So Very Tired

Distance: Total 2.5/run 2.25 miles

I knew going into this week it was going to be busy. I just didn't realize how busy. And it has caught up to me.

Yesterday's 4.5 turned into 2.25. I just didn't have it in me to go further. I was disappointed, but exhausted. I guess 2.25 is better than 0. It took a lot of mental push to even change into my running clothes, much less run in them! I'll try to be proud that I at least did something.

Just for giggles, let me list the activities this week:

Besides working every day...
Monday - (the fairly easy day) Allergy shot, Evan track practice

Tuesday - all day field trip, physical therapy, school board meeting, ran 4.5 miles

Wednesday - Evan track practice, parent meeting after school, administrative meeting, Weight Watcher meeting, ran 3 miles

Thursday - before school parent meeting, field trip, physical therapy, night parent meeting, only ran 2.25 miles

Friday - soccer game

Saturday - need to run 7 miles, track meet, two afternoon soccer games

Sunday - early Easter with my family

Monday - staff meeting

Tuesday - physical therapy

Wednesday - my class presents a Stations of the Cross prayer service, staff retreat

Thursday - half day thank the dear Lord, the start of vacation

No wonder I'm near tears.

Vacation is close. Very, very close.

I am worried about the 7 miles on Saturday. Very worried.

Bondi Edition

I got two new Bondi Bands because Eric wanted some for himself. If we ordered five, we got a discount price. Works for me because Eric was using my "Short People Rock" band while he exercised. Ewwww. Gross. His sweat got on my Bondi Band.

Even more funny was the 6 foot 3 inch man wearing the "short" Bondi!

Anyhow, I got two new ones. Here are some photos of my collection.


Short People Rock...yeah, that's right.


I Love Running. I Hate Running. Repeat.


Cheaper Than Therapy. Way cheaper...and so very true.


Slow...It's The New Fast. I love this one. It's so me.

These suckers soak up sweat like nobody's business! They are pretty gross when I peel them off my forehead, but I guess that means they are doing their job.

I had two good runs the last two days. I hope I don't jinx myself, because I have one more run tomorrow night before my rest day on Friday. Then I plan to run an early seven miles on Saturday morning before starting the rest of our crazy busy weekend of track meet, two soccer games and an early Easter with my family. Easter Vacation just can't come soon enough.

Tuesday Run: 4.5 miles/total 5 miles
I was having a hard time motivating myself for this run last night, so I gave myself "permission" to run a mile and stop for a break. Then I got back on the treadmill and did it again. It was nice knowing I had to run just under 12 minutes, and I'd get another break. I think I set the speed at 5.1 for each of the segments. It took a while to finish, but it was worth it to feel happy rather than grumpy.

Tonight's Run: 3 miles/total 3.5 miles
I ran three miles in 34:24. Not bad considering it was a treadmill run. I always have a harder time on the treadmill. Running outside this week isn't happening considering I have three night meetings this week. I ran various speeds ranging from 5.0 to 5.5. Feeling good and strong.

Now if only I could convince myself to do legs and abs. I was really going to, and now I just want a bath. Gotta figure out how to work those in with some consistency.

And on the Weight Watcher front, I lost another 1.2 pounds tonight for a total of 35 pounds even! Yay! Eric has now lost over 40 pounds! We are both feeling so much better about ourselves and our family.

My goal weight is 125 pounds (unless I decide to change that number later on), so I am over half way there and need to lose 30 more pounds. Wow! I weigh less now than I did when we got married. Crazy to think about!

1st Place!

The good news: I won first place in a four mile race this morning!

The bad news: I had a difficult time getting through the run and a pretty crummy attitude.

I'll start at the beginning and explain what happened, though.

I signed up for the "Show Me the Finish Line" run benefiting Armenian Relief. There is a very large Armenian population here in the Fresno area. I figured it might be a small race considering the lack of information about the race and it being on a Sunday, but I had no idea just how small.

We got to the park early and enjoyed watching the boys run their races. Evan took first in his age group and first place overall! Hudson got first in his age group also!

There were probably 15 kids running the 1/4 mile race. It's a pretty long distance for a 3-year-old, so as the kids were racing back I walked down to encourage Hudson. At that point, Evan was in 2nd place behind a bigger kid, but I knew he could go faster. I yelled at him to "push it," and he did! I was so proud of how he dug down deep and found extra speed to cross the finish line first. I was proud of Hudson for not being afraid of all the kids racing at the same time and for not quitting at all! He barely needed my help coming back!


First place in the 4-and-under boys age group.


First place in the 6-year-old boys age group and first place overall with a time of 1:47.


I'm not a proud mom or anything!! I couldn't be more proud of these two little stinkers.

We had 45 minutes to kill before my race started, and I had to pee, so we jumped in the car and drove to Starbucks for a bathroom and some Hot Cocoa. Then we drove back to the park with plenty of time before my race.

It was at this point that I started to psyche myself out because there were at most 20 runners doing the four mile run with me. I was so anxious. In a bigger race, there are many more people to "blend in" with. I don't stick out as a slow runner. And there has always been someone behind me in every race I have done so far. None of these things should matter, but they did and they do.


No one is going to mistake me coming down the road in my non matching ensemble! Bright pink hat, bright blue shirt and bright orange shorts! And no, I'm not color blind! I just don't care so much about matching. I care about comfort.

The race director didn't even have to yell to be heard. He just talked to us because the 20 of us were gathered around him!

We took off, and very quickly I fell to the very back. I was running pretty fast at this point. When I looked, I was clocking under 9-minute miles. Yikes! That's fast for me. As great as it is to run fast, it makes you run out of steam pretty quickly.

I knew there was one man behind me. (It turns out he came in about 10 minutes after me, but he was also over 75-years-old!) Everyone else was in front of me and increasing the distance between us. I plodded along at a decent clip of about 10-minute miles making it to the turn around point (which is not the half-way point...so irritating!).

I knew I was struggling, but I couldn't figure out why. My legs weren't fatigued. My breathing was only slightly labored. So what was the problem? Was I that bothered by the fact that I was second to last? Was I just tired? Was it just a bad morning for no particular reason?

I don't know.

Whatever the reason, I was near tears and wanting to quit. My music was bugging me so I shut it off. I started taking short walk breaks and texting Eric. He was great at encouraging me through the last mile. Texting him actually helped me a lot because then I didn't feel so alone.

No matter what, my family is always supporting and encouraging me. Thank God for them.

I finally made it to the finish line.

Here's the ironic part: my time was better for this four mile race than it was a month ago for a four mile race I did then. I improved by about a minute. My average pace then was 10:51 and today it was 10:39.

Starting out super fast must have made up for the times I spent walking and sniveling to myself.



Yes, I won first place in my age group. Granted, I was the only female in my age group. But hey, it's not my fault other 36-year-olds didn't show up! First place is first place!

I need to work on keeping my attitude in check. And I need to not freak myself out before the race even starts. I need to pace myself better at the beginning. I need to be proud of what I have been able to accomplish in five months of running.

And now I need to rest!

P.S. We enjoyed an amazing brunch at Marie Callender's after the award ceremony. Yummers!

Distance: 4 miles/10:39 avg pace/42:xx time. Can't remember the time exactly.

Mental Training

Distance: 4.5 miles
Run: 4 miles/5.0 speed

I could have run faster tonight, but I didn't feel like it. I just set the treadmill at a 5.0 pace (12 minute mile) and ran.

Granted, when I run at a slightly slower pace, it takes me that much longer to finish. I used the time to train my brain. Sometimes I think my brain needs more training than my body.

I was pretty tired by the end of the run, but I never thought about stopping. Okay...I never seriously thought about stopping! I knew I'd be able to finish.

The best part about tonight's run? I'm done with exercise for two days! Tomorrow is my rest day. I'll cross train on Saturday. I'll race on Sunday.

I drove over to the running store after my PT appointment today and signed the boys and myself up for a race on Sunday. I'll be doing four miles. The boys will each run a 1/4 mile.

Child #2 is still awake. I need to put him to bed and follow shortly after.

No Excuses

Distance: 2.5 miles
Time: 32:29 min
Run: 2.0/22:29/11:15 avg pace

We had Open House at school tonight, so that meant I was on the go from 7:15 this morning until 8 p.m tonight. There was a huge part of me that wanted to give in to the excuses in my head telling me to skip my run tonight.

But I didn't.

I ran two miles, and I even kicked it up a notch for a few one minute sessions at a 6.0 pace. And I didn't die. Amazing!

I also did ab work and leg work. Good workout.

Physical Therapy

Distance: 4.5 miles
Run: 4 miles/avg pace 11:07

I just don't understand how I can run six miles on Saturday at the crack of dawn and feel fantastic, and then I do two miles this afternoon and feel like I'm slogging through mud. Ugh. Tonight's run was difficult.

I don't think I had enough to eat before the run, it was hotter than usual, and I was thirsty. I had to stop a few times, but I knew I'd finish. It was just rough. That's okay, though. I know there are good days and bad days.

Look at me being all kind to myself!

I started physical therapy last Friday. Today after school was my second appointment. I'm not sure what happened, but I have an impingement in my left shoulder. It had been aching for over a week. The pain radiated from my collarbone all the way down to my wrist.

I'm not one to go to the doctor very often for stuff like this, but it was not getting better. I got it checked by my doctor, and she sent me for x-rays and physical therapy.

I've never been to PT. It's interesting. They have me do several different weight bearing exercises for my shoulder. Then they use an ultrasound machine to rub cortisone into the muscle. I enjoy this part because it is like a mini massage. Then I get iced down. They have these really cool vest-like things that fill with super cold water. It's way better than holding an ice pack on my shoulder like I do at home.

Right now I am scheduled to go for three more appointments. We'll see if I need to go longer. Right now the therapist just wants to work on taking down the inflammation.

Icing all weekend definitely helped, so I'll just keep doing what I'm doing.

And this is totally off topic, but I can't wait for the movie Water For Elephants to come out later this month. I'll be on Easter break, so I think I'll be taking myself to the movies. I just saw the trailer on tv, and it made me excited!

My First 10K Ever!

Today I ran a 10K for the first time. I was really anxious about the distance, but ended up having a great time and feeling so proud of myself!

The music teacher at my school, Elaine, wanted to run the race with me, and I was so excited to have someone to race with today. Elaine got me through two measly little miles back in a race in JANUARY of this year. After I hit the finish line in that race, she took off to run four more miles. She said she hasn't done any running since that race, so today's 6.2 was a bit of a struggle for her. However, Elaine kept jogging!

After waking up at 5:15 and pondering on how much I have changed (seriously...who am I getting up on a Saturday to run of all things!), we took off at 6 for the race located at a local private university. I have lived here for eight years, and I have never been on this campus or even knew where it was located for that matter.

I was preregistered, so I picked up my shirt and waited. I also ate an apple. (I don't wear the shirts because they are usually cotton t-shirts which aren't the most comfortable thing to run in.)


Me before the race feeling a bit anxious about the distance.

Elaine arrived.


Love this lady! She played the organ at our wedding nearly eight years ago!

This was a pretty small event. There were no roads being blocked off. There were no police. The race director gave us a few tips: don't fall in the canal, watch out for cars, and be careful climbing over the railroad tracks hoping there was no train coming! There was one water station at mile 3.

I'm not much of a canal bank runner, but this was a really pretty run. Very green, cool and shady. I stayed away from the edge of the canal. Some of that water was moving pretty swiftly.

Elaine was strong for the first three miles. It took me a bit to settle into the run. I was doing okay by mile 2, though.

We hit the water station at Mile 3, but I had my own water bottle and sport beans. This is the first time I have tried any type of fueling during a run. I had to stop to walk in order to chew, breathe, and swallow. I am getting better at drinking while running, but eating is going to take some practice.

The sport beans tasted okay, but I didn't like the after taste. I was only able to get about five beans swallowed. The rest of them went back in my water bottle pocket.

I don't know if it was the bean energy or the mental effect, but I felt GREAT after that. I was jogging along like I belonged there! Granted, we were running a bit slower since it was the end of the course, but I knew I'd have no trouble getting to the end. What a great feeling!

Elaine and I got back into the stadium, ran a half lap around the track, and hit the finish line with a good kick! Eric and the boys went to McDonald's for breakfast, but were back in plenty of time to cheer me on to the finish line! I feel bad making my family get up with me so early, but I love having them at my events!

My time was 6.23 miles/1:11:45/11:31 avg pace. I felt really strong!


I couldn't believe I had just successfully run six miles! Yay me!

Races leave me with a runner's high that lasted well into the late afternoon!

After the race, I came home, sat in an ice bath for 10 minutes, then got ready to go to Big Hat Days in Downtown Clovis. Eric and Evan rode their bikes, and Hudson and I drove the car. We had a great Mexican food lunch, walked around the street fair, and came back home for naps.

I got my nails done, went grocery shopping, and now I'm getting rid of gray hair. It's been quite the eventful day!

I forgot to mention that I skipped my four miles that I was supposed to run on Thursday. The perfectionist in me wanted to make them up yesterday, but I am so glad I rested instead. That gave me two days to be rested for today's race.

Also, I started physical therapy on my left shoulder. I'll try to remember to post about that tomorrow.