January Summary

During January 1-31, 2009, I logged the following:

Number of Runs: 15
Average Time: 38 minutes, 52 seconds
Total Time: 9 hours, 43 minutes, 8 seconds
Average Speed: 5.3 miles per hour
Average Pace: 11:24 minutes per mile
Average Distance: 3.4 Miles
Total Distance: 51.1 Miles
Avg. Calories Burned: 419.3
Total Calories Burned: 6290

Weekly wrap-up: January 19-25, 2009

Yippee! I did it! I ran 5 days this week! I'm so happy that I just did it! Since I ran nothing last week, I did easy runs this week to get back into the swing of things. I jogged an easy 2.2 miles on Tuesday on the treadmill, early in the morning. I got up even earlier on Wednesday, thanks to Riley, and did an easy 3 miles on the treadmill. Riley made sure I got up early on Thursday too, and this time, I pushed a little harder on that 3 mile treadmill run decreasing my pace of 12:09 on Wednesday to 10:58 on Thursday (the average pace includes my warm-up walk to jog to run). Friday is my scheduled rest day, so I easy accomplished that goal! Riley somehow knew it was Saturday and let me sleep a little later. I did an easy 2.46 miles on the treadmill. My goal was 3, but I didn't have enough time because of Kyra's basketball game. On Sunday, we overslept and missed church, so I got on the treadmill at 11:10 a.m. for a long run instead. My goal was 6 miles (and to have started sooner), but once again, I was limited on time and had to call it quits at 5 miles. I would have had enough time if I hadn't spent 30 minutes researching half-marathon training plans before the run... Oh well, I found a plan that looked like a good fit for me and printed it out with the full intention of beginning that program next week. Since I was short on time, but determined to get in a semi-long run, I opted to go 5 miles and not shower before Kyra's basketball game. Yes, I did at least put on deodarant and fresh clothes. Now that's running dedication! (And yes, I did shower when we returned home.)

Days run this week: 5
Miles run this week: 15.66
Goals for next week: Run 5 days and do it in accordance with the training plan

Weekly wrap up: January 12-18, 2009

A big Goose Egg, nada, zero, nuthin... how pathetic my running week was. I logged absolutely zero miles. The weather was bad so I didn't run while I was in Wilmington. I'm a wimp when it comes to freezing rain in the dark hours, so I skipped it. I was very tired and opted to sleep late on Thursday. I thought I would run at work during lunch on Friday, but that didn't happen either. I did walk down 13 flights of stairs, walk a half mile in the underground passageway, and then climb back up 13 flights of stairs at work on Friday afternoon, though. Saturday was spent taking care of my ill daughter. And Sunday... well, it's that time of the month and I just didn't feel like it. Next week has to be better. I seriously need to get back on track now that I have at least one person that has made a financial contribution for the charity that I'm running the ING Half marathon. I don't want it to be a disappointment. After last week's great long run, I had convinced myself to sign up for the Run the Reagan half marathon on Valentines Day. But now I don't think I will. I just need to start training for the ING properly, rather than just go out and run a half without proper training just because I like the course... Stay tuned, I may change my mind again when I'm feeling better...

Weekly Wrap-up, January 5-11, 2009

Well I intended to run 5 days this week, but that didn't work out. I got in 2.65 miles on the treadmill Tuesday morning. I overslept on Wednesday, but got in 3 miles of speedwork on the treadmill on Thursday morning. My legs were sore Friday morning from the speed work and I didn't want to mess up my new hairdo on Saturday. I went from long curly, brown with some grey hair to shorter, dark brown with red highlights on Friday. I love what my new hair colorist and cutter did! What a great transformation! I was not in the mood to run when I got up this morning, but after making and eating a great breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast, I felt rejuvinated. Almost two hours later, I ran farther than I originally inteded to but I felt great so kept going. I did a 1.05 mile warm-up jog/walk with the dogs which turned out to be quite challenging. Then I jogged 6 miles alone and walked the last 0.4 miles with a friend/neighbor that was walking her dog when I re-entered the subdivision. It added up to 7.45 miles and I honestly could have gone farther. But my left knee (patellar tendon) was beginning to hurt and I didn't want to risk an injury. I met my mileage goal for the week, but missed my goal for number of days run. Oh well, there's always next week...

Days run this week: 3
Miles run this week: 13.08
Goal for next week: 14 miles, 4-5 days

Weekly wrap-up, 12/29 - 1/4

I wanted to run today, but my legs, left knee and ankle were a little sore after running 3 days in a row, so I decided to play it safe and take a day off. I'll get back into running again tomorrow (or Tuesday). I don't want to over-do it. Most of my runs this week were on the treadmill. My favorite was at Cochran Shoals. I was disappointed that I didn't make it to the ATC Resolution 5K, but was happy I ran at Cochran Shoals instead.

Days run this week: 4
Miles run this week: 12.57
Goal for next week: 13+ miles, 4-6 days

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! I hope the first day of 2009 started off better for you than it did for me... First of all, how could Georgia Tech lose in the Chick-fil-a Bowl last night? What a depressing way to end a great football season.

My plan was to sleep until 9-ish, have a leisurely breakfast, and then drive for an hour to Kennesaw to participate in the Atlanta Track Club's Resolution Run 5K race (that's 3.1 miles for those of you non-runners), which started at noon. But guess what... that didn't exactly happen. The pups woke me at 5 a.m. to go outside to potty. I went ahead and fed them, then shut my bedroom door so they wouldn't wake me again until I was ready to get up. I didn't bother setting the alarm clock because I rarely sleep late. Big mistake... I guess I hadn't shut the bedroom door entirely because Riley came crashing in at 9:52 a.m. and plopped his arms up on the bed across my chest. Yikes, I overslept. But no worries, because I could still take a quick shower, dress, grab a Clif bar and make it to the race in time. I thought... So after I got dressed I headed to the kitchen to grab fresh bowls of water to take downstairs for the pups while I was gone (I don't trust them inside while I'm away). Well, I can't really trust Riley inside when I am here either. As I walked past the Christmas tree I was startled to see a string of lights strewn across the floor. And of course, Riley was in the process of eating yet another ornament...

Oh well, I'll be locking them outside so I can clean that up after the race. I grabbed fresh water bowls and head down to the basement. Bright white paper in the yard catches my attention. OH NO!!! Riley had taken a Christmas gift bag outside. It was a bag that I had consolidated a few of Kyra's gifts into. When I walked out into the yard, he had a green jewelry box in his mouth and I almost cried. After prompting, he dropped the box into my hand and I had a moment of panic when I opened it and the earrings from Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Wahkie and cousins Brianna and Reuben were missing. I glanced around the yard and saw gifts strewn about. Luckily, I found both pairs of earrings beside another shredded jewelry box. And a stuffed animal in another location. I was relieved that I wouldn't have to sort through poop in a few days, so I ran upstairs to grab the camera.

When I returned, he had resumed shredding the gift bag. I walked through the yard to see what else was out there, not remembering exactly what had been in that particular bag. And then I found the real damage. Kyra's favorite babysitter had given her a scarf, pens, and a Mad Libs. (Mad Libs is a notepad where you fill-in-the blanks to create funny stories.) Thankfully I had hung the scarf in the closet, knowing it would be something he would be interested in. But sadly, the Mad Libs were totally destroyed. In the next photo, I'm sure Tasha was just an innocent bystander. She's such a good puppy. She was just pointing out to me where the Mad Libs could be found. How sweet of her to start raking them up!

By this point, it was 11 a.m. I was fuming mad. I thought that if I sped, I could maybe make it to the race before the start. But of course I caught most traffic signals when the light was red. After driving for about 20 minutes, I realized there was no way I would get there in time. Should I turn around and go back home? Along the route from our house to Kennesaw is a wonderful place to walk/jog, the Cochran Shoals Park along the Chattahoochee River. I like running there but rarely do because of the distance away from home. Since I was near there when I realized I couldn't make it to the race in time, I decided to just run there instead. I wouldn't get a t-shirt, but I don't really need another t-shirt anyway. I enjoyed the 3.27 miles that I jogged near the river. Most other people there were walking or running with dogs. I wished that I had mine with me. I'll have to come back another day and bring Kyra and the pups.