Resting Today

I've been battling pain in my left shin this week and so today I completely rested it, no running, no tennis, no workout, just  rest. I'm wondering if it is my shoes but I'm not willing to just jump into a new pair yet. I don't have 300 miles on this pair but I'm getting close! Woohoo, I find that incredible!

 

I had a work physical today for my new per diem job and am hoping the extra shifts will not screw with my training schedule. I only have to work 6 shifts a month and with the week I work in California, I should be able to work it out and get my mileage in.

 

Stopped by the gym this morning to check it out, I may go in the morning and do some laps in the pool. Maybe some weight work if I have time! It's time to get back to being serious!

Tuesday Motivation

I think this every time my distance or time increases! Love it!

Changing The World is a Team Sport

I'm a social media junky, honestly. This morning I happened upon a link on a fellow runners page for Charity Miles.  It peaked my interest and I watched the video, surfed the web for endorsements or complaints, and I've decided to download the app from iTunes. I can pick the charity I want to run or ride for, in fact, I can pick a different charity each day. Sponsors will pay the charity per mile I walk, run, or ride. A win-win, in my opinion.

Technology is neck and neck with runners. I have zombies chasing me, I can compete in virtual races, I can be mentored via an online coach, and I can raise money via an app on my phone. My conspiracy theory loving husband would probably say its just another way to track me, but I really don't care of they are tracking my miles, seeing who I am friends with on Facebook. They will know I am healthy, have wonderful friends, and am a runner. <shrug>

A New Cross training experience

First let me say, yes, I ran today, 2 miles per my norm. It was a punishing run or maybe I was punishing myself after over sleeping again. Looked at my stats on mapmyrun and was pleasantly surprised I have logged 214 miles since March. I have also logged 47.5 miles so far this month. Will be a new first when I log that 50th mile in the next few days!

Anyway. We discovered tennis courts near our house and while I have never played tennis, I knew Mark, my honey, had played in high school. I figured it would be 1. cheap entertainment, 2. a lot of fun, and 3. a good form of cross training. (or not). So tonight, we bought some rackets and a can of balls and headed to the courts. Two high school tennis players were practicing on the other court while Mark and I batted the ball back and forth. I was really not too terrible bad! I had to go out of the fence to collect balls I had hit outside (oops) and when I can back, Mark is on my side of the net and the two boys are on the other side. Why of course I'll agree to play a game of tennis with two varsity players, after all I bought this racket tonight! I must be a pro! We actually had a lot of fun and I think we made them laugh as much as we made ourselves laugh. I'm looking forward to the next time. I wonder if I need one of those little tennis skirts. :-)

Had to share

I had to share this article my daughter, Tabetha, wrote. She writes the newsletter every month for Creative Knitting Magazine and this month really touched my heart. I know I've mentioned that when she visited here in July, I broke her during a run and she is just now starting to recover from the injury. I know I also mentioned that she is a new runner with dreams of running the Colorado marathon next year. She is an awesome wife and mother, my best friend, and a very talented knitwear designer. If you run or if you knit, or if you do both like I do, or simply want to enjoy a good read, this article is for you.

And some motivation for today.

Spur of the moment long run

This saying is always one of my favorites, probably because it is so applicable to my life. Today, once again, I turned my alarm clock off and got up when I was ready. Another day of time management work--FAILED. I was supposed to go to the gym today since it was an after long run rest day. Well, you and I both know, no long run happened yesterday. It was late, I didn't make it to the gym, the weather had heated up outside, so I decided to run on the treadmill. At the last moment, I decided to get my long run out of the way. 6 miles, 6 wonderful long miles. A drop in the hat to some but as I ran, as the sweat dropped from my face, I thought back to last year at this time. An old, out of shape, smoker who could only dream of running 6 miles. And today, I ran, I sang, I talked to myself, and I ran some more. And I am damn proud of myself!

I had something else to blog about today, but since I seem to fly by the seat of my pants, I will write that one tomorrow. Today, I will bask in the glory of 6 long and awesome miles.

Time Management failure but I did get two miles in!

Just a little motivation to those who think they aren't runners because they don't run a 4 (or 7 or 10 or 12) minute mile.

 

While I was in Denver, my daughter and I sat down and mapped out the goals we've had and "never found the time" to complete. For instance, I have a half finished novel sitting in my filing cabinet and she has umm, the same (we are two peas in a pod sometimes). We decided to hold each other accountable. We both have, ugh, terrible time management skills. So to compensate and help correct those lacking skills, we spent a considerable amount of time mapping a detailed schedule for each of us with "working on our novel" always in the same time period. If I'm writing, she's writing, that kind of thing. Then we could instantly share out work. So on my schedule, I of course have training time penciled in. Running, cross training, and gym time. My goal was to get up at 8 (or Lord have mercy, before 8), have my coffee, check email, and then get my run in or whatever the schedule called for each day. Mark and I have discussed my riding early enough to run before it got too hot or in the evening after the sun does down, er, it hasn't happened yet. So last night, with the best of intentions, I set my alarm clock for 8AM. Then I read for an hour before going to sleep (my body insists its still a night shifter, what can I do). The alarm went off this morning and I didn't hit snooze because it would have screwed my schedule up so I turned it off completely. Bye bye Tuesday schedule. I slept til 9, piddled around and drank my coffee, answered some emails, made my to do list for the day, ate a bowl of cereal (a rare treat of junky Capt Crunch since I got it on sale and had a coupon so it only cost $.75 for the box), I admit, Facebook time and of course 5 lives of candy crush. Look at the schedule only to realize I had changed my weekly long run to Tuesdays because it fit into our schedule! Lord Have Mercy! No way was I ready to do a 6 miler today, I'm so ashamed of myself. Well, not really, I know I will just flip some time blocks and get it done later in the week so I say I'm bad and move on. I will keep trying though. I miss running outside, I'm anxious to learn the area in terms of running, and I want to umm, finish my novel!

 

On a side note, I ordered a new fuel belt today. I'm so an Amazon shopper. I checked the local sporting good stores around here (and online) and Amazon still beat them especially with my prime no shipping costs!