Charlotte Race Fest Half Marathon

Oh Monday, I was not looking forward to you today! I'm tired today. It was a tiring weekend. But a good one. 

Friday I left work about 4:00, picked up Sophie, and we hit the road to Charlotte. I stopped to get her a happy meal but I was waiting till I got to my parents house to eat dinner because I didn't want fast food. Her fries were tempting and I might have taken one or two....

I got to my parents house about 7:15. Sophie immediately wanted to play which gave me a chance to bring in all our stuff and eat dinner and chat with my Mom. She picked up my race packet for me so I didn't have to worry about it. What a great Mom.

Then it was off to bed to be well rested for the race. Well as rested as you can be with a bed hog. I swear for such a little girl, she takes up the whole bed. I slept decent. 

I was up at 5:50 to start getting ready and we were out of the house by 6:50. My dad went with me to the race and my mom stayed home with Sophie.

It was the perfect morning. The sun was out, the temps were cool. Far cry from last year's torrential downpour and severe thunderstorms. 

I think there were a lot more race participants this year because the start seemed extra crowded and it took us all a while to break apart when the race started. 

Even though I didn't get to train for this race, I was still hoping that I would PR or at least break 2 hours for a third time. However, when the gun went off and we started running, I immediately knew that this was going to be a long race. My legs were just tired and stiff from the get go.

I felt pretty good after the 1st mile but the miles seemed to go by slow. 

Mile 9 was the hill from hell and I had to walk! So frustrating but I wanted to save my energy (or lack there of) for the rest of the race. The last few miles had a bunch of hills and that just drains me after a while. Again, I didn't get a chance to do any hill runs so I felt a bit out of shape.

At mile 11 I realized that if I sucked it up and sped up a little I could still finish under 2 hours and I really wanted to do this.

I put on my "fast" songs and just ran up those hills with all my might. 

The finish line never looked so good and I crossed at 1:58:44, chip time. Woot!

I'm happy overall because I have a feeling this is the last half marathon I will be running, probably till next year. Kind of sad but it's time to move on to my next quest. Baby no. 2. 

I know I keep saying that, hopefully it'll happen this month.

Rest of the weekend was spent hanging out with my family, a little bit of shopping, and eating. My mom is the best cook. 

Sunday we packed up and hit the road and I was home by 2:00. Only to still have to get everything ready for the work week. I was tired last night.

This morning I managed to drag myself out of bed and run 3 miles and do a leg workout. I am still coughing a bunch at night and even though it's getting better, I still can't get rid of this tickle in my throat. Very annoying. 

So far it's been a stressful Monday so I hope that doesn't set the tone for the week. 

One month till vacation!

Sleep! Finally!

All it took was a small dose of NyQuil and I was out cold. From what my husband said this morning, I didn't cough once. Thank goodness! It was starting to get really annoying.

I took less than the recommended dosage because I wanted to be able to get out of bed in the morning and not be groggy. It worked. I was able to get up at 4:20 for the gym but still felt a little out of it. Luckily I had some caffeine and I was good to go. Mostly.

Now I just have to make it through work. Leaving a little bit early to get my daughter and get on the road so we can get to Charlotte sometime around 7:00. I'm sure I'll have to stop for her to go potty and get some dinner. I'll eat when I get to my folks but I know she won't be able to hold out that long.

I'm sure she'll be wound up and wanting to play when I'm ready to go to sleep. My race starts at 7:30 so I'll have to be up probably around 5:45 and leave about 6:45 to get there and walk to the starting line.

Course map for anyone familiar with the Charlotte area:

Starts and ends near SouthPark Mall. I might, just might, have to sneak in after the race and walk around. Charleston does NOT have good malls and shopping. You go to a mall here you run the risk of getting shot. Seriously, it's happened. A few times.

Pretty sure that Sophie will just stay at home with my mom and dad while I run. Which is fine with me. This isn't a big huge race or anything. It's just nice to run around in my hometown. I miss it.

My sister and her boys will be coming over at some point tomorrow to hang with Sophie and play. It's going to be a really nice weekend, not too hot, so I'm sure we'll be able to let them run wild in the yard.

Looking forward to a nice weekend with my family while Ricky slaves around the house :) Just kidding. I wish he was coming too but we have to take advantage of time that can be used to get things done. Plus we're having Sophie's birthday party in our backyard in a few months and our backyard needs some love.

This Should Be Interesting

I am running a half marathon Saturday. I haven't really gotten a chance to "train" for it due to my cold and it's remnants the last 2 weeks.

I did do 10 miles last Saturday and felt really good and strong.

Then I coughed up my lungs for about 20 minutes after.

I ran Monday and yesterday and had aspirations to get up this morning and do about 7 miles tempo run (because I was suppose to do it yesterday but never got into my groove and only did 5 - super tired). However, that plan failed when I coughed up my remaining lungs last night from about midnight till about 2:00 am.

The secret to great abs is to cough your brains out for 2 hours a few nights and you are sure to have a six pack.

This happened Monday night as well and I think at this point my husband is going to hold a pillow over my face. He's a trooper. I would like to point out there is a couch he could go sleep on if he got really annoyed. I guess neither of us wanted to give up our bed.

I am no longer congested but apparently I have some leftover "junk" that I keep coughing up and can't seem to shake this last little bit. I hate taking meds but thinking I might need some cough syrup or something. I really want to sleep tonight!

So needless to say when my alarm went off at 4:00 I could barely keep my eyes open so I did not get up. I'm super tired today and have already downed 2 cups of coffee and still feel very sluggish and sleepy. It's going to be a long day.

I wasn't planning on running tomorrow morning for the simple fact that I have to work all day and then drive to Charlotte and didn't want to be too tired, but I think I'm going to shoot for 6 slow miles and then a few weights and drink lots of caffeine throughout the day.

That's the plan anyway, we'll see if I cough up the remainder of my lungs tonight.

So Saturday should be interesting. I'll either do really well or completely bomb but either way it's my last half marathon as this month we are going to start trying again for baby no. 2. If I run as well as I did on Saturday I'll do fairly well. Weather is going to be perfect so at least I have that going for me.

After the race I'm going to go shopping with Sophie and my Mom. I miss shopping in Charlotte. Lots.

Ricky is staying here to get some much needed stuff done around the house. He'll only have the dogs to manage, he should get a lot done with wife and daughter out of the house.

Next Saturday Ricky and I are running a rather small 5k that's going to be in our neighborhood. I haven't ran just a 5k in a long time so that will be interesting as well.

Lots of interesting things happening.

My Easter Sweetie

I have to brag. My daughter is gorgeous! Love love love her big brown eyes.

And the fact that she wore a dress without argument.

And let me put her hair in pig tails!

Photo by my sister in law, edited by me in Photoshop.

Photo and edits by me. 

Here are the before's:

An Eye Opener

Last week I had an appointment with the Dermatologist to have a few spots to looked at and removed. I was very nervous about one mole in particular on my right leg. It grew about 5 years or so ago and had gotten darker. The more I looked at it the more I got disturbed by it.

All I could think about was one thing: I don't want my daughter to grow up without me.

A little dramatic, probably, but I was a big time sun worshiper in my youth. Big time. I was never smart about sunscreen. Of course I knew I should have worn it, but I have dark skin and rarely burned so I just didn't think twice about it. Dumb.

All things change when you have a child. You start to realize you were an idiot growing up and hopefully it's not too late.

I also had another spot on my stomach that I've had since I can remember. Over the years I noticed it had changed, gotten a little bigger and not quite symmetrical. Of course it did grow with my stomach so for a while I chalked it up to that.

So I was really nervous about my appointment, thinking the worst (because that's what I do).

The appointment went very well. I got a full body check and the doctor immediately told me the "mole" on my leg was not a mole but a small hemangioma. Basically small blood vessels that have grown out of the skin. Gross, yes but very relieved to hear!! Apparently I have them all over, these tiny red dots. They are hereditary. After talking to my mom, she has them too. Just to be safe the doctor removed it and sent it away for biopsy.

She also removed the spot on my stomach, just to be on the safe side, as well as another small but darker than normal spot on my left leg - a spot that I had seen before but really didn't think too much of it.

Just a tiny procedure where she numbed the three areas and then scraped away the skin. Just a band-aid and some instructions on wound care and how to prevent scarring and I was on my way. Results would be in 2 weeks from now.

Fast forward to yesterday (or I guess I should say rewind?) I got a call from the doctor's office about my results. Immediate heart flutter.

They confirmed that the "mole" on my leg was indeed not a mole but the hemangioma and it was completely fine.

The other two spots however came back as atypical nevus (another term for mole). Good news is that the skin that was taken for biopsy "cleared the margins" so I do not need to go back for more skin removal. I am fine.

They did caution me to check my skin every month and come in immediately if I see any of my spots (and boy I have a lot of them) change (following the ABCD's of skin cancer detection. Also said I need to make sure I am wearing SPF 30 or higher when I'm in the sun. I should get yearly checks but I will probably go back in a couple months and get checked again just to be on the safe side.

I say this because I am now analyzing every little spot on my skin and am wondering if maybe something was missed and I need to go back? I've spoken to my sister as well as a co-worker and both have talked me down from the ledge and assured my that if I wait a couple of months it will be OK.

I'm just paranoid because they told me I am at risk for more atypical moles that could potentially develop into skin cancer. POTENTIALLY - doesn't mean they will, which is why I need to take extra precautions.

This has been a real eye opener for me and a tad scary that the thing I was was most concerned about was not a mole and a spot that I probably wouldn't have thought twice about ended up being atypical.

Very important to get your skin checked!! And to wear sunscreen!!

I will say while I was never good at it myself, I am a sunscreen nazi with my daughter. She gets re-applied and sprayed every 45 minutes. She's fair skinned like my husband so I am extra diligent with her. And now will be with myself.

My days of sun worshiping are over. And I'm completely fine with sitting in the shade with a big hat on.

And I would like to add that when I went on my long run on Saturday I wore sunscreen!

Running in a Sauna

The gym was open this morning, thank goodness. I mean who am I to complain about it not being open if I'm not going to go right?

Really I had some assistance waking up this morning. A thunderstorm rolled in about 3:15 this morning and a little doggie of mine was all snuggled up next to me because she gets scared of thunder and lightning. 

So I listened to that for about 30 min until I finally fell back asleep, only to wake up 30 min later when my alarm went off.

My run went well, I'm 99.8% over my cold but still coughing up nastiness here and there. 

To say it's warm in my gym is an understatement. I started sweating like a pig within 2 minutes of my run. I was right under the air conditioning vent too. They really need to fix and soon because it's only getting warmer here in the South. 

Except for Friday. Both my husband and I have the day off and were planning on taking Sophie to the beach. Yeah, it's going to be 60 degrees, barely, on Friday. The only day of the week that it's going to be that cool.

I'm sort of bummed because we were going to meet friends there and hang out. 

I mean I guess we could still go and walk and pick up shells and stuff, bundled up in a sweatshirt but that really takes the fun out of a beach day. In my opinion. 

I was shooting for 7 miles but was running low on time and wanted to get a quick weight work out in. So I managed about 6.25 miles and then did quick legs, chest and back. You would have thought I took a shower in my clothes. I was dripping. It was gross.

Tomorrow I'm thinking about "sleeping in" and doing a quick workout at home. Only because I've gotten up the last two mornings and am pretty tired. Friday I'll run since I have the day off and the Saturday I'll attempt 10 - 11 miles before my half marathon next weekend.

If Friday beach day doesn't happen I'm going to attempt to work more on Sophie's big girl room. The room that's not even half done because I don't have time to do it. So maybe this cool weather day is a blessing in disguise.

Workout Woes

I'm alive! I survived what I think was one of the longest running cold's in my history. I swear I wasn't sure when I would feel better but I can finally breathe and have stopped hacking up my lungs.

Saturday I ran 6 miles but stopped every mile to either cough or drink water. It has been super hot in the gym lately, not sure why they can't crank up the air, I mean we live in the South. It was almost 90 yesterday.

Sunday I threw a baby shower for my friend Pam and didn't have a chance to run. I was up at the wee hours prepping food for the shower and by the time it was over and I was home I was pooped. I think I even fell asleep on the couch at like 8:00.

Monday I woke up and was thinking about going to the gym but as I was thinking about it I fell back asleep. Damn.

Which brings me to today's events.

I didn't want to wake up, but I did. I literally dragged myself out of bed this morning, got ready and drove to the gym, feeling pretty proud that I'm going to get there at 4:30. As I pulled up to the parking lot I noticed that there were only like 3 cars in the parking lot. There are typically more. That's cool,   I don't mind being the only person there.

I walk up to the door and gave it a little pull and.......locked! What? The lights are on, music is playing, what is going on?

Then I see the morning guy standing on the other side on the building. So I go over and state the obvious, the doors are locked. He tells me that they changed the locks and they didn't give him the new key. So he's called someone to bring the new key but isn't sure when they will get here. Huh.

So I wait in my car.

And I wait.

And wait.

At about 5:00 people really start showing up, most who do the cycle class at 5:30. All are dumbfounded as to why the doors are locked. Join the club, I've been waiting 30 minutes.

I tell myself I can wait till 5:30 and then by that time I have to head home and get ready for work, still optimistic that someone will show up and let us all in.

5:15. Nothing. But I did have a nice chat with someone named Cedric who shared the same frustrations. Getting out of bed, this being the only time you can workout, wasting the gas to drive over here and it not being open, why can't they turn on the air, why are the lights and music on, we pay for the gym to be open and there's really no excuse for it not being open. You know, those types of things.

Of course I could always just go run on the road but I just don't feel comfortable doing that in the dark. Call me paranoid but I read way too many news stories and I'm just not that hard core.

Cedric leaves and I wait another 10 minutes, watching two guys try to jimmy the locks and "break" in. It didn't work but I personally appreciate their effort. By this time there are about 15 people waiting and looking rather peeved, especially the cycle instructor who's class was suppose to start 10 minutes ago.

5:40 realization has set in that it's just not going to happen. Bummed.

When I got home I do a quick workout, and I do mean quick. 15 minutes but still managed a small sweat. If you want to good oblique workout try this:

Just to note I use a 5 pound dumbbell for the russian twists and 25 lb. for the side bends.

I also did some quick squats, lunges, lower abs and push ups.

Not what I wanted to accomplish but something is better than nothing right? I'm going to try to run this evening but to be honest I'm super tired when I get home from work and sitting in traffic but who knows, wierder things have happened.

As I was driving to work I was still sort of fuming about this morning so I decided to call and complain. I never complain so this was something new for me.

Reason I don't like to complain is because I've been in customer service before and have been on the receiving end of those complaints. There are some angry people in this world.

When I got to work I called and spoke to a nice lady who tried her best to explain what happened but it sort of was getting me riled up so she told me the manager was busy and would call me back (yeah right).

In the meantime I called another gym that just opened up in my town, they are smaller but open 24 hours. You scan your key card and it unlocks the doors. Additional pro's it's new, clean, and equipment is new. Con, it's small and have barely any group fitness classes. Their rates are actually about what we currently pay so the only thing we would come out of pocket for is the enrollment fee. It's a 2 year contract but you go month to month after that (which is what we have now, we are month to month and can cancel at will).

So I think we're going to check this gym out. Ricky is a big weights guy so we have to factor in that for him. I'm all about the 24 hours.

And actually the manager did call me back! I was surprised. He explained that they had the locks changed late yesterday due to some turn over and the morning guy never got the new key. This I understand but as I explained to the manager, the morning guy was there with the wrong key and was trying to call someone to come open. Why would it take someone almost 2 hours to answer their phone and get over there? He only offered that they person's phone was on vibrate and he didn't hear it ring. Whether that's true or not, Mr. Manager assured me that this won't be happening again and they are making some changes that will benefit the members. Time will tell on that.

I did bring up the air conditioning issue and he said that they are aware and working on getting it serviced before it gets really hot. I hate to remind him that we skipped Winter and have gone straight to Summer.

I'm not sure if we'll stay or go to the new gym but I do know that now I have to get up again tomorrow morning and I've been 3 days without running and have a half marathon next weekend. That will be interesting.