The need for speed

This is what kept going through my head on my 5 miles run this morning:



I need speed!  I have never been a sprinter.  As a swimmer I could qualify for the Nationals in the 200m breaststroke but never in the 100m and forget about the 50m freestyle but the 800m yep! 

Every time I try to get faster splits, I run (ha!) into the same issues: first I want to puke (excuse me there is no polite way to put this) and or I get side pain.  And I am not talking about super speed here just a little faster.  Today at least I ran negative splits that is progress.   I decided to do the Sunday run today because I realized that tomorrow I may run out of time, birthday party for Jonathan and then Super Bowl.  I don't care about the game but Bill does and I want him to be able to watch the game in peace.  So tomorrow I just have to find 30 minutes for a 3 milers that I was supposed to do today.

After my run I coached Will's team.  Our best game by far! The light went on in their head! I was so proud of them.  Will scored a few really good baskets, made my day.  There they are, The Mavericks, Will is the one next to me.

After the game we had lunch with Bill's dad and his sisters for Jonathan's birthday followed by homework with Will.  Now I am ready for a nap!

Want to wish all the best to my blogger friends running the Surf City marathon and half marathon tomorrow: Patrick, Julie, Kate, Dawn and Chris who is going for the BQ!!!
I will be thinking of you! 
Cannot wait for the recaps!

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Don't forget to check this great Giveaway that I really hope I will win!!! : Mike over at 26.2ismycooldown.com is giving away a Tanita BC-1000.
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3 things Thursday

1. Ran 3 miles this morning at the gym.  This week so far I ran every day, 1 outside and 3 on the treadmill.  All 3 days inside I got side pain.  It sucks and it hurts.  I have a hard time with those.  I was not going fast, I don't know why I get them more inside.  I tried changing my breathing and slowing down, pushing on it.drinking  little sip of water..nothing works. 

2. Every morning I take Will to school and I wait until the teacher shows up to leave.  Kids have to line up in the school yard and wait for their teacher.  A few parents stay and wait; mostly moms.  Mostly much younger then me moms.   This morning they were talking about getting older and botox (I live in Southern California remember).  I was just listening and then one of them says "Oh YOU, you are older, do you use it?" Geez...first thanks..and second I do have a name it is not YOU.  So I told them that no I don't use botox.  One of them says: "Maybe you should give it a try, you look like you must have been pretty when you were younger!" AOUCH....  This made me laugh mostly.  Who says things like that?

3.  Now that I have 2 half marathons planned I need to find the perfect fuel for me.  For my first half that was a problem.  I tried many different kinds nothing works for me.  The only thing I can tolerate is plain GU but even that is not really great for my GI track.  I am now looking for these:

This looks like the perfect solution for me.  No gel.  Problem is nobody carries them.  I went everywhere.  On their website they have a list of stores who are supposed to be selling these products but so far no luck.  Do you guys use these? Do you buy online only?



DOUBLE DIGIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I want to welcome MYSELF to the double digit club!  That's right people I ran 10 miles today and I could not be more pleased with dear old ME!

Ok enough with the lovefest, I am already nauseated.  You have to understand,  a year ago I was trying to prepare for my first race; The Susan G Komen Race for the Cure a 5k.  At the time I could not run 2 miles without walking.  Running 10 miles was not something I thought I would ever do.  NOT A CHANCE.  Well here I am.  I am not going to lie, it was hard.  Mile 7 was hell.  I tried a different kind of gel...does not work.  Water is even hard for me to take.  I get really bad side pain that takes forever to pass.  At mile 9 I was in a lot of pain, I had to walk.  I know I will have to drink, or I will get really dizzy and I would not want to pass out.  I am wondering if I should take a salt pill...if yes when? Before the race or during?  If you have experience with those I am looking for advices.
I iced my legs when I got home I hope I can walk ok tomorrow!!!

I know I can do the half.  I could have at least walk 3 more miles so I know I will finish and for the first one that is the goal.

I have made some decisions

You are not invited to my Half Marathon:

The belt because I don't like you bouncing on my back and also because you push on my belly and are not helping anything stomach related.  ITouch: well you and Nike+ are liars and also because you need a new battery and I need music for more then 2 hours.

You are invited to my Half Marathon:

You because I need music and you are tiny and you will last over 2 hours.

You because you are the perfect socks (Nike Livestrong running sock) and compression Nike Pro shorts because you stay in place and well...I am pretty sure I would not like that chaffing thing so you are in!

You 3  because I know I could never do this without you.  Best supporting crew ever! Also because I will need you to hand me some water as I pass by you and maybe a granola bar or a piece of banana.  And a lot of "Let's go mommy!" " You got this"  "Don't give up".

 Today I ran 10 miles.  Just had to type that again.

I saw 4 movies this weekend

Social Network, The kids are all right, Inception and Blue Valentine.

Social Network: Good not as excellent as they say.  Justin T.  Excellent in it though. B+
The kids are all right: Excellent! Loved it! Love Annette Bennings. A+
Inception: not for me, I gave up after less then 30 min.
Blue Valentine: Excellent.  Very sad, broke my heart.  Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams are great in it.  Highly recommend.  A+

Off to watch the Golden Globes!

The long run

Today I ran 8 miles!

For a lot of you this is nothing.
For me it is the longest run I have done.

The weather was perfect: Overcast and cold enough to need gloves. 
Dear mother nature I would like that same kind of weather for my half marathon.
Thank you.
I did not run fast, I wanted to do the whole 8 miles and not cut it short like I did last week.
I used my belt for the first time.  It was OK, it did not bother me too much.  Still not sure if I will use it for the race, we will see, I got one more long run next week.
I tried GU for the first time also.  I waited until mile 7 because I wanted to be close to home in case it did not go well and I start cramping or having reflux.  I took less then half of the pack of Vanilla GU, one of the flavor they will give at the Half Marathon...Boy that is sweet!
I am not used to eating sweets anymore...I needed a lot of water after that and that lead to getting a stitch so not good.  Now I know I can take that GU  but just a small quantity.  This week I tried a GU Gel..that did not go down well for me so I will never use those again.

I did not take any chances and I iced my chins when I got home and did a lot of stretching.  Let's hope I am not in pain tomorrow!

I am really happy with my run today.
I ran 8 miles.
And here's the best part: I know I could have gone longer.

After that my friend took me out to the movies to celebrate my upcoming birthday.  We saw Black Swan.  Very intense.  Some parts are hard to watch.  Nathalie Portman is excellent in it, must have been a difficult experience to play that role.  If she does not get an Oscar nomination for this it will be a real shame.

3 things Thursday

1. I ran my last run before 10k race, 4 miles on treadmill, went ok, shins are getting better, made one stop to practice drinking during a run.  I am not good at drinking and running, just cannot do it, I have to stop and then a lot of times I get side pain and so I kind of avoid drinking during runs and races but I know for the half I will have to drink so I practice the art of drinking on a run!  Nest 2 days are rest days....we will see how that goes...usually on a second rest day I am not the most pleasant person to be around...Mr Higdon did not think about that when he made the plan...!!!

2. I want a Garmin for Christmas. There I said it.  Santa do you follow my blog secretly?  I send emails with all the good deals Amazon has ($99 for the e305 yesterday!) to my husband thinking that is an obvious hint....and he says things like : "why are you sending me this?" or "Why would you need this you have your liar Itouch with Nike+?"  I have 2 chances of getting a Garmin: Christmas or my birthday (1-11-11 )...wish me luck. 

3.  I need to get our real Christmas tree pronto.  My 4 yrs son told me he will be looking for another house who has one if we don't get ours soon.   I did put a fake one up a few weeks ago thinking it would buy me time to get the "real tree for Santa" but it looks my time has run out!!!  The pressure is on!

Santa: remember #2...thank you.