Happy Thanksgiving to All

It's 6:45 am and the intrepid runner leaves the house, spouse asleep, a couple of doggies at the door, wanting walks and wondering why they're being left behind. The fog was very thick as I drove to the race location in Frisco. I'm not familiar with the area and visibility was awful. Today, I am thankful for having a GPS in the car, even if her voice is annoying and I call her "bitch" quite frequently.

This was my first time running a Turkey Trot. I missed running one 2 years ago (when I first started to do C25K) because I rolled my ankle while running with the dogs a couple of weeks before. Little did I know it would be 6 months before I'd be able to run again at all.

The course was nice and flat and included a loop around Pizza Hut Park. I had the chance to look around the area beforehand. There are definitely some shops and restaurants that I'll want to come back and visit. The turnout was great, and I'd guess there were quite a few hundred people. Lots of people, lots of dogs, lots of babies in strollers, lots of kids running too.

The link to the results isn't working for me, but my Garmin put me at 36:35 for 3.17 miles. Any finish is a good finish!

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with your loved ones.

Stick a fork in me...

... I'm done. Not really, but this morning at 8:30 am it felt like it. Or, as people from the South would say to me "Bless your heart." Which is translated as "why on Earth is that crazy woman doing that, has she lost her mind?" What I did was complete week 5 of C25K this morning. 5 minute brisk walk and 20 minutes of running. It was slow running, but it was running, and I DID IT ALL!! 28 minutes and 15 seconds, 2.21 miles with an average pace of 12:42. I'm not ready to sign up for a half, but I'm going to start training like I am.

I'd also like to thank Shannon at SuperwomanSpirit for the Beautiful Blogger Award!

For this award I'm supposed to tell you 7 things about myself that you don't know about me. Here goes.

1. I am shy to the point of social anxiety and panic attacks when I have to go to parties or outings.

2. I spend way too much money on books, quilting supplies and beading stuff. (Shush up Karyn, you do too.)

3. The Aussie and I were engaged 4 months after we met. (We've been married 15 years)

4. When I was little I ran away. No idea why, but I did. I made it as far as the mailbox (about 25 feet). I was prepared though: I brought with me a loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, a butter knife and a roll of toilet paper.

5. I like dogs more than I like many people.

6. I loathe eggplant.

7. Occasionally when I was little I'd get up early on Saturday mornings, swipe the open container of sour cream or the open can of tomato paste out of the refrigerator, grab a small spoon and sit behind the living room sofa and eat the sour cream or tomato paste. I'd then hide the empty container and spoon under the sofa.

I'd like to pass along this lovely award to some wonderful and inspiring bloggers. Tag, you're it:

Julia at JuliaGoulia

Jan at HealthyLoserGal

Jess at HalfOfJess

I am a child of the 80s

Me, circa 1983

Not that I was born in the 80s. Nooooo. Far from it. My taste in music, ridiculously diverse as it is, leads me back to the 80s again and again. So, in honor of all things neon, pants with rolled cuffs (how is it they're back in style??) and scrunchy socks, I have compiled my 80s running playlist. Enjoy.

Our Lips Are Sealed - The Go Gos
History Never Repeats - Split Enz
Space Age Love Song - A Flock Of Seagulls
Don't Change - INXS
Jessie's Girl - Rick Springfield
Love Plus One - Haircut 100
Steppin' Out - Joe Jackson
You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) - Dead Or Alive
Everybody Have Fun Tonight - Wang Chung
Fantastic Day - Haircut 100
Gloria - U2
Relax - Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Litany (Life Goes On) - Guadalcanal Diary

Harumph

It's time to keep going with the C25K training. It's already 90 (and humid), so running outside today during lunch isn't going to happen. (I learned that lesson the hard way) I wanted to head to the rec center instead and run in air-conditioned comfort on one of the treadmills, only to find out they're closed. City's website posted the following:

City Facilities CLOSED for Furlough Day May 28, Closed for Memorial Day Holiday May 31
City facilities will be closed on Friday, May 28 for the first of three scheduled furlough days this year, in an effort to address the City’s estimated $2.9 million budget shortfall.

This sucks. A three day weekend and I can't take advantage of the gym. And why did they capitalize Furlough Day like it's a holiday?

The One Where I Get My *ss Handed To Me On A Platter

Hubris. Dictionary.com defines this as excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance.

I really learned the meaning of this today. Yesterday I tweeted about running for 5 minutes straight, twice, when I was at the gym with my neighbor on Tuesday evening. Hey, I think to myself. I had no problem with it on Tuesday, so I'll head straight to week 5 training in the C25K program. Run 5 minutes, not a problem. Boy, was I wrong. There is absolutely no correlation between being able to run for 5 minutes straight on a treadmill at an air-conditioned gym and being able to run for 5 minutes straight on my neighborhood sidewalks on a hazy, hot and humid Dallas afternoon. Total. Fail. I barely made it through the first 5 minutes running. The second and third running intervals I couldn't do it. I couldn't make it all the way through either of them running. I walked. I finished, but I walked.

When I got back I took one of the "I just worked out and I'm hot and sweaty" pictures, but it was just too horrendous to post. I like pink, but that was not an attractive shade on me. So instead, I'll just show you a picture of the strawberry banana protein shake I made afterwards. My face was somewhere between the shade of the shake and the shade of the straw...



The next time I get my ass handed to me on a platter, can the platter at least match my decor?

The Word of the day

I re-started week 3 of C25K this morning. I was in between the running intervals 3 and 4 when my legs started feeling really heavy and I was dragging. I seriously was thinking about turning around when I looked down, and at the bottome of a driveway, just next to the sidewalk, I saw two pieces of red bark mulch in the shape of a cross. I paused and smiled. What immediately popped into my mind was Philippians 4:13. I can do all things through Christ, who strenghtens me. I picked up my pace and kept going, and that next running interval was one of the best I've done so far. So I have a new workout partner. I hope he likes running.

Now Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see. ~ Hebrews 11:1

Back off the couch

This last week was hard. Not being able to run because of the gardening sunburn fiasco, my C25K program fell by the wayside. I noticed that my motivation for exercising started to wane, so I knew I needed to get back in the proverbial saddle. Today during my lunch hour I re-started week 2. (I was on W3D1 when I had to stop) The stats are as follows:

1.99 miles
28:23
282 calories burned (nike+ said only 204, but I'll go with my GoWearFit stats on that)

A C25K Update and Insanity

My C25K programs has been going well. I started week 1 with my own music in 30 and 120 second intervals (got bored with running to 30 seconds of Miami Vice Theme really quickly). Did that for a week, then I started week 1 over, doing the Podrunner First Day to 5K podcast. Much quicker pace. Tonight I start on week 2 of Podrunner.

Since it's been going well, I decided to make it official and join the ranks of the insane. I just registered for the Run For Retrievers 5K in May. I wanted to do a 5K around the time of my birthday, and this race is towards the end of the C25K training, the weather shouldn't be outrageously hot, and it's for a really good cause; the DFW Labrador Retriever Rescue Club. Anyone who knows me knows I am a sucker for dogs, so this is a win-win situation. I'll be off the couch and running with the big dogs.

I wish I could run the race with my dogs, but running a 5K, even training for one, and my doggies doesn't mix. Stop, snif and pee, stop, sniff and pee, oh look, it's a bunny! (race off and mom ends up with a sprained ankle). Besides, my secret superhero exercise name isn't Runs With Dog Poop.

Say Goodbye To The Couch, Baby!

It's April 1st, and, no joke, I'm starting the C25K program today. My friends Julia @JewliaGoulia and Stephanie @mommas_crew were talking the other day on Twitter about wanting to do the C25K but were a bit nervous about starting it. I piped in that I'd be interested in doing it with them. We picked April 1 as the day to get going, and at last count, there are 17 of us starting today. If you want to join us, head over to Julia's blog and sign up. The more the merrier!

When, not if, I finish this, I'll be signing up to run a 5K somewhere nearby, and I'd love it if some Dallas area buddies want to sign up with me! Wish us luck and keep your fingers crossed that I don't sprain my ankle again.

Oh, and I'm looking to expand my playlist, so if you have good ideas for songs that are 60 and 90 seconds, please let me know. Most of what I have in that time range is from Les Miserables. It's great music, but not really good running music, if you know what I mean.