proud planner

I'm practically a girl scout cuz I'm so prepared.  Oh wait...are girl scouts well prepared or is that what the boy scouts are known for?  I get confused...It's cuz I'm an Aggie and because I was born blondish baldish.  It happens.

I'm not much of a planner, so this is a BIG deal.  Saturday is my 10 miler.  Well, Saturday should be my 10 miler, but alas...I'm flying to Scottsale, AZ for my cousin Rachel's wedding.  This makes running 10 miles out of the question since my flight is at 9am and there is no way I'm getting up THAT early to run 10 miles in enough time to get myself on a plane by 9am.  This means I will have to do my 10 on Sunday morning...in Scottsdale...in unfamiliar territory...in unfamiliar weather conditions.  Sure, it will no doubt be hot and I know hot, but it will be dry.  What the heck is that?  I only know humid.  This concerns me a little bit...especially considering my hydration issues, so I'm going to be very careful.

Anyway, back to my planning...So, I decided to look at the area of our very cool swanky hotel (which will no doubt be discussed further in my post wedding weekend blog) to see if there are any parks nearby.  Yes, there are!  There are at least 3 parks within a 2 to 3 mile radius - gotta love the West coast!  I found the perfect one called Eldorado Park - it's about 2.1 miles from the hotel and it has a 5K course inside the park.  So, let's do the math - 2.1 miles to the park + 2x5K + 2.1 miles back to the hotel = 10.4 miles = PERFECT!  A park is exactly what I was hoping for because it means restrooms, water fountains, people, and safe running.  I also think it's just plain fun to run in a new place - adding a bit of excitement to something that can get a bit monotonous if you don't shake it up a bit. 

So, look at that - a plan of action for foreign territory running - who is this girl that stares back at me when I look in the mirror???

A runner?  A planner?  Both ideas are just plain cRaZy, but they just may fit the profile...

Vampire Running

I'm running with the Vampires now - I mean who else is out before the sun comes up???

This morning I woke up at 4:20am to do my first crack of dawn run!  It wasn't so bad!  I have to get up THAT early because I have a thyroid pill I have to take 30 minutes before I eat and I have to eat something before I run.  I also need that time to do my stretching, to wake up, get all my gear on, etc.... 

So, I ate a 150 calorie whole wheat English muffin with some light cream cheese and I got to wear this cool little gadget for the first time:

It's a cool nifty clip on headlamp and I bought it from Amazon.com for $10.99. 

My plan was to go 3 miles and I ended up hitting 3.2.  Yay me! 

Thoughts:  Early morning running is more peaceful...there is something to be said about being alone on the streets in the dark.  It was also significantly cooler outside.  What a difference that makes.  I love knowing that my run is done - no matter what happens in the day, I have that out of the way. 

When do you like to get your exercise in?

weekend recap

It was a good weekend - much better than last weekend - THANK GOD!  After my 9-miler on Saturday morning, I came home to be lazy for a bit.  I eventually took a muscle soaking bath.  I know, I know...ice is better, but I just wanted to read and be cozy and I can't imagine an ice bath being cozy.  Then again, I can't imagine taking one at all *shivers*.  We'll see...I may have to once I start getting into the big mileage.

We didn't have family lunch because we were doing a joint celebration of older sister Cathy's bday and my dad's bday that evening at Pappas Grill.  This meant I had the afternoon to run some errands and finish birthday shopping for them.

Of course I had to return to the library to get another audio book.  I'm almost done with my current one and I couldn't risk being without one since it makes my car rides bearable!

After all my running around, I got ready for dinner and headed over to the parental's house.  My dad drove Cathy, Jay, my mom, and I to the restaurant.  Linda and Craig met us there.  We had a wonderful meal - I ordered the horseradish crusted filet and then, because it was a special occasion, I went ahead and had some garlic mashed potatoes (not South Beach friendly).  One of the reasons we love Pappa's Grill so much is because of their salad bar - pure deliciousness!

After dinner, we all headed back to my parent's house for dessert (a cake from Rao's bakery), presents, and a fashion show.  We apparently do the fashion show thing a lot, huh?!  This time Linda was trying on some dresses Cathy and my mom had picked out for her to wear to next weekend's wedding and Cathy was trying on some clothes that she had received as gifts.  It was a great family night!  I love my family!!!  =)

I went to bed way late on Saturday (shocker) with the hopes of getting a good solid 8 hours of sleep.  I woke up at 5:30am.  Blech.  I went back to bed and the dogs woke me up at 6:45am.  I fed and watered them, let them go potty, and then I played Mafia Wards, Rummikub, and Sorority Life for a bit.  I went back to bed at 7:30am and didn't wake up until 11:20.  Yikes!  I had lots and lots of sleep!  I must have needed it - I'm thinking it was recovery from my run!

Today I did something really cool - I went to a Pampered Chef party hosted by LaShaune.  I bet you are wondering who LaShaune is, huh?!  Well, it just so happens she is a blog friend who I now have met in the real world - she's actually the first one I've met in the real world!  I had the best time today hanging out with her and her friends and even her mom!  We ate great food and sangria!

The plan is to go to bed NOW so that I can get up early in the morning for my first crack of dawn run - since I have my gear.

How was your weekend?

cloud 9

I'm on cloud 9, y'all.  I just had the best run EVER!  As I whined in my past couple of posts, my September mileage has royally SUCKED with this past week being no exception.  I had little hope for today's 9 miler.  I don't know what happened to this once glass-half-full girl.  Apparently you take me out of my comfort zone and stick me in my running shoes and I lose all confidence.

I still didn't get the 7 or 8 hours of sleep I had hoped for, though I did at least turn my ringer off early on in the evening so as to not be disturbed.  I'm just terrible about getting proper sleep.  BAD KIM!  I did get about 6 1/2 hours.  For breakfast I ate a hard boiled egg, a whole wheat English muffin with reduced fat cream cheese, and a banana.  I brought along some Clif's Shot Bloks with me in case I needed a pick me up, and I headed out the door.

I wasn't sure where we were headed on this run as it was our first time hitting 9.  When they described the plan, I expressed concern over getting lost since I'm so much slower than everyone and since I have a penchant for getting lost.  A lot of my running mates have been on this team in the past, so they know the route.  Everyone was supposed to run a warm-up lap at the park before heading out, so my coach suggested that I run that warm-up lap later and go ahead and head out of the park so that by the time the rest of the group catches up with me, they will be able to guide me through the tricky areas.  It was the perfect plan and it worked!  I only got a little lost after they passed me, but I figured it out and made it work!  ha!

Here's the best part of it all...I ran the entire 9 miles without walk breaks!  I stopped once at mile 6.25 for a bathroom stop and then I had a couple of water stops, but they were quick sips and go...NO WALKING!  I averaged 13:29 - not great, but below the 13:45 marathon pace cap.

My last lap was a timed one, as always.  One of my teammates was still hanging around and offered to run it with me.  I warned her how much slower I was and she said no worries...she would use it as a cool down, so we talked...or rather I tried to talk while she talked normally for my last remaining 1.27 miles.  I actually managed to take 12 seconds off my time from last week.  Not bad for having added 2 miles since last week, either!

Confidence temporarily restored!  Cloud 9 feels pretty darn good!  I hope this weather sticks around as I suspect it had a lot to do with my success.  It's yet another reason why I need to make the transition to morning weekday runs.

Helloooooo October

So, September wasn't a good mileage month for me.  It all started with the headaches that plagued me for a week in the beginning of September.  Then I was plagued with the food poisoning for a week in the middle of September.  Then I was plagued with the depression for a week at the end of September.  So much for September.  Bye, Bye, Bye in the infamous words of *N Sync.

I used to be a fan club member.  It used to be a joke...sorta...maybe, well perhaps I liked to pass it off as a joke, but my friend Laura and I knew the truth.  She was a member too cuz I gifted her the membership.  We were both closet card carrying members.  Oh how we loved our boy bands.  It all started with Boyzone - a barely-known-in-the-U.S. Irish boyband that we had a slight obsession with after seeing them on a PBS special tribute to Andrew Lloyd Weber.  Then we moved onto *N Sync.  Those were the days...

One thing is for sure...October is gonna blow all other months out of the water where mileage is concerned.  I will have 55 miles accumulated in my long runs alone.  This is already 12 miles more than August and not taking any weekday mileage into consideration.  Let's go ahead and set a goal for me, shall we?  Let's make it an 85 mile month.  I am training for a marathon, after all!  I know this isn't a lot compared to some of you out there, but as a wise woman (That Pink Girl) pointed out to me on my last blog post - how many miles was I running this time last year?!  Uh huh...Exactly!  I've come a long way, my little lovebugs, so I'm gonna start focusing on that achievement and stop being such a negative nelly when sTuFf happens.

You know what else?  I have my second half marathon this month - October 24th!  How exciting is that?  This time I know what 13.1 feels like.  This time I have a time to beat.  This time I'm on my home turf!  Bring it Houston Half - I'm so gonna be ready for you!

I also have a little trip thrown in the mix.  My cousin Rachel is getting married!  My family is flying out to Scottsdale, AZ next weekend for the celebration!  She picked out a super swanky hotel for the festivity, but more on that later!  Yes, yes...since I will be missing my 10-miler with my running group, I will need to run it in Scottsdale.  No worries, though, as I have already started working on my plan of action for that puppy, but more on that later, too!

One more fabulous thing is happening this month...do you know what that is???  Meliska and Greggy-D will be welcoming their little bundle of joy!  I, personally, can't wait to meet the little fella!  I remember when they first told me the news that they were expecting - it's one of my favorite memories of our friendship!

So cheers to October - I just know it's going to be a fabulous month!

What's going on for you this fall???

the whine

Ho hum, ho hum....I'm not really ready for this 9 miler on Saturday.  I've not been a good runner this week.  I've kinda been in depression mode.  It happens from time to time.  My weekend didn't help matters.  I should have bounced back when my car problem was solved for significantly less money than I had feared.  I should have bounced back when my all too generous parents insisted on buying me a new dryer to replace the one that broke because I refused to let them pay me back for the groceries I bought them to replace the ones I ruined with the whole refrigerator fiasco.  I should have bounced back when Autumn finally showed up in Houston (if only in the mornings and after the sun has set). 

Shoulda woulda coulda.  It's just a mood.  It will pass. 

I didn't run on Monday after work because I was in a bad mood.

On Tuesday, I was all geared up and headed out the door when my cell rang.  It was a work call - a problem - and it took over an hour to fix.  Once it was fixed, there was about 10 minutes left of day light. 

On Wednesday (yesterday), I headed out for what I had hoped would be at least 4 miles, but ended up being only 2.5.  About 2 miles into my run, I had to go to the bathroom.  I headed home to take care of business with the intention of finishing my run when I was through.  The dogs were whining, so I put them out.  I got a drink, I let them back in...then voila - it was dark.  This whole early darkness thing is taking its toll on me, I think.

I ordered my head lamp and my flashing safety light.  They will be here on Friday.  I think I need to switch to morning running.  It feels much cooler out in the mornings still than it does in the evenings.  Whatever happens during the day doesn't get to affect my morning run and I wouldn't have the weight of the day holding me down.  I want to make this transition for next week.  It would mean getting up early again which means going to bed early again.  That's the tough part.  I'm so bad about going to bed early...about getting the necessary sleep.  Sleep and hydration are two of my biggest issues.  *sigh* 

Oh and when I did settle down after my run, my knees ached so bad.  It wasn't my usual runner's knee issue, so I think it was related to the changing weather.  My knees are fickle that way.  They have been that way for years - ever since I've had my surgeries.   Thankfully when I woke up this morning, the aching was gone.

Okay, I'm done being a whiner.

At least my audio book is REALLY REALLY GOOD.  It's called Hide by Lisa Gardner.  I find myself purposely driving around at any given opportunity to listen to it.  I'm getting into this whole audio book thing.  I'm even contemplating downloading one onto my iPod and listening to a book while I run.  I have an email out to my friend Greggy-D to get his thoughts on this since I know he has done it before.  Sometimes I blank out when I run and don't even listen to the music playing in my ear, though, so I wonder if I would do that while listening to a book?  I would have to switch out my shuffle for my nano so that I would have the option of going back to music if necessary.  So many thoughts going through my head...

On a whole different note, we are moving a customer this week with the last name that is the same as the city he is moving to.  How odd is that?  Just to make matters more interesting, Jay did research and discovered that the city's founder and our customer have the same name.  They merely roamed the earth 215 years apart from one another.  I had the move coordinator ask the customer if he was related to the city's namesake (cuz you know how we are stalkers) and found out that it's purely coincidental, but that the customer fully intends to use his last name to his advantage.  Jay and I demand a recount (or...um...at least a DNA sample) because this is just too weird of a coincidence.

Oh...and this morning, I accidentally sprayed my hair with spray deodorant instead of hairspray.  I was just glad it didn't turn my hair white.  It was kinda funny.
Okay, that's all I have for you for now.  Enjoy your evening and my apologies for all my whining.

oh Coco (and I ain't talking about Chanel)

As I'm sure you've caught on by now, when my parents travel, so do I - to their house to dogsit.  Don't feel sorry for me.  Really.  It would just embarrass both of us.  Me for seemingly complaining (because it's really all for show) and you for not knowing that I'm just being dramatic for entertainment purposes.  =P

This past weekend was slightly unique because an extra dog got thrown into the mix.  Normally it's just my two rugrats plus the Oliver.  Younger sister Linda and her husband Craig had planned a weekend getaway, however, BEFORE my parents had planned on their own little last minute jaunt.  This meant I inherited the responsibility of watching the Coco. 

On Friday, Linda called me on her way home from work.  To be honest, Linda calls me almost everyday on her way home from work, so this was not out of the ordinary.  I just wasn't able to talk to her because my dad and I were talking, so I told her I would call her back.  About 30 minutes later, she called the office number asking to speak to our dad.  Um...rude, but okay, so I made him go take care of her which ended my conversation with my father.  Their conversation was brief and shortly thereafter, I headed out the door, calling Linda as I left.  I asked her if they had left the house yet and she said they were backing out of the driveway right then.  I asked if she wanted to meet me somewhere and I would take Cocopuff over to my parent's house.  She said she had asked my dad (that's why she had called) if they could drop her off at the office and he could bring her home, but he told her it would be closer to Lake Charles for her to bring Coco to the house herself.  She also told me she didn't want to inconvenience me.  How in the world can it be closer??? What inconvenience?!  My dogs were at my parent's house, so I had to go retrieve them anyway (for the one night).  We agreed to meet up at Walmart and then they did the drop off and headed on their way.  Coco was so sweet in the car.  She rode to my parent's house in the passenger seat, so calmly...so unlike my own beasts.  I prefer to remember her like that instead of who she became when around The Others.

I'm thankful my parents got to witness the domination that occurred under Coco's regime.  This way nobody (and by nobody, I mean Linda) could accuse me of making up stories.  Basically, she was a bone hoarder and an instigator and got put on time out (sent to the cage) while the other dogs got to frolic and play. 
Saturday night was our only night all together...5 little monkeys sleeping in a bed.  Oh yeah...it was like that.  You see, we all know I begrudgingly admit my two little love muffins sleep with me.  Oliver splits his time between his dog bed and my parent's bed, so naturally when I dogsit, he does the same...half the time he is in his dog bed and half the time he is up on the bed with us.  Coco sleeps with Linda and Craig.  So...who was I to disappoint all the dogs?!  Poor blind Penelli just wanted to sleep.  Oliver just wanted to lay his big giant head on some part of my body and the other two...well let's just say I'm shocked one of them just didn't pee on me to claim me as their own.  There was a lot of yelling, there was some growling, there were some threats of caging and eventually everyone settled down.

I did have some funny moments to share from our weekend together and even some pictures!  First of all, both Delilah and Coco are caged when the humanoids leave the premises.  My parents keep a cage at their house and whoever is there gets to use it, but with both D and C over there, I had to bring my cage over there for when I was out galivanting around. The funny thing was that Coco would go into my parent's cage first and then Delilah would join her as opposed to going into her own.  That's a lot of dog for one cage.

I caught a couple of pics of Coco and her bone hoarding.  She was so concerned with one of the dogs stealing her bone while she was eating that she brought it into the laundry room with her and then put the bone inside her food bowl while she ate around it.

Here is a pic of her bone hoarding in case you didn't believe me.

Here is a pic of Oliver.  It was hard to come by as every time I tried to take his picture, he would get up and walk away or turn his head.  He was playing hard to get, so this one is a little blurry.

Then there is the Delilah.  It's a very up close and personal picture because she was...well...um...up close and personal.  Sometimes she thinks she is a lap dog.  =/

And then last, but not least, there is my sweet Penelope.  I find this picture to be so precious!  I'm not sure why I can't right side up the picture...I've tried, but it still posts it like this.  Oh well!

Okay, I'm done discussing dogs (for now).