What Happened to My Toe?

Friday morning, I dragged myself out of bed and to work at 8am. When I got there, I was told to go home and come back at 4pm because someone was sick and I had to cover for them 2nd shift. BLAH. I hate when that happens. I could have slept in!

I blame my job... because if I had been at work, I wouldn't have jammed my pinky toe on the couch leg that afternoon.

And I know, I KNOW my family and boyfriend think I'm a total drama queen. But it hurt... BAD. And it hurt all day yesterday. And it hurt every time I took a step. So it wasn't just your normal stubbed toe.

Today, it STILL hurts. I had intentions of signing up for a Thanksgiving morning 4 miler, but now I'm not so sure. I need to wait this out for a bit and see just how serious this is (it would NOT be the first time I broke a toe). I'll wait for the swelling to go down, then take it for a test run.

My Dad ran another 5k this morning (I've created a monster!). He finished somewhere around 26:20. That's faster than I've EVER run 3.1 miles! Congrats, Dad!

I need to get back in the pool. I haven't swam or biked since my last triathlon (September!). Ryan and I might take advantage of the nice weather and go for a ride tomorrow.

I'm realizing that if I ever want to run an olympic distance triathlon, I need to keep my momentum during the Winter. That's way easier said than done. But I did ask for a lot of training gear for Christmas (including road tires and aero bars!), so what better way to motivate a lazy triathlete?

But for now, I'll stay inside with my swollen toe elevated. Stupid couch! (One of many reasons Ryan and I went couch shopping this evening (where we realized that comfort is WAY more important than style.))

TGIF Photo Friday

It's a little late, but I here are my photos!

They are obviously from Halloween.



My college roommates came to visit...



We got ridiculous...



Good times had by all.

Speaking of good times, I'm going to write a REAL post... tommorrow! I bet you're all just peeing yourself with excitement.

Get ready!

River City Rat Race 10k Race Report

I'm back!

Well... kind of. Even in my most scrupulous efforts to not blog, I couldn't resist posting my latest race report.

On Sunday afternoon, I successfully completed my first 10k.



It was sunny, mid-50's, and there were 700 other runners like me just itching for the gun to go off.



Being so far back in the crowd, I feared not hearing the gun go off (it seems like that ALWAYS happens). But this time, you couldn't miss it... because the "gun" was a cannon.

POW!



I started off a little on the slow side... mainly because of the heavy crowds. I dodged potholes and runners in ridiculous Halloween costumes.

When I hit the first mile marker, I couldn't believe my 9:12 time. My recent training runs had produced paces no faster than 10 and 11 minutes. Am I going too fast?

Half a mile later, someone's friend on a bike decided to ride next to him while he ran. The streets were still crowded with people, and having a bike in front of me made me nervous. The bike stayed there for over a mile (how frustrating).

At the halfway point, we saw the crowds. The halfway point was also the finish line, so our friends and families were there anxiously waiting and taking photos. I saw Ryan's face hidden behind my camera lens.

3 more miles to go?! I forced a grin...



The 4th mile was the hardest. The crowds had finally spread out, so every person that passed felt like a failure. At this point, we were running on a pathway along the river downtown. The constant up-and-down hills brought dozens of runners to a walking pace. I gritted my teeth and charged on.

Ice cold water at mile 5 was my savior. Not much further now...

My mile times slowed with each click of the "lap" button on my watch. I was determined to pick it up for the final mile.

There was only 1/2 mile to go. On my left was the finish line across the river. I could hear the cheers and see the finishers tumbling across the mat. On my right was a girl throwing up in a bush. Some spectators stood by and awkwardly tried to ignore it.

200 yards later, a teen on a bike darted across the path in front of me... missing my lead foot by inches. I yelled "HEY!" with the only breathe I could muster, and cursed him in my head.

At the 6 mile mark, I was passed by a woman in a roman outfit. She had run the entire 10k with a sword in her hand. It made my exhaustion seem foolish.

With the finish line in sight, I sprinted as fast as my legs would take me.




My time was 1:01:08 (taking into account the time it took to cross the starting line at the beginning).

Overall, I'm happy with my time, pace (9:50), and total effort. I placed 13th in my age group out of 29, which is far better than I expected.

I think this will be a great gateway into longer races. I want to keep running this winter to keep up the momentum. I'm looking forward to signing up for my first Olympic distance triathlon in 2010. Last night, I even dreamed I was doing an Ironman (although, I woke up before I could finish).

This break from blogging has been nice, but there are days when I miss it. I'm still reading everyone else's blogs (even though I don't comment much). The rest of 2009 is going to be crazy busy (did I tell you I'm going to Hawaii in December?!), so blogging will continue to be scare. But thanks to everyone for sticking around!

Hmm...

I haven't even posted once since October began.

I'll be honest... I'm thinking about taking an indefinite break from blogging.

I'm just out of things to say (okay, that's a huge lie. I have plenty to say, but no time to say it). I find myself with far less free blogging-time than I had before I moved to Indiana.

I don't see my boyfriend very much during the week, so I'd rather hang out with him than blog. Maggie would also prefer I hang out with her over blogging. And my body (which is training for a 10K in less than 2 weeks), would prefer I go run than blog about running.

Conundrum, no?

So I'll think about it. Meantime, I'll run when I have time (right now, only about 2 or 3 times per week because of my crazy work schedule), and I'll write when I'm bored or guilt gets the better of me.

Outraged All Around

My dad completed his 3rd triathlon yesterday. Their swim took place in an indoor pool, 3 people per lane with similar swimming abilities. So my dad was the second swimmer to go in his lane and had a woman who started after him. He said she was trailing him pretty close and kept hitting his feet with her hands.

Now get this... when the swim ended, this woman comes up to my dad, angry, and says, "Why didn't you get over? I kept hitting your feet for you to move out of my way. You were supposed to stop and let me pass."

What?! She wanted him to STOP and let her pass. In a RACE. Right.

My dad said the organizer even told them "stay on the right, pass on the left" before their swim began. I would have been seriously angry if someone got mad at me for that.

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So my running has been slow (training-wise, not speed-wise (...okay, that too)). My 10k race is in less than 5 weeks, and all the training plans I find have me running 4, 5, or even 6 miles right now. That's just too much for me. I haven't run 4 miles since May when I did my marathon relay.

Thus, I'm taking it slow. And today, when I was supposed to be outside running 4 miles, I was instead curled up on the couch wrapped in a blanket (I'm sure you all heard... it's cold and windy outside).

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My weight loss has also been slow. I've been tracking calories during the week, but as soon as the weekend comes around, my numbers go out the window. On Saturday, Ryan, Maggie, and I were down in Indianapolis at a party (yeah, I'll say it...) getting drunk.

Well, beer + rum and coke + jello shots + cheese cubes + more beer = a lot of uncounted calories. My punishment for my lush behavior? Gaining 2 lbs. Ouch. If I really expect to lose any weight, I need to stop giving myself a free day (or two).