Black and Blue

So for this whole week, my toe nails have hurt. They feel bruised. I finally took the nail polish off and aha! Black and blue toenails on both big toes. Seriously, how can I get all the way through training and then get the toenail thing during the race. All I can think, because of the rain my feet were wet and sliding in the shoe. I knew my feet had rubbed on my socks as the the socks had coral nail polish (my polish last week) all over the socks.

Oh well. I took a picture , but I'll spare you. Unless you are a FB friend. Then it is on my "Running injuries" photo album. Although they aren't as dark as other people's bruised toenails.

I ran 2 miles yesterday. 24:30. It felt good to get back to running. So of course I didn't do it this morning. I have equated all the training and the actual event to getting married/planning a wedding. Once it is all done, then what? I know, another one (half-mary, not wedding). Right now though funds aren't in the cards for that. And I still have to sign up for the triathlon since my great aunt gave me the $$ for the entry fee (her sister (my grandmother) had Alzheimer's so I will do the Tri2Remember Tri again).

The numbers for April are in. I ran 90+ miles. I'm shocked by this. And I lost 5.9 pounds. Woohoo!

Kentucky Derby Mini Marathon

So we left for Louisville on Friday. I woke up Friday morning and knew I was nervous. I had 3 chin zits. We dropped the pups off at the kennel, and about a mile later I had to stop at Burger King to relieve myself. Luckily this was not the way the rest of the drive is. 7 hours later we get to the Hampton Inn. We meet V and off to the race expo and then to get some beers and dinner. We went to the expo. Picking up the numbers and shirts were fine but the rest was odd. The room was pretty big, and they had the expo roped off in a tiny area that was all zigzaggy. It probably only used half the room. Also there was pretty much no way to go back to a booth, and all payable schwag was on top of each other. We quickly left. We stopped at Red Star and had a beer, and then went to Sicilian. V had lasagna and D and I had pizza. It was odd pizza being as it was thin crust and we were at a place called Sicilian.

V's Cider, My Bell's 2-Hearted Ale, and D's Guinness

We walked home, and were in bed pretty early. Unfortunately I had a blister on my foot from walking around. Ugh.

445AM D and I got up. I ate a Clif Bar and 2 bottles of water. I waited for my intestines to work, but they didn't so I forced them (probably TMI). We met V at 530 and walked 3 blocks to the shuttles. There were so many school busses. We hadn't known what to expect so we were surprised we may have waited 5 minutes to get on a bus. It was raining. We got to the start at 610. The spot-a-pots were crowded on the right side, but no line on the left. Finished with that and then waited at the Speedway under the roof to not get wet. D and I were joking. V looked miserable. She went and got coffee and was much better. At 710 we got in our corrals. They were in C; I was in D. I talked to 2 ladies while waiting. They both said the course was hilly. One didn't know if she was doing the 1/2 or the whole. Said she would decide at mile 11. Allrighty then. Finally at 730 we started moving. It took over 15 minutes to cross the start.

D, me and V before the race

Mile 1 started. Ran. Mostly ran around walkers. Passed the 6hour pacer for the marathoner (and if you were doing the half in 3 or the whole in 6+, according to the mike man you had no business to be in a race like this...F him). The rain let up. I was happy I run looking down. Lots of trash bags to step over. Ran around people and through them. I always said excuse me, but some people thought I was rude. Eh. At 10 minutes, I walked 1 minute.
Mile 1: 13:38.

We ran into Iroquois Park. There were 4 spot-a-pots, and about a line 60 deep going out into the course. I had to cut behind the pots. I really was confused that many people had to pee all ready. Iroquois Park was rolling hills. Nothing bad but I always hit the 10 minute mark going down a hill and after a minute resumed running starting up. The hills were nothing though compared to what I run in Atlanta. At Mile 2 was the first station. Water in bottles. I had half a bottle (8 oz bottle) and threw the rest out.
Mile 2: 13:44

Mile 3 and 4 were more of the same. During that time there was an ambulance. V had seen a woman who was hobbling with no ambulance, sobbing. I saw her on the stretcher hysterical. Felt bad. She probably slipped on a trash bag. Mile 4 we finally came down a hill out of the park. This station had water on the left and powerade on the right. A little annoying crossing a road to get some Powerade, but I am versatile.
Mile 3: 14:49
Mile 4 14:11

We came out of the park and there were about 100 people in line for 2 spot-a-pots. There was a ton of spectators. Everyone was cheering. There was an orange team that was drinking. They had shirts that said I will keep drinking as long as you keep running. I felt pretty strong. Running 5 miles didn't feel like the dread mill. It felt fast. I knew I was running a bit faster but I couldn't seem to slow down. I hit MM5 (not Garmin) at 5.2. My times are based on Garmin.
Mile 5 13:55

Mile 6 was fun. Bands and some of them weren't sponsored. Just random people playing. I hit Garmin 6.2 at 87+ minutes (PR). Unfortunately, the mats were at 6.44, so no PR.
Mile 6: 14:42

So the next mile I guess faster runners got oranges, because there were orange peels all over the road. But no oranges. I had a piece of a Promax bar while walking. The course was still flat so I was wondering where the hills were.
Mile 7: 14:48

Entering Churchill Downs (lousy cellphone camera)

So we turned and all of a sudden there was Churchill Downs. To get to the infield, you went in a tunnel. Garmin read the same on both sides. Apparently for D, CD was a cluster and he hated it. When I got there, everyone ran to the bathrooms so I only had about 10 people around me. It was so awe-ing. And horses were warming up, running around you. It was so neat. Around the infield, and through another tunnel where Garmin stopped. Then we were out of Churchill Downs. Grabbed some water and Powerade.
Mile 8: 15:24

Churchill Downs

More flat. Was feeling great. I so had this. More people cheering. I was really impressed with the supporters.
Mile 9: 15:50

I texted D at 9.6 miles to let him know where I was. Right after that, something happened. I was running. All of a sudden, I thought I was going to puke. I had to pee. I had to poop. I started walking. I was looking around. Now there were NO SPECTATORS. All houses were locked up. No gas station. No White Castle. Nada. I saw 4 men, but they looked shady and I didn't think I could use their restroom safely. I didn't know what to do.
Mile 10 16:37

At mile 10.1 I found a church stoop with a wall. By now it had stopped raining but everything was wet. I sat down in a puddle and leaned my head against the wall. I thought about quitting. I tried to get up and thought I would pass out. My lower regions hurt. I was tearing up that I got this far and wouldn't finish. I thought about vomiting, but I didn't want the taste in my mouth. I couldn't figure out how to poop with out removing it from my shorts. So sitting on this wet stoop I just sat and peed. I felt better. One of the women that I had met in the corral saw me. She told me to get up. She gave me some water. And told me we had 2.5 miles to the next stop and regardless of how slow my legs moved I was to move. Then she took off. I walked and someone passed with a shirt that said, "DFL is way beter than DNF and WAY better than DNS." That's all I needed.
Mile 11: 19:44

I did 4 min/1 min intervals for awhile. We finally turned and seemed to be on a major road. Maybe 6th street. A Church Lady gave me a milky way, that I sucked on. I was still thirsty but knew I had this. I was bummed I had wasted 5 minutes with a physical/mental setback, but oh well. I was still passing people. Of course they were walking but I was passing them.
Mile 12 16:46

So I knew I had 1.1 miles left. We were on Main (I think). I really wasn't paying attention. All of a sudden I recognized 4th Stree Live. So I was recognized where we were for the expo. I was getting close. At 12.6 I texted D again. A UPS man gave me water. I held onto it. We ran down to the waterfront. I could see the Festival. All of a sudden there were all these fast runners. Then I realized they had realligned the marathon and the half. Oh if I were at 25 miles and now I had to avoid walkers and slow runners I would have been pissed. I was annoyed I had to finagle around walkers. The festival was on the left of me, and the course took us right at 12.8 miles. WTF? If I heard one more person tell me one more turn, I swear to God someone was going to die. We ran up a hill and took a left. I was now at 13 miles and saw no finish line. WTF?
Mile 13 16:11

So I ran and saw the 26 mile sign at 13.1 miles. Still no finish. Turned left again and there was the finish. I crossed. Garmin said 13.32 (and remember the CD tunnels).

Clock Time: 3:41:27
Chip Time: 3:24:46 (beat my expected time 3:40)
D's Chip Time 2:10:37

Garmin's end

Medal

D and V immediately saw me and D said we had to go. I snapped at him that I'm sorry that he had to wait over and hour, but I'll be damned if I'm going to cross a finish line and not get a water. He and V backed off. After I got my medal and some water and Powerade, then I could talk. D had been sick and in the First Aid tent, so he did want to go. What I didn't realize it was about .25 mile to get out of the chute area. So we got to the end, and V wanted the free beer. So D went to the hotel, and V and I went and got Mich Ultra. It had a lot of flavor at that time. We walked the .75miles to the hotel. The beer lost some flavor. By the time we got there, D was feeling better. 

V and me with our Michelob Ultra

I took an ice bath and then a shower and we met V downstairs. We then went and drank for the next 2 days. Good times!

Beer (Dark Star Porter)

So I would do this one again. However, from what it seemed and what I read, I would never do this as the 26.2 race. There was no love for them. Really...26.2 miles and at mile 25 you have to dodge walkers (who held hands) and slow runners. Gah!

Getting Ready for the Big Day

Taper week has come to a close. I lost another pound! And I have a blister on my boob (damn HRM/sports bra!)

So we now have our directions printed out, laundry clean, Garmins charged and I have set my playlist for the Half Marathon (or Mini Marathon as the Kentucky Derby is calling it which I think sounds worse than Half Marathon).

V's Boyfriend will not be able to join us. He has been stuck in Moscow for a week and a half due to that volcano. And is expected to go on another job on Tuesday for a few months somewhere else, but V is meeting us in Louisville.

I ran 3 miles yesterday. I ran a mile at 5mph (12 min mile), 1 at 4.7 and 1 all over the place. Not the best but it was done. Today's 2 miler was 17+ min/mile due to running with Guinness. I don't know if it was the pollen, her being 10, or out of shape. She got .8 miles and then I dragged her the rest of the way. We walked a lot. When I got home, I poured a bottle of water on her face. She was perfectly content. D took Scuttlebutt on his run. SB lasted 1.5 miles. So not much better. We were going to run at the track, but there was a field day or something there, and I didn't run infront of a whole bunch of HS kids. Poor Guinness, she was so excited to see the track and then confused when we immediately left. She'll live.

Hopefully next time I post, I will be an official Half-Marathoner!

Here is the playlist (you would think my favorite band is My Chemical Romance and not Pearl Jam):

In The End/Linkin Park/Hybrid Theory
State Of Love And Trust/Pearl Jam/Singles
Teenagers/My Chemical Romance/The Black Parade
One Wild Night/Bon Jovi/Crush
Does This Mean You're Moving On?/The Airborne Toxic Event/The Airborne Toxic Event
Boys Don't Cry/Oleander/February Son
Wrong/Depeche Mode/Sounds Of The Universe
I Go Blind/Hootie & The Blowfish/Scattered, Smothered And Covered
DOA/Foo Fighters/In Your Honor [Disc 1]
Helena/My Chemical Romance/Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
Told You So/Depeche Mode/Construction Time Again
The Fixer/Pearl Jam/The Fixer - Single
Uprising/Muse/The Resistance
This Is How I Disappear/My Chemical Romance/The Black Parade
Gasoline/The Airborne Toxic Event/The Airborne Toxic Event
Extraordinary/Liz Phair/Liz Phair (PICKUP SONG)
I'm Not Okay (I Promise)/My Chemical Romance/Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
Pain Lies On The Riverside [New Edit]/Live/Awake: The Best Of Live
Give 'Em Hell Kid/My Chemical Romance/Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
You Give Love A Bad Name/Bon Jovi/Cross Road
It's Raining Men/Geri Halliwell/Bridget Jones' Diary
How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously?/Pet Shop Boys/Behaviour (Disc 1)
Times Like These/Foo Fighters/One By One
The Rock Show/Blink-182/Take Off Your Pants And Jacket
Hang 'Em High/My Chemical Romance/Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
Try Me/O.A.R./All Sides
Call Me When You're Sober/Evanescence/The Open Door
The Good Life/Weezer/Pinkerton
Daughter/Pearl Jam/Live At The Gorge - July 22nd 2006 (Disc 1)
Dead!/My Chemical Romance/The Black Parade (PICKUP SONG)
Missy/The Airborne Toxic Event/The Airborne Toxic Event
The Difference/The Wallflowers/Bringing Down the Horse
Beautiful Wreck/Shawn Mullins/Beautiful Wreck - Single
Take A Chance On Me/ABBA/Gold
Where The Streets Have No Name (Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You)/Pet Shop Boys/Discography: The Complete Singles Collection
The Kids Aren't Alright/The Offspring/Americana
To the End/My Chemical Romance/Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
World Wide Suicide/Pearl Jam/Live At The Gorge - July 22nd 2006 (Disc 1)
Would?/Alice In Chains/Singles
Mama/My Chemical Romance/The Black Parade
All Over Now/Eric Hutchinson/Sounds Like This
Nearly Lost You/Screaming Trees/Singles [Original Soundtrack]
Makes No Difference/Sum 41/Half Hour Of Power
The Sharpest Lives/My Chemical Romance/The Black Parade
A Praise Chorus/Jimmy Eat World/Bleed American
Bring Me to Life/Evanescence/Fallen
Famous Last Words/My Chemical Romance/The Black Parade
Smooth Criminal/Alien Ant Farm/ANThology
Bling (Confession Of A King)/The Killers/Sam's Town
Ask/The Smiths/Singles
Fred Meyers/Glen Phillips/Abulum [Bonus Track]
Does Your Mother Know/ABBA/Gold
Best Of You/Foo Fighters/In Your Honor [Disc 1]
Men Just Leave/Glen Phillips/Abulum [Bonus Track]
Out of Our Heads/Sheryl Crow/Detours
Tripping Down the Freeway/Weezer/Raditude
Thank You for the Venom/My Chemical Romance/Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night/Bon Jovi/Cross Road
It's My Life/Bon Jovi/Crush

Thinking While Running

So yesterday's savings at Aldi was $1.75. Not bad considering I only bought $11 worth of things there. That brings the 5 week total to $30.25. Woohoo! I told my aunt about Aldi. Her response was that her Aldi smelled like rotting meat so she doesn't go. Thankfully mine does not. My friend asked me how much I was wasting in gas to go to Aldi. Actually, I pass Aldi and 1 Kroger to go to Hipster Kroger, so not much (in terms of mileage).

So I'm in taper week. I did 4 miles today in ~52 minutes. That is 13 minutes a mile, people! Fastest I've done it. Of course my legs were feeling it. I started it the way I start my 3 mile treadmill drill albeit at 4.4mph. I got to 30 minutes at 4.9mph and knew I didn't have 20 minutes left in me, so I knocked it to 4.5 which I bumped to 4.7mph after a minute. I ran that for 10 minutes, and then took a walk break for a minute. Gatorade never tasted so good. I restarted at 4.5 and after 5 minues bumped it to 4.6. The last 2 minutes I played with the time and it was all over from 4.7 to 5.1 mph.

So besides counting down the run, I thought about jobs. I realized of my 3 jobs, I have gotten one through Hotjobs. Yes, the other 2 jobs were listed on sites, but I got them through networking. This kind of took me by surprise, but my first job, I got the 2nd interview because the recruiter was on campus and went to talk to his old professor. Well, I had the professor for 5 classes, so the recruiter asked about potential hires. The prof told him to get me. When the prof told me, I was shocked he even knew my name. He said, "You've taken 5 of my classes, and in the last 4, you were the only female." I busted out laughing because I never even noticed!

So 2nd job was the hotjobs one. One of the interviewers was a baseball hotdog fanatic so we talked about that.

Last job, my friend recommended me to his boss. That was the only interview that was not technical.

So I figured out to land interviews I have to ask people to recommend me. Not easy being that I'm an engineer (risk-averse). But that's how I got the one today. I've been invited back for Round 2 (there are 4 Rounds).

I thought about when I was interviewing for my first job, people told me to just lie if I didn't have the experience. I was totally perplexed by this. Well the first 2 jobs, the interviewers have asked me technical questions, like analyze this circuit or what's the amplification? You certainly can't lie.

So after the run and the interview, I watched Las Vegas. How did it not get any Emmys? I mean Ron Jeremy was on it today.

Last "Long" Run before the Big One

I say "long" because it was the longest run left. 7 miles. Plus before I embarked on this training the farthest I ever ran was 6.2 miles. 7 seemed really long. Hell! Who am I kidding? 7 still seems really long.

I decided it was early enough to run the 'hood where the unusual crazies wouldn't be out. I pre-fueled with a Quaker Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie and a Promax-70 Nutty Peanut Butter Crisp (no, it doesn't taste like a Butterfinger. But it is good for what it is) and 4 glasses of water. Then I took SB for his 2nd walk of the morning. I wasn't going to walk him but the body slam into the front door let me know he might have to go out.

Finished with him and off I went. It was about 60 degrees. I contemplated bringing water but "oh, it is only 7 miles." So up to the end of road and back. Was I going to do 9:1? No, it is only 7 miles. Down the main hill and up the side road. 3 laps around the teardrop and out to the front of the subdivision. Another 3 laps around the teardrop. Got to Hellatious Hill and went straight instead of taking it. Back to the end of road and back. I was 3 miles in. Hellatious Hill. What is this? I feel I'm going faster up you than usual. I OWN you, HH!

Up to German Shepherd Pass. Ok, church, where is everyone? It is 10ish? Where is German Shepherd. I'm afraid something bad has happened. Up to Terrorist Dog Hill. OMG! You guys are getting meaner. Health Center Hill and BellSouth RD... lalala. No one out, although crazy man who hit other crazy man (friends) with a beer bottle...your music is very loud.

Car #1 at drug dealer house (DDH). Is that woman dead? No, I saw a leg move. Up Friday Hill. That Church is packed. Back down Friday Hill. Car #1 is gone. Out to end of 'hood and back, car #2 is already leaving DDH. Up to the school. Finally 4 miles and change. Up to Terrorist Dogs. Bark all you want you mutts! Skip Health Center and BellSouth. Old Man at DDH house. Back to school. My foot hurts.

I wonder if the blister is bad. The ball of my foot has an open blister on it that I've been ignoring. I can now feel it. OK BellSouth RD, I got ya. 5 more laps if I were on the track. I'm really thirsty. Water would be good about now. Guess I should have brought it. Car #3 at DDH. Maybe she lives there. Um no! In and out too fast. Now a young man is on the porch. Oops! That car is honking at me (not Car #3). I guess I should run on the side of the road, not in the middle. School done! Maybe I should have run 9:1. OK, I'm running up Terrorist Dog Hill to lengthen this run. Only .6 more miles. GS Pass. Oh! The Church is full. .4 more miles. Come on! You own this. Why are you so tired. It is only 7 miles.

Back in the subdivision. .3 miles. .25 miles. Yay! 1 more lap (at a track). Coming down Hellatious Hill. At the end of the road. 6.94 miles. Running up the hill to my house. 6.98. Keep going. It's got to be done. Turn around and run back to house. Stop! 7.02 miles.
See you could run 7 miles, and then some!

After run fuel was V8 Fusion, water and Coke Zero. I didn't feel like going to the basement to get some Gatorade. Afterall it was only 7 miles!

It's Happening! It's Happening!

I got this in my email today.

Oh! And thank you RockStar for pointing out I lost a Bowling Ball. I like visuals, and that one was a biggie!

In the Twilight

So go me. I'm now down 16.1 pounds. I think the excessive running, the vitamin D3 and the only having eaten out 3 times since Feb 18 might have something to do with it.

I can't believe the half is next week. In a way I'm glad. I'm getting tired of "having" to run. Of course, I go from the half to training for my tri.

So I've been supposed to be reading a PMP book. Instead, I started reading Twilight. Yes, I'm late to the party. But to be honest I don't go to movies, so I can only tell you the Edward/Jacob debate is something my friends talk about on FB when a movie comes out.

Well, of course it would be Edward. But not that guy in the movie. I started reading and immediately pictured him as Alex Ovechkin (can you tell what I watch on TV, courtesy of D). And Jacob...I've only gotten 2 occurrences of him in the book, but he looks like Mowgli from Disney's version of the Jungle Book. So you can see how I would choose Ovie, I mean Edward.

So this consumed my thoughts running, because I want to get back to the book. Yes, I'm pathetic.

Edward or Jacob? I pick Edward.

No Title

So yesterday, I had 5 miles on tap. I was trying to convince myself to get up and run. Except I felt like I was going to vomit. Maybe replacing a Clif Bar with Pop Tarts wasn't the best idea. Enough excuses! Off to gym.

I walked the .3 miles. Then I started running. Immediately, I thought I would puke. So I lowered the mphs. 3 minutes later, I tried again. I was going to faint. Back to lowering the mphs. Intense sweat dripping in my eyes. Walking at 3mph, I tried to figure out what to do. OK, I'll walk 2 miles. At 2 miles, I decided to walk another. I tried running at 4mph. I lasted 5 minutes. Back to 3mph. With 28 minutes left, I tried some more. I got 4 mph for 5 minutes and upped to 4.2 and 4.3. Finally I was finished. I was tired, sweaty and cold. A quick run to the store to get D some soda, and some green beans, and home I came.

I took a 3 hour nap. D asked me about dinner. I thought I would hurl. I took a Benadryl and slept 12 hours.

This morning I woke up feeling a lot better. Clif Bar and off to the gym for 3 miles. I did my start at 4.5mph and increase every 5 minutes. I got through 4.9mph and was very tired. I did another minute on 4.9 and took it down to 4.5 and 4.6 the rest of the time. Not what I wanted but oh well. My legs felt like they were going to give out if I kept going at 4.9mph.

So this week's Aldi's savings was $13.85. 4 weeks is $28.50. I think it was because I had to buy 4 pounds of ground beef. 90-10 is $2.99/lb whereas Kroger is $4.19/lb.

12 miles -- DONE!!!

So 12 miles was on tap for this weekend. Friday, in preparation, I made Oreo Balls. Actually I made them for C's birthday present (C is A's daughter). She was having a Fancy Nancy Party. I still don't know what that means, but whatever.

D got home and made us ravioli. We were carbing up.

Saturday morning we got up and took the dogs to daycare. Scuttlebutt needed to be tested to get in. G already was. Then across the top of 285 to the Silver Comet.

It was about 45 degrees and D and I were in shorts and short sleeves. We were cold. I redid my shoe (I wore the new ones) because something was in the shoe. Bathroom break and we were off.

I decided I was running 9 minutes walk 1 minute. This proved to be good. At mile 2 I saw my friend John running in the opposite direction running with his tri group. I didn't really like this path because it went down on the sides. When I run on the road, I run opposite traffic because it seems to help my legs. I couldn't do that here. At mile 4, I was thinking I could run a marathon with no issue. My legs felt strong. At mile 5 I saw D who was on his return trip (out and back run). Between Mile 5 and 6, I decided the Garmin broke. I couldn't get to mile 6. My God! 5.39, 5.44, 5.51 etc. Finally I hit 6 and turned around. Mile 7 seemed good and I got to Mile 8 around 1:57:00 which was 6 minutes faster than last time. Mile 8 and 9, I could feel myself getting slower. Still 9/1. I hit 10.5 miles and decided I wanted to stop. Instead I went to a 4/1. I was getting irritated with all the stroller moms who would just stop in the middle of the path (this was where I biked last year) and with the bikers who would ride as close to the right to when they passed me on the left (I was running right on the edge and actually felt 2 bikers). Finally I hit 12. I saw D (who had been waiting for me for over an hour). He "ran" to the car and got me a Gatorade, as I slowly walked to the car.



Looking at Garmin, I think I will do the 9/1 for the HM. My times were better. I think I get a block during my last 2 miles as well.

Afterward, we went to D's work and got a Boston Butt for chili today (not worthy of linking to the recipe). We got home, and got ready for C's birthday. A had gone all out on the food (Baked Brie was devine), and A's husband had a good selection of beer of which I chose Terrapin Rye.

We left around 5 and went to get the pups. SB PASSED! I had been worried, because when he plays he shows teeth. I had reminded the daycare we were Porter's parents (everyone loved Po), so maybe that gave him extra points. But anyway, he can now be boarded for our trip to Louisville! To celebrate we took the pups for ice cream.

Half-Marathon Shoe Question (actually 12 miler question)

OK, so I woke up this morning, and lost 1.7 pounds. Woohoo! 13+ pounds lost. D has lost 40 pounds. Woohoo for him too. To be honest, I can tell he lost weight, but I never noticed he had gained it. Does that make sense? I can't really tell I lost weight. But it probably has something to do with the fact I wear a t-shirt and sweat pants every day. I don't really have any reason to wear form fitting clothes at the moment. D says my legs are thinner.

Anyway, I went and ran my 5 miles. Not very exciting. It rained and washed away the pollen so of course today the pollen is bothering me.

So I have a question. I have now worn my shoes for 10 miles...8 running, 2 walking.
I have a 12 mile run on Saturday. Should I wear my new shoes or my old shoes? I can't decide.

Brain Dump

So yesterday was a 5 miler. Because I didn't want to deal with people of the hood, I went to the gym. My treadmill was taken (an end TM) and the other end is a different kind and only allows 60 minutes max. So I don't use that TM on a 5 miler. So 3 people were on the 90 minute treadmills, and they weren't spaced correctly. It was going to be like going to the urinal (according to D), and I would have to be next to someone. Not really paying attention, I chose a TM that didn't have an emergency stop. Well, dummy me doesn't know how to stop the TM any other way. So during my .3 mile warmup I'm trying to figure this out. There is not stop anywhere else on the TM. There is a pause, so that's how I stopped. I'm smart like that. At that point, the lady on the end was done, so I got off my TM and got on the end one.

The run was good. I ran 10 minutes, walked 1 minute for 56 minutes. Then ran the rest. Drank a lot of Gatorade, but it was a 69 minute run, which is back to what I had been running before a few weeks ago when I started bitching about my time.

I came home. Applied for a job. It said, "PLC Exp a plus." I applied. The recruiter emailed me asking, "Do you have PLC experience?" I explained I did and how I did, how much I did, and everything else. He writes back, "The company wants 5+ years." (which I don't have). Now, if the company wanted 5 years, then why doesn't the want ad say they want 5 years.

D came home and did some laundry and realized the washing machine was broken. I think I cried about our washing machine until 4AM. I mean, really when is it going to end.

This morning, I wrote recruiter back thanking him for his time. Then I laced up my new shoes. I put them on my feet. They pretty much felt like my other shoes (they are the same model/color...New Balance 1123). I wasn't all that enamored. I think it is because D had about 700 miles on his shoes when he got new ones and was all, "ahhh." I had 410 miles on mine. Anyway, back to the gym. Fastest 3 miles ever. 37:30. And I know where I can get faster.

The right shoes (ontop of my Snuggie)

The left shoes (notice my wear on the one shoe...the big white spot on the almost verticle white line). This is always the foot that hurts.

Afterward, I went to Lowe's and bought lightbulbs. I told D I was buying a washing machine, but when I looked at them I got overwhelmed. Who buys a Washing machine for $1500? And I hate the dryer because it is front-loading so why would I get a front-loading washer. On top of all this, I didn't know what size our machine was, so I went home. I changed 2 lightbulbs in the garage/basement, and then got needlenose plyers and took an old lightbulb stem out of the outlet (the bulb had broken off like the first month we moved in 3+ years ago). I was careful not to touch my hands on any metal while doing this (because no I didn't turn off the breaker). Then I looked at the garage door opener on D's side, because it hasn't worked for about a month or 2. One wire was out. Put that back in, and got my remote. It worked (his door didn't work with either remote). Hooray. D no longer has to open the garage, pull the car out, go back in, close the garage and go out the door.

I came inside and Scuttlebutt had been sick all over his crate. Poor boy. The pollen is getting to him (A bad pollen count is about 100. Atlanta's today was 5900! Everything is green). I just looked at his crate pad wondering how to wash it without a washing machine. At about 2pm, I decided to just wash it and let it air dry (the wm doesn't spin). Well the washing machine spun if you turn the dial past the spin notch. Who knows, but it works and I can save some money for now.

D came home. His remote didn't work. I took it apart. Aha! Battery. I went and bought a new one and now it works. So garage work... success!

Oh and Aldi savings this week was $7.40. So I've save $14.70 now!

What Happened to My Normal Running Buddies, like the Terrorist Dogs or the Man on the Bike with the Bolt Cutters?

Well, the 2nd April Run was not much better than the first.

It started Saturday. 1 or 7 too many beers on Friday night prevented me from getting up on Saturday to go for a run. On top of it, the temperature was 80+ degrees. Excuse me, where is spring...65-70 degrees? I hate being hot so 80+ degrees is nasty.

So around 2pm I got my ass at out of bed, and watched Intervention. I can safely say, I'm not a heroin addict, nor do I have OCD.

So I made chili, because isn't that what you make when it is 80+ degrees out? D called and we discussed whether we should get more beer for the evening...yes. So he came home, and we had chili and beer and watched Burn After Reading. It was a good movie. Much better than the new GC movie...Up in the Air (hated it). You should really make the chili.

So today we got up. And went and had bagels. Then watched ice hockey.

At 1:30 I decided to go on my 7 mile run. Outside. It was 79 degrees. I drank some water, found my hand-held water bottle, and was off. I was running slowly. I was thirsty at .25 miles. My water was already warm. This run was going to be stellar I could tell.

I was in the subdivision and there isn't a lot of shade. I saw my neighbor, and waved. I did his street's hill 3 times, and went to the front of the sd. But I wasn't in the mood to do his street's hill 3 more times, so I just ran back up past my house, and out to the prison.

German Shepherd's street had some shade so I turned there. It was about 2 miles in. My legs were like lead. I was thirsty. I started thinking about my friends and GA Snail who ran 50K yesterday. I thought they were nuts. I thought I was pathetic considering how I couldn't run 2 miles. My left eye was burning (pollen under the contact) and my lungs were sucking. I was drinking my hot water.

Terrorist dogs weren't out. ATT Street had lots of people on it, enough to make me uncomfortable so I didn't run it. I didn't feel like doing Friday hill either. I ran down the church street, and ran up to the school, and did a loop back to the church street. There was a family inspecting some trash from someone's eviction that I passed. I recognized them from the neighborhood (this was where the kids were jousting earlier last week). I got to the school, and a black truck with no license plate passed me. I noticed he stopped but not at the stop sign. So I turned around. And he backed up. Not wanting to be on a street that I wasn't sure if people were out, I turned back to where the trash pickers were. I proceeded to run up and down that street for .75 miles while the truck followed me. Of all the times to forget my phone!!! The trash pickers noticed the truck too (the diesel fumes were helping me breathe as well). By now, I was just done. The truck finally turned out of the neighborhood away from the subdivision, so I ran home. I hit my driveway at 4.6 miles and ran the driveway until I got to 5 miles. I cut the run short by 2 miles. More because I was freaked then not wanting to run.

God, I hate people.

March Totals

OK, so I ran 77.93 miles in the month of March. This was 5 more than February. And with a week I took off.

Weight... according to an "unofficial" weigh-in on March 1, I was 8 more pounds than I was today. Why was it unofficial? Because March 1 wasn't on a Thursday. Otherwise, all my weigh-ins are the same.

I'll take that. So I don't know if it was the Vitamin D3 I started taking or running 20+miles a week that caused the loss. I'm thinking it was they VD3. Only because calorie wise, it isn't that off what my tri training was. Of course I'm eating less than I did during tri training. So who knows.

So today's loss was .5. I weighed and got back in bed and watched Frasier (I got a clif bar and some water too). I tried to convince myself to run 5 miles. 30 minutes later a new Frasier was on. I really didn't want to go to the gym. Somehow I convinced myself that running outside would be faster. Another 15 minutes and out I went.

The run was boring. The trashmen were the only people out. It was hot (72). I didn't want to be there. I finished the subdivision hills and started in the hood, but decided I didn't want to run a hill (Hellatious Hill). So I ran along the prison boundary for awhile. Then through the hood missing all side streets (so no Terrorist Dogs or crazy man on ATT St). I ran by German Shepherd's house twice. I got to the bottom of the last hill before my house at 4.62 miles. Ugh! So down the first hill and once around, and finally I hit 5. Slowest I've ever run 5 miles. My legs were exhausted and I was hot. So I came in and watched Las Vegas. Quality TV, right there.

Hopefully, the first run of the month is not a predictor of the rest of the month. Next up is Satuday 7 miler (a "taper" run).