Week in Review

So I finally reached the 35 pound mark!  Go me. It only has taken FOREVER, but I've had fun along the way, and haven't felt deprived (too much).  So yay!

I've run 2 times this week. Last HM training I had trouble hitting my Thursday run. This time up, it seems Tuesday's training is the hard one.  In my head, I've made them Tuesday-run 5 miles as fast as you can (using run/walk method), Wednesday-run 3 miles as fast as you can (straight running), Thursday-run 5 miles without stopping at whatever pace you fancy.  So Wednesdays and Thursdays seem to be happening.  But Tuesday, I can find any excuse not to go to the gym.

Anyway Wednesday was nothing exciting.  I hit 3 miles under 36 minutes for a 2nd time.  Thursday, I ran at a 4.5mph.  I didn't want to be there, since someone had stolen my water bottle at work.  Not a fancy schmancy one, just a Aldi water bottle (like Deer Park or Aqua Springs, etc.)  It had been half full. Who does that?  Anwyay my OCDness got in the way, and now I wondered how I was going to drink my water in the time from work to the gym.  D offered to bring me a bottle from home.  Oh no, I would already be running and that water would be warm.  Just like writing this paragraph, I gave it WAY TOO MUCH thought.  I went to the gym anyway.

Guy next to me was a germaphobe.  Totally cleaned the treadmill (including the bottom plastic by the runners).  Then he got on his phone.  Now because I had a difference of opinion with my hair a few weeks ago, I haven't gotten it cut (I don't know what to do with it, and was feeling drastic, so cancelled the appointment).  So it is sweating more than usual. And the gym is a balmy 74 degrees.  So I sweat. Anyway phoneboy was chatting, and I could hear him even while blasting Pearl Jam.  I had a coughing attack that shot some sweat over on him.  I also started air-drumming which shook the sweat off my hands.  Then I got into it with my head.  With that he got off the phone, changed 'mills and watched TV.  Hooray! (Oh, yeah, he didn't follow the urinal rule).

That kept me entertained for about 5 minutes.  The rest of the time I tried not to pay attention to the hot spot on the ball of my foot. I've had it since last training. I don't know why.  I am on the 3rd pair of the same shoes and the previous pairs didn't act this way.  I have less mileage on these than the others.  But it is really annoying.  I'm checking out BandAid Blister Patches (or whatever they are called), when I hit Kroger on Sunday.  Body Glide lasts for about 2 miles if I remember to put it on.  Also I'm getting a blister on my big toe where it indents in. How does that happen?  So odd.  But then again, I don't expect anything less from myself.

9 miles tomorrow.  Then I don't know what.  Probably some sleep.  Have a good weekend.

Running Naked

So, when I run during the week, it is at the gym. My gym has no locker rooms or lockers, so I change at work. I stuff everything (purse, clothes, wallet, etc.) into the bag and put my towel, iPod, and gym badge in the pockets.  Then when I get to the gym, I haul the bag into the gym with me, since I don't want to get my car broken into (why be low hanging fruit, ya know?).

So when I run on the weekends, I have 2 poop bags for the dog, and my phone.  All of this is stuffed in my pants since I have no pockets on my pants I use for long runs. But no iPod, no music, no distractions. No biggie.  Except lately, I realized (I realized on Saturday that lately...) I haven't been running with my phone.

So why does this matter? 

D and I were scheduled for 6 miles this Saturday.  I really didn't feel like taking Scuttlebutt because I feel he has been slowing me down (those 15+minute miles might be a clue).  So I left him at home.  D ended up taking him for the 2nd third of his run. 

Anyway, my run was non eventful.  I ran past the stroller men, a lady shucking peas, and that was about it.  I got past the school and noticed there was a man standing in the middle of the street.  He had no shirt or shoes on, so I assumed he was not going to McDonald's.  Anyway, I was sweaty and my eyes weren't really focusing.  But he was just standing there (I was about .15 miles away) and his arm was moving. 
As I got closer (because I am so smart as to not find another place to run), I decided to run behind him, to avoid eye contact.  I picked up my pace and acted like I wasn't tired at all.  I got closer and realized why his arm was moving.  OMFG! Is he doing what I think he is doing?  In the middle of the street?

I ran past him, and got to Terrorist Dogs Hill where a woman was working on her lawn, so I felt better, and now it made me laugh.  I mean, in our old house, we used to walk Guinness and we caught a teen girl blowing her boyfriend (I assume).  But that was a deserted road. This was in the middle of the street.  Anyway, I thought about calling the cops, but then I realized I was running naked.  No phone.  And I still had 2+ miles to go.  So I restarted my loop and saw D.  I was going to tell him, but didn't.  I decided if the man was there when I got back, I would go down the main road and risk getting hit by a car.  Luckily he was not there.  There was a wet spot on the road, so I assume that was his deposit.

Later D and I went out for a beer.  I asked him if he had seen the man.  He said, "Yes, he was inspecting the Caterpillar Equipment [which is there]."  Sometimes I wonder if we run the same path.

But you can rest assured, I'll have my phone next time. No more running naked.

In other news, I took 30 seconds a mile off my 5 mile run, and I broke 35 minutes with my 3 mile run.

Finally, I lost a path to run on. It seems my least favorite part of Freedom Parkway really does have a guy who wants to rape women using a hammer.  The APD want you to know it wasn't an attack because he didn't get her (WTF?!?!?!?).  Instead she ran the fastest mile of her life to get away from the asshole.  So that path is off limits now.  Sucks because except for running under the bridge, I liked that path.

Don't Wait; Just Do

So Saturday, I ran 8 miles on a treadmill. It was hellish, but I got it done.  Hopefully I can sleep well (ahem, McMenamin!) next week so that come 6am, I don't feel like sleeping when the dog finally begins to be quiet.

On another note, I was looking for a Peanut Butter Pie recipe last week and came across this blog and recipe. I didn't read it immediately (I just looked at the recipe), but went back and read it.  And teared up.

So I got to thinking on my 8 miles of boredom...First, I thought about SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder).  I believe I get it in August. Who TF gets SAD in August?  But seriously, I pretty much hate being alive in the month of August (no, I'm not going to do anything irrational so no need to panic). I can look back at my calendars, diaries, blogs, and I know exactly what I was thinking, whether I expressed it or not.  My friend came up with the fact that perhaps because it is hotter than hell in August, I spend a lot of time inside. And my house is dark.  And that all winter I seem to spend outside.  Which led me to think about when I didn't put something off (the point of that other blog).

You all know Guinness was sick starting in October.  Well, she was also a fan of the outdoors.  Whether it was being at the park or sitting on the deck, she wanted to be outside.  After the anti-tethering law went into effect in Atlanta, she was not out as much.  So to get her outside, we would put our beach chairs on the front lawn and drink last September (the law is as long as we are with her, she could be on a tether).  We would spend many hours much to our neighbors' dismay drinking beer sitting out and letting her dig up the front lawn.

D and G

 How she loved it.  And as she got sicker and as the weather got colder, we just bundled up more, drank more and put more tape on her tube.  To see her come out from under a bush with a huge smile on her face was just awesome. 

Did a little digging

I'm the most beautiest princess of them all!

I also took her to the park where she would run around and say hi to people. She couldn't run as long as she would've liked but she got a few sprints in there.

Checking out the park on a December afternoon

Come January, D and I decided to have a date.  We looked at her (SB was at daycare), and put on our winter coats, gloves, hats, scarves and off we went.  It was 35 degrees and windy when we got to the bar. The bartender thought I was nuts when I told him to start a tab. I'd be outside.  Yet I remember that day.  Drinking Guinness with Guinness.  She sat on the sidewalk and people watched. A big smile on her face. D and I froze our butts off, but managed to down 3 Guinness beers. It was a great date. 

Crazy woman drinking Guinness outside in 35 degrees

 

Guinness loving Drinking Guinness with Guinness Day!

Checking out the snow with Scuttlebutt the day after Drinking Guinness with Guinness

20 days later she passed away. But I always have that.  We didn't wait to have fun.  We just did.

Ants...What are They Good For?

Training...  I'm in week 8 of it. Week 7 got a whopping 2 runs in.
The 2nd one was the Long Run of 7 miles. It almost didn't happen. While waiting for Scuttlebutt, I decided to step on this...

Ant Hill courtesy of some photo found on Google

 So after a few minutes, I noticed my ankles hurting and looked down to see my feet covered in ants.  D graciously grabbed SB while I ran into the street, took off my shoes, jumped and flailed around and killed lots of ants.  When I finally decided that I had killed them all, we resumed with our warmup walk.  I told D I was going to try to take SB 3 miles.  He said the same about McM.  At .3 miles I nearly fell over SB who just randomly stopped.  It didn't bode well.  We got to 2 miles when we saw D and McM coming back from where ever they came from.  I finally got SB home at 2.25 miles.  The rest of the run was uneventful, unlike the drunks at 7AM runs from the previous weekend.  The only excitement was at mile 5 when the illegal nightclub guys were making some ribs and drinking 40s and I contemplated asking for a sip, because I wanted some salt (I decided to go home and get some water that was on my porch).

My ankles are now black and blue.  They did blister.  Of course my fascination with my skin made me pop them (I wanted to be a dermatologist until I realized I had to touch other people's skin. That's just gross).  I'll probably add to the scar count.

Tuesday was the 4.5 mile run. Unlike last's weeks where my heart almost went through my chest, I maintained the 9 minute/1 minute pace of 5mph/3.4 mph for 40 minutes and then took it down to 4.7 mph for the other 16.  Yesterday was my 3 mile run.  A little slow.  5mph for 2 miles, the other mile I tinkered all over the place but settled at 4.5 mph.  One walk, but that was to drink some water, as the heat even inside is just gross.

The Strangeness that is the 'hood

So Friday night I mentioned to D that our neighbor's other flower pot got stolen. He asked me about the flowers to which I had no clue...a colonic or a colossus or something, and no I didn't know what it looked like. He said it was across the street in another neighbor's trash (no, no one thinks that neighbor did it, more of the pot was too heavy and thus it was discarded).  So, we now have car break-ins, shootings, naked men hi-jacking school busses, kick-ins, copper theft, and flower pot thieves. Yay!  D notified the neighbor where the plant was, and he got it back.

So Saturday, this didn't deter us from getting up and taking the dogs running.  The temp was 77 (630am) when we left with disgusting humidity.  Scuttlebutt and I were going for 2 miles.  For those 2 miles, I cussed at him, yelled at him, pulled him, and watched him sniff every scent known to man.  We averaged 15:30 minute miles.  It was stellar.  At about 1.9, I realized it was awful because he didn't have his Halti on.  No wonder! I dropped him off (McMenamin was already home, because D said he didn't even make it 1.7 miles), and continued my run for 4 more miles.  I ran up the street and noticed I hadn't seen the 2 men drink beer and play chess.  I did notice a man and a woman outside. The woman had a red Solo cup and the man gave her a brown paper bag.  He returned to his home. I went down Stolen Car Hill and came back up to see the Solo cup on the ground.  I went on my new route praying not to get hit on Prison Rd, and passed the woman. She was now drinking out of the brown paper bag.  She was staggering all over the sidewalk and nearly fell on me as I passed her on the road (I don't run on the sidewalk because there are live wires and my hip issue).  So yes, I ran into a drunk at 7AM.  Woohoo.  I ran to German Shepherd Pass and continued my usual route.  Nothing exciting except that the people who have a Yard Sale EVERY Saturday did have some nice chairs. I actually ran to that road twice to get a better look.  D did not seem as interested in the chairs when I told him about them later. I finished the run.  This was the extent of excitement for Saturday.

Sunday we got to a late start (7am). It was only 76 but it seemed hotter than Saturday. I got Scuttlebutt ready with the Halti and off we went.  He was doing better. We had passed a Hispanic man (HM) twice. When we were coming back down Friday Hill, we saw D and McM.  Of course SB went haywire. So I stopped the Garmin, and let D and McM pass.  D yelled that McM had been looking for us and they had gone a sub 8 minute mile.  He (D) didn't look happy.  After they passed, we resumed our run (with Garmin on). The pass before Terrorist Dog hill, the HM was behind us again.  We ran up Terrorist Dog Hill and returned. No HM.  But when we turned to go to German Shepherd Pass there he was. He said something.  He said it again.  I stopped Garmin, and myself and asked, "What?"  He stumbled and asked what we were doing, I think, because I don't speak Spanish.  I said, "Running."  He slurred a whole bunch of words and not a clue what he said, but I'm pretty sure he was drunk from the way he was carrying himself.  SB didn't like him and back arched and teeth bore.  I turned back on Garmin and PULLED SB down German Shepherd Pass.  We turned around and HM was cutting through the church parking lot.  WTF is up with drunk people walking around at 7am? Don't they know they should be in the house on the couch watching stupid movies?


I dropped SB at home and finished my 4 miles rather quickly (not really) but totally aware of my surroundings which luckily proved to have nothing going on.  Then I came home.