Gotta get back on that wagon!

Haven't been around in a while, does anyone still read this thing? I don't blame you if you don't, I really should post a wee bit more often, shouldn't I.

Life was a bit busy there for a bit, end of school year stuff going on, then we were in NY last week. It was awesome to be home, the weather was wonderful, it was nice to see family. This was the first trip where Ava seemed to understand more that everyone really does live far away from us. As we were leaving, she cried that she didn't want to leave her cousins, her aunts, etc. Sure made me cry, I just did not want to come back to Florida. If I could afford it, I'd be looking at real estate on Long Island right now, I really want to be closer to family. One good thing about that though, one of my sisters is moving to North Carolina this summer. I have been looking into a move there for the past year or two, so this will be great that I'll have family there if I do make the move. A few other family members would be likely to follow too.

I did have one amazing run in NY though, it was only a 6 miler, but every second of it felt great, and the weather was absolutely perfect for running, it was around 57 degrees, ahhhh just so nice. It was seriously one of the highlights of my trip, running through the streets of where I grew up, enjoying the large trees (we have itty bitty trees here in Orlando - boring). Running outdoors in FL this time of year is brutal, so being able to run outside in June and enjoy it was just so nice.

So, coming from the land of boring food, and going to a place where there are so many delights that I just miss having around, boy does that not help the waistline. I have not been on a scale, but I'm sure a couple of pounds have found their way to me, I ate too much good food last week! Thankfully, most of my clothes still fit fine, but I can just feel that I need to buckle down and stop eating badly, and increase my workouts. I miss the days of long runs and 6 days per week of workouts. Only a few months ago, I was always at the gym, 6-8 mile runs were normal for me, with up to a 10-12 mile run on a weekend. I so need to get back there, the past few weeks my workouts have consisted of shorter runs, and less frequent, averaging 2-3 times a week. I do plan to buckle down now though, I can still do the longer runs, it's not like I'm unable to handle them, it's just the desire is not where it was a few months ago, I need that motivation back I guess. I'll get there.

I'll try to update this a bit more often now, if I have anything exciting to talk about. Now that we're back home and it's summer vacation, it's pretty boring and uneventful around here.

Summer Vacation..

Starts tomorrow here. Ava has her last day of school, then it's about 10 weeks of summer! At first, I was a bit worried about having to keep her entertained aaaalll day long, every day, since she is my only child. But, I am starting to embrace the idea of having her home all day, and I am going to try hard to make this a great summer for her.

We are going home to NY in less than two weeks, I am really looking forward to being there, visiting with family, etc. Haven't been back in a year, so it's long overdue. Looking forward to a lot of relax time, and we'll also do a day in Manhattan, and a day at Yankee stadium. Then in July we'll hopefully go to a gulf beach here in Florida, probably the St Pete area, do a long weekend there. Other than that, just lots of day trips planned, Disney, zoo, beach, parks, lots of time at the pool, playdates with friends, etc. I have to say, I will enjoy not having to rush at the gym for a while. As it is now, we go in the early morning, because she doesn't have to be at school until 11:30, so it always winds up being rushed. I certainly will not miss that, it will be nice to have pretty much unlimited time at the gym this summer.

On the workout front, not a lot new going on, I am so boring! Since it's now over 90 each day here, I am running outdoors much less frequently, and I have no races planned, just not the season for races here. I hope to do another Half in the late fall/early winter, I would love to beat the time of the one I did in December (2:11) and Disney has an evening 13K race at Hollywood Studios that I definitely want to do this year. I missed it last year, but it sounds too fun, need to do that one.

So, I've just been doing my daily runs, elliptical machine, stuff like that. I have started using my home elliptical every now and then when I don't want to drive to the gym. Bought it 3 years ago, but stopped using it when I joined the gym. So, it's nice to get some use out of that.

Break out the Roller Blades

I've had them for probably 10 years, but haven't used them in at least 2. I dug them out of the garage last week, I take the little one down the street each day to play with all the neighborhood kids, and I figured if I have to be out there, I may as well squeeze in some extra exercise, right?

When I took them out of the garage last week, the buckle part was broken on both of them. Probably the Florida heat melted them, I figure. But, they're still usable, so I'm throwing them on each afternoon, yesterday I scooted around on them for 2 hours, and this was after a 7 mile run earlier in the day - yay! I love finding ways for extra exercise.

Speaking of the FL heat, it's hot here. I decided the other day to run outdoors while my little one was at school - at 12 in the afternoon. Temp was probably in the low 80's, which is about 20 degrees above my maximum running temp. I don't know what I was thinking, but it wasn't all that bad, I think I thought it would be worse. Humidity has been on the low side, so it was more do-able than I thought it would be. But, I think my occasional outdoor runs are not going to happen again for quite some time, unless it gets done at 6am. Otherwise, the treadmill it is.

Sometimes it's just the little things

So, I posted recently about not feeling like much of a runner lately, which I know is silly, as I am still running most days of the week. But, I wanted to share a little thing that happened, that lifted my spirits a bit.

I was at the gym, running on the treadmill, at about mile 5 of a planned 6 mile run. I have runs where I'm all into it from the second I start, I feel great, crank up the speed a bit, etc. Then I sometimes have runs like the one on this day, I just wasn't into it. I felt okay, but just didn't feel like completing the run, but I kept going. A lady had been walking on the treadmill next to me, and when she got off she said something that I thought was so nice. She said "hey, I just have to tell you, you're doing great, you're here every day running, and I think it's great that you're dedicated like that, great job". I thanked her, and she was off on her way. It gave me a little boost, and I was able to increase my speed for the last mile to an 8 min/mile pace (I usually run faster for the last mile, I know it's not exactly official "training", but it works for me).

It was such a little thing, this random lady saying something to me, but it really lifted me for that day. I really appreciated that.

Skipped the gym yesterday, my little one had a school field trip to the zoo and I chaperoned. It was fun, and tiring, it was close to 90 degrees (yuck). Today I'll run while she's at school, just didn't feel like dealing with the crazy traffic around here this morning to get to the gym at our usual 8am time. So, I'll arrive at her school to pick her up all gross and sweaty, but it'll be worth it.

Not feeling like a Runner Lately..

I can't believe it's been more than two months since I have updated this thing. Life has just been busy, and maybe a little boring too, I haven't had all that much new to update about.

Workouts have been the same really, nothing new to report. I am sort of at a standstill with my running, I have not done anything big lately, just doing the same ole. I go to the gym 5-6 days a week, and I run on average, 6-8 miles each time.

Summer is really starting here in FL, so my weekly outdoor run will probably not be happening for a while. I may be able to squeeze in a few more before it gets too hot, but typically I don't run outdoors in the summer, even the mornings can be too warm and humid for me. Thank goodness for the gym!

I will try to keep up with this blog more often now, maybe I'll start to have some exciting stuff to write about, who knows! No races on the horizon for me, I was toying with the idea of doing a 15K at Disney next month, but talked myself out of spending the $50, I am just not wanting to spend big money on races right now. I have not done a race since my Half back in December.

On to the reason why I'm not feeling like a runner lately. I had joined a message board over at Runner's World, and I made my way over to a women's section that mainly has moms on it. I am floored at the workouts these ladies do, it's amazing! It makes my daily 6 mile runs feel like nothing. Most of them have done marathons, a couple of them even ran Boston yesterday. I find it amazing, I think part of me wishes I had the desire to do a marathon, but I just don't. I loved the half, and will do another one, but at this point in my life, the desire to train for a full just isn't there.

Maybe it's time to take that "Runner" license plate frame off my car, I just don't feel like a runner lately, makes no sense really, since I still run almost every day!

Spirit of the Marathon

So, I discovered tonight that this movie is playing right down the road next week. I missed it the first time around last month (I was away on a cruise that weekend) and now that I see it's coming back I'm wondering, should I go?

I'll be honest here. It is very likely that I will never run a full marathon. I loved doing the half, and will probably do more, I love that distance, nice challenge, etc. However, I just don't see myself as a marathoner, as much as I love running, I just don't think I want to train for a full at this point.

With that being said, I am intrigued by this movie though. I love hearing about other people doing the full 26.2, even if I don't think I'll be one of them someday.

So, I wonder, should I go and see this movie? I think I should. I am going to see if I can get DH to go with me, I'm sure he will, even though he is not a runner. It's a shame, the one running friend I had here just moved out of state a few months ago (and she just ran a 10 miler last weekend in 80 minutes - hate her!). But, if DH doesn't want to go, I'm thinking of making it a night out alone if I have to.

Not much to report on the workout front today, same ole. I think I did a 6 mile run yesterday, and today I mixed it up a bit, 3 miles on the elliptical, then I hopped onto the treadmill and ran 3.

One of those runs.....

Have you ever had one of those runs, where you just don't feel like getting it done? That was sort of like my run this morning.

Alarm went off at 6:30 this morning, I like to run first thing, I'm just a morning runner. Got out by 6:45, it was just starting to get a little light outside. Weather was perfect, probably low to mid 50's, no wind. I figured I'd do somewhere between 8-10 miles, I just went out with the plan of running until I felt like stopping (pretty much how all my runs go).

I don't use a Garmin, or anything like that, heck I don't even bring a watch with me. This is the cheesy way I figure out the mileage of my runs. I look at the stove clock as I am leaving, and I look at it again when I get back. I also have a few mapped out routes that I do, so that helps too. The only time I know my true mileage is during the week when I run at the gym, when I run outside once or twice a week, I just wing it. It works for me.

Today I took a different route, one that I hadn't done in a while, it was nice having the change of scenery. But, after maybe 45 minutes or so, I just wasn't into it, even though I was feeling pretty good, I could have continued going, I wasn't really tired, I just felt like stopping. Hard to explain really.

So, as I was coming back home, I didn't know for sure how long I had been out, but I was guessing it had been about an hour. I knew it wasn't good when the first thing I heard my husband say as I walked in the door was "wow, that was quick today". I looked at the clock....I had run only about 55 minutes. Oh well, at least I got something done, even if it wasn't exactly the mileage I had planned.

I'm guessing I ran 6 miles today, nothing concrete, just going by the clock again. And, based on the fact that I typically run 9-9:30 miles, and today felt like I was keeping a nice pace. So, now "9 on the 9th" or "9 on the 10th" for me. I'll try next time!