It is amazing how fast time flies by sometimes. Work has been very busy lately along with life in general!

Running has been going really well lately! I've started running longer distances again and so far my knee is hanging in there. When I wasn't running as much my pace improved but as I started running longer distances I realized I couldn't hang! So, I've had to slow down...which is difficult for me! I must admit though, pace makes a huge impact on my long distance runs.

I was pretty bummed this past weekend when I realized that I totally missed out on the Wells Fest 5K! I intended to run it but with everything else going on, it totally slipped my mind. I looked into the next few races and may one run downtown this weekend. Next weekend, there is a race in Vicksburg and you run across the old MS River bridge. However, it is under construction and they may move the location of the race. I'm not sure I'd want to run anywhere else over there. The hills around that place would be rough! I'm all about doing some running while I'm at mom's in the mountains in a couple weeks but I'm not a big fan of huge hills on race day!

Aside from running, I'm waiting on my copy of P90X - a pretty intense workout program. I've been going to the gym and love working out there, but this program is supposed to be pretty hardcore. According to one of my best friends, I'm not tough enough for it! But...I think I can do anything that I want to do...so I am! :) I'll probably track my progress through the program on here as well. It may be a joke at first but...I'm gonna give it my best shot!

Here is where I'll be running in two weeks!! And, I think its even prettier in person. Don't be jealous! :)

And it continues

Temperatures are FINALLY starting to drop in the south so it isn't quite as miserable to run as it was initially. One morning last week I was actually cold (*gasp* did I really just say that?) when I got finished running! Granted, it was 5:00 in the morning so there was still a little chill in the air. It is still pretty warm most days but much more bearable than the 100 degree summer runs. I think I'll probably go get some cool weather gear soon. Shorty shorts and tanks just aren't going to cut it much longer!

Now that I am looking into running the marathon in February, I will probably have to adjust my schedule quite a bit. There are several different programs that I could run but I am pretty comfortable with the one I am using now. There is a program that is designed to only have one long run day whereas the program I am on now has two potentially long run days each week. I think I'm just going to stick with the one that I am on for now and switch later on as things get closer. I may just stay with this program for the half-marathon and then go to the other program for the full marathon. Before I switch anything though, I have to figure out if I am even going to run the full marathon!

Aside from running, life is pretty much sailing along like always. It is hard to believe that in just a few months Bodie will be 2! It seems like just yesterday John and I were still DINKs (Double Income, No Kids) and now we're all wrapped up in parenthood. I absolutely wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Bodie's word of the month is Tank eeewww. (Thank you - for those of you unfamiliar with toddler speak.) He has the sweetest little manners and says tank eeewww after almost everything. He has a fascination with birds right now (buurr - toddler speak again) and loves to watch them. And, he loves to help put on shoes - his, mine, John's, anyone's. He's getting so independent already! John took some great pictures of him last night that he still has to proof. As soon as they are done, I'll post them!

Have a great week, everyone!

Visitors!

I have had visitors! TONS of them! Not to my house...right here, to my blog! I logged in this morning to see the stats on the blog and I was AMAZED to see that I had a 900% increase in traffic yesterday! Once I checked out the sources of the traffic, I realized that my mom had posted a link to it from a website she is a part of. So...to all of you from HS&S...Thanks for stopping by!

And now...back to your regularly scheduled program :)

Ohh..decisions!

A friend of ours is going to run the Mardi Gras marathon in New Orleans next year and he wants me to run it with him. I've never even considered running a full marathon up until now. And...coincidentally (or maybe not) the half marathon we are going to run in Madison happens to fit right into the training schedule that we would need to be on for the full marathon. Geeeeeeezzz! I want to say yes but I must admit that I'm a little scared. I know I can do it if I put my mind to it but I'm not sure I'm ready to put my mind to it! I'm excited about the prospect of running it but I'm not sure that I want to put myself through the torture of the full. (Secretly...This might sound silly but I would definitely love one of those 26.2 stickers for my car. haha!)

I'll definitely be thinking on it for a while. Thankfully, I don't have to decide today!

The slacking continues when it comes to updating this! OOPS!

I'm still running and working out and all of that good stuff. Life has been pretty busy lately between family and work and play. There are all sorts of things in the works at home so that has been very time consuming lately.

As for the running, I've been taking things pretty slow lately. I did buy a little knee band that has seemed to help. And...its pink so its even got some a little bit of cute factor about it! I ran three days last week but never went over three miles. I've really been babying the knee and it seems to have helped. I've had no pain at all lately so I should be back on the normal schedule pretty quickly.

I had my mom check with Chris about dates for personal training while I'm in June Lake. As luck would have it, he will be in Kona, Hawaii on the 11th for the 2008 Ironman race! Of course! He will be back towards the end of the week so I should still get to meet with him. Unfortunately, it probably won't be the training session I was hoping for but that is completely understandable!

Today is a light week for running. 3 miles on Tuesday/Thursday and 4 miles for Sunday Runday!

"Good things come slow - especially in distance running." - Bill Dellinger

Progress(ish)

I have been slacking a little on keeping this updated lately. I have been continuing to run and/or work out every day - except for my off day! My running has been a little off from my training program because of the knee issues. I have been babying it a lot lately just to make sure that I don't really injure it. I haven't been running as far lately usually only a mile and a half or two miles at a time. I have been walking more though to at least get the mileage in. My run pace has definitely gotten better though! Yesterday I was running at just under a 9 minute mile which is great for me! My goal is to be able to run at 5K at about 7.5 to 8 minutes. For the half marathon, I'm not as concerned with my time. But...7.5 to 8 is about the average for the top runners in my age bracket at most 5Ks here locally. Everynow and then a little lightening bolt will show up and knock out a race with a 5.5 pace but they don't count. :)

I'm going to June Lake in a little over a month to watch my brother and sister while my mom is out of town. There is a neat little spa in June Lake that I was a member of when I lived there. One of the personal trainers at the spa is Chris Morgeson. He has finished the Ironman Triathalon World Championship several times...five or six if I remember correctly. I plan to pick his brain while I am there and maybe even do some private sessions with him to push me to the next level. I'm all about learning as much as I can at this point! June Lake is a tiny little town but its crazy how many really good athletes live in the area, whether it be June Lake or Mammoth! Okay...I must quit talking about June. It's making me homesick!

In other news...we took Bodie to the zoo this weekend. It was so much fun to see him watching the animals. He was still a little young but he had fun. I'm not extremely impressed with the Jackson Zoo. It had probably been about 15 years since my last visit. They didn't have a bunch of animals to me but they did have a lot of monkeys?! Who knows! Maybe monkeys are just easier to get ahold of vs. an lion or something? There were a lot of improvements going on around there though so I'm hopeful that it might get better one day. I got a few pictures but, of course, I haven't uploaded them to the computer. I'll admit, I'm terrible at doing that! Soon, soon, soon!

I've already knocked out my workout for the day. Work is going to be crazy this month and maybe for the next few months with all that is going on in the mortgage world. Who knew that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would ever need a takeover by the Feds but here we are. Hopefully this will be a really good thing!

Until next time...

Running is like mouthwash; if you can feel the burn, it's working.
Brian Tackett

Sportband vs Treadmill

I used my Nike Sportband for the first time on Tuesday. Since it was "hurricaning" outside, I took my run inside - to the treadmill. I was all pumped up about using the band for the first time! During my run, I thought something was a little off when I had run the full two miles yet my band said I had only run 1.56 miles. It said my pace was 9:08 vs the treadmills pace of 10:20. The band said I had been running for 22 minutes total. Treadmill said I had been running for 21 minutes total. I finished my run knowing that I had run at least two miles because I know my pace and I can tell time. Amazing, huh? I left the gym thoroughly confused.

Once I made it home, I started looking up information about the Sportband to see what was going on with it. Apparently the bands do not like treadmills because the shoe sensor doesn't always realize when you have taken a step because of the movement of the treadmill. So...I will not be running on a treadmill anymore with the band. Sure, there may be days that I have to run on the treadmill to be able to get my run in at all. I just won't be tracking those runs.

Score at the end of the day - Treadmill 1 - Sportband 0.

Today is a 5 miler. Yippee.

Rain, Rain Go Away

Over the past 30 hours or so, Hurricane Gustav has made himself known throughout nearly the entire state of Mississippi. Thankfully, he has minimally disrupted my life thus far. While I do wish the rain would stop - even if just for a brief period of time - I am happy to report that the Robinson household had no interference with life as we know it...mostly. John did have constant meetings with work so Bodie and I had a lot of mom and Bodie time over this holiday weekend!

I am also happy to report that Gustav did not impede my workout schedule! I was able to squeeze in some gym time on Saturday, a run on Sunday and more gym time on Monday. My Sunday Runday was not as great as I would have hoped for. I ran about 2.5 miles and walked another .5 mile but the tension in my leg was starting to build up so I had to cut the run short. It was supposed to have been another 6 mile run but I didn't want it to turn out like last week. John and Bodie were playing at the park while I ran this time. Bodie was so confused chasing me around the track. I don't think he quite understood why he had to do all the chasing and I didn't do much chasing of him. John caught some pretty cute pictures of Bodie and I on his camera that I will put on here eventually.

Today is another run day but it is a short day...only two miles this time. I am OH SO EXCITED about running today though because John surprised me today with a Nike Sportband that I have been wanting! I got it all charged and it is ready to go! I have one more meeting at work and then I'll be headed to the gym to put in some time. I am not a treadmill fan - as I have stated before - but I'm just not up for running the rain today because of the wind. I'm really hoping to be able to say Goodbye to Gustav by Thursday!!

Adios!