Half-Crazy

Yesterday's Run:
6.08 mi/ 57 min

I continue to not get up early enough on long run days to make the weather bearable. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. As much as I complain about the hot weather on my runs, you'd think I'd be up at 5a without fail. I have only myself to blame for the sweltering temps by the second half of my run.

I ran the same route I did last week where I found my running buddy. I now know the farm she belongs to and she wagged her tail at me and gave me a "woof" from her place on their front porch on Sunday. She knew it was too hot to be running too and decided to stay put in the shade. I'm glad to know where she belongs and I'm happy to bring her back to them anytime she decides to go on an adventure with me from here on out.

After my run and a brunch with my hubby, I enjoyed a couple of hours by the pool with the August issue of Runner's World. The focus this month was half-marathons and since I have plans to run at least one in 2013, I read it cover-to-cover. I'll admit, I've done very little research on which training plan I'll use, nor have I looked at the calendar to have a clear picture of when I need to get serious.

I've looked at Jeff Galloway plans, Runner's World plans, the FIRST plan and I have no idea which will work best for me. I guess I have some time to sort it all out and do a little more research and I know there's no one-size-fits-all plan, but boy it would be nice if there were.

Mid-way through my run on Sunday I started to think that I must be insane to believe I could run 13.1 miles. I was struggling to finish four at that point. I'm hoping I can reset my brain to think a bit more positively this week with a few short runs and a Crossfit class or two.

Running Buddy

Today's Run:
6.25 miles/ 62 min

It was a hot, sweaty run this morning, but I feel back on track after a weird week of trying to get settled after being gone for a week and then getting back in the car to travel for work. I don't know what it is about a long run, but it seems to center me a bit.

Riding back home, post-run

I listened to an audio-book for the first time on today's run and I have to say, for long runs, I think this might be a great way to keep my pace moderate and my mind focused. Today's book was the second in the Friday Night Knitting Club series by Kate Jacobs called Knit Two. I taught myself to knit five or six years ago and loved it for a long time. I've not knit in two years and I'm not sure why (ADHD?). I have several unfinished projects in bags that I want to get back to, but never do. Listening to these books make me want to pick up my needles again. Maybe this week it will happen.

My husband calls me Dr. Doolittle. My family has called me Elly May Clampett all my life. If it is furry, I want to have my hands on it. My children have four legs - both retired racing greyhounds - and many people would think that they make good running partners. Greyhounds are sprinters by nature, so running more than half a mile - a mile at most - isn't in their DNA. I'm hoping I can convince my youngest (Roxy, 8) to join me this fall when it is much cooler on some shorter runs during the week, but that is very questionable.

We live out in the country so occasionally, I will have a neighborhood dog join me on my runs. Most of the time they are younger dogs who think I'm playing and they will hang with me for a little bit before returning home (or I run them home). Today I took a new route and ended up picking up a running buddy about half way through my run. This cute, black lab somehow knew I needed a pick me up and nipped at my heels and ran along side of me just as I was slowing down. She was so happy and so excited to be running that it helped me pick up the pace. I figured she'd realize she was out of her "home zone" and turn around, but she didn't. She followed me for about 3.5 miles, all the way home. She had a collar on - no tags, but I remembered where she approached me, so after some water and some shade, I put her in the car (very reluctantly) and took her back to where she came from.

I may have made a couple of drive-bys to see if she was sitting there waiting for me to return, but she had moved on. I'm calling her Ruby and I will do my best not to dog-nap her if she shows up again.

Running in Skirts

Today's Run:

5.08 miles 

8:46/mile

3 hill sprints 

My dogs live and die by a schedule. They get up, like clockwork, at 5:30a every morning to be fed. At 5p, they act like bitches gently remind me to look at the clock and fill their bowl. Before I started running, the 5:30a wake up call was horrible. I prefer to be awake for 45 minutes prior to putting on my running shoes, so their call time isn't as painful as it used to be - especially in the summer when earlier is always better in the South.

I'm unsure if my furry alarm clocks were partying until the wee hours of the morning and I didn't notice, but my alarm went off at 6a and both girls were still snoozing away. Someone must have ruffied my dogs, there's no other explanation.

I decided that I better get up and get moving if I was going to get a run in today. I freakin' HATE the heat, but this morning was pleasantly cool (65 degrees and overcast). When I see 75 degrees on the early morning weather, I start thinking about running on the dreadmill instead. But I'll take overcast, warm and humid over sunny and sizzling any day.

I skipped breakfast and my coffee before my run. Mistake. I was starving after 30 minutes and started getting side cramps. I never get stitches in my side and boy, I hope it doesn't happen again. Not fun. I was also out of chocolate milk, so my post-run recovery wasn't very good. No lie - chocolate milk cures brain fuzz for me.

The rest of the day consisted of working on a few articles for a client and watching Sports Center in preparation for tonight's big game six in the NBA conference finals. Let's go Celtics!

Photo from Wikipedia

I've gotten hooked on a National Geographic show, Amish: Out of Order. I've always been fascinated by this lifestyle ever since I was a child. We took a trip to the Pennsylvania Amish Country when I was 11 or 12 and I still remember the buggies traveling along the roads with the men and women tucked inside. Oh, and that movie Witness was awesome, too. Watching these former Amish men and women trying to fit in with the rest of the world is cra-cra (as the young folk say). It sort of reminds me of watching a new kid enter a middle school in the middle of the year.

I would think the hardest thing about being Amish would be getting used to wearing that long skirt 24-7. Horse riding, chicken plucking, pie making and barn raising all while sporting a duvet cover to your ankles - that's impressive. Runner's World did a story on Running with the Amish in April 2012. Running 26.2 covered head-to-toe and wearing suspenders should be an Olympic sport if you ask me (women don't run, or can't in those skirts). Boy, I bet that's hot in the summer time.