I'm Dreaming......

Yes - that is her in all her glory...Carnival Dream.....and in 7 short days my butt is going to be on there for 7 days with my hubby and a few friends! No children, no dogs, no boss, no phone.........Sounds like a dream!!! Can't wait!!

Quick Update!!

I just realized today that I have neglected my little blog on life's daily adventures! I am sorry, but between working, crafting, training and just life in general, I seem to have a lot of things slipping through the cracks lately!

However - I have not given up on this running yet. In the past two weeks since my last post, I have managed to continue getting in a few runs per week when the weather cooperated. However between 100 degree weather and lots of run, that has been tricky.

Last Saturday, which was DAY 53 of training, I met the team for our regular Saturday morning run and managed a 6 mile run at a 16 minute/mile pace. Even little J went with me and managed out the 6 miles! He now says he will go with me this coming weekend for an "easy 4 mile run". We shall see if he sticks to that plan...... I can say that on Saturday I was able to complete my 6 miles without too much pain and for the first time was able to say "I think I can actually do this!". So...I am looking forward to the next 10 weeks of training to get me to the Finish Line!


On Sunday, July 11, I hosted my First Annual "Get Tee'd Off at Leukemia" Golf Tournament and it was a huge success! I'll try to post some pictures later. Had 15 four-man teams come out for a great Captain's Choice tournament at Miler Country Club where they were given free beer, soda and water and even a cookout lunch following the tournament. Everyone seemed to have a great time and several asked "When are you doing this again?"

Thanks to everyone that came out and helped me run this tournament and especially for those that played the tournament and helps to support this great cause!

Tina

Thought this was supposed to get easier???

Here it is....day 40 of training for this half-marathon and it seems to be getting harder than easier. I know what you are thinking? "Tina - today is Sunday - which is always a "Day of Rest" on your training schedule - why is that hard?" Well, I'll tell you why. I did not feel good all day Friday and Friday evening, so I ended up sleeping in on Saturday and not going to the team run as usual. So, I figured since I technically had my "day of rest" on Saturday, I couldn't be lazy today and I really needed to get up and make up that 6 MILE RUN that I was supposed to have done yesterday.

So.....I woke up at 6:45 a.m., laced up my tennies and headed out. I had it all figured out - I would run out a mile from home and run back for a "water stop" at the end of my driveway (where I had set up a water bottle for a quick "run by" later). Then after my little water break, I would head back out and do another 2 miles and stop for another water break, and then wrap it up with another 2 miles. Sounds like a good plan, huh? Well I walked and walked ( just could not muster up the strength to run at this point) to what I thought was the "1 mile mark" and thought I was going to die by the time I got there. It took me 24 minutes, wherein usually a mile takes me about 15-17 minutes. So, I was like "Wow, that must have been more than a mile, I clearly miscalculated". I turned around and ran/walked back to the house and it took me 18 minutes to get back but I took a little detour through a cut road because I was dyeing of thirst. When I stopped to get water I thought my feet were going to bust right out of my shoes they hurt so bad.

I have came to the conclusion that the reason I have such pain when I walk/run at home is because when they paved the roads in our neighborhood they paved them at a significant slant where the road actually "peaks" in the middle and then slants down to both edges of the road. So, when I walk, I feel like I am leaning. I swear this is putting strain on my legs that I should not be having. I could be wrong, but this is what I am thinking since I dont have the same issues when I walk/run downtown. (When I walk/run downtown, I simply have the "Oh my god, I am out of shape and too old to do this type pain.......not the oh, god, my feet are going to shoot off the bottom of my legs pain that I experience at home.....just to clarify).

Anyhoo, by this time, I had convinced myself if I tried to go back out for another 2 miles I would end up collapsing. This would not be good since by the time my family woke up around noon and realized I had not made it back home, I would have surely been left for dead on the side of the road from heat exhaustion and dehydration. Because of this thought, I only made it 2 miles today instead of the 6 I had so graciously planned the night before. There is always tomorrow I guess.

Today is your birthday! It's my birthday too!!!

Well, OK.....it may not exactly be your birthday - - but it is MINE!! I love birthdays! I am of the assumption you get to celebrate your birthday the entire WEEK of your birthday, and not just the one day. After all, you have to get in as many free lunches/dinners you can possibly get right?! :)




Anyhoo, to my surprise (and everyone else in my office) my boss decided he wanted to get me a birthday cake for my birthday. Doesn't it look yummy?

I know, the picture does not do it justice since I had to use my phone to take the pic. But, trust me.....it was a toasted Coconut cake and it was scrumptious!

Me and a coworker went to lunch today for my birthday and then came back to the office and pigged out on cake! :) Most of the others in our office "save their extra calories for wine" so they said, so needless to say me and Jillian had a lot of cake to share - but we didn't mind! We had breakfast and snack for the rest of the week!

Me and the family did not do anything special for my birthday today since we have planned to go out to eat tomorrow night since that day worked better for everyones schedule. I didn't mind, that gave me more time at home to eat some more cake tonight! My thought was - cake is carbs and carbs are good for running -right?! That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Tina

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the great dads out there!

Today, me and Jeff slept in as much as we possibly could with three dogs in the house. I swear every morning we are able to sleep in, it seems like the dogs need to go potty a lot earlier than normal. Lucky for me, Jeff let me sleep in and he took care of the early morning potty break today since he knew I was flat exhausted from yesterday.

Then, even though it was Father's Day, Jeff got up and treated us to some homemade pancakes. Guess I should have made them since it was Father's Day and all, but they taste so much better when someone else makes them, don't you think?!

Today, day 33 of training, was a "rest day" so I was not required to run, walk, ride a bicycle or anything, which was good since my legs were wobbly from yesterday's run. "Rest Days" have quickly became my favorite day of the week! :) However, today being "Grocery Day" as well, we did make our normal run to the grocery store and grabbed all the deals for the week. We did pretty good, spending about $80 for right at $140 worth of groceries, so not a bad trip after all.

Then, I was pleased as punch when he suggested we go to Outback for dinner!!!! Outback is not one of Jeff's favorite places - - in fact, we have never been since we met back in 2007!! So, when he suggested it, I jumped on the chance faster than white on rice!!

Of course since it was Father's Day we had to wait about 50 minutes, but it was SOOOOO worth it. The best part you ask?????? Was this...............

Sidney's Sinful Sundae!!!!! It has to be hands down the best dessert I have ever had. I was completely stuffed after eating the Bloomin' Onion, the salad, and dinner, but I was not leaving Outback without having this dessert since it may be another 3 years before he is willing to go back!

We have our "Nutrition Counseling" with the TNT members this week. I am sure they will tell me this should not be on my diet for marathon training, but guess what? TOO BAD! I cannot wait to go back and have another already! Hubby almost thought I was going to pick up the bowl and lick the melted ice cream off the bottom, but I did hold back. :) - - barely.

Have a great week!

Tina

Another "Normal" Saturday Morning!

Day 32 of training and now I guess I can say this is my "Normal" Saturday morning routine: Up at 4:45 a.m., Run at 6:00 a.m. and then breakfast at Brueggers Bagels with the team! Two weeks in a row I have been up for this challenge and also managed to keep a smile on my face throughout the day with the family. Anyone that knows me, knows that I am NOT a morning person at all so for me to get up this early and not bite everyone's head off that I come in contact with is really something to brag about!

This week we did another 4 mile run, (4.4 miles to be exact). Was able to do this in just over 1 hour 10 minutes again for an approximate 17 minutes per mile pace. At least I have now slowed down! Still having some pain in my shins, but it is getting better. Out of the hour or so I was walking/running, this time I was able to get in a solid 30 minutes of running so I was pleased with myself. I did experience some foot numbness about halfway through but they loosened my laces and I was good to go. Tonight my hubby very affectionately told me my feet were "fat" today (swollen) which I guess is why my laces started strangling my feet halfway through my run.

As we do every Saturday morning, some of the team members headed over to Brueggers for bagels after our run which is always a good time and a good way for us slow runners to actually get to chat with the fast and longer distance runners since we really don't get to see much of them on the run route after about the first 30 seconds.

Once I got home from the run, I had a children's class scheduled for the kids to come over and make Father's Day cards and a gift for dad. The girls made a cute card with a little "King of the Grill" picture on the front and then made a bank that was filled with candy with a few cute sayings attached them. Such as the tootsie roll had a note that said "because you make me roll with laughter"; the Pay Day candy bar said "because you work so hard for us" and the M&Ms packages said "because I love you More & More each day". The kids enjoyed making them and I am sure the dads enjoyed eating all the candy - which I am sure the girls helped with that too! Although I love to teaching the classes, not sure I can keep up this pace of getting up bright and early, running, and then coming home to teach a class. Got to fit in a nap somewhere in there!

Then, Saturday night my cousin Joe was in town from California so we all met up at my mom's and had a nice visit chatting and catching up. By the time we chatted for a couple of hours, I was flat out exhausted and hit the road to head back home for a well deserved full night of sleep!

This running thing seems to be getting a LITTLE easier, but I still have a long ways to go to be able to complete the 13.1 mile journey in October. But, I will do it!

Tina

Me and Arthur Ravenel

the Arthur Ravenel Bridge that is! Yes, here on Day 28 of my training, someone on the team - not mentioning any names - had the bright idea that was it was time to go run the bridge for our run tonight! Ok, you twisted my arm, it was Owen that came up with this bright idea and I let him know that he was not allowed to pick the running paths anymore!

Tonight we had a team meeting over at a physical therapy clinic in Mt. Pleasant to go over different injuries and injury prevention techniques to prepare everyone for their martahons and triathlons. It was interesting and I learned a few different things while there. There was no actual "team run" scheduled for this evening, however about 6 of us came ready to run and decided to head over to the bridge to see what we could do.

Our schedule was to run 3 miles tonight and me and Kim did it - 3.1 actually so that qualified for a 5K! It was definitely a struggle for me to complete, but I did it. After all, once you go running up what seemed to be a 90 degree incline you had to come back down right?! We got yelled at only once for walking in the bike lane, but luckily I was not actually passed out in the bike lane and able to get back over in the proper running/walking lane! :)

Finished it in about 55 minutes for another 17 minute per mile pace. It felt more like 2 hours, so I was pleased as punch when Kim's snazzy little running watch said we did maintain 17 minutes per mile. She is still promising that in another two weeks this running will get easier. We shall see.......

Tomorrow is another cardio day for me so me and hubby will once again head out on the Sawmill Branch Trail to ride our bikes for at least 3 miles. For tonight though, my pillow is calling my name!

Have a great week!

Tina