St. Jude, Here I Come

Happy September, Friends!!!

I hope everyone tries to get involved with some local efforts to raise awareness for childhood cancer. September is the month to do this. If you want ways to get involved, feel free to ask me. I know plenty of ways to get plugged in.

I went for a run last night. Three easy miles. But it was different than a normal three mile run because it was the first run of my half marathon training plan. Can you believe it's already time to start training? Y'all I have to get my mind right and wrapped around this.

Here are my stats:

Distance: 3 miles

Time: 38:48

Best pace: 11:04

Average pace: 12:56

Calories: 283

Now let me explain these stats. This three mile easy run was suppose to be my long run for the weekend. So long runs can be at whatever pace you feel comfortable so can get through the miles. Don't worry there will be plenty of speedwork and hill work in this training plan.

But last night it was 97 degrees when I got out of my car to stretch at 7 p.m. I guess I haven't been taking advantage of these cooler warm days the last few weeks. 97 degrees when the sun is setting. Wow. But I had to run.

A half mile into my run my legs felt like lead. Heavy. Not fun to pick up and put back down. Then I started to loosen up. I felt good. Nearing mile 1 I thought maybe I should keep going and run to 1.5 before taking a one-minute walk break. Something said don't over do it. So I took the break at mile one.

At the turn around point (mile 1.5), I felt good. Hot, but good. I turned around and headed back toward my car.

I need to mention I start all runs running away from the sun as it's setting so I can run in the cooler, less hot sun on the way back when I'm more tired. It's a very good theory. Really.

So I turned around at 1.5 miles to face the sun. My usual tactic. There was no breeze. The sun was relentless. At mile 2, I took my last one-minute walk break. I felt too hot. But I was determined to not quite on this silly 3 miler I'd run so many times before. How pitiful would it have been to quit a run on the first day of half marathon training? So pathetic.

The last mile was terrible, mentally terrible. My body felt good. Stride was good. Breathing felt normal. Not gasping for breath. But my brain was messing with me something fierce. And did I mention the heat. My head literally got so hot. At one point I thought it may explode from the unbelievable hotness that was put off from the shining ball of lava in the sky.

Lesson from the run: Stop being a pansy. I need to become mentally tougher. And the only way to do that is more running. Which I see a lot of in my future.

All in all, I'd call it a victory in the running books. I didn't stop, aside from my two one-minute walk breaks at each mile. And I worked through the lead legs and mental meltdown.

Tomorrow (Tuesday, September 4) I will run a two mile fartlek. Fartlek is just a fancy word for speedwork. Not at all to be misconstrued with passing gas or bowel problems of any kind. My plan is one minute fast jog, one minute slow jog, one minute fast jog, one minute walk over the course of two miles.

I have a feeling it's going to be another hot one. And I don't think running in the morning or evening will really matter. Hot is hot.

Tell me about your weekend?

Let's Play Catch Up

After our run last night, I was blessed to see this sight. Pictures don't do it justice, but it is still really beautiful.

How is it on the hottest day of the year so far we decided to run? Not kidding it was hot. My phone said one thing, but Todd said another.

Yeah you read that right. 106 in Little Rock yesterday with a heat index of 120. HOT as H. It was so hot that we changed our running routine from this

To this.

But it was perfect. Hot, but perfect. Not too much to handle in the blazing heat. Logan, the roommate and I had a lot of good conversation since we had a very entertaining weekend.

A weekend consisting of a very late night out, an insanely d-baggish of a boy throwing around weird phrasing that included "raging" (whatever that means) and a detrimental phone number exchange. But that is a whole other blog post. (Don't worry...It's coming soon with all its gory details.)

On a different note, I finally got my madre's Garmin running watch. That thing is the bomb.com for realz. We used it when we did the 10.3.10 run, and here are some of the roommate and my stats.

33:00 minute run. 2.37 miles. 11:30 - 13:00 pace. Hot as H. It told me a lot of other stuff I just can't remember what it said. But I loved not having to hold anything while running. I usually carry my iPhone with me so we can listen to Todd (the voice on my Couch to 5K app...Yes I named him Todd.) tell us when to run and walk.

But with Todd becoming less frequent of a character during our runs (since we barely walk anymore), I loved having my hands free to keep sweat from stinging my eyes.

But before we ran with the Garmin, the roommate and I ran the Big Dam Bridge for the first time since we started this whole thing.

We ran all the way to the other side and then some.

Then we ran back.

And on a really random note, we saw the Griswolds' station wagon in the Heights neighborhood while trying to find an easier way to the Big Dam Bridge on the Little Rock side.

I think that makes for a pretty good day. Or I should say past couple of days. Or weekend. Whatever.

Hope y'all have a Happy Happy Wednesday.

A Slow Down

I'm gonna tell you that I have truly lost all motivation to complete the rest of this semester of graduate school. My brain is so tired, and I've found myself much rather wanting to do other stuff. I hate to say that school has taken a backseat to procrastination, but it has.

Case in point: Last night, I got home from work and sat down a few minutes before starting dinner. Around 6:15 P.M. I started cutting up sweet potatoes for homemade sweet potato fries. And let me just say how extremely difficult sweet potatoes are to cut up. I was using the biggest knife I had along with all the muscle I had, and those babies barely got cut into fries.

After putting those in the oven, I started on the main course. Cheeseburger flatbread melts, c/o Kevin and Amanda. You can get the recipe here. When everything was finished, I sat down to eat. The cheeseburger melts were TO DIE FOR GOOD. I could not have asked for a more satisfying meal. It was so tasty and savory. You should totally make them. So easy.

My sweet potato fries did not fair quite as well. I think it will take me a little time to perfect my baking process. Some of my fries were too small so when they cooked they were EXTRA crunchy. But in my defense, some of them turned out perfect. Sweet potato fries, for me, could be better than real fries. I love the added flavor that you don't get in a real french fry. And it's an added bonus because sweet potatoes are naturally flavorful and good for you. So I'm not complaining.

After all the hard work of cooking, I sat down and fell asleep. Not for a few minutes, but for an hour. Can you say old lady? I've gotten to the point where I can fall asleep, and then wake up not knowing how it happened. The hallmark of old age is setting in at the ripe age of 23. Ekk.

I have to admit I've missed cooking quite a bit. I forgot how good it feels to make food. Food that makes the whole house smell delicious. I can't wait for it to become part of my daily routine again. I'm so tired of eating out and having Smart Ones for dinner. But when class gets out at 9 P.M. not much cooking can be done.

So I wait patiently for May 13, the end of my first year of graduate school. It always goes back to that. My life revolves around school and homework. And that is the cold, hard truth. My decisions are made based on school and homework, and I think I've reached the point where I don't want that anymore. Partly because it's the end of the semester, and partly because I resent the whole thing for taking over my life. But enough of that, I'm halfway done. And I'm thankful for the opportunity, but it's hard to see the forest when you've been staring at individual trees for a year. Har Har.

But on to the next. I will make it work for nine more days. I will keep moving forward...maybe just not as quickly as I was in the beginning of the semester. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Take it one assignment at a time. Keep ever moving forward.

Until next time...