Weight I have lost

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Possum Trot 10K

Wow, I didn't post anything last weekend. I ran 9 miles. (3 hungover and 6 fine). The G-dog ran too. We planned on running 3 on Tuesday, but something came up at work for 15 hours, so no run. And the rest of the week was my taper, and fighting not to get sick.

D, A and I planned on running the Possum Trot 10K awhile back. So I was already. Long runs, short runs, fast runs and of course slow runs.

D had been sick for a few weeks, so it was questionable whether he was running. By Friday it was obvious he was not going to be running it. He said he would come. Friday night, we went to bed early.

Saturday came fast. At 455am, the alarm went off. I knew D wasn't getting up. I got up, let G-dog out (Porter opted to stay in bed). I continued getting ready. When I was all done, I let G-dog back in. She promptly went to the door and sat down. She was ready to go as well. I felt so bad looking at that face. Oh well.

I left her, and off to pick up A. We didn't know where we were going but we had to be to the parking lot by 615 or else we had to walk 1 mile to the race. Neither of us felt like adding 2 miles to the 10K we were doing. So we got in, went and got our race numbers and then sat in the car for 35 minutes, yakking and guessing who did we think we could run with. There were 2 women in matchy-matchy orange and white outfits. Looked like tennis outfits. We both made fun of the fact it was A's bday and she got up at 445 in the morning. Finally it was time to get up and get ready. I got on my knee brace, A did the Body Glide thing, and off to walk to the start (only .25 miles away).

Walked past the 1 mile kid's fun run. This was a cool idea. There was maybe 1 kid doing the 10K.

We got toward the back of the pack, talked to some people, and finally the race started. The course was along the Chattahoochee River, and it was really nice. I had a little trouble getting into the groove along mile 1. I looked at Garmin, and my pace was all over the place. At .25 miles they had a water stop. It threw me off. And the 1 kid that was in the race bitched to his mother for the next mile because she wouldn't let him stop. They would sprint past me and then walk. It was quite annoying. One of the orange ladies was about 10 feet in front of me.
Mile 1 was 13:38.

During Mile 2 I got some water. We ran up to Roswell Rd. It was the first hill. At the top, we turned around. Around here I passed the orange lady. I past the kid at the water station and never looked back. There was an Iron Girl. She was walking running. It seemed she would walk, I would pass her, she would run past me. It was a bit annoying. We finally hit Mile 3 at 41 minutes. I was doing pretty good.

Since this part of the race was out and back, I also passed the last person/police car. Which meant, they would open the road once everyone was around the Roswell RD turnabout. They put everyone on the Chattahoochee trail, and opened the road. This added some (not much) distance onto the race. So I was running, and Orange Lady flew past me. I was like WTF? I really didn't have energy to catch her. This other lady passed me too. I got to Mile 4 at 57 minutes.

My legs really hurt. My pace was very slow. I decided to walk. My pace immediately shot up. I walked .25 miles, and then started running again. I passed the finish line. I kept looking for A. Hadn't seen her yet. Finally I saw her at mile 5 (73 minutes). I yelled her name and she looked up. She looked spent. I wished I was at her place (only .4 miles to go). Anyway the other hill of the race appeared. I tried running up it, and my time went to 17 min/mi, so I walked up it. I ran down. The race people were making the street open in one direction by putting up cones. The driver was not the most abled person...he nearly hit me. He got a "Watch it!" I think the "dumb fuck" was only mumbled. I got to the turn around, and they cut off the road. The cones right there had tape on them and my legs were too tired to go over the ribbon. That time the "Dumb fuck" was loud enough to hear. A woman who had been in my rear view the entire race, was able to get ahead of me. I got back to the hill, and walked up it again.

I ran down the hill, and kept going. I hit mile 6 at 88 minutes. I didn't see the finish line. Came around the bend and the speakers on the car told me to smile...there was a photog taking pics. I'm waiting for them to be uploaded.

I finally saw the finish. I ran as fast as I could. Which wasn't fast. I finally crossed. Their time was 92 something. But since no chip (it is Atlanta), I go by my watch. I got 91:58. PR!!!!!

A was waiting at the end of the finish line chute, which seemed to be forever. She did well too. 75 minutes.

We went and got our shirts and loot. Water was available. Smoothies were available. Great post. And because I'm so slow, by the time I finished the parking lot was open again. We drove home and I dropped off A.

Tooled around for a bit, and then D and I got ready for the East Atlanta Beer Festival. It sucked beyond belief. About 500 too many people, and all grocery store beers, and too much focus on pale ales. I love pales but after 5 they all taste the same. So after an hour we left. I mean seriously, a line 15 deep for Lagunitas and Fat Tired? I just didn't get it.

We got our drink on at Midway, and took a cab home.

I had a great day!

Time: 91:58
Mileage: 6.3 (14:35 min/mile)
Calories: 1560
Max HR 181
Avg HR 150
In Zone 13:26

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Where the Wild Things Are!

So I have long said that I don't wear my iPod while running in the 'hood.

Yesterday's run would be one of the many reasons.

G-dog and I got to have yet another run due to the 69 (hehehehehe) degree weather. We decided again to forgo the subdivision hills and just run extra in the neighborhood.

So down the German Shepherd pass. No GS out. Up to Terrorist Dog hill. No Terrorists out. All was quiet. Up condom hill, and still just a pleasant run. Start on AT&T deceivingly long street, and I hear, "You mother-f#&*er. You ho!" Some woman is screaming this at the top of her lungs over and over. A man comes out of his house and she starts yelling, "Get off of me, you mother-f#&*er! Get off of me, you mother-f#&*er!" He was 2 houses away from her. G-dog and I decided we would skip that road, turned around, and went down another road.
Up to Friday house, no one was out. Back down and to the end of the neighbor hood. Man walking with a twisted out hanger and no teeth. Asked me if he could have Guinness. Apparently he needed her for protection. I did not oblige.

We continued our run, contemplating what path we were going to take. Coming back up to Terrorist Hill again, and the crazy woman had made it all the way down there. Now she was standing in front of someone's house, yelling, "You don't know me! You don't know me! You mother-f#&*er. You ho!"over and over. So we skipped Terrorist Hill, and were now able to go up AT&T deceivingly long street. Came back down, and woman is walking with a man (not the one who came out of the house earlier) all lovey. Crazy, I tell you!

G-dog did her business. We were running again, and the woman who is routinely at the Citgo prostituting was walking the street. In the 3 years I've lived here, I have seen her pg for 3 times in 3 years. I think she had her baby a few weeks ago, because she was no longer carrying. Instead she was asking me, Guinness, crazy woman, the air, a tree etc. for money. We continued past her.

Came back around, ran the Terrorist hill with the terrorists out. Ran GS pass with German Shepherd out. Guinness strutted her stuff again. Crazy dog!

We managed to get 3 miles in under 47 minutes. The first and 3rd miles were under 16 minutes. The 2nd mile was where we had all the drama...it was near 17 minutes.

2 miles on tap for Thursday!

Time: 5:44 (walk)
Mileage: .22 (26:03 min/mile)
Time: 48:34 (run)
Mileage: 3.11 (15:36 min/mile)
Calories: 676
Max HR 179
Avg HR 157
In Zone 22:28

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Weekend Run

So Friday wasn't too exciting. Work.
I went to Taco Mac for Happy Hour. First beer was lovely... Left Hand's Warrior IPA. Why it was an 11 oz pour, I have yet to figure (ABV 6.6%). But it was good. Next beer knocked the Warrior to the ground. Stone's Self-Rightious was awesome. It might be my newest favorite. It too was an 11 oz pour (8.5%). My friend arrived with her co-workers and we sat on the patio. I had to leave at 6 because D's car didn't start that morning so I had to go get him from work.

We went and got Mexican food, and then came home.

Saturday, D got a ride to work, and I got to sleep in. At 8 am, I checked the temp...67. Cool. I got G-dog and Porter ready and off for a warm-up. We dropped Po at home and off we went. My legs were so sore. The thighs were yelling at me. We got to Mile 1 and I seriously thought about going home. But, I decided I had to run off the guacamole I had had on Friday. Guinness was in her own little world. She managed to talk to the Great Dane, the German Shepherd and the Pit Bull. The "terrorist" dogs were not outside yet. We eeked out the 3 miles, she recovered much faster than I.

New Balance called me to let me know the shoes I ordered were in. So I went and tried on 2 pairs. My feet were so sore from the run, I looked at my shoes, and brought them with me, but refused to put them on. Wore my birks instead. So I tried on the first pair, and it was like Heaven on my feet. I ran down the front of the store front and they felt good, albeit clunky, but when have my shoes been stylish? The next pair were gorgeous, and lookes like real running shoes. I put them on. My feet loved all the cushioning. I ran on them, and knew they weren't for me. I kind of felt like I was going to hurt myself with them, so I bought the clunky ones. Truth be told, the clunky ones are the beautiful ones I talked about a few posts ago.

I picked up D from work, and we came home. Had LeftHand Jackman Porter and Fort Collin's Chocolate Stout. Watched 4 NCISs and went to bed.

This morning, I woke up a complete bitch and D let me know. This of course pissed me off, so I got dressed, check the weather and saw it was 64. D was downstairs with Po, so I grabbed a leash and went outside. Got Guinness ready. We walked and then took off.

German Shepherd was out and Guinness acted like she was in heat or something. Since I don't run fast, G prances or struts. She got in front of the GS and tail curled up, back arched, and she strutted past GD. It made me laugh. The terrorists were out, so we didn't stay near them long.

We waved to a neighbor and continued. Friday house was already rolling (at 830am). I busted out laughing. Guinness talked to them. Whined like she wanted some. We continued running. I must learn Spanish, as the neighbor said something. I think he said "still" as in "you're still running?" as I saw him 45 minutes earlier.

I was a little worried about G during our 4th mile. Then she saw a cat, then a squirrel and then 2 fat cats. Yes, she had energy. We got home, and I apologized to D.

We went and got lunch, and went to the grocery store. The skies opened up and it is pouring. So in the rain, we rolled his truck out of the garage and finagled the cars so we could jump it. Noticed the negative terminal was loose, but eh. We went up to Advanced Auto who has excellent service and got a new battery. The guy Darrel installed it. He said we needed a new terminal, not a new battery. At this point we were all drenched, and the battery was already in. D and I said, eh.

What ticked us off...2 years ago (our battery we just replaced was a 2 yr which is why we just said eh), this EXACT thing happened. I was changing the headlamp, and the next day the car wouldn't work. I took it to the dealer and he said I needed a new battery. I said I thought it was odd that my battery held a charge, that my car wasn't clicking like a dead battery, etc. No, he said, you need a new battery. When I got the car out (for a lot more than what I paid today), I felt dirty, and vowed I wouldn't go back to Regal Nissan (and I haven't)

Now 2 years later, I KNOW I should have trusted my gut, and Regal has a bunch of crooks in thier service department. Pisses me off. Perhaps I should wear a strap-on when going to get the cars fixed. Live and learn I guess. The car is working, and we know how to fix it. Next week I'll look at fixing the battery terminal. I need to look at what I need in terms of equipment. Not sure I have wire strippers... or a wrench.

Time: 14:03 (walk)
Mileage: .37 (37:58 min/mile)
Time: 53:18 (run)
Mileage: 3.13 (17:01 min/mile)
Calories: 706
Max HR 179
Avg HR 158
In Zone 28:18

Time: 8:01 (walk)
Mileage: .29 (27:38 min/mile)
Time: 83:03 (run)
Mileage: 5.02 (16:32 min/mile)
Calories: 1095
Max HR 179
Avg HR 156
In Zone 45:48

Friday, May 15, 2009

2 mile Thursday

So, 2 miles was on tap for yesterday. For some reason, I always blow off my 2 mile run. Anyway, I decided I needed to work on speed, so I was going to the track. I got home and D said he would go too. We talked about bringing G-dog, but it was 79, so we vetoed it. She was quite disappointed, as she knows what putting my running shoes means, and sat next to her leash trying to be good.

So we left, convinced she would go to the bathroom in the house.

Got to the track via a small shortcut…road closed don’t know why. The HS football team was out practicing, and they had their parent fan club watching and lots of girls. While walking our warm-up lap, D asked me what my run would consist of…I said take it easy on the turns, run fast on the straight parts, and time the straight parts. First and 8th laps excluded.

We got to the start of the run, and the football team was all on the track, crossing it to get water. Maybe my straights wouldn’t work. Ok, so run the first lap, and do the turn. I hit Stop on my watch, and ran fast (for me). Finished the straight, and hit Start. I did this on the other side of the track, and ran into all the students. So on the turn I realized that it wasn’t going to record my time if I just hit Stop, I would have to hit this button twice. So smart…I figured this out early. Most of the run was like this…I didn’t run fast on the straight by the bleachers as it was one kid’s intent to trip me up, and I had to run around lots of little kids.

As an aside…football practice…perhaps if the coaches ran and weren’t 500 pounds, the kids would have more respect. Also in a practice when you score, you should not be practicing your Touchdown Dance. AND people who aren’t on the FB team (e.g. females) shouldn’t be throwing the ball around ON the field. Alas, just like I am the perfect parent, since I have no kids, I am the perfect football coach, since I don’t have a team.

So I finished up my run. Stopped and restarted the watch. When I noticed the other button on the watch…LAP…the button I should have been hitting. Oh well.

Afterward, D and I went to the bar. I was kind of hoping that they had Fat Tire on draft (new to GA), but they only had it in bottles. Not feeling a bottle, I got a pint of Guinness, a 32 oz water, and an arugula salad with flank steak. It was terrific. After that, D and I came home.

Guinness (the dog) had been good. Hooray.

Time: 5:08 (walk)
Mileage: .25 (20:32 min/mile)
Time: 27:24 (run)
Mileage: 2 (13:42 min/mile)
Time: 17:31 (walk)
Mileage: .75 (23:21 min/mile)
Calories: 618
Max HR 185
Avg HR 165
In Zone 7:28

Doo, doo doo lookin out my front door

I too can be a soccer mom!

Princess in the grass

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Excellent Run

So I'm kind of in a funk (I know it comes as a shocker since my normal disposition is negative). But it seems all I want to do is run. It is the only time I'm by myself, and at the moment feeling free.

So yesterday, after watching an hour of NCIS, I looked up the temp (75) and G-dog and I went out for a run. It was gorgeous out. Slight breeze and shade.

G said hi to the German Shepherd. I think he realizes we are not a threat. She peed next to where she pooped last time (I didn't clean it up), and her stuff and the used condom are still there (why I didn't clean it up). We waved to the old man who growls at her. She tried to get into the Prelude that some dude was working on. Everyone in the Friday house was out. She talked to them. My feet were running, not shuffling. G did her business again, and it was right next to a trash can, so score...I didn't have to run around with poop.

The 2nd loop, the Prelude guy had his door closed on that side (smirk). The 3 vicious dogs that I'm convinced are going to eat through the fence let us know their presence. 2 kids on the bike asked if Guinness could play with them. It was the type of run that just makes you feel happy.

And amazingly, 3 miles came in under 16min/mile which is good when I have Guinness with me.

Time: 7:03 (walk)
Mileage: .16 (44:03 min/mile)
Time: 50:47 (run)
Mileage: 3.19 (15:55 min/mile)
Calories: 675
Max HR 174
Avg HR 153
In Zone 28:38

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Komen Atlanta 5K

So, D and I ran it once again this year in honor of my SIL and one of my friends. Except for the cause, I hate everything about this race. It brings out all my pet peeves (kids, strollers, people), and it is at Atlantic Station which I hate hate hate.

That being said, we signed up for Komen Race for the Cure (donate to me here).

Friday around 5 I realized neither of us had clean clothes. So I washed those. D was at a "sports" bar, that didn't know there were 2 hockey games on, and he had to tell them what channels they were on, the beer was warm, and they charged his CC twice. I didn't go, because it looked like a CEO's sports bar...it is where all the sports people are spotted when they are in town, so to me, it has to suck.

Anyway, at 630am D and I got up and got ready for the race. We left to go to Atlantic Station and cut through neighborhoods to get to the lot we wanted to get to. Pink everywhere, people climbing stairs and stopping right at the top. The amount of people was freaking me out, so we went to the Expo to find Thorny. She was there and we tried to talk to her, but the speakers were BLARING! We all found that annoying. M found us. She was nervous too. I waited in the Spot-a-Pot line with her, and chattered non-stop. I told her MD was really hard this year. She said she knew... (my mom has told me she wished I was never born...I haven't spoken to her in 18 years). She hates MD too, but only because she tells her mom she is great every day, and doesn't need one day of the year. I hear that. She does tell her mom she is awesome (and she is). So we caught up with D and went up to the start line. When I say we went to the start line, I mean we went there. D and M knew all the people would bug me, and no one in this race understands walkers in the back, so we said fuckit and went right to the front (well maybe 200 people in front of us). I turned on my Garmin to find it wasn't charged. Oh well, I had my HRM.

The race started. That's the last I saw M and D. I ran up the hill that goes from 17th St to 10th St. It seemed to take forever. I passed a lot of walkers. On 10th street we turned and went to W Ptree and came back down the hill. Nothing was very exciting, I knew I was running slowly, and I really missed Guinness. Back to 17th St, and I knew I had a little over 1 mile left. I passed a guy pulling a wagon. He would have annoyed me, but he was asking everyone to pull the wagon (with his kids). Like, "Hey you , I know you want to pull the wagon." It just made me laugh. Finally we got to 1 mile left and I knew the rest of the race was flat. There was an impromptu water station. We were passing apartments, and 2 guys were giving out water. They were doing it honor or memory of someone. I just thought that was cool.

At 38 minutes, someone said they couldn't believe we weren't at the finish. I looked at my watch...I knew I was running slowly. We finally turned, and I picked it up slightly, maybe...I finally crossed at 45:10. Eh.
Thorny, M, me and D

M and D and I got water and some coupons to Perdue Chicken and our shirts. We went and said bye to Thorny and D and I walked M to her part of the parking lot and went to ours.

D and I went and got bagels and then went to Hop City the new beer store. It was so cool. And we found Bell's will be in GA on Monday. Hooray for Kalamazoo Stout. New Belgium will be here too on Monday, but eh.

We came home and then went and got pizza. We also got some beers (me Guinness, him Rogue Hazelnut), and some ice cream.

I told D that running has become boring...I don't have anything roaming in my mind. He suggested we go to Best Buy to get me headphones (he has taken mine since his broke). We didn't go though.Random sign walking from the pizza place to the bar.

We came home.

Today, I ran 4.25 miles with Guinness in the morning. I had to or I was going to go nuts. In 3 minutes I'd been reminded of MD on my email, Facebook, newspaper, and news. She did fine at 66 degrees. I came back and my friends/family are so awesome. They all said that they were happy I was here, and that P and G were my babies, and that was what counted. That I am a good mom to them. D went to work. I had to run an errand so I decided to go to the running store. I remembered the one I was going to was closed on Sundays, so I went to the other one. The guy said my shoes have been discontinued. He looked at my gait, at my current shoes, at the inside of the shoe (where my foot hurts). We talked about the 3 pairs of shoes I've had, and what was wrong with the 36 mile shoes. After all that, he went to get 2 pairs he thought would be good. And of course they didn't have a 10.5D. So he is ordering them for me to try on. I tried on 10.5B and my toes rubbed on the side, so he said no...if it is bothering my now, it would bother me later. So we'll see.

So I can finally say, Happy Mother's Day to everyone out there who is a wonderful mom, to those that are lucky enough to have a wonderful mom, and that furbabies count. Their lives wouldn't be so fulfilled without you in it.

Time: 45:13 (run)
Mileage: 3.1 (14:32 min/mile)
Calories: 643
Max HR 189
Avg HR 177
In Zone 3:16

Time: 11:20 (walk)
Mileage: .35 (33:22 min/mile)
Time: 70:42 (run)
Mileage: 4.22 (16:45 min/mile)
Calories: 946
Max HR 184
Avg HR 168
In Zone 19:37

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

New Shoes and my running bud is taking a break!

So it seems everyone is thinking about shoes today (Marcy and Viper).

Which is odd, because I was wondering when I needed new shoes. Because I don't run marathons, I wear one pair. They are usually under the couch, because that's where I unwind after a run.

They are pretty ugly, and clunky, but the time I went for style (while getting fitted), it took over 2 hours, and 2 pairs of shoes later, I still had no shoes that worked for me.

So when New Balance sent me a picture of these yesterday, I wanted them...

But at $145, and having a pair with only 277 miles on them, I can't get them. BOOO!

So lalalala...yesterday, I told D that no matter what, to make me run when I got home from work. I got home from work, and flipped him the bird, cried and got in bed (I hate Mother's Day more than any other holiday and this years is hitting me particularly hard). After 5 minutes, I got up and slammed all the drawers looking for shorts, and not finding any. D asked what I was looking for, gave me his clean shorts and put on a slightly dirty pair. We finished getting ready and got Po and Guinness ready and then off we went for the poop break/warm-up.

Guinness and I were ahead of D and Po, so we got back to the house, dropped off the trash, and started our standard 'hood 3 mi run. It started out ok. Nothing terribly exciting. Hills, hills and hills. D passed us at .6 miles. We got to the top of the last major hill and Garmin said I had .15 miles to go before I hit 1 mile. Apparently I had not run the standard in so long that I forgot a part. Will make it up later. Guinness took another break, and luckily I had a bag, and someone left their trash can out.

While running I thought that I can't let MD get to me...I just need to live my life. 2 miles down. In the midst of mile 2, my foot starting hurting in the middle, right below the ball of my foot. Definitely I need new shoes, is what I thought. I wonder how many miles I have on these (277). I know they are over a year old. In front of the school, G did her business again. I didn't clean it up, only because what dog poops 3 times in an hour? I had no more bags. Of course there were people there to watch her. I felt like a total tool.

At 2.85 miles she went again. She also wasn't looking good. We got home at 3.15 miles. Time was decent except for the 3rd mile. G's stops were a lot. Got home and gave her lots to drink, but her recovery was too slow. It looks like the standard 3 miles is being moved to the treadmill. It is too hot for her, and I can't shave her, and D doesn't want me running in the 'hood by myself. I can't wait for October when we can resume our runs.
Time: 9:34 (walk)
Mileage: .33 (28:59 min/mile)
Time: 51:10 (run)
Mileage: 3.15 (16:14 min/mile)
Calories: 691
Max HR 187
Avg HR 171
In Zone 7:42

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Knowing my dog...

So all week, my lungs have been wreaking havoc on me. I mean, walking up a flight of stairs is winding me. My throat is sore, my joints hurt...at first I thought my beloved friend, the pig, gave me his flu, except that I don't know anyone who has been to Mexico.

I knew it was just allergies, but my lungs hurt. Wah wah wah. Friday, I came home from work, had dinner and went to bed around 8. Saturday, I woke up at 9. Had some soda and some pasta, and took a nap. Watched the Kentucky Derby... D was at work.

So I'm feeling less than stellar so I gave Porter a bath.
Mom, I really don't like you any more.
Guinness got yet another reprieve. D called and said he was getting beer and should he get 16 or 24. I said 24. He got home and told me all about this new beer store. I felt great. We cooked dinner, and off to drinking Guinness (the beer, not the dog).

So we went to bed, and Sunday got up and went on a date to Einstein Bros, and to PetSmart. We got some guards for the clippers. Then grocery store.

We talked about our lack of running, and what is going on...we came up with FACEBOOK! It sucks out evevrything... So argh!

Anyway we got home, and later went for a run. D was going for 2 miles and Guinness and I were going for 3. It was 83 degrees. We joked on the warmup we used to think 83 degrees was good running weather, and now it is sweltering. The warm-up tested my lungs, and they weren't feeling all that great to be honest. HRM was reading 149, which is high for me. Still we dropped Po off, and we all went.

D of course was much further along and finally I didn't see him. Guinness peed every where. She really didn't seem comfortable. About a mile of our run was me being annoyed with her, then at 1.25 miles, it dawned on me that perhaps she was having trouble running as well. My HRM was reading 185, which was still high, but I don't think what I was doing could qualify as running...I think I could walk faster. We got to 1.75 miles which was where we were going to turn to go another mile, and Guinness sat down. WOULD NOT MOVE! So I stopped, checked her out... found a puddle for her, and then she was ready again. But the sitting down thing is a big sign that a dog is in the RED ZONE, so we came home. She is fine, now. D ended up running 2.8 miles and G and I ran 2.16 miles.

After looking at all my results, G and I were pushing ourselves (not time wise)...usually for a 2 mile run I get about 500 calories at the most. Today I got over 600.

So I guess, Po needs sunscreen, and Guinness can't run if it is over 75 degrees and if my allergies are bugging me, hers might be bothering her.