Just to let you know- this blog is no longer active. I'll be keeping up my 101 in 1001 list until its completion, but will not be writing new posts. You can read the post below if you want the long version. Thanks for the journey to all my friends in the blogosphere!

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Blah................

In the next two weeks, I need to get my kids ready for the End of Grade tests, finish my grad school final projects, direct my first 5K race (almost 100 runners and walkers signed up!), and attend 2 out of town graduations. There's a lot to be done. I'm getting there but I feel like I'm dragging my feet all the way.

Running/exercising/healthy eating has not been a consistent part of my life lately. I've got the big time blahs about it. I think my husband is draining all the "health energy" out of our house. (Did I mention that he went running twice in one day last week?) I was so thrilled to get my Garmin and he's ended up using many more times than I have so far.

I think part of it is post-birthday let down. When I look towards every birthday, first day of school, race, wedding (okay, there was only one of those), summer, or any other semi-significant event, I always picture myself at that magical, ideal weight/speed/health level. And every time that event passes and I'm just the same, I'm just a little disappointed. (Once, when I was in high school, my aunt told me,"If a woman can't lose weight for her wedding, she can't lose weight for anything." That off-hand comment stuck with me...especially when I could not lose weight for my wedding.) By now, I should understand cause/effect and just accept the consequences of my actions. (Don't I ask my my students to do that all the time?) The only times I've been successful in losing a decent amount of weight have been when I was marathon training. Which is kind of frightening because it tells me I'm ALWAYS eating enough calories to support 26 mile runs, even when my only current exercise is grading papers.

I need a new race (preferably a marathon if I want to lose weight) or crazy goal. I don't seem to function well without one.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Belated Blog Birthday

(I just couldn't resist the alliteration!)

So I completely didn't get around to celebrating my blog's 1 year birthday yesterday because I was too busy celebrating my 25th!

Although the original intent of this blog was to keep me accountable for all 365 days of running (and that has obviously been a FAIL on my part), I have definitely reaped benefits! I have so very much enjoyed discovering all of you lovely people and your blogs. Y'all have definitely kept me accountable for many a run and I've learned so much from you in the fields of running, food, and just life in general!

So thank you for a lovely blog birthday! I'm looking forward to (and will soon let you in on) my goals for this year of my life and blog!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Reorganizing

If you've popped by my blog anytime this week, I apologize if you've encountered a mess. I just discovered "blogger in draft" and feel foolish for going so long without it!

I'm still moving things around and figuring this out, so let me know if you see anything you love or hate. I'm working on my masters in Instructional Technology and have pretty much become a huge tech nerd so I love this kind of thing. Between school, life, and grad school, I'm created a ridiculous amount of websites, blogs, online courses and projects over the past year. I live on my laptop. I'm pretty sure my husband's going to throw it out the window one day.

Tomorrow's my blog's birthday so I better get it together!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

I tried to tell y'all....

I can't believe some of y'all were happy to go to the 25-30 age group! There must be a different breed of runners in your areas because I need you to check out the age group results from the 10K I ran on Saturday....

Yay! I came in second! If I had known 1st was less than a minute ahead of me, I could have pulled out a little more push that last mile.


Umm...yeah. I can't compete with people who run almost 7:00 minute miles. Especially when they are able to run 6 consecutive 7:07 miles.

Maybe I'll have some kind of speed epiphany when I turn 25. I doubt it. I'm not really into aiming for specific times right now, but I could see myself really getting into that and training for speed at some point. Especially if I had a competitive running partner.

Any of y'all really get into speedwork and drastically drop your times? What age group are you terrified of or overjoyed about?

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Oak Island Lighthouse 10K

I went back and forth about registering for this race since it was over an hour drive and it's been a different kind of week, but in the end, I decided to sign up and I'm so glad I did! There are few running events within driving distance of here, so I hardly ever get to do casual short races unless I'm home visiting family.

One thing that prompted me to sign up the realization that I'm going to be moving up an age group in just one week! Unfortunately, this age-group move, is NOT going to be benefical to me. (Unlike my mom's last age-group move; She was THRILLED to be turning 50. "Now I won't have to compete with those 45-year-olds anymore! I'll be young and spry compared to those 54-year-olds!")

The 19-24 Female Age Group is not that competitive. Really good runners in that age range are on college track and cross country teams and not messing with the weekend races. Many others in that group are still in bed at 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning. So the few of us that are out there are pretty likely to snag an age group award!

The 25-30 Female Age Group, however, is a whole 'nother ball game. Those former college cross country stars need somewhere to keep competing and you better watch out for those hardcore new moms with the jogging strollers!

Anyway...back to today's race: the Oak Island Lighthouse 10K. It was a decent sized race with over 400 participants between the 5K and 10K so I was surprised they didn't have chip timing. They trolley-ed us out to the race start, which was at the bottom of the bridge that leads out the island. (I was more than a little nervous about running over this huge bridge on a windy morning. Luckily, though, they had the road blocked and we got to run right up the center of the road, away from the low railings and the potential tumble to the waterway below.) I guess since we were right on the bridge, they couldn't set up a starting line. We were all just milling around in a pile when they called "Start!" without much fanfare or warning.

The bridge was windy, but not so bad, but within that first mile, my legs started doing funny things. My right shin was hurting so badly that I had to stop to stretch twice and I was running on the sand and grass beside the road because the pavement just made it worse. Before mile the halfway point, both calves were cramping and I was just in general, not happy with the way things we're going. It was hot and I had no idea what my pace was since I was stopping to stretch. I was fantasizing about my soon-coming Garmin (which actually arrived later today!!!!) and frustrated because I didn't see any mile markers after Mile 3. Somewhere along the way though, my legs worked themselves out and I started to get myself together. I felt pretty good by the time I reached the end and was pleased and surprised to make it in under 58 minutes!

I didn't feel like sticking around for awards, but my friend that happened to be there for the 5K texted me later to tell me I won 2nd in my age group! Like I said though, this is my last race in the 19-24 group, so I better savor this, because I don't anticipate another award for a good decade or so.

So, all in all, a good run! Have any of y'all experiencing random shin/calf pain out of nowhere like that though? I hope it was just a fluke!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Go hug your grandma!

My husband's grandma (the destination of all those "grandma loop" runs) passed away this week after almost 91 years of excellent health and then a gradual decline over the past months and weeks. I'm very close to my own grandma at home and other the past couple years my husband's grandma has been a kind of a surrogate grandma since we live here instead of near my family.

She was an exceptional, caring, funny lady and will be greatly missed by everyone in my husband's family and the countless people who she loved and welcomed as family. We're so grateful though that we were able to have her so long. All she asked God for was to live long enough to see her three children grow up that they could take care of each other. According to her, after her youngest child (my mother-in-law) graduated from nursing school, anything after that was "borrowed time." She was surprised and felt blessed that she was able to see her grandchildren grow up too and even meet a few great-grandchildren.

Obviously, life as normal take a pause during a time like this, and running has dropped by the wayside. I'm making the time to call my own grandma more often (when I can catch her between tilling her garden, mowing, and watching my little cousins. She is NOT allowed to use the bushhog or climb on top of the garage anymore though!) and want to make sure I don't take her, my other grandparents, or anyone in my life for granted.

Now, you make sure to do the same! Go hug your grandma!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Garmin and Other Ramblings

First of all, let's get this Garmin mess out of the way. I've made up my mind; I'm going to bite the bullet and get the Garmin! I keep wishing I had one (especially planning this race) and I'm tiring of hemming and hawing. Except, actually, this one last time because I want to be sure I'm getting the right one. I've looked and compared online and I think I want the Forerunner 305 and that seems to be what most of y'all have too. My only concern is how big it is! I'm nowhere near a store that carries them, so I'll have to order online. Convince me one last time: if you have a Garmin, let me know what model you have, how much you love it, and that it's worth the money.

So I was going to list my runs and workouts since the last time that I reported them, but then I flipped back a few posts to see when that was. Yep, it's been 11 days. I have no idea how much I ran on each of those 11 days. I just wrote a post on how I can't remember anything.

So you'll just have to take my word for it that I got in a mile or two or three each day for the past 11 days.....except for Friday...in which circumstances did not allow. I'll make up for it with a two-fer one day later this week, but it's not going to be today.

Spring Break has come and is very nearly gone. I didn't accomplish everything I wanted to, but I did see friends and family, get a lot of work done for my race, and get a few things done around the house.

In completely random running news, when I was at my parents' house for a few days this week, I discovered a new toy that my mom won for a door prize at a race. I got extremely excited for a second because I thought it was a fuel belt and I was already scheming how to label it mine. Although it had pouches like a fuel belt, it actually was something much fancier: a running light belt! It actually has an adjustable beam, adjustable brightness bulb attached to battery pack so you can illuminate the road in front of you. It's advertised for "low light running and walking" but obviously that would be too practical and I decided to test it out in the pitch dark running up the side of the road.

I had trouble getting the belt adjusted in the beginning; it wouldn't sit still on my hips and I tried it around my natural waist, but that wasn't comfortable. I eventually did get it situtated on my hips and it stayed in place. The light was really bright...I could easily see where I was going and I'm sure any passing cars could see me a mile away. (Luckily, I didn't encounter any cars on this quick run...only a few startled cows.) I'm sure I actually looked kind of spooky...this bouncing light moving up the side of the road.

It was a fun excursion, but I wouldn't want to go more than a mile or two using that as my only light. I kind of felt like a horse with blinders because all I could see was what was lit right in front of me.

If you are a night runner though, I think this makes a lot more sense than wearing a light on your head. (I saw several different headlamps at the running store I stopped by this week...I didn't know there was such a demand!) The brand was GoMotion which I haven't heard of, but I haven't done much research in this area before.

Anyway, that's that and it's time to get ready to go back to school tomorrow!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Fear of Forgetting

I have this fear of forgetting things. Forgetting memories and events, more specifically. Almost as if they would not exist anymore if I could not remember them.

This fear has grown lately as I move farther and farther away from childhood. I use to remember EVERYTHING. With ridiculous detail. My sisters and I were so baffled and horrified that our mom couldn't remember what roller skating rink we went to for my 8th birthday or the name of my best friend's sister. She said she had enough information to keep in her head that she just had to let go of those details. I thought that was silly.

Fast forward to now...I can't even remember my workouts from 3 days ago if I don't write them down. All of the sudden, when I became a "real adult" and had 20 little students to worry with and plan for and organize, irrelevant information fell by the wayside. Now, my sisters look to me with horror when I have completely forgotten about a trip we took or a conversation we had months ago.

I don't think it's necessarily that I'm busier or have more going on. (In high school, I kept up with classes, sport practices, lessons, my sisters' schedules, etc. One semester in college, I had to get a form reluctantly signed by the dean of my department allowing me to take 23 hours of class instead of the normal maximum 18.) I think it's either because of the weight of responsibility that comes with a classroom of elementary children that rely on you for their every need for 8 hours each day or something to do with brain science and the difference between a child's and adult's memory.

Anyway, all of this is to explain why I'm so driven to put things on paper. I kept a diary all throughout my childhood, but my writing was not very consistent. Sometimes there were would be weeks or months between entries and during middle school I had almost daily detailed reports on the vastly interesting (okay, in retrospect, not quite so much) aspects of life as a pre-teen.

I greatly regret I did not keep a diary during my first year of teaching (or any of the past few years, for that matter.) I had a roller coaster of an experience and it's too easy to just brush that off as the past and forget what it was really like. (I had so many funny teacher stories from that year, too! Sometimes, one of my sisters or friends will ask me about a story about one of those students and I will have completely forgotten until they remind me what happened.)

Obviously, this blog, in a way, is a diary, at least of my running life. So I'm trying to keep things organized so I can look back on my fails and triumphs (and sometimes read between the lines to my life outside of running, too.) I put all my results I could dig up into one post that I can link one the side and add to as needed, and I'm going back through and properly labeling my posts. At least as properly as I can with labels such as "patheticness," "lame excuses" and "interesting runs." Anyway, I'll try not to make things too complicated!

I hope y'all are enjoying this lovely weather. I'm out the door for a quick run before our tax appointment!

Race Results

I'm trying to get all my race results organized in one place...I'll explain later.

October 26, 2002

2002 3-A Midwest Regional Cross-Country at McAlpine Park; Charlotte, NC
23:15
-
April 25, 2004
Angels Race Sprint Triathlon, Lynchburg, VA
1:56:25
-
November 14, 2004
Battleship Half Marathon; Wilmington, NC
2:41:34 (Sarah's and my first half marathon...we were so proud to finish, lol)

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April 10, 2005
Angels Race Sprint Triathlon; Lynchburg, VA
300 M Swim- 5:37
25K Bike- 1:10:29
5K Run- 33:03
Total Time with Transitions- 1:49:09

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December 24, 2009
Mooresville Fire Department 5K
25:22
-
April 29, 2006
Owl's Roost Rumble III 5k Run
27:22
-
May 30, 2006
Bare Bones 5K, Salisbury, NC
26:11
-
June 25, 2006
Kure Beach Double Sprint Triathlon
Swim, 375m-13:34 (There was a hurricane in the Pacific...I literally almost drowned.)
Run, 1.5 miles- 17:00
Bike, 12.4 miles- 41:56
Run, 1.5Mi- 16:31
Swim, 375 M- 9:00
Total Time with Transitions: 1:38:01
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September 17, 2006
Angels Race Sprint Triathlon; Winston-Salem, NC
300 M Swim- 5:04
20K Bike- 48:06
5K Run- 27:52
Total Time with Transitions- 1:25:08
-
May 19, 2007
Mission Run; Salisbury, NC
26:20
-
June 9, 2007
Varmint Half Marathon; Burkes Garden, VA
2:06:36
-
June 22, 2007
5K Main Street Challenge; China Grove, NC
25:27
-
July 8, 2007
Summer Roundup Trail 12K; Colorado Springs, CO
1:27:42
-
July 28, 2007
Salisbury Greenway 5K
26:00
-
August 11, 2007
Rowan Alliance; Salisbury, NC
27:04
-
November 2, 2007
Pumpkin Festival 5K; Stateville, NC
31:05
-
November 11, 2007
Battleship Half Marathon; Wilmington, NC
1:59:55
-

April 26, 2008
Dogwood 10K; Fayetteville, NC
58:37

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May 17, 2008
Rotary YMCA Triathlon; Statesville, NC
300 meter swim- 5:26
11.6 mile bike- 1:34
5K run- 29:16
Total Time with transitions- 1:39:05
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February 14, 2009
Myrtle Beach Half Marathon
2:23:27
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April 11, 2009
Bunny Run 5K; Concord, NC
30:46
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July 25, 2009
Salisbury Greenway 5K

25:25
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September 5, 2009
Take the Lake- 15 Miles; Lake Waccamaw, NC
2:57
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September 12, 2009
Historic Mooresville 5K
25:57
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October 18, 2009
Des Moines Marathon
4:39:45
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November 7, 2009
Pecan Festival 8K
Approximately 44 min., 1st Place in Women
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March 21, 2010
Wrightsville Beach Half Marathon
2:07:58

Friday, April 2, 2010

Spring Summer has Sprung!

All of the sudden, we've gone from freezing to blazing!

Clues that Spring (with temps close to Summer) is here:
  • After taking the winter off, my car air conditioner just decided not to show back up to work this spring. It is HOT in that car after school gets out in the afternoon.
  • Once again, I'm a sweaty mess after a workout. (Which is a good thing! It feels like evidence.)
  • I spent a few hours, laying out reading "Little House on the Prairie" at the lake this afternoon. (I accidentally starting reading it when I was waiting to get my nails done and that was the only book I had in the car. I read all the Laura Ingalls books multiple times when I was little and picked that copy up at a thrift store to add to my classroom library. I felt a little ridiculous reading a children's book at the nail salon, but I got so into it! I forgot how wonderful those books are.)
  • And most convincingly, it's spring break!!
In other news, I have a horrible confession: I did not run yesterday. We didn't get home until 10 and I didn't want to have the late-night treadmill discussion, so I just let it go. I did get in two runs today...one before supper and then one after The Shred Level 2. (Please ignore the fact that they were each only 1 mile.) I really liked Level 2! I've done Level 1 probably 15 times, but I was scared to go up because I was afraid it would be too hard. There were a few difficult moves, but overall, it was doable and there were some fun new moves!

Have a Happy Easter everyone!