Notes of a Non-Runner

Labels: stats

Deranged child "building a cheeseburger."

Playing in the snow. Grandma gave us a snowman kit.

Amy and I did about 3 miles in some sort of blizzardy, icy, slushy crap on Monday. I don't believe we saw another soul that wasn't in their car with the defrosters and windshield wipers going. Man does that make you feel tough! :D Neither one of us would have done this had we not put it on the calendar. I can certainly see the benefits of having a regular work out partner to be accountable. Thanks for getting me out there, Amy!! Can we pick 'em or what?

Labels: biking

Thank you, sweet Hub, for the great gift and for your excitement and support. Your support at home allows me to do what I do...

Checking in...

I did run 4 miles up and down the strip upon arrival..... from the Palazzo all the way down to Xcalibur and back. I was going to take a poll about why it possibly sucked more than any miles I've done lately. Was it the weaving, gawking, staggering tourists who kept getting in my way, the 8 or 9 sets of 30 stairs I nearly died on or perhaps the lack of fueling? On the way here,the flight attendants asked if anyone is allergic to cats. I have no idea what this means, however, when I got here, everywhere on my legs had a rash. I'm guessing it has to do with the new pants and everywhere they touched me??? but who knows. I didn't have any cat in my pants and I don't think that had anything to do with the run, but the rash makes my legs feel like they are on fire.

Turns out, Topher reminded me that running on the street makes quite a difference after several runs and several months on treadmill. Thanks for reminding me, it made it seem slightly less sucky.

I didn't get too upset - all the splits were abysmal, but I did the miles and after all, the scenery was beautiful and the temp swing from this morning in Des Moines was from minus three to 57 -- I'll take it, even if the run is not good.

Super special shout out to my friend LeAnn who is looking for motivation, a working mom like me, and just a doll. She's a runner and I encouraged her to check out my and you guys' blogs. Let's hear about some miles, LeAnn!!

Labels: motivation

Busy week, heading to Las Vegas for a work meeting for a couple days. I'm hoping to get some work outs in while I'm there. It's also our annual awards banquet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some hardware. :D

I'm back in the pool, People!

After ~12 years away, and reading about several of you training in the pool, I got the bug to swim some serious laps. My MIL, who is the best MIL anyone could ask for, got me a 7 day pass to her pool. Then I will decide if I am going to join this place for just a swim pass - we already have a gym membership through my hub's work, but the place doesn't have a pool and it is hard to justify joining another.

I've often thought I should do tri's since the swimming would be my strongest part and that seems to be where some people struggle. Well, we'll see on that one (I still have a fear of being run over and killed while training on the bike :P), but for now, I'm enjoying building up strength and endurance in a new setting.

I dug out an old Speedo racer suit and some goggles. In truth it took me about 15 seconds to find. Crap! Now I really have to give it a try!! After I got over the initial shock of shimmying into that suit, it wasn't too bad.


Sunday - Swim - 1.2 miles
Monday - Swim - 1 mile ( OH. MY. SHOULDERS. ARE. SORE.)
Tuesday - Run - 1 single mile - 10:44 - I only had time for one but that is smokin for me :D
Wednesday - Swim - 1 mile ( even tried an IM!!) I'm doing a mile in about 33 minutes
Thursday - OFF

We had a great little valentine dinner with the kids, "tapas" that was little white castle's, wings, mac/cheese, chicken nuggets, etc in cute little pans. Thanks, Honey, for making it special for us and thanks for the last 7 years. We met 7 years ago on a blind date on Valentine's Day!!

Hope you all enjoyed your Valentine's Day.

Thanks again for participating in the race. I haven't posted in a while because I like to let the Race Results "sit" for a bit. I'm glad you guys enjoyed the race and the report. You've maybe noticed it has been updated a few times and more results came in. jkrunning, Tom, cewtwo, and slb+ have all been added.


Cool Valentine design by my friend Gretchen at heArt-a-day!!

Labels: Swimming

Once again, the results are in and the race reports are posted. This virtual thing seems to be working out.

I might be a little more sappy this time (understatement) -- I think because I realized a bunch of people are out there running 9 miles, because I said I needed a reason to keep training. You are all SWEETHEARTS in my book and certainly, you are all WINNERS. Thank you so much for getting out there and for indulging me on these virtual races. If you are new, check out the inaugural race, 8 on the 8th.

A word of thanks to Gretchen at heArt-a-day for designing our lovely logo. She's a budding artist and we met by chance on-line, only to find out we live only 100 miles apart. Thanks for the perfect logo and your generosity for our little shuffling blogging gang. XOXO

Again, the race reports are pretty fun so I've provided some official race pictures, links to reports and highlights for your perusing pleasure. It was quite a competitive race, lots of reports of fantastic race directing, aid stations and crowd control, and the pacers seemed to be well accepted although some people brought their own (Derek Jeter, Beckham, etc). There were some reports of attempting to bribe the RD with lipstick, G2, Cliff Bars, and Sport Beans. Well done! :D My most favoritest thing to hear, "I wouldn't have done this today if it hadn't been for this race." AMEN. Mission Accomplished.

Before I get started, special shouts to Laminator who had wanted a second shot at the title and instead is recovering from a broken bone, we all hope you are recovering well; Bill, our previous KING, who is tapering and planning to completely ROCK his marathon next week, and my nemesis, Scott, who thought about running 9 minutes and thought that should count for something. My friend, after Rocky Raccoon, you get an honorary finish.


Be sure to use your titles wisely. You have so earned them. Make your significant other use them at least once. If you don't have one, at least you got called a cutesy name for Valentine's Day. (know that you are loved!) Although, doesn't everyone just want to be a Lasting Lover? That was one of my better ones. :D Also, the hearts are your race medals. ENJOY!!

Labels: 9 on the 9th, Race Report

I actually did it. I wasn't sure if I could complete this, in fact I thought about doing just 6 and putting my earlier in the week 3 with it (I hear the race director is really lenient that way!), but I made it. Slow, but Steady.

Labels: 9 on the 9th, Race Report

Is it strange that I have several posts rattling around in my head waiting to be written and it kept me up last night? Geesh. Being sick (and restricting the typing) drove me nuts. I had things to say. I've been waiting.... Here is one of them.

3 miles on the treadmill today. I took it pretty sloooooww, and still had some twinges of pain left over from the parvo virus, but I'm ecstatic to be running again.

13:20
13:10
12:33
3 miles ~ 39:03
Virus...meet my club. (click on picture to see demo!)

15 minutes toning with bands
( I need some help here - I pulled up a website and started doing some recommended exercises and snapped two of the bands. Do they get old? I thought the point was that they stretch and don't break, how could I possibly break two of them? Do they come in different lengths? They looked short compared to what the model was using -- like smurf sized. That was for you, Jess. :D Any help appreciated here. I decided I want to keep them at my desk and incorporate them into my day. Well the one that is left!)

25 seconds per side - side planks
(it's hard to side plank with a cuddly golden retriever trying to snuggle up to you.)
5 minutes of dog wrestling ensued.

Well, the virus certainly did a number on me. I still have wrist and elbow pain and occasional knee and ankle pain, but things are getting much better. I walked the dogs on Saturday for .5 mile and came back with a few knee twinges, so I waited another day.