Just. Breathe.

Someone probably needs to call the guys in the white coats, because this has been happening this week: That's right -- running FOUR DAYS out of five! Consider this your warning that the zombie apocalypse is upon us, because I'm planning to outrun you.  Obviously, I set no land speed records; there's still time for you to train so you outlive me.  But let's look a bit closer, shall we? In case you missed it... Why would you do that, you ask? It's simple -- heat. Texas in July, even in a weird year like this one, is not friendly to even walking outside after 8am. Pile on that RDub leaves for work at 6:30 AND he is psychologically unmotivated to do this by himself, and it's a perfect storm. The dogs need a walk, and they would die in the afternoon heat (or act like they will [Theo]).  So it's a great plan, right? If we could just get our butts in bed by 10pm, we might not think we're all going to die of exhaustion.  And that's been o...

Okay, just five of the things going on for the last however many months anyway! [ETA before publish: I've been writing on this post since April. Ridiculous.] It's time for the annual semi-annual semi-monthly way-too-irregularly-to-be-taken-seriously-as-a-blogger post about where I've been and what I've been doing since my last post...in February (other than the cruise, that is). It's sad. It really is.  Here's what's been happening.  1. Back in April, when I started this list (don't judge), this was the big thing: Taken March 27...when I should have been planting flowers Then, in May, the other weather-related news took over: 1. The main street by our house; 2. Six Flags river; 3. Trinity River in Dallas Photo credit: Google This has honestly been the strangest weather year I can remember. In early June, we finally were able to get in our pool, we aren't on water-rationing, and my yard looks amazing! We can't see the neighbor...

This morning I did a virtual 5K. If you've read many posts, you know that I'm a fan of Katie over at Runs for Cookies.com - she lost about half her body weight, and has kept it off for three years or more. Along the way, she became a runner, and her story reminds me that I can do this.  Anyway, today is her birthday, and the second annual RfC Virtual 5K. Basically, you sign up on her site, say you want to run, print out a bib, and then run at some point. You can report your times, be entered in a drawing, and just have a little fun with it.  This is obviously an "after" picture. I set a 37-minute goal. It's been long enough since I've run the entire 3.1 mile distance that I wasn't sure I'd be able to do that -- my only 5K official time (from TWO years ago!) was 39:40ish. I've run 3.1 miles since then, but only used my Garmin to track time. I've never been below 38 minutes. I picked 37 minutes for this one, and knew I'd be happy if...

I have a new toy, and I better like it a whole lot, because it's all I get for the next 20 present "events." For anyone who is new let's recap: I started running a couple of years ago.  I live in Texas. I ran through one of the hottest summers on record. Then I did it again the next summer. I got up at the crack of dawn during those hot summers to avoid some of the heat. Here we are at the beginning of fall and what do I do? Buy a treadmill. So I can run inside when it's cold. I never claimed to be very bright. And this baby is nice . It's iFit compatible which means my workouts are tracked and available online. But that's not the coolest thing. This is the basic screen. Default track running is boring, but when Buffy the Vampire Slayer  is on the TV, I don't need much.  HERE is the coolest thing: It has videos of runs! This is the Hana Run - a Hawaiian path along the coast! Notice the time and distance noted here,...

Apparently I have a habit of making lists to clear out my brain when I haven't blogged for a week or more. I've had time to blog, but nothing to say. I know, it shocked me too. The weather cooled off, finally. Saturday morning I hit a new personal best for a run. It was only 59 degrees here when I left the house, and I got a wild hair to run for an hour and see how far I could go. The result:  Not setting any speed records, but LOOK at that distance! I was ridiculously excited about this. Also, sweaty and parched! I didn't start this running thing with any distance ultimately in mind -- not a marathon, or a half-marathon, or anything like that -- but knowing I CAN run almost five miles at once if I want to is huge. And I might survive the zombie apocalypse. RDub was gone for about 5 days on a men-only camping trip. I had grand intentions of having a girls' weekend here, but plans, timing, blah blah, didn't work out. Instead, I did stuff like t...

Seriously, people, somebody help me with these blog titles. I'm only using days of the week to try to force some structure on myself, but this is going to be boring really quick. Okay, moving on to the topic. This month, I finally was able to start running again after injuring my foot. I'm now in in week three of fairly consistent workouts. Go me! Running in Texas in the summer is an iffy proposition. Either you have to get up before dawn, run after dark, or find a treadmill inside. I don't have a treadmill, so that's out. RDub won't let me run after dark without the dog along, and he's a big baby. So, early morning it is. Yuck. And seriously, if you wait until 8am, it's too hot already. RDub and I tried running together a couple of times. 5:30am isn't as impossible for me as it was a few years ago, but it definitely isn't my favorite thing. But he needs to run, too, and before work is the only option. The first day was okay - got a couple of m...

SERIOUSLY stuck -- stuck at this weight, stuck in a routine I won't break to get caught up on blog entries...I am MAKING myself sit here and write (and it still took three days). For a while it was that I didn't think I had anything to say for the moment. Now it's more like I just won't write...lots of topics, enough time to write if I wanted to, pictures to share...blah blah blah. So what shall we talk about today? How about my excellent running week? I actually made it out three times (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday) for over 2 miles each time. The difference? I've started taking the 140-pound Rottweiler on the runs with me. Something about having him along makes me not walk -- I'll stop to give him water, but that's it. Of course, it's more than a little embarrassing that a "run" for me is barely more than a fast walk for him...until we hit two miles. He hasn't gotten over that mental wall and doesn't believe he can do it. Case in po...

I don't call myself a runner. I'm a person who, mostly in the interest of getting rid of weight, runs from time to time. I don't dislike it as much as I used to, but it still takes some serious mental talking to get me out the door. When I hurt my knee in July and had to stop for a while, I tried to be disappointed. Mostly I was concerned about stalling my weight loss or gaining because I was going from 3-4 workouts a week to not much. It was a hot summer, so running outside wasn't really an option. I can't say that I missed it all that much. Here it is two months later, and today, I went for a run. I had no idea what to expect -- I set the 2 mile route and figured I just see what happened. Started with a .1m warmup walk. When I first started the run, I was worried - I could feel the knee and the muscles around it tensing up. But after about 30 steps, it stopped. I went about 1/2 mile and took a short walk break to get a drink (and get up the hill). My first m...

At long last, I'm getting serious about tracking my workouts. I know, you've all been wondering and waiting with bated breath about it. I blog to serve. Here's what I'm thinking. I already do my weigh ins on Tuesday mornings and blog about that at some point on Tuesday. I think I'll do an entry on Mondays (hey, look! It's Monday now!) listing out what I did the previous 7 days. Or, that might be really boring so I'll do something else. Let's just play this by ear. Week of 6/11 to 6/18 Monday: [first workout since injury 3 weeks ago] elliptical, rolling hills setting, difficulty 4 (minimum) to 12 (maximum); 30 minutes; 420 cals Tuesday: elliptical, rolling hills setting, difficulty 4 (minimum) to 12 (maximum); 38 minutes; 475 cals Thursday: elliptical, rolling hills setting, difficulty 3 (minimum) to 10 (maximum); 40 minutes; 450 cals -- I wanted to see if I could increase my time without hurting. It worked, but I'd rather up the difficulty a...