With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams...

easy slower run.  maybe recovery run is the right term.   

another morning without MR to help with the seminary drive, so I had to break my 7 miles up into 2 shifts.  It's either that or wake up at 4 am... and I'm  not in the mood for 4 am yet.

So I ran 1.8 out on my fancy new paved road, turned around & came home.  Then drove to the church & ran 3 plus more miles at the park. 

Buccaneer 2 doesn't get her license till February.  I hope I don't have to do the double running am shift often. 

shiney eyes staring out at me from the grassland along the cow fence.  Orange kitty in the grass.  Just chilling and keeping an eye on me.  Good morning little kitty friend.  Wanna take a ride on my pirate ship and be my pirate ship rat catcher? 

slept in a little, ab ripper x, then walked at the park while little one went to seminary.  Long run tomorrow & I wanted to have a day break for my knees.

Longest "long" run I've been on for a long time.  Waited too long to get out, and got caught in the sun.  The temps weren't high, but with the direct sunlight and humidity I got overheated a little and had to take a couple breaks in the shade.  

Wyatt ran with me, and water boy kept us company.  So did 2 snakes.  One large black field snake slithered across the road around mile 5, then around mile 8 Wyatt did a hop, jump, little yelp as she jumped over one on the road.  She was running just behind me, and I'm a little concerned that I didn't see it first, but in my defense, it was small.  We got a photo of him as he was in the grass along the roadside. He's maybe only 12 inches long- a baby.

I'm no herpetologist, but Wyatt said it looked like some variety of rattle/poisonous snakes, and I'm taking her word for it! 

1 mile walk in the hood at sunset.  Beautiful.

Lovely labor day run.  Nice to sleep in and have the weather still be nice...at least until the last mile when the cool, moist air saw the sun and heated up like a sauna.  But it was just the last mile.

MR brought the water & rode the bike.  We did P-town run- saw a squirrel with a smashed head and lots of flies, but didn't want to stop my momentum and take a photo.  

Avg pace was just under 9:50.  Not really fast, but I was pleased that I was able to pull the last mile at a 8:58.

So long, summer.  See you next year!

p90x plyometrics

my legs are so sore from plyo.  I don't do it often enough and my body never adjusts, so when I do it, it always leaves me hurting.  I hope all the soreness is good for something.  It's definitely not good for sitting up & down on a chair in a skirt.

So my speed workout today was not speedy at all.  I did try to go faster when I was running up the overpass hill, and the last mile home.  That's all the fast I could muster out of these legs.

When I was in the shower after the run, I had a bad burning sensation on my collarbone.  Something bit me in 3 different spots.  It's like I've got 3 big spider hickeys on my collar.  Sweet!!  Just like my friends in high school :-)

Had to do the full seminary ride today, so I got up & out earlier than usual.  I don't like splitting the run, so I did what I could in the time I had.  Lucky for me, I got to sleep in the car during seminary and make up for some of that lost morning time.  Good thing I keep a stuffed opossum in my car to double as a pillow for occasions just like this! 

Around mile .6 I was shuffling along (at a 10:59 pace) and trying to warm up my sore legs when I stumbled a little on something.  Like I ran my foot across the top of something.  Then I heard this little faint rattling sound and decided to run away quickly instead of stopping to turn around and find out what it was that was making such a noise.  It could have been anything, but in my head it was a little rattlesnake, so I just ran on as fast as my tired legs could carry me.

On the way home, around mile 4, there was a huge noise in the soybean field I was running along.  Something big was running away from the road into the beanfield.  I'm sure it was chupacabra.  It didn't bother going after me, because they primarily attack goats, and I am not a goat.

 Ahhh...they joys of running in the dark.

My legs are still sore from Tuesday.  What gives?

I got up a little early & did the p90x stretch video before another seminary drive.  This time I went and did my shopping at the store instead of sleeping in the car.  Thank goodness for 24 hour Super Wal-Mart!  

Imagine my delight when I saw 2 boys who graduated in June at WalMart at 6:20 am.  They never could get to school on time, but here they were at the store before the crack of dawn.  They yelled out to me that "We're gonna get smashed drunk today because we don't have to go to school!"   (Oh, I am so proud.)   Then they took off for the pharmacy section of the store.  I guess since they're not 21, they're just going to buy a lot of nyquil.  Precious little lambs. 

I ran 4 with Wyatt, who had a church breakfast and knife sale to go to.  It's good to talk and catch up on the week, but 4 miles isn't enough some days (like today).

Then I dropped off some water, came home & changed my socks.  They were wet from running in the fields (dew).  Checked on MR who didn't get in till 4 am, so I gave him the morning off.

I ran my 9 miles swamp route, and added a mile in a neighborhood I run past.  I made sure I had some $ in my shorts so when I ran past Wyatt's church I could buy something from their bake sale.  Unfortunately, it was all indoors, so I missed out on the baptist brownies (which are sinfully fabulous!!).

I had a good run.  With 3 miles left, my legs were feeling tired, but I managed to get a couple faster miles in at the end.  I just really wanted to get done with the run, so I hurried home.  After mile 14, I walked 1.4 miles to cool down and got my legs used to working a little longer so maybe next week's 16 won't come as a complete shock to their system.

Beautiful weather.  The direct sunlight was getting warm, but the air was cooler, and any little bits I was able to get in the shade were marvelous.

avg pace with Wyatt was 10:11.  for the 10 miles alone, avg pace was 9:34.   Last 2 miles were 9:22 and 9:14.  It was mostly a progressive run, but a couple of miles I was texting, and they ended up being slower.   The texting was a nice distraction though.  My music wasn't charged, so I went alone without music or MR...just me and my brain.  We did a pretty good job keeping each other company.

I saw a dead squirrel who was all smashed except for his fluffy tail, a dead cat that had his face chewed off, and 3 dove hunters walking out of the field.  They said they got a few.  I saw the boxes they were carrying their prizes in, but not the birds themselves.

This blog is getting long.  Glad the run is over.  Glad I survived.  Glad I get to go to the Greek Festival and enjoy baklava and other tasty treats this afternoon.  Thank goodness for phyllo and butter!

bike ride and then worked on making the chicken coop bigger. 

Well, my subconscious did me a big favor and set my alarm an hour too late.  Thank you brain for giving me an extra hour of sleep!!

So I didn't have time for my 7 miles.  I managed 4 fast miles. Fast for me, anyway.  Avg pace was 8:48.  I'll have to finish the rest after work, which I despise doing, but will do in honor of my brain giving me an extra hour.

After school, 3.66 miles at a 9:05 pace.  I was surprised my pace was that quick.

shred level II and ab ripper X

1.5 mile walk after school

7 miles.  In the dark.  9:28 avg pace.  I did speed work on Monday, so I just did a "what I want my MP run to be" pace.  It was almost 100% progressive.  Started at 10:16 and ended at 9:02. 

No music, just a cool foggy morning run.  I decided I would not look at my distance/pace/time during the run.  I've run that route so many times that I know the distance anyway, but just went with what I felt like was a strong run.

Avg pace was 9:01.  Nice surprise.  Beautiful full moon. 

40 minute brisk walk at the park while buccaneer #2 was in seminary.  I ate sooo much junk food yesterday.  Bad idea- I feel icky today- no energy.  Need to eat like an athelete today so I can be ready for my long run tomorrow. 

Those rice crispies, dump cake, snickers minis, donuts, cheeseburgers and curly fries make it so tempting and hard.  Staff tailgate party for the big game tonight.  Aaarrrrgggghhhhh.... must be strong.....help me Nancy Reagan, help me just say no.

A really fun long run, even though I was by myself.  MR had to "play" soldier on base early in the morning and Wyatt was going to a tractor show, so I decided to go on base with MR and run around up there for a change of scenery.  I ran so I would always have a place to refill my water bottle if I ran out.  

It was dark and 6 am when I started out.  I ran 5 miles and went back to the car to get my water bottle, gu, and use the bathroom.  The soldiers were still all standing around in front of the bathroom, so I took and and found a mini-mart to meet my needs a mile later.

It was really cool- probably 55 degrees, and a light misty rain fell the whole time.  I got to wear my bright yellow rain running jacket.  I took the sleeves off and it was perfect- not too hot, not too cold. 

The best part of the whole run was when I was on Long Street (it is a long street!) and as I headed  east on the road, I saw there was a road block ahead.  I was worried they wouldn't let me run by, because they were turning cars around.  But as I ran past, no one said anything.  Then, I noticed ahead that there was another road block.  It was puzzling until I saw the water buffalo in the middle of the road, and the table full of water cups.  It was the 3rd Saturday Fun 5k!!  And soon I noticed they were all headed straight for me.  What happened next I can only imagine was a curious twist of fate.  The fast runners passed me and were headed to the turn around point, and all of a sudden, it looked like I had already turned around and was in 1st place!!!!!!!   I was ahead the whole rest of the way back to the stadium (where the race was supposed to end).  It was tempting to not run into the stadium and break through the tape :-)   But alas, I had to keep running.  I was only at mile 12, and I was supposed to run 16.  So I let those fast teen-age boys get the first place medal.  But for those few minutes, I was the winner.  And that's good enough for me.

I decided to run by the commissary so I could get more water and use the bathroom.  I wasn't sure how far it would be back to the car (I was running a loop) but I felt really strong and decided that whatever I couldn't run, I would be okay walking back if I had to after doing 16.

I ran past our old house we lived in 16 years ago.  It's not even a real house anymore- the door has been bricked over and it's become an "addition" to the townhouse next to it.  Kind of thought provoking- like that chapter of my life has been closed and a brick wall has closed it off.  Which is okay, since it wasn't really a marvelous time of my life, but it did make me think about the things we did in our home.  Boy's first birthday, Baby Girl born, first long deployment, and lots of neighbors/friends.  Memories got me through the next few miles, and before I knew it, I was running on the grass covered dirt trail along the road that took me back to the car.  18 miles and I felt good. 

 My legs felt sore around miles 12-14, but the soreness didn't really seem to slow me down.  I managed to keep a 9:28 pace overall.  The last mile was around a 9:17.  Not the fastest, but not the slowest either.

I would love to post my splits, but when I got home, I couldn't find my garmin anywhere.  I don't know where I could have left it.  It's kind of driving me crazy wondering where I lost it.  I hope the good luck fairy finds it and sends it back my way.

After I jumped in the shower water and washed grass seeds off my legs and changed, MR was heading back to the office after finishing their activities.  I took his photo as he walked by.  I was standing on a hill above him- he's not really a Hobbit.

2 mile walk with MR, trying to stretch out legs- they're a little sore from Saturday.

In the pm- a pilates video.  Nice stretching & kind of relaxing.

4:30 came too early this morning.  My legs didn't want to run very fast.  I was terribly slow, but just kept going.  I think I finally got warmed up around mile 5.

I used MR's garmin since mine disappeared Saturday.  He has different settings on his, so I couldn't gauge my pace very well.  I felt like I was putting in a 9:30 effort, but all that came out was a 10:00.  I was just happy to get the miles in!

Just before I left for work, the good luck fairy called me!  He sounded a lot like MR.  He said that he found my watch in MR's combat boots.  I'm not sure how it ended up in the boots.  I'd taken the watch off and driven to the store before he joined me and took off his boots.  I'm just so happy to have it back, I wasn't going to look at good-luck fairy in his lucky spot!

I'd brought clothes to walk in after school, but I may just go home and fix dinner.

Elliptical and ab ripper.

Had to make an early morning trip to walmart for milk.  So it cut into my time... not complaining too much.

first 7 with MR in the rain.  Shoes were just a soppy mess.  I think they got really heavy because they were wet & that's why my times were slower than last week. That's where I'm putting the blame :-)

Last Saturday was cool and just a light drizzle.  This week is was warmer and a real rain.  Not the same cup of tea.  Wyatt was sick with something all week, so she had to stay home and rest. 

Avg pace was 9:41.  13 seconds slower than last week.  I guess they can't all be winners.  My legs were trashed by mile 13 and at 16, the sun came out and made it humid hot.  I had to take off my rain jacket and walk a little bit to cool down. 

A few breaks during the run.  One at 7 when we stopped at the car for MR to get his bike and pick up the water/gu, then another at 11 to stretch, then another around 14.5 to get more water & use the bathroom, then at 16 to cool off. 

There weren't any races going on- so I wasn't running first place up the hill.  It made it a little more exhausting running uphill for a whole mile when I didn't have the 1st place winners ribbon on me like last week. 

We ran most of the same route I ran last week, but took a couple detours.  I think for my 20 miler in a couple weeks, we might try and run Bragg and Pope, making a loop around the airfield.  Going to have to scout it out first.

I conquered 2 18 milers in a row (on Saturdays).  I'm glad next week is a down week and I don't have a long run Saturday.  I'm ready for a little break.  And good news- I didn't lose my watch this week either!

I'm not entirely sure why, but I am very, very tired today.

Got up to run, and running wasn't happening.  I ran 10 yards and had to stop.  I walked, stretched, and tried again.  My right quad was tight and my left knee was feeling wonky. 

I managed to run 1.5, stretch just a little, then run another 1.5.  My stiffness was going away, but I kept hearing a little nagging feeling in my knee and decided it wasn't worth it.  So I went inside and did 30 minutes on the elliptical to finish up 1 hour.  My agenda said 7 miles. not sure if I'll try to make up the missed miles or not.  It's my "easy" week, and I may just bag it.  Too much invested now to have an injury sideline me.

It's farmer day at school, so I get to wear my overalls.  I love farmer day. 

P90x Kickboxing.  Knee still a little sore on the outside.  Only when I do certain things...like run.

On a totally non-related note: Look what the squirrels did to my American flag:

Rotten Rebel Squirrels!  You know they were just chanting, "The South will rise again!"

knee felt ok once I got warmed up.  Progressive run. Avg was 9:07.  2 different black & white cats hanging out in the bushes on the side of the road.  I was running through the hood- did a 2 mile loop 3 times.

Once again, knee felt wonky at the start, but once I got warmed up, it didn't bother me. 

slow-recovery run (from what?)

But then after my run, the knee starts feeling wonky again.  Probably going to just take off the weekend instead of doing my 7 miles.  It's a "rest" week anyway.