Random Update

 Just a quick update for the past couple of weeks.

I "volunteered" to do some on-site support for another team at my company during the first 2 weeks of August.

When I volunteered, I expected to be working normal workdays, and working over the weekend. The schedule that was sent to me showed me working 6:30am-6:30pm Eastern, in Pennsylvania. Starting on a Monday morning.

So, I made the trip on Sunday, July 31, traveled on a Sunday which I hate.

Instead of staying over the weekend like I originally planned, I decided to change my flight and go home in the middle.

This was a mistake. I was EXHAUSTED from the 12 hour days. I got home on Friday night, 8/5 around 8pm and slept in on Saturday. Got up and did all my laundry and packed again for a flight early afternoon Sunday, 8/7. There really was no benefit to going home, and I had registered for a 5K in PA over the weekend that I wound up skipping.

That first week, I did ZERO workouts of any kind.

The second week, I decided that there was no point in staying past 4:30pm when consultants showed up to provide support. We also had a consultant that worked overnight until 8:30am. So, why was I showing up at 6:30am?  I changed my hours to 7:30am-4:30pm and worked out every evening after work. It was perfect.

This week, I'm back in Atlanta for a regular work trip. My flight was supposed to arrive Monday night at 9:30pm but was delayed 2.5 hours - so my sleep was AWFUL that night. I've spent the rest of the week so far catching up on rest. I fly back on Thursday (tomorrow) early afternoon. Instead of rushing around in the morning, I'm going to work out and work from the hotel before driving to the airport. I have to prioritize and get back on track with running and working out more regularly.

Next race: Run for the Roses 5K on Saturday, 8/20

Skipping Races

 OK, full disclosure. 

I was registered to run a local 5K on Saturday morning, and I opted to skip it.  

Was it early? Nope. Start time was 9am.

Wasn't that pretty late for a summer race? Maybe, but it wasn't all that hot (highs have been hovering around 80F).

I've been completely unmotivated to do ANYTHING lately. I also accomplished pretty much zilch on Friday for work.  

So, it's Sunday now, and I volunteered to go to a site in PA for a cutover to our software. My company acquired another company, and getting their factories / warehouses on the same system we use. 

I volunteered thinking that I would be working a factory / warehouse shift. No, it's 6:30am-6:30pm Eastern time Monday - Friday.  This is going to KILL me.  UGH.  So, I've been pretty de=motivated ever since I found that out. I'll do my best, but I'm flying home Friday before 6:30pm.

Anyway, I was at the dentist on Wednesday, and she took my blood pressure after the cleaning / before the dentist came in.  It was 140 / 87.  This is ridiculously high for me.

Even though high blood pressure and heart disease runs in my family, I have NEVER had anything approaching high blood pressure.  Perhaps all of the cardio? So, I am going to start tracking it at home and trying to get my act together and not eating all the things while doing zero movement.

Tap Yard Beer Garden 5K plus I'm Silly

 I'm back up to my shenanigans. 

Last week, I was in Florida Monday-Tuesday for a tour for a project I'm working. I arrived before my colleagues on Monday evening, and I completely skipped out when they arrived at 9pm and wanted me to meet up in the hotel bar.  These two, they will close the hotel bar every night - and I needed a break from that. I've been traveling with them a LOT lately.

I had packed running clothes, but guess what? Yeah, you know.  I didn't get up and run anyway.  It was Florida. In July.  And, I hate treadmill running.

G and I did have a 5K on Thursday night - Tap Yard Beer Garden 5K. It's part of the summer series, and we missed the last one because of Covid. It was HOT, but not Florida hot. 

This race series is usually filled with super fast runners.  The last time I ran it, I was verrry close to being DFL. I am running less consistently now, so I was worried I would be last.  Not that it matters, not that being last is a big deal, but I didn't want to be last anyway.  Fortunately for me, there were a handful of walkers! Woohoo! It was hot, but there were popsickles, followed by beer.

Tap Yard Beer Garden 5K Official results:

44:43 / 14:26/mile

8 / 15 Age Group

142 / 164 Overall Place

Picture from race organizer. I'm on the far right. Plain gray tank.

Also, on Thursday, I discovered that we were registered for the Madison Mini Marathon. I haven't been running enough to complete a half marathon, but the cutoff was 3:45, and I knew I could finish one in that time.  We had also registered for a 5K locally, so there was a decision to make.

I put the decision on G.  He decided we should shoot for the Half.

I actually felt pretty good during the 5k on Thursday night, so I felt positive about that decision.

I booked a hotel (points), packed my bag, and we headed to Madison on Friday (A little over 2 hours from home). The race start was 7am, and I was NOT about to get up and drive that on race morning.

We picked up our packets and checked into the hotel. I laughed because of the size shirt I had selected. We were registered for this race from 2020. The race was cancelled for 2 years, and we were automatically deferred - which is why I didn't realize we were registered until the last minute. I've gained approximately 60 lbs since I registered for this race - Covid stress? Drinking with coworkers too much? Idk, but the shirt did not fit. Not even close. lol

We walk over to a really cute Italian restaurant. It was a beautiful evening, so we ate outside. Then, we walked over to a little ice cream shop for dessert.  I mean, we had to load up for the half marathon the next day, amirite? We got back to the hotel, and went straight to bed. I wanted to be rested up because my daughter and I had tickets to "The Devil Wears Prada" in Chicago Saturday night, so it was going to be a long day for me.

The next morning, we are getting ready for the race. Get up at 5:30am, start prepping everything. WHERE ARE MY SHORTS!?  I mean, I NEVER forget stuff when I pack. My job has me on the road more often than not, so I'm an expert at packing for a trip.  But, Uhhhhh.  Even though I was very specific about which shorts I would bring because of the pockets and such, somehow they didn't make it into my bag.  And I had brought a dress to wear home.  So, I had NOTHING to wear for the race.  Ba-dum-dum. UGH. We didn't pull everything out the night before like usual, so I didn't know early enough to try to find something local. So, G ran and I lounged in the hotel. 

Oh well. Next time. 

Wine Run recap + Covid

 Let's go back.

The weekend after Father's Day, we had 2 back-to-back 5K races.

I skipped race #1 because of insomnia.

Second race that weekend was DC Estate Wine Run 5k.

The race was ALL on grass. Most of the race wound up and down the rows of vines.  This was NOT a good time for me. Then, at the finish, there was a HUGE line for the "free" glass of wine. I've done these wine runs before, and never waited in a line like this. Anyway, we got the wine (maybe our choices, but both were too sweet for me). I was glad I went, even with all of my whining. It was a BEAUTIFUL day, I felt great, I got some steps. I was disappointed that I had to walk most of it, but I can't risk running on grass. I think I've mentioned before, I'm not a trail runner, lol. I keep my feet too close to the ground for that nonsense.

DC Estate Wine Run

53:44 / 17:20 per mile

15 / 29 Age Group

191 / 315 Gender place

I was pretty excited because we had another 5K on the plan for Wednesday evening, then 16.5 miles of races planned over the Holiday weekend (4th of July). I was going to get back on track with more consistent running, and get some miles in over the long weekend. My daughter and I had also planned to see "My Fair Lady" over the weekend, part of the Broadway in Chicago subscription.

Monday, 6/27, G woke up having coughed all night and with a sore throat and headache. He went to work, but then came home and took a Covid test. It was negative, WHEW!

Tuesday, he went back to work. Monday and Tuesday, I ran both days during the day and was looking forward to running the 5K on Wednesday night (6/29).

Tuesday night, I coughed all night and had a slightly scratchy throat. I assumed it was a cold, since Glen had tested negative. 

On a call with the engineers on my team, the engineer in CA told me that her mother had tested positive for Covid. Her symptoms? Sore throat and a headache. 

When G got home, I figured we had better be safe than sorry.  I asked him to take another Covid test, just in case, before we went out in public around a crowd of people. This one was positive. We skipped the race, and he went to the clinic instead and confirmed the positive result.

The next day, I took a home test and got a positive result. I then proceeded to feel worse and worse the next few days.  I barely got out of bed the weekend of the 4th. I'm feeling a bit better now, but I'm far from 100%. 

My daughter was positive as well. This narrows it down to G being the spreader. I hadn't seen her for a couple of weeks, but G took her some packages that had been delivered and spent some time helping her at her apartment the previous week. My son is the only one who has managed to not get it.  This is fabulous news. We've been wearing masks at home around him, and avoiding contact. In October 2019, he had a cold and wound up in the hospital for a week.  He does NOT need to catch Covid. 

This weekend, we still have the tickets for the final week of "My Fair Lady", but it isn't looking like we will go. It's a late night, and I'm not really up for it. I have a 5K on the plan Saturday morning that I may or may not feel up to going and walking. The one thing I want to make sure we do is tickets for a White Sox game (freebies from a work vendor) on Saturday afternoon. We will all be testing before tomorrow afternoon just to make sure.

Father's Day 2022

 This Father's Day weekend had a late start.

I live about a 5 hour drive from where the rest of my family lives (parents, brother, sister, nieces and nephews). My daughter had to work over the weekend, so she wasn't joining on the trip.

She was planning to come by on Friday evening, so we decided not to drive down until Saturday. 

(She didn't show up on Friday, oh well).

Since we weren't going to leave until Saturday, I decided to sign up for a 10k on Saturday morning. The race on Saturday was one of my favorite race organizers' races, so it was a no-brainer.  It was the Kenosha Lakefront Run 5k/10k and ended at a pop-up Biergarten

The weather was perfect - 55-60 degrees and breezy right along the lake.  We ran a 9-1 run/walk interval. Since there was a 5K and a 10K, I was at the back of the pack. That was fine, I know that these guys wait until the last finisher. They did wait until the last finisher, plenty of medals, plenty of beer, plenty of water and snacks. But, it's Monday now and the results are on the website.  No results for me. Oh well. I wasn't running a blistering pace, but I was apparently the only person in my age group - I should be awarded 1st place! 

Kenosha Lakefront 10K

6.24 miles

Unofficial time: 1:29:17

Unofficial pace (Strava): 14:18/mile

I hadn't run a step since I ran a 5K last week, so I was perfectly happy with this pace. My goal was to be under 90 minutes, and I made it!

After getting back home, I showered quick and drove to my parents' house.

Father's Day 2022 was the usual - burgers, brats and dogs. Great day with family. 

I drove home last night and off to Atlanta for work tomorrow.  

I’m Counting Calories Comebacks

 I am a 48 year old woman with a history of eating disorders going back 30-35 years. It is HARD for me to give up “dieting”. I feel like I’ve been on a diet my whole entire life. 

When I made the decision to give myself some time to figure out what not dieting looks like, I still went back and counted. For months. I counted calories. I counted “points”. I counted carbs. I counted protein and fiber. It doesn’t matter what the metric is, it causes a problem if I try to “not diet” diet. 

So. I’ve been noticing on trips with my coworkers, they are dieters too. The women are not, but the men are. Maybe it’s that the women are younger? I’m not sure, but it’s so refreshing to be around women who don’t talk about calories or carbs constantly. 

This week, I went on a 1 day trip with some of the guys on my team. We went to dinner at Ruth’s Chris. The topic of “I’m counting calories” came up. I ignored it. Nobody ordered dessert, so I didn’t. One of the women on my team who wasn’t there is always the instigator to order dessert. 

The next day, the vendor brought in lunch, including desserts. I had my tiny half sandwich and salad, and went and grabbed a brownie. Nobody was eating these amazing brownies. I made the comment that they were really good. 

Guy next to me says nah, but is clearly low carb (he pulled the bread off his sandwich). 

Guy across the table: oh I can’t eat that, I don’t have enough calories.

AAAARRRGGGHHH!! 

This time, I can’t help it. I have to say something. 

Me: “If I could get back the time I thought about calories or carbs or dieting, I could have conquered the world”

Sad, but true. 

Pre-Travel Run

 I traveled to Chattanooga yesterday afternoon. I was planning to get up early, run, work half a day and then head to the airport. 

I overslept. 

I woke up at 5am and decided to rest until 6am. I woke up at 8. 

Instead of bagging the run, I bagged a couple of hours of work. 

Distance: 3.11 miles
Time: 43:17
Pace: 13:53/mile

Does Anybody Blog Anymore?

 I had completely forgotten that I had a blog back in the day.

I was reading a book this week where the main character was blogging about everything that happened to her, and it triggered my memory. I decided to see if I could remember the login information for my old, abandoned blog here.  Lucky for me, it's all Google now. Google knows all. Easy peasy, I know how to log into Google.

Anyhow. 

I have no clue if anybody still reads blogs, which is fine. I'm putting this out into the great void mostly for myself.

Just to fast forward for anybody who is actually reading this...  I'm living in the northern 'burbs of Chicago. I'm working a role where I am remote 100% of the time, with travel most weeks (my preference). My daughter (28) has moved out but is still very close (see her at least a couple of times per week). My son (27) is still at home. My son has epilepsy, oddly didn't have any seizures until he was 21 but haven't gone more than a couple of months in a row seizure-free since then. The seizures have made it impossible for him to hold a long-term job. 

I know that motivation comes and goes, but lately I have zero motivation and zero give-a-damn about it.  I *want* to run, in theory, but I ebb and flow.  I *want* to workout, but I ebb and flow. My eating is ridiculous.  I just cannot diet.  I really can't.  All the eating disorder history - it has finally dawned on me that dieting is at the root.  

Since I've been trying to get back to eating when I'm hungry, not excluding any foods, etc - I've found myself eating way too much of the stuff that I had previously denied myself.  

It's a whole thing.  

And, even though we all know that the number on the scale doesn't determine anything about you - my history causes me to freak out about the way my clothes fit and the number on the scale when I'm dumb enough to check it. 

SO, I shall be talking about all of that here.  

The last race I ran was on vacation in Florida in February - Ave Maria Half Marathon.

I ran 4:1 run/walk intervals until the last 3 miles when I went to 3:1. I hadn't trained enough (at all), but I felt great throughout the entire race. That week, I thought I was going to make a comeback.  I did, for a little while, but then I got weighed down by the cold weather that keeps lingering around here.  

So, I'm planning to run tonight after work - I'll report back here either way.

Ave Maria Half Marathon

2/12/22

Official Chip Time:  3:17:01

Official Pace: 15:03

Kegs & Eggs 10K - March 14, 2015

This was another race that I registered for in early January.  We wanted to get a longer distance that day, so we got up that morning and went for a 5 mile run.  I was struggling a lot on this run.  The weather was great, no rain even though it was in the forecast.  Still, I cut our distance short. Our plan was 7 miles, but I just didn't have it in me.

Race start time was 11am and location was Party Fowl in the Gulch.  A race that starts and ends at a bar?  Yes, please!

Race started and off we go.  Uphill.  AARGH!
This was a 5K and a 10K race.  The 10K was 2 laps of the 5K course.  That made it tough for me.  I knew that all of the hills we were fighting the first time were going to be even tougher the second time.  There were no big, steep hills, just the long gradual type.  I hate them all, I'm going to have to get used to them if I'm to stay in Nashville (I am).

Official finish time:  1:12:44
Pace:  12:03

The other thing I haven't mentioned before that is making running tougher for me this year - I've cut pasta and bread from my diet this year (with the exception of pizza, less often than usual).  This was the original intent because I tend to overeat those things, but I'm pretty much all low carb without even realizing I was doing it.  I don't know if I'll continue on the low carb diet for the long haul, but I am down 25 lbs since January 1 and I don't get the mid-afternoon slump at work anymore.  I'll be keeping it for a while longer anyhow.

After the race, we drank our free 16oz Shock Top and the small portion of free Hot Chicken.  It was raining at that point, and everybody was huddled under the couple of tents that were set up.  We decided to head home and get dry.  Maybe the Cinco de Mayo race put on by the same organizer will have better weather for the post-race party.

Next race:  Sunday, March 22

Music City Half Marathon

Tom King Half Marathon, or the race that wasn't

Fresh off of my disappointment at Dry Creek, I found out that the Tom King Half Marathon was taking place on March 7.  This one was downtown, only about 15 minutes from home and finished in LP Field.  I love running into a stadium.  I don’t know if everybody feels that way, but it’s a huge rush for me.  The race start time was 7:30am, so I would have plenty of time to make my hair appointment at noon. 

As the week progressed, we had an ice storm on Tuesday, March 3 followed by a couple of very cold days (but sunny).  On Wednesday, they decided to postpone the race time by one hour, to start at 8:30am.  Eek.  It wouldn’t be nearly as much time, but I could still make my hair appointment.

On Thursday, they cancelled the Half Marathon and turned it into a 5K only.  It was warm, 50’s? on Friday but the run took place partially on the greenway system, so they were being cautious.  I can’t believe it!  I didn’t register until just a few days before the race, and now it was CANCELLED!  Aargh.  They tell us they are going to give us a “deep discount” on next year’s race.  That’s not helpful for my goals this year.  G and I decide that we’ll get up early and run a few miles before going downtown and running the 5K.  When the alarm goes off, I basically decided NOPE.  Just so frustrated, we wound up getting up and having a leisurely Saturday morning.  I definitely was not going to run after my hair was done, so we decided to run on Sunday.

Sunday morning, we got up and had a leisurely morning of coffee and breakfast.  The weather was WARM, in the upper 60’s.  We got dressed around 1pm and went out to G’s car to head out to the trail at the park.  The car wouldn’t start.  He drives an hour to an hour and a half each way for work and just started a new job recently.  He needs his car.  My son has a job 40 minutes away from home and just started HIS new job recently.  He needs the Explorer.  I had committed to meeting with the Ops team out at the site, I could not have one of them take me to the office or I would miss that meeting.  I needed my car.  So, we decide to try and change the fuel filter, since that’s what it sounded like to me.  I made the decision that we should do that before we run, in case we need to go back to the auto parts store before they close (Sunday).  So, we change the fuel filter and the car starts up but is still throwing a code (check engine light).  G decides that he’ll just have to call off on Monday and take the car to the shop. 

Now, it’s 2 hours later and we head to the trail and run 10 miles.  Starving, hot, and ready to get home; but the miles are done.

This Spring is conspiring against me, but I will not be beat!

G and I got up early on Monday (0445) and lifted weights and have followed through every day this week except for Tuesday.  The car cost $415.  Ugh.  I just spent $2k on my son’s Explorer in January with the understanding that he will be paying for any additional upkeep on it.  These cars are going to break me!

Next race is tomorrow, 3/14:  Kegs and Eggs 10K. 

The plan is to get up and run 7 miles before heading downtown for the race.  Race start time is 11am.

Dry Creek Trail Half Marathon - March 1, 2015

Back on February 22, the Dry Creek Trail Marathon was scheduled but cancelled due to weather.  The trail was still covered in ice from an ice storm earlier the previous week.  They cancelled it at the last minute but rescheduled for the following weekend, March 1.

I found out that runners could register up until midnight on February 27 and wanted a good long run that I wouldn’t skip.  Never mind that my daughter was coming to town for the weekend, we decided that we could run it in the morning (8am start time, approximately an hour away from the house) and still be back before my daughter was ready to do anything else.  She tends to sleep until noon anyhow.

My daughter is as much (or more) of a procrastinator as I am, so she didn’t show up to the house until around 6pm on Saturday the 28^th.  We decided to cook some burgers on the grill and hang out at the house.  We watched a couple of movies and got to bed sometime after 11pm.  The next morning, the alarm went off at 0500.  Ugh.  I think I finally got up at 0555, since we needed to leave the house before 0615.  Weather was awesome, but the weather man was calling for rain.  I hoped it wouldn’t rain, dressed for it anyway and went out the door.  G had my breakfast ready for me, and I ate it in the car on the way. 

We get to the race, which is waaaaay out in a wildlife refuge northwest of the city.  There were 2 restrooms, and 1 was broken.  Luckily, the turnout wasn’t that great, so the line moved pretty fast.  Picked up our numbers and got ready to run.  It was at this time that we were told there would be an award for, among others, “Muddiest” (ick) and “Most whining” – I was robbed, that one should have been mine. When I heard muddiest, I was questioning my decision to run this thing.  I HATE getting muddy. 

After everybody gets through the restroom line, it’s time for the race to start.  We take off, and we’re dodging ice and puddles through the first 4-5 miles.  After the second aid station, it was a SERIOUS trail and covered in leaves and straight downhill.  I was certain that I was going to plummet to my death.  This is NOT my thing.  That is where every single person passed me.  Around a mile later, we’re back on the regular trail and it’s straight uphill for a full mile and a half.  If they had been monitoring the race, this is where I would have won the award for whining.  At mile 7-8, you get to run right past the finish line for an out and back to the finish.  I contemplated calling it a day and “finishing” then, but we had come all this way.  So, out I go.  M-I-S-E-R-Y.  It rained the entire time we were running, with the exception of about the first 5 minutes.  Not a driving rain, just an annoying drizzle. 

I think it wouldn’t have been so bad if it hadn’t been so wet, but I learned that trail running is most definitely not my thing.

I finished dead last with an official finish time of 3:18:26.  I finished.  I’m calling it a win.

Hot Chocolate 15K - 2/14/15

The husband and I ran this race on Valentine's Day.

As always, I enjoyed the Hot Chocolate race.  It was just cold enough that hot chocolate was exactly what I wanted at the finish line.

My official finish time was 1:49:59, or 11:48 per mile.  Temps were in the 40's, so perfect running weather even if I was whining about being cold before the race started.  Ha!

I've waited too long to post, so I don't remember a ton about the details of the day, but I'd run this one again...

Last week was an icy mess in the Nashville area, so we couldn't run outside without being in fear for our lives (from slipping and falling, or from a car sliding into us).  I took the opportunity to sign up for a free week at Anytime Fitness and logged some treadmill miles.  Yuck!  I'm glad I got the miles, but I despise running on a treadmill.
Luckily, this week, it's all been melted away and we're back on the road.  It snowed a little bit last night, but the sun melted it away like cotton candy this morning.  :)

I'm ready for Spring, Can I say that again?

I'm ready for Spring.

The next race on the calendar:  Kegs and Eggs 10K on March 14.
Start and Finish at a bar - should be my kind of race.

Zoo Run Run - 1/24/15 + Frostbite Half Marathon (or not)

The weather here has been so perfect compared to the weather I'm used to in the winter.

January 24, the husband and I had signed up to run the Zoo Run Run in Nashville.

January 23, my 21 year old daughter was giving her roommate's cat a bath and got bit.  The cat was not up to date on his immunizations, and she didn't really know the cat.  She was bathing the cat because her roommate and the roommate's father was convinced that the cats had fleas (they did not).  Trust me, this is a part of the Zoo Run Run story, or my excuse for a poor finishing time.  Ha!
I convinced my daughter to go to the immediate care clinic on Saturday to get the bite checked out and the rash that started all of the problems that was all over her arms and legs.

The Zoo Run Run 5K had a starting time of 3pm, but the weather was just too gorgeous to skip running on Saturday morning.  The husband and I went to the park and ran 8 miles on the trail late Saturday morning at a 12 min/mile pace.  This was a pretty good pace for me right now, working my way to a faster pace.  We actually ran the last mile at around an 8 min/mile pace just to give G an idea of how fast he needs to run the 5K in order to get his goal finish time of under 25 minutes.

After we finished the 8 miles, we scarfed down some snacks and headed over to the zoo.  The starting line was way too many people and not enough space.  Strollers were welcome and did not start at the back of the pack, nor did the walkers.  So, getting started was a nuisance, weaving in and out of the walkers.  I was not too bothered by it, since I didn't really have a goal except to run hard.

About 0.25 mile into the race, RING RING goes my phone.  It was my daughter, so I answered.  I knew she had been at the urgent care clinic and wanted to hear what the doctor said.  When I answered, she was in tears and could hardly talk.  Ugh.  So, I talked to her for about 10-15 minutes and walked.  Rabies shot required since she didn't want to turn the cat in for observation.  The rash was eczema.  The roommate did not believe the doctor because apparently she knows better than the doctor.  Nobody here is on my side.  I'm miserable here.  Blah blah blah.  So, my daughter has some choices to make, long story short.  Anyhow, talking her down took some time, but it needed to be done.  She has not been in a very good place, and she's in Indiana alone right now.  My finish time was affected, but I think it was still a respectable time...  That's OK, there will be other races.

Finish time:  37:08
Pace:  11:56/mile


On to the Frostbite Half Marathon, February 7.
I didn't run it.  :(
I've been feeling a sense of general malaise the past 2 weeks.  Last week, it culminated in some stomach ickiness.  I thought it was the way I was eating, finishing up the Super Bowl snacks last week. Now that it's gone, I think it was a bug of some kind.  I slept half the day Saturday (the best weather of the year) and feel like a different person ever since.

However, if you were to look up my results online, you would see that I ran the HM in 1:59:18.
The husband decided that since I did all of the training with him, I should get a finish time too.  He carried my bib in his pocket while he ran.  Hopefully, I'll come close to that pace at the Music City Half next month.

Next Race:  Hot Chocolate 15K, February 14

Mid-January Update

I'm getting better at this blogging.  At least it hasn't been months (years?).
My intent is to post something at least once or twice per week...

Last year ended with a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate my daughter's 21st birthday (3 months later), straight to my parents house for Christmas and home to bake cookies and eat junk food on NYE.  Our plans were to go downtown Nashville for NYE, but the 20* temps kept us inside where it was warm.

No idea what's happening in this picture - Las Vegas 2014

January 2, I started out the year in a "Biggest Loser" competition.  I'm running 3-4 days/week, doing an exercise video (Piyo) 2-3 days per week and tracking every single bite.  Yeah, I've been consistently working out 6 days / week for 2 weeks in a row. This has to be some kind of record.  I'm eating 1,700-1,800 calories per day, so trust me I'm not starving myself.  I had a lot of quick, water weight to lose the first week, but as of this morning, I'm down 14.4 lbs for the month.  I'm in first place.  :)
Now, to keep the momentum going (although not quite that fast).

Since I've been concentrating on this silly weight loss contest, there hasn't been a ton of news around here.  We got new bedroom furniture (yay!) and a sofa for the bonus room (yay!).  And, we've stayed home a lot.  We went for brunch exactly one time to meet a friend from out of town.

I have one race scheduled for January, a 5K next Saturday.  This will be the first 5K since last summer. I have to somehow learn how to push a little harder and see what my current 5K time really is.

Happy 2015

To make "New Year's Resolutions" or not?

While I hate the idea that I can make a big change in my life because of the magic of January 1, I do get it.  I've recently had a lot of time off work and gotten out of the habits that were going to get me to my goals.  The beginning of the year is a good time to get back into consistency because there are no holidays for a while and who wants to waste 2015's vacation days so early in the year?

So, my Resolution this year is "Consistency"

Consistency in working out.
Time to stop being hit-and-miss.  I have got to make myself do it.  I have a bad habit of creating a plan and then letting myself get away with ignoring the plan on days when I just don't feel like it.  Of course, there are situations where you have to give yourself a break, but this is rarely my problem.

Consistency in my eating.
This is pretty self-explanatory.  I am hit-and-miss here, too.

Consistency in spending.
A good salary will hide a lot of bad habits.  I don't have debt.  I do save, but I could be saving so much more if I planned ahead.  One of the biggest habits I have to break is going out to eat several times a week.

Consistency in sleeping time
I've been coming to work later and later, and I need to stop.  Early to bed/early to rise and I can leave work early, too.  Since the husband goes to work earlier than I do, my sleep in the morning isn't all that restful anyhow.  My intent is to force myself to get up and work out when he gets up for work.  This is a 2 hour change.

Happy New Year!

DNF

On Friday, we headed down to Huntsville to run the Rocket City Marathon.

I got out of work later than planned, so we didn't wind up leaving the house until after 4pm.  Straight to the Expo around 6:30pm (all the vendors were packing it up).  G did wind up finding a pair of shoes for $45, and I got a couple of $10 tops.  Not too shabby.

After we left, straight to the hotel to check in before eating.  I was exhausted and every place was PACKED, so we decided to try and find a place to eat away from the hotel.  Yeah, we wound up at the Olive Garden. Not just any Olive Garden, this place was gross.  When my food came, it was unrecognizable and had clearly been microwaved (dried food stuck to the plate.  At this point, it was around 9pm and I was starving, so I ate it anyway and we went back to the hotel.

Start time for the race was 7am, so we quickly went to bed.

Wake up time 5am.  Embassy Suites was awesome and started their breakfast service at 5am for the marathoners, so G went down and grabbed breakfast for us from there.  My stomach was still NOT happy (shock) from dinner.  Add to that the fact that I had eggs with breakfast, and I never eat eggs (should have eaten my go-to bagel with peanut butter and banana which I brought with me).

G was having a lot of pain in his back, he did something to it on Friday and was hoping it would feel better.  So, whining the entire time, we got dressed and ready to go.  Our hotel was less than 2 minutes walk to the starting line.  At 6:45am, I decided I had better settle on what I was wearing and pin on my number.  Apparently, we wasted too much time because we started to head down to the start at 6:59am.  As we were walking to the start line, we heard them start the race.  Running for the starting line after the rest of the runners have started?  Not my idea of a pleasant way to start a race.  Add to that the fact that I was wearing short sleeves and it was a breezy 30ish.  UGH.
So, G takes off his shirt and gives it to me.  He then picks up a discarded shirt from the side of the road to wear.  That guy.

As we're running the first 5 miles, I'm OK but not feeling great.  Stomach is iffy.  G is hurting with every step.  We are both burned out from training too much this year.  So, when he suggests that we bag it, I was quick to hop on board.  We stopped at mile 5.7.  I don't regret it one single bit.

Changed the plan for the rest of the day and had late lunch at 2pm.  Then, we proceeded to drink all the day and night long.  This was the last place.  Feeling no pain.

FUN

The next day, we had tickets to the Ryman with my sister and her husband. Good time, and I really enjoy that venue.  I will post no pictures of that night because I look like I drank the entire day before.  LOL

Monday, we decided not to get up early to work out since we were out late on Sunday.

This morning (Tuesday).  Nope.  4am alarm was ignored and we both wound up oversleeping for work.  This is not a big change for me, but G is never late for work.

My intent is to bag the idea for tomorrow.  G is off work Friday, and our flight to Vegas is 6am Saturday morning.  Yeah, I'm throwing in the towel for this week, except for a run with the run club tonight if we both get home early enough.

The week after Christmas, I'm working and G is off (planning to have his daughter for the week).  Maybe that will be the rehearsal for early morning wake-ups.  We won't have to be up as early since I leave for work 1.5 hours after he does.

Planning for 2015

2014 has been a huge year for me.

HUGE

1- Got married.

2- Trained for 4 marathons, ran 2 (so far, running #3 on Saturday)

3- Injury - Plantar Fasciitis  - thus only 3 marathons rather than 4 completed.

4- Accepted a new job

5- Moved from Indiana (where I only lived for 1 year) to Nashville, TN

6- Married for 3 months when I started working in another town.  Only saw each other on weekends for 2.5 months before he got moved.  Stressful

7- BABY MOMMA DRAMA.  Yuck.

8- Moved my daughter into her own place (IU).

9- Bought House #6.  Owned 2 houses for a month (more stress).


I'm exhausted.
Once I get through the next couple of weeks:

Rocket City Marathon 12/13

Concert with my sister and BIL 12/14 (this is important because I will already be exhausted from "celebrating" the marathon:)

Las Vegas (DD turned 21 in September, taking her to Vegas)  12/20-12/24

Christmas with the parents  12/24-12/27

One of DH's kids for the Holiday break:  12/27-12/30

New Year's celebration (I'm hoping my daughter will stay with us through her school break)


THEN, I will be ready for a serious break.



2015:

NO SPRING MARATHON

I will run Half Marathons, though.

Lose this weight gain that I managed to maintain all through 2014.

Stop going out to eat so much.  When I do the math on how much we spend per month on groceries and going out to eat, it's massive.  Could be related to the weight maintenance.  :/

More overall fitness.  I'm starting with PiYo, which I managed to be suckered into buying a couple of weeks ago.  I'll do that on non-running days starting the first week of January.

Perhaps I'll sign up for a Fall marathon, depending on how it's going when Summer gets here.

I'll make these more specific before the New Year rolls over, just putting it out there for now.  I need a year of low stress.

How my 20 Mile Long Run Became 10

Plantar Fasciitis.

I've been fighting it for several weeks now.  My foot will feel better for a while, then it will start hurting so bad I hardly want to walk from my car to my office.  Since I'm expected to spend part of my time at work knowing what's going on out on our production floor (concrete), this poses a problem.  I refuse to drive a golf cart at work.  I can't bring myself to do it.  We don't have trikes, so off I go walking on the hard concrete floor.  This can tend to make my foot hurt more.  Ugh.

We took off on Saturday afternoon on the "People Trail" in a nearby town.  The goal was to run as many miles as possible while G's daughter was at her school book fair (3 hours).  The original goal was 20 miles, but I didn't want to get up at 5am to run them before taking her to the book fair.  We got in maybe 2 miles before my foot started hurting.  A few more miles, and my leg started hurting from compensating too much.  In the end, we wound up cutting the run short at 10 miles with plans to make up the other 10 miles on Sunday morning.

Yeah, Sunday morning didn't happen for me, either.  G had to run those without me.

Luckily, I should still be OK for the marathon on 5/31, since I just ran one in April.  Unfortunately, I feel like I've let G down in his training.  He should have done a lot more miles than I was able.

I felt pretty good last night, so we ran 6 miles after work.  That's 26 miles in 3 days for him.
Today, ouchie foot.  Aargh!!

Any suggestions for dealing with plantar fasciitis are welcome.  Bear in mind, I'm quite stubborn and probably won't stop running.  I may take a week or two off after the marathon, hopefully that will be enough.

Next race:  Noblesville Mini Marathon - 5/24

Lazy Weekend

Lutherun 5K was on tap for Saturday.

Then the alarm went off.

Let's back up.  My husband and I have been dealing with some minor drama in our lives (something I swore I would never be involved in again, but here we are).  Don't worry, it's not between us.

Anyhow, I calmed that with wine on Thursday evening.
Then, Friday night, we had date night (more alcohol and much yummy food).

Saturday morning, 7am was not happening.

Saturday afternoon, we ran across the mess that was my son's bedroom.  So, we spent Saturday evening cleaning my 19 year old's room (no running, no workout).

Yep, I did that.

Mess, I can handle.  Stink is a different story.  He may not be happy about it, but next time I'll bet he thinks about cleaning it himself.

Sunday morning, it was storming.  I run in the rain, but not in a thunderstorm.

Sunday afternoon, champagne brunch.


The plan is to get a run after work today, since the weekend was a bust.  Now, it's in writing.

Throwback Thursday

So, getting back into the habit of blogging, I'm going to try to post every day when I can  -  at least a couple of times a week when I can't.

For Throwback Thursday, I went back to when I first created this blog in 2007 and grabbed the first picture that I posted here.

I had captioned this picture "What Happened to my Waist?"

Seriously?  I'm young, I'm fit, and I just won a trophy at a 5K.  And, I'm COMPLAINING.
Hopefully, I've learned to be a bit more kind to myself since then.  I try.