Headphones

I am the not-so-proud owner of an iPod shuffle. One of the little tiny ones that has not controls on the iPod, but has the controls on the cord of the headphones. I bought it so I could tuck it in anywhere, it doesn't take up space to travel with and it talks to me. I have to say I get the giggles everytime Ke$ha comes on and I hit the button for the iPod voice to tell me what's playing: "K-dollar sign-HA". That's exactly how she pronounces it and I can't help but laugh. Guess Ke$ha didn't think how silly that $ would sound coming out of an automated device.

Anyways, back on track - I hate my headphones. I have trouble with the Apple ones staying in my ears while I'm running, but that's not the biggest concern. The headphones short out if they get wet - ie if any sweat gets near them. Everytime they short out, I have to go to the Apple store and wait in line to see a guy so I can get a new pair of headphones. Apple does replace them for free, but it's a pain in the you-know-where to go to the mall and deal with the kaos that is the Apple store. Apple advertises this iPod as a workout accessory, but I was told by the customer service guy this weekend that I was not using the device as Apple intended it. What?! Then why do they advertise it on people that are running?! His suggestion was to buy a pair of sporty headphones made for sweating and then buy an attachment by Belkin for my controls. Wait, so let me get this straight. Belkin has a controler that will work with my sweat but Apple doesn't? Apple is at the top of the market for electronics right now, why can't they fix this? And why are they selling a product that they know is faulty? I didn't buy this iPod because I wanted to buy fancy headphones and then buy an attachment to go on them. That defeats the purpose.

I tried a pair of Sony's upgraded headphones last night. They had the controls on the cord, but they didn't fit in my ear right. The left bud kept falling out of my ear and the sound quality was horrible. I couldn't have been more disappointed with a $40 pair of headphones, so back to the store they go. And the search is still on....or maybe I should just give up working out to music...

2010 is going by way too fast

Monday: 6 miles 3.88 miles
Tuesday: Yoga, 3 4 at BON
Wednesday: Spin x1hr, weights
Thursday: Hills x4 Yoga
Friday: 3 miles Rest
Saturday: 7 miles (with HF!) 5 miles at Memorial, Yoga
Sunday: Yoga, 2 mile walk 6 mile bike ride

This week went a little better than last. I stuck more to my schedule (or atleast managed to get some kind of workout in). I had plans to walk on Sunday, but I borrowed my neighbor's bike and took it around the neighborhood. I forgot how much fun a real bike actually is and I really want one. Hubby is excited that I'm lusting after one and promises to get me one soon. He actually bought himself one yesterday. A friend of his happened to be selling a really nice mountain bike for a decent price, so we jumped on it. Yay for the start of a new hobby - mountain biking!

You'll notice on my schedule that I didn't make it to run with HF. Funny story. On Thursday I looked at the schedule and it said the run was 5 miles and it started at 7am. I made sure to go to bed early Friday night, set the alarm and had my clothes ready. I ran with HF three years ago during their Spring training and they always met at Memorial park, so that's where I went. When I arrived at 6:45am, there was a group taking off from the same spot. It was a rather small group, so I thought maybe it wouldn't have been HF. I parked, stretched and waited. No one showed up. I checked the website from my phone and it says that the run started at 6:30am! But I had checked it two days before! So then I started thinking that the group that took off as I arrived was HF. I was kicking myself. I didn't know the route there were on, so I was alone. I decided I'd already gotten up and dressed so I took off for the park and completed my 5 miles. My iPod went dead during the run - fail. Later that afternoon, I ran into my friend that is also in the group. She says the Fall group meets at Luke's Locker. Are you kidding me!? I didn't meet at the right place nor did I get there on time! Either way, it was a recipe for disaster. Hopefully the trend won't continue this way.

This week is pretty busy with work and social stuff, so running will be hard. Hubby's car just died so we might be having to car shop (which we didn't want to do for another couple of months). Such is life I guess. Happy Running everyone and enjoy this 3 day weekend - you know I will!

Houston Fit

Considering my lack of motivation lately, I've finally admitted to myself that training for my first full marathon by myself is going to be a very difficult task. I knew my first half would be tough, so I had joined the force called Houston Fit. They taught me to run, hydrate and recover. They were even there when I developed shin splints and taught me how to bounce back from them. I'm not sure I could have done my first half without them. So I'm going back. This Saturday will be my first run in 2 years with HF and I'm kind of excited. It's a 5 mile run at 7am - so I'll be setting the alarm clock and making sure to stock the fridge with an appropriate prerun snack. 2 of my friends did their first full marathons this past January and are starting training for their second. They are my encouragement to do this. It will be one of them calling me in the wee hours of the night to get my lazy butt outta bed for the 5am runs. I'm actually pretty excited to join again.

So my schedule will change a little in the next few weeks. HF is not as far along as I am, since I'm running a half on July 18th. We'll see if I need to add any extra miles to my long runs to prepare for that. Last night could have been on of my last runs at BON for a while. HF does their hill and speed training on Tuesday nights, which I'm a little sad about. I love my weekly excursions to BON, but I'm sure I'll live. My friend and I were feeling pretty good after one lap around Rice, so we decided to tack on an extra mile yesterday. At our half mile turn around she says "wanna do sprints?" At first I said no because I remember how bad sprints beat me last week, but then I figured what the heck. She made it easy on me - sprint for 5 trees, slow down for 5 trees.  2 intervals in I was exhausted and my stomach was hungry. I wanted to quit. But there she was in front of me yelling me on. When she said "go" we took off while she counted the trees outloud. Then she said the 3rd tree didn't count cuz it was too small! I thought we were going off the spacing of the trees, so that one should have counted. I also thought that the light pole should have counted as a tree. She tricked me more than once to keep going! You gotta love her for that - I was exhausted at the end, but felt great. It was actually a lot of fun and I think I should do it more often.

The hubby doesn't want to go see the Astros game today, so instead of look for a replacement I'm going to the gym. Today's class is Trifecta Fit - 15 min kickboxing, 30 min spin, 15 min abs. It was a great workout last week - I'll let you know how tonight goes!

Happy running!

Week Recap

Ok, so I promised if I posted my planned workouts here, that I'd be more inclined to actually do them. Let's see how I did:

Monday:  9 miles, 3 loops around Memorial napped instead
Tuesday: Yoga, 3 6 miles at BON
Wednesday: Spin x1hr, weights - check!
Thursday: Sprints (4x800) 3x800 (four was too optimistic, should have done .25 sprints instead)
Friday: 4 miles
Saturday: 7 miles
Sunday: Yoga, 2 mile walk

So I totally slacked off again by the end of the week. The sprints on Thursday were such a kick in the booty that I was discouraged and less motivated. I had to take Friday off because my shins were hurting, but I've no excuses for Saturday and Sunday.

Let's try this again. I know I have a busy work and baseball week (since the Astros are back in town), but I'm going to try to work everything in.

Monday: 6 miles
Tuesday: Yoga, 3 at BON
Wednesday: Spin x1hr, weights
Thursday: Hills x4
Friday: 3 miles
Saturday: 7 miles
Sunday: Yoga, 2 mile walk

Happy running!

Workouts of the Week

I'm going to post my running schedule here this week. Obviously just having it hanging on my wall at work is not motivating enough for me. We had a beautiful, cool, overcast weekend here in Houston and I did not go running once. I'm so ashamed at myself. It was never hotter than 80 degrees. I could have run in the middle of the day, but no I didn't. I watched t.v. and read a book and went to the movies. When my electricity went out, instead of lacing up my shoes, I went out for drinks. I'm a sad excuse for a runner right now. So, to kick my butt in gear, I'm posting my schedule on the world wide web. Maybe this will bring motivation to stick to it.

Monday: (supposed to be a rest day, but I've had plenty of those lately) 9 miles, 3 loops around Memorial
Tuesday: Yoga, 3 miles at BON
Wednesday: Spin x1hr, weights
Thursday: Sprints (4x800)
Friday: 4 miles
Saturday: 7 miles
Sunday: Yoga, 2 mile walk

I'll let you know next Monday how I actually did. Wish me luck!

The Year of Running

My Hubby has coined this year "Year of Running" and so themed my birthday presents this year. I had a few runs to try out my new gear, and I absolutely love it. With the weather being pretty much perfect lately, I've been doing more and more of my runs during the daylight hours. Hats are great, but slightly annoying, so I've been itching for a pair of sporty sunglasses to run in. I was thinking that the next expo or festival I hit up that I'd buy a cheap knock-off pair. But Hubby was a few steps ahead and surprised me with these for my bday:

I took this pic last night after my 3.5 mile run, so excuse the sweaty mess that I am. They are a pair of Ryder's and I absolutely love them. They are excellent at keeping the sun at bay and also cutting down on the amount of dust that gets in my eyes.

My second gift was exactly what I was hoping for. Before Christmas this year, my tried and true Garmin went caput on me. Garmin replaced it (several times) with refurbished models, but I didn't have very much luck with any of them. I've been drooling over a couple of the newer models (with GPS instead of my lame foot pod) and was hoping I'd get one for my birthday. Hubby didn't disappoint!

It's the 310XT model and a dream come true. This baby is so cool. I've named it Marvin the Garmin and I can't wait to learn all the features he has to offer. I love being able to track my routes automatically (I'm not a very big fan of running the same routes over and over). The heart rate monitor is actually comfortable, so I've been wearing it unlike the last watch. I'm going to have so much fun training for my marathon with this on my wrist. Watch out Nike! I'm gonna rock your marathon with a Garmin (no Nike+ for me)!

Enough is Enough

...is enough. I'm getting stir crazy over here. I think I've rested my neck and shoulders and back (and legs) enough from this whole sunburn debacle. It's time to hit the streets. I have a date with Memorial Park tonight to (hopefully) catch up on some of the exercise that I've been missing. (Watching the Biggest Loser while eating a pint of ice cream last night was not one of my brightest ideas.) The plan? 4 to 5 mile run with abs and leg work afterwards. The flab around my belly is getting to be a little much. It's about time I slim it down some so I can run faster. Faster I say!

On another note, I stumbled on a blog today of a girl who had a bucket list of sorts to finish before she turned 25. She had me inspired. I'm all about setting goals for myself, but a lot of them seem to fall between the cracks. Didn't I make a new year's resolution this year to run 20 miles per week? That sure was forgotten fast. I am a member of a "book race" where we have to read 50 books this year. I'm doing pretty good so far; I've got 14 books down with a ton stored in my Kindle just waiting to be devoured. There's only 2 people ahead of me, so I still have a chance to win. I feel like since I'm on the edge of 30 (30! OMG! Only 2 more years left of my 20s!), that I need something of the sort. I am kind of working on it little by little. I mean, I am running my first FULL marathon this year (I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to un-capitalize the FULL in FULL marathon!), but I feel like as my 30s approach so goes a portion of life as I know it. Not to sound too pessimistic or anything, but I really do think of 30 as a changing point. I just can't help it. I'm a woman and 30 is pretty much a big deal. Maybe I should start thinking about the things I want to do before I turn 30...

Marathon Blues

So I think this whole idea of running a full marathon is already starting to take a toll on my legs. I think they are starting to freak out. We (my legs and I) ran twice this weekend - a short easy run on Saturday and a long 8 miler on Sunday. My shins are starting to have short spasms and the bottom of my feet are really sore. I keep telling them that 8 miles is nothing and they have so much more in front of them so they should just suck it up and deal, but they aren't listening. I guess that's what I get for trying to talk to them in the first place. I want to just ignore them, but they are kind of a key point in me reaching my goals this year. I let them take yesterday off and today we are just going to get in some quality time on the bike. They'll like that.

I guess some of it is my fault though. After stretching and a short ice bath Sunday after the 8 miler, I immediately went and stood in line outside for 4 1/2 hours. My bad. I really didn't think I'd have to stand for that long. I should have sat on the ground more. I should have put on sunscreen. I should have been at home with my feet propped up on the couch. But no, I was being a good, supportive wife. I stood in line with Hubby that whole time so he could see the World Cup trophy. He knows he owes me for it. For the exhausted legs, the insane sunburn on my chest and back, and the misery from those two that has consumed me the last two days (and it's probably not over). So I guess I can't blame my legs too much.

I will rest them this week, but maybe I'll race them this weekend. Not an actual organized race or anything, but maybe a race against myself. I think they'll be up to it by then. Plus, I haven't had a chance to photograph my new gadgets that I got last week. I need to show them off!