Dogs, sick kid and WMG

Teleworking days are my most favorite day of the week!  First off, I love my lunch break runs.  They are a little nerve wracking for me because of the time crunch but it definitely keeps me from slowing down!  On my run yesterday, I decided to cut out a mile since I was a little late in getting started. 

This run was one of my more adventurous runs.  I was on the last mile of my run and I saw a dog on the other side of the road that did not appear to be tied up.  It was a small dog and it seemed to be staying on the sidewalk.  Go ahead and judge me but I tried to avoid eye contact with it so it would stay where it was and I could finish my run.  Well, the plan failed.  I kept glancing over just to be sure he was staying put and apparently that was enough to spark his interest in chasing after me.  In order to do so, he began crossing the street.  Eff.  I saw the cars coming for him and I summoned all the officer skills I had, dashed into the street, stopped traffic and chased him onto the sidewalk again.



Santa will not bring you any presents if you let me die.

Thank goodness the little yapper was friendly.  The tag showed that he belonged to the house on the corner.  I knocked, rang the door bell and waited.  Apparently, no one was home.  There was a big dog in the fenced backyard.  I went ahead and threw the small dog in with him and prayed the other dog was a vegetarian ;)  The big dog didn't eat him right away so I was able to finish my run with peace of mind (and my best mile -- 8:36.4!)

Since I was teleworking, I had time to make a special holiday meal for my kid :)  Christmas Town was not kind to her and she has been coughing nonstop and running a fever ever since.  I have to admit that I have a pretty good case of WMG (Working Mother's Guilt) so I wanted to do something that would cheer her up since I couldn't spend another day taking care of her.

Ta-Da!  Snowman Pizza

Followed by a healthy dose of sugar :)

She was pretty satisfied with my efforts and somehow I felt like a better mom :) 

Are you judging me for initially not wanting to help the poor dog?

Do you have WMG?

Jiggle Jiggle



That's right, I'm fist pumping as I crossed the finish line at the Turkey Trot!    This course was an out and back so it was super fun to cheer on the faster runners that were lapping me by fist pumping.  I'm telling you, it's exhilarating and you must try it.  I'm still working on ways to incorporate it into an everyday run by myself...

Look at me! 

 Yesterday was a telework day and was lucky enough to go out and run 5.34 miles.  I wore both the Garmin and my Nike + and the total distance was very different.  Garmin said 5.34 miles and Nike + said 4.94 miles.  What the? 

Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with my performance.  I have been eating a ton of sweets lately and have gained five pounds or so.  I swear to you, I could feel every pound of those sweets jiggling on my booty while I ran.  It was so weird.  Note to self:  eat less sweets and run more.  I will be a happy camper if I can lose the five pounds by Christmas, therefore not adding insult to injury ;)

It's only a couple days until the 15k and I have only recently began to think about how I will maintain energy throughout the race and what I will wear.  I have run this distance before and I'm pretty sure I just used the Power Gel blasts every couple of miles or so to maintain energy.   I can't compare them to anything else since these are the only things I have tried.  As for what I will wear, my new gloves and smartwool socks  are at the top of the list.  I have some random moisture-wicking tights that I will wear but they are intended as a layering piece and not necessarily for running.  I'm still trying to decide if I should wear one long sleeved shirt or two....hmmm...

What do you use to stay energized during long runs?

Is your booty jiggling after too much pumpkin pie?

Hot BAM

I did it!  I finally did it!  I actually went to HOT YOGA.  It only took me a few months but I have now attended class one of four that I purchased through Groupon.  I have three classes left and they expire on December 6th so it looks like I will be doing a lot of hot yoga in the future!  At first, I didn't think the room was that hot but the heat seemed to build over time so by the end of class it was almost unbearable.  The absolute best part of the class was the chilled, lavendar-scented washcloth they handed out at the end of the class.  It was the best feeling in the entire world.  Although I enjoyed the class and only found some of the poses to be challenging, it begins my list of things you shouldn't do before a race.

Things NOT to do before a race:

1. Try a new fitness class the day before (Hot Yoga will help you find muscles you didn't know you had)
2. Go out for dancing and drinks the night before (Magner's is full of carbs, right?)
3. Dance like a crazy person for three hours (droppin' it low is a great pre-race stretch)
4. Go to bed at 2:30am
5. Have a pre-race breakfast of a cup of coffee and an expired Power Bar gel
6. Arrive to race approximately two minutes before start time, use the port-o-potty (because it's a non-negotiable) and run directly from the potty onto the course because the race has already started

Needless to say, this race was not my most shining moment.  The cherry on top of my poor decisions prior to the race was the race course itself.  Holy Hills.  My quads have never been so sad :(  At about halfway through the 10k, my legs felt like they were made of lead and I was contemplating just telling my dad to leave me for dead and walking the rest of the way.  He refused and continuously told me that he was just out to have fun.  I'm not sure what "fun" he was having because I was not experiencing the same. 

While running this race, I got a side cramp.  It was very similar to the cramp that I got while wearing the heart rate monitor last week except for the fact that I wasn't wearing the heart rate monitor.  I stopped to walk for a minute and then began running again.  I tried to really focus on my breathing and it ended up going away after a while.  I'm really confused as to what that is all about.  I used to get cramps all the time when I was younger but have been totally fine until recently. Any ideas?

Here's the good news:  I finished!

Not only did I finish but I was third in my age division!  This truly speaks for the size of the race, haha!  I was third out of four girls in the twenty-somethings age group.  My overall time was 60:36 3/4.  Like I said, I was running from the POP onto the course so the Garmin actually had me completing it at 59:13 (-1:14 from official).  My goal for this race was 1:08:21 and I beat it!  This is also a 10K PR (personal record) for me.  Woo!

I'm so thankful for goals.  It's very exciting to accomplish them :)  I'm also very thankful for my dad because I would have wimped out and run much slower if I was running by myself.  I'm also thankful for those people that didn't sign up for the Turkey Trot, which enabled me to come in third place in my age division!  I'm also thankful for giveaways!

What mistakes have you made before a race?

Operation BAM: Check out this Motha Runna!

I may have crossed over from casual runner to actual runner...

It's a great thing that I have a father that brought me into the wonderful world of running but he's not too serious about it.  For instance, this Garmin Forerunner405 was a Christmas present he received from my mom last year.  He has never used it.  In fact, he has never opened the box.  I was complaining about how I wasn't really sure that my Nike+ and he just handed over the Garmin so I could wear them both and figure it out!  He also said that maybe he would just let me hang on it to it and wish me a merry Christmas! It would be a very, merry Christmas if he did :)

Today was chock full of excuses and I didn't use any of them!  I got to bed last night at 10:30pm and allowed myself to sleep in because I was going out for a run on my lunch break (yay, telework!).  I had charged up the Garmin a couple days ago and unplugged it because it was fully charged.  I had no idea that it would lose all of it's charge by the time I was ready to go out for my run today.  Excuse number one. 

I  was super excited about comparing the Nike+ and Garmin on my run so I decided to download some new songs for my IPOD :)  Ok, it was going to happen at some point anyway but the new fun toy was a great reason to do it today.  Anyway, I couldn't find my IPOD.  After tearing up my house, I found the IPOD only to realize that I can't get it to play any music.  (FYI:  I'm a little dumb and instead of using the athletic band on my arm to hold the IPOD, I clipped it to my shirt....right under my chin where a ton of drops of sweat fall....hello, water damage)  I usually just keep touching the screen until the music starts playing but today it wasn't responding.  Excuse number two.

By the time I gave up on the IPOD that took forever to find and strapped on all my gear, my lunch break was almost halfway over and I wasn't going to be able to complete my 5.5 mile loop.  Excuse number three.  I ignored the excuses and went out to run an abbreviated route anyway!

It turns out the Nike+ isn't as far off as I thought.  The Garmin said 3.28 miles and the Nike+ 3.25.  I finished in 29:21 with a 8:56 minute/mile!  BAM!  I am so excited to see that my Nike+ is actually pretty accurate.  Can you image how good running will be when I get down to a healthier body fat percentage?! 

Perfect after-run snack

Here are the things I am thankful for today:

• strong legs
• Garmin/Nike+
• My Daddy 

What excuses did you kill today?

How many gadgets do you wear when running?

Baby, it's cold outside!

For some reason, I thought Summer would never end but Fall has come and gone without me knowing it!  I worked from home yesterday and went out for a run during my lunch break.  I knew it must be cold out because I actually turned the heat on in my house. 

 
I decided to wear these socks that my dad picked up for me from the Annapolis Running Expo.  I was hoping that these socks would be warmer than my other socks, but that wasn't the case.  They have additional padding on the heel and toes but that's it.  I'm hoping the toes are more durable than my other socks:

Only time will tell!  It took me two and a half miles before I felt like I was fully warmed up.  I am now aware of how much I am lacking in good winter running gear!  I need some gloves for the first bit of my runs anyway.  Do you just take the gloves off and put them in a pocket when you start getting too hot? 

Here's another question for all the runners out there: do you have trouble breathing for the first couple miles of a run because the air is so cold?  What do you do about that?  Once I was half-way through my run and warmed up, breathing was not a problem thank goodness.  It was just the initial couple miles that made me feel like I couldn't catch a deep breath :(

Despite being cold and my shallow breaths, I had a really good run!  I completed 5.25 miles in 49 minutes!  On average, I ran nine and a half minute miles.  I was super excited with my run.  This only reconfirms my need for a Garmin. 

What are you winter running essentials?

How do you feel about snow in October?

First day of 15k!

Good Afternoon!  Today marks the first day of my Hot Chocolate 15k training.  I found a training plan by Hal Higdon that I am following and today's three miles can be crossed off!

I didn't run yesterday so I decided to do today as "Monday."  I ran three miles on the old dreadmill.  I have a meeting with Patrice tomorrow morning so I am not going to worry about strength training because I know she'll take care of business in that department.  I am more than likely going to do the four mile run tomorrow and possibly skip "Wednesday" but it's all still up in the air. 

I felt pretty good about my run this morning.  I just really prefer to run outside, but who doesn't?  I'm dreading the winter since I have to leave for work when it is dark and won't be returning until it's dark as well :(  I am not brave or fast enough to be running by myself in the dark in Woodbridge!  I'm a member of a local running club too but they changed their meeting time and I can no longer meet up with them.

So it's a little embarrassing that I haven't really unpacked from my business trip, but I have rummaged in the suitcase a few times and my Nike+ is MIA.  I fear that I may have left it in a hotel somewhere in Arizona.  I really hope that's not the case!  If it is the case, let it be known that this is on my Christmas list .  Please :) 

Have you started your Christmas list yet?  Only 7 paychecks before the big day!!!

~Andrea