My Next Thirty Years

Almost there

2007-11-24T07:50:00.000-06:00

Oh, yeah. I do have somewhere I can come and vent and no one will ever read it or have to listen to me whine! It's almost over! Thanksgiving visiting that is. One more day. I can do it.

Today it's off to look at wedding dresses with my sister, really can this weekend get any more fun? I think not!

Why?

2007-11-20T11:40:00.000-06:00

Why do I put such pressure on myself to blog regularly? I'm obviously not good at it, so why do I put pressure on myself? I think if I don't do it all the time, then I shouldn't do it at all. Why do I hold myself to these standards? I don't know why, but I'm giving myself permission to just do this when I have something to say. Now, that's not saying that I haven't had anything to say these past 11 months, it's just that I said I was going to do this more often and now I haven't, so I think that I can't. Anyway, that was a very interesting ramble for no one!

Well, I was hurt over the summer, I had one of those IT Band things, which was not fun and took way too long to heal. I went to see the PT a couple times and then he finally said why don't you just ice it to death and take three advils 2-3 times a day and see if that helps, and what do you know, it did. Note to self: do that sooner next time, probably in the spring as that seems to be when i hurt myself.

Anyway, I've kinda commited to doing the Chicago Marathon next fall with Holly, but now she's not running right now, so we'll see. It's probably not a great idea for me to take that on as I will be in school full time next fall and my sister's getting married and all next summer, it's more practical to do a spring marathon, I just need to decide on one and see if I can find room and board around the marathon desitnation since there are really no marathon's in Chicagoland area in the spring, probably because it's just too dang cold to train here in the winter, but I'm not affraid of the snow and ice and wind. I say that now, but it is going to be a different story when I actually have to do the running.

Anyway, that's all that's up for now.

It's been awhile

2007-01-06T22:47:00.000-06:00

Well, it's been too long. Happy New Year. I guess this will be part of my new years resolution, even though I normally don't make them. I would like to post a bit more often than I have been though.

Running has been good, my weekly miles are way down compared to training, but they will get back up there again soon. I've picked out a training plan to follow, so that should help. I'm just going to do Hal Higdons spring training schedule, just so I have something to follow, and that should get my miles back up and there is also so speed work included in there. I will hopefully also get back to the gym again soon to work on strength again, since this girl has not seen the inside of the gym since before the marathon.

I haven't totally decided on what my race schedule will look like this year yet. I don't think I'm going to do the marathon again this year though, but I will do the 1/2 in August. I'll do the shuffle in March too, but besides those two, I don't know what else yet.

School went really well last semester, I finished with three A's, which has all but never happened to me! I was really pleased with that. This semester starts in two weeks, which I am looking forward to.

The kids go back to school on Monday, it's been a nice break, seems long, but not in a bad way. They have been gone a lot. They spent the night at their cousin Patricks house and then a night at G's and right now they are at Pa and Gramma's til tomorrow. I would say they've had a good vacation. I am blessed so many people love them and want to spend time with them.

Well, there it is, my first official post of 2007, hopefully the next wouldn't take so long. Happy running!

Bronchitis

2006-11-10T19:26:00.000-06:00

So, I just found out that I ran the marathon with Bronchitis! Yep, I've been sick since a week before the marathon and my doctor told me today, that I have had bronchitis. I'm not the bronchitis type of person, I usually don't get it in my lungs, it's usually in my head and then settles in my ears. So, I wonder what my time would have been if I would have been healthy. Not that I'm not happy with my time, I am, but I just wonder.

Running has been going pretty good. I ran a couple 3's this week and a 4, and this sunday I think we are going to run 6 or so, we'll see.

Everything else is going pretty good. My foot doesn't hurt as much as it did before, but still acts up sometimes.

What's next?

2006-10-30T14:05:00.000-06:00

Okay, I've decided that I need another race on my calander to start trianing again, so I've picked the Rudolph Ramble 8k on December 10. A couple of my friends are doing it too, and my sister signed up for it as well. I sent her the Hal Higdon training plan and she started it and signed up for the race already, which I think is a little crazy, because it's December in Chicago people, there could be a huge snow storm that day, so I've opted to wait to sign up until right before the race. I can't wait to start running again!

Ouch!

2006-10-30T13:57:00.000-06:00

I am surprised! My legs were soooooo sore. The thing about stairs and not being able to go up and down them, totally true! I didn't think that was going to happen, I wasn't that sore after the 20's I did, so I figured as long as I recovered the same, I would be okay. Wrong!

Monday was okay, a little sore, but not bad. Monday evening was a little worse. By Tuesday I hurt. My quads, my hamstrings, my calfs, my back, my abs, everything hurt, I kinda felt like I got hit by a truck. I guess I'll take a couple more days off. Thursday seems a little far off for beginning again.

Then, something happened to my foot. I have pain on the bottom of my right foot along the outside. I figured I was just walking funny, so I strained it somehow, which really could still be the case, but the pain was the same all the way through Friday when I finally decided that it wasn't getting any better on it's own and I had to start icing it.

I iced it all weekend, and it does feel a little better today, but still sore. I was really affraid that I might have a stress fracture, but now I think it's just a strain of some sort. I really wanted to start running again on Monday, but I think I'm gonna wait until Wednesday.

I'm sure I've gained a couple pounds too since all I can think about is eating, and it ain't anything good! Oh well, it's time to get moving again.

I finished!!!!!

2006-10-24T07:34:00.000-05:00

Well, it's over. I've climbed that mountain and saw what was on the other side. What a great experience! My time was 4:26 something, I can't remember the seconds right now. I was shooting for 4:30, so I met my time and saved a bit off at the end. I have to say that I might have been able to do better if I wouldn't have been sick! I had a cold for the week before and felt just terrible on Saturday, but Sunday morning I woke up feeling better. I am so happy that it wasn't really raining or snowing at the start. I did learn that it is difficult to cough while running, it kinda hurts my abs.

I don't have a real good mile by mile race report, because honestly I don't remember the first three miles or so. After the start the next thing I knew it it was about 5 miles. I do remember thinking that it felt pretty easy. I was worried about my breathing, because of the cough and all. I remember my legs feeling tired and I was worried about that because of being sick, but once I took my gel I felt better.

I did see my cousin Laurie and Patrick at the start. They were holding a sign that said "Aunt Carrie", which I saw right away because there are not that many Carrie's spelled the same way. That was great. I also heard my husband yell for me, but I didn't see him. It was very exciting the first few miles, even though it's kind of a blur. I was messing with my watch because I mixed up the settings and it was beeping when it wasn't supposed to and not beeping when I wanted it too, so I just let it go and figured I might not have great split times, but I'll know the overall time as I go.

I took my first gel at 3 miles and then took gatorade or water at pretty much every water stop. I probably didn't need that much, but that's what I did for the 1/2, so that was my plan for the full, I think it worked out good. I then decided to take a gel at 3, 8, 13, and then the one they gave us at 18. I didn't take any more after that, even though my original plan was for another one around mile 23, which now that I'm looking back on it, it might have helped because that was right when I really began to feel it. Mentally though I just couldn't take another get, I didn't even stop to drink the last 4 miles or so, I was afraid to walk for fear that I wouldn't run again.

I heard from my cousin around mile 5 on my cell phone, she kinda told me where they would be, but I didn't see them again. The next few miles were my favorite of the race, what an awesome city! This was my biggest surprise of the day, how much I really enjoyed seeing the city like this. I love this city! Running through all the neighborhoods and seeing all the people, what a great experience!

After running on the north end of the city we came back into the downtown area and there were people everywhere still. It was great to run through the city like that again. I guess this was right around the half, which my time was something like 2:12 at the 1/2 and I thought to myself that that was slower than the 1/2 I ran in August, but okay, it's windy, I'm sick, it's cold and I'm supposed to be pacing myself a little and in the 1/2 I was all out by this time. So on I went.

We came into the south end of the race just after the 1/2. If I had one suggestion for the race directors it would probably be start south and go north, only because the spectators were not there as much south, but it could have been the weather and time it took me to get to that point. Anyway, there's not much to look at there either.

I was scheduled to meet up with my family in Chinatown, which is somewhere in mile 21. I had my cell phone, so I was calling them back and forth to let them know right when I was coming. It was awesome to see them there, I gave everyone a hug and also gave my husband my fleece that I had been wearing and took off again, I was a little scared to stand still too long for fear that I wouldn't be able to start again. Chinatown was very cool and we also ran through the mexican village, which was also very cool. After I left my family I turned a corner and there was the wind, and I wished I wouldn't have given my fleece to them. After about mile 23 it was all mental. My miles slowed down about 45 seconds and I didn't stop at any of the water stops the rest of the race, I just kept going.

I remember about mile 24 a lady stepped in next to me and we ran together for awhile, until the hill. Then I saw the 800 meter sign and then I knew what was next, the hill. I'm soooo glad I knew it was coming to help me prepare mentally that that was really the last thing I had to get through and then it would be time to see the finish line. We got close to the top of the hill and I saw 400 meter sign and then around the corner and there it was, the finish. I kept it together pretty well, just focused on the finish line and looked around a little at all the people. It was an awesome feeling to cross that finish line. I hit my watch and it said 4:26 something and I was happy with that.

They put the mylar blanket around me and I got my medal. I walked around a bit and got some water and gatorade and a banana. I then went over to get my picture taken and then headed out of the runners area to find my family.

I first found my husband and just collapsed on him. I tried to put my pants back on, and that was a funny site, I'm sure. I couldn't lift my legs they were so sore and stiff. After I finally got the pants put back on we made our way over to the R section so I could see the boy's and the rest. We got over there, and the boy's ran up and gave me a big hug and I was so excited to see them, i just want them to remember this, and maybe use this someday to know that they can do the hard things in life, just put yourself into it and do it (I sound like a commercial).

My friend Joe was there too and his family. Joe ran the marathon too, he finished in 3:04!!!! It was a PR for him, I was thrilled for him. We stood around and took pictures and I was FREEZING! It was so cold after you stopped running. My parents surprised me with a marathon jacket, which I've only really taken off to sleep since the marathon. I love it. Well, that's it, my race report. I'm sure I'll have other reflections coming along soon. This report itself took about a week to write, I've been kinda busy with school since this thing ended.

4:26:37, definitely a time I can live with!

I'm sick

2006-10-19T08:14:00.000-05:00

My body hurts, I'm super tired, my voice is funny, I'm coughing, this is what i get for having kids! I swear when I'm not looking they are licking every disgusting thing they can. I can picture it, as soon as I leave them at school they just start licking all the pencils and desktops they can and continue to do so until I pick them up. I'm glad it's not Sunday morning right now though, I've got a few days to feel better.

I do believe that the weather channel has taken out the precipitation for Sunday's forcast, or am I seeing things? I can run in the cold, I was concerned with running in the cold and the wet, but take out the wet and I'm good to go. I may even wear my shorts.

Things to Remember!!!!

2006-10-18T14:07:00.000-05:00

1. I can do ALL things through Christ who gives me strength!
2. Countless pre-dawn runs in the dark around and around and around my block!
3. If I can run in all that humidity all summer, I can run in the cold - no problem
4. 14, 17, 18, 20, 20!
5. I have given birth to two children! You don't get to quit when that's going on, I'm not quitting this either!
6. Blisters, Chaffing, Physical Therapy!
7. There will be pain, but it's temporary.
8. I am so blessed to live this life and to be given this opportunity!

I'm sure there's more, but that's a good start. I want to remember these things when I'm standing at the start line.

Out of commission!

2006-10-17T17:16:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm happy to say I have not been out of commission because of an injury or anything like that. There was a death though, my computer died. This is my new computer that is MUCH faster and prettier than my old computer. Anyway, I'm way behind on my posts.

The rest of training went pretty good. My last 20 kinda sucked, but I finished it and learned not to slack on preparedness. I think I thought, "oh, I've done this before and it was fine" well, not so much. But, lesson learned and I'm going to be better prepared all around for the marathon itself. Anyone else feel like we are not even training anymore for anything? It's kinda weird. I've been looking forward to the taper for awhile and now that it's here I want it to be over. I can't wait to get out there and run.

I'm trying to find the balance between getting all excited about the big day and staying calm as to not screw up the big day, you know what I mean? I've been watching the video's on Chicago marathon.com and that other one Running With the Gods just to get revved up, I was crying the other night watching them. My husband is being very supportive and encouraging about not freaking out.

I've decided I am not going to freak out about the weather. Yeah, the weather channel says it's going to be pretty crappy on Sunday, but it's only Tuesday, so we'll see. Even if it is going to be crappy, I can't do anything about it, it will just change my outfit a little, but I'll survive and not freak out. I'm sticking to not freaking out.

Alright, I've got to get back to the business of tapering, which means obsessively looking for more marathon people on the web to read about their plans and how their tapers are going. I should be using my time more wisely, but my mind is a little pre-occupied and I can't think real straight and I am a little unreachable by my friends and family, anyone else like this? It's a weird discovery about this marathon thing. I had to come home twice yesterday because I forgot things at home that I needed for my kids school and then I went to my own school and almost got to class before I remembered I forgot something at home AGAIN! A lot of back and forth yesterday, I can't think straight. I hope my brain returns after this thing.

It's been awhile

2006-09-25T16:13:00.000-05:00

Wow, I've been soooo busy, everytime I sit down to update my blog, something comes up and I can't get to it. School has been an adjustment, not that I didn't think it would be, but I'm trying to stay on top of everything and to stay ahead, so far so good. I'm not sure how I'm going to handle on more class, I think I might drop it, we'll see.

Now, on to running. I've been feeling good and looking forward to the taper. I was really looking forward to it a couple months ago, but all of a sudden I've fallen in love with the long runs and I think I'm really going to miss them when they are done. I did a 20 a couple weeks ago and I have my final 20 tomorrow. I don't feel as freaked out about it this time as I was last, I think because I have a little more confindence this time seeing I finished it last time. I've decided to go the gu route for this marathon, I was really debating whether to do gu or just gatorade for the marathon, I've decided to do a little of both. I had three gu's for the 20, one at 6, one at 11 ish and one at 18. I also had water and a little gatorade, it seemed to do the trick. I've been using the powergel from power bar, the double latte flavor, I like it. Hopefully this will work for the marathon. I might have one more at around mile 22 or 23 in the marathon.

I did 12 last week, which was good also. My left hip is bothering me a little, just sore, not injuried, another reason to look forward to the taper, hopefully I will heal a little, I think it's starting to take it's toll on my body. I'm kinda sore and stiff, I swear I stretch more than anyone I know and still here I sit sore and stiff. Oh well.

I am looking forward to the marathon, I'm not too nervous about it yet. I wouldn't look at the map again though, because that really freaked me out. I want this to be an experience that I will remember and not just something I've gotten through, so that is one of my prayers for the day, kinda like my wedding day, just enjoy as much as you can and don't worry about anything, because it's here and you can't do any more about it. I've put in the training. I need to believe in the schedule now that I've chosen to get me through.

Til next time, keep running everyone!

What I like about me!

2006-09-03T14:01:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I ran 18 miles today, I think it felt a whole lot longer than the 17 I did last week, but of course I had company last weekend and this weekend I had the company of everyone on the lake front path, nobody would talk to me today though, funny. My girls are running the Oak Forest Scenic 10 tomorrow, so no company for me. This will not be a suprise to most of you Chicagoans out there, but I started at Montrose Harbor and ran allllllllll the way past McCormick Place and back, wow that's far. It went pretty good though. Just one foot in front of the other and eventually (3:07:05) you will get there.

The thing I like about me is that I can run negative splits without much problem, I mean I know I run slow, but then I can still run faster at the end. The first 9 or so miles my average was probably around 10:30-10:40 and then the last 9 were somewhere around 10:05-10:15. I think that's pretty good. I hope I don't get a comment saying something like "You are so going to hurt yourself running like that" I would be bummed.

Okay, I've got to go to the store now, my husband invited the neighbors over for dinner tonight, because apparently running 18 miles today was not enough for me to do:) Later.

Look at what running has done to my life!

2006-09-01T14:26:00.000-05:00

Okay, now if you're a runner, and why would you be reading this blog if you're not? But, you will understand this, but I tell you what, all my non- runner friends will not understand these next three pictures. I could not explain this to people other than other people who's passion it is to run. I NEVER ate like this before I ran, I am not much of a vegetable person and I never ate salmon until I started to run, but I hope this is a habit I retain even after the marathon is over.
These next two pictures are the pictures of my lovely feet and the many blisters I've developed over the last few weeks especially. My feet don't look half bad compared to some of the feet I've see on other people's blogs, and I attribute that to my slow pace. I'm not breakin' any records here. At least I still have all my toe nails!

The one thing I wish I would have taken a picture of that I didn't is a picture of my alarm clock, which say's 4:30 am all the time. One last thing I should take a picture of is my clothing collection, which consists of shorts, dry-fit tops and running bras, they don't look too cute when your husband wants to take you out for dinner, if I can make it that late in the day! I have no cute shoes right now either, just running shoes and flip flops, because all my budgeted clothing money has to go towards new running gear! I do think my running shoes are cute, one pair is pink, but I'm gonna need some grown up shoes pretty soon.

I'm not really complaining here, although it sounds like it, I just look around and can't believe it's me living this life. I wouldn't change a thing though, because I love it! I can't explain it to anyone and pretty much everyone around me doesn't get it, but that's okay because I don't get it either!

Time to wrap this up and go change from my race t-shirt into my running gear because I've got to put in eight miles today. Later everyone, happy long run this weekend!

2006-08-27T11:01:00.000-05:00

I took Thursday and Friday off, and you know what? I felt much better when I woke up on Thursday and knew I didn't need to go out and run 4 miles before I did anything else. Just that little bit of knowledge made me feel better, which is a big sign that I did indeed need an extra day off. And you know what else? I'm gonna do it again if I feel I need to. I'm sure I'm gonna feel better once this weather changes a bit again, who know Chicago was so frickin humid in the summer? Not just once in a while, but pretty much all the time!!!!! There I go again. Calm down, soon it will be over and I'll be bitchin about the cold, such is life.

I ran on Saturday, and boy did that suck. I felt okay, but some lady stopped me to ask me directions at around mile 5.75 and that pretty much did me in. I forgot to start my watch back up, which messed with my head since I was not enjoying the run anyway, so I just did a little more and called it a day, oh well.

So, today was what was probably freaking me out the entire week . . . . . 17 miles! I did it! Holly ran with me for the first 10 and then I finished up by myself for the last 7. It went pretty good, considering it was 17 miles. Here's a first, walking after you run all that way, it was a bit difficult to do, I have not experienced that in the past, I thought maybe I was going to fall down. So I did a little shuffle thing until my walking muscles discovered they were needed again and then walked it out, it should be interesting after the marathon.

All right people, that's it for now. I hope everyone else had good runs today as well. Later

I need a little break

2006-08-23T08:11:00.000-05:00

Okay, I've decided I need tomorrow and Friday off. I just have't been feeling motivated to run and I feel like it's a chore right now, and that was one of my goals with doing this whole marathon thing, that I wouldn't hate running when it was over. My legs are tired and sore everyday since the 1/2, I don't want to run, I feel like I can't keep up, everything. I think school starting for my boys and myself this week is just adding to the stress of it all. I want to have this be a good experience, not a stressful one and I've found myself thinking this week that I just need to get through the next 9 weeks before the marathon and then I'll get back to normal. I need to take this one day at a time, but as I look out over all I have to do in the next couple months, I freak out a little, so one day at a time!

I'm tired of this eating thing too, always watching what I eat so that I can perform better, who do I think I am? I'm not going to win anything here people. So, sometimes I'm gonna have a beer and some ice cream, look out I'm living kinda dangerously now!

Alright, I'm done bitchin for now.

girlfriends

2006-08-20T12:35:00.000-05:00

There's 9 more miles in the bank! I was supposed to do 11, but my girls were only doing 9, so I just did what they did. Now I have all week to be freaked out about doing 17 next Sunday, yea!

The run this morning went fine, they set the pace today and we averaged a 9:50 for 9 miles, which is a bit fast for me, I like to be around 10:30 for my long runs, but this will soon be a mid week mileage for me, so I figured whatever, although to tell the truth I had a hard time keeping up today, I don't know what my problem was, mental probably.

I took an ice bath when I got home. Hopefully that will help with some of the soreness I've been experiencing lately. I didn't do one last week after my 1/2 and I know I could have used that. I feel like such an old lady when ever I get up from where ever I'm sitting. It takes like 5 or 6 steps to get to feeling like I can walk again.

I'll tell you what, girls talk about everything when they run. I know most men think we talk about everything all the time, but when you are running with umpteen miles to go, you get into some pretty interesting conversations. I'm glad I have these relationships. As a matter of fact I remember praying about this not too long ago, just that God would bring in new friendships to my life. I've known these girls for years, but again, when you run together then you really get to know them. So now we have conversations that are just between us and the deer :)

Later everyone! Have great runs!

Fantasy Football!

2006-08-19T09:25:00.000-05:00

This is not running related, but I signed up for my Fantasy Football team yesturday! I'm so excited, I LOVE football! I've actually rescheduled some of my Sunday runs when we have church in the morning, so I can veg on the couch all afternoon to watch FOOTBALL! Anyone else do the fantasy football thing? I AM SUCH A GEEK! There I said it before anyone else, because I know you were thinking it. Thats okay though, I'm comfortable with my geekness!

2006-08-19T09:14:00.000-05:00

Man, am I tired! My legs felt like crap the whole time out there today. It was humid, humid, humid! I walked back in the house and my husband asked me if it was raining, because I was so wet, yuck. My calf still hurts, although I know the off day yesturday helped a little.

I ran 6.70 miles in 1:08:06, pokey time. Oh well, I think the speed this week along with the speedy 1/2 marathon I ran last Sunday has everything to do with my sore calf muscle, so it's time to slow it down and let it heal.

I don't think I posted this before, but I am helping organize a fun walk/run 5k in my town. It's now only two weeks away. My little town used to do a 5k around Memorial Day weekend every year and then that faded away, so now we are trying to get this going on Labor Day weekend. So far there has been little support, but I know a lot of races start out this way and build from here. So, anyway I'm on my way to sit outside of my little Walgreens for a couple hours to stir up some more registrations and volunteers. This has been a fun experience for me, I really love all things running, except this morning when I hated myself running.

Tomorrow is supposed to be 11, but I'm doing 9 with my girls. I did two more miles during the week, so I'm shaving off two tomorrow, I know that's really not the point of the schedule, but I'm doing it anyway.

Happy running y'all!

I'm tired

2006-08-18T10:30:00.000-05:00

My legs are tired. My right leg is sore in the calf region, I look like an old lady hobbiling around, not very inspiring to the people around me who know I run and don't run themselves. I'm sure they are all like no thank you, look at her she can barely walk. I have had this before, I know it just needs to rest and it will feel better. I've been going too fast with little recovery, I'll slow down, I didn't even try to be faster it just keeps happening. I don't know my own speed!

I upped my mid week milage this week and am going to cut back my long run this weekend, mostly because next week my kids go back to school and I am going to do my long runs on Tuesday's. So, I'll run about 9 on Sunday and then 17 on Tuesday. Yikes!

I've got more to say, I've just gotta go now, so I'll be back maybe later.

Painless

2006-08-15T07:40:00.000-05:00

Just finished a nice and easy and quick (in my world) 5 miler. Met the girls at 5:30 and it was cool enough to wear a sweatshirt for the first 1/2 mile or so, which was awesome! Bring on the cool mornings. We finished in 47:17 for a 9:27 average pace, yea us! I was actually on the outside of the group, and I didn't feel like I was going to die by the end, it was great. I even thought the whole way through that my legs didn't hurt and my breathing wasn't all out of wac, it was a nice feeling. I wonder why they all can't be like that, or at least more of them. I did have a pretty good diet yesturday except for the chips with dinner, but I was aware and didn't eat too many of them. I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast, a cup of coffee (yum), a piece of salmon and a baked potato for lunch, a plum, one piece of chocolate peanut butter bar thing, a sloppy joe, chips, and strawberries for dessert, and of course lots of water. I just wanted to jot that down to look back on. Alright, I had my yogurt when I came in, now I need to eat something else. Until next time.

Chicago Distance Classic

2006-08-13T14:29:00.000-05:00

Hello fellow runners! I am stoked to bring you this report. I was a little nervous about running this race because all the usual doubts come up, what if I run poorly? What if I can't make the time I want? What if I feel totally discouraged at the end of this race and have to train for the next 8 weeks with it weighing me down? Well, it was all for not. I rocked (my style!). I am overall pleased with my performance. I wanted to finish in 2:15, and I finished in 2:10:34, yea me!

I went to stay the night at my sisters, she just recently moved into the city, yea me again. So, I took the train down just like a big girl and walked over to the Hilton for packet pick up. I must say I was not impressed with the expo, come to think of it I'm usually not impressed with those things. Maybe it was because I got there at 2:00 on Saturday afternoon and they were closing at 6, but they had almost no gels left and that's all I really wanted to scope out. Then after leaving there my sister came and picked me up and took me back to her place. We chilled out awhile and then took a little walk, what a beautiful day in Chicago! The whole weekend couldn't have been better if I would have written it down. We had dinner, I got some pasta and a whole lot of water and then back to her place again. I think I was sleeping by 9:45. I don't know if the rest of you are like this, but a nice added bonus to running is that I can pass out as soon as I put my head down on the pillow.

Got up around 4:30 am and showered just to get going and wake up. Had a little bagel and gatorade and then G(that's my sister's nickname, her name is Margie, but my son couldn't say it when he was little so he called her G and it stuck) drove me to the start. I think this is the latest I've ever arrived at a race, I'm kinda nuts when it comes to getting somewhere early. So I get there a little less than an hour before the race. I found gear check and ran a little to get loose and to see if I could get anything going, if you know what I mean. Made a pit stop at the porta potties and found my way to the start. I got there with about 15 minutes to go, perfect timing all around. The gun went off and we were on our way. I found the 2:15 pacers and kinda just kept them in my view for awhile, but I eventually lost them. I'm not sure if I'm the pacer group kind of a runner, I think I pace myself pretty good. I saw G at about mile 1 and waived, that was cool.

The race itself was not that eventful. I decided on a plan before to stop at pretty much every drink stand. I ran through the first one as it was only at mile 1, and I figured it would be crowded, and it was. I took some gatorade or water or both at every other one except one, and that strategy seemed to work pretty good. The first 5 or 6 miles my legs felt a little tired, but after that it went pretty good. Here's my splits:

Mile 1 10:20
Mile 2 10:19
Mile 3 10:17
Mile 4 10:23
Mile 5 10:02
Mile 6 9:59
Mile 7 9:42
Mile 8 9:53
Mile 9 10:04
Mile 10 9:40
Mile 11 9:38
Mile 12 9:55
Mile 13 9:21
Mile .01 :56

For a grand total of 2:10:34. I also walked through every stop.

I didn't get to see my family, but I know they were there, because my husband took some great pictures, here's one:

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h306/CarrieK17/DSCN3223.jpg

I don't know why it's not publishing, I'll try to figure it out later. I want to post other pictures too, so I'll have to try again later. Hope everyone else had good runs today.

Okay, let me see if the picture uploader thing works tonight, I read on someone else's blog that it didn't work for them last night either. Nope, so let me just add another link I guess. My family:

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h306/CarrieK17/DSCN3230.jpg

Just another link, oh well.

Return from the North Woods

2006-08-11T20:03:00.000-05:00

We're back! My boys and I were in the North Woods from Sunday until Wednesday visiting my mother-in-law. It was nice to get into a little cooler weather, it was especially nice not to have to get up before the sun just to get my run in. I ran both Monday and Tuesday, it's slightly more hilly there than here, but it was fun running up and down hills, they're not San Fransisco hills or anything, but I live in Illinois, the only hills we have are man made pretty much.

We drove back on Wednesday, so I took that day off and ran again with my girls on Thursday morning. I was going to do 7 and then 4 on Friday and then off on Saturday, but it didn't turn out that way. It was humid and my diet hadn't been all that great while we were away and the run on Thursday morning sucked, so I stopped at 4 and switched my 7 til Friday. We did the run at 5 am (this is starting to wear on me), I can't wait for the cooler weather so I can go later in the day, especially after the kids go back to school next week. The 7 went better this morning, but I still didn't feel great. I'm kinda glad that the runs didn't go all that well, because you know how that works, a couple bad runs usually equal a good run and the Chicago Distance Classic is on Sunday!

I am going into the city tomorrow afternoon to spend the night at my sisters. She lives close to North Pier, so I thought that would be a good place to spend the night before my 6:30 start Sunday morning. I'm a little excited about this race, but not too focused on it. I hope I do well, I'm aiming for about 2:15 finish. The marathon is the main focus here, so I'm thinking of this as more of a long run with 10,000 of my closest running friends, I'm sure the stomach will be doing flips come sunday morning. I'm really looking forward to the medal, I've never gotten a medal for anything!

My husband and my boy's will be there along with my parents and my sister. Does anyone else cry at the end of a race? I looked around a bit at the end of the Soldier Field 10 miler and didn't see anyone else crying, not that that stopped me from sobbing like a little girl. It's just so emotional. Hopefully there will be a great race report right here Sunday night. Until then, happy running everyone and good luck to all who are racing this weekend!

Carrie

Another long run in the bank

2006-08-05T14:38:00.000-05:00

14 miles! Who am I? It went pretty good, had a couple emergency potty breaks, but I was always close to home, so that wasn't a problem. I kinda figured it was going to be one of those runs, because I kinda felt it going in. Holly and I started out at 5 am. We didn't get home until almost 11 the night before because of a baby shower we went to, what baby shower lasts until 11? I wish we would have thought of driving by ourselves. Oh well.

So, we started at 5 and ran three little miles outside my neighborhood and then had to be back in here so my hubby could go to work. That's right, I ran 11 miles around and around and around my little hamster wheel. Thank god for my friends, they got me through. Holly stopped around 9 miles and then Jen was here around 5 miles, so she finished with me. I was never alone. This worked out so good. I was so glad to be finished! It took 2 1/2 hours to cover that distance, we were very consitant with our pace, even kicked it up 30 seconds in the last mile.

Here are the after effects of the run. First, blisters. I have a blister on top of a blister and then several other blisters. This of course happened because I was cocky about blisters. "Who me? I never get blisters" Yep, that was me about a week ago. When will I learn to shut my mouth? Anyway, I asked around and more people are in favor of just leaving them to heal on their own, don't pop them. I was leaning in that direction as I hate doing that kind of stuff, I'm not a popper.

The next thing is chaffing. So, after the run I stretched and took a shower. When I got in the shower I felt like I was being stung by a bee right under my boob. It hurt. It stopped hurting after a little while and so I didn't think anything of it. Then I was changing later on and saw what the problem was. I was all chaffed right under my nips! I couldn't believe it. I never thought that would happen. I geuss it was better than being chaffed right on my nips, but how weird. I will have to apply the body glide there now too, I should buy stock in that company because I'm thinking I am going to need a lot of that stuff in the next couple months.

The other thing that happened after my run was my very first ice bath. Holy crap. I kept my clothes on and put a sweatshirt on too. I just did it for 15 minutes, man was that cold. The worst is of course right when you get in, but then it's okay, still cold, but doable. I have to say that I was still sore today, really more stiff than sore, but I ran 4 miles recovery this afternoon and my legs felt great! I will do this again after my 1/2 on Sunday and then after all my long runs from here on out. I'm a believer.

That does it for this weeks long run and such. The ridiculous heat is gone, it's warm today, but not like that. It would be nice to have a couple early evening runs or afternoons. I'm heading up north tomorrow with my boys. I hope to get a couple runs in while we are there, but I don't have my heart set on it. I will get at least 4, but if I could get a 7 also, then I could take next Saturday off before the race on Sunday. Run strong everyone!

Carrie

Here comes the rain!

2006-08-03T12:51:00.000-05:00

Ah, I've never been so happy to see a big storm on the horizon. I knew behind all that rain and thunder and lightning was much cooler temps. Yesturday I was off, and I felt like I needed it, actually most of my off days feel like I need them. This morning I was scheduled to run 7 outside with Rachel and Jennifer. Well, it was storming still when I got up this morning, so we cancelled the run and because my husband was supposed to work outside today, he didn't have to work. So, I went to the gym and ran on the treadmill again, yuck. I got it out of the way though and felt much better because of it, otherwise I would have bothered me all day. Anyway, about 10 minutes after I started on the treadmill the rain eased up and the lightning went away, so if I had just waited a little I could have gone outside, oh well, how was I supposed to know? You say I could have watched the weather? Oh yes, that would have been a good idea, if anyone knows of a weather person who gets the weather right, let me know, because all the weather people said that it was going to storm all morning, but what do they know? They only have all the latest equipment and gadgets to rely on. Okay, that's enough bitterness from me.

My husband just got his letter from the job he was going for saying he didn't get the job. I feel so bad for him, I know he wanted that job, it would have been a lot easier and more vacation time and all. They still have his name and number, and there are supposedly more jobs coming up in the future, so maybe he could still get one of those jobs. Oh, the sadness.

Gotta go take the kids to the dentist. This is the first medical thing of many to come in the next couple weeks before school starts. See ya

2006-08-01T20:00:00.000-05:00

Alright, I need to catch up a little. Sunday was our long run, of only 9 miles this week as it was my cut back week, yeah! I really like this program because of the build two weeks and take a break the next week, I think I like that more than build for three and rest for one, for some reason that makes it easier on my little brain. Anyway, we went to the trail about 20 minutes away, it's a three mile loop, with some little hills. I suggested it because there's always a lot of people there, well unless you get there at 5:45 on a sunday morning! I felt a little bad, but it wasn't long until the place was crawling with people. It was a great run! I love it when I have a little pep in my legs left at the end of a long run, and I should considering I run like a snail. Now I build up this week.

I had to rearrange my runs this week as I am taking my boys up to Wisconsin to see their Grandma this weekend. So, I am ran 4 yesturday on the treadmill in the air conditioning, because lets face it, I'm not really into melting on my street and I was exhusted Monday morning after hosting a fish fry Sunday night at my house, so getting up early and running after being on my feet ALL day Sunday was not going to happen. So, I slept in and gathered up my boys and brought them to the nursery at the community center and ran on the treadmill, the big bummer with this plan is that 1. I couldn't use my garmin and 2. I couldn't see Oprah from my treadmill because they changed around the machines since the last time I was there, I'm gonna have to do something about that when winter comes.

This morning I ran 7 around my hampster wheel in the OVEN! I ran with Holly, Rachel was a no show and Jenny backed out because she only had 5 hours of sleep (baby). You can tell which miles I ran with Holly and which I was by myself for, kind of a big difference in time. I am such a slacker by myself, maybe it was the heat, but I know that's not it, it's just my pathetic self.

I am taking tomorrow off and running 7 Thursday, 14 (holy crap) on Friday morning and 4 on Saturday morning or afternoon. Then I'm taking Sunday off, since I will be driving that day. I think then I will take my off day and my cross training day while we are there and then catch up again next week by mixing it up again. I hope my body holds up. I had a little twang in my hip today, more than in a while, hopefully tomorrow will be enough to help it feel better. I stretched it out pretty good after the run and then just strecthed a little while ago again. It does feel better.

That pretty much gets me caught up as far as running. It's funny how some weeks you're able to post whenever and then others I have to schedule my time just to get here to post. I'm not doing the cross training thing really right now. I'm trying to give myself some guilt free time until the kids go to school in three weeks until I can schedule some actual gym time. I hope it doesn't hurt me to have made that decision.

My class is also over. It wasn't a hard summer with that like I thought it might be, so that's good. I should be getting my grade soon, but I'm pretty sure I got an A, I had a pretty easy teacher.

Well, until next time, run strong and look forward to Thursday when the heat will leave and go mess up someone else's run for a while.

All these posts are going to have similar themes

2006-07-29T13:27:00.000-05:00

What the crap? I walked out of my house this morning at 5:30 (I can't wait for the fall so I can sleep like a normal person again) and it was hot. It would have been a decent run except for the fact that I have some sort of vertigo thing going on. I am VERY nauseous when I wake up in the morning or after I lay down in the afternoon for my quick 20 minutes (yes, I nap, I'm up at freakin' 5 in the morning!). I'm slightly dizzy sometimes too and I have had an ear infection off and on for the past 2 years. Right now the ear is fine, no pain, but now I have this other thing, when will I feel 100% with no bitching? For those of you who are saying to yourselves, maybe I'm pregnant, nope I'm not. You know how when you have lingering things wrong with you that wouldn't go away you begin to think it's a tumor? I'm not making light of a tumor, but that's just where my mind wanders when I let it. I have that fear that I will be one of those people that feel fine and go to the doctor because I broke my arm and they tell me I have two months to live and there's nothing they can do.

Okay, that's enough of the paranoid mind of me. My run, it was fine, it was just one of those runs that I wanted to quit the whole time, but I made it to almost 6. The splits were not impressive, but oh well, tomorrow is another (freakin' hot) day. I finished in 58:45. Tomorrow is 9 miles starting at around 5:30 in the morning. My training partners, especially Rachel is not happy with the early morning run. She doesn't seem to think it will make a difference if we start at 6:30 verses 5:30 (she is not a morning person). She may be right about this, but I do have a lot of stuff to do tomorrow as we are having a fish fry here tomorrow and my husband has ripped apart the backyard and probably wouldn't put it back together again until about an hour before everyone gets here, and that's just to aggrivate me I'm sure.

Alright, stay cool everyone.

Stop with the heat already

2006-07-28T08:36:00.000-05:00

We did three yesturday. It was pretty average to what we've been doing. I think we started at about 9:51 and then 9:25 and finally 9:20. This was my last scheduled 3 mile run until October. When I look at that, it makes me a little nervous, but I know it will be fine. The boy's are done with all there summer activities as of Monday, so I may have a little extra time in the mornings to get some longer runs in, although it will be around the hampster wheel, although I am grateful to have that, otherwise this whole thing would not be possible. We have three weeks until school starts, whatever. I can't believe it starts so soon. I'm not really ready.

It's going to be flipping hot this weekend. I'm a little tired of this heat stuff, and always on the weekends when I'm doing long runs, yuck. A couple of early morning runs again. Getting up around 5, just to get it in before it gets ridiculous. Luckily this Sunday is only 9, when was the word only okay to use before the number 9?

Stay cool everyone!

All good things

2006-07-26T15:14:00.000-05:00

Well, I had a nice recovery day on Monday, no aches and pains to really report, so that's good news. Tuesday I ran with my girls, we just did three even though they were scheduled to do 4, but this is my last chance to do 3's this week until October, so I'm not going over. I told them they could keep going if they wanted, but they said they would stick to doing just three with me, cuz that's the kind of girls they are. Today was 5 by myself around the hampster wheel. I felt pretty good, except for the nauseous feeling I've had pretty much every morning for the past week or so. I'm not sure what it is, but I think it's related to laying down since I just had a little sleepy time on the couch and woke up feeling it again. I could be related to my ever long ear thing, without the ear pain. I don't know I just wish it would quit it. Anyway, my run this morning was good. Here's the splits:

Mile 1 10:35 (too slow for a weekday run)
Mile 2 9:59 (a little more respectable)
Mile 3 9:22 (now we are cruisin')
Mile 4 9:05 (yea!)
Mile 5 9:56 (good recovery)

I was pretty happy with my splits, and really happy with being able to slow it down, but not totally the last mile. I'm always tring to beat my split from the mile before, but this time I said nice and load to myself, I am slowing down after this because I don't want to hurt myself again!!!!! And I listened, see I do get a little wiser with age.

That's about all, and for cross training this week I went shopping by myself for three hours this morning and then came home and brought it all in and put it away, which took another hour. A four hour cross training session of bargain hunting, pushing a heavy cart around, speed racing and then heavy lifting. I'm good to go now.

Now about nutrition, I feel really good about it. I seem to have lost some taste for junk, which is not to say it isn't going to come back any moment, but I feel like even when I'm snacking I pick the right snacks, like fruit or yogurt. I should probably get some nuts in there too. I've never really felt this way about eating before, I'm actually eating things to give my body feul and it seems to be working. I've had salmon twice this week, and I'm not a big fan, but I know it's helped with my running and overall mood. I feel differently about drinking now too, I don't do it. I did have a glass of wine Saturday night, but I picked wine because I knew it wouldn't hurt me the next day as much, who am I? Well, whatever, I like the me I am right now.

Gotta go get the children up, I made them lay down for awhile, they needed a quite afternoon, and so did I.

running along the lake

2006-07-23T12:45:00.000-05:00

Hey, I just got back from my 12 miler along Lake Michigan. It was very cool and really helped my blah feeling towards running lately. Holly went with me, the rest of my partners couldn't make it, so it was just Holly and I. Well, I was scheduled to do 12 today and she had I think 6 on her schedule, so she said she would go with me and just do 12. I didn't think this was a good idea, but I didn't want to discourage her from trying, because you never know, maybe she would do great. She did great for the first 6 miles and then hit the wall, I don't think she ate enough and then I didn't make her stop at the water stops along the way, which come to find out would have helped. You just never know if you should tell someone what to do or just let them figure it out for themselves. Anyway, it was a beautiful morning, perfect weather, sunny, cool, low humidity. We parked up by Montrose Harbor because they wanted $35 to park at North Ave, because of a volleyball thing. I was like, um no I don't think so. At least I learned a little this morning, which is Montrose Harbor is a little further and there is free parking. So, we parked and got going. We made it to Navy Pier at around 6, and the orginal plan was to go 6 out and 6 back, but I figured we should do 7 out and 5 back with a good mile left for cool down, so we ran to the end of Navy Pier and on the way back to the path we hit 7 miles, perfect. Holly only did another mile of running and then I made her stop, because otherwise her husband would probably never let her run with me again if I had returned her in the state she would have been in at the end of 12.

I told her to walk to North Ave. and get some more gatorade (thank you Fleet Feet) and water and stretch and rest and I would finish and drive back to get her. I had about 4 more to go, so she did 8, and did great. So, I finished up and felt pretty good, I had my Camelbak full of gatorade and was cruising along. I think probably everyone thinks this, but when I get to the end I automatically think about the next long run and how I don't think I could possibly do another mile since I feel like I can't take another step. I think that's mostly mental though.

So, there you have it, it's the end of what was a rough week mentally and motivation wise. I am happy to say I actually have one more mile than I was supposed to have at the end. Next week is a cut back week, which I'm glad for since it's going to be freaking hot again. Enough of the heat already. I feel energized again, yea! I feel motivated again, yea! Three weeks until the CDC 1/2 marathon, I'm excited about that.

I've got to stop now, I really need to update my family blog now, it's been about a week. Gotta go. :) Keep running y'all.

Rain Day

2006-07-21T16:11:00.000-05:00

Yesturday it was raining. I love to run in the rain, but this time there was also thunder and lightening, so I called off my run this morning and slept for another hour. I thought maybe I would run in the evening, but I just didn't have the motivation to do it, so we scheduled it for this morning. Maybe I need a change of scenery, maybe my diet sucks, maybe I have lost my mojo, I don't know what it is, but I just didn't want to do it, even after I started. I can usually warm up to the run after a mile or two, this time I couldn't wait for it to be over, and I kinda talked my partners into just doing 3 instead of 4. I will try to eat more and hopefully get back to feeling better tomorrow when I have 6 on the schedule. I will venture out of my little block and take a look at some different sights tomorrow.

No Pep in My Step

2006-07-19T08:17:00.000-05:00

That sucked! Although I'm not entirely suprised as yesturday's run felt pretty good. Isn't that the way it works? One good, one bad? Seems to be the way it works for me. After the first step today I wanted to quit. I was slow, I know my form looked stupid, I just didn't have it. Even with all that, I finished anyway, yuck. It was a 10:40 average pace, but it's done. I've put it in the bank. I now need a big fat coffee to get me through the rest of my day. I'm a little tired and feeling a little burnt out, it's too early in the training to be feeling this way, maybe it's just all the regular life stuff stressing me out, running is supposed to help with all that. I need to stop complaining now and get about the rest of my day. I hope everyone else's run went better.

recovery and start of a new week

2006-07-18T11:57:00.000-05:00

I recovered well from the long run on Sunday, although I was very tired the rest of the day. I think that had more to do with the heat than with the run, because I did get a chance to lay down for a few minutes before we went swimming for the rest of the day.

My son swam in the deep end of the pool for the first time with no life jacket on, he's very excited. He did a good job, even went off the diving board.

Ran this morning with Rachel, Holly and Jen. I was only scheduled for 3, but they were scheduled to do 4, so we did 4. It went really good. I was more aware of setting the pace rather than just trying to keep up with the pace. They go too fast for me sometimes. It's fun to go fast sometimes, but I can't risk injuring myself again by going faster than my body is ready for. Good run.

2006-07-16T13:49:00.000-05:00

Alright, that's done. So much stress for really nothing. I guess I was worried I wouldn't be able to get up at 4:30 am to run all by myself without running partners waiting for me, but I did it. I started at 5:15 and ran 11 miles around and around and around my block. I finished in 1:59:17, just under 2. That was a long one, but it went pretty good. I averaged 10:50 miles, but it was hot and humid at 5:15, so I took it easy. I wore my camelbak and had one cliff shot at 5 miles. I tried the razz flavor this time, yuck. Not that I hated it, I just don't like the consistency. Again, it's kinda hard to say weather or not it helped. I did get a little burst around mile 7 and 8, but I usually fall into a groove around then. It didn't hurt my gi system though, so that was good. I did eat a plain bagel and a small glass of orange juice before I headed out too, that was fine.

I had a thought towards the end of the run, and I know I've seen this question posted on the Runner's World Forum, but I was really thinking about what running has done for me. What have I gotten from running? All the positives that have come from becoming a runner. I know one negative for sure, and that's getting up so early and missing some sleep. But, I'm going to think about this question this week and come up with a list. Until then, happy running everyone!

Carrie

Heat Wave Running

2006-07-15T18:18:00.000-05:00

Hot enough for you? Yep, it's hot enough for me. I have been stressing all week about this upcoming heat wave in regards to running in it. I don't know why I stress about things so much, I usually don't anymore, but this really has me going. Maybe it's because of the distance, I have 11 on the schedule for tomorrow and it's been awhile since I went that distance, and I've never ran that far in the heat like they are calling for tomorrow. Maybe it's because my husband is away and I have no choice but to do it outside, although the thought of doing it on a treadmill makes me even sicker. I know getting up at 4:30 tomorrow morning to try to finish early enough is making me a little crazy, and when I tell people I'm doing 11 miles around my block, I know they think I'm crazy. Maybe I am. I can pretty easily tune out my surroundings and just run though. A little less than three times around my block is a mile, but it's nice and quite. We'll see how it goes.

I ran this morning, 6 miles, it went pretty good. It's hard to have all these mile stones in terms of speed and then return to doing a 10:15 average mile for 6 miles. I know this is pretty much right on target for most of my runs, but it's not too exciting to write about. My calf felt better after yesturday's rest day, so that's a good thing. I finished the 6 in 1:01:32.

Well, I don't think I said this already last time, but I had my test on Thursday. I think it went pretty good, there were a couple questions that I really wasn't sure of the answer to, but hopefully I made good guesses, as it was multiple choice again. My paper is due on Tuesday, so I wrote it this morning, and I'll type it up tomorrow sometime. The paper is on Cushing Syndrome, which was interesting to learn about, I think I really like the whole medical thing, which is kinda suprising since I usually tune out when people start talking about all that ailes them. I know this is bad, it's not that I want to, it just happens.

One last thing before I go, I got new shoes!!!!!! If you are a runner and are reading this you know how exciting this is! I had a pair of Mizuno Wave Elixir's and really liked the way Mizuno's fit my feet, so I went in with the intention of buying another pair of Mizuno's. I bought the Wave Rider's. I'm very excited! I wouldn't wear them tomorrow for my long run though, I'll wait til Tuesday when I think I have 3 or 4 on the schedule. I will break them in enough to wear them for the 1/2 in August though. They are white and red, I really like them, much more than I liked the Saucony's that I bought last time.

Alright, it's time to eat and then it's off to disappoint my kids that it's too late now to go swimming tonight, but we will be going tomorrow. Hope everyone has a good long run tomorrow, if you're doing yours tomorrow. Stay cool.

Ouch

2006-07-13T08:11:00.000-05:00

Hello people. I'm a little upset today. I'm hurtin'............again. My hip is fine, no problems. My left calf is hurting me something fierce. I'm thinking it feels just like a strain and nothing too serious. Maybe all runners get stuff they are working on, and I'm just a big baby and complain about every pain I have. I don't know, but it's frustrating. I do everything I can to keep from getting injured, and still here I am. I stretch like a mad woman, but not too much. I eat right almost all the time. I have good shoes, that I pay a lot of money for. Anyway, I'm done now, hopefully it just needs a day off, and that's tomorrow, so that should work. Here's an overview of my last couple runs.

Tuesday was my holy crap run. This could have been when I tweaked the calf. Tuesday and Thursday I ran with Rachel, and she' a gazelle, so this could have been the problem. Anyway, here it is:

Mile 1 9:03
Mile 2 8:54
Mile 3 8:45

For a total of 26 something. I've never run that fast, ever. I probably shouldn't run that fast either, at least without working up to it a little slower. Will I ever learn?

Wednesday was my 6 miler. I used my camelbak that I got, just to see how it felt on a shorter run by my house in case I needed to ditch it. I really liked it, I had no problems with it. I can tell on longer runs I'm gonna need some body glide on to help with chaffing. Wednesday was a slower run, I finished in 1:02:21. I was by myself, so I could set my own pace. I also tried a gu, I think it was actually a cliff shot. Chocolate Mocha with caffeine. It was fine, gross going down, but no gi side effects and I also didn't notice a big difference in how I felt after taking it.

Thursday morning was another 3 with the gazelle. Here's how it broke down, and this is after I said, can we go a little slower today, my calf is hurting. I guess it was slower than Tuesday, but not as slow as I had in mind, oh well.

Mile 1 9:50
Mile 2 9:27
Mile 3 9:07

Total time was 28:28. I think if I didn't just come off of two weeks off with my hip injury, I would be ready for these speeds, but right now, I don't think so. At lease I have the weekend runs to myself, I don't know if that's good or bad, but I can at least set my own snail pace.

Alright, I've got to go. I've got a test this morning, and probably should have used this time more wisely this morning, but we'll see.

Happy Running everyone!

Carrie

More running

2006-07-11T13:33:00.000-05:00

Sunday I ran 6 with Holly and Jennifer. We ran around the soccer fields on the gravel path. That was okay, felt long and I think we went a little fast, our pace was all screwy, I'm not sure if it was because of the gravel or we just weren't paying attention. Here's how the splits looked:

Mile 1 10:44 - a little slow, but that's okay, we are just starting
Mile 2 9:47 - um what's up with that?
Mile 3 9:41 - Long, slow run people
Mile 4 10:00 - better, but I think still too much
Mile 5 10:12
Mile 6 10:08

It was only six, so no harm done, but if it were 10 or more, I think it could have screwed me up.

Monday was an off/cross day. I did some stretched and abs and stuff, but nothing too strenous. Then Tuesday morning it was raining and I thought everyone was going to back out, but I love to run in the rain, so I got ready and headed out, only to get around the corner to see Holly coming into my neighborhood. So I ran around the block and then there was Rachel. So off we went in the rain. We were lightening speed. Here's the splits.

Mile 1 9:03 - just like the other morning
Mile 2 8:54 - okay, never done that before
Mile 3 8:45 - Oh.....My.....God!!!!!

Total time was 26:47 with an average pace of 8:54. What in the Sam hill? I'll take it. Felt good after. Tomorrow is another 6, slow and by myself.

Part two of my story

2006-07-08T09:52:00.000-05:00

Ran 5 miles this morning with Holly and Rachel. It went by pretty quickly, which was nice. We didn't get home until 11 last night, so I was in bed at around 11:30 and then up at 5:30 for my 6 o'clock meeting. We just kinda ran around the park and the neighborhoods back there, it was nice and quite. It wasn't too hot yet, which was nice. The splits went like this:

mile 1 10:26
mile 2 10:09
mile 3 10:12
mile 4 10:22
mile 5 10:24

Total 51:38. It looks a little all over, but we were a little confused about which way to go. Nice easy pace though.

So, the next part of my story goes like this:

June 12, 2005 was the date of my very first 5k. It started at 8 and it was in Orland, which is 1/2 hour from my house, so in my perfect fashion I got up around 5 am. I got to the race with plenty of time to spare, which was good because I had to use the porta potties about three times. My sister ran with me, because I talked her into it. She got there and we lined up to start. We started in the back, obviously. The gun went off and we began. The race seemed like it would go on forever, and my time would indicate that it almost did. I wanted to quite about 80 times, there was no real point during the race that I was having fun, until the end. I remember Margie had to tie her shoe and so she stopped and I thought to myself this would be the perfect time to walk a little and then I thought of all the training that I did and all the pain and discomfort I went through and that spurred me on. I thought if I stopped now and walked that that was going to take away a little something from the experience when I finally did cross the finish line, so I went on. I'll never forget the feeling that I got when I saw the finish line, it was awsome. There were families and they were all cheering on someone they loved. I ended up crying my way in (which will become a theme in my races), because my husband and boys weren't there. I didn't think it was important at the time, until I finished and there was no one there to cheer for me, this accomplishment that I didn't give enough value to to the people around me, except for Margie. She was there for me, telling me what a great job I did, I'll always be grateful to her for that, she's the best sister anyone could ask for.

I finished in 34:11. It wasn't a chip timed race, so my time was probably a little better than that, isn't that funny how I was already looking for the seconds to come off my time. Anyway, I was hooked on races after that. Last summer I did two more races. The second one was the end of July in which I turned in a 32 something and then the third one was the end of October, which I had a time of 30:12. So I did get better as the summer went on and I was definatley a changed person after that summer.

I really thought I would train and race that one race and then stop. Nope. I was supposed to run a race on Thanksgiving, but it was like 10 degrees out and I had a cold and had company in and had dinner that day, so I was a DNS. I continued my training even without a race planned through the winter. I was just base building and then I signed up for the Shamrock Shuffle this past spring. That was fun, and I kept building. Then I ran the Soldier Field 10 Miler and that went so well that I though I would take the next step, and run the marathon, what is the point of all this building, if I wasn't going to do anything with it?

I am now three weeks into my training. I had two weeks off before my training started due to a hip flexor injury, but that feels pretty good now. I am going to run the 1/2 on August 13th also as a prep race for the marathon. I'm excited and nervous at what is going to happen, but I'm just trying to stay focused week to week and see what happens. My main goal is to finish the race in one peace and not hating running when I'm done.

So, I didn't plan on posting all that at once like that, but I got carried away and there you go, I'm done. My story. I was never an athlete, or a runner before. I never ran in High School or really participated in sports in school. I was never someone who would work out, mostly because I have always been thin, so I never saw the point. But after turing 30, well, you know how that goes, and if you don't, just wait. I didn't put on a lot of weight, but I had two babies and no real physical activity, so I needed to lose about 15 pounds. I lost 5 of it before I started the whole running thing through my diet, but then nothing. It's taken me a little over a year to lose 10 more pounds, but I did it the right way, I think for me.

I've got to go to bed now, too many late nights and early morning runs does not make Carrie a happy girl. Thanks to anyone who read this, I hope it can inspire someone who doesn't think it's possible to know that it is.

We Rock!!!!!

2006-07-06T11:03:00.000-05:00

3 miles this morning with Holly. Jenny was a no call no show, what's up with that? She overslept. Okay, can I just say we soooo rock. I know this is not as fast as some, but this is my fastest three miles to date, and boy did it feel great! My average heart rate was only a little elevated from about 159 to 164 for this run. Beautiful morning. Here's how the splits went:

Mile 1 9:03 (Holy crap, that's fast, no wonder I was having trouble settling into my breathing)
Mile 2 9:08
Mile 3 9:08 (could we be any more consistent?)

For a total of 27:21 and an average of 9:06 per mile. We are fast! Kinda. I am excited to see if we can get into the 8's by the end of summer and end of training. I know there is no way that I could maintain that pace for very long, but it's fun to push it during the shorter runs. I am so going to want this week in about 6 weeks, because from here we really start building. Reminder to self - don't be stupid, remember this is probably why I hurt my hip flexor a couple months ago, because I just got too fast and started running all my runs way faster that I was used to, so this weekend, no faster that 10 minute miles, I don't really want to see any 9's in there, and it's supposed to be flippin hot this weekend, yuck.

Alright, here's part one of how I got started running:

So, just about two years ago, Hank and I started taking a superfood drink to help with our overall health. I got tired of being tired and feeling yucky. So, I would get up with him before he went to work and make his shake for him, and then because it was about an hour and a half before the boys got up, I would go down in the basement and walk on the treadmill. Well, you can probably guess how that went after awhile. I started to find all these excusses about why I couldn't walk on the treadmill on most days. I would still get up with Hank, but then I would just go take my shower and not get in my "workout". So this went on through Christmas time.

So, after the new year, I started researching some stuff on the web, and I don't even know why I did this, but I started looking for a race I could do. I think maybe I came across the Shamrock Shuffle. I thought that sounded like fun, and I could probably talk my sister into doing it with me, she's pretty fit already. So, then I researched a program to help me with running it. I found the Couch to 5k run program on the Cool Running site and printed it out. I started to follow it at home on my treadmill. It helped to have a schedule to follow. It was one of the walk 10 minutes, run 30 seconds and then build from there. I couldn't have hated it more. Everytime I would walk up from the basement and tell my husband how much I hated it. It was very hard. A few months into, I realized that I was not going to be ready for the Shamrock Shuffle, so I picked another race to shot for in June, the Band on the Run Run.

I'll tell more of my story next time, I know you're all in suspense. Did she make it? How did it go? Blah blah blah.

Shouldn't I write my story?

2006-07-05T18:35:00.000-05:00

Man, am I sore. It's a good sore still, but I thought I was using my legs muscles, it's hard to believe some of them were just sitting there doing nothing.

I ran 5 today in 49:08. I felt good, strong through the run. I did my third day of Core Performance after the run. It was beautiful out, sunny, a little breezy and about 72 degrees. Why can't everyday be like this? Maybe even a little cooler.

Three tomorrow morning with the girls. I started to think I should start writing about how I got into the whole running thing, so over the next couple weeks I'll add a little something to my story until it's complete. It's very interesting (she says with sarcasm). It's interesting to me anyway, maybe not to anyone else. I'm still blown away when I think back. So, the story begins next time, stay tuned.

Core Performance

2006-07-04T14:10:00.000-05:00

I started the Core Performance program yesturday, and I'll tell you what I'm sore today. I know that I wouldn't be sore forever, and hopefully this will help me with my running and staying injury free. I will post how it's going.

I ran a quick three today with my girls. We did it in 28:36. I can't wait to see how fast we are at the end of the summer. I think it's a good idea to run faster on the shorter runs and go slow when it's longer. I have 5 tomorrow, and it will be on the gravel around the soccer fields, I was sore after that run last week, so we'll see about this week. I think I just use my quads more for balance and pushing off.

This is a cut back week already, so just 6 for the long run on Sunday. I'm glad that it's already a cut back week, only for my muscles and the fact I started the core performance program.

Have a good 4th, it's off to the Gill's to relax and sit by the pool.

First long run and lost calander

2006-07-03T07:25:00.000-05:00

First off, there are a lot of ignorant people in the world. I just don't get it. We went to Matthew's game on Saturday, and then we were going to go to Culver's for dinner and then to Sam's. So we get to Culver's and everyone goes in to wash up and use the bathrooms. Well, I brought me calander in with me so that I could go over what I needed from Sam's. I left it in the bathroom and remembered probably 5 minutes later and went in to look for it, and yep, gone. Who would want my calander? All you had to do was look through it to see that there was nothing of value to anyone else in it. My whole everything was in there. My training schedule for the marathon was in there, I spent a lot of time mapping that out. Doctor's appointments, where Matthew is supposed to go when I'm at school, all my coupons. Man did that make me mad, I couldn't even eat ice cream.

Troubling.

I ran my long run yesturday. It was supposed to be 9 miles, but it ended up being 8.37. I ran two by myself and then met up with Holly and Rachel to run what I thought was going to be 5 for them and then I would finish the other two by myself again. Pretty good plan I thought. Well, they said they would just run 7 instead of 5. So we set off and I felt like crap pretty much from the first step. It was humid. We went slow, but it really didn't help that much. I'm glad I was with them, because I probably wouldn't have finished without them. This is a cut back week, so my long run is only 6 miles and then it really starts to pick up after this week. I think my long run next week is 11.

Today is a cross training day, and I would actually like to go to the gym and cross train later, if they are open later. Stupid gym. They have terrible hours and take stupid days off. Like for example they are closed tomorrow, whatever.

Gotta go start my day now.

Rambling on about everything

2006-07-01T12:47:00.000-05:00

Unbelievable!!!!!!!! I just posted this big log post and my stupid internet connection was lost and I didn't save it and now it's gone. It was a good post, so I'm going to try to re-post it now. Crap

So, now I'm about to finish the second week of training. I have run 16 miles so far and have 9 planned for tomorrow morning at 6:30! On a sunday morning, after getting up early all week, including today at 5:30 to get a pedicure at 7:00, crazy I know, but now my toes look nice for another 4 weeks. Anyway, I digress. I will probably run 2 miles to Holly's house to run with Holly and Rachel (as Jenny's on a weekend getaway, again) for 5 miles and then 2 miles back home to complete my 9 miles. I'm so happy to have running partners a couple days a week, I always ran by myself and didn't mind it, but now that I have running partners I can see what the big deal is, it makes it go by so quickly.

I had Physical Therapy yesturday, and now I'm released!!!! yea!!! I am now a believer in the science of Physical Therapy. I really think it helped heal my muscle and showed me that I have some inbalance and gave my some excersises to help me correct it. I'm glad I went and truthfully I'm glad I'm done. It was kinda hard to fit that in, even though during that time I wasn't running, so I had more time, but the boy's are off of school right now so they came with me a lot of the time.

I actually had school both day's this week. This class is kind of a joke, but I imagine that there will be other classes in the future that I will wish were easier. My homework for Tuesday was to watch the tv show "House". So, of course me being me had to stress over this. I was signed up to take Jonathan to the library that night, and the first episode of House was on during that time, and we have all the technologic capabilities to record the show, but neither one of us know's how to do that, go figure. So I am stressed about this and take Jonathan to the library, because if I just cancelled it, what does that say about my dedication to my son versues the dedication that I have for school, like what's more important, it's hard being me sometimes. Anyway, we stay for the 45 minutes or so for the little song and dance thing they did at the library and then I ran out of the library to get home to watch the second episode of House. I get home, run upstair and practacly lock myself in the bedroom so as not to be disturbed during my not taking. I finish watching the show (which during the show my other son calls me from my mom's and I tell him I can't talk because I'm doing my homework, and my sister calls from Vegas and I don't even answer the phone because I may miss something, I am a nutball). I then write a paper and look up all the medical terms that I feverishly wrote down during the show, all of which were spelled wrong I'm sure. I get to class on Thursday, and yep, you guessed it, we never even talked about the show. I am going to be properly prepared someday for some class, but I am way overly prepared for this class and this teacher. Get this, we don't even have homework over our long weekend, which I'm sure most people are like cool, but I'm thinking, "isn't this like an 8 week course, that's almost over?" Medical Terminology is so far not that hard, which kinda scares me, what is the rest of the tests and the final going to be like? I don't know.

So, last night I went to Dick's sporting goods store and bought a camelbac. I have had a waist water bottle, but I hate it because it rides up on me and bounces all over the place, and I'm very sensitive about things around my waist, so that's not working for me. For awhile I was doing my long runs in a loop that took me past the van every three miles or so, so I would just stop and get something to drink from my car. Now I feel I can just go and not worry about it. We'll see, I'll probably use it on Sunday. I also got some gu's, but I will not be trying them on Sunday, for the whole stomach issue problem, what if the make my stomach upset and I have to find a bathroom real fast, that could be embaressing, so I'll wait til I am by myself to try those.

That should do it for this time, I'll let you know how the camelbac goes and the long run. Time for Matthew's last baseball game.

Happy Running!!!!!

Carrie

2006-07-01T12:12:00.000-05:00

So, this is going to ramble, because I've had too much caffine this morning, so hold on.

I have one more run this week, 9 miles tomorrow morning. I will probably run 2 on my own to start and then 5 with Holly and Rachel (Jenny's on another weekend away with her girlfriend Michelle) and then finish on my own with another 2. I'll tell you what, it's nice to have training partners now, it does make the runs go by much quicker. If I run the 9 tomorrow, then I should have 25 for the week, which is the most I've had in awhile, but I feel good. My hip feels pretty good, although I'm happy to have today as an off day to let it rest a little. It's a little sore right after the run, but usually feels better with stretching.

Speaking of my hip, I have been release from Physical Therapy, yea! I am now a believer in the Physical Therapy science. I will go back if need be in the future. I really feel it did help heal the muscle and help me discover some things about my form and the way my body is put together. If you could see all the typing mistakes I'm making, I would be embarresed (that's not spelled right).

Medical Terminology, ha, kind of a joke. I actually did have class both day's. I am off now until next Thursday because of the 4th of July. My homework last week was to watch the tv show House. What?!? So the anal retentive person I am did watch the show and take notes on it and wrote up a paper on it, just in case we needed to turn something in. I am a nut, but at lease I can recognize that about myself now that I've lived in this body for almost 36 years. Anyway, so I get to class on Thursday and we don't even discuss the show at all. Whatever. We also don't have homework this weekend, as it is the holiday weekend. I'm thinking, but isn't this only an 8 week course, and isn't there a lot to learn about Medical Terminology in 8 weeks? I am not going to complain though, I'm sure other classes will not be this easy, and who knows, the final or other tests will probably be totally hard and I'll be like "what the hell?"

Anyway, I went out last night and bought a camelbac classic. I bought a Nathan waist bottle holder (that is so not what it's called, but I'm having a brain burp) which I hated, it kept riding up on me, I'm very sensitive about stuff around my waist, it comes in a close second to having anything liquid in my ear. Then I have a hand held water bottle, which is nice, but it's kinda small and I wouldn't want it any bigger as it would be heavy. So, I thought I would try this camelbac thing for longer distances, and it seems easier to sip from than to try to drink from, so we'll see how this is, maybe I'll try it tomorrow on my long run. I also bought a couple gu's. I don't think I will try that tomorrow, as it could cause some gi problems and I will be around other people and that would embarass me if I had to stop because I had to go. I'll let you know how it goes.

Okay, that should be all for now. I finish tomorrow with my long run and then start a new week, which I think might be a cut back week already, which is probably good for me with the whole hip thing. So far, so good.

Happy Running!!!!

Carrie

End of week 1

2006-06-26T15:30:00.000-05:00

Well, I ran 14.4 miles last week, and I'm very happy with that. I feel good right now, no soreness, a little soreness when I got up this morning, but I wonder if that's because I stretched out right before bed. I ran with Holly, Jennifer, and Rachel on Sunday morning, how nice was that to be able to run with other people and feel good about it. We did just 4 miles, but it felt good and we all probably could have done more. We are going to run on Sunday mornings for our long runs. My long runs will be longer, but I could do their mileage with them and then finish by myself. We are going to try to go downtown on the lake in a couple weeks, how cool will that be. I also just registered for the 1/2. I hope I get in. I feel pretty relaxed about that. I think I'm actually scheduled for 15 that day, but 13.1 will be good enough, especially racing that distance. We are meeting again at 5:15 am tomorrow morning to do 3. These little distance's are getting me anxious to do more, but I'm just trying to relax and do what the schedule says, I'll do 5 on Wednesday morning. I'm sure once the mileage starts to build, I'm going to miss these days. It's weird, when I run early in the morning, I miss it in the afternoon. That's hard to explain or understand I suppose. Gotta go.

Carrie

I got an A!!!!

2006-06-23T12:21:00.000-05:00

I wanted to jump up and down and do my little victory dance, and then ask everyone else in the class what they got, but I didn't. I just smiled and looked up the right answers to the two questions I got wrong - who am I? I was not a very good student in school in my younger days, hence the reason I never finished. I called and told G (that's my sister, Margie, and from here on out I will simply call her G because that's what my oldest used to call her when he was little and it stuck). She said when was the last time that happened? I said probably in the third grade, although I think I did pretty well in driver's ed.

So, that was the start to a pretty good morning. I started the day by going for a run. It was my second run since the two weeks off. The first went pretty good, although I went too fast, big suprise. Then today's went pretty horribly, as it was humid and I went too fast again and really thought I might pass out and throw up. I really can't remember a time when I felt worse while running. I did finish though, although it was only three miles. So, this week has been three on tuesday night, three on Thursday morning and then i did four this morning, slower so I didn' re-hurt myself. I have to say I feel pretty good overall. My hip doesn't hurt while running, a little sore after, but not like it was. I should only need to go back to pt two more times, once next week and then one more time the week after. My hips seem to be getting back to normal, if they ever were. I will take tomorrow off and then run 4 on Sunday morning with Jen, Holly, and Rachel. I will not go fast though, and I will think about it some more tomorrow weather or not it's a good idea to go with them on Sunday, because I know myself and I think I would try to keep up with them even if it hurt, and let's be honest, that's not smart. They are doing the 1/2 marathon on October 1, but I think that will be too close to the marathon, so I'm not going to do that, again I would run it too fast and probably hurt myself. Am I a little gun shy or what? I have decided to do the 1/2 on August 13th though. I also want to do the Women's Fleet Feet 10k the end of July. I really would like to do the sceinic 10 also, and that's on Labor Day. Now that I am back to running and have started my "training" I need to look at the schedules again and revise my plan, probably try to combine the beginners with the intermediate. I'll feel better with a plan. I will come back to full running slowly though, let the hip gain some strength.

I've got to go. See y'all.

Carrie

2006-06-20T21:37:00.000-05:00

What? So I went to school today, hoping to get my test back and the teacher is another no show. I don't really understand why there is no e-mail notification system so that I don't have to arrange for somewhere for the boy's to go and get myself there only to then find out there is no school. Oh well, back on Thursday.

I also went to PT today. He stretched and proded again. I do feel much better. I have been doing my exercises like he showed me. I think he's kinda stumpt, which is usually the case with me and medical personel. First they said my legs were different lengths and that that was the problem, now he say's that my pelvis is out of line, but it's not going back the way he thought it would. So, I go back on Thursday and then once a week for two weeks and we will see where we are from there, maybe I still need a lift.

The good news is I RAN TONIGHT!!!!!! I am so happy about that. It went pretty good too. No pain in my hip flexor, yea. I just ran three miles at about a 10 minute pace, which is what I set out to do. I'm glad everything went good. We'll see how I feel tomorrow. I hope fine. I think I will take tomorrow off and then run another three on Thursday morning. I would like to get 15 in this week and then go from there, we'll see. I'm trying to be flexible with this, but that is NOT my personality, so one foot in front of the other and keep reminding myself to take it easy, I will finish the marathon, it just might not be in a time that I feel good about. Alright that's enough, til next time.

Carrie

Back to the Therapist and first test

2006-06-15T08:07:00.000-05:00

Okay, well, I'm going back to the physical therapist today. This is my third time going. I have to admit that my hip is still sore, I don't know what that is going to mean for my training starting next week. I didn't get a chance to do my stretches yesturday. I went to the gym the night before last and rode the bike for twenty minutes and then did some machines and abs and stretched. Then I swam 10 laps. I'm pretty sore this morning, like old lady sore.

I have my first test today. Medical Terminology. I haven't taken a test in 13 years or more. I hope I'm ready, we'll see. Well, I really started this blog to track my running and training for the marathon, hopefully soon I can start running and writing about it again.

Carrie

I never thought I would do any of this

2006-06-12T16:27:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I just found the blogging thing and here I am starting one, just add this to the list of many things I never thought I would be doing. I am a runner. I love to run. I started about a year and a half ago and really didn't look back. I thought I would run one 5k and be done with it, and it isn't going away. Now I've signed up for the Chicago Marathon on October 22nd. This is also something I never intended to do. I know a lot of people have "run a marathon" on their life lists, but I did not. Anyway, I have now spent the last week in kind of a funk, because I have hurt my hip flexor muscle and I'm supposed to be starting my training program next week for the marathon. I took last week off and I will take this week off also. I started going to a physical therapist last week, hopefully it will be better soon and not interfer with my training. I hope to use this blog to track my training and also maybe my life. In addition to being a runner I am also a wife (my husband and I have been married 10 years) and a mother to Matthew, age 7 and Jonathan, age 4 almost 5. I have the best family and life really, and I owe it all to the Lord. I had a born again experience 11 years ago and my life has never been the same. I love God. I am also a student. I have decided after almost 15 years that I need to go back to school and finish. I am going into Occupational Therapy. I think that's enough going on right now. I look forward to posting here and sharing more about my life and the goings on.

Carrie