Fall is coming

Most people have a favorite season.  Mine is summer.  I love the warmth, the sun, the beach.  I love the ability to go outside barefooted late at night without getting cold.  Taking the top off the Jeep without having to look for a jacket.  Sand between my toes.

These days I am reminded frequently that fall is coming.  Morning dew has arrived back on the scene on a daily basis.  There have been a couple mornings where I didn't dare leave home without a jacket.  Fall allergies are, well, just that.  It is definitely the changing of a season.

And while my favorite season will be gone for a while, I take comfort in knowing some of my favorite things are about to go down in the upcoming months:  hot soups to bring warmth, pumpkin-flavored anything I can think of, cozy evenings by the fire, and the beauty of fall foliage that God created for us to see.  Even today on my walk, I have begun to see the pretty colors, and heard the sound of the leaves dancing in the breeze along the pavement.  Knowing the season is changing isn't always easy, but realizing it is just a season helps put things in perspective.

"To everything there is a season; a time for every purpose under heaven."  Ecclesiastes 3:1

My Version of a Mud Run

There was a Mud Run Saturday right in front of my house.  I knew the day was coming, but I also knew I had other stuff going on; plus it cost a little more than I was interested in paying.  Fortunately for me, quite a bit of it was still set up on Sunday afternoon, so my youngest son and I went for our own version.  Here was the real Mud Run underway while I was on my way down the driveway:

First obstacle on our version-the hay bale climb.  My son stopped to pose.

Me on top of the hay bales.  I'm pretty sure if I had done the actual Mud Run a picture like this would have been out of the question.

Next obstacle-the tires.

Then there were a few logs to jump over.

Followed by a maze...

And a log crossing... 

Then we made our way through a dried up creekbed.  I was nervous in this area because poison ivy is my arch enemy.

And then onto some gorgeous views of the lake.  The water levels are so low.  Normally the sandy looking area is covered in water.  We need rain!

The dried lake bottom is pretty, but sad that the water levels are so low.

We only completed about half the mud run:  nature called, and once we were inside, the A/C felt too good to go back out into the 90 plus temps.  Perhaps another day.

Wordless Wednesday: Foggy Run

Cold Run

I skipped my Thursday run because I wanted to sleep.  I told myself I would run Thursday night.  That didn't happen.

Then I didn't run Friday.

Today I figured I had better run-no more skipping.  So I ran my long, weekend run-3.2 miles.  It was cool-in the lower 50's.  I am sure anyone reading this who is from anywhere north of Texas is probably chuckling, thinking about what a wimp I am.  But when it is in the 50's it is just cold to me.  I opted for running pants, rather than shorts, but I did wear a t-shirt.

By the end of my run I had an earache from the cold wind blowing into my ears (note to self-must find my ear muffs), and a sore throat plus that feeling you get in your lungs from breathing in cold air (second note to self-must find my hat that covers everything but my eyes).

The positive thing that came out of my run-I ran really fast!  I had to warm up somehow, plus the knowledge that as soon as I was done with my 3.2 I could go inside.  I do believe I will soon be using my gym membership a lot more regularly to avoid another run like this one!

The Thing About An Afternoon Run...

I can admit it.  There are mornings when I would rather sleep-particularly those when it is rainy.  When my alarm went off this morning at 5:00 to signify time for a run, I heard the rain, and I felt the pain in my right foot, and that was all I needed to convince myself to skip my run.  But when I got up this morning and weighed myself (up .2 pounds from yesterday), I determined that after church I would have to go for my run-no skipping allowed.

So as soon as we got home, I got ready for my run.

The thing about an afternoon run is this:
1. I don't like it when it is clearly naptime and I am headed to work out.
2. I care more about my running clothes matching at 4 PM than at 5 AM, which means it takes longer to get ready.
3. When I run about an hour after pigging out on barbecue it makes me want to vomit (but thankfully, that didn't happen).
4. When I have been filling up on tea and water before a run it gives me cramps (and not to mention I can't wait to finish so I can get to the little girl's room).
5. Despite my previous claims that I run better in the mornings because that is when I have more energy, I actually had a decent time today.

Metro 55 Update

So apparently I should have waited just a little bit to blog about my 5K.  You see, the organizers posted pictures from the run on facebook.  Oh, well.  A second blog about the same thing can't be all that bad-especially if it is picture-dense!  Here are some of the pictures I "stole" from Buddy's facebook that either me or my son (or both of us) are in somewhere-in this first pic we are wayyyyyy in the back (sorry if there are any duplicates):

Buddy's wife blogged about the day here-neat blog-worth the read!

And, best of all, the results have now been posted online, here!  I do have to say, I was excited to see the results.  I had taken a picture of the results page at the event for my category, and I was at the very bottom-7th place.  Turns out, there was another page of runners behind me-they just couldn't all fit.  So, the good news is I wasn't 7 out of 7-I was 7 out of 19!  How is that for a confidence boost?  And my son-we already knew he came in first in his category, but now we have his time:  27:22!

I am a little sore, but already contemplating another 5K possibility before my Turkey Day Run.  This really is addicting!

My First Running 5K

Well, I did it!  I got up this morning and drove to Ft. Worth for my first 5K (yes, I know I did a 5K last October, but I walked that one).  I won a free entry yesterday into the Metro Run 55.  Metro (aka Ft. Worth Metro) is a missions organization that helps inner city kids-and while I was excited to receive a free entry, I know that this event is a fundraiser for Metro, so I asked my son if he wanted to run, too, that way I would feel like at least I was donating something!  Here he is-I took a quick snapshot of him right after I completed my 5 kilometers (he finished much quicker than I did!)

And then a lady from our church who was volunteering at the event offered to take our picture together.

Once everyone finished the race (6 times around the large campus, with a few lives bands playing along the way), the prizes and awards started.

This little girl got first place for the 7 and under category-too cute!

Here is my son being called up to receive his bobblehead award-he got first place in his age category-although he can't remember his time.  I am hoping they post the race results online at some point so I can see what his time was.

Here he is with an up close of the bobblehead trophy.  In the background you can see the race t-shirts.  They look even brighter in real life-it will be great for me when I run in the dark!

After the awards were over, we were told we could look at the race results.  I just took a picture because I knew I would forget otherwise.  As you can see, my name is at the very bottom.  I finished 7th (aka last) in my age category at 38:45.6.  According to my Map My Run app, that was a 12:29 pace.  While I am sure many will look at my time and think how slow that is, I am very proud of myself.  My goal was to finish-without walking, and pushing as fast as I could.  And I did it!  Two more months till the next 5K and I hope my next one is even better.

Am I Ready for a 5K?

Tonight I was just sitting in my chair, relaxing, and checking my facebook.  Buddy, the guy that is organizing a 5K tomorrow-the Metro Run 55-posted on his facebook that he was giving away a free entry to the race for the first person to guess his daughter's birthday.  I guessed a date in the spring, along with many other people guessing.  Finally, when no one  was able to pinpoint the date exactly, he gave a clue-it was in the summer.  I chose a summer date, and I was again wrong.  Then my hubby (who was on a layover in Portland at the moment) saw the posts, and typed in the right date. I asked who he was going to give the entry to since he was not here to run it himself-and Buddy let him give it to me!  Yay!

Wait a minute!  What?  Did I just agree to run a 5k?  As in, tomorrow morning?!?  How am I even ready for this?  I mean, I run every other day, but the 5K I am training for is not even until late November.  And I skipped my run today because I just couldn't see getting up at 4AM.  Ready or not...tomorrow morning is going to come awfully early!

The Dreaded Treadmill

I don't like treadmills.  I would much rather run on a track or outdoors.  But when I arrived at the gym today, and knowing that my Map My Run app would not track distance since I don't get a signal in the gym, I figured it would be better to get on a treadmill today.  12 times around the track equals a mile-there was no way I could remember that count with as tired as I was.  While the run was certainly not one of my favorites, it was nice that I could set the speed to where I wanted it, and "force" myself to run that speed for a while.  It turned out being a decently paced run; I probably ran faster than I would have had I chosen the track.  Maybe I will use the treadmill more often than I originally thought.

4 Miles

I have tried running on and off ever since high school.  There were times when, for 9 month straight, I was faithful to run every other day for about 30 minutes.  But 30 minutes was (and always has been) my limit.  In an effort to get my pace down to a lower number, and prepare for a 5K, I have decided that once a week I should do a "long run".  I realize that this might mean different things to different people.  But for me-last week it meant I ran 5 kilometers (3.2 miles).  This week I decided to step it up another notch-I was going to add another half mile to last weeks long run.  But when I was almost home, I decided that I was so close to 4 miles, it would be a shame to stop running before I hit that milestone.  Yep-4 miles.  Apparently I am capable of more than I thought I was.  What I have done is simply raised the bar to what I thought my achievements could/should be.  (As for my running pace-the intervals and tempo run have been helping!)

I was here about 3/4 through my run:

Yuck!  Here I am after my run-attempting to smile.

Speed Week

This week I have been concentrating on improving my running speed.

Friday I ran a full 5K (3.2 miles)-because if I don't run the full distance at least somewhat regularly, I will never be ready for the 5K.

Sunday morning I did a tempo run:  10 minutes at normal speed, 10 minutes as fast as I could maintain, and then 10 more "normal" minutes.  My pace really improved on this run.

Tuesday I did intervals at the gym.  The track is small-12 times around the track is a mile.  I ran around it twice at normal speed, and once as fast as I possibly could, and then I repeated that process for 2.5 miles.  This was my fastest run yet.  I was so proud of myself for my 12:00 pace (told you I was slow).  I may have overdone it a bit, though.  My face was bright red for about an hour after the run, and I could still feel my heart racing a few hours later.  And then came the major muscle soreness.  No pain, no gain!

Yesterdays run was just bad.  When my alarm clock went off I contemplated not getting up, but forced myself to.  Then I went outside to run and stood at the edge of my driveway not wanting to start.  I finally convinced myself to start running, but just had no energy to put much effort forward-that coupled with achy muscles made for a "run" pace that I could have actually walked faster.

Overall I think it was a great running week-I pushed myself harder than I have before, and I paid for it.  But it will make me stronger in the long run (no pun intended).  Ready for a good, long run tomorrow!

5K Goal Change

Over the weekend I discovered that the 5K I was planning to run in November just happens to fall on a day we will be out of the state on vacation.  To say I am disappointed is an understatement.  I was really looking forward to this!  My first 5K was last year at this particular event-and I walked it.  This year, the same event was going to be my first 5K that I ran.  I had been checking out the calendar to figure out another event to sign up for-I need something to keep me motivated-when my sister-in-law asked me if I would run a 5K with her on Thanksgiving morning.  Perfect!  Now I have something to keep pushing me to train hard-I am still disappointed, but now at least I have something to look forward to instead.

Map My Run App

I see many people post their runs on facebook all the time.  What is neat is it tracks everything-how far they went, how long it took them, and what their average pace was. I have been intrigued by their apps, but since I am a very slow runner I was a little embarrassed to post all that for the world to see.  It never occurred to me that you could still use the app, but just not post to facebook.  Silly me!  I finally downloaded an app called Map My Run.  Guess what?  I love it!  I can't figure out what took me so long to start using it!  I think it is going to help me improve my speed!  I downloaded it just in time, too.  I decided that today I would run a full 5K-3.2 miles.  Since I am training for a 5K I may as well get used to running one at least occasionally.  It totally helped me to strive to decrease my time and to finish strong!  The best part-it is a free app!

Inspirational Help For Running

It could be very easy for me to look at my run time and be discouraged.  People will easily lap me on any given run, but I am thankful for all the motivational sayings and pictures to help keep me going that I find on pinterest, and on the Run The Edge facebook page.  I know with time I will improve.

This one is my favorites to quote to myself while I am out on a run:

Cool Morning Run

This beautiful blur is me running - or more accurately, a shadow of me running.  You see, it was dark, and there was a street light casting a shadow over me, plus since there was motion my camera didn't focus very well.  Still at it.  Gonna lose the weight, and be ready for my 5K in November!  73 degrees this morning-I could feel the cool breeze-summer is surely coming to an end.

The Sweaty Proof

After finally getting over bronchitis, I figured it was time to start running again.  Last night I came to that determination, but I know how in the morning it is easy to change my mind!  Especially since I have been having late nights, I have been trying to sleep in some.  So last night I posted to my facebook that I was going for a run in the morning, and that I needed some accountability.  A few people said they would-and that was enough motivation for me!  When my alarm went off this morning, I didn't want to get up, but I knew several people would be asking me if I ran or not, so I figured I better!

One of the ladies from church even posted:  "I want to see a sweaty pic on fb when I have my coffee ok? Don't make me come over there!"  So, I took this picture after my run to prove to her I did it! 

Back in Full Swing

In January I set a hefty goal:  60 pounds to lose this year.  The first ten came off rather quickly.  The second ten were slower, but manageable.  Then I entered a time of transition with my job, followed by moving to a new work location, and then into the busy-ness that is Kids Camp.  I am very thankful that I have maintained the 20 pound weight loss, but I know that in order to get 40 more pounds to disappear, I have to kick it into high gear.  Here was my last milestone:

That was way too long ago!  I went for a run this morning, and I am ready for my next milestone to come!  See you on the running track!

Official Gym Member

Well, I did it!  I joined the gym!  I used my membership for the first time this morning by running for 30 minutes around the track.  It is going to be great for me to have a place to get my cardio in without having to run in the dark or listening to my squeaky Gazelle.  I tried to take a picture while I was running, but there was no time to focus.  This was the clearest picture I got:

The track goes around (and above) the basketball court, plus another area where the cardio and strength training equipment is.  I am so glad I joined, and am looking forward starting my day like this more often!

Memorial Day Walk

It's been a busy month, and I have been neglecting exercise, so I decided to go for a long walk rather than a short run today.  Being Memorial Day, I saw so many homes with flags out in remembrance of those who gave their lives.