Oh, summer! You've come too early!

It's April. In my book, that is a spring month. These last few weeks have not felt "spring-ey" though. The humidity is already creeping up and ugh - the bugs! I'm not sure which is worse!

So, here's my top five least favorite things of summer running in Mississippi:

5. Time doesn't matter. You can get up early or wait until later in the evening, but either way - it's miserable because of the 100% humidity.

4. Time does matter. I am so slow in the summer. Even when it's a short run, I feel sluggish and like I can't push my pace.

3. Bugs are gross. When I run at night, I feel them smacking my face or arms. Then I find them stuck to my skin when I come in and I'm even more grossed out. Oh, and don't get me started on the horseflies. Do I really smell that bad?

2. Clothes - or wishing for a lack thereof? Ok. Guys can run during the hot months in basically shorts and sneaks. Ladies, we have to keep everything covered and if you're like me, have to keep the jiggling covered, too. I don't know how many times I've wanted to shed some clothes, but unfortunately, my body is not the "typical" runner's body, and I'm pretty sure I need to just tough it out and keep my shirt on.

1. I stink. I'm sure my southern belle readers while be offended by my honesty, but seriously. "Glisten" is NOT what I do when I run in the summer; I am pouring sweat from every pore of my body. There is no "freshening up" after a run - a shower is a must.

There you have it. My honest assessment of summer running. What's your least favorite part of running in the summer months? Or do you L-O-V-E it?

Disaster Averted

When I re-read my last post, I realized it was pretty whiney...so thanks for not calling me out on that! Apparently, the whining worked though!

Since then, the scale has moved! I weighed 159.0 this morning!! Woot, Woot! I haven't seen 150-something in a LONG time, my friends (Just for the record, I actually saw 158.4 three of the 17 times I weighed - I couldn't believe my eyes and just wanted to stare at the number!!). While I can't attribute it completely to healthy eating and working out because I participated in the 30-Hour Famine with our youth group Friday and Saturday, I'll take it! This brings my total weight loss in just over a year to around 74 pounds!

And second, and probably most importantly, I've had a major break-thru with my running this weekend. 

When running causes more stress than it's relieving,

something's out of balance and needs to be changed. 

To understand this, I need to go back in my journey a little. Last March, I started running. My overall goal for running was to lose weight and get my health back. Knowing how my brain operates, I set a long-term goal to run the St. Jude's 1/2 Marathon in December. This was my motivation to keep running (and justify all the money I was spending on gear, but I digress...). I did St. Jude's in December and in the delirium of my runner's high, I signed up for the Frostbite 1/2 marathon in January (five weeks later!)...and I did that, too. I was really ready for some time off - as in no-pressure-running-just-to-run time off. 

Instead of listening to my body (and my mind!), I began training for the Country Music 1/2 Marathon (April 30) and invited my sister-in-law to join me (it would be her first 1/2!). As the semester picked up speed (no pun intended, runners!), I fell behind in my training and even struggled to get my shorter runs in during the week; then, I began to struggle making time for long runs. All the struggling was stressing me out and stealing the joy of my running. It felt like one of the other million things I HAD to do in the day/week. It was causing more stress than it was relieving!

My sister-in-law (who I swear wears an "S" for Super Woman under her clothes) also had trouble getting in her training runs. In our womanly wisdom, we decided this weekend to nix the 1/2 and just plan a fun visit! We'll have a wonderful weekend with them and will go for a long run, just the two of us, for a distance of our own choosing without battling 30,000+ other runners Since we made this decision, I can't even begin to explain how relieved I've felt!

So relieved, in fact, that I went for a run tonight (on my rest day!) - JUST BECAUSE I WANTED TO! It felt amazing to run without worrying about distance or pace or anything - I just ran to run! I didn't HAVE to - I really WANTED to!

Some of you will read this and think I'm copping out and that's ok. I know hard-core runners will criticize, but what I think I did was avoid the fast-track to burnout. One of the purposes for my continued running is to relieve (some) stress in my life. It's relaxing and provides me some alone time to decompress. Because the other obligations in my life creating obstacles for my training plan, running was actually causing me stress. Defeats the purpose a little...

So, what's my plan now?

Three to four runs per week of varying distances (3-5 miles) with one mid to long run (6-8 miles) on the weekend depending on time and weather. May also try three runs and a kettle bell workout some weeks.

And my advice to others (new or old runners): Listen to your body! If you need a break from race training, take it. There's always another race to train for and no one's going to take your "runner card" just because you're not "in training" for something.

Beach-front Running

Yesterday, I arrived on the Mississippi Gulf Coast for a two-day conference. My husband tagged along  (he grew up on the Coast) hoping he could visit with friends while I was in the sessions. We left the boys with the grands (a BIG thank you to them!!) and it's been a nice little get-away for us both. 

Cool thing?

We BOTH packed our running gear and went for a 4-mile run along the beach this morning! It was a beautiful morning, perfect temperature - I really enjoyed our run!

Just a couple of thoughts from the experience...

1. A change of pace is nice...for life and running. I miss my boys something terrible, but it's been nice to spend a little time with my husband between the conference meetings. Our run together this morning was icing on the cake. It wasn't my "best" run ever in terms of pace (Bob Harper's kettlebell  workout is still kicking my tail!), but it was new sights, sounds and even smells.

2. I am so proud of my husband! He "left me" twice during our run to pick up his pace a little but we finished the run together. He got new, properly fitting running shoes on the trip down, and I think he's going to enjoy running much more now. I worried when he started running in January that he wouldn't stick with it through the rough time to get to the point where he wants to run and actually enjoys it...but I think he's getting there. I'll be surprised if he doesn't finish his first 5K in under 29 minutes (I'm trying to talk him into a guest post on his C25K experience - stay tuned!).

3. I think I'm going to like my new shoes! I have been wearing the Nike Vomero (3 and 5) since I started running and I've been scared to try anything different. But, I'm giving the Brooks Glycerin a go and so far, I like them. The fact that they look like mint chocolate chip ice cream helps a little, too!

4. I will never forget to pack a sports bra again. Enough said.

Busy-ness is not a friend to running

This week has been nuts and next week is not looking much better! I know I am entirely too busy when I don't have time to get a run in, or at the end of the day, I don't have a run left in me. Last week, I think my total mileage was less than 15 miles and this week, I'm at 9.5 miles with only two days left. Ugh!

This is what happens to my running when there is no race on the horizon, thus I continue to preach the importance of having something to work toward to keep you accountable. If you want to start running, but don't think you "have time" - signing up for a race forces you to MAKE time. No one wants to shell out the cash for a race and be a no show or not be able to do your best!

So, next week, I will be committing to a race in March. I'm pretty sure my next 1/2 will be in April in Nashville, but I will also be seeking out something before then. I'm open to suggestions if there's a 10K nearby.

Happy weekend!

Kettlebell Disaster?

I blogged earlier this week about my "run in" with the kettlebell and Bob Harper's "Cardio Shred" DVD. While the workout was great - it was a really bad decision four days before a 1/2 marathon. I can barely walk. WHAT WAS I THINKING?

I am hoping tomorrow will bring relief but I have a back-up plan; if I am still hurting tomorrow, I'm going to relay the 1/2 with one of my students. I mean, really. Who tries something new (involving weights, of all things!) four days before a race? My sweet husband is trying to convince me to do it again tonight to "relieve" the pain. No go on that one, my friends. I am certainly going to return to the kettlebell as it obviously worked some new muscles (or muscles in new ways?) but I'd like to cross the finish line upright Saturday and not see it from my hospital window next door to the HealthPlex. Ugh.

Praying tomorrow will bring relief...for many reasons!

Mixing It Up

So, for the last (almost) year, running has been my only flavor of exercise. I still love it, don't get me wrong, but I decided to introduce something a little different into my routine. I've been hearing rave reviews about the kettlebell and decided to give it a go. I bought a 10-pound kettlebell yesterday and a 54-minute workout DVD that several people recommended. I was ready to go.

Tonight was my first workout with The Biggest Loser's trainer Bob Harper and "Kettleball Cardio Shred" and, well...he kicked my rear! I couldn't even do several of the exercises which is a little disappointing - I felt like I was in pretty good shape. Burpees? Wow!

So now, I enter Phase II of my fitness efforts - core strengthening. I'm not giving up running (don't worry, LuLu didn't win that one!); I'm going to add this a couple of times a week to (hopefully) make me a stronger, faster runner.

I'm going to hold off on a complete review of "Cardio Shred" until I give it a few more times, but the learning curve is pretty quick thus far. Bob explains the exercises well and allows plenty of reps to practice before moving on to the next exercise. I was sweating within the first 10 minutes so I'm pretty sure my heart rate was getting up there. I do think my kettlebell is a tad too heavy for some of the exercises and I'm going to try to get a 5- or 7-pound bell for those exercises.

MORE WATER UPDATE: Today is Day 10 in the More Water - Less Dr. Pepper challenge. I'm down to two Dr. Peppers per day and so far, have managed to get down at least 64 ounces each day. I'm hoping that in 13 more days, I'll be ready to move to just one Dr. Pepper per day and maybe even increase my water intake. Not going to get crazy just yet; that's still two weeks away.

Oh, and I'm planning to run my second 1/2 marathon Saturday. Who would've thought?