Back at it and 5 cats

So I almost completely ended up taking the month of July off :( NO BUENO! Between traveling over 3,000 miles (no excuse for not running), temps being triple digits the entire month (a moderate excuse since the lows were in the 90s that entire time) and being just plain lazy- I had a horrible time being motivated and didnt do a thing! Theres my honesty report.

BUT I decided to get back at it with August. The hardest thing for myself and others when you fail is to start again, for no other reason that you are ashamed to admit you quit, failed or were just to lazy to continue- I did all three to some extent but I am NOT going to let it keep me from starting back.

Tonight I ran for the THIRD day in a row after this month hiatus- and it feels good to feel the sweat again BUT I am VERY slow! And that stinks b/c I wasnt very fast back when I was running consistently.

On a funny note- this town has got a CAT problem! Most runners probably never even notice 1 cat along a run b/c they are so insignificant. Well tonight I kept count b/c there were sooooo many! On one 3.5 mile run, if I count the cat that was on our the hood of our car when I left, I saw FIVE FLIPPN' CATS!!! Seriously!?!?!!??

Not sure how many of you are out there. Encouraged. Care. Or whatever. But maybe I am writing this for my own good to be honest with myself. If you are there will you let me know by leaving a comment for me?

White Shoes, yellow socks and changed goals

Tonight I FINALLY got myself out for a run! After scorching heat in the AM and PM; we finally got a break in the weather and it was a nice cool evening for a run. I laced up my SOLAR WHITES, with my Yellow socks underneath and took off.

Ive found in my new surroundings its hard to get a good distance run in. Now I know a mile is a mile no matter where you run but a mile on a dirt road that is a mile from the previous road is easier to run than a mile that has 13 blocks in between it makes it harder to go any further. Before I could run 4-7 miles no problem -because they were spaced out miles. HERE 2.5 miles seems rough!

THAT is one of the many reasons I have decided, for now, the half marathon training is off my plate. I need to readjust to my new running surroundings and recalculate what I can do and how I can best do it.

IF there is anyone out there reading this, I hope I havent let you down. I do want to keep running for running sake but I have no end goal in my at present.

My stats for today: I have been running for 68 days. In that amount of time I have logged 117.3 miles in 21 hours 31 mins and 16 secs over the course of 31 runs.

Firecrackers, new shoes and old friends

Well, I am almost ashamed to admit this but it took me quite a while to realize that a 4 mile race is LONGER than a 5k. You would think that running for 18 years that I would know the difference between 1k and 1 mile.....but on a run just before my Firecracker 4 mile I was thinking about it and realized...duh a 5k is 3.1 miles and a I was entered to run a 4 mile race...Geesh!

I am proud to report that my search has ended! I bought a new pair of running shoes! They are what I like to call SOLAR WHITE! They are whiter than white but buying anything else would have cost me at least $40 more. I am more cheap than I am vain about color. And because they are white and unpopular they were VERY on sale! I was able to get top of the line Asics that normally retail for $140 for $60 because they are last years model in an unpopular color! And because I saved so much money on my shoes I got a bottle of spray protector and new running shorts ($35 originally on sale for $17!)



Finally, I did run a 4 mile race on the 4th of July. I didnt do that great but I was at almost 3000 feet higher altitude than where I normally live and run (or at least that is my excuse for my performance). I did however, have a great time reconnecting with my long distance running partner (who is about 10 mins faster than I am!).

Todays Stats: I have been running for 63 days. I have run 112.2 miles over 29 runs in 20 hours 32 mins and 49 seconds. I have kaboshed the half marathon for now.

White socks, the smell of laundry and a bat

Tonight....I had to wear my old white socks....mostly because all of my fun colored ones are PACKED ready to go on an adventure to WYOMING!!! This upcoming Monday the 4th of July I will be running in a Road Race that I have run MANY times....about 15 years ago!!!! I have no plans of winning or even doing that well BUT I will have fun with an ol' pal of mine that we have been running together with each other via our Nike+ apps for almost 2 months now!!! It will be fun to get some pavement time together!!! Cheer me on!

During my runs I often smell a plethora of things, mostly myself ;) Often the smells are not that pleasant but tonight! Alas, TONIGHT....I smelled the wonderful smell of laundry, clean laundry for the longest part of my run and it was NICE!

Finally, I am pretty sure a bat flew over me tonight. If any of you know my feelings on bats (ie mice with wings) you will know why this is of significance and why I am choosing to say no more!

Todays stats: I have been running for 56 days. I have put in 105.5 miles over the course of 27 runs in 19 hours 23 mins and 21 secs.

PS- still no new shoes but I am hoping to go shoe shopping in the HUGE metropolis of Casper, WY! Wish me luck

Blue socks and a looooong road back

So I thought that taking a week off was going to be hard on me. Well, I found out that getting back at it is even harder. I had to work at telling myself that I was okay and there was nothing I could do about running the week Jeremy was gone at camp. But as soon as Jeremy came back and I could start running again, it was another mind game! I waited THREE days to run! I made every excuse I could. Until Sunday night when I knew I just needed to get back at it! So I went for a 2 mile run trying to beat my best mile pace (but remember in the beginning my calibration for my miles was off so as far as my Nike app is concerned my best is something I never really ran). Also, it was like running in a dryer! The heat at 10 pm was like that at 2 in the afternoon! UGH!

This past weekend I did MORE shoe shopping. I went to Dick's Sporting Goods and had an AWFUL experience! A guy came to help me, we talked about my needs and some options. He got me set up with one pair of shoes that were already out and went into the back to get the others. AND HE NEVER CAME BACK! Oh I saw him out on the floor but he NEVER came back to me! Whaaaaaat?!?!?!!?!? I did find a pair of Nike Live Strong shoes that I liked well enough but the thought of buying them from THIS store, I had to walk out. I did come back later and talked to another sales person (the guy was still working and I could tell avoiding me). The new person was VERY helpful but I just couldn't decide! Because I am buying them for more than how cute they look and am willing to spend a significant amount of money; I am wanting to make sure I get the RIGHT shoes. And therefore CANT commit for some reason. Jeremy thinks I am absurd but I need them to be the right shoe.

On a lighter note; I wore my blue socks- which make me happy. And I am thinking about getting a new pair of running shorts. All is not lost if I can have REAL running clothes, right?

Also, I am starting to waver on my half training. Knowing that I took last week off and I am struggling to get back at it. And knowing that Caleb and I are traveling/vacationing next week and wont get the same runs in. I am having a hard time being able to commit my time, money and efforts to the race in Sept. I am still trying to follow the training schedule but just not sure when my half will be. Ugh....

Todays Stats: 53 days running. 100.1 miles over 25 runs in 18 hours 20 minutes and 02 secs.

Pink Socks and a satisfied heart

Sooooooo with Jeremy gone for the week I thought I was going to have to go an ENTIRE week with out running :( But thanks to a visit from Caleb's Nana for a tball game I got to go running last night! It wasnt as bad as I thought it would be for not having run 5 days. I set out to run 4 miles but as I am still learning my way around our new town and I ended up running almost 5 miles. tired and sweaty I returned home a happy runner! Now if I can just make it to Friday when Jeremy returns home so I can get back into my routine (sans the YMCA)!

I busted out my hot pink socks for this run. And I put on my real running shorts! I still havent bought new running shoes which is becoming more and more of a problem as I can feel my current ones "running" out of life. Now living in a town with little shopping options I am going to have to make a point of getting my new shoes the next time we go to the "city"






Today's Stats: I've been running for 48 days. Training for 5 weeks (minus this week b/c I'm not really). I've run 98.09 miles over the course of 24 runs in 17 hours 56 mins and 31 secs.

Saaaaaad

Well we finally made the transition to OK this weekend! It feels good to have my family back together, boxes unpacked and starting our new life!

On the downside, Jeremy is off to a spur of the moment trip to District Youth Camp leaving me at home alone with Caleb in a town where I dont know anyone well enough to have them watch Caleb while I run :(

Soooooo...Im off of running and training for the week....We will see how it goes and how crappy it is at the end of the week when he returns and I try to jump back in.

Until then.....