Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for so many things. I am blessed beyond measure. Today I am thankful for an accessible God that I can go to in prayer. When things happen beyond my understanding, when troubles come that are too heavy for me to bear alone, He is there for me. Always. What a friend we have in Jesus!

Today I ask you to join me in prayer for my girl Sarah. She is one of my “disabled” (pregnant) running buddies. We’ve run Speed Class together for 2 years, you might remember her from our half marathon in February. She is 27 weeks pregnant with her 2^nd child, a son, Nathanael James. Nate. She is experiencing complications that will result in Nate being born much sooner than anticipated.

Will you join me in prayer, good thoughts, well wishes, whatever you are comfortable with, lifting up Sarah, her husband and sweet baby Nate? His lungs need to mature, she needs to stay free of infection and he needs to grow, grow, grow! She says she feels His peace about this, and for that I am grateful.

Are you Awake?

I’m a sponge. I’m trying to learn all I can about fitness and nutrition. So Runner’s World tells me that I should be consuming caffeine. Check. Oh wait, they didn’t mean Dr. Pepper. So once again, I’m trying to limit, ne kick, the soda habit. I get it – no nutritional value. Empty calories. But they taste so gooooood.

Back to tea. RW says drink up! High in antioxidants. Provides that caffeine for muscle repair. So I went to our resident tea expert, Angie. Angie sits next to me and is dedicated to clean living. We frequently trade information and share nibbles of our latest find. I knew she was the one to direct me to a really good tea. I hoped she could suggest a few, but today she surprised me with 5 different tea samples. Such a generous girl! The Chai Spice Black Tea smells like winter, but she indicated it was best with milk. Not having milk at my reach, I opted to try Tazo Awake.

I’m awake! It is very bitter, but then I find all tea bitter. That’s why I like cup fulls of sugar dumped into it and poured over ice! (ala CFA) I’m trying to do this right, so no sugar added. Angie tells me that I am brave. I feel like I’m deceiving her. I figure if I have to learn to like tea, I might as well learn to like it without sugar!

The more it cools, the easier it is to drink. I may be able to get on board with this whole tea train. It helps that it is rainy and dark outside, I can pretend it is Fall and I’m drinking it to stay warm. (I’m not, don’t let those clouds fool you, it is still hawt)

Tomorrow I shall try Earl Grey.

Do you drink caffeinated tea? What is YOUR favorite?

18 Miles Down, Maybe

I was so excited.
Today was going to be the day. 18 miles. And I felt great! I hydrated well yesterday. I had my peanut butter early this morning and took my pre-run Excedrin. I was ready.
It was overcast, not too terribly hot and we enjoyed a nice breeze. Perfect July weather. I was going strong. So strong!
But L* wasn't. After about mile 14 I noticed that he was really struggling. He was falling further and further behind the group. And for some reason, no one was staying with him. I looked back one last time so see him giving every thing he had to make it up the hill. So I turned around, ran to meet him and assured him that I wouldn't leave him. We runners gotta watch out for each other! (and I know he would have done the same for me) Grateful, he told me that he needed to walk. We walked a bit and got even further from the group. I tried to get his mind off of things by engaging him in conversation. I asked him to tell me the story of how he met his wife. He stumbled over his words and couldn't remember what state he lived in when they were dating. Concerned, I made him sit down in the shade, take some water and rest. We then lost the group completely. With about 3 miles still to go, I walked the rest of the way with him. I didn't want to take off running because I wasn't sure of the way back and I was still a little worried about his state. He was good though, and eventually was able to tell me how he met his wife!
Better safe than sorry.
So, I covered 18 miles (a little further according to L*'s Garmin) but I didn't actually run 18 miles. So disappointing. Because I was ready to grab it and growl today!
Oh well, there is always next weekend!

Rabbit Practical Jokes and the best husband EVAH!

As I approached our detached garage at zero dark thirty this morning, headed out to (what else) run, I spotted what I at first thought was a dog toy. There it was just lying on the concrete in front of the garage door. Strange, we don’t have a dog. As I got closer I realized that in fact, it was a baby bunny. By all appearances, a dead baby bunny. Quel nightmare! I sat in my car to compose my thoughts, shed a tiny tear and, of course, to tweet about this tragedy.

It took me a minute to decide what apparatus to pick him up with (don’t want dead bunny germs before my 6 miles) and what exactly to DO with him once I plucked him from the pavement. I decided that a shovel would suffice as a bier and headed out to retrieve the body.

Except he was gone. Done gone! That rabbit wasn’t dead, he was playing possum! Relieved, I could just imagine his little rabbit friends crouching below George and Barbara*, furry paws covering their little rabbit mouths as they tried to stifle a snicker. NOT FUNNY, bunny!

My run was by comparison, uneventful. I sent out the call last night for those that desired to get tomorrow’s scheduled 6 miles in today. That way, I can stay in the biscuit on Saturday past, you know, 5 am. (I live the luxury life, don’t be jealous) They all wanted to meet at 5:30 but that is just too late for me and work. Sooo I headed to the track to get in a few miles on my own before the cool kids arrived. It was just me and one older dude who walked the track a’la Don Quixote. Done and done. Tomorrow morning I’m sleeping in!

Fake dead rabbits aside, I actually DID have a death in the family of sorts. My pink Razr had one last stroke on Wednesday and this one was fatal. So I am using an old cellie. And wouldn’t you know I went off and left it at home this morning. I realized before I got on the highway so I turned around to retrieve it. As I pulled into our driveway, I met Hubs, who was backing out. To bring me my phone. Aw, he was going to drive all the way downtown to drop off my phone. He’s a keeper!

*Not only do we rescue animals, but the occasional shrub as well. When we first moved in to our home we were shocked at how much landscaping cost. Imagine our horror and then delight when we saw that a neighbor had pulled out several full grown shrubs and just left them on the side of the road to be picked up for trash day. So Hubs plucked two nandinas from their certain death and we replanted them at our house. George and Barbara Bush. They are thriving in their new environment, as most rescue shrubs do. :o)

Lights, police car, action!

So the popo spiced things up for us today.  We met up at a local elementary school, per ush for our hills days.  I’m pulling up and out of the pre-dawn darkness, I see lights careening past me, following a car into the parking lot.  Opting not to follow the officer, I parked on a side street.  And waited.  ‘Cause you know, maybe he wasn’t pulling over just your average speeder.  I certainly didn’t want a possible exchange of gunfire to interfere with my morning run! 

Turns out it was indeed just a speeder. Booorrrrring.  Funny thing though, the same officer pulled over ANOTHER runner on his way out of the ‘hood.  Ha ha – runners beware; You gotta follow the rules even at 4:45 in the morning!

We got violently honked at.  I’m assuming it was a cyclist who just happened to be in his SUV.  I’m pretty sure Chic Runner would agree.  Other than those two events, it was a great run.  Cooler with a nice breeze.  7.5 miles of rolling hills.  Some rollier than others.  As I’m plowing up each hill, trying despartely to keep my shoulders back and my head up I keep in mind, “That which does not kill us, makes my butt look bam!”  Try it.  Everyone needs a mantra.

<<PoliceLights2.jpg>>

You got Game?

Everyone once in a while, you’ll just be really on your game. Those are good days to remember. Keeps me motivated when I have a not-so-great workout/game. When the internet was new, I found the Same Game and soon became addicted. We called it the Marble Game and you can imagine my delight to find that my Blackjack has a version called, Bubble Breaker. Pure unadulterated delight. You are seeing that right. 702 in one play. Crossing the entire board. Clearly, I’ve got game.

Today was the initial Plank Off at work. If you remember, my goal was 50 seconds. The most I’d done up to this point was 40 seconds. I was shocked when our first few plankers pulled 3:03, 2:07 and 2:15. We then had another guy hit 3:49. Young people. Um, yeah. I’ll just wait to plank in private, thankyouverymuch. But plank I did and…

1:33. Booyah!!! Not stellar in comparison to others, but the goal is for ME to get stronger, not to compare myself to my co-workers. (okay to compare myself a little bit) I’m excited about my time, excited to work on my core and excited to get harder, better, faster, stronger. N-n-now that don’t kill me, can only make me stronger!

Plankity plank!

I have a core like play-doh. I know how important a strong core is for running. And I've started core workouts a jillion times. BUT my core is so weak, I can't finish one set of reps...and then I quit. I'm a sad quitter.

You would think running a marathon would motivate me. You would think swimsuit season would motivate me. Nope.

Competition motivates me though! Inspired by Jocelyn, I set about on a Plank Challenge. Her most recent time was 1:05! She's hardcore! But knowing my lazy self as well as I do, I knew that just posting my time wouldn't inspire me. I control the posts, right? I could just mysteriously stop posting my pathetic times.

So I opened it up for a Plankathon at work. I've recruited about 12 other planksters and we are going to challenge each other. This Thursday we'll have our first trial and then measure our progress in 2 weeks, then again at 4 weeks. No prize money, just bragging rights. Because who wants to be humiliated at work? That's like, almost public! The longest I've been able to hold a plank so far is 40 seconds. Weak. We'll see what I do on Thursday. My goal for next month is 1:30. I think I can, I think I can...

In other news, my feet were so swollen this morning. I had to cram my piggies in my Steve Madden ballet flats and hobble to work. Ah, the heat. And driving home at 5:30 the voices in my speakers announced it was 104. Assuming it would not get down to a chilly 80 by 8 pm, I decided to call off today's 3 mile recovery run. (in fact it is currently 7:45 and 98) I made a promise to myself to NOT skip a single workout. But I'm not skipping. We are under a heat advisory and after yesterday, I think it best to just stay indoors tonight. I've got 7 miles on the schedule for tomorrow morning and then rest until Friday. (I'm racing on Saturday) So, I'm gonna just delay that 3 miles until Wednesday. Morning. And I'm cool wit dat.

Oh, and I want the Snap it Kool towel. I'm thinking this is the answer to surviving marathon training in the hot Texas sun. Snap it Kool - send me a towel to review!!!

Hot girrls

Yeah, that's me. Hot. First things first though.

My sweet new kicks finally arrived. So I took them out for a spin Saturday morning. Like comfy cushy pillows for my feet. Put my old Riders back on and I might as well have been wearing sandals for the lack of cushioning. Ah, I love new shoes. Thanks for the memories old shoes; You served me well for over 400 miles.

The rest of Saturday was spent hanging with Hubs and running errands. You know, Saturday stuff. We did manage to make a trip to Chick Fil-A after we bought a new toilet seat at Lowes. (I know, we live the high life) I sucked down a large sweet tea before remembering that I was going to try to hold off the sugar in favor of water for the rest of the day. Oops.

This morning was 16 miles. And it was already 82 at 5 am. Ah, Texas summer, why are you so abusive? I actually felt great most of the run, maybe it was my new pink Mizunos. I stayed at the head of the group until about mile 13. I hung back with another runner who needed to walk. I'm just super courteous that way. Ha ha. Any excuse to rest a bit. The sun was blaring. The words they used on the news were "Severe and searing heat advisory." Uh, scary. I was good about drinking water at each stop and even drizzled water on my head. But I was so dang thirsty. Even after I'd had a few cups my mouth was still parched. I powered on, reciting my verse from the book of Hebrews, "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."

I was hot, but so was everyone else. I was tired, but duh, I'd already run 15 miles and it was fast approaching 90. And then I noticed I was not just in the back of the pack...I was quite a bit behind everyone. How did that happen? Still so thirsty, I looked down and noticed I wasn't sweating anymore. In fact, I had goosebumps and was starting to shiver.

That's not good.

I called out to my coach and informed her that I needed water and told her what was going on. She got me into the shade, found some sports drink for me and made me sit down. And then informed me that I would be walking back. I protested, exclaiming that is was "Only a mile!" And she quickly retorted, "Is it really worth only a mile?" She was right. A girl shouldn't be shivering in 90 degree heat. Not a girl who has been running for 3 hours.

So I slowly moped my way back to the store, cutting a half mile off my planned 16. I got plenty of water, sat in the a/c, stretched and tried not to be upset. I didn't do anything wrong. It wasn't my fault. I didn't fail. It's hot, I got overheated and I did the right thing by stopping.

But still.

So be careful y'all. Make sure you try to run in the shady areas when possible. Drink, drink, drink. Don't wear a hat, wear a visor; it lets the heat escape. Wear light colored clothing. And by all means, listen to your body. When it says stop, stop!

Just for kicks

7 miles this morning. What a difference a mentor makes. Tulani took over for the former mentor...he was fine, but she is GREAT! We chatted, laughed, sang Michael Jackson songs...and she really kept us on pace. My weekday runs just got MUCH better! (I still miss you though Michelle!)

After talking to Joy (my running idol) about feet today, I decided to order a new pair of kicks. And NOT wide width New Balance. Nope. Regular, old faithful Mizuno Riders. Running Warehouse, natch. Where else ya gonna get great customer service, no tax, free shipping and discounted merchandise? I've got over 400 miles on this pair and it's past time. So I'm hoping new shoes will help my tender tootsies issue. Best of all - they are PINK! And that is a good thing.

Speaking of good things...my friend Katie is getting married! So, Katie is the most glamorous person I know IRL. She is beyond gorgeous. But she's so real too. She'll come to work no make up, no problem. Sweet girl, super funny and I'm so happy that she has found her soul mate in Chad. Congratulations y'all!

The stunning pics? Just a display of the amazing talent of Lindsey Joy. She is an incredible photog. Lindsey is married to my friend Beto; They often shoot together. Such a fun couple and their chemistry is really working! She's got such a creative eye and is crazy artistic. She makes everyone look as glamorous as Katie! She's photographed many of our friend's engagements, weddings and babies. Check out her site and if you even need spectacular pictures, ring her up! http://www.lindseyjoy.com/

Diagnosis: WFS

I've been suffering from a serious condition for the past few weeks. I'm sure it is directly related to running. Many athletes suffer from this condition. There is a cure, but it takes dedication and some alternative treatments. That's okay, I'm willing to try just about anything.

My diagnosis? WFS. White Foot Syndrome. Yes, yes, some of you may also be suffering. Particularly rampant in the summer months when athletes all over are training out in the sun...those first nasty tan lines appear and before you know it, full blown White Foot Syndrome.

Above you can see an example of Lindsey Lohan. See, it affects even celebrities! I'm doing my best to wear sandals any other time I'm out in public. Trying to even out the tan. And yes, I use sunscreen, but it happens still.

On a more serious note, I HAVE been having some foot issues. Not the gross, ew her toenail just fell off kind. Not yet anyway. I've noticed a tenderness on my middle toes after my long runs. It's getting worse since, well, my long runs are getting longer. Yesterday after 14 miles I had the beginning of a blister. So I packed up my runners, threw on some dead shoes and headed to Run On.

I insisted on seeing George, he's the best fitter. He's in his late 50's and has run almost 40 marathons. This man KNOWS running. So I put my name on the list and waited patiently. He fit me for my fist pair of Mizunos way back when and I just wanted to make sure I was still in the right shoes. I've heard that our gait can change, thus changing our shoe requirements. After a brief convo, Geo watched me stand and had me run around. He knew exactly what the problem was. I'm rolling outward. What? And in fact, I am.

I've actually noticed lately that I'm standing that way, even in street shoes. Standing on the outsides of my feet. Because I'm doing this, there is less room in the toe box. So Geo recommended a wide width runner. Mizuno doesn't make wide widths, so after trying several, I found a New Balance pair I could live with. But I didn't make a purchase yet.

Not to be vain, but I've always had very narrow feet. That's one of the reasons I've always had to shy way from cheaper shoes; They don't come in narrow widths. So now, all of the sudden, I have wide feet? No, George assured me it was just to accommodate my roll. (believe me, I have all kinds of rolls that are giving me problems these days)

I think I should look into this further though. Shoes might help the toe tenderness, but they won't correct the problem. What would make me suddenly start standing/running funny? I'm thinking about a visit to Dr. Doyle, a Sports Therapist.

Has your gait changed since you started running? Did you see someone about it? Can I fix this? Could I have RICKETS?!?! (jk on that last one, well, mebe)

Yes I Can!

Hope y'all had a safe and happy 4th. We had a little partay at our house half Happy Birthday Pink Girl half Happy Birthday U.S. Both seemed to have a great time. Really, we just had my rents over for sammies. Never one to pass up an opportunity to decorate, I came up with this:

Of course I had to have water. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!

And fruit for dessert. Now, aren't we healthy? Sorta patriotic. Red strawberries, blueberries and, er, white grapes. I really was shooting for flag colors; I promise!

This morning was 14 miles. I worked very hard NOT to psyche myself out. I kept telling myself, "It's only 9/10ths of a mile longer than a half marathon." I can run 9/10ths of a mile in my sleep! Yes I Can! The weather today was a gift. Overcast, a slight breeze, light rain and a projected high of 85. Granted, it was 85 when I woke up, but I'll take it! Just a break from the Africa sunshine was a blessing. I made my 14 miles no prob, of course, and was very happy to finish. Per ush. I stretched, cleaned up with my favorite cold rags, downed an Excedrin and some chocolate milk and headed home. To a nice relaxing ice bath.

I'm a fan of ice baths. I am. I swear by them for long runs, especially in the heat. See, the theory is that it's like icing any part of your body, you are just getting it all at once. Problem is, the tap water is so warm in summer, it melts my ice very quickly! I worked hard all week to make enough ice. And it melted by minute 10. But the water was still pretty chilly so I stayed put another 10 minutes. Never stay in an ice bath longer than 20 minutes! Just like you wouldn't ice an area for longer than 20 minutes, get yer booty out of the bath in the same time. Rest for about a half hour, the cooling effect is still working. Then take a warm shower to get clean. Here is what happens when you have 2 very curious kitties.

They both wanted desperately to drink the bath water and fish out ice cubes. Alternately, they swatted each other in the face. I was sure one or both of them would end up in the tub with me. And yes, I keep my clothes on while bathing in ice. There are some parts that were never meant to be that chilly.Only our guest bath has a tub. I so love the retro green tiles, but sadly they only used 4 in the entire bath. I just love our 1950's ranch! That's Perry staring down an ice cube.See how melty it is? I can't store enough ice to keep it icy! We need a deep freeze! That or we need an ice machine...hey, that's a great idea! I used one large plastic Gap bag of ice. Prolly about 15 lbs of ice. Maybe I need to revert to one ghetto home made bag of ice and purchase one on the way home. That's Hanky contemplating jumping in. (it's happened before, who ever said cats don't like water?)

The secret is, sit in an empty tub, let it fill up with cold water around you and then add the ice. If you dunk your hind end in a full tub of ice water, you're liable to go into cardiac arrest. It's quite the shock to your system!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. I'll be back tomorrow with a shoe dilemma that I'd love to get your opinion on.

One more thing? Has spell check been highlighting words that are spelled correctly, and then suggesting the exact same spelling you used? Weird.

My Dream House

I feel like I have so many posts in my head, yet have been sadly neglecting my posting. Sorry bloggies!
(I know, y'all are all sitting around moping because I haven't posted in a few days, riiiight.)
Anyways. I'll eventually get to all the good stuff. Once I load in all the pics.
But for now, a quick update on my training and then shots of my absolute dream house. I'm totally moving. After some language lessons.
Thursday put in a sweaty 6 miles. Only this time we threw in 5-20 second pick ups. Okay, so let me just say...even though I'm NOT fast, I really, really, REALLY love speed work. And I didn't realize how much I missed it until I was huffing and puffing after pick ups on Thursday. I love the feeling of accomplishment, looking at your watch to see how you were able to shave a few seconds off your time. I'm still loving my marathon training, but I can see how it slows you down. I'm already looking forward to starting back up hard core speed work in January! For now, I'll have to be happy with the smaller speed sessions.
So, y'all know how much I love pink. But maybe you didn't know how much I love Hello Kitty. Yeah, I was a child of the 80's. Sanrio all the way baby. Actually, growing up I was more of a My Melody fan (the bunny) because SHE was the pink character. Hello Kitty was red. I still loved HK...but when she got a make over in the 90's...watch out! My sister found this house for me. The link has more photos and some interesting comments. But oh, isn't it amazing? So, yeah, the outside might be a touch OTT, but the decor is just right. For a Pink Girl anyway! Jill, I thought of you when I saw this!


Hope y'all all have a happy and safe Independence Day. We're headed to my in-laws; Today is their wedding anniversary too!