My brain decided to wake me up at 4am because it knew I had to get up at 5am. Oh my goodness! I have to run WHAT?!!! The most miles I have ever run in a marathon training season was 16 due to shin splints. I was so proud of myself last week for running 17 miles. Today - I exceeded that. Sure, my shins are KILLING ME! I also had to walk on 4 particularly nasty hills along the way. However, even with walking, I averaged 11:13/mi. Not bad. It was 34 degrees outside, but I still did it. I RAN 19... Read Full Story

I hit the snooze button 3 times this morning. That is how much I didn’t want to get out of bed. After I got on my running clothes, I stood in the kitchen debating whether I should go or not. I looked at the radar - rain was coming. Hmm….”Well, if I don’t run today…I will have to make up those miles later this week….” It wasn’t worth it. I was supposed to run 10 miles this morning. That is the most miles I will need to run mid-week until my marathons get here. Believe me, 10 miles is a lot... Read Full Story

You ever have times in your life when you step back and say: “Wow!! Hold On! There is just too much going on right now!” That is how I feel. Sure, our calendar is crazy, but it isn’t just that. My brain is just overwhelmed lately too. There is just too much activity, too much emotional stuff, too much financial stuff….just too much. The good stuff is that I am going to be an Aunt, again. I am sooooo thrilled for my brother and his wife. They have a beautiful son that is approaching three... Read Full Story

I ran 8 miles on Wednesday. Everything was going great until I hit mile 5. I tripped. I don’t even remember what I tripped on (could’ve been my own feet for all I know). I went down HARD. I scraped up my left palm and slammed both knees into the asphalt. I then rolled to my right side so that I could protect my iPod/Nike+ on my left arm. Thankfully, nothing on me was broken. My pride hurt and so did my palm/knees. I noticed that I had ripped small holes into the knees of my new running tights... Read Full Story

I did it. I ran 17 miles during my marathon training run. This is a milestone (no pun intended) for me as when I trained for my first marathon, I only ran up to 16 miles. Why? I got a nasty shin splint and was only able to squeak in 16 miles before the marathon. I can say that today was tough though. I was really sick for two days earlier in the week. Then, I was a COMPLETE MORON and ate way too much candy on Halloween (not good for someone that rarely eats candy). What happened? I got up and... Read Full Story

Yesterday was the IBM Uptown Classic 10K. I didn’t sleep well the night before. I had what our family refers to as “Disneylanditis”. You are too excited to sleep. I got up at 5:30am and was out the door by 6:15 to head to the race (that started at 8am). As I got to the race WAY TOO EARLY, I decided to do some speed walking around the IBM campus. I walked 2 miles. As I was getting bored after that, I decided to follow a large training group that went for a “short run” before the race. They ran... Read Full Story

I went to pick up my IBM Uptown Classic 10K race packet this morning. I know most folks wouldn’t understand this, but there is something exciting about doing this. You walk in and you see stacks and stacks of race numbers. The volunteers are extremely nice and always wish you “Good Luck”. You get a goodie bag full of energy bars, coupons for chiropractors, and Post-It notes. You always get a t-shirt from a race. It is secretly bad form to wear this shirt to the race. You shouldn’t wear your... Read Full Story

As our son is approaching the teen years, he needed to get his last booster shot today. He wasn’t looking forward to it. I can’t say I blame him. I hate physicals. The last physical I went to was totally deflating. Even though I was running like mad and trying to eat right, my doctor said I was “very overweight” and close to being obese. *sigh* Yeah, I was smaller then the doctor and could certainly run circles around her….still, it was depressing. Our son was treated to all the tests: eye... Read Full Story

After having an action packed weekend in Dallas at the King Tut exhibit & State Fair, I didn’t get to bed until 11pm last night. I was pooped. However, I knew that I had to get up this morning and run 14 miles. My brain woke me up at 5:59 (the alarm was set for 6). I got myself right out of bed and didn’t look back. It was a great run. I am getting faster. Woohoo! For most of the way, I was under 10min/mile. Although I recalibrated my Nike+, it still made me run an additional 200 yards. I’m... Read Full Story

I guess I could be called a dedicated runner now. I got up at 5am to go run 13.1 miles. It was dark and the sky was full of stars. I had eaten a quick breakfast of Chocolate Chip Clif bar with a glass of Power Ade Zero as a chaser. It was a great run. I borrowed my husband’s headlamp, which gave me a sense of security against on-coming traffic. The most eventful thing was around mile 10, I found a wallet laying on the side of the road. I paused my Nike+ to pick it up and noticed that it had... Read Full Story