Today...

Today I ran a mile..... Why I finally decided I was ready to start running again in the middle of July when its 110 degrees is beyond me. I finally decided I have fought it long enough; time to give up my pride; time to forget about how many miles a week I was running two years ago (yeah somewhere between 30-40, but I am trying to forget!); time to get over the heat excuse. So I made up my mind, made a commitment, and this morning when my Alarm went off at 5:30 I resisted all my desires to turn it off and go back to sleep (for those of you not in Arizona and worried about me running at 5:30, trust me, its PLENTY, light by then!).

I know I have a long road ahead, but I am putting this in writing right now that the runner in me is back! I am already looking forward to a few races (I use the term races loosely, maybe a better description would be organized jogs!) and am even considering a Triathlon- anyone have a Road Bike I could borrow?

So if you are in the AZ (or plan to travel here in the next few months) lets run some "organized jogs" and get a t-shirt in the process (I mean really, who wants to run a race if there isn't a free t-shirt at the end?) I may run a few steps behind (did I mention I am really slow?), but I will surely meet you at the finish line!

I must be crazy...

I can't believe I'm actually letting myself post this picture, but if it wasn't so dang funny I wouldn! I know this should go with the previous post, but the picture wasn't avaible when I did it.... This is another "Adam MADE me do it picture"

Could I look any whiter? Um yeah, so just so you know I wasn't racing a Giant duck, this was a green screen and they superimposed the background....at least I was winning..... UGH.

RACES!!!

I've done a couple of races (well can you call them races when you have no hope of winning, or for that matter just want to not be last?) over the last couple of weeks so here are the highlights:

First I did the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. Nice little 10k, it had rained for a couple of days prior to the race and cleared up just about an hour before the start. It was nice and cool and mostly shady for the whole (hence I forgot my sunglasses.. argh). Here are some pictures:

Adam MADE me take a picture with the turkey. And as in made I mean he drug me down the street to chase him down and stole him away from some kids that the turkey was giving candy too. He made me put my tshirt on and everything (I should have known this would only be the beginning). He caught me at about the 6 mile mark to take this one:

And here's the finish - please do not look at the finish time... I am so beyond out of shape - luckily that's the gun time so my time was a little bit faster, but still it was a good 7 minutes slower than my PR.

And here are my socks I wore to celebrate the day! The turkey trot I ran in Boise the last couple of years gave socks out instead of shirts (the race was a lot cheaper)... Aren't they SWEET!

And today I did the Iron Girl Tempe. It was a ten miler and the weather was pretty much perfect... well it was a little chilly at the start:

Adam and his parents were there to cheer me on the whole way. The course made two laps and there was a bridge in the middle so they walked back and forth to take pictures and cheer for me:

Obviously no one has ever said running was a glamorous sport. I can't believe I am even posting this picture.

And keeping in line with what I can see will be tradition, Adam made me take a picture with the Duck. What the heck? Why does every race have a fowl for a mascot?

Thanks love for being so supportive of my races and carrying my stuff around for me! Your the best

OH I almost forgot! What was my prize for finishing the race, yes I did get a medal but this is what drove me on for the last mile:

So this really wasn't a prize, but I had been holding onto some gift cards for claim jumper for weeks for this occasion. The biggest pice of chocolate cake you've ever seen! Sweet rewards, priceless.
(By the way, this was pretty good, but I still think Costco Chocolate layered cake wins for best cake ever!)

Who would have thought?

So this morning i head out on my last long long run before the race in two weeks and since I haven't had to go 8 1/2 miles around here before I knew I would be running in some new territory. I wasn't expecting to see anything too exciting, its always fun to see how people landscape around here, but other than that nothing is very out of the ordinary. Well this morning was a little different.

I live in Phoenix right? And the population here is what like over 1.5 million people? And I'm running down a pretty major 5 line road when all of a sudden on my right there's a house with probably a dozen or so peacocks. I was like SWEET! I love peacocks! I was hoping that one would get mad at seeing me and flare its wings, but no luck. The next house has some cows and horses and I'm thinking this is really really weird. ( I know there are animal properties in the area, but it was so odd to see so many of them all right together and on the major roads) Then the next house has chickens running around like crazy. What the heck? I am in Phoenix, not in the country! As I travel along for another 1/2 mile or so the smell of farm animals just grows stronger and stronger. Then I decide I need to make my turn at the next corner and the farm animal stuff keeps continuing. Mostly cows and horses. And then I come up on a big plot of land with at least one hundred Pygmy goats and a handful of mini horses. At this point I'm just about laughing out loud. I can't help to think I wouldn't even see this many animals if I was running through the outskirts of Ontario Oregon where I grew up. The animal properties continue for another 1/2 mile or so, and then they just all of a sudden stop and I'm back into just plain houses. Well at least it broke up the monotony of running for 20 minutes or so!

My new running buddy.....

I can still remember the first time I tried a gel supplement.. I was getting set to run a 10k with my old roommate and good friend Ruth. She had convinced me to come down to Salt Lake to run her first 10k with her (it didn't take too much convincing, it was a great excuse for a weekend getaway!). One of her friends had made her a good luck poster complete with pre and post race treats, and while the snickers bars looked pretty tasty, we decided to try the gel before the race. Ruth tried it first and almost instantly looked as though she wanted to throw up, so why I tried it too, I don't know. It was awful. It was thick and sticky and nearly impossible to get down. I'm sure it didn't help our running ability at all as we each managed to get down just a little of it - but we did finish the race. I'm not sure if it was the gel or the idea of a couple of mommies running with strollers beating us that pushed us on to the finish (I forget know Ruth did we beat them? Sad to think that that is even a possibility). I also remember telling myself over and over again during that race that I never wanted to run farther than a 10k.... EVER. So why just a few weeks after I returned home I committed myself to running a half marathon I do not know. So what does all this rambling have to do with anything? Well, as I started to train for the half marathon, the grueling 13.1 miles, I was routinely running well over an hour at a time and decided I needed to have something to refuel my while I was running. So I turned to gels. What I found was most of them were absolutely disgusting. They were thick and it took at least half my water bottle to get them down without gagging. I tried Cliff shots (since I like Luna bars) AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL, possibly the thickest worst one; I tried Gu - yeah, it tastes like Gu, who wants to eat Gu? Then I tried Power bar gels. Which were by far my favorites (try Tangerine and Raspberry) but still not great. Then this summer, while visiting a running shop, they had this box of gels that were free samples. So I grabbed one as did Adam (for me of course) but never tried them.... until now.

Here is my delicious new running friend!

This hummer is so good! I've tried chocolate in other brands and they were nasty, but this one really taste like chocolate... almost like chocolate syrup. And its not thick at all. It goes down so easy. I just finished a 7 miler and it was so yummy. I'm definitely going to have to go stock up!

I'm a runner...

I'm a runner. That might be a pretty bold statement, but as I went running today I started to think about what makes a runner a runner. Now I haven't been on a regular running program since November of last year. I have many excuses, it was too cold was the biggest one... I could blame it on getting married, but I still managed to find time to get on the elliptical machine 3-4 times a week during our engagement, so yeah, the cold sounds good. Anyway, I digress.... I went running today for probably the third time this year (I managed to put in February when mother nature teased us with 45 degree weather; and then the day before we were married I went for a run in Arizona cause I just couldn't resist the beautiful weather). Today I ran 41 minutes (yes that 1 minute is significant!), but if you want to get technical it was more like a moderate jog. So what makes me think I am a runner? Well I will tell you. Many people might say a runner is someone who runs everyday, who can run sub 8-min miles for miles and miles, someone whose run marathons, someone who has "running shoes" and uses them only to run in, etc.... Well I say they are wrong. Yes I have trained for 5 days a week before, I've done the marathon thing, 3 half marathons, countless 10K's and 5K's and even 2 triathlons; I have "running shoes". But those things don't make me a runner. I am a runner because 6 months after running a marathon I still like to go out for a jog. I am a runner because I love the feeling of a good 41 minute run and can enjoy every minute of it. I am a runner because I know that even though my 41 minute run felt great one day, the next day a 25 minute run might feel like pure torture. I am a runner because after that 25 minute torturous run I'll get back out there and do it again the next day, because I know that there's a chance I'll have an awesome 41 minute run. I am a runner because a potentially ugly t-shirt is enough motivation for me to enter a race I know I'll never win. But most of all, I am a runner because I SAY I AM!

If you ever ponder the question "Am I a runner?" I think you've already answered the question by even thinking it. Yes you are a runner......

Orthotics

For some reason that seems to make me think of old people... yet today, I was fitted for orthotics. Yes I laid on a doctors table while he made a plaster cast of my feet so that I could turn over $380 for some insoles that are supposed to make me run better. OK well let me back up, why do I even need orthotics? Well one of the after effects of running a marathon, for me, was shooting pains in my right foot. The pains came and went and some days I could run fine, but the next day I would hobble around. So I broke down and went to the foot doctor. The result? He tells me I have high arches. Duh. I could have told you that. You might think by looking at the picture of my calves that I lift weights, but that would be untrue. I was gifted with high arches and the consequence? Huge, tight calves that I want to shoot off after just about every run I go on! Now I should say that all this running definitely helped define my calves and they weren't like that before running. And don't get me wrong, I have grown to love them - except when I can't find hooker boots to fit and my jeans won't pull on cause they won't go over my calves. Other than that its great getting referred to as calf girl. A friend (male) was even over a couple of weeks ago and we had to measure to see who's was biggest. I won by 1/2 an inch (ps he is a rugby dude, biker, pretty decently fit guy).

So what happens now? I get orthotics. Will my calves shrink? Probably. So I take a picture and say goodbye (hey a girls gotta have proof so one day when my teenage sons start thinking they are all that I can show them the picture and say, "oh yeah, well back in the day your mom had 17 1/2 inch calves!"

So my adventure of letting my body "learn" how to walk or whatever will begin in a few weeks. I'll keep ya updated.....