Just for Fun

Yea! Look at me posting a blog! I'm so proud of myself.

I ran for 13 minutes on the elliptical today. It was likely over a mile but the elliptical is like and alternate running reality. It probably considers it like .1 of a mile or something. ha ha. Anyway, it is great to be able to use it and I feel so much better afterwards. But now I need a nap before Simeon wakes up.

 Hmm, there is something strange. When I enter my sleep time, it adds it to the total miles on my calendar. This is the first time I've used it and I know it had been available for a while so does anyone else have this problem?

Ugh, I started typing this and then I had to get up and go take care of Simeon. When I came back and submitted it I got logged out and so I lost everything I had typed. And I don't really feel like typing it all again. So suffice it to say I did 3.6 miles on the exercise bike and 1.25 on the treadmill. I am planning on running a 5k in March. And I am very very very sleepy because I went to a pride and prejudice movie watching day at Ruth's house. It wore me out but since I wasn't home to get anything done today I don't have time to take a nap. And Simeon won't go to sleep anyway, so it doesn't matter. Grr.....

Oops, I just remembered that Laura asked for news about us. We are doing great. Seth is cute, I am cute, but Simeon is always cuter (j/k). Except when he is refusing to sleep when I want him too, there is nothing cute about that. Ha ha. He seems to be doing a lot of that lately.

Anyway, he is sitting pretty now and loves to sit and roll a ball with daddy or mommy. He is saying "da da da da da da da" now and Seth is trying to teach him who "dada" is. He can also roll over from his back to his tummy now and sometimes he plays the game where he rolls front to back, back to front, over and over and over again. It makes me exhausted just to watch him. And he also is eating finger foods really well now. It's all thanks to those puffs (which he is addicted to). He also wants to feed himself with the spoon so we now have some lovely baby food artwork on our wall :)

I took Simeon for a walk late this afternoon. It was actually a beautiful warm day and I wanted to take advantage of it. Plus Simeon wouldn't take a nap and he was grumpy and I didn't want to have to deal with his grumpiness. He's always happy outside so we went for a walk.

Ack! I did it! I just registered for a 5 k on March 22! Now I'm committed and I'm so terrified!

So before I got pregnant Seth and I used to run together. When we first started running together I told Seth that I kind of like running but I HATE racing! Do you know why I hate racing? Because before every race in high school I would get so nervous and so nauseous. Sometimes I would even throw up. So I can't believe I signed up for a race! Today while I was out doing my run I was thinking about that race and I started getting nauseous. I still can't believe I'm going to do this.

 Seth thinks I'm funny. I told him he doesn't understand. He's never run in a race and even though he's done sports, he has never been the girl in last place that everyone claps for because they feel sorry for her. Ha ha. I told Seth I have been that girl so many times. And then I shook my fist at him.

 Anyway, I'm already nervous about it and the race isn't until March. But I can picture the horribleness of it in my mind!

 

So I was just reading some comments about my last post and thinking about some things and thought I might as well post them rather than wait until tomorrow (when I won't remember them anyway).

I'm glad I went back and read Lybi's race report from las April. It was helpful. I'm trying to convince Seth to run the race with me but I think he'd prefer not to. Plus it is really hard for him to find time to run. He really only has time Friday and Saturday and I don't think running twice a week is great preparation for a race (even though some have pointed out that many people run these kinds of races with no real training). Anyway, I'm not going to push him too hard. But at least he is being very supportive and encouraging about me doing this race.

Anyway, I was thinking about the ways in which I'm going to get ready for this race. I have been pretty consistent in my running for a while (even though I haven't been consistent in my blogging. Oops). Unfortunately though I haven't really been improving much. I've been running 1 to 1.5 miles between 11:30 and 11:00 pace. But in order to get ready for this race I'm going to have to get more serious. So by the end of this week I want to be running 2 miles and maybe in another week or two 3. I'm pretty sure I can even get to running 4 miles before the race. So that's my goal. Start running 4 miles a day by the week of the race. The race is on March 22 so if I can run 4 miles by the 17th or 19th I'll be pretty happy. Go me!

I really appreciate all of the encouragement I have been getting about my race. And after my run this morning I am actually feeling a lot better about it.

I did 15 minutes on the elliptical this morning. I usually double the distance that it displays in order to make up for the alternate dimension effect of the elliptical. Usually even after doubling my distance I still feel discouraged so I round to the nearest half mile. But this morning, after 15 minutes, the distance said .83. Doubling that is 1.66 in 15 minutes. It made me pretty happy. And it wasn't too hard either. My thighs felt a bit like jello when I was done, but it was a good jello feeling rather than a bad one :)

Laura, it would be really, really fun if you came down to run the race with me. If you can manage it I would love that, but if you can't make it that is okay too. Thanks for the support!

Ugh. It snowed last night. I'm haven't been running outside anyway, but still, I hate snow. And it was really warm and beautiful yesterday so last night's snow is extra disgusting.

My legs were feeling a bit stiff and heavy today. I did 10 minutes on the elliptical then I got off and walked out some of the stiffness, did three stretches then got back on for 5 more minutes. Still those last few minutes were hard.

Tomorrow is a treadmill day. We'll have to see how much I can do. Maybe Laura is right and I won't be able to make my 2 mile goal for this week. It'll probably kill me to try and run those two miles outside! But I'm not giving up yet. I'm still going to try and run as much as I can this week.

Simeon is sick and grumpy today (poor little guy). Seth said he plans on coming home at 1:00 today so maybe he can take care of Simeon then while I go out for a run.

Oops, I opted for a nap instead of a run. It was so worth it though. 

Last night wasn't a good night. It was pretty cold so I had a hard time falling to sleep. Seth came to bed an hour after I did but I didn't fall asleep until he came. I was so cold I couldn't sleep. Then Seth came to bed and he was warm (so unfair).

But today was beautifully warm. Actually I missed the warmest part of the day. It was really warm around noon so I took Simeon out in the back yard to eat leaves (his idea not mine). I didn't even need a jacket then. But I decided to wait to do my run until Seth got home. I was hoping I could convince him to go with me but he decided to stay and take care of Simeon. So it worked out anyway. It was much colder when I finally went out at 2:30. It was cold enough to need a sweater at the beginning of my run but warm enough that I took it off at the end. So it was a very nice day for January.

I did enjoy my run today. I'm glad I got out. It felt good to do an outside run. 

20 minutes on the elliptical today! I could have done more (25 or maybe even 30). I was feeling really good except that my toes were going numb. I thought, "That is odd, I had better get off."

Yea for awesome naps! Thanks goodness for grandmas too!

Anyway, 20 minutes on the elliptical today. At around 17 minutes my toes were getting that tingly feeling so I got off and walked around for a minute then got back on and did 3 more minutes. My toes stayed tingly though for a while. I'm not sure why my toes are suddenly going numb. It only seems to happen on the elliptical. Maybe it's just the way I stand on it or something. Strange. 

Yes, I think I will trade in my toes for new ones. You are so funny Laura. Anyway, only 17 minutes on elliptical today. But no numb toes so that is a plus. Maybe 17 min is the cut off line for toe numbness.

So I am officially a bad person because I only went running 3 days this week. I meant to go today but then I just resigned myself to being a bad person. Admitting it is the first step right? 

 BTW has everyone looked at sethandkristina.blogspot.com
 

I ran in shorts today! It got up to 62 degrees in Belen today. It was such a beautiful day. Seth had to go to the doctor to update his shots so he dropped me off at his parents' house on the way. I ran outside in order to take advantage of the sun. I really need the Vitamin D. I don't get out much :) Unfortunately it was a little too windy for perfect running conditions. On the way out it seemed like there was only a slight breeze, but coming back I was running into the wind and was surprised at how strong it was. Anyway, I wimped out and ended up walking about 1/4 of a mile. Still it was a great day for running!

Also, my knee was a little sore. I think it always is when I haven't run outside for a while. It is still sore tonight, but it has definitely been worse :)

A solid 8 hours of sleep last night! It was amazing!

I didn't run yesterday because I woke up around 3 am Tuesday morning sick to my stomach. I didn't feel good most of the day so I just took it easy.

 Today, I went to the rec center all ready to make up for it and have a great work out. Well, Simeon decided he's been being too good lately. Anytime I would set him down in his car seat he would just cry and cry. So I ended up doing 25 minutes on the exercise bike, while holding him. Talk about killer on my back. Anyway, it was better than nothing. I might try to get out later today with the jogging stroller for a short run. It probably won't work out though, I've got LOTS of company coming in this weekend so it's a bit of an insane week. I have a plan for tomorrow morning though and it has to do with animal crackers. We'll have to see how it works out.
 

It was another amazingly sunny day. By the end of my run I was wishing it was slightly cooler. I had planned on running a longer loop than I usually do. I got down to the last place I could turn to go home before making the long loop. I felt good and knew I could go on but then I stepped on a rock and turned my ankle. Actually, the funny thing is that the sidewalk ended and where the sidewalk should be there is a whole bunch of dirt. I looked at it and said "That is a turned ankle just waiting to happen." So I ran on the road and still managed to turn my ankle. Only me.

Anyway, I decided to go ahead and take that turn back to our house. Instead of a 2 or 2.5 mile run it only ended up being a 1.5 mile run. 

20 minutes on the elliptical and no numb toes! Yea!

1 mile running, .25 walking on the treadmill today. We wanted to be in Albuquerque by noon and I didn't get out the door until 9:15. So I had about 2 hours for my run, for me to shower and get dressed, Seth to shower and get dressed, Simeon to take a bath and get dressed, prepare us a lunch, fill the diaper bag, etc, etc. So I had wanted to do 2 miles today and I was sure that I could, but I didn't have that much time. So I just did a mile.

 I've missed blogging this week but now I've gone back and updated stuff.
 

It's another beautiful day and I ran 2 miles, outside, no walking! I'm pretty thrilled. I've done what I would call 2 miles on the elliptical lots of times but this is the first time I've actually run 2 miles without walking (for a long time). It sounds pretty pathetic in comparison to all of you, I know; but I'm still pretty excited about it.

Funny thing is, Jackie has a step-o-meter thing. Last time I didn't go out quite as far and it said I went 1.75 miles total. Today I went out further and it said I did 1.5 miles total. I'm pretty sure that where I ran to was the 1 mile line though and then I came back. Around the last 1/4 mile I was running embarrassingly slow (but still fast enough to pass up an old man who was walking--thank heaven) and I felt like I wasn't going to make it. Then completely of their own accord, my legs picked up the pace and said, "C'mon Kristina, we can do better than this." So there you have it. Thank you legs.

My shins were hurting in the beginning (a lot) but it went away as I kept running. Yea for perseverance!

20 minutes on the elliptical this morning. My toes started going numb around 18 but I persevered on to 20. Numb toes are no fun. Anyway, I really need a nap now.

I've got a sick little boy today. Simeon is running a little temperature, coughing, and is really sleeping and grumpy. And Seth and I have a big night tonight too. We were called on Sunday to the in charge of the Roadshow. They give us the theme tonight and the show is a week from Friday. Yikes. Anyway, it is days like today that I wish I had a treadmill :)

20 Minutes on the elliptical. Simeon was feeling a little better today though he is not completely back to his snorty self.

Ah! Sleeping feels good. It has been a rough week. I've been getting as much sleep as usual I think. Maybe I haven't been sleeping as deeply. But with Simeon being sick I've just felt run down from taking care of him. The last three days have been really LONG days. So last night by 8:30 I couldn't keep my eyes open any more so I went to bed. Even when I woke up 6:30 I thought I could sleep some more :)

I went running outside today. The loop I ran was probably more like 1.9 but I don't mind rounding :) I had the side stitch from Hades today and my left shin and right thigh hurt for most of the run. My shin has been hurting for about a week but usually feels better after a few minutes of running. Today it hurt for most of the run, but it hurt worst in the beginning. I'll probably try to put some ice on it. My knee has been hurting (as usual) and I think maybe my thigh was hurting because of that.

Anyway, when I got back to the house I laid down dead on the floor and told Seth I was starting to remember all of the reasons why I hate running. In fact, I was reading One for the Money by Janet Evonovich and her character said she was sure she wasn't built for running. But she was doing it anyway because it was important for her to get into shape. I had to laugh. "'How true, yes, how true' said the sour Kangaroo."

So then Seth had to remind me of all the reasons why I "like" running. Basically he told me to go look in the mirror. *sigh* So it is true. Running has definite benifits and not just in the weight loss department. Forget the fact that it makes me feel like I'm being held together by old scotch tape, it does make me feel good mentally. And running gets me out of the house so it gets points for curbing my insanity. So running isn't all bad. I just wish it weren't so painful. Ha ha. No pain to gain, right?

BTW, I don't recommend the book. Even though it is really funny when it is not being scandalous, it is mostly scandalous.

So I know it looks like I have been a bum all week, but I actually used the elliptical on Monday and Tuesday. Yesterday was a busy, horrible day  so I didn't get the chance the run. But today I made up for it by running extra. Maybe it was only .25 extra but it still counts. I was running my two mile route and feeling pretty good. The genius who designed our subdivision decided it would be really neat to have a whole bunch of loops instead of through roads. So you pretty much have to drive ALL the way around the subdivision to get any where, but it does make running routes kind of fun. Those little loops are an easy way to add a little bit of distance to an otherwise simple route. So my route is basically a big circle around the older part of our subdivision. On the second to last road before the road I start on there are two of those little loops. So as I was running I decided to go ahead and do one of them. Then I was still feeling pretty good and so I decided to do the second. Then I was feeling not so good but only had about 200 yards left so it wasn't so bad.

I decided to do a short run today since we have a lot going on. Today is roadshow day! AHHHH!

Anyway, I was surprised that in some ways this run was very easy. I guess it has been quite a while since I have done such a short run. So it was easier because I could actually breathe. Aside from the aches and pains all up and down my legs, it was actually a very comfortable run, if that makes any sense.

My legs were pretty sore though (which reminds me that I want to ice my shins). My shins hurt, my knee hurt, my thighs hurt, my hips hurt. I did some extra good stretching after my run today and was actually surprised at how limber I am getting.  I haven't been able to stretch that far since before I was pregnant. Stretching really is a great thing. Have I told everyone that I think stretching is a really great thing. I hope none of you get tempted to skimp on your stretching after you run. If you don't have time to stretch then I would say cut your run shorter and make time to stretch. It is that important. But then I'm not Sasha so what do I know and who is going to listen to me anyway, right? Ha ha. Anyway, happy running (and stretching) to you all!

So I think I should be aloud to add another mile to yesterday's total since I was running all over the gym at last nights roadshow. It was a pretty stressful evening but our skit actually turned out really well. We won "Best Spiritual Message" and everyone we talked to said they liked it a lot. If they had had a "Best Special Effects" category then we should have won it because our Matrix scene turned out really cool. We were actually the only ward to use the stage lights rather than just the normal lighting. For our slow motion matrix scene we turned the lights all off except for one blue light shining on these two kids. Then a girl threw a dodgeball on a stick at them in slow motion. Someone dressed in black carried the ball across the stage and one boy bent backwards and the other boy was lifted in the air into a flip to dodge the ball. We played mortal combat music too. It looked really cool and everyone liked it. But still, I had to run back and forth and back and forth to set up for it. It was insane. We are so glad that it is over.

As for today's running: Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch. That is the best way to describe it. I was feeling pretty sore since we got home last night. My legs were already feeling a little stiff after yesterday's run and then I ran all over the church in sandals, so that didn't help. When I started my run this morning my legs hurt from hip to ankle. My shins started hurting pretty badly and twice when I stepped up on the sidewalk from the road, my knee gave out on me. So then I was very careful to only step up with the other leg. When I got back to the house I couldn't even walk without shin pain, and even when I would sit down and not touch or put pressure on my legs, my shins just throbbed. I had a hard time stretching it hurt so much. So I took some ibuprofen and iced both shins to bring down the inflammation. It helped too. As soon as I was done icing them they felt immensely better. I haven't felt the pain since. I'm VERY glad that I don't have to run tomorrow. I think it will be good to give them a rest so I'm also glad that I can use the elliptical on Monday. 

15 minutes on the elliptical this morning.

Saturday was such a beautiful, perfect day. Then yesterday, for no apparent reason at all, it was very cloudy, very windy, and very cold. And last night it snowed! And Seth didn't even get the benefit of a snow day! Needless to say, I was pretty upset. But now it is sunny and looks warm again. It is supposed to by back in the 50s tomorrow so I guess I won't complain too much, but I do miss those 60s already. If it is warm enough I an going to try to get out for a walk this afternoon. Though, I am going to Wal-Mart and that is a lot of exercise in and of itself. But Simeon likes outside time so we will see.

18 minutes on elliptical

I took Simeon out in the jogging stroller today. I just walked though because running with the jogging stroller is like a fate worse than death :) I might try to do some running with it tomorrow, my knee was actually hurting during my walk today. Anyway, maybe I should have waited until later in the day to go out. A nasty cold wind came up during our walk and Simeon got cold. His was pretty unhappy about it. So mommy snuggled him really good when we got home to make up for it.

If I feel up to it I may try to do a run when Seth gets home (at 5). But it is unlikely so don't hold me to it :) 

Yes, I am a bad, vile, horrible person who has not been blogging my runs. Oops. I get too easily distracted :) So I did go running last week, but not as much as I should have. Actually the week started out really good. Monday and Tuesday were both great runs! My 2.5 mile route was starting to feel pretty good. But I went out on Wednesday and my shins were killing me by half a mile. I only made it about a mile and then I had to limp myself home and get some ice. So the Thursday I thought I could use a break and I had to spend most of the day in Albuquerque anyway. And Friday and Saturday I was just plain lazy and there is no excuse for it.

So now I am in PANIC mode! My race is Saturday! AHHHH! Actually I am feeling surprisingly unstressed about it. Not to long ago I decided I didn't care enough about it to get stressed and I wasn't going to worry about how I did. And then Laura called and said she would run with me so I think it will be fun. There is just a little bit of panic knowing that it is the week of the race and I am no where near where I wanted to be. But it is okay. I might try to go out one day this week and see how much of the course I can do before I die. Then I can panic. Ha ha. Anyway, I am actually looking forward to it.

So since I have been a lazy bum I didn't want to overdo it today. I did 1.5 but actually wished I had done more. Tomorrow I will kick my butt back into shape :) 

So we are pretty sure that Simeon has decided to give up sleeping for lent. Ugh, I don't even remember the last time he took a nap that was longer than an hour and yet we still have to pull his two little teeth to get him to take an afternoon nap. He just wants to play so badly! Fortunately he hasn't been really fussy, only a little bit. He knows when he's fussy we try to put him to sleep so he's careful to act cheerful :)

Anyway, I was having Simeon frustrations today. Seth has tests next week so he is in panicy, study and ignore Kristina mode. Just kidding. He is just really busy and he does have a lot of studying to do. So It's been a rough two weeks. So like I said, I was having Simeon frustrations. Fortunately he went to bed without a fight (something that has become rare as of late), and was asleep by 6:45. It was still light and warm and so I laced up my running shoes and headed out. I told Seth that if I really needed to pound something into the pavement and I'm sure he'd much rather it be my shoes than him :). So because I had some anxiety to burn off I ran my first mile pretty good pace, much too fast considering that I wanted to run 3 miles today. My left knee was hurting, which I thought was odd since it is always my right knee that hurts. My shins weren't hurting in that first mile though, so I was grateful.

The area I added to my route had an uphill, so that is good to help me prepare for running up main street on Saturday (Ugh). 3 miles is really an estimate but I'm sure it has to be close. I will measure tomorrow. Anyway, aerobically, I felt great. No breathing problems, no side stitch. Unfortunately the rest of me didn't take it so well. The last two blocks I think I was really just hoveling and limping at a slow running pace. My shins were killing me and my ankles felt like they did after I had the baby, all swollen and stiff. So I was really glad to shuffle back only my street. Still, I'm glad that I won't have to have that experience for the first time on Saturday ;) Plus that will give me tomorrow to recover and Friday to have an easy run. I've found that after three days of good runs outside my shins can only take about a half mile or so. So tomorrow they deserve a good rest.

Wow. That is all I can say about this race. Actually I also have to say that I am extremely glad that Laura came to run the race with me because I don't think I could have done so well without her. 

Anyway, my goal for this race was 40:00. Laura asked me what my secret goal for the race was (the one I was too embarrassed to tell anyone). My secret goal was 35 mins but I was sure that highly unlikely. In fact I thought it was basically impossible for this race. So 31 minutes! (don't know the seconds, sorry). I'm ecstatic! I'm more than ecstatic. I'm ecstatically ecstatic. It almost makes me not want to swear off any more races :) And niether my knee or my shins hurt during the race, though my shins hurt after. It actually felt pretty good. And I didn't even throw up out of nervousness--that in and of itself is a big achievement.

But yes, very great race. Thank you so much Laura for running with me. It made the run go by so much faster and it kept me distracted. And I think it picked up my pace quite a bit.

 All in all it was a much better experience than I thought it would be. I was having some terrible flashbacks from high school this morning, but my race was way different than that. It was actually fun :) So thanks Laura and thanks to everyone who encouraged me to do it :)

Wow, I actually almost completely forgot about my race. It seems like so long ago. I came down sick with the stomach flu Sunday and Simeon came down with it Monday night, so it has been a long week of recovery. And our internet was down. They just got it fixed this morning. So I checked my email (which was surprisingly full, apparently I only get email when I'm sick) and there were all kinds of comments about my race. Thanks everyone! I don't think I've ever got commando points before, by the way. :) And I did think I was going to trow up, but I didn't :)

Anyway, hopefully now that I'm feeling better I can get back out there. 

Finally, I've started running again. It started out as taking a break because I was sick. Well taking a break quickly turned into habit and then before I knew it, I was actually forgetting to run! *gasp* But I did go out today and I was surprised at how good it felt. I only did a mile because it has been so long and I tried to take it easy, but my legs just didn't want to slow down. It was nice feeling. 

Anyway, Laura, to answer your question, I am not going to give up running, but I'm also going to tone down my running a little bit. I plan to not run everyday of the week but to do some walking on some days. I wouldn't mind doing a race again sometime (maybe not soon, but sometime maybe before the end of the summer), but I'm not going to be one who ends up training for a half marathon or anything. More power to the rest of you but it's not for me. I just want to keep healthy but I also don't want to spend everyday limping around with sore legs. Besides, walking is really great for your heart and lungs. Yes I know running is too, blah blah blah, but I think the feeling of a good brisk walk is very under-appreciated on this site :) 

Anyway, I will look through some pictures of my little guy. I should get a good one of him playing outside. He's a good exerciser too and deserves to be recognized for it :) But I do love that picture. It is an old picture but it is still one of my favorite pictures of him :) 

Went for a walk with Seth and Simeon. Family walks are always fun!

Ugh, it's been a tough week. And it is only Wednesday! But I finally was able to get out today. I just went for a walk because I HATE running with the jogging stroller. If Simeon is good enough today that I still have energy tonight I might try to go out before it gets dark. 

Anyway, we had a nice walk. It was cloudy and a little windy so I made Simeon wear a hat. But it wasn't really cold, just cool.  

It was cold and windy all day today. So I wimped out and stayed inside "waiting for it to warm up." He he. Oops.

I slept fat and long last night. It was beautiful. Seth and I used to split up each night. If Simeon got up before 4 he was Seth's. If he got up after 4 he was mine. But we've started taking turns with whole nights. Last night was Seth's night to get up with Simeon so I didn't have to get up at all. It was beautiful. I was only vaguely aware when Simeon cried.

It was still cold and windy today but not as bad as yesterday. Plus Seth was home early enough that I was able to get out before the wind picked up too much.  Still, running in the wind is never any kind of fun. So it made my run a little bit tough. Also my knee and my ankle were hurting but not very bad.

Seth and I came over to his parents' house this morning because Rebecca and her family are here for a visit. So I just came over in my running clothes so I could run on the ditch bank. So I went out and started walking down to the corner, but I saw that there were dogs out so I turned around to run the other way, towards the dead end. I ran maybe a quarter mile when I saw another dog out. So I just turned and ran back to the house. I haven't used the elliptical in a long time anyway.

So I did 18 minutes on the elliptical. It was actually kind of nice because Ani, my new laptop, fits perfectly on the little book holder thing. So I was able to watch a movie while I exercised. Has anyone ever noticed that books really don't fit in those things? It is so hard to keep a book open that it is almost not worth it. But this worked great! I could even download some books if I wanted to to and it would be way easier than reading on Pete (my PDA). Still, movies are better than books when you are exercising :)
 

Woo hoo! I'm off to a good start this week! I actually got out on Monday! Yea!

I went running down the ditch bank this morning and there were no dogs so that is good. I probably should have let my oatmeal digest a bit more though because I was feeling heavy and sluggish and I had a side ache. I blame the oatmeal.

All in all it was a good run though. It is going to be a beautiful day, maybe a bit on the warm side but I prefer the warm side to the cold side :) 

I ran on the ditch bank again today. It turns out that there was a lady running behind me on the way back. We met up where the ditch intersected a dirt road. I thought she had gone straight because I didn't hear her behind me and she didn't pass me (everyone passes me), but it turns out that she was behind me until the end of my run. It secretly pleased me to know that I ran faster than someone, but I also would have liked to run with her and make a running friend. I will try to go out at the same time next time I go out and see if I can meet up with her again. There are several people who seem to walk at the same time so hopefully she will be out again.

Seth took the car so I took Simeon for a walk around the neighborhood. I figure that is better than procrastinating until Seth gets home and then not going at all because I am too tired by then :) I actually ran for the first .5 mile but running with the jogging stroller is so horrible that I have to build up resistance to it. So I'm definitely starting small. We had a good walk though. Simeon likes outside time and so do I :)

I ran on the ditch bank today. No sign of any potential running friends. I did two miles total but I actually stopped and walked that last half mile because my knee was hurting quite a bit. Hopefully it was just a today thing and it's not going to start acting up. It was a nice day though. No wind. Running in the wind is no fun. Sometimes a breeze is nice but there is a fine line between breeze and wind so it is better to just do without.

So I'm not even going to bother with my night sleep time for last night. I slept so badly that whatever sleep I did get doesn't count. It wasn't Simeon's fault either. He only woke up once. But I had stressful dreams (I had to rescue Jacob Black by eating a very large bowl of chopped green chile with a spoon--I actually woke up feeling sick to my stomach) and my legs were hurting, and it was too hot, and I felt like the bed wasn't big enough, etc, etc. So bad night. And Simeon has been a grumpy face.

Anyway, I needed fresh morning air so I walked Simeon over to Home Depot. We are wanting to put in a sandbox for his birthday but we didn't like the turtle sandbox at Wal Mart so much. The inside seemed too small and the outside seemed to big. So we thought we would look around. It turns out that Home Depot doesn't have sandboxes in yet. The guy at the store told me they would probably get some in two or three weeks. Well Simeon's birthday is in two weeks, and as much as I love to procrastinate, I don't think this one is going to work. So I might stop by Target tomorrow after I go to the temple with my parents. We may just have to go with the turtle (if it'll fit where we want it). 

So Wednesday's blog entry was supposed to be on Thursday. Oops.

Anyway, I was going to go out running after Simeon went to bed last night. While I was putting him to bed I was thinking to myself, "It's still light enough to go running." But I was pretty worn out. I spent the day in the temple with my parents (from 10:30 - 4:00). We did a bunch of family names starting with baptisms. And I was enjoying visiting with them so I didn't go out.

I had a visiting teaching appointment at Denny's this morning and since I had family in town my partner said I didn't have to come along if I was too busy. I also didn't want to go eat at Denny's and leave my company home with cold cereal. So I got up and made waffles this morning and ate with my family. I was hoping to get done around 8:30 and to meet up with Ruth and Candice at Denny's, but we didn't finish eating until 9. So I ran, to Denny's (literally) and they were still there. Jackie was there too but I don't know if she saw me. I waved though. They were just finishing their food but we stayed and chatted for a bit. I'm glad I was able to get in on the visit. Then I ran home.

It's funny, my visiting teaching partner Ruth just thinks it is so amazing that I run, and she is always saying that I run marathons. I keep trying to tell her that a 5k is MUCH different than a marathon and that you'd never catch me running 26 miles, but she still always says "So are you running any more marathons?" Today she told Candice "Kristina runs marathons!" She is so funny. I guess if people want to think I'm a good runner then so be it. Little do they know how terrible I really am :)
 

I don't even know how many times I have gotten online today so I could blog my run, and then got distracted by something else. So now, when it is bedtime, I am very strongly resisting the temptation to look at curtains and I am blogging my run very quickly so I can go to bed.

I ran down the ditch bank like usual and realized that running down the ditch bank like usual is kind of boring. So I go to the road that I say is a mile out and I turned right to go towards Seabell. I figured I could run back along the road for a small change. And I thought it would be the about the same distance because Seabell starts right next to the ditch bank. Well it turns out that Seabell has all kinds of crazy 90 degree curves and stuff in it and it actually seemed to add to my run quite a bit. I was pretty tired. There were times I wondered if I was even on the right road.

But the fun thought that made it worth it is this. There is this green house that is next to the ditch bank. When you run down the ditch bank you see the back of the house, and in the backyard are 2 or 3 really big, really loud, really mean looking Rottweilers. Well running down Seabell road you get to see the from of their house, and in the front yard they have two really small, really fluffy, really yappy dogs. And my thought was, who keeps Rottweilers in their back yard and little fluffy dogs in their front yard?

So maybe I'm a dork but I really like workout videos. I had bought some at DI back when Seth and I were dating, but my VCR broke not too long after we got married. So I haven't ever bought new ones on DVD. Well today it was rainy outside and I didn't want to take Simeon out in the cold because we are both a little bit sick. But I wanted to do a workout today so I did a google search for workout videos. Well I found this really neat site. It is targetworkouts.com and it has tons of videos for just $5 a month. You can pay on a month by month so if you won't want to do it for a month you don't have to. Anyway, the rec center here is $1 a day so it would be $30 a month to use the treadmills and weights and stuff. This is only $5 a month and personally I think workout videos are way funner than a treadmill. Now I know all you serious runners might think this is just a sissy workout, but I think it is a fun way to change things up and get in some good exercise. So I thought I would share with anyone who still just exercises for fun and not obsession. Just kidding. You are all awesome. I wish I was more dedicated like all of you. Keep at it!

So I had a frightening, adrenaline pumping experience this morning. I've been sick for a few days so I decided to run out a mile and walk back a mile so that I could still do 2 miles. Well I was walking back and I saw two dogs out in a field that I had never seen before. They were running toward me barking but there was a fence between me an them. It didn't look like the kind of fence that would stop a dog, but they stopped a few feet away from it so I figured they must know not to go out of the fence. So I kept walking. I walked for quite a while and had pretty much forgotten about the dogs. Well all of a sudden I heard barking behind me and I turned around to see the same two dogs barreling towards me. They weren't just running and barking the way dogs do. They were running in a crouch and they were snarling and I felt pretty sure they were going in for the kill. Usually dogs will stop running at you if you turn and face them but these dogs didn't even seem to notice a difference between my front and my back. Well I didn't want to stand around playing chicken with them, so I launched myself over the ditch. I fell in the mud and got my knees all dirty on the other side. I looked to see if the dogs would try to follow. If so I didn't know what I was going to do, but I was pretty sure my self-defense moves weren't going to cut it. Luckily they stopped and turned around when I jumped. I watched them to make sure they weren't going to change their minds. I saw them go down to the next metal crossing and cross over. I was getting ready to jump back across but they kept going into another field and didn't come back towards me. Still I picked up the most enormous stick I could find. I was sure those demon dogs were going to try to cut me off somewhere so every little sound in the bushes would make me jump and would make my heart start racing. I didn't drop my stick until I was at the house. I was so scared.

So when I got back I told Simeon he was lucky to still have a mommy. We are debating on calling animal control because those dogs seemed really aggressive and a lot of people go walking down that ditch bank.