Hot, humid, blech.

Did my 3.5 this morning in Tampa. It was nasty, hot, and humid.

Nonetheless, I got the miles in.

Long live the Hal Higdon 12 week Half Marathon program.

Woooohoooo!!!!!!!!

What NOT to do before a race...

• Shave your legs the morning of the race- ouch! (I guess this one is for the ladies... or the men...hmmm)- it hurts almost as bad as shaving them right before you hit the beach. Damn!
• Try out a new running outfit that you haven't "road-tested" during a training run. Body parts could be exposed, things could fall off.... use your imagination on this one...
• Talk sh*t about how you are gonna beat me. I will then try my hardest, and possibly run to the point of needing oxygen, just to beat you. We are all there to have fun and get some exercise, right? You are still going down though.
• Booze it up. Wait- let me be more clear. I have read studies (i.e. other people's blogs) that have shown a small amount of alcohol can actually help. Don't drink lotsa bourbon the night before, in lieu of any water.
  Here are some pics to display bad pre-race behavior...
  

Back again- running update

Hello readers! I know I have been absent lately from my running blogisms.... I have actually been running. Imagine that! Truthfully, I have been kickin' butt with my training and could not be happier. I shaved almost 3 minutes off my 5K time in a race this morning (finished in 30:30) and it was HOT in the blazing sun. I am hoping to run sub-30 in the Race for the Cure in a couple weeks. I am captaining a team of about 20 folks so it should be a great race! :)

I have been traveling like a madwoman recently for work- was in Boston, Albany, and Philly earlier this week. Of course, I included the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art into my morning run and did my best Rocky impersonation at the top. THAT kicked off the morning with a bang! Let's just hope we get some good sales out of the trip too :)

I am finally starting to feel good DURING the running process and finding it enjoyable, or at least less painful. It feels good to see definite progress! I am on the road in Tampa this week for a work conference and then heading out for a week on a cruise. I have even thought ahead about how I can play my long runs to avoid running 5,397 laps around the cruise "track" to get the miles in or resorting to a treadmill.... booooor-ing :) You know- I used to be a treadmill gal but now I am HOOKED on running outside, bonus points if I have a running partner!

BTW- drinking a MegaBeer at the PHL airport and then heading right downtown after landing to slurp down a few bourbon martinis was prob not the best pre-race prep. Inevitably, I somehow ended up flying wingman (wingwoman) for a pal and drinking champagne with her and him in his hotel room. How do I end up in these scenarios?

Well- I am off to fire up a fruit smoothie and get on with my day- at the beach. Jealous?

Could passing out in my neighbor's yard really be a blessing?

I woke up late this morning. I slept through my 6 AM alarm. I planned on waking up early to beat the heat for my run this morning. I leisurely wake up at 9:00 AM...eekk! I decide to bust a move and get out there before it gets really, really hot. I had not eaten dinner last night and fell asleep rather early after a long day of working at home... and hadn't really drank enough water. I am usually pretty religious about drinking water when I am in the office but yesterday I was baaaaaad... and I already felt dehydrated... like I had swallowed a bunch of cotton balls and I think I bit off part of my tongue when sleeping. I know, I know, I am straange.

So, I am running this morning... feeling good... hitting stride after a couple miles... and I bend down to stretch out my ankle. Suddenly, I feel like I am on a tilt-a-whirl and I am seeing white spots. Is this what it's like to die? I guess I then fell over into someone's yard.

Well, my neighbors (whom I have never met... they all think I am weird because I work like 15 hours a day and just come home to sleep and shower) apparently see me keel over in their yard and run to help me. The next thing I know, they are bent over me with a pack of ice, a cool towel, and a bottle of Gatorade. Yumm... orange Gatorade... my favorite flavor :)

I try to explain what happened, no I am not dead. No, I am just stupid and did not take care of myself. THEN they lay it on thick... do I live alone? Yes, I do. (Why does everyone think it strange I am 26 and single and live in this neighborhood alone?) Do I have a boyfriend to come help me? (Do I really need a boyfriend to "rescue" me from their yard? No.) THEN it comes... they have a single son that just moved to town, would I be interested in meeting him? (For you singletons out there, I am sure you can emphasize... everyone thinks the stars are aligned and they want to set you up)

Maybe it was the rush of consciousness I got when sitting up. Maybe it was the sun blaring right into my eyes before I put my glasses back on. Maybe it was just their charity to help me and perhaps some of it rubbed off on their son.

I agreed.

God help me.

Maybe passing out in people's yard IS the best way to meet someone.

Sigh.

P.S. I am running on the treadmill tomorrow :)

It's o-fficial

I signed up for the Kiawah 1/2 this morning- first day of signups and there were already a slew of crazy people like me! Yay :) I'm DOING it- officially.

What a glorious day. Any my Gamecocks beat Mississippi St. 15-0 last night. And it's Friday. And the sun is shining- no more Ernesto. And I have my long run tomorrow morning.

It's a good day.

Ernesto- NOT cool!

It's a rainy, icky, nasty day here in SC... Tropical Storm Ernesto (just 4 mph from being known as Hurricane Ernesto) has been pounding the coast all day. BLAH. I have resorted to doing indoor aerobics and running in place in front of the TV while watching the Weather Channel. What a nerd I am. Just get a damn treadmill, Tiff! :)

Good news- my ankle feels almost 100% again- even though part of the side of my foot has felt numb for the last week. My "foot doctor" (who ironically was my friend at happy hour the other night) says it might be a nerve being pushed by a muscle or something. The way I look at it, I would MUCH rather be able to NOT feel my body parts as opposed to feeling pain in them. Wimps.

On to more important topics- the OFFICIAL KICKOFF OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL. Now a tropical storm might keep me from going to the gym and running on the treadmill, but it will NOT keep me from driving across town in flood conditions to watch my Gamecocks kick off the season against Mississippi State. Buckets of beer? Check. Gamecock outfit? Check. Way to get home through the flood and a couple drinks? Ummm... no check. I could always stay at my friend's house downtown and just wear my Gamecock gear to work.

Let's just hope they don't lose.

I want to give a shout out to the blogger known as "Mike"!!! Sure I do not know him other than his blogs about drinking and running and running and drinking but I definitely recognize the genius in his comment, "Is it just me, or are runners also good drinkers?" Rock on, Mike!

When the morning run gets derailed….

Let me start by saying- I deserve a big gold star. I have gotten into the groove of running in the mornings (around 5:30-6:00 AM) to avoid the SC heat. For a night owl like me, this has been a slow and painful process. I normally would stay up until midnight or 1 AM just to make sure I did not miss any horrific reality MTV shows. It suddenly hit me one day that these shows are not really benefiting anyone, except give me material to talk about with my teenage cousins. Bummer!

So, the waking-up-early-and-running plan has worked beautifully… until now.

I decided to go out for a little post-work happy hour last night. After a couple (and by a couple, I mean six dozen) Coronas and a runner-up effort in the trivia contest (yes, I love useless knowledge), I found myself crawling into bed around 1:30 AM. Hmmm…. Did I set my alarm? Yes. Did I actually wake up? Not a chance. I totally would have gone if the world had not been against me and forced me to that happy hour last night.

And the best part? I feel MAD at myself… not because I was a total lush… but because I just feel better when I wake up and knock it out. I almost feel like taking to the parking lot here at work in my skirt and heels and getting at least 2 miles in.

No more excuses.

R-r-r-r-r-racing this morn!

So... I did my 5K this morning... in 31:45...not too bad for a race with a sore ankle. I mean, I was JUST off the course record! :) Of course, I am so happy I pulled myself out of bed for it. Nothing like that post-race high!

The funniest part was when an 80 year old man and I got into a sprint-out during the last 1/10 of a mile (OK, I let him beat me) and then I see him light up a cigarette right after the race. I just had to laugh at that one!

Couple quick observations about road races:

• People that are going to walk/run intermittently should probably stay to the left. I always tripped over several people that would just randomly stop to walk mid-stride
• I don't like to see from a faaaaar distance where I am running to. Today's race was ideal- the right amount of turns so you don't always see what is next. Bad example- the 4 miler I did a couple weeks ago on the beach. No turns, no twists. All you see in the distance are the mileage flags and finish line and they are too damn far away!
• Don't throw your water cup BEHIND you- it hit me! Ha ha... although it felt pretty good... but I don't like random people's spit
• I love when people are there to have fun and not take running too seriously. We are all out there to get in better shape and achieve some sort of goal. I love the camraderie!

Looks like my next race is 9/23- another 5K. Unfortunately (but fortunately), I will miss 2 great road races (10Ks) while vacating in the Caribbean in September and October. Can't wait for it to cool off a little bit too!

Well, that is all for now. Cheers to you!

Racing tomorrow!!!

Well, I decided to race tomorrow morning... a 5K at 7:45 AM... eeeeeeeeearly!

I am glad I decided to do it... cut off the night tonight around 9 PM (after a couple cocktails- ha ha) to get ready for tomorrow.

Yipppppeeee!!!

On the up...and up!!

So, I've been icing this ankle for a few days... and it has started to feel better. I get enough courage and motivation to go out running last night. Mainly because I started to miss the feeling I got and I felt like I was making some good progress. It is funny how you would have avoided running before at ALL costs and now I was getting angry because my body was not letting me get out there. Strange....

Even stranger...

I open my front door. It is POURING. The normal Tiffany would pack it up and settle down to a nice night of watching TV. But not now. I grabbed my raincoat, hat, and stopwatch (waterproof, of course) and headed out the door with gusto. I am glad I did! It still was about 85 degrees outside so the raincoat felt like a sauna after a couple miles. But DAMN... was I proud. Ironically, I saw no one else on the road :)

Ankle status- still a little sore. Debating whether to run tomorrow in the 5K- think I might run it at a moderate pace and now worry about 90 year olds beating me!