These Shoes Are Made For Walking

So, I completed my second half marathon yesterday.

When I signed up for this race (Lewis and Clark Half-Marathon), I was all about training for a second one. I had such a good experience with the first that I was sure I could recreate it on my own without having to raise a bunch of money. WRONG! I've been so tired I couldn't manage to get myself up and run in the mornings.

Knowing this I went into the race with the intentions of running as much as I could and then walking the rest. Easy, right?! Wrong again! I started out strong and made it to the end of the first two miles in spite of an uneasy stomach (which led to an unscheduled bathroom stop on the way to meet my ride). Things went downhill from there. I got a side cramp, I was still worried about eating/drinking for fear of the stomach rearing its ugly head, I was too much in my head and started to doubt I could do it...

Let's just say that I finished. The last two miles felt like I was walking 15 miles and I was near tears for the last 4 miles but I made it. I am so happy that I finished in spite of myself and managed to only come in about 11 minutes over my previous time.

The problem is that I'm super sore...like way more sore than the last one in which I JOGGED a lot of it. And to top it all off, I have two enormous blood blisters on the inside edges of my heels. We're talking quarter sized. And they hurt. So wearing shoes feels like I'm dying. I'm trying not to get up at all if I can help it.

Moral of the story: TRAIN for a race and make sure to break in your running shoes before the race so you know exactly where to put moleskin.

Oh, and if you are wondering if I'd do this again...yes, I'm crazy and I'd do another...but I think I'll wait until next year.

aaaaahhhhh, FREAK OUT!

So, it just hit me that I've signed up to do 3 races in 3 weekends in October. A half the first weekend in October, a 5K the next weekend, and a 10K the following weekend. Now, if I had continued to run consistently after my last half then this would be no big deal. But reality is tapping me on the shoulder to remind me that I've BARELY run since then. I've run some long runs on the weekends, but not much during the week. I have no stinking clue how I'm going to do this. Ok, I lied, I do know what my plan is going to be:
1. Drink lots of water (starting now) so that I'll be good and hydrated for race days.
2. Eat as cleanly as possible so that I don't have a bunch of yuck fueling my body.
3. Get my rear in gear and start running in the mornings.
4. Prayer, and lots of it!
5. Focus on one race at a time and not run for a time. Basically, don't die and be able to walk across the finish line.

The good news is I have a wedding the first weekend of November so perhaps I'll be skinny, er, in better shape than I am now.

How Am I Supposed to Breathe With No Air?!

So, like I thought, my air went out again. Geez, can't a girl catch a break?

Luckily, my eyes just ended up needing to be hydrated a lot (read: Hey, dummy, why don't you just use some eye drops!) so I didn't need to get any medicine for them. But my air conditioner?! No dice. I called and they are coming out to assess the damage today.

Although it was a pretty sucky day all around yesterday, it ended on a high note with the return of Glee and playing with my well rested and fully cooled down doggie in my parents' basement.

Thank goodness today is Wednesday! I'm ready for this week to be over.

The 'Eyes' Have It!

Monday. Ugh.

I hate Mondays. It is such a letdown from the weekend. Although, this weekend was kind of a letdown. The highlight of my weekend was dinner with one of my oldest friends (no, she's not old, I've just known her a long time!), Aimee. We went to Cheese-ology for some yummy mac and cheese and then topped it off with some FroYo. I always enjoy getting to catch up with her and we are attempting to make it a monthly get together. Saturday my friend Sara and I were supposed to hang out and we ended up at Applefest, a local church's fair. I was expecting a big deal and got nothing in return. I had bad nachos and the entertainment that we saw left a lot to be desired. We managed to somewhat save the evening with dinner at Tony's. Sunday, I was supposed to go apple picking but Mother Nature decided to show us her ugly face and poured most of the day.

Today I get to go see my eye doctor, making Monday even less pleasant. I seem to have accquired an eye infection and haven't worn my contacts in days. So now not only will have to get medicine, but I'll have to get more contacts too. This comes just after I've had a sick doggie and a sick air conditioner. Oh, and last night it seemed like the air was starting to go out again.

Ugh, Monday.

I'm so tired...

Why am I so exhausted lately? I don't know if my body isn't fully adjusted to working (although it has been over a month since school started, how long can it take?!) or what but I am so tired lately. I can't even use winter as an excuse because it isn't even cold yet. I'm supposed to be running a half marathon, 10K, and 5K in the month of October and I'm slightly panicky that I won't make it. Hopefully things will begin to ease up and I'll start feeling more rested. Something has to give, right?

Feeling Wicked?!

Last night I took my mom to see Wicked at the Fabulous Fox Theatre! It was an amazing show and one I'd never seen before. It seems everyone I've ever met in life had already seen the show and they'd been raving about how wonderful it was. I was slightly concerned it wouldn't live up to the hype, but it did. The women who played Elpheba and Glinda were outstanding!

Perhaps more interesting and entertaining than the show were the people seated around us. One of the many reasons (and there are many) that I love my mom is that we both like to people watch and comment on what is happening around us. For instance, the lady sitting behind us was a musical, Fox, and all around theater virgin. And she was 51. How has a person never even been to see a play in all of their 51 years?! No idea, but she was pretty psyched. Moving on to the other people seated behind/in front of us was a couple seated with the virgin. They must have bought their tickets from a scalper (I don't really think this but they were pretty dumb) because they ended up in two completely different rows. And they couldn't figure out how this could have happened. Add them to the lady that walked around writing down row numbers and bugging people about their seats (so she could buy better tickets for the next time she came) and my mom and I were pretty entertained. Until.....

Enter the couple sitting next to us. We aren't sure if they were friends or a couple, but man were they funny. The guy told the girl that the dragon head was moving and making him nervous before the show even started. He even said the dragon shook his head no when he asked if the show would start on time. Then at intermission he exclaimed that the guy who played Fiyero was a terrible dancer. The girl with him assured him he wasn't going to be dancing any further and to "get over it." Seriously, the gems this guy kept tossing around made us giggle.

Finally, the row right in front of us held the jewel of the night. A mother and her children and their spouses. She had a Mary Poppins bag that contained at the very least: kleenex, floss, gum, fruit rollups, granola bars, water bottles, and something wrapped up in a napkin (we think it may have been a cookie or roll). My mom and I actually discussed everything we saw come out of that handbag on the way home. One of the men with her flossed his teeth during intermission. He was also not impressed with the musical, except for the song Defying Gravity. He liked that one. The other guy was really into it and at intermission wanted to go down and ask them to change the ending so that Elphaba didn't "turn bad." Honestly, I could have just sat and watched this family all evening.

All in all, 'twas a good night!

Summer, where have you gone?

I had every intention of spending this summer doing many things. One of those was to get my booty back into running full time and lose the rest of the weight I need to in order to reach my goal weight. Another was to faithfully blog about my summer. So far, I'm 0 for 2.

Since my computer at home is almost dead and I find it hard to blog on iPhone, I will attempt to be more faithful in my blogging. Also, I'm dedicating myself to running. I started my half marathon training on the 4th of July so that I can run the Lewis and Clark Half in October. My nemesis in this training will be the humidity. I may need oxygen but I will complete my training!

Some things I have managed to do this summer include reading almost all of the books on my list for the Truman Committee, hang out with some great friends, and work. Oh, wait, work was not something I was looking forward to accomplishing.

It seems like summer should be in full swing and I'm already looking at the start of the new school year! Crazy! The best part of my summer is almost here....my trip to DC and Philly! I get to spend time with Erin, Jered, and Baby Jude in DC and then hang with my brother and Cara in Philly for the weekend. I'm super excited to see everyone and explore some new cities. Hopefully, I'll be able to take some photos to share.

More later!