The Anti-Running Runner

Yes, it's mid-November and I'm just getting around to the Halloween Halfathon. In a nutshell, Team Hea and Bria had a blast! Before: Pumped up and ready to go! I'm Wonder Woman (the lazy version), Hea is a cat After: We did awesome! Mike helped us keep a good pace We finished faster than I expected: 2:17:52 chip time. That includes a bathroom stop. We averaged 10:37 mins/mile. I'm really happy about that! Because Mike came as support, he helped push Hea and I along perhaps a bit faster than if he hadn't been there. Not too bad, though. Mile 11 was the longest of all (strange how that works), but we still managed a strong finish. Hubby brought Lance to cheer, but I had told him to expect us no sooner than 2:25. Thinking he was early, he showed up literally one minute after we finished. But he did capture the above photo of all three of us. One of the best things about this race (besides the wonderful organization, fun medals, and route through Ft....

Today, Lance (my dog) and I got up and ran three miles. We do a certain route that involves circling the big park near our house and some running through neighborhoods. At one point, I thought Lance could run without his gentle leader. Gentle leader. You can barely see it, but there's a silver river hanging down where leash attaches. However, as soon as I took it off, he slipped his collar. I tried walking on and calling him after me, which often works, but he decided to play keep away. Of course, this made me nervous. Thankfully, we weren't beside a busy road. He stayed in the grass, and soon had to pee. When he squatted, I darted up and got the collar and leash back on. Disaster averted! That is until we finished. In the vlog, I explain our next disaster. Thank you, Jesus, that the iTouch could pick up our wifi outside! Hubby came home and saved the day. Next time, I'm tying the key to my shoelaces.

As described in my profile, I'm not only a runner but also a writer. Some of you may have visited my writing blog , but for those who haven't, I'm taking a tangent from running chat to announce my first e-book publication. I have two wild and crazy pets who are so adorable and fun. Lance is an English Springer Spaniel and Ringo is a long-haired domestic cat. A few months ago, I started writing fictionalized short stories from their perspective. I started a blog to promote the stories. Contest: Right now, I'm running the first contest on the Lance & Ringo Tails  blog. Click the link, post a comment anywhere on that blog, and you'll be to entered to win a set of handmade bookmarks. Tail One: The first story is available now. Click the title to purchase for $0.99 in the Kindle Store. Amazon Prime members can borrow for free. O Brother, What Art Thou?  I'm already working on Tail Two and having a ton of fun with these stories. I hope to have a...

Verse speaking to me: 1 Corinthians 9:26 Song speaking to me: Starálfur by Sigur Rós Today, the goal was twelve miles after work. My last twelve before St. Pete Rock N Roll Half. Thursday is not my early day, so hubby asked me to be careful running downtown. Inevitably, it would be dark when I finished. I estimated 7pm so he'd have an idea when to expect the call with a panting, "dun." He's got good reason for concern, as you will see later in the post. I don't even know if I can describe what happened. The entire experience was surreal. I started out kinda fast for me. Then I thought, just go with it. Maybe you can finish quicker, less running in the dark. If not, whatever. I'd slow down when I needed to. The weird thing is, I didn't need to. It was almost out-of-body, but not quite. I felt the visceral experience that is a runner's high, and I LIKED IT. Even when I got home, it didn't go away. So naturally, I made a video of my runner...

I'm trying to remember the last time I woke up early enough to run before work. A year ago, maybe more. There was a time when I got up three times a week at five am to run before work. Something happened. I just can't do it anymore. I get up to run races that start early of course, but if I run in the morning, it's on Saturday at seven am or later. The norm for me is to change after work and run downtown from the parking garage. If I go home intending to run, I may not want to get off the couch. Yesterday, I decided to wake up at 5:45 am so I could jog with Lance. He spent almost as many hours as hubby and I in the car during our trip to Georgia last weekend (visited sister and went to a wedding). He is such a good car riding dog, but he didn't get much exercise.  Lance and Ringo like to snuggle in the backseat  Hubby and I both had to work during the day yesterday. Even though our pet sitt...

After my one four-day running week, I've had two weeks in a row where I only ran two days. Talking to hubby, I don't think we'll be able to do Hood 2 Coast for a couple more years. I still haven't done any meal planning. I'm failing at my goals already. I could come up with all sorts of excuses. Bathroom project, which I have very little to do with, but it has affected things in the house such as making me obsessed with sweeping. Went out of town for Easter. Out of town most of last week until Sunday for a wedding that I was in. In less than a month, two more weddings to attend, both out of state. Late nights, no desire to get up early. Don't usually anyway. Went straight from Fall to Summer here this year and it's getting really hot already. Animals. Love them but they take up time.  Lance says, "Mleh."  If I stop and think too much about it, I could get overwhelmed about my goals and plans. I like being organized, and these d...

I had such a pleasant and enjoyable 5K Sunday morning with the Race for the Greys. The only downside was losing that hour of sleep. And, sadly, I didn't bring Lance but ended up wishing I had. Because hubby couldn't come, I wasn't very comfortable running Lance in a race with other dogs. He's never done that before, but I realize now that it would have been fine. Seminole Lake Park is beautiful, and I hope to bring Lance to run the trails another time. It was a casual and friendly atmosphere. The race began with a volunteer shouting, "Ready, set, go!" after explaining the course. "Follow the yellow ribbons" was pretty much all I heard. The trails in the park did a lot of winding, which I enjoy in a race. I actually passed about five people, which is not the norm for me. I'm usually the one getting passed! I started out slow to see how I would feel, probably an 11-minute mile average to start, and eventually I must have increased to something b...

Next Saturday, I'll be doing the Gasparilla 15K with my hubby, his coworker, and his coworker's wife. I'm excited to be doing less than a half this time. I'm also excited that my husband's coworker talked him into the race because he's not a fan of road races, which he considers boring, so he rarely runs them with me. Today I plan to run around 6 or 7 miles, and maybe a few shorter runs next week. I'm enjoying the cooler winter weather and I hope it will stick around longer this year. By April last year, it was hot and didn't really cool down again until the end of October. Don't get me wrong, I love the heat, but training in it can be a challenge. The following Saturday after that, Team Hea and Bria will be doing the Race for the Greys 5K. I'm looking forward to that and still debating whether to bring Lance along. He's a good runner, but I worry about how he'll behave in a large crowd of dogs if hubby is not able to come. So we...

I'm singing it to the tune of "Cel-e-bra-tion!" Another benefit of the iTouch: it comes with a free Nike+ app. Today, I calibrated my new sensor (separate purchase from Best Buy) with the Nike+ app, which means I can track my distances and know for sure that I went ten miles in Georgia! Which I didn't....because I didn't have the iTouch or the sensor yet. But the next time I'm up there, I will know for sure. Or anywhere for that matter. It began with googling "how to put a Nike+ sensor in a non Nike shoe" and of course somebody had a solution for me. Items needed: one of my running shoes, the sensor (19.99 at Best Buy), unknown number of safety pins (I only ended up needing two smaller ones), fabric scissors. Begin with a small snip using the fabric scissors. Carefully, cut the hole wider, but not too wide. Open the box and take out the little sensor guy (read instructions later). See if your hole is big enough......

Today, I ran the Sunrise Run 5K with my husband and our dog, Lance. We had a lot of fun running with so many people we knew from Faith Covenant and other local churches. Karen VanderPloeg has said this is her last year to head up this race and I hope someone will be able to take over the reins for future years. At the award ceremony, Lorraine Yaslowitz, who ran the 1K with Karen, was honored with a medal and a plaque for her faith and testimony after her husband, K-9 Officer Jeff Yaslowitz, was killed in the line of duty. My husband knew Jeff from the SWAT team and it has been incredible to hear Lorraine's message of hope and to hear her unwavering faith in the wake of the horrible tragedy when her husband and another officer, Tom Baitinger, were gunned down earlier this year. A month later, another officer, David Crawford, was killed in the line of duty. They paid the greatest price, and it makes me think and pray often for my husband while he is on duty. I know so many friends...