Walk/Run

Started today off early!  And after a horrible night’s sleep, I might add.  Alarm went off at 6:15 and I hit snooze until 6:55.  I got up, started my coffee and my oatmeal.  At 7:30 I left to go drop the car off at the mechanic.  While I was hitting snooze, I noticed some odd noises coming from my neighbor’s apartment (this is the neighbor that I’ve called the police on four times this year due to domestic issues).  When I’m walking out to my car, I notice that said neighbors are loading up a U-Haul truck!!!  OMG!!!  Could this be my lucky day?  So I drive to the mechanic and wait for them to open at 8.  I drop the key and walk the 1.5 miles back to my apartment.  When I come home I’m walking up the back stairs to my side of the building, which walks me right past the neighbor’s door.  I notice that their doormat is gone.  OH HAPPY DAY!!!  No more wall punching and screaming matches at 1:30am.  No more front door kicking at 11:30pm.  No more calling the cops and having my adrenaline go sky high and not being able to sleep.  I’m so happy right now.

Anyway, the walk home from the mechanic’s was G-R-O-S-S.  I didn’t check the humidity, but I would guess it was AT LEAST 80%.  I felt like I needed a squeegee when I got home to get the stickiness off of me.  Blech!  I had said yesterday that I was going to use my Garmin for the walks from and back to the mechanic, but changed my mind this morning and decided to just use my Nike+ Running app instead.  I figured, no point in running down the battery on “just a walk.”  So, my activity for today will be a total of 3 miles walking and 7 miles running.  Nice, huh?

When I got home from dropping the car off, I ate my banana.  

A few hours later, the mechanic shop called to let me know the car was ready so I got ready and headed back out the door for another 1.5 mile walk.  It wasn’t as humid, but it was still yucky out, just in other ways (warmer, windier).  But, happy I got that little bit of extra movement in.  While it felt good to go for a walk, I would be lying if I said that I wouldn’t have rather been running those miles.  About ¼ to ½ mile into the walk from the mechanic to my apartment, that very thought popped into my head.  But I’m not about to try and run wearing worn out WALKING shoes, wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and carrying a purse.  No way Jose.  It took me 29 minutes to walk the 1.5 miles home and 28:30 to walk the same distance back to pick up the car.  I was by no means speed walking or power walking.  I was just walking and it was nice.

Then, I went to get my car registration renewed but the line was out the door, so I decided I would go to the mall and come back.  I went to the mall and bought a flowery blazer jacket, a skeletal Betty Page t-shirt, a dress, 2 more bras (omg, I have a bra ARMY in my closet!!!), and some earlobe plugs.  I stopped at my jewelry store and talked with my favorite sales lady, Mercy, for a little bit before I realized I needed to go so I could meet a lady that I connected with on one of my virtual garage sales on Facebook about a black dress with white polka dots.  So I said goodbye and said I’d see her next Wednesday when I came to pick up my rings from being sized.

The dress I was buying (brand new, with tags still attached for only $6!!) was very cute and I’m sure it will look great on me.  I will take a picture of me wearing that dress along with the other dress I bought today and of me wearing the blazer and Betty shirt together too…probably on Sunday when I have nothing besides a 15 mile run (uh huh…you know you’re crazy when you call a FIFTEEN mile run “nothing”) and some cleaning because the pest control guy is coming on Monday to spray for my silverfish infestation.  I’m finding those little bastards everywhere!  Last night it was in the kitchen…tonight, the shower!  Ugh!

So, I had some down time that I didn’t know what to do with so I went back to the mall to look at this party dress I had seen, but failed to try on.  I tried the dress on and ugh…disaster.  It was too small up top and waaaaaay too short on the bottom.  So then I wandered the store and found 2 things that I liked, but neither one fit.  So I ended up in the purse section.  I found 2 purses I really liked.  An Anne Klein leopard print on calf hide tote and a yellow Nine West large satchel (I think that’s what it’s called).  The AK was $109 but 25% off.  The NW was $66.75.  I decided I didn’t need to spend that much money and put the AK back.  Then, I was wandering the party dresses in the women’s department across from the purses.  The sales lady in the purse department saw me and asked if I had scanned the purse because it was most likely way less than what the tag actually said.  I said “oh really?”  So then I started talking to her about the AK purse again.  She said that I would save even more if I used my Macy’s card (another 20%!).  So I grabbed the AK purse again and headed for the register.  The total after tax: $109.43…that’s only 43 cents more than the tag price of the AK purse before tax.  So, basically, I got the NW purse completely free and didn’t pay any tax on the AK purse.  I love awesome deals.

Anyway, as I’m leaving the mall, I’m noticing that the pressure in the air is making my head feel like it’s going to explode and it’s still humid out.  I’m thinking that if I can get up early tomorrow morning that I’ll have time to run before meeting up with my friend Amanda.  I get in the car and I’m driving home.  And then I start telling myself that it’s a really bad idea to wait until tomorrow because if I don’t get up on time, I won’t be able to make up the run because I’m busy all day tomorrow.  So, I tell myself that I HAVE to run tonight.  Then, I start getting excited to get home so I can go run.  I get home, I check messages real quick and then I check my saved 7 mile route on MapMyRun to make sure of my turn around point and then I get everything ready and head out the door.  I passed 2 people the whole 7 miles.  One was a kid finishing up his run within the first 10^th of a mile of my run and the other was a guy that was walking when I was around mile 4.75 of my run.  And I passed him again at about 5.5 miles when I was on my way back.  Shortly after I started my run this evening, I was all “oh yea, this is great, so glad I’m doing this.”  And my time for the run was good, an overall average of 11:07.  Nice.  I felt good the whole run.  My super tight left hamstring/gluteal muscle didn’t bother me and my right shin wasn’t bothering me either. 

I totally blasted my weekly mileage PR out of the water after I completed tonight’s run.  36.9 miles!!!  WOOT WOOT!  That’s just amazing to me.  Not sure what next week’s mileage will be, but I’m planning to keep it kind of simple.  I have my last 2 September runs on Sunday and Monday…a 15 miler and a short 2 mile BTG run.  I’m thinking that my 2 “regular” runs will be something like 6 and 4.5 and then another 2 mile BTG run.  So, I’m looking at “just” 29.5 miles next week…hahahaha!!!  Sunday I’ll work on my run schedule for October and get that posted.

Something I forgot to mention yesterday happened after I got done with my gym workout, while I was in the locker room.  Some women change clothes completely when they get done working out for one reason or another, going straight from the gym to work is one of those reasons…and was this lady’s reason.  She stripped down completely and then sat down on the bench.  That’s right…no undies and no towel between her and the bench.  GROSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!