Wednesday, October 27, 2010

I've been MIA

I realize that I have been MIA from the blog world for a couple weeks now.  It has been a crazy time for me...birthdays, out of town guest (my momma!), trip to DC for the Army Ten-Miler, very busy at work, and contemplating a BIG change in my future.  Unfortunately, my blogging time has been slim to none because of this.  I hope to get back at it next week...and a recap from the Army Ten-Miler is forthcoming.

Ok, that was my quick check-in.  Sorry for the short post, but I have LOTS of work to do!  See you soon!  And in the meantime, please enjoy a small peek at the birthday celebrations... :)

No really, he is VERY excited

Monday, October 11, 2010

Weekend In Review

My weekend plans did a complete 180 on me.  What I thought I would be doing, I didn't do...and what I didn't plan on doing, I did.  Sometimes that's just how it goes.


Not exactly the case, but you get the point...

I had planned on running a 10k race this weekend, but unfortunately that did not happen.  As I mentioned in my last post, my back is giving me fits.  As of Friday evening, I had pretty much decided the race was not going to happen, but a part of me was still holding out hope.  I was keeping my fingers crossed that I would wake up Saturday morning and miraculously feel better.  That was not the case. 

I was pretty sure I wouldn't be getting up early to run, so I decided it wouldn't hurt to accept an invitation to paint with my boyfriend's mother again.  We have had one lesson already, so she thought we should go ahead and start working on an actual painting.  I still have a lot of work to do on it, but I'm pleased with what I have done so far. 

A work in progress
When I got up Saturday morning, I knew that the race was officially off the table.  I think that I could have powered through it, but I decided to be smart and not risk it.  I have the Army Ten Miler coming up in 2 weeks, and I REALLY want to run this race.  I decided I would much rather skip this 10k than risk causing even more damage and missing out on the big race in DC.

Now that I had some free time for the morning, I decided to take my pup down to the big Metro Richmond Pet Savers event.  The woman who fostered Roman until we adopted him at 3 months was going to be there.  We wanted to stop in for a quick visit so she could see how much he had grown.  She was very appreciative of the visit and couldn't believe how much he had changed.

I then spent the rest of Saturday enjoying the company of some girl friends.  We had a small get-together in the afternoon, and then met up again for dinner and wine later that night. 

Sunday was quite typical.  I did a lot of resting, relaxing, Skins watching, laundry, and I baked a pumpkin pie.  I LOVE pumpkin pie, so I can't quite figure out why I only make it in the fall.  Who's to say that you can't have pumpkin pie all year long?

Now that I have told you all about my run-free weekend on a running blog, I should finish my lunch and get back to work.  I hope to be able to talk about some amazing runs soon, but in the mean time, I will continue to read about all things running on some of my favorite blogs to keep me motivated during this frustrating time.

Have a great week!

Thursday, October 7, 2010

3 Things Thursday

I can't believe it is already Thursday.  I feel like this week is just flying by, which is JUST how I like it!

1.  It looks like I'm back on the Injured Reserve list.  I haven't run since Saturday.  My back is killing me.  I don't think it is anything that I did to cause an injury, I think it has just come to that time when my back has to have a little temper tantrum.  I have scoliosis, and have had 4 back surgeries.  I used to have pain and problems all the time, but luckily that isn't the case anymore.  Unfortunately, I still have problems from time to time.  One of the side effects of my spinal fusion is that I now have some degenerative discs.  Once in a while, I deal with "micro-movement" where my discs are moving just a bit to find a new alignment.  This only seems to happen about once a year, but when it does, it kills!  Just walking is painful.  Luckily I have at PT appointment already set up for this evening, so maybe my PT guy will have some advice to get me through this spell. 

2.  Tomorrow is my pup's first birthday.  And since I have become one of those crazy dog people, we are having a small birthday party for him.  Unfortunately we can't do it on his birthday because my boyfriend bartends on Friday nights, so we are having the party tonight.  I have a cake and a few other goodies for him and his friend, Winston.  Here is a preview...


3.  I was shopping at Target last night when I came across something that I had read about over at Rad Runner.  She mentioned this amazing lotion a while back and I just happened to find it.  I remember thinking at the time that I would love to try it, but then forgot about it.  Well, I'm glad I was lucky enough to stumble upon it.  If you have not heard of or tried this lotion, go get some now.  It smells amazing.  Rad Runner put it best when she called it a "little bottle of bliss."

Seriously...it is making me hungry!
Well, there you have it...three random things on this lovely Thursday.  Friday will be here before you know and then...the weekend!  Good luck to everyone running races this weekend.  I know there are a lot of big ones on 10.10.10!  Very Exciting!  What do you all have planned for the weekend?

Saturday, October 2, 2010

September ends, October begins

September was a decent month, but far from great.  I spent half the month not being able to run.  Luckily that changed a couple weeks ago and I'm slowly getting back to where I was before being sidelined.  I only logged 25.3 miles this month.  I am looking forward to seeing what October brings as I continue to recover.

On the plus side, I have now been blogging for a full month now.  I have to say that I'm impressed that I have kept at it.  I wasn't sure if I would when I started, but I think now that I have made it a month, I shouldn't have any trouble staying with it.

But that's enough about last month.  I think I will save a full recap until next month when I will hopefully have much more exciting things to look back upon.

It looks like October is going to be a great month.  We are just two days into it and I have run both days, and volunteered for a race.  I have 2 races lined up this month, the American Family Fitness 10k on 10/9 and the Army 10 Miler on 10/24.  I am really looking forward to running a race in the nation's capital.  It is going to be amazing!  And on the non-running side, October brings two very important birthdays...my puppy turns 1 on the 8th and my boyfriend has his birthday on the 20th.  I need to do some thinking about what to do for Mike, but I already have plans for the pup.  I'm getting him a cake (yes, I'm one of those crazy people) and having his little dachshund friend, Winston, over to enjoy it with him.  This will be quite the sight, I'm sure!  And if all of this isn't great enough, my mom is flying in from Indiana to visit for a few days and she'll be here when I run the race up in DC.  FUN!

Now, let me tell you more about this morning's race...
Today was the Capital 10 Miler here in Richmond.  I didn't sign up to run it for two reasons--1) I wan't sure if my hip would be healed in time, and 2) I'm already running a 10 Miler later in the month and I didn't want to do too much.  So, I did the next best thing and signed up to help with the race.  I was assigned the job of course marshal and was pleased to see that I was to be posted not too far from my house.  I decided that instead of driving this morning, I would just walk.  I left my place at 6:30 and headed over to Byrd Park.  It was so peaceful walking this morning while most of the city was still asleep.  I walked along the Boulevard and passed by the new Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.  I have yet to check it out, but I hear it is wonderful.

Only 2 blocks from my place...why haven't I been yet!?!
As I was walking it occured to me that I haven't posted any photos of myself, except for my small profile picture.  So, I snapped a quick shot while walking past the museum.  You can see my new shorter haircut that I was debating about getting in a post last week.

I chopped off 6 inches last week...eek!
I made it to my post early, so I just sat down on a bench and enjoyed watching the day begin.  I drive by this little lake every time I take the pup to the dog park, but I have never stopped.  I think it is lovely.


The race started at 7:30.  I was posted at the 3.5 mile mark, so it wasn't long before the speedy runners came through.  Unfortunately, once the runners started coming through, I wasn't able to take any more photos...I was too busy clapping, and cheering, and yelling.  It was so much fun.  And the best part was getting to see so many folks that were on my training team this summer.  I was able to give a few extra shouts to my friends Heather, Maria, and Nigel!  They were all doing great!

It didn't take long, and all the runners had come through.  It was time to head on back home.  I called and talked to my momma on the 1.2 miles back to the house and then promptly went inside and changed into my running gear.  I couldn't stand not running after seeing all my teammates kicking butt at the race.  I ended up doing 6 miles in 1 hour and 6 minutes.  I would have liked to have gone further, but I had already walked 2.5 miles, so I decided 6 miles was good enough.

I have now rambled on, and on, and on...so I will stop now.  I should finish getting cleaned up so I can take the pup out for a short walk before heading out to spend the evening with my friend, Allison.  Dinner and girl talk...sounds like a perfect Saturday night.

Hope you all are having a great weekend!