Halloween Tricks Part 2 - Tire Print DIY

Warning: Exclamation point overload.  I had too much fun with this!  I actually ended up doing it twice to make the print longer.  But anyway, now I look like roadkill.  So worth it.

Choose a shirt to paint...

Preferably one with armpit stains...

Put some newspaper inside your shirt.

Grab your paint!

Paint your tire!

Back back back it up.  (Or go forward. Not as fun.)

Collect your shirt from the ground
(or it might be stuck to the tire).

Admire your handiwork!

Halloween Tricks Part 1 - PSA

Amy decided to go for an early morning run!

Good morning, Amy!

But it was pitch black outside and Amy wasn't wearing any reflective equipment.

Someone who wasn't paying attention, or texting and driving, didn't see Amy as she crossed the street. 

Uh oh.

There goes Amy.

The aftermath.

So here's my little soapbox PSA for you: If you run when it's dark outside, please, wear reflective clothing or tape, or some sort of light!  And if you're driving in an area where you've seen people running, keep on the lookout.  That's all!

Up next: Tire print DIY!

Marathon Training: October 30

I'll just go ahead and say this, come back tomorrow for a special Halloween post/DIY/PSA. :)  I'm excited to show it to you!


Okay so today I did a lunchtime 3 miler.  Nothing too exciting, although I thought that my second mile was going to be faster than my first.  Nope.  Oh well!
28:06.  BOOM.

I'll post more about pacing later and why I'm not too worried about it now.

So here's a little information about my lunchtime workouts.  First of all, I am fortunate enough that there is a shower in the girls' bathroom pretty close to where my desk is.  (Otherwise I might battle between morning/late afternoon workouts which tends to be a lose/lose situation for me.)  So once I finally leave my desk, I go change in the bathroom and leave my gym bag/towel in the shower area.  There's also a gym that I've seen one other person in maybe 3 times since I started using it this year.  We're also located right next to Bachman Lake so I have some nice scenery during my run.  (Or interesting people watching...)

When I get back from my run or workout I shower with my hair still in a ponytail and use a body wash that I leave at work.  Once I get dressed again, I come out and usually look like this:



Then I just take my hair out of the ponytail, brush it, and re-blowdry.

(Happy blow dryyyy)

And then boom, done.

(Red face and all.  I stay flushed for a long time but at least my hair looks good?)

And since I'm doing just 3 miles during the week right now, I get this all done in less than an hour!

There you have it! Things you never knew you wanted to learn! :) Come back tomorrow!!!

Pants

Anybody want to buy me a pair? :)

X-Ray Pants!

Marathon Training: Second Long Run

The second long run.
I procrastinated. (Huge shock.)
The long runs make training real.  The real thoughts of:
-This sucks
-I think I hate running
-This is NOT fun
-I'm still running
-Seriously how much longer
Between miles 2 and 3.5 I was seriously questioning my commitment to this.  But something clicked at mile 3.5 and I hit my stride.
I'm still trying to figure out where to actually run for my long runs and not keep running in circles, and I alllmoooost made it this time but had to double back about half a mile to finish it out.

7 miles, 1:09.  And can I brag for two seconds and say that my first mile was 8:21?!?! Crazy legs.

Marathon Training: October 25

Lunch break 3 miler.  Good and cool outside, stopped to try and take a picture of all the ducks by Bachman!

SO MANY DUCKS.
Any way. 3 miles, 29:48.

Marathon Training: October 24

Instead of running today I did a little bit of weights with my frenemy Jamie Eason.  I was doing Nike Training Club workouts for about 6 months that totaled to 1,912 minutes of training.  (I loved getting the badges/rewards once I'd hit another goal!) But I wanted to change it up and start working different muscles.  I had done a lot of the workouts so many times and I just needed a new routine to challenge my muscles.

I'm working with limited (free) equipment and time so couldn't do the leg presses or seated calf raises.
Needless to say, it still hurt the next day. haha.  Good training tip:  you're going to be using your legs for running (obviously) so you should take care of the muscles that you'll be working (and the ones you won't) in the meantime.

Marathon Training: October 23

Yep I'm going to change the title format.  It's just easier that way.  I didn't run yesterday, instead I worked through lunch and then took some portraits of my cousin and her cute family!  I'm thinking this blog will give me motivation to blog more of my photography and recent shoots.  Dunno if you can tell yet but I'm not always the best when it comes to motivation.  Haaa.

^Today.  Case in point.
So yes, a shoot Sunday night and a shoot Monday night.
Today was the typical battle of "I'll go in 5 minutes... oh wait now I'm on a roll with this... I'll go in 5 minutes... nahh... okay okay, I'll go... nahh."
So 12:30 rolls around and I finally get out of my chair, go change, and go for my run.  3 miles, 29:07.
Plus side to this run... I spent a lot of time thinking about different running topics to blog about (lucky you!!).
So look forward to that!

Marathon Training: First Long Run

I really want to run another marathon, I do, I promise.  But not having Team in Training to motivate me to get out of bed to do my long runs?  Not cool.
After a solid half hour+ I rolled out of bed and got dressed and ran my dang 6 miles. 1:03. (I also decided at the last minute to just make it a 10K so technically I ran 6.24 in 1:07)
I also hadn't exactly planned out what my path was going to be and figured I would just run past my usual 1.5 mile turnaround and keep going til I hit 3 miles and then turn around, but I accidentally made the block back to my starting position.
(I guess I should add that I moved into a new apartment a few months ago so I'm not as familiar with the area.)
So I had run 3 miles and was almost back to the starting point.  Instead of trying to think of something new I just decided to keep going to my 1.5 marker and then back again to finish the other 3 miles.
This reminds me of when I would run in my parents' neighborhood/city and was trying to get long runs in.  Once I was trying to run 12 and it looked like this:

Basically I was running around and through neighborhoods just to tack on miles.  So another thing to add to the goal list... plan!!

Marathon Training: October 19

Since I had a doctor’s appointment this morning I was able to wake up and go running and still have time to get ready! It was pretty chilly outside (54 degrees) and it felt great. 3 miles, 28:45.

Marathon Training: October 18

Accidental rest day!  I thought this retirement party for this chick at work was going to be during lunch time so I didn't bring workout clothes, but it wasn't until 3.  Oops. Oh well!  Rest is good!

Marathon Training: October 17

So one of my goals for this training season is to continue doing some strength training while still getting my mileage in. So yesterday I did about 25 minutes of a Jamie Eason workout (arms/abs/cardio) and then ran 3 miles… during my lunch break. That was too much for a lunch break. My dilemma is that my lunch break is the ideal time for me to work out because I don’t like forcing myself to wake up early (and 99% of the time I go to bed later than I wanted and/or sleep until my regular wakeup time anyway), and when I get home I want to do other things like hanging out with the boy, chores, editing pictures, etc. And it was like 85 degrees with no clouds and almost no shade. But… 3 miles: 31:01, complete.

Marathon Training: October 16

So it's almost been a year since my first marathon, so what better to do than start training for number 2??  The plan as of right now is to start training for the Austin marathon, but I'm giving myself until November 27th (when the price goes up) to really decide if I want to follow through.
When I ran my first marathon I had already been training with Team in Training for about 4 months and had run a half marathon by the end of it, so it was natural to just keep going and tack on more miles to train for a full.
This time I'm starting from scratch.  I haven't really been running much over the past year, but I've had the itch to start training again.
Already with Day 1 I've had that inner dialogue... "Do I really want to do this?  I don't feel like running right now, maybe I'll run tonight.  I could just start tomorrow if I want to.  When am I going to get my long run in?  I'm going out of town this weekend so maybe when I get back?"
But I ran three miles yesterday anyway.  Time: 28:39
Day 1 of 26 for my 26th complete.

I'm going to officially start training for my second full marathon in 20 days!  I turn 26 next year, so I'm going to be running 26(.2) for my 26th!  :)  I've been getting the itch to train for something all year, but I feel like I'm ready to commit now.  I'm going to document my journey here!  Here are a few goals for this marathon:

-Faster finish time (1st was 5:15)

-Eat better (gained 10 pounds last time!)

-Do more strength training

-Complete two 20 milers pre-race

That about covers it!  Let the countdown begin!