Run Tally

Today was the last day of August and that means I get to tally up my miles for the month.  When the month started, I had scheduled myself for 107.5 miles.  As of today, I had run a total of 111 miles in the month of August.  That’s a monthly mileage PR.  WOOHOO!!!  I had 4.5 scheduled for today, but I ran that extra .4 mile to bring my monthly total to a whole number.  

In other great news, I registered for 2 races yesterday.  The first one was the Rock’n’Roll Half Marathon that is happening in San Antonio, TX on November 17^th.  My supervisor already told me he’d give me the day before off work so I can get drive down there and go to the expo to pick up my packet and get a hotel room the night before.  The other race I registered for is a 5K called Run With the Heroes and it’s on September 15^th.  If I’m looking at the website for this race properly, I will get some race bling!  That’s exciting!  It’ll be my first race bling.  But, whether or not I get bling, it’s a race for a good cause.  It benefits the Special Olympics here in Texas.  Plus, it supports veterans…and I’m all about things that support veterans because I am a veteran.  Next year, I want to do the Wounded Warrior run here in Texas.  I would’ve done it this year, but I wasn’t expecting it to be $80…so I didn’t have the spare cash to register for it.  But, I’ll be prepared next year.

I got the email from the Capital 10K coordinator yesterday to let me know that registration for the 2014 race will be opening up soon.  I am soooo doing the Capital 10K again.  That was so much fun this year that I can’t wait to do it again.  I drive down one of the streets that we ran on every day on my way to work and I think about when I got to run that street back in May.

So, upcoming races are the Run With the Heroes 5k in September, the Rock’n’Roll Half in November, maybe a half in December (haven’t decided yet and it depends on if I have the money for it), the Austin Marathon Half in February and the Capital 10K in May.  Oh, and I also plan to run the Schlotzsky’s Bun Run 10K again…also in May.

A Sneak Peak @ Next Month's Run Schedule

And boy is it an ambitious one!  I'm starting the randomizing of my weekly long run.  What I decided to do was to write down the numbers 9-16 on small pieces of paper, put them in a jar and then randomly draw them out to assign my weekly long run distance.  So, I will be doing 2 PR's in the month of September that I can see here.  First, I'll be running my longest distance to date: 15 miles.  Second, I've got 114 miles for the entire month scheduled!  WOW!  And I think I'm being at least somewhat conservative with the "during the week" miles.  And then, I'm thinking of starting to run 1-3 miles in addition to these miles when I go to the gym for my twice weekly strength training sessions, so that will add another 2-6 miles each week to my total mileage.  So, I may have a 3rd PR in September...I may PR my weekly mileage as well. 

9/1 – 9

9/3 – 8

9/6 – 6.5

9/8 – 14

9/10 – 7

9/13 – 6

9/15 – 13

9/17 – 7.5

9/20 – 5.5

9/22 – 10

9/24 – 8

9/27 – 4.5

9/29 – 15

Total: 114

Friend Making Monday - on time...OMG!

1.  What is a typical weekday like for you?  

I’m off work on Mondays, so I usually do my weekly long run Monday morning, then I’ll run any errands I need to run, do some laundry and some cleaning (wiping down counters/sinks/tub/toilet, swiffering the faux wood floors, dusting), maybe some cooking for the week if I didn’t do it on Sunday.  I work Tuesday thru Saturday from 2-10pm, so in the mornings the rest of the week, I do my workouts (gym, cycling on the trak stand, running), then if there’s any errands left over I need to do between my workout and getting ready for work, I do that, then I get ready for work and that’s it for the rest of the day.

2.  Name one song that never fails to make you happy and one song that you always listen to when you’re sad.

There are so many songs that make me happy right now so I can’t really pick one.  Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke, Applause by Lady Gaga, Lift Me Up by Five Finger Death Punch, Acapella by Karmin, Wake Me Up by Avicii, That’s What I Like by Kelsey Luck, Dance With Me Tonight by Olly Murs, Bom Bom by Sam and the Womp, Damn You To Hell by Texas Hippie Coalition, 365 Days by ZZ Ward…just to name a few.

As far as songs I listen to when I’m sad…I don’t really get sad anymore.  I mean, I was grief-stricken when Scott attempted suicide, but not really sad.  And I didn’t want to listen to music and wallow in my grief, I just didn’t want to do anything.  So, I have nothing for this part of the question.

3.  Did you watch the VMA’s last night? 

No, I actually didn’t even know it was on…I probably would have watched if I had known, tho.  I saw some highlights from it on Good Morning America this morning and it looked like it was very entertaining.  And I just watched Mylie Cyrus' performance on youtube and OMG, I'm disgusted.  

4.  Share at least two qualities that you possess. 

I’m a pretty good cook…I always get compliments when I cook for others, except for that one time I completely subbed whole wheat flour for all the flour in a zucchini bread recipe…bad idea.

A second one would be I’m a pretty good friend.  I’ll always listen to what you have to say and give you the best advice I can based on my experiences.

5.  Share one thing that you wish you had the confidence to do.

Start an Etsy business selling these fairy skirts I’ve made for myself.

6. Tell us about one insecurity that people might be surprised that you have. 

It used to be talking in front of people and being assertive, however, now that I’ve lost a bunch of weight I no longer fear these things.  In fact, I never wanted to be a training officer at my job, but now I’m thinking about putting in for the position the next time there’s an opening for one.  I’ve been thinking about what insecurities I may have for like 10 minutes now and I can’t think of even one.  I’m not saying I don’t have any, I’m just saying that nothing stands out to me at this time.

7.  If you could be the CEO of any company, which one would you choose to lead?

Probably 24 hour fitness, if we’re talking an already established business…if we’re talking about a business I created myself, I’d want to be CEO of a fitness and nutrition consulting firm

8. List at least three hobbies that make you happy.

*Running

*Cleaning (yea, I’m weird)

*Reading

9.  Is there someone in your life that you wish you could say “I love you” to?  

Other than my family and some close friends, no…nor do I want that.

10.  Share one cool thing that happened over the weekend. 

I sold my old bicycle…I sold it for $20 less than I had wanted to sell it for, but it is no longer in my apartment, taking up space and being an eye sore, and that is what matters to me.

A Bit of a Lull

So, I’ve been a bad blogger the last couple of weeks.  To be completely honest with you guys, I’ve been feeling vulnerable and stressed.  I’ve been eating things I *shouldn’t* eat, for starters.  As far as working out goes, I’ve been just skating by.  All I’ve been doing is my runs.  I haven’t made it to the gym for strength training in probably a month and I haven’t ridden my bicycle, on the trak stand or otherwise, in probably at least 3 weeks now.  I’m still burning 4500+ calories a week which is enough to show some weight loss…however, like I said, I’ve been eating things I shouldn’t be eating.  Taquitos from What-a-burger, patty melts and onion rings with fry sauce from Freddy’s, cabana bowls from Taco Cabana…you get the picture.  I mean, it could definitely be worse.  And it has been worse in the past.  I think I’m still not fully dealing with Scott’s suicide attempt at the beginning of this month.  I’m better because I know he’s recovering and he’s doing well.  His reconstructive surgery went well and he’ll have minimal scarring. 

I’ve said it before and, frankly, this won’t be the last time I say it either…I need to refocus my efforts to stick to my daily food plans.  I need to stop eating things that aren’t included in those plans.  I also need to start making an effort to make it to the gym twice a week. 

I am very happy that I’ve been keeping up with my running, but, while I’m being completely honest here, I think I’m a little burnt out.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not looking for a reason to stop running (even just temporarily) or to run less, nor do I even remotely have plans to do either.  I’m just looking forward to after this week when I will start randomizing my weekly long run.  I’ve been steadily increasing my long run mileage by ½ a mile every 2 weeks.  I’m running 13 miles for the second week in a row this week and then, next week, we go to randomizing it.  And I’ve decided I’m going to schedule anywhere from just 9 miles all the way up to 16 miles.  I haven’t decided how I’m going to schedule the different distances from week to week, but I’ll figure it out. 

Something I haven’t told you guys about because it hasn’t been an issue for me for the past few years is a…a chewing/picking problem.  I would file it under an OCD type behavior because I do it obsessively and compulsively and completely without thought to what I’m doing and, if I realize what I’m doing as I’m doing it, I “feel powerless” to stop myself.  When I was way younger (elementary school age), I used to chew my fingernails.  I managed to stop this in 6^th grade.  However, in dropping that habit, I picked up the new habit of chewing on my cuticles and the skin around my fingernails.  Then, as I got older and hormones happened, I got zits and I could not leave the zits alone.  Could. Not.  I continued both of these habits into adulthood completely unchecked.  In fact, I had someone tell me once to “lay off the meth” as the sores that resulted from me continuously picking at the zits on my face looked like sores that people that use meth get all over their faces and bodies.  A few years ago, I managed to actually stop doing both of these behaviors.  Now, it seems, they have returned.  Ugh.  So, now I have to try to make myself aware of what I’m doing and as soon as I start to pick or as soon as a finger touches my lips I have to immediately tell myself “NO!”  A few weeks of this and I should be okay again.  Another trick I can do that should help is to keep my hands moisturized.  Every time I wash my hands, I need to apply moisturizer.  That will make my fingers taste gross, so that will help.

So, I haven’t been doing a lot of working out beyond running the past few weeks, but what I have been doing is working pretty hard on my apartment makeover/redecorating project.  I’m so very happy with how it’s all progressing.  In fact, the other morning, I was making a list of what I needed to do that morning before work and I could barely come up with anything that needed to be done without buying anything new or taking anything to my storage unit…or selling anything.  That’s a very satisfying feeling to know that I’m so very close to being done.  Then, I’ll have no excuse for not going to the gym or riding my bicycle.  None!  Anyway, here’s some photos of what I’ve done in my apartment over the last couple/few weeks.

"Would You Rather" running survey

WOULD YOU RATHER...

Do a tempo run or hill repeats?

I’ve never done hill repeats, but I’ve done tempo runs.  I really like tempo runs when my hips are aching so much and I can maintain the faster speed for up to 6 miles steadily.  I’d like to try hill repeats, though.  I think they’d be fun! 

Hydrate with water OR hydrate with a sports drink?

I primarily carry Gatorade with me to sip on during my entire run.  On longer runs (7 miles or more), I also carry water so that I can drink that with my gels, my chews or my beans so I don’t get an upset stomach. 

Itch constantly as you're running or sneeze constantly

as you are running?

I’d rather itch because if I sneeze a lot while I’m running, I might pee myself.

Compete in the Olympics as a runner or in another sport?

(What sport?)

As a runner for sure.  That’s my favorite thing to do.

Be a short distance sprinter OR be the energizer bunny, holding the same pace for a long period of time?

Oh, most definitely I’d rather be the energizer bunny of running.  And I’d LOVE to be consistently consistent with my pacing.

Do speed work on a treadmill OR do speed work on a track?

The track for sure.  I do not like the treadmill, it sucks the life out of me and bores me to no end.

Do core work OR stretch post run? (Now do you really do either?)

I wouldn’t mind doing both, but currently I only stretch afterward.

Have no toe nails OR black toe nails?

Probably having black toenails…I can just paint my nails and then you can’t see the black.

Wear an army pack while running

OR wear lead toed boots while running?

I think I’d rather run with a pack.  I’ve had the leaden foot feeling while running and I didn’t like it, so I would hate to have actual leaden feet.

Run twice a day three days a week or

run once a day for seven days a week?

OOO…once a day for 7 days a week!

Have side cramps your entire run or

have leg cramps your entire run?

Side cramps.  I can usually work through those with breathing and straightening out my torso as I run.