Competitive Running

I bought a book yesterday that is the women's complete book of running. I can't remember the specific title but that comes close enough. I've read a lot of it so far which is a nice break from studying ethics, Erickson, DSM-IV-TR diagnoses, and other random stuff.

I'm psyched about running and cannot wait to move. I've already looked up running clubs in the area. Currently, I'm having to enjoy running from the sidelines as I got my first running injury while I was in Florida. I think it's a stress fracture in my foot but I can't confirm because that would require a trip to the doctor. So I'm taking the rest of the month off.

But come August 2, it's on. I start my first training program to get ready for a half marathon. Totally psyched! I hope to eventually do a whole marathon but that's for down the road.

And I can't wait to go get my next pair of running shoes. So excited!

Dreams & Zombies

It's 1 pm and I just got up for the day. I attribute this to a couple of factors ... well, two factors. The first being that I'm in this huge house all alone (without furniture even) and I have a very over active imagination. There aren't working lights in two of the front rooms yet which really creeped me out the first night I was here. At night, in places that I'm unfamiliar with, I like to have lights on in all the rooms except the bedrooms/bathrooms until I go to bed. I just think it makes me feel more prepared for whatever is out there. I have stayed away from scary shows/horror movies while I've been here because I don't need any help scaring myself any. So I have stayed up late at night trying to put off going to bed since that means all of the lights will be turned off. I also stay up late whenever I'm stressed out/don't like my job in an attempt to put off the next day coming. However, this time, it's definitely being in a new place alone. It'd be fine if they had curtains or working lights. Some of my thoughts have been along the lines of what if zombies suddenly started pounding on the door? What if Zeus suddenly turned into the dog from I am Legend? What if there really is someone standing in the shadows? I've decided I would probably make an excellent writer if I actually had the attention span to match.

So I went to bed at 1am last night only to be promptly woken up at 6am by Zeus. Had I gone to bed at a decent hour, this would not have been a problem ... also if I had not been having such cool dreams, this would not have been a problem. I find that this factor plays a whole lot into my sleeping late. When I first wake up, I remember what I was dreaming about and usually it's pretty awesome - so awesome, in fact, that I then go back to sleep. I usually don't remember what it was that I was dreaming about later that day but they're usually better than some movies. I know that last night I was traveling somewhere with three friends and it was so vivid with checking in and taking an airport shuttle. I need to turn my awake life into as much of an adventure as my dream life appears to be.

Watermelon Run 5K

I'm currently in Winter Park, Florida, a tiny little town on the outskirts of Orlando. I'm dogsitting for a family that I know and will be here a total of 11 days. When I got here, the mom let me know that there was going to be a 5K on July 4th. She and I run together when she's back in Baton Rouge and I will be returning here in February to compete in a half marathon. I figured why not? I need practice and don't really have anything else to do.

Oh gosh, Florida humidity + race = brutal. Parts of me that I didn't know sweat were sweating. It was nasty. My time was 34:57 which isn't my best time but I finished! And I finished in both the top third and was one of the first 3000 people to cross the finish line so I got a nice little souvenir cup.

There are parts of this race that I liked a lot better than the Race for the Cure in Waco.

1) Pace signs - All of us got to run according to what pace we could do. This really helped out with the start of the race as the people with 10+ pace and walkers were to line up in the back so I didn't have to dodge them. However, it also seems some people were a little too confident in their pace but at least it wasn't a lot of them.

2) Time clocks - At the 1, 2, and 3 mile marks, they had time clocks up so you could see how you were doing. The only downside to this is that not all of us started at 0:00:00 seeing as how the start corral was pretty deep. It helped to know that I started around the 1 minute mark.

3) Star Spangled Banner - A trumpeter came out to play this before the race and I realized that we don't hear this song enough ... especially on the 4th of July. Francis Scott Key really captured the fight in Americans' hearts to be independent and free.

4) Watermelon - oh gosh, out of everything at the end of the race that they had to help hydrate us, the watermelon was by far the best. It's 92% water. I think this should be an option at the end of all races.

There were also things I didn't like ...

1) No warm up - Now I didn't like that there wasn't an organized warm up like Race for the Cure had. Granted, these were all pretty serious runners and we all warmed up on our own. I just think that a group warm up would have helped pass the time.

2) Tshirts - Both races had race tshirts but I learned on this one that you don't have to wear it to the race. And if I do another hot race like this, it's time to put aside my modesty and just run in a sports bra and shorts. I haven't run in a tshirt since Race for the Cure and have been fine in a tank top but I was dying out there. The only downside would be I need something to wipe my face.

3) Running alone - I mentioned this before but it's still true. I would much rather have someone there with me although now it doesn't have to be someone running. There were over 3000 runners there today .... aka strangers. Before the race, I was starting to get really anxious about this and knew that if it didn't get better, I would have gone back to the car and left. I think if someone had been there with me and we were chatting, it would have been much better.

But I finished and survived and had a really strong finish - a faster pace from 2.8 on and then sprinting the last tenth. Gotta finish strong. And now I'm off for a pedicure and some self care before Zeus and I head out to the lake tonight to watch some fireworks :-)