Snow, Birthdays, and Sidewalk Monsters ... oh my!

Is it just me, or does it seem like February has flown by to anyone else?

Birthday!

Saturday, we celebrated my 26th birthday. Fun times with great friends that we've made during our short time living in Charleston. Bonus birthday present: Beautiful sunny weather and high 70 temps. Jett and I spent the afternoon with the pups at the park then at the outlets for a little birthday shopping. We had dinner at an ah-mazing Thai restaurant downtown, and then proceeded across the bridge for a little friendly midnight bowling competition. I was just starting to find my "bowling stride" (2 or 3 games later!) when our time came to an end. Sunday Jett took me to the driving range for a little golf lesson. Typically, my ADHD would prevent me from anything that requires intense concentration, but I really enjoyed it.

Pro golfer or bowler in my future? Doubt it ... but don't count me out just yet!



Snow day!

Backtrack with me here for just a moment, to 2 weekends ago when we had a miracle in Charleston, SC ... SNOW. We don't get snow in Charleston. Ever. I think it's been something like 16 years since there's been any accumulation of snow in this area. So the 3 inches we got living just 4 miles from the coast was quite the sight to see. Of course, it was all gone by 10 the next morning, but oh-so-fun while it lasted!



Sidewalk Monsters!

Last night when I got home from work, the weather was in it's last day of perfect for a while and I wanted to go for a run at the county park. Apparently the park closes at 5 during the winter, so that was a no go. I ended up parking about a mile from our apartment and running through the neighborhood behind where we live.

Usually, I try to avoid running by myself after dark. We don't live in an unsafe area, but definitely not the safest by any means (a few weeks back a police officer was shot right beside our complex). Charleston is a city with the richest of the rich and the poorest of the poor living right along side of one another, so there aren't a lot of horribly unsafe or safe areas.

When I started out on my 3-mile run, I didn't realize it would be the sidewalk monsters, not the kidnappers, who would try to ruin my night. With about a 3/4 mile left to go back to my car, my foot was grabbed by one of the little sneaky monsters (or more likely an uneven break in the sidewalk), and (bad news bears, folks), down I went. Pitch black by this point, I really am not sure what I tripped over. But in an effort to not break my brand new Garmin, I went down mainly on my left forearm and right knee, and promptly skidded to a stop. The sidewalk now owns much of my upper forearm, a little skin of both hands, and a bit of my pride. If it weren't for the car driving past that surely must have been rolling in laughter at the sight of my spectacle, I would probably have lied there until Jett came to find me.

Since I wasn't sure he would in fact come to find me, I limped for a minute or 2, and then decided if I didn't get back quick, I wasn't getting back. So I ran that last 1/2 mile or so faster than the rest of my run. Part of that "speed" may or may not have been due to my paranoia of the sketchy guy walking past me and then picking up his cell phone. I was confident that he was calling his accomplice, who would jump out of the woods at any moment and get me. My suspicions were heightened when another odd fella crossed my path on his beach cruiser whistling a sneaky little tune as he pedaled past (the accomplice perhaps?). I booked it back, certain there were going to offer me candy or ask me to help find their lost puppy at any minute.

Either way, one thing's for certain: I should not be allowed to run in the dark by myself, ever again. (But I was quite proud of my finish, with decent run overall).

And the Garmin definitely suffered a bit of an injury, but didn't break. Crisis averted.

Happy Birthday week

My birthday isn't until tomorrow, but my husband gave me my present earlier this week. I'll give you a hint ...

It starts with a G ...

...and ends with an ARMIN.

The Day I Almost Died in the Gym ... Twice!

Let me tell you about how I almost died on the treadmill tonight ... and not by throwing a blood clot to my lung (thank the Lord, I was praying the whole time).

There I was, just running along on the treadmill at a nice, easy pace, jamming out to a little Joss Stone and people watching down below on the sidewalk, when none other than the treadmill monster jumped out and grabbed me, making me trip over my feet and almost bust it right in front of everyone. Lucky for me, I happened to have cat-like reflexes and caught myself right before my face was permanently imprinted into the germ-coated floor.

Whew, recovered from that one.

With a 1/2 mile left to run, I thought I'd pick up the pace a little. Where my head was, I don't know. Maybe I left it back at clinic with my last patient of the day, very young teenager, who needed birth control. Or maybe I left it in my car this morning when I reached over to throw my ice scraper on the floor (seriously, I have had to scrape ice off my car way too often this winter living in SC--and my ice scraper must have been built back when my grandparents were my age, because it definitely doesn't work) and knocked my entire cup of coffee onto my floor and gym bag. Or maybe I left it in bed, where I might should have stayed a little longer today.

Anyway, wherever my head was, it was not focused on the fact that when I went to increase the speed on the treadmill, I just kept my finger on the button, all the way up to 8-something. My legs do not run at 8-something. I was almost a pancake on the other side of the gym wall. Smashed. Cat-like reflexes save me again, but I'm certain not before the people next to me decided I should take a treadmill-f0r-dummies class.

Good news, I made it out alive. Even better news, I was actually supposed to run 2 miles but forgot and ran 3. Not so good news, P90X ab ripper is really hard when you have neglected your midsection for months on end.

Half Marathon ... maybe?!

I've been seriously contemplating training for a 1/2 marathon, but am in need of some advice from those more experienced with this than me (which doesn't take much)! I've been searching around for training plans that I could best make fit into my weekly schedule, and I've narrowed it down to 3. Here's where y'all come in ... those of you who have trained and run a half before, what type of plan worked best for you? Here are the plans I've found, in a nutshell:

1. MarathonRookie Plan

• 10-week program
• Longest distance run during training = 12 miles
• Days per week to run = 4
• No cross training days
  

2. Advanced Beginner Half Marathon Race Training
(*I am definitely not an advanced beginner, but this plan is still an option)

• 12-week program
• Longest distance run during training = 12 miles
• Days per week to run = 4
• 1 CT days
  

3. Half Marathon Training Schedule for Beginners

• 11-week program
• Longest distance run during training = 12 miles
• Days per week to run = 4
  
• 2 CT days

4. Some completely different plan that someone else has used or recommends??

So obviously the differences between these are minimal (total weeks and CT days). I think I prefer a plan with 2 cross training days worked in, because I have been going to spinning classes on Wednesday and Friday mornings. The 3rd one would be great because it already has W/F as the cross training days, so I wouldn't even have to tweak it.

Any advice?

Here's the second place that I need your help: I can't find a half-marathon in the NC or SC area (or somewhere within 3-4 hours driving distance) around the end of April/beginning of May. There's Charlotte RaceFest on April 10th, but that's a little soon. Does anyone know of any races around that time on the east coast, preferably NC or SC?

Even if I can't find a race to register for in that time frame, I think I still want to start training. I think it will give me a little more structure and motivation for my workouts, as right now I'm feeling a little lost! We also are planning to run the bridge run on March 27, so it will help prepare for that (last year before the bridge run, I went out a week before the run and ran (and walked) 6 miles down to the beach, then the day before went out and ran 2 miles--that was the extent of my "training").

One potential obstacle: Somehow, like the clumsy klutz that I am, I have hurt my leg. By running? Nope. Spinning? Nope. Something at least remotely exciting? Nope. I was sitting at lunch with my husband last week and reached down to scratch my knee. When I did this, a horribly painful shooting feeling went up my thigh. Since then, my thigh fills like someone took a baseball bat and beat me until I no longer had use of my right leg. But only when I sit on my knees, bend my right leg at a certain angle, or put pressure over that area. But when it does hurt, it HURTS. And there's some sort of knot under the skin. I don't think it will hurt when I run (although I've been paranoid to try for the past couple of days), but my mom has me unreasonably suspicious that I have a blood clot that's going to shoot to my lungs and kill me (extreme, I know). I think I'll just take it as it comes and see how it feels. Best case scenario, it doesn't hurt at all. Worst case scenario, I die from a pulmonary embolism (let's all cross our fingers that worst case scenario doesn't happen!). Most reasonable scenario, it stays like it is now and eventually goes away on it's own. I don't have a doctor in Charleston and refuse to go to urgent care unless it's actually urgent (which obviously this is not, as it's now been hurting for 5 days). But I do have a doctor's appointment in Charlotte next Monday so if it still hurts then, I'll have him check it out.

In other news, we celebrated Jett's birthday last week.

Happy 26 years to my wonderful husband!

Turning 26 has me a little freaked out ... seems so close to being out of my 20's forever. Ahh .. but more on that when it's actually my time to turn another year older (which in just 2 weeks away--again, a little freaked out).

Everyone have a happy Superbowl Sunday ... we don't have a team in the game, since the Panther's didn't even make it to the playoffs this year. But I guess I'll be rooting for the Saints, since Jett says I should support the team in our division.