The Bun is Out!

Ok, so its been like a year since you've heard from me. I haven't picked up running yet. I just really started thinking I might start up again. So its back to square one. Time to clean out from around the treadmill.

There's a Bun in The Oven!

Back in November I was so tired that I could hardly see straight. At first I thought it was just my horrible insomnia rearing its ugly head again. When the extreme fatigue continued I was convinced I was hypothyroid. Then, I ate a McDonald's cheeseburger with fries and felt really nauseous.

Something was amiss.

I ran for the 2 pregnancy tests under the bathroom sink...on two different days one was negative and one was positive? Huh? OMG, could I be pregnant? Bryan said I had to go to CVS and buy another test to see what it said. So, I bought the most expensive digital EPT "Certainty" with 99.9% accuracy. Read the instructions....damn it could take up to 2 minutes for the display to come up.

I didn't have to wait that long....my word PREGNANT came up in about 5 seconds. That little stick didn't even have to think about it, you are so pregnant girlfriend, good luck because your life is about to change forever.

So, that is why I stopped running for now. I have an 18 week old bun in the oven. I had only been running for about a month before I got pregnant so I decided to go back to walking. I do plan to start running again once I am physically able which may not be until the Fall.

So instead of a running blog I guess I have a pregnancy blog for now. I hope you all don't mind. Bryan and I couldn't be more excited. The reaction from our family and friends has been amazing and heart-warming.

It's Always Dark This Time Of Year...

...Yet my spirit is still bright! What is up with this weather and seemingly constant darkness? Every year I always say to myself, "I don't remember it getting this dark this early last year?" Maybe I say that to cheer myself up but I'm not sure. I guess the bad things about winter are easy to forget.

I always struggle with motivation to exercise this time of year. There are so many excuses and I could take the time to list them out but I've decided not too. I need to remain positive. I have been walking on my treadmill at home about 2-3 days per week and doing weights 1-2 days at the gym. It's all I've been able to do since I just haven't felt very well lately.

Anyhow, I hope everyone is still running strong and not letting the crazy holidays and bad economy get in the way. This is truly a wonderful time of year to celebrate life, family, friends, our new president, and the small blessings God has given us.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

Down But Not Out

I suppose my faithful readers may be wondering where I've been this month? Or maybe not. Am I still inpired to run? Have I been running? The answer to the first question is yes...and the second is unfortunately no. I haven't ran in two weeks.

I've been stuck in my car driving 168 miles a day to a hospital in the sticks for work. Williamsport, Indiana to be exact and only 10 minutes from the Illinois border. I've driven one thousand five hundred and twelve miles in the last two weeks. Yes, you read that correctly 1,512 miles without leaving Indiana. The crazy thing is I thought about all the other possible places I could have driven that were 1500 miles away. So here we go:

I could have driven to Key West, FL - approx. 1396 miles away
I could have driven to Telluride, CO - approx. 1412 miles away
I could have driven to South Padre Island, TX - approx. 1435 miles away
I almost made it to Salt Lake City, UT - approx. 1540 miles away
I was only 609 miles from Los Angeles, CA.

Anyways, its back to the gym tomorrow morning to see where I'm at. Wish me luck.

Running Sporadically But Still Making Progress

I surprised myself yesterday. I had my best run yet even though the last 2 weeks I've been having an energy crisis. It's really amazing how I'm staying in pretty good shape even though I haven't been running as much as I think I should.

Yesterday's workout:

Warm-up walk: 4 min 3.0 mph
Run: 8 minutes 4.0 mph
Walk: 4 minutes 3.0 mph
Run: 8 minutes 4.0 mph
Walk: 4 minutes 3.0 mph
Run: 8 minutes 4.0 mph
Cool-down walk: 4 min 2.8-3.0 mph

40 minutes total and 2.05 miles
My breathing was good and my heart rate stayed in the 150's.

I am so glad that I started running. The coolest thing is that you don't have to run everyday to stay in good shape. Once I got through the first 2-3 weeks I really noticed it getting easier. What I love now is that I can hop on the treadmill and go for it without feeling like a truck hit me. I have no idea why I thought running would always be a hard workout. I guess I could never get past the first couple weeks. I gave up too soon. I'm glad I didn't give up this time. :)

Do I walk or do I run?

I'm still trying to get this running thing down. On Monday I set a new record...I ran for 8 minutes straight at 4.0 mph. By the end of the 8 minutes my heart rate was up to 168 beats per minute. Which is 90% of my maximum heart rate. I'm still doing research on where my heart rate should be but I think this is too high for what I want to accomplish. My lungs are increasing air capacity and I don't feel like I've been punched 100 times in the chest anymore.


Yesterday's run I didn't do quite a well and only ran for 6 minutes straight. My heart rate still got up to 165. Too high. I need to back to the training schedule...I have strayed. My plan is to monitor my heart rate after 4 minutes of continuous running. Then I'll walk for either 1 minute or 2 minutes depending on how fast my ticker is beating. I'll continue with that cycle until I reach 25-30 minutes of exercise.

If my fellow runners have any tips please let me know! I've been so tempted this last week to just go back to walking.

Made My Day

This was way too funny not to share...

Someone in Marion Indiana has a great sense of humor.