I love swimming!!!

Finally, I got to go swimming again. I think I have skipped at least two weeks so it was a treat. Decided to swim longer and skip the weights, don't know why--bored with the weights, maybe???? And I have to do the weights first because who wants to go into the weight room in a wet swimsuit with wet stringy hair? And, if I do weights first, my arms are a little sore and tired when I start swimming. Part of my plan was thwarted though. I have a weird tan on my back from swimming in Speedo swimsuit and a couple of the weird tops I run in. So, because of the wedding and my vanity, I wanted to get rid of the X marks on my back. So, I wore a regular swimsuit with "normal" straps. When I got to the Courhouse, there was a sign on the door saying that the outdoor pool was closed for maintenance!!!! So, I swam indoors which is usually miserably hot in the summer but was nice and cool today. And then I went and laid out for ten minutes on my stomach to get some sun on my back. But, I have noticed the water in the outdoor pool getting murky and gross so I guess it's for the best that they are doing something about it! Computers still screwed up today at work so you guys pray for me that they get fixed or I will have to cancel my trip to NY and work in the office instead this weekend.

The Good and the Bad

I'm at work, goofing off now for the past 2.5 hours. All of our work is computerized and the connection to the national Social Security network is messed up. And I do mean MESSED UP BIGTIME! Yesterday it worked slowly and erratically but today it will not work at all. Now, if I was salaried and being paid anyway, I guess I wouldn't mind but I get paid by the piece for each case that I do each day. So I am earning exactly zero dollars today!!!! Just after I mailed all the rehearsal dinner invitations for my son's wedding, here I come and cannot make a living to help pay for this wedding.

Now, for the good. I do love goofing off, especially on the computer. So I've been looking at all of my emails and blogs and websites. Which is fun but even this is getting boring now. And we usually are supposed to limit our time on the internet but I don't think they can say anything to us today. It is weird that the internet works but not the intranet. The intranet is what they call our network with Social Security upon which all of our work and data are stored.

I've read some baby blogs, gone to the John the Penguin site, gone to the best workout music workout site. But, I can't download anything on this computer so can't work on workout music for me. Much more of this and I'll go home and goof off on my own computer!!!!

Did I tell you guys yesterday that I have a new granddog????? I love animals so this makes me happy and I can't wait to get to see him. Problem is, he lives in California with my son and his wife so I may have to wait a while. I am leaving Friday to go to New York to see my other son and his fiance and work out final details on the rehearsal dinner. The game plan is for me to run my 16 miler on Sunday in New York as the timing doesn't work out on Saturday when Benjamin and Lauren are going into town to meet with the photographer to get to know him and then out to lunch. And, of course, Mom would like to tag along. Country girl goes to town!

Continuing Lawn Mower Saga and missed my bike ride!

I had a great run yesterday. Felt good and strong and didn't break down along the way except maybe during the long uphill stretch. And, just think, we did 8 instead of 9! Aren't we tough? Wouldn't you know Homer forgot to doublecheck the mileage since he was sidelined with an injury? But we did it and all the better and tougher for it. I felt good yesterday and woke up at 6 this morning disappointed to see the sky and hear the thunder. However, I was very exhausted today and hung in bed for a LONG time. Then, I worked on some wedding stuff, and then I went and bought a new lawnmower since I took the old one to be fixed after the run, got home, and it was worse off than every. The new LawnBoy more is awesome and much easier to push than the other one. I think I'm gonna contact them and suggest a new marketing tool for them! I justified spending the money on my second lawnmower in less than 12 months because it is an cross training tool for me!

I hope I can either ride my bike or swim tomorrow. I have given up running on Mondays as my body can't take running two days in a row.

Blog blahs

Mandy says she's having trouble thinking of blogs. It looks like she isn't the only one because there haven't been too many the last couple of days. Maybe we should blog about what we are eating today in preparation for our long run tomorrow! Or what we have planned for the weekend???? Or what we think about, was it Christa, getting thrown off of her own treadmill???? I can't even think of anything to say either--this is getting bad, huh?

Getting ready for cold weather

Now, I'll bet that title gave you a start, didn't it? Meanwhile at least one of us (me) is sweating like a pig on every run she takes. But, I am worrying about what I am going to wear in the Twin Cities Marathon. Sally says it won't be "that" cold because they don't usually have their first frost until Halloween but I am leery of trusting the weather like that. Just thinking of the difference in the temp in the two years I ran Chicago has me pondering what I'm gonna wear. I've run in two or three cold races and I was a little chilly. You don't realize how much ventilation is built into these running shoes until you run in the winter and feel that cold breeze on your toes! And, despite having 5 layers on my torso and being fairly warm in most places, my fingers were frozen in the half marathon in 12/05. I've read somewhere that there is something you can put on your shoes to keep out the breeze so I need to find out what it is. And, someone told me my hands would be much warmer if I wore mittens rather than gloves so I need to look for some of those. He was a guy who grew up near Chicago and ran frequently, and, when it was real cold, he wore ski gloves to run in.

I'm not trying to get you guys to worry because I'm figuring Chicago will be a bit warmer than Minneapolis, don't you think? And last year in Chicago when it was so cold, the marathon was about two weeks later than it is this year so all should be fine with layers. Minneapolis just seems like it is much farther north but I'd better go look at a map.

God gave me an extra day of rest

My plan for today was to swim. No weights. Wanted to see if it was the swimming or the weights or the combo of the two that made my back so sore a couple of weeks ago. I decided not to set the alarm clock as I worked til 930 last night. I woke up to the sound of thunder. Dozed off again and thought I might bike instead but still was hearing thunder. Then looked outside and saw the ominous clouds so I decided that I should snooze a little longer, take it easy, and MAYBE swim tonight? I am tired so maybe this is a good thing--a little more rest never hurt anybody, right?

I missed my friends. I had a nice time getting away in Dallas but didn't get to read your blogs or run with you on Saturday. Or even maybe get in a bike ride early this morning. Mind you, I probably needed a change of pace. I did nothing on Wednesday and most likely will do nothing today but will be back in the saddle tomorrow, I presume! Must mow the yard at some point.

I did run/walk around 5 miles Thurday morning in Dallas. It was overcast so not too hot even though I started later than I should have. Saturday was a different story, about the heat, for sure. The plan was to drive out to White Rock Lake and do the 15 out there. There is a Marathon in Dallas by that name so it sounded like a plan. It's only 9 miles around the lake so I new I'd have to figure out how to do more. And, they said they had a group run beginning at 7 am but I didn't want to start that late as I HATE the heat. But, I failed to reset the alarm on my phone from the Sunday before and didn't even wake up until 615 am!!!! And, White Rock was 39 minutes away! But, I was determined to get it done so off we went. I had found an old Jeff Gallaway book of mine and I reread it on the plane and in Dallas and it was truly very helpful to me. Mainly about doing the LSD--Long Slow Distance, that is. I know, Mark has been preaching about that to us but it was going in one of my ears and out the other. But, I had been having the awful back pain which got really terrible earlier this past week so I wanted to take it easy so I could finish the mileage. And, I knew it was going to be hot and lonely out there, and tempting to stop once I got around the 9 mile lake. So I ran as slow as I could. And, I took in more calories than I usually do--ate PowerBar during the first hour, and then had a gel and Sport Beans. And Endurox recovery drink when it was all over.

So, I did it slow and easy. And, amazingly, I felt SO much better as I ran. Almost no soreness in my legs and very little shortness of breath. And then the heat began to mount. I wanted to do 5:1 intervals for the first 9 miles but gave up around mile 8. Wasn't even able to do 2:1's. Almost went in the men's bathroom but caught myself JUST in time! Made it back to my starting point, got a new bottle of Propel and decided I would walk the last 6 miles. We decided to try to walk with the dogs which I thought was fine until I realized that I was way ahead with the ShihTzu and couldn't find Howard and the Golden Retriever. This fiesty little ShihTzu wanted to run and keep up with all the bikes on the trail. So, we turned around and found that the tired, pleasantly plump Golden Retriever was resisting moving and had plopped down in the middle of the trail, much to the chagrin of the many runners and bikers. So, I forged back on to the trail alone. I walked most of it with a few jogs here and there when there was downhill or shade. And thank goodness for water fountains along the way as one bottle of Propel was about a third of what I needed. And they had sprayers that you could spray yourself with to cool down which was nice. So, I guess I finished about 11:15, proud, not too sore, with Howard saying it really wasn't that hot outside. Now, he was sitting in the car with the airconditioning on with the two dogs so I don't think he gets a vote on this one!

But, I was worried that I'd only do 9 miles and then feel compelled to try to do 15 sometime during this week so I'm VERY glad it is over and done with! And, I'm proud that all of you managed to do your 15 even in the rain! Actually, I think that the cooling effect of the rain may have been a blessing even if it did mess up your shoes. And my pretty new shoes got messed up, too, as there were segments of the path at White Rock that were muddy and under water and I had to slosh through to get around the low spots. Shoes and socks not looking so good. But, it is an awesome place to run--really two roads and a path to choose to run, walk, or bike on but it was FULLL of people and a little scary with many, many bikes.

I think I am a Mississippi girl, through and through!