365 Days

Lots of things have changed in a year. If you told me this is what it would be like a year ago I would not have believed you.

Randy passed away one year ago today. There is a post from that morning on this blog. I didn’t know it was his last day. I knew I would be soon.

There was a close circle around Randy, and a lot has happened with in that circle. One couple broke up….another one started, a third couple got married. One left the group to move on in life. Some in the circle have gone from Graduate Student to Ph.D. Candidate. One finished the Ph.D. Another finished the Masters. One ran (most of) a marathon. There was another go-round of Birthdays and Holidays.

Life goes on I guess. Things change. Things happen when they happen for a reason. This year has really shown me that.

Throughout the year there were many times when we all knew someone was missing. He would have been there for the Masters and Ph.D. defenses. He would have been there to play video games with the one in the break up. He would have been there to congratulate the marriage of the couple. He would have been there…

Randy…know that you are terribly missed!

GO COLTS!!

This weekend was a lot of fun. Some friends of FireGuy got married on Saturday and the wedding and reception were a lot of fun. Also we got to see a lot of people who live a little further away (North GA) that don’t get to visit very often. It was a group of friends that hadn’t hung out all in one place together in a long time. Lots of “remember that one time…” stories.

Unfortunately my knee is still not super happy and the heels I wore to the wedding (yes I wore heels) didn’t help any. Grrrrr!

Then yesterday….I don’t think I have ever rooted so hard for a team that wasn’t mine. YEA COLTS! They did a good job with the comeback and made that one of the best games to watch ever! Go Tony D!

Also since there was some time got FireGuy to help me put Christmas decorations up into the attic. They had been boxed up in totes for weeks but it is so much easier to have one person on the ladder and one person putting boxes up. Now that they are out of my way maybe my house can get a little cleaner.

Only 5 x 10^6 things left to do!

Back to Normal? (if it was ever normal)

Distance: 4.6 miles   Time: Eternity     P. Cloudy 7:00 pm
Temp: 71 °F     Humidity: 46%      Pressure: 30:14 inches (holding)

So….For the first run in over a week it went well enough. FireGuy and I got a late start at ~7pm. They are always late starts. No matter how early we try, we can not ever seem to eat before 8pm, so it was close to that by the time we got to dinner last night after the run.

I’m a little sore today. My left calf is unhappy and my right knee was stiff when I woke up but that seemed to work itself out quickly. I’m sure these are just left over marathon issues that are healing and not new stuff.

So the holidays are over. I almost have the house back in order. I have projects to work on, the semester has started, and I have applied for a full time position at the College where I teach night classes. Next up fliers for my private tutoring.

Yea GATORS!! For soundly beating Ohio!! This made me very happy. It was the best football I got to watch all season!! FireGuy and I went to watch the game at a sports bar with the football guys that we haven’t seen nearly enough this football season.

So far I’m rooting for the Colts for the Super Bowl. I wanted NO to beat the Eagles (Sorry Bre) and they did, so that was good. As for the other games….well, FireGuy described them as watching two mules fighting over a turnip….might be interesting but he didn’t care which mule got the turnip. We ended up rooting for the Bears because we didn’t like the crap the announcers were giving Rex. He may not be a stellar QB but he wasn’t as bad as they were picking on!! So we were glad they one too.

Ok….So there is the Post Holiday catch-up…. Now back to your regularly scheduled posting.

Marathon Recap

Mile 1.5 – First Water stop out of power aid!! This was to continue through out the race Approximately every water stop would be out of power aid IF they had anything to drink at all.

Mile 9 – First food stop….NO FOOD!! Nothing!! Should have been bananas and Oranges.

Mile 13.5 – No water, No PowerAde and second food stop….you guessed it….NO food!

~ Mile 14 – 15 No water again…promise next stop will have water…(Next stop had only water)

Mile 16+ - Third Food stop…..NO FOOD!! Nothing!! No Power Aid and No Cups so they just kinda poured the water on/in us.

Mile 19 – Fourth and final food stop…I got ½ a banana.

Mile 20.2 – Made the mark and didn’t get swept. Now my legs are so cramped I have to stop at first aid for “bio-freeze” and I made the sweep so I’m safe to stop. Oh…and First Aid…all out of Tylenol and ibuprofen.

Gee wonder why my muscles are cramping since mile 16 – could it be that there was nothing with electrolytes in it for most of the race?!?! Nah…

Mile 21 – Extra last minute added sweep. Less than a mile from the last one. I stopped to put on muscle rub and there for was behind. Got swept. Done. No Mickey Ears Medal.

N O T H A P P Y ! ! ! Not with me....Not with Disney.

That's all I'm going to say about that.

That being said TNT raised over 5.7 MILLION dollars for the Leukemia & Lymphoma society for this even alone!!

YEA TNT!!

YIPPIE 2007!! *

Well here we begin another year. 2006....not the best year for my record books so I will not be so very very unhappy to see it go. It's all here on this blog so we need not beat that horse anymore. Too bad too....I liked all the round numbers...but then I really like to write 7's too. (I know I'm weird...I also really like Z)

2007 - I'm starting it with a Marathon...what more can I say. If I finish it will be a good start to the year. I leave tomorrow...wish me luck. I haven't packed a thing.

Well I better pack and clean the house and take out the trash. (Don't want the place to stink when I get back on Monday...that would not a good thing in '07.)

Stay tuned for post marathon information!!

*(see MB...not much more to say than that)

Maybe Someday

My father passed away early yesterday morning. He was 61. He had liver cancer and then cancer in his lungs and esophagus. Since many of us who read each other's blogs have done some endurance event or another for a cure cancer type organization I wanted to let everyone know why I wasn't posting.

The funeral will be in a few days and then a couple days after that I leave for my Marathon. 2006 is almost over and I feel some how that I have come full circle.

Maybe someday all of these runs and 3-days and triathlons and marathons and dragonboats will be enough. Until then everyone keep praying and keep running, walking paddling, peddling or what ever it is you do to raise money and awareness. We might be gaining but we haven't won yet.

Maybe someday....

Merry Christmas!!

Hello everyone!! I'm running around today having a great time and yummy food and fun with Family and Wheeeeee!!!!

Somehow no one was crazy today!!!

Just wanted to stop and tell all of you Merry Christmas!! Hope you are having a wonderful day too!!

SWF seeking WISP

First... I ran some...my leg hurts...I think I strained something What ever I'm over all these over use issues!! I run or I don't! Whatever! Come what may!

Now....In about 2 days I'm going to tell roadrunner to hit the road!! Here for all public using google to search for Road-Runner.....

ROADRUNNER in Tampa.... SUCKS ROCKS!!

Yesterday I went to the Sprint store and bought this:





Funny....I bought it and the service started right away. I went home and stuck in a CD and it loaded software. Then I plugged the device in, made a phone call to activate it and VIOLA I was on line!!

It's a little slower than Cable but it is still pretty fast and I can use it anywhere!!! It goes with me like a cell phone!! And it works!! Now IF at home it is HALF as reliable as RR was then I'm doing great!!

YIPPEE!!

It took about 3 hrs to download a 1 hr show when it used to take ~1 hr but since I set it and go to bed this was just fine with me!!

YEA!! I can still watch TV online AND I can get e-mail again.

NOTE: Watch for e-mails announcing the changing any of the RR e-mail addresses.

RunnerGirlFL@gmail.com will stay the same.

Internet Woes

Distance:~10        Time: ??:?? min    sunny  8:30 am
Temperature: 55 °F    Humidity: 82%      Pressure: 30.41 inches (rising)

Ok…so 10 miles after a light week of getting back in after last weeks being a little sick. I ran all of it except a few min when I saw some friends on a walk and walked with them. I hadn’t seen one of them in AGES!! It wasn’t even a quarter mile so I’m not too worried about it and it was in mile 2 so it wasn’t really much of an endurance rest.

Shins : Unhappy
Weather : very nice…unless you stop running
New shorts : Loved ‘em (they were on clearance)

Now…for today’s RANT!! I HATE ROAD RUNNER!! I wish anyone ANYONE else would come along and give me an internet connection!! My modem is dead….D-E-A-D DEAD! I call them and tell them something is wrong. They say it’s the modem so either I can schedule a technician to come out in a couple days and sit around and wait for him….but not on Sunday, or I can take the modem into one of their locations. Well the first time I can do that will be tomorrow!! This is stupid!! I had to wait days for them to come out to fix me last time and then they didn’t fix it and it was another couple days till they showed up to fix what they had “Fixed” the first time!!

Ok I’m done. But if you wonder why I fell off the planet…BLAME ROADRUNNER!! Lucky for them there isn’t a new episode of Heroes tonight or I would be very unhappy that I couldn’t download it!! 

I think I might feel better now….

I will be off to give finals tonight!! My students LOVE me…..(Not really)

Wednesday Morning Silliness

From my turtle type friend....

You are cordially invited to the wedding of Runnergirl the Mighty ~and~ Orlando Bloom

December 9, 2029 at 6 pm

Location: The hospital

'What will your wedding invitation look like?' (QuizGalaxy.com)

Well anyway at least I know someday someone will marry me, even if it is in 23 years and 3 days. I wonder why we are in the hospital?!?! Maybe they have a very nice arboretum. Ohhh hospital food for the reception...can't get better than that!!

JR, Bre, GG....there is hope for all of us!!!

Oooo....Legolas. (I really prefer Aragorn.)

Favorite Things

So this weekend I didn't run my second 16 miles. I ran a fever on Friday and Saturday. Very low but a fever none the less. Lucy the Doctor said it was best if I didn't run and Mommy the Nurse said see how you feel but don't push it.

So when I woke up on Sunday with an icky tummy and figured that was that.

Thanks FireGuy for the plague!! (Gotta blame it on someone and he doesn't read blogs..hehe)

Therefore I'm lacking content, in leu of any real updates I thought I would share a review of the things that have become staples for me on this path to a marathon:

Brooks Shoes - Finally a pair that I like and in the brand I like most!!

WrightSocks - Again this is the answer to my blister issue!! Yippee

BodyGlide - this is the most useful invention since...um...SNEAKERS!!

UnderArmor – these are my favorite shirts. Long and short sleeves!! For sure my favorite! Not the scary tight ones the soft ones that fit like t-shirts. And I buy the mens so they look like regular t-shirts rather than workout shirts. In the Humid summer when it’s hot they dry quickly to keep you cool. In the winter they dry quickly to keep you from being cold and wet!! The long sleeves aren’t too heavy so when you warm up you aren’t miserable in sleeves.

Cheap Shorts – I’m sure there are people who swear by a fancy pair of running shorts. I think they were on sale at that discount store I don’t care for (that isn’t Target) a long time ago and they are fast drying and have the lining built in!! They are Starter brand and I really really like them!!

G-Shock – this isn’t really running equipment but I love my watch. It is set every night by the atomic clock and has a solar cell to recharge the battery on the face and it has a stop watch! Good enough for me! (Not to mention it’s red and black.. always a plus in my book)

Polorized Sunglasses – We get rain every afternoon on the coast of FL in the summer for just long enough to make the humidity stupid high and the glare on the roads blinding. These are a must. Also running on Bayshore Blvd. is better with the glare off the water cut.

Zen Nano Plus – MP3 player. When not running with FireGuy and making up silly games (Nuh uh, Uh huh, Nuh uh forever, Uh huh infinity) I gotta take the tunes!!

So….What are your favorite things? Did I leave anything out?

Now where did we leave off? Oh yeah...

Wednesday we ran 3 miles on Bay Shore. I got out of work at 1pm so that was a good time, and it is cool enough to run in the middle of the day. FireGuy came over after his regular weights workout and we ran before I went off to teach for the night.

Thursday, FireGuy has a tradition of always running on Thanksgiving so that works out well. We ran in the morning. 5 miles. This run felt a bit like work but then I haven't been able to run consistently enough to do 3 days in a row in a while. My shin is starting to hurt a little bit so I decided to take Friday and Saturday off before the 16 on Sunday.

Sunday - 16 down. now an 18 and a 20 then taper off and then the marathon!! I didn't run the whole way. But I completed the distance. It got to a point where my legs just cramped up. I'm sure not running last weekend didn't help. So I would walk till the cramps left and run again. I was very careful to run twice as far as each walk. There are benches on Bay Shore and I could keep track of the ratio.

Maybe I have hit my limit and this is how it will go. Maybe not. I will try with the 18 again this weekend. I'm ok with that. Running most of the 13 two weeks ago is more than I thought I would ever run. My goal was to finish. I am still above a pace that will get me swept on the day of the Marathon and I still seem to be in line to finish under 6 hours. I have to finish in under 7 to not get swept. I will try to run as much as I can and with running this week back on track maybe the 18 won't be as bad. Or it might but I'll get it all by running. Either way I'm ok with all of this. I can now run 5 miles on a regular basis and longer once in a while and that is the fitness level I would like to maintain.

One last thing. I'm really going to do a marathon, and this is honor of Randy. The deadline is coming up quick. Anyone who wants to sponsor me and has been just waiting a little bit may want to get that sort of thing in. You can sponsor me at my Team in Training page or you can send me a check made out to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. If you need my address e-mail me at runnergirlfl@gmail.com.

Here I am….

Did you miss me? I’m fine. I took the weekend off. I didn’t mean to but it happened. I’ll probably be sorry this weekend but right now I have NO regrets! My blisters have healed, the new socks are keeping them from reforming so far. I’m scared to wear any other socks but I only have two pairs of the “Wright socks” I guess I better do some laundry to get those socks clean!! Or washing in the bathroom sink.

So Today I ran 3+ at the gym this morning. The current plan is:

Wednesday night: run with FireGuy, the 3.6 mile loop,

Thursday morning: 4.6 or so

Thursday after the run: off to Venice to be with the “Old folks at home” – Sorry Florida Joke. To se the family. My little brother and favorite sister-in-law will be down for the big T!

Friday afternoon/eve: Maybe back in time to run with FireGuy or I’ll go to the gym…or I’ll run in Venice if the schedule determines that.

Saturday: off!! Try to get hose stuff done. Like decorating for Christmas and starting on Christmas cards!!

Sunday: the long run…what ever the schedule says (~15-16 I think…EEP!)

Today’s run was fine!! With the break my shins didn’t hurt at all and the blisters are gone and the shoes felt great. FINALLY!!

Run like a turkey!!

Great American Teach-In 2006

Distance:~3        Time: ??:?? min    inside 8:30 pm
Temperature: ?? °F    Humidity: ??%      Pressure: ??.?? inches (falling)

So another pair of shoes, another short run. These were the best yet, but still made my feet cramp in a mile or so. So…I changed to my regular shoes and finished another 2 but when your feet are already in cramps it’s useless. However…there is good news…

THE NEW SOCKS WORKED!!

I didn’t wear Band-Aids at all to start and see what happened and they didn’t even start to rub and hurt! YEA!!

On Friday I go to the Physical Therapist and I am going to walk in with all the shoes….well not the first pair but the last two pairs for sure.

Yesterday I helped with the Great American Teach-In here in town. It is a day when you can volunteer to talk to kids in a school and tell them about what you do or your hobby or information you want to get out to them. I told elementary students about being a Physicist. Well the 1st and 2nd grades I told about being a Scientist. How to be a scientist, YES Girls can do this too, No you don’t have to go to an expensive fancy school. USF next door is doing important research, etc. (USF is next door…in fact the elementary school is on USF’s campus and they do a lot of work together) I brought in a little demo where you shine a light down into a soda can with a hole in the side near the bottom and you can see the light bounce inside the stream of water. It worked pretty well, I know because there were lots of Oooo's.

They also had visitors who teach the Computer Classes at the Library, a LADY firefighter (I know her….SHE ROCKS!!) and those were just the people I know. They were talking about people with animals, people teaching them how to eat right, people explaining exercise science…. maybe I want to sit in on that one.

Overall it was a lot of fun!! I’m really glad I got to do it.

As a side note, while looking for information on the Great American Teach - In to explain it to someone I came across this page trying to encourage people to go teach this to the kids. Hmmmm.... interesting what you find on the internet. Thanks, but I'll stick to Physics

HALF WAY!!!

Distance: 13 miles    Time: 2H:59M        7:30 am
Temperature: 57 °F    Humidity: 70%      Pressure: 30:05 inches (rising)

13 miles yesterday!! It took me as long to run 13 as it took Lance to run the whole marathon!! Oh well I guess if I had ridden a bike all over Europe for days on end faster than any one else year after year I could do my first marathon in under 3 hours too.

So…I’m halfway. The Blisters are maybe getting a little better. I still got blisters but they seem to be taking longer to generate and smaller when they do. There was an attempt at 6 miles on Friday but when my blisters were ugly fast that was abandoned at about 2 miles. I was not happy but over the weekend they dried up more and I made the much longer run. This is the most frustrating part because I don’t know how I will ever do 26.2 when I can’t do 3 some days…then I turn around and do 13?!?!

The shin splints are a dull shadow of what they used to be. This is great, and my knees don’t hurt at all. Now if I could just the feet to behave?!?! Next try is the 2 layer socks…I have to find a store that has them. The running store I go to didn’t.

I am supposed to also run on softer ground. Wow this is much harder said than done. First…my feet hurt worse on the rougher terrain of grass….not that rough I KNOW! Also I seem so clumsy on grass…Does anyone know how to get used to this?

GirlGoyle -
http://www.lifehacker.com/software/bittorrent/beginners-guide-to-bittorrent-212309.php
e-mail me and I'll give you more info and links...runnergirlfl@gmail.com

Internet Down Again!

Distance: 5.6 miles   Time: ??? min       9:00 pm
Temperature: 66 °F    Humidity: 70%      Pressure: 29:83 inches (holding)

These 5.6 mile runs are getting easier. Using the mole skin on my feet they didn’t start to make blisters till the last mile. (Yes new blisters anyway) But it was nice to run almost all the way with no pain. The shin is good the knees are good. All good!!

Ok…so RoadRunner is down again at my home!! I don’t know why. It isn’t my system, it isn’t my network, it’s them. I don’t like THEM. Not even a little bit. I’m trying not to Hate people….but they are a corporate entity…hmmm…ok I HATE THEM!! So all week I have been trying to read e-mail online from random places. Grrrrr

I can not even download the TV shoes I watch!! What will I do if I get behind in my favorite shows? I normally don’t watch much TV, but this season there are some new ones. I watch:

Heroes – Shocking I know that I would like a Science Fiction type show about Heroes that ends up almost being a live action comic book as implied by the show…Save the chearleader…Save the World!!

Friday Night Lights – This is another new show this season and again shocking that I like a show about sports. Specifically football! So far this show seems pretty cool.

ER – This has been a staple for years. There have been complete seasons of television where this was the only thing I watched. (well...and sports)

Rescue Me – It’s a show about firemen…guess who got me to watch this?!?! Anyway it’s on over the summer when the “regular” season shows are in re-runs so it is easy to have time for one show in the summer.

Two and a Half Men – This is really the only comedy I catch semi-regularly now that there is no friends. It’s cute.

That’s about it. I like to have a heart attack once a week watching the Buccaneers almost win/lose during football season, and I’ll watch what I catch during Baseball season till the Fall Classic…oh and the little league World Series…I LOVE the little league World Series!! Saturday Morning Cartoons get turned on if I am not out of town on the weekend but they are mostly on in the background till I leave the house to do something fun!!

I was told I would like Jerhico…I’ll have to check into that.

That’s 3 hours a week with a little more during football season and a little less in the summer. That’s not too bad.

No I don’t have cable…I do not see the need when I am never home. If I miss it I down load it.

What do you watch?

Hamburger Feet!

Distance: 12+ miles     Time: infinity       fair 9:00 am
Temperature: 71°F    Humidity: 57     Pressure: 30:25 inches (rising) 

Shoes: I started the long run on Sunday with the second pair of new shoes. They did ok with my legs but my feet started to cramp so I ran back to the truck and put on the old ones…(Brought them with this time) Cramps went away. So I am tempted to buy the same shoes I have but the PT guy didn’t like them because they over correct. Well if that’s what works?!?! So I will wait to talk to him.

Feet: I have hamburger feet!! Socks don’t help! I tried blister pads by Band-Aid. The blisters are sneaky. They don’t form under the pad….they from AROUND the pad. Today I bought mole skin padding that you can cut to the size you need. I think I will just make them big enough to wrap around my whole foot. They just need a chance at healing. There are blisters over blisters that have blisters under them. (Yes, it’s gross)

Running: The good news is that other than the shins are acting up a little after this large milage and the blisters for the most part I am now running mostly pain free. The shins don't hurt alot durring the run and my knees don't hurt at all so my legs and back and shoulders are in much better shape after these long runs.

Forever v Infinity: Well the infinity’s have it. I told FireGuy that he did get one vote for forever even if I do think Bre might be biased towards a fireguy no matter what…(He did think your line was great) He responded with the very adult reply of “Nuh-Uh Forever!” Eh what can ya do….(except reply “Uh-huh Infinity!” of course)

The 12+ this weekend went ok…not great. I felt worse because of the blisters and with out knowing it I must have run a little different so my left leg is over used in the wrong way and the muscles are sore in a funny way. In that way that makes pushing the clutch make me not happy. It will be ok in 24 hours it’s just sore.

So that is your friendly Monday morning update.

Infinity : Beyond Forever…

Distance: 5.6 miles     Time: ~70 min       fair 9:30 pm
Temperature: 73 °F    Humidity: 94%      Pressure: 29:98 inches (rising) 

Last night I wore my previous sneakers with the orthodics and everything was fine. In fact it went really well. 5.6 miles with NO pain. Near the end my knees were telling me they were tired, but there was no pain when I stopped either. Well unless you count the blisters on the arches of my feet but I just need more Band-Aids I guess.

It was very humid last night, and the run felt like it took for ever even though we made pretty good time. Much better than previous times. FireGuy said “We used to be done by 10 why are we finishing so late?” I replied “Maybe because we were running half as far?” He said “That would be it” I never would have thought that I would be running 5 – 6 miles at a time and just laughing and joking the whole way. Last night’s run even contained a long battle of Nu-uh, Uh-huh, Nu-uh Forever, Uh-huh Infinity.

So here is the great question of the ages….

Which is bigger Forever or Infinity?

I think it’s Infinity because Infinity is beyond Forever since it includes both the entire space and time continuums. Forever is only the expanse of time.

FireGuy says Forever is bigger because it’s “to Infinity and Beyond!!” (In his best Buzz Lightyear voice, of course)

So What do y’all think? Forever or Infinity?

Sneaker Disaster!!

ACK!! Something is wrong with the new sneakers!! I have never had this happen before. I bought the new shoes, and put the orthodics in them, and wore them all the time for a couple days. Like I always do with new shoes. Then yesterday FireGuy and I went for a run. The shoes were like lead weights!! We weren’t a quarter mile down the road and my thigh muscles were already burning!! I felt like such a wimp but I knew something was NOT RIGHT!! So I did the first part of the loop that is a little more than a mile and went back to the truck to wait for FireGuy to finish the run. By the time I got back to the truck my calves and the muscles in my feet were hurting as well!! So today I am back in the last pair that I had and the new ones are going back!! I have had to get used to new shoes before but I have never had a problem like that. I ran in the orthodics on the long run the other day so they aren’t the cause. If they AND these shoes are the problem then it’s the shoes that have to be fixed.

Other than that Halloween was too much fun. We grabbed lunch after the run, had to stop to buy a video game, had to test out the new game (of course) and then to my house to carve pumpkins and hand out candy to kids!! I’ll post pumpkin pictures tomorrow. They were really cool!

6 Band-Aids!!

Everyone hurry up and invest in J&J. I’m going to make the stock go up single handedly with my Band-Aid consumption.

2 toes, and two on the big ones on EACH arch.

Other than this new development the orthodics are fantastic!! I hope they continue to be. I had to go buy new shoes too. OH DARN!! You know I just HATED to have to do that. The Physical Therepist that they sent me to for the shin splints said that now my shoes overcorrected and a cushioned shoe would be better. Well if I MUST buy new sneakers…

NEW ‘NEAKERS!! EEEEeeeeeEEEEE!

The 8+ miles on Sunday went very well. My knees started to hurt a bit during the last mile but I was strong all the way. No super slow back hurting leg aching last 3 miles like before. I’m sure my back and legs are getting stronger but also my knees didn’t start hurting. When they did hurt it was more like when I get a new pair of shoes and I’m adjusting. I hope that is the case.

Well whether because I’m getting used to these long runs or because of the shoes I ran the 8 and change in 1.5 hours. That is a whole lot better than the 9 in two hours I had done before!!

It really was nice to have a long run that didn’t hurt.

Oh yeah...Stopping still hurts. Nothing to be done for that I guess.