It's amazing what stress does to you physically....

I'll start off by saying, that I did NOT do 12 miles like I originally had planned. I started out okay, but I couldn't get Eric off my mind. Today he had his first 'Bike-a-Thon' and I was going to miss it. So I did a total of 6 miles and headed off to his pre-school. I feel better that I got to see him. He was happy too.

I also would like to add that I managed not to get shin splints this time, yeah me! I did have aches elsewhere though. I also was dragging butt the whole way... well, except the first mile. I'm just so tired.

My life the last two weeks: got laid off from work on 9-08, my parents left for Ireland/England on 9-10, I've been cleaning for almost 2 weeks, we've had a major ant problem for 6 days, Jeff left for a business trip early Monday, and Eric's birthday is tomorrow. Oh yeah, the power went out on Wednesday morning, of which Eric felt the need to wake me up and tell me... thus waking Ryan up in the process. This was at 5am....

I'm tired....................................................

18 more days....

Not looking forward to my 12 mile run on Friday. Really really really really really really not looking forward to it. The distance of 12 miles is scary by itself, but I'm also worried about getting those damn shin splints again.

Sooooooooooo........ anyone want to join me? Or, anyone have a better marked place I can run?

New twist, a good thing?

Soooooo.............. I was able to run today at 9am... And why you ask? Because Monday I was informed at 8am that they eliminated my job. So yeah, I'm unemployed now.

But this might help my training, at least for the next couple of weeks. I can run in the morning while the kids are at daycare and preschool during the week, and I'll have more time in the afternoons and weekends for other stuff.

I have less than a month until the race. I think if I continue on this path, I will do okay. I believe I can get less than 3 hours, but who knows if I can get 2h45m.

But of course my main goal is to finish without collapsing.

10 miles... ugh...

Overall 10 miles wasn't too bad today. When I did 8 miles 2 weeks ago, it was tough. Hell, 4 miles last Monday was tough! Today, the first 6 miles went by pretty quickly.

But there's a problem: shin splints. And get this, only when I run at Lake Elizabeth. I figure it's the concrete slabs that I'm running on that is the problem. When I run at the lake by my house, I never have problems. And I can't blame distance, as today I was hurting in the middle of mile 3. When I began to run on the sides (dirt, grass, etc) I noticed a difference. I also noticed it hurt more when I was on my walk breaks. Lovely. Any suggestions? I plan to run Lake Elizabeth at least once more before the race in October. Unless anyone has a nice marked trail that I can use for 12 miles?

Running at 6:45am is much better than 9am, especially with this heat wave. I was a bit nervous that it was early Sunday, but there were quite a few people already out there.

So now I'll be dragging butt all day. I tried to go catch an early nap, but my older boy wanted to join me. He's still sleeping (an hour and a half later!), and so are the other two. Damnit, why can't I take naps like everyone else? This happened yesterday too!

So yeah, anyone with advice or suggestions for shin splints please let me know. I should add that it's only my left leg.

Note to self: carry a camera while running...

... Why is it when I don't have a camera I see interesting things while running? So in the last month I've seen a turtle, many pelicans, and a dead Canadian goose in the water. As you can imagine, these things are not typical. Today, not only did I get to see a pelican a little bit closer (big suckers!), but there was a guy from the local NBC station doing a story about dead ducks in the lake. Interesting. He asked if I wanted to say anything in front of the camera. Let me think, I'm sweatin' like crazy, in a non-flattering outfit, all flushed from the heat. Sure! (not)

It's been hot lately. Damn hot. I ran anyways, though not as much as I would have liked. I hope it's not even close to this hot the day of the race. Yuck.

I'm planning on running 10 miles this Sunday morning. Anyone want to join me? Please???? You don't have to run/walk/jog with me the whole time. Could be every other lap, or something like that. Just something to help keep me going. I'm hoping to get out there by 6:30am (Lake Elizabeth). I thought I heard it would cooler by Sunday, but then I also heard today wasn't going to be hotter than yesterday (total lies!!!!!!!!!!!)

what day is it?

Monday holidays are both good and bad. Good: I'm not at work. Bad: it screws me up for the rest of the week!

Ran 4 miles yesterday. Oddly enough it was a bit tough. I think because I only ran once last week for my maintenance runs (instead of twice). That's the problem with heat waves, I won't run. Personally I think it does more damage with me than good.

But I'm moving forward.