This Is What Happens....

When I don't take care of myself.

I have been eating badly, not hydrating, and staying up late. Last night I was up until 1:30am, Laura woke up at 3:45am and then again at 7:30-so what, maybe 5.5 hours of sleep? Not smart. You know what else isn't smart? Running at 11:30am when you're dehydrated, hungry, and it's really hot outside.

The result of all this is a 7:57 run. That's right. I couldn't even run for 10 minutes. On the plus side, I felt like I could have kept going, but I thought the smart thing to do would be go home while I could still move, eat, drink, and get to bed at a decent hour. We're leaving on Tuesday for Disney World, so I anticipate a lot of walking over the next few weeks. I guess it's better than nothing!

Pittsburgh Run

I was able to get in a run on Saturday while up in Pittsburgh. There is a great trail near my grandparent's house, and I've walked it many, many times. Now that I'm a somewhat official runner, I was ready to actually run on the trail! I ran for 27:29, pretty good seeing as it had been a week since my last run.

The weather was pleasant, the trail was flat, and I was running behind (or should I say chasing) my sister the entire time, which all combined to make a great run! Just as good were the 3 deer I saw while walking down to the trail, the mallard duck floating down the creek (he looked a little confused as to why he was floating away), and the itty bitty chipmunk that ran right in front of me and made me shriek in surprise. Not like a typical run here in North Carolina!!

I'd say I went about 2.4 miles. I need to step up my game though, because Marla ran well over 3 and left me in her dust!

Back on track, at least for now?!

It was a beautiful day yesterday, and I was motivated to get a long run in. I headed out before it got hot, and managed a total of 4.3 miles, of which two minutes at the beginning was walking, as was the final few minutes. Overall though, I ran 4 miles so I'm thrilled! I wore my HR monitor, and tried to keep my HR in check to be sure I could go the distance...I ended up running slower than usual as a result, averaging about 10.5 minute miles or so.

I planned the same today, but then Ed and Shelby surprised me with a Mother's Day breakfast, and gifts! There's just no running with cinnamon rolls in the tummy...maybe later today? I hope so, but we'll see.

Yesterday's run...

I got a phone call from a friend of mine yesterday....I hadn't heard from him in a while, so we had some catching up to do!  He told me he's running a race in June (7+ miles of trails, after running up stairs...) and that I'd inspired him to begin running again. Yikes!!  Just the push I needed to get out the door and run, especially in light of the fact that he can run farther than I can by a good bit! 

So, I went to Shelby's school, and asked her if she wanted to run a few laps with me (a good way for us to have fun, and for me to warm up!). She and I ran six consecutive laps around the track (4.5 laps = 1/4 mile) -- that seems like an awful lot of running for four-year-old legs!  Of course, I told her to stop anytime she wanted and that we could walk....she didn't want to walk though....she wanted to run, and chat about her day. So we did... :-)

I dropped her back off in her classroom, and hit the treadmill. I walked three minutes, and then ran two 9:05 minute miles (odd, but it's 6.6 on the treadmill)...walked for a couple of minutes at the end, for a total of 2.35 miles in 24 minutes. I know I need to be building my distance, but I don't really care right at the moment -- running fast is a new challenge, and I really had less than 30 minutes to work out. Doing the best I can, having fun in the meantime. I'm definitely heading out for a few long runs this week though!  

Weekend Run

I don't know how I let my week slip away without any running! It seems like every time I had good intentions, something came up. This morning I actually got to sleep in a tiny bit, and it was already hot by the time we got our act together at 9am. But I was determined to get out there for at least 20 minutes. 20:04 counts, right?

I felt better than I thought I would for not having run for so many days, and we actually went pretty quickly, although I have Moxie pulling us along to thank for that. She was so eager to get back to guarding the backyard that she wanted nothing to do with the run. We covered a little under 2 miles, by my estimate. Fingers crossed I'm back in the game and can keep up with my running while I'm in Pittsburgh!