4 miles in 43:26

I keep shaving off a little time each run. As G reminds me "ya gotta run more than once a week".

Ok, in all fairness, I ran on Monday also. But he's right. I was supposed to get serious this week.

Over the last couple of weeks in planning festivities associated with my best friends (since I was 4) wedding, I have come to meet a lot of her friends. Very motivated inspirational people who I hope to keep in touch with even though my girlfriend got married last night and is moving far far away.

Anyway, I love spending time with self-movers. I think for a while there I got in a funk of hanging with people who themselves are in a funk and I just got lazy.

I was not raised with self-discipline so it's a constant struggle but I strive to be so.

I learned this week that night running isn't working out for me. Hubbys schedule is too sporadic or I just lose the oomph.

I would like to think that I will run more this coming week but truth be told, he's going out of town for work after Memorial day so I can't run UNLESS, I get someone to watch the kiddos for like a half hour every day. That actually shouldn't be so hard. I think I'll do it.

Anyway, on the positive side, 43:26 is my best time for my 4 mile course so at least I have that.

Blog friends and free blog pizza

A few months ago, I participated in Neil Kramers Great Interview Experiment. I was interviewed by a very cool chic named Di Mackey from over at Woman Wandering. While perusing my blog, she figured out where I live, I mean, down to the exact suburb. Kinda scary and I have since deleted those pictures, but fortunately she wasn't a psychopath stalker. At least, not yet ;) Just kidding Di! But the thing that made this more amazing is that she lives far far away in a land called Belgium, and I'm way out here in the US of A.

It turns out that years ago, Di met a friend named Mary Lou, in a travel chat room. Mary Lou, just so happens to live just a few streets down from me. They have been friends for years and though Di has never visited my neighborhood, she recognized the area from pictures that Mary Lou had sent her.

Anyway, Di introduced me to my neighbor, Mary Lou, via email, a few months ago, and yesterday, I finally got to meet ML face to face, at her house, which she so hospitably invited me to. And for lunch, I brought pizza... FREE PIZZA!!!

How did I get a free pizza? From blogging, of course. From blogging? What?

Let's see if I can keep this succinct....

Last year, I was looking for an interesting place to eat downtown. I found a wonderfully entertaining food review blog called EATINGCLEVELAND.com. Mark, the blog owner and author, had written a hillarious, and in my opinion, very accurate review on a so-called Mexican resturant in my neighborhood. I have been reading his blog ever since. In this small world that blogging becomes, it turns out Mark and his wife, are best friends with my cousin and her hubby. So anyway, I somehow won a free pizza on Marks site. (Thank you Mark!!!!) I redeemed it yesterday (Little Havana on a wheat crust... yummy!) for my lunch with my new "computer friend" as ML's significant other likes to call those of us that meet on the computer.

Anyway, my lunch with my new friend was awesome. Mary Lou is this super interesting and funny woman and I could listen to her for hours. We had a great lunch but I did get nervous when we picked up the kids from school and they started wreaking havoc on her cool house. I decided, at that point, it was time to go. I do look forward to my new friendship with her though. Mary Lou, you rock girlfriend!

So here's to you, Neil, Di, Mary Lou, Mark, and the dude who invented blogging !!!! Thank You!!!!

POSER!!!

Yes, it's true. I'm starting to believe that I'm not really a runner at all but actually a poser. Someone who does a few 5K's and thinks she can call herself an official runner.

Why a poser, you ask? (or not?) I just feel like I've been taking the easy route, so to speak. I have never really followed a training plan and I don't think I've ever actually run an entire 5K.


Anyway, I decided this past week that it's time to get serious. A few of my friends did the Cleveland marathon and that was just so inspirational.

I started on Monday and decided as boring as it may be to anyone who stops by here to read, I'll probably be writing a lot about my running progress and thoughts on this blog.

So, Monday I mapped out 3 miles. I was hoping to keep a steady pace and to run the entire thing. Unfortunately, I guess I set the bar too high because I only ran a mile before tiring. After that I did walking and running intervals. I felt miserable while I ran. The weather was cool and windy and sunny. The wind, even though it didn't feel very strong, made running significantly harder. Also, I started getting dizzy and nausceous halfway through. I felt horrible and decided to cut my run short. When I got home, I had run almost 2.5 miles in about 23 minutes.

I don't know how people run farther and longer and faster. To me, at this point, the concept is insane but some drive in me keeps me wanting to try.

I skipped my Tuesday run. I just couldn't face it. My weak mental powers got the best of me. I still have 5 hours of daylight left today on Weds to give it another shot.

I spoke to a father of one of my son's classmates today who has run a few marathons and in great time. He suggested I try setting a time, instead of a distance, when planning my runs. I might just do that as I work to build endurance.

Snack Time...

Ok ok ok...

I know I promised that tomorrow I would suggest some new music and it's been a few days since I last posted but we all know that I am not a daily blogger so technically, in the lovely distant land of Blogoslovakia.... today IS tomorrow!!!

So anyway, yeah... there's this new CD out by the incredibly talented Canadian group that you may know from such songs as "If I had a Million Dollars" or "Chickety China, the Chinese Chicken" which actually isn't the official title. It's actually called "One Week" but that's the one line that most people seem to remember.

Anyway, as you can plainly see from the graphic I stole from the official BNL website (ps... if you click that, that page will open in a whole new window), their latest and greatest is a kids collection called... da da da daaaaaaah.... SNACK TIME!!!

I always thought they would make beautiful childrens music together and I was RIGHT!!!

If you go to their OFFICIAL SITE (there's that link again), you can download the song "789" and the lyrics just to get a tasty morsel of what's in store if you decide to purchase it. Another favorite here in the GOTR household is "Crazy ABC's" which is the 23'rd out of 24 songs.

This is a kids cd that you can actually listen to (unless you are a musical stinky pants like my husband... who I LOVE dearly, but, who is NOT a fan of BNL.... I blame my friend STEVE because when my friend STEVE (not to be confused with the STEVE from BNL) plays his guitar and sings along, he can make anyone, from the Eagles, to Stevie Nicks, to Jack Johnson (had to get that Jack ref in there) sound like BNL and frankly, I think my hubby has just had enough of STEVE, and not BNL. )

So yes, there you have it. The nitty gritty down-lo from yours truly ... self-proclaimed-momma-extraordinaire.... Buy Dis Wecord... O-TAY! (SNL Eddie Murphy Buckwheat Sings reference there for those of you just born.)

marathon shmarathon....

I ran the zoo 5K yesterday. It was a fun day. We took the kids and there were tons of fun activities and prizes via radio disney. The zoo is very hilly and even though I typically run a little farther in my regular runs without any pain, my muscles are feelin' the burn today baby!

Today my friend G ran 20 miles in the rain in training for the marathon next weekend. He asked me if I could bring him some water and check on him a couple times which I gladly did. I drove along his course on the way out for his first water stop. I don't know how in the world anyone can run that... let alone a marathon???? It felt like I was driving forever. NUTS. I think he's gonna be a tad sore tomorrow but at the same time I have a much deeper appreciation for marathoners.

Do I think I will ever be one? Doubtful. I don't have a reason or desire at this point. I would, however like to increase my endurance and pace for shorter runs. I love how I feel after a short run. I can't say that I believe I would feel that way after 26 some miles... orrrr, even like 13, for that matter.

Come back tomorrow when I will probably not talk about running, but instead, suggest some new music.

Still trying to be a runner

I've been running a couple mornings a week with my friend G. He really pushes me and we have such awesome conversation that the 4miles course we've been running really goes by so fast.

Unfortunately, it has been taking me an average of about 46 minutes to do the 4 miles. I'm so slow. The first mile is always the toughest because I don't think my heart is ready to beat so hard at 5 in the morning. I always push myself to run the entire first mile though. Then I usually walk a bit and then I run harder. I get winded and feel dizzy. I really hope that I can run an entire 5K this season without walking. That's my goal for the year. I actually love the feeling of running fast. I just don't have the endurance to keep it up. Sometimes I wonder if some people just aren't meant to run. I hope that's not true. I love how good I feel after my morning runs.

G is averaging 6 1/2 minute miles. He sacrifices his early 5am time to help me improve and I'm so grateful to him. I keep telling him he's going to ditch me if I can't get to the point of running the whole time. He has been training for his first full marathon, which is next weekend. I can't go to cheer him on because it's the same day as my hubby's golf outing. Bummer. He did a half marathon not too long ago in FL and ran the entire thing in an avg of 7:45/mile but he's got all these mental worries re: a full marathon. I can't even imagine doing a marathon, let alone running the entire thing nonstop. WOW. I personally think he has nothing to worry about.

My first race of the season is tomorrow. I'm doing a 5K at the zoo for mitochondrial disease. My girlfriends son has it and so I'm doing it to support her. My friend Nilo had an awesome thought that I can't get out of my head. He suggested they let the animals out of their cages to chase the runners for extra motivation. I've had this picture of that replaying in my head for the last few mornings while I ran.

I tried to draw it on photoshop but it's not turning out since all my animal drawings look too cute to be vicious predators. Let's just say that the bears would be eating good that day.

Anyway, I'm excited.

A post just to post....

Hi there happy people. I thought since it's been over a month since I've been here I would write. The problem is, I still have nothing of interest to say.

I'm happy the weather is getting warmer.

I'm happy the parties I planned for and threw turned out so great.

I'm happy I finally found the perfect sangria recipe.

I'm happy to be running again.

I'm happy to have the greatest running partner ever.

I'm happy to have so much love in my life.

I wish I had more time for my guitar.

I wish I had more to say after a month of not blogging.

I'm excited about the Jack Johnson concert in a little more than a month.

I'm confused by friends who disappear without saying why.

I'm grateful that my kids are hilarious and crack me up daily.

I'm grateful for flipflops and bright pink toenails.

I'm stoked that I can look out my front window and see the beach.

I'm almost as excited that I found my Adobe Photoshop program so I can draw goofy little pictures again.

Life is good, but I do miss blogging a little.