There's always a first time for everything

Photos courtesy of LVTC

Saturday was a day of firsts. I raced while pushing my son in his stroller for the first time and I ran a race, just for "fun".  The heat in Las Vegas is pretty brutal right now. I'm also feeling super sluggish all the time. I wanted to shake up my routine a little bit. I also needed something to motivate me to workout.   Working out feels like a chore right now, but when it's over I'm so glad I did it. 

The Las Vegas Track Club was offering a timed 4 mile run out on the same bike course where I ran a 10k in February.   My husband had to work on Saturday morning so, I knew that I would be bringing my son with me. I really like this bike trail but, it is pretty isolated and I wouldn't want to run out here all by myself.  Even though this race was going to be for fun I still got that nervous / excited feeling that I get before a race. I love that feeling.

I got there about 5 minutes before the start, I signed up and, I lined up in the back. My goal was to finish the 4 miles in around or under 40 minutes. I didn't want to push myself too hard in this heat and if I needed to stop to walk I would. 

The first half mile was quiet and I ran past a guy and I heard him say "oh great I'm being passed by someone pushing a stroller". I just kinda laughed it off, 50 yards later he passed me. 100 yards later I passed him.  

During the first mile, I'm the shorty pushing the stroller.

At mile one my hat started to come off my head and my kid dropped his sippy cup.  I also noticed that I was running an 8:40 mile (a bit faster than I planned). I had to stop to pick up the sippy cup and toss my hat into my stroller basket. The guy behind me caught me and I could tell he was happy about it. At the turn around point I saw him again and I joked "don't let me catch you" and he responded with a "oh hell no". I think the teasing was good natured but, a part of me wished that I would have caught him. On the way out we were running with the breeze behind us on the way back we were running into the breeze. It felt much harder on the way back.   My arms and back got tired before my legs did. I stopped to get a drink of water at mile 3 then, I took off again.   I finished 38:11 (9:33 per mile). 

I'm so glad that I decided to do this. It was a lot of fun. It was nice to cheer on runners at the turn around point and I enjoyed the change of scenery.

Exciting News!

When I first started this blog a few months ago I decided at the time to not share my family and home life with you. I'm not too comfortable putting pictures of myself and my family on a public blog.  I also didn't want this blog to become a place where I vent about everyday life (I'm not that interesting).  Running has been a passion/hobby of mine for most of my life. I figured I would have enough to say just talking about that.  However, my news that I'm going to share, will definitely effect my running for the next year or two. 

I just found out that I am expecting my 2nd child. I'm still pretty early in my pregnancy. My estimated due date is February 8, 2013 and my first Dr.'s appointment is next month. This news came as a surprise to my husband and I but, nonetheless we are thrilled.  Even though we were not actively trying to get pregnant, we did want our children to be close in age.  They will be about to two years apart.

My little Sammy is going to be
a big brother.

This explains why my running has felt a little bit off lately. I'm tired!  Speaking of running I'm staying indoors on the treadmill during the week, on the weekends I'm leaving the house early for some stroller running. I  don't really have morning sickness, I feel queasy in the afternoons but nothing serious. I'm just a more tired than usual.

My Mini Obsession with the Las Vegas Skyline and, other photos from the neighborhood

Sunrise Mountain

Smart phones are the best. I didn't buy in to the iPhone when it first came out. I was very anti-smart phone. My whole logic behind this was, that I sit in front of a computer all day long, I know how to read a map, and my lame phone already takes decent pictures. Well as time went on my blackberry was going the way of the dodo and I needed a new phone. I've been with T-mobile for many of years. Last year I bought a Motorolla MOTO BLUR phone. It's great for taking pictures of my son and uploading them to sites like Picasa or Facebook.

I don't normally take pictures of myself while I am out running. However, when I am out stroller running it is a different story. I'm not going out to hit certain paces.  I notice my surroundings a lot more.

Last year I moved to a neighborhood further east of the Las Vegas Valley. During my weekend outings I notice the Las Vegas skyline.

I love skylines in general. I think New York City has an amazing skyline. But, I think the Las Vegas Strip has  a great skyline that could easily rival any city in the world.

I took this picture in March one afternoon out for a run.

This picture was from over the weekend.

 I think I need a better camera besides my phone. I think I do a better job of capturing the dirt lot in front of me instead of the skyline.

National Running Day-I totally forgot about it (again).

I'm not a big history or military buff. However, I always associate June 6th with the D-day invasion in Normandy, France during World War II. It was one of the largest military offenses and it turned the tide for the Allied forces during World War II.

I didn't even know national running day existed until last year. Yesterday (June 6th)  was a planned rest day for me. Over the weekend I did some stroller running with my son, on Monday I lifted heavy and I destroyed my legs doing squats and lunges. On Tuesday I ran 7.3 miles on the treadmill in an hour. I've been feeling weird about running lately. I was almost worried that I wouldn't be able to finish the hour before I even got started.  My legs were tired from Monday's workout but, I had some great tunes to rock out with and it felt good. 

Ebb and Flow

Since my shitty race last week I have been taking some much needed "down time". I have been a runner for 20+ years and I have come to realize that not all things are going to be "Crimson and Clover" Have you ever had a race that you trained your butt off and failed to meet your expectations? Or have you entered a race with little to no idea about how you would do, and then you blow your own socks off?

I think I have been in training mode for the last year. Trying to loose the baby weight, thinking about my next race, and trying to be a good runner wife mommy.

Lately I haven't felt like training. So far this week I have been in the weight room twice, and the pool once for cardio. I also took my son out twice for two four mile walks.

One of my favorite guilty pleasures is to listen to Slacker radio and to listen to their "Adult Comedy" station. I put my son in his stroller and I put my ear buds in. I listen to everything from Dane Cook, Eddie Murphy, Artie Lange, Lisa Laminelli, etc. Really raunchy stuff. It's junk food for the brain. I get to zone out and just laugh my ass off.

But back to running. I am so annoyed with the abundance of motivational posters on most running blogs and websites. These images do not impact how I feel about running/training.

source

This skinny lady is running through the Forrest maybe I should go run.

I know this is just a bit of PMS and burnout. I don't have any big races up ahead. I've been pretty rigid with my schedule considering I have a little one. I think I'm just going to take it one day at a time and smell the "roses".  I'm going to enjoy splashing around in the pool and my weekend morning runs with my son.

It will be there when I get back. I'm not taking a break from running or blogging. I'm just taking a break from the seriousness of it all.