Journey to 5k and the Kentucky Derby...

Today has been such a melancholy day. I can't really explain it. Lots of laughter this morning but as the day went on, the atmosphere got more mellow. Even on our morning wellness walk at work. We took our time today and finished the 1.5 miles in 26 minutes. How terrible, but at least we went on a walk. Now let's get down to the real business from today...well this evening really. Leaving work late and rushing home to get my daughter and then to turn back around and head to the track is not very stress relieving. I get changed, grab my new running shoes and head out the door. We get to the track 15 minutes late for their running practice. I really wasn't feeling it tonight. Then I noticed Miss Daisy was there. So I went into Hoke Colburn mode and was Driving Miss Daisy. I then proceeded to push the stroller around the track. I figured if I walk at a decent pace I will still be making it worth while. This would give me a chance to work on my 15 minute walking mile.

After a couple of laps it was time for the girls' cool down lap so my daughter wanted to push the stroller. I took advantage and decided I would try to get some sort of jogging in. I mentioned sprinting to one of the coaches and she said she'd sprint with me. After getting caught up in conversation with another parent I decided to just get it over with. I jog around the track and made it further than I thought I would. So then I decided I would attempt to sprint the straights and recover on the curves. I sprint the first straight and didn't get as far as I'd hoped by my headphones were flying everywhere since they decided not to stay in my ears. Then I get to the second straight. After feeling a slight pain in my left quad I decided to sprint anyway. Dumbest move ever! Folks, I now welcome you to the Kentucky Derby!



Yes, you see this horse above? This is "A horse named Charlie". I came to know "A horse name Charlie" quite well this evening.

Needless to say I still have a charlie horse in my leg as I type out this entry more than 4 hours later. I have stretched, massaged and tried to be still. Nothing is helping so I am going to just call it a night and hope that I am better in the morning. Oh, before I forget...good news. My shoes didn't leave me feeling like shin splints or human combustion of the calves. Then again I really didn't run/jog but two of the 2 miles I did tonight.

Now I shall go dream about My Little Pony.

Journey to 5k - Weekend Edition

I am going to make this one quick because I've procrastonated writing about my run yesterday. I did not run or even attempt to today because it just wasn't in the stars. I went to a concert last night and slept in this morning. Tonight wasn't good either because by the time I got home from my daughter's tumbling it was already getting dark. I really do need to stop being Lazy Louise. I have less than 3 weeks now until my first 5k run that we may end up really just walking depending on how many people are there and what not.

So we will discuss Saturday. Yes, beleive it or not I did get up early on Saturday and go for a run. Ok so I didn't necessarily get up early so I could run, but I was already up so I said "what the heck?" and decided to go for a quick one. So I get my phone, grab my headphones and to the park I went. I start my nifty phone application as I'm walking to the park in hopes of not seeing any of the old geezers that are there every morning when I'm driving to work. I'm really not a morning person. Naturally I see 2 geriatrics walking their dogs the second I get to the corner of the park. I wave, smile and begin my warm up walk. As I get about half way around I pass this guy that is walking up to the park as though he is going to start running. I don't think anything about it. As I run around the park I don't see him so I just keep on concentrating on my breathing and my run. I feel as though I'm making great time. On my 3rd lap I see him coming back around the park. As we pass each other again, because he was going the wrong way, I catch a whiff of him. Now mind you, I didn't pay attention before and this time I was already feeling the beads of sweat drip down my face. I had to laugh as I started running again because all I could do was question my inner self. Who seriously prepares themselves for a run/jog/walk around the park and puts on cologne? Now don't get me wrong, he did smell good but seriously. I couldn't believe it. So I continue my journey around the park and being to think how I'm on my 3rd lap and I should be hearing the British, or maybe she's Australian, lady tell me I have hit 1 mile and give me all the stats that go along with it. I look at my phone and immediately want to throw it against the ground as hard as I can. I somehow hit the pause button but it told me I was at .01 miles in 14 mintues. As I'm beginning to question life I pass Mr. Smell Good again. Is it wrong that I took in a deep breath as I passed him? I did start running though because I didn't want it to seem strange that I was walking and breathing like that.

Mr. Smell Good then left the park down the street, I can only assume to go home. This guy really only walked a total of 1 lap in my 3. Now back to my failed phone application. Now I'm walking because I'm really trying to figure out how this happened. Did it have a sudden glitch and decide to pause itself because it didn't sense my movement? I then felt myself get very discouraged. I was originally pumped up to run 3 miles but with my phone application bugging out I felt so let down. I had in my mind that I was doing great. I wasn't looking at my phone to check my status every 10 seconds like I normally do. I was for once just going. I decided to do 2 more laps and then call it quits because I had already lost any motivation that I had before. During my cool down lap I had a conversation with myself, using my inner voice of course. I said "Self, have you become too dependant on stats and technology?" Do I really need all the time and distance to satisfy myself every time I make an effort to run? If I didn't I would think that 4 laps at the park means 2 miles and that 4 laps at the track equals 1 mile. Now depending on which lane you run in and if you stay in that lane the entire 4 laps, this could be true. However, if you are like me and you cut corners at the park or you have troubles staying in the same lane at the track then you are very off in your calculations.

Tonight I had to stop at the store to buy my son a specific brand of a backpack so I decided to pick up a new pair of running shoes to see if it helps the pain I feel after running. Being that tomorrow is a run day I will try them out. I'm kind of excited about this. I am also going to test my phone application to see if it craps out on me again. If it does I may go old fashioned and get a pedometer instead and use the timer function on my ipod since I have an armband for that and won't have to carry my phone.

I will update tomorrow. It is my Aunt's birthday and my mother mentioned taking her out to dinner but we shall see. Until then...

Journey to 5k - Goal Achieved!!!!!!

Yes, it is time to celebrate. I was just talking about my personal goal that I had for a 15 minute walking mile during our wellness walks at work. As you can imagine, we are celebrating because not only did I meet that goal, but I surpassed it by almost 30 seconds!

So let's go over how this happened. Being that our wellness walk coordinator was out all week and today there were meetings so not everyone could go, I was basically leading the walk today. We all know the route we take and how much time it takes to walk it suffiently for work. So we also know who are the regular walkers and to ask them if they are going. So today we have Fast Frieda walking with us. Now I was already told that Fast Frieda is a super fast walker. I had seen it before but I didn't keep the same pace as her. Today being that there were only 4 of us, we all decided to attempt to keep up with Fast Frieda. The pace we were walking was that questionable one where you can either walk at the speed of light or do a very slow jog. I only had to job a couple times to keep up the pace when I'd fall behind so that itself was an accomplishment. I had already warned her that I was NOT jogging to keep up. With the heat and humidity it was a definite that I would be working up a sweat so thank goodness I remembered my gym bag so I could change my shirt before hand. By the time the nifty phone application told us we hit 1 mile we were already talking about how we knew we passed the mile but the lady was late in talking to us with her British accent. We get back to the office and look to stop our application to save and upload and this is what we see.





Yes folks, 1 mile in 14 minutes and 37 seconds. I'm not sure that I'd ever be able to do it again but I know it can be done and I did it! Fast Frieda then offered to walk more often to push me to walk faster. She is off next week so I get a slight break but after that she is going to set my pace. Of course this could be punishment for me telling her "I deserved McDonald's for lunch today since I damn near ran with her earlier in the day". HA!

I didn't run or walk this evening like I wanted to but then again I also wanted to go buy my children school supplies and I didn't get that done either.

I did have a craving for a cigarette tonight though. It was very weird. I think it was one of those habit things at night where my mom and I used to go out and have that last cigarette of the night together. I resisted but I really would've enjoyed one. Of course I didn't have one, instead I sat inside on the couch playing on Twitter. After 34 days I have no plans of caving now. Perhaps I've just become too comfortable now where I think I can have 1 every now and again. I would really NOT like to find out.

So as everyone is aware, the Olympics are one. Today was the first day of Track & Field. In watching some of the running (track) events a comment was made for me to watch how they run. My only response was "Well that's for sure not what I look like when I run." A slight giggle followed and that was that. So is it just me or does anyelse else ever feel like this?



I'd really like to thank those that read daily or even weekly for supporting me in these ventures.

Journey to Laziness - 1 month, a lifetime to go

So clearly I took today as a rest day. I'm actually kind of glad I did because sprinting really does take a toll on you. Some days I kind of wish I was a morning person and could wake up early to go before I start my day but I love my sleep more. So it is harder for me to make the time to workout in the evenings. That is usually my time with my children. Either way, I am doing more than I did before so that is what matters right?

My friend had the nerve to tell me on the phone tonight about a different run. She called it a Dirty Run and she must've been smoking something serious to want me to attempt a half marathon. Not just no but H-E-double hockey sticks NO! haha First of all for those that are into running, we are already at an altitude of around 5000ft above sea level. Now, this Dirty Half Marathon and Lil Dirty 10k begin at the Sandia Tram which is at 10,378 feet above sea level (Sandia Peak). The air is naturally thinner at higher elevations which in turn means it is more difficult to breathe. I went hiking (walking/exploring) up there slightly over a year ago and after a while I was so short of breath. Granted I was still a smoker back then. Now what was I really talking about? Oh yes, how I wasn't going to do anything above a 10k. Maybe next year or the year after or maybe just never.

I'm still debating on signing up for the Dirty Dash. Today it was a special on that Living Social site for half off. We will see what I decide on. I think it's safe to say that I'm not going to Vegas after all though. We shall see what I decide in the next couple of days. I think I just want to go play in the mud. It looks like so much fun. And no, I'm not going to do any sort of mud wrestling so just dispose of that thought immediately.

I have been smoke free for 33 days now (1 month) and my daughter just now realized it. She harrassed me for the last 3 years to quit smoking and when I finally do she doesn't even notice it. She was talking to me about her day and told me "I'll tell you when you go out to smoke. Or you aren't going to smoke? Or you don't smoke anymore?" My response to her questions was "I haven't smoked in a month." She got so excited and was jumping up and down saying "Oh my god, ohmigod, ohmigod!" Too funny but I can't believe she didn't notice sooner. Then again when I bought a new car I wouldn't smoke in it so there was nothing to notice there. I'm not sure my son has realized it yet though. Then again he is the same one that is embarrassed to be seen with me in public and tonight called me fat. My daughter of course told him "Mom's not fat, she's doughy!" Which in turn led him to say "It's not doughy, Mom is husky." After saying husky he tried to pinch some fat on his side (now if you know my son he is a bean pole) and saying "husky just means muffin top." Oh well, what can I do?

Ok I've gone on and on enough for the night. Until next time...

Journey to 5k - Sprinting Sucks

Yes I said it. And I meant it! I am seriously not fond of sprinting, in the least bit. I don't mind it while I'm doing it, it's the aftermath that I don't care for. Yes, again I felt like my calves were a part of some sick experiment of human combustion. We'll get to that in a bit. Want to know something cool about my nifty phone application? Well aside from the fact that it uploads your activities to a database it also keeps track of your workouts. Since we are on the first day of August and I have been using it for a full month now It tells me that for July I ran/jogged/walked a total of 44.3 miles. That's a nice motivator in itself. GO ME! (Yes, even with all the rest days I took.)

This morning we kicked butt on our wellness walk. I am so proud that we almost met the goal I set a while back to walk a mile in 15 minutes. We did it in 16 minutes and 11 seconds. Granted we walk 1.5 miles for our wellness walks at work. We also completed the walk in the shortest time I've ever done. Our usual time is around 25 minutes, ok between 25 and 28 minutes. Today we completed the walk in 23 minutes and 54 seconds (1.51 miles). Now I usually don't put the times down but I was super excited to have such a great walk. The first few left before us because naturally I lost track of time and still had to change my shoes. So the 4 of us that left a few minutes after the first group caught up and eventually passed them. Yes, we were on a roll today. One day I will make that goal I set for myself to walk the mile in 15 minutes during our wellness walks at work. Once I master that I will think about starting to jog parts of it. I said THINK about it, let's not get too overly excited about that. Needless to say, I felt great after the walk today.



Yeah I posted it! I mean that too. Going running with my son has got to be the worst idea ever! Both kids are registered to do the Color Run with me because they were excitedly telling me how they wanted to do it with me. Anyway, I get him and we head to the park. On the way to the park I almost collected two new friends. My neighbors Dalmation was following us to the park. Then because the Dalmation went the other dog (not sure what breed) decided it wanted to go to. When the owner picked up the Dalmation the other white dog decided it was going to continue walking with us. Too funny and I was laughing because now anytime I see someone with a dog at the park/track I think of Ms Parker and her always having run ins in some which way or another. I let him know that I was going to walk the first lap around the park because I was going to try sprinting again. He tells me that he is going to do the same, which shocks me because usually he doesn't like to be seen publically with me unless I'm buying him something. So when we are turning the corner for the last stretch of the first lap I begin to jog. It was slightly difficult because my legs were apparently still sore from the night before. As we go around, obviously back to walking, I get to the parts of the park that I wanted to sprint. After the 2nd or 3rd sprint I took my earphones out and told my son "You didn't think Mom could run that fast did you?" Naturally his response was no. Then again this is the same kid that tells me that I need to eat yoplah (yoplait) to help me loose weight; to order diet pills, workout videos; that I'm fat. Well during the recover times of tonights workout he kept asking how many laps we were doing or if we were done yet. Now I whine and I take too many rest days but when I'm doing it I try to not complain. He was driving me insane. We ended after doing 2.1 miles.

I wasn't so concerned with the timing of my workout because I was working on my breathing techniques and sprinting again. Did I mention that I really don't like sprinting? I was able to sprint more tonight because I actually went before I ate and with more time before the darkness set in. For the last lap I decided it was time to walk very, very slowly to cool down because my calves felt like they were going to explode. Now try to explain that to a 13 boy that really doesn't care what you have to say but is there and pretending to listen because you are the parent and you "made" him go. My explanation was to imagine blowing up a balloon and how it becomes really difficult to add more air because it is so full it is about to burst. Yes, that is how my calves felt and each step I took was like adding more air to the balloon. After stretching out my warm muscles I really started to think that perhaps I'm getting shin splints. Those are definitely not fun! I used to get those in cheer back in high school. This is probably a result in my poor legs having to carry all this weight around. I am not dieting and don't plan to though.

One thing at a time and right now I'm doing two. Working on preparing for these 5 k runs I've signed myself up for and I'm 32 days now of being smoke free. Or officially 1 month if you want to look at it that way. I'm still up in the air for the Dirty Dash but I don't know I can prepare before then because I really feel that I need strength training for that one. It does look fun though. Anyway, I feel really great tonight. My breathing is fine, I feel healthier (so to speak). I really feel that sometime serious would have to happen for me to cave and set me back at day 1 now. Even my mood swings weren't enough to make me cave.

So overall, in the words of Ice Cube...Today was a good day.

Journey to 5k - on the road again

C'mon everyone, sing it with me "On the road again....just can't wait to get on the road again". Oh don't act like you never jammed out to a little Willie Nelson. So as I typed this out and was singing, yes I sure was singing (just like Willie Nelson too), I thought to myself that I should save this opening for after the Color Run which is in 25 days. Then I said screw it, I can use it twice. Not like anyone will remember, except maybe Ms P but she will be alright. With that being said I have to remind myself, even though I didn't quit per se:



I didn't necessarily give up but I do have a habit of not being truly dedicated. Sure I want it but I just don't have the drive and discipline to stick with a routine for long periods of time and by long periods of time I mean anything more than 1 week. The longest workout routine I've done (aside from when I used to go to the gym to see the hot trainer, ahhhhh Bingham) is Windsor Pilates. I love that video but even that is back to collecting dust. I've tried several different workout videos throughout the years including my most recent purchse of Hip Hop Abs but nothing can keep my drive and attention for more than a week. So let's just cut to the chase, yes I can hear you all telling me that I'm rambling as usual.

Once again I had every intention of going to the gym today. And then it began, fate working against me. Even though our wellness walk coordinator at work was off again today I decided I was going anyway. Even though my girl that sits behind me was the only one that went we did it. I went to change my shirt and realized that I left my gym bag at home. Went on the walk and felt so gross for the rest of work because I worked up a sweat, then again I was wearing a sweater type top. Then I get a phone call that I have to skip the gym because I need to pick up my daughter from cheer class because her ride had a yoga class to attend. It just wasn't in the stars. So instead I came home, ate a grilled cheese (remember, I don't diet) and decided that 30 minutes later I was going for a quick run. Why did I only wait 30 mintues you ask? Because it was already 8pm and it was going to be getting dark outside soon. Now I'm no fool, I know better than the run outside in the dar. That's just asking for trouble. So I convince my daughter to run with me. She was more than willing because she knows I usually end up walking more than running. So on our way out the door she tells me "How many laps are we doing? Til you get freakishly moist?" My response was basically "hush up, let's go". I laughed for a few minutes as we walked to the park because it was funny to me. Freakishly moist...she must be trying to nicely tell me that I sweat a lot. Now let's not get overly excited here. I only did slightly over a mile with a very terrible time. However, tonight wasn't so much about time but working on my breathing. I wasn't able to jog the far distance I did on my birthday but I did try. Perhaps that grilled cheese and water sloshing around in my stomach were working against me. About 3/4 around on the 2nd lap I did feel slightly as though I was going to be sick. I sucked it up and walked a bit more. This time I tried to run uphill again. Yes, this time I actually mean run. Tonight I worked on sprinting as well. Now, let's settle down I know it is very exciting to hear that I did more than a jog but it was short lived. Remember I only did slightly over a mile tonight. It was funny while we were walking the last part of the park to complete our "work out" for the night. My daughter looks to me and I take out my headphones and she tells me "Mom, were you sprinting?". I respond with "yes" and a slight giggle because I was kind of shocked myself. She then proceeds to say "I thought so, I had to sprint my heart out to keep up with you!" That warmed my heart to hear her say that. I am going to pay for it though because my legs are in some pain right now. Even after stretching. What is that thing about muscle memory? Yes I was informed about it this weekend and that is what brought on the spints. My muscles sure remembered how much they didn't like sprinting.

Now let's get to even more exciting business...




That's right! Today has completed day 31 and tomorrow will officially mark 1 month that I have been smoke free. Never thought this would ever happen in the rest of my lifetime and here it was a total fluke. I had no desire to quit, my response to people used to always be "I'm no quitter!" And look at me now. *sings like Chris Brown - look at me now....look at me now....I'm a quit-ter* Ok I know I'm lame sometimes but I crack myself up so whatever. Oh, if you haven't noticed, today I really didn't have any notable mood swings. I'm quite baffled by it all. Perhaps I just need to blog about it. During the wellness walk at work I was talking about it and how I can't figure out what sets me off and how I just want to respond to people who ask me "What did I do to piss you off?" with "YOU EXIST!" Ok don't yell at me for using punctuation more than necessary in that last sentence. It's the truth though, if you ask me stupid questions you will get stupid answers. I have been quite pleasant today though. I'm so confused but I'm sure not going to complain about it. I'd much rather have days like today than to be moody and unpredictable. GO ME! Ok I think I may have a piece of cake to celebrate now. (Since I didn't get any after my "birthday lunch" at work today).

Journey to insanity...and I don't mean the workout

OH BOY! I don't even know where to begin tonight so we'll go wtih the shorter update first.

I hadn't gone for a run/jog/walk since Wednesday. That was 5 days ago. Today is Monday. Sure I had every intention of going over the weekend but that just never happened. So today being Monday was a running day. We didn't have any rains nor did it look like it might rain. You know what that means right? Yes, it was hotter than the devil's armpit this evening. There was no wellness walk at work and I really had no desire or motivation to go around that track tonight. Believe me, I really did contemplate sitting in the car while the girls ran. If I had my ipad with me I would have been more than happy to stay in the car and read but fortunately I didn't think that deep into it so I didn't take it with me. Needless to say I went down to the track, stretched a little bit and began my walking warm up lap. Trust me, I was whining a lot inside my mind because I just didn't want to do it. After my warm up lap I stretched a little bit more. Then off I went. The girls were doing 2 miles today and I couldn't do less than them when I'm supposed to be motivating the girls that always lag behind. So I started my nifty phone application and began my 2 mile journey. Telling myself over and over running the straights, walking the curves, running the straights, walking the curves. I caught up with the usual girls lagging behind and they kept up with me for a bit then I pressed on and they walked again. I was doing great, kept my 12:30 mile for the first mile. Then it happened 2 laps later. A side stitch. Those are the worst. I ended up walking the last two laps which equaled 2.1 miles and I called it quits. Not to shabby considering I was trying to convince myself how much I really didn't want to do it. I will tell you one thing I did learn from this 2 mile trek tonight, it burns when you get sweat in your eye! It is like opening your eyes in the ocean. Oh man it was burning when I was stretching and of course I was sweating like a pig at this point. Did I mention it was over 90 degrees tonight while we were at the track and there was no cloud cover to cool it down whatsoever. To the point where at 8:45pm my car said it was 94 degrees outside.



I did feel like today I was working against myself and moving backwards instead of making progress even though I felt I ran more, aside from those last 2 laps with my side stitch. I must say though, as I was walking I suddenly got passed by a guy running with his dog. I thought of my friend and her NOT being the track rule enforcement agency and just avoiding the dogs on the track. Anyway, this dog motivated me a bit. I tried to run that next straight because if the dog could I could to. Now let me add that this was no normal dog. At first look he was a pretty all black almost mutt looking kind of dog. But after watching him for a few seconds I realized this dog was running on 3 legs. He kept up with his master for several more laps, as they lapped me again. I wanted to ask if I could take a picture for my blog but I was too pooped to go around the track again. I hope I see them at the track again.

Ok now can someone please explain to me why I feel like this:



For over a week now I have been a super villain. I will just say that the logo would be a superman one with a "B" instead of an "S". Now in grammar you are supposed to put "an" if the next word is a vowel and "a" if the next word begins with a consentant. Now why did I just put "an 'S'"? I may need to relearn some grammar. Oh! Yes, I was talking about my mood swings. HOLY MOLY! You would not believe the way I am lately. It's absolutely ridiculous and if I say that then it must really be bad! I am on day 30 without a cigarette and while I have minimal to zero cravings my mood swings are out of control. I can't recall being this moody before day 21. Ever since for slightly over a week now I can be fine and laughing one minute then the next I'm like a raging pitbull ready to foam at the mouth. Ok, maybe that was slightly drastic but you get the point. Tonight after we left the track we went to Subway and I was ok then suddenly I was ready to jump over the counter and drop kick the lady making the sandwiches. I feel as though I am bi-polar now. Not that I know what that feels like but I could only imagine. I am up and down all day long. To the point where at work I just listen to my music and hope that noone asks me anything because I don't know what mood they are going to catch me in. It kind of scares me at some times. I am blaming this on my quitting smoking and me just being a late bloomer. I even deactivated my facebook account. In case you were wondering. What makes matters worse is that I can't even pinpoint what sets me off. I can't even answer a simple text message sometimes because I'm just that cranky that I will snap. I just feel that if I knew more about what sets me off then I could control it better. I am really understanding more and more each day how my friend would think "How can people who don't smoke be happy?" Either way, I have gone 30 days without a cigarette and I feel great otherwise. I just don't like the feeling that I am going clinically insane more and more each day.

One of these days I will get it together, but just not today.