Missing those Long Runs!

I met up with my friend Maura yesterday to do my boring speed walk/jog around her son's school campus. She insists on meeting up with me in spite of my limitations and I feel guilty because she is capable of so much more. Maura spoils me. She keeps me thinking positive, makes me lattes, tamales and fresh squeezed orange juice too. I woke up with more pain than usual today and I am thinking the pain is a result of the entire four miles being on a concrete surface. It was so foggy yesterday but the breeze was great and really made me miss those early morning runs. It was one of those days that would have been just perfect for a long training run.  I really miss those long runs and cannot wait until I am able to do them again.

I spent the day icing and worrying about the pain I was feeling. Buster kept me company today as he enjoyed laying on my lap and checking out other dogs on the web. He is feeling much better after this surgery last week and he is no longer acting as territorial as he was in the past. Thank God! He also thinks he is much smaller than what he really is (16 pounds) and insists on laying on my lap whenever he gets the opportunity. I call Buster my "laptop."

Lastly, I am sorry to report that I was not one of the three winners of the $640,000,000 Mega Millions jackpot!! We do not play often but played this time around and ended up winning $10.00.  Not too bad but I would have preferred the $640 million instead!! I heard that the winner in Maryland only bought one quick pick and won!  I guess it only take $1.00 to win!!

I am hoping to get a 5 miler in tomorrow while this great weather lasts. If the pain is still beyond what I think it should be, I will play it smart and head to the gym and try a treadmill run or resort to the elliptical. I am supposed to run a half marathon next Saturday but my new found patience are telling me to sit it out. I have to be honest with myself...I am not there yet.   

Hope you are having a great weekend! Did anyone race this weekend?

I Love to Torture Myself!

Maura sent me a text on Wednesday night asking me if I wanted to go to the LA Marathon Expo with her on Friday. I was hesitant to go to the Expo at first because I was already feeling sad about not being able to run the race. I decided that I might as well go and pick up the shirt that I paid for so off we went. I am a terrible co-pilot so we got lost of course, but we made it.

 I am kind of glad that I went because I have never ran the LA Marathon before so it gave me the opportunity to familiarize myself with the area and see how they run things.  I actually picked up my bib, t-shirt and my goodie bag and then we did some walking around. We spun a few wheels to get some prizes, ate and drank lots of free samples and visited the Lululemon trailer and took this silly picture.

One of the first things that we did was try out KT Pro Tape.  They were taping people up for free and I was curious to see if it really works.  The guy who was doing the taping was a PT so I explained my injury to him, hopped up on the table and he taped me right up. 

I don't know if it was in mind or not but I was able to get a great workout in that evening which included a jog/walk on the treadmill followed by serious 15 minutes on the elliptical without any pain.  I also had no pain when I got up  Saturday morning. The KT Pro tape is water resistant and can last up to a week or longer.  I showered with it on and it didn't come off so that was a plus.  I decided to take it off last night because I thought three days was good enough and I am going to buy more and attempt to re-tape myself.The PT told me that he would post an instructional video for me so that I can do it myself.  How nice of him!

I also did some shopping and decided to buy some CEP Recovery Compression socks. I have been wanting a pair and decided to treat myself! They were a little bit cheaper at the Expo not to mention no tax and no shipping costs! I am glad that I went to the Expo but at the same time it was a form of self torture when you know that you won't be crossing the starting line :(

I Hate Monkey Balls!

They say that there is a first time for everything and Christmas Eve was my first time falling flat on my face during my long run!! I tripped on a monkey ball and down I went!! It was bound to happen because I had almost fallen on one of those darn things twice!! I have seen these things before but I never knew what they were actually called. I guess a monkey ball is a seed pod from a sweet gum tree. Man I hate those darn things now!!



I ended up scraping my chin and my knee, cut my finger, another finger is swollen, and my other knee is bruised! I felt like such an idiot but I think Maura is the only one who saw!! Maura has been taking me around her neighborhood for some long runs so I've now learned to watch out for monkey balls!!

On another note, a much more positive one, I finally saw Caroline from Canadian runner in exile while we were on our run. Caroline and I always register for the same races but have never met. She recognized me and said "Sandy is that you? It's me Caroline. Merry Christmas!" I was so surprised to see her that I probably didn't greet her properly. It was great to see you Caroline!! Please stop by Caroline's blog and check it out. She is a great runner and her little boys are so cute and like to run just like their mom!

In spite of the fall, we had a great 17 mile run and I'm not sure how she does it but Maura doesn't run with her Garmin on her long distance runs but she can gauge the pace and the distance right on the money. She scolds me if I keep looking at my Garmin so I have to sneak and peak at it! She doesn't wear her Garmin when she runs marathons either but somehow meets her goal time! Me on the other hand, babysits the Garmin and would never leave home without it on race day!

I have gone on several runs with Maura since I have been on vacation and I don't think I have ever ran so many quality miles in a single week. The routes that she takes me on are pretty hilly and challenging for me a well. I took advantage of the time I had off and really enjoyed getting a few long runs in that I normally would not able to do since I work and get home too late.

I hope everyone had a great holiday.  I have been busy spending time with my family so I am way behind on reading all of your blogs and hope to catch up once my household is back to normal again. Have a happy and safe New Year!

Hills and Thrills!!

This week was not a very productive week in terms of running or any kind of workouts for that matter! I did way too much resting this week that's for sure! Here is how last week turned out:

Monday: REST

Tuesday: REST

Wednesday: Spin Class

Thursday: REST..I was all dressed and ready to walk out the door to go to the gym, then my daughter called me and needed to talk so I didn't make it!  I swear I was going to do my speed work but I had to be a good Mom and be there for my daughter when she needed me.

Friday: Ran 2 miles on the dreadmill and then did 45 minutes on the elliptical

Saturday:REST

Sunday: 14.81 Miles of very steep climbs for the first 6 miles.  This was by far the steepest climb I have ever done in my life! Although it was downhill at the end, it was a pretty good workout! This run may have somewhat made up for all of the resting I did in the beginning of the week!

Friday after work I met up with Maura, a friend from Daily Mile.  We have conversed and emailed for the past couple of months and we finally set up a time to meet and chat.  As I mentioned before, Maura is a great runner and I know that I can learn a lot from her. On Sunday, I ran 14.81 miles with her and she warned me about the steep climb for the first six miles! The highest elevation we reached on this run was 3000 feet. My quads are really sore now to say the least!

I enjoyed the fresh clean air and I will definitely be back to do it again!  It is a challenging run and I am sure that it will make me stronger!!  Maura and I will be running a 16-17 miler together this Friday but on a much flatter course at a much faster pace. Maura gave me lots of good tips on how to be a better and smarter runner so I will be testing out her tips and maybe I will be running a 3:17 marathon like her soon.... it's okay to dream, right?

I am also thrilled about some great deals that I scored at the REI Half Yearly sale his past Saturday!  I have been wanting to upgrade my Garmin 305 to a newer model but just didn't see the logic in replacing it when it works perfectly fine.  Well, if you can buy a used Garmin 310XT that is in great condition for much of nothing then is worth spending the money. A new 310XT retails for about $399.99 so I scored big time on this one! The 310XT can be used for other sports like biking and swimming but I will be using it just for running. I tried it out on my Sunday run with Maura and I really liked it. The face seems smaller than my 305, it feels lighter and it has the wireless data transfer option which is pretty cool too.

I also bought four other Garmins that were super cheap.  I bought two 305's, a 405, and another 310XT. Some do not have boxes and are missing some of the parts but those can be replaced for much of nothing. I will have to find homes for all of these once I test them all out and make sure that they are working properly.

I have touched on the fact that I love cupcakes, right? Well, I was also thrilled to death when I received the special Christmas menu from my local cupcakery!  Their Mexican Hot Chocolate cupcake is to die for!!  It tastes just like the real thing in the form of a cupcake!  I have never tried some of these special flavors so I guess I will be buying a ton of the minis and sampling them all! 

I am still catching up on wrapping presents but managed to finish up all of my last minute Christmas shopping. Buster kept me company while I attempted to wrap presents. He is just the sweetest little boy. Just two more days of work left and then I will be off for ten days!  Time to relax and spend some much needed quality time with the family....

What is your favorite treat that makes you cheat? Mine is obviously cupcakes!

What are your plans for the holidays? I will be home spending time with my family.  My sister will be visiting from Florida so we will be busy catching up and trying to squeeze in a million things into a weeks time.