Had A Nice Little Run Today

I wanted to run a 5 miler today, but I woke up not feelin' it. I lounged around the house (if you call laundry, dishes and coloring my hair LOUNGING)....then decided to go to the gym for inspiration. I walked in, it was basically empty. Mike was supposed to be there but was not. I found Jim but he was busy. So I hopped on the bike for a quickie.

Within about 5 minutes I was feeling a spark of energy. I glanced to my right and looked out the door....I felt the pull....I finished the 30 minute hill workout and went home to run my route. I hadn't run it since before the marathon. I remembered Non-Runner Nancy's picture tour of her run, she gave me permission to copy her, so I grabbed my camera and headed out. Bye house!

.......HAPPY FEET.......

As you can see, it's long and flat. No hills here in florida. it was about 85 degrees and kinda humid but breezy. Perfect for me! No one was out today though, I was a little lonely....I love when I see the people who are usually out and about, but not today.

I started with a slow jog, letting my flexor get into the swing. I decided to do a 4 miler since I knew I'd be stopping to take some pictures along the way. I felt happy to be out on my route again.

The picture above is where I was bitten by that dog back in January. The house way over on the right is where the dog came from. The bushes to the left is where the man with no shirt and a gray beard down to his big belly came running out when I started screaming my bloody head off. Nice man. He stayed with me until my husband came.

Little Salt Spring is one of those sinkholes. It's pretty deep and the archeologists have divers that go down once a year. They've found all kinds of cool stuff in there. Google it, it's very interesting. This is so beautiful. In the early mornings the dew shows up all the spider webs in the branches of these trees. There is a wire fence that is hidden but the webs are all over this fence. It's very interesting and I usually have to stop and look real close for the spiders. Funny thing is, I'm petrified of spiders! They are still interesting though.Kinda like this dead grasshopper. Huge, isn't it?? Gives you an idea how big the spiders are that eat 'em, huh? Yeah...like in a movie! The wood or wolf spiders are as big as my hand. And they come in the house when it rains. My 9 yr old son saw one on his ceiling once and it took us 2 weeks to get him to sleep in his bunk bed again. HA!
I ran through this soccer field because I noticed a bubbler (water fountain to you non-Bostonians) as I was driving by the other day. I hate running on the grass, but I did it for a drink! And guess what..... Looked a little questionable from there. Check it out close up!

Oh yeah! Out of commission! This meant I'd be stopping at my work down the street, which is my 2 mile marker. I got there and ran in for some water. My friend Cheryl's husband was sitting there so I sat and talked with him for about 30-40 minutes. Talk about a leisurely 4 mile run....LOL...but that's how I roll...I enjoy running and I stop to smell the flowers (and look for spiders) along the way. I also forgot to time myself (as usual). I recently told my coach I didn't think I was a true runner because of this. He said I am, that I just let myself enjoy it. And i am enjoying it!

Here's another spot I tend to slow to a walk to look at. I haven't seen a crock in there yet, but I know they're in there.

This bridge is for the golfers. Florida has a huge amount of people who golf. I do not golf. I think I may have mentioned the fact that I can't play games where I have to wait my turn. I'm a little imature like that.

Just to give you an idea how flat Florida is......

More gator territory....someday I'll see one and probably pee my pants!

More beauty....you can see the fence where the spider webs are from this view.

Home Sweet Home
My marathon sticker on the back window of my car.

My cool, brand new Asics! Love 'em!!!! Not real sure why I took this one, but there it is! Hope you enjoyed my little wanderings...now you know why I have no idea how fast I could be. I forget my watch most of the time, when I do bring it, I forget to set the timer. I stop and look at everything as if I've never seen any of it before, and I never hestitate to stop for a chat with neighbors and friends.

I REALLY have to get my act together. Did I tell you I'm running the Minnie Mouse 15K on Sunday????? That should be a blast. Imagine all the things to see on THAT race!

Running After Marathon Training

Yesterday was my first run since the marathon. Honestly, I was worried about running after meeting such a goal. Would I lose interest? Was it over? Would I still get any satisfaction from running now that my goal has been realized? I thought about these things as I began the run.

The trees seemed different somehow, the smells more vivid. I heard noises I had not noticed before. We were running against the wind in the first mile and it came to me. I was there because I wanted to run. Not time my mile, not pace for practice, not to win a race. It didn't matter that the wind would slow our time a little. I was running for the pure enjoyment of running. My mind was clear of all the training I shoved into four and a half months of marathon preparation. Since the end of October I've been on a mission. To run a marathon. I had a very short time to learn a ton of information. It was all I thought about....timing, pacing, hydration, nutrition, how my feet hit the pavement....and more. But not at that moment. I kept finding myself thinking how nice it was to be out there again.

Don't misunderstand me, if I didn't like to run, I never would have gotten as far as I have. My competitive nature is still alive and well also. I just think I have made it to a new phase, the enjoyment phase! My husband jokes that I am NOT the woman he married. As I hugged and kissed him the other day for my new Asics, he laughed. He got them for me for my birthday (yes, I'm 42 today) but he said if he'd ever bought me a pair of sneakers for my birthday in the past, I would've probably thanked him kindly and stuck them in my closet. Instead I had them on and was testing my flexor to see if I could go for a run! (I decided to wait for Friday.)

This reminds me of when we were first dating. He wanted to take me skiing but I didn't have winter boots. I HATE snow and cold, so I didn't need boots since I refused to leave the house if there was any snow out there anyway. This had to be pretty early in our relationship for me to even agree to ski. It's right up there with pretending to like Pink Floyd just to get him out on a date! LOL...that's a funny story too, I'll have to tell you sometime. But anyway....I went to the mall to get a pair of boots so I could spend the weekend with my sweetie. When he came by that night I proudly showed him my boots. He just looked at me like I had 3 heads...

KIM: What's wrong? Don't you like them?
BOB: Ummmm....those don't even look waterproof.
KIM: You didn't say they needed to be waterproof. You said get boots.
BOB: We're going skiing. In the snow. Up in New Hampshire.
KIM: Well, I'll be wearing skis then, won't I? Boots don't really matter.
BOB: Those are not boots, Kim. Those are patent leather shoes.
KIM: But they go up to my ankle, that makes them boots.

At this point, Bobby just smiled and said they'd be fine. (I won...lol) But seriously, I sooooo didn't even want to go skiing. I just wanted to snuggle in the lodgey place and sip hot chocolate before a roaring fire. Wouldn't be needin' boots for THAT now would I??? I got even luckier when we hit a snow storm before we even got through Boston and had to go back home. So I can proudly proclaim that I have never skied (skiid, skeed, skeyed...whatever), nor will I ever. We're married now. I don't have to go skiing....LOL....he admits we had way more fun getting snowed in at his house for the weekend. I heartily agree!

The girls at worked LOVED my boots, by the way.
.
.
.

Post Marathon Random Thoughts.......

I'm more tired today than I have been all week. I wonder if it took this long for the endorphins and adrenalin to wear off. Unfortunately I have to work tonight, so no naps for me!

I have a hip flexor injury (Sherry, you were right girlfriend) So ice and warmth with some Aleve is what I'm doing for that. I can't run for a couple more weeks anyway. Good chance to mend that injury. Other than that, the backs of my knees are a little sore, nothing I can't ignore.

I'm looking forward to some speed work. I've been checking out the sprinting shoes today. Some of them are so cute! I have heard they're not allowed on some tracks though, so I need to do a little research on that.

I found out Katie Holmes ran her NY marathon 2 minutes faster than I did! I got a little kick out of that. She ran BRALESS! Geez, sometimes I wear TWO....I can't imagine that. Seems crazy.

I learned yesterday the first woman who finished the Grouper Run has been disqualified for taking a one mile short cut! At first I sympathised with her because I got off track 3 times myself, but I've since found out the elites follow a pacer. But isn't it possible she may have gotten ahead of the pacer? I don't know....I hate to think she did it on purpose. For now, I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt.

I did my core exercise class this morning, it was tougher than usual, because of the flexor injury. I love the group though, so it was nice to see everyone. My coach, Jim, runs that class. I wore my marathon shirt to it and he thought it was a cool shirt. I told him I'd trade him his next CD for it!!! Haha!! For those who didn't notice the music link to the right here, (see the cowboy) that is my coach. He's working on his next CD and I saw the opportunity to get my hands on it early by trading my marathon shirt! Smart girl, I am. For those of you who do not have a cool marathon shirt to trade, his CD will be available through iTunes. Not sure when, but I'll post it when I find out.

There have been almost 1,000 visits to this blog, which I started at the end of January. I am touched and pleased that so many people have popped in for a visit! Hopefully it's not just one person visiting 200 times a day.....lol.....but seriously, thank you to all of you who have been in here. It means more to me than I can say.

Have a wonderful weekend, run hard! (I don't know why runners say that to each other, but it sounds so cool, huh??? LOL
.
.
.

Day Four Post Marathon

Well, it's been 4 days since the marathon. I am walking but still pretty sore thanks to that muscle I pulled. I went to my yoga class yesterday (Wed) and was able to do all the stretches. I actually saw a lot of improvement on my walking abilities after the class. Unfortunately, I had to work last night 5-midnight so I'm sore all over again this morning. I may skip the gym and just do some yoga on my own. I have an exercise class tomorrow anyway.

Jim says not to run for a couple weeks. The muscles need to repair. I'm in no position to even run down the street yet, but when I am, I'll be at the track doing some speed work. I'd love to finish a 5K in under 30 minutes for once! I'm aiming for a 27 minute 5K. That should also help my endurance and help me beat my 5:33:38 marathon time.

My next marathon is Oct 26, 2008. It's in Falmouth, Ma....I lived there before moving to Florida so I'm looking forward to that! It's the closest I'll probably get to the Boston marathon.....LOL... My sis-in-law, Michelle lives in Mass and is a runner also. I left her a message about the Cape Cod marathon hoping to get her to run with me but haven't heard back yet. Michelle, if you're reading this...c'mon sista....let's do it!!!!! It's 5 months away!!!

My next goal is the "Body For Life" challenge. You sign up, send in a photo of yourself in a bikini (UGH) and follow the program. It's a 12 week, no fat diet with a high cardio workout. This will tie in beautifully with my running. I'm looking forward to having a hot body at 42 years old! I will absolutely NOT be posting my "before" photo until I can post my "after" for obvious reasons. Number one being there MAY be 1 or 2 of you out there who think I'm already "hot" now. I'd hate to prove you wrong by posting THAT.....LOL
.
.
.