Preparations!!! and a story about headphones

  So the final day is very near.  Today I will begin to put together as much of my gym bag as I can.  I have been making a list of what needs to go into this thing.  But first let me tell you about my headphones.

Story about the rain soaked headphones.

{skip to next bold type if you fear boredom or non nonrelatio/n}

  I have a pair of motorola over the ear wireless headphones, and I LOVE them.  I love them so much that one day when a down pour hit me I had a little too much faith in these things.  I tucked my phone into my backpack, but kept running with the headphones thinking they were not getting that wet.  Well I was wrong.  As I pulled up to my driveway that day the volume began to dim, and I lost them.  There was no sense in trying to revive them as I knew full well it was my stupidity that got them to where they were.  When my husband got home I told him the story.  He asked if I had tried to start them up again while they were wet, I told him I knew better than that.

These are my precious loves

  Not too long after that he had seen in the Costco coupons that there was a set of wireless headphones. These looked like they would even stand up to the rain!  Precious time went by and I finally made it to Costco and picked up the phones.  I wore them on my 10 mile run Wednesday...one week to what I have been training all this time for.   They worked perfect and had the buttons all placed in the same spot as the other phones, however these were wrap around the head in-ear phones.  So by mile 9.5 I could begin to feel the pressure on my ear, and the pain of them having been wrapped around my head for an hour and 35 minutes.

These will do the trick

  The next day I tried to put them in my ears to pair them with my iPad (which they are not compatible where as my others were!), and OUCH the pain was so much that I knew I wouldn't be able to wear them for the race.  I know part of it could be my fault, I am going to try at another point to put a smaller pair of those soft ear things over the buds.  So I got online and ordered another pair of my favorite kind (which btw are less expensive than the ones I got at Costco) WELLLLL...Amazon gave me a delivery estimation that was too late!, and there is NO way I was going to pay expedited shipping, not after all I have spent in other areas for this race!  I ordered them, then said a little prayer for them to come in time.  Later that day or the next day I can't remember, I decided to give one last go to the "ruined" headphones.  At first I turned them on, and quickly began to lose hope because the song on my phone was not coming through to my headphones.  Then I remembered that in my sorrow just a few days before that, I had told my phone to "forget this device" :(  So I turned the blue tooth "on" and waited..."enter security code" it said...so far so good.  Then all of a sudden the song was coming through!!!  I tried not to get too excited because I had to test wear them to make sure it wasn't going to short out.  I listened to those for a whole hour!  Yay!!! I am so excited!  I am going to test them on my last run before the race, and never wear them in the rain again.

  

Getting ready, mentally and physically

At this point the race is in 5 days.  I feel that I am ready.  Yesterdays run (only two days after 10 mile) was a struggle.  Even after I ate my candy, even on the downhill back home.  It really made me think twice about he Harvest days run I have planed in my head, but am waiting till after the half before I make my final decision. 

  Yesterday the girls and I went to Goodwill to find a "throwaway" jacket for when I am cold starting the race and need to ditch it in the interim.  It was a red tag day.  I can never find a cute anything in the tag color...but of course on the day that I am looking for something practically repulsive,  everything cute jumps out at me.  I found a jacket that I thought was pretty ugly at first...till I needed it today when I wanted to run in the rain.  That Jacket was nice and light and repelled the rain nicely.  Doesn't it figure.  I may not even need it at the start!  The forecast is 51 degrees F

said jacket (it even has a fold up hood)

  Since I wrote the headphone story, I went on a three mile run.  I wasn't able to test the over the ear headphones because it was raining, so I took the in-ear ones and replaced one of the little plastic spongy thingies.  They worked a lot better, however still not as nice as the originals.

  Todays run started out to be kind of difficult as well, but by the turnaround I was doing much better.  Hopefully tomorrow I can do a little speed work.   HA!  How's that for runners lingo?  You like that?  Speedwork, I have figured out is when you try to make better time!

  I have this master list of what to bring with me to the hotel, and it all has to fit into my gym bag.  Oh and BTW, the host hotel was full, so I made reservations with the hotel up the street.  Come to find out in one of my emails (not sure how I missed it!) that MY hotel is offering a discount too.  So I am hoping they can give me the lower rate, what ever that works out to be.

Here is my list so far;
Sports clothing
Change of street clothes
Deodorant/body spray (plan on hanging around for festivities)
Cell Phone (this should be a given, but I am not sure I will be having my brain with me)
Head Phones
5 hour energy.  I am avoiding coffee so I don't have to visit the port a potty during the race.
Bottled water for the night in the hotel
water back pack
ibuprophin
tums (you never know)

Entertainment dilema

 If you have been following my blog you are aware of my "where to put my phone while I run this" circumstance.  Well last night when I was thinking before I went to sleep I had an idea.  What if I take my whistle lanyard and somehow hung my iPone case from it around my neck? 

 This is my result

It looks like it would bounce around and drive me crazy right?  Well only if I let it.  Today on my 3 mile, I tucked this into my shirt and it barely bounced at all.  And the case is meant to repeal sweat, so my phone should be fully protected!  And if it does become bothersome I can always throw it in my back pack.  

  So slowly but surely I am becoming prepared.  I have a few more questions to answer, like which shuttle to take?, What to eat for breakfast?, and will I even sleep?  I hope I remember everything.  

my first 10 mile ever! (in my life)

Whenever I get home from a run, the first thing I want to do is sit down and tell you all about it!  But that would not be the nicest thing I did to myself.  When I got home this morning I was stuck between grabbing the gear that I ditched, stretching, taking an ice bath, or getting my stomach some chocolate milk.

  I decided I better go grab my gear.  On the way home from my run, I told myself "you are not going to talk the babysitters ear off about your run, no matter how interested she looks".  I mean it, this young lady looks like she cares and is interested in what I am saying.  She comes from good parents, good manners she has, because I know there is no way in the world she cares!  She even listens AFTER I pay her ;)  So after I sent her away I hopped in the minivan and picked up my water pack I ditched on the road leading to my house, then out one more mile to pick up my jacket that I had originally ditched 2 miles in, but on the second return, grabbed it and dragged it a little closer and more easily accessible.  I didn't want to be pulling over on a 50 mile an hour country road to grab a jacket.

  The details

I left my drive way sometime after 7 am.  I had my back pack with water, safety pinned to that I had my pack of jelly beans.  It is hard to figure out where to put everything because I don't like removing my back pack and having to put it back on.  But I do however think it is better than having something strapped around my waist possibly pressing on my bladder.  I set my GPS, turned on RunCast and set out.  I threw my phone into the back pack, but the part where I put it was pressing on the water bag and therefore cutting off the flow of water through the drinking tube.  I was almost a half mile when I realized this, and decided it was time for my audiobook anyway.  So I took off the pack, switched over to book, placed my phone in another pocket and I was good for a while.  I was pretty chilled in the shade, and my hands were still cold so I kept my jacket on for about 2 miles.  When I shed it, I lied it over the post to someones mailbox.  If I am right it was the mailbox to the sweet older woman I had seen a few days prior, I knew she wouldn't mind.  I won't take you through every mile, but I will tell you that in my avoidance to retrace the hills right before my driveway, led me to create a variated route to get the miles in.  I didn't want to go to far from home, and in the grand scheme of things I was never more than 2.5 miles away.  

  Mile 8ish.  I was going to take a pic of the scenery before me, but the camera was on the mode where it takes a pic of me, so I decided hey, why not?  I am actually running here, how's that for iPhone stability?

This is what I was trying to get a picture of originally.

So after I went all the way to the end of this road, which wasn't really far at all, I made my turn around and thought I would have reached mile 9 way before I did.  Oh man.  I contemplated going back down that road again, but didn't.  Hind site says I should have.  I was seeking a road, ANY road I could turn down before I got to my road!  I found one.  It was a hill.  GRRRR  so up this hill I travel, looking forward to the way down.  Got down the hill, and STILL no 9 mile call out!  So I backtracked up the road.  FINALLY I hear it.  So I turn around and head home still not knowing for sure if it is a mile to the house, even though I have run this road and heard "1mile" about 15 times now when I hit that one mile mark on the way out from my house, but do you think I could remember where it was?  No, so I took my chances, and would you believe?,  I wasn't that far off at all.  

Yay!!! it's my road!

At this point I should have had about a half mile to go.  I took my phone out of my pack, and tossed...well tried to hide it in the bushes (it's expensive!)  And picked up my pace so I could make those imp hills!  I muscled up and pulled into my drive way right at 10 miles!  How crazy is that???

Home now

After grabbing some chocolate milk then my gear from the sides of the road, I headed up for my ice bath.  It was actually just cold water, no ice.  And to tell you the truth I was freezing before I ever got in.  I contemplated wearing my sweatshirt in there but decided not to.  Nope.  I put the water to leg level and got in with my birthday suit.  Yes there was some squealing going on.  Then I read on some other girls blog how to properly take an ice bath.  Hmmm, I wish I would have read that BEFORE taking mine.  She not only wore jacket, she wore her shorts...DUH!  Well, I guess that's all for now as I have stuff I still gotta do, sore knees and all.  (it's a good sore).

My last two runs, and inspiration for the half marathon

   I have had so many things rolling around in my head that I have wanted to share.  I have been making little notes on my iPhone when I have the chance, but I usually don't because the times I think of the best stuff to write are on runs, or in the shower.  I don't take my phone into the shower believe it or not, and on runs, the last thing I am trying to pull up is notepad.

  The last post I made was about my nine mile run.  I cannot believe it is only a few days until ten miles.  I am in much deliberation about treadmill vs. road for this.  The weather is supposed to be phenomenal, and if I get out there soon enough, I know I would be able to do it without the heat.  I am also debating on driving into the nearest flatter city and scoping out a place to run around there.  I have two days to do it, so I better get started!

  I have also been desiring to add more activity to my daily routines.  I do however want to wait until after the half marathon so my body can adjust and I can see how it reacts to more exercise.  When the half marathon is over, I think for the following week, I will be doing a lot of swimming.  I have never been a great swimmer, but just being active in the pool will give me a workout and be easy on my joints.

  I recently learned through RunCast (a podcast about running) that after long runs I should ice my legs.  That can even include running cold water over them.  I have done this twice now, and at first my skin isn't a fan, but after the first two seconds it actually feels good!  Then I was listening to the two Gomers run a marathon, and they talked about ice baths and how they never would have thought to do that, they would have thought to use warm water.  I was thinking to myself "me too!".

  Recently my friend Erin sent me an awesome encouragement.  She told me about her first half marathon, and how the last few miles were great because she was running on the fact that she was running the farthest she had ever gone!  My experience will hopefully be very similar, as I am doing Hal Higdon's novice/1 training and the last long run before the race is ten miles.  He even says don't worry about being able to complete the last 3.1 if you never ran it before, because inspiration will carry you to the finish line.  Which brings me to something  I have mentioned before because I wasn't quite sure about this.  But one thing I have learned from running is that it IS possible to inspire yourself.  I always thought I should depend on others to inspire me.  This is a pretty amazing revelation if I do say so myself.  I think we can inspire ourselves on lots of levels!  Not just running.  Any accomplishment that takes hard work and discipline deserves to be rewarded with inspiration...if that makes any sense.

  Two runs ago was a 5 mile, I was having such a tough go at it.  I didn't achieve my regular "feel good" moment at the first half mile mark like I usually do.  I was feeling very tired for some reason.  I think it's because I had mixed up my schedule, and didn't give myself enough of a rest period between the 9 mile, and that run.  Just as I was beginning to pity myself, I looked up and seen a deer in the distance.  It was the first time seeing one on a run.  Oh don't get me wrong I have seen plenty of deer in my day, but something about being on a run makes it sweeter, more special.  Kind of like me and the deer were on level playing field.  Strange?  I know, but it's just the way I felt.  I love nature, and animals, and all that foo foo stuff, but I am No fanatic about it.  You won't catch me hiking a mountain to spend the night at the top, or standing in the rain on a boat to watch some whales, nor will you ever see me anywhere near a garden unless I am watering it for a friend on vacation.  Running, cleaning the house, taking care of my family, and cooking dinner are about the hardest things I do.  I love my modern conveniences.  (rabbit trail...sorry).  So I kept on running and at the half way point ate some of those energy jelly beans I bought, I was feeling much better.  I ran it in and at the last hill I had already completed my 5 miles so I was able to walk the last hill to my driveway.  I was a little discouraged that the run was difficult, but my new friend Zoran reminded me that the harder runs make us appreciate the good runs, and as I am sure I have mentioned before in the past that most of my runs are pleasant and a few difficult ones are to be expected.

  I am getting as prepared as much as I can for this half marathon in a week and a half.  I have a good dinner, nights sleep, and breakfast all planned out.  But I can only plan so much.  I am trying not to dwell to hard on the fact that I will be having my monthly visitor at this time.  According to my schedule I am due to start on the second, which if I do this would be desirable as I would be on the third day by the time of the race.  If it starts a little earlier I would be elated...but I haven't been having such luck lately.  I have so far had my monthly visitor for my First race, Disney Cruise, outdoor school, and now as scheduled the half marathon.  It's like I had free passes all those other years of my life when I got to do all sorts of stuff and never been on it.  Oh well, I guess it's time.  If you are a praying person, please pray for me to start a little early.  Thank you.

  Todays run was very good.  I purposely woke early this morning so that I would be able to get my scheduled run early.  I was quite dismayed that is was raining pretty good.  It's one thing to start in dry weather then get caught in the rain, and another thing to start in a downpour and be miserable for the whole thing.  So I figured I would be waiting till like 3 in the afternoon, but not so!  The sun began to break out around 8:30 so I strapped on my running gear and headed out for a beautiful 5 mile run!  I had a shot blok just before my half way point and that tasted really good!  It's like a little guilt free treat!  I felt the energy kick in around 3.7 miles and was on fire!  I finished strong as my 5 miles ended before the two hills on the way to my driveway, but I ran them anyway, and ran the last hill at a full sprint (not sure how fast that was because I was kind of tired, it was all I could muster anyway :))

  Well that will be all for this blog edition.  The family is getting ready to watch the latest episode of Good Luck Charlie, and I am excited to join them!  Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog.



  

Todays run 9 miles

  Wow!  I am continually amazing myself with this running thing.  I feel I am still new to the sport.  Maybe I will feel seasoned when I have gone through all four seasons, when I have no races to train for, but still keep on going.  Who knows, and I guess who really cares, all I know is that right here, right now, I feel strong.

  I know this is a gift from God.  He told me so.  During prayer/praise and worship one day I just kept hearing the words in my head "Yes, I have blessed your running, you have my blessing to keep doing it".  I believe that is why I can go as far and as long as I do.  I believe He is the One who gives me that extra push.  I used to take a drug called Cymbalta, it is an antidepressant, but for me it was for anti anxiety.  When we moved to our new home almost three years ago, I had just refilled my prescription, then lost the bottle of pills.  No where to be found, I searched the old house, the new house, and every box we opened.  It would have cost me $350 to fill that out of pocket.  So a slow slightly painful process it was to come off that medication I had been on for about 4 years.

  I was struggling, and even went back to the doctor to get a smaller dosage.  That didn't last long because by this point I was well aware of the process of breaking from the medication, and was reluctant to go through it again.  Then I tried an OTC thing I got from Costco.  That seemed to make me crabbier.  When it is a beautiful sunny day, and all is right with the world I am okay, but that is rarely how it is.  When I run, and I finish running, I feel so empowered, especially if it is a new distance.  I have always looked at runners as strong people with a goal I could never reach.  Why had I told myself that, when I hadn't ever tried it?  I had no idea there was a distance runner inside of me.  How long has she been there?  Would this have worked for me as a teen?  How about mid 20's?  Early 30's?  I have no idea, but I do know that my ability to move across the pavement, or conveyer belt at a reasonable speed is definitely a gift.  The beginning of what fueled running was the desire to lose weight, but the fuel for distance was the desire to achieve.  Some of what helped me in the beginning (the hardest part) was the trial I was facing.  I cannot go into it, but I remember it well.  Leaving work being so upset, on the verge of tears, but then hopping on that treadmill, running my sweat out, then getting off, and not having a care in the world.  I am not saying running takes the place of medication for everyone, but for me, I feel that is my medication.  My gift of serenity.  Running really helps with the dark rainy cold days.  (today is one of those days, and it's almost July!)

  Todays run was pretty good.  I always get nervous on long run days.  The earlier I can get it done the better as I will work myself up into quite the frenzy.  Then once I am there doing it, no more stress, no more nervous, just right there where I know I should be.  While we were out on Fathers day week end, I stopped by my favorite running store. Fit Right NW and picked up some energy chews, and jelly beans.

This is what they look like.

This morning I tried the black cherry Shot Bloks chews, and I am here to tell you, THE CHEWS HAVE IT!!!  Thank you to my friend Retha for the suggestion.  Those things were so easy to chew, and tasted a whole lot better.  I ate one block half way 4.5, then another at about 5.5, I cannot remember if I had a third, I don't think so, but by mile 8 I was able to bump it up to 7.0 mph, so they must have done something.  Previously I was taking a Zot candy, which was working great, but they take a long time to dissolve, and sucking on hard candy can be daunting while trying to breath, and drink water.  

  Trying to lose weight and run is proving to be harder than I though, but you can read about my qualms when I update that page (I want to throw in the towel, but the blog has kind of made me accountable :))  

  This morning my favorite running pants were in the wash, so I wore my running skirt, and nike breathable short sleeve top, I even got a compliment!  This outfit really is cute and makes me feel feminine.  NO I don NOT wear my workout clothes as daily wear, not that I would want to after that sweat fest.  Sometimes I secretly wish I could though...shhh.

  I met a new friend on Daily Mile, she is a runner in my area, and started in Decmeber just like me.  She also just did her first half marathon last week end. She likes to zone out to her music while she runs, but is interested in trying to run with a buddy, she also trained with Hal Higdon, just like I am!  How crazy that we found each other, AND she is a believer!  I am excited to get to know her, and possibly run together.

  My friend Retha will be coming down and doing the Portland Marathon in October, and has invited me to join her.  I am still not sure about this one, as I am a little chicken of the 26.2, but am strongly considering it, and am holding out on any decision until I see how I feel after this half.  

  Speaking of this half, it is getting closer and becoming more real.  I reserved a room at a hotel near where the shuttle is going to pick us up, and made arrangements for my family to meet me after the race, or at the finish.  I am also rolling around ideas in my head that involve OSF for dinner :)

 This was fathers day in Petco, I love my family.

The snake I saw on my last outdoor run.  Kurt told me it was a rattle snake, I got scared, then he grinned that devious grin...he got me!

Insecurity

This story has been on my mind, but I keep forgetting to write about it.

  I get very excited to see other people out on runs or walks.  A couple of weeks ago I was on a new route not near my house, in one of those sort of business park areas.  I like it because it has all sidewalks, no dodging traffic, or worrying about being seen over the crest of a hill.  This particular day was a cross train.  In fact it was the day I surprised myself by walking 3 miles.  As I am walking I look over at these two women on the other side of the street having a brisk walk.  So I waved a little hello.  As if to say hey there fellow exercisers!  Well no one waved back.  HOW RUDE!  So immediately I begin tearing them down in my mind.  Picking on the one for having full on work out gear for a walk!  Whatever!  If I wasn't having to cross train today, I would SMOKE you weaklings!  Yep...all this because they did not wave back to me.  If they did see me, I would say that yes that is a rude and snobby thing to do.  But it hadn't occurred to me till just now that they really may not have seen me.  Okay...now I feel a little sheepish.  I would like to clarify that I do NOT think I am better or stronger than people who walk.  I know running is not for everyone, and I like to walk every once and a while myself.  In fact I lost my first 25 lbs 11 years ago walking.  It's just that I was upset.  I guess it was like being in Jr. High all over again with those mean girls who think they are so much better, and I really did feel like I was so much less.  I am just thankful that I came home to a mom who lifted me up and encouraged me.  Those feelings still come around.  Especially at my fitness center.  I always feel like such a huge dork.  Not in a good way at all.  I feel like everyone is looking at me like I am weird.  It doesn't help that I do things out of the ordinary, but I guess if they are judging me or thinking me strange, then they can have it.  I know I am loved by the King, and people most important in my life.

  My run today was AWESOME!!!  I tried to wait till morning "traffic" would be over.  I didn't want to interfere with peoples drive to work, and school, and busses.  When I couldn't take it anymore I started my warm up in my drive way, set my Nike plus app, and was out of the gate!  The air was tolerable (not cold) and the sun was shining in a beautiful blue sky, it even smelled good outside!  As I was running and thinking to myself it's just a few more tenths before I get to the first mile, my app said I had gone a mile at a pace of 8:15, for me that would be super duper fast, I got really excited, but realized near the end of my run, that the app was off base and clocked in early for that mile, however I did run the 5 miles at an average pace of 8:34.  When I got to my driveway I still had 2 tenths of a mile to go.  Those were the hardest 2/10'ths I ran today!  I pushed myself toward the end for a good time and when I reached my driveway, I was pretty exhausted.  Aside from that, if you are a person that becomes touched easily by a heartwarming story...don't listen while you run.  Crying and running is not easy.

  I got a great stretch in outside on my mat.  How nice that was in the warm sunshine!  I drank some water then hopped in the shower.  Then I had what I call "the lights in my eyes".  This is something that has happened to me about 3 times now in the past 2 years.  I can link it to exercise, and drinking a lot of water, but I am just not sure of the exact combination.  I did ask the doctor, but there was no specific answer.  Then later I suffered a headache that I eventually had to take ibuprofen for, and it wasn't wanting to go away.  

  So, great run, bad aftermath.  We'll see how tomorrow goes.  By the way, I decided that since I am training for a few more weeks why not try to drop a few more pounds.  If you want to track my progress and listen to me jabber on about my struggles and success, you will find that at www.imusthavegainedmuscle.blogspot.com  

Tabu shoes, a fun story, and a scary story

  So as you all know by now, I am training for a half marathon.  As training progresses, I am learning new things about my body and the sport.  One of which is something I have had to prohibit myself from doing.  I have all these cute high heels that I got for the cruise our family went on in April.  One day I wore these wedges, and I kept tripping.  My husband looked at me and said "you know you really shouldn't be wearing those as you can hurt yourself then you won't be able to run."  I thought to myself "he's right".  Now I try as hard as I can to be a Proverbs 31 woman, but deep inside the majority of the time, I do not say to myself that my husband is right.  But the one time I do...I have to prove it?  It was the last trist of that particular day.  I was headed out of Fitright NW and my ankle turned underneath me.  I didn't fall down, but my ankle was hurting.  I went through a flux of emotion, first being "I hope my husband didn't see that", the second "If I just ignore it..." the third, "Okay I am so glad I have two rest days before my next run, maybe it will heal."  I am here to tell you that the third thought worked out to be true.  You know what they say, third time's a charm!  All that to say that I learned my lesson the not so hard way and until my half marathon is over, heels of any kind are tabu!  It's kind of like taking piano lessons and never being able to have fancy long nails!

  Yesterday my sister came out for a visit and we left the kids with our husbands and went to the gym, she is doing Couch to 5K, and I couldn't be more thrilled! (we talk running now).  We walked in the door to my fitness center and I asked if I could have a guest.  The guy said to my sister "Sure! Have you ever been here before?"  She told him she had and he said "okay that'll be $7"  Well long story short the "principle of the thing" came into play and we were not going to give them $7 for a 30 minute ride on their treadmill.  So we went to a different gym to do that.  We talked about just running outside, but we both had to pee real bad, and I needed to run the whole time, and I wanted us to be together, so we went to the other gym, and when we got there, it was unmanned.  Just as we were trying to figure out what to do next, my sister pulled on the door and it opened!  We went in there and had our treadmill time.  No one ever showed up, so we left some money at the desk with a note and my phone number.  No call (that's probably a good thing) but we sure did have a blast and a good story to tell.  However I am not looking forward to the next time I have to show my face in my own gym again...


  Now for today's run.  I was about a mile and 2 tenths in and this car going the opposite way passed me.  Now I didn't realize it, but apparently I listen for when the cars get out of ear shot, well this one was not only getting out of ear shot, it was in reverse whizzing back toward me.  Oh man!  I was trying not to freak out and trying desperately to recall the safety instructions I had received yesterday from the podcast "run cast" about runner safety.  Well I didn't have a whistle I could blow (I have a whistle too and I didn't bring it!)  I started running faster trying to remember if there was a house I could run toward after the bend in the road, my run began to resemble something out of Friday the thirteenth, you would have thought Jason himself was after me.  Huffing, and looking back, then forward, then back.  The reverse action stopped, but the people or person was not going their merry way, they were stopped.  I was scared.  I pulled my phone out of my arm band and was getting ready to make a phone call, then they left.  Hind sight I see two things. One, they were more than likely some people lost in the country who wanted to ask me directions (which I would not have given) and I can only imagine the conversation going on in the car, "just go, can't you see she's scared"  "maybe if I just tell her we wanted directions..."  I don't know, but the second hind sight is that the next time I run when there is no one home to check in with, I need to notify my neighbor that I am going, and supply her with my route, and SHE will be who I would call. 

  I got up to my half way point then eventually turned around.  It took me about a mile to calm down and get over that little incident.  After my half way point I began to think about the goo I had in my zipper compartment of my water bag.  I thought..."you know, if I were going to try that stuff, now would be as good a time as any".  It left an impression enough to write about it in this blog segment.  I did not say a good impression either!  That stuff was half way to nasty!  I would have to be really suffering tiredness to EVER drink that again.  Oh man, I was gagging out loud, good thing there was no one around to hear me.  There are other things runners do when others aren't around to hear us that I won't mention either ;).  So I will be sticking to hard candy, and fruit snacks to fuel my 13.1.   And to top off the run, there were two banana peels...just like in the cartoons.  


   

  

Me? Oh yea, maybe so!

I have so many ideas of things I want to add to this blog.  One of them being the gear I use and why I love it.  It's just that time thing again that gets in my way.

  I was planning on taking a trip to see a friend, and do you want to know when that trip was scheduled?  One week before my very first 13.1.  HA!!  What was I thinking?  Oh yea, I remember now, I was obviously thinking I was superwoman.  So now I have postponed that trip to be scheduled for another day.  I may think I want things to slow down, but secretly I must love going a million miles an hour.  It makes those times I get to slow down so much sweeter.

  So yesterday I was having a chat with a friend just before I was headed out for my 50 minute cross train, which turned out to be a 3 mile walk that I really surprised myself with!  She was lamenting to me about how at one point in her life she was so dedicated to keeping fit and eating right, she had her nose to the grindstone and wasn't wavering for anything (just for your minds eye this woman doesn't look unfit now in anyway, just goes to prove being healthy is far more important than a number on the scale), then she said how she wishes she could go back to that and said "kind of like you", then I was thinking YAY someone else is reading my blog!...then I thought for a second...she isn't a Facebook friend, and I have never told her about my blog, so she couldn't have read my post on my other blog about wanting to go back to when I had it all together being clean and organized (June Cleaver type), so wait...what she ultimately just said to me was that I was that person who wouldn't waiver, who was accomplishing a goal, who had my nose to the grind stone...WHAT???  WOW!  Someone sees me that way??  So here I am in the middle of it, and for a moment I stop picking on myself and realize, yea, maybe I am right there right now, and the fear of losing this momentum has got me scheming and planning  my every next move.  My commitment, discipline, and dedication is mostly derived from the fear of losing it all and going back to lazy.  That may be my motivation, but the strength that lets me do it all Comes from The LORD Jesus.

  Today is my 8 miler.  I started my period yesterday, so last night was like cramming for midterms.  I hurried and pulled up that article about running and having your monthly visitor.  There was a lot of good information in there, but it talks about adjusting your training to your cycle, and that is like adjusting a knitting pattern from a small to a large, I just don't think I could do it.  So today I am going to do what I can.  I have a salad for lunch, and raisins and candy for the run.  Plenty of water, magazines, and an iPhone.  I blow-dried my hair last night and put on lipgloss this morning.  One thing I kept thinking was, oh I shouldn't bother with my hair as I am just going to pull it back, get all sweaty and need a shower anyway, but there is this running pic of me on my desktop that when I look at it I feel pretty.  Granted my hair do was left over from the night before, but it looks better pulled back once it has been done than it does all fro(ed) out!  I really do think that feeling beautiful on the inside and outside when I am running helps me reach my goal, and on a day like this...I need all the help I can get.

Getting stronger and learning from mistakes.

Last week I was sitting in the middle school classroom sorting papers and at the same time listening to the 6th and 7th graders read from their health book.  They were reading aloud about goals.  There was so much information in the 20 minutes of reading, that I couldn't help but listen!  I heard a few things that stood out to me, but had the presence of mind to jot only one thing down, and at that be embarrassed if anyone would have seen me writing stuff I heard them reading from their text books.  Looking back on it now, I think "why would you be embarrassed?"  Hmmm, maybe I am not so grown up.  What I decided to note was where the author writes about learning from your mistakes, and not letting fear and disappointment control you.  As I pondered this thought I realized that, in fact, I do learn from my mistakes, and it took me the better half of 37 years to figure out how to do this, and I am talking about 36 years, as I  can give myself a good solid year.

  I guess it's like anything else that one sets out to do.  For instance I may tell myself I am going to pray that I realize when I am being tempted and not fall for that "banana in the tailpipe", but the very next time I may find myself indulging in the gossip, or letting something someone did stir me to anger, and forgetting to ask Jesus to take my focus of anger, until it is later than I would have liked it to been, then I am in the boat of repentance as opposed to feeling accomplished.  But each time I do that, it comes with a certain pain, or sting.  In much the same way that happens when learning the ins and outs of running.  If I forget to bring my water back pack on a 4.4 mile run, I have to hide my water bottle in the bushes and come round to it each mile or two.  Instead of beat myself up, I just know that it will be a long time before I forget my water backpack again!  Or trying to push myself up a steep incline for a mile (not sure what I was thinking) then beating myself up because I couldn't do it.  That is just plain pushing myself too hard.  With that I learned that doing the hardest thing isn't always the best thing.  I am also learning that yes, as hills make me stronger, there is a time and a place for them, and there are specific hills that I can let myself off the hook for taking on.

  Speaking of hills, I usually run smaller rolling hill types, and I can finally run my private road all the way into my house (took me about a month of running it to accomplish).  Strength comes from trying.  If I can't do it all in one shot the first time, or the second time, or even the third time, that doesn't mean I can't ever do it (a previous mindset of mine) nor does it mean I failed, it just means that each time I did do it, I got a little stronger, mentally and physically.  Running is one of the most rewarding "hard" things I have ever done.  I quoted the word hard because as I learn from my mistakes, and read helpful hints I find through friends, magazines, and websites...it becomes easier.  Not to mention all the conditioning of my body that has been happening over time.

  I was reading an article in Womans Running that highlighted some mistakes that new runners make.  The one that stood out to me was trying to do too much too soon.  (I looked up the word too in the dictionary, and I am still not sure I used it right UGH)  It also addressed not keeping time for the first six months.  Okay, so having the article six months ago could have maybe saved me from a few mistakes, but I did learn, and I have progressed.  I am just thankful for the information out there that is available to me.

  My two worst running fears.
1. injury
2. having to poop during a run (things they don't tell you about)

Caution possible TMI for men.

Traxee | Women's Running and Women Runners How Your Period Effects Your Training

While downloading interesting podcasts for my training runs, and for the half marathon, I came across this article through the podcast "run cast", where the speaker addressed this issue, then directed me to show notes on www.runcast.net.  These are fresh podcasts which I am delighted to have found!  I may not be lmao on these, but I am an information hog, I LOVE information, the more I can get on a subject that I am interested in, the BETTER!

  I have yet to read this article for myself, but I am going to ASAP!  Enjoy!