On the Road Again...

In more than one way I'm on the road again.

I have gotten back into a regular running schedule recently and am feeling really great about it. It seems that everything is easier to deal with when you have miles of pavement ahead of you and no distractions.

I also have been/will be out of town more than usual. Eric and I had a fabulous vacation while he was home. Last week I spent the end of the week in Knoxville for work. In the next couple of months I have 3 DC trips planned and a number of Birmingham trips. I am also hoping to get at least one beach trip in!!

I also have my 10 year high school reunion in two weeks!! I am excited about seeing everyone, but I am also a little nervous about going without Eric. I always imagined him going with me and seeing what everyone that I grew up around is like. Its disappointing that he will miss it, but hopefully it will still be a good time.

I am hoping that all of my road time, both on foot and otherwise, will help the time pass a lot faster. Eric will be home the day before my 29th birthday. I hope we are able to plan at least one trip to see each other before he comes home.

Catching Up

I hate that I have not been better about keeping up with the blog. Every time I think about it I think "I don't have the pictures I want to post" or "I don't have time to write everything" and then I get even further behind.

There has been a lot going on. July flew by...I spent the 4th with mom and dad by the pool at their house, the following weekend mom, dad, Hillary and Heath helped me get my yard back to a presentable state, and the following Friday Eric came home for his R&R.

It was fabulous having Eric home! We went to Sonoma and San Francisco the first week he was home. We stayed at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa while we were in Sonoma...it was an exceptional experience! We visited several vineyards, among my favorites were Benziger and BR Cohn. Benziger practices biodynamic farming and is a fantastically beautiful property; it was almost as fun learning about their sustainable practices as it was drinking the wine!

San Francisco was unbelievable (and unseasonably) cold. We bought jackets and sweatshirts just to try to stay warm. We stayed in the Westin St. Francis. We were just off of Union Square in the middle of incredible shopping and sites. We spent a lot of time just taking and catching up from the last 3 months.

On the plane on the way home I started feeling bad and unfortunately I spent the last week Eric was home really sick.

Eric is back in Amman now and I'm about 90% well. I started training again today and am looking forward to getting back into a routine.

Running...My Model

Tonight I am spending some time with the hydrothermal model I am building for some research I'm doing at Vandy. It is actually very interesting work, I just need time to spend on it. I am one who never really minds being busy, but this week took it to an extreme. I actually spent almost 70 hours at the office!!

The past few weeks have been fun. Two weeks ago, I ran Ellie's Run for Africa. It was a fantastic experience! I have also been spending a lot of time at Juro Stables learning how to ride with the most fantastic horse, Wendy. My instructor, Brandon, is very patient and I think a little amused by me. He also turns out to be a talented musician (click his name)!

I am trying to keep up my training schedule. I am going a little slower than I expected and have only completed three weeks on the schedule. It is not so much that I am not running regularly, rather, I am not running the pace and distance I would like. I am now up to a daily five mile minimum. That is pushing it a bit for me, especially in this heat. I may hold here for a couple of weeks before adding any more distance.

Ok, back to running...my model, that is.

A Change of Scenery...

...is something I definitely did not get today!!

One or two times a week I run at the track, this is my ABSOLUTE least favorite workout. I feel a little like a hamster on a wheel...or something equally as frustrating. I ran 4.5 miles this morning and the scenery never changed; it was a good workout, though.

I focus a lot on my time and how I feel when I run at the track because there really is not much else to do. I always try to pick some really good tunes, but this morning I had not put too much thought into it. That is why, at the beginning of mile 3, I was very pleasantly surprised when I heard the opening bars to Journey's Don't Stop Believing. The image of my very good friend, Matt, and I singing (or screaming) that very song at the top of our lungs at numerous Christmas parties immediately put a smile on my face.

I think it also increased my pace!!!

Immediately after that, Katy Perry made me wish I had woken up in Vegas...

Anyone up for a trip?

So, I am up way past my usual bedtime and I am sure I will struggle with getting up in the morning. I have a million more things to write...the possibility of a DC trip in the near future, more about my budding garden, and of course the horseback riding lesson I scheduled for this Saturday!

Setting the Stage for a Great Day

Today was my first serious run in a couple of weeks. It was not that difficult, an easy 3 miles; it gave me some time to think. I have spent the last month reacting to my surroundings and have spent very little time taking anything in. I am not complaining....I have had a fantastic month. I just think that sometimes you need to take some time to understand why you enjoy what you enjoy. This morning I thought a lot about why I enjoy my morning runs...

• There are two sweet faces waiting for me downstairs every morning...I'm sure it is mostly because they are hungry, but I like to think its because they think I'm fabulous.

• My neighborhood is so pleasant. When I walk out the front door at 5am, there is always someone else out walking their dog or jogging.


• I get to set the soundtrack of my day during my early morning runs. Many times the music I listen to while running determines my mood for the day...it energizes me or helps me relax or even puts me in the mood for having some fun.


• Upon returning home, I get to do one of my favorite tasks of the morning, tending to my plants. This year, I think I'm going to be a very successful gardener. I've already got 4 types of lettuce and spinach and I will soon have tomatoes and peppers.

• Most importantly, mornings are always better with a fresh pot of coffee.

I am so happy that I made the effort to run this morning. It was completely worth it!!! I am actually looking forward to waking up at 4:45 tomorrow morning to do it all again.

Back on Track

I have finally recovered from not feeling so well recently. I have had a lot going on and probably did not recover as quickly as I would have if I had not been so busy.

Here's a quick recap of my May Madness!

May 9 my sister, Hillary, graduated from Auburn with an Architecture degree. It was a really good time.

Three weekends ago I was in a wedding for one of my oldest friends, Laura.

It was a great time and she was a beautiful bride.

The following weekend, I was in Pigeon Forge with Jeanne and some of her buddies. My camera battery died and I didn't take my charger, so I don't have any pictures. We stayed in a beautiful cabin and had tons of fun!!

This weekend was one of the best I have spent in Nashville. Astyn and Kathrin were in town for a visit and we had a fabulous time. Saturday afternoon we went horseback riding.

My horse really liked to run. We ran everywhere, on the trails, in the open fields...everywhere. I really enjoyed it! At one point, our guide actually told me that I had to slow down! I think he was completely entertained by our group.

We also went to a couple of the honky tonks; we wanted to make it to more, but Tootsies was so much fun that we couldn't tear ourselves away. It was quite possibly the perfect Nashville night.

The last couple of weeks I have only done a few short runs because I didn't feel very well. Tomorrow morning it is back to the training schedule. I am already a little sore from the horseback riding and the insane amount of dancing we did Saturday night, so I can only imagine what tomorrow is going to feel like. I am looking forward to it, though. I have missed the way it feels to start the day with a long run.

Sick...ugh

It has been a while since I last posted. I have been very busy and will provide a recap in a later post. I am so sick today. I stayed home from work and don't plan on getting out of bed, except to go to the doctor. Not so great for training...oh well, there's always next week.

Sprinting Through My Day

I had a really great workout today: Standard warm up. Run 4 x 400 meters at 15 seconds per mile faster than your current 5K pace. Jog for 400 meters between repeats. Cool down with 800 meters of jogging.

I skipped yesterday's workout because I was absolutely exhausted from all of the craziness on Tuesday. Macie (little dog) and I did take a walk, though, and I spent a long time in the backyard with Bryant (big dog).

Since Eric left, I feel like I've been running sprints from the time I wake up until I crash at night. I am really hopping that in the next few weeks I settle in to more of a marathon pace; otherwise, I am not sure how great I'm going to be at enduring the coming months.

Fartlek = Fun...I'm not so sure

I began this morning at 5am with a 45 minute "fartlek," which according to Running Planet is the Swedish word for speed play. I would jog at a moderate pace for 5 minutes, and then speed up for one minute. There really was not much playful about it, but I got a good workout and in the end felt really good.

A few other things have kept me running today. These guys definitely keep me on my toes...

Bryant had his first training class today. He was definitely the worst behaved and the biggest one in the class. I was absolutely exhausted by the time we were finished. We are going to have to practice, practice, practice before next Tuesday!

I also mowed the lawn for the first time since Eric and I have been married...almost 6 years! It was reminiscent of the Thursday afternoon ritual growing up, except then we had riding mowers. I was fairly pleased with myself seeing as I had never used a push mower! The lawn could look better, but at least the neighbors will not complain about ours being a foot higher than every other lawn in the neighborhood.

Tomorrow should be a little less crazy...the morning starts with an easy 3 miles and we'll see where things go from there!

Day 1: Success!

Day 1 was easy...rest. I found this amusing since this is the first thing I was directed to do in the 12 week training program. However, I think I was fantastically successful! Tomorrow may be a different story. I did get up at 5:00 this morning to ascertain that I would be ready for rising early tomorrow morning.

T: Minus 2 Days

My training program actually begins Monday, but before Eric left we started running most mornings and we ran the UAB Dollars for Scholars 5k.

It was the hottest day of 2009 to date and our time was not impressive, but we had a fabulous time with friends and raising money for a good cause. The Engineering Alumni Association had a fantastic turn out...who knew engineers would rather run than go out for happy hour!!!

A Project with a Purpose

I really love this guy...

For the next 7 months, he will literally be on the other side of the world. Yesterday, I took him to the airport and then promptly secured these...

When we decided that Eric would take this position, I decided that I would use the time to do something for me. I wanted to invest in a project that would both occupy my time and afford me a sense of accomplishment.

I decided to spend the next seven months running...