Long weekend runs and disappointing day at work

So this weekend I ran the farthest I've ever run before at one time: 14 miles! Then the next day I ran 8. I don't know how me and Alicia did it. Granted the speed wasn't up to par with what either of us wanted, but I was just so excited to do those runs. Normally after a half marathon I don't run for several days afterwards and here we were out on the trail running another 8 miles the very next day. I was pretty happy with that. Today I ran 3 miles at my hardest which ended up being a 10 min something pace which I was happy with but concerned at how worn down it made me feel. No way could I maintain that pace for a full half marathon or even a half of a half marathon at this point. Then I did an extremely slow cool down for a half mile afterwards.

(here we are just about at mile 13 with sweat pouring down our faces. I look super pale but I actually got sunburned on my neck and face this run)

Today was a rough day because I was just dealing with a lot of difficult situations without much thanks at work. I was verbally abused by a patient and her family and it was really rough the things that were said. It's tough because I know the patient is frustrated and the family handles things with anger and not logic, but it's not like the patient will be gone in a few days. She is going to be in the hospital a while and I'm not looking forward to going in and talking to her again multiple more times. It just made me feel pretty inept. To make myself feel better I had bought a 3 lb bag of laffy taffy to use in rounds to give out to my nurses but I just opened up the bag and carried it around to everyone on the floor and offered them some. I think everyone was having a bit of a rough day so it was nice to see people's smiles and then I actually left on time. I didn't get all the orders done but was in a spot where it would definitely set me way over to start something new. I just wish it had been on a day that Alicia was actually home when I got home. It never seems to work that way and I'm sick of being a disappointment to her. Anyways.

Inspirational quote:
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

~ Nelson Mandela

Baking Disaster

So today I had my first baking disaster. I made brownies and I saw that they weren't quite as thick as the photo looked that I was using. Instead of looking like this when they were done:

They turned out like this:

And the oven looks like this:

 This made a huge cloud in the apartment. I turned on both bathroom fans, the 3 ceiling fans, and the above oven fan and opened the porch door. I still don't know how it didn't set off the smoke alarms though. It was crazy! I havn't tried what is left of them yet...I'm sort of angry with them at the moment...grrrr. I have always been able to follow recipes and have never ever had anything close to this happen before. Sigh....

I didn't write about my run at Lake Eola. It was really windy and a bit drizzly but pretty. I think next time we go we need to run around the historical district area as well to see the pretty houses. I couldn't help thinking every scraggly looking person sitting on a bench was probably homeless and it probably was only somewhat true but definitely made me sad I guess. I always see one of my homeless expatients holding up a "we sell Gold" sign when I drive home from work and I guess at least he has a job of sorts so that's good. Anyways! We went to track shack first and I got Alicia an early b-day present of new running shoes! Since my heel has been bugging me I got some for myself as well. Here are some photos from the run:

4 mile good run

Today I ran close to 4 1/2 miles with Alicia. It was pretty good for me but I could tell Alicia was worn out and she has a loooong run tomorrow while I'm at work. I had a rest day yesterday due to the pain I felt from my last run. The first quarter mile I was feeling some pretty bad pain in my heel but I started running in the grass and adjusted my gait and that seemed to help a lot. I felt like I could have gone a couple more miles so it was pretty good. I think it helped that I stretched a little this morning. And here is a photo of a cool tree. I think that's where the gnomes live! I didn't get a good angel but there is also a little window :)

half marathon for fun!

Friday after work Alicia and I went to Seth's Encore performance which was actually pretty good. I didn't really know what it was all about and thought it was going to be just singing but ended up being a whole show with acting and dancing too. Then we went out to Orlando Ale House where we got bad service and I had regular beer for the first time. It wasn't as bad as I was expecting but not really something I would want to have often.

Yesterday I got a lot done that I needed to such as cleaning. I built a bookcase we bought the other day and did laundry etc. I also finished 1984. It wasn't that great but was okay. I just felt like the autho really made his point and was super repeatitive about it. I had planned to read sparknotes as I read to get into any themes I may have been missing but it seemed pretty easy to follow. I was mainly reading it since it is on a lot of those lists of books you should read and I never had read it in class.

Today me and Alicia did a 13.1 mile run in 3 hours and 24 minutes. It was like 95 degrees when we left and then the last 4 miles it was pouring down rain on and off. It was okay with the rain b/c it cooled it down but it isn't fun to have wet socks while you run. Alicia only had pain in her hip toward the very very end of the run so it worked out better than expected. This is only the 2nd time I've ever run the distance of a half marathon without it being a race. I think it is good preperation. My feet were hurting most of the 2nd half of the run which is frustrating. I also felt a little sore and my lower back was bothering me but felt better after my shower.

If you notice we are soaked in this photo...the thing about wearing glasses in the rain is that it makes it very hard to see. The rain also makes the sweat go in your eyes so that doesn't help either.

I was trying to show off and pretty much missed my mouth but since it was raining it didn't matter much.

....................More running to come!

I maintained 11 minute miles!

So today felt like a long day. I worked overtime so I was gone from 7:30 (got a late start leaving this morning) and got home around 6:15 pm (but stopped and got taco bell on the way home). After I ate my unhealthy Taco Bell (the new doritos taco shells are really good), I went for a run aiming for 6 miles. I was kind of wanting to do 10 min. miles but wasn't going to kill myself out there either. I ended up getting 6 done in about 66 minutes and was going to go for an easy half mile or so cool down. However, I felt like I still had more in me and ended up going another 2 miles and was going really strong so that I got those two miles done in about 21 minutes for 8 miles completed in 87 minutes. I was definitely happy with myself. Somehow being able to still maintain that kind of speed for an additional 2 miles is exactly what I needed. As soon as I started walking I could tell that I didn't have much left in me at all but I'm really proud at what I accomplished.

I'm improving slowly but surely and getting it back after all the laziness of the couple months of not running. I know from my run today that if I was surrounded by runners and people cheering for me, I would have been able to push myself even more. That gives me confidence that I will be able to do well in the next race. I'm doing the Disney Land half marathon labor day weekend. That gives me close to a month and a half more training for it. I already know that I will not be aiming for a PR because I want to get my photo taken as much as possible and Disney races are pretty crowded unless you are at the front of the pack but it will be nice to get my speed up so that I can make up for lost time in the lines and such. I'm also really trying to get my speed and endurance up for my first FULL January13th. It is far away but at the same time I know time will fly by and next thing I know I will be waking up at 3am to run with all the other crazies out there who think the idea of running 26.2 miles is fun....lol. :)

With that I will leave you with a photo from the last run I did with Alicia. Yay for running photos where your feet arn't touching the ground!

Didn't make 30 min. 3 mile run this time...

So today I went on a run by myself while Alicia was at work. I was aiming for either 3 or 4 miles. I made the mistake of trying for 2 goals and ended up reaching too high and not meeting either of them; but it was still good to push myself. I wanted to average around 10 min miles for the whole run and I also wanted my first mile to be around 8 min to match the speed I was able to do a few days ago. So I went strong and was doing really well the first mile but couldn’t see how fast I was truly going b/c of the settings I had on my garmin. So when I finished the first mile it showed at 8 min 31 seconds. I have to admit that I was disappointed even though that is a really good time. I was also really struggling with my breathing which hasn’t been an issue in a long time. I hope my asthma is not coming back. I think maybe the high pollen levels could have been affecting my breathing. Plus it was 89 degrees out.

My second mile wasn’t as good. I was tired from the first mile and I also stopped to stretch and thought I had stopped my garmin for the stretch and didn’t. I also had to walk 2 short times during the second mile. So the second mile was 12 min and 49 seconds.

With the third mile I was really trying to make up for the 2nd mile and was doing well at first and then my stomach really started hurting and I could tell it was from eating right before I left for the run. I actually felt like I was going to puke so I had to slow it down and walk more than I wanted. I ended up with a 11 min 47 sec mile.

Then I did a slow and easy .45 mile cool down that took me 10 min and 34 seconds to complete. I was definitely not going for any goal with that except to ease out of the run and settle my stomach. Overall it was a really rough run and I also felt very tense during the run in my upper back and shoulders no matter how much I tried to loosen up and stretch. Even though I didn't meet my goals I know that it was still a good time and I'm glad I pushed myself so hard.

Mile 1: 8:31
Mile 2: 12:49
Mile 3: 11:47
Total for 3 miles: 33:07 for 3

In other news. Alicia and I got Zoe to the vet for the first time since moving to Florida. I feel like a bad cat mom for not doing it sooner and she did have fleas. We also discovered that the brush we were using that worked well for Lillie just wasn’t working for Zoe and she really did have a lot of hair that she was shedding. We were able to get a new brush for her so hopefully between the new science diet we just started using and brushing her with the new brush, she won’t have so many hairballs. Of course Lillie has still been hissing at Zoe and it’s been 2 days now but they seem a little better. I told her she needs to be nice because she has her appointment on Tuesday. I got to give a cat a pill for the first time ever. Alicia held Zoe and I opened her moth and shoved the pill down her throat and got it on the first try. Lillie, however, was a struggle and, after numerous attempts, I put it in some wet catfood and she ate it that way. Wish I had done that from the beginning. To help fight the fleas we got frontline and also the pill that works for a month and we have been vacuuming the whole apartment and spraying it with flea killer spray.

Today I got up at 8:30 even though I went to bed around 2. I have trouble sleeping in these days when I get up at around 6:30 most mornings. I did some cleaning and read a little. I’m reading a Chicken Soup book about heavenly stories of people having contact with angels or dead friends or relatives helping them in some way or miracles. It’s pretty interesting. I made a French toast and spam brunch and made Alicia get up a little after 11. I went to Track Shack and got some new shorts and some energy gels for our long runs. I wore a ball state shirt and I had 2 people ask me about it. One said a bunch of her family lives in IN and another said her father graduated with his mastor's there and commented that that was where Davide Letterman graduated from. Then I mostly just messed around online a little and read from 1984 out on the porch with the cats and then went on my run. To relax I just finished watching the extreme makeover weight loss edition that I had started earlier in the week but had fallen asleep during.

It’s been a pretty good day!