Friday, January 18, 2008

Unveiling of the New Blog

I packed up house and moved into a new one.

The new address is located at:
http://www.gottapushfor9s.blogspot.com

Come stop by and say hi. I missed all of my running buddies!

Thursday, January 10, 2008

This is the End.

Hello to the Handful of you wonderful people who occaisionally popped up to see what was going on in Carmen's running land!

I'm closing up shop here on this blog. I've begun my marathon training for Eugene this week and am about 40% towards my financial goal of buying flight tickets, a hotel room, and a rental for the trip. I'm determined to make this a reality!

This blog reminds me all too much of how I've failed at my attempts to get back into the running groove and at this point, I'm tired of this blog. I may start up a new Blogger page but there is still that chance that I may just end my running blog days for a while.

I appreciate the friendships that I made through this outlet. I'm certain that this is not the final end though. I'll let you know if I get another blog.

Good luck to all of you who are doing PF Chang's this coming weekend. I'll be there rooting on some runners. Cheers!

P.S. Lisa, I'm interested in the Tumbleweed Running Club!

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Peeking Back In

Man, I feel really bad about myself but I know that I shouldn't feel this way and that I'm doing more than most people would.

The 5k that I was preparing myself for just started and I am still at in party clothes at home. I went to a snowflake making party (fraught with cookies, cocoa, posole stew, and frybread!) at my friend's house last night and when we got back to the apartment I ended up falling asleep on Superbad.

I feel like I always have these excuses for not making a goal and not running in general. I feel as though other people think that all I do is set these goals with out firmly being committed to them but I can't help what happens to me. After Thanksgiving day, I awoke on my mom's bed with a weird ache behind my right knee. When I got up to walk to the bathroom, I could feel sharp pains in both my ligaments (the huge ones, at least, I think they're ligaments. lol) and a little bit up the hammies. It stayed that way for almost a week and gradually faded out this past week. I don't know how I did it or what caused it but that has been my downfall.

I was doing so well too! In light of things, I ran a mile yesterday and did the elliptical for 10 minutes. I am going to make up the Fiesta Bowl 5k with the Reindeer Run 5k this coming weekend on the 15th.

The plan is to continue building a steady base of 3 miles/run and 12-15 miles a week til the end of the year. I am starting my marathon training at the beginning of 2008 with the goal of making to to Eugene, OR in May with the hubby. I hope all is well with you. :)

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Sunday, November 18, 2007

And a Wedding Photo!

I am so glad that this is only a three day work week for me. Hopefully, it will only be two if I can get away with getting eight hours of leave approved on Wednesday. I'm so happy the holiday weekend is coming up. I still get conflicted over celebrating Thanksgiving but it's so hard to give up the spectacular turkey dinner and everything. I'm looking forward to finally being able to help my mom in the kitchen. I am so not a cooking girl but I've been learning thanks to allrecipes.com and my Cooking Basics for Dummies book.

I was supposed to run a 5k over the weekend but did it happen? NO!

I ended up falling asleep way late on Friday and wanted to throw my alarm clock in the toilet when it buzzed around 5:45 am. Brandon got up to turn it off which only meant that I went back to sleep.

Ah well. I still have my official first 5k for 2007 coming up on Dec. 9th to look forward to anyway.

On Saturday, I ran 2.2 miles on the treadmill with the intention or running another 2 miles that evening but that didn't happen since Brandon's grandma was in town and we went out for mexican food instead. I decided to make up my run today and was able to run 3.3 mi non-stop! Woo-hoo! This was on the treaddie and I agreed with myself that I would run my next two runs outdoors just so I don't weaken my legs.

We finally got some of our photos back from our wedding photographer. Here is a pic of my husband and I after the whole ceremony.



This Week:
Sun: 3.3 miles - 11:15 pace

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

I'm Keeping Up

Yes, that is my evil husband lurking in the back!

Port of Subs is my favorite place for a healthy lunch or dinner. I just absolutely love the sandwiches from there. Subway gets old after awhile and I can't stand smelling like Subway bread when I leave the place. The Jalopeno chips at POS are to die for, as well! I heart POS even more these days because it makes watching what I eat even easier.

Although I'm excited about possibly running my first 5k this weekend for the year...I think what really gets me pumped for running is wearing my lovely new pearls (that I will purchase!) with a nice 50's vintage dress. I have a couple of friends that are going to teach me how to fix my hair in the retro style. They both love rockabilly and psycho-billy so they are so with me on my style change for the new year. I don't want to go pin-up though...I like the wholesome Sandra Dee look. lolLove this dress!

Tonight, I ran 3.3 miles. This evening, I made sure to run my first two miles with ease so I wouldn't burn out at the end. I took a small walking break after I reached 2.5 miles and I'm happy to say that I took off about forty seconds from my last time of 36:20. I ran 3.1 miles in 35:40. Woot-woot!

Already improving! What about that!

I'm afraid that the friend I mentioned a couple posts back who was supposed to run the 1/2 with me in January has already kinda bailed. She hasn't been running. I already kind of expected this. I'm miffed but oh well. I hate it when people say they're going to do something and they don't keep up with their end of the bargain. I have a life but I'm making efforts to squeeze in my runs. I just keep thinking it will all pay off when I'm at the starting line for the Eugene Marathon and buying my vintage dresses shortly before or thereafter. :)

This Week:
Sunday - Rest
Monday - 3.1 miles
Tuesday - Rest
Wednesday - 3.3 miles

Monday, November 12, 2007

Goals and Treats

I just created a tentative race schedule for the remainder of 2007 and 2008. I'm slowly working my way back up to where I once was and am looking forward to running my first marathon in either May or June. I'd really like to run my 1st in Eugene just because I love Oregon so much.

I may be running my first 5k this Saturday in Fort McDowell or not. I have two friends who are doing a Breast Cancer Awareness walk this Saturday so I may support them in their cause. However, I am most definitely doing the Fiesta Bowl 5k in December. Last year, I did the 1/2 marathon and scored a PR. I was bummed to see that they would be giving out finisher medals to 1/2 finishers because I didn't get jack last year.

I have to prepare a running schedule for myself for 4 weeks. I made Brandon my witness that if I kept to my weekly mileage goals for the whole month, I could use my Zales card to buy myself something pretty. I am eying a strand of lovely pearls. I've never used my card yet and am itching to do so but I need a good reason.

I've also discovered a new goal that I really want to look forward to. I want to lose some weight so that I can fit into and look good in vintage dresses and attire from the 50's. I love the fashion from that era and want to look my absolute best when I buy a couple dresses. The thought of fitting nicely in a dress with a tiny waist inspires and drives me to run. Today, I ran 3.1 miles in our new complex's gym. I did it in 36:20 which is way slow for me and included some long walking breaks but I have to start somewhere, right?

Last Thursday, I ran-walk a route that measured almost 4 miles. It will be run-walk for another two weeks until I can build my endurance to run a full 3 miles non-stop.

I'm so glad my lover and I are back together.
Running.

Saturday, November 03, 2007

Taking Baby Steps

Somewhere along the way, I lost focus of my theme for this year: "Better, Faster, Stronger".

I feel like I got my running mojo back though. This time, I really got it back. My husband bought an iPod shuffle for me recently because it was high time my old one retired. I never even named it but it was with me for more than 2 years. Good run, old pal.

My new shuffle has a name. It's name is Cornelius.

Cornelius and I have big plans for 2008. This is the official year of the marathon for me. I'm planning on marking the calendar for late April or early May. I have to get my fitness and aerobic capacity back up there.

As for the moment, a friend (also my co-worker) and I have psyched ourselves up for the PF Chang's 1/2. I only have about 10 weeks of training. It's doable. I say this because I'll be doing some long walking breaks. It would be a different story if I was running non-stop. I hope this friend doesn't bail on me.