Run of the exhausted mommy

I am beyond exhausted. Matty has been sick the past couple days (although doing better now), so I am working off very little sleep. Wednesday night, the poor guy hardly slept at all, and neither did I. I ended up rocking him almost all night. Then last night, he woke up just about every hour in a coughing fit, which woke me up, too. So in the past two nights, I think I've managed about seven hours of sleep.

Nonetheless, I plodded my way around the neighborhood tonight for a little more than two miles. I had to wait until Tim came home from work, so it was dark out, which didn't help with my sleepiness. The run felt icky poo (my eyelids were heavy the whole time, my left shin developed a cramp and I was cranky), but I was glad I finished it when I was done.

I am off to bed now (finally). I have a busy day tomorrow. I am planning a long run, followed by painting a medicine cabinet that has been sitting in our dining room for almost a year. Then I will be going out to dinner with a couple of my new biology friends to celebrate the end of the semester. I can't wait!!

Today's stats:
Run:
Distance: 2.25 miles
Time: 25:15
Pace: 11:13 minute/mile

Got my final exam grade

I scored 98 out of 100 points on the final exam! So I earned 931.5 points out of a possible 900 points this semester! That equals 103 percent! LOL!! Definitely an A+ if I ever saw one.

I am so relieved and happy. But at the same time I am a bit sad, as I really loved this class. And my teacher, who was like a friend to me, is moving to Washington state this weekend, so I will probably never see her again. Bummer. She actually hugged me last night after I finished the final exam. And I gave her a Christmas card with my kids' pictures on it, which she loved.

I am planning a short run this afternoon. It is so cold today that I will have to bundle the kids up in the stroller. Heck, I'll have to bundle myself up, too! I will come back later and post my stats. :-)

OK, I am back now following my run. I ended up running to the bank and back. It is very chilly out there. Poor Matty's hands were icicles by the time we got home.

Today's stats:
Run:
Distance: four miles
Time: 44:37
Pace: 11:09 minute/mile

I am done!

I took my final in my biology class tonight. I am done with school until Jan. 22!

I know I did well on this final and will end up with my A+ intact. Of course, they highest grade the college allows to be recorded is an A, so all those extra points won't be reflected in my transcript, but that is OK.

I did manage short workouts yesterday and today. but I didn't have time to blog until now. I am planning on a run tomorrow after I get done babysitting for a relative. Will write more then.

Yesterday's stats:
Stationary bike:
Time: 30 minutes
Distance: 7.48 miles

Today's stats:
Stationary bike:
Time: 30 minutes
Distance: 7.53 miles

Eight miles --- in the books!!!

I did it!! I ran eight miles today as part of the virtual 8 on the 8th run, put together by fellow runner and blogger Nancy! It was awesome!!

Here is my proof (Note: the time says it was 1:58 p.m., but I haven't set the time back to standard time. That is daylight savings time it is showing. It was really 12:58 when I finished):



I will start by saying this run went SO much better than I expected. Last night I was so nervous that I couldn't fall sleep. I was worried about everything. Would I be able to finish? Would I run out of water? Would I die somewhere in Mile 7?

All those fears started to fade after I started running. The weather was gorgeous today (partly sunny , but windy and quite chilly), so I wore a light fleece over my long-sleeved wick-away shirt and my totally stocked fuel belt on top of that. The wind turned out to be a blessing down the line, as it kept me from getting too warm in the fleece. The first miles were quite uneventful. My body felt good. My mind was cooperating (no psyche outs!)And I had some great tunes on my iPod to run to.

One of the best things I did was take a quick fuel break at the start of Mile 5. I brought a Gu along (gawd, I hate those things. So gross, but they work!) and choked it down in front of Ray's Food Place. Took a huge swig of water to push it down and took off again. About 20 seconds later, I started having a coughing fit and imagined that chocolate Gu ending up in a puddle by my toes. Luckily, that didn't happen and I kept on truckin'.

I was nearing Mile 6 when I realized that this was it, my final push toward the finish. I got a little teary at that thought. Heck, I wasn't even sure I could handle this distance and there I was, running it and keeping my pace below what my goal pace was. I knew at that point a half marathon was not out of reach.

The last two miles were again uneventful. That was good. I didn't die. I didn't fall and break an ankle. I didn't run out of water (woo hoo!). I ran eight miles, and felt really damn good when I was done.

I can't wait to run nine. :-)

Today's stats:
Run:
Distance: Eight miles
Time: 1:28:55
Pace: 11:06 minute/mile (goal had been 11:15 minute/mile)

Everything but the kitchen sink

Seems I took everything and everyone on my run today.

I had to take the kids, which meant I had to bring a blanket and drinks for them. I took my Garmin, cell phone, iPod, water bottle and camera. And I ended up taking the dog, who sat in the storage bin underneath the stroller while I ran. When I was done running, he walked with me.

Here's a pic of the pooch. He's a seven-pound Yorkie (Sonia, his name is Spike).



And here's what the kids ended up doing. Kara fell asleep with her eye open (ewww) and Matty was snoring so loudly:



Since I was carrying a full load, I only ran two miles. Plus, my legs were protesting a little and I am doing the 8 on the 8th run this Saturday, so I am trying to take it easy until then.

Today's stats:
Run:
Distance: two miles
Time: 21:22
Pace: 10:41 minute/mile

I can see the light.....

Only six more days, and I will be done with my biology class!! I am excited, but a little sad, too. I have really enjoyed this class and made some new friends. Kristen and I are taking a class together next semester, and we have plans to go on excursions with our kids before our next class starts on Jan. 22.

So I still have an A+ in the class. Last night we cleared a major hurdle, as we had to give our presentations for our semester projects. It went pretty well overall. I am just glad that part is over. And we turned in our final drafts of our papers, so the only thing left is our final next Monday.

I hope to run tomorrow if the weather is good. Tonight, I rode the stationary bike while watching The Real Housewives of Orange County. Not too exciting, but at least I did something, right?

Today's stats:
Bike:
Distance: 12 miles
Time: 46:23

Well, blow me away!

I sure picked on hell of a day for my long run.

We went Christmas shopping yesterday, so I didn't work out. Of course a storm blew in last night, complete with rain, cold temps and really strong WIND.

And yes, I chose to run in that weather today.

I must be crazy. But I can't use the treadmill (it's still wonky), so I really had no choice.

So I put on my long-sleeved wick-away shirt, a windbreaker/rain jacket, running pants that I thought were waterproof (surprise! They're not) and a hat (which I rarely wear) and headed out to brave the storm.

Overall, it wasn't awful, but there were times when the wind was so strong that I felt as if I was running into a brick wall. And the rain was just persistent. And cold. Brrrrr.

So I ran five miles and was going to stop. But I was still pretty far from home, so I decided to run another five minutes to make it one hour even. And I ended up much closer to home so I didn't have to walk much in the rain.

And again, I am glad I went through with the run. It would have been so much easier to just sit in the house watching football all day. But then I'd feel like a slug, and I hate that feeling.

Today's stats:
Run (in the stormy weather):
Distance: 5.43 miles
Time: 1 hour even
Pace: 11:03 minute/mile