Will I ever learn??

1. Never go to Trader Joe's hungry!!

I do it all the time. This time I came out with bags of chips, an odd assortment of cheeses, but also a package of Chocolate covered peanut covered pretzels.

I mean COME on...I can't even resist the plain peanut filled ones. There is no such thing as eating these things in moderation--would I think the chocolate ones would be any different. The rational of "just want to try them and see if they're any good" is not a good one. They are ALWAYS good. Have I EVER, EVER thrown chocolate away?

2. Hire someone to pull weeds--at least the big jobs.

I don't have bad allergies, but it's getting up-close-and-personal with weeds that just kill me. Today I decided to finally pull all the assorted growth up from an unruly section of my backyard. The weeds came out easily enough, but soon my arms were read and scratchy and my nose didn't have an off switch. The only allergy stuff I have around here is Benedryl. Well...after sleeping for 2 1/2 hours I wake up to find my blog page looking like so:



No idea what's going on here except I was doing something right before that "nap". I pray that Publishing will fix it. I guess that's one way of getting me to post.

Another week

Another week gone and with no posting. I am really going to try to post a couple of times a week. I can't say I've been busy....I'm always busy it seems.

We've got a little less than 5 months until the marathon and things are looking pretty good. I can run 3 miles pretty comfortably now with my heart rate at less than 85% of max. I am religously keeping to the running schedule which I feel really proud about.

I still don't like running.

But I love how I feel afterwards. I think I run because I don't like it, and that's a challenge. Each run is a battle and a way to fight something difficult and beat at it a little each time.

I like that my legs feel stronger and toned, my clothes fit better, my mind is sharper...well I can go on and on.

We're finishing up an easy week (just 10.5 miles plus cross training). Next week we jump to 13 miles.

And...I'm looking forward to it.

Eat Like a Pig and Run Better?

Ok..The last couple of days I've been eating....A lot! Much more than I normally do.

Yesterday, for example I had a 1/3 pound bbq hamburger, lots of potato salad, Chips & Guac and a few small cookies...And this was lunch!

Funny thing is, my run yesterday (and the day before for that matter) was great! I wasn't sluggish at all, my heart rate never got over 85% (this never happens) and I felt really good.

I did Weight Watchers a few years back and lost 20+ pounds. I've gained 10 lbs back, and I still been casually counting "points" over the last couple of months. I really don't know how many calories I'm eating lately, but I think it's been below 1500. I don't think that's enough when you're in "training" (I know...I laugh at that too), like me.

So it's time to stop the counting, but eat wisely. Fuel my body with good healthy things and not just have a salad, fruit and some candy at lunch.

Let's see what happens.

I'm Having the Funnest Time**

I did my first run with my sister yesterday in a long time. It was just a 3 miler, but it was 2 weeks after she gave birth to her son. We ran the first mile, did some hiking/trail running/walking for the 2 mile and walked/ran the 3rd. I let my sister dictate the pace.

And I must say we had the funnest time. I've been running solo for months now and I have forgot how running with someone else can change your mental attitude. My sister and I talk about everything--it's really our chance to get away from the family and just let it all out. So what if we were slow, or if we walked if we wanted to. We agreed that all we care about is doing the distance and keeping to our training schedule.

We're not setting a goal time for October....well maybe 8 hours since that's the time limit to get a medal. You do your first marathon once, and I've been reading more and more articles about just enjoying it. So, the real goal for October is to have the funnest time.

**My 2 year old niece once said this to me at a party.

A F*CK IT RUN

Man O' Man! I so wasn't motivated today. It's warm out today (around 80) and a little humid, which is a little unusual for No. CA, and I really did have good intentions with my run. I could tell within the first block that it wasn't going to be good. My heart rate jumped to like 85% of max within the first 5 minutes....I mean wtf?

Anyways...at 1 1/2 miles (and 1/2 way on my run), I just said "Fuck this" and walked the other 1 1/2 miles. Actually..it was a nice walk. I really got to enjoy the scenery, smell the blooming flowers, and check out a pair of ducks that I think are nesting but never stop my run to look.

So...I did the distance...actually kept my heart-rate up to 70% of max for most of the time. But just enjoyed life for a bit.

Not a bad trade off I think!

It's a Boy! Finally!!

My sister finally had her baby. The labor and delivery had everything...suspense, drama, humor--what more can you ask for.

Last Thursday evening my sister calls my cellphone about 11:30pm. Her contractions had just started 1/2 before, and they were pretty strong and 5 minutes apart. She finally knew that this was 'IT' and told me to meet her at the hospital.

On my drive to the hospital, I was closely followed by a police vehicle. I'm sure I was driving a little fast and maybe a bit irratic, especially before I noticed him. I had my "Officer, my little sister is in labor" speech all prepared, but he finally turned away. After forgetting exactly where the hospital was (a couple of wrong turns, then freeway off-ramps closed for construction), I finally arrive at the hospital.

My sister was already checked in, epidural ordered, and in the shower. She was a "good" 4 centimeters dilated. She didn't want to take any chances with NOT getting the epidural in case her labor went quick--so she ordered it right away.

So sis comes out in the shower in a good feisty mood, got the IV in, the fluids started and was told that the doctor was on his way to give the epidural. At this point the contractions were beginning to get quite strong. I watched them on the monitor peak to 80% of the max and with the peak staying up there longer and longer. I told her that this was good marathon training (I can't repeat here with what she responded with).

About 1/2 hour later the doctor comes in to do the epidural. He puts in the catheter in her back and just as he is telling her to relax and let the medicine work, he gets a page and rushes out of the room. Apparently there was a girl in labor and her baby's heart rate dropped to nothing and they had to do an emergency c-section. My sister is left with the epidural started but not completed. We did hear later that the baby turned out fine!

The next hour was horrible. My sister, still waiting for the epidural, was having really bad contractions. She started vomiting and was just plain miserable. And I couldn't do much about it.

At 2:38 they check her again and she's was at 7 cm dilated. Still no doctor....She got a pain shot, but it didn't do much good. I feel helpless and my little sister is in agony.

At 2:50, she tells us that she feels like she has to go "poop", the nurse checks her and announces that we're gonna have a baby. Her husband whispers to me that he has to run down to the car to get the camera (somehow he forgot it), and the bed is modified for the birthing position.

The nurse midwife comes in at 2:53 and takes one look at my sister and asks where her husband is....I look and see that the baby's head is crowning. My sister is horrified that she's gotta do this without an epidural.

2:56...She has one good contraction...She pushes twice and the baby's head starts coming out.

2:58...Next contraction--Husband shows up (YAY!!)...Head is out..Boy he's got a lot of hair.

2:59...Another contraction...My sister is telling me how much it hurts and how she can't possibly push anymore. The midwife tells her it's critical that she push NOW...one last push and...


Meet Samuel....9 lbs 1 1/2 oz..Born 3:00 April 28th.

Sis and baby doing great. Sis called me today... she feels ready to run!!

Starting Over; The Right Way

I've been reading up a bit about training and letting your max heart-rate guide you. I've been worrying that I've been training too hard and pushing my heart rate up too much that I'm losing any real fitness benefit. A few days ago I decided do my runs based upon my heart rate. In other words, I would run until my heart rate reached 90% max (around 160bpm, then walk until my heart rate dropped around 140 then run again, until I reached 90% and so forth.

I'm almost thinking that running any distance between 85 - 90% may not be beneficial, but let's just see how it goes.

The bad news is I can't run very far (without stopping) using this method. Here are the distances I have run before taking my first walking break:

4/25 - 1.20 miles
4/26 - 1.40
4/29 - 1.60
5/02 - 1.90

But the good (maybe even GREAT news) is I've seen a great increase in the distance I've been able to run before my heart says to stop! I've even tried to challenge myself a bit by willing my heart to slow a little (maybe just by trying to breathe deeply) so I can run a little longer. I don't know if this pattern will continue, but I sure like the way it looks. And by the way, my pace is still around the same per mile (a slow, pathetic 13:20).

Hey...but it's a start! And hopefully the *right* kind of start. I'll keep posting my weekly results and see what happens here.