Baby socks and running in the Arizona heat

These are my latest "quick knits". Baby socks. Pattern is Baby to Toddler Sized Socks and yarn is Tofutsies. Really easy pattern, and I was able to finish them in a few days.

So I had planned on getting up early again today to get a run in, and again, it didn't happen. By the time I got up and out the door, it was 9 AM and already 70 degrees in the shade. I still managed to do 3 miles, but probably couldn't have done anymore. The heat was just killer, and just goes to show that I'm really going to have to learn how to run in the heat. I haven't run in a few days (really tight hamstring from my last run) so I just wanted to get out there and not necessarily push any limits, so that mission was accomplished. Three miles is three miles.

Thank you to everyone who left comments about the Garmin. I'll remember now that as I'm running, the pace reading may not be so accurate. That's OK because the end result is all I need.

Hope everyone has an awesome week!

Feeling the burn

I'm feeling the burn from yesterday's boot camp. Those flys and chest presses must have really worked because I'm definitely feeling it today. But I still got out there this morning for a quick two mile run. I again didn't get up early, so it was already 65 degrees, but I still got out there and that's all that counts.

Yesterday I went to Costco and my bargain find was this: A 3 pack of Turkey Bacon for $4.97. Since my post on turkey bacon, I've actually started liking it alot, so hopefully these will taste just as good, if not better.

Question for all you Garmin users in blogland - how accurate is the pace? During my run today, the pace was all over the place, and I didn't think my pace was so up and down like Garmin said it was. Just curious. Thanks in advance.

Happy almost Friday!

Time to step it up!

I'm back in boot camp class and loving it. Today's class included circuit training, upper and lower body, and even included a short trail run. It was my first run on a trail and I think I will be running trails more often. As we were doing chest presses and flys with our weights, our boot camp instructor told a few of us "veteran" boot campers that it was time for us to step it up from 5 pound weights to 8 pound weights. Maybe 8 pounders are just what I need to get the definition I'm aiming for in my arms. Oh, and if you want to see what my idea of toned and defined arms are, just take a look at mizfit's arms. Her biceps and triceps are amazing.

Hope everyone's having a good week. Keep on keeping on, people.

This is why they call it the Valley of the Sun...

Last week was another busy week for me at work, so both my knitting time and blogging time were limited. But I did keep up with my running, and running came in handy for all those times I felt like throwing the laptop out the window.

One thing I did learn this week from my runs is that I really need to start getting up VERY early if I want to keep running outside this summer. Today I was up and out the door at 9 AM, and it was already 65 degrees in the shade. I guess it's time to start getting used to running in the Arizona heat.

I did knit myself a little something the other night as we were watching Rendition (which by the way was a very good movie). Check out my Wee Tiny Sock - isn't it the best keychain you've ever seen? It's the quickest knit and a great way to get rid of all that leftover sock yarn.

I also got my swap package from WorkBasket. We signed up for the birthday swap on Ravelry, and even though our birthdays aren't for another couple of weeks, she sent her package early, and of course I couldn't wait to open it. She sent all kinds of goodies: Malabrigo Lace, Tofutsies sock yarn, a nail file with a picture of sheep on it, a tape measure, and not one but two bars of yummy Ghirardelli dark chocolate. Thanks so much Lucy!

Boot camp starts again tomorrow and the plan is to continue to workout and/or run 5 or 6 times each week. I'm still thinking about which half marathon I want to run before the end of the year. It will be my first half, so I'm looking for a somewhat easy course. Any suggestions?

Hope everyone has a great week!

Perfect Weather!

Today's weather was perfect for both running and knitting. It was cloudy and cool - perfect for a run, and then staying in and knitting.

I went out and ran 3 miles this morning. I compared my time from today to previous three mile runs from a few months back, and my speed is definitely improving. The past couple of days have been warm here, so it was so nice to run in cooler temperatures. I'm really dreading the Arizona summer heat.

Unfortunately I'm still dealing with a few work projects, so there was no knitting today. I'm currently knitting up a pair of charade socks in Plucky knitter yarn. I've been working on these for about 3 weeks now, and as you can see, I'm not getting very far with them. I'm usually almost done with a pair after 3 weeks, but for some reason I'm just not into this project. Not sure if it's the yarn, the pattern, maybe I'm getting tired of knitting socks? Who knows. I think I will put these aside for now and see how I feel about them later on.

Congrats to Laura on her half marathon and Nat on her full marathon today! I thought of you gals today as I was running and I'm proud of both of you. You ladies ROCKED!

Turkey Bacon anyone?

This morning, I reluctantly had turkey bacon for breakfast. I've decided to make changes to what I eat in baby steps - brown rice instead of white, making sure the bread I buy doesn't have high fructose corn syrup, etc. I've already switched to turkey sausage (which by the way is very yummy) and so this morning I tried turkey bacon. Would you believe it actually tasted pretty good? Definitely not as good as "real bacon" but I think I could get used to it.

I haven't run or knit since Sunday, and have been up past midnight each night trying to get a work project done. I hate when life gets in the way. Since it's already 75 degrees here, I doubt I'll be going out for a run later, but we'll see. I'm still tossing around the idea of signing up for the lottery for the Nike Women's Marathon. I suppose I have nothing to loose right? Just means that if I don't get it, I'll have to have another half as a back up plan, since I want to make sure I reach my goal of running a half before 2009. Hope everyone's having a good week!

The Bling!

I forgot to post the all important bling pic. Like Anna-omaly said, we run for medals, don't we?

Valley of the Sun Half Marathon Relay

Yesterday was the Valley of the Sun Half Marathon and Relay. This was my first relay and I was really excited about running with a team. Our team, the Speedy Knitters, and was made up of all women: Maggie, Lisa, Tracy and me.

The day started VERY early. We decided to carpool, which meant meeting at 4:30 AM to be at the runners parking lot shortly after 5. The buses started moving at 5:30 and the race started at 7. This basically meant that I had to get up at 3:30 to eat something and get geared up. I'm often in awe of the things we runners do for our sport.

Before boarding the bus, I was able to meet up with Java Mom and Pokey who are just as sweet and funny in person as they are on their blogs! They rocked yesterday and ran the half like pros. Congrats again ladies! Here I am with them before the race:

Karen, Lisa, and me

So off we went to our relay points. Maggie took the first leg, I ran the second, Lisa ran the third, and Tracy ran the fourth.

It wasn't long before the elite runners went by at the first relay point. Before long, I saw Maggie running up the hill (those stupid hills!) She handed me the baton and off I went. Did I mention I chose to run the leg that starts on a hill? I think I thought I would just take one for the team. Oh well. I forgot the garmin in the car, (blame lack of sleep) so I have no idea what my splits were, but I think my total time was around 38 minutes, which averages out to 12:25 per mile. Again, that's much faster than my training runs, so I must be doing something right.

My leg of the relay was a very scenic run. Here are some pics:

We finished in 2:24 (yahoo!) and had a lot of fun, and that's the most important part of running for me - enjoying it. Thank you Speedy Knitters!

Relay race tomorrow!

These are socks I knit for my friend's birthday. Now that's received them, I can post them here. I used Plucky Knitter yarn and the pattern is called blueberry waffle. I love how they turned out, and my friend says they are as warm and toasty as they look!

I'm back from San Fran and had a great time hanging out with my cousins. I packed light, and in the end didn't have room for my running gear. Did I mention my clean eating plan went out the window while I was away? We went to the Stinking Rose for dinner one night - so yummy! We did spend two days walking everywhere - including those famous cable car hills and Lombard Street. That counts for a workout, doesn't it?

Yesterday was measurements and weigh in at boot camp class. I'm down another 6 pounds and 2 inches. Yahoo! And to top it all off, we did our timed mile run, and I ran my fastest mile ever at 10:49.

Hopefully I can keep the momentum going for tomorrow's Valley of the Sun Half Marathon Relay. I'm also hoping to meet up with Pokey and J-Mom who are running tomorrow as well. They are the brave ones running the half.

I will be back tomorrow with a race report. Here are some pics from San Fran. Enjoy!

BubbleShare: Share photos - Safe Baby Toys

Another hat and No walking breaks!

I finished this butterfly hat last week for my boot camp instructor. I wanted to give it to her in time for her relays in the Myomed Ragnar Del Sol Relay race. Hopefully the hat kept her warm for her 4 AM leg.

I ran 3 miles this morning and it was a good run. My pace was a little slower than usual, but I didn't stop for any walking breaks. Then, I came home and did one of these for a whole minute and 45 seconds -

Yep, that's right - 105 seconds. I am amazed at how much easier these planks are getting. I remember when I did my first ever plank and thought I would die after 5 seconds.

Tomorrow is boot camp class and then I'm off to San Fran for a couple of days for a mini-reunion with my cousins. The next couple of days will no doubt be filled with eating stuff that I should not be eating. But don't worry - I'm bringing my running gear and planning on squeezing in a run at some point. Have a great week everyone!