Not enough hours in the day

What the hell is Microsoft Access?? I have no clue!

I'm working on these modules for my CS class and laughing so hard I hurt at the lucky guesses I'm making. The power was out at my apartment complex for... oh all night, and so I'm waayyyy behind on getting things done! I have a research project to do, a CS test on Access (that I haven't got a clue what it's point is for...I mean, Excel's not complicated enough?? Or good enough for that matter??), a coffee date Yay! Coffee!!, and A's parents are coming to town. Not to mention I have to be in bed early so I can get up at 4 am OR find somewhere in this madness to get a nap.

Dear God, please let it stop raining when it's time for me to peddle my happy self home. That's a long ride in the rain...

In other news, I'm running, but I'm gimp. I will not let an injury stop me from running another Mercedes!

P.S.

I never saw the balloon lady!

How did I do?

So the race was Sunday.

It was awesome! That was one of the best experiences of my life and I will definately be participating in another half, maybe a full marathon, the future!!

My finish time was actually faster than I thought, 2:32:20. In women 25-29, I finished 214, overall I finished 2294 (that's out of 2954 people), I finished 1,040 out of all women and ranked 214 for my first half-marathon.

There were so many people! I don't think I've ever seen that many people before in my life! I was running down one street and watching a herd of people run down another street a few blocks away from me, meanwhile, there is still a huge mass of people behind me! It was I.N.S.A.N.E!!!!

My favorite part was the two women playing "Eye of the Tiger" under the train tracks on there accordian. Oh, and the runner in the too-too. They were great!

Rattling Nerves

The race is Sunday! I'm so nervous!

I'm so excited at the same time! I can't believe it's already here!!

I've finished all the training and right now I'm tapering so the only thing I have left to do is run 13.1 miles!

I'm still dealing with some life changing events right now so I can't tell you how good this race has ended up being for me. It's really helped me through a difficult time in my life right now. I really don't care to go into any further detail about my life - eventhough this blog is about my personal life. But believe me, there are some funny stories going on right now that I will be able to laugh about until my sides hurt! I'm just not ready to discuss it, yet, and quite frankly, I'm not sure when I will be ready. Just pray for me! And pray I don't get injured this weekend!

I'm so excited! I hope I don't get stuck behind the balloon lady!

Not good.

If you've asked me about my training lately, I may have mentioned the pains in my hip I've been having along with my sprained ankle. One of my worst fears is a stress fracture during this training.

Stress fracture + less training = not ready for half-marathon in February.

Now, normally when I go running, the pain in my hip disappears. It feels find and I feel great when I run. It's when I first start my run and right after I finish my run that I hurt. Except this morning, that is.

I couldn't run. I was doing a tempo run and had to quit. It felt like my hip was dislocating. So I started walking. I couldn't put weight on my hip. I was thinking, "I have to get some activity in!" so I got on the cross trainer. Not any better. So I went home and went to WebMD and read about stress fractures.

I'm going to take a few days off from running before my next long run cause what I saw on WebMD concerns me. Say a little prayer, eh?

See you at the starting line!

I am now officially registered for the Mercedes Half-Marathon on February 15, 2009!

I can't believe how close that is; it's just around the corner! I just hit the halfway mark of my training schedule so it's six weeks till race day! I'm so excited!

Talked to Trey just a minute ago; apparently the cousin is in town tonight and wants to meet for dinner. Now that the holidays are over, I just can't wait to get a side salad and watch them eat steaks!

Don't forget that you can go to these viewing spots (family! friends! hint! hint!).

America's First Federal Credit Union: 1200 4th Avenue North, 35203
Civil Rights Institute: 520 16th Street North, 35203
McWane Center: 200 19th Street North, 35203
B&A Warehouse: 1531 1st Avenue South, 35233
University of Alabama, Birmingham Arena: 617 13th Street South
Western Supermarket: 2230 Highland Avenue, 35205
Java and Jams: 321 20th Street North, 35203
V. Richards: 3916 Clairmont Avenue, 35222
Caldwell Park: Highland Avenue and NiazumaRushton Park
Avondale Park
Marconi Park
5 Points South district (Starbucks and the Original Pancake House)

Oh, and Mum, you're my emergency contact so make sure you turn on your cell!

The Full Spread

Look at all the goodness! The tinfoil is BBQ. The blue top is mash potatoes. The end of the table has an assortment of pies and the big O cake.

And that's not all the food!

Now do you see why it's better for me to cave today??

Honesty

con-fes-sion   /kənˈfɛʃən/ Show
Spelled Pronunciation [kuhn-fesh-uhn] Show IPA
Pronunciation
–noun
1.acknowledgment; avowal; admission: a confession of incompetence.
2.acknowledgment or disclosure of sin or sinfulness, esp. to a priest to
obtain absolution.
3.something that is confessed.
4.a formal, usually written, acknowledgment of guilt by a person accused of a crime.
5.Also called confession of faith. a formal profession of belief and acceptance of doctrines, as before being admitted to church membership.
6.the tomb of a martyr or confessor or the altar or shrine connected with it.

7. I deviated from my diet plan last night and plan to do it again today.

So I have to admit something. I had the Shrimp Cypress Inn at Cypress Inn last night. I know, I know! How horrible! I've done so good! But I thought, "I have done so good! I need a reward!" so I ordered it! And I enjoyed it!!!


I had a really bad run this morning. I got very frustrated and just quit. I know, I know! I shouldn't quit! I'm blaming the bad run on the Shrimp Cypress Inn. Excuses! Excuses! The real reason I got frustrated was because I couldn't get my breathing in a rhythm and when I did, I'd have other problems. Plus, my iPod is out of juice and I'm already bored enough on the treadmill. I think I'm going to have to move my runs outside sooner than I thought. I'm going to have to find a running partner, too. The epiphany of running outside by myself doesn't sound that great.

In the meantime, today is our Christmas dinner at the dealership. All that gooey, yummy goodness. I had already planned on allowing myself to splurge today. It's really tough to ignore the BBQ, the potato salads, mashed potatoes, hash brown casseroles (I'm noticing a potato theme, here), slaw, the Orgasm cake from Thanksgiving, the peanut butter balls I made, my chicken casserole (Thanks, Paula!!), the pies, the macaroni and cheese, the dips, the chips - Oh! There is so much stuff to tempt me!

Don't chide me! I don't plan on eating everything! Moderation is key! I know that! I won't have the sauce, I won't have the potatoes, probably - well maybe the hash brown casserole - I'm only sticking to a piece AND I MEAN A PIECE of the Orgasm cake. I'll be a good cheater! Just consider my diet for the last three weeks: salad, sweet potatoes - no butter, chicken, chicken, salad, chicken, oranges, bananas, oatmeal, chicken, egg whites, chicken, protein shakes, chicken, salad and chicken!

I think this will be good for me. Help strengthen my resolve, maybe move me over this boredom hump AND give me some more incentive to push myself harder in the gym!

In the garden of Eden...

This training is so hard. List of things that I've been tempted by in the last several days that I have resisted!

1. Donuts
2. Chocolate covered donuts
3. Chocolate covered cream-fill donuts GASP!!!
4. Peterbrooke Chocolatiere chocolate including but not limited to: chocolate covered oreos, milk chocolate, chocolate covered nutter butters, etc. etc.
5. Caramel Apples my husband made and left in the refrigerator
6. Assorted candies at the movie theatre
7. Reese's Pieces
8. Hot dogs
9. Sandwich bread
10. Sugar coated pecans that my husband made

Thank you! Now pat me on the back!

Cruel and Unusual

Text message from Trey: Go get Los Torascos for dinner. (FYI - That's my fav restaurant IN THE WORLD!!! It's Mexican, fried, cheesy, crunchy, chickeny, yummy, scrumptious, delicious, fuzzy-feeling-in-the-stomach good! And bad for my training diet.)

Me: I can't eat that.

T: I can.

Me: Then go get it yourself. Are you torturing me???

Trey didn't respond.

Me: Did you get Los Torascos?

T: No.

Meaning?
I get to stand in Los Torascos tonight to pick up my dear, sweet, loving, never-would-let-me-get-tempted husband's dinner.

When you give yourself lemons and you can't drink the lemonade...

Training is hard. It's very hard work.

When I first started talking about doing this half-marathon with my husband, he said, "Whatever." I tried to explain to him how much I was going to need his support, I knew in the back of my head that this would be hard. Little did I know how hard this really was going to be!

When you think of training to run, you think, "Oh, it's just running! You add miles everyday! You'll get conditioned to running that far!"

The thing is, it's not just the running. I'm not a very fast runner, never have been and don't really care if I ever become one. I just enjoy running. It's not just being conditioned to running miles and miles at a time. My body will get there no matter how hard I have to push myself! There are other parts to this training.

Every morning, I wake up at 5:00 am, get up at 5:15, dress and head to the gym. I run my assignment and then circuit train for at least another 30-45 minutes. In total, I'm working out almost 2 hours straight a day.

Then there is the wear and tear on my body. My ankle has a very mild sprain . It's not inhibiting me but it is annoying. When I get home at night, it's very sore, especially if I stand flat-footed. I have to be super-careful when I walk and stand as I don't want to get a serious injury. The blame for that is the bad shoes I was wearing. Not only did I get the sore ankle, I also have quarter-sized blisters on my feet still healing up. Fortunately, those don't hurt anymore! Thank God for my new shoes!

Now to the mental portion of this training. I am on a treadmill, staring at a monitor telling me how far I've run while I, the OCD one, start counting backwards to see how much further I have to go! After twenty minutes of this, my mind is bored and I need something else for my gaze. Thing is, when I look straight ahead, there is a clock straight directly in my line of site like a bull's eye. The TVs in the cardio theatre, as wonderful as they are for helping me zone out, are fixed from the ceiling, so I have to crane my neck slightly upward to see them. Not always the most comfortable stance while running. So to solve a few of these problems as best I know how, I take a magazine and place it over the monitor and turn my iPod up as loud as I can stand it. That lasts until my ears get so sweaty the earphones won't stay in anymore. I have to go get some more ear buds! I'm literally pushing myself through some of these long runs. It's not fun when you're bored.

Last on this list, and most certainly not least, is my diet. Any trainer will tell you that it doesn't matter how much work you do in the gym, how much activity you get, how many calories you burn; none of the effort is worth it if you don't eat right. I've had to change my diet a bit and it's very frustrating. I feel like I don't know what's OK to eat anymore! Used to be easy: no breads unless wheat, sweet potatoes, lean proteins, egg yolks were OK, protein, protein, protein! I could eat a few sweets in moderation, and I mean moderation! I could enjoy my breakfast of eggs, bacon and grits from the Texaco station!

Now? Egg whites, carbs closer to long run days, protein shakes after runs (and these protein shakes are N.A.S.T.Y!), bananas (no trots, please!), oranges for the vitamin C, supplements for more fat loss. Chicken on a salad is OK, but I really need to be eating the dressings I can't stand, like vinaigrette's! Tuna for more protein. Flavorless, bland food.

I have lean up quick so I don't have to run with so much weight on me in February! I'm chunky! I'm strong, but I'm chunky! - And I have to lose it! It's so hard to eat right when you're hungry all the time! I feel like a weight trainer that's allowed to eat carbs.

Let's just top that off with Ed's mama baking brownies and bringing them to the dealership. The delicious, moist, chocolate treat is oh so good. Jessica, I hoped you really enjoyed them. The sweet tarts in my pocket that I want to choke down but can't. I didn't buy them, so don't be disappointed. I only had, maybe, 4 of them. Brooke didn't like them and gave them to me. I love sour! I'm sticking them in my desk drawer as a reward after race day! And never forget that my Reese's Pieces are sitting in a plastic container in the storage closet waiting for me to drop my $.50 in the change box so I can claim them as mine. Oh...so tempting...

Not all of my days are hard. I have moments like this morning, when my easy run felt super easy. It was one of those moments where a week ago, I had to push myself. I think of how hard it was and feel so proud to see that it's getting easier and easier the harder I work. I have days where I'm not hungry every minute of every day. That's not today, by the way! I am hearing more people compliment me on how much better I'm starting to look, how they can tell I'm losing weight. I'm hearing people say they wished they could try to do what I'm doing. Little do they know that I wish they would so I wouldn't be so alone in this!

So, no, not every day is a hard day. But the harder days are getting closer and closer together. That's why I when I talked to Trey about this, I wanted him to understand why this was so important, so big, so far-reaching. I wanted him to understand this, I wanted my friends to understand, I wanted my family to understand. Its imperative to understand in order to support. I'm so grateful that I have my husband, friends and family and their support. That doesn't mean you can eat Ed's Mama's brownies in front of me.

If you wondered why this was such a big deal before, now I hope you understand, too, that this is foremost the most challenging thing I've ever done. I believe in myself that I can finish this but I also have to know that I have my friends and family cheering me along as I go.

From where are you going to watch?

This is from the marathon website:

This year's course is VERY spectator friendly as it is a double loop course
for the full marathon. Some of the best places that we have found for watching
are:
America's First Federal Credit Union: 1200 4th Avenue North, 35203
Civil Rights Institute: 520 16th Street North, 35203
McWane Center: 200 19th Street North, 35203
B&A Warehouse: 1531 1st Avenue South, 35233
University of Alabama, Birmingham Arena: 617 13th Street
SouthWestern Supermarket: 2230
Highland Avenue, 35205
Java and Jams: 321 20th Street North, 35203
V. Richards: 3916 Clairmont Avenue, 35222
Caldwell Park: Highland Avenue and Niazuma
Rushton Park
Avondale Park
Marconi Park
5 Points South district (Starbucks and the Original Pancake House)

So pick your viewing spot. I'm going to race the half-marathon on February 15, 2009. Let me know where I need to look so I can wave!