Running Mom's Motivation

This morning I was supposed to go running with my neighbor kid. But being the 17 year old punk that he is, he didn't get out of bed so I left him! I took the dog with me and was planning on running through my neighborhood, but since it was six in the morning, I figured I might fair better with the zombies in the cemetery than with the city folk of Lansing. Besides, the cemetery is my normal 5k route.

I love running through the cemetery because it is quiet and pretty hilly. Phantom (my dog) and I had a great time, and he only had to stop about 7 times to relieve himself ;). Just after we entered the cemetery, we had our first encounter. Luckily we didn't see him, but I sure did smell that skunk. As we made our way to the back of the cemetery the hills actually seemed pretty easy. Maybe it was because I couldn't really see them. The last time that I ran through the cemetery when it was dark, I was on edge. I wasn't at all scared today. That is until the two deer ran out in front of us with no warning. I had no idea they were there, and my heart just about came out of my chest.

We finished up the cemetery and headed back through the streets of my neighborhood. My time was 34:05. Slow, but not too bad for me. I have been finding that I have been taking off way to fast on my shorter runs lately. It is like I got a bug up my butt once the cooler weather hit. Each time I would go out for 3 miles it would be a little faster than the last. There have been two problems with that. First of all I think that is how I injured my knees. Secondly here lately I have been taking off fast enough that I can't even run the whole three (sad, sad, sad). So I was happy with today. I started off better and was able to maintain it for the whole run. So hopefully I am getting back on track before starting to train for the half.


Total Miles Today = 3.1 Approximate Miles Since Beginning = 581

Posted in: on Friday, October 26, 2007 at at 7:25 AM 1 comments  

If I had the money, I would definitely get LASIK surgery done on my eyes. Why? Well, first of all, when I ran DWD back in August it was a little difficult to keep the glasses clean. Last night I went for a beautiful run. It was a little short of 5 miles. I haven't been able to run more than 3 miles for a while and it was really nice. I forgot how much I like running longer distances. Not that 5 miles is very far, but I realized that I was getting my groove about half way through the run. A little over a mile into my run it started raining. Not a downpour or or anything, but it was steady. The dog was soaked through when we got done. I absolutely loved it. To be out in the dark and rain was exhilarating. The only problem was that my glasses got great big water spots all over them and when the lights would shine on them I could barely see anything. So you see, I NEED to ditch the glasses and I hate contacts because my eyes dry out way too fast with them.

It is amazing to me that you can spend so much money on running. When I started running I really needed to lose some weight and get more active. I didn't have money for a gym membership and figured I wouldn't go anyway. Running appealed to me because it would be cheap. I had some shoes. All I needed to do was strap them on and go. Yeah...Right! The shoes didn't fit right and I knew I was going to get a blister...time for new shoes. I am on my 3rd pair now. Then I was running in the cold so I really needed some clothes to run in that would keep me dry and warm. Then I didn't want to push too hard and injure myself, so I started saving for a heartrate monitor. More summer clothes and bodyglide... Endless bottles of gatorade... Race entry fees... Water resistant shell... As you can see, I am obsessed. Now I really want some YakTracks for winter, a Garmin forerunner 205 so that I can measure my distance and speed better, and LASIK surgery that I so desperately NEED. Yep, running is cheap.

Total Miles Last Night = 4.76 Approximate Miles Since Beginning = 575

Posted in: on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 at at 8:42 AM 1 comments  

I don't like this "rest" thing. It makes me edgy. I went running last night for the first time since last Wednesday. I did an easy 3 miles to warm into it. I felt great all the way through, but had some slight pain right at the end. I am trying to work on this mental imagining stuff to prevent me from heel striking. It seems to work if I concentrate. But when I try to pick up the pace or if I am getting tired I seem to loose it. All in all, my run was very nice and I did it in a respectable time.

I hope that I can stick with the running and not injure myself again. My sister-in-law and I have made a commitment to run a half marathon in Florida in the end of February. And David is training to run his first 5k. Hopefully by sticking to my training plan and not overdoing it I will be okay. Today is a rest day so as not to jump back in too fast. I am hoping to start my official training for the half in a couple weeks. In the mean time, I need to make sure I am fully healed and keep at my exercises...wish me luck.

Total Miles Last Night = 2.88 Approximate Miles Since Beginning = 567

Posted in: on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at at 2:26 PM 0 comments  

I am taking a week off just so you all know. I have an injured knee (both are actually bothering me). In order for me to continue running I need to take some time off . I think a weeks should do it. In the mean time, I am doing some exercises that I got from a PT to strengthen my hips and legs in order to keep my knee healthy. See you all in a few.

Posted in: on Friday, October 12, 2007 at at 4:57 PM 0 comments  

PR is short for personal record. Last Friday I went for a short run and decided to push myself a little bit. While I was out on that run, I felt like I was flying. I could tell that I was running fast (for me) and there wasn't one part of the run that felt hard. I loved it.

I was so excited to get back and look at my time on my watch. That was until I realized that I had somehow screwed up my watch and it read 24:29. I knew there was no way that I ran that fast. I was so bummed out to not know how I had actually done.

Tonight, I decided to take the same route as last Friday and push myself again. It was a good run again, but It was definitely not easy. The route I ran was 5k. My race time for the 5k ( I have only done one) was 34:25. I have run this route in probably 33 minutes a couple of times. I don't know for sure because I didn't keep strict time. Tonight I ran it in 30:59!!! During the last 1/2 mile I was really dragging the dog behind me, it felt so good. So, slowly but surely I am getting there. I am sure tomorrows run will probably suck now ;).

Total Miles Tonight = 3 Approximate Miles Since Beginning = 542

Posted in: on Tuesday, October 2, 2007 at at 9:46 PM 0 comments  

I want to run a half marathon. Now I have said it and can't take it back. So now I have to do it or else everyone will think I am a quitter. I was thinking of running the Bayshore Half. That makes me feel like a real runner since I know what that means ;). It is the half marathon in Traverse City, MI in May.

But there is a part of me that would like to do a half marathon in a warm climate during the winter. It would give me the motivation to keep up the training this winter. And I was thinking with a big race like this it might be nice to do a destination race. Now I would have to do it where I have relatives because I already don't think we can afford the travel. So if we have any chance of doing this, it would have to be in Arizona, Florida, Nevada (probably still too cold in the winter), or Texas. I was looking at the Sedona Marathon, half and 5k because then David could do his first 5k. Alas...how to get the money. Obviously I have to think about this a little harder. What do you all think?

Planning to run today = 3-5 miles Approximate Miles Since Starting = 539

Posted in: on at at 1:09 PM 1 comments