I ran like a champ today!!!

So I ran in the rain today. It was fun :) I also happened to run 3x further than I've run before without taking a walk break!!! We don't need to actually discuss how far that distance was before and what it is now, no need for embarrassment, but today was a HUGE improvement. The only thing that kept me running, was knowing that as soon as I stopped to walk for the first time, that my shins would be hurting. It was simply a matter of the exhaustion hurting less than I knew my shins would.

As soon as I passed the creepy blue house with the dogs that try to eat me, I knew I was doing good. As soon as I passed the street corner, I had the goofiest smile plastered on my face. This time, I was what was looking creepy on my street :)

Last night my short run went so horribly, I'm really happy I even headed out today. I think my main problem last night was my body fighting off Steve's cold. The first half was ok, but on my way back body aches were sinking in. With my back, and skin, shins and everything else hurting, I hobbled and cried the entire way back. The way back took me 3x as long as the first half. It wasn't pretty. Luckily it was dark. I would have been so embarrassed if people could see me and every car that passed me had to stop to see if I was going to die. Actually, it would have only been one car, I would have had them take me home.

Luckily, I think I must have finished fighting off his cold, because other that my right tonsil being the size of a cantaloupe, I'm feeling good.

Didn't quite run in the rain

I was pretty excited all day for my first run of the week tonight. Even with a walk the past two nights, things are still feeling better with my shin, so I was going to go for it. With Steve heading to McDonald's for a shake, I headed out in the drizzle for a short shuffle. Unfortunately, there is a woods that surrounds our house/yard completely. As soon as I made it to the road, I realized that the slight drizzle that I figured I could handle just fine, was actually coming down sideways. In sheets. And the sides of the road were flooded. So I turned my already soggy self around and hoped Steve got me a shake too. He did....Shamrock :)

Since I have almost nothing running related to say, or anything interesting in general, I'll ramble a little bit more.

If you haven't been to breakingthetape.com, you should check it out. I have a link with my links. Its not overly exciting, but it is a great place to track your runs. Its also where I got my little doo hickey to the right that lists my miles (I know, its been a sad week). It automatically updates on my blog when I enter a new run. Pretty cool, huh?

Another great new thing I've found is a new had soap from Softsoap. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about, the stuff that is usually the cheapest of all the hand soaps at the grocery store. About $2. I think the new one is called Spa Wrap. Its purple and near the bottom refers to essential oils. Seriously, I'm a little embarrassed about getting excited about a hand soap, but it lathers so nice and when you rinse its like you put on a light coat of the nicest lotion. So great. I'm going to buy some for the bathroom at work, hopefully nobody nicks it, but I won't blame them if they do. This stuff is crazy good. Go buy some.

Old Farts Running Club

First and foremost....I would like to announce that it only took me just over two years, but last night I got the handsome Steve to buy two pair of "cool" jeans. Now I only have to worry that he is going to think he is too cool for me and go find a new girl :)

I think I am going to walk my Tues and Wed runs this week. Slowly. I'll still get the miles in, I'd feel too guilty if I didn't, but this poor shin of mine needs a break.

I've been planning on finding a half marathon to run this summer and found one that matches up with my training program perfectly just a 1/2 hour away. Apparently it is crazy hard, they even say right on the website that you WILL NOT run a PR there. But the half is only $20 and you get your t-shirt, a beach towel and a personalized medal. The full is $40 and they throw in a hoody to all of the above. Apparently they aren't trying to make a profit. Its hosted by a running group called the "Old Farts Running Club". That just cracks me up for some reason. Its probably going to stay funny until all these "old farts" leave me in the dust.... and I'm going uphill... on a trail.... in the middle of a probably haunted woods... alone. Remind me to laugh then.

Frozen Peas and Excedrin

At the moment I am sitting in front of Law and Order with a bag of frozen peas on my left shin, wondering how I just ran 3 miles when I can't even stand up right now. I can tell you that 2 Excedrin an hour before the run, makes the run uncomfortable rather than completely impossible. Thursday night I could only hobble (not even walk) my 1.5 and was pretty discouraged. I didn't exactly start to think that this may not have been my best idea ever, just wondering how many painful runs I'll be dealing with.

I'll tell you the one really great thing about the shin splints though. Whenever I want to just sit down and watch some TV instead of cleaning out the garage, I just get out my frozen peas. Steve then is all "let Amy watch what she wants kids, she's got the ice on her leg" and then I just sit back and relax. (j/k, Steve) :)

Seriously though even with the pain right now, I still feel like that was a good, fast, strong 3 miles. Even if I did have to leave our little party to get the run in.

Woo! 28 weeks to Marathon!!

Drunken Hobos

So everyone that knows me, knows that Steve and I recently moved from a less than desirable neighborhood to one that is known far and wide for it loveliness. Our neighborhood was so questionable, that I waited to begin the running thing until we moved two weeks ago. Not to say that the swat team isn't going to bust down a drug house two doors down here, but like my friend Dave said, if it does happen, it is so wooded here that we will never know.

Anyway....I'm trotting along, I just pass the random wooden covered bridge on the trail (because that's what towns with too much tax money put on their bike trails) and I see a drunken hobo that can barely stand up, drinking out of a paper bag. My first thought was wondering if he hopped in the uhaul when we moved and came with us, my second was wondering what he had in the bottle and if it would make my shins feel better. He actually seemed pretty nice; if I see him again I'll ask his name.

There is something else that I've been curious about lately. Maybe there is a skinny runner out there that may have the answer. Is it only because I'm chubby that random strangers offer words of encouragement when I'm out there? I get lots of "good job, good job" and "keep it up, you're doing good". Its never occurred to me to ever say something to someone that looks like they have the running thing under control. Maybe I should though. It kind of makes me feel good.

**Update: My sister, who is known as "Little Jill", said that she gets the words of encouragement too. Apparently people are just friendlier than I thought.

Little dogs, probably big teeth

I still don't know how I feel about the new shoes. Tonight only had a mile and a half on the docket, and I was almost killed. Just as I got up to the creepy blue house down the street, the door opened and out ran dogs growling and barking. Ok, so one couldn't have weighed even a pound and the other one was maybe five pounds, but they still have teeth!! They didn't bite me, or actually even try, but they did touch me. That is enough contact for me!! Steve said he'll pick me up a little thing of pepper spray tomorrow and if I see teeth on anything bigger than those two I'm spraying. Maybe I'm not enough of a dog lover, but I really hate it when dogs aren't restrained. That's what dog parks are for....and fences. Unless they are so old that their hips hardly support them...in that case, throw the leashes away and let them enjoy their last weeks, months, years. Just saying...

I do have something embarrassing to admit....I am possibly the only Michigander that has never been to Florida. I know....one of those things to keep to myself. But my friend emailed me today suggesting a girls 5day, 4night trip in May and I signed right up!! WooWoo!!! Florida here I come!

Today was April Fools Day (hence the date) and for the first time I really played a good one. As soon as I got to work I sent my poor boss an email saying that I was 10 weeks pregnant, that Steve wasn't the father, that I had told him last night, and that I need tomorrow off to move out while he goes to Kevin's house to work. Poor Shannon. She completely fell for it and was even figuring out how to get her husband to hurry up and finish the basement for me to live in it and mentally went through her pregnancy clothes for me. I should have come clean after I took the day off tomorrow!! There were high fives all around for that one :)

I got back from my run about an hour ago, and I can tell you that a couple ibprofen and a little vodka and OJ will solve any discomfort running will cause. Ok, the bag of frozen mixed veggies on my left shin didn't hurt anything either.

I was pretty proud of myself tonight. I didn't run the entire thing, but what I did run was at a pretty good speed. I have two shorter runs a week, and I decided tonight that one of those I'm going to work on picking up my sad shuffle. Considering the fact that when I slow down from my usual pace to a walk, my speed doesn't even really change, I was really trucking tonight. If what I ususally do is a shuffle, and a step up from there would be a respectable jog, I was actually almost running some of it and strongly jogging the rest. Maybe those teeny tiny dogs chasing me was a good thing :)

New Shoes!!

I decided since I am taking this marathon thing as serious as can be, my 3 year old sassy, purple, running shoes that I bought at a dept store on sale, weren't going to cut it. I've read a ton of websites about running (because why start the training when you can just read about it) but have yet to find one that mentions the color of your shoes being an important factor in long distance running.

After about a week of braving myself up to have a shoe person tell me to trot around the running shoe store with my wobbly bits wobbling, shopping I went. Andrew, the guy that helped me with my shoes, was very informative. I did get the sense that he was just doing his job, though. I rolled up my jeans to show my unshaven legs, and trotted bare socked around the store, and bought the shoes he told me I needed. Brooks Addiction 7. Thank heavens, at least they are purple!!

Today was my first day with my new shoes and I really struggled. What really sucked about that was the night before my fiance' came home with a six pack of Amstel Light (my favorite, instead of his preferred Miller Lite) and I didn't drink a single one, because I didn't want to feel in the next morning on my 3 miles. As I was shuffling along, I'm sure resembling a drowning, seizure sufferer, all I could think was "I should have had the beers, should have had the beers". I'm not sure if the new shoes are wrong for me, or if i just am not used to running on the part of my foot that I am supposed to. Since I know I can bring them back in a few weeks if I don't like them, I'm going to keep working with them