Merry (belated) Christmas! Or Happy Boxing Day if you’re in a country that celebrates it (you lucky dogs! I’m back at work now!)

I had a fantastic Christmas! Spent lots of time with my family, had a few good runs, and got lots of good stuff from Santa. Yay!

Friday, after I got off work, I went to the park to run. It was about 1:00 in the afternoon, sunny, a little warm, but beautiful. But once I started going, I was just not in the mood to run. So I walked most of it, then went home and put my cat in her carrier, and went to Baton Rouge. I didn’t feel bad that I didn’t run as far as I could have or should have. After all, my official training hadn’t started yet anyway.

Saturday, before I had to go to the airport to pick up my brother and sister-in-law, I wanted to run on my mom’s circle (as mentioned above.) I went around about four times, and God, was it boring. My shins started to hurt (I need new shoes) so I used that as an excuse to stop. Certainly didn’t want to start my training with an injury!

And now the real training begins…I will denote training days in italics. Silly.

Week 1, Day 1
On Monday, my sister-in-law and I went around the circle, 11 times to be exact. She walked while I jogged (oops, I mean ran) alongside her, and we had a nice conversation and though I wasn’t going very fast, it was a nice start to my official training. It probably ended up being a little more than 3 miles, but I walked the first and last loops.

Tuesday was no day for running for me (no time!) but I did get lots of good loot. The running watch I wanted (a Timex Rush V02) and a Polar A3 Heart Rate Monitor and a Camelbak Flashflo (which Chris got me too…so now I get credit at Road Runner Sports…yay!) and Jeff Galloway’s book, Marathon, plus my sister-in-law gave me a set of real British pint glasses, which was the coolest thing ever. She had to bring those on the plane! She’s so swell! And a cool book on London, and an Amazon.co.uk gift certificate, and some earrings, and…etc, etc, etc. We gave my mom a DVD player and some DVDs which she loved, so I’m happy about that. Everyone was in good spirits, and everyone liked their presents, and my anal-retentive brother didn’t make everyone take turns opening presents one at a time. Yay!

Week 1, Day 2
Today, Chris and I went for a four mile run before I had to head back to New Orleans to go to work. We went to the LSU lakes, and we each wore the HRMs that we got for Christmas. It was fun comparing our heart rates (mine were invariably higher than his, but that’s no surprise.) The pace was not bad, it was definitely manageable, and I was extremely pleased to see that we did the four miles in 50 minutes! A 12:30 pace! Not bad at all! I’m quite happy with that, for such a long run. I wish I knew where the mile splits on that route were, so I could have used my handy new watch to record them. 😀

I’m starting to get intimidated by the distances in my training, but I decided I’m just going to take them one day at at time…no pressure, don’t think ahead, just do what needs to be done.

Okay, so I didn’t run this morning. But not to worry, I’m running after work. I’m getting off at 1, so I’m going to the park (hopefully with Ren) and will run in the daylight again! Well, full afternoon daylight as opposed to morning daylight. I went to dinner last night with Ren and her brother and mom and stepdad, and we didn’t get back until late, and I had to pack up and put some stuff in my car, etc, etc so no time this morning.

Also, this is the last time I’ll be able to post until after Christmas. I’ll be away from my computer (and my dreamweaver, most importantly) but I’ll write about everything I do during the little break. I’m anticipating a five miler tomorrow (Saturday), a three miler on Monday, and a four miler (with Chris, in Baton Rouge) on Wednesday morning, before I head back to New Orleans. The most crucial of these, I feel, is the five-miler tomorrow. I really have to make myself get out and do the entire five miles, alone, no matter how much I don’t want to. I still don’t know where I’m going to do it, but I’ll figure something out. It may just end up being 15 laps around my mom’s street. Yeeeps.

I’m excited about Christmas particularly this year. I realized last night that this is the first time in three years that my entire immediate family will be together for Christmas. Excepting my father, of course. But in 1998 (the first Christmas without him) my mother, sister, and I flew up to Seattle to spend Christmas with my brother and sister-in-law. It was nice, it snowed on Christmas day and everything, but it was an unreal Christmas. In a hotel room…with my mom and sister snoring on either side of me…no dad…etc…etc. This year should be much much better. I’m excited. Actually, this is the first time in three years we’ve all been together, period, not just at Christmas.

I guess if I move to England, it might be the last Christmas together for a while, too. I guess it has its downsides, too.

Ahhhh, life is wonderful! The sun shines, the temperature has dropped, Pam is a happy, happy girl!

Nothing to do with running, though. Didn’t run this morning. Was supposed to. Why not? Well, Sarah, my business partner/boss called me last night at 11, as I was preparing to go to sleep to get up at 7 for my run. She had had a few drinks, and asked what was wrong with me. I haven’t been so very nice to her recently, instead I’ve been projecting my frustrations with work on her. I have felt for a long time that she no longer thinks of me as a partner, but rather as an employee. Technically, I am, but we built this business from the ground up. She is the business/money/management, I am the creative/talent. Neither of us could have done anything without the other. (Well, I guess I could have been any old web designer, but nothing would have been the same, and the idea for Mardi Gras Store was all hers.)

Anyway, we hashed it out, and I told her the basis for all of my bad feelings. See, all I want from life is to live in England. And Sarah is (technically) British. She promised me a year or so ago that she would help me to live in England one day. (My goal was by the time I turned 30, which is now about 3 years away. Gulp.) However, I started to doubt that this would really happen, and started to wonder what I was doing with this company if I was going to be underpaid and still never get to live in England. (I don’t mind making a sacrifice now if it means I get to live in the UK later.)

So the upshot is that she said she wants me to be happy, and if that means living in England, then so be it. So Kristina will leave New Orleans in August, our lease will be up, and that’s our goal. For me to live in England in August. Ack! My dream, coming true much sooner than I had originally anticipated!

Of course, we have to figure out how to get me there. Set up a business? Get me hired somewhere? Freelance? Marry a British man? (ha ha) Whatever, I don’t care! So now I’m off to research ways to get a work visa…

If this didn’t make much sense, I apologize. I’m just so excited about it!

PS I’ll run tomorrow morning.

Ooooooof! Last night I may have overdone it a tad. Well, not really, but I’m sure feeling a little sore today! I went to the gym with Ren and we got there half an hour before her aerobics class was to start, but I got immediately on a treadmill. This meant that I had an hour and a half before she was to be done with her class. Not a big deal, it took me an hour to get through the four miles I had planned, plus the cool down. Boy! Treadmills these days are fancy! I programmed this treadmill for my 4 mile goal, and I could set pace/speed and look at how many calories I was burning (over 600 total! Woo!) and how far I’d gone. Well, I know those aren’t exactly new features on treadmills, but this one was so nice! And it had a heart rate monitor thing, but it didn’t seem to work (or I couldn’t figure it out) because my heart was either beating at 67 beats per minute or 199. So either I was dead or dying. Don’t think it was accurate. Ha ha. That’s okay, I’ll be getting my own HRM soon (Santa willing!) I had the incline set at 1% but sometimes made it 1.5% just for fun. (Wooooo!) About half way through it, my feet started going numb, and my right calf was a little sore but I didn’t want to stop the treadmill to retie my laces or stretch because that would have messed up my calculations and my rhythm. I think that is one of the main downsides of treadmills. You can’t just easily stop. Or if you do, you have to reacclimate to non-moving ground again. It’s just a pain. Plus, my lower back was aching, but I know that’s just because it isn’t strong enough. I hope I also get the balance ball I asked for so I can strengthen my core. Exciting!

So after I got off the treadmill I had half an hour before Ren’s class ended. I stretched a little and decided to walk around the indoor track for a little while. It’s one of those 9-times-around-per-mile tracks but it’s so lovely and air-conditioned (the treadmill area is not so well ventilated) that I couldn’t resist. Plus, I was trying to get my land legs back. But walking wasn’t cutting it for me, so I started to run. What a difference! The ground felt so hard (though the track is relatively soft) which sucked but at the same time I felt like I was flying (and I know I wasn’t running that fast!) It was fun. Plus, with the air conditioning vents blowing cold air on you almost constantly, it’s a little like running in heaven. I ran around 3 or 4 times, then got bored with it (see, it’s not ideal) so I stretched a little more. With 10 minutes before Ren was finished, I got on one of the stationary bikes and leisurely cycled for 10 minutes or so.

A good workout, overall. I worry that I did too much, though the track and the bike were hardly taxing. I think I may go with her sometimes on my off days, or my short run days and do the aerobics class. It focuses on abs, back, and thighs (or is it abs, butt and thighs? either is good with me) which seems like it would help with my running. Or at least be some interesting cross-training. Ren says she can barely move after the class. Sounds good!

I overslept this morning (the electricity went out in our apartment overnight, so my alarm clock went out) so I feel great today! Nice and well-rested! I wouldn’t have woken up at all, I don’t think, if it hadn’t been for Stinky meowing for her food.

Tomorrow I’ll run again, 3 miles. Maybe I’ll go to the levee.

Cool! Found an article from The Times with quotes from runners about the London Marathon. One is from Mike Henry, the Reluctant Runner! Yay! Cool! Here’s the link, hope it still works! If not, here’s what Mike said:

“I have no views on why the Flora London is the best marathon in the world because I have not run it yet. But I do know how to lose 17lb in ten weeks because I have done that while training for the 2002 race. Mike Henry”

No run this morning. I had to bring Kristina to the airport at 5:30 a.m. Ack! I was barely awake. Then I went back to sleep. Then I overslept. Whoops!

Though today is supposed to be a rest day, I think I’m going to go to the gym with Ren and run my 4 miler on the treadmill. If I wait until tomorrow to do it, I’d do it at the gym anyway, and I don’t want to wait two and a half days between runs. Plus, I just can’t do four miles at the park, it’s too boring, and without Kristina there aren’t any other routes I want to do. Maybe I’ll get up early one day, maybe Thursday, and go to Lafreniere Park in Metairie and run the 2 mile loop there a couple of times. I’ve never been there, but it looks good. I’ve heard good things about it. Hmmm.

I’m also trying to figure out how to fit in racing with training. I love doing 5Ks (haven’t done anything longer yet, so I can’t say about 10Ks or anything) but my weekend runs aren’t going to be 3 miles again anytime soon (or ever, I suppose) so what do I do? Do the long runs on Sunday if the race is on Saturday? Don’t run the race too hard? I’m not going to have time to reschedule my long runs during the week, I’m far too slow for that. 😀 Hmmm. Something to think about.

There’s a 9K in mid-January I’d like to do, so that’s 5.6 miles on a day when I’m supposed to do 7. I suppose if I do “race” it, then it’s ok that it’s 1.4 miles less than I’m supposed to run that day. I mean, it’s only one run out of many. But the 5K in late January, when I’m supposed to be doing 10 milers will be trickier. I guess I don’t have to count it at all, just run it somewhat slowly and do the long run on Sunday. That would work if the race is on Saturday, but if it’s on Sunday, I won’t want to race the day after my long run. Hmmm.

Fun weekend in Houston! Kristina and I drove in Friday evening (after my lunch…yummm…I had too many Cosmopolitans) and went to see my friend Mike’s band play. Saturday, we got up and went for what we thought was going to be a 5 mile run. I had asked Mike the night before for a 5 mile route, and he gave me what he said was slightly over 5 miles, but actually, when we drove it, was just four. However, the path was curvier than the road, so I think it made it more like 4.25 miles. Or something. It took us just under an hour, and I know we weren’t running 15 minute miles, so it had to be more than just 4 miles. Anyway, a four-miler isn’t bad, neither of us were disappointed that we ran that far. It was easy.

This morning, I ran at the park alone, because Kristina went out last night after we got in from Houston. It was very humid and pretty warm so I just went around the park once. (I don’t feel safe doing the whole fly loop alone, it’s very secluded and there are usually cars parked in the parking spaces along the road, with strange men in them. Hmmmm….) I did run it pretty fast (21 minutes) so I’ll consider this my speedwork run. 😀 I think I may use one of my short runs per week as a speedwork run, maybe run it at a faster pace than usual. We’ll see.

No run today! Office Christmas party…lunch (and $1.00 martinis) at Commander’s Palace (same place I went with mom and her new man) and then Kristina’s picking me up, and on to Houston. Yay!

Ha ha, today was a bad day! I don’t feel bad about it, though. It was just one of those days when running just wasn’t happening for us. We got to the fly, ready to do our 3 miles, but it was in the mid to high 70s, with high humidity. Not mid-December weather. No, this is spring in Louisiana. Anyway, we ran by the river, within area bounded by the train tracks when we (of course) heard a train coming. There was no way were were going to make it past the tracks before the train got there, so we ended up stopping and stretching while the train went by. It didn’t take very long. Meanwhile, Kristina was in a really bad mood. My left calf was tight, and by the time we got to the park about ten minutes later, I didn’t feel like running either. It was just one of those days. The thought of going all the way around the park (which is only a mile and a half, we’re not talking about huge distances here) made both of us want to stop. So we did. We walked a little further, then turned around, and walked back to the car. We ended up running probably a mile and a half and walking a half a mile or so, but neither of us were bothered by it. After all, as Kristina pointed out, this was the first time since we have been able to run 30 minutes that we haven’t. This time, it was choice, not inability.

I think it was because of the long run yesterday that I didn’t feel up to running today. I think I should schedule the mid-week medium run the day after a short run and the day before a rest day instead of a rest day before and a short run after. Hmmm. Or I can move the short run to the day before the long run, but I think it’s best to have that sandwiched by rest days.

Next run: 5 miles…uh oh!

Today was our first 4 mile run. Woo! 4 miles! Longest run ever, in both distance and time. Woo hoo! It wasn’t so bad, I was ready for it to be over when it was, though. We ran the levee, out and back, and the wind was in our face the whole way back. Made it a bit of a struggle. But it was good, took us 56 minutes, give or take, so we ran 14 minute miles.

I’m proud of our accomplishment…now for a 5 miler on Saturday, while we visit our friends in the Woodlands. (See here for the story of the path that almost killed me last time I ran it…not this time!)

I just don’t have much more to say today. Work has kept me so busy that when I get home from work, I just flop on the couch and read or watch TV. I have no problem with that. I do lift the hand weights for a while before I go to sleep, to try to tone my arms, but other than that, nothing.

Today is a rest day. I don’t feel icky like I did last time I didn’t run before work (Wednesday, I think) because this is a planned rest day. A necessary rest day. A rest day built into my training schedule. I must embrace these rest days, not feel lazy because I’m taking them. (Really, I can’t believe I’m complaining about feeling lazy. It used to be my reason for living, my outstanding quality, the very core of my being. Hmm.)

Anyway, I’ve been so busy at work, filling packages and the like for UKtoYou that I’ve been running around the office all day anyway, plus lifting heavy things (like boxes of plum pudding – you wouldn’t believe how heavy those puppies are!) and such. So the fact that I’m not just sitting at my desk all day long, and probably won’t be until Mardi Gras is over, is good. Especially considering Erin, one of the girls in the office, brought a plate of cookies in yesterday. I ate one. Or two. Ummmmm. Maybe 3. They were small! Ish.

Okay, today was the first day of my pre-training training. I am going to do the first week of training (3-4-3-5) for the two weeks before the first week. (Does that make any sense at all??? Put it this way – I’m doing the first week of training three times.)

So this morning, we went for three miles. It was weird to be running for distance, not time. We ran around the park and the fly, which I think is three miles. I took my pedometer, but Ren was playing with it and set my stride length to 7 feet (I wish) and so I set it to what I thought it had been at, but clearly it was not 2.5 feet either, or we actually ran 4 miles, with 10 minute miles. Not likely. But we ran for about 40 minutes, and during the park portion, where there are quarter miles marked, we were running exactly 12:40 miles. So we probably averaged 13 minute miles over the whole route. However, a train came by so we had to stop for a minute or so to wait for it. But there’s a good story here – the train stopped right in front of the path, and there was this woman in front of us who ran in front of the train (it was actually moving veeeerrrrry slowly) but we closed our eyes and waited to hear the splat. Then the train started to back up, and we realized she probably knew what she was doing, so we crossed in front of the train. We waved to the conductor and he gave us two short toots of the horn. It was sweet.

No running tomorrow, but hopefully I won’t feel icky about it. I just have to remember that it’s a rest day, not a day when I was too lazy to get up.

Oh yeah, and that’s a picture of our Christmas tree. Isn’t it nice?

Celebration in the Oaks 2 mile Run/Walk
4:00 p.m.

Today, Kristina and I ran the Celebration in the Oaks 2 mile Run/Walk and we were awesome! The race is through City Park, which at Christmastime was a huge light display called, yes, the Celebration in the Oaks. The race route is through the streets of the park, with big lighted displays to look at while we ran. It is a big race, and the beginning was really crowded. (A lot of walkers were at the front. Sigh.) Kristina created a path that I followed, and it took us about half a mile to get to where we could sort of settle into a pace. We hit the one mile mark at exactly 12:00 (this is by my watch, not the official start time, since it took over a minute to get to the start line) and Kristina urged me to run faster. I had told her she could go on ahead without me, but I’m glad she didn’t because I wouldn’t have done nearly as well if she hadn’t been pushing me to go faster. There was a block left (but you have to turn a corner first, so we couldn’t see the finish line and didn’t know it was so close) when I looked at my watch and it said 22:something. I sprinted to the finish, and when I stopped my watch, it said 22:55! Our last mile was 10:55! I can’t believe I ran an entire mile at that pace! It was incredible! Yay!

We didn’t place or anything, they don’t even give finishing tags after the first 500 runners, and we certainly weren’t those, but it was a fun race, and I’m proud of myself for doing it so fast!