“It’s December Already?” Giveaway

The 4-day weekend definitely came at the perfect time because it gave me lots of free time to catch up and get stuff done. But just a warning… don’t expect the daily posting to continue. I have lots of things I want to blog about, but I also have work, packing and travel (for RNR Las Vegas!), and a bunch of doctor’s appointments to go to.

Anyway, one of the things I did over the weekend was lots of cleaning. I’ve been trying to stay busy so that I don’t spend too much time dwelling on being single and lonely again after an almost six year relationship. With Troy having moved out, I wanted to clean up the place and kind of make it my own. Also with the possibility of moving to Baltimore soon, I wanted to start getting rid of the unnecessary clutter to make packing easier.

While going through my “fuel” shelf in the cupboard, I realized that I have some products that are expiring soon that I’m not going to get around to using. Walking doesn’t seem to require as much fuel as running and I also don’t want to try anything new right now while I’m still kind of recovering. So since I hate for stuff to go to waste, I figured it’s time to hold my very first giveaway!

The “It’s December Already?” giveaway includes:

• Pomegranate Blueberry FRS Healthy Energy Chews
• Cran-Razz Clif Shot Bloks
• Berry Blast Sharkies
• 2 packets of Cool Citrus Cytomax Performance Drink
• 50¢ off coupon on any Promax Bar
• $1.00 off coupon on any two bottles of Talking Rain Activwater

(Note that the Promax Bar coupon expires at the end of 2009, and the chews/blocks have best buy dates of Jan. 2010.)

To enter the giveaway:

• Required: leave a comment and tell me either 1) what’s your must-have piece of winter training gear, or 2) does your training plan/schedule change in the winter… why or why not? (You can also answer both questions and get two entries.)
• Optional: leave a comment about your favorite thing to do during the holiday season and get another entry.
• Optional: spread the word about the giveaway and get another entry if someone else comments that they heard about the giveaway from you.

The giveaway ends at 11:59pm MST on Saturday, December 5 Sunday, December 6. (Edited to extend deadline by one day.)

In one week…

I finally got back out to Reach 11 today for an 8 mile walk. It was nice and peaceful out on the trails, although I did see a handful of runners and bikers. For some reason all the bunny rabbits have disappeared though.

After my 10k walk on Friday, my front ankles were feeling  really irritated. I’m horrible at anatomy, but it’s the area that sort of makes a right angle where my foot meets my leg. I think it’s because there’s too much pressure pushing on my ankle there. It took me awhile to figure out the right combination of shoes and socks to walk in today. Luckily I have some old Features Light socks that are cut low enough to not hit the sensitive spot. (I can’t remember if I have the low cut or no show, but either way they fit well.) I also decided to try putting some foam under the tongue of my shoe to try and add some cushy padding. I did the first half of the walk with the foam and it was okay, but then for the second half I took out the foam and just tied my shoes kind of loosely and that worked even better.

So overall I did 8 miles in 2:03:28 which is a 15:26 pace. (Note that I did turn off my Garmin briefly and took a slight break at the turn-around point to adjust my shoes.) Other than the ankle issue, I felt really good. Which means that… I’m going to Vegas!

I still have the option to cancel my hotel room and get a credit for my flights on Southwest. But with how well my walks on Friday and today went, I’m finally 100% sure that I want to go. Even though today’s 8 miles is the longest walk I’m going to do, I know I can manage another 5.1 miles in 2 hours. (There’s a 4 hour course time limit.) The most important thing for me is going to be remembering not to push too hard. All I need to do is just finish… and then I’ll be a “Rock Star”!

“Green” Friday and the day after

Whew, I had a jam-packed day yesterday. I woke up early to take my mom to the airport. On the way home I stopped at Best Buy and Wal-Mart for some Black Friday deals. I wasn’t even really in the market for one, but I picked up a PS3 at Best Buy because they had a bundle for $299.99 that included Little Big Planet and the newest Ratchet and Clank… both games that I will definitely play. Plus I was planning on buying a DVD player sometime soon anyway, so the PS3 will serve double duty. I was a bit worried Best Buy would run out before I got there, but they must have had over 100 of the bundles available. At Wal-Mart I picked up Sims3 for $25 and a 4GB USB thumb drive for $8.

The Disney forum that I belong to organized a Virtual Turkey Trot 10k, complete with medal if you wanted to order one. (I decided to pass on the medal after spending so much $$$ already this weekend.) I wasn’t ready to do 10k on Thanksgiving, so I pushed my walk back to Friday instead. Originally I was planning to go to my favorite trails at Reach 11, but instead I decided to combine my walk with some errands so I wouldn’t have to drive my car out again. First I went to the post office to drop off a few letters, then I did a lap around the park next to Costco. I stopped my Garmin for a bit while I went into Costco to pick up some photo prints. Finally, I walked back home and did a lap around the neighborhood. I “measured” the distance almost perfectly and was about 1/2 a block from home when I hit 6.2 miles.

Overall time: 1:35:37
Pace: 15:25

Last night I went to see comedian ventriloquist Jeff Dunham perform at the US Airways Center. It was an amazing show, but I was so tired by the time it ended at 11pm. I went home and went right to bed.

Today was fairly busy as well. I went for a semi-leisurely bike ride this morning. It’s been ages since I rode my bike so it took a little getting used to again. About 3/5 of the way in I started to get really tired, but I think it was because there was an ever so slight uphill slant heading home. Once I got back to the flat road I felt a lot better. I’m really loving the weather here in Phoenix right now. It’s great to be doing outdoor activities in the sun. Although I do have to be very careful because sun is one of the worst enemies of lupus. At least it’s cool enough to wear long sleeves all the time and any exposed skin gets covered with lots of sunscreen.

I did more shopping today. Road Runner Sports – my favorite running store – was offering a 25% discount for VIP members. I bought two long-sleeved shirts, a rain jacket (might need it in Baltimore), a pair of long pants (that I’m hoping my mom can help me hem), a pair of Balega socks, another white cap, and some Penguin Sport-Wash (thanks to the recent review by Rio Runs) all for about $160. I may end up returning some of the clothing, but I figured I’d stock up first while everything was on sale.

Since I have a couple local readers, I have to mention my visit to Kohler Academy this afternoon. It’s a student-staffed salon and spa and I’ve always been happy with the service that I receive there. In the past I’d only gone to get my hair cut, but after being sick for so long I decided to treat myself to a spa facial (plus it was a November special for only $25). It was my first time getting a facial and it was fantastic. It was so relaxing and my skin felt amazing afterward. The special is being extended through next month so I think I’m going to have to go back again. I’d definitely recommend Kohler Academy as a great place for affordable salon and spa services. The only drawbacks are that the ambiance isn’t quite as nice as at a real spa and sometimes services can take a little longer than usual because the students are still learning.

I won’t bore you with the rest of my evening except to say that I can’t believe how long it took me to organize all the cables running through and behind my entertainment center. Now I just have to wait for the HDMI cable to arrive so I can start playing my new PS3!

Thanksgiving

I’m thankful for…

• My health… I’m on a lot of medication, but I’m recovering nicely. For the most part I’m back to normal day-to-day activity. The biggest change is that instead of running I’ve been walking and playing a bit of Wii Fit.
• My family… My mom has been living with me for the last month and she’s been amazing in helping cook me healthly and nutritious meals and assisting with day-to-day “chores”. Of course my dad, sister, and extended family have been supportive as well from long distance.
• My ex-boyfriend… This is a weird way to break the news, but Troy and I mutually agreed to end our relationship. However, I’m extremely grateful for the love and care he offered while I was sick and I’m optimistic that we’ll remain very good friends.
• My job… I returned to work last week and things are going well. Everyone was happy to see me back. I’m lucky that my company offers a nice benefits package including short-term disability assistance which is definitely a good thing since I was away from work for a whole month. I was a little worried, but the offer to relocate to Baltimore is still on the table too.

MIA

I haven’t been posting or commenting lately because I’ve been sick. It was really scary. I ended up in the hospital for a week, and I’ve been recovering at home since then. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned on the blog before that I have lupus, which the doctors think is the cause of my recent illness. I’m doing okay but it’s going to take some time before I’m back at 100% again. At this point I have no idea what’s going to happen with my upcoming races. I’m trying to think positive about making it out to RnR Vegas, but of course my health comes first. Anyway, the blog is going to continue to be on hiatus for awhile until I get my life back in order.