summer has arrived

it's been almost two months since i last posted! wow! there hasn't been a lot to post, and things have been pretty busy. work has been good, running has been good, and life in general has been pretty good!

i do know one thing for sure, summer is HERE! i think i mentioned in a previous post about taking to the mornings to run. well since then, the heat has gotten much worse and the humidity even higher, if that is even possible. so yeah, i'm still running in the morning. i'm even waking up a couple mornings before 5 to run before i teach my 6 a.m. spin class. so guess what, my internal alarm clock is at 5 a.m. now! no sleeping in comfortably for me on the rare one day i get to. it's worth it.

life has been fun as well as busy. my window replacement project in my house is finished, for the most part. and i'm loving my new energy efficient windows. this gaping hole was how i saw my house when i left for work one morning. i was glad i was leaving!for our university's centennial commencement, i helped host our commencement speaker. my co-worker and i were able to sneak a quick photo before he headed back to nyc.

i get to travel sometimes with my job, and i get to do some cool things. like the college world series last year, and the mississippi picnic in central park this year. the mississippi society in nyc hosts a picnic every summer in central park, and different cities and universities from the state host tents and booths for the natives who now live in nyc. this was the 31st year of the picnic and it was as successful as ever, complete with friend catfish and sweet tea. here's a pic of the southern miss crew. smttt!i'm about 3 weeks away from beginning my marathon training for marine corp. i'm excited and ready to get going. i've completed my schedule, and now focusing on getting myself prepared mentally and physically for the upcoming 16 weeks. now that commencement, nyc, and the window project are behind me, i can look forward to the rest of my summer training and recovering by the pool.

it's good to be back!

what have i been up to?

i know it's been a while since i've posted, but i've been a bit busy! work mostly, with running, baseball, and a construction project at my house!

first, the running has been so much better. why? i've been running in the morning!!! late spring in south mississippi means rising temps and humidity. lately, we've been topping out anywhere from 85-90 degrees with more to come! the highly humid 70 degree mornings are much more tolerable! i'm so lucky to have a sucker for a running friend. one that will get up at 4:30, drive 30 minutes into town to meet me at 5:30. i am having to drive 15 minutes, so she's not doing all the work to get there. while we hate waking up so early, we've really learned to love the mornings again. we're consistently running 2-3 mornings a week, on top of my other two mornings of teaching. the temps are so much cooler and there is nothing like the feel of the morning and running! plus, we get to see sites like this sunrise.

second, i've been really enjoying southern miss baseball. after a stunning year last year, ending at the college world series in omaha (yes i went!), this year has been a bit of a downer. i didn't expect a repeat, but i had hoped for more than we were doing. but bam, out of the blue, we're on an 11 game winning streak, with 3 conference sweeps in a ROW! it's been a lot of fun again, and i'm proud to be a golden eagle baseball fan! the team, with a lot of youngsters, has really found the fun in playing again, kinda like what you have to do with running sometimes. they have all started growing mustaches and have started some mid-game dances in the dugout. keeping it light! below is one of the keys to our success, a promising freshman hitting .410!

third, i've been following the oil spoil in the gulf. living only 70 miles north of gulfport, ms and the gulf of mexico, it's something that we are all focused on around here. only 5 short years after katrina made a direct hit on our beloved mississippi coast, leaving it in pieces and devestated, we find ourselves asking why this now? whether the spill effects mississippi or louisiana, we are all watching closely and worried for our neighbor. the gulf supplies at least 30% of our seafood industry, and many could lose jobs. not only that, but so much wildlife in the louisiana wetlands is in danger. defintely something to be concerned about! lastly, on top of several weekends in a row of work, i find myself going home to a dirty house! i live in an older house, probably 60-70 years old, and while it wasn't a fixer-upper (that was already done), i have had to do some normal things like a new roof and painting the outside. currently, the biggest and dirtiest project yet, i am having the windows replaced. the house still had the original wooden windows. while i LOVE those windows, they had to go. many of them has suffered too much water damage and were not getting the job done. so my dad, the 'can do anything' dad, is midway through the replacement process. he's 74 and handling most of the work on his own. and they are looking great! i go home each night and clean up the mess that has been made, but no biggie - i'm having major work done much cheaper! this has to be one of the messiest jobs ever, but the pain will be worth the gain! i'll post pictures when it's all done, soon i hope!

dead legs, tired legs, heavy legs - same difference

i haven't posted in a while cause i haven't had much to post about! hip issue returned, but i'm handling it. but the worst is the dead, heavy, fatigued, tired legs - all the time. i don't know if it's related to the warmth in the air, or if it's all in my head. either way, i'm still running.

i'm trying to deal with it so instead of doing 3 days back to back to back of running and cross training combined, i'm doing 2 days running with some cross training thrown in and then just a day of cross training or even a complete day off. it's definitely frustrating because i am motivated and really want to run.

my hip isn't as bad, and it's getting better. i think i did some damage to it running some hills a couple of weeks ago. i had a session yesterday morning with my friend / also a nurse after 30 minutes on the bike in spin class (she was the only one who showed). she does tremendous good to my IT band and periformis. it already feels MUCH looser today, but sore from where she worked on it. soreness is ok, looseness is GREAT!

tomorrow, i will run a longer run of 8-10 miles so today, after feeling lots of fatigue while going up and down the stairs at work and a good bit physical activity at work, i opted for a complete rest day. i'm sitting on my porching typing this feeling the ache in my legs.

i am confident that this too shall pass.

on a lighter note, i enjoyed an afternoon with my kayak last sunday. i also took molly to let her enjoy the lake and some swimming. we had a blast, and i love the upper body workout kayaking gives while providing some rest for my legs. it's going to be a great summer!

a new hobby

say hello to my newest hobby. i'm a PROUD new owner of a pelican apex 100 sit on top kayak. i've been wanting a kayak for years, and now i have one!

my friend from work and i headed out sunday to make our purchases. it ended up being an all day trip as the store we went to in gulfport only had one! that was a problem cause we both decided on the same kayak. so, we headed to mobile. melissa's boyfriend was also with us and decided he wanted the same one as well. so, after thinking and stopping at a few other stores, we made it to mobile. a little while later, we were loading our brand new kayaks on the back of the truck. after an 8 hour day, our mission was complete. i also purchased some necessary accessories: life vest, water proof bag, some tie downs for my car, and a paddle! i must admit, i felt a little geeky getting excited about all that gear, but it looks so cool on top of my xterra! at 10 ft long and 40 lbs, i have a load on my hands, but i can handle it!

tomorrow, i'll be getting up bright and early to get my run in so that i can take the kayak out for its maiden voyage after work. i'm pretty excited! this summer, i hope to log lots of miles on my feet, my bike, and now my kayak. definitely looking forward to a new way to cross train while resting my legs!

and the winner is....

I signed up today for the 2010 marine corp marathon. i will be running / virtual training with a former student, now friend. i will also be fundraising for push american, a philanthropy for american's with disabilities. i'm very excited!!!!! but nervous about this fundraising thing. :)

mcm 2010!!!!

running alone

after surviving last week, and recovering, i'm back to training. i squeaked out some runs at the end of last week to pull together 30 miles. i had some great runs too. and i did half of them alone.

after running with ginny on wednesday, i met a couple of girls for 10 friday morning. of course, the day i don't have my garmin is the day i wish i did. we ran a nice pace, but i don't know what it was. i'm terrible at knowing pace without my garmin. i had planned to run with another girl saturday morning, but the threat of thunderstorms held us off. it was nice to sleep in and be completely lazy for half the day. later that day, i got out and ran my old 8 mile route that goes from my front porch and back. this route is half hills and half flat (with some small inclines), and those hill are TOUGH! i love this course. i hit it as hard as i could, and right now, that's not too hard, but i was proud of the run and my effort. i told myself, i'm never going to get back in the kind of shape i want to be in if i don't get out the door and do the miles. and the kind of miles i need. sunday, i went out for 4 miles easy. that was tough because i had been with my family eating lots of good food, lots of candy, and napping. but i did it. my legs were tired, but the run was good for them.

the thing i've been telling msyelf lately is not having someone to run with is no excuse to not go. i used to run alone all the time before i met so many of my great running friends. after that, i got spoiled and dependent. i also know that i often run better when i'm alone. i'm more apt to push harder, and there are no excuses when you're alone, no one to blame. so, as i move forward with my goals, i will have to run alone more than i have been. i'm ok with that!

last night was a true test though. i knew during the day that my legs felt weak and dead. i could tell when i walked up and down the stairs at work. i had planned to run the 8 mile route again, and i started to dread it. but as soon as that dread and apprehension popped into my mind, i reminded myself, skipping or changing the plan to something easier will get you nowhere. so i went. maybe i should have amended my plan and cut the mileage back to 5 or 6 after all. my legs were dead when i started and more dead when i finished. often i start a run and think, this is going to suck, only to have it end up being fantastic (mind games). not yesterday. i managed to keep my average pace under 10 min., but only barely at 9:50. that did include several short walk breaks, after i drug myself up the hills. it's a fine line between pushing and hurting yourself. yesterday was a great mental battle and victory. physically, i probably should have altered my run, or saved it. i ran steady, and ran all the hills the best i could, but my gas tank was on fumes. i was giving all it had without getting much back. just one of those days. but, i did it. i hope i have enough to finish my plan for the week, which includes 6 today on flat ground for sure!

running alone has its pros and cons. the cons are you're alone, no one to motivate, no accountability partner, no one to make you laugh, etc. the pros are that you did it without any help, no one to hold you back (or for you to hold back), no excuses, you can run any plan you want, and you can say you did it! for me, running alone is great for the mind because unless you're a total social runner or have a partner who is completely in sync with you, on race day, it's just you out there, good day or bad. i want the ability to go if i can or hold back if i have to. also, at the end of hard, successful run that i did on my own, my sense of accomplishment is so great. i am pumped!

i expect to have plenty of runs with friends, but i also plan to run just as many alone. because that is what will get me to boston. me.

decisions, decisions

the deadline to choose my fall marathon is looming. i thought i had a good idea of what i'd do, but a new opportunity came my way last tuesday. several friends were in town last week for founders' day, one a runner who is from the dc area. he ran the marine corp 2 years ago as his first marathon, and he decided we should do it this year.

marine corp is one i definitely want to do, and have wanted to do for a long time. my friend kept talking to me about it over and over while he was in town. i first blew it off, but the more i think of it, the more i want to go. from a financial standpoint, it makes sense. my only expenses would be registration and airline. his family lives outside of dc in virginia, so it's doable.

my other option is the rocket city marathon in huntsville, which my friend ginny, Happy Feet 26.2, is thinking of doing. we've talked of doing a marathon trip together before, and this would be a great opportunity. this is also a smaller marathon that would allow me to not have to bob and weave through crowds as much.

there are pros and cons to each i'm sure. i'll figure it out, and make a decision. either way, it will be a fun fall marathon.

now i just have to get off the couch and go run today. :)