Wednesday, August 31, 2011

August of Awesome (Rewind)


Miles Run - 151.04. My highest mileage month of the year!! (By quite a bit, and significantly higher than the last few months). Thanks to RLRF, my training seems to have improved. Not seeing an improvement in race times, but during my 3 "quality" runs during the week I can run longer without it sucking. Excited about that!
Races Run - 2 (2 half marathons)
PR's Set - Big. Fat. Zero. I had hoped to at least beat my time at GTIS over last year (only HM I've run twice). Fail. And Diva's was RIDICULOUSLY hard. :(
Minutes of Plank - 93. Yep, you read that right. 93 minutes. I didn't miss a single day of planks and I'm now up to 3 minutes a set. Unsure if next month I'll bump up to 4 minutes a set. Thoughts?


As much as I enjoy summer, I'm looking forward to some cooler temperatures. I really struggle in this heat! I'm super SUPER excited for my Disney weekend! And... my crazy 50 mile race is less than a MONTH away. Freakin!!

Outside of running...

To summarize (or if you are new to my blog), I went back to school and so far it is AWESOME. I love it. I'm taking 9 credit hours (6 in Criminal Justice and 3 in Sociology). The goal is another BA (in Criminal Justice). It should hopefully take just 2-2.5 years since I already have a BA and don't need to take any "fluff" classes.

A is loving Kindergarten and learned to ride her bike without training wheels!

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Do You Believe in Karma?

Ever hear the phrase "good things happen to good people?" Well, I consider myself to be pretty decent (and I think I'm a good judge of character :D). But yet so much "bad stuff" seems to happen to me. I've had a rough few days, and another struggle came to my household this morning. J's car was stolen last night. From our driveway. I think we live in a pretty quiet neighborhood. And yet. Many of you probably don't know that before my ex and I bought our first house I also had a car stolen. From right in front of my apartment. It just sucks. Why do people do stuff like this? Maybe I was a dictator in a previous life? Anyway, a bummer of a morning. Luckily I still have my old jeep so J had a way to get to work. But still.

School is going... FABULOUSLY though. I got my first grade today!!


Yep. 110%. I don't do ANYTHING half assed.

And of course it was TKB night at the gym which meant another race shirt:


This shirt has a pretty cute fit, but too short to comfortably wear to kickboxing and it was THICK. This was from a Mother's Day 9.9k race. Yes, you read that right. 9.9k, NOT 10k. Because that would be crazy.

AND.

Surprise... A and I have changed our outfits for the family 5k. It's going to be so unbelievably awesome. I am PSYCHED.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Gonna Make You Sweat... and ALMOST time for Disney!

Costume reveal... part 2.


RLRF (MP, WK4, KR1)

I was PSYCHED when I saw my repeats were FINALLY going to be 400s. I've been doing 800s and 1600s and was looking for something shorter. Only. It wasn't much easier than the longer sprints.


Goal: 10-20 min warmup @ sub 11:09 - Actual: 20 min @ 1034
Goal: 10 x 400 @ 2:09 (400 RI @ 2:45) - Actual: 2:03, 2:03, 2:01, 2:01, 2:01, 2:00, 1:59, 1:59, 1:58 and... 1:46! and (2:44, 2:45, 2:45, 2:44, 2:43, 2:55, 2:43, 2:45, 2:44, 2:45)
Goal: 10 min cooldown @ sub 11:09 - Actual 1 mile @ 10:15
Total - 7.89 miles in 1:14:39


I know that is not SUPER fast, but I bet that is the fastest pace I've ever run for longer than a minute. And for that I'm pretty proud of myself. Only one more run until DISNEY!!

Friday, August 26, 2011

Foto Friday!

20 miler. Pre-sweat.
RLRF (MP, WK5sub, KR3)

Goal - 20 miles @ MP + 20 (11:02)
Actual - 20.68 miles @ MP +10 (10:52)
Total time - 3:45

So did you know it takes forever to run 20.68 miles at that pace?  Treadmill will only do 65 minutes before it needs to be reset. FOREVER.


So I'm only 5'0" tall, don't think I'm anorexic or anything. But wow. I haven't weighed under 110 since pre-puberty. Unsure if this is good or bad. But my weight has gone down from my average 115 since I started the RLRF program a month ago. Maybe I need to eat more?

Tweedledee!!
You know you want to run with me at Disney! Don't you??

A's new bike!
My ex actually sent A a gift card for a new bike (SHOCK!!) We picked it up today and as you can see, she is super excited. Mostly because of the doll/plush carrier. You can see "puppy" thoroughly enjoying himself.

Have a great weekend!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Three Things Thursday

1. One month from today I (hopefully) will have completed my only (first?) 50 mile race. It's getting close and I'm getting TERRIFIED.

2. RLRF. I think I love it. Even though I am not sure if it is making me faster, I think it is making my training suck less. And even thought it is supposed to be RLRF, I am actually running more, just in less days. Huh.

3. I LOVE SCHOOL I LOVE SCHOOL I LOVE SCHOOL I LOVE SCHOOL. Oh. And I'm apparently the Teacher's Pet. Really, I'm the only one to do a reading assignment in the first week? I'm too old to be popular anyway...

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

(Mostly) Wordless Wednesday


I think I love my legs in this picture.
Also... A little RLRF (MP, WK5, KR2) - TM resets after 65 min:



Goal - 10 miles @ MP (10:42)
Actual - 10.32 miles @ 10.39

Wheee!!

YUM
Excited for Disney!!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Terrific Tuesday!

So today was sort of a first day of school for me again. First day of my T/Th classes. The group seemed to possibly be a few years older so I didn't feel as ancient. I have already taken close to a dozen pages in notes and read close to 2/3 of my reading assignments for the week. YAY! Have I mentioned how much I adore school??

I got this gem at lunch today:


A also had a lovely day at school.

Gym was just a cross train day, which meant... AWESOME RACE SHIRT!


Can you spot me?? This is from the Canyonlands Half Marathon, the first half I did, March 20, 2010. Hard to believe I've completed a total of 41 since then. CRAZY!!

Random...

  • I finally have made my travel arrangements for St. Louis RnR. Surprise back to back race will be registered for soon...
  • I have a RLRF double digit run scheduled for tomorrow
  • I have no idea how I'll have the time to work if I get that job. I'm already feeling overwhelmed with school and training. How did I ever do this before?!
  • I believe A has selected her Disneyland 5k outfit.
    • She doesn't know she is running Disney
    • Unfortunately the dress she wore for the Beauty and the Beast 5k is so short on her now it doesn't cover her butt. Sad.
    • She does, however, want to be matchy matchy with me. YAY!
And...

I'm not ready for summer to end QUITE yet, but near 100 degree weather everyday is a bit much. Can I have some 70s?

Monday, August 22, 2011

Oh Happy Day!

First, if you don't know this about me already, I'm a total dork. I absolutely LOVE going to school. Everything about it, from the school supply shopping to taking notes, to listening to lectures, to reading assignments to term papers. I know. I'm a total freak. Although I don't enjoy exams, so maybe I can redeem some of my weirdness? Anyway, since it's been... oh, over 10 years since I was last in school, I think I was EXTRA excited to be going back today.


Did I mention I was SO excited that I got to school 30 minutes early? Oops. Well, that gave me time to wait in a crazy long line to buy my last textbook (the only one that WASN'T substantially cheaper on Amazon).

Other than being the "old lady" of the school, my first day was magical. I'm so happy to be back.

It was also, of course, A's first day of school. She has been talking about it non-stop. Probably even longer than I've been talking about it. She was PSYCHED to have her own alarm set, and even MORE excited that she gets to eat breakfast at SCHOOL.


I picked her up from her FULL day of Kindergarten to find out it was (if there was ANY doubt) AWESOME. I asked her what she learned, and instead of getting the canned "nothing" response, she said, "I learned to listen, be responsible, be respectful, and be nice to everyone." Anyone else think that most adults could stand going back to school to learn this?

Next on the agenda was of course a run. Yeah, I know I just ran a crazy hard half marathon yesterday, but I still have a schedule to keep!


RLRF (MP, WK5, KR1)

Goal: 10-20 min warmup @ 11:09, Actual: 20 min @ 10:55
Goal: 3 x 1600 (400 RI) @ 9:01 & 2:47, Actual: 8:59, 8:59, 8:54 & 2:45, 2:45, 2:45
Goal: 10 min cooldown @ 11:09, Actual: 15 min @ 10:47
Total - 6.97 in 1:10:07

What did I learn from this run? 1600s are freaking ridiculously hard. That pace shouldn't be so impossible, but I swear it's 70 degrees warmer than I can comfortably run in. I hope it gets easier when it cools down a bit. I don't especially like to feel like I'm dying.

As an upside, this wasn't any more terrible than I thought it was going to be, even after my race yesterday. So this tells me I'm way more awesome than I think sometimes. It also tells me that these 10:40ish paces that I was struggling with last month are EASY after 9 minute miles. Phew.

Divas Half Marathon (Race Recap)

Vail, CO
Sunday, August 21
Half Marathon #41
Weather - Sunny, HOT


L and I signed up for the Divas half marathon for a few reasons:

  • Fit into our schedule
  • Local
  • Have a goal to complete EVERY half (or full) in Colorado
  • The rumor about ginormous bling
There was NO race day pick up, and I was babysitting the H for L, so the kids and I made the 97 mile drive into the mountains to attend the expo.

Pretty Drive!
Outside the expo
Me and H
Kids made signs at the Luna booth
Very pathetic "diva poses"
A carrying my race bag
Another option of where to display your bling
I was super unimpressed with the whole expo experience. The website gave great directions of where to park but nothing detailed of how to FIND the expo. Much wandering around and annoyance (especially since kids do NOT move quickly). Unimpressed with the VERY SMALL expo and as usual, it's too expensive to buy anything. I do NOT like being forced to attend these. I'd rather pick up race day. Anyway.

So. Regular pre-race dinner, no dessert again, but I did have an expired beer:



I had the chance to go to bed early... although I had trouble falling asleep. Then I woke up ridiculously early (3:37 to be exact) and couldn't fall back asleep. We had planned on leaving the house around 5:30, which we figured would give us just a little extra time.

Well. Even with getting ready and making a quick stop for coffee we ended up arriving at 7:00. Two hours before the race. Yes, that means that the race started at the ungodly hour of 9:00. WHO DOES THAT??? Why does anyone want to race that late??? Anyway, we decided to wander around to see how long the walk to the start/finish would take and to check out the bathroom situations.

Yep. We were practically the first people there. The volunteers didn't even have things set up all the way yet.


View from the start line
Pre-race Diva shot
Start Line
We headed back to the car to hang out and wait for the race to start. Did I mention it didn't start until 9:00???

People really started to show up around 8:00. There was also a 5k, and that was to start at 8:45. We applied our sunscreen and headed out to the start around 8:30. We did some pictures:

Oh yes I did!
L didn't have a matching tutu, but is still sparkly!
Much to our annoyance, the already late race was LATE starting. The corrals were crowded and we didn't start until 9:12. The website didn't give very detailed information about the course and aid stations. I apparently misread the statement "This is a flat course with a total elevation gain of just 348 ft through the 13.1 miles."

I really don't like when organizers make comments like this. First off. The first 2 miles are essentially falling down a hill steep. I mean, I had to start walking like 3/4 of a mile in because my legs cramped up. But the view? A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.



I'll go ahead and say it. The first two miles sucked for me. Big time. And just leave it at that. I was running with my new Hippie Runner race belt which does not have water bottle and I was THIRSTY. The belt itself does not slide as promised but I was mildly unimpressed with the "zip tie" bib attachment assembly. I spent probably the first 30 minutes of the race messing with it because my number kept moving around. In the future I'll probably just pin the number down. (Even holding my iPhone it did not bounce around, and I loved the second pocket that was big enough for a GU and piece of gum). Anyway, the first aid station was just before mile 2, and I needed it!

Thankfully the course levelled out a bit after about mile 2.5, and I sailed through the next few miles. I was running at a sorta slow but comfortable pace and enjoying the scenery. Another "misleading" statement from the website "This run takes place within the valley, thus avoiding significant changes in elevation." LIARS!!! Anyway, just tell us that it is rolling with some significant hills so we are more mentally prepared. Remember that major downhill for 2 miles? We of course ran back up that later. The picture below IS an uphill but not even CLOSE to one of the major ones:

Between miles 4 & 5
Supposedly 7 aid stations on the course, but the second one didn't show up until mile 5. I was ready to faint from dehydration by then!

Between miles 5 and 6
I was cruising pretty well the next mile or so, and then we started to run through some of the neighborhoods. Roads not closed to traffic and even though there were cones in the road there were no arrows indicating which side we should be on. Confusing.

Still thirsty. Next aid station not until just after mile 8. WTH?! Lots more beautiful scenery, so I'm trying not to be too annoyed with the crazy hills and lack of water.


We ran by some of the ski lifts (not too interesting visually) and then another serious downhill around mile 10 where we were running on the frontage road for the interstate. I could see runners in the valley below running in the opposite direction, but couldn't get my bearings to figure how far in front of of me they were. Even though I was CRUISIN' down the hill I had to stop and walk because I over-drank at the previous aid station. Curses!

My pace sucks, I'm cramping and I'm hot. Trying not to be whiny, but man, this is a TOUGH course and I hadn't prepared for it. Lots of walking. Around mile 11 I get tapped on the shoulder by a woman I'd been running on/off with for a while. She says "C'mon bad ass, keep going!" (I was wearing my AWESOME "Bad Ass" socks from Razzy Roo). It helped a bit and I started running a bit stronger.

The course weaves through the village, which reminds me a LOT of running through downtown Disney. Cobblestone and everything. Totally bizarre as NOTHING is closed off and there are no markings of a course. Good thing I wasn't in front...

Mile 11-12 sucked. Lots of hills, trails, dirt, blah blah. Wondering... WHERE IS THIS TIARA AND BOA STATION?? So thirsty.

Try to run the last mile only to get confronted with a super ginormous hill at mile 12.8. WHY??? Hate hills at the end. But wait!! At the top of the hill I get my boa (which sticks to me because I'm sweaty and covered in sunscreen) and my tiara (that I can barely get stuck in my hair). Go around a corner and.... YES!!! I SEE THE DAMN FINISH AREA!!

Can you see me? 4th back, headed toward the finish line! (Photo courtesy of "examiner.com")
Running on a skinny sidewalk (also the only way into and out of the start/finish area so lots of people walking TOWARDS us with kids, strollers, dogs, etc) and I'm pacing a bit slower than I'd like for the end because of the congestion. And then one of my biggest race type annoyances? Three women in front of me join hands and try to run through the chute together. SERIOUSLY??? Hate that. I push past them and sprint to the finish. I had planned to do a kick ass turbo kickboxing move at the end, but let's be serious. I was dead tired. Got my awesome rose at the finish line:


And YAY to them handing out bottles of water right then and there (PS, there were NOT 7 aid stations, only 6 + the boa/tiara station). Met L, got my tiny glass of champagne, then we did our finisher pictures. We were getting ready to head back to the car when I heard the name of a friend being announced, so I quickly headed back to congratulate her. FYI, she also said she felt mislead with the course description and said this was her worst time ever.

Official time - 2:24:12
Official pace - 10:59
Garmin time - 2:24:10
Garmin distance - 13.13 miles
Garmin pace - 10:58
Overall place - 283/652
Gender place - 283/651
Division place - 46/102
Mile 1 - 9:31
Mile 2 - 12:14
Mile 3 - 11:28
Mile 4 - 9:57
Mile 5 - 10:58
Mile 6 - 10:12
Mile 7 - 10:59
Mile 8 - 10:18
Mile 9 - 10:36
Mile 10 - 10:45
Mile 11 - 12:05
Mile 12 - 12:08
Mile 13 - 11:38
Mile 13.1 - 9:29

And FYI, my garmin posted a 712 foot gain with minimum elevation 7,953 and maximum 8,424.

Anyway. Race didn't go as planned, but the bling? MOST AWESOME AND HUGE EVER.


Check out it DWARFING my Disney Princess medal!
This isn't a race that I need to do again. I am REALLY looking forward to a flatter course at Disney with essentially ZERO elevation :D

Like my race outfit? The headband, skirt and "Bad Ass" socks can all be purchased INEXPENSIVELY at Razzy Roo! Check out the link in the top left hand corner of my blog and use the code to save 10%! I got TONS of compliments on the ensemble and it was comfortable to run in!

Friday, August 19, 2011

Fabulous Friday!

Here is the final outfit. A took my pic before I dropped her off at the sitter while I had my interview:


I think that it went pretty well. It is for a small company, doing bookkeeping, and it is SUPER CLOSE. Like 20 blocks away. They expect to have made a decision by next Friday. **Crossing my fingers!**

In the afternoon A and I went to a pottery painting place to spend a gift card she got for her birthday:



She picked the paint colors and did 99.9% of it herself! It won't be ready for us to pick up for another week though.

After that we had a Meet N' Greet at A's school to meet her teacher. She seems super nice. And A is beyond excited to be going back. Looking at the class roster at least 2 of her buddies from preschool will be in her class.


On the agenda for tomorrow? Babysitting H and taking her to gymnastics. Then driving 2 hours to Vail to pick up me and L's packets for the Diva Half Marathon on Sunday.

Also - quick comment to fellow blogger "Jen Allen" - you asked how I carry my iPhone when I run. I normally wear it in my race/fuel belt. I have, however, worn it in one of the pockets of my running skirts. I would ONLY advise doing that if you wear the "brief" style vs. the "athletic" style. I find that my athletic style skirts slide down when there is additional weight in the pockets.

PS, don't forget to check out the link at the top of the blog for Razzy Roo! 10% off total purchase or us GLITTER40 for a **free** glitter band with $40 purchase (any items - socks and tutus included!)

Thursday, August 18, 2011

TEN Things Thursday

1. I'm a Maniac!! #4202


2. Awesome race pictures from last weekend (and orange IS the skirt I've raced in the most):



3. Another Munchkin Mile (much hotter today and more walk breaks):


4. Another trip to the water park, but probably the last time of the season:


5. A trip to the park:


6. Gymnastics class:

7. Interview outfit! (Although apparently hiding the tat is mandatory so I'll be wearing a cardigan over it):


8. Interview is tomorrow morning. I'm taking it as a good sign that this is an IN PERSON interview. Most companies now do those annoying phone interviews that I completely SUCK at.

9. Awesome race shirt Thursday. This is from the Bolder Boulder 10K, 2009:

I swear my front kick is more awesome when I'm not "re-enacting"
10. Don't forget to check my link in the top left hand corner of my blog for Razzy Roo. Enjoy either 10% off an entire order using the promo code listed, OR, use code GLITTER40, for a FREE glitter band when you spend $40. Have I mentioned how much I love Razzy Roo?? Be sure to check out all the new socks she has listed!!

Week in Review (November 26 - December 2)

Tuesday (11,120 steps) - I had messaged Amber to ask if it was ok if I came into the office a bit later so I didn't have to get up as ea...