Sleepyface

I could have told you at 3pm yesterday that this morning was going to be rough. Oh boy and it was.

I know there have to be more people out there get antsy when they're tired. Well, I'd only been in work about 3 hours before I felt like I couldn't pay attention to anything. I don't want to make the outrageous claim that I have ADD or that I need some kind of medication for this. No. I need some regular sleep hours for this.

I didn't anticipate how difficult it would be to go to sleep as soon as I get home from work and to still wake up at the same time as if I was working first shift. Seriously, that's nearly impossible. I'm just very thankful that today is the last day I have to work this crazy shift (for now). (Fun Fact: When you work for the U.S. government you get all sorts of silly benefits you didn't know were available, like an alternate work schedule. I work four 9's and a 4. Jealous?)

Anyway, last night Beard and I got into a little spat over cell phone plans. We are both really looking forward to being on the same cellphone provider, but we have slightly different ideas of what is necessary as far as phone usage. I have a very conservative view of our money (don't spend it all if you don't have to), whereas as my husband can sometimes have a more liberal view of it (if we have it, why not spend it?). You can see where the problem starts.

The argument got a little heated, since we were both absolutely beat, and of course we didn't get to sleep until way after we both had hoped.

Which left me this morning with 3 miles to run, strength training to do, 2 dinners and one lunch to make, and a box to pack.

Dinners, check.

Lunch, check.

Exercise, check.

That box, oh boy I'll get that sucker after work.

A Busy Morning

Unfortunately, I'm about ready to get dressed and run out the door to work. Why, you ask? Because I spent the morning prepping and freezing fresh produce from our co-op! Plug www.sausserfarms.com ;-)

Check out our spread:

Running on Empty

This week at work I've been training with the two second shift QAS's (Quality Assurance Specialists). Luckily, I don't have to work second shift with them (1500-00300), but I did have to shift my schedule around to have enough time to learn from them. So I'm stuck work 1130-2100 this week. Not the greatest shift to work when you normally lay down in bed around 2100.

(Please excuse the military time. I'm so used to it that I think in it nowadays.)

Yesterday felt great, honestly. I got up, had time to prepare dinner and put it into two containers, one for me to take to work, and one to leave in the fridge for Beardface. I felt very accomplished, and I still managed to get to work on-time, and while I was still alert. My shift itself wasn't terrible, either. Since my job involves a lot of walking around, it's hard to get very sleepy. I had intended to hop right into bed when I got home, but my husband, the sweet man he is, had lit all the candles in the house and had run a hot shower for me, with some company, of course ;) Clearly getting to bed was the furthest thing from my mind when I saw that.

This morning, I had high hopes of waking up at normal time (0450) and going for a run before Beardface was showered and ready for breakfast. Of course this did not happen. I smacked my phone at 0450 and just lied in bed until my husband's alarm went off. We got up together, but I was still a bit of a zombie. I had to pack him lunch and make breakfast for us. By the time he left, I may have been fairly responsive, but I'm not sure.

I did run my 3 miles this morning, but not until about 0700. It was strange to run in daylight, but I welcomed the sun on my face. I was a little slow-going at first, considering this was my first run back since my 10K. Tomorrow I've got a 2 mile run scheduled, and I'm hoping to try to get that done before breakfast. I've got my fingers crossed.

The First is Always the Easiest

The Virginia Ten-Miler is probably the most famous race in our area. People come from around the globe (or so the website claims) to run the historic, hilly course.

I'll admit, I've always had my eye on the Ten-Miler for a running goal. It is famed to be one of the most difficult races of its distance in the country because of all the hills along the course, and no, I've never particularly trained to run hills, but oh well.

So I'm arming myself to prep for this terrifying but awesome race. I've got a 12 week training schedule for a half-marathon (which is 13.1 miles, but I figure training for a longer distance will help me with speed), and I've got a few weeks leeway to work on hills. I'm running the Ten-Miler this September. Yea... :)

This morning was the first day of my training schedule, and I bounded out of bed this morning to check the distance I get to run today. To my dismay, Mondays, for the entire 12 weeks, are stretch and strengthen. Did you hear me groan? Because I definitely just did. I understand that rest is important, and that strong, well-stretched muscles run better, but it is just far too boring and easy to to a strength workout and stretch.

I know I'm cuing all yoga and pilates lovers to attack me right now, so I'll go ahead and concede that strength workouts can be difficult. But I have never found a strength workout to be anywhere near as difficult as running 10 miles. (Yea, what do you have to say about that, yogis?)

Tomorrow at least I have a 3 mile run scheduled (for very early in the am. YES!). The first two weeks look fairly boring, but I know I have to suffer through them.

Lord, help me to find the patience to take the baby steps necessary to build up my endurance.

A New Twist

I was having dinner with a friend from church yesterday, and during our conversation she made me realize something that I'd never thought of before: I could (and should) be running for charity.

I doubt she knew that what she said really triggered something significant in my heart, but I do have to thank her for it.

I do spend an awful lot of time running. I run anywhere between 15 and 25 miles each week, which usually means I spend almost 3 1/2 hours of my free time pounding pavement. When you consider that 40 hours of my week are dedicated to work, and another 56 hours are dedicated to sleeping, I'm left with about 5% of my "free" time that I choose to spend running.

I used to really enjoy running road races, just for the fun of it. I've done my fair share of 5Ks, and now I have two 10Ks under my belt.

I do think, though, that it's time to put this activity to good use. I've done some research on ways to use my running as a way to raise funds for charities, and I have several options in front of me:

1. Run charity races exclusively. These usually cost about the same as any other road race, and the proceeds go to one charity or another. I ran a 5K for Autism Awareness a few years back, and my hard-earned $20 went towards Autism research. This is definitely a viable option, but charity races are not as frequent, nor are they as popular as regular old road and trail races.

2. Pick a charity for each race and ask friends and family to donate. This sounds like an awesome idea on the surface, until you realize that my friends and family would have to trust me a heck of a lot to just hand me some money for my running in a race. It would in no way be official, and may creep some people out. Including myself.

3. Become a St. Jude's Hero. This option sounds like the best to me, so far. St. Jude offers a program for runners, walkers, and bikers to raise money for St. Jude's Children's Hospital. For a relatively small sign-up fee, St. Jude hooks you up with a fundraising site and some training information. I would be able to run any race I'd like, and I would just advertise to friends and family that they can donate on this particular website to sponsor me. It sounds slightly awkward ("please give money to this charity because I'm running this race"), but I feel because it is a known charity and an official program, it is less likely to raise any flags.

I definitely still have some thinking to do on this topic. If there are any other options out there, drop me a line. I'd love to hear how others turn their running into fundraising for charities.

I'll keep you all updated on my training progress and what is going on with everything.

Races and the Bare Truth

This morning was successful.

(That was for all of you sitting on the edge of your chairs waiting to hear how my 10k went.)

It was definitely warmer than anyone had expected; the temperature was about 85 degrees at 9am. This made the run quite a bit more difficult. Not to mention the hills. Oh boy were those killer.

I ended up finishing in at 82 minutes.

Yes, that sounds terrible slow, even to me, but keep in mind the conditions. Most everyone was running at a significantly slower pace this morning, so I was still satisfied with my slower than usual time.

My 10k isn't really what I wanted to talk about today, though. I had a more substantial topic in mind.

For the last 7 or 8 years or so, I have carefully developed a very unhealthy response to stress and fatigue: I overeat. When I say I overeat, I mean to the point of feeling very stuffed and often almost sick. When there is something that upsets me or frustrates me, I will sit in the kitchen for an hour or so, walking back and forth between the table and the refrigerator, consuming 1,000 calories or more in that time.

I know that I'm not the only one who experiences this, and I know it is a fairly common disorder. It is difficult to come to terms with, and even more difficult to deal with.

Today, because of being tired, I found myself weak. And I gave into my stress response.

I intend to work through this with prayer and careful planning of meals and things. If anyone has any other suggestions, feel free to leave them.

I'm sorry that I haven't delved much into the emotion behind this response, but I feel it is the action itself that I would really like to stop.

Running and Nerves

It has been a few days since I've been on here, and honestly, it's been a busy few days.

Between work and church and trying to keep the apartment in order, the hubby and I have a lot to do, and we still try to get to bed by 9 or 9:30!

I am feeling a bit nervous, today, so I wanted to blog about it.

Tomorrow I'll be running a trail 10K, which is a new experience for me. I've run a 10K before, but it was a road race. Trails are very different. There are all sorts of little dips and hills in the trail, plus tree roots, rocks, and living creatures. On the road, I am honestly only accustomed to dodging an occasional car.

I'm also a bit out of training due to a medical incident last week. I was given the okay by my doctor to run the race, but I haven't been doing enough running to really feel confident.

So I haven't run today, in order to rest up for tomorrow. I'm hoping I'll run the whole thing without stopping to walk. I'm shooting to finish in an hour. Wish me luck!