I've been shopping again...

I first tried this skirt on (from SkirtSports - I love this company!) a few months ago - and decided that although I really liked it, I needed something for a triathlon, and this wouldn't work. I decided to go to Runner's Roost yesterday to see if by some insane chance they would still have it - and there it was! And it was on sale!

I ran 8 miles in it this morning and it really was wonderful. It has two pockets on the legs - and they work great for my car key and a gel. Since they are on the leg, they don't add bulk to the waist area and I really appreciate that! And the color is a bright kelly green - the picture doesn't really show the true color.

I went to a nearby park and ran round and round the 1.4 mile course. Although it was boring, and there were more people around than I like - it was nice because it is a few hundred feet less in altitude (@5555 ft.), and there are no hills.

14 days until my half-marathon. I wish I could have done something about my speed. But when I look at my heart rate data, I can see that I am really working to do what I am doing. I feel like a "real runner" after I take off my running shoes. When I tell mere mortals that "I am tapering - I only ran 8 miles this morning" - they seem to think I am a runner! Funny that!

Should there be a minimum IQ requirement to purchase a Garmin?

The other morning it was dead. Because apparently I am not bright enough to keep the Garmin on its little charger thing. This morning I went out for a run in the dark and turned the thing off instead of on and didn't realize it until about a mile into the run.

Tomorrow I will run 8 miles and then my taper begins in earnest. This week I have not run much, I am still not totally well. I am actually starting to worry about making the max time allowed for this half-marathon. 4 hours.

I just got done telling a coworker that I cannot wait to be done with all this training. Then in the next breath, I told her that I am thinking about doing the Houston Marathon in January. What is wrong with me??? Or the P.F. Chang's in Phoenix would be great.

One thing I DO know is that I want my next big race to be at sea level, not altitude. I can train at altitude (have no choice about this), but I would really like to experience racing at or around sea level.

2 miles this morning

yikes. I didn't wake up until 6:30 a.m.! That is too late for me to run and get to work on time. So I 'kind of' ran, and I 'kind of' got to work on time... not really.

My garmin was totally dead when I got outside and tried to turn it on. I absolutely hate that little cradle on which it charges. If I even bump my desk, the garmin seems to dislodge from it and then becomes totally dead without me knowing it. So I ran by my nike + iPod - which I know is incorrect by about 20%. It said I ran 2.60 miles... let's see... that would be 2.08 miles in reality based mileage.... and it took 30 minutes... oh my Goodness. Fuhgeddaboudit.

I am SO not ready for my half-marathon. There is no way to make up for it now. I just have to show up and be as slow as I am. I am 99.9% certain I can finish it, I just won't finish even moderately fast or slightly pretty. Like walkers will be ahead of me. Oh well.

I ran 10 miles this morning!!!

I did it! After being sick all week! I went to a nearby lake, with a mile and a half trail around it, figuring I could bag it any time I wanted. And believe me, I wanted, but I just kept going.

I have only three weeks until my half-marathon. My training has not been really great prior to getting sick, and getting sick for a week really crimped it.

Here's the good news. I realized as I was running around and around this lake, that although I am not fast and I don't feel really great - I am not injured and I am not in pain. Which I think puts me way ahead of where I was three weeks out from the Colfax Marathon in May.

Thanks for your support as always. You guys rock!

EEEEeeeeesh

I have not run since Saturday. I missed work on Monday and Tuesday. I came back to work on Wednesday, and I have worked today (Thursday). After a long meeting where I felt like my head was stuffed with snot and cotton and I could not think - even though I was being asked pointed questions - I told my boss that I am taking another day of sick leave tomorrow.

I must get well!

Maybe 3 days of "rest" will do that for me.

I fully intend to run on Saturday. I was planning a 10 miler, but I don't know how advisable it is to try to run 10 miles after being off for an entire week. Any thoughts?

I miss my runs and my health and vigor! It sucks to be sick.

Help!

I am sick as crap. I have my office calling me and there is a big disaster at work, and this is SO unlike me, but I just cannot go in. I am sick. I have a fever, my whole body hurts, I don't have a voice, and I sound like a dog when I cough, my nose is dripping, my throat hurts, my head is pounding, even my teeth hurt! And I am not kidding. A sinus can sometimes impact dental nerves, and I have that going on.

I have only missed one run - so far. My half-marathon is on October 14. I know that this week is not going to be a good training week, and it was an important, high-mileage week.

What happens when you miss important chunks of training?

Bad Planning

I got a new garage door last Monday. It is beautiful. However, after they were done, there was a teeny little trim of wood around the garage door that needed to be painted white. Well, I bought white paint for that, and since I was painting that, I thought I would get rid of the green trim on my front porch that used to go with my garage door - since the garage door is now white, I would paint the entire trim on the front porch white. Well, then my front door is green, and we can't have that! So, I purchased a quart of RED paint with which to paint my front door. Well, and then there is the caulking that has to be done. Anyone who has ever painted knows that this did not get done on Friday night, or even Saturday afternoon. This I just finished, and I still need to put another coat of paint on the front door, but it ain't happening this weekend. (getting a green door RED is a big friggin' deal. I had no idea. If I knew, the door would still be green, believe me.)

I did run 5 miles yesterday. I felt awful. I chalked it up to being tired. But when I woke up last night with my nose dripping and my throat feeling like there was a large bottle brush stuck in it, I decided that maybe I am tired because I am sick. Crap.

I am 4 weeks out from a race, I simply do not have time to get sick! I am going now to get stuff to make spaghetti sauce for dinner, then I am going to come home, put it in a pot to simmer and go to bed.

Lazy Friday

Here's me mowing my lawn with my new reel lawn mower. I love this thing. This is as close to a work out as I have gotten since Wednesday night. Yikes.

Thursday is my normal rest day. Friday morning found me laying in bed. My feet just could not seem to find a way out from under the covers before 6:30 and it was already light outside. I need to be up by 4:30 or 5:00 in order to get a run in before work - so a run was out.

Tomorrow is my long run day. I am looking forward to it.

It is a month today till the Denver (half) Marathon. I think I am not training enough. I guess I have a month to rectify that situation!

Have a great weekend everyone.

Comparisons are Odious

I am trying to re-wrap my brain around my running and training - and age and weight. It is so hard to be reality based when thinking about any of these things.

OK, I KNOW I am 55 years old. I will be 56 in December. This is a hard and fast fact.

My weight? I am not disclosing this number. But I will tell you that I am 5'7" tall, and wear a size 12. It means I am moderately large, but I don't have to go to specialty stores to buy clothing and that means a lot to me.

I am training to run my second half-marathon. I am 4 and a half weeks out from the race. My first half-marathon was in May 2007.

At the age of 55, I ran my first half-marathon. Starting at a mile high and heading upwards in elevation through the whole race. I never posted my time because I felt it was inferior. But I looked at it again yesterday. And I am going to post it, dammit!
13. 1 miles
3 hours, 14 minutes, 43 seconds
1489 out of 1696 finishers
17 out of 41 women in the age group 55-59

I have decided that finishing in the top 50% of my age group is a good thing. I think even being a PART of that age group is a good thing. I think that even STARTING that race was a miracle. FINISHING it is only a bonus.

I am in relatively the same shape now that I was in for that race. I will be fine in the Denver Marathon. I am not trying to win anything. I am just interested in being part of the deal.

Coming to terms with your own aging is a kind of a tricky process. You don't want to lay down and decide you are too old to do anything, but you also don't want to be the person clearly in denial about where they are in life. I just want to be the best Mary I can be every single day.

Thanks for being here you bloggers, I think you are all wonderful! You inspire me every day.

Spicy Hot and Rainy Cold

That's what I did yesterday! It took all day to make those jars of salsa. I really enjoy canning, and my family really enjoys eating salsa!

Speaking of things I really enjoy: this morning I went out for a run. It was 40-something degrees and it was raining. I had to put a jacket on! Once I got outside, I remembered what it was like to run and enjoy it. I realized (I think) why I enjoyed training for the Colfax half-marathon and why I am NOT enjoying training for the Denver (half) Marathon. I am not a hot weather person. I thought it was a hardship last winter to be running in snow and much below freezing temperatures, but I enjoy that so much more than 70 degrees and sunshine.

The run this morning was glorious! I was soaked to the skin by the time I got home. My face, arms, and legs were bright red - and I felt great! I might have run up that first hill in my best time ever. I will need to check that.

I just hope it will stay cool in the morning until this race is over and I might have a chance to train appropriately.

Taking a break...

From making salsa that is. This is my annual salsa-making day. I went to my favorite farmer's market this morning, bought a bushel of chiles, a bushel of tomatoes, a bunch of onions, cilantro, garlic, some jars, and vinegar. Now I will work all day on this. It is worth it! I will post pictures of all the little jars lined up on my kitchen counter once I get it done, they are so pretty! The fact that I can watch the football game from my kitchen really adds to the whole ambiance of early autumn (I know it is still summer, but it feels like fall to me - 47 degrees this morning!) Now if the Broncos could only win, it would be perfect!

Yesterday I took a grueling 8 mile run. Oh, it was miserable. I looked at my heart rate and realized at several points that I really needed to walk and get my heart rate down. I chose a new route, 3 miles downhill, then 2 miles undulating but mostly flat, followed by 3 miles uphill. What the heck was I thinking? Honestly, I don't know how I am going to be ready for a half-marathon in 5 weeks.

The only good news about that run was that it was 2 minutes faster than my 8 mile run of last week. I am sure now I need to buy yet another book about adding walking into my running. But right now I have so many books on running and they all seem to tell me something different. I don't think I am going to confuse myself further 5 weeks before a race.

Yesterday was the first time I came home from a run and thought "I am going to stop running as soon as this race is over." Really - I have never thought that before.

A Runner

Last night I was outside talking with my neighbors. I was showing them my new reel lawn mower. It is so freaking exciting! A lawn mower using only the power of a human being, no electricity, no gas engine, only legs, arms, and a little back action! It sounds so nice, just whirring along, cutting my grass.

Anyway, I was standing outside talking to several of my neighbors. One of them said to the other one that she is known as "the cat lady," not because she has MANY cats, but because she puts her cat on a leash every single day and takes it for a walk around the neighborhood. I used to think that was odd, but now it seems normal. Being self-centered, as I am, I pondered aloud what the neighbors might call me. Both of them, at the same time, said "the runner!"

Me? The Runner? Oh wow. And why the heck not?

That is so cool. I run, therefore, I am a runner. I like this a lot.

Owww!

My back is killing me! How is it that a person who can run 8 miles (without any pain) on Saturday can be annihilated by pulling weeds on Monday? I do have to say that I have arthritis in my spine. I also had 2 cervical disks removed, 3 vertebrae fused with bone grafts and titanium rods inserted - back in 1999. I guess I ought to just be grateful I can do anything at all!

This morning, I headed out for my run. My garmin was completely dead. I thought it was charging on its little charger thing, but it wasn't. That thing is so flimsy!

I also forgot my cell phone - which I never do. And when I saw a bunch of angry looking dogs, I realized that I forgot my pepper spray. I have never sprayed any creature great or small, but I feel better when I know I can if I need to. I also forgot to have gum in my mouth, or a bottle of water to drink. What the heck was I thinking? Oh well, it was a nice run never the less. Approximately 3 miles, in approximately I don't know how many minutes.

Herculisa!

As I put these socks on this morning, I thought of a couple of bloggers who might just enjoy the name of them! Herculisa!

I did some pretty impressive cross-training this morning. 2 hours of pulling weeds is quite the work out - and it hurts. Then I hopped on my bike for a not very enjoyable bike ride. I thought of Marcy when I was having "crotcherlar" issues. I guess one month off a bike is too long for comfort.

I am so glad I got an extra day off this weekend. The work is over for now, and now it will be all about having fun!

My kids took off on Saturday afternoon to go to a friend's house. On Sunday morning they called to let me know they were in Las Vegas. Oh, to be young again.

Have a great remainder of the weekend everyone!

8 miles, 6 weeks

It is six weeks until the Denver (half) Marathon. My daughter and I went out and ran 8 miles this morning. It was nice. For the first 5 miles, she was being very quiet, and I thought perhaps she was pouting. At somewhere around 5 miles, she stopped and told me off!

She said she never wants to hear me talk about how "slow" I am if this is where I am running. She said "this is insane." and "you should be proud you can even run on hills like this." and "This is running up mountains mom!" I felt like crying. I felt so chastised. She apologized for the stern tone she took with me, but she is frustrated that at my age I would be so hard on myself and talk about how slow I am.

Maybe I ought to knock it off, eh?

It ended up being a nice run. She discovered the joys of slowing down a bit. We kept a conversation going the last 2 miles or so, and she said she had never been able to run and talk at the same time, but at the pace we were going, she felt she could go on forever. Yep.
That's what I'm Talking About!