I needed a break...

So, I sit at my computers for hours on end almost every day. I have tried on several occasions to sit down and post, but everytime I start some distraction comes up. Then when I'm through with the distraction, I'm usually so sick of the computer that I have to get away from it. Therefore many posts that I have begun have just been discarded. I'm not going to let that happen today though.

I'm writing this blog post to take a bit of a break from the other work that I've been doing. October has been hectic and today has been no exception. About the moment I woke up this morning I was feeling overwhelmed. It began with some phone calls that threw more work on my plate. Then, God bless Meredith, she imed me asking if I wanted to go run at the Riverwalk. My first instinct was to say no since I had all kinds of stuff to do, but then I thought that maybe I needed to go run because I had so much stuff to do (stressful stuff at that). So I said I would go, threw on some clothes and went. While the sky was gray, it felt really good outside. We ran from the New Orleans side of the walk to Pointe West. Meredith decided to keep running on the extended part of the walk, while I realized that I was about to pee my pants due to the coffee that I had had right before. So I ran to the nearest parking lot restroom (you know where the picnic shelters are). By the time I made it back up to the walk, Meredith was almost there to meet me and we cooled down by walking the rest of the way back.

I was pleased with the amount that I was able to run this morning. I'm also still glad that I decided to go. Shortly after I got back, I received some more phone calls that made the day a little more stressful. I think the exercise has helped me to handle it better.

Anyway, keep running, endorphines are your friends :-)

Hey! I put some new shoes on and suddenly everything's right ...

What a difference new shoes make! I bought some new Nike Max Air running shoes with shock absorbers (on sale at Foot Locker, plus my 20% coupon from a McDonald's monopoly prize piece) on Saturday afternoon and put them on when I got into the car. I drove over to Shandon, and BAM! -- I ran 3.2 miles. No kidding. I had my pedometer on me, and started running/bouncing along (thanks to the shock absorbers) and somehow ran two miles fine. I decided to push myself a little more, and got to 2.5 miles, and still was recovering fine. So then, I said "What the heck, let me do a 5k!" And I did.

Pat me on the back next time you see me, thank you very much. ;-)

So, Basically, I Run on Mondays...

How sad is it that for the last THREE WEEKS, I have only run on Mondays! It's like I get off to a great start with quite high expectations for myself and then crash and burn somewhere along the way! Of course, now that we are finally finished with Searching For God Knows What I am sure I will have TONS more time for running! Ha! Kidding! Pray for me... and I'll pray for you... we'll get back in the groove THIS WEEK! :) Happy running, GAMECOCK GIRLS! On another note, did our football team kick some Wildcat patoot tonight or what?! (Not that I wasn't just a tad nervous on more than one occasion! We are, after all, Gamecocks... a 15 point lead essentially means nothing until the final whistle blows!) GO COCKS! Run, April, Run!

Running during my lunch break

Just got back from running during my lunch break. Um ... can I say, it's hot outside? And I basically had to give myself a sponge bath afterwards (in my cool bathroom in my cool office) because I'm dripping. I checked the map -- I went from the health center to the horseshoe, passed Capstone until Laurens Street, looped around Senate Street until I reached the statehouse and then back to the horseshoe. Total, it was a little over 2 miles. Woo! My forehead is still a little red/pink from being exerting myself, and I'm definitely using my entire lunch hour (with my door closed) to recuperate. But I feel great now. It was a great stress relief to have time to run around campus, pretty much without traffic.

Go The Distance

Went to the Leisure Center yesterday thinking that I would knock out some good running... you know: no hills, no heat, no humidity... However, I underestimated the effects of not running for a week. As a beginner, I think consistency is a key factor in success... maybe I will write a book! Anyway... I ran the first mile (after walking .2 miles to warm up... I was actually thinking that I might just go for 10K since I had the time... thought I would go ahead and get that pesky .2 out of the way since I am no math genius and that lap counting gets tough!). However, my pace was totally off. So, I ended up running it in 10 minutes. Which is great except I ended up getting a cramp! So, I walked a half mile to recover, but when it was time to start running again, the cramp "flared" right back up (can cramps really even DO that?!). So, the bottom line is: I ran 1 mile in 10 minutes (after walking my .2... don't forget about that) and then walked another 2. Even though I didn't run like I wished I could have, I felt good and I think my elderly cohorts at "the center" were proud of me! ;) Anybody up for running this Wednesday night? Run, April, Run!

Oh... I was listening to WMHK yesterday and the DJ was saying she saw a bumper sticker that said, "Runner Girl" on it and how she thought it was cute and wanted to get one for herself. Then she says, "Of course mine would have to say: 'Walks Kind of Slow and Gets Out of Breath Easy' to be honest! No truth in advertising for me to put a 'Runner Girl' sticker on my car!" I was laughing my head off and thought of us!! Any way you can make a few of those up for us, April?! :)

MUST I Start Over Every Week?!

OK... so, it has been so long since I posted that Lauren actually sent me a reminder! How terrible is that?! I just told my sister-in-law this weekend that I will probably have to start over on all my goals after the week I have had! EVERY SINGLE TIME I tried to run last week my plans were foiled in some way! And then we were away with the whole Mulligan family from Wednesday afternoon until just this very minute! And frankly, I would look out the window of the beach house and just feel like I wanted to remain lazy rather than go put on those running shoes that I REALLY thought I would use when I packed them! HOWEVER, I AM starting over tomorrow morning! I will update you with ACTUAL running news then! Hope you all are doing great and running like crazy! Run, Joeli, Run! :)

Oh, man, the weather is so nice right now!

So I haven't had the adventure that Lauren had. And I fortunately haven't been sick like Anna has (not yet anyway...everyone seems to be catching something). But for some reason, my computer has some sort of security block where it doesn't want me to post comments right now, so I suppose I'll just have to mention them in here. Anna, I sure hope you are feeling better and that you will be able to find time to get out and do something fun and at least somewhat physically exherting (i dunno if i spelled that right but you know what i mean).

This weather is so great right now. It reminds me of softball training in the fall where I would either come home from school and practice in my back yard or I would go to Columbia to play fall ball. I thought about going to the leisure center to run today, but it was so nice out I went to the riverwalk. I went a little ways past the Pointe West bridge this time and hit another April Adams Riverwalk Record (haha). I made it to the call box this time, but fortunately didn't have to call anyone to come and get me. The lack of muggy air made it a lot easier on the breathing and it was pretty fun (never thought I'd say that).

Oh, and Lauren, are we gonna run the Ray Tanner Home Run or not? If so, I need to register. If not, I won't. (simple enough, huh.) Anyhooo, gotta go get some groceries.

Peace, friends!

April