Welcome to Summer 5K

So glad y'all decided to do this "run" with me!  I think it was really fun and can't wait to do another one next month!  What can we celebrate, maybe a bit later in the month than the 4th which is obvious?

Laura Bagley

Hey I did it! First time I've been for a run in months.  The weather was perfect for running here in Down-east Maine;overcast with a cool breeze at 57°. I kept thinking of all of you runners in southern Alabama running tomorrow evening. I hope I've been an inspiration.  32:40

Ron & Edie Merrill

Ron and I ran last night too in La Jolla neighborhood. 3.1 miles: 30:04. In the 70s, sunny dry and beautiful and of course hilly.  We attached a sweaty self-portrait. Looking forward to hearing about your run and especially the social hour afterwards. Have fun.

Aiveen Kahalley

Great run this morning.  Didn’t record my time or speed.  Just enjoyed about a 45 min run in my neighborhood.  Cloudy, slightly breezy and about 80F. Thanks so much for motivating me.  I took about a week off and it really felt good to be running again!

Margo Bullwinkle

3.8 mile run at 34.33 in Orlando Park, IL.

Kelly Fuller, Jackie Faulkingham, Denise Wiiliams, & Carla Pierce

4 girls running
5K=32:00
Flat on scenic 98; ran south from City Hall and then down some side roads, finishing it off in front of My Cousin Vinnie’s; 88 degrees; great company.
Terrific way to celebrate the start of summer

Summer Virtual Run-great idea!

Summer Virtual Run

I saw this run posted on a friend's FB page one morning and me, being me, signed up right then! Thinking that others would enjoy it just as much- I emailed it, shared, it, texted about it!  Lol:)   It is a great way to have fun with running!  I know, Denise would say- fun and run should never be in the same sentence!

I am looking forward to running this and posting pictures and stories about it.  If you still want to sign up and run it, here is the link:  http://www.runninglovingliving.com/2012/06/welcome-to-summer-virtual-5k10k-registration-is-open.html

Back

Ok, so I guess I ought to apologize for taking such a long time off from blogging.  Reasons for it?  well, I would like to say that I was busy (correct) and that I took on a new job (correct).  Even so, there are times that I know I had time and that I even wished to share something (not that folks are reading) and still did not post- which leads me to the real reason....I do believe it is my personality.  If I cannot write once a week, or if more time goes by, then I say well, I failed at that and why continue, or begin again?!

Poor choice and definitely poor modeling.  Plus once I started to re-read some of my old posts?  Guess what, I said to myself, wow you have tons of interesting things written down here that are fun to reminisce about.  So, reading a friend's blog post this morning, made me realize that I needed to post again!!!!! Yay!!!!

So much to tell all y'all so today is short and later posts will fill you in.

Topic?  What to show your fiends about the South and the area when they come to visit?

1- Bay and the view

I love this spot.  Maybe others do not, but having lived on the coast most all of my life, I do not think I would like to be far from it.  It is almost always sunny, sun glinting off the water and the skyline view is fantastic- always makes me smile.

2- Beach

Ok, being from Maine, you love hitting the beach in the summer months, but I do love just being able to park near the beach and wander onto the beach within a few feet instead of parking in a lot, or along the road and then carrying your stuff until you get there.  Also, the sand is white and soft- doesn't bother your feet as you walk.  You have your pick of beaches.  I know, in Maine, 3?  Maybe I am missing some but the big ones?  Popham, Reid, and Small Point.  Now, let's access the water....warm enough to actually go in and enjoy.

3- Restaurants and food choices

Take your pick- as my friend said, "any of those along the causeway looked liked good choices to me"- and they were all packed?!  Fun evening trying out crawfish,  red royals, and Gumbo.

4- Gators!!!

an obvious choice.  You could show them the walk, take an airboat road, or one of my favorites, Alligator Alley.  There you can get it all, walk in their habitat, watch a feeding and even hold one.

5- Any local festival or event that is happening.

There is always something going on in the south.  This week end there was the Strawberry Festival (I had forgotten how much I loved it last year), Gumbo on Dauphin Island, Arts Alive in Mobile or if wanting to drive, the free Jazz Festival in N'awlins (not sure of the southified spelling of that).

So, what are we doing today?  Not sure yet what we are fixing to do, but let's get a check of the weather.  Currently at 8 am sunny and 74 degrees. Many possibilities :)  So get out there and enjoy the region!!!

Long, but pleasant 19

19 miles completed on Sunday, and it was a fairly lonely, long run at that!

People sometimes ask me what I think about or do for over 3 hours of running.

Yesterday, I had that unique opportunity. And I hope it doesn't sound like this was a new experience because I have run many, many long miles alone. Just seemed that I hadn't for most of this training session and I found that I really missed that companionship!

First of all, I really do not run with music very often.  Thought about it briefly yesterday, but decided it was just one more thing to carry.  I already had 4 Gels, glide, chapstick, water belt with 4- 12 oz bottles of water, keys and the Garmin on one wrist and the RoadID on the other. 

I do listen to great, energizing songs on the way to the starting point so that those songs go through my mind on the run.  Usually there are at least 2, maybe 3 songs that will stick.  Then there is all the thinking about route selection and if I need to head all the way out 9 1/2 and the big question of whether I have enough water or not.  I depend on a lot of water during a run- I am not a camel! So that keeps my mind occupied for a bit.

Another thing that I do is gauge when to drink the water based a bit on water stops for the upcoming marathon.  This time I was going to try to drink at mile 2 and then every 1 1/2 thereafter.  Gels I try to take at 45 min intervals.  This can break up the run as well.  Then there is always the scenery and different landmarks to pass.

Sometimes I try to think about what I have planned for the rest of the day or the upcoming week. About every couple miles I try to really take note of how my body is feeling.  Do I need to concentrate more on relaxing different body parts or is the Achilles or IT Band starting to become irritated.

I did end up heading all the way out, mostly perhaps because knowing that coming back to the car and then having to complete another 3-5 miles can be emotionally hard.  This way, when I turned it was to head home and be done!  The only concern was the water.

I got the first 13 miles in pretty easily.  It is amazing how all of a sudden that voice in your head says, wow! 6 more miles! I'm starting to feel tired! What am I going to do for another 6!

So, I would say that at these times it is the most important for me to focus on the task at hand. Knock off 1 mile at a time. Most times I can convince myself that if I get through the next 1/2 mile or so I will have some renewed energy.  Just keep moving.  Even running slowly is faster than walking.  Other things I have to resort to doing is counting strides or seeing landmarks ahead and then just trying to make it to that next one.  Oftentimes I go through the alphabet and make up adjectives about myself- yesterday the E was for elephantine fingers!  My fingers always swell during long runs.  For the most part, they are good, motivating adjectives. Lol:)

And then, there is that moment, maybe with 2 or 3 miles to go when you know you can do it and that the feeling you get with finishing will surpass this present feeling.

Couple funny moments though was with about 4 miles to go, wondering if I could find a faucet out near the road so I could get some water!  I ran past a house that had set a water dish out for the dogs that are walked on this road and I chuckled to myself about whether it was clean enough for me to fill up even one water bottle! I decided I could make it without stealing water from the dogs!

What things do you think about while on long runs?

Countdown Widget

September Wrap Up

September just flew by, didn't it?


Field Trips- 3: Malbis Church, Jackson Oak and Paddle Boarding at Magnolia Springs


Miles Run or is it Ran?  126

Not that that is what I look like in the least! Ha! Looks like a fun place to run though.


Current Aches and Pains-  My Achilles has been better.  Currently alternating between 3 pairs of shoes.  My Brooks for long runs, my Nike Frees for shorter distances, and Nike Airs for in betweens.  Seems to be working for the legs.

I rolled an ankle last night playing tennis, so iced it quickly and think it will be ok.  Especially since I have 19 coming up tomorrow morning.

Had another case of vertigo this week.  Couch bound for 3/4 of a day.  It makes me feel grateful for those days when I am up and moving, let me tell ya:)


Current Obsession- Words with Friends; everyone in the household on different computers/cells playing with each other and others!  Craziness- oohhhh, how many points for that??

And, of course, I am playing it while trying to write this blog post!



Current Drink- Coconut Water; trying it as a post run drink right now.  Might try it on a long run.  Dean drinks it!!!

Current Song/Artist/Album- William Fitzsimmons with The Sparrow and the Crow; found him on Spotify when a friend was listening on FB. 



Current Dislike- hmmmmm, that I cannot seem to get as much done as I would like in the day?


Current Book- Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson.  The feud that began the night a baby was stolen is escalating.... doesn't that make you want to read more?

Current Goals-  Clean out and organize a closet in the computer room and attend Bird Fest next week. Be nice to just get one of these done, preferably the fun one! Lol:)

Current Treat- California Tart frozen yogurt with fresh fruit at one of three local yogurt shops that opened in close proximity!

Ok, back to Words with Friends- killer game currently with BP!

Friday Field Trip- Sept 16th

Finally tried paddleboarding!

Bruce and I made reservations for paddleboarding for Friday afternoon.  They would meet you at Jesse's Restaurant at Magnolia Springs with the boards and you could have them for 4 hours to paddle up and down the river.  My link to Magnolia Springs has a loop of pictures and a couple of them are where we paddled.

Sounded like lots of fun.  The only things making me nervous were a) falling off and b) snakes. 

I had crossed the alligator off the list since I had never heard of any in this river nor seen any for that matter.  I almost decided to get kayaks instead, but really wanting to try paddleboarding we decided to brave it. When asked if there were snakes, our guide did smile and say "well, yes, they are around but I have only seen 1 in the water while paddling."  You might think that this would heighten my anxiety, but it did just the opposite.  The odds were against me seeing any! Yay!


Our guide helped place the boards into the river and gave us a water tight box to attach to the end of the board with cell phone and keys.  We took life jackets, but never put them on.  He suggested we start on our knees and then stand up when ready.  It was such fun! 

So peaceful on the river and the boards went smoothly along.  We saw  turtles, both on logs and swimming,  jumping fish,

and a beautiful blue heron repeatedly on our 3 hour long excursion.

We did get some slight waves from a motorboat with water skiers and one time we were already down on our knees taking a break.  The other time, we were standing up and Bruce made for the knees pretty quickly.  I was going to try standing through it all- see how my balance was- but then I got nervous and also got down.

I will definitely go again and who knows might buy some boards.  Here are the pictures we took, being careful not to lose the cell in the murky waters!  Lol:)