Do Not Follow My Example

I've been out of town for the past week.  My family went to Channel Islands National Park for some backpacking/camping adventures.  We then spent a couple of days in Ventura, CA before heading home.  Those two mornings we woke up in a hotel room instead of a tent, I had great intentions of getting up and running in the cool sea air.  Laziness set it and it didn't happen.  Now here I am back home and I just got home from my first run in over a week.  It was horribly hot and humid.  I take back all of my favorite reasons to run it summer and claim they are only true in June before the humidity kicks in.  It was 90 degrees when I was out this morning (6am) and really felt like I was stiffer than a board.  It wasn't a great run... but at least it was a run, especially since I am now off to church girl's camp for a week as a leader, and I don't see a lot of running going on there.

Something new...

For me at least!  I joined a gym.  I had been wanting a place to swim since last summer.  I learned how to swim "for reals" last summer and now have delusions of someday doing a tri.  Right after my marathon I suppose! ;)  But, as for swimming, I'm not fast at all... it takes me about an hour to do 20 laps.. seriously, it's embarrasing!  But, I do enjoy it and think it would be great cross training in addition to running.  My only problem was finding a pool that was open year round and didn't have high school swim team practice right when I actually could go as seemed to be the case with every pool near here.  My supportive husband finally decided enough was enough and called around and even took me around for the Local Tour of the Gyms.  Actually, I think he just has his own delusions of me looking like Kelly Ripa or someone!  No one told him besides a gym, she also has a nanny, a cook, and a driver, not to mention a maid and a laundress!

I decided that I need to get my money's worth out of this membership and went on Monday afternoon.  Only to find out that Aqua Fitness class was going on.  OK.  Note to self, check class schedule before you leave the house.  I was wearing flip flops (I'm seeing a trend of not enough planning here!) and so I rode the stationary bike and did a few of the machines for my abs.  It made me tired enough!

Today I was out to try to swim again.  Look at class schedule (which is now hanging on my fridge).  Hey, there's a spin class in 20 minutes, maybe I should go?  Throw stuff in bag, including bike shoes, towels, goggles, socks, water... I feel like I'm packing for an expedition!  Go to gym with 10 min to spare before the spin class.  Only to look inside and every single bike is taken.  Hello people.  It's 9:15 on a Wednesday morning.  Don't you guys have to be at work or something?  And how come when I was over here on Monday and saw a class going on only half of the bikes are filled?  Plan B.  Go ride stationary bike again.  This time, I programmed a hill workout.  Yes, it was difficult, but good.  I finished and decided to do a couple of the ab machines again... ouch!  I had no idea how much my middle section hurt until I tried to do a crunch type move.  I guess I did do something on Monday!  I did make my way to the pool after all of this as well.  The water felt divine after the sweat I had worked off on the bike.  Maybe I should have stayed and ran on the treadmill to give me my own mini tri feeling?  Nah.  I really don't love treadmills and would much rather be outside to run.

I think this gym thing could work out.  I just need to figure out a schedule for it and get a plan together.  I feel guilty about it for serveral reasons already.  One, it costs money.  Two, my husband doesn't get to go and I know he would enjoy it. Three, time away from home/kids/stuff I should be doing. 

I'm sure once I've been there a few times I'll have all the bugs worked out and not have a sore middle anymore as well.  I'm hoping all this extra work makes me a stronger runner as well. 

The funniest thing I've seen all month!

I had great plans to go back to the "hill" and run this morning.  Somehow it didn't happen.  I guess I turned off my alarm and rolled over, and by the time I realized it, it really was too late to get up and over there before it got horribly hot.  So, instead I went for a run along my favorite "river" walk, but making myself go a longer distance than I had planned because I didn't go to the "hill". 

I was running along, cursing the fact that I ever came up with a "Why I Love Summer" list since it was so humid and hot that even at this early time in the day I was about to become a grease spot on the asphalt.  Really, I kept wondering what was touching my arm only to realize it was sweat pouring off myself and running down my arms.  Yuck.  I think I really should have come up with the "Why I Need to Move Someplace Else in the Summer" list!  This might also explain the fact that the riverwalk was almost empty today.  People were smart enough to stay inside!

Then I saw this sign.  I had to stop and take a picture of it.  Some poor county worker must have never got around to covering it up for the summer.  Acutally, this sign has not been needed since February I think.  We really only get a handful of days per year that this sign is even useful.  Certainly not today!  I had to giggle.

At least there was a cool plus to my run today though - a coyote ran across the walk down into the riverbed... followed by a baby coyote!  I see coyotes on occasion, but never their babies!  I hope they were looking for cooler places to spend the day!

I know I am!

Run Like a Mother winner...

From the random drawing... pulled from the hat by my daughter... Amanda!  I've emailed you Amanda!  Congrats and happy reading!

Hope you all are running someplace great this weekend!

Summer running adventure!

Well, maybe adventure isn't quite the right word for this, but, I did run someplace new.  There is a hill here in town where the tv/radio stations have their transmitters, the local university has research stations, and there is even a large telescope.  Wildlife is all around.  There is a paved path up to the top.  It's not long, only 3.1 miles roundtrip - but - it's a great hill workout!  It has an elevation gain of 730 ft... which means you get that gain in about a mile and a half as you zig zag your way to the top.  Yes, my lungs were burning.  Yes, I walked a few feet when I got near the top.  But, the view when you get to the top is beautiful, especially at sunrise, and going down is a breeze!  I made the trip in 33 minutes total, and better yet, I lived to tell about it!  I don't get to do hill workouts that often.  My neighborhood is about as flat as it gets.  Surprisingly, I am not really sore this morning!  I can tell that I did something different than normal, but I don't have that horrid "I don't want to stand up much less move" pain that you get when you've truly overdone it.

I knew about this hill for years but never made the effort to go check it out.  Maybe because from a distance it's ugly?  Or maybe because it reached out of my comfort zone?  I shouldn't have put it off because now I've found a great place to do hills.  Lesson learned!

*Photo - not the acutal hill but the view of the path from the bottom.  I'm kicking myself now for not getting a picture of the actual (ugly) hill or the view from the top!

Run Like a Mother Review and Book Giveaway!

Have you ever seen a book and just knew that it was a book you HAD to read just from the title? That’s what I thought when I was reading Runner’s World and noticed that Dimity McDowell and Sarah Bowen Shea were coming out with a new book called Run Like a Mother. It sounded like a book that was meant for me! I have followed Dimity and Sarah for a few years, back when they ran a blog called Marathon Mom’s through the Runner’s World website. Though they decided to move on to bigger and better projects, I still miss their commentary so I was thrilled to hear about their new book!


Their publisher, Andrews McMeel, was kind enough to send me a copy of the book to review. I have had this book for over two months now. I have been trying to read it. But, like any book I seem to pick up lately, I get through about five minutes of it before I am waking up two hours, and one stiff neck later! If I was reading this book in my young and single years, I would have probably blazed through it in an evening because it was so fun to read, but, then, if I was young and single, I probably wouldn’t have been reading this book!

Dimity and Sarah tell it like it is. You can tell they have walked these Running Mom trenches for a few years and know exactly what they are writing about.  They know and share how challenging it is to be a runner and a mom.  I found myself nodding my head in agreement throughout the book because what they said was so familiar.  They talk about everything from running while pregnant to sports bras and everything in between. They take turns writing different chapters and have also included quotes from running moms around the world on topics ranging from “What’s your ideal racing distance?” to “How do you cope with time away from running?” Even if you are a seasoned mom runner, just knowing there are hundreds (if not thousands!) of other moms out there trying to balance running and motherhood is a great reason to read this book!

You can follow Dimity and Sarah through the RLAM website, Run Like a Mother

Want to win my copy? While I love this book, since it was a gift from the publisher, I have decided to give it away to one lucky reader. The corner’s aren’t even that bent from me falling asleep on it so often!

How to enter – leave a comment below and tell me why you would like this book. Earn an additional entry by becoming a Running Around on Empty follower and leaving another comment to let me know (or if you already are a follower, let me know that too!).  Contest closes Thursday, June 24, 2010 at midnight MST. Winner will be randomly drawn from the posted comments at that time.

Why I love running in summer!

Yes, you heard me right - sometimes I really love running in the summer... even though I live in a climate that June, July, August, and even September can melt the rubber right off of your shoes midstride. As I was running along this morning, I was thinking of all the reasons I really like summer running...

* The sun comes up early. OK - maybe I have to get up and run early as well, but this gives me a couple of uninterrupted, kid free hours to myself that I wouldn't have if I slept in. You know I love the darlings, but quiet is nice too!

* I get to run something other than my little neighborhood. I get to go places and see other people run, walk, and bike. While I am not a huge social runner (perhaps because of my crazy times to run and having to work around family schedules), it is nice to see other people out and know that I'm not the only person out there.

* My everyday runs are now as long as my winter "long" runs. I don't have to be at work by a specific time. I don't have to make sure that the kids have gotten out of bed. I have time to actually spend running, instead of dashing through a run to speed home and make breakfast and haul kids out of bed.

* Sweat. Well, maybe it's not my favorite part of summer, but it sure makes me feel like I've actually done something... and really deserve a shower. Truthfully, I don't just deserve a shower, I need one - I can't even stand myself! Today was one of those days!

* Weight loss. Ha! It's not true weight loss, but have you ever weighed yourself before a run and then gone on the just talked about sweaty summer run? You've never lost weight as fast as you do this way. So, may it's not so permanent... but a girl can dream - right?

Yes, there are probably a lot more reasons out there than this as to why I hate running in the summer, but why worry about it? Summer's here and I have to opportunity to get out there and go! If I could only figure out how to embrace why sunscreen running in your eyes is good as well!