Eugene pictures

Here are some long overdue pictures that were taken when me and the hubby were up in Oregon for the Eugene 1/2 Marathon back in May. We had a grand old time and leaving was definitely such sweet sorrow!

It's time to pick up our packets!

Expo crowd

In front of the famous Hayward Field

We snickered at there t-shirt statements. Very clever! haha

We walked over to the starting line from our hotel. It was only a 1/2 mile and super exciting to see the green balloons and all those people!

I am so happy to be here!

A quarter mile in.

Just one of many super supportive local people.

WE DID IT, BABY!!!!

All that while fighting a cold!

July 2008 has been super awesome

BAD BLOGGER! BAD BLOGGER!

That was me just getting mad at myself. Now we can carry on. hehe

I worked on getting my runs in consistently this month - aiming for at least 3 times a week. I've been doing great but have yet to push that to 4 times a week. I am hoping that this will happen with this week!

A few things I've accomplished this month:

• Hitting a PR on the treadmill for the year earlier this month - 32:21 for a 5k distance. This turns out to be 10:26 pace. Make like the Kool-Aid Man and give me an OH YEAH!!! While training for the failed attempt at the marathon earlier in the year my average for the 5k was around 34 - 35 minutes.
• After a summer of staying indoors to beat the heat, I finally ventured outside this morning. My goal for the morning was just to get to 1 mile and then I could walk home. You see, I'm trying to get accustomed to running in the heat so I can run the last ARR Summer Series #5 Run at South Mountain on August 10th. I have a good two weeks to make this happen. Anyway, I lasted 1.6 miles. Then I walked home but I think I need to bring water with me next time. I felt a heat related headache coming on as I walked home. Shoot, it was already 90 degrees when I went out at 6 am. WTF!

I've also added Beginner's Pilates to the mix. I bought a DVD when I last went to Tarzhay. Again, it was an WTF! moment when I first tried the movements. I think I almost farted like 10 times because of the straining. haha I know, I know. TMI.

Just like my runs, I will be updating my blog 3x a week, minimum.

In the middle of the night...

Man, I feel so beat these days. I totally feel like there are not enough hours or minutes in the day to really accomplish any of my personal goals. After work, I rest for a bit and before I know it it is already 7:30 or 8:00 pm! I've been exercising later and later. Maybe this is my problem. I exercise or run about two hours before I hit the hay. I'm trying to switch over to morning work outs starting next week.

Last night, I got to my complex's gym late so I only had 30 minutes to work with. I intended to do a tempo run up until the security guard kicked me out but my stretchy running capri kept riding down and started to annoy the heck out of me. I only managed 5 minutes of walking and 3 minutes of running before I angrily grabbed my gym key and jumped onto the elliptical. I stayed on for about 20 minutes before the security guard came a-knockin'.

Right before my workout, hubby and I went to Best Buy to look for new Apple earphones for my ishuffle since one side of my old one gives very weak audio output. Guess how much those stupid things are?! Freakin' 50 smelly dog bones!! And the incredulous thing is that people actually buy them! They're not the greatest little things in the world and I can't justify such an expenditure so I went back to my trusty Sony sport headphones...no fancy earbuds.

I feel like I'm getting stronger. I noticed this when I was doing crunches last night. In the beginning, my ab muscles were so weak that I actually shook when I pulled my head and shoulders off the ground!! HAHA Very little shaking, if any, last night.