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Showing posts from 2013

So much good news!

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Ok, I'll be honest. Most of my good news is just good to me, and no one else really cares. But, you'll care about this one! I got my 1st sub30 5k time!!! I gotta say, I'm totally stoked. I ran hard. Really hard. Even the ladies that go walk while I run said I ran hard. My fastest mile was a 9:05. It was my 1st mile, and I had positive splits from there, but I barely cracked the 10 min/mile mark just last week with a 9:59, so this is VERY exciting. I have to keep going, I have my 1st 10k next month. I did a trial run (pun totally intended) to see if I could even survive the distance. I did. I survived it for the whole 6.2 miles at a blazing time of 1:14:5?. I wasn't too depressed about that....until I looked at the 10k times from last years race. Last place: 1:04:?? Ruh-roh. Hey, at least I know I will finish, eventually! Keep watching! I have more stuff coming! Until later...RUN!!!!!!!!!

Nike running app and running early in the am

My neighbor wanted to get back into running. She conned   talked me into going at 5:15 am. I had been going to the gym at this time, but running that early? Ugh. You should see my hair at 5:15. I won't post a picture, you didn't do anything to deserve that torture. I don't have one of those 'woke up this way' looks. J-lo I am not. She's a lady, whoa whoa whoa, she's a lady..... monster. I've stuck to it though. We are on week 3 and I've only missed once, because of an eye infection. No, I can't run with an eye infection...on a Monday....at 5:15 in.the.morning. It's mostly cleared up now, I just can't wear contacts. I'm basically blind without contacts or glasses, so you can imagine my fear while trying to decide what that thing was coming after me on the football field today. It was a tackling dummy. And it wasn't moving; I was. Uh....I promise I'm smart. Worst part is my Nike running app keeps screwing up. Anyone el

17 days...

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~~Old post left in draft folder. Had to post it. It's too full of information that is too good!~~ It has been 17 days since I washed my hair. Washing in my world is just rinsing my hair out with baking soda and water, then rinsing it with vinegar and water. But, it's been 17 days since I did that. I'm not gross. My hair doesn't have a smell. It isn't greasy. It isn't dusty/dandruffy. It doesn't look like I belong to a Rastafarian band, mon. I don't know what your regimen is, but mine has sure taken a nose dive over the years. I really don't do much any more, and every day it looks better and better. I'm happy, and I get more compliments than I can carry in a basket made out of my own locks! (I shed so much I could knit you a sweater. Email me, I'll get you one by Christmas) 17 days don't look that bad, eh? Look at my 'seesters'. Aw! Preggo Jen in black and hot tamale Liz. We're smiling because smiling is our fav

Palm trees, hills of death, mangoes, OH MY!!!

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I'm back from the Cali coast. ...I know, I don't know why I came back either! Friday morning I got in a 5 mile run, on the California hills. I want you to know that I didn't plan to run 5 miles because I can't run that far; or so I thought. I was TRICKED into running 5 miles by being told we were running 3 to 4 miles. West coast running coach :  We'll do 3-4 miles. Can you handle that? Running Curl :  Yeah, I think so! Cut to 45 mins later. WCRC :  Ok, so if we add one more mile,... RC :  ANOTHER MILE?!?!?! WCRC :  As I was saying...if we add another mile, you'd have your 10k. That was 5 miles. Congrats! RC :  (wheeze, wheeze, pant, pant) Huh? Awesome! I'm going to kill you! Can we walk now? I feel amazing. I think I'm dying. Ok, I'm good. It's time for a mimosa. I spent time in the pool, the hot tub, and on the rooftop deck. I did morning yoga on that deck btw. I'm sure our friends' neighbors enjoyed that sce

Cheese is a food group

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Let's talk about food. food /fo͞od/ Noun Any nutritious substance that people or animals eat or drink, or that plants absorb, in order to maintain life and growth. (Notice this says 'nutritious, and maintain life and growth) Synonyms nourishment - fare - nutriment - aliment - pabulum I love food. I can eat food everyday! I like spicy food, sweet food, gooey food, and for sure, free food. Food is good. (those don't rhyme and that has always bothered me) Bodies need food. What they don't need is 'food'. Know what I mean? I can snarf on some Taco Casa, or Bueno, or Qdoba. I like pizza. I like chips and salsa and cheap chicken enchiladas covered in cheese with rice covered in cheese, with a side of queso with some cheese on it. What I don't like is feeding it to my body every day . I don't like to feel bloated and sluggish. I want a night out to eat to feel special, not normal. Aside from eating o

Long time draft about a house, incomplete work. Grade: F++

This post has been a draft for a month now. I have been holding out to add pics of the house. I still haven't taken pics of the house. So, here ya go. I'll do better next time. :) June 13th : We closed! I bought a house before hitting the old   dirty awesome age of 30. I tried to move in that night, but alas, the a/c wasn't working. 100 degrees and 90% humidity...uh, no thanks. I stayed at the rent house until Sunday, and then hoofed it to the hot house. Blah! I slept in the dining room with a little a/c until Wednesday, only to find out that the repair guy had fixed the a/c Sunday, but didn't know it. Super fabulous. I'm so over my allergies. During the sweatfest I opened the windows upstairs to cool it off so that I could shower in the upstairs bathroom. Due to a nice summer wind storm, I now have a broken storm window laying on the roof. Ah...ownership. Awesome. (read: not!) All is well with the world now though. Air conditioned, window removed, but no

I made it

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I'm 30! I didn't wake up with bags under my eyes or wrinkles...at least not any new ones. I'm sore from head to toe from my new advanced bootcamp class, but I feel great!  Here's to the 30s. The 20s are soooo last decade!

Your butt, in the future.

According to Google, my town moves at an estimated speed of 850 mph on the Earth's axis. If I run East for 3.1 miles in 33 mins, I'm actually running 28.86 miles, which is more than a full marathon. While discussing this with a friend, we agreed that if you face West while doing Brazil Butt Lift, your booty will reach the future sooner, thus being smaller, faster! It's science people. ...or maybe it's math.  ??? I ran my first 9 min mile last night. I only lasted an additional .5 miles. Speed work takes time.

Need more oxygen on your run?

Running On Air: Breathing Technique A revolutionary way to breathe can help you run better and sidestep injury. By Budd Coates , Claire Kowalchik Published March 6, 2013 This is just the article I have been needing. It's worth a look, even if you aren't struggling on your daily run. As a recovering smoker, I have trouble with deep breathing, and proper oxygen delivery. I have been taking Astragalus Root for a few months, and have seen a huge improvement. However, breathing technique is very important for reducing injury. You wouldn't tie the two together, but read this, and see how they relate. Click the link above, or link over from here . Good luck out there!

Sweating and maybe moving!

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Sunday my favorite BIL was in town! I found out he is a runner!!! Isn't that exciting? Someone else in the family as crazy concerned about fitness as me. We went for a quick run around my 3.6 loop. Here are my stats: Distance: 3.10miles Time: 34:12 Splits: 11:13, 11:03, 10:56 (negative splits!!!! YAY!!!!!) Average pace:11:01 I'm pretty pleased with that. BIL said he started running with a program from his gym, similar to c25k. I asked if he wanted to run that morning, and he said 'sure, but I run pretty far. I don't want to leave you behind'  I told him I run around 3 miles per day; he was floored. I guess 'pretty far' to him is less than 3 miles. Anyway, we went out that morning, he ran the full distance with me. I thought he would stick to his running plan. Oh! btw, he wears department store Nike's and doesn't stretch..... ? Well, we got done, and I thanked him for running with me and helping me push to get negative splits. That of c

Catching some rays, and no fish.

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It has rained (read: end of times type storms) since the 19th of May, we headed outside this week whenever the clouds broke. Here is what we did: We took pictures of the elusive blue sky. We mowed grass that was way too tall.  (life-sized dinosaur grass) We went fishing on Lake Texoma. The sun was out, the fish were not. Good thing we don't have to catch our meals, or we would starve. Love those Oklahoma sunsets I had a pretty good view from my chair. Ah, the lake life.   Another storm rolled in on my way to work...  We went to Medieval Times for a birthday party  The sword fighting was more real that I expected.  Down, down, down. Red knight goin' down...  My beautiful niece with our brave Red and Yellow Knight afterwards. She fell totally in love with him...and so did all us grown ladies, heehee. Something about the armor and the grit of it all.... I have had a fun filled couple of weeks. I am now in full packing mode for th

Running, racing, and relaxing.

So I took a break from blogging. Not because blogging was taking over my life, but because I was starting to go blank trying to decide what you would want to know about. As it turns out, you want to know about everything! That's great b/c I like to talk. I signed up for another 5k, but it was postponed due to rain, so I went for a run that day near home. I have downloaded the Nike+running app  and used it for my run. I love this thing. I don't own a GPS watch so this is perfect. It keeps track of my splits, tells me my pace at each mile, I can use my Pandora with it, and you can send me cheers and applause through Facebook if I sync my run! I ran with runner friend, and that was good because I probably wouldn't' have kept going alone. I always say that, and never stop, but one day.....! She helped me push my pace, but at 3.01 my throat closed off and I had to walk the remaining .09. It was super humid that day. Distance: 3.01 Time: 34:08 Splits: 11:02, 11:04, 10

Human decency. Okie Strength. The South will rise again....or at least rebuild.

It is sad but true that sometimes we need the tragedy to help us to see how human we are and how we are more alike than we are different. The unspeakable devastation in Oklahoma has brought the human goodness to fore. Men and women from Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, even from New York City have rushed to offer themselves as aid to the stricken Oklahomans. I sit watching the television and am proud of how we are able to sympathize with each other and saddened that the only way we come to that understanding is when a tragedy affects us. I have not seen one person ask if the injured were black, white, or Jewish or Muslim, or gay or straight. Don’t you wish we could think of each other in kinder ways all the time? – Maya Angelou I've lived in tornado alley all my life. I'm not scared of those things. I can't be. I can't make them go away. I can't out run them. I can't outsmart them. However, I can be prepared. I can be ready. I can trust God and His plan. My God

Speedy Skunk 5k

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Let me tell you, Saturday was an awesome day!!  I shot up North to stay with my parents Friday night, and got up waaaaaay early Saturday to head to NW Arkansas for my 5k. I didn't go to bed early enough, and didn't sleep well, so the race day was a bit stressful as I was afraid I would be too tired. By 7:30 a.m. it was already at 89 degrees and 100% humidity....YUCK. The 10k took off at 7:30 and we 5kers waited around for another half hour, sweating while doing nothing. The course started off down hill...down a BIG hill. This is deceiving as you can start off too fast and burn out too soon. I had to tell myself to go slow b/c it wasn't all downhill. We flattened out about 1/4 mile in, and crossed what would be our finish line. A slow incline gave way to another big hill, this time, UP hill. The remainder of the course to the turn around was flat and fast, but I stayed at a slow pace because I was sweating so bad. I have a fear of passing out, because I do get weak whe

Life Recap!

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Let me catch you up on my happenings! I went to Big Lots, and got all of this for $19. I love that store. One night I made chicken soft tacos with my leftover salsa and little bits of chicken we had in the freezer. They were scrumptious! My dill plant loves me as you can see.... Two thumbs up for running! I was not so energetic about an hour later... I trimmed the rose bush in the back yard, and couldn't stand just leaving all those pretty petals on the ground. These made the house smell nice for a few days. Then I dumped them out under the rose bush in the front. Looked like someone had beat it to death with all those petals everywhere. Storm moving along the west side of us as we drove home. This storm ended up hitting Edmond, Oklahoma City, and Shawnee. There was a lot of damage from the 2 tornados.  Back at the ranch, I had sunshine. Meatball decided to get out and sunbathe. Me and Weiner Dog, early on Monday morning. Sad story: I believe he had a st

Run!!!

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I have a 5k coming up. You know that. It's on 5/18, and I'm getting ready!    I was successful in running not sucking for 3 days in a row. 1.8 miles each time. I haven't timed it yet. I'm sure it's a slow pace, but the point is that I haven't walked. Just keep running, just keep running. I want to thank SR for an great idea in one of her recent posts. She mentioned that she regularly checks in on how she feels. This caught my attention and I think it's helping me. As I run, I just talk to myself about my feet: How is my heel? Am I landing mid-foot? About my legs: Are they cramping or just burning? About my breathing: Am I struggling for a real reason, or just b/c I'm not paying attention? Basically, and all over check-up. It takes my mind off the road, and helps me realize that I can make it, I can survive. If I walk my muscles will tighten and the walk home will be worse/harder than the run home. Here are a few after shots f

Retraining the mind

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Staying focused is hard. I haven't been to the gym since April 16th. I ran 2.5 miles last Saturday, and 1.8 miles Tuesday. That's all folks. No push-ups. No sit-ups. No yoga. No tricep dips. No strength classes. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Ok...you get the point. I've been lazy! I feel bad, phyically and mentally. Tonight I'm going for a short (2m) run, then a walk/jog with a neighbor that wants to get started. I must get back on board. I LOVE running. I LOVE R.I.P.P.E.D. on Saturdays. I LOVE our Tough Mudder training. But I just haven't been in the right mind I guess. Blah. This month I'm also going booze-less. I'm not an overdrinker, but I know it causes bloat, and this friend  and I decided we are going to slim down a little by holding back instead of tipping back. I know what you're thinking,  Cinco de Mayo is coming up! It's almost the weekend! The grass is green! Blue is a color!" Yes, yes, all of those are reasons to celebrate