Friend Making Monday & 100 Mile Challenges

This week in running is rough so far.  2 out of 2 runs have just felt hard.  Yesterday’s 5K, I started off fine at a sub-11 min pace, but then dropped to 11:30-ish for miles 2 and 3, giving me the 11:18 average for the whole race.  Plus, I just felt like I was struggling to keep myself at that pace where last Sunday’s 5K I EASILY kept a 10:30-ish pace for the full 5K.  Then, this morning’s 8 miler was a slog.  I did good the first mile at 12:21, but it didn’t feel easy to me.  And it just kind of went downhill from there, really.  My last 2 miles were almost 14:00 each.  Oy.  But, I did it.  And, guess what!?!?!?!  I hit my 100 mile goal for the month of September.  Now, that does NOT mean I’m done running for the month.  Far from it.  I have about another 42.6 miles scheduled to run before the end of September.  I’m really excited to finish up this month and take a picture of my running log and post it on here with my official total of miles for the month.  I’m excited to do it all over again next month too.

And next month, not only am I buying into the #100Octobermiles challenge (I have plans to do this for every month of the year, collecting all 12 belt buckles that will then be displayed in a shadow box on my running wall), but I’m also participating in the ROCKtober 100 Challenge so that 100 miles (it will be more, of course) I’ll be running next month will all be in honor of breast cancer awareness.  In fact, I bought the “official” shirt for the ROCKtober challenge.

i got the shirt because in the month of october i can wear it
under my uniform shirt at work and plus it'll make a great
gym shirt!

I’m looking forward to this coming weekend.  I have the NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness) charity 5K walk.  I raised over $100 in donations, so I earned a participant shirt and access to the post-walk BBQ party.  YAY!  Also, I’m walking as part of a team (TEAM SHERIFF…just like the running group) and we made pretty cool shirts that I’m excited to wear.  When I get it, I’ll be sure to post a picture of it.  Myself and the team “leader” designed it ourselves and it came out pretty awesome, if I do say so myself.  Anyway, the NAMI walk is this Saturday.  Sunday, I have another 5K!!!  This one is the Schlotzsky’s BunRun.  It used to happen at the end of April and used to also offer a 10K option.  However, they moved it to the fall and gave its time AND its course route to a brand new run called the Sunshine 10K, which I ran.  Anyway, when they moved the BunRun to September and to a new location, they dropped the 10K.  I had to think long and hard about whether I still wanted to run it.  In the end, I decided I did want to run it, so I registered.

I *wanted* to run this little local 5K put on by a mom’s club in the town I live in, but there was a snafu with Active.com and the price went up 24 hours before it was supposed to and I wasn’t about to pay $40 for a small, local 5K, no matter how much I want to do it.  I mean, heck, it’s the Tiara 5K…how great is that?  And it is small, so I might actually have a chance of placing in my age group, even with as slow as I am right now.  But, not this year.  Instead of the Tiara 5K, I’m going to do another virtual race!  It’s only $25.  And it’s a pretty funny medal.  It’s the Running Dead virtual race.  Since I have a 13.1 training long run scheduled for next Thursday (I’ll register for this race when I get paid next Monday), I’m going to do this one as a half marathon.  YAY!  Even though I don’t like zombies or the TV show The Walking Dead, I saw this medal and just had to have it…so I will.

if you just have to have this medal too, go here:
http://www.willrunforbling.com/the-running-dead-virtual-run-glow-in-the-dark/
to register

I would like to talk about my progress at the gym.  Since resigning up at Planet Fitness last Thursday, I have gone to the gym 3 times.  YAY!  I’m super proud of myself.  Sure, I’m just doing the 30-minute circuit training area, but it’s still strength training!  Don’t judge!  Everybody’s gotta start somewhere.  I figure I do more than enough cardio, so I skip the stepping stuff that you’re *supposed* to do between each machine and just do a circuit of the machines.  There is hardly ever another exerciser in this area at the times I go to the gym, so this isn’t a problem to do.  Since I skip the stepping stuff, in the same 30 minutes, I can make 2 rounds of the machines, which is what I did the first 2 trips to PF.  With yesterday’s trip, I made 3 rounds of the machines and then added 3 sets of 15 reps on the back extension machine at about 130#’s.  I will probably hit the circuit area again this evening sometime before bed and then again after tomorrow morning’s 7 mile run.  Wednesday, what I would *like* to do is to do 3 rounds of the circuit area then come home and do my Bob Harper’s Yoga for the Warrior.  We shall see if that happens (the yoga part, that is…I can guarantee the gym part will happen…unless I sleep too much that morning…haha).

______________________________________________________________________________

And now onto this week’s Friend Making Monday questions.  I submitted a list of questions to the hostess of this fun weekly activity.  Hopefully she’ll feature them sometime soon.  I want to put together a couple more lists of questions and submit them to her and see if she uses them.

1. If you were a city, which city would you choose and why?
Hmmm…I think I would be New York.  If I could get away with not sleeping (NY is the city that never sleeps) and just do things and be busy 24/7, I would.  Also, then I would have access to Central Park and I would run there every day.  Plus, I would LOVE to run the NY marathon.

2. What are your ten favorite foods?
Ooo…I like this so much better than just what is your favorite food.  My top 10!!!  Squee!  Okay, here we go:
- almond butter and preserves sandwiches on sprouted whole grain bread
- Noosa yogurt
- my family’s enchilada casserole recipe (I’ll be sharing this recipe soon)
- grilled cheese sandwiches
- eggs
- pizza
- bacon cheeseburgers
- Chick-fil-a anything
- Panda express honey walnut shrimp
- Frito’s (post-race, these are awesome!!!)

3. If you were a candy bar, which candy bar would it be and why?
This is a real thinker.  Hmm.  I don’t remember what they’re called but the chocolate bar that has the pockets of caramel inside…I’m a hard shell on the outside, but all soft and gooey on the inside.  Haha!

4. If you were to change your name, what would you change it to and why?
Astrid Olivia Hammond…Astrid is one of my favorite literary characters (from the book White Oleander), Olivia because that is my favorite girl name, Hammond because that was my family’s name before my grandpa was adopted illegally and they changed his name.

5. Do you prefer Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter?
Not summer.  I think, due to running, that winter is my favorite, closely followed by spring and then fall.  Summer is my least favorite, except that it’s perfect for going to water parks.

6. If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you want to have?
I would have a computer or tablet with a battery that never dies, running attire, and available edible foods

7. Share your favorite material object that you already own.
I think my running scrapbook.  It shows all my accomplishments and therefore holds a lot of meaning for me.  Next favorite would be my running medals.

8. What item that you don't already have, would you most like to own?
A house.

9. If you could choose one vacation destination, where would it be and why?
Ireland…but then, I have already chosen it as my friend Amanda and I will be going there [finances permitting] next year late summer/early fall.  Why?  Because everything about Ireland is enticing.  So rich with history.  The countryside is gorgeous.  There are so many castles and other historic sites.  The pubs!  The sheep crossing the road in flocks!  There’s just so many reasons I want to go to Ireland.

10. If you were to create a slogan for your life, what would it be? (example: eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we all die)
“Anything is possible”  My friend Patricia gave it to me for Christmas last year when she custom ordered a medal rack for my race medals that had that motto on it.  I love it.  And it’s so true.  Anything is possible if you just believe it is.