Blasted Headache & No Running

Oh man, I don't know what happened but I woke up at 3:40 a.m. with a horrible headache. It's still here even after taking Tylenol. I hate this type of pain.

I had a 10 miler with hills scheduled for today, but don't have childcare and my older kids aren't quite up to running over 2-3 miles. I'll run the 10 tomorrow and report back.

For now, it's a cup o' joe and a pillow on the couch. I'm praying this headache goes away soon. I'll drink a ton of water today and maybe that will help.

No New Year's Eve plans, but the kids and I will watch THE BALL drop later. Hubby will touch base with us later too. Have a great day all! Be safe.

Easy Run

Today was a scheduled "easy run" day. Went for 5.3 miles this afternoon. Took 47-1/2 minutes (about an 8:57 pace). It was cold, but not as cold as the previous days. It was nice to look to the west and see the sun setting. The sky was different shades of yellow, light blue, pink, purple and orange. It was beautiful and made the run nice. I didn't feel any pain or soreness today, just a little tightness in the upper calf and lower hamstring. It was as though I needed to stretch the area more, which I will do tonight.

NOW THAT'S A FIRE!

Here are some pictures of a fire that my husband had last night at work. It was a 3 alarm fire and took 7 engines, 4 trucks and 3 Battalion Chiefs to respond. It took them 2 hours to control the fire, and the clean up afterward took a few more. Needless to say, he was tired today!


The picture above was taken with the "night time" setting on the camera.

Yesterday's Family Christmas

Yesterday we gathered at my sister's for our Christmas get together, and to see my nephew Chris's baby son, Devun. Chris and his wife, Nica, were visiting from San Diego. He's a U.S. MARINE who will go back for his 2nd tour in Iraq come March. We are so proud of him, and we will miss him while he's away. We also got to see Courty (Chris's little bro) who suddenly grew 2 feet since the last time I saw him, and he sounds like a man now! No more little kid. He's a killer football player too. Go Courty!

My boy learning from his cousin and football pro, Courty
Chris in the middle, always making the kids laugh!
My baby staring at Aunt Maxe
Me and my older sis, Lynne
Mom holding great grandson, Devun, and my daughter w/ the baby
The kids having a blast!
Kayleen and Kendra hamming it up w/ the baby
Dad, Lee, Jess and Chris (a rare picture). Hunter and Kayleen snuck in there too.
Danica, Chris, Ryan and Kayleen letting the food digest
Skyler & my son before becoming Nacho Libre 1 & 2
Hunter & my daughter hanging w/ the doggers
Kamryn loves her little cousin

My boy about to pop a wheelie
Kayleen learning the ropes
The kids wait, while my son jams

Have a safe New Year everybody.

My husband

He's the best! I just had to say it again. My brother and his family will be staying here tomorrow night and I hadn't gotten around to cleaning up. He did all the hard stuff! I didn't even have to ask. And he's not even going to be here tomorrow, he has to work. What a sweetheart. I really am lucky to have him.

Tempo Day

On schedule for today was 2 miles marathon goal pace immediately followed by 2 miles tempo and then another 2 at goal pace. Here's how it panned out. Very windy day (35mph winds). It was cold!

Warm up: 1 mile jog, quick stretches of hamstring and calves
First 2 miles @ 8:19 pace. These were tough because I was running straight into the wind.
Tempo 2 miles @ 7:52 pace. The first mile was still into the wind, then I got to turn around and run with the wind, which helped. I felt the tightening of my hamstring and upper calf muscle, but no pain. It felt good to run faster, but it challenged me.
Last 2 miles @ 8:24 pace. I was tired and these were rough, but doable. I slowed down some, but that's okay. I was still under pace.
Cool down: 1/2 mile jog and 1/2 mile walk.
Was glad to be done and thankful I was able to do it. Thanks God!

I drank water every two miles (while briskly walking). Next time I'll drink sports drink.

On board for tonight, stretching and core exercises. Rest day on tap for tomorrow.

Here's some pictures of the baby on his 1st birthday this month. I can't believe he's already 1. It has been a great first year!

A little scared at first...
Well, it doesn't look too bad...
Yea, this is yummy...
I need a spoon for this!

Decided to run after all

At about 12:45, we got a break in the rain and the sun even peeked through the clouds. I bundled up my little guy all cozy and warm, quickly layered on my running stuff and off we went for an easy 3-mile recovery run. We finished with 4 x 100 meter strides. It was SO windy and cold, but we did it and he was a great running partner. Thanks little guy!

People I love

It's a rainy day and not the best day to take the baby for a run in the jogging stroller. I will cross train at home. In the meantime, here's some more pics of some of the loved ones in my life. There are many more to be added, but I'll start with these. I'm very blessed by their presence in my life!


My silly family


The baby reading his morning paper


Hubby, the dogger and baby


Mikey and the kids on Christmas morning


Brenda and Mike, the best of friends


Mike's Uncle Bob, cousins and extended family


My running bud and colleague in crime fighting, Lisa


Robin, our matchmaker and dear friend, and my awesome sister, Maxe


Lee, Kendra, and my niece, Kayleen (see Dec. 26 blog)


My dearest childhood friends, Lori and Crissy. Taken when I was 8 months pregnant w/ my littlest guy.


My folks, of course, and Mike's Aunt Maureen

Day 1-Boston Marathon Training (and thoughts about GOD)

Okay, I took three weeks off from running after the marathon on December 3. I ran the 26.2 in 3:40:56, a Boston qualifier by 5 minutes, and a new PR by 15 minutes.
Here's a picture of me crossing the finish line.

Today I began my 16 week marathon training program in preparation for Boston on April 16.
I ran to the track from home, which was about 1.2 miles. I did some quick stretching and a couple of strides. Then I did 4 x 1600 repeats with a 3 minute rest between.
Mile 1: 7:32
I felt pretty good, kind of loosening up still. I didn't anticipate any speed records on the first day back. I thanked God at the end of the repeat.
Mile 2: 7:26
A little better! Felt good, but hard effort for sure. I ran this one clockwise instead of counter-clockwise. I counted each 100 yards until I hit 1600. Thanked God again.
Mile 3: 7:29
Felt good, about the same as the second repeat, but ran clockwise. Counted each 100 again and thanked God again.
Mile 4: 7:44
I felt like I was running hard and that it was a hard effort, but obviously it wasn't hard enough. Oh well, I was just happy to be able to do a 4th mile! I thanked God again.

I finished with a 1.2 mile run home. I thought, "If I can talk to God when I run and He helps me run better, then what is holding me back from talking to Him about EVERYTHING? If He can make me a strong runner, He can make me a better, more loving and caring parent with more patience. He can make me a great wife instead of just a good one. He has never stopped short of answering my prayers and has certainly restored some of my lost faith. I owe it to Him to talk to Him about everything."

I will do just that. I know my life will be better because of it. I will commit to that, and going to church every week. If I can commit to running 4-5 times a week, I can certainly give back 1 hour a week to say thank you and learn as much as I can about God, Jesus and how life was meant to be.

I feel good. Here's a picture of my brother, Lee, my sis in law, Kendra, me, my hubby, my son, Kamryn, my daughter and Kayleen, after the marathon on Dec. 3. What a great feeling to see my family at the end of that race.

Tired

I think I'm tired. I think I want to run 20 miles tomorrow, but I'm feeling a little tired. I ran 10 hard yesterday, 5 of it with hills and 5 tempo. It was a challenge, to say the least. I need to remember my reasons for training. Boston, fitness, competition, feels good, God given gift.

18 Miler

Okay, I ran 18 miles today in 2:35! That's an 8:36 pace which is one second off of my marathon goal pace. I ran the first 12 a little slower, then I picked it up for the last 6. I used my Camelback Lobo filled with Gu2o and it was the best investment! I was never too thirsty. I used only 2 Gu gel packs at mile 10 and 14, and drank water with them, but I think I could've used more Gu gel because I was getting a little tired. I'm so happy though. I've always thought the 18 miler was a bigger hurdle than the 20 miler. I still believe that. I'm doing 20 this weekend and God willing, it shouldn't be a problem. I'm going to aim for hitting 20 in about 2:50. We'll see.

New 10K PR

On Sept. 16 I ran a local 10K with about 100 runners and beat my old PR by 42 seconds. I ran it in 7:26 splits for an overall time of 46:13. The headwinds were strong from mile 2-5 and they sucked a lot of my energy, but I dug in as deep as I could and was happy with my finish. I was the second female finisher. I know I ran well and hard, but I can't help but think I should've run even harder. At the time my body felt like it was going to collapse, but am I not running hard enough unless I puke afterward? Ugh, who knows.

Post-Baby GOAL

I'm running my fourth marathon this December. I ran three in 2003, the year after my divorce became final. I finished all three in under four hours. I've since gotten remarried and had another child (I have two from my first marriage), and life is absolutely wonderful! My baby is 9 months old and I started running again when he was 2-3 months old. I've whipped myself into shape fairly quickly despite being an old lady. This year I'm training to run a 3:45 marathon so I can bring my happy arss to Boston and run the marathon simply for the pure joy of running. Boston became my goal after I ran my 2nd marathon and realized I was nuts to be doing all this "just because." My husband thinks I'm nuts, and my older kids want to run with me but they're not quite old enough. I think I'm just happy. Running makes me as happy as can be and God willing, I don't plan on stopping anytime soon. Are blogs supposed to make sense? I have a feeling this one doesn't. Oh well, it's my bedtime. I'll talk about my training schedule next time. Happy running!