Happy Birthday

Because my friend Ann is awesome and has a sense of humor. My birthday cupcakes looked like this (& they were delicious!)

Sulking and celebrating

I've been sulking for 2 days now. Every time I see a runner on the road, I've had to try like heck not to cry. It's funny how time changes your perspective. 6 months ago, I would have rejoiced at not being able to tun for 4 months. I literally said I hate running every time I went for a run. Now, I just wish I could run without pain.

I've decided I am done sulking though, and have decided to look for other ways to continue to keep up my cardio during this time, so I can complete my 2 half marathons in April without draining myself. So starting on Sunday, a swim/bike/elliptical program starts for me. I'm going to listen to my Dr. and not run with my foot, for at least the month of December and then re-evaluate my injury then. I'm a pretty good healer so I doubt it will take the full 4 months to get my foot better. I just hope I don't lose my love for running or motivation during this time.

Today is my 39th birthday. Despite the number of candles on my cake, I do not feel this old! I have a few things on my list race/endurance related I want to accomplish before I am 40, they include:

2 half marathons in a month
Half Ironman
1 full marathon

despite my injury, I will accomplish these goals. Have a great day everyone!

Taken out of the running game

After a few long runs and pain increasing in my foot, I went to the Dr. And he benched me. I was told the 50% of my Plantar Fascitiis tendon is affected and it will take up to 4 months to heal. I can swim, bike and maybe elliptical but absolutely no running. I don't even need to mentioned how bummed I am about this. I was just getting into a running groove. I was also diagnosed with bicep tendonitis, which basically takes me out of swimming until the cortisone shot takes affect. Right now, my shoulder is toast... the cure being worse than the ailment was. Internet says it takes 24-48 hours for the pain to go away when it occurs. This is not my first bout of bicep tendonitis. I had it in the other should 3 years ago. I do not remember the cortisone shot causing this much pain. Sigh. Super duper bummed today. Oh, and getting dressed today was one of the funnest experiences I've had in a long time (insert sarcasm).

Funny how time just slips by. Hope everyone had a good holiday. I know I did. Last Saturday, I got in my longest run yet and 8.5 miles, the best part about the long run was how I felt afterward. Typically anything after 6 miles leaves me pretty hobbled. I have a bad foot and back that has left me confined to the couch for a couple of days at a time. My half marathons have been kind of brutal on my body :) but I felt great after my run. My muscles were tired but not broken. I took Sunday off then ran another 6.2 miles on Monday. My running partner injured her Achilles on our Saturday run and then on Monday realized it was worse than she thought, so I told her to take the rest of the week off and re-evaluate on Friday whether she can run on Saturday. This was not supposed to absolve me of running, alas I am lazy and ended up trying to rest my body as well. Not sure if that was good or bad, but it is what it is. It's supposed to beautiful day today, so I'm going to head over to the lake after work today and try to get 4 miles in.

My November running goal was 60 miles for the month. I'm super happy to report that not only did I meet that goal I exceeded it by 5 miles. I've already chosen my December goal and I'm adding 20 miles to it. I think 80 miles is pretty attainable. My long runs are now supposed to be 7,8, & 9 miles and I always seem to do just a little bit more than is expected of me. Now if only I could do something with my eating habits so this running thing translates into weight loss!

Monday run

I wasn't expecting to go as far as I did today. My only plan was to run my typical 3 mile run that my training program required. I was hoping to have one "fast mile" and then just finish the rest at whatever pace I did. I ended up doing 6.1 miles in 1:18 minutes. It felt so good to just keep going. And that's really surprising to me because I felt pretty sluggish for the first 3 miles. In the past, when I felt this sluggish I would have stopped and gave up. I'm pretty proud of myself right now and I'm feeling good!

On a side note, this is my second run in a row without music and I'm really liking it. I think because I concentrate on the run and my surroundings rather than what song and how many songs have played.

What's your take... Run with or without music and why?

Did I just do that?

Wednesday's run marked the 5th day in a row that I exercised. This is pretty big, as I spent every month since my first half in April, trying very hard to not exercise very much. i.e. I got lazy. So 5 days in a row is a miracle over here in Krissy-land. :)

My run. I got to the lake and wasn't sure I would even be able to run. Both my foot and my head were hurting. I knew i could survive the foot pain... the head I wasn't so sure about. See, how I tried to convince myself to just go home instead? I pretty much have these talks everyday, some days I win some days I lose. I ran anyway. My pace was slower than it has been, but I kept trucking along until I was back at my car 5.6 miles later. I did not stop once. I ran the entire way! It's been at least 7 months since I ran more than 2 miles without stopping to walk... once again I will repeat and say I am lazy. My goal for next week is to actually hit 6 miles without stopping to walk. For now I have a rest day, which for me means swimming laps at the YMCA so get a workout that is much easier on my body than running is.

I've been on this training regimen for 3 weeks now. The first 2 weeks, I did not see any movement on the scale. That was a little disheartening... to work hard and actually see a gain rather than a loss. But no more! I have lost over 6 lbs this week. I'm hoping to be down 4 more lbs before Thanksgiving... just so I can eat on Thanksgiving without guilt. :) I love me some mashed potatoes.

Last night, I made my first attempt at buffalo wings. My BF will not do fried foods, which is a very good thing, because it helps keep me in line as well. So I baked them instead. My sauce was a little sweet and will have to make that differently next time, but it was still good! I made boneless chicken for me and put in on a salad, rather than eating wings, since I refuse to eat meat that is still attached to the bone. I was pretty pleased with my first attempt at a new recipe. Have you tried a new recipe lately? Any good healthy suggestions for dinner tonight?

Funday Monday Recap

I've been running for 2 weeks now with my friend. Saturday was a 4 mile run, so off we went and completed 4 miles. Afterward, I couldn't help but notice that nothing hurt. Not one muscle. When I run by myself, I am usually in pain somewhere (or everywhere) when I am done. I talked to John about it afterward and he suggested that it might be because I am not running fast enough when I am with my friend. And it is true, my pace is about 4 minutes slower when I run with her than when I run alone. So yesterday, when we met up at Creve Couer Lake I suggested that I do the long course and she do the short run. We are still in the early days of training and are only required to run 3 miles, but I've been running more than 3 miles since day 1 program. She would get her 3 miles in and I would get just under 6 miles by going different ways. The plan was I was trying to catch up to her and she was trying to not let me.

So we split off in different directions and I booked it. Well for me anyway. The first 2 miles I was at 10:17 pace, that's like really good for me. I typically stay in the 12 minute a mile pace because I'm slow like that! Miles 3, without even realizing it did slow down to the 12 min pace, when I looked down at my watch, I was like "ouch" and sped back up. I never did get back in the the 10 min pace area but stayed steady at 11:20 for the last 2 miles. I never did catch my friend. She was warm and snug in her car by the time I finished. The good news that came out of it though, is that she only stopped long enough to get a drink at the 2 mile marker and that's it. She basically ran her first 5K. Her pace was almost 15 minutes a mile, but she didn't stop.

We came to the conclusion that I make her run faster than she is ready for, which is why she has to stop at least 3 times when we run together. We are going to try the experiment again on Wednesday and see if she can go faster. My goal is to try and keep my pace steady rather starting out too fast (for me).

Afterward, I headed home to eat dinner (which I did not take a picture of) but it was a recipe that I saw on Run Eat Repeat. I did however take a pic of dessert, which I ate before dinner :)

It's a Chocolate Peanut butter cupcake from Trader Joe's. So so good and I am looking forward to working out hard again tonight, just so I can eat another one of those cupcakes.

have a great day!

Wednesday run

I got in another 5.5 miles yesterday. It was cold. My first 2 miles were by myself and I ran those pretty good, but I felt a little off. The last 3.5 miles I ran/walked with my friend. She's still building up endurance and can't run for as long as me, even if she can keep up my pace.

When I was done with my run, I posted this on Facebook:

I love running! Except for the heel pain. And the shin pain. and the knee pain. And the tight back. Yep, I love running.

Everything hurt yesterday. It started with my calf, that twinge went away at mile 2, then everything else decided to hurt. Today, my heel is still killing me and my quads are a little sore. Everything else went away about an hour after I stopped running though. And really despite all the aches and pains, I really do think I'm starting to love running. It feels a little weird writing that, because I never ever ever...(I'm singing Taylor Swift in my head right now) thought I would say that.

Have you ever done something you that you never thought you would like, let alone love, and it turns you were wrong?

Managed to get in a 5 mile run yesterday. I not only felt great during the run, I felt fabulous afterward. It's funny how a run can make you feel so much better after a relatively ho hum day. I try to run at least 4 days a week. I'm still no where near being able to say that I love running. Most days I dread knowing I have to get out there and run, but it is starting to grow on me. Do you love running? If you do, how long did it take for you to love it?

Afterward, I went over to my friend's house and we did our weekly watching of How I Met Your Mother. I don't get to see Ann as often as I used to, something that happens when you are both in stable relationships. So our Monday night TV watching is the one thing we do, so we can stay connected with each other and is most likely the only time during the week that we see each other. What do you do to connect with friends?

Thursday Run

Today was Day 2 of running with my friend, Stephanie. I got to the lake about 30 minutes early and instead of just sitting in the car and waiting for her to show up, I got out of the car and started running. I knew I could get in at least a mile before she got there. So my plan was to turn my watch on and when I hit .5 miles I would turn around and go back to the car and meet up with her for the rest of the run. It turns out, she was running a few minutes late and I was feeling great. So I got 2 miles in and made it back to the parking lot just as she showed up. Total win for me. We walked a 1/2 mile warm up for her and then got another 3 miles in before it was time to head home. This run was so much better than my Monday run with her. We spent more time running than walking, kept a much better pace; Somewhere around 11 minutes a mile, and we both felt really good when we were done.

However, she thinks I'm crazy, because I do not warm up before I start running. I just go. I figure my first mile is my warm up. Where as she needs at least a 1/2 mile of walking before she will even consider starting her run. Which camp do you fall in?

No running on the agenda tonight. I am meeting my daughter for icecream and social time before she goes off and does her thing with her friends and then I am heading to a 90 minute Zumba class.

Wednesday Run

Yesterday I took a run around the lake by myself. Most days I will be running with a partner as she wants to complete a half marathon. Since it was Halloween yesterday she couldn't make it, so I trekked on down there and did it alone. (I have goals and they must be met!) According to the training program, I only had to do 3 miles. So no biggie. I decided to just knock out a 5k so can a starting time. I know where I want to end up with my 5k time, but I still didn't know what my starting time was. Now I do...

My time was 38:34 and I want to get to 30:00, so I need to knock off more than 8 minutes off my time. I'm nothing if not ambitious, with a dose of realistic. :)

The run itself was great. The weather was perfect and I ran the whole way. Which is a miracle in and of itself! I typically have no problem convincing myself it's time to take a breather and walk for a minute or two.

There will be another run today, but with my friend so I don't expect to break any records running. But running is running.

Weekend Recap

This weekend was a very full and busy weekend with my BF. Friday we went to the movies. I let him pick the movie this time around and his choice ended up being one that I am not sure I would have picked out myself.



Chasing Mavericks was pretty darn awesome. I think I cried at least 3 times in the film. I'm an not good at recapping or reviewing films, but as someone who grew up by the beach, the film seemed to capture the essence of surfers and the surfing community and watching the ocean/waves in the film made me miss my So Cal home. Has anyone else seen this film yet? What did you think of it?

Saturday, we ran the Gumbo Flats Pumpkin Run 10K. It was cold at 8 in the morning. In the mid 30's and I posted on my Facebook, that only crazy people run in this kind of weather. All 1500 of us.Here is a pic of John and I before the race:

The run itself was uneventful for me. I went out there and ran as best as I could. I ended up catching up to my BF at about the 2.5 mile mark, which is highly unusual. He was limping badly. He's been nursing an Achilles heel and a calf injury since late August. He was a little too confident in his ability to overcome the injury and managed to re-injure his Achilles; I ran on ahead of him (with his permission) but then I felt pretty guilty about it, so I ended up walking mile 4 with him (it was an out and back course so he turned around a little early to "catch up" with me. He made me go again, when he saw how frustrated I was getting at the people passing us :). So my time was not great, I finished the 10K 1:20:24 about 5 minutes off my PR. I did get to run on an airport runway though, so that was kind of cool.

John finished the race almost exactly 10 minutes after I did, which just goes to show you haw stubborn that man actually is. We left almost immediately after he crossed the finish line so we didn't get to enjoy any of the food or awards ceremony.

A couple of hours ofter the run, we decided to check out a bicycle store. I've been on the market for one, because of my insane desire to do whatever John does. In this case it would be a Triathlon, of course there will be other Tri's before that one, but you can't do tri's without a bike. Therefore, I bought this one on Saturday.

I am excited about my bike and I plan on getting a lot of use out of this thing. I will be fit in 2013.

Sunday, was a day spent in recovery. We went to church, took the dog on a 3 mile walk, and hung out at the house watching football and cooking dinner and just hanging out together. Which is a really nice thing to be able to do.

Swimming is hard, Yo!

The post title says it all. after my first half marathon, I was started feeling pain in my left heel. Mostly just a dull pain, so I ignored it and soldiered on. 6 months later that pain in my heel still exists and there are times when it is more than just a dull pain. I've come to the conclusion that it is Plantar Fascitis, but have yet to put my big girl panties on and go to the Doctor. So needless to say, my running has been sporadic to non existent since my 2nd half marathon in September.

I decided that I probably needed to start exercising again (those pants were getting tight again) and I thought swimming would be brilliant. I'm off my foot, working most of my muscles and doing cardio all at the same time! Well yeah, it does all that. You know what else it does? Makes you TIRED! I, who never goes to bed until my tv shows are over at 10PM, was asleep by 9PM last night after swimming 3/4 mile yesterday. It is more tiring swimming that length than running 5 miles. Crazy!

I'm going back again today. I'm determined to actually get to a whole mile of swimming. It's something like 33-34 laps in the pool. I'm not that far off from that. Maybe today will be the day I succeed.

So this week, I signed up for my next Half Marathon. John and I will be traveling to Kentucky this time to run in the Kentucky Derby Marathon in Louisville.

I am super excited about it. I almost signed up for the full... but I totally chickened out. Because really 26.2 miles is really far. I did however make the decision that I will run a full in 2013. Right now it looks like it will be the Air Force Marathon in September. So I have a year to train.

After, I signed up for the half, a friend of mine mentioned on Facebook that she was looking for a running partner. And, I am also looking for a running partner. So I offered myself up and committed to running with her 3 days a week, following a training schedule. After I agreed, she said "My goal is to run a 1/2 marathon." So after a little back and forth, I committed to running the GO!STL 1/2 with her 20 days before my Kentucky 1/2. That's a lot of running in April guys! I'm skerred, but also really happy because I want to get this last 30 lbs off me and kick those marathons in the behind!

That's my week so far.

So, I am going to try this blogging thing again and see what happens. I am famous for starting stuff and then not following through. Too much has happened since the last time I bothered to post on here, so I think it's just best to start off by just blogging whatever comes to mind. I haven't had a cigarette in 4 days. It's a cold turkey kind of thing this time. I don't know if it will last, but I would really like it to. So my mind is kind of like Nike right now, Just do it... so I am. I'm running a 10K in 2 weeks. I'd like to see what my race time is as someone who hasn't taken a puff. I'm thinking there will be some improvements. I've been running since January, even completed 2 half marathons this year, all the while I puffed away on cigarettes telling myself I was totally improving my health because I was running. So 2 weeks, until my first run has a ex smoker. Lord, help me make it that far without caving! My half marathons:

Go!St. Louis in April 2012 my time 2:46:19

Air Force Marathon in September 2012 my time 2:46:30 I was rockin' a serious foot issue that still is not resolved and I didn't train at all. This is the last marathon I show up unprepared for. I was in Vegas this weekend. Went hiking at Red Rock Canyon. Red Rock is very cool and my legs were nice and so after a 4.4 mile hike.

This is Red Rock

This is me somewhere in the Canyon :)

This is my main squeeze. He has made the last year of my life very interesting. Well that's all I got for today.