Day 61: Run 24 Minutes

I so named today's blog because I focused more on the amount of time I would be running than I had for awhile. Four days ago I ran a mere 20 minutes. Two days ago I ran 24 minutes, but I had a lovely 5 minute walk smack in the middle of it. I was worried about 24 straight minutes.

I decided to run the exact same route I ran on Day 59, with the exception of the stretch that I walked. It was the same amount of time, I knew precisely where I was going, and I wouldn't have to worry about my time or my route - just run almost out of town, turn around and come home. Easy as cheesy.

I woke up late, but the forecast called for it to be in the 80s most of the day, and sunny. It looked like it was about to rain when I rolled out of bed. I went outside - those are definitely rain clouds. I checked multiple weather sites, and although there was a 10% chance of rain, it appeared, if you didn't look at the sky, there was no chance of rain today. We have had hellacious pop-up storms lately, and I didn't want to chance it. So, I had a Dew and a wheat banana mini-muffin and I fretted around.

Finally, I decided it was time to go, even though it looked like it was about to pour. One problem with this route on a Saturday is that Post Apocalypticaville is full of kids during the day, and that held true today. Kids, loose dog, people working on their bombed-out house. Those people were actually friendly and waved as I panted past.

My ankle, while still sore, was holding up well, and wasn't bothering me during the run.

I was certainly questioning the sanity of running. It was hot, and the clouds were burning off -- it was actually full-on sunny by the time I got back -- thankfully, there was a little breeze, so most of the run was comfortable. I just kept wondering how this could really be that good for you. It hurts, so bad. How in the hell can it actually be good for you?! I'd much rather be at our favorite local weekend restaurant feeding on pancakes!

I made it to my turnaround spot in the 11th minute, so it was looking like I would have a faster first half. I was running pretty quickly, even though I knew I needed to slow it down for a 24 minute-er. My body was clearly preparing for a 5 minute walk as I approached the intersection, but thankfully I had "How Many People Wanna Kick Some Ass" playing, and I do, I do, so I kept going.

It was a completely uneventful run home. When I got on my block, I started counting houses because I knew I would not make it back to my house and I needed to be able to map my route. The last hill before my block is brutal at the end of this run and I was just burning and panting and, even though this block was downhill, I wasn't sure I could make it to the alarm. I rounded the corner to my street, and FINALLY the alarm went off.

I collapsed onto the couch when I got inside, panting like a complete maniac, on the brink of delirium. This is stupid.

I didn't quite make it (running) back to the house, but it was a little farther than I went on Day 59 (plus my turnaround point was slightly into the walk portion of my Day 59 route). When I mapped it, the distances, naturally, turned out just about the same, although I went about 53 feet farther on the first leg, which was also at least a few seconds shorter than the second leg.

That confused me. All I know, is that overall, this was a better run than 2 days ago, and OVERALL, this was the best time I've had.

I'm also questioning whether I'm remotely interested in running in a race. I loathe other people, and I am perfectly competitive against myself. I think it may be ludicrous to pay to have someone time me in my own personal hell: running with other people.

No Monday off this week - next run: Run 25 minutes. That one doesn't scare me as bad. One minute increases aren't so intimidating.

Weather: 81, Partly Cloudy, Breezy 8 mph, 76% Humidity, Feels Like 86
Time: Noon; Run 24 minutes
Distance: 3.24K (2.01m)
Elevation: +84.2/-85.4/net - 1.2 ft
5K/10K: 38:21/1:21:04

I mentioned on Day 59 the amount of hills, which somewhat surprised me when I saw the elevation profile, so I decided to include it today. It reminds me of the Batman logo...Anyway, the distance is across the bottom, and height up the side, so you can see a line in the middle that is the 1 mile turnaround point.

5K to 10K: My Plan

Alright, as previously mentioned, I do not like any 10K training plan online. As I'm nearing the end of the Couch to 5K plan, it's time to take matters into my own hands. This is probably not wise, since I have no knowledge or history with running.

Before I share the plan, here is the reasoning behind it.

1. At the end of the Couch to 5K, Day 70, there is a "Race" day. Assuming I make it through the next 5 runs adequately, I will be doing the "race" on 8-9-10. As a sucker for numbers, this may be the most motivating factor I've had to meet my run goals.

2. I am planning to map a 5K route, then run it on Day 70 and see what my time is. The run prior to the race is 30 mins, so I would assume the goal of this plan is to turn in a 30 minute 5K time. I am currently on pace to run it something more like 35-40 minutes.

3. The 10K I have been planning to run is October 2nd. The registration is $40, which I already think is too much, but goes up 30 days prior to the race.

4. This leaves 3 weeks after my 5K race to decide if I am prepared for a 10K. Oh boy.

5. I initially came up with what I feel is a pretty good plan to get me ready for a 10K "race" (like my Day 70 "race") on 9/27, leaving me a month to do intervals, fartlek (?!), strides, whatever, whatever, to try and improve my time.

6. Yeah, that didn't sound right to me, either. I did my plan thinking the race was Halloween weekend. Balls.

7. Halloween will most likely be spent in the only place to spend Halloween: New Orleans. So, duh, let's head over to google and see what races are being held in New Orleans over Halloween. There is the Jazz Half Marathon, which offers both live jazz music along the route (ooh, sounds familiar), and a "flat, sea level route." And...ugh, a $60 fee. Plus it would probably be a lot of hassle to try and deal with on vacation (read: interrupt my Hurricane and Hand Grenade time...after all 7am is when you straggle back to the hotel, not straggle out of it). And a half marathon is 13 miles, I have a plan for 6. Let's pretend we never heard about this most amazing race. It's going to be hard.

8. (Why am I still numbering this?) So, as I originally thought, I should have made my plan in pencil, as my plan is not going to work for the RNBNBBQ10K. Most likely, however, I won't be running in it anyway. I'm still using it as my goal, but if I don't get randomly chosen for a free entry, I don't think I should be throwing $40 at a race that isn't even for charity (after all, this all started after I lost my job). The same group is doing a Thanksgiving race, which does give proceeds to charity, but doesn't have many details yet (I don't even know the distance).

So...I guess I've decided to see how the next 5 runs go, how my 5K "race" goes, and then decide what I want to do.

My plan to be ready for a Halloween race was 7 weeks. My weeks go Tuesday through Monday, for a ridiculously annoying tracking system, and each week Day 2 (Wed), 4 (Fri), 6 (Sun), and 7 (Mon) are rest days. This is the same as the Couch to 5K schedule.

I actually took Day 1 as a rest, as it would be Day 71 overall (day after "race"), and Day 2 is a rest. Day 3 would be to run 32 minutes, as my previous timed run was 30. Day 5 would be 35 minutes. So week 1 would increase my time from 30 minutes running to 35 - this follows suit with the last 2 weeks of the Couch to 5K schedule.

Week 2 would increase another 5 minutes to 40.

Week 3 would start with a 4 mile run on Tuesday, which should be around 40 minutes. The week would end with a 45 minute run.

Week 4 would increase from 45 to 50 minutes.

Week 5 would start with a 5 mile run, increasing to a 55 minute run.

Week 6 would increase from 55 to 60 minutes.

Week 7 would start with a 6 mile (10K) run, and increase to 65 minutes on Saturday. Sunday would be a rest day, per usual, and Monday, Day 49, the final day of my program, would be my 10K "race."

This would conclude my program right before the 30 day registration deadline for a Halloween race, and give me a month to train. OR 4 days before the actual race, which is Reality. Bah.

Of course, if I don't have a race in mind to run, it really doesn't matter what I do, so I'm going to get through the Couch to 5K plan, then come up with some form of a training schedule based on my "race" time. Maybe I can do something more aggressive so that I could still be ready for the RNBNBBQ, just in case I get an entry.

I do like my plan, and it would, assuming it works and I can do it, get me to the time I would need to run the 10K. I could always just run a 10K on Oct 2, with my own jazz playlist, and pretend to be satisfied with that. I'm sure Husband could fire up the grill, and we could even shoot off fireworks (but we won't because that is SO FN ANNOYING, NEIGHBORS). Sigh.

For now, I'll just run.

Day 59: I'll Never Walk Again!

Yay for my last day with walk times!!!! I feel like after today I am officially a runner, not a run-walker!! Today was a Run 12, Walk 5, Run 12. These split days have messed with me in the past, but I wasn't too worried, even though I was adding 4 minutes to my run today. What I was much more worried about was my left ankle holding up. It's super-sore, and I didn't give it as much attention yesterday as I should have. It especially hurts going up and down stairs, i.e., when it is extending out at an angle. Alas, I found out a week or so ago that I still have health insurance until the end of the month, so were it to break, I would go to the er and make Former Employer pay one more bill on my behalf.

It was also trash day, which meant two things. 1. I was up early enough to run this morning, while it was glorious out. 2. I had to run far, far away from my neighborhood, and I did, striking out on a whole new path. (Well, I ran through the post-apocalyptic neighborhood, then overlapped part of the path Husband and I took on our bikes last week. But, it was mostly new for running.) I decided to go out and back exactly the same way, instead of looping, so I could know where my finish line would be.

My ankle hurt bad, the entire run. Every step was painful, and I really directed most of my attention to keeping my ankle from shattering. Although I did get a bit of a stomach cramp, I breathed into it, and don't remember that lingering.

It's amazing to me how much the mind sets the body up for what it can do. 36 hours ago I set out to run 20 mins in 95 degree heat, and made it. This morning I set out to run 12 minutes in 77 degrees, and I checked the time 5 minutes in. I was already about to stop, physically. Granted my ankle was giving me a lot of grief, but really?!

When I got to the walk section, I walked about two and a half minutes and turned back - I got it timed out just about right so that my walk started and stopped at the same place! As I took off running back down the street, where there were no trees, something wet hit my head. Oh, lucky me, that had to be bird poop. I didn't want to reach up and touch it, because then it would also be on my hand, which of course was also holding electronics. Best to just let it fester up there like a barrette for now.

I couldn't stop thinking about the poop.

I wasn't checking the time all the way home, because I knew I should be within crawling distance of my house when I finished. And I was practically home now! As I was heading back through post-apocalypticaville, I was really hurting, and as there is never any traffic in this neighborhood, imagine my surprise when two cars arrived at the 4-way stop sign at the same time. The exact same time, which meant not only were they waiting to see what I was doing (or were they staring at the poop in my hair?), but they were debating which of them was going to go first. I stopped, cold, well back from the intersection, because the guy I would have to cross in front of was staring into the morning sun, and I thought it best to take a 10 second breather than burst in front of him. I may have been able to do the Douche, but I was afraid that running in place might aggravate my ankle.

Once the traffic jam cleared up, I headed up the block where I had one of my early defeats, on a split day like today (run 4, walk 5, run 4, walk 5). Right as I thought about the fact I was crossing the spot where I had quit before, and was headed uphill, one of my all time favorite songs came on the mp3. Well, there's no stopping me now. Although, it is worth mentioning that I was thinking about people dying from running when I quit at that spot, and, oh yeah, the song? "Dead Flowers." (The Poison version, I NEED the Gilby Clarke album on my mp3, though, because his version is my fave.)

As I made my way onto my block, I noted that had I run all 29 minutes, I should have covered 5K. Of course, I'm not there yet, but I'm getting closer, and hopefully will be soon. Ideally, I would be there in 11 days when my program wraps up, but I don't see it happening quite that soon.

I didn't make it quite all the way back to my house - I was on my street, though. When I sat down to enter my distances, I ran 1.63K (1.01m) the first 12 minutes, and 1.59K (.99m) the second 12 minutes. Pretty close, and the difference would have been so much closer if I hadn't had to wait for traffic! I also had quite an elevation profile today - it was a bunch of small hills, but it was up and down, up and down, all the way across the screen. I knew it was hilly, but I didn't realize just how much - go me!!

I most certainly had to ice my left ankle when I got in - both inside and outside of my ankle is sore, almost more on the outside. My right ankle is slightly tweaked, but barely noticeable. I put some It's All Good on them yesterday - that stuff is amazing!

Well, in two days I'll go for an inconceivable 24 minutes! I'm almost done (just 11 more days)! And in spite of having to re-do a significant amount of days, it seems like it has gone really quickly! (It has actually been 87 days since I started this absurdity!) I'm going to have to put pen to paper and start working on my own personal 5K-10K program in the next few days!

Weather: 72, Sunny, No Wind, 87% Humidity, Feels Like 77
Time: 8am; Run 12, Walk 5, Run 12
Distance: 3.68K (2.29m)
Elevation: +95.5/-97.2/net -1.6 ft
5K/10K: 40:23/1:25:22 (Day 54/55 and 59 were essentially the same - both being second only to Day 57)

Run Time: 24 mins
Distance: 3.22K (2m)
5K/10K: 38:37/1:21:37 (About 6th best for just run..out of about 22 times)

P.S. I didn't see any poop in my hair when I got home.

Day 57: I Definitely Didn't Run Alone

All day I debated what was too hot to run. Other people run in hotter weather all the time, and it's not like I'm out of shape, so I should be ok. Of course, I don't always turn great times when it's hotter, and I really need to hit my 20 minute goal today, since I missed it two days ago (by quite a lot), and so that I can move on with my somewhat vigorous end of the program. (Another week without two days off in a row means there's no wiggle room on the days I run.) All day the heat index sat at 100, so, I sat around and chugged water all day in case I lost all the common sense I was born with..

As evening set in, I checked the temp and it was still 100. OK, this is going to have to happen right at dusk, so I got dressed with a white shirt with some reflective on it. I checked sunset time. I checked the hour-by-hour forecast. On 2 sites. Balls, the only time the heat index is going to be below 85 is between 11pm and 7am. Well, I remember a time when I had common sense.

I started out running and breathing very well. I could tell I was running fast, but it felt right, so I kept a pretty good pace throughout.

I started running east, and there were some huge fluffy clouds on the horizon that were pink - the kind that look like mountains the way they peek out between buildings. I could hardly wait to turn down the main road and see the sunset.

For the first time in several weeks I was running without my sunglasses. I missed them almost immediately as there were 10,000,000 people out. Note to self: if your options are to run when it's 100 in the middle of the day or 95 in the evening, choose the one with fewer people!! Previous post completely disregarded, running around people SUCKS! I said hello to people as I passed, but I had my David Bowie up so loud, I have no idea if they replied. I know one guy must have said something pretty frakking funny, though, or at least his cow of a girlfriend thought so. Hey, douchebags, see the headphones, they aren't USUALLY in for show. I can't hear you! Nor do I need 'tips' from people who waddle along weighing more than my car. Enough of that. I didn't want to put that down, but it's going to drive me nuts not knowing what was said.

The rest of my run was virtually people-free, thank all things holy. I was now running toward the sunset, listening to Johnny Cash, and still doing great.

When I got to the end of the main road, I was going to turn down a block and run back the way I have been lately. I finally realized why the uphill seems so much worse on that street, than if I just stay on the main road - it's that lovely downhill block that I run down to get to that street that throws the inclines off. Yay that it wasn't all in my head, boo that it took me like 2 weeks to figure it out.

Regardless, there was a traffic jam at the intersection, so I just turned and ran up my original hated hill. I tried to take it slow, but by the time I was to the top, my breathing was shot. I was now running down the side street I used to love to run down, although I'm not sure why, because I so often failed on this street. Don't think about it. Just try to get to the end. Speaking of the end, not quite a block onto this street, I checked the time and I had 9 minutes left. Oh, now I know I have been running too fast, and I was somewhat concerned that I was going to get back to the house too quickly, if I made it back at all. Pace slowed dramatically.

At the end of this short side street is where I turn toward the infamous Rapist Corridor. I really wanted to run it, because I thought that would time out my run better, and I wouldn't have the dramatic uphill I was facing if I stayed on the street back to my house. But it was full on dusk and I didn't have the energy to outrun a dog, meth head, or rapist, so I tackled the hill. Slow, look at the 'scenery,' not the hill..

The payoff, of course, was the dramatic downhill on the other side. Nice and slow, past the angel statue, why does it smell like tea here? I actually had my breath back by the time I got to the bottom of the hill. Well, I had my breath, but my stomach/abs were just on FIRE. I mean, I had been breathing into it for awhile, but it was just burning like nothing I've experienced before.

As I prepped to go back uphill, I saw a runner coming toward me. A runner. Full on running. This, I believe, was the first runner I had seen in this town while running myself. How very exciting (for me). It also confirmed that since the only time I've seen another runner has been on the hottest run, that it is not my fault that I don't have the common sense I was born with. It's running. It makes you abnormally insane.

So mid-way up this hill, I can either re-run part of my route, or turn down my street. I still had 3 minutes left, but I turned down my street, because I didn't think I could take the rest of that hill. At this point, I was about to collapse. I kept setting a goal a little bit closer to where I stood, a technique that always results in me failing my time. I was full on mouth-breathing, so my throat was on fire, my stomach was on fire. I made it to the alley at the other end of my block, then turned back for the house (hello again, neighbors), and ended in our alley.

I stumbled into the backyard, dizzy, nauseous, burning from mouth to waist, and crawled up the steps. I bumbled in to the couch and curled up, fetal. Well, this is a first. I was moderately concerned I would never get off the couch. I wanted to get up, but there was no hope of it. When my heart and breath returned to normal, and I had somewhat cooled off, I stood up, and apparently my left ankle is broken. It hadn't been bothering me and didn't hurt while I was running, so this was a shock, but I managed to get to an ice pack. It was very sore all night, and as I write this the next morning. Lovely. I was also quite dizzy the rest of the night, but that seems to be okay today.

When I finally made it to the laptop, I was quite pleased with my time and distance. Since it was all run, it makes sense that it was my best overall time. Plus, my times were below 40/1:30, which was my goal from all of one week ago. Wonder what my goal should be for next Tuesday!? I've had better times on my "just runs," but this is about average, plus it was for twenty minutes!!!! Completely absurd. I'm going to have to come up with a better celebratory move than the "Fetal Position Move," if I'm going to keep rocking these runs.

Weather: 85, Dusk, No Wind, 72% Humidity, Feels Like 95
Time: 8:30pm; Run 20 mins
Distance: 2.71K (1.68m)
Elevation: +72.1/-72.1/net 0 ft
5K/10K: 38:46/1:21:56

Day 57: But first this interview

We had a blissfully cool night last night as world record amounts of rain fell yesterday afternoon, so I slept upstairs, where I tend to be woken up earlier, and thus am able to run before it gets too hot. Plan: Failed. I rolled out of bed later than ever, headache already achieved. I stepped outside to blistering temperatures, and confirmed on the net that it feels like 87 out there. I have made it a recent personal rule to not run if it feels higher than 85. I am hoping to be able to get my run in tonight - I haven't done that in awhile, but it used to be my favorite, so we'll see if the weather and my headache cooperates.

In the meantime, I have become addicted to The Kathleen Show, an internet talk show, which I mentioned last month when she interviewed the ultramarathoner Scott Jurek. Today I saw she has posted a short interview with a guy who lost 150 pounds after becoming a runner. And his first run? Well, it's way funnier to hear him tell it.

At the end of the interview, he provides a quote from Runner's World - he said it was from 2 years ago, but I found it in a Feb 2010 Runner's World online...so...not sure it's origins but the article I found was written by Marc Parent, so I'll give him unofficial credit for it. I'm not sure that this is helpful to those of us who are already superconscious when they run, but I liked it anyway:

No one is an island. No one runs in a vacuum. There's always someone watching you leave the house, dig it out, come back, and do it all over again. You're being watched by a roommate, a brother, a spouse, the driver of every passing car. You're being watched by future generations. "My grandmother ran in college," someone might say of you one day. "My great uncle took it up in his 30s and ran marathons in his 60s." We are all inexorably entwined within each other's influence. You may run by yourself but no matter how early you start, no matter how remote your location, you never run alone.

Damn that makes me want to go out in 90 degree heat with a headache and go for 20 minutes.

Day 54/55: Fumbling to the Finish Line

Today I woke up at 8:45 and the sun was shining - excellent, hopefully it's not too hot. Then, I woke up at 10-something. I don't know the precise time because I almost stroked out when I saw how late it was. So I got up, and went outside, and it wasn't too hot. Checked the weather online, and it seemed safe to run - 80s, low chance of rain for most of the day. By the time I actually got ready for my run, it was 11, and I was worried about church traffic, as I run past approximately 72 churches on any given route I take. Yesterday I was supposed to Run 20, Walk 5, and my next run is Tuesday and it's a Run 20 (no walk). Since I haven't devoted a lot of worry to the ending walk time, I'm going for a Run 20, and whatever else it takes to get back to my house.

I didn't get started the precise second my time started, because I was trying to reset the mp3 to random, and I was fumbly. The story of my run. When I started, my knees felt really stiff. Usually that works itself out quickly, so off I went. I got winded while still on the same block as our house, not a good sign.

I headed toward the churches, which were eerily quiet. Maybe everyone's out running, listening to Nirvana on a Sunday morning? Maybe I slept through Sunday and it's actually Monday? I had a bit more water than I normally do before a run, because I didn't get enough yesterday and it was so late when I woke up, I was terribly thirsty. Probably a good thing, because it felt much hotter than the Google said. Luckily, I apparently didn't get my hair in a secure pony tail and it was falling down. Despite the fact I whacked off several inches of it before vacation, I still have thick, long hair, that I don't need stuck to my face while I'm running. But since I insist on carrying stuff in my hands, my only options were to stop to put it back up or leave it down. Down it went.

I was on the main road and some hillbilly in a giant dirty pickup, undoubtedly with a pair of balls dangling off the back of it, stopped beside me and honked. Generally, when honking occurs, I don't even look. It's either not directed at me, or it is, and either way, I don't intend to acknowledge it. But this guy was right next to me. I had earphones and sunglasses on and I never stopped running. He yelled and asked if I knew where some street was. I did not, so I made a face of non-recognition, kinda shook my head, and kept going. I pictured him being annoyed with my non verbal response, bordering on ignoring him. Then I became annoyed - who asks someone who is running, with headphones on, for directions? Well, I suppose seeing that I am clearly an awesome runner, I should know every street in town. Then I became mildly concerned he would be circling around looking for the street, and I thought I should stay on the main road today, just in case he was as big of a creeper as he seemed.

Unfortunately, the main road was full of traffic and creepers today. When I got to the end, I went down the block to the street I've been running lately. It seems like it is a much more significant long uphill than the main road, but I tell myself it's gotta be in my head, and I've been doing pretty well with it lately. I tried looking around at the houses today. My legs were so tired. I tried breathing into them. I started thinking about the fact I was adding two minutes to my previous run. At the 15th minute, I started walking. I kept telling myself to run, but I was completely winded and exhausted. I tried counting sidewalk squares. I got to something like 50 (about 100 steps), and I ran again. I think I ran about a block, then I walked half a block. Ran half a block. Had to stop for traffic to get back on my street. I was mad, and I was going home. I was walking down my block when I realized there was less than a minute to go and I wanted to round out the 20 at my house. So I ran about another half a block to have the alarm go off right at my house. Turns out, I'm not walking 5.

I'm highly disappointed. I essentially ran 15 mins, and there was no way I'd be able to track how far I "just ran" today. I've had almost a full month without failing a day...this sucks. When I got inside our gate, I put my hands on my knees and stayed that way until the feeling of blacking out passed. If nothing else, at least I beat the storm clouds back, which I was definitely keeping an eye on while running.

I sat down and mapped my route and times and it turns out I have a new best race predictor time. I thought I was running SO slow today. And I walked a good chunk. What?! Well, Tuesday brings a chance for redemption. And a chance to run in a hurricane, or tropical depression, or whatever it's called once it's crossed half the country and is still dumping buckets of rain.

Weather: 77 (or 82, depending where you look - I think 82 was correct), Partly Cloudy, Breezy at 5 mph, 80% Humidity, Feels Like 86
Time: 11am; Run 20
Distance: 2.61K (1.62m)
Elevation: +57.1/-57.1/net 0 ft
5K/10K: 40:22/1:25:20

Day 54: Uh Oh

Saturday...Not my best day for getting up early, but I was up at 8:30 (officially, this IS early), heading straight for the back door to check the weather. (Usually I head straight for the computer, but since it's 10,000 degrees, we have had to move our sleeping quarters downstairs, and I no longer pass the computer on the way to the door.) It was hot. Straight to the computer for confirmation. Yes, it feels like 91. Ick. I haven't flipped back to see if I have run in the 90s, but I don't want to do it. The last couple have been plenty miserable in the 80s.

Instead, Husband and I once again attempted a bicycle ride. These are huge productions for us. After our last attempt, Husband decided he needed a new seat, so today he had to figure out to get the new one, closely resembling a couch cushion, onto his bike. We made it nowhere near our goal, but we did make it two miles.

Later, we tried to go to the Y. I didn't want to deal with a treadmill, but I wanted to run. Lucky for the side of me that didn't want to deal, our worthless excuse for a gym was already closed. I have nothing whatsoever good to say about the place.

So I'll go back to something about my Hollywood runs. I briefly mentioned that we saw NCIS LA being shot while we were there. We don't watch the show. I have chosen to have a beef with LL Cool J, solely based on how he behaved on a radio show I listen to. He's a D-ouche.

Anyway, one of the scenes was being shot in front of us, and LL ran up the street right next to us, into the shot in front of us. I couldn't see the scene being shot, so I was looking in the direction he came from. He wasn't there, then he was. I don't know where he came from, but there was a black Challenger parked right next to us. I've never even heard of a Challenger before, but it looked pretty bad-ass, so I thought maybe it was his character's and he had gotten out of it. Afterwards we saw a black Challenger a couple of times in Hollywood - could have been a different one, or maybe it had nothing to do with LL.

Regardless, on my 2nd run in LA, I was crossing a street while running down Hollywood, and the Challenger was once again spotted - it was the first car waiting for the light where I was crossing. I had my gigantic sunglasses on, and I tried to casually look to see if it was LL, but by this point I was certain it couldn't be. Plus I was more interested in the car, so I really didn't see the driver.

Yesterday, Husband told me he had been talking to his dad, who does watch NCIS LA and all he wanted to know was if we got to see the Challenger. So it was his car! Damn, does he just drive it around town? I threatened to yell "Get these balls" (his incessant threat? directed at the radio host, Ellis) at the shooting if I saw him, but it happened so fast, I didn't....Did I have another opportunity and missed out?! Man, getting to harass LL would've felt A-MAZ-ING.

One other thing about LA, and how people, other than LL, there are so awesome. When I was on my first run, one of the dog walkers I encountered turned off the sidewalk into a Mercedes-filled driveway. I assumed it was her place, until I went past and realized she had simply gotten herself and her dog out of my path. Wait, so not only did I not get mauled, but manners were demonstrated? I don't understand how people can hate LA, I just don't. (Although, I get close to understanding when I watch Dr. 90210.)

Back to this week...I'm going to try to straighten out my schedule and get all my runs in because by the end of next week, I'm supposed to be running 25 minutes. And the end of the next week is when my "race" is scheduled on the training plan. I believe I'll follow Miss Netherlands example and route out a 5K and see how long it takes me to run it that day. (In other words, by the end of the next week, I'll be running 40-45 minutes, lol! I believe it's supposed to be 30ish, but it's just not looking that way yet!) Then I'll have to come up with my own time increases as I build to a 10K distance. We have some heinous weather set to hit and sit for the next few days, but, hey, I have nothing to do but wait for a break in it.

Till I actually run again...

Day 52: I want to run...run so far away...

1. I did not do yoga yesterday. I did work on a business plan for my studio that I can no longer afford.
2. It's trash day and I'm running before pickup, so I have to run out of my neighborhood.
3. Sure it's July in the south. The question is, why am I going for a run to cool off? (The answer: My 100+ year old house is so close to catching on fire, it already feels like it is on fire.)
4. I think I'm addicted to sunscreen.
5. I did not really feel like running today. I wanted to, but I did not feel well, sleep much, eat much yesterday, or get enough water yesterday. I wanted to eat, drink, and go back to bed. And by drink, I mean pina coladas. (Which smell like sunscreen.)

Bah. I was so out of it today I had to use the calculator on my phone to set the alarm on my phone. I wonder why I can't get an accounting job...what's 36+18=? BAH. Yes, it was a Run 18, Walk 5. I took off, with a full-on devil may care attitude today. I took the mp3 off random and put it on the Cage The Elephant cd, and cranked it. I headed for the post-apocalypitcal neighborhood, conquered that hill, ran to a different busy street than I usually run down, was about halfway through my run, so I started heading back. "Ain't No Rest For The Wicked" came on, and I sang along for a block or so. How I've found the breath to do this escapes me, but man that is a perfect song.

"Oh, there ain't no rest for the wicked, Money don't grow on trees. We got bills to pay, We got mouths to feed, There ain't nothing in this world for free. I know we can't slow down, We can't hold back, Though you know, we wish we could. No there ain't no rest for the wicked, Until we close our eyes for good."

Got to the intersection with my normal busy street, but still had plenty of time, so I decided to run downtown. Why people think a runner in a crosswalk at a 4-way is any different than a fat-ass pokey mfer with 19 kids in tow escapes me, but I came ---> <----- this close to punching a guy's car as he pulled past me. Probably, had I not been holding the mp3 in one hand, and the phone in the other, I'd be blogging from the jail or the hospital right now. Apparently the happy endorphin rush is blocked up somewhere by all the sunblock I lathered on.

But I ran on, raging. I ran between the two vacant building I want to open a yoga studio in, and I raged some more. I ran and ran and ran. I pegged the next corner as my finish line, and then I ran some more. I had run around in such an odd loop I was about to come up on my traditional finish line, but finally my alarm went off. I almost passed out. Not kidding. I did the thing I used to do where I consciously remind myself of how to call 911 if I go down, but it was so severe, I just told myself to push 2, which is Husband's speed dial (he hadn't left for work yet). I KNEW I shouldn't have run today.

Bet you never thought you'd meet a girl like me. ;) You can run all night and day but that song'll be stuck. You can't get away.

Weather: Hot as Balls. 80, Sunny, No Wind, 80% Humidity, Feels like 85.
Time: 7:30am; Run 18, Walk 4
Distance: 2.7K (1.68m) (I was sure I had run a whole 5K today)
Elevation: +32.5/-31.2/net 1.3 ft
5K/10K: 42:48/1:30:29 (2nd only to kansas)

Run Time: 18 mins
Distance: 2.29K (1.42m)
5K/10K: 41:51/1:28:27

I can't wait until I'm just running because I'm sick of keeping track of the run times, yet I can't get away. From it. Now that the race time predictors are so close, I've lost interest.

Day 50: Get These Hills

OK, if I can run hills in Hollywood, I can run them here. I can and I will.

First, I have to find out what a runner is supposed to do in regards to safety precautions in inclement weather. So far, our severe weather has been pretty contained - storms in the afternoon, or storms in the morning - easy to plan around. I had been thinking I should read up on what to do when a storm comes up, since my runs are getting longer, but I hadn't done it. And maybe the storms aren't worse, I just got spoiled by 11 days of perfect weather and forgot the ferocity of a midwest thunderstorm just that quickly, but man they've come up fast and furious since we've been back.

So it was just overcast when I woke up, even though Husband said the car had to swim to work this morning. I checked the weather, and it was cool for now, despite having slept in, and the chance of rain was low for now. I started stretching, and it was raining... I sat back down to the computer and tried to figure out what to do. Basically the only usable info I found in a quick search was to make sure the area wasn't under any warnings when you set out. We weren't. So I finished stretching (it had stopped raining already anyway). I left my mp3 (even though it was nicely charged today), because I was worried about a sudden shower, and set out.

I decided, probably unwisely, to conquer my hills right away. It was another Run 17, Walk 5, so I was literally starting right on the stretch of road I've avoided like the plague, still leaving a massive amount of time to run afterwards. I took the hills as slowly as possible, and they didn't seem too bad. I think I've finally figured out that rushing to finish a sucky part doesn't make it suck less...it still has to be completed, and it's just worse if I do it too fast. I also decided to look at the scenery beside me, instead of the hill in front of me while I went up it. Life lessons found in running? Definitely better than the last time I tackled them...

I rounded the corner at the top of the second hill, and guess what? I found the one singular thing MO has in common with LA...construction workers. They're, um, friendly no matter where you go. :/

I ran past the main street, then turned on the street I ran up yesterday. There was a crazy amount of mud and storm debris on the sidewalks that I was having to maneuver around. Not sure if I was just looking down too much, or the humidity, or all the leaping and sidestepping, but I was getting totally wiped out. I thought I had been running super slow, but my legs (thighs) actually hurt, and I was worried about making it today. It's just so much easier to run somewhere you WANT to be..

I turned to get back on the main street. I was feeling a little nauseous, and I really just wanted this to end. I was almost hoping for a hobbling injury to make it stop. Around the 12th minute, I stopped and walked across the side street. I ran again as soon as I got across the street, and plugged on. Again, going faster wasn't going to make it end any sooner, so I just kept bobbing and weaving tree limbs until the alarm finally went off.

It didn't rain while I was out, but I did get drips off of the trees, since it was plenty breezy. That was refreshing, because I was cooking. Also, I couldn't help but note that there is no need to run with water in the summer in MO, because you have to drink the air anyway (thanks, Miss Erin), and you stay plenty hydrated that way..

Walked home and iced the left ankle, although it feels pretty good, and a little on the left knee because it's a wee sore today.

Yay for a rest day tomorrow - my back tells me I am desperate for a nice long yoga session. Then, it's on to to a Run 18, Walk 5. I'm almost to the point where the "walks" drop off altogether. Even though I'm still only running [slowly] 17 minutes, I can't believe how far I've come. First, I couldn't do two minutes the first day and second, I'm pretty sure the longest I have EVER run before this was 11 minutes. Yay for me.

Weather: 73, Mostly Cloudy, Breezy 16 mph, 88% Humidity
Time: 11am; Run 17, Walk 5
Distance: 2.64K (1.64m)
Elevation: +119.5/-114.5/net 5 ft (!!)
5K/10K: 43:52/1:32:43 (not bad - especially given the hills and the uber-slow pace - I'm getting greedy, though, and want it under 40/1:30)

Run Time: 17 mins
Distance: 2.2K (1.37m)
5K/10K: 41:16/1:27:14

Day 49: Did Day 47 Get Confiscated in Arizona?

That's right, I skipped Day 47. Here are the details:

Day 45 was the 8/5/8/5.
Day 47 was Run 16, Walk 5.
Days 49 and 50 are Run 17, Walk 5.

Saturday (Day 47) was the last day of vacation - we traveled on Friday from the Grand Canyon (which is Pacific time this time of year) to the middle of kansas (Central time). We were on the move from about 6am (Pacific) to 3:30 am (Central). We stayed right off of I-70, and it didn't seem like there were streets nearby. I definitely did not want to run close to 70, and there was not a workout room. We slept in to all of 9:30am, drove to KC (should have taken 4 hours, took 7), went to a concert which ended at 11:30, then drove the 2 and a half hours home (with a gas and fast food stop, arriving about 2:30am)...So, I didn't run on Saturday. I thought about running Sunday, and besides the fact I didn't want to, this is one of the weeks where I don't have Monday off, so that would have made 3 run days in a row. Also, it's hotter than hell here, and it was storming like nothing I've ever seen/heard Sunday morning when it would have been cooler.

So, I woke up BRIGHT and early today, Monday, Day 49. I was reaching in the fridge for a Mountain Dew when I realized I needed to run first. I checked the forecast and it looked like this was the best time to miss storms, so I decided to see if I could make it the 17 minutes. If not, at least Day 47's 16, then go for 17 tomorrow, then be on track. This screwing around never works out for me, but whatever.

My run started out with some Timberlake, which is always enjoyable, but may have started me off too fast. It was quite hot, and I was panting pretty early. I was also having cramps high, all the way across my stomach in addition to side cramps. I did my best to breathe into it, but I didn't have a lot of breath to spare! I checked the time at about the 8 minute mark and was sure I was screwed. I pressed on, checking the time constantly. I was slightly worried that both the mp3 and my phone would die on me, since neither had been charged since I had been back. Amazingly, they both held out, as did I!

I had taken a slightly different route than normal, which resulted in me running past the house about 3 times (depending how you count "past"), one time singing along to "Ice Ice Baby" out loud, arm pumping like a total and complete lunatic. I still ran down the main street, but I went all the way to the end, then over a block, instead of coming back on the same street. Back past the house, then up the street behind us a couple of blocks, which is the way I normally have started my runs.

I iced my left ankle today, and hope it's ready for another exciting day tomorrow.

Weather: 80, Sunny, No Wind, 79% Humidity, Feels like 83
Time: 7am; Run 17, Walk 5
Distance: 2.75K (1.71m)
Elevation: +64.7/-64.7/net 0 ft
5K/10K: 41:58/1:28:43 (Second only to kansas! I knew I was wiped out, but I didn't realize I had pushed it that hard - I definitely didn't mean to!)

Run Time: 17 mins
Distance: 2.34K (1.45m)
5K/10K: 38:36/1:21:37 (not as impressive - just in the middle of the pack!)

Day 45: Beneath That Old Hollywood Sign

Last day in California, and I can't wait to get out of the hotel room for one last journey around town in my running shoes. Today is a Run 8, Walk 5, Run 8, Walk 5. After the steady increases of the last week, I almost said screw it and made it a Run 16, Walk 5, to make keeping track of everything easier. Instead, I loaded up my pen (and other gear), set my alarms, and set out into the warm California sun!

Since I decided on the 8/5/8/5, I knew today would be a breeze. I can do 8 minutes in my sleep now. So I took off quite arrogantly, running a bit for speed today.

I followed a similar route as before, taking Highland toward Hollywood - missed the light at Franklin, so I turned east and went down Las Palmas. There was construction of some sort going on, so I had to cross Las Palmas, which kind of disrupted my run, but not too much. I made it to Hollywood Blvd....it was about an hour later than my previous run, and what a difference that hour makes.

Quite a few people to dodge this morning, including the guy power washing the Walk of Fame (now known as the Run of Fame, fyi). The sidewalk around the Run of Fame isn't concrete - it's something slick, so I thoroughly enjoyed trying not to crack my skull on Carl Reiner's star.

I knew I was getting close to the end of my first 8 minutes, so I was charging ahead, trying to meet my alarm at Cahuenga. It hadn't gone off, so I looked at the time, disbelievingly, and sure enough, I had run the 8 minutes. I looked at the alarms, and ugh...I had used my phone for the alarm clock to get up this morning and apparently "Alarm 1" was still turned OFF from when I turned it off originally, even though I had reset the time. So I ran a wee more than 8 minutes, but I got the alarm reset, and the street written on my hand, didn't slip on the wet pavement, and took off again just past Whitley.

I started to feel particularly old when I was noticing how young and pretty the bums are here. Only in Hollywood, people, only in Hollywood.

I wasn't sure where I was headed, and I definitely regret having not run down to Sunset, instead of criss-crossing Hollywood, but that's how it went. I ran all the way down to the actual entrance of the Kodak Theatre, then turned back and ran up the west side of Highland. I was completely tapped out. It felt significantly hotter today than it had been, and I was pushing entirely too hard. When I got to the stoplight by the Methodist Church, it was red on my side, and I didn't think I had enough time to get across Highland. I was about to die. I flat out stopped and waited for the light to change. I couldn't have done the Super Douche if I had to. If I hadn't had to wait for the light, I don't know if I would've made it. (Which makes me think city runners are kinda cheats.)

Anyway, I didn't have to wait long, and I started walking across, but took off pretty quickly. I almost got plowed over by a guy running the other direction in a Hard Rock Cafe polo (like a uniform), pulling a suitcase on wheels. Odd. My alarm went off pretty quickly, as I was running past the church parking lot. I walked up to Franklin, my last stoplight before the hotel, and had to run across Highland to get the light. I walked the rest of the way, and ended at about 4 minutes of walk time.

My left ankle hurt pretty badly, so I wrapped it up before heading to the car for a long, uber-hot drive through the desert to the Grand Canyon.

Weather: 73 (felt way warmer; weird), Light Breezes, Not a Cloud Anywhere, 58% Humidity
Time: 7:30am; Run 8, Walk 5, Run 8, Walk 4
Distance: 3.03K (1.88m)
Elevation: +29.5/-41.4/net -12 ft
5K/10K: 42:57/1:30:47 (Second only to kansas times)

Run Time: 16 minutes
Distance: 2.31K (1.44m)
5K/10K: 36:51/1:17:53 (Best, not counting Original Day 40, which was a mess)

Day 43: California Gurl!!

Let me start by stating I 100% loathe Katy Perry. But damn her songs get stuck in your head. Especially a song about my favorite state, when I'm in the state, and it's being played 24-7.

Moving on, I have literally been dreaming about today, Tuesday, July 13 (and not just because we were originally planning to crash the "Inception" premiere at Grauman's). Granted, the dream only started a few weeks ago (short term dreams are quite rewarding), but nonetheless, getting to run in LA was too exciting for me to handle. I had mapped 1000 different routes in my head, so I could run past some of my favorite places. We don't exactly relax on our vacations so I had been worried about fitting a run into our schedule, and also how tired and sore I would be already. But, the day had arrived, and I could hardly wait to get out there. My feet were sore, but when I peeked out at the clear blue California sky, I felt no pain. I did feel like I needed a fanny pack for my gear. After all, I needed my ID, room key, credit card (in case I needed a cab), a pen (for fear I wouldn't be able to remember the streets), phone, camera (because who knows who I would see - NCIS LA was filming yesterday!)....I had wisely decided to leave the mp3 behind, because traffic has to be listened for here, and decided to leave the camera (after all, I did have my phone's camera if a real emergency broke out). Plus, this would make me look even less touristy...

Our hotel was on Highland, which intersects with Hollywood Blvd (and Sunset) and runs parallel to Vine. If Hollywood and Highland sounds familiar, it's because that's where the Kodak Theatre, home of the Academy Awards, sits. Our hotel was about halfway between the Kodak and the Hollywood Bowl. I can't overstate my love for LA. We were in the Hollywood Hills, and I wanted to run up, through the residential area, but I was concerned about a lack of sidewalks, the narrow, winding streets, but mostly the Hills themselves.

I decided to run toward Hollywood Blvd, which was also downhill. Today was a repeat of the last run: Run 15, Walk 5, so I took it nice and slow. It was only 6:30, so there weren't many people out, but plenty of traffic. The first stoplight I came to was red, and despite being in LA, I wasn't interested in doing the Super Douche, because I knew this light could take awhile. So, I turned down Franklin, a residential street. And holy moly, a hilly street. Well, there's no avoiding it. I start up the hill, and I'm feeling pretty good. How could you not, running past a Mercedes in every driveway, fountains in every building's entrance, flowers everywhere?!

There was a girl headed my way. She started smiling almost as soon as she spotted me, so I assumed she was just smiling on her own, not at me, because I only encounter sheer rudeness when I run at home, after all. Oh no, as I got closer, she was ready to have a full on conversation. She wished she had enough energy to get out and workout, but she just wanted to eat (she was tiny, of course). I told her that I run purely so that I CAN eat, which amused her, but I couldn't quite make out her reply, as I was panting my way up the hill still.

I turned on Whitley and just loved, loved, loved running past all the high rises and dog walkers and feeling as local as I may ever feel in LA. Up to Hollywood and the Walk of Fame! Yeah! Running with (on) the stars! And there were like NO people!! YES!!! We were on Hollywood the day before, and I did see people running amongst the crowds, but I don't know how they could stand it. I was ecstatic running down Hollywood, back toward the Kodak. The Star's Homes Tour Guides weren't harassing me with their brochures, the shopkeepers were polite as they opened up, it was sheer local gloriousness.

I planned to finish my run here, where it's flat, then spend my 5 minute walk trudging back uphill to the hotel. I started pushing it to make it to Highland, hopefully right when my alarm went off, so I would have an easy coordinate to end my run time with. As I sprinted ahead, and rounded the corner on Highland, I suddenly realized I was only at 10 minutes, not 15. If I had my head out of the stars, I would have kept running down Hollywood, past the front of the Kodak and Grauman's Theatre. Too late now, I'm headed uphill (past the TV Superman "Daily Planet" building), 5 minutes to go.

I passed the famous Hollywood United Methodist Church, with their great banner "Hate is not a Christian Value" and made it back to Franklin, but once again missed the light. So I turned down Franklin again, which, at least, was flat here. I was impressed with how well I was handling the 15 minute run, and I only had to go down one block to Las Palmas before the timer went off. I turned around and walked back to the hotel, which turned out to be just about 5 minutes, with a brief wait at the light at Franklin.

I loved it! I actually LOVED running the hills, which shocked me, but I think I could definitely get used to running THESE hills. I was red-faced, but today I think it was because we made an unplanned stop at the Santa Monica Pier yesterday, so I was without sunblock and the California sun is relentless, what with the utter lack of clouds in the sky! My left ankle hurts, but it was totally worth every second.

Weather: 76 (didn't feel even close to this warm), SUNNY!, no wind, 54% Humidity (100% PERFECT, AS ALWAYS!!)
Time: 6:30am; Run 15, Walk 5
Distance: 2.28K (1.41m)
Elevation: +68.5/-79.6/net -11.1 ft
5K/10K: 46:43/1:38:44

Run Time: 15 mins
Distance: 1.94K (1.2m)
5K/10K: 41:43/1:28:10

Here's a map of the run route today.

One last note: Sunday, we were at Sequoia National Park. We were on one of the main, paved hiking trails through the park, when we came up on a couple girls, stopped in the path. One of them put her finger to her mouth and then mouthed, "bear." You have got to be flat out shitting me. There was a freaking brown bear not 30 feet away from us. They are as cute in the wild as I always knew they would be, so I was a mess, torn between total excitement that this was happening and total and utter fear about what was about to go down. There was another guy ahead of the girls, and 2 more guys came up behind us. We all stood there, in disbelief, snapping pictures, not sure what we were supposed to do. (Shouldn't there have been signs at the visitor's center!? I freaking know you aren't supposed to FEED them, but what do you do BESIDES not feed them!?) All I could think was thank goodness I have been training. I may have a purse and flipflops, but I guarantee I can outrun a couple of these people. S/he finally wandered back into the woods, and we walked on, only to come up on a black bear just down the path. Most amazing thing ever!!

Day 40, II: The Treadmill

Ah yes, who doesn't wake up at 6am on the 2nd full day of vacation to run? Oh, sane people, got it.

I got up, didn't wait my proper half hour before stretching, and went down to the hotel's fitness room. Thankfully, I was the only one in there. I say that mostly because it took me well over 5 minutes to figure out how to work the stupid treadmill. I've only been on a treadmill a few times, walking exclusively, and I've only been on one type of treadmill. This one, of course, was not that type.

I was supposed to run 15, walk 5. I read all the instructions on the archaic treadmill, and tried to set up my profile and time properly. It took many tries. I finally had it setup (I think) and took off. I had no idea what speed to put it on and, as I predicted, running in place felt nothing like real running, so I couldn't even gauge how "fast" I was going. I started off running almost on my toes, but kept upping the speed until I settled into a normalish running stance.

I couldn't figure out how to change the screen to see the distance I was going, so I left it on a countdown of the time for the whole run. I was afraid I may mess up the time if I even tried to screw with it. I did enjoy having minutes AND seconds to watch countdown for a change.

Pretty shortly an older woman came in and got on the other treadmill. They were set on an angle, so I could see her screen. She had her pace set higher than mine and she was WALKING. SEE!! I hate running!! I don't get the point of it!!! Of course, I freaking upped my pace immediately. I felt like I was going pretty slow the whole time, but I also knew 15 minutes was quite a leap in the plan from the 13 I just did [yesterday]. I also had no idea what the elevation would do for me, if anything, being inside.

I was concerned about further messing around with my schedule, and doing two runs in a row, but these two days were spent entirely sitting in the car, so I think not only was it a good idea to get back on track, but it was darn near a requirement to survive the long sit in the car. Oh, and if I skipped today, I would be doing the run in the desert tomorrow, somewhere between Vegas and Sequoia National Park. Ouch.

The 15 minutes flew by and I felt fine, not breathing nearly as hard as normal. Thankfully the treadmill automatically gave me a 5 minute timer to cooldown, so I didn't have to mess with setting the timer again. I figured out how to check the distance shortly into my cooldown, so I have an approximate distance for the run, and the run/walk. By the time I was finished, I wasn't nearly as red-faced as usual, but I was just as dizzy (I think that had more to do with the treadmill - they make me terribly dizzy), and my left ankle hurt. Argh, didn't I just get over this with my right ankle!?

So I did the 15 minutes, but I wasn't nearly as excited as yesterday, because it just felt like I cheated my way through it. Treadmills...bah. Compared to the first attempt, I should be glad I ran a full 9 minutes longer today, regardless of the pace. *Shakes head sadly at the first try.*

One other little note: I'm pleased to report my car sickness regimen of peppermint oil, wheat saltines, and gingins worked like a charm yesterday as we crossed the Rockies.

Time: 6:30am; Run 15, Walk 5
Weather: Indoors
Distance: 1.8K (1.12m)
Elevation: Oh, you know I set it as 100% FLAT!! (Maybe this is why it seemed so easy?!)
5K/10K: 1:00:18/2:07:27 (ouch, 2nd worst ever!)

Run Time: 15 mins
Distance: 1.58K (.98m)
5K/10K: 52:04/1:50:03

Oh, and now that I am home posting these, I have my stats spreadsheet and see that yesterday's 5K/10K times were the best I've had (for the full run/walk). Yep, kansas is the perfect state for running, gazing at the stars, and otherwise, avoiding like the plague.

Day 38/39, II: Waking Up In kansas

Per my schedule, I was supposed to run yesterday, but in getting ready for vacation, I didn't get to it. So in the interest of completely screwing up my training plan, I decided to run Friday morning. We were in the middle of nowhere, so I literally pulled up google maps first to make sure there were streets to run on around our old school motel in Phillipsburg, KS. Then, I walked outside, into the most blinding sunlight I have ever witnessed (when the room door opened, it was like the end of Lost), to look for sidewalks, as we were right on a highway. At first I didn't see any, but when I actually went to run, I did spot one across the highway. So, after some discussion about where I was going with Husband, I made sure he knew what clothes I was wearing in case I disappeared, then set out for my Run 13, Walk 5. My original try resulted in 9 minutes of running.

I hit the sidewalk, then connected the dots and realized I was actually on a golf cart path. So, it didn't last long, then I was running in grass. I was headed for "downtown," and at least the streets were letters and numbers so it was easy to keep track of. I was doing pretty well, in spite of an ongoing uphill. I was running on a brick street, which was pretty cool. At the 7th minute, I turned around and headed back the way I came. I actually shared a hello with the one person I came in direct contact with.

I was panting along, and hotter than I thought, but I was pretty sure I was going to make it. I didn't take my mp3 since I was worried about my surroundings, so I entertained myself by concentrating on the idea that I was running OUT of Kansas. Which got me thinking about the athletes from kansas, and how it was a pretty easy run, relatively flat, easy to breathe, no people, little traffic, only 2 dogs, basically nothing but tornado-manicured lawns...I'd probably be a stellar athlete, too.

I finished exactly where I started, which, if I'm thinking straight, means I ran faster in the second half. It WAS all downhill...Anyway, I walked a bit past the motel, but only ended up with 3 minutes of walking.

Against my better common sense, I'm going to try out running tomorrow to get back on my proper schedule. The goal is 15 minutes and I'm at 5000 ft elevation. And I'm going to try to run for the first time, ever, on a treadmill. We'll see how that goes and I'll try to let you know...maybe from Vegas, but probably from Cali!

Weather: 70, Sunny, No wind, 75% Humidity
Time: 8:30am, Run 13, Walk 3
Distance: 2.07K (1.29m)
Elevation: +75.6/-71.7/net +3.9 ft
5K/10K: 41:29/1:27:41

Run Time: 13 mins
Distance: 1.82K (1.13m)
5K/10K: 38:44/1:21:52

P.S. The side-bar section, "Stats" won't be updated until I get home...left the file on the other laptop.

P.P.S. I can't believe I ran 13 minutes today!!!

Day 36, II: Meh.

Today I got a super creepertastic feeling as I was getting ready, so I decided to go a different route than I've been running day after day. I took a route that I ran back in the early days of this madness - the post-apocalyptic neighborhood set in the middle of really nice old houses, where I usually don't see a soul. I debated if I was having a creeper feeling if I should go a route where there wasn't much traffic, but I did anyway.

Since knowing where my finish line is going to be is so key for me, I mapped a route before I left. I tried this, too, back in the early days, and it didn't work out so hot for me. The difference is now I have actual data to be able to figure out the distance I can expect to run. Since today was the same as yesterday, Walk 5, Run 11, Walk 5, and I planned to go nice and slow again, I figured out where the finish was on a nice big loop and set off.

One of the reasons I have avoided this side of my neighborhood is that it is hilly and I am not interested. I was hoping my 5 minute warm up would get me up the biggest hill, but it barely got me started up it, so I opened with a pretty decent hill that was a large block long. Sooo...I was winded by the time I got to the top. And I was still running AWAY from my finish line.

I had a couple creeper moments, so I was glad I left the route up on the laptop at home. You know, for the cops to find me. However, everyone turned out to be less of a creeper than they appeared, and I trekked on. Two of them were picking up trash in the road. I daresay they were picking up the fireworks trash that I complained about yesterday.

I was definitely having a hard time today. I was running slow, I thought, but it just seemed like way farther than I could ever run. I had a long straight shot to the busy road I always run on, so I could see it, getting farther and farther away with every step I took. :/ I checked the time in the 6th minute and knew I was toast. Speaking of toast, I had a few handfuls of cereal and a splash of water before I left. My stomach is still killing me. And speaking of my stomach...when I was almost to that busy road, I thought I was going to puke. Not like normal, I ran too hard, or drank too much water, but, uh oh, I have a flu and I'm about to puke on a busy road. As soon as I thought it, I really was toast and had to start walking.

It was in the 8th minute, so I walked about 110 feet, which was farther than I wanted to, but I was in bad shape. When I actually made it to the busy road, I took off again. I knew my finish line should be my street, but I fell about a block short of it. So I walked home, knowing my times would suck. I finished, more or less, but I wasn't happy with it. Overall, I actually finished just a smidge better than yesterday, but my just run time was worse. And both paled to the first Day 36, where I killed it.

Tomorrow is a rest, and Thursday is a walk 5, run 13, walk 5. My first go-around was a catastrophe, resulting in about 9 minutes of running. I'm pretty sure I'll get my Thursday run in, but I'm not sure what will happen for the next week, as I head back to my homeland-from-another-life! If I do get to run while on vaca, I'll try to post a mini- mini- blog.

One last thing - I almost filled my mp3 last night with music Husband brought home for me. Yay!

Weather: 79, Mostly Cloudy, No Wind, 88% Humidity, Feels like 84
Time: 9am; Walk 5, Run 11, Walk 5
Distance: 2.39K (1.48m)
Elevation: Unavailable
5K/10K: 46:37/1:38:32

Run Time: 11 mins
Distance: 1.46K (.91m)
5K/10K: 41:35/1:27:53

Hey! Who's clever enough to get me in the 10K for free!?

The RNBNBBQ10K Sponsors are having a contest:

Ultramax and The Starting Block present Columbia’s first annual Thanksgiving Day Run. The event will be focused on charity. Each charity will have their own application. The more entries each charity gets on their behalf the bigger the individual contribution. We need a really cool name....Come up with a name and receive a $100 gift certificate to The Starting Block or an entry to an Ultramax Event.

All I can think of is the Thanksgiving episode of WKRP and somehow I don't think:

As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly charity race

or

First Annual Turkey Drop Charity Race

are going to get me a free entry.

Suggestions?

P.S. I do promise I will be ready to run in the Thanksgiving race, and I will have a t-shirt that reads "Oh the humanity!" As a vegetarian at Thanksgiving, running, which I hate, I think it suits the situation perfectly.

Day 35, II: Week 5: Completed!!!

Last night I went to bed with a stomach ache. I took a peppermint oil pill and I think that may have made it worse, actually. Anyway, I wasn't moving very quick this morning, as I was tired and my stomach still hurt. I decided to eat half of a Snickers protein bar that I bought for the 18 mile bike ride Saturday, and didn't need...That was about 150 cals and peanut buttery, so I had a splash of water before I left, too. My stomach felt cramped just walking out of the house. It was hot, and I did not have terribly high hopes for finishing my walk 5, run 11, walk 5, which I turned in a blistering 8 minutes on the first attempt.

There was crap everywhere this morning - I loathe states that have legal fireworks. Anyway, I didn't waste a lot of energy watching for snakes, because there was just too much garbage everywhere. Shame, Shame. It had rained at some point, too, so there were slugs and whatnots out. It's supposed to rain more, but it was clear when I was ready to run.

I did somewhat enjoy running the flag lined street this morning. It's the main route to the park where the professional fireworks are set off, so that was kind of cool. Although I assume no one's coming to get them and they'll just be more trash to leap over soon. When we went to the park, a ton of people were out BBQing and (grr) setting off fireworks - I actually got to see all the people who probably see me every other day! I was surprised at how few people were out today. Since the holiday fell on a Sunday and a lot of people had today as their holiday, I expected more. I am getting worried because creeper half naked people no longer scare me. I just keep going.

I keep saying it, but I really, really, really tried to run slow today. I mean, absurdly slow. I was really shuffling along. I try to think about how my stride feels at the end of a run, when I have nothing left, and start out that way. Today I did pretty well keeping a slow pace throughout, even when a Sly and the Family Stone song came on. So, I kept my breathing in check for a bit longer than normal, but I was getting pretty tired about halfway through. At one point, I breathed into the side cramp, and that seemed to help, but overall, I just felt stiff and crampy. I'm still working on that stance where I keep my head back; it really seems to help. I'm also trying to keep my face less cinched up in pain - wasted energy!

I thought I knew where I would be finishing, and I wasn't sure I'd make it. When I got there, I still had another minute, so I kept going. It took another block, back at our street, but I finished.

I ran super-slow, and my distance/race predictors show it, but I finished. I didn't almost finish, I didn't have to stop in the middle, I did it. I'm pretty proud of myself today. I briefly told myself I was running for fun, but it was not fun today. A sane person wouldn't run with a stomach ache like this. I mostly told myself that I wasn't going to fail, over and over and over again.

Tomorrow is not a rest day. :( However, I completed Day 36 the first time. It's another Walk 5, Run 11, Walk 5, so we'll see what happens!

Weather: 82, Sunny, No Wind, 67% Humidity, Feels like 85
Time: 11am; Walk 5, Run 11, Walk 5
Distance: 2.38K (1.48m)
Elevation: +32.2/-29.2/net +3 ft
5K/10K: 46:50/1:38:59

Run Time: 11 mins
Distance: 1.51K (.94m)
5K/10K: 40:06/1:24:45

Day 33, II: What? Am I doing a triathlon next week?!

Husband and I had plans to go bike riding on the Katy Trail today, so I wanted to get my run in early, as one of the distances discussed was 18 miles. And I haven't ridden a bike in something like 18 years. Of course, I didn't get up quite as early as I hoped..today I went with absolutely nothing food or drink-wise in my system.

I was going for a Walk 5, Run 10, Walk 5, which I failed the first time, but only by a minute. My butt still hurts when I run, but my legs are pretty much recovered from my massive 10K walk Tuesday.

I was really digging my new music today, and I was breathing pretty well, then I got carried away. "When the Saints Go Marching In" came on and I was jamming along, grinning like a loon, and probably going waay to fast.

When I turned the corner at the end of my loop, I made it up the slight hill, going super super slow, but I had to stop and walk about a block up from the turnaround. It was the end of the 7th minute, and I wasn't done. I only walked about 20 feet, then I took off again. I just needed enough to catch my breath a bit.

I was almost positive where I would be ending (our street), but I went just past it, and up that slight hill before the alarm went off. When I got home, I had a pretty severe right side cramp. I don't know how to stop these bad boys.

I knew I was running slow today, but I thought that the section I was flying listening to "Saints" would've made up for it. Meh, my times weren't great, but I more or less finished it.

Time: 10am; Walk 5, Run 10, Walk 5
Weather: 76, Sunny, No wind, 51% Humidity
Distance: 2.35K (1.46m)
Elevation: +31.7/-32.7/net -1 ft
5K/10K: 45:13/1:35:34

Run Time: 10 mins
Distance: 1.42K (.88m)
5K/10K: 38:57/1:22:20

When I got home, we loaded up our bikes and headed for the Katy. Husband bought his bike a couple years ago and it wasn't assembled right and he wiped out in our alley and never rode it again. He got it fixed-ish, but hasn't taken it out. I got my old bike from the Parents awhile back, finally got it tuned up, but then took forever to get my helmet. As I am a wee lacking in the balance department, I wanted a helmet. I finally got one (which I hate), but still haven't gotten the courage to ride. Against better common sense, I wore shorts, fearing the gravel I'd be picking out of my flesh later. (And *I* would be doing it, because my health insurance ran out yesterday. God Bless The USA on this Birthday Weekend. <-- Sarcasm Font. Argh.)

So we make it to the trail, and I hop on (literally - have I shrunk since I was 15?!) and we tentatively head off. Huh, you really don't ever forget how. I was going at a fairly decent speed and couldn't believe how good it felt. We have an exercise bike I ride a lot, but don't really love. But I was moving right along, really, really digging the ride. I finally stopped to check on Husband, and he was having issues. He determined he needs a new seat, and I'll leave out the rest of the story. So he's still not really ridden his bike - we made it about a mile on the trail, total.

While we were riding back to the car, side by side, he said there was a giant black snake on his side that he had to dodge. Thankfully, I didn't see it. I was worried (duh) about them being out today. Maybe if I had worn pants it would be ok, because I'm not above plowing one over, so long as part of it doesn't fly up and hit my bare legs. Ugh.

Shortly after that incident, I almost wiped out in the grass beside the trail. I would've died for sure, because I probably would have landed on a pile of snakes and ticks. I got it together and took off for the car. A friend of mine who rides motorcycles tried to convince me once that it is a sensation like you're flying. I only rode once, but I didn't feel much like I was flying; I felt mostly like my life was flashing before my eyes. Anyway, today, I got a little bit of the sensation (of course it's gonna be less impressive on a bicycle) while I was coasting along.

So I survived the bike ride (I think yoga has helped on the balance front), turns out I love my helmet, got Husband a new [giant padded] seat, picked up the new Eminem cd, and headed for home.

Monday I go for a Walk 5, Run 11, Walk 5. A little worried about the weather forecast, but I'll get it in somehow.

Day 32, II: "Variety alone gives joy."

I hijacked husband's laptop today and put some more music on the mp3. This is a serious challenge for me. I'm so technology-challenged.

New Music:
Best of Bowie
The Very Best of The Who
The Best of Billie Holiday
Sly & The Family Stone Greatest Hits
Poison's Greatest Hits 1986-1996
New Orleans Brass
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Passion Pit
Vampire Weekend
The Strokes
Cage The Elephant
The Gaslight Anthem

I think that's all. I'm convinced most of it is on their twice. Luckily, I'll never have the patience to fill up the whole thing, so let it be on there twice, argh. I tried to get the Essential Weird Al on, but a screen full of error messages leads me to believe it didn't actually make it. Sigh.

I was about to do some yoga, when Husband asked for some help with his work. Since it IS a Friday night/Holiday weekend, of course, I was eager to help with the w-word. So, it's a rest day. Tomorrow I tackle the big walk 5, run 10, walk 5, which I failed in the first go-round. I fear what else tomorrow may hold, even more than the running portion of the day...

Day 31, II: Happy Birthday, Carl Lewis

It took some psyching up to get out there today. Mostly because I am still SO SORE from Tuesday!! I still can't walk, stand up, or really feel my legs (it literally hurts to just lay in bed)! And I think I'm going to go out without a cloud in the sky in JULY and run 6, walk 5, run 6, walk 5?! Sensing the utter bummsies from not working out for awhile, and being shamed by Husband who is working out 3 times a day, I dug some clothes out of the hamper (again; yes, I'm foul) and got to stretching. Which hurt, but in a good way. I probably should have sucked it up and done some yoga yesterday.

Off I go. A lot of people out today. Ick.

Since I just took off running, I had a bit of adrenaline, I suppose, and I didn't immediately think about my shredded leg muscles. By the time I got about a block, I was thinking about them. Especially my right leg, and up to and including my butt. Nothing working over there. I seemed to be breathing tolerably well, and I had an idea where this would be ending, so I trudged on.

Mid-way through the first run "Ding-Dong The Witch Is Dead" came on my [freshly charged] mp3. (I did mention I took a bunch of music off of Husband's computer, right?!) I couldn't help but be amused, because I'm sure that's what more than a few people were singing when I left my last job, the departure of which was the final push to get me running.

The last block was a bit painful, from an exhaustion standpoint. It was significantly hotter than I expected, and these people had opened their car door to let it "cool off." So the door was open, blocking half the sidewalk, and it felt like the inner ring of hell blowing out of the car door as I ran by. Then, I ended up running another half block before the timer went off. I was thirsty. I wasn't expecting that, either, because I should be plenty hydrated and it's not that hot out.

The walking was uneventful, other than being painful in the muscles.

Run time again. I was running with my head way back, which I had found helpful awhile back, but found uncomfortable as a posture. It was clicking today, though.

I thought I saw a snake, and I took a leap around it, to realize it was just bark. I really, really, hate the outdoors, and the country. Do city runners have to dodge pieces of bark?? I mean, the people in the suburbs who get attacked by mountain lions and coyotes and whatnots, they aren't dodging bark!! Ugh.

Well, my initial walk took me much further than I expected, so I wasn't sure where I was going to wrap up. I was concerned I'd have to mount a slight incline just past the street we live on, and when I got there, I still had a lot of time, so I just turned down our street. I passed the house, and turned onto the side street I walk up frequently. I was coming up on a significant hill, but was sure my uber-slow pace would have me time out before I got there. I kept telling myself in this second run, just put one foot in front of the other, one in front of the other. Which is fine, but I was also nearly having to tell myself "and push forward," because I was all but running in place I was so slowly moving along. And, again, my breathing felt ok-ish, but OF COURSE my legs aren't working. I can only imagine what would've happened if my legs and my lungs could ever be on the same team! Regardless, the timer did not go off, and I had to start up the hill. Thankfully not too far, and as soon as that alarm went off I turned back. I only walked about 3 minutes home, but I was bordering on delirious: dizzy, tired, sore, hot, thirsty, so I didn't try to stretch it out.

Speaking of dizzy...I've been prepping for our drive to LA, which means out of this world car sickness while crossing the Rockies, twice. I had all but decided to get Dramamine, but after reading up on it (I've mentioned I hate meds, right?), I decided it was simply out of the question. I started looking for herbal remedies, and of course, ginger and peppermint came up. I really didn't know what caused motion sickness, but apparently it has to do with the signals the brain is getting - it feels like your body isn't moving, but seeing stuff whizzing past indicates that you are moving, and voila, you're pukey. So...I'm wondering if I get motion sickness when I run!? I tell myself I am moving along, but the eyes are indicating that I'm not really going anywhere. Perhaps a GinGin will be in order before my next run. (Sadly, no, that's not a double Gin, it's a candy.)

My ankles and knees still feel pretty good, so as of posting this, I'm not icing anything. Again, if only everything would align.

I'm pretty happy with my times and distances today. My "just run" distance is the farthest I have had since I've been tracking just the run portion. It was also the lowest "just run" 5K/10K time predictor, if you throw out Day 40, which was just all over the place. I didn't go quite as far in the 2nd run - in the original Day 31, both runs were exactly the same. I should, ideally, be running farther in the second run.

On the original Day 31, I walked the full 5 minutes at the end, so I can't compare the totals head-to-head, but this was the 2nd best overall 5K/10K predictor behind only Day 40, which, again, was a mess. (Although that overall time should be closer to accurate than the just run time for Day 40.)

All that being said, I did try to just run for fun today. Even though it wasn't a whole lot of fun, it must have worked. Phoebe-Power will have to be amped up in two days though for the Walk 5, Run 10, Walk 5.

Time: 2:30pm; Run 6, Walk 5, Run 6, Walk 3
Weather: 82, Sunny, Windy 12 mph, 42% Humidity
Distance: 2.43K (1.51m)
Elevation: +44.7/-45.4/net -.8 ft
5K/10K: 43:36/1:32:11

Run time: 12 mins
Distance: 1.76K (1.09m)
5K/10K: 37:04/1:18:21