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

Sweaty Beast

OMG I was a little workout queen Sunday, thanks to TurboFire! And no, I dont have any photos of this and yes, you should be thankful!

My "to-do" list for Saturday turned from a "today" into a "tonight" and then "tomorrow" list. Things like putting away the laundry that sat in the dryer for 4 days and had now been sitting in a hamper for 2 days :/ (Somehow, I still have days where I think I have no clothes! Not true. Valid point, however? Clothes that fit! The joy of losing 30 lbs and now not knowing what the dress code at the new job is! eep!!! sorry, back to your regularly scheduled programming...) Things like making food at home to eat with the roomie (at the same time!), shower, and, of course, work out!

I just winged it as to which of the TurboFire dvd's to do since I'd ignored the plan to do p90x last week. Sooo I started at the beginning! I was supposed to do the Fire 45 and then Stretch 10 one day and then the HIIT 20 and  Stretch 10 sooo I had my game plan. Do the 45 min workout, and if I had it in me, the 20 min HIIT workout, and of course, the Stretch 10!

As usual, I got a bit lost on the choreography for the 3rd set of the Fire 45 and could feel my intensity was way down from the time I'd done the back to back fire drills. Chalene asked me to dig deep, and I said "k, fine! I'll do the HIIT workout!" I LOVED it because she walks you through it first (marking it) and then you do it 2 or 3 times. I totally stopped during the first HIIT session because I thought my tank was empty...and then I saw I had 9 seconds left, so I sucked it up and finished. No more stopping!

The post-workout stretch?! Gloooorious. It'd been about a week since I had done that video, so I'd forgotten just how much I loved it :) I was only a little sore today and I was walking down lots and looots of peanut rows, getting dirt in my shoes!

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

How to run your first 10k

I know, I'm going in a weird trajectory this year. First there was an 8k, then a half-marathon, and then the 10 miler, and the (utterly failed) 10k on Mother's Day weekend, but today, I successfully completed my first 10k!

I'd roped the roomie into this a few months ago when she stopped running and I figured a carrot at the end of the stick would get her back on track. She's eating amazingly well, so keeping up with exercise that she kicks butt at just means she looks even HOTTER while she's on the prowl for Mr. Right!

Her longest run (before today) was 6 miles, and I might have freaked her out by explaining that the hill we were running down at the beginning was the exact same one we'd be climbing up a the very bitter end...oops! But let's not worry about that! We took our pretty picture at the beginning (race day braids, ftw!) and watched the half-marathon'ers take off.

15 minutes later, we lined up and jostled around for prime starting spot. We should've jostled more, because we definitely got stuck behind first time 5k'ers who didn't realize people would be breezing past them instantly. Oh yeah, did I mention there was a 10 AND 5k component to this race? Anyway, once we got into our own happy pack, down the hill and onto the greenway, it was amazingly smooth sailing. There were mile markers, happy cheering volunteers, and lots of water stops and port-a-potties! <<deep sigh of happiness>>

The route went from "and now, we RACE!" to "lovely Sunday run on a greenway" after the 5k turnaround. All 3 distances were on the same path, they just turned you back at different points. So many of the distracting people- super bouncy, insane pronators, stiff legged- turned back at the 5k mark, thank heaven! You can only run behind them for so long, darnit!

After our very own turnaround, and by the world's most unenthusiastic spectators, I lost the roomie for a bit. I knew I had the fuel in me (or on me!) and that 6.2 was nada after 13.1, so I opened up a little, saving enough for the hill on the way back. Roomie and I ended up entertaining the bored spectators and she caught up to me about a mile after the turnaround. Seeing the mile markers for the half kept us motivated, we walked through the 2 water stops, and life was GRAND...until we got back to the hill.

I'm still not sure if she was there when I told her "slow and steady" or if I was just talking to myself, but I definitely cut wayyy back on pace, focused on keeping my steps tiny but still coming, and just stared at the asphalt in front of me. Hooray for roads with minimal cantor , so I could find a groove in the road and just stay in that to keep me on the most efficient path up the hill.

The heavy breathing woman that came up the hill beyond me knew the fine Raleigh police officers that were keeping cars from running over us, and we exchanged as many words as our out of breath bodies would let us- "great job!" "almost there!"- and I just. kept. moving. My goal was to NOT let any of the half marathoners pass me, which was a definite probability, given their 15 minute head start and my 10+ min pace. I heard the guy on the microphone that the end of all good races have, and was actually sad that the finish line was so hidden, because as soon as I saw it, sprinting to it was the easiest thing in the world! We estimate our finish time was around 1:07, since the clock started with the half marathoners and our "gun" was 15 min later-esque.

I was able to get my water and in position behind the finish gates in time to get out my phone and snap a picture of the roomie coming across the finish line. She was super excited, also sad the finish line was so hidden, but started spewing some nonsense about doing a half next :) Oh, and we totally were cooled down by the time the first half finisher came across the line, phew!

We asked some random person to take our "after" picture, walked back to the car, and generally reveled in our awesome Sunday morning. I can totally tell my right hamstring is going to be problematic if I don't baby it the next few days, based on how much its tightening.

Overall, GREAT race! Super excited to have my first 10k under my belt, and now its time to keep making hills my B**** before a very special race in 2 weekends :)

Here's to the next tv timeout!
-Syd

Sweet and Sour

Why yes, I had Chinese for dinner, why do you ask?!

This is the story of a "sweet" run and a very "sour" run! My sour run was Tuesday morning with KR. The tl;dr story? Flippin' heat. Almost 2 miles in, when we stopped to talk to the scandalous roomie, my head tried to explode, which my brain and ears didn't appreciate. I at least got up the major part of the hill, after I didn't start attacking it until 1.3 miles into the run, so yay for small victories.


\ <-- sorry about that! to hear from the culprit, go here : http://bit.ly/K5aYcj

Okay, so, on to my "sweet" run...a friend from my gladiator training days posted on facebook yesterday, asking if anyone would go do a 3 mile run with her on Saturday morning. I know her pace, and I can go that speed talking all day now. Serious signs of improvement for me, considering 11:30 pace used to mean concentrating :)

Heather told me it might end up only being 2, not 3, and considering the Roomie and I are doing a hilly 10k tomorrow morning, I was totally okay with that. I figured this run would just be a good "hey, legs, remember what its like to run? ok, then great, we have to do more of this tomorrow!" loosening up.

As we got to running, my running buddy explained her feet have been going numb around the 2 mile mark of her runs, no matter the shoes she wears and no, her laces aren't tight, tyvm. We talked the entire time, and it was weird being the fast one! If I talked, we sped up. If she talked, we slowed down. The first 2.38 miles, we did an 11:30 pace, but we stopped to let her feet get un-numb.

After the remnants of the tropical depression and other high/low pressure system mixtures hit NC, we've gotten lots of rain, which means lots of puddles on greenways. There was one that is obviously a continual problem, because off to the side, someone had placed 2 planks of wood for a makeshift bridge over a washed out creekbed next to a long puddle on the asphalt. This very high tech bad@$$ guy came and splashed in the puddle, couldn't get over it. I backed up a couple steps, hit the last high point on the puddle's edge, and made it across, no big :) Heather saw it and just laughed. You know how you race against people on the treadmills in the gym? I puddle jump competitively, apparently ;)

I've been trying to keep up the general fitness with the help of Beachbody :) Huck has p90x and I did a few workouts with him, and I wake up at 5am now to do TurboFire by myself. Its not as intense- its as intense as you make it, all body weight cardio stuff so far- but the cardio gets your heart rate up and turns you into a sweaty mess. INSIDE! Totally better than running when its 70, or 80 or even the 90 it likes hitting now!

We'll see how well the crosstraining is working after the 10k tomorrow. Recap and pictures tomorrow :)

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!

Incredibly cute and maddeningly frustrating

Alright, let's start this off where I thought I would be gushing. This is my in my positively neon outfit for this morning's 10k. Huck and I signed up for the Run for Your Momma 5k/10k in the 10k division, obviously. If you can tell behind me, the ground is a bit sandy, the joys of running in Wilmington, NC. We came to his parents' place for Mother's Day and they live close by, so we figured we'd support a great cause (domestic abuse shelters), get a good run in, PR on a stupidly flat course, and originally, I thought my recent UNC-W alum cousin could run with us. She smartly declined, given the state of her liver last night and I'm thinking tonight, too!

 

Instead, what happened was the most frustrating thing to ever happen during a race. Huck and I realized the field was small enough, we could legitimately place in our age groups, so I told him to go run his race, I'd run mine. After about the first half mile, thanks to all the turns  on neighborhood streets, I'd lost Huck and most of the field.  There was one woman hanging out around me, so we chatted for about 2 miles, and got through a water and Gatorade stop. 

The numerous turns were easy to get through for the most part thanks to volunteers explaining just where we went since their little spray painted wooden stakes didn't match up with where the people were directing us. No big, right?

Until we got to a turn where the volunteer had his top half in a van, explaining where they needed to go to avoid road closures. We kept going on the road we turned down since we could see another white shirted person and runners on the street beyond that guy. Except... that white shirted man was watering his lawn and hadn't seen any runners pass by him, and the people running in front of us were 5k-ers. Cursed baby jogger people that only do 5ks actually came in handy! 

Our little trio turned around, ran up the main street we'd gone past and knew went to the finish/start line. People were cheering us on because we were the first 10kers to come through!...yeah, we crossed over the other set of timing stuff, yelled at the race director "WE GOT LOST!" He told us "its those headphones! You can't hear the directions!"

Yeah... I run with one earbud in when I'm on the sidewalks, so a race that forces me onto 2 lane roads through neighborhoods? You bed I'm keeping an ear out (literally) for cars and I guess "directions", but, as the Roomie said "audio cues?! What is this, Hunger Games?! No booming voice from above!"

It took me so much self control to not just tell the race director where he could shove my earbuds, so our lost trio turned around and just headed out the way we'd come. We decided we'd just add enough mileage to get to 6.2 and say "to hell with the course." 

This strategy meant there were no more water breaks, volunteers looked at us like we were crazy, and my favorite? When, after seeing Huck at the top of my mini-hill (like up 20 feet when my big hill is up 100), I knew something was seriously up. I told the volunteer that wanted me to run down a street to a FLIPPING CONE to shut the crap up, I'd gotten lost and didn't give a crap any more, so for the first (and last?!) time ever, I beat Huck across the finish line.

When every 10k runner got to talking, we realized nobody did the "right" course. What the race director had told us about running on trails? Never happened. Huck's GPS said he ran 6.5, I did 5.95 on my hacked course, volunteers were far away from injured parties, etc. One runner even said when this same group put on a half marathon, there were 3 water stops. After I survived my half, I was thankful for practically all 8 water stops! My 10 miler had 4 water stops... Huck and I were spitting mad, so we left to go meet my cousin for breakfast and said screw the awards. We didn't run the course, so why the crap does it matter if we got awards for our hacking? 

Worst. Race. EVER....and I've run some inaugural races and evil courses before!

What made my day better? When we went back to Huck's house, there was Cerra with her 7 puppies: 

We're pretttty sure Huck's male dog is the father. He's black, just like 5 of the pups!

See those precious little pups?! They were born on Wednesday, so these Friday night pictures are of literally 2 day old babies. They're squirmy and whiny and soooo adorable! Momma dog just lays there and accepts her duty as a milkmaid. 

But the best part?

Those are my two favorite men!

Wiley Mew is about 4 weeks old and his teenage mom had two of her kittens die and sort of gave up on this one, so he was placed in my arms by Huck's parents and it was instant love. Given that Huck has two big dogs that aren't used to cats, much less kittens, and my roomie is allergic to cats, I figured I'd just be surrogate mom for the weekend.

Until... we got back from the race today and for the 2nd straight hour, Wiley wasn't more than 5 feet away from me, a streak that's mostly been kept up all night, even when I was eating sushi for lunch, and Huck said "so... this can happen ONLY if you take care of it, clean the litter box, get it food, take it to the vet...but...because I trust you, we can take him home if you want." I had this tiny thing in my lap, so I couldn't do the same dance I did after a company said "yeah, we'll be making you an offer for a full time position in the Raleigh area this week, or maybe early next week" aka SUUUUUUUUPPPPPER EXCITED! 

 Sooo I'm a kitty mom! Wiley Mew (I named him, Huck and I went back and forth, his middle name was almost "Inigo" ) shall be called "Mew-Mew" until he stops making that sound, but we refer to him as "Wiley" in conversation :) The shirt I was wearing Friday night has become his baby Bjorn. I folded it in half hot-dog style, put him in the crease, and tuck the neck and hem under my arms so I can walk around while still snuggling. I made PB and Nutella sandwiches for breakfast like that today, so it works pretty well :)

Yeah, I think I'm going to like this...

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd (and Wiley)

Because sometimes I wing it

And by winging it, I mean I use SC (smartcoach) as a guide when I'm recovering from the 10 miler. Monday was icky and rainy and while normally I'd love that, it seriously shot down my motivation to go run. Even the roomie wasn't going to hold me to our 2 mile date. Crap.

But then I committed a cardinal sin of running- I double booked myself! I asked both the roomie AND Huck to do 2 miles on Tuesday!!!...except the roomie went during the day since she had it off and that left Huck and I to do whatever for the evening.

When I thought I'd be double booked, I mentally moved Wednesday's tempo run to Thursday, figuring I'd do my Thursday miles on Tuesday. Confused yet? Don't worry, it'll all be working out in the end :) Instead, I went right instead of left as I left Huck's place (he lives in a valley so its pick a hill to walk up as your warmup!) and he suggested we do a route we'd mapped out a while ago. It meant we had to survive an evil hill, but at least it was done and over with at the beginning of the route, and relatively flat from there.

Huck asked what our goal pace was, and I told him "survive?!" after the gray shaded (aka evil) hill. Surprisingly, we talked from the start through that hill. I'd gotten details of the news from Saturday and I shared them with Huck, along with what I will and won't be doing. Right now, it looks like I'm going home for a very special holiday in June, both to be there for my family and run a race with some of them! I was so focused on the run as we talked that I didn't have any extra energy to cry :)

The mapmyrun lady told me our pace kept dropping... and dropping...even as Huck and I chatted a bit and I focused on NOT crying, so when we got a little bit beyond this awesome photo op, Huck went all Super Coach on me. It was neat having him coach me with fixes that I could do without messing up my form or other crazy stunt. He pushed when I needed it, and we agreed on start/stop points to test out our sprints.

Our fartleks were focusing on one step per sidewalk "square." When the squares were uneven- two where there should've been three- it was hard to keep at it, but to keep up the momentum of such long strides, your speed had to really ratchet up. I don't really know if my turnover increased that much, but lengthening my stride considerably dropped the average pace for our last mostly downhill/fartlek-ing .25 miles a 8:19 mile pace.

Overall, 2.25 miles in 22:10. I'll take it! Fun run for tomorrow night. I've already nerded out about it!!!

Here's to the Next TV Timeout!
-Syd

PS- My tech shirt for my half marathon? Unisex medium and I can swim in that thing. The Tarheel 10 miler tech shirt? I ordered a medium, thinking it was unisex and even if it wasn't, I'm an Old Navy (tall) medium, so even if its tighter than I like, its still not baring everything. When I got to packet pickup, they said these shirts ran small, so they bumped everyone up a size. I should've gone up 2. or 3. the front barely covered my belly button! I've lost most of this tummy and gained a defined waist since I started running! WT...! AND, I realize I have relatively broad shoulders for a girl, but the sleeves started on top of my shoulders by a good inch on each side. Combine that shirt with shorts that are a bit big, oooh dear I was self conscious. Someone yelled something at me from their car as they turned into their apartments but it was during the speed time and they can bite me, so I flashed them not one but two fingers in a gesture of peace- no really, the peace symbol! not two of the same finger but on different hands!- and kept going.

Bunny Ears and Easter Eggs

I'm signed up for this baby and I realized that 10 days is plenty of time to rest my poor shins and that today was as good as any to get back on the horse. Plus... there was THIS : http://www.capitalrunwalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Easter-Egg-map.pdf

I mapped out the best route I thought I could do in the 1 hour. I'm going to let you guess and figure out what I could do, keeping in mind that the top of the Dan Allen deck is like... 4 floors?! I won't tell you until the end so go, search!

Huck came with me and I wore bunny ears and a pink top, getting into the Easter spirit- it was Maunday Thursday, anyway :) At each location, you picked up an egg, and different colored eggs meant different numbers of raffle tickets. We got back after our 3 stops, 4.8 miles (we got off my pre-planned 4.21 mile route a few times) and had 14 tickets (figure out where we went yet?!) so we dropped them in different raffle bowls. I went for a foam roller, pint glass and t-shirt, and visor and Road ID giftcard- I was totally thinking of you, KR! They had 1 hour with a yoga instructor, 8 week course for Yoga for Runners, and free Brooks shoes, but I do yoga on my own and love my Mizunos.

People LOVE talking to Huck because he's got Fila toe shoes, not Vibrams. This is also about when we discovered that both Huck and I had dropped some of our "Keep this Ticket" stubbs into the bowls. Oops...I won nada :/ BUT Huck got compression sleeves for his legs in S/M and (worst of all) Carolina blue. BLEGH! He got to trade them for large red ones- go WOLFPACK! I also ran into people I know thanks to the roomie and Fleet Feet-ness.

This run felt really good. We were going a 10:30-ish pace until we had to make sure we found the egg keepers and just where my super-awesome pre-planned route took us. The person for our final spot WASN'T THERE, and we had to sort of take some pretttty risky street crossings, so we were super bummed until we ran into the lady halfway back to the store. Nothing like last minute let down and then win :) My shins ached, but I made sure to stretch afterwards and just sort of realized this was the suck level, the music rocked, focus on the eggs and maybe a bit of chit chat with Huck ;)

Sooo we went to White Memorial Church, Fred Fletcher Park and then the Belltower. 14 tickets :) 28 total, 1 win, 4.8 miles, great night :)

Here's to the next TV timeout!
-Syd

Pictures, PICTURES

I promised you pictures so, feast your eyes on THIS! Between this one and my "sooo, I'm back!" life should even out. Totally in pain in ways that rival the worst post-workout ever, minus my arms. Had I been doing crazy upper body lifting, it would be awful, but going down stairs? Yeah, the first two are entertaining, but after that I get into a rhythm!

Anyway... the pictures!

I did a lot of hiking in the summer. Gotta love state parks!

Dressed up like a Pilgrim for the Thanksgiving Day 8k. See that leg ripple?!?!

Yeah, I was sort of zoned out for this one...

Totally "doesn't count" Jingle Bell 5k, but I was festive, and the socks got mad love!

Festivities post- Run Green 8k! I swear this was BEFORE my free beer!

Repping the mad crazy St. Patty's spirit with the Roomie!

There's... a reallly funny story I'll tell at parties behind this, but just know I ran across the bridge in the background, and that's my sailor uncle pretending like he ran it with me at 6:30 on a Saturday morning and yes, that's TWO Gatorade bottles in my hand!

Me, post Half :) Quite proud of this one :D

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

Randoms

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

One

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here’s to the next TV timeout

-Syd

So I did it again

I ran.

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

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

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

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

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

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

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

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

I still exist!

I do still exist, I promise. Its just that, as KR put it, I 'have blisters on my fingers from the thesis' and all the mind-melting that comes as a result. I won't bore you with those details and other stresses, except to say that worrying about that has definitely not been awesome :/

I'm finally un-bruised and un-sprained, but I got so out of the rhythm of any sort of work-outs between injuries, traveling and the thesis that getting back into that habit is definitely not easy to overcome. I should get over that this week. Running always made me feel a bit more clear in the head, which is definitely something I need! Hmm... gave me an idea :)

My usual running routes outside intimidate me because Raleigh got Illinois cold! FOR REAL! Its currently the same temp in Raleigh as in my hometown- and we've had an extra hour of sunshine!!! 22* is not human running weather. All that time I wanted it to be colder? Ugh, I officially have thin Southern blood :(

For as awful as the thesis/no-running has been, I've definitely been super lucky to be surrounded by people who really support me. I've got some crazy deadlines and scary life changes happening, if only I knew how they'd end up, but through it all, the roomie, KR, Fred, my mom and so many others have been my sometimes-lacking confidence! The roomie has positive affirmations in her office-space, which I used to mock- and first-time visitors always question- but I took a page out of her book yesterday and put up my own post-it notes on my work computer. We'll see how those help me out.

On two random not-related to anything subjects...

With the cold + Christmas decorations at the house, Lucy's usual cage spot was overtaken by the Christmas tree (Lucy stays in the cage when nobody's home. All she does is sleep, and this way, if she's home a little bit too long, the mess is easier to find and clean up). Finding a new spot that wasn't too drafty was a couple days figuring out, but the roomie figured out just how to make sure the spot wouldn't be too drafty or cold for Lucy.

Yep, even Lucy's giving the roomie the "Mom, what are you doing?!?" look!

Finally, in the spirit of Christmas, I will warn you that this will make you cry. The video explains most of it, but Dax's mom and grandmother are closely tied to my church back home, so I read along with the blog as Dax underwent two bone marrow transplants. Julie, his mom, is such a loving woman and was born to be a mother. My mom sent this to me, but I saw it posted on a friend's Facebook wall this morning, so I thought I'd pass it along. The warning my mom sent definitely applies- have a few tissues handy!

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

Ankle update :)

While I showed you pictures of my awesome knee the other day, I thought I'd let you see the catalyst injury. Really, I was sitting here with my legs up and crossed at the ankles when I realized my left ankle was BURNING UP! Guess all the little cells are in there, repairing away, right?! :) A girl can dream, at least!

Comparison of injured and standard:

Swollen...

Normal. Aww, I miss that ankle bone on the left side!

I've felt great the past couple days, mainly because I took lots of ibproufen! Thursday night was a dinner with potential employers, but I'd definitely been told it was a cocktail reception, which conjured up images of lots of standing and mingling in my mind! My cute little $10 flats from Target came in handy, though, because I got to show off a flash of HOT PINK argyle socks that went with my gray pants and pink sweater :) 

The big test came Friday morning when I wore a skirt suit to the formal interviews. I tested out the outfit with my hose to see how much of the bruise you could see (not noticeable!) and which shoes to wear. I didn't want to wear flats, but I didn't want to be in heels too scandalous, and trust me, I have some KILLER heels! My original game plan was the low black slingbacks, but the strap cut PERFECTLY across the swollen ankle area. I had a newly purchased ($13, thank you Ann Taylor LOFT!) dark purple top and so I decided to be a bit daring fashion wise and wear higher heels, but more coverage, less ankle annoyance and in the same area of the color spectrum as the top under my suit jacket. 

With more of the ibproufen, taken at doses approved by the Roomie, MD , walking from interview room to interview room, up and down stairs, was no big :) I switched back into the aforementioned Target flats for a site tour, and life was great! The great rapport (I HOPE!) with the interviewers probably made me feel a bit invincible, too ;) 

Today has been a medication free day. I had a sneaking suspicion my horrid tummy ache yesterday wasn't nerves but ibproufen, so I wanted a day free of that pain. Walking around is definitely doable, just a bit of discomfort here and there, but nothing I can't handle. I think I might put the ice pack back on the ankle, since my instructions say to do it once a day.

Here's to (playing at!) the next TV timeout!

-Syd