Hills?

1/18 Saturday: 2miles, 11.09min/mile

1/19 Sunday: 3miles, 11.36min/mile

1/20 Monday: 2miles, 10.54min/mile

1/23 Thursday: 2miles, 11.49min/mile

Yesterday I knew I wasn't going to have time to run after work, so I decided to take running clothes to work. My job is about one mile from my old house, so I know the streets, and used to run on those streets.  Holy cow, the hills are killer.  I felt like I barely ran at all, but just walked most of the "run."  It was terrible, and also made me realize how out of shape I've become.  I used to run 3, 4, 5, 6+ miles in this neighborhood without stopping.  

Last fall I started doing hill repeats after work, but I quit when I got sick.  I'm thinking I need to do at least one day a week after work there doing hill repeats.  Either that or just start running that neighborhood again, but that would mean Peanut never gets out.  I don't know.

I have not done yoga consistently since October.  My sister was gone for a couple weeks and when she came back I was sick, then the holidays, and most recently my side/back issue.  So I have done yoga/pilates only about 3 weeks sporadically (not in a row) since October.  I have been doing the weight training with Caroline Girvan 3 to 5 days a week since a week before Christmas.  I haven't seen any results, but I am trying not to get discouraged.  

On another note, I measured Maddox this last week and he has grown!

That is 4 1/2 inches in one year! He is officially taller than me now.

I don't have a lot to say, but I am still wanting to update, because it's important to me to be consistent.  

Update

Thursday 1/9: 2 miles, 11.04 min/mile

Saturday 1/11: 2 miles, 10.39 min/mile

Sunday 1/12: 3 miles, 11.14 min/mile

Tuesday 1/14: 2 miles 11.29 min mile

Sometime last week I did something to my sideback.  On Thursday I could barely move, it hurt so bad.  It is getting better, but it hurts to sleep on my side, not because I'm laying on it, but because if I lay on the side that doesn't hurt, it scrunches the side that hurts, and if I lay on the side that does hurt, it stretches it and hurts.  I am not a natural back sleeper, but I've been trying to stay on my back.  

A few months ago I got a waist leash to help with Peanut's pulling, but he still pulls.  Saturday he was doing okay-ish, but then I let him sniff a couple dogs in their yard and he started jumping around to play, and pulled on the leash.  It almost brought me down from the pain in my side.  

I really wish it would snow here.  It's cold enough at night, but no precipitation.  That's the problem with this area, when it's cold enough to snow, it's always because there are no clouds.  The clouds insulate, so often when there is precipitation, it's too warm.  We haven't had a really good snow in a couple years.  It makes me sad.

What else is going on here?  I did 4 days of the weight program I've been doing last week, but today (Wednesday) was the first day I did it this week.  We'll see if I get my butt up the rest of the week.  

I don't have a lot to share, but wanted to update.

A couple days of running

 Sunday: 3 mile run. 11.45 min/mile

Monday: 2 mile run. 11.17 min/mile

A long time ago I decided you all (all 7 that follow me, who knows if all 7 even still look at my page) didn't care about the minutiae of my daily runs and my weight loss.  But I'm thinking that it is for me, not all you strangers.  So I have been writing them down here.  I just posted on Saturday, so felt like I should not post again so soon, but I am proud that I went for a run today.  

I didn't sleep well last night and was exhausted, so went home early. It was super sunny when I got home so I decided to go for a short run.  I also didn't want to take the dog, so I didn't.  I always feel guilty when I don't take him, but I get really tired of him pulling all the time. 

Well, I was talking to a friend, and I kinda sorta agreed to train for a half marathon in June.  I did put a caveat that I could back out up until March.  So we shall see.  

Anyway, the last two days runs. . . yesterday was 3 miles, and they were slow.  I am not able, or maybe it's just my brain telling me I'm not able, to run a full 3 miles without walking.  Looking at stats, I walked 3 min and was "idle" for 1 min.  My moving time was 31 min.  

Interestingly, today I only did 2 miles and walked for 2 min, but no idle time.  I'm thinking I need to quit walking.  Today I did a lot of activity, yoga this morning, a run, and then 10 min core workout with Caroline Girvan.  She has a lot of videos on youtube, which is what I am using, but apparently she also has an app or website that you can subscribe to.  I already subscribe to Beachyogagirl which I do with my sister, so I'm not willing to pay for another site.  The youtube videos are fine, I do wish I could filter them better, but so far I'm figuring it out.  I am not following just one of her series (she has several), but finding shorter ones (20 min) and keeping track of what body parts I'm doing so I don't repeat.  

If I'm going to be posting here more again, I need to start remembering to take more pictures.  I don't have any new ones from the last many runs.  This one is from October, but I didn't have Peanut that day either, so it works.  😊

back to the beginning

 First run of 2025 done, a short 2 mile run.  Pretty slow.  11.38 mile/min.  

Before getting a bigger dog, I thought that if I had a dog, I'd want to run more often. Peanut is a great running dog, but he's still a puppy and not always a great companion.  For example, before Christmas, he got spooked by a parked car (yes, parked) and jumped in front of me causing me to trip and fall. 🙄 Stupid dog.  He also pulls quite a bit, and while I got a waist leash and at least he's not pulling at my arm anymore, he's still pulling me. At first I thought that would help make me faster, but it just makes me more tired.  Even if I run faster, he's still pulling at me to go faster.  No matter what, he's faster than I am.  

I was planning on going to do a Caroline Girvan workout today to make 5 days this week, but I don't know now.  I've done 4 days in a row and would like a break, which I was planning on taking tomorrow, but maybe I'll take it today.  I am planning on running again tomorrow.  

I may post small posts to keep track of my running.  I don't know if that will keep me accountable, but I am interested in trying something.  

My kids (and Peanut) on New Year's Eve

Reading old posts is interesting.  Although depressing.  In April 2012 I was battling getting under 170, and almost 13 years later, I'm back to that same dilemma.  However, this time I also have peri-menopause to deal with. 13 years and a lifetime different.  Also, it's weird to think about it, but Maddox was only 9 months old when I started running.  I can't believe I've been running his whole life.  

Also, I was kicking around the idea of doing dry January, but then I saw someone describe their January as sober(ish) January, and that is what I'm doing.  Less alcohol, but still some for the weekends.

New year, new me - crap

I started a post at the beginning of December, and got 2 sentences in and didn't finish.  I was going to talk about Thanksgiving, but that was so long ago.  Well, all my sisters came to my house for dinner.  It is the first time my oldest sister has visited me for 9 years.  She was never at my previous house and we lived there for 7 years, and then we've been in this house for 2 now. Anyway, it was a good Thanksgiving.

However, my nephew had a terrible cough, and my sister (a different one) said he had been to the doctor and was told it was allergies, so he was on allergy meds.  Well, guess what, Sunday after they left I got a sore throat and was sick for that week.  Then the sore throat turned to a cough, and I still have it.  That was 5 weeks ago.  I call bullshit on my nephew's dr.  It is getting better, there was about 2 weeks where I had to sleep sitting up, and another week or so of waking up coughing soooo bad.  Although, I did go to e. WA this last weekend for my sister Christmas and the cough got bad again, but I think it was the dry air, because it's better again (still there, but better).  

Christmas was good.  I always go overboard on the presents, and this year wasn't much better, but I think everyone was happy.  It was also the first year Damian had Asher for Christmas morning, so that was a lot of fun.  

Then we went to the Lake for the weekend after Christmas.  This is our 3rd year doing that, and I am not a big fan of it.  It is a really long drive and there just isn't enough space for everyone.  But it was okay.  Turns out the sister with the nephew that got me sick, was sick and decided not to come because her cough was still really bad.  Damian had to work on Saturday so Chris and I took Asher with us, and Damian joined on Sunday.  It was a lot of fun to watch Asher play with his (much older) cousins (1st cousins once removed, but who's counting?).

I didn't want to make this post all about pictures, that's why there aren't so many.  

I actually decided to post because I was reading the very beginnings of my blog, and thought maybe I should write again.  I don't mean to not write, but I really haven't been running much.  I was doing really well, and was increasing my miles.  September I had my highest mileage month (only 34, but still pretty good considering) and then I got a tooth pulled in October and used that as an excuse to not run, and then I got sick in November, even before this stupid cough, I had some weird thing where I was just exhausted.  Then I just didn't in December, well, that is technically when this cough started (Dec. 1). And here we are, the end of Jan. 3rd and I have not run this year at all.  

I did start a new workout with weights.  I follow a facebook page, and there are lots of recommendations for doing Caroline Girvan workouts for weight training, so I started doing that right before Christmas.  I committed myself to doing it 5 days a week for 2 weeks, and then only did it 4 days (to my credit, I was in e. WA during some of that time), but I came home and tomorrow will be my 5th day for this week, my 3rd week.

I'd like to start running again.  Which is why I got on here to look at my original posts.  I was reading the first month, and I was running 5 or 6 days a week and had already increased my speed and my miles by week 4.  I have not been doing that this time around, obviously.  One of the things I was thinking about yesterday is that I started running in March when it's much sunnier in the evenings, and right now it's dark when I get home.  I know that I have run in the dark a million times, and the rain, but right now, those two things seem insurmountable.  I have intentions to go run, but I just don't.  But then what is my excuse for the weekend? because I'm also not running both Saturday and Sunday.  I don't know.  Maybe I'm not a runner anymore.  I want to be.  I want to be that person that ran 2 marathons and a ton of half marathons.  But the work to get there again is so overwhelming . . . I think it's the again part that is frustrating.  

But . . . it's a new year, and while I don't believe in resolutions or "new year, new me" crap, I do want to make this change. 

Oh, and I am exactly where I was weight wise at the beginning of 2024, when  I promised myself I wouldn't be.  It's sooooo frustrating.  I know it's age related, but I also have bad habits I've picked up again after 10 years and I can't seem to find the motivation to make the changes I have to.