things todays run has taught me ...

1. A good friend will listen when you speak ... a great friend will hear the things that aren't being said!

2. Hannah (said great friend) has lost all route choose privileges after today's 12 miles as i swear despite the fact we were running a loop, three quarters of said run was done running into the wind (& we're not talking a breeze here).

It's been a while since i blogged over here but well it's been a tough couple of weeks for me with running. So I'm posting this blog both here & over on "Laura Evans Photography" because well i can. & i want to & i kinda feel like it's relevant to more than just running although there are no pretty pictures to share.

Today i didn't have to work & it was also 8 mile day in the training schedule. The last few weeks have been tough, mentally because i have found myself frustrated with many many things, cranky & hormonal. Throw in the lack of running or just plain bad runs I've not been my happy chirpy self. In fact I've taken to hiding from the world. But today i was determined to run, i needed to do this despite what my body might tell me.

So i set off running, heading towards the flight line, praying the rain would stay away & the pulling in my quad would mysteriously vanish the same way it has mysteriously appeared. Well it didn't start so good, i could feel it there, & my knee was a little sore. Yesterday's run was well just plain bad, i made it 2 miles with my legs feeling like led & my mind completely not into it, so here i was not even a mile down the road wondering if this wasn't just a really really bad plan. So i took a couple of minutes, stretched my quad & off i went.

The weather was perfect ... a slight breeze ... a temperature peak for the year at 50 something degrees & it was quiet & peaceful out there. The thing i love most about running round the flight line is that there's not a whole lot going on out there. Yes there's some cars, but they're driving past & not constant, there's a few buildings & well i guess there's the whole plane's taking off & landing thing going on but trust me when i saw it's peaceful out there. & i could honestly watch planes land & take off all day, it still has this almost romantic feel to me.

When i run i run with either someone else or music ... the music helps me to create this bubble i run in. Well he came mental block number 2 as about 3 miles in, right around the spot where we'd had to end our last run out here my shuffle died. It's my own fault for not charging it but here i was left with another major dilemma. Do i turn back or keep going. I turn back & i only have 3 miles without music i go on & well it could be a really long run. I went on because i was not quitting this run.

One of the things that running has taught me is to really listen to my body, it has this amazing ability to tell you the moment something is up & running out there without any music all i was really aware of was my body & feelings going through it & the noises it was making (yeah running loosens things up) & the fact that i still had a long way to go. But i decided to ignore my body, probably a bad thing but no today today was about forcing myself to finish this run. I needed to simple to know i could make it to Vienna.

& so i ran ... not the fastest & not the slowest ... i ran without music ... i ran with sore muscles ... & by 7 miles i found my stride & i couldn't feel my quad & i was stretching out & i had that feeling you get when everything stops hurting. Your body relaxes into the run & all of a sudden nothing matters. & i felt that again today & it felt wonderful & i loved it & maybe tomorrow with hurt a little more running but i pushed myself. I pushed myself through this major mental block i had going on & so it was worth it. Oh whilst today's run was only 8 miles i ran 9 ... again because i can!

& afterwards i had me some fajitas & bought a book & now I'm home getting ready to mat some photos & i have had a wonderful day!

Pee-Pee Panties Saves the Day (Hannah)

My morning began like any other. I arose very early in order to avoid the chaos that my arched nemesis' N & S love to create in my very orderly world. On my agenda was: 1. bring social cohesion to the Middle East in 300 words or less, and 2. inform the countries of NATO why their enlargement process, while noble, was endangering international security in 750 words or less. Check. The world was safer by 9 a.m.

11 a.m. My run begins like any other. Yet, unbeknowest to me, my running partner is experiencing pain in her quad. We go 3 miles into our run, and her leg becomes too painful to go any further. (Cue melodramatic music.) We decide we must turn back. But the temperature is very cold and we fear we may freeze to death before we make it back to civilization, or at the very least, be very uncomfortable. so the hard decision is made that I, pee-pee panties, must leave my buddy behind and run and retrieve the car before it is too late.

Of course every good story must have a conflict, and here is ours. My car keys were locked in Laura's car. and the only way into her car was with a combination. We all know that every superhero has a weakness, including me. My kryptonite is forgetfulness.

Would i be able to remember the 5 random numbers that so much hope was hinging on? I wasn't sure. But as I took off into the bitter, cold, barren landscape of the Ramstein flight line, I repeated to myself *63096 over and over (cue inspirational music).

The run back was much more difficult than I was prepared for. I was running into a very strong and cold wind that was blowing snow into my face and down my shirt. I'm a mortal superhero so I experience all the senses of a human. My legs were tired and my fingers were frozen. But i was determined to save my friend.

And when I finally made it to the gym parking lot, i was still repeating- 63096. I was also beginning to worry. What if Laura suffers from the same affliction I do. Because let's face it, if the tables had been turned, and I was the one forced to be rescued and had to give my combination out, there would be zero hope of rescue. I doubt I would even be using the combination. Probably just a key. I don't know my cell phone number, my post office box combination, or my account number. There is a good reason for this though, I'm too busy saving the world.

But Laura came through and the combination worked (cue triumphant music). I grabbed my keys, and sped off through the parking lot, hoping that I wouldn't find my friend laying half frozen in a snow drift. Thankfully, I arrived in time. She climbed into the car, and I then proceeded to take 5 minutes to get my car turned around in the middle of the road. My zero-turn radius Volvo is not conducive to superhero rescues. I must inform the sidekick that I need a new ride.

*Numbers changed to protect Laura's car.

i failed ...

So you know how there are days when you wake up & know that actually leaving your bed is a bad plan ... well today didn't start out that way, apparently leaving my bed was fine it was leaving the house where it went down hill.

So today i didn't have to work so our long run could start at a leisurely hour, where the sun was actually up & the civilised world was awake & doing things other than sleeping. So off i headed, having even had some breakfast (abnormal for me) when i came around a corner to a cat lying in the road, it's tail flapping. Now anyone who knows me knows when it comes to cats some would consider me a little obsessed. So i pulled my car over & ran to the middle of the road (which by the way is on a blind bend) to rescue this kitty. Well the kitty was very dead & how we just say i "morned: it & leave it at that, though i did move it to the side of the road, & lay it down in the snow. & then as i tried to hold back the tears (yes you can laugh & make fun of me) I headed on to base.

It is cold today with a little icy breeze & as we set out on the run (this is the part i kind forgot to tell Hannah) i could feel something pulling in my quad. Just a little pulling, nothing major (i run though these thing & generally believe that it will go away if i do so) ... but well apparently there was a flaw in my plan. See the body is an wonderful thing & never fails to amaze me. It can carry me through half marathons & still sprint through the finish line, & the way it lets you know when somethings wrong is awesome ... except when I'm at the beginning on a 10 mile run & don't want to stop.

Well yes you've guessed it we had to stop ... because this time the pulling didn't go away & with the pulling in my quad came a little pulling in the outside of my right knee & well we made it 3 miles before it was decided that turning round was going to happen. & here comes the feeling of failure. I hate not being able to finish a run, because to me every run is an achievement & i watch my wonderful friend who seems to push herself through everything, has this amazing mental ability & there's me fighting to run through a little pulling in my quad. So we headed back to the car getting gradually colder. & then as the cold really kicked in, & with shouts of "save yourself" Hannah headed back to the car (at least one of us managed a good run) & then returned to pick up the invalid. So now if someone could let me know a place where i could trade in my slightly damaged, 29 year old legs for a younger (longer & slimmer) version i would appreciate it. Oh & they could work the way they're supposed to as well i would be much obliged.

So keeping all this in mind ... running wise i feel like it's been a bad week. & whilst i know that bad running weeks happen, that not every run will feel good it doesn't mean i have to like it & guess what ... i don't! Oh & thank you Hannah for rescuing me unlike the cops who drove past me laughing!

I can't get no satisfaction. (by Hannah)

...at least as long as I have children and a military man. And since they don't seem to be going anywhere, I have resigned myself to a life of unfulfilled aspirations and lack of simple conveniences. Take for example last night.

My military man left for a weekend with the boys- to the land of free drugs, legal prostitution, and a beer factory. So while he's in Amsterdam window shopping for the Dutch version of "Pretty Woman", I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to run 16 miles with two children.

So last night I had to drag them to the gym that has the child's play area so that i could run 6 of those miles. I was only supposed to run 4, but had to make up for the 2 miles we cut out of our run wed. night because someone, i'm not saying who, had to go potty. all i'm saying is that it wasn't pee-pee panties

I think that gym is cursed because lately every time I go I've had a bad experience. This time, because I'm completely maxed for time, I forgot to bring a sports bra and a hair tie. Now, if you are a guy you're thinking, "what's the big deal?" If you are a girl, you're thinking, "she's screwed." The sports bra thing wouldn't have been such a problem if i had been wearing another bra, but only had on a cami top. so I was forced to wear that horridly tight thing underneath my long sleeve workout shirt that I was dumb enough to also bring.

Then after that drama, I realize i have no hair tie. This kinda pushed me over the edge that I am perpetually walking. I had been up since 4 that morning. It was 6 in the evening. I'd been at work all day. had not been home yet, had come straight from the babysitters. the dog had not been let out. the weather was terrible. I had no idea what I was going to fix for supper, and my husband was on VACATION!! So i threw a little fit. I almost walked out of the gym and across the street to the pizza buffet. But i didn't. instead i ran for 54 minutes drenched in my own sweat, my hair flying in my face. Maybe my satisfaction comes in my defiance and my willingness to suffer because I actually enjoyed my run.

new pretty shiny shoes

So today was 3 mile day ... at fast pace. After sunday mornings 13 miles this is turning into my favourite day. I get to be inside (i really have been converted into a short run tread mill lover ... ok maybe not lover but it's warm inside as opposed to cold & windy). Anyways on top of this i bought myself some new pretty & shiny running shoes (maybe a little too shiny but i'll get them dirty & they'll look better).

I've known for a while i needed new running shoes but when in the midst of our long run i realised i could feel the cracks in the pavement through my shoes, maybe the tread was a little worn down. Now i love these shoes, they have been wonderful & i was reluctant to buy new ones but they really weren't going to last another 100 miles let along 2 more months of marathon training so caved & bought the "Under Armour Apparition" which feel like socks thanks to the internal sleeve thingy. Yes i love them.

So tonight i broke them in & they did wonderful ... they felt incredible stable on my feet, lots of support & of course i didn't have the feeling of running on the pavement.

So that was my night ... & tomorrow it's on to 7 miles i think. Hopefully outside if this artic wind thing we seem to have going on can disappear, if not the treadmill or cross train as well all know how packed the gym is at that hour!

Oh one other thing ... trying to run whilst laughing so hard you want to pee your pants (yes we're back to the pee thing which i don't have a problem with) over something on the daily show (i was watching it on tv) isn't an easy task!

Pee-Pee Panties Strikes Again

We ran 13 miles this morning. it sucked and here's why. it was 13 miles. But besides that obvious fact, it sucked because I had to pee after about 5 minutes into the run. I'm going to get personal right about here so all you pruds reading this might want to go ahead and click the X at the top of the page. I'll wait... Okay, for those of you still reading (and who are we kidding you all are) I tend to not be able to control my bladder when I run. And the frustrating part is there is no rhyme or reason to when or why it happens. And yes, I have been to the doctor about it, and no I didn't have natural births. At least Rodney has gotten a lot of amusement out of it. He has given me an endearing nickname. I'm now known as pee-peepanties. So, i was very worried that i was going to pee my pants around mile 4 and have to run 9 miles in my own urine. I am turning into my mother more and more every day. But today was a good day, and I held it until mile 7ish. And Laura and I ducked into the PAX terminal and went potty. After that I felt much better.