Wind and Water

I decided to go run last night (well my schedule told me I had too) at the lake close to my parents house. It was so nice and peaceful. I started out running and went all the way around the beach and then back. It ended up being .85 miles, which I was very surprised about. This is the view that I had while running...

It was so peaceful and so relaxing. The wind was blowing just right so it felt good and was pretty cool, verses it being hot wind. Now, I have heard that running in the sand is the best workout you can get, because it is not as hard as running on pavement, but you still are using more muscles to force your feet out of the sand. That is exactly how it felt though, was trying to force my feet out of the sand. It was so tough.

If you look behind me, you can see the rocks that I was running...well I take that back, I mean jumping over. It felt great because I love to jump, and just trying not to break my ankle while jumping was hard enough, but it was fun! I was running right by the water so I had to becareful not to fall in.

Now, I know you are probably just thinking, this is just a hill. What about it? Well this hill is the hardest hill I have ever had to run up before! I have only been able to run up it a few times and yesterday was not one of those times. My parents freaked me out and told me that they had seen wolfes in the woods where I was running a few weeks ago, so of course while I am running I am looking all over the woods to see if I see anything.
Well on my way back, I saw....................

A WOLF!!!!!!



J/K I did not see a wolf, but I did see a while tail deer, but I couldn't get a good enough picture of it! That is the 4th one that I have seen this week while I am running. I love being able to run in the country. You never know what you will see.

I am hoping to sign up for the Jazz half in just a few weeks if my nerves do not get the best of me!
Going to go make some Sugar Cookies. I got the recipe from Running with Sass and I am hoping I don't butcher them.
Have a GREAT day!

Oh, check out this awesome giveaway...What's in your running bag?

Christmas Where????

Brian and I were talking about going to Disney in June of this next year and that is what our plan was going to be....if I would have gotten a job. Going to Walt Disney World in June is pretty pricey because it is a peak season to go. Well, we went ahead and scratched that idea and decided we would just wait...until we started looking up prices for Disney at CHRISTMAS.
We debated about it for a while and couldn't decide for a long time, but we decided since I am not going to be teaching, this would be the perfect time for me to go! It would be a once in a lifetime opportunity. So.........

I am so excited about going I can barely stand it! I have wanted to go to Disney at Christmas for so long now and see everything they will have going on. We are also going to get to see Stephen Curtis Chapman, and he has been one of my favorite artist since I was a little girl! I know I will have a report for whenever I get back, but I am trying to get everything organized now!

On running news...I ordered a Sweatyband from runningskirts.com the other day and was able to get free shipping and a free water bottle with some chapstick! It was runningskirts birthday, so they were doing a special. They were so awesome to me because, I had missed the one day sale and I called them the next day and they still gave me the discount.

Here is the water bottle and stuff that I got....

Sorry, it is sideways. I couldn't get the picture to switch around! I am going to wear the sweatyband soon! I am so excited about it!
Only a couple more weeks and I have to sign up for the Jazz half. I think my nerves are getting the best of me now, because I am getting nervous just thinking about running it. 

3 Half Marathons in 6 months!!

Okay, so it turns out that I might be running 3 half marathons in 6 months. That is a little overwhelming to me right now. I know that I can do it, but it is still a little nerve racking. I am going to be running the Jazz Half in New Orleans, the Rock and Roll New Orleans and then the Rock and Roll Dallas! I am excited about the two Rock and Roll ones, because I can get a 3rd metal for running those two in the same year!

I thought about running the Rock and Roll San Antonio, but I have heard horror stories about that one, and I am probably going to be teaching as my first year at that time.

So I will be running the New Orleans Jazz Half Marathon in October 2011.

Then, in Feburary I will be running the Rock and Roll Mardi Gras Half.

Then, if I am not crazy tired, I will be running the Rock and Roll Dallas half marathon.

Now, this is what I am excited about. If I run and complete the Dallas and Mardi Gras rock and roll races, then I will get this........

Now, even though I did not run 26.2 miles at one time, I did it within 2 months! I am super pumped about this medal and it is kinda helping me to train now!
I have to sign up for the Jazz Half pretty soon. It is the cheapest one! eeek! I am starting to get nervous about it....it is 3 months away!

Heat and my almost broke toe

I usually run in the morning or late in the evening, but the other day I was visiting my husbands family and decided to run with my sister-in-law Karen. She usually runs after she gets off work around 4-4:30. I was a little leary about it, but decided to go ahead because we hardly ever get to spend time together, much less run together. It started out okay as we made the first loop because it was very shaded, but after that, the sun started beating down on us.
Karen got the idea to turn on the sprinklers and run through them. I hadn't done that in a long time, much less I used to always get in my pool whenever I was little.

We ran through the sprinklers like we were little kids! It was so much fun and cooled us off so much.

I loved it, but as we started running again, we were dry in about 5 minutes from the heat! It was kinda frustrating.

This is after we ran in the sprinklers for the second time! It felt great, but as you can tell, we were both hot and sweaty, not to mention wet! So, if you are going to run in the heat, where there is a heat advisory, then make sure you have plenty of water, shade, and a few sprinkler systems to run through. That will help you cool off some!
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I went out yesterday with all of my biking equipment on. I was so excited to wear everything that I got. I added a cushioned seat to it and a water bottle, but do not have a holder for my bike yet!

Brian decided to come with me and we rode for 8 miles down some County Roads.

It was a long ride, but is not near as bad on your knees as running is. I am going to start switching in and out riding my bike for 8-10 miles or longer and then running. That way I won't tear up my knees.
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Sorry this is turning into a long post, but it has been a while.
The day before yesterday I was babysitting my nieces and their friend. They were all swimming and one of my nieces wanted me to move a small umbrella over so she would have some shade. As I picked up the umbrella with a very heavy base, I thought it was latched, and would just move it.
Guess again. I picked it up, and all of sudden the base fell off of it, and it landed straight on my big toe on my right foot.

 This is what it looks like now. It hurts like crazy. It is kinda blue and green below the knuckle of my toe, but I can kinda put pressure on it now, not much though! My brother is a orthopedic surgeon and said that there is not much I can do with a broke toe, but let it heal over time and ice it. He said I could wear a hard sole shoe (such as a steel toed boot), but that would be really heavy for one foot. I don't know. I am just icing it now and not running on it, at least still the color goes away.

I guess it is a good thing I have gotten into bike riding. That will give me some kind of exercise.

Remember- don't pick up pool/deck umbrellas without checking the base first or lifting it up also with your other hand, or else the picture above will happen to you. Ouch!

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