RETURN OF THE DOUGHMAN

With all of this talk about half-marathon training, I have neglected to mention yet another favorite event coming up soon. The 2009 Durham Doughman is scheduled for May 23. Sign-up is THIS Wednesday, April 1.

This year, our award winning team was a bit restructured. And when I saw "award winning" it is because we won both the "best costume" with our "I hEArT Durham" shirts AND we won "last place." :-) With Mike's current injury, he is out, and we lost another member to a different team. But, I think we may have our new team together for this year. Once it is all super official, I will let you know.

The 2008 "I hEArT Durham" Doughman Team

If you are interested though, go to www.doughman.org and sign up. It's a lot of fun and for a great cause.

Last year's competitors at the finish line!

Running Log: Lucky 7

SEVEN MILES. We ran SEVEN MILES on Saturday morning. That sounds crazy to me. And even after I got home and told Mike, I still can't really fathom that we ran seven miles. Crazy.

The great thing to report is this: those crappy 4.64 mile runs I have been doing? The ones that make me cry and shatter my confidence? The ones with all the hills? The ones that have been making me hit the pavement at 7am? Those crappy runs have prepared me SO well. To think, I was actually questioning my ability to run at all after these runs. But the truth is, the terrain I run on my weekday runs is tough. It's hilly and it's difficult. But it made running that seven miles on the Tobacco Trail very very doable. I was amazed.

After the crappy running week I had, I was considering changing up my route this week. The training program calls for this Tuesday and Thursday to also be 4.5 mile runs. I am going to keep doing that run that kicks my ass during the week. Because it's that ass kicking that is allowing me to handle the long flatter runs.

Hey, I think I may actually be able to do this :-)

Yet another reason why I love my husband

Running obviously takes up a lot of my time nowadays. With only 30 some odd days til race day, it's crunch time. I read running articles on line to keep myself pumped up, I talk about running with my running buddies and anyone else who wants to listen, and I also obviously blog about running a fair amount. And I of course talk to my husband about running.

Yesterday I was on active.com clicking on various links as they appeared interesting. I ended up on the site by following an article about "bad runs." Yesterday's run was one of those. It felt like I had lead in my shoes. The whole run was just tough. It took me 5 minutes longer than normal, and it just set my day off to a bad start. Anyway, while on the site, I saw a link to an article called "Spring 2009 Shoe Guide." Cool. I like shoes!

I click on the link (HERE is the article) to read about cool shoes. I have to wear motion control shoes due to my falling arches. Luckily, those were the first types of shoes listed. But for both of shoes profiled, they each contained a line that had me go "ugh".

Shoe #1: Recommended for big, flat-arched runners who need extra support or room for their orthotics.

Shoe #2: Recommended for big runners who need plenty of motion control.

Okay, okay. I know my BMI says I am overweight. I know this. But I hated seeing that the shoes I need to wear are because I am a "big" runner. Phooey.

At home that evening, I tell Mike about the article. I actually use the word "heavy" in place of big by accident. I told him that the two shoes recommended for me are for heavy runners. He says, "That's awesome sweetie! Very cool!" I, of course, give him a very puzzled look.

He looks at me and says, "Well, you do run a lot!" He took "heavy runner" to mean "one who runs a great deal" NOT "Michelle is a big girl." I love my hubby. It never even crossed his mind.

Running Log : A new milestone

This weekend, I hit THREE running milestones.

First, I ran the most miles in one week than I have ever run. My week total from Monday-Sunday is 18.48 miles. Crazy. I did 4.64 Tuesday and Thursday, the Great Human Race 5K on Saturday and a 6 mile run on Sunday. 18.48 miles. Wow.

Second, I am pretty pumped that Saturday I beat last year's Komen "competitive" 5K time. This weekend, I ran Durham's Great Human Race in 31:50. In last year's Komen Race, the 5K took me over 35 minutes. The Durham race was also really hilly, so it feels good to cut about 4 minutes off my time in less than a year, even with lots of hills. I also finished 27 out of 58 runners in the Female 30-34 Age Group. That means I finished in the top 50%. I am also very psyched about that! HUGE thanks to Lauren and Meredith for being awesome running partners in Saturday's race!!!

Lastly, I did my longest run yet on Sunday morning. Lauren and I met to run 6 miles. Yep. SIX miles! I did have to ask for a short walk for the first time during one of our runs, but I still feel pretty good about it. When we hit Mile Marker 5, I had to take a short walk. We walked slightly less than a quarter of a mile and then finished at our regular pace. While I am very pumped about having run six miles, I am a bit unsure as to how we will add on 7.1 EXTRA miles between now and May 2. Scary.

Stay tuned, folks!

PS - Mike had his second surgery on Friday and is at home recovering. All is well, and hopefully he is now on the road to a full recovery!!!!!!

Open Hearts? Really? I see something totally different

Have any of you seen commercials or ads for Kay Jewelers' new "Open Hearts" line? Designed by actress Jane Seymour (supposedly), the line of pendants, earrings and charms is supposed to be two open hearts. The ad features the line, "If your heart is open, love will always find a way in." Okay, so yes - the sentiment is sweet. But is it just me, or does the "Open Hearts" pendant look a whole lot like a naked curvy woman turning around to look over her shoulder? Mike and I have been jokingly referring to the jewelry as the T&A line. (T&A? Um, a four letter word for boobies and a three letter word for the booty) What's your call?

RUNNING LOG: 4.64 miles this morning - but damn it seemed a lot farther than last time!

Running Log : Ran farther than I would walk

This morning's route

Today I set a new milestone. This morning I got up and started my run at 7:15am. By 8:05am, I had completed the run. I did 4.64 miles at an average pace of 10:48 per mile. I am totally happy with that. This was also my longest solo run so far. I did 4 miles once back in early January. My longest run ever has been 5 miles, and that was with the girls about 3 or 4 weeks ago. To do 4.64 today on my own was a big high!!!! And to explain the title of this blog post - today I ran farther than I would walk on my walking route. I once set out from the house to take a long walk. This was quite some time back - probably October or November. I walked the same route I ran today - well, part of it. There is a city gas pump down MLK Parkway where I turned around on my "long walk" those months ago. I remember getting to the gas pump on that walk, looking down MLK at the stoplight at Hope Valley Road. I thought, "Yeah, that's just too far. I better head back home."

Yet today I ran past the gas station, through the light that looked so far away at Hope Valley and down to Cook Road. There, at 7:40am, I stopped to take this photo. Cook Road, baby. Cook Road.

It's REAL - check out the snazzy countdown clock

YIKES! It is official! I paid my $50 this morning and am officially registered for the NC Half-Marathon. I added this cool little countdown clock on my sidebar to keep me motivated. Holy crap - only 46 days and change.

It seems that with the magic shoes, advil and ice, my ankle will be fine. We did a 4.5 mile run this weekend (was supposed to be 4 but a stray dog and a "shortcut" to avoid it added an extra half mile) in the rain, and it felt good to be back out there on the pavement. I have started myself back on the formal training program at Week 6. That means tomorrow and Thursday are 4 mile runs. This weekend I am scheduled to do the Great Human Race (a 5K thru downtown) in Durham, but if Mike ends up in the hospital overnight, I may have to pass on that one.

13.1 miles still seems nearly impossible, but if I keep up with it I honestly and truly think I can do this. And hell, I could always walk the last several miles :-)

Life with a Broken Ankle

I will let the photos tell this story :-)

I know you are out there. Yes, YOU.

I check in on about 8 or 9 blogs per day. I check a few friends' blogs, the blog for the organizer of this year's NC Marathon, some Durham oriented blogs and I even read some random blogs of people I knew in former lives. It is interesting to hear what people are up to and it also gives you a break during the work day. On about half these blogs, I could be considered a "lurker." I pop in, read the most recent post and pop back out. Quick and dirty. Yet sometimes something strikes me and I make my presence known. I post a quick reply, an old memory, or a funny quip. I don't comment much, but when the urge hits, sometimes I say hello.

With all the nifty tools available on the internets nowadays, lurking is damn near impossible. At least the "100% anonymous" lurking of the past. It's a big part of why I have decided to stop "lurking" on a few of the blogs I read since these bloggers are also probably using some of the same tools I use to keep track of their traffic. The hit counter/web traffic service I use breaks my users down by how they accessed my blog, what city they accessed it from and even the name of the server from the computer from which they accessed it. That may not seem too telling, but the server names of many places make it pretty darn obvious who is reading my blog.

It's crazy how much info you can get - there are people I know that read only during the week and not on the weekend; that access only from work and not from home; they have me bookmarked or they google the blog name to find the link. My two most popular posts are about facebook wrestling and faux-sausage cheese balls.

Therefore, I am much more open about posting a little comment when I feel like it and it's all a part of me coming out of the lurking closet. And even though you may not be commenting, I know you are floating around too. A bit "big brother", eh??

Back to the Pavement

Mike's second surgery will happen some time next week. Not sure which day yet, but it shouldn't be nearly as bad as last time (we hope anyway). In the meantime, Mike is down to one pain pill every 6-8 hours. That is a huge improvement. In the hospital he was taking 3 every 4 hours, so the man has come a long way in only a week. That is fantastic. They also put a full cast on his leg yesterday at the doctor which means more stabilization, less weight and a more mobile Mike. Since his condition is improving a bit, I can start focusing on the fact that my condition is improving too.

Turns out that the issue with my ankle is a case of tendinitis. I now have a long term injury from running. My severe over-pronation of my feet has done it's damage. I now know that the right shoes ARE important to preventing injury!!!! The good thing is that after taking two weeks off of running, taking a lot of advil and using ice and heat to treat the inflammation, I am feeling pretty much back to normal. With only about 8 weeks until the half marathon, I have a LOT of catching up to do. I did a run this past Saturday (only about 2 miles), a run yesterday morning (about 3 miles), and I will do another one on Thursday - I am going to shoot for a 4 mile run. This Saturday I am helping a friend move in the morning, so I will probably ask the ladies if we can do our long run on Sunday - I am going to see if there is anyway we can redo the 5 mile long run. Not sure if I can do 6 at this point in time.

Here's to hoping my ankle hangs in there, that Mike's recovery continues to go smoothly and is not too interrupted by the next surgery, and that the next 8 weeks will prove to be enough training to make it 13.1 miles on May 2!!!!!!!

Where to even begin.................

Wow. Sometimes time flies and other times it crawls. The past week has been a combination of both.

Mike went in for surgery Tuesday and the docs said it would be 2-2.5 hours for the procedure. It was actually 4-4.5 hours. They ended up having to keep him 2 nights at the hospital. Two long, long nights. That is when time crawled.

We got him home on Thursday morning and the weather was beautiful all weekend. That is when the time flew.

Mike has to go in for a second surgery next week to readjust the fibula. He may need a third this summer to repair tendons. Only time will tell.

There is so much I could say here, but we have rehashed it for so many people that I don't even want to go through the story again. The night after surgery was hell. The day after was no fun either. And just now as he starts to feel somewhat better, it's back under the knife. Our summer plans are much changed now. Who knows what will happen next. Stay tuned.