Jodi and I once again tried to go to Terry-Hershey Park and we thought that bringing MaloRee along would change our luck. Not so much. It was clear all day until the end of the day. As soon as we got to the park (we decided to park somewhere new this time), the sky got darker. Then, the thunder roared. Jodi called me on the phone and I made the decision to move back to Bear Creek Park. However, the dark skies followed us there, but this time, it just gave us a hole/clearing above the park. Everywhere around was getting hammered with hard rain. We were lucky.
And it's good to be home...where we started. I missed our runs here. We didn't do much stretching since the storms were headed our way and we didn't know if we could actually complete a full lap. Mal and I fortunately did some stretching at Terry-Hershey Park parking lot, while waiting for Jodi. We did a quick warmup walk and started our run. Jodi has been conspiring to get me to do more than three miles for the first time ever in my life. And you know what, I did it. We did two laps around the track to make it a total of four miles (and a little extra). Yay to me! Mal still needs to work on just allowing herself to let the run take her and not give in to the tiredness. If you can talk normally, then you are okay. Well, unless you are injured or have some kind of bowel issues (both times for me).
We probably ran a total of three miles, but that's a rough estimate. At the end of our run, I was just planning to walk the rest of the way for the cool down, but Jodi wanted to sprint. Since I can't let her go on her own, I went and Mal followed, too. Proud of us all for completing two laps even when it was hot.
Tonight, Jodi, Mal, and I run in my neighborhood. I have to map out two miles since I'm normally doing 1.4 miles. Also, it's my turn to cook dinner. What to cook?
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
A Nice Run with Friends
This week, Jodi and I changed it up a bit with locales and types of running (weathered running with inclines). Last night, Jodi and I decided to go to MaloRee's house for a neighborhood run and then have a healthy dinner afterwards (cooked by Mal herself). I only wished I had brought my camera to take pictures.
We met over at her new place about 6 p.m. Okay, really it was closer to 6:30. I was running late, but so was Jodi. Mal realized that she forgot her shoes at the dropzone, so I gave her my Vans to wear (oh those can suck to run in for long distances). She didn't seem to mind, so we did some quick stretching in the house and then set on our way. The two girls tried to immediately start running, but the cardinal rule with me is to do a warm up walk. We decided not to run on the sidewalk, because Mal's neighborhood designer decided that the sidewalks would be made for just one person to comfortably walk on it. Well, we may be three small ladies, but we are still three ladies. That sidewalk barely fit my foot. So, we opted to run on the street. Normally, this can be dangerous, but there was hardly any traffic.
The run ended up being a nice 2 mile run around the neighborhood. There was bumping of arm to chest (Jodi to all of us) happening, but we laughed it away and continued our run. We only stopped one time to walk, which was awesome for Mal. I was very proud of her. Now, we are working on her to do the half marathon with us, but so far, she is resistent. Most of the time during the run, I had to tell the girls to go to the other side of the street so that we can run against oncoming traffic. It's nice to see what's barreling at you instead of getting the surprise hit from behind. Towards the end of the run, we came to the street that we needed to take a left and conveniently, there was a sign with an arrow pointing in the correct direction. Unfortunately, Mal didn't put that sign up! I told her for that for next time, we will need signs up and maybe some mile markers spray painted on the road. When we got back to the house, Jodi and I sprinted the rest of the distance. I also like to do a cool down walk and we did a quick trip around Mal's block. So, at least we added some more mileage to the run.
Afterwards, we sat down to watch (I wanted to watch Hurricane Alex news) The Ugly Truth as we munched on a delicious dinner, which included salmon tacos with mango salsa, roasted rosemary potatoes, and salad (I used Olive Garden yummy dressing). Oh and lots of water. It was such a great meal and I think we are going to add a run and a meal option to almost every week (just at different houses).
We met over at her new place about 6 p.m. Okay, really it was closer to 6:30. I was running late, but so was Jodi. Mal realized that she forgot her shoes at the dropzone, so I gave her my Vans to wear (oh those can suck to run in for long distances). She didn't seem to mind, so we did some quick stretching in the house and then set on our way. The two girls tried to immediately start running, but the cardinal rule with me is to do a warm up walk. We decided not to run on the sidewalk, because Mal's neighborhood designer decided that the sidewalks would be made for just one person to comfortably walk on it. Well, we may be three small ladies, but we are still three ladies. That sidewalk barely fit my foot. So, we opted to run on the street. Normally, this can be dangerous, but there was hardly any traffic.
The run ended up being a nice 2 mile run around the neighborhood. There was bumping of arm to chest (Jodi to all of us) happening, but we laughed it away and continued our run. We only stopped one time to walk, which was awesome for Mal. I was very proud of her. Now, we are working on her to do the half marathon with us, but so far, she is resistent. Most of the time during the run, I had to tell the girls to go to the other side of the street so that we can run against oncoming traffic. It's nice to see what's barreling at you instead of getting the surprise hit from behind. Towards the end of the run, we came to the street that we needed to take a left and conveniently, there was a sign with an arrow pointing in the correct direction. Unfortunately, Mal didn't put that sign up! I told her for that for next time, we will need signs up and maybe some mile markers spray painted on the road. When we got back to the house, Jodi and I sprinted the rest of the distance. I also like to do a cool down walk and we did a quick trip around Mal's block. So, at least we added some more mileage to the run.
Afterwards, we sat down to watch (I wanted to watch Hurricane Alex news) The Ugly Truth as we munched on a delicious dinner, which included salmon tacos with mango salsa, roasted rosemary potatoes, and salad (I used Olive Garden yummy dressing). Oh and lots of water. It was such a great meal and I think we are going to add a run and a meal option to almost every week (just at different houses).
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
I'm Running in the Rain
Jodi finally got back home and we were able to resume our running...well, almost. We decided to meet at Terry Hershey Park for the first time. 
As I was turning on Memorial (near my old house), I remembered getting drunk off Boones Strawberry wine with some friends at this very park. Only I don't remember it being such a big park. We were just getting drunk by the playground at night. Don't judge me, I was young. And sorry mom if you are reading this post.
I got there alittle early and decided to snap some pictures of our new running place when I noticed the sky getting darker and uglier.
Now, this happened before, but Jodi and I were blessed with just cool weather and no storm. Not this time around. As soon as Jodi got there, the winds picked up. I got a cool video of the tree barely surviving the wind
.
We did a quick stretch to try and beat the rain. I left my camera in the car,
but Jodi brought her camera phone. I got some pretty shots of the little stream. This park is so cool. 
We chose to go the opposite route we had originally planned, because the clouds were much darker down that way. By the time we got under the overpass, the rain started. We forged on like good little runners, but then quickly turned back to take refuge under the overpass. The winds were too much and blowing stuff in our eyes. At first I thought we were just a bunch of wussies since we were the only ones trying to survive Tropical Storm Terry-Hershey, but more and more people started to show up. This lady almost ate it, while trying to walk two dogs and only one shoe. This biker kept going, but quickly turned around.
After about 10-15 minutes of being huddled up for dear life under the pretty overpass bridge thing, the rain eased up or shall I say the wind eased up. So, we decided to start our run. We walked to this really pretty bridge area, which we walked, as well since you should always think about safety when running. It's not cool to run on a wet wooded bridge. We saw the run group that are there every Tuesday evening, but I guess they were either early or we just spent more time under the overpass than we thought. As soon as we made it past the bridges (yes, there were two), we started to run...finally. The rain was coming down, but not too hard (not yet at least).
There were inclines in our run and we got to see some duckies. Oh and this lady with very short running shorts wizzed past us only to give us a great view of her butt cheeks flabbing under the shorts. EWWWW. We decided to turn around and go back the way we came since the rain and wind were getting stronger. Jodi commented on how she loved to run in the rain. I was okay with it, but I had a white T-shirt on and a white sports bra. Plus, Umbros are not fun to wear when they are soaking wet. Another negative to running in the rain is that I felt like I was going to slip and fall at any minute. We took outside loops instead of just going straight back the way we came just to add more of a run. Again, our run stopped so that we could walk along the wet bridges. The rain was easing up, but I was pretty much done with this run.
We think we hit a mile, but not totally sure. At least some exercise is better than nothing. I did hike up my shorts like that lady just to show what Umbros do when went. They stick to your legs. We said our goodbyes and got in my car to go home...all soaking wet. Jodi said that the rain was pretty much gone after I left and she did more running. Like I said, I was done. I did get this picture as I was leaving of a really cool rainbow in the distance.
Tonight, will be better even though I am on slightly no sleep due to excessive goodby partying last night.
As I was turning on Memorial (near my old house), I remembered getting drunk off Boones Strawberry wine with some friends at this very park. Only I don't remember it being such a big park. We were just getting drunk by the playground at night. Don't judge me, I was young. And sorry mom if you are reading this post.
I got there alittle early and decided to snap some pictures of our new running place when I noticed the sky getting darker and uglier.
Now, this happened before, but Jodi and I were blessed with just cool weather and no storm. Not this time around. As soon as Jodi got there, the winds picked up. I got a cool video of the tree barely surviving the wind
.
We did a quick stretch to try and beat the rain. I left my camera in the car,
but Jodi brought her camera phone. I got some pretty shots of the little stream. This park is so cool. 
We chose to go the opposite route we had originally planned, because the clouds were much darker down that way. By the time we got under the overpass, the rain started. We forged on like good little runners, but then quickly turned back to take refuge under the overpass. The winds were too much and blowing stuff in our eyes. At first I thought we were just a bunch of wussies since we were the only ones trying to survive Tropical Storm Terry-Hershey, but more and more people started to show up. This lady almost ate it, while trying to walk two dogs and only one shoe. This biker kept going, but quickly turned around.
After about 10-15 minutes of being huddled up for dear life under the pretty overpass bridge thing, the rain eased up or shall I say the wind eased up. So, we decided to start our run. We walked to this really pretty bridge area, which we walked, as well since you should always think about safety when running. It's not cool to run on a wet wooded bridge. We saw the run group that are there every Tuesday evening, but I guess they were either early or we just spent more time under the overpass than we thought. As soon as we made it past the bridges (yes, there were two), we started to run...finally. The rain was coming down, but not too hard (not yet at least).
There were inclines in our run and we got to see some duckies. Oh and this lady with very short running shorts wizzed past us only to give us a great view of her butt cheeks flabbing under the shorts. EWWWW. We decided to turn around and go back the way we came since the rain and wind were getting stronger. Jodi commented on how she loved to run in the rain. I was okay with it, but I had a white T-shirt on and a white sports bra. Plus, Umbros are not fun to wear when they are soaking wet. Another negative to running in the rain is that I felt like I was going to slip and fall at any minute. We took outside loops instead of just going straight back the way we came just to add more of a run. Again, our run stopped so that we could walk along the wet bridges. The rain was easing up, but I was pretty much done with this run.
We think we hit a mile, but not totally sure. At least some exercise is better than nothing. I did hike up my shorts like that lady just to show what Umbros do when went. They stick to your legs. We said our goodbyes and got in my car to go home...all soaking wet. Jodi said that the rain was pretty much gone after I left and she did more running. Like I said, I was done. I did get this picture as I was leaving of a really cool rainbow in the distance.
Tonight, will be better even though I am on slightly no sleep due to excessive goodby partying last night.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Weekend Exercising
Well, Jodi left and I pretty much deterioted into a no exercising coma all week. I just didn't really feel like it at all. But on Thursday, Mal hit me with the question, "Do you want to run tomorrow morning?" I just couldn't say no. With much arguing about when, we decided to meet at 7:30 a.m. at the dropzone. Unfortunately, that meant I had to get up super early to get everything ready for the weekend. After all my errands and everything, I made it out there by 7:40 a.m.
We both did some stretching and then got on our way close to 8 a.m. We were worried that it was going to be hot, but it wasn't. It was the same 2.2 mile run that I did with her the previous week; however, we added a loop around the neighborhood. This put the run at 3 miles. We started off with a warmup walk and then got to running. We actually made it to the second stop sign, which I have never done before. When we hit the straightaway, I remarked about how Waller can be so beautiful with the early morning dew, noises, and sun over the landscape. It makes for a pretty run. Most of it was run/walk and especially when we hit the turn back into the neighborhood, that was all walk. Well, almost. At one point (nice shaded area), I said, "Let's run to that house about a quarter of a mile." Mal agreed, which meant that we ran a full 2 miles. High-Five for us.
And kudos for us, because both Mal and I got up again to run on Saturday morning. However, I was super sore. I worked my leg muscles so much during my jumps on Friday with Simon (to get ready for the record) and our long run the previous morning made for a difficult time. Immediately, I was hurting in my stomach. At first I thought it was side cramps, but it was not. Apparently, my abs got a work out on Friday. I was actually wishing for side cramps, because at least I can breathe those away...sometimes. Consequently, we only did the 2.2 mile run and it was quite alot of walking. I was still proud that I got up to run two days in a row. That never happens.
I did lots of leg drills on Friday through Sunday to get me prepared for the record. I'm still on probation. I will find out on Friday evening if I get on it or not. Wish me luck!
We both did some stretching and then got on our way close to 8 a.m. We were worried that it was going to be hot, but it wasn't. It was the same 2.2 mile run that I did with her the previous week; however, we added a loop around the neighborhood. This put the run at 3 miles. We started off with a warmup walk and then got to running. We actually made it to the second stop sign, which I have never done before. When we hit the straightaway, I remarked about how Waller can be so beautiful with the early morning dew, noises, and sun over the landscape. It makes for a pretty run. Most of it was run/walk and especially when we hit the turn back into the neighborhood, that was all walk. Well, almost. At one point (nice shaded area), I said, "Let's run to that house about a quarter of a mile." Mal agreed, which meant that we ran a full 2 miles. High-Five for us.
And kudos for us, because both Mal and I got up again to run on Saturday morning. However, I was super sore. I worked my leg muscles so much during my jumps on Friday with Simon (to get ready for the record) and our long run the previous morning made for a difficult time. Immediately, I was hurting in my stomach. At first I thought it was side cramps, but it was not. Apparently, my abs got a work out on Friday. I was actually wishing for side cramps, because at least I can breathe those away...sometimes. Consequently, we only did the 2.2 mile run and it was quite alot of walking. I was still proud that I got up to run two days in a row. That never happens.
I did lots of leg drills on Friday through Sunday to get me prepared for the record. I'm still on probation. I will find out on Friday evening if I get on it or not. Wish me luck!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Houston Dynamo Go For Goal 5K Run
Houston Dynamo is putting on a 5K run in celebration of the World Cup.
The Houston Dynamo will host the 2010 AT&T MLS All-Star Game at Reliant on Wednesday, July 28, 2010. It will feature the MLS All-Stars vs. Manchester United. In conjunction with the game, the Dynamo will host All-Star Week, which includes a series of events to commemorate the big match.
All-Star Week will kick off Saturday, July 24, 2010 with the Dynamo Charities “Go for Goal 5K Run” and “Dynamo Diesel Kids Fun Run.” The race starts/finishes at Hermann Square in front of the City Hall(Walker & Smith)
Participants will receive an official race T-Shirt and two tickets to the Dynamo game versus the New York Red Bulls on July 31.
The 5K Run is competitive while the 5K Walk & Fun Run is non-competitive and all kids will receive medals. There will be a post-race festival and awards ceremony immediately after the race with food, drink, and live entertainment.
Proceeds will go to Recipe for Success.
It sounds interesting. Plus, you get free tickets to the next game, Dynamo vs. New York Red Bulls. Who can beat that? I can say that I love doing this, because it's for a good cause and it gets me healthy, but I love free stuff.
The Houston Dynamo will host the 2010 AT&T MLS All-Star Game at Reliant on Wednesday, July 28, 2010. It will feature the MLS All-Stars vs. Manchester United. In conjunction with the game, the Dynamo will host All-Star Week, which includes a series of events to commemorate the big match.
All-Star Week will kick off Saturday, July 24, 2010 with the Dynamo Charities “Go for Goal 5K Run” and “Dynamo Diesel Kids Fun Run.” The race starts/finishes at Hermann Square in front of the City Hall(Walker & Smith)
Participants will receive an official race T-Shirt and two tickets to the Dynamo game versus the New York Red Bulls on July 31.
The 5K Run is competitive while the 5K Walk & Fun Run is non-competitive and all kids will receive medals. There will be a post-race festival and awards ceremony immediately after the race with food, drink, and live entertainment.
Proceeds will go to Recipe for Success.
It sounds interesting. Plus, you get free tickets to the next game, Dynamo vs. New York Red Bulls. Who can beat that? I can say that I love doing this, because it's for a good cause and it gets me healthy, but I love free stuff.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Heat Waves Boogie at Skydive Houston
At least I ran on Friday morning. I didn't get much running this weekend. We were supposed to all run on Sunday morning at 7 a.m., but that didn't happen. I was up, but not in a running mood per say. I was more in a "Oh my, I have to make this hangover go away" mood.
However, even though I didn't run, I skydived all weekend long. This was the second head down big way skills camp; the last one before the Vertical Texas State Record in a week. I am waiting to see if I get invited. I still have to work on things, but I will be working for sure.
Like my previous post on Head Down skills camp, I worked my muscles and mind. This is why I consider this to be a cross training for my running. My arms and legs and butt are sore as if I did some kind of kickboxing class from Instructor Death. My neck and shoulder is also sore, but that's because I was on a zoo crash jump where someone crashed into me and I then riccocheted into someone else. Oy ve!
I'm not sure about my week in running. Jodi is gone to Los Angeles and we are going to try to run through blue tooths. Yeah, don't ask me. I'm not tonight though, because I am so very tired.
However, even though I didn't run, I skydived all weekend long. This was the second head down big way skills camp; the last one before the Vertical Texas State Record in a week. I am waiting to see if I get invited. I still have to work on things, but I will be working for sure.
Like my previous post on Head Down skills camp, I worked my muscles and mind. This is why I consider this to be a cross training for my running. My arms and legs and butt are sore as if I did some kind of kickboxing class from Instructor Death. My neck and shoulder is also sore, but that's because I was on a zoo crash jump where someone crashed into me and I then riccocheted into someone else. Oy ve!
I'm not sure about my week in running. Jodi is gone to Los Angeles and we are going to try to run through blue tooths. Yeah, don't ask me. I'm not tonight though, because I am so very tired.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Early Morning Dropzone Run
Since this week was all messed up, I felt I had to run on Friday to make up for the lack of exercising. However, I came to the dropzone last night and knew that I had a good chance of demotivating myself not to run before the big boogie, which starts today. I decided to enlist my friend MaloRee (yes, that's how you spell her name) to run with me. She is home now for good from college and her trips. We have discussed her joining us on our runs or at least just exercising with me for some time. Today was the day, so I told her to be here at 7 a.m. for our run.
At 6:35 a.m., I sent her a text to find out if she was actually going to come since I wasn't going to wake up if she wasn't here. Don't judge me with your judged eyes. She texted me back to say that she was already here. We did some hardcore stretching since I needed it bad and headed out the door. Our run was the same 2.2 mile run that Amy and I did a couple of weeks ago.
This was by far the earliest that I have ever run and it was nice. It's still muggy outside, but it's not dying on the road hot like the afternoon runs that I am used to doing. If anything, this will make me a better runner in the fall. The colder air runs will be a piece of cake with icing on it.
At the stop sign, we started the run. We basically ran/walked the whole thing. Lots of quick stops, which is okay. We even had a sprint in there, as well. I got side cramps really bad again, which only means that I'm in full swing visit mode with Aunt Flow. I don't normally get them this bad.
Thank you to Mal for joining me and my new shorts you bought me. We are going to pick it up for next time. I need to toughen you up for Africa.
At 6:35 a.m., I sent her a text to find out if she was actually going to come since I wasn't going to wake up if she wasn't here. Don't judge me with your judged eyes. She texted me back to say that she was already here. We did some hardcore stretching since I needed it bad and headed out the door. Our run was the same 2.2 mile run that Amy and I did a couple of weeks ago.
This was by far the earliest that I have ever run and it was nice. It's still muggy outside, but it's not dying on the road hot like the afternoon runs that I am used to doing. If anything, this will make me a better runner in the fall. The colder air runs will be a piece of cake with icing on it.
At the stop sign, we started the run. We basically ran/walked the whole thing. Lots of quick stops, which is okay. We even had a sprint in there, as well. I got side cramps really bad again, which only means that I'm in full swing visit mode with Aunt Flow. I don't normally get them this bad.
Thank you to Mal for joining me and my new shorts you bought me. We are going to pick it up for next time. I need to toughen you up for Africa.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
The 5 O'Clock Hour Run
There's a reason why no one is running during the middle of a Texas summer between the hours of 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. (okay, really anytime between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.). And the magic reason is that it's UNBELIEVABLY HOT. I'm not talking just hot, I'm talking Africa Hot, scraping my skin off the sidewalk with a spatula hot. So, I deemed myself a moron and continued on without dying somehow.
Now, let me rewind to why I was running at this time and by myself, if you haven't guessed. My uncle came into town last week, but called me last night (yeah, I yelled at him, too) to go out for drinks with the family and to what I found out later to celebrate my cousin's birthday and graduation (yeah, I yelled at them, too). Consequently, I had to cancel on Jodi last night. In fact, the whole training schedule I put up on Tuesday has been thrown out the window. I'm probably going to have to cancel this evening, too. We will use that for next week.
So, I got home about 5:30 p.m. and decided to squeeze in a quick run before I head out for dinner. Quick run?! Ha! I laugh at that oxymoron. I planned to just to do that 1.4 mile run by my house since I knew it well and that I can get it done. I didn't count on the heat, the blazing sun, seeing mirages on the desert type heat.
I did a quick leg stretch, got my ipod all ready, and started my warmup walk around the back area of my house before my starting point. Since I had heard alot of ACDC these last couple of weeks, I decided to try something different. I put on Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift Soundtrack. I remembered how this soundtrack really helped me, while I worked out to get away from the stress at my IBM job (when I worked like 50-60 hours a week). And yes, I love Tokyo Drift, but I hated the other Fast and the Furious movies with the very bad acting (especially the second one). Tokyo Drift had a cooler plot and it was all about drifting...in parking lots. Moving on...
I started my walk and as the music moved, so did my hips and some dips. This soundtrack always makes me move my hips ala Shakira style. So, I got alittle more exercise. However, I immediately got a side cramp. Stupid heat, stupid hip moving, stupid whatever excuse I can come up with to use. When I got to the sidewalk and passed the little construction zone, I started my run. I was on a roll. I felt faster, I was moving to the music. I was trying hard to ignore that stupid side cramp and eventually, it worked. What I didn't realize was that the starting point was pretty much in the shade. When I rounded the corner halfway to the turnaround, the sun hit me and hit me hard like five shots of Jagermeister. All of sudden, my pace slowed and all I wanted to do was just stop, drop, and roll into a fetal position asking, "Why God have you forsaken me?". But I persevered. I focused on just making it to the turnaround point and the music, but I couldn't help but notice that I was the only moron out there doing anything. Even the kids weren't out.
Most of the run was all in the sun; I was so happy to hit a patch of trees with shade even if I passed through it like a small Texas town. But as luck would have it, the clouds covered the sun and gave me some relief. I felt my pace speed up just alittle bit. So, I kept running and running I did. I managed to make it farther than I ever have. The sun was coming back out from under the cloud and all I kept thinking to keep me motivated, "make it to there so I can get some shade." I made it to the stopsign and kept going. When I hit a big patch of shade, I stopped. I had to walk and I walked (shaking my hips some more) until I hit the next stopsign. I started to run again, but didn't last long. All the beginning part of the run was now sunny, but still had more shade than what I just went through. I was done and coudln't run anymore. I walked the rest of the way home for a nice cooldown.
Even though, it wasn't my best run since I think I did that in about 20 minutes, I still did it on my own and ran the farthest that I have ever ran for that little neighborhood run.
Tonight, I will either run that run again with Jodi or by myself or not at all. I have so much to do for the Heat Waves Boogie this weekend at Skydive Houston. Be there or be lame!
Now, let me rewind to why I was running at this time and by myself, if you haven't guessed. My uncle came into town last week, but called me last night (yeah, I yelled at him, too) to go out for drinks with the family and to what I found out later to celebrate my cousin's birthday and graduation (yeah, I yelled at them, too). Consequently, I had to cancel on Jodi last night. In fact, the whole training schedule I put up on Tuesday has been thrown out the window. I'm probably going to have to cancel this evening, too. We will use that for next week.
So, I got home about 5:30 p.m. and decided to squeeze in a quick run before I head out for dinner. Quick run?! Ha! I laugh at that oxymoron. I planned to just to do that 1.4 mile run by my house since I knew it well and that I can get it done. I didn't count on the heat, the blazing sun, seeing mirages on the desert type heat.
I did a quick leg stretch, got my ipod all ready, and started my warmup walk around the back area of my house before my starting point. Since I had heard alot of ACDC these last couple of weeks, I decided to try something different. I put on Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift Soundtrack. I remembered how this soundtrack really helped me, while I worked out to get away from the stress at my IBM job (when I worked like 50-60 hours a week). And yes, I love Tokyo Drift, but I hated the other Fast and the Furious movies with the very bad acting (especially the second one). Tokyo Drift had a cooler plot and it was all about drifting...in parking lots. Moving on...
I started my walk and as the music moved, so did my hips and some dips. This soundtrack always makes me move my hips ala Shakira style. So, I got alittle more exercise. However, I immediately got a side cramp. Stupid heat, stupid hip moving, stupid whatever excuse I can come up with to use. When I got to the sidewalk and passed the little construction zone, I started my run. I was on a roll. I felt faster, I was moving to the music. I was trying hard to ignore that stupid side cramp and eventually, it worked. What I didn't realize was that the starting point was pretty much in the shade. When I rounded the corner halfway to the turnaround, the sun hit me and hit me hard like five shots of Jagermeister. All of sudden, my pace slowed and all I wanted to do was just stop, drop, and roll into a fetal position asking, "Why God have you forsaken me?". But I persevered. I focused on just making it to the turnaround point and the music, but I couldn't help but notice that I was the only moron out there doing anything. Even the kids weren't out.
Most of the run was all in the sun; I was so happy to hit a patch of trees with shade even if I passed through it like a small Texas town. But as luck would have it, the clouds covered the sun and gave me some relief. I felt my pace speed up just alittle bit. So, I kept running and running I did. I managed to make it farther than I ever have. The sun was coming back out from under the cloud and all I kept thinking to keep me motivated, "make it to there so I can get some shade." I made it to the stopsign and kept going. When I hit a big patch of shade, I stopped. I had to walk and I walked (shaking my hips some more) until I hit the next stopsign. I started to run again, but didn't last long. All the beginning part of the run was now sunny, but still had more shade than what I just went through. I was done and coudln't run anymore. I walked the rest of the way home for a nice cooldown.
Even though, it wasn't my best run since I think I did that in about 20 minutes, I still did it on my own and ran the farthest that I have ever ran for that little neighborhood run.
Tonight, I will either run that run again with Jodi or by myself or not at all. I have so much to do for the Heat Waves Boogie this weekend at Skydive Houston. Be there or be lame!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Galveston Sand Crabs 5K and 10K
There is a possibility that we may end up doing the Houston Half Marathon in October, because of the lottery system implemented for the Chevron Houston Marathon in January (meaning, we may not go). So, Jodi and I are scouting for 10Ks around Texas to get me prepared. We both really enjoyed the Galveston Sand Crabs 5K and 10K Run since it's at night and they will have a beach party thing afterwards. Amy said she would like to go, as well and we can just make it a girl's night. We run, we party, and we go to our hotel. Sounds like fun to me. Who's with me?
Mom, you up for practicing your night photography?
Mom, you up for practicing your night photography?
Monday, June 14, 2010
My First Official 5K!
Saturday morning, June 12, 2010, was the morning of my first official 5K (Woodland's 5K series ). I was super excited about it and even got some butterflies in my stomach like when I played in my first basketball game or my first skydiving competition. I had run three miles before, but this was different. We were going to be timed and I was running with lots of other people besides Jodi, Jules, or Amy.
I stayed with Jodi on Friday night since the run was by her house. The thought was that we could sleep in a little more and get to the race early. As a surprise since she said she couldn't make it, my mother, Kandace Heimer came out to take pictures (a great photographer, website). That was an awesome show of support on her side, but that's how she rolls. She has always been to my big sporting events whether it was a basketball game or my first big National Skydiving competition last October (doubt she will come to Chicago this year). I told her that she will need to come to my half marathon. And I'm glad my mother did come, because Jodi's boyfriend, Lucky was supposed to be there to take pictures and get us Gatorade. He didn't get there in time so they wouldn't let him park in the school since we were running and all within the school area.
Our plan was to get there 30 minutes early to stretch and warm-up; however, that plan didn't go quite so well. My mother was calling me to yell that they were starting and that we would miss it. But we finally got there with five minutes to spare, which gave us barely any time to stretch. There was no warm-up walk. Since Jodi and I practiced the two laps around the school as the warm-up, I assumed we would do the same. Yeah, not so much. When they started, they started...running. Holy Snikes Batman, I was not ready. My mother is yelling at me, "Go kristi, what did you think this was?"
Most of the runners there were actual runners that do this quite a lot. Us (me)...not so much. We kept a nice, easy pace throughout. We rounded the two laps (my mother was there
throughout the run taking pictures like a ninja with that camera) and headed out. Another slight difference was that we practiced going to the right after we got out of the school parking lot; the run was actually to the left. Everything felt so off. Our pace stayed pretty good though and we only stopped for a quick walk twice. One time, I had to stop, because I was cramping really bad
in my side. I couldn't shake it. The second time we stopped, we went up this steep incline (yes, it was) to a bridge and I thought my legs were going to collapse. Jodi pushed me on saying, "just make it to the bottom of the bridge." And I did, but I had to stop for a quick walk. Both walking points were only 10 seconds. After the second walk stop, Jodi told me that we were going to run the rest of the way back. Wait, What? That is a long way back. She is such an evil fairy. Sometime throughout the run, I started getting hot and had to take off my shirt. When, we got to the end of the run, Jodi pushed me to run
harder for the last little sprint to the finish line. She came in 40th place and I came in 41rst place. It wasn't last place, so I'll take it. They put our place number on these little popsicle sticks, but I was really wanting my finish time. I wasn't sure what our total time was, because we never kept time before. I at least know it was under 40 minutes since the race 
was completed with all runners within 45 minutes. They were supposed to post the results, but I haven't found them yet online. We also did a great deal of stretching at the end to make up for the lack of stretching in the beginning. And I needed it. I didn't realize how sore I was until I got back to the dropzone and was piddling around for an hour. I should have jumped. I'm so happy that I was able to accomplish this and it was the longest run that I have ever done. It was also the most running that I have ever done. I am getting stronger every session; however, I still hate running though.
Thanks to Jodi for being the evil fairy that she is with the whole training pushiness; it really keeps me going. Thanks to my mother, the awesomist, award winning photographer for showing up and providing all the pictures on this post (and hopefully many more to come).
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