GOT THE BUG

If there was a weekend to get sick, this was the one. We had a high of 29 Saturday and I spent it on the couch using all the Kleenex I could get my hands on. This morning I am still congested and my nose is still running. I'm hoping I will feel better so that I can get up to the gym. I have 3.08 miles to go to reach my 50 for the month.

NOT ALONE

This morning was gray and wet out with a temperature of 55. I missed running on Tuesday and Wednesday so knew I needed to get out today. Tomorrow we are suppose to have sleet or worse, ice. I decided to drive up to Kids Kastle and run on the paths there. That way I would be near the car if it started to rain hard and also would have bathrooms available. I saw one other person when I started but they soon disappeared over a hill never to be seen again, I ran around the pond and past the baseball fields and along side the middle school track. It was wet but not cold and I kept going. Then I saw coming from the middle school a group of guys headed for the track. Company, I'm not out here running alone.

BETCHA CAN'T PICK ONE

Today was my birthday and I had every intention of going for a run but the morning was busy with phones calls and then I had to make trip to Dallas to pick out my birthday cupcake at Sprinkles. Yes, I love this place! Oh just the thrill of walking through the door and trying to decide which precious cake I'll choose. Chocolate looked good but it was the coconut lemon that caught my eye. Can you go home with just one ? I also took 2 peanut butter, 2 vanilla with chocolate icing and 1 strawberry.

JILLIAN AND BOX JUMPS

Okay, it's Sunday and that means a trip to the gym to do a workout from Jillian.

I don't know why Christy and I always pick the ones with a lot of leg work, but we do ! Today's included basic lunges, crossover lunges with hammer curls, static lunges with reverse cable flys, mountain climbers and the back kick with shoulder press. The last I am still having trouble keeping my balance. There were 5 circuits total and three of them we had to do a hill run at incline 10 for 1 minute at a 5.5 speed.

Those exercises were enough to torture my body, but ever since I saw Jenny do box jumps at her Women's Tri-Fitness competition I have been fascinated by them, I want to be able to do that. Before Christmas Christy and I had been doing a few so I wanted to try again. My goal is to be able to get to 50, today I made it to 10.

ALWAYS TOMORROW

I was definitely the tortoise today and if I had been racing the Hare, he would have won ! My legs felt heavy and the wind was blowing into me making it hard to run. The temperature was 63 when I left so I don't think that was why I was slow. I guess it's one of those off days. Oh well there's always tomorrow.

Miles today 4.21

ORANGE FLAGS

Today when I went out for my run I noticed that the flags were still up from the cross country teams practice. Why not, I thought. It looked like it would be fun to try and so I ran part of the course that was aimed the same way I was running. It was neat to be doing half of my run on grass and half on sidewalk and also a change from always being on the trails.

Miles today 5.04

NEED A GREAT GIFT IDEA ?

My husband and I got this great gift from Katy's family for Christmas. It's the Bushnell weather forecaster. It gives the weather forecast for five days - that's great for planning runs outside. Now one of the first things I check in the morning is what the temp is and how warm is it going to be. This morning it was 58 when I got up at 6, with a high of 70. I figured I better get my run in before it was too warm, so off I went at 8:30 ( I have to drive my granddaughter to school at 8).

The run seemed pretty easy and I added another loop just to get a change of scenery. Finished with 5.50 miles for the day.

I'M BACK

I knew it had been awhile since I'd been to the gym to do weights but didn't realize it was almost a month. No wonder I was struggling with the Jillian cards ! Christy and I did workout 1 today which involved a lot of leg work, push ups and planks. Some of the exercises I had to take a pass on. It's amazing how quick we are to lose what we have built up. Lesson learned, I can't take a month off from weights. If I don't use it I lose it !

RACE REPORT

Today I was on my way to the race when I spotted not one but two rainbows. This has got to be a sign that I am going to do well, I thought. I knew there were three other ladies in my age bracket racing so the pressure was on. The morning was cool but the rain was holding off. I started off fast with the other racers and then glanced at my Garmin, it was showing a 9 something pace, whoa better slow down . We ran on some streets and on the trails. The ground was wet and that always makes me nervous, I worry about slipping. I took a few walk breaks on the hills but mostly I ran, wondering where my competition was. The finish was in sight, so I gave it all I had and finished with a time of 35:57 on the Garmin and 36:03 on the clock. This is a new PR for me. That time was good enough to get me first place in my age group!

The medal is engraved on the back with Resolution Run 5K, 2010.

I even scored two bandannas for my dogs.

STARTED WITH A STARBUCKS

What a great day this has been and it started by meeting my friend at Starbucks for coffee, pumpkin bread ( we share a slice) and great conversation. Since it's January and I'm back to WW I ordered the no fat latte. After coffee I headed for the Half Price Books store to see if I could find a copy of the Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. My lucky day, they had one left. I had borrowed this from the library this summer but never got it read. I also checked out the clearance section and found four more books that looked interesting. The day was warming up and I headed home so I could get a run in before it got too warm. I had a great run of 5.26 miles, listening to all the good music that Jenny and Christy loaded on the iPod they got me for Christmas. They did leave some of my songs on that I had on the old iPod. Got home just before the sky started to turn dark and a few sprinkles started.

GONE

The ice is gone, the cold is not so cold and the sun warmed us up to 55 degrees. I was excited to get back out on the trails especially since I have a race this Saturday. I wore my new shirt and trust me it really keeps you warm. At one point I was so warm that I thought of switching it to the stay cool side. However I thought it might look a bit odd for some lady out on the trail to be taking off her shirt and turning it inside out. If you live where it's cold I would highly recommend this shirt. It's by Under Armor and is called the allseasongear.

.

GYM RAT

I've been home for 4 days and just made it up to the gym. Christy had a training session so I decided to hitch a ride and use the treadmill. I couldn't believe how busy it was and felt lucky that I was able to find an empty treadmill. It felt good to be back working out.

BRRR !!! FLORIDA RUN

Jenny mentioned that her friends would like to meet me and asked if I wanted to run with them on Sunday. That would be fun, I said, but I'll run behind at my own pace and you girls can go ahead of me. I didn't know when I got up on Sunday morning that it was going to be only 34 out, BRR !!! I tried to wiggle out of not going but you know how Jenny can be. "What, you're already up" she said. This was true and I had a new running shirt I got for Christmas that I wanted to try out. It's called all season wear by Under Armour. You wear the light side out to stay warm and the dark side out to stay cool. We headed for Starkey Park to meet Kathryn and Carin. They were going to do 10 miles and I was going to run out for 45 minutes and then head back. We walked to the main trail and the three girls headed out and soon disappeared. I was enjoying the trail and was soon warming up in my new shirt. Soon I was sweating and had to take off my fleece jacket - this shirt really works. On my return to the parking lot two deer were crossing the path. They stopped and looked at me, and then a bluebird flew across the path. It was my lucky day to be outside and see this instead of being in a warm comfy bed. I finished with 6.78 miles for the new year and waited in the car for the girls to return.
It was really nice to get to meet Kathryn, I am always inspired by her blogs. And a big thank you to Carin who supplied me with a bag of grapefruit picked from her tree. Thank you, Jenny, for making me get out and run.

DID IT !!!

My goal of 500 miles for the year was reached in Atlanta on December28th. Because the temperature was very cold, I used Katy's treadmill. Yesterday I was in Ocala, FL visiting my sister. It was a beautiful, sunny morning so I went out for a run. The last run of the year. It was fun running in a neighborhood where everything was new to see. Like lots of people on golf carts passing you by. By the time I got back to her house I had logged 4.75 miles, so my total miles for the year are 504.75. I was curious as to how far this would take me if I was doing a road trip. Thanks to Mark's help, I got to Germantown, TN, which is just outside Memphis. How cool is that ! I've even stayed there on some of the road trips my husband and I have done, so I know what a long drive it is from Dallas.
My goal for 2010 is to run 600 miles, who knows where I'll end up next year ?