My Weekend - Kat Bites the Dust!

I think I need to go all the way back to Thursday night to catch up. I ran on the treadmill at the gym and ran a great 5 mile run. My time ended up being 45:08. Pretty good for me. I think the only reason I finished that fast was because Chuck was running next to me and kept “upping” the MPH… so I couldn’t let a boy beat me right?

Friday was a run rest day, but I ended up meeting a co-worker at the LH Thomson trail, we just walked to whole thing one time. It was a pretty morning and it felt good to get out and move. I finally went and got my nails done (purple tips – cute) and I picked up my Mom and my munchkin (Shyenne) to meet Chuck in Macon for lunch. We went to La Fiesta and I pigged out on chips / dip / fajitas. Oh YUM. Eating with the excuse of extra carb intake for running on Sat. Yeah Right!!!

Saturday we ran the Al Toll 5K, which was unplanned. I say that because I like to plan ahead and make spreadsheets for everything, especially for running, and that race wasn’t one I had intended on running. My mom wanted to run the 15K and was unsure of going at it by herself. Obviously I couldn’t run it with her because I’m not a Masters runner. She wanted Chuck to run it with her, but he is on the little plan I made, which is to run the Gate River Run 15K on 3/14/09. That will be his first 15K and we wanted to do that together. Plus he wasn’t really wanting to run a 15K 3 weeks ahead of plan. So we agreed that we’d go and run the 5K, and support her on her 15K effort. His co-worker Tim ran the 5K with us too.

Since it was unplanned, I wasn’t all excited about the race for some reason. I’ve ran most of the yearly local races at least once, but I had never run this one before. Not sure why, just hadn’t. So we got there and just chilled out (literally, it was cold!) until race time.

I started off feeling crunchy and stiff. By the time I got to the top of the hill I was feeling pretty good, so the downhill ending was wonderful. My 3rd mile time was 7:36. I finished in 26:08. Not my best time ever, but my best time of the year, so that’s something right? : ) Chuck finished in 27:17 and placed second in his age! Tim PR'ed at 31:23, an entire minute faster than his last weekend's race! Mom did the 15K in 1:24:25, wonderful for her! A PR by far. She beat my 15K PR by 10 seconds. I guess I’ve got to kick it up!

Me & Chuck before the Run 2/21/09.

OK, so Saturday afternoon Chuck and I decided since we only ran 3 miles in the morning that we’d go out for a trail run. We went to LH Thomson. Oh, I’d say 10 minutes into it I had a little disagreement with gravity. Luckily I’m short, so I didn’t have far to go to bust it on the ground. Yep, my foot caught on a little bitty nub of a root, I went air borne and landed on my left knee, right elbow and hand. Scratched up my elbow, cut my hand, and bruised my knee. The impact knocked my sunglasses off! After I smacked the dirt I started crying…. Oh my, I usually don’t cry over getting hurt!!!! It really scared me more than anything. I was thinking, oh no, I broke something! Chuck comforted me and I quickly realized that I wasn’t really hurt! I got up and ran some more. Oh yes, only to fall AGAIN! But the second fall was nothing really, didn’t hurt anything. I think my legs were just tired from the race earlier and I wasn’t picking them up enough to clear the rooty terrain. Or I’m just a super klutz suddenly. Not sure. So, we went home after running a total of 40 minutes. I got a nice hot shower and cleaned up my boo-boos. Got dressed up all cute and went to Mellow Mushroom.

OK, what happens next deserves a blog entry all on it’s own. I had the “Great White” pizza, a small one, 10”. A long with 2 Michelob Ultra’s. OH MY GOODNESS! I havn’t had beer since New Years I think, and it was great. And that BIG FAT GOOEY CHEESY PIZZA. I savored every single bite. I didn’t eat it, I made love to that pizza. I ate every last morsel. I was so full when I finished I thought I would pop.

So, that was a nice ending to a kinda icky Saturday, only icky because I fell. I don't want to be scared to run trails, I love running trails. But I think I'm going to wait until after we go to Jax to run one again.

Sunday we got up and ran a slow recovery run, 3.5 miles in almost 38 minutes. I felt good. Nothing hurt or was sore. My knee was ok. Nothing hurts on the inside of my knee, I didn’t pull or twist anything. It’s just bruised and hurts on the outside like someone smacked it with a bat or something. Otherwise I’m just fine!

In all, I had a great weekend. Did I mention the AMAZING pizza I ate on Saturday night? Well, it was good!!!!!! I enjoyed the runs I completed. I’m ready for the week of training ahead!

Recovered

Today I feel great! I'm sure I've fully recovered from the head cold I had all of last week through the weekend. I feel like a normal human being again. Much better : ) I guess the truth will be how I feel on my tempo run tonight! I'm looking forward to the workout.

I rested yesterday since I worked a part time job. I needed it since my "easy" 3 mile run on Tuesday took more out of me than it should have, plus my left shin was still a little sore. Today I took alieve and feel fine, and I think I'll ice my shin tonight after I run just in case.

I am proud of myself lately for eating very clean. I've been monitoring my diet, using www.caloriecount.about.com. I like it because it will show you the percentage of carbs/protein/fat that you eat daily. I like to try to stay balanced so it's easier for me to see using that site. I'm not as worried about how many calories I'm eating, just that the food I eat is nutritious and I'm trying to watch portion sizes. Since eating too much of heatlhy food still makes you gain weight!

I'm looking forward to running the AL Toll 5K on Saturday. I've never run this course before so it'll be interesting. Not sure if I'm even worried about running super fast (super fast for me anyway!). I just realized that we are scheduled to run a race for 5 weekends in a row. Goodness. I think the only one I want to PR is the CherryBlossom 15K. I think I can manage that.

My Happy Valentine

Even though I was very sick and pitiful it was a great weekend!

Friday, a regular day off of work, I ran a few errands in the morning. I got groceries, big job…. Tried to get my nails done, BUT they were too busy and I planned to meet Chuck in Macon for lunch. So I left there with ratty nails and we went and ate Moe’s. YUM. I was a good girl, I ate a steak salad with no shell and no cheese. Friday night we had all three kids, so I cooked breakfast for dinner. Whole wheat from scratch pancakes, turkey sausage, and scrambled eggs. Good Pre-Race food I think, plus the kids were thrilled with eating pancakes for dinner!

Saturday morning… Race Day! OK, see I had been sick all week, and it progressively got worse. By Sat. morning my nose was running crazy bad and my tummy was not doing so great. I was determined to run the race anyway, on a good does of Cough/Cold syrup. My Mom, Chuck, and me headed to the 12K, Chuck’s friend Tim ran the 5K. I was a whiney little brat before the race. We got started anyway and ran an average 9:01 min mile, Chuck and I finished right at 1:07:16, well he was a few seconds behind me… even though his silly butt wrote 1:09 something on his card??? My mom blew it out, finishing in 1:04:30ish. Wow for her! It was a PR for all of us! I think my fastest 12K was Geico last year at 1:07:26, it was Chuck’s first 12K so of course he got to PR! Tim PR’ed too for his 5K. Go us!

I got home Sat. and just laid my lazy bum on the couch and tried to rest. I loaded up on cold medicine. We took the kids to see Bold Saturday afternoon. I think I enjoyed it more than they did! Sat. night I made homemade pizza with a whole wheat crust and lots of veggies. It was so good. Then I dipped strawberries in dark chocolate for dessert. I was so full at bedtime. It was great! I figured I deserved extra calories after burning so many during the race.

Sunday, Chuck made me rest against my will. I did the bare minimum around the house. Cooked steak fajitas for dinner, easy and healthy. That’s probably the most notable thing I did all day.

Monday I had a planned day off of work. Chuck decided to call out as well. It was so nice to have a 4 day weekend. We decided to go hard core today.

Started off the day by doing something I had been super dreading. We got the oil changed in my car and the tires rotated. I hate doing that crap myself, so I’m glad he went with me : )

So, we finished that up and drove to Macon to the GA Ind. Children’s Home trail. We ran out there for about 55 minutes. I love it out there. It is so beautiful, BUT I had to contend with my dripping nose the whole time. I ended up with dried boogies on my face, oh joy! That is so gross, but us runner have to deal with gross bodily stuff sometimes dont we! We went home, ate lunch, watched FitTV and rested. At about 3:30 we went back out and ran down some off road, power line trails near the apartment. I was worried the whole time that we would get shot / arrested / kidnapped / killed by a wild animal / abducted by aliens something crazy. I just felt creeped out the whole time. Does the buzz of the powerline fry your brain I wonder? We finished this run pretty tired, 3.5 miles in 37 min. I told him I felt like it was the final workout on "The Biggest Loser" on the day before weigh-in where the trainers work them to death. Got back home, rested a little, THEN I had to teach spin for 30 min. at 6:30PM. It took every last drop of energy in my body to teach that class.

I cooked veggies and chicken breast for dinner, then we chilled and went to bed early, before 10PM. I slept so good. I woke up this morning feeling well rested and much better. My nose isn’t running any more. I still feel the slightest bit like I’ve had a cold, but nothing like last week! Yippy.

I’m looking forward to my training this week. My mom wants to run the Al Toll 15K, so we are going to run the 5K to be there with her. I wasn’t planning on that race, but it should be fun.

Denial

Everything was all fine and good. Then Monday night right before bed my throat started to burn/itch/get sore. I ignored it, like maybe I yawned to big or something crazy made it feel funny.

I woke up Tuesday morning and my throat was all dry and scratchy, so was my chest. It felt like there was sawdust in my chest. I ate a cough drop and felt better. I worked all day and felt alright. We had a track interval run planned, which is hard for us to fit into our schedule… so I was determined to do the workout.

We ran a total of 4 miles, with 4 - 300meter fast intervals. I just kinda made up the workout to see how it would feel. It was good. I wish I had more time for track running. My left shin has been barking at me for a few days. This I’d like to ignore as well.

So I woke up this morning, feeling even yuckier than I did yesterday. Throat sore, chest tight. I HATE getting a chest cold. I’m still in total denial that a chest cold is looming. Nope, it’s something else. I have this dry cough… yuck.

I got some Kid’s Mucinex this morning. The full adult dose makes me loopy. I just take a 12yr old’s dose, I figured I’m still about the size that I was when I was 12. Went through puberty and never grew any more! So, I’m hoping that I’ll feel better soon.

Have a 5 mile treadmill run planned for tonight on my training schedule. Hmmmm…. I really don’t want to miss it AT ALL, then I try to convince myself that I’d be better off resting and getting better.

The Sweetheart 12K is Saturday. I’ll be super pissed if I can’t run that due to being sick. I know I should let my shin rest some. But I don’t WANT TO! I WANT to RUN! Blah. Not fair. Oh well. I guess I have until 5PM when I get off work to decide what I want to do about it.

The weather was so absolutely perfect for a running weekend! Makes me so happy when I have the time to run like I want to PLUS the weather co-operates.

Friday morning I ran circles around my apartment complex until I got to 4 miles. That was kinda boring and uneventful. I’m so crazy, at about a mile I was like, hey – I totally forgot to bring my mp3 player. I almost always wear it if I’m running alone, unless of course it’s battery is dead.

Saturday - Chuck, my Mom & myself went to the Children’s Home trail. It was amazingly gorgeous out there. The sun was bright, the wind was blowing, oh it was so pretty. We ran 4 miles out there. The whole thing went by so fast, due to looking at the pretty scenery and making sure we didn’t trip over roots and such.

Here’s the cool part. Sunday we ran 8 miles. The last time I ran 8 miles was back in March of last year. Go me. It was also Chuck’s longest run ever, Go him! We did it in about a 10 min / mile pace (1:19:01). Me, Mom & Chuck met up at Jenny & G’s, Dennis came to run & his wife came to walk. They took two trucks out and parked one, drove one back. So we could run out and not have to run the big bad hills 2 times (There are 3 back to back hills at about 2 - 3 miles out, the last one is steep and about .5 mi long.) Yikes. Dennis smoked us on the run, G did pretty good too. My mom & Jenny ended up about 30 seconds ahead of me & Chuck. I didn’t bring my mp3 and Chuck did. So, I ended up running the whole 8 with no music and no convo. It wasn’t so bad though, there was plenty for my mind to think about. Felt great out there. The sky was clear and bright. Perfect morning for running. I even ended up with a sunburn on my forehead! Oh and I learned something about my pre- run fueling. I usually eat ½ a bagel with pnut butter & fruit spread with a ½ a banana. Sun morning I decided to eat the whole bagel… bad idea. I burped bagel and pnut butter the whole time and felt way too full. Plus I think I ate too close to the run. Live & learn.

I’m just so excited to be at the point of my training that I planned to be at. We have 5 more weeks until our goal race – Gate River Run 15K. So we are ok now on the miles. I like to run that one for fun, don’t worry so much about my time. I enjoy that race so much. I think I’ll try to run the Cherry Blossom 15K faster than I did last year (1:24 somethin’).

Today is cross training day, teaching spin tonight. That should be easy I guess.

Retro Blog - Running Friends

I put the following blog on my myspace page on March of 2008. I may have already said a few of the same things on my first blog here, but I like the blog so I wanted to post it.

Thank You.... Running Friends.
3/9/2008 - Today I got back home from Jacksonville FL. A good friend of mine, Jenny made the trip with me this year to run the Gate River Run. The race was great and I had a blast. It inspired what I'm about to write.

My Mom has been an amazing running parter since she got back into it in about 2004. My Mom has been running off and on for about 20 years. She had been out of it for quite a while when her desire to be healthier along with me nagging her got her back on the road. For a few years we ran independently due to us living an hour away from each other. Now that we live close by, we share weekend training runs and lots of races. She can't make the weekday runs due to her work schedule. Mom and I can run for an hour and talk the whole time about everything and nothing. I am so thankful to be able to run with the woman who gave birth to me... yeah that may sound a bit cheesy... but it's true. I love you Mom!

Rod, an ex-neighbor and ex-coworker, but still a good friend that I learned early shared my intrest in running for fitness. The two of us trained a lot together in 2006 and 2007. We trained for a few races togther, including the Gate River Run last year. I think he's the most motovational training partner I could ask for. We could run a fast 4 mile run where I thought I was gonna die, but he'd talk non stop the whole time about whatever he was passionate about at the moment. He is MIA right now due to a new job... but I'm sure he'll be back one day.

Starting in October of '07 I've been so lucky to have even more people come into my life that have a joy for running (or at least the results from it!). Jenny asked one night at a party if she could join me on my 4:30AM runs and of course that was WONDERFUL for me. For a week or two it was just the two of us girls. Soon after, her her hubby G (Robert) and a friend of ours Chuck were lacing up and freezing out there with us. So, for the most part the three of them crazy peeps are by my side (or somewhere ahead or behind) sweating before the sun rises.

Jenny is an amazing woman in my eyes. She is sweet, kind hearted and strong... She had knee surgery (ACL) approx. 9 months ago and now she's running in 9 mile races like nothing ever happened. I want to be like her when I grow up.. haha, she's just a few years older than me... but she does inspire me.

G... well all I'm gonna say is I'm gonna keep on keepin on with his long legged a$$. And Chuck is our comic relief! He's always coming up with something crazy and he makes me look forward to any run when I know he's showing up. But reguardless of his antics... I'm SO proud of him and his determination to run. He has improved so much over the past few months and I can see him running a 15K and even further with us in the very near future. He just might not know it yet.

I also have to thank 3 other people who are not training partners... but important just the same. Barry who never says a word about the time I put into training, who is with Shyenne so I can be out there running.. he takes pictures at races and believes that I can reach all of my goals. Shyenne, of course my little pumpkin head... she's my biggest fan!

My Dad has to be in here too... he was a Marine for 30 years, during that time he ran.... A LOT... not always by choice I'm sure. But he has run many many races, from 5K's to the Marine Corps Marathon. So I guess running is in my blood.

Then there's Dennis, who claims to want to join our pre dawn jaunts... and Tim who will soon be training for the Byron 5K. Bring it on boys!

SO...... to those of you who accompany me in my love for the running the road. Thank you and I love you all. Running would not be the same without those of you I can share my accomplishments with.

Ok, Back to present:

Now that I just re-read that I must update a few things. Rod, I still havn't run with him in forever. He works about an hour away from home now and we just kinda lost touch.

Jenny, G, & Dennis ended up running 3 half marathons in 3 months in Jacksonville (Tri 2B Tuff Challenge) last winter. Go Them! They are great running friends. They still get to run the 4:30 AM runs, but I can't anymore, due to the fact that my work schedule changed to 4 - 10 hour shifts where I have to leave my house at 6AM to get to work. SUX. I'm on a PM training schedule now, don't like it but it's better than nothing.

Dennis, Me, Jenny, G - Soaked after Cherry Blossom 15K last year.

Barry, well, we divorced last spring soon after my post ('bout May). I'm not going to go into all of that. But he was a great supporter of my running. My little girl Shy, she think's it's cool that I run and I think she wants to get out there and join me. I've let her run 1/4 mile jogs a few times. She'll be 8 in April so I might start letting her run more soon.

Chuck, who ran with us in the mornings... well we're living together now! I must say it's neat to have a boyfriend/running partner all rolled into one. Something I'd always wanted, now here it is. He has made tremendous improvements since he first started. I'm very proud of him.

Me & Chuck - Jan 09 in Bruswick.

My Mom is still running! She runs with us on the weekends. She's da bomb. She can go 4 months without running and jump back in no problem. My Dad, he has reported to me that he's back into running, his doctor told him to lose about 20 lbs.... which he's done. We are throwing around the idea of us running the Rock & Roll half together in Sept. in VA Beach. He lives up in Maryland. We'll see!

How Many Miles?

I wish that I could go back in time and log my running miles from the beginning. I guess since when I first started I had no major goals in mind, except fitness / weight loss. I didnt see the need to worry about how many miles I was running or anything cool like that. I just got out there and ran a few days a week.

The first time I ran the Labor Day Road Race (2004) I made a little excel spreadsheet to track my training to be sure I could get up to 6 miles. Then I ran my first 15K in 2006 and made a spreadsheet for that as well. So for a few races I have a few months worth of "logged miles" but that was it. I think I may have had calendars with some workouts written on it, but I don’t even know if I still have them. I’ve moved twice since Oct. 2007. In ‘07 and ‘08 I did keep up with a log all year, yeah me! But at this point I don’t know if I want to go back and add all that up… since I can’t get an accurate total anyway.

At least I’ve started now. I’m using an online training log as well as my handwritten log. Have I mentioned how much I love that thing. I’m such a dork, looking forward to logging my workouts… At the end of the book there is a graph where you plot your weekly mileage, plus another graph to plot your cumulative miles. It gives me some thrill to be able to look at stuff like that at the end of a year. My friends know I’m all about a spreadsheet of any kind.

I’m serious about my running now, I really have been since the beginning of ’07 (except for going through a divorce last spring) which temporarily threw things off in terms of my focus on eating healthy and working out. Better late with logging miles than never right?

So, I ran my 4 mile tempo run on the treadmill last night. Did it as follows... 1 mile at 6.0, .5 mile at 6.5, 1 mile at 6.8, .5 mile at 6.5 and the last mile at 6.0. Felt really good for the whole mile at 6.8. Didn't feel like I was gonna die but I could feel the extra effort. Enjoyed the workout since I hadn't run since Sunday, oh my. Not by my choice though!

Weighing on my mind

I’ve read time and again that your not supposed to weigh yourself everyday. Our weight can fluctuate up to 3 lbs. Daily or so they say… blah blah blah… only weigh yourself once a week. But I just can’t.

For the last few years, at least since I started running I’ve made a good effort to eat right. Sure, I fall off the wagon and go crazy from time to time, sometime staying off for longer than I’d care to think about. If I’m not currently on a healthy diet, I’m thinking about how I should be… how’s that? I’ve been doing VERY good since the 1st week in Dec 08 (got off track over fall). I was like 123, which doesn’t sound like a whole lot, but I’m 5’0"… compact, not a lot of room to put on say 10 extra pounds ya know (it all goes to my tummy pooch…. Why not my bootie?). So by New Years I was hangin’ around 120…. Getting better. Cut out the beer and wings on the weekend and quit eating oatmeal (loaded with brown sugar and peanut butter) before bed. Crazy.

I got this new running log for New Years (Nathan) and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it…. The very coolest thing is that there’s a daily spot for weight. So I have a perfectly good excuse to be obsessive now! Woo Hoo.

Anywho… I get to enter my weight daily… what fun. But at the same time it frustrates the snot out of me. I don’t like it when I go to a Superbowl party and eat just a little bit of junk and gain 3 lbs…. Especially when I KNOW it’s not physically possible to gain 3 lbs of body fat in 24 hours… it bothers me none the less.

Then there’s the catch 22 of eating enough to be able to function on running 20 miles per week, but trying to eat under enough to lose a few pounds over the next few months. It’s not quite fair. All the same, I’m hovering around 116. By the end of March I want to be 110 or so. I just fit my clothes better there, and 13 extra pounds to carry on runs wasn’t cutting it either. I definitely run faster at a lighter weight. Makes a difference!

Change of Plans

I had my running week allllll planned out, but NO, work must get in the way. I called yesterday to see what night I am scheduled to work my part-time job and it's Tuesday. Blah. I was going to go to a track and so some intervals, something I don't get a chance to do very often and I know I need to. But tonight was the only night this week that I could squeeze it in, but nope, not gonna happen now.

It is so hard to fit in all the elements of training that I WANT to do. And not have my legs too tired for the upcoming workouts. I taught my spin class last night... it was easy, just a few inclines and a few sprint intervals and class was over. There's a girl in there that wants to be able to run a 5k and I really really would like to see her do it. So I pushed 'em and encouraged her that if she can complete 30 min. of spin than she could at least run/walk a 5k. She's not convinced!

Since last night was spin, and tonight's workout will be a big fat NOTHING I decided to get in some leg training with weights. This usually gets pushed to the side because I don't want sore legs right before speed work or long runs, hard to find time. My legs are tight this morning and I like it!

Now I've got to wait until Wed. night to run. My body, if not my mind, should appreciate the rest.

I don't Wanna Work!

I pulled in the parking lot at my job this morning at 6:23 AM and had a relization. I don't wanna work. 40 Hours per week, 4 - 10 hour days. Yuck. Work gets in the way of everything I want to do, for me. I wasn't born, or have not married, into wealth.... so we've gotta do it anyway right?

Friday I got up earlish and took my pumpkin to school, then went straight away to run 3 miles. It was 32 degrees and windy. My run felt icky just because it was so cold, but I had the satisfaction of knowing I'd done what I planned to do. I had to get the run out of the way early so I could get grocery shopping done, and meet my boyfriend in Macon for lunch (Acapulco - YUM), then go to Dublin and work a part-time job.

Saturday I slept in (7:45) and was lazy for a few hours before I went out and did another 3 mile run with Chuck. We had all of our kids this weekend, so we spent the rest of the day doing kid stuff... playground, movie, pizza.... Fun stuff!

Sunday I woke up and decided that the apt. MUST be cleaned, I don't mean just straightend up, because it's always clean like that, I'm talking pull everything out, and put it all back pretty and organized.... along with the bathrooms getting cleaned, sweeping, moping, vaccuum... I feel so much better now that everything is clean and pretty and straight! At about 3 PM we met with my Mom at her house to run our long weekly run (7 miles this week). We ran around the neighborhood that my mom lives in and through some cotton fields all the way to the apartments I live it. I think it's super neat that I'm capable of running from my house to my mom's.... really it's only about 4 miles going through the feilds, but neat all the same.

About the long run. I ran the first 3 miles at about 9:30pace, the 4th & 5th closer to 10 min mile, due to running in the dirt, the 6th mile, back on asphault was 9:30, but check this out.... I ran the last mile at 9:00!!!! Wow, that's pretty quick for me on a long run, especially considering it was the last mile. I know, I know, I should probably be slowing down on that long run... but It just felt good to go faster, and I'm supposed to listen to my body right? I was rather proud of my efforts. Chuck said I just wanted bragging rights (I finished before him & my Mom did) Go Me! Hahahaha.

I ended the month with around 76 miles, very good to keep my goal of 900 this year in check. I am loving my training right now. 6 more weeks until the Gate River Run! Oh yeah, can't wait!

Tonight I teach spin @ the gym, so it'll be more like a rest day. Is it crazy for me to be sad that it's not on my agenda to run today? Well, I am sad... and probably crazy too.