Ouch, my knees.

Yesterday was rough. I did not want to wake up to go to the gym to run (since at 4 am, it's still to freaking hot). So, I told myself I would go after work. And, I did. Had to leave early from work to do it...too bad, right?! Nah, that was the nice part.



The bad part...1 mile in, my left knee started hurting...again. It did this the other day when I was running on the treadmill, but the nurse in me said to ignore it. (Because the nurse in me hates doctors...so she must ignore all minor, and sometimes major, issues). However, by the time I was done (3.75 miles later) I could hardly walk off the treadmill once I stopped it. Normal aches, right? Maybe...we shall see.



The run was boring enough, since I was at the gym, on a treadmill, staring at the gym sign on the other side of the wall to keep focus on something other than my hurting knee. I was able to complete my desired mileage without having too much trouble breathing. Thanks to my previous lightbulb moment. However, the burning leg sensation was somewhat new. It was pretty much constant the entire time. And, I have a feeling had I not been on a treadmill, that I would have stopped running.

After my run, I took a "runner's shower"...or just changed, whichever way you put it, and headed over to my friend's house for Mac's first play date with a dog about 10 times her size. Picture my small terrier mix running around with an Italian Mastiff. Kind of funny actually. Poor thing almost got stepped on numerous times. However, after the initial insecurity, she came around and started playing like she knew the dog forever. So cute.

However, back to work.

Light bulb moment

I had this light bulb moment yesterday. Or, as the Coastie called it, a blonde moment. For the record, I have dark brown hair that I recently highlighted with a light brown. I am not at all blonde. Disclaimer: I have no ill will towards blondes. I am readying Marathoning for Mortals by John Bingham and Jenny Hadfield.

It's a wonderful book for people of all running levels. It's for extreme beginners such as myself to the elite atheletes. It talks about the best approaches to each type of run you will use during training. So, i decided to test the principle on my 4.5 mi run yesterday. Granted it was a treadmill run because it's too freaking hot to run outside, but the principle for long runs worked. The slower you run them, the longer you can run. Ha! I felt like the biggest idiot because you would think this would be common sense. However, I have this unofficial goal of averaging 12:00/mile on my half marathon. I felt I should run this pace on my long runs to train myself to do it. Apparently, you run slow on long runs just to add miles and run fast on tempo runs to gain speed. Go figure. Glad I bought the book or I would probably never make it to the race.

Other neat news! Crazy Running Mom is coming to town Thursday and has talked my into running my very first race. No kidding, I've never even run a 5K before. So, my intro to races is a 4 miler. It is likely to be too hot and too humid, but she will be right there next to me helping me along the way. I hope to finish in about 50 minutes. More so, I hope they haven't closed the finish line by the time I am done so I can enjoy the true end to a race. I have no hopes of ever running fast. Or, as some would say, Half Fast. I plan to be utterly slow for most of my running career.

So, hopefully I can make it through yet another week of running, working out, working, and taking care of my kiddos.

TIART

Take it and run Thursday's theme is: Yeah, no one ever told me this about running....

So, no one ever told me how much time it takes.

As those of who actually follow me know, I'm extremely new to running. My Crazy Running Mom (yes, that's her name) got me into running. And running is not something I actually enjoy yet. I enjoy it when it's done. Yes, the time I stop is my favorite part of my run. From my understanding, running is not supposed to take much time. You are supposed to be able to go out for a "quick 3 miles" or a "short run". However, when you start, people fail to tell you that these "short runs" are actually quite time consuming. That is, when you run an average of a 12:00 minute mile.

So, my "quick 3 miles" are 35 minutes. And my "short runs" exceed 30 minutes. That, to me, is not quick. Now, I am not new to hard exercising. I have lifted, I have spun, I have done it all. Well, not all per se. I have done a lot, or at least, I have done something. But, I got a dog. Well, puppy. And puppies take time. LOTS of time. So, running taking time right now, seems like a lot more than I can afford right now.

On a positive note, this is the first week I have actually stuck to my plan. Except today. Yesterday I took my spinning class (the first time in a month...or the first time since we got the puppy, your choice) and the Coastie said I should rest today and not run this morning (the class ended at 7 pm last night). So, this morning I did not run. Tonight, I did not run. I drank instead. More about that later. So, tomorrow AM is my 4.5 mile run (that's long to me, shut up!).

Today I worked 1/2 a day at the office and then traveled to Houston to see another Hospital. I was intending to meet my CNO (Chief Nursing Officer) here to meet with my counterpart at this Houston Hospital. But, I ended up eating (and drinking) dinner with my CNO, the CNO of Houston Hospital, both their husbands, and the CFO (bean counter) of Houston Hospital. I'm an ED nurse. A staff nurse. These big wigs kind of scare me. That and I'm young enough to be their children. In fact, I think the CNOs graduated from nursing school when I was 3. Talk about out of my element. However, both run! YAY! Running connections!

So, I'm in Houston. Tired. Slightly drunk. And needing to run in the AM. It is good night and T.G.I.F. tomorrow to you all!

Wow, time flies!

In my job, we have a group/mob of people that come in from out of town to help us. This happens about every 3 weeks or so. While they are here, it seems like a tornado hits in our office. We are all running around like crazy people getting massive amounts of work done. However, this means I lose track of time.

In fact, I planned on posting this morning before they came in, but they are here already.

So, more about running later.

The wonderful rest of Sundays

So, Sundays are rest days for me. However, when you lack the willpower to stick to your schedule the other 6 days, it really means nothing, but yet another rest day in the flow of rest days.

Sundays in our house are cleaning days. And laundry days. Today was both. Neither of which got done. That makes it sound like Sundays are more about accomplishing nothing in our house. Wow. Awesome. Because since last Sunday, the plan had been to play golf.

Oh well. I did, however, decide that I am going to attempt the morning run again. Wish me luck!

Saturdays...Love them...Wish there were more of them.

So, puppy is normal again! YAY! Do have to say, she actually likes children's benedryl.

Running, the real point of all of this...

This morning...it sucked. And by suck, I mean super suck. The 4 mile loop was the plan, but didn't happed. I finished it...with 4 walking periods. Who would have thought that 8:00 AM was too late to run. Too hot. Way too hot. That mixed with no food = this nurse went no where. I would even like to say I went nowhere fast, but I went nowhere really really slow. So, another crap session.

I either need to run at 8:00 PM and eat dinner at 5:00 PM or run at 4:00 AM and risk being one of "those" people. I used to go to the gym at that time. Something about running around in the dark kind of scares me. Any pros have some thoughts on that? I'm guessing just don't wear headphones so you can hear things. Things like creepy guys running after you.

Oh! Highlight of today is I got my hair cut finally. I feel like myself now. The "new" me. The running me. The runner me...dare I say. That and the Coastie thinks it's sexy...score! Hopefully figuratively and literally! (Hey, I'm still young, no judging!)

Happy Saturday!

Lumpy Bumpy Puppy

So, this post will not be about running...sorry.

If you check out this post you will see my kiddos. Well, the canine kiddo got stung my something yesterday. Now, I am the first to admit, I am not a dog person. So, that means I know nothing of their ability to get sick or anything. My first assumption was always that it was very different than humans. Give me a human, and I'll do whatever is needed. Dogs, not so much. Well, I called home before leaving work and talked to the Coastie. He said that she was throwing up. She had drank a lot of water, projectile vomitted the water back up, and proceeded to throw up bile a few more times...4 maybe? Sorry for the weak stomached...it's the nurse in me.

First thought: silly puppy drank too much water too fast.

So, I decided to skip my planned trip to the tanning salon and go home to see if she was ok.

She was sleepy (not usual...she's a puppy after all). And she came and crawled in my lap on the floor and proceeded to look very strange. Fur got all mottled...face looked pathetic. Within seconds...puppy was bumpy. Dogs get hives. Didn't know that. So, I freaked out and called the vet and took her right in. Luckily the vet that saw her was her vet, so she knew this was different. The vet tech said it best when she called Mac a "Lumpy, Bumpy Puppy". So, one Benedryl shot and one steroid shot and $135 later, she was cured. Sting of some sort, apparently.

All I can think of now is, I wish I had a picture. I'm a horrible Dog Mommy.

But, it looked something like this, except ALL OVER HER BODY!

T.G.I.F

The Local Fleet Feet

On Tuesday, I went to my local Fleet Feet store to find one of those handy water bottle belts. You see, south Texas is....well...hot. Not just hot, but stifling hot. Humidity should not be allowed to get above 80 %. Especially if it hasn't rained in say...weeks, months...ever. But, God failed to tell South Texas about this rule. On my run last week (which I managed to run most of my 4 mile loop), I was dizzy by the end. Like trip over my feet and bite it dizzy. So, I had an epiphany...WATER! I've always heard water was necessary during a workout. But, I finally felt it was time to test this theory out.

Needless to say, Fleet Feet was out of them. The very nice and super knowledgeable girl talked me into a hand held H2O container. 3 color choices! Black, red, and pink. Well, naturally I chose pink, and now I can't pawn it off on the hubby since running while holding something is the STUPIDEST idea ever. My back hurt, my arm hurt, my hand was dripping with sweat. Yuck! That combined with my lack of running of a 3 mile loop meant disaster. But, Fleet Feet girl redeamed herself! Nuun. Lemon-Lime. Yum. Sort of. So, I am a product of the KoolAid era. Drinks are supposed to be sweet. Think chewing your liquid. So, it's not. But, it does flavor my water nicely and help me from feeling too hot.

Could this new product be the reason I was able to run 5 miles yesterday, on a treadmill, with no music or TV. Spinning was full...piece of crap gym...so I ran...until it was over!

Yesterday was a crazy day at work. I think I may have a nervous breakdown if it doesn't get better. I came home looking for a fight. Luckily, my Coastie is the greatest! He got be sushi and almost bought me flowers (I ruined that by asking for them). But, let's hope today is a new day.