A special day

Today is a great day.  A wonderful day.  A perfect day.  On this day…. well, let’s say 29 years ago, yours truly was born. 

The kid was born 6 days after my birthday… trying to suck up my special time. Turd.

AND so was this lady!!  (Go look at her birthday post. It’s all introspective and you can see a big belly.)

Michelle, your colorful hair mesmerizes me. Happy Birthday beautiful lady!

(We’re twinnies on lots of stuff, not just our birthday… soooo crazy!)

My birthday has always been a relatively big deal for me.  Since I’m a summer baby I think I feel cheated on getting the big school celebrations.  And let’s be real here, I like attention. (GIVE ME ATTENTION)

So what are my big plans for the day?  Well, I’m at work… so some working, some pretending to work.  Then I plan to consume large amounts of cheese hidden in Mexican food items.  Followed by a 5 mile tempo run.  (you know I had to get that in there somewhere, I am technically in training.) 

I already got my birthday present last weekend.  I got to pick it out, we took it home, I set it up… and then someone stole it.

It needs more games mommy. Add them NOW!

At least she’s cute. 

Funny, no one wants to steal my birthday present from last year.

Poor Herb.

As you can see I like gadgets as gifts, but I like other stuff too.  In case you wanted to get me something I also like

Shirts:

Shoes:

Socks: (the brighter the better)

Purses: (orange or blue, please)

Cats:

Also, I’d like a new car too.  Something foreign preferrably with a removable top. 

Basically this post is nothing but a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me!  Now I mustache you to buy me a gift.

Good day!

What’s the best birthday present you’ve ever gotten?  I’ve gotten a few good ones, still waiting on the new car present… someday, someday.

PS.  33  🙂

PPS.  I’m still training for Chicago.  I’ll eventually post about it.

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A marathon of sorts…..

WARNING: Non running post.  Boring career gloat.

I don’t know if many of you knew this or not,  (If you’re friends with me on Facebook this will be NO surprise since I pretty much talked about this non stop for a week or so.)  BUT I’m currently studying for my CPA license.

The CPA exam is broken up into four sections which can all be taken individually.  I have been studying seriously for the past 4ish months for one section.  The notoriously more difficult section… Financial Reporting. 

On May 30 I stepped into the testing center and let my nervous little body do it’s work.  I’m not the most confident test taker.  (But I do test well.)  I checked in and went to go pick out my locker to put my belongings into.  Sign #1: The locker key number I was assigned was 36.  I’m just a weird math nerd so I got excited because that’s a perfect square.  36 is one of my preferred numbers.  Sign #2:  The locker keys were neon green.  Our running group just announced our new shirts will be neon green this year.  Just these two little signs allowed me to relax.  Silly, maybe, but whatever works.

I walked out of the test feeling good but leave it me to start searching the net for other people’s reactions after taking the exam.  Of course, lots of people felt great coming out and still didn’t pass.  I knew one individual that I work with, that was also in my courses, that took the exam and missed passing by 3 points.  This person I figured would slam the test out of the park. 

Despite the test being computerized and primarily multiple choice you must wait for your scores.  I had to wait 10 LONG days to get my results.  The morning of June 10th, I practically wore out my phone battery checking my email app every 13 seconds.  Of course there was no guarantee I’d actually receive my score this day, it was just an estimate.   At 8:08 AM on June 10th, I got my results.  All my hard work paid off.

I PASSED!!!  (86!!)

(I might be teary eyed while writing this again… it really was a drain on my system.)

It was a long journey, full of stress and lots of “training”.  Now that the first is over, I’m ready and confident to take test 2.  (Like after that first race how you’re ready for the next… just me?)

So, Test 1 of 4 done.  Next up, Regulation (Taxes)…

OTHER THINGS:

Monday started Chicago marathon training.  I hope to be posting more often to recap how it’s going.  So far I’ve completed two runs and while my body is slightly rebelling, it’s a good pain. 

I’m also thinking of moving this little piece of blogosphere of mine.  I’m not digging my name anymore… any suggestions?  I’ve got a few rolling around in my head but I’m not 100% certain yet.

Weekly wrapup

Week 2.  I’m on a roll.  Okay, so maybe it’s not really a “roll” yet but actually doing something I said I’d do on the blog is a step in the right direction.

And let’s note again:

#1.  Yes, I’m actually running again.
#2.  I don’t make these workouts up myself, I have a coach.
#3.  My workout weeks go from Monday – Sunday.  I typically have Monday off as rest so I get a big checkmark right away.  (Guess what?  This rule doesn’t apply next week… waaaaah!)

Monday – rest
Donezo!  I rest like the best.

Tuesday – speeeeeeeed work
Whew.  This one was a doozy, mainly because I fail at reading treadmill conversion charts.  My workout was 1 mile w/u, 6 x (400 zone 4 (fast for Tara), 200 zone 3 (still kinda fast for Tara)), 1 mile c/d.  Basically miles on the end slow… miles in between fast.  I should have been doing my zone 3 “cruise” intervals at 5.7 on the ‘mill but instead was using 6.0.  Let’s just say my legs were quite pissed for a few days after.
4.25 miles, 45:05 total time, 10:36 pace

Wednesday – 45 minutes in zone 2 (long run pace)
My legs were pissed.  I still did this, although I stared at the clock the whole time and couldn’t wait til it hit 45.  (Looking back I probably ran this too fast.)
4.03 miles, 45:00 total time, 11:10 pace

Thursday – Tempo steps
1 mile slow, 1 mile middle fast, 1 mile slow, 1 mile fast, 1 mile slow.  My legs were still pissed and I was concerned I wasn’t going to be able to accomplish this.  (Spoiler: I did.)
5 miles, 54:50 total time, 10:58 pace

Friday – strength workout
I’m beginning to hate this working out on Friday stuff.  And also I hate jumping, and side planks.  That’s it.

Saturday – 20 minute shake out run
Just jogged around the neighborhood, no watch no heart rate monitor

Sunday – Angie’s Half Crazy Half Marathon
Half marathon #?? done.  (I should probably count mine.)  It was a fun time with friends and I didn’t race it.  I felt good at the end although my legs do hurt today.  I even remembered to bring my camera which you know that means you get a race recap with pictures!  (Last long race of the season, nothing of considerable length planned til Chicago)
13.1 miles, 2:36:32 total time, 11:56 pace

Sunday bonus – Cypress Running Club Kid’s Fun Run
I did the Kid’s Fun Run with the midgets.  1.5 miles and you’d think they were dying.  Someone was quite proud of himself after he finished though. 

Total mileage: 26.39 official – that’s not counting Saturday and the Kid’s Fun Run.  Basically I ran a marathon spaced out over the week… now we gotta get it so I can do it all at one time.  Good thing we have til October.

How was your week?  Any races?

Upcoming: This week rule #3 is broken.  I have to run on Monday 😦 

 

Weekly wrapup

I’m going to be cool like my buddy Rachael and do a weekly wrapup to tell you all about my workouts.  I know y’all are thrilled.  Let’s settle down now.

#1.  Yes, I’m actually running again.
#2.  I don’t make these workouts up myself, I have a coach.
#3.  My workout weeks go from Monday – Sunday.  I typically have Monday off as rest so I get a big checkmark right away.

GOAL: Chicago under 5!

So here we go….

Monday – rest
Boom.  Done. 

Tuesday – 30 min benchmark test
For this workout I was to warm up like I would for a race (you’re supposed to warm up?  whoops) and then run hard for 30 minutes, tracking heart rate and distance.  For the warm up I ran around my neighborhood once (.8 miles) and stretched out a bit.  Then I took off for the 30 minutes.  I did this in the middle of the day… nice working from home perk.
3.18 miles, 30 minutes, 9:38 pace 

Wednesday – 3 miles in zone 2 (zone 2 is an easy pace 11:30 for me)
On the treadmill. I don’t have many notes on this run so it must have been pretty boring.
3.0 miles, 34:37 total time, 11:32 pace

Thursday – Intervals, 1.25 mi zone 2, 3 x (1/2 mile zone 4 (9:40ish), 1/4 mile RI), 1 mile zone 2
This workout beat me up a little bit.  I’m not used to running 3 days in a row and my legs were feeling it.  I did manage to finish it but I was ready for a non-running day.
4.5 miles, 49:21 total time, 10:58 pace

Friday – strength routine
Friday, Friday, Friday.  I let the husband go do something with his friends and about a hour after he leaves, Addison is doubling over in pain from her stomach.  She’s screaming, crying, and freaking me out.  She tells me it hurts to go to the potty and I consider taking her to the ER.  After consulting Dr. Google, I decide she has gas pain and to put her in a warm bath.  She spends an hour in the bubble bath and the pain is greatly reduced.  11 pm, the kids go to bed and I don’t even consider doing my workout.

Saturday – 6 miles, easy pace
I got to see my lovely ladies today.  We knocked out some nice conversational miles with one week before our upcoming half marathon.  Good times.  And we finished before everyone left so that was a win too.
6 miles, 1:10:05 total time, 11:41 pace

Sunday – 4 miles, easier than easy pace
Treadmill run Sunday night.   I tend to procrastinate on Sunday so I didn’t do this until kinda late.  Ended up having to speed up a bit in order to attend kid’s bath time.
4 miles, 45:01 total time, 11:15 pace

Wow!  I ran 5 days for a total of 21.48 miles.  That’s probably the most miles I’ve done in a week in a long time. 

Upcoming: Half marathon on Sunday.  Last long race of the season.  Just running this for fun, no PR attempts.

Question:  Does anyone think they have an high heart rate when running?  Mine scared me enough to go to the doctor.  I’ve been cleared to keep running but it freaked me out when I first started tracking it.  (Which has been in the past two weeks.)  I’m up in the 180s – 190s while running.

The catcher upper post

So it’s been a while huh?  Last I posted I talked about all the races I had coming up and I didn’t even start to get into the races coming up in April.  It’s obviously race season in Texas (actually it might be over… it’s starting to warm up down here.)

Let’s start with the races. 

2 out of 3 ain’t bad right? 

First up was the Rodeo Run.  This was my first ever 10k.  It happened, it wasn’t good, it wasn’t bad, it just happened.  The race was ridiculously late, 9 AM.  We had to be in the corrals super early, like 8AM, then we just had to hang out all squished up like sardines until the start time.  Guess what happened during this time, instead of being cool and slightly overcast, the sun came out and blasted away any necessity of wearing sleeves and compression socks.  Damn Texas, it got hot, I don’t like hot.  My final time was 1:06.  Not what I was shooting for but I’ll take it.

A couple of weekends later was the Woodlands Half Marathon.  I had high hopes of busting out a PR at this race.  Long story short, I got a cold and it showed itself at the halfway point of the race.  My first half looks so strong and on target, second half death appeared.  Oh well, I blew my 10k PR out the water during this race, too bad the finish line wasn’t there.

Then last weekend was the Dallas Rock n Roll half marathon.  I really enjoy this race, it’s fun, nice to look at, and my family likes to spectate it.  Win, win, win.  Well, it didn’t happen for us this year.  Why?

 

This guy had opening day for baseball.  I couldn’t take my little Ranger away from getting his team picture done.  Plus, Dad is the coach, I couldn’t have Coach not being in the group picture.  Family has to come first, and it’s not like I don’t have more races lined up.

(Sidebar: He was the first one on his team to get a hit and get on base during their first game.)

Next up:  Angie’s Half Crazy Half Marathon on April 7th.  No PRing at this one, just for a medal.  Then I have two more 10ks in April and then I shut it down for the summer.  (Technically I have one more thing in May but it’s not a traditional road race.)

What else has been happening?

This lady turned 5. 

And I guess technically this lady did too.

I can’t believe my baby is 5 (and Sally, although Sally is looking her 5 years).  Next year we start kindergarten and in just a few months we graduate PreK.  Also, Mother of the Year award over here, I missed Kindergarten early registration.  Whoops. 

Other things?  Eh, work has settled down, finally.  For those of you who don’t know I work in the super demanding, super fast, super exciting world of…..   accounting.  I’m not a tax accountant so don’t think the tax deadlines mean anything for me.  My busiest time is between November and February.  It’s finally finally getting back to my normal, I’m so thankful. 

Also, I’m doing a little something different with my running lately.  I’m super serious about this Chicago marathon and I made the decision to hire a running coach.  So far it’s good stuff.  I’m liking not having to decide what I’m doing each day and I like the accountability of having to tell someone else whether you did your workout or not (so far I’ve done them all!)

What’s new with you?

P.S.  I got my first sunburn of the year while having froyo with the wonderful Rachael.  I’m pretty sure that means summer is fast approaching.  Also, it means Rach and I win blogger of the year awards because neither one of us ever figures to take a picture.  At least we had matching skin burns.

Races, races, races

It’s racing season folks.  At least it is in Texas.  Starting about now, my schedule is going to get a little bit crazy.  I have 3 10ks and 3 half marathons coming up in the next 2 months.  (Oh my gosh, that is crazy.)

First up.  The Rodeo Run.

Folks, the Rodeo is officially in Houston.  It’s a big deal here.  The Friday before the rodeo opens (today) is celebrated as Go Texan Day.  It’s the one day of the year that I really regret that I don’t own a pair of cowboy boots.  Tomorrow, I will be running the 2013 ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run 10K. 

This will be my FIRST 10k.  I’m not sure how to handle this distance yet.  I have a small goal but given my lack of speedwork lately it might be a long shot.   We’ll find out tomorrow. 

Then the following weekend, it’s time for the Woodlands Half Marathon.

Originally my intention was to PR at this race.  Again, my lack of speedwork might kill this dream. 

After this, I have a few weeks off (from racing) then I head up to the Big D to race the Rock n Roll Dallas half for the third year in a row.  I don’t have many nice things to say about Rock n Roll San Antonio, but Dallas I truly like.  It’s a nice course, it’s fun, it’s relatively close to home.  I can see myself doing this for years to come.

Then we have April…..  April I have a race every weekend except for one.  Should be an interesting month.  I’ll leave that for another day. 

Anyone running any of these upcoming races? 

Oh, and while we are talking about races.  You all know about my marathon love for the Houston marathon.  Well……

On Tuesday of this week, I was one of the lucky ones to brave the site crashes and errors and finally get accepted into the Chicago marathon.  Let’s see if I can feel as much love for Chicago as I do for Houston.  Marathon #3 here I come.  (Now, you all remind me of my excitement when I’m bitching about my long runs during Houston’s July and August heat.)

A lingering marathon injury?

A marathon injury? What? After reading my post on the race would you think I had a marathon injury?  Nope.  I wouldn’t either.  But I do…  sorta.

I even know where it happened.  Almost to the mile marker.  (no, not really but close enough)  We were running down the street where the halfers make their turn around to go back “home”.  I was having a grand ole time running along cheering for those fasties, making tons of noise for anyone in our running group.  (Which was difficult since our teams shirts are so subdued.  not.)  We were dodging big puddles of water, sometimes having to hop up on the curb.  I had my head firmly snapped over to the left, again watching all the halfers run it in.  I stepped probably in a few puddles.  After one decent sized puddle, I felt it.  Snap, pop, crunch, whatever.  It hurt.  Ouch, it really hurt.

What did?

My neck.  My stupid neck.  I hurt my gosh darn neck in a marathon.  All because I was doing some serious spectating and cheering. 

It’s funny, I remember it happening and I remember it hurting and I remember me thinking “Are you flipping kidding me?”. (Side note: I actually curse in real life but can’t seem to find it in me to type out bad words.)  Then, I don’t remember it at all.   Maybe the endorphins swept the pain away or all the pain waas moved to my overly used legs.  All I know is it didn’t hurt again for the rest of THAT day.  (Of course, I did ingest a good amount of ibuprofen after the race to make sure my aches and pains were minimal.)

The next day….  Ouch

The day after that….  Super ouch

Thursday after the race I was practically immobile.  I couldn’t work, I couldn’t sleep, I was miserable.  I was searching online trying to figure out what to do, what kind of doctor to see.  I was planning my demise.

Friday… Oh wow, that’s not so bad anymore.

Saturday… Ran 6 miles with the group, pain free

Today, 25 days after the race, my neck still hurts from time to time.  I think its partly stress induced now, partly body alignment.  Whenever I watch TV in an ackward position, it acts up.  When I have a stressful day,  it acts up.   (So pretty much everyday.)

Moral of the story:  Don’t cheer for your friends unless you are willing to risk pulling your neck muscle.  I’d do it again in a heartbeat. 

Do you have any strange race injuries?  Or any non-strange injuries?  Please share.

You can laugh at me if you want.  I do feel fortunate my injury was “just” a neck strain and nothing more severe like a fracture or a jerk knee.