Easy does it

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

So I did it again

I ran.

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

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

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

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

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

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

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

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

bike a lil, run a lil

The joy of a gym pass is that when you don't really feel like doing your 3 mile run, you can still go and do pre-pre-pre-pre-triathlon training and bike a little, run a little :) On KR's plan today was a 3 mile run and OMG I didn't have it in me. I didn't know when I wanted to do it, what route to run and most importantly, what to wear ;) Okay, so it was typical indecisive NC weather with the forecast calling for snow, and yet partly sunny 40's. Ugh...

I finally realized the perfect thing to make me run- a partner :) KR was off on a long run- I even passed a running KR as I drove to the gym ! I honked and she turned around and saw my awesome unique license plate, so I made her smile. Once at the gym, I was quite glad I hadn't decided on a run at that time. I wanted to bike 5 miles then see how far my legs could go without feeling like I'd really pushed them, given that I'm definitely doing 3 tomorrow. Brick workouts are when you do one part of a tri- swim or bike- then immediately do the next part of a tri- bike or run. I didn't feel like swimming (actually, I suck at it and am semi-deathly afraid of the deep end of pools, lakes, etc) so it was bike/run. 

The 5 miles took me 20 minutes, so I decided to see how the run went. As I was biking, it turned into a full-blown bilzzard! Everyone was looking out the windows because its North Carolina! It doesn't snow this far south/east! Ignore what happened on Boxing Day, I promise!!! From what KR told me after, she thought she was hallucinating with the snow :)

the snow that tried to stick, but melted instead :)

For the run, I set the treadmill at 11 min pace. Nothing "clicked" like it usually does. It all felt loose, and I had to really concentrate on taking a step and not just falling. I fall a lot ;) After a half mile, I could just feel the pain, so I said "enh, good enough!" and walked for a bit. Work this morning meant lots of bending over, writing things while bent over and moving terra cotta pots full of plants around at odd angles. I never had back issues until this craziness started!

Super excited to run my 3 miles and see the sheepdogs tomorrow :)

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

C-c-c-cold

Hooray! Once again (and maybe for the last time?) its COLD! Well, not cold-cold, but at least chilly-cold! The house is at 69 right now. As the first one up, I had the pleasure of shutting all the windows in the house to maintain what heat was left. And to think, I turned on the a/c in my car yesterday because it was raining but still super stuffy!

I convinced the roomie to come out with me. I had my little route all planned out, and I did it, but I definitely walked more than I wanted to. I'm getting there, but not quite at the pace I'd hoped, I still have 3 weeks to build up to 3 miles :) My GPS tracker decided to be fickle again, so I have no clue what my pace or time was, which is kind of freeing. Will definitely do Sunday's run on a treadmill- no GPS to mess up there!

The worst part of the run was the headache I gave myself. I realized I've been making a couple stupid mistakes (thanks Mr Clean!), including forgetting to eat real dinner the night before. Who says cupcakes don't keep you going?!?! I also didn't fuel up before going out this morning, and coffee only takes you so far! Definitely learned lots of lessons, so, like I said, actually looking forward to Sunday's run. 

With the roomie on the run came 2 other things: Lucy and a camera! Enjoy the pictures, but please, ignore my hideous "this is me, running and feeling like crap" faces!

Hooray! COOLER WEATHER AHEAD!!!

Warming up, just outside the house

Lucy!

Oh what's that? Yeah, I think I'm thirsty, too!

Turned around!

srsly...let this be done...

Oh hi. Sorry all the drivers get to see my tired face!

Maybe?

Getting there...

Hooray!

LEAP!

I have the superwoman outfit at home, but sometimes you just need to practice your flying form :)

Yeah. Typical running face. Not pretty at all :P

Random guy riding his bike...and the roomie's shadow of her taking a picture :)

Lucy. To scale :D

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

A big "enh"

The roomie warned me this would happen. North Carolina likes to tease you! It was nice and cool last week, I was prepared to bust out the boots and sweatshirts for the rest of the year... and then on the run yesterday, I was SWEATING! Its supposed to hit 80 today. This is me back to going "what the heck?!" about NC weather again! 

I'm sticking with my current outside route, and don't worry, I left my keys at home, hidden in a little spot where I wouldn't think anyone would try to take them. Nobody tried to come in the house while I was gone, so it worked out. To map my route, I use gmap-pedometer.com . Below, you can see how it tells me how far the route is , so I can change it to increase or decrease the mileage. You can either save the route or share the link, which makes it a lifesaver when I'm trying to decide on a route with a friend, so they can see what/how we're going. 
 
Another lifesaver feature with it is the elevation maps they have, like the one above. You can see my current route has a quick downhill, then pretty substantial uphill, main level path, and ends on a nice downhill. I realize races won't be this easy, but if you run my hometown's Steamboat Classic,  they set it up like this- begin on an uphill, flat 2 miles or so, then end on a downhill.

My 2.6 miles went fine yesterday. Nothing great, nothing awful. I was listening to a new mix of music, and I ended up skipping lots more than I actually listened to. I have just a little soreness in my back, but nothing some good stretching can't fix!

Here's to the next TV timeout!

-Syd

Happy OCTOBER

I waited to post until the NC State/ VT game was done yesterday. I did my 2 miles in 26 miles, with .3 mile warm up/cool downs, upped the running times from 90 seconds to 2 minute segments, so I took the pace a bit easier. Man, the time ticked by during the beginning of the game. As a State fan, it was a great beginning! Too bad the defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory :(

Might do yoga today for my crosstraining today. Haven't reallly decided- its between that or total body sculpt!

I got another chapter full of edits from my thesis, so that's where my writing must focus now :( NFL will entertain me today as I watch my faves in pink ;) There's something hilarious about ripped men in pads slamming into each other- in HOT PINK shoes and gloves so KB and the roommie are entertained.

HAPPY OCTOBER! North Carolina finally got the message that its supposed to be cold since its fall and going out to church this morning, I cursed a bit at the cold, until I remembered I'd been praying for it! A high of 60 for tomorrow? YES, PLEASE! My sweaters, turtlenecks and BOOTS have been waiting for me since April!

Here's to the next timeout!

-Syd