2012's Schedule is Floundering

Most of the blogs I read have put up 2012 race schedules or goals or something having to do with 2012 and exercise.  I have not for the simple reason that my 2012 schedule and goals are BLAH.  The goals aren't solidified.  They aren't different.  I don't know if they are really goals, just little things I want to do this year.  My problem is that I am a goal oriented person so without defined goals I feel like I'm just doing the motions and I don't like it when it comes to running.  I need to work on some good goals, both attainable and ones to strive for.

My race schedule is coming together.  It looks, to me, a lot different than the past years because I have no long distance races on it yet.  I do have a race planned every month but August.  I have never done a race every month before so I may go for it this year.  

This is what 2012 is looking like (dates are estimates):

• 1/8 Winter Series #3 (3 miles done!)
• 2/19 3-Person Marathon Relay (same relay team as the past two years, I have the 5.49 mile leg this year)
• 3/17 Runnin' of the Green, 4 miles (new race for me)
• 4/14 Annual Furry Fun Run/Walk, 5K, benefits the rescue we found our Maddie through (new race for me)
• 4/21 St. Peter's Keys, 5K (I have a time goal for this one, new race for me)
• 5/13 Mother's Day 5K (a maybe race, seems like lots of friends run this one, new race for me)
• 6/17 Mud Mania!, ~2.8 miles (I hope to get a group together for this one...Amanda???)
• 7/9 Pine Bush Triathlon, sprint distance (plan to see how my old mountain bike holds up, I don't know if I'll be around for this race so I'll need to come up with another July race)
• August:  nothing yet
• 9/30 Wineglass Half Marathon...I'm debating this as my only long race of the year (would be a new race for me)
• 10/15 Annual Mohawk Towpath Byway Duathlon, 2.2 mile run-16 mile bike-2.2 mile run (getting the bike out again for this one, new race for me)
• 11/12? Stockadeathon, 15K (I loved the cool weather for this race in 2011!)
• 11/25 HMRRC Turkey Raffle Hour Run (I didn't win anything in 2011 so I should in 2012)
• 12/9 Winter Series Race #1

I did try to toss in some new races this year to help east the monotony, but I just am not feeling "it" for 2012.  Maybe it is because I have two races that include a bike.  Have I mentioned I'm not a fan of biking?  Well, I'm not.  I hope once my running mileage increases again I'll feel better about 2012.

Running Limitations

I have enjoyed every run I've taken these past few days.  Since being cleared to run on Thursday I have hit the treadmill on Thursday and Friday and Saturday and again this morning!!  Woo Hoo!  I am so happy to be "back."

However there are limitations to my running and now that I've gotten in a few short runs, these limitations are hampering my miles.  I do not want to come off as whiney...but I haven't had a good, longer run in 22 days!  The limitations:

• No getting sweat in eyes  What???  Where is the sweat supposed to go?  These days I am being very careful to wipe the sweat from my face.
• No rubbing eyes  So while I'm wiping the sweat from my face I have to be extremely careful so nothing touches my eyes.  While I consider myself talented...I don't dare close my eyes to wipe my face while still running on the treadmill.  So, every time I want need to wipe my face I have to hop off the TM to do it.  
• No going where there will be excessive tearing Upstate NY + winter  = cold weather.  Cold weather + running = lots of tears.  I'm on my treadmill for a while (thank goodness I love my TM!).
• No hard workouts  That speed I was trying to get back isn't coming back anytime soon.  I think I can start adding in speed-work in another week or two as long as I follow the rest of the 'rules.'
• Keep eyes lubricated  Treadmill minus fan = sweaty mess.  I cannot turn my fan on because it dries my eyes too much.  No fan means even more sweating.  More sweating, well, go back to the top of this list.

The list is longer than this, but these are the ones that have bugged me the most.  Regardless, I have about one month to get back to 6 mile runs so I can run my leg of the Winter Marathon Relay (same team as last year).

Today I ran 3 miles and then did a kettle-bell workout.  It's been a couple weeks since picking up my kettle-bells and I can already tell I'm going to be sore tomorrow.  

Wonderful and Amazing

It was nothing less than wonderful and amazing!  Last Friday this was me:

I was frozen and doing my best not to itch my eyes in the picture.  Friday morning I had LASIK (on both eyes).  The first hours are uncomfortable.  The first two days are hazy and dark (constant sunglasses).  The rest of the week was fine, but there is no running allowed.

This morning I went in for my one week appointment and after my eyes were checked (20/20 in both eyes!!) and the technical questions were answered I asked the one I'd been dying to ask since  I stepped into the office, "Can I run again?"  YES!!!  His answer was longer and more detailed than just "yes," but the it was the word I wanted to hear.  I cannot rub my eyes and should probably stay indoors (it's been cold here).

I was home less than 10 minutes and I was on my treadmill for a v.e.r.y. .s.l.o.w. 2 miler.  I don't care how slow or short my run was, it was so great to be back running.  I plan to take it easy this week and go on a lot of short, slow runs on the treadmill.  I have no doubt I'll love every step I take.

Who knew a week would feel so long and make a simple and short run so amazing?

24 Hrs to go

I know I planned on blogging more, but it just hasn't happened.  Oh well...next week I'll try again.  Why not this weekend?  Well, in less than 24 hrs I'll be having LASIK.  This means that I won't be on the computer much over the weekend as my eyes heal.

This week has been an interesting one in relation to my eyes and running.  I had my pre-op appointment on Monday.  They dilated my eyes during the appointment and 24 hours later they were still partially dilated.  Needless to say, I didn't bother trying to run on Monday afternoon as I originally planned.  Sitting on the couch was enough exercise for me.  I was able to run on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Today we have snow so instead of running, I'm spending my little 'me' time shoveling the driveway.  I love being out in the snow, so I'm fine shoveling instead of running.

This brings me to tomorrow.  I will work first thing in the morning and then head to my LASIK appointment.  I'm really excited.  When my appointment is done, ADP will drive me home and I plan on taking a good nap!  I can say that I am ready to be done putting drops in my eyes.  First the dilation on Monday.  Now I'm doing two days of drops to make sure I don't have any eye infections.  After the LASIK procedure I'll have to put more drops in to aid in healing.

The downfall is that I cannot do any exercise or anything that will get sweat in my eyes or cause lots of tearing for 7 days.  So, no running.  No walking the dog in the cold weather (my eyes water a lot).  No cutting up onions (what, oh what will I eat...I put onions in so many of our recipes).  My one week appointment is one I am looking forward to because I hope they say I can exercise again.  Until then, I'll be the one twiddling my thumbs waiting for the week to pass.

The First Race

I just finished my first race of 2012 and I'm pleased with the results.  ADP and I decided to run the third race of the Winter Series (here we are last year).  It works well because I can run the three miler, hand in my time and make it out to the finish line to watch ADP finish the 10K.  Of course, I had to see if my WS running buddy was going and she was!

Me and Amanda before the race

This year we did not have any of the problems of last year...they sent us the right direction at every turn (last year was a fiasco!).  It was a nice 35F with ~13 mph winds.

Me and ADP before the race (we were both in black this year...strange)

Amanda and I said hi to all the runners we knew and headed to the start line.  The 3 miler and the other distances (10K and 25K) started in a different area and so most of our friends were not starting with us.  The race started at 10 a.m. and we were off.  Amanda and I decided not to race this one for various reasons.  Amanda had an 8 miler yesterday and I don't really like the whole 'race' thing.  So, we set off and I felt great.  The way the race is set up we (the 3 milers) get lapped by the 10Kers and 25Kers starting less than 1/2 mile into the race.  Last year ADP lapped us about .8 miles into our race, this year it was about the .5 mi mark.  Boy was I surprised to see him so quickly!  I wasn't surprised to get a lil' love tap on my rear as he ran past (just like last year).  The older gents who were running near us loved this!  I have to admit it, I did too.

Amanda and I were together for the first 1.75 miles and then Amanda pulled back and I went on without her (I hate it when this happens, but we have that understanding...if one is feeling good then by all means GO FER IT!).  I went on and decided to push a little more for the last mile.  I finished with garmin reading 2.96 miles (as compared to 3.11 last year and 3.05 the year before).  I'm happy with my time and extremely pleased with my splits:

2.96 miles

27:38

9:18/mi ave pace

mi 1:  9:34

mi 2:  9:21

mi 3:  8:37 (8:58 ave pace)

gotta love the negative splits!

This is a free race so as you finish you are handed a card in which you need to fill in your information and hand it in at the registration table.  It also means there is no question as to what place you finished.

Once I filled in my info and handed my card in I headed back outside to watch ADP finish.  He was almost a whole minute faster than last year!!  

ADP coming into the finish!

One of the things I fail to comprehend is how one gets 5th place and fails to get an award.  I know how it works with first place and then AG awards...but really, 5th place and nothing.  I just can't quite wrap my head around it!  Although, looking at the ages we did determine that if they did 5 year AG awards he would have had first...but they didn't so that is that.  I think ADP is happy with his time.

And so 8 days into the year I have finished a race in January and I'm happy with how the whole thing went.  Plus, there is nothing better than a free race were friends and family are around to spend the time with!

Surprised and Awed

I don't know why it happened.  Or how it happened.  Or why it happened.  It just did.

Imagine happiness for my friend Felice when she posted that her blog was listed in the Top 100 Running Blogs for 2012.  She totally deserves it.

Since I can barely keep up with all the blogs I want to read on a daily (or these days, weekly) basis I had to go to the site and see if there are other blogs that I HAVE to add to my reader.  Of course, there are probably 80+ that I want to add, but that wouldn't get me anywhere but stuck on my butt for longer periods of time while I read more blogs (I will add some...just not all of them until someone figures out how to add an hour or two to the day).

I started scrolling down the list and then I saw this blog that you are reading.  As I said before...I don't know why it happened...but it did.  My little blog that goes on and on about running this and running that is on the list. I don't deserve it; there are many other blogs that are much more deserving.  But, I'm going to listen to the voice of my grandma and my mom echoing around in my head and do this....

I'm saying Thank You with a smile.  Thank you to you, the readers, who come and visit my blog and comment.  Thank you to Rick, who as far as I can tell, who put together the list of 100.  Thank you to my family who listen to me hem and haw about what I should even blog about.  I am humbled.

Are You a Runner?

I made it to the doctor this morning and my self-diagnosis sinus infection was confirmed.  I have a nice little prescription and will be feeling more like myself soon.  While I am happy about being on my way to feeling better I was even happier about my conversation with the nurse.

If you have been to a doctor you know the drill:  wait...wait....wait, talk to the nurse, get vitals taken, wait some more, finally see someone who can diagnosis and prescribe meds (if needed).

There was plenty of waiting today because the office was closed yesterday.  Thankfully, I beat the rush and only had to wait a short while as compared to many others who came in after me.  Once in the exam room I was filling the nurse in on my medical woes.  Then she put a pulse-ox reader on my finger while taking my temp.  I have no idea what my temp was (probably normal).  I didn't think to ask because I was watching my pulse.  Then the nurse looked at it, looked at me and asked that beautiful question, "Are you a runner?"  "Yes.  Did my pulse give it away?"  She smiled and wrote down 52 BPM.

I really love that question!

Back to Blogging

It has been a couple months with little blogging.  I am back, but I'm not upbeat today.  I have a sinus infection, I didn't sleep well, I have a headache, I have a kink in my shoulder, my head may explode because of said sinus infection and headache.  Great way to start a new year, eh?

This year I'm going to take it month by month.  The main reason is that my big goals for 2012 scare me.  I honestly don't know if I'll be able to hit them, or even come close.  More on my goals later this year...

It is January 2012 and I'm focused on the now.  January is going to be a different kind of month.  I may go to a race next weekend.  Every winter there is a Winter Series that one of the local running clubs puts on and of the five races I think next week's is the only one I will be able to make.  So, depending on the weather I'll probably be running 3 miles or a 10k next Sunday.

Then I'll be taking some time off from running.  It is nothing that I want to do, but I am having LASIK in less than two weeks and I've been told that I cannot run for a week and then during the second week I can exercise, but nothing 'long.'  I need to clarify all this with my doc when I go in for my appointments as to what I can and cannot do.  When I asked the nurse about exercise, she was slightly shocked when we talked about long runs on the weekend (she was thinking 30 minutes...I said no, more like 1 to 2 hours).  So, I'll be out of running for a week or two, but it will be worth it to be out of my glasses once and for all.

Happy New Year!

Did I mention January will be a bit different?  Yeah, it will!  It is a new month and a new year.  Happy New Year!