A great start to my birthday week :)

What a day. Wow. I had planned on today being a complete crap shoot, but it came out pretty darn decent. Since I knew it was going to get hot, humid, and disgusting today, I planned to wake up at 5:15am and head out in the neighborhoods to get my run in. Well, 5:15 came and I decided it was still too dark for me to run (I REALLY need to get "dark gear" because the days are only getting shorter at this point). Repeat process again at 5:30 with one exception ... I decided I should at least get up and get ready to go so as soon as it was light enough that drivers would see my white shirt, I could go. The street lights were still on and I still had a little trouble reading my Garmin, but I went out around 5:45 (when I usually go out for road runs anyway).

The run went great. Once I hit my 0.5 miles of warm-up, I turned my Garmin away on my wrist so I couldn't focus on it and decided to pay attention to my body. I marked each walk/run transition with a "lap", so I could analyze it later ... and WOW was I surprised ...

Lap 1 (warm up) - 0.5mi @ 16:45/mi avg

Lap 2 - 2.2mi @ 11:41/mi avg

Lap 3 (water break) - 0.16mi @ 17:17/mi avg

Lap 4 - 0.72mi @ 11:20/mi avg

Lap 5 (cool down) - 0.25mi @ 16:57/mi avg

TOTAL = 3.83mi in 49:20.59 (avg of 12:52/mi)

My jaw literally dropped when I saw that my first "run" was 2.2 miles, non-stop. It was almost 26 minutes! That's a personal best for running on the road! Yes, I did the whole Couch to 5k program, but I did that on the treadmill and just never seemed able to do as well once I got out on the road. I've read before that running on trails, even with more walking breaks, trains your body much harder to the point that road running, at any distance, seems much easier. Apparently that little nugget of wisdom is true. If that's the case, I think I need to keep up this trend of running at the metroparks whenever possible. Running trails keeps my head straight too. Even though I can't remember one song I listened to on my iPod this morning when I was running, I know I would have been micro-analyzing how my body felt if I hadn't had my music to distract me a bit.

I have a goal of running/walking/hiking 25 miles this week for my 25th birthday ... I think that run was a pretty darn good start, if I do say so myself. lol

Working in the lab was just like it always is ... sitting there, typing on my laptop, highlighting things in papers I want to remember, scribbling notes on my already-scribbled-on pages, strange noises from the hall. Yep, typical day. Don't want to talk about how high my stress level is right now. I don't know how I'm going to pull this off.

I stopped at Wildwood to find this week's code word. I figured I would stop over at TBG and get that one too, but the rain started coming down just as I pulled in. I braved it with my tiny umbrella, but couldn't find it. I guess I'll have to check back over there later this week. I made a stop in at Secor too, since I knew I could drive all the way up to the cemetery and get the code without getting wet.

I left my phone in my bag for a while when I got home and ended up missing a call. I just started giggling when I finally got around to listening to it. It was someone from Metroparks, letting me know I was Week 6's winner! I won a $150 giftcard to the Anderson's and a $15 giftcard from PNC. Yippee.

And now ... as I'm typing this ... there is an entertaining conversation about planning a bachelorette party going on in facebook land.

I guess I'm getting my passport tomorrow while I'm out getting my new driver's license (boo on them for being pink now and not using an old picture! I LOVE my picture form when I turned 21!).

If the rest of this birthday week is anything like today, I'm going to be a very happy girl. And my fingers are still crossed for a certain someone to pick a side of the fence. And have the guts to do something about it. :)

2 Lovely Runs

I wanted to write yesterday ... but life interfered. Nothing dramatic, I was just super tired. It happens. Anyway, I basically did my own Tour de Metroparks to find code words on Monday. I left the lab early to put in my run at Wildwood (more on that later). 2.77 miles in 36:32 isn't very impressive (a 13: average), but I got in a 1.17 mile straight run at a 11:00/mile pace. The rest didn't go as well, and the boardwalk was closed so I didn't get to do any sprints, but it was still a nice run. Then, I made stops at the Botanical Gardens, Secor Metropark, and Oak Openings. I think that may be a personal record for an entire week's worth of codes, let alone 1 afternoon. The Oak Openings code had me a little annoyed, but that's a rant I really don't have the energy to relive right now. Let's just say the directions were a little goofy and it wasn't a clean trail. It was pretty amazing to walk back through the tornado damage. It's been over a year since that storm and the amount of damage still untouched in the park is just remarkable.

I took yesterday off. Like I said, I was exhausted.

I took off early again today, but this time to get coffee with Annie and catch up. I wanted to use my birthday free grande beverage and it was the perfect opportunity. I figured since I left early and I wasn't ready to head home yet (after 2.5 hours at Biggby's. lol), I would go hit another park and get in my run. I hadn't been to Providence at all yet, so that was the park of choice. I parked down at the Providence Dam end and ran up the towpath, past the Ludwig Mill and canal ride, and around the River Bluff Trail. 4.65 mile in 1 hour. Not too shabby considering I ran a 1.54 mile stretch at a 11:14/mile pace. That was my longest run of the workout. There always seemed to be something to slow me down: stitch in the side, the mules pulling the canal boat along the tow path (didn't want to spook them by running past from  their blind side). It was still a good run. I spent my "cool down" walking along the exposed rock downriver of the dam and taking pictures of the goofy geese.

Since mom was going out to dinner with friends and dad is in West Virginia, I made little brother and I dinner. Kid's my witness that I DO cook ... just not when mom and dad are home. Maybe I'll post the picture I took of my plate. My chicken parmesan turned out really well. I was happy.

And now ... an oreo klondike bar and curling up in bed with a movie. N is supposed to be heading home form his vacation tomorrow. Maybe it's time to be blunt with him. Maybe. That would take courage.

Fab-U-Lous!

Other than mom waiting on Sean hand and foot (to the point that both he and I are rolling our eyes), things have been pretty quiet here at home. I didn't sleep well (surprisingly), so I decided to stay home and work today. When I'm just writing, and I'm not getting paid anyway, it doesn't really matter WHERE I work, does it?

I had a fabulous run yesterday afternoon. At the last second, I decided I wanted to run at Wildwood Metropark. It was a favorite place of mine when I lived right around the corner and I realize I haven't gotten a code word for their "big search" from Wildwood in a couple weeks. Oak Openings' code words are normally someplace I run by anyway and just happen to see the word. Every other park, I actually have to make an effort to go find the stupid easel with the code word. I never hope to find all the code words each week; it's just too much driving, but I'm happy if I get 2 or 3. Every time I get Wildwood's, I just stop at the Botanical Gardens (another of my favorite places) and find theirs too.

Like I was saying before that little rant (lol), my run was fabulous. I had thought the heat was going to be a serious issue, but I made sure to wear my nike dry-fit tank, my baseball cap (explanation later), and carry my water bottle. Normally I just wear sunglasses when I run instead of my hat (I have enough problems with acne without a sweaty hat sitting on my forehead for a period of time), but I didn't have my yellowed glasses with me and I don't like wearing anything darker when I'm running in the woods. There is plenty of light even in the darkest areas of Wildwood's "Upland Woods" trail (unlike some of OO's), but I still don't like it. I trip over things really easily and I knew I was going to have to be playing close attention to where I was stepping. While I LOVE the diversity of OO's "woodsy" trails, most of them are pretty narrow and uneven. Wildwood's trails are pretty wide and smooth(ish). I still can't decide if I like having the wooden slats dug into the foreside of the dunes or not. It's nice to not be digging into the sand trying to go up the dune, but DAMN those things are slippery even when they're dry! My run took me across the boardwalk of the Floodplain Trail (blue) too, which was kind of fun actually. After a bout of "roughing it" in the dunes section, it was nice to have a (semi) level area for a comfortable stable pace. Even after a week of not running, I could feel the shift in my body as I decided to run. Of course I wish I could have run MORE, but I was just happy I didn't automatically cringe every time I picked the pace back up. I kind of wish I would have made more use the the boardwalk for some shorter sprints. I should run at Wildwood more often. I can really get some interesting miles out of their combination of trails. Oak Openings will always be my favorite (and go-to when I want REAL woods), but Wildwood is pretty amazing too.

How can anyone stand running longer distances on roads after spending time on trails like these? Ugh. My shins seem to like trail running a helluva lot more too. lol. Since the Metroparks don't open until 7am, I'm still forced to run through the neighborhood and village if I want to escape the heat with an early morning run ... I can't believe how boring that sounds now. *laughs to self* Who knew running ANYWHERE for ANY length of time would make ME happy?! If my high school self could see me now ... Now if only I can work on running further and faster. All in good time, I guess.

If you want to check out my log (and map) for yesterday's run ...
http://www.dailymile.com/people/JessLK721/entries/8243864

If anyone ever wants to check out ANY of the Toledo Metroparks (even for just a walk), I'm all ears. lol. Really, I can't believe the change in me since I started running. It isn't so much a physical change as a mental one. I see myself differently when I look in the mirror. I don't just see the number on the scale. I see the muscles and the effort I put into going that distance every time I lace up my running shoes. I see the difference in my health and how I carry myself. Hydration is still a bit of trial and error (I have always gotten dehydrated easily), but I'm learning. Mom is trying to be more conscious of what she makes for family meals because she knows I won't eat the same thing every other night and I know what I should be eating to stay healthy and fit. Fitness is a struggle in my family, and I like to think that I'm leading the charge, in a way. Eh, maybe not, but I know my parents look at me a bit differently than they used to, even when I was a rower.