NYC - Day 1

I was really nervous about flying in the day before the marathon. What if the flight was delayed? What if there was horrible weather? What if I didn’t get to pick up my packet? Fortunately, everything went smoothly and our flight into LaGuardia was about 15 minutes early!

We gathered our luggage..at this point, I didn’t care if it arrived, I had all my race gear stuffed into my carry-on, and we grabbed a cab and arrived at our apartment in record time. It was lunchtime and we were both starving, so we had time to grab a slice of pizza before heading over to the expo.

This is our little apartment in Grammercy Park...it was fun and different to stay here rather than in a hotel. We loved it!

The expo was AWESOME! I got to meet Dean Karnazes, Marshall Ulrich and Liz Robbins and get all their autographs. I also enjoyed looking at all the booths and especially loved the awesome NYC Marathon movie that highlighted each mile of the race and had some great commentary from the race director and previous NYCM winners. I wasn’t all that excited about the NYCM logo stuff, mainly because it was really picked over at this point and I was planning to buy the finisher’s gear on Monday.

Some pictures from the Expo...

Welcome! So Exciting!

Love this!

Meeting Marshall Ulrich...I also met his wife. They were both awesome!

Meeting Dean Karnarzes (aka Karno)! I wish I would have thought up some good questions for him about his crazy long ultras!

Me with Liz Robbins...I probably scared her the way I went on and on about her book. Here I think she is telling me not to worry about the hills Central Park, but I still did.

We spent about an hour and a half (and a lot of money) checking out the expo, then headed over to Rockefeller Center to meet up with my Sister-in-Law and Brother-in-Law and head to tthe "Top of the Rock".   The “Top of the Rock” is an observation deck, sorta like going to the top of the Empire State Building, but you have a better view of Central Park and you have a view of the Empire State Building. The views were amazing and we took a ton of pics. The history behind the Rockefeller is interesting as well, and I am a sucker for this historical stuff!

Me and the Hubs at the "Top of the Rock"

Once we were done ooohhhing and aaahhhing over the views, I connected with my Woodlands Fit peep, RunnerC, and we met for dinner. No carb loading for us! RunnerC swears by hamburgers the day before a race, so we headed over to Le Parker Meridian for burgers behind the secret curtain. My nephew ate there and swears they are the best burgers ever, so we figured we'd try it. He was right, they burgers were good…maybe not awesomely spectacular, but very good. We wanted to try the burgers at The Shake Shack too, but never had a chance.

After dinner, the hubby, SIL and BIL wanted to check out Little Italy. I am always up for a cannoli, so we hopped on the subway and headed there. I probably walked a little more than I should have, but it was all good.  As it approached 9 pm, I decided to call it a night. (Technically, with the time change, it was really 8 pm.) I went back to the apartment to get everything ready for the next day (and checkout all the swag from the Expo), while the rest of the gang went to a neighborhood restaurant (with large TVs) to watch football. I stressed about what time to set my alarm clock for, because of the time change and eventually just decided to stop stressing and go to bed took me awhile to really get to sleep, but I finally did….I woke up about 40 times to go to the bathroom. Not sure what that was about, maybe nerves? Before I knew it, it was time to wake up!!!

The Empire State Building all lit up with the ING NYC Marathon colors!
 I love how the entire city of NY gets into this event!

Random thoughts from the NYCM...

Just a few things I forgot to add to the race report (as if it wasn't long enough)!

Our WF peeps, Brian and Amy, did finish the race in a little over 5 hours. Brian was injured and required some extra walking.

The weather was in the low 40s when the race started, which was perfect. The temps got into the high 50s as the day went on...I would have preferred the 40s all day, but there was a breeze in various places along the way and that was awesome!

I was sooooo thankful to have sunglasses on, because it seemed like we were constantly running right into the sun and there was not a cloud in the sky.

I'll admit that I was disappointed in the medal. Compared to the one I received in 2003 and the ones I've seen in the years since, it was not nearly as impressive. But, the experience in itself is what made this race so incredible, not the medal.

Yes, I was sore the next day! But, once I got moving I felt great. Going down the subway steps was bad, though...and we went to Brooklyn the day after the race which requires you to go down multiple levels of stairs to get to the subway. Can we say ouch???

Like a lot of other races I've run, spectators hold up some pretty funny signs. I had seen some of these before, but they still made me smile. Here are some I saw during the race (may favs are at the bottom):

"Quitting hurts longer!"

"Toenails are for sissies!"

"Chafed Nipples are HOT!"

"Complete Stranger: You inspire me!"

"Well, this sounded like a good idea in June!"

"Don’t be alarmed, but you’re being chased!"

"Worst.Parade.Ever."

"Chuck Norris never ran a marathon!"

"A girl holding a sign that said “Don’t Stop!” and the guy next to her held a sign saying, “That’s What She Said!”

"Run like you stole something!"

"Why 26.2??? Because, 26.3 would be CRAZY!!!"

"I woke up really early to make this sign. That wasn’t easy either."

"Run, total stranger, Run! "

"Where is everyone going? "

"Stalker approaching! Run, run!"

"Sweat is sexy!"

"That’s not sweat, it’s your fat cells crying!"

Girl, “It’s Long and Hard!”, Guy “That’s what she said!”

"Occupy the Finish Line!"

"On the back of a shirt, “Are the Kenyans far behind?”

"I did check and in fact there IS a finish line!"

"Those shorts make your butt look FAST!"

“Don’t poop your pants now, it’s only mile 18!” And along those lines…”If you haven’t sh*t your pants yet, you’re already winning!”

"I don’t know you, but I’m proud of you!"

"Please hurry up, I want to go watch the game!"

"Jack Bauer never ran this far!"

"Hurry up, I’m cold!"

"Embrace the suck!"

"If your nipples aren’t bleeding, you didn’t try hard enough!"

"You’ve got stamina…call me (and had a phone #)"

"Puke and Rally"

After the Bronx, “NO MORE BRIDGES!”

"I’m trying to cross the street! "

"If you stop running, it's still going to hurt!""Toenails are overrated! -or- Black Toenails Are Sexy!"

My favorites:

"You’ve trained longer than Kim Kardashian has been married"

"Unlike the MTA – you RUN!"

"Don’t F*ck With A Woman Who Can Run 26.2 miles!"

"Pain now…wine later!"

"You are the 1%!"

"One day you will not be able to do this…TODAY IS NOT THAT DAY!"

That's it for now. I will post some re-caps and pictures of our time in NYC next week!

So, what funny signs have you seen at races? Weird costumes? Anything else?

NYC Marathon Race Report

Warning - This is gonna be LONG people, I’m sorry!

The NYC Marathon is different from other marathons in a multitude of ways. First of all, you wake up in the wee hours of the morning and take a bus from the NYC public library to the start of the race on Staten Island. I was meeting my Woodland’s Fit peep we'll call her RunnerC), and we were scheduled to take one of the buses leaving at 6 am. The marathon began at 9:30 am. Our wave started at 10:40 am. As you might have realized, there is a lot of waiting between when you arrive on Staten Island and when you actually race.

Pre-Pre Race
I was completely overzealous and woke up at 4:30 am. The time change that morning freaked me out and I was sooo worried that I was going to somehow screw up setting the alarm clock and not make it to my bus on time. Trust me, if anyone can screw this up, it’s me. So, I have 2 cell phones – one woke me up at 3:30 am (because the time did not change) and the other woke me up at 4:30 am (because the time did change). Stupid cell phones. It only took me a few minutes to get ready, so I took the time to double check and make sure I had everything I needed. It wasn’t even 5 am when I was done. Our apartment was a mile from the library and the Hubby agreed to walk there with me. In a hotel, I would have taken a cab, but since we were in an apartment, I wasn’t sure if we’d even see a cab on the way. Lucky for me, we discovered that we were only a block from where there was a perpetual line of cabs waiting and ready to go 24/7. So, we grabbed a cab which resulted in me having about 50 minutes to spare before meeting up with RunnerC. Rather than hanging out on the cold, dark street, I headed over to the nearby McDonald’s. I probably could have just sat down, but felt like I should buy something, so I bought an Egg McMuffin and ate half of it. While in McD’s, I encountered a couple of other runners, but mostly I encountered quite a few young people still intoxicated from their night out, LOL! They were quite entertaining.

Pre-Race
Finally, it was time to meet RunnerC and head for the bus. It took about an hour to get to our stop, because the roads were already pretty congested as we got closer to the start. The “Athlete’s Village” was larger than I remembered and there were definitely more porta potties than I recall. The live band was already playing and people were dancing around. Once we found our designated part of the Athlete’s Village (it’s separated by wave colors – blue, green and orange), we laid out the small tarp I brought and just hung out. We grabbed the coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts and just watched the flow of people. I also had a small blanket and was wearing multiple layers, so the 38 degree temps didn’t seem too bad. RunnerC and I met a nice man from London and later a guy from France, so we chatted it up with them for the next couple of hours. The guy from France (Vincent) had actually been to Houston before, so we talked about his experience there. And, our new friend from London discussed our Governor, Rick Perry, with us….we thought it was funny that he even knew who he was! As the sun started to rise, the temps warmed up quickly and the blanket was no longer needed.

Here are some pics from the Athlete's Village:

The ever-important porta potties! This scene is sooo much different from 2003, when I had to wait AN ENTIRE HOUR to pee!

Me modeling the new trend in fashion - layering. Lots and lots of layers!

Here's me and RunnerC hanging out before the race. Yes, I am sporting an ultra cool Arthur Andersen sweatshirt circa 2000!


Here's the stage with the band already playing!

A view of the Verrazano-Narrows bridge from the Athlete's Village.

We got excited when we heard the cannon for the wheelchair athletes and the elite runners…one hour to go!!!! Time to eat my Pop-Tarts! Before we knew it, it was time to make our last pit-stops at the porta potties and head to the start. The entire time we were hanging out, we were also looking for Woodlands Fit peeps, Amy and Brian. We never saw them. However, as we started making our way to our corral, we suddenly saw them! Crazy that you can find someone you know among these masses (there were something like 47,000 total racing)! I felt a weird pulling on the back of my right knee, probably from sitting for so long in the cold…but it kinda freaked me out. We kept moving toward our corral, stripping off the extra layers of clothes as we went.

The Race!
Finally, we heard “God Bless America” and then the cannon. It’s so anti-climatic, because you have to stand there for several minutes before you can actually start moving. It’s a NYC Marathon tradition for the song “New York, New York” to be played after the cannon, so we just slowly walked forward while singing and dancing to the song. Finally, we began to pick up the pace and before we knew it, we were running (albeit slowly) onto the Varrazano-Narrows bridge. It’s a massive bridge and we were on the lower deck. Every so often, there’d be a work truck with flashing lights and the workers would cheer and then the crowd would roar. Fun! It was deafening, but completely awesome! My Garmin was all wonky on the bridge…I would look down and it would say we were at a 15:35 pace one minute and a 5:27 pace the next. The bridge is about 1 mile of uphill and 1 mile of downhill, and it felt awesome to finally be on the downhill side.

Next, we were in Brooklyn…and lemme tell you – Brooklyn knows how to bring it on race day!!! The next 11 miles are run in Brooklyn and you see a wide variety of people and landmarks. There were loud people cheering from the steps of their brownstones, people cheering from high windows of apartments, people cheering on the sidewalks and lots of bands and djs. In fact, every time you are starting to get into a song that a band is playing, you move forward a few paces and you begin to hear music coming from the next band. It was like one huge party! The only time the crowds grew quiet was when we entered the Hasidic Jewish portion of Williamsburg. In this area, there really weren’t crowds…it was really more like people going along with their normal lives. There were a few people grouped together here and there and we gave a few kids a high fives. Then, several blocks later, it was back to the rowdier, crazier Brooklyn again.

Next stop – Queens. We made our way across the Pulanski Bridge and into Queens, which was pretty much the halfway point of the race. It was about this time that I realized and thought to myself, “This is going to hurt tomorrow!” It was somewhere here that my inner thigh started to cramp up. I kept telling it (in my head) to relax and believe it or not, it did…but, it did this several times from this point forward in the race (even with my regular intake of Endurolytes). You only spend a couple of miles in Queens, but the crowds there are rowdy and crazy, too. In fact, when you leave Queens to go over the Queensboro bridge, it’s almost eerie how quiet it’s suddenly become. The Queensboro bridge is between mile 15 and 16…and this is where my lack of hill training came back to bite me in the ass. Right before going onto the bridge, I saw a sign that said something like, “Make this bridge your bitch!” There were also signs that said, “If less than 10 miles to go is easier” followed by one that said, “Then welcome to easier!”. The signs made me laugh, which did help…but, even with the fun signs I told RunnerC that I was sooooo ready to get off this damn bridge and get into Manhattan. The coolest thing about this part of the race is that as you are (FINALLY) going down the bridge, you round a corner and the sound goes from super-quiet to crazy –ass-roaring-crowds.

IT IS INSANE.

The next couple of miles are run on 1st Avenue in Manhattan along a row of bars and restaurants. The crowds are crazy-huge here. And crazy loud! It’s this stretch where it’s easy to get carried away and start running faster. But before that, you get to go under the Queensboro where there was a heavenly-long row of porta-potties….I was waiting until I found some with no line and there they were! HALLELUJAH! I ran into the nearest empty one and took care of business as quickly as possible.

After taking care of business, we could enjoy the crowds. It was here that I pulled out the cell phone (yes, I had one) and let the Hubby know we were on our way. He was going to meet us around 42 street with orange slices, a Coke, Tylenol, etc. RunnerC and I managed to find the Hubs with my Sister-in-Law and Brother-in-Law. We said a quick hello, grabbed a couple of orange slices, I took a quick swig of the Coke and we were off again. Nothing like seeing your loved ones to put a little pep in your step!

Here I am approaching the Hubs...yes, I looks like a spaz, but there's a smile on my face!

Me blowing the Hubs a kiss as we were on our way after grabbing oranges and saying hi.

The next few miles tend to be rough for a lot of runners. You leave Manhattan, which is such a tease, because now you have to go away from the finish line and into the Bronx. To get to the Bronx, you have to cross yet another bridge, but it’s so much smaller than the Queensboro that neither of us really seemed to care. You don’t spend much time in the Bronx, but the crowds here made it fun and memorable. Someone had a sign that said, “You’re in the Bronx, Keep Running – it’s not safe here!” There was another sign as we were leaving that said, “Welcome to the Bronx, now get the hell out!” I think it was somewhere between Queens and the Bronx when I realized that the bottom of my feet were hurting – ouch! All that pounding on the pavement, I guess. Also, somewhere between Queens and the Bronx we saw a bunch of people holding signs that read, “You’re the Sh*t!”

Finally, it was time to go over the Madison Avenue Bridge through Harlem and back toward Central Park. It felt good to finally be heading back toward the Manhattan skyline! But first, we were entertained in Harlem by a choir and dance group and a couple of rap groups. RunnerC and I were tired, but we were still on track – we were still only walking through the water stops and keeping a pretty good pace. I know our pace did slow a little, but we were still on track to finish in under 5 hours.

I remember being on 5th avenue and FINALLY seeing Central Park to my right. I pointed it out to RunnerC – I know Central Park is fricking HUGE, but it was a sure sign that we were almost done! WHOOT! At some point we skipped a water/walk break…we were getting sick of Gatorade and just wanted to HTFU and get done. But, we ended up taking that walk break a little later when it seemed like we were on a never-ending uphill in along 5th Avenue. Seriously, it seemed like it went on for MILES AND MILES! But, we only walked for a minute and were right back at it. I tried to point out interesting buildings and landmarks like the cougar statue in Central Park or the Guggenheim…anything to keep our mind off our legs. Before mile 24, we finally turned into Central Park, I remember telling RunnerC that we were almost there. HALLELUJAH! At mile 24, we came to a water stop and looked at each other….neither of us wanted to take our designated walk break. “At mile 25”, I said. It seemed to take forever to get to mile 25 and we did walk for a minute through the water stop there (which was dumb since we were almost done!). When I looked at my watch reality set in, we were slightly ahead of my goal pace – I really was going to finish in less than 5 hours! Then we started going again and RunnerC said something like, “Let’s make this bitch ours” (quoting the sign from earlier) and I responded with, “ ‘Cause we’re the SHIT!” (quoting another sign). We turned the corner and saw The Plaza…almost there!!! At some point, we saw a sign telling us that we had 800 meters to go, then 400. I told RunnerC that I really wish I felt like sprinting, but just couldn’t…she said it was okay, because she couldn’t either. I also remember thinking, “Hey, I can swim 400 meters, surely I can run it!” The crowds all through Central Park were awesome and I high-fived a few kiddos.

And then we turned the corner and saw it – THE FINISH!!!! It was an absolutely gorgeous sight! I wish I could tell you that I dug deep and found it in me to sprint to the finish…but I don’t think I did. I probably thought I did, but in reality I wasn’t going any faster, lol. After we made it through the chute, we high fived and hugged. WHOOT, we were done! It was an amazing end to an amazing day!

My Garmin post race - my chip time was 4:57:52, but I forgot to stop the watch right away!

Another unique thing about the NYC marathon is that once you finish running 26.2 miles, you have to walk another mile or so just to pick up your bags and exit Central Park. It’s pretty interesting…just you and thousands of your closest friends wearing medals, grasping mylar blankets, looking tired and spent, shuffling along at a snail’s pace. ! I joked with RunnerC that we looked like a bunch of refugees fleeing a war torn country, because some of us looked like we’d been through our own personal wars. I was feeling rather nauseous, but tried to eat something from our “Recovery Bag” that was given to us. Lemme just say, the Gatorade recovery drink is indeed NASTY. A lady behind us collapsed, so we had to yell for the medics to come over. Before we made it out of the park, we had to call the medics again, because another lady next to us was starting to feel faint. Scary.

We finally claimed our bags and headed out of the park. I called the Hubby to see where he was and I practically bumped right into him before the call went through. He was awesome, offering me coke, oranges, asking me what I needed – did I want a pretzel or hot dog from the vendor?

Because of the road closures and massive crowds, it took us about an hour just to get RunnerC back to her hotel. Then, it probably took another 15 minutes to find a car to take us back to our apartment. Crazy!

Here we are after the race proudly showing off our medals!

Looking back at the race, I think it was even more amazing this time around than it was in 2003. Seriously A-MAZ-ING! As much as I’d like to do this one again, I think it might be awhile. And yes, next time I will do hill training!

NYC Marathon

Well, it's done and I am super happy with the results! I FINALLY became a member of the sub-5 club. For some you folks out there, a sub 5 is nothing...but for a mid to back of the pack runner like me, it's a big accomplishment.

I'll be honest, before the broken toe incident I had some pretty lofty goals for NYC. But since I didn't start my training again until July, and I decided run fewer days in order to train for one more triathlon, I had to adjust those goals a bit. Not to mention that the hill training I intended to add to my workouts just didn't happen thanks to my work schedule...well, life happens and you adjust. But, I knew that I had been training consistently, I did my speedwork like a good girl and all of my long runs were under an 11:30 pace (slightly). Given some decent racing conditions, I knew I was capable of having one hell of a PR. Given decent racing conditions and no weird muscle joint isssues (you just never know), I was pretty sure I could pull off 26.2 in under 5 hours. Although I'll admit - those bridges and hills did scare me a bit. I did have some bridges and a few "hills" during my long runs, but nothing like NYC.

And I did it! My time was 4:57:52...that's a 23 minute marathon PR for me! Can I get a WHOOT?????

Sorry for the blurry and tiny pic, but I didn't feel like typing all of this out. So, as you can see I did slow a little toward the end. Normally, I'd rather speed up, but to be honest there wasn't much left in the tank and those "hills" in Central Park kicked my ass. (see? That's what I get for no hill training!)

I will post a full race report in the next day or so. Sorry for the delay, but we just returned from NYC last night. All I will say is that I loved every minute of every mile. LOVED IT! Well, okay maybe not so much for that gradual incline in Central Park...I HATED that. :-)

Here we go!!!

So here I sit at the airport! It's go time. Seven years ago, I ran NYC and had such a great experience that I decided then and there that I wanted to do this race again to celebrate my 40th birthday.

So, here I am! I am 2 months early, but close enough. I just hope that it's as enjoyable this time around (but faster)!!!

Stay tuned!

Let the obsessing begin!!!

O.M.G.

I am ready to get to NYC, have a great race and then have some fun! I imagine focusing at work today will be a bit of a challenge...lucky for me, I have plenty to do that will give me no other option than to focus!

Here's today's NYC inspired tune from my all time favorite movie, Breakfast at Tiffany's...

Here's what I'm obsessing about:

Weather

Okay, I haven't been obsessing that much, but I checked the weather today....guess what? It looks pretty darn perfect!

Flying
So me and my bright ideas....I decided that we'd leave for NYC on Saturday instead of Friday. Why, you ask? Because when I ran NYC in 2003, we arrived on Friday. It was me and the hubby, plus one of my best friends and her hubby. The guys whined the entire time on Friday and Saturday, because my BFF and I were both running on Sunday and we didn't want to walk a lot (which you do in NYC even when you're trying not to) and we couldn't go out and drink with them on Friday or Saturday night. So, I thought I'd avoid the whining and fly in on Saturday. Well, now I am worried about having issues with our flight and not having time to get to the expo and pick up my race packet. I've been talking to Continental for the past week, checking to see if I can change my flight without using all of my one pass miles or paying a big fee, but I've decided to stick to my original plans and fly on Saturday. I am sure everything will work out!

Nutrition
The NYC marathon is a little different - instead of starting at 7 am or 7:30 am, it begins at 9:40 and my wave begins at 10:40 am. (I think in 2003, the start time was even later, like 11 am). So, I take a bus to Staten Island at 6:00 am and then hang out for HOURS. I am trying to figure out what to eat early in the morning. And, then I can just eat my usual Pop-Tarts about an hour before. I *think* I might eat a bagel thin with PB before leaving our apartment.

The Apartment
My sister-in-law and her husband are meeting us in NYC. She found a pretty good deal on an apartment in NYC using homeaway.com, so we decided we'd share the apartment and save a little money. We had a perfectly good hotel book prior to finding the apartment. Well, would you know it? I read an article on-line earlier this week that talked all about these illegal apartments and apartment rental scams...so now I am worried that we will get to NYC and not really have a place to stay!

The Sickies
I have not been going to bed as early as I normally do and as a result, I have felt a little run down this week. I swear I obsess about every little thing! Why does my throat feel a little scratchy? Why does my ear ache a little? Why am I sneezing so much today? Am I getting sick? To make matters worse, the kiddo started complaining that her stomach felt funny last night before bedtime. Sure enough, at 2 am she woke up and called me to her room and said she didn't feel good. I had just enough time to take her temperature (which was 101.3), before she ran to the bathroom to throw up. After the initial concern, I thought "oh God, please don't let this be contagious, and please don't let anyone else get sick!!!". Luckily, she seems to be doing a bit better today - she still has a temperature, but no stomach issues. The bad news is that she is going to miss her very 1st "All A Honor Roll" breakfast at school this morning. :-(

So anyway, that is what I am obsessing about. I know that everything will work out just fine and I'll have a great race and a fun time in NYC....I just can't wait to get there!!! Oh, and we managed to get tix to see David Letterman! I am really excited, since last time we were there his girlfriend went into labor and Paul Schaffer had to host.

Do you obsess before a race? What do you obsess about? How do you control these crazy obsessions?

New York, New York

The countdown continues! Today's New York inspired song is brought to you by Frank...



Let's talk nutrition.

I have soooo many friends who have been eating clean for awhile now. I've eaten healthy (or healthier), but I've never truly switched to "clean". I've started buying organic meats and some fruits. I've used organic dairy for years. But, I also had quite a bit of the processed crap in my diet.

So a couple of months ago, I decided to finally really clean up my diet. However,that was about the time I also started traveling for work. It's difficult to eat healthy, much less clean while on the road. So, 4 weeks ago when my traveling had come to an end, I decided it was time. My diet is definitely not perfect, but it is soooo much better than before. I've really minimized the amount of processed foods I'm eating and reduced my sugar intake significantly!

What I am eating that I wasn't eating before:

Fage Plain Greek Yogurt w/ fruit and stevia...when I was working with a nutritionist, she suggested this. I thought mixing fruit and stevia with yogurt was too much work and kept eating my regular light yogurt. I did occasionally buy this yogurt and mix in honey, but that was it. The Greek stuff has WAY more protein and not so much sugar. Love it!

Spaghetti Squash...we've had this once a week for 4 weeks and I love it! I've mixed it with a little olive oil, feta, tomatoes, Greek olives and seasoning to eat with grilled chicken. I've also added marinara and ricotta for a different flavor. I also baked butternut squash, which I liked...but not as much as spaghetti squash.

Quinoa...I've been hearing about it for years, but never attempted to cook it myself. Yummo! And, it's packed with protein!

Chia Seeds...Yes, as in a chia pet. I've started adding these to salads and protein shakes. They have 2 times the amount of protein of any grains, 3 times the amount of antioxidants of blueberries, 5 times more calcium than milk, 2 times the amount of potassium in a banana, and 3 times the iron of spinach. They are also supposed to be jam packed full of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids. Cool!

Hummus and Veggies...I'll admit, I am a pita chip eating fool. Until recently it never occurred to me to try veggies with my hummus instead. I am finding that I love my veggies. I eat hummus with cucumbers, zucchini, bell peppers (all colors), etc.

Flavored stevia in coffee...Okay, I'll admit that I am still getting used to this one. I can't seem to get the combination of the stevia and cream just right. I am not really a true coffee drinker. By that, I mean that I go to Starbucks a lot, but I order the skinny vanilla latte. I didn't think this was a bad thing, but there are 18 grams of sugar in a grande! By switching to the regular coffee with stevia, I am not only cutting down on sugar, I am also saving myself a ton of money!

There are tons more, but those are the things that come to mind. There are also some things that I am not doing well:

Lean Cuisines...I am trying to cook things that I can bring to work the next day for lunch. However, there are times when it's just easier and faster to grab a Lean Cuisine on the way out the door in the morning. There are worse things I could be eating for lunch, but this is still funky, processed crap.

Diet Coke...yes, I am a girl who loves her daily Diet Coke (with lime might I add). I only have one a day, but I think I might be able to eventually eliminate this completely from my diet. Maybe. Truth be told, I really love regular coke, but I save those for special occasions.

Wine...Okay, okay, I LOVE my wine. Right now, my favorites are Cabernet and Malbec. I have continued to have a glass or two a week, especially on Saturdays nights when I've had a long run that morning. I figure it's better than having a Mike's Hard Lemonade (my favorite, but it has 220 calories and 30 grams of sugar!). I'll save my other favorite - Margarita's - for special occasions. And just a note - I have not had any wine this week. It's race week after all!

The other issue I've been having is not getting in enough calories. I log everything I eat into Calorie King. At the end of the day, I noticed that I was only at 1,100 - 1,200 calories for the day, and that's not including the exercise calories I've earned for the day. However, I have gotten lots of great ideas for adding some additional healthy calories from friends...including my favorite, having a nice glass of chocolate milk!

Also, I will add that this change in my diet has resulted in me losing a little over 8 lbs. The 1st 4 lbs were lost in the 1st week alone! And, I am happy to say that I am now at my lowest weight since getting pregnant with my 1st kiddo 7 years ago. I still have a few more pounds to lose to reach my goal, but this has been the closest I've gotten to it in YEARS! Now the real challenge will be jumping back into these eating habits as soon as we return from NYC.

So, what are your favorite healthy snacks to munch on? Do you "eat clean" or follow some other eating plan?

New York State of Mind

Quickie update to my workouts since my last post:

Wednesday, 10/26 – 4.5-miles
I woke up too early and had time for some extra mileage before meeting my friend at stupid-thirty.

Thursday, 10/27 – 3 miles

Friday, 10/28 – Rest

Saturday, 10/29 – 6 miles
Last "long run" before NYC! I had a great run with my WF peeps and enjoyed girl talk over coffee afterwards.

Hope everyone had an awesome Halloween! We carved pumpkins and went to a couple of Halloween parties with the kids, then took them out trick or treating on Monday – fun times!

Holy cow, just a few more days ‘til NYC!!!

In honor of the upcoming trip to NYC, I give you NYC-inspired music:



There are things people don’t tell you when you are training for a marathon. Things I had forgotten since running my last marathon FIVE YEARS AGO!

Phantom Pains
Things like phantom pains. In fact, I even blogged about it here before I ran Chicago in 2006. Yep, last week I did P90X Ab Ripper X and the very next day I started to notice hip pain at the top of my right hip. It wasn’t excrutiating, but it was annoying. It was so strange, because I've done this workout hundreds of times and never had any issues (other than sore abs!). When I ran my 6-miler on Saturday, I noticed the pain afterwards and it got more intense as the day went on. Finally, I took an Aleve and that seemed to help. I still feel it today, along with some unusual aches in my lower back on the same side.

Phantom pains?

Who knows? But what I have noticed that during race week of any big race is that I tend to feel unusual aches and pains. I don’t know if these feelings are amplified because of the anticipation, stress, or adrenaline..or if it’s just paranoia. Whatever. I am taking Aleve and will try not to think about it too much. Needless to say, I will not be doing any moreP90X until after NYC!

Weather Obsession
Another thing that I had forgotten was the obsession with the weather. I am being much better about it this time around, though. I’ve decided that I’ve made it through this hot as hell summer (including a 20-miler in less than ideal conditions), so I can pretty much handle whatever Mother Nature throws at me on race day. Although, I was a little freaked out to see snow in NYC over the weekend. Whatever. I have only looked at the forecast 2x in the past week, when normally I would be checking it daily. Here’s the deal – I will bring an outfit for effing cold weather and one for warmer weather. End of story. Right now, it looks like the temps will be in the low 40’s in the morning and the mid-50’s by noon with increasing cloud cover throughout the day…I’m thinking running skirt and short sleeves will be perfect.

Taper Madness
One other thing I forgot about is the taper madness. One of two things tend to happen to me during taper – I either lose motivation and don’t wanna run –or- I feel like such a slug for only running about 10 miles during the week and running single digit runs on Saturday. This year, I am feeling like a slug, especially since I axed the ab workouts. Thankfully, I only have a few more days of feeling like a slug.

I am a total type A personality - I have created a checklist for packing, a list of cupcake places to check out (with addresses, phone numbers and recommended flavors to try), I have a couple of groupons for restaurants to try, tickets for the Met, MoMa and the Guggenheim and a list of other things to see this time around. :-) Can't wait!!!!

A little of this, a little of that

Yahoo, it’s taper time! Here’s a quickie summary of my workouts since my last post:

Friday, 10/21 – Swim
Just a quick 1,200 yd swim. At this point, nothing I do on Friday is going to help my swim on Sunday, but I did want to get in the pool one more time anyway.

Saturday, 10/22 – Run, 10 miles
Okay, so I only had 8 on the schedule for Saturday, but because I missed last week’s 14-miler, I felt the need for one more double digit run. I ran 2 miles before meeting up with WF for their 8 miler. We took this one at an easy pace (10:58) and just decided to enjoy the lower mileage.

Sunday, 10/23 – Oktoberfest Tri (relay – swim leg) & Ab Ripper X
As I mentioned a few days ago, I decided to do the swim leg of a triathlon relay – not because I love to swim or because I rock the swim, but because I suck at the swim and need the practice. Once again, this was a humbling experience. I decided at the last minute to wear my wetsuit, since I didn’t have to worry about my transition time (in a relay, you only have to exit the water, run to transition and pass the timing chip to the person biking). I’ll do a race report later, but let me just day that I did not have the experience that I had at Bridgeland! I also managed to fit in Ab Ripper X later in the day. It felt great to work the core again!

Monday, 10/25 – Run, 3 miles 2 miles
I don’t know what was wrong with me on Monday, but I felt tired and run down. Even my muscles were sore – legs, abs, even my arms and I had a sore throat. Maybe just a case of the Mondays? Or maybe I was feeling run down…since I’ve had the back and neck issues, I have had a hard time getting comfy at night and I am not sleeping as well as usual. I dunno, but I cut the run short and took an Emergen-C, just in case.

Tuesday, 10/25 – Rest
Well, except for Ab Ripper X. :-)

In other news...
Last week was a bit wilder than usual – and I am not just talking about losing our family pet and the ongoing visits to the chiropractor. I don’t usually blog about work, but this news was pretty huge and took us all by surprise - the company I work for announced last week that it was being sold. And, the portion of the company that I work for is going to be sold to a 3rd party so that the buyer can pay off debt from purchasing the company. So, the future is uncertain and things will be interesting to say the least!

On another note, this is my 3rd week of my attempt at getting back to clean(er) eating and things are going great! I am really working on eating less sugar and processed foods, and I am actually down 7 lbs! I will blog more about that later….

Less than 2 weeks until NYC!!! My sister-in-law and I are nailing down our agenda for the trip…if we left it up to the guys, we might end up sitting in our apartment watching TV the entire time we’re there. Or, in a bar watching sports. :-) More on what’s in the works coming soon!

Oh The Places You'll Go....

One of my favorite Dr. Suess Books out there. I often give it as a graduation present (along with $$$, of course)...

I love to travel! And while I'd love to see some exciting, exotic places, my job only requires me to go to the occasional college campus. So, here's where I've been over the past month...

Texas Tech University

Lubbock, TX

Lubbock isn't exactly the most exciting place, but the Tech campus is pretty. I did manage to get in a good 5-miler around the campus and there is an excellent steakhouse on the outskirts of town.

Texas A&M

College Station, TX

Well, this is my alma matter, so I am a bit partial to this campus. WHOOP! I'll admit, there isn't much to do in College Station either, but I thoroughly enjoyed my 6-miler around the campus! The Spirit of Aggieland is alive and well - while running through campus, I passed many groups from the Corps of Cadets who gave me an enthusiastic "Howdy" as our paths crossed. I also enjoyed seeing how much the campus has changed since my days there, but was happy to see some of my favorite places were still there!

Colorado School of Mines

(not to be confused with CO school of Mimes)

Golden, CO

Okay, I have to admit - I LOVE Colorado! I want to move there. Really, I do. I had been to Denver multiple times for work, but had never been to Golden. It's a quaint, cute town with awesome mountain views everywhere. My hotel overlooked Clear Creek, which was just gorgeous. The college is excellent if you want a technical degree, but don't want to attend a huge school like A&M or t.u. I would be willing to go to campus recruiting events here anytime. And, I had a great 4-miler, but the hills and altitude were killer! We also went to dinner at a great steakhouse (owned by Landry's, go figure) with an amazing view of Denver!

I wish I could say the views from my last week at home were this pretty. However, my views have been mostly of the inside of a chiropractor's office and of this:

This week so far...

First of all, I just want to say thanks for all the kind words regarding our loss of Jake. I appreciate it!

Here's what's been going on in my world this week:

Monday, 10/17 – 6 miles & a swim
Still warm and muggy, but not as bad as summer, so no complaints from me. This is my 1st run since last Monday, thanks to the neck/shoulder issues. I was really determined to run my scheduled 14 on Saturday, but was persuaded to follow doctor’s orders and not run until Monday. I’d rather miss a long run to recover from this mess, than make it worse and be out another week. Technically, I think the doctor wanted me to wait until after my appointment to run. Details, details. It was much cooler in the morning, so that’s when I headed out for my run. Sorry, doc! I managed to get in 6 miles (10:30 pace), because I was taking a vacation day – yay me!

Also, for some unknown reason, I signed up to do the swim portion of a tri relay on Saturday. (STUPID!) Because of this, I thought it might be a good idea to get back in the pool (DUH!). I had every intention of getting into the pool last week, but the neck/shoulder thing prevented me from this (because it does help to be able to move your arms and head while swimming). Actually, I know why I volunteered for this…it’s because I hate the swim. And, because a certain coach once told me that the only way to overcome my swim issues is to get back out there and race. So, I didn’t want to risk falling off my bike or tweaking an ankle during a 5k race, so I decided to follow the coach’s advice and get more experience racing the swim via this relay. Lord help me!

Tuesday, 10/18 – rest day
“Rest from what?”, you might be asking. I was asking myself the same thing after not running for an entire week. But, I knew I’d rather run on Wednesday and Thursday when the weather was supposed to be much cooler, so Tuesday was my rest day.

Wednesday, 10/19 – 5 miles and swim
Okay, so Wednesday is normally my mid-week-short-long-run day. That was true until 4 weeks ago when I began traveling for work. Then last week, well, it was the freaking neck/shoulder thing. So this has been where I’ve cut my mileage during the week– I usually run 5-6 in the morning and then 2-4 (depending on the schedule) in the evening. I know this is not ideal, but seriously people, who has time to do 7 – 10 miles midweek and work and have quality time with their family? Once again, for the 5th week in a row, I ended up only doing the morning portion of my runs do to other priorities...I have this pesky swim coming up and for that I needed some more practice. My morning run was done at a 10:15 pace, my after work swim – 1200 yds

Thursday, 10/20 – 3 miles
Okay, okay this was supposed to be 4 miles, but the darn snooze button got the best of me! And, since I had overslept, I had to haul booty – 9:32 pace thankyouverymuch cool weather!

I am a bit bummed that, due to the shoulder/neck issues, I have not been able to do my usual strength training. No P90X (i.e. push ups, chin ups, weights, abs, etc.). I am hoping that at the very least, I will be back to at least doing Ab Ripper X between now and the marathon.

Now I need to decide what to do this weekend. I feel guilty about missing my 14-miler on Saturday, but I think I will stick to my planned 10 this week and 8 next week. Only 16 days 'til NYC!!!

RIP Jakey Boy

Jake

1997 - 2011

A year ago, we had a scare - the Hubby came home from work to find Jake barely able to greet him. Jake had vomited several times and was trying his best to make it to the front door, but had to lean on the wall for support. After taking him to a vet (who I would not recommend), we knew nothing - it could be early kidney failure, it could be cancer, it could even be doggie vertigo. The vet's reasoning - why test Jake for anything? He was 13 years old after all.

Fortunately, he improved. However, it was a wake-up call to us that our precious family member was growing old and would not be with us forever. Of course we knew this, but it was not something we wanted to think about. Jake was never quite the same after that episode, he still followed us around the house and chased the kids around the yard. He still greeted us at the door every evening (when he heard us, that is). But it was obvious that he did have some mobility issues. Over the past two months, he stopped going up and down the stairs. I know this was a tough decision for Jake, because he loved to be where we were. But, going down the stairs was not an easy task anymore.

This weekend was a tough one. It sucked. On Saturday evening, it was obvious that something was terribly wrong with our Jakey boy. We went outside to watch the kids play and act like heathens. Jake was outside laying in the yard and was unable to get up. His breathing was shallow. We debated about taking him to the emergency vet clinic near our house, but the Hubby thought we should wait and see. Jake passed away in the night.

Jake was a wonderful pet. He was more than a pet to us - he was often referred to (and treated as) our first child. A month after the Hubby and I were married, we found him at the SPCA. For me, it was love at first sight - I knew immediately that he was the right puppy for us! The Hubby will deny it and tell you that he was the one who chose Jake, but it was really me.

Jake made me feel safe all the years the Hubby worked nights (and we were living in a sketchy neighborhood). The Hubby and I often commented on how lucky we were to have such a great, easygoing dog - he was easy to potty train, he never dug up the yard, never barked too much or jumped on guests. He did go through a chewing phase, but it was short. He was my walking, then running companion for years. When the Kiddo came along, he adapted remarkably well...even thought we made him stop sitting on the furniture and stop sleeping in our bed. He adapted well to the Munchkin, even though he was now outnumbered. Even in recent months, he'd act like a spry pup and chase the kids around the backyard.

I recently read the book, The Art of Racing in the Rain, about a dog who learned through watching National Geographic that in Mongolia dogs are believed to be reincarnated as men. In the book, the dog could comprehend what his owner was telling him. I figured if there was any truth to that, I wanted Jake to know exactly how special he was to us. While Jake laid there in the yard, I told him how lucky we were to have him and thanked him for being such an awesome dog. And then I told him that he could go if he was ready and that we'd see him again one day. According to the book Heaven is for Real, there are indeed dogs in heaven. I don't know if this is really true, but I'd like to be naive and think that it is.

And while we'd eventually like to get another dog, it might be awhile. Jake will be a tough act to follow.

Thank you Jake for 14 awesome years. You will not be forgotten.

road-block

road-block

n.

definition - Something, such as a situation or condition, that prevents further progress toward an accomplishment.

Yep, this training season has been quite interesting. Lots of roadblocks this year. Let me recap for you:

• Mid-May - I broke my toe, causing me to postpone marathon training for 6 weeks and miss two triathlons on my race schedule.


• Mid-June - Found out I had strep throat...caused me to miss a few workouts - even with the broken toe, I was doing strength training (i.e. P90X), riding my bike and swimming. But, I should have rested longer, because a month later....
• Mid-July - Just when I get to start running again, I manage to get Strep once again. And until June of this year, I had never had strep. Ever. This time, just to make sure I was 100% better, I took a week off from workouts of any kind.

This brings me to this week....

• Mid October - Things had been going extremely well with my training for the past couple of months. However, remember that crazy "crick" in my neck before the 18-miler? It came back on Monday with a vengeance!

This is so odd, because it's the 3rd time this has happened since late August. I woke up feeling a little stiff in the neck, but nothing too terrible. I got dressed and headed out for an easy, peasy 3-miler. I came home and started getting ready for work and there I was, in the shower, when the pain hit. The same muscle cramping in my shoulders as before, but this time it was much worse.

I continued to get dressed, got the kiddos dressed and dropped them off at school. I rode the bus into downtown to work (big mistake!) and by the time I made it up to my office (lugging my laptop), I was in terrible pain. So much so, that I was on the verge of tears. I could not lift my arms to answer my phone or type on my keyboard. I needed to leave to go to the doctor, but because I rode the bus, I was stranded. My bus stops running after a certain point in the morning and doesn't run again until the afternoon. I finally got brave enough to pick up the phone (which hurt like hell) and call my doctor. He could fit me in that day, so then I had to ask my Dad to pick me up. Thank God for retired parents who live nearby!

Anyway, I went to my general practitioner who basically told me that I must have slept wrong and to take Advil. Gee, thanks (there goes $65 I will never get back into my HSA)! I did what he said and I felt better the next day, so I went to work. Unfortunately, I think I may have overdone it by working 12 hours, because on Wednesday my neck and shoulders hurt even more. Soooo, I asked some of my running peeps for a referral and that led me to my very 1st visit with a chiropractor.

I will refer to this doctor as DR. AWESOME. I didn't feel this way immediately after my 1st visit, because to be honest he didn't have any miracle cure. And, he did not prescribe any medication to mask the pain - which at that time I really wanted - pain killers and muscle relaxers - I guess wine would have to do. But, what he did do is take a x-ray, followed by some adjusting in my back and neck, electronic stimulation of my muscles, and some painful deep tissue massage.

There were no immediate results. Yes people, I expect miracles in this day in age!!! But, that evening, I noticed a difference! I really did!

I noticed a better range of motion with my head and arms. There was still quite a bit of pain, but it wasn't quite a severe as earlier that day. The next day I went back again and had more good results - last night I could lay down without almost crying and this morning I could actually reach up and turn off my alarm clock without crying out in pain! Thank you DR. AWESOME! While I'm not 100% better, the improvement is awesome! I am going back on Monday, which will hopefully be my last visit to DR. AWESOME.

The problem - I am not supposed to run until Monday for a few days. DR. AWESOME is worried that I might tense up my shoulders during the run, which might aggravate the area. I am pretty determined to run the 14 miles on my schedule for Saturday, but I may not. The problem is that I really don't have time to run that kind of mileage after my check-up on Monday. I'll let you know what I decide...

In the meantime, I am more than a little bummed. My training has not been where it needs to be for the past 3 weeks due to travel for work. While I have been running on the days I'm supposed to, I haven't been running the mileage I should be running - kinda hard to do when you're working 8 am - 5 pm, then taking college students to dinner until 8 or 9 pm, then going back to a hotel room to catch up on e-mails in the evening. Not that I don't enjoy it, but it does kinda make training difficult. I had vowed to get right on track for these final 4 weeks of training and then the stupid shoulder/neck/back thing had to happen. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!

So, I will end on these two quotes and will try to remember them when I encounter any future roadblocks:

If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. ~Michael Jordan

For every failure, there's an alternative course of action. You just have to find it. When you come to a roadblock, take a detour. ~Mary Kay Ash

Long Run Update

Well, I survived my 18 and 20 miler. Both were runs that I wasn’t sure would even happen…why, you ask? Allow me to explain….

I woke up the morning of my 18-miler feeling good. I went to the kitchen to put my pop tarts in the toaster and made a pit-stop in the bathroom. TMI, I know, but as I was sitting there I started to notice what my Grandma would call a “crick” in my neck. Then, a few seconds later, the muscles in my shoulders began to tighten and the pain I felt was excruciating. Seriously, I wasn’t sure if I could get up. After a minute or two, the tightening began to subside, but my neck and shoulders were still sore. I could barely get dressed and turning my head from side to side was near impossible. But, being the busy runner mom that I am, I went ahead and met up with some friends for a 6 mile “pre-run” before meeting with Woodlands Fit for 12 more miles. I knew if I didn’t fit the run in then, I might never find another time. Somehow, someway, I made it through all 18-miles without any back or neck pain. In fact, after making it home, I told the Hubby that the run almost seemed too easy. I felt great!!! (Well, other than the neck issues.)

My 20-miler was actually supposed to be 2 weeks after the 18-miler, followed by a 12 miler and then followed by a 22-miler. But, I have some running peeps who decided to delay their 20-miler by one week and run 10 miles before running the local “10 for Texas” 10-mile race. The idea was that running the last 10 miles with the crowds, the cheering and water stops would be more fun than running 20-miles on our own. The thought of changing up my training schedule made me nervous…I really wanted a 2nd 20+mile run. If nothing else, having two 20-milers would be a good confidence builder. But, I decided to run with my friends.

Wouldn’t you know it, on the date of my originally planned 20-miler, we had amazing 58-degree temps and zero humidity. However, on the date of the 10 for Texas, the temps were in the 70s and humid as heck! Figures.

The reason this run almost didn’t happen? Tummy issues. (TMI again) Seriously, I spent more time in the bathroom before the run than I did getting dressed. I debated taking Imodium, but decided against it since I’ve never used it before a run before. Fortunately, by the time I made it to our designated meeting place and made one more stop in the Market Street bathroom, I felt better. Not 100%, but better. The 1st 10-miles felt pretty good. My stomach felt off, but it didn’t get any worse with my Bee Stingers or Gatorade. Then, we had just enough time to freshen up a bit – change shirts, cool off with icy cold wash cloths, etc. – before we headed to the start of the 10 for Texas.

The race went well, although I was definitely not racing. I have PRed two years in a row, so that did make it a little hard to not want to go faster…not that I could at that point! I’ll admit, the warm temps really got to me and at mile 16 or 16.5-ish, I really started to feel it. Instead of walking for a minute at each mile, I began to take a quick walk break every ½ mile. I did this until a little after mile 18, when I got my 2nd wind and could run more. I even charged up the bridge at mile 19. Honestly, I think I was just happy to be almost done! I finished at a pace of 11:24…not fast by any means, but actually 1 second faster than my goal pace. Given the conditions that morning, I will take it! And, the best part is that my legs felt great afterwards! I know I could have run another 6.2, but of course I didn’t want to. J

So compared to the training for my last marathon 5 years ago, I feel stronger both physically and mentally. The me 5 years ago would have been a pansy and walked the bridge at the end of the race or beaten myself up about those few extra walk breaks. This year, I feel like my recovery is faster as well. It’s a great feeling!

Long Run Re-Cap

So here’s a re-cap of my long runs in recent weeks…I figure it would take too long to update you on every little workout that occurred over the past month!

August 13 - 12-miler –
This was a typical summer morning in Houston – you know, 80 degrees with a “feels like” temp of 90 at 5 am. To make matters worse, I had a bit of a sinus infection and had taken a Zyrtec the night before. This is the 1st time I’d ever taken Zyrtec. The group I am running with was only scheduled for 7 miles, so I ran a 5-mile out and back before meeting up with them.

By the time I finished the 5-miler, I felt a bit spacey. I wasn’t sure if it was the heat or the Zyrtec. I debated about whether I should stop or go ahead with the next 7 miles. After grabbing some water and a Gu, I decided to keep going.

This was the most difficult 12-miler ever. I was okay for the 1st few miles, but after that, I walked way too much. I was fortunate enough to run into a couple of people from the group doing 4/1s, so I stayed with them the rest of the way. Just barely. My pace was a very pathetic 12:01. Ugh.

August 20 – 14-miler –
Somehow I lucked out on this run – the temps were hovering around 77 and the humidity wasn’t quite as bad as usual. I was worried about whether or not I could finish 14 miles after that disaster of 12-miler the week before. This week, the kiddos were attending a birthday party at 9:30 am (CRAZY!), so I ended up running in my neighborhood to save time.

I ran the 1st 7 miles in one big loop around my neighborhood going in and out of the different sections. I stopped at my house, where I put a cooler in the driveway with cold water, Gatorade, endurolytes, etc. Trust me, with a 3 year old and a 6 year old, I didn’t want to go into the house…then, I might never make it back out!

My 2nd 7 miles were pretty non-eventful. I think mentally, I felt strong until about mile 13 when I was just ready for the run to be over. My pace wasn’t great, but much better than the previous week at 11:45.

September 3 – 16-miler
Once again, we had too much to on the agenda for Saturday, so I ran in my neighborhood again. The previous week was a cut-back week, so I was well rested and ready for 16-miles. I lucked out again with the weather – it was slightly cooler, the humidity was low and it was windy. Normally, I don’t like a headwind, but it felt great every time I turned a corner and was hit by the wind.

The original plan was to come back to my house at 6-miles, 12-miles and then finish with the final 4-miles…for some reason, it’s easier for me to head out on that last stretch knowing I have fewer miles that the previous two loops. But, it was cooler and I didn’t drink as much as usual, so I managed 8 miles for my 1st loop. At home, Ire-filled my hand-held bottle at my house and headed out again. It was getting a bit warmer since the sun was now up and I ran out of water on my 2nd loop…luckily, I was only a mile away from a water fountain where I could re-fill my bottle.

My legs did start to feel fatigued toward the end of the run, but overall I felt really good! And much to my surprise, my pace was better than the previous 2 long runs – 11:28. It’s amazing what a little cooler weather will do. Once I stopped running, I really felt it in my legs! I ended up having a big glass of ice cold chocolate milk and had an ice bath. I made sure to stay active the rest of the day so that I didn’t have time for everything to stiffen up…this is easy to do with my two small kids!

Last weekend was another cut-back week, so only 10 miles on the schedule – the weather was a good 10-degrees cooler and it felt great. My pace was a sub-11 minute pace (just barely). And, I was able to run with my regular running group, which was a nice change. In fact, I met a woman who lives near me and who is crazy enough to get up at stupid thirty and run with me! We ran together at stupid-thirty this morning.

This weekend I have 18-miles to look forward to (NOT)! The warmer temps and humidity are back in full force, so it’s going to be interesting. Gotta remember to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!!!

So what are you doing this weekend? What mileage are you running? Tell me!

Bridgeland Tri Race Report (finally!)

Sorry, I’ve been a loser and have not posted in over a month! What can I say, except that life happens. Sometimes trying to juggle a busy job, hubby, kids, household stuff and training gets crazier than I really like. It’s times like that when I question my sanity and my ability of doing of these things well. When things get crazy, I don't always feel like blogging for whatever reason...

And now for the fun stuff – the Bridgeland Tri race report!

The hubby and I decided we’d leave the house a little before 5 am, since it takes at least 40 minutes to get to the race location. Typically, I wouldn’t leave quite so early, but since this was the hubby’s 1st tri, I decided to do whatever I could to make the morning as stress-free as possible for him. We arrived and parked with no problem and made our way over to transition. Later, I heard that traffic had gotten really backed up which may or may not have contributed to the race starting about 10 minutes late, so I was really glad we decided to arrive early.

Here we are hanging out in transition

Once we both set up our spots in transition, we chatted with a couple of people we knew and headed over to the swim start. It was way early, but we both wanted to get in the water for a short practice swim. The swim start is about a ¼ mile from transition and the swim is point to point, so you end up right at the transition area. About the time we were about to go into the water, a race official told us that there would be no practice swimming. We were bummed, especially since we saw people in the water already. I ran into tri pal, Merry, and she walked over to the side and waded in. While I was standing there trying to decide if I wanted to be a rebel with her, the race official walked away and several people started to enter the water. We said, “Screw it!”, and joined the other swimmers. Such rebels we are!

This is the lake where we swam...it looks harmless. right?

Next, it was time to stand in the porta potty line. The Hubby was in one of the earlier waves, but my wave didn’t start until 45 minutes after the 1st wave, so I thought that I better take care of business. J After that, I ran into some of my peeps – Jennifer (my weekend biking friend), Kay (my Katy FLATland friend) and a few others. Kay and I were in the same wave and before we knew it, someone was telling us to line up. We were so busy chatting it up with people, that we didn’t even realize that it was almost our turn!

The Swim. I am super pleased to say that this is the 1st time I didn’t freak out during the swim. I think it’s safe to say that I have finally overcome my open water swimming issues. FINALLY. I took off and despite being kicked and pushed and me kicking and pushing others, I just swam! Can I get a WHOOT? About 250 m into the swim, I heard someone saying, “help, help” to my right. After a moment, I realize that I know that voice! It was one of my running peeps and she was having a rough swim. I noticed a kayak to my left, so I shouted “Kayak!!!!” as loud as I could. I asked my peep if she was okay, to which she replied “NO!”. Once I saw that the kayak was almost to her, I headed off on my swim again. Again, I was calm. No freakouts! Before I knew it, I was turning to head to the shore. I couldn’t believe it – I was almost done! This was not a fast swim, but it was my most comfortable swim during a race ever. I loved it!

The bike. Next, I ran to my bike, which was conveniently close to the swim exit, but not so convenient to the run out. I thought I was hurrying, but my T1 time doesn’t reflect that at all, lol. I headed out on the bike, mounted and off I went. The bike was basically an out and back, ride past the start/finish, and then out and back the other direction. The 1st out had a bit of a wind, but not too bad. The way back was awesome – there was a bit of a tailwind and my average pace was consistently around 20 – 21 mph. For me this is great! I was playing leap frog with a couple of women most of the time, and we were passing lots of people. Of course, I got passed as well, but everyone who passed me had a pretty cool looking tri bike and looked very serious about what they were doing. After I passed the bike in/out, I did something pretty dumb – I dropped my water bottle as I was trying to put it back in the holder, doh! And, it was my favorite pink, insulated bottle from Tri-Girl, Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Finally, it was time to turn and head back to transition. It was windier at this point, but I only had about 2 more miles, so I tried to stay strong.

Back in transition. I think I did pretty well in T2, but for some reason the timing chip didn’t register. I was pretty winded heading into my run. I looked down at my Garmin and saw that I had started out at a 9:02 pace…yeah, better slow down cause I don’t run that fast! And slow down I did. I think I wasn’t exactly in the best frame of mind for running. The heat was making me grumpy. I walked through the 1st water stop, then walked again on the 2nd one. Then I walked again sometime before I hit the 3 mile marker. Seriously? I know I didn’t need those walk breaks…in retrospect I know I was just being a wuss. I think that extra half mile (since most races end with a 5k) was playing with me mentally. But finally I was rounding the corner and could see the finish, so I tried to pick up the pace a bit and sprint it in.

My finish time –
I knew I wouldn’t have the same run pace as CB&I after being out for so long, so my goal was to finish in under 1:40. I beat that, so I am pleased, but like so many of us who do this, I know there are areas that I could have done better (i.e. the run!). But, I swam the 500 1 minute faster than CB&I and I had my best bike pace ever! So yes, I am very happy about that!
And, I am super proud of the hubby. He did awesome!

Here we are after the race with our awesome bling!

Bridgeland also had an amazing post race party with plenty of food and beer. They even had troughs full of ice cold water to sit in and ease the achy muscles. And the medal? A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!!

Cool medal, huh???

I highly recommend this race and any other races from OnUrLeft productions. They are well organized and 1st class all the way!

More updates on what's been happening for the past month are coming soon! (I promise!)

It's Just STUPID HOT!

Note...I am borrowing the phrase "stupid hot" from Susan. Really, there's just no other way to describe what most of the country is experiencing right now!

Monday, August 1 - Rest day
I started to type July and then stopped...holy crap it's already August! Monday was a rest day. And I'll be honest, my legs were pretty sore from the 11-miler the day before - the left quad was feeling tight, the right shin was feeling sore...ugh, and that was only 11 miles. The fun is just starting! :-)

Tuesday, August 2 - Run & Abs
Normally, Tuesday would be my speedwork day, but my legs were still a bit achey and I have a race this weekend, so I decided to just run 3-miles fairly easy. And, for whatever reason I just didn't feeling like running in the dark at stupid-thirty, so I opted to use the indoor track at work during my lunch break.

The track is on the 8th floor of a building in downtown Houston. Yes, the loops are mind numbing, but it's in the a/c and at least I get to look at buildings and the action on the street below. And, this is one of the only times I actually listen to my ipod when I run (well, here and on the dreadmill). It's nice to have options.

Once the kiddos were in bed, I did Ab Ripper X for a core workout. I have done this workout so often, that I can do the entire workout without watching the P90X dvd. So, I did the entire workout while watching The Wonder Years, lol. I forgot how cute that show was.

Wednesday, August 3 - Run and Swim
Instead of pushing my snooze button too many times, I actually forgot to set my alarm clock. Doh! Actually, I did set an alarm, but it wasn't mine...it was the Hubby's alarm (we have a clock with dual alarms). Fortunately, I have an internal alarm clock and it woke me up at 4:18 am. Double doh! I knew I wouldn't quite have time for 5 miles, but I decided I'd run as far as I could in the time that I had to work with.

Before I headed out for my run, I let the dog out so he could take care of business. Ugh, I could feel that wave of warm, moist air the minute I opened the back door - YUCK! When I set out on my run, I was trying not to complain, but damn! It was a sauna. I struggled managed through my miles - 4.89...yes, I should have run that last .11, but I was now late getting into the shower and I was already back at my house. It probably didn't help that I stopped for a minute or two to talk to my "friend". He didn't get into Houston for the 1/2 marathon for the 2nd year in a row and was majorly bummed. Prior to the lotto, he had run the marathon once and the 1/2 marathon 6x. So instead, he is doing The Woodlands 1/2 Marathon in March and maybe the USA Fit 1/2. It's good to have a "friend" out there running at stupid-thirty. And, when I made it back home, I learned from the news that it was 82 degrees outside with a "feels like" of 90. At 4:30 am! Anyway, I have got to get better about getting out the door in the mornings in a timely manner. I know as the runs get longer, I will eventually need to split up the mileage, but it does help to get a large chunk of the mileage out of the way early!

After work, I headed to the gym for my swim. The kids have swim lessons on Wednesday nights and I absolutely hate to miss that, but by the time I leave work, take the bus to the Park & Ride and drive the 20 minute drive to swim class, class would almost be over. So...I've deemed this my swim day - I can get in a shorter swim, then make it home a few minutes before the Hubby and kids get there which gives me just enough time to get something going for dinner. My swim - 45 minutes, 1,600 yds.

Tomorrow, I am going to try to set aside some time for a short bike/run brick. I just bought a new pair of tri shorts, so I want to try them out before Sunday's race....nothing new on race day, right?

Speaking of the heat...which do you prefer for running/training - the hot, humid summers, or the icy cold winters?

Weekend Re-Cap

Saturday, July 30 – Open Water Swim
The hubby and I went to the triathlon clinic held by Onurmark on Saturday. The clinic would not only give us an opportunity to get some good tips about each aspect of the sport, but it would also give us an opportunity to swim the actual race course for the upcoming Bridgeland Triathlon.

The clinic was awesome. I think it gave the Hubby some great first-timer information and it was a good for me to hear all the things I’d heard before, but may have forgotten. Once we signed in, we headed over to the swim start and got some great open water swim tips from local swim guru, TJ Fry. The crowd was mostly first-timers and TJ did a great job of getting a laugh here and there during the clinic, which I think helped get some of the nervousness out. Finally, it was time to swim.

This is where we swam and will swim again at our tri on Sat. Doesn't look too bad, does it?

The the race coordinators asked people to line up and start in waves, which was excellent practice for the real deal. I could tell the hubby was nervous, but after watching the 1st few waves go, he lined up and made his way into the water. I definitely know how he was feeling…even now I get the OWS jitters. But this time I was actually feeling really calm about everything. I was just ready to swim. And for once, I had one of my best open water swims ever!

FINALLY!

I forgot to start my watch, so I have no idea of my time…it wasn’t really about that. In fact, my swim felt pretty slow. What was awesome is that I didn’t have any of my typical “freakout”. AT ALL. NONE! I just swam and kept going. And it was almost all freestyle! I did revert back to my side-stroke when I was trying to sight, but it was one stroke and then right back to freestyle. I did get kicked and bumped. A lot. But, I only worried about what I was doing, blocked out everyone else and just kept swimming! For those of you who remember this post, you know that this is a HUGE milestone for me.

While I don’t want to get too happy about this until I’ve done the same thing at a race, I actually feel like I’ve finally gotten over the hump. I can finally swim (not gasp and panic) in open water!
I wish I could say the same thing for the Hubby. What he experienced was a typical newbie thing. He struggled a bit – it sounds like he had a tough time with the breathing (which has always been my problem). Again, I know exactly how he was feeling, because until this swim I was always getting that ows “freakout” – you know, where you just can’t seem to catch your breath and everything you practice in the pool goes completely out the window! But he finished! I was so proud when I saw him coming to shore…he did it!

I was hoping to get in one more swim on the course, but I think the clinic started a little late and by the time we walked around to the start again, the course was closed. Bummer. The woman coordinating the swim did let a couple of us swim out to the 1st buoy and back, which was nice.

Next we headed over to the transition part of the clinic. Again, great information and great tips from On Your Mark. The hubby and I decided that the clinic as definitely worth the $20 we paid and the drive across town! I think we’re pretty much ready for next weekend’s race…well, as ready as we’re gonna be!

Sunday, July 31 – Long run, 11 miles
I actually considered running my long run on Saturday evening, just to get it over with. But, it was dang hot at 7:30 pm and I knew it would be at least 10 degrees cooler in the morning.

Yummy goodness in every box!

For the 1st time, I ate a Pop Tart before my run. Any excuse to eat a sugary sweet Pop Tart is fine with me - I love me some Pop Tarts, but don't eat them because, let's face it, they're crap. And maybe that Pop Tart helped, because I felt fantastic for a majority of my run. My original plan was to head back to “base” (i.e. my house) every 4 - 5 miles where I could re-fill my hand held bottle, grab a Gu or Endurolytes, etc. But, I had some Bee Stinger Chews with me and by mile 5, I still had some Gatorade left in my bottle so I kept going. I didn’t make it back to “base” until mile 7.5, which is when I re-filled, Gu-ed and took 2 more Endurolytes. At that time, my pace was an unimpressive 11:35. But, I swore I would just run what felt comfortable and not stress about those 11’s. At this point, I still felt great and even comptenplated running 12 instead of 11.

I headed back out for my final few miles. The run still felt great, but around mile 10, I just wanted to be done. (Did I really consider doing 12 earlier?) I made it back to my house and looked at my watch...I still had another .20 to do! Ugh, I hate it when that happens...I just wanted to go inside my house and shower! But, I kept going and finally my watch beeped - 11 miles done @ 11:27 pace. Whoot, I'm back in the double digits! And, I was right - the temps were cooler. Only 75 degrees, versus the normal 82.

After showering and having breakfast with the family (thanks to my sweet Hubby), the kiddos and I hung out while the Hubby went out for his 2 1/2 hour bike ride. What do you do when it's going to "feel like" 102 degrees and your kids are bored silly? You build and indoor tent, of course!

I have a feeling we well be getting out our old sheets again this summer. As much as I love to be outdoors and take the kids to the playground, it's just too fricking hot to be out there.

Do you use pop tarts before your long runs or something else? What do you do to beat the heat on your runs? With your kiddos?

Stupid-thirty, take 2

Wednesday, July 27 – Run & Strength Training

I woke up at stupid thirty again to run 5 miles. However, I pushed the snooze button 2x more than I should have, so my run had to be cut to 4 miles. Well, 4.23 miles. Do you think I’m stressing about the pesky .77 that I didn’t run. Well, yes I am actually, because I am type A….but not enough to go out and run that .77 later! And, I am happy to report that I did not run into any potheads, cows or other strange things. I did see a large raccoon crossing the street, but that’s it. And, my “friend” was out there this morning, along with another runner…whoohoo, it’s great to know that I am not alone in this stupid-thirty endeavor.

My pace? We’ll it was slightly under 11 minute/mile. As I was running, I came to the conclusion that as long as it’s stupid-hot at stupid-thirty, I would be okay seeing miles in the 11-minute range. I am not going to freak out about it. In previous summers, I often saw miles in the 12-minute range, so anything 11:30 or faster will do. So there, I said it and I am not going to stress over it.

Thursday, July 28 – Spin and Swim

No stupid-thirty this morning! I prepped 2 bags on Wednesday night – one for the pool after work and one to take to work for lunchtime spin class. Naturally, it wasn’t until after I dragged the huge workout bag on the bus that I checked my Outlook calendar and noticed that I had back to back meetings pretty much all day…including during lunch. I forgot about that one, doh! So, no spin class for the 2nd week in a row. I’ve got to start planning better and going to one earlier in the week…it’s just that the Thursday class tends to be a little more challenging and that’s exactly what I need.

After work, I did manage to fit in a swim. It was only 1,200 meters and I really needed to do more, but it’s important to me that I make it home in time to help the Hubby put the kids to bed. So 1,200 it was. I had planned to also swim on Wednesday, but the schedule just didn’t allow for it. I am going to have to figure out how to get more swims in, especially if I want to meet one of the goals I’ve set for next year!

So that’s it…Friday is my scheduled rest day, but my weekend workouts are all messed up and I might end up working out on Friday afterall. The hubs and I have an open water swim clinic on Saturday morning, so that means I’ll have to do my long run on Sunday and skip my longer bike ride. Oh, and we do get to have a “date night” on Friday, because the kiddos are staying with my parents..woohoo! Probably dinner and movie…should we see Captain America or Cowboys and Aliens???

So, what’s on your agenda for the weekend? Workouts? Fun stuff?