Beautiful day

40 minute run went well this morning - it was beautiful! It was also nice to have a little bit of company. Craig took off on his bike at the same time...so I saw his back for about 30 seconds before he was out of sight.

We are both finishing our first summer session, so this week is busy! I think this week is going to require a lot of coffee and chocolate!

2 Thumbs Way Up for WALL-E!

Yesterday turned out to be a productive day. I was able to make a lot of progress on the essay, unfortunately without my group member's help, and submitted it early enough to go on our date. We left late, so our romantic dinner was Subway in the car! But the movie was GREAT! It had a lot of funny parts and I liked that they did a really good job on animating Wall-E's facial expressions. Two thumbs way up.

This morning was very overcast and pretty humid. The running goal was 9 miles at a 10:40-11:10 pace. I wasn't very motivated to start my run because I didn't have a course planned, but it turned out to be a good run. I ran a similar route as last week's 7 mile run. I figured out another mile loop through a good neighborhood and just did that on my way out and back. I still haven't figured out a way to carry water with me, so I just ran with a water bottle. Not the best method, but it works for now. However, we didn't have any water bottles at the house, so I stopped and bought one along the run. My average pace was 10:45.

It has turned out to be a very beautiful day. And a good day to buy a bike! Craig has been doing a lot of research and found a really nice bike. He took me to look at it and after a "test drive," he decided that he really liked it. He is excited and I'm just as excited because now I have a running partner!! For those interested, it is a 2009 Trek 7.2FX. And it is pretty! And it has a bell!! Now it just needs one of those cute little bike licence plates that says "Speed demon" or "C-diddy." HaHa! I'm sure that idea will never get clearance!

Running is good for thinking

One of the things that I love about running is that it gives me time to think. I made two realizations tonight: 1) I am letting myself get too stressed about my class. Actually Craig helped me realize this as I was walking out the door and while I was running I realized he was right. and 2) In one week, I will be done with this class and will be ready to enjoy the 4th of July weekend. Anyone doing anything fun for the 4th?

My 30 minute run tonight went well. I ran into a few lightening bugs, but luckily no mosquitoes!

Hopefully my mind is clear and I can make some progress on my essay. I am hoping to get it completed early so that we can have a date night to see Wall-E Friday night!

New shoes

Sunday afternoon we went to Pacesetters and I got another pair of running shoes. I guess it is recommended to switch between 2 pairs during the week so that each pair has a chance to bounce back and provide the support it is supposed to. The shoe salesman is a runner himself, so I feel like I had good help and information to buy a good shoe. He ran the mini this year also - 40 minutes faster than me!

I tried out my new shoes Monday morning during my 40 minute run. They felt really good. Actually the shoes are a 1/2 size bigger cause my feet will swell with all the miles. Monday I ran to the post office and then took our water bill to city hall...just trying to get some different scenery in.

Today I moved my Wednesday run to this evening. It is supposed to storm and get hot and humid tomorrow...yuck. Also another reason I ran tonight was to burn off some frustration. I met Craig at the library tonight to take my Geography Exam. I was about 25% of the way through when it kicked me out of the exam. This actually happened with the first exam and the professor was nice enough to let me restart the test. This time he is out of town, so I don't know when I will be able to try it again - if he lets me. The worst part though is that the exam is really horrible. I just wanted to get it over with. I can't wait to be done with this class.

Tonight's run was 8 x 400 at 2:05 pace with warm up and cool down. Tonight's run felt better than last week's when I ran 6. I ran it again at the track. It was nice to see the sunset for a change instead of the sunrise. Got to go...Craig is making waffles!! Yum!

Morning run

Morning run went really well. I was supposed to run 7 miles at a 10:40 - 11:10 pace. This is so I run the distance at a maintainable pace, rather than run a race each week. My average pace ended up being 10:43. It was hard to go the right pace at first and then it felt really good. It is a beautiful morning.

Coming June 27th!

Topic of Conversation

This picture was posted on WTHI when all the flooding happened 2 weeks ago. The flood is still a very big topic of conversation with my patients. This picture of Hobby Lobby and Kroger shows how bad the flash flooding was in Terre Haute. This area is about a mile from where I work. My dental office received no damage, but Doc had to take a boat to the door to assess if any water had gotten into the building. Most of my patients talk about just having water in their crawl space, but there were people who lost their house and vehicles. There was also flooding in Clinton, but the water stayed about a block away. I woke up that Saturday morning and it was raining...hard...and it just kept raining hard. I decided I should turn on the tv and watch the weather. Pretty soon, I was thinking...hmm...maybe I should wake up Craig and start thinking about what I need to grab if we have to evacuate. The roads were closed and we just stayed put. We were very fortunate to have no water issues.

Hotel reservations

Today has been a long day. Much of the day was spent finishing my group essay. I never dreamed that I would spend this many hours on a 100 level class. I was glad to have some cancellations at work this afternoon so I could spend the time I needed on the essay. Plus I got to spend time with Craig as he was studying for a test. Every time one of us got deep in thought, the other would think of something to talk about, so I'm sure we weren't as productive as we could be. But I love spending time with my husband! I always miss him on Mondays.

No cross-train workout today since we didn't get home until almost 11 pm. Saturdays are my long endurance runs, but we have plans for tomorrow morning. Craig was nice enough to sign BOTH of us up to help with the Vermillion County 4-H project check-in. I hated doing this as a junior leader, but hopefully it won't be too bad. Craig is a semi-active member of the 4-H council. He missed more meetings than he attended due to having class most Tuesday evenings. I hope to run Saturday night or Sunday morning. I am supposed to do 7 miles, but I still haven't figured out a very good course around town.

Craig and I spent some time today looking for a hotel to stay at for the race. It appeared that there just weren't any rooms available anymore. Finally we found exactly what we were looking for: a hotel that was really close to the start line so that we wouldn't have to mess with driving or parking before the race. We already knew what price range to expect after our quick anniversary trip to Chicago. That trip woke us up to the high hotel rates in Chicago that didn't even include parking!

We were able to book a room at the Palmer House Hilton. oo la la! It is just a couple blocks west of the start line. It will be a longer walk from the finish line back to the hotel, but I will worry about that later! I just found out that there is a minimal fee if we check out late, so I will be able to go back to our room to shower and maybe even nap before we head for home. That is good news for the odor of the car for the 3+ hours back home!

Afternoon run

Today's run got moved to this afternoon, after work - just a 30 minute run. It was a little warm and the humidity was up a little. I was up really late last night working on the essay that is due Friday. And it looks like it will be another late night. But I need a break from Africa and famine.
I went for a run last Saturday mid-morning when it was way too hot and way too humid. It felt like my head was going to pop off and that I just couldn't get enough oxygen. I had to take a couple walk breaks to get my breathing under control even though my muscles felt fine and my heart rate was normal. This made me realize how much better and necessary it will be to run in the morning. Also, I realized that I need to figure out a water system, like a belt that holds water bottles. I don't need much of an excuse to spend money at Dick's Sporting Goods. I have already made quite an investment in my running by buying a Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS watch. I love it. It records everything - from my speed, pace, distance, to my heart rate. I have always been bad about keeping a constant pace, so I think this has helped me keep track. It will be really important during the marathon to not start out too fast, but to keep a constant 9 minute per mile pace.

Happy to have company

This morning's workout was 6 x 400s at 2:05-2:15 pace with a warm up and cool down. I ran at the South Vermillion High School track. My husband was nice enough to come along and cheer me on and do a few laps himself. The track is really nice, but most days it is very windy and of course there is no shade. This morning was beautiful however, and almost chilly.
I have adapted my training from a book, 4 Months to a 4-Hour Marathon by David Kuehls. This book goes through every detail from gear to nutrition. He emphasizes that is important to re-fuel the body at Wednesday's dinner and Saturday's brunch. This is assuming though that I ran Wednesday evening...however, I ran from 6-7 am... so I had spaghetti for breakfast! with a brownie for dessert!
Different subject: Craig met with a guy today to give us a quote on fixing the walls at our house. We have very ugly, very cheaply finished drywall. So we have many options to mull over. Meanwhile, I need to work on homework. GTG

Happy Anniversary

Happy 2nd Anniversary to Sarah and Eric!

The sky is just this blue and beautiful today. There is no humidity and temps are less than 80 degrees. It feels like the spring weather that we skipped.

I am taking a geography course through ISU that will get me one step closer to a bachelor's degree. I haven't picked a degree yet, but apparently I still have a few general classes to get out of the way. I am taking my coures online which I thought would allow to me to work at my own pace and on my own time, but this course is pretty demanding. We are placed in groups and have to write essays with 3-4 other people. Yuck. We submitted an essay last night around 11:30 and I just found out that we earned a 100%! (Which is much better than the 100/150 that we did on our last one!) Tonight I have lots of fun hw to prepare for the next essay that starts tomorrow. But...we might have some time for tennis...it is sooo nice!

Happy Birthday Karter

So I started this site to talk about my running and life stuff, but something much more important happened today: Kris and Dana became parents to the beautiful miracle - Karter Edward Gray! We are so excited for them and only wish that we lived closer to Minnesota. Congratulations Dana and Kris!

Today I started my training for the Chicago Marathon that will be held in October. I signed up as a charity runner to support the American Cancer Society (ACS). I have been amazed at the support that has already been raised. This will be the extra motivation needed during the next 4 months of training! I have never been a morning person, but it wasn't too hard to roll out of bed an hour early this morning. If you are interested in supporting a great cause you can visit my personal page that I have through the ACS. Tomorrow is cross-training...I think I'll break out the Tae Bo!