Another hot, hilly run

I am so thankful I am in a taper week. I don't think I would want to attempt any long runs while here in Auburn. It is just too hot and so hilly! I know I would eventually get used to it, but not in the timespan I have left here.

I did a short run this morning. At least I got going earlier than I did on Saturday. I was out the door before 9 a.m. this time. But it was still hot. At least I didn't totally die this time. And I still managed a decent overall pace.

I think I will do a short run on Wednesday and/or Thursday. Then Friday I will be driving home and Saturday will be a rest day.

We're going back to the pool today! I am going to be brave and wear a swimsuit for the first time in YEARS. I wore a tank top and shorts on Saturday. Sorry, I will not be sharing swimsuit pics here. LOL!

Today's stats:
Run:
Distance: two miles
Time: 21:55
Pace: 10:57 minute/mile

Running in the heat

So much for getting up early to run.

I set the alarm for 7:30 a.m. and then slept in.

I had a strange night trying to get to sleep, so I was tired. Oh well.

But I did eventually get up. And I set off around 9:40 for my run.

Now I know why people run earlier than that here. Because it is HOT!!!

I don't know how hot it was at that time, but I was dying almost the whole way. I just could not get any relief. There was hardly any shade, and the water in my bottle got really warm and gross after about a mile.

Plus there are tons of hills here. Big ones.

Ick.

I only did a tad over three miles. That was all I could talk myself into doing.

But hey, at least I made it to 50 miles for the month! Woo hoo!!!

I am now entering a taper week before my next race. I am glad, since running a lot down here in the summer is brutal.

Oh, and my mom and I took the kids to the pool today. It was glorious! They have a shallow pool area for toddlers and little kids, complete with slides and this mushroom-thing that has water cascading down it. They had a blast splashing around. And I cooled my feet off while they played. Nice! We're going back on Monday. :-)

Today's stats:
Run:
Distance: 3.05 miles
Time: 34:32
Pace: 11:19

Greetings from Auburn, CA!

I am on vacation!! I am in Auburn, visiting my parents, until next Friday. Woo hoo!! We drove down here yesterday, and the kids have been having a great time with their grandparents.

Of course, it is much hotter here than where I live, so I am getting used to that. I was supposed to run today, but was so tired after the drive yesterday that I slept in today. Then it was way too hot to run in the evening, so I did a workout on my dad's elliptical machine. I will try to get up early tomorrow for my run.

Anyway, the next week will be filled with trips to the pool and nearby attractions. Then we will drive back to Fortuna next Friday, the day before my birthday. And that Sunday, the 5th, I have my next race. I might not be able to blog much until I get home.

So if you don't see me around much this week, that is why! Happy late July, everyone!

Today's stats:
elliptical machine:
Time: 30 minutes

An ode to my mom

I just realized this posted as July 24. I wrote the draft of this on July 24 and saved it, but posted it this morning, July 25. Hope that makes sense. :-)

Today is my mom's 60th birthday! (July 25, not 24)

This big event got me thinking the other night. After all, she's had to deal with little ol' me for more than half her lifetime already! ;-)

I could not have asked for a better mother in this life. She has always been there for me, even when I failed to appreciate her (and in my teenage years, I'm sure that happened A LOT!!). I never fully understood all that she did for my younger sister and me until I had my own children. Talk about your wake-up call!!

During the course of my life, my mom has had dozens of informal jobs, all while staying home to care for us. She's been a nurse, teacher, chauffeur, cheerleader, disciplinarian, chef, home economist, maid, vacation planner, therapist ... the list just goes on and on. She changed our diapers, rocked us to sleep and comforted us when we were hurt. She made valiant attempts to understand how crushed I was when I failed to make the cheer squad in high school (my sis did, however) or how much it stunk to break up with a boyfriend. And she rooted us on when we had success in school, sports and life in general.

Of course, she still drives me crazy sometimes. I'm sure I do the same to her! ;-)

So, on this date of her birth *all* those years ago (just kidding, LOL!), I want to thank her for every moment of every day she has given me. I think this poem I found online sums it up pretty well:


Mother.......

When you're a child she walks before you,
To set an example.

When you're a teenager she walks behind you
To be there should you need her.

When you're an adult she walks beside you
So that as two friends you can enjoy life together.

- Author Unknown


Today's stats:
6 a.m. Run:
Distance: four miles
Time: 44:06
Pace: 11:01 minute/mile

Splits:
Mile 1: 11:22
Mile 2: 10:53
Mile 3: 10:40
Mile 4: 11:11

Quickie

Just a quickie post to log my stats.

I have tons to do tomorrow, so I am planning a short morning run because I know I will not have time otherwise. Then on Thursday, the kids and I will be off to visit my parents for a week! I will still run (and blog) during that time. :-)

Night!

Today's stats:
Bike:
Time: 20 minutes
Distance: 5.31 miles

Think I need to get some pepper spray

So tonight was my short recovery run. As usual, I had a bit of a tough time slowing down and ended up doing it much too fast, basically defeating the purpose. *sigh*

I decided to stick to the neighboring subdivisions for this run. I have been venturing into town and other subdivisions farther away for my longer runs. I was about 1/10 away from finishing and running up a street just a couple streets from my house when this huge black dog rushed me. It came from this house that I call the "white trash house." Sorry if that's offensive, but the people who live there are seriously disgusting.

Anyway, their stupid dog, which looked like a mix between a Newfoundland and Labrador (it was REALLY big) ran at me full bore and jumped up, pushing my chest with its ginormous front paws. That caused me to shriek and spin around. The force darn near caused me to fall. I stopped running and stopped the Garmin while the two Billy Bobs living there watched their dog go after me. They finally tried half-heartedly to corral it, and I thought they got it back in the garage.

I crossed to the other side of the street and started again. About three seconds later, the idiot dog was up in my face again!!! I screamed "God damn!!" (not sure why I chose that), and glared at the guys. I stopped the Garmin again and walked to another nearby street, where I finished my last minute or so of the run.

I have to say the whole thing shook me up and irritated the crap out of me all at once. I don't understand why people feel it's OK to let their dogs run in the street. I don't care if it's in front of their house. In my opinion, any dog that's not in a house or fenced yard NEEDS to be on a leash!!!

I think I will be looking for some pepper spray, along with a fuel belt and new running clothes.

Today's stats:
Run:
Distance: two miles
Time: 22:14
Pace: 11:07 minute/mile

Splits:
Mile 1: 10:52
Mile 2: 11:22

Fairly short entry tonight

We spent a good deal of the day in Eureka at the zoo and park, so I am quite tired.

I tried to get up early to run, but Matty has been teething like mad and waking several times a night, so I am, shall I say, less than refreshed in the morning. I think I will scrap the morning runs until he's sleeping through the night again.

Anyway, after all our fun today, I was feeling kinda tired and weird when I started my run at 7:40 p.m. My butt literally felt HEAVY. It was so strange. But it got lighter as time went on. Thank goodness, because I hauled that heavy butt five miles tonight before it started getting too dark. And I set another PR for five miles!

I went back through my blog entries and realized the last five-miler I did was in late May. I have done one 10K distance and one seven-miler since then, but most of my runs have been three or four miles. I think that distance is my comfort zone right now. I need to break out of that.

But I know the faster, shorter runs have really been helping with my times in my longer runs. I mean, check out my new PR and what the old one was, set just two months ago! The proof is in the pudding. Yum, pudding! ;-)

So much for my short post.....

Today's stats:
Run:
Distance: five miles
Time: 54:48 (a new PR; previous was 58:34 back on May 20. This is not a typo! I shaved almost four minutes off this bad boy!!)
Pace: 10:57 minute/mile

Splits:
Mile 1: 10:43
Mile 2: 10:30 (think I went out too fast and then finally settled into a comfy pace in the third mile)
Mile 3: 11:10
Mile 4: 11:13
Mile 5: 11:12

Oh, how I wish we had air conditioning!!!!

Right now:

Temp: 82 degrees
Humidity: 78 percent

I WANT AIR CONDITIONING!!!!!!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coming back to add that I did a short bike workout tonight. And Tim and I took the kids on a walk this evening when it started to cool down a bit. But I was feeling too hot and cranky still after this icky-poo day, so a short indoor ride was all my psyche could muster. Blah.

I will try to do a long run in the morning. Fingers crossed!

Today's stats:
Bike:
Time: 20 minutes
Distance: 5.48 miles

Training in Hawaii!!

Yes, you read that right.

Now remove "Hawaii" and insert "Fortuna, CA."

Loses some of its luster, huh?

Booooooo!!!!

It has certainly FELT like Hawaii here this week. It has been really warm and just muggy up the wazoo. When I left for my run at 7 p.m., our outdoor temperature gauge said it was 75 degrees outside. And I could just feel the humidity hit me in the face. Ick. Weather.com says the humidity is currently 72 percent here right now, which is actually 18 percent higher than Honolulu. Blech.

Despite being warm and miserable today (I took the kids to the zoo and we all came home wiped out), I decided to brave my outdoor run. I was only going to do three miles, but for some reason I added a fourth mile. Bad idea. It made an uncomfortable run plain awful. Really, every breath felt difficult and I was drenched in sweat. You know it's an icky run when your fingertips are dripping sweat before you hit two miles. Ewwwwww!! But that's how it was.

I actually finished the first three miles with an overall pace under 11 minutes a mile. Then I just HAD to throw on that last mile, which blew my pace to heck and left me feeling just DRAINED. I mean, like I could not run another step even if I wanted to. It was absolutely wretched. Oh, and I ran out of water again and had no place to refill, so that made the last mile even more painful. I was thirsty!!!!! So now I'm sitting here with some ice water, enjoying every sip. :-)

I hope, hope, hope this humidity goes away and we get back to more "normal" summer weather!!! I am not liking it!!

Today's stats:
Run:
Distance: four miles
Time: 44:18
Pace: 11:04 minute/mile

Spits:
Mile 1: 11:10
Mile 2: 10:48
mile 3: 10:38
Mile 4: 11:42 (the decent pace killer!!)

I know I'm a runner now

I spent this evening doing yard work, which I somewhat hate now because our lawn is so gross. But I felt I had to, as my father-in-law told us we needed to mow our weeds earlier this week (no joke!!). So I gave it the old college try after Tim got home from work. I mowed and weed whacked so now all my weeds are the same length as the dead grass. Fabulous. But at least it looks better from a distance. And it looks MUCH better than our neighbor's lawn, which is now like a jungle because no one is ever there to tend it. At least they have an excuse, I guess.

Anyway, as I was finishing up, I decided to pull some weeds in the front by the road. As I was yanking them out, two guys ran by. I think they tried to say something to me, but I couldn't hear them over my iPod. But for a second I seriously wanted to throw down the weeds and join them!! And I wasn't even wearing my running shoes. LOL! I guess that makes me hard-core, huh? ;-)

I have a run slated for tomorrow and today was technically a day off (despite the torturous yard work). Happy Thursday night, everyone!

I've been tagged!

My super-duper running and blogging buddy Lisa tagged me as a Rockin' Girl Blogger. Sweet!! So now I shall "tag" five other women who are awesome runners/bloggers and good people. Feel the love!! ;-)

First, there's
TX Runner Girl. I honestly don't know how she juggles everything!! Work, school, her young daughter, running. She is modern-day Superwoman!!

Next, I tag Sonia. This girl runs A LOT! I mean, I've read about her doing 20-mile training runs like it was nothing. Seriously, I am impressed!!

Then there's Laurel. She is now training for a marathon and recently did a 16-mile training run. And she lives in Florida, so she has to deal with heat and overwhelming humidity, yet she still keeps running!! Amazing!!

Another one who motivates me is Mary Christine. She's currently training for Tri for the Cure, a women's marathon. She's going to rock it, I just know!!

Last, but certainly not least, is my sister-in-law Becky. She doesn't have a blog (that I'm aware of), but she recently finished a 5K in Austin, TX, where it was about 95 degrees at the time (seven in the evening!). She has also taken up cycling and has signed up for swimming lessons so she can do a triathlon in the future. Oh, AND she's a Ph.D. candidate at University of Texas. And she's also gone skydiving, something I don't think I will EVER be brave enough to do!!

So there you go! :-)

Today's stats:
Run (treadmill, due to weather)
Distance: 3.6 miles
Time: 41:57
Pace: 11:39 minute/mile

**UPDATE**

Tim and I went running again tonight. We did the same one-mile stretch we did on Monday, but this time I forgot my Garmin so I don't know how long it took us. He ran the whole way, though (we broke it into two runs of 1/2 mile each, with a walk break in between). Looks like he's on his way!

Tonight's stats:
Run: one mile
Time: Don't know

What's this wet stuff falling from the sky?

Rain, you say??

Sorry, we haven't seen it in so long that I got confused there for a second.

Seriously, for an area that is supposed to get a lot of rain, we had a very dry winter and spring. So dry that our lawn died sometime in May, which hasn't happened before.

So of course, the weather sprites or whatever decided that July 17 would be a GREAT day for a rainstorm.

Especially since this is our town's rodeo week, and there were outdoor events for kids slated this evening.

I actually drove by the festivities to see lots of people "having fun" huddled under umbrellas in the pouring rain. And I thanked goodness that I was inside my dry minivan.

So I stayed indoors for a bike ride. It was so warm and humid out (before it started raining) that there was no way I felt like going out. It's almost tropical!! LOL!!

Oh, coming back to add that I think I am going to schedule four days a week as running days. I've pretty much been running four days a week anyway, so I might as well make it official. So I am thinking short run on Monday, medium runs on Wednesday and Friday, and my long run on Sunday. Of course, there will likely be exceptions to the schedule (like July 29, as I will be on vacation that week and that day is already booked visiting a friend), but I will try to stay as true to it as I can. My desire to set more PRs will hopefully keep me focused!! :-)

Today's stats:
Bike:
Distance: 10 miles
Time: 34:35 (I'm getting faster!! Guess I need to crank the resistance up again!)

Is there a reverse duathlon? -- UPDATE AT BOTTOM

You know, a race where you bike first, then run, and then bike again?

Because if there is, I'm ready for it! ;-)

LOL!

Today was a multi-sport workout, if you will, with me doing the above. I was able to get this nice long workout in while Matty napped (Kara is still off partying with her grandparents). It felt really good this time. My owie from the other day was gone and I was able to run without any pain. Although I did take the run much slower than the last time, since I had to save my legs for the final bike ride.

I am going to *try* to get Tim to run a mile with me after he gets off work tonight. It might not happen, but we'll see. I would really love for him to get more active again. The kids look to both of us to set an example, and it would be great if we could both show them that physical activity is a good thing.

Today's stats:

Bike ride 1:
Time: 20 minutes
Distance: 5.65 miles

Run (treadmill):
Distance: three miles
Time: 35:14 (11:44 minute/mile pace)

Bike ride 2:
Time: 20 minutes
Distance: 5.89 miles

Total from both bike rides:
Time: 40 minutes
Distance: 11.54 miles

***Hey, here's the update!***
I got Tim out there running with me tonight!! It was great!! I am so proud of him. He ran a solid 1/2 mile and then walked some, too. That's farther than I could go when I first started running. Oh, and we traded off with the jogging stroller.
We are planning to do some short runs three days a week to start and then work him up from there. So yay!!!

I did run one mile, basically an out and back. Here are my stats:

Distance: one mile
Time: (get a load of this) 9:56!!!!!!!! A new training record for a mile!

I think having Tim there motivated me to run faster. But the kicker is it didn't feel that hard!! But then again, I knew I was only running a short distance, because there's no way right now I could run four miles at that pace. Someday......

Plans, shmans

So I didn't run today after all. I think I may have pulled a muscle around my buttocks (nice, huh?) during my fast run yesterday, so I decided to skip the run altogether. I will try a run tomorrow if it feels better, which I think it will. Kara is spending a couple days with her grandparents, so I will only have to push one child in the stroller while I run. :-)

Tim and I did manage a walk with Matty this evening. We went about a mile. I was planning on riding the bike tonight, but it's late and I'm tired. I blame a new spate of "reality" TV shows for sucking up the remainder of my time tonight. Guess that's my vice. LOL!

See ya'll tomorrow!

Guess what, Marcy??

Yes, I set another PR today! (insert huge grin here)

My blogging/running buddy Marcy has commented before on the frequency of my PRs. I think the answer is simple: I started out a VERY slow runner, so setting PRs is currently not that difficult. I mean, I had tons of room to improve! LOL! Marcy, however, is very speedy by nature (try seven- and eight-minute miles every time out, even on her really long runs), and I doubt I will be running that fast in the near future. Heck, I might never get that fast. But it's funny to think now that I used to think 11-minute miles were blazing fast!

I think I will do a four-miler tomorrow and just skip the really long run this weekend. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Oh, and if you haven't seen the cute pics of my kiddos, scroll down to my previous post. ;-)

Today's stats:
Distance: three miles
Time: 31:07 (previous PR was 32:34 set on July 1)
Pace: 10:22 (oh yeah!!!)

Splits:
Mile 1: 10:45
Mile 2: 10:20
Mile 3: 10:02 (fastest mile in training to date, and my second-fastest mile ever)

So I totally bailed out of the morning run

I had the worst time going to sleep last night. I tossed and turned in our hot bedroom for at least an hour before finally going to sleep around 1:30. Then Matty woke me up at 2:30, so needless to say I didn't get up early as planned for a run.

I am going to leave within the next 30 minutes for an evening run, instead. I will update once I return.

But I wanted to share a couple pics of the kids from the Sears photo shoot earlier today. We had a few moments when Kara didn't want to cooperate and Matty tried to run out the door (that kid is always trying to run from us!!), but overall it went well. Tim's parents went with us and picked up the tab (thanks again!! We really appreciate it!!). Then we had lunch with them and had fun watching Kara play at the indoor playground at the mall. It was a great day!!

Here are a couple of my favorite pictures:

Kara and Matty:



Matty:





Kara:

My boy Matty...

...will be going to Sears tomorrow for his second set of professional portraits ever!

The first was a joint session with Kara when he was two months old. One of the pics, which hangs in our hallway, shows sweet little Matty flipping the bird to the photographer. We're pretty sure he didn't mean to be so rude, but hey, he was probably tired of being near his sis.

Here's the infamous photo:



By the time Kara was 15 months, she had no less than five professional shoots under her belt. Matty just turned 15 months on Wednesday, and has been sorely neglected in the picture department. It will be nice to have another 8"x10" to hang on our wall.

I am planning to get up early tomorrow for a longish run before we head to the mall. I must admit that while I am not normally a morning person, I kinda like the days when I do my run early. Maybe I'll do it more often. :-)

And HUGE congrats to my sister-in-law Becky, who completed a 5K tonight in 95+ degree temps in Austin, Texas. I think I would die if I had to run in that!! Way to go, girl!!!

Today's stats:
Bike:
Distance: 10 miles
Time: 34:59

Awwww, what the hell.....

I did a bike workout tonight. Tim and a couple of his friends/coworkers went to see the Transformers movie tonight, so I was home alone with the kids. I got them to bed and was bored, so I rode the bike. LOL! I probably should have gone to bed instead. Oh well.

And on a very spiffy note: I went shopping today and got some new, smaller clothing!! I got some jeans at a store where I had some store credit accrued, so they were essentially free. Then I went to the mall and got this adorable halter-style summer dress. And the best part is it's a size 12!! I haven't been in a 12 in oh, probably five years at least. Yee haw!!!

Tonight's (additional) stats:
Bike:
Distance: 10 miles
Time: 35:02

Well, this is awesome!!

It's only 7:20 a.m., and I am already done with my run for the day.

Woo hoo!

I actually managed to crawl out of bed just before 6 a.m. for a four mile run. I'm not sure how I did it, considering I only got about five hours sleep last night. When the alarm went off, I looked out the window and damn near slid back between the sheets. It was relatively dark and cloudy and overall not inviting.

But then I glanced at the cedar chest at the end of the bed and saw my running gear laid out. I put it out before bed last night in hopes it would make me motivated to run. In the end, it worked. I took my clothing, went to the hallway bath and changed. Then I ate a frozen waffle (yes, I heated it first in the toaster, and yes, I know it's not health food. But it was the only thing I could get my hands on fast) and drank some water. Then after a potty break (can you tell I have a three-year-old?), I got the rest of my gear and headed out the door. But since it was so dark still, I left my sunglasses at home, which is VERY unusual for me.

The first mile felt surreal, like I wasn't awake yet and moving in slow motion. I was thinking "I got up early for THIS??" It really, really sucked for a few minutes. But then my legs started really kicking in, I felt awake and alert, and I just started hauling ass through the neighborhood. I went pretty fast the second two miles, and slowed down the fourth as I got closer to home. I was hoping to PR for four miles, and I did!!

So the rest of today will be spent taking Matty to a doctor appointment (15-month check-up) and going to Eureka to look for a summer dress for me. Happy Thursday!! :-)

Today's stats:
Run:
Distance: four miles
Time: 42:54 (old PR was 43:33 set on June 14)
Pace: 10:43 minute/mile

Splits:
Mile 1: 11:10
mile 2: 10:25
Mile 3: 10:16 (fastest mile in training to date)
Mile 4: 11:01

Nice and easy

I opted for a nice, easy indoor run today, since the kids are both napping. I always try to take advantage of time like that.

It was nothing spectacular, but felt good anyway. I was afraid my little toe on my left foot would give me trouble, as my socks rubbed it during my long run on Sunday, causing a huge red blister to erupt. It looks gross, but never popped (ewwwww!!) so it didn't hurt (thank goodness!!!!). And it's nice to know my legs don't feel half bad following that run. It motivates me to know running is getting easier! :-)

Today's stats:
Run (treadmill):
Distance: three miles
Time: 34:23
Pace: 11:27 minute/mile

Words to live by

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
Eleanor Roosevelt, 'This Is My Story,' 1937

I have always loved this quote, although I haven't always lived by it (but I should). It is too easy to let others "get to you" through their words. I am a pretty sensitive person, so putting my thoughts out in a public blog where any random person can read them is a bit of a crap shoot at times. I never know if someone in this town is reading it and saying shit about me behind my back.

I would love to be the kind of person who just lets things slide off their back, but sometimes that is much easier said than done. I am fortunate so far in that I haven't heard of anyone saying mean things about me or my blog. And that is good. But I am aware this has happened to other bloggers and it makes me angry like you wouldn't believe.

I still don't have the thick skin my dad always wanted me to develop (sorry, I am human with feelings), but I will try to live by this quote the best I can. I have spent too many of my almost 32 years on this planet putting myself down (something else I am working on), so why do I need to listen to catty bitches and stupid assholes anyway? I am working on being the best "me" that I can, and as long as I know it, I shouldn't care what anyone else thinks.

Oh, and Eleanor Roosevelt was full of awesome quotes! Here are a couple more I love:

"I think that somehow, we learn who we really are and then live with that decision."

"Friendship with oneself is all-important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world."

Amen.


Today's stats:
Bike:
Distance: 10 miles
Time: 36:06

Longest run to date!!

Today was a gorgeous day for a run. So I set out in the early afternoon for a nice, slow, long run.

I have had this mental block for a while now about longer distances. I don't know why, but seven miles sounded plain scary to me. That's why I stopped after a 10K distance on my last long run two weeks ago. My body could have done seven miles last time out, but my mind was afraid to.

So I knew I would have to take a leap of faith to get past that mental issue. In my mind, I broke today's run into two segments: a three-miler and a four-miler. That seemed easier to grasp and conquer than seven miles, you know?

In the end, running seven miles seemed easier than I thought it would. Thank goodness!!! I had it all worked up in my mind that it was going to be awful and I was going to die, blah, blah, blah. I did have to stop at the hospital (funny, huh??) once to refill my water bottle and use the restroom, but other than that, it wasn't bad at all. Well, except around mile six I totally bonked for a while and I didn't bring any Gu with me. I did take some before I left (Chocolate Outrage, which wasn't too icky), but I wished I had something to refuel with later on. Oh well.

And now I have a question for you, dear readers. I have an amphipod bottle that I love for short runs, but I know now that for longer runs I will need something that can hold more water and fuel. What kind of fuel belts do you guys have, and do you like them? I didn't think I would ever consider something like that, but I don't want to have to stop and refill my bottle every time I go farther than 10K.

Oh, and I totally need to get some new, smaller running pants because these (my trusty ones that I wear for races) fall down every time I run now. I am tired of having to keep pulling them back up where they belong. I am just lucky they haven't ended up around my ankles yet.

Today's stats:
Distance: 7.01 miles
Time: 1 hour, 21 minutes, 52 seconds
Pace: 11:41 minute/mile

Splits:
Mile 1: 11:37
Mile 2: 11:28
Mile 3: 11:20
Mile 4: 11:36
Mile 5: 11:51
Mile 6: 12:00
Mile 7: 11:53
.01 mile: .04 (10:25 pace)

Fun run with Becky

Today was a very, very fun run!! My sister-in-law Becky is visiting from Texas, and she spent the night with us. This morning we went out for a two mile run with the kids in the stroller. It was so fun!! We gabbed the entire time. After the run was over, we walked another two miles. It was so great to have someone to run with!!!

Thanks, Becky!!!! I hope we can run together again when I visit you in Texas! :-)

Just hopping on to write that I did a bike ride tonight. It felt really good and I pedaled my heart out. I will post stats below. :-)

Oh, jumping on again to say I'm going to do it. I'm going to join the local running club. I am ready. I just printed out the form and will send it off soon (before my 32nd birthday next month, LOL!). I think it will be a good opportunity for me to improve my running and meet some other people who love it like I do.

Today's stats:
Run:
Distance: Two miles
Time: 23:56
Pace: 11:58 minute/mile

Bike:
Distance: 11 miles
Time: 37:36
Pace: 3:25 minute/mile

Morning run

Today's run was a pretty good one. I got up at 7 a.m. to head out, since we're going to busy the rest of the day. I wanted to make sure I would be done before the kids woke up so Tim could sleep in a little. I am normally not a huge fan of mornings, but this one was a good one for running. It was still overcast and cool, with some fog nestled among the groves of trees. It was pretty, and the coolness kept me from overheating.

Before I headed out I ate half a banana because my stomach was growling. The first two miles felt really good. It was in Mile 3 somewhere that I had wished I had eaten the entire banana. I decided to really slow it down in Mile 4. It's funny how running a mile in 11:25 now feels really slow to me. LOL! I still remember how, a few months ago, anything under 12 minutes felt like I was flying (and dying, ha ha). I guess I have come a long way during these past seven months.

Hope all my American running buddies have a wonderful 4th!

Today's stats:
Distance: four miles
Time: 44:17
Pace: 11:04 minute/mile

Splits:
Mile 1: 11:08
Mile 2: 10:37
Mile 3: 11:05
Mile 4: 11:25

My baby girl will be heading to preschool soon

Next month, actually.

I finally got Kara into a preschool. She'll be starting on August 13. It will be three days a week, 4 1/2 hours a day. I am actually very excited about it because, at 3 1/2, she really needs the interaction with other children her age. She has some major issues with sharing (because she doesn't want her brother to have ANYTHING). And they will be working on preschool "academics" starting August 27, which will prepare her for kindergarten in two years. It will be a good thing for all of us.

I was super busy today, so I only had time for a bike ride tonight. I am going to try for a run tomorrow morning before Tim, the kids and I head out to a barbecue with his family. Happy Independence Day, everyone!!

Today's stats:
Bike:
Distance: 10 miles
Time: 35:10
Pace: 3:31 minute/mile

Pretty fast run today

I have tons of things to do today, so I squeezed in a fast run this morning. It was three miles, and I ran it just a few seconds slower than my PR. I am happy with that, since it is warm and humid again today.

OK, I have to go change a poopy diaper and take the garbage to the dump. Happy Sunday!

Today's stats:
Run:
Distance: three miles
Time: 32:34
Pace: 10:51 minute/mile

Splits:
Mile 1: 11:16
Mile 2: 10:17 (I think this is my fastest mile in training to date)
Mile 3: 10:59