Second Annual Galveston Sand Crab 5K/10K

Today, I signed up for the Second Annual Galveston Sand Crab 5K, which is a night time beach run on Saturday, August 13, 2011. This year, I decided to do the 5K instead of a 10K (what I did last year), because I am not even close to the same condition (I can barely run a mile) that I was in last year (could run 6 miles without injury and had one during this run). I am also going with my coworker Amy (different Amy from last year) who I have run with a couple of times out at Memorial Park. I wish Mal could be there with me, but she's leaving for Grenada the week before. Okay, that just made me sad writing it.

The race start time is at 8:30 p.m. this year instead of 9 and the packet pickups are at multiple stations in the days leading up to the race. The big issue last year was that everyone was getting their packets starting at 7 p.m. (because that's when they opened) and it caused a huge line, which further caused a start time of 10 p.m. So, I'm glad they are going to start earlier this year.

It's a fun race, but hot and hard running in the sand. And with a start time of 8:30, I might not have to use my head lamp. Plus, it has free beer at the end of the race. Last year, they ran out when Jodi and I finally made it to the front of the line. However, we were running a 10K and this year, I'm running a 5K. So, I better get my beer!

On a side note, I have been a nazi on my 2 sets of 25 squats, 50 front crunches, 30 side crunches (each side), and 20 situps. I did this yesterday morning and this morning. Both times, I was running late and didn't feel like doing anything. So, I'm glad I forced myself, especially since I didn't run those days. But I'm running tonight with Mal and then off to see some wizard action.

Things Go Bump in the Night

Last night, I was watching TV on the couch and feeling upset that I had made a crappy dinner (except for the grilled rosemary potatoes...delicious) that smoked out my whole apartment (poor doggies and Tucker). I looked outside about 8:30 p.m. and saw that there was still some light. I calculated how much time had passed since that awful dinner and said, "Screw it. I'm going running." What could go wrong with smoke in my lungs and a crappy dinner in my belly?

I quickly got dressed, did some light stretches, and put together my running belt (with ipod). I haven't been able to use my ipod, because Mal has been with me on all of my runs. However, this time, I would use it. I've been reading a lot of running articles (and a book) lately to help motivate me. Yesterday, I read an msn article (can't find it) about how ipods are being discouraged during a run, including New York trying to ban technology on the streets. For instance, you can't use your ipod when biking or running or text while walking across the street. For ipods, the danger is that you would be so distracted by the loud music, you wouldn't hear the car coming at you or the attacker waiting behind the tree. Well, I hope that my eyes would be on the lookout for the car and me heading in to a street with a car coming at me, but I get the attacker part. So, I put one headphone on and turned down the music so that I could hear outside noise, as well. This is something I learned with snowboarders. The other issue is that the fast tone of the music will get you so in to it, you will miss cues about what your body is trying to tell you (like that your knee is really hurting) and slower music might make you want to slow down, almost dragging.

My plan was to do a quick run around the loop (like what Mal and I did on Sunday), because it was getting darker every second. I also didn't want to really be on the streets at night alone even if I had my mace on my running belt. I set my musak to play all and walked to the stopsign where I picked up the light jog. My goals were to actually run the whole loop without stopping and if I can, work on form.

Another item that I am reading (mostly at night) is a book called Complete Book of Woman's Running.

Right now, I'm in a weird gray area of jogging to running, but can't quite do the training plan they suggest. However, the training plan that I can do is more for people who are starting to walk for the first time. I proved that I can walk, walk for miles and miles without worry. I'm just having issues running, mainly because of the heat. Their suggestion is to forget about the miles right now and focus on the minutes until you build endurance; the training is to walk 10 minutes, run 30 minutes, and then walk 10 minutes for cooldown. However, I'm going with whatever the loop allows. I started at 8:40 p.m. See above comments about running alone in the dark.

I also wanted to work on my running form using the suggestions from the book. It says to keep your arms at 90 degrees, relax them, and don't have them above your chest (that I already knew thanks to Jillian). I had to be reminded about heel strikes and moving your foot forward. I also focused on my body. It suggests to keep your back straight, with just somewhat of a lean forward (not too much, because then you have bad form). I didn't quite understand the visual, but you are supposed to imagine that a helicopter is above you, dangling a hook at your forehead (or something). Now, you have to line up your body with the hook. Yeah, I didn't get it either, but I got the basic idea. Fixing my stride will have to come later once I get used to running a mile without stopping.

Even though it was still quite heated at 8:40 p.m., it was much more pleasant than my Sunday run during the daylight hours. I was alittle scared to run in this area by myself, but there were runners everywhere, running the same loop that I was running. Some of them were solos, some of their were pairs. And it made me feel good to be out there running instead of sitting on the couch wishing that I was running. What's great about my area is that I'm near the Medical Center, which is really quite pretty at night with the lights. So, it was a nice bit of a scenery for my run.

One thing I noticed was that all those runners I saw came from the other direction. I understood why when I got to the last stretch; there were hardly any lights. So, it's best to start in that direction (going left out of my complex) when it's still somewhat light and then end up on the other side where there are lots of lights to run in the dark. I will remember to go counter clockwise next time (not sure when that will be again).

I also tried to listen to my body during the run. When I got a heave in my breathe, I slowed down. I picked up the pace when I felt comfortable again. So, the music didn't hinder me in that way. Although, I did notice that when Nina Simone came on, I felt like slowing down. This prompted me to change the music...no big deal. I was also very aware of my surroundings, looking back every so often to make sure that the boogie man wouldn't get me (or Kavin's henchmen).

This turned out to be a great accomplishment run for me, because I ran all the way (without stopping) back to the stopsign where I started to run. I understand that night running has a lot to do with this accomplishment. I remembered being in high school and I was supposed to pass the running test (run a mile under 9 minutes) in order for me to be on the basketball team. I couldn't pass it (minimum of 13 minutes). So, my mom and I spent every night running the truck to prepare me for my next test. I could finish that mile in 7 minutes at dark, but I couldn't during the middle of the day in September. It was the heat. I just finished another article from Runner's World (this month is all about Half Marathons) about running in heat (will reference that in future posts). This guy ran the Hottest Half in Dallas (August) and barely could finish it, but it made him stronger when he tried to run in the East Coast during the summer months (what he originally thought was hot). I just need to get out there and run during the heat...easier said than done.

I walked back to the apartment complex with Kanya West's Golddigger playing. I decided to use this to my advantage (another good reason for ipod usage) by tightening my ab muscles and adding a shake to my walk (think Shakira). I was tired when I got done and a little sore, which worried me at first, because the book says that you shouldn't be sore immediately finishing a run. I realized this morning when I was doing my mini workout that the soreness was caused by the squats that I did the previous morning.

It was 9 p.m. exactly when I stopped running, which means that I didn't run a full 30 minutes (or hell, didn't walk 10 minutes), but it was something. I got back in to my apartment, finishing my workout at 9:04 p.m.

Also, on a side note, I did two sets of 25 squats, 30 front crunches, 30 side crunches (each side), 20 situps, and 20 pushups. I'm not good at pushups, mainly because it hurts my wrists. I need to find something better for an arm workout. Any suggestions?

Easy Weekend Exercising

Okay, my whole plan was to run all weekend long. Really. I swear. I even brought home my ipod earphones just for this reason. However, when Saturday rolled around, I just didn't feel like running in the morning. It was even cool, but that was due to the storms coming. Yes, I blame it on the rain just like Manilli Vanilli.

Mal came over again on Saturday to have a girls night and spend the night for a Sunday morning run. It seems that I look forward to our sleepovers every weekend (too bad, she's leaving me this weekend). When she got there, we took the dogs to the big open field to throw the ball for a bit. It's a great mile roundtrip (roughly...okay, maybe not really, but the mile police won't get me) walk. Plus, I get an arm workout by throwing the ball for the kiddos. The problem is that my dogs only last about 10-15 minutes. As an added bonus, I get more of an arm workout on the walk, because the dogs are everywhere on the leash, pulling my arms. Lady was absolutely horrible this weekend. She pulled my arms so much. Thank God, Mal was there to take 1 dog and take both dogs when I had to clean up their business.

Later on in the evening, Mal really wanted to go running. She was jonesin' for it. However, I just spend almost $80 for a really great pedicure and was not about to put my cleaned up feet in tennis shoes and take a chance of wrecking them during a run. So, I compromised in walking after our delicious Asian/Texan dinner. We also decided to take the dogs again on the walk, which included walking to just past the Kroger's. This is a great distance and also included an arm workout. Did I mention that Lady was awful on the leash this weekend?

On a side note, we were walking back and this really creepy truck making this creepy, squeaky sound slowly drove by us. That put us on a alarm and I grabbed the mace. This area is not the greatest after dark, especially if you are a woman. He pulled in to the driveway and turned around, heading back to us slowly. I said, "Should we run?" We were close to the entrance to my apartments. So, we did. And then we stopped running when we saw that he was picking up someone at the nursing home. As I was slowing to walk, Lady ran right in front of me and slammed in to my bad ankle. I limped all the way home. It's still hurting. I don't care if we looked like scared morons and received an injury for really nothing, you should always be aware of your surroundings and be prepared.

Sunday morning, I woke up Mal. I should have woke her up earlier, but she looked so peaceful sleeping. Unfortunately, it was getting hotter. So, at almost 9 a.m., we stretched and headed out the door. We walked passed the main stop sign and then started running. As we neared the main intersection, I said, "Let's run around the block since that's a mile and we will have more shade." And we did. We ran and ran and ran, but I forgot the back part, which was all sun. I had to stop for 20 ft of walking before we picked up the run again. As we reached the Texaco by my apartment, I stopped, but Mal yelled at me to keep up the run until we got to the entrance. So, I did.

Mal this whole time was not very motivated to run. I had to get her to walk to the stop sign so we can get more of a cooldown. And then she started wittling down. She agreed to keep walking to the bus stop. When we got to the bus stop, she agreed to go to the main intersection and then, she agreed to go around the block again (but walking). I was okay with walking. However, some where along the last part, I started to run again and we did all the way to the entrance.

High-fives all around for us. We did two loops around the block (which is really longer than a traditional block). I was sweaty and tired, but felt good. I need more of those types of runs.

This morning, I tried to do Jackie's Extreme Abs, but the cable guy somehow messed up my DVD player hookup. It was too early to figure this out. So, after my shower, I did 2 sets of 25 squats, 50 front crunches, 30 side crunches (each side), and 20 situps. I really need more exercise though.

Next up, Mal and I are running on Thursday (for real this time) and then off to see the new Harry Potter flick. Wish me luck with all the nerds.

Walking is Considered Exercise...I Swear!

Mal and I had a plan, a big plan to run yesterday. We planned it all week. We would run by her house, she would cook me a delicious healthy meal, and hten we would go to the country bar to get some more exercise (but really to drink back on the pounds we just removed). However, our plans didn't quite go so well.

Fearing that I would have a repeat of almost heat exhaustion like the last time we running by her house, I was relunctant to get there very early. Needless to say, I got there by 7 p.m. and our other friend that was going to join as the country bar was already there. She was not planning to run and Mal already had food going since I was later than usual (even though I told her that I would be there between 6:30 and 7...whatever, I digress).

So, the plan changed. We would have dinner and then walk and then go dancing. We had food and it was not very good (not Mal's fault). Then, we went for a walk hitting the outer loop first and the inner loop second. It was a nice after dinner walk and it's still exercise.

Afterwards, we got all gussied up and went to the "trendy" country bar where the men only saw a farm on a television. I got to dance and sometimes fast and spinning. I was out of breath and sweaty. So, it's still a workout regardless of what you think. I had fun. I can't wait to do it again, but plan to go somewhere else.

Running on Independence

This weekend was the time to celebrate our country in its fight for independence against England (tyrants...yeah, I said it) to become our own country (July 4). Thankfully, July 4th fell on a Monday and even better, we had the friday off. So, I had a 4 day weekend and a plan to run a lot. Yeah, it didn't happen quite like I wanted, but not as bad as it could have been. Normally, I'm drinking and skydiving all weekend and then watching fireworks.

Thursday
Thursday evening (at 6:30 p.m.), MaloRee and I ran by her house. We walked up to this little area that had a pond (one side was closed off) and ran the outer loop, then the inner loop. Mal thought it was the uglier side, but it could've been worse as far as scenery goes. It was also a nice, quick warm up to get the muscles heated. However, our main goal was this 0.75 track a mile or 2 away from her house. The plan was to run it 3 times...yeah, 3 times. So, we walked over to the high school where the track is and there was a lot of people around playing soccer, hanging out, or stupidly doing what we were doing...running.

By this time, I am getting really hot, but I didn't think much about it since it was 7 p.m. when we got there to start our run. The theory would be that it should be cooling off at some point. Well, yes, it did cool off for areas that had shade. We didn't have the finer things in life since most of our run was directly in the sun.

As soon as we hit the track, we started running. I was feeling the heat and wishing I had sunglasses to ward off the sun that was directly in my face, but I kept on running. About halfway through, I had to stop for water (while waiting for this considerate lady to move out of the way so that I can get my water...note very high sarcasm). We picked up the run again after we walked from the water fountain to the corner. We ran until we reached the point at where we started. At this time, cue dying, heaving, and stopping to save my life. Gosh, it was so very hot. We walked for a while before we picked up the run again. I stopped for water, we ran, and then we stopped to walk again quickly thereafter, because I felt dizzy. Heat exhaustion was on its way. So, we walked the rest of the way to the starting point and then headed home.

Overall, it was a good workout (even though, I felt like a wuss for not making it around twice). Plus, we got catcalled at, stared at (the guy almost crashed in to the gas tanks), and honked at on our walk home, which any form of flattery no matter how annoying is a good thing. That night, Mal made us apricot pork chops that were delicious and then we went to see Bad Teacher (had only 1 beer). It was not a good beer nor a great movie.

Friday
Friday was not a typical exercise day, because I WENT SKYDIVING. YAY! I had finally had enough keeping out of the sky and went with my friend Simon to jump. It was different going to a dropzone that was not my home; however, under the circumstances, it had to work. Even though we only got 2 jumps in, they still felt great, awesome, almost orgasmic even. It's been a LONG time. And it's always a good arm and leg workout. The first one was just a freefly jump where we docked a couple of times and I got used to doing all this again. The second jump sucked, because it was an emergency exit (supposed to be a 5-way freefly jump). The 3 guys in front of me pulled out the door and so did I. Simon kept on going and I was wishing that I did the same thing instead of playing with my canopy for 10,000 ft. I've done that enough. We tried to get on another load, but it didn't happen.

Sunday
Mal came over, because we planned to go out to dinner with some friends that night. She turned to me and said, "Want to take the dogs for a long walk, get some exercise?" I couldn't say no. So, we took the dogs to the big open field (about a mile roundtrip) and threw the ball. Naturally, they only lasted maybe 12 minutes. It was good to have an extra hand to help with the dogs. And it was a good little walk.

July 4th Running
Since Mal stayed the night, we had a plan to run in the morning. Little did I know that it would be me making this happen. I woke her up at 8 something in the morning. The temperature was hot, but not unbearable like on Thursday. We got dressed, stretched, and then headed out the door for our run. Now, I have mapped this run out on google maps, but I haven't yet run it since it's been so hot. It's 1.8 miles to Hermann Park from where I live and the Marvin Taylor Exercise Trail at the park is 1.98 miles.

Mal and I walked the 1.8 miles to the loop in the park (and yes, Mal, it is 1.8 miles...I checked again). As soon as we hit the park, we started running. The track is a nice pea gravel type of track, which is easy on the knees. They had the rest of the loop blocked off and then we started running inside the park by the golf course. There was mass confusion, because there were no markers or loop this way signs. We almost ran in to a building area that prohibited runners. We had to circle back and then went this other way, which cut the loop in half. I had a quick stop when we probably got to a little over 1 mile, which was AWESOME. I ran a mile without stopping or dying or a combination of both. I even said, "Let's run again til we get to our starting point." And we did. Since we didn't do the full loop, we probably only did 1.25-1.5 miles. Without markers, we are not completely sure. Wait, I take that back. I just I looked at the map and it is 1.5 miles total for half of the loop.

Then, we walked back for another 1.8 miles. When we got close to the street that we turn on to get to my apartments, I said, "Let's run to the street." And we did.

What a great run/walk it was and then we rewarded ourselves with a well deserved swim in the pool (doing water exercises in there, too) and a nice, healthy breakfast with egg whites, asparagus, onions, and feta cheese. Yummy.

Our plan is to run again on Thursday night, have vegetarian fetticini, and then go out to Whiskey River for some country dancing. I am going to try to run beforehand or at least do my Extreme Abs video. Something.

Extreme Abs

I was going to run yesterday morning after I took out the dogs. However, I woke up later than I expected and it was already getting hot by the time I took out the dogs and walked to the grocery store in crappy flip flops that gave me blisters (and all in my PJs). So, at least I got in a 1 mile walk with 2 bags of somewhat heavy groceries on one arm and a 12 pack of coke on the other arm. This counts as an arm and leg workout to me.

Later on in the day, I decided to bust out Jackie's Extreme Abs since my DVD player works again. I can't express how much I love this DVD. It's quick and it hurts. She has such beautiful abs and I really need to get in shape. I have decided that I will do this workout every morning instead of my other morning routine. However, today (my first morning) was canceled. I got up early enough to take care of this quick workout, but I had to leave. There is something wrong with my car and I wasn't expecting the guy to be there so quickly. I am going to try to do this video when I get home, but I may have to run a great deal of errands when I get off work. Tomorrow for sure unless something else bad happens. I just knocked on wood.

Interval Training Kicks Butt...and Legs...and Everything Else

I was planning to run outside on Wednesday; however, I found out that I was wrong. I would have to walk to the running trail that is next to the Courtyard Marriot. What I thought was the running trail at the Double Tree like they said they had in the brochure is actually the golf walkway. My bad.

Since I didn't feel like walking over there to run, I hopped on the treadmill again. This time, I decided to do interval training set up by the machine. Normally, I do not like to have machines control what I'm doing since you saw how well that worked out for the world in movies like the Terminator or Maximum Overdrive or the TV show, Battlestar Gallactica. However, I wanted to try something different than just to run for 3 miles and I didn't know what I was doing, needed guidance. So, I let the machine do it for me and will take my chances to fight the good fight in the end.

I selected the button and put in my weight (eeek) and age; the program automatically set it up for an hour again and I stuck with it. Interval training started out walking at 2.0 mph with an incline of 0 and then moves to an incline of 3 (still at 2.0 mph). After 2 times, I realized that I needed to customize it. So, my walks became 3.0 mph with an incline of 1 and my runs became 5.0 mph with an incline of 3. At the end, when I started to get tired, I decreased the incline of my walks to 1 and then even later, the speed became 2.5 mph. I kept this up for the full hour and had a 5 minute cool down walk at 2.0 mph.

Throughout the workout, I had That 70s Show, Scrubs, and Seinfeld to keep my mind occupied. Unfortunately, I believe I snorted when I started laughing out loud. Don't judge me. It was funny.

I was sweaty, tired, and sore when I got off the treadmill; I could feel that my legs were jelly. I burned a total of 410 calories (give or take 10 calories) and ran/walked 4.30 miles (give or take 10 miles) within the 1 hour, 5 minutes. This is not bad for me. I looked over at the lady riding the stationary bike (which I was thinking of trying) and she only burned a little under 200 calories for 5 miles. I have no idea how much I actually ran since it was on intervals. I think I was switching every 2 or 3 minutes, but not sure. Although, I could feel myself getting faster with my run.

After the treadmill, I stretched out my legs and then lifted some weights. I did 3 reps of 20 using the 15 lb dumbbell of the arms behind my head arm curl thingy (don't know the technical term) standing on the bogo ball for an extra core workout, 3 reps of 20 shoulder curls using the 5 lb dumbbell in between the arm curl thingy (the last rep was 10 front and 10 back), 3 reps of 10 arm raises using the 5 lb dumbbell, and 3 reps of 20 butterfly raises using the 10 lb weight. I stretched out my arms and headed upstairs to get ready to go out.

My reward included my coworkers taking me to the brewery and the distillery. Needless to say, I didn't work out on Thursday due to the massive hangover that invaded my head, body, and soul. I'm going to try to workout this evening when I get done with work. Wish me luck!

These are some pictures of me at the brewery. And who would want to actually live here with a view like that? I mean, for real!

Oh It's On

I am back in Grand Junction and I can't believe the weather. I mean you can actually run at 5 p.m. and not take a chance with your life. I walked out of the hotel in the mornings to a wonderful 57 degrees instead of 80 (with humidity). I didn't know that places like this existed in the middle of June.

This trip is a little different for me since I'm staying at a new hotel (the Doubletree) and it does boast a couple of exercise improvements over the Courtyard Marriot (normal place I stay). One of the big differences is the gym; Doubletree has an actually nice gym with new equiptment. Each machine is fit with its own individual TV and there are more machines available. The other notice of difference is that there is an actual running trail within the hotel grounds whereas Courtyard has it outside of the hotel, next door.

I got out of work early since my training was done, took care of an errand on the phone, and then headed to the gym (it was still early). I did some quick stretches, turned to a channel that I liked (Seinfeld where Elaine's alter ego, Susie is created), and started walking at 3.0 mph with an incline of 1. Whenever I start to run on a treadmill, I notice that it gives you a certain time period that they are expecting you to run and mine was 1 hour. I decided that I would attempt running/walking for the full hour. I walked to 0.25 miles and then increased the speed to 5.0 mph. I ran (and felt good, too) until 1.10 miles on the actual treadmill distance). I decreased speed to 3.0 mph so I could walk until I reached 1.25 miles. I increased the speed to 5.0 mph and then somewhere around 1.45, I increased it again to 5.5 mph before I had to stop at 1.60 miles to walk. I did this for the rest of the time: walk 0.25 miles, run 0.25 miles. Whenever I ran, I started with 5.0 mph and always increased it to 5.5 mph for the last tenth of the mile. I did the last mile walking at 3.0 mph.

I also want to point out that I watched The Looney Tunes Show, which was hilarious. A tasmanian devil escapes the zoo and ends up becoming a dog called Poochie for Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck (yeah, they live together) and it had all these characters from lots of Looney Tunes stuff. I noticed that the guy running in the gym kept looking at me everytime I burst out laughing. Then, that ended and it turned to some weird animation of Wil E. Coyote (my favorite super genious since he has the best first name EVER). I had to change it to South Park in which they were playing the You Got Served episode. Hence, the title, because they say that throughout to denote that the dance off is on. So, I felt it was appropriate.

My goals were to run 3 miles and work on running/walking for a certain amount of time (in this case, 1 hour) instead of actual miles . I accomplished both of these goals. I ran a total of 2 miles (2.15 miles exactly) and walked the rest until 1 hour was reached. I ran/walked a total of 3.80 miles and burned 372 calories. Yes, that's right, I did 3.80 miles in 1 hour. When was the last time I did that? Or really ran that much?

However, my euphoria of exercise accomplishment didn't last too long, because I saw the scale and decided to see what my weight was "just for fun." It's more like "just for torture." And naturally, my weight was 150 lbs. This hit home, because I was at 137 lbs when I got sidelined with my ankle injury back in October. And to add insult to injury, I have also dealt with some serious emotional stress since January that caused me to eat anything sweet like cakes, cookies, ice cream, etc. So that coupled with not being able to exercise at full strength, it's fair to say that I've gained some weight. Now, I'm no Jabba the Hut (which I was well on my way), because I have had sporadic exercising since then (i.e., physical therapy and small amounts of running before my car accident) and I started eating better when I noticed that my skin started expanding and rolling over my jeans. So, 150 lbs is actually pretty good considering, but it explains why I'm having trouble fitting in my pants. And I'm tired of not fitting in my jeans.

Okay, got off on a tangent...right, back to the exercise stuff. I'm still happy that I did that much exercise yesterday, including doing 2 sets of 25 squats that morning. And speaking of morning, I worked out this morning, as well. I should probably write about it in tomorrow's post (planning to run that trail outside after work), but just in case I have another bodily injury on my way home from work (yes, I knocked on wood), I'm writing it now before I forget. It's no secret that I can't breathe in this state and has caused many a sleepless nights. I'm always up super early and I have seen this yoga lady on PBS at 5:30 a.m. (wasn't sure if she was on at 5 a.m. and she wasn't). So, I decided to do some stretching this morning. I missed the first 10 minutes, but I still got a great deal in with this lady since she moves fast. She's an ex ballerina and a great deal of the stretches were doing them ballet style. It felt so good. I can't wait to do this tomorrow morning. Afterwards, I did 2 sets of 25 squats, 50 front crunches, 30 side crunches (each side), and 20 situps.

All in all, I got my motivation finally to get my arse in shape and it was that stupid scale in the Doubletree hotel gym. So, it's on...

First Run Back With Dreams of a Distant Past

I have finally decided that my back is good enough to start running; however, I made this decision in the worst part of Texas Summer, including a heat wave of sun worthy proportions.

My friend Mal is back from Grenada and we made the decision to run together yesterday for the first time. She's been waiting impatiently for me to get better so we can train again and join the Houston Hash. I'm not doing my first Hash without her, so I need to get back in the game. Our first time was Memorial Park (old familiar for me) at 5 (and 5:30 and then eventually 6). My job was to bring her an extra pair of shoes since she left hers at the house really far away. That was my only job. I grabbed my new running belt, mace, keys, phone, credit card, and drivers license. My only job was to bring the shoes. I left the house at 5:15 p.m. in the middle of high traffic time and getting from my house to Memorial Park during this time was a real bitch. All of the freeways and streets were packed with people trying to get home. In my opinion, the lights are shorter during this time further congesting the roads. I was almost there, turning on the street that takes me directly in to the park when I pulled out my phone to give her the bad news...I forgot the shoes. Normally, I would just head home to get the shoes, but it took me about 45 minutes to get there when it was a 20 minute drive and the roads were just as congested going the other way. My one job and I spaced out. I told her that we could just walk the 3 mile loop, but she only had on socks and wasn't going to walk in socks or barefoot. So, she left.

Since I just spent a frustrating car ride to get there, I wasn't going to waste the moment to at least try to run. I parked by the 3 mile marker and decided to go my normal clockwise (since there is WAY more shade that way). I did a quick stretch and walked to that marker before I started running. Wow! It's been awhile. Maybe it was the fact that my thighs are sore and burning from the 50 squats that I did that morning and the morning before, maybe it was the heat (oh God, it was completely unbearable and it was 6 p.m.), maybe it was my neck (which I have an all new injury where I can't even turn my head...no idea what happened there), or maybe it was not having my partner that has been running motivating me, but I just couldn't get in to the running. I was already walking before I reached the 1/4 mile. I AM ALREADY WALKING. This reminded me of the first ever time that I put shoe to pavement (before I even thought about half marathons) when I could barely run. Well, this was no different. I was out of breath, hot, exhausted, sore and it was not even a 1/4 mile.

When that marker showed up, I did run and planned to run to the 1/2 marker. I actually blew past that at some point, because I never saw it. I started walking somewhere on the track and did a few more quick runs before I nearly passed out trying to get to the first water fountain. I ran a little more and then walked and walked until I reached the 1 mile marker. At this point, I'm not sure how many times I actually ran. I did some quick ones and tried to stay in the shade as much as possible even if it added a litte more track. By the time I reached 1 1/2 marker, I gave up completely on running. I just walked and walked and walked struggling to get to the next water station. So, I think that I ran a mile, but I can't be sure.

Some advice to Memorial Park: More stations at least during the Summer and try to shade your water stations that you do have.

Now, normally, I'm all for any exercise no matter what; I am out there walking. However, I wasn't worried about walking 3 miles, because I probably walked 10 miles in a day when I was in London. I walked everywhere, several miles a day and sometimes carrying a 20-25 lb weight on my back (not to mention carrying a bag on my arm full of goodies). I've been walking around my complex with my dogs (the dog park is roughly 1 mile roundtrip). I was worried about running and running I could NOT do. Actually, at one point, I had to fight back vomiting, because it was so hot (this while just walking). So, I just walked by the trees just in case, but nothing happened. It was actually kind of sad. Before all these injuries, I was running 3-4 miles in this heat and doing a total of 6 miles.

The other issue was my neck. I have no idea what's going on with it, but it hurt. When I was running, it felt better (walking just made it painful), but I couldn't get my body to run that much. I struggled to make it to the 3 mile marker and back to my car. I didn't even stretch; I just got in and blasted the AC. Yes, I know you aren't supposed to do that right away, but I didn't care...it was freaking hot. And then I remembered the lady from Shut Up and Run telling us, "No excuses even if it's hot." Yeah, it's easy for someone to say that who lives in Colorado and not Texas. Texas is HOT. I mean, I got done about 7 p.m. and the temperature was still at full blast of 97 degrees and that's not including the heat index or humidity levels.

I wanted to get up at 5 a.m. this morning to just run for 30 minutes, but I couldn't. My neck was in bad shape. However, Mal and I do plan to run tomorrow. I wanted to set it up for the morning, but I forgot that my new awesome furniture is getting delivered. So, I guess we are running in the heat again. UGH! Wish me luck. I hope I don't die or vomit or both.

Slowly Getting Back

I have finally made the decision that my back is well enough for me to pick up exercising and training for that half marathon. I haven't ran this week, mainly because it is just super hot here right now. By the time, it somewhat cools down, I'm just settling in or I'm going out for the evening. And I thought about getting up early (5 a.m.) to go running, but haven't actually done it. It's still an option, because I'm not the best of sleepers anymore.

On a lot of days, I head to the pool to lay out and do some mini workouts in the pool. I swim (usually the froggy swim) and I tighten my stomach muscles when I do it. So, go me!

Yesterday, I actually did about 30 squats after I got out of the shower. But this morning, I decided to get in to my old regiment of 50 crunches, 30 side crunches each, 20 situps, and 25 squats. It felt good and my stomach actually feels something. My back didn't totally cry out in a pain and running is next. I plan to hit up Memorial Park this weekend, because I know the track well and I know where to go if something goes wrong with my back.

Also, since MaloRee is in town (one of my old running partners), we are going to go to Memorial Park all next week to train. She doesn't realize it yet, but her sister and I are making her train for a half marathon. And BranDee and I are going to train long distance since she lives in Connecticut.