Not Swell

Today, was not so swell.  From.the.getgo.  I woke up, and was woken up numerous times through the night, to the *ding*ding* of my Blackberry.  You see, between midnight and 7:30 this morning I had 90 (yes, 90!) emails come to my work account.  No, these weren't "things I need to take care of" emails, but rather, repeat emails.  One email sent to me 50 times, another 20, another 10, you get the picture.  And this continued throught the day.  Until I finally removed that email account from my Blackberry.  I will re-add it when the !$%#$#(#$%#%(! server "engineers" get their act together.

My day continued with one internet or wireless issue after another and consisted of hateful phone calls to the !$##%%$%!#$%! sever "engineers."  I hate being hateful, I Really Do!

And to top it off, I feel like crum crimminy cricket today.  I ran 4 miles today and my nose was running faster than I was.  I finished in 38 minutes and 20 seconds (less than 10 minute miles, which I was pleasantly surprised with considering how I felt).  I was going to run 5, and even wanted to run 6, but once I got going, I knew there was little hope of that. 

My legs are not too impressed with this new goal of mine.  They were so heavy.  I'm pretty sure I heard them say, "Excuse me, but WhO authorized this goal??  Cause it wasn't us!"  My legs felt heavy the entire run.  There was no easing off. 

I really think my bed needs me right now.  And I'm anxious to go comfort it.  But first I have dinner with lovely Herdmother and a shopping list to cover.  You probably won't hear much from me through the weekend.  I know, don't all cry at once.  Superwoman is coming to see me.  And we will be busy.  The good news, however, is that I should return with lots of *pretty*pretty* pictures for you.

I would like to get up and run 3 miles in the morning, since my long run this week probably won't be until Sunday.  But, those of you who think I will actually do that please raise your hand.  Now slap your silly self with it.

I Have A Goooooooal!!!!

After Weeks and Weeks of training without much focus, I have Finally realized a *Goal!*  One of my first posts was about finding a goal.  FInally, I have one.  Granted, it's not a goal that's going to change my life or push me to extremes that I've never been to before, BUT it's a *Goal!*

I Must have a goal.  I Must have focus.  Now, I Do!  You see, yesterday's run gave me something to think about.  It was hard and I pushed myself really hard and it paid off.  I ran the fastest I've ran 5 miles in potentially-ever.  I surprised myself.  So I said, "self, you should push yourself more everyday because you know you can."  So now that I know I can run 5 miles in 45 and a half minutes, I know that I Should be running faster and pushing myself everyday.

So here it is folks, my *Goal* for now is to STOP running 10-minutes miles.  I know I can run faster, so therefore, I Should run faster.  Now I don't expect or necessarily desire to run 9-minute miles consistently.  But I do know that I should Not be running 10-minute miles consistently.  Perhaps with the exceptions of my long runs and really bad days.

I'm still a little miffed over last week's long run.  I want to think I miscalculated the miles because I can't Believe I ran near 11-minute miles.  I sure wasn't anywhere near 9-minutes miles, but I am surprised that I ran 11-minute miles.  Oh well.  Regardless, moving on and moving forward.  With my new *Goal!*  :)

Today I ran 5 miles in just over 47 minutes.  And it was comfortable.  I wasn't killing it like yesterday but I was pushing myself a little more than I have in the past.  I think goals make things more fun.  Don't settle for status quo.  Don't just maintain.  Always aim to improve.  I Have A Gooooooal!!!

Gosh Golly Wilikers!!

I ran 5 miles tonight in..... wait for it....... !!!!!!

*Forty-Five*minutes and *thirty seconds!*  !!!!!!!!!!  If my math is correct (and it's probably not), that's 9 minute and six second miles!  That's 54 seconds per mile faster than my usual!  WoW! 

I saw the Cutest sight on the trail ever.  There was this SUpeR cute fella, MaYbe 4 years old in a polo shirt and his hair flopping in the wind as he Very Seriously ran down the trail.  Behind him was his Papa jogging with the lil' fella's younger sibling in the jogging stroller, And behind them was the AboutAgeSeven Sister jogging behind, also Very Serious.  When we passed she puffed up her cheeks like any exhausted jogger would, yet in a very dramatic and childlike way.  SoooOoooo darn adorable!  Way to go Papa, start them early!

My collar bones hurt me for a bit while running today.  They hurt bad!  Luckily, it went away after a few minutes.  All else went pretty well.  I wanted to drop down on my knees and crawl after I finished running my super hard run today.  And then I planned to throw up.  See, I had it all planned out.  The last 1/4th mile I wasn't sure I could keep up the pace.  I was Secretly hoping I could finish in 45 flat.  But I'm not complaining!

Who would have thunk it?  Don't expect any repeat performances people.

I Rested

Today, I was lazy.  I did A Lot of physical activity this weekend, so today I just felt like resting.  I wanted to give my body a good break before I aim to have another good training week.  I kicked back, feet up, nearly all day and nearly all night.  It was nice and much needed.  Last night I was soooo tired I couldn't even comprehend how tired I was.  Yeah, that's tired. 

No excuses tomorrow!

I Biked

Today I biked 17 miles of the Virginia Creeper Trail.  Before you act real impressed, consider that its nearly all downhill.  I will add more photos later if the trail czars e-mail me theirs.

I Hiked

Today I hiked.  And saw *Beautiful* things.  The fall colors are out *Bright* and *Early!*  We hiked 10 miles through the beautiful Grayson Highlands State Park on an absolutely beautiful day.

Meet Megan and Steve.  Hiking extraordinaires.

 AT crossing a creek.

They were prettier in person.

Megan, approving of the colors.

Double white blazes, right turn on the AT!

HeLLo bRiGht green catipilar with a stinger/thorn thingy on your tail!

We decided that this is what Ireland looks like.  No, silly, none of us have ever been to Ireland of course!

The lame Blackberry pictures don't do it justice.

This girl had the Prettiest lil' face!

She's working on her camouflage skills. 

They really think they're hiding.

And the sweet ponies topped it all off.

The Most WOnderful tiiiiime of the Year!

It's Fall!  Today was the 1st day of Fall!  The leaves are starting to turn and you can smell fall in the air.  Temperatures are lovely for running!  I will spare you of my rant about how incredible football season is.  While also being the first day of fall, today was Friday!  Oh how I love my Fridays. 

I was dreading my long run today.  Truly.  It was raining off and on and I was not looking forward to the 10 miles of torture.  So I whipped out my handy dandy book by the Marathon CEO and ooooh, how I needed his thoughts today.  By the time I got through reading the next chapter mile, I was ready to run.  And I just wanted to have fun with my run today. 

And for the first four miles, I did just that.  I just had a good time.  i enjoyed the beauty of the trail, the fall weather, the leaves on the trail, the blessings in my life and I just smiled.  At mile 4 I checked my watch and realized I was running very slowly.  Like, realllll slow.  So I tried to conscious of my lolly-gagging and direct more attention to my running.  Yeah, that didn't work out very well.

About 6.5 miles in, I started feeling it.  My knees were a bit achey, my hamstrings were a little tight, but I still had a ways to go.  And I thought, "self, I really wouldn't mind if the clouds opened up and it started raining.  I am a bit thirsty after all."  .........  ............................................  Ohhhhh yeah, mile 7.  The clouds indeed opened up and let it fall.  It wasn't so bad.  It didn't really make me any less thirsty or ease the pain any, but it changed things up a bit. 

Do to my miscalculation (which if you know me and my numbers skills is no surprise), I had an extra half mile to get back to my starting point that I hadn't planned on.  I finally figured this out while trying to figure out why my watch said I was running crazy ridiculously slow, not just Really slow like I actually was. I was soooo looking forward to stopping at 10 miles even.  But then I tossed around the benefits and consequences of running an extra half mile or mile versus walking the same in the rain.  So I split the baby and ran 10.5 miles and walked half a mile to cool down.  It took me one hour and 53 minutes to run 10.5 miles.  Which is Crazy slow!  I blame it on the cookies.

I did it.  And at least part of it was fun.  But now I can't walk.  Eah, walking is overrated. 

A Me Night

Today was my rest day to gear up for my 10-mile run tomorrow (*dReAdInG*).  So I rested.  BUT, I did talk myself into doing YoGA!  And it was amazing.  I dimmed the lights, lit some candles, googled some mediation music and put on a yogajournal.com podcast.  And then I meditated for as long as I could.  My mind wanders.  I'm not a good meditator.  But it was so perfectly lovely!  And refreshing.  And calming.  Ahhhh.

And then I put in the girlie flick of the decade, Bridesmaids, and did this:

That's a tub of homemade chocolate chip cookies and an empty wine glass.  Now that's a good night.

The Biggest Loser

Last night was the first episode of the new season of The Biggest Loser.  Which, I sometimes watch out of boredom.  I do get really proud of those people.  To put themselves out there for the World to see and working hard to change their lives.  It really is impressive.  I don't even want to run 5Ks because I don't want anyone watching me run.  Actually, it's not so much of the people watching as it is that I don't want to be compared to other people.  Regardless, those fine people are brave. 

On last night's episode, the hostess lady (I forget her name), told the contestants that they will be running a *Full*Marathon!*  These people just got off of a bus in the middle of a desert, they are 100+ pounds overweight (I'm generalizing), just had to walk/run 1 mile of which none of them had done in Eeeons, if ever.  Upon hearing that these brave, out of shape, overweight souls would be running a marathon, I determined that I have No Room to whine about running a half marathon.  But we all know I will and you can remind me of this post at such later date. 

Today I ran 5 miles up and down hills.  Today, the hills hurt much worse than yesterday.  It was hot too.  But, there were very few gnats today!  Wahoooo!  Tomorrow will be my rest day since I have to do my long run on Friday this week.  I will rest tomorrow to hopefully avoid the torturous 9-mile run incident of a few weeks ago, when I didn't rest the day before my long run.  Lessons learned.

Gnat Nasty

***Please be advised that the following blog post includes graphic images that may be disturbing to some readers.***

Gnat Nasty!  The good news... I ran 6 miles today.  I ran 6 miles today over and down hills.  And I didn't want to slit my wrists when I was done.  (I don't mean to joke about such horrible things.)  However, while I successfully ran 6 miles up and down hills.... I ate, snorted, choked, was blinded by, smashed on my face, drowned in my own sweat, you name it..... gnats.  Gross, Gross, Gross.  Don't get me wrong, I can handle gnats.  I'm an outdoorsy girl.  I camp, I hike, I lay in hammocks...  Outside stuff and me, we're cool. 

Masses of Anything and me, not so cool.  Like masses of people, ants, birds... you get the picture.  Things alllll fine in reasonable numbers.  This evening, the gnats were out in *Forces!*  In forces so great that this is what I saw when I looked at my reflection in my car window after the run.....

That's my neck... and those are gnats.  You see.  Please imagine for a moment what my shirt looked like from wiping the gnats from my face throughout my run.  I tried to capture that photo for you as well, unfortunately, my blackberry camera wouldn't capture that lovely sight for you. 

My belly aches when I run.  :(  It ached some while I was running this evening but it Really ached when I sat down to chill for the night.  It felt throw-up bad.  I suppose it's something I ate?  :(  I'm recovering.  From the gnats and the belly aches.  Could be a cause and effect thing going on there....  I did literally almost gag during my run from one or multiple gnats that I caught in my mouth like a frog catching a fly.  Not really, I didn't want the gnats.  Soooo Gross.

The Terrible "M" Word

Shhhh!  DON'T say it!  That awful thing that comes after Sunday and before Tuesday.  The Dreaded horrible thing came back around today.  Eww, Ughh, Ick, Blah, WAAAAAHHHHhhhh!!  It happens every darn week.  Today as I drove home after that terrible "M" word at work, even everyone I passed in their cars, at the grocery store, gas station, Everyone looked like they had the terrible "M" word blues. 

Five o'clock came and my running game had the terrible "M" word blues too.  My eyes were heavy, my legs were heavier.  So, I took the terrible "M" word way-out and only ran 4 miles today.  Tomorrow I hope I can bounce back with 6 miles. 

I did enjoy some delicious pasta with roasted red peppers, broccoli, basil chicken and spicy red pepper sauce for dinner.  Followed by two rice krispie treats :) 

I need to get in bed early tonight.  I think that terrible "M" word was so rough today because I didn't get enough sleep last night.  I need my sleep!

Try Try Again

Hooray!  I ran 10 miles today and it went O.K.  It took me an hour and 39 minutes.  I was really really nervous to attempt the 10 mile run today after last week's disastrous 9-mile run.  I kept thinking how awful it was going to be and I wasn't going to make it and I would be miserable the entire time.  But... *Try*Try*Again* was today's lesson.  If things don't go right the first time, it can be scary to try again but you must.  And most often, it goes better than you ever would have expected.

I had a lot to distract me today from the thoughts of the fact that I was running for an hour and forty minutes.  This always helps.  And when my quads and knees started hurting around 6.5 miles, I kept running and told myself that there are plenty of people in the world in much more pain than I was in.  Run for those who cannot.  Run for those people fighting harder times than you are. 

I usually run pretty well when I'm angry.  I can pound my frustrations out on the pavement or trail.  And you Cannot cry while running.  This I know.  In 2006 I ran a half marathon in Montreal Canada with a girlfriend of mine.  The night before the race we each made a list of 13 things we were angry about and for each mile of the 13.1 race, we planned to run for a different angry reason.  We put these little pieces of paper with our lists in our running shorts.  Besides it pouring the rain and our lists getting soaking wet.... the course was marked in kilometers.  Our brilliant idea of having 13 things to run about for the 13.1 miles was shot.  I didn't even realize the course was marked in kilometers until I got to the first kilometer marker.  But nonetheless, my list must have worked.  I set a new PR for myself while also screwing up my left knee, which would debilitate my running for years.... stay tuned - I'm still not sure I'm in the clear.  Now *That* was a good use of some angry energy. 

You see, bad experiences can be put to good use.  This was my 10-miler reward after a good shower on a beautiful fall day getting ready for some Volunteer football. 

Cheers!

Members Only

Today I was supposed to cross train.  I intended to, kind of.  I wanted to run a hard 3 miles and do some weight lifting at a gym.  But silly me forgot to check with the gym that I had never been to before.  It's one of those lame members only gigs, and it's not even staffed.  The only way in is with a code you punch in.  Which I guess you have to call and give a credit card over the phone?  I don't know.  Whatever.  Bottom line, the gym didn't happen for me today.  So I ran a hard 3 miles instead (in 28 minutes) and did a handful of pushups. 

I feel like I should do workouts like that every Friday, which I usually call a rest day.  It was really nice today to do an easier workout than a 5-mile run or dumb Jillian's DVD.  I'm thinking about doing a 5K on Saturday, but then I'd still have to get in 7 more miles.  It likely depends on how tomorrow night goes as to whether I'll get up bright and early and run a race.  I haven't ran a race in Quite Some Time.  I don't like to be compared to a pile of other runners, most of who enjoy it and do it religiously.  I'd just assume compare myself to myself.  However, distance-wise, 5Ks are looking even more tempting than the 10Ks I said I should stick to earlier this week!

Bambie

I saw Bambie today.  I mean, *The*Real* Bambie.  Poooooor Bambie :(  She was sooo tiny and soooooo cute.  She was standing on the trail with a bicycler coming at her from one direction and me coming from the other.  Ohhh goodness, she was just so precious.  When the bicycler continued to charge at her and scare her off, my eyes followed her up into the woods.  And there she stood, all alone.  :(  Her poor momma was nowhere in sight.  She was looking for her momma and appeared very confused.  Poooor Bambie.  Breaks my heart.  I hope Bambie's momma was just off munching on the golf greens.  Mommas, Don't Leave Your Babies Without A Sitter!  You see, our cows keep nursery.  It's rather quite cute.  The cows alternate and while one momma sits with the group of napping calves, the other cows wander off and eat.  So when you see all the cows, but no babies, you're missing the cow that's keeping nursery.  Take note Deer!

Anyhow, I ran 5 miles today in 48 minutes.  I wanted to run hard today and I started out that way.  The way back just Always kills me.  I had so much on my mind today I didn't even bother to take Pandora.  I didn't need Beyonce to help me pound out my emotions during the run today.  I was scatter brained today.  I thought of everything from having my pseudo-sis Dana running with me to dressing up like a pirate (you can read more about that Friday).

On last Friday's awful, horrible, painful run, my running shorts started to chafe my legs a bit.  Yesterday and today they continued.  This chafing of the legs is very painful.  Once your skin gets rubbed raw, the sweat infiltrates your raw skin and *owie*owie*owie*.  Trust me.  It's awful.  So I remembered that I should have some Body Glide somewhere, which, contrary to the thoughts of the Wal-Mart pharmacy clerk (while shopping with my mother) is Not a personal lubricant.  :)  It's stuff that helps prevent and ease chafing you big ignoramous.  Yes, that incident was much like the time I asked a pharmacy clerk where I could find the Emergen-C (a vitamin drink mix) and he tried to give me the morning-after pill.  Yes, that happened too.  I went in with a cold and he tried to treat me for pregnancy.  No wonder health care is so expensive.

Ahh, I've spent one more lovely evening blogging in my hammock.  It's getting colder and darker earlier and I haven't had much time to spend in my hammock lately.  I refuse to put the hammock up until the first snow.

Sweet dreams friends.

Patiently Waiting

I'm patiently waiting on this process to get easier!  Good gracious.  Unfortunately, it's not any easier.  I suppose I do slowly get somewhat better at it, but it's *never* easier.  At least not yet.  My cousin and I were talking about how we have our good days and we have our bad days.  It seems that since week 2, I have had an unfair share of bad days.  O.K., maybe that's not a fair statement.  I've probably had an equal share of good and bad runs.  But good, bad, or average, none of its easy.

Today I ran 5 miles in 47 minutes.  I wanted to run faster today than I did yesterday.  Because I know I can.  I kept telling myself that the faster I run, the sooner I can get home and do nothing.  On the last half of my run my quads were killling me.  They are Still sore from Friday's 9-miler.  Which makes me really nervous about this weekend's long run.  I'm starting to doubt my capabilities.  :(  I finished my run and thought to myself, "I should definitely stick to 10Ks."  Today's 5-mile run Really put 13.1 miles into perspective. 

I wanted to do some weight lifting this week, since I haven't done any since I started my training.  But with my quads so sore, I'm not sure that's advisable this week.  I don't know what to do.  Other than to keep on keep'n on.  My old soccer coach used to say, "Just keep shooting.  One of them has to get in the net eventually."  For now I'll equate that to my running.  Just keep running, something has to click eventually.

I had a REALLY great photo I wanted to take and share with you this evening.  Sadly, I never got the opportunity to take the photo without looking like a lunatic.  There was a mini-van parked next to me when I got back to my car with a magnet on the back of the van of a cat's face.  It was so strange.  It looked like a magnet made at Wal-Mart, you know where they'll make your picture into anything... blankets, puzzles, coffee mugs, slippers, etc.  This was a large face shot of a cat.  That's all.  So strange.  Sorry Lassie Cat, I will not honor or memorialize you on a magnet on the back of my mini-van, station wagon, refrigerator, or even water heater. 

Another Monday

Mondays really aren't ever that much fun.  But we survive them.  I survived today's 5 mile run.  I didn't do much more than survive it, however.  It took me 50 minutes.  I wasn't really feeling it today.  I took Pandora with me but shut it off about 15 minutes into my run.  I just wanted to hear myself today.  I had a bit on my mind and I suppose I just wanted to think.  Unfortunately, it didn't make the run much easier.  Just about 3/4ths of a mile into my run my deep quad muscles that ached all weekend started screaming at me.  I didn't really know what was going on and thought for a split second I might not finish today's run. But I ignored them and carried on. 

I've decided that I need to start eating better.  My dinners usually consist of raw veggies, hummus and tortilla chips.  Not necessarily bad, other than the tortilla chips, but not very substantial either.  I can't really cook, but can't never could do noth'n.  So tonight I cooked roasted butternut squash sprinkled with the squash seeds that I also toasted, sugar snap pees and basil chicken.  It was purrrrrty good, if I must say so myself.

Nine Eleven

Today was a hard day for a lot of people.  I was especially anxious and emotional over this 9/11, party in part because of the new threats to D.C. and thinking about all my friends there.  Church was simply amazing this morning with a thought provoking sermon about 9/11, communion, and the ending hymn was "Let Peace Begin With Me."  It was so touching I wanted to burst into tears.  But I didn't.  Whew.

After church I went hiking and it was sooo lovely.  I've missed hiking dearly.  I took a TON of pictures to show you all and was so excited to post them.  But my computer and camera aren't cooperating at the moment :(  So I have just two I took with my phone that I will post.  I hiked 3 or 4 miles today.  Not exactly the rest and recovery I had planned which included an afternoon lounging in my hammock but it was just such a nice day I had to get out. 

At the top off that mess of wood and cable is a swinging bridge and the trailhead.  Luckily, a pretty steady swinging bridge.

This is one of the views from Copper Ridge Lookout.  Not even the best view, that one's on my camera :(

It Is A Laughing Matter

Today, I rested.  Well, I rested from running but there was no real rest in my day.  We were up and at 'em early to get to Knoxville with all the tailgating goodies in tow.  We had a fabulous day.  Who could not when it's beautiful weather and UT pulls off a great win in a Very Exciting game? 

I had many good laughs today with my dear cuz about our running experiences.  We reminisced about how hard running can be and how much it can hurt!  And about how we love to eat junk food and say, "we just ran."  Which is exactly what I did today.  :)  And we laughed, a lot.  Because my cuz has an amazing laugh and even being 20-somethings, we still giggle like little girls together. 

And now I'm completely exhausted, again.  My legs are still a bit sore today, but it's that really deep sore.  The kind of sore that you get when you have really worked your muscles.  The kind of sore that lingers when the generic soreness has worn off.  Yep, that's the one that stayed with me today.

Time to go rinse the ballgame grit off and hit the hay.  I just Looove ballgame days :)

Learning to Adjust

Today was frustrating.  I screwed with my training plan so that I can focus on *Tailgating* tomorrow.  Actually, I screwed with my training plan so that I could get in the three things I previously had scheduled for tomorrow:  running, working cows, and tailgating.  Something had to give. 

It was suggested by Herdmother that we work cows this evening.  I told Herdmother that that wouldn't be a problem, so long as she talked it over with the cows first.  You see, the cows have their schedule.  In the mornings, they're usually down by the corral checking out the fishermen on the lake.  By mid-morning, they've mosied on back to the hollar next to the old barn built with wood pegs that is lucky to still be standing.  By afternoon they're in the back 40 splashing in the mud pit they've meticulously created and lounging in their hammocks in the shade.  And up until this point in the day, they pretty much all stick together.  But after they've taken their stroll from the front of the property all the way to back of the property they divide and conquer.  By conquer I mean spread themselves out from here to yonder so that herding them is completely not feasible.  But so long as they're hungry, they'll usually come running from all corners when they hear the diesel truck.  But if they're not hungry, good luck cowgirl. 

So I decided that the best thing to do was to alter my running schedule and run this evening so that we could work cows tomorrow morning in accordance with their normal schedule, just in case the girls weren't hungry this evening.  Fridays are usually off days for me.  And after the very hard week of training I had this week, I Really needed that rest day today.  But alas, for the sake of cows and my beloved UT football, I convinced myself that I could do my long run this evening and then I'd have two days of rest.  Remember, Monday I did that horrid Jillian Michaels workout, Tuesday I ran 7 miles, Wednesday I ran a fast 5 miles and Thursday I ran an even faster 5 miles.  I needed to run 8 today.

My legs were tired.  I knew this before I started running.  I got to the 4 mile turn-around and was hanging in there.  I knew the way back was going to be hard, but so far, so good.  You know that saying "curiosity killed the cat"?  Yeah.  I was really curious what was around the next corner of the trail because I have never ran that far on this trail before.  So I kept going and convinced myself that I could do 9 miles today.  On very.tired.legs.

Wa-la!  This is what was around the next corner. 

A very lovely little trail-side store. 

And ohhh how the way back was very difficult.  I did okay but was really feeling it at mile 6.  I kept pushing.  Around mile 7 my body just temporarily shut down.  Out of nowhere I just stopped.  Just seconds before I was telling myself, "just keep pushing, just 2 more miles."  And then I just stopped.  I think I saw the guy running in front of me stop and walk and subconsciously, without consulting my committed mind, my body just stopped.  I was *SOOoooooo* disappointed!  I didn't WaNt to walk!  I wanted to run all 9 without stopping, regardless of how fast.  I walked for about 100 yards, saying not nice things under my breath and then finished my run in 1 hour and 35 minutes.

Complete failure.  Or was it?  I ran 9 miles less 100 yards.  When I ran that full marathon a million years ago, my coach told us all the time that if we had to walk it was fine.  What really mattered was getting the miles on our feet, even if some of it was walking.  Just go the distance and worry about the pace later.  I reminded myself today that I must stop beating myself up over little things.  There are a gazillion little things in life and in running that aren't always going to go just right.  I'm typically one of those people that wants Everything *just*right*.  Well guess what sister?  It ain't always going to go just right but the run goes on.  You pick back up and you finish and you don't dwell on the 100 yards that went wrong.  Remember sis, you're supposed to enjoy this too.  Don't beat yourself up.  It was a hard week of training but you finished it.

I know that if I would have rested today, my legs would have gotten me through 9 miles tomorrow without stopping.  But sometimes, we just have to adjust and go on.  I'll be running many more painful miles in the next two months and I just ought to get used to it.  

Then I crawled into my car after begging the sweet girls at Ellis's Soda Shop for two bags of ice to ice my burning quads, which they graciously gave me and wished me well.  I called our Herdsman (that'd be Daddy) and he said, "I'm over here getting the cows up."  Oh geeez.  Isn't that why I adjusted my training schedule to begin with?  Why, yes it was.  And so I adjusted again, stopped at the farmhouse for my boots and worked cattle.  I shall rest well tonight loved ones. 

A Day of Surprises

There are not many things better than surprises.  Good surprises that is.  Like surprise visits from your Daddy like I got today!  Ahhh, I love my Daddy (yes, he will always be "Daddy," not "Dad" or "Father").  I love my mother too of course!  But mother is always a surprise.  You expect surprises from mother.  Are expected surprises really surprises?  I digress.  Daddy, however, is never spontaneous, so when he is it tickles me to death.  Like today.  :)

Also a BIG surprise today, I ran 5 miles in 46 minutes and 12 seconds.  I have *No*Idea* what got into me!  I don't run that fast folks.  And the sad thing is, is that's really not even considered fast.  However, it *IS* fast for *me.*  It's really fast for me.  That's a little bit over 9-minute miles (9:20ish?), compared to my standard 10-minute miles.  I didn't even intend to run fast today.  Even once I started running, I was thinking to myself, "since I ran hard yesterday, I'll just take it easy today."  I don't even know why or when I started running hard.  I had Pandora's Beyonce station on today and I guess the Michael Jackson, Black Eyed Peas and Gnarles Barkley tunes just got me going.

So, good surprises today.  But now that I know I can run 5 miles in 46 minutes, I feel like I should do it every time now.  I would be incredibly delighted if I could keep up that pace for longer distances.  I had about a mile and a half to go today and wasn't sure I could keep it up to the end.  But somehow I did.  I think it was Gnarles Barkley's "Crazy" that got me home.

Good day.  Good day at work, good afternoon surprise, good run.  And now *Goodnight.*

Run Up A Goal

It started a heavy sprinkle about half an hour before my run this evening.  I wasn't sure what to expect for the weather.  So I ditched Pandora today just in case.  It was also very cool and I didn't have enough clothes.  I suspected that when I packed my bag this morning but I was running late so I didn't do anything about it.  I hope I don't catch a cold.  I haven't particularly felt well this week so I hope today's run doesn't make it worse.  Daddy always says it'll either cure you or kill you. 

Today I ran hard.  Running hard is really exhausting.  The 2.5 miles down the trail went pretty well as usual.  *Slight downhill*  I usually make it down 30 seconds ahead of my 10-minute mile pace.  Today, I made it down a full minute faster.  :)  As soon as I reached the turn around point there were two runners coming at me with their dog.  I.Did.Not.Want.Them.To.Pass.Me.  I ALwAYs get passed!  I'm a slow runner, yeah yeah.  But today, I was determined to not get passed by the two young people, about my age, with their dog.  I finished my 5 mile run in under 48 minutes.  That's at least 2 minutes faster than my norm.  Not a huge difference, but we must celebrate the small achievements in life. 

Today I spent a lot of my run thinking about a goal.  I need a goal.  I still don't have one.  It's like the lyric, "If you don't know where you're goin', you might end up somewhere else."  Right now, there is Nooooooo tell'n where I'm going to end up.  I will continue to think about this but I have decided I need goals soon.  Lots of goals, not just one.  You can never have too many goals.  And right now, I don't really have any.  Other than to finish Secret City.  People need *Goals* in their lives!  I'm off to dream up some goals folks. Goodnight!

Don't Get Skunked

Today was a rough day at the office.  The day back after a long weekend is always hard.  Amen?  And of course I got a case of the "I don't wannas" come 6:00.  But, I picked myself up, reminded myself that it Had been a long day at the office and that running would bring some clarity of mind if nothing else.  So I set out to do 5 or 6 miles; figured I would see how I felt 2.5 in and make the last minute decision. 

So that's just what I did.  I put on some Jack Johnson Pandora radio and took off.  And it *did*feel*good* today.  It felt so good, that even at 3 miles in, I didn't want to turn around.  I just wanted to run.  I just wanted to run the day out and just *Run*, and so I did.  With a view like this, who would want to stop running?

 I ran 7 miles today and it took me an hour and 10 minutes. 

On my way back, I thought about the things I miss.  Like hiking.  I really miss hiking and my hiking buddies.  I miss my girlfriends.  My completely amazing awesome girlfriends that I don't get to see enough of.

What I don't miss are skunks.  Not that I've ever had a true encounter with one before.  Today I came close.  Thank goodness for sweet and observant runner girl coming from the other direction who was stopped in the middle of the trail and was kind enough to point to the side of the trail as I was approaching.  Yes.  Skunk.  I ran like a fairy bouncing on my pinky toe in the grass on the far side of the trail which the skunk was loitering.  I hesitated a few times but kept in mind my nieces expert lessons on tip-toeing.  Whew, I made it.  I hope the rest of the trailgoers passed without incident.  Thank you sweet observant runner girl whoever you are!

My legs were a bit stiff after my long drive home.  But when I opened the door, sweet Lassie kitty was waiting and waiting on me and greeted me with lots of cries for attention.  My sweet girl, another thing I miss.  :)

Sore Thumb

Well it's raining.  Just like the weather man promised.  And it's going to rain all week.  We need the rain so YaY rain!  But it's going to put a lil' damper (*wink*wink*) on my running this week.  I don't necessarily mind to run in the rain, but torrential downpours are another story.  Today, Lee sent us torrential downpours.  We'll see how things progress the rest of the week.  Weather man says I can put on my water skis.

So... today I did the dreaded Jillian Michaels DVD.  Therefore, I expect sore calves the rest of the week.  Which will go nicely with my sore thumb.  Why a sore thumb you say?  Well.....  I stuck a needle filled with an antibiotic for cattle, which had been used to give antibiotic to cattle :) in my thumb today.  You see, my thumb looked so much like the calf's hide in the pouring down rain.  O.K., so really I just missed.  It hurts!  I forgot how much it can hurt when you get a shot.  Try one in your thumb!

Could'a Would'a Should'a

Today was a rest day.  And I really did intend to do something.  But I didn't.  I thought I could find the time to get in a few miles today, but I didn't.  Not that I didn't find the time, but I just didn't take the time.  We had a great big brunch after church and then stopped in at a baby shower and then had more quality family time. 

Yesterday, my legs remained sore from my 8 mile run alllll day.  I had hoped that after a cold soak in the tub and/or a few hours, my legs recover and feel normal again.  However, the ached all the way to Neyland Stadium and then I was up on my feet for about five hours before game time.  Then there was an hour and 40 minute lightning delay, of which we stood on concrete for the endurance of.  We got home at 1 a.m. and I mustered up the energy for a quick shower before laying down.  When the kids woke me up this morning at 6:30 and then 7:30  :) I felt like I had been hit by a truck.  But my legs did recover.  It took the morning to push through the tiredness and aches but by mid-morning I was good to go. 

Unfortunately, I ate realllllly delicious JuNk food all weekend, including At Least half*a*dozen cookies. 

It's supposed to RAIN *a*LoT* tomorrow.  So I don't know what that means for my workout tomorrow.  I do have access to a treadmill..... However.  It hate running on treadmills.  Especially for any length of time.  I could do some Jillian Michaels.  (Frowny Face)  I do however appreciate the fact that she makes me hate her. 

Crazy 8

I never got around to posting yesterday.  It was a bit chaotic around here.  We spent the entire evening and late into the night tailgate-party prepping.  It was a lot of work, but it was a lot of fun too.  Today we are headed to kick-off the most fabulous time of the year..... ITS FOOTBALL TIME IN TENNESSEE!!!  It also happens to be the annual Shaver Labor Day Reunion as well.  So last night and this morning mom and dad's house has been.... well, think opening scene of Home Alone with a touch of Marley and Me.  Kids, dogs, suitcases, cooking, packing, and a lot of chaos.  We love it :)

Running.  Yes, that is what this blog is about.  Yesterday was another rest day to gear up for my big 8 Mile Run Today!  And I did it!  And it wasn't horrible!  I got up early, before the chaos at the house began for the day and slipped out while the morning sky was still dusky.  I ran the Blountville hills this morning; 3 times around the figure 8 loop, 1 half-loop and 3 laps around the government center.  It took me 1 hour and 21 minutes.  I'm glad to know that as my runs get longer, my pace stays relatively the same.  Of course I'd like to run faster, but at this point, I'm just glad I'm not running slower.

Today's run was a good run.  I started to think again that I can actually do this Secret City run.  I soaked my legs in some cold water when I got back to the house until I got ran out of the tub by the munchkins.  Then it took me 3 tries to find an empty shower.  It's been less than 2 hours since I finished my run and my legs feel heavy, they're tired.  But my knees aren't hurting and hopefully my legs will get some rest on the drive to the big city of Knoxville.  We've got some tailgating to do!  Complete with Bison burgers in honor of our Montana opponents.  :)

Cheers!

Motivation Came In A Package

Something absolutely wonderful happened to me today.  I checked my P.O. Box this afternoon, and guess what.  I had a package of motivation waiting on me!  Can you SAY *perfect* timing?!  After yesterday's run, it was completely and utterly wonderful.  You see, this dear, charming, beautiful, loving girlfriend of mine who was kind enough to listen and read about my running no-mojo, sent me a copy of her dad's book which is all about running motivation!  Well, the book is about much more than that, like successfully running companies and that silly stuff, but since I'm not into that I just focus on the running part.  Her dad/the author is known as the "Marathon CEO."  *Amazing!*  And I *Love*love*Lovvvve* the book!  I read Chapter 1, wait, scratch that.  I read "Mile One" on my lunch break today.  See, told ya it was about running! :)

I am beyond tickled that motivation came in the mail today.  And surprise surprise, I was motivated to run today!  I wasn't necessarily motivated to run fast or anything, but one step at a time.  :)  Speaking of which, two girls went blazing by me, separately, during my run.  That's such a bummer when that happens.  They passed me like I was standing still.  And didn't look like they were even trying.  I know I'm not one of those graceful runners.  I ALWAYS look like I'm A) Trying and B) In Pain. Who cares.  I don't run to look pretty.

I ran 5 miles in 49 minutes.  It wasn't the easiest run but it wasn't horrible or anything like yesterday's run.  Progress.  Day by day.  I don't want to read more than a "Mile" of my new book a day because I want to stretch my motivation out as long as I can!  I'm kind of sad it only has 26.2 "Miles."  So clever.  But when I get through it and I need more motivation, I'll just read it all over again, and again, and again.  Three times through should get me to Secret City and I'll be preaching it by that time.

I don't have any pictures today, but I sure do wish you could see these stars tonight.  I'm lying in my hammock, listening to the crickets, stargazing, and thanking the good Lord for the motivation He sent today and the blessings He has placed upon me.  Can I get an Amen?