Another 5k Day

OK - this could start getting mundane to read. But I ran another 5k training distance tonight. I really need to run in the daylight. It's kinda scary running when you can't see your feet the whole way.

NOTE to new runners: When running in the dark (no streetlights around), when you see a cars headlights coming at you, lower your head and close your mouth. Otherwise, the bugs will flee from the light and try to land in your eyes, nose, mouth. And no matter what anyone says, THAT kind of protein is not good ;) I gagged on a few bugs tonight.

I feel like I'm getting some stamina built up though. I ran 1.85 miles non-stop tonight. And it's not terrible to go 3 miles. If you had told me 3 months ago that I would willingly go run 3 miles I would have laughed my butt off! But I really forgot how good exercise feels. Even if you are worn out and really stinky when it's over.

Here's the stats according to Pedro:
Mile 1 - 10:07
Mile 2 - 11:37
Mile 3 - 12:31
0.19 - 2:28

Total time: 36:44 I looked at my watch at 3.10 miles and time was 35:48. Splits were not impressive though. I'd like to get under 35 minutes before RTW HRB vs SHRC.

Almost 3 miles in the rain

OK OK, Edwin has been on me to post my last run. I didn't even know he READ my blog.

So my last run was Wednesday I guess - I ran 2.77 miles in 31:12.

mile 1 - 9:58
mile 2 - 11:35
last .77 - 9:38 (12:27 pace)

I wanted to make it 3 miles but it started raining pretty good and I was scared of the lightning starting up so when I saw my street I headed home, didn't make another loop to finish the 3 miles. Not bad. And I did my first mile in under 10 minutes so Woo Hoo to that!

I went to Lufkin to visit my mother in law - it's so sad to see her deteriorating so fast. And my cousin got married so I photographed her wedding. She's a doll :)

I'll start running again tonight after I get back from a beach session. I have to get ready for the RTW 5k in two weeks! My first race since my running habit has started . . . .

I did it! I 5k'd

OK - I finally just went out and did it. I was determined to go the whole 3.1 miles. So I took off about 8:15pm tonight. I had trusty Pedro, HR monitor, mp3 player, plenty of OFF and a last swig of water.

About 0.5 mile I felt a weird cramp-like feeling along the outside of my uppper thigh, weird feeling but it didn't hurt, so I kept going. I was surprised that I heard Pedro beep when I hit my 1 mile mark and had not stopped to walk yet. I saw two ladies running way up ahead of me and I tried to catch up to them to see who they were. I walked for one minute at this time, the one mile mark. Then started running again to see if I could catch them. Never did :) I walked another minute sometime during that second mile, ran a little, walked another minute of that mile and saw I had reached 1.5 miles so I turned around and headed back home. I ran all the way back I think, maybe a quick stop to let a car go thru an intersection but no walking.

Here's the stats! Notice the "negative split" on mile 3. Edwin laughs at me when I use "real" running words . . .

Mile 1 - 10:28 - (ran whole way)
Mile 2 - 12:01 - (walked total of 3 minutes)
Mile 3 - 10:27 - (ran whole way)
0.1 - 2:48
Total Time: 35:44
Avg HR - 184

I'm sure the reason I'm not losing much weight (though I did see a weird 2.5 lb drop yesterday after spending 4 hours at the beach chasing kids for pictures, my weight NEVER fluctuates) is because my heart rate stays too high, I'm not in the Fat Burning rate levels, I don't know how to lower that unless I just walk.

But I DID IT! Another goal accomplished. Weird thing is it didn't even hurt or make me tired. Maybe I can do it every run now . . .

Not much new .. . .

My sister came down to visit and let me do some headshots for a portfolio and was complaining about her weight so I gave her a pair of tennis shoes (crappy ones though) and made her go running with me at 9pm last night.

She really did good considering she hasn't ran in a while. She never asked to stop running, though we did take a few walk breaks.

I stepped over a baby snake once . . . kinda freaked me out but I didn't tell Shawna, if it had been a big snake I would have screamed but he was only about 6 inches long and too little to bite me so I didn't worry about it.

We did 2 miles in 25 something . . .. . It was hot even at 9pm . .. . ready for winter weather.

Wow! Guess What???

Edwin went to the track with me tonight - I didn't feel like going. I was tired. I couldn't sleep last night. I need to see my chiropractor/massage therapist because my shoulders and back are killing me right now (I carry my stress there) - so I couldn't get comfortable. I was awake from 2am-6am.

So this afternoon I was exhausted and just wanted to sleep. But he dragged me up to the track anyways. I want to see if I can run a 5k, but I haven't made it past 2.5 miles yet. And running 11-13 minute miles at that.

Well, our first mile tonight was .. . . . (drum roll please??) 9:34! I know I walked maybe half a minute at one point, I was just winded. Then he let me walk a lap, 300 meters. Then we finished another mile at 11:12. I didn't feel this lap was any slower than the first except I walked a few more times. I have zero sense of time when running though.

After that, we played "soccer" with the girls for a few minutes. Our 3 year old will make a pretty good player one day, she could do the run/kick very well, suprisingly well for such a little one . . . .

So I'm glad he made me go.

Couple Days on Treadmill

We finally joined the Rec Center here in town. It's a pretty neat place, though I wish they had a raquetball court. Since my calf has been bothering me I started using the treadmill. Thursday I went 1.5 miles on it, my leg was still tender, so I walked alot on it. I did 4 sets of ab work. Went back on Saturday and did the same thing, but went 2 miles in 26 minutes and did 4 sets of ab work.

It hurts to sneeze now! Running is definitely more boring on the treadmill. Nothing to look at except the clock. There was a TV on but they only have one channel on at a time and it was on sports. I didn't want to watch that, so I had my music, but nothing to look at. I need to get back outside. I've been tanking up on salt tabs, potassium and Gatorade. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow.

We played a little tennis today. I felt like I had lead in my butt or something. Just drained. I had an outdoor photo session right before that though and it was SOOOOO hot and humid. Maybe that drained me. . . .

And I don't plan on using this blog to promote my business, as I have another blog and website for that, but I am having some fun contests and prizes starting tomorrow, all week long. So feel free to check out that blog to see what's going on.

Try and try again

OK gang, i'm not going to make my first 5k this weekend. I headed out again today for a try at a 5k distance. I got to the same spot as last time and my same leg cramped up in the same spot! Crazy. The cramp wasnt' as bad as the first one, but I knew I'd be sorry if I continued on and then couldn't make it back home. I was able to walk home at a comfortable pace. So 1.5 miles in around 17 minutes.

Oh well - I think I have alot to learn about hydration. I don't drink much water unless you count the water in a Sonic Route 44 tea. If you count that, then I have 44-88 ounces a day of water! I guess I'll start popping some salt tablets and potassium.

Thanks for asking Cassie :)

First Injury

Man! I left out this morning at 9am to see if I could make it a 5k distance. I want to run the Lunar 5k next weekend but want to make sure I can GO that far. So Edwin told me which route to take that would be just a little over 5k. So I took off . . .

Let me preface this by saying - I went to Lufkin Wednesday evening, was there all day Thursday, so no running those days. Worked Friday, then had Date Night, no running that day. Saturday I had a wedding, so no running that day. By today I was starting to feel the soreness from the LAST run I had done. I guess if you run regularly you don't get that "Bad" sore feeling since you keep working it out.

Back to today . . . . I head out. Have Pedro, have music, feeling great. About 0.5 miles my left calf starts feeling like a cramp is coming on. So I walk a little bit. Then run a little more.

By 0.75 mile it feels like a Charlie Horse but it's not moving, just STUCK there. On the calf muscle. Sore to the touch, can't rub it out.

So I stop and try to stretch it out, flexing my toes against the curb. Feels good to stretch it. But put the foot back down and it cramps up again.

So I turn to head home, trying to jog a little. That doesn't work.

Have you ever put tape on a cat's paw? You know how when that paw touches the ground/floor the cat pulls that foot up and shakes it so as not to let it touch the ground? Yeah, that's how I looked walking home. It hurt to straighten it out.

Took 21 minutes to go 1.5 miles. Maybe I'll try later this week for a 5k.

After that I showered and went to church then spent the day with a girlfriend. THAT was way over-due. No Edwin, we didn't really have tickle fights. But we still had fun. Went and had pedicures & manicures, then walked and talked around the mall. She visited my studio for the first time and we just really had fun hanging out :) I'm hoping she'll start running with me ;)

Going to soak in a minute then beg Edwin to rub some Theragesic on my leg . . . we'll see how that goes.

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10 things and more

I didn't post on July 4 after I ran. But I had everything written out in my head. Here's my top ten list of Things a New Runner Notices, That Didn't Matter Before:

10: Running 2.5 miles after playing almost an hour of tennis is tough but makes you feel great!
9: People shouldn't put their trash and cut limbs on their sidewalk 3 days before trash pick up. It stinks and you have to run around the piles.
8: Not enough people water their yard, there were ZERO water sprinklers to run thru and I looked hard for one.
7: Some neighborhoods are scary to run thru alone.
6: People shouldn't grill outside in their front yard while people are running. That's just wrong! Even if it IS July 4. The smell is SO good.
5: To pass the time you can invent games. My new game was "One foot in each square on the sidewalk, no more." Until I got to the bigger squares in the sidewalk, then it was 2 steps in.
4: Obviously there are no new running games, Edwin said he already knew that one.
3: Never go outside without OFF, the mosquitos are fierce and like sweat obviously.
2: It's rather disappointing when your husband forgets to meet you outside with a waterhose and bottle of water.
and
1: The best part of a run is jumping in a COLD shower immediately afterwards. Ahhhhh :)

I cut 27 seconds off my previous goal. I wanted to run 30 minutes, 2.5 miles. I finished the 2.5 in 29:42! Woo Hoo! I was so excited I stopped running (I was in front of my house at the 2.5 mile mark) so I stopped the watch and ran to show Edwin. Kinda makes me sad that he's there to cheer me on and encourage me and the past few years I haven't taken an interest in his running achievements.

A word of advice - if you really love someone, be active in their interests, get to know their friends, whether you understand or not. Now go tell someone you love them, and you're sorry that you have not been supportive or understanding of their needs :)

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On a different note, I just got back from visiting my mother in law. It was good to see her. She's very frail, but sharp and pleasant. She's doing much better with all this than I am. And my father in law. He's so sad, it breaks my heart to watch when he just watches her, or brushes her hair aside. He's hurting and he's trying not to show it in front of her.

It was nice to be there to fix them lunch and just take care of them a bit. Visit and talk. I had to help pick out her burial clothes and that was very tough, but she wanted me and my sister in law to decide which of two choices would be best. And now we know then the time comes what she wants. So strange . . . .

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I took my kids to the Aly & AJ concert tonight. I guess they are still too young. Though they love to watch them on Disney channel, after one hour of concert they said "OK we can go home now." I said are you sure? Ashton, the oldest, said "Yes they sang my favorite song and it's too loud. We can go now."

So we did. It was beautiful walking thru downtown at night, though the fountain across from Verizon Theater was roped off with police tape.

But they liked it. So that's all that matters.

Sad Day

Well, we got some sad news today about Edwin's mom. I'll let him share that when he's ready. But I've been crying all day. I worked from home today as I didn't want to deal with any clients with tears on the brink all day.

I just have to say a big thank you to my wonderful photographer friends around the country. I 've had 4 people, very talented and wonderful photogs, email/call me to say if I needed them to cover anything from sessions to weddings to running my studio for me that they would fly in to help me out. How can you find better friends than that? These people live in Florida, Dallas, Utah etc and would drop what they are doing to fly to Angleton, Texas to help a friend in need. That just brought more tears.

And to know that so many people have dealt with family members and cancer and can empathize with you and prepare you for what comes next. What invaluable friendships those are. I've only met these great ladies once in person, we chat alot online and are on some forums together. One of them I've not even met yet IRL, yet she volunteered to help me out. I love you guys!

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Edwin talked me into going out to eat since we didn't feel like cooking, not like we do much of that anyways. So after a Quesadilla Explosion salad at Chili's he encouraged me to run. I set out for 2.5 miles in 30 minutes. I missed it by 9 seconds. But still I did it! I walked alot. I think you have to wait more than one hour after eating, even a light meal, and DON"T drink half a bottle of water right before you go out. I'm learning the meaning of staying hydrated. Running is no fun when you feel the water sloshing around in your belly. Makes for pains in your side.

Here are the splits:
Mile 1 - 11:16 HR 164
Mile 2 - 12:45 HR 169
last .51 - 6:13 HR 174

Avg HR 168

Run after the rain

I was kind of looking forward to going with Edwin to West Columbia for his speed training with his buddies, I was just going to run the track and maybe the bleachers. But I took a nap while it rained instead :)

I went out about 8:30pm - Pedro's battery was dead so I just took a stop watch. I ran 28 minutes and walked 2 for a total of 30 minutes. I know I went more than 2 miles but don't know exact mileage.

I put lots of OFF on before going out, the mosquitos are HUGE and just attack you! I still got a few bites even with the OFF.

Then got home and did 100 crunches. Gotta flatten this belly. I'm thru having babies so now have no excuse to keep a belly. No weight loss this week, that's kinda depressing. Not one single pound. I don't weigh myself every day. I actually have to MAKE myself step on a scale. Hate them. But I got on it today and not one single pound since last week. Ugghhh.

But I feel like I'm looking better. Maybe it's because I'm not hiding behind my "Winter Clothes" as Edwin calls my everyday blue jeans and black shirts I normally wear.

I did clean out my closet last week and threw out 4 of my black shirts. If you know me, you know that I wear black probably 5 out of 7 days. So that's a big step for me on my road to the New Me.