Beginning running

Races!

2011-08-07T16:11:00.001-05:00

Every one! Hi! Two posts in just as many days. Can you tell I’m getting the hang of doing stuff while little one naps? Speaking of doing stuff, I ran a race (the second one) since he was born today. It was the Lake Wehrspann 2miler. One I do every year it seems. It was baby’s first race last year (I was just a few weeks pregnant) and I did it again this year. I beat my old time too! The weather was perfect today. Warm with just a little cool breeze. Started at 7:40 am and it’s just a quick out and back with not too many hills. It does start on a downhill which means it ends on an uphill. And, man, I sprinted up that uphill at the end. I told myself it was because I wanted to finish strong and get a good time and I’d seen the clock at 19:xx. But really, I didn’t want to let the gal that had just passed me to beat me! And I didn’t! I forgot how good it feels to pass someone in a race. Horrible, I know! But I finished in 20:07 10:04AP, last years time was 22:20 or something like that. But, most importantly, I didn’t walk a single step! My friend Ann signed up for the 10K impromptu style the day before and ran it in a pr. So, yay for her. I didn’t get to see her finish though, because I had to relieve my husband of baby duties so he could get to work on time. Baby and I went to the gym for pilates, another killer session. Great start to the day. Tonight we’re headed over to John and Ann’s for some pot-roast. It’s nice not to have to worry about dinner. Just rest and relax until hubby comes home. Our house is in upheaval because we’ve had the floors redone in our dinning room and kitchen and painted a really big wall in our house during that time. We still have some touching up to do on that wall so our living room furniture is crammed Tetris style in the corner of the room. Makes playing with baby interesting. At least he’s not too mobile, yet.

Here’s a few photos:

Same race last year with Wende, sad, she lives way out in California now. :(

First race post baby, a 4mile on the 3rd of July, second race out of state if you count the one in Council Bluffs just a 1/2 hr drive from my house:

Mrs. Yardley, Me, cute baby, Susan. Great times. Following this Susan and I had shakes from steak and shake, so good. Wish we had one here.

Today: Ignore the hideous hair/face/overall appearance of me, focus on the cute baby:

He’s still in his pjs and I’ve already ran a race, what’s up with that?

So, it’s been a while.

2011-08-04T21:47:00.001-05:00

I’m still here. Still lurking all of your blogs. No worries. Raising this baby. He’s 4 months old already! He’s been cranky/fussy more so than usual lately. Keep calling the doctor, being the 1st time mom that I am, and she says that is sounds like teething. But no teeth yet. And, from what I hear it can take months for those teeth to show. I hope he’s not fussy for months. He’s such a good baby otherwise. As evidenced by the following photos:

3 months:

Closer to 4 months:

4 months, obvs.

Cute, huh? We think so. We think he’s quite the keeper! See that second to last photo? He’s been doing “happy baby” pose for the last week. LOVES it. My little yogi baby. Must have known that I did prenatal yoga!

On the running/working out front. I’ve been doing pilates 2x/week and running when I can. It’s gotten a lot better since I’ve been able to put William into child care for 2 hours/day at the gym. SO nice. I do pilates on the reformer, like so:

(that’s obviously not my picture). But I love the reformer. It’s completely different from the mat classes. I get such a good workout. Sweating! Buckets! I’ve lost 7 inches and about 9 pounds (mind you I’m loosing baby weight and nursing too) from the end of May to the end of July. 8 weeks. That’s 16 sessions. That’s it! AND! The most exciting of all for me, I can not only touch my toes, I can touch the floor with my fingers and palms! That’s So cool! So cool! I’ve never been able to touch my toes in. my. life.

I haven’t been running as much this week because I didn’t feel well last week but I’m going to get back to it. It’s slow, but I try for at least 1/2 hr to 45minutes/session. I don’t think I’ve left William alone in the daycare for the full 2 hours yet! I’m planning on doing my yearly 2 mile race. Last year and the year before I did it in 22minutes. The year before that it was 19:20, I think. I’m hoping for 22minutes ish again. But we’ll see. It’s been super hot out and I haven’t run outside in quite a while. Wish me luck. I’ll let you know how it goes!

On the sewing front, I made this:

He loves his “lovie”.

A mini monkey one:

I think we’re giving him an unnatural love of fleece. Oh well.

Getting back to exercise.

2011-06-07T22:26:00.001-05:00

I got the okay to work out at 6 weeks. My baby is 9 weeks old now. Attempting to fit in runs and pilates classes with my hubby’s work schedule. At two weeks after returning to running I was able to run 30 minutes without stopping. That is huge. I think that walking throughout pregnancy really did help me keep some fitness. I’m pretty positive about starting over. I felt guilty leaving the little man the first few times I did but I’m getting better. Hubby’s really helping. He never minds sticking with the kiddo while I work out. Sometimes we’d let me go to the gym and then he’d go out for a bike ride when I got home. Working out well so far.

Here’s a few pics. Sorry so short, I can hear him crying upstairs, gotta go rescue the hubby.

Happy Running! I have been lurking your blogs, but not much time to comment, or it’s hard to comment one handed :) this baby thing is time consuming!

omg.

2011-05-13T22:55:00.000-05:00

So, um, how cute is my baby?

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Hello!

2011-05-04T15:39:00.001-05:00

I’m back! Not really working out hard core yet, but trying to go out for walks here and there. Enjoying time with my baby. Yes, BABY! I did have a baby boy April 3rd at 1:48am. It was his due date and it was perfect. Hard but totally worth it. I remember thinking, after he was crying and okay, “This is the best thing I’ve ever done!”. I immediately wanted to do it again. The 9 months of waiting and wondering and sacrifice, even the diabetes was TOTALLY worth it! I am so in love with my little boy.

Here’s Will:

After delivery (obvs)

Napping with my little peanut.

After his first bath at home.

1 month old yesterday!

Melt!

Okay, off to walk around the neighborhood!

5 weeks and counting!

2011-02-26T16:39:00.001-06:00

Time has been flying by! I’m 35 weeks and 3 days today. I had a scare at 33 weeks and ended up in the hospital overnight for contractions, thankfully they didn’t amount to anything. But it was a good drill. At least we know how to get to the hospital without loosing it. I’ve had a few baby showers. One I went to St Louis for, my hubby’s family is all down there. Wonderful! They are all so nice, makes me kinda want to live down there. Had a shower with girls from work. Small, casual, and fun to just hang out. I even cheated and took a bite of cake after dinner. Mmmm. Can’t wait to be non diabetic anymore! But the diabetes has taught me portion control and a more scheduled eating pattern. I haven’t gained a pound since I got diagnosed with the GD. So that’s good. I’m also continuing to walk on my days off. Usually 1/2 hr, usually 1.5 miles or so. Sometimes I’m daring and go for 2 miles. The last few times I’ve walked I’ve tried a little light jogging (we’re talking 4.0-5.0) only for about a minute to four minutes. But it feels SO good. Here’s some pictures cause I know you care.

From the St Louis Shower

Me, very excited apparently about the new umbrella stroller.

From the hospital:

It was Valentine’s morning when the hubby showed up at 7am with this new guy.

That’s the crib bumpers and going home outfit I’ve made him. Cute, no? The hat in the outfit was one of the first baby gifts, maybe the first?, he received. I thought it went well with the aqua on the tie fabric.

Happy Weekend!

Big sigh.

2011-01-18T10:54:00.001-06:00

Good news and bad news.

Good: I’m 29 weeks along and still feeling good. Getting crafty. I just finished up an elephant banner for bambino’s room and an elephant mobile. Both of which took me just a few hours combined.

I got the idea from here. I followed the directions and used leftover fabric that wasn’t too girlie. The gray elephant on the left is made from scraps of what I’m going to make the bedding out of. Cute, right?

I also tried to copy an etsy mobile.

So I guess the theme is elephants! Love it. The mobile is a little home made and rough but I like it just the same. And because I’m cheap I did it all for under $5. But I like the fact that little bambino gets something home made from me and it passed the time and let me stall on putting away my laundry.

So today I got the call that I was dreading. I have gestational diabetes. And, even though I’m a nurse, I haven’t studied the prenatal stuff in SO long. I bawled on the phone to my dr’s nurse. I’ll have to see a perinatologist and start logging my sugars and hopefully control it though diet for the remainder of the pregnancy. I kinda thought this test would be a joke. I had no idea I’d fail it. I feel like I did something wrong. But I know I didn’t, it just happens. I think that my mom may have had this too having 9+ pound babies at term. I think she just wasn’t screened for it. We’ll see what this new doctor says. I’ll do what I need to to keep bambino as healthy as possible. And, I’m a stickler for rules so I’m pretty confident I can figure this out if I just do what they tell me.

Walked yesterday on the treadmill in the first time in forever. For some reason I’ve been having a really bad allergic reaction to something in a friend’s house (asthma, cough, wheezing, trouble breathing, shortness of breath, yada yada yada) for at least 36 hrs after going over there for about 4. I took my new inhaler (which I was prescribed the last time I had really bad asthma from going over to their house) three times in 12 hours. So you know I felt crummy cause I hate using that thing! Hate! I should go back today but I’m tied to the house cause I’m pretty sure this new doctor will call on my home phone and I do NOT want to miss it! I think I’ll try this new prenatal yoga dvd my yoga instructor let me borrow.

Happy Tuesday everyone. Still reading your blogs, although it’s mostly living vicariously through your running adventures. Soon I’ll be back, Soon!

I’m not fat.

2010-12-13T21:30:00.001-06:00

I’m pregnant and fat. Sigh. Watching those numbers go up is scary business. I’ve got another ob visit tomorrow and I’m kind of dreading the weigh in. It’ll be 5 weeks since my last visit so I’m hoping for only about 5-10 pounds but it feels like a lot. And, I’m told not to stress about it but it’s hard. Come on pregnant girls, back me up.

I’ve been loving my prenatal yoga but sadly, due to work missed yesterday and will miss next week too! Hopefully they don’t forget about me!

Did some “baking” on Friday. I made about 6-8 dozen cookies in about 5 hours. I used this 2004 or so grocery store cookie pamphlets a gal from work gave me. I call it grocery store cause it’s totally the kind of little magazine you see at the checkout of your grocery store. It has all Pillsbury cookies made with Pillsbury refrigerated cookie dough. My favorite ones are the “coffee shop cookies” and the mock monster cookies with the peanut butter cups in the middle.

I’m looking forward to our annual cookie decorating party next week. We invite a few of my girlfriends, their husbands if they want to come, and of COURSE the kiddos. It’s basically a reason to have kids throw sprinkles around the kitchen and for the ladies to gab. It’s a little later that I’d hoped but we just got our carpets professionally cleaned and were waiting for that to get done.

Here are a few pictures:

21 weeks with my father at Thanksgiving. (My stomach “Brooklyn” is officially the same size as a 14 pound turkey)

23 weeks:

Our Christmas card photo we took tonight (I’m 24 weeks):

Our Christmas card says something cute like, “we get our present a little later this year…” Aw. And, I know it looks like I’m holding his stomach. But you see, this shirt is shear and I’m wearing a “belly band” to hid my stomach from being seen through the shirt. In all the other pictures you could totally tell where the band started and stopped and I didn’t like it. So we settled on this. Hope it doesn’t look too weird.

Happy Holidays!

Still here

2010-11-02T16:32:00.001-05:00

Hey ya’ll. I’m still here. New thing, I tried prenatal yoga on Sunday, and I loved it. No one cared if your gut was sticking out. Or how inflexible you were. There were plenty of modifications for you no matter how big or small you were. So fun. Signed up to take at least three more classes. Yay!

Still trying to run. And, can I just say how much I appreciate my friends I’ve made while running? These girls who have been running with me all have these big lofty goals and prs in mind. Yet, they still make the time to take me out on a “warm up” run every Tuesday and Sunday so I still get out there. We end up doing the run one minute walk two or whatever I’m feeling up to that day heart rate wise and it’s wonderful. And they say they don’t mind going slower which is so nice. And, my first running buddy Tiffany just called this morning. I was crying, sobbing…no real reason. Hubby pointed out that maybe the pregnancy hormones are kicking in, thanks honey. She invited me out to lunch and we all went and ate good Mexican food. Totally made my day. Now I’m getting ready to head out for my 1/2 hour with the girls and looking forward to a run with Tiffany tomorrow morning. I am lucky.

Also, Laura and I did a race on Saturday! The cost was food to the food bank so I couldn’t pass it up. It was chilly and needless to say we didn’t exactly run together but we ran in spirit together. She got a pr YAY! And, I made it to the finish line in about 45minutes. I did let my heart rate get up to 160 before I walked though and it should have been 150 but I was feeling fine.

Here’s some recent pics:

17 weeks pregnant, dressed up for work. Ignore the mess.

Laura and I after finishing the race. Isn’t she cute? I’m gonna wear my tutu the next time I race with her!

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween. I’m currently gorging on clearance Halloween candy. MMmmmm.

My bambino.

2010-10-15T21:45:00.001-05:00

Is actually a bambino. My stomach may contain nuts. It does. We’re having a boy. Here’s a few photos of what we did to reveal the sex to my in laws.

The suspense…

(That’s my husband’s hand.)

Us and our boy cake. (I used a whole can of frosting dyed blue for the center, it was pretty obvious from the first cut when the knife came out covered in blue icing, whoops).

Me, 15 weeks 4 days and a boy. He’s 5 inches and 5 ounces, big guy!

A peach.

2010-10-01T20:02:00.001-05:00

That’s how big my baby is. Yep. I’m 13 almost 14 weeks pregnant blog world. That’s why I have had my cutback on running. Just thought you should know. I’ve been dying to tell EVERYONE!

Now that I’m out of my first trimester, I have been given the all clear to run (as long as my heart rate stays below 150). I must be terribly out of shape right now, I guess that’s what 16ish weeks of no real running will do to you. Because I’m having the HARDEST time keeping below that magic number. Garmie is now programmed to beep every time I hit 150 and the thing won’t shut up till I’ve slowed down, it' keeps beeping. Right now my ‘runs’ are run 1 minute, walk 5ish and run 1, hear Garmie beep and swear and walk. That’s about it. But I’m increasing my mileage and trying to stay active. I’m sure one of these days I’ll switch solely to swimming but right now I’m enjoying the fall weather with my friends. Here are some photos cause I know you’re interested…

Blurry, I know, but I love this picture. I found out my baby was the size of a grain of rice at 6ish weeks and took a picture of me with a grain of rice. As long as my baby’s something cute, I’m taking a picture of it. And, incase my pregnancy isn’t as long as most I’m taking a picture every week. No reason not to celebrate this whole experience, right? I’m sure I won’t be able to do this for bambino #2.

Me and a lime, 11 weeks

Me and a plum, 12 weeks. Getting gussied up right now for my 13 week photo shoot when hubby gets home from work.

Happy Friday everyone!

Happy…

2010-09-17T17:38:00.002-05:00

…Friday! I spent the morning at the gym. Gasp, I know. I did the hill workout on level 10 with a speed of 3.0. Sad I know. But I power walked it out and got up to an incline of 7.8. So, that was exciting. Then I did the float machine for 7 minutes. I hope my legs look killer after today. They’ve got to, right? The float machine (I just tried for two seconds to find a picture and can’t), is a machine that mimics roller blading and really works your inner thighs and legs in general.

I didn’t do anything with my arms. Cause, after my run on Monday I did 50 girlie pushups and my arms hurt for DAYS. Maybe that means I should do more? I think it means I should lay off of them for a while.

How are you?
Ps, do you like my new layout? I know it's not fall-y but I think it's cute.

Let’s see.

2010-09-16T21:19:00.001-05:00

What’s happened since June 26th? Well. A lot. And yet,

not a lot. Still working as a nurse. Took one vaca. without

the hubby in July (to see my sister for a girl’s weekend).

Ran a couple races, nothing too extraordinary. Here’s

some pics!

Went to a wedding, got purdy:

These pictures were from the end of the night!

From the girl’s weekend. There was a whole lot of this:

WINE! And sisterly bonding.

After a victory for the Portland Timbers. I went to two games SOOOO much fun! I want to live in Portland just for that team! If you go, sit in sections 107-108ish, it’s for the rowdy fans!

This was just funny: “God Bless Murrica” (if you can’t read it).

Some sun. Me and my running girls out by the pool after a run. That’s me in the sun hat. Got it in Portland and it made another appearance. So cute.

Lake Wherspann run (2 miles) 8.1.10. Hideous post race picture of me, I was feeling a little flabby so wore this huge shirt to the race. Ick. But I came in around the same time I did last year so that was exciting.

Wende and I at the Boxer 500. A 5k race supporting the awareness of colo-rectal cancer. You were supposed to dress in boxers, but we’re girls, we wore our tutus. Big hit. Worst 5k time however, to date. Finished it with a doctor I know though, so that was fun. I love the lighting in this picture. Thanks lady who we were sure took an awful photo!

On the running front. I’ve done little recently. I did go for a swim on Sunday and was able to swim for 25minutes so I feel accomplished. I now have a bit of a cold and ended up with an ocular migraine on Tuesday night that lasted until Wednesday morning which was the worst one yet but I think this cold was coming on too, you know?

Hope everyone’s well. I have been keeping up with blogs and such just not updating my own as I’ve reached a bit of a plateau in my running career right now. But I’m sticking with it and that’s what counts, right?

Hello no running.

2010-06-26T13:54:00.001-05:00

I’ve been meeting the girls for our Tuesday night runs with hills. And, that’s about it. Maybe another mile here or there. But I’m resting for a while. I have still been ~~stalking~~ reading your blogs and all your adventures. But nothing too exciting to report here. I seem to be working a lot of the weekends I’d like to do a race so I’m just chilling. May do the Omaha 10k this fall if it works out with my schedule. Maybe I won’t. We’ll see. Just thought I’d let you all know I haven’t died. My life’s just boring.

Going to KC this next weekend for the 4th. Going to Portland OR for the 8-13th. Anyone interested in going for a run or trying to do a 5k with me? Help me out ladies, Jen or SlowlyButSurely?

Talk to you all soon-ish. I hope. Off to work I go!

Intervals!

2010-06-10T19:26:00.001-05:00

Today I tried to do intervals with Amy. Tried.

Note to self: Don’t eat a late lunch before a run at 5:15ish. It makes you feel awful during the run!

We headed out on a pretty straight and less hilly path than we take on our Tuesday night hill repeats. This week we did 6 (I did 5 cause I’m getting over the flu) 100meter hill repeats. My outer buns are still killing me! Yikes. Can’t wait to make this part of my routine this summer.

Anyways back to tonight. We headed out and I had Garmie set up for 4 0.25 intervals with 0.25 rest. Two miles total. Yeah I could have had a hard core 0.1 or 0.05 of rest but really, it was our first time attempting this and I didn’t want to wear us out! This work out was fast and fun! Our repeats looked like this:

0.25 2:10 8:40AP
0.25 2:29 (not much of a cool down!)
0.25 2:01 8:04AP
0.25 3:52 (walked the rest of the rests…)
0.25 2:06 8:24AP
0.25 4:09
0.25 2:09 8:39AP
0.25 4:41

Pretty nice, right? We did a mile cool down which was tough after running so fast. Hope everyone’s having a good week. I’m having fun trying new workouts with this new crew. Thanks ladies for letting me run with you!

I've been sick

2010-06-08T12:38:00.005-05:00

I haven't run since the Boystown 5miler. I hope to run tonight. I've been sick with stomachy stuff since Wednesday. I thought I was better, ate something on Sunday and was sleeping next to this for 2 hours on Monday morning. Ew. (ps that is not actually my toilet although wood floors in my bathroom would be so classy.)

Went to work last night, nauseous. Feel better this morning. And no, I'm not pregnant. Thank you very much!

So question peeps. I may have made a poor purchase. I've been stalking this purse:

Cute right? Even cuter on. So it's normally, I don't know, $298 or so. On sale at my local Von Maur for $208. I've been stalking cause I don't want to pay $208 for this purse. I'm cheap. So every other week I've been visiting this purse, walking around the purse section with it on my shoulder and prancing around like I own it. Still not any lower. I walked up to a lady at the store today and said "I'd really like this purse but I was hoping it was going to go on sale more". She said "Well there are 17 left in Von Maur's across the country and Coach really waits a while to take the final markdown. But I can watch it for you and call you if they start to sell out or get marked down" SCORE! I gave her my cell phone and was very happy. Until I saw this.

(Poor picture cause I stole it off ebay) Leather, eggplant, classy, gorgeous. Marked down 1/2 off. I bought it. She told me it was the only one left. The only one! And it was just $20 more than that other smaller purse. Normally $500. Someone bought this purse for $500 (more than one someones too) and I got it for $220. So really, it was a great buy. Right? Tell me you love it! Or don't tell me it's hideous, I can still return it.

What do you think?

2010-06-01T20:25:00.002-05:00

Hello there! Long time no talk. I’ve been busy reading what you all have been up to! Sounds like fun. Hope everyone had a safe holiday weekend. I know I did. Attended my nephew’s high school graduation party. Also attended my nephew’s baptism (the 6mo. old brother of the 18 year old!). My husband and I were his sponsors/god parents at the baptism. So that was cool. First time I’d curled my hair since my wedding I think!

I did the Boystown 5miler on Monday (yesterday). As you can see from the side bar, it wasn’t a pr. But they can’t all be! I ran it with Wende and Amy. These are the girls I’ve been “cheating” on Tiffany with. (that’s what Tiffany calls it when I run with other people :D ) We’ve been doing hills the last two Tuesdays. I bailed on them today though cause of a pesky tornado warning. I’m so scared of weather! The 5 miler started out great. Not as hot as last weekend but still warm. We felt good. Well, Amy and I did. It was getting warm though and Wende had trouble breathing. We all agreed we didn’t want the ambulance. So we all welcomed a few walk breaks and made it to the end. We finished and were glad to be done! Can’t wait to try and tackle it again next year. It is a tough, hilly course!

Before the race

After!

(that’s my new racing headband). Cute, no?

And Happy Birthday to Susan!

Another race.

2010-05-24T09:28:00.002-05:00

Otherwise known as a “hot mess”.

I did do the virtual 10K with Racing with Babes on Saturday. It was at the gym and it was a good run. Not my best, but I’m sick again this week (trying out a new antibiotic since obviously the last two rounds didn’t cut it out). I finished in 1:08:00…I think I did my math right. I had to stop and pee (surprise) after the 1st mile and I think I did that one slow. Tiffany used her nike ipod+ to track us and it was pretty right on track with our usual pace so I’ll take it. Here are a few pictures, hard to take them while on the treadmill at the gym without looking like a creeper!

This is me before the start, this was the ‘rock your socks’ 10K so I' sported my neon green socks.

Hot for at the gym, let me tell you! I’ve worn these once before in a race. (No, I did not wear the tutu to the gym.)

So supa fast!

Done! (and sweaty!)

Sunday I ran the Council Bluffs 5K and then gambled while I waited for my friend Ann to finish her FIRST HALF! I’m sorry I didn’t run this with her. But I’m glad I didn’t cause it was like running through a sauna yesterday. 92% humidity at the start, at 7am. Then 1/2way through my race the sun came out and now it was hot and humid! Yuck. Needless to say, not my best performance! I ran it in 34:04, 10:58AP. At least I ran under 11min pace with all the walking I did. SO easy to walk during a race once you’ve done it once. I should remember not to walk then I won’t be tempted to later on. Oh well, I never learn.

Mile 1: 9:26

Mile 2: 11:26

Mile 3: 11:57

Mile 0.14: 1:11

Here are some pictures:

Wende and I, post race. I told you it was hot!

So a note about the outfit, I met up with CC2 at this race. I thought, what shirt to wear, well I’ll just wear the one that has my name on it, that’ll help her find me! I emailed her the morning of and told her “You look for the neon green tutu. I’ll look for the pregnant chick!”. And, it worked. 1st highlight of the morning, meeting this lovely lady:

We talked for a few minutes after the race (in which she and the ninos smoked me!). She’s so nice! It was fun to meet up with someone. Although, it’s hard to explain to my other friends that I’m meeting up with someone I’ve never met, but that I kinda know because “I follow their blog”. You get a lot of strange looks!

Wende and I knew we had some time to kill. Found the food, the indoor restrooms again. I declared I wanted to “gamble in my tutu” so we did that as well! (the race started and ended outside of a casino!) Second highlight of the morning!

That was a fun way to spend a 1/2 hour. And, Wende broke even and I won five dollars!

Back outside, waiting for Ann to finish. Recognize this cutie? She’s Ann’s daughter who saw me after my half!

There she is!

Looking really strong!

With her hardware! Third highlight of the morning, watching my friend complete her first half and screaming my head off!

All of us. Wende and I did some shopping on Saturday after picking up our race packets. Went to the mall, found these super cute headbands!

Sunday night, Ann, her hubby and kiddo, Rich (friend) and Brian and I had a cookout at the lake we trained on. Here are some photos from there:

So. This headband I also got Saturday, without remembering I had this dress in my closet, I think it matches, no?

So, this photo happened without my knowledge, I thought we were being all cute and smiley:

That’s better! (but the first one cracked me up!)

Then everyone took turns being funny and trying to peek in blouses:

Cutie pie, again:

Here’s the final picture of Ann and I:

Had a great weekend! How was yours?

Papillion 10k

2010-05-16T11:00:00.002-05:00

Who knew this course would be so hilly? I should have looked at the elevation chart/course map a little more before just signing up cause they had tech tee shirts. Well, that’s not the only reason I signed up. I wanted to have a mini goal after the half. So I couldn’t just stop running all together. Just signed up for the Memorial day 5miler, which I ran last year about a week before surgery. So that’ll be fun!

This race, I work up LATE! Race started at 7:40, about 15minutes away from my house. Not too sure what parking was going to be like. I wanted to wake up at 6:00, leave around 6:15, 6:30 cause you could pick up your packet between 6:30-7am. I woke up at 6:41! Yikes. Brushed my teeth, threw on some clothes, grabbed garmie, gatorade, and sports beans, license $5 and my phone and I was off! Drove there slightly over the speed limit and arrived at 7:05. Yeah. They were still parking people and it was really easy to get too, thank goodness! I was able to pick up my packet and get it back to my car before the race started. But no real time to get to the BR. This would come back to haunt me. I grabbed a quick swig of berry rain gatorade and three sports beans cause I was starving. I haven’t been this tired for the start of a race for a while. 1/2 marathoners started at 7:30, and we started at 7:40 two hundred yards behind them.

I was thankful for those two hundred yards as we started out, I was able to bank some time (those two hundred yards were downhill) before heading up hill. These weren’t itty bitty hills you were over and done with quickly. These were those long slow really feel ‘em kinda hills. Killa.

Mile splits:

9:54 (that includes the uphill!)
11:26 (more hills, I won’t even write this cause each mile had hills!)
11:02
11:36
11:27 ( walked as we approached this mile, this gal came up behind me who I’d been leap frogging and said “I want to finish this without walking. Help me out!” and I was running again. Thanks Breea!)
13:03 (slowly winding our way up a big hill)
(0.24) – 2:29 10:42AP

Total time: 1:11:58 11:31 AP. Why does my Avp moving pace say 11:18? I know garmie lost me cause we went through a tunnel, is that where those times are off? Oh well, at least I have garmie.

Here’s some photos:

What’s that on the red ribbon? Oh yeah, they gave out medals! I got my medal from a special Olympian, cause that was one of the causes this race supported. I made sure to give them all a big thank you. I finished the race with Breea, I was very thankful she pushed me that last mile! The announcer even announced our names as we crossed the finish line. Very cool.

Ignore the fact that my engraving is a sticker. I’m still proud of my new hardware.

What’s that, free popcorn with nobody manning the booth? Don’t mind if I do!

Why is it that during a race you feel awful and think that you’re doing the best you can. But when you’re done you think “I totally could have pushed it a little more!”. I always have kind of a race regret afterwards. During the race though, I feel like I’m giving it my all. Strange, no?

Another week. Another impromptu 9.65 mile run?!

2010-05-14T10:36:00.001-05:00

Yeah, I went for about 10miles with Ann on Tuesday. She’s training for her half on May 23rd. I’m running the 5k that day, and then a 10k later on for the virtual 10k/half by Running with Babes. Then I’m going to be cheering Ann on! yay! Should be a fun and running filled day. Hopefully the weather’s nice.

Anyways, Ann is training for her half and decided she’d better get her long runs in. So I said I’d jump in for 5miles. Then I looked around at all the housework calling my name and thought, “Nah, I’ve got nothing else to do, I’ll do the 10 with you, should only take 2 hours out of my day right?”. Yeah. That’s me, I’ll think of any excuse not to put away laundry. Don’t get me wrong, I love doing laundry and having clean clothes, but putting it away…takes me a few minutes and a lot of encouragement.

Break down by miles and pictures:

Mile:

12:55 (walk break to talk to gramma)
12:14
13:58 (walk break to talk to dad)
12:48
12:02
11:05 (8:37 AP for the first 0.25 then lost sight of Ann so stopped to wait for her) And, garmie decided to split this one up and restart cause I was standing and stopped for too long.
14:26
14:36
14:05
10:21 (walked during this but ran it in the low 9’s)
(0.6) – 8:10

So, my “moving time” and AP were off. So it did take us about 2:03 for 10miles. Not too shabby.

Pictures! Lynn, I’ll see you your baby birds and raise you two families of adorable baby geese’s!

Why’d I run this impromptu again?! (at the end of the run)

Ann, finishing strong, can’t take a bad picture!

As evidenced by: (after our run, I look pretty rooooughhh and she’s a glowy and pretty…darn you!)

I did a package of sport beans before the run. A few more at mile 5 and a few more after. I felt good too. No nausea or real bad fatigue afterwards. Can’t wait to try the gu that I won from skinny runner!

Looking forward to a 10K on Sunday. Should get out for a run today. And I will, eventually. Didn’t run yesterday, was quilting all morning for quilt club then cleaned and made dinner in the afternoon. Worked 12hr on Wed, so no run then. I ran on Monday with Tiffany!!! Finally! Looking forward to more runs this summer now that she’s almost done with classes for a little while!

A few giveaways:

Skinny runner’s giving away zensah socks! OOOhhh. Hopefully I win this one.

Julie’s has a huge first giveaway! Tons of prizes.

Thanks ladies! Happy entering to all!

Giveaway!

2010-05-07T21:14:00.001-05:00

Skinny Runner is giving away GU!

Race Report – PR!

2010-05-05T21:19:00.003-05:00

That title’s for you Cross Country! :D

But really, I do have a race report and it does include a PR!

Last night I ran for 45 minutes at the gym. First run since the 1/2. It was painful. Slow, and painful.

The reason I did this was because I didn’t want my race tonight to be the first run since the 1/2. That, and I want to keep up my fitness! I ran the Cinco de Mayo run put on by a running store here in town. I thought I was going to be by my lonesome. But after texting and calling around, I got four people to do it with me! It was a casual race. We did have numbers but no chips, no real start line. By the time we got back there was a clock up though. We all started it together then thinned out. I ended up running it with a gal I’d met a few times before. Amy. Wende ended up running most of it by herself, I think. And Ann and Laura ended up finishing mostly together at the end. I knew we were running fast. Faster than I usually run comfortably. But that’s the idea when you’re trying to pr. I guess. In the end I told Amy to pull ahead and go for it. We were both trying to break 30minutes. I watched the clock flip over to 30 and lost a little steam. Bummer. I think I ended up finishing about 30:17. Still a PR and SO CLOSE to 29:xx. Sometime. I think I feel like it’s getting closer. This race, for instance, was 3 days after my 1/2 and I still ran a PR! YAY!

Ann, Me, Wende, Laura (her first race, and she rocked it!), and Amy.

Here’s a picture of me finishing that Maverick 4K a few weekends ago. Don’t I look thrilled to be done? :D

Second 1/2 Marathon!

2010-05-03T12:22:00.001-05:00

I ran the Lincoln National Guard 1/2 Marathon again this year. Again, it was a lot of fun, tons of crowd support and only a few big hills!

I don’t know what I’m doing with my right leg here, but I’m pretty sure Tiffany said “pose!” So I did.

I did have to run the race without Garmie. And I’m on the phone now (after waiting over 15mintues on hold!) with the Garmin representative. I think I may have to turn Garmie in for a warranty exchange? We’ll see, I’m back on hold now… Anyways I was running this by feel alone. I waited at the start by myself as hubby went back to the car to go find a spot around the 1/2 way point.

Mile 1-2.5 were uneventful. I was passed a lot, but I expected that as it was pretty crowded and I wasn’t able to jump in line with my true pace group. I tried not to let the passing get me down. There was a big hill before the 2.5mile mark but there were tons of people out on their lawns cheering us on. I had my name on my shirt so I was pretty much a crowd favorite. It helped that I was the only one racing with a tutu on. I was known as “that TUTU girl!” or, “Don’t mess with my TUTU!”, or, “You rock that thing, go tutu girl!”. There were tons of comments from people behind me “That is so cute”. “we’ll have to do that next year!”. I even had one gal take a picture of me! I had “LET’S HAVE FUN!” Duct taped on my back and kinda forgot about it. So I was also getting a lot of “I like your attitude” comments. Which puzzled me I thought, “They must really like the tutu!” but then I remembered my little saying. I had thought of putting “Go Faster!” on the back but then I figured I wouldn’t be the fastest out there so it might be a little misleading to put that on there. I didn’t want to get made fun of. I saw Kayla (from last weeks Maverick race) and she passed me. My friend Billy, who was running his second marathon in three weeks keeping pace with the 4:30 pacers. Doing a great job. So that was all fun. Mile 2.5 was the first water stop and I allowed myself to walk through and grab water. They even had cups with straws and lids which was helpful.

2.5-10.0 I concentrated on not walking which was surprisingly easy, no big hills here and still plenty of crowds/people cheering. Took a little more water, gatorade, and water again at mile 5.0. Knowing I would see my hubby around mile 6-7 was great. Around mile 7 I started dragging. I took a cliff shot in chocolate and washed it down with water. I wish I’d grabbed two waters cause one wasn’t enough! I had that vitamin-y after taste for the next 2.5. I ended up seeing hubby at mile 8.25ish and gave him a big kiss and said I’d see him at the finish line. I really hadn’t walked at all. I remember passing landmarks that I had walked by and been so frustrated at last year. Like the tree where I stopped to stretch last year and knew that my leg was really hurting, before mile 7 when I walked about the whole mile. I was thinking “look at me, I’m running by you now! Take that!”.

After mile 10. I was tired. Still a little sluggish, there was a big hill at mile 9 and I’d allowed myself to walk up the last half of it. I was a little disappointed. I allowed myself to walk up the last big hill at mile 11 too. But after that hill I had a hard time starting running again. I know it was the hills I wasn’t used to, but legs were lead. At mile 12 I knew I only had a mile to go and ran/jogged :D the rest of the way. We ran down past the stadium and had to pull a u turn to get back to the entrance to the stadium where we were finishing at the 50 yard line of Lincoln Memorial stadium. When I passed under the inflatable that said “Mile 26” I knew I was really close and started to pick up speed. I started hearing someone in the crowd a head of me start screaming “KELLY! YOU CAN DO IT! YOU LOOK GREAT! SPRINT TO THE FINISH!” It was TIFFANY! And her daughter with a huge poster in red screaming and cheering. I smiled bigger than I’d smiled all day and attempted to pass a few people ahead of me. But the guards kept telling me to stay to the right and I didn’t have enough room to pass them all and sprint my way to the finish like I was hoping.

The finish line was nothing like last year! Last year I ran across the finish and was immediately greeted by Brian and Tiffany. It was wonderful. While this was an experience to be able to go through the stadium, I missed being able to see my family and friends right away. I was escorted to the place where they had food waiting, there were multiple exits. I walked for what felt like an hour until some nice gal and her family let me borrow her cell phone to call Brian so he could find me. I was so grateful, turns out he had given them directions and stood with them around mile 8.25 so they knew he’d been looking for his wife in the tutu and spotted me and let me use their phone. I was beyond grateful. Turns out Brian and Tiffany were walking around as well and had even gone to the infirmary to look for me! We took some pictures (below) and then went back to the hotel. I showered up and we met a friend and his daughter for lunch before heading out of town. Before heading out of town though, I grabbed a baskin robbins peanut butter and chocolate in a dish. MMM.

My time was 2:37:10 chip time. I was starting to get disappointed but Tiffany and Wende talked me out of it. I still PR’d. Yeah it wasn’t a stellar time like I thought I was getting. But I had such amazing crowd support and a great time running the race. I hope I’m able to do it again next year! I was amazed at how much better I felt after this race than last year’s! I was properly trained and ready for this race! That’s a lot of sentences ending with ! Sorry! :D I had a great day and wore my medal when I went out to dinner with Brian’s family too. My legs are sore today but I can still get around. I slept for about 9 hours last night and took an hour long nap yesterday afternoon.

Hope everyone’s weekends were amazing! I’m off to mail in Garmie and get a replacement. Sad… but wonderful they’re replacing it!

A few pictures:

Tiffany and Cela even got matching Lincoln Marathon shirts and wore them in honor of me! Aw!

Another cute one of us three girls. Thanks again Tiffany!

Me and the hubby. :D

My friend’s two year old who also wore her “pretty ballerina” out to lunch. Don’t worry I took mine off before going inside. I couldn’t steal her cuteness thunder!

It’s been a while.

2010-04-30T20:48:00.001-05:00

I’m sorry. But things to tell you:

1) I ran two races last weekend, a 5K on Saturday and a 4K on Sunday. Both were fun races. Didn’t win any door prizes and certainly didn’t win any awards.

2) (and most of the reason I’ve been absent) – I’ll be running this half sick again! I woke up with horrible abdominal pain, figured it was another UTI (I was right). I’m on a course of antibiotics for 7 days. Supposed to be 3, but the ua came back so icky they decided to extend it by four more days. Yippee!

3) I hadn’t run since Sunday cause I’ve been sick (I even called into work on Monday evening. Hard to do your job when you’re peeing every 15minutes!). I tried to run today and had to stop after 5minutes to pee. Not a good sign.

4) Garmie is DEAD! SOMEBODY help me! I don’t think I can run this race without it! I try the master reset and all I get is a black line that goes away as soon as I stop holding one of the two buttons. HELP! Of course I was out and about today and didn’t get home in time to call Garmin support. Grr.

5) I’ve got neon green nail polish and duck tape to match my tutu. I’m thinking of labeling my shirt with the tape. Fun, no?

6) Hubby got Sunday off, he’s the best! So we’ve booked a room some where in Lincoln and he’ll be my chauffer and supporter for the race! yay.

Now off to clean and get my race gear set up. I’m heading over to the expo tomorrow morning and then driving back and packing while waiting for hubby to get home so we can head out to Lincoln again. (45min drive). I know it’s not horrible but I’m excited about being able to stay close to the race.

I didn’t take any pictures at the 5K (I was by myself). I think the 5K I finished in just over my pr. With my mile splits like this:

Mile 1: 9:18 (I know!)

Mile 2: 10:36 (I walked a minute at the water stop during the turn around. A whole minute and I still clocked a 10:36 – yeah!)

Mile 3: 10:05

Mile .1 .23(?!): 2:02 (8:45 pace)

Pictures from our 4K.

Wende and I during the 4k. We beat one of the girls running behind us. The girl in the purple tank out kicked us. Way to go girl.

Wende and I after the run. We finished in around 30minutes. Not a blazing fast 4k, but a really fun one!

Me, Wende, Amy and Kayla (Amy and Kayla are girls I work with. They both placed in their age groups- show offs). I’ll have you all notice, I’m holding up a half eaten cookie. I’m all about the sweets during the post race celebrations!

post race outfit. running skirt over sweats and keens. My feet were thanking me cause my running shoes were soaking wet and cold!

Another 10K! And a 10mile training run.

2010-04-20T19:28:00.001-05:00

Warning: sorry for the blurry cell phone photos. They really look great on my phone, I swear!

So, on a whim, I decided to run a 10K on Saturday. My friend Wende decided (with a little arm twisting from me and her running boyfriend) to run it with me.

We got lost on the way there so I was glad we left early and were car pooling.

We parked behind this little bar (named McGees) (it was 8:30 in the morning and the race started at 9) we were having trouble finding the lake that the race was run around.

We were parked behind that white roofed building and this was the street we were meant to turn on. THIS close! We laughed when we realized how close we actually were. (cell phone pics by the way, sorry!)

We showed up and registered. Got a shirt in just about the right size, bonus. Found out we were supporting a local Christian school. Double bonus. I saw they had post race donuts on hand. YESSS! We lined up and they had a gun to start us off. Although, no tape, no start line…just people lined up to start. It was wonderful. There were maybe 20-25 people in the “race” and there were students from the school (we assumed) manning every water stop (about every mile).

It was Wende’s first 10K and we rocked it! We ran about 3-4miles with the last two of those ran into the wind. Which you know is hard. So we walked a little. Talked a lot and finished in about 1:15ish. Very nice. Very fun run!

We got to the table and the gals had put away the donuts. I put up a pout finding out they thought no one would have wanted the donuts and they had put them under the table. So they pulled them out for me and we grabbed a donut and a Gatorade and headed to the car to walk a bit and find our phones. We walked back to the table to ask one of the nice ladies to take our pictures after finishing our first 10K together. This guy behind us said , “Do you want me to set up the tape and you can run through it?”. Um, why yes, stranger, yes we would! Behold the best post race photo ever:

Ugh. Maybe I should run with my camera instead of my phone, huh?

I took the morning off on Sunday and worked Sunday evening. Monday I set out for my 10miler. I wanted one more before the 1/2 on May 2nd. Here’s my run in pictures… On the way, at a stop light. I do not drive and photo myself while driving, duh.

Pre fuel: A few swigs of this.

After one mile, I’m holding up a finger (a polite one) to mark the occasion. Took this while running…that’s why you can’t see my #1.

Mile 2, still feeling good:

Around mile 3-4 I knew I’d started out too fast and was not hydrated enough cause I started getting that thick ropey saliva that makes you nauseous when you swallow…felt like this:

After mile 5 I returned to my car, polished off some more of the Gatorade and the last 3/4 of the cliff shot in chocolate. Made a few disparate phone calls for motivation.

Game face. Gotta do it. How will I feel race morning when all I had was that walk run of a 12miles?

Mags (my sister) texted me “you can do it” and I was off. I texted her back this photo, but I was in pain. Feeling ugh. Knowing that I was getting this done though was good. I walked a few times. Disappointed. But happy that when I was in my “pace” I was running 10:10-10:40. Just couldn’t hold it for very long.

Wishing my car was closer by:

Coming up to the last hill, I walked it. I’m not ashamed:

Meh. I got 10.1 ish miles and my Garm-ie was off. After 2.75miles ish it stopped, started itself over and pissed me off. When I paused for a photo later, it didn’t restart for a while after I had been walking/running for a few minutes.

Showed that 10miles who’s boss! On the couch, sipping Gatorade. This is how I spent the rest of the afternoon:

Cat on my lap, romance-y novel, feet up on the deck. Yeah.

Mile splits were funky, thanks Garm-ie. Here’s what I have:

10:48
10:24
11:17
10:56
11:16
12:52
13:09
13:59
11:00
13:01

I’m not sure how correct those are, but I know it was a little over 10miles which is good enough for me. Look at those first two speedy-ish miles!

Triathlete x3!

2010-04-12T12:22:00.001-05:00

Hey all. My third triathlon was a huge success! I haven’t got the official results to see where I “placed” but I improved or stayed about the same in all areas! Here are my first and second attempts.

First swim: 17 lengths

Second swim: 13 lengths

This swim: 17 lengths!!! AH!

First bike: 9 miles (worst)

Second bike (timer didn’t work for a few minutes at the start and they added distance to make up for it): 13

This bike: 10.2 (yay double digits!)

First run: 2.21 (so far the best)

Second run: 1.85

This run: 2.01 (not the best but still really good!)

I am really pleased with my performance. Can’t wait to see how it stacks up!

At the post race party/food stuffs. I got my bib number into a bag with one other girl from my heat which meant I had a 50/50 shot of winning a prize. And, I won! I immediately grabbed a RoadID gift certificate! Thanks for the sponsorship guys! And I went online to buy this beauty in yellow! I’ve included (along with name phone numbers and location), that I can’t have Naproxen and that I’m an organ donor (hopefully it’ll never come to that, but that’s what it’s there for). I also got the original version and not the interactive one. Yay!

Spent the rest of my Sunday at the ball game cheering on the Omaha Royals (our AAA farm team) and then a night of pizza, sips of Baileys, and board games with friends! Great weekend!

12 miles?, eh?

2010-04-10T23:01:00.001-05:00

I’m not sure if I can count this as a “run” but I did get out there and move for 12 miles.

I ran with a girl from work who I don’t normally run with. We didn’t get out at 7:30 like I’d wanted to because, well, we felt like sleeping in. And after a number of texts at 7:20am half asleep, we decided that 1pm would be a better time to go.

Mile 1 9:51 (yikes – I know slow for her, but fast for moi!)
Mile 2 10:18
Mile 3 12:15
Mile 4 11:26
Mile 5 11:53
Mile 6 14:22 (this is where it starts to get embarrassing, and involving a ~~bit~~ lot of walking)
Mile 7 12:42
Mile 8 13:21 (after this, uncharted territory this year!)
Mile 9 13:02
Mile 10 13:11
Mile 11 17:31 (yep, got to talking and walked this whole mile!)
Mile 12 12:24 (got chest pains off and on since mile 6.5ish, this is most of the reason why I walked, that and it’s SO hard to get moving again when you’ve been walking!)
Mile 0.05 00:57

So, that’s how it broke down. The first two miles were flying! But I was having a harder time talking and well, neither one of us was running with an ipod so we were relying on each other for entertainment. I really had a good time. It’s just one of those runs that you envisioned being “just amazing” and the running portion was “just okay/if you can call that running” you know what I mean? After mile 6.5 ish I was having a hard time running, I think because when we were running, it was so much faster than my normal 10:30s, it was more in the low 10s to high 9s. So, I slowed it down and walked. Meh. What do I expect when I haven’t really run since before my vacation? Really?

Okay, gots to get to bed for my indoor tri tomorrow at 7:40! I’m wave three. Talk to ya’ll after that!

2010-04-09T10:27:00.003-05:00

Hey hey hey!

I have done little to no running this week. Monday I woke up in a bad mood. But immediately felt a little better when I put on my running clothes. Do you ever have days where you look in the mirror and say, “I look pretty good. I look like a runner!”. And it makes you happy? Well that day was one of those days. So I went out around the block for about 4.35 miles. In about 50ish minutes. Yes, I walked. Yes, it was hilly. And, yes, I felt better after my run. Success!

Woke up with a cold on Tuesday and so, working out was out.

Wednesday, Hubby was home. We slept in after going to bed way too late. If we don’t get a workout in before noon (no we didn’t sleep that late but we didn’t really get our butts in gear early either) it doesn’t happen. So with my afternoon alone, I went and saw Last Song.

It would have been a better rental, know what I mean?

So that was a waste of a day. Yesterday I worked 12hr. No working out. And now it’s Friday and it’s 10:30ish and I’m still in my pjs! Go ME! Gonna call Tiffany and see if she’s up for a run…I’ll let you know how it goes.

Here’s a slideshow from our Vacation, cause you really wanted to see more, right?

Kissy face!

PS - I did go for a run. It was awful but I did it. 2miles...ugh. Could it have been the chocolate cake with cadbury eggs in it that I ate for breakfast this morning...nah. Here's hoping tomorrow's long run goes better!

I’m trying something new.

2010-04-02T01:29:00.002-05:00

I’m using windows live writer for the first time…let’s see how this goes. I’d like to add a picture or ~~two~~ forty to show you what I’ve been up to the past week:

He’s carrying me…now…wait for it….

Fun, right?

My sister says this looks like a Jcrew ad…funny enough, I think my tee shirt is from Jcrew! At the edge of an infinity pool, our favorite spot on the resort.

That’s my bikini body, thanks Jillian for 15 great workouts. Sorry I chickened out on you! (My wrists were cramping up, remember?)

Those photos are from the photo session that we got for free. We just had to pay for photos, so instead of a romantical dinner on the beach (way over priced – and I don’t even like lobster!) we got ourselves 15 photos. :D

Crazy humidity hair!

Fishy!

Can you tell which photos we took and which ones were taken by the photographer?

Getting tipsy before our transport to the airport. This was my second drink of the day…it was noon.

I did just under two miles on the tm on Friday at the resort, funny enough they had the same treadmills we use at our gym at home. About two miles today around the block. Didn’t go stellar but it’s hilly here. So I’m off to try again tomorrow!

Allright peeps.

2010-03-23T22:16:00.002-05:00

I'm signing off for about a week. I will be here:

(I pulled these pictures from the yahoo image search...fyi, don't want to get in trouble)

See you on Thursday! Can't wait to spend the day catching up with you all. And yes, I am bringing my running shoes! :D

8mile training run - done!

2010-03-22T13:21:00.007-05:00

That's what I did this weekend. Yep. I ran 8miles. It worked out perfect. Had to work on Sunday evening so I planned to try to get it done in the morning. Wende and Amy said they couldn't make it and Ann wanted to run at 12:00 which was too late for me. So we compromised at 11. I got to the lake at 10:30 and did the first 1/2hr / 2.75miles without her. Here's me freezing. The temp started out at 29degrees and I think it was 43 or so when we finished.

I can barely smile cause my face is frozen.

I met up with Ann, and took a quick picture at around mile 3-4 ish with her.

Really I wanted an excuse to say "Let's stop...and take a photo? But excuse me while I pause my Garmie for the all important photo...I do have a blog you know. I'm kind of a big deal". just kidding. :D

With Ann I slowed it down and just enjoyed running and chatting with her. I have some major guilt about the last few Sundays with my 'running' with her. Usually it's Wende and Ann and I who run. And, inevitably Wende and I fall into a more normal pace which is faster than Ann's and we end up leaving her in the dust. Always keeping her in eye sight for safety's sake but still...I feel bad every time it happens. SO it was nice to RUN with HER. You know? At about mile 7.5 or so, I saw our last split was 12:50 and I was struggling. So I picked it back up and ran faster towards the end. I was immediately hitting low 10min miles if not faster. It felt great! My legs were thankful for the slower 3.5-4miles and felt great running fast again! What an awesome run!

Here's me on my own waiting about mile 7.5 waiting till Ann came in my sights again. - almost done!

I ended with 8.13 miles in about 1:33ish.
Mile 1: 11:10
Mile 2: 10:50
Mile 3: 11:04 (starting my run with Ann)
Mile 4: 11:50
Mile 5: 12:13
Mile 6: 12:51 (had to pick it back up here)
Mile 7: 11:40 (last 1/2mile or so on my own, I ditched Ann, sorry!)
Mile 8: 10:29 (aw, push it!)
Mile .13: 1:21 *9:34 pace!*

Yay! So glad to be done! And, Ann rocked her 5.5mile run. She's training for a 1/2 at the end of May. Thanks Ann for the run!

What a great Sunday. And the weather really turned out! Today I did a quick recovery run with Tiffany at the gym. Boo treadmills. I did about 2.69 in that time (although according to Tiffany's nike+ our 3mile mark came at the tms 2.55...oh well I moved)

ps - what's up my new followers. Looks like I have some new blogs to check out! Thanks ladies!

Hi!

2010-03-19T14:25:00.002-05:00

So. I finally got my garmie to upload onto my computer. Just had to uninstall and reinstall the ANT stick. Thanks Hubby for helping me figure that out!

I ran once this week. I kinda got a cold/allergies the middle of the week and I'm taking it easy cause I don't want to ruin Cancun. Can't wait! We leave in just a few days. One more 12hr and one more evening and I'm outta here! The one thing I don't like about vacations is that you wait for them for SO LONG and then all of the sudden they're here and then gone! Oh well. I think we're planning on packing workout clothes so that we can get some running in. (Or elipticizing in the hubby's case).

Can a run get erased by Garmin? I don't know what I did on Tuesday. But I ran with Ann and did a 10:30ish first mile and finished 2.1miles in 20:40. That's a 9:50 pace! I swear that last mile every time I looked at Garmie I was under 9minutes! WAHOO! BUT I can't find the data anywhere on Garmie! Ugh. OH well, must have pushed the wrong button or something.

Turns out my garmie splits for the 10K were as follows:

Summary 01:07:00 6.23
1 10:21
2 10:37
3 11:03
4 11:22
5 10:53
6 10:35
0.23 02:06

In case you were curious. Looking forward to a long run on Sunday! Catch ya'll later! Congrats Beginning Runner on you half finish! Enjoyed the race report!

Another 10k in the books!

2010-03-14T17:10:00.008-05:00

And, I unfortunately did it all by myself :/ Ann got sick this week and didn't feel up to running. But thankfully the hubby stepped up and drove me there and spectated for me! Yay.

I ran it in 1:06:57 according to the chip timing. The results were available last night! Which was awesome cause I'm really impatient! Everyone was wearing green and I liked starting ahead of all the guys. Although, that meant I got passed a lot! Starting at about 9:30min in! I'm so slow!

Brian caught me at mile one ish, informed me he had beaten me here. Ha.

I didn't run with my ipod and mostly ran by feel. I was pretty impressed I was able to keep up my pace. The course was really hilly, and steep. But I didn't walk a single step! Which was my real goal I guess. I thought at 3.1 that maybe I could PR cause it was about 31:xx and I was pretty excited. But mile 5-6 never felt so long!

Me crossing the finish line!

My one complaint was, I flew through the finish line and went to drop off my chip. I started walking and didn't see any post race grub. No bananas, bagels, cookies nada. I was bummed and hungry. For some of us this is a long run which does take over an hour! Hello!

Well we did get a free green beer cause a lass won overall but I don't like beer so I stole myself a nice cup of water. And stole the cup. Shh.

I made Brian stop at the Baskin Robbins on the way out of town cause we don't have those in Omaha. I'm not a food blogger, but I am for ice cream!
That's chocolate peanut butter on top of super fudge truffle. Which I now affectionately call, super fudge shuffle. Isn't that song in your head now? Come on Chicagoans! Bust a move!

I'm still really excited about my performance yesterday all by my self and I didn't walk! Yay! Yeah it's not a pr, but I'm not exactly trained for one either. I can't wait to do more 10Ks this season!

Today I was sore from the hills and running on the tm sounded awful. So I hopped in the pool and did 1400 yards (or 28 laps, I like it when I swim my age!). I was shooting for 30 when I was done with 25, but the hubby finished his work out early. Well maybe not early, it did take me almost 40 minutes to swim that much. (38:58 to be exact). I stopped to breathe at every 10 laps. Go me! I guess I do have another tri coming up! And Cancun!

I don't have my Garmie splits cause I'm having trouble getting my ant stick to be recognized by my computer. Does anyone else with the 405 have this trouble?

In other news, I didn't get my marathon week! Blast! Ann and I went to the gym about 9pm on Thursday (after I'd worked a 12hr) and the guy at the front desk told us Ann had been my guest too many times. We'd have to have her pay $15 to get in. She offered to pay it buy I said it was stupid to pay $15 just to run a measly 2 miles! I was hot. I asked the guy if they had sent out an email regarding the "new guest policy" (basically I can bring two guests a month as long as they're not the same person - which, I can say that no one else at the front desk must know cause Ann's gone to the gym with me every other week since January and no one's said a thing!) which came out in Nov. He said "no they're really bad about that". Come on LTF! Get with it! Grr.

off to a record week!

2010-03-10T23:20:00.002-06:00

Well hello! Who's done a lot of running and is already up to 18.95 miles? Me! Now I know that's not a LOT of running but for me, it is. And I couldn't be more excited! I've run my 45min on the tm three times this week following a 6.1 mile run on Sunday. That's how I've gotten my mileage. And, I don't feel sore OR tired. Yet!

I'm running in another 10k on Saturday so look for a race report with lots of green! It's a chase where the girls get a head start and I'm fully prepared to run this in a tu tu! Yay girl power!

I'm getting myself to the gym tomorrow night as well for an easy breezy 2miles to make this an official marathon week! Yay!

Happy Friday!

2010-03-05T19:54:00.002-06:00

This week:

Had a great workout with Tiffany on Tuesday. We did about 21minutes of running laps around the basketball courts at the gym. Then we did 10minutes of lunges, shuffles, and suicides. Yikes. I was sore from that one but it was a great workout! Then I headed upstairs by myself and did 25more minutes for a grand total of about 4.25miles not including the boot camp stuff we did in between! AWESOME!

Wed I worked 12hr and just didn't feel up to running after that. Thursday I had a great plan to workout super early. Got a phone call in the middle of the night (everything's okay) and couldn't really get up with my 5:45 alarm after that. Got up about 6:45, got to the gym and was ready to run about 7:15. Had a 9:00 blood draw at the drs office (just rechecking stuff from last month and it must be fine cause I haven't heard from the dr yet - no biggie) so I didn't have time to really run. I was so bummed. I was on the tm for 16 minutes, did about 1.5ish miles and called it a day. Did the shred of course, but was pretty bummed with Thursday all around.

Today, though, was a new day! I just had a great 45min run on the tm. I wore my new Champion top in lavender which yes, is long sleeve. But I was shocked! I paired it with shorts and while yes, I sweated a lot you couldn't tell. About 15minutes into the run I had the long sleeves pushed up past my elbows but the shirt really did a good job of keeping me coolish for being a warm weather top. Must be the nice "wicking" technology I've heard so much about. :D

Looking forward to a long run of about 6miles on Sunday followed by a recovery run with Tiffany on Monday. Working this weekend, so it looks like my running total for the week is going to be just over 15miles so yay. Looking forward to 20 next week.

I was talking with my running buddies about this topic. I just die when I hit the tm for more than 30minutes. I count down the time and play racing games or walk run (which I hate myself for) just to get it over with. But then after hearing an older episode of Steve Runner's podcast, he said something about when you're starting out, don't give yourself a goal mileage, just a time goal. So if I get on the tm thinking I'm going to run 5miles, I'll probably krank up the pace a wear myself out trying to get it done. When instead I could get on the tm and think "I'm going to run 45minutes". If I get 5miles done (HA!) great, if I get 3miles done, so be it. I'm there for 45 minutes. And I got to thinking that this distance would eventually get easier and faster right? So, that's my new goal, that's why I was so disappointed Thursday. What do you all think?

Check it out! Tall Mom has another giveaway!

2010-03-01T12:27:00.003-06:00

Hello. I went and did it. I switched to level two today! There are a lot of shoulder moves and planks..and squats! I'm not coordinated enough to do this one, I think! Well, I'm sure it'll get easier. I went back to the three pound weights, since I didn't really know what I was getting into. I'm sure I'll be a little differently sore tonight and tomorrow. But it'll be good. Looking forward to trying to do level 2 again tomorrow!

Took a rest day from running, working this evening and just wanted to have a nice morning off with the hubby. That, and there was no getting up early for us since we were at a friend's place playing board games till 1:15am! There was a lot of reminiscing of my hubby and his college buddies. But we all had a fun night. Woke up at the crack of 8:45 (ah, no kids) and did Jillian while the hubby slept in a little more. Now we're off to the grocery store and lunch before work at 3 for the both of us!

And, just cause it's Monday:

ps - I just realized that "did jillian" sounds bad out of context.

I DO exist!

2010-02-28T15:18:00.004-06:00

Hello there!

Busy busy busy. Every time I thought, I should blog now...it was followed by, but I should do this instead. Meh. I'm back now.

First, I've been enjoying my first week/8 days of Shred. I skipped last Saturday and Friday because I worked 12hr and thought it was just asking a lot to do the 20minute work out on top of that. Plus, my hubby was home both nights when I got home and he didn't want to watch me workout. And, I think he thinks that shredding is for sissys or girls, cause he won't try it with me. That or he's too afraid I'll show him up! Starting a few days ago, I switched from 3lb weights to 5lb weights during circuit 2. Now I'm using 5lb weights throughout the whole routine today. Does that sound like a progression those of you that have done this program? Does it sound reasonable? Safe? I don't want to get too bulky but I want to challenge myself with my Cancun vacation coming up. I don't want to loose weight, but I do want to be more toned up in general. And this program isn't replacing my running. But I was surprised at how sore I was the first few days. Now I'm fine, it's just like a warm up to get me going in the morning. And it's SO easy being only 20minutes and I really love the circuit training, where it's strength, cardio, abs. I don't think that this cardio will replace my running or get me to loose the 20lbs promised on the box though, fo sure.

I did not do measurements, maybe I'll try that today even though it won't be as accurate. Now since I skipped last Saturday and this Friday, I've done 8/10 days. I was thinking of switching to level 2 on Tuesday. I'm a little nervous. I've got this level memorized but I think it'll be good to challenge myself a little. Do you think I should wait until I've done a full 10days at this level?

Second, running. I did my first run of the year outside yesterday! And I repeated that same route with a little extra tacked on at the end for fun. It feels SO good to be outside! I did 4.3ish miles yesterday with Ann in about 58minutes. And today did 5.25miles in 1:09:11 with Ann and Wende. In our defense, pace wise, we did have to stop and walk a few times (okay maybe more than a few) for ice.

I did get my Champion gear in the mail from Beth's contest at Shut up and Run. Very exciting. I'm waiting until I get the products all washed up before I wear them. I did a little trying on though. I think for the running jacket I should have gone a size up. The small fits but it will be a little tight for layering. The pink fleece I have worn to and from my runs this weekend. Very warm and like Beth said, probably a little to warm for running. So I left it in the car. Today we started out at 18 degrees. I wore an old Nike warm top and a nike long sleeve warmer top. Along with tights from Reebok and a hat, gloves, and neck warmer. I should have worn only my under top, it's a mock turtle neck with a kind of warm fleecey inside. Got way too warm on my run. Oh well, must have warmed up a little while we were out there. I can't wait to wear my new pants and new tech shirt next time I run outside. The tech shirt is super cute with these little flower designs down the left sleeve. And it's a lovely shade of girly violet with a v-neck that's not too low at all! Yay.

I ran about 12 miles last week and 13ish miles this week. With 5.25 today, I'm off to a good start! Happy Sunday!

2010-02-24T12:17:00.003-06:00

So much to post. Have to shower now. It's noon and I just got done at the gym. What a way to start a day off! Sneak peak...I'm waking up with Jillian now! More on that later!

Since I'm feeling lucky, I entered another Giveaway! You can enter too now! It's for a core fusion dvd.

OH MY GOODNESS!

2010-02-18T15:06:00.003-06:00

I was going to wait until I worked out this afternoon to post BUT

I just read Beth's posts (I was catching up) and what did I see but this:

The winner of the ultimate Champion giveaway is:

Kelly @ Beginning Running! She was #331 out of 402 entries
Congrats Kelly! I know you are getting back to running after having surgery in 2009, so it's nice to have some new clothes. Also, I know your neighbors are tired of seeing you running around naked, so I'm glad we could help out. Email me with your size preferences (refer to the original giveaway post) and your address. Again, congrats to you!

AHHHHH! I did the happy dance in the car all the way home! And, I screamed. I don't think my hubby knows how awesome this giveaway was.

I'm on a lucky streak! Off to email my preferences before I go out on my run!

2010-02-18T12:43:00.002-06:00

I will post more later about this week's workouts after mine today. But I wanted you all to check out I run because I can's giveaway! I hope I win.

2010-02-11T15:19:00.005-06:00

So I've had a good couple of days. Yesterday I completed 5miles at the gym (gym big surprise). I think it's still too icy out around my neighborhood to run outside. I'm so scared I'll fall and crack my ankle or something!

Anyways, 5miles at the gym in about 57minutes, for a 11:22 pace. I think I increased my mileage every 1/2mile or mile or so for a negative split. I also did it on a 1% incline, Tiffany! I'm notorious for complaining about inclines when Tiffany so nicely encourages me to. Then I found through, Erin, that there's this "conversion chart". So maybe I am actually going faster than I think! Yay. Thanks Erin! That's why my "10min/mile" pace feels so hard, cause with the incline it feels like a 9:52 or something? I'm still going by the miles on the tm though to figure out my distance. When Tiffany's not around that is. When she has her nike+ with her I go by what she says (usually it says we've gone farther than the tm says we have...i'm fine with that for now).

Today I branched out and tried the aqua class at my gym. It promised to be:

Aqua – The water provides an atmosphere of safe resistance for aerobic conditioning. This class is perfect for the fit, pregnant, and/or joint-sensitive individual. You need not be a swimmer to participate.

Fit individual, that's me, right? On the drive to the gym I was debating. I was dressed with my swimsuit on under my clothes and was still deciding if I wanted to really do it. I'm such a chicken when it comes to trying new things by myself. But I thought if I don't do it now, when am I really going to? So I just went. And it was what I thought it was, water aerobics. No hard core drill sargent, just a peppy fun gal talking over a bit of music telling you to pump your arms and kick your feet. They did these weights, which were surprisingly heavy once you got them in the water. And, they had us take these rubber bands and pull on your partner while they tried to run across the pool, biggest loser style. That was tricky in bare feet, but fun. I had a good time, and I think I'll pass my final verdict in the next day or so when I see how sore I am. In the few lanes they did have open I saw this gal start her swim who ran an informal "master class" last spring that I went to and really enjoyed. Little envious I didn't just swim. Oh well, still glad I tried it. And who knows, maybe I got a killer arm workout in?

I didn't feel like the aqua class really was going to replace my cardio for the day so I changed and went upstairs for a run on the tm. I did 45minutes with a few pauses cause I'm was feeling fatigued. I think I needed to eat more than one Luna mini bar this morning, maybe two would have been better?

I got almost 4miles in today, 11:18min/mile AP. I'm pretty proud of that. Back on the band wagon!

So, Morgan, the redhead, mentioned these sports bras from Kylyx. Has anyone else tried them? I think the kickstart is SUPER cute. But even with the 20% off coupon code Morgan has I'm still a little gun shy. Any thoughts?

And, almost finally, thanks to X-Country squaredfor mentioning the Leprechaun 10K, I think I'm signing up today!

Now, finally,
thanks to Skinny Runner, I tried out this quiz to win some equipment, and I scored 100%. Wow. So now I'm entered to win some stationary bike. Thought I'd pass it on to you all.

Contest by eFITology Fitness

2010-02-09T16:04:00.001-06:00

Check out Beth's giveaway! That's a lot of swag!

Good run.

2010-02-07T13:42:00.002-06:00

I had a wonderful run this morning. Thanks Ann for accompanying me to the gym!

We did 4miles today, and it felt great.

Mile 1: 13:19min/mile pace. Warming up.
Mile 2: 12:00min/mile, still getting my legs back.
Mile 3: 10:54min/mile....that's more like it.
Mile 4: 9:13min/mile (with one pause to catch my breath and a walk of about 45seconds after the first 1/2mile)

After not running all week, I missed it! I'm looking forward to another three tomorrow, maybe. Still have to keep on track for my 1/2 in May!

I'm having fun reading all your blogs and what not. Check out Tall Mom, she's giving away recovery socks. Sigh, I hope I win these, they seem so awesome and badass.

Issues.

2010-02-05T18:22:00.004-06:00

I feel much better, thanks for sending the get well wishes my way.

I've had a low key week. Took off early on Wed from work cause well, being sick Monday and Tuesday really took a lot out of me and I was NOT feeling up to a 12hr day. I work again tomorrow, pretty sure I'll make it. :)

Had a bit of an emotional break down last night, talked it over with the sis (who really knows me) and today I talked it out with a friend.

Let me just be Debbie Downer and say that if you still have a mom, you don't know how good you have it.

Well, I hope you're all wearing red today. I found two cute tee shirts from JC Penny's. I'm wearing the one that's the graffiti heart and got the one that says "the beat goes on" for working out. Plus, proceeds go to benefit the AHA. Or, the heart truth program...something. As you all know my mother died from an arrhythmia, or heart disease without any warning. So this is a cause that's near to me. Wear some RED!

I wish these recovery socks came in red! I think I'll settle for pink. Tall mom's giving them away, check it out!

2010-02-02T00:01:00.002-06:00

So I'm not dying. But I'm not running tomorrow. Should be feeling well enough to work on Wed, we'll see.

All in all it's nothing serious, nothing I want to discuss right now. :)

Chiller Challenge.

2010-01-31T23:06:00.002-06:00

Is it bad that I wore my new (long sleeved!) tee shirt all night tonight when I didn't run in the race?

Short version, thought about going to the ER this morning for about 45minutes. Thought maybe I had appendicitis, but no N/V. Pain subsided but didn't think it was a good idea to run. So hence, no chiller challenge recap.

Still having intermittent pain. Probably going to schedule an appointment with the PCP. Yay.

I still did run about 9 miles this week! Ran another 3 after work on Thursday (go me) and 3 on Saturday with Ann at the gym.

2010-01-27T10:54:00.003-06:00

I know ya'll are waiting for my 8.2mile wrap up, but that's not going to happen because the run didn't happen. I know, sad face. Big "awww! Shucks!" from the crowd.

Just for kicks.

But I don't think I was ready for my marathon week. I think this is how I injured myself last year. That and being sick didn't help. But I think I ramped up my mileage too fast last year. This time last year I pulled an almost 25mile week. Too much for me. I went from the occasional 2mile run to 6,7 and 10miles all in one week.

So this year I think I'm going to do a high mileage week with a recovery week for a little while. Tiffany is still planning on running the full (crazy, it's coming up so fast!) as far as I know and I'm not. Not yet anyways, plus I'm already commited to running the half.

Today was the first run since Friday but I've been working on a quilt all week and I'm just piecing the rows together, so, go me. It's just a quick jelly roll quilt to get my confidence back. I'd been trying these projects (like cushions with zippers and I thought I could do piping! Ack!) that were just out of my league and I was getting frustrated. So I'm going to put this baby together and try those cushions again!

I ran about 3miles (treadmill said 2.52, Tiffany said 3.0, I'm going with her on this one) in about 28:30. We'll see in a few weeks how this all translates outdoors!

Meghann at the inner workings of a college graduate today, posted about her running calculator. It's McMillan's calculator to be exact. And I've seen this before, and tried to enter in a reasonable 1/2 time (2:25:00) I think I'll try to use this to gage my tempo runs and such. I'm pretty excited about it.

Off to lunch with the hubby and our friend Rich! I'm making chicken curry tonight. I thought I hated it till I made it myself. Would anyone be interested in the recipe if I decided to write it out for ya'll?

Today's a good day!

Happy Wednesday!

happy Friday!

2010-01-22T17:35:00.003-06:00

Hey there everyone!

Boy do I feel better about my running after this week! I've run twice as much this week alone as I did in the whole month of December! I really had fallen off the band wagon, big time!

Well you know about my weekend, great!

Took Monday off, and had a sore shoulder probably from the swimming on Saturday and then all the arm swinging with the long run on Sunday? So I didn't even swim.

Tuesday I had a 3mile run with Tiffany. Slow but good. We weren't really feeling it.

Yesterday I had a 5mile run with Tiffany, without our ipods. Cause I was super mean and made her workout without hers because I'd forgotten mine! The last two miles I thought, might have killed me.

Today was another 3miler. When I was done, I told the hubby that was 18 for the week and I had another 8miles planned for Sunday morning before work. He said, why don't you make it 8.2 that'd be 26.2miles for the week? So, I just might. Hopefully you all have had good weeks. Looking forward to my chiller challenge (chickened out on the 8K and backed off to the 2mile race) next weekend!

Thanks.

2010-01-18T10:44:00.002-06:00

Thanks for the advice regarding Pilates every one! Sounds like it's a great workout, but I'm just not ready to be that committed. To get my bikini body I think I'm going to do a few "core" classes (which are free) and some pilates fusion type classes at the gym. Maybe if I know I can stick with those on a weekly basis I'll know I'm ready to graduate to something that costs and arm and a leg.

This weekend was full of great workouts!

Here's recap:

Saturday I invited Ann to go to the gym with me to swim and run. Knowing I was doing at least 6 miles on Sunday we kept it light. I swam for about 15minutes, talking a bit after 10minutes and three minutes later to give Ann some pointers on her form. Although, I don't know how qualified I am, I tried to help. But swimming is hard! She did a great job keeping up, I was impressed

600yds/15:00ish/2:30/100yds

We went upstairs and after some stretching, hopped on the treadmills. I got 3miles in in under 31minutes which was my goal. Not fast but not slow either. Ann did well, walking some but getting about 2.5ish miles in I think. I wasn't really keeping track. She's signed up for a 1/2 in the same month as mine, the 23rd and mine's the 2nd. I don't think I'll be doing hers with her, but we'll see how training goes. I will definitely be cheering! It'll be her first half!

After the run we, on a whim, hit up the rock climbing wall for one trip up. I made it about half way. You wouldn't believe how unnerving it is to climb up a straight wall...does that make sense?

Sunday Tiffany and I ran our 7miles. The first two were tough, but it was SO unbelievably nice to have Tiffany running by my side at the same pace, at a 1.0 incline. That incline, I tell you nearly kills me! We ran at a slow pace according to the TM but her ipod nike+ said we were running between 10:05 and 11min. So, my question to all you TM aficionados is, can you "pace" on the TM be off if you have a shorter stride? Cause doesn't the TM just count belt rotations? I know this sounds crazy. But the whole time we were running I swear it didn't feel like a 12:00min pace it felt like my normal outdoor 10ish min pace. Has anyone ever thought this about a TM? Am I crazy, did I maybe not run the 7.12 I thought and more like the 6 something the tm thought? Either way we got a long run in and I would not have been able to do it without Tiffany! We even picked it up the last mile and ran at 6.0 which was fast for that run.

7.12/1:16:00ish(the TM starts over at 60min)/10:40AP

Taking today off, hubby is still on the couch and it doesn't look like we'll make it to the gym before work! Surprise surprise! Tomorrow Tiffany and I should be doing at quick three or four miles at the gym. It's still a little too wet and icy for us to run outside.

To pilates or not to pilates?

2010-01-14T17:14:00.008-06:00

Hey there peeps!

What do you all think of pilates?

Like on the reformer? I took this "peak into pilates" class today at the gym. It was about 1/2 private lesson/peak into pilates (hence the name). I liked it cause a) I got a whole body workout; b) I stretched!; c) it was free.

Now my mom always said that pilates was good for you and if I found a class I should take it. And I was thinking, if I signed up now and did 2-3 classes (1hr each)/week, maybe I'd be all toned and buff like the gal in the picture above for the trip?

It's extra money, cause it's a reformer class. That's kinda my dilemma. Cause, if I really really like it, will I want to shell out that kinda mula to keep going? Will I lose all the tone and fitness I gain from pilates once I'm done with my 8 or 12 week class, if I never go back?

Help!

Before the class I tried to get in a run. But I ran into another dilemma. I wanted to run but I didn't want to be that icky girl who shows up to this pilates class all sweaty and gross. So I tried hills for about 45 seconds at 6.0 incline at about 5.5 to 5.0 pace. Yeah, it's a good thing they didn't have to scrape me up off the floor. That was tough. I walked/ran/talked with Tiffany. Did the last 5minutes at a 9:40 pace which is fast for me. No laughing. But I did about 1.5 miles total in the 20minutes before the class.

So far it's been a great birthday. Off to quilt/contemplate the benefits of crunching in pilates before the trip.

ps - the recipe to the brownies in my last post

Diet.

2010-01-12T16:45:00.004-06:00

I know that I can't diet. I just don't have the will power. But when will I learn that if I decide to have just 'little' piece of brownie for breakfast (yes, cringe all you health freaks I'm a nurse with the worst eating habits!) that I'll have a bad run? And I'd love to repeat the "pain is temporary quitting is forever" mantra, but it's not pain that I'm in after that breakfast. It's nausea. Yick. I'm sure if I'd had my whole wheat english muffin with a little jam I would have felt much better. But who wants to spend the time heating it up in the toastation when you can just cut into the brownies, really?

(They looked something like this. With regular m&ms)

I know I know.

If I hadn't been in a half asleep stupor I would have realized the errors of my ways before I cut into the brownies. I can hear my mother now, "You can't just eat chocolate for breakfast, it's not good for you".

My run was 2.75 miles in about 28 minutes. No, I was under such time constraints that I couldn't stick it out another 2:30minutes to get my three miles. I swear. Well maybe I could have, but I'd already stopped to pee which really cuts into your time you know. Anyways. At least I ran, right? Right. Tomorrow will be a better eating day I swear.

I know that some of you have food logs. Now, do you have the old fashioned pencil and paper, online tracking journals, calorie counters on your iphones, or what? Give a sista some help here.

ps- another recipe I love!

Another run

2010-01-10T11:08:00.004-06:00

And it was a good one! :D

Yay. Fell asleep on the couch, again, at 10:30 last night. But the hubby did make me dinner so I did dishes before I fell asleep cause I'm nice like that. He stir fried up some onions, chicken, carrots, and 1/2 a green pepper with teryaki sauce (from a jar but it had these sesame seeds in it...fancy and good!). We served it over his new fav. sushi rice. Just plain white rice with vinegar and this simple syrup type mixture...he was cooking his choice. It makes good rice but meh it's white and I've heard brown is so much better for you so that's what I prefer.

I decided to use my early crash as a reason to get up early and get my run over with cause I have to work this afternoon (evening shift). I woke up ravenous and ate a spoon full of crunchy peanut butter as not to upset the stomach during the run. I contemplated making my English muffin and jam breakfast again but thought that would be too heavy, you know? Got to the gym and warmed up with a 5minute walk of 0.2 miles. Ran for 1 1/2 miles (17:30) and stopped to pee. Okay I technically don't like running indoors cause with all my out door workouts this summer it's become "boring!" but I do like the facilities! Then I hopped back on and completed 3.5 more miles! I ramped up the speed from 11:54 for the first mile (yikes I really eased into this one!) then to 10:34ish for the second. The next two were a solid 10:00min/mile with no breaks. Then back down to 11:54 and back up to I don't know, 8 something cause part of me just wanted to get it done. Kinda oscillated between wanting to walk and wanting to sprint the last 1/2 mile and well, anyways got it done. Got home and got some bacon going (two slices that I cut in half so it's like I had four slices...tricky I know), whole wheat English muffin, 1tbs butter approx., one fried egg. Hey, it's Sunday and that was my long run, right?

So, Danielle from 5K to marathon recently asked in a post if you were a lurker or a commenter. You know what I'm talking about. And I shamefully had to say lurker. It's not that I don't enjoy your posts but I'm kinda shy. Both in life and on line. How sad is that? I really should get out there and comment more.

Okay one more resolution, more commenting! I mean I feel great when I know you all are listening to me rant and rave and it's such a motivator to know that "I've got to get this run done cause I don't want to have to write 'fail' on my blog later!" :)

So thanks bloggie buddies for you the inspiration and advice. I really do enjoy every blog I read, if I didn't you wouldn't make it to my "blogs I frequent" list. Although I don't know if it's me or blogger, sometimes a blog's updated post doesn't make it to my blog roll. Has anyone else had trouble with this?

Can't wait to hear about some fantastic race reports today. Congrats all you princess marathon finisher's out there!

2010-01-08T20:32:00.003-06:00

Another run this evening. Stayed on the TM for 45minutes. Did 30 girlie pushups and many crunches after the run.

May I add a resolution to this year?

I am determined not to be upset or disappointed after a run.

I would normally think that this run was a failure because it took me 45minutes to run 3.6 miles. BUT. I have taken a long, long, useless break from running this winter. And, I will be starting back at square one. At least I ran and at least I stayed on the tm for 45minutes! Right? Right.

How do you go from thinking failure to success? Even when it wasn't the performance you'd hoped for?

Oh, I just checked, I ran a total of 440miles last year! Wow. I was hoping for 500, but with the illness this summer I'm really really pleased! I also swam a total of: 25878.0 Yd Wow. Go moi!

Long post, sorry!

2010-01-05T10:20:00.009-06:00

First, pics from my vaca:

Just a little background, my siblings and cousins have gone to celebrate the holidays together at the gparents house since we were little. As evidenced by this photo:

So cute right? Love it. Here's some pictures from this year:

My gorgeous sister and I at our Gparents 49th wedding anniversary.

A baby alpace from when Gma and I went to the alapca farm on NY day.

This is one in a series of family self portraits take while we were pretty schwasted on Saturday night.

Here's another I like to call it the huddle (excuse the fact that I can't look at the camera cause I'm laughing too hard)

I didn't run but I did take a few walks. Here's my dad and Uncle walking just ahead of Mags and I (Mags is my sister)

Here were my goals for 2009:

1) New 5K pr, break 30minutes maybe even 29 in 2009?!
2) Run a half marathon (officially) and I mean run it...if that goes well and I'm not preggers, maybe a full in the fall?
3) Comfortably run a 9min/mile, let that be my base by 2010. (right now I'm somewhere between 10:30 and 10).
4) Swim a mile without stopping maybe even for just one hour without stopping. Comfortably.

1) Did not PR in my 5K, in my defense, had some medical issues this year.
2) Check :D I did run a 1/2! And, due to medical issues did not run my full. And may not now, ever. It's a cool goal. But I've been doing some thinking. And, if my bladder congenital abnormality showed up after 27 years, what else is lurking in there? What if I die? I did not feel well after my 1/2 and don't think I could have pushed for another 1/2 without dying. So. With hopes of a family sooner rather than later, I'll put off the full until I'm more of a consistent runner who wouldn't train poorly (IT band issues last spring) and would rock it.
3) Well, due to a start over basically now, I'm back to 11ish miles and well, sort of proud of it. I never got my 9min mile
4) It think that at some point, I swam a mile without stopping. Certainly not comfortably.

So, with 2009 in the books and lessons learned. I'm tackling 2010. I've requested the weekend off of May 1st and 2nd in hopes to register for and run the 1/2 again! This time I'll run it when I'm not on death's door and see how that goes.

My running buddy is planning on training for the full.

Goals:
1) Run Lincoln 1/2 again.
2) Speed up, safely.
3) Run 3 days a week, long runs on Sundays with the girls when it warms up.
4) Swim more consistently.
5) Bikini body (aka eat better- moderate the junk food) by March 24th (our Cancun Vacation! - our Christmas present to ourselves)
6) Get preggers. (after Cancun)

That sounds reasonable. No pressure with time goals or PRs. Sounds like fun year!

This week, I did 3miles yesterday with Tiffany. That went well, slow, but well. My legs and feet were killing me at work yesterday. I think I'm going to have to retire the old running shoes I'm wearing at work, they're worn out. So today instead of doing Tiffany's planned 4miles at the gym, I opted for crunches and squats in front of TV. That's productive right? Tomorrow I work 12 and hope to get back to the gym Thursday morning.

In the interest of helping me eat better. I will now tell you what I ate for breakfast: 1/2 Luna peppermint chocolate bar and a small (10) portion of mint m&ms. Maybe I shouldn't have left those sitting out on the coffee table last night?! Maybe... off to shower up, go to the grocery store, and CLEAN THIS HOUSE!

And finally cause I thought it was funny:

Greetings!

2009-12-30T13:57:00.002-06:00

Hello all. I'm currently sitting with my grandparents around their kitchen table listening to a much quieter household.

We just had most of my dad's sisters husbands and their kids as well as my dad and my siblings. 13 people under one roof I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm the only one left now. I'm stuffed of good Mexican food and can hardly breathe. (We're in el paso, tx). I really should have brought my running clothes and shoes but didn't pack them. Oh well.

My running has been awful lately. As evidenced by my measly 1.85 miles in 20 minutes during the last race/indoor tri. I can not wait for the new year!

I've enjoyed reading about everyone's holidays and running adventures. I'm just not a very good commenter when I'm reading from my phone. Which is currently where I'm typing this from. So, I'll cut this short, my thumbs are tired.

I leave you with a few photos from the fun we've had here. (Nevermind my phone won't let me upload anything). I'll be back in Omaha and ready for a run on the 3rd. Anybody with me?

Good Morning!

2009-12-14T08:59:00.002-06:00

Happy Monday! So, I've been reading another Beginning Runner's blog...and last week she had a contest to name her Garmin. Now she's got finalists and I'm one of them. So go on over, read her blog (she's VERY funny and nice, you should subscribe, I do) and vote for my name for her Garmin. Fatty. I know I know, but I think it's funny.

I'm a triathlete x2!

2009-12-13T11:54:00.003-06:00

So I know you're all anxiously awaiting results, but I didn't keep track. This was for fun and to see if I could survive it without real training. We'll have to wait till they're posted online. But, I finished! That was my big goal. And, you could tell I hadn't really trained!

Swim - swam the full 10minutes without stopping more than 5-10 seconds to breathe at 6minutes in. I didn't count my laps in the pool, though. Pretty sure it was less than last time. Still, did it.

Bike - Immediately put my towel over the distance/speed clockey thing. And about 10minutes in decided to check to see how I was doing...it wasn't on. It had recorded 36 seconds and then stopped for some reason. Last time I keep a towel over the clockey thing! After the volunteer fiddled with it a few seconds she had me jump on another bike promising she'd "just add to my total". So I'm not sure what my total will be. But I really felt strong. Once I got on a bike where I could see how fast I was going I was shocked. I was consistently in the mid twenties for mph. I think last time I was lower like, below 20mph the whole time. So I hope mid 20s is fast. For the last five minutes I pushed it and did over 30mph consistently. The guy next to me saw that I was at 35mph and said "go for 36, come on!" during the last 15seconds or so. Well, I hit 39mph and said "whoa!" and my legs just stopped. My left foot flew out of the peddle and it kept coming around to hit me in the back of the leg. I had also thought I'd heard her say stop pedaling, but everyone else kept going. I don't know if she was just warning us or what so the last few seconds I was at 6mph until we all stopped. I couldn't stop laughing. I can't believe I peddled so fast my feet left the clips. Dork! ps- LOVED not having the resistance preset!

Run - meh. I knew I'd pushed it on the bike. And, I knew how sucky my runs had been. So I knew I'd get no where near the 2.21miles I'd had the first tri. I ended up running 4.5 and 5.5 or 10:54 for the first 10minutes or so. Then 6.0, then 4.0 when I felt like I was tiring at 12:30 or so. Back up to 5.5 or 6.0 ish and then 6.5 or 9:13 pace for the last minute. I definitely could have pushed harder. But I knew I didn't want to have to walk and so I played it conservative. Plus, I'm working tonight and didn't want to fatigue myself too much.

As of 8:15am this morning I became a triathlete again! I left the gym around 9:00 and stopped for donuts (duh!) and got home just in time to see my hubby leave for work. Now I'm all showered up and will be leaving for work at about 2:30 to work till 12am. Wahoo! This week my schedule with work is kinda different cause my hubby's having Lasik eye surgery on Thursday so we'll see what kind of workouts I get in. But I love these indoor tris! Can't wait for the next one. Hopefully I'll be more in shape and ready to really push to beat my first tri's totals!

Boo.

2009-12-11T15:13:00.005-06:00

No race pictures yet! BOOO. Oh well.

So, a few months back my newer running buddy Wende said "I think I'm going to sign up for that indoor tri in December". And I was all, "I've done that before I'll do it again fo' sho'!" Fastforward to a few weeks ago and I register thinking Wende's probably way ahead of me on this. Nope, and she doesn't feel prepared so I think I'm doing this Tri all by my lonesome. And, this is what my training looks like. Yep. Big FAT NOTHING! I've gained weight (which isn't easy for me to do so you know I'm slacking), slowed down, and am SO not prepared to do this "tri". Thank GOD it's a do-what-you-can-type deal with a set your own resistance on the bikes (which is what killed me last time)....I don't really expect to do well. But I will compete and I will not die.

Boy it's really embarrassing to post your log of your workouts when it has nothing on it. So sad right now. Almost makes me want to go to the gym...almost.

Wish me luck peeps.

ps - few hours later and Tiffany met me at the gym to workout. We gabbed, but at least we got moving!

2009-12-07T10:31:00.002-06:00

Hello world.

I'm awaiting pictures from the 5ish K I ran yesterday...We got to the start and it was 22 degrees and they explained that it wasn't really an out and back 5K. We'd be going off the trail to do loops around a park (read big hill up and snaking back down and around x2), back onto the trail to go under a street, then up another big hill and down steps, around a couple baseball fields before getting back to the trail for the last 0.75miles or so. Fun. But it was cold and the ground was frozen which meant the off road stuff was hard. My calves are sore. Tiffany ditched me before the first mile I'm sure. So it was solo, me and the few people at the back of the pack. I was kinda hoping that I would run faster because of the cold. But I just had nothing in me. Nothing. I walked the up hills cause, well I hate hills, and ran comfortably the rest. Didn't have garmie with me cause it would have been tucked under my layers anyways. I was cold, well, my hands were cold but the rest of me was fine. It really wasn't that bad if I had been in shape at all! I finished in about 39minutes and Tiffany's nike + said it was 3.72 but I'm guessing that's an over estimate on distance. I bet it was only 3.2 or 3.3. Felt like 6, but you know, who's counting.

Yesterday I had lunch with a friend and then sewed the rest of the day. Till hubby came home and we made huevos rancheros. Mmmm. Although, hubby forgot to pick up tomatoes, so shhh we substituted salsa. But it was good cause neither one of us are tomato fans so it was just a hint. I realize though that I can't fry an egg. They're supposed to be runny and delicious but mine were cooked through. Oh well. Better luck next time.

I'll post pictures when available, happy monday.

da da da dah!

2009-11-25T18:16:00.002-06:00

I've been running! Twice. Twice since I last posted. No laughing, please. I ran slow, and I only ran 2 miles and walked a little during...but I haven't run in 2 weeks so I think I'm doing well. I gave up on the POTM challenge. There are people that are WAY ahead of me it's embarrassing. But I keep logging my miles just to be accountable. Working tomorrow, 12hr. Hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving.

Later,
Kelly

Well.

2009-11-17T21:50:00.003-06:00

no running lately - but I'm an AUNT!

My sister in law had a beautiful baby boy, Matthew Dean. 6.67 19 1/2inches. And, perfect!

Happy Birthday little guy!

Now this gets the hubby and I thinking, when are we going to give this cutie a cousin? Soon -ish. I'm all about being ready but...it is a BIG change and I think we'll wait a few more months. Plus, I don't really want to be really pregnant during the summer.

But now we're thinking of doing a warm weather vacation before having the chitlins...anyone go anywhere they'd recommend? I started looking at places and of course, Hawaii looks amazing, but Costa Rica looks like it has the best of both, jungle and ocean. Any recommendations?

Finally, check out the hubby and his nephew (our first!) How sweet!

Beer and Bagel 09!

2009-11-08T11:11:00.008-06:00

So, I haven't had any great runs this past week. In fact, Wed's run was awful! One of my worst ever. Poor Tiffany had to ditch me and just keep going. I shouldn't have stayed up till 1:45am and then tried to run earlyish in the morning. I've learned my lesson. Maybe. I'm sure I'll stay up late again before a run. I just have to take them more seriously I guess.

Anyways to my exciting run of the week. Today was the Beer and Bagel Run. It's Tiffany's and I's one year anniversary of running together! We even wore matching socks!

I love how they're kinda old school athletic socks. Sorry about this picture my computer won't let me edit it to rotate it, it says it's read only.

So this run isn't really a race for us. It's just the one off road race with a cool shirt and good post race food. Chili and beer. My beer I gave to hubby and I stuck with chili and water and diet coke. Mmm. Great at 9am. Tiffany dropped me about 0.4miles into the run. The first steep hill. After about 0.75 we came to a standstill. Everyone thought it was a water stop and was getting frustrated till we saw the ravine. There were ropes. That's right, we had to repel down a muddy steep incline, run across muddy water and pull ourselves back up with another rope. There were guys helping and cheering on and near the top of the uphill I hear "Come on polka dots let's go!"
I wish there was another point like this in the race. So fun! Maybe I should do the living history farms race? Some day. Some day. Our ravine wasn't that wet but it was still fun.

Ann found me just before that spot and we ran/walked the rest of the way together. Here's a few of us finishing up the race:

This is me making my breakaway. Look out!

I'm so fast my hair is blurry!
Ann's so fast she's blurry!

Here's all three of us after getting our bagels and water:

Showing off the aftermath of the run:

Being goofy and eating chili:
(Sexy I know)

One last shot of the outfit, after I put pants on under my skirt:

Again, sad day that I can't get the picture to rotate! And, ps, I made that bag this week.

So, as you can see this race I sported: knee high socks, new running skirt from Lucy, under armor long sleeve, red tank top (to match the socks) and a polka dot headband. Thank you Lucy for having built in shorts! I'm still pretty sure that this skirt did give quite the show up and down those hills! Yikes! Meh, I was cute though! That's all that counts.

Speaking of cute, Tiffany and I are thinking of doing the egg nog jog 5k and they encourage costumes. So, I think we're going to get these. How cute would it be to be "mis matching" Christmas-y socks? I think I might want to make little aprons to wear, and jingle bells, and headbands or santa caps....oh how fun!

I can't wait for the beer and bagel run next year! This race is so much fun and you should totally come out and do it next year if you're around, bloggy people!

so far, so good.

2009-11-02T14:57:00.002-06:00

I think I may say this at the beginning of every week, but I'm hopeful. Hopeful that I can get some good miles in this week. Started Sunday off with beautiful weather! And, great running friends. Wende and Molly and I headed out on a small out and back trail that was covered with leaves. Gorgeous. We stopped for a few minutes to try and help one woman find a lost car key, no luck. We knew someone had mentioned a patron putting they key up on a rock in the middle of the trail, but when the woman went near the rock, someone else coming the other direction got to it first and kicked it! Yikes. So it was lost on the side of the trail in the leaves, if someone didn't pick it up already. Hope she found it. We did just over at 5k in about 37:00, not too fast but it was a nice, slow, chatty run.

Today I hit the gym with Tiffany, who I hadn't worked out with in for ever! I wasn't feeling the treadmill run after running outside yesterday so I broke it up:

1 mile: 10:54
3/4 mile: 9:40
1/2 mile: 9:13
1/4 mile: 8:54

Sped it up. I think I read, somewhere, that this is one of those 1600, 1200, 800, 400, 200 workouts. But I guess I calculated wrong and didn't actually do a 200, would that have been 1/8 or 0.125miles? I still don't know the track math yet! I wasn't a cross country runner. I took 30-90seconds in between each section to walk and recover. This was fun. Challenging but with the breaks it was doable. I'm looking forward to maybe getting an evening run in with Wende tonight, as she had to work today and doesn't go to our gym so wouldn't have been able to join us anyways.

Happy Monday. Hopefully I'll be posting soon with more workouts!

2009-10-27T11:32:00.002-05:00

So hi there. How easy is it NOT to workout? Very easy!

I should have worked out yesterday before work, but had guests over till 1:15am the night before and Tiffany's son was home sick so I didn't have her to motivate me...So no running. Today, got home from work at 12:30ish and went bed around 1:15 again, work up late and haven't worked out yet...This is NOT a good start to the week. Why does it sometimes feel like so much work to get dressed and get to the gym? It shouldn't be... Maybe I can sneak a run around the block if nothing else. I really want to start averaging about 15miles/week and haven't even come close to that lately.

Going over to a friend's house for dinner tonight. I'm making Danielle's brussel sprouts with apples and bacon...hope it's as good as it looked in her pictures!

Okay, off to see if I can plan a run today. Happy Tuesday! Hope you all are more motivated, on schedule, than I am today!

PS- I did get a good 4mile run in on Sunday with Wende and Ann. Thanks ladies! That was very fun. Great fall colors out there. And, not the best time ever pace-wise, so I'm not even going to post that...

Non Running Related.

2009-10-24T17:22:00.004-05:00

I love yo' face!

Happy Birthday to my hubby.

Check out his birthday treats!

Currently in love with cupcakes thanks to: Hello Cupcake

2009-10-18T14:16:00.002-05:00

Holy no posting batman!

Well, here's how I've been. I went to KC to get my heart checked out by my "family cardiologist". My mom died of a fatal arrhythmia at 53 and since then her sisters both have had defibrillators placed with one having a pacer and her brother's also seen this cardiologist. So, after having a lack of communication with my cardiologist I went down there. So far, so good. No arrhythmia's that they could identify and my heart doesn't have much permanent damage to it that's causing any really concern. Yay. Still sinking in that I'm okay since I've lived for four years thinking that I had heart damage and a low EF. So no running earlier this week while I was out of town.

So that's all fine and boring.

Back to the running! I read Denise's post on Friday and thought, surely I can get to the gym and run for a little while. I did 60minutes with 5.3miles. Yay. Great run! Only walked a few times and did all my running at 6.0 or 6.2 which is 10min or 9:40min/mi pace! (No incline though, I'm not that crazy!) Today I did 4.4 with Ann around Lake Z in 53minutes, a slow 12min/mi pace. But it felt good to get out and move. The weather today is going to be beautiful. Too bad I'm headed into work.

Hope everyone had a great weekend, I'm looking forward to another run tomorrow.

Shredded.

2009-10-05T10:58:00.004-05:00

That's right, last Friday in my non-shopping trip to target where I found myself another new tanktop (Imagine this with blue and purple stripes on it, couldn't find the exact picture...but these tanktops are my fave. Just long enough and such cute patterns and colors.)...I found myself Jillian Michael's 30day shred.

-I just did level 1. It took the 20minutes it told me it would and I liked how it was broken up. For those of you who haven't gotten Shred, it's 3minutes of strength, 2minutes cardio, 1minute abs, repeat. So the strength, I think I may have the weakest arms ever. She had me do squats while raising 3lb weights up to my eyes...my shoulders were killing me. And, since when are jumping jacks a warm up? I think those should have counted towards my cardio. Pretty sure I heard her say for motivation, "We don't stop once we've crossed the finish line!". And I said aloud to my tv, "Um, ... yes, yes I do. That's why it's a finish line".

-I like the workout, now if I stick with it, I'll be comparing my progress to my running buddy Tiffany's progress with P90X. That's right, Tiffany, it's on! Jillian vs P90X. I believe in Jillian. Let's do this!

-For those of you who have worked out with this dvd before, when did you move onto levels 2 and 3? Did you mix it up right away? Do you all think I can skip the days I work 12hrs, cause I'm gonna be tired, or do you think this is a program you're supposed to do 30days straight?

Off to get the fixings for company pot roast from Ina Garten I saw last week. Mmmm.

2009-10-04T13:54:00.005-05:00

Race for the cure! So, I didn't PR like I'd been bragging about all week. That's what I get for bragging. But, I did have fun. Until this happened:

So, not an attractive picture but I was wearing a headband the entire time I ran and then my hair did that. Moving on.

So this was about 3/4 of the way through. I knew we had about a 1/2mile to go but we'd started out fast. I thought, foolishly, that if we walked between two light poles and then started running again we'd go really fast and get our under 30min super goal (again, Kelly, it doesn't pay to walk during a RACE, that's why they call them RACES). Well, we pulled off to the sidewalk and walked and then while I was trying to step off the sidewalk and back into the running traffic, I hit some dirt/gravel wrong and biffed. I have scrapes on my thumb, wrist, elbow, and knee. Everybody saw. Everybody said "OH my gosh, are you okay?!"...so I KNOW I looked stupid. To make matters worse, some guy says "Hey Kelly, are you okay? Was that you who fell? I was planning on walking now anyways, let's walk together". Well that guy is a physician I work with. Nice. Nice man, very nice but I was ready to run again and was so embarrassed. We walked until I said "Let's run again" and he'd found another physician to talk with so they pulled ahead (darn tall people and their long legs which make their 'slow pace' so darn fast!). I think I crossed the finish line about 31:12 for 10:04AP according to Garmie (which I didn't forget this time!). (I think I'm a fan of ()) Sorry if this bothers you.

We (Ann and I who ran together) met up with Wende and Amy who also ran. Surprisingly we found them in the 15,000+ that were there. We proceeded to raid the giveaway tables that were still around, and I think I've eaten my weight in Maggie's Gourmet Popcorn - they couldn't give that stuff away fast enough!

We also got the greatest post-race picture EVA! Check it out...

You all can be jealous. I know I know. I think they were maybe Stormtroopers for the Cure? Who knows, they rock though.

2009-09-28T00:28:00.002-05:00

Hello hello!

Well I ran well, and finished without walking! Which was my overall goal, secretly. We didn't hit the 1hour mark, but really, that would have been pushing it!

Felt great the first mile, you know, you get swept up in the race it feels wonderful. Didn't go out too fast because the first 1.5miles was the biggest hill in the course, so that helped a lot. My right inside ankle started hurting about mile 2, not too bad, but enough to be noticed. Mile 3-5 I kept thinking I could probably walk and Tiffany would say "we're not walking!". And, actually, the miles flew by! I didn't have Garmie with me, in my pre race half-asleep-ness I forgot it so we were running by feeling and Tiffany's heart rate monitor watch alone. Which was actually good, I couldn't look at my pace all the time and freak out. Tiffany dropped me at about 5.5miles maybe 6miles in and sped up to her finish. I coughed at one point at mile six, and almost vomited. I actually had put my hand to my mouth thinking I was going to, scary!

Crossed the finish line in 1:07 which was faster than I was expecting. Official time is 1:05:46 with a 10:35AP. Didn't walk a single step. Wonderful. I could see myself really liking this distance!

Oh boy, late for work...working the evening shift tonight. Will run about 4miles tomorrow with Tiffany. Happy Monday!

2009-09-26T19:20:00.002-05:00

Hello! I'm gearing up for my first 10K tomorrow! Yay!

-Tiffany thinks we'll be able to hit the 60min mark. We'll see. The course seems to follow the race for the cure coarse which I've PR'd in the 5k at everytime I've run it. The last was 30:36...so AH! I'll survive, I'm sure.

-I cut of a hunk of finger on Tuesday, actually had to take Thursday off work (had Wed off work to begin with)...maybe that'll make me more aerodynamic?

-I got a Goodwill find on Monday! A bubblegum pink Riccar 3500 sewing machine. Still working out the kinks and figuring out how to work it...I think it leads my fabric to the left, so it's hard to keep my 1/4inch seam allowance. Anyone who can help me, please leave suggestions. I tried adjusting the pressure, or my sewing machine guy did with a wrench and leather and couldn't budge it so I think if that were looser it would work better.

Talk to you all tomorrow, I'm off for some bbq and settler's*!

*settler's is Settler's of Catan...greatest game ev-a and I've never come close to winning!

Phew.

2009-09-21T23:06:00.003-05:00

Just when I was thinking "I need a few good solid runs to make me feel better" I got them!

Did a GREAT 7.1miles on Sunday. That's right, 7.1 with my girls and we only really walked 0.5miles. So we definitely ran a 10K, that's the confidence booster I needed. I really feel like this Sunday is going to go great! We did the whole Lake this time and I really felt hard core again, I felt like I could have kept going you know? Yeah!

Splits: (don't laugh, I know we're slow!)

12:00
12:34
12:20
11:16 (ran at 8:50 pace the last 0.25mile to get under 12:00 for my last mile)
17:04 (walked the first 0.5mile of this for a breather)
13:03
12:05
Last 0.1 1:04

Tada! So, this bothers me a little. I feel like since I'm still so slow that I have to carve out a LONG time for me to accomplish any sort of distance. Does anyone else feel frustrated when, (no joke) Wende's boyfriend went out for a quick 1/2hour and covered 5miles while it took us girls 1:31 to travel 7.1?! Tell me some day I'll be speedy. Maybe not 5miles in 1/2hr speedy but maybe 9min/mile average speedy... I can dream.

Today I went to the gym for the first time in weeks. It was as follows:
1) Step on treadmill
2) Set incline to 0. That's right, no incline. Chickened out.
3) Run a 6mile/hr or 10minute mile (with the warm up it was 10:10)
4) Pause treadmill to "stretch" or take a one minute rest break...either way.
5) Run the second mile in 9:30 to try to get my two miles in under 20min.
6) Take a paused rest break to catch breath
7) Attempt a third mile...10:00 ish again.
8) Stop the treadmill at 29:57 having gone...wait for it...3.05 miles!!!

YAY! I know there was no incline, but I really felt like I was flying! Crazy fast. I would run at 6.0 for my "slow" then venture up to 8:00min/mile pace for a few...really no walking that I remember, maybe cause I have selective memory today for only the good stuff about my running recently.

For those of you looking for deals, you may want to check out your local Target. I found some pretty cute running tops Who doesn't need that? And, it was half that price! I found three I loved. And of course, couldn't live without.

Happy Monday!

This.

2009-09-16T11:21:00.007-05:00

This. Isn't. Pretty.

This is why I'm slow. This is why I have no endurance. This is why I need to give myself a break. This scar probably isn't going to get any prettier. Just thought I'd show you cause I know you're curious. Weird internets people. :D

Just kidding.

But I went for a "run" today or my excuse for a run and it wasn't good. So I wasn't going to run at all today cause I'd be working 12. But our census must be low again because one minute before my alarm went off I got a call from "staffing" saying I was called off work from 7-11. Be ready to go at 11am if I don't hear from them first. Got out the door at 9:45 after majorly oversleeping and then watching the iron man I'd taped last night. Back by 10:15. 29:00 run, after the first 6 of which I had to walk. What's with me? Is it the heat? This lack of any endurance is pathetic. I know before I started running 2 years ago I wasn't an athlete. I couldn't dream of running a mile. But up until March or so of this year I thought I was in pretty good shape. Then my body started acting up and I didn't feel well until 6weeks postop. When will I start being more active? More able to hold any semblance (is that the right word? spellcheck changed it for me...) of a pace? I'm just bummed out. I feel like I try and just give up mentally before I hit the 1/2mile mark. How do you get over that initial first "few miles" or in my case minutes of a run? I know I'll feel better after I run. And I'll only regret not going for a run rather than getting out there. I need a few good runs to get me motivated again. That's all I'm asking for. Why is that so much to ask?

Enough of this. I know that I'm slow and I'm going to live with it. At least I'm moving and mobile. Right? It could always be worse.

I tried to get 6miles in on Sunday but Wende and I started at 12:15 and it was HOT. We ran the first 3 miles hard (for us) and ended up walking most of the last three. She started getting dizzy and tunnel vision, so we called it quits at 5.8. 1:26:and change.

Ran 3miles on Monday (speedwork) with Tiffany. This time we did 0.25mile sprints with 0.25miles break inbetween. And Garmie worked! I set it for an interval work out and followed along...I love that the beeps count you down to your finish. My splits were these: 2:12, (4:40), 2:06, (4:39), 2:32, (4:38), 2:18, (4:39), 2:16, (4:16), 2:09, (4:49). Boy we're consistently timed walkers. I think I may have been able to go faster if I'd known my pace. When I clicked out of the garmie's screen to see my pace it flashed my heartrate and then back to the screen where it was timing my intervals. No pace to be found. I guess that's good cause I was able to just "run normal" or naturally speedy. Ha.

Then today's run, no run on Tuesday cause I chickened out. Probably because of my string of bad luck.

On a lighter note, here's me and my adorable hubby stalking a bird at the jungle exhibit of our zoo.

This was last Wed on our anniversary.

Happy Wednesday. Time to get out of this chair and do some cleaning with my "day off".

2009-09-08T14:11:00.004-05:00

So, another weekend, another 5K. :D

Go me. Eh, it keeps me motivated. This one was with Wende and her sister in law Sus. I dropped them at the beginning, sorry girls. Wende's sister in law caught up to me and beat me in the end though. I was only one minute (exactly 31:36) off my PR! I couldn't believe it. I also had fun at the end:

This 5K followed a 6.45mile training run on Sunday with Wende. We may or may not have gotten bored/tired and turned the last 3 miles into intervals. Those were fun! We did 0.25mile intervals. My splits were:

2:03
1:53
2:06

I have no idea if that's fast or not I haven't been at this "speed" thing too long. But I had fun going all out for 0.25miles. So much easier than the 1mile intervals Tiffany and I ran last Monday.

Did two runs today. Morning with Tiffany, more of a walk/jog than a run with a hard wind to run into. AP 13:00/mile...let's just not talk about that one! :D Evening quick run around the block with Ann 1.77miles. Little just to get out moving.

Hoping for a quick run tomorrow before my 3 year anniversary. I have no idea what the hubs and I are doing but I'm sure it'll be nice.

Love you honey!

Happy 200th post to me!

2009-09-01T17:47:00.006-05:00

Hi all!

So...lots to report.

Saturday I had a great 5K with Ann.

It was the Ted E. Bear Hallow run, which is an organization that provides resources to grieving children. Great cause. I also donated and bought a "flag" along the route in honor of my mom. So that was a great motivator.
I actually stopped and picked it up off the side of the course on the trip back and ran with my mom the last few 100 yards. Special.

We finished in 33:36 which, if you follow me, you'll know was about 5minutes faster than our first 5K together. So yay for that. However, Garmie only counted 3.01 miles, so it may not have been "officially" a 5K. But meh, we had fun.

The post race food was awesome. The 5K was sponsored and took off from an Outback so I had Outback food at 9:15 following the race. Great way to start my morning!

Sunday we all (Tiffany, Wende, Ann and I) headed out for our first 5mile run together. Tiffany ditched us at mile 2 to go faster. Wende and I pulled away from Ann (sorry Ann) around mile 4ish just cause we wanted to try to keep going at our pace. Felt great. Walked...twice maybe? So fun. 5.22mi/1:04:58/12:26AP

Monday Tiffany and I went out for speed. We also threw in some strength during the workout which is why, I think, my left calf is sore today. But we ran 2.95mi/31:24/10:37AP - BUT that includes a 0.25mile walk to recover from the first mile. Without that...let's see...I think we did 2.70 in about 26:24 which is 9 something/mile. Anyways it was fast. Our fastest pace was 7:33 and we were flying. One of those workouts where you can't even talk...yeah.

Today I did 4miles on my own. 4.11mi/45:09/10:58AP - calves, especially left, felt super tight. I walked a lot of the up hills. I ventured further into our subdivision than I normally go and it ended up being really hilly. But I was thrilled when I managed an under 11min pace with all the walking. According to Garmie, my fastest pace was 8:39 (pretty sure that was on a downhill somewhere!) I tried to hit the "lap" button at each mile and I think my splits were:

Mile 1: 10:51 (AP 10:52 Max pace: 9:17)
Mile 2: 11:49 (AP 11:30 Max pace: 9:20)
Mile 3: 11:14 (AP 11:33 Max pace: 8:39)
Mile 4: 11:13 (AP 10:03 Max pace: 8:57)

Seriously, how did I ever live without my Garmie?! This baby rocks! It even told me calories/mile and AHR and stuff...per mile! Sweet!

Tomorrow's a 12, so I'll be back on the road Thursday for a quick 2-3miles. Hope everyone has a good middle of the week!

2009-08-27T23:29:00.003-05:00

So, this picture is officially my background on my computer. I love that it was my first two mile race since the surgery. And I love that I was laughing so hard and so excited to have crossed the finish line. Yay. It just makes me happy. And, I think it's artsy cause of the way I'm barely in the picture and the time is kind of highlighted... okay well, I can't get the picture to save, so I'll link it. - I tried my link, didn't work. If you're curious, cause I know you are! Go to "view album" then, the pictures 161-176. My favorite picture is 164, the last on the first row. But checkout the picture before it to see how I totally ruined Wende's finsher's photo. I'm such a tool. No more arms up!

I had a great run last night. After at 12hr shift. That's right. I was feeling unusually energetic after work and I got out and ran before the sun went down. I ran at a 10:30 pace and I felt great. I felt like I was flying. Very very cool.

I have that 5K coming up this weekend, so hopefully that'll go well. It's just Ann and I, hopefully we can beat our time from our last 5K, but I think it'll be crowded so we'll see.

Other workouts since I last posted:

Saturday: 2.38mi/27:19/11:28AP

Sunday: 4.11mi/49:40/12:05AP - Sunday morning long run. This was Ann's first time attempting 4miles. I actually had to walk twice somewhere after three miles. I had some GI issues the first time and the second was an uphill. I must have been fatigued because my heartrate was creeping up there and I was worn out! Ew.

Monday, didn't feel well, break.

Tuesday: 2.25mi/28:31/12:40AP (with Tiffany, nice slow run just to catch up...neither of us were really feeling it - obviously, checkout our pace!)

Wednesday: 2.15mi/24:41/11:28AP - run out around the block.

Thursday: 1.66mi/17:29/10:31AP - FANTASTIC quick little run! Yay!

Let you all know what happens tomorrow.

Peace.

hi there.

2009-08-21T14:39:00.005-05:00

Well folks. I've been waiting for the race I ran on Saturday to post some pictures I thought were taken of me and my racing friends. But alas, none are posted. Bummer. So here's one taken from Wende's camera phone:

That's Wende, Amy, me and Ann.

Notice the awesome XXXL shirt I'm wearing? The one that makes me look like I have chicken legs? They ran out of sizes or something so I picked that one up out of a pile of left overs. And, it was freezing so I wore it post race. Sexy, I know.

The race went well! It was a downpour right before the race. Cold, wet, icky. They talked of postponing it, but when we got some sunshine for the next 1 1/2hr in the forecast we ran it. Ann ran her first full (by full, I mean without stopping!) 5K!!!! I ran it with her and we finished around 38:50ish. So everyone congratulate her! (I'll pass it along) I was tired at the end of the race but not too bad at all! Can't wait for the next 5K next weekend.

I don't know if I've told everyone, but I'm trying to train for a 10K at the end of September. I don't know how it'll go and I'm not registered yet. But hopefully it'll be good. I think this'll be the first time I'm actually registered for a real in person 10K. I think I'll be really nervous. I did Phedip's 10K last year and kinda cheated my way through on the treadmill. I had to do some stopping and starting and kinda did the math in my head when I thought I was done. I should really erase my "PR" for the 10K. I think I will. Fresh start.

I've been running/walking recently. No swimming this week though.

Saturday was the race: 5K/38:50/12:29AP

Sunday: 2.3mi/32:30/14:07AP. Tried to do a "quick 2miles" with Ann. Ended up with LOTS of walking cause we were going much faster during our running time. 9:30-10:20AP when running. Which, don't laugh, is speedy for us.

Monday the 17th I was back with my official running buddy/partner Tiffany! You all remember her, right? Well, she kicked my butt with some strength training. I ran a 10minute "high intensity" cardio on the TM in between. Also followed by a very uncoordinated 5minutes on the elliptical. I looked like a huge spaz. Let me tell you! It was not pretty!

Tuesday I ran with Ann. Had a good solid 3miles at a 12:10AP. Felt so good!

Wed I worked 12hr, no running.

Thursday I over slept and went to meet Tiffany at the gym. Did the TM for 16:00 for 1.44miles/11:06AP. (While she was finishing up her 40minutes, I'm such a slacker!) Felt awful! Had to stop at 6:00 cause a) Tiffany's had me on this 2.0 incline business that I'm NOT used too and b) I'm out of shape. So I got home, grumpy and went for a nice run outside around the block. 1.27miles/14:49/11:40AP. Not great time but it felt good to run more than 1.44miles that day!

Hope everyone has a great weekend. I'm looking forward to maybe 4miles on Sunday to keep up with my 10K plan. We'll see. I'm sure I'll be updating you guys.

Okay - Update. Just did 4.4 miles/53:50ish/12:06AP. Whoot whoo!

And, Cross Country Squared has a giveaway. Check it out! Fun times. Now I'm jealous I'm not doing the triathlon next weekend. Oh well, 5k it is. Maybe next year...

2009-08-11T23:20:00.001-05:00

Swim early this morning, a good 1050 yards. Swam most of the way. Tried to do some flip turns when I saw the girl next to them do them. I tried to copy her, here's how it went down:

Step 1: stop a few feet before the end of the lane
Step 2: plug nose with one arm while jumping off the bottom of the pool with both feet (which were now firmly planted on the ground)
Step 3: somersault
Step 4: try not to drown while frantically finding the wall with both feet
Step 5: emerge from water flailing trying to push off and let go of plugged nose

It was so graceful. I'm totally the next Michael Phelps. Totally.

Tried three times before giving up. I know it'll take practice but I just wanted to swim without drowning.

Ran 2miles at the gym this afternoon, in about 21minutes. Not bad. The gym though, was boiling! SO hot! Last time I wear a tee shirt tee shirt instead of a sleeveless something.

Happy Tuesday!

Alright

2009-08-10T15:48:00.001-05:00

Folks. It's been over a week inbetween running stints. I ran that Lake Wehrspann race in just under 22minutes last Sunday (no walk breaks!). That was following a straight (no walk break) 2miler the day before. I was on a roll. Then a week of blah. I was not enjoying the things I normally enjoy last week, quilting, running, swimming, sitting out at the pool...just blah. No emotion. I know everyone gets down but it's so overwhelming when you do, you know?

I turned a corner Friday and went to my sister in law's baby shower Saturday. And, I got out for a run today. Just around the block, nothing fancy. Thinking about going to see Julie and Julia today by myself. I am 27, and I have never seen a movie by myself...so this should be an adventure.

I know you all have missed me and my boring data (since we last talked):

Sunday 26th: 1000yd swim/27:00/2:42/100yds
Run immediately following swim: 4.16/59:29/14:17AP (around Lake Z with the girls)

Monday 27th: 3.02/32:00/10:35AP (TM)

Tuesday 28th: 1.49miles/17:48/12:01AP (out around the block)

Wednesday 29th: 2.00/20:30/10:15AP (this must have been on the TM)

Saturday before the race: 2.11miles/25:18/11:59AP

Race day: 2.00miles/21:59/10:59AP

And finally today, 1.22miles/13:06/10:44AP - it's a start, right?

Here's to a relaxin Monday to all you guys. I'm back to work Thursday for a couple 12s in a row. I think I'll try blogging more frequently, that seems to keep me motivated. So, you're stuck with me for a little while.

2009-07-24T17:09:00.002-05:00

I'm trying this "only blog once a week thing" so you don't get too sick of me.

I went for my run on Sunday with Ann and Wende. Which was a lot of fun, despite the crash. Before this run, Ann and I met up at my gym and did some friendly laps. I did about 550yds in about 20min. It's hard swimming with someone who doesn't normally swim, I feel bad leaving them in the dust. But not too bad! :D

Back to the crash. We were running on a crowded (relatively) cement trail which has a lot of twists and turns. Well we were running three across, with me on the inside, Wende and then Ann. A bike rounded a turn going very fast, and yelled something like "Will you give me some room?!" and swerved towards Ann. A few seconds later, while trying to navigate his second turn he crashed. Yelling "Didn't you see me coming? Give me some room you dumb B*tch!". Ann said "A little warning would have been nice" or something along those lines in response. But I think it may have been mostly his fault, we all agreed he was riding WAY too fast for that trail. And he probably would have crashed anyways around that second tight turn. We never saw him again even though we ran in a big circle. I think he was taking that half of the lake as a shortcut to another street. I don't think there was any need for that kind of language on his part. Very rude, and upsetting.

Monday I worked out again and then took Tuesday off because I had gone back to work on Monday night and my legs were aching! Wednesday I worked 12, and surprise surprise, my hubby and I had Thursday off together and didn't work out. Doesn't that sound familiar? I did the loop around my block today for a total of 2.33 miles in 29:13. So I'm steadily improving.

Sunday:
Swim: 550 yds 20:00 3:38/100yds (slower cause I was swimming with someone new)
Run: 4.18/1:01 14:38/mile

Monday:
Run: 1.76/19:50 11:16/mile (inside on the treadmill)

Friday:
Run: 2.33/29:13 12:32/mile

Definitely some improvement on time when I was indoors. Probably that there wasn't any incline.

Now onto problems. I'm having a hard time getting Garmie to sync with my ANT stick. When I click on the Garmin ANT Agent logo I get this: "USB ANT(tm) stick: Not Active. No Device". And my runs won't sync. I try unplugging the stick and replugging it back in and sometimes it works. Sometimes it syncs and transfers but doesn't show up on my activities on my Garmin Connect website. The last three times I haven't been able to connect at all. Any suggestions?

2009-07-18T11:38:00.003-05:00

8.5miles for the week...not too bad, right?

I'm pretty psyched about it actually. I went for another run this morning with a new running buddy (sorry Tiffany). Wende is a girlfriend of an acquaintance/facebook friend. She was very nice about walking with me and keeping it slow and mellow. By slow I mean we did 2.53miles in 33:08. Yeah. Slow.

We made another "date" for tomorrow with another friend who is new to running. Hopefully Wende doesn't mind another slow run.

This recuperating thing is annoying. I want to be back where I was where a mile was nothing, now 1/2 a mile at once is a struggle. Oh well, I'll get there.

Thinking about a swim sometime this weekend too. Happy weekend everyone!

2009-07-17T09:29:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I decided to take a break from running cause I don't want to over do it. And, I swam. Yep, I'm just diving back into all this (sorry about the pun). I did 15 laps and really felt tired around 11 but pushed through to 15. It felt great to stretch with each stroke, I felt like my arms and abs and whole body really got a workout. I got out of the pool and my inner thighs hurt...oh yeah. I'll get my body back! Just watch, or don't that's creepy. But I'll feel so much better when I'm toned back up. I feel like such a slob!

I talked to one of my doctors about PT for the abs, and he frowned and said "why? You're a healthy young woman, you shouldn't need it". So, I guess I'm not PT'ing my abs. It's a vertical midline incision and cut through the abdominal muscles so hopefully it'll just start to heal up nice. The sit ups I did Tuesday and Wednesday we're horrible so I think I'll be fine.

I'm getting ready to try another run around my block, maybe two miles? This time I can't forget my heart rate monitor! That would be a good thing. I don't want to die out there.

Look what I just registered for:
Amanda's gear giveaway I love run to the finish's giveaways, and she's such a cool person. Check out her blog anyways.

Another day, another run.

2009-07-15T12:04:00.002-05:00

Look at me, all sporty and what not again! I knew it'd happen.

Well, as sporty as attempting to run a whole 1/2mile at once can be.

Today's stats: 1.88miles in 23:26. So, I must have ran more today than yesterday. Cause hubby didn't go with me and I could go at my own pace. I was less tired. I want to get over to the pool for a swim, but that could be pushing it and I think we're going to see Transformers 2 today. So I may run out of time.

I'm trying to develop better running habits with respects to what I do after my run. I allowed myself a little walk cool down, after kicking the hill to my house's a%&. Yesterday I wussed out on it. Today, listening to my ipod, I ran the whole way up to the house! Little goals, right? I also yesterday and today turned one yoga for distance runners and stretched and did 100 situps. Yesterday I also added on 30 girlie pushups in sets of 5. Today my arms were pretty sore just pumping while I ran so I didn't push it today. I did my situps really slow and today did 25 bridges really slow. If it hurts, even a little bit, I stop. Running buddy says I need to check into some physical therapy for my abdominal muscles. What do you all think? I think it maybe more money and what not...I'm debating.

I took some time with my violets today and repotted a bunch of my plants. I used to swear by these african violet pots, and I think they in the end, didn't allow as much water to be absorbed into the plants as the plain, cheap plastic ones with the holes in the bottom that the plants come in. So I've converted everyone back to those and, I had stolen leaves from some of my dad's african violets at home and just put those in soil after rooting them. Everyone's taking a drink and african violet food in my sink right now. I also yesterday decided I needed this flame violet (well not this specific one, but it looks pretty similar). Which sounds really cool, but I'm not sure how to take care of it. Anyone have any experience?

Hope everyone had a good day today.

I'm BAAAACK!

2009-07-14T18:19:00.004-05:00

Yes. That's right, my doctor cleared me for running and other such activities as long as I don't lift more than 40 pounds for the next month. Which, won't be a problem.

I couldn't wait for my running buddy. Scratch that, I was too nervous to run with her cause I knew this first time would be mostly walking...I would be embarrassed. So I ran with my hubby, 1.63 miles in 21:52. Not a PR my any means but it's definitely a start!!!!

So, can I just say for a moment, that my husband does not run. But he kicked my a%$ today. He was just jogging along at 9:00 pace "Trying to slow down" but it was hard for him to go much slower because of his "longer stride". Ugh.

But, it's a start and I can't wait for tomorrow to try to run more during my run than I did today. There was a lot of walking involved. I think it may have been because a) I haven't run in over 7 weeks and b) Brian was running faster than I'm used to when I'm in shape let alone now.

Maybe my running buddy will have time to squeeze in a run before her vaca... maybe?

:D

Get ready for more posting about running people, this is going to happen.

2009-07-08T10:40:00.004-05:00

Hello hello. Spent a great 4th at home. Lots of my mom's family which was great. So glad we went.

Did a 1.6mile walk around the block yesterday and if it stops raining I may just do the same today. I think it may have taken me over an hour. But I was reading a book while I walked and enjoying the sunshine.

My dad's quilt a failure, I put together a top and backing I'd had lying around that I hadn't quilted yet and he loved it. Too small for his double bed but I think he was using it when I left his house. I'm busy working on my mystery quilt. I have no idea what it looks like in the end, I just picked out contrasting fabric and my quilt shop puts out "clues" every two weeks that tell you what to do. This week I made 80 square patches and 80 hourglass patches. Can't wait to see the final thing. Next clue comes out Saturday!

I'm taking a long stitch (okay that's not my image but it's too cute!) class tomorrow night and a machine quilting class on Sunday. The long stitch I'm pretty excited about it's like cross stitch without the cross technique.

I've tried taking pictures of my projects but the lighting in my house really doesn't do the colors justice. I'll try to take the projects outside for a photo op when it's not so wet outside.

Can't wait until I can tone up again. I have a feeling I will be starting from scratch, preparing myself not to be able to run a mile without stopping. But it'll be okay. It will. I can get back to my 10miles, I know it. I have to believe!

Later
Kelly

PS - So I just updated my "running totals" in the side bar. I can't believe that I got 23miles in May. I thought I'd felt awful! That's what running one 1/2 will do to your total though!

2009-07-01T09:38:00.003-05:00

Hello blog world! I've been doing well this past week or so, thanks for asking. Continuing to feel better. Laughing has been better so the hubby and I went to see the Hangover. Pretty funny. Going to Chicago today to be with the fam on the 4th. Quilting tons. Had a quilt fail the last few days that gave me a headache, I don't think I'm ready for triangles yet. So yesterday I spent the day quilting a top that I already had made for my dad. I'll spend the trip to Chicago binding it.

So, running buddies, how boring is it talking about quilting? I have such old lady hobbies! I now try to go for a slow walk around the block every day for the last three days. SLOW. I may talk Garmie out one of these days but it'll be embarrassing.

Happy 4th everyone!

2009-06-16T00:32:00.002-05:00

Hello world.

Still recovering. Got the catheter out today finally! I feel like a new woman...with a new bladder. Working fine so far. Other than I have to go a little more often than usual but it's smaller so I'm not surprised. Go back to check up on the incision with the ob/gyn doctor tomorrow. Fun times

So. I think I'm not going to train for Chicago. By the time they'll clear me for running at the end of July, I'll basically have a week to get back to it then 8 weeks to train for a marathon. I have to realize that that's not really feasible. I just can't ask my body to do that. Can I sell my non-refundable entry? Do I walk a marathon? Do I contact the Chicago Marathon people and explain the situation? How does this work? Any help would be appreciated.

In boredom news, I'm back to light light housework without much stair climbing. No vacuming yet. Working on a new quilt. And playing Valkeria Chronicles.

2009-06-07T17:41:00.002-05:00

So hi. Back home, at my computer. Trying to get caught up on blogs and what not. It's amazing how many of you post on a consistent basis. I'm gone for 5 days and I have 8billion to read. Not that I'm complaining.

So I went into have my laproscopic ovarian cyst removal. And the Dr ran into a congeital abnormality and called in a general surgeon and a urologist to asssist. Apparently they dropped everything at their offices to rush to operate on me cause I was lying open on the table. They did a partial cycstectomy (removed some of my bladder) and a partial small bowel resection along with my ovarian cyst removal. On a positive note, that cyst removal couldn't have gone better. And, I'm really lucky they found things the way they did. If I had been under the knife in any other abdominal operation, they would have sliced right through my bladder and I would probably be peeing out of bag for the rest of my life. So I'm really actually happy about this. The surgeon appologized for having to cut me open, but I told her there was no need to appologize. I feel very lucky.

Living on pain pills and lots of rest this next week. Hope everyone's doing well. I would post pictures of my staples but who really wants to see that? Hopefully they'll be out on Tuesday. And the catheter out 10 days after surgery. We'll see.

2009-06-06T09:00:00.000-05:00

So, hope this works. I'm trying to use my blackberry to update. Hopefully i'll be home tomorrow. But for now i'm still at the hospital. They had to open my abdomen up due to a congenital abnormality. That means I've lived with this for the past 27 years it just decided to cause problems now. They've said no working or running for the next 6 weeks. I don't know if I'll be able to train for Chicago now. I have a nice incision that goes from the naval down for about 8 inches. I can't get over the fact that they had to open me up. I can't believe I had a major abdominal surgery. I've been up and moving since 545 yesterday. I took about 6 walks. They kept telling me not to over do it. But i'm a nurse. I know what happens to your fitness when you lay in bed for days on end.

I'm really excited, my sister is coming in on Sunday. And some of my aunts have said that they'd come up to see me if I wanted.

Just a quick update. I'll let you all know more when I can get to a computer.

2009-05-28T20:05:00.002-05:00

So. No excersize for a while. I'm scheduled for surgery on Wed. Not solid so it's just draining the thing. The more I think about it, if the cyst is "filling the pelvis" maybe that's why I can't get rid of these dang UTIs? Could need emergency surgery before then but it's highly unlikely cause the cyst is so wedged in there it's not likely to cause a tortion.

I love being a girl.

Frustration.

2009-05-27T17:04:00.002-05:00

So, before I update with the 5miler race report. I have to vent.

You all know I've been having health issues. Frequent UTIs and my CT scan on the 5th showed an abnormal liver, cysts on ovaries and kidneys, pectus excavatum, etc. MRI with the liver was "fine" on the 14th. Went to urologist and girlie doctor yesterday. Need to, but can't have a cysto because the doctor thinks I'd be septic because I'm so dehydrated and my UTI is so severe at this point. Girlie doctor rechecked LFTs (which I just found out are "fine" according to her nurse) and had an ultrasound scheduled because my cyst (that I was just told we'd have to watch and wait) is quadruple the size of my ovary. Not a watch and wait kind of thing. Depending on this ultrasound, if the cyst is the smaller we just watch and keep doing ultrasounds until it's gone. If it's the same size or larger (the doctor could still feel it on physical exam which had me worried) we need to talk surgery to remove it. If it looks on the ultrasound like it's solid, they may need to take my ovary out as well. I'm just frustrated at my PCP cause he made the cysts seem like no big deal, every one gets them. I guess that's why doctors have specialities and I guess that I'm glad I had my girlie doctor appointment this time of the year.

Yeah that's a heck of a lot to absorb in a few short weeks. I'm kind of a mess right now. I'm pushing fluids which I hate and I was chilled and yicky this morning. Thankfully I got a staff reduction today for the whole 12 hours so I was able to reschedule my ultrasound which was this Friday to this morning so I should know more sooner rather than later.

Well. The 5miler was dismal. I finished in 1:02:27. The race itself was fun except to get a parking spot in the vicinity of the race you had to show up at 7:30 for a 9am start. But I had fun cheering on all the 1mile race finishers so that helped pass the time. I walked during the race and had low abdominal pain, surprise surprise. What else is new? Turns out I can't run a mile any more. But when I haven't consistently worked out since...the beginning of April! What do I expect, right? I guess that's what makes me a runner. I'm basically back to square one and I'll have to get my endurance and speed back again sometime. But I'll get out there. Right now I can't go a few minutes without the urge to pee so I guess it's indoors on the treadmill for now. Ugh. I hate this feeling.

I signed up a friend (who's brand new to running) and myself for a 5K at the end of June. And I do need to start a training plan soon. Thanks for the advice people. I think I'll probably do an augmentation of the sports fitness and RW smartcoach.

Later.

kelly

2009-05-23T14:59:00.002-05:00

Did a three mile run this morning. Had to walk, surprise surprise. But I always feel better after I've run. I ran with a new running buddy today, an old college roommate who's going to be training for the Omaha Marathon in Sept. We're both doing the 5mile race on Monday, she's the reason I signed up actually. I was glad to see she wasn't racing ahead of me. I always worry that I'm holding my running buddy's back. She also didn't mind walking when I felt I had to. Again, with the bladder pain today, and I'm constantly the last few days feeling really full. All the time. I have to force myself to eat. If I didn't know any better I'd say I might be pregnant but that's not possible. At least I hope not with the CTs and MRIs I've had recently you think they'd see a baby, right? Ah the worries of being a girl. Be thankful guys.

So, I think it's time I stop dilly-dallying and start picking a training program. I found a few online, Marathon Rookie, I liked the name of the site, sounds less intimidating. Marathon Training, Hal, Sport Fitness Advisor, and First.

They all look pretty legit. Anyone have any suggestions? I'd like to run about 4 or 5 days a week with some swimming cause, well it's summer and I needs me a tan.

Anyone have a plan that worked really well for their first marathon? One where they finished in a time they couldn't even believe?! That would be awesome. I'd like to finish the marathon and maybe beat Katie Holmes and finish in under 5:29:58. We'll see.

Any help would be appreciated.

I'm back.

2009-05-19T18:29:00.014-05:00

So...a lot to update. I'll start with me, cause I know you all were very worried. :D The MRI was negative for problems in the liver. I'm still on antibiotics till I see a urologist next Tuesday. Just switched to a new one today cause I'm still having symptoms with little relief for a few days then back with pain. It's distracting and frustrating!

While I was gone, I went to my sister's graduation in Portland. Here's a few highlights in pictures!

This sign greeted us as we deboarded the plane in Vegas. We thought it was hilarious.

I'm sorry, but me dancing with my grandpa - awesome. He's the best lead.

Like any good big sis, I gave my sister a gift that made us both cry. That's her "talk amongst yourselves" face.

Mags - all graduated. That's me, Maggie, Dad, and Grady. What's left of our family.

We went back to the vineyard we were married at, how romantical.

Best corner in Portland. Hands down.

Us at the Monday Portland Beavers game. Go Beavs!

Visited Multnomah falls.

Yes, I was that tourist.

So, even though he was in one of these "highlight" pictures, the hubby did get sick of pictures. And I wanted to crop my face out of this one cause it was raining off and on this day and my hair was ueber icky. But then you wouldn't have gotten the full effect.

Highlight of the trip - meeting Jen from runningstories! We had a few drinks with her and her husband. Very cool people. Too bad I was too shy to get a run in. And I would have probably been too sore anyways.

----

Ran today with the hubby. Took Garmie out for a run around the block. Turns out, around the block is about 1.21 miles. And, when we weren't walking we held a 9:30ish pace. Go us. Not a bad bunny for someone who never runs, right? He could tell he had pain in his foot though, so no more for a little while.

----

I just signed up for a 5mile memorial day run with my former roomie from college and her sister. Should be fun. Wish me luck!

----

So, in sad news. My baby. Buttercup:

Probably has cancer. Last Thursday, when I had my MRI, Buttercup had an ultrasound. They found a mass in her liver and multiple abdominal lymphnodes that were enlarged. They were able to biopsy the lymphnodes with a FNA and we should maybe have results soon. Now, it's killing me, breaking my heart to see her sick. She's consistantly lost weight the last few months, she's now a meak 7.5 when she's normally a healthy happy 10pounder. She only eats wet food now and we have to bring it to her. Right now she's sleeping behind the open office door behind me.

I'm getting better now that she's eating a little more, and this afternoon I was greeted with a weak meow. I think she developed a sinus infection in her probable immunosupression and is now on antibiotics. She's gotten a few doses so hopefully she'll feel a little better. She sneezed all weekend, and she's not purring. Do you think that purring might be hindered with a sinus infection? I hope it's not cause she's in pain or sad. I don't think we'll put her through chemo. As much as it's crushing, I don't want to prolong a life of someone who doesn't know what's happening, you know? She wouldn't know what the chemo was or that it was going to maybe help her stay with us a little while longer. It just seems (and this is how I have to phrase it now so that I can deal with it, no judgement meant to anyone who's chosen chemo) selfish. I have to think of it that way. Just have to. She is my baby and I do not want her to suffer. And, it's not like it's in one lymphnode, her liver's already comprimised. She'll probably have nausea and vomiting with or without chemo. Tomorrow we're having a friend from work, and now photographer who did our engagement photos come to our house to take our pictures as a family. Just us and the two girls.

So, with that. I have to go finish straightening up for the photo shoot. Have a happy rest of the Tuesday everyone. Glad to be back. I'm getting caught up on blog posts, just not commenting a whole lot. So much reading!

2009-05-05T16:53:00.004-05:00

Got a laundry list of things wrong on my CT from the personal phone call from my doctor a few minutes ago. Never a good sign when the nurse calls you and says "The doctor is going to call you personally when he's done seeing his other patients to talk to you about your scan".

Nothing life threatening, just things that need to be checked out.

I have a theory that most of it stems from being 3 1/2mo premature. With no baseline, who knows?

Update: MRI when I'm back in town on Thursday. This is going to a fun filled few weeks.

2009-05-04T21:45:00.002-05:00

CT scan of abdomen and pelvis. Tomorrow morning, will hopefully know more before I go out of town on Wed.

Wish me luck

1/2 marathon.

2009-05-04T10:35:00.003-05:00

Yup. 13.1 miles. In the books. Count it!

Running buddy and I headed off for Lincoln around 3:15pm yesterday. Checked into our hotel which was pretty nice, full kitchen. It was one of those "suites" hotels where it's like a little studio apartment. So remember how maybe Friday or Sat morning I was all "I feel so much better health wise...". Yeah, not so much. Saturday I felt so bad for running buddy. I was knuckle white from the pain for about 12 hours. I took ibuprofen, urostat, lots of water, anything. I've got a call into my doctor today to talk this over. Thankfully by the evening I was feeling a bit better. Turns out we had missed the expo. So we just picked up our numbers and posed for pictures cause we're dorky like that. Ate some pasta in a tent with other fellow marathoners and 1/2 marathoners. Grabbed ice cream and water and headed back to the car. I marveled at the start line and really started to get nervous. I was going to run a 1/2 marathon! They expected me to be able to run 13.1 miles all at once. Yikes. They must not know me very well. We made our very own expo by stopping by the Lincoln Running Co store and grabbing these cute shirts that say "run lincoln". Which I was excited about cause I wasn't thrilled with my race shirt. Sat night we popped some popcorn, I had some chocolate we watched movies, painted our nails to match our shirts, tried on our new clothes, pinned our numbers, etc.

Went to bed about 10:30 like good girls and woke up at about 5am. Slept really well once I got to sleep. Woke up nauseous, nervous. I get all cold and shivery and nauseous when I'm nervous. Not a good combo when running buddy wants you to eat some breakfast. I ate 2, maybe 3 bites or peanut butter toast, tried to polish off the peanut butter in my little container. Sipped some water. That was about it.

We got to the start line right as they were finishing up the national anthem (had to make a potty stop first). Jumped in the 9:00 pace group. We just wanted to get in line. And we were off, 6minutes to cross the start line. I do this at races, the start, for how exciting it is, mentally I just think "I'm not going to do this without walking, I'm not". Start this mental "it's just so far the finish!" business. So, I looked at my watch 5min in and said "maybe I'll walk every 20minutes, so I can walk in 15minutes". Which is stupid. Running buddy knew that and said "no we're doing great, we should just keep running". But I'd made up my mind and my body knew that and I looked forward to that 20minutes so much. At about 1.5miles or 15min in, my left knee started to hurt. Like that IT band pain I'd been having and that had kept me from running for the last 2-3weeks. Not good. At 3.5miles it side lined me. It was this curl your shoulders jab of a pain that stopped me in my tracks. Poor running buddy ran ahead. During this race, for once in our lives, running buddy and I had nothing to say. Nothing. We caught back up when I could breathe and hobbled my way back to running again. I told her I guess it would be okay for her to go on without me. And like that, no more running buddy. I tried to keep her in my sights but I had decided to walk the downhills cause that also gave my knee pain and I lost her.

I knew that the hubbys and chitlins were waiting about mile 6, so that thought really pushed me again from about 4.5-7.0. That's right, didn't see them till 7 ish. I was sad cause I thought that maybe they had seen Tiffany and then gone back to their cars to leave for the finish. Maybe I really was too slow for them. I was teary eyed and said "I lost Tiffany". Tiffany's husband was so nice he said "She's just 5minutes ahead, not too far ahead of you, don't worry". My husband yelled "Are you okay?" I looked over my shoulder and gave him the so so hand motion. I kept running till maybe 7.2 when I thought I'd stop at some trees and stretch my IT and my quads. Bad idea! My left leg hurt SO bad. Again with the searing pain. I walked to the next water station getting passed along the way. Took my shot block (chocolate of course) and a full cup of water. This was the first time I'd taken a whole cup of water, which maybe why I felt so bad later in the day. But I was too nauseous earlier on to drink any more. I walked off and on till the 10mile mark. When I started saying "I can run 3miles, I can run 3miles". But I couldn't. At mile 11-12 I had to power walk it. I couldn't go two steps without the really bad pain. When I tried, I had some guy step out and say "Are you going to be okay?" I must have showed the pain on my face, a lot. I badly wanted to run past Tiffany and the hubbys to show them I was strong, but no. Power walked it through the growing crowd near the finish. People were yelling "Go Kelly! You've got this finish strong!". I decided when I could see the finish line, that I'd try to run again. And I did. Surprisingly, without that much pain. I nearly sprinted to the end. I was shocked, I shed a few tears.

Along the way there were signs and supporters the entire way. Cried when I saw the sign "Your reason to run is better than anyone else's" or something like that. Without my running buddy, I closed my eyes and I imagined I was running back home towards the lake with my mom. I imagined telling her all about finishing my first half. I won't tell her, and I can't run with her, but ... ack, I don't know where I was going with this and now I'm a mess...

Around miles 11-12 I thought, "Even if I'm walking, I'm still out here doing this". I still signed up and I'm run/walking a 1/2 marathon. Most people I talk to who aren't runners can't imagine running a mile. I'm so proud. Even if I had to walk and even if I didn't have the strongest finish time. The miles really flew by, even though I was walking some of them. The first 4miles were tough getting my head in the game but miles 6-13 really were faster than I expected.

When we got back to the hotel I hobbled into the shower and layed down in bed. After the race I had 1/2 banana and a full cup of gatorade. Drank some water on the way home, but I knew I wasn't feeling well. I sipped on gatorade and had a few m&ms which were the only thing in the apartment, and conveniently the only thing that sounded digestible at that moment. Then, as running buddy and her family left, I spent the next hour, hour and a half dry heaving in our suite bathroom. ew. After finally finishing whole gatorade and resting. I felt a bit better, I think I was just dehydrated. I polished off another shot and we hit the Wendy's on the way out of town.

Sore today, but the knee doesn't really hurt.

I can not wait to race this distance again.

2:42:47

2009-05-03T18:59:00.001-05:00

It was horrible.

I really want a do over.

And, I'm so doing it again next year!

Half marathon.

2009-05-02T07:04:00.003-05:00

So, I'm headed to Lincoln today. Feel much better health wise than I did on Monday so that's good. I'm not looking for a specific time tomorrow because I've basically taken the last two-three weeks off. I just hope I finish. I think my hubby and running buddy's family will be able to see us at mile 6 and the finish, if all works out.

Good luck to all those running this weekend, Jen, Elisa, and Mom on the Run especially. And all those I'm leaving out, I can't wait to hear all your race reports!

Thank you guys!

2009-04-28T09:28:00.004-05:00

Hey guys. Thanks so much for the encouraging words about my last post.

I'm going back to the Dr today cause of, well, the same problem as last week. Hope I feel better by Sunday! Went home sick after half my shift last night. I feel better this morning but I'm still going to the doctor.

So, if I wasn't running Chicago, I was totally going to do this:

Market to Market Yes, you run from Omaha to Lincoln! This is the 2nd Annual Market To Market Relay presented by Nebraska Orthopaedic Hospital. The race is an 84 mile team relay from Omaha to Lincoln. In 2008 the event sold out 3 months in advance and had over 50 teams on a waiting list. This year they decided to change the format on how teams enter the race.

May 5th to May 9th an online lottery will be available at www.m2mrelay.com At this time you will have the opportunity to put your team’s name into a “hat” and then 50 names will be pulled from that hat to compete in the race. The race will have a total of 150 to 170 teams but the rest of the teams in the race will be teams that participated in 2008, won their division or a contest, sponsor the race, or meet the minimum speed requirement for the Citizens Class A Division.
Check out the website for all of the details including course maps, results and pictures from 2008, and much more.

This sounded like so much fun! I had a group of girls from work ready and everything. But I couldn't pass up Chicago. Maybe next year I'll be doing Market to Market. And, of course, they had really cute shirts last year which made me totally jealous I didn't run. So, if nothing else join the lottery for the fashion.

Only kidding.

A little.

Don't worry, I'll update and tell you how I'm feeling before I leave for Lincoln on Saturday.

7 days.

2009-04-25T23:07:00.002-05:00

Shoot me.

7 days till the half. One week from now running buddy and I will be in Lincoln. Preparing to run our half MARATHON!

Oh my goodness. These last few months have flown by!

What have I done to prepare lately? Not much!

I'm scared to run cause I don't want to injure my knee. I'm scared cause I haven't run, hardly at all, the last few weeks and all my "fitness" will be gone. I'm scared I'll have to walk this entire half.

I know a lot of people feel this way during training it's just so hard. Especially since I've told all of the gals at work and my whole family that I'm doing this longer distance race, it feels like there's a lot of pressure to have a great race report, you know? I feel utterly unprepared for this 1/2. I'm not sure why I think it's cause of the last two weeks.

Somebody tell me it's going to be fine.

Also, looking a head...I'm running Chicago on October 11th. There's a half in Omaha September 27th. Would that be too close together? Could I do both races? Do you think the 1/2 would fit well into training? The only problem I have is that I think that the Omaha course is hilly. I don't want to shred my legs trying for that 1/2 with Chicago looming in the not-so-distant future.

So far, not good.

2009-04-21T21:37:00.006-05:00

Haven't run in a week. My hubby today told me I'd been snapping and looking for a fight the last few days, I blame it on not running. Weird how your life changes in a year! I'm contemplating getting up really early tomorrow and running a few miles on the treadmill (to break in my new kicks sometime before the 1/2) and coming home to do Namaste yoga on my living room floor.

Remember that nice Tuesday I had planned with the 905 Bikram yoga class? Yeah, I came home in tears.

Here's the story. Get up at oh, 8:35 and rush to get my teeth brushed, hair in a headband and out of the air, clothes on and find my mat, and get to the yoga studio by 900. Got there. Got into the 110 degree room, that was a little much.

Background, when it's summer time and I just wake up, I think I have a blood pressure issue. Cause I will generally have to veg on the couch for 15-20minutes before I feel safe enough to get around. I think it's BP, not sure. Well I had rushed, not eaten anything and gone straight to class. Wasn't feeling too great to begin with (the reason I know, TMI, I didn't workout over the weekend was a UTI that was so bad I went to the doctor yesterday and I'm now on a few days of Levaquin)...Thought the yoga would flush toxins out and stretch out my legs (which are feeling better after rolling them every night). We go into the first sequence after breathing which involves a hamstring stretch with your head as far towards your knees as possible. Hang, come up and breathe, right? Nope. Come up and see floaters, legs turn to jelly, and sit before you pass out. That was me. I sipped on some water, caught my breath. Tried to get up again after a few minutes. Saw floaters (that's what I call them. I've passed out a few times in my life and I see black dots start to cloud my vision). The teacher was kind and gave me a lifesaver, I chose mint cause I was starting to feel a little nauseous as well cause I hadn't eaten anything yet and had taken my Levaquin already and that was all I could think about. I know you don't need to eat but meh. I tried to get up a few more times. I really wanted to do this class. I did. I started to feel panicky and walked out of the class at 9:30. My chest was feeling tight and I think I was on the verge of a panic attack. As I've told you all before my mom, at 53, never healthier or happier, felt dizzy once and the second time she died. No warning just "I'm feeling dizzy" and she's gone. So I'm terrified, I tell the teacher this and she says I can get my money back at the desk and be careful and stuff. I walk straight out, don't stop at the desk. I get home and my lovely hubby says "that was quick, how'd it go". And I bawl. I was so scared. Terrified. Also because of the way my mom died. If Brian's in the house and doesn't answer when I call. I get this irrational fear that he's passed out and died and I don't know it. I tear around the house till I find him, just thinking about it makes me want to puke. You understand, I'm sure. But I feel bad for my hubby and my future kids. I'm gonna be so paranoid!

I'm fine now. Made it through the drive home. In fact, immediately felt better when I stepped into the hallway, I just think it was the morning and it was the heat. I'm very glad I stopped when I did. I don't know when I'll go back.

But that's why I'll be attempting Namaste yoga in my living room tomorrow. Maybe more from Polly too. We'll see.

So in other news. My hubby and I made appointments for next Monday at a foot/ankle specialists. My hubby's had plantar fascitis for years, takes Mobic every day. And I, my wonderful hubby pointed out, have a bunion that's not getting any smaller. I think I'll quote him, "Kelly that looks really bad. I don't ever remember it being that bad". Ah, feet. From what I've read you can get surgery to fix it. I hope mine's not that bad. Or, I hope the doc doesn't want me to get surgery before Chicago. It's not painful, I'm sure orthotics will help?

(Hey, Steve posts pictures of his feet!)

Thanks for listening to me.