Running Thoughts

a friend invited me to join her and a couple of other runner-gals in this mountain race ... I'm contemplating it. Here is what one runner says about having run it in the past. If I do it, I'll run the 12 mile run. It's Sept. 5. Just over the mountain from my little town, and the cost is only 20 bucks.

Ruthie posted some favorite running tunes and so here are some of mine: The Eleventh Hour-Jars of Clay Someday-Sugar Ray I Ain't Gonna Stand for It-Eric Clapton Good Things-BoDeans 360 Degrees of You-SHeDaisy Float On-Modest Mouse Don't Get Comfortable-Brandon Heath Paralyzer-Finger Eleven The Lucky One-Allison Krauss We Didn't Start the Fire-Billy Joel She Moves in Her Own Way-The Kooks Relax, Take It Easy-Mika If I Was Jesus-Paul Colman Paradise-BoDeans So, then I was thinking...what goes into choosing songs for a runlist?  Well, some of them remind me of a person.  Some, of a time in my life.  Some just have a good beat, and some are for the lyrics, like "Relax, Take It Easy," and the guy cracks me up in his spandex pink pants with his suspenders.  If you've never heard of the BoDeans, check them out on itunes!  Jars of Clay are just my favorite, and they make almost every runlist.  And I imagine myself as Allison Krauss because she's so talented...I...

I ran my scheduled 3 miles today, plus strides.  My golden retriever, Banjo, went along.  There were so many cars invading our space up my favorite path, and I kept having to stop and corral Banjo...I know there is such a thing as a leash, but we normally don't need one.  Today was ultra-trafficky.  Speaking of ultra... I think I'd like everything here .

Well, Gracyn has soccer camp this week and is worn out, so I'm on my own for workouts.  I fit in only half of my planned workout, but it was still good.  I had gotten up to 25 push ups once upon a time and now can do only a few.  These dvd's have me doing them again and I'm already improving!  Today's pushups were with leg lifts, and I managed 6 of them.  I started out with 1.  hahaha Have I mentioned that since I started trying to lose 5 pounds by September that I've gained 5 pounds in 2 weeks instead?  I'm assuming it's all muscle.  :)

rain + soccer camp + playroom time with Mr. Special Needs + household basics + yoga + bellydance + 3 miles + Rock Band = a long, great day!

I'm no techno-genius!  I couldn't get the movies to upload to my computer.  I'll keep trying, but no more teasing that I'll get pictures or video posted!  I just haven't been able to make it happen. I played all day yesterday instead of running.  Turns out, I was only due for 3 miles rather than 5 (which just sounded good) and I'll go for that later today.  Either outside or on the treadie.  It rained allll day yesterday, which would have been nice to run in except for the mud.  I'm not a fan of mud.  We only have one short paved street and one highway that curves too much for my peace of mind to run along.  So, mud.

I'm not doing so great with pictures...now the card says that it's corrupted.  So, I took video to make a slideshow, but didn't get it done.  So we are now shooting for "Slideshow Sunday." Gracyn and I lifted today and hit several "10's."  So we may be sore tomorrow.  It's fun having her as my workout partner!  I plan to run 5 miles tomorrow... Oh!  I set up a training schedule on Nike+ to help me work toward a faster speed on my 10K distance.  I'm excited about that!  I've been running, but tomorrow is day 1 of the nike schedule.  It has me finishing the training in October or November, but looking at it, I will be running the 10k distance already, so I will still hope to better my time before September!   Tomorrow is Sunday...I'm looking forward to worship with friends way up the mountain and a five mile run!  Recipe for greatness.

until tomorrow. We didn't lift today after all, but were planning some silly pics anyway...hubby did something with the sd card.... so, tomorrow. i hope.

...coming soon to a blog near you.... I will be posting some pictures just for fun later, but for now, I'll just say that my daughter and I only managed 1/2 our lifting workout on Wednesday, and I ran 2 miles yesterday...don't think we aren't still workin'!  But we're playin' too!  Because we can. :) More later....

My 14 year old daughter has decided to start working out with me.  We lifted together for the second time yesterday.  When asked what her goals are for working out, she said 2 very cool things.  She told me she wants to get stronger and that she wants to stay fit, so she wants to begin now and keep up a fit lifestyle into her adult life.  Is that not the best news of the day?  I'd been concerned that it had to do with outward appearance only and on worrying over weight or something.  What a cool kid, huh? We did burn circuit 1 on the chalean extreme dvd set.  I'm liking it, and she explains a lot of concepts repetitively which will be good for my daughter.  Today is a scheduled rest day.  I will do one of 3 things, rest, run, bike.  Not sure yet.  

My intention had been a long, fun run on Sunday.  As the day inched past and the sun moved higher in the sky, I knew it was definitely more of a Sun Day.   Wearing my Freedom Run II shirt, I headed out just after noon.  The four miles were hot but enviable.  At one point, along the return journey, a deer surprised me in the river to my right.  She ran along with me for a little way and I imagined myself graceful and strong like her.  She hid in some bushes as I made my way ahead.  The river was especially musical, and I found myself more able to relax than on some days as the lullaby drifted me home.  It was one of those beautiful times that feels selfish...I'd like to keep it all to myself, yet share it with everyone.   I hope you have moments like that.

She has inspired me. I read today's post , and realized that what I really want to do today is the thing I thought I didn't feel like doing. I want to work out. If you are trying to get yourself into a fitness routine or if you just feel in a rut with the one you have, set yourself up with a blog! I seriously recommend it! You'll find inspiring friends and accountability in Cyberworld. OKAY...now for the workout. More later..... I'm sooooo glad I did it! I felt like such a slug. I knew I was going to make myself workout, but I kept not doing it YET. Then, I read Ruth's great post and knew that the time was NOW. I feel like a new person. What happened to that tired woman? I dunno, but she will be sore tomorrow!

Tough workouts.  These new exercises are TOUGH!  Ruth asked about them...Yes, they are dvd's.  She uses a burnout method of 3 excruciatingly slow reps at the end of a set of an exercise that brings you to failure even before the burnout.  She says, Failure is Success.  True in this case, and then I started thinking maybe in many cases.  After all, Einstein never saw his experiments/inventions as failures even when they didn't work.  He was successful in ruling out another method, and so, closer to his goal.  Isn't that what we're doing?  Getting closer to our goals with each failure.  Lifting is just one small example.  The key is perseverance.  Endurance.  Which brings me to the topic of running.  It tests that endurance.  Today is a running day for me, and I hope to fail!  :) My plan?  Intervals.  Check back to make sure I'm still alive and succeeding! ***********UPDATE********** Yessss!  I succeeded!  I ran hill sprints on my driveway...talk about failure, and su...

Yesterday, I took "before" pictures which I jokingly refer to as "again" pictures.  I weighed, I measured...I started again.  Not that I've ever "stopped" but I sort of stalled out on the weight loss.  My thyroid acted up again, and I gained a good 10 pounds that I don't want.  And I was inconsistent on the lifting end of things...tired from training for a Half, muscles too fatigued for lifting.   So, here I am, beginning again and feeling a sense of accomplishment!  I did the first Chalean Extreme workout yesterday.  The reason that I got this workout program is that it follows what I've learned from Body For Life but adds a new flair to peak my interest and keep my muscles on their toes, so to speak.  High weight, low reps, new-to-me exercises.  Ya try to burn out as in BFL..I like that.  Well, today I am pleasantly reminded of all the work I did in a short amount of time yesterday with Chalean Extreme.  Great workout...I couldn't even do...

What a sense of accomplishment to have achieved yet another goal...  Another half-marathon! And what a sense of loss of purpose.  One day, I knew what I was working toward and the next day, I began wondering what to work for next.  It's a good kind of a loss because it comes with great gain.  But, still...I feel a little, well, lost. I have some weight to lose.  And I got my Beachbody Chalean Extreme in the mail over the weekend.  So, I've been contemplating exactly how to go about losing the extra weight.  I also still want to run and run far....  I think I'll take "before" pics tomorrow and take measurements and plan a clean menu and begin Chalean, but I also want to continue my runs and stick with a long run each weekend.  I want to keep up the distance and get to the point where 10 miles becomes easy enough to begin working on speed at that distance and maybe run another 10k with a faster pace.   I had thought about another half in the fall in Moab, Utah.  But...

Ran 2 miles today and did walking lunges.  Still to do:  more lunges, back rows and flies, and biceps. Got my hair cut finally.  See?

It was really great to have Ruthie and her family here!  We had a great lifting session in our community weight room and the next day, we ran six miles!  I am so impressed that Ruth can come to nearly 9000 feet above sea level and take on a 6 mile run.  Not just any 6 mile run either.  It's a vertical climb of 900 feet in the first 3 miles.  That's like 3 "heartbreak hills."

It's so fun having Ruthie here!  With all of her public life and everything, I feel like I'm running with a celebrity!  Here are some pictures of us running along with our pal, Mindy.  See our shirts for running our freedom half??  We look pretty great, huh??  :)

There I am, running along.  I first took my dog-buddy with me for the first 5 miles.  We took it pretty easy, walking and running.  After delivering Banjo back to the backyard, I grabbed my camelbak and went back out for the other 8 miles.   The first five miles were full of me questioning myself.  Can I do this?  Does it count if I'm walking this much?  How much is too much walking?  What if I don't walk enough and I run out of steam?  Why can't I get into a good groove?  Where is my rhythm?  Will I finish this?  I could stop and try for another day???? The middle part of my run, though difficult, was more relaxed and confident.  I continued to take short walking breaks when I needed to.  The steep hills are one thing in the beginning part of a run and quite another when inserted into miles 7 and 8.   Mile 9 was my favorite mile. I thought I was going to die.  I'd been climbing and climbing in the heat.  Then, I realized I was already to my favorite little trail throug...