Sept 1, 2 and 3

Sept 1 Elliptical 35:00 7.75mi
upper body weights
planks (90, 80, and 70 seconds)
5 sets of man push ups 7,7,7,7,10
300 crunches

Sept 2 Elliptical 30:00, 6.7mi

Sept 3 5.79mi run, 1:03:30 (10:57 avg pace) Splits 1(10:37) 2(10:20) 3(10:35-we picked up another runner here) 4(11:14) 5(11:18) .79(11:51-we walked about the last .10 miles of this-forgot to stop my watch, oops!)
............Ran this run around a local lake that is pretty popular with runners. (The pic at the top of my home page is a picture of one arm of the path on this trail)

Was to meet up with a friend at 6:30, run 2 with her, and then meet back up with another group to run 4-5 at 7am.

Meet up with my friend at 6:30 and it was raining pretty good with lots of lightening. there were runners coming from every direction to seek shelter under the eaves of the bathroom building. The parking lot was pretty packed at 6:30, that was kind of cool.

So we sat in her car and chatted (she didnt want to run in the rain which I was cool with. It was great to catch up). Then I saw my friend at 7 and got out and ran almost 6 miles with her (around mile 2.7 we saw another friend of mine who joined up with us).
I really like running wih other people but I think the bigger the group, the better so I can have a chance to catch my breath while other people talk =)
It started to really pour while we were running and I actually really enjoyed it! HARDCORE BABY!! =)

I am hoping to run again either Labor Day morning if my knees give me the go-ahead, or Tuesday morning.

Aug 30 and 31st workouts

Aug 30: elliptical 10 minutes, 2 miles
'mill hike 20 minutes, 1.2 miles
planks for 90, 80, and 70 seconds
5 sets of 'man' push ups: 7,7,7,7,10
upper body weights

Aug 31:3mi run, 41:43 (no that is not a typo), 13:53 avg pace
................a lesson learned today, if you are going to run with a group, MIGHT be a good idea to find out the pace they plan to run at before you commit. I was suppose to run with a friend of mine (new friend-only ran with her once before-she headed the LifeGate race that I ran back in April). She and a couple other ladies were going to meet at a lake close to my house at 5:30 this morning. She said they (the other ladies) would probably run a slower pace but she would run 10:30 with me (which is about the pace I hoped to keep this morning).
I got there and met the other 2 ladies-SUPER nice. We wait for 10minutes and the other gal hasnt shown up, so we decided to head out on our own. Ya wanna know the splits? Mile 1-13:13, Mile 2-14:39, Mile 3-13:49...It was really hard for me to run this slow AND I had a time restraint as well. One of the gals normally runs around an 11min mile she told me at the end, but the other gal said this was actually a little speedy for her, so she must run closer to a 15min mile.
It was pretty dark there at 5:30 and thankfully one of the gals had a flashlight (apparently the gal who was suppose to come wears a head lamp thing-a-ma-bob and brings her big Rottweiler with her. However, we felt brave enough to give it a go with a little ol' handheld beam and our own hands for defense. I think the only thing I could have beat up this morning would have been a questionably shaped bush).
I am running with this same group again Saturday morning but it will be a larger group and I think I have some 'outside' friends who are coming along. I'm kind of looking forward to it! PLUS it will be light out this time so if I need to run ahead, I'll feel comfortable doing that.

Most likely I'll be doing some upper body and core work tomorrow and maybe some cross training (mill hike or elliptical).

My girls took my Garmin out again today. They ran a full 1/2 mile this time (Monday it was like .42 miles) and dropped their pace down from 11:30 to 10:18. They were pretty proud of themselves =)

Raising the next generation right? YOU KNOW IT!!

The good, the bad and the in between and a RACE REPORT!

Ok, so, wow. It's not that I dont love you running folk. I do. From the bottom of my ever-sweatin' heart. But I was kind of mad for awhile. Not really AT you 'uns. But at the fact that you were all able to run like the wind at any given moment, and here I was. STILL semi-injured. And STILL not being able to run as much as my carefree heart desired.
You could say I was throwing an inner hissy fit.

So anyway, I wont bore you with ALL the details, but if you remember, after my 10K on June 26, I didnt properly recover and was rewarded with some nice achy knees. So I was a good girl and took 1 whole week off of running. Went back into it nice and easy and was fine.
THEN.
The night of the 11th and 12th (July) I went for a HARD 10mi bike ride, (and the morning of the 12th I went for a 3mi run too), and then worked out pretty hard the morning of the 13th.
MAJOR knee-setback. grrrr.
But I was stubborn about it and just tried to do my runs easy and keep the miles low. Well, on July 22, it became apparent that wasnt going to help. So I ran just over 5miles (I was being onery-knew I wasnt going to be able to run for awhile so I wanted to get a longer-ish run in before that happened).
So, I took off another whole week and a day of running (only did VERY light cardio a couple times that week) and seemed to be doing ok. So I went for a run July 30th and felt pretty good.
I kept all my runs easy and kept the miles low and ran a few of the runs on the 'mill.
Things were lookin' good. So on the 12th (friday) I thought of hopping in on the 1/2 marathon plan so that I could maybe run the 1/2 on Sept 25th here in town.
On Sunday following, the plan had me running a 5K. Well I knew I wasnt ready for that, so I just planned a route of that distance, upped the pace JUST a bit and threw in a HUGE, long hill to make up for the fact that I couldnt go all out on the pace.
Welp.
that probably wasnt wise. Knees were pretty achy all day after that run AND the next day. So I took off another 4 days of running. I was getting nervous as I had a 5K race coming up Aug 27th (we'll get to that later). Ran again on the 19th and just kept the miles low and easy. Felt great.
Ran again on the 21st, still good. then again on the 24th. STILL good. Then the NIGHT before my 5K (last Friday) my left hammie was really tight all day. Not painful but REALLY tight.
I.Was.Scared.
I did a lot of praying that night and spent a lot of time in the bathroom (nervous fluttery tummy hit me with a vengance!) and the next morning my legs felt good. (tummy was a whole other story-dont know why I was so terribly nervous!)
Anyway, the lower body weight training has pretty much fallen off the map as I didnt want to risk a set back in my legs/knees. Upper body has stayed consistent and I have worked my way up to being able to do 400 crunches (100x4 sets), as well as 3 sets of planks for 90,80 and 70seconds. I have also switched to doing the 'real' pushups after having done week 6 of the hundred pushup challenge about 742 times in the modified push up form. I am doing 6x 5 sets 3 times a week. I am SO wimpy when it comes to upper body strength.

My weight has fluctuated during the last month or so, but I DID meet my goal of 100 during July and was actually down to 99.8! For one day at least =) I seem to hang around 101-102.8 alot, but I am ok with that (for now)..... =)

Here is a pic of one of my favorite night time snacks. Fresh fruit with a generous dollop of yogurt on top (1/2 plain greek and 1/2 vanilla)

THEN I discovered just how much more AMAZING that combo is when it has some Kashi thrown in. Oh my yum.

This is a common breakfast for me on non-running days. Big bowl of cut up fruit. About 150-200 calories depending on what I put in and I am SUPER stuffed after I eat it, but pretty hungry again about 2-3 hours later. So its the prefect amount of food for me on these days.

I read an awesome book called 'The Raw Food Detox Diet' and this is one of her recipes from in there. A homemade veggie soup w/ Ezekiel bread (with raw honey on top) on the side. This whole lunch was 300 calories (the soup is only 50 calories for 1 cup!) and it left me almost TOO stuffed. I love her book and would love to implement more of her ideas but I dont know how to make that work with my workouts (she emphasizes different food combining rules and eating only fruit til noon-which I like to do, but I feel I need more protein after my runs). I know there are people out there (athletes) who eat this way but my body seems to be more finiky. I may try it sometime though and see what happens.

I also checked out 'The Green Smoothie Revolution' and we liked a few different recipes of hers. I dont remember what all was in this smoothie but I know the veggie was kale and spinach. It was actually really good and my kids liked it too!

Ok, so ON TO THE RACE REPORT!

Ted E Bear Hollow 5K Aug 27, 2011 8:30am

My stats Time 27:20 Placed 3rd in my age group out of 33..... 52 overall out of 223

So I got there around 7:45, picked up my packet and head back to my car to put my bib on. Head back near the start line to wait for a couple of friends who were going to meet up with me

Met some very cute random dogs like this little snookums.

So I met up with my friends (it was their first race) and we chatted for a bit before race time.

This was a 10K and 5K so the 10K folks lined up and set off about 5minutes before we did (they went the opposite way as us on the course).

Then we all lined up and good golly was I nervous. My tummy is in a knot right now just thinking about it-so weird!! Anyway, I lined up WAY at the back like always (love to pass people, hate to BE passed). Heard the gun and we were off!

Due to the fact that I was at the back, it was slow going the first .2 miles or so which I think was good for me as I didnt start out too fast. Once we got on the trail, I started slowly picking people off one by one. (only got passed a few times the whole race). I actually ENJOYED the whole first 1/2 of the race, where as I usually HATE the 5K distance from start to finish as I am pushing it so hard. The back half of the race, I picked up the pace a bit but still felt good. But around 2.80 miles in I started to feel it.

Those thoughts started to enter my head 'Just walk for a minute and catch your breath' or 'who cares if you get passed, just stop' and 'I think I'm gonna pass out'.

So anyway, I powered past all that.

The last .10 there was a kid about 10 years old, just huffing and puffing and groaning and lookin' like a hurtin' unit. So I gave him a 'You're doing awesome! Finishline is just ahead, you can DO this!' as I passed him, and about 5 seconds later he ZOOMED past me like nascar racer! Little stinker =)

I finally felt like I had a kick left in me the last .05 miles so I turned on the boosters and rocketed to the finishline passing one guy as I did (I have a pic of his face looking at me as I did that-so funny, should have posted it)

No I did NOT run a 5K in 4:07, I dont even think I could run HALF a mile that fast, no clue why the clock says that. I give God all praise and glory for this run! No WAY could I have done this pain free with out him. this is over a minute slower then my 5K in April, but I have done NO speedwork for 2 months and have only done minimal, slow, low mileage runs, so I'll take it =)

Hubby surprised me by bringing the kiddos to the race and I got to see them at the finishline! I was BEYOND surprised and thrilled. Love these little guys.

I'd give you my splits and all that fun stuff but that little boy in front of me pushed the button on my garmin that made it start going again and I didnt realize it for a few minutes-little stinker.

Receiving my age group award.

They announced my name as placing 2nd but I really got 3rd. I actually ASKED them before all this if I had placed and if so what place I got, and they told me 3rd. Then they announced me as 2nd. I checked the online results the next day, and sure enough, it has me down as 3rd as well!

Next race on tap is a charity run on the 17th of September for a friend of friend who was in car accident in July (5K) and then the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure at the beginning of October. I am really bummed that I cant do the 1/2 marathon in September, but I just figure given what happened after that 'mock 5K' run I did, God was trying to tell me 'eh eh eh Anna, not gonna happen', so I'm fine with that =)

_____________________________

What races do you have planned for the fall? What races have you done this month?

Past week

It has been SO nice to put one foot in front of the other in a speedy fashion. Oh running how I have missed thee!! Still easing myself back into it, but it feels nice none the less. Here are the workouts for the last week...

July6: Elliptical 40min, 8.6mi, situps 50x3

July 8: 2.5mi 'mill run, 27:15 (in my old shoes), sit ups, planks (75,70, 65 seconds), week 6 day 1 of the 100 pushup challenge

July 10: 4.5mi run, 48:24 (10:45 pace) in my old shoes, Splits: 1(11:08) 2(10:33) 3(10:44) 4(10:26), .5 (11:07 pace)...it was quite humid this day but I am thankful I got out before the ABSURD heat set in

July 11: 1.45mi 'mill hike (3-10%), 25:00.....4.65mi tempo elliptical, 20:00....lower body weights (only used 5# weights as its my first time coming back to lower body weights in 2 weeks)....sit ups/ planks (75,70, 65) and week 6 day 1 of the 100 pushup challenge. PLUS I managed to squeeze in a 10mi bike ride before putting the kids to bed! YAY!!!

July 12: 3mi 'mill run 31:30 (new shoes), upper body weights, 3x70 crunches (the 2nd set was alternating knee twists-I did 140 of those so it would be like 70 per side)

With not running for all of the last week, and not really watching too closely what I was eating, I put on 4#'s !! I was so discouraged as I was ONE pound away from my goal of 100#'s. PLUS my mom made FRESH zucchini bread for our yard sale last weekend and *I* made snickerdoodles, so needless to say 1 or 42 of them got eaten by me. No seriously, from the time I got up on Saturday until dinner I ate and ate and ate (all zucchini bread and snickerdoodles!!) whoops.
I was 105# Sunday morning and really watched what I ate that day (day ended w/ a total of around 1,230 calories) and I was 104.8 the next morning (Mon)....did well again yesterday (a little higher though-ended a little over 1,400) and I was 104# this morning so I am hopeful I can get back down to 101 in a week or two.
I've been trying to eat healthy meals, which usually isnt a problem for me, its just all that inbetween meal snacking!
Here was my snack yesterday:

1/4c 1% cottage cheese, about 1/2 a cucumber, a few baby carrots, 4 cherries, and 1/2 a nectarine (holy buckets that nectarine was SOOOO good!!)

I am hoping today to keep the calories under 1,400, though under 1,300 would be even better =)


Hope you are all doing well with your fitness and nutrition goals!

NOT RUNNING MAKES ME CRANKY!!

This gal 'bout sums up how I feel about havin to take a running break....

>Thanks Google images for the picture<

I am taking a full 7 day off running. I think I came VERY close to injury last week in my post-race stupidity.
After running the 10K race on Sunday I proceeded to do a HARD elliptical and 'mill workout the following day and a lower body weights workout (should have rested on this day TOTALLY).
THEN I ran 6 miles IN NEW SHOES on Tuesday (should have done a VERY light elliptical workout this day)....My legs felt VERY sore this whole day....
SHOULD HAVE rested for a couple days AFTER this but I still cross trained on Wed and Thursday and did a EASY 4.5 mi run on Friday, as shown below on my Garmin data....isnt that a purty run? Looks like some type of tractor or somethin 'farmish'....

Anyway, my knees starting REALLY bothering me after that run and I KNEW that I was THIS CLOSE to injury....my plan to was to take a FULL rest day Saturday, stay off my feet as much as possible, then do my long run on Sunday as normal but in my old shoes...BUT I thought better of it and took Saturday AND Sunday off. Total rest days. I had forgotten how grumpy they make me. I need to get a good sweat on to rid myself on the crank monster.
ANYWAY, I did a very easy 35min elliptical workout on Monday morning (wanted to do an hour but thought that might be too much). Knees were still hurting afterwards. THIS morning I did 35min again but went harder and my knees actually feel almost normal! I am going to wait til Friday to run and then I am only going to do 2-3 VERY easy miles on the treadmill.(Boo.)


Last Thursday was my youngest daughters birthday. She turned 6! WHERE has the time gone??
Anyway, we made homemade brownies (which called for 2 CUPS of sugar-good grief!!) and our famous hot fudge sundae crockpot cake. Which I ate WAY to much of. I made 2 batches and I ate almost a WHOLE batch myself in a day! Woah.



However, I DID negate some of the damage by having THIS for snack that same day, that's GOTTA count for something, right??

The girls looking thru the fireworks before lighting. At which time they all proceeded to cover their ears and sustain that position for the next 30minutes.

Ok, thats not ENTIRELY true, my older 2 are getting a bit better about airing their ears out for small stretches of time during the pyro-palooza.

They went to their first 4th of July parade this year (actually first of ANY type of parade) and they LOVED it. These little cars were a favorite. They called them 'Mario and Luigi'. Can you guess which Wii games are a favorite right now? =)

WORKOUTS

July 1: 4.5mi run 49:18 (10:58) Splits 1(11:18) 2(11:02) 3(10:48) 4(10:51) .5(10:37 pace)....sit ups, plank (70,65,60), 100 push up challenge week 6 day 3

July 4: elliptical 7.7mi 35 minutes

July 5: elliptical 7.9 mi 35 minutes.....sit ups, planks (75,70,65), 100 push up challenge week 6 day 1

Boring stuff

Ok, so this post is all the BORING stuff from the last month or so. Training, splits yadda yadda yadda. To see the SLIGHTLY less boring stuff, scroll down to the next post.
Please and thank you.



Thanks to Google Images for the picture.

Mid to end of May workouts16th: elliptical 30:00 5.65mi
17th: 'mill hike 30:00 1.65mi
18th: sit ups, push challenge week 5 day 1, planks (40,45,50 seconds)
19th: 3.75 mi run 39:19 (10:28 pace) splits: 1(10:53) 2(10:39) 3(10:09) .75(10:17 pace), upper body
20th: sit ups, push up challenge week 5 day 3, planks (40,45,50 seconds)
21: 'mill hike 45:00 2.65mi (took my resting HR this morning and it was 47bpm!)
22: 7.13mi run, 1:13:04, (10:14 pace) Splits: 1(10:33) 2(10:16) 3(10:17) 4(10:13) 5(10:03) 6(10:15) 7(10:03) .13 (10:13 pace)
23: elliptical 60:00, 12mi (easy pace), lower body weights
24: 5mi run, 50:51 (10:10 pace) Splits: 1(11:08) 2(10:25) 3(10:12) 4(9:39) 5(9:25), upper body weights
25: elliptical 50:00 (10.3mi), 35:00-50:00 was 2/1 intervals, mill walk, 20:00 2.25mi, lower body, push ups
26: 3.75 mi 33:41 (8:59) Splits: 1(10:23) 2(8:55) 3(8:27) .75 (7.56 pace), upper body weights, sit ups, planks (50, 45, 40)
27: 2mi mill run 22:00, elliptical-40:00 7.66mi (lower HR), lower body weights, push ups, *did 150 squats with 5# dumbells!28: mill hike (easy) 30:00 1.75mi

29: 1.8mi outside run 19:15 (10:42 pace), 3.2mi 'mill run (32:45)-started to thunder during my run outside!30: BIKE ride 15.2mi, 1:14
31: 6mi run 58:28 (9:45) Splits: 1(10:17) 2(10:12) 3(9:56) 4(9:34) 5(9:17) 6(9:10), push up challenge week 6 day 1, sit ups, upper body
END OF MONTH: 105.8lbs, 71 running miles, YTD running miles: 287.91
JUNE WORKOUTS
1st: BIKE 10mi 47:21 (12.7mph), elliptical 20:00min, 4:35, lower body weights
2nd: 4mi run 38:15 (9:34) Splits 1(10:23) 2(10:09) 3(9:13) 4(8:29), sit ups, push up challenge wk 6 day 1, plank (60, 55, 50), upper body weights
3rd: BIKE 7.06mi (34:35), 2mi run 19:50 (9:55) Splits: 1(9:59) 2(9:50) *first BRICK workout-liked it, but it was tough!4th: BIKE 44mi 4:21:54

5th: 7.1mi 1:17:44 (10:57) Splits 1(11:41) 2(11:15) 3(11:07) 4(11:24) 5(10:45) 6(10:27) 7(10:01) .1 (10:28 pace) *took this run NICE and easy after the LONG bike ride yesterday. Legs a bit sore but not too bad6th: BIKE 12mi, 55:11 (13mph), 'mill hike 1.85mi, 30:00, push up challenge week 6 day 1, lower body weights
7th: 5.4mi run 56:10, (10:24) Splits 1(10:59) 2(10:32) 3(10:50) 4(10:14) 5(9:33) .4 (10:05 pace), upper body weights *very humid this morning!
8th: elliptical 45:00 9.3mi, sit ups, push up challenge week 6 day 1, planks (60,55,50), lower body weights
9th: 4mi run, 38:15 (9:34) Splits 1(10:35) 2(10:04) 3(9:07) 4(8.25), upper body weights
10th: 3mi run 32:25 (10:49) Splits 1(11:13) 2(10:39) 3(10:32), sit ups, push up challenge week 6 day 1, planks (60,55,50), lower body weights
11th: mill hike 25:00min, 1.5mi, upper body weights

12th: 9mi run 1:32:06 (10:14) Splits 1(10:24) 2(10:27) 3(10:29) 4(10:19) 5(10:26) 6(10:34) 7(10:05) 8(10:01) 9(9:25), sit ups, push up challenge week 6 day 1, planks (70, 60, 55)
13th BIKE 12mi 55:22, (13mph), lower body weights
14th: 5.5mi run 54:49 (9:58) Splits: 1(10:36) 2(10:34) 3(9:42) 4(9:25) 5(9.33) .5 (9:55 pace), sit ups, push up challenge week 6 day 2, planks (70,65,60)
15: elliptical 45:00 10mi tempo pace, lower body weights
16th: 5mi run, 47:47, (9:34) Splits: 1(10:51) 2(10:30) 3(9:21) 4(8:29) 5(8:34), sit ups, push up challenge week 6 day 3, planks (75, 70, 60)
17th: 3mi run 30:58 (10:20) Splits 1(10:49) 2(10:26) 3(9:42)
18th: BIKE ride 33mi, 3 hours

19th: 10mi run 1:41:11 (10:07) Splits 1(10:34) 2(10:32) 3(10:27) 4(9:56) 5(9:46) 6(10:14) 7(10:40) 8(9:44) 9(9:57) 10(9:17)
20th: elliptical 25:00, 16min was 1/1 intervals, lower body weights, sit ups, push up challenge week 6 day 1, planks (60,65,70)
21st: 5mi run 51:36 (10:19) Splits 1(10:56) 2(10:58) 3(10:07) 4(10:09) 5(9:44), upper body weights
22nd: elliptical 20:00, 4.9 mi (tempo hard), lower body weights *did weights first followed by ellitpical*, sit ups, push up challenge week 6 day 2, plank (70,65,60)
23rd:5mi run 50:59 (10:12) Splits 1(10:56) 2(10:35) 3(10:11) 4(10:06) 5(9:08), upper body weights
24th: elliptical workout, easy lower body weights

26th: 10K race 55:08 (8:46) Splits 1(9:33) 2(8:37) 3(8:49) 4(8:44) 5(8:46) 6(8:24) .28 (7:23 pace)....placed 3/7 for age group (30-34), placed 58/138 overall. 3rd place age group award winner27th: mill hike 20:00 1.18mi, elliptical 30:00 7mi (tempo pace), easy lower body, sit ups, push up challenge week 6 day 1, plank (70,65,60) *should have rested today instead of work out28th: 6mi run 1:02:48 (10:28) Splits: 1(11:06) 2(11:11) 3(10:57) 4(9:55) 5(10:21) 6(9:15) *ran in my new shoes! DEFINITELY should NOT have run today, I should have taken 2-4 run rest day before my post-race run. My legs and knees were telling me so. =)29th: elliptical 40:00 7.8 mi (easy), sit ups, push up challenge week 6 day 2, planks (70,65,60)
30th: 'mill hike 20:00 1.18mi, elliptical 30:00 6.5mi (easy), upper body weights


END OF MONTH: 101lbs, waist: 25.5", hips 33.5", L thigh: 18", L calf 13 1/4", running miles 80.2, YTD running miles 368.11

Fun stuff

So here are some of the highlights from the last month, plus.

June 26, 2011
FIRST 10K race! Siena/Francis House 10K and 5K Run/Walk held at Lake Z, 8am.
>>>>I got an age group award!!!<<<<

I have been pretty excited for this race. It is the first 10K race I've done, AND it was less than a mile from my house. Sweet.
I woke up around 5:30, got dressed and fueled up at 6 with my trash of choice which was a crunchy peanut butter and jelly sandwich. SO yummy. Drank a little water (made sure to hydrate well the day before) and got my stuff together. Bib #, Garmin, tunes, hydration belt and a long sleeve shirt as it was going to ever so slightly chilly and I look worse than a shaved chihuahua when I am chilly. I seriously move the earth when I shiver.

This race was well organized and I would definitely run it again. Lots of pre and post race food (yogurt, several varieties of bagels and cream cheese, large variety of muffins, gatorate type drinks and bottled water and a bushels of 'bars' (nature valley, power bar, wheaties bars etc)...

10K started 5min before the 5K which started 5min before the walkers. SO wish I would have brought my camera.

I feel I ran the race well, going easier at the beginning and gradually picking up the pace as I went. I started out pretty much at the WAY back of the pack. I think that's going to be my starting place in every race I do. I feels SO good to be able to pass people =)

My friend Jody took these race pics. The race photographer has some on his site too, so I am waiting for him to email me the attachements so I can bombard you with more of my dorkiness.

*Right after the first mile and waving the dorky flag with pride.

At the finish. My 'official' time was 55:11, which puts me 11 seconds OVER the time limit to be a select seeded runner in the Corp. Cup 10K race in September (still puts in as a seeded runner though). My soft goal for this race was 65min, my hard goal was 60min, so I was VERY pleased.
HOWEVER, I ran the tangents WELL and still my Garmin showed a further distance. When I hit stop at the finishline, my watch was 55:00 EVEN and a distance of 6.28. Oh well.


After the race I hung around w/ my friend Jayne to see if she placed in her age group (she was in the age group above me) and she got 3rd!! So we were looking at her medal and I thought I heard the announcer call my name. I thought 'Surely they didnt....I'm not even gonna ask cuz I'll be too embarrassed when they laugh in my face'.
Anyway, I braved up and went and asked if they called my name and sure enough, they had!!
They told me I got 2nd, but later found out it was actually 3rd (there were no timing chips, they just ripped the bottom of your bib off quickly after you passed the finishline.)
I was positively GIDDY with excitement. I actually clapped my hands like a 5yr old when I got in the car.

________________________________________
Went biking w/the hubby earlier this month at Wabash Trace in CB Iowa. Gorgeous crushed limestone trail. We biked 22 miles out and 22 mi back. Its an EVER so slight decline starting about 6mi from where WE started ALL the way to our destination (Malvern, IA). NICE for going out but you sure FELT it coming back. Wasn't horrible but we were WORKING it.

We stopped in Malvern and ate at a little cafe there. I think we'll try the one across the street next time as neither of us cared for the food.

*This was a creek we went over w/ what looked like old railroad cars decaying on the banks.

*A picture of the gorgeous trail. The whole thing is pretty much like this so it was nice and cool.

*Queen of Dorks*

*thought this was cool at the time. Cant remember what those containers said on the side...

*rekinky-dinky little town we passed thru

*NEW SHOES! I have pretty much miled my old Nikes out. The back of the heels were wearing down and I was starting to get sore feet and legs after every run. I am VERY partial to my 2010 Air Max's which pretty much NO store carries anymore (dont really like the 2011), so hubby ordered these online for me. AND bought an extra pair!! So now when these decide to poop out on me I have a back up pair.

*The old shoes. You served me well, my friends.

*these are the heels of my old shoes. Not only am I a pretty pronounced heel striker but I notice I scuff my heels alot when running up hill so these have taken quite the beating as I LOVE uphills

*They have no clue what's in store for them....BWAHAHAHA!!!
*Here's my calendar/planner I have been using since January. The highlighted areas are my runs (so I can easily see when I have run and how far). The paper next to it is where I write down the splits from my runs. I mark on here what exercise I did for the day, for how long and what distance. Also mark my weight workouts, sit ups, push ups and planks.

Went thrifting this past month. I *HEART* thrifting. I am like a lion when it comes to the thrill of the hunt.

*Got a bunch of past sof running magazines for .29 each!
*SUPER awesome Nike jacket for $4!! Fits me like a GLOVE.

*Has a sweet little pocket in the back too. No clue what I could use it for, but still. Cool.

On another note, I am almost at my weight goal! I set a goal beginning of March that I wanted to get from my weight of 111-112lbs down to 100lbs which I think looks better on my frame. This morning I was 101!! Getting so close!

I have been running 4x a week after my 1/2 marathon in May (Sun-long run, Tues-easy, Thurs-tempo, Fri-short and easy) and then cross training on other days with the elliptical, bike or a treadmill hike. Doing lower body weights 3x a week and upper body 3x a week. Also going sit ups, push ups and planks 3x a week.

The sit ups/push ups/plank routine takes 30min. I do a routine hubby and a friend made up years ago along w/ the '100pushup challenge routine' (I have been on week 6 for a few weeks now) and for planks I do 3 sets for 70, 65, and 60 seconds. Considering I started out doing them for only 30 seconds, I should say I am improving in this area!)

Trying to cycle my calories. Some days I am around 1,500, other days close to 2,000 and sometimes as high as 2,500! Drinking LOTS of water 7-8 16oz glasses a day.

Here's a sample of a lunch for me:

1/4c cottage cheese (40), 1/2 orange (35), blueberries (20), wrap (160) for a total of 255 calories.

Now if I could JUST resist the potato chips and cinnamon toast crunch, we'd be in business! But ya gotta have a little naughty amongst the nice, right? =)

2011 Papillion 1/2 marathon! My first EVER-pics included!

I DID IT!!!! Ran my first 1/2 marathon. and LOVED it, crummy weather and all!!

I was anxious about this race for a couple different reasons. #1, it is known for being hilly and I didnt know how well I would hold up running 13.1 miles on a hilly course....#2 I was on the brink of a possible sickness which meant that A)I didnt know if I would GET to run and B) if I DID run, would my performance be hampered by all the hackin' and snot rocketing I would be doing...

Anyway, after drinking over a GALLON of water on Friday and Saturday (and no I am NOT kidding and just so ya know, its also a great way to lose a little weight-lost a pound between Fri morn and Sat morning!) as well as taking near lethal amounts of VitC, zinc and apple cider vinegar, I felt that I had it at bay enough to give it a whirl.

Slept crummy the night before. Woke up a ton and when I did sleep had all sorts of weird dreams about not finding my way to the race, waking up after race time, not being to find all my race items the morning of etc etc...
Woke up at 5:30 and had a pb and j sammy around 6. Checked the weather about 47 times before deciding on what to wear. It was 44* out with a windchill of 39*-yuck. I would find out when pulling out of my garage that it was also drizzly-double yuck.
Being that I didnt know if I was getting sick, I went on the safe side and wore my Chill Chasers under my shorts, a SS shirt, a LS shirt, my jacket, neck gaiter and ear warmers. Oh, and gloves. When I got of my car at the race, I was SO stinkin' cold. Was so glad for all that gear and was giving crazy eyes to all the people walking around in their tshirts and shorts w/ their lovely blue noses and fingers.
Ran w/ my hydration belt which I had decked out w/ my new music player that hubby got me, and in my extra pouchy thingie I had my post-race snack (peanut m&m's and pretzels-love it), my camera and about 486 tissue.

I attached my bib# to my shorts as I figured I owuld probably be whipping off some layers down the road. I was concerned it would bother me but it worked out fine.
I really wish I had a friend to meet up with here as I felt so awkward walking around by myself. Of course I made it LOOK like I was looking for or waiting for someone so I was not QUITE so pathetic looking....

Here we are walking to the start line....That flag was HUGE. It was held up by 2 fire truck ladders and we got to run under it at the start, SO wish I would have gotten a picture of it.

This was about 10min before the anthem. This race is a 1/2 AND a 10K but us super cool 1/2er's got to start 10min before the 10Ker's. Gotta love special treatment.

Race started RIGHT on time which was nice. I lined up WAAAY at the back (there were only 478 people running the 1/2 so there really wasn't a WAAAY far back, but I was back there with the stragglers! I'd rather pass then BE passed!

I ran the first couple miles pretty slowly on purpose, wanted to save some gas for the end. The first mile was run on gravel which I am NOT used to. It's always ALL nice, hard, unforgiving cement for me. After the first couple few miles, I started to pass people which is a HUGE ego boost for me and makes me think I got a little Kara Goucher in me.

No not really.

The first 7 miles was great. About the middle of mile 7 we hit a pretty lengthy downhill, and being that I run on hills on EVERYone of my training runs, I have learned how to run the downhills speedily, but safely, so I took it like a mac truck and passed a bunch of people. but I got about 1/2 way down and thought 'golly gee is this hill EVER gonna end??' and right about the bottom I got an air bubble or something under my left rib cage. Painful. Then about a mile later got one under my right rib cage!! I was running out of energy at this point and said a prayer to God for strength and right after that I could almost PHYSICALLY feel someone pushing me from behind!!! It was like God saying 'Here, let me nudge you along for a bit and you rest' I LOVE when He does things like that=)

A bit after that my air bubbly things went away and I started to feel better but I was TIRED. The last 2 miles or so is a lot of uphill. However, I conserved energy for this and was able to pass a good number of people on this stretch. Even some dudes. I LOVE passing dudes and I love even MORE, passing dudes and having them try to speed up so you CANT pass them! HA!

Oh I did end up stripping my jacket in the first mile and my LS shirt about 3mi in. The cool weather, wind and drizzle were quite welcome after I had warmed up. Cant imagine running this race on a sunny warm day!

My garmin also, after mile 4, kept telling me a mile was up before I would hit the mile marker. Thought I ran the tangents well....but then again I also think I am a super speedy runner...until I see my shadow next to me plodding along....

anyway, so I was sure to keep an eye on my watch that last bit and at 13.1 it said 2:07:45....

however, my 'official' time is 2:08:57 which is what I will stick with. I cant wait to see how I would do on a flat course.

My next 1/2 will be the Omaha 1/2 which is ALSO hilly so I am hoping to make it into the Lincoln 1/2 next year as that is all flat, so I hear.


I obviously couldnt get a pic of myself at the finish so here is one of my friend Jen (didnt even know she was running it!)

Jen and I after the finish

The post-race blueberry bagels were SO yummy (and a nice chaser to my m&m's and pretzels)...they also had plain bagels (boring), bananas, and oranges as well as bottles of water and powerade. They had also been handing out water and powerade I think every mile or so and then PowerBar gels and energy beans at the 1/2 way point.

There wasnt much crowd support but what WAS there was very nice. They were very encouraging and the volunteers were great too.

Something I realize every race I have run is you can not judge a book by its cover. Some people that look SUPER speedy, will be the slowest runners out there and some people you think would be SO slow will whip out that speed like a CityBank Visa.

Me and oh so snazzy medal. My girls think its funny that I call it a medal when its really plastic =)

Still can NOT believe that I ran 13.1 CONTINUOUS miles...

On my training runs, I always have to stop a few times at intersections and such (or to pick up the stray penny), so to run 13.1 STRAIGHT (I didnt walk once!) was quite a feat.

This race was by FAR my favorite. If I dont get into Lincoln next year, I will definitely do it again.

Yesterday and today I am a bit sore in my hammies and hips but everything else feels great. I did a light workout yesterday morning and this morning (elliptical and a treadmill hike) just to get the blood flowing and the HR up a bit....I may try a run tomorrow or Thursday depending on how my legs feel.

So, what's next? I want to build my base mileage, work on running 4x a week instead of 3 and add in some speed work to bring my 5K time down and hopefully my 1/2 marathon time as well.

I LOVE RUNNING!!!!!

Crawling back into the bloggy world!!

Still alive and kickin' people!
Sorry to have abandoned this lovely blog for a spell, but life got busy (have I said that before? I think I've said that before)...

Anyway, lots of workouts in the last month but I'll just give you the running low down (and race report!) as I know that's the whole reason you come here. =)

April 5: 4mi 42:06
April 7: 4mi 43:19 (mill run)
Apr 9: 9mi 1hr 35min 04sec this run was tough tough tough!! Never got into a groove and the last 1/2 mile was ALL mental. One of those runs where you are SO thankful its over.
Apr 13: 3.75mi 36:28...1.25mi on the mill 11:50
Apr 15: 5mi 52:35 (mill run)
Apr 17: 10mi 1hr 41min 39sec 10min average pace! This run was WAAAY better than my long run on Apr 9, felt like I could go on forever!
Apr 19: 4.5mi 46:30 (mill run)
Apr 21: 4.75mi 45: 35
Apr 24: 11.5mi 1hr 51min (9:39 pace)...LONGEST RUN EVER! I was very pleased with my overall pace and had pretty negative splits. TOTALLY ran out of gas between miles 9-10 and my pace showed it. Somehow got my pep back at mile 10 and the last 1.5 miles were great!
Apr 26: 3.75mi 34:00 (9:04 pace)...fastest avg pace on a run over 3mi!!!!
Apr 28: 3.1mi 32:56...just giving the legs a nice easy run before my first 5K race of the year!
Apr 30: 5K race....will post in more detail below w/ the pictures, was .1mi short, time according to my garmin: 25:06, according to their finishline clock, 25:36

May 3: 3.2mi 32:50.....3mi 31:14...this was a run to AND from a meeting. First time I have ever done that. It was quite enjoyable!
May 6: 4mi 37:52...last tempo run before my first 1/2 marathon!
May 8: 9mi 1hr 29min 38sec (9:57 pace)...last long run before the 1/2! Splits 1(10:49) 2(10:26) 3(10:01) 4(9:46) 5(10:09-HORRIBLE side stitch) 6(10:06-side stitch has been evicted) 7(9:48) 8(9:25) 9(9:05)...pretty proud of how it ended! Got shin splints the first 1.5miles though...
May 10: 4mi 40:18...nice easy run. Got shin splints the first 1.5 mi AGAIN! This has me concerned about my shoes...they only have about 200miles on them.
May 12: 2.5mi 25:30 (mill run)...no shin splits! YAY! Also ran with a new music player my hubby got me...a sansa disk something or other. Its super petite so I kina sorta idolize it. =)

***First 1/2 marathon is coming up on Sunday! However I think I may be getting sick. Froggy throat, a little coughy etc. I am PRAYING its just some type of allergy thing (which I usually dont get), and am taking loads of C, zinc, ACV, etc...***


I have been counting calories alot lately to try to lose some extra baby flub on my tum tum. It's working!! I am down a few pounds and can fit into some of my jeans that were shoved in the back of the closet incase I ever got the stomach flu again, or was blessed with a tummy fat eating bug...

Incase you were wondering, here's what an ounce of potato chips looks like (on a plate next to a CD for a better size comparison) This is 150calories...

The sandwich that dooms me-the BLT. Seriously, you could slap bacon on anything but candy I would CHOW. IT. DOWN

My new favorite lunch. Life Balance tortilla shell (120), mustard (0), buddig ham (30)-ok so its not healthy but it gives it a good flavor =) and some lettuce and tomato (about 20cal)...baby carrots (15), pretzels (70) = 255 cal. Low cal and its actually very filling! sometimes I will have a cup of yogurt w/ fresh fruit in it for an extra 130 calories.

My oldest and myself enjoying the FAB weather last weekend. Which abruptly ended today. Boo.

*drumroll please*.................................

First 5K of the season!!!! LifeGate 5K Run/Walk

I actually got to run this race with some wonderful friends of mine which made it THAT much more enjoyable. I finally have running friends!! HOORAY

Well, the morning started off pretty chilly. The pic of above is pre-race. It was overcast too. Bleh. But thankfully it cleared up during the race and the sun came out!

This was a women/girls only race-fairly small as they only accept 200 participants. This race is in its 2nd year. Very well organized and lots of prizes given at the end. No timing chip though, only a finishline clock.

So we got started and lined up according to what we were doing. 5K runners at the top of the line, run/walkers next, walkers after that and the 1mi walk/runners after that.

So. We get started and literally not more than .05mi into the race my hydration belt comes FLYING off and all the bits and bobbles I have on it go with it (it has NEVER done this before). So I stop to pick it up thinking 'I'll just hold it and run' and then I thought 'are you nuts lady? You cant run holding on to all THAT!'

So I stop off to the side and get all hooked back up again (which is why there is such a difference in my watch finish time and the finishline time)....

As I am getting hooked back up, I see everyone FLYING past me and I am thinking 'this can not be happening, this can NOT be happening!!' So I get all set and then go FLYING past most everyone to get back up to the head of the line. This was a big mistake as it pretty much DRAINED me. I looked down at my watch at the 1.5mi mark and it said my avg pace was 7:55!!! That is INSANE for me. So I knew I was in trouble.

the photographer caught me at that moment and I was a HOT. MESS. I didnt get my belt hooked up right so it was hiking my shirt up, along with my bib and had settled right under my rib cage making me look like SUCH a tool. HERE it is if you want to see it. (I seceretly hope that link doesnt work)

Oh and what else totally stunk was the last .2miles or so was ALL up hill, like a GOOD sized hill. Wow. Totally kicked my tushy.

Splits were OBVIOUSLY very positive, and not in a good way =)

Mile 1(7:33-what the??) Mile 2(8:58-dying a slow death) Mile 3(8:38-SO glad its over)

Everytime I run a 5K race I think 'What on EARTH am I doing here?? This is the WORST experience EVER!!!!' and then when its over and that pukey feeling passes I think 'WOOHOO, whens the next one???' =)

**When you give your camera to a random guy and ask him to take pictures 'of us', you should specify that you want the WHOLE group....

HERE is a link to me after the race was done, trying SO hard not to puke


The hard work is paying off! Just this week I was able to fit into these size 0 Aeropostale capri's that I havent worn since having baby #5 (nursing a baby was an AWESOME calorie burner).

The dime-store-water-pistols that I am trying to trade in for some BIG guns! That's the most intimidating face I got. I'm workin' on it!!