Life is Good

2 miles right after dinner.... note to self, don't run right after having dinner. LOL

Yesterday I spent a huge chunk of the day cleaning the "forgotten" room in our house.  It's the room that somehow gets all the "stuff" dumped into it.  I took before and after pictures so that if my hubby didn't notice that I had cleaned it, I could prove it. :o)  Here you go.  (and yes, that disgusting room has been like that for a long time...  you can jugde me).

And after...

I think that should count as some physical activity.  Oh, and my husband did notice all on his own. :o)

I spent the day at my friends house helping her babysit 10 children.  I spent a huge chunk of the time racing the 4 year olds back and forth, across the backyard.  When I got home, I only had 20 minutes to go for a run before Brandon had to go to school.  in my 20 minutes, I was able to go 2.31 miles.  Not too shabby.  I guess you can say this is a low mileage week.  I do have a 6 mile run scheduled for this weekend (right Burt!) but besides that, I am just playing it by ear. :o)

I figured that some of you are sitting at home thinking to yourselves... I wonder what Camille is cleaning today (because we all know that I don't have much of a life right now)...  well wonder no longer.  This is what Peace looks like:

*I realize that you have just about had a tour of my entire house.  I have officially cleaned and recleaned every room since I have been laid off, but haven't shown you mine or Melanie's rooms.*

And this is what My "Monkey" looks like when she is helping her monkey use the phone. :o)

I'll be running later! 

9.34 miles this morning.  It was beautiful out.  But, I do have one question:  Can someone explain why some older men (maybe in their 50's) where kacky shorts, polo shirt, belt, watch, cell phone, and baseball cap while running?  It doesn't look comfy to me.

6.5 ? miles this morning with my Ragnar Team.  It was awesome.  Everyone met up at my house at 5am and headed down to the bottom of the hill to run back to my house.  Because of my fractured pelvis (back in November), I decided to shorten my distance a little bit to avoid further injury.  My friend, Bethany, and I started at the 3.5-ish mile and ran with Burt the rest of the way to my house.  It was a real nice morning.  After the run we had breakfast, and then everyone went on to their daily activities.  I'm thinking my daily activity today will be to rest...  if that's possible with 10 14-15 year olds in my back yard making knives (scouts are fun!).

I GOT A JOB!!!

Today I started a new job at a small local transportation engineering firm.  I got the job by calling up the owner when I was laid off.  See, we worked on a major project together (but different aspects).  I remembered enjoying all the guys from the company, and also all the positive feed back I had got from them.  I'm able to work the exact schedule I worked at Atwell (Monday - Thursday, 7-2:30, Fridays off)... and I get a few extra holidays.  I will miss Burt though, because today the office was SO quiet.

I'm so grateful I was able to find a good job as quickly and painless as I did.

I'll post more when Brandon gets home and I can go run.

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I ran 4.41 miles in the rain with some serious headwind.  It was rough... but felt great!  My right knee is a bit upset.

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I had to add this...  I think Burt will appreciate it.  If anyone looks at these pictures and wonder what the heck... send me a personal message.  In the meanwhile, Burt... Enjoy!!!

Crushin' 2009!

Okay... I was going good, very strong, great pace (about 8:45 min/mil) and then my stupid shoe untied... so I stopped to tie it.  Then I could not start again.  My knee hurt (and continues to hurt) SOOOO bad.  I couldn't run...  I really couldn't walk.  I walked the 1.5 miles home.  Now it isn't as bad (thank you IBprofen), but it's still sore.  Any advice as to what I should do about it?

Thanks!

good 3 mile run today (finally!). Hardly any pain (I could feel my knee a little, but it's not bugging me now... and it was the after run that was bothering me before).  I could have gone longer or further, but I was limited on time.  It was probably for the best though.  I can't over do it if I'm on a clock.  I wrapped me knee and think it made a big difference!

Okay... Something is seriously wrong with my IPod.  It keeps freezing and I can't get any sound out of it.  with less than 2 weeks until Ragnar, I'm starting to think that not much worse can go wrong (knocking on some serious wood).  I'm so not happy about this!

Also, did 2.5 miles (give or take... mapped it on the internet), pushing Melanie in the stroller.  I forgot to wrap my knee... I won't be doing THAT again.  But I still feel pretty good.  I can tell that I'm still sick...  I have 2 more days on my antibodic, but the doctor said I maybe be feeling the virus portion of the sickness for up to 10 days.  I hope not!  It really knocked me out yesterday evening.  I had an aweful headache and body aches.  Yuck!

All in all, everything is okay.

5 (+/- according to the map) miles... without music. But, when I got back, Brandon had fixed my ipod.  I will be trying it out today. :o)

8.65 miles...  average pace 9:42 min/mil.  I stretched my knee at every stop light (4 lights) It hurt, but not unbearably.  I did notice that I was going slower because of the pain.  I stopped running over an hour ago...  My knee is sore, but still, nothing unbearable.  I'll just keep watching it.

2.25 miles with my family. :o)  Melanie is a little slave driver and would let Brandon and I know when she thought we were going too slow.  :o)  It was a lot of fun.

Run! Drive! Sleep? Repeat!

Yesterday and today, I participated in the Del Sol Ragnar Relay Race.  This is a 204 mile relay race, starting in Prescott, ending in Mesa, with teams of 12 people in 2 vans.  My team was the Dessert Runners, and I was runner number 10, putting me in van number 2.  My other van mates included: Christian, Bethany, Glenn, Burt, and James W. Below is a picture of the members of our van before we drove up to Prescott (minus Christian, who we picked up at exchange 14).

We made it to the first major exchange point (where van 1 stops running, and van 2 begins), decorated our van, and got all ready for the adventure ahead of us.  While at this exchange, we met Kelli, Scott, Walter, and Misty.  It was Kelli's birthday, and I was a loser and had forgot her birthday cake...  but that's a different story.  Regardless, HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELLI.  Okay, back to my race report... Below is a picture of our van.

As I said before, I was runner 10, which is the 4th runner in our van.  My first leg was 7 miles on a hilly dirt road.  I rocked my first leg, running in an average of 8:48 min/mil.  I felt awesome.  The one nasty part of the run was the fact that it was on a dirt road, and when all the vans passed by, they kicked up dust like crazy.  It is really hard to run when you can't breathe.  Regardless, I finished the 7 miles in less than an hour and was super happy about it.  I did inherit 2 blisters, and at the end of my leg, my knee started bothering me.  Below are two pictures from my first leg.  I'm excited to say I passed 2 people on this leg...  :o)

My 2nd leg was 6.2 miles, starting at 4 in the morning.  Brandon was awesome and met me at the beginning of the leg to pace me.  At this point, I had not slept a wink, and was so tired and tight.  I really appreciated his company.  With the fatigue, knee, and head wind, I averaged a 9:49 min/mil... not my best time, but I was pretty happy with it.  Brandon and I passed 4 people.  He was so funny.  He'd point out someone ahead and say "See that person...  We're going to pass him.  You are much faster than him and much stronger".  After we had passed 3 people, he said "3 down, 1 more to go".  Sure enough, he was right.  I passed all 4. :o)  I love him. 

My 3rd and final leg was 3.1 miles at 1:30 pm.  It was HOT.  I think HOT was an understatement. And, I think I had screwed up the day before and didn't drink enough water.  I'm pretty sure I was (and may still am) slightly dehydrated.  I was in pain... and I am not too ashamed to say, I didn't make the time I was hoping to make; however, I am happy that I finished. :o)

I am not sure I'll be walking right for a while.  My knee is killing and I can feel all the muscles in my legs.  Apparently running 16.4 miles works all your leg muscles, not just your favorite ones. :o)  But, there is something awesome about finishing a race like this.  It makes you feel like a super hero, if only for just a minute.  While I was running... my daughter learned a new word.  Until now, she had 2 definite words in her vocabulary "Da-ee" (daddy), and "Ti-ti" (Monkey).  But, when I crossed my last exchange point, she cried "ma-be" and reached for me.  I have been wanting her to say mommy for forever... I'm also not ashamed to say that it made me cry, if only for a min.

Below is a picture of the team momments after crossing the finish line.  As you can see, all the people from van 1 are cleaned up and in their normal clothing.  I promise they didn't run in those outfits.

PS. I don't know our race result time yet... when I do, I'll update the report