I won a HeadSweats hat from Cycle and Style!

YAY! I love free stuff! I entered a give away at the 'Cycle and Style' Facebook page for this reversible, thermal fleece beanie from HeadSweats. It said right on the tag 'Perspiration Technology' so I knew it was right up my alley as I sweat like nobody's business.

My girls think its funny that I have been wearing it around the house.

But I just love it so much =)

I can tell it will keep my head warm without making me overheat. Its also the perfect size and shape to wear under my bike helmet if I elevate to hardcore level and decide to bike in below freezing temps.

Tara at 'Cycle and Style' is so sweet, I highly recommend checking out their Facebook page. They will be having multiple giveaways thru out the year! Good luck!

Jan. 3, 4, and 5th workouts

Jan 3: 7.5 mi, elliptical 34:30
Jan 4 10mi, elliptical 45:10

Jan 5: 3.9 mi, 43:08, 20* no wind, gear: headband, neck gaiter, buff (yep, I doubled up), Reebok tech short sleeve shirt under a LS Tek Gear shirt, jacket, 2 pr cheapie gloves, Chill Chaser tights, FILA tights, shorts, hydration belt tunes, Garmin....NEW SHOES!!!

Wow, that is a lot of 'gear' as I type it all out!

This was my first run in my new shoes, and the first run in 10 days. I got sick with a cold last Thursday so I knew I needed to stay out of the cold for awhile AND I need to give my legs a chance to recover from their time in the ol' 7 yr old Nikes.

Today's run went well.
That time would actually make me scratch my head most days, but on a day like today I was actually quite pleased.
I set out for my run with no set route and SOMEHOW ended up on a route that took me uphill for the first 2 miles.
On snow covered ice.
THAT was fun. Then I was doing the tip-toe tango over MORE snow covered ice and 'pure' ice, for the next 1/2 of the run off and on. BUT even with all that, it felt SOOOO great to get out there.
Wearing the neck gaiter and the buff was a great idea as well. I'm so smart. =)

Last time I ran with my neck gaiter when it was cold I wore it on my face for the first 15min or so and then pulled it down when I got warm. Well, LATER in the run I wanted it back on my face again, only to discover that it had FROZEN! So I wore 2 today so I could save one for the the last 1/2 of the run. SO glad I did as my first one was frozen STIFF!

I am hoping to get out there again on Saturday for a bit of a longer run. Hope everyone is staying warm!

THEY'RE HERE!!!!!! Oh, and some workouts.

Ok, worked out on the elliptical Dec 27, 29, 30th for between 29-37 minutes and between 6-8 miles. Felt great. Watched some Netflix on Hoarders. Or Hoarders on Netflix, rather, Yadda yadda yadda

Let's get to the important stuff, shall we?

They're here.

Did you hear me?
*ahem*
THEY'RE HERE!!!!!!!!!!

I may have muttered a 'Hallelujah' and took out a kid head-on, on my way to the front door when the UPS man arrived.
I may also have stalked, I mean TRACKED the package 2 or 12 times in the last 24 hours.
And I may or may not have tried them on right on my stoop, right over top of my fuzzy socks.

You could say I was a little excited.

They fit so wonderfully. As in I wanted to shed a tear and eat some ice cream all at the same time kind of wonderfully.

After wearing my 7yr old Nikes for the last month, well, lets just say these do for my feet what ice cream does for my mouth. Minus the cavities and what not.

I am hoping to get a run in them tomorrow. I haven't run since Sunday, since after that run, my shins and ankles were bullying me. I think they'll be MUUUUUCH happier now.

Thank you Nike for being awesome!!!!
*incase you're new here, my Air Max 2009's that I got last July, 'popped' meaning I got a hole in the heel so the whole sole support system was shot. Was told by a guy at Finish Line to try to send them back to Nike and see if they would replace them. I did, and they did!
I got my voucher for $160 last Thursday to use at Nike.com, ordered the 2010's that night and got them today. Joy.*

I've been tagged!!

Something about being tagged by another blogger makes me feel so....what's the word....obligated? Ha! Just kidding, Natty =)
Natty over at RUNNING POTATO (check him out-funny guy) tagged me with this 'lets-get-to-know-a-little-about-our-running-blogger-friends-shall-we?' thread. So here it goes!
Thanks Natty!

1. Most fond running accomplishment of 2010? (shouldn't that say 'fondest'? Anyway...)
........Considering I have only been running since July, every time I RUN is an accomplishment! But if you want something a little more concrete, it would have to be hitting a sub30 5K which for some reason I thought was about as far out of reach for me as a candy bar on my roof.
Also, running enough to fit into these puppies (see below).


These are a pr of size 4T little girls stretch leggings. NOW they are mommas running capri's! Reduce, reuse, recycle right? I am pretty proud that I can fit into them.


AND that I can rock a fuzzy sock like NObody's business!

2. What are 2011 running goals?

....wellllllll, not many actually. I want to run (and will soon be signing up for) the Lincoln 1/2 marathon which is the first weeknd of May. If I can make it through that feeling slightly better than a 1/2 set bowl of Jello, then I would like to run the Omaha 1/2 marathon in September. I am hoping to sprinkle some 5K's and 10K throughout. I would like to get to a point where I can run 4-5 days a week. Also, hoping to get my tempo runs to a point of where my fastest mile in there is a sub8. Nothing like speedy Janae, but it would be enough for me. (Seriously, check out Janae's blog, she is 10 kinds of awesome and super funny)

3. Favorite race

......This is a hard one. I have run 3 'official' 5K races (more about #4 later).

My first 5K ever was end of Aug this year and I ran it in 32:19. Fond memories just due to it being my first.

Second race was Race for the Cure, Oct 3 (picture below). I LOVED that one due to the ENORMOUS crowd. What a rush. Ran that one in 29:00 and was GASTED WITH FLABBER that I got a sub30 on my 2nd 5K EVER.

Third race was Oct30 and was a favorite as it was my first race to run with my hubby. AND I got to meet a fellow Daily Miler there (Keeley, pictured below) who is AWESOME. AND I PR'd at 27:30 (picture below).

HOWEVER, my FAVORITE race was one I ran all by myself.
I am a member of the Runner's World forum and one of the forumites there put on a 'Virtual Turkey Trot'. Basically, you pick your distance and run it on Thankgiving as if you are in a race. So I picked 5K and I ran it like a pack of wolves (or children trying to steal my candy) were hot on my heels. I mean, snot flying, gasping for air, foaming at the mouth, kind of racing. I was ON IT. I stopped my watch at the end....25:30!!! I was FLOORED.
Very much gasted with flabber yet again.
I even came home and re-mapped it on mapmyrun, zooming in so close I think I could see someone nose hair, and yep, 3.1. So THAT was my favorite race.

3. Favorite holiday guilty pleasure.

.....ok, definitely this.

Puppy chow. And I EAT it like a rabid dog. The term 'ugly eat' would fit appropriately here.

Last question...

4. Most embarrassing running moment

....Well considering I have not been running long, I dont have any. Yet.

But given my track record for clumsiness and generally being innately awkward, I am sure it will come in due time.

Stay tuned.

NOW.

I get to tag 3 fabulous people! And the winners are.....*DRUM ROLL*

ELKTON RUNNER

NEJ-THEREISNOTRY

RUNNING THE DAWN

I was gonna tag Kara Goucher, but I don't think she has time to play these little Blog-land games, being that she is so busy running her little 15 mile runs as a 6:22 pace and all.

And Janae, was gonna tag you too, but you are like, 11.1 degrees of awesomeness ahead of me, and I would hate to pull you backwards. BUT if you feel like hangin' with the slow joes for awhile, then feel free to participate!! =)

Dec 25 and Dec 26, 2010

Dec 25, 2010 elliptical-6 miles 29 minutes
Dec 26, 2010 treadmill-2.5 miles 29 minutes.

Boy it sure is funny to look at the difference in those two workouts =)
I used my heartrate monitor for both. It is SO fun to upload the data onto my Garmin Training Center when I am done and see how the workout was!

Yesterday on the elliptical, my max heartrate for that workout was around 155.
Today on the treadmill, my max heartrate was around 175.

And for good reason. Today's workout felt super hard. I have just decided that the treadmill sucks and I am not going to enjoy ANY minutes that I workout on it, but will do it if I HAVE to in order to keep up my running legs.

I dont know if I have posted about the treadmill conditions I work out in, have I?
Well anyway, its my neighbors treadmill and they are awesome enough to let me use it. Its in their heated garage so I dont even need to bother them to use it, just type in the code and let myself in!
However (and I HATE complaining because it is wonderful that I have a treadmill to run on at ALL), this treadmill faces their garage door. So really nothing to look at. But it was nice to be able to look thru the 1' window to the outside. Though all I was looking at was their driveway and passing cars, but at least it was something!
Well now, they have put contact paper over all their windows, so when I am on the treadmill looking ahead, there is basically a wall 18" in front of me which makes me dizzy if I try to look at it.
So today was the first time I ran in there with it like that-AND THEN, my music dies on me!!!! I thought I had a good amount of charge on it, but apparently I didnt. So not only did I run with nothing but a wall to look at, but I also have no MUSIC!!!
I am going to see if hubby can figure out something on his phone so that I can take that over there with me and watch something on there.
I do not wish to bid farewell to this world because I died of boredom on a treadmill.

Also, I got the Nike voucher last Thursday!!!!! They gave me the full retail price ($160) so I went right to Nike.com that night and order my new 2010's. They said 2-9 business days. What a wide range of time. I would have preferred that delivery time said 'now' or 'now plus 2 minutes' =) I am more than a little impatient to get them.
I think running in the old shoes is finally catching up with me as my shins and ankles have been bothering me a bit =(
I cant decided if I should do one more run in them this week or just wait it out until I get my new shoes....thoughts?

Dec 23, 2010...LOVE my Garmin!

Dec 23, 2010....3.9 miles 40:07...27* windchill of 21*. Gear: headband, neck gaiter, Reebok tech ss shirt, ls Tek Gear shirt, jacket, gloves, Chill Chasers, Fila tights, shorts, hydration belt, tunes...and GARMIN!!!

I FINALLY broke open the Garmin box yesterday. I thought it would take hubby awhile to figure it out but he skimmed thru the book and gave it to me and said 'Here. I think YOU need to figure this one out for yourself so you know how to work it'.
GRRR. I knew he was right but I HATE reading directions and trying to figure out how stuff works.
Anyway, I was surprised at how quickly you can set this up and have it ready to go!
I read multiple review before deciding on this one (the Forerunner 305). I cant wait to use the HR monitor with it.
One of the best places to find out all the cool things to do with the 305 can be found HERE
this guy did an EXTENSIVE review on it.

I thought the size, and standard wrist band would bother me but they didnt at all! I did order the velcro wrist band set just incase though. However, I DID wear it over my LS shirt today, so that could have made a difference.

This run felt off to me. I got a horrible nights sleep last night, was slightly dehydrated, took a hilly route, and got off a little too speedy. Seeing my pace the first few minutes of the run in the upper 11s kind of freaked me out so I tried to pick up the pace.
Truthfully, the first 5-6 minutes of my run have probably always been upper 11s and I just never know it. Sometimes ignorance is bliss!

However, next time I go on an easy run I am going to try not to focus on that aspect.
It was fun to just run wherever I wanted and look down and see how far I had gone!

I am excited to use the heartrate monitor on my next elliptical workout.

Now I need to figure out how to get my Garmin info off the watch and on to my 'puter....I think hubby'll HAVE to do that for me. This computer and I have a bit of a rocky relationship and sometimes it bites me when I try to do something new. Hubby however, seems to be the 'Computer Whisperer'. Always good to have one of those in the family. =)

Dec 21, 2010

Dec 20, 2010....3.8 miles 38 minutes....34* with a windchill of 27*....gear: headband, neck gaiter, Reebok short sleeve tech shirt, LS Tek Gear shirt, jacket, gloves, chill chasers tights, Fila tights, shorts, tunes, hydration belt.

Good golly, it felt SO good to get back out there today! I looked at the calendar and noticed that it had only been 11 days since my last outdoor run, but it felt like 11 WEEKS!!

I was a bit nervous as it felt like I was running upper 10s, so when I got home and mapped my 38 min run, I was MORE than pleased to see it was an even 10 min mile average pace!!

I am trying to go easy in these old kicks. Petered around the Nike site today and I am narrowing it down to 2 pairs. One is on clearance for $127 and the other is full price-$160. But they LOOK like the exact same shoe-only different color. I'm all about saving $33!! Well, saving it to use on something ELSE =)

I am thinking I shouldnt run any days in a row right now until I get new shoes, so my next run will HOPEFULLY be Thursday if the weather holds out.

Nebraska is being kind to me after all!