Cutest Dog Competition

Two down and 1 to go.. hopefully..

Hey everyone. I survived the weekend and I can still walk. Ok that may be stretching it.. I can still shuffle. LOL. My legs are definitely sore and stiff today. The “Fab Four” finished 11th out of 12 teams in the relay and I’m afraid I may have been the weak link in the chain. I tried my best to push it harder and honestly I think I did better than I did on my test run but I may have lost the time that Lisa gained in the first leg. I don’t know my time but I think it was close to 55 minutes and the distance was just under 5 miles. No excuses but it was HOT. It was also interesting because we shared the bike trail with the GOBA riders and there were a lot of them. They startled the hell out of me every time they yelled out “on your left” but I’m glad they were courteous enough to warn me they were coming. And some even cheered me on. That was a great pick me up! All in all I’m not sure if I would do this one again next year. I felt a little out of my league.

Tonight is Elmore and this is also related to the GOBA riders. The riders have been staying in Elmore for a layover before continuing on around Ohio. If I had to run it in an hour I wouldn’t be able to do it with the way my legs feel right now but maybe my mind might change later on in the afternoon. I’ll have to wait and see.

Thanks for reading!

T.

Camelback 2009 and more

Today was the 3rd Camelback I have ran in and it was a good run. Not my best but I’ll take it. This year Paxton ran with me. This was her first 4 mile race. She has ran in 5k races before but this was a test of endurance for her. She did great! We crossed the finish line together with the time of 44:24. I told her constantly throughout the run that she could run ahead if I was slowing her down but she refused to run ahead. I think she was wearing out a bit near the end so she was happy to hang back with slow old mom. She was just happy to finish the race I think. No awards for either of us but that wasn’t totally unexpected as there were a ton of people running this year. The morning started off soggy and humid but about half way through the run the clouds moved out and it was just humid and hot. This year Applebee’s catered the event and WOW they served steak, baked potatoes and veggies! Now those brown bananas and warm drinks will be a let down for post race goodies!

Tomorrow I am running in a relay run that goes from Clyde to Elmore. I believe the distance is 22 miles total. We have 4 ladies running on our team “the Fab Four”. Me, Julie, Lisa and Cindy. I am the 2nd runner in our team and that means my leg of the relay goes through town. The other 3 legs are on the bike trail. I “test ran” my portion last week and I wasn’t thrilled but I’ll survive. My leg is right under 5 miles. Then on Monday night I will be running in a 5k in Elmore. Cheryl and Kent will also be participating in this evening run. Should be interesting because we will be sharing the bike trail with GOBA bicycle riders. This is a big bike rider group that travels throughout Ohio every year.

Next weekend Paxton and I are running in the Pickle Chase. I have done this race 2 years in a row and it is fun. Last year not so fun because I was still battling the plantars wart. I remember limping across the finish line with the pickle helping me along. Yes they do have some dressed up like a pickle!

That’s about it for now. I’ll update on the relay results tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

T.

Getting back on track

I have been working hard this week to get in my exercise and eat well. I have been thinking about going to the rec. center for a while and have procrastinated on it because frankly I didn’t want the people who I used to see there all the time to see me now with the extra pounds back on. So I sucked it up and went to the rec. center on Wed. and ran into Angie and told her how I need someone to hold me accountable. And of course she was happy to be that person. So I have been emailing her daily letting her know what exercises I have done. I think it has been helping because I don’t want a day to go by without emailing her something. As I figured would happen a lot of the regulars at the rec. came up to me and said stuff like “I haven’t seen you in a long time” and “it’s good to see you back”. They are all very nice about it and no one gave me the once over and that put me at ease a bit. I went back on Friday as well. Now that the kids are officially on summer break I will be able to get down there on a daily or every other day basis. I’m glad for that. Hop on the bike and head down there. 

I didn’t do much running this week. I was focusing on more strength training exercises and when I was at the rec. I was using the elliptical machine for cardio. I ran yesterday around 2.5 miles and pushed myself to go faster and damn it was hard! It was really nice to come home and switch into the swim suit and jump right into the pool. Nice way to cool down and get more exercise. Felt good. Tomorrow the H20 Boot Camp class starts and I’m going for that. I hope that the weather cooperates because if it is stormy then the class is indoors and I don’t like doing it on the floor. It’s too hard on my knees. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed but it is spring in Ohio so you never know what to expect weatherwise!

I’ve signed up for several upcoming races. June 20th is the 4 mile Camelback race here in town and the next day I’m part of a 4 person relay team that will run from Clyde to Elmore for a total of 22 miles along the bike trail. I will be running the 2nd leg of the race which is 4.65 miles. Our team is called the Fab 4 and it’s me, Julie D., Lisa H and Cindy. Should be a good time and a good challenge. Hope I don’t let my team down because I know that 2 of the others are very speedy. And on June 22 I will be running in Elmore in a 5k. So 3 runs in 3 days… YIKES!  I hope in the next 2 weeks my “refocus” on exercise will pay off. 

That’s about if for now. Thanks for reading.

Tammy.

Long time, no blogging..

It’s been almost one month since my last blog entry and that was after the Glass City 1/2 Marathon. Since that race I participated in the Bob Semer 10k in Fremont but haven’t done much else. I’m at another one of those crossroads where I’m trying to figure out what to do next. I have a 5k race this weekend in Genoa but short of that I’m kind of aimlessly wandering again.. I’ve got to find some direction soon or this could be a disaster. The kids will be out of school on June 5th and even though the thought of having them here all day sends chills down my spine (yes I love my kids but they drive me nuts as well) it will free up early morning for exercise again. Last year I found that if I got up before them (so pretty much anytime before noon) then I could get out for a run or to the rec. center and then get home, showered and to work early. The school drop off shuffle I got through now makes it nearly impossible to get any exercise in before trying to sit down and work and once I plop in front to the computer it’s game over & exercise out the window. I’m going to try and establish a new routine and stick to it. I know I can do it, I have done it before but now it’s a matter of wanting to do it.

My weight has gone up. I won’t lie. It’s been steadily on the rise. It’s something that I need to reel in and get control of again. I have no excuses, I have been lazy, plain and simple. I have been putting in more than I have been putting out… simply put. I need to find someone who can hold me accountable and keep me in check. It is so much easier (ok maybe not easier but more tolerable) to maintain the exercise and nutrition when you have support and that is something I haven’t had for a while and I miss it. In the WW meetings they always talked about having a friend to take the “journey” with and it really is true that having that support is the key to success. 

That’s about it for now. I’m done whining. I’ve been fighting allergies all day and I’m heavily dosed on allergy meds so I’ll use that as my excuse for the long rambling rant. 

Thanks for reading,

Tammy

Half Marathon – checked off my list..

I survived! It was hot, miserable and long but I made it. There were times during the run that I thought about calling it quits and I talked myself out of it. I definitely didn’t set any records but my husband told me I set a “personal best” by completing it so I guess I will take that. My time was 3:01:49, about 30 minutes longer than I thought it would take but honestly I was so dehydrated I was worried whether or not I could finish. I drank at every water stop and walked some of the race. The heat was not something I was used too. Training for 14 week in cold weather and then running in hot was a shock to the system. The discrepancy you see in the clock below and to the left is because the half marathon started close to 10 minutes late. All in all it was a good experience. I’m not sure if I would be up for another one or not. If you ask me today I would say NO WAY but in a month you never know..

 

Glass City Playlist and Thanks!

It’s getting so close and every night I have a harder time falling asleep. I sure hope I can sleep Saturday night! I just finished compiling my playlist for Sunday. I’m estimating this will take me 2.5 hours to complete but I beefed up the playlist for a little longer amount of time. Nothing worse than your 2.5 hour playlist looping! I thought about hitting shuffle and not worrying about it but that usually involves me fiddling for the forward button when a song comes up that is not my idea of “runner friendly”.  Below is my playlist. Yes there are some guilty pleasures on there but I’m hoping they will all keep me motivated for 2.5 hours.

1. The Distance- Cake
2. Train In Vain -The Clash
3. I Touch Myself- The Divinyls
4. Gett Off -Prince
5. ELECTROSHOCK- 3OH!3
6. Bust A Move – Young Mc
7. We’re Not Gonna Take It- Twisted Sister
8. Pump Up The Jam -Technotronic
9. Interstate Love Song- Stone Temple Pilots
10. Blitzkrieg Bop -The Ramones
11. Crazy Train- Ozzy Osbourne
12. Hold Me Like a Microphone- Aerodrone
13. Girlfriend -Avril Lavigne
14. The Beautiful People- Marilyn Manson
15. Holiday – Madonna
16. Centerfold The J. Geils Band
17. Feel Good Inc. Gorillaz
18. Gonna Make You Sweet C & C Music Factory
19. Fight For Your Right The Beastie Boys
20. Paradise By the Dashboard Light Meat Loaf
21. Shut Up and Let Me Go- The Ting Tings
22. Livin’ on a Prayer –  Bon Jovi
23. Groove Is In The Heart – Deee-Lite
24. God Save The Queen – The Sex Pistols
25. Holiday in Cambodia 4:38 – Dead Kennedys
26. Back In Black – AC/DC
27. Thnks fr th Mmrs – Fall Out Boy
28. You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) -Dead Or Alive
29. London Calling – The Clash
30. Smooth Criminal –  Michael Jackson
31. I’d Do Anything for Love – Meat Loaf
32. Bohemian Rhapsody –  Queen
33. I Love Rock And Roll –  Joan Jett
34. That’s Not My Name –  The Ting Tings
35. Hit Me With Your Best Shot –  Pat Benatar
36. Talk Dirty To Me – Poison
37. Limelight –  Rush
38. Hollaback Girl –  Gwen Stefani
39. Know Your Enemy 3-  Green Day
40. Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey
41. Don’t Trust Me -3OH!3

I doubt I will be back on the blog before the weekend is over but I will be tweeting with my iPod Touch most of the weekend. You can follow that at http://www.twitter.com/tbug01. Thanks to all of you who have supported me in this attempt. I have appreciated your comments and encouragement throughout.

T.

9 days..

Not much to say here other than I still get a queasy feeling in the stomach every time I think about the race. Mixture of excitement, anticipation and of course nerves! I booked a room in the Park Inn on Saturday night so we can just stay up there instead of driving up Saturday to pick up my packet and then going back up on Sunday morning. The last shuttle takes the 1/2 marathon runners to the start at 7:20 and leaves from the Park Inn. So staying there Saturday night definitely has it advantages! I am working on my playlist for the race and YES I am running with an iPod. I couldn’t do this without it and the website says they “discourage” ipod use but I’m not discouraged I will be Tweeting my experience over the weekend so check it out if you want to follow me. http://twitter.com/tbug01

Will post more later. Thanks for reading!

T.

11 Days to go…

The nerves are definitely starting to kick in. I’m as ready as I think I can be for the run. My training has slowed down but I have no doubt I can still make it across the finish line, barring some unforeseen injury. I am so ready to run this race and move onto the next one. That will be the Bob Semer Memorial 10k here in Fremont on May 17th. I’ve got to plan out my calendar for the rest of the year but I have been so focused on Glass City that I haven’t been able to think of much beyond April 26th. I picked up a pair of the “arm warmers” today in case I need them on race day. I want to keep clothing light (unless its freezing) so I don’t have to peel too much off once I warm up. Right now the weather forecast is going out 10 days to 4/25 and that shows a temp of 57. I can handle that but the race starts at 8am so it will definitely be chilly to begin with but after the first mile I’m usually working up a sweat!

All for now. Thanks for reading.

T.

20 days to go. YIKES!

Wow time seems to be flying by now. I was getting so frustrated with how far away this run seemed to be and all of a sudden.. WAM! it’s almost here. I have been running but not according to training schedule, 3 miles here, 4 miles there. I’m going to make sure that I’m following the last weeks of it these next 3 weeks and I should be ok… I think.. I hope..

I took a tumble yesterday while running on the bike trail. I guess I was daydreaming and missed the rock on the trail and the next thing I knew I was laid out on the asphalt. Skinned palms and a banged up left knee were the result. I had only run 1 mile at this point and thought about limping back home but I picked up my embarrassed ego and started running again. I got 3 more miles in before I was home. The pain in the knee wasn’t too bad until I got home and cooled down. Then it started to swell and bruise. It is definitely sore today but nothing that can’t be managed. My left arm and shoulder are probably just as sore if not more than my knee. Guess trying to catch myself as I was going down used more muscles than I’m accustomed to using. 

Per Julie’s recommendation I bought the wii game “My Personal Trainer” and started using that yesterday. I think it will be cool because the workouts are not the same. If I understand it correctly they mix it up so you are not doing the same thing all the time. Most people who know me will agree that I have a short attention span when it comes to exercising. I just can’t keep doing the same thing over and over. I need something fresh to keep me interested. Hopefully this game will do the trick! 

All for now but I’m going to try and keep updating this regularly up until the Glass City 1/2. Also if you haven’t done so you can follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/tbug01

T.