Chug-along-chica!

August 2008

Previous MonthRecent EntriesHomeJoin Fast Running Blog Community!PredictorHealthy RecipesLybi's RacesFind BlogsMileage BoardTop Ten Excuses for Missing a RunTop Ten Training MistakesDiscussion ForumRace Reports Send A Private MessageWeek ViewYear View
Graph View
Next Month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
200720082009201020112012
15% off for Fast Running Blog members at St. George Running Center!

Location:

Mesa,AZ,

Member Since:

Apr 04, 2007

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Marathon Finish

Running Accomplishments:

Prs:

1 mile:  6:31

5K:  23:37

Half Marathon: 2:04

My first post-high school 5K, in which I thought I was going to die

The first time I won my age division.  Yippee!

My first half marathon, in which I attack Sasha

The time I beat my high school PR for the 5K (as a 31 year-old mommy of 3!)

My first 5K barefooted

 

Short-Term Running Goals:

I'm just getting back into running after a long break to have my last child.  I would like to race some 10Ks, a half, and a marathon in the next 2 years.

Long-Term Running Goals:

Be the oldest woman to complete a marathon.  Yea!  But hopefully I will also complete some BEFORE I geezer up, like, before I'm 40 for sure.  I think it would be fun to dress up really strange for marathons, like impersonating celebrities and stuff.  Except I don't really like celebrities, as a rule, so maybe I'll have to stick to the age old question of ninja, or pirate.  I say ninja. *Hyah!*

Personal:

I am happily married to James W (Cool Runnings). We have 3 boys and 1 opinionated little girl.  I love reading and I'm also a news junkie.  I am a stinker.

Favorite Blogs:

Click to donate
to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
67.000.0067.00
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
3.000.003.00

So, you may have noticed that I am not running so very much these days.... It is true, I have really been feeling yucky toward running. I have toyed on an off with the idea of just giving it up. There are a several reasons not to give it up, though. The days that I miss my run really do not seem to go as well as when I DO run, despite my reluctance.

Last night I prayed that I would wake up with a desire to run, and I did! My eyes popped open at 5:40 without an alarm clock (THAT is a miracle, people) and I went for a short run on the treadmill. It felt good, kind of like scratching an itch. I think that until this lull in running enthusiasm subsides I am happy to just run 3 miles a day to maintain health.

And in other news, BREAKING DAWN comes out tomorrow. YEA! I hereby pledge to...try very hard...not to stay up all night tomorrow reading. Doh! I can't promise, though!


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments(9)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
3.000.003.00

3 miles on the treadmill followed by a lot of reading!   I watched a terrible kids movie, can't remember the name.  I decided that I absolutely MUST run a marathon at some point.  I wonder if 2009 will be it!

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments(8)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
2.000.002.00

Feeling pretty sleep deprived--running on just 3 hours and NO nap!  But I eeked in 2 miles anyway on the treadmill just for the sake of consistency.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments(2)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
3.000.003.00

3 miles on the treadmill this morning in about 28:00 minutes. So Laura asked me to elaborate a little on why I went from not wanting to run at all to pondering a marathon. So, here's a long pithy BORING explanation that I strongly advise all of you not read:

You guys never listen to me...

Okay, so I've been looking back through my blog trying to solve the case of the missing motivation. I think my motivation peaked after running the Provo Half Marathon in March. I was so humbled that I could fall apart that much just by running a longer race. It ignited a kind of excitement. A real challenge! (Plus, proximity to the Pachevs always makes me want to run. It takes a couple months to wear off.) So I had 2 really good running months. At the end of May I ran a great 5K that achieved the goal I had most set my mind on for over a year. It was a little having that goal crossed off. I didn't feel as passionate about any of my other goals. So then it got super hot and all my running buddies gave up running for the summer months. So, working backwards, all I need to do is set a new goal that I honestly really feel something about (that's where the marathon completion comes it), find some new running buddies, the weather will cool on it's own in the next couple of months and we're all good!

I work with motivating people a lot as a piano teacher. The thing that I try to remind them of when they go through rough times is that they pass! Sometimes all they need is a fabulous new song, a performance situation, or going to a piano concert to snap out of it. Discouragement is not a permanent thing, but quitting is.

I'll tell you why the marathon goal is the coolest goal in the whole world in Wed. post.

 

PS I finally got my 5 fingered shoes and they don't fit! My toes are deformed. They're more like vestigial toes than anything else. Rot it all!

 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments(5)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

4 miles on the treadmill, watching "Pride and Prejudice" with Keira Knightly.  I LOVE that one scene in the rain.  I had to rewind and watch it again.

Ug.  I wrote a long thing on marathons, but I took too long and didn't save it, so it fell into the black cyber hole.  Durn!  Maybe I'll try again later.
 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments(14)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
2.000.002.00

2 Token miles on the treadmill.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Add Comment
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
0.000.000.00

This day I was going to run after I finished some work preparing some new curriculum for the new year for my piano studio.  Too bad I badly underestimated the time it would take me to get it all read and printed out....I stayed up all night!   

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Add Comment
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
2.000.002.00

2 Miles after watching the Olympics. Don't you just love watching the Olympics? It makes me proud to be a human. ;)

I've been a little sick ever since my all-nighter last weekend. (Go figure!) But anyway, although many of you may want to give up on me, you will see that things are heading up for me in the running dept. You can't tell because it doesn't show in my mileage yet, but I can tell because of how I feel. You will see!

And guess what? I have located a possibility for a dedicated running buddy! I give piano lessons from 6:45 to 7:45 am on Tues. Actually, I just started this new schedule--today was the first time. But anyway, the mom of these two little guys ran around my neighborhood during the lesson, instead of hanging out in her car like a veal. Her name is Brynne, and she is sooooo cool! It would be an absolute delight to get to know her better. I better go call her now, while I'm thinking about it. She has 3 boys, just like me--that automatically puts her in the cool person group, or at least, the "What the heck happened to my sanity group? (which tends to correlate to coolness (or at least that there are a lot of funny stories to tell on our runs.)) He he he.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments(4)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

Mixed feelings about my run tonight in the low-broil oven of early evening.  

Good-I am running.  This is good, this is back on track

Bad-Jeez, this seems like a really long way!  4 miles didn't used to be this long, did it?

Ugly-Feeling plump in my cute clothes.   Fat is so unforgiving.

 
But the worst tragedy is that I had to miss out on teaching discussions tonight.  That is one of my favorite things in the week.  Get better soon, Lyndsay! 

And I have one other important thing to say:  Gooooo Michael Phelps!  The universe has compensated you for giving you such unsymmetrical ears by blessing you with speed!!!  Great job making the most of it!

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments(5)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

2 miles on the treadmill twice today.  Look!  2 days of running over three miles in a row.   Somebody call Guinness.

This week my 5 year-old went to Kindergarten.  *Sniff sniff*  You spend all your time helping them and hoping they will grow, and forcing them to eat veggies so they will grow, making them go to bed so they can grow...and THEN a terrible, terrible thing happens.  They grow! 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Add Comment
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

4 miles, all outside.  2 this morning, 2 at night.  Beautiful both times.  This morning it was cool, and there were some gorgeous storm clouds set off by the sunrise.  This evening there was a big thunderstorm, and I got to go out after and run in the newly-washed glory of it all.  One of the unexpected benefits of running for me is getting to see a lot more of nature.  Any "nature" I see other than during my runs is usually unwelcome--i.e. a scorpion in the house or something.  Yech!  Dadgum nature!

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments(1)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
1.500.001.50

It was cool and cloudy today.  Yippee!  I took my 7 year-old for a run outside.  Missed my evening run, though.  

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Add Comment
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.500.004.50

2 Miles this morning on the treadmill, barefoot. Didn't seem all that bad today. Usually I hate running barefoot on the treadmill, but recently it has seemed less inconvenient to just run barefoot on it than to try to locate my shoes, if you can believe it. I just keep thinking about my tendons and ligaments getting tougher and more resilient to injury. Jeez, I hope that is what is happening.

2.5 Miles on the treadmill barefoot tonight.

Yea, I broke 20 miles this week for the first time since the beginning of June!  Now a slow and steady climb to 30 is in order.  Wish me luck!

 

Quick poll:  My 5 year-old's KINDERGARTEN class has 37 kids in it.  Doesn't that seem like a lot?  Especially for kindergarten?  The teacher and aid acted like it was a totally normal number.   What is going on here?!

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments(9)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

2 miles in the morning, 2 in the evening.  Both barefoot on the treadmill.  Felt really good and perky tonight.  8:40 pace at the end.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Add Comment
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

2 miles this morning barefoot on the treadmill. Wanna know something kinda cool and kinda wierd? I stepped on (kicked, really) an open safety pin that was jammed in the carpeting and it DIDN'T pierce the skin on the bottom of my feet. I thought it was just an errant staple or something that got stuck in the carpet, because all I felt was some snagging, but no pain.  I'm take this as a sign that my feet ARE actually getting tougher, despite the lack of visible change. I had been waiting and waiting to see some evidence of my soles thickening, but to no avail.  But this is good news!!! I don't really want to have ugly calluses on my feet, I just want to have TOUGH feet. So...tough and cute are not mutually exclusive.   Tough, cute.  Better than chocolate and peanut butter, and much less fattening.  ;)

Anyway, I've gotta go get my last 2 miles in. Sorry I don't have much time for blogging these days, people! It's not because I don't care...I am just SO dang busy! When I get my fall schedule a little more under control I'll be checking out more blogs and leaving more comments, I hope. But for now [bulk comment coming]...um...Great run! Keep it up, you are an inspiration!

2 BF TM miles too late at night.  Sleep running.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments(3)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
0.000.000.00

Ew!  I feel sick today.   

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments(2)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
2.000.002.00

Well I woke up feeling a strong compulsion to run this morning.  Nothing works right if I miss my run in the morning.   I've got about an hour to an hour and a half before my kids wake up in the am to 1) run 2 miles, 2) shower and get all spiffy for the day, 3) fold a load of laundry, and 4)study my scriptures.  If I REALLY book it I can get all those things done before my little blessings wake up and command my full attention.  But if I miss my run, I don't do any of those other things and I wake up when my kids force me to (usually by jumping on my bed).  This is the scenario that leads to still being in pajamas at noon, and needs to be avoided as much as possible.  So, even though I was feeling sick yesterday (sore throat, feverish, can't hear out of one ear)  I headed out this morning, determined to get 'er done. 

I felt really clunky this morning--kind of tense, and rather slow despite moderate effort.  I was running outside barefoot as the sun came up.  I was thinking about chi running.  I'll admit it, I know nothing about chi-running, but Laura mentioned it yesterday in her blog, along with something about leaning forward a little bit.  Now, you all know that there is a little axiom about a little bit of knowledge being a dangerous thing, and in this case it proved to be quite true.  I basically just leaned forward a little more than usual, and reveled in the "chi-ness" of running in some Taoistic (I think I just invented that word) way.  I definitely was able to achieve a high level of detachment, as my chi running suddenly became chi-flying, followed shortly by chi-crashing.   I don't want to talk about it, other than just mentioning that this is by the most skin I have ever lost off my knees.  But I finished my run and got the laundry folded etc., so the day went pretty well from that point on.  I did start to feel sicker throughout the day though, so I will not be putting in my little end-cap of running this evening.
 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments(5)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
2.000.002.00

2 Miles on the treadmill this evening.  Pretty sore from yesterday's eventful run!  Sore back, ouchy toes (they lost a little skin too), knee purty painful if I bend it too far, but fine for running slow. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Add Comment
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

2 Really pretty BF miles this morning. It rained last night, and it always smells so good! I ran through a flock of about 50-75 little black birds, probably starlings. They all took off from the ground together, so I got the cool sensation of running through a living tunnel. I wished I had time to run a little more. Tomorrow morning I'm going to try waking up just 10 min. earlier and see if I can get 3 in the am instead of just the usual 2.  Whoops, it'll have to be Wed.  because Tuesday is when I start piano lessons uber early in the morning.  I don't want my poor students to come and find me all sweaty from my run.......again.  BLUSH BLUSH BLUSH!

2 more miles with my cute little guys tonight.  I'm developing a grow-your-own-running-buddy program over here...so far so good!

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments(10)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
1.000.001.00

I only got one mile in today!  But one is infinitely more than zero.  I got interrupted by children waking up during my morning run, and chose to spend time with James instead of running in the evening.  I mean really, what kind of choice is that?  Husband time trumps exercise anytime. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Add Comment
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

2 miles this morning outside. Shod. The weather was cool and threatening thunderstorms. I thought I'd have a good story to tell...however, the clouds held onto the rain until I was done. The clouds looked really magnificent! It looks like the sky was engulfed in a gray liquid, and part of it had been stirred up by a huge spoon. And in the middle of this disturbed section, a wide, diffuse waterfall from sky to earth. Beautiful! 5 more minutes and I'd have been as wet as a chicken. ;)

2 miles tonight on the treadmill, BF. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments(5)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
2.000.002.00

2 miles in the morning BF on the treadmill. I am so excited to go on our trip tomorrow! We are going to New Mexico tomorrow, picking up my beloved parents and taking them to Colorado Springs with us on Sat. Then we will hang out at Laura's house (on the blog) and relax on Sunday. Then MONDAY is when the fireworks start. Laura and sweet hubby James are running a half marathon. I intend to run the last 5 miles or so with Laura, if I can keep up with her! I am so excited for Laura because this is her first half ever. Quite a big step! I'm also excited for James. It's been quite a while since he raced.

Holy smokes, there are a lot of buttons to choose from down there. Er...I can't make decisions this late at night. I've got option shock!

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Add Comment
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.500.004.50

Pain.  I am soo sleepy right now.  I stayed up quite late last night packing for our trip.  Then we left at 5:30 am.  We got in around 1:30 local time and had a great time with the fam. here in New Mexico.  Happily, we were able to share in the joy of celebrating my big brother's birthday.  I gave him a big book about weather, with lots of cool pictures in it, 'cause he is interested in weather.  Unfortunately someone had already given him a big weather book last year for his birthday...ME!  I completely forgot that I did that...I remember thinking that I should do it.  I bought it online so it only took 1 min. of my time, and I guess it didn't leave that big of an impression on me!

Today was all about running as a family.  I ran about a mile with my 5 year-old (actually, I was chasing him and tickling him, but I kept it up for 12 min. straight, so that's got to be at least a mile.)  Then I ran 1.5 miles with my 7 year-old.  He is getting healthier and has a tougher mental attitude about sticking to it.  I'm so proud of him.  I'm gonna have to work to keep up with him in the next year or so.  Then I got to run 2 miles with James, which was my favorite part.  He has such a light, springy gait.  I chuff along and he's *boing boing boing* bouncing right along side me effortlessly.   It's fun.  I never worry about dogs or weirdos when I am with him, even though he got some wolf-whistles and a "hey baby!" from a chica who passed us in a car.  How rude to do that right in front of someone's wife! But I can hardly blame her.  He's hot, no doubt about it.  *Chuckle*

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments(4)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
2.500.002.50

Running with the kiddos in Colorado.  Man, the altitude is really noticeable!  I think it's about 6,500 here in Colorado Springs where Laura lives.   She'll be flying if she ever comes down to Mesa to run a race.  I'm gonna twist her arm and see if I can gt her down here.  

Annnnnnnnddd, this is the first week that I've run all 6 days in a long long time.  First of many!  I'm starting to feel the excitement about racing and training again.   This is going to be a better running year for me than last year.  You'll see!  Fall, Winter, and Spring lay ahead like a big present for enduring the summer.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments(1)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
67.000.0067.00
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Debt Reduction Calculator
Featured Announcements
Lone Faithfuls
(need a comment):
Recent Comments: