All these posts are going to have similar themes

What the crap? I walked out of my house this morning at 5:30 (I can't wait for the fall so I can sleep like a normal person again) and it was hot. It would have been a decent run except for the fact that I have some sort of vertigo thing going on. I am VERY nauseous when I wake up in the morning or after I lay down in the afternoon for my quick 20 minutes (yes, I nap, I'm up at freakin' 5 in the morning!). I'm slightly dizzy sometimes too and I have had an ear infection off and on for the past 2 years. Right now the ear is fine, no pain, but now I have this other thing, when will I feel 100% with no bitching? For those of you who are saying to yourselves, maybe I'm pregnant, nope I'm not. You know how when you have lingering things wrong with you that wouldn't go away you begin to think it's a tumor? I'm not making light of a tumor, but that's just where my mind wanders when I let it. I have that fear that I will be one of those people that feel fine and go to the doctor because I broke my arm and they tell me I have two months to live and there's nothing they can do.

Okay, that's enough of the paranoid mind of me. My run, it was fine, it was just one of those runs that I wanted to quit the whole time, but I made it to almost 6. The splits were not impressive, but oh well, tomorrow is another (freakin' hot) day. I finished in 58:45. Tomorrow is 9 miles starting at around 5:30 in the morning. My training partners, especially Rachel is not happy with the early morning run. She doesn't seem to think it will make a difference if we start at 6:30 verses 5:30 (she is not a morning person). She may be right about this, but I do have a lot of stuff to do tomorrow as we are having a fish fry here tomorrow and my husband has ripped apart the backyard and probably wouldn't put it back together again until about an hour before everyone gets here, and that's just to aggrivate me I'm sure.

Alright, stay cool everyone.

Stop with the heat already

We did three yesturday. It was pretty average to what we've been doing. I think we started at about 9:51 and then 9:25 and finally 9:20. This was my last scheduled 3 mile run until October. When I look at that, it makes me a little nervous, but I know it will be fine. The boy's are done with all there summer activities as of Monday, so I may have a little extra time in the mornings to get some longer runs in, although it will be around the hampster wheel, although I am grateful to have that, otherwise this whole thing would not be possible. We have three weeks until school starts, whatever. I can't believe it starts so soon. I'm not really ready.

It's going to be flipping hot this weekend. I'm a little tired of this heat stuff, and always on the weekends when I'm doing long runs, yuck. A couple of early morning runs again. Getting up around 5, just to get it in before it gets ridiculous. Luckily this Sunday is only 9, when was the word only okay to use before the number 9?

Stay cool everyone!

All good things

Well, I had a nice recovery day on Monday, no aches and pains to really report, so that's good news. Tuesday I ran with my girls, we just did three even though they were scheduled to do 4, but this is my last chance to do 3's this week until October, so I'm not going over. I told them they could keep going if they wanted, but they said they would stick to doing just three with me, cuz that's the kind of girls they are. Today was 5 by myself around the hampster wheel. I felt pretty good, except for the nauseous feeling I've had pretty much every morning for the past week or so. I'm not sure what it is, but I think it's related to laying down since I just had a little sleepy time on the couch and woke up feeling it again. I could be related to my ever long ear thing, without the ear pain. I don't know I just wish it would quit it. Anyway, my run this morning was good. Here's the splits:

Mile 1 10:35 (too slow for a weekday run)
Mile 2 9:59 (a little more respectable)
Mile 3 9:22 (now we are cruisin')
Mile 4 9:05 (yea!)
Mile 5 9:56 (good recovery)

I was pretty happy with my splits, and really happy with being able to slow it down, but not totally the last mile. I'm always tring to beat my split from the mile before, but this time I said nice and load to myself, I am slowing down after this because I don't want to hurt myself again!!!!! And I listened, see I do get a little wiser with age.

That's about all, and for cross training this week I went shopping by myself for three hours this morning and then came home and brought it all in and put it away, which took another hour. A four hour cross training session of bargain hunting, pushing a heavy cart around, speed racing and then heavy lifting. I'm good to go now.

Now about nutrition, I feel really good about it. I seem to have lost some taste for junk, which is not to say it isn't going to come back any moment, but I feel like even when I'm snacking I pick the right snacks, like fruit or yogurt. I should probably get some nuts in there too. I've never really felt this way about eating before, I'm actually eating things to give my body feul and it seems to be working. I've had salmon twice this week, and I'm not a big fan, but I know it's helped with my running and overall mood. I feel differently about drinking now too, I don't do it. I did have a glass of wine Saturday night, but I picked wine because I knew it wouldn't hurt me the next day as much, who am I? Well, whatever, I like the me I am right now.

Gotta go get the children up, I made them lay down for awhile, they needed a quite afternoon, and so did I.

running along the lake

Hey, I just got back from my 12 miler along Lake Michigan. It was very cool and really helped my blah feeling towards running lately. Holly went with me, the rest of my partners couldn't make it, so it was just Holly and I. Well, I was scheduled to do 12 today and she had I think 6 on her schedule, so she said she would go with me and just do 12. I didn't think this was a good idea, but I didn't want to discourage her from trying, because you never know, maybe she would do great. She did great for the first 6 miles and then hit the wall, I don't think she ate enough and then I didn't make her stop at the water stops along the way, which come to find out would have helped. You just never know if you should tell someone what to do or just let them figure it out for themselves. Anyway, it was a beautiful morning, perfect weather, sunny, cool, low humidity. We parked up by Montrose Harbor because they wanted $35 to park at North Ave, because of a volleyball thing. I was like, um no I don't think so. At least I learned a little this morning, which is Montrose Harbor is a little further and there is free parking. So, we parked and got going. We made it to Navy Pier at around 6, and the orginal plan was to go 6 out and 6 back, but I figured we should do 7 out and 5 back with a good mile left for cool down, so we ran to the end of Navy Pier and on the way back to the path we hit 7 miles, perfect. Holly only did another mile of running and then I made her stop, because otherwise her husband would probably never let her run with me again if I had returned her in the state she would have been in at the end of 12.

I told her to walk to North Ave. and get some more gatorade (thank you Fleet Feet) and water and stretch and rest and I would finish and drive back to get her. I had about 4 more to go, so she did 8, and did great. So, I finished up and felt pretty good, I had my Camelbak full of gatorade and was cruising along. I think probably everyone thinks this, but when I get to the end I automatically think about the next long run and how I don't think I could possibly do another mile since I feel like I can't take another step. I think that's mostly mental though.

So, there you have it, it's the end of what was a rough week mentally and motivation wise. I am happy to say I actually have one more mile than I was supposed to have at the end. Next week is a cut back week, which I'm glad for since it's going to be freaking hot again. Enough of the heat already. I feel energized again, yea! I feel motivated again, yea! Three weeks until the CDC 1/2 marathon, I'm excited about that.

I've got to stop now, I really need to update my family blog now, it's been about a week. Gotta go. :) Keep running y'all.

Rain Day

Yesturday it was raining. I love to run in the rain, but this time there was also thunder and lightening, so I called off my run this morning and slept for another hour. I thought maybe I would run in the evening, but I just didn't have the motivation to do it, so we scheduled it for this morning. Maybe I need a change of scenery, maybe my diet sucks, maybe I have lost my mojo, I don't know what it is, but I just didn't want to do it, even after I started. I can usually warm up to the run after a mile or two, this time I couldn't wait for it to be over, and I kinda talked my partners into just doing 3 instead of 4. I will try to eat more and hopefully get back to feeling better tomorrow when I have 6 on the schedule. I will venture out of my little block and take a look at some different sights tomorrow.

No Pep in My Step

That sucked! Although I'm not entirely suprised as yesturday's run felt pretty good. Isn't that the way it works? One good, one bad? Seems to be the way it works for me. After the first step today I wanted to quit. I was slow, I know my form looked stupid, I just didn't have it. Even with all that, I finished anyway, yuck. It was a 10:40 average pace, but it's done. I've put it in the bank. I now need a big fat coffee to get me through the rest of my day. I'm a little tired and feeling a little burnt out, it's too early in the training to be feeling this way, maybe it's just all the regular life stuff stressing me out, running is supposed to help with all that. I need to stop complaining now and get about the rest of my day. I hope everyone else's run went better.

recovery and start of a new week

I recovered well from the long run on Sunday, although I was very tired the rest of the day. I think that had more to do with the heat than with the run, because I did get a chance to lay down for a few minutes before we went swimming for the rest of the day.

My son swam in the deep end of the pool for the first time with no life jacket on, he's very excited. He did a good job, even went off the diving board.

Ran this morning with Rachel, Holly and Jen. I was only scheduled for 3, but they were scheduled to do 4, so we did 4. It went really good. I was more aware of setting the pace rather than just trying to keep up with the pace. They go too fast for me sometimes. It's fun to go fast sometimes, but I can't risk injuring myself again by going faster than my body is ready for. Good run.

Alright, that's done. So much stress for really nothing. I guess I was worried I wouldn't be able to get up at 4:30 am to run all by myself without running partners waiting for me, but I did it. I started at 5:15 and ran 11 miles around and around and around my block. I finished in 1:59:17, just under 2. That was a long one, but it went pretty good. I averaged 10:50 miles, but it was hot and humid at 5:15, so I took it easy. I wore my camelbak and had one cliff shot at 5 miles. I tried the razz flavor this time, yuck. Not that I hated it, I just don't like the consistency. Again, it's kinda hard to say weather or not it helped. I did get a little burst around mile 7 and 8, but I usually fall into a groove around then. It didn't hurt my gi system though, so that was good. I did eat a plain bagel and a small glass of orange juice before I headed out too, that was fine.

I had a thought towards the end of the run, and I know I've seen this question posted on the Runner's World Forum, but I was really thinking about what running has done for me. What have I gotten from running? All the positives that have come from becoming a runner. I know one negative for sure, and that's getting up so early and missing some sleep. But, I'm going to think about this question this week and come up with a list. Until then, happy running everyone!

Carrie

Heat Wave Running

Hot enough for you? Yep, it's hot enough for me. I have been stressing all week about this upcoming heat wave in regards to running in it. I don't know why I stress about things so much, I usually don't anymore, but this really has me going. Maybe it's because of the distance, I have 11 on the schedule for tomorrow and it's been awhile since I went that distance, and I've never ran that far in the heat like they are calling for tomorrow. Maybe it's because my husband is away and I have no choice but to do it outside, although the thought of doing it on a treadmill makes me even sicker. I know getting up at 4:30 tomorrow morning to try to finish early enough is making me a little crazy, and when I tell people I'm doing 11 miles around my block, I know they think I'm crazy. Maybe I am. I can pretty easily tune out my surroundings and just run though. A little less than three times around my block is a mile, but it's nice and quite. We'll see how it goes.

I ran this morning, 6 miles, it went pretty good. It's hard to have all these mile stones in terms of speed and then return to doing a 10:15 average mile for 6 miles. I know this is pretty much right on target for most of my runs, but it's not too exciting to write about. My calf felt better after yesturday's rest day, so that's a good thing. I finished the 6 in 1:01:32.

Well, I don't think I said this already last time, but I had my test on Thursday. I think it went pretty good, there were a couple questions that I really wasn't sure of the answer to, but hopefully I made good guesses, as it was multiple choice again. My paper is due on Tuesday, so I wrote it this morning, and I'll type it up tomorrow sometime. The paper is on Cushing Syndrome, which was interesting to learn about, I think I really like the whole medical thing, which is kinda suprising since I usually tune out when people start talking about all that ailes them. I know this is bad, it's not that I want to, it just happens.

One last thing before I go, I got new shoes!!!!!! If you are a runner and are reading this you know how exciting this is! I had a pair of Mizuno Wave Elixir's and really liked the way Mizuno's fit my feet, so I went in with the intention of buying another pair of Mizuno's. I bought the Wave Rider's. I'm very excited! I wouldn't wear them tomorrow for my long run though, I'll wait til Tuesday when I think I have 3 or 4 on the schedule. I will break them in enough to wear them for the 1/2 in August though. They are white and red, I really like them, much more than I liked the Saucony's that I bought last time.

Alright, it's time to eat and then it's off to disappoint my kids that it's too late now to go swimming tonight, but we will be going tomorrow. Hope everyone has a good long run tomorrow, if you're doing yours tomorrow. Stay cool.

Ouch

Hello people. I'm a little upset today. I'm hurtin'............again. My hip is fine, no problems. My left calf is hurting me something fierce. I'm thinking it feels just like a strain and nothing too serious. Maybe all runners get stuff they are working on, and I'm just a big baby and complain about every pain I have. I don't know, but it's frustrating. I do everything I can to keep from getting injured, and still here I am. I stretch like a mad woman, but not too much. I eat right almost all the time. I have good shoes, that I pay a lot of money for. Anyway, I'm done now, hopefully it just needs a day off, and that's tomorrow, so that should work. Here's an overview of my last couple runs.

Tuesday was my holy crap run. This could have been when I tweaked the calf. Tuesday and Thursday I ran with Rachel, and she' a gazelle, so this could have been the problem. Anyway, here it is:

Mile 1 9:03
Mile 2 8:54
Mile 3 8:45

For a total of 26 something. I've never run that fast, ever. I probably shouldn't run that fast either, at least without working up to it a little slower. Will I ever learn?

Wednesday was my 6 miler. I used my camelbak that I got, just to see how it felt on a shorter run by my house in case I needed to ditch it. I really liked it, I had no problems with it. I can tell on longer runs I'm gonna need some body glide on to help with chaffing. Wednesday was a slower run, I finished in 1:02:21. I was by myself, so I could set my own pace. I also tried a gu, I think it was actually a cliff shot. Chocolate Mocha with caffeine. It was fine, gross going down, but no gi side effects and I also didn't notice a big difference in how I felt after taking it.

Thursday morning was another 3 with the gazelle. Here's how it broke down, and this is after I said, can we go a little slower today, my calf is hurting. I guess it was slower than Tuesday, but not as slow as I had in mind, oh well.

Mile 1 9:50
Mile 2 9:27
Mile 3 9:07

Total time was 28:28. I think if I didn't just come off of two weeks off with my hip injury, I would be ready for these speeds, but right now, I don't think so. At lease I have the weekend runs to myself, I don't know if that's good or bad, but I can at least set my own snail pace.

Alright, I've got to go. I've got a test this morning, and probably should have used this time more wisely this morning, but we'll see.

Happy Running everyone!

Carrie

More running

Sunday I ran 6 with Holly and Jennifer. We ran around the soccer fields on the gravel path. That was okay, felt long and I think we went a little fast, our pace was all screwy, I'm not sure if it was because of the gravel or we just weren't paying attention. Here's how the splits looked:

Mile 1 10:44 - a little slow, but that's okay, we are just starting
Mile 2 9:47 - um what's up with that?
Mile 3 9:41 - Long, slow run people
Mile 4 10:00 - better, but I think still too much
Mile 5 10:12
Mile 6 10:08

It was only six, so no harm done, but if it were 10 or more, I think it could have screwed me up.

Monday was an off/cross day. I did some stretched and abs and stuff, but nothing too strenous. Then Tuesday morning it was raining and I thought everyone was going to back out, but I love to run in the rain, so I got ready and headed out, only to get around the corner to see Holly coming into my neighborhood. So I ran around the block and then there was Rachel. So off we went in the rain. We were lightening speed. Here's the splits.

Mile 1 9:03 - just like the other morning
Mile 2 8:54 - okay, never done that before
Mile 3 8:45 - Oh.....My.....God!!!!!

Total time was 26:47 with an average pace of 8:54. What in the Sam hill? I'll take it. Felt good after. Tomorrow is another 6, slow and by myself.

Part two of my story

Ran 5 miles this morning with Holly and Rachel. It went by pretty quickly, which was nice. We didn't get home until 11 last night, so I was in bed at around 11:30 and then up at 5:30 for my 6 o'clock meeting. We just kinda ran around the park and the neighborhoods back there, it was nice and quite. It wasn't too hot yet, which was nice. The splits went like this:

mile 1 10:26
mile 2 10:09
mile 3 10:12
mile 4 10:22
mile 5 10:24

Total 51:38. It looks a little all over, but we were a little confused about which way to go. Nice easy pace though.

So, the next part of my story goes like this:

June 12, 2005 was the date of my very first 5k. It started at 8 and it was in Orland, which is 1/2 hour from my house, so in my perfect fashion I got up around 5 am. I got to the race with plenty of time to spare, which was good because I had to use the porta potties about three times. My sister ran with me, because I talked her into it. She got there and we lined up to start. We started in the back, obviously. The gun went off and we began. The race seemed like it would go on forever, and my time would indicate that it almost did. I wanted to quite about 80 times, there was no real point during the race that I was having fun, until the end. I remember Margie had to tie her shoe and so she stopped and I thought to myself this would be the perfect time to walk a little and then I thought of all the training that I did and all the pain and discomfort I went through and that spurred me on. I thought if I stopped now and walked that that was going to take away a little something from the experience when I finally did cross the finish line, so I went on. I'll never forget the feeling that I got when I saw the finish line, it was awsome. There were families and they were all cheering on someone they loved. I ended up crying my way in (which will become a theme in my races), because my husband and boys weren't there. I didn't think it was important at the time, until I finished and there was no one there to cheer for me, this accomplishment that I didn't give enough value to to the people around me, except for Margie. She was there for me, telling me what a great job I did, I'll always be grateful to her for that, she's the best sister anyone could ask for.

I finished in 34:11. It wasn't a chip timed race, so my time was probably a little better than that, isn't that funny how I was already looking for the seconds to come off my time. Anyway, I was hooked on races after that. Last summer I did two more races. The second one was the end of July in which I turned in a 32 something and then the third one was the end of October, which I had a time of 30:12. So I did get better as the summer went on and I was definatley a changed person after that summer.

I really thought I would train and race that one race and then stop. Nope. I was supposed to run a race on Thanksgiving, but it was like 10 degrees out and I had a cold and had company in and had dinner that day, so I was a DNS. I continued my training even without a race planned through the winter. I was just base building and then I signed up for the Shamrock Shuffle this past spring. That was fun, and I kept building. Then I ran the Soldier Field 10 Miler and that went so well that I though I would take the next step, and run the marathon, what is the point of all this building, if I wasn't going to do anything with it?

I am now three weeks into my training. I had two weeks off before my training started due to a hip flexor injury, but that feels pretty good now. I am going to run the 1/2 on August 13th also as a prep race for the marathon. I'm excited and nervous at what is going to happen, but I'm just trying to stay focused week to week and see what happens. My main goal is to finish the race in one peace and not hating running when I'm done.

So, I didn't plan on posting all that at once like that, but I got carried away and there you go, I'm done. My story. I was never an athlete, or a runner before. I never ran in High School or really participated in sports in school. I was never someone who would work out, mostly because I have always been thin, so I never saw the point. But after turing 30, well, you know how that goes, and if you don't, just wait. I didn't put on a lot of weight, but I had two babies and no real physical activity, so I needed to lose about 15 pounds. I lost 5 of it before I started the whole running thing through my diet, but then nothing. It's taken me a little over a year to lose 10 more pounds, but I did it the right way, I think for me.

I've got to go to bed now, too many late nights and early morning runs does not make Carrie a happy girl. Thanks to anyone who read this, I hope it can inspire someone who doesn't think it's possible to know that it is.

We Rock!!!!!

3 miles this morning with Holly. Jenny was a no call no show, what's up with that? She overslept. Okay, can I just say we soooo rock. I know this is not as fast as some, but this is my fastest three miles to date, and boy did it feel great! My average heart rate was only a little elevated from about 159 to 164 for this run. Beautiful morning. Here's how the splits went:

Mile 1 9:03 (Holy crap, that's fast, no wonder I was having trouble settling into my breathing)
Mile 2 9:08
Mile 3 9:08 (could we be any more consistent?)

For a total of 27:21 and an average of 9:06 per mile. We are fast! Kinda. I am excited to see if we can get into the 8's by the end of summer and end of training. I know there is no way that I could maintain that pace for very long, but it's fun to push it during the shorter runs. I am so going to want this week in about 6 weeks, because from here we really start building. Reminder to self - don't be stupid, remember this is probably why I hurt my hip flexor a couple months ago, because I just got too fast and started running all my runs way faster that I was used to, so this weekend, no faster that 10 minute miles, I don't really want to see any 9's in there, and it's supposed to be flippin hot this weekend, yuck.

Alright, here's part one of how I got started running:

So, just about two years ago, Hank and I started taking a superfood drink to help with our overall health. I got tired of being tired and feeling yucky. So, I would get up with him before he went to work and make his shake for him, and then because it was about an hour and a half before the boys got up, I would go down in the basement and walk on the treadmill. Well, you can probably guess how that went after awhile. I started to find all these excusses about why I couldn't walk on the treadmill on most days. I would still get up with Hank, but then I would just go take my shower and not get in my "workout". So this went on through Christmas time.

So, after the new year, I started researching some stuff on the web, and I don't even know why I did this, but I started looking for a race I could do. I think maybe I came across the Shamrock Shuffle. I thought that sounded like fun, and I could probably talk my sister into doing it with me, she's pretty fit already. So, then I researched a program to help me with running it. I found the Couch to 5k run program on the Cool Running site and printed it out. I started to follow it at home on my treadmill. It helped to have a schedule to follow. It was one of the walk 10 minutes, run 30 seconds and then build from there. I couldn't have hated it more. Everytime I would walk up from the basement and tell my husband how much I hated it. It was very hard. A few months into, I realized that I was not going to be ready for the Shamrock Shuffle, so I picked another race to shot for in June, the Band on the Run Run.

I'll tell more of my story next time, I know you're all in suspense. Did she make it? How did it go? Blah blah blah.

Shouldn't I write my story?

Man, am I sore. It's a good sore still, but I thought I was using my legs muscles, it's hard to believe some of them were just sitting there doing nothing.

I ran 5 today in 49:08. I felt good, strong through the run. I did my third day of Core Performance after the run. It was beautiful out, sunny, a little breezy and about 72 degrees. Why can't everyday be like this? Maybe even a little cooler.

Three tomorrow morning with the girls. I started to think I should start writing about how I got into the whole running thing, so over the next couple weeks I'll add a little something to my story until it's complete. It's very interesting (she says with sarcasm). It's interesting to me anyway, maybe not to anyone else. I'm still blown away when I think back. So, the story begins next time, stay tuned.

Core Performance

I started the Core Performance program yesturday, and I'll tell you what I'm sore today. I know that I wouldn't be sore forever, and hopefully this will help me with my running and staying injury free. I will post how it's going.

I ran a quick three today with my girls. We did it in 28:36. I can't wait to see how fast we are at the end of the summer. I think it's a good idea to run faster on the shorter runs and go slow when it's longer. I have 5 tomorrow, and it will be on the gravel around the soccer fields, I was sore after that run last week, so we'll see about this week. I think I just use my quads more for balance and pushing off.

This is a cut back week already, so just 6 for the long run on Sunday. I'm glad that it's already a cut back week, only for my muscles and the fact I started the core performance program.

Have a good 4th, it's off to the Gill's to relax and sit by the pool.

First long run and lost calander

First off, there are a lot of ignorant people in the world. I just don't get it. We went to Matthew's game on Saturday, and then we were going to go to Culver's for dinner and then to Sam's. So we get to Culver's and everyone goes in to wash up and use the bathrooms. Well, I brought me calander in with me so that I could go over what I needed from Sam's. I left it in the bathroom and remembered probably 5 minutes later and went in to look for it, and yep, gone. Who would want my calander? All you had to do was look through it to see that there was nothing of value to anyone else in it. My whole everything was in there. My training schedule for the marathon was in there, I spent a lot of time mapping that out. Doctor's appointments, where Matthew is supposed to go when I'm at school, all my coupons. Man did that make me mad, I couldn't even eat ice cream.

Troubling.

I ran my long run yesturday. It was supposed to be 9 miles, but it ended up being 8.37. I ran two by myself and then met up with Holly and Rachel to run what I thought was going to be 5 for them and then I would finish the other two by myself again. Pretty good plan I thought. Well, they said they would just run 7 instead of 5. So we set off and I felt like crap pretty much from the first step. It was humid. We went slow, but it really didn't help that much. I'm glad I was with them, because I probably wouldn't have finished without them. This is a cut back week, so my long run is only 6 miles and then it really starts to pick up after this week. I think my long run next week is 11.

Today is a cross training day, and I would actually like to go to the gym and cross train later, if they are open later. Stupid gym. They have terrible hours and take stupid days off. Like for example they are closed tomorrow, whatever.

Gotta go start my day now.

Rambling on about everything

Unbelievable!!!!!!!! I just posted this big log post and my stupid internet connection was lost and I didn't save it and now it's gone. It was a good post, so I'm going to try to re-post it now. Crap

So, now I'm about to finish the second week of training. I have run 16 miles so far and have 9 planned for tomorrow morning at 6:30! On a sunday morning, after getting up early all week, including today at 5:30 to get a pedicure at 7:00, crazy I know, but now my toes look nice for another 4 weeks. Anyway, I digress. I will probably run 2 miles to Holly's house to run with Holly and Rachel (as Jenny's on a weekend getaway, again) for 5 miles and then 2 miles back home to complete my 9 miles. I'm so happy to have running partners a couple days a week, I always ran by myself and didn't mind it, but now that I have running partners I can see what the big deal is, it makes it go by so quickly.

I had Physical Therapy yesturday, and now I'm released!!!! yea!!! I am now a believer in the science of Physical Therapy. I really think it helped heal my muscle and showed me that I have some inbalance and gave my some excersises to help me correct it. I'm glad I went and truthfully I'm glad I'm done. It was kinda hard to fit that in, even though during that time I wasn't running, so I had more time, but the boy's are off of school right now so they came with me a lot of the time.

I actually had school both day's this week. This class is kind of a joke, but I imagine that there will be other classes in the future that I will wish were easier. My homework for Tuesday was to watch the tv show "House". So, of course me being me had to stress over this. I was signed up to take Jonathan to the library that night, and the first episode of House was on during that time, and we have all the technologic capabilities to record the show, but neither one of us know's how to do that, go figure. So I am stressed about this and take Jonathan to the library, because if I just cancelled it, what does that say about my dedication to my son versues the dedication that I have for school, like what's more important, it's hard being me sometimes. Anyway, we stay for the 45 minutes or so for the little song and dance thing they did at the library and then I ran out of the library to get home to watch the second episode of House. I get home, run upstair and practacly lock myself in the bedroom so as not to be disturbed during my not taking. I finish watching the show (which during the show my other son calls me from my mom's and I tell him I can't talk because I'm doing my homework, and my sister calls from Vegas and I don't even answer the phone because I may miss something, I am a nutball). I then write a paper and look up all the medical terms that I feverishly wrote down during the show, all of which were spelled wrong I'm sure. I get to class on Thursday, and yep, you guessed it, we never even talked about the show. I am going to be properly prepared someday for some class, but I am way overly prepared for this class and this teacher. Get this, we don't even have homework over our long weekend, which I'm sure most people are like cool, but I'm thinking, "isn't this like an 8 week course, that's almost over?" Medical Terminology is so far not that hard, which kinda scares me, what is the rest of the tests and the final going to be like? I don't know.

So, last night I went to Dick's sporting goods store and bought a camelbac. I have had a waist water bottle, but I hate it because it rides up on me and bounces all over the place, and I'm very sensitive about things around my waist, so that's not working for me. For awhile I was doing my long runs in a loop that took me past the van every three miles or so, so I would just stop and get something to drink from my car. Now I feel I can just go and not worry about it. We'll see, I'll probably use it on Sunday. I also got some gu's, but I will not be trying them on Sunday, for the whole stomach issue problem, what if the make my stomach upset and I have to find a bathroom real fast, that could be embaressing, so I'll wait til I am by myself to try those.

That should do it for this time, I'll let you know how the camelbac goes and the long run. Time for Matthew's last baseball game.

Happy Running!!!!!

Carrie

So, this is going to ramble, because I've had too much caffine this morning, so hold on.

I have one more run this week, 9 miles tomorrow morning. I will probably run 2 on my own to start and then 5 with Holly and Rachel (Jenny's on another weekend away with her girlfriend Michelle) and then finish on my own with another 2. I'll tell you what, it's nice to have training partners now, it does make the runs go by much quicker. If I run the 9 tomorrow, then I should have 25 for the week, which is the most I've had in awhile, but I feel good. My hip feels pretty good, although I'm happy to have today as an off day to let it rest a little. It's a little sore right after the run, but usually feels better with stretching.

Speaking of my hip, I have been release from Physical Therapy, yea! I am now a believer in the Physical Therapy science. I will go back if need be in the future. I really feel it did help heal the muscle and help me discover some things about my form and the way my body is put together. If you could see all the typing mistakes I'm making, I would be embarresed (that's not spelled right).

Medical Terminology, ha, kind of a joke. I actually did have class both day's. I am off now until next Thursday because of the 4th of July. My homework last week was to watch the tv show House. What?!? So the anal retentive person I am did watch the show and take notes on it and wrote up a paper on it, just in case we needed to turn something in. I am a nut, but at lease I can recognize that about myself now that I've lived in this body for almost 36 years. Anyway, so I get to class on Thursday and we don't even discuss the show at all. Whatever. We also don't have homework this weekend, as it is the holiday weekend. I'm thinking, but isn't this only an 8 week course, and isn't there a lot to learn about Medical Terminology in 8 weeks? I am not going to complain though, I'm sure other classes will not be this easy, and who knows, the final or other tests will probably be totally hard and I'll be like "what the hell?"

Anyway, I went out last night and bought a camelbac classic. I bought a Nathan waist bottle holder (that is so not what it's called, but I'm having a brain burp) which I hated, it kept riding up on me, I'm very sensitive about stuff around my waist, it comes in a close second to having anything liquid in my ear. Then I have a hand held water bottle, which is nice, but it's kinda small and I wouldn't want it any bigger as it would be heavy. So, I thought I would try this camelbac thing for longer distances, and it seems easier to sip from than to try to drink from, so we'll see how this is, maybe I'll try it tomorrow on my long run. I also bought a couple gu's. I don't think I will try that tomorrow, as it could cause some gi problems and I will be around other people and that would embarass me if I had to stop because I had to go. I'll let you know how it goes.

Okay, that should be all for now. I finish tomorrow with my long run and then start a new week, which I think might be a cut back week already, which is probably good for me with the whole hip thing. So far, so good.

Happy Running!!!!

Carrie