Thursday 8/23/07

What a week I've had!

This past Saturday I ran 16.5 miles and then went down to a family reunion in Bozman, MD (just south of St. Michaels). We had an awesome time but it really wiped me out!! I didn't have any energy for 2-3 days so I didn't really do much exercising ( the 3 straight days of rain didn't help). I was able to jump back in yesterday with a 7 mile run and then another 4 this morning. I think the break did me some good!

Then the beginning of this week was taken up with getting Ally set at school. We had to fix her bus assignment and then I found out that she also needed some other paperwork filled out and then we had her open house last night. We got to meet her teacher and find her classroom. I'm hoping it will put her at ease about starting on Monday.

I will admit that I'm feeling really uninformed about her situation. I guess a lot of that stems from the fact that we have been working/attending the same school for the past couple of years now. I've always known what was coming up and what to expect and I don't have that with her now. I hope that once the school year starts that the communication will flow a bit better so that I can get a better handle on what is going on.

I've also signed the kids up to play soccer. Ally especially wants to play but I'm not so sure about Will. I'm hoping they both give it a legitimate shot and have fun!

Have a great day and keep on runnin'!

Monday 8/13/07

Boy are we going to have fun over the next couple of days! We are off for the next 2.5 days and are taking the kids to Sesame Place. We took the kids there once before but Will was an infant - he spent almost the entire day in his stroller asleep. We have also decided to stay over and go to the park on 2 days. We haven't told the kids yet but they are going to explode when we surprise them with that little tidbit!!

Workouts have been going well! Yesterday was a 7 mile run and I was able to run it in 1:06 which gives me a pace of 9:31m/m. My legs were a bit tight after Saturday's run but overall I have been quite pleased with the way my legs have responded the day after my long run. I'm definitely ready for some cross-training come Monday morning but they still continue to feel good. I need to do more stretching though - I can start to feel my calves and Achilles tendon area start to get tighter and tighter. I don't think it is serious but I do need to create a more well-rounded program.

Off to get the day started - keep on runnin'!

Saturday 8/11/07

I now have a new all-time high for my longest run! It was supposed to be 14 miles today, which would have been a new high for me. However, I made 1 wrong turn on the trails and we ended up doing 15 miles instead. I have a feeling our distance was actually even a little higher because we sometimes lose our satellite links while running on the trails.

I'm really pleased with how the day went. My ankles/Achilles tendon area is a bit sore but overall I'm feeling good about how the session went. I was running with one other person and I think we are a pretty good fit for personality, conditioning and ability. She may be considering running in a new marathon here in DE the weekend after the MCM. That would also put us on pretty much the same training plan. That would be the answer to a prayer because I was really at a loss as to what I was going to do on my long runs while the other were running their multiple marathons in Sept./Oct.

Time to sign-off for now. Keep runnin'!

Scary!

I found this on Meghan Timney's blog and she's right it is scary. I've actually seen things like this before but it never fails to make my jaw drop to the floor!

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/fit.nation/obesity.map/

She also had a funny cartoon that I'm stealing as well:

Friday 8/10/07

I'm not sure if you can see it in the picture but this is what I think about the Ford Motor Company right now! I'm writing this in red and bold because I'm so angry with them! I own a 2002 Ford Windstar and boy does it seem to have a lot of trouble. I bought the van new and in the past 5 years I have had to spend thousands of dollars to fix all sorts of different problems. Last night I took the car over to the dealership to have a part replaced (this was my 4th visit for this particular problem). I was told that the part replacement would take about an hour - over 3 hours later I left the dealership. Then to top it all off all the problems still aren't fixed!

This might make more sense if I told you what the problem was. I took it in because the driver side power window wouldn't go down. It took so many trips to the dealership because they first thought it was the motor and it wasn't and then they thought it was a module but it was actually a wiring problem. Last night when they were working on the driver's window they found out that the back window (the one that wings out) wasn't working either. I hadn't even noticed that one wasn't opening - it has been too hot to open the windows anyway! After the 3 hour wait I was told that everything was working great - well, guess what! The back one still doesn't open!! After spending so much money in the first place I don't think I'm taking it back but boy am I pissed!!! A vehicle that is only 5 years old (it only has 50,000 miles on it so I don't drive it into the ground) should not have all of these problems. We take care of our cars so it isn't from neglect either.

I'm writing a letter to the Ford company. I don't think is will really get me much but it's the only thing I can think of to at least vent some of the anger. My husband's Ford truck is 7 years old and hasn't had nearly as many problems. RRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Today is a rest day for exercise because tomorrow is my long run. I'm going 14 miles tomorrow and it is the farthest I have ever run. I know that I can do it but it is still a bit nerve racking because it is having me venture into uncharted territory. I'm just thankful that the weather seems to be breaking a bit and it isn't supposed to be as humid tomorrow.

Keep on runnin'!

My Studly Little Man

I'm not sure why he decided that he wanted a tie and dress shirt but I think it work for him. I'm not sure if you can tell but it is a camo tie which fits his personality perfectly!

Wednesday 8/8/07

I have no idea who this guy is but this is how I felt after my runs both yesterday and today. To top it off it was raining with a bit of thunder and lightning this morning. It was really hard to run this morning - I'm really glad I was running with Jim and Pat because I don't think I would have done the run if I hadn't been meeting up with them this morning. We went 7 miles in a little over 1:05 which gave us a pace of 9:40 m/m. considering how humid it was this was a great time. Pat was having a hard time this morning because of the humidity but I give him credit for sticking with it and completing the workout.

The change of focus in my workouts has been going well. I am experiencing some nice DOMS. In fact the start of my run this morning was a bit hard because my chest and triceps are pretty sore. I think shoulders are on tap for later today. I want to give myself some time in between my run and RT session since it was a hard run this morning. On the shorter runs I like to do my lifting right after the run and have the whole thing out of the way. If I wait too long I have a tendency to not get the second session completed.

Off to do some work around the house - keep on runnin'!

Monday 8/6/07

I decided something today - I've decided to go back to my POF lifting routine. With this routine, I will be lifting every day but the lifting sessions will probably last only 15-25 minutes. I made this decision because I'm not happy with the way my body is reacting to the heavily skewed aerobic component to my workouts. This goes hand in hand with my eating being less than stellar but I will stop the trend and try to shift my thinking.

I've also been having a bit of tightness/pain in my lower right leg. It isn't anything severe but I want to try and relieve it before it gets worse. The weird part is that the discomfort is more on the side of my leg instead of the front or back. I believe, that calf strains would be felt more in the back and something like shin splints will be felt more in the front but I'm not really feeling anything there. I'm hoping a bit of massage will help relieve it and I will be able to progress from there.

Today's workout was cross-training. I did 30 minutes on the bike (thought it might be better to give my leg a different type of motion) and 20 minutes of lifting. I worked chest and I'm expecting to be really sore tomorrow. I'm actually looking forward to that though. It has been a really long time since I've lifted to the point of having DOMS.

Fundraising efforts have picked up and I'm a bit over $400 at this point. I'm pleased with it as a start but I'm really hoping to be able to kick it up a notch. When Father Bob gets back from vacation, I want to talk to him about approaching the congregation. I have a long way to go if I want to reach my $3000 goal.

That's all for now - Keep on runnin'!

Wednesday 8/1/07

Here is a recent picture of my 2 cuties! They are growing up so fast. The picture was taken at a Wilmington Blue Rocks game. The kids' Tball team went to the game and even got to run out onto the field with the starters for the National Anthem. It was a really fun evening!

Well, it has obviously been quite some time since I've written. I took a week off from most of my normal computer activities. The kids were spending some time with my parents and I took the opportunity to have some ME time and do things that I don't normally get to do. It was a great week! I'm so thankful that my parents are healthy enough and willing to spend time with the kids like they do. I know it makes all 4 of them so happy to spend time together. The kids always spend days talking about all the things they did with Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop! This past week included fishing, swimming and Bible camp just to name a few.

But I'm now back in the swing of things. I've gotten caught up on most of my computer activities but still have a few remaining - my Bible study being the most important one. I promise I will catch up shortly Julie!!!

I had a really tough long run on Saturday. We ran 13 miles and did it at a very manageable pace but boy did I get sore! The soreness started during the run and then continued through Sunday. I was able to get my Sunday run finished but it was a bit of a struggle. It didn't help that I decided to do it in the afternoon and it was really humid. On Monday, I did some crosstraining on my rollerblades and my butt was still a bit sore but everything else felt good. Then yesterday I got a neck spasm while playing with the kids at the pool. I was afraid that it would not allow me to get my 6 mile run in this morning. But, I got it under control pretty quickly and I think the run helped me to loosen up even more. It turned out to be a good run. We did the 6 miles in just under and hour (the pace was 9:38 m/m) and the route included some "nice" hills.

This week's long run is only 9 miles because it is a step-back week but I think the plan is to run the hilly trails this weekend. That will still keep the intensity of the workout pretty high. I always look forward to those trail runs - being on the trails make the miles go by faster as does running with other people. We have an awesome group that meets on the weekend and it has made this training much more fun!

Fundraising update: things are really starting to move forward. I have now raised enough to actually get an account opened. I'm hopeful that things will really start to pick up speed and that I'll have a nice check at the end to give to Tim.

Well that's all for now - Keep runnin'!