Today was a fun filled day! One of my colleagues needed a day off next week, so I traded to have tonight off. I'm so glad that I was able to do that! As it just so happened, I needed to take Monster to school, take the hubs to pick up the car (which was an easy and FREE fix), pick out pumpkins, decorate a pumpkin (we couldn't have a naked porch!), and get ready for Trunk-Or-Treat! Phew.

I managed to sneak a run in this morning right before picking Monster up from school. It was a miserably slow run - my legs were sore and felt like lead. I imagine this was from my speedy run (for me) last night and how close the two runs were to each other. I've heard it's good to do that every once in awhile for training - some people even do two runs a day! I wish I was that cool.

I find fall awesome, of course, but it's also hard to dress for runs. Today, I thought it was cold, so I wore my full length tight pants, a long sleeved technical tee, and a Nike hoodie. I was burning up within a few minutes and was freezing again within 2 miles. I don't predict that I will ever get good at this!

Today's Run:
4.11 miles, 43.02, 10:38/mi
51 degrees, intermittent wind, sunny

After my run, I picked up Monster and we did a couple of errands. I had to go to Hobby Lobby and to a local pumpkin patch. We usually go to this little pumpkin patch at a church near our house - the proceeds go to missions I believe. Well, as it turns out, it's a procrastinator's dream! On the last day, you can get as many pumpkins as you want and make a donation that you find is fair. Sweet. We got two big pumpkins and the monster picked out several small ones.

Here is my cool pumpkin! We didn't have time to carve one - and frankly I didn't want to go to the ER with my toddler due to a cutting injury. I hot glued these buttons on the pumpkin and I think it turned out really awesome! I make my own bows and the monster picked out the ribbon. It was a team effort - even though the glue gun was used only during nap time.

The monster was a Yellow Jacket for Halloween. Hubs and I were GT fans - easiest costumes ever. I just wore a Tech sweatshirt and jeans. I was comfortable! We taught Monster to say "GO JACKETS!" - but of course she wouldn't do it for anyone tonight.

Happy Halloween from my Monster to Yours!

NEXT RUN: Rock and Roll Savannah Half Marathon! Whoop. Sounds like an excuse for carb loading...

Today was a very interesting day. I'll give you the general run down.

First, one of my student loan companies and I got our wires crossed and I've been given the "opportunity" to make an extra loan payment. Four days before my bill is due. And it overdrew my account. The day before my husband's paycheck will be deposited. Awesome. I hate money! It's my #1 stressor!

We had our "end of the study" breakfast at Bible study today. I got up extra early so I could try a new Pinterest recipe - mini pumpkin donut bites. Win. Here's a pic of this delicousness. You can't go wrong with things covered in cinnamon and sugar!

I got my vote on before having to pick Monster up from school. It only took about 10 minutes and I'm so thankful that I don't have to wait in the epic lines on voting day!

My child has been very cranky and very tired this week. I have had to wake her up both mornings! She has had an epically short fuse and it is very grating on the nerves. I'm hoping that she's going through a growth spurt or something because I might lose my mind if this is more permanent than that!

I was already a bit on edge this evening when my husband called on his way home and said something was wrong with his car. Again. We have spent an ungodly amount of money on that car this month - new catalytic converter, radiator, rear brakes, etc. So, needless to say, the car is back in the shop. Again. We are hoping it was just something related to the recent work on the brakes and not another issue that will rob us blind. Plus, it's hard to pay for anything when your student loan company has overdrawn your account! ha!

Basically, I was pretty wound up by the time I had to get the husband from the car shop. I needed to run. So, despite the setting sun and blustery weather, I headed out for a run.

Here's a snapshot of beauty from my run - love the reflection of the pink sky on the water!

So, rage is great fuel for me. Needless to say, I was shocked when my Garmin alerted that my first mile was complete - and it was 8:39! Say what!? I ended up having two sub 9 minute miles - I can't remember a time when that has happened before!

Today's Stats:
3.23 miles, 29:14:62, 9:02 average
51 degrees, 20+mph winds (Thanks Hurricane Sandy)

When it's so stinking cold, I apparently run faster so I can get it over with. Seriously though, how can 50 degrees feel so COLD?? My ears were stinging by the time I got home.

Here's the post-run pic that the Monster insisted on taking with me... I have awesome hair, don't I?

Maiden Voyage

My shiny new Garmnin Forerunner 110 came in the mail on Friday! It was a sad tease, really, because I had to work that night. I took it to work with me so that I could charge it and play with it -- but I didn't even get a chance to look at it, much less open it. I had one of those nights that make you want to curl up in the fetal position and scream "UNCLE!" When I finally got to leave work on Saturday morning, I was mentally and physically exhausted. I took a short nap, played with the Monster for a little while, and then got ready to go to dinner with some very special people!

Apparently, Georgia Tech's homecoming brings some super awesome people to town! My sister in law is on the right and her sister (also my childhood friend and one of my bridesmaids) is the left. I loved that I was actually off on a weekend and actually got to see them.

At one point during dinner, I was talking with some other amazing friends at the end of the table and this happened:

Her daddy (a GT grad) claims that he had nothing to do with this. The good news is that Mary Kay Eye Makeup Remover easily takes temporary tattoos off of a baby's face.

We had a great day today, too. We accidentally slept in because our alarm clock (Monster) did not get up at her usual time. I can't remember the last time I slept until 9am! We missed Sunday School but made it in time to sing with the choir. Afterwards, we came home and cleaned out the left overs and the Monster took an extremely long nap. We had considered taking her to a pumpkin patch today but she totally slept the whole time instead. We'll have to take her somewhere locally tomorrow to get a few pumpkins for the porch!

Our weather is so bonkers right now. That huge hurricane is off the coast of Georgia today and we have some serious wind. We're under a wind advisory because of the 35mph gusts we are having. I know my husband is extremely happy that he spent so much time raking leaves yesterday because the backyard is now full again! Joy!

I got a nice run in this afternoon. It was my first trip with my new friend (my Garmin). I plan on giving her a name so it seems like I have a friend running partner. It was amazing! I have the heart rate monitor that goes with it and I had forgotten how much I missed running with a HR monitor! I try to keep my heart rate in a certain range so I don't run out of steam.

Today's Run
5.03 miles, 50:26:49
10:02/mi
I ran part of my normal loop and added on a more dangerous segment to make it a nice 5 miles. I wore my super fun (and bright bright neon green) Brooks essential running jacket and I'm pretty sure all motorists saw me coming.

The wind made it pretty tricky! I can honestly say I've never run in wind like that before. I think I would have been faster had I not been fighting the wind for so much of my travels. My legs started to feel like mush after awhile.

My leg felt pretty good. I stretched it out when I got home and will roll it out before bed. I didn't wear any compression gear today so I consider this a win.

I need some name suggestions for my new friend! Have any good ideas?

I seriously need a shot of motivation and a running partner!

I have been getting behind with my blogging recently. It has been a long couple of weeks with random schedules and appointments. It's easy for me to get lost in the business and running ends up being the last thing on my list for the day. And it's easy for me to make excuses at the end of the day.

I've only felt motivated to run if the husband was going to come with me. Part of the reason there is because we have FINALLY had some time together with my recent schedule change. Once we are able to be together a little bit, we both find ourselves wanting more of that interaction and it's harder to leave the other one at home. For example, I had a 15 mile run scheduled for Sunday afternoon. Instead, the hubs and I ended up napping for about 2 hours during the monster's nap time. Napping was so much better than running (duh). I was tired and it was so refreshing! I didn't want to leave the house and miss out on time with him! Sappy, yes.

Anyway, now we shall move on to the informative bits. FYI: My mileage this month is depressing.

Tuesday, October 16:
4.14 miles, 39:28
Loop around the house with a little bonus detour, run with the family. I pushed the stroller for most of the time.

Monday, October 22:
2.8 miles
Dreadmill, 10% incline, walk/jog mix while watching the debate, total of around 45 minute. I hate the dreadmill. 10% incline is so ridiculous and I just can't run nearly as much.

Tuesday, October 23:
3.56 miles, 35:09
This was another family run. We actually did a different route on the spur of the moment and ran to the grocery store. The picture at the top of the post is one I took of the Monster while we waited for Daddy outside. It was a fun change of scenery and it was a great adrenaline inducer - some of that road has terrible visibility and you feel like you could die at any moment.

I must admit that I think my calf muscle is finally on the mend. The rolling torture device works pretty well. I think my low mileage has helped, too. Let us all rejoice that laziness can help something! It has really been a mental thing for me to have this nagging injury. I really have gotten into a stream of worthless, self doubting, inner loathing. It has resulted in me feeling like my efforts are futile and eating bon bons is more fulfilling. I hate that - but I'm counting on that to fade as I continue to see positive improvement with my leg.

Anyway, the hubs is giving me part of my Christmas a bit early! I know it will help with my motivation - a shiny new Garmin watch! I've wanted one for-ev-er! I am stalking the delivery trucks waiting for my running buddy to arrive! I'll post a picture of her once she gets here.

It will probably be Saturday before I get another run in. I worked last night and work again tonight. I think I'll plan on heading out Saturday morning (?) when I get off work.

The First Three Miles Are Always the Hardest

I have had such a busy week. I ended up covering a partial shift for a colleague last Monday - which kept me from doing my family run with the hubs that evening. I would have run earlier but I had to take the Monster to her 2 year check up that morning. Wait, I was pretty sore that day (the day after the half), so who am I kidding? I was glad to have several excuses to avoid running!

I also had to work Tuesday night. I felt like I'd been beaten up on Tuesday morning for several reasons - my muscles were still kind of sore and I barely got any sleep before Monster woke up that morning. I took her to church and played hooky from my Bible study. I threw some dinner into the crock pot and lounged around on the couch. I planned on napping, but I ended up laying there in a trance - like I was too tired to even nap.

I didn't run on Wednesday, either. I was so busy at work on Tuesday night and I died in my bed when I got home that morning. I am such a loser. I feel terrible even admitting how long I went without running!

I did make myself go running on Thursday morning. I dropped the baby off and ended up getting temporarily distracted by many things. First, I went to put gas in my car and realized I didn't have my wallet. Thankfully, I realized this BEFORE I put the liquid gold in my new car. Second, I had to take a business phone call and we had to play phone tag for a bit. I didn't want to end up getting a call back while I was sucking wind!

Oh look! Here's a randomly placed cute baby picture to take your mind off of how badly I am preparing for this stupid marathon.

Thursday's Run:
4.21 miles, 46:04, sunny, 64 degrees

I ended up going to the park and running the loop. It was torture. I'm not going to lie. I know it was a cumulative thing - several days of terrible, limited sleep. A week's worth of the stress. Several days without running. It was just a recipe for disaster.

I picked up a relief shift Thursday night - helloooo extra dollars. If I could have called out, though, I would have. I was so tired! And I had an eye twitch! Anyway, I really regretted going for that run around 4am when I hit "the wall" and once again on my way home when I almost fell asleep. Oops.

Since we are being honest here, this also happened on my way home Friday morning:

I stopped for breakfast with the hubs on my way by his work that morning. We haven't had breakfast together at this donut place since being pregnant with the Monster. I only ate one - that lovely chocolate raspberry fritter there - and he took the rest to his office mates. Suck up. I almost punched him in the gut in the parking lot and sped off with those beauties. I showed restraint. I deserve another donut for my efforts.

In case you care, I used to do a lot more relief before I had the baby. Now, I rarely pick up a shift - I would rather be home with my family. It rarely seems worth the stress and loss of sleep. But, I'm always glad I did it when I get the check. This lovely check will be going towards the unexpected repairs we had to make on my husband's car last month. We always have a silly car repair right before we have to have our cars pass emissions testing! What's the deal with that, anyway?

I slept for a bit on Friday and then went running with the husband when he got home from work. It was a bit easier to run on Friday, but it was still terrible. Well, it was only terrible for the first 3 miles. Good thing I ran so much more than that...

Friday's Run
3.14 miles, 32:17, 69 degrees

We just ran the loop near our house. I did end up pushing the stroller for about a mile - which is a mile more than I have run with the stroller for at least 6 months. As it turns out, my child has gotten significantly heavier since then, and I am significantly less awesome.

I worked Saturday and Sunday - my last weekend for awhile! Yay! My schedule transitions this week, which always makes for an interesting week of running. I have to figure out when/where I will be able to run on this new schedule. I am most concerned about figuring out when I will do my long run. I'll keep you posted on that.

Today was a pretty awesome day. I hardly did anything and got to hang out with the squishy all day! We played outside for a long time because it was so gorgeous outside. We had some rain come through this morning and it was pretty windy all day.

When the hubs got home, we had to squeeze a run in pretty quick-like before he had to head out for a men's event at our church. I put some chili on the stove right before we left, so by the time we got home, it was ready for the eating!

Today's Run
3.1 miles, 69 degrees, 33:!5

We ran the loop around our house again. I pushed the stroller the entire time today - go me! My leg was bothering me for almost the entire run. I didn't wear any compression gear today because it hadn't been bothering me at all for several days. Then, towards that magical third mile, it stopped hurting and hasn't bothered me since.

This leg thing is really starting to wear me out. It needs to get better, pronto. I'm supposed to run 15 miles sometime this week.

Alright, I think that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed this random post. Feel free to send me degrading messages to support my belief that I am going to absolutely fail at this 26.2 thing.

Atlanta Allstate 13.1 Series Half Marathon

Sunday, October 7:
Official chip time - 2:16:55
A new PR!

It's taken me almost a week to sit down and write a race recap, but here I sit. I worked last Saturday and was thankfully able to have the full day off on Sunday (race day). The day started at 4:15a when my first alarm went off. I finally got out of bed around 4:30 and went downstairs for coffee.

Coffee is very important for me on long runs. It gets things... ahem, moving... before I leave the house.

I had my coffee and enjoyed my typical long run breakfast - Vans wheat waffle with peanut butter. Yummo!

I woke the fam up at 5:30a and we all got into the car and went for a ride up to north Atlanta. It took us about 45ish minutes to get there. Traffic is a breeze at that time of morning. ;)

We had a cold front come through on Saturday night so the weather on Sunday was AMAZING. I wore a long sleeved Nike technical shirt over a short sleeved Brooks Run Happy Tee. I also wore my cute running skirt and some black knee high compression socks. I wore my Brooks Ghost 4's - they just matched my outfit better. ;)

It was in the high 50's at race start - 7a. I concentrated on taking my first few miles slower than I usually do so I could make sure I ran the whole time. I ran this course last year, and I forgot how insanely hilly it is. It's actually a bit out of control with the hills, but it was a great training run for me. I just don't get that amount of hills on my runs on the south side! I only had literally two hills (within the last 2 miles) where I had to walk for about 30 seconds up the hill. My legs were screaming profanities and I just had to walk. Other than that, I ran the whole time!


I know I've run several 13.1's - but I have always had to walk for part of the race - usually around a mile total. I know I've mentioned it before, but this is the first time that I have really put the effort into doing the long runs and really hammering out the miles before the race. It paid off! I'm glad that my baby has an opportunity to go to Mom's Day Out at our church so I can continue to put in my long runs and train appropriately!

So, not only was this super hilly course a new PR, I took a considerable amount of time off of my time from 2011. I finished last year's race in 2:23:47. That's like 7 whole minutes! Hot diggity!

I only felt my calf pulling a bit for the first couple of miles. I felt pretty good after the race. The hubs commented on how much more energy I had after this race than I used to have after finishing a half marathon. (I think he was saying thanks for not laying around on the couch like a wounded soldier all day.) The bottoms of my feet hurt pretty badly by bedtime that night, but they were fine the following morning. I was pretty sore in the quads and in my upper calf muscles for several days. The side of my calf (where my strain is), didn't start bothering me again until Thursday morning -- after I hadn't run on it in several days!! Someone explain THAT one to me, please?

I went to my favorite running store on Monday and bought one of those hand held muscle torturing batons to help with the soreness. I'm not sure how much of a difference it made, but it felt good for muscle massage. To celebrate, I also bought myself a new running outfit! I got a super cute long sleeved Brooks Tee and some long Moving Comfort pants (from the clearance rack, woohoo 50% off on running pants!) I usually buy some clothes at the race expos, so this was my way of making up for the fact that the hubs picked up my packet and I didn't get to go shopping at the expo!

As for the race itself, it is kind of a smaller race and there's only 3 corrals. I'm no where near fast enough to place in a corral, so I'm at the back of the pack with the rest of the slow losers runners. The race staff was nice and they invited FCA to do an opening prayer. The course has too much time on a boring, busy road in North Atlanta - I find this to be the hardest part of the course. AND, you double back on that same section of road so you have to look at it twice. There was no GU station along the way. I love a good GU station - it allows me to try some new flavors without having to actually pay for the experience. The medal was mediocre - but it ended up matching my shirt, so that was a bonus. The race shirt was actually available in a woman's size and it is pretty decent. I wore it on my run tonight, actually. I'll probably do the race again next year - after all, it is a local race and I don't have to take off a full weekend of work in order to go!

Ohhh... because I obviously run for the bling -- I am happy to report that I got a bonus medal for taking the Atlanta Challenge! I ran the Publix Georgia Half Marathon in March and ran this race in October - so I got another medal and another technical tee. I'll take a picture of both medals and post them later.

Things to work on:
Speed - I want to run a 2h half before I die. At this rate, I will have to run at least 16 more half marathons before I achieve this goal.
Fueling during the race - I always start with some hungry stomach noises around mile 8. This is going to be more important for my full marathon - so I need to figure this out.

Today's Run:
6.31 miles, 1:07:31
Gorgeous weather - 65 degrees, sunny.

This was my first run after a full week off. I wore calf sleeves and ran the 10k loop in PTC. I was aware of a slight twinge in my calf for the first 15 min or so, and it was barely noticeable after that. I stopped a few times and it would ache for the first few steps after I started again. It hasn't bothered me when walking around this afternoon - so I'm happy about that! Maybe it's getting better? ::crossing my fingers::

Regardless, it felt great to be outside and moving again!

I'm currently icing my leg with my miracle ice pack. I got this amazing ice pack when I had my stress fracture. I bought it from my physical therapist and it has a special place in my freezer/heart. It's huge - maybe like 18"x12" and pliable - so it can be wrapped around the affected area better. I lurrrrve it. You must get one if you are ever injured!

Sunday is race day! I hope to rock out with my new pink ProCompression socks and am shooting for a new PR!

My socks and a new edition of Runner's World both arrived yesterday. Thank you, USPS.

September Recap

Total Mileage: 64.7

September was a decent month. I had a few extra shifts during the month and the weather started to change - yay! I had a few challenging runs due to the weather and quite a few amazing runs! I also had an amazing chafing experience.

I fell short of my goal for the month - 72 miles. This was largely intentional, but I also had lower mileage at the start of the month due to my work schedule. I could have put the miles in those last few days, but made a conscious effort to rest. I am struggling with a calf strain and I felt it was more important to rest my legs than it was to finish those last 7 miles. In fact, I took a full week off of running. I can't remember the last time I did that. Usually, I go stir crazy if I haven't run in 2 days. However, I was perfectly fine during this little hiatus - it's almost like my body welcomed the rest. It's silly - my mileage is not that high - but I think I was starting to feel a bit run down.

I am making a conscious effort to sleep more and continue to watch what I'm eating. I've gone a full 2 months without any soda - this is a HUGE accomplishment for me! I was telling my friend yesterday that 2 months is especially amazing if you realize that I used to drink soda almost every 2 hours. Well, it wasn't that often, but it was pretty frequent at times. I have noticed that I crave much fewer sweets and fried junk recently. In fact, the thought of fried food makes my stomach unhappy.

Despite my efforts, both in running and watching my intake, I have not lost any weight. I'm trying not to get frustrated about this, but it's hard! I might be losing inches or something, so I'm hopeful that I will start seeing the scale move soon!

I need to start cross training. I've been avoiding it because, well, running is the only thing I really like to do. However, I think my stupid calf would heal better if I was using it in other ways. This calf injury is something that actually started after the Publix Half Marathon in March. It stopped bothering me within a few weeks, but I really decreased my mileage around that time, too. I don't have the luxury of doing that this time around (hello, marathon in January), so I'm hoping that my body will adapt and repair itself while I'm still training. I'm currently icing it. Go me. Anyway, I would like to incorporate some yoga and some swimming (still need to make it to the pool!) into my workouts during October.

I have my first half of the season this coming Sunday! It's here in Atlanta and we are supposed to have a cold front come through on Saturday night. The weather should be PERFECT. I'm pretty excited about it! I'm praying that my calf muscle holds out and doesn't get angrier!

I keep hoping that I will wake up to a Garmin (hint, hint husband) - but haven't had any luck yet.

How were your runs for September? Any fun fall races coming up?