July 15th & 17th, 2011 - Swim & Hike

The continued prayer is, “Lord keep me focused. Keep my mind stayed on You. Help me to bring You praise. I know You believe in me. Please help me in my unbelief. Amen.”

This was truly a “If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em” situation.

My workout schedule has taken a beating lately because the kids have swim lessons right in the middle of my running time allotment.

I would love to be one of those disciplined creatures who get up at the crack of dawn to get a workout in but I’m just not that girl. Never have been.

I’ll bounce outta bed at 4am to make it to a Start Line with no trouble at all, but in my everyday living, the morning just comes way too early.

I believe in the power of prayer and I believe that if GOD can raise the dead, He can raise my bones outta bed in the wee hours of the morn. I’ve prayed about it (half-heartedly), but so far, it doesn’t seem to be His will that I be one of your early risers.


July 15th, 2011 – 1 Hour Swim
So I decided to dress out and do some laps at the pool after the kids’ swim lesson. Jordan stayed with me and we got to swim for an hour before the life guard put on his soccer flops (clearly the “Get Out!” sign).

I was hoping to swim a mile and a half and possibly get private lessons from my boy on how to do a proper breast stroke, which I never learned how to do. Turned out he was more interested in doing aquatic hand-stands and riding on my back like I was the main attraction at Sea World.

Ah, well….. at least I got a pretty decent workout and some quality time with my boy.

Moving on....




July 17th, 2011 – 2 Hour Trail Walk
This may not seem like a great workout but it was a win in so many ways.

After church, Chris asked me what I wanted to do. I told him I wanted to take the whole family for a hike. I offered to go to a trail that was closer to our home, but he wanted to see some water, so we actually got to take a drive out to Malibu Canyon.

We didn’t have luck with the first site we went to because we had Sarah and they didn’t allow dogs. That was a bummer because they had a cool pond that we could swim in. So we loaded up the SUV (Beverly Hillbillies-style) and headed to another trail that did allow dogs.

It had some very cool old movie sets and trails that were smooth and flat so the kids had an easy time.



After a short time, we found a pond and there were no signs that said not to, so I told Jordan he could kick off his sox and shoes and jump in!



Turned out Jordan was not as adventurous as I thought he was. He was a little unsure about the bugs and the goop. Scared to death would be a more accurate term.

I knew that he would regret it if we left without at least giving it a try, so I did what any good Mom would do: I thought, “White, Banana Republic weekend shorts and leather Brighton belt be damned! My boy needs someone at his side for this epic rite of passage into young manhood!” So I kicked off my sox and shoes and walked right in… because I think every boy should know what it’s like to swim in a creek!

Once we got in and he saw that there was nothing to be afraid of, we splashed around and had a great time!



Sure, I could have said, “Get a long run in” when my hubby asked me what I wanted to do today, but this is what memories are made of. Bonding with my boy and showing him that he can face anything with someone who loves him by his side is worth a million 10-mile runs.



Well, maybe not a *million*... If I don’t get a long run in this week, I may have to hurt someone.

July 5th – 14th, 2011 – 11 Miles Total

The continued prayer is, “Lord keep me focused. Keep my mind stayed on You. Help me to bring You praise. I know You believe in me. Please help me in my unbelief. Amen.”

This is a rather strange hodgepodge of running activity. It’s been a little crazy scheduling-wise.

The kids have started swim lessons and I must say, they are fantastic little tadpoles. I love watching them do something that they enjoy so much. I always let them know that it’s important to stay active and maintain a healthy weight.

They know that I would love to have them as running partners but I support whatever they want to do. We have exposed Jordan to Soccer, T-ball, gymnastics and Tae Kwon Do. They were all disasters! We struck gold when we brought him to the pool. He loves swimming.

So far, he’s just done lessons. I’m concerned that once he’s on a team that requires more discipline, he may resist. In other words, once it turns into “work”, he’ll decide he hates it. He begged for TKD lessons for MONTHS. When we finally got him set up at a dojo and bought his gi and his white belt, three weeks in, he was whining and complaining to the point of tears whenever he had to go. Guh! We fought over it for a year. Finally, we put the whole family out of our misery and dropped the class and started swim lessons.

These are great lessons and both kids are doing very well. Here they are with their certificates after the first course. Cute!



Sunday, after church, we decided to take the kids to a local farm so we could pick our own strawberries. So much fun! The farm is about 5 miles from our house. I was supposed to go, hangout with the family, pick some strawberries then send the kids back home with Daddy while I ran home.

Well, that didn’t work out. I was bested by the idea of a strawberry shake, so I went home with the family and stopped by the grocery store for some vanilla bean ice cream to go with my strawberries. Yum!

Here we all are at the farm. Fun stuff!




On Saturday, Jayda and I got to hang out and have some girl time at the mall while Jordan went to go see a musical with his grandmother. I told her I would buy her a new purse with some things to go in it.

She decided she wanted a lunchbox and would use it as a purse. I am not one to stifle a budding fashionista's sense of style, so I bought her a lunch box in her favorite shade of purple and a pair of sunglasses, lip balm, facial tissue, a pencil and note paper (also in purple) to put in it.

Then we went to The Cheesecake Factory for a snack. A wonderfully busy and highly caloric weekend.




Now, about the running…

July 5th, 2011 – 3.54 Mile Run
This was an OK run. It was the day after the Independence Day 5k. I was feeling a little down about that race, so felt like I needed a win. I figured I could get a win if I ran it in my 5-fingers.

What ended up happening was I injured myself. I should have taken a few days off, but….


July 6th, 2011 – 2.38 Mile Run
This run was mind-numbingly boring. I just ran laps around my cul-de-sac because I was home alone with the children and couldn’t be too far away from them.

.75 miles in, I got this excruciating pain in my right AT and knee. This was new because I never have knees issues. I ran through it, thinking I could work it out. By the 2 mile mark, I was in some serious pain, so I wrapped it up and went home. FAIL!


July 12th, 2011 – 3.00 Mile Run
It had been about a week since my last run. I had allowed the time off because my right AT and knee were killing me and the kids’ swim lessons were right there in my running slot.

I asked Chris to drop me off at the BGC so I could run home. The goal was the get home in time to make it to their lesson. I ran up the driveway as they were loading into the car. I was sweaty and a little gross, but Mission Accomplished!

Felt good.

July 14th, 2011 – 1.00 & 1.08 Mile Runs
These runs were great. We still had to get the kids to swim lessons. I decided that even though it was only a mile away, I should go ahead and run over there. Otherwise, I wouldn’t get a run in at all. Jordan decided he wanted to go with me so it became a walk. But that’s OK. Spending time with my boy is always a win even if the pace is slow slow slow.

I also wanted to run back home after class. By then, Jordan was wet, cold and exhausted, so I was able to sprint it. I maintained my 5k pace, even including the traffic stops. SCORE! It was the exact same route, so I don’t know where the extra .08 came from, but I’ll take it.

Swim lessons go on for another week, so it’s likely that my training will be a little spotty for the next couple days but I’ll get it in where ever I can.

July 4th, 2011 – Independence Day 5k

The continued prayer is, “Lord keep me focused. Keep my mind stayed on You. Help me to bring You praise. I know You believe in me. Please help me in my unbelief. Amen.”

This was kind of a disappointing race. I have been experimenting with several energy drinks trying to find one that can boost my run without giving me night terrors or anxiety attacks.




These are a few I have tried.





I bought a 6 pack of the BAZI online because I got a sample at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half in Los Angeles. I figured if they were present at a major event, they must be fantastic. Well, not so much. Or not for me anyway.

I tried it and got the worst stomach cramps and some pretty weird dreams. Also it caused me to have heart palpitations while I was sleeping which was very scary.

Today, I wanted to try the 5-Hour Energy shot. The grape flavor. First of all, I don’t know how they came up with “grape” but it was nothing of the sort. I can’t even describe what it tasted like but it was awful.

I’m not opposed to drinking yucky things if they will enhance my run, so I chugged it and made my way to the Start Line.

I started out pretty strong but I immediately started to feel my heart rate increase. My muscles weren’t tired but regulating my breathing was becoming an issue so I slowed my pace a bit. When my heart rate still didn’t come down I had to stop.

STOP!!! During a 5k?!?!?!?

WHO WALKS A 5K?!?!?!?

Well... Lots of people actually. This was a fun run and there lots of families and pets and friends and it was a really great event. But for me to have to stop and walk the rather gentle inclines of this race was a major defeat for me.

When I couldn’t regulate my heart rate, I started to panic. And if I couldn’t pull it together, I was going to hyperventilate. Passing out at a Family Fun Run would be the height of humiliation.

So I shelved my pride and started walking up the inclines. Whenever I felt like my heart rate was back to normal, I tried to make up some time but in the end, I finished in 36:16, which 5 minutes off my best time.

Yuck!

So the moral of my story is that energy drinks are not for me.

This was the first race I've ever done that I thought was a flat failure. I knew there'd have to be one. The best thing to do is not obsess about it and move on.

*sigh*

Here we go. See ya the next race.

June 24th & 26th, 2011 - 3.42 & 6.10 Mile Runs

The continued prayer is, “Lord keep me focused. Keep my mind stayed on You. Help me to bring You praise. I know You believe in me. Please help me in my unbelief. Amen.”

Both of these runs were nice and relaxing. I was feeling pretty good but I wanted to just clock some maintenance runs because I know how important it is to fully recover after a race. Especially a Half. My goal is to get to a point where I am doing 10-mile runs every weekend. Once that becomes the norm, maybe I’ll be able to do a Half with no down time. As it is, I gave myself 5 full days of rest before I attempted another run.

June 24th, 2011 – 3.42 Mile Run
I’d been feeling pretty good. The only issues I seemed to have were the toes on my right foot. Just my right foot… Which I thought was strange. I had clipped my toenails but I bought new, high- endurance running socks for the race.

Now, I know that you are not supposed to use new gear on a major race but I figured socks couldn’t really be classified as “gear”.

I know! I can hear myself saying it and it sounds stupid to me too! Of *course* socks are gear!!!! Pretty important gear at that! Anything touching your feel, legs, head or arms is pretty important gear on a major run!

Well, lesson learned and I had the blisters to prove it. For a while I thought I might lose my big toenail, but I think that danger has passed.

One of the reasons I took so long in getting back on the pavement was because I could not comfortably wear closed-toed shoes (or even socks) for 5 days.

As soon as I could take any pressure on them, I was lacing up my Brooks just to get a few miles in.

I wasn’t expecting much from this run. I just wanted to see if I could run comfortably for any distance.

Turned out, my legs didn’t feel nearly as heavy as I thought they would and my muscles weren’t as tight.

Almost a mile into the run, I saw this sign. I scribbled out the phone numbers because I thought it prudent and I thought the sign was funny.



Many thoughts ran through my mind: How does one go about getting goats in the city and once you have them, what could transpire to make one lose them? Not only that, what would one do, if on a run, he or she came across said goats? Why, call the number of course! I think it’s funny that they describe the goats, as if they might be confused with any other goats.

Anyway, I hope they find their goats.

June 25th, 2011 – No Running Today
In Loving Memory of The King of Pop. RIP, King Michael.





June 26th, 2011 – 6.10 Mile Run
Interestingly, I didn’t want to do this run but I couldn’t think of anything else I wanted to do. When I explained this to Chris, he said, ‘Why don’t you just relax”….. Well, that didn’t sound like something I would do.

So I laced up the Brooks again and headed out for an easy run up the hill to check out a trail I’d been meaning to explore for quite awhile.

This trail is in a *really* nice neighborhood at the top of a hill where the lawns are well manicured and the streets and sidewalks are wide and arranged with open-air exercise in mind and they have trails all throughout the development.

Fortunately, they are all owned and maintained by the City so the public have access to them too. I can’t afford to live up there but I can afford to live near enough to run up and take advantage for the beautiful scenery.

I knew this was going to be a rough run because (1) it was hilly. Everything after mile 1 was hilly; and (2) I am not at all confident about running trails. There were times when I could open up and put on a little more speed, but I didn’t because I can sprain my ankle on a shadow. So precarious footing makes me *really* cautious.

Also, not knowing exactly where I was going puts me on edge a little too.

But I had plenty of daylight and I began to see immediately that at no point was the neighborhood out of sight. If anything happened, I probably could make enough noise to attract the attention of a resident. So I cranked up the gospel music and moved as quickly as I dared.

It was a nice run and a pretty decent workout. I was going pretty slowly but I sprinted up every incline and took as much time as I wanted to recover.

It was great to stop and just look around this beautiful area on this glorious day! And wonder what it might be like to live up here in one of these grandiose mansions.

At about the 3 mile mark, I came across this sign.



Ah, well….. How many times have we longed for something, only to find that it’s contaminated with sewage?

June 18th – City Impact Beachfront Half Marathon

The continued prayer is, “Lord keep me focused. Keep my mind stayed on You. Help me to bring You praise. I know You believe in me. Please help me in my unbelief. Amen.”

I am glad to have this race under my belt. It was a small event and I was able to finish it in 2:37, according to my watch. That’s the time I’m stickin' with. The official time will be different but I didn’t trust it.

The organizers offered 2 start times. Runners with an expected finish time of more than 2:30, started at 7am and every one else got to start at 8am. So they didn’t start the clock when we started. They didn’t start it until the gun fired for the faster runners. They took our numbers and told us they would just "add an hour" to our times. I felt like their margin for error was going to be pretty high, so I was very careful with my own time piece.


How demoralizing would it be to get passed at some point by someone who started AN HOUR after I did!!!!



It happened though…… many times. But by then, I was just focused on trying to finish.

I was upset with my finish, but I shouldn’t have been. My training consisted of working to do a 12 minute pace for 10 miles. I managed to maintain an 11:57 mile pace for 13.1 miles. If I wanted to do to it faster, I should have trained to do it faster.

Since I did what I trained to do, I’m calling it a win. Also, my main goal was to PR, which I did. Anything faster than 2:45 was going to be a PR for me. Eight minutes off my best time is nothing to sneeze at, but do wish I’d done better. I wanted to finish in 2:30. But I'm still calling it a win, so the bib goes up on the cork board with all the other races I'm proud of.




It was an out and back route and it was relatively flat. We were right on the beach almost the entire time and the weather was gloomy and perfect for a half marathon. It really was a great time. I enjoyed myself thoroughly.

I made the mistake of running in brand new socks and I have the blisters to prove it. Youch!!! I wanted good quality, high endurance socks that were moisture wicking and wouldn’t have holes by the end. They stood up to the task but left me raw and sore.




I stopped off to see Cindy McTeer at Bella Cosas in Camarillo, so I could add a sailboat charm to my bracelet. Every Half Marathon gets a charm.




They didn’t do finisher’s medals for this race. Every finisher got a finisher’s metal bottle. I’m not sure that I’ll ever use it, but there it is.


This is me, back at home with a tired and achy smile. The chaos doesn’t stop just cuz I decided to run 13.1 miles this morning, so I’ve got chores to do and kids to bathe.




Besides, it’s Father’s day weekend. Chris needs to be spoiled and pampered.

Happy Father’s Day to all the super hero Dad’s out there!!!!!

June 14th, 2011 – 3.44 Mile Run

The continued prayer is, “Lord keep me focused. Keep my mind stayed on You. Help me to bring You praise. I know You believe in me. Please help me in my unbelief. Amen.”

This was a good tempo run. I stayed in the 10:?? min/mi range (excluding traffic light stops), which is around my 5k Race Day pace (in a flat, road race).

This was challenging for me but extremely satisfying. If I can work up to maintaining that pace for a full 13.1 miles, that would be the dream.

As it is, I was proud to keep it going for nearly 3.5 miles.

The ultimate goal is to still be doing this when I’m 75 so I need to keep that in mind while I’m pounding the pavement. I’d rather cross the finish line last then have to go see the doctor the next day.

While I do want to be careful, I also want to be sure to continuously challenge myself.
That’s what this run was about. It felt good.

I feel like I earned my rest tonight…. And maybe a chocolate chip cookie or two.

G’night!

June 11th, 2011 – 10.05 Mile Run

The continued prayer is, “Lord keep me focused. Keep my mind stayed on You. Help me to bring You praise. I know You believe in me. Please help me in my unbelief. Amen.”

I started out this run with the sole purpose of covering 10 miles. It didn’t matter how long it took. I just wanted to be able to cover the distance because I hadn’t done it in quite some time.

I have the Half next weekend and I just need to get through it because I feel like I haven’t trained for it all. So this run was very important. Of course, I would like to PR, but at this point am just determined to finish it.

In order to PR, I have to finish in less than 2:45. I have been frustrated lately because I have been following a couple of people who had decided to train for a Half for various reasons: weight loss, better fitness, some life milestone, a sense of accomplishment, etc. They are very like me, not super-athletes, not stick thin, busy mothers and wives making time to train whenever they can. And they have managed to finish this distance in under 2:30, one was 2:33, but I’d gladly take that too.

So I looked back on my past blog entries to see if I could see where I went wrong.

With the Wounded Warrior Half, I finished in 2:45. After looking at the blog entry, I saw that I stopped at every mile to take a snap shot of every mile marker. I took pix of the funnier military signs and the cute Navy kids (well, they were grown, but they were 20-something).

It could be argued that this was an opportunity wasted. This took place on a Naval Airport Base so it was a flat course and if I was going to PR, this would have been the venue to do so. However…. It was my very first Half Marathon, so any finishing time would have been a PR. Also, I wanted to be very present for this race, so I am glad to have it well documented. But all the unnecessary stops really cut into my time. I can avoid that this time.

Also, for that race I had only trained for 10 miles. I had only covered the full distance once in my training. This remains an issue. Sure have several months of steady training under my belt now, but I have only covered 10 miles once in my training and have not covered the full distance. This being the week of, it’s likely that I will be tapering and not covering the full distance during training at all. So I fully expect to hit the mall. If I can stave it off until mile 10, as opposed to mile 7 or 9, I will consider myself a success.

The Rock’n’Roll Half Marathon was even worse as far as time goes. After looking at my blog entry for that race, I realized, I’d forgotten my watch in the car, so I couldn’t time my intervals. I had trained all year with 4 and 1 intervals but had no way of tracking it for the race. This was a major time killer. I finished in 2:50.

Also, I was scheduled to be on the ABC hit game show, WipeOut the next day. That was just a scheduling fluke. I had auditioned for the show, never dreaming that I’d be selected, but I was and we were set to shoot the day after the Half.

All the goals I had been nurturing all year were (no pun intended), wiped out. I just wanted to finish without hurting myself so I could be on the show the next day….. and then hurt myself. Which is exactly how it went.

Finally, miles 8 and 9 were almost completely uphill, so I ended up walking almost a mile, which sliced into my time. Having hills, so close to the end of the race was cruel and unusual…well maybe not unusual, but cruel.

Well, I have studied the course of the race this weekend and found it to be flatter than the routes I have been training on. This is good. I will *NOT* forget my watch, even if I have to sleep in it the night before! I have no bone-crushing game shows to appear on the next day and while Ventura is beautiful in spring, the nostalgia of my first Half is passed, so I won’t be stopping to take pix during the race.

With that in mind, even though I have only trained up to the 10 miles, I feel like I am up to posting a PR on this race. Anything under 2:45 would be fine with me and if I can add another medal to my collection, I will consider myself a success.