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My first run since last Saturday...seems I'm only motivated when I know a few people from my Saturday running group will be there to meet me. Hoping this blog will serve as additional motivation! One girl at group was really pushing the pace. At first I was secretly irritated (I had been hoping for a lazy run!) but after a while, I was glad she pushed me. 2 big uphills on this route, and we ended up finishing in 1:00:25.

We ran 6 miles, all on base (Kadena Air Base). Although I won't be running here for much longer, I figure I should write down what the loop was so I can repeat it if needed in the next few weeks. From the Risner up Douglas to Kuter, turn onto Molland before reaching Gate 2. Turn back onto Douglas at Gate 3. Need to tack on a little extra to make it 6, so instead of heading straight back to the Risner, turned up Schreiber, through 1 stoplight and into the Jennings housing area. Rhonda & Mike's old street (Dillwin?) marks 6. We just walked across the back parking lot to get back to our meeting place.

 My next goal will be to get out and run on Monday!

I popped right out of bed and got dressed for my run this morning. That's unusual lately! Maybe it was because I was looking forward to entering my run on this blog, or maybe it was because I had planned to run off base this morning. I usually only run off-base on weekends.

We are supposed to leave here 1 month from today! Tomorrow night the other 2nd grade teachers are having a going-away dinner for me at a restaurant called Transit Cafe. It's always easier for me to find things on foot than in the car, so I decided to run there today. It was easy to find, and about a mile and a half away from my house. Once I got there, I slowed down a lot while I ran around looking for a parking space. Parking in Okinawa is crazy. The crazy thing about it is that it barely exists! I thought maybe the restaurant had a little parking lot in the next block or something, but it looks like I'll have to try my luck with street parking. Anyway, I ended up a little bit lost, but as long as I can find my way back to the seawall, I'm alright. I hopped onto the seawall and thought about what I'll miss when we leave Okinawa. We've been here 3.5 years and it really is time to move on, but I've loved running along the seawall, and watching the surfers.  It's so peaceful...even moreso on a weekday like today. I had the seawall to myself for a while.

When I got back on base, I decided that if I finished the 4th mile in 9:45 or under I could call it a day and head straight to my house, but if not I'd make myself tack on a mile loop. I was 4 seconds too slow... I thought it might have been because of the time that I spent showing my ID to the gate guard, but did the 5th mile anyway!

Today my plan was to run some fast miles on the treadmill. The treadmill is really the best way for me to do fast miles, because it's hilly here and because it's too easy for me to let my mind wander and forget about paying attention to my pace. 

The gym is a mile from our house, so I use that mile as my warm up/cool down. I ended up heading out a little later than I had planned, but that worked out in my favor because there were plenty of treadmills to choose from. I hopped on a treadmill and started running at 8:00 mile pace (I consider that a fast pace at this point). I was going to run 3 miles at 8:00 pace, but I was struggling on my way to 2. That's what I get for skipping out on my weekday runs so often lately. I made myself hit 2 miles and then slowed down. I cranked it back up to 8:00 pace for another half-mile and felt like I had had enough. I stayed between 9:30-10:00 pace until I got to 3 miles total...but that still means I only ran 2.5 @ 8:00 pace. I pushed the "cool-down" button and let the treadmill slow down. While I walked, I reminded myself that I had planned on running 3 miles at 8:00 pace, not 2.5. So when the cool-down was over, I started the machine back up and knocked out that last half mile at 8:00. And you know what? It felt easy! I love being able to tell myself, "You can do this for 4 minutes". Slowed down for another half-mile and then ran the mile back home. On the way home, I saw tons of people. I didn't have my contacts in, but when I got closer I realized they were all teenagers. Maybe they were out walking for P.E. class? Most were in shorts & t-shirts but there were several girls with giant earrings, one girl wearing a short skirt, tights and cowboy boots, and another girl walking backwards and taking pictures of her friends with her camera phone! 

It's a beautiful day...cool but sunny. I hope it will be like this again tomorrow, because I want to run outside. Maybe 5 miles? This Saturday there is the monthly 5k at the gym. It doesn't start until 8, and usually I do my Saturday runs much earlier, but since this might be the last one they have before I move, I'm going to plan on running it.

I'm so pleased with myself for getting out for runs 3 weekdays this week! There have been (too) many weeks in which I don't run at all except for Saturday morning running group!

I'm going to do the 5k here on Saturday, and the last almost-mile of it is up a big hill that's right near my house, and it helps me mentally to run up it a couple of days before hand. The worst thing about my house is that it's at the bottom of a hill, and no matter which direction I head there's nowhere to go but up! (The best thing is that on the way home, it's downhill!). I didn't want to run up that particular hill first thing, though, so I turned left instead of right and went up the other big hill. I went into this paved trail that we call Habu Hills or Habu Trail. I've never actually been afraid running by myself on Okinawa, but running Habu by myself does creep me out a little. Maybe because it's named after Oki's deadliest snake! At any rate, I was happy to see two other runners back there! 

I came out of the Habu trail & ran up the hill that's at the end of the 5k. I did really well at first, but then I hit the 3 mile mark and gave myself the okay to take it a little bit easier the rest of the way up the hill. I ran the rest of the way to the finish line and did a lap around the track to make 4 miles. Then I took a 2 minute walk break and then cooled-down the last mile home.

I ended up averaging 10 minute miles. Those hills just get me every time! 10:43 (uphill the entire time), 9:10 (huge hills, but some downhills too), 9:31 (almost all uphill), 10:05 (about half uphill and half level ground), 10:34 (2 minute walk break and level ground/downhill cool down)

 I won't run again until Saturday morning, but I might go for a walk tomorrow morning. We'll see.

(Don't ask me who comes up with the names for the 5Ks around here!)

I usually drive my lazy self to Saturday morning running group, even though we meet at the gym 1 mile from my house. On 5k days, though, I always run there...mostly to avoid the crowded parking lot afterward, but also so I can get in a couple extra miles and a warm-up/cool-down.

I got there at about 7:45 to register. Registration is just writing your name, rank & signature on a list. You don't get a t-shirt or check a box for your age group or pin on a number or anything. Today they gave out jingle bells to get in the holiday spirit (but collected them at the finish line...what kind of holiday spirit is that?!) I didn't take a jingle bell anyway.

I saw lots of people that I know, but NOBODY from my running group! Lazies!

The start of the run is always crazy. Walkers, kids & people with strollers just pile on in. Usually I get stuck in the back and end up working too hard passing people. Today was my lucky day though!

I started at a decent pace and didn't get stuck in the crowd. One Senior Master Sgt. that we know came up next to me and I decided that I wanted to stick with him for the first mile at least because I remembered that his pace is challenging, but do-able. I did, and I even passed him up as we came up the first hill. He was able to re-open the gap on the downhill. But then he had a wardrobe malfunction at the bottom of the hill (his glasses fell apart!) and I was able to catch back up. By this time, we were heading up that big hill. SMSgt H. was pretty strong up the big hill, and I tried to be. The hill is tough, but I try to tell myself that uphills are actually the time that my short little legs come in handy! Even though I didn't manage to catch back up with SMSgt. H. on the way up that hill, I did pass quite a few people. And I like people, but passing them still makes me happy ;) When the ground leveled out, I just kept telling myself to push for just a little while longer. Then, when I was almost at the turn that leads the last few yards to the finish line, I heard someone say, "We've got the third female coming in here" and I realized that was me! So I really turned it on then because I had no idea how close behind me the next woman was.

So I finished as the 3rd place female (we don't do age groups here) and my prize is...my name and time listed in size 12 font on a plain piece of printer paper that will hang in the gym for a few weeks. SMSgt. H., SMSgt. T., and I cheered the rest of the runners in and talked about how much better these runs could be if, say, they gave medals to the 3rd place female ;) or t-shirts for the participants or had bananas and did a little more promotion. Other than the people near the finish line cheering on their family members, there were NO spectators. And we ran right through 2 housing areas! SMSgt. H. also commented on how "efficient" I looked going up the 1st hill by the middle school and that made me happy. I got to cheer for 2 of my old students (and their siblings & parents)too! Their smiley little faces were so cute when they heard someone call their name! One little guy came to me afterward and proudly told me that he beat his sister, his dad, and his dad's friend. I like to think that maybe when their parents asked them if they wanted to go out and run a race this morning, a little part of them thought about their old teacher...they all know I run and Michelle & her family have even been out cheering for me during both Okinawa marathons!

My time was 23:25. Last time I did this race it was 24:19, so I'm happy with that!

This is getting too long, but I have to say one more thing...there were a few Marines running in their camis and boots! Not too strange of a sight around here, but one was pushing a baby stroller, hit a curb and nearly tipped the baby head-over-heels out of the stroller! Yikes! I think he decided to ease up a little after that and they both made it safely to the finish line!

First of all, I love it here! I didn't run yesterday because I felt sick to my stomach the entire day, but this morning I felt much better (though still a little off) and I went right out for a run. I feel like I need to be more accountable now that I'm posting here! 

I ran 6 miles...and somehow, they were mostly uphill! I miscalculated the distance of the route and it ended up being 7.5 miles. I walked the last mile and a half home... and of course, that was the part that was mostly downhill!

Mile 1- completely uphill- 10:14 Mile 2- fairly flat with some down and up hills- 9:20 Mile 3- up a huuuuuge hill- 9:23 (I was so pleasantly surprised with that!) Mile 4- finally some level ground and downhills!- 8:36 Mile 5-mostly uphill but leveled out in a few places- 8:31 (*see my note below!) Mile 6-flat & downhill 9:14

 *Last week, I played a little game to make myself run faster on a 5 mile run. I told myself that if I ran my 4th mile in 9:45 I wouldn't have to run a 5th. I missed it by 4 seconds. Today, I did something similar. I decided that if I ran my 5th mile in 9:15 or less, I could "take it easy" on my 6th mile. Well, my 5th mile was way faster than 9:15...and even my "take it easy" mile was less than 9:15! Probably because I was thinking of all my new Fast Running friends while I was running! 

Another beautiful day here... I did think of all of you bundled-up runners and made sure I was extra-thankful for being out in shorts & short sleeves.

I ran the mile to the gym and then hopped on the treadmill to run 3 miles. I had a podcast to catch up on, and we're not allowed to run with headphones on base so that's why I opted for the treadmill!

I ran 2 miles at 8:00 pace on the treadmill and then slowed it down for a half mile. Ran one more at 8:00...this was very difficult for me, because it started at 2.5 instead of 2.0 and once the treadmill got to 3.0 I really wanted to stop instead of do that last half mile! I did do that last half mile though. I knew it would just take about 4 minutes, so I started counting, knowing that by the time I got to 160 I'd be finished. I always lose track and never get to 160, so it doesn't seem so bad. Anyway, the last .25 I decided that if I ran faster I'd be able to stop sooner, so I cranked it up to 7:40-something. A half mile to catch my breath before heading back outside for my mile home.

Of course, I was wearing a gray shirt, soaked with sweat and saw a girl I know on my way out... Good thing I know her from running group, so she's used to seeing me looking sweaty & gross!

Went for an evening run today since I spent my normal running time doing errands at the post office, bank, commissary and outdoor rec. And I spent the afternoon baking cookies. So far 3 dozen candy cane cookies and 2 dozen nut cups. 

After snacking on dough and the cookies that were too ugly to share with guests, I felt like I really needed a run! I'm glad I didn't wait until tomorrow. I ran 7 miles and it was dark during the last half. I'm not good at running in the dark because I am a fraidy-cat. I'm not afraid of the people that are out, I'm afraid of the cars and the curbs and the snakes and the bats, even though I've never seen a snake here and I know the bats won't hurt me. They love to swoop and they are humongous!

Here's a funny thing about my run: All of the streets on base are named after military guys...except one. It's called "Rolling Heights" and it's very clear why. There was another route I could've taken, but I was hit by a momentary bout of crazy and decided it would be "fun" to lug myself up Rolling Heights. Crazy! I'm glad I did, though, because so far the familes on Rolling Hts. are the most well-decorated as far as Christmas lights go!

Came home and went for about a quarter mile cool down walk with my husband, then sent him to pick up our dinner...Japanese fast food tonight SO good and much healthier than its American counterpart--salad, rice & curry. Mmm!

I missed running group this morning because we signed up to do a garage sale in order to get rid of some things before we move next month. We had to be at the military recreation area to set up our "booth" (which was really a parking space) by 5:30, and there was no way I could get my group to meet at 4:00 instead of 6:00 so I could join them before the garage sale!

Since I was up until 12 gathering last minute things to sell, I wouldn't have shown up at 4:00 anyway! So it was another evening run for me. The scale was really tipping toward the "no run today" side because: 1-I had no clean running shirts and had to wear a dirty one. 2-My long sleeved shirts were too stinky for me to wear, even for a solo run, so my only choice was a dirty short-sleeved shirt in the chilly dark. 3-I was super-tired from being up so early and doing "business" all morning. 4-My stomach was feeling heavy (that probably had something to do with all the cookie dough I was tasting this afternoon). 5- I have a big headache, either from wearing my glasses for too long, accidentally getting strong smelling lotion on my hand during the garage sale, or spending a half hour in a room with strong candles this afternoon. But, even though I had five great excuses, I told myself to quit being so lazy and go out for a run. Plus I keep reading about so many of you guys running on ice & snow I'd feel kind of bad not being grateful for the pleasant running weather I have here.

When I got outside, I realized it was actually 6 great excuses because my Garmin had low battery. I thought maybe I could get 2 miles out and then turn around before it conked out, but I didn't even get 1 mile out! I didn't start out my usual way, so I wasn't absolutely sure about the turn-around point, so I ran 20 minutes out and then turned around and ran back and decided to call it 4 miles. 

I really hoped to run (and read some blogs!) yesterday, but I was busy busy busy the whole day/night! I went to my old classroom/school office & worked for a few hours. Came home and did a lot of cleaning (it's very hard to arrange a tiny dining room so that 15 rubbermaid bins full of classroom stuff and 11 Christmas dinner guests will fit!), some baking, and then when David got home from work we went to the Marine base to check on a piece of furniture I've really been wanting. We had dinner while we were there and it was 8pm by the time we got home!

 I had such a hard time waking up this morning. By the time I was up & moving, the bank & commissary were open and I knew I'd better do my errands right away or I wouldn't do them at all. And since we sold my car today, I had to do my last-minute driving while I still had the chance! It doesn't really seem like we're moving, but my car being gone does make it feel a bit more "real". 

So, it was another evening run for me. This time, I made sure I turned our Christmas tree on so I'd be able to see it through the window on my way out and back. I ran through a housing area looking for good lights, and so far, they were the best I've seen. My favorite was a quad-plex decorated with icicle lights all the way across the eaves of all 4 units, lights on the bushes, wreaths in the windows and red bows on the palm trees! That must be a great group of neighbors, coordinating their decorations perfectly! My friends put up awesome lights, but they live in a housing area on another base and I didn't have my ID card or enough time before my husband would be back with our dinner. We really don't get take-out every night, but since I've been baking for days and cooking dinner for 11 tomorrow and breakfast for 6-8 on Christmas day, I think I deserve to not cook dinner!

I felt like I should have run more than 4 miles, but I plan on a nice 7 or 8 miles tomorrow morning. Christmas Eve, Christmas day, and Thanksgiving day are my three very favorite days of the year to run! The roads (around here anyway) are so quiet and I always love imagining what's going on in the houses I run by early in the morning on those days.

My plans for a Christmas Eve morning run fell through...my cookies needed me more. So I went out for a nighttime run at almost 10pm, after our guests had been fed and those that remained were too busy playing Rock Band to notice if I took off!

 I'm glad I went at night, because all the lights were on...between the clear sky, the holiday lights, and the street lights it hardly seemed like it was dark out! Pretty houses, quiet roads (I saw only 4-5 cars, 3 people walking, and a couple backyard parties going on), and nice cool weather. I've been listening exclusively to 172 Christmas songs on my iPod the past few days and the song running through my head (no headphones allowed!) was Elvis Presley singing, "Give thanks for all you've been blessed with and hold your loved ones tight, for you know that the Lord's been good to you on a snowy Christmas night." I thought it was appropriate...although I decided I'd need to change the words to "on a balmy Christmas night."

6 miles-52:50 total: 9:20, 8:58, 8:50, 8:41, 8:41, 7:56

Merry Christmas!

No run today, but thought I would share my Christmas card with my new friends here!

And our letter too:

I didn’t think I’d be spending another Christmas in Okinawa, but here we (still) are. I am confident that this will be the last Christmas card we send from Oki. We should be leaving the island in January and I hope Indiana still has some snow waiting for me. I can’t wait to finally see snow after 3 and a half long years. You’ll find me in the yard making snow angels, snow men, snow balls, snow cones... A quick shot of a Mid-West winter will serve as a good transition for David--he’ll spend 2009 in Greenland, only about 900 miles from Santa’s workshop.  Brrr!

David was gone again this February, and I didn’t get to witness his absolute elation when his team-NY Giants-won the SuperBowl. Luckily, he made it back just in time to cheer me on in the Okinawa marathon. I’ll never know who he cheered more loudly for--me or the Giants.

David continues to spend a lot of time on the golf course. He recently shot a new “PR”-78. David’s dedication to golf gives me plenty of time for my latest obsession-knitting.

We got a dog! Unfortunately, we only got to keep him for a few hours. He joined us while we were out running one Saturday morning and followed us all the way home--about 4 miles! Then we called his owner and arranged for pick-up.  I wish I could’ve kept him, he would’ve made a great running partner!

In July, we took a dream-trip to Australia! It was fantastic! We--yes, WE--ran the Gold Coast Marathon. It was David’s first one. The jury’s still out on whether it was his last. So far, he hasn’t given up his golf clubs for running shoes. Ten days in “Oz” was a great way to get out of the Oki-heat! I don’t know if the weather forecasts were wrong or if I just forgot what 62-69 degrees felt like, but it was COLD! We each came home with a new coat! We fed kangaroos, ate fries but called them “chips”, cuddled koalas, rode trains & ferries, and took about 100 photos of the Opera House. Although his plans to golf while we were in the Gold Coast were thwarted by the rain several times, David eventually got to go golfing in Sydney.  

Since our return to Okinawa, life has been pretty tame.  We both got back to the grindstone at work and haven’t done much else. I’ll be handing my 2^nd graders over to a new and unsuspecting teacher at the end of November *evil laugh* and enjoying a month of paid vacation until we leave.

6 miles this afternoon. My body was warm, but the air sure was cold and took a while to get used to! By the 2nd mile, I had a stomach cramp... probably because I spent much of the day eating leftover cheese & crackers, cookies and "Buster Bars" (my favorite...I'm sharing the recipe below!).

My little running group meets tomorrow and I'm excited... I didn't see them last week since I was doing the garage sale. 

9:22, 8:48, 9:06, 9:12, 9:13, 8:21.

Buster Bars

8 ounces Club crackers, divided  (I use 1 box...about 1.5 packages)
1 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup milk
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup milk chocoloate chips
1/2 cup butterscotch chips

Place a third of the crackers (about 25) in bottom of an ungreased 13 x 9 x 2
inch pan. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add milk, graham
cracker crumbs and sugars; bring to a boil. Boil, stirring constantly, for 5
minutes. Pour half of the mixture over crackers, carefully spreading to cover.
Place half of the remaining crackers (25) on top. Spread with remaining sugar
mixture. Top with remaining crackers. In a saucepan over low heat, stir the
peanut butter and chips until melted and smooth. Spread over crackers. Chill
until firm, about 1 hour. Cut into small squares. Yield 3-4 dozen. Enjoy!

1 mile to the gym to meet my running group (since we sold my car!), then 7 miles with my group. I got a ride home and sent some of my cookies & fudge out of my house too!

We did a nice route today, out gate 1 and down 58 until the 3.5 mile mark. When we turned around, I took us through the Sunset beach area and it was beautiful today! The water was a gorgeous color...another run where I wish I had my camera! Before I leave, I'm going to go out and take pictures of all of my favorite run routes. Then when I get a treadmill, I can make a slideshow of all of these pretty runs to watch and maybe I'll forget that I'm on the treadmill! Ha!

And another week meeting my 4x a week goal! Woohoo! I might consider raising my goal next week. I'm not sure I'm ready to commit to 6x a week yet like Sasha suggested, but I can certainly try for 5...but that means I'm going to either need to get more running clothes or do more laundry!

9:30, 9:11, 8:57, 8:41

Yesterday there was something weird going on with my back on the lower left side. I used the heating pad that Santa brought me and took it easy. Today I felt much better and although it took me a while to get moving, I went out for a run around 10 this morning. It started out cool but I warmed up pretty fast. I have finally figured out (after 3 and a half years living here!) that my runs go much better if I run around a housing loop that is fairly flat before tackling one of the 3-4 hills that I must go up to get anywhere. When I was heading out of that loop, I saw my husband in his car. He was coming back from his PHA (annual physical) and told me that he needs to run tonight, so I offered to go with him. He's got this weird rash and the doctor says that before he puts the medicine on it he needs to exercise to get the pores to open up or something. So I'm going out for another run later this evening, 3 miles probably. It started raining partway through, but a really enjoyable misty rain. Hope it clears up this afternoon/evening though so David and I can enjoy our run!

A rainy jog to the gym today and then 3 8:00 miles on the treadmill! I've been attempting this workout for the past 4 weeks (skipped last week though) and this is the first time I've really done it! The first time I made it 2 miles, had a little recovery time before a half and then more recovery before another half. The second time I made it 2 miles and then some recovery before the 3rd mile. Today I made it all 3 miles. Boy was there arguing going on in my head to knock that 3rd mile out! The first mile was so easy, but then by the end of the 2nd I had to bargain with myself to go for 3! Did another 2 miles on the treadmill to cool down and then the mile home.

Didn't end up going for my 2nd run with my husband yesterday because he had some dental work done and didn't feel great. After he exercises, he's not allowed to shower for 24 hours because of this medicine he has to take...today is our wedding anniversary and we didn't think that a nice dinner and NO shower after running would be a good combination, so we're waiting until tomorrow!