Decent

Distance: 3.0 miles
Time: 33:28/11:10

I dragged myself out of bed this morning and did three miles. While this wasn't my best time for three miles, I did have some successes I want to write about.

I seriously doubt that I'll ever consider running three miles to be "easy." However, I ran today without worrying about pace. I just ran. Okay, I glanced every so often at the Garmin, but I didn't let the numbers affect me. I was really trying to stay in touch with how I was feeling.

I noticed that my lungs weren't burning, I was managing to keep fairly even, steady breaths, and that my legs felt strong. Success!

Another positive this morning is that I ran the entire three miles without stopping. Up til now, I have been allowing myself to completely stop and rest at the half way point or some other random point that I deem necessary. Not today. I hit the half, turned fast and kept going. Success!

Once I got home, I worked out my legs. Now I get to rest until Saturday morning. I have a long run of 8 miles on the schedule. My plan is to get them done early because my sister is getting married at 11 a.m. I don't want 8 miles hanging over my head all weekend.

And now I am off to shower and get ready for jury duty. Ick. I really don't like going downtown, unless it is for a race!

5 Hot Miles

Distance: 5.0 miles
Time: 58 minutes

I set my alarm to get up early and head out running by 5:30. I woke up before the alarm went off, shut off the alarm, and slept until 6:30.

On one hand, it would have been much cooler to run at 5:30, but on the other hand, I got an extra hour of sleep. Even though I'm technically on vacation, I'm teaching summer school, and the heat is draining me. We haven't exactly been resting around here.

Once summer school was over, I headed home for a quick lunch. Then I got on the treadmill to do the five miles I should have done this morning. It was hot. It was long. But it's done.

Running is hard. Sometime I wonder why I keep doing it. All I can come up with is that I love how I feel when I've completed a good run, and I want to conquer this tough sport. Or at least get better!

We are in the middle of a heat wave here with temps at 105ish. Miserable hot. We try to keep the air conditioner set between 78 and 82, so that makes it hot to run inside.

I cannot wait for November with 50 degree running temperatures.

I also did arm and abs. Win.

To make up for the heat, I at least had a good weigh-in at Weight Watchers. I weighed early because of swimming lessons for the kids, and I lost 3.4 pounds! I'm now down to 150.6. I am .7 away from being in the 140's! Oh how I want to see the 140's. I'm glad my hard work paid off this week.

Now onto good choices for next week.

Race and Run

Yesterday's Father's Day run was good. I felt like I had a decent time and pace at 10:54/mile. Now if I could maintain this pace for a half!


Before the race. I pinned my number on crooked. I was going to fix it but didn't want to bother with it. I should have, because I kept hitting the left edge with my water bottle. Ugh.

I have to give all the credit to my husband because he woke up at 5:30 a.m. so we could get the kids up and leave the house by 6...on Father's Day of all days! He is such a good sport and my best supporter.

During the race, I ran two miles and then stopped to walk a bit to have some Chomps and water. I ran another mile and walked for water. I took more Chomps at mile 4. Another walk break for water at mile 5. I think I walked for more water between mile 5 and 6, but I can't remember.

A cool part of the race was the finish. The race director was calling out each runner's name as they ran toward the finish line! It was neat hearing my name and city called out over the loud speaker!


Heading to the finish!

I think I go out of my way to clash. I was wearing pink socks, bright orange shorts, a bright blue shirt and a purple bondi band. Yikes! Can't miss me.

Oh, and I'm not flipping off the camera! I was giving my family the sign language "I love you" sign. It's our thing.

I didn't feel like sticking around for the awards or the raffle. I just wanted to head home. Eric took a nap, and I cut out coupons. Exciting, I know.


I also iced my knees. They have been a bit sore after the long bike ride on Saturday.


You can't really tell from this photo, but I had more bloody toes. Same exact spot that gave me trouble during my half. Lesson to self: get pedicure before a long run, not after. It was the toenail from toe #4 that was digging into the skin of toe #3. Crusty blood between toes is not fun.

Later we headed out for lunch at Poppolo's Pizza. Oh my goodness! My best friend, Stacey, was always raving about this place. She and I took all our kids there for dinner a few weeks ago. So yummy! I have a new favorite pizza place. I just wish it was closer to my house.

After pizza, Eric filled my car with gas. I love it when he does this chore so I don't have to.

Then we headed to Old Navy for more clothes for me! Isn't that how you are supposed to spend Father's Day? Shopping for clothes for yourself?!

I picked up three pairs of shorts and two striped shirts. I love stripes.


Outfit #1. Khaki shorts and brownish striped shirt.


Outfit #2. Blue short and blue striped shirt. This shirt is the same as the grey one I bought a few weeks ago. It was cheaper today!


White shorts.

Oh, and since it was Father's Day, Eric got a pair of shorts as well.

It's strange to stand in my closet and realize that there are so many things in there that are simply too big. It's not a bad problem to have, but shopping is not really my thing. At least for summer I now have three pairs of shorts, several dresses, and a few tops.

Eric BBQ'ed delicious steaks last night for dinner. Then I spent time planning for today's first day of Summer School (which went well).


I sent this kissy face photo to Eric today. I love him. He's great. I also am liking my hair darker. It was an accident that I went this dark, but I'm liking the change.

**I ran three miles this morning in exactly 33 minutes. I felt sluggish, but got it done.

Fast Update

Did a 6-mile Father's Day run this morning. Love the fact that my husband is willing to get up at the crack of dawn on what should be his day to relax in order to drive me to a race and sit around for an hour waiting for me to get back!

I finished in 65 minutes with a 10:54 pace. I was quite pleased with my time.

More of a recap to follow tomorrow.

Biking with Eric

I arranged for an early morning babysitter (don't all teenage babysitters love to come over at 7 a.m?!), and Eric and I took off for a 28 mile bike ride this morning. I had been looking forward to our ride all week.

We both keep marveling at ourselves in that we used to be such couch potatoes. Now we get up voluntarily at 6 a.m. on a weekend to exercise! I gotta say, though, riding a bike doesn't feel like exercise. It feels like fun and being a kid.

We took off by 7:30 and rode all the way out to Woodward Park. Getting to the park itself was a little over 11 miles. Then we did an out and back on the trail where I do a lot of my runs. From there we headed back home. The whole ride took 2 hours and 31 minutes, and according to my Garmin, we kept an 11.3 pace. I would have liked to maintain a 12.0 pace, but oh well. It has to do with Weight Watcher points and how much I can earn for minutes spent exercising. Silly, I know.

We took a few photos at our official turn around point.

The bike I am riding doesn't belong to me. It belongs to a lady that Eric works with, and she doesn't use it anymore. I asked if I could borrow it to test it out. This morning was the test run.


Hanging out with my new bike...or new to me. The longer I rode, the more comfortable I felt. Now I need clip shoes. And a jersey. And bike shorts. And and and!!













We had a lot of fun. The best part is that I'm not nearly as tired as I was after the last long ride that I did. Good thing because we have several things to get done this afternoon including signing up for a 6 mile run tomorrow.

I'm already looking forward to my next ride! Could there be a triathlon in my future? It's not out of the realm of possibilities and dreams.

Hives

Distance: 3 miles
Time: 31:21/10:28 avg

I had spaghetti and lasagna for dinner. Then I went out for a 3 mile run. Then I got home and broke into massive amounts of hives from head to toe.

I have pretty severe allergies. I'm on shots and medication. I am allergic to certain foods, but the only ones I really avoid are shellfish because they can kill me.

However, I always forget that if I eat tomato based foods and then exercise, the chances of me breaking out in hives increase significantly. Tonight they were bad.

I've got Benadryl running through my system along with a cool bath. The itching is finally subsiding.

P.S. I also ran 1.3 miles this morning. I meant to do three, but quit. I'm pleased I got the three done tonight, even if I am itchy and uncomfortable. Child #1 and I need to get our allergy shots tomorrow.

Eat...then run

Distance: 4.0 miles
Time: Just under 48 minutes/just under 12 minute miles

I started out fairly strong this morning and managed to run two miles in less than 22 minutes.

Then I turned around to run home and saw stars. I forgot to eat breakfast.

I'm not sure if "forgot" is quite the right word. I chose not to eat breakfast. I woke up at 5:30 and was out the door by 6. I am in no mood to eat that early. However, if I am going to choose to run early to beat the heat, I guess I better choose to fuel myself with food to sustain any sort of run.

Ugh. You'd think after two years of running I'd be a bit more careful with stuff like this.

Oh, and the only reason I ran outside this morning rather than on the treadmill is because Child #1 told me to go outside because he didn't want the treadmill noise interfering with his cartoon watching! Hmmmph.

I'm going to start leaving a granola bar and a banana on my nightstand. That way I can wake up at 5:30, lie in bed and eat, and then get up and be out the door at 6. I have to be back by 7 before Eric leaves for work. It's a finely tuned system we've got going on here!

Maybe I'll just save strength training for the evenings since there's not that much on tv to watch.

And no, I haven't uploaded pictures yet. Apparently walking the 40 steps to my bedroom to get the proper cord to plug into the laptop is too difficult for me to manage.

One of these days I'm going to get my whole life in order! And right now, I need to type up lesson plans for summer school. That starts Monday.