This makes a lot of sense

Nineteen total posts so far this year.

Only two in the last 3 months.

What to do, what to do?

Start an additional blog, of course!

Yep, that's logical ...

to a T

Tomorrow
Ten miles
Trails
Trained (somewhat)
Time?
To be determined ...

Brain dump

What to write, what to write?


Hmm, so I have a few quiet minutes here with the laptop. I've ignored my blog for too long but now that I have the time to sit down and write a post, I have absolutely no idea what I want to say. 


Solution? Random thoughts in a bullet points list, of course!

• My struggle to lead a more disciplined life continues. I've had a lot of success losing weight these last 10 months and that has certainly required a lot of discipline. Heck, it's the most success I've ever had as I've discussed several times on this blog. I've just got to find a way to be more disciplined in other areas as well.
• Since I started this blog as a place to capture my thoughts about running, I'll point out that's one area that I'm still lacking discipline. I'm in the midst of training for the Medoc Trail Races in October. It's so freakin' hot here in NC that I'm having a hard time getting in my mid-week runs. I really, really, REALLY need to get these runs out of the way and do them in the early morning. And again, we go back to the lack of discipline thing. I am not a morning person - never have been. I swear it's like my semi-awake, early-morning self is another person. I go to bed with the best intentions to get up early. But that other person takes over and my feet never even hit the floor.
• Speaking of waking up early, school starts in 5 weeks. Yikes! Kate will be in the 6th grade and Will starts kindergarten. I can't think about that too much yet. I just can't believe he's old enough for school ...
• It may be stifling hot outside (even now at 9:00 pm), but it's very cool in my house (my husband Taylor and I definitely have different ideas of what room temperature really is). I stopped writing for a few minutes so I could put on my pajamas and socks.
• Kate's softball team has a tournament this weekend in Angier. The temps are supposed to be around 100. Already dreading it even though we love watching her team play. 
• I'm thinking of giving Taylor a short list of running "things" that I'd like to have for my birthday in October. I really don't want to put anything big on that list (although a Garmin would obviously be nice). The first item I've thought of is a fuel belt. I enjoy having a bottle with me but my handheld has started leaking so I need something else. It would be nice to have my hands free. Christy has a Nathan fuel belt for women that she recommends. Anybody else have any suggestions for a fuel belt or other gift ideas?
• We have Vacation Bible School next week. The pictures taken of me last year during VBS were what finally gave me the motivation to take control of my eating and lose weight. So, in honor of the changes I've made during this past year, here's a "before and after" collage of pictures to close this post. Based on the noise my children are making, I think my quiet time with the computer is over for now ...

What a difference a year makes

Pacing, Schmacing

I haven't written much about running lately, but in a word, it's been GREAT lately. It really is amazing how much easier it is now that I've lost weight and have improved both my health and fitness in general. I'm currently in the early weeks of training for the Medoc Trail Races 10 miler in October. I created a moderate intensity plan using the online SmartCoach tool at Runners World. It's only included short runs of two and three miles so far. I can't believe I'm actually looking forward to increasing the distance next week to 4 miles. 


But, even though, the effort associated with running has improved so much I've discovered that my pacing still completely sucks. I feel like I'm running at generally the same (although slow) pace most of the time, but my runkeeper app shows some strange peaks and valleys still.


Maybe it's just the GPS/app software? Yeah, that's what I'll blame it on.

But the most important part is that I'm using words like GREAT in the same sentence as running. There was definitely a time when that was not the case ...

Wordless Wednesday: Running on the Farm

Me Likey

I had to take a picture last night for a Body by Vi ad that will be running soon in our local newspaper. Luckily, I had my hair cut earlier in the evening and was thrilled with my new 'do. I kept looking at the camera after my husband took each picture and thinking to myself "that's really me!"


A lot has changed since September. I'm still kind of in shock.

The pictures that started it all (don't look at the hair, it was very hot) - late July 2010

Yikes!

My "official" Body by Vi "before" picture September 2010 - so bad that I rarely show it to anybody

The most current "after" picture - completed by the huge smile

Even the cross on my necklace hangs lower now. This is a complete pat-myself-on-the-back post but I am just so FREAKIN' excited that I had to share.

Giveaway winner!

It's so fun going through the process of picking a giveaway winner! Here is the result ...

There were 26 total comments

I plugged those numbers into random.org

I counted to 10 (I'm talented that way)

And the winner is Kittee at Running Half Crazy. Send me a message at gisrunner (at) gmail (dot) com, Kittee, so I can send your prize to you.

Thanks so much to everyone who entered my giveaway and are now following my blog. I sincerely appreciate it. If you want another chance to win a Body by Vi Balance Kit, be sure to enter Teamarcia's giveaway before June 3.

Now for a little running update since I'm only doing a little running now. As always, I'm not making running a priority in my schedule. When am I going to change that?

I did run a little under 2 miles last night. I waited until 8:20 as it was another day in the mid-90s here in NC. It was slow and tough due to the heat and humidity. I was so hot when I finished I jumped in the pool to cool off in my running clothes. Heck, my clothes were soaked with sweat anyway so the pro's definitely outweighed the con's. It felt so good and is a wonderful way to recover!

I'm also registered for the Medoc Trail Races 10 miler again this year. This will be my third year running it and it's my favorite event by far. Apparently it's a favorite event for a lot of runners as it's completely sold out with the the 10 miler filling in 62 hours! Medoc is a small event and they definitely take care of the runners. They give a finishers prize each year (last year was a running vest). I would love it if this year's prize are compression socks but no one knows what the prize is until the day of the event. 

Someday I would love to run this event's marathon, but my lack of commitment/discipline makes that impossible at this point. But the 10 miler is very doable and is so much fun. There will be a lot of hot and sweaty training runs to report here between now and October!