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!

  

Day 31: April 28, 2013- 20+ mile day

Day 31: 20.29 miles today, Miles to go: 764.72… Yep… that really says over 20 miles today : ) 8 miles this morning with Debbie for my SUN 6am Challenge out at USI/Burdette, then did over 11 miles in New Harmony between four photography sessions. Wrapped up the night with just shy of a mile after football practice to make it an even 20 miles for the day!!! I joke that my SUN Challenge is rain or shine, and I am super proud of Debbie for not only braving the rain this morning, but getting 8 miles at a fantastic pace for us. We even had a fun animal spotting along the way…

My New Harmony walks were also super enjoyable because I used the time to work on my stock photography for my art rep in London. Love this quick phone pic from the Labyrinth…

Looking forward to wrapping up my night working on those photos as well as the four wonderful families that I had the privilege to photograph. Hope you all had an awesome weekend, and I wish you the best as you ramp up for your coming week!

Day 29: April 26, 2013- Oh, my toe!!!

Day 29: 2.03 miles today, Miles to go: 795.04… OK, so I know that 2 miles is a pretty low number for me, but in lieu of taking the day completely off, I wanted to at least get in something, so I just did a quick 2 mile walk on the north side by Bobby’s office. After 27 days, and a killer two weeks, I wanted to give myself a day to rest and recuperate. Particularly my toe… I will be up front, this is the same toe that had the nail fall off last year from all of the running that I did. While I know that that sounds super gross, it’s really not that big of a deal! Anyway, it’s been bothering me the last two days, and after last night’s 8 mile run, I thought maybe I had snagged it on my sock. That’s not exactly the case, though… I have a blister under the nail bed. Ouch! Ouch! And Triple Ouch!!!! I drained the blister last night before bed, but it was so painful at 2am that I had to get up and take some Tylenol AND ice it. I am grateful to Angie Peters for talking me through what I can do to push through it and heal it up. Hopefully, I should see some improvement by tomorrow, but in the meantime, I am going to enjoy my night off with the girls. We are heading to Hacienda and to catch a movie!  I think I am going to go with the Fry-yi-yi (waffle fries and cheese). I thought the burrito bowl would be way fewer calories…. It’s not, and it doesn’t taste half as good as the fries. So I will own those extra 100 calories and enjoy my reward for hitting 100 miles in two weeks. In case you were interested, though, you can find their entire nutritional listings at: http://haciendafiesta.com/images/downloads/nutrition-2012.pdf. So yeah to FRI! Yeah to hitting goals! And yeah to the upcoming weekend! Have a great one, and more to come tomorrow…

Day 26: April 23, 2013- Half Marathon Run

Day 26: 18.49 miles today, Miles to go: 811.25… A-MA-ZING day!!! Weather and mood-wise, it started out kind of rocky. Spotty storms always put me in a crummy mood, but it was clear when I got out at 6:30am for 1 mile, and I did 4 miles mid-day in the middle of a small drizzle that eventually cleared up. I ended my evening with a half-marathon distance all over the east side of Evansville.

 

Also during that run I logged my fastest 5k and 10k distance according to my sport watch. A few things of note from that last run…A) always start out with your shoes tied well, preferably double knotted. I have been interrupting walks and runs lately to tie my shoes, but the simple step of checking to make sure that I had them double knotted gave me an interruption free run tonight. B) always be aware of your surroundings. One part of my run was on the backside of Wesselman Woods, where there was a man walking by himself and a separate car with a guy by himself. Do I really think either of them would harm me… no, but it never hurts to be too careful. So make sure that you carry a phone, your keys, or pepper spray (or all of the above) when you go out by yourself, or better yet, grab a friend to go with you! Same scenario towards the end of my run. It had already turned dark when I got back to the State Hospital grounds, and I ran the last two miles around the park by myself in the dark. In these situations, I prefer not to run with headphones, so that I can not only see what is going on around me, but so that I can hear as well. Aside from that, I think it’s about time to call it a night. Way ahead of schedule to hit 100 miles in 2 weeks, and already very close to my 200 mile milestone. I hope that you all had a wonderful day, and I look forward to sharing what I am up to tomorrow!

Day 25: April 22, 2013- Wear proper footwear!

Day 25: 8.16 miles today, Miles to go: 829.74… Where did today go? I didn’t venture out this morning because the phones were ringing off the hook today at the office. However, I did manage to squeeze in just shy of two miles on the USI campus when I had to meet my professor. I do not recommend attempting any substantial distance if you are not in the proper shoes, though. A rubbed raw blister on my right ankle and an icepack on my left ankle are both the result of not packing my tennies to trek across campus. Doodle bug joined me after work for a 2 mile speed walk,

and then I did the last 4+ miles this evening after Art Smart and a stop up at St. Mary’s to visit a friend and her son. It was a quiet, beautiful night, one that was all the more enjoyable because the bright moonlight made for a very well lit path. Am glad the day is finally done, though. Just have some pics to upload for SMILE onto Facebook, and then I am turning in for the night! Until later…

Day 24: April 21, 2013- An interesting first…

Day 24: 12.8 miles today, Miles to go: 837.9…  I can officially say that I iced my butt for the first time ever… because the only thing sore from yesterday’s bike ride was whatever you call that area where your rear meets your leg! Other than that, I spent most of the day feeling great… did my SUN (8:30am instead of 6am) challenge with Debbie and got 7 miles in this morning. Also managed to get 5+  more miles in throughout the course of the day before a migraine took me out. The rough part is that I took Excedrin vs. a Maxalt because it was what I had on hand in my purse. The overkill of OTC caffeine made it so that I couldn’t lay down and fall asleep to try and get rid of the headache, which stunk. So kids snoozed (keeping in mind that they biked 18 miles yesterday, too) while I caught up on my to-do list in a quasi haze of half in/half out of a headache. Amazing weekend, though. Great weather, wonderful friends, and fun activities. Ready to tackle my week and wrap up my 100 miles in 2 weeks mini goal. Currently ahead of pace and looking forward to treating myself to a small reward if I can hit that mini goal!

Day 23: Rocked the Ride + logged 9 miles

Day 23: 9.07 miles today, Miles to go: 850.7… After months and months of posting about it, the kids and I officially “Rocked the Ride” today and did the 2^nd annual Junior League of Evansville/Evansville Morning Rotary Rockin River City Ride.

So not only did I do 2 miles in the morning and 7 miles post ride this afternoon, but the kids and I along with a fellow Team Blonde football player friend rode 18 miles around the outskirts of our beautiful city of Evansville. You’d think after 18 miles of biking and 9 miles of walking/running, I’d be tired, but so far I haven’t hit the wall yet. I still have the Rockin River City Battle of the Bands to attend tonight followed by a friend’s 40^th birthday party, so I hope that I don’t fall asleep on the drive from the house! Either way, I am extremely pleased with the effort put forth today and the ride event in general. The route was well marked, the weather was absolutely gorgeous, we got a nice meal afterwards, and the kids were able to play in the kids’ park after the ride as well.

 

I’m not gonna lie and say that my rear end isn’t sore, but other than that, I feel really good. I am icing my knee to be on the safe side (I hit my sore knee as my gears shifted right at the start of the ride), but my quad feels normal, which is a huge relief.  Other than that, last night’s Cooper birthday party was a big success…. Tiring and a hectic with 7 kids in tow to the laser tag and pee wee golf place followed by all but two of them spending the night… but a success nonetheless. I do need to run and shower, though, so I can get ready for tonight! Can’t wait to listen to Akacia and our 5 top finalists!!!

I hope that you all have had as enjoyable of a SAT as I have. Take care, and have a great rest of the weekend!!!

Day 19: April 16, 2013- Slow day, but that’s OK!!!

Day 19: 4.51 miles today, Miles to go: 882.10… Not as many miles as I would have liked for the day, but considering I did 10+ miles yesterday, I’m still on pace to hit my mini goal of 50 miles for the week.

For as much as I love to log miles, sometimes quality time with friends and loved ones trumps personal goals. So I spent a small part of today up at the hospital with a friend and her son as well as logged one of my miles with my amazing husband who I have to share umped his first college game today (super proud wife right here!!!). Not too much new to report. Did opt for a Frosty in lieu of a real lunch, so was famished after my Junior League meeting. Debated on what fast food drive through I could go through after the meeting to grab a low-cal, somewhat healthy dinner… stopped at the grocery store instead and went with a Red Delicious apple and eggs. Scrambled eggs with two Tablespoons of salsa for my late inner = yum and healthy!!! Since my walks were not terribly earth shattering today (with the exception of the teenage driver that about ran over Bob and I pulling into the cul-de-sac), I won’t take up any more of your time. I hope you all had a wonderful and productive day, and I promise to be more enlightening tomorrow ; )

Day 18: April 15, 2013- Back on the saddle- part 2

Day 18: 10.53 miles today, Miles to go: 886.41… So apparently my quad isn’t near as angry with me today as it was last evening- thank goodness!!! I would totally cry if I had a repeat of last night’s football practice tightness and pain. Thankfully, instead, I was able to do a 4+ mile walk this afternoon, a 3+ mile walk with the wonderful Dr. Christine Verbeck out at the USI/Burdette trails, AND a three mile run tonight. The running is what I feel like is the biggest accomplishment of the day. I was going to be disappointed if my quad “tweak” as Bob called it (he said if it was a pull, there would be bruising) hindered my running. I can cut my times considerably and rack up more miles when I am able to run vs. walk, and tonight’s run actually had 11’27” pace that is a good early season time for me. But aside from all of that, today I have quite a bit more to talk about other than myself…

First off, I am super excited that Facebook friend and old high school colleague Beth has decided to try my 1000 mile challenge! I wish her the best of luck as she begins this journey!!! For anyone else interested, I encourage you to read my earlier blog posts for more details about the highs and lows of trying to walk/run 1000 miles in a given time frame (for me, as mentioned in previous posts, I am shooting for 6 months in what is my second time at this milestone goal- the first time I did it back in ’07, it was a goal time of 1 year, and I did it in a little over 8 months). Any questions or if you need any additional information, just let me know via email at: nikki@davisdigitalphotography.com!!!

Next, for the sake of capturing a moment in time, I was out walking my first 4 miles of the day when I got an email on my phone from my Aunt Sandy about the tragedy today at the Boston Marathon. My cousin Anna’s two friends were doing the race today, but they are OK. So I rushed back to turn on the news. What senseless violence!!! What is this world coming to that someone would as the reporter noted today perform such an act of violence at a time of the race that would cause “maximum damage”??? These families were waiting for their loved one to cross the race finish line. The runners were experiencing a bucket list item many of us could only dream of doing…. The big question is why? Why would someone or group of someones aim to cause such violence? We may never know, but I think it goes without saying that the nation will rally around Boston, and they are all in our thoughts and prayers tonight!

For more information on today’s events, visit: http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/15/us/boston-marathon-explosions/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Lastly, I wanted to report this touching bit of news reported by the NBC Sports Network via Twitter:

“Reports of Marathon Runners that crossed finish line and continued to run to Mass General Hospital to give blood to victims #PrayforBoston”

Whether or not this is true, I think we can all agree tonight we should all #PrayforBoston!!!

Day 17: April 14, 2013- The good news and the bad news

Day 17: 9.83 miles today, Miles to go: 897.14… The good news? I logged my first 100 miles today, which equals 1/10th of my goal already done- woo hoo! I didn’t think doing it in 16 days was too shabby- Yeah!!!… The bad news? I pulled my quad at Team Blonde football practice tonight! Icing my leg now, but can’t stress how important stretching is!!! Had a great 8 mile walk this morning with Debbie (no Cate today : ( She is still up at St. Mary’s with Jacob post-surgery), but I could tell as soon as we started doing sprints at the start of practice that something wasn’t quite right in my left thigh. Apparently that muscle is called your quad, and apparently according to my husband, while I am athletic and go long distances, I am not athletic in the football sense (short bursts of speed)… So what I am taking away from all this is that it sounds like I will have to work more sprint rotations into the mix once I get a good range of motion back in this leg.

Sitting in bed icing it now (speaking of which, I used to HATE the thought of icing an injury, now I welcome it… vey ironic!!!) and posting pics from practice. Since I wasn’t much use on the field, I tried to snap some great pics from the sidelines to help share what we go through to prepare for the event.

Most of you know that I have lost now over 60lbs since last year, and I was half tempted to show you a before and after pic, but for tonight I think I will just stick to sharing a fun photograph from this evening’s practice, which for me is a place where we not only get to learn the ropes of football, but we also get to support a great cause AND make some wonderful new friends (photographed with Crystal Elliott and Rose Lansink)!!!

With that being said, I still have wedding pics to put into an album, so I need to sign off to shower and work on those. Thank you to everyone who has started following my blog, and I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend!!!