new toy + Stone Mtn trails

Between struggling with plantar fasciitis, insanely busy work projects, daughter's swim team, flat tire, insane heat/humidity, etc., I've come up with excuse after excuse after excuse for not getting my runs in. So yesterday I decided to buy a new toy for motivation: Garmin Forerunner 310XT.

I broke my Garmin 405 on a trail run on Memorial Day. The watch part still worked but the strap was broken. I was content to carry it, instead of strap it on, but during my last run it fogged up on me. I guess the bezel/face must be crack and water leaked in from when I rinsed it after my previous run. And... the GPS screen wasn't working right.

So after work on Friday, I went to REI and splurged on this baby. I took it out for a test run this morning. 6.32 miles on the trails at Stone Mountain. I walked/hiked more than I ran, but it was a great adventure! I only got lost once! I thought I was lost again, near the end, but switched to the GPS mode and set it to go "back to start" and then easily found my way back to the car. Love it!

boobie fruit

An easy 2 mile run this morning in the hopes of getting into an early morning running routine. It hasn't worked in the past, but maybe today will be the day...

The rest of this post has absolutely nothing to do with running, but definitely a lot of fun! My daughter invited a friend over this afternoon/evening. In December 2007, I videotaped them performing silly skits. While I made dinner tonight, they got on the computer and watched those old videos. They decided it was time for a re-enactment. I haven't laughed this hard in... days? Two and a half years ago they put on my bras and stuffed them with fruit, added pillows under my skirts and performed a skit from "hairspray" (bottom photo).

They did a similar re-enactment tonight (top photo) and we had so much fun! Looking back at the pictures and videos, I'm amazed at how much they've grown/changed in the past two and a half years. Thanks for the laughs, girls!

half the miles, twice the kittens

This just wasn't my day. Unfortunately, I've been saying this ALL DAY. It started out wrong by going to bed late and not setting my alarm clock. Even my back-up alarm clocks (the dogs) were off duty! I didn't feel the greatest when I finally woke up. Time to make breakfast. Hey, it's only 83 degrees with 69% humidity; I can still get in a 12 mile run!  Everyone's been fed.  I fill a cooler with ice, tart cherry juice, gatorade and a couple of fun-size snickers and set it at the end of the driveway. I'll run loops around my neighborhood block. I purposely go slow; hey, I can do this! But then I get slower and slower and slower. That's still okay. But then the fun ends...  I start having chills and feel light-headed. Guess I've overheated. So, I bail at 6 miles and hope for better luck next week! (and no, I didn't eat the snickers... they were going to be a treat at mile 10.)

Ending my run early made my daughter happy because it meant that now we could go shopping sooner. We hit the ususal stores... Target, Sports Authority and lastly PetsMart. I was awesome; I kept the purchases to things only on the list. That is, until PetsMart. We went in to buy crickets and dog food, and walked out with two adorable kittens and kitty supplies. I'm such a sucker! If you'd like to read more, here's a link to the post on my other blog, 2 adorable reasons not to take your child to PetsMart on pet adoption day.

recycle

went for an easy 2 mile run this morning. My toe still hurts. Maybe I'll take a few extra rest days this week. Stupid frozen water bottle! On the bright side...  Look at this cool recycle bin that my daughter painted!  Our trash service recently changed and now they collect a lot more items for recycling. We filled our supplied bin in just a few days so she gladly made an unused trash can into a useful work of art.

WARNING... frozen water bottles may do more damage than good

I keep a water bottle in the freezer and use it to roll the bottom of my foot on for my plantar fasciitis. It has provided amazing relief until two nights ago...  After grocery shopping and adding more stuff into the freezer, the bottle was perched precariously on the edge of the shelf. And then when I opened the freezer to get out the ice cream... I learned a painful lesson. WARNING!!! Frozen water bottles may do more damage than good!  As I opened the freezer door, the bottle fell out of the freezer and landed hard on my left bare toes. I screamed bad words, then cried, and proclaimed that I had a broken toe or three... Someone suggested that I ice them immediately, but the thought of putting the offending item on my swelling toes was not appealing. It hurt so bad that I couldn't walk. By the next morning, I was able to limp around. 24 hours later I attempted an easy run; it hurt, but wasn't unbearable. So I had high hopes that I'd still be able to complete my long run today. But it just didn't happen. I quit at 8 miles in a lot of pain. I hope it's not broken...  Can you guess which one?

Peachtree Road Race - NOT

BUMMER!!! My alarm clock beeped at 5:30 a.m. and I groggily got out of bed. Fed the dogs, got dressed, grabbed breakfast for the drive, and readied to leave for the Peachtree Road Race 10K. Walked out to the car to find a FLAT TIRE... BUMMER...  What to do??? It's 6 a.m. on a Sunday/Holiday. No tire stores are open now. I don't think I can change it myself. I'm mad, panicked, frustrated, freaked out... Not only did I plan to run a 10K this morning, but I had plans to go to a friend's lake house this afternoon for a fun party evening of boating, swimming, food, drinks, companionship, and fireworks. I freak out more... then breathe deeply... deeply... deeply...  Guess the 10K wasn't meant to be, but hope to salvage the rest of the day.  Start doing Google searches for tire stores in hopes of finding one that is open on Sunday. Most of the ones nearby are closed on Sunday's, but then I found one that is typically open on Sundays... Super Walmart. Called the phone number, but no one answered. They're normally open on Sundays, but now the big question is... are they open on holidays (since no one answered)? Panic more... What am I going to do? Post on Facebook hoping that someone is willing to come help me change my tire... no response... Stressed = upset stomach = not great... ARGH!!!  I went to bed late last night and am so tired, so opt to climb back under the covers and set the alarm clock for 10 a.m., when Walmart tire store was supposed to open. Eventually fall back asleep. Get up at 10 a.m. and call Walmart again. YAY!!! THEY ARE OPEN TODAY, SUNDAY, HOLIDAY!!!  Drive a half-mile to the nearest gas station and fill the tire with air and then continue on to Walmart. There is a nail in the tire and they can fix it for $10. WOO HOO!!!  I may have missed the Peachtree Road Race, but the rest of my day has been saved. Returned home, baked brownies, ran 5 miles on the treadmill (since it's 88 degrees now), showered, then headed to the lake. Amazing evening of visiting with friends and then lounging in the lake in life vests while watching fireworks being shot off the top of the two-story deck at my friend's lake home. SO MUCH FUN!!!

ocean sunrise run in vff

This view makes getting up at 5:30 a.m. totally worth it! I travelled from home to Wrightsville Beach, NC, yesterday for a business trip. I checked Weather last night for the sunrise time (6:02 a.m), and set my alarm clock to maximize sleep, yet allow enough time to get dressed and drive to the beach before 6 a.m. I was worried when I left the hotel at 5:50 and the sky was already partially lit. Thankfully, the hotel that I'm staying in (Hilton Garden Inn) is only a few minutes from the beach. When I walked onto the beach, the sun hadn't peeked through the clouds yet.  So I walked a few minutes until it did and then snapped many photos with my phone. This is my favorite. What a gorgeous view!

Then I began my run on the beach, facing the sunrise. I had debated about running barefoot or in my in my Vibram Five Finger Sprints. I decided to go with the VFF's and am glad I did. I don't think my tender feet would have handled these shells very well. I mostly ran on the hard packed sand from the low tide. I alternated between the dry land and splashing in the ocean for the cool, fresh experience. It was 80 degrees before sun rise.

I totally enjoyed watching the birds swooping in and out of the sea. It was also amazing to see the sun rising over the ocean, while at the same time the moon was still very visible in the opposite direction. And I was in awe of this scene... It looked like an artist's rendition of a tree with many branches drawn intricately into the sand. WOW!  I love nature!!!

A fresh start

Because 27 is my lucky number, I picked today to be the day to get serious about improving my health. So a few days ago, I re-loaded Daily Burn to my iPhone to primarily track my nutrition and weight loss, but I discovered today that I can also use it to track sleep, exercise, and body measurements. Today, I began tracking...

I had a migraine yesterday, which extended to this morning. It started around 11 a.m. yesterday and nothing phased it.  Tylenol, advil, prayer... had absolutely no effect. When the dogs woke me at 5:45 a.m. this morning, the migraine was still there. So I decided to go back to bed and sleep as long as my body would let me in hopes of healing, rather than get up early for a run or to go to church. I knew I've been sleep deprived for at least a week, if not longer. I felt so much better when I finally crawled out of bed at 1:45 p.m.!

I've read that most recovery and healing occurs while we're asleep so it's very important to get enough rest. Not only did my migraine improve, but my foot (plantar fasciitis) feels better today too. So this evening, I decided to run on the treadmill for two reasons.  It was still over 90 degrees at 7 p.m., plus I thought the treadmill would be a more forgiving surface for my body. I started slow and slowly increased the speed until the end.  9 miles in 1:45:36. Felt good!

OK

I enjoyed running with Mark (a.k.a. bamarunner) this morning at Stone Mountain until my plantar fasciitis pain increased. I was low on energy as well. Goal was 10 miles, but I let him finish without me. I stopped running at about 4 miles and sent him on ahead. This just wasn't my morning and I didn't want to make my foot any worse than it already is. I switched from the road to the trail when I decided to end my run. I walked back to the parking lot along the trail. I was amazed at the huge tree that had fallen and was cut. Wow, it was massive!  A "K" was carved into the cut end. When I looked at it, I saw "OK" with the "O" being the tree ring. I knew then that I had made the right decision to halt the run and walk through the trail. My foot will eventually be OK.

Back at the parking lot, I didn't have ice, but decided the next best thing would be to buy a cold coke from a vending machine. I sat and rolled my foot on it until Mark finished. It didn't stay cold for long, but I'm guessing it was better than nothing. And better yet, it sparked random conversations with people walking past.

Splish splash

Sooo.....  Does sprinting 50 yards from the grocery store to the car in hard driving rain count as speed work?  Either way, I had fun, while other people were huddled near the store doorway, not interested in getting wet. I didn't care... I LOVE RUNNING IN THE RAIN!!!  It was pouring hard, with wind blowing, as I ran through the parking lot pushing the mini-cart. I opened my trunk and loaded the four bags of groceries. I took this photo when I got home. In the 1-2 minutes that it took me to plop the four bags into the trunk, the rain soaked the interior, blowing in 3-5 feet to cover the back seat with rain droplets.

It reminded me of a time several years ago, when Kyra and I got caught in the rain leaving the grocery store. We skipped/splashed through the parking lot to the car as the rain pounded down on us. What a fun memory!!!  Run for fun too!