Wide-angle Wednesday

 What an unexpected whirlwind day yesterday! 

It's wide-angle Wednesday, and you are going to get your fill because I happen to have a ton of photos to share!  Let's start at the beginning, shall we? 

Yesterday morning as it got lighter, I watched the clouds roll in and checking the radar, saw a storm headed our way.  I threw on my shorts and old shoes and headed out the door with no Garmin and no music.  I was so excited for a #runfree4me run in the rain and it did not disappoint!  It was glorious out, I loved running in the rain and having no music made it even better.  I could hear the rain on the trees,  the wind, and other than nature it was so quiet because I was the only one around.  Who else goes to the park in the rain?  

When I got home I had to get Savannah up, she was going to the mall for the day to celebrate her friend L's bday.  The mall may not sound like a big deal to most, but for these girls it's a real treat.  We live 100 miles from the closest mall, so they don't get to go often.  The plan was for my friend Summer (L's mom) to take them, but last minute I decided to hitchhike along! 

Crazy girls during the long drive

We went to Target (Tar-J) first and I have never seen girls so excited for Target!  It was pretty cute.  I got pretty excited too when I came upon this beautiful sight...

I think I may have been more excited than them when I realized what this shopping excursion might include for ME! I don't know how much I tried on, but I walked out with a couple shirts and a running hat, which I've never tried before, so why not?  The back of the shirt is the most important, naturally.  LOL

After Target we headed to lunch

Birthday girl is in the middle

 then to the mall!  They really were SKIPPING into the mall.  

yep, it's the same shot as above, but I really love it.  So you get to see it in B&W too. 

I had yummy food (falafel sandwich and tabouli salad) and Starbucks TWICE.  (I didn't eat at the restaurant, they were cooking meat on the same grill with veggies and I decided to wait for mall foodles)

I realized that running has changed my shopping habits.  I was not interested in anything that wasn't running related!  And guess what I found first?  TUTUS!!! LOL! I found a few other things and the girls basically shopped until they dropped.  We didn't leave until after dinner for the long drive home.

My girl and her friend E with their matching kitty ears.  (Savannah is the one with the dark hair)

It was a long day fun day of shopping!  Exhausted girlies.

I made out like a bandit, btw.   Three tanks (1.99 each!) that are spandex/rayon, so I think I can run in them.  Two tutus for 9$ total, two really nice running tanks from Target (one I wore this morning so it's not in the pic) and my new running hat!  WOOT!  

So how's THAT for Wide-angle Wednesday?!!  ;) 

Question:  Do you find yourself steering towards running gear more than "regular" clothing now?  What's your favorite clothing to shop for?

Sappy Haturday!

or Happy Saturday to those of you that don't speak nonsense as easily as I do!  

Thank you so much for the hugs, support, and love!  It's been rough at times and other times I seem to be adjusting pretty ok.  It's the little things that I miss the most.  When I come home, it's especially hard.  I'm in and out all day long petsitting and I had gotten quite used to Rey being here when I got home.  And the random hugs he gave me throughout the day...ok, and the laundry being done.  LOL!  Yep, he was doing quite a bit around the house, so I'm having to readjust to that!  We are talking constantly though and things are going well for him, he's already on a load to California, which in our world means Moolah!  Lots of miles equals lots of money, so that's a good thing.  

So, onto running!  This morning I had my longest run to date!  It's 2 weeks from my 10K, so I planned on a 7 mile run and then next week I'll taper a tiny bit and do 5 or 5.5 for my long run so my legs are "fresh" for the race.  I drove into the bigger town near us so that I could run the Acorn trail. I parked in the middle and  I did 1.75 out and back to the car, took a gel and a drink and then another 1.75 out and back the other way.  Worked perfectly for 7 miles! It's a really pretty trail as well, loved not having to worry about cars. 

I was really stiff starting out and my knees hurt a bit.  I'm unsure if this is normal soreness from my legs getting stronger,  improper fueling, beginnings of injury...no clue.  I just knew that I was going to do these miles and I would take it slow if needed.  So I did.  

I didn't really feel warmed up until close to 3 miles.  I was back at the car around 3.35, so I took a GU gel right before getting to the car, chugged some water, took off my jacket and headed the other direction. 

The discomfort in my knees never really went away but it wasn't painful, so I kept going.  I had to go a bit farther to make sure I was going to be at 7 miles when I got back.  When I hit 10K I was at 1:07:01, which is about 24 seconds slower than the last time I timed my 6.2 but I'm totally ok with that, I'm still learning pacing and sometimes I go way faster or way slower during my runs.  Naturally when I hit 6.2 I felt like I could just keep going forever.  LOL.  I have no idea why I'm like this, but the last mile is when I feel like I could keep going, but it's only b/c I KNOW I don't have to!  I need to find a way to trick myself into thinking I'm nearly done all the time. ;)

Fantastic albeit hard run, I feel pretty pleased with myself for pushing through!  Oh and I even saw alpacas on the run, snapped a quick picture.  Naturally I took a sweaty/finish picture...don't let this shot fool you, I was dripping but had just wiped my face. 

I hope everyone has a lovely holiday weekend, I'll be working for most of it since a lot of my clients go out of town for holidays.

Questions, as always! 

Do you hurt when you run?  Have you identified what it is that is causing it?  Can you tell the difference between an injury or just soreness?  

What are you plans for the long weekend?  Anything special? 

On the Road Again...

A bit of background.  Rey and I have been together for 22 years.  17 years ago, when we had just begun our family and the boys were 1 & 2, Rey became a truck driver.  It was a hard time for us, we were struggling financially and Rey had been a printer previously and could not find work, so truck driving just sort of happened.  It was hard.  I remember feeling like our lives were just on hold until Daddy got home.  He was gone for 2-4 weeks, depending on the company, and luckily we were living in St. Louis and I had my mom, dad, and one of my sisters living there as well because it was a lonely time for me.

Fast forward 16 years and we had moved, our family had grown by a girl, and we all had adjusted pretty well.  Rey would come home every 3 weeks or so and we would all spend our 3-4 days together having b-bques, playing board games, and soaking up as much time with him before he would leave again.  I even felt like it was beneficial to our relationship after so many years...I still got excited to see him when he was coming home, it was the highlight of my month!

Last June Rey was lifting some ramps and ruptured two discs in his back (I'm sorry this is getting long, but you are a gem for continuing to read!) He came home and has been home for 11 months rehabbing.  Lots of Doctor appointments, physical therapy and work conditioning, but for the most part he was here 24/7.  I thought I would tire of it, but I LOVED.IT.  After sixteen years of him being gone, I felt like we were making up for lost time.

And then, like a flash, he was better and 11 months was gone.  Last Thursday the Doctor gave him a work release and yesterday they had a truck and within hours I had to take him to St. Louis to get it.  It was like a slap in the face even though I knew it was coming.

We headed in, I had to stop for Starbucks, naturally.  I have a slight obsession with it, but you would too if you had to drive 100 miles to get it!  Yep, I had already cried half the drive in and you can tell.

 

I had to laugh at this, Savannah and I both "documenting" our Starbucks.  I'm a blogger now, I have to take a picture of every single thing, right? ;)

 

The place we were supposed to get the truck was downtown, and we arrived to no one there.  We thought it looked pretty desolate for being smack dab in the middle of downtown St. Louis. Actually, it wasn't downtown, it was right on the other side of the bridge, in Illinois.

 

I'll spare you the details, but we ended up having to wait quite a while.  Nothing like dragging it out and making it hurt more.   Waiting for the truck to be ready, Savannah & I decided to walk down and get a picture of the arch.  It was just down that deserted road past the trees.  Well, kinda.  Can you see it?  LOL

 

 It doesn't look very big from the other side of the river.  I can't tell you how many times I've been up in the arch growing up...but I digress.  This post is long enough, I don't need to ramble about that too!

Finally the truck was ready and it was time to load up his stuff and say our goodbyes.  I was a wreck.  At least he got a nice fairly new truck, that made me feel better. It's bad enough when I think of him living in that small space, I don't want it to be a crappy small space too.

I didn't really mean for this to get so long, sorry.  

I cried nearly the whole way home, I'm not sure how I didn't wreck the car.  Dylan and Savannah kept me company and I had to keep changing the radio when sad songs came on.  Do you know how many sad songs they play on the radio?  

Having all those years away from each other made me fiercely independent and strong.  Maybe too much.  I kind of felt like I had a wall up and was guarded because I didn't want to feel the pain every time he left.  That wall has crumbled in the last eleven months and it hurts.  The house seems empty and quiet.  People keep telling me that I'll adjust again, I'll get used to it again.  But you know what?  I don't want to.  I don't want to get used to being alone and without him.  I don't want to be guarded again.  So here I sit feeling it all and for now, I'm ok with that because I'm not sure I ever want to go back to being ok with him being gone.  

Since this is a running blog, I guess I should mention that the knee/leg issue is better.  Not totally, but enough that I think I can run this morning, and I NEED to run.  It's the only thing at this point that I know will make me feel better. 

Wide-angle Wednesday

Is it Wednesday again?  I received an honorable mention for this shot in a 2011 photography contest.  

It's called "Light Read"

The back of my leg/above my knee area still has a little niggle this morning.  I'm planning on some yoga and stretching and I'll cross train instead of run tomorrow if it's not better.  No sense in pushing myself and getting an injury with my 10K coming up!

Wide-angle Wednesday Reminder:  Please contact me if you want to use any of my photos.  I do not mind if people share/use them (love it, actually!)  but please ask first. Thanks! ~Karen

Tempo Tuesday, not much to say...which is rare!

I did 3 miles this morning on the treadmill.  It was a pretty pathetic tempo tuesday because even though I felt like I was being super speedy, I wasn't really. Womp. womp.  It ended up being about my normal pace, but tempo should be a bit speedier.  I think speedier is a word.  Don't tell me if it isn't. ;)

I have a bit of a "strained" feeling going on behind my left knee.  It's above the knee area, not sure if it's the lower part of my hamstring or what, but it feels strained.  Not too painful, but maybe the beginning of something, so I'm sloooowwwwing it down this week.  I know my limits! Rest tomorrow and cross train on Thursday if it's still bothering me.

Other than that, I just have a picture of my Clematis vine in bloom.  My chaise lounge on the deck sits right next to it and I just love it. (because I'm not capable of posting without at least one picture!)

See...told you I didn't have much to say!  

I before E! Liebster Award!

Lauren at Lauren's Glass Slipper nominated me for a Liebster Award! I'm super excited about this, mostly because it makes me feel special that I was one of the bloggers that she chose out of all the amazing blogs out there. Thanks Lauren!  The Liebster award is a way to recognize your favorite blogs and have some fun learning new things about each other in the process!

Here is how it works:
1. Write 11 random facts about yourself.
2. Answer the 11 questions given by the person who nominated you.
3. Create 11 new questions.
4. Nominate 11 bloggers and mention them in your post.
5. Thank the person that nominated you and tell the people you’ve nominated. 

My 11 Random Facts:
1. I fell asleep in a Pink Floyd concert once.  Well...that's pretty random, right? ;)

2.  I was blond my whole life until about 10 years ago (I was about 30 if you are doing the math) when I dyed my hair red for Halloween (gypsies aren't blond!) and never went back.

 3.  I homeschool my kids, I have since I pulled my boys out of school when they were in 1st and 2nd grade.  My oldest just graduated highschool! My youngest, Savannah, has never gone to school.


4. I grew up going to Wisconsin every summer and winter.  It was my favorite place to be, we stayed at a large lodge that had skiing in the winter and horseback riding in the summer.  I would climb the ski slopes in the summer and sit in fields of wildflowers, daydreaming.  I went looking for a picture on the interwebs, this is as good as I could find...maybe we need to take a trip back so I can get my own photos!

5. I starting running as an adult, I hated running when I was younger, it always hurt and I couldn't breathe.  

6. I'm a petsitter.  I started my business when we moved out to this rural area 10 years ago and I love it!  I'm my own boss and I get to play, love on, and have fun with all kinds of animals: dogs, cats, birds, pigs, chickens...you name it! And I get paid for it. Score.

7.  I like the same music as my 12 year old daughter. Taylor Swift, Maroon 5, Ed Sheeran, anything Pop.  Well, and 80s music. Savannah calls it "retro" music.  LOL.  Proof...(because I'm a photographer and have to post pictures in all posts.  It's a personal rule!  My daughter and I at the Taylor Swift concert this past March:

8.  I was a Psychology major in college, only had about 6 classes left but we moved and I never got my degree.  I'm fairly analytical and have passed it on to my kids.  My 17 year old son Dallas (and my running partner) is going to follow in my footsteps and get a degree in Psychology as well.

9. I'm head over heels in love with my husband after 23 years.  He's my best friend and knows me better than anyone, except maybe myself.  He's a truck driver and has been home for 11 months because he ruptured a disc in his back and is now headed back to work.  I didn't realize how much I have enjoyed having him home all the time and I'm having a hard time with it...but that's another blog post in itself!  We went to Disney for our Anniversary this last November.  Amazing 3 day trip!

10.  I have a slight obsession with Fage yogurt right now.  I can seriously eat it ALL.DAY.LONG.  That and broccoli with some Parmesan on it. 

11.  I love all things DISNEYWORLD.  Not sure if that is random, it's certainly not surprising if you have read any of my blog posts! LOL.  What you might not know is that whenever we are planning a Disney trip (which is ALWAYS) we have special themed "Disney-Days".  This is usually something my BFF and I do with Savannah & Kya (my BFF's daughter).  We go all out, we have done themes from Pop Century, Pirates, UP, to Little Mermaid.  I think my favorite was a couple years ago when we did a mad-tea party. It was pretty mad!

11 Questions from Lauren at Lauren's Glass Slipper:
1. What race is at the top of your running bucket list?  The Princess 1/2 Marathon, naturally!! A Full marathon is just a little seed in the back of my mind...but it will be Disney all the way for my first!

2. If money was no object and you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?  Can I live at Disneyworld?  LOL.  Ok, money no object and I guess I could fly back and forth?  Somewhere on a beach...with lots of sun! 

3. What is your current running goal that you are working towards? I'm working towards my first half marathon next February, but a more current goal is finishing my first 10K in three weeks with a good time to submit to Disney!

4. What is your favorite food to eat after a race?  LOL...if you read above...broccoli and yogurt!  I know, boring.  Chocolate almond milk hits the spot after a long run too!

5. Of all the blog posts you have written, which one is your favorite? Oooh, hard one!  I think the first time I ran 5 miles.  I just loved how I felt when I wrote this:  I Can't Be Tamed.

6. What is your favorite movie?  Breakfast Club!  Best.80s.Movie.Ever...well, and Ferris Bueller. 

7. Who is your favorite Disney character?  So hard for me, it constantly changes. Is that strange?  Minnie used to be my favorite but I really love Merida and almost ALL the Toy Story characters.  Oh and Alice and the Mad Hatter!  See...I just love them all. 

8. Dogs or Cats? BOTH!  Love them both for different reasons. 

9. What is one thing you REALLY want to do in the next 5 years (does not have to be running related)? Not running related?  Is that possible? If it's not running related, it's DISNEY related in my world.  LOL.  I'm not sure...too focused on the 1/2 marathon, it's the one thing I'm focused on right now, everything else pales in comparison.  

10. Best piece of running advice anyone has ever given you? GO SLOW.  You have to do the mileage to get better, so just go slow and you'll get better and it will get easier. 

11. What is your dream job?  Disney ride/food/resort TESTER.  Is there such a thing?  LOL!

My 11 Questions for Others:
1. Tutu or Sparkleskirt?
2. How many furry kids do you have? 
3. How long have you been running? 
4. What's your profession?  
5. What's one of your favorite childhood memories?
6. Do you fuel during runs? What and when?
7. What was the last book you read?
8. Favorite race/distance you have run?
9. Three songs you love to run to?
10. Where is your favorite place to vacation?
11. Why do you love running? I know this gets asked a lot, but I never tire of hearing what runners love about running!

This was so much fun, I hope everyone else has fun with them as well!

My 11 Nominees – I follow so many fabulous blogs, these are some of my favorites! It was hard to choose just 11!
Lena at The Beginners Runner
Meg at Runaway Royalty 
Kim at Confessions of a Domestic Goddess
Rachel at Undercover Diva: A Sitcom
Karen at Just Me and My Running Shoes
Kristy at Runaway Bridal Planner 
Paige at The Last Doughnut
Amy at The point one will getcha!
Lea at Running with Ollie
Carrie at Aunt on the Run  
Lucy at Lucy On The Lookout
 

Feverish Friday...it only hurts when I swallow.

I don't actually have a fever, I just thought it sounded good for a Friday title.  ;)

So, we're all passing around some kind of cold, involving a sore throat and congestion.  I woke up this morning with my throat hurting...only when I swallow though.  I was frustrated because today was supposed to be my long run.  The weather is perfect, I was going to drive into the next town and run a route I have not run before to get my 6 miles in.  I decided to run anyway but stick near home with my normal route up around the park and lake.  I left my water and fuel sitting on the back of the car in the driveway so I could run by halfway through and try out refueling! 

First pass around the lake was beautiful, throat not bothering me at all...unless I swallowed.  LOL.

 I wanted to find out what my 10K pace was at a comfortable speed, so I paced myself, which looks like somewhere around 10:30-10:45.  Beautiful run and felt fantastic and like I could do more by the time I got back to the house around 3.25.  I grabbed my fuel, a GU energy gel, Chocolate Outrage, tore it open and hoped for the best.  OHMEHGERD!  This stuff was fantastic! 

 

 

Let me just clarify here...I bought this variety pack of GU stuff, they don't know I exist, they didn't pay me,  I'm not getting anything for giving my opinion... this stuff is THE BOMB!  It was like thick brownie batter.  I got as much out as I could, chugged some water and headed back out.  

Second shot around the lake wasn't as pretty.  Not only had the clouds moved in, but looks like my phone camera lens got foggy b/c I was sweating all over it! LOL.  This may be an issue for the Princess.  I MUST have good pics!  It's a requirement! 

I never lost any energy like I usually do, so either the fueling helped or it's a great placebo!  Whatever works, I felt strong and steady the whole run.  I tried not to push too fast at the end, but I know I will in the race, so I sped up a bit at the end of the 6.2  

Hit 10K, stopped the Garmin, and took a picture.  WOOT!!!!!!!!  Looky looky!  1:06:43!!!

Really, really excited, my hope was 1:08!  I started it back up and ran another half a mile home, making the run my longest to date!  6.75 miles.  Take THAT sore throat!  

So, I would love to be profound here, but it's not really a profound post.  I wanted to do my long run, I had a sore throat, I did it anyway, feel fantastic, and ended up with a PB. 

QUESTIONS FOR TODAY:

Have you ever run sick and gotten a PB?  

Do you think I should get a Point & Shoot instead of my camera phone for the race?  (btw, Rey thinks this is NUTS as I will never use it after the race, seeing as I have a DSLR)