Running with Dogs

"If dogs could talk, it would take a lot of the fun out of owning one." ~Andy Rooney

This is my baby, Kady. Kady is a Doberman Pinscher and she is 6 years old. Brett and I got her as a puppy when she as 12 weeks old.  When we went to the breeder, only her and her sister were left, so we were left with the hard choice of which puppy to choose. Upon letting the 2 out into the yard, the sister started digging - which made our decision very easy at that point.

Kady is AKC and her AKC Name is actually Kady Von Legend Monster. Yes we named her Monster - LOL. It was and is very fitting for her. She was a monster as a puppy. She was a punk and full of energy.  Now being 6 she has dfinately calmed down and Brett and I are thankful - though its sad thinking of her as getting 'old'.

Now what happens is usually Brett takes her for a run because the speedy monster runs way too fast for me.  Well Kady 2.0 has slowed down now, so I can take her for runs, and Im kinda on the fence about how I feel about running with her. She starts off way slow now- like you have to drag her to get going.  Since she does run slower, it is nice if youre in one of those I dont care moods and just want to run.

Tonight we had a nice walk and then run together. She likes to pretend she doesnt have any energy after a run or a walk. ::eye roll:: good thing I know different. LoL.


This morning we did a 1 mile walk, lunchtime we did a 1/2 mile walk, home from work another 1 mile walk and then a 1.25 mile run. Not a bad day for the Kady Monster :)

Run # 65

"The first thing is to love your sport. Never do it to please someone else. It has to be yours." - Peggy Fleming

This morning was the American Lung Associations Fight For Air Run / Walk. The event started at 7:30am and was in 'my back yard'. So when a race is that close I somewhat feel like I have to do it.  Now I did not register for this race - oooooooooh - tsk tsk. Yes Yes horrible I know.  BUT when I got home I went online and donated to the American Lung Association.

So 7am the alarm goes off and Brett and I did NOT want to get up. SO, being the brave one that I am, I got out of bed and started brushing my teeth and putting on my running clothes - this sparked Brett to get out of bed. After chugging some water and me eating 1/2 a granola bar we headed down to Lake Eola to partake in this mornings route

 The course wasnt too bad - started on Eola drive = brick = :(  but then we got onto pavement BUT the way the course was laid out, we had more uphills than downhills.  Alright Alright maybe not actual hills but remember being in Florida, any slight incline on a road = hill.  Even Brett when we met up was like 'wow that had a lot of hills" hahah

This race is smaller - so perfect for the beginning or seasoned runner. The roads were open and it isnt a crowded race like the IOA 5K. There were 2 water stops and the Easter bunny handed out water at the end. Oh speaking of the end - Brett and I both think they had the finish too far since he logged 3.15 miles - I was watchin my Garmin and once it hit 3.10 I pushed the stop button so fast LOL but It was at least .05 away from the finish.  AND the best part- I set a new 5K PR!!

Overall it was a great race - great turnout - great cause and the course was better than average in my opinion and I can see if you were to be apart of a team this would be a great atmosphere afterwards to hang out at. 


Results of Run #65
Distance: 3.10
Time: 29:28
Pace: 9:30 / mile
M1 - 9:31
M2 - 9:44
M3 - 9:21
M4 (.1) - 8:47 / mile pace

People People People

There is a giveaway happening right here

But yet I have no comments from anyone doing anything additional to 1- promote it elsewhere and 2 - showing interest.

I know I'm no Skinny Runner when it comes to giveaways but do I need to cancel it and try again later?

Tonights the last night go to give Courtney $1 for Team in Training and by doing so double entries into her giveaway and mine.

So come-on people - make me proud! throw a few comments my way for the giveaway so you can earn a few more entries in the giveaway and so I dont feel like a giveaway failure.

My 1st Giveaway

So to appreciate my new followers - and those who are creeping on my page but aren't into committment, I'm having  a Giveaway!!!
This is so exciting! Everyone better be excited too.

To celebrate the 'start' of running season this giveaway is somewhat themed (well in my mind it is)

The winner will be receiving a Race Number Belt (color pink - sorry guys), a sample pack of GU Chomps (flavor Strawberry) and a ChapStick courtesy of team in Training (not used/opened). This is the perfect giveaway for someone who is starting getting into running or the seasoned runner who has misplaced their race # belt and needs a new one.
How to enter - leave a comment for each of the following
1 entry - follow my blog
1 entry - add my to your blogroll
1 entry - link my giveaway on your blog
5 entries - go donate any sum of money (yes even $1 and every $1 counts) to Courtney who is running her 2nd Marathon with Team in Training! For this just comment that you donated :)
OH and just realized this - when you donate you also get entered into her giveaway on her page which ends on April 21st.

The Giveaway will end on Friday, April 22nd and I'll announce a winner on Saturday April 23rd

In Honor of Boston

"In my mind, I am a Kenyan" - Author unknown

In Honor of the Boston Marathon (yes that happened today) I noticed a fun little thing to try. Courtney has her annual 'Move the decimal run' so instead of 26.2 , she ran a 2.62. SWEET! My kind of run right there.

After work my friend Amanda went to the gym with me and Jourdan to attend her 1st spin class

Tonight was the 'easy' class since our favorite instructor / good friend Alex was running Boston (and she set a new PR!!! @ 3:29:26). 

After class I came home and decided to go out for my inaugural "Move the decimal run". After the 5K last week I knew to start off slower than normal - especially since I just did an hour spin class. It was getting late so I stuck to Lake Eola and started out doing the square around the lake and then went for the circle since its more populated / lighted at night.  Hit the 2 mile mark and the legs became 1,000lb weights.  I knew it was because of spin but I kept going - I had to finish, cheezy but I have all these fabulous followers now who are dying for an update. LOL
So what do I do? I keep my running up and 'pretend' i'm in a race - yes I kinda did this for real and when I passed someone I was like yesss! hahah it worked but cheezy.

Congrats to alll those who Ran Boston today!

Thanks Courtney for posting about your Move the Decimal!

Results of Run #64
Distance: 2.62 miles
Time: 26:23
Pace: 10:04 / mile
M1 - 10:05
M2 - 10:00
M3 (.62) - 10:08 / mile pace.



Bikram Yoga - Part 2

So back in January, I posted about my 1st trip to Bikram Orlando. I had a lot of stuff go on since then, so I never had the chance to go back. This past week I received a nice surprise from them via email with a coupon for 50% off their 10 class package.  I'm all about deals so this morning I went for my 1st of 10 classes and had my friend Amanda tag along too.  :)

Ok so some of you may be like me and say I've heard of this Bikram (aka Hot) Yoga, what exactly is it?

Bikram Yoga is a system of yoga that Bikram Choudhury, synthesized from traditional yoga techniques and is practiced in a room heated to 105*F with humidity at 40%.  Bikram claims the heated studio facilitates deeper stretching and injury prevention, while reducing stress and tension (source) 

So you sweat like you wouldnt believe. And its GREAT!

 After going the 1st time I could definately tell that if I were to keep this up, I would be more flexible and today I could tell in some of the 26 positions (that you do during the 90 minute class)that my body was sore from the 5K.  One of the things I enjoy about this is that you dont have to be able to do the positions  in perfect form the 1st time - you do your best and holy moly you will feel it.

Now what lured me the 1st time to go in January was the 'deal' for new students. Your 1st class is $10 at Bikram Orlando and if you go back within 7 days your 2nd class is Free.  Not a bad deal at all.   This is how I lured Amanda to come with me. tee hee hee. So we are going to go back next week.   :)

Now its CPA study Time........Have a great weekend :)

IOA Corporate 5K

Tonight was the IOA Corporate 5K in downtown Orlando. This picture is from last year. The 2010 race had 12,633 participants. The 2011 Race was estimated to be 14,000+ participants!  It is by far the most fun race I've ever ran in and I've been doing it for 4 years now.

The race in previous years was held at the Orlando Citrus bowl but its been downtown now for 2 years now with this year being the 3rd (I believe) and I love the course.  This was this years course - I LOVED how they moved the walkers to another area this year. In previous years walkers would be behind the runners and with 12,000+ people, those who are blessed being able to run a 15 min 5K couldnt finish without running into the walkers who were at the finish line waiting to start.  In addition to that - just the course alone was great!!! It looked really boring on the map but it really wasnt. Its awesome to see the sea of people ahead of you and they put us on bigger roads so in some areas it was more open feeling.

Now I was a little hesistant running this race tonight because I havent ran in nearly 3 weeks because of the shin splints. I really didnt want to hurt again and have to sit out on all the fun. I need to start upping my mileage and if I have another shin setback ...ugh that would stink.


I ran the race with my BFF Jourdan. She's a Numbers person like me but she does tax so right now shes kinda busy  :(  so she hasnt been able to run a ton working until like 8pm every night :(
But she was a sport and we started running together - kept it slow - just having fun but around mile 2 she was getting a horrible cramp so she moved to the side to walk it out and I was just jogging in place to stay with her but she told me to go on but I didnt and shes like its ok just go - now when she tells you something you listen so I listened and sped up some to test the legs out.
No pictures of us - sorry folks - didnt bring a camera.

Before the race I was a good girl and foam rolled my legs out, I also did it after when I got home.
During the race I had NO PAIN!!! Can you believe it?? :::Happy Dance::

Results of Run #63
Distance: 3.13 miles
Time: 32:15
Pace: 10:17 / mile
M1 - 10:48
M2 - 10:32
M3 - 9:44
M4 (.13) - 8:40 / mile pace


Resu

Hey Everyone

To all the new followers and for those creeping on my blog, Hello!!!

WOW! There are TONS of you out there.

Thank you for visiting, thank you for following, I'm super excited about this as I've been needing to get some more followers, find more blogs to follow myself, and get some more comments here and there as I'm going to need them with this upcoming 1/2 Marathon that is getting closer and closer each day.

Quick overview -sorry if its redundant

I'm Hollie - I live in Orlando, FL - I started doing triathlons in 2008 but I have 'issues' running so Tales from the Sole was born as a way to trick myself into running more to get better - I am married to my high school sweetheart - we have a dog named Kady - I've never ran more than a 5K so I hope this year to run a 10K, 15K and then the Disney 1/2 Marathon in January. OMG!

I am trying to make my blog more 'fun' so bear with me. I will be having a giveaway soon to celebrate all my new followers so stay tuned  :)

Foam Rolling

Now I'm a little behind on posting but wanted to get this into the blog because I'm now a believer when it comes to Foam Rolling.

First - what is Foam Rolling?  It is a Self-Myofascial release (SMR) technique that is used by athletes and physical therapists to inhibit overactive muscles. This form of stretching utilizes the concept of autogenic inhibition to improve soft tissue extensibility, thus relaxing the muscle and allowing the activation of the antagonist muscle (source)

How do you do it? Easy, you position yourself over the roller (depending on the area, eg Calves, quads, hamstrings etc) and slowly roll the target area back and forth over the roller and when you find / 'hit' a tight area hold for 10-15 seconds and apply a little more pressure which can help release the tissue.  (source) 
Google and you tube has lots of great videos if youre needing more help in visualizing how to postion yourself. If you have a gym membership and there are personal trainers there - ask them to look at your form, usually they are more than helpful.

How often do you do it? I would foam roll after each of my runs - the trainer at the gym told me with my shin splints to do it before my runs too, to help keep my muscles loose. Did I obey? yes and no - just like everyone else I have good days and bad.

Why am I a believer? A few weeks ago I posted about Shin splits - my calves were killing me. Like when I foam rolled  it was the worst pain, you could feel how tight my calves were. I took 2 weeks off from running and would foam roll.  Now here I am 2 weeks later - and very very little pain / tightness.  I went on Saturday for a 1 mile run and no pain when running or after running. I was estatic!  Was it resting? Was it foam rolling? Was it both? I'm going to say both but I dont think rest alone was going to 'cure' me.

Where can I get one of these rollers? I got mine at my local running store - tons of places sell them online too. They may be sold at gyms. They come in a variety of sizes so shop around.

March 2011 Summary

March was my highest mileage to date!!! Oh Yahhhh! Go me its my birthday. Whoot Whoot. LOL  I'm redic I know.  A few days before the end of the month I saw I was approaching the big 5-0 so I had to hit 50, once I did, I threw in an extra mile to make it 51 (well 51 on Dailymile - i like how it rounds but then you dont 'really' know what youre at).

Lets see during the Month I started walking home from work, ran the longest distance to date (3.25 miles), got shin splints (booo hissss)...............And did the craziest thing of my life - Signed up for the 2012 Disney 1/2 Marathon.

Here's the breakout

50.68 miles in March
Running: 24.11 miles
Walking: 15.55 miles
Cycling: 7.60 miles
Elliptical: 3.42 miles

Cant wait to see what April has in store.....hopefully some pain free legs. :)