#CountdownToVegas Week 16: HalloWeek

Y'all probably already know Halloween is my favorite holiday.  It's not like I actually need an excuse to dress up - I do that all the time anyway.  But it's extra-fun when other people are dressed up too.



It's been an up-and-down week for me: I'm missing Kevin a lot, especially with the holidays getting closer.  So I'm allowing myself plenty of alone time to just be upset and sad and angry.  Why didn't he take better care of his health?  But I'm also not going to just stay in and be sad all the time, and miss out on the life that's still going on around me.  I don't have a lot of words today, so I'm going to make this a picture blog post, with a few comments.

Tuesday #LFBootcamp: Exodus 5:9 workout

Monday Hills w/my sole sister Veronica

Flat12 Bierwerks firepit, post Thursday's run club

as Witch Hazel at Friday's Athletic Annex Candy Caper w/#FBGs Theresa, Christina & Kathy

as Glitteresa the Clown at Saturday's Brew HaHa 5K w/#FBGs Becky, Theresa, Christina, Judi & Brenda

FBGs Keira, Kristen & Kalie as the Power Puff Girls

Super cool Brew HaHa SWAG

It cracks me up that there's a speed limit sign in this pic.

Falling in the leaves after today's 12 mile long run.

Total miles for the week:  31.9

Total training miles to date:  427.95

Up Next

Volunteering at this weekend's Monumental Marathon and Half Marathon.  I'll be at the water station around mile 4.5.

And then next weekend....   VEGAS!

#CountdownToVegas Week 15: PR in the Rain

Saturday morning on the Monon

Short blog post today, because it's almost time for the season premiere of The Walking Dead.  I'm not enjoying the show as much as I used to, and I actually think Z Nation is a better show at this point.  But I'm curious enough to still watch at least the first few episodes this season, and see where it might be going.

I had a rather busy week with work and other obligations, plus one day I just plain forgot to pack my sports bra, so I didn't get quite as many miles in this week as I'd originally planned.  I only ran three days, which feels like slacking.  But they were good quality runs, so I've got that going for me.

Monday was reverse hill suicides with #TeamMoHills.  It was a really tough workout, but these ladies always make it fun.  Crazy that it was still in the 80s in mid-October!

3.17 PR

S'more on a Stick!

Thursday was the final Run(317) race of 2016.  It was in the 50s and raining, but I had a great race.  The course was crowded at the beginning, but once it opened up, I was feeling strong so I ran hard.  Not all out since the pavement was wet, but definitely pushing.  My mile splits were 10:38, 10:09, 10:38, and my final time was 33.22, nine seconds faster than my previous best at that distance.  I know some people prefer a straighter course, but for a 5K I like a course with a lot of turns.  Mentally it helps me, because I can break the race down to just running this block, just pushing to the next corner, etc.

The Run(317) races this year were all a lot of fun, even though the weather didn't always cooperate.  I'm looking forward to seeing what they have for us next year.  Now that Indianapolis has a second area code, though, will they have to offer two distances?  Either way, I really hope to see the S'more Mobile again!

Long Run

Saturday was my long run - 16 miles.  I had listed on our What's Next page that I was running the Hendricks County Fall Colors 10K, but I never actually did sign up for it.  Normally I don't list an event I'm not registered for, but I kept intending to do this one.  Every time I brought the website up, though, something stopped me.  So I decided to do my long run with BGR's All About That Base group, and I'm so glad I did.  I ran with Re'Nita for the first 8 miles, Broad Ripple to Carmel.  I was enjoying chatting with her and didn't even feel like we'd gone all that far.  She had a longer run on her schedule than I did, so I turned around at 8 and headed back while she kept going.  It was a gorgeous fall day - perfect weather for a long run.  Average pace was 13:01.  Interestingly mile 8 was my fastest, at 11:41.

Total miles for the week: 28.4

Total training miles to date:  396.05

Winner x 2

Hopefully Laura blogs soon, but while we wait I'm going to brag on her.  She ran two races Saturday: a 10K road race in the morning and a 5 mile trail race that night.  She was 1st in her age group and 5th female overall in BOTH RACES!  Way to go Laura!

Up Next

Two Halloween events this week:  the Athletic Annex Candy Caper on Friday night (not a race, just a fun run), and the Brew HaHa Saturday morning.  Despite Siri's advice, however, I have some good costumes for both races.  Stay tuned to Instagram....

#CountdownToVegas Week 14: Thriving During the Zombie Uprising

Lots to write about this week!  First off let's start with my left knee.  I'd been running in denial since August.  I would not admit my knee hurt, because saying it would make it real, and if it was real I might have to do something like stop running for a little while.  The only person who knew was Josh, because he'd see me icing it, and I would say something sarcastic like "my knee doesn't hurt, I'm icing it just in case it was to start hurting".  Of course he knows how to translate that, though.

I should say here that I was not actually running through pain. It really didn't hurt while I was running, only afterwards.  And on a scale of 1-10, it was a 1 or 2 at most.  But this past couple of weeks, it started to be more of a 3, and I started worrying maybe something was wrong and I was making it worse and damaging my chances to continue to be active long-term.  And once that worry started in my head, it started to suck the joy and fun out of running.  So I made a doctor's appointment.  My doctor is a runner too, so I knew she would get it.  It turned out she was out of town, but Kevin's doctor is in the same practice and he's also a runner, so I made the appointment with him.

I'm glad I went; especially since it was all good news.  He said my knee pain is just from overtraining, gave me some exercises to do, told me to continue icing it and take naproxen.  But most importantly he said it was fine to keep running.  Whew!  And just like that running is fun again!

#CountdownToVegas Weeks 12 & 13: There and Back Again

Pic by Brandi Nicole

Since I was travelling last weekend, I never got around to my weekly blog post, so this one covers two weeks.  If I could somehow just dictate these while I'm running, they'd get done on time and probably be a lot better.  I always forget half of what I wanted to say by the time I sit down at the PC.

Training is still going well.  Last week it was #TeamMoHills on Monday, Bourbon Street Running Club followed by #LFBootcamp on Tuesday, and a basic 3 mile run around my neighborhood Wednesday morning.  Thursday was a rest day, as I slept in that morning and hit the road as soon as I got off work.  I didn't make it quite halfway to my parents' house before driving in the dark and rain got to be too much so I stopped for the night.

Paxton Holler

Friday morning I ran 3.17 miles on the hotel treadmill.  It was so excruciating.  How can a 3 mile treadmill run seem to take forever, while 3 miles outside barely feels like a warm up?  But I got it done, and then drove on to my parents' for a late lunch and a nice but too short visit.  Then it was back on the road for the last little leg of my trip to Greer, SC, and what should've been an 80 minute drive instead took 2 1/2 hours because everyone in NC and SC was on I-26 at the same time.  Good grief people.  Indianapolis doesn't have traffic jams that bad unless there's a wreck.

The main reason for this trip was a reunion with some friends from The Cullowhee Experience, a summer camp we attended as teens.  As with most reunions, not everyone could make it, but it was so great to see those who did.  We all connected just like when we were younger, and it didn't seem at all like we'd spent years apart.