I'm Feeling Chatty

I confess, I'm feeling talkative this evening. I'll try very hard to still maintain some form of structure here.

Okay--GO!
On point all week with training. I was forced indoors [due to gale force winds, hail, and poor time management] on Thursday for my 4M run. I had to sneak [sort of] it in at work --work=gym. I wasn't happy about running on the treadmill but I got through it. I even cranked up the incline to a '2' and ran at a quicker pace than I normally do. I felt that these conditions helped simulate the road a touch better.
For my cross training this week, I spent my days doing yoga and some arc training at the gym. Oh, and I lifted three days this week too, if that counts as cross.

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I love to shop. Okay, I don't enjoy shopping, the process. I enjoy going home with new things. I buy running gear and call it equipment necessary to the sport.

I scored these...And I scored these....




Plus some new running socks, just because it's nice to have a hearty supply. I'm pretty lax on my laundry. Haha!

Fall is starting to show it's beautiful face around here, so I'm upgrading my cold weather gear in preparation of cold weather outdoor runs.

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I run shorter [5/10K] races locally but am not interested in running our half/full. Let's call the cause "The Man". But, I wanted to volunteer with the race. Every event I've ever done has always gone so smooth and so seamlessly that I wanted to pay it forward.


My experience...WOah!


The expo was crammed into this teeny-tiny gym. The packet/bag/id/volunteer/road marshal pick up area was tucked into a back corner. There were numerous errors with registration. The booths were mediocre at best and not continually staffed. I was sort of disappointed. At the same time, it made me STOKED for the half in St. Pete. I'm ready for a classy and fabulous race.


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I'm a planner. In case I haven't mentioned that before. I really like planning ahead. Flexibility; that's still something that I'm devoting A TON .aweebit. of effort to.

I have two full years left of Grad School. My third year is an internship. I'm [by I'm, I mean we're] looking at going out of state for that experience, most likely Florida. I was surfing around the net tonight and thought about maybe potentially considering doing a full marathon.


...Getting ahead of myself, much?


Anyway, it would fit divinely into my schedule to do the Walt Disney Full Marathon in January of 2013. Time will tell.

Let's just get through the half first.




Tomorrow is my 'long run'. On the schedule, we're back to just 6M. It's funny as the training progresses how numbers like 5 and 6 seem comparable to cake. Interesting... I wonder how long that trend will continue for.

I'm going to go do some yoga before bed.

And We're Back

Okay, crisis averted.

I'm back on track with training. Since we last spoke, I've been on point every day; long runs, yoga sessions, stretching, days in the gym, cross training, and other runs. I'm (currently) back in business. I pray that this routine lasts. Right now, my weekly schedule is posted on the fridge and I'm checking things off. Go, girl!

Here's a bit about myself.
When I take on more, I want to take on even more.
Now that I'm back to grad school I have a lovely routine that I follow. I manage my time better, overall. So in addition to now being swamped with school stuff, I'm taking on some extra 'fun' stuff as well. For my cross training days I'm getting back into rock climbing.





And, I'm signing up for a weekly spin class. I cycle outdoors, but the leaves are already starting to change. A tiny local spinning studio just opened up here about 8 months ago and they have a class that fits into my schedule. I've only taken one spin class on a very informal basis. So, I'm taking a bit of a leap here. I like feeling comfortable and confident in my abilities. Spinning... not so much. But hey, sometimes it is fun to take a leap.

Sometimes you fail.

I'm calling this week one, big, giant, epic


FAIL.


I'm in a bad place mentally. I've started to get really down on myself and load the excuses on, heavy. I'm trying to rearrange my running schedule so that it fits with my new grad school/work schedule.

Life lesson: I DON'T |do| change all that well.
New goal: WORK on being more flexible!

So, I went running once this week. Once, all week. [Yeh, I know the week isn't quite over yet!]

Good news: I picked up a new pair of kicks. Much needed. I scored the Mizuno Wave Rider 13s and I'm a pretty big fan of them. You'd think I would be sooo stoked that I would have gone out running in them.

...Bring on the fail.


You can't live in the past though.

Breathe in one big deep breath of self-pity and with the exhale, let go of all labels, discouragement, disappointments, and feelings of sorrow. With your new breath in, inhale power, strength, determination, and a healthy dose of attitude.

Nothing to do now besides move forward.

"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending." –Maria Robinson

So tomorrow my friends, I start anew.

My plan of attack to help hold me accountable: My Goose.

I'm going to write out my schedule for that week [not only in my planer like usual but also] on the fridge and Goose is going to provide some gentle encouragement on getting my things done.

I can do this.

Heck,

I WANT to do this.


I just have to break out of this funk and get it done.

I want to go running and feel good.

So, I will.


On an upper note: I've been spending a LOT of time baking in the extreme heat and sun, riding a lot of wakeskate, getting some time in on the boat, doing some hiking with friends, enjoying mojitos on the deck, and of course, getting back into the full swing of a very time consuming graduate program. Life still is love. I'm blessed to have a very full and enjoyable life.

Coming up: better time management.

GO!

Let's Play Catch Up

What a whirlwind it has been these past few days!!
That's me, making funny faces at Goose, really excited about eating some cake!


Saturday was the rehearsal. Saturday was also a day spent ALL DAY doing decoration stuff. It was a long, long day with limited help.




Sunday was the wedding. We started decorating at 6:45am. Blegh. It was a LOT of work and I was physically burnt the next day from running all around, climbing up and down, hanging, lifting, and just being on my feet for 14 hours straight. I got home at 10:30 and just crashed.




But, grad school started back up Monday morning with an all day workshop. So, I got up at 5:50 the next day and went to school from 8am-9:30pm. DONE!

Tuesday was a better day schedule wise. It has been very muggy here (I'm trying not to complain!). After classes, I forced myself to go out for a run. Any run, just to get back into this plan. I've sort of fallen off the horse and am one long run behind. Not a huge deal.

Anyway, did 3.5 miles. It was alright. I had to walk for a bit. My breath was doing pretty good but my legs were sore. I picked back up and soldiered through. I didn't have my iPod either, but that wasn't as challenging as I thought it was going to be. Needless to say, it got me back into the swing of things and I'm grateful for that. Only a couple of months until my half.

Today is yoga, wakeskate, upper body at the gym.

Giddy Up

...Trying to find the horse so I can re mount that sucker.

Must get back on track.

Don't want to venture out into the 90 degree heat and sweltering humidity.

Going to go try to survive a few miles.

Just Do It.

Yesterday was a chaotic mess. I felt like I was going a million miles all day with hardly any day to just sit and be. I kept saying, "I can do my run later at this time" or "I'll just get it in at the gym between this chore and that chore". Then I just did it.

I didn't have a lot of time before I had to leave the house, but I just went out and ran a quick 2.5 miles. (I wanted to get in 3.5.) I'll consider it speed work because my pace was 8:37 (fast for me). Quick run; done.

I ran out the door, took two of our dogs to the groomers, returned shoes at Target, bought more stuff for the wedding, met Goose quick, picked dogs up, got in an upper body workout and then worked for a few hours. Phew.

That night we were dog sitting my Mom's dog, the little guy, who is best friends with our big guy.



Anyways, the point of the story is the little guy LOVES to run. I put on all of my reflective gear and went out and did a quick 1.5 with the dog. It might have been broken up, but I ended up getting in 4miles. I was happy with that. Sometimes if you just get off your can and do it, things work out.

Today: Yoga, bike ride

This week I'm doing my long run on Saturday because the wedding is on Sunday. As long as it gets done, I'm happy.

Pictures to come, of course.

Save the Drama for Your Momma

Okay, this is going to be a mostly non-running rant.
I'm sarcastic to the max. I love busting on my friends and yes, I can also take it. I have fun.

Being able to take a joke (and make one) is sort of a prerequisite to being my friend. You know, the whole life is wayyy to short to take yourself seriously thing.

A couple of days ago we went out riding on the boat with our neighbor and his sometimes, sort of girlie friend. Needless to say, he's currently 'keeping his options open' and dating a few girls. Good for him by the way. He makes a wise crack about "I think I'm into trailer trash now a days" Goose proceeds to say "Yeah, we know." Our neighbor laughs, we laugh. The next morning the girl texts me saying "I was humiliated and hurt that you made such a mockery out of me all day long. We used to be friends and I enjoyed you guys but now I just don't know."

Note: This woman is 38. Get over yourself!

Moral of the story;

I like to have a good time and my friends have to be able to hang. If you can't hang, move along. Simple as that. Think Commodores "Easy Like Sunday Morning..."

If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun. -Katharine Hepburn




We will resume running chatter tomorrow.

Night folks.