Happy Freakin Friday!!

It's Friday!! Yippee!! This is one of the best Friday's eva! The Friday before my 1st 1/2 Marathon AND before my week long va-cay in Costa Rica!! I would be pretty worthless at work but luckily we have quite a bit going on that's keeping me focused.

This morning it was pretty chilly here but has warmed up fast. Beautiful blue skies are making this Friday just a little more awesome.

Ok, so I did my dress rehearsal with all my gear on. It went pretty well. I bought a new belt/pocket thing I can carry around my phone or camera in and it stayed in place so I'm happy. Shoes are still treating me right. I'm still debating on how I should layer. I know it will be cold at first but will warm up. I'm thinking about just wearing something I can shuck off when I start to get too warm. I also had my last acupuncture treatment before the race yesterday afternoon. Shins are still feeling good I just need to them hold out for a few more miles then I'll let them rest. Ya hear that janky old Shin Splints? I said I PROMISE to REST if you'll carry me to the end.

Drinking lots of water and trying to get enough rest this week should get me ready. Planning on going to bed super early on Saturday night and hoping to get some good sleep.

As far as Costa Rica goes.. well I can't get past Sunday so no, I'm not packed or ready. I do know where my passport is but that's about it. We don't leave until Tuesday but I took off Monday to do all the things for the trip that I haven't done so far. Wish me luck!! Next time you hear from me I'll be a full blown 1/2 Marathoner!... or 1/2 Marathon Finisher!...or 13.1 Mile Runner in an organized Race! Aw Hell, whatever you call it I'll be a goal achiever for sure. LATER TATERS!!!

My New Kicks

For Christmas my sweetie wanted to by me some new running shoes. The ones I had before were my first "real" pair of running sneaks. We aren't exactly Mayberry here but we don't have a whole lot a specialty shops so my first pair were bought at the mall. Ugh! I think the girl did the best she could. But after catching the running bug and reading all the blogs (see when I get into something I geek out and try to learn all I can) I realize I probably didn't get the best pair. I ended up with some Asics Kayanos. Fast forward through training for my 1st failed 1/2 marathon and shin splints and I decided to start over and get to a shop with some peeps who really know what they're talking about. Enter RunTex...


RunTex is a great running specialty shop in the Austin area. I went to the one in Georgetown. I heard so much about this place from friends and reading online I couldn't wait to check it out. When I got there they had me take off my shoes, do some flexibiliyt exercies with my toes and then run around so they could watch my pronation. Yeah, barefoot. It was pretty cool! I told them about the shin splints and that my outer 2 toes on each foot go numb after long runs. Wait... I never talked about that?? I knew it wasn't normal but since it went away I didn't worry about it. N-E Whoooo They said that my shoes were probably too small and suggested a 1/2 to 1 size bigger than what I had. They brought out 3-4 pairs for me to try and I decided on a pair of Brooks Defyance. They are so light and confortable, I was super stoked!!

Fast forward again to last weekend's 6.5 mile run. This was a first for me. I got a blister. And no not in a normal place like your heel or toes. It's on the arch of my foot!! Geez! I mean, what the hell am I supposed to do about that?? This morning I tried a 2nd Skin blister pad but it just inched it's way off my foot and attempted to jump out of my sock. So much for that idea.

Other than the blister, these shoes have been great. No pain in my shins, and no numb toes! Yippee!!

Training in Winter S.U.C.K.S

So I haven't been this super start athlete for long. In fact, I really started my training right before the heat of the summer in Texas. Heat I can handle, I can dress for heat and know how my body will react in the heat. It will sweat... A LOT...

Winter is different. It rains. I.don't.do.rain. and it's cold. I know some people would love to have a balmy 40deg day to train in but that's my cutoff point. 40 is cold to this Texas Girl. When it's cold the cold air burns my throat and lungs and that's no fun. I suppose I could train on the dreadmill but I don't like that option either. You never get anywhere. After really getting out there and pounding the pavement there really is no substitute.

The running gods have been against me lately. It rained all weekend. It's raining now. It's been cold. I even got up this morning, got dressed and got out in the rain to go for a dreadmill run at the gym. The gym is supposed to honor the fitness program I signed up for through my insurance company. When I got there the front desk guy (who looked like he wasn't 100% awake) had no idea what I was talking about and turned me away since a manager* wasn't there. See... it just wasn't meant to be. I went home and did Jillian Michaels 30day Shred. Gotta cross train right?? Better than stopping at Starbucks or Daylight Donuts for a kolache mmmm kolache. So this morning wasn't a total waste.

*yes I called and talked to the manager and everything sorted out. RPM tomorrow baby!!!

Over the Shoulder Boulder Holder

Yes friends, we're talking bras today. Well, I'm talking about the problem I've had with my sports bras today. See, I'm what I guess would be considered large chested. I think that's part of what some people say when they tell me you don't have the body of a runner. Here's the problem.. When you're running you can't have them flapping around everywhere so you try to get a good supportive sports bra. If it's too tight, the 3rd and 4th side boob that it creates gets squeezed out and under you armpit like when you have a hole in your toothpaste. Not comfortable. If it's too loose they're flopping around everywhere and killing your back and shoulders.

I've noticed a problem when I go on my long runs. Apparently, I have some bras that are too tight. 1 has underwire in it and that rubbed a blister on 1 boob, the other has seams that make my t*ts look like they've been attacked by Freddy Kruger. Conway is having none of this and frankly it hurts. So I broke down and went shopping on the Internet for a new one. I hate bra shopping. Most bras my size are full coverage. Do you know how sexy full coverage is??? Not that I have to worry about being sexy when I'm running but it's still the fact that I'm shopping for a bra which I hate.

Oh, I know we all want what we don't have, but seriously, why would you want a couple of fat bags on your chest. Yep, that's all they are: bags full of fat. Yes, they fill out a dress or sexy top well but other than that they aren't really that functional on a day to day basis. Trust me they're more trouble than they're worth. I mean, I don't want to be nails on a 2x4 flat but maybe if I got down to a nice ripe peach size. Minus the fuzzies of course.

9.5 in China

It's Monday... yippee ...

Actually, I had a pretty good weekend. Conway surprised me by taking us to a nice restaurant here in Big W, Diamondbacks. We don't usually make it to nice restaurants. Not even for holidays or celebrations so it was nice to go "just because". He knew I had a big run on Saturday so it was a nice relaxing evening. I did have a couple glasses of vino. You can't just drink tea with scallops and dee-lish crab cakes can you? No ma'am.

On to my run.. I got out to my parents house in China around 7:30. It's nice to have a "home base" since I run by myself and have to take numerous potty breaks. Plus that area isn't really overpopulated yet and I thought it would make it a nice quiet run for me. I broke up the 9.5 miles into 3 legs. 1st leg was an easy 1.5 mile warm up around the neighborhood and back to moms to pee. 2nd leg was 4.25 miles and I was ROCKIN'. This was mostly because I was on a highway shoulder where the minimum speed was somewhere in the 95-97mph range. I was trying to book it off that sucker as fast as I could. Back down Yankie, which is a little farm road. It's nice when the country isn't too far out from the city. The fog was still on the ground and some longhorns were waking up and moving around. Rabbits were running around. I've found you never see just 1 rabbit so if you see 1 running be on the lookout for his buddy. I passed a guy building a fence. I mean, driving T-posts and 5-7 lines of barbed wire. This was a serious fence. He looked at me when I went by him the 1st time like I was crazy. 3rd leg was tough, it was starting to get hot and I was getting tired. I like running places where I haven't run before because I don't have landmarks telling me what's coming up. I just have to keep going. Well, when I saw Arnett, the 1-mile stretch back home, you would have thought I found the yellow brick road! Back in the day I would have said "You want me to run what? A mile? Are you going to chase me?" Getting to the end I passed the fence builder again. He said "You just run round and round?" I said "Yeah" (at least that's what I think I somehow managed to get out) he said" WHOOOO WEEEEEE" I was like "Hey man, you're building a fence... by yourself... this was easy compared to that" After that, 9.5 was behind me and I was off to my nap.

Here's a recap of that afternoon... The Bears losing at home + George's tent = too many beers

I was exhausted that evening. We went home and watched the Horns win, then off to bed.

Sunday, the Bucs lost and so did the 'Boys. Booooo