Kara Who?

Last night, I got home relatively early from work, so that I could do my recovery run outside for a change. Work has still been crazy busy and I haven’t been doing my workouts until after 6:00 each night, so I’ve been “tread milling” it rather then risk slipping on ice in the dark. So I was already in a great mood because I knew that I would be running in DAYLIGHT for a change, when I reached inside my mail box and pulled out a new Runner’s World magazine! I’ve blogged before about how excited I get just to spend an evening reading the new issues. Yes, I lead a very exciting life.

I threw the mail on the table and anxiously grabbed the new magazine. I stopped short when I saw who was on the cover. Kara Goucher. I am a HUGE Kara Goucher fan, so I was thrilled to see her on the cover.

I quickly did my recovery run and my core work, so that I could get back to my magazine. Again….I have no social life people, this IS as good as it gets.

I was sitting by the fire place staring at the magazine when my husband walked in.

“What are you staring at?” he asked.

“I’ve got the new Runner’s World.” I replied.

“Ahhhhh….did you get the new People too?” He knows me well. He knows how I love to read my magazines.

“No, but Kara Goucher is on the cover!”

“Who???”

My husband is not a runner so I will forgive him for not knowing who Kara is, however, I showed him the cover of the magazine and he looked at her and instantly said.

“She’s not that cute.”



Whaaaa????? Kara is NOT THAT CUTE? Now this is the same man who thinks that the cartoon chick from the E-Surance auto insurance commercial is totally hot, so I have already questioned his internal hotness meter, but come on, Kara is cute plus she’s an awesome athlete.

I just walked away shaking my head in disbelief. I am still a fan even though my husband isn’t.

Disclaimer: No, I am not a gay woman. I just happen to really like her, she inspires me. Who inspires you?

Training and a little Wager.

I ran hills last night on the treadmill. Normally I hate running hills, I mean, is there anyone out there who can honestly say (with a straight face) “I love running hills!”? The only time that I really enjoy running hills is when I am doing a trail run in the woods.

Anyway, normally I hate running hills, but last night, I actually enjoyed them. I did a 15 minute warm up and then built pace for 5 minutes. When I first started my hill work, my lungs were screaming for me to stop. I still have a lot of lung damage from the PE and for the most part, I tend to baby them and slow down or decrease pace when they start to hurt. I was listening to my IPod and a song called “Broken” from Lifehouse came on and one of the lines in the song is “in the pain, comes the healing”. I think that was the first time that I realized that if I were to push through the pain, my lungs would learn quicker that they were supposed to absorb the work for the damaged parts and I would heal quicker. Yeah baby! I finished out 5 miles and felt really strong. I made those treadmill hills my biatch. Well, not really, I was still slow, but I might have mentioned to the treadmill that it was my biatch.

The rest of training has been going good.

Monday I ran a 6.5 mile fartlek run
Tuesday-warm up 15 minutes on the bike trainer, ½ hour of bosu ball strength training, 15 minute bike cool down
Last night-Hill work
Tonight-light recovery run and bosu or bike
Friday-Rest and recovery (drink beer)
Saturday-12 mile run.
Sunday-bike and strength

Total mileage for the week should be over 26 miles.

In other news, Kristen of Will Run For Wine and I have made a wager on the Superbowl. Kristen is rooting for the New Orleans Saints and has a great story behind why she is such a fan; go check out her blog! I on the other hand have no great story behind why I am rooting for the Colts. I am a Chiefs fan and we all know that they couldn’t fight their way out of a damn paper bag much less make the playoffs, so I have to root for someone in the super bowl. I actually hated Peyton Manning for a few years. I remember his rookie year, he was a cocky young thing and he came into Arrowhead Stadium and bad mouthed MY CHIEFS. Well, Kansas City played them and Chiefs stomped all over him and his big mouth. Over the next few years, I kept a close eye on him (you gotta watch your enemies) and eventually he started to earn a little bit of my respect. He’s not a looker like REGGIE BUSH (resident New Orleans hottie), but dude is a good quarterback. Either way, it should be a GREAT game!

Recap

Well, I’m definitely not getting any points on creativity for my title this week. Sometimes, I just get tired of coming up with titles; I think I’ll just start naming them all “Post” or “Update”.

Sunday, I met fellow blogger Jill for a 5 mile run; I was so excited to get to meet her in person! We met at the trail head and realized that her camera battery was just about dead and my memory card was full, so we were lucky to even get one photo out of the whole deal. I actually stole the photo that I have posted on my blog off of her blog because I looked like a tard in both of the ones on my camera. We asked a couple of hikers to take our picture and I’m sure that they thought we were nuts for wanting to have our picture taken when the wind was howling and it was so cold, but we HAD TO GET A PICTURE FOR THE BLOGS! We of course didn’t tell them this.

We had a great run and I really enjoyed our time together; even though I felt like my lungs were being beaten to death due to the temperature. Jill is an extremely interesting person and I can’t wait to run with her again. We actually found out that we live really close to each other and have access to the same fitness center, so I would love to meet her there for some strength training or a treadmill run some night.

Don’t you love the blogger world? I would have probably never have met this new friend had it not been for our blog connection.

I haven’t posted a gratitude list in awhile, so I think that it is time.

1.) I am thankful that I am not sick like I was last week.
2.) I am thankful for my local market; I went shopping this weekend and got some GREAT organic fruits and veggies.
3.) I am thankful that I have met a new friend and not just ANY new friend, but a friend who runs! How great is that?
4.) I am thankful that there is a batch of home made vegetable stew waiting for me at home. No cooking tonight!
5.) I am thankful that spring is only a couple of months away. I am SO ready.

BTW-Thanks for all of your supportive comments on my last post. You know, the one where I was freaking out over the fact that I had posted a comment on that woman's blog who hates me? I felt much better after hearing you guys say that I took the high road and my even my husband said that it wasn't worth worrying about. What's done is done and I'll probably never visit her blog again anyway. The good news is, I commented with my profile hidden, so that SHE can't visit my blog.

The Happiest Blogger Ever....

I was tagged by Meg from Meg Runs to give the “10 Things That Make Me Happy”. This will actually be the THIRD time that I have given out this list, but I don’t mind one bit because I have a lot to be happy about!

Disclaimer: I am not one of those annoyingly happy people that you want to slap because they are “bouncing off the wall chipper”. No, I am just quietly happy and I love to smile and laugh.

So, here goes:

1.) My friends and family. This has made number one on my last two lists and it’s not going anywhere!
2.) Hiking in the woods with snow softly falling around me
3.) Newborn puppies
4.) Chocolate peanut butter cups
5.) Odell Brewery Beer. I realize that I make myself sound like a drunk on this blog sometimes, but I’m really not, one is usually my limit. There’s just nothing better then a long, sweaty run and then a nice cold beer.
6.) Thunderstorms. We don’t have a lot of really good thunderstorms in Colorado like we lived in Missouri, I miss them sometime.
7.) Weekends.
8.) A quiet morning with my husband
9.) Blogging
10.) NFL football. Yes, I am unfortunately a Chiefs fan. They did kick the Broncos ass a few weeks back though. That made me soooo happy.

This has been my rest and recovery week, so not a lot of training to talk about. I have actually been feeling sick with a sore throat and chest congestion, so I have been REALLY taking it easy and recovering. I even had to miss my run test last night. I don’t have a long run this weekend, which is nice! I AM planning on doing a short recovery run (I hope I feel better) with fellow blogger Jill of Run With Jill though! I can’t wait to meet her in person!

One other thing I wanted to get your opinion on. My salon has a new massage therapist, who supposedly does awesome sports massages. Do any of you get a sports massage after your long runs? Does it help? Do you think it is worth the money? Next weekend is my 12 miler and then the mileage just continually goes up from there of course. I was thinking about scheduling a massage for after my 18 and 20 milers. Any thoughts?

I have a ton of posts to catch up on, I can’t wait to see what you all have been up to! I think that my work has finally slowed down a bit, so it will be nice to have time to blog again!

Late Update: I’m freaking out. I just found a blog that I didn’t really want to find. I was googling a race that I was considering running in and came across a running blog and the link to her blog was on his running blog (follow me?). I was, of course curious, so I clicked on. I even freaking left a comment, which I later tried to delete, but she had that damn comment moderation. Now this woman does not like me and has gone out of her way to be rude to me in the past, so I wasn’t sure about leaving a comment to begin with, but I am OCD about always leaving comments (you all know how I am), so I left one about her adorable little girl and her beautiful wedding photos. I have absolutely nothing against this woman, but she thinks that I intentionally broke up her relationship with someone. I am not that type of a person, plus the same thing was done to me, so why would I cause that kind of pain to someone else. I had absolutely no idea of the situation that I was getting in and didn’t know until I was already too far in it. I know that I am rambling and you have no idea what I’m talking about, but I needed to blog about it because I always feel better when I do. Whew, thanks for listening.

Beautiful Blogger?

First off: Yes, I'm still in Accountant Hell Week, which has now turned into hell month, thank you for asking. Oh you didn't ask? Oh...okay, just keep on reading then.

Next, I have to thank two great bloggers out there for passing along the Beautiful Blogger award to me. Thank you to Mel of 2nd Chances and Lisa from Lisa Runs? Wait...What?

Now, I have to reveal 7 interesting facts about me. So grab a beverage and try to stay awake, because here are my facts!

1.) I took 13 years of ballet and 5 years of hip hop/jazz while growing up. Yes, you would think that I would have absolutely no problems with balance while doing the stability and bosu balls. Hmmmmm.
2.) I went vegetarian in September of last year. Yes, I am human and have slipped a few times, but overall, I feel lighter and healthier. Now, if I could just give up the beer, I would probably feel a lot better.
3.) My husband and I home brew our own beer. It is a lot of work, but we have fun with it.
4.) I own both a road bike and a mountain bike and I LOVE to ride them both!
5.) I had a Bilateral Pulmonary Embolism in October of last year. I realize that most of you already know this. What you don’t know, but I would like to pass onto you, is that it was caused by the Nuva Ring (my birth control). The number one risk factor from using the Ring is blood clots. I wish that I had known this before I switched to it this past year. Ladies, please, please, please check the risk factors of all of your birth control; especially if you are old like me.
6.) I will do my first tri in July. WHOOHOO!
7.) I got pregnant my freshman year of college. I went on to graduate with a double major in both Accountancy and Finance with a 3.89 GPA, all while raising a family and working as a bartender/waitress 40 hours per week. This is why it bothers me so much to hear someone say “I can’t”. I believe that if you set your mind to it, you can do anything you set out to do.

Hey….wake up, I need to talk about my training.

Training: Saturday, I did my 10 mile long run for the week. It was a beautiful day out, in the 60's, and I was totally overdressed, in long pants and long sleeve shirt. Yes, I did know that the temperature was going to be warm, but I am pretty retarded when it comes to dressing, so I wore what I thought I would be comfortable in. I am always cold, so I overdressing is a norm for me. I was soon covered in salt, pit stains, and a lovely smell. At least my lungs felt better this week due to the warmer weather. Last week’s cold weather had them feeling like someone had pulled them out, beat the crap out of them and then shoved them in backwards.

Sunday, I did a 45 minute bike and half an hour of strength work on the bosu ball.

This week is rest week. I am stepping back to allow my body to absorb my training and recover AND I have permission to run slow and cut any or all of my workouts short. Oh yes, I love rest week! I did a short 30 minute run last night and even took the dog. My form wasn’t so good, but we had a good time. I ran with leash in one hand and poop bag in the other.

I hope you all have a great week of training!

TGIF

I just got all caught up on everyone’s posts the other day and I got online last night and realized I was behind again! You guys are killing me (insert smile here). My Accountant hell week is almost over, in fact, I am actually starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Let’s just hope it isn’t a train. I’ll get some rest this weekend and get ready for hell week number two.

Even though I’ve been working a lot, I’ve managed to get in my training runs for the week.
Monday: 5 mile fartlek run.
Tuesday: 45 minute bike on my indoor trainer.
Wednesday: 4 mile run, half of which was in my zone 2 HR zone.
Thursday: 3 mile recovery run
Friday: (Tonight) Rest/Recovery or in other words “lie on the couch and drink beer and eat bad stuff and recover from hell week”.

Total mileage so far this week is 12 miles (I didn’t even need my calculator) and I have a 10 miler on my schedule for tomorrow, so that will be a total of 22 miles for the week.

I was tagged by Age Group Rocks to post the 10 Things That Make Me Happy. I was already tagged for this and updated my 10 things in my post on Tuesday, but I would love to go ahead and give another 10 things because I have a lot in life to be happy about!

1.) My family, friends, and my dog
2.) An afternoon drive through the mountains in the fall to see the pretty color changes
3.) Watching the sun set behind the mountains
4.) Leaving work early and/or vacation days
5.) Diet Mountain dew
6.) A great trail run or a mountain bike ride. I just love being in the woods.
7.) A clean house. Can someone help me with this?
8.) Beer. (yes, this made the list the second go around too).
9.) Fitting into my skinny jeans
10.) Skiing/snowboarding

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Even the Kitchen Sink......

There's a lot of random stuff going on in this post; I apologize for that. I just don't know when I will be able to post these days since I am still in Accountant hell right now. Year end is busy and we are trying to get ready for the audits. Any Auditors out there? I do not like you much right now.

I did my 8 mile run this weekend. I felt great throughout the whole run and my lungs felt strong. The weather on Saturday was in the 50's and I even thought about wearing shorts. I'm glad that I didn't; midway through the run, I dropped a large amount of gel on my pants and it bounced off my knee and landed on my shoe. I seem to have issues taking gels while running, half the time they end up in my hair or all over my face. Anyway, I stopped to try and clean up, because I didn't want a bunch of bugs and hair clinging to the sticky mess, and grabbed a handful of snow to wipe up my knee and shoe. The point of all this rambling is that I'm really glad that I didn't wear shorts, the snow would have been cold against my bare skin. Yes, all of that to tell you why I was glad I didn't wear shorts. Aren't you glad you checked out my post today?

I finally got my t-shirt in the mail from the San Antonio marathon. Yes, the one that I couldn't run in. I am proudly wearing my $110 t-shirt below. I figure that I trained for the damn thing, even making it to a 20 miler before my October "issues", so I'm going to get my monies worth out of the t-shirt.



I thought that I would get a closer view of the shirt, but you still can't read it very well.



Two great giveaways that I wanted to mention. Tricia at Endurance Isn't Only Physical is giving away a mini sport belt and Molly at I'm a Sleeper Baker is giving away some Sweetriot Chocolate Nibs. I've never tried them, but they are chocolate, so sign me up.

Last, but certainly not least, I was tagged by Saundra at Fitness For Foodies to list out 10 Things That Make Me Happy, so here goes:

1.) My family is, without a doubt, number one
2.) My dog; she’s just too cute. I love going on walks with my husband, daughter, and the dog.
3.) Running. Duh……
4.) My road and mountain bikes. A good mountain bike ride on a great spring day is awesome!
5.) Running on a perfect spring morning when there is no one out yet, but me and my thoughts.
6.) Did I mention that I really like spring weather???
7.) Sitting on a patio somewhere with my hubby, watching the sun set, and drinking a really good beer.
8.) Beer in general. Again…duh.
9.) Finishing a great long run and knowing that I gave it everything that I had and left it all out there. There is no greater feeling.
10.) Did I mention that I really like spring weather? It will be 60 degrees today. Can someone say….RUN!

Ok. I'm done with my rambling. Hope everyone has a great week of training. I think that I have about a 100 posts to catch up on. See you soon!

Quick Post/Gratitude List

My new Smart Wool socks. Yeah, they are ugly, but they have kept my feet toasty warm in the frigid temps we've been having.



This will be a short, quick post today; gotta get to work, being an Accountant at year end is hell. TGIF!

First off, I wanted to mention a great giveaway over at Julia’s Chocolate Shoestrings blog. She’s giving away an awesome Japanese Whimsy Goody Package. Go check it out (finish my post first….don’t worry, it’s quick).

Second, good luck to all of you who are racing this weekend. Sending positive running thoughts your way!

Third, a few posts ago, I mentioned that I was reading Dean Karnazes “50 Marathons in 50 Days”. Well, I finished it this past weekend. Quite honestly I couldn’t put the dang book down. It was that good and very inspirational, so if you haven’t read it yet, go get the book!!!

Training: I’ve gotten in a few short runs this week with total mileage at 12 miles so far and I will be doing an 8 mile run this weekend. Total mileage will be at 20; ramping back up.

Gratitude:
1.) I am thankful that it is Friday.
2.) I am thankful that the weather is in the 30’s today and will be in the 40’s and 50’s this weekend. I can’t take this cold weather.
3.) I am thankful for my new Smart Wool hiking socks; they’ve kept my cold feet warm this week.

Alright that it. I told you it would be quick! I hope everyone has a great weekend.

1st Post of the New Year!

My Uncle from Missouri sent me this picture. I hear that they are "enjoying" some single digit temps in the midwest this week. It is going to be in the 40's here in Colorado today. Break out the bikini!



I did my first long run of the New Year on Saturday! Granted, it was only 6 miles, but my marathon is still 123 days away (according to the widget over there to the right), so I should be ok. I’m back up to 8 miles this weekend.

I found out my coach was pregnant yesterday. I read it in her blog and my first reaction was “OMG, I’m so sorry!” and then I remembered that her and her husband have been planning to have a baby, so I posted my congratulations on her on her blog and facebook. I know a lot of people who are pregnant right now. My boss is pregnant, my coach is pregnant, and I have several friends who are pregnant. Whatever they are drinking….keep it away from me; I want to get this darn marathon ran.

Anyway, I was feeling all warm and fuzzy and truly happy for Liz until I looked at my training schedule and noticed that she had added a run test in the upcoming weeks. She even taunted me with the words “OH YES-IT IS TIME”. Now those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile have heard me complain about this test before. You know why? Because it is 20 minutes of all out pain. I’m not that big a fan of pain, which is why I don’t run those 5K things; too much hurt packed into a small amount of time. Anyway, she does these tests so that she can see where we are in our fitness level, etc, etc. I have obviously gotten out of them over the last few months due to doctors orders of “no pushing myself”. Well he cleared me to push myself, I told her it was ok, and then she put that damn test on my schedule. I will be dreading it for the next two weeks.

I’ve also been switching up my strength/core work by going from the stability ball to the bosu ball. She’s given me new workouts on this thing and my arse and legs are sore, which made my 5 mile fartlek run last night quite painful. Ouch!

I hope everyone is having a great week. I will “see” you soon since I will be catching up on posts! Happy Running.