chugging away

Now that all the clocks have been turned back for winter, I find myself out of daylight to run sprints after work.  You will find me bright and early on Sunday mornings at the track...still chipping away at my new year's resolutions.

Four seconds and 7 weeks to get my mile time under 7 minutes....

Happy Weekend

I am absolutely in love with this race picture from the Color Me Rad run last weekend.  

That Boy

That backward glance

Those hands clasped tightly together

My world right there

A Run in the Woods

My favorite running buddy (other than the boy of course!) and I ran the Wicked Thorn trail run last weekend.  It was my first official trail run.  7.25 miles of single file, kind of rocky, lots of hills running.  This might just be the farthest I run before the half marathon I'm signed up for at the end of October.  Eek!

 

It was cold at the start but the views were beautiful and the run felt good to my lazy, just back from vacation muscles.  I must admit, I didn't study the elevation change much before hand and it was a lot harder than I anticipated!

And of course the after run carbs tasted so good.  You can never go wrong with a bratwurst and a budweiser.

Running around

In three months I am planning on running a half marathon.  The first half marathon since my ACL reconstruction.  In three months time.  That's 12 short weeks away.  The internal debate is do I just go out with a goal to finish it? Do I dare even think about setting a time goal?  Can I (or more directly) HOW do I use crossfit to train for this so that I'm not running too many miles on my knee?  And speaking of miles....what should the longest, long run in the training program be?

I've been running with a group on the weekends lately.  They keep me motivate, accountable, and best of all, introduce me to new running paths.

 



I found this little guy on the new route last weekend.  I think I'm in love!  I scratched his head till my hands smelled of lanolin and then was on my way.

 

 

I'm not much of a morning person but the early morning sun on these cheerful sunflowers was just what I needed to put a smile on my face.  I'm not one to run with my phone usually, but that morning my ipod battery was dead.  I was so thankful to have my camera with me so I could take these pictures.

Always a busy, fun weekend

A certain little person had a birthday. Hard to believe she's 7 already.

We took flowers to grandma, grandpa, and my brother.

Our little crossfit family is getting so big

And I participated in the Memorial Day Murph (the story here):

Run 1 mile
100 pull ups
200 push ups
300 squats
Run 1 mile

My time: 55:28



Nine

I took a sick day last Friday and did the Eagle Staff Spirit Run.

Nine miles of this scenery.

(And three respectable hills....we'll call it training)

A sunny, cool day.

Good music playing in my ear (I love-love this song)

Who could ask for anything more?



Random pictures from the weekend

5K with my little

So the girlchild had a jog-a-thon at school last week.  Each class got to run laps at the school for 15 minutes.  Me being the nice mom that I am pledged $1 a lap.  Her score card says she ran 22 laps....maybe I should have clarified how big these laps were going to be.
She better win the disneyland trip raffle for this!

We are just in it for the BBQ afterward

The obligatory, take a picture of your shoes before the race picture.

I think I need a bigger knife

The kids talked the husband into a coconut.  Clearly we need more lessons on getting into the thing.  I think the boy got scared when I asked to borrow one of his fancy knives and a hammer all in the same sentence.

Officially

I had my very last physical therapy appointment yesterday. 

It feels good to be closing this chapter.

I left with a pinky swear promise that I won't be jumping off any tall platforms anytime soon.

Just regular running for me, none of that fancy stuff from now on.

For Boston With Prayers

Tuesday, I pulled my never before worn tough mudder tee from the back of my drawer.

I just haven't felt like I earned it....that whole tricky business about missing the last 4 obstacles and all.

But it seemed like the right time to show my support for Boston.

Lately

I finally finished my sister's Christmas (cough!) present.
Maybe they'll come in handy next year....

Two 100+ point words for me in back to back games....

....That NEVER happens!  I usually just get my butt kicked

The kids upgraded to my old bunk bed. 
I'm trying my best to be excited and not sad the babies are growing up so fast.

Shadow boxes for race medals (2011 and 2012)
Emma says: What'd you win a medal for....wiping??
I think there has been waaaay too much Wreck-It Ralph lately.

Day 32

Apparently, Emma was afraid I'd forget to do my burpees today.

Day 32 of the 100 day challenge.

Week two post surgery

I got my staples out yesterday, that felt weird.  They have a tool that looked suspiciously like a regular, old staple puller.  I wondered if it would bleed but thankfully it did not.  The nurse has sufficiently scared me though.  She said my knee looked really swollen still and was quite worried about the staple that sits over my knee cap.  So now I keep wondering if that's going to bust open any second now.  I've had ice on my knee close to none stop since I got home yesterday.

We are in the middle of the second, poorly time work trip for the husband.  So far it's been going alright.  I'm on my second night in a row of sleeping in my own bed instead of on the couch...that's progress.  The two biggest concerns right now is that the dog keeps getting out of the backyard and how am I going to get myself to work? 

Because of the bone contusion and cartilage damage the doctor recommended that the running miles come way down and I find a different activity to spend most of my time with.  I guess it's going to be triathlons for me.  I don't care for bike riding that much but I've done swimming before and it wouldn't be terrible to return to it.  Or maybe I'll just aim for 5 or 10Ks and not too many of them.  Not the news I wanted to hear or the way I wanted to end my running days for sure.  I guess we will see how it goes with time and rehab.

Sunday night, when I was attempting a bath while trying not to get my right leg wet (it was heavily saran wrapped....), I noticed that my calf is already very noticeably smaller than the other one.   I measured it today, a full 1.5 inches skinnier than the left one. Great, now I'm going to be a gimp with one chicken leg!

But I finally finished reading Cloud Atlas and I got an Indian shooting a star on my tootsie roll pop, so we'll call it a good day.

Day 2

Highlights:

Flowers delivered from the peeps at the boy's work.

Got the drain removed and the bandages changed.

The hole where the drain leaked quite a bit. 

That was gross.

I got these "hot" TED compression stockings I have to wear to prevent blood clots.  All I need now is a nurse's cap and I'll have next year's Halloween costume all set.

I took a picture of my knee before they bandaged it this morning.  But it's the kind of thing someone needs to be warned about I think.  6 stitches holes and several staples and all kinds of swelling.  Maybe later I'll have a fun before and after to compare.

A Rad Run

I have been eyeballing this 5K for a while.  The closest race to home had been Sacramento up until now.  And I was having a hard time convincing the tribe to drive to Sacramento just for a 5K.  But Color Me Rad came to Reno this year.    So it was an easier sell.

In case you were wondering just how crazy the color was, here is our before picture. 

At the very end, every runner got their own color bomb to throw at the designated, celebratory time. 

Emma had some much fun she kept running back into the crowd to do it again.  The run was seriously so fun, I don't even mind that two weeks after I paid full price for registration it was half price on groupon. 

6 years old and first 5K in the books!  She did great too, only walking a little bit on the hills.

Come back to Reno again, Color Me Rad, I'd repeat the fun!

I went to the mudder

And she bested me.  But I had such a great time getting my booty kicked. 

Here are just a few pictures of the day.  I'm off to shower and scrub the gravel out of my elbows. 

That's me in red, assessing the ring situation.  I assessed poorly.
 Ended up swimming.

Halfway done.  Yay!

Some of American Savage.
It's only pipes filled with water and barbed wire above, no big deal.

Quick photo break

Still have a little more scrubbing to do on my number.  Can you tell which knee is swollen?

Even though I didn't get to finish the course (I buckled my knee on obstacle #14 at mile 8) I accomplished quite a bit and am happy.  Plus I got to ride in the medical vehicle down the mountain and have hot chocolate with the EMTs. Experiencing a little bit of the behind the scenes action of the race.  I think the EMT girl could tell I was frustrated and trying not to cry, she drew me the sweetest, sharpie heart across the tape of my knee bandage.  It's the little things in life.

Should the opportunity arise again, you can be I'll be settling the score with the Tough Mudder!

If heaven were a trail

It would be a dirt one

lined with sagebrush

 twisting around bends

and through low hanging trees

Rock n River Half Marathon

I have been logging more miles this year than any other year so far.  And so, I had my hopes set on a new half marathon PR.

Last October I ran the Bizz Johnson half (which is billed as super fast and mostly downhill) in 2 hr 20 mins.
I was ill prepared and didn't regulate my blood sugar well and I was feeling it when I finished the race.

Enter the rock-n-river half marathon to redeem myself.



Under the Reno Arch


The long story:
I couldn't find my peeps before the line up so there I was standing amongst strangers feeling like a dork...it was my first Disneyland half marathon all over again.

I borrowed some one's garmin watch for this race and it is quite possibly smarter than I am.  I had my eye on a couple of the Fallon Kaia girls, who I intended to use as my pace guides (because I secretly wanted to beat them...you know).  But I fumbled getting the garmin-that-wasn't-mine set after the gun and by the time I looked up they were nowhere to be seen. 

Within the first quarter mile I had found TWO of the girls from my Reno Tahoe Odyssey relay team.  We ran together for a couple of miles, keeping the pace slow and catching up on life.

And then some guy dropped his iphone and it exploded into 3 pieces.  He picked up the phone part but not the battery or the shatter case.  Me being the good samaritan jogged back and retrieved it from the water puddle it had fallen into. 

Mile 5, pretty sure I won't be able to make this whole thing without stopping, so I stopped to pee.  It probably took me 3 minutes.  I'm guessing.

And I lost my running buddies.

So I cranked up the music and found my own pace.

As Baz Luhrmann would tell you: 

The race is long.  In the end it is only with yourself.

Finish line smiles. 

The joke of the day:

I got the silver medal.

(Because all the medals were silver.)

Stats: 315th overall

76th in age group

Chip time: 2:09:25

Next month: The Reno Tahoe Odyssey...it's going to be awesome!



just a practice run for team disco velveeta



CCHS Construction Club 5K

It's been a while since I've raced in a 5K.  Almost 2 years.  But when a newbie runner asked if I'd run with her because she was nervous I said of course.

I finished in 26:43

Pretty excited about that time,  It's a minute and half faster than my last one.

 I ended up getting 2nd in my age group and now I have a new 5K best.

This PR came without medals, ribbons, or awards....but I'll take it!

That's me in the middle....the only one without a fancy sign to hang above my bed :)

To India

Remember how I found money a few months ago while running in the 2012 Tinkerbell half marathon.  I finally decided what to do with it.

I sent it here: http://sometimessweet.blogspot.com/2011/11/what-really-matters.html

I found Kristin's blog around the end of last year and fell in love with her story.  I admire her courage and her heart, to reach out to people worlds away and see in the face of a stranger a precious soul that matters in this world. She started this journey by going to India to work for Operation Smile.  What was supposed to be a couple months of work and a return to the US has turned into so much more.

Tinkerbell half marathon 2012



First ever Tinkerbell Half Marathon



Got our race bibs



Getting ready to start

hmmm....maybe I could chose both?



Found $40 somewhere around mile 3.  Doesn't feel right to keep it...maybe I should pay it forward.




Captain Jack was pretty popular with the ladies...



I can't imagine running the whole 13 miles carrying a full sized flag

Mile 12...just a little break to say hi to Boo!

Giant green army men





The team sparkle girls.  Her pirate outfit puts my pirate outfit to shame.



Tinkerbell Bling