Showing posts with label running. Show all posts
Showing posts with label running. Show all posts

Monday, May 12, 2014

Reality

Reality is starting to set in and my panic button might be in full force.  In 34 days, I am suppose to be running 13.1 miles.  In 21 days, I will have needed to hit my fundraising goal.

Can I tell you that I am no where ready for either? 

I was at the disadvantage of being diagnosed with Bronchitis this spring.  It knocked me on my tail!  I have no idea how I ever managed to continue to play ball and go to class when I had it all the time in college.  Either this time was really bad or the ability to nap during the day during college was a godsend.  I refuse to believe that age plays a factor. 

The first 7 days of antibiotics and cough medicine did nothing for me, just put a dent in it.  So, when I hit day 14 of still not feeling well, I went back in to the see the doctor again.  This time it was continue the cough medicine, 7 days of steroids and an asthma inhaler.  It took another solid week and a half, but I FINALLY can breathe again.

Of course, during all that down time, I seriously slacked on fundraising AND training.  I committed to raising $3,600 by June 1.  If I don't hit that number...well it comes out of my pocket.  So, if you have NOT donated today...please do so!!!  It is a penny less than I have to come up with.  Already donated, ask your friends, give up a beer and donate again.  Isn't a cure for cancer worth a little sacrifice?

 
Training for 13.1 miles has also taken a major hit as well.  First it was 4 weeks of not being able to breathe and then struggling to walk around the building.  I can do that now...but some how not doing anything made my IT Band worse.  On Friday night, I had resorted to pain pills and not being able to step up into the trailer.  However, I refuse to let it stop me.  Stretching, rolling, ice, Epson Salt baths...I WILL run this race darn it.
 
So, I am begging you to help.  I am not giving up on training...help me with the fundraising. 
 
I am Refusing to Sink...my motto I see daily!
 
  I need your help today!

Thursday, March 13, 2014

RaceCation

Yes, yes I am discovering that it is really a thing.  A great thing.  It's doing a race and making it a vacation.

My race in Seattle will be just that, a RaceCation with my Aunt & Momma Bear.  We will fly to Seattle pre-race and then head to Portland post race and fly home from there.  It's becoming a VERY real thing in that I bought my airline ticket yesterday.  Yay!

Of course, the RaceCation took on a whole new life this week.  One of the gals that I am training with mentioned a 1/2 Marathon Race in the Bahama's in January 2015.  Ummm, why wouldn't a person do this?  Well my mom saw the post and she of course was telling people I was going to do it.  So, to make sure I didn't disappoint Momma Bear, I am officially registered for a race in the Bahama's in January 2015. 

So, apparently my training will need to continue for the next year.

Training is going well.  I am battling soreness in my IT band and my calf right now.  I have been seeing Dr. Seth Wagenblast and he has been a godsend.  For the most part, the IT pain is gone and now the calf tightness has crept up because the other muscles have all relaxed.  If you are in the Austin area and need help for any type of exercise induced pain, I recommend going to see him.  He offers free roll out clinics and even free evaluations.  You can find him by clicking here!

Monday's and Wednesday's I am back to do boot camp at 5:30 am.  I so hate the early mornings but my body sure likes the results.  The muscles definitely remind me that they were not worked this way just by running.  Of course, those days I also have to walk the pups in the evening.  If you know Finnegan...this is a necessary evil.  (He still hasn't slowed down at 5.)

Tuesday's we have what is called "Hill" practice.  AKA, they find some of the worst hills in Austin and decide we should run those routes.  Well this week we graduated to the really bad hills and will stay there for the rest of the season.  They start us with Loops 1 & 3 through a neighborhood.  Apparently once we become a little more conditioned, we can do Loop2 as well.  I'll have to post a picture because these are crazy insane hills.

Thursday we have track practice.  Yes, it really is on a track. We do different things each week that will help improve our cardio, improve race speed and includes focus on right techniques.  They also like to throw in a lot of core exercises after practice too.  (I HATE planks, that is all!)

Friday, well this is REST DAY.  Well rest in that I just walk the pups on a short walk.  That is a daily affair in addition to the training schedule.

Last Saturday we did 8 miles in this cold mist/drizzle/rain.  About a mile in the mist became more of a heavy drizzle/rain.  My thoughts were turn around.  But, there is still a chance it could rain in Seattle so we stuck it out.  There was some pretty good hills on the route this week. 

And that is the training that preps me for RaceCations!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Blogging Project - Day 10

10 random songs from my iPod

So, I am cheating and going out of order.  The other one just required too much thought for today.  I am tired, my allergies suck right now and I feel like I have a pound of snot stuck up in the right side of my face.  I know - TMI.  I just ran out of my allergy meds that had a decongestant in them, so it seems worse today.

Now...for this random iPod shuffle - brace yourself for it.  I think my iPod has about as random of music possible but if it comes out that way here...we will see.
  1. Roses - Andre 3000
  2. Love Without End, Amen - George Strait
  3. My Boo - Usher & Alicia Keys
  4. Don't Be Stupid - Shania Twain
  5. Larger Than Life - Backstreet Boys
  6. Your Body's Callin - R. Kelly
  7. Suga Suga (Remix) - Baby Bash
  8. Come on Over - Shania Twain  (Must be her lucky day!)
  9. We Will Rock You - Queen
  10. None of Your Business - Salt-N-Pepa
Yep - it is pretty classic of my music taste.  Ironically - there is a lot missing that would of mixed things up - Linkin Park, Eminem, Old Country, Heavy Rap, Classical.  I really listen to a lot of different music and just don't limit it. 

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So - I think a clear sign of the times was found last night.  I was helping zone Seasonal at the end of the night.  Typically we find things stolen all the time.  However, this time I just found it really, really sad.  I found an empty flag box.  Yes, someone felt to be the need to be so patriotic, they stole a flag.  I suppose one could spin it that it is the "Land of the Free".  I guess the have a different definition of what they meant by the "Land of the Free".

On a bright note - we are getting some much needed rain this morning!  Although, something tells me it might be washing away my grass seed right now.  I know that the Midwest has been worried about flooding but you have no idea how dry it is here.  They have burn bans in place at all the City Parks and that even includes Smoking.  I am surprised that we have been placed on Water Restrictions yet.  If things don't change anytime soon - we will be looking at being able to water yards twice a week on set days.  So far 1.6 million acres have been burned this year in Texas.  We have had under 3 inches of rain for the year, with January 9th being the last time we got more than a 1/2 inch in a day.  March and April were zero rain in the month!  So, I'll take what I can get!  Although something tells me I will be watering again by Saturday or Sunday!







Thursday, October 29, 2009

Direct Tv

"Agggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh" to quote Charlie Brown.

I work in tech support, I know how the system works. But why, why must they make my life hell. I don't ask for much. I just want to record my shows, come home, sit on the couch and relax on my off nights watching those previously recorded. Unfortunately, Direct TV doesn't see it my way and last night took the cake.

For the past six weeks, my DVR and I have not been getting along. Either the receiver says searching for service or it is like watching a show with 400 hiccups in it. Of course, at first they tried to say it was the connection. No, it is not the connection, live TV is fine, and the box hasn't moved locations since it was installed and no one can get back behind with the cords (well except the fur balls). They have tried resetting, they have tried doing updates, blah, blah. In the end, it "fixes" the problem for a few days and then we are back to square one.

So, last night was the the breaking point for me. The past three days of work have just been hell and all I looked forward to was a good run and watching the Biggest Loser from the night before. Well, before I got that far, I tried to watch Y&R (my guilty pleasure). Last time I checked if you are watching a DVR'd show, an hour show should take you less than an hour to watch, not an hour and 45 minutes to get through it. So, I just couldn't take it and called the customer support and my saga crumbles.

The first lady I received was very nice but she kept telling me that my only option was to format the hard drive. Of course I will lose everything from there. The pay-per-views not fully watched nor my shows. I didn't want to spend another hour on the phone going through this and just was done with it all - send me a new DVR. Sorry mama, we can't do that. Fine, let me talk to your supervisor. My thought was that the supervisor would be more willing to work with me.

Big, big, HUGE mistake in thought. This lady redefined the word attitude. In no shape or form will I be compensated for anything and until I reformat my hard drive - I can't do anything else. Since I am just beyond frustration and at a boiling point, fine, do what you have to do. Well, I follow her instructions and why the system is formatting the hard drive, she asks me to confirm my address and reads it to me. I say yes. She was like Mame - I need you to confirm your address - so I yell yes thinking she can't hear me on speaker phone. No Mame, I need you to repeat your address to me. WTF - you just read it to me and now you want me to tell you what you said. So I give her my street address...hot under the collar by now. Not good enough - so I give her my city, state and zip - spelling it all out so she doesn't get confused. I know I am yelling by now but it is just because of the pure frustration and rudeness with this lady. She then tells me that she is going to have to terminate the call, tells me to have a nice day and hangs up.

So, I call back. They ask how they can help. I give my best polite effort when mad and say I was on the phone with a supervisor. Well, she puts me through to a supervisor and happens to be the same one. Seriously - is this a cruel, cruel joke? Well, she is resident evil by this point. I didn't realize right away it was her and explain how I was hung up on, she then goes into you know why I hung up, don't you. Uhhh, I just tell her I am not calling to rehash this, I want it solved. She has complete attitude and really is making no effort. She even then starts bitching about how she works three jobs. Seriously, do you think I care. At no point in my career have I EVER considered telling someone I was on a support call with how many jobs I work, let alone a VERY frustrated & angry customer. Are you kidding me.

Well, some how - even though she wasn't on the phone while it did the reformat, she determined that I need a new DVR. Then proceeds to tell me that it is going to cost me $19.95 to send it out. Ah no, I am not paying for that. She was like "Are you telling me that or asking that". At that point I had enough of the attitude and said I would call back and deal with someone else. Please forget about it and I will deal with it tomorrow.

So, while I am typing up my letter to the Better Business Bureau, I receive an email informing me that my DVR has been shipped and they are billing me for it. I am so ready to hit the roof on this, it isn't funny. I tried to call on my way into work but apparently they don't support people until 8 am. So, guess it is going to be a drive home call.

Again, to quote Charlie Brown "Agggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh"