Mr. Speedo

I saw him again today. Biking in his speedo. This time it was green, and he had one additional piece of "clothing". A helmet. You know...safety first.

I'm kind of curious to see how many different colored speedos he owns.

On a side note, I googled images of "old man speedo" and the results were not pretty. I decided against adding a picture to this entry.

Different Kind of Nature

After all of my weird animal encounters on Monday, I was looking forward to a nice relaxing run today. Free of animal attacks and other oddities. No such luck on the "other oddities" part.

I have encountered many interesting people on the nature trail behind our house (Mr. Pees on Trail Markers, Ms. You Stole My Sunglasses etc.) but the man I saw today takes the cake. Now to his credit, he looked like a cute little old man out for a bike ride on a beautiful day, but upon further inspection I noticed he was missing something...his clothes. This 70+ year old man was out for a bike ride in a RED SPEEDO, and nothing else.

Maybe he was trying to get some color (he did look rather pasty) or maybe he had just come from a pool (not sure where the closest one is) or maybe he is just that proud of his old man body. Whatever it is, I salute you Mr. Red Speedo. You obviously have a lot of confidence to pull that off.

Goals

Everyone needs goals, right? Right. I definitely do especially now that I have time on my hands to accomplish all of those far off "someday when I have time" plans. I figured I better start a list so I can keep track...no wait, a spreadsheet. I need a spreadsheet of things i want to accomplish. That way I can organize each goal by the time frame in which I wish to accomplish it, the category it relates to, and things I might need to do prior to being able to accomplish the goal. A spreadsheet full of boxes to fill and then check off. A spreadsheet to keep all my thoughts and plans neatly organized in a compact, easy-to-read grid.

Nothing makes me more excited then a new spreadsheet. I used them all through college to map out my weekly schedule. I had one for the wedding to keep track of what still needed to be done. I have one for most vacations so I can keep track of the activity reservations I have made and a list of the ideas for "spur of the moment" activities that would fit nicely into a block of time that I have intentionally left free so that JJ does not kill me for scheduling out every last second of our trip. Oh yea, and I had spreadsheets for every aspect of every job I've ever had...because they were all in accounting where spreadsheets rule over all.

OOPS. Maybe stream of consciousness writing is not the best idea when writing after midnight. Back to my goals.

I figured if I post them for all the world to see (who am I kidding, for my mom and the other 3 people that might happen to read this) I have to be held accountable. Of course, only I will see the master spreadsheet, but at least others will have an idea of what I'm working on. So, in the next 6 months, I hope to:

1. Run 2 more races - at least 10K

2. Read 2 books per month

3. Take tennis lessons

4. Visit 2 cities I have never been to (I'm hoping for Savannah and Charleston. Hint hint JJ, we're going on some trips!)

5. Volunteer for 40 hours

6. Visit a new place in Charlotte every week (parks, restaurants, museums, etc)

7. Blog twice a week

I'm starting small, but at least it's something. Hopefully I can start checking things off the spreadsheet soon!

Gimp

I have been having a hard time writing over the last week. Even though we've been busy nothing seems to come to mind when I sit down to write. So frustrating, until I figured out what the problem is. I usually "pre-write" my blog in my head as I'm running and I haven't gone running since the half marathon.

I don't run with an ipod, or friends or even Barney. It's too distracting. I really love having that time to clear my head and gather my thoughts. It is really the best part of my day because I feel so much better after I run, even when my body is hurting. I think JJ has started to notice how much easier I am to get along with I am on days I get in a good workout.

Originally I had planned to take a break from running after the race to let my body recover fully. I was really excited about 2 weeks of yoga and the elliptical machine at the YMCA. Well, I will be getting my 2 week break, but I won't be at the Y or the yoga studio. I will be hobbling around the house on crutches due to a self-diagnosed stress fracture. Yes, self diagnosed. Why would I go to all the hassle of visiting the doctor when I have WebMD at my finger tips and JJ's access to the Panther's medical equipment?

According to my research, stress fractures are quite common in female athletes (mainly distance runners, due to the repetitive motion over extended periods of time) who have recently had a sudden, significant increase in their activity level. I'd say a half marathon counts as a sudden significant increase in my activity level. It also said that most stress fractures are not detected on x-rays and are usually diagnosed based on patient exercise history. Like I said...who needs a doctor??

I made the mistake of sharing my self diagnosis with my father who was not impressed. Silly dad, he just doesn't understand. I did reassure him that I was going to use the crutches for a week and then if it was still hurting I would go to the doctor for a real diagnosis.

Well, this is day 6...

Winner

After almost 8 weeks of training, Saturday was finally race day. I had been excited/anxious all week, so I was ready to go. Allison came into town the night before and we had fun carbo loading with a pasta dinner. Saturday morning we were up at 6 and on the road at 6:45. The weather had been beautiful all week so we were hoping that it would continue for the race. It did!

Excited and smiling before the race!

I don't think I ever realized how hilly Charlotte is. I found out the hard way once the race started. I swear we ran uphill for the first 6 miles. After that, it seemed to get better and I got a second wind around mile 7. Maybe it was the Powerade at the last water station, or the fact that we had passed the half way mark.

JJ came out to support us at Mile 3 and took a few action shots so we would have proof that we actually did this. It was really nice to have him see what I had been spending so much time training for. And it was also nice to switch roles and have him in the cheering section for a change!

Other things I liked about the race: running with a buddy, beautiful weather, scenic course, feeling like a rockstar. Things I did not like about the race: spitters, never ending hills, roadkill, the annoying peppy girls we ended up running with most of the time (but finally beat).

Around Mile 12 I decided to slow down a bit, enjoy the scenery and take it all in. FALSE. I had no choice but to slow down because I thought I was going to die. All those hills finally got to me. But, even with the slow down at the end, I finished right around my goal of 10 minute mile pace. In all honesty, the goal was just to finish, but about half way through the training I figured out a pace I thought I could keep up.

Proud finishers with our medals

As hard as it was during the last bit, I started thinking about doing another one about 20 minutes after I finished. Maybe the Rock and Roll Half in Phoenix this January??? I'll see if I can convince someone to run with me, even if its just for a few miles.

More pictures to come!!

Double Digits

Today I ran 10 miles. 10 miles!

Holy cow that is a lot of miles. The whole time I was running I just kept thinking about the totally awesome blog post I could write after such an accomplishment.

Not to take away from this personal achievement, but I have to share an interesting story from my run. I was coming up on the 9.5 mile marker and only had .5 left. I knew I could choose to turn right in a bit and go down onto the nature trail or I could stay on the path and keep running straight. There are really no advantages to either one, but I decided I would rather just keep running straight. About the same time I made this decision I looked up and noticed a small obstacle between me and finishing my 10 mile goal. A young buck. No, not a strong young man. A male deer. With antlers. Standing in the middle of the path.

I have seen plenty of deer on my runs before, but always the females and they always run away the second they see me. OK, well I guess this guy is a little bolder than the others I have seen before. So I decided to wave my arms and make noise with my water bottle while I kept running to get him to move. No such luck. I was still about 150 yards away from this guy and he isn't budging after all of my efforts. I didn't want to stop running so close to my goal so I kept going, hoping he would move as I got closer. Well, the good news is he did move. The bad news is, he was moving towards me. Uhhhhh...this can't be good.

I had no interest in taking on those antlers so I quickly made the decision to turn around and head back to the nature trail to finish up. Not without glancing behind me a few time just to be sure my new friend wasn't following me. The rest of the run was uneventful and I finished feeling so proud of myself and so excited about what I had just done.

I have just under a month left until my first ever half marathon. The excitment is building!

Happy Trails to You

I am officially one month away from my first half marathon and the training is getting intense. Luckily, I have a beautiful trail system right by our house that makes the long runs go by a little faster. Just thought I would share some of the views from the trails!

Cottonwood Nature Trail

McAlpine Creek Greenway

McAlpine Cross Country Course

Just Keep Running

2 weeks down, 6 to go. I am training for my first ever half marathon. I have always wanted to try a half marathon, but never got around to it. I recently reconnected with a friend from high school who had already signed up for one in Charlotte on November 7. She is going to law school in NC and has been running on and off for the past few years. We both agreed that our only goal was to finish. No pressure there, haha!

While I have always tried to keep myself in decent shape, I have never attempted anything like this. It is 13.1 miles and prior to starting training, the longest run I had done recently was 3 miles. That is a difference of 10.1 miles...ouch. So far the running is going well. I have one long run per week, three moderate runs of 3-5 miles, and one easy recovery run. Each week the long run increases by 1 mile. I had a 7 mile run on Friday and felt surprisingly good.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not built like a distance runner which makes this even more of a challenge. I was reminded of this on my Saturday run as I was passed by a pack of high school cross country runners. These girls breezed by in their tank tops and 0 percent body fat. Nothing like a bunch of stick-thin 16 year olds to keep you motivated!

My race is 6 weeks from Saturday and I have lots of miles to cover before then. With all the traveling I have coming up in the next few weeks, it should be an interesting time. Keep your fingers crossed that I can stay on track! Yes, pun intended.