Weekly Wrap, July 30

I really do feel like I am "Wrapping things up" this week, not only for the week, but for the month.

I finally have the home improvement projects finished up. Although I paid professionals to paint the room, I personally painted the fireplace, the trim in adjoining rooms, the doors, the air vents and a shelf.  The only thing I have yet to do to make the room complete is to make my curtains. I've been looking long and hard for something that goes with my decor but in the end I felt it best to just make them myself.

So this week when everything in the house was taken care of, I felt I needed a little taken care of too. I finally did a mani, pedi, and got my hair cut. Funny story, I did not tell my hairdresser that I had been painting, but she asked. Apparently I had white paint caked in my hair! That could have been from this week or even last week! Oh gosh! Needless to say, the long locks came off!

Once I officially start training for something I will keep better documentation of my runs! 

In between the housework, I did find time to get some little runs in this week. I did sign up for two more races ( one in August and one in the fall), so my little runs must soon turn into longer runs!  Hopefully next month I'll concentrate more on that. This month was more about getting things done that I wouldn't have time to do during the school year. Now I can enjoy the rest of vacation!

What things do you concentrate on besides running or workouts? -M

We are linking up with Holly and Tricia and the guest Host.

July Runfessions!

I do NOT want to say good bye to July! Can't it stay July all year long? I really won't even complain about the heat, promise!

But as it goes, I guess all good things must come to an end.

On to the Runfessions.....

1. Last month I Runfessed that I was becoming increasingly more frightened of groundhogs because I would see them often on my runs. Well ya know what,  I now Runfess that I haven't encountered anymore since I wrote that.

2. BUT this month I will Runfess that I am now frightened of seeing a bear on my island. In the back of my mind I was always frightened of that but really didn't think it would happen. But now last week during an evening run I was talking to a walker who informed me that she saw a bear in this area last year during a walk (she brought it up. I didn't ask). I wish she wouldn't have told me that because now I know it is a possibility.

3. I Runfess that I've been cheating on running with decorating. More on that later.

4. I Runfess that even though I hadn't been running as much as I though, I was still keeping a consistent schedule. I downloaded my Garmin stats last night and I see that I've actually been sticking to a Tuesday, Thursday schedule and there have also been a few weeks where I threw in an extra day. I'm  okay with that.

5. I Runfess that I officially have a fall race-cation on the calendar. More on that later.

-M

An InLinkz Link-up

Grass -Roots Running

The Love Run race is coming up near the end of August. I ran this race for the first time last year and I was surprised to take 2nd place in my age group.  I was planning on running this race again if I'm around.

Very murky water after the rain storm last night.

The race actually takes place on the island where I do most of my runs anyway so I figured I might as well go and practice on the course, so yesterday that's what I did. The race course is not the route I usually run. The race course route cuts through the wooded areas in some places and there is more running through grassy areas than I would do on my on runs. But since running in the grass is something that I hate to do, I figured I should start running in these grassy areas to practice. On race day I'm sure the grass is going to be wet and a little overgrown just like it was now!  So I plodded along.

Besides the grassy areas, this race is a complete trail run and it is challenging. No hills, but inclines, uneven surfaces, dirt, and roots that you have to watch out for.  Some of the trail was pretty muddy and some of it was a bit flooded due to rain we had the night before. I wondered what would happen if the trail looked like this on race day. Would the race be re-routed?

These are not sticks. They are actually roots in the ground.

Last year race organizers spray painted roots that may have been in the way a bright orange and that seemed to help people stay aware. This year I've noticed that the path does not seem to be as manicured as it has been last summer. There are a lot more roots coming up and there are still limbs and trees down from that one storm earlier this Spring. I kind of feel sad that the route isn't  as well maintained as it once was. It's heavily used too, so not sure why more isn't being done to keep it safe.

I completed 3 miles running and then walked about another mile just to enjoy the trail and the scenery. I came upon a family of ducks but I think they heard the music coming from my phone and scurried off.   Even though it was hot and humid, and my shoes were soaked from the wet grass and mud, I felt so accomplished getting these miles in early in the morning. -M

Would you rather run in grass or on dirt trails with many roots?

Summer Running : I have the time!

I absolutely love Summer, there is no doubt about that one.  The weather is (my version of) perfect and I have off work, what’s not to love!

One of my favorite running paths.

During the other 9 months out of the year, I feel I need to be very efficient with my time. That means that even though I enjoy running, I can’t really spend the time I want to on the trails.  But during the summer months, I can stay out hours at a time without a care in the world. That would be ideal right? 

EXCEPT who wants to be out running on the trail when it’s so stinkin hot???  I guess summer is a double edge sword for me.  I have the time to spend, but I can’t keep myself out there running for long. Last summer I was stuck in what I called the six mile slump. My longest run ALL summer was only 6.2 miles.  Even then I felt like I was going to melt.  Running in the heat never really bothered me until the last year or so. I guess I can chalk this one up to age.

My summer has been so busy so far that I haven’t had any of the “me time” on my favorite rail trail yet this year.  I remember last year my favorite moment on the trail was when it was just me and my ipod. I downloaded a Stephen King short story titled “Gingerbread Girl”.  It was a story about a lady who ran and it lasted about 2 hours. I ended up spending those two hours on the trail just walking. It was glorious and I still got my miles in. It was a great alternative to pushing myself to run in the heat.

So, even if it is too hot to run, I’ll still try to get out and walk (or bike or do something) because I feel like I need to savor this weather.  I want to know that I made the most of my summer.

Do you still get out in the heat?  Can you give me suggestions of other “short stories” I can download? What do you do when you have more free time?

We're linking up with the gals from TOTR. I accidentally swapped topics with last week.

Weekly Wrap July 23...The Circus Is is Town

Welcome to another edition of the weekly wrap. This is how my week went down.

Some people live by the mantra " Never miss a Monday". I am not one of those people. In fact I don't think my body was meant for Monday runs. I just can't get it to do it. Even when I was training for an event, Monday's were usually my gym days, until I couldn't even bring myself to go there either..lol.  I don't know what it is, maybe it's exhaustion from the weekend. Maybe it's like how some people say they need a vacation to recover from their vacation? Yea, I'm going with something like that!

Instead, I finally committed to a paint color for my walls.  After testing 50 shades of blue on my wall Sunday, it was On Monday morning that I decided that just maybe blue wasn't my color. I just couldn't find that perfect shade I had in my mind. The room that is being painted is so large, I didn't want the color to be overwhelming and to tell you the truth, every time I looked at the blue, I thought it looked like a bathroom. Here's a tip for anyone considering painting: instead of painting sections of your wall, you can buy square panels at the paint store. Paint the panels and then hold them up to your wall, move them around the room, put them next to your windows, your trim, etc. or you could just paint a piece of poster board and do the same thing. I wish I would have known this little tip before I made my wall look like a patchwork quilt.

Tuesday morning would have been the perfect time to go for a run (because it had rained the night before and cooled things off), but again, I had to wait and let the painters in.
After that, I did some shopping for home decor and then this happened....

I went to the Circus with my Pap. This was actually a fun outing. My pap is so funny and of course he had to give a running commentary the whole time.


I got home in time to do an evening run of 3 miles. I ran at the island where some interesting things happened.

Wednesday I did more work around the house.

Thursday I walked 5 miles with a friend. We had a great time just chatting away as we ticked off the miles.

Friday the painting was finally completed so I was able to put things back together and start decorating.

I have no major commitments this coming week that I have to stay at the house for, so maybe I'll actually be able to get out for some early runs.

Did you ever have trouble picking out paint color?  Tell me a painting or decorating story.

We are linking up with Holly, Tricia, and the guest host for the weekly wrap. 


                                                   

5 Phases of Race Day

I'd like to say that in my community people come out to participate in races just for the fun of it and to show support for the organization that is sponsoring or being the beneficiary of the race.

Unfortunately that doesn't always seem to be the case because most people that run our local races seem to be super fast runners and are always gunning for an AG award. Also, our local races bring out a ton of high school students who are track stars in their own right. This can be kind of intimidating for an average runner like myself.

For that reason, I am often more nervous at local races than I am at large races such as Disney, RnR races, or any other destination race. I think I know that I can just blend in with the crowd there. At local races, I feel like I need to hold myself more accountable.

But regardless of the location or size of the race, I find myself going through these same emotions throughout the course of the race.

Pre-Race: The pre-race jitters. I get this more so at smaller local races. It might be the pressure to perform well. There's always the need to use the port o potty even after I just visited one.  At large races such as Disney, the nervousness is more subdued and I am more excited and pumped. I think it has to do with the atmosphere. At most local races, there really isn't a whole lot to do but stand around and wait. At large races, they keep you entertained.

Start of Race:  At local races I always go out way to fast because my body tries to keep up.  At large races where I am corralled properly, I start at an easy pace that's comfortable to me.

Mid Race:  Regardless of distance, my thought during every race is Ugg, this is hard, I don't care about my time anymore, I don't care about the goal I set, Maybe I should just walk a little.

End of Race:  Again, regardless of distance, when I know the finish line is near, I start to get heart palpitations real bad. I don't know if it is the excitement or what. Even if i'm dragging, I pick it up at the end and ALWAYS sprint across that finish line (or maybe I just think I'm sprinting).  Of course it takes me a while to catch my breath.

Post Race: I probably look like a zombie as I collect a water and medal (if applicable) and then its off to find my friends/ family or a place to rest for a moment.  A minute later, I feel so accomplished  and am so glad I participated in the race. Races usually set the tone for the entire day. How can you have a bad day after just completing any race? -M

An InLinkz Link-up

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Sharing motivation with a friend

Yesterday morning would have been a perfect day to do an early morning run. It had rained the night before so it cooled things down a bit. I was up before 7am, so I certainly could have gone out for a run, but I had to wait at the house and let the painters in. I missed my opportunity for a "cooler" run.

So the day went on and I became busy with errands and such. I got home around 7:00 pm and promised Baylee a swim, so we did that.  While I was watching Baylee swim I was talking to a friend and  I was telling her how I missed my run that morning, so I should probably go do it  tonight but was lacking motivation. She told me that she needed to clean her kitchen, but she was also lacking motivation.  So we made a deal.......

I was to run at least 2 miles and she was to see how far she could get cleaning her kitchen. She had a list of three tasks she was to complete by the time I finished my two miles.

I ran down at my island and it was not uneventful. I ran into an old co-worker (who I ended up walking with for a bit later after I completed my run), I saw three deer chasing each other, and guess what, I ran into that guy that has the tropical bird ( I wrote about that  back in the Spring).

After my run  I actually talked to him this time and learned a bit about his bird.

Turns out, I ended up doing three miles. I texted my friend when I was done and told her I gave her some extra time to do her chores because I ran an extra mile. We both exchanged "proof" that we completed our assigned tasks. I sent her a picture of my Garmin, and she sent me a picture of her kitchen.  Now that was pretty good trade off as far as motivation, and it was pretty fun too. -M