Kemah Bridge

Well I did it!  This past week, I did my first Kemah bridge run.  I liked it so much that I did it twice!  My daughter and I met my sister at the bridge at 6 AM.  I have driven over this bridge hundreds, if not thousands of times. It is the bridge between me and the nearest sign of box store civilization (Walmart, Target, Office Depot and Home Depot). Why am I running a bridge?  Well, I live in flat SE Texas. We have no hills.  When I say we are flat...I mean we are flat  The Houston Marathon is a great place to qualify for Boston because the run is soo easy...no hills.  But every runner needs to do hill work so us in SE Texas run in parking garages or on high arching bridges.  I happen to live very near to a high arching bridge.  It crosses the waterway that links Clear Lake to the bay.

This waterway is heavily utilized by boaters.  You see Clear lake is home to the third largest fleet of recreational boats in the United States.  Because of all the boat traffic seen, a steep and extreme high bridge was built.   And until my run, I did not realize that the south side is steeper than the north side.  I also didn't realize that cars whizzing by at 50 mph, that are less than 3 feet from you, cause alot of hot wind.  But I loved it.  I loved the way my thighs burned on the incline and the reward of going downhill immediately after the burn.  My sister and I took a picture at the top of the bridge from my phone, which in turn caused my Nike+ to stop recording and my wireless headphones to unlink.  So I am smiling in this picture but moments later I was just frustrated.

Now the bridge is less than two miles from my place but at least 30 miles from my sister's house.  Again, I am truly blessed to have a sister that would drive that far, that early so that she can run the bridge with me.  Isn't she awesome?  There are no words to describe my gratitude.  I am just truly blessed.

Warning: Cheeks appear larger than normal

Two days later I decided to do it again.  Because I was doing it by myself, I decided to go a bit earlier.  The second picture was taken as I was leaving the bridge to go home.  The bridge is 1.9 miles round trip.  I think next week I will try to do it twice which is....3.8 miles.

Lost Nike Plus receiver...Reward if found

Sigh. Today is W3D3 of my C25K and I couldn't find my Nike Plus receiver nor my armband. I know, I know. Why aren't they in your chest, you know the one you posted about last week?

I'll tell you why, because I was in a hurry on Saturday and took my nano to the beach in a pink belkin case I got at the dollar star. That's right. You know those cases you can get at Target or Best Buy for the Nano, the previous one to the newest version, for about twenty dollars? Well, because it is not for the latest and greatest version of nano, you can buy it at the Dollar Tree. No joke.

Anyway, back to the day it all happened. I was in a hurry and I remember switching cases but I don't know what I did with the armband one. And inside the armband, is the receiver. It has a place to hold a key while you run but I used it for the receiver when I am not using it.

So, I searched high and low for it and I can't find it. I wanted to use the new application I got for free for my Iphone that allows you to use your own playlist as it verbally prompts you to do run, walk etc. It was great and maybe when I stop fretting about my Nike Plus, I'll tell you about it. So I will give you the cliff notes version

• No nano
• Used C25K program on Iphone ( I really did like it)
• Played my own playlist
• I had to stop running on the last 3 minute run (stopped at 90 secs--another reason I love the application--tell you when I stop fretting what it does)
• Can't use IMapMyRun while using C25K app...bummer
• Couldn't get real time information on my pace...that really helps me stay motivated
• If I had my receiver I could use C25K and still get real time pace and distance information
• Used MapMyRun to map my run...Did 2 miles in 35 minutes.
• Bummer: My mini won't be updated
• Bummer: My goal of 24 miles this month will probably be reached but not recorded because it tracks from my Nike +
• Darn you Nike for getting me addicting to this too cool gadget. If I don't find it tonight, I'll have to go tomorrow and get a new one

So I will do W3 a few more times. So I didn't finish the last three minutes. Doing the 90 seconds was easy and it was hard last week. So I am improving.

Oh, on a side note A friend of mine asked me if me and my husband want to join her and her boyfriend in a Muddy Buddy race in Dallas, in October. Sounds like fun so I am going to do it. See if there is one in your area and sign up with a friend. It looks like tons of fun.

So much to say but I am bummed about the Nike +, need time to look for it.

Need a schedule...dont' want a schedule

Today is my daughter's thirteenth birthday. I am not a morning person so it was a struggle for me to get up before she does so that I can wish her happy birthday. Let me back up. I am deaf in one ear so I do not always hear my alarm go off, if I am laying on my good ear. So last night I asked my husband to make sure to wake me up at 6AM so that I can wake up my daughter to give her a present. Well, at 3:24 he awoke from a dream where he heard an alarm and kept pushing on me to wake up. I didn't know what time it was at first so I was just devastated. I went to bed early so that I could get enough sleep and here I was being shaken, and feeling like I didn't have enough sleep. I turn to the clock and it is 3:30 in the morning. I grumble and go back to bed.

After finally getting up and giving her, her present. (Is that correct?) I go back to my room and try to go to sleep but I can't. I am in one of these, still tired but too much going through my mind that I can't sleep, sort of mood.

Now, here is the thing I am realizing about Couch to 5K. I need a schedule. I know I am to run three times a week because the program goes from day one to day three for each week. I know, from reading other blogs, that I shouldn't schedule these days consecutively. So when do I run? That is the question.

Most of the time, I just run when I make the time. Notice I said "make" the time and not "find" the time. If I had to "find" the time, well, lets just say I wouldn't look very hard. But usually, I look at my day and say either "Great, today is my day of rest." or I say "Ok, I rested yesterday, so I need to make time today to run." Well, today is one of those days I can't seem to "make" the time.

With all the activities today with my daughter, I just don't have the time or energy. So I feel guilty for not running. Had I, in fact, reviewed my schedule before the week started, I could have made time on other days because I knew I couldn't do it today. If I knew ahead of time, I would not feel guilty.

My point is this: If you can pre-schedule your run time, go ahead and do it. It takes the guessing game out of the equation and you won't feel guilty if you have two consecutive days of no training. Or maybe you don't feel guilty. I know that I shouldn't. I know I will run it tomorrow. Well, I know that because I broke down and scheduled my workouts. Besides, I don't want my Nike Mini to talk smack about me because I have not ran for a few days.