Fight or Flight

After a week of running 19 miles, I'm so glad this week is my recovery week. I did complete all of my runs last week, and my mid-week 5 miler wasn't pretty.

But I am thrilled to tell you all about my 9 mile accomplishment. So here we go.

I set my alarm for 4 a.m., which is something I never do. But I wanted to get up and eat breakfast so I could have time to digest before my 6 a.m. run. Y'all, I had it all planned out. I thought 6 a.m. would be the best time to go before it got too hot outside. And as I was loading my ice chest into the car, I didn't think too much about the fact that it was still dark outside. I thought for sure the sun would be on the rise at any time.

Apparently, I missed the memo that the sun comes up a little after 7 a.m. But being the trooper I am, I downloaded a flashlight app to my phone and took off in the complete darkness at Two River Park.

It was dark. I mean country dark. I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face.

Nobody was out there. The parking lot was completely empty, and there were no signs of human life.

But I wasn't alone.

I ran about a half mile when I turned on to my usual trail. With my flashlight beaming, I rounded the corner and was met with four pairs of glowing eyes. I couldn't see a thing but those eyes staring back at me. Ummmm....I almost peed my pants. So I turned around as quickly and quietly as I could, but then I heard some rustling too close to my left.

I hightailed it back toward my car at an 8-minute mile pace. My legs were booking it. I could hear my heart beating in my ears. Fight or flight, y'all. Fight or freaking flight. I have never moved so fast in my life. I was terrified.

I should have known the run wasn't going to be what I thought it was, but I decided to stay on the road instead taking the trails.

It didn't help.

I could hear too much movement along the sides of the road, and there were too many "shadows" moving. But the coyote darting across the road in front of me was the icing on the cake. I was done with the dark and Two Rivers Park.

I ran back to my car, got in it and left. Didn't look back.

So I drove down to the Big Dam Bridge, and when I got there I saw sunshine and people. Just what a girl needs after too much darkness and wildlife.

I did run a mile and a half at Two Rivers. So I completed the seven and a half miles I had left at the Big Dam Bridge trail. And it was glorious.

Here are my stats:
Distance: 9 miles
Time: 1:53:07
Best Pace: 8:39 (darkness and wildlife escape pace)
Average Pace: 12:34 (much more like normal)
Calories: 960

Let me just say this. Running nine miles gives hunger a whole new meaning. I've been eating the contents of my refrigerator like it's my job. And I'm still hungry.........it's Tuesday.

And for the record, I will not be running in the dark 6s again. Not ever. No way. Too many animals. If it came down to me and deer, I feel like the deer would kick my ass....plus they are naturally swift animals so I don't really stand a chance.

Holy Cow: My Half Marathon Training Plan

Over the weekend, my mom finally finished writing up my half marathon training plan for St. Jude.

She put the long runs on a fancy calendar print-out with all the weekly workouts written on the back of each month.

I guess now would be the optimum time to confess that I haven't been running like I was back in March. After the Capital City Classic 10K from hell, I took some time off. Then I had some health problems, which I got under control. So I ran for 2 weeks. Felt good. Then I passed out at a concert. Insert more health problems here. Found out I'm hypoglycemic.

But the confession is that I'm scared to run. I'm scared to run by myself. And it's not that I'm scared I'll fall out in the middle of it. I'm scared to find out how much fitness I've actually lost. So there it is. My big confession. I'm being such a baby about it. Like really. It's pitiful.

I was suppose to run over the weekend with my mom. But it rained at all the key points in the day when running would be best....ahem...the morning time.

When I looked at the finished training plan, I felt sick. Doubt clouded my thoughts. Am I going to be able to do this? Like really do this to the extent I planned when I signed up in May?

I only have a month and a half to get my base run under some kind of control. Someone needs to politely slap me in the face and tell me to get it together ASAP!

In the spirit of getting it together, I'm posting my training plan --- which my mom wrote specifically for me so feel free to change it up to fit you if you choose to use it. I'm hoping this ever-living post will provide me with some kind of accoutability. So if you choose to use this plan, please leave a comment saying that you are using it and together we shall overcome the fear and run!

My Half Marathon Plan for St. Jude's Half Marathon

This plan is centered around 3 weekly runs with one optional easy run. It's a 13-week plan with built-in recovery weeks to help with burnout. You will have three to four rest days depending on if you choose to do the optional run. Feel free to work in cross-training on those days, but take rest whenever you feel you need it.

Week 1

Speedwork: 2 mile fartlek

Tempo: 3 mile tempo run - 1st mile slow, each mile try to make it 10-15 seconds faster
Long run: 4 miles

Optional: 3 mile easy run

Week 2

Speedwork: 2 mile fartlek

Hillwork: 3 mile run - find some hills or use treadmill inclines.

Long run: 5 miles

Optional: 3 mile easy run

Week 3

Speedwork: 3 mile fartlek

Tempo: 3 or 4 mile tempo run - race pace goal

Long run: 6 miles

Optional: 3 mile easy run

Week 4 - Recovery

Speedwork - 2 mile fartlek

Tempo - 2 mile tempo run - pace doesn't matter as much

Long run - 3 miles

Optional: 3 mile easy run

Week 5

Speedwork: Warm up easy jog - 1 mile. 1 minute - fast pace; 1 minute slow jog, alternate for 20 minutes. 1 mile cool down.

Hillwork: 3-4 mile interval run - find some hills

Long run: 7 miles

Optional: 3 mile easy run

Week 6

Speedwork: pick up the pace run - 4 miles. Start slow and end final mile at race pace. Example: mile 1 11:45, mile 2 11:30, mile 3 11:15, mile 4 11:00 (rest 1:30 minutes inbetween.)

4 mile run at Race pace

Long run: 8 miles

Optional: 3 mile easy run

Week 7

5 mile hill workout

4-5 mile repeat. 1/2 mile warm up. Run race pace for each mile wtih 1:30 minute rests in between. 1/2 mile

cooldown.

Long run: 9 miles

Optional: 3 mile easy run

Week 8 - Recovery

Speedwork: 2-3 mile fartlek

4 mile easy run

Long run: 4-5 miles

Optional: 3 mile easy run

Week 9

Speedwork: 4 mile fartlek

Tempo: 5 mile tempo run

Long run: 10 miles

Optional: 3 mile easy run

Week 10

1. 5 mile run: 1/2 mile warm-up and cool down. 1 mile repeat at race pace with 1:30 minutes rests inbetween.

2. 1 mile warmup: 2 miles of one minute faster then 1 minute slower jog. 1 mile cooldown.

3. Long run: 11 miles

Optional: 3 mile easy run

Week 11

Tempo: 4 mile tempo run at race pace

Hills: 5-6 mile hill interval run

Long run: 12 miles

Optional: 3 mile easy run

Week 12 - Recovery

3 miles at race pace

Tempo: 4-5 mile tempo run at race pace

Long run: 5-6 miles

Optional 3 mile easy run

Week 13 - Race week

Monday: 3-4 mile easy run

Wednesday: 2-3 mile run

REST! REST! REST! - stretch a lot.

Saturday/Sunday - RACE DAY 13.1!!!!

If you would like to support my fundraising efforts for the St. Jude's Hero program, go here.

Some Things Fall Apart So Better Things Can Fall Together

I got some pretty neat things the other day. And I want to show them to you. But I've got something else I need to talk about. So here's the deal. I'm gonna show you the pictures with minimal descriptive words, and then get to the heart of this post. Remember when I said transparency...Well I meant it.

I got new bowls and cookbooks from Anthropologie. It's all too good. And those outrageous yellow beauties are currently on the way to my doorstep from California.

Now on to the next part of the show.

Right before Christmas I told you I had a friendship break-up. And while I'm not ready to discuss the details of said break-up, I do need to talk about some things that have been brought to light.

Not a week before the friendship break-up, my friend Jodi posted a quote on Twitter that said "Sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage and I promise you something great will come of it." (Come to find out it's from the movie We Bought a Zoo, which I loved, just FYI.)

The whole time my friend was in Little Rock I kept thinking about how I need to tell him everything I was feeling about our relationship. So I worked up the courage and did something about it. And got a response I didn't want, but figured would happen.

Now I haven't told anyone this part of the story yet. But it's important to talk about today because I found out he is now engaged.

The day I told him everything, we spent some time talking about other stuff. And somehow we happened onto the subject of Heaven and Hell. And I being the girl born and raised in the Bible Belt, spent elementary school at a private Lutheran school, and attended church on the reg for years said something like, "Well it doesn't matter if I die because I know where I'm going." Meaning I know that I'm gonna go to Heaven when the good Lord tells me it's my time.

And his response to me was "You don't know that for sure."

We then went into this long, drawn out conversation about if God was actually real. As a Christian, it was a true test of my faith, and I tried very hard to stick to my guns. But my friend was very adamant about not knowing for sure.

The point of this story is not to offend anyone, it's to help explain myself a little better.

As he was saying all these things to me, I found myself becoming angry, and I got really quiet. And then he changed the subject.

And that was the moment I knew, even if he accepted all the things I was about to say, it wasn't going to work between us.

God is a big part of my life. I pray on the reg. And when I want to talk about Him, I want my significant other to share the same feelings of love for our Savior as I do. And when it comes time for me to leave this earth, I want my man to know and believe that I'm going to a better place, and that he will go there, too.

So I'm sure you're wondering why I went through with the whole telling of the feelings crap. I had to for me to know for sure. Sometimes you just need to hear that it's not in the cards.

And while we were friends for 3 years and he asked me out in college and I told him how I feel now, it would have never worked out because it's not suppose to. Because God has made a man especially for me.

And I can't wait of that day.

So it's totally ok that he's engaged. And it's totally ok that I said all the girly feelings. And it's all ok because some things fall apart so better things can fall together.

Up to Speed

What up, bloggies? Long time, no talk. I guess that is my fault. But in my defense, I did have four wisdom teeth removed. And let me tell ya that was an experience.

My face was beyond huge. And bruised. And at one point, we thought I was going to have a black eye. But my jaws look quite a bit better, but they are still not 100%. The first few days were full of beautiful sleep, but the last three nights have been pretty restless.

And last night was no different. I went to bed after taking all of my medicine. My left jaw area was feeling pretty sore, and I had had enough of its throbbing. So I took the pain medicine and laid down.

An hour later, I was up getting the ice pack out of the freezer to soothe my aching jaw. An hour after that I was praying sleep would come because I had to go to work today. I think around 12:30 A.M. I finally fell asleep. I woke up numerous times because of the storm beating down my window, and at 1:45 A.M. I took another pain pill to keep the sleep.

Once the storm calmed down and the pain pill kicked in, sleep finally happened for a good while. But I still woke up off and on until my alarm went off all too early this morning. Luckily, I showered last night so I got to sleep later than normal, which was a treat.

Today, I'm feeling pretty sleepy/groggy and a tad bit sore on the left side of my face. I think my left side got the worst of it. I'm hoping the soreness is just a slow healing process and not a dry socket. Pretty sure I couldn't handle that right now. So please pray for quick healing and no dry sockets.

On a different, yet similar note: The wisdom teeth extraction has put a little hitch in my new running giddy-up. My new shoes are calling for me, but I fear I'm not recovered enough. I think I will take it easy this week until I talk to my oral surgeon on Friday. Hopefully by then I will be healed enough to go for a little jog and eat solid foods. This puree/semi-solid food business is for the birds. I am ready to eat all the foods I love.

Since the surgery I've had cravings for:

Fried potatoes
Bacon
Greasy cheeseburgers
All things crunchy - granola, fried chicken, chips, etc.
Pistachios
Drinking out of a straw (This one has basically broken my heart since day one. I love my straws.)

How was your weekend?

What foods do you crave when you know you can't have them?

Losing My Wisdom

On May 19, exactly one week and a day from now, I will be scared to death in a West Little Rock oral surgery chair. Yep, people. The wisdom teeth are coming out. And I fear it won't be pretty.

I've got a weird phobia of anything dental related thanks to a total kook dentist from Stuttgart who messed a root canal that I had to get redone. The only good thing that came out of that experience was a blinging gold tooth that showed up in numerous candid photos of me Freshman year.

Here is a sneak peak. I don't want to blind you with my former gansta tooth. But just wait. It gets better.

Before a UCA football game freshman year. Bling is getting more prominent. But brace yourself. It gets ugly.

And there it is. In all it's former glory. It's not even a pretty gold color. It's a shanky yellow gold. Thank goodness, it was just a temporary. Oh, the days of freshman year. Good times.

A lot of things have changed since freshman year. My hair is brown and longer, and that gold tooth is LONG gone. But the dental anxiety has remained.

In a week, I will go under the knife. All four of my wisdom teeth are impacted under my gums. And they are all sideways, pushing against the roots of my back molars.

While I'll be "asleep", it still makes me nervous. I should have never watched that stupid movie where the guy had surgery and could feel and hear everything, but not move or scream. That movie is vivid in my mind when I think about this minor operation.

I'm also freaked out because I could lose feeling in my face and lips. Yikes. Dang Dr. Woodard for showing me an informative, yet terrifying, video. But at least I'm educated about the process.

So pray for me and my mom who has to put up with me during that time. I'm sure it will be interesting to say the least. Maybe I will share a post-surgery swollen face photo. Or maybe I won't. I just depended on how scary I look.

Hope you enjoyed the flashback photos from Freshman year.

Until next time...

Nerves of Steel

Last Friday, I drove to Memphis to visit my oldest and dearest friend who is in dental hygiene school. I was so excited to see her since we hardly ever get to because school rules our lives.

I printed out directions because nobody wants to get lost in Memphis during rush hour traffic, and I set out for the even bigger city.

Now, Little Rock traffic is no biggie for me. I can pretty much navigate it with my eyes closed. People in Arkansas are pretty predictable as far as their driving habits are concerned: If it rains, we stop. If a car is pulled over on the shoulder with its flashers on, we stop. If state troopers are spotted, we slow way down as in 15-20 miles under the speed limit or stop. (I'm sure they hate that).If there are wrecks, we stop. Traffic will be bumper to bumper coming down 430 and 630 at 7:30 A.M. and 5 P.M. no matter what.

Memphis is a completely different ball game. My friend forgot to mention that I would be driving through the old Memphis. As I was getting off the old bridge, I had to exit immediately onto I-55 South going toward Jackson, MS. My handy-dandy Google map informed me that I was to take exit 289. First exit I saw was 7. I thought I had completely screwed up.

There were cars everywhere. The area was run-down and scary. There was an abandoned train yard to my left, where I'm sure someone was shot. On right were old warehouse buildings looking too much like gloom and doom. Not my cup of tea, especially when you don't know what you are getting into.

So I called my friend and started spitting out exit numbers and street names. She said, "I don't know the names of streets, Ashten. Just take exit 289." I said, "I just passed exit 3 this can't be right." She said, "Call Vicky!"

At the time, I didn't know Vicky was the Direction Queen. So I called my own personal version of a direction queen, my momma! Thankfully, she helped me figure out that I was on the right road going the right way. She told me there would be another place where I would have to merge and that I would start seeing signs for Southaven.

I did not realize that merging in this case would mean merging into crazy traffic with 8 lanes of pure hell. I hate the feeling of not knowing what to expect and then getting a BIG surprise when it happens. It felt like one of those times. Cars were zooming by me like I was sitting still, and clearly I wasn't. I was driving 70 with my hands at 10 and 2, praying the whole time I would get to my exit and not end up in a body bag. Seems a little over-dramatic, but seriously abandoned train yard....umm no thank you.

I'm surprised I didn't have a panic attack. And I don't have panic attacks, never have. It just seemed like the opportune time for me to have my very first one. Thankfully, I didn't, and I made it to her house without anymore major hang-ups.

Saturday was productive. My friend cleaned my teeth for four straight hours. Like I said, she is in school so she has to be meticulous and make sure she covers all the bases of a dental check and teeth cleaning. Although I got the flossing lecture, I was in pretty good shape. No cavities. Nice pearly whites.

She gave me dental sealants to prevent any future cavities in my uber-groovy molars. And then we went to eat, and then I found myself back on the road again.

Moral: I have nerves of steel.

Reasons I know this:

• I endured 6 hours of interstate driving to a place I had never driven before and survived the 8 lanes of terror. (BTW, the 8 lanes of terror should be a scary ride at Six Flags).
• I endured a 4 hour dental check up and teeth cleaning. Sidenote---it's safe to say I'm not fond of the dentist and all the teeth scraping. Hands down, one of the worst sounds ever.
• I did 4 days worth of homework in 2 days. This included a 2 question essay test (which turned out to 9 pages printed), a historical discussion paper and reading, a bibliography for a 25-page paper I haven't had time to work on, numerous reading assignments in all the classes, and the ever-dreaded online homework from hell.

Yep, nerves of steel people. Nerves of steel.

Sidenote----Notice the sweet subscribe bar I put on the page last week. If you enter your e-mail, all my posts will be sent straight to your inbox. Pretty schnazzy! Check it out.