Chug-along-chica!

What a nice run for me today!  Best run in several weeks, I think.  5 miles outside--3 with Christine, and then 2 more after she left. 10:04 pace on ave., which is easy pace for me.  I am a little relieved, because I thought that I might get "stuck" at injury pace.  I felt like I had to hold back a little.  That's always nice.   It was quite breezy, and at one point the wind was just blowing the tears out of my eyes.  All I could think was that it was so much nicer than having snow blasted into my eyes like Kory described in his run today.  Yech.  Well, that is why his times are going down, I guess.  Toughitude.

James and I have decided to give Sparky a second chance.  I am signing us up for obedience classes, I'm watching "The Dog Whisperer" (he he he), making sure he gets his run every day, and, well, the bottom line is that I need to be much more responsible.  It is my job to make sure he is secured EVERY time we have a friend over, or when I teach piano.   I've been reading dog obedience literature.  Did you know that playing tug-of-war with your pooch can encourage aggression?  That was Sparky's favorite game.  (Oops.)  Also, we must never let Sparky up on the furniture or let him beg scraps from the table. 

He he he. I had to put that .01 on there just to bug Monaflash. Well, fate smiles on me again! Just listen to how perfect this is...

I am supposed to be running about 6 or so miles a day, plus a long run every week. For some reason, my brain just freaks out at 6 a day because...well, it's a full hour of running for me. Sometimes I have had a hard time dragging myself out there for 6. An hour just sounds so much longer than 50 min. So anyway, my fabuloso running buddy Christine usually only wants to run 3 a day. So guess how far away from my house she lives? Exactly 1.5 miles--to the hundredth of a mile! So if I run to her house, run 3 miles with her, and then run back I get in my 6 for the day with a minimum of brain atrophy (or at least boredom). It also works nicely for pacing. Christine always wants to run just a little faster than I do, so I can warm up on the way to her house, run a little faster with her, and then cool down on the way home. Somebody up there likes me...and wants me to run, apparently. : )

1 HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUR and 1 minute for the run. Felt fine.

3 with Christine at 9:58 pace. I'm going to go run the other 2 right now in my neighborhood. I wanted to blog before it gets too late so I can avoid the whole "I'm so sleepy I can't kick myself off the computer" syndrome. Very virulent.

And I am going to do those 2 miles SLOW, because I am bushed today.

My hat is off to my amazing hubby who replaced a toilet with all his manly dexterous skills today. Girls like guys with skills...

Ho Boy... Here comes a true confession. So, some of you have been wondering about how my diet thing is going. (Diet is a four letter word!) I have (had) been doing so well! I've been eating tons of healthy stuff and basically just making substitutions for unhealthy stuff--molasses or stevia for sugar, potassium iodide for salt, smoothies (or beets?) for brownies etc. For over a week we have had a huge OPEN bag of M&Ms that my son used for a school project. This is probably a world record in self-restraint for me! Chocolate is on the endagered species list in my home. I generally don't have it in the house, but it I do, I eat it promptly. Anyway, I've lost a couple kilos and been feeling pretty proud of my diet.

HOWEVER, today I was in Darth Lybi mode almost all day--super grumpy. I found myself nibbling on a little bit of bologna at snack time. Then I had a whole bologna sandwich with swiss cheese. THEN I dove headfirst into that bag of M&M's with a peanut butter-laden knife in one hand like a deranged chocolate-devouring lunatic. That was my lunch. It got worse from there. I hope I don't turn bulimic before I get a chance to run the Striders half marathon in April. Ah! If I don't break 2:00 I will die.

But tomorrow is a new day--and you know what that means. It's back to buckwheat time, people! Wish me luck.

This morning I finished my first ever hour-long weight class. That was interesting to say the least! I did the smallest weight I could for every exercise and it still kicked my hiny. I was so impressed by some of the people in that class. The guy right in front of me really looked like he was at least 75 years old and he did 3 times the weight than I and held up better throughout the class. I want to age like that! Then there was the lady that must have been 7 months pregnant that was just tough as nails! Wow. It would really be good for my overall health to do something like this a couple of times a week. And my kids love the play place. It's really clean and has fun stuff like a rock wall for them to climb etc. The catch is that it costs money. Choices, choices.

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Soooo, I just got back from my run and I am still freaking out!  Weirdest, scariest run of all time for me.   Christine wasn't able to run tonight so I ended up just going with Sparky.  I forgot my pepper spray.  So I was running around a neighborhood after 9 pm and a van pulled up next to me.  At first I thought it was someone that I knew, but it wasn't.  They passed me really slowly and pulled to the side of the road.  When I passed them, they drove along side of me at my pace--much too close for comfort.  Then we turned a corner and I realized I was heading right into the secluded back stretch in that neighborhood that is NOT lit.   I got a serious case of the willies and cut across a yard and turned around to go the other way.  The van immediately sped up.  The way the neighborhood loops around I knew that if the van wanted to, it could be back to me in just a few minutes.  I picked up the pace a bit, but I did not see the van again.  But just as I was about to leave the neighborhood 2 really huge scary looking guys started walking purposefully towards me.  And, of course, being  in a really freaked out state of mind I was convinced  it was the creepy driver of the van and his blood-thirsty accomplice.  He he.  But Sparky came to the rescue!  He growled quite menacingly as they approached, the guys gave me a wide berth, and I skeedaddled home with my tail between my legs.  I've spent a lot of time trying to teach Sparky not to bark at people--for once I was grateful he's so over-protective.

I promise I will not run alone after 9 pm ever again!

Sparky was bushed after 2.7 and could not be persuaded to run more, and our treadmill is on the blitz again, so today will just have to be short, cuz' I'm not going out there again alone!

10 Miles all spread throughout the day.  I feel like I can trick my body into accepting more miles without falling apart when I sneak in several runs.

This morning I went with James to cheer for him in his half marathon.  He got a great PR & I'm very proud of him.   I didn't realize it, but this race, "London's Run" was started by a family who lost a little 6 year-old girl to cancer.  It was so touching.  Before the race, they not only had the national anthem and a really sweet prayer, but then her mother got up and told London's story and how cheerful she was throughout all the difficult treatment she received before she died.   She ended by saying that we all have difficult things to do, and we should try to follow London's example and still enjoy our life even through the hard times--and that is what we were all here to do: run a long race, feel the pain of it, and keep going.  I was crying like a sprinkler by this time.  Ever since I became a mother things like this just gets to me so much more.  London's mother came in 2nd in the 10K, I think.  What a great way to honor someone's life!

While I was waiting for James to come it I ran a rather quick 3.5 miles.  Later this evening I ran 1.5 miles with my 7 year-old, .8 miles with my 5 year-old, and about .5 with my little 3 year-old.  Then I finished the rest of the miles with Sparky.  That's definitely a PR for him in terms of daily mileage--around 4 miles.  My fastest mile was 9:37.