Day 54: 7.03 miles logged, 587.85 miles to go- Was pleasantly surprised how much easier my five mile hilly run went earlier tonight than my attempt from less than a week ago. Makes me more confident that the long run I’m planning to tackle on SAT should go smoother than I had hoped and that I might actually be able to run up all of Halleluiah Hill in less than two weeks. On a personal note, I think today was the first time that I have ever walked into a fitting room not absolutely terrified. I hate trying on clothes, but I was actually a little excited about finding a new swimsuit for our Holiday World trip on FRI. I found a cute one in a size I have never worn before, and for the first time in a long time, I looked at myself in that three way mirror and for once had a sense of peace. I have struggled with self-confidence and body image for years, but I am blessed to have an amazing husband and true friends who love me for the person on the inside. So while it’s really nice to be at my fittest body shape in my entire life, it’s more important to me that I am healthy and happy. Taking off the weight isn’t so much about being thin as it is about living a long and fruitful life with Bob and the kids as well as my family and friends. I am tremendously blessed, and I think the smile on my face when I caught site of myself in that mirror today reflected the joy in my heart. It’s kind of fun, too, to see the outer reflection of myself catching up with the inner me… P.S. I’d like to give a shout-out to my friend Tony for his kind words the other day. I haven’t seen him in a while, and it was nice that he noticed the difference since I’d seen him last! I’m putting myself through a grueling physical challenge by trying these 1000 miles in 6 months (a schedule that I am trying to bump up to possibly 4.5-5 months because of a potential late summer timing conflict- anyone else trying this, I highly recommend stretching it out over a full year!!!!!), so it was nice to hear that the hard work is paying off!
Day 53: May 20, 2013- 400 miles in the books
Day 53: 10.01 miles logged, 594.88 miles to go- PASSED THE 400 MILE MARK – woo hoo!!!! Four mile 5:45 am run (proud of myself for getting up that early), 2 mile hilly run before teaching Art Smart, and then a 10pm 4 mile flat run after I worked on 6 families’ worth of Pictures In the Park shoots (St. Wendel School and It Takes a Village Canine Rescue fund raisers). Amazing temperature, great breeze, suitable moonlight, and a kick butt final mile yielded a drenched in sweat, but highly enjoyable end of the evening workout!
Day 52: May 19, 2013- Half marathons and sundresses
Day 52: 11.14 miles logged, 604.89 miles to go- I can’t stress how fun it is to walk with friends. As most of you know, I lead what I call my SUN 6am challenge with Cate Sisco and Debbie Bailey out at USI.
(note: we saw this little guy on the trail up by the Discovery Lodge)
We started it last year as a way for me to train them up so that we could all walk the Evansville Half Marathon together (my fourth, their first). We are continuing the tradition this year, and I just have to share how wonderful it is to have girlfriends who are there to listen, to offer advice, and to be my support system as I train and just in life in general. I am blessed to know these women, and I am honored to be a part of their lives. We do welcome new folks, though, so if you are ever interested in seeing if you are up to the challenge, just let me know. Whether you want to train for the half in the fall or you just want to start getting in some regular exercise, it is a wonderful way to explore the USI to Burdette trail. We walk it at a relatively slow pace, and the conversation makes the time go by fast! With that being said, I just looked up the date of the half so that I could get it in my calendar. The YMCA is hosting it on SAT, OCT 5 this year- THE SAME DAY AS BUDDY WALK, AND THE FIRST TIME IT’S BEEN ON A SATURDAY- grr!!! Because I can’t be in two places at once (I coordinate the Buddy Walk), I am proposing that we do a half marathon distance (noting that I can track our distance down to the hundredth of a mile with my GPS watch) and then go to Bar Louie again for brunch with the families to celebrate… anyone is welcome to join us!!!
On a different note, it was definitely a hot football practice, but great time with family and friends. Looking forward to our upcoming scrimmage game and the big Blondes vs. Brunettes 2013 showdown!
P.S. who needs to go summer sun dress shopping when you can recycle old high school, college, and pre-kids dresses from your closet. Super excited to find stuff fitting again!
Day 51: May 18, 2013- Beware of loose dogs
Day 51: 14.11 miles logged, 616.03 miles to go- Amazing half marathon distance run. Wish I could have gone farther, but had time constraints due to pre-scheduled photoshoots. It was a very hilly run, but I feel like I tackled it well versus the hills kicking my butt like they did the day before. I have noticed that sharp inclines and declines are what I dislike (hard on the way up and finding balance so I don’t faceplant is difficult on the way down). The gradual inclines were manageable, and I really picked up speed on the gradual declines. One thing that I wanted to address, though, is the fact that I got chased for the first time by two large dogs. I wasn’t 100% sure what to do, so here are the details about it and what I looked up afterwards… I was a little over a mile in on a gradual incline when a Weimaraner (beautiful dog, by the way) and a large lab started running after me (both barking their heads off). I was so startled that I hesitated, and the Weimaraner ran up in front of me. So I had one dog to my front and the other to my back. There were cars coming so I felt worse case scenario, I would flag one down. That was a last resort, though, so instead I clapped my hands at the dog in front of me and firmly yelled “No!” about 10 times before I got up the courage to slowly jog around it. They trotted behind me for about 20 feet, but as soon as I got what I thought was a substantial distance between us, I hauled ass and ran as fast as I could up the rest of the hill. So now that the situation is over, I wanted to take a few minutes to share what is actually recommended to do: http://news.runtowin.com/2007/09/26/what-do-you-do-if-a-dog-wants-to-chase-you.html – I hope that you never encounter this sort of situation, but if you do, hopefully, you can be a bit more prepared than I was… On a brighter note, though, I did run my fastest 5k time!!!
P.S… great day cooking at the United Caring Shelter and taking pictures in the afternoon!
Day 50: May 17, 2013- Art Show Night
Day 50: 1 mile logged, 630.14 miles to go- big art show night, kept the miles to a minimum : ) On a side note, I have a sub-goal of not letting a day go by and not doing at least something, so got my little mile in, and am happy!!! (p.s. the dress in the pics below is from when I was in high school!!!! Super excited to be able to find out that it fit again!)
Day 49, May 16, 2013- Hilly terrain
Day 49: 17.5 miles logged, 631.14 miles to go. Big mile day to make up for the last few days : ) OMG… can I just tell you how bad hills kicked my butt today. The uphills were brutal, and you’d think that running downhill would be a breeze. However, you would be shocked at how much body control you have to try and maintain so as not to face plant when keeping a running pace… so I will fess up to not running near as much of that 17+ mile total as I would have liked to, but since the South Bend full marathon is mostly flat, I’m not going to be terribly hard on myself for it, though! Miles are miles, and I am inching closer to that 1000 mile goal!
So, with that being said, I thought I would delve into the 4-1-1 on what the deal with hills is…
a) Apparently, they can make you stronger and faster: http://www.runnersworld.com/workouts/can-hill-running-make-you-faster (well, duh?!? If I did hills every day, I could imagine how much faster I’d be on my flat courses)
b) According to Shape, we should be loving hills so that you can burn more calories, reduce your risk of shin splints, and increase your endurance: http://www.shape.com/fitness/cardio/hill-running-5-reasons-love-incline
c) Running Injury Free tell us how to change our run pattern when tackling the incline: http://www.runninginjuryfree.org/2008/09/running-hills.html
d) Lastly Running Advisor shares, “In hill running, you use more muscles than in other types of running and you use them more efficiently. You even will use muscles that you normally do not exercise through your daily or weekly runs.” (source: http://www.therunningadvisor.com/hill_running.html)
So it sounds like, for a tougher workout, I might start mixing in more inclines. Good times!!!
Day 48: May 15, 2013- Concert evening
Day 48: 4.09 miles logged, 648.64 miles to go. Short mile day so that I could head to a concert (REO Speedwagon) tonight with friends.
Day 47: May 14, 2013- Busy, productive day
Day 47, 4.01 miles today, Miles to go: 652.73- Not even close to the amount of miles I had planned for for the day, but it ended up being a busier (more productive) day than I expected! Looking forward to a great Junior League of Evansville 2013-2014 year, and can’t wait to bring the SMILE on Down Syndrome Trucks & Heroes 2013 to the Tri-State in July!
Day 46: May 13, 2013- Go Cards!
Day 46, 6.65 miles today, Miles to go: 656.74- Excited to say that I did the majority of my walking for Monday going to and from and walking around Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Bob and I could not have asked for more beautiful weather, and the seats were amazing! Great game, delicious (albeit not terribly healthy) food, and even better company! Tremendous way to spend my evening!
Day 45: May 12, 2013- Happy Mothers’ Day
Day 45, 10.27 miles today, Miles to go: 663.39- SUN 6am challenge walk with Debbie and Cate, scouted photo locations around New Harmony, and ended my physical activity for the day at football practice tonight. Glad to see the New Harmony trails are no longer under water. They were completely submerged a few weeks ago.
Blessed to be a mom and have the privilege of celebrating this wonderful day with my amazing kiddos. Was also lucky to get to spend a part of the day with my fellow Team Blonde teammates who are role models as mothers, volunteers, and friends! I hope everyone also had an enjoyable day, and I wish you the best for this upcoming week… Next up for me, Cardinal game in STL tomorrow night!
1000 Mile Mom 