"Long legs! Must be a runner..."

It did rain allllll day, but cleared for a little 4-miler this evening. I should have gone further, but I didn't get started soon enough and a 6-miler would have put me into dusk. And I took a friend with me that probably shouldn't run 6 miles yet (Kenda Roo!). For those of you who don't know, Kenda is our puppy. She is almost 1, but I will still call her a puppy...probably forever. She's a red doberman and quite beautiful, but I'm a bit biased. Her full name is Kenda Roo Frist, but she goes by lots of names:

• Kenda
• Kenda Roo
• Kenda Roo Frist - when she's in trouble
• Kenda-Wenda, or just Wenda
• Roo
• Roogie-Poogie, or just Roogie (we don't call her just Poogie, ha!)
• Aroogala
• Pretty
• Sweetie-Petey, or just Petey
• Honey Bunny

You get the idea. We are in love. Pics coming soon!

She did well, like she always does. She looks up at me like, "Can we please go faster?" She runs beside me without much effort on my part until she sees another animal, whether it be a dog, a cat, a squirrel, or a chipmunk. When she sees an animal, she goes for it! This is bad because she is strong and pulls me forward. Don't get me wrong, I can gain control back quickly, but its just that initial jolt that really interrupts the run. Also, if its another dog out on the trail, she wants to try to play with it (she is super friendly, such a social butterfly!). While out for the run, she almost pulled me into a guy that was out walking his dog. It is a problem, I need to anticipate this tug and adjust before she goes for it!

Anyways, I was under 8 minutes per mile at 2, and finished up averaging 8:05 per mile so I think I did pretty well. Given the stop and go with Kenda, I will call that about 8 minute average :) It was fairly easy, although I was incredibly sweaty. My legs felt good, my lungs felt pretty good...I am so excited for my race! I need to think of a better way to put that into words or people that do read this blog (all 2 of you!) are going to quit reading cause all I ever say is that I am excited for my race!

In order to keep you coming back for more, I will write more about Kenda:

At almost 2 miles, a guy rode by on his bike. I could hear him behind me say, "Long legs! Must be a runner..." In my head I was thinking, "umm, creepy, but flattering, so thank y...he means Kenda." Sure enough, he went by looking at her and smiling at her. She KNEW he was adoring her and she jumped up ever so slightly (and adorably) and licked at his hand as he went by. I am convinced that she knows what she is doing and does it for attention. Whenever Alex and I have Kenda out on a walk, she gets so. many. compliments! She's beautiful! Awww! Such a pretty puppy! How cute! And on. and on. and on. I swear, if I was looking my absolute best on the Monon Trail with Kenda, SHE would get the compliments! But, that's ok, she IS so pretty! :)

I'm sure I will include more Kenda anecdotes after she turns 1 because then I will take her running with me more often! I am so excited to have her as a running partner :)

After the run was dinner: grilled garlic & peppercorn marinated pork tenderloin, oven roasted carrots and cauliflower, and quinoa. I love my husband more than words can express (and not just because he is an excellent cook/master griller-but that sure is a bonus!)

After dinner was TV: Chopped, The Office, and Whitney. I must say, The Office was excellent last night! Jim's book was classic Jim/Dwight and I am glad that aspect of the show is back (at least for 1 episode).

Here come the hills...

This weekend Alex and I will complete the Hilly Hundred! It is a 100 mile bike route split over 2 days that includes lots 'o hills! Notice I say complete not compete - it will be a feat just to get through it. Last year I only rode on Saturday (which was 56 miles). I bonked at about 40 meaning the last 16 miles were absolutely terrible for me. I wasn't in shape, so I feel more confident that I can make it this year. I plan on completing both days with Alex :) I will undoubtedly blog about it.

Tonight was 6 miles. I did it around 8:45 pace - some miles a little over, some a little under. It felt good after about 3. At about 2.5 I was thinking, "oh my gosh, I have to run 13.1 miles soon and 2.5 is a job...I am going to have to rethink my goal!" But I do not think I will. I'm feeling good about trying for a 7:45 average pace (really, 7:45, like on the dot each mile). I would much rather hurt during the race and meet my goal, at least come close, than run slower and feel better but not meet my goal. I'm an endurance athlete, what's a little pain?

With Garmin, I hope to succeed in hitting my splits. If we ever get a boy dog, I think I might have to name him Garmin.

Tomorrow looks like rain, hoping it will hold off so I can get another 6 in!

Migraine in my Brain

I finally got motivated to run Monday after work. I knew it wouldn't feel smooth, let alone easy, but I was actually looking forward to it. I set out chatting along with my friend and we were under 8 minute pace for mile 1. We were slightly over for 2, and I needed to stretch. We stopped for 5 minutes or so then continued on. Soon after we started up again I started feeling off. I was almost shivery- not good while running. I told her and quickly agreed when she said it was ok with her to turn around (we had barely gone another 0.2 miles). We walked a bit and it happened - I started to get the aura. Some "migrainers" will understand what I mean. My vision was screwing up and it only meant one thing...a migraine. The aura lasts about 5-10 minutes, then its on to the headache. We walked all 2.2 miles back...

This was terrible news for me. This sealed my fate for the entire evening (and the next day). I had my friend drive me home because I was squinting even with my sunglasses on. Another sucky migraine symptom that I get is sensitivity to light. When I got home, I slumped over on the couch and felt sorry for myself for a few minutes. Then I decided I needed to shower because I was pretty sweaty. I was feeling pretty terrible and the ache in my head was also in my eyes - my eyes were hurting. I got straight in bed and was able to fall asleep. I slept til about 8:45PM when I got up to eat. I went back to bed around 10:30 and slept til 8:30AM. When I woke up, my head/eyes felt normal - Thank God!

That is not the end of a migraine for me though...it couldn't be that simple! The day after I have one, I have a single spot on my head, near the front, that remains tender. If I move around too much, that spot will really hurt. If I stand up to quickly, that awful place will become painful. It only lasts seconds, but it deters me from too much movement the day after a migraine. I obviously did not run. I did walk over to the dog park with Alex and Kenda though, that went fine.

I hope to get over this and not have another one...well, ever!

*If you do get migraines with aura, talk to your doctor...it puts you (and me) at a much higher risk for stroke.

Wanted: Desire to Run

I need to run more. I am trailing off my pattern, and I know its not good. I want to post my September Round Up, but I don't have the motivation to type it up. What is going on?

I think about my race in a few weeks and my race in May and running marathon in the fall, but I don't think of wanting to run like I did earlier in training. Uhhhhhhhhh.

A little help?