tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3788634692850067382024-03-13T02:47:40.797-07:00Confessions of a fair weather runnerJolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378863469285006738.post-34747581584998988882016-01-11T05:09:00.001-08:002016-01-11T13:38:41.663-08:00Running again on the heels of the worst cold ever!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The family dialogue of last night rattles through my head as I prepare for an early morning run. My husband Kurt who has been supportive of my running since day one is not so certain about my choice for tomorrow (this morning). He sees me blowing my nose and taking night time cold medicine and cannot help but doubt my decision for the following morning. I try to explain to my children my precious 11 and 13 year old about how it has been since last saturday, LAST SATURDAY 8 days since I have run anything. My oldest sarcastically pretends to understand while my youngest mimics me, she's talking about how it's been a whole year since she has run and doesn't know what she will ever do! My angels.<br />
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I ignore them as I have decided is the best mental route to take in these misunderstood circumstances. 3:50am, look at that! I am naturally awake before 4! No problem! I get out of bed, brush my teeth, start my coffee and text my running buddy that all systems are go! I am fine. Okay, I am hacking. That's all right, I will just get rid of it while i'm running. I learned how to get rid of that stuff while standing in a gale on a ship…I GOT THIS! After a quick Google of phlegm and what it all means, I post it to my friends on social media, after all they really need this info too, I put on my running gear, and the leg warmers. I never needed leg warmers before, but they are so cute, and my legs can get cold. At this point I am trying to ignore my throbbing head and am hoping those two Advil kick in before too late. Time is ticking, I need to wrap up this blog post and throw on the rest of my gear! Wish me blessings folks! Here goes nothing.<br />
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Jolene<br />
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You really didn't think I would leave you hanging did you? So, we got out there and it was much warmer than I expected. In my mind I was going to need to take it very slow. I think I was like a Mustang horse who had been tied down for a week because there was no worrying about speed out of the gate. Half way down the road was a different story. We hit the steady incline and I was trying hard to ignore my out of control panting. I could ignore it just fine, however I think it was a little more difficult for my partner to un-hear it. We walked a couple of times, but the run was not miserable, that's for sure! When we were approaching the turn around point for 3 miles I contemplated taking it easy and turning there, but decided that I would run as far as I could weather that be 3.5 or 4. On the way back to complete a 4 mile, we hit the hills that are the gravel road to my house. My heart rate was approaching max speed and it was time to walk/run those hills.<br />
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Afterward I felt like I might have a coughing fit to put all the previous nights to shame, but surprisingly I did not! But I couldn't even get my gear put away before my nose was running away from me, then I was hot, oh so HOT!!! I was sweating profusely and could not cool enough, the clothes were being stripped off and I was trying hard to convince myself to stay in the house. Sweat now pouring from my face, I just sat there. What happened? I think I sweat more with a cold, I must. It is 1:30 and I feel much better. The hotness went away within a couple of minutes and I was able to move on. I even got some housework done. <br />
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I hope tomorrow I can run again!!!!! I have a whole week to make up ;)</div>
Jolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378863469285006738.post-13774976945548517652015-06-19T17:15:00.000-07:002015-06-20T08:59:54.547-07:00Is this normal?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The day after the marathon I wrote a really long race recap. I read it to my family, they said it was too negative and that I would scare people away from running a marathon. That blog post unfortunately did not make the blog. <br />
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Here is the thing. I did enjoy the race. There were certain aspects I did not enjoy after mile 18, but as I read other blogs I realize most people don't have anything nice to say after mile 18…sometimes even earlier! I read about the rest period after a marathon. The suggestion was no running for 4 to 7 days. They suggested doing cardio you otherwise would not do, something just for the fun of it. I, unfortunately, did not even do that. What I did do was strength training 2 days, and core/stretching 1 day this week. I cleaned my house like mad and did a whole lot of eating. Not because I was hungry, but because I was really wanting to indulge.<br />
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The thing that is troubling me is that I need to jump right into training for another Marathon in October (Portland Marathon), but before that I got tantalized by the medal for the Flat Half this year. I run that every year and was going to forego it this year, but the medal was just too pretty! Here's the problem. I am not sure how to train with only two weeks in between. I have my idea that I am going to go with, but am just a little nervous. <br />
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I have a five mile run tomorrow. It has been 6 days since I have hit the streets. Tomorrow I have five miles to run. I am nervous about it. I feel confident that I can do it, but just wonder if it will be easy like the five's I was doing before, or if it will be long and taxing. ALSO, my client and I have decided to use the Galloway Method for the Marathon, so that's got me a little creeped out. Taking walk breaks on purpose will be new to me. <br />
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I have heard of post marathon let down where people feel like they accomplished something big, then it's like "what next?" I can only imagine that this is the lunacy that leads to more marathons then to, gulp, ultras. But what I wonder is if it is normal to feel afraid of getting back into training, because I used to feel that way after running half marathons.<br />
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Jolene<br />
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Jolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378863469285006738.post-8921404004591939982015-06-11T12:01:00.000-07:002015-06-11T12:01:10.908-07:00Dear shoes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Dear Asics Gel Nimbus 17 (white pair),<br />
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You have been with me through the miles. Taking the beating with every pounding step. Never fighting, only absorbing the abuse of the road for me. We ran over 300 miles together in preparation for our first marathon. You were with me on mile 14 for the first time, you were with me when we had to walk and I had to face the fact that running is sometimes partial to walking. And that I am not the bad mamajama I thought I was. You talked me into continuing on when the side of the road was looking like a cool bed, or when the Llama looked so snuggly and comfortable lying in the cool grass…you reminded me that you were supporting me, and that I didn't need to stop or hallucinate as we would get our brake soon enough. You helped me stay out of ditches, and never let me twist my ankle. You propelled me up hills I otherwise would have been squeamish over. Remember the time the birds were protecting their nest, and you helped me put my Speed Agility and Quickness skills into effect? What about that time we saw those chickens doing things that should have been saved for night time? What a time we had! You took me in training farther than any other shoe…all the way up to 20 miles, and then a few runs after that. Then... I began feeling like you weren't supporting me as good as you were at first. I got nervous. I bought a new pair of Asics Gel Nimbus 17 (blue pair). I am sorry. It didn't take me long (15 miles to be exact) to figure out that even though they supported me, they hadn't been through what we have been through together. They didn't lace up as easy, they weren't as playable and comfy as you. I am sorry that I humiliated you by putting you on the left foot and the new shoe on the right foot and paraded you around the driveway to test out which pair I would take on the race. How could I do that to you? I had to realize the hard way that you had not lost your structure, no, instead you had turned into what a trained shoe should be! I hope you know that you are my true first marathon shoe and it is you who I will take to the race. I know that you will cary me through just as you have all the other miles, so please forgive me and lets make our last huge memory on Saturday!<br />
Sincerely,<br />
Your deeply indebted non injured runner </div>
Jolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378863469285006738.post-52360151599544189802015-05-29T13:12:00.002-07:002015-05-29T13:12:18.396-07:00About my marathon training<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Last week I ran my first 20 miles…ever.<br />
I remember being nervous for it, and really hoping to be able to run the whole thing. I can't figure out why running the whole thing is so important. I have deduced it to two reasons.<br />
1. I must think I am some sort of bad mama jama to be able to say I did it, which earns me nothing. No special prize, no money, and certainly not the right to say I am the only one.<br />
2. I can get it done faster, and it's easier than stopping and starting up again.<br />
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Neither of course are true, but number 2 you can train in a way that walk/run/walking will not only work, but will be the same speed and less stress on the joints. Number 1, well that's just the craziness.<br />
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This week on the schedule was 12 miles today and I was up against a 4 am wake up, and a 8 - 9 am client, which meant I wasn't able to start my run until after 9:30, the temp was supposed to get up there too. Considering that it takes 2 hours to run this thaaaang, I knew I would be running into some heat. <br />
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Things I have discovered. <br />
When I first began training for races (mostly half marathons) I would be so careful to eat my gels every hour on the hour. I would eat 3 of them each time. I carried water with me and was sure to sip at least every mile.<br />
Since training for anywhere from 1-2 hours on a midweek run, I have come to really dislike the eating during the run portion. And don't even try to sell me on the GU (liquid snot)<br />
I try to cut my water consumption off at least 1.5 hours before I am going to run, but before that time I try to get well hydrated with 16-32 ounces of water, then take that 1.5 hours to pee it out. As for eating, I usually shove something in my mouth right before I start just to get rid of the hunger pang.<br />
When I go for my run I fill up my water bag and try to sip every 1 to 1.5 miles. Toward the end I get very thirsty, especially if it is hot, or if it's a run over 10 miles. I drink so much and sweat so much out that I need to take electrolyte capsules, about 1 every hour, then one when I get home because I know I will be guzzling the water. <br />
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My route:<br />
It doesn't vary much. The place where I run most has lots of small and some big rolling hills. I try like heck to avoid the big ones so I am never more than 2.5 to 3 miles away from home. I do not, necessarily, run in circles either. I have several out and backs in my course. That's fancy runner talk for; running from point A to point B, then back to point A. Sounds like fun doesn't it? <br />
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What to eat after a run?<br />
I usually feel like I worked so hard that I shouldn't go off the deep end with my food after a long run. Like today, I ate lots of red lettuce with about 1 tbsp of OPA ranch (only because that was all there was!), 1 Field roast Chipoltle dog cut up, 2 tbsp nutritional yeast, 2 TBSP hemp hearts (theres that protein everyone's worried about) and raisins. I know I added a lot of calories to my meal, but I also added ALOT of nutrients. I am not gonna lie…after my 20 miler last week, it was straight pizza night.<br />
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So, tonight I have a well deserved rest coming to me, and possibly some chocolate :)<br />
Thank you for reading.<br />
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Jolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378863469285006738.post-46424539788587656672012-10-31T09:04:00.001-07:002012-10-31T09:04:26.728-07:00An emotional week<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
And it's only Wednesday. I don't exactly have the time to be blogging right now so I will make this short.<br />
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Algebra sucks.<br />
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Yesterday in class I had to turn off my camera because I couldn't grasp the concept and got lost right from the beginning. The farther he went into the lesson, the more overwhelmed I became, which led to lots and lots of tears, and every time I raised my hand to ask a question, and he called on me, I choked up. YEP in front of the whole class. Embarrassment wasn't my biggest issue at this point. All I could think about was how I missed the assignment, and quiz, and now I can't even think about grasping week 2's lesson, and there is no way I am going to pass this course...cue more tears.<br />
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Now that I am crying uncontrollably and there is no possible way I can obtain any information, I want to end the session, i.e.; give up. But I can't because if I do that, then I will lose precious class points. So there must be a glimmer of hope in there somewhere so I keep listening. Then I am getting worked up because I am so far behind I cannot possibly understand at this point. I see all my other classmates get the concept, and feel even more like algebra is my enemy, and my brain simply cannot, will not compute...like there is truly a misfire there.<br />
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Eventually I get the nerve to raise my hand again. The words won't come, no voice without tears GRRR. (This is like, but not worse than when the Admiral came to our ship and they chose me to take his dinner order because I was best suited for the job and I froze! I'll leave it up to you to guess if there were tears in that situation. ) The instructor realizes I am having another moment and begins to move on, but WAIT! The words come! Halleleua I am able to ask a question!! He realizes how far back I got lost and works with me through the break. The reason I did not stop him in the beginning was that he stressed wanting to get through the first part quickly so we could spend more time on the word problems. So he cleared up some of it for me, and I was able to move on...somewhat. <br />
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I joined a tutoring session after class and got a little more help, then tried to do it totally on my own later and was lost. Hmmm.<br />
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My house is a disaster.<br />
I am doing horrible at algebra<br />
The laundry is folded and in baskets<br />
I need to know the workings of the heart and cardio respiratory system by the end of the week<br />
The weight of my life is on me<br />
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I pray<br />
I run<br />
I feel better.<br />
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This has been a very emotional week. I cannot let my emotions take control. I am casting my eyes on things above, things not of this world. I will get through this somehow.<br />
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Jolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378863469285006738.post-79435551951122653652012-10-18T18:37:00.000-07:002012-10-18T18:37:46.250-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As I am sitting here waiting for Apache OpenOffice.org to download since it seemingly crashed and this is a second install, I am thinking about the fact that it didn't crash until I was in a position to fix it. A curious thought for sure. I am going to say this is part of God helping me succeed. I think if Oo.o (Openoffice.org) would have crashed right before I wanted to take my final exam, I probably wouldn't be in any position to blog right now due to hyperventilation.<br />
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<b>What have I been up to?</b><br />
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I have been taking it easy so to speak since my half marathon. I have been trying to watch my diet since I haven't been getting as much exercise in. Reason being that this was the end of a 5 week module. I am still not clear on what that all means, but all the classes I take are in 5 week chunks. The last week is the most crazy because instructors want assignments in early because they have to have grades by the end of the week.<br />
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Next week starts the craziest next 14 months of my life (I thought the last 5 weeks were something!). I am going into Anatomy and Physiology, and Algebra. For those of you who know me, I hope you have dropped everything and went directly to prayer. All jokes aside, I do need prayer for this one as I struggle to learn, and when I have to focus on more than just learning, my struggle can become overwhelming, intimidating and stressful. I just need to remain calm and peaceful.<br />
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I haven't run since the half on Sunday (today is Friday) because I wanted to give myself a break from running. I have gone up the last two nights and done weight training and stair steps. I do plan to run, but not as long of distances until maybe spring or summer...unless I can't wait that long :).<br />
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The half marathon went well. I originally signed up for it because I did not want my exercising to lapse while I was busy being a student. Things got pretty intense trying to incorporate running with school. It seemed everything was spilling into what little family time I already had :(. I was so excited to get to run with my new friend Christina. She and I have such a similar running start story, and we go at the same pace. About 2 weeks before the race her foot was giving her real trouble. She called me to give me a heads up about it. I told her to not feel guilty if she had to drop out because I originally signed up for the race by myself, then I told her with that being said, I really want to be able to run this with you. When we first met we were both nervous about trying to run with anyone because we had both done our training alone. After a few months of running and a half marathon under our belt we felt confident enough that we could run together and truly enjoy it.<br />
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She called me 2 days before the race and regretfully informed me that she would not be able to run :(. This made me sad, for Christina, and for myself. I didn't want to be selfish, but I couldn't help feeling that way. When I got to the race Christina was there for support! She was sad she couldn't be a part of it...I could tell. I was sad but was trying to act like I wasn't so she wouldn't have one more thing to feel bad about. Never kick a person when they are down.<br />
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Before I seen Christina I went over to the start sign to take my picture in front of it, there were groups of women taking photos of each other, a couple of them asked me to take their picture. I didn't mind, but was really wishing I had someone to take a picture with. See, as much as a runner enjoys a good race, and may spend the majority of the race not talking, if you have no one there to be with her...it can be a lonely very big place. I asked this lady to take my picture and she did.<br />
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This is about an hour before the race</div>
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I had everything I needed to start, I had my lucky socks, my lanyard Emily bought and I wore on my first half, and my water bag. I will have you know that a long sleeve shirt was not an appropriate choice for this race. It was very humid and got rather warm during the race. I will say though that the weather was perfect for running conditions.</div>
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<b>Some Uh Oh! moments:</b></div>
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When I had turned in my bag, and was strapping everything on, I realized I didn't have my arm band for my phone, NOR did I have my heart rate monitor that I was so curious about wearing. I went back to the bag check, and got my HRM, but my arm band was no where to be seen. I was rather dismayed. Then I heard the lady yelling to me, she took the time to look around the area and seen that I had dropped it by the bench! The volunteers at this race were so kind!<br />
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<b>What I remember about the race:</b><br />
Here is a view of the Columbia as I was running by, also we passed under the I-5 Washington/Oregon Bridge which was pretty cool. There is a route around Portland where one can run the bridges, I would like to do that one day...when I get over my fear of Portland. <br />
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<b> </b> <br />This is the view of the river</div>
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I met these really cool people from "Team Joleen", apparently Joleen was a big inspiration for this race. (They said I could be on their team :))</div>
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I remember running through Fort Vancouver, and near Pearson Air Field. There are some pretty sweet things to look at, and the fall scenery was incredible! I was in a lot of pain to fully enjoy it though. All I could do was look for the finish line...not what I wanted to be thinking/doing. </div>
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I remember running past the Fred Meyers that can be seen off Hwy 14 just before it hits I-5 and knowing I only had a couple more miles to go, wondering how I was going to make it. Then getting behind these three very fit looking ladies, who seemed to run with such ease...they were pissing me off.</div>
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I remember running up this demanding hill and raising my hands in victory when I conquered it (hoping I didn't look like a jerk) It was a moment for really only me to see. I do that a lot when I am running alone. don't judge.</div>
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I was trying to capture the look and the feeling (moment) of what it feels like to be in the midst of a half Marathon...I want to say this is a little more than half way.</div>
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I remember seeing sweat soaked bodies, and one lady having removable arm sleeves, thinking to myself how those would have been removed ages ago if I were wearing them! And wishing I wouldn't be too embarrassed to run in my sports bra...but even if I wasn't, there were a lot of little kids on that route...wouldn't want to scare anyone ;)</div>
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I remember seeing the finish line and just going all out sprint to get the best possible time, and then seeing the man I love the most at the finish, just like he said he would be <3.</div>
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I remember putting my foot up to take off my timing chip and having to lean on the lady helping me so I wouldn't fall from exhaustion.</div>
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I remember the paramedic asking me if I was okay when I went to get up from the curb.</div>
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I remember the tough times, and I remember the feeling of accomplishment.</div>
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Thank you guys for reading my race recap, and life story. Hopefully the next time I talk to you, I will know a little something about Anatomy and Physiology...and Algebra!!!</div>
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Jolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378863469285006738.post-59377905857353614842012-09-30T12:38:00.002-07:002012-09-30T12:38:53.867-07:00Assignment, offense, and running talk<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>An assignment leads to an offense...</b><br />
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I am going to start off with the thing that is bothering me most. We had an assignment to observe a group fitness class. I went to the gym and observed a circuit training class. I told the instructor why I was there and what I was doing. She was so kind, and told me she would like for me to take her class. I explained that I was not taking it that day because I had an 11 mile run the next day, and really needed my rest. She cringed when I said 11 mile run, and looked repulsed at the thought (that should have been my first clue) but I just brushed it off as I realize a lot of people cringe at the thought of running that distance, heck even I used to. I don't cringe anymore, but I will tell you it takes a certain amount of discipline and "psyching up" to get myself through it. I sat and observed the class, then went on my merry way to do the rest of my reading and studying for school. <br />
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While I was writing my paper from the observance it had occurred to me that I never asked what her certification was, and I knew that if I didn't include that information my paper would be incomplete. I went back to the gym several hours later and none of the people from the morning were there. I found the instructors business card labeled "Personal Trainer". When I called her to ask about her certification, we were talking, and she was wanting me to take her class, and I informed her that once this half marathon was over I was going to back off of the running a bit so I could concentrate on strength and such and that I would love to take her class. Then she says to me "you know...running makes your butt small" I say, "well, I have had a big butt for all my life" and before I could get anymore words out she interrupts and says, "No, I mean flat, a flat butt that has no form."<br />
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Now I know no woman wants a flat but, I get that, but I am of the firm belief that my backside is not now, nor has EVER been in danger of going "flat". I am not so much upset about the fact that she told me my body was going to change in an undesirable way from running as I am that a "Personal Trainer" would condemn a healthy habit that I have worked so hard to establish. She is supposed to be encouraging cardiovascular exercise, and human movement in general! I will not hold a grudge and I especially know that being offended is a sin(1). WHAT?? you say? BELIEVE IT. Why? Because when we are offended we often get tripped up, and led to anger, resentment, and hate (that's sinning). I don't want to sin because I want to please God, and live my life as a light. Rather than going through all that, I will just let it go, and know my boundaries with this woman. I will also chose to focus on her positive attitude and good qualities. I am almost certain that when she hung up the phone she soon realized the blunder she had made. <br />
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<b>An 11 mile run...</b><br />
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Did you know that it is only okay to type a numerical character if the number is 10 or higher? How cool is it that I have run so far that I can use numerical characters? ha ha, I am just full of information. Oh just wait, now that I am fully enveloped in studying, cramming all sorts of information into my brain, I will probably be sighting more little known facts...bear with me :).<br />
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Saturday morning (yesterday) while I was preparing for my run, my Haley asked me how far I was running, and I told her, then she said "But won't you run out of breath?". I explained to her that I have learned to control my breathing, and that my body was conditioned to do this type of thing. But friends, that little question she asked carried me through my run. When my hips and back began to ache, and when I began to question my own endurance, and wondered where my energy had gone, I remembered that I was conditioned, and out of the depths of my imagination. "The body is stronger than the mind"(2), there was a place that I could find the energy, the endurance. I believe God gives me strength, and I also believe he gives me little nuggets of encouragement to reflect on for those moments of doubt.<br />
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<b>More of my take on running in general</b><br />
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When running long distances I really want to find the flattest run possible. Sorry folks, I like to run, I never said I was into self torture. You have read in the past of my dealings with hills, and if you haven't it won't take long to fill you in...I have tried them, I run them when I have to, and avoid them when I can. Avoiding hills feels a slightly like sneaking a candy bar into the middle of a salad though. I have been hearing about the dangers of running on cement. Most of the time I don't run on cement as I run the roads around my house.<br />
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The pros of running by my house...I am out in the country so there are no lights. I don't have to deal with lots of cars and their exhaust.<br />
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The cons...hills, and the danger of being alone while running.<br />
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Which reminds me...I need to get hand held pepper spray. While I was on my last 3 mile run I passed by a man on the other side of the road. Of course every story I have ever heard about runners being taken over flashes through my head, and as I size this man up, a terrifying thought hits me "I couldn't take this guy if I needed to." It is very unfortunate and angering to think that just because I am weaker that it would be "okay" to do with me as you please. I guess in a way it's like leaving a million dollars in your car and not bothering to lock the doors, so I guess I will be locking my doors with pepper spray. These are real thoughts and fears I face when going out alone. <br />
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<b> Rest day...</b><br />
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So today I will enjoy a rest, take the kids to a birthday party, and then begin it all over again next week. My Half Marathon is on October 14th. I am supposed to run 12 miles next saturday. I am still debating on weather I want to run that long the week before the Half. I don't want to be burnt out and dread the Half. <br />
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<b>Forgive me...</b><br />
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for the long blog post, but it has been so long since I have written a quality post, and who knows how long it will be before I can write another...if this even is one ha ha. <br />
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I learned that if I am going to quote people, or insert things I have learned, I need to site where I got the info...so here it is. Numbers are behind the quote or reference in the paragraphs above.<br />
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1. Strongs Concordance: Offend. Greek 4624: To entrap. i.e. trip up (figuratively, stumble (transitively) or entice to sin, apostasy or displeasure):--(make to) offend. <br />
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2. Chris Powell on Extreme Makeover Weight loss edition.<br />
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Jolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378863469285006738.post-29999230747232120082012-09-24T19:36:00.001-07:002012-09-25T13:28:34.536-07:00Goings on<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Okay, the last time I tried to blog when I was this burnt out was a mess. But I have found a scrap of time, and darn it, I am going to use it. I figured I would take you though a new typical week with me.<br />
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Sunday: Church/family time<br />
Monday: Drop kids at school, come home and study, and attend a 2 hour live class<br />
Tuesday: Drop kids RUN 3 miles, head home (unless there is an urgent need for some type of grocery, then I will grab it) Study work on assignments<br />
Wednesday: Drop kids early RUN 5 miles, hurry home, attend 2 hour class then study and work on assignments<br />
Thursday: Drop kids, run 3 miles, hurry home, study, work on assignments<br />
Friday: I haven't totally figured Friday out, but the hope is that I will have my assignments completed and will be able to run errands, and help with my kids school related activities.<br />
Saturday, tie up any lose ends, and family time.<br />
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That is a rough draft week, didn't want to bore you with too many details. I have always appreciated the value of time, but now I do even more, because when I go get the kids then come home, tidy up the house, make dinner, and spend some minutes with my husband, I am eager to see if there is just one more thing I can do, but by then I am pretty spent.<br />
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RUNNING:<br />
My running has been going surprisingly well, especially for how tired I have been feeling. I also have been trying different courses, which has really made a difference in my motivation to get out there. As I may have mentioned in the past I want to specialize in weight loss. I also want to specialize in encouraging children and youth to be fit and give them fun ways to move their bodies. The great news is that I can! There are specialty certifications I will be able to take to help me toward that goal. <br />
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Saturday is an 11 mile run. I have already mapped out a course as that will be the longest distance I have ever run while training. My last Half marathon I ran only 10 miles for my longest run before the race. <br />
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Well that is all I can squeeze in for now. There really is so much more to say, I want to return to my usual musings about the things I see and find, and how I feel, but that will have to wait till a later date. Thanks for reading, and take care my friends...I miss you.</div>
Jolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378863469285006738.post-32378999716009849012012-09-14T20:27:00.001-07:002012-09-14T20:27:58.754-07:00An intro to my first few courses, and run talk<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I just want to say that this self improvement stuff is not easy! <br />
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This was my thought as I was on my 5 mile run yesterday. Lately I have been having trouble getting into the groove of running. I think the reason I am having such a hard time is because of the new schedule. In the summer I could get my run in the early morning hours, but now it isn't feasible with the girls having to be to school so early.<br />
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What is feasible about that is that my online live class gives me plenty of time to get home after I drop the girls off. This means NO before care. Oh how you wouldn't believe the resistance I sometimes get to this. I can't exactly blame them though...I made them this way. I was always first to pick them up from any situation, it started with Sunday school. <br />
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I have sort of concocted a plan in my head. Each of the courses are 5 weeks, and I have three courses this 5 week term. Fit-100 with a teacher that promises to deliver a great learning style! The name of the course speaks for itself, it will be the introduction to the main reason I have begun this journey. Tech-102 this course is assembled around OpenOffice.org. We will have to learn in my opinion extensively, how to use 3 aspects of this program. I am thrilled that I will be learning word processing, but at the same time am nervouse because some of the language can be dry. There are on Tuesday evenings "academic assistance" sessions that you can bet I will be logging onto! Last but certainly not least is Enlish-111, this is a course that promises to teach me how to use my adult skills such as prioritizing, collaborating, and breaking up big tasks into smaller more manageable tasks, among other things. The plan I have made up is to drop the kids off at school, then go over to the gym, get my run in by treadmill, or around my gym area. There is actually a nice foot path that I have talked about in he past, but it goes a long a busy highway where there is a lot of exhaust so I don't like to do that too often. Then after my scheduled work out I will either go home, or change clothes and head for the library. I have this idea that being at the library for my non live teaching days would give me a responsiblitiy free place to study, and will keep away the monotany...plus it will feel like I am "going" to college :)<br />
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My long run days are on Saturdays so they won't conflict with school, and after my half marathon my running schedule won't be so stringent, that will be another worry for next month...you know how fearful I am that I am going to quit running. However I do think I will take a break after the half in October, and do crosstraining in between. <br />
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I am learning lots of college lingo that I never really knew what it meant, like Syllabus, and synchronous, and Ruberic. I asked God to let me retain all that I learn, and so far He has really helped me! And I just learned that blogging is going to help me in my writing assignments! My first 5 week term starts tomorrow, but the instructors have already posted some of the assignments, so I have gotten a jump start. My worst fear is falling behind. I like the luxury of taking a lot of time to study and take notes. <br />
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Tomorrow is my 10 mile run. I am looking forward to it, but also know that this is how I do. I feel all big and bad like i know I can do it, being all relaxed, but then the morning of a long run comes and I have to remind myself constantly of the benefiits. I will burn 1,000 calories, I will have the most awesome runners high, I will totally deserve the break I get over the next two days, and some bragging rights. You would be surprised at the level of procrastination that goes just before a run LOL.<br />
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Jolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378863469285006738.post-74638484587581307722012-09-10T06:36:00.003-07:002012-09-10T06:36:59.968-07:00Feeling failure...maybe I need a change.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well, it seems that I promised myself at some point in this running journey that I would not compromise. I was holding pretty good to that, even last Thursday I wasn't able to get a run in due to a busy schedule in the morning. Then in the afternoon I was having stress pains so I put it off. Finally that night I told myself "you have just long enough to get the three miles in before it gets dark.", so I put on my running gear and blasted the three miles! I even set a personal record! It was dark and I was out of breath considerably when I came rolling up the driveway. But I felt pretty darn good.<div>
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Then it occurred to me. That night run went so well because it was different, a change. I don't think I have become bored with running, although I do think I have become bored with my route. There are other courses I can take, but I get nervous about doing so because at least on my route I know when I am almost done, or to my half way point, or where the dog is that is going to bark at me any minute. I know which side of the road to run on to avoid blackberry branches that stick out too far, or to stay in plain sight of drivers. I know the air is safe and I won't be breathing in exhaust fumes....But sometimes I wonder if the fear of the unknown is part of the victory of trying something new. Does that make sense? </div>
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I have noticed that on my cross train days (when I do actually cross train) after I am done lifting weights (okay, if you just pictured me on a weight bench with a bar across my chest pressing 100 lbs, you are welcome to keep that image, but I gotta tell you it's not correct, picture more like me standing with a 12 lb weight in each hand with quivering arms on about the 10th rep pushing upwards) that I always feel most like running. Sooooo....I am thinking about going to the gym, doing some weight training, then heading outside for a run around the nearby neighborhood, or the footpath. The day I can program into my phone step by step spoken directions for a new neighborhood run, I will be so thankful!</div>
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Saturdays are usually my long run days. This Saturday I was scheduled to do a 5K race, that is 3.2 miles. If I have no races in my area, or don't feel like shelling out the money to run in one, then I just do the mileage. The reason Higdon puts races on the schedule is to see where one is speed wise. Well, I had every excuse in the book to blow off that run.</div>
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1. my kids were both at sleepovers</div>
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2. my husband had the day off and wanted to spend it together </div>
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3. I already know my pace from the awesome three I ran Thursday night...</div>
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and the list goes on.</div>
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So I listened to my voices. The scale reflects my failure. And I need to stop beating myself up and get back on the wagon. Here is another crux. Today is a scheduled rest day, and I really want to stick to the schedule. I will not run or do weights today because I have a big week ahead of me with running, and will need my energy, but I won't be able to help feeling like a failure because I didn't run on Saturday when I truly could have found a way. </div>
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This is what I will tell myself. Tomorrow is a run day. You will run. You will do great because of all that rest you had. It will set a nice tone for the day and the week.</div>
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Praying that I get all my runs in despite the voices and my new schedule.</div>
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Jolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378863469285006738.post-2889803334650631272012-09-05T18:03:00.001-07:002012-09-05T18:03:07.932-07:00I must have smoked a pack in my sleep<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I had the toughest run today that I have had in a long time. I can't remember the last time I wanted to quit in the middle of a run...oh wait, yes I can, because I did. I even wrote about it. Chalked it up to being too hot and some other stuff. I now realize that I should have just slowed the treadmill down. Today was a 5 mile run. First one in a while. With this training program the mid week run jumps up a mile, sort of like the end of the week run. Even after my chest was hurting like I had smoked a pack of cigarettes. <br />
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I have really come to crave my long runs. Yes I still stress a bit about them, and I do get tired while on them, and I am human, so I procrastinate in the morning before I run them. Then "why?" you ask do I crave them? It's the feeling after. Every time I watch that show Extreme Makeover, I get encouragement from the people who are making an extraordinary move in their lives. Today when I was watching, Chris looked at the guy after he had completed a work out, and said "now you can do anything". That is exactly the way I feel after a long run. I believe signing up for a race is birthed from the high of a long run. I think the more I run, the more it takes to experience the high. <br />
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Todays run for instance was so difficult that I really was discouraged with it all day. I made good time, and completed the task, and probably burned more calories than most good 5 mile runs, but it was a let down. Tomorrow I am due for 3 miles. I am not going to say that should be easy, I am just hoping I get a good nights rest for it. I even ate salad today. I noticed that if I eat anything that grew up from Gods green earth, that I get better results.<br />
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At my kids school there are other runners, how do I know? I know because I have seen two vans with running stickers! I sure hope I figure out who they are and above all I hope they are nice!<br />
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Jolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378863469285006738.post-55901434072927096042012-09-01T19:32:00.001-07:002012-09-01T19:32:55.021-07:00Talk about my day and show you my new shoes!<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ki81DE59Uck?fs=1" width="459"></iframe>I<br />
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I decided to go Vlog for tonight...what do you think? My dear friend Wanda says I should make more, I kind of like it!Jolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378863469285006738.post-76030403012403316452012-08-29T17:11:00.001-07:002012-08-29T17:11:16.378-07:00Todays run, and an update with VA assistance<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This morning started out with a 4 mile race pace run. I pushed really hard, my first mile came in at 9:16, this for me is fast! I ran up the street and considered going down the private road that will give me the distance I need, and would be less dangerous. As I was coming up to this road I seen a dog. I decided not to run down that road because then the dog may follow me out onto the main road where the cars go 50+ mph.<br />
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As I went by there was this little puppy, a cute cuddly yellow lab puppy who decided to follow me onto the main road. Well I couldn't do that, so I figured I would run up the road and into the drive way and drop it off. I thought it had worked, but upon looking behind me...there it was. So I decided to run all the way to the end of the road and see if it would follow me out, sure enough, I had a new running buddy. So I turned around and ran back toward the house...which btw is no small thing, this house is a big beautiful mansion about an acre off the road complete with pillars and an American flag waving from the flagpole! The dog in tow the whole time. I decided at this point I had to keep focused and get turned back toward home, I was hoping to tire my buddy out by the time I got to the end of the road, because if it followed me, it was going to have to follow me all the way home. I even thought about tying my ribbon I use to secure my back pack to its neck for a leash just so it wouldn't get ran over! Well lucky for the dog, once I got about half way down the road it stopped following me. I wish I had a photo to show you guys, but there was so much going on, and with trying to maintain a race pace, I couldn't take those few extra seconds that i'm sure were lost anyway.<br />
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Yesterday when I was running I passed by this skinny very green and looked like a little red small snake. It was awfully still, but didn't appear to be dead. Then on the way back it was still there. This morning I passed it again. I thought for sure it was dead, but then on my return I didn't see it...hmmm. What do you suppose happened? I have my theories, and wasn't curious enough to test them. And in case you are wondering, yes I did take into consideration the rubber aspect of the thing.<br />
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Haley and I went to the eye doctor and had our eyes dilated. That is such a pain to deal with as we had to go grocery shopping afterward. I couldn't do it before the appointment because of the perishable and frozen food.<br />
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I am going to put the rest into a video and see if I can put it on here. <br />
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Jolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378863469285006738.post-36177611743817493162012-08-23T20:27:00.000-07:002012-08-23T20:27:16.252-07:00I finally figured it out!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Picture it...Sicily...1936<br />
No, but seriously folks, I have been waiting on some pretty big news and wanted to have it all together so I could give the the whole story.<br />
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Back in may of this year (2012) I was a few pounds away from my weight loss goal, and was chatting with my dear friend Alethea. We would speak often about health, fitness, and The word of God. She taught me some stuff that I never knew before.<br />
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I told Alethea that I wish I could help people as losing weight is so difficult and a lot of people simply don't know how to go about it. She told me that would be a good thing for me. I told her I would love to do it, but the only people I could help at this point would be people who were exactly like me, and lets face it...there aren't a lot of people like me.<br />
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I am not sure at what point I decided it was feasible, but I began looking into it. At first I asked a friend what steps I should take, knowing she worked in a gym. She mentioned a trainer at her gym who would help, but then talked about how he would require I try to sell to people. (that made me nervous) I found a place online called the NPTI National Personal Training Institute. This is a 6th month course where a person can graduate with a diploma and qualify to take the test to certify with NASM National Acadamy Sports Medicine. This course would teach me to be a personal trainer with limited nutrition training.<br />
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I spoke with the woman about the school for about an hour and took some notes. It seemed to be my only option, but then I decided to poke around even more and found a place called Bryan University online, they are an extention of Brayan College. I sent my information then not too long after received a call. I chatted with the woman about all this place offered. It is an online classroom where I will be on my computer with a headset and can see the instructor there are buttons where I can raise my hand to ask a question, or request that the instructor slow down. That's just the classroom! This school offers free tutoring if I feel I need the extra help. I would graduate with an associates degree in fitness and nutrition with the ability to menu plan and direct people nutritionally, even people with challenges like diabetes. On the fitness side of things I would be equipped to help most people achieve thier fitness goals. I would qualify to take the NASM, and the ACSM tests. I would be able to work anywhere in the United States as a personal trainer. There are other things I am not thinking of right now that made me choose them, but the financial advisor encouraged me to check into assistance from the VA since I was in the military. So I did.<br />
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Upon calling the VA I found out that I may be eligible for a new kind of assistance as I did not qualify for the Montgomery GI bill. So I filled out my app online and sent it in. I got an email from the VA saying they received it. I went camping expecting thier call any minute! I got back from camping and made a phone call. There they told me that I would recieve a letter in the mail. So I waited. A week went by and I called. My application was in line to be processed. So I waited and went to Minnesota...meanwhile amongst all the waiting I was telling family and friends of my plan. There was not one negative comment, I even asked the people who I knew wouldn't sugar coat it and they all thought this was a path that made sense for me and were genuinely happy for me. Also among the waiting I prayed. I prayed for Gods hand in this and for the doors to be opened if it was what was best for me in His eyes. Kurt had mentioned just shooting for September and going for it student loans and all, at first I was excited, but not long after that had absolutely no peace because I knew that would be pushing to get what I wanted, and I have learned that when I am seeking Gods voice, Peace is the yes answer, weather it's what I want to hear or not. As I began to lose hope here and there, I also felt like God was giving me way too much encouragement to not let this be.<br />
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Today I made my third and final phone call. I was actually calling to see if they needed me to send my DDform214 as I did not have it when I filled out the original application. The lady took my information then said "You filled out an application for financial aid, and it looks like your certificate of eligibility has been mailed, and when you receive your letter, you need to ...." I interrupt "wait! You mean my application got accepted?! and that they are going to grant me money for school???!!!" She replies, "well, all I know is that it says here you will be receiving a certificate of eligiblity in the mail soon." <br />
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So folks, there you have it, with a lot of stuff I am sure I forgot to mention, I am going to school to be a personal trainer!!! I am so excited to be doing something that not only I want to do, but something that I feel I am capeable of! I have so many desires for this endeavour I have begun to write them down. <br />
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The birth of this idea comes from wanting to help people, and that is where my heart will remain. My ultimate dream is to have a private gym at my residence for people to have private workout sessions, and to also hold group sessions to keep cost down. I also wish to do charitable work, like speaking at schools, maybe showing students fun ways to exercise and speak about nutrition. I want to give nutritional advice to my friends and family who ask me. I want to encourage anyone who sets out to save thier own life by beginning to live a healthy lifestyle. I want to plan a menu for people working around the things they like to eat. I am not out to convince the world that they need to never touch fast food, or to stay away from BPA's and GMO's, I just want to help them be the healthiest they can be in the best way possible for them. </div>
Jolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378863469285006738.post-24625208279166498102012-08-20T07:59:00.002-07:002012-08-20T08:00:19.437-07:00Cedar lake trial, Orange Theory Fitness, and some other stuff<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's hard to know where to start because I have so much to say, but I don't want to bore you with a ten page essay, so I will keep it short as possible.<br />
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Friday August 10th my family departed on an airplane to Minneapolis Minnesota. I was nervous to leave only because I had been gone so much this summer, and each time I left proved to be a challenge to keep some sort of running schedule. <br />
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I have learned that running is a lot like matters of faith. I love my Jesus so very much and when I have spent time in His presence I am renewed! I feel rested and ready to face the day as I know everything He has for me is good and perfect. So then why is it that going to Him and spending time in prayer proves to be a challenge as well? It is a rhetorical question that I know the answer to. Just like spending time in prayer and in the bible, getting out to run isn't always what I am being pulled to do. When I go to read my bible, I can think of all the house work, or any sort of errand or task I should be doing. When I am supposed to be running that day, I can think of all the reading and relaxing I want to be doing. As I have mentioned in the past, there is very little that I will give myself as an excuse, and then there is the little thing I look forward to the most, ENDORPHINS!!!! These babies are the best, and they are the #1 reason I keep going. I am also quickly realizing the importance of a running schedule! I am so glad I decided to train for another half marathon, weather I participate or not! <br />
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Before we ever packed our first bag, my dear sister in-law Holly was making plans for all the sisters in-law to get together. She had worked up a few ideas involving a work out then appetizers, and/or drinks. These were creative ideas too! One of them included having an evening session at a place called <a href="http://www.orangetheoryfitness.com/" target="_blank">Orange Theory Fitness</a>, this link opens in a new window. Well with so many different schedules it was proving to be difficult to get the families together. <br />
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On the right is Orange Theory</div>
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I realize the photo is hard to make out, but I thought it was interesting that the gym was all the way to the right, and there is a Subway on the left. This is very similar to my gym close to home, of which I have no photo.</div>
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So you have probably figured out by now that I made it to OT (Orange Theory Fitness). Holly and I made plans when we were eating out at Dicks Last Resort (more about that later...maybe) on Wednesday evening. We decided to meet Friday morning at 6:30 am for a class to begin at 6:45. I was quite relieved to be doing this early in the morning as I am not an evening work out sort of a girl...UNLESS I already got something done in the morning. If I have to wait till later in the day, or evening to do something intense, I will become a huge stress ball throughout the day! </div>
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I have no photos of my experience, but if you are curious about the appearance of the place and the machines, their website is great! I won't bore you with too many details about the experience, but I will point out some of the highlights. After I signed all the paperwork, it was time to put on a heart monitor. I have no previous experience with one of these gadgets...but I think one may be on my list. When I put the thing on, I wasn't sure what to do as the place I needed it to rest was just under the band of my sports bra. They pointed out to me that it was a good idea to tuck it under there as it would be more likely to stay put anyway. Also the lady who handed me the HRM took a guess at how long the strap should be and she was right on the money! Which I am so glad because I did not have time to be adjusting. There were three groups of people all starting at different points of the circuit. </div>
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#1 Treadmill</div>
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This was the first point for me. Of course I was stoked about this. I won't go into detail, but this was all about speed work, and pushing yourself...this is where the HRM's come in. There are two television monitors in the studio, and on these monitors each person receives a square. In this square is a percentage and a color. The color represents where you are with how your body is struggling to receive oxygen. The instructor lets you know how hard to push and in what range you should be. The only guessing I had to do was what speed to put my treadmill at. </div>
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#2 Rowing</div>
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This was actually included with the weight circuit, so I guess there are technically only 2 groups. We were to row 500 meters</div>
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#3 Weight lifting.</div>
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Some lifting with free weights, and a lot of body resistance moves. This particular workout was using mostly arms.</div>
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<b>Goofs</b></div>
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Everything I do proves to be a "learn from your mistakes" sort of a deal. </div>
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Treadmill goofs </div>
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1. Going so fast I knocked the emergency cord out of the machine therefore having to reset.</div>
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2. pressing 9 incline for the all out push yourself speed instead of 9mph. (and just incase you are thinking 9 is a weakling speed, I had to do this for a whole minute after running my base speed for 3 minutes, then a push speed for one or two minutes)</div>
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Rowing goofs: This was my first time ever using the rowing machine...</div>
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1. She told me I had to be between a 28 and 30, I was looking at the time, and it kept going up, so I thought I was rowing too fast and kept decreasing my speed.</div>
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Strength goofs:</div>
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I didn't realize she was showing us the moves and then all the moves she showed us were written on the white board exactly what we needed to do, so I was just doing whatever Holly was doing. (yea, trying to keep up with her was like trying to keep up with an Ironman contestant!) By the second round I figured it out.</div>
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At the very end your statistics show up on the screen, and at what levels you were. The instructor went over with me what it all meant. This is the sort of place that you could really improve your workouts with out a lot of guesswork...if any :)</div>
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I give this place a good score because the people were super friendly, it was fast pace and NEVER boring, and everyone was so helpful! Had I to do it all over again, I would have gotten there even earlier and asked for a quick overview of how it was all going to go down. I am just glad they let me in. It was free for my first time, and even though they knew I was from out of state, they offered me to come back again before I left for another free workout THAT is GOOD business! If I could I would open one. </div>
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I didn't really mean for that to be a review, but I guess it sort of was.</div>
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<b> About my runs while being in the city.</b></div>
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As many of you may already know, I ran something called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedar_Lake_Trail" target="_blank">Cedar Lake Trail</a> </div>
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This is the makeshift path down to the trail</div>
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This is where the path comes out</div>
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This is one of the views while on the run</div>
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This is a view of what part of the path looks like</div>
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The very first time I ran this, I ran for 3/4 of a mile next to the RR tracks on the gravel road. I am not a fan of running on gravel, but I though "oh well" it was at this .75 mile that I realized it was probably never going to cross the trail, so I found a place I could duck in... there were a lot of bicyclists passing by. I was very excited to see all these people out exercising because where I live I don't see many at all when I am running. I was waving hello to everyone I passed. Most of the time I got strange looks. I think out of the 20 people I waved and said hi to...2 of them at least gave me a nod or smile back. I am NOT exaggerating. I got back to the house and was happy that I got a 6 mile run in, but frustrated at the whole path situation, and was griping that bikers think they own the road. I decided to look at the map again to see what was the deal with the path. As it turns out there was a makeshift path from the railroad tracks all the way to the third path which was meant for foot traffic...which brings me to another point. </div>
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<b>Path Goof</b></div>
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From MY point of entry there were no signs that designated it being a running or bicycling path. The bikers were acting as though they owned the road because well...they sort of did. It wasn't till my second run that I could see that there was a distinction between the foot traffic and bicycle traffic. Let me be clear though, that there ARE points where the bikes, and feet meet up and MUST share the path. </div>
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It is in my opinion and upon my observance that Cedar Lake, and it's surrounding trails in the Minneapolis area are well sought after and for very good reason! These are a beautiful place where fitness minded people can get a good run in without having to dodge traffic. This trail has a pretty neat history, which the link above titled Cedar lake trail will go into detail. (I only wish I would have come across it before I started).</div>
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<b>Not running in Monte</b></div>
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For part of this vacation we drove out to a little wonderful town named Montevideo. Corn fields as far as the eye can see! </div>
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We seen some more family, and my sister in-law Julie, who I have inspired to begin running! Yay, I am so proud of her, and I hope to keep encouraging her! (I still cannot believe I am an inspiration to people). </div>
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I had brought my running gear, but over the two and a half days we were there, I never even opened my gym bag because I couldn't find an opportunity to run. Well it is a good thing because I NEVER brought my Sports bra! I guess if I would have discovered that fact while I was there...a trip to Walmart would have cured that. Yes BTW, a SB from Walmart would have worked perfectly fine. Running shoes however...not so much. I have yet to go somewhere and forget my shoes...I have come close, but got saved at the last minute. I know it will happen someday, but until then I won't worry about it. </div>
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On Friday night Kurt and I went to Dicks sporting goods where I seen they had a Nike + GPS watch powered by TomTom for $169. They weren't on sale, but these babies have come down in price! I was between wanting the sport band, and this, and my husband said why don't you just get the watch because it has everything. I have only run with it once and that was before I had hooked it up to a computer. I still have some reading to do on it, and plan to use it again tomorrow. </div>
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I am going to close for now, but have so much more to tell you all concerning my future with fitness, and how this GPS watch works, and probably some points about my vacation I may have forgotten.</div>
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Jolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378863469285006738.post-54956373596133128362012-08-07T06:43:00.000-07:002012-08-07T06:43:07.004-07:00Watching the olympics as an athlete<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I am not sure I can consider myself an athlete...so I looked it up in the dictionary. This is what I found; <br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Baskerville;"><span class="hw" d:dhw="1" role="text" style="font-size: 24px;" syllabified="ath·lete">ath<span class="hsb"></span>lete<span class="gp tg_hw"></span></span><span class="pr" style="color: #777777; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> |<span class="ph t_respell" d:pr="US" style="margin-left: 0.3em; margin-right: 0.3em;">ˈaTHˌlēt</span>|</span></span><br />
<span class="sg" style="display: block; font-family: Baskerville; margin-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;"><span class="se1" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0.2em;"><span class="posg" role="text"><span class="pos" d:ps="1"><span class="gp tg_pos">noun</span></span><span class="gp tg_posg"></span></span><span class="msDict t_core" d:abs="1" id="m_en_us1223566.001" style="display: block; text-indent: -1em;"><span class="df" role="text"><span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">a</span> <span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">person</span> <span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">who</span> <span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">is</span> <span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">proficient</span> <span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">in</span> <span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">sports</span> <span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">and</span> <span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">other</span> <span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">forms</span> <span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">of</span> <span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">physical</span> exercise<span class="gp tg_df">.</span></span><span class="gp tg_msDict" role="text"></span></span><span class="msDict t_subsense" d:abs="1" d:priority="2" id="m_en_us1223566.002" style="display: block;"><span class="gp tg_msDict" role="text">• </span><span class="lg" role="text"><span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">chiefly</span> <span class="ge" style="font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light; font-size: 13px;"><span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">Brit</span>.</span><span class="gp tg_lg"></span></span><span class="df" role="text"><span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">a</span> <span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">person</span> <span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">who</span> is <span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">skilled</span> <span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">in</span> <span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">competitive</span> track and field events (athletics)<span class="gp tg_df">.</span></span></span><span class="msDict t_subsense" d:abs="1" d:priority="2" id="m_en_us1223566.002" style="display: block;"><span class="df" role="text"><span class="gp tg_df"><br /></span></span></span><span class="msDict t_subsense" d:abs="1" d:priority="2" id="m_en_us1223566.002" style="display: block;"><span class="df" role="text"><span class="gp tg_df"> I guess you could say I was proficient in running...? </span></span></span><span class="msDict t_subsense" d:abs="1" d:priority="2" id="m_en_us1223566.002" style="display: block;"><span class="hg"><span class="hw" d:dhw="1" role="text" style="font-size: 24px;" syllabified="pro·fi·cient"><span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">pro</span><span class="hsb"></span>fi<span class="hsb"></span>cient<span class="gp tg_hw"></span></span><span class="pr" style="color: #777777; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> |<span class="ph t_respell" d:pr="US" style="margin-left: 0.3em; margin-right: 0.3em;">prəˈfiSHənt</span>|</span><span class="gp tg_hg"></span></span><span class="sg" style="display: block; margin-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;"><span class="se1" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0.2em;"><span class="posg" role="text"><span class="pos" d:ps="1"><span class="gp tg_pos"><span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">adjective</span></span></span><span class="gp tg_posg"></span></span><span class="msDict t_core" d:abs="1" id="m_en_us1280983.001" style="display: block; text-indent: -1em;"><span class="df" role="text"><span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">competent</span> or <span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">skilled</span> in doing or using something<span class="gp tg_df">:</span><span class="gp tg_df"></span></span><span class="eg" role="text"><span class="ex" d:priority="2" style="font-style: italic;"> I was <span class="bold" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: 600;">proficient at </span>my job</span><span class="gp tg_eg" d:priority="2"> |</span><span class="gp tg_eg" d:priority="2"></span></span><span class="eg" role="text"><span class="ex" d:priority="2" style="font-style: italic;"><span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">she</span> <span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">felt</span> <span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">reasonably</span> <span class="bold" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: 600;"><span apple_mouseover_highlight="1">proficient</span> in </span>Italian</span><span class="gp tg_eg" d:priority="2">.</span></span></span><span class="msDict t_core" d:abs="1" id="m_en_us1280983.001" style="display: block; text-indent: -1em;"><span class="eg" role="text"><span class="gp tg_eg" d:priority="2"><br /></span></span></span><span class="msDict t_core" d:abs="1" id="m_en_us1280983.001" style="display: block; text-indent: -1em;"><span class="eg" role="text"><span class="gp tg_eg" d:priority="2"> Competent yes, skilled? I think I am close enough. Olympians are <i>elite </i>athletes. But as a person who has trained and conditioned my body to do something that takes hard work and dedication, I have a bigger understanding (than I did when I was not training) of what they have gone through and what they may be thinking as they are are completing a marathon. Please don't miss understand me here, I am not saying I know what they are thinking by any stretch of the imagination, I am simply saying I may have a little more than a stab in the dark...or instead of missing the target completely, I may have hit on the very edge giving me no point value. </span></span></span><span class="msDict t_core" d:abs="1" id="m_en_us1280983.001" style="display: block; text-indent: -1em;"><br /></span><span class="msDict t_core" d:abs="1" id="m_en_us1280983.001" style="display: block; text-indent: -1em;"> All that to say I have enjoyed watching this year more than ever! I haven't become bored like in years past. And somehow I stumbled on the womens marathon, and if you guessed that I was glued to the TV set on that one, well then you can give yourself 10 points and a hug from me because you are clearly a blog reader of mine! </span><span class="msDict t_core" d:abs="1" id="m_en_us1280983.001" style="display: block; text-indent: -1em;"> </span><span class="msDict t_core" d:abs="1" id="m_en_us1280983.001" style="display: block; text-indent: -1em;"><b>Another race?</b></span><span class="msDict t_core" d:abs="1" id="m_en_us1280983.001" style="display: block; text-indent: -1em;"><b> </b>I am seriously considering running the girlfriends half marathon in October. I have it marked on my calendar, and I have seeked out the Hal Higdon Novice 2 training program, all that's left is to register. Why haven't I? Because I have a lot on my plate right now. I have something big that I have been praying about and if it comes through then my mornings and afternoons will be pretty full. Days are getting shorter and runs in the morning will have to be short. I don't know why I am just now thinking this...but maybe I should get some guidance from God? YES not maybe YES! Okay, so I will start praying about this now. If no doors close then I am going to go for it! I want that goodie bag, and another half under my belt...one last hooray before fall!!! I do not like to run outside in the winter...at least I didn't last year when I first started, but after running outdoors all summer, it may be hard for me to bring it inside. After all...they do make running gear for cold weather ;)</span><span class="msDict t_core" d:abs="1" id="m_en_us1280983.001" style="display: block; text-indent: -1em;"><br /></span><span class="msDict t_core" d:abs="1" id="m_en_us1280983.001" style="display: block; text-indent: -1em;"> My birthday is in 2 days, and as my sister says "It's your birthday, that means Christmas is right around the corner!" It makes me a little nervous when she says that, but it's true, and this year once Christmas hits, it will be a year since I began this running journey!!! </span><span class="msDict t_core" d:abs="1" id="m_en_us1280983.001" style="display: block; text-indent: -1em;"><b><br /></b></span><span class="msDict t_core" d:abs="1" id="m_en_us1280983.001" style="display: block; text-indent: -1em;"><br /></span><span class="msDict t_core" d:abs="1" id="m_en_us1280983.001" style="display: block; text-indent: -1em;"><br /></span><span class="msDict t_core" d:abs="1" id="m_en_us1280983.001" style="display: block; text-indent: -1em;"><br /></span><span class="msDict t_core" d:abs="1" id="m_en_us1280983.001" style="display: block; text-indent: -1em;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>Jolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378863469285006738.post-32580283784699967162012-08-05T19:52:00.000-07:002012-08-05T19:52:24.320-07:00Camping and running...can it be done?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I just got back from being out of town on a camping trip to Trinity Center KOA in California. This is the best campground I have stayed at in my life. We go annually with my bestie and her family. This was my first year attending as a runner. You like that? I totally refer to myself as a runner now...although after this last week, I am not so sure. <br />
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Day one Aunt Flo came for a visit, I was expecting her, and was fully prepared, however I didn't know she was going to be THAT much of a pain in my keister! I had a plan that I was going to run Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning. Well, when we camp we like to stay up later than usual and have s'mores, and a little something called pudgy pies (I may go into detail about those later). I tried to go to bed early enough, but with a rough nights sleep in a bed that is not what I am used to, combine with that hag Flo...running was not something I was up for. I am of the mindset that there are no excuses. I tell myself the minute I make excuses, that is the minute I will give up and quit running. Well, I think the odds were just terribly stacked against me. <br />
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The day I did actually run was on Thursday, and it was only 2 miles. When I got finished with my warm up and hit the ground running I felt GOOD! Then I realized I may be going a little fast as I was out of breath. My legs wanted to GO, like a pack of Huskies waiting to start the <a href="http://iditarod.com/" target="_blank">Iditarod</a>. I had to slow them down so I could at least breath LOL. I had a nice 2 miler and felt really good afterward, so I went up to the playground where I seen a man doing some strength training there (that's where I got the idea). There was a basketball court where I was able to do some push ups, wall sits, and squats. I felt SO good that day. That afternoon at the pool this man was talking about how he was running for a fitness test and that he could run a mile and a half in 14:40, or something like that. I asked my husband Kurt how many miles an hour that equated to. He said about 8 mph. I looked over at the guy and thought to myself i'll be a monkeys uncle if he's running an 8 minute mile! I think my husbands math was off. All that to say that this guy was talking about having to run in the altitude...ALTITUDE! What? I hadn't even taken that into consideration thank God, because if I had, that would have added to my arsenal of excuses, and believe me, that locker was full. I may not have ever got a run in at all! <br />
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Friday was our last full day of camping. I got up early enough that morning to get a run in, but I really wasn't feeling good. That day we went to the lake and my nose was running. I was catching my daughters cold. By Saturday and the trip home I was full blown sick, miserable. Aunt Flo finally packs her bags, and this cold takes her place, and with a vengeance might I add. We rolled into our driveway around 9:45 pm and I went in the house and took my temp. So not only do I have a cold...I have a low grade fever 99.4 WHAT UP? I took some cold meds and headed straight to bed. I had the most glorious nights sleep thanks to Tylenol Cold night time medicine (liquid form) with "cool burst". No they are not paying me LMBO, but it is so good I will give them some props anyway. <br />
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I do want to interject though that among my worries about all the eating and not running, my biggest fear was not the weight that I might gain. My biggest fear was that I would not be able to pick up running again, or would not want to. Weight gain is something I can handle, I can control. Well as I am typing this, I realize that I am a bit looney...why do I constantly do this to myself? Of course I want to keep running. In fact I can't wait to get back out on the road! As I was separating laundry mountain (that is a term coined by my friend Gina Sanders) it occurred to me that every time I came across a pair of running shorts, or a dry-fit shirt...a little tinge of excitement would streak across my inner being. And as I was driving in and out of my driveway, I was looking at the road longingly in anticipation for my feet to meet the pavement once again soon. I do have to take tomorrow off though as I told myself to rest one more day because of this stupid cold. <br />
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On the way home I did drive for about 3 hours (of a 9 hour drive), but through the mountains. I drove a 7 mile 6 % downgrade. I may have never known before what that was, but let me tell you what it was, it was white knuckle, that's what it was. So I give myself some props, and demanded a few from Kurt, which he gave me. <br />
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A pudgy pie is much like a grilled cheese sandwich, except with blueberry pie filling, and heated in cast iron over a campfire. Very yummy.<br />
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I do have to tell a quick story. Last Saturday on my 7 mile run, I brought along my nice Adidas light jacket that I shed half way through my run. I made sure to shed it on a corner so that I could come back with my car later and pick it up. (these country roads don't have much for shoulders). Well, when I came back it was gone. In that short of a time someone seen it, got out of the car, decided they knew someone who could wear this practically brand new jacket and took it. I am very bitter for so many reasons, but if you hear me mention the jacket, you will now know what I am talking about, and I am not looking forward to running by that spot agin, but it is a staple of my run to go that way. After all that has happened good, and bad in the last couple of weeks, I am not going to let any of it take over because I am blessed by God in SO many ways (especially salvation) that I will not let the bad stuff win. <br />
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I may as well share some photos from our camping trip, especially after that downer story. <br />
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This was taken in Weed, Ca on the way down</div>
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This was at the Lake, the scenery is spectacular!</div>
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This is Rick and Teresa</div>
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This is me and my man being playful as I switched our hats. shhh don't tell him I posted this pic </div>
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This is my oldest with her new favorite pastime.</div>
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And this is my youngest...just enjoying herself :)</div>
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</div>Jolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378863469285006738.post-27424219029192394742012-07-26T07:53:00.000-07:002012-07-26T07:53:07.901-07:00No race, new season...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So I guess this is a new season in my running deal. I have a few reasons why I haven't been blogging. It seems that I have been crazy busy, and also when I read other peoples blogs they have all sorts of tabs, and highlights, and links, I begin to think "why would anyone want to read MY blog?" But I have to just get over that and realize that if I wanted all that stuff I would just have to take the time to learn how to do it. <br />
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<b>Not a race:</b><br />
So now that I am not training for a race, what's next? As I have already made very clear to myself, I refuse to quit running. One of the post HM (half marathon) training ideas I had planned was to train my oldest daughter to run a 5K as she has taken an interest in running.<br />
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<b>Emily's 1st mile with me:</b><br />
I took her out one day about a week ago and she did so well! We ran down the private road, which we call our driveway...we actually share it with about 7 other houses, but it is gravel mostly and has three good sized hills. She kept a good pace, and only had to walk a few times. Whenever I encouraged her to run she would pick it up again, and on the hardest hill (Deanna's hill) she pushed herself so hard. I could see that she was struggling and I was encouraging her to get up it without stopping and promised her when she got to the top that she could walk. The next day as I was finishing up a 5 mile run and was on that hill, I was tired and thought to myself how my daughter must have felt, I looked over to my right and could see that red faced little girl muscling up that hill, I could almost hear her breathing. I was reminded of the smile she had when we reached the plateau :) I was sure to tell her when I got home what I went through on that hill, and sure to tell her how hard I know she worked and how proud I was of her. I was sure to tell her how much I enjoyed her running with me. I really need to get out there with her again...today would be good as it is a rest day for my schedule.<br />
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<b>My new schedule:</b><br />
<b> </b>I went into the forums of <a href="http://www.dailymile.com/" target="_blank">Daily Mile</a> and typed in training schedule. The best one I seen I have modified a bit and this is what it will look like for me:<br />
Day 1: Monday 2-3 mile<br />
Day 2: Tuesday 4-5 mile<br />
Day 3: Wednesday 2-3 mile<br />
Day 4: Thursday rest or cross train<br />
Day 5: Friday rest or cross train<br />
Day 6: Saturday long run, generally a mile longer than I had done the week before.<br />
Day 7 Sunday: Rest<br />
<b> </b>I will add strength to my cross training days and one of my run days. <br />
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<b>Dealing with being tired:</b><br />
<b> </b>Adding strength to my running routine has helped me to be tired. I know I will see results soon and rather than be tired I will be stronger, it's just tough waiting it out. This is why I was not going heavy on the strength when I was training for my HM. <br />
Another additive to my tiredness is the new schedule I am committed to. See, as much as I love to run, my husband is more important to me. He faithfully gets up every morning <b>very </b>early and goes to work, he does not stop to have a beer, or gamble at the casinos, he comes home and loves on his wife and kids. I feel like he deserves the world if he should ask it from me, so the least I can do is get up early with him. This is proving to be a challenge, but I am seeing some adjustment. We have been going to bed early as well...most nights, and the funny thing is that we tell the kids they can stay up a little later, but they choose to go to bed too. In the fall this schedule will change as work will be closer to home. <br />
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<b>Hectic:</b><br />
It seems as though things have been busy, some of it I bring on myself, but most of it is errands and everyday stuff that you can't get by without. Sometimes at the end of the day when I give myself permission to stop and sit down I feel guilty because I already got to sit down in the morning, and I ask myself "what did you do all day? Look at your house and the projects you have been saying you were going to take care of, you could do this now instead of sitting and wasting time". Sometimes I get up and do it, but a lot of the time I don't. <br />
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<b>Last few runs:</b><br />
I would be a liar if I said they were a breeze, but that is okay, I know my workouts are an ongoing science experiment. Also one major thing I am forgetting to mention is my eating habits. I have been doing so horrible! It is no wonder my body does not want to cooperate with the strain I am putting on it! Over the past three days I have been shifting back to having more produce in my diet, and man can I feel the difference already! This morning when the alarm went off I was actually able to get up and going without a huge fight. I have been eating so horrible because the weather had been cloudy most all last week, and I was craving sugar like nobodies business. I ate two yeast doughnuts in one sitting...I have never done that in my life. Even at my heaviest I never did that! Apparently that is not as big of a deal as I thought though. I was running through this all. My last run of 3 miles yesterday went well, today is a rest/cross train day, and the day before my 3 mile...<br />
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<b>Monster Hill:</b><br />
A few months ago I wrote about trying monster hill, it was so hard, I couldn't make it to the top without walking, and have been teasing about trying it agin. Well I did, but this time I had a plan. I ran a mile out and then turned around so that by the time I hit that hill I would have a nice mile and a half warm up, that helped me half way up the hill. The other half was getting hard, then the last 4/10ths of the way up was pure struggle. Struggle to breath, to concentrate, but I talked my way up it. This was biggest loser last chance workout pain, I told myself, this is only one hill, only a little farther, biggest loser contestants or anyone trying to transform their body has to do this for months on end, you are only asking for one hill, then I told myself I never have to do this again if I don't want to! I made it to what looked like the top, but have you ever been up a hill that appeared to plateau, then had just one more hump to overcome? That is this hill! I did it! I got to the top! Then turned right back around. I was out of breath and in a lot of pain, this was a five mile run, but decidedly I was cutting it short. Just as I crested the hill, if I would have kept going I would have gone down a smaller hill that I would have had to run up again when I turned around...I guess I will just have to save something for next time. Don't forget about those hills on my driveway that are nothing to sneeze at, I still had to crest those in order to get home. I had given myself permission to walk those...but we all know how running and letting ourselves take the easy way out goes...it doesn't :)<br />
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Thank you for reading.<br />
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</div>Jolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378863469285006738.post-44388553797172950542012-07-16T08:54:00.001-07:002012-07-16T08:54:07.902-07:00I have a lot more reasons to run, than to quit.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have a confession to make...well I guess it's not too much of a confession considering that I would tell you, even if you didn't ask. It has been very difficult for me to convince myself to run every since I finished my goal of the half marathon. Admittedly my original goal once I got comfortable with running was the Columbia Crossing over the bridge in Astoria. I know I have expressed this before, and do you know, I haven't even signed up for that race? Oh I might have signed up before the half, but it didn't allow registration until July 1st! And let me tell you that on July 1st the last thing on my mind was a 10K, not with 13.1 miles being three days away. I was strongly considering doing the Color Run with some friends from church, but after spending the evening before my race in DT Portland, I decided I didn't want anything more to do with that part of the city for a while...the rest of my life would be just fine with me, but knowing that most races in this area come from there, I will be hard pressed to stay away. <br />
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I left for California to visit my friend Teresa two days after the race. I knew I needed a rest period, but I didn't want to take too long. The first night we were there we went to eat at the Old Spaghetti Factory in San Jose. This place is truly a tradition for my family, and a favorite of mine. Kurt and I had been there in years past BC (before children), and I wanted to take my girls there. <br />
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Well with dinner like this, and previously informing you all of my weight loss success, I knew it wasn't going to be long before I needed to pound the pavement.</div>
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I really hadn't much of an idea where I was going to run, so I decided on a two mile run to start off. I ran around the neighbor hood. There were a lot of turns to get my miles in. I was worried I was going to get lost...I know with a GPS that is next to impossible, but I didn't want to worry about staring at a map to get back home, so I found myself weaving in and out of courts to get more miles with being less far away. I really don't like to stray too far from my starting point (something I have learned about myself.) That day I ran those two miles, My brother inlaw took the girls to his uncles house for a BBQ so Teresa and I could spend the afternoon together. Teresa wanted to go on a hike. She said it wasn't a hard hike, that is why I got the two miles in before hand. But in the back of my mind I kept hearing "don't underestimate her" You see Teresa is one of those people who is not afraid to go head to head with a grueling work out if it provides enjoyment to her. Trust me, over the years I have been led on an excursion or two. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6-9wBq2BVhXyD3uG0lU-6w6hWcV9VxVWuMT5pHye9HhE_zw7M-hOHszRybyb6JafEf0x_z8EGorEMwHRqBwHPkLJ7RM9expoJmEyqFJPF-YAHDtPCjwEwKNBxfbH2ipDXq0BN3tIXEPMd/s1600/IMG_3681.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6-9wBq2BVhXyD3uG0lU-6w6hWcV9VxVWuMT5pHye9HhE_zw7M-hOHszRybyb6JafEf0x_z8EGorEMwHRqBwHPkLJ7RM9expoJmEyqFJPF-YAHDtPCjwEwKNBxfbH2ipDXq0BN3tIXEPMd/s320/IMG_3681.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This was at one of the plateaus overlooking the Santa Teresa Golf Course</div>
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It was about 80 degrees</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN6woQYBTHiyMsZNK7N4JIimUj0TnOTCg6T0kr253Olcln0cFIkJnEZuUi-CE_cLhRnqHyMuo4wq1in3Mw32uQiuNw01j3DJXSMlyWzrMVrZ9Lej39D23QaVKPGAKhaNjS2kq3x-ZC4hPz/s1600/IMG_3680.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN6woQYBTHiyMsZNK7N4JIimUj0TnOTCg6T0kr253Olcln0cFIkJnEZuUi-CE_cLhRnqHyMuo4wq1in3Mw32uQiuNw01j3DJXSMlyWzrMVrZ9Lej39D23QaVKPGAKhaNjS2kq3x-ZC4hPz/s320/IMG_3680.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This is just a view of the beautiful golden hillside</div>
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So I did not infact underestimate, and I was correct not to do so. This hike was beautiful, but also not for the lazy. My feet hurt afterword. I have walked in my running shoes on one other occasion and I really do think that my running shoes are NOT meant for walking, either that, or I just don't walk as well as I run.</div>
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The next run was a couple days later. It was a 4 miler on a totally different route. I LOVE the fact that there are so many sidewalks to chose from! Where I live it's all country roads and I have to practically throw myself in a ditch to give a car room to pass me without having to go into the oncoming lane of traffic. With that being said, there are also stop lights. That make you stop. This run did not have too many of those because part of it was residential. That day we took the kids to the pool, and that felt very refreshing. </div>
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The last and final run of that vacation was Thursday 5 miles, my second to last day there :( I knew I had to do it because I was not going to be able to run for the next 3 days. I ran up a busy road, and hit a nice incline over an overpass. I was making very good time on my runs in California despite the heat because it was all flat. The last run I did at 6:30 in the morning, the garbage truck woke me at 5:58 and I tried to go back to sleep, but my conscience got the best of me. I hit a lot of lights, my GPS pause button got a good work out. </div>
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I noticed there were more bicyclers in that area than runners. I never did see a 13.1 sticker...I did see ONE 26.2 though. I couldn't believe it. Around here in the PACNW I see those stickers every time I turn around! The more I tried to schedule a run, it was easier to figure out why. If you want to run in the summer there, you need to either take it to the treadmill, or plan your runs super early in the morning, or late in the evening, I usually run early in the morning anyway, but it is so different here. </div>
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Before I went to bed last night I got my running apparel prepared. I knew I couldn't have one excuse to plague me. I woke up with my love at 4:45 this morning, kissed him good bye and sat on my couch drank coffee and had time with my Jesus reading all about Him. By the time 6:00 am rolled around I started getting dressed. This is of course after getting the animals taken care of too. I grabbed my lucky socks out of the dryer, donned my favorite running pants, and new shirt I got at the Columbia employee store (had to throw that in there :)) filled up my hydration pack, strapped on my phone/music/GPS...why am I saying all this? because if it seems boring and slow, that is how it felt. Not the boring part, but the slow part because you know what it was don't you? Procrastination! I know I had to do all these things, but I was being deliberately slow... why??? I do like/love running, I really really do! Once I got on the road I was doing good, once I cleared a half mile I was feeling great! The run was fabulous, and while I was on it, I was thinking. I have been wanting to be a long distance runner as long as I can remember. I keep having flashes of times in my life where I have started out walking, but then always challenged myself to try running a little. EVERY TIME! Why did I not keep it up and strive for the distance? Because it hurt, and I never knew that if I would have kept going, the pain would have eventually lessened, and during certain parts of the run, gone away. I never knew that the reward at the end was far worth the pain. I think back to my sister in-law who has been a runner/athlete every since I knew her, and I was 100 kinds of impressed with how she could push herself like that. There have been a lot of writings of why people run. So many of them ring true for me. I have a lot of reasons...a lot more reasons to run than to quit. </div>
</div>Jolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378863469285006738.post-62154380416612401012012-07-05T19:59:00.000-07:002012-07-05T19:59:38.899-07:00My first half marathon<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Once I seen the 10 mile mark I knew that just a few steps after that would be the farthest I had ever run in my life...<br />
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I stayed in one of the host hotels in order to get a good nights sleep and not have a bunch of driving time before the race. I took very good care of myself for months before this race, and it showed on race day. I sure hope I don't slack off when training for my next race. <br />
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4:00am Rise and shine! I was awake and feeling good! Running on pure excitement! I had time so I decided to take a shower. After my shower I got my running clothes on and headed down to the continental breakfast that started special at 4 am for the runners, which was a nice touch. I debated getting dressed into my running clothes before heading down because I didn't want to have my sports bra on for a long time before the race. Sometimes if I keep it on too long it will make me sore. I decided that wasn't going to happen. I was in my gear and ready to head down. I was a little embarrassed that I had my bib number already on, but it's kind of a pain to pin that thing on, so I figured i'd just forget being embarrassed. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfP-akQoNGHwxR7H47Dd7hxyj84GgXlveeuvr9WGOmbhp_pCmEx_Ybu1zhAmKb8B4pXSku0Epzkm_82n9sJ5z7terYwGbaJLXQBl8P7laW3VfUMRz4x5MOIyHGInubh-dmNDi3hwIbVz27/s1600/IMG_3632.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfP-akQoNGHwxR7H47Dd7hxyj84GgXlveeuvr9WGOmbhp_pCmEx_Ybu1zhAmKb8B4pXSku0Epzkm_82n9sJ5z7terYwGbaJLXQBl8P7laW3VfUMRz4x5MOIyHGInubh-dmNDi3hwIbVz27/s320/IMG_3632.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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Kind of a goofy picture but it was early and I didn't have a lot of time to worry about a perfect shot.</div>
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When I got downstairs I seen a lady I had met at the pool the night before. She was from Hawaii and here to qualify for Boston. I should have asked her name...now I'll never know if she made it. I ended up having a bowl of cereal. I wanted to stay light on my meal, especially since I ate so much at the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner the night before. </div>
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This is all I brought. Stuff on the left of the bag goes with me on the road. And my lucky socks!!!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXO-OKtJNjrZUHJkro9pDvwdWCDliIkps-DfoJatDtVD4kOe9pTvNQCr7tfb3DhyphenhyphenzS4idK_AplYyvC_oKTP8ZvIUY1di4dXXPtllxhYUhK3UU-4XA5OaR8_H0L1quk1kyrRNWeBA-Dy7i7/s1600/IMG_3633.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXO-OKtJNjrZUHJkro9pDvwdWCDliIkps-DfoJatDtVD4kOe9pTvNQCr7tfb3DhyphenhyphenzS4idK_AplYyvC_oKTP8ZvIUY1di4dXXPtllxhYUhK3UU-4XA5OaR8_H0L1quk1kyrRNWeBA-Dy7i7/s320/IMG_3633.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I decided last minute to snap a pic of the view from my window. </div>
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Time to head out the door. I am surprisingly calm. I usually am a wreck by this point, but there was just a peace about the day that could have only come from God. I got down to the buses, there were about 6 or 7 of them, checked in, and got on the bus. It was a pleasant ride. I sat next to a woman who was sitting alone, and the man I was talking to in line sat in front of us. We had a great conversation the whole way there. I learned a few new things too. I can't tell you right off the bat what those things were. </div>
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Once on the island the sun was already shining it's early deep orange hue upon us. Once I got off the bus I got in line to check my bag. A lady whom I met on Daily Mile and had arranged to meet at the race met me in the bag check line. I immediately liked her. She had a warm smile and a friendly attitude. I loved her hydration pack, she had two pockets on the straps!!!! That is exactly what I had been needing! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUcCGqjJUTz-59Hct7okss6RKb2XSZWKgpAUPjfm1KWaGBth-mvVtlprUN9TrgeuPtPPdLBvWVGTN6yAUNazdNZ9IkIY7WUo5UJv6QXoi3O16mmFyAbYPdboYMZkl1nWn9s_M5chdyG2cV/s1600/IMG_3634.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUcCGqjJUTz-59Hct7okss6RKb2XSZWKgpAUPjfm1KWaGBth-mvVtlprUN9TrgeuPtPPdLBvWVGTN6yAUNazdNZ9IkIY7WUo5UJv6QXoi3O16mmFyAbYPdboYMZkl1nWn9s_M5chdyG2cV/s320/IMG_3634.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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This is Me and Michelle. We were really excited to start the race, but it was hard to find the perfect pose where the sun wasn't casting a shade. </div>
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<b>The Race</b></div>
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The gun went off and we were running! Not at a very fast pace at all. We were passing by many cars waiting to get onto the island. The reviews made it sound like this was going to be a huge problem, but it wasn't at all. I knew I had to pic up my pace a bit if I was going to get a good time at all, because I have an idea of what my pace is, and this was NOT it. So I began to weave in and out of people as much as I could. Things didn't begin to thin out until about a half mile in. As slow as my first mile started, I completed my first mile in just under 10 minutes. </div>
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After mile three I began counting down how many miles I had left. They all seemed pretty easy to get to, it seemed to take a long time to get to the half way point, but once I did I was glad. Just before that at mile 5 I decided it was time to have an energy chew. I knew I would need at least 3 blocks for anything to take effect, so I crammed the first one in my mouth and began chewing as fast as I could, then the second one, I wanted to hold onto the third one, put my back pack on and finish chewing the other two, but could not finagle all that and keep good time, so I crammed the third one into my mouth. Oh goodness, I started to choke. I was NOT about to let myself be distracted by choking! I coughed and sputtered, and sipped some water, but I did not stop! Of course I would have stopped if I really needed to...maybe...</div>
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Around mile 4 I found a guy in a green shirt who seemed to be going at my pace, so I kept up with him for a few miles, then he fell back, and there was a girl who had been running in front of me at the same comfortable pace, so I stayed with her, I am not sure if she fell back or thrusted on, but I lost site of her too eventually. </div>
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Mile 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 people were passing me, but none of them looked familiar. Some of them were marathoners, I just know it. Out of all the miles the hardest to find was Mile 11. As I passed mile ten I knew that once I passed it in just a few steps I will have set a new distance record for myself. I also told myself that once I got to mile 10 I would have to take it one mile at a time. No convincing myself that it was only a few miles up the road. One I found mile 11 things went a little faster. After mile 12 I was able to see the finish, this was exciting. </div>
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One thing I failed to mention was the entertainment solution. I had made a playlist of a book on CD, then inserted songs into strategic places so that close to the end I would have some great tunes to carry me over. Well I switched to straight music at about mile 8, and I was glad I did. I used the voice control feature, so I never had to dig into my backpack for tune changes, and my wireless headphones have forward and back controls so I could skip or repeat songs. That worked like a charm!!!</div>
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I had .1 mile to go, and my family was nowhere in site I was searching vigorously. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieyHFaCiBiF-36aE8ZEVvs4oQAploC1DdVV720g9AZVjtnUliNtDNt1nIGj7GUSsFuocVX6xktGYunALSIq5SdbdoitIbsefSFnT3FY9QAlbkUKIV_-1jhJTdttPNxTKkNjZgyawLplPlN/s1600/IMG_3642.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieyHFaCiBiF-36aE8ZEVvs4oQAploC1DdVV720g9AZVjtnUliNtDNt1nIGj7GUSsFuocVX6xktGYunALSIq5SdbdoitIbsefSFnT3FY9QAlbkUKIV_-1jhJTdttPNxTKkNjZgyawLplPlN/s640/IMG_3642.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here you can see me searching. I am not sprinting in because I just know my family has to be here somewhere!Obviously you can tell by the photo that my husband was right there waiting for me to cross the finish line. And that I did! It seemed like everything slowed down to cross it because I was filled with so much emotion. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9n0Lh_wI6iL_6lW3_iVoOCkYHvcA8WYHa-EXyL1Bns0LCXkJhP8yKeyzj7zSSF8zvpv-p0xJfYOqelsw5PkmOg0oBqC3vIdzCUCQaCow1xoWSPyyOQUMtxFh-5Nq2a3TE1-j4ARShuFbS/s1600/IMG_3658.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9n0Lh_wI6iL_6lW3_iVoOCkYHvcA8WYHa-EXyL1Bns0LCXkJhP8yKeyzj7zSSF8zvpv-p0xJfYOqelsw5PkmOg0oBqC3vIdzCUCQaCow1xoWSPyyOQUMtxFh-5Nq2a3TE1-j4ARShuFbS/s640/IMG_3658.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I came around the corner to where I could meet my family and my Kurt caught me at the exact moment of pure joy. I don't like my appearance in the photo, but that moment was filled with such joy and accomplishment that I will cherish this picture for the rest of my life.</div>
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My medal!!!</div>
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I bought the 13.1 sticker like a month before the race. I would not put it on my car until I had completed it. I had visions of how I wanted this day to go and it went pretty darn close to perfect.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIqTmhyphenhyphenpaE1RhX7ZwlyvUUQbZZnCd2YdUxm5j0Jk8dvDFHnbaFhXdPPfqhieGL2JfUKcDIiplw8PYKSP44fq3vfUeYogsEAPZWvOj5HYlagJWIhAHM9HLGSFNnKT1fbJTEyTHQR3JQ8hxC/s1600/IMG_3641.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIqTmhyphenhyphenpaE1RhX7ZwlyvUUQbZZnCd2YdUxm5j0Jk8dvDFHnbaFhXdPPfqhieGL2JfUKcDIiplw8PYKSP44fq3vfUeYogsEAPZWvOj5HYlagJWIhAHM9HLGSFNnKT1fbJTEyTHQR3JQ8hxC/s320/IMG_3641.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We had so much time after the race that we decided to drive back home. Perfect opportunity for me to take an ice bath...yes I have shorts on!</div>
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I can tell you that I have had long runs without an ice bath, and my longest run with and ice bath, and I SWEAR by them!!! I did it right this time. I got into a cold tub with shorts and my sweatshirt, and a cup of hot coffee. Then I put the bag of ice in and sat for 15 minutes. The only thing I would have done different was to put a bath pillow behind me. I couldn't lean back because my jacket would have gotten wet.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD6DKmcmOHofAQqrvkkVKHIDSJ9basDlA7V7S7bgrlcU0HRcLwuqUU2dDWLzp2zbgBkmmF4qypeu7XZzROPbRYaHvBoEt4aGyi645RUc0IuNNOYe4auptf555SKvSBbR6StNli7cCNw3tG/s1600/IMG_3660.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD6DKmcmOHofAQqrvkkVKHIDSJ9basDlA7V7S7bgrlcU0HRcLwuqUU2dDWLzp2zbgBkmmF4qypeu7XZzROPbRYaHvBoEt4aGyi645RUc0IuNNOYe4auptf555SKvSBbR6StNli7cCNw3tG/s320/IMG_3660.PNG" width="213" /></a></div>
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Last but not least...my splits. The last one isn't accurate because I was done running long before I shut the app off. </div>
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Thank you for reading and supporting me in my running. I am hopefully nowhere near done. Now it's time to figure out how to run without training for a race...or maybe just keep training.</div>
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God Bless you my friends.</div>
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</div>Jolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378863469285006738.post-77614205461091879882012-07-03T08:05:00.001-07:002012-07-03T08:11:13.340-07:00Dilemmas solved before the race.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So tomorrow July 4th is the day. This is what it all boils down to. All the training. Moving and shifting the schedule around so I could stay on the most important schedule. All the sweat, pain, worry. All the PR's triumphs and realizations comes down to tomorrow. <br />
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I was slightly worried that I would taper off after the race and eventually stop running, but with so many inspiring runners out there who run race after race, and with how much I truly love the sport, I don't see myself quitting. <br />
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I cannot wait to be able to come back and tell you all about how the race went, but first I want to tell you about some things I am excited about.<br />
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My music dilemma was unfortunately not all the way solved with hanging my phone around my neck. On the two mile test run I ended up having to stuff my phone into the center of my cleavage. It was fine for 18 minutes, but 2+ hours may be a different story. <br />
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I sat on my couch yesterday and sewed a pouch to the front strap of my hydration pack, when I put it on an jogged around my kitchen I could tell it wasn't going to work (too much chafing). I cut that off and decided I was going to have to go between wearing it in my bra, and shoving it in my pack. <br />
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Last night I was re-familiarizing myself with my over the ear headphones (which appear to be working!!!) and one of the buttons is voice control, I do not have Siri. I found that with this VC button I can toggle between playlists! This was what my dilemma was! So now if while huffing and puffing I can use the VC clearly enough, I should be able to make it work. <br />
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My next small handicap is my monthly cycle. Yesterday I seen an ad for something called <a href="http://www.softcup.com/?gclid=CPuIn-vd_bACFUgDQAodCzx_Gg" target="_blank">Soft cup</a>.<br />
Here is a picture...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjig8AyPftJBsCI5M0wpUvgI43HZA8Y9lEQKXaL26-gu340PQX1I3X39QrhRzZu3NVXd5nNV-orR5WVcHrtA6NLPJUa4wT6WRvSaMlqHt6XuSCvX9rFTDo9Ne7MOkOLoSahAlmDlmz2lEot/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-07-03+at+7.39.35+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjig8AyPftJBsCI5M0wpUvgI43HZA8Y9lEQKXaL26-gu340PQX1I3X39QrhRzZu3NVXd5nNV-orR5WVcHrtA6NLPJUa4wT6WRvSaMlqHt6XuSCvX9rFTDo9Ne7MOkOLoSahAlmDlmz2lEot/s640/Screen+Shot+2012-07-03+at+7.39.35+AM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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I am the person who can't stand tampons, and doesn't like the mess of pads, but deals better with that then having something I can feel, and that little string is my nemesis. This product claims to be "something for the rest of us". I am here to tell you that YES it IS. I looked at it's reviews, and watched the how to videos. The best video is the clinical animated one by the company itself, because It shows how you get it to a certain point then push up on the rim and it slides into place.</div>
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Here is a link to the video <a href="http://www.softcup.com/video-tutorials">http://www.softcup.com/video-tutorials</a><br />
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I had a bunch of TMI stuff written, but decided instead that I just want to say that I am so extremely happy and impressed with this product. This product has a learning curve, just like when you learned how to deal with tampons or pads, but oh is it worth it!!!!!! And the better you know your body, the easier it will be to use. If you decide to try it and have any questions you can FB or email me, or just watch the tutorial, but make sure you educate yourself so that you can have success with this freeing product! There are so many perks to using this that I can't list them all, but my favorite would have to be night time :)</div>
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So there are two dilemmas solved! Woohoo! </div>
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My email is mysinsareforgiven@facebook.com</div>
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</div>Jolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378863469285006738.post-74410989966456595952012-07-02T10:58:00.000-07:002012-07-02T10:58:51.954-07:00Caution: running causes cute outfits to jump out of nowhere because you can NOW fit into them!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So I have a little bit of a success story. I am not going to lie. The reason I ever discovered I liked running in the first place was birthed from my desire to lose excess pounds and be into that body I had soon after my second child was born. Notice I didn't say high school, because let's face it...some things just won't happen till heaven.<br />
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Not so long ago I got on the scale and it gave me the number I have been wanting to see for about 4 years. It's only been in the last 2 years that I got serious to do anything about it. My weight stayed at that number for 3 whole days! I decided I could safely say that I was there. Though 5 more pounds might be cool, I will be happy here for a while. Of course I still have insecurities social issues...but I am glad I have hang ups...keeps me humble. <br />
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So the other day my kids and I were in the Good Will (some of you have heard this story) and my Daughter pulled a pair of jeans off the rack and said here mom, try these on. I got one leg in and said "oh no...these are skinny jeans" I was half way in, so I decided to go the rest of the way, and boy am I glad I did!!! Skinny jeans be darned! They fit nicely! I have no idea if they are still in style, but if they aren't I DON'T CARE!! Why?? Because I am making up for lost time when I couldn't wear them! Honestly you would think I have been sleeping in them every since I got them. Here's why I like them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_f4jo2bsbRVdKUnb3HrEthBY6DxyiPED9NX98IQpK8RZi9AOb6_pT8boZihKtd84xmJu6eaC1W2Zkbx5TDpSZgQZUC4CvYU5dnn_tNHE3Nj0VIJhBJaNsxv-WnXZg6yONqz-KMB79hOI5/s1600/IMG_3592.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_f4jo2bsbRVdKUnb3HrEthBY6DxyiPED9NX98IQpK8RZi9AOb6_pT8boZihKtd84xmJu6eaC1W2Zkbx5TDpSZgQZUC4CvYU5dnn_tNHE3Nj0VIJhBJaNsxv-WnXZg6yONqz-KMB79hOI5/s320/IMG_3592.jpg" width="147" /></a></div>
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I cannot believe that is me in the mirror. </div>
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Maybe this is not the place to express the shear excitement of my achievement, but I figure I have brought you through all the struggles and trials, that I should share the accomplishment of my physical appearance, as well as physical endurance. I am so thankful to Jesus who goes with me on all my runs, and for the support system of my friends reading my blog, and being there for me when I am feeling blue, angry, or happy and excited! Sheesh, it sounds like I am accepting an award, I am not going to delete though. I am just going to say even though there is no award, there is reward. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtAGx0bYiyv93TF61Y71i43FhVaq57Mr6pO8B5Jt-0fo09z4zR9Lk1JIlw2lgk14dmL1hfFE50fr1ysP6-H8pN7KNxZdw-NBQ3I11BxVfP2GJ6ZzSZaSf16QM2u3h7U1EvPvi0aGgEUrPz/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-07-02+at+10.31.26+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtAGx0bYiyv93TF61Y71i43FhVaq57Mr6pO8B5Jt-0fo09z4zR9Lk1JIlw2lgk14dmL1hfFE50fr1ysP6-H8pN7KNxZdw-NBQ3I11BxVfP2GJ6ZzSZaSf16QM2u3h7U1EvPvi0aGgEUrPz/s640/Screen+Shot+2012-07-02+at+10.31.26+AM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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The photo all the way to the right is the one that catapulted my journey the one on the left was taken just a few days before.</div>
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This time frame was December 2009, only 2 months after we moved into our new house and about a month after I had completely quit smoking. I had to take a look at my lifestyle to realize how sedentary I had become. I wasn't moving at all. Most of my time was being taken up by knitting. Sure I was keeping my house clean and doing all that stuff, but for the most part I was sitting a LOT. And eating large portions, and probably going back for seconds. I was only about 14 pounds away from the heaviest I had ever been. So I got a membership to the YMCA and lost 10 pounds in 4 months. I kept it off for about a year, but fell off of working out and was eating more portions again. But keeping the weight off and my body being the same as when I was working out were two different things. Exercise makes a world of difference. The word "toned" is not a figment of fitness minded peoples imagination! </div>
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November of 2011, we decided it was time for our family to attend the Disney Cruise we had been dreaming of for so long. That was IT! I had dreamed of walking along a tropical beach in a flowing summer dress and being thin, and dar gone it, it had to happen!! I had to train myself to ignore the signal to eat "just because I had eaten at this time every other day", I had to drink lots of water, and decrease portion size. I had take 20 minutes to eat my food so that the chemical that tells my brain I was full could kick in. I had to wrap my food half way through the meal and save it so that If I needed it I could go back. I had to fight with the disappointment of the numbers. I had emotional, and weather related eating struggles. I had binges, I had bad weeks, but I always got back on. I also had to find what worked for me exercise wise. You all know what I found, but after my big half marathon I am going to get into strength training as well as running, take it up a notch, get those muscles working in my favor! I am so glad I did this. My family is glad I did this. I was having a conversation with my daughter the other day and she had said she didn't like it when I was crabby and I said "since I have been running, have I been crabby?" she said "No, actually you haven't". I love my runners high, and I hope I never stop signing up for races so I never stop running!</div>
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</div>Jolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378863469285006738.post-25785047999357604562012-06-30T21:39:00.000-07:002012-06-30T21:39:10.409-07:00Preparations!!! and a story about headphones<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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.<br />
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<b>Story about the rain soaked headphones.</b></div>
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{skip to next bold type if you fear boredom or non nonrelatio/n}</div>
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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. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc7yoQCoLibFIYNW3wQi-dyMhUNcFe1pHGIogww_Njt_CfooBtq5ue17l21wMfy9jSKUdQuiwGkO4Y0kOQ5-DoqD1-Und66O4DsH0NnzOmF4XvFbWeeDUFEtr2n7DOoMTEAqqxpK_qhO8v/s1600/IMG_3599.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc7yoQCoLibFIYNW3wQi-dyMhUNcFe1pHGIogww_Njt_CfooBtq5ue17l21wMfy9jSKUdQuiwGkO4Y0kOQ5-DoqD1-Und66O4DsH0NnzOmF4XvFbWeeDUFEtr2n7DOoMTEAqqxpK_qhO8v/s320/IMG_3599.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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These are my precious loves</div>
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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. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoOcOhNtihUKBRq8DuAy-im0hVEHAWtJ1ep0ICk3btIAU6zOmpwE_wIw39ekwtHeKGZAdRKoORdxzd-_QzlcitaDNS7v7OzRVp61sQoHvIWa5cxOlr_kZ1GMyOCSybuM-30dZdl72o71w2/s1600/IMG_3600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoOcOhNtihUKBRq8DuAy-im0hVEHAWtJ1ep0ICk3btIAU6zOmpwE_wIw39ekwtHeKGZAdRKoORdxzd-_QzlcitaDNS7v7OzRVp61sQoHvIWa5cxOlr_kZ1GMyOCSybuM-30dZdl72o71w2/s320/IMG_3600.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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These will do the trick</div>
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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.<br />
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<b>Getting ready, mentally and physically</b></div>
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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. </div>
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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<br />
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said jacket (it even has a fold up hood)</div>
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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.<br />
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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! <br />
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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. <br />
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Here is my list so far;<br />
Sports clothing<br />
Change of street clothes<br />
Deodorant/body spray (plan on hanging around for festivities)<br />
Cell Phone (this should be a given, but I am not sure I will be having my brain with me)<br />
Head Phones<br />
5 hour energy. I am avoiding coffee so I don't have to visit the port a potty during the race.<br />
Bottled water for the night in the hotel<br />
water back pack<br />
ibuprophin<br />
tums (you never know)<br />
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<b>Entertainment dilema</b></div>
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<b> </b>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? </div>
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<b> This is my result</b></div>
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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. </div>
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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. </div>
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</div>Jolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378863469285006738.post-28586442409305980452012-06-27T10:54:00.001-07:002012-06-27T10:54:21.786-07:00my first 10 mile ever! (in my life)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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.<br />
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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. <br />
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<b>The details</b></div>
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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. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBPFn4t4k5j3EIkeu8AS5O0uagwedeUjkHy0LDdvs4_uUIKc-_KixrLJkFaaP9Y4ELQkvZ9aKDAfZuEWu6FnyudoomszSHTg-VMhelg1mMgnAdUYxCp4nYZiYJmwrpUbVYyOrOaZcG5yg8/s1600/IMG_3571.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBPFn4t4k5j3EIkeu8AS5O0uagwedeUjkHy0LDdvs4_uUIKc-_KixrLJkFaaP9Y4ELQkvZ9aKDAfZuEWu6FnyudoomszSHTg-VMhelg1mMgnAdUYxCp4nYZiYJmwrpUbVYyOrOaZcG5yg8/s320/IMG_3571.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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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?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF8eNgQGdVGtB1nlSv5S7OfShQi3HomTzQoKw1jlpi-66yToxNvWp5zZtGaHPOxkwE1tjwowKcjYwimhhCMBuPuAeg6tMIcuxT7gQzeG-Nm1hD7KohrjFUtROgiWJOMX0gTOXNiivSHt6s/s1600/IMG_3572.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF8eNgQGdVGtB1nlSv5S7OfShQi3HomTzQoKw1jlpi-66yToxNvWp5zZtGaHPOxkwE1tjwowKcjYwimhhCMBuPuAeg6tMIcuxT7gQzeG-Nm1hD7KohrjFUtROgiWJOMX0gTOXNiivSHt6s/s320/IMG_3572.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This is what I was trying to get a picture of originally.</div>
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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. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbS-3vXNEbzFmsRRpJS5VLRHqp8gNvb-D0U-hnlnsNn0PBUbPCSwySiUJn4XK4WS4L5BZS2EacGUjcUUhrVUid9ECMhoJHVDX4BjAZI0ZK7pfEiFWmXaRibDEXAz9UYz497Pn8DjEdGzW7/s1600/IMG_3573.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbS-3vXNEbzFmsRRpJS5VLRHqp8gNvb-D0U-hnlnsNn0PBUbPCSwySiUJn4XK4WS4L5BZS2EacGUjcUUhrVUid9ECMhoJHVDX4BjAZI0ZK7pfEiFWmXaRibDEXAz9UYz497Pn8DjEdGzW7/s320/IMG_3573.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Yay!!! it's my road!</div>
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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???</div>
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<b>Home now</b></div>
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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).</div>
</div>Jolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378863469285006738.post-63644907678223044012012-06-24T20:54:00.001-07:002012-06-24T20:54:47.716-07:00My last two runs, and inspiration for the half marathon<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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.<br />
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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! <br />
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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.<br />
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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!". <br />
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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. <br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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 :)) <br />
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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. <br />
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</div>Jolene Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10928661647000910338noreply@blogger.com0