7 Years Later...

7 years ago tonight, I married the man of my dreams, my best friend. We have been through a lot together and I wouldn't change a thing!

7 years later and we're happier than ever!! I can't wait until we're really old and showing our great great great grand kids these photos (ok, maybe not so many greats). 

Enough of the sappy stuff, I am continuing to train for my "fast" 5k later this year. It was about 81 degrees and  a little breezy...the prefect summer afternoon running weather. When I looked down at my watch, this is what I saw...

You may think it's a re-used picture, but it's not. It's a completely different photo than last week, even though I finished at the same exact time, to the second. Crazy stuff.

I was surprised how well I did last night, my legs were so tired from the hike this weekend. 

Have you ever finished a race or a run at exactly the same time as one before?

Reason to Celebrate!!

This weekend, Jason & I celebrated our anniversary (it's really Tuesday). We went to Lake Tahoe and hiked around. The day started freezing cold, windy and rainy. But ended up really nice!

Most of the trail was pretty rocky and very loose. We still had fun hiking the "strenuous" 2 miles up. I wouldn't really call this hike strenuous, it was difficult, but not too bad. We've had more difficult hikes. 

This wasn't the trail, just the side view. Lots of sun, trees, dirt, rocks and fresh air!

The end of the hike was to Angora Lake. We could have parked right next to the lake, but what's the fun in that? It was so cold and windy (at least it stopped raining) that there was no way we would be stepping foot in that lake. It was probably less than 50 degrees (which is a nice change from 100 back at home last week). They had paddle boats and paddle boards that you could rent. They even had a really small resorts (like 5 cabins) in case you wanted to stay. We didn't stop long, just enough to have a snack. It was too cold to stop moving, anyways.

We hiked the 2 miles back and needed to collect some rocks (we're building a rock wall in our backyard), so we had a look around. We found this crazy thing in one of the bushes. I touched it with a stick. It had a texture like a worn piece of sand paper and was really hard. I have no idea what it is. Anyone know?

After our collection was complete, we headed back into South Lake Tahoe for some much needed grub! I saw these guys waiting to take someone on an awesome stroll through the city.

Our main destination: McP's Pub. Right across the street from Heavenly. We try to come here at least once a year (it's 2 hours away, so not that bad). They always have great beer, awesome nachos (that fill up both of us after a big hike) and good service!

Afterwards, we walked around the strip and into some casinos (we didn't win anything) and ended up in an arcade. I love air hockey, even though I may not be great at it (I always lose to Jason). I love it anyways!

It was getting late, and we were tired, so it was time to make that 2 hour drive home. Once we got home, we crashed hard. It was a great way to spend our anniversary and I can't wait for many more!!

Do you have a place you go to every year?

A Little This & That & Running in 20 Degrees Cooler!!!

I checked the weather before I left work yesterday. I really didn't want to run in the heat for the 3rd day in a row (I went to the gym Monday). I would have gone anyways, just didn't have my heart into it. 

When the weather popped up on my screen, I let out a little scream. When  I left, it was only 78 degrees. That's a 20 degrees drop! I was so happy!! I think my time really shows it. It's about a 4 minute time difference. 

I am realizing that out of shape for a 5k. I'm in shape for a half marathon. For the people that are not aware, during a half marathon, you need to pace yourself in order to not hit a wall too early in the race. You want to finish, but not leave anything in the tank. For a 5k, since it's such a short race, you really need to push yourself the entire race. There's no slowing down, no easing into it. Once you start, you should keep going faster. 

Now I know where I am truly starting and I am happy with that time, I just have a lot of work to do. I need to take about 4 minutes off this time. I can do it, not easily, but it will get done!! Can you tell I'm looking forward to it (even in the heat and wind)?

If you look close, you can see my hair flying away. So, I did have some nice wind pushing me forward. This was such a nice change from yesterdays run. I love these days. There was once a time when I thought running in 80 degrees was torture. Not any more! I'll run in 80 degrees any day!!

I received some good comments on yesterday's and Wednesday's posts, and it really made me feel loved. It is so encouraging when you have a good group of friends around to keep you motivated. I love knowing that I'm not doing this alone! Thank you guys so much for reading and keep commenting. There are days when I really need those kind of comments and it really does help!! Love you all!! Enough mushing stuff...

Here are some random things:

Did you know: "Prior to 1908, the Marathon distance was 24.85 miles, the exact distance Phidippides ran during battle from Marathon to Athens. For the 1908 Olympics, the King of England changed that distance to 26.2 miles. Runners would start the race in front of Windsor Castle and finish at White City stadium, 385 yards where eventually added to stage a grand finish in front of Kind Edward VII's royal box. The 2012 London Olympics marks the homecoming of this Royal switcheroo, one that forever cemented the marathon distance at 26.2."(source)

"The statistics on sanity are that 1 out every 4 Americans is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your 3 best friends. If they're ok, then it's you." ~Rita Mae Brown (source)

Everyday I will keep posting my Garmin timed runs (5k) times. Do you wear your GPS often? If so, do you have a problem with always looking at it while you're running?

The Heat is On

Day 2 of training for my "fast" 5k. I didn't do as well as I'd hope, but I got it done. The heat is really killing me. My time today was 37.14 (I don't know why the photo turned out sideways). I was dragging the entire time. Before I left for my run, my body decided it didn't want to go. But, I didn't want to drive to the gym to spend 1/2 hour board on the tm. I dealt with the heat.

You may not be able to tell from the photo below, but it was about 97 out today with almost no breeze. 

I was drenched and ready to sit down somewhere cool. I'm very happy that I made myself go and I got what I needed done, done. 

Do you ever have one of those days where you can't wait until it's time to run, when it finally gets here, you don't want to go?

Running in the Heat

Last night, I had a really hot run on the schedule. It was about 96 +/- degrees. It was my first day of really training for a fast 5k later on in the year (after the Color Run in August). I have a route that is 3.16 miles and I wanted to see how I would normally run it without overly killing myself. 

Well, for the second day in a row, I had some pain under my jaw (shown in the picture) and it hurt when I would take in a deep breath, only while I ran. If I did my research correctly, it looks like it's the gland that makes saliva. My saliva is perfectly fine (even when I have this pain). It's not so bad, where I need to stop, but it causes some minor achiness. 

One thing that did cause me to stop was the fact that I did not freeze my hand held, like I have been. I had warm (aka tap) water while running and that was a major no-no. I think this caused me to have severe stomach cramps (when I shouldn't be having them). I had to stop and walk too many times. I hope things get better for tomorrows run. I think my body was in shock, because I got it use to the cooler temperatures and not running in hot weather, when I took last week off. The first thing I did when I got home was take off my shoes, and poured myself a huge glass of ice cold water and sat on the tile floor as my head stopped spinning.

All of these things need to stop, because I finally have a goal that I need to train for. My main goal is to run a 5k in under 30 minutes. I don't care if the official time is 29.59, I have met my goal with that time. So far, my best "official" time is 30.26. That is really good for me and I'm proud of that. Today's time was too embarrassing to even tell you. I'll give you a hint, it was something like 30% slower than that. 

Has anyone had of this stuff happen to them? Any unusual pains you've been having while running (or other forms of working out)? What's your 5k PR?

Week (Off) in Photos

As you may have noticed, I was pretty quite on the social media front this past week. The reason was that I had family from out of town that we don't get to see nearly enough. So, I took the week off of Facebooking, Twittering, Blogging and the most difficult one...running (and working out in general). It was well worth every moment. Here is what happened during my week:

I got to eat a lot of yummy food (some sort of nut crusted salmon with mashed potatoes and green beans).

Indoor Nerf gun fights

Water gun fights

Every type of ball you can imagine; baseball, football, kickball, soccer ball, etc.

Had a family photo shoot

I'm glad we had all the protection we needed!

There was also some relaxing

Lots of grass watering

Snuggling up with hubby

I spent an entire day dressed like a woman (not a huge salt lick with my hair in a pony tail)

Cute men were all around me

A lot waiting

Enjoying a day with a special bride and groom

Hanging out with grand parents (that live too far away)

Enjoying sunsets

Dancing and laughing too much

And watching my nephew dance with all the single ladies!

It was a busy, but relaxing week and I'm so glad I was able to spend it with the family we don't get to see. But, I'm glad to be back to normal. Now, it's time to get back on schedule. 

I hit up the gym last night and enjoyed some sprints and the stairs. It was an early night and I'm ready for my hot outdoor run tonight!

What did I miss from your week?

Gone Running

So, this is day one of upping my mileage. As you may remember, from yesterday's post, I was talking about running in only my sports bra today. Well, it was only in the low 80's, so, not warm enough to do so. That was close! But, for real, I will try that out as soon as it gets back in the upper 90's (which should be later this week). 

I had a friend join me for my run today. I got off of work early and snuck in a mile before meeting up. We ran 3.52 miles together, so I totaled 4.62 miles for the day. Yay!! I think this may have been my highest mileage since my 10 miler a few months ago. It felt great! We're going to do all this again tomorrow. 

My legs are feeling pretty good, especially after my killer workout yesterday. I warmed up with 10 minutes on the stairs, 3 miles of sprints at 9.5 (nope, I didn't break the machine, again), leg weights and ended my night with a 60 minute ripped class. I've found that the only diamonds this girl hates are in the form of push ups. I think we probably did 75  of them. Crazy stuff!! I already feel stronger, though. 

I need to find a 5k, I'm going to run one in under 30 minutes. As long as I see 29:59 or less, I'll be happy. This is my new goal. I'll probably race sometime near the end of the year (lots of happy personal stuff going on that I'll tell you about as they happen). So, training begins in a week.

What are your goals?

Upping Mileage with Only a Sports Bra

On Thursday, I went for an extremely hot run. It was about 96 out and I made it just under 3 miles (what I planned). I am a very self conscience person and I don't have the "perfect" body. I'm fine with that! When I got back to my car, the first thing I did (before drinking more water), was take off my tank (I had a sports bra on underneath). I'm not sure if I have the self confidence to run in only a sports bra.

I started a conversation on Twitter about this. How do you feel about people (men and women) running in the heat with the least amount of clothing (not to get the cops attention) possible? I think I may try it tonight when I go for my next hot run. 

In other news, I'm going to be upping my mileage. I finally feel the urge to run more, even if it is in the heat. I need to be outside as much as possible. I love the outdoors, and I'm starting to not hate braving the heat for a run (I'm still a baby for other heat related outings). 

Right now, I'm only running about 9 miles per week, not even double digits. I think I will alternate the gym on Mondays and Wednesdays (ripped vs. spin classes) and run outdoors Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, for a little longer than I have been. 

Any special, cooling tricks to running out in the heat? I'm already filling my handheld a little and freezing it during the day and filling the rest when I leave for my run. I know about hats and sun block. Anything else that I'm not aware of?