Plodding along through the week

It's almost the weekend and I've run twice this week so far. Yesterday I made it back into the 13-minute range for ONE mile.

I almost hate to even post my runs on Instagram because I see most people are in the 8-9 minute paces for miles and miles and miles. Here I am with my tortoise-in-the-shell runs.

I post my runs for two reasons: 1) It's the easiest way I've found to look back on my runs to see if I'm progressing at all (I'm too lazy to actually log my times, but I'm planning on changing this bad habit) 2) I know for me, personally, I love seeing the "slower" runners progress. It gives me HOPE! Maybe somebody who wants to give up on running will see there are other runners out there outside the 8-9 minute pace range. Maybe it will encourage them. Or maybe we will all say 'darn it' and move on with our lives.

Since my last post, I've run...

The first run was with my daughter. My newly-turned-7-year-old daughter. She wanted to see if she could run a mile. She totally could complete it if it weren't for me being slow. It was HOT. She'd walk and whine, then would speed up and pass me up. That kid. It was a lot of fun, but we were both utterly happy when we were done. 15:26 for one mile.

The next run was in the afternoon. I need to start getting up before everyone else and run for the cooler temps. But, I'm trying to take advantage of the afternoon runs while I can. I love running in the daylight. In the past I've been an early-morning runner in the dark.

The run yesterday was around 9 a.m. The temperature was 10 degrees cooler than normal. But, this tiny one mile beat my ass into the ground. I didn't hydrate enough and today I've got day two of an exercise-induced headache. Those are the worst! I need to drink more water before runs and after runs. One day I'll learn my lesson.

Seeing that 9-minute "max" range felt really good. It's a good confidence boost I needed. Now, that was probably for only a few seconds, but to see a single digit was cool.

I have lost one pound so far this week, but I'm hoping for another pound before my next weigh-in.

Right now I'm at 167.

How are your runs? Is it super hot where you are yet?

I Probably Should Give Up

Hello! Yes, I probably should give up on this blog. It's the blog that's nonexistent for the most part. It's been a busy month and a half since I last posted. I always think I'll have time to post and I end up shortchanged each day with time. It's probably a matter of time management.

So to get caught up - I've got a new job! Ahhhh, it's at LSU and so far I'm loving it. I'm still freelancing and I've really enjoyed that. The money is also good for the amount of time I put into it.

I had posted about a Twitter contest in which you tweeted the summary of your novel (you've wrote) and if agents "liked" it, you send them your written summary and however many pages they wanted. I had TWO like my summary.

That sounds disappointing, but there were thousands of entries, so yay for two!

It's not great, but wow, I needed that validation that my story has something to it. One agent did pass on my novel. The other agent, who is also a co-owner of a publishing company, read ten pages, then asked me to send in the entire manuscript.

She read through it and emailed me back with a ton of notes. You guys, tears. She did say I needed to change the setting, fix a couple of things and I can resubmit it.

This was such a big help and gave me confidence to keep going and not give up!

I also had one of my friend's read it and give me her thoughts. This was huge for me because she has her OWN book coming out in June. She knows the industry and gave me helpful advice.

She's been fantastic during all this and encouraging me every step of the way.

I have received 9 rejections so far from agents. I still have 14 out. In a month I'm going to revise that manuscript, then start agent shopping again. This is a long process to become published. Long.

We are officially moved into our house. It's about 60 percent decorated. We have almost all the furniture except for a dresser for E.

This has taken forever and I feel like I walk around the house in circles.

I love it so far. This house is an upgrade from what we had that was flooded. I'm not used to all the space. The outside is amazing and landscaped. This week I'll do a post with pics of my "trees" I planted. I also planted a weird tiny garden. People may scoff at the photos, but I wanted to try out my green thumb before spending a lot of money.

Have I ever mentioned I'm cheap? I'm cheap.

Running - I have not run nearly as much as I had planned in my head. I've run a few times and I'm getting back into a routine of running, then weights on days I don't run.

Here are some of my runs:

Those are all one-mile runs. I've been running in the afternoon and it's hot. That last one was with E riding her scooter. Maybe not the best idea since I had to yell at her to stay on the left side of the road.

This is nowhere close to my happy pace. I've gained like five pounds over the last couple of months. Which is terrible, but not surprising because food has been the last thing on my mind. Well, healthy food that is. :)

I have mapped out my spreadsheet that will take me to next January's half-marathon and next March's full-marathon. snort.

I'm also trying to keep certain weight loss goals. Double snort.

My daughter's birthday was on Easter and her party is this Saturday at our new house. I'm very excited and am doing my best to wrap up this house organization before then.

Happy running! (and writing!)