Probably Last Post of 2010

Well, I'm still waiting on the insurance and doctor appointment. I'm officially at wit's end with this damn ankle. I'm going on 9 weeks now and it's only gotten worse.

But the good news started last week. I was looking at myself in the mirror when I was about to get in to the shower and thought, "Hey, you, big one...again." I got alittle scared and just started doing crunches. I did probably 200 crunches in different ways: front, side, butt, etc. I even did 20 squats when I was done; however, I had to put all my weight on one side, because of my ankle. This hurt my knee. So, I won't be doing those too much anymore.

Something clicked inside me and since Thursday, I have done 100 crunches everyday when I get out of the shower. I even did them everyday this week, which is hard since I'm up at 5:15 in the morning and not really awake. Why after the shower? Well, as I explained to Mal, because that's when I'm most energized and likely to do exercises. Surprisingly, I have been pretty strict on it even when I'm running late to work. So, high five for me.

I wish I could do more exercises, but I can't. Shoot, I wish I could run right now. Hopefully, I'll be able to add on 100 more each morning. It will for sure depend on how much time I have in the mornings. Judging by this morning, I wouldn't have had time.

Everyone, Have a great new year's eve. Party like it's 1999!

Jodi to the Rescue

Jodi, my running partner, finally gave me her air cast to wear for my ankle.
It's really easy to put on and I think it's making a difference.
Well, I'm not totally sure since I'm still swollen and right now, I have been at work for 4 hours and feeling the pain. But hopefully, it's going to heal it. I'm seriously getting tired of this ankle situation.

Why is it that everytime I have something happen with my feet, it takes forever to heal? I had my bunion removed on my right foot last year about this time, which caused me to miss the Chevron 5K run that I signed up for and couldn't go. . Well, that thing took 4months to heal when it should be 6-8 weeks. Although, I had a pretty messed up bunion that should have been removed 2 years ago when I started feeling pain, but just didn't do it. And why is it that everytime I sign up for this Chevron run event, something happens to my feet? My husband is telling me now that there is a chance I'm not going to be able to do the run because I won't be healed in time to really train. He's thinking this will last until January. And by the way, he used to work on bones for a living.

If I have to miss this, then the Rock N Roll Marathon in N'awlins, here I come.

On a side note, the Badder Santa Party this year was epic...the wildest that I have ever seen it. We had freaking bagpipes played. Send me your email if you want to go next year.

Time is Ticking Away

So, I'm still incapcitated right now. It's been 6 weeks and this darn ankle will not heal. In fact, yesterday and today have been the worst days in the last couple of weeks that I have had (and I was in the mountains last week wearing steel toed boots). I'm trying to get in to see my doctor, because something is not right. I can't keep taking Ibuprofin everyday and elevating and icing my foot. The only problem is that this doctor (the only doctor)requires me to have my insurance information right now before I can make an appointment. Well, I don't have that just yet since I just started my new job. I haven't gotten my cards yet and couldn't give them the information. And I can't just tell them that I will have that when I get there; they will mark me as open pay and I will have to stay as open pay (paying without insurance...ouch!).

So, here I am ranting like a mad women and trying to figure out what I am going to do now. My weeks are just widdling away giving me less time to train before my big half marathon (thank God, I didn't sign up for the marathon). I want to exercise my other body parts like my ever growing belly (which is getting bigger again), but my ankle has just been so...well...it feels like I am carrying around a 5,000 ton cement block on my foot. I already get up far too early in the morning to exercise (barely surviving the wake up call for work) and I'm too drained from the day to exercise when I get home. Oh and just awesome news to top everything else, I'm getting sick. I thought I was just dealing with the nose and can't breath issue when I was in Colorado last week, but today...today, I am scratchy, clammy, freaking cold, hot skin to the touch, and flushed. I have our annual Christmas party in 4 days. UGH! At least, I hope, it's not the deadly virus in the book The Stand.

I'm done with my rant now, but I wanted everyone to know what was going on with me and why I haven't posted anything. I will say that I'm thankfully only 139 lbs and that's because I noticed that I was eating and eating and eating (which led me to another thought that my husband would be so happy to hear, but it wasn't); so, I started to scale down on my eating.

I'll let y'all know when training and anything new happens.

Sorry for the No Posts Part 2

So, my ankle is sprained right now getting out of TB's big truck. I thought the ground was flat when I hopped down and it was not. I rolled it. I'm trying everything to get it ready, because I'm running out of weeks to train. UGH. I will keep you posted on my first run.

Evening Run at Memorial

Finally, Jodi and I got together for a run at Memorial Park and it was great. It has been awhile since the both of us have run together.

We met up at the adult playground late in the day and got to the stretching. I was still feeling sore from the Biggest Loser workout that I did on Tuesday. I know right, can you believe I was still sore on Thursday. I informed her that I'm not sure how well I am going to do, because everytime I run, I get feel it! But she actually hadn't run in weeks, months, so I wasn't too worried. We started our quick walk and then picked up the run. It felt good to run on the track instead of the sidewalks of my neighborhood or the road at the dropzone; it's easier on the knees. We ran until well after 2 miles before I had to take a quick break. This was a big milestone for me since I believe that was the longest I had run before. Even Jodi thinks it, too! She also noticed that yes, I am getting faster even though I know I can run better, faster. Stupid Bob Harper...okay, I'm just kidding Bob, I love you! We walked for a minute or more before we picked up the run again. This was a short run, because I was hurting. We had one more quick walk before we picked up the small run back to the adult playground. I parked far away and used the walk back to my car as the cooldown. We did a quick stretch and said our goodbyes. All in all, it was a great little 3 mile run. I need more of those for sure.

My Hump

I'm sorry for the cryptic title, but I decided to listen to old school Black Eyed Peas. This is not the new stuff that I don't particularly like; it's the good stuff that won grammy's and stuff. I titled this post My Hump, because as soon as, "My hump, my hump, my lovely lady lumps" came on, I had passed a hump in my run, a milestone. And boy was my hump hurting.

I ran in my neighborhood doing the same run that Mal and I did last week. I did my stretching, walked around the gazebo and started running at 9:43. When I started running, my legs and butt were so sore from yesterday's Boot Camp DVD. I made it to the stopsign (turnaround point), turned around, and made it to the next stopsign before I stopped. In fact, I kept on running to make it an even 10 minutes at 9:53. Yes, that's right, I not only ran passed the second stopsign, but I also ran the mile in under 10 minutes. And I was feeling sluggish, because I was so sore and never thought that I would survive the mile nor make it in a decent time. Go me, for real, go me!

I walked for 2 minutes before picking up the run again. I also did the side run and around the roundabout to add more mileage. I walked when I hit the second pole, which is good for me. I decided to sprint at the third pole to the gazebo before walking for my cool down. So, all in all, I did 3 walks.

The only thing that I didn't like about this run was the fact that my ipod froze again (thankfully, it was right by my house when it went down). I don't know what's going on, but I'm betting it has something to do with the fact that I've dropped it two or three times (damn Cali).

Back to the Basics of DVDs

The weather was iffy and the wind was super high all morning. Therefore, I decided to forego running and do some video workouts. Okay, really, I was going to do a yoga workout on On Demand for free and then run. However, as I sat on the couch, I just didn't feel like running.

I thought, "Hey self, why not bust out that Biggest Loser DVD
that you paid money for and haven't used yet?" I guess being unemployed and strapped for cash, I realize the importance of all my purchases now. So, I fired up that bad boy Biggest Loser Boot Camp DVD with Bob this time, who I secretly love, but I'm not sure if he's gay or just super country nice. Anyhoo. This DVD is a 6-week program; the first week has a quick warm-up, 20 minute Boot Camp, and then a cool down. There is 4 boot camps in total, but I thought I would just do the first one to see how much he will kill me, annoy me, or just make me feel good.

The warm-up was really nice and easy, but at the same time, got me pumped up. The 20 minute workout was really hard on the legs. The only thing that was not good was I didn't have weights, which made the exercises less than what was on television. I used a vase for the weights and just switched it out the best I could until I had enough. After awhile, I just gave up and did the exercises without the weights. By the end, my legs were shaking and I was praying for it to end. The cool down had a yoga inspiration with maximum stretching. I liked it.

Did it work out my legs and now they are completely jell-o? Yes! Was I sweating like a pig at the end? Yes! Was I out of breath? Yes! Now, was Jilian's DVD better? I could barely finish 10 minutes of Jilian's DVD. So, Yes! Do I like Bob better? Oh God, yes! Will I do the full 6-week program? Maybe, we shall see.

Afterwards, I felt like doing a full yoga video or something else. I just didn't feel like I did enough. I turned on a Yoga for Abs On Demand 10 minute video. It felt good, but not great. My abs did burn a bit, but I was looking for more yoga stretching, too. In 10 minutes, you just can't get all that done. I think I need to just break down and buy a full yoga video and possibly some weights. Well, job first and then those items.

Winehouse Dropzone Running

I woke up this morning with a need to run...oh and to get home to feed my cats. But I decided to take on some running first at the dropzone since I haven't all weekend. I wanted to run on Sunday morning, but I wanted to be lazy and shower instead. So, here I am at 7 in the morning under a really cloudy sky...running. I did stretch beforehand, a good long 10 minute stretch, too.

If you haven't guessed it by now, I put on Amy Winehouse Back in Black to listen on my ipod to match the weather (dark, crazy, and may just puke on you from too much heroin). I did my standard warmup walk to the first stopsign before I started running and I ran all the way to the next stopsign. My plan was to keep on going, but hard drinking for the last two days and no running caused me to pretty much stop to walk. So, I walked, but only for a short period of time before I picked up the run again until the next stopsign. And I'm proud of myself, because I only walked (short walk) once on this back stretch. However, when I got to the front long stretch, I walked more than I originally planned. In fact, I walked 4 times all together and they were longer than I wanted.

I'm not sure what it is about this front long stretch, but I always get a really bad side cramp. On other runs, if I get a cramp, I just push through it, but this one is different. It almost feels like I have appendicitis, which causes me to stop and pretty much die on the road. I'm thinking that I'm going to change the direction so that I'm not doing the really long, hard, long front stretch at the end of the run, but instead, start it at beginning.

My cool down walk was quite a bit of a walk than normal, but I got a good 2.2 mile walk/run in to start my week. I plan to keep this up all week. I even brought home the Biggest Loser Boot Camp DVD from the RV so that I can start some other kind of exercise. I really want my abs to be not so flabby and well, jiggling when I run. And I still couldn't pull off the low rider jeans or the Princess Leia slave outfit.

On a side note, my cats didn't kill eachother or pee on my new rug. I fed them and they are so happy to have me home. I missed those darn "fight to the death" cats.

Neighborhood Running with Mal

I actually did 2 runs in my neighborhood with Mal on Thursday evening and Friday morning, which is awesome. So, I'm going to create sections for this post.

Thursday
Mal came over kind of late, which put us pretty much running in the dark. Okay, it wasn't dark like the Galveston night run, but the lights were on in the neighbhorhood making it somewhat creepy. I am glad that I had somebody to run with or I probably wouldn't have run at all. It was also somewhat chilly, which really put you in the mood for Halloween. Anyways, back to the run. We did a quick stretch and started our warm up walk. This time, I remembered to bring my watch so that I can track the time on our run. We started the walk behind the house and around the gazebo, before we started running when the clock hit 7:11 and we were on the sidewalk. We ran all the way to the stop sign at my regular turnaround point before we stopped to walk. The original plan was to keep on going passed the Outlet Mall, but Mal was ready to just go back to the house. We did the sidewalk roundabout run before stopping to walk and we only walked a little bit before running again. Instead of going straight back to the house, we did a little side run just to add more mileage to our run. This is normally a 1.4 mile run, but we made it probably 1.6.

When we got to my house, we planned to walk passed it around the gazebo and through the back way before going in for the night. However, when we got to the gazebo, I heard my dog barking something fierce, which meant she was outside and I didn't remember actually letting her outside (IT had come over and let her out, but couldn't get her back in). So, we cut the cool down walk short.

Friday
Mal and I got up to do the same run, but we wanted to do some yoga before we started. However, my On Demand system was not working (stupid weather), so we got to the run. As we were doing the warm up walk, we felt the drops of rain. At this point, it was not bad since we were headed in the opposite direction, but we kept an eye on it. And in fact, the weather kept dry for our entire run. When we hit the sidewalk and the time reached 9:49 (yes, I remembered my watch again), we started running. We were thinking that we were going to go passed the stopsign and by the Outlet Mall, but Mal wanted to turnaround. I totally respect it and we ran all the way to the stopsign before we stopped to walk. In fact, we kept on going to the next big sign. I wanted to go to the other stopsign before stopping, but Mal wasn't having any of that at all. So, we stopped for a quick walk and picked it back up at the stopsign. We did the same little side route to add some extra mileage. And this time, we had more runs.

There are 2 things that I noticed about these runs:
1.) Mal and I ran more on the second one. In fact we only stopped twice (for short time periods) during the second run (not including the cool down walk) whereas we stopped almost 4 times (much longer walks) on the first run.
2.) Since I have been running by myself quite a bit for the last couple of weeks, I have been working on my stride. It showed on our runs. I was considerably faster and I felt it. I could have easily made 1 mile in or under 10 minutes, which is a big deal for me. Normally, I would be lucky to run a mile in 10 minutes. I was easily 10-11 minutes a mile. Also, my legs look great, because working on your stride really works out your legs.

On a side note, Zach was reading this as I was writing and wanted me to write, "Zach is cool."

Most Played Neighborhood Running

Apparently, I am titling my posts to coincide with my music choices on my ipod. Mainly, I'm listening to my ipod, because I have been running alone alot lately. Jodi has abandoned me for work and well Mal is Mal. However, Mal and I are running this evening together as soon as she gets done with the bookstore.

Yesterday, I woke up late (that's 8 o'clock for me...now that I'm unemployed) and thought, "Hey, it's time to get to that whole running thing." So, I found my shoes, did some light stretching, fixed up my ipod to sit in my shorts since I can't find my armband and wasn't wearing shorts with pockets, and got on my way. I chose my most played playlist, which starts with Gorillaz's Dare. That song really gets you going. I started walking and then got to the running. I chose to go the same path that I have been running in the neighborhood...0.7 miles to the stop sign, long stretch by the outlet mall, and then a roundabout back to the house. I'm not sure how many miles it is total, but I"m guessing somewhere in between 2 and 3 miles.

I ran all the way to the stop sign and kept on running. I can't believe I finally passed that darn stop sign. I made it halfway on that long stretch by the outlet mall before I stopped for a quick walk. I walked/ran, walked/ran all the way back to my house. In fact, I did better running and more of it then the last time. I added more runs if I walked and went around the back of my house instead of cutting the trip short. I also worked on my stride and getting much better. Go me.

Once Mal gets here, we will decide if we are going to do that same run or head to Memorial Park. I really want to try 6 miles, but Jodi won't be there tonight and Mal only wants to do 3 miles. I swear I'm gonna get better at this.

On a side note...TB found out I downloaded some local Houston rap songs by Slim Thug on his Itunes account without his knowledge. Slim Thug has some great songs that can be used in skydiving and to pump me up for running.

Thursday Running

First off, I would like to say that I did walk on Wednesday...with my dog. I figured that it wasn't that hot and it would be good for her. Well, it wasn't for me. Even though you get a great arm workout from walking my little devil spawn, Cali, it's not easy to walk her. She's all over the place. I tried to run, but she jolted and my ipod fell on the ground. I decided that I couldn't do the whole 2.2 mile walk with her and cut it short down the runway. It was maybe half a mile of walking, but it was good exercise nonetheless for both her and I.

Thursday, I woke up with a need for running. But as time flew by in the morning, I got lazier and lazier. Maybe it had to do with my women bodily issues this month, but I just didn't feel like it. However, I saw Potter taking off and just felt like I should be doing that, too, especially since I've been drinking a lot of beer lately. So, I got on my shoes and did some stretching before I set out on my run.

The plan was to run 3 miles, but as I started running, I knew that 2.2 miles would be it. I actually couldn't make it to the stop sign before taking a quick 3 second stop to catch my breath. What the hell was that all about? I walked more and more on this trip around the dropzone, because I kept getting a side cramp from hell (see post about Monday's run). It was not my best ever run, but whatever, it's still exercise.

I really need to get myself in shape if I'm going to survive the half marathon. Because right now, I'm not doing so great. At least I'm running.

Modest Running

Since I'm unemployed right now and staying at the dropzone almost every night (okay, every night), I have been doing quite a bit of dropzone running in the early morning. Monday was no different. I decided to hit up the same route I did on Sunday, but this time, there was no fog, no mood. It was just pretty and not as hot.

I stretched, put in some Modest Mouse, walked it out, and then off to the running. I made it farther than the stop sign before I had to take a break to walk. It was the same as Sunday, run/walk, run/walk, run/walk some more. I tried to do less time walking and more time running, still building up my endurance. The morning was not like the foggy morning from Sunday, but it did have fog on the ground. It was kindof cool and made it seem like I was running along the English countryside, which went well with Modest Mouse in my ears. I had a plan to run from the Hart's house all the way until I reached the stopsign for my turn in point, but I got a really bad side cramp that felt like I had appendicitis just bursting through my stomach. This caused me to walk again.

I usually stop to walk at the 2.2 mile marker, but since I added some more walking, I decided to run until I reached the huts. That made me feel good about my morning run.

Foggy Sunday Morning Run

I haven't been able to run all week due to the flu. It was like a freight train had hit me full force and then went back for seconds. It was ugly. Needless to say, today was the only day that I could actually run. And what a morning to run. It was not hot...that's the key, not hot. It was nice and chilly and foggy. What's great about foggy runs is that you don't see the distance that you are running. You don't see that stop sign that you plan to start your walk in the far off distance that looks like a dot. In fact, you are running and then BAM, there's the stop sign.

I decided that I didn't want to tell anyone at the dropzone that I was running, because I really just wanted to run alone. I had to work out some stuff in my head and I wanted to work on my stride. I started out stretching and a warm up walk to get my blood flowing. I had my ipod turned on and I spent the walk trying to figure out what would be great to hear while running. I accidentally turned it on to Love Actually soundtrack, which is not normally music that gets you pumped for running. However, it fit the mood of the fog and chilly weather. It actually motivated me to run faster, especially Dido. I could start to feel it in my legs, because I was really working my stride. I picked up the pace and before you knew it, I was ready to walk. I walked some more; I ran some more. I looked at the beautiful morning sun peaking through the fog. It was great and I never felt like I had been running. I love cold running and have been waiting for this time of year.

The total dropzone run was about 2.2 miles and my legs are feeling it now. I can't wait to have more morning runs like this one today and I have a week off to do just that, while I wait for my new job to start. I'm slowly building it back up again.

Rasta Running

I decided to run in my neighborhood on Friday morning even though I was by myself since the weather was still really awesome. I didn't want to wait for Jodi to get off work and well, I wasn't sure I would have time later on in the day. So, I did some stretching and plugged in my ipod. I chose Bob Marley as my inspirational running musak; it just seemed to fit the situation.

I walked around the gazebo to get myself warmed up before my run. You can call me a dork, but I'm a firm believer (and Jilian Anderson, too) in warming up before any exercise. When I hit the sidewalk on my main street, I started my run. It's still slow, because I'm easing myself back in to this whole running thing. The music I chose was different, but good. I tried to picture myself running on the beaches of Jamaica, but unfortunately, that made me think of how hard it is to run in the sand, bogging me down. So, then I just imagined myself running on the streets of Jamaica with the palm trees and the blue Caribbean ocean on my left. Well, that whole vision thing works really well when your eyes are closed. However, running with your eyes closed in your neighbhorhood is like asking for disaster. So, the vision thing only worked alittle bit.

I did make it to the stopsign (my usual turnaround point) without stopping, but I had to walk as soon as I got there. One thing I forgot when I was complimenting the weather and running in this great weather is shade factor. Memorial Park is about 90% covered with beautiful big shading trees, but my neighborhood is about 90% not covered (or at least my run path). So, when I reached the long stretch to the turnaround point stopsign, I was hit with direct sun the entire way. It takes it's toll on you for sure.

Big news though...I didn't turnaround at the stopsign; I just kept on going by the Outlet Mall and back through another way into the neighborhood. It was all directly covered with sun. By the time I reached the stopsign where I would cross the street and head back into the neighborhood, my shirt was off and wrapped around me. It was becoming too hot (black shirts are never a good idea to run in...EVER). I managed to walk run, walk run the whole way back to the house. I'm not sure how many miles I did, because I don't have my really cool GPS mile tracking watch that I want so bad (hint hint, mother). I'm going to take an educated guess of 2 miles, but that's a rough rough estimate.

On my way back to the house, I saw my shadow. WHOA! Where did these love handles come from and why are they so big? I used to not have the love handles unless I wore low riders, but my little short running shorts were well above my hips even covering up my tummy. I mean they were just sitting there yelling at me, "Hey you! Have another pie. I need some friends." So, everytime I saw my newly lovehandles that I'm sure can be seen from space, I started to run again until I was tired.

All in all, it was great to go beyond my norm even if it's not the mileage that I'm used to. I really need to buckle down and get ready for this whole half marathon thingy.

On a side note: I participated in the Texas Women's State Formation Skydiving (Belly) Record held at Skydive Spaceland on October 2-3, 2010. There were 40 ladies on Saturday, but 38 on Sunday. We broke the original record of 30 Texas women on Saturday with 36 women. Then, we added some more. On Sunday, we had broken the record with 37 women and turned a point (sequential). So, we broke 2 records in one skydive. The very next jump, we added the last girl waiting to be on it and broke it again with 38 women and a sequential point (another 2 records). All in all, we broke 5 records in 2 days, which in itself is a record. I'm so very proud of all the ladies that participated, especially the SDH girls and our videographers. YAY us! Next year, we go bigger.

And I'm Back...For Real

All week, the weather has been beautiful, amazing, almost Spring like, which in Southeast Texas, we don't get in September. Usually it goes from core of the earth hot to mildly cold (for us Texans, that's anything below 70), with wind and cloudy weather. So, to get Springlike weather this time of year, i.e., sunny, blue skies, light humidity, and 80 degree weather, well is a miracle. I wanted to run all week, but Jodi kept canceling on me due to work. And by the time I drove the ingested highways from my now new (at least) 1 hour drive home, I'm tired; I just want to lay on the couch. I have stayed away from beer though (during the week). Plus, I just bought Glee, the first season and I'm completely addicted.

Okay, back to my point. Last night, Jodi and I finally met up at Memorial Park to do a 3 mile run (1 lap). I was worried about this run, because last time I tried to run a mile, it didn't go so well (see last post). But I was determined last night and the weather gave me new hope. Jodi got her schedule changed, so that we can meet early, which meant that there was actually parking when I got there, lots of parking. She actually got there much earlier than myself (unbeknownst to me) and did 1 lap around the park in her toe shoes. We did some serious stretching and I for sure stretched out my back. We walked to her car and then just a little bit of the way before we started running. This was the first time we started running earlier in the lap.

We ran a full 1.5 miles without stopping. She even showed me how she wanted me to start running when I get up to speed again. We talked about her competing next year in Nationals and well, everything. I actually didn't feel like we ran 1.5 miles, but then she started to complain about her right toe in those new toe shoes. I was feeling pain in my bottom right back (thought I got it with the stretching). Finally, we got to a point where we needed to rest, because her toe and my back was just bothering us too much. So, we walked and walked and walked. We did pick up the run again, but quickly stopped. Her toe was really bad. Even I felt like running more, but she had stopped for me on so many occasions to deal with my injuries (old age is a bitch!), so it didn't bother me. We mostly walked the 3 miles around the park, but it felt good to exercise.

The best part of last night was the temperature combined with running. I had noticed that on the run, I felt that I had more energy. I felt like I could run so much more when previous runs during the summer, I felt like I could barely make half a mile. It felt empowering in a way. When we got done and stretched, I didn't feel like I ran a marathon. I felt like I could keep on running. I was sweating and hot, but I didn't feel like death had just touched my heart and said, "Okay, maybe next time, I will get you, but I'll let you live just this once." I drove home with my convertible top down (don't get many days to do this, because it's either too hot or too rainy) to meet my husband for some celebratory beer. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Don't judge me!

Back to Running

Well, I finished the big skydiving competition (Silver medal if you didn't read before) and now I'm back to running, finally. My injury isn't as bad as it was, but there is something still there. The rest for sure helped; however, I am still skydiving.

But Saturday felt like a good day to just start running at the dropzone. My run was not really what I had been doing before I took my break. In fact, it was downright embarrassing. A new girl, Rita wanted to join me on my run after I warned her that I'm out of shape and I run slow. She didn't care. Potter and IT also joined us for only the beginning part, because they run way too fast for me to even think of tagging along. A conversation that took place between myself and IT.
IT: "Yeah, I'm gonna need to slow it down to get ready for this marathon."
ME: "Oh really?"
IT: "Yeah, I need to slow it down to seven minutes to survive it."
ME: "Go F yourself. I hate you."

So, I knew that they would be gone, plus, they were racing eachother. I started off with some serious stretching and a light walk to warm up. I gave Rita a nod to say that I'm ready to start running and already she was faster. Oh, this was going to be a big mistake. I worked on my stride and tried not to focus on what she was doing. Not even halfway through it, I was complaining of running and needed a walk. She said, "Really? Already?" Yeah, that made me feel so bad and I kept going. I then started getting slower and she noticed. I told her to keep going and where to go to get 3 miles (my plan was only the mile). Basically, my run was more walking and alittle bit of running. In fact, one time, I had to actually stop everything to catch my breath. I felt so out of shape and like the first time I went running with Jodi (complaining my way to finish a mile). The other embarrassing part was that Rita met me at the door; she finished 2.2 miles around the dropzone when I finished the 1 mile. Oh that was just terrible, but it was good to get out there and start exercising. No matter what, it's still getting your body to work out. I will just have to start rebuilding back up to 6 miles like I was doing before. Stupid injury.

Also, this weekend, I worked alot on freeflying. In fact, I did this tube jump (picture soon) where I carry this large pylon tube. My arm was burning after a couple of seconds. My legs are sore, too, so I did something this weekend. I'm not sure when I'm running again, hopefully, tomorrow. I need to get back into the swing of things.

SDH Outlaws Get SILVER!!!

Skydive Houston Outlaws competed in the Freefly Intermediate division at USPA Nationals on Friday, September 17, 2010 at Skydive Chicago. There were a total of 10 teams registered for this artistic event. Last year, there were only 5 teams. Naturally, I was tense going into competition. But, we put our game faces on and prepared for a long battle.

On the first round, our team went into first position with the CK2 team not far behind. Throughout the day, the we were in First, Second, and even at one point tied for first place. We finished Friday evening in Third place due to a really bad fifth round uncharacteristic of our team. I call it, "The we took a dump on Round 5." The judges still had to score the last two rounds and at that point, we were just fighting for silver, with a sliver of hope for the Gold.

In the end, CK2 took Gold (an average of 5.9) and we took Silver medal (an average of 5.7), while the Air Force Instinct team (love those guys) battled for third place on Sunday due to a tie off. Even though we didn’t get the top spot (had it in our greedy hands), we still proved to the skydiving community that we are force to be reckoned with and can only get better (as seen from last year to this year). We even had cheerleaders from Carolina that were rooting for us if none of the Carolina teams (2) didn't win. We made a great deal of friends, especially freeflyers.

We have a couple of weeks to go through and decide on what to do next year. Do we stay in FreeFly Intermediate, venture into the Open Waters to try to really get some prestige, or do we create a Vertical Formation Skydiving (VFS) team (something Jon is really interested in doing). I will follow him wherever he wants me. But I sure would like that Gold around my neck. I am not going to sugarcoat it.

Now, I can get back to running, which I have missed to say the least. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, I know.

On a side note, I am not doing the Susan G. Komen race next weekend, because I was requested to be on the Women's Texas State Record that same day. I am sad, but there will be a Skydive Houston running team there. I will do my best to raise money for them.

USPA Nationals

Well, competition finally came and went, but we are still waiting on the judges to score Rounds 6 and 7. Right now, we sit in third, but hopefully, that will stay. I am just not sure.

But, we did 7 jumps total yesterday and I feel it in my legs and arms. So, I did get some training in. I haven't been running, because I was saving my leg for this competition. I will start that back up as soon as I get back.

Sorry for the No Posts

I haven't been running or even really skydiving lately, because I am resting my leg before my last training weekend and Nationals next week. Yes, that's right. We are headed to Skydive Chicago for Nationals. I'm totally pumped and hopefully my leg will be okay. So cheer us on.

Memorial Park Run

Well, these last few weeks have been the worst for my training. It's been hot, we can't coordinate schedules, and my thigh injury acts up. My last run was the 10K, which was 2 weeks ago. Needless to say, I'm out of shape...big time. All that progress I made to get my endurance up has taken a step back, but this week was going to change. MaloRee (who hasn't ran since before she left for Africa), Jodi, and I decided to meet up at Memorial Park. We just love this park even though it's far away, because it's so great on the knees and one lap is 3 miles long.

We did some stretching (mostly me) and set off on the walking. Just passed the quarter mile, we started running. I was really trying to spend the time working on my stride, while still keeping up the conversation. We made it to the 1 1/2 mile marker when Mal said she had to stop for a walk. I was trying to make it to the stoplight, which was alittle over 25 feet away, but I was super happy she wanted to stop. We started running again, but I had to make another stop for walking. And the walking lasted longer and longer. I was so disappointed with myself, because the last time we ran Memorial Park, I made it to way passed the 2 mile marker without stopping and our walking was quick short stops. I just couldn't continue on, because I could feel it in my legs. We ran and walked, ran and walked, ran and walked (all because of me).

The plan was to do 6 miles (2 laps around the park), but I knew that 3 miles was going to be it. By now, my thigh injury was hurting something fierce. I didn't even do any stretching when I got done, which I am paying for today.

After our run last night, I have realized that I have to rebuild my endurance up back to what it was before. I was running 6 miles without many issues, but I have been slacking. However, I will say that when I got done with the 3 miles, I felt like I only did 1 mile. I didn't even feel like I worked all that hard, which is great news for me. I also worked on my stride, which was better on my legs. I still have a long way to go though before I'm ready for the half marathon, but I have a lot of months left for training.

Tunnel Time with Skyventure Colorado

I haven't ran since the Sand Crab 10K run in Galveston for a couple of reasons. It has been really really hot, but mostly I was saving my leg for my tunnel trip (pictures to come soon) this past weekend at Skyventure Colorado. I nursed it all week so that I would not go through the same thing I went through last time I went to the tunnel. However, I am starting to feel the fact that I haven't been running.

Once again, I found myself getting tortured in this addictive thing they call the tunnel from August 20-21, 2010; however, this time I went with the SDH Outlaws. Jon and I flew in to Denver on Friday morning at about 7:30 a.m. (Shannon came in about 3:30 p.m.). We were in the tunnel by 10:30 a.m. working on our headdown stuff with mostly Jordan. On the first session, I got beat up by the excess strap on my helmet. It really did a number on my chin and neck. Ouch! I was learning how to get stable and really come up off the net. With Derek V in hand, I was finally able to lose the second spotter, which was a big step for me. We were going to work on transitions from sit to headdown (with spotter, of course), but Jon and I were tired. We decided to move our last 15 minutes to Saturday (not a recommendation to do). Each session was 7 minutes long (7 skydives, 2 skydives in one tunnel entry). Our bodies were exhausted. My butt, hips, and legs hurt, which was awesome, because I was totally exercising my body and I was using my legs more than my arms. In fact, the only time I hurt in the arms was after I worked on sitflying. I really need to get my arms out of the equation.

Our next session started on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. and we went all day until 8 p.m. Most of our sessions were in 5 minute intervals each instead of 7 minutes, which I liked alot better. I know you are thinking that it's only 2 minutes more and to quit whining, but 2 extra minutes is just enough to tire you out for the rest of the day.

Shannon was there this time and she worked on her headdown, as well. Jon worked on eagles and everything under the sun. He's a natural and sometimes it makes me mad, but I love him for that. I still worked on my headown; my goal was to get off that net and be controlled. And that is exactly what I did! I was able to get off the net on my head, while not assisted. It was an awesome feeling. Jordan, the second spotter left and then Derek P. started to move away from me. The next session, he didn't even come into the tunnel and let me do it all on my own without any hand signals. And I did it. I could hear Jon, Shannon, and Jordan just yelling and clapping for me. On the next entry, I did the same thing, but this time, I saw a hand signal from Derek P. to turn. So, I did. Although very very slow, I turned a full 360 hoping to God I didn't crash out right in front of these kids that were glued to the glass. I got all the way around and flew for a second before I had to end it. I was tired mentally and physically. I only had 20 seconds left and decided to go to my sit. Unfortunately, this was the last time I did the headdown. I tried again, but I was so tired that I ping ponged out of it quick and hit every wall I could find. I tried one more time on our last session and almost the same thing. I just couldn't do it anymore. But it's okay, because I got cleared to do headdown in the tunnel. YAY ME!

I finally got it!!! Even Jordan is in the back giving me thumbs up.

See, no one is even in the tunnel with me. I'm totally unassisted at this point. Big day!

Even though we weren't officially training at Skydive Houston, we did train. Jon and I got in the tunnel together and worked on a few freefly moves, such as Knee Dock, Foot Dock, and Joker. It was hard with him in the tunnel and we were trying to figure out everything. We weren't rockstars turning 50,000 points, but we were able to make a few happen. At the end of our tunnel (me completely exhausted), we tried our belly moves. This was probably the worst belly flying that I have ever done. I couldn't turn correctly on axis and even hit Dan in the face a few times (with a big apology from me as he was laughing at me). I couldn't help but laugh, because we were that awful. I swear we won't be like that in the sky.

All in all, I had the best tunnel time ever. I got to hang out with my friends afterwards and that was a good time. I hurt all over on my body, which means that I did a major workout. Who needs running when you have the tunnel to torture you. I also want to note that Colorado thinks 95 is a scorcher and that was their record heat. Pfft in their general direction. We are at 102 (and that's not including heat index).

Quote for this trip: We are huge in Japan!

WE GOT IN!!!

It's official, Team Skydive Houston was selected to do the Chevron Half Marathon on January 31, 2011. Potter and IT will be doing the marathon, while Jodi, Amy, and I will be doing the half marathon.

Below is my email notification:
Registration Confirmation for:
2011 Aramco Houston Half Marathon
Dear Kristi Wiley-Bell:
Congratulations!
You have been selected in the lottery and you are now registered for the 2011 Aramco Houston Half Marathon.

My First Official 10K Race

I didn't post about this, but I did the 40 minute YogaWorks Beginners video on Friday morning. It felt great to do the stretching at a slower pace and it was not as difficult as the other yoga videos I have done. It was just right and I will do this one again. I did this on the On Demand Free Workout Thing.

On Saturday evening, we headed to Galveston for the First Annual Galveston Sand Crabs 5K and 10K Run. This race was 6 miles on the sands of Porretto Beach at 9 p.m. Yes, that's right, I said 9 p.m. I had to go buy a headlamp, which is cool to wear at first, but not cool when you have been sweating like a pig racing on a hot August night. We got there really early to get our packets, but also so that Amy could actually register for the event. She wasn't going to do the race with us, but she changed her mind on Friday evening (yay for us).

At about 8 o'clock, we got in the long line to get our 10K packets (the 5K was much longer). I started to get super exciting seeing the big finish line thingy like what I have seen on the Biggest Loser or at other race events. After we got our numbers (yay, 1460, my first race number), we stood around waiting, did some stretching, walked around, and just people watched. It was fun, but at 9:07, they still hadn't started the race. The lines for registration were still long.

The line at 8 p.m. Imagine what it was like later on.

Jodi and I waiting for the race to start.

Jodi looking poised for her trophy win...I'm not sure, we were bored.

I'm supposed to be looking confused. Did I get it?

Jodi, Amy, and I waiting for the race to start. Notice how we already have our shirts off...that's how freaking hot it was and we haven't even started the race. I bet you can only imagine how worst it got when we started to run.

Finally, the organizer guy told us that the race would be starting in 10 minutes and then about a couple of minutes before start, he told us what was going to happen when the siren does go off, but I was still confused. There was something about the faster racers somewhere and the 10K people starting. People were starting to pack it in. Sometime between 9:45 p.m. and 10 p.m., the siren blasted out to signal that the race has started. Luckily , we were standing by the entrance and could just easily filter in with the people. Amy didn't have a headlamp, but we just put her in the middle of us. Between Jodi and I, she had enough light to see the ground. And boy did she need to see the ground. There were holes everwhere. It was nice, because everyone would yell out "HOLE", "BIG WOOD IMPALING STICK", "SEAWEED", "BIG TARP HOLDER THINGY." It wasn't as dark as I thought it was going to be, but it was still dark enough.

The race was hot and not hot as in it was super fine like Claudia Schiffer. It was just flat out hot and humid like this whole month has been (core of the earth hot). I figured that a run at night on the beach would cool it down, but I was wrong...so very wrong. In fact, when we went passed the 5K turnaround point, it got even hotter. I am not sure how that happened, but it did. Also, running in sand is alot harder than running on asphalt. Within a mile, I was tired due to a couple of factors: 1.) The Heat, 2.) Lack of running the last 2 weeks, and 3.) Injury on my upper thigh. At the mile marker and first drink station, my thigh was hurting. We had just ran through deep sand, which I'm guessing infuriated it. I decided that I would make it to the 3 mile marker (the 10K turnaround point) before taking a rest. However, when I got to the 2 mile marker, it was getting harder and harder to keep up the pace. Finally, Amy said that she just couldn't run anymore and we stopped to walk. THANK GOD. Walking on sand with tennis shoes is not what it's cracked up to be since big clumps of sand would get kicked up into my shoes. On a side note, Jodi bought those new toe shoes just for this event. She seemed to love them for sand running. If I do this event again or maybe any sand running, I might consider getting them. They looked really comfortable. Plus, they looked easy to clean since they are made out of wetsuit material; I still have to clean all the sand off of my tennis shoes.

Anyhoo, back to the race. There were people cheering us on throughout the run (mostly locals confused by this mass herd of stupid people running in the sand at night). On our way, we saw a dead crab, a sand crab (drawn out in the sand), trash, people smoking weed, and some weird dude burying himself. The sky was beautiful. It was totally clear and you could really see the stars out. Plus, we had a crescent moon lighting up this mystical (yes, I used that word) sky. Someone had mentioned that it would have been cool to get an aerial shot of all of us running at night with our headlamps. I think I might put that in the suggestion box for next year.

We finally made it to the turnaround point and I swear that thing was never going to show up. We picked up the run, but my thigh was inflamed by now. As we treached along, I got slower and slower, even when I was walking. And we did some walking. I tried to run as much as I could, but it was hard. There were times when the girls would stop to wait on me to catch up even when I was walking. Jodi would get scared when she couldn't see my light anymore. We hit up both of the drink stations on the way back to the finish line. In our opinion, Gatorade is not that great when running; the water was better. It just seemed like the Gatorade was too much fruitiness or something.

Amy and I on the final stretch.

We decided to run at the last marker (signifying that we had 1 mile to go) until the finish line. I tried, but I had to do a quick stop to walk off my thigh. At first, Jodi thought we were going to walk until we got to the very end and then we would run. However, I had no intentions of showing that we weren't running at all. About a half of mile (maybe a quarter of a mile) left, we picked up the run all the way to finish line. People were cheering us on. Jodi wanted us to sprint, but I had nothing left. So, she took off in a sprint, which was good for her since Amy and I pretty much held her back during this run. We saw Amy's family at the finish line taking pictures and she stopped to hug them; I continued on. Jodi got 1:28:27.5, I got 1:28:41.9 (the tag says 1:26:22.5 and I'm not sure what the difference is), and Amy got 1:28:50.7 (she wanted Zany and Aiden to finish with her, which I thought was so cute). Race results can be found here. The top female got it done in 47 minutes. Who cares, we high-fived eachother for a job well done.

The girls at the end of the race looking like death has rolled us over three times.

Afterwards, they had BBQ ready to go, but I just didn't feel like eating. I more wanted the beer. Jodi and I stood in that long line for beer, while weathering out the huge fire they started (very smokey and gassy). But once we got close to the front of the line, they told us that the beer was done. They were waiting for ice or something, but it never came back. We were a little disappointed about that, but Jodi and I headed to a bar for a couple of beers and it was great. We looked like complete dorks with our shirts and numbers still attached to our shorts. So what if we didn't want to take them off...dammit, this was my first race number and I want to wear it with pride. Thank God, Jodi was feeling the same way.

Unfortunately, we drove back and didn't get to Houston until probably 3 a.m. Next time, I will probably just stay the night down there.

Bring Your Doggie To Training Day

Let me preface this post with the lack of actual running Jodi and myself have been doing for these last couple of weeks. In fact, I haven't seen her in forever. I should be running alone sometimes, but August is beyond Africa hot right now in Houston. It's more like the core of the earth hot. When I get home from work (early in the 5 hour), it's just too hot to run. If I wait out the heat to maybe Africa hot for a couple of hours, I have basically molded myself to my couch. It's a vicious cycle. I should do more in home workouts, but I have also gotten lazy. I want to run. God, I can't believe I just typed that. Yesterday, was our big 6 mile run in preparation for my first 10K on Saturday (so not prepared at all). Jodi and I weren't going to let anything stop us from running, until Jodi got sick. She was blabbing on about how she was going to still run, while coughing and sneezing. She sounded awful and I just couldn't do that to her. Well, I'm not going to be responsible for making her even more sick. I want her healthy for Saturday. So, we canceled our run. But I decided that I would at least do a quick run in my neighborhood to get the juices flowing. It had rained earlier and surprisingly, the temperature was cooler than usual.

My husband suggested that I take our Demon Spawn, Cali with me, because she needs to tire out. She managed to eat my husband's wallet (with a buttload of money we won at the Casino, ID, Social Security Card, Credit Card, etc.) and destroyed a bathroom hand towel. And I have actually thought about bringing my super hyper 1 year old Labrador Retriever puppy on some of runs/walks just so she can let out some of that energy, but we never seem to have a leash here for her. I decided to look in one place and viola, it was there albeit, alittle torn up. I did some stretches and then hooked her up to the leash for our run/walk. She nearly torpedoed me out the door and I thought, maybe this was a bad idea.

After a few "Heels", she got the hint and walked slightly without pulling my arm out of socket. A couple of times, I would walk past her when she stopped suddenly nearly yanking me back off my feet. You would think that someone would be prepared for that, but it happens quicker than you think. I took a longer way than my usual so that we could go by the pond. I figured Cali would love that and she did. She moved from side to side smelling everything. I began running and she followed one lap around the pound. I stopped running and decided to walk the rest of the way, because she has too many jolts of speed running that nearly knocks you down.

We walked some more and then got on my usual path. I noticed that she was breathing heavy, her drool was all over, and her pants were high. We got about halfway to the first stop sign when I noticed that my dog was heading to all the shaded areas. When she reached the end of the shade, she rejoined me on the sidewalk. Then, she got to the really long shaded bushes area and just let out some serious diarrhea. I realized that more poor Cali was overheating or in the first stages of it. So, I turned back around and headed home. She got slower and slower; however, when we reached our main street, she knew we were on our last stretch to home. She began picking up the speed more and more. When we got into the driveway, she nearly knocked me over trying to get inside the house.

The other two dogs were jealous, but they don't have as much energy as her and I can only take one dog at a time. We did what I hope was a mile, but I am not sure. I think I am going to try this again. It's a great arm workout, as well.

Today, we are trying to run. I hope it happens otherwise, I may die in Galveston.

A 5K in a Hotel Gym

I haven't been running much this week for two reasons: the heat (heat index of 105-110, which means that it feels like those temps) and Jodi and I couldn't synchonize our schedules. When I got off work, it was just too hot to run and by the time it was somewhat decent, I was so not even in the mood anymore. Sitting on the couch can surprisingly make you dorsel. But Jodi was pretty much the same way. Shoot, at 9 p.m., it was still hot.

For Todd's birthday, we went on a spontaneous trip to Louisianna at L'auberge Dulac. This is a very beautiful hotel with a great staff and also is the closest thing you will get to Las Vegas in the South. Jodi and I had scheduled running time that we both were actaully going to make. Since Todd and I left on Thursday at about 2 p.m., I had to cancel. I even took off work to go have fun with my husband. We also brought Potter, Nate, and Amy (my running girl) with us for a 2 day partyfest.

However, by Friday, I was feeling the disgust and flab everywhere. I had already told Amy that I was bringing my shoes to run and that she should, as well. She did, but then she had a little too much to drink and was too hungover to run. I was still going to go regardless and Potter decided he wanted to go.

We decided on the gym since it was air conditioned and Potter needed a trash can close by in case of vomiting. It was a nice gym with free water and TVs all around. The treadmills had their own personal TVs. After I did some stretching, I selected the 5K run option and got about running. The treadmill automatically adjusted your run speed, which was fine at the beginning. However, I was not in the mood to run at 6.6; I wanted to run at 5.5 (or maybe even 6.0). That was really hard when you are running and then it just switches to 6.6, which catches you off guard and you almost slip. My leg started to hurt, which is another injury I'm dealing with right now. I pushed through it, but it was not easy. When I got to 3 miles, the thing kept going; I forgot a 5K is actually 3.3 miles. Finally, I got to the end and boy was I tired. Potter did 6 miles on the treadmill.

I do like running on the treadmill, because I can see all of my mileage, calories burned, distance average, etc. However, we both felt like we weren't going anywhere. It's not always fun to run long distances on a treadmill.

Afterwards, I did some weight lifting. I used the dumbbells, stability ball thing, and the ab ball thing (which I never seem to make that thing work right). I was glad to have the opportunity to do other things besides running, while keeping fairly cool. I felt so good afterwards and I was so ready to go to the pool and just relax.

On a side note, I did some training (7 jumps total) with the Outlaws on Saturday. Those are always good leg workouts. I was going to run on Sunday, but my leg was hurting way too much. I have my first 10K next Saturday evening in Galveston and I need to keep me not injured.

Running with a Machine

Somewhere, sometime on Friday, I agreed to run with Ryan "Mr. Abs" on Saturday morning at the dropzone. Now, I know he runs faster than myself (a whopping 5.5 minute miles), but he assured me that he will "dumb it down" for me. It was either the alcohol talking or the fact that I really just wanted to run, but I said yes to him (especially since he ran without a shirt on). Our agreed time was set for 6:30 a.m. and at 6:30 a.m., I was waking him up. He was hoping I forgot. I didn't. If I got my unhappy butt out of bed at 6:25 a.m., then by God, we are going to run.

I did my stretching, while waiting for him to get ready (he doesn't stretch or need to stretch). We did a very quick warmup walk, which I hated, but whatever. I was committed now to this run. I looked at my new Nike running watch (thanks Jodi) and the time read 6:57. As we started to run, immediately, I was having trouble breathing. I thought maybe it was the alcohol, the humidity, anything that I can think of to use as an excuse. I just couldn't get in a rhythm at all.

Earlier, I had posted that I thought Jodi wasn't human until we did that lunchtime death run a couple of weeks ago. I was wrong. Ryan is not human. He didn't breath. He didn't even seem like he was running. He's a machine and truly is a runner perfect for marathons. For every step he took, I took like 3 steps. And to make matter's worse, my hard and erratic breathing was VERY noticeable in the silent morning. It made me feel like my first time running with Jodi. Eventually, I was slowing down and told him that it was time to ease up alittle bit. That's when I realized what my excuse was...this was a much faster pace than I had ever done. We only did a mile (maybe a mile and a half) and that was the plan from the night before (not because I was dying).

At the turnaround point, I took off my shirt. I was soaked in sweat and the shirt just made it worse. However, I forgot that I was wearing my short shorts that I usually sleep in (kept falling). As I'm running (behind Ryan full-time by now), I notice that he's just looking around and really enjoying himself (showoff and for that, I posted the ab picture that he hates). He doesn't even seem phased by the fact that we are running, while I'm heaving my way to the finish line.

We got back to our run start point and we walked the rest of the way back to the building. The time on my clock...7:04 a.m. That means I just ran a 7 minute mile. Normally, I do 10-11 minutes. No wonder I couldn't breathe. Ryan told me that I need to work on my stride and making it longer. Once I get that, my breathing will be easier. Also, he told me that I need to run alone sometimes to get my pace. Otherwise, I'm just going to run whatever pace the other person is running.

By the way, when I told Jodi about our 7 minute run, that little evil fairy's eyes lit up. I told her, "UH UH. NO WAY. That was it for me on going that fast." Now, she's threatening me with 8 miles. We just did 6 last week.

On a side note, I did 9 training jumps with the Outlaws on both Saturday and Sunday. My body is sore. I also like to point out that I'm not going to run on the mornings of training days. My body was already feeling the run I did on the first jump and it was not fun.

Motivation for My Runs

http://thebubble.msn.com/video/?id=97ae8f2e-e3a2-4a98-99a2-6d83f03799a7

Running with the Original 3...er 3 1/2

Last night, Amy finally (after all these months) planned to join us on our weekday runs. With the uncertainty of the storms, we decided to just run at Bear Creek. I made the final decision, because I would rather be stuck closer to our homes if the storms came than at Memorial Park where it floods pretty bad. So, at 6:30 p.m., we all met for our big run. Only suprise, Amy brought Zaney with her. I didn't know at first how this was going to work since I've only walked with Amy, Zaney, and the stroller. But in the end, it worked out somewhat okay with a few lot of protests from Zaney.

Our plan was to run 6 miles (3 laps around Bear Creek) and 6 miles we did. We actually did 4 miles without stopping (Amy had to stop a few times to get Zaney back in the stroller). When we hit the first mile, I even did the monkey bars again. I couldn't do anymore after that, because my hands were so sweaty. But hey, I DID 4 MILES WITHOUT STOPPING!!! Wow! I'm super excited. In fact, we only did 2 very short breaks mainly because I thought my legs were going to give out (they didn't in case you are wondering). All in all, we did the 6 miles in 1 hour and 15 minutes. Not bad for us.

Our goal is to get that down to 1 hour and maybe 5 minutes (probably 10 minutes).

My body ached by the time I got home. I was limping around looking like death. Todd had a great meal ready for me to go with some good protein (chicken) and some pasta. I just wish my bird stomach would have been able to eat it all. I see this as a problem in the future. I'm still super sore this morning, but I can't help checking out my bootay in these pants. Running has really giving me something to look at!

Next up, the Cemetary Run on Thursday. Hopefully, the weather keeps up.

Chevron Houston Marathon Registration Opens Today

Well, I officially registered for the half marathon in January 2011. We decided to sign up as a group so that we all can get in or we all don't. There are other options as to what we will do if we don't get in. As usual, I signed our group as Skydive Houston. Let me know if you want to join us. The instructions are below.

This is a followup on your Lottery Group registration for the Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon - Lottery Group: Skydive Houston. Your Lottery Group members will be able to sign-up individually, and be placed directly into your Lottery Group by using the link below: https://secure.MarathonGuide.com/register/HoustonMarathon/LotteryGroupAdditions.cfm?Code=5089ymLk
Please pass this link and instructions to individuals wishing to register for your Lottery Group. Please note that even without this link, Lottery Group members may join your Lottery Group by using the search for a Lottery Group/join a Lottery Group link on the main registration page and choosing the Lottery Group from the list of Lottery Groups displayed.

Saturday Morning Running

I'm starting this post out with an explanation of why there was no post about Friday. In my Exercise TV Workouts post, I bragged about how I wasn't that sore from my ab workout on Wednesday, blah blah blah. Yeah, I woke up on Friday morning barely able to move. I couldn't even stand up straight, because my stomach hurt so much. It took 5 minutes to get one cough out. So, I pretty much said I wasn't running. I decided drinking was much better. My husband and Jodi were begging me to just run down the runway, but I just couldn't.

Okay, back to our regularly scheduled post...
In a twist of events, I was able to run on Saturday morning. Jodi unusually stayed at the dropzone on Friday evening so that she can get ready for her first competition. I woke up early enough and we decided to just go for it, but we would make it short since she needed to be back and ready to go by 8 a.m.

We did some quick stretching before we started our warm-up walk. Since both Jodi and I haven't been running as much these last couple of weeks, she was ansy to go (and admittedly so was I). When she started running, I did, too and without arguments, complaints, or hissing. Our plan was to just run to the stopsign and turn around, but when we got to the stopsign, we decided to keep on going for the whole 2.2 miles around the dropzone (Jodi is convinced that the run is 3 miles). During this run, we managed to do 5 Farkleks or whatever they are called. She would start running faster and I would follow like a stupid sheep. However, I managed to yell out, "FARKLEK" once and made her follow me. It only happened once.

After we got to that 2 mile marker spray painted on the road, we started our cool down walk. I felt so good afterwards.

I wanted to run on Sunday, but I didn't have anyone to run with since Mal didn't wake up early enough before she left for South Africa and Jodi didn't even show up to the dropzone on Sunday (6 jumps is no joke). Next, we are for sure running tomorrow, but I don't know where.

Lunchtime Afternoon Run Delight

WILL NOT EVER DO THAT AGAIN UNTIL FALL.

Jodi and I met at Bear Creek park for an afternoon lunchtime run since I have plans for dinner at 7 p.m. and she can't get off work early enough for me. We haven't ran since last Wednesday and I was feeling icky, boingy, and all around gross. I welcomed the run in any conditions and it looked like it would be stormy, lightening, thundering...you know hurricane wind conditions. Okay, not really. In fact, we wanted that, but instead we got floody, hot, muggy, humid, smelly, and any other gross adjective you can fit in here.

To start things off, it was raining and we were discussing through our car windows (with the windows rolled up) about not doing the run. She was on the phone and couldn't call me. After about five minutes, it calmed and I wasn't too worried about it. I did some leg stretches, while she was on the call. We then started off with a walk, while she was still on the call and planned to run after the huge flooded part. I thought I cleared it, but then I hit a huge unavoidable puddle that was ankle deep. I completely forgot my computerized keys were on my shoes. Whoopsy Daisy. I immmediately tried to dry them off and then put them into my sports bra for safe keeping. Finally, Jodi got off the phone and then we started running long before the 1 mile marker where we usually start running. The storms were scary, but still stayed to the side of us. As we rounded the corner, the sun came out and in full force. It was hot and humid. It's not like other Northern or Western states where storms cool down. In Texas, it's the oppposite. It turns WAY MORE humid and 20 times more mosquitos come out after a rainstorm. It's actually worse than a summer hot day in the middle of the afternoon. By the 1/2 mile marker, I was feeling it. I even noticed that Jodi was breathing heavier than usual. In fact, sometimes I think she is a robot, because she doesn't ever sound like she's breathing heavy or even feeling it. Not today. Today, I found out she was human.

When we got to the bathrooms by the marker showing that we did 1 mile, we hit a wall of heat and humidity. It's like when you are standing behind a muffler when a car has been riding around in the heat all day. It's like right before you get on the plane and you get that heat coming off of the fuel. It's that kind of heat and that disgusting. And I felt about 3 walls that we hit before Jodi had to stop to use the restroom. While I waited, I did some chair ups (not sure what to call them, but you work your arms) and I hit the monkey bars. I didn't know what to expect; I haven't been on monkey bars since I was a kid. It was fun and a nice little exercise. Jodi came out right when I was finishing and did the same thing (only she's tiny and it was hard for her to reach up).

After our little monkey bar exercise, we started running again. At this point, the heat is bad and we had already decided to not even go to 2 miles. We decided to just make it back to our cars (about 1 1/2- 1 3/4 miles total). We started out good, but quickly deterioted in a puddle of mud. I could barely keep going and said that we would start walking (and continue walking back to the car) at this driveway point. We also decided to add the monkey bars and possible pullups to our running when we are out here again.

Now, this run was by far the worst that I have ever done and I ran during the 5 O'Clock African Heat time period. But on this run, I could barely make the mileage that we did and I know that I can run more than 1 1/2 miles before I feel like dying. Even though this run was awful, it still proved to be the most rewarding yet, because we got to see things that aren't normally out (smarter people weren't running). A normally noctornal racoon was digging through the trash and we got some pictures. However, the best part of all was seeing a family of deers (called a herd, I checked) running through the park. Normally, you would just see 1, maybe 2, but not a whole herd. We actually stopped and watched them, because you could tell that something was up since they kept looking back. After about 5 minutes, the stoner deer came running out to meet the others. It was really cool. Hopefully, Jodi's cameraphone pictures turned out somewhat decently.

Exercise TV Workouts

I'm sorry that it's been awhile since my last post. I haven't really done anything. I trained with the Outlaws on Saturday and we did a total of 10 jumps. It's obvious that I'm using my legs more, because my legs were super sore for two days afterwards. Yipppeeee! Not only is that great for my flying abilities, but it's also great for toning my legs so that they compare to the legs of say super hot model Gisele Bundchen.

Gisele showing off the leg

This week has been a dud when it comes to running. Sunday, we were supposed to run, but I was so sore and a wee bit hungover, I really couldn't muster up the strength to run. I didn't even jump the rest of the day since my body was just so tired. Jodi has been super busy and we just couldn't get a run in on Monday (generally don't do anyways), Tuesday or Wednesday. Now, yes, I could have been awesome and ran on my own, but I wasn't in the mood. I think it's the weather we have been having. It's been storming every single day.

Well, yesterday evening, I was feeling the excess of my eating and drinking, but not working out. I felt...bouncy and not in a good way. So, on my way home (even though I was yawning something fierce), I decided to at least do something in the form of exercise. I pretty much ixnayed the running since the weather looked awful and got pumped up to do those free workouts on OnDemand. I bought some new awesome jeans from Lucky Brand (on sale...even better) that look great on me. However, they are lower and show my fatrolls coming off the edge of the waistline. I deem it the muffin top. As a result, I thought that my abs needed a serious workout.

I hit up the Beach Bikini Abs something or other. Phew! What a quick and intense ab workout. I didn't have a dumbbell, but I just went without it. I never did so many situps. There was one move that I really just couldn't do right; I looked like a sloppy mess. I got done with that and started another one, but it was all about the dumbbell that I just didn't have. So, I moved on to another one. I don't even remember the name, but it was pretty decent. The girl annoyed me, but it felt good and it had similar moves to the Beach Bikini one. Basically, I was a sit up, bicycle ab machine. After that one finished (these were all about 10 minutes long), I went to my favorite, YogaFit Abs. I forgot how hard this one actually is on the abs, but at the same time, you are stretching.

When I survived all of three of those ab workouts, I thought, why not put on a yoga video? I mean, I have my mat already out. I chose Zen in the Den, which was 15 minutes long. I guess I thought it was going to be more on the zen side, but it was not. It started off pretty easy going with the stretching and breathing nonsense, but then she would pick up the speed as she repeated the moves. Each time got faster and faster. She would be on downward dog, while I'm still in cobra trying to figure out where she went. Towards the end, I was getting closer, but not what I was wanting. I wanted a slow moving, serious yoga calming experience, which I undertand is hard anyways in my house since my demon Spawn dog, Cali either wanted to help me or wanted to fight my other dog loudly. I did make it all the way through and really got some great stretching.

And you know what's even better about all that stretching I did, I don't feel like my insides are going to cave in if I laugh or cough. I can feel they got worked, but I can breath normally without dying just alittle bit inside. I need to do that more often, at least once a week.

Next up, my first lunchtime run at Bear Creek Park with Mal and Jodi. I hope it's not storming.

I'm Not Ready to Run Just Yet

That's my new mantra for this post and probably for future runs. It was the first time that I have ever said that and I meant it. In the past when we ran at Memorial Park, I'm usually barely making it to the 1 mile marker. Now, this could be due to the heat (we started after 7 p.m. last night) or other factors, but man, I wasn't even read to start walking when we blew past that first mile marker. It wasn't until we got to the 2 mile marker when I started having issues. My back inflamed with pain. The crappiest part out of all of this, I wasn't ready to walk then either. However, my back was getting worse and I had to stop (full stop), which was fine, because Mal had to tighten her shoes. From them on out, I could make it a mile before having to stop to rest my back (although, not full stops).

So, let me tell you about the run. Jodi got their late, but that gave Mal and I time to stretch, strength train, and people watch and boy was there some people watching. That weird guy was sitting in the exact same spot just stretching away. I finally saw him run today. Good looking guys and cute dogs were all around.

Jodi had already mentioned to me that her plan was for us to run 6 miles on this run, but this was the time that I decided to break the news to Mal. She was not happy by far and we came up with a compromise to run 5 miles and then walk the last mile for a big cool down. I was okay with that for sure.

When Jodi finally got there and was ready to go, we started our warmup walk. When we began to run,my right knee (different than the one sore from last week) started to hurt at first, but it went away. Thank God. What I love about Memorial Park is that the runs are really good on the knees (just not the back). At each walking point, we gave eachother a big high-five since it's the sound of friendship. Spread the clap!

I'm proud to say that we did at least 4.5 to 4.75 miles of actual running. If it wasn't for my back, I would have done more and we would have finished in a quicker time. It's okay, because I'm still so proud of all of us, especially Mal and I for not only hitting 4 miles last week for the first time, but jumping up to 6 miles this week. What a great accomplishment. And I'm proud of Mal, because she rarely whined and begged for us to stop like on other runs. She was really getting in to it.

What I learned on this run: 1.) Stretch my back before any future runs. 2.) Bring mosquito repellant of any kind. As soon as we hit this woodsy area on the second lap, I was like chocolate to a bunch of PMSing women (i.e., mosquitos). 3.) I'm getting thinner, because my hubby bit my shoulder and it just pierced me instantly. He complained that I was getting too skinny.

We aren't running today, because I have family obligations. But we are running those weird fartlicks or fartleks or whatever they are called with the word fart in them at Bear Creek Park. See ya there.

It's Official, Warrior Dash and Run with Crabs or whatever is on

Jodi and I sent out feelers about doing the Warrior Dash to Josh and Cassie (the ones that have done it before). They were so excited to not only do it again, but that it is in Austin. So, all 3 of us bought our tickets yesterday. Jodi was supposed to do it last night. And I think she's inviting Lucky. If you want to join us, let us know. But you can't be a wuss. This is a physical event.

I also purchased my registration for Run in the Galveston Sand Crab 10K Night Time Run for August 14, 2010.


I'm super excited for both events.

Warrior Dash

Jodi finds these great events sometimes. I particularly loved this one, Warrior Dash. It's 3-4 miles of obstacle hell, but costumes are encouraged. Plus, there's beer afterwards. I'm a sucker for free stuff and beer. I can't wait to get my Viking Helmet. I think we are gonna ask a few of our skydiving buddies (I think they did it before) to do this with us.

Dropzones, Walking, and Kids

Saturday, I didn't do any running or walking, because I was still nursing my knee ready for training. When my teammates got there, we were on a load and in the air. Normally, we do 10 jumps, but this day, we could only plan to do 8 since Jon and Shannon were leaving early. We ended up doing only 7 since I messed up the loads. Our first 2 jumps went awesome and then we just hit a wall. However, our last jump was awesome. Even though we didn't do all the jumps we normally do, we still ended up on a high note and I had fun. And I got some cross training in that included lots of strength training. Downwind landings going super fast really toughens you up.

I had told Amy that I was going to run/walk with her on Sunday morning. When I saw her, I had completely forgotten. She wasn't planning to run since she had Zaney with her in the stroller and it was going to be a short walk. So, I said that I would join her anyways. I decided to go in my fitflops instead of my tennis shoes. I wished that I was wearing my sneakers. The walk was a nice little mile walk and it was hot. But it was worth it for the exercise. I felt good!

Shopping is Exercise

Since I had a little bit of a knee issue from Wednesday's workout, I wanted to take it easy so that I don't miss out on Outlaw training on Saturday. MaloRee agreed to just walk on Friday, but she also had to shop for her Africa trip. So, I came up with the idea to walk to the Outlet Mall, shop, and then walk back home. The total roundtrip walk is 1.4 miles from my house to the stop sign. Therefore, this would probably be close to 1.75 miles, not including all the walking we would do inside the mall.

Now, anyone that knows me, knows that I have had a love/hate/hate relationship with this Outlet Mall. I boycotted it for many months when it was first built, because it was built in my neighborhood. Not to the side, not on the outskirts, no, directly in it. But then Hurricane Ike hit and it changed my views completely. We were on the same power grid as the Outlet Mall and we got our electricity within 48 hours. The rest of the neighborhood got power back a week later. I love you Outlet Mall.

We walked up to the mall and wouldn't you know, it started raining. It hadn't rained all day, but as soon as we started walking, it hit us hard. And it was all in the direct path of where we had to walk. We made it through the monsoon and up to the mall. It was hot and I was wearing jean capris, which made it much more stickier. Bad idea. Mal and I quickly got to the shopping as soon as we got there. We shopped literally until we dropped. Everything Mal bought, I bought in a different color. I justified it by buying things for Todd.

Two things I learned: 1.) Mal is not the best person to go with when you need to shop. She's a bad influence. 2.) Bring your ID to the Outlet Mall, because everywhere wanted to see it. 3.) If you walk to the Outlet Mall, it's not a good idea to shop til drop. You need to remember that you have to carry all this stuff back. At least I got some strength training in on the long walk back home. And boy was it a long walk back.

Shake Weight For Men™ - OFFICIAL VIDEO AD

Okay, I saw this last night and thought that this was the funniest thing ever. Maybe it was the fact that they have the weight placed in a way that is somewhat suggestive or maybe it's the german guy saying, "oh that's it." I'm not sure. You be the judge.

Girls Just Wanna...Kill Jillian

Well, Texas has been hit with a hurricane, tropical storm development, and rain weather for the last two weeks. Yesterday was no different. The rain actually started earlier in the day. So, by 2 p.m., I was texting the girls (by now my wolfpack has grown to three with Mal and Jodi) to tell them that I will text them when I get home to see what weather was like in my area and possibly think about making alternative plans to running (I'm not in to running in the rain like Jodi). I would still be cooking dinner and we could do one of my workout videos. The girls decided to not waste a day and well, by 7 something p.m., we were in our workout clothes in front of the TV ready to start.

Oh Jillian Michaels (if you don't know her, she's the drill sergeant wannabe from Biggest Loser)...I love you and I hate you. I would pay gobs of money to have you train me for a week, but I might just kill you in the end. Doing one of your video workouts is just a taste of how much you will torture me live. I remembered using this video when I first started working out (long before I decided to run a half marathon). It took me three times to actually complete this 40 Minute Fat Burning Metabolism DVD. It's a hard workout. Her stretches and warmup are just...well, I was already heaving after the first set. Oh and you do two sets of each section (usually about four moves). She also talks alot and she just moves on to the next exercise without a thought, without a break. Her idea of a break is doing crunches, because you get to lay on the floor. I see you looking at me with those beady eyes and saying in your manly voice, "Good job." You don't know that I'm doing a good job.

So, the three of us girls huddle in my living room and sweated it up to as much as we could do. The only thing that sucked was the fact that the dog hair was all over the floor and when our sweaty bodies touched the carpet, the hair stuck to everything. UGH! Normally, I would use my new yoga mat (birthday present from Mal), but I only had one. I would take one for the team and just suffer. I believe there were six total workouts, but we only made it to four. When we started the cross country skier, I heard my knee pop. It was not a pretty sound and the girls heard it, too. I stopped all moves from then on out and the girls said that they were okay with a break. I believe Mal was the most excited to get this workout done as quick as possible. When I went to pause it, I accidentally turned it off (seriously, I did) and that was a sign that it was time to just end it. My knee was sore. I still felt out of breath and like my body got a full workout. I was happy and the girls were, too. This is by far the best workout video I have done. If you want something that will kick your butt all the way to Canada and leave you totally sore in the morning (and maybe the next three days), then by God, pick up a copy. Jillian gets paid the big bucks for a reason.

Afterwards, I made spaghetti. I was supposed to make healthy chicken with steamed rice and veggies, but I didn't have time. Work and life gets in the way. So, I made the spaghetti as healthy as I could, which I do anyways. For the main part, I used whole grain pasta, EVOO, carrots, tomato paste, spaghetti seasoning packets, and other spices. I made a salad with spinach, pecans, apples, cucumbers, carrots, and strawberry basalmic (new for me and oh so decilicious). Todd made some french bread with only a teaspoon of light butter. Yummm....Top that!

Next time we do the exercise and meal, it will be at Jodi's house.

I'm not sure if we are going to run today, because of my knee and the weather is already ugly out there. Go away rain!