Today I feel like a real trail runner...

Short version: I ran 10.... one two three four five sixseveneightnine TEN pain free miles!!!!!

Long version: I needed to do a 10 mile run today, mostly to help myself decide if I should even start TA but also to get some strategies figured out. Doug, Kona, and I headed to Raleigh to Falls Lake. The lake is a reservoir serving the area and I think most of Raleigh's drinking water comes from there. As part of the MST (Mountains to Sea Trail), Falls Lake is surrounded by 26 miles of trails. Margaret keeps telling me they're really nice, so that's where we decided to go.

We started off at a fishing area parking lot and did the first mile together as a warm-up. Once we had figured out where we were going (lots of winding around at the beginning) I starting running and Doug and Kona kept on walking. The first few miles weren't anything special, but I decided early on to walk the bigger hills because they still make my IT band feel not so great. Before we left the parking lot I had a fleeting thought that maybe I should pee before we got started. Nah - what's 10 miles feeling like you have to pee? By mile 2, I was sure I needed to go. Right around there was where I also picked up a freaking annoying fly that would not leave me alone. I never got a good look at it, but in my mind was convinced that it was a horse fly. I'm terrified of horse flies. So I tried to outrun it, which didn't work. Then I tried running slower - nope. At this point I really needed to pee, but wasn't gonna stop to give the fly a chance to sting my asss. According to my handy little trail guide there's a bridge at the 2.8 mm. By the time I got there my feet were hot, so I decided to unleash my inner trail runner and I waded through the creek. Ahhh, refreshing.

At the 3.5 mile marker, the trail comes out on a road. Apparently you are NOT supposed to cross the road, just go to the right, walk over a bridge, and find the trailhead at the end of the guardrail. Had I read my handy trail guide I would have known that. Instead, I crossed the street. I saw a spot that looked like a trail head, so into the woods I went. Wait a second....where are the white blazes? Hmm...this isn't a trail. Wait! If this isn't a trail that means my chances of getting caught peeing are slim. Ladies and gentlemen - I peed on the trail for the first time today. You can go ahead and clap, it's a big step. After that I pulled out my trail guide and discovered I had in fact gone the wrong way, and got myself back on track.

After that adventure, I decided that if I could pee on the side of a trail, I could run in just my sports bra and off came the shirt. It was much cooler, but even though it had been quite some time since I had seen anyone, I spent the next half mile obsessing over the thought that someone might see my jiggles, and put my shirt back on. This section of the trail was a lot more rocky than the previous section and I had to walk a lot because I still don't trust myself to avoid turning an ankle on terrain like that. TA is in less than 3 weeks, I can't risk that! Finally, I made it to the five mile point, where I stopped and had some yummy espresso love Gu and turned around.

I spent pretty much the entire second half of the run wondering when I would come across Doug and Kona. I kept thinking I saw them ahead of me, but then they wouldn't be there anymore. Also during this stretch I didn't step high enough over a big tree route and almost fell hard. I managed to catch myself, but I probably should learn to just fall safely because I think I pulled an ab muscle in the process. I carried a bottle with water mixed with elete to keep my electrolytes balanced. It worked great - until I ran out of water with about 2 miles to go...

Finally, with about .75 left I caught up to Doug and Kona. I was very very happy to see them, and Kona seemed very happy to see me. She did her longest walk ever today - 7 miles.

Poor Planning..

This morning I didn't manage to get out of bed in time to eat breakfast or pack lunch - I barely had time to shower. That meant I had to rush to the fitness center to supervise AM exercise, and then at 9 was able to go by Brueggers and get my morning coffee and a bagel: rosemary olive oil bagel with plain cream cheese - approximately 480 calories (yikes..) and coffee with half and half, maybe 20 calories. So for breakfast we have 500 calories.

Then my day got busy, and I wound up having to run out of the office to get to my doctor's appointment. No lunch. I inhaled a cliff bar (200 calories) on the way from the doctor to the gym. Now we've got 700 total.

Once at the gym I changed and headed out on a 4 mile run. We'll call that roughly 400 calories. Then, I lifted for 30 minutes (not gonna estimate calories) and did a 60 minute spinning class (we'll say at least 500)

So that's 700 calories in and 900 calories out. Add that to my BMR, which we'll roughly estimate to be about 1500 calories, and I'm STARVING.

I just inhaled some pizza and in a little while I'm gonna go get coffee. Screw fruits and vegetables.

So the workout...

4 miles "running" and 60 minutes spinning
plus..
lunges with a medicine ball
leg press
calf raises
leg curl
leg extension (which kinda hurt)

My legs are gonna hurt tomorrow

I felt like such a newbie on my run. I hadn't really planned on running when I left the house today, but didn't want to go back to work after the doctor's appointment, so I ran. In my Montrail Hardrocks. They have stiffer soles than my other shoes and my arches have been hurting in spinning, but I very rarely run in these shoes and they're a little shorter than I would like. Well today, my toes fell asleep, on both feet. Half way through my run I was sitting on a bench with my shoes off, text messaging with Doug. Then, I had my nano armband on my right arm, and they drew blood from my right arm today. I don't know if it was the increase in BP in general, or because of the combo of that and the armband, but the spot where they did the blood draw got all swollen and painful and bruised. It still hurts. I feel like a moron. I switched the band to the other arm and that was a little better but it was still hurting. It should be fun to see what that looks like tomorrow.

Getting back to running

In the past week two weeks I've actually been able to run pain-free - yay! And, yesterday I got new shoes, so of course I had to try them out today.

Kona and I headed out for a non-remarkable 3 mile run. But, a little less than halfway through Kona decided to add some excitement. She tried to leap up onto a bridge, missed, fell, and scared me half to death. She's ok - no limping, crying, or anything else. Shortly thereafter, we discovered that aliens have apparently been visiting Chapel Hill...

Random Thoughts from Easter Weekend

- 106 miles each way - on a winding, rolling-hill country road, hardly anything but farms the whole way

- Plans in the works to bike it this summer

- My Grandmother is getting older. Of course she's getting older. But things are changing and it makes me sad.

- Back to work, yay.

- Interviews this week.

- Konagirl <3

It bit me!

The freakish torture device that is the handle on my office door bit me today!



It hits right above my hip bone and practically impaled my tummy :( It's going to leave a gorgeous bruise, I'm sure...

Second post for today - Is it still possible?

I ran a mile on the treadmill today. Yeah, a mile isn't impressive, but I've been saying for the past couple weeks that my aerobic fitness is such that I can do the half marathon. The question has been my legs. Today's mile was just over 9 minutes, which is pretty fast for me, and PAIN FREE.

I'm trying not to get excited because I know it's only a mile, and a flat mile at that...but maybe....

Power Scissors.

Douglas now has a set of power scissors. And a wind-up flashlight. And Kona has a new portable water bowl (the Ruff Wear Trail Runner). These all came to the house on the same day, yesterday. Kona likes her bowl...and Doug just loves his power scissors and wind-up flashlight.

I would like a new gadget. And I would like for it to just magically come in the mail, for free. Maybe a fancy camera. Or a new DVD player since mine quit. One of those Roomba vacuums so I can be lazy and clean at the same time.

If anyone figures out how to make this happen - please let me know.