Aaaaaand DONE!

The move is finally over! We have handed over the keys to the old place and are free of it, save for getting our security deposit back.

We love the new place already. I was going to take a picture of the river and/or the magnolia tree off of our porch, but I can't find the camera. It is a smaller apartment, but it is very nice. And we have kind of come to enjoy getting rid of excess in the last year. It's kind of cathartic. The dog also loves the new place, although he is still terrified of our neighbors children. We tried to all go for a walk last night, but he was really testing the tensile strength of the leash in order to get as far away from the children as possible. But we are working on it.


Tomorrow we head to the lake (see photo) in the mountains for a week of vacation with my folks. It is a man made lake, but it is super-clean, and there isn't a ton of boat traffic. We can maybe get cell signal sometimes, and if you want to check e-mail you have to go into "town" to the "internet cafe." The internet cafe is very . . . simple. It is LITERALLY a folding table with a computer on it. Seriously. But for the bargain price of .75 I can delete whatever New York & Company's latest e-mail coupon happens to be. And if I get tired of sitting by the pool, sitting by the lake or in a boat, watching a movie, playing trivia or just reading, I can head to the teeny-tiny high school there to run. I did that once last year and it was kind of nice

There will be various other family and friends visiting while we are there, but it will mostly be the four of us. Somehow we have managed to procure two jet skis for this week at the lake, in addition to my parent's boat. The hubs and I are quite excited about this development. My dad is the greatest, but he won't let me take the boat out alone. It's not like I'm almost 30 and haven't spend significant time in/on/around boats every summer for the last 20 years.

I'll be back in a week, unless I make a post from the internet cafe. Have a good one everyone!

Getting there

Well, yesterday was the big move. We got started late, and then had a 2 hour "deadly lightning and hail" delay. Before we knew it, it was time to return the truck. And of course the are still about 30 packed (HEAVY) boxes at the old place.

The hubs is working pretty much all day tomorrow and Saturday. So I get to move the boxes, and I have a feeling I will be all by my lonesome. So no running this week, but I will still be getting a workout - I am more sore today than I was the day after the half-marathon. The next two days should be quite the test for me.

I'm going to go sit on my new patio and look at the reflection of the moon on the river. The big glass of ice cold milk and the chocolate covered pretzels will make it all okay :)

I Love Lamp

I love packing. No really, I love it.

I have a mantra right now: vacation in 7 days, vacation in 7 days, vacation in 7 days

(I added this picture, because it made me laugh. And because he loves lamp as well.)

A New Route

I did my first "vacation" run today. This is really more of just a quick out-of-town trip than a vacation, but I'll call what I did a vacation run anyway.

We are staying in a nice hotel, in a nice part of town, but I wanted to have a route to run anyway. After some good ol' google/mapmyrun.com/favoriterun.com research, I found a nice little 3 mile jaunt that would be easy to remember, and would start and finish right at my hotel lobby. I got dressed and sunscreened. I had my driver's license, room key, and piece of paper with my name and the hub's cell number. If something every happens to me on a run, I want to make the job of identifying me easier for whoever finds me - macabre, I know. ANYWAY, the run itself was quite uneventful - extremely humid, but that was no real surprise.

Marginally of note: I was wearing a favorite pair of running shorts today. I wore this pair for both of my races (about a mile of my run today was actually part of the half-marathon route). The only bad thing about these shorts is that the little liner panty things always ride up, so I am constantly picking a wedgie. (This ride-up thing usually stops after a few miles, but I didn't run far enough today to get to that point.) During the half marathon I really didn't care if people saw me dig my shorts out of my crack, but today I was very aware of the show that the traffic behind me was getting.

Honky Tonk Woman

We are off to B-E-A-utiful Nashville for the rest of the week. The hubs has to go for work, so I am tagging along and making a little vacay of it. It's only a few hours from here, so it is an easy trip to take. And I've got some family and friends to see when I'm there as well. AND I get to meet my new baby cousin, who, it has been said, it the cutest baby ever made. We shall see...

I will probably drag my husband along the route of the half-marathon and point out places where I thought I was going to die (that's all in the last two miles of the route). Good times.

I am fast (and also a nerd).

Last night my running buddy Becky called to see if I wanted to run this morning. At 6:15. I can't say that I really wanted to run at 6:15, but I needed to do it. And I knew I would be glad to get it over with.

It is amazing how much easier it is to get up and run at that hour when you are meeting someone. I would have never gotten up today at 5:45 to just go run by myself.

It was a good run - I did have to walk once, but only for about 1 minute. I was shocked (SHOCKED) when I came home to map the route out and calculate our pace - 3.75 miles, 9:15 pace!! That's almost a full minute faster than I usually run. No wonder I had to stop and walk for that minute. I am of course doubting that my watch was correct, so I may double check with Becky and see if she had the same time.

Packing up the apartment is going well. We make the move a week from today, so we still have some time. I was going through a box that I haven't unpacked since college and I found my bottle collection (NERD ALERT!!). I forgot how cool it was (NERD ALERT!!). Most of the bottles are quite generic, but I did fine two really cool miniature Benedictine bottles - like in that picture, but small. I think one of the two is actually a bit older, based on some of the features. It's kind of fun to think that I might have a bottle worth $8 whole dollars. Once the move is done and we are all settled, I may have to start collecting again.

Light week

I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to get out much this week. I am going out of town with the hubs Thursday - Sunday, and until then I think I am going to be in full-on editing mode for my current work gig. Then more packing and the move next week.

I know all I need to do is find 30 minutes to get out there, but I am just not feeling it. I don't like using the excuse of being busy, but I'm using it.

Yesterday I interviewed a guy (specifically a quite busy football coach) for some stuff for work. He had the Weather Channel on in his office, so he could check the radar to see when he could go run. He told me that his goal for the summer was to run 900 miles in 90 days. He is on day 78 and "right on pace" with his goal. I know that guy is more busy than me, but he's getting out there. Sigh...

This should be a fun weekend not.

My husband finally doesn't have to work a weekend (YAY). We are moving in 10 days and we have to pack all weekend (BOO).

This will mark my seventh move in seven years. I am very good at this moving thing by now. My dad is going to come help us with the move (again). Dad and I have done the moving thing so many times that we really could open a moving service. "Arthritic 67-year-old man + 29-year-old woman + a roll of shrink wrap = a well-oiled moving machine!"

When we moved to our current apartment back in September, we knew we would be moving to a new place in less than a year, so we left quite a few boxes packed up in storage. So at least we don't have as much to pack up as we did last year. I guess the good thing about moving so much is that we have gotten rid of quite a bit of stuff each time. Goodwill must love us!

We are actually quite excited about this move. We will be living in a faculty apartment at the FSBPS**, and I will be a dorm mom (to 45 teenage girls - ACK!). We are good friends with the family who is in the apartment next to us, and it is free. FREE. That free part was pretty much the main reason we decided to make this move. And our dog gets (in a round about kind of way) a 600 acre lawn/campus.


There was talk of going white-water rafting tomorrow, but that might be out the window if we don't get enough packing done. And honestly we would probably be smarter to save the 50 bucks for something else.

Have a good weekend everyone!

**FSBPS = Fancy-schmancy Boarding/Prep School

Circles

Last night was my first ever track workout (which looked nothing like the picture to the left), unless you count those three weeks my Junior year of high school where I decided I wanted to run track (not a successful venture). There is a track about half a mile from our place, so I decided I would run there to warm up, do some sort of track workout (I still needed to look for one on the internet), then run home for my cool-down. But the weather had been quite temperamental all day (rain for 5 minutes, blazing hot, storm w/ lightening, lather, rinse, repeat), so I decided I would drive the 45 seconds to the track instead.

I scoured the internet for a good track workout for someone who has no idea what they are doing. I found several, but I would have had to actually write down the workout and take that with me - I needed something I could remember quite easily. I found Yasso's 800's. Here is a description, ganked from an article on Runner's World:

The goal is to be able to run 10 800s, each in a minute-and-second time that matches your expected hour-and-minute marathon time. So, if you want to run a marathon in 4 hours and 30 minutes, you start with four or five 800-meter repeats and gradually work up to 10, running each in 4 minutes and 30 seconds.

Upon more research, I discovered that there are lots of folks who think this workout is overrated, a crock, etc...But it was a simple workout, so it is what I went with.

I did an warm-up mile in about 10:15. It was around 6:45 in the evening when I went, and not quite as cool as I had hoped it would be. But I discovered that if I was running, it seemed cooler for some reason. If I stopped moving, the blanket of humidity would envelope me.

I have this dream that I want to finish a marathon somewhere in the 4:30 range (hahahaha). Based on my half-marathon time, I would finish a full in the 5:00 area. But I hope to be a better and smarter runner for the full than I was for the half. I actually was on pace to finish the half in about 2:10ish, but I slowed down significantly for the last two miles of the half (my time was 2:24:49). SO, I was going to try to do the 800's in the 4:30-4:45 range. I was pleasantly surprised to finish my first 800 in 4:32! I did sprint (in the loosest sense of the word) the last 15 seconds of it, but I did it. And I felt like a freakin' superstar when I was done! I jogged a lap to recover, and then attempted another 800. 4:39. I jogged another lap to recover. For my last 800 I could tell that I lost steam, and it turned into a 400 (with a time of 2:10). I jogged a few more laps to cool down and then headed home.

About an hour later I could feel that workout. I really haven't been sore from running since the half, so it was almost a good feeling. All in all, I enjoyed Yasso's 800's. I don't know that it is a marathon finish time indicator, but it was actually fun, and I felt like a total stud/"real" runner when I was done. I also slept like a champ last night, which was a nice change of pace from my usual sleep habits.

My poor little guy!

This morning's run with the dog was replaced with a trip to the vet with the dog.

Around 2 this morning, I heard the dog shuffling around and being all scratchy. Then I heard him hop up and shake his head like crazy. Over and over. Which means ear problems. He has had them before, but it's been almost a year since it has been an issue. I get up to look at the offending ear, and it is all bloody and weepy inside because he had scratched it so much! I felt so bad for him. And when he would scratch it, he would whimper the whole time.

I cleaned it up as best I could (an unpleasant experience for all parties involved), and he got to get up on the bed so that I could rub his head. He finally calmed down, got back on his bed, and went to sleep.

Apparently he has a yeast infection AND a bacterial thing going on in there. But he got a shot and a huge (expensive) bottle of pills. Now he sleeps. (That is an old picture, but he looks pretty much the same).

Run report for the day

3.28 miles, 10:34 pace

Just before I began my run this morning, I was surprised to look up to see a running buddy who has been out of town for the last few weeks. I forgot how nice it is to run with someone else, and how much easier it makes the run.

I do think that I might have gotten over the hump, so to speak, on when I run. This morning thing may be sticking.

Where can I get some motivation?

I love motivational sayings. Yes, they are mostly all 100% cheese, but they are usually true, and I just love them. But really, it is any kind of quote that I love. Anything that can be a sound byte. Conversations between myself and BFF I finished 6^th grade in 1990. I still use the term “BFF.”) are usually about 90% sound bytes from any number of movies or television shows we have watched eleventy-billion times or from some stupid other quote-filled conversation that we have had. And all of a sudden I am struck at the irony of that, as we are both quite creative, original people. Well, she is an all-around, all-the-time creative type, whereas I am a part-time creative-type – I have flashes creativity/originality in my work I guess.

Following are some of my faves.

-The harder you train, the harder it is to surrender/give up/quit.
-Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice. Wayne Dyer
- Even a bad run is better than no run at all
-You can’t build a reputation on what you're going to do.
Henry Ford
-We live in an age when unnecessary things are our only necessities.
Oscar Wilde
-Is it possible to feel enriched and completely empty at the same time?
Tony Bourdain

On the flip-flop I also love Demotivators. These actually fit more with my sarcastic personality:

Blame – The secret to success is knowing who to blame for your failures.
Incompetence – When you earnestly believe you can compensate for a lack of skill by doubling your efforts, there’s no end to what you can’t do.
Procrastination – Hard work may pay off after time, but laziness always pays off NOW.

One of the best websites out there for finding good quotes is bartleby.com. You can keyword search all kinds of reference sources. Some of it is way out there, but history has produced some damn fine sound bytes.

If anyone out there has some of their own favorite phrases, please share - good, bad, or ugly!

More Than Meets the Eye

Just go see it. You won't be sorry. Remember that it is a summer blockbuster and that it is based on a cartoon. It is 2 hours, 23 minutes of a good time.

Two years ago, for our first anniversary, I bought that toy (Optimus Prime, for those not in the know) for my husband. EIGHTY DOLLARS. In celebration of our upcoming 3rd anniversary (on Tuesday), I bought him the third season of the cartoon Voltron on DVD. And they say romance is dead!

Apparently You Just Run

Ahhh, a middle-of-the-week holiday. How does it become an excuse to slack for the whole week??? I’m not horribly upset with myself over it though. I did get lots done here in the way of packing (we are moving into a new place in three weeks), and I entertained my parents and their dog for three days. Their dog, a loveable basset hound, scared my 90 pound Lab into the dark corner of the bedroom for the duration of the visit. My dog is super sweet, but kind of a wuss.

Tomorrow is registration day for the marathon. I could go ahead and register now, but I want to wait for check to post in my account before I pay the redonkulous registration fee. And I am quite tempted to pay an even more redonkulous amount of money for a new pair of shoes this weekend, but I ought to wait until August to buy those. I am sure my husband would agree with me on this.

A few weeks ago I picked up a fun read about marathon training. This book was quite hilarious. I enjoyed reading about running from the perspective of someone who isn’t exactly enamored with the sport. Some people take this running thing far too seriously. One of my pet peeves is the runner who takes it so seriously that they have to gripe about every single thing that us non-serious types do to survive even a three-miler. Really, if you are SOOOO serious and awesome-O at this, get up front with the Russians and the Kenyans, and not back here in corral 27 with those of us who wear headphones, walk on occasion, don’t mind (and actually dig the folks from) Team in Training, and enjoy seeing people running races in tutus and with balloon animals on their heads, etc…

I should clarify. It is perfectly fine to take it seriously and do all you can to reach this PR or that milestone. Just don’t look down your collective noses* at those who need to do it differently to avoid losing their minds in the process.

*I know not all serious runners are like this. But some of them are. Those are the people I am speaking of.

Number of times the word “serious” (or some variation of the word) was used in this post: six

Consistency

35 minutes this morning. But it was a SLOW 35 minutes. And quite muggy. One would think that after having lived in the South my whole life that I would not be fooled by the initial “Oh, it’s kind of pleasant this morning” feeling that I got when I walked out the door. By the time I was ready to start my run, I was already kind of damp from the moisture in the air.

My goal for last week was consistency. And I was very consistent, up until Friday. Yes, the rest day throws me - I tend to make it a 72-hour rest day. I was quite sedentary all weekend. Which was probably one of the reasons why this morning’s run was so slow. But I was consistent for like five days of my training week, so maybe by the time I actually begin the marathon plan in September, I’ll be seven days strong.

I do know what will make me consistent and get out there when I need to, and that will be registering for the marathon. I have been talking about it, and I have probably referred to it in an “I have registered for…” kind of way, but the actual “handing over of money, here is how to contact my next of kin, my t-shirt size is medium” registration will be on Friday.