Last 5 by the 5th (and National Running Day!)

I ran a 5k Monday on the treadmill, just in case I wasn't able to get 5 miles in before the 5th of June. However, Wednesday, my sister, sister-in-law and I were able to meet up at 6:30 in the morning at the "lake" at our local university. It's really more of a pond :)

It was already 75 degrees and very humid, but we had a good run. I had really wanted to beat last month's time of 43:xx, but that didn't happen. I'm really struggling with the speed again here lately (and yes, I know I need to get back into my strength training). Still we came in under 50, so I'm ok with that

We didn't take a good picture of us (you know, one with our faces in the picture) before, and there was no way I was going to take one after...my face was super red!

It was also National Running Day, so it was perfect for a run together...good run, good conversations, good times...that's what running is all about :)

5k by the 5th

Woohoo! Feeling good!

A hot sweaty mess on the garage treadmill

I knew April's 5 by the 5th was going to be tricky to fit in since April 1-5 is Monday-Friday, meaning a longer early morning run than usual. I know the contest says I can do a 5k, but I've done all my others as 5 miles and wanted to keep that up. I managed to make it work, although my first thought when I heard the alarm was "I don't wanna!" Instead, I told myself, "Don't think; just run" and got myself out of bed.

It was a good run with negative splits...almost my fastest 5 miles in this series...next time, right?!

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G Touch

5 by the 5th

It's time once again for the 5 by the 5th virtual run series hosted by Mommy Run Fast. So far, I've done 5 miles each time, but that is going to be tricky considering April 1-5 is Monday to Friday. That means my run has to be before school (hard to get 5 miles in) or I'll have to fit it in after school...which is even harder considering the tball and softball games, practices and scrimmages planned for the week. I'll let you know how I get it worked in :)

Double Digits, baby!

Woohoo! I feel like I'm finally back! Last week was a rough one, and Friday was no exception...really, it was just icing on the cake...and not in a good way. Problems with one kid (as in one of my own darlings, not the ones I teach) at school, long meetings, work stress, and just feeling yucky really took its toll. That's probably when I needed a run most, but I could not make myself get up early for a cold run Saturday. Besides, I had someplace to be by 10:30, and my hubby had a meeting at 9. I really wasn't sure when I was going to run. We ended up going to a do rib joint for a late lunch with friends (much needed!). And then I decided to run. I knew Sunday morning wasn't looking likely with early church and then serving at church for the second service. Granted, running on a full tummy for an afternoon run (not my usual thing at all) was probably not the best idea, but I'm so glad I got out there!

I ended up running 8 last week and knew I really wanted to run 10 this week. I headed out, clicking off the miles by telling myself what percent was done...1 mile, 10% done, 2 miles, 20% done, etc. I was on my own since my sister couldn't join me at this oddball time. I also told myself I had to run faster than the sun was setting. I just barely made that one. It was nice and warm though, around 65...ended up a little pink on my arms. Crazy that it's February!

When my Garmin showed 10 miles in 1:39:01, I can't tell you how big the smile on my face was! Not only did I run the 10 miles, but I ran them faster than any long run ever. Average pace was 9:54, with my last mile clocking in the fastest at 9:21. Man, did that feel good!

I'm using the first 5 miles of the run as my 5 by the 5th hosted by Mommy Run Fast. I love virtual races, and a series that keeps me moving each month is even better!

There's a half here in my town March 2, and I could so be ready for that...except I have to be out of town for work that day. Boo! However, I got some great news last week! As a Refuel with Chocolate Milk alum, I will be running the Rock N Roll Half in Dallas at the end of March as part of Team Refuel! I am so stinkin' excited! This will be my fourth half. I ran the RnR Dallas as my first half two years ago, and I'm excited to be going back.

I woke up Sunday to a little pain in my right foot...the same PF pain I've had off and on for a while now. I wrapped it Sunday for most of the morning. I've worked on stretching it. And then last night, I went and got some KT tape. I've never used the stuff. I'm not sure I've got it wrapped right, but it's feeling pretty good, and I was able to run an "easy" 3.5 this morning.

I've debated on going the full mary this spring, but it just doesn't look feasible right now. My husband's work has picked up, he umpires in the spring, and both kids are playing ball this season. I really should have planned ahead and trained through the winter to do the marathon that was here in town in January. Live and learn, right?

The Jelly Bean, part 2

I am quite pleased with this morning's 5k for The Jelly Bean, part 2. I started at 6.2 and bumped it up by .1 or .2 every half mile. Nice run!

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G Touch

The Jelly Bean, Part 1

This morning I ran one event for The Jelly Bean, a virtual run hosted by Run With Jess. There are four different events you can choose...I did the 10K today and will do the 5K sometime this week. I would have loved to have been half-ready, but I'm not there yet. And if my bike was in shape or I was ready to get a new one, I'd do it to. So, for me, the 5K and 10K are it this round.

That brings my weekly mileage to 24.75 counting last Sunday's and this Sunday's runs.
YTD: 205.05 miles (almost made it to 200 in March...just about a mile short)


Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G Touch

Three Thing Thursday

Three Virtual Runs coming up

1. February's Challenge in Moms Run This Town 2012 Challenge for A Change. Each month this group is hosting a new challenge, complete with prizes. Last month's was a series of challenges...this month is a virtual run instead.

2. The month of March: Prematurity Sucks Virtual 5K, a fundraiser for March of Dimes. Two moms of premature little ones are raising money to support March of Dimes.

3. March 1-15: Let's Move it Momma's Spring Fever 5K or 10K. Marissa is ready for spring and is hosting a virtual run with prizes

***And don't forget the virtual run in memory of Sherry Arnold on February 11. I posted about it here yesterday.

Run for Sherry

Many of you heard the news story about Sherry Arnold, a mother, teacher and runner, who disappeared while out for a run Saturday, January 7 in her small Montana town.Two men have been arrested in her dissapearance. A virtual run has been organized for February 11 in her honor. For more information, you can check out Shut Up and Run or find the Facebook page for the run.

What resonates with me most are a couple of lines written by her cousin Beth (of Shut Up and Run). The first is from her blog about the purpose of the run: "My goal is to get the MOST love, momentum, and energy moving in honor of Sherry." Later, on her Facebook page, she wrote, "Let's keep the momentum going and make the earth MOVE that day." Something about a collective movement of runners having that kind of positive impact on the world in the wake of an event so tragic stirs my soul to action.

For me, I'll be running the Hot Chocolate 15k/5k in Dallas with a bib for Sherry on my back. My parents, husband, sister and brother-in-law will all be running that race. Out of the 6 of us running, 5 of us are teachers and 3 of us are moms...so it's easy for us to feel a connection to Sherry. We'll be wearing bibs like the one above in addition to our race bibs. I hope you'll join us in running that day in her honor...and if you can, donating to help her kids and family.

Rough start

I'll backtrack a little bit. With the start of school and a family emergency all in one week, I've been a little delayed in getting this post out.

This past Sunday (yes, the day after our 21-mile bike ride), my mom, sister and I met up to run our Moms Run This Town Road ID: It's All About Me Virtual 5K. We've never all run together, so this was exciting for us.

My sister is just 7 weeks post-partum...amazing, isn't she?!

It was really fun to have running partners for once. We got to catch up and just visit for a while, something that rarely happens with the just the three of us. We followed Carrie's lead in a run/walk pattern so she didn't push it too hard. The funny thing is we finished in the same time it took me to run the last virtual 5K (yes, running the whole thing).

We started at 6:15 and tried to take some pictures. It's still dark at 6:15, by the way. We moved to the patch of light near the school across the street so we could take some pictures.


I wasn't going to post their pictures...that might get me in trouble :).

One neat thing about the virtual 5K is that, instead of bib numbers, we were asked to write a goal for ourselves. Mine was pretty generic...Be a good example. I had in mind my daughter, my family and my students when I wrote that. It wasn't very specific, but I think I'm afraid of specific goals...something like "run a sub-60 10k" means I might fail to reach that goal. It's so very black-and-white, and I don't like that.

The run itself was good. It was already hot outside, but it was nice to have running partners...and especially these ladies! We got to reflect a little on our running. Carrie has been running the longest, at almost 5 years. I started about 2 1/2 years ago, and Mom is starting year 3 about now. Pretty cool!

We stopped when we reached our 5k and walked back to Mom's car and took a few pictures, which would have been entertaining to watch if you'd been walking by. We wanted a picture of all three of us, so we had to experiment with propping the camera up in the back of Mom's car and using the timer. It was worth a laugh of two to see me scramble in and out of the back...and I consider myself lucky that it didn't catch a picture of my butt.

Because Mom is training for her first half marathon, she needed 6 miles. I had 5 on the schedule, so I took off with her. I thought I might make the next three with her, but I peeled off after two and let her finish on her own. Frankly, after the bike ride, I'm just glad I could run at all. I know she wanted to run around a 10:00 mile pace (which is her slow, easy pace), but that wasn't so slow for me. We ended up running a little slower than that, but it was neat to run with my mom.

She just amazes me! She and my dad recently completed their first tri, where she won first in her age division! They'll be riding in the HHH this weekend as well. Very cool.

This week has made me appreciate both my parents and my in-laws even more (and let's face it, just about anyone I care about more). My father-in-law ended up with a blood clot on his brain and had emergency surgery to repair it last night. It has been a scary couple of days, but God is good. When we got to the hospital this morning, Big Daddy was sitting up eating his breakfast and having some coffee, making wisecracks to the speech therapist who was there. That made my heart smile.

While I would never wish this kind of situation on anyone else, it has been amazing the outpouring of love and support we have received this week. Our phones haven't stopped ringing and beeping, buzzing or blinking. We've had so many offers for meals and help. It definitely makes you hold your loved ones closer. I am so thankful for all of our blessings and couldn't ask for better friends, a better community or a better family. 



Weekly Mileage Report

The run that almost wasn't...that was today. I knew today's run was in trouble after one kid had already come into our room and crashed on the couch in there by 1:30 and another joined us at 2:30. The biggest problem, however, was yet to come. When Ryan came into our room and crawled into bed on my side, he asked for some water and I went to get him some. He'd taken over my side by the time I came back, so I crashed in his room. It just wasn't worth the fight. Plus, my feet are having some sort of weird hot flash issues, so I was sitting there with an ice pack on them. I heard my husband up and around and got up to see what was going on, just in time to almost crash into him on his way to grab some towels...yep, Ryan threw up all over our bed. Guess a snack of chocolate Easter bunny, very little dinner and a cookie before bed weren't the best ideas after all.

So, after cleaning him up and getting things settled back down, Chad and I were awake. We watched TV for a while, sharing some much needed, we-know-we're-going-to-be-exhausted laughs, before I felt sleepy enough to crash on our unmade bed. When the alarm went off at 6, I turned it off, thinking to myself that I'd give myself a few minutes since the sun wasn't even up yet anyway. At 6:47, I woke back up and decided I should probably attempt a few miles. Chad and I never quite coordinated a sitter for this morning so we could get a long ride in anyway.

The good thing about my delayed start time was when I went out on the porch to put on my shoes, my sister was running by. We got to walk/run the first couple miles together...well, my first couple...she'd already put in a couple herself. It was so nice to have a running buddy for once! We talked and the miles went by quickly. I am so proud of her! She just had her baby a little over a month ago and is doing great...she's listening to her body and walking/running at her own pace. Way to go, sis!

Because I'm adding cycling into the mix, I'll be using half of the bike riding miles in my tally. I wanted to keep my challenge miles just running, but since the cycling takes up a running day, I'll keep it this way for now.

Mileage Report:
Weekly: 13.85 miles (8.5 from running)
YTD: 454.65 miles

Coming up this month:
Moms Run This Town Virtual 5K--I'm hoping to do this one with my mom and sister, although finding a time is going to be hard once we go back to school.

Not Over the Hill Virtual 5K--I need to get this one done before August 13.

Hotter N Hell--August 27...I'm really looking forward to riding 25 miles with my hubby, even if I'm not quite sure how to increase my mileage and fit the training in right now.

I did sit down and create my training plan for the rest of the year (well, until December 4). I used SmartCoach on Runners World again. I still have to do some tweaking, but it looks pretty workable. It worked out perfectly that by creating it this week, I ended up with a 6 mile long run on the date of the Archer City Shortgrass Scamper 10K.

This coming week is officially my last week of summer. It's a busy one too, but I'm going to enjoy my last few runs outside before school starts.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia :)

Now that I've got that jingle stuck in your head, you're going to have to bear with me...today's post is going to have to be two-fold. I tried to figure out a way to make them separate, but they kind of go together.

I completed the Hotter Than Hades Virtual Half Marathon put on by Fitness Collaborative. The good thing about this one is that you didn't have to complete the 13.1 miles in one shot. Since I need to be averaging 13.1 miles a week to make my goal of 1100km in 2011, I wanted to do it all in one week, starting with my birthday on Monday.

My runs for the week looked like this:

Monday, my birthday: 3.1 miles in 32. 55, counting as my Moms Run This Town Fuelbelts Hydration Hustle Virtual 5K. It was a neat run for me as I remembered my "3 Miles at 30" just two years ago.
Wednesday, my son's birthday: 4 miles in 46:08.

Saturday: 6 miles in 1:16:42, quite possibly my slowest 6 miles ever!
 

Who knew it took this much stuff to "gear up"? And I already had on my SpiBelt, Garmin and BondiBand!
And my RoadID was still MIA as of this morning!

 Today's run was hot and hard. I was dripping sweat by mile 1. I felt decent by the time I hit mile 3. And then I really struggled between miles 4 and 5, taking a couple of walk breaks. I had forgotten, until about 5.25 miles, that I had planned on using an idea sparked by something I read in Mile Markers by Kristin Armstrong for today's run. I had to modify it...a lot...to make it work with what I had left in my run, but basically, what I did was thank God for and pray over each room in our house, one tenth of a mile at a time. I thought about the things I wanted each room to foster and develop, such as family fun in the living room and good conversation in the dining room. I also prayed for my kids, our relationships and my marriage using each room to keep me focused. I wish I had remembered this late night idea when I started the run.

Of course, just almost as soon as I walked in the door, I realized I should have worn my Super Mom BondiBand because I started cleaning up puke from my daughter just about that fast. That's the life of a mother runner, I suppose.

One thing I tried for today's run was chia seeds. 

And yes, I picked a turtle on purpose...because that's what I feel like these days.


Yes, like that kind of chia.

I think the idea of trying chia seeds first popped into my head when I read Born to Run by Chris McDougall. And then I would see bits and pieces of information...just enough to keep reminding me about them. Some highlights I've found...

From Raw Reform:
Chia seeds are said to have:
•2 times the protein of any other seed or grain,
•5 times the calcium of milk, plus boron which is a trace mineral that helps transfer calcium into your bones,
•2 times the amount of potassium as bananas,
•3 times the reported antioxidant strength of blueberries
•3 times more iron than spinach
•copious amounts of omega 3 and omega 6, which are essential fatty acids...

From The Natural Health Yellow Pages:
Some other benefits (especially for runners)
Providing energy
Boosting strength
Bolstering endurance
Leveling blood sugar
Inducing weight loss
 
Then I realized that a local grocery store has started carrying bulk items like granola, beans and flax seed...and yes, they had a bin for chia seeds! The first time I checked, the bin was empty, but they had them this past week. I bought a small bag of them and kept forgetting to do anything with them. I had read that you should soak them in water the night before a run...and I could never remember to do that.


Is it me or does this look like it should be illegal?

This morning, however, I quickly googled what to do with chia seeds before my run. One Runner's World forum person said you could mix them in water with a little honey and just drink before a run, which is what I did (using my Farmers' Market local honey...yum!). While these pictures are from tonight and not this morning, this is what it looked like at first.

By the time I had gotten my gear ready to go, they had "fuzzed" up a little bit, absorbing some of the water. I, surprisingly, didn't mind the texture or the little seeds in the water. The flavor was very mild, especially with the honey.

The fuzzier version

As for the run, it was so hot and sticky that I'm not sure how much good they actually did. And I went farther than normal, so it's hard to tell if it helped with endurance...I mean, I did finish the extra distance, so maybe that does say something.
I'm going to try them again. In fact, I had a glass tonight of the quick version while I was working on making a batch of the gel these little things make as they absorb water. You can use the gel like a Gu or other fuel or you can mix it into things like smoothies and yogurt. Here's tonight's work in progress:

If they look dramatically different in the morning, I'll post another picture.

What is about runners that make us what to try the newest, strangest, silliest things trying to gain some sort of edge? I'd understand if I was super competitive in races, but I know I will never win a race (or probably even my age division). Still, I am all for trying something that might help me run faster, last longer, or look better. First, it was getting a Garmin so I would know how far ago and just how slowly I'd gone. Then I started wearing Phiten necklaces because I hoped they'd give me a boost. Next I got blister-preventing socks (well worth it, by the way). I got fitted for shoes after running in a pair I'd picked out on my own for a very long time. The Stick and a foam roller have taken up residence in my living room. Now I wear compression sleeves and am drinking fuzzy little seeds.

I think there are a couple of things at play here. First, running takes us back to being a kid again...something I was reminded of as I was reading Mile Markers today. So it fits that we like to try out these new "toys" in our running. And second, I think these things give us some glimmer of hope that we will progress and improve and thrive. I'll hang on to that hope for now as I struggle through this hot, slow season.

Mileage Report:
Weekly: 15.15 miles
YTD: 433.5 miles