DNF

Got up at 5:30am so that I could drive 35 miles to Seabrook Island for a 10K Saturday morning. Arrived with 45 minutes to spare, and 45 minutes to be consumed by no-see-ums. I am covered in bites!

Felt great to start this race. Hadn't run in like a week, due to this thing on the bottom of my foot that I will not elaborate on. It was like 65° and humid, but not a problem. I had ample time in an air conditioned restroom. I stretched and warmed up a bit. I felt great and was totally ready to go when the gun went off.

First mile was fabulous!! I was doing about a 9:30 mile I think, and I found 2 girls to pace with. Just after the first mile marker, I started to feel a vague tightness in my right calf, from my ankle up to the top of my calf. MOO. Strange, but not something that made me slow down or anything. Just around the 2 mile marker, though, I distinctly felt something pop or snap. Within my calf muscle. Pulled over immediately to try to stretch it, but it was not like anything I'd ever felt before so I was worried. .3 mile later was the water station, which I kind of walked to, and told them I would need a ride back to the start. I dropped out. I quit.

It was embarrasing. It was very disappointing. I cried and I felt like a loser. So ridiculous, now looking back on it. Stupid thing to cry about really. But I know that continuing would have been a BIG mistake. Just sucks because I was feeling SO GREAT up until this moment, and I know I would have had a good time, and possibly even come in under an hour. And I wanted to see the rest of the course!!! SHIT! That sums it up nicely. Shit.

So, I spent the rest of the weekend pea-bagging and heat-padding, alternately. UGH. It did point out to me that there may/will come a time when I can no longer run. And to stay focused on the positives - I am SO glad this happened in a tiny race (I mean there could not have been more than 150 people at this race) and at a shorter race (I would have been so upset if this had been one of my halfs).

OK that's all on that.

Enjoyed the rest of the rain-drenched weekend. Enjoyed some wine. Some Twilight. Some Paranormal Activity 3. Some sushi. A gymnastics birthday party with Ansley, which will  lead to her Summer Gymnastics Class :)

And that's it!! Laters!

Hoppy Times

Super fun Easter weekend, 2012. Friday, school was closed, so Ansley and I had a free day off! Despite it having been in the 80's and sunny for weeks prior, Friday was (as I like to claim) 30° and snowing. Well, truly it was 55° and raining.

We started the day off at the Casa de Waffles.

Then a cozy afternoon of napping in mommy's bed, followed by dyeing Easter eggs.

Saturday, all 3 of us went to the Aquarium in the morning, followed by another luxurious nap in mommy & daddy's bed, and then cupcake making.

Sunday, we went to 7:30 a.m. mass. Ansley was very well-behaved. And this is her Easter look.

And, one final nap in mommy and daddy's bed, then off to the beach!

Pictures speak thousands of words, so that's all I got. This was really just an exercise in blogging w/ photos. Clearly, lots more to be learned about how to properly place photos!

oops I did it again

Worst. Bridge Run. Ever.

As usual, I have my excuses things I attribute my poor performance to.
- needed to pee, had to stop to pee during the race
- too hot
- playlist sucked
- hungry / famished

But, also, this time there were legitimate problems with the race.
1 - delayed 1 hour. not only were we delayed 1 hour, but we were told every 5-10 minutes that we would be starting in 2 minutes, or starting in 30 seconds, or starting in 5 minutes, for real this time. serious mental destruction.

My view for the first hour of the race:

2 - it really was hot and humid, and since we started the race about the same time I had been expecting to finish the race, it was full on sunshine.

So, I really struggled on the bridge. Walked a lot. Disappointing. My chip time will say 1:07:58, but since I took out the time it took me to stop to pee, I am going with my official time of: 1:06:20. 6 minutes and 21 seconds worse than what I was hoping for.

But, on that note, race season is officially OVER!! Very pleased with adding (2) 10Ks, (1) 15K, and (3) Half Marathons this year. I think it's good progress, and more than I've done in a good long while. Looking forward to some good races in the Fall, and moderate training over the summer time. Keep it moving.

Surely I can talk about something other than races and my obession with weight.

Spring is in the air. First beach day was this past Sunday, though we went in streetclothes like Mexicans at Coney Island.

First TRUE beach day is hopefully this coming Friday, Good Friday. School is closed, so we will lube up early and beat the traffic. I love that I can lounge while she runs and plays now. Good age. She's still afraid of the actual ocean, but we can just set up near a gully and she's content for hours. Not that us pasty white folks can stay for hours.

Signing off now. The more often that I write on this blog, the more chances it has of becoming interesting at some point. Stay with me, folks. PEACE.

Regret? I don't think so.

Well. I technically still have 2 days in which to lose 5% of my starting body weight, run 11 more times (to make 30 times), and somehow give back the 9 bottles of wine that I went over my goal of 10. Pathetic!!

Y'all. I apologize?!!???

I have NEVER been good with long term goal setting or following through. So maybe it's time for me to set smaller goals. Daily goals. Maybe it's time for me to stop setting goals altogether? Maybe just work on being more grateful for what I have and what I can do, rather than concentrating on the stuff that I am not great at or drawing more attention to my weaknesses.

This post will be all over the place. Sorry.

Earlier this month, I completed my 3rd half marathon in as many months. This one (inaugural Columbia half) was by far the hardest, yet of the 3, it was my best time. 2:27:40. I am pleased with all of this. It's good for me, and I am lucky that I can get out there and see it through to the finish line. There's one thing I don't quit.

Also, this blog is silly and pointless unless I do it more often, and that, in itself, will probably help me stay more aligned with my goals.

LA LA LA.

Anyway, I am back. I know you all have missed me. I will update you next week, after this weekend's BRIDGE RUN 10K. My 8th go at that one, and I am aiming for right at 1 hour. We shall see.

The Back 9

Well. It really is like 95% mental, I am telling you. Just did the Charlie Post Classic 15K, a lovely seaside race with only like 400 participants. I think I finished #336. (But, in reviewing the race results, I noticed that I beat one of my coworkers - a male coworker at that - by 10 heads.) What I did not realize is that a 15K is NOT 9 miles. It is 9.3 miles. I did not learn about that additional .3 mile until the 9th mile was complete, which was a total buzzkill. I seem to have little excuses or little things to blame my performance on. Last time it was digestive issues. This time it was that extra .3 mile, plus seriously weak legs, and the fact that there were only 2 water stations in 9 miles. I was expecting more! But why am I even making excuses? Of my recent longer distance runs, this pace was, like, my best. I am improving, so why am I still making excuses!? Ridiculous! 15K in 1:38:57, for a pace of 10:37 per mile. I will take it.

What else? Barre class resumed Monday. I am glad to be in there getting a workout for the rest of me. Diet is still poor. One thing at a time. But, the exercise plan remains:

Mondays - Barre
Tuesdays - Run
Wednesdays - Barre
Thursdays - Barre
Fridays - Run
Saturday or Sunday - Run
**which leaves 1 day per week of rest**

Regarding my March 31st goal, I have lost 0% of my bodyweight to date. :) Better get crackin'.

Peace out, readers.

I wish I was as thin as I was when I thought I was fat

Stole that title caption from some picture that was circulating on Facebook, and I wanted to talk about that on today's post. Because, I could easily still be saying that come Memorial Day Weekend, if I don't get it in gear. Once again, I am going to put some deadlines on my fitness goals, because that has worked so well for me in the past. The difference is, this time, they are being documented in cyberspace for the whole world to see my shortcomings. Or, in this case, my achievements!

Q1-2012 Goals (deadline is March 31st)

1. Lose 5% of my current body weight. See, this is totally vague so I don't have to embarrass myself in front of ALL of my readers by telling you my actual number, yet it is also totally measurable! And I will not lie in my progress reports.
2. Run 30 times between January 23 - March 31. Nike+ will keep track of this for me.
3. Drink no more than 10 bottles of wine between same dates. Funny - some of you are going to think this is a challenge in that I am going to limit myself to a mere 10 bottles of wine. HOW will that be possible??? And others of you might be thinking that this is not even a sacrifice or a challenge at all. Perspective, people. Oh, and the count begins with the bottle I opened last night. So I am already at 1/2 a bottle. $hit.

If I do these things, I will be able to look back on the previous 10 weeks and not be regretful of what I could have done. I need to stop being so lame and WEAK. And I need to take charge of my own situation and fix what I don't like. Stop the relentless bitching and dissatisfaction. Turn it around. Or else in 2 months I will be wishing I was as thin as I am right now, which is not thin. Don't argue me on that.

And when March 31 comes, I will set new goals for Q2. And so on and so forth.

This weekend was very un-memorable. I think I need some gingko-biloba or whatever.

2 down, 1 to go

Hi strangers. Sorry I have been MIA. I am sure both of you have really missed reading my updates.

This past weekend was the Charleston 1/2 Marathon. It was wretched! Bitter cold at the start, and overall very loosely organized. The first 2 miles were through downtown Charleston, which was beautiful and an inspiring setting to run in. Then the last 11 miles were through the absolute worst part of town. In fact, I am pretty sure that North Charleston ranks somewhere in the Top 10 Deadliest Cities in America. It's a wonder no one was murdered during the race. We ran past strip clubs, dilapidated homes, vacant warehouses with bums and their grocery carts lingering on the loading docks. At at least one water station, I had to pour myself a cup of Gatorade because the volunteers weren't doing it (or couldn't keep up, or weren't properly trained). The last 1/2 mile was nice - through N Charleston's brand new (well relatively new) Riverfront Park and I can't wait to find out what kinds of things they do there in the spring/summer months. It's really nice and I had no idea it was there. Anyway, I finished in 2:37:17, which beats 6 weeks ago by only 6 minutes. But this course was significantly, if only mentally and emotionally, harder than Kiawah was. Oh, and I was not feeling to well in the digestive realm, which also slowed me down considerably! EXCUSES!!!

By Sunday afternoon, I had no soreness, no real signs that anything had occured just 1 day prior. Suzanne was my race buddy again, and afterwards we shared a beer, and then went for lunch at Fleet Landing. Good times had by all.

I just want to say, on an unrelated note, how happy I am and how blessed I feel. Every night I tuck my daughter into bed, and she asks me for more.... more water, more stories, more back-scratching, more everything. Sometimes I catch myself, because I just want to get back downstairs to my wine and magazines or whatever other ridiculousness I have planned for the evening. But I do catch myself. The day is going to come when she wants nothing to do with me. She doesn't really even let me carry her up to bed anymore - so it is already starting. So I stay with her, and read one more story, sing one more song, scratch whatever body part she wants me to. It is a painful, heartwrenching love. I know she is only on loan to me, and I savor every second I have with her, because everything can change in an instant. Not to be so morbid, but I think about death and illness and tragic stuff all the time. I don't know if it's something I've taken on since motherhood began, or since Jimmy's father died almost 4 years ago, or if it's just because we are now at the age where everyone's parents are getting sick/old/problems. It seems like it's everywhere! Anyway, my point is really just to keep reminding myself that it is not always going to be this good (even when some things are NOT that good to begin with), it could always be/get worse. And we won't know that until after the fact.

Oh. And as I went through a little bout of road rage last night, I called a driver an asshole. And then my sweet innocent little girl promptly repeated back to me "you're an asshole." OK so note to self, I really have to start watching my mouth!!!

So, next on my race calendar is the Charlie Post Classic which is a 9-miler on Sullivan's Island on January 28th. I am looking forward to that one!

Off to update my history now. Stay tuned. And thanks! :)