The New Plan For the Day

It's been a really long, rough week around here, so I had mixed emotions about prying myself out of bed this morning to run. But, my commitment to it and to me didn't leave me with an option to not do it. So, I had to come up with a way to supplement the long-standing plan. You know me; it's just as much about what I make of the experience as it is about the running itself.

Enter: The Late-Night Plan!

You might remember last Saturday when I woke up and had a fabulous idea to take Aaron with me on my run! Yay! That was excellent. But, because I scaled back my intended miles for the trade of us going together, I also pummeled us both with pool exercises that afternoon. I knew I couldn't pull that off a second Saturday (I have to wait 'til he forgets that day ... I think I can try it again next summer ...), so I revised and proposed. It went like this:

Me: Soooo ... how 'bout you join me tomorrow morning? Let'saddonemoremile, you set the pace and that's it. (I added that last sentence really fast before he could answer the "join me" question and the first part super fast so he might not catch it.)
Aaron: No being mean to me in the pool later?
Me: Promise.
Aaron: Just one more mile?
Me: Swear.
Aaron: *pause*pause*pause* Okay. I'll do it.

And, so the plan was set! This morning, we were off:

I convinced Aaron that taking a water bottle
for each of us was a great idea ... an even
better idea was putting ice in both of them!
Fabulous!

Then Aaron started in on talking about how
these water bottles are "made for right-handed
people." Um ... 'scuse me? I had no idea what
he was talking about. He told me it "felt weird
in his left hand." I asked him to show me how
he was holding it, and this is what he showed
me. Note the thumb which is not at all how to
hold that bottle. In fact, wrapping your hand
around the bottle totally defeats its purpose.

I showed him proper form. I love that
water bottle and will not have it disparaged!
Actually, I just wanted him to have it (a) to
have a more pleasurable outing, and (b) so
I wouldn't feel all bad having water and he
didn't, so he needed his own because the
likelihood of my wanting to share mine
along route was pretty low.

Elly was so very hopeful ...

... but, she knew "before" pics with no
leash on were a really, really bad sign
for her participation. See you soon,
sweet puppy!

And, we're off!

Before leaving, I proposed two different routes to Aaron. He
chose one he'd not before done. I was very pleased with his choice
because it held the most penny promise. See?! Early pay off!!
Along the entire route, there were three more of those babies!!

Half way through, I took us straight to some
shade for a water break. There was a time I
never would have stopped for a minute. I think
you know by now those days are looooong
gone ... and that right-handed-water-bottle water
was simply fabulous!

Also fabulous? Sprinklers in reach!! Yeah!!

Okay, so we were just about to wrap up our outing when Aaron pointed out the street where he found a bunch of BB's yesterday when he and Elly were walking. Of course, I just had to investigate as it's almost impossible to pick up all free-range BB's in a single visit. Aaron needed to head home, but I ran the street he and Elly checked out yesterday. As well, I rounded the corner to run a cul-de-sac that seems to always have money in it (why do I not have it on my normal route?!) and ran another section to add distance to my run. The result:

That's right ... big bank in the court!! That's a quarter!!

It was a great run with great scores!

A super-sweet stash to be sure. Do you know what was not
super-sweet? ME ... every time I reached for a BB, I was clearly
reminded that I needed a shower!



And, one more little nugget of fun? Check it out:

The pink ones glow in the dark!!! Bonus bounty!!!!

That was SUCH a great way to start my day ... EXACTLY what I needed. THANK YOU, Aaron for joining me on this adventure! Here's to tomorrow's Total Rest Day! See you then!

Set Yourself Free

The other day, I slipped in a few moments to read from the June 2012 issue of Self magazine (They have some good stuff in there!!). I indulged myself in an article excerpted from Marie Tillman's book The Letter: My Journey Through Love, Loss and Life. She is the widow of Pat Tillman, the NFL player who enlisted in the Army post 9/11 and was killed in Afghanistan less than three months after his arrival.

She wrote about later finding her husband's copy of Ralph Waldo Emerson's collected writings and coming across an underlined passage that leaped out at her. Indeed, it leaped at me, too:

"Be not a slave to your own past."

That totally struck a chord with me. What a huge concept to consider. What a statement of personal freedom.

I've thought about this statement many times over since reading it, and I will continue to ponder it. While so applicable in many ways in my every day in my life, I know I will apply it to who I am as a runner again and again and again. Including tomorrow morning. See you after I'm out there.

What Comes Around

I was so thankful to be able to take Elly out this morning. I've been waiting to turn her mileage over into the 120s (for no other reason than it's a more round number than 119.95!). I was just able to squeak her out there before the temperature was too high. We got it done. And, it was good.

Also good are those zinneas right behind her. All of them are volunteers as were many other surprises in my garden this year! I love when that happens. I decided they're my reward for all of the volunteer hours I put in to PC#3's Runner's Club this school year! Of course one has nothing to do with the other, but it's fun to decide it does in my world!

See you on tomorrow's Rest Day!

Sweat Equity

First thing's first ... It's ONE MONTH 'TIL THE OLYMPICS!!!!

There. I said it. Yelled it! I LOVE THE OLYMPICS!!! Did you know if Michael Phelps wins three medals in the London games that he will be the most decorted Olympian ever?! Holy smokes! I'm rooting for that and cannot wait to watch as much of the Games coverage as I can!! I love 'em all!

I especially love seeing the cameras on the families in the stands. I love seeing that kind of support! Sometimes, those visuals make me cry a little bit. Yup, it's true. It reminds me of my very supportive Pit Crew!

See 'em there in the middle all in shades of blue? Fabulous!
The beginning of a run when everyone's cheering the runners
out of the gate is one of my very favorite running moments!

Back here in amateur world, I report today's run was a major success! If you want to know the truth, I don't remember most of it. I wasn't fully awake, and my brain was simply elsewhere. Some mornings are like that, and that's okay. It was better that my body was ready and willing to take on what my brain wasn't. Pretty cool.

I was rewarded early on with a penny (hooray!) and when I was within a quarter mile from finishing with a pink BB ...

See it? Why so blurry? Because I happened to take the picture
while dropping the BB! This is seconds before it bounced right
into a crack ... down she gooooooes!!! That moment evoked a
big gasp from me ... I love finding treasures and would hate to
lose them! There's a lot of sweat equity in those gems!

Good golly, that had potential to be very difficult to find! But,
I had an idea ... I asked PC#3 to stand directly above where it
fell through so when I got below the deck, I'd know where to
look. There's PC#3's eyeball! He's saying "hi."

With that system, I found it easily. See it? Look hard, it's there.
But, if you'd like a closer look ...

Ta-Da!

I went back up to the deck and tried again. This time, success!

Thanks for helping, PC#3! He's an awesome Crewer!

He also loves how I smell after running! Can't you tell?

He's not dramatic at all!

That's more miles in the books, more treasures found and both land and pool resistance training completed. That's a full day of goodness! It's supposed to be a hot-n-steamy one ... tune in to see just how full of goodness that run is!

Make It Simple

After a really great run and subsequent resistance training workouts yesterday, I do not hesitate to say that I thoroughly enjoyed some lounging in the pool yesterday afternoon! I did figure out a new, relatively restful exercise in the pool, though ... it's my answer to tricep dips! All you have to do is put your noodle behind you, and hold it with your hands facing forward. Then, instead of dipping your body down and pushing up (like you would if you were using a chair), hold your body still while you push the noodle down and let up. Clearly, there's not as much resistance going on as if you were out of water, but the burn still came when the double digits hit! PC#3 tried it with me and agreed about the burn factor! It was cool, though, because it's pretty easy and unobtrusive to do while talking. Excellent: Another way to sneak it in! And, for a beginner in the upper body workout world, this is a great addition to my start-up routine!

I like when good things are easy, and that's what last night's dinner was about, too! You might remember these:

Mmm ... mmm ... super good for you chicken quesadillas!!
You can check out the step-by-step here.

I love having these, but they are tricky to flip on the pan because the stuff can slide around. And, sometimes, that's annoying because I'm just not in the mood to chase a rogue black olive or restuff cooked spinach that started spilling out. Last night, we had all of the ingredients to make them at one time (that doesn't tend to happen without intentional planning!), so I was determined to make them and not be annoyed doing so!

My solutions? First, I mashed up the avocado, added some garlic and lime juice and made a guacamole spread. Fabulous! Avocado is slippery which adds to the falling-all-over-the-place factor I'm trying to decrease, so bring on the spread! Second, I rolled up the stuffed tortilla before cooking and cooked it seam down first to seal it together. From there, each were turned and cooked on four sides. Nothing fell out, and it worked beautifully! Yeah!!! So simple! Take a look!

The perfect solution. Roll 'em up! So easy!

Of course, a Hungry Girl recipe margarita was the perfect beverage choice:

Come to mama ...

And, I totally love using Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Totally winning.

I'm so glad I finally listened after hearing this was the perfect
swap for so many years. It only took hearing it about 20 times
for it to sink in and convince me to give it a try!

We were having a carpet picnic, and Elly decided she was joining us.

Nice try, Elly. Now, move.

An easy dinner that didn't fall all over the place and tasted delicious was the perfect way to cap off the day! Try these quesadillas-turned-burritto!! They're so very yummy and crazy-good for you!!

Tomorrow's a run day!! See you then!

Look Both Ways

I woke up way before my human alarm (aka: Aaron) and could only think the following: When I'm looking forward to the day as a whole, why is it always so difficult to get out of bed in the first place? It's a question for the ages, isn't it? Figuring that out was going to take more time than I had this morning, so once Aaron came in to wake me up and I got my grumblies out, I hit the road!

It was too hot to take Elly, so I chose a route I can't run with her ... and one that holds promise of some cha-ching! I wondered how I was going to feel today after mixing up the ol' routine this weekend. I assumed I'd be a little stiff and not as mentally ready to run. I was (as usual) totally wrong! I felt strong, and I was totally ready to rock this run! I guess mixing it up did me a world of good!

I ran with the theme (no pun intended, but that was crafty) and at the half-way point, instead of simply turning around and going back, I headed to the other side of the street. You would be amazed at how simply crossing the street makes a world of difference along what has become a very familiar route!

You don't know I'm on the other side. But
I am. And, it's awesome.

Not only did crossing the street help me change it up, but, it was also the shadier side! (Hey, remember that scene in Father of the Bride 2 when Nina and George just learn she's pregnant, and they're driving away from the doctor's office with Nina seeing lovely scenes of parents and children on the sunny side of the street while George sees terror-inducing kids on the shady side? I love that scene.) Anyway, the shade made the trash bag obstacle course portion of the route totally worth it! Along the way, I pondered how much it would suck to trip over one of those bags and either twist an ankle or fall into traffic. Then I found a nickel right in the street. After waiting for cars to pass, I reached out and got it. I resumed running and spent time wondering if life insurance would've paid out if I'd fallen into traffic from reaching for a nickel. "I'm sorry, sir, but you can't collect because she died being stupid."

And, that's why you look both ways before crossing a street or before picking up the riches you discover on it.

Clearly, I heed my own advice because I'm here to report that side of the street was full of ba-da-bing! I'd already found a penny in the first half mile in the sun; on the shady side, I found 17 more cents!

Sometimes, they try and outsmart me by
using camouflage. An amateur ploy.

This side of the street is also where the sprinkler system lives!
I tried to benefit from it, but they were too far away. I felt a
total of four drops ... but they were four good drops! When it's
that hot, anything is a gift!

No sooner did I enjoy my drops did I look
down to see that dime right there!

Running Pays. Thank you shady street!

Let's not forget the pretties along the way:

One little spot of color amidst a whole
bunch of dried out stuff.

Okay, when I plan a route in the particular direction of today's, the end of it always stinks because it's up hill.

The stretch is 300 steps of pain. Here you
only see half of them as the camera does
not take pics around the corner. Who needs
to see that much pain anyway?

I hate this part, but today it wasn't half as bad as usual (note I did not say it was good; I said it wasn't half as bad). I'm certain that's a result of a combination of rest and continued hard-working of the ol' muscles. Mixing it up is paying off, but I don't yet have a good handle on the best formula for it all. Some of what I've added is routine, and then I add the extra (like the cherry on the icing on the cake ... ooo ... cake ... cold cake is delicious. I don't like cherries though. Just sayin'.). This loose system is working well right now, so my focus is to keep it loose but consistent (consisent = key)because the more I do, the more I'm wanting to do. That's new for me, and I like it!

I also like the end-of-the-run routine when I come home and immediately go to the sitting spot with Aaron and the pooch. We weren't there too long today because it was so thick out there, but we were there long enough for some love:

Tomorrow's Total Rest Day! Yahoo!! See you then!

Just Keep Swimming ...

For starters today, did you see the "Big Nate" (Lincoln Peirce) comic in today's paper? Check out what caught the eye of the junior crewers as they read it and said, "Oh, Mom, you have to keep today's 'Big Nate!' "

In our house, it's not a case of someone walking by a penny, it's
making sure no one gets hurt when everyone's diving for it.

Okay, my entry today is a review of yesterday's supplementary workout. You might recall I blew off doing a long run. It wasn't so much a blow off as a realization that I needed to insert a day to mix up what I've been doing. I needed that mentally as much as I probably did physically. So, after convincing Aaron that a morning jog was a great way to start the day (he disagrees to a point, by the way), I went full throttle on a secondary workout in the pool in the afternoon. And, of course, I invited Aaron to join me!



We started by running the square of the shallow end. Yup, I said running. When's the last time you ran in a pool? It's hard!! But, it was fun because we kept racing each other. PC#2 was with us, and neither she nor I could ever beat Aaron. But, we had fun trying!

Then we moved over to what has been my second-best, right-behind-the-road workout friend this summer:

Hey, it's the formerly known as Not-Getting-In-There Lap Lane.
I've never, ever been a lap swimmer, and even just two years ago
made it a point to let Aaron know I would not waste my time at
the pool purposely exercising. True story.

For the first time in my entire life, I've utilized the lap lane. Before now, I've considered it a total waste of pool space. And, boring. And, did I mention a waste of playing space? This year, I've consistently used the lap lane for upper body workouts. Specifically, I sit on a kick board and make my arms do all of the work back and forth very specifically, very methodically. Ever tried it? Yow! That's some work! I've progressed considerably since beginning, so yesterday's mix-'em-up exercises Kicked. My. Butt.

We used the lap lane to:

• do the upper body work I've been doing; much more fun with a friend!
• swim the deep end while running to the wall and back from the rope in the shallow end (ooof!)
• use kickboards to hold our arms while only kicking -- way more difficult than I anticipated! I whined a bit about that one!

We were at the above for an hour when Aaron said, after lap 10 of the kicking, "I'm finished!" in a no-matter-what-you're-about-to-say way! I was right behind him! I believe I'd already decided that was the last hurrah, but I had not yet told him. I was very ready to just float around for a while! But, besides being pretty pooped, this is how I felt after:

That's from today's Rest Day, by the way. A picture after all of
that yesterday would have looked happy but weary!

This morning, I felt every, single muscle in my arms and legs!! That's the sign of some great work (or of totally wasting a perfectly lovely lounging pool! Ha!). Once I was up and about for the day, though, everything worked itself out and feels fine. But, I made a point to take it easy today to let my muscles chill and reboot. Very important!!

With the pool at my disposal, more of these exercises will continue to come into play, and we'll see if it helps my running or if I exhaust myself. As I'm sure you've experienced, it's so easy to overdo it in the beginning, but with that issue smack dab in the middle of my radar, I will be able to keep it in check and self-correct if I go off course. It's worth going for it and figuring it out!! Besides, the worst that can happen is I get tired and have to grab a noodle to float around for a while. What a pity that would be!

The only pool drawback? Not only are there typically no pennies to be found, but you sure do find a lot of these:

Grody, destructive Japanese beetles ... yuck!

Back to the running tomorrow! See you then! 

Not the Normal Morning

This morning did not start off the way either Aaron or I would have guessed. I had the alarm set to pull myself out of bed at 6:30 a.m. with all kinds of thoughts to get out and run by 7 a.m. and put in a few miles (maybe 4, maybe 5, maybe 6 ... depending on how I felt). It seems, I wasn't feeling it at all. I've had a life-loaded few weeks, and while I've been able to keep up with my running, this morning said, "Yeah. Not today."

I went and turned off the alarm deciding I would, indeed, run, but I would do so on my time today. Too bad for Aaron that I couldn't go back to sleep because I looked at him (all snug as a bug) and got a GREAT idea: He should go with me!

It's been quite some time since we ventured out together, and I decided his company would be just the thing to inspire me! After a bit of banter about "when" and "just how far", he decided this was the way he would start his day, too. Yay!!

A before-smelly shot was required of course!

What I like about going out and about with Aaron is how much
talking we get to do. He kept making me laugh this morning,
though, which is totally counter-productive to jogging. He told
me it was his tactic for slowing me down while we wound our
ways up the inclines. It kept working because when you double
over, you must stop for a sec.

The next thing we knew we were provided a sweet, sweet down
stretch. This was right before we hit Mile 2, the first 3/10 of
which is down hill. That's me celebrating the situation! I'm not
sure what Aaron was doing. (Possibly regretting joining me?!)



Still cruising down!! Aaron decided to
try and draft off of me to make it that
much easier! Aaron: Always Thinking.

At the bottom of that hill, we come to a
pretty busy stretch ... one where I often
find treasure. I pulled Aaron over to my
left so I could spy the street on my right.
See how that paid off?!

A few feet later, I found another. That's
Aaron's, "How on earth are these pennies
here?" look. I, on the other hand, ask no
such questions.

Want to see what I see when I'm behind him? I KNOW! It's not
much, is it? His shoulders do take up some space.

Aaron found his own treasure ... a BB!!
Wheeeee! He was mighty proud. For real.

All finished!! Time for that long-awaited Diet Coke! Mmm ...

As soon as I came up with this most-excellent running plan for the morning, I immediately devised supplementary exercise for later in the afternoon. At the pool. Where it's supposed to be relaxing! I'll fill you in on how Aaron took that surprise tomorrow when we talk about working on but really it's a Total Rest Day!! See you then!

Just Like Me!

The other day, I reached under my bed to say hello to my kitty, and I pulled out from under the bed a back issue of Runner's World magazine. What a perfect place for a magazine, huh? It was the December 2011 issue, and, this morning, I carved out a bit of time to read through it. Sweet!

Before getting to today's highlighted topic, I have to give you the back story of my relationship with this magazine. Two years ago, I happened to see an issue on a bookstore magazine stand. I was two months from running my first Half Marathon, and its special theme on the cover caught my eye:

Yup, I still have that first issue (Aug. 2010).
It has a place on honor in the kitchen with
the cook books. That's much more
honorable than under the bed ...

Okay, so reading about the perfect plan for those 13.1 miles that close to my date was a bit mistimed, but I found myself drawn to the article anyway. However, truth be known, I actually purchased the issue because it had a recipe for a non-oil based basil pesto that I simply had to have. Not even kidding. I mean, I was curious about what lurked between the covers, but the recipe served as a great excuse to check the issue out in the privacy of my own home.

It felt a bit strange that I purchased that magazine. Was I saying I was a runner now? Like, a "real" runner? And, what did that even mean? And, was there really that much to read about for this activity? Was I going to be able to relate to anything other than the pesto recipe?

The answer to that last question is a resounding: yes.

After browsing that first issue, I immediately subscribed for 2 years, and even recently renewed for another 2. Today's little gold mine is a great example of why. This morning, I came upon a spread in that December 2011 issue titled, "Who Are You?" reflecting the responses of a Runner's World survey (reporting 3,946 respondents) to a variety of running-related questions. Before looking at the results, I admit I assumed my answers to the questions would put me in the clear minority of Runner's World readers. I was totally okay with that, but check it out -- I was really wrong. Here are some of my favorites:

For the set above, I loved sitting and thinking about those. I loved that in response to, "Why did you start, running?" there is no overwhelming consensus. In fact, it's clear that there are responses that simply didn't make the cut to report. I think that points to showing there probably as many reasons to do it as are people participating. That just tells me everyone is welcome even if we think (or fear) we're not going to fit in! Then, I really loved the second one responding to why we continue: how cool is it that there are so many good reasons that respondents couldn't pick just one?! I couldn't!

Onward with some favorites:

I LOVED THIS ONE. I loved it because I'm in the norm ... on
any typical week, I can be in that 22% or in the 13%, so it turns
out what I thought might be seen as skimpy is normal for most in
this poll. It was nice to feel ... normal. Who doesn't like to fit in?

This made me giggle a bit. It was less than a year ago that my
feet found their first pair of Asics, and my feet fell in big-time
love. That's a relationship I'm not breaking up. It seems I'm
not alone. I love when I'm smart and don't even know it!

This totally cracked me up -- not because of the responses, but
because this was the only section where the answers were
accompanied by exclamation points! Ha! By the way, my
answer isn't here. If I'm going to truly, intentionally reward a
big run, it's with Chinese food, bring on the crab rangoon! I
don't tend to reward long runs, though, or I'd be looking for
any and every excuse in the world to deem a run as "long." Ha!
Diet Coke will do the trick after the weekend long runs; I'll
save the crab rangoon for a Half!

This was great -- it's exactly how I feel.

It's time to enjoy the rest of the day with some pool time to boot! See you after the morning run, ice-cold Diet Coke in hand!