Saturday Run

I had the pleasure of running with a great group of people this morning. It was a bit humid, but the company made it bearable.

I ran 6.5 miles with the group and 2.5 on my own getting there and back. A total of 9 miles at about a 10:12 pace.

Had another dream about forgetting things for the Hog's Hunt Run. This time it was my water bottles, my hat, and my mp3 player. I could do just fine without the hat and music, but water is somewhat important.

A light week ahead in preparation for the weekend.

Running Nightmare

I don't usually dream about running, but last night I had a nightmare about Hogs Hunt!

I was all set to meet up with Pete to run, yet I slept in. When I awoke, various activities kept me from the race. I knew that I had many hours to complete the race, so I thought I could just show up late and run faster.

Somehow, it managed to turn into the next day. (you know how dreams are) and Pete met me to finish out the race. I ran a little bit and then it was time to stop for the night. (not sure why we had to stop...) I was using someone else's chip because I hadn't picked up my race packet and knew that it would not be given to me.

The next day, my family showed up and I got busy visiting with them, missing my start time again. When I realized that I was late, we rushed everyone into the car and drove to the start line. As I ran to the start, I realized that I had forgotten my socks and shoes!! There was no way to go back and get the shoes in time for the race and my dreams of running Hog's Hunt were squelched. I cried and cried, and cried the rest of the dream.

I wonder if this has anything to do with my concern that I am not really ready to run next weekend??

Garmin Woes

Have I ever mentioned how much trouble I seem to attract when it comes to techie-type things?

I am about to go archaic and give up email, cell phones, computers, and even my Garmin.

After finally getting a new laptop and then replacing it within four days because of a hardware issue, I have been able to start to put things back together for our business and personal household management.

This nifty new laptop brings with it the latest OS, Vista. Vista is quite quirky and does not like very much. It randomly shuts down with not apparent reason. It won't recognize software that should be easily recognized, ie Quickbooks, Quicken, Microsoft Word, etc. Oh, and it would not recognize my Garmin software without the updates.

Like a dutiful lemming, I surfed on over to Garmin to retrieve the latest updates. All seemed well in Oz until I went for a run last night. The 305, which by the way is 10 days past it's one year warranty, can't find the satellites. I will admit that at times I do feel like I am in the Twilight Zone, but having the ForeRunner confirm it was a bit unnerving!

I have attempted to contact Garmin through their website, but for some reason, their email support is not functioning and they do not list an actual email address to contact them.

I had to resort to the phone. After a mere 35 minute wait on hold, a dear man, Anthony, came to the rescue. He walked me through some steps which didn't yield a fix, so Anthony issued me a WRMA!! A WRMA is much different the a RMA because the "W" stands for WARRANTY!! This sweet man felt my plight and authorized this fix to be done under warranty AND determined it should be expedited! If this unit can not be repaired, it will be replaced!! THANK YOU!!

After having my HP crash 1 month out of warranty a few weeks ago and hearing that I couldn't have it repaired or replaced, I was not feeling very hopeful about my Garmin. Anthony has restored my hope in customer service.

I did get a run in last night. It was perfect weather for it. A 6 mile loop with a 10:47 pace push my reset button and the world was a happy place again.

I managed at run on the new trails at George Mitchell Nature Preserve. It was a nice run at dusk. I'd like to see them extend the trail so it is longer than the 2 mile loop. It was be great to have real trails close to home. Maybe if Anthony from Garmin had some input, it would happen!!

Happy Easter!

I didn't run one step this weekend.... I know, slacker! Instead, we spent a beautiful day in Huntsville on Saturday where we were able to find the perfect spot to release my mom's ashes. Running there will be so much more special now.

Easter was spent in Church followed by a great time at my sister's house, MC. We had a great time eating, hunting eggs, and played a really kick-butt game of kickball! I actually made a double-play and had a few runs in. So I guess I ran a little bit... The best part was making a double-play on my own daughter! I owned her!

I didn't make swimming at all last week and didn't make it this morning either. I hope to get back on track tomorrow. I may see if I can run tonight.

Good Friday Run

The first 2 miles were spent churning the junk out of my legs. They hurt like heck, but then seemed to get better as they warmed up.

Total Miles: 4.65 Total Time: 48:55 Avg Hr: 169 (wow! that is really low for me!) Avg Pace: 10:31

Mile 1: 11:19
Mile 2: 11:11
Mile 3: 10:36
Mile 4: 9:49
Mile .65: 9:12 pace

I wanted to keep going, but we had to get to church.

I've lost my Garmin CD for the 305. My laptop crashed. We bought a new one and that one started having hardware issues 4 days into ownership. I had Mark return it and I think my Garmin CD was in it. Now I can't upload my new info. Ugh. I have had it with computers. The new Vista OS that I am trying to learn how to use doesn't like anything I try to upload to it. Remind me how this technology saves me time?

Hoping to get to RTW in the morning. I wanted to do a longer run, but I have some family things to get done.

Have a wonderful Easter everyone!

Remembrance

Uncooperative legs

My mind was in, but the legs weren't. Hannah, my reliable doggie, was up for an easy 3 or 4 miles with me this morning. I made it about a mile and then I just couldn't pick the legs up anymore.
I can't really explain why, so I'll chalk it up to the moon cycle or something...

I walked another 2 with Hannah and called it a day.


I'll try again tomorrow.

Monday morning madness

I didn't get up in time for my swimming class so I thought I'd add in a longer run to get some more mileage in.

It was a bit humid this morning, 88%. I was just hoping for a nice downpour. No such luck. A few drops here and there, but not enough to qualify as a shower.

Total Miles: 8.60 Total Time: 1:35:14 Avg Pace: 11:04 Avg HR: 170

Mile 1: 11:06
Mile 2: 10:47
Mile 3: 12:09
Mile 4: 11:06
Mile 5: 10:51
Mile 6: 11:55
Mile 7: 10:58
Mile 8: 10:10
Mile .60: 10:09 pace

Mileage for March: 57

Very inconsistent pace. I didn't really feel so wonderful this morning. I finally felt good at about mile 7. My calf is bugging me a bit, but not enough to say it is injured. I don't feel it so much when running, except for a general tightness in it. Stretches don't seem to get to it so I am assuming it is pretty deep.

The most interesting things I saw on my run? Two huge trees across the path way which I had to climb over and some really cool looking birds that I've never seen before hanging out with the ducks. I'll be investigating their kind and post what I find out.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Saturday at the Park

Pete and Ruth accompanied me to Huntsville on Saturday. We met Katy, Adrienne, Edwin and his friend Jeremy at the Nature Center. It was great to see everyone. Next time I hope I can stay a bit longer. I needed to get back to my neck of the woods so our time together was brief.

I'm looking forward to my first trail run in just a few weeks. I hope I am ready for the 50K. I haven't felt like my long runs are adequate, but it is what it is. I won't be racing this one. My goal is to finish and then I'll be taking some time to develop a more consistent routine. I'd like my monthly mileage to increase at least by a few miles each month for the next few months. More on that later!

Total Miles: 9.99 Total Time: 1:50:49 Avg Pace: 11:05 Avg HR: 174

Mile 1: 10:16
Mile 2: 10:29
Mile 3: 10:06
Mile 4: 10:08
Mile 5: 10:47
Mile 6: 11:49
Mile 7: 12:16
Mile 8: 11:18
Mile 9: 11:26
Mile 10: 12:10

Late Run

I was able to finally get out the door tonight a bit past 8. This was quite a feat for me. I've been up since 5 and was feeling quite frustrated that I could not manage to find the time for a run. The Bean had a very early dentist appointment which shot my running out from the morning slot.

I was able to put in 7.35 miles tonight. To me, this was a huge deal. I can usually commit to about 3 or 4 miles at night after a long day, but I had made up my mind that I needed to get 7 miles in, and by golly, I did it! I even threw in some fartleks to boot.

Total Miles: 7:35 Total Time: 1:18:09 Avg Pace: 10:37
Avg: HR 180

I didn't keep track of my splits very well, but I did try to log the last 5 speed drills that I ran. I think I did a total of 12, just didn't think to hit the lap button on my Garmin. I REALLY need an inservice on this thing...

1. 7:51
2. 7:55
3. 6:54
4. 6:27
5. 6:37

Each drill was an average of about 240 ft. (Between light posts)

I was considering trying to get a morning run in and relive the TIR, but I will probably forgo this since it's already 12:37 and I have an 8:30 meeting to attend.

It felt good to get out there tonight.

Update on Hans

Apologies to those of you who read my other blog as well. This has been posted on both sites.


For those of you who have been praying for Hans... I just had to share his news!

The strength of the human spirit never ceases to amaze me. Not only has this family had to deal with a very aggressive and rare form of childhood cancer, they have raised money for the cause! Bake sales and fund raisers. Just when I think my plate can't get any fuller, I read about these types of folks and almost get embarrassed at my own weaknesses.

Hans is so special to me. I've never met him in person. They live in my community. We run in some of the same circles. But the prayers and support that we have offered still help. He was the reason for my first 5K. I still think of him when I run. He is an inspiration to us all...

Crazy Week

This week has been so bizarre and I am exhausted. No running since Sunday. Life keeps getting in the way.

We have had a parish mission for the last three nights, so we've been busy in the evenings with that.

Sunday night, my lap top crashed. Dead. 14 months old. Dead. I can't check email. I've lost many, many files that pertain to my business as well as our household. Apparently it's the motherboard. HP doesn't fix motherboards. I'm so excited. Email and blogging will be severely limited until I get this mess figured out.

Monday night the Suburban decided to start acting up. It's been in two shops in two days. Transmission issues. I'm in no hurry. I can run anywhere I need to be. Of course getting the kids where they need to go is another story.

Also noticed a bump on little Boo's bottom. This is the third such bump on our little guy. After seeing a show on MRSA, I decided I should probably bring him in. Sure enough, staph. Not sure if it is MRSA, but got the antibiotics started.

Today, the bump was much worse. It needed to be drained. He couldn't sit on it and it was extremely painful to the touch. And it was beginning to drain (gross alert here, really gross) but it wasn't draining properly. I've worked with wounds in the past and I knew from how this one felt, it wasn't good.

We had to head back to the doctor where it was determined that it need to be opened up and allowed to drain. I don't think my son will ever set foot in the doctor's office again. I felt so badly for him, but it needed to be done. As I write this, I am avoiding my mommy duties of another soak in the tub. I just don't think I can watch him cry again. But I will... dying to myself....dying to myself.

I have managed to squeeze in two days of swimming this week. And I am going to take a few private lessons starting next week to see if I can improve. I plan to run in the morning, depending on how the house is doing when dawn breaks.

If you are the praying kind, please say a little one for Boo. If we don't see a turn around in this infection, it could mean a hospitalization. I have every reason to believe that this won't be necessary, but then again, as I said at the start of this post, this has been a very bizarre week.

A nice treat

I had the chance to run with a friend that I've never run with, but we've been friends for years. Cindy was kind enough to come out to Run The Woodlands. We took a nice and easy pace and enjoyed good conversation, beautiful weather and great friendship.

I am still very sore from this past weekend. I've had a recurring issue with my calf and hip. I don't know if I am supposed to try to run through it or rest it. For now, I am going to keep trying to run on it, though at a slower than usual pace.

Just for Joe

And Barbara too!

I agree, Barbara... I can't get anyone to take a picture of my toes either, hence the blurry picture taken by moi. Bean says that these pictures will make her throw up... wimp. Oh, and your toe got the biggest EWWWW! So you win!!

For Joe, we'll come up with something more pleasant to post... in the meantime, where is your ugly toe picture??

TIR - Part 2

So it took me all day to compose a post and I should have known that I would forget things.

I saw so many people that I knew that were running with different teams. It was great to see them and they all seemed to have the same experience that I did.

One thing I forgot to mention was that we saw a rally getting ready to kick off for Clinton. Those folks have no idea what they were missing by not watching the Relay!

As for my particular legs, here is what I can recall

Leg 9 - 3.81 miles ending in Flatonia (don't let the name fool you. It was all hills to get there!) This leg had the dubious honor of having the highest elevation of the race. A beautiful view for sure! After waiting hours to finally put my efforts in for the team, I exited to van in great anticipation of my run. It was around 3:00 pm and close to 80 degrees. I took off too fast. I came in at 8:31 for the first mile. Jon had predicted a 9:29 pace. Next mile was 10:08. Too slow. Last mile was logged at 11:56. The heat, hills, and poor pacing took it's toll. Still it was nothing compared to what Edwin had just endured. Lesson from this leg, learn to pace myself.

Leg 20 - 4.57 miles rolling through Eagle Lake during the midnight hour. This run was a welcomed reprieve from the heat of the day. Geared up for nighttime running, and praying my leg would not let me down, I started out with an intentional slower than expected pace. So much for that, I covered the 1st mile in 9:30. The second right on target at 9:29. The third mile I could really feel the leg and slowed to a 9:57 pace. My last mile (+) came in at about 9:30 as well. Better pacing on my part, but I had wanted to be able to really move at night as I love running in the dark. The shoulders were almost non-existent on some portions of this leg. I kept a watchful eye for the dogs that might be lurking in the dark, but thankfully, none were out. They were obviously waiting for Holden and Dana-Sue. During this run, I became road kill to two other guys. When I saw that I was gaining on a flashing light ahead of me, I became very excited that I might get my own "road kill". All excitement faded as I passed the frickin' cone with the blinkie attached to it!
I passed the Dairy Queen as I made my way to Main Street in Eagle Lake. Preoccupied with the thoughts of an Oreo Blizzard, I never noticed the truck sitting in the dark parking lot to my left. I nearly freaked out when out of no where I hear screaming and metal noise makers going off! They were cheering for me, and while I appreciated the effort of encouragement, I really would liked to have had more notice of their presence! I thanked the well-wishers and continued onto Main Street. Here, I ran on the sidewalks for most of the time. Some photographer was running after me trying to get pictures and ask about what the heck we were doing. I answered the best I could and he continued to shoot pictures. Later I laughed at the thought of what his pictures might look like as his flash and my head lamp probably over-exposed any image he tried to capture.

Shortly after that, I saw my Blogger van pass me up and head into a gas station. I continued down the end of Main street passing two bars that had some very happy/confused patrons that I was fully prepared to use my "doggie deterrent" on. Thankfully, that did not have to happen. I finished my leg and thanked God that my leg held out. I wasn't sure what Sunday's runs would hold though.


Leg 33 - 4.47 miles. Memorial/San Felipe; ending at Voss This was the Sunday morning run and my wonderful friend Mary Jane came out to meet me. It lifted my stamina so much. After only about 90 mins of sleep, I wasn't sure how well I'd do. I knew that my leg was not doing well, but didn't want to ask anyone else to take my leg as they all had much more difficult legs and more miles than I had. I took several Advil, said a Divine Mercy Chaplet and a Rosary and decided to suck it up and learn to love the pain. Mary Jane will never know how much I appreciated her getting up extra early on a Sunday to see me off. Even though I have lived in the Houston area for 20 years now, I really don't know my way around the place save for the Medical Center and Museum district. It was so nice to see such beautiful old trees and neighborhoods. There were narrow and uneven sidewalks so I tried to stay on the road as much as possible. Houston police were awesome as they stopped traffic to allow us to pass. I didn't get flipped off even once!! There was a bit of excitement as I neared the end of my run. A car had crashed into a brick wall and was directly in the way of my leg. I hopped a few curbs and traveled to the other side of the street. As I did so, I realized that I could get a "jay-walking" ticket. Praying that this didn't happen, I continued on. My pace was much slower this time around. I had to utilize the run/walk method to get through it. Mile 1: 10:02, Mile 2: 10:23, Mile 3: 11:27 (walk/run started) Mile 4: 11:00, Mile .47 10:05. At the end of this run, I broke my cardinal rule about caffeine and ingested a cold frappucino. It was so good and I was able to stay awake the rest of the day. Those who know me and caffeine, don't worry, I didn't kill anyone!


Leg 39 - 3.29 miles This was the most interesting part of the relay. We were in the midst of high humidity and overcast clouds as Jon finished the Captain's leg. It was quite breezy and even a bit chilly, though very sticky. I had to switch to the other Blogger van to finish the last leg. I will say, they kept a much cleaner van than we did! I think all of their ingestion of Red Bull forced them to keep busy by cleaning!! It was great to have the honor of finishing the relay with the other half of the team. I got to meet every one on the team and spend time with each member. I am not sure if everyone else got that opportunity. I felt truly blessed. First up to run was Keith. He grabbed the baton from Jon and headed into the neighborhoods of East Houston. I will always cherish the look upon his face as we tried to figure out what he needed on his run. "GUMMY BEARS! I WANT GUMMY BEARS!" The best we could do was some Gu... Poor Keith had a strange effect on trains. Twice during this relay would he get stuck behind them. Taking the next leg was David. This guy is a running machine. We were taking bets on who would make it to the end of his leg, us, driving through the "hood" or him, running through the park. Thankfully, we all made it safe and sound. Next was Cassie's turn. The rain started coming down hard as she began her leg. What a strong lady. She didn't flinch a bit as she headed into the parts of town that most would think twice about going into. At one point, I was concerned for her physical safety and we stayed close to her as she came out of that neighborhood. Finally, my leg was up. The rain stopped as Cassie ended her run. The wind decided it was a good time to pick up. I would love to know the speed of the wind that I was running directly into. It was so strong I could feel myself going sideways and working extra hard to push through. My leg called for a jaunt across a field which didn't look too difficult until I was mid-field. It was then that I realized that the field had been trenched by a 4X4 over and over again. I rolled my ankle a few times which felt great as I was "road killed" again. Dang it! The trenched fields had also just been rain-soaked from the downpour that came during Cassie's run. By the time I got to the edge of the field, I had to walk for a bit. So much for my trail running career. I think I'd much rather hop roots than avoid holes. During the last part of the run, my glorious family drove past me and cheered me on. I continued to fight the head wind and at times gave in to a walk. I felt like I was pushing 500 lbs just to move forward. I was never so glad to finish my leg as I was at that moment. Mile 1: 9:33, Mile 2: 9:54, Mile 3: 11:09, Mile .29: 9.44 pace. Holden had yelled out to me that I should keep going if he wasn't at the next exchange. I am so grateful he was there!



Epilogue - The feeling of finishing was very emotional. I started this TIR with the intent that it would be a once in a lifetime event. I confirmed that feeling sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning, but something happened as we crossed that line as a team... and I can't wait to do it again.



I was somewhat concerned that TIR would take away from my training to complete Hog's Hunt because mileage-wise, it wasn't what I needed to be doing this weekend. But I can see that this experience tested me in so many other ways that WILL prepare me for the Endurance runs. I ate little, slept even less, gave up most comforts that I am spoiled by, and ran through pain. I overcame myself over and over on this run. And because one of my highest goals in life is to die to myself, I believe that this experience helped me to do so on a level that I might never get to in every day life.

People ask why we do this. Can we truly give an answer? Sure, I do it for the kids, as my blog is titled. But I do it for so many other reasons. Deep reasons. Reasons I don't even understand. I am such a selfish, self-centered being, yet, through the grace of God, I am able to place myself in situations which test me to the ends of my belief. I don't see how I can possibly do something, yet He provides all that I need to do so, just like He promises. So perhaps I am testing Him? I hope not. I hope that I am showing my faith in Him. Showing that I trust in Him. I know that He will carry me when I can no longer go on. I know that He will relieve me when He knows that I have done all that I can.

I will never be able to fully comprehend how this experience has impacted me. I am a changed person. I change with every run. I am not fast, I am not strong. I don't meet expectations, but I do my best. 18 months ago, I had never run even a mile. But I can do all things, in Christ...

Trains, Vans, and Gummy Bears - TIR 2008

There is absolutely no way that I can possibly blog about the entire experience of this weekend at the Texas Independence Relay.
I'll try to hit the highlights without boring you.

Tommy did a great job of creating a word salad packed with memories for those of us who were there.

The whole experience was probably the most fun I have ever had with a van full of almost strangers. Sure, we've come to know one another through the blogging world, but who, in their right mind, signs up to spend an entire weekend in a mini-van (and I do stress the word mini) with people other than family, most of whom you've never met in person? The real world will tell you that this is crazy! And they would be right, except that in this case crazy worked very well!

The weekend started at 1:00 am Saturday morning as I waited for the alarm to go off. I think I had a total of 45 mins of sleep. This was to be expected as I was nervous about forgetting something. As my bag would indicate by its sheer weight, I didn't forget a thing! First lesson that I will take away from TIR is to thoroughly evaluate every single item I packed and determine if I used it or needed it. This will help me in future races, ultras in particular.

Dave and Holden picked me up at about 2:15 or so and we headed to Jon's house for our departure to Gonzales. It is a very good thing that I wasn't in charge of the map or driving on TIR, as I managed to get us lost within the first 20 mins of our trip!
Once we arrived at Jon's we had a few introductions, Edwin, and then Katy, and Adrienne. We met Cassie and her van just outside of Gonzales and followed one another in.


After the two vans parked and introductions were complete, the first order of business once we arrived was to find the restroom. Thank goodness for 24 hour Whataburger. Truly my biggest fear about TIR was my tiny bladder capacity. I was able to overcome the fear I have of port-a-potties pretty quick.

As the sun rose, we met Bill's team, the Texian Road Warriors, gathered together and offered prayer for a safe and fun weekend. God was very good to us.

Gonzales was a great town. They really came out to support us with free breakfast tacos, coffee, and a cannon blast or a bang of the gong to each team as they crossed the start line.


photo courtesy of Joe C

The prologue was a great start to the race. We all ran together for the first mile. Afterwhich, Dave started us on our journey of 40 legs to the San Jacinto.

Our van headed out to find some breakfast and we were treated to a buffet in a little restaurant in Shiner. There was only one waitress in the place and there were several TIR teams. I saw several folks from the Champions Fit group. The coffee was nothing to brag about, but it was a great time to sit back and get to know one another.

From breakfast we went to the first Van exchange at the Shiner Brewery. Keith would be handing off to Sarah as she began leg 7. Blogger 1 Van had a nice morning to run, cooler temps, but lots of fog. As soon as Sarah hit the road, the sun came out and the temps began to soar. On top of 70+ temps, we had a nice set of hills to conquer. As the baton was passed from teammate to teammate, our commoraderie grew. We realized that if we were going to make it through this weekend, we were going to have to take care of one another, cheer each other on, maybe even make sure that we were wearing the right gear! At one point, Jon realized he didn't have his bib on, so one of the runners ran one out to him. At another point, we realized that Jon didn't have any reflective gear on, so we took care of that. Jon was so busy making sure that we were all taken care of that he forgot to take care of himself. Watching my teammates show the care that we should all show to one another every day was an awe inspiring event. It was one of those beautiful moments in life that I hope I never forget.


dinner at Schobel's in Columbus (I think) photo courtesy of Joe C

On top of the incredible experience of running the TIR, we had the added fun of a Texas Throwdown between us and the Texian Road Warriors.


Coach Bill and the Texian Road Warriors as they cross the finish line

While we enjoyed the competitive angle of the Throwdown, I think we all enjoyed cheering one another on, making sure we were all safe, and sharing the joy of the finish with both teams.



Battling Bloggers of the Texas Republic 2008

Some memories that I'll state in no specific order will not mean much to anyone other than my teammates.

Back seat of the Sienna - ouch
Jose and Manny - Drivers/Saints could not have done this without them!
Trains - Keith kept imagining them
Dogs - there's dumb and then there is Texas Dog Dumb!
Pepper Spray - not so effective on Texas Dog Dumb dogs
Sleep - 90 mins is all you need
Shower - the best thing since sliced bread
Red Bull - desperate times call for desperate measures
Gummy Bears - Keith's only request
The guy who was "just a guy" running
Last Hill- it wasn't on the map
Epilogue
Each saying this is a once in a life-time event and then wondering when registration for 2009 will be
Jon's face as he watched his daughter sing at the base of the San Jacinto Monument
Family - seeing ours after the weekend away

TIR - Short Version

We made it! Imagine spending the weekend with 1200 of your stinky (in a good way) running friends (those known and those unknown), getting not much sleep, not much to eat, and lots of running in the fog, heat, dark, rain, and wind... multiply that amazing experience times 1000 and you still won't capture how much fun it was!

More to follow... for now, my bed awaits...

Battling Bloggers Rock! Texian Road Warriors Roll! Forever the Two Shall Rule!