rest of the day.

4- The next time I ran? I was in Savannah, GA at a $42/night hotel with one of my best friends from high school, on the treadmill in the gym. I turned on tv, enjoyed The Mentalist, checked out my form while I ran, and tried to get in some speed work. I'd only waited about 20 minutes after eating this AMAZING $7.50 low country boil so when I was upping the speed (to 7.0 mph!! and BEYOND) I slowed down when I started tasting the shrimp, crab, sausage, corn and 'taters again. Had a GREAT time doing the HIIT though!

5- I've decided my goal for the month of July while it decides to stay in the triple digits outside in the BLAZING humidity is to do at least 1 unassisted pullup by the time August comes around. Huck has a pullup bar in the hall of his kitchen/living room, so I have a plan... if I can't run outside, I shall become a beast!

6- For the awesome new job (yes yes, official job offer paperwork came in a couple weeks ago! WOOO), I had to get a physical. The doctor told me that people like me keep him from being busy. I compared the results of my cholesterol from 3 years ago, when I would go to work, sit down, come home, sit down, go to sleep, repeat. My total cholesterol has gone down by 1 point, but the triglycerides, HDL and LDL all tell the story of a much healthier and active person :) As a scientist, its nice to see proof in fancy numbers like that.

7- Other proof that I'm doing something right? When I went home, my mom had tons of my high school stuff for me to go through, since she would be putting the house up for sale a couple days after I left (it sold in 40 hours, no joke). Out of curiosity, I tried on my junior year prom dress. At 25, the dress that 17 year old me wore doesn't fit... because its too loose! My senior year prom dress?! Even worse! At least the junior year one has just an inch or 2 of fabric that you can grab here and there. Because of the cut of the senior year one, it just doesn't fit at all! It doesn't help that I don't gain fat in the most...um.. desirable?! places for a girl, but even the back is loose enough to hold a 6 pack :)

Ok... I promise more updates! Life should settle down here shortly and you'll get to hear about pullup progress :)

Here's to the Next TV timeout!

-Syd

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!

Bargaining for the Win

I'd gotten so used to the SC plan telling me to do an EZ 2 miles on Mondays that I just thought that's what I had to do again for Monday, and when I got home and was comfy in my chair, ready to destroy the kitchen cook more, I definitely got to a sad face when I went to confirm my target pace, and maybe finagle the run for Tuesday, not comfy Monday night, and discovered this week is all short runs but Monday was an EZ 4, not 2!

By this time, Huck, who had done p90x and biked over to my house to run with me and would have to bike the 3 miles back to his place when we were done, was game for 4. We bargained back and forth, played with routes on mapmyrun, and settled on a flipping hilly 3. I got out of my comfy cooking clothes and actually put a damp wash cloth on my back and tucked into my bra straps to help keep my cool. There's a heat wave rolling over Raleigh this week and I'm so not used to this running in 77+ heat! (Side note- its supposed to hit 90 multiple days this week, so maybe its kismet that no long runs this week mean less time to be in the heat, but still get acclimated to running in it... sneaky sneaky!)

Huck and I didn't talk about pace for this run, but he'd basically echoed KR's sentiments of "there's no reason for you to run 11 min miles when you can run 8:30s during speedwork for a mile and not collapse by the side of the road" at lunch on Saturday, so I was bound and determined to keep up with him. Did I mention that he'd already been working out for 75 minutes before we started running?! Total point of personal pride to not let this pre-tired man beat me! I just didn't want to run 11 min miles- I'd take 10:45s and say the heat and the hills were my lesson, so I was alright when, at 7 minutes in, the GPS app told me we were doing just that, 10:45s.

The route was running one street end to end, plus a little beyond one end to make it 3 miles and still have a long cool down to look forward to. The I wasn't used to the first part of the run, but it was an uphill, turn around, come back down, down, down, kill the evil hill I always mention, keep going, turn around, run down the hill, the end.

People who train on flats crack me up. In fact, I signed up for a race Mother's Day weekend and since its within running distance of the beach, methinks it'll be pretty flat. Can't WAIT to destroy that 10k!

Anyway, the second time I heard our pace, we were at the bottom of the long evil hill, and we'd dropped down to 10 min pace. I literally laughed outloud to Huck who was a few strides ahead of me. Normally, I'd yell at him about being a bad pacer, but I knew he was just pushing through, and it challenged me to a) keep up with him instead of slowing him down and b) get into my own little uncomfortable groove. I definitely couldn't keep a conversation, but I could eek out "you okay?!" every now and then.

At the 2/3 point up the hill (trust me, I've run this road way too many times to know just where I get to look forward to a break in the hill), Huck doubled over, and I kept running, but I was the good gf and turned around to see how he was doing. He waved me on, so I kept trekking. Before we got to the top of the hill, though, he had passed me again, but he had to stop again at our brief moment of flat, and when he told me "I feel like $***", I told him to just walk back, I'd pass him when I'd turned around. Yes, this sounds mean, but he told me to come run with him that night and "kick my @$$!"


I cheated the turnaround a bit because I knew Huck was back there struggling, and I figured that knocking off .2 miles when I had these hills around me wouldn't make or break me. I'll add it on to another run this week! I picked up the speed down the final hill when I realized I was due any minute for another update to say I'd been going for 28 minutes, so I wanted to finish the roughly 3 mile course before I got that notification. Final stats:

Like I said, warm night, flipping hilly, but I pushed. I feel great this morning, and my little damp washcloth helped keep me cool. It was great to have when we walked back on the cool down. My face turns into a salt lick when I run, so clearing that off and having a cool relief made a world of difference.

Gotta go put my big girl suit on! Not one but TWO interviews today!

Here's to the next TV Timeout!
-Syd

Flat Speed

I got behind. Lots of reasons, but Wednesday's speed workout was one I'd been scared to do. I asked the rehabbing KR to be my pacer for it. We built a mini-girl date out of it, so quite fun :) I did just what KR suggested- drank my water and held on tight when we took off! She was keeping track on her wrist GPS and I deliberately turned off my GPS app from telling me average pace. Because we ran on trails, my phone would occasionally tell me my current pace, alternating between 16 and 6 minutes per mile. The 6 was never accurate, although when I took my walk breaks, the 16 might not have been off, but I got told that during my fast times!

The goal for the day was 4 miles total, with 2 single mile fast runs, with 1/2 mile in between. The fast miles I was aiming for 8:45 pace, which was my fastest single mile EVER! KR kept us between 8:15 and 9 pace, occasionally giving me hand taps to slow down (hee hee, never thought I'd have to write THAT!) but even more, especially the 2nd mile, gesturing the "gimme more!"

KR sort of chided me, a lot:/ Her point, methinks, was that I could do the fast miles and not die. Or puke. Not puking is a good thing! IT might be painful, but enh, running for 2 hours is painful. Running for 2.5 hours is a different pain. Be the fast pain. Get back to views like this faster:

Here's to the next TV timeout,
-Syd

to Grandmother's house, we GO!

You know how I like freaking out when one thing throws me off my game? I was bound and determined to not have two bad runs in a row, and when it started to get dark, I figured I'd just throw on my gear and get my 3 done around home, not around the very evil lake with even more hills around the lake. Seriously, that lake is cursed! Anyway, I was fully charged, shoes on, when I got a "I'm on my way" text from Huck. Figured I'd rope him into running around home, but he reeeally wanted to do the trail around the lake and I it was part of the bargain from Monday. Argh... k.

Huck promised me trail, so I thought we were on the other side of the road, but no, we started running on the paved path, across the wooden bridge towards the evil cursed hills. But then we turned. I've gone past this spot a hundred times and never knew there was a trail there. Apparently Huck mountain bikes it often. Sooo it was over the roots, through the woods, splashing through the streams we went as the sun went to go keep people up in Australia. I had a headlamp on me (super awesome Christmas present from my aunt!) so I could better know when I was going up a sheer hill or down a root littered path.

A wider than normal creek bed as I officially couldn't see without light made me yell "okay, I'm done!" but I was promised that we were over half done. Thinking that meant it was shorter to go forward than go back, I sucked it up and kept going. When the shrubbery made a tunnel and Huck got further ahead of me than normal, I freaked. Darkness, woods enveloping me, unfamiliar terrain?! To a girl that's been told by society all her life that the way to prevent an attack is to not be out at dark in strange places,  this situation was CUH REEPPPPPY! Huck told me I was fine, I had nothing to fear, and started telling me "this one time, I saw this guy-" yeah, don't tell girls those stories until you're in a well lit area with lots of people around! Things like this still happen!

At which point the trail opened up to the asphalt path. "See! We're done!"...except there was still a mile to go around the lake. Huck and I were on different pages of "half way"- half through the trail or half through the lake?! I was scared and off my game, so I ran. No clue how fast, and every now and then I walked, but whatever.

Date night tonight and icing my shins as I prep for a long run tomorrow!

Here's to the next TV timeout!
-Syd

...so THAT's why!

I learned why the SmartCoach plan had me running every other day at that pace and that I definitely need to make Tempo runs my b**** the reaaaalllllly fun way Tuesday night! Huck and I met up at one of my favorite route spots where the houses are HUGE, partially on a greenway around a lake and sort of idyllic for our 10:30 first "warm up" mile. My shins were SCREAMING at me as we went down the hill from where we parked our cars, but I figured it would be fine once it leveled out.

Well, sort of. I had a mini freak out when we didn't know whether to go straight or turn around the lake, and once my "go! go! go!" focus gets messed up, its pretty darn hard to tune out the feeling of being lost while your shins hurt and now your knee hurts and TADA your surprise for THIS run is your hamstrings are tightening up while you're pushing pace. While literally saying "something generically motivating", Huck got to watch the side of me saying "yeah, see! go go! you've got this! tune out the pain, focus, you've only got 2 more miles left at this pace and then a super easy mile cool down!" try to take down the "expletive EXpLETIvE this HURTS!" side.

Unfortunately, the answer was solved by salt water, namely the tears that started streaming down my face as we kept running, finally knowing the route. We walked around a bit, looked at houses that we will probably never be able to afford and their lovely gardens, and plotted what to do. I finally let Huck convince me to do p90X plyometrics workout, which has lots of jumping around since "even though you might hate Tony Horton, he really does just want the best for you, and there's lots of low impact modifications you can do" according to the boy. We walked back to our cars, played on a swing set, got leftover Easter candy at CVS, and then conqured p90x- and I only did modifications for the very last set of stuff.

Different parts of my legs hurt last night as we saw Daniel Tosh, and now my cheeks and abs hurt sooo much from laughing, but it was totally worth it. Trying to conquer Lake Johnson with its 3 evil hills this afternoon. Thankfully this run is "easy" and it shall be treated as such, darnit!

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

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

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

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!

running hangover

 Races, and runs in general, should not give you hangovers, especially when there's zero alcohol involved. They should also not make the random cough/body aches you have a million times worse. And yet...

I was up at 6:15, out the door an hour later. Despite knowing what was ahead, I dared to eat breakfast. Sort of. Cinnamon toast and a scoop of pb. The toast was to make my stomach be temporarily happy. PB was to give me protein that would stick, literally!

Its also worth mentioning that it was 35 degrees outside and raining cats and dogs. Gotta love the fact that I was reading a news story about how Raleigh was in drought conditions, down 2 inches. We got it, EVERY LAST FLIPPIN' DROP, today. I'm confident in it. Okay, so maybe I drove away with a lot of it in my hair and clothes, but w/e.

You see, ladies and gentlemen, I signed up for the Krispy Kreme Challenge. Basic premise? Run 2.4 miles, mostly downhill, eat a dozen glazed Kripy Kremes at, conveniently, a Krispy Kreme shop, show off your empty box, then run back up the 2.4 mile hill. You're supposed to do it in under an hour. Oh, and DON'T PUKE!!!

Waiting for the starting line. This was about an hour into my time of standing in the cold rain?

NCSU's Bell Tower. Number of bells in it? 0

At the Krispy Kreme shop. First, and last, time there!

Smushing #s 6-9

Made it seem like I was only eating 1 at a time. Not 3. Maybe. Not really.

 Since we've already talked about how flippin' cold it was, since it was also rainy, my two survival strategies were conflicting. Generally, I like to layer to keep myself warm, but in rain like today's, the more you wear, the more that gets soaking wet and weighs you down and keeps you cold. 

With this in mind, I didn't wear gloves. The race started at 8:30, I finished at 9:47, and it wasn't until about 11- post hot shower, hot tea, and lots of blankets to snuggle under- that I regained total control of my hands. Well, sort of. They're still "creaky."

This is why all the picture of my hands seem a bit "awkward." Plus, the glaze was making the disgusting taste that it does after about donut #2 in my mouth. BLEGh.

There was a lot of biting, chewing, looking up, hoping the bites weren't going to get stuck in the esophagus, etc. It was quite hilarious watching people crying and struggling over the last few bites. One girl was pacing in between bites. Oh, how I sympathized with her!

Oh, and maybe I just grabbed a good box, or they really can crank the suckers out quickly, but the box I grabbed had nice, fresh donuts. I was actually very disappointed when I bit into them and they were light, fluffy, fresh! 

Curses...

I can honestly say, though, that I will never- NEVER- crave another glazed donut, so long as I live. 

I have been sitting here in the world's worst hangover all day. The only time I felt this bad was the morning of my 21st birthday- and yes, you can imagine the zaniness that happened before, especially since I can't remember! But at least after that night, I could drink water, take pain killers, eat the random food my stomach craved (ceaser salad and roast beef sandwich, both from Panera) and feel better. Today? Buh. Food and water were the ENEMY!!!

It took me 75 minutes, which usually is an awful pace for 4.8 miles, but I ATE A DOZEN DONUTS. I think those took me about 20 minutes? I wayyyy underestimated that! 

KB did it too, and she successfully finished in under an hour- 55 minutes, to be precise! Overall, she got 59th in the female "challenger" division. There were lots of "casual runners"- aka "I'll eat a few, then take the rest with me" crowd. I had a moment of smug satisfaction every time I passed those people on the way back. 

Can not! wait to be healthy and de-donut-ified and go for a run in nice weather, or indoor, and just enjoy it. For now?

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd