Where the sidewalk ends...

No really. I just have to ask- why is it that sidewalks just randomly end? I really try to stay safe on runs and out of the road, but it doesn't help when the sidewalks just randomly end.

I am trying to plan my 22 miler for tomorrow and I am struggling. I hate hate hate going in loops. I know, I should be thankful that I'm not on the mill, but seriously! There are some great roads that just go on FOREVER but the downside- no sidewalks. There isn't even like the "emergency lane" or whatever it's called. I could go on the grass on the side, however, I tried that last weekend and I just ended up turning around because it was a complete mud pit.

I understand if a sidewalk ends but turns into a neighborhood because the other areas are undeveloped, but why is it that when you cross the road the sidewalk keeps going and then it just suddenly stops. Did the person putting in the sidewalk just give up and say "eh, it's Houston. who'd actually be outside? No one needs a sidewalk here." I completely beg to differ- I NEED it!! Or maybe the person had some scary experience and thought it would be best to save someone else from going beyond the edge of the sidewalk? I don't know... I just think it's ridiculous.

So, I have come up with a hopeful solution. I found a "trail" online that should be pretty good. It's an 8 mile out and back so... 16 in total. At least that's what it said. You never really know. I know, it'll almost be like a loop, but hopefully it won't be so bad. Wish me luck! If I can't do the trail, I am back to the 3 mile loop in my neighborhood. That's a lot of loops... Not to mention- a lot of loops where I could potentially pass my "arch-nemesis". I won't say too much about her. What I will say is that she is usually out running when I am and I have waved and said hello every single time I've seen her and all I have ever gotten are dirty looks. Maybe it was because I was waving like an idiot with a goofy smile while sweat was pouring off of me... who'd want to be friends with that sort of a weirdo??? Haha, oh well. She's missing out I guess ;-)

Well, here is hoping that tomorrow's 22-er will go well and I won't have to deal with sidewalks ending in the middle of it :-)

PS: The first 10 of these miles are for a girl named Alex who was diagnosed with Lupus. Cancer just plain sucks. As always- the rest are for my mom <3

Way to motivate

Whenever I go out for a run I never consider that someone I actually know will see me. Especially since we've moved here TX. I don't know a ton of people here yet so the chances of people actually knowing me is VERY slim!

Well, Monday morning I was "spotted" if you will. It was a great run for the most parts. There were a few parts where I wishing that my legs would show up to the party, but other than that- it was great. The weather was fantastic! There was actually a breeze!! That never happens in the Houston area... no really. The wind shows up for hurricanes but that's about it. Anyways, it was a good 6 miler our and back run.

I had work after the run and a co-worker came up to me and said "I saw you running this morning!" The first thing that came to mind was "oh my gosh... I hope I didn't look like a complete idiot. Hope he didn't see me when I got to that one corner and felt like I was going to die."

He then proceeded to tell me how motivating it was to see me out running. Huh? What? See, I work at a gym and most of my co-workers are pretty fit and they exercise quite a bit and I sometimes feel a little intimidated. So, when he said it was motivating I was a little baffled. He then explained that he wanted to start getting out and exercising in the morning. He was all excited and kept coming up to me for the rest of the day and saying, "I am going to start this tomorrow morning. I feel real good about it." He even thanked me for going out running that morning. He isn't a runner (yet) but maybe someday!

I guess that made me feel pretty good- even though I am still pretty embarrassed that someone actually saw me haha... I know I get wicked sweaty and can look like a total wreck- but it's nice to know that all the hard work I put into my runs are noticed and sometimes even enough to motivate.

Want to hear another secret? My dad and his girlfriend went on a cruise to Alaska this last week (lucky!). My sister called me last night and she told me that my dad told her that on one of the last days there the cruise had a 5k walk that was benefiting cancer. So, I guess it was like x amount of laps around the boat. Now, you need to understand that my dad's health isn't in tip top shape and I do worry about him often. He has a lot of health conditions, but one that makes his life more difficult is that his legs sometimes go numb on him and he can't walk for long periods of time and is in a lot of pain. But, guess what? He walked the stinkin' 5k!! It took him a while, but he did it! I think that's motivating! I know he's probably hurting from it- but someone who has a hard time walking totally stepped up to the plate and got it done! Way to be, Dad!!

hubby, me and my dad- April 2010

Has anyone ever told you that you motivate them? What motivates you?

Running For The Cure

Most of you know that I am a HUGE supporter of breast cancer research. I have run quite a few races that support cancer research and I always feel great about it. It is such a close-to-home cause for me. I lost my mother 14 years ago to cancer when I was 11 years old. It changed my life forever. Not only do I always run in my mom's memory, I also run for all the kids who have lost a parent to cancer. I don't care what kind of cancer it is because all types of cancer just suck. It's just such an awful thing to lose your parent as a young child and it shouldn't have to happen. I was with my 11 year old niece this last week and I just kept thinking- this was the age I was when I lost my mom.

Anyways, I have decided that for the San Antonio Rock N Roll Marathon on 11/14/2010 that I will be joining Susan G. Komen's "Marathon for the Cure". This means that I am fundraising for the cause! I have never done a fundraiser like this and I always feel awkward asking people for money (esp. people I don't know) however, I feel like this is a cause that has affected most of us in some way or another and it's a cause worth fighting.

If you would like to donate to the cause you can check out my fund-raising site:

Running For Carolyn

I am trying to come up with some sort of a giveaway to help make this a little more exciting, so keep your eyes out for that!

Thank you for all of your support!

Let's hit the ground running and finish cancer!!

A visit to NH

So, this last week I had the opportunity to go and visit my hometown in New Hampshire :-) It was my sister's 40th birthday and her husband wanted to surprise her by having me come out. I had such a fun time! She and I are actually going to be running the Disney Princess Half Marathon in February!

Her family have been getting into running and they have two young girls (8 and 11) and over the summer they had them running a mile loop a few times during the week. They made a goal as a family that at the end of the summer all of them would run the loop 2x. I was lucky enough to be able to participate in their family run. We stuck together for the 2 loops and the younger one did great! Then my sister, me and her older daughter ran for a 3rd lap while the younger one and my brother-in-law stayed behind. I did this lap pretty fast (7:37) and my brother-in-law wanted to "race" another lap with me because he had never been able to do it faster than 7:50 so he wanted some "competition". So we did the last lap together. He did it in 7:19 and I finished in 7:23. I am so proud of their family. The girls are learning the importance of being healthy.

It was so fun running with them- but holy crap- hills! For example, yesterday my sister and I headed out on a 3 mile run and whew.... I won't lie, it was a little rough. Then I was like "you know what? I have the opportunity to run on hills, I should tackle my old XC course." My sister lives down the street from the course so we headed over there after stopping at home to round up the family. I ran to the course (1 mile) and then I decided I just wanted to do the 2nd mile of the course- it's ridiculous. Hills, hills and more hills. Basically you are running up a ski slope... no really... there is a ski lift at the top of the hill and it's an actual skiing place haha... I was dying- esp when I saw the ski lifts! But, I did it! Then we ran up a massive hill on the way home. So, I got all my hills in :-)

It was a great time running with my sister and her family. I am so excited for February!!

NB Hope 5k Recap

So this last Saturday I ran the NB Hope 5k. I was scheduled to do 10miles total that day so I figured I would get them all in somehow.

I was going to run before we left the house, but it was too stinking dark out. Boo! Anyways, so hubby and I set out. We had to go in 2 cars because I had to go to work right after the race... another boo! Anyways, we got there and I picked up my timing chip, we scoped out a place for hubby to sit and read or whatever he does while I run :-)

I got situated and I did a mile warm up. I was so glad that I did this. I really wanted to run a lot more but time goes by really fast when you're picking up a timing chip and walking around to find a good sitting area. So, by the time I was done with my warm up I headed to the start and I was only waiting 5-10mins.

Then we were off. I kept telling myself that I wasn't running a race and there was no need to get nervous pervous and I was just happening to be running with a lot of people. It actually helped. My stomach wasn't doing flips and I didn't feel like I was going out way too fast. The course was mostly flat and I loved it! They had volunteers out and at each mile mark they were yelling out times- heh, reminded me of high school cross country!

At the first mile I heard them yell out 7:30... what? Really??? I looked at my watch and sure enough I was right around a 7:30min pace!! I was so excited! Then, we turned and we were on a sand/gravel trail. It was a little challenging but I stayed to the side so I could have some grass traction. I felt like I was flying and I was still feeling good. Then I did what I used to to in XC back in the day- I just kept telling myself- "this whole thing is only 3 miles and you've gone half of that and it's only a little over a mile and that's nothing!" That kicked me into gear and by the time I got to the 2nd mile I was around 15 mins-ish. Then I just booked it. I was trying to see ahead to see how many women there were ahead of me. I couldn't tell, but I was pretty sure that as I passed one lady that I was at least the 3rd woman in the group.

I finished in 24:11!!! That is a whole new PR for me! I finished 21st overall out of like 360, 3rd woman finisher and 1st out of 50 in my age group! Hollah! I was so excited! A lady came over to me that I had been "running with" during mile 2 to congratulate me and she told me she was trying to keep up with me and that I had a really good race. How nice of her!! I am usually the one coming over to someone and saying "holy smokes! I tried to keep up but you just left me in your dust!"

My husband was super nice and he stayed after for awards and he got my medal for me! This is the first medal I have gotten that I "earned". Not just for being a finisher- although I believe anyone who runs a half or full marathon deserves the medal no matter what!! But this medal just means a lot to me. I know, korny!

I have to load pics up of the race later. I am still sort've unpacking and I can't find my camera cord. Go figure.

Now to figure out how the rest of this week is going to go. I have some speed work scheduled for this weekend, but next weekend I have a very long run and I might have to switch it around due to stuff that has come up... so we'll see how that goes.

9-teen milez

I went to bed on Friday night feeling sort've excited about the proposed long run for Saturday morning. The last time I was doing this sort of distance was this last winter... in Utah no less. AKA: Freezing. So, what's worse? Utah winter or Houston summer?? I haven't really decided yet. Utah winters have nothing on winters I had growing up in New Hampshire, but still cold. Then Houston in the summer... yikes. Humidity... and more humidity... the whole sweating thing while blow drying your hair after right after getting out of the shower isn't exactly ideal... but I guess it's better than worrying if you have enough layers on to avoid frostbite? Maybe.

I remembered my 18mile training run when I was training for SLC... it was on a treadmill! I was so hoping that I wasn't going to have to resort to that due to bad weather. I got up and I started getting ready and I ate my "Snickers Marathon Bar". Okay, I have never liked the idea of "power bars" because they don't always taste that great but my sister got me some of these Snicker Marathon bars and I love them! They taste so good! Don't let the Snickers title fool you... this isn't a candy bar. I absolutely love them and I do feel like they do help my long runs. I can't eat much before I go out and run, but I can't go with an empty stomach- so this is an excellent solution for my long run or race days when I can't eat my normal breakfast :-) Okay.. shameless plug over. Thanks to marathonbars.com for the picture.



This run overall was as good as it could be in very hot and humid weather. I've promised hubby that I won't run in the dark- so as soon as the sky started to lighten up I headed out. My feet were "body- glided" (is that how you'd say it?) I had my tunes, my water belt, Gu, cell phone, Garmin and my road id and I was good to go. There were so many rabbits out this morning. In NH we had deer... apparently here in TX there are just lots of rabbits... and dead frogs... but it was really neat to see so many of them.

My route was a 3 mile-plus-some-change, not my favorite, but that early in the morning, and possible potty issues- I needed to make sure I was close to home. I did have to make 3 stops. The first stop I needed was to run inside to get a towel to wipe of all the nats that I ran through around a small lake in our neighborhood. Gross. The 2nd stop was to refill my water bottles and my 3rd stop was unexpected. My in-laws decided to stop by in the morning and they passed by me on my route right as I was going to pass the house for my last loop. So, I stopped to see them for a few mins with the hubby who was being manly and mowing the lawn :-) (it looks great!).

I was so excited to get this done. I am sure that my new neighbors think I am absolutely crazy, but I was so excited that I was able to do this (outside no less!). It was hot out, but it could've been worse and I made sure to have enough water and Gu to get me through.

I tried to get a picture of my garmin telling me that I finished my work out at 19miles, but I was just a second too late! So, here is a picture of my watch right after that flashed up :-) So, in the end- this too me 3 hours and 3 minutes :-) That's not including my pit stops, so I was out a little longer- but I feel like when you run for 19 miles, you are allowed to take pit stops and not have to include them in your final time :-)



I am feeling great though! I can move and walk around with minimal issues and that is always a good thing after really long runs! I would call this run as a success!

PS: I ordered yet another running skirt this last week and it came in the mail yesterday! I am excited to "break it in" this week! Oh... and! For any of you running the Rock n Roll San Antonio Marathon- make sure to look at the August e-mail all the way at the bottom. They have a reusable (up until the day of the marathon11/14) $25 off coupon for purchases of $100 or more at Sports Authority. I don't really like getting running shoes at big department type stores... I like going to specific running stores- but seriously. $25 off on shoes?? No brainer! They had the shoes I wanted and were comfortable with and I was good to go :-) Ah, feels good to save monies :)

If you are like me and like the running stores but don't know what shoes to get but still want to use your coupon... you could always go to the running store and get advice and then head over to Sports Authority to get the shoes there? Is that awful of me to suggest??

Happy Running!

New routes and sadly.. a lot of dead frogs...

So.... WE MOVED INTO THE NEW HOUSE!!! We closed on July 28th and since then I have been painting, unpacking like a mad woman, running and figuring out new routes.... and all of my other responsibilities :)

Since moving here from Utah, it has been hard getting used to the REALLY flat roads. I mean, I should be relishing in it, however, I feel like I am getting a false sense of what my pace really is. Heh, like if I were to go to Utah tomorrow and try and run- I'd probably die... not just because of hills, but also the elevation too. I am worried about it though. The San Antonio RnR marathon is right around the corner and they've changed up the route and the last few miles are a gradual incline. Seriously?? Boo!


I will admit that I am starting to feel a little nervous for it. I did run 16miles two Saturdays ago and it felt good- but like I said... no hills... any advice for that? People say to hit the mill and put it an incline. I will let that be my LAST resort. So, seriously, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

So now for the dead frogs. I resisted taking pictures of them, but I cannot tell you how many dead frogs I have seen in the last 2 weeks. They aren't even in the road. They're on the sidewalks and they weren't driven over or anything. Are they just frying on the pavement?? It's so sad! One day I counted 10 dead frogs on my run. Sad.

The nice thing is that because it has been so brutally hot here (it is Houston after all) I have been leaving in the wee hours of the morning and I always get a nice sunrise. This picture doesn't do it justice.