I love the introduction of Sean’s blog "Watch the highs and lows of running from a beginner's perspective." You just never know what will happen when you get out on the roads and trails.

Yesterday I headed out for my long run of the week. With hopes of finding company for the long run, I had e-mailed a few people in advance, mostly the six runners from the previous week. I was very thankful when I saw someone at the boat ramp waiting to head out on the trails. We planned on running together for awhile-finishing up in the parking lot, and then I would head out for a few more miles. I felt good as we started running. We explored new tails, got lost a few times, and had fun talking about races we had been in and other running related topics.

On our way back to the parking lot I started feeling really sick and tired. I asked my running partner walk for a minute. I quickly decided I needed to stop at the parking lot and not finish my intended total miles. The last several minutes of the "run" I had walk again-which my running partner was gracious enough to walk with me. Not only did I feel like a failure, but also like an idiot because I was making this guy walk, when he obviously could have kept running and probably wanted to pick up the pace. When we arrived back at the parking lot, we parted our ways and both drove off.

Literally, not even one minute down the road I had to pull my car off to the side of the road and ummm....how do I say this with out being gross? Well, let’s just say that I had to find a big tree and everything that was in my system, went straight through me. (That was still gross, but how else can you say it?) Afterwards I felt better. I grabbed my water bottle and walked around a little. I was actually feeling a lot better. I knew I still had a finish a few miles, so I headed back to the trails. I was feeling good for awhile...and then not so good again, but I kept running. Before I knew it, I had to make another stop behind a huge tree (yuck!) Eventually I finished the run and strange enough, I felt completely fine for the rest of the day.

Why did I get sick? I’m not sure. I know I didn’t drink enough water on Friday. I didn’t carb-load Friday night (unless you count the bread that went with my cheese burger) and I had played tennis (Fridays are normally rest days for me). Maybe it was a combination of everything or maybe it was just a freak thing.

In a very strange way, I am almost glad it happened because now I know that if I happen to get sick on race day, I know that it is possible to keep running and not give up.

I hope everyone had a good weekend! Happy Running this week!!

I finished Chi Running tonight. My favorite quote was, "Getting back to that childhood way of running doesn't come from building bigger muscles, it comes from relaxing muscles, opening tight joints, and using gravity to do the work instead of pushing and forcing your body to move in ways that can do it harm." I will have to go back and re-read the things I underlined because I have already forgotten a lot, but I think the author made a lot of good points which I can apply to my running form.

The list of low-chi foods made me laugh because almost my entire diet consists of things from the list:
-canned foods
-processed foods
-microwaved foods (I couldn't live without the microwave!)
-condiments, commercially produced
-foods with additives, preservatives, or coloring

Now I am on to It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life by Lance Armstrong. I have heard good reviews so I am looking forward to the read and I have a huge crush on Lance so it has to be a good book! :)

*I haven't read blogs in over an week so I am sorry for my lack of commenting. I am going to try to catch up this weekend.

Who you goin' call? Ghostbusters!

The black could which first parked itself over Dianna and then traveled my way for a week finally flew far, far away. Last week I had an awesome week of training.

On Monday I ran trails on my own (50 minutes). The next day I went back and ran the same route with a guy from work and we were 5 minutes faster. Wonderful! On Wednesday I found a new dirt road near the house I was staying at and went for a long, leisurely run. Along the way I saw two deer in the woods. I took Thursday and Friday off in preparation for a long run on Saturday morning. Saturdays run felt really good, especially considering it was mostly trails. Dianna and I met up with four other runners at the hollow and we had a great time chatting away about future races, the most extreme pain we ever experienced, different running forms, etc.. I had a blast and the time flew. On Sunday I biked for half an hour and tonight I ran the trails around the dam (46 minutes - my fastest time so far this summer). I am actually getting a little faster-yeah! :)

I borrowed my boss's Party Music CD which really helped my pace at the end of today's run. How could I resist not picking up the pace when my favorite old-school party songs were blasting through my earphones? My favorites were the Monster Mash, Staying' Alive and Ghostbusters. :)

I hope the sun is shining on you this week!!! I sent in my New Haven 20K race registration today. I can't wait to meet some of the RBF members on September 5th!! Mark your calendar now and meet us there!

Did you ever have one of those days where everything went wrong? I just had a whole week of bad days. Thankfully today is the beginning of a new and brighter week!

Here’s the list
1. My car had a flat tire on Monday morning (which I noticed just as I was leaving for work-already running a few minutes late).
2. I forgot sun screen on Monday and inevitably paid the consequences for the next two days. My back and shoulders were extremely burned so it was painful to shower and sleep.
3. I was so busy with other things I only had time to go running once.
4. ....and my minute miles were exactly one minute slower compared to the previous week
5. I broke out in POISON IVY all over my arms, neck, and between my fingers–need I say more?
6. After testing the water the lake where I co-teach swim lessons, the lake was closed because of a high bacteria count
7. Stress at work–I missed a deadline and had a lot of problems using the new computer because some files would not open. It was so stressful, I broke down crying in the office at least twice.

Okay, enough with the complaining. I need to be thankful I have a job, an understanding boss, the ability to run, a car that runs, the "invention" of aloe lotion, and the time to laugh at some of the crazy online home remedies for dealing with poison ivy(maple syrup, clear nail polish, banana peels, white shoe polish, windex, and a hair dryer).

This week has to be better. So onward I go!

Starting tomorrow morning I will be co-teaching level one swim lessons. I am really looking forward to this opportunity.
*My blogging will probably be sporadic because I’ll be up really early and working late at my regular job in the office. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer training and races. Congratulations to Susan, David, Jeff and Laura who raced this weekend.

Running Survey

Here is a running survey from Brent.

1. What is your favorite long run pace?
9:30 min/miles

2. What is your favorite (or typical) pre-run meal?
Recently I have been eating cereal and a wheat English muffin before I leave for my morning run.

3. What was the distance of your first ever, official race?
Does cross country in high school count? (high school – 2.3 miles) My first “official” race on my own was a local 10K course.

4. Do you typically run in groups or run alone?
Wednesday night runs and Saturday morning runs are usually with one or two of the Running Chicks.

5. Name one or two NEW running experiences (occurring within the past year), that you have grown the most from.
- reading Chi Running and learning about the pose method from Mark (I learned to become more aware of my running form.)

6. What is your least favorite structure to run on/over?
cobbled stone roads

Now it’s your turn to share!

3...2...1...Happy New Year!

I have never followed through with January 1st New Year’s resolutions. I always found it difficult to “eat healthier” or “exercise more” in the middle of winter, as the snow was falling and all the fresh fruits and veges were hundreds of miles away in Florida and California.
Last summer I started my first year of summer resolutions inspired by Nancy Gibbs quote, “The time to turn over a new leaf is when the leaves are full”.

2004 Summer Resolutions Check Up:
1. start training for a half marathon – check
2. eat healthier – I still ate a lot of junk but I completely gave up donuts and soda for the year
3. learn how to pace myself while running – still working on it (Dianna’s gadget is very helpful. It beeps at us when we run too fast or too slow.)
4. stop stressing about the little things – it’s a process, right?

2005 Summer Resolutions
1. train for a long race this fall :)
2. eat healthier – (specifically I want to go another year without donuts or soda AND I want to add chips to the list)
3. donate blood at least once this year
4. take a vitamin everyday

What is one thing you want to accomplish this year?

Friday was my one year blog-a-versary. It was last summer around this time that I met Dianna at a race and we became Wednesday night running partners. She was the one who introduced me to the Running Blog Family. Thank you Dianna. And…thank you to everyone who has offered their support and helpful hints over the past year. I have been inspired by your dedication and passion for running. Here’s to another year of blogging!

Adventures in the Kitchen

In an attempt to eat a little healthier (especially after last nights dinner—salsa and triscuits). I decide to take out the George Forman Grill. Don’t ask me how I did it, but somehow I burned the hamburgers I was attempting to cook. The instructions said cook for 4-6 minutes. I left the hamburgers on for 7 minutes because I wanted them to be really well done. Of course, I should have checked on the hamburgers, but I didn't think about that. As you can imagine, I had to scrape off a few burned areas! After I finished I looked for the hamburger buns. Then I realized—I forgot to buy them. Next I looked for some bread and as fate would have it—no bread either! Eventually I ate my burnt hamburger on a wheat English muffin. Oh well! At least I didn’t burn down the kitchen. :)

I’m off to meet some friends for ice cream and then to see the fireworks in town. I hope you all have a very happy 4th of July and good luck to anyone racing tomorrow! (Go Dianna!!)