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

You want me to do WHAT?!

Prescribed run: 2 miles at 12:35 pace
Actual run: 2.11 miles at 10:26 pace

How did I get that "prescription" you ask?! Well, you see, on the heels of that "ok, let's run a 2 hour half!" conversation with Huck, I explored around Runner's World website and found their "Smart Coach." The target race is Nov. 4, and it took some finagling, but I finally input all the right stuff to get the end race distance to 2:04, the closest it would get me, based on my first half results. And yeah, it spit out this for the first week. Yes, a 30 week plan starts with this :

PS Mom? If you put in my 8k time (55 mins), it starts you out at 12:30 pace and finish out at a 2:10 half, just sayin'!

It was supposed to be "easy" but Huck and I kept pushing each other. As he pointed out, a couple months ago, I'd yell at him, tell him he was fired, if he pushed pace. Now?! When my shins KILL on the uphill and I switch to the balls of my feet, I match his stride length and turnover and he warns me "don't push pace too much!" because our "easy" run has quickly turned into a "I'm not backing down, are you?!"

Running at 6pm was kind of BLEGh especially when you add the fact that maybe 200 feet of the run was flat?! It was 72, pretty sure cars kept kicking up dust into my eyes as I ran, and my mouth was parched by the time I was half up the hill. Loved that beyond the half point, Huck turned around and said something generically motivating and we had a hilarious "this is how I hurt" ... and kept running.

If I stayed on the balls of my feet as I ran downhill, I could match Huck's turnover and it hurt WAY less running! I also made sure to stretch like crazy when I got home. Like always, I have to remind myself that I just have to get past the first 5 minutes of the run and life is ... well, life?!

Oh, and as for the prescribed plan? I'll play it by ear, do what feels easy, even if its (hopefully) way above pace for SmartCoach :)

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

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

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

Heels

 I used to not think of myself as a shoe person, but over time, I realize I have a finely cultivated collection of heels. First up?

The ones I wore for Fred and I's first date, exactly 364 days ago. Not that I'm counting. So yes, it was early February, and yes, even though we live in the 70% of the country NOT hit by this week's snowpocalypse, it was still cold. Did I mention the short black skirt I had on, too?? Oh, and clearly the heels (and skirt) worked :D

   

After a night of wearing heels like that, I wore shoes like this A LOT the next few days!  And yes, the heels seem to be torn up. This is on purpose. I have size 10.5 feet, as does KR. Its how we became friends, true story. As a result of this mammoth, and thus, unusual, size, lots of the cheap brands- payless, targay- don't make 10.5. Its 10 or 11. Pick. So I picked smaller for these, clipped out the heel, and thus spared my Achilles tendon many many blisters.

 The next two pairs are my usual go-to during the winter. If I'm going to be walking around a lot, I go for the Sperry's, aka boat shoes, aka most versatile things ever. I wear them with socks in the winter, barefoot in the summer. They go with jeans, dresses, and even khakis if I'm running late for Sunday morning church. According to NC natives, they're the official shoe of the state, and base on how many pairs of them I see on campus, I tend to agree. 

My other go-to shoes are my boots! I bought these on a whim, totally expecting to return them. Instead? Love. Adoration. Worship. I only wear them with jeans, and always under! Well, unless it dumped 6" of Boxing Day snow on you, but that's a rarity.  They're comfy enough to stand in, make little noise, and give me an extra heel to make me feel even more intimidating, if needed :)

 These I talk about often. I log my miles, wear them religiously only for running, hit heel first, pushing off with the ball of my foot. The amazing Mom got me contraptions to basically turn them into slip-ons, but I haven't done it. Yet.

And last, but certainly not least, are the actual heels that slip into all of these. Yes, I have a tattoo. Its easily hidden, obviously, not offensive, recognizes 3 years of my life, and makes the occasional great conversation starter. 

But back to the heels... These things have been dragging recently. The token example came this past Saturday when, about 1/2 mile in, I lost it. Couldn't breathe, broke down crying- well, as much as I had the water/energy to- and could feel any and all mental resolve to keep pounding the pavement slipping away. With 3.5 miles to go. It had nothing to do with running, everything to do with my life off the road, but when you're that stressed out, the mind-body connection takes over. That same drive that tells you "YOU CAN DO THIS!" can also tell you "what's the point?!" It sucks to listen to that, but its like a Patronus charm in Harry Potter- you have to have a stronger positive thought to overcome it. At that moment, I had zero happy.

Runs like that make you dread everything from figuring out a route to lacing up again. Tuesday morning, 2 days of no running, and I couldn't even figure out a route, much less a distance. I ended up walking out the door and running about 1.4 miles- up a long evil hill, then back down it. I'd never run up it, always taking the shorter, more compact hill , so it was a nice mental victory, pounding out the long slow hill. No clue pace, and that's how I wanted it to be. My podcast was weird. Really weird. I changed it at the top of the hill. Seriously, who talks about selection for the perfect astronaut by talking about "flautus" for 10 minutes?!?! 

After runs like this and the general feeling of this quite often, after this Saturday's race (omg so excited to do it, then tell you about it, and most importantly, NOT PUKE!), I'm diversifying. I'll still run, but more yoga, pilates, weights, cardio classes. Less "run x in y miles." Run when you feel like it. Stretch it out often. And as always...

Here's to the next TV timeout :)

-Syd

Wait...this is for real?!

After my junk miles on Sunday, I decided to turn up the pace but still do the distance KR planned out for me, so my final total was 3.6 miles in 34 minutes. It's been 3 weeks since I sat there thinking "this is so dumb" as I went on a 3 mile run that only took 30 minutes. THREE WEEKS! 

Today? The GPS was in my ears right at the 3.0 mile mark to alert me that only 28 minutes had passed. Even more exciting?! I kept increasing my speed for the last mile or so of my run. Some people walking their dogs were probably a bit creeped out as I raised my hands a la "Rocky" after I heard that my speed was up to 6.3 mph after a very steady 5.9 for most of the run.

So maybe I can run? And maybe in 3 weeks I'll be telling you about how my long 6 mile runs are at the "slow" 10 minute pace??? Ha! I can keep dreaming :) For now, I can outrun my mom, thanks to helpful tunes on Pandora radio like "Can you Feel the Love Tonight" and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" with a few selections from Phantom of the Opera to keep me going. Oh yeah, I totally sing, or at least mouth & dance, along :D

And now? Pictures from the roadtrip to get Fred a car...

There were tons of signs about a bridge coming up. This didn't look intimidating enough for all the signs.

But this? The Delaware Memorial Bridge- is totally deserving of tons of signs! Apparently you can ask a cop to drive your car over it *coughmomcough*.

What is this?! Looks sort of like a building in London. And yes, I remember it from movies, like Harry Potter :D

Fred's new car :D

The temperature for Sunday's run. Brrrrrr!

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

Icky weather

Today was one of those days where there were lots of "shoulds"- I should go to church, I should wake up from my post-church/lunch nap, and of course, I should go for a run. I went to work dressed up for church, and oh the comments that garnered and so I did go to church- I would've gone without the comments. However, being the only person in dress pants in a greenhouse, moving around plants for a couple of hours on a Sunday morning when your co-workers and even boss are in jeans or pj's makes you stand out. Juuusssst a bit ;) Oh well! My handsome reward was a full choir to sing along with the Christmas songs!

Post church/lunch, I started falling asleep while checking up on stuff. I gave in and napped for a nice 2 hours. Mmm. But getting up with weather that was icky and rainy was not a way to motivate myself. However, new clothes? ALWAYS WORK! I put on my running tights, even though it was probably 50 outside, hat to hide the hair that had gotten smushed in the nap, and figured out my route.

The snow is all melted, so I conquered the evil hill from the last run first, ran the majority of my time on relatively flat sidewalks, then had a nice 1/2 mile hill down to end my 2.44 miles. My awesome new Android has an app called My Tracks and I set it to tell me my distance, time elapsed and pace, every 2 minutes. My goal was to keep around an 11 min mile pace. Yes, its slow, but my first race 2 months ago was 12 min miles, so I'm improving :) Oh, and running, not walking, the hills ;)

Why yes, you are indeed the route I ran today and exported to google maps!

 To make things even more cool, the app exported the data, both the route to google maps, and the pace/distance/etc info to google docs. Muwahahaha! I'm using the runner's day-by-day log my mom got me for Christmas and they mesh well together :)

My goal for the month is 15 run days, 10 weight/strength training days. Making the double batch of risotto I had for dinner last night doesn't count for strength training by any chance, does it?! Also, I get to keep track of how many miles I run, which I sort of do here, but if you asked me off the top of my head how much I run, only now can I say "well, this week it was 7.5 miles, but I'm hoping to keep increasing my mileage, but no more than 10% per week." <-- true story :)

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

Antlers and fuzzy socks :)

So I'm a few days behind now (oh the exciting Christmas story I have for you!) but  have an awesome run story :) 

Remember how I said my mom could outrun me? Yeah... SPOILER ALERT! We went to the running store where I got my shoes and did their Tuesday night group run. The 1.5 mile route we did was designed to show off decorated houses. They also had a competition for the best dressed runners. Even with costumes like this (please note the ever-fabulous ugly Christmas sweaters), we didn't get honorable mentions. But we did get some good ideas :) 

Like I said, it was a 1.5 mile route and I have no clue how long it took, but it was fun to do :) I lost my mom some time around the half way mark. No clue how long it took, but getting back into "running with other people" was a nice change of pace :) 

Now that I've done this run with someone, I'm way less intimidated to do other runs at the store. They've got a lot that I can do now, and even more to look forward to. 8 miles at 8 min pace anyone???

Hope you're staying warm and safe and, as always, here's to the next TV timeout :)

-Syd

Have a safe and happy holiday season, from me, Lucy and my mom :)

Exploring the Mountains

As KR told me, "it counts for exercise if you're walking around a lot!" Mom and I went to the mountains to visit "America's Largest Home"and see the *interesting* city that is Asheville, NC. The downtown is super hilly (no pictures) and even walking around the grounds and structure of Biltmore gives your legs and knees a workout, with the ups and downs. We got to tour 4 stories of the mansion at night, all decorated for Christmas. Mom and I went back to the grounds the next day to see the mountain view from the house and explore the conservatory. What can I say? The plant nerd in me appreciated their hard work :D

Overall, Asheville was *soooo* not my cup of tea, but the house and grounds of Biltmore were amazing, spending time with my mom is always neat, and I got that box checked off my list!

Here's to the next TV Timeout!

-Syd

8.5

I put 8.5 miles on my legs this morning at the gym, in about an hour. No, I didn't all of a sudden turn into some KR-fast runner (btw, super awesome story if you stay tuned in!)- I walked about a half mile, ran a mile, then biked for 7 miles. One of my goals for 2012 is to do a sprint triathlon, so I'm trying to get my legs used to being worn out! I did the running first and then the biking, but when it comes to the tri, it'll be reverse order. Whatever :) I'm also just trying to re-gain cardiovascular endurance after basically a month and some change off. 

This morning's gym session was actually my 2nd of the week. Since calender weeks start on Sundays, so too do I! I did 20 minutes on a treadmill, alternating running and walking. During an off-season triathlon workshop (which I'll blog about one of these days!) they talked about how training on the treadmill should be done at a 2% incline or more to compensate for the fact that you exert less energy running on a flat treadmill vs. flat pavement. Plus, what road is ever flat?!? Even though I've clearly lost a lot of the endurance, I've definitely gained some speed. I used to push myself to run at a 12min/mile pace, and now that's my slow running pace. My usual training speed is 11min pace, and when I'm pushing towards a distance, not time, I'll crank it up a notch or two. I did a little bit at 10min pace on Sunday and man... the burning sensation was NOT pleasant! 

KR got me an awesome "KEEP RUNNING-SAFELY!!" present: ankle braces! And yes, this is totally a shameless way of showing off our Christmas tree- isn't it pretty?!?! :) Its sort of basic this year, but since the roomie put it up, who am I to complain? :) 

I'm sure that come Christmas, there will be a few more ornaments on it! Both the roomie's mom and my mom will be coming to spend the holiday with us and OMG I'm so excited for it!

Oh and your final story of the day... Its not really my story, but I'm so excited for her and y'all heard about her first race, so I feel like bragging for her like a proud mamma bear. KR did her first half marathon this past Sunday. She hadn't even run 13.1 miles before then and man, did she pick a doozy of a day to run her first 13.1!!! It was rainy, unseasonably cold, and the course had quite a few hills! Given the recent craziness behind the scenes in my life, I went to go cheer her on and figured that as long as I was there, I could volunteer as well. I helped run the gear check (btw, world's greatest invention for >5k races!) with an old retired Navy man named Sid (we laughed about that!) as KR did her trek. 

The race was a fundraiser for the camp where it was held- Victory Junction Gang Camp. Race car driver Adam Petty, of the Petty racing family, HUGE deal in NASCAR, was killed during a practice run and the camp is supported by NASCAR, drivers and NASCAR's sponsors in his memory. (My NASCAR-loving brother-in-law had heard of the camp!) During the summer, different groups of kids spend a week and they have family weekends during the school year. Just from what I saw, they have awesome rec spaces, horse stables, a frisbee golf course, and tons of room to just go, play, and be a kid. What I thought was really neat about the camp was that each week or weekend is dedicated to kids of a specific disability, so if you were a kid with, say, cystic fibrosis, you would be at the camp with other kids like you. It takes away some of the comparisons and heightens the bonding experience to be with other children facing the same struggles as you. Plus, the reason fundraisers like this race, which raised over $100,000 for the camp, are so important is that no family has to pay to send their kids here. Richard Petty himself was at the camp to support the runners!

I met some really neat people, both affiliated with the camp and other runners, as I waited for KR to do her thing. Like I said, it was super cold and rainy out there. The first half marathoner came in around 1:20. He was booking it with under 7 min miles! FOR 13.1 MILES IN THE POURING COLD RAIN! I don't get it. Even crazier, there was literally nobody behind him that we could see. The end of the course had you running down a hill, up a hill and back down a hill to the finish line, all in sight of the finish area. After they'd interviewed him (from Charlotte, his first time running this race, could they please cut out some of the hills), the 2nd runner still wasn't in sight. 

Forty rainy minutes later, I saw the figure in a white top and black tights and I started yelling "Go, KR, GO!" Her one reply? "water!" After she changed into dry clothes, we ate some delicious chili and cornbread, and headed back to the car. In true KR fashion, for her 2nd race, she got 2nd in her age group. We ignored the awards ceremony and left while it was happening because KR was sure she didn't place. I'd been working the gear check so I didn't pay quite as astute attention as the previous race to see if she'd won. Plus, how do you tell a 26 year old from a 24 year old? They look the same, but different divisions! Anyway, it was super exciting to go and see some amazing runners and it definitely inspired me :)

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

THANKSGIVING!

Greetings from the coldest cold I've dealt with this side of summer :) I knew it was cold when Fred handed me a hat to go with the coat I had already bundled around me and mittens on my hands. We took Penny the family dog out on her nightly walk and as long as I was walking around, I took a shot at running. Its weird, but it felt alright. Obviously, in my Thanksgiving dinner clothes, I wasn't quite equipped to go running, but after the 2nd try, courtesy of the grassy area around the grade school, I was hitting my stride, literally :) No running clothes with me in New England, but can't wait to run once I get back to Raleigh!

Some of the things I'm most thankful for Thanksgiving are awesome movies, people that love me, and adorable pets, so since I'm 1000 miles from my mom, cats and the Sound of Music and 700 miles away from the roomie, Lucy and Elf, its time for me to curl up with Fred and enjoy Across the Universe. They're fittingly at a scene at Thanksgiving now :)

Here's to the next TV Timeout!
-Syd

Rolesville 5k/10k

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

KR all done :)

My bib

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

Here's to the next race and TV Timeout!

-Syd