It's 3 degrees outside and that's a huge warm up from yesterday's -8 with -30 windchill. Needless to say, I've been doing all my running on a treadmill. I only have 8.4 miles to go to my 1000 mile goal! If the weather was decent, I'd knock it out in one run, but I'm not sure I can do that on the treadmill. We had the extended family Christmas yesterday and I think I've convinced a few family members to run the "Run for the Apples" 5 miler in October when we go to Minnesota for my cousin's wedding. It'll be cool to get a state and to run with my family. On the not so cool side, I think I gained three pounds yesterday alone. At our family get togethers, you eat snack foods and sweets until you are so full that you might pop and then … [Read more...]
Puke threshold
Beer Geek had a holiday event this evening, so I only had about 45 minutes to run between when he came home and when he was planning to leave. I decided to run a three mile loop and then run in the neighborhood until the 45 minutes was up. As I'm desperate to get this 1000 mile thing done, I decided to run the first three miles as fast as I could. I tried to run at just short of the puke threshold for as long as I could and actually managed 4 miles at about an 8:37 pace, with a fifth mile at 9:04. 5 miles in 43:30, which leaves me with 19.9 miles to go. (And no, I didn't actually puke, but came mighty close after a couple of sprints to cross streets before lights changed.) Lest you worry that I won't be running when I get to WI, I do … [Read more...]
50 by 50
I've been doing a lot of thinking about my goal of racing in 5o states. The combination of a few hours awake with Shoo the other night and two fairly long runs recently has given me plenty of time to think. I've followed that up with a fair amount of research late at night (when I really should be sleeping or at least getting our Christmas cards ready to mail.) One realization that I've come to is that this is not a short term project. It is unlikely, given financial and time constraints, that I will be able to manage more than 5 states a year. I may be able to cluster some of the smaller states into one trip, but the big western states will be a one at a time deal. I turn 50 in 11.5 years, so my goal is to finish this by then. Wonder if … [Read more...]
Lookin’ for races
I love to research. All of my friends know that if they need an electrician or a particular baby product or want to vacation in a certain spot, all they have to do is ask. If I don't already have an answer because we've needed the information, I'm likely to be willing to do their research for them. (I was, afterall, a research librarian before I started this mom gig). So, here I sit in front of the computer. I have a U.S. atlas on one side of me, our calendar on the other, and "Running in the USA" website open on the computer. This year, we have a fair number of "required" travel: TX in January (same weekend as the Houston Half, but it's full and it's a little too far from where we are going), probably Key West in early April (so far all … [Read more...]
50 miles and 50 states
I ran 6.8 miles yesterday to leave me with a nice round 50 miles left to go for the year. (Yeah, I'm a bit obsessive that way). It was a really good run for two reasons: 1) I was running while Beer Geek was walking Jones to school, so I circled around in our neighborhood for the first 1.5 miles so I could run past them three times. Jones loved it and ran a block with me each time. I've got to look at some of the age appropriate training stuff out there for him. 2) I ran completely negative splits through the end of mile 6. I'm too lazy to go find Garmin and he needs charging anyways, but the first mile was around 9:55 and I got a few seconds faster each mile until mile 6 was run at 9:05. The reason Beer Geek was walking Jones to school … [Read more...]
Girls on the Run 5K race report
Yesterday I ran the winter Girls on the Run 5K with a young lady from Jones' school. It was an AWESOME experience (and more than a bit humbling). I got picked up at 6:30am by the family of another girl that was running and we headed out to the race. We had to get there super early because there is only one way into the area (gotta love suburbia) and 5000 people run this race, close to half of them girls between third and 7th grade. It was about 25 degrees, with a mild wind. Brrr! We got there and found our school. The GOTR coach was already there and had our packets with our numbers and t-shirts. I was running as someone else (shh! don't tell anyone) but coincidentally, the woman whose place I took was my age. I met M, the third grade … [Read more...]
Top 10 reasons today’s run should have sucked
10. I got very little sleep last night - I went to bed around one and Shoo woke me up twice and then I was up for the day at 6:30 9. My butt was super sore - yesterday's mommy and me exercise class kicked my butt, literally. I could barely walk this morning. 8. My hip flexor was still acting up 7. I can't find my running tights - last I saw, they were drying in the basement. Shoo probably hid them somewhere, sigh. 6. I just really wasn't in the mood to run. 5. One of my toe's had a huge blister - said blister has now been rubbed raw. 4. I'm feeling pressured to finish the 1000 miles and it's making me resent running (even though I'm the one putting on the pressure, d'oh) 3. The two miles I made myself do a tenth of a … [Read more...]
PR at the Turkey Trot
Thursday morning dawned cold, but sunny. I had a rough night with Shoo, so I got up a bit late. I ate a bit of breakfast and played musical cars (we live on the route and I wanted them off the street) and then headed over to the race. I continued my pursuit of my 1000 mile goal by running the .4 miles to the start. When I got to the start, I ran into a ton of neighbors and friends. About 1500 people were doing the race and I felt like I knew at least a quarter of them. LOL Most of the people I knew weren't planning to race the Turkey Trot, just finish it, so I moved by myself to the start. The turkey gobbled and we headed off - straight up a steep hill. Luckily it wasn't too long, so it was just a nice warm-up. The first mile was only … [Read more...]
I’m thankful that running is my anti-depressant.
Today's topic for "Take it and Run Thursday" over at the Runner's Lounge is "Thank goodness for running". This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart as running plays a very important role in my life. While I love the more physical benefits of running (weight management, healthy body, energy to play with my kids), I run for the mental lift. Running has always been a mood lifter for me. It can make a bad day good and turn life's little annoyances into the "small stuff" that I can deal with. Running has helped me keep on an even keel as my body goes through the normal hormone shifts each month. But it wasn't until I had my first child that I realized what a huge role running plays for me in my ability to cope with life. After … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 38
- 39
- 40
