Why $20 for socks is worth every penny!

I was saved by my socks today. No really I was. If you ever venture into a running store they will always try to sell you socks. They will say stuff about how they grip your feet better and more breathable and help against feet sweat and blah blah blah. I always thought this was BS because it's a sock, it goes on my foot and well twenty bucks for a pack of three (or six bucks a pair) just sounds stupid. But they are the expert so I got the expensive socks. Turns out I really dig them. In fact this last time I got shoes I also got the special socks. And when one of those socks fell victim to either the washer/dryer/or Pippin I went out and got more $20 socks. Never have I gotten painful blisters, don't know if it was the socks or not I just gave all the credit to the awesome running store (Running Central)for selling me the socks and shoes...more on this in a bit...first my 11...my ELEVEN...gonna say it one more time with charm...MY ELEVEN MILE RUN!!!!! :D

Well honestly I was worried today. Not only was the weather calling for rain and strong storms but the last 2 weeks I've done my 10 milers and the last 1/2 mile I don't know how i was going to be able to finish and now I have to add another mile on to that. This time I decided to kinda flip my route on the RIT so I took the dirt path for 3 miles, turned around, rehyrdated at my start point (6 miles in) and then continue onto the paved path (I usually start on that). I felt pretty good most of the run I took my time and actually set my HRM to work in the "moderate" zone to force me to slow down and it worked wonders. At 6 miles I was DRENCHED and nope, no rain. It was cloudy, overcast and humid (but not uncomfortable humid). The ground was wet but not muddy and I was GROSS but still had 5 miles to go. So I keep on and when I have about 1.5 miles left I notice my shoes seem kinda...squishy. I realize that the combo of the wet ground and my sweatyness has caused me to have squishy shoes, gross eh? When I realize this I also realize the paved path of the RIT has lots of hills so hills and squishy shoes and my longest run to date meant suckyness. Whatev-I'm strong so I keep on and I make it and I'm proud, those last few miles its really more mental than physical and a kick ass play list always helps. Sorry to Ke$ha haters but I totally dig her, Take It Off...totally kept me going that last phase and so did Mindset Evolution lol what a music combo! So I get back to my car after finishing and I start to dry off (I always bring extra clothing, flip flops and towels) and I take off my shoes and this is where I convinced myself that those spendy socks saved me, my feet and my run. I got to thinking about how if I had cheap normal socks on how they would be drenched (my socks were the one thing that I couldn't wring out) and would have caused massive friction and pain. But nope, not the magic socks, dry as a bone, fitting perfect to my feet (which by the end of the run looked like they had been soaking in a tub that's how much moisture was in my shoes). So for my fellow runners out there get the good socks, you'll thank me for it. But me I'll just thank Running Central because if they didn't convince me I needed them I probably would be in a lot more pain now that what I am (I just have sore quads).

Oh and also honorable mentions go to Body Glide for keeping my arm chafe free and to biofreeze for keeping my shoulder loose (its been tightening up during my runs painfully so) and for helping my quads so I can still function the remainder of the day.

Breakdown: 1-10:10 2-10:03 3-10:20 4-10:22 5 & 6-10:48 7-10:20 8-11:16 9-10:57 10-10:46 and 11-9:56.

Almost 1/2 way...really?

Week five and fifty some day's to go, crazy huh? So an update on the UTI...still not healed...I know right. Last Thursday I stopped into my doctors to pee in a cup and yesterday they called with the results, confirmed UTI but now they know the strain of bacteria and had to put me on different meds...again. So now I am on my 3rd round of antibiotics but they promise this one will kill it. Awesome! However the 2nd round of drugs I was taking were helping so I could run pain free.

I decided the other day that after I complete the race I am going to get a new tattoo! I know I just got inked and I'm already itching to do it again. I want to get the date of the race 10/23/10 and then the time I completed in, so it will be a very small tattoo and I want it on the back of my neck right at the hairline, whatchya think?

Training has been going well; Sunday I had 6 miles and Mattie came along so that was fun. We ran in my neighborhood and it was hot as hell. I had a hard time keeping my HR in my zone but our time was an average pace for me. So I think reason I felt I was working too hard was the heat/humidity. Plus I worked out with Travis on Friday and we did some of that TRX stuff and my legs were pretty sore. Yesterday I had a small 3 mile run, again legs sore but I also did the run AFTER my RPM class. I tried to go for speed but was only fast the first 1.5. Today I had 7 miles. Weather wise it was comfortable since I went in the AM but windy as heck. And I welcomed the wind because that is one weather ailment I haven't run against. And it seemed no matter what direction I was going today I was running into the wind. I wanted to go fast again but I need to remind myself this is a 1/2 marathon and I need endurance and not speed, slow and steady wins the race. So I'm constantly trying to tell myself to slow down. I'vebeen tring to focus on keeping my HR in my zone and that seems to help slow me down. In the 70 minutes I was out I think I had my RH in the zone for 55 minutes. I averaged a 10:04 pace today.

I need to get to running central, wanted to go today but decided to get into work early instead. Maybe tomorrow before RPM I can swing in...if I remember...my memory sucks. I need to get some body glide, I keep chafing on my inner left arm, it keeps rubbing against my shirt and chafing sucks! Plus my shoulder is just super tight and no matter how much I stretch it it doesn't loosen up so I wanna get some bio freeze and last but definitely not least I need more running socks. I run 4x a week and like the running socks so I don't get blisters and such. Well I had 3 pairs...notice "had" the washer or dryer ate one sock(or maybe even Pippin, who knows) and now I am down to 2 pairs and one sock and that's not going to cut it.

Sorry I'm boring today. I kinda feel like a slacker. I ate really bad over the past week and saw the scale rise up a bit. So I'm becoming a crazy girl and being overly hard on myself. I hate when I do that but I just feel the thunder returning to my thighs and no matter how much I tell myself I look great, I'm terrified of becoming that 168lb woman again. I just gotta step it up and be more disciplined but I've lost focus and I don't quite know how to get it back and still keep everything the same.

Welcome to my AWESOMENESS!

Hey if you didn't pick up on this with the last blog I just want to reassure you that running with a UTI sucks big, ugly, hairy, balls! No, I'm not being overly dramatic-cuz yes I usually am-but this time its true. Running + UTI = THE WORST PAIN EVER!!!

Now step into my awesomeness; 10 miles, 9:47 pace, total run time of 1h 38m and 04sec. That's THREE minutes faster than last Thursday run. And last Thursday I had sleep, decent temps (well when I ran at least) and no UTI or RT's! And even though I felt like I was carrying a gallon of pee in my bladder (even though there was NOTHING IN IT) I still owned that run and bitchslapped my UTI! Mile 1-9:42, 2-9:56, 3-9:09 (I'm awesome), 4-9 (totally awesome), 5-9:11 (sweet ass awesome), 6-9:44, 7-9:30, 8-9:09 (awesomeness never fades me) 9-9:49 and 10-8:43 (AWESOMENESS)! I once again ran on the RIT (Rock Island Trail) and today was so wonderful; beautiful sunshine, cool light breeze and awesome temps there were tons of people on the trail today. Despite the bladder prob I felt amazing the whole run my HR was in my zone the whole run and I never once even felt like I was breathing hard or out of breath. My legs were a tad sore from the start but I think its cuz I did to many squats yesterday. The last mile was challenging, the last 800 meters were very hard my legs and butt were tightening up big time but I wasn't going to give up that close to goal so I just kept on running, so Forest Gump of me!

Oh and in case your wondering I called my doctors office because I'm on day 3 of antibiotics and they are not helping. Well they are taking away the pain but my tummy is still bloated and constantly feels like I gotta pee. In the past I always feel results with in the 1st day of my drugs and I'm on day 3 and not too much relief. I was asked to come in and pee in a cup (which I did) to see if I'm being treated right, right now am waiting to hear back, so we'll see.

A bit to cocky...or maybe my body just hates me?

~WARNING WARNING GROSS BODILY FUNCTION TALK FOLLOWS THIS WARNING, IF YOU DON'T WANNA KNOW THEN DON'T READ AND DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOUR ASS BODILY FUNCTIONS TALK IN THREE.....TWO.....ONE....

Mattie-"you got seven miles today"
Me-"yeah I know, but it will be a cinch"
That was me jinxing myself.

So its been a while since I've talked about the runners trots (RT's) because based on my researching on the Internet I learned to alter my diet. I'm one of those that have to eat before working out otherwise I get lightheaded and fatigued and my fav breakfast is yogurt, cereal or smoothies...but DAIRY and FIBER are the culprits of the RT's so on run days I instead opt for a bagel with cream cheese and a banana (banana's are super good for runners BTW also something I learned in my homework) or egg whites on a bagel with a banana. And I'm proud to say its working, ever since I've done this no RT's, Yippie! Today I had cheese on my egg whites and was inflicted...note to self say no to cheese..dammit I love cheese! But the RT's was the LEAST of my problem. Sunday evening I kinda had a feeling that a UTI was coming my way...Monday I was sure. So I called my doctors office to get some drugs to fix me up but my trusted nurse was not in...CRAP...I had to deal with some random skank. I tell ya the moment I was talking to this bimbo I knew, I just knew something was going to go wrong. At about 4:30 after not hearing back from her I called my pharmacy to see if my script was called in and NEGATIVE GHOST RIDER, so I call the doctors office and its effing closed...that hooker didn't call in my cure! BITCH! So I loaded up on natures cure, Cranberry juice to get me by. It helps but seriously cranberry juice is ONLY good when its mixed with Vodka! So, this morning I wake up and I knew that I was feeling like ass and that this run may not be so fun. As soon as I got in the car and headed back to my house I was calling my doctors office for drugs. Thank heavens my angel Erin was back, I left her a funny message about how cranberry juice can only do so much and she was my only hope (she listens to me on the radio so I can be silly with her) and once I got home I chuggaluged my grossjuice, in high hopes I could get through this run w/o issues.

((((((BIG SIGH)))))))
Boy was I wrong...about 5 steps into my SEVEN MILE RUN I was cussing a bitch out, RT's are NOTHING compared to running with a UTI....NOTHING, I swear to god I felt like my bladder was going to drop onto the sidewalk. 2.25 miles in I had to stop at Kroger to attempt to relieve myself and not only do I have the I feel like I gotta pee even though I don't problem I also had a small case of the RT's thanks to that fricking cheese! I relieve myself...well not really...and start back out. Five steps in I think about turning back and saying eff it. But being the retardo I am I continue on my way. I felt like my at any moment I was going to piss myself or my bladder was going bottom out of me, numerous times I uttered "F*** ME" and cussed out the C-U-Next-Tuesday that didn't call in my drugs on Monday because if that slut-o-rama would have I wouldn't have been in distress and my seven miles would have been a cinch instead of the shear torture they were. Then, I wondered if God was punishing me for committing sins or the running god was just trying to say that's what you get for being a cocky beotch. Either way, I'm psycho and I ran 7 miles at a 10:04 pace (which is shitty for me) and finished with a total run time of 1hr 10mins.

Anyway, when I got home my angel Erin had returned my call apologising for my discomfort because some stupid fill in nurse couldn't get her shit together. She called in my drugs and off to Walgreen's I ran, still feel like ass but at least I'll be better by Thursday's 10 miler. On the flip side of all this negativity I did learn that I obviously have issues and there is pretty much nothing that is going to stop me from running this 1/2M all the pain I put myself through (and I'm only 4 weeks into training and 59 days to go till race day) means that come October 23rd I'm going to be so well conditioned in ALL areas of my body that nothing will get in my way. Excuse me I gotta go pee...hopefully....((((SIGH))))

So, how do you feel after running 10 miles Anna?

Awesome! Exhausted! Accomplished! Well on my way to a 1/2 marathon! OMG MY QUADS ARE KILLING ME!!!!

I did it, I ran 10 miles in a row, I had one pit stop at 5.2 to drink a 9oz bottle of water. But I did it. I decided instead of doing a 5mile loop twice in my neighborhood I would track back out to the Rock Island Trail. Once out there instead of hitting the trail towards Dunlap I went the paved route that goes to Pioneer Parkway, about 2.5m, then I turned around and at my 1/2 way point I re hydrated quickly and then continued north to swankyville. At about 8 miles I was getting sore and at that point I learned that its mental from here on out. So with 2 miles to go I told myself, 20 minutes, that's nothing and I just kept repeating 20 minutes, 15 minutes, 10 minutes, one mile and so on. My legs killed but I made it and I have to give thanks to Mindset Evolution because they were the last 2 songs on my playlist and they helped motivate me through to the finish. What an awesome ride and run. Only 3 more miles to go and I'm there!

Here's the breakdown:
Mile 1-9:28, 2-9:40, 3-10:05, 4-10:03, 5-9:18, 6-9:49, 7-10:10, 8-10:20, 9-11:28 and 10-10:31. Total run was in 1hr and 41mins with 1065 calories burnd and an average pace of 10:07! So you can tell that I was trying to pace myself (yes a 9-10 min/mile pace is pacing it for me) but that 9th and 10th mile were tough, the short time for the 10th was because when your so close to the finish line you always pick up your pace/stride and sprint big the final 400 meters.

I'm sore, I'm tired but man am I proud and really looking forward to my massage tomorrow at 1:30 and then shopping for a new bday outfit! I'll be 33 in 2 days and I am in the best physical shape and condition I have ever been in. I look and feel wonderful and am looking forward to doing some shopping at the Buckle for some more size 6's! I was showing Mattie the other day my jeans I used to wear...14's....6 feels so much better but I'm still looking out for lucky number 4! (and yes that was also a prop to a certain QB who came back to my Vikings just days ago)

"Just another walk in the park Kazanski"

I rembember the days when I thought 4 and even 5 miles was a big run now when I have my 6 mile runs on Tuesday and Sunday...well its just another walk in the park. I'm fearing bordum with those runs as they are so easy BUT thanks to this Nike program today's run was kept interesting. I did 1.5 miles of easy running to start, then I did 5x800m as tempo pace. I was slow on the first half though which kinda irritates me, its much easier to do this speed training stuff on the treadmil but I hate running indoors when its nice out. And today was awesome overcast but it was cool with just a hint of humidity, awesome weather for a run. Anyway after that I did 4x200m sprints at a fast pace, those were actually easier to do. I think that took me to about 3/4 of a mile left in the run so I slowed it down to a tempo pace for the last protion and of course I always sprint the last 400m. Anywhere here's my breakdown; Mile 1-9:09 2-9:56, 3-10:15, 4-9:04, 5-8:05 and 6-8:22 so you can see my dissapointment because Mile 2-4 should have been at a faster pace. Mile 2 wasn't bad cuz the first 1/2 of it I was intentionally slower but Mile 3 is retarded I was supposed to be going tempo which for me should be about 9:30ish and instead I was slow clocking in at a 10m/m pace..that's pathetic for me and really ticks me off. Mile 4 I'm happy with and then 5 & 6 I am too because that's when I was doing the sprints. But that 2 & 3 really makes me mad >:(

Anyway I'm very tired, I couldn't fall asleep last night I swear I have earth shattering cramps and back pain. It hurts every time I take a breath and my energy level is WAY down. I tried to go to sleep with just some Midol PM but seriously that did NOTHING for me so I ended up taking a vicodin to fall asleep but I need to get at least 8 hours when I do that and I think I only got about 6. I really don't wanna go back on the shot but seriously I don't think a period should have to be this painful.

Is it Friday yet? I have the day off and am getting a deep tissue massage and really I can't wait. I'm going to the salon my friends own, Alter Ego, and seeing Carri (she's amazing) at 1:30 Friday so right after my RPM class and I honestly don't think it could come soon enough at this point I'm thinking death would be funner than these cramps from hell!

Week 3...Already?!?!

Uh it sure doesn't seem like I've been training for 3 weeks already, where has the time gone? Seriously I saw that on my nikerunning.com page and was like "no way, it hasn't been that long." So I went back and counted, counted again, counted out loud then looked at the calendar and was like...whooo its been 3 weeks, only 9 more to go! I wanna create a countdown clock for either here and/or my facebook page, anyone know how to do that?

Ok lets re-cap the last few runs; Sunday it was 6 miles and today it was 2 with 4X150 meter sprints after the run. Well Saturday I finally got my head where it needed to be I said after my remote I MUST go home and just veg. And that is exactly what I did, with a hot man and furry dog and season 1 of LOST and it was heavenly. I believe Matties words said it best "Why did it take us so long to do this?" IDK (I don't know) and I hope we do it more frequently so I can stay focus. That and not working out on Saturday made the world of difference I ran 6 miles Sunday outside about 9am and it was a sinch I rocked it, felt great and wasn't tired in anyway during or after the run. My breakdown Mile 1-8:03 (holy cow that's fast for me), 2-9:30, 3&4-9:28, 5-9:44 and 6-9:11 total 57:46 average pace was 9:37. IDK today's because I haven't loaded my run yet. But I ran before I taught RPM and then did some weights for about 40 minutes after again I feel great, amazing what getting sleep will do. I am a bit sore now my legs are tight but really its that TOM (time of month) for me and the back pain and cramps are overwhelming right now so that's about all I can feel.

So normally I do my WI (weigh in) on Saturdays but I didn't make it this Saturday because I didn't get out of bed in time, go figure. So I did my WI today and I am happy to say I lost 2.2lbs so that finally takes me to 30lbs lost! For the past 6 weeks I've been yo-yoing between 136.2-139, today I WI at 135.8! About freaking time! Just gotta stay focused and keep my head in it. This will be my last weekend where I am off my game (cuz its my birthday on Saturday so it's allowed) but I will not be to far off but I will have fun w/o guilt!

On deck tomorrow: 6 miles, 1-2 of easy running 5x800 meters at tempo and 4x200 meters at a fast effort with 1-3 minutes of easy running between intervals...hmmm thanks Nike that sounds confusing as can be at least I know I wont get bored!