Puggy Update

I've been severely absent in the bloggy world lately, but I don't feel too bad about it.  I'm still reading blogs, but it's soooooo annoying to comment from my phone, so don't be surprised if I tweet you instead of commenting.  Bad internet friend=jerbear.

But my best excuse for my absence is this little girl.

OLLIE GIRL!

aka Ollie Lee (Kyle seems to think she needs my middle name, despite it's redundancy).

We've been together for about a week and a half now, and I must say it's love.  Within 20 minutes of meeting her 3 weeks ago, we bonded.  She sat on my lap and didn't want me to pet any of the other pups on the residence.  The whole week leading up to getting her, emails flew regarding her name.  Everything I suggested, Kyle axed.  I was regrettably settling on Penelope/Penny/Pen because that's what I always expected to name my first female (notice I said first, as there will be many, many more I'm sure).  But she just didn't look like a Penny.

One afternoon after Kyle was shooting down ALL MY NAMES, I went in to my co-workers office and she had all my name suggestions brought up in an email next to two pictures of her.  We went down the list and eliminated all the ones that didn't "fit."  I commented that I wish she was a boy, because I think Olivander would be great (oh hai, huge 'arry pottah nerd heah!) and that should looked like an Ollie, to which she exclaimed "OMG SHE DOES!" So then I toyed with naming her Olivia, and Ollie for short, but then I remembered SHE'S A DOG, SHE CAN HAVE A SILLY NAME. *

Our first night was a little rough as she was so stinkin' loud.  Like panting uncontrollably, and doing this weird coughing/choking/gagging thing.  I was ready to preform CPR and/or the Heimlich roughly 75 times.  She also wouldn't sleep away from us, so guess who got to snooze in the guest bedroom?  That'd be the non-snoring family member--me.

The next morning we ran to Pet Smart to pick up some food and things for her, and when we came home she was crying so hard at the door I panicked.  Thinking I'd never be able to leave this dog again, ZOMG!  Luckily, she learned pretty quickly that we weren't LEAVING leaving her, and she didn't have any more separation anxiety.

She doesn't chew on things, she doesn't pee or poo in the apartment, she sheds like a banshee, but she's just the sweetest girl ever.

She likes to sit on my lap while I'm in class, and likes to lay on the floor next to me while I'm studying. She loves looooooves going on walks (which is good because she has a couple of lbs. to lose) and loves to SPRINT down the hallway after we get the mail.  Seriously... it's hilarious... I'll try to video it soon.

She hates the flash on my phone, and the lighting in my apartment sucks, so the photos have been sparse.  She adores watermelon (the only people food we've given her as pugs have sensitive stomachs).

She follows me around and has a smile that lights up the room.  When snuggling with Kyle she has to keep her eyes on me the whole time, just so I know that I'm still #1 (or so I'm telling myself).  She loves Kyle like crazy, and I've heard her drop the L word a number of times.  Smitten.

Just love her to bunches and I'm so glad that we found each other.  She needed a good home, and I needed a good pug to spoil.  I think we both lucked out tremendously.

*Since naming her, I've also realized that Winnie would've been good/cute too.  Geez Louise naming is hard, remind me not to have children.**

**Oh!  Speaking of, I actually dipped in to my FUTURE BEBAH'S NAMES as part of the brainstorming, just in case there was a gem in there.  Not so spoiler alert: there wasn't.

Oh Hey, Remember Me?

I’m a big planner. Sometimes figuring out my race “plan” is more fun than actually executing it. This spring, I had already decided that I would cut back the running mileage for this summer. Based on the hades like temps for the spring, I was a little concerned as to what the summer was going to bring. Plus, summer classes are from 6-10:15pm two nights a week for June and then July, in which we’re smooshing one whole semester’s worth of information into four weeks (and then again for July). Uff. 

And then I got a pug. 

 ZOMG I LOVE HER SHE’S AMAZING SHE’S THE GLITTER FARTS TO MY SPARKLE BUTT.

All of these components further solidified my plan to cut back the running miles. 20-30/week? Sure. Sounds good to me. Have I hit that the last couple of weeks? Uh… not even close. To fill the gap (don’t ask where I’m finding a gap in my time) I decided to add in some biking! YAY! I can bike in the sweltering heat! It actually feels kinda good (compared to running that is). 

I found a 50 mile ride the end of June, and a lovely friend who’s willing to accompany me on said ride. It doesn’t hurt that he’s a great biker, and he’ll calm my little newbie brain. And another lovely friend will be accompanying me on a 60 mile ride/race in July! YAYZIES! But again… haven’t been riding much some early May when I had that weird calf cramping. SOOO YEAH! Time to get going.  (Update since drafting this:  PDR with Aaron last Friday night with 30.3 miles with a MONSTER upset stomach.  If I can be in that much pain for 30 miles, I can surely do 50!)

And there may be a TBD century ride in August.

After I leave this summer refreshed and jealous of everyone’s shiny new summer time PRs, I will be off and running towards marathon training. I plan to start Pfitz 18/55 (possibly hitting 60…juuuust to see how that works out) on August 3^rd, putting me 18 weeks out from my goal fall race DALLAS MARATHON (previously Dallas White Rock Marathon). I’ll get to see my lovely nephew and meet my gorgggg niece, and run in delightful Dallas “winter” temps. And since I learned this spring that 18 weeks is faaaaaaaaaaaar too long to hold my attention for training, I’ll be doing a 26.2 mile training run in the form of Nike Women’s Marathon with Megan! In case you were curious, my summer, PLUS those first 2 months of marathon training will be seeing some hill work! Which is great because I think running uphill is great for my (shoddy) form!

So that’s my plan. I have some local races written down in my planner, so if I wake up to unusually cool temps, I can head out and jump in, but I’m clearly not in PR shape. Like… not even close. As is evidenced by zero PRs since last August. Womp womp!

But luckily for me I’ve mega PR’d in PUGGY LOVE!

Pug Bestie

This weekend Kyle and I move all of my belongings in to our new place.  And it should be noted that my mom spent a solid 8 hours moving, packing, and cleaning, and she is a BEAST.  My mom is better than your mom.  FYI.  I would also like to note that while Kyle and I were able to move things on Sunday after attending a very fun wedding between his classmates, it is ill advised to move while hungover.  We're talking.... ill advised.  At one point, we created a nest on the living room floor and curled up for cat naps.  Oy.

One of the goals and reasons behind the move was to find a pug-friendly home for future pug bestie.  Tentative timeline on this goal was August.  Give us some time to get settled.  Get through the craziness of summer classes (fyi, I learned that my classes go from 6-10:15 and not just 10 last night... that was a fun surprise).  Jerbear gets sleeeeepy that late.

Since I had "a plan" it should come as no surprise that my mom emailed me last week with an "OMG" subject line.  Yes, I am my mother's daughter, why do you ask?  There was a student's mom (she's a teacher) who was looking for a home for a pug they had taken in a few months ago, and would I like it?  Within 10 minutes of me saying, yes I may be interested, my mother had photos uploaded for me to peruse.  Seriously... efficient. And she knows I'm impatient.... so yeah.

According to the vet, she's 6-7 years old, and could stand to lose some L-Bs.  I set up a date to go visit her on Monday night.  My mom said she was super friendly, but I wanted to make sure she was ok around males too, as her history is somewhat unknown.  We arrived and she was itching to get out of her pen.  As soon as she was loose, she took off like a rocket.  I thought pugs were supposed to be lazy??!  After she got that out of her system, we got to play.  She had to get attention from everyone in the group, and then when she realized I was going to give her the MOST attention, she parked her curly tailed butt in my lap and stood as my guard dog against the rest of the pups on the property.  MINE, she said (if she could talk).

Pug pick up will occur this weekend or next depending on if our weekend fishing trip plans go through or not.  Be prepared for an onslought of puggy pics.

Currently her name is Fancy, but she doesn't seem to "know" that's her name, and I'm not thrilled with it.  Any suggestions?  We spent the drive home throwing around ideas, but I'm not 100% sold on any yet.

Best puggy name.... and go!

Race Report: Green Bay Half Marathon

If you follow me on twitter, you know that Green Bay race weekend was a great one.  Hard not to have a good time in Titletown!  All week long we heard about how hot it was going to be.  I waited until the day before the race to really decide my "game plan."  Jenn and I took off for a shake out run at about 11am on Saturday.  We had to stop and walk a couple of times because the heat+humidity+awesome cold she gave me (and still had herself) was making breathing impossible.  This should be fun.....

Race morning arrived and Jenn and I jogged the quarter of a mile to the race start.  Convenient hotel location FTW.  We found the super secret stadium bathrooms with no line, and were a little concerned when we realized we were sweating while peeing.  Uh.... it's already warm.  At this point, my A goal was a mid 1:50s.  I thought I could run about sub 2 pace for the first 7 miles, and perhaps kick it up to 8:30s the last 10k.  Jenn and I finally found each other at the start line after someone needed another emergency bathroom run, shocker, and set off!

I HEART YOU GREEN BAY!

From the get go Jenn took off.  She always starts aggressively, and I never start aggressively enough, so I guess this should've been a given, but I was intent on starting easy, because I knew the heat was going to add its own element of difficulty.  Seeing where my heart rate was at a 9 minute pace, made me realize that my A goal should probably be sub 2, if I was lucky.  I had fun weaving in and out of the Green Bay neighborhoods, chatting it up with the runners around me.  Around mile 1.5 I saw Jenn, and she said that sub 9 pace wasn't happening.  Truth, sistah.  I kept running and feeling good for the first few miles.  I made sure to grab a cup of water to drink and a cup of water to dump on my head to cool me off.  My super cute green sunglasses that I wore all through the Brookings half last weekend with no problem?  They sweated off my nose four and a half minutes in to the race.  So I got the treasure of carrying those along with me.

The first four miles were pretty fun because they were fairly shaded and, heck, we'd only been running for 4 miles.  But I saw more people walking at the 5k mark than I ever have in a race before.
1.  9:07
2.  9:07
3.  9:01
4.  9:11

I first realized that sub 2 probably wasn't likely when I hit the water stop after mile 4.  The crowds of runners were swarming the table.  The volunteers were frantically trying to fill more and more water for the runners.  I had to stop to get my place in line to grab some water.  New goal:  have fun!  I started to get roasty, and all of that shade that I swore was along the first 11 miles two years ago.... was gone.  I kept a pretty consistent 9:10-9:20 pace to the end (while running), but I started walking through the water stops to try to get my heart rate down a bit each mile.  Granted my pace was quite a bit slower than it was last weekend, my heart rate was just as high.  45 degrees, meet 80 degrees. :)
5.  9:38
6.  9:38
7.  9:49
8.  9:18 (clearly no water stop)

We went through some super cool neighborhoods and managed to find some hills (anything is a hill for this flatland girl) to give some variety.  The volunteers that were handing out cups of ice quickly became my new heroes.  Along with the dude who picked up my sunglasses when they fell.  And the folks who were outside with hoses, sprinklers, super soakers, etc.  In case you were curious where my extra .05 came from, I hit every shower/sprinkler/hose I could.

Normally when I run a race, if I see a race spectator or runner with Packers gear on, I'll yell out "go pack go!" when I see them, since it's fairly rare where I'm from (everyone is a Vikings fan, poor souls....) and I love the Green Bay race because EVERYONE is decked out.  Wheeeee!  Feels like I'm with family.

9.  9:34
10.  10:47 (bano break)

Sometime during mile ten I thought I needed to take a pit stop and some portapotties appeared.  I figured it was a sign.  I wasted about a minute there, which is pretty efficient imo, and was on my way. It started to get pretty brutal here.  Seems that the earlier miles were shaded compared to this.  Also the sun was up enough that we were running in to it for what seemed like long stretches.  During the final 4 miles, I actually walked 2x that weren't during the aid stations because I thought I was cooking from the outside in.  (How do you like your Jerbear?  Medium rare?)  I even walked a smidge during mile 13!  Seeing people on the side of the road with their eyes rolled back, and ice packs on their chest really freaked me out.....

I kept thinking that I wish we were running through Lambeau Field again, because that would get me to the finish line sooner.  I tried to pick up the pace the last 1/2 mile, but my legs weren't having it.  I finally found a "kick" of sorts with a quarter of a mile to go.

11. 9:59
12.  9:52
13.  9:53
.15 1:06 (6:37 pace, so yeah I guess I found a small kick...)

13.15 miles in 2:06:05 for a pace of 9:38.  Interestingly enough, my first full marathon time (and still PR) in Green Bay was the EXACT SAME PACE.  Actually a smidge faster at 4:12.

When I finished I was shocked at how full the medical tent was.  It was scary.  I scanned the crowds for Jenn, but didn't know if she had passed me while I was in the bathroom.  Finally I found her and we set out to find AR.  Shortly after our reunion they announced that the race was cancelled due to the heat and humidity.  I immediately started tearing up, because I felt so bad for everyone that had trained their butts off, not to get to finish.  But it was totally necessary.  If the medical tent was that packed at 2 hours, where you'd assume most half marathoners at that pace are reasonably fit, I can't imagine what the people that still had 2-4 hours to go were feeling.

I'll be back for 26.2 next year, and can't wait to run through Lambeau Field again.  Hopefully after another Green Bay Packers Super Bowl Win!

Oiselle Totally Trials Entry

Susan and I stayed up late last night, burning the midnight oil to complete our Oiselle Totally Trials Entry.    And by that, I mean that I zonked out on the couch, 1380 miles away, 10 minutes before Susan finished her amazing editing job to bring you this beauty.  While Susan is a pro at these things, I'm certainly a rookie.  Awkwardly adorable.... can we make that a thing?  :/  Mmmmm ok!

Please visit Susan's page for the full awesomeness.

Go Go Gadget 100 Miles

I have a tendency to dream big and fall short on the execution.  Or maybe I just get scared of my goals and quit rather than fail.  Either isn’t opportune, I realize.

One of the goals I set for myself in 2012 was to run 100 miles each month.  For the most part, this isn’t a “tough” goal.  Looking back over my training log the last 3 years, I typically nail 100 mile months ¾ of the time.  My main months that I struggle are May (typically marathon month, thus usually broken recovery month), June (dear God, I’m actually sweating out of my eyeballs, running blows, I’m taking up backgammon), and December (I’m wearing so many layers and the ground is covered with so much snow+ice that I can’t possible run further or faster than 2 miles in 30:00/mile pace). 

Since I was running two half marathons this month instead of a marathon, thus lowering my chances of being broken, I didn’t think it’d be a big deal.  Until I had the calf knot from hell the beginning of the month, which took me out of commission for almost a week (and I must’ve been lazy for at least a day or two in there, because I literally have 7 days where there was 0 miles ran, 40 miles biked, but 0 ran… :/).  And then you take it somewhat easy race week, 2-3 mile shake out.  After Brookings my IT bands were pretty tore up, so it took me until Wednesday to get in a run (that hurt), and then a nice shake out (and by nice I mean 95 degrees at 11am with Jenn, where we had to take WALK BREAKS on our 2 mile shake out because the humidity was so thick and we were both so sick that ZOMG WE CAN’T BREATHE.  No, the amount we drank at Curly’s Pub surely had nothing to do with this) the day before Green Bay. 

Luckily I feel free good post-race Green Bay, but now I ZOMG have to move my whole apartment this weekend and start classes next Tuesday!  I strategized a rough plan that should get me to 100 miles, and I will be trying my damndest to meet it.

Plan as follows:

Tuesday 2-3 (3 slooooooooooooow. Like I could’ve walk/ran faster probably.  Heat+wind, eat my hiney.)

Wednesday 6-7 (7.  Again, pretty darn slow.  I figure that running by HR is probably the best bet since I’m recovering from two races, and I’m guessing GB’s half took more out of me than I realize …uh race report STILL to come… promise).

Thursday 5 (2.5.  Had make up trial run for a wedding I’m a bridesmaid in August.  I looked gorg.  I also gorged on all the foods forgetting I had to run.  I pretty much walked the last 1.25 with some run breaks thrown in until my dinner was in my throat… pretty).

Friday 10

Saturday rest (moving!)

Sunday 7-8 (moving+wedding Saturday night *cough potential hangover cough* could really hinder this one).

Monday 10

Tuesday 2-3 (quick run in between work and class)

Wednesday 10. 

Looks challenging but not so much so that I’m terrified of it, which is probably the perfect amount of challenge (as I’m learning about myself).  Plus there’s some room for a double day of 2-4 miles if necessary.  So now that I’ve put this out there in the interwebz, I am accountable for my actions!  Yell at me via twitter when I’m whining that I’m tired, hungover, trapped in a box whilst unpacking (why I’d be trapped in there with my cell phone is beyond me…).

And I'm sorry, but could I have been anymore of an eyesore for the Brookings half?  Sweet Louisiana.... which way is the rave?!?!

Glad Ryan's got my back. (source)

A Destination Race Oversight

This past weekend I traveled to Green Bay WI to run the Cellcom Green Bay half marathon.  In case you haven't heard, the race was called off early because of the heat.  While I finished before the cut off (race report to come soon), you may all understand that I have a bit of a "sweating problem" (read that in the Chris Farley air quote manner, plz).  Well that "sweating problem" is exasperated by the extreme heat and humidity.

Being the smart packer I am, I retired my used running gear to my gear check bag post-race so my none running clothes wouldn't get sweaty/stinky because of close approximation.  To say they were drenched would be an understatement.  However, being the un-smart (or just overly tired traveler by the time I got home) I forgot to REMOVE THE CLOTHES FROM SAID BAG.  Those suckers have been left to marinate in there for approximately 56 hours.... and marinate they did.  I just started unpacking my suitcase and almost died.

And thus ends story time with Jerbear.


(trust me, you don't want anymore of a close up than this. also, I changed in to this shirt, and still sweated through it because I was that hot..... be jealous...)