One medal down, 7 to go!

Woo-Hoo!

Thanks to Coaches Alan & Kathleen with Houston Fit Fall Half and my friend Tom Brannon, I finished the Houston Half in UNDER THREE HOURS!
Yea Me!

Alan & Kathleen have been a super tremendous support all training season long (since May) and Tom was a super sweetheart to show up to cheer me on throughout the race and even did the last 2 miles or so with me.

I forgot to hit stop as I ran through the finish line, and then stopped to get my medal, hug Javier and pose for some pics and then stopped my Garmin, which showed 2:54:39. So I'm guessing maybe 2:50? That would put me just under 13 min/miles for 13 miles. DANG!

My previous 1/2s have been in 3:21 and 3:11, so this is a HUGE improvement.

Here's a few pics:

Jackie, Anna, Brenda & Kathleen, all smiling with medals!

Alyssa & Anna with medals, waiting for massages.

The medal - a little boring, but a medal nevertheless!

Pics from Javier

Javier was at the finish line of the Houston Half and was nice enough to take some pics of me:



Coming across the finish line (chip time 2:53:39.5):


Getting the medal:

With Javier:

With my friend Tom, that came out to cheer for me:

THANK YOU JAVIER!!!!

Marathon season goals

Here are the half marathons I have in mind for this marathon season:

Koala/Luke's Locker Houston Half Marathon -- Sunday, October 26, 2008

San Antonio Rock and Roll Half Marathon -- Sunday, November 16, 2008

Dallas White Rock Half Marathon (maybe) -- Sunday, December 14, 2008

Aramco Houston Half Marathon -- Sunday, January 18, 2009

Surfside Half Marathon (on the beach, probably walk) -- Saturday, February 14, 2009

Seabrook Half Marathon -- Saturday, March 14, 2008

Seabroon Half Marathon Trail Challenge (ANOTHER half marathon) -- Sunday March 15, 2008

WOW!

Possibly a BIT way too ambitious, but I'll see how the osteo-arthritis and osgood-schlatter in the knees does and give it a go.

Yikes -- being in writting on the world wide web makes these more real!

But, I'm totally okay with not making them all, just a darn good attempt.

If I'm successful at the Trail Challenge in Seabrook, I earn 3 medals for the weekend.
That will give me a grand total of EIGHT medals for the season, making me the Michael Phelps of land.

WOOT!

Ike

House is fine, but no electricity. Now I'm a refugee @ a friends sucking up electricity & internet. More when normal is returned......

Happy 1st Birthday to the Boardwalk Bullet roller coaster in Kemah!

That's me in the front seat with my arms up! (And that was ride #6 of the day, we had exclusive ride time for an hour Sunday morning.)

After that, I went down to a really nice cabin on Quintana beach.

Hope everyone else had a nice Labor Day weekend also!

PS -- I ran 8 miles on Saturday, 3 on the beach on Monday and 2 yesterday.

Miles and Miles to go....and already went

Last night I hit 450 miles logged (since I started running 7/7/07) and after this weekend I'll be at 300 miles for 2008!

WOW - that's a lot of running!

And it really doesn't seem to be that difficult anymore.

Viv and Timmy both commented on how I just glazed over 9 miles in my last post. Really, I didn't think of it as that big of a deal. That's what was on tap for that day, so that's what I did. 5:45 start time and all.
Dang - I just said 9 miles was no big deal!

Now once I hit double digits (like Eileen just did) in a couple of weeks (9/13), THAT will be a big deal.

Whew - tiring weekend!

Saturday morning I had to wake up at 4:45 to run 9 miles and Sunday was an even earlier wake-up, 4:15, to go deep sea fishing.

I was exhausted, but had a great time doing both!

Saturday afternoon I was complemented on my complexion (a result of the 9-miler, I'm sure) and I have about 5 pounds of fish in the freezer from the fishing trip.

After eating so much fish in Alaska and then last week had mahi-mahi almost every night, I'm getting close to being fished-out! Last night after Pilates I stopped at the store and got corn tortillas and shredded cabbage to make fish tacos, but I was still plumb tuckered-out from the lack of sleep over the weekend that I was just too tired to make some. And tonight it speed work (yea!) and a BCO event leader meeting, so they won't be made tonight either. Maybe tomorrow after off-season PIM....

Speed training, Fartleks & Orienteering

run, Run, RUN

This speed stuff isn't as bad as I thought it would be!

Tuesday the track workout was a bit intemeditating. Luckily I recognized one of my back-of-the-pack half-marathoners that told me we usually divide up from the full group. Whew! There were only about 6 of us halfers there (and about 40 in the other group). I did have a hard time running all-out (which is still rather slow) ALL the way around the track, trying to stay at the same pace. My running buddy kept me encouraged and I made it. Our slow jogs were actually walks. We got all 6 sets in - earlier I had e-mailed with the head coach that gave me an out saying I may only do 4 sets. At the end there was a mix of pride that I did it, but disappointment that I felt I did it rather poorly. (My fasts were the same as others slows - sometimes I was even slower than them.)

Wednesday I was feeling good from doing the track workout that I decided to through some fartlek-ing into my normal easy run. (All my runs thus far have been easy. I have two speeds - slow and stop.) It was fun! I would run all-out to a light pole, then walk to the next, etc. I know I probably wasn't doing this totally right. But hey, "fartlek" means speed play and I was speedy and playing! I did do too much and had to walk home instead of jog.

Thursday was the monthly Social-O, so that was once again some speed work in between stopping to find the controls. At the end I did a mini-hill so I could mentally pat myself on the back for hill work too.

Today is rest day -- yea!!

Tomorrow is NINE miles bright and early at 5:45 am.....

Alaska pics!

Here's some pics from my trip!

On my first-ever whitewater rafting experience, I "rode the bull!" But initially got bucked off good - I'm the one laying on the bottom of the raft in this shot:

We did a 1/2 hour or so lecture on how to stay in the boat, how dangerous it would be to fall out, where to keep your feet under straps so you stay in, etc. Then we had to practice strokes to be sure we were all prepared for the dangers that lay ahead. We were warned about the first rapid and told to pay attention. Right before we got to the rapid, the guide asked "Who's gonna ride the bull?" Huh? What the heck is he talking about. Riding the bull is sitting on the very front of the raft with your legs on the outside and a rope up between your legs and trying to stay on, just like riding a bucking bull. "Right" we thought -- We were just told how dangerous this rafting in Class III-IV is and now he's saying this - surely he jests. Nope. He was serious. And at the last second I said I would. It took so long to get over the big tubes to the front that by the time I got there I was never on good before we hit the first of the rapid, so I spent the entire run on the bottom of the raft getting hit in the face with 33 degree water. At one point I started to panic since I couldn't take a breath, but luckily I had enough sense to put my head down and block my face with my arm so I could breathe.

It was so much fun!

Later I got up before we went in to a rapid to get used to the feeling of hanging off the front of the raft and then was able to stay on through the rapid - it was a blast!

The last day we went hiking on a glacier, which was seriously cool:

I had some thicotropic glacier mud on my nose to keep from getting sunburned.

We also rafted past the Spencer glacier which had several super neat icebergs in the water. Since it was cloudy, the ice looked bluer!


I think this iceberg looks like a frog.

In Anchorage, we went to the Seavy dogsled experience where the did a little skit/show about sled dogs and the Iditrod. Mitch Seavy won a couple of years ago. His son was in the show who is the youngest person to compete in the Iditrod (or something like that).

The best part was petting the sled dogs and getting to hold the adorable sled dog pups!

I'm here!

In case anyone wondered, I'm still here!

Alaska was great except for the weather -- CLOUDY, rainy and cold. As bad as it is to have to re-acclimate to the Houston heat & humidity, I much prefer it to dreary grey skies. Luckily even though it rained every day in Alaska, it was a light shower that we were still able to get out in easily. Here, when it rains it doesn't mess around about it.

I'll post some pics here sometime.... the highlights were:

• glacier hiking (SO much prettier in person and crampons are super-cool)
• whitewater rafting
• rafting past icebergs
• petting sled dogs
• running in Anchorage! Running is such a great way to see a town. And I found a slammin' Himalayan restaurant, REI, liquor stores, laundry, Wal Mart and all kinds of cool places. And if you ever need to find a porn store in Anchorage, I know where one is.
• I'm not much into spotting animals (years as a zoo docent and previous travels has me dulled to that), but we did spot a bear, whales, lots of caribou, moose, eagles, puffins, seals, and other critters I forget. Oh yeah - a muskrat (right?) swam right behind my canoe.

Now I'm getting back into the running thing and we are ramping up FAST. Ever since I've been back Saturday long runs have been increasing by a mile each week. This week we're up to nine. Then thankfully we do a drop back next week(to 6) and start building again.

Planning on going to my first-ever speed work session tonight. Scary.

Evolution into a runner continues....

It's a slow evolution, but I amaze myself when I do runner-centric things.

In getting ready for my trip to Alaska, I'm packing running shirts as everyday shirts. I could pack the plain one (solid color), but am picking ones with the names of the various running groups or races I've done. Partially to show off that I run & partially Texas ego. But I am thinking of myself more and more as a runner.

Last night I spent about two hours planning out routes to run in Anchorage. (I did this when I went to New Braunfels too.) For this trip, I have three different routes planned, so no matter what I have a backup. (And am prepared to run in the rain & cold.) Running through Anchorage is one of the things I'm most looking forward to on the trip! Crazy, huh?!?

I'll be in Anchorage from Wednesday night 7/16 through early Monday morning 7/21 and am planning on a long (6-8 mile) run on Wednesday, about 2 miles on Thursday morning and 4 miles or so on Sunday!
The next week (Monday 7/21 through Sunday 7/27) I'll be off in Denali National Park, Tangle lakes and Matnuska Glacier and will have limited luggage, so chances are the running shoes won't make the cut. I'll be doing a lot of hiking, paddling and climbing. So I'll still be active, just not running.

And I'm planning this running because I want to, not because I have to --

WOW!

But no, I will not be running on top of Alaskan mountains.
I will be hiking them, though. (And had my dr. call in a perscription for altitude medicine.)

Speed work and hills that was FUN!!

Last night I wrangled up about 20 of my Bayou City Outdoor buddies to join me at the Houston Orienteering Club's FREE monthly Social-O and it was the MOST FUN way to get in speed work and hill training ever!

I've been doing this for about 7 years on & off, but am usually going slow with someone to teach them how to do it. Since there were so many people, I was able to bolt around between groups and got in a good run & then did the Miller Theater hill twice (I wanted to do it more, but didn't want to have points taken off for being late).

Orienteering is finding your way through unfamiliar territory using a topographic map and compass to find control points. In this "Social-O" you receive a map of Hermann park, Rice U & the medical center and then go to a point on the map to answer a question on the quesiton sheet (such as what color are the flowers, what number is the bus stop, etc.) And you have a one-hour time limit.

Since you dash off to the next point, but then have to stop and locate the information to answer the question, it really ends up being like speed work! One of the questions was about the statue at the top of the Miller Theater hill, so there ya go!
Fun!

It's the 2nd Thursday of each month through October. You Houston folks should join us next month.
It's FREE!!

message from Viv

What a thing to send out to people at work on a never-ending Friday....

HILLS!!!

Yea!! Tonight is hill training!!!

(Did I convincingly sound excited?)

As much as I would like to skip out on the hell of hills, I'm going. And I'm going to make me like it (maybe not).

It's the last time the Fall Fit group has our private hill training. In a couple of weeks it will start for the entire Houston Fit madhouse of a crowd. Not sure if I can hang with a big gang.

Send some positive hill vibes my way between 6:30 & 8 tonight.

UPDATE: That wasn't so bad. It was actually rather enjoyable. I got lapped FOUR times running the Waugh/Memorial cloverleaf, but there were other people that couldn't keep up with me, so it's all good. (I did walk a lot, but a speedy walk!)

Plus, the people that lapped me are all in the full marathon group. Since I'm a half-marathon person, I should have only done half anyway! We did over four miles!! Our long run last week was just 3 miles (5 this week).

But I really think I did well since I told the injured Running Knitter that I would run "for" her while she's still in recovery :o)

Holiday Weekend wrap up

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend!

Mine started on a festive note - we got out of work at noon on Thursday and when I came home all of the houses had an American Flag in the front yard - a real estate agent put them there. I need to remember to get the name and send her a thank-you.

I really didn't take good advantage of my extra time off and basically laid around the house most of the day, but did pack for an overnight kayaking trip and took Winslow to my mommy's house. While there I hooked up at DTV converter box to her analog tv (neither of us have cable). I hate the converter box - it's like watching tv through the VCR, you have to use two remotes and there is a black screen for a little while when changing stations. And channel 8 (PBS) doesn't come in both at her house and mine. (I e-mailed them and the engineering director e-mailed me back very quickly, to which I responded & will probably get another e-mail from him tomorrow). She had me unplug the thing until she has to have it. I may do the same with the one I've plugged in.

On Friday I did the Run Wild 5K and had a really good time. I'm not a 5K fan, but it is really nice to see so many people I know and don't normally see. There were a LOT of PIMsters there, along with some Houston Fit friends and my gang from Bayou City Outdoors. The run wasn't too horrible. Although Garmin did say it was 3.33 miles! My average pace was a speedy (for me) 12.14 min/miles, which is really fast for me. Not so sure about the old Garmin 301 (still can't figure out why I can get the intervals to work). May NEED a new one.....

I had to cut the after race party short (shame too - there was 2 rows with brew, Michelob Ultras and Katz Ice Coffee. I did partake of 2 rows & Katz). Carol & Michelle were meeting at my house at 9am to load up & head out to San Marcos for 2 days of paddling. It wasn't TOO difficult to figure out how to load up the three kayaks on top of Michelle's car & we were off.

We got rained on quite a bit on the way out to San Marcos and were discussing the planned route for the day's paddle. Tracy was in charge & we were a little scared of how difficult the paddle would be for us in touring kayaks (the others were all in whitewater boats). We decided to bow out of the days paddle and tube instead. Although in the end we ended up drinking at the hotel pool instead! We did meet up with the rest of the gang for dinner & fireworks.

Saturday's paddle on the San Marcos was really, really nice. It has been a year since I've paddled (although I own a kayak, I can't transport it since I drive a convertible!). I would have liked to stayed and done the same route again! But we had to head home....

My neck/shoulders were a bit sore from the paddling and possibly still from the massage from hell, so I popped one of each of the drugs when I got home last night. It takes about 24 hours to regain energy, so most of today was spent sleeping...

I did pick up the precious (16 year old) puppy, go to the grocery store (Randall's has watermelon boats filled with cut fruit for $10!), got in a little run tonight and have officially begun packing for Alaska.

Oh yeah -- I'm going to Alaska July 16-26/27! 5 nights in Anchorage (hotel) followed by 4 nights in Denali (tent) and 1 night at Tanglewood Lakes (lodge). (And with the time change, one night flying home)

Off to bed now....have a great week!

There is such thing as a BAD massage

A VERY BAD massage!

Last Monday I was feeling great after running ~5 miles both Saturday and Sunday mornings in hilly New Braunfels. After a great pilates class, I went for a massage. Didn't really need one, but thought I deserved one.

I went to Avalon massage school, where I have gone several times and had the best massages I've ever gotten - by new graduates that have some great techniques. And an hour and a half massage is $50! (Nice private rooms, subdued lighting, aromatherapy & soothing tunes playing).

When I got there, the receptionist said the intern was not available, but an instructor agreed to do the massage at no extra charge. SCORE! -- I thought.....

Right from the get-go it was not a good massage. The guy (Noel Solis - beware of him!) made some crack about people getting massages from him need to "take as much as they can handle" or something like that. Right then I stopped him & said I was there for relaxation and rejuvenation, not some hard core crap - I do that to myself running & boot camp, etc. He said okay. I said I DID NOT want to be sore the next day. He said I wouldn't.

But then he started HARD. I told him again I did not want to be sore. He eased up some & said I wouldn't - he's an instructor & knows what he's doing and is very good at it. It would just be sore while he was doing it, but then I would feel great.

This bullshit (and I don't curse) went on throughout.

If he was an intern I would have stopped him in the middle & left. If he would have been a regular masseuse I would have also. But he was so insistent that he's an instructor and is great at what he does, etc, etc, etc.

I was in more pain when I left than when I went in.

It was worse the next day.

The following day I had to go to the doctor. She said my back was bruised and swollen. It was so tender she couldn't touch me.
She prescribed an anti-inflammatory AND pain medicine AND muscle relaxers -- three different drugs!

It took an entire week for me to get over all that.

And now, I really NEED a massage, but am too scared to go get one. Seriously, I really don't know if I'll get then again anytime soon. And with training ramping up, I'd like to be getting them monthly.

AND, I've lost a week of training. I'm a measly 1.8 miles away from making 200 miles this year, but haven't been up to getting in that silly amount. I have the Run Wild 5K this Friday and am going to have a super-sucky time since I haven't been running at all.

I am going to file a complaint on that "Instructor" with the Texas Department of Health Services, the ones in charge of licensing massage therapists. I'll attach the e-mail response I got from him when I told him how sore I was....

Mother Nature beginning to speak?

Today is hill workout day, and the news reports are reporting the possibility of bad weather this eve.

Sounds like Mother Nature REALLY does not want me to do hills!!

Favorite part of toobin weekend? Running!

Which of these items would be your favorite activity:

• Toobin' the Comal river during the day & at night
• Hamburger & hotdog cookout
• Illuminated & Discovery tours at Natural Bridge Caverns
• Jacuzzi time, lots of great jacuzzi time
• Hanging out in a condo with some other folks, eating junk food & jello shots & champagne
• Getting up at 6:30 am for a 5 mile hilly run and then cooling off by jumping in a 70 degree river.

I must be freakin' nuts, because the 6:30 am 5 mile run was my favorite part of the weekend. I enjoyed it so much that I did it BOTH days! (9.7 miles total). On Sunday I even threw in some core work between the run & jumping in the river (straight after the run, still dressed, minus high priced electronics and shoes/socks).

The awesome jacuzzi time does come in a close 2nd...

Toobin @ night

This weekend I'm going night toobin' and you're not -- HaHa!

I do have a 5 mile run planned out for Saturday morning in New Braunfels. When I was there last August I did this same route, so it'll be interesting to see how much better/worse I do this time.

I am so ready for some chilaxing time. (I've been wanting to use that word, Viv!)

Have a great weekend!

Mother Nature doesn't want me to do hills!!

Today I sucked up the courage to go to my first-ever hill training.

Just as I was pulling up (still in the car) BAM - thunder, lightning and rain. (And it hasn't rained much this year.) The sky is still grumbling 15 minutes later and it's pouring out.

If Mother Nature doesn't want me to do hills, I think that's a dang good sign for me to not do them! (Ever?)

Garmin interval not working

Help me Garmin users -- I can't get my interval times to work anymore!

I go into Training Assistant - Interval Workouts - Set Time & Rest Time - then set the time, rest time & reps, hit done. The "Press Start to Begin Intervals" screen comes up. I press start and it just starts going like normal, no intervals. No beeps at the end of the set time or rest time. No interval workout at all.

I thought maybe I did something wrong, but have gone over & over it.
I've tried setting the intervals at 10 seconds and nothings happened interval wise -- it just keeps on going like I'm not using the intervals.

I've used them a lot in the past without a problem.

Any ideas??

I have the Forerunner 301.

I've gone through the manual and looked on their website & tried to find help through internet serches too.

Weekend review

Kind of a low-key boring weekend. Got to rest up for night toobin next weekend!

Friday -- I went to watch the bats at Allen Parkway & Waugh. There was a big crowd there and a lot of bats to see! They started steaming out about 8:15 and there were still some vortexing when we left about 10pm.

Saturday -- I love Houston Fit Fall 1/2! We had a GREAT run. A really supportive, talkative group of ladies (where ARE all the men?? During Spirit of the Marathon, they showed Chicago Fit's weekly meeting and it was mainly women there too. I didn't realize I had said "Where are all the men" so loud until the theater started laughing).
We did 4 miles and I was really wanting to run some more, but didn't want to push it and then have an injury.

That afternoon I went to a kayak rolling practice & pool party. It was fun. I realized it's been an entire year since I've been kayaking. I have one, just can't transport it!

Sunday -- I did as little as possible and it was nice! I did go visit my mom for a long time and took along Winslow and the dog I'm dog-sitting. Also did some more research on Alaska activities, I leave a month from today!

And I cooked my meals for the week, filling up the little black boxes from My Fit Foods so they're all set to go in the fridge:

• breakfast - scrambled eggs (more white than yolk), veggie sausage patty & boiled new potato
• lunch -- spicy baked chicken with new potatoes and cabbage (weird once-a-year cabbage craving)
• dinner -- interesting mix of soy sauce & ginger on chicken with cabbage some zuccini and peppers along with some broccoli
• snacks -- cottage cheese & raspberries & strawberries, EAS protein shakes, yogurt, peaches, almonds, Oatmega bars (only 2 snacks per day, but those are all my options for the week).

Plus I got in a simple little 2 mile run at 9:30 pm last night. I think I'm now officially in the 13+ min/mile category. So it's looking like every 6 months or so I'm getting better by a minute per mile. Maybe by the time of the Houston 1/2 in January I'll be down to 11 min/miles! (But would be happy with 12 min/miles and satisifed with 13 min/miles.)

Fancy new lightbulbs not so great....

I learned that those fancy-schmantzy new lightbulbs that are way more expensive than the good ole ones we've used since childhood do not work in fixtures with photocells. (Photocells are the sensors that will turn a light on when it's dark and off when it's light out. One of the joys of homeownership - having to learn all about things you never wanted to know about.)

That sucker didn't even last 24 hours. Back to the good ole standbys I've always known and loved.

Random thoughts on the road

I wish I had a little micro recorder to take along on runs. I think of some good things out there, but then get back inside & *poof* it all disappears.

I did a couple of things to be proud of along my run today:
- I did it. That's good for me lately. (OHMIGOSH - I just realized I've actually done something (run-jog or pilates) everyday since Monday of last week!! It's been moderate enough activity that I don't think I'm overdoing it, though.)

- I was planning ahead on where to walk & drink and realized I was thinking "I'll take a break when that light pole gets to me" instead of thinking when I get to it. I didn't even realize I was doing that at first. Pretty cool.

- My walk breaks usually would time out at 7 minutes, in Houston Fit I'm with a group doing 5/1, so I should be super prepared!

- I might actually be acclimating to the heat. At least I thought I was since I wasn't miserable (@ 6:30 pm) like I was last night (@ 10pm). But then I came in and checked the weather on the internet and see humidity was way down. So I might not be as acclimated as I had hoped. The Houston Fit newsletter for this week talked a lot about acclimation. I threw that last comment in just so I could use the word acclimation again since I know it's Viv's word of the month.

- I did a negative split - mile 1 was still a bit too fast, but miles 2-4 were each slightly faster than the last. The overall times were much slower than what I have been doing, but in the HF newsletter it did say that most times will be about a minute higher due to the heat.

- I enjoyed my run!

Karma

*&^%$#! that Karma!

Since I taunted in my last post, that mean ole Karma came back on me already.

I've been doing great sticking to my training schedule, plodding along. Today I didn't get a chance to run until 10pm. Ugh that's late. And still hot!
Despite drinking my entire hand-held water bottle, I still lost .3 lbs. of sweat. And it's still pouring out....
You're welcome for the nice visual.
Pleasant dreams....

HaHa

I'm going to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner and you're not. HaHa.

(I don't really care much for chain restaurants, but I like to tease people....)

I *heart* Houston Fit!

Man that run felt good today! HOT, but good. (Although I think I'm acclimating pretty well.)
I did walk a tad bit, but my running buddy du jour (Kate) and I kept each other on track - knowing when to push each other & when to slack off.
I had Garmin issues (it wasn't beeping for the intervals like it should, even though I pretty sure it was set right), but according to the folks I finished with we made GREAT time - 13 min/miles. Woo-Hoo!

Running can be *fun*

Just 'cause I wanna

Houston Fit is bright and early at 6:30am, so tonight is usually a no-run night.

But I really wanted to do a little running.

I only did a mile and 3/4 - came back to check on the sprinkler in the front yard and decided it was too late to keep at it tonight. At the end I had the precious puppy along, so it was a really slow run (He's a spry 16 year old). But we netter out at a 15 min/mile.

I learned a joy of home ownership - getting to run through your own sprinkler at the end of a run. Wonder if the neighbors were watching.

PS -- Tomorrow I have to exchange a pair of white denim capri pants I bought because I can literally take them off without unbuttoning or unzipping them! Woo-Hoo!
(But I did compare them to a pair of jeans I own and even though they are the same size, the capris are obviously bigger.)

Chuging along.....

Attn non-running readers: This is a boring running post, you may want to skip it (Kelly).

This running crap isn't all that horrible!

I just did 2 miles (@ 8pm, 85 degrees, 70% humidity) and it felt pretty good. My knees are hurting (lifelong knee problems) a tad. I might have gone around another mile, but don't want to push it. (In case you didn't know, I've been slacking a LOT lately.)

I averaged 13:45 min/miles which is great for me (Esp. since I stopped a couple of times to try and coax a lost doggie over to me, who I later coaxed back home not even knowing that was his home, 2 streets over from where I first saw him. And I also stopped twice to upright overturned trash cans -- it got windy!)

Last year at this time I couldn't even fathom running. I was a PIM drop-out and just knew running wasn't my thing.

11 months ago I couldn't run more than 1/4 mile without gasping for breath and having to walk (and sometimes just turning around and going home). 6 months ago I did 13.1 miles in training. 5 months ago I did an official 1/2 marathon.
And have plans to do a lot more 1/2's in the future -- (Houston in October, San Antonio R&R in November, Houston in January, possibly Surfside in February and most definitely Seabrook in March - possibly both Sat & Sun).

And now to get back into training shape...
Yesterday I did a mile, today I did 2 miles.

I'm getting there....at my own pace....

(Plus, I'm tired of seeing that little 0 on the sidebar as the miles I've run....)

Now I need to work on getting my eating totally back on track so I can kick some booty in Viv's Independance Weight Loss Challenge.

Two thumbs up!

I don't want to give anything away, so won't give a detailed review, but do give Sex & the City two thumbs up.

I went in with low expectations, since movies don't usually live up to the original form (book, show, play, nursery rhyme even!). I was very pleasantly surprised with the script, storyline, acting, etc. All 4 ladies had pretty good plot lines. Now thinking about it more, I could knit-pick a lot of it and I like liking the movie, so I'm not going to think about that anymore. Just go, sit back & enjoy!

One thing, I thought Carrie was wearing the same shoes in a couple of scenes. I'm not a big shoe-ho & not really into fashion at all (this weekend I bought clothes at Target & Sam's Club!). Since shoes are such a big deal in S&TC, I was looking at them and surprised to see the same or similar shoes in multiple scenes.

Worth going to see now instead of waiting for video. I got my $7.50 worth!

I just might start liking the running *&^%#@ again!

Yea! Houston Fit started this morning -- bright and early at 6:30 am!

This is the Fall training group, so we meet at Luke's for 5 weeks before moving over to Memorial Park when the regular group starts.
I REALLY like this group:

• it's MUCH smaller (I'd guess the 1/2 marathon group is about 40 people, for the regular session it was about 300.)
• we should have some more interesting routes (not having to run up/down Memorial to Uptown or River Oaks. And not the dreaded Blossom street)
• Luke's is open, so we can go inside for the restroom and to soak up some A/C!
• They had cold paper towels waiting for us at the end of the run -- AAAHHHH (and water/gatorade to drink)
• I know or recognize a LOT of people. About 10 PIMsters, some people from last year, and other people that just look familiar from "somewhere"
• The 1/2 group is MUCH better organized than it was in the past. Although most of the coaches seemed to be for the fast folks and most of the folks seemed to be in the slower group.
• We can actually hear what the head coach is saying!
• The group seems to be very talkative.
• Headphones are banned from all group runs (Yea!)
• It's getting me up and on my feet and I actually liked it again!

Although I like it being small now, I'm glad we join up with the regular group later when our runs start getting longer. If I was training with a group this small, I would end up running most of the long runs solo. I need a couple of hundred people with me on 10-milers so I won't be all alone! (And I was still solo for about a 2 mile stretch on Dunleavy last year. Apparently I run at a really weird pace. According to the guys on the bikes, I was inbetween two really big groups of people.)

A good thing about getting up this early on Saturday is then I went right over to Target & was able to get a parking space in the front row & be able to shop without a crowd! I thought of going by Houston Garden Center for some more grass, but opted to go home to eat & nap instead.

Have a great weekend -- and a great run!

Weight loss Challenge

On the off chance I have a lurking reader out there that does not also read Viv's blog, you should check it out and consider signing up for her Weight Loss Challenge.
In a nutshell, e-mail her your starting weight on Sunday June 1 and each Sunday throughout the month (which will remain private!).
Those that lose the most percentage-wise will not only have a hot bod & bragging rights, but also some pretty sweet prizes:
Brooks Running will be sponsoring a complete outfit of one of the winners choice.
RunJunk.com will be sponsoring $50,$30,$15 gift certificates (AND 5% discount to all participants through the month of June using this promo link in addition to a free hat or visor on purchases over $100!)
Running Knitter will be knitting some custom made cozy socks for lounging in after a long run.
Check out her blog for full details.

I'm in!

Luau for Leukimia & Lymphoma (TNT benefit)

If anyone is looking for something to do Friday that sounds like a great time AND will benefit a great cause, there is a Luau for Leukemia & Lymphoma at the Social on Washington tomorrow eve. There is a $15 cover, and $10 of that will go to Team in Training. If you do go and mention Fe Henning's name, the $10 will go into her fundraising account :-).

Fe is training for the San Antonio Rock & Roll 1/2 Marathon (WOOT!!). This will be her FIRST 1/2 marathon! Send some positive vibes her way -- both for the training and the fundraising!

http://www.thesocialinfo.com/events.php

Gonna run tonight, gosh-darn-it

OK - the sunburn redness has gone away, so tonight I'll actually strap on a sports bra & if not in too much pain set out on a slow re-entry run.
I did go for a rualk (run-walk) last Saturday, so at least I've gotten out there some.

Somewhere I read about someone that listens to books-on-tape while running. I decided to give that a shot when I ended up on the audio book aisle at Sam's. The first one I picked up was about a knitting shop, which made me think of Running Knitter & I thought that was a good sign. I didn't pay attention to the title, but later saw it's The Shop On Blossom Street. Which could either be a good or bad sign - since that's the street so many training runs go down leaving Memorial Park.

With the book loaded on my iPod I set off last Saturday and although it did make the time go by quicker, it doesn't do much for helping with speed. Between listening to the book, the oppressive heat, and my running funk, I walked a lot more than I ran.
But, listening to more of the book is part of what's making me want to get out some more.

Burn, baby burn....ouch

Yesterday I, along with Jennifer and her niece Jackie, went to Bryan Beach (near Surfside). That morning, before leaving home, I started applying sunscreen. I still got burned.

I reapplied a couple of times out there, we had an EZ up canopy (granted, I usually was not underneath) and I had a big floppy hat.
Guess this is proof that I'm getting old -- I used to never get burned. Ozone layer, global warming, blah blah blah. I'm just old.

I did spend several hours out playing in the pretty impressive waves, so sunscreen would have been worn off while in the waves. (Dang ocean stole my hair tie the first time I was out there and then my sunglasses the last time I was out there! The waves were knocking us all over the place -- what fun!)

My shoulders are the worst, as you can see..... And I know they have a tendency to burn since they're not exposed to the sun as much as the rest of me, so I had taken special care to apply more sunscreen to them.


I did make the stupid mistake of forgetting about my feet & they are also a bit crispy. Not too bad, though. Legs & arms are fine. And luckily my scalp looks good -- that's the WORST place to get burned (and then to peel). I do put sunscreen up there too!

The first sunscreen I used was some of that bug & sun stuff (spf30). I'm not using that kind anymore. The other stuff was spf 15, the regular 30 was safely at home, ooops.

Needless to say, I'm staying indoors today.
Hydrating and moisturizing & vitamin e-ing. All that salt water yesterday and now all the lotions today my skin feels really good now!
No running for me today ;-)!!!

Response to Steeeve & I like being a penguin!

This started out as a response to Steve's comment on the last post, but then it got so wordy and morphed into an "it's cool to be slow" message that I thought it was worth of being it's own post.....

Oh Steve -- I think your WAY underestimateing the "power" of PIM. I know quite a few people that are returning to PIM now that had previously done it several years ago (like me). In fact, I had to convince 2 people that Jack and you are not the same person (big compliment to you both - you both are awesome!)

Although it may seem like people are dropping out forever, the things learned and experienced in PIM stays with folks.

Remember I sent that e-mail to you, Amy & Andrea about 2 years after I did PIM thanking you for being such great inspiration and that I think of you doing non-running activities. Even thought I wasn't running, you were still a great influence on me! [Note: I located that e-mail and attached is as the next post.]

PIM, and a lot of the other running groups, put a really big emphasis on speed. Doreen & I went to that first Strider's meeting partially because when someone from the Striders spoke at PIM they acknowledged the slow people.

I'm not fast.
I'm not going to be fast.
I don't really even care to be fast.
I'm okay with that.

But it did take a couple of years to come to terms with that.

I have to find my own glory when finishing after others have finished, hydrated, cooled off, eaten, stretched and sometimes left.

In Houston Fit, I realized that I can go the distance with out being fast. And I really prefer longer, slower runs. I don't want to do speed work, it hurts my knees and I get no pleasure from doing it. I refuse to do an indian line, ever.

5Ks are a big turn off to me since I am slower. I'm not out there for speed. I don't want to run at "5K pace." I want to jog along in my own little groove. That's where I find happiness.

I really don't have much incentive to do 5Ks. They are rather embarrassing for me since I finish near the end. I already have plenty of cotton t-shirts (I'm planning on making them into an art car!), goodie bags for 5Ks have been disappointing after seeing 1/2 marathon's swag (esp. Seabrook!), there's usually not much food left for the slow folks and of course no awards for the slowpokes.

And then everyone wants to know your time.

Hey -- I don't ask you how much money you make, don't ask me how fast/slow I run!
You run for time, I'll run for fun!

However... the Race for the Pennant does give game tickets & it's hard for me to pass up a good discount. But that's the first day of Houston Fit fall 1/2 marathon training. It's a toss-up....

Now that I realized that I'm okay with being in the back of the pack, I'll keep chugging along at my happy little pace.

So many people that are into running scoff at joggers, but I'm perfectly happy jogging along at my own little pace... Whether it's with a group or solo.

*The miracle isn't that I finished, but that I had the courage to start*

That quote takes me back to the PIM influence -- Amy Benedict (the best PIM coach ever!) told our group about John Bingham and even printed out some of his writings for us. The Penguin has been a huge influence in me having the courage to continue/come back to running. (And having a coach let us know it's fine to be slower helped.)

Sometimes encouragement takes a while to set in....

As an add-on to what you just read about PIM, I went back in my e-mails and located the message I sent May 23, 2004 to two of my former PIM coaches (note that I said running is not for me - famous last words! But then again, I'm a jogger, not a runner!):

Amy and Andrea,

Y'all probably don't remember me, but I wanted to let both of you know that your coaching during Power In Motion is STILL a wonderful inspiration to me.

I was in your classes like two or three years ago and decided running is just not for me (Amy was in the Fall, Andrea the following Spring).

However, things that I learned from you both have stuck with me and when I'm working out or at the gym or doing other activities I think of your encouragement and it helps me to complete whatever I'm doing.

A couple of examples:
Amy, I remember asking you once "When is all this running crap gonna start to be fun?" You're response was "When you get to stop and eat." I still laugh about that and it gets me to perceiver and swim another couple of laps.
Andrea, your encouraging e-mails to the group were wonderful and I think back on them while doing the last 15 minutes on the elliptical machine.

Thanks for being such awesome coaches, all the incredible encouragement and providing inspiration that has really lasted years!!!!

Wahoo!
Anna

PS -- I decided to copy "headcoach" so the PIM "powers that be" know what a fantastic service you both have provided.

All Day Boot Camp, take 2

Well faithful readers, you will recall that I was pretty stoked about signing up for All Day Boot Camp, but then one-thing-after-another that was done poorly/wrong made me stop and demand a refund. After a couple of e-mails with the owner, who is now much nicer, she has convinced me to give them a 2nd chance (for free). So tonight I'll see how it's improved.

I really, really liked Love Your Body Fitness bootcamp, but they are on a little hiatus until June.

I was going to try West U Fitness boot camp, but it doesn't start until 6:30pm and the location has me doubling back past work after I go home for an hour and a half. So I didn't even try it out since I knew I wouldn't want to go at that time.

Still not getting that running bug.

It's hot out there!

C'mon y'all -- send some postive running mojo my way!

Big ole goose egg

Anyone notice that big fat 0 next to my miles run for the week over on the side bar?

I have.

Kinda disappointed to see it there, but not getting up to do anything about it.
I am pretty impressed with my 300+ miles since 7/7/07 (when I started tracking miles), and impressed with my close-to 150 miles this year.

Still disappointed in that ZERO for this week.
(I did run in boot camp on Monday, but didn't log it)

To run or not to run....that is the question. And the answer is not....check back with me next week to see if the answer will change....

Love to Viv

GOOD LUCK VIV!!!

Rock out your 1st 1/2 Marathon this weekend!

You'll do awesome -- as you have been doing!

Keep inspiring me!

Bring home some BLING (it's all about the medal!)

Lots of love,

From the entire Anna-omaly family.

ShamPooch

I almost don't want to post this so it isn't too crowded, but not that many people read this anyway.....

Whole Foods on Kirby
Saturday, May 17th
ShamPooch12:00–4:00 p.m.
Free
Calling all dog owners and dog lovers! The Humane Society will be here to Shampoo your Pooch. Enjoy a Hot Dog and Dogfish beer while your pooch takes part in a Doggy Tastefair and Dog Wash. After the bath every pup will go home with a doggy bag, we are sure to have you wagging your tale.

I'm a strider

I just signed up with Houston Striders.

Not sure if they're much better/worse than any of the plethora of other running groups in Houston, but I've heard of them for a long time, they seem to have some slow folks (like me) and they have free food at their meetings! I think they were the ones that originally developed our beloved Power In Motion training group.

I went to their meeting at Chatters on Tuesday. They didn't seem real welcoming to new people. I stood around by myself for a while, talked to one nice younger lady but then went and sat by an older lady where there was an extra seat and she wasn't too friendly. No one seemed to be approaching new people and there wasn't any sort of a welcome table. If my friend Doreen wasn't coming, I may have bailed.

Once Doreen got there I had someone to talk to & then it got better.
There was a (FREE!) buffet -- greek-type salad, bread, 2 kinds of penne pasta with vegetables (alfredo or marinara)and roasted chicken breast with tea or water. (We had wondered about food & I figured it was order off the menu & separate checks. Doreen had thought maybe munchies.)
We went through the buffet line and sat at a 4 person table. The two guys that came and sat with us were both really nice, then they left and two ladies came that were both new also, so it was better then.
A lady spoke on the training programs that they are setting up and reformulating & it was a really good talk. We both took notes! The lady really knew her stuff & I learned a thing or two (or ten). I don't think I'll join up with their marathon training program (still want to do Houston Fit), but can run with the Striders during the week. They run at both Memorial and Terry Hershey (JD -- that's out near Katy....)

Oh yeah -- the Striders are the ones that sponsor the Houston Half in November and at the end of the meeting gave away the extra singlets. I got two!

So I figure my free meal and two singlets somewhat offset the $22.20 I just spent to join up.
(And maybe now I'll be fired up to run some more....)

6 word MeMe

WOW - I haven't blogged in a while. Partially because I've been working in exile and partially because I mainly started blogging about running, inspired by Viv, and lately I've been hating running.
Which brings me to my 6 word MeMe that Running Knitter tagged me with creating. Here it is:

Why the heck do I run??

That pretty much sums up how I've been feeling lately. I've been doing bootcamp, hiking, pilates (1st time, it's fun!) along with eating right. But...when it comes to running, I've lost that lovin' feeling.

I am somewhat looking forward to Houston Fit (Fall 1/2 marathon training) starting at the end of the month and went to a Houston Striders meeting last night (free food and some free singlets!), so that has me fired up some.
Still not wanting to put the foot-to-pavement. I'm thinking if I slack off for a week or so that I'll get the desire back. I hope.

So, fellow runner, Why the heck do YOU run? Let's itemize:

1. 'Cause it feels so good when you stop
2. Meeting other health-minded people (both in person and in blog-land!)
3. Opportunity to join in a great running community (I'm considering joining Striders and/or another group)
4. Lose weight & feel great
5. Having alone time to think, clear mind, etc (sometimes not a good thing....)
6. Feeling of accomplishment
7. Notice things you don't see speeding by in a car
8. Commune with nature
9. Buy cool gear (which is actually a negative since that's some pricey gizmos!)
10. Race packets and 5K shirts to eventually have made into a quilt
11. Deena Kastor eats 5,000 calories a day and is a stick figure!
12. Deena Kastor eats FIVE THOUSAND calories a day and is a stick figure!
13. IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MEDALS!!!

Still not feeling to fired up, but I really do want more medals....

WHOOPEEE!!!!!

OHMIGOSH!!!

This isn't as great as the Viv-at-the-Gap epiphany, but I'm pretty stoked about it!

I was looking through thumbnails from the Cinco de Mayo 5K and saw someone that might be me, but then thought "HA!! You're much fatter than that" I looked at the thumbnail a little more and decided yep - not me. But went ahead and clicked on the pic to see just how wrong I was and.... IT IS ME!

WOO-HOO!!! I'm not as fat as I think I am!!! (At least in this pic). (Although my upper arms still look big - both in the pic & and person.)

Boot camp today was GREAT. On my way home I was even thinking of trying to go on Wednesday before PIM, but since it's our last PIM session would like to be fresh to get in one last good run with them. Unfortunately, this session of boot camp is over after next Monday and the next won't start until 6/2 - a two-week break. I just found one I like and it's ending so soon! But I'm signing up for the full session (7 weeks I think). Memorial Park, 5:30 pm in July....woah.

Weekend wrap up: early rising, exercise, napping

Saturday was the Cinco de Mayo run. Which meant a 5:15 AM wake-up, leave home at 6-ish to make the 7am start time. Ugh. But, it was a really nice morning. Cool-ish and low humidity. The run was along a loop that was repeated in part, but since we were going around in circles you couldn't really tell. Until getting lapped, but in my little penguin world I'm okay with that. And I was only lapped by about 3 people before I took the turn back & they sprinted onto the end.
My time wasn't as well as I had hoped, but not bad considering I've been hating running a lot these past couple of weeks & therefore not doing it too much! I finished in 39:something...
So then I came home and took a nice long nap....

Sunday morning I went along on the Bayou City Outdoors Houston hike. We did a little over 6 1/2 miles from Jackson Hill back to Memorial park. We were headed down to the bayou, but more than half of our group missed the fork in the trail, so ended up having to track them down on the biking trails. Winslow came along for this jaunt and stayed perky through out most of the trip. He was dragging on the last 1/2 mile or so & I considered picking him up, but didn't want to embarrass him. Amazing he's still so spry at (almost) 16. Quite a wonder dog.
So then I came home and we both took nice long naps.....

Boot camp is tomorrow - yeah!
This is the last week of my 21-day My Fit Foods challenge. Man I still love their food! I think my economic stimulus funds will just go right over to them...

Yesterday I switched over to the fun-looking bootcamp and it was SO MUCH better. It was tough, but the trainer was really good and kept it interesting. There were about 15 ladies, which was kind of too many for my preference, but it was fine being that large. Apparently a lot of them are school teachers and talked about that a lot.

This one, Love your Body, is all women (with a man trainer) and you sign up for one day a week, although it is offered on both Monday and Wednesday evenings. (They also have some morning/day sessions and a 1 1/2 hour Saturday 6:30 am session. I'm sorta-kinda thinking of going to that one.) Right now I'm just doing Mondays until Power In Motion ends in 3 weeks, then I'll do Wednesdays too.

Now I can enjoy boot camp like Running Knitter!

Also, I'm down 6.4 lbs in 9 days on the My Fit Foods Challenge. It's really not hard to stick to it at all since the food is so freaking good. I did miss up a little on Saturday when I went to 2 parties back-to-back, which wasn't bad until party #2 pulled ribs off the grill. I shouldn't have, but did and it really wasn't that good. It did screw up my weight loss mode some, so it's kind of good I did that so now know the effects. I do wonder losing this quickly it usually doesn't last. But I am eating real food & a lot of it, so it seems healthy for me. I would love to eat their foods all the time, but it's just too freaking expensive for me. (~$22 day for breakfast, lunch, dinner and 2 snacks).

I'm working on the 6 word meme that Running Knitter tagged me with & will post it soon, but doubt I will tag more people to do the same. But may, so watch out.....