Weekly update! (With an unexpected sprint workout)

Super confusing, eh?  I was bad this week.  I'm not sure why I didn't run on schedule, but I didn't. I won't make excuses because I really don't have any, even after running I didn't write in my running journal.  But let's talk about what did happen this week.

Miles Run: 9.43
Time Run: 1:40:05
Calories Burned: 1112


As you can tell, I didn't do much this week.  I ran on Thursday, yesterday and today.  Yesterday's run is when all the excitement happened.  I was having a great run.  It was about 60-65 degrees out, no traffic on the road and I was pacing myself so my legs felt awesome.  I decided to go down a road that's parallel to ours and was in the home stretch when I saw a little (I use the term little in comparison to my 65 pound bundle of joy) cocker spaniel hanging out in front of a house that I have frequently seen two large dogs locked up in one crate not bigger than the one Jake has.  I figured the dog was tied up to something and would bark, but I'd finish my run in great finesse.

Apparently little blondie had a different idea.

I knew as soon as I got within 20 or so feet that he/she was not on a lead, then I realized that he/she meant business.  I turned around so quickly and started sprinting.  The dog kept up with me, snapping at my heels for about a quarter of a mile and then gave up. I am so thankful that it wasn't a bigger dog because I really would have been a goner.  The whole time I was thinking, "What would Cesar Millan do?" And I'm pretty sure it would have been the exact opposite of what I did, but instinct kicked in.  I'm also very thankful I didn't bring Jake with me.  He is so happy-go-lucky that he would have wanted to play and then when he would have realized this dog was a jerk, he would have defended me and the big, bad lab/pit mix would have been at fault for picking on the poor, little cocker spaniel.  That's a soapbox I won't get on right now though....

When you run, have you ever encountered an animal that clearly did not want you around?

The point is, I'm safe.  And from now on, I won't go down that road again and I'll be running with pepper spray when I decide to run through neighborhoods again.  It kinda shook me to my core and I had a bit of a panic attack yesterday.  I'm down for running through Bonaventure and Isle of Hope, as well as any of the parks or downtown, but I'm not sure I will trust new routes any time soon.  Too add on to that, I went to lunch with some friends later and some random guy drove up to me as I was walking back (I live about 5 minutes away from Tubby's) asking if I wanted a ride somewhere. I don't understand people, and as one of my FB friends commented on my status after said, it's not like you're just gonna say, Yeah sure! and hop right in.

Today, I needed to do something that would get all my energy out but not tire my legs too much... I still ran a good amount yesterday but had a lot of craziness that needed to get out.  I wasn't up to running outside because I am still being wimpy, so I asked Hubs to join me at the gym for a HIIT run on the treadmill.  He wasn't keen on running, but was willing to go with me so I considered it a win.  HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workouts are awesome.  I first heard about them from Madeline's guest post on Victoria's blog.  Short bursts of activity that are seriously hardcore.  I did the 25 minute running one but Madeline also has a Triple Threat that I'm dying to try now.  Both of these lovely women are in or around Savannah and I hope at some point I run into them. (Pun intended).  Ha. Ha. Ha.  Hubs did some cycling then hit up the punching bags (seriously, I'm on fire!) I was able to snap a few pictures of his serious punching form.

He is so Bad. Ass. 

Have you ever done a HIIT workout? Share!

On a personal front, Carson's dance recital was yesterday and I really can't pass up the opportunity to show off these two adorable children.  She was seriously one of the best dancers in her class. 

We had a lovely lunch and later met up for the Sand Gnats game, which was so much fun with fireworks afterwards.  Hubs and I have a special place in our hearts for fireworks because of our year in Pittsburgh and how it seemed to be the year that every fireworks display was the "biggest one ever!" They were all certainly impressive and what I measure every other fireworks show on, but we get a chuckle out of Pittsburgh's claim to fame.  

This week is going to concentrate on staying on schedule and realizing the aftermath of a run is always better than the aftermath of my mood without a run. I love running, I just forget that some times!  Hope everyone has a great week!

Reunited, and it feels so good!

Today was a big day.  I ran for the first time since Saturday (cause I'm a slacker and let life overwhelm me) AND more importantly, I got my water bottle back!

Water just tastes better from here

Last Friday, I took Eli to karate and when we left I had so many different bags (seriously, how do moms do that EVERY day?) I totally forgot about my water bottle.  When I got them back to their house, I realized I didn't have my beloved bottle, freaked out and called the place to have them hold on to it.  I had every intention of going on Monday, except I totally forgot.  Then Tuesday and Wednesday passed and I didn't feel like trekking it across town to go get it.  Today, Hubs said enough was enough and he went to get it for me! What a good Hubs.  :) 

After cleaning it thoroughly and filling it up with ice and water, life just feels a little bit better.  This week has been stressful to say the least.  I've been fighting with an insurance company and my doctor's office because as it turns out, someone who I've never met or talked to had it out for me.  They coded me as having a just a cough which apparently doesn't justify an EKG and full blood workup.  Who knew?  

Well it's all taken care of now and hopefully this is the worst of it.  Hubs' job was kind of in the middle of some drama too, but it seems like things might just work out there as well.

Tomorrow we're going to Charleston (my fave city ever) to watch Hubs' sister graduate from MUSC with her Doctorate in Nurse Practice.  Pretty awesome if you ask me.  Plus, I'll have my water bottle for the road trip! I also am gonna try and get a short run in so that I can remember the ridiculous awesomeness that is the afterglow of exercise.  It's really easy to forget about that, but also really easy to fall back into the intoxication.  

Have you ever had a day where you thought working out wouldn't help at all and let that get the best of you?  From here on out, I'm gonna fight against that little voice.  You should too.  Happy running!

Weekly Update and a Wedding!

Miles Run: 15.25
Time Run: 2:35:55
Calories Burned: 1821


This is what I would call a successful week.  I kept all my running appointments with no dread, in fact, I loved this week.  I was so tired yesterday morning but felt great the rest of the day.  My beautiful friends, Faye and Bill got married and it was just the most amazing day!  More on that later....

My short runs throughout the week were great.  The weather cooled down this week so running at 8 wasn't nearly as horrible as usual.  I did one afternoon run at 3 and it was very hot, but I felt great the whole time doing it so I didn't mind too much.  My 2 miler on Thursday was with Jake-dog and he was completely all over the place, but again, I didn't let it bother me.  I just figured he was having a great time, why shouldn't I?  We took it nice and slow and worked on his obedience when appropriate.  Such a good dog.

The long run.  Ahhh, I had great plans for that one.  In my mind, I was going to run 8 miles bouncing along in the air loving life.  In real time, I was tired from working the night before and my legs felt like 3 year old fruit cakes.

I ran on Isle of Hope because I was meeting Faye at 10 over there so I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone.  It helps that my father-in-law lives over there so I can establish a home base with a water station and later on longer runs, with shot bloks and nuun!  Isle of Hope is so beautiful and it's really easy to get miles in when you're running along the river or under huge oaks and magnolias.  Plus, the magnolias are blooming now so it smells AWESOME any time you're near one.  So, even though it wasn't an awesome run, it was still good.  I kept a great pace and felt good at the end. Awesome long run will happen next weekend.  When I run 5 miles, haha.

Now onto the wedding.  I was SO excited for this wedding.  It was the first one Hubs and I have been to since we got married and it meant so much to us that we were invited, let alone involved in the set-up and prep.  Faye did an amazing job arranging her own flowers, squeezing the lime juice and making the simple syrup for the mojitos, pretty much doing everything from scratch.  I am in awe of what she got done because it looked ridiculously beautiful.  Instead of me talking about it for hours, I might as well share the pictures!

I could not get enough of those flowers!!  

To Faye and Bill:

Will and I are so blessed to be your friends and to have taken part in your day.  We wish you so much happiness, patience, love, and blessings through your marriage.  Love you!

Twittering and Getting Back into a Rhythm

I guess because last week was my first week without being full time with the kids and I was just all out of sorts with doctors' appointments and race week, I got off track.  Way off track.

I gained 5 pounds..... That's 25% of what I've lost in the last year. In one week.

I also saw this meme that applied to quite a few things in my life. Animals have a way of doing that.

I was talking about it with Hubs this morning trying to figure out what went wrong.  I am running more than I was while working full time and eating a lot less crap.  I ate a lot of candy over the past year, but didn't gain weight.  I blame the lack of candy for my sudden weight gain.  That's totally what it is.

I kid, I kid.  Really it's because I haven't been taking note of my food choices and portions. Also since I am running more, I'm justifying my portion sizes by that too.  So the last few days, I've been writing down my intake and only drinking water, my own version of a dirty chai, la croix, and nuun. Tonight, I ate my weight in Chinese food. Not really, but I think my stomach is shrinking or something because it doesn't take much to fill me up now that I'm actually watching what I eat.

I also have an insane amount of energy. I don't know if it's because I started making my own dirty chai (recipe below) once a day or because I'm being more consistent with my running, therefore keeping a consistent amount of energy in my body.  The good thing about all this energy is that it has forced me to be real with myself not only with the weight issue, but with my personal life.  No worries, Hubs and I are absolutely awesome. In fact, I'm so grateful for him putting up with my lack of motivation for pretty much anything.  But I'm realizing that's not going to make me very happy.  So I've made some huge changes in my life that will eventually be told to the blogosphere I'm sure, I'm just not ready to share them right now.

Moving on....

I joined twitter! (@initfortheshirt there wasn't enough room for my "s") I gave into the thought that the more people I have following my journey not only of running a marathon, but to changing the lives of families with autism by running a marathon, the better.  I give into peer pressure pretty easily so by having people ask me about my blog, tweets, striders, or running in general, I am given the push I need to keep up with the training schedule.  These guys are already following me and issuing a warning giving me motivation!

I have to admit. I got super excited when they followed me, I felt popular. And cool. Like I said, peer pressure.

I love running, but would probably either over-do it on days when I feel great or do 2-3 miles and call it a day when I should be out there running 6-8. The more I read on marathon running, the more I realize sticking to the plan is essential.  There's a reason that we take advice from professionals. They know what they're doing!  So this week has been getting back into a rhythm and I've had three great runs so far and am so looking forward to tomorrow.

I'm going to shoot for an hour and a half of running or 7-8 miles.  One my very beautiful and amazing friends is getting married tomorrow so I'm meeting her to help with set up and drinking champagne whatever else she needs. I'm so excited! I love a good wedding, and this one is going to be B-E-A-U-tiful.

Here's my chai recipe, I haven't measured anything because that's just how I cook in general, measuring is for baking.

It's awesome. Try it. 

Weekly Review

Miles Run: 10.24
Time Run: 1:43:54
Calories Burned: 1180


My week was pretty light in the scheme of things.  I knew I had the Crimestoppers Run and I really wanted a PR so I tried to do two things.

1. Get used to the heat.  In Savannah, even if you wake up at 5 in the morning, it's still ridiculously muggy in the summer.  I hate it, but can't do anything about it so I decided while it was still relatively "dry", to get in a few runs in the afternoon.  I'm from Arizona.  Dry is a relative term, but one I'm quickly learning.

2. Keep my runs shorter.  I wanted my legs fresh and I didn't want to keel over at the end of the run because of the heat.  Also, I've read recently that doing two to three weeks of building then cutting back on miles is good for you because it helps your body recover faster.

My first run was on Wednesday evening and I did a quick 2 miles around Daffin Park before heading over to watch Savannah Arts Academy play North Cobb County in the girls' soccer state tournament.  I popped a Nuun into my water bottle afterward and enjoyed the rest of the game.  Unfortunately SAA lost, but in my opinion, those other girls were playing a little dirty.  I'm partial to SAA cause Hubs works there, but I speak the truth!

Thursday, I met up with Kris at Daffin and we ran two miles again, but this time while talking and while it was hot.  We kept a pretty good pace, around 10:07/mile and it went by really fast having someone next to me and catching up on life.  I'm not always one who loves running with a partner.  However, I needed it that night because of the insane heat and the lack of motivation because of said heat.

I had an awesome race on Saturday and checked out the tall ships after a shower, downtown.  I didn't take a shower downtown, to clarify.

That cargo ship is not a tall ship.

A walrus drummer.

I rested all of Sunday because well, I thought I deserved it.... And that was my week! I promise that this week of blogging will be better.  I don't know what happened last week.  I guess I lost my blog mojo. I promise it's back though!

Crimestoppers Azalea Run 10K Review

I love running races.  It brings up my expectancy level and allows me to go all out just for the sake of a PR.  Even bad races are good.  You learn something about your stamina and character.  The Cooper River Bridge Run was definitely a race that tried to break my spirit, but I finished it and in somewhat respectable time for the condition I was in at the start.  Looking back at it, a month or so later, I probably would run it again because I don't want to let it defeat me. But we'll worry about that next year.

Packet Pickup
Yesterday I stopped by Fleet Feet to pick up my packet.  It was super easy and fast.  I realized when I got home that the tech shirt was men's sizing so the medium was swimming on me and when I went back to ask for a small, there was no problem.  I'm super stoked they had tech shirts.  The rest of the packet was ads for races coming up and things Fleet Feet was sponsoring.  I didn't really care much because we got these awesome shirts.

I look tired. Because I am.

Race Day


I've never done the Crimestoppers Azalea Run even though I've wanted to for the past three years.  My friend Dan over at RunDanRun has always said great things about it and I know why now!  The race started at 8 am on May 5th.  I had been running about 6 miles on Saturdays anyways so I thought, no big deal.  I ended up meeting my new friend Jennifer at Running, Our Way before the race and met another girl who I ended up running the first mile and a half with.  Didn't catch her name, but that's cool.  She kept me at a steady, fast pace for the first mile.  In fact, I think I might have gone out too fast for a 10K on a muggy May morning.  Oh well.  I tried to alternate faster and slower paces every other mile and stuck right around the 10 minute mark which was admirable for me.  The course took us down Forsyth Park to Washington Ave., East to Daffin Park and back to the start.  There was a police officer or two at every stop light, halting traffic for us.  There were water stops at about every mile, which were much appreciated in the Savannah heat.  I finished in 1:02:24 which is a PR by about 5 minutes.  I was proud, but thought I could do better.

At the end, there were plenty of healthy refreshments and water.  They had awesome door prizes and age group prizes, neither of which I got. Sad Face.  But I was able to catch up with some Striders I hadn't seen in a couple weeks and meet some new people.

My outfit for the event.  Always important.

After the race.  The obligatory Forsyth Park Fountain picture. 

Zensah compression sleeves.  Life. Savers.

My new friends! Dan, Jennifer and her son who won 1st place in his age division!

Overall, this race is excellently run, results were posted almost immediately as you came in and the support was phenomenal.  The only thing I'd change is starting an hour earlier.  It was wayyyy too hot for me and a lot of other people but we all got through it anyways, cause we're runners and that's what we do.