I think I’ll remember my own LIFE

So the Jingle Bell 5k was fun.  However, I had NO IDEA Richmond had as many hills as it apparently does.  This was a really hilly run and i was definitely not expecting it.  Some of the hills bothered my knee, but for the most part I could ignore it and keep running.

But best part of the race was my awesome pink and red santa argyle socks with tan reindeer antlers and jingles bells tied to my shoes.  (I promised the people who donated to me I would dress like a moron if they gave me some money). 

I didn’t go full out for this race and didn’t expect much, and my time definitely showed that.  According to my watch, I finished in 38 minutes, but according to the clock I finished in 41.  I’m going with my watch time.  I hate non-chip timed races. 

But all in all, it was a fun morning and I’m glad I signed up for it. 

However, it has definitely inspired me to find a new doctor that won’t tell me that my knee pain is all in my head.  It’s been almost a month now and it’s not getting any better AT ALL, so…I need to find me a new doctor.  Boo. 

However, now…all I can say is Yay vacation! 

Today has been a good day.  Unlike Monday, I DID NOT have to go to work even though I was on vacation.  So, that in itself is making me happy.  Yay vacation!

So Monday kind of sucked.  Had to go to work and had kind of a crappy meeting…but whatever.  Then, had to drive back to New Jersey and OH MY GOD I HATE THE STATE OF MARYLAND!!!!

Apparently, nobody in that state understands how to drive when there is wet stuff fallling from the sky, because I was driving 5 mph in a 65mph zone…FOR NO REASON.  Ugh.  It was awful.

But then I got to sleep in this morning and I made pumpkin bread and just sat around doing nothing and it was WONDERFUL.  I love vacation days!

Anyways, hope everyone is having a wonderful week.  I’m getting ready for one more 5k on Thanksgiving, but it’s just a walking one…so no big deal.  :-) 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

My knee is still bothering me, but I refuse to let that get in the way.  I decided on Tuesday to do a fun run 5k at the mall this weekend.  Dressed up with jingle bells and reindeer antlers.  Fun times. 

The run is in support of the Arthritis Foundation, and if you feel in the spirit, Donations are always welcomed! 

I’m looking forward to this run.  I plan to dress up like an idiot and just have a good time.  I’m not concerned with my time or how well I do in the race.  I’m bringing my camera with me and just relaxing and taking it easy that day. 

Then, next week, J and I are doing a turkey trot.  Except there will be no trotting.  We’re just going to go walk the 5k.  It’s the same race we did last year, but unfortunately the parents bailed on us this year (doesn’t help that dad is in Bangkok and mom’s knee is hurting her) so it’s just the two of us this year. 

In other news…I have no other news. 

All I’ve been doing lately is running (or attempting to) and knitting Christmas gifts.  I am so ready to be done with gifts!  

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

After the race on Saturday I was supposed to catch a train to Wilmington and meet up with my sister and spend the night at J’s house.  Unfortunately, I’m a moron and left my phone at home and had to go back and get it before going to the train…and by that point I had missed the earlier one.  Stupid stupid.

Instead, I went home, got the phone, had a lovely breakfast with K and A, and then hung out with A for a few hours until the next train. 

While waiting for the next train we went and got pedicures (and oh my god my legs felt so great after that) and then just sat around watching TV and I worked on T’s sweater that was supposed to be given as a gift in less than 24 hours.  Way to wait until the last minute.

The entire train ride was spent working on this sweater.  Also, the train was RIDICULOUSLY SLOW.  At points we were going about 5 mph.  I’m not exaggerating when I say I could have run along side the train FASTER than it was going.  SO SLOW!

Anyways, still didn’t finish the sweater before going to bed that night.  I worked on it on the way up to North Jersey for T’s baptism.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t do anything the last 20 minutes in the car I felt so ill.  Stupid car sickness exacerbated by the back seat. 

We got to the church and realized that L invited us to the MASS…and not just the baptism.  So like the good little Catholic girls we are, J and I (and JP) went and ate bagels at the bakery instead.  Seriously.  I felt like crap and didn’t want to sit through an hour long mass so we walked around instead. 

After the mass we went to the baptismal ceremony which was definitely long enough and had lots of readings during it so it was almost like going to mass. 

Afterwards we hung out back at L’s house and I showed L the sweaters.

Behold the Adorableness that is my niece:

The sweaters just added to the super cuteness…but seriously.  Is my niece not the most adorable baby EVER?

More later.

My brain feels exhausted right now.  So don’t expect much from me today.  Apparently a weekend of traveling does not make me feel refreshed and ready to take on the week. 

But…here’s a quick review of the race.  I’ll give a quick recap of the weekend later.

Saturday morning Iw oke up around 5:30 and we left the house around 6 to get downtown in time for our 7AM start.  Ugh…7AM races SUCK big time. 

It was humid and damp before leaving the house, but it didn’t feel too cold so I stuck with a t-shirt and capris.  I was so tired my fingers weren’t working.  I dropped my bagel half with peanut butter on it about 3 times before finally eating it.  I couldn’t get my number to pin on my shirt.   And my body felt like it was weighing an extra 40 lbs dragging me down.  It was not a good start to the day.

We get downtown and roads that were supposed to be open were closed.  All the parking decks were on closed roads and we couldn’t figure out how to get to any of them.  It was really frustrating that we specifically checked the road closures and these weren’t listed.  We finally just parked in a random monthly parking lot and hoped our car wouldn’t have a boot on it after the race. 

We got out of the car and I swear it was 20 degrees colder than at home.  I contemplated wearing a throw away shirt…but ultimately decided I would be ok in my T-shirt until the race started.  We walked up a hill to the starting line and I knew I was in trouble.  I felt like I was dragging my body up the hill and the race hadn’t even started.  We went to the port-a-pots and my nemesis defeated me again. 

I cannot for the life of me take a pre-race poop.  It just doesn’t happen.  It’s too early in the morning for me.  I’m not awake enough.  And my body is on an 8:00 pooping schedule…not a 6:00.  I just hoped the race would be short enough that it wouldn’t really bother me until I finished. 

We lined up in the starting corral and I just stayed near the back of my group.  I didn’t really want to get in the way of people gung ho about this race because I just was NOT feeling it.  All I could think was that in approximately an hour it would be over and I’d be done.  That was ALL I could think about. 

I put on my mp3 player to try and get me a little pumped up, but it wasn’t working.  I was chilled, it was starting to mist, and I just was not in the mood to run.  I psyched myself out before the race even started. 

The gun went off and I crossed the starting line about 2 minutes later.  I started my watch and started shuffling down the road.  There were a lot of people for the first mile and it didn’t start thinning out to a comfortable amount until almost mile 2. 

I didn’t really try to pass anyone in the beginning.  I just sped up or slowed down according to the people in front of me.  I figured this at least kept me from starting out to fast like I always do.  We hit mile 1 in about 14 minutes (umm…a little TOO slow even for me). 

At this point I started to speed up a bit (but seriously, I was just DRAGGING).  My knee was already bothering me.  The road wasn’t really flat.  It was going at a very slight incline (not enought to be noticeable except to my knee) and the road was pitched on both sides so unless you ran directly in the middle, you were running at a slight slant.  Again, neither of these would normally bother me, but they were killing my knee. 

We finally hit mile 2 and I stopped at the water station.  I tried to stretch out my legs and just walk a few seconds hoping it would help wake me up a bit.  I didn’t check my watch at the 2nd mile marker but I think I ran the mile in about 11 minutes. 

We turned off the main road and started our way back.  This road sucked.  It’s brick and when it rains (like it kind of was that morning) it gets really slippery and it hurts my knees on a normal day so it was really bothering me that morning.  I finally stopped and walked the last two blocks of brick road just because I couldn’t run on it anymore.  I almost wiped out 2 times on it and it just seemed like it was hurting me more time wise to run than to just stop and walk. 

I somehow missed the mile 3 marker so I have no idea how I did, but I’m guessing not very good.  I felt slow and oafish running that mile. 

Somewhere between the mile 3 and 4 marker I had to start playing mind games with myself because I was so sick of running.  I just wanted to be finished.  I wasn’t physically tired like I couldn’t run anymore or anything.  In fact my legs and lungs felt great like I could run another 5 miles, but my mind was just done.  I kept saying, run to the next traffic light then you can stop. 

Luckily, there were hot cops at just about every light and I refused to stop in front of them…so…I kept running. 

Unfortunately, around mile 4, my nemesis struck again.  I had to go to the bathroom SO BAD and there was NOWHERE to stop.  None of the stores were open, it was mostly houses on the road, and there were no port-a-pots.  I just kept trying to ignore it and keep running. 

The last half mile or so of the race is always the best.  You make a bunch of quick turns to put you on the road with the finish line and you can hear the people and you start to see more spectators cheering you on and you just know you’re almost done.  It felt great. 

Once you’re on the last road, there is a straight down hill section (which I would hate if I had just run the marathon b/c its too steep for that late in a race, but whatever).  I let the hill just pull me down (I felt so fast I felt like a Kenyan at this point!) without trying to slow down or anything. 

Unfortunately the hill ends about .2 miles from the finish line and I didn’t want to slow down so I was trying to hold the pace all while needing to poop and wanting to throw up from holding it in and running too fast. 

It was great.

I finished in 1:06:05 which was 6:05 slower than I wanted to be…but still better than I thought it would be. 

So, all in all.  Not a good race.  I was really disappointed how slow I was and my knee felt like shit for the majority of the race.  But, I finished and I guess that’s all the really matters. 

I also knocked off 4 minutes from last year so at least it was a PR.

Why did nobody tell me it’s only THURSDAY? 

Up until about an hour ago I was CONVINCED it was Friday.  Sigh. 

I really would like a rewind button for this day.  It is not making me happy.  It started out when I woke up at 6 and decided I wasn’t ready to wake up yet.  I woke up again around 7:45ish when K was leaving for work, and fell back asleep AGAIN. 

I hate rainy mornings.  I never want to wake up. 

I managed to get ready pretty quickly and was walking little O through the swamp that is the lawn here.  And I really need new safety shoes.  These things leak like a seive and my feet were SOAKED within 2 minutes of being outside.

Then, as I was driving to work I witnessed a fun accident.  Except not so fun.  Here is my pictorial representation of the accident.  I rock at drawing.  Except not so much.       Lalalala…we’re driving down the road.  Two cars driving exactly even next to each other because we like to piss off the people behind us. 

Lalala…I would like MY car to be where your car is!  RIGHT NOW!  So I am just going to turn into your lane even though you’re there. 

Boom!  Big collision.  And now we’re on the grass. 

I stopped and pulled over to be a witness and the hottest cop EVER responds to the call.  He took my statement…and my phone number.  I like to pretend that’s cop speak for can we go out sometime.  So he’s totally going to call me.  I just know it. 

Anyways, I was standing outside in the rain while giving my statement.  I show up to work a half hour late…and SOAKING WET.  So uncomfortable. 

The day has not improved much since then. 

Stupid not Friday!

Hope everyone else is having a much better day!

Ick I am sweating my ass of in here.  And even worse the door is closed because there is an audit going on in the room outside our “office” area so we are getting even less air than normal.  I would like to pass out now. 

Actually, I really just want to get some freaking water, but the water cooler is located in the room that the audit is occurring in and I can’t keep walking in and out of the room.  Sigh.  So thirsty.

I also was really looking forward to eating my yogurt for breakfast this morning…and I left it at home in the fridge.  Stupid fridge.  This has just not been my morning

Anyways, I need to go to the gym today, I’m thinking of heading over there now (I realize its only 9:15…but I’ve been here since 6:30…so it feels a lot later…and if I wait too much longer I’m going to be too hungry to run!).  I’m supposed to do 4 miles today (or however much my knee can hold). 

This week is technically a “taper” week on my schedule, but that’s because I was originally supposed to be running the half marathon…not the 8k.  So I’m attempting to build back up my workouts (since I was utter slacker last few weeks thanks to my knee) without killing my knee since I am running the 5 miles on Saturday. 

It’s been an interesting juggle.  Yesterday, I did some knee rehab exercises with C the trainer (ugh they hurt!) and just did about 20 minutes of cardio (10 on the bike and 10 on the elliptical).  Today is my only run of the week.  I’m aiming for 4 miles, but we’ll see what happens.  Tomorrow is upper body (oh my God I’m so weak!  I did an easy upper body workout last week and was sore for like 3 days) and Thursday is rehab day again.  Friday is NOTHING and Saturday is the race.

After the race, I’m going straight to the train station and attempting to catch the early train back to Delaware.  If I miss the early train, I’ll be sitting around the station for 2-3 hours waiting for the next one. 

I plan to pack A LOT of knitting and will hopefully get some Christmas gifts done.  I’ve got half of 3/4 of L’s gift done.  I made little T a gift that I was originally going to give as a Christmas gift, but now I think it will be a Christening gift which means I will be working on her Christmas gift next. 

I think tonight I will figure out what I’m making each person and organize my stuff.  Then figure out what I’m bringing with me for the train, and what I’m bringing with me for when I’m home, and what I’m bringing for the train ride home.  I need a bunch of projects to keep me occupied.  I have the attention span of a gnat and hate to work on the same project for too long.  I’m amazed I ever get anything finished!

Anyways, off to the gym, then back to some meetings.  Sigh.

I attempted to go for a run on Tuesday, and it was kind of a fail.  But not because of my knee necessarily…but more because of Daylight Savings Time (or the no longer saving time…whichever). 

Seriously, HATE when we fall back an hour and it gets dark at 5 in the evening.  Also, Ive said it before, but Virginia is quite possibly the most pedestrian unfriendly state ever.  At least the greater Richmond area is.  There are no sidewalks and very few street lights anywhere, and very few shoulders on the side of the road.  So, it’s very difficult to run here in daylight, let alone go running in the dark. 

I am not adverse to running in the dark if I have to (I know…I run in parks by myself, I’ll run by myself in the dark…I’m so going to be a statistic someday), I even have a fun reflective vest to wear when I run in the dark (thanks daddy!).  However, I am adverse to running in the dark with no shoulder or sidewalk to run on. 

I already feel like I’m testing fate by running on the roads in the daylight (that’s why I love running in parks so much), there’s no way I’ll do it at night.  However, I can’t run in the parks at night because the cops are apparently cracking down and making sure everyone leaves at sundown.

Sigh.

Which brings me back to my story I started this whole post out with.  I only managed to run a mile on Tuesday before a cop chased me out of the park.  It was actually kind of amusing, I tried to pretend I didn’t see him and start a second loop, but seriously, the loop starts/ends in this wide open part of the park with no trees, so it obviously didn’t work. 

The cop yelled at me before I even made it 5 steps into the trees and I had to give up my run.  Which sucked because I didn’t really get a good test of my knee.

The first half mile was very painful.  But it was weird, I passed the half mile marker and it was like a switch went off in my knee and it was fine for the second half mile, in fact it felt great.  I felt like I was FLYING during that mile  (please don’t laugh when I finished the mile in 11 minutes and felt fast).  But, as soon as I stopped running it hurt again. 

So, recap.  First half mile, super painful.  Second half mile, felt great.  Also, I’ve lost ALL my speed over the summer (what little speed I had).  Hate the hot weather (apparently I hate everything about this state and I should just move).  

However, my knee felt fine today, so I decided to go to the gym and run on the treadmill during lunch (ugh I know…HATE the treadmill too…but it’s either that…or play chicken with the tractor trailers on the roads here…and since we’ve already discussed the lack of sidewalks, the treadmill won). 

Again, the first half mile was excruciating…but then I ran 3.5 miles (at a 10:57 min/mile pace) and it felt great.  It felt better than great.  It was like the best run I’ve had in MONTHS which is weird since it was on a treadmill…but oh my god it was almost blissful. 

I even felt amazing afterwards.  No pain, I felt refreshed and ready to take on the rest of the day.  Except for the whole hot and sweaty thing that lasted even after my shower. 

So, I’m slightly confused what to do about my knee.  Is it normal that it hurts for the first half mile of my runs?  No…not really…but then it goes away and I’m fine for the rest of the run which makes me think it’s not really anything serious so I don’t really want to go to a doctor to be told it’s all in my head. 

Not sure what to do.  Le Sigh. 

Anyways, hope everyone is having a fantastic day!

My knee appears to be doing ok this week.  I did NOT attempt to run this weekend which kind of sucks.  It was raining all weekend which is normally my favorite time to go running, but I was concerned I would slip and injure my knee again, so its been about a week since I’ve last run.  I’m starting to itch to get out there…so I think I will be attempting a run today after work.  I’m just hoping my knee holds up. 

The rest of the weekend kind of sucked as well.  We went to a halloween party on Friday, and I hate how all the costumes are all slutted up now.  So I went the opposite route.  I was a pirate.  But…I was a pirate with facial hair.  There is nothing less sexy than a female pirate with facial hair (and TWO swords…).  It was a great costume. 

Unfortunately, we went to a party with K’s co-workers and I knew nobody and I just felt so ridiculously awkward because nobody really talked to me.  So I stood there feeling like an ass.  Awesome time. 

We were supposed to go out the next night as well, but it was raining and we didn’t feel like standing around outside at my friend’s house with a bunch of people we don’t really know…so we didn’t go.  We’re so social. 

The next morning my ass of a dog managed to get into my gym bag and eat the peach rings I had in there (I’m not entirely sure WHY I had peach rings in there…I think I had them for my last long run and never used them).  Anyways, dogs and peach rings DO NOT mix. 

He was very sick Sunday.  I spent all morning cleaning up peach rings soaked in vinegar smelling vomit.  I never want to eat a peach ring again.  Actually…that’s a lie.  I really like peach rings, just talking about them is kind of making me want some…but at the time…the smell was making me never want to eat them agian.  So disgusting.  It was seriously the grossest sickness of my dog.  Ugh. 

But he’s fine now.  He’s all back to being his annoying self again.  Seriously, he’s so lucky I haven’t just dropped him off at some corner.  He’s so irritating.  If he wasn’t so cute and loving he’d just drive me nuts. 

I also finished my mystery socks…and I LOVE them.  However, I can’t tell if I’m just INFATUATED with the sock yarn…or if I really like the pattern.  Or possibly both. 

I’m trying to decide if I want to post the pictures now, or just wait.  They’re going to be a Christmas gift for someone (still haven’t decided who), and I’m not sure if I want to post them before the person receives them.  I’ll think about it. 

I also started my sister J’s Christmas gift and my sister L’s gift.  Still trying to figure out the rest of my gifts.  :-)  However, I feel on top of things.  I’ve actually started gifts in OCTOBER (in face one is already done) and I’m almost done a few more.  At this rate maybe I’ll actually finish all my gifts on time (unlike last year when my dad got his gift on December 30). 

Last but not least.  My Football Fairies kicked ass this week.  Yay winning!  Unfortunately, my Pretty Pink Princesses got their asses kicked.   But, luckily, I’m still in first place in my division because the guy under me also lost.  Yay first place!  However, I need to start scoring some more points in my games or I’m going to be in trouble when playoffs come around!

Also, YAY EAGLES!  And a small yay Phillies.  At least you didn’t get completely eliminated yet.  I still have faith!

OK.  So now that I’ve talked about 50 million different things.  I’m going to go back to work (argh…sucks getting here at 6:30 to meet a vendor who STILL hasn’t shown up). 

Have a great week!