Running with an Android...

Running with an Android...
That sounds funny. When I think of an Android I'm still thinking this


not this

Ah well...

Running with my Android phone is for the most part enjoyable. I have been using runkeeper happily for about 6 months now. Long enough for it to be a big part of my runs, and happily so, until about a week ago. Then it started randomly shutting down on me. As you may recall it shut down on me during my 12 miler, it also shut down on me during my 14 miler. Now I thought it could just be my phone. So,I reset the whole phone to factory settings, yes I am that nuts about my running. I re-downloaded the runkeeper app and used it today for a 6 mile run, and guess what.... it shut down on me again. Grrrrr. Looks like I'm not the only one experiencing this either but so close to my race I can't afford to risk it crashing on me. So, I'm looking for a new app. One that doesn't randomly shut down for no reason.

Although, to be fair. I ran with it and loved it for 6 months, even now when it shuts down it does keep the information that was saved up to the point when it shut down, you don't lose all that data which is nice. But still. Once it shuts down you have to stop wait for the phone to reboot(cause it turns your whole phone off and restarts it). Then you have to get a new activity session going and then you can finish your run. That sucks. The positive side of runkeeper is that it does give you time, pace, distance, elevation, maps, verbal cues as to pace, distance, and speed, and you can link it up with facebook and twitter. I used all those features without issue for about 6 months. I figured I'd give ya the good and the bad in case you wanna try it out for yourself.

As for me, I think I'll be switching. I guess I'll be trying out new apps for awhile now...sigh. Looks like the first try is going to be Runstar that one looks pretty nice. Maybe better than runkeeper. But, looks like a lot of the cool features are locked in the free version. Although, if it's pretty accurate and runs without crashing I might splurge and pay the $4.52 for the pro version.

Today was my rest day. But, I ran anyway. Today was a run day for hubby so I decided to run with him. He, after all, is going to take on the half marathon and run/walk it with my sis-in-law. He is going to try a run 2 mile, walk 2 mile, attack method to get done. Today we did 6 miles. That was a lot for my tired legs. But the slower pace helped me get through it.

Todays Half Marathon training:
Time: 1:41:22
Distance: 5.98 miles
Pace:16:57

I feel ready now...

Today was my longest run thus far.
14 miles.



I wanted to be sure to run more than a half marathon distance before the race. That way, I know what to expect. Since I had such a long run ahead of me I decided to run along the river, at Riverside Park. It's a really pretty place to run. Lots of trees, flowers and interesting bridges.


and as you can see the path is really wide as well.


see what i mean, aren't these bridges cool. The nice part about running here is not having to constantly be on the look out for cars. You can just relax and enjoy the scenery.


like this lovely weeping willow set against a calm inlet from the river. You can't see it in this photo but there are a whole bunch of geese just to the left of the trail. When I ran by them, they just stood there and watched me go by, they didn't move at all.


In parts of the park there were several branches down. I knew it had stormed the night before but I didn't realize it stormed that hard. It almost looked like maybe a tornado went through and just caught the tops of the trees.


Ahh...another lovely shot of the river...so peaceful...so serene



and a very cool old train bridge. That's all for the photos. At this point all my picture taking was starting to cut into my time...lol. So I focused on running and enjoying the morning. Around mile 8 I thought, "I could probably do twice this distance." I still felt really good! when mile 12 came around I started getting really tired and I still had 2 miles to go. Mile 13 came and I wanted to quit, my legs and feet were so tired. But, I thought, "this is what I might feel like at the end of the half marathon I need to know that I can power through that feeling." So I pushed it out all 14 miles. That last mile was filled with a lot of run, walk, run, walk, segments. But I got it done. Then went straight home and hopped into an ice bath.
That's it now for distance, now starts the process of tapering back in preparation for the race.

14 Days Left

Today's Half Marathon Training Run Stats
Time: 3:22:15
Distance: 14.06 miles
Pace: 14:23

We now return to our regularly scheduled program.

We interrupt your local programing to bring you an official announcement.


No, Not my blog. It's gonna stay right here.
As of September 1st, 2011 I will no longer be a Michigander. I'm moving in with my sis-in-law in Virginia Beach, VA. The plan is to live with her and basically house sit for her while she studies for her bar exam. I'm going out first in September to find a job. Then hubby will come out with the rest of the family in October. It's going to be hard to be separated from my family for so long. But it will be worth it to get away from the long cold Michigan winters.

and my internal awesomeness meter goes wild!!!

I did it.
I totally did it!!
I came, I saw, I ran my a$$ off!

The daunting 12 miler has been looming at me from my running plan since April. Today was that day.
The day.
12 freakin' miles yo!


....T W E L V E miles...of running....me.....RUNNING.

It is so amazing to me that just this year. I have gone from barely being able to eek out a mile to now...running T W E L V Emiles. Wow, just wow.

Today I went down to the local park to run. I decided to run there and save myself from being eaten alive by mosquitoes and deerfly. As you might guess it takes awhile to run 12 miles so in that time it rained, twice. I didn't mind though, I love running in the rain. It was a good kind of rain too, that nice misty light rain. Temps were about 69 degrees so the rain was cool and refreshing. And since it was raining, I was the only person at the park.
As I was running I noticed the church looked very scenic, so I stopped for a sec to take a picture.


I also found a portion of trail that I hadn't seen before. It was just a short section about a quarter of a mile long. But, as you can see it's a very enchanting quarter mile.


It has that sort of Alice in Wonderland feel about it. And on the left there is a river which gives the area a nice calming sound. Very relaxing.


and surprisingly enough, there weren't any mosquitoes in there. The park association must spray for them or something.

At mile 10 my droid crapped out on me and shut off completely. Luckily runkeeper saved the data of that 10 miles so I just restarted run keeper and did 2 more miles. Stupid Techno FAIL .... grr. At least I didn't lose my data! I'd have lost my mind if I lost all the data on that run. Not THAT run, not my 12 miler. I wonder what caused my phone to freak like that?

So, I finished up my run and walked home. I had to combine the data from the 2 runs to figure out all I did. Thanks to techno failure. Still, I got my 12 miles in, plus some and did it all at a nice steady 13:47 pace. I'll take it! I feel fully ready for the half marathon now. I'm guessing it will end up being about a 3 hour race for me. Not great, but not bad at all for my first half marathon!

Today's Half Marathon Training Stats:
Time: 2:49:59
Distance: 12.32 miles
Pace: 13:47

Poetry of Motion

Just wanted to share a little poem I wrote a few years ago. It seems funny to me now. I was really wrapped up in...well fear of calling myself a runner. Now, I do it with pride!

A Runner?

I'm a runner, self-proclaimed.
Is there any other kind?
There are no grades, no exams...
No papers to be signed.

Does distance, time or speed make you a runner?
What if your speed makes it a jog?
Does more gear make you a runner?
GPS, Forerunner, or Ipod?

Must you run every day, week, month, and season?
If I don’t measure up, am I a fraud?
Is there a level that I must achieve?
To appease some running god?

I RUN for me.
I RUN my pace.
I RUN to make MY goals.
I RUN for MY race.

30 days left....

Ekk! It's getting closer. It's almost here! I may puke in excito-terror.

Sept. 4th, 2011

I ran with hubby today, He's still doing the couch to 5k. He just completed Week 4 Day 3 today! We ran for 25 minutes and then walked until we got 5 miles in...and that was my rest day! Tomorrow I got 3 miles to do. Then Sunday it's the long run... featuring 10 miles!!

Fast Post Friday...

Just a quicky to let you all know I'm still alive. I was down for 3 days with shin splints...thank you so much Michigan Road Construction!! Grrr. I was back on my feet yesterday though with a nice 5 miler. Just one month left to train before the half Marathon!!! eeeKkk!!

Now...You gotta go check out this giveway at The Bitchy Runners Blog They are giving away a pretty sweet Neoprene Single Pouch Running Belt from iFitness Inc.

Go Hurry!! You don't wanna miss it!

Air Quality Alert...should that discourage me?

Nahhhhhh!
I threw caution to the wind and went on my run anyway. My schedule called for 9 miles today.
It didn't happen.
I started out strong, packing water coz I'm smart like that. Yah well,I used up my water by mile 5 and ran to the local park to fill up at the drinking fountain. I ran the rest of my miles there so I could be close to the drinking fountain and bathrooms. It was so hot. If it keeps being this humid I'm going to have to grow gills. It was 83 degrees at 7:30Am. What The Hell!!! The park was pretty empty... all the sane people were at home in their beds still sleeping. It was just me and this old guy for the longest time. We were running in opposite directions so we only passed twice each mile. So I ended up keeping an eye on him it really wasn't a good idea for someone his age to be out on such a humid day. But he was there, chugging along, just like me. His pace was a litter slower than mine. Heck my pace was a lot little slower than usual. I'm guessing he did about 2 miles. When he was done he stopped to stretch, he was covered in sweat and looked pretty beat. I gave him the thumbs up as I went by, he smiled and nodded. That left me two more miles. I tried to pick up the pace a bit, to just get them done. Nope, not happening. My legs were starting to cramp. My shoulders grew tense, I was running outta steam fast. When I got close to mile 8 I knew I didn't have another mile in me. Especially since I knew I still had a 1.5 mile long walk home...straight uphill the whole way. I pushed through to mile 8 and sat down on a bench. I thought I'd call hubby and have him pick my sorry buns up there at the park and take me home. His phone was off. DAMN! The walk home was the worst. Lumbering like Frankenstein up the hill, step by delirious step. It seemed to take forever. Once I got home and got in an ice cold shower I felt so much better.
Good enough to check the nets and tally all my stats online. The weather station said we were under a Air Quality Alert. That probably has a lot to do with why I got tired so fast, and why this run seemed harder that the 10 mile run I did a week or so ago.
On to the running sites...

I have 3 main sites that I hang out on.

Runkeeper.com - coz I use the GPS and my phone to track my runs (although the site itself is kinda boring.)
DailyMile - think myspace/fackbook for runners (love that site!)
and
SmashRun - Coz you get to earn badges!

Here are a few screen shots from SmashRun so you can get a feel for the site.

You can use it with Nike+ or just manually enter the miles. I've done both. One nice thing is it tells you home much juice you have left in your Nike+ sensor thing. So you can replace it before it runs out.


If you don't have a site to track miles at yet... I encourage you to check those out. SmashRun is by invitation only but, I'm inviting you so you're all set!
Your invited to SmashRun join here

My Air Quailty Alert Run:
Distance: 8.14 miles
Time: 1:59:46
Pace: 14:42

Random thoughts

Looks like next week is going to be a difficult week for running...


Yuck!Each one of those days is supposed to be HUMID. There has already been an Air Quality Alert issued for my area. LOVELY! And tomorrow I have a 9 mile run planned. But I'm doing it early in the morning...so it should be somewhat cooler. HOPEFULLY.

So today I was reviewing my weight changes this year. So far, this year has been an interesting year for me. Going from traditional eating, to Vegetarian, and finally to Vegan was a slow process. It has paid off slowly in weight and overall health and the best part is I haven't felt deprived...like I always do when I'm dieting. What I'm doing now seems very effortless and results in modest weight loss each month. Just look...

In the first week of December 2010 I was 198 lbs.
January 2011 - I had brought that down to 185 lbs
February - March 2011- down to about 181 lbs and then I stalled. As March began I pigged out for my birthday and many days after.

Starting in the beginning of April 2011 - I went vegetarian

I didn't record my weight until the end of May 2011 at which time I was 184.2 lbs at This point I start full vegan.

June 2011 I started recording my weight more diligently.
June 8 - 176
June 15 - 174.6
June 29 - 171.8

July 2011
July 8 - 169.4
July 15 - 167.2

Total weight loss so far about 30 pounds.

I'm happy That I've finally found something I can do to lose weight. Something that doesn't require me to count every single calorie or record every single morsel of food. I HATE, HATE, HATE that!!! I'm excited to see how far vegan and running can take me!!

Summer Blahs...

I missed my Sunday long run :o(
Something about an evening of margaritas makes it hard to get up and run at 5:30AM the next day. Who knew.

I've been running strong so far this week, but feeling blah. No air conditioning makes 90 degree weather a little unbearable. I've been trying to adjust my run schedule to run during the coolest parts of the day. It's been crazy. BUT I'm not complaining. If mother nature hears me complain we'll get 8 months of sub-zero temps this winter. It's the curse of living in Michigan.

Since running has been such a crazy sweat-fest, I've been trying to really pack the nutrients into my food.

I got this recipe idea from theAlmostRunner I made it the way she does originally, and it's great...then I got a little crazy with it. This recipe is so easy and so versatile you just gotta start messing with it....and yes, I actually fire up the oven when it's 90 and I have no air conditioning. I'm mental like that.

First the ingredients:
Frozen edamame
Frozen Okra
Frozen Stir Fry Veggies (any frozen veggies will work)
Fresh sliced mushrooms
Raw Baby leaf spinach (chopped)
Fresh Brussel Sprouts (with the ends chopped off and split in half)
1/4 cup - Tamari or soy sauce (slightly more if needed to coat veggies)1/4 cup pineapple juice (slightly more if needed to coat veggies)



To Prepare:
combine veggies, pineapple juice and soy sauce in a gallon size ziplock bag...shake vigorously to coat veggies. This could be done several hours in advance if you add a smidge more pineapple juice...the acid in the pineapple juice will keep the veggies from going brown.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spread the veggies thinly on a cookie sheet.


Cook for 15 minutes...flip and shuffle veggies then cook for 15 more minutes.

While the veggies are cooking...you can mix up some Quinoa...I had some ready made in the fridge. It takes 15 minutes to cook up so you have time to cook it while the veggies are in the oven. (or in my case...just nuke them to warm them through)


Pull the veggies out of the oven...mmmm...looks yummy!


Combine veggies and quinoa in a bowl and serve...

Sunday Morning Long Run

Another snapshot from the White Pines Trail. This little gazebo is just after mile 3 on my run.


This run was not the most enjoyable. Not because of my body, but because of Deer Flies.

While female deer flies feed on blood, males instead collect pollen. When feeding, females use knife-like mandibles and maxillae to make a cross-shaped incision and then lap up the blood. Their bite can be extremely painful, and allergic reaction from the saliva of the fly can result in further discomfort and health concerns. Pain and itch are the most common symptoms, but more significant allergic reactions can develop.

ugh, and they sure were bitey today. Not only that, but they chase you. Once they find you they keep right with you for a long time. From mile 2 to mile 3 I got bit so many times. Then once I was out of the trees and into the open sun, they were gone. Until of course I had to turn around and head back. They weren't AS bad on the way back. They must have still been full from the first time I came through.

Despite the annoyances, I still got my run in. I went further today than I ever have. 10 miles. When I got home and posted on facebook about my hatred of deer flies, my SIL suggested tieing a dryer sheet to my ponytail holder. She said that she has used dryer sheets before to keep away mosquitoes. Deer flies seem to be more aggressive than mosquitoes so I don't know how it would do against them. Guess we'll find out next Sunday.

How do you keep the bugs away on your runs?

Today's buggy Half Training:
Time: 2:18:07
Distance: 10.01
Pace: 13:49

Starting July out right.

Today I figured I'd start the month out with a nice run. I decided I'd get a four miler in. The weather was not ideal for running. It was really humid and it really looked like it could rain at any minute. I spend moments like these in my house pacing from the laptop to the patio door. Looking, timing, assessing. Do I risk it? Is it just rain or is there thunder and lightning? I heard thunder in the distance. and it was sort of raining...big fat drops here and there. I checked the radar...most of the weather was North and East of us.
I decided to go.

It was warm 71 degrees, and humid 87%. But, I was feeling good. I set out and kept a pretty nice pace, for me anyway.



Even kept pace over some pretty big hills...



It rained a little during my run, not enough to really cool me off though. So I got my four miles in and ran home. About 20 minutes later it really started to pour. So, I'm glad I got my run in when I did.

How about you, Do you run in the rain?

Half Training Run:
Time: 53:35
Distance: 4.32
Pace: 12:24

Two run Thursday

No, I don't plan to run twice every Thursday, that's just how today went...lol. I did my run first in the afternoon while hubby was at work.

Then I ran with him as he did his C25k W2D2.



He seems to benefit from me running with him. So I'm going to try to keep it up.

U-Pick

Yum!
Nothin' better than fresh hand-picked Strawberries!



We took the kids to pick strawberries this evening. It was a good day for it 70's and cloudy so we didn't have the sun beating down on us.



A local farmer does this u-pick every year. I love supporting them...and I love farm fresh fruits and veggies!!


That's my little man picking berries...so cute.


and my baby girl....testing the product. (it's u-pick...not u-eat...lol)


That's me showing Buddy which berries to pick.


That's my hubby holding our bounty...that's 12 pounds worth of Strawberries!! Cost us $15. We'll be eating strawberries forever.

I also started the week out right with a nice 6 mile run this morning. I ran down to the local park and back. Coming back is a challenge coz it's all up hill. Ugh.
I got home just before it started to rain.

Today's Half-Training Run:
Time: 1:21:06
Distance: 6.04 miles
Pace: 13:25

Low Mileage...

....MUST STICK TO SCHEDULE....



......



Didn't happen.

I get freaky about my running schedule. I plan this running thing all out and I like to stick with my plan. My precious, precious, plan.




Yeah, like that.

Adorable right?

This week wreaked havoc on my schedule. Missing runs, shorter distances, even the cherished Sunday Long Run suffered. The week of 6/20 I had kicked out 27 miles! This week...just 16 miles. Between family, work, and sleep, it seemed to be impossible to find time to get my runs in. This morning, I was just too tired to run. So I didn't, I slept.
I figured I'd just run later in the day, no biggy. Well, when later came, I had family over...so I couldn't leave then, and when they left... Hubby suggested I do C25k W1D3 with him...so that's what I did. after we did his run we walked around the neighborhood for awhile, to build up some miles for me. We got 3.76mi and hubby was spent so we walked home. Not the "long run" I was hoping for. But, something anyway.

I'm a little bummed that my plan got so messed up. But, Monday starts a new week. A fresh start. That is supposed to be a rest day for me. But, I'm not resting. I feel like I've been resting all week. So tomorrow I'm running... not sure how far. Maybe 3mi..maybe more, we'll see.

Shopping FAIL

Every day is a new day I'm reminded of my past
Every time there's another storm I know that it wont last
Every moment I'm filled with hope
cause i get another chance
But I will try I will try
Got nothing left to hide

I'm beautifully broken and I don't mind if you know it
I'm beautifully broken and I don't care if I show it.

Beautifully Broken by Ashlee Simpson

So today I went shopping, should have ran my scheduled 3 miles, but I went shopping instead. Things were going great until I stopped by Dick's Sporting Goods to look at running shorts...

At this point I should mention, I don't own a full length mirror. I also should mention that the Vegan diet seems to make you feel amazing and energetic. So I haven't even thought about my body image in several weeks. I've just been running and eating and living life. I know from my clothes that I've been losing weight but I haven't stepped on a scale in a few weeks...I get number crazy. So I have vowed to stay away from the scale until July 1st. all that said...

I walked over to the running shorts feeling like Ms.Thang. I knew I wanted/needed compression shorts for my thigh-flab issues. But I also wanted to get some shorts. then I saw them, shorts with built in compression shorts. How cool. I'm trying them on!

XL? L ? I have been losing weight I'll try them both. And with that I skipped off to the fitting room. Beaming with confidence I grabbed the L first. and put them on, slid them right on! Hell Yeah I knew it! Go Vegan! Go Vegan! Yeah. Then I looked into the mirror... and the party was over. Staring into the mirror I saw my legs. The legs I feel so proud of, the legs that run 9 miles....but, what I felt, and what I saw were not the same thing.


In my head my legs were awesome, powerful, beautiful. But when I looked in the mirror, they were old, and fat. The compression shorts ended in a tender part of my inner thigh and cut in just a bit, enough to really showcase the lovely thigh cheese I was growing there. My mood sunk. I wasn't a runner, I wasn't fit and healthy. I was old, fat, used up, worthless. A fool to believe that true change was possible. I tried on the XL and it was bigger, but the issue was the same. I am a size L and I should be happy about that...but I wasn't. I gathered everything and went back out into the store. Hubby was a bit stunned by my quick mood change, but he caught on to what was going on. I told him I was ready to leave, I wanted out of the store.

An old saga was trying to play itself out again. The words spilled into my brain like the lines of a well rehearsed play. "Not good enough", "Give Up", "Failure". These are all the lines my Internalized Parent/Super Ego likes to feed me. The next step in the play would be the appearance of my Id/Child which would mean crying, eating bad food and feeling depressed...sometimes for weeks. Those two, (parent and child) would battle it out and when the dust settled, my ego would then emerge from the rubble to clean it all up again. That's when I'd "start running again" or "go on a diet". The initial trigger was different each time, but the result was the same, conflict, pleasure seeking, depression, guilt and fear.

We had some different errands to run so hubby took care of those as I sat in the car thinking.

It is true, I'm not where I want to be weight wise. But, that shouldn't negate the the fact that I have lost weight, or that I'm a size smaller now...yeay! My inner thighs do have some cellulite on them and maybe I'm not ready to where shorts that short. But, I'm coming along, I just have to give it time. NOTHING CHANGED the only thing that was different was my emotions. I can choose to look at the positive, or focus on the negative.
It is my choice.

But, You know what? It's all good. Because, I saw this whole thing attempt to play out. I caught it in time to do something different. I realized the trappings of my past, I felt sad for the moment, but I kept to my plan. I did not medicate with food. I reasoned through my emotions and I've got a run planned for Sunday morning. I may still stumble but Perfection is not the goal. Moving forward in health...that is the goal!

Let them eat...Pizza?

lol, yes I'm still vegan. And yes I've been told vegan pizza is an abomination... but hey, don't knock it till you try it! Tonight was pizza night. Yummy pizza which is definitely a favorite of mine. This time, done vegan. It's not hard to make a plant based pizza, and it can be AWESOME. Here's how I did it.

Get a pre-made plant based pizza crust. Yes you could and probably should make your own, but I'm really bad a making dough...so premade crust it is.



1 Natures HiLights Brown Rice Pizza Crust (looks to be about 10" diameter)
1 Jar Eden Organic Pizza Sauce
1 bag of Daiya Mozzarella Shreds
Spinach (chopped)
green pepper (diced)
Roma tomato (sliced like pepperoni)
mushroom (sliced)
black olives (sliced)

I follow the directions for the crust and pre-cooked it then pulled it back out and topped it with the pizza sauce and veggies and viola... vegan pizza.



The Diaya really seems like cheese, and is amazing on the pizza!
Since there were 2 crusts in the package hubby and I figured we'd each cook up one and make it our own way. Well if there is one thing I can say for sure about vegan eating...it is FILLING. So I actually only ate 3 of the four pieces you see in the picture above. We should have cooked up just the one crust after all. Old Pizza habits die hard..sigh. From now on we are going to just make one pizza and each eat half.

As for running, Hubby talked me out of the 5 miler I had planned for today, and into running the C25k W1D2 with him. It was nice to go back to my C25k roots. W1D2 is so easy now. It's amazing how fast my mileage and endurance have grown

Today's Memory Run:
Time: 01:02:20
Distance: 3.26
Pace: 19:07

A change will do you good.

Today I had to alter my running plans. I hate, hate, HATE, changing my running plans on the fly. But, This morning I was just toooooo tired (worked all night) so I went home and went to bed. I didn't sleep very well either. I was up by 3:30pm about 5 hours sleep...not enough, but I couldn't sleep anymore either. The house was HOT, 88 degrees outside with humidity around the 80% mark UGH, sooo, yucky.

Well, after considering all that I decided 3 miles may not happen today. I even thought running may not happen at all today. No...I couldn't live with that. So I decided on 2 miles...walk, run, crawl, whatever, just 2 miles of movement. So, out I went, the sun was OUT, there was NO AIR at all. Everything was stagnate and wet. Beads of sweat formed, pooled, dripped but did not evaporate to cool me. I felt slow and weak, runkeeper broke into my music and said 13:56 minute/mile. Really? Wow, it felt much slower, more like walking with style...lol.

As I neared the end of my sweat-fest I noticed the sun disappearing...



Dark clouds were rolling in, the temp quickly dropped about 10 degrees, and the wind picked up. I wish I could say that helped, but by that time - I was about spent. I had less than half a mile to go and I could hear thunder now. Eekk! I gotta get movin'! Finally 2 miles, I bolted back to the house, about 10 minutes later. The storm began...shwoo. I just made it! It was a doosie too. Lost of lightening, thunder, rain pouring down in torrents, tornado watch...CRAZY. Just look...



That big green dot is me.
It rained for about 2 hours then I decided it was safe to head out to the store and grab a few groceries. When I came out of the store again, I was pleasantly surprised by a tiny rainbow trying to form.
Can you see it?



Today's Crazy Training:
Time: 29:09 minutes
Distance: 2.10
Pace: 13:53

4 day weekend re-cap...

Yeah, I was gone for a bit. I had four long luxurious days off from work! I got my runs in as planned all week. I even did a 3 miler on Thursday that was run at a 12min/mile pace.
Before I knew it Sunday was upon me, time for another long run. I chose the White Pines Trail again. The plan 4 miles up 4 miles back for a nice even 8. and if I felt I could, I'd push it to 4.5 and get a 9-er in.

Since my 3 mile runs are now poppin' up to a 12 min/mile pace I knew I'd have to start holding back on my long runs. The first mile was kinda crazy as I found my groove...10 min/mile, slow down 15:30...oops speed up. I finally settled in at 13:50 to 14:00min/mile...good enough. I ran...and ran....and ran. I felt light and full of energy.I went over the overpass again...and kept going.


Each time I do a long run I get a little further down the trail and see something new. Sunday it was this.



So far this trail takes me over a river, over a highway, and under a road. Never a dull moment. On the way back I actually lost track of the miles... I lost a whole mile deep in thought...forgot I was even running..lol. When I got back to the car I checked runkeeper 9.03miles...FREAKIN AWESOME!! That's 2 hours of straight running Uh-mazing.
I spent the rest of the day chillin' at the beach and swimming.

Sunday Long Run:
Time: 02:05:56
Distance: 9.03 miles
Pace: 13:58

I'm a believer...

Wow, I really just can't even believe this is me.
I can't believe I'm running like this.
Today I went for my long run and not only did I run farther than ever before but I also ran faster than my normal time by a full min per mile. This is insane!!
This whole process is pretty amazing to me. How someone can go from gasping at running 5 minutes straight to now running for over an hour and a half at a time... it's just mind blowing.

So my plan today was to run 7 miles. That would be 3.5 miles down the trail and 3.5 miles back. I think I must have over shot and ended up going an extra .25 because when I got back to the car runkeeper said we had gone 7.53 miles. Oh well, the extra half mile doesn't hurt. At the half way point I slowed down for just a bit to chow down of some Sharkies
They say "Vegetarian" not Vegan on them, but I cannot find anything animal based in the ingredients. So I guess they're ok.

I do feel that they gave me a certain boost for the second half of my run I felt a renewed alertness come over me about 25 minutes post chowdown. That lasted right up until the last half mile and then it slowly started to fade away. So that last half mile to the car was pretty much all me. Everything I had left.
After my run, my knee was feeling kinda, i dunno.. weird. Swollen, sore, maybe a little poppy, kinda concerning. Several hours later it felt ok but it has me worried thankfully I have this stuff ordered and on its way.

I'm hoping this will help my knee out some. Otherwise, I guess the next step is a running assessment and new shoes. One step at a time.

Sunday Long Training Run:
Time: 01:38:00
Distance: 7.53 miles
Pace: 13:01

Foggy Morning Run

This morning It was so neat to be running outside! It was quite foggy. It gave the whole neighborhood a cool, spooky, dreamy sort of vibe. Check it out..

I really enjoyed running this morning. So quiet, so pretty. Every now and then I'd hear an owl hooting. The rest of the time it was just be and the chirping of the neighborhood birds.

Foggy Half-training details:
Time: 00:49:54
Distance: 3.43 miles
Pace: 14:34