Misc

There was no running last night. I was very responsible last night at the meeting. I had one glass of wine, followed by lots of water. And, I had one small slice of pizza, instead of 3 larger ones (which I really wanted)! Weight Watchers has been going well for me these days, so I wasn't going to completely blow it. I was all ready to run, but when I pulled into my driveway, I had company. Not just the in-laws. but the hubby's aunt and uncle too. Bummer. And to top it off, my boyfriend wasn't on tv last night, so I don't even have the DVR-ed show to look forward to this weekend. I did manage to finish my two case studies, so that's something.

I'll give running another try this afternoon (weather permitting).

In the meantime, just a few running items I've been meaning to mention here. It seems I keep getting sidetracked by other, more pressing items (like this).

• Cassie bought up the topic of accelerade in her blog. Here's my .02....I tried the blue, pre-mixed version that you can find with all the other sports drinks at your local Krogers. The 1st time I tasted it, it just tasted too strong to me. But, as I was running, it didn't seem too bad. (Could be due to the fact that it was hot and anything would have tasted good.) However, I did notice a couple of things. First, it left a weird residue on my teeth. Second, it got really foamy (almost like beer). What I didn't know is that Accelerade also comes in a powdered form. I may either try this and add more water, or just water down the pre-mixed stuff. Or, I may just stick to my lemonade-flavored Gatorade. One thing worth noting is that, per the website, Accelerade is "the first and only protein-enhanced sports drink containing carbohydrate and protein in a patented 4:1 ratio."

• I've resorted to wearing only my running skirts on my long runs these days. I love the gym girl skirt from Skirt Sports! It has nice compression shorts underneath, so I don't have to worry about my shorts riding up. Trust me, I don't want to waste any energy constantly tugging at my shorts...I need all my energy for the run!



• Finally, I am in dire need of a new fuel belt! Mine is really old and looking pretty sad the days. I love it, because it has a real buckle instead of velco like the newer ones. And it has more pockets for stashing stuff like gu, salted pumpkin seeds and a cell phone (yes, I carry one if I am doing a long run alone!). So, I've been looking around and have decided on this one. Now, if I can just get my butt into the store to get it!
  
• This one looks interesting though....

So, that's it for now. Hopefully, next time I post, I will have lots running and maybe even some biking to talk about.

Have a great weekend!

Waaaahhhh!

First of all, I wasn't completely sure I would get in a LR on Sunday. The hubby really wanted to go fishing on Saturday and somehow managed to not go (I think he just hates getting up early!). He said he was going to go on Sunday, but I had a sneaking suspicion that he would decide to sleep in again.

Good thing I know my dear hubby so well! I quietly set out all my running gear Saturday night and set my alarm clock for 5:45 a.m. Sure enough! When my alarm clock went off, the house was dark and quiet and the hubby was still asleep. I tried to wake him and asked him if he was going fishing. He mumbled something about going later and that I should get in my run. :-) Woohooo! Mostly I was happy...but I do have to admit that a part of me wanted him to be loading his truck with fishing gear so I'd have an excuse to sleep in.

I made it to the park by 6:30, stretched and set out on my run. I was determined to make it to Montrose and back via Allen Parkway. Going out of the park and back long should have made the run close to 10 miles. However, things didn't quite happen as planned. About 1 1/2 miles into my run, I began to feel something familiar...a feeling that I had almost forgotten about...but not quite.

A stinkin' blister.

*&%$#*&

Yep, my brand new Aggie maroon and white shoes were rubbing a blister on the arch of my left foot. I've experienced this before...it was when I was wearing my 3rd or 4th pair of Brook's Ariel. I had been wearing the most recent pair for about 2 months when they decided to start giving me a blister on both arches. The worst part...it was during the 20K! My first 20K, when training for my 1st marathon, at mile 6. Just goes to show that you just never know what can happen on race day. In fact, that was the reason I switched to my Saucony's. I just remember the pain! I remember running the final 9 miles while trying to keep the blisters from rubbing. I was trying to overcompensate for the blisters by shifting my weight to the outsides of my feet, so that area hurt like heck too! Since that day (almost 5 years later), I have carried a blister block pad with me in my fuel belt (thank you for the recommendation Coach Felix!). Unfortunately, I did not wear the fuel belt on Sunday.

So, I tried adjusting my laces, adjusting my socks, etc. to see if it would alleviate some of the rubbing. Nope. Then I ran a little further and then tried to adjust everything again. Then, I just stood there. Me, standing there. At Crestwood and Memorial Dr. Just standing there, trying to decide if I should continue or go back. I continued. I made it all the way to Waugh before I had decided I finally had enough. I turned around feeling mad and defeated. Damn blisters.

But hey, I ran a little further than last week. I still haven't decided what to do about the shoes. I may try switching out the insoles. If anyone has any recommendations, I'd be happy and grateful!

What's new?

So it's been over a week since I last posted a "real" post. So sorry, life has been crazy! Here's an update...beware, it's very long!

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Lucky Trail Challenge
First things first. The SeabrookLucky Trail Marathon and 1/2 Marathons were great!

I drove to Seabrook Saturday morning for day one of the challenge - the 1/2 marathon. First, I met Kay along the way so we could follow each other and hopefully not get too lost. Lucky for us, it was easy to find. We made our way to the parking lot and walked to the pavilion where we collected our interesting looking chips (which looked like little square card we began calling our "bingo cards") and just hung out until the start of the race. We forgot about the early time change and realized that it might be a bit dark when we 1st started running. We also ran into Coach Gaye, Patti and Abbie from Houston Fit. Also, I finally got to meet Sarah!!! When they announce that the race was starting, we headed to the start. There was moment of silence, the singing of the national anthem and we were off.

Kay and I decided to stick together. Since we were both running again the next morning, we decided to just take it nice and slow. We said we would do 12 minute miles the entire way, but actually ended up at a 11:24 pace. As soon as we started running, we realized we had no clue where we were going. No worries though, there were lots of nice volunteers to point us in the right direction. There were not only mile markers, but trivia questions along the way. Hey, anything to keep my mind off the running! The course consisted of 2 loops on a Memorial-like trail. There were also a few out and back parts, so you got to see some areas twice on each loop. There were a few places were the course was a bit muddy from the rain earlier in the week, but again no worries....it was manageable. Somewhere along the way, I saw JD and his wife Jaclyn. By the end of my 1st loop, I was feeling the bonk. Definitely caused by my lack of training since Austin, thanks to my crazy school schedule due to the previous weekend's mid-term. Luckily, I managed to finish the 2nd loop and collect my cool St. Patty's Day bling! Also, I got to wear my cute black and smooch running skirt, which I LOVE! I may have been tired, but the skirt was comfy and looked cute! By the way, the post-race party was fantastic! There were hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, red beans and rice, chips, fruit, live music, massages, etc. Awesome!

Loop 1 - 1:13:31, Loop 2 - 1:16:01, Total chip time - 2:29:33

Sunday, my alarm clock went of before 5 am and I seriously considered saying "screw it" and sleeping in. But, I knew I would kick myself later if I chose that option, so I dragged my tired ass out of bed and headed back to Seabrook. Kay and I met again and as I passed the Hawthorne Suites on Nasa Rd 1, I wished I had stayed there afterall. :-) After enjoying my new skirt the day before, I really wanted to wear my pink camo running skirt. However, when I put it on that morning I noticed something I didn't notice before....the shorts underneath are mighty sheer! In fact, my blue undies underneath were very visible. Hmmm...not sure what I will do about that. I opted to stick with my trusty black running shorts instead.

Sunday, there were quite a few more runners than the previous day. Kay was opting to run the full. My non-training-since-Austin butt was running the 1/2. We ran into Abbie, JD and Sarah again, and we were also joined by Abbie's Mom, Sandy, Rebecca and Diane. We all started the race together and pretty much ran the 1st couple of miles as a group, well except for JD who is quite the speed demon. The 1/2 and full marathon starts were staggered, so the trail was not too crowded and the course was a bit drier than the day before. This time the miles seem to pass faster...maybe because I actually knew where I was going. As we made our way by the bay on the 1st loop, I was happy to see girl scouts at the water stop with oranges and GIRL SCOUT COOKIES! Yum! Before I knew it, we had finished the 1st loop. By this time, Sarah and Abbie had run ahead. Kay, Rebecca and I were still together. However during the 2nd loop, we all began to seperate. Kay was feeling good and ran ahead. I continued with our 12 minute pace and Rebecca was not far behind me. I definitely had more energy than the previous day, but my legs were a tad sore which resulted in a slower pace than Saturday. I continued to feel good until about mile 12, were I opted to walk a bit longer than my 1-minute break. It was about that time I saw JD and Jaclyn. It's funny how you get a little boost of energy when you see people you know on a course...even when you don't know them very well. Seeing those two gave me the little surge I needed to run the remainder of the way in, finish my 2nd 1/2 and collect the bling and BIG bling. (By the way, JD managed a nice PR!) Next, Rebecca and I grabbed some grub and waited for Kay to finish her 3rd loop. I managed to squeeze in a massage during the wait...it was heavenly! Thank you Koala!!! For split second, I felt kind of guilty. Here I was chowing down and getting a massage while Kay was running all those miles....like I said, it was just a split second. :-) We cheered for Kay on her second loop and handed her a bag of ruffles. Kay did an awesome job and finished her full in 5:15.

Loop 1 - 1:18:29, Loop 2 - 1:20:13, Total chip time - 2:38:43

All in all, this was a great event. I'm not sure if I want to do the challenge again, but I will definitely be back for at least one of the two events again next year!

More updates to come tomorrow....

Running LOST

Last night, after the hubby headed to work and the kiddo was asleep, I hopped on the treadmill. Any excuse to watch LOST! I ran at a comfortable pace for 3 miles, then (just so I could catch the end of the show) walked for another 5 minutes. For some reason, that weird pain in my knee is lingering and seems to be worse than last week. It's not a horrible pain, but I can tell the knee is not a happy camper. It seems to be under the kneecap, which is a new to me. I've had the ITB issues and kneecap pain, but this is different. I took an anti-inflammatory this morning, so hopefully that will help.

I woke up early enough this morning to get in my Si6 workout and a little marketing reading. Yesterday was the 1st day I've missed in my Si6 workout in the 3 weeks I've been doing the program and I wanted to make sure I didn't miss again. However, the dog and kiddo had other plans. For some reason the dog was being whiney, which woke up the kiddo. Then, the kiddo wanted me to lay with her and well, she never went back to sleep. Maybe I'll better luck tonight....but, I still have a ton of reading for school, so we'll see!

Oh, I almost forgot...yesterday, I received an e-mail from the folks at Skirt Sports. They were having a sale!!! A good sale - 50% any skirt with their signature "Smooch" pink! So, I bought these:

I also bought a pink top that will match either skirt. I am so excited and can't wait to wear them! I wanted one in every color, but I figured I better make sure I like the way these fit and move before stocking up.

Workout Stats

Conditions - Treadmill

Total run time - 35 minutes, followed by 5 minutes walking

Total distance - 3 miles running, .35 walking

Pace - 11:40 running, 14:17 walking