Running Thoughts

I CAN fit into my wedding dress! Virtual high fives all around!  :) I should have taken a picture!  I'll try to do that when I get back home!

It's great to be home (although we had a great time)!!  I've been letting my body re-adjust to the altitude.  Headache/tired.  It only takes 2 weeks to get de-acclimated to the mountains and we were gone 2 and a half.  Sometimes I feel it and sometimes not.  This time, I've felt it.  So, listening to and respecting my body, I decided to rest these past 2 days even though I wanted to run.   Hubby and I celebrate our 19th anniversary on the first.  We are leaving tomorrow for a short anniversary get-away and we will be gone until sometime Tuesday.  We will be staying in a bed and breakfast that we stayed in on our honey-moon.  Isn't he romantic?  OOOOOOH!  I wonder if I can squeeze into my wedding dress????? Beginning the week after july 4th, Sara, hubby, and I begin a 5K training/muscle building 4 week Blitz.  More details about that later.   "See" you in a few days!

I'm not home yet!  We had to stay longer than planned, so I'm back in Austin.  So, I got to run one more time here in the humid heat!   My thoughts as I ran: "I really should have gotten out here earlier.  It's freakishly hot and sticky out here.  Oh!  There's some shade (speeding up)...ah, shade is good!  (slowing down through the shade in an attempt to make it last)  When I get home, I'm going to concentrate on enjoying the cool air more.  Yay!  Here's my favorite little downhill part of the trail!  I wonder why my knees feel so stiff today???  hey, they put new pea gravel here...can't go over it, can't go around it, must go through it(trudge, trudge).  Already to the round about!  Ok, that means that I'm almost to the big hill.  Why do I keep forgetting to dump the little rocks out of my shoe?  Ok, here's the hill...yiiiikes!  too fast (slowing down, twisting my ankle just a little).  All right, back on track.  I wonder if I look as ridic...

Ran again, sweat dripping...nothing amazing to anyone but me.  It was fun!  I like the long hills here and I only walked once for a few steps at the top of a long hill.  2 miles with hills and heat.

Yayayayayay! I got to jump rope yesterday, do 3 sets of push ups, and run today!!  I was dripping with sweat and thinking of Ruthie who loves to run in the humid heat.  Ugh!  I ran about 2 miles up and down long hills in the scorching heat and now I'm pretty sure I can conquer anything!  I didn't break any records or create a new personal best, but I felt like I did!  And I'm one run closer to meeting my goal of runs under a 11:34 mile.  I ran at about 11:15?? I can't remember, but nothing earth shattering and still, I feel good about it.   I really love the book, Marathoning for Mortals, recommended by Ruth.  I don't know that I will train for a looooong run like a marathon or half, but I am inspired to begin the training and see where it takes me as I shoot for longer distances and personal bests.  I'd like to run a solid 5k and 10K and who knows beyond that???  You know that Ruth will decide that if she can run a half, she can run a full marathon, so maybe we...

But don't worry, I'm not discouraged.  I still have my plans that can come to fruition at any point along my vacation journey, and I know that I can look forward to my "program" when I get back home!  So, I will just...continue...whatever that means!  And I'm reading some great running books while I'm gone.  R, you will be interested to know that one of them is Marathoning for Mortals....  :)

I'm at my in-laws!  So far, I've been a tired, non-exercising person.  Yesterday was a travel hangover day (complete with headache and everything).  My youngest decided not to sleep much at all the first night, so I was exhausted.  Anyway, I hope to do a 25 minute workout today that I downloaded for trips.  And tomorrow I go to my parents' house.  I brought my jump rope for while I'm at their house.   So, that's what's up with me!  

Yesterday started out to be one of those days when I long for a treadmill.  It was rainy, cold, and gray.  For those who have wondered what happened with my cardio plans, you'll be happy to know that the sun peeked out for a bit and Sara and I ran hill repeats up the driveway and then alternated jump rope intervals.  Yay!! Days when the weather makes it hard to do cardio remind me of why I'd like to have a treadmill.  I have an elliptical, but it isn't the same, not that a treadmill is exactly the same as running outside, but it's close.  And I have found some ways to make treadmill running more interesting.   The Complete Book of Running for Women has a section called Finding Fun in Treadmill Running, and I thought that since it's so hot where some of you are and some of you have small children...well, a treadmill is the best option, but not always as inspiring...and you might like some of these ideas!!  "TV Tempo" Warm up for an easy 10 minutes before yo...

lower body ALMOST didn't happen yesterday!  Sara and I have been busy trying to get a loooong list of things done before my family leaves for 2 weeks and before her family comes here for a vacation.  Finished the kids' testing...whew!  And keep trying to fit in Kaegan's one-on-one time which I would like to be every waking hour, but at least he got one hour with Sara yesterday.  That's better than none!   We remembered last night before dark....so we did long sets of uphill walking lunges and then burned out on calf raises.  Not as thorough of a leg workout as I had intended, but intense.  Today should be cardio, but it is raining outside....I like to run in the snow, but the rain...not so much.  I will post a "why I want a treadmill" post later today......so look for that! I'm contemplating what my workout will be.  Stairs or elliptical?  Maybe it will clear up later???

**UPDATE** Sara is back!  And she brought me a cute, cute greeeeeeen (my fav) and white underarmour running shirt!  So I put it on and went for a run along the river.  I kept my pace under my goal pace, so the shirt is a success!!!!  :)  I ran 1k and then ran 8 sprints back home.  I had intended for the 1k to be faster than it was.  I was sort of wimpy and walked part of it.  But my sprints weren't wimpy.  They were pretty fast!  And I did triple drop sets for biceps.  Lower body and abs tomorrow.  So I won't be running and I'm weirdly sad about that. ********************* This week is testing week for our homeschool family.  Our state requires nat'l standardized achievement tests every odd grade year.  I have a 3rd grader and a 7th grader.  School ended last friday so we are testing this week at home and watching all the Harry Potter movies in order.  :)  We leave on Saturday to go to visit Grandparents and friends for a couple of weeks.  Things won't get completel...

Today was free for me, but I'm so excited about the trails that I scoped out to run soon!  They have been too snowy to get to, but now, they are open and hilly and secluded and great!  And I'm psyched that I think I've found a good pace for running distances now!  

I'm really happy that people are using the community gym (it's free and fairly well-equipped), but I miss the good ol' days when I was the only one in there.  I tried twice today to go, but I had to take both boys with me and when other people are in there, 2 bouncy boys are not welcome.  Both tries were futile for us because there were groups of people working out in there!  That's exciting, but inconvenient for me.  And isn't it all about me, after all?  No? Well, we came home and I did "giant sets" of body weight leg exercises.  Giant sets are doing 3 exercises for the same muscle group in a row with no break between for 15 reps.  Then, rest about 30 seconds and do it again and then again.  So, I may not have gotten to do my heavy legs day squats with the barbell like I'd planned, but I did manage to fatigue my muscles...even my calves which are not easily fatigued.  So I'm happy. Today is the last day of school, too.  So we have walked all over...

I knew that today was the day.  I slipped into my *hot* pink running skirt and headed out to run/jog the entire 3k distance.  No walking.  I DID IT!!!!  :)  I even kicked into high gear for the last 100 meters.  I shaved over a minute off my time and Tiger Woods said, "Congratulations!  You just hit a new record for the mile!"   Reading in the Running for Women book, I realized that I've never had any instruction on running (especially with hills) and the info there helped me tremendously.  I also realized that, with running sprints (my favorite) and running hills (which I also love/dread), I've never tried to find my pace.  Today, I think I found it.  And now, I can bump it up as I get better and better.  I'll be improving my time and shooting for 5K.  Abwork later!!

I said in my last post that I want to run faster.  I still have the goal of running/jogging the whole way too.  I know that it will take a long time for both goals, but I wanted to add that I haven't dropped the first goal for the second.  I figure that as I work on running/jogging the whole thing, my time will improve.   Also, I went to the library and checked out 2 books that I've checked out before...Running for Women and Sculpting Her Body Perfect.  Both are good reads.  Here is something I read in the Running book that I wanted to share: "A positive self-image is important throughout our lives as runners.  Chances are, your running will take you in a variety of directions over the years and your running identity will change.  You might have taken up running to lose weight but later find that running has become important to you for many other fitness reasons as well.  You might try some trails one day and find yourself seduced by the sport of ultrarunning.  YOu may dec...

I ran 2 miles today.  I'm not fast, but at least I'm out there!  I jog/walked part of it and threw in some sprints.  My goal is to run 5 runs at a pace of faster than 11.34 per mile in one month.  I'm not there yet!  But I will get there!  Then, I'll make another goal, etc! Can't believe Ruth is still on target with workouts while on vacation!!!  Yay for Ruth!  I go visit family in a couple of weeks, and I plan not only to take my jump rope, but to take one for hubby too!  Sneaky plan...don't tell him!

Those push-ups and super sets of abwork had me very pleasantly sore.  I was planning on cardio yesterday, but hubby is only home a short time and I decided to skip it and take the day with him.  He leaves this afternoon and I will be doing legs.  This is the last week of school here!  That is so exciting!  My kids only go part of the day and homeschool the rest, but I'm so looking forward to no more going back and forth!!!  I forgot to tell you that I went shopping over the weekend and tried on size 2 stuff that fit, but didn't buy cuz they weren't on sale.  I did buy some things...shorts (my new usual size 4), some shirts, a GREEN hoodie...I also bought some long dangly earrings that will be cute with my short hair.  I tried to pierce my ears about a year or so ago and my ears rejected the earrings, and I haven't tried again.  I bought clip earrings; you can't see my ears anyway, just the dangle below my hair.  OOOH, I'll try for a picture. Oh, and Sara is off ...

Last time I did push-ups, I could only do 12.  I just did one set of 20 and another of 15!!  I don't have time to run to the gym today because Hubby missed his flight and now he gets in later and in another town from the one he flew out of where his jeep is parked...so, I have to get things together and drive to go pick him up.... Anyway, that to say that I'm doing push-ups, tri dips, and bicep curls for my upper body workout today.  I'm down a little on the scales, so maybe I'll eventually join Ruth in the 120's!!  there's hope!   Have a great day!  (it's snowing here...hahaha)

Today was cool and a little snowy, but there was a slip of time with some sunshine, so I took advantage of it and jumped rope.  I had planned on running 3K, but really was in the mood to jump my rope instead.   I plan to do supersets of abwork when I get off this computer!   Silly Ruth, there aren't tigers.  Just bears and mountain lions.  And I try not to run in the morning when it is likely to see a bear.  Mountain lions are skittish and rarely seen anywhere near town or common trails.  Hopefully, I'll never see one!!

We did leg press, calf raises, lunges until near death and that was all we had time for.   I found this wesite... www.mountainrunningfortheaveragejoe.com It has some good advice on training and on races/first races.   It also speaks about taking time to enjoy the outdoors when you run which I am a strong believer in.  There are certain parts of my run where I just slow down, take the earphones down and enjoy the river rushing by.  I don't stop, I just plan to walk there.  I love the serenity of running outside and I've been looking forward to some trails opening up so that I can do some trail running up the mountains this summer.  

or at least I felt cute.  The day was really warm and so I donned my running skirt and rode my bike to memorial park with Brae.  There, I ran 3K's worth of sprints.  It took 22 min.  Then we messed around at the park and the river and rode home, uphill.  So that was great.  I did biceps and triceps too and did abwork.  So, that is that is that.  It was a joyful day!