Rest, lazy... tomato, tomoto.

I haven't done much of anything for the last few days. I've been getting a little stressed and shutting down. Everyone keeps asking if my 4 year old is going to preschool this year since she starts Kindergarten next year. I don't know if the rest of the world is aware, but preschool, unlike public school, costs money. A lot of money. We're looking into options where she might be able to go a few times a week, but that will still hit our finances pretty hard. Plus, she's been asking about it herself. She's such a social butterfly and can't wait to go to school where she can hang out with "her friends". It frightens me that she might be behind all of the other kids when finally does begin Kindergarten. I'm also getting anxiety about my daughter starting school because we live in a retail world and school is part of a 9-5 world. In the retail world you don't get home until 10:30 pm. If she's going to school at 8, when will we get to hang out as a family? Vacationing on actual holidays? Please. Those are the busiest days for shopping and everyone else in your store wants that weekend off too. So the odds that you will get that day off are slim to none unless you requested it last year. So when the kids are in school, when will we take family vacation? I'm sure we will figure it all out just like we always have, but the moment is rapidly approaching and I can't get it off my mind.

Greek Fest 5k

 

This past weekend was the Yiasou Greek Festival 5k that I decided to do at the last minute because it was just up the street from work and started early enough that I could still work after the race.

Uptown was gorgeous before the sun came out.  This is my favorite building.  Since I’m a parent with no night life, I don’t get to see it lit up very often.  This was the best pic I could get while driving.

I parked at the store (Run For Your Life) and walk/jogged a mile up the road to the race start to pick up my timing chip.  It was a really small 5k so there wasn’t a ton going on.  I got there a little earlier than expected and did a lot of this…

I’m not pissed, just chill’n.

The Yiasou Greek Festival, which happens in another week, is hosted by the Greek Orthodox Church, so the race starts and ends in front of the church.

There was priest out running as well.  He was number 1 so I assume he does it every year.

The actual race was an incredible one for me.  I ran it in 28:05:40 which is a new PR for me!!!!  It’s an average of 9 min miles, but since I have a new toy to play with I can tell you my actual splits.  You may be able to tell from this info that I went out a little too fast and lost a lot of steam at the end.

Mile 1- 8:05

Mile 2- 8:58

Mile 3- 9:22

I didn’t have a plan prior to the race except to run hard and see what happens.  Knowing my splits actually makes me really excited.  If I could hold a 9 min pace for the first two miles and then kick it up for the last mile, I might be able to get an even better time!  Oh, the possibilities!  Also, knowing that I can run even 1 mile in 8 minutes and keep an average 9 min pace is very exciting.  It gives me a lot of hope that I can keep an 11 min pace over the course of 26 miles.

After the race, I walk/jogged the mile back to work.  During the race there was a blind guy that I was neck-n-neck with until I lost steam at the end and he blew by me.  He was the first blind runner that I’ve ever seen without a guide runner.  He just used one of those long sticks.  There was a lady with a camera fallowing him the entire way.  After the race he came into the store with more people with cameras.  Apparently they were filming a documentary about him and he shops at our store frequently.  He had come in a few days earlier to by a hydrations belt, but since he didn’t have a camera crew with him then, they cam back to recreate the scene.  I was the clerk who was to help him and pretend that the cameras weren’t there.  I had to sign a waiver and everything. 

It was a very interesting day to say the least.

(This post will not be proof read for missing words, grammatical errors, ect.  It was kind of a long post, and I just don’t feel like reading over all of it again.  What does it say when you don’t want to re-read your own post?)

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I suck at mornings

Went to bed at a decent hour. Set my alarm for 5:30. Turned my alarm off at 5:30 and went back to sleep. Got up at 6:30 but only because my dog wanted out. Thought since I was up, may as well not be lazy and go run. 1st walking break occurred on the hill before I even got off my street. At 0.5 miles I decided I would NOT run 4 miles. I walked two miles. You are not alone Texas Runner Girl, you are not alone.

But..... Tomorrow I get to run the Yiasou Greek Fest 5k here in Charlotte for FREE! Run For Your Life sponsors the race and it's one of the perks of working there. Yay!

After the race, I will go to work, take a shower and then decide the appropriate shoes for various citizens of the Queen City. Yay!

My new watch is bad ass even if it doesn’t have GPS

 

This is my new Timex Iron Man Sleek watch.

It doesn’t have GPS but I think it still has plenty of features that will come in really handy and help with my training.  Here are some of the cool things about it, and I’ll show you some of it in a video.

• 150 lap counter (I don’t know when I would need that many)
• Just tap the screen to mark a slpit.
• Pre set your desired split time along with the amount of time that you can vary.
• If too slow or too fast upon logging a split the watch will beep to let you know.
• You can go back and view your workout, but I still haven’t figured that part out.  I’ve done it.  I just didn’t understand it.
• You can set 3 different interval workouts, each with 16 different intervals that will repeat.  I only need two intervals right now.  5min run and 1 min walk… repeat.
• You can set it to tell you when to eat and drink
• It’s really easy to use.  It probably won’t look like it in the video, but I promise, it only took a little bit of reading the pamphlet and a few hours of playing with it to figure most of it out.  The watch kind of tells you what to do.  Just keep hitting mode and you’ll find what you’re looking for.
• Oh, and water proof up to 100m.

Timex Iron Man Sleek

So that’s my video and my undeniable southern accent.  If you don’t think that was cinematic gold, you have NO taste!

The only downside that I can see about this watch so far is the gigantic face.  But I do like that It is the type of watch that you can wear every day as a regular time piece.  Having to take a watch off and charge it means you have to keep up with it and I’m not good at remembering where I put things.  I currently cant find my keys.

It looks like I might actually be loyal to brand for the first time ever.  Here is the new watch along with the old $10 Target special that took me through two full marathons and one 1/2 marathon.  If I do ever get a GPS watch it may the Timex one.

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So anyway, at the zoo…

Before I start in about the zoo, I have to say that I just had a fantastic run.  The weather could not be better right now, I felt great the whole way, ran a pretty good pace and had a new gadget to play with.  No, it’s not a Garmin, but it is a new cool watch.  I’ll figure out how to use it better and then tell you about it.

Here are some pics from our trip to the zoo.  I’m sure you’ve been to a Zoo before so I’m not going to type out a play by play. 

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Zoo wore us out

I woke up and did a short workout this morning.  1 mile warm up, sprints of various length for 1 mile and then a 1 mile cool down.  Eh, it was all right I guess.

The real workout was walking around the North Carolina Zoo for 4 hours with two kids.  We took turns putting kids on our shoulders or pushing them in the stroller.  I am actually a little sore from this.

We weren’t the only ones who were worn out.

                     

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The Brooks Cavalcade is coming!

I'm kind of excited about see this at work tomorow...

I am secretly (I guess it's not a secret since I just said it) hoping that they give all us employees a free pair of shoes. CROSSING MY FINGERS!!!

Lady stuff

WARNING GUYS, This may not be a post that you’ll enjoy.

I hate to alienate the dudes who read my blog, but I’ve got lady stuff on the mind.  Of course, it’s because Flo just came to visit… that bitch.  It always comes as a surprise to me because I don’t keep track of it on a calendar or with one of those strings of beads or anything. 

Here’s my problem.  When I came back here from Texas something got lost.  My Diva Cup!!!  Of all things to lose track of?!  For those of you who don’t know what a Diva Cup is, you should.

There are other brands too, all the same concept.  For those of you who have never seen this before, I know what you’re thinking.  “Eeww, gross! You re-use that thing?!”  Yep.  It’s really not gross like you’re thinking.  I had my last Diva for a year before I lost it, and I think that tampons are just as, if not more, disgusting.  I’ve actually been using good ole fashioned tampons for the last 3 months and I HATE IT.  I hate stupid, crappy, last only an hour, toxic shocking tampons.  I finally broke down and ordered a new Diva from Amazon a few days ago.  I’m certain it will arrive the day after Flo leaves.

Why haven’t you heard of this before?  Because you only need one, and it lasts for ten years.  That means it’s probably not worth a big advertising budget.  Seriously, go to the website, to amazon, or anywhere they’re sold and read the feedback.  It might convince you.  I have a friend who has always had lady issues.  As a teen, she would miss school due to cramping and a completely uncontrollable flow.  I think after having kids here issues lessened, but even now she says she has an incredibly heavy flow requiring multiple layers and forms of protection.  She decided to give the Diva a whirl, because really, could it be any worse?  She too, says she will NEVER go back to tampons.  Also, I ran my very first half marathon while on my period and it was awful.  I even used the porta potty right before the race started!  It was disgusting, and uncomfortable, and thank goodness my pants were black.  The last half marathon that I ran with my dad, I ran on my period as well.  But this time I had the Diva Cup.  It felt great through the entire race, and I felt not need to hurry to the porta potty after crossing the finish line.

So, in conclusion… I’m pissed because I should have purchased a new Diva a long time ago, but instead I suffer through another month the old fashioned way.

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To Garmin or not to Garmin?

I have been a really bad blogger lately.  For some reason I’ve been really tired and my brain is mush. 

Since my last post I’ve been all over the web looking at prices on Garmins, Timex Iron Mans, and Nike Plus.  Nike has already been crossed off the list since I have it on good authority that it isn’t at all accurate.  But I’m still not sold on getting a Garmin. 

I have already trained for and completed two previous marathons without the wonders of technology.  Right now, I only have Daily Mile feeding me numbers and to be honest, those numbers stress me out sometimes.  Sometimes I say myself, “if you don’t get a run in tonight, your Daily Mileage is going to look really shitty”.  How would it be in the middle of a run if I were constantly checking numbers, making sure my pace stayed exactly where I wanted it?  Also, this is suppose to be a cheap hobby.  Given, the 205 is only little more than $100 (Bahaha!  ONLY?!) 

I don’t know.  I keep fluctuating from one end of the spectrum to the other.  The Angel (or devil) on my shoulder says maybe I should go all out Zen runner and even stop keeping track of my mileage.  Instead just going out for an amount of time.  It would be, like, totally freeing me from the shackles of conformity man.  Then the Devil (or angel) on my shoulder says that I really, really want to run a sub 5 in Chicago and it’s totally doable if I could just keep better track of my pace.  It was also very frustrating to not know how far I was going last weekend when my route changed.

Zen runner?  Or Geeked out runner? 

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Coming up short

 

I got up at 4:30 and was on the road by 5.  I ran strong the entire time at a slightly faster pace than the 16 miler two weeks ago.  I was feeling great about this run until I mapped it out on Daily mile.  It was only 15.4 miles!  WTF!  I guess this is why Garmins come in handy.

I had it all planned out ahead of time.  I would basically run the same route I used for the 16 miler and add two more while on the greenway.  About ten minutes into my run I decided to change things up a bit.  Under the original itinerary, I would hit Starbucks just after 5 miles.  I use this as a water stop and I thought it was pointless to refill so soon.  When I came to the stop light, instead of turning right toward Starbucks, I went left for what I thought was two miles.  It was really only about a mile and a half.  Then when I came to the greenway, which I would have used to add 3miles, it was covered in dirt and mud.  The greenway is really a flood plane and with all the rain we’ve been getting it washed a lot dirt up onto the pavement.  I decided not to use the greenway because my shoes are white and I just got them!   Instead, I would go past my house and down this other street that I thought would give me a total of 4 more miles.  Wrong.  Also, I hate passing the house.  It’s way too tempting to stop and go home.  And I don’t know what it is lately, but when I get to my street my stomach starts telling me to head for home, but this time I couldn’t!  I still had 4 (theoretical) miles left to run.  When I finally got home it was really bad.  I had locked the door before I left thinking that the fam would be up by the time I got back.  They weren’t.  I went nuts, ringing the door bell, and pounding on the door.  I seriously thought I was going to have to drop trou in my own shrubbery.  Thankfully my husband came down in the knick of time.  Thanks babe, for saving me from crapping my pants.  I appreciate it.

In closing, I must say that the Espresso Love Gu, and Mocha Cliff Shot are both very good, and my Minimus were comfortable the whole way.  And I didn’t crap my pants.

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So good to be bad

I was really bad yesterday and last night. The kids and I went over to our friend Denise's house to swim for a few hours and then we came back over to our place for margaritas, wine, beer, pizza and wings. I stayed up until 3am is not like me at all. I usually wuss out by midnight. So we stayed upi into the wee hours, laughing and telling stories. I love nights like that. I did swim, like, two laps in Denise's pool. That counts for some form of cross training right?

So that this blog post isn't all that short, here is an old photo of my mom's house as a kid. The funny part is when I laughed at how they put up a cardboard fireplace for Christmas, and my mother responded "That wasn't for Christmas, we had that up all the time." Classy. It looks like my mom is in the corner, enthralled with her new electric pinball machine.

Well, hello Mrs Draper

 

I think I accomplished quite a bit yesterday, in my opinion.  It started with a good day at work.  I got the opportunity to try on some of the apparel and of course more shoes.  I put on a few different styles in shorts and have come to the conclusion that I will never find a pair that don’t ride up on me.  Oh, well.  I like skirts better anyway.

When I got home my husband had taken back the playroom.  He took all the toys upstairs and brought the dining table in from the garage.  We have a dining room!  He also took the living room furniture out of the “playroom” and put it back in the living room.  I’ve been a little relaxed with my housekeeping, but it looks so fantastic now I have to keep it up.  Sometimes it helps me to dress the part.  So I strapped on my Mrs. Draper apron (I’ve been a little crazy about Mad Men lately) and got to work.

                                      

I thought a sword was a reasonable tool.

I got it a farmers market a few months ago and it actually puts me in the mood to clean.  Kind of the way my new shoes and sweaty band put me in the mood to run.  Last night after putting the kids to bed I did a short 30 min run that included running up the same hill at the end of my street 5 times.  I felt like I might puke every time.  And to throw a little glitter on that workout, I think it was good that I pushed myself to the point of mild nausea.

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The Bright Side of Life

At one point in my late evening chat with Claressa the other night, we were talking about working out. Claressa has been walking regularly and recently started a couch to 5k program. She was talking about how hard it is to get out there and get the workouts done sometimes (especially living in triple digit temp Texas) and then said something to the effect of "You always talk about how great all of your runs are".

It's true. I do have mostly positive things to say about every run, but that doesn't mean that running for me is all rainbows and unicorns. It's not that I'm lying so that all of you will think that I am a bad ass. Claressa and I also talked about how one benign negative thought can metastasize in a millisecond and take us down. I think this why I always find the positive aspects in every run. Dwelling on how much I suck will cause me to quit. Again, I'm not lying. I'm just finding the full portion of the glass, and it does happen that on rare occasions I can't find one single good thing about a crappy ass workout.

Two recent examples of what could be considered, by many, to be bad runs that I coated in sugar? Last night I was suppose to do a long run of anything between 9 and 12 miles. Instead I only did 3. BUT I ran those three miles at an under 10min pace, my body moved fluidly, and my new shoes felt fantastic. For the first time in a long time, my feet weren't blistering at all! Another run that might not have been considered stellar by most was my recent 16 miler. The pace that I kept might make some runners so depressed that they would hang up their shoes forever. Instead, I was happy that my legs didn't give out and I came off that run not hating it. I came away feeling good and not completely dreading the inevitable 18. That's a win in my book.

So the moral of the story kids, is that no matter how bad YOU suck, somebody else sucks worse. And that somebody could be ME.

And here's a little bonus feature for you. Have you ever seen someone barefoot water ski? My dad has been doing it since I was a kid. He and my brother got our old boat running again and posted some short videos from their weekend.

First up is my 57 year old dad. Once upon a time, he would get out there in his wet suit and do some tumbles and tricks.

Next up, my 26 year old brother.

Bahahhahahaha!

So anyway...

So, I had my first run in the minimus on Thursday. I do believe it was my best P-Stone yet. A combination of new shoes and the self reminder "at least it's not 16", made a for a really great 4.5 mile run. I usually walk a ton at the P-Stone but I didn't let the hills get me this time. I stayed steady and even finished strong with energy to spare. I didn't do it any faster than usual, but I still wanted to break myself of the mental desire to walk when I'm really not that tired.

I was going to wake up for an early track workout this morning, but I stayed up way too late talking on the phone to my friend Claressa. We went to El Centro community college together in downtown Dallas, riding the train and carpooling together, art tubes and presentation boards always in hand. We don't talk that often, but when we do it is always for at least 2 hours. So anyway, I didn't run today and Claressa is to blame (I LOVE a good catch up chat session no matter what the hour is)!

Tonight I WILL go to bed at a decent hour and I WILL wake up and run 10 miles.

Swimming holes!

I didn’t have any luck trying to exchange my shoes, but I did have some of the more experienced folks at work see what they thought about the fit.  They said that my new shoes were just fine.  So that’s that.

As I was leaving work today, after buying a Sweaty Band and a new pair of thicker socks, I caught this out of the corner of my eye.

                       

The newest issue of Blue Ridge Outdoors!  And apparently “Swimming Holes” is something that they do every year, because last years issue is how we found Whale Back Falls.  I love this Magazine!

Leaving to run the rolling P-Stone in an hour.  First run in my minimus.

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Half Size

My shoes came in today!

Unfortunately they are a half size too small.  The problem with this is the way that I ordered them.  When you work for a retailer like REI, Run For Your Life, or other retailers you gain access to a website called 3point5.com.  It’s brilliant actually.  I do training exercises for various brands at home on my own time.  But when I’m done and I’ve taken the quiz I can get up to %60 off of msrp in that brand’s shop.  The catch is that they ship your merchandise to the store that work at.  Selection is limited in each shop and my shoes were only available in an 8 or a 9.  I decided to up instead of down but it’s just too big.  3point5 and it’s brands don’t give refunds so I’m going to try to exchange them at the New Balance store or Finish Line or something.

 

In other news, I will soon begin the Mizuno training on 3point5 because I have found a new love.

You should never pick a shoes based on looks, but damn it!  These shoes are beautiful!  They were comfy too.  I walked around in them for a few hours today.

Wish me luck on my mildly illegal shoe exchange.  Hopefully I can run in them tonight.

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Sixteen Down

Yesterday morning I rose early.  4:30 to be exact.  I put on my shoes, got my water bottle ready with it’s nuun and was almost ready to hit the pavement.  I couldn’t find my body glide!  The last thing I remember was giving it to my husband to use so I tip toed back upstairs and searched the bathroom and bedroom.  I woke my husband up, but he couldn’t remember where it was.  I angrily decided to cancel my long run and as soon as my husband woke up he got to hear all about it.  And not in a nice way.  I left him with the kids and headed over to Dick’s to pick up some more Body Glide making certain that my husband knew he was NOT to touch this one!  It was all mine!  As I reach into my purse for my wallet to pay for my new Body Glide (and a new bra, and Under Armor tank), I came across something troubling.  The old Body Glide.  Apparently he had given it back to me and I had put it in my purse.  So, when I got back home I had to get on Facebook and retract my previous status update and add a public apology status update.  So, here ya go babe.  I am once again admitting wrong doing.  Done.  I have atoned.

 

The upside to all of this is that yesterday and today I woke up at 4:30 which is good for getting me in the habit.  I think my 16 went really well today.  I did it without music and it was so peaceful.  Just crickets and my footsteps.  I’ve decided that I’m just done with nuun.  Even if you let your bottle sit out over night, as soon as you start running, or even walking, the pressure will build and your bottle will start leaking.  It was so bad that I took the bottle out of the holster and carried it in my hand for the first 5 or so miles.  That’s when I stopped at Starbucks for a plain water refill and a solo espresso.  I guzzled the last of my nuun water before I went in so I could completely refill with plain water.  Guess what?  My bottle didn’t leak anymore!  Also, that espresso really put some pep in my step.  I think I’ll be looking for a coffee shop along the Chicago course.  The run went really well until the last 1.5 miles.  It’s always like that.  That’s where I hit a major hill a mile before I’m home.  It never fails to zap me of any energy that I have left.  All in all a good run.  I had to stop a few times.  A few times at intersections, Starbucks, and then the king snake that crossed the greenway in front of me.

BTW: I am liking my new UA tank top

                      

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