Running free!

Ok, I have to say that running under NO training-plan pressure has been BLISSFUL

Now that's not to say that I'm not looking forward and planning out my next few races, but I love this 'in between time' where I can run when I want and as little/much as I want (within reason. Not going to go out and run 15 tomorrow though the thought DOES appeal to me. I'm a long run gal at heart)  =)

I did my first post-marathon run on Sunday
3.1 miles on the treadmill 1% incline 32:50 (plus 20 x 4 sets of push ups)
My legs felt good and ready for an outdoor run but I thought I should give them (and my feet) a softer surface to start out on. 
AND...
I was able to run without my callus protectors! For the first time in MONTHS!!!! SUPER excited about that.  The run felt good. My legs felt fresh the whole time but my lungs were like that of a chain smoker. This run sucked the ever-lovin' breath right out of me! Felt WAY faster than 10ish minute miles effort-wise.  But I loved every minute of it.

After that in honor of Mother's Day. I took my mom (and dad) out to lunch at a buffet. 
I'll spare you any pictures.
I was hurting for hours and even by dinner time I STILL wasn't hungry.
However.
Its a tradition that my hubby buys me a Village Inn pie for Mother's Day and I am NOT one to mess with traditions. So home he came that night with a beautiful Banana Cream Pie.  AND even though I wasn't hungry, I ate 1/4 of the pie that night!
The other 3/4 was consumed by me through out the day yesterday. (So basically that was 4,000+ calories of PIE in 24 hours).
Blarf.
Yeah, I didn't sleep so well last night. 
Thankfully I was still able to get up this morning and meet my friends at 5:30 for a 4 mile run

60* at 5:30 am!  Love that. Didn't love the 99* that it rose to later in the day. Nebraska's weather is bi-polar.

I'm the textbook example of a sugar hangover here.


The run felt GREAT. It was already light out at 5:30 a.m.! Love it.
 The run ushered the globs of sugar right out of my pores and I felt great the rest of the day.

I tried to eat wisely today to make up for my sugar abuse yesterday.

I love those Flatout wraps!
Which went well except for the 2.5 granola bars I ate today....actually I think it was 3.5. Forgot I ate one at breakfast.  ADDICTIVE, they are.

Do you have a favorite kind of pie?

What's your favorite temp to run in?

Any special Mother's Day traditions?

Fix it before it gets worse!

**CHECK OUT MY NEW BLOG POST AT: http://passionatemotherhood.blogspot.com/ **

March 20 Wed: 8 miles 1:18:44 (9:50 avg pace) 2* windchill!
March 21 Thurs: 4.5 miles 46:06 (10:14 avg pace) on the treadmill 1% incline. Followed it up with
     4 sets of 25 push ups.

>>So. I think I'm getting a blister on the end of my big toe. Its small and you cant see it unless you look close but its slightly swollen. I've never had a blister before and I'm not sure what to do about it! Its a bit sore. I didnt know what it was til after my run today. I thought my sock was just bunched up. Looking back, it was bugging me yesterday during the day too (I wore shoes during the day yesterday which I normally dont do and I remember feeling it and wondering what it was but I never checked it). 
Any tips on what I should do about it?? I dont want it to interfer with my 13 miler on Saturday!<<

Anyway, lets talk more running shall we?
On Wed, I got up at 4:30 a.m. (aka Crazy o' clock), to meet up with my awesome running buddies at 5 for an 8 mile run. Wow. 4:30 a.m. comes PRETTY early in the morning.  Thankfully it didnt really put a damper on the rest of my day. I was a bit more tired for the first few hours after getting home, but after that, I was fine the rest of the day!
Last time I got up to meet them a little earlier than normal (we used to meet at 6 but one time I met up with them at 5:30) I got my first ever migraine a few hours later, so I was nervous that that would happen again. Thankfully-NOTHING! I did take some 'fuel' along to eat right after the run just incase:

A little tuna salad and some crackers (those baby food containers come in super handy!)  Totally hit the spot.  My water bottles in my hydration belt froze shut during the run so I had no water afterwards until they thawed out a bit (and my hands were thawed out enough to open them!)

My awesome running buds and myself before the run. I love how it looks like I photoshopped myself in here.  Classic.

Megs, myself and Jens.  Love love love these gals.  Anna forgot to turn her headlamp off.  Nerd.

Thaaaaaaat's better. I sometimes wonder how they put up with me.

It was SOOO cold yesterday morning. Thankfully I went Anna style (aka how-to-look-like-a-marshmallow-puff-ball) and was perfectly comfortable the whole run. I wore lined wind pants over my running tights (so these lovely ladies had to put up with the sound of my thighs rubbing together for an hour and eighteen minutes. Bless their ever lovin' hearts) and that really helped.
This is the speediest I've run since the Shoe Issue started. Felt AWESOME.

Today's run was great too. I watched a movie on Netflix for my kiddos (I like to preview alot of their movies before they watch them), called 'Hugo'. I think they're gonna like it.  We like to watch a little bit of a movie together during lunch (sometimes educational, sometimes 'fun movies', but our favorite thing to watch in the Duggars. We are HUGE fans).

Do you have any favorites on Netflix?
Whats the temp like where you are?
Have you ever had a blister? What did you do for it??

The past week...

10 mi run with the buds!

It has been a good week. Temps have been cooler here in the good ol Cornhusker state, going as far as to feel a bit fall like. After several record breaking HOT days this summer, we actually broke a record on the 17th that hasnt been matched in over a hundred years-the low was 48*. FORTY EIGHTY degrees! In August!! In Nebraska!!!  Pinch me now.

Aug 10, Friday: 11mi bike ride. Triple B today. Bike-bible-banana.  Odd combo? Maybe. But it was awesome. Rode out about 5.5 miles, stopped for a Banana Break (Ha! Another 'b'!) and to read my Bible. Had that on my check list of things to do-read my bible on a ride. (Well, not ON a ride, I'm definitely no where NEAR that realm of coordinated). 

Aug 12, Sunday: 7 mi run (10:48 avg pace). 'Twas weird. I had cramps, twinges and tightness in all sorts of strange places the first 4-5 miles of this run. It was like an alien was trying to take over my body.  Had to walk a few times. BUT I am proud that I stuck with it and got it done. I felt fine later (nothing a little chocolate wouldnt fix-just not after midnight)  =)

Aug 14, Tuesday: 2  mi warm up (9:48 avg pace), 2.1mi tempo (8:28 avg pace), 75 push ups (25 x 3 sets)  It was 56* at 6am this morning. I really thought I might have heard a chorus of angels as I stepped outside that morning. Or maybe that was just crazy people who live in my head. Potato Potawto.

Aug 15, Wednesday: 10 min warm up on the elliptical (2.2mi), upper and lower body weights, 3 sets planks (100-90-80 seconds each), 3 sets wall squats (1 min each)  I can get thru a whole lot of punishment in the pain cave with Jon and Kate plus 8 yelling in my ear.  Is that weird?

Aug 16, Thursday: 4mi run with friends (10:44 avg pace, 153 avg HR)  I think this was our 2nd time to run on this new trail (its the same trail I use to bike). It was a great run as it was a nice morning and its always fun to run with friends. Its also nice that they put up with my mindless chatter. God love 'em.

Aug 17, Saturday: 10 mi run (10:44 avg pace 163 avg HR)  It was 50* this morning when I met up with my running friends (see pic above). Chilly!  It was sort of dark and creepy when we first started out around the lake. I was totally prepared for all manner of ghost, goblin or grizzly bear to jump out of the shrubbery at us with me using my scrunchie like a sling shot as my only line of defense.  Ok Ok, maybe not the grizzly bear, that's a little far fetched....But we came thru unscathed. My friend Deb also came along on her bike and kept us company (that's her hubby in the picture with us).  It was a glorious morning after we warmed up.  I had planned to do around 8 (or 7.4 since that is what one time around the Lake will get 'cha), but opted to do the full 10 with my friends (the 2 people flanking me have never done 10 miles before so it was kind of a big deal for them and I felt honored to be sharing the occasion with them!) 

I have my next race coming up this weekend. It's the Ted E Bear Hollow Race and it was the first 5K I ever participated in WAAAAY back in Aug 2010. My time that year was 32:19, last year it was 27:xx (I dont really remember) so I am hoping I can keep it in the 27s again this year or drop it down a bit.

Food has been hit or miss this week. I have had a couple 'hey that wasnt so bad!' kind of days and then I had other days where I feel like my face never left the refrigerator (or the chip bag. or the cookie box)....why cant apples taste like reese's peanut butter cups?!

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.