Sweaty Hugs

Progress...I've got a bit of a story to tell...

2012-01-26T08:16:00.000-08:00

If you think for one second, that hard work, AND perseverance doesn't pay off...well, then you are sorely mistaken. I've got a bit of a story to tell, and I'm getting stronger and more brave as the days go by. It's pure, it's honest, and it's true. I hope to share soon!

I'm feeling the best I have in years...

2012-01-13T08:57:00.000-08:00

I've been running, here and there...

8k - Dec. 2011

We're working ourselves back up into some longer miles and on Sunday we got in a fantastic 7 miles! Hello, RNR USA Half Marathon! :)

Flipping tires and climbing up ropes at CrossFit...

I've been CrossFitting 3 x's a week for the past 3 months and so far I am LOVING the challenge it brings me.

I've also been busy tending to my lovely little family...

Physically I'm feeling (and looking) the best I have in years! I've been focusing a lot on CrossFit (3.5 months in!) and I've also been fitting in a run and spin class every now and again. This new change in routine seems to be working really well for me and my body is changing in so many ways. For January, I've been cleaning up my eating, trying to eat clean for 75-80% of the time and in the next few weeks or so, I'm hoping to have a really nice progress photo update to share with everyone!

A little thank you...and update. Crossfit!

2011-12-05T08:45:00.000-08:00

You guys, I am overwhelmed by the comments as well as all of the emails you all have sent over the past few weeks. I really had no idea my last post would spark such great responses and feedback. So again, thank you. I'm super happy with the path I am on now after struggling to see "change" for so long. I cannot express to you all enough just how important the weight training is. I never ever thought for a minute that cutting back my cardio and increasing my lifting would yeild such great results. I'm almost to the point where I want to kick the scale to the curb forever! LOL! On another note, many of you asked and emailed about my training plan! If you'd like to know what I did for the initial 12 weeks, feel free to send me an email. Email addy is on my sidebar. :)

Anyway, I should share that about a month ago, I decided to lose my ever-loving mind and give Crossfit a try. I knew going into the winter and holiday months that I needed something new, interesting and challenging for myself and that this would be a great fit. In fact, I had been doing a ton of research and reading about it, when I found that there was an awesome local Crossfit box that just so happened to be around the corner from my current gym, and my daughters cheer gym. Anyway, my friend and I went in about a month ago. We had our initial assessment, our free session, and then a few days later we were both experiencing our very first Workout of the Day. (WOD)

To say the WODS are challenging would be putting it lightly. In fact, for the first time in my life I am moving my body and challenging myself in ways I never would have otherwise. I'm doing all of the movements, like pull-ups (oh, they are assisted at this point LOL), sit ups, push-ups, burpees, box jumps, jumping rope (seriously!)...that I would normally avoid.

Is it hard? Sure. However, everytime I walk out of the box, I have surprised myself and I'm actually proud. Proud that I have committed myself to 3x's a week, proud that I have finished every workout thrown my way. In fact I'm getting ready to committ myself for another month of Crossfit. So here goes month #2...

I hope to blog about this more over the upcoming weeks...

Weight Training works. The End. (Photos!)

2011-11-17T08:02:00.000-08:00

It's not easy for me to share these photos, but I feel pretty strongly about the title of this post and the changes my body has made over the past few weeks. The photo on the left was snapped just AFTER I trained and finished the Iron Girl triathlon relay back in August. In that photo I was logging serious miles mainly spinning, cycling outside and running 5-6 days a week. All cardio...all the time!

In the photo on the right, I cut back on my cardio (which was really hard to do at first) and stuck to my lifting plan of 5 days a week (split body parts...back/bi's, chest/tri's, shoulders, legs, etc.) and had 2-3 days of either 60 minutes of running or spinning. I should also add that I've made a concerted effort to eat 6 meals a day (mainly clean eating and upping my protein intake!), and I'm sure to have a protein shake after every single workout. :)

I knew my body was changing over the past few weeks, but I didn't realize just how much until I snapped the photo on the right. Between the two photos, I've really probably only lost about 5 lbs....but you can tell I've certainly leaned out a bit. I'm also on my way to fitting in a jean size that never existed to me after my kiddos. :)

Anyway, I just popped in to share my progress! I have more to share on my new workouts...and will def. do that soon!

I made it 8 weeks!

2011-10-27T12:06:00.000-07:00

Hi All! Just wanted to pop in and say that I've made it 8+ weeks on my new weight training plan, and man oh man what a difference it is making in my body! I haven't lost that many lbs. on this plan (4-5ish?) but I've gone down another size in clothes! Just goes to show that the scale isn't always what we should go by!

Me on my way to the gym a week ago!

I also did something pretty exciting and participated in my first ever obstacle course 5k last weekend! 3+ miles of never-ending hills, wall climbing, sliding, swimming (yes swimming!!!), thick mud, jumping haystacks, oh and being chased by zombies. LOL! You name it, we did it! Such an awesome experience! I highly recommend looking into whether or not the Run For your Lives 5k is coming to a town near you.

I have some more updates coming soon. Hope you all are doing well!

What have I been up to? Pumping Iron...that's what...UPDATE!

2011-09-14T10:30:00.000-07:00

Most recent photo

Since the Iron Girl triathlon relay I've been going really strong in the 5-6 days a week workout department. I've also had quite a bit of time to reflect and re-group as my next big event isn't until March of next year.

During this time I've decided to make some big changes in my training plan...

Most of my friends already know this, but over the past few months I was logging anywhere from 40 to 100+ miles a week spinning, running, and outdoor cycling. IT WAS ALL CARDIO. ALL THE TIME. NOTHING ELSE. Don't get me wrong, it was great! In fact, all the cardio is what helped me shed almost 30lbs, while helping my endurance become rock-solid. The thing was...and this something that I realized was that despite all the mileage and hard work, I was also...STILL FLABBY!

I knew in my heart that I needed to change things up. I trained hard for Iron Girl, moved out of my comfort zone of just running, took up cycling...but I knew that if I wanted to get that leaner, tighter, physique I needed to add something else. This something else turned out to be weight training. So after talking to a lot of people and with the support and advice of my husband, trainer, and gym, and online buddies I have begun a new 8 week training plan which (if followed closely) I will get leaner, stronger (let's face it, I'm weak!) and toned.

The training plan consists of lifting (heavy! none of that low weight/high rep stuff) 4-5 days a week (splitting up body parts) and cardio 3 days a week, and abs. So with this plan I still get to run, and take my favorite spin classes. Yay! (Just not 6 days a week of it. LOL)

Right now I just began week 3 and I am finally starting to LOVE it. During week 1 I admit it took everything within me to walk past that Monday night spin class and hit the weights, but you know what? I'm seeing results already! I have a new soreness (muscle growth) that I'm becoming more familiar with and my cardio days are days that I now look forward too. :) It's true absence does make the heart grow fonder. ;)

I hope to continue to update you all along the way over these next few weeks. As of right now, I am not to be following a scale, but how my clothes fit and measurements. I'm really, REALLY excited about kicking it up notch and seeing some muscle tone...FINALLY!

We did it! IG triathlon relay is in the bag!

2011-08-23T08:34:00.000-07:00

We did it! The Iron Girl Columbia triathlon relay is in.the.bag! I couldn't of asked for a better swim, bike, and run team! So much fun! I'm not sure if a lot of you know, but my teammate was the lovely Katye, from Long Legs on the Loose who in fact, crushed the 3.3 hilly run. :)

I kept telling her the entire weekend how happy I was that we were teammates. This was by far, THE most stress free race/event I have ever participated in. We roomed together at the host hotel and together we spent some $ dough hitting up the expo, racked my bike at the park, had a nice low-key pasta dinner, and then stopped at Target for some last minute items. Not too long after, we got back to the room did we shower and head off to dreamland. :)

The next morning we were up early. Step 1 for me was starting the coffee maker (sorry Katye! ha!). We packed up our things, checked out of the hotel and we were on the shuttle to Centennial in the dark. Shortly after we got there we got our bodies marked with our race #'s and a HUGE "R" for relay on our calves. LOL

We settled in, walked around for a bit (I caught up with my hubby and kiddos! :)) and before we knew it...the rain started and then it started P-O-U-R-I-N-G with a little bit of thunder! Yikes! We took cover under some trees, laughed about the rain, and people watched. Eventually we made it over the Team ASA tent and waited until the first swim wave started...and waited some more! LOL Everything had been pushed back by 20 minutes, so the downtime was a bit more than anticipated. In between the waiting I found my family and friends, which def helped pass some of the time.

Around 9 a.m. (I think?) our swimmer was in the water! It was time for me to head over to the transition area to be ready for her to meet me at my bike. It didn't take long for her to crush the .6 mile swim and the next thing I know we were transferring the chip to my ankle, and I was off to conquer this...

As soon as I hit the course I settled in and started pushing it (passing a few of the ladies on 108). It wasn't until I was around mile 3 that I realized I forgot to hit start on my Garmin. LOL Time was flying and I was having the BEST time out there. The hills were no joke, but being in the right gear made them totally doable. In fact, the dreaded, steep Mt. Albert didn't seem as bad as it once was...(I think the longer gradual climbs were worse! LOL). Before I knew it I was at the turnaround and heading back. I realized at times going up those hills that I was going steady but slow, so I made a mental note to get in a heavier gear on the downhills to push it and GO...sometimes reaching a speed of 28.1 mph! For the first time ever, I wasn't scared of the downhills. I felt in control and just so fearless!

Coming down on the home stretch I was still feeling good. Still smiling, still cheering on the other gals out there. Coming back into Centennial was a bit of a blur, I sort of couldn't believe it was over... I came in fast, hopped off the bike, and ran to my rack where Katye was waiting. I don't even think we said two words to each other then. LOL I just stuck my leg out, she grabbed the chip...and took off!!!! I got myself together, caught up with my family and friends...and we were off to see Katye bring it home....

And that she did my friends...I couldn't believe it! Minutes after getting to the run course finish area there she was! LOL

FINAL RESULTS:
Team We TRI Together - a.k.a. - Team Long Hugs and Sweaty Legs ;)
Placing: 19 out of 96 Relay Teams!!!!

Combined Time: 2:02:47
.6 Swim: 17:44

17.5 bike: 1:17:35
3.3 Run: 24:46

And there you have it folks, my Iron Girl triathlon relay experience. It was just.plain.fun and I would LOVE to do it again! :) All in all, I think it's pretty damn amazing what can happen when you train well for something. A mere 6-7 months ago, I didn't have much road cycling experience. I got my road bike, took a class, joined up with strangers for group rides, went out to Columbia to do the actual course, put in serious miles in spin classes...and I DID IT!!!!!! I couldn't be more proud of us. :)

I'll end this post with a quote I wanted to share...

“Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new." - B. Tracy

I've gotta believe...(BIG UPDATE!)

2011-08-17T06:38:00.000-07:00

I'm a terrible blogger. This is something I freely admit. However, don't you go thinking I've been on the lazy train just because of the lack of posts. No sir! This gal has been busy.

I'm still spinning, cycling (more training rides on the Iron Girl Course), and I've even thrown in a little bit of running here and there. Just yesterday I went out and rode a lovely 26 miles. In the midst of all my workouts I did manage to take a lovely family beach vacation to down south for about a week. Here are some photos taken via cellphone. ;)

I should also mention that the Iron Girl triathlon relay is THIS COMING Sunday! Whooohooo! I am incredibly nervous as the course is by no means flat. My most recent training ride on the course was with a group this past weekend and it pretty much rained the entire ride. To be out there on the slick roads, dodging puddles, mini rivers, climbing up hills, and riding fast downhills was quite challenging but I survived. We ended up only riding about half of the course. (The ride leaders decided that it was too dangerous for all of us to be out there so we did a shortened out and back ride.)

In fact, thee photo above is what I snapped from my car after the ride was over. Pouring rain! My thoughts on this are, if I can do this ride in 2 p.m., 90+ degree heat + humidity, aaaaand now pouring down rain, I've gotta believe that I will be fine come race day. :)

Speaking of race day, I picked up my team tri kit and this is what we'll be wearing:

Um yeah, that's a lot of spandex in my opinion. *sigh* LOL

Look at what I did last night! (Half Marathon registration!)

2011-08-03T06:44:00.000-07:00

Last night I registered for my second half marathon!
RNR USA!

March 17, 2012

Some of you already know I ran the relay of this same event (before RNR took over) earlier this year and really enjoyed the course and the fact that it was local. Oh, and the fact that I ran the 5 miles non-stop! ;)

To add to that, some of you already know that I have also completed my first ever half last September (another RNR event) in VA Beach with a finish time of 3:19.

The exciting thing about this second half marathon is that no matter what, I am going to PR!

Here's why:

I'm almost 30lbs lighter than I was during my last half
My endurance has improved significantly in the past 8 months
I PR'd my 5k time earlier this year by almost 6 minutes
and while I haven't run an officially timed 10k, I know I can finish one way over 10 minutes faster than my first 10k.
Overall, I just feel better both physically and mentally about this half...

For the next few weeks I'm going to focus on riding and preparing for the Iron Girl triathlon relay. Then after that, I'll refocus my effort towards base running and researching training plans. :)

Yay! So excited!

I love running...

2011-07-29T12:17:00.000-07:00

Especially when I've been away from it. Yesterday, all I could think about was getting in a run. I've been on the bike A LOT lately and I just wanted to do something different. Something that didn't involve sitting on a hard seat for hours. ;)

So after work yesterday, I went home, enjoyed a quick bite of pb on an Arnold's thin and headed out the door to the gym. Once there, I proceeded to run pretty much non-stop for over an hour.

6.2 miles - 68 minutes - Average pace: 10:58's

Nothing really exciting happened during the run, but I was happy. Happy with how great I felt during the run. Happy to just be running. I was even thinking that I could have just kept going. Maybe I could've cranked out 8 miles? Seriously, that's how great I felt. However, duties called and I needed to get home for dinner and family time.

With that being said, I'll leave you all with a few photos of what's been keeping me busy.... :) Enjoy!

Iron Girl Practice Ride

Kiddos at the Harbor

My sweet ride!

Ordered more BIC Bands! Yay!

Me and my son on the Potomac

Fresh fruit from a Virginia farm.

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend planned! I have a fun family day planned as well as more riding!

Iron Girl Clinic + Practice Ride - DONE!

2011-07-25T08:23:00.000-07:00

Lord! I am feeling it a bit this morning! Butt and quads are pretty achey. ha!

So the IG practice ride went well yesterday! 70+ women...all backgrounds, shapes, abilities! So awesome! Clinic started at 1 (learned more about the bike, tire changing, chains, irongirl info, etc.) and we didn't hit the road until after 2:15ish... Needless to say it was hot. Like ridiculously hot. I was thanking my lucky stars that I had been hydrating most of the weekend, and had 2 cages on my bike frame, one for water and one for powerade. (By a few miles into the course some of the ladies were already thru most of their fluids!)

The course itself is 17.5 miles, but starting at the sports store on some additional distance. Oh joy! First mile into the course (see above) there is quite an incline awaiting. I made it up just fine and thought, oh am I in for it. More inclines and rolling hills and then just before 5, was the steepest hill I have ever had to go up. It's short but steep with a left turn going into it. The leaders warned us that we had better be in the right gear. I got my mental game ready and made it up! Side note: I felt so bad for one girl whose chain popped in the middle of going up that steep hill. :(

Because it was so hot we would stop a total of 4 x's thru the course for quick breaks. That would allow us to hide in the shade and wait for the other ladies who were still catching up. One good thing I wanted to make note of was that we had a van follow along side of us, and a few guys from mid-md tri riding with us to help wih any issues. The support out there was awesome.

Again, the course itself is ridiculouslly challenging, with a lot of just general climbing and rolling hills. Add in crazy temperatures and the whole thing was just plain hard. LOL (Thinking...I'll take 30 miles flat vs 17+ miles of hills any freaking day of the week!) On another note, I was so thankful to have gotten my road bike when I did. Some of the ladies were doing this course on mountain bikes/hybrids and I seriously wanted to cry for them. I should also add that there were a # of ladies who were cramping, throwing up, and they had to be caravanded back to the starting area...it was brutal.

There were times during the ride when I had to really dig deep and just power through the hills knowing I still had a ways to go. When we were riding down some of the big hills it was really scary! I kept thinking that if I were to hit a pothole, rock, or any of the other bike tires (we were riding close)...it would probably mean I was going to fly off the bike. Another scary thing was riding with cars zooming past so fast! At one point I found myself riding in between 2 cars. I didn't panic though, just focused on making it through. It's funny how some fears (like riding on hills and turns with cars) subside b/c you're just in a mindset that you need to get through and be done!!!!

All in all the experience proved to be worth it. I showed up, not knowing a single soul, went out there and was able to hang with the middle of the pack, power up hills I never would want to go up on my own, and really just had to keep self-talking my way through the heat. Also my chain popped off 2 times (shifting too fast), so I'd have to pull over, get it back on (not easy) then catch up with the pack. LOL Stressful! Ha!

While being out on the road and riding the course was good, I know without a doubt if I had not been spinning all these months I wouldn't have made it. Sure getting on the road bike on the weekends is good (gotta get comfy with riding and shifting gears), but the hard spin sessions with climbing, and building up my endurance...is the true reason I was able to power through. I'm going to be thanking my spin instructors this week. For every hill we climbed in class and I cursed them...I am now thanking them!

Race is a month away. I'll keep riding, spinning, and running 'til then. I'm glad I did this...even with the heat. I think that extra challenge made me realize I'll be just fine come race day.

This weekend I'm cycling this...

2011-07-22T12:03:00.000-07:00

I need all the happy, positive, exciting, "you can do this" vibes sent my way this weekend as I venture out to attend a triathlon/bike clinic taking place this weekend in preparation for my upcoming IronGirl triathlon relay - which is just ONE MONTH away! Woot!

After the bike clinic the coaches will divide us up in groups of threes where we'll actually go out and get to preview and cycle the actual IronGirl course...which happens to look like this.

Oh hello, hills...LOL

The course distance, which is a little over 17 miles itself won't be a problem. After all, I've been doubling that on the weekends with my road bike, and I'm still spinning 60+ miles a week. Endurance and distance-wise, I'VE GOT THIS...but shifting (uh, properly), and speeding down hills will be a bit out of my comfort zone. ;) Needless to say, I'm a bit nervous and excited all at the same time!

In between my long weekend rides and spin classes, I'm still running and doing a bit of p90x here and there. I haven't run anything over 6 miles, but I'm happy to say I've still got a really nice base I'm keeping up with.

I hope to be back on Monday to blog all about how it went! 'Til then hope you all have a great weekend. To all the locals, stay cool! ;)

I did it! 30 miles done!

2011-07-11T05:41:00.000-07:00

As training for Irongirl is underway, I've scheduled to ride with a group a few days a week (mainly weekend mornings) and, well...yesterday I ventured out with my road bike and ended up cycling 30 miles! THIRTY MILES PEOPLE! This is huge for me.

Sure I've cycled that distance+ indoors on a spin bike, but to move outside of my comfort zone (a big one at that) and get outside on my bike (with my nervousness) to accomplish a such a nice distance left me feeling so happy and emotional. As I shared with others, this time last year 10-12 miles outside on a bike nearly took me down, LOL...so to have tripled that distance with no problem what-so-ever endurance wise has me feeling really good.

I wish I had pictures to share but I didn't take any. :( I will say that once the ride was over, I was drenched in sweat, and had dirt on my legs and even my arms. Ha! Who knew you could get so dirty riding outside?

I've been a little busy lately...

2011-06-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

with these lovelies...

celebrating the awesome accomplishments of this little...err... I mean big guy:

Our hectic spring baseball season of 50 +/- games (league & travel combined) is finally over! Words cannot describe how much of a proud baseball mama I am. :)

With that being said, I am still going S T R O N G getting in the miles with spinning and running! If we're friends on Dailymile you can check out my workouts.

Just this past Monday I was able to get in an awesome double spin class session (thanks to cheer practice being canceled ;)) and on Tuesday I took advantage of my lunch break at home and ran a really enjoyable 4 miles. I say it was enjoyable because I had the new Beyonce album blasting in my ears and I set a nice comfortable pace and just zoned out. I actually felt like I could just keep going! Really love it when my runs feel like that.

This coming weekend my husband is putting on my new bike rack and I'll be doing some running and cycling outside! Can't wait!

Begining the weekend with huge a 5k - PR!!!

2011-06-13T08:01:00.000-07:00

As a last minute decision I decided to register for the Lawyers Have a Heart 10k in downtown Washington, D.C. with my awesome gym team challenge buddies. This was to be a first race for one of my buddies, and we planned to run it together and finish together! I was super excited knowing that no matter what happened my finish time for this race was going to be a P.R.! I had only ever run 1 10k, which was Zooma and my finish time then was 1:29. I have improved so much since that race last year.

About an hour or so into our arrival we heard the announcement that the 10k race was being changed to a 5k due to a heat advisory for the area. Craziness! In fact, they mentioned that some of the officials in the area were trying to have the race canceled!

So a 5k race it was! There were over 3,000 runners for this race and they set up 3 corrals. My friends and I started in the second corral, and by 7:35 we were off!

Mile 1 - 10:50 (lots of weaving!)

Mile 2 - 10:20

Mile 3 - 9:30!!! (Second fastest mile ever for me!)

with only .14 miles left we sprinted to the finish!

Official time: 31:54

PR - by 5+ minutes since last year!

A little background, in 2009 I completed my first ever 5k in 43+ minutes. In 2010 I ran a couple 5k races and for the life of me, I could not get myself out of the 37/38 minute 5k time.

All in all, I am just so happy and proud of myself! There were times where I never thought I'd get under 35 minutes. Just goes to show that persistence and cross-training!!! makes a huge difference.

Opening up about weight loss and progress (photos included)

2011-05-31T09:31:00.000-07:00

Top: Me at a 5k with friends in October 2010 | Bottom: Me at the Wine Country Half Marathon May 2011

Since December 2010, I have lost a total of 26 lbs. My weight loss has been slow, yet very steady, averaging about 5lbs. a month, and to say that I am so much happier now is putting it lightly. I mention that because, those closest to me, know that over the past few years weight loss has been a HUGE struggle…..as in, it just wasn’t happening for me.

Background:

I started the couch25k running plan in 2009 – no weight loss

I trained for my first half marathon in 2010 – no true solid weight loss

Got a running injury late fall – no weight loss

It wasn't until I got injured and began physical therapy late last year, that things started happening for me. A few weeks into physical therapy, I decided that it was time to join my local gym. So in November I joined, and in December 2010, I hired a personal trainer (who was aware of my injury) and I started going…regularly. (*key word - regularly*) After all, not being able to run for quite a few weeks was going to drive me a little batty, and I knew that in order to come back better and stronger I needed to do something.

After joining the gym, I slowly began to increase my workouts, going from running a few miles 3 days a week, to spinning (looove!), lifting, and then eventually throwing running back into the mix and working out 6 days a week. Yes, 6 days a week!

I realized a few months into my weight loss journey, that for me, personally…it has to be more than running. It has to be more than just working out 2-3 days a week. It has to be about eating better, and making the right choices. I saw that in order to see and feel results I needed to shake things up, and make working out a priority in my life. Even, as a full-time, working wife and mother of 2 very sporty/active kids…I had realize that an hour away for myself, is totally OKAY.

So here I am now, 26 lbs. lighter. An accomplishment I am very proud of after struggling and not "getting-it" for years.

I will say that I still have a ways to go as far as this whole journey is concerned, but I am happy with my progress and determined to make it to my goal of losing another 10-15 lbs. I know it’s going to be hard, but I’m so happy with my results so far and the progress I've made in my fitness. It’s finally happening for me…and that’s what keeps me motivated.

I survived my road cycling class and loved it!

2011-05-23T11:36:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, I took my first ever Road Cycling course to kick off my training for the bike leg of the Iron Girl triathlon relay! The class was given through REI's Outdoor Training School (Wash. D.C. area location) and I seriously cannot say enough good things about the course. The class exceeded my expectations and gave me just the boost I needed to move my indoor cycling...to OUTdoors. :)

The class was approximately 5.5 hours long and was filled with information on all of the basics. We started with talking the importance of bike fit, tire pressure, safety, braking, gear shifting (flats & hills) and within an hour we hit the W&OD trail.

The ride was so freaking awesome! I really loved every second of pumping my legs and feeling the wind against my face. We talked a lot about gear shifting and they even took us off of the trail into some of the surrounding neighborhoods to conquer hills! I must say that I was thanking my lucky stars that I had been spinning so much prior to taking this class. Even though they deemed this as a good "beginner" course, I'm almost positive that it wouldn't have been that great of an experience had I not been in some kind of halfway decent shape.

About 2 hours into our ride, our little group stopped at lunch at Whole Foods which ended up being perfect timing to get a little fuel for the second half of the ride. I also refilled my water bottle...very important with the 85 degree temps and by then we were ready to head back in.

The total ride for me ended up being 19.2 miles! Not bad...not bad at all. :) Upon our return, we learned how to change a tire and then did quick recap of everything we learned.

All in all the class was awesome, the instructors were great and the ride was wonderful! I can't wait to hit the trail on my bike now!

Enter Road Cycling...

2011-05-20T06:44:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in one of my blog posts last year, the next event I have ahead of me is the Iron Girl tri-relay this coming August. For the relay I am committed to the 17.5 mile bike portion of the race where I not only hope to survive, but I hope to do well for my team. Yeah!

Since Dec./Jan. I've been spinning around 60-80 miles a week (Thank you, Daily Mile for helping me keep my stats! LOL) and while doing so has been amazing for my endurance, quad strength, and getting my butt acclimated to the bike seat....I know it's imperative that I start actually getting myself OUTSIDE and on my road bike. :)

So...with that being said...Enter Road Cycling Course!
This weekend I'm taking a 6 hr. intro to road cycling class with a friend, where I'll learn ALL the ins and outs of the proper technique for shifting, braking, and hill descending/climbing. I'll also be learning about etiquette and how to avoid hazards in the road.

To say I'm excited is putting it mildly. I AM AMPED for this class! I feel like it's exactly what I need to jumpstart my training for the Iron Girl. If anyone has an advice to send my way, please do so!!!! I'll be sure to do a blog post on how the class went when it's over. :)

P.S. - I am also working on a blog post regarding weight loss...before/mid-way photo included. :) As of today I have lost a total of 25 lbs.!

My fastest mile...

2011-05-18T10:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I decided to head out to the local trail with my daughter (she rode her bike) for a little run while the boys headed out to baseball. It was gorgeous out, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get outside for a bit and still be home in time to make the all of us a nice dinner.

I ended up running 3.02 miles in 32 minutes! Average pace - 10:37

Here's the kicker...mile 1 was my fastest mile ever @ 9:12! During my run, I noticed I was approaching the first mile marker so I glanced down at my Garmin and saw where I was with the minutes. I was shocked! I ended up pushing it a tad bit more knowing that I was going to stop and enjoy this moment.:

Important note: I have never ever really been successful at getting a sub 10 minute miler until recently. So this is big for me.

Needless to say, I had to stop and take a picture of this awesome moment. Ha!

Never mind the fact that I felt a bit woozy and the next 2 miles were significantly slower. ;) I am proud!

Check out my video - Wine Country California Trip 2011

2011-05-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

Santa Barbara Wine Country Half...

2011-05-13T11:01:00.000-07:00

I have no clue where my post when yesterday?

Let me try this again! I spent last weekend in Santa Barbara California my closest girlfriends. We celebrated my birthday, did a ton of wine tastings, walked on the beach, saw the sites, ate some incredible food...and we relayed the SB Wine Country Half Marathon.

Team Get Mer-low

13.1 miles - 2:09

I ran the first 5.85 miles, which according to the elevation was a gradual incline the entire portion (with rolling hills! LORD! LOL) in 68 minutes! Not too shabby! The course itself was gorgeous! We ran past farms, gated homes, gorgeous mountains and vineyards.

I'll let the photos tell the rest...enjoy!

Three Things Thursday (Santa Barbara/Road Cycling/Heat!)

2011-04-28T11:07:00.000-07:00

Hi guys! Hope you all had a nice holiday weekend and are doing great!.

As for me, I've been doing well...sticking with my new workout plan while still making it to tumbling lessons and baseball games for these two kiddos...

I also got to spend some quality time in NYC with my sweet girl, to celebrate her upcoming 9th birthday! (American Girl was incredible!)

It's been a while since I've done a Three Things post, and since I have some exciting things coming up, I figured today's the day...

1. This time, next week I'll be on plane to Santa Barbara Wine Country, with three of my closest girlfriends! The trip will be a quick one, but well worth it! We plan to drive up the coast, enjoy great wine, cuisine, scenery, (our hotel is on the beach!)...oh and run the relay for the SB Wine Country Half Marathon!!! This trip is a dream come true for us. I can't wait to share the photos when we return.

2. I am all signed up to take my very first road cycling class in a few weeks! As most of you may already know, I'm committed to cycling the 17.5 bike course in the Columbia, MD IronGirl triathlon - relay this coming August! The lovely Katye is my teammate! For the past few months I've been spinning around 80 miles a week and while that's been helpful as far as endurance is concerned, I've got to get my butt outside and on my road bike. I can't wait! I think the class is going to be a great way to get me on the right track.

3. I'm having a heck of a time acclimating to the heat and humidity. The other day my running buddy and I went out to run around a local high school around 4:30 p.m. and honest to goodness, I had to ask if we could run back to the car after mile 1 (10:26 pace) so that I could get my handheld water bottle! Yikes! I ended up running 3.25 miles in 35 minutes. I think we had planned to do around 3-4, but the heat was really bothering me. I'm not sure I want to run outside in the afternoon with the temps like that. It's going to have to be early mornings or evenings!

New Workout Plan + running update: 1st sub-10 minute mile!

2011-04-19T11:10:00.000-07:00

Hi bloggie friends. Hope you all are doing well. Thanks for the "congrats" on the 8 week gym challenge I just finished. Unfortunately my team didn't take home the win, but regardless we're still all very proud of the commitment we put forth in those weeks and our results.

With that being said, over the next 8 weeks, I'm switching things up a bit and following a new schedule, adding back in more running and some lifting:

Mondays - High Intensity Class (think p90x)

Tuesdays - Run 2-4 miles + weights

Wednesdays - spin

Thursdays - Run 2-4 miles + weights

Fridays - off rest

Saturdays - early a.m. spin (or rest, depending on games)

Sundays - early a.m. long run 5 miles

I plan on doing my best sticking to this schedule but I know that I have to allow for some flexibility being that my kiddos and their sports/activities schedule may not allow for me to do it all. At least you get the gist of it though.

I do want to share something awesome that happened Friday. I switched my rest day to Thursday last week, and the weather was so wonderful on Friday that I didn't want to be stuck on the gym. So I called up my running/BFF and we met at the trail for a nice 4+ miler. Thanks B! The highlight was that miles 1&2 were in the 10 minute mile range, and mile 3 according to my Garmin was done in 9:55! WOOT! Craziness! Mile 4 we finished again in the upper 10 minute mile range. To say I was happy is an understatement. I'm just so pleased with how I've been running lately. Last year at this time I was pumping out 13 minute miles and still struggling with endurance. I never thought I would get to where I'm at right now. So encouraging! :)

--In ending I'd like to give a huge shout out to Katye for her big triumph at the Boston Marathon yesterday. She tore her calf around mile 11...and despite the pain, and medical advice of the BAA...she finished! INCREDIBLE!--

Results are in for the 8 week gym challenge!

2011-04-08T06:48:00.000-07:00

My 8 week team gym challenge is done!

After 8 solid weeks of working out 6 days a week (@ a minimum of 60 mins.), eating better not perfect ;) today was RESULTS day. I , along with with my team members met at the gym at 5 a.m. this morning where we all weighed in and got our measurements done.

Needless to say, I am blown away by everyone's results and my trainer was beyond thrilled for all of us. We were all in the double digits for inches and lbs. lost! WOOT!

We don't find out until next week which team has won the challenge though. I would love for it to be us, but regardless of the outcome I am just so happy with what I have been able to accomplish.

My personal stats are as follows:

Circumference Measurements/Inches Lost:
Calf:     1 inch
Thigh:   1 inch
Hips:    3 inches (WOW!)
Waist: 2 inches
Chest: 3 inches (WOW!)
Bicep: 1 inch
Total loss = 11 inches

9.8 lbs lost! (Really 10, in my eyes. LOL)

Body fat % is down an additional 5%!

This puts me at a little over 20lbs gone since December. :) I def. don't plan on stopping anytime soon. If anything, I'll switch things up a bit to give myself another little challenge to work on.

Thank you all for your words of encouragement!

421 miles for March! Who am I?

2011-04-01T11:51:00.000-07:00

According to my Dailymile stats I logged a total of 421 miles for the month of March. 23 of the miles were from running, and the rest were all from spinning. What can I say? I loooove my spin classes. Ha! I'm not sure that I'll have another month with that many miles as I plan to switch things up a bit for myself after the gym challenge.

Speaking of the challenge, as I mentioned in an earlier post our 8 weeks is just about over. Our team will weigh-in and get our final results next Friday. I cannot wait! My teammates are looking super trim these days and so are some of the other competitors. I'm looking forward to seeing what team wins. *fingerscrossed* for us! :)

I'll be out of here for the next few days as I'll be out of town for my daughters cheer competition. We have one more comp. after this one and her season is just about over. (Just in time for baseball season though! ;)) I'm looking forward to Sunday-Runday when I get back. Can't wait to get out there!

Happy weekend to all of you in blogland! Enjoy!

Oh, hello progress. You are a beautiful little thing.

2011-03-28T08:41:00.000-07:00

B & Me

It's Monday morning and I am still over-the-moon after completing Leg 1 (5 miles) of this past weekend's National HM relay. With my best friend/running buddy by my side (or rather a little ahead of me ;)) I ran the entire distance without stopping and according to my Garmin I finished in a little over 53 minutes. :)

My splits were as follows:

Mile 1: 11:12 Brrrr
Mile 2: 10:47
Mile 3: 10:16 :)
Mile 4: 10:30
Mile 5: 10:42

Now, I know this time isn't very speedy for most of you out there in bloggy world, but for me to be running in the 10's is major progress! :) I mean sure, I trained last year for a half marathon and completed it in one piece, but these days I'm actually seeing and feeling major progress with running non-stop. To top it all off, my pesky little right shin and ankle area seems to be hanging in there just fine. Is it the new kicks or my new pace? Who knows? All I know is that I am happy. Very happy.

With all that being said, I am begining to believe that my injury last fall may have been a blessing in disguise. Since then, I have lost almost 20 lbs. by working out 5-6 days, spinning and averaging about 80-100 miles a week, I joined a fitness challenge and with that I've met some awesome people who I plan to continue to working out with for a very long time. The cherry on top of all of this is that now that I'm back out there pounding pavement I can see that my running is improving.

-----

In ending, I'd like to give a BIG HUGE bloggie shout out to Katye and Erin! I ran into them (and finally met them) just before the race this weekend. So great seeing you guys! Hopefully we can meet-up soon.

New Kicks!

2011-02-28T11:04:00.000-08:00

Hello bloggie friends! Hope everyone had a great weekend. I know I did. Major kudos to all who ran the Disney Princess HM. Seeing everyone's photos really makes me want to run it one day.

I may have mentioned it here before, but post physical therapy I was supposed to go out and get a new eval + new running shoes. Well, here we are uh...weeks later and this past weekend I finally made the trek to the speciality store (in another county) to see this great orthopedic doc who also happens to own his own sporting good shop.

I told the doctor all about my previous injury, reoccuring inner shin/ankle issues, physical therapy sessions...and after a thorough eval of my feet, ankles, running, walking, he dx'd me as an overpronator. Something I'm not sure I have never really been told before. :X I tried on several pairs of shoes, Brooks, Asics, Saucony, Nike...and I went on and decided on the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 11. :)

Yesterday I took them out for a run on the trail for my usual Sunday morning run where this turtle ended having the best 3 miler. I'm not sure if it was the shoes (ha!) or the fact that my running buddy was setting the pace and I was just "going with the flow" but we completed it in 33 minutes! :)

And today? When I'd usually have a bit of inner ankle soreness, I don't really have any. Here's to hoping I have found a good pair of shoes.

Oh, hello bloggie world and hello, 116 mile week...

2011-02-23T09:30:00.000-08:00

Forgive me if this post is all over the place...

Hello bloggie world! Sweaty Hugs is here, alive and kicking....or should I say spinning? ha! While I haven't been posting much here, I've been kicking some serious butt. In fact, according to my dailymile stats, I managed to log 116 miles last week. 8 of those miles were running. :) If you are on dailymile, send me an email! I would love to add you!

Along with spin, I've been running about 2 days a week (logging around 3-5 miles with in each run) and the rest of my time has been spinning, lifting, and doing other cardio type activities with my team at the gym. Team, you ask? Why yes, I've joined a team. Approximately 2 weeks ago I joined forces with 3 other awesomely, dedicated, inspiring, fellow gym goers and together we entered ourselves into a 8 week fitness/weight loss competition. We just started week 3 and we are totally crushing the other teams, racking up points with group workouts. I hope to keep you all posted from this point forward on how everything goes for us.

Over the past few months I have found that I am completely addicted to spinning and I am reaping the benefits! The low-impact/challenging workout seems to have helped gain so much more in the endurance arena. In fact, it's even helped with my running. (Something my buddy has even noticed!) As for the whole running thing, I'm still keeping up with it (see above 3-5 milers) but I'm still finding that I have to keep on top of taking care of my shin/ankle area. In fact, my calves are pretty angry with me after my Sunday morning run. New shoes and a foam roller are in my near future.

In other exciting news, as of Monday I have lost a total of 15lbs since December! *twirl*

Overall, I'm super happy with my progress, and I have no doubts in my ability to keep the momentum going. On the horizon I have the Nations HM (relay) coming up, as well as the Santa Barbara WC half (relay) in May.

Back in the game...race plans for 2011

2011-01-19T07:46:00.000-08:00

Hi All! I'm popping in to share that I have 65 days until my next race. Yep! 65 days! What race is it, you ask?

The Nations Half Marathon...................Relay!

Yes, the relay! Considering this will be my first post injury race, and I haven't been following any real training plan (since I've been pain-free) I figured that signing up for the relay with 2 of my best friends/wolfpack members would be a really good way to ease back into things. I'll be doing one of the 5 mile legs which I think is a good distance for me to work back up to over these next 8+ weeks.

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been running sporadically, spinning (like crazy!), and hot yoga'ing. I should share with you guys that with these workouts combined (4-5 days a week) I've managed to drop around 12-13 lbs. over the past few months. I LOVE seeing/feeling the results.

The next race I'm registered for is in May and it is...

The Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon ...................Relay!

Yes, another relay. I'm super excited about this particular race as it falls just around my 32nd birthday. I'll be heading out with a group of girls and the distance will be divided between teams of 2. So for me, I'll be running the first leg of the race which is just under 6 miles. Um yeah, check the elevation on my leg. LOL The days leading up to the race will be the long flight, driving up the coast to SB, lots of wine tasting, good food, etc. Really, it's pretty much a dream come true!

Depending on how training/running goes for both races (I'm so nervous...about overdoing it) I'm hoping to be able to train for yet another fall half marathon. Right now I'm eyeing RNR Philly in September. :)

So, that's pretty much my update for now. I'll be back to posting my runs and workouts both on here and on daily mile. :)

BTW - Some of you asked for some tips on the Bikram/Hot yoga and I have to share with you a post that I found so incredibly helpful from the blog, Alive in the Fire.

Hi there. Remember me? (BIG UPDATE!)

2011-01-04T06:31:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

Hi there. Remember me? I hope all is well with everyone. As you can see, I haven't fallen completely off the face of the earth. ;) I've just been busy. Busy with what, you ask?

Busy with...

Healing - You all remember, that pesky shin/ankle issue right?
Hanging with the family, enjoying the holidays! (Thank God they are over!)
Spinning - I'm sort of the bomb at spinning now. ;)
Lifting
Zumba'ing (new word?)
Keurig'ing -Yes, I'm making up words. Anyone have one of these? It's changed my life and taken my coffee addiction to a whole new level.
Hot Yoga - 95* degree room + 75 minutes of yoga = LOVE and one hell of a challenge
Running - Oh yes, I have already started easing back into running. My first 3 miler was Thanksgiving morning!

On the running front, it has been extremely slow going. I haven't done anything really over 4-5 miles and I've had to ease back into it s-l-o-w-l-y with run/walk intervals. As hard as it is, I really have to listen to my body. Any sign of soreness or achiness in my shin, I automatically know it's time to ease back. I still need to make a trip to get new shoes, insoles, or whatever it is I need to get for this jerk of a shin. Will def. try to fit that in within the next week. (It just sucks that this guy I've been told to see is about an hour away!)

So that's where we're at for now...

I do plan to share with you all my upcoming 2011 race schedule. It's beyond exciting!!! Will be sure to post the details soon.

The Pity Party is over! How about a 5 things Friday Update?

2010-11-12T07:40:00.000-08:00

First off, thank you all so much for your kind words. During my last post I was having somewhat of a pity party moment, but I got over it pretty quickly. *embarrassed*

Anyway, I’ve got some updates for you, so I figured I’d put them in a 5 things Friday style post.

1.) I’m getting my ass kicked in the gym by my personal trainer these days and it’s really fantastic. Yesterday morning’s 5 a.m. (YES! 5 a.m.!) session my trainer mentioned she wanted to “have a little fun with me”…and that she did. We increased my reps and introduced some new core exercises. She also threw in a bonus 20 minute yoga cool down session at the end. Wow! Needless to say, I am sore as all get out today, and I love it.

Note: If it weren’t for this current injury I would have never even bothered introducing a full body strength-training.

2.) I just finished up with week 2 of physical therapy and I am feeling so much better. Yesterday, I ventured into more balancing and strengthening exercises and I’m noticing a lot of improvement. I also got to jog on a trampoline lightly for 5 minutes. During the jogging, I could still feel my inner ankle, but it certainly isn’t as painful as it was a few weeks ago. Progress!

3.) Along with the physical therapy I got somewhat of a preliminary review of my foot mechanics and it turns out…I have a tendency to over-pronate, which causes my ankles (more-so on my right side) to roll in when I’m in motion. I also learned that I have normal arches when I’m simply standing but when I’m in motion they basically disappear and my arch collapses a bit. All interesting stuff right?

4.) With the foot mechanics discovery, I am officially a candidate for some kind of orthotic. I’ll be getting a referral to see great doctor who specializes in biomechanics and custom orthotics for runners, however I won't get to do that until after my last few physical therapy sessions - which take place next week. Wow! I’m praying my insurance covers some of the cost! *I need to look that up now*

Does anyone here have any experience with orthotics? I'd love to hear about them!

Note: The sucky thing about the orthotics I’ve learned is that it takes a while for them to be made, and then I have take another few weeks to ease into them and basically learn how to run all over again. It takes time to adjust to them and apparently after the first few runs with them I may be having some more more minor aches and pains. *greaaaat*

5.) A really exciting update is that next August, 2011 I will be participating in the Columbia Iron Girl Triathlon as part of a 3 person relay in support of Team ASA! We have a girl from ASA who will be doing the swim portion. I have committed to doing the 17.5 mile bike portion, and the wonderful Katye will be doing the run portion! So exciting!

So…how’s that for an update? :) On top of these 5 things, after this weekend I have more exciting news to share with you, but I’ll save those for another post.

Happy Weekend to all!

Dear running...

2010-11-10T07:26:00.000-08:00

Dear running,

I miss you like crazy. Indoor cycling and strength training just can't seem to replace the feeling I have when I'm alone with you. Trust me, I've tried. Also, reading status updates, blogs, and tweets about you, is far more painful than what I feel in my ankle these days.

Love,

P.S. - If I don't make it to my 10k race in December (pain free) I will be crushed

Hi All! I'm keeping busy these days with...

2010-11-02T09:11:00.000-07:00

These cuties ;)

Indoor cycling...

I cycled 27 miles Saturday morning, nothing below level 6 in under an hour.

and soon, I'll be busy with...

Strength Training w/a certified personal trainer

Since I'm still on the "no-running" routine, I decided now would be a good time to have my first consultation with a personal trainer. The meet-up went well (despite the fact that it was at 5:00 a.m. this morning ha!). I had a body comp. analysis done (yikes!) and we talked about goals and how strength training will help with my running. I begin my training Thursday morning. (Note: The PT is completely aware of my ankle/shin issues.)

I also wanted to share that I started physical therapy yesterday. I love the place where I'm going. Aside from listening to my issues and narrowing down the painful areas, they also measured the movement of my ankle area and taught me some stretching techniques. I learned that I'm incredibly tight in my hamstring and calf area, and I can balance myself a lot easier on my left than my right. I'm def. weaker on my right. I have tons of homework to do in regards to stretching and some easy ankle strengthening exercises. At the end of the apt. I rec'd about 8 minutes of ultrasound therapy on my inner ankle, plantar fascia (arch) and my Achilles area. After that, I also rec'd about 15 minutes of heated electrotherapy. I felt great when I left. Really hoping a few more weeks of this will enable me to ease back into running.

So that's about it for now...I'm off to catch up with all of you!

I'll be sure to return with a post on some exciting plans for 2011! :)

Promising news...

2010-10-27T08:57:00.000-07:00

I've got some promising news my friends!

I went to the ortho yesterday and got my x-rays this morning. Doc says he believes my tendinitis is back with a vengeance. The tendons around my ankle and shin are all inflamed which is why when I walk (forward motion) I have the pain. I have zero pain when standing.

I also had x-rays this morning just as an added precaution. Doc didn't think I had a stress fracture, but it needed to be ruled out. The x-rays showed everything was fine. (If I continue to have pain over this first phase, then we'll go for an MRI if needed.)

For the next 3 weeks I have to focus on the following...

1.) Rest & patience (um...what's that?)
2.) Taking my prescription strength anti-inflammatory meds (to get the soft tissue to calm down)
3.) Begin orthopedic & sports physical therapy (going 2x's a week for the next 3 weeks) where I'll work on
stretching, strengthening, at home education, gait training...etc.
4.) Absolutely NO running for 3 weeks! Will re-evaluate when I go back to the docs then.

After I'm pain free, we'll talk about prevention...

Today, I'm feeling so much better about everything. My meds are helping tremendously and the no-running is doing me a lot of good.

Thanks again for all the happy, healthy, healing vibes! I appreciate them very much! Cheers!

In the meantime, please be sure to stop by Katye's awesome blog raffle here! All donations will support Down Syndrome Congress and Back On My Feet charities.

I might be down, but I'll never ever be out. (5k re-cap & injury report)

2010-10-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

All Girl Wolf Pack (Pre-5k)

Congrats to A on her 1st ever 5k and to everyone else who beat their personal records!

After 2 weeks "off" I was 99% sure that I'd be okay to run in a local 5k yesterday. I'd been pain free, finally walking around okay, feeling hopeful, etc. I also cycled 30 miles early in the weekend just to get my legs loosened up. I was honestly feeling good...

For the 5k this weekend, I was so happy to be out there. I gathered a great group (even got to see my old running group buddies and coach. Yay!) wore my compression sock, did a little bit of dynamic stretching, wished the girls "good luck" and was ready to go.

The horn went off, and we started running. The first mile I was okay, just sort of trucking along, running downhill towards the water. In the forefront of my mind was my ankle (how could it not be?)...

Actual Garmin Stats:

Mile 1: 10:28 - Whoah...

Mile 2: 13:34 - run/walk intervals...after 1.5 mile, my ankle was NOT happy

Mile 3: 12:46 - run/walk intervals again...I needed to get this over with so I could stop (it hurt to stop running)

No starting line mat...just a finish line mat:

Official Finish Time: 38:36 :X

As you can see from the stats, mile 2 is when my ankle began to act like a jerk. From there on I had to run/walk (it felt worse when I stopped running) to the finish line. As soon as I crossed the mat, my right side was demolished. I knew I was done, and would be out for a while as the pain was beyond any of the regular aches and pains I've had from running. On the outside I was smiling, but on the inside I was a mess. This is bad.

Last night, I R.I.C.E.d like no one's business, and today walking is a complete joke. I can stand just fine, but the actual motion of moving forward, and walking is painful. I'm on a waiting list to see the ortho (trying to get in earlier) but until I hear back, my apt. still stands for first thing Wed. morning.

To be honest? I want to cry and sulk...but that really doesn't do anyone any good, right? (I could not have said this 24 hours ago...) What happened today, was meant to happen. I really believe that. It was a true revelation that it's time. It's time for me to get serious about healing and figuring out what the underlying problem is. It's time for me to unlace my running shoes, get to the doc's for a "real" diagnosis and then do whatever it is I have to do (be it, not running for weeks) in order to get myself back to being 100%.

With that being said, I found a quote online that speaks volumes to me right now:

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

and that's exactly what I'm going to do. In the meantime, I'm going to work out a plan. If I can't run, I'm going to make sure I continue to keep moving. I'm going to take full advantage of my gym. I'll cycle, hire that personal trainer I've always wanted, hit the weights and follow every step I need to in order to be ready.

I WILL come back to running, stronger than ever.

Edited to add: I'll def. keep you all posted on what the doc. says. .

Five things Friday

2010-10-22T08:03:00.000-07:00

1. First off, thanks for all the comments about my non-running plan and being smart. It's been almost 2 weeks (2 WEEKS!!!!!) since I last hit the trail for a run and to be honest? It just plain sucks.

2. In good news, I'd say I'm about 90% better now thanks to some heat therapy. The other night I went out and bought one of those hot/cold aromatherapy wraps (think cotton sock filled with rice & rosemary) which I popped in the microwave and laid across my ankle ~~while I couch potato'd it up~~. The next morning, I woke up pretty much pain free.

3. With that being said, I've got a 5k on Sunday that I'm doing with a bunch of girlfriends. So happy about that! :) Deep inside, I want to PR...but I know, I will have to listen to my body.

4. I've got an appointment with an ortho (who specializes in sports med) this coming Wednesday. Even though my inner ankle is improving, I have got to get to the bottom of why this keeps on happening to me. I know, it's not normal. I want to be proactive about fixing this problem because I love running too much.

5. Good luck to all those running this weekend! Please keep sending those healthy ankle vibes my way! They seem to be working.

Working through this...

2010-10-18T07:47:00.000-07:00

"Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."

~ John Wooden

After 6 days of not running and 4 days of zero activity, I had every intention of waking up yesterday morning to head out to the trail for a few easy miles. In fact, on Saturday I even hit up the VA Runner store after lunch and shopping with the fam and treated myself to a pair of Addidas compression sleeves. (They didn't have much of a selection there.) I was ready...

Then yesterday morning came and I laid in bed excited and ready to venture out into the cool, crisp, fresh, fall air...but when I stepped out of bed and stretched things out, I knew in the back of my mind I should probably give things more time. The area just above my ankle is still not fully healed. At this point, I'd say things are about 75-80%. So after a bit of back and forth texting with my running buddy, B...I decided that even though I wouldn't run, I'd go to the gym to cycle my ass off.

..and that I did. :) I went to the gym with a plan to cycle 25 miles. I ended up having to stop short of 21 miles (I had to get back home in time to shuffle the kiddos off to baseball games and cheer practice) but I STILL got in a fantastic workout being on the bike for a little over an hour WITH my compression sleeves on. I think the sleeves helped my ankle/shin area a lot.

The plan this week:

I'm NOT going to run. I'm going to continue to cycle (possibly hit up the arc trainer) and get myself back to as close as 100% before my 5k this coming Sunday. I'll probably head out Saturday morning, for a mile or 2 just to test things out. I really want to run Sunday. ~~In fact my plan is/was to PR.~~ I have a huge group of friends doing this race, and I know I would be really sad if I couldn't participate.

IF and that's a big IF I'm not feeling good after this next week of not running, I'm going to see the ortho. So please send me all the healthy shin/ankle vibes you can...

With all that being said, I'll end this lengthy post on a positve note and share a photo from this weekend...

My mom turned 60 on Friday and we celebrated with a fantastic seafood dinner on the water. Happy Birthday mom! You are loved! :)

I'm off to catch up with all of you!

This slug is 70% better.

2010-10-15T12:03:00.000-07:00

(I had to share this photo again! :))

Hi all! I'm writing to brag that I've done absolutely nothing since my cycle/elliptical romp on Tuesday. :X I'd also like share that I'm now about 70% better in the inner shin/ankle area. In fact, my shin pain is gone and the little twinges I'm having are really just in the ankle area. :) It's been difficult making an effort not to do anything these past few days. Oh, and God Bless my husband who has been listening to me grumble about it all week.

I don't plan to run at all tomorrow. Instead, I'm going to rest another day and then maybe hit the trail on Sunday morning for a light jog or walk. It really depends on how everything feels. I will defintely be careful as I'd like to be okay for my 5k NEXT weekend.

Perhaps I should take up synchronized swimming?

2010-10-13T06:15:00.000-07:00

Source: Getty images

My inner shin (and inner ankle) pain is back with a vengeance this morning. For my longtime followers (all 2 of you, hehe) this is really nothing new. You all already know that my shin, ankle, and arch issues like to flare up anytime I make an effort to run fast, or run on surfaces that are uneven or unfamiliar. In diagnosing myself via the web (terrible habit, I know!) I found this write up on Posteromedial shin splints which seems to describe the exact area where my pain is.

I noticed after the 2nd 5k on Sunday that I could feel my shin getting a little sore. I iced and popped motrin and soon as I got home. I was also good girl and did nothing Monday. Then last night, I decided to go to the gym to do some low impact stuff while my daughter was across the street at cheer practice.

Recumbent bike, 30 minutes - Level 10

Elliptical machine, 15 minutes

As of right now my thoughts are that the elliptical machine probably wasn't a good idea. :X Maybe because there is a little bit of ankle rolling, and weight baring on the shin? I'm not sure?

I do know is that I'm super bummed out... It's ridiculous how I can go through 16 weeks of half marathon training, upping my mileage, running (2) 13 milers and make it through with ZERO issues...and the minute I try to run faster and stronger, I'm injured.

I'm thinking over the next week or so, I'll continue the rest, ice, heat, motrin routine that I'm very familiar with.

Does anyone have any insight or suggestions? :)

I'm wondering if compression socks would help?

A 5k filled weekend!

2010-10-11T11:47:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend. I know I did! In between family time, baseball games and cheerleading I managed to fit in 2 5k's. One for myself, and one for my friends...

As I posted last week, my right inner shin area had been bothering me a bit. So I decided to take it easy and not do any running until this past Saturday with the girls. :)

All week, I had been emailing back and forth with my friend B, and we decided to meet up to do about 6-7 miles total for the morning. We planned that I'd run a little faster than my normal, comfortable 12-12:30's (especially for the 1st mile) and really just pump out a 5k distance since I've been wanting to push it and figure out what I could do as of right now. Then afterwards we'd stop, have some water and wait up for the other girls after and do another 3. :)

5k #1 - Saturday
When B and I got to the trail, it was chilly! We decided to walk the first mile to warm up and chat and see how my legs were feeling. After the warm-up, we were onto the 5k distance where I ended up running 3.19 miles in 36:30! That's a little over a minute off my best 5k time (in April), and a little over 7 minutes off my 5k time in 2009. :) I was thrilled!

Details:

The night before, I figured out the lap button on my Garmin. :) :) :)

Average Pace: 11:49

Splits:
Mile 1: 10:54
Mile 2: 12:57 (slowed down a lot in the begining)
Mile 2: 11:44

Best Pace: 8:05

I know a lot of you out there would probably run circles around this turtle, but for me personally? This is the improvement I needed to see. I just need to really use my Garmin and push myself in the right way. I hope I can pull this out (and maybe even better?) on my next 5k in 2 weeks. We shall see.

After the 5k, I was on a natural high, and we were ready to help do another 3 miles with our friends, L & B who had planned to do their first ever 5k the very next morning. I found out after our little run that they had an extra bib (one of their friends got sick and decided not to run) and they both really wanted me to take the bib and do it with them. I had to think about it (and my shin...) and I decided to do it and take it as an opportunity to do a nice, easy 3 mile run with friends on a Sunday morning. I was really happy with my decision.

5k #2-Sunday
This particular non-chipped, 5k was a very small community one. I'd say no more than a 100 people if that were running/walking. It turns out, I ended up having to run under their friends name after we found out they couldn't change it when we got there. The 5k offered a free warm-up yoga session, which we did for about 15-20 minutes before the start time. (I've discovered that I do not like yoga. LOL)

The plan for the 5k was to do run/walk intervals the entire time. I would run in front of them using my Garmin to keep them on the intervals, encouraging them, playing paparazzi with my camera, and letting them know where we were distance wise. I was happy I was able to run ahead of them at the end so that I could catch both of them crossing the finish line of their first 5k. Despite the hilly course, my friends did a great job finishing strong right around the 45 minute mark.

All in all, it was a great experience for them, and I was happy to help in anyway that I could. The best thing is they're already signed up for 2 more 5k's in the coming weeks! Addiction maybe? Let's hope. ha!

I'll end this post with a few photos...

L, B, & Me

Me & L holding hands...lol

I hope all of you had a happy, active weekend. I'm off to catch up with you now. Cheers!

Five Things Friday

2010-10-08T06:37:00.000-07:00

1.) Since I decided not to run last night (thank you shins!) I planned to leave work a tad bit early so I could head to spin class. However, with my commute (D.C. traffic sucks!) I realized halfway through the ride, that I wasn't going to make it in time for the class. Booooooo!

2.) After dinner last night, I iced my inner shin area (2nd night in a row doing it) and it's feeling a lot better today. There's just a faint twinge of pain, and I actually have to flex my foot into a weird way in order to feel it. With that being said, I'm really looking forward to my Saturday morning run!

3.) I'm 17 days away from another 5k and 2 months away from my second ever 10k. :) I also just found out last night (Hi Erin!) that a few bloggers will be registering for the same 10k! So exciting! If you're one of them, please say hello!

4.) If you're on FB, I'd love to add you. A lot of my status updates are running/workout related and I'm pretty sure a lot of my other friends are bored by me. :) Send me an email at sweatyhugs @ gmail dot com.

5.) The lovely Kelly recently asked me about Zumba and I have to say that I ABSOLUTELY love it! I took my first zumba class back in March and that was a freebie thanks to my friend getting me a one-day pass to her gym. I now have my own gym membership and the intstructor there is phenomenal. I've always loved to dance and I've found that Zumba is a fun way to mix up my workout schedule.

So that's all for now. Happy Friday to all! I've got a weekend jampacked with birthday parties, baseball and cheerleading with the fam...BUT before I go, I'd like to wish everyone the best of luck on their 10.10.10 half & full marathons!

I cannot wait to read the race re-caps next week.

Cheers!

And just like that...

2010-10-07T08:49:00.000-07:00

my shin is hating me.

After my little confession post, I decided to do some speedwork on the treadmill at home before my daughters cheer practice. I had a quick 30 minutes to spare, and figured I better get something in before time slips away. Mind you, I haven't run on a treadmill since...??? I can't even remember right now. Over the past year, I've gone from loving the treadmill, to absolutely hating it. I actually enjoy getting outside and enjoying the fresh air and nature around me.

I ended up doing 1.5 miles in 17:23. Nevermind the fact that I ran the first mile in just under 11 minutes and wanted to puke. ;)

...and just like that, a very familiar pain surfaced the next morning. The inner part of my shin is incredibly tender and now aches. I've been icing and popping motrin and thankfully I'm already starting to feel better. The funny thing about all of this is that throughout my half marathon training, and covering the longer distances I never dealt with shin issues. In fact, I couldn't believe that my shin issues had almost gone away.

I'm not sure what the deal is, but I suspect that the speedwork and different surface threw my inner shin into overdrive and now it's payback time. It killed me not to make it to my Zumba class night.

I'm going to take it easy today, maybe go to another spin class.

I do want to end this post with a huge THANK YOU to the following bloggers for taking the time out to respond to my last post. Your insight and advice has given me a lot to think about...

Kimberly, Lisa, Carla, Heidi, Carolina Girl, Fran, & Courtney!

Upcoming Races:

5k - 10/24

10k - 12/12

Trail highlights and upcoming races!

2010-09-28T09:30:00.000-07:00

I had a great time at the trail this weekend. I started out with a 3 miler. The first 1.5 miles I ran with my friend B (she went on to do 6 on her own) and then I turned back around to do the next 1.5 back to the cars to meet up with the other girls. Perfect timing! I stopped, stretched my tight calves, drank some water and then went back out to do run/walk intervals with the girls for 4 more miles. (7 miles total!)

The highlight of the morning was seeing this little guy out there…

Ha! I believe he was a garden snake of some kind.

I also went to spin class again yesterday. I am really loving spin! Never thought I’d say that. Much like running, I am finding that it gives me a HUGE sense of accomplishment when I’ve finished the class. The instructor was pushing us really hard (in a good way!) and I was happy to find myself being able to do a lot more of the climbing. I’m pretty sure this will be my every Monday routine. :)

Tonight, I’ve got 2-3 miles planned. I’m not sure whether or not they’ll be on the dreadmill or out on the trail. :) It all depends on the weather, and what time I’ll get home from working and commuting.

So now that we're all caught up, let’s talk about upcoming races! So far I have 2 events:

5k - Oct. 24th

10k – Dec. 12th

I'm really hoping to improve on my past 5k and 10k times. Right now, I'm using the RunnersWorld smart coach plan which has me running 2 days during the week...easy 2 milers, +speedwork (although I don't fully understand the speedwork) and then a long run on Saturdays.

As far as 2011 is concerned I KNOW I'm going to do another half marathon. I'm even toying with the idea of doing 2. (Although I'm not sure how that works, and how far apart they'd have to be...hmm?) As for running through the fall/winter season, I really want to work on keeping my base and getting stronger. I want to be able to just go out and run 3-6 miles at any given time. :)

Three Things Thursday

2010-09-23T12:23:00.000-07:00

1) I'm really excited! I've got an ALL GIRL wolf pack which consists of myself (and 3 to 4 others) up and running every Saturday morning at a local trail. (Some will be training for their first ever 5k coming up in a few weeks!) We'll all run at our own pace and do whatever distance is on our schedule and it'll hopefully work out to where we'll meet back at the cars at a certain time for post-run stretching and gabbing. :) I am really happy about this.

This past Saturday I went out early on my own and did about 3.75 miles and then caught up with the rest of the girls for the second part of my run. I ended up getting in a little under 6 miles. It worked out great!

2.) I took another spinning class on Monday and dare I say...I actually enjoyed myself? ha! This time we had a different instructor and my friend B (a.k.a. - Beast) joined me. The music was great, the changing of intervals kept my mind going (and off wanting to spew) and I was happy that I could do more climbing/jogging this time around. I'm hoping to make this a regular Monday thing. :)

3.) For the first time ever, I took my 12 year old son out to run with me on the trail this week. (My husband was with our daughter were at cheer practice.) My son has biked with me before, but this time I asked if he wanted to join me for a quick run and he jumped at the chance. :) We got out there around 6:45 p.m. and we were losing daylight fast. Together we pumped out 2.5 miles, and even managed to incorporate some sprinting in the mix. I was so proud of him! He did fantastic and I loved having mother/son time. He's actually pretty good at running, and managed to keep me challenged. After all, I couldn't let a 12 year old beat me. ;)

Well, that's all for now! I've got some other exciting things I want to share, but I'll save them for another post. Hope all is well! Cheers!

Happy 101

2010-09-20T05:26:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday All!

Today, I'd like to give a big THANK YOU to Heidi for the Happy 101 Award! Heidi's blog is one that I enjoy very much. She shares some great running/workout inspiration and I love that she continuously posts and updates her goals. Be sure to check her out!

The Happy 101 Award requires us to list 10 things that make us happy. So here are mine:

My family and my friends! #1

Coffee - especially that first cup in the morning...

Running - it's changed my life (and I am cranky without it!)

Wine - I love a good glass of wine with dinner, with friends, or relaxing on the couch

Being near the beach (there's something about the sound of the waves and the wind that I absolutely love)

Spa time & massages

Seeing my kids excel in their sports (baseball/cheerleading!)

Saturday morning runs (I love spending time out on the trail with my running girls!)

Music (I'm loving Florence and the Machine these days!)

Inspiring others (Even though I'm not breaking any records over here, I love getting others excited about setting goals and accomplishing them!)

I'm passing this award along to 5 other bloggers! Be sure to check them out!

Run 2 Fit, RoblesFamily, The Making of a Runer, Looking for Serendipity, Diary of a Fat Cheerleader

Plotting and new goals!

2010-09-16T12:25:00.000-07:00

Goals are dreams with deadlines. ~Diana Scharf Hunt

Thank you all so much for the congrats and kind words on my first half marathon! I hope you enjoyed my recap and video.

---

So...here I am, not even a full 2 weeks out from my first half marathon experience and I'm already plotting what my next adventure is going to be. Is that crazy or what? I definitely plan to do another half marathon in either the Spring or Fall next year.

In the meantime I thought I'd update you all on some things I've got going on and share some of my goals.

I've signed up for a 5k along with a group of friends. (For some of them, it will be their first 5k! Very exciting!) The race is about 6 weeks away, and it's described as a fun, flat course that is great for first timers! (Would love to PR!!!!)
Over these next 6 weeks, I've decided to incorporate speedwork into my runs. This is a first for me! I'm currently browsing around online for some training plans, and so far Runnersworld smart coach has caught my eye. I'll keep you all posted.
I finally joined a gym. I've mentioned before that I've been wanting to incorporate some cross-training + weights into my workouts, and I've been dying to get into classes like spinning, zumba (love!), and body pump. The gym is right across the street from my daughters cheer-gym, so the convenience factor is a huge plus!

As far as goals are concerned, I want to spend these next few months working on...

Getting into a consistent workout/life routine
Dropping some lbs, gaining muscle, and leaning out
Increasing my pace (and getting comfortable with it)
Trying new classes for x-training purposes
Signing up for races (5k's, 10k's, 10 miler, and a half marathon (2011)

I think that about covers it for now. If anyone has any advice on speedwork, and workouts I'd love to hear them.

I'm off to visit all of you. Cheers!

RNR VA Beach 1/2 Marathon Re-cap (from a first time half marathoner)

2010-09-14T14:19:00.000-07:00

I hope you all enjoy it! Also, please be sure to check out my video too!

VA Beach Arrival/Expo
We hit the road around 6:30 a.m. on Saturday. The plan was to meet up with my girls and their families at the Expo to pick up our bibs, t-shirts and swag bags. I was super impressed with the whole check-in process as I zipped right through. Zero lines! Got my bib, bag, and race t…which I love. We then browsed through all the vendors (the kids enjoyed some of the games Brooks put on). I was good and only treated myself to an official Brooks Virginia Beach ½ marathon hat ($24), and a 13.1 mile sticker from One More Mile Running. Love them! I really wanted a jacket and shirt, but the prices on the items were pretty steep. The highlight of the Expo was listening to John “The Penguin” Bingham speak. His race pointers really had us laughing and excited for the next day. (Oh, and we may have stopped by the MGD tent for a beer sampling or 2. ;) ha!)

Evening before the race
After the Expo we all head lunch at TGI Fridays (seating for 10 please?), did a little grocery shopping for dinner and breakfast goodies, and then it was time to head to Sandbridge to check into our beautiful beach house for the week.

As soon as we got into the house, everyone started unpacking and it was time to RELAX. My kiddos were ready for the pool as soon as we got there, so a lot of the afternoon was spent poolside, lounging, reading…and really just trying not to overexert ourselves.

As for dinner, we had homemade spaghetti, warm bread, and salad! Perfect pre-race meal. After we all ate, we sat around to talk for a bit, came up with an awesome game-plan to get us to the race the next morning then it was time to head off to bed. I hopped in the shower and then laid out all of my race gear. The family and I were asleep by 10 p.m. I ended up having the best sleep. (In fact, I slept well the entire week.)

Race Morning
Alarms went off in the house around 4:45-5 am and the plan was for everyone to be at the front door by 5:30. I felt so bad waking my kiddos up that early, but soon everyone was up, excited and gearing up to leave. In fact, I was so excited (and busy taking care of morning logistics…like uh, learning how to lock all the doors hmm…?) that I ended up having a cup of coffee and only a HALF of a toasted bagel with peanut butter. (In hindsight this meal was not enough.)

We had a great plan getting us to the race, which consisted of the husbands dropping us off near the corrals. We were up the road by 6ish…and came into some detours, which actually turned out to be a great thing. We spotted a ton of runners being dropped off at a McDonald’s and we decided we’d do the same thing.

The great thing about being dropped off there? We literally walked right up to Corral #24! It was perfect. The guys left the cars at McDonald’s and all of the families were able to hang out with us at our corral. We posed for photos and video and just took in the whole pre-race vibe that was going on. The girls and I were beyond excited. I’m smiling right now just thinking about how happy and excited we all were with our families.

Start Time
So about that Corral #24? (The fun corral!) Yeah, we ended up not making it to the starting line until about 35-40 minutes AFTER the race had started. Craziness! I mean I knew there’d be a lag time, but not that much. LOL I remember being so antsy, and so nervous, and I kept going back and forth about using the porta potty. (The lines were just way too long earlier, or so I thought. Lesson learned!)

The Race

…and before you know it, we were off and running! SO EXCITING!

Mile 1 – Lots of smiling! Tons of weaving in and out of walkers…I mean tons! It was really hard to get into a groove the first few miles…

Mile 2 – Whoah! The Elite runners are already making their way back? SO INSPIRING!!!!We also got to see our families on the sidelines. Oh, and how about that little hill on the overpass? Niiiice. Took major advantage of the downhill. Pace was too fast!

Mile 3 – I need to pee. (NO JOKE! 2 births and a cup of coffee will do that to ya. I have the WORST bladder sometimes.) I spotted the porta potties and kept going back and forth in my head. Should I go? Should I wait? I need to go but look at the freaking lines! Who needs to pee at mile 3? Oh yeah, me. :X Lesson learned. (Thank you B for sticking with me!)

The 3 hour pace dude was out of our sight by that time. I’m pretty sure the estimated time I spent in line and using the bathroom was around 4-6 minutes. Nice…

Miles 4&5 – Still happy, focusing on my intervals. Already starting to get quiet thinking about the distance ahead.

Mile 6 – My family will be getting a text any minute now saying I’ve crossed the 10k mark. (For the rest of the race I think of them every time I run over a little timing mat…)

Mile 6.5-7 – I’m more than halfway there! OMG! HALF.WAY.THERE. I get a little choked up. I keep my emotions to myself. I need to stay strong mentally…I still have a ways to go.

Mile 7 – (We’re already in Camp Pendelton area…less crowd support…roads are narrow) My girl, B asks how I’m doing. I look at her and admit that I need a few extra minutes to slow down and get my shiz together. She’s wonderful and tells me to do whatever it is I need to do. We start talking more, and we decided to take some photos...

Mile 8 – Got my composure back and begin thinking…Did I really pay money to do this? Am I really out here right now?

(I also saw the medic tent…and I jokingly shouted out to them that I was so happy I didn’t need them at this point in the race…LOL!)

Mile 9 – Dear Lord Baby Jesus…I’m beginning to feel it...

Mile 10 – Only 3 more miles…only 3 more miles…(I will see my family around mile 11!)…

Mile 10.5ish – Hill on overpass…Niiiice. Again, took advantage of the downhill. It was all about mini-goals at this point. Just getting through these last few miles.

Mile 11 – My first sidestich ever. In all of my training runs I have NEVER, ever gotten a cramp. I could not believe this was happening. I raised my hands, tried to get it to go away. It was not fun.

Mile 11.5ish - I’m going to see my family soon. I told myself and B, that I wanted to look strong and happy as we passed them, even if I wasn’t feeling like it. We kept our eyes on the sideline…and that’s when I noticed my husband had spotted us BEFORE they noticed we saw them. He was so excited. In the 13 years we’ve been together, I’ve never seen him so anxious to see ME. I got choked up. To see my husband, kids, my friends families (a surprise visit from my husband’s aunt and uncle)...really got to me. I needed to see them at that point and I was so happy they were there, just as planned. I knew from that point on it was going to be hard. As we passed, I smiled so big, we waved. I shouted and told them that I was hurting (while laughing) and we kept on trucking.

I was almost to the finish…

Mile 12 – This is the longest mile EVER. The course had us going all the way down to the start of the boardwalk, and even though my Garmin was saying that 13 miles was near…I could NOT see the finish line. I told my friend B that if she wanted to pick up the pace and haul ass onto the finish line that she could leave me. In fact, I insisted she leave me…BUT she wouldn’t. She told me that she was going to be a tick in my ass and that I wasn’t getting rid of her. PRICELESS moment! LOL

Mile 12.5ish – We see the finish line! I see it! Do you see it? Yes, I see it!

We also saw our families again on the sidelines! Just what we needed!

Mile 13 – Pulled out the camera! Needed to take a picture of this glorious mile marker. I am almost there!

Finish Line – Now get this...B and I picked up the pace and started gunning for the finish line, when all of the sudden this couple began holding hands, and slowing down right in front of us. (Who slows down at the finish line?) On top of that, the finish line announcer comes out to them and begins talking to them with the microphone! What?! B ends up going onto the right hand side of the finish line...and I have to squeeze in and manuver around on the left.

I later find out that this couple resulted in me not having an official finish line photo. :( They completely blocked the shot of me...I am still bummed about it. I was going to buy it in poster size and hang it on my front door. lol

AND WE DID IT!...hit stop on the garmin, and start walking out of the shoot.

Distance 13.35 miles…Finish Time 3:19 (19 minutes past my little secret goal, but I’m okay with it.)

At this point I am exhilarated, and experiencing a true natural high. I grab my medal, a banana, and popsicle and head off to meet up with the family.

Smiling as bright as the sun, I'm thinking. I did it! I completed my first half marathon.

Over a year ago, I couldn't even finish a mile...and today I am a half-marathoner.

Even better? I’m pretty sure I'm going to do it again! :) In fact I HAVE to do it again!

My first half marathon - Video

2010-09-13T06:22:00.000-07:00

Hello bloggie world! I spent a good part of my day putting this little video together yesterday. It captures many of the special moments from the Rock N Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon.

Please enjoy! I hope you love it just as much as I do.

I did it! First half marathon - completed!

2010-09-06T08:11:00.000-07:00

Thank you all so much for the support!

I did it! I completed my FIRST half marathon!

Official Finish Time: 3:19

I'm in VA Beach for the rest of the week, kicking back and celebrating with my friends and family...

I plan to post a detailed race-recap along with photos and video soon! I have lots of thoughts swarming around in my head, and a ton of little things I want to share regarding the race (incredible!), the distance (wow!), highs (having my best friends with me - seeing my beautiful family at certain points), lows (mental & physical challenges), lessons learned (hydration)...

Overall, the day was incredible from start to finish! I'm still sailing on the natural high, and YES, I'm wearing my medal morning, noon, and night. ha!

...and the craziest thing? We're already talking about doing another half! LOL

THANK YOU ALL!

In 4 days...

2010-09-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

I'll have earned this beautiful peice of bling. My first ever half marathon medal.

Oh, I'm pretty sure I'll be sporting it around my neck, morning...noon and night! :)

I couldn't have said it any better...

2010-08-25T10:54:00.001-07:00

Check out this post by the wonderful Tricia from Endurance Isn't Only Physical.

P.S. - I took my first ever spin class this past Monday! Wow.

Let’s talk about my first 13 miler, Shall we?

2010-08-18T09:53:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was my last true long run of half marathon training. The distance? 13 miles.

I may or may not have…

carbo loaded like no other the night before. (Oh hello, 2 bowls of homemade pasta!)

experienced my first ever cramp that came out of no where

had a slight mental breakdown at mile 11.5-12ish. (tears and hyperventilating anyone?)

felt as though my quads and feet were completely dead after mile 10

gained a few lovely blisters on my left foot

taken a little over 3 hours to get these miles in

woke up 2 days later with a core that was rocked with soreness (felt so good!)

celebrated with 3 glasses of Prosecco at dinner later that evening

You get the gist of it right?

Let me just say that I’ve come to discover at this point in my half marathon training that 8, 9, 10, even 11 miles are all distances that I can confidently finish. Mind you, I still struggle with running (the entire time) and I’m most definitely still a turtle, but I can still get in those miles and come out in one piece.

However 13 miles…yeah, I’d say 13 was pretty damn humbling for a newbie runner like myself. I was good pace wise until mile 8 and it was then that I wanted to slow down. Thankfully my friend wouldn’t let me. She knew I wanted this and went on to say a few things that got me all fired up and after that, I was ready to keep trucking. I kept my head up, looked straight (I usually look down) and for the next few miles I hit a zone. My mind went blank. My running was strong and a few miles later I was struck by a cramp in my right hamstring. Crazy! (This has never happened to me before) We all pulled over, I stretched, and got right back into it. No quitting!

By mile 11.5 I could feel myself slowing down, and all of the sudden emotion took over and thoughts of “I can’t do this anymore” swarmed around in my head. I shed a tear or two…got another pep talk from my friend, got my shiz back together and we trucked onto an UPHILL finish. (miles 12-13)

When I was done with the run, I was elated…and uh hurting. I made sure to keep walking around, even though the nearby bench was calling my name. We had quite a trek back to the car and lots of laughing happened. Goodness, I am so thankful for my friends. :)

I’ll end this post and say that although my 13 miler wasn’t without drama, I will now be heading into RNR VA Beach, with a mindset of “I KNOW I CAN DO THIS” and that feeling, is priceless. I can openly say that the cramps, blisters, and breakdown…are all over and done with (for now ;)) and I will go into my first half marathon in approx. 20 days ready to cross the finish line.

Until then, I'm going to enjoy these next few weeks of tapering. :)

I can't believe I'm here. (last long run)

2010-08-13T06:27:00.000-07:00

I can do this. Repeat 372 x's.

Tomorrow is going to be a great day. I can just feel it. (At least that's what I have to keep telling myself.) At the butt crack of dawn tomorrow, the girls and I will be covering our first ever 13 miler. Our longest distance to date.

A few thoughts and words come to my mind thinking about tomorrow. Insane. Amazing. Wow! Me? Really? Commitment. Perseverance. Scared out-of-my-mind. I'm pretty much all over the place. I just keep thinking about how excited I was when I made my first post, and when I did my first 4 miles outside. Then how exhilarating it was to run my first 9 miles in the pouring down rain a few weeks ago.

This distance marks 13 weeks of our 16 week training plan and it's going to be our last long run before RNR VA Beach (oh, hello taper!). I'm hoping to come out of it feeling happy, confident, and less scared going my first half. After all, I'm basically covering the distance, so I'll know come Sept. 5th that I can do this...without needing a stretcher. ;)

So, with all that being said, wish us lots of luck, great weather and most of all low humidity. :)

Running Purchases

2010-08-12T06:23:00.001-07:00

Let's talk running purchases! Yay!

About a month or so ago, I kicked my pair of Brooks running shoes to the curb (after the soles started talking) and I've been rocking these ever since:

Mizuno Wave Riders 13

You can read all about them here. I really reaaally love these shoes. They're lightweight, cushiony (but not too much) and paired with my Berry Superfeet inserts they haven't given me any problems.

I also broke down and bought a new hydration belt. It's the same brand as my other one but instead of the one bottle, I've got (4) 10 oz. bottles.

Nathan Speed 4R

I used this baby for my 11 miler 2 weeks ago and it was awesome. I had 2 filled with water and 2 filled with Revive vitamin water. It also held my truck key and my tiny pack of sport beans. I'm super happy about this purchase, especially after finding that the one bottle in my other waist pack just wasn't going to cut it in this heat/humidity.

I also bought one of these loose fitting Under Armour TNP Tanks and a Nike tank. I wore the Under Armour one on my 5 miler and it worked out well. I'm thinking about trying it out again for this weekends 13 miler, just to see if this is going to be my half marathon top.

Well...that's all for now. I'm off to visit all of you.

Cheers!

Remember me? 24 days 'til 13.1!

2010-08-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

I'm a terrible blogger. I openly admit that.

However, when you've 2 active kiddos who are excelling in their spring/summer sports & activities, and moving onto both State AND Mid-Atlantic regional tournaments (hello never-ending season!) mama's heart becomes busy exploding with pride and blogging sort of takes a backseat.

You all understand, right?

I'm happy to share that I've been running. Oh yes I have! With 24 days left until my first half marathon, I'm feeling confident that I will in fact cross that finish line in one piece. My longest run so far has been 11+ miles...and that my friends, felt incredible. This past weekend my schedule had us doing long run of 5 miles, and I enjoyed every second of it.

This coming weekend we'll be doing our last long run of 12-13 miles (confidence booster!) and then we begin the taper.

I simply cannot believe my first half is 24 days away! Let's do this!

Hello, 6 miler! I'm so thankful to have you back...

2010-07-23T05:51:00.000-07:00

source: getty images

With the temperature scheduled to reach 102 degrees tomorrow, I am super thankful that my running group plan has us set to do an easy 5-6 miles. Next weekend is our first 11 miler! Ahhhh!

In a way, it's sort of funny for me to type those words out, because last year ~~when I could barely get through a mile~~ I never would have imagined myself saying that I was "thankful" for a 6 miler. I guess half-marathon training changes things, huh? :)

Over the past few weeks I've learned that although my body isn't where I want it to be, it is without a doubt S-T-R-O-N-G! Pushing myself further every week, and tackling distances I only dreamed of has allowed me to see that first hand.

source: taken with my phone @ the Nike outlet

In ankle news, I'm happy to report that I'm 99% better! I managed to do a very torturous 3 miler on the DREADmill, and all was fine. I iced immediately after just to be safe.

Well, I'm off to catch up with all of you. Have a fantastic weekend!

Roll me up in bubble wrap please?

2010-07-20T06:34:00.001-07:00

If I stub my toe, trip over something, run into a clear glass wall at a spa (ha!), or roll my ankle while wearing ~~stupid, cheap~~ flip-flops the first words out of my mouth are usually something like...

"I'm training for a half marathon people! I have to keep myself in one piece until September 5, 2010!"

Ha!

So yesterday, I managed to roll my ankle while walking from my kitchen to the deck. All I was doing was walking. My ankle rolled. I fell down and our leather ottoman caught me. THANK GOD no one was around, because I'm sure it looked really dramatic aaaand...hysterical. As soon as it happened I literally had flashes of me sitting on the sidelines of VA Beach watching my girlfriends cross the finish line. Good thing it wasn't as bad as it initially felt.

I iced and motrin'd it up last night, and woke up feeling 90% better. I don't have any swelling (just a little bit of tenderness) but to be cautious I think it's best to skip my short run this evening. I'm hoping to take my bike out later this week too.

I'll end this little update with a BIG HELLO to all my new bloggie readers and followers! I appreciate your visits and words of encouragement. I'll be sure to stop by and catch up with all of you.

Hot mess 10 miles

2010-07-19T11:40:00.000-07:00

source: polyvore.com

Simply put, Saturday morning was a HOT MESS. Met up with the girls at 6:30 a.m. and I knew right away that the heat and humidity were not going to play nice. On top of that, I just wasn't feeling it. My mind and body were really "out of it" and it took forever to really warm-up and get into the zone. By mile 8, I was completely drenched and zapped of all energy! To make matters worse I was also starving. Even our conversation started gearing towards red velvet cake, chipotle burritos, and brick oven pizza. Gah! NEVER AGAIN!

Through all of that, we still managed to get in all 10 miles. It wasn't pretty, but we got the miles in. I'm still feeling a tad bit bummed about it, esp. considering how glorious last weekends 9 miler went. The good thing is, that in my mind the half marathon is really only 3.1 miles farther than what I got in on Saturday! (Somewhat of a confidence booster, right?)

The rest of the day, was spent running around with the husband and kids. Yesterday, I met up with a friend and we rode about 10 miles or so. I really enjoyed it, and I think the ride really helped to loosen up my muscles from the run on Saturday. I'd like to do more of that...

Up this week - A couple of short 3-5 milers and hopefully another bike ride! I'm also eyeing gym that is right across the street from my daughters cheer practices. Would love to be able to walk across the street and take a class or 2, instead of sitting on my arse for 2 hours at her practices. LOL

9 miles in the rain and jetskiing!

2010-07-13T11:30:00.000-07:00

I ran my first ever 9 miler Saturday morning...in the pouring down rain! I absolutely loved it out there! I felt really alive! I should add that towards the end, my feet were drenched and feeling like cinder blocks though. ha! I was feeling really strong pretty much the entire time (although mile 5 was all uphill).

Oh and on the energy tip, I actually felt like the jelly belly sport beans helped me out through the run. I managed to take a few right before we started, then I downed 4 more halfway. I like them much better than the gel stuff.

The rest of the weekend was spent at the beach with the husband celebrating 9 years of marriage. We rented jet skis for the first time ever! So fun!

Anyway, I have a couple short runs this week, and then we are supposed to 9.5-10 miles for our long run on Saturday. In an ideal world, I'd like to fit in some cross-training somewhere in there.

54 days 'til RNR VA Beach! I'm feeling really hopeful that I'll make it across the finish line in one piece!

Let’s be honest. I’ve been busy.

2010-07-09T06:57:00.001-07:00

I don’t have anything major to report about my running considering the fact that my last run was a 4 miler on Thursday of...err...uh....LAST week. I had planned on doing my long run on Saturday of 9 miles, but that never happened. I wasn’t feeling up to running the 9, especially with my hips and legs feeling so achey. So instead, I ended up biking a hilly (12 miles) with a friend at some nearby trails.

I should also share that I’ve also been pre-occupied with my son and his Allstar teams glorious journey to the Maryland State Baseball Championships! (My husband is the head coach!) Our week has been filled with 6 games, 3 days, in the sweltering heat, heartbreak…and then fantastic news that we’re going to the Regionals.

This.is.huge!

Starting tomorrow though, I’m back on track and going hardcore for the next 8 weeks! RNR VA Beach is literally, right around the corner and it’s time to buckle down and get my 3 days of running in.

Tomorrow, I'm going out to attempt my first ever 9 miler at 6:30 a.m. with my wolf pack. This will be the longest distance I've covered this far on my running journey, and I'm so ready. I've got G$ (Garmin) charging, and my Jelly Belly Sport Beans ready to go. I'll let you all know what I think about the sport beans. I have a feeling, I might like them better than the GU gel stuff. Wish me luck!

I'm off to catch up with all of you!

Covering distances I never thought would be possible...

2010-06-28T05:37:00.000-07:00

I ran my first ever 8 miler this past Saturday morning and to be honest, I still can't quite believe it. Words cannot describe how incredible I feel being able to type that sentence out to share with all of you.

There were times over the past year, where I never thought I'd make it past 3.1 miles alive. LOL Now after a number of 5k's, my first 10k , and my first 8 miler behind me, I'm starting to actually believe that RNR VA Beach is absolutely within my reach. (I'm terrible with the self-doubt thing...)

I also can't believe how well my body is responding to these longer distances. My endurance has come a long way, and it seems as though the aches and pains I used to have seem minimal now. Is it possible to love the longer distances so much more than the shorter?

Anyway, thanks so much for ALL of your GU/Energy supplement suggestions. I got to experiment with my first GU (lemon flavor) about an hour or so into the run, and it was...interesting. I split it with my friend, and after the first little bit, I wanted to gag, but thankfully I had my water handy to wash it down. I'm not really sure that it did anything for me though. I think next time I'll try a whole GU (a different flavor) or try some kind of sport bean. The consistency of the gel, wasn't something I liked. I still felt really depleted after the run. The amount of sweat that left my body is something I never thought I'd experience. LOL I'm also thinking that I felt depleted b/c all I had to eat was 3/4's of a mini bagel with peanut butter. I'm just finding it really hard to eat so early in the morning.

I guess these next few weeks, I'll do more experimenting. One thing I know for sure is that I'll def. try to eat better for next weekend's 9 miler. :) Yes, a 9 miler. Wow.

Do you GU?

2010-06-23T06:23:00.000-07:00

Hello bloggie world! I've gotta a couple questions for you...

Do you GU?
If you don't prefer GU, what else would you recommend to a newbie like myself ?
When is the right time (or mile) during my long run to take in the energy filled stuff?

Can you tell I'm clueless about all of this? LOL In all seriousness, I'm asking because over the next few weeks, during my half marathon group training, I will be upping my mileage and attempting distances I never, ever thought would be possible for myself and I figured NOW would be a great time to start trying out few different energy supplements.

This coming Saturday will be my *first* 8 miler. Dear Lord Baby Jesus...

Any input you all could share, would be greatly appreciated! Happy Wednesday!

A turtle runs her first 7 miler...

2010-06-21T05:35:00.001-07:00

What a busy weekend! In between 4 baseball games (3 for travel!), 1 tumbling clinic, Father's Day festivities, clothes shopping, and the movies (BTW - The new Karate Kid movie is a definite Must See!)...I ran my farthest distance yet, 7 miles!

We set out at 6:45 a.m. and it was beautiful out on the trail. The first 4 miles were great! After the 4 were done, we stopped for about 3 minutes, stretched, and got ourselves ready for the next 3 miles that were ahead of us. Once we got started I felt so strong and happy as I glanced at my Garmin and saw 5 miles...and then, 5.5...then 6! From there I just kept saying to myself just 1 more mile to go!

That last mile was on a bit of an incline, and when I saw that we were past 6.4 miles, my friend and I "high fived" as we were about to cover our farthest distance to date. I won't lie, towards the end, it was a bit of a mental struggle and I was feeling as though I just wanted to be done. I ended up picking up the pace, and giving it my all for a strong finish, and before I knew it the 7 miles had been completed! We finished with a .7 mile walk back to the cars, so the total distance we covered was 7.7 miles! Incredible!

This week I have on schedule 2 days of running as well as some cross-training. I WILL get them all done if it kills me. LOL This coming Saturday we'll be covering 8 miles! 8 miles! Never in my life have I ever thought I'd be running such distances. Crazy! Bring on RNR VA Beach!

Miles, hydration, and chafing...Oh my!

2010-06-17T07:03:00.000-07:00

Hello to all my new blog followers! You rock! Also, thank you once again for always stopping by and posting words of advice and encouragement. You guys really help to keep this turtle going!

1. This past Saturday morning was another 6 miler for me. (I still can't believe I'm running this far!) I ran with my half-marathon training group and my pace group finished 6.2 miles to be exact in 1:17 minutes! Whoohoo! Quite a few minutes less compared to my first 10k a few weeks ago. :) I am so happy about that.

2. The night before our run, I purchased my first ever hydration belt. After trying a few different ones on (the 4 bottle and 6 bottle), I decided on the Nathan Elite 1 Plus Pack. For the run I filled the 22 ounce bottle up with water, and the 5 ounce bottle with blue gatorade. I have to admit that the first few minutes of wearing it was a bit weird, but soon after I didn't feel it at all. I also loved the fact, that I had water/gatorade within my reach. I think that I'll really be needing this from here on out as we up our mileage every weekend. The heat and humidity here is really terrible, and on top of that I do not "glow" I sweat everything out on my runs. LOL

3. I am officially rocking the spandex shorts now. LOL! I forgot to mention to you all in my Zooma re-cap, that I chafed like nobody's business during that race! OUCH! I wore my usual black running shorts and the underwear rubbed me so raw. I had even applied body glide to that area prior to the race b/c of some previous chafing. Needless to say, my Under Armour compression shorts are now my BFF's. I will never run over 3 miles without those bad boys on.

4. I seriously need to get back on track with my cross training. I managed to sneak in one run this week (a 4 miler) and that was it. Aside from work stressing me out, I recently signed my life away to a competetive cheerleading squad (for my daughter, she loves it!) and her first week of practices have left me once again struggling to fit it all in!

5. I'll be covering 7 miles on Saturday morning with my running group. I've never run over 6.33 miles...and I am scared. LOL

Zooma 10k Re-cap a.ka. the longest distance I've covered!

2010-06-08T07:31:00.000-07:00

My first ever 10k is DONE!!! What an amazing, yet incredibly challenging, and humbling experience. Many thanks to the 80+ degree Maryland weather and humidity! Oh, how I love you so.

My official finish time? 1:30:52 (6.33 miles!) Which I am totally, 100% fine with. I really wanted to finish around 1:15/1:20 (remember, I am a turtle) however, within the first 2 miles I knew I needed to reserve , take it easy, and focus on staying mentally strong as I really wanted to be able to sprint to the finish line. (Which I did!)

It was so hot, and so humid and I worried I hadn't hydrated enough prior to the race starting. Miles 1-3 were great...lots of little hills, cobblestone, beautiful scenery of the water, and downtown Annapolis. I was feeling good, but very hot and sweaty.

By mile 3.5 I my supposed water-proof sunblock was burning my eyes like crazy. Ouch! I hit the corner and saw the HUGE hill at mile 4 which seemed to lead to the sky. LOL The sun was beating down so hard at that point, and I decided to just power walk it. When I hit the turn around, I picked the running back up and took full advantage of the downhill.

At the bottom of the hill was another water stop. ;) (The water stops were great by the way, lots of volunteers whom I was sure to thank!) Mile 5 was a lot of run/walking through the roads, and I could see the stadium off in the distance. My spirits were back up again when I saw it, because that meant the finish line was near. Saw the sign for mile 6, and knew I just had a little bit left to go. I made it uphill (yes, the finish was uphill LOL) and sprinted past a lot of people to the finish line. I'm pretty sure I was smiling, and when I heard my name announced I may have *gasp* done a little fist pump. LOL

When all was said and done, I felt amazing! The race was awesome, well-organized and although it was extremely hot and humid, I am so proud of the fact that I covered 6.33 miles. <--The longest distance I've ever gone in my life. Sure, I could have done better with time, but once I was actually out there running in the heat, I had to re-evaluate what I really wanted to get out of the experience. There were so many people who were out on the course getting sick,falling out, and just not looking good.

As of right now, I don't have any other races on my schedule this summer. (That might change though!) I've still got my eye on the prize, which is RNR VA Beach. :)

My to-do's this week are to get in a few runs, bike rides, and hit the weights. I also need to buy a hydration belt ASAP because on Saturday morning, I'm back with my running group to cover 6 miles again!

It's time for me to visit you all now. Hope you enjoyed my re-cap. As always, thanks for visiting!

I'm tip toe running...

2010-06-02T12:31:00.001-07:00

I had a jam packed weekend of 6 (yes 6!) travel baseball tournament games (my son's team won the championships!!!), SATC2 with the girls, and fantastic news that my sweet girl made the all-star competetive cheer sqaud! The H-fam is very busy these days. :)

Now onto running news....

After a bit of rest, my shin splint issues have faded. In fact, I even ran a nice, pain-free 4 miler bright and early Saturday morning along the Washington/Old Dominion trail. It was wonderful...one of my best runs yet!

I did manage to explain to one of the pace group leaders in my running group about my shin issues and and during the last mile or so, he watched me run (along with a few others) and he mentioned that knew right away what my problem could be...

Tip toe/forefront striking is how I run! There is no heel-toe striking, no true mid-foot strike...I'm basically a forefoot striker which would explain why my calves are always tight and sore (they look amazing though! LOL) and why my shins are bothering me. Hmm? Anyone know anything about this sort of thing?

Anyway, I have an appointment to see a sports meds/ortho next Thursday morning. I hope with this information, and their expertise I'll be able to get past all of this.

As for right now, I'm READY for my first EVER 10k this Sunday in Annapolis! Bring on the 6.2. The weather here has been terrible, with highs in the 90's and unbearable humidity. The good thing is that the race starts at 7 am!

Wish me luck! I'll be sure to have race re-cap for all of you.

Five things Friday & hot mess running

2010-05-28T07:25:00.000-07:00

How about a 5 things Friday post?

1.) Thank you all for your visits and bloggie comments! Even though I've been a slacker extraordinaire these past few weeks, I do want to say I am always checking in on all of you and reading your awesome posts! So again, thank you! I am inspired to do better about *my* posting...starting today!

2.) So far my new running group is going great. We have a total of 70 people all training for either a fall 10 miler or half marathon. We all fit into our own pace groups so that on our Saturday morning long runs, we all finish together. I really, really like that! Now with that being said...

3.) I am currently a hot mess, hence the picture above. I haven't been able to run for 6 whole days and it's killing me. (I have been able to bike though!) Since Saturday's fast, hilly, group run, my inner right-shin area (right along the tibia bone) is very angry with me. I've been icing, motrin-ing, elevating, and STILL as I sit here behind this desk almost a week later I can still feel twinges of pain. I am worried and I am also sick and tired of dealing with this kind of pain. It seems like every time I try to up my mileage or my speed, I have to stop and let whatever new injury heal up again. I have an apt. with the ortho/sports med doctor on Thursday morning and I'm hoping they can help me get to the bottom of what is going on.

4.) I have a 4 miler scheduled for tomorrow morning with the group. I'm hoping that the 6 days off, and icing immediately after will help. I really, really want to run. I hate this.

5.) My first ever 10k is next Sunday! At this point, I just want to be better for it!

Updates and new running group news!

2010-05-14T06:19:00.001-07:00

Blog slacker checking in! I have some great updates for all of you!

1.) My birthday white water rafting trip was incredible! The husband and I had a great time together out there enjoying the ride through class I, II, and III rapids. Also, it was an amazing workout too. Paddling on and off for almost 4 hours and a bit of hiking had me dead tired by the time the evening came around. I'm so happy I chose to do something fun and active for myself this year.

2.) I haven't been as consistent as I've wanted to be with the 10k training plan. We've had a lot of things going on in our family (the passing of my husband's grandmother, 2 birthdays, activities for both kids, and me being sick) and I'm basically a week or so behind where I'd like to be. With that being said, I'm back on track this week! I'm also happy to say that last Sunday (the day after white water rafting) I managed to cover 5.25 miles and that really put my mind at ease...
I have a little over 3 weeks left until race day!

3.) I recently found out that my beloved running group is starting back up at the end of the month BUT they are changing things with the days/times they will be getting together for the distance training program and it just doesn't work out for me. :( Soooo after feeling bummed out I decided to get over it and start working on plan B.

After lots of research, and emails with different running groups and programs I managed to find an awesome half marathon group training program that seems like a great fit for me! From what I understand there will be 50-75 people (of all different pace groups, so there is sure to be people running right along side of me during group runs) training for........RNR VA Beach Half Marathon. The EXACT half I'm signed up for!

We'll have group runs on the weekend (early in the morning!) and then during the week we'll have runs as well as conditioning/cross-training plans to follow. Also, every few weeks or so we'll do our group runs at different locations, some of which are close to home. I'm so happy and excited about this! I hope to share more as the program starts soon.

I'm 31 today...

2010-05-05T08:32:00.000-07:00

I'm 31 today! I started my birthday with lots of hugs, kisses, presents and a 4 mile tempo run on the treadmill. Yeah! I was supposed to do 5 miles, but I was so pressed for time and I had to start getting the kids off to school. It felt great to be drenched in sweat this a.m. :)

Tomorrow is cross-training, so a bike ride would be awesome.

In celebration of my birthday, I'd like to have a little bit of fun and share 31 very random facts about me...

I love that I'm 31! I'm going to be sure to make my 30's rock.
I'm going white water rafting for the first time ever this weekend. (Part of my bday present)
I am never, ever home. Out of 7 days in a week, my family and I probably get 2 nights of just plain relaxing. Between my son's 2 baseball teams, my daughters tumbling/cheer activities, and my running...I am always on the go.
My favorite flavor of boxed cakemix is funfetti and strawberry.
I love wine. Love it! My favorite varietal is Pinot Noir.
I just recently started liking sushi. (hello lobster tempura rolls!)
I'm half Filipino (mother) and half German (father).
My father passed away suddenly when I was 15.
I'm trying to keep my mom healthy these days...
I'll be celebrating 9 years of marriage this July. Awesome.
I didn't start running until March of 2009.
I didn't start getting really serious about it until January 2010 when I joined my running group.
I embrace my inner turtle.
My alltime favorite quote is "If found on ground, please drag across finish line."
I used to be all about my hair, nails, jewelry, and fashion.
Now, I'm all about comfort.
I have more athletic/running clothes than I have jeans and heels. (Amazing how much has changed!)
I have a lot of friends, but only 3-4 that I can really call my truest of friends. They love me for me (flaws and all). I'm not sure what I'd do without them.
The most important things in life, are my children. They have no idea how much they influence me and push me to be the best mother I can be.
Running has helped with that. I am a much better wife, mother, and friend because of running and being active.
My children are 8 and 11. It's amazing how fast time flies.
I often wish I would have had a few more kids. :)
I have 2 doggies. Sam, an American Bulldog and Brasco, a black pug. I love them to pieces even if they like to steal whole loaves of bread off my kitchen counter. :X
I love to make people laugh, and my husband is the same way. We often joke about who was funnier in social situations.
I have an HTC Hero (Android phone) and only 1 app downloaded. LOL (opentable.com for quick reservations!)
I love running, but I secretly enjoy riding my bike more. Probably because I feel like I can go forever on a bike.
I'm at the point where I love running outdoors.
I also love company on my runs. I enjoy conversation, and it really helps when I have someone with my slogging the miles and encouraging me along the way.
I love plans. If you give me a training plan, I will finish it!!!!
My favorite music artists are, The Counting Crows, The Fray, Sarah McLachlan, John Mayer, Jack Johnson, Ben Harper, Alicia Keys...the list goes on
I will run my first 10k in a few weeks, and I'm registered to run my first half marathon this fall.

and there you have it. :)

On to the next one...

2010-05-03T11:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm over it! I got off track for a bit there, but it's time to go back to being happy, focused, and on the path to my next event. :) Besides, I am certainly faster than someone who's sitting on the couch, right? ;)

Speed will come in time...REPEAT 10x's

So in the words of Jay-Z, we're on to the next one as my first ever 10k is in exactly 33 days! I've been signed up for Zooma Annapolis since the begining of this year, and I'm ready to focus on week 5 of my 10k training plan. I'm unsure of what my true goal is for this race...but I will say I'll be happy to finish anywhere around 1:15-1:20 ish.

This week I'll be doing my first tempo run:

Dist: 5 mi, including Warm up, 3 mi up tempo, cool down

I also have to work in a 2 miler, some cross-training, the tempo run, and then on Sunday my long run will be somwhere between 5-6 miles.

If anyone has anything they can share about tempo runs, I'm all ears! I have never done this type of run before.

A great reminder...

2010-05-03T05:11:00.000-07:00

"If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run.

John Bingham, running writer and speaker"

Disappointment and perspective

2010-05-02T12:30:00.000-07:00

Excuse me if this post is all over the place, but I'm fresh off the Race for Hope 5k this morning and I really wanted to come here and share as I am just feeling like crap after seeing the online results.

It's even worse because I spent the entire morning on a high with what I thought was a turtle PR as the clock read 35:00 (give or take a couple seconds) as I crossed the finish line. I got home, looked at the online results for the chipped time and I'm at 38:25...? What? A minute slower than my previous 5k time. Ugh! On top of that I forgot to stop my Garmin, when I was done b/c I was so thirsty and "stick a fork in me done" when I crossed that finish line (Of all times to do that...) and needed water.

I will share that it was hot and humid as hell out there at 9:00 a.m., but despite that I was feeling a lot stronger than I ever have before and I was so happy throughout the run. This race had over 10,000 runners and walkers and from start to finish all you could see was a huge sea of people. Pretty awesome! The survivors out there were so inspiring, and I did my best to try and keep things in perspective. I need to keep thinking about that.

Why am I so disappointed? Am I not pushing myself enough? Lots of questions swarming around in this head...

Will Run for Hope!

2010-04-27T09:43:00.000-07:00

I'm super happy to share that our team has raised ~~$455~~ $500 dollars for the Race for Hope 5k that is taking place this weekend! We made it to our goal! I have to say, this is my first ever CHARITY 5k event, and it feels awesome going into the race knowing we're helping such an awesome cause. Our team name is: Will Run for Hope...and that's exactly what we're going to do!

New kicks...finally!

2010-04-26T10:12:00.000-07:00

Yep, two posts in one day! This is a first for me.

Anyway, after day #2 of my sons travel league baseball tournament we all decided to head over to Fleet Feet yesterday so that I could *finally* get some new running shoes. This was my first time purchasing shoes from Fleet Feet, and I was thoroughly pleased with the very friendly (non-intimidating) staff members there.

After talking about a few of my aches, and about my training I ended up trying out a couple pairs of Asics, Brooks, and Saucony shoes. All three were great, but I out of all the shoes, I ended up loving the...

Brooks Defyance 3's

From the website:

"The new Defyance 3 takes its rightful place in the neutral spotlight. Sure, it's got the famous fit, feel and balance of the Adrenaline™ GTS, but this isn't just a spinoff. The Defyance 3 is a star in its own rights, featuring a Medial DRB® Accel for a smooth ride with just a touch of support. Bravo. Weight: 8.6 oz"

Website: http://www.brooksrunning.com/product/1200691B/

They felt great! Just enough room, nice cushioning, and overall they were a really good fit for me. With the shoes, I also purchased a pair of Berry Superfeet insoles, which should help me with my sore arches.

I took them out yesterday afternoon at the trail and did a sweat drenching run of 3.2 miles. Oh the humidity! So far, everything is good. No additional aches and pains today. I'm super happy with my purchase so far.

Dietician/Nutrition

2010-04-26T07:54:00.000-07:00

For the first time ever in my life, I've decided to seek some guidance in the area of nutrition. You see, I've got the running (consistently) and activity part down, and now it's time for me to get serious about the whole calories in VS. calories out.

Before deciding to do this, I did a lot of research on different practices and approaches. For me, I needed to find someone who understood that I need a realistic approach and a plan that is doable for my busy, and chaotic lifestyle that involves commuting, working, raising a family...aaaand running. :)

Anyway, I'm super happy with the woman I'm working with and she seemed to really understand my newfound love for running as well as my frustrations my up and down scale.

So, after my first appointment last week, I am a now a fully armed and dangerous woman who is on a mission to fill my day with lots of fruits, veggies, protein and...fiber (something I've really been lacking). With the amount of activity I do a week, she figured that a meal plan of 1500 calories a day would ensure a consistent, yet healthy approach to seeing the scale make a steady decline.

So far, I've been doing great on the plan and I'm looking forward to my next appointment. I also think a huge key to this is all the documenting I'm doing with my meals. Writing things down before the plan and after I've started the plan has been very eye-opening.

On the running front, I struggled this week to get my runs in, BUT I managed to do them all. (They just weren't on ideal days or times.) One thing I learned is that running after a nap is not a good idea. lol

I start week 4 of my 10k training plan this week! My schedule is as follows:

4/26 - 5/2
Monday - Rest / XT
Tuesday - Easy Run Dist: 2 mi
Wednesday - Rest / XT
Thursday - Easy Run Dist: 3 mi
Friday - Rest / XT
Saturday -Rest / XT
Sunday - Easy Run Dist: 5 mi **5k Race for Hope**
Total: 10 miles

Sunday is my Race for Hope 5k! Zooma Annapolis 10k is 4 weeks away! Yikes!

GoLite Hydroclutch Giveaway!

2010-04-19T06:31:00.000-07:00

The awesome Running Diva Mom is having a giveaway for a GoLite Hydroclutch Water Bottle!

Check it out and enter over at her blog. I know personally, I'd love to win something like this! For the MD/DC/VAers, you know the heat and humidity is terrible in the summer and I'm begining to think more and more about hydration as my training for the RNR VA Beach Half starts later this summer.

Good Luck to all who enter!

My love for running keeps on growing...

2010-04-18T15:32:00.000-07:00

I had a fantastic run with my friend on the trail this morning. It was a breezy 50 degrees outside, which may in fact be my new found favorite temperature to run in and together we covered over 4 miles (4.37 to be exact, thanks to my Garmin). Pace was comfortable, conversation was great, and the time just flew by. We were on our way home by 9:30 a.m.. I can't think of a better way to start a Sunday morning.

On my way home I spotted a lost yellow lab on the busy main road. There was no way I could keep driving just knowing he could be hit by a speeding car. So, I ended up turning around, getting out of my car and coaxing the dog to follow me. I could see he had tags on (he looked loved and healthy) and the next thing I knew he was hopping up in my truck. Thanks to his tags, I called the family and drove him home. I felt so great knowing this dog was back home safe and sound.

Speaking of feeling great, I have to share with you all how amazed I am with just how much I have grown to love this whole running thing. Since joining the running group this past January, running has become a huge part of my life. I find myself reading about it, talking about it and looking forward to just about every single run I have in my training plans.

I'm waking up earlier on the weekends (to get my runs in), spending more time outdoors, meeting new people, and strengthening the existing friendships that I do have. I also find that my family is encouraged by my running, and they reap the benefits of a healthier happier wife/mom. I have gone years and years of being on the sidelines, watching my kids enjoy their sports/activities and to have running, as something for myself has been awesome. I'm also happy for my husband who is now taking time for himself, playing on a men's league baseball team. We are now all supporting one another in each of our activities!

Even despite the fact that I may still be somewhat of a turtle (speed will come in time right?...right? LOL) and I have these minor aches and pains along the way, my love for running just keeps on growing.

For those of you who have been running, have you had a moment where running became something that was less of a chore/new workout idea, to something that became appreciated and enjoyable?

When did things really "click" for you? I'd love to hear about it!

***My first ever nutrition/dietition apt. is this week! I hope to have a nice bloggy post all about it soon.***

It's better to bike than to do...nothing + updates!

2010-04-16T07:53:00.000-07:00

I've had an incredibly busy week and the sad thing is that it's only going to get busier. My 10k training plan for this week had me doing 2 miles on Tuesday and 2 miles yesterday. This Sunday I'm supposed to do a 3 miler. (I'm in week 2 of the plan.)

I did manage to fit in 2.5 miles on the treadmill (before work, b/c my son had a baseball game in the evening) and then yesterday, I opted to bike 10 miles on the trail instead of running another 2. I did this because my knees are really achey, and somewhat painful especially when I walk downstairs. They even feel like they want to "give out" on me at times. SO FRUSTRATING!!! If it's not one body part, it's another! :X One positive thing that came out of biking, was that it was easy on my knees and my quads were working hard. I really enjoyed being out there, riding fast...and uh eating a ton of bugs. lol I also think that biking is waaay better than just doing nothing. :)

This morning I was up and at 'em and I popped in my p90x Chest&Back DVD (one of my faves) and got in a solid upper body workout. I know I'm going to feel it tomorrow. Good thing, tomorrow is a sort of a rest day...

Tomorrow my entire day is devoted to my son's opening day baseball parade, pictures, and then gametime. In between all of that we'll be attending a bday party for my dear friends 1 year old baby boy. :) I hope to make it to bed at a decent time so I can get up EARLY on Sunday for my 3 miler at the trail.

With the aches and pains, I know desperately need to find time to buy some new shoes! I'm tempted to just purchase another pair of my Asics Cumulus 11's online b/c I have no time to make it up to Fleet Feet for an eval. Hmm?

I hope all of you have a great weekend! I'm off to catch up with all of you. :)

***Countdown***

4 days 'til my apt. with a nutritionist/dietician (Yes! I need help! I hope to blog about this soon!)
2 weeks 'til Race for Hope 5k
6 weeks 'til my first 10k

Cherry Blossom 5k Re-cap

2010-04-12T06:56:00.000-07:00

Whoohoo! Let me start off by saying I PR’d again at the Cherry Blossom 5K, beating my last time by…wait for it…waaaaait for it…7 whole seconds! Gah! I could not help but laugh when I looked down at G$ (my Garmin 305) when I was crossing the finish line. Official finish time: 37:12. Previous 5k official finish time 37:19. Too funny!

I had truly wanted to PR by a few whole minutes, but obviously that did not happen. I’m totally okay with that though. If anything, I’m so happy I didn’t go past my last time. I would have been pretty disappointed.

I do want to say that out of the (4) 5k’s I’ve finished, this one was the most fun! I found myself enjoying the entire course (there was only one hill and it was small) which had us running past the monument on 15th street, over the bridge into Arlington VA, then back down to the finish. I was smiling, talking to other runners, and just enjoying myself the whole time. I will say that starting off was kind of rough. With over 1200 runners, I had a lot of zigzagging to do pretty much the entire first mile. My pace was all over the place and I remember looking down and seeing that I had done the first 1.5 miles in a little over 15 minutes! I also felt really hot during my run...especially around mile 2. I was sort of cursing myself for wearing my long sleeved Nike Tech. T. Next time, short sleeves and shorts!

A couple race highlights:

+Having the husbando and kiddos show up to the race just in time for us to head to the starting line

+Hearing them yell “Go mom, go!” as I was pushing myself towards the finish line! *best ever!*

+Spending time with one of my dearest friends, relaxing, joking around, and taking in the gorgeous morning (Congrats to her on beating her last time by a minute!)

+Watching the 10 mile racers start off, and the elites in the beginning. (Very inspiring!)

Also, another highlight was the Expo on Saturday. This was my first race expo and I was able to pick up a few fun items. I purchased a “WILL RUN FOR WINE” sticker, and 2 Bondi Bands! One says “Run Like A Mother” and the other says “Run now. Wine Later.” Love them!

We also got to talk to a lady from RNR Va Beach and she was so enthusiastic and excited when my friend and I shared that the race will be our first Half! She assured us that it would be a great time, and even gave us a nice hotel recommendation. (Which has me thinking, I need to book something soon.)

So...back to the 5k, I did take off my chip tag at the end of the race, and turned it into the race information booth in hopes that I’ll get an entry into next year’s 5k (or 10 miler –eek!).

Also, I’m not sure if I’ve shared this just yet, but I recently signed up for the Race for Hope 5k. I really wanted to do an event next month (since I didn’t have one) and this one is for charity. I have 3 weeks to go for that one!

Anyway, I hope you all had a fantastic, and active weekend! I’m off to check up on all of you. Can't wait to read TMB & Erin G.'s recap on the Cherry Blossom 10 miler! I'm also looking forward to reading Sarah's recap of her FIRST half-marathon!

10k training & hot mess running

2010-04-07T11:37:00.001-07:00

I'm in week 1 of my 10k training plan! Very exciting! Yesterday was day one for me and on the schedule was an easy 2 miler. I was looking forward to it all day. I got off work, rushed home, said hello to the kiddos and husbando, threw on my running clothes, and met my friend at the nearby trail.

Let me just tell you...that 2 miles was a complete, and utter, hot mess. 2 freaking miles! I can't believe it. I was ready to get out there and be done in no time, but my body had a mind of it's own.

Every step I took felt as though the energy was being sucked out of me. It was just terrible. I do have some theories or rather excuses as to why it all went down the way it did. Let me share...

It was still hot at 6:45 p.m. (think: 80's degrees hot) Our area seems to have skipped the beautiful season of spring and has gone right into summer
Seasonal allergies have taken over my body
I took Benadryl before leaving the house (hello drowsiness!)
Did I mention it was hot?
I hadn't eaten since 3ish...
I only had 20 ounces of water all day.
Mentally I was no good.

Shall I go on?

Okay, I won't. LOL In all honesty, I'm seriously stressed about yesterday evening. I've got my allergies going out of control and the Cherry Blossom 5k is this very weekend. How is it that I can bust out 5+ miles this past weekend, and then 2 miles can go so badly? I gotta say, I need a redemption run, and hopefully I'll get it in tomorrow. On the schedule is another easy 2 miler, let's hope it goes better than yesterday.

To end this blog post on a more positive note, I do plan to share with you all my 10k training plan. The coaches from my running group put it together for us after our 5k, and I really think the whole plan is great for me. It eases us into working up to the 10k distance by increasing our runs every Sunday, and then they also incorporated a bit of speedwork. I've never done any kind of speedwork before. Very exciting stuff!

My first run OVER 5 miles!

2010-04-03T13:25:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what got into me this morning but somehow, some way...I managed to pump out 5.7 miles on my run early this morning. This is HUGE for me as I've only ever run 5 miles once in my life.

With my sweet girl riding along side of me (photo on left taken this morning) I was feeling great after 3 miles and so I just decided to keep going. 5.7 miles later and I was done! Now, I will be totally honest and share with you all that I was very turtle-like, keeping my pace steady and consistent. I also walked a few times (never for more than one minute) which I'm totally okay with.

This is a huge confidence booster for me and I thoroughly enjoyed the run. Can I tell you all that I did this all without an iPod? lol Like I said, I have no idea what got over me, but I just focused on my daughter who was always a few feet ahead of me, and enjoyed my surroundings on the trail.

I have to say that I am really exhausted right now. My son had a double-header baseball game this morning, so I had to jet over to that to see both games with the fam. (They won the second game/lost the first!) Tonight we're dying eggs with the kiddos and tomorrow will be our family Easter celebration. My plan is to do p90x in the morning, before we get into anything.

I hope you all are enjoying your weekends! I was really excited to blog about today's run. :)

I'm READY for more!

2010-04-02T07:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon was my first day back in the running game since my turtle PR on Sunday. I wanted to run sooner, but I was playing chauffeur to baseball games and tumbling classes. We also had a birthday dinner to attend for my BIL's 30th, so another evening was gone.

Anyway, I did make every effort to get out on the trail after work (even leaving the office a bit earlier than normal) because I really needed my endorphins! The weather was beautiful, and the run was awesome. My friend and I covered about 3.5 miles and the time flew by thanks to us talking pretty much the entire time. (Thanks Jamie!)

On another note, I'm super excited for the Cherry Blossom 5k! Just 9 more days! I'd like to pull out another PR, if possible. (The course doesn't seem to be as hilly as the one this past Sunday.)
SHOUT OUT to TMB and Erin G. who will be running the 10 miler! My running coach and childhood BF will also be running the 10 miler as well. I am most excited about the fact that the husbando and kiddos are coming with me to the race! I think knowing they'll be waiting for me at the finish line will be HUGE motivator for me. :)

With all that being said, I'm READY for more! Our running coach emailed me our 10k training plan earlier this week! Whoohoo! I start the plan on Monday and will finish with my first ever 10k at Zooma in Annapolis on June 6th!

5k Recap...and a turtle PR!

2010-03-29T08:15:00.000-07:00

I did it! My first 5k for 2010 is done! My time according to G$ (my Garmin) was 37:07 - a PR for this turtle. :) LOL Although 37 minutes isn't considered an amazing time to most experienced runners out there, I am THRILLED with that time b/c this course was no joke! Oh the hills!

Note: I ran my first ever 5k last year, in 43ish minutes...so 6 minutes off compared to last year has this turtle feeling great! Also, my personal goal for this 5k was to be under 38 minutes! Done! Whoohoo!

So about the course...it was beautiful, hilly, cold, and quite windy being that we were right on the Potomac River. Right off the bat, pretty much the entire first mile was uphill. We looped around through a bit of grass, and then we were back onto pavement. I took advantage of the downhill portions, only to find that going back up one of the last hills had my quads screaming for it to all be over. LOL As I got closer to the the finish line, I learned that I actually had to pass it, and do one last loop. Gah!

The highlight of this 5k was having a lot of friends and family participate. The race was small (around 200 participants) and the course was marked really well, with volunteers all over the place, smiling, waving pom pons, banging on tambourines, and shouting encouraging words. I'm pretty sure I was smiling the entire race. (Except for the few moments where I saw some dude puking on the course. Ew.)

I did find that my pace was all over the place. I was glancing at G$ on and off and I noticed that I was going from 9:54, to 11:55, then to 8:50's towards the finish line. I struggled to get comfortable at times. I'll def. have to work on that.

Next Up - Cherry Blossom 5k on April 11th! I'm ready!

Winner Winner!

2010-03-26T09:54:00.001-07:00

Wow! What an awesome surprise! I just found out that I'm the winner of Racing With Babe's sock giveaway. :) Whoohoo! Bring on the 3-pack of fun striped socks! I will make you proud TMB! LOL I promise to wear them well. :)

Heck, I might even decide to rock them at Cherry Blossom next month.

Thanks again!

First 5k/mudfest tomorrow!

2010-03-26T08:40:00.000-07:00

After resting my shin/ankle this week, I was beyond ready to meet my friend at the nearby trail yesterday evening. We managed to cover 3.2 miles in a decent amount of time. :) It felt great to be out there, and we made it back to our cars just before it got dark. During the last .5 miles it started to sprinkle a bit, and I didn’t mind it at all. It was actually sort of refreshing.

On a related note, I’m beginning to think that I don’t have shin splints, as the area that seems to be achy is closer to my inner ankle. I do suffer on and off from post-tibial tendinitis. Lucky me, huh? Anyway, as soon as I got home I popped a few Motrin and began icing. I think doing that right away made a huge difference! In fact, I’m feeling super excited and confident about my first 5k of the season tomorrow!

This first 5k happens to be on a cross country course. I heard from a family member who ran it last year that the course was really muddy. Yikes! We manged to get some rain last night through this morning (boo!) so I’m sure the course will be just as muddy tomorrow. Should make for an interesting run, right?

Anyway, I’ll be sure to post a re-cap of the event this weekend. Aside from the 5k, I’ve got a sweet little going away dinner to attend with my g-friends, my son’s baseball tournament in Bmore, and lots of family time. :)

Hope you all have a great weekend! Wish me luck!

Feeling? Shin-splinty

2010-03-24T06:25:00.001-07:00

My attempt to run 4 miles last night was squashed within the first few running steps I took. The reason? A slight pain in my right inner leg/upper ankle area. This little annoyance popped up during my not-so-awesome trail run this past Sunday. LOL I did ice immediately after the run, thanks to my friend Jamie's handy-ice pack and I also popped a couple Motrin as well. I felt fine after that. Needless to say I decided to take it easy and I just walked a few miles instead. No pain with that.

Anyway, here's a photo I found online of the exact location of my pain.

See the posterior shin splint side? That's exactly where my annoying little ache is. I'm thinking a trip to Fleet Feet (local running specialty store) is on the agenda within the next week or so to get some suggestions on how I can avoid these types of aches. Plus my inner arch area seems to be taking a lot of a beating these days, and I'm pretty sure the two are linked. It won't hurt to get another eval. on my current running shoe either. ;)

Does anyone else out there in the bloggie world suffer from posterior shin splints? I know the lovely Sarah battles this issue on and off. If anyone has any suggestions or input, I'd love to hear them.

Tonight's plan is to p90x it up with some core work, and ice/motrin my shin more. I have my first 5k of the season this weekend, and I'd really like to kick butt, pain free! :)

Run Like A Mother Book & Giveaway!

2010-03-23T05:43:00.000-07:00

The book, Run Like A Mother hits stores today and I'm super excited! I've been reading the blog for some time now, and just last week ~~while I was home with the stomach bug~~ I was able to read a preview of what was inside the book...and I LOVED IT! Def. check it out when you get a chance, especially all you running moms out there. :)

For more information about the book and purchasing a copy, click here.

****I also want to add that TMB over at http://racingwithbabes.blogspot.com is doing an awesome GIVEAWAY for the book! Check out the details as well as her review here!****

Perfect Timing and trail runs...

2010-03-22T11:29:00.000-07:00

This was the exact quote I received this morning from Runner's World:

Vary your training, your running partners, and your environment. Only your imagination limits the ways you can spice up your running routine. - Bob Glover

When I say perfect timing, I mean it...

I had what I personally want to consider a horrible first trail run experience with my group yesterday. Now I, for one, have no desire to be a tried and true trail runner, but our coaches are in LOVE with trail running and had been talking about taking us off the pavement and onto the trails for a while. Their purpose was to liven things up a bit as well as give us all a newfound experience with running on a different surface. Sounded great to me! I was both nervous and excited for the challenge. :)

Well...I won't go into detail as some would perhaps want to disagree with how I should be feeling *smile* but for ME it was 4 miles of pure mental and physical ~~torture~~ challenges. It was beyond anything I had ever pushed myself to do with this whole "running thing" and even more honestly, the amount of hills, steep inclines, small cliffs, slippery leaves, roots, streams, were all so very overwhelming to me. I can't tell you the number of times I said to myself "WTF am I doing out here!"

Although I somehow made it all 4 miles (I'm still shocked about that) I was left feeling not only depleted but also very defeated. It was however really nice to log onto my computer today to find a lot of kind words and positive things from a number of my running group members this morning. So with that trail now behind me, I can NOW look back on this experience and pull out the positives for myself:

I am HAPPY...

to have had my first trail experience (I.will.never.forget.it!)
that I was pushed outside of my comfort zone for a bit (hello personal growth!)
for the spice and variation thrown into my regular training (see quote!)
for the new bonds I made with some of the running group members
the endless amount of jokes I can now make about myself

Hope everyone had a great weekend! I'm off to catch up with you.

5 miles to hot mess running...

2010-03-17T07:13:00.000-07:00

I have quite a bit to update you guys on as I'm home taking care of my son who has been battling the stomach flu for the past few days. Poor guy! I've been a Lysol/Clorox wiping maniac in hopes that the rest of us don't catch it. So far, so good!

Workout updates:

5Miles
On Friday evening I have no idea what got into me but I ended up rocking out my first 5 mile distance ever! Whoohoo! I accomplished it with a 5 minute walking warm-up and then doing several 10/2's! I was certainly gritting my teeth at the last .5 miles, but damnit I did it! I was so proud of myself, I think I was tearing up telling the husbando. (I'm sure he thought I was crazy, but I know he's proud.)

p90x
On Saturday, I got up and did my shoulders and arms p90x DVD (which always kicks my arse!) and then cleaned the house a bit to prepare for our evening guests to arrive. We had a bunch of friends over to watch the Pacquiao vs. Clottey fight. The funniest thing is that everyone was yawning and falling asleep just as the main event was coming on. My girls and I even put away our drinks and started guzzling water in preparation for running group on Sunday. My...how times have changed. ;)

Sunday group run
Sunday was running group and the morning went great. The rain ended up staying away while we were outside and the temperature was PERFECT! One thing I'm looking forward to this weekend is that our coaches are taking us out on a 3 mile wooded trail for our run. I can't wait. I love a change of scenerey. :)

Hot Mess Running (I should get a t-shirt that says that on the back. LOL)
Monday, was basically shot with the daylight savings change. I could not get up at 5 a.m.! Then that afternoon I came home to a sick little boy. :(

Yesterday, the weather was gorgeous and there was no way I could workout inside. So, I decided to meet up with Breathe.Train.Live at a bike/run trail near her house to save time since we were going to run out of daylight within an hour. All I'm going to say is the hills and inclines totally kicked my butt and I was basically doing what I like to refer to as "hot mess running." I'll spare you the details of shin pain, tight calves, and my inability to just zone out. LOL Overall we covered 3.75 miles. I was never so happy to see our cars. Thank God for Brea's non-stop encouragement, positivity and patience. ;) I was a hot mess.

I'm going to try my best, not to refer to that as a bad run. My running coach reminded us this past weekend that we never have bad runs, we just have runs that are better than others. ;)

I'm off to visit you all now!

Slugging along and Zumba

2010-03-12T09:36:00.000-08:00

Since running 4 miles on Sunday, I've basically been a slug. No p90x...no real running...nada... nothing. I basically blame it all on not being able to get up at 5 a.m. and getting home late from work in the evenings. Add in picking up the kiddos, homework, grocery shopping, tumbling class, dinnertime, etc. and things just get all out of whack.

However things sort of turned around for me last night as I took my very first ZUMBA class with my dear friends! The cool thing is that I was able to take the class for free on a guest pass. Thanks Jamie!!! I can't tell you guys how much fun it was. I have never smiled so much through a cardio workout EVER. I wish I could take some local classes near home, that didn't require me joining a gym. :(

Anyway, last night's ZUMBAing has me back on track. Tonight I plan to run 4 miles on the TM, and then tomorrow is a p90x DVD. Sunday, is our normal running group...which looks like it's going to be in the pouring down rain. Booo!

Well, I'm off to catch up with all of you. TGIF!

My first 4 miles…outdoors!

2010-03-08T06:27:00.000-08:00

Thanks for all the “get well” wishes on my last post. Boy does it suck being wiped out like that. I was happy to be feeling better by Thursday and managed to get in 4 miles after work on the dreadmill. I walked the 1st mile as a nice long warm-up and ran the rest. I can't believe how worried I was about losing my endurance after not running for 8 days straight. (Crazy, I know!) I do think all those days of rest def. did my body some good.

Saturday I was up early making a nice pancake breakfast for the fam. Soon after I met up with a friend at the nearby trail and we biked 11.5 miles! It was a bit chilly out there (thanks to the wind) but I loved being out there soaking up the sun and doing something different.

Running group was cancelled yesterday, but our coaches insisted we continue and run on our own. Not a problem! :) So with that being said, I made plans the night before with the girls to meet at the local trail at 10:00 a.m. My daughter didn’t want to go to the batting cages with the boys, so I brought her along and she rode next to us on her bike. She loved it! (I want to do this more often!) Together the girls and I pumped out 4 miles...

4 miles! Me...running...pretty much the entire time! eeee! I know this isn’t much for a lot of you out there in the running bloggie world, but this is HUGE for me personally! LOL I have never gone beyond the 5k distance outside, so I am beyond thrilled with myself. I felt so great, and accomplished after. <---That's the addiction for me.

I do have to thank Breathe.Train.Live for being our stand-in coach. She had the Garmin and kept us on track the entire time. Her encouraging words, and crazy idea of having me pump up the pace for the last 30 seconds is exactly what I needed. THANK YOU!

Down for the count...

2010-03-04T12:47:00.000-08:00

Well...I spoke too soon folks. The husbando and I have both been pretty much been down for the count since my post on Tuesday. We seem to have caught some sort of bug that's basically had us in bed at 8 p.m. with body aches and lots of congestion. Boooo! I'm thinking that the combination of a busy Disney vacation, and flying will do that to you. (Germs everywhere! lol)

I'm feeling a tad bit better today though. The majority of this little bug has moved to my head which I can handle way better than any body achiness. I managed to do some online reading today about working out when sick and I also remember seeing in one of my issues of Women's Running Magazine that if symptoms are above the neck, then you're free to workout.

So with that being said, I'm going to attempt to get a few miles in tonight. I haven't run in 8 days, and I'm dying to get one in. :)

I'm back from Disney and back on track!

2010-03-02T09:32:00.000-08:00

Our Disney/ESPN The Weekend trip was awesome! We park hopped every single day and got in on some great ESPN events. We also indulged thanks to the Disney Dining Package we had. I highly recommend booking through Disney if you ever decided on a trip there. The husbando and I just kept saying over and over "Can you imagine if we didn't book the package deal?"...we seriously would have gone broke. LOL

Some highlights of the trip:

Getting in to a LIVE taping of the Mike and Mike in the morning show

Going around all the countries in Epcot

Seeing Scottie Pippen, Mary Joe Fernandez, Annika Sorentstam, Steve Spurrier, Josh Freeman, Jason Witten...
Seeing my kiddos faces light up when we got to the Magic Kingdom *bliss*

Getting in to the "Dream Job Experience" and "Stump the Schwab" shows

Animal Kingdom Safari Ride

Playing with all the interactive games at the sports complex

Fantasmic show at Hollywood Studios

Seeing the Heisman trophy, NBA & NFL championship rings in person

...and the list goes on!

How about some photos?

We flew back into D.C. on Sunday night and I must tell you that exhaustion from all of the walking, activities and efforts of trying to keep up with my kiddos ~~and their endless amount of energy~~ hit me pretty hard when I got home. My body was in dire need of rest, so that's pretty much what I've been doing.

I did manage to walk on the TM last night for 4 miles, and I rolled out my calves afterwards. They feel like cinder blocks. LOL Today I'm back on track with running. Homework is to do (3) 11 min. runs/2 min. walking which should get me over 3 miles! :) Tomorrow, I'll be popping in a p90x DVD. (not sure which one I'm scheduled to do next...)

I did manage to miss running group on Sunday, but I have some great news to share with you all about what's going on with the group. Will post more on that tomorrow. Right now, it's time for me to make my rounds and catch up on everyone.

Upcoming race schedule and farewell!

2010-02-24T06:15:00.001-08:00

Hi blog world! This is my last post before the fam and I are off to the most magical place on earth! We are ready for 70 degree weather, quality family time, mickey mouse ice-cream cones, rides (that make me nauseous), character meals, someone else making our bed every day, parades and ~~hot sweaty,~~ talented athletes at all the ESPN The Weekend events.

Note: We haven't had a real family vacation in 2 years, thanks to the kiddos and their sports/activities schedules. So we finally got smart and decided to take a big trip now...before the chaos begins!

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I promised to share with you my upcoming race schedule for this spring/summer. It's changed a bit from the last time I posted about it. I will not be participating in the ESPN 5k this weekend. :( Unfortunately I waited too long to register and now the fees are just too pricey $$$. I still have to pay registration fees for the upcoming 5k I'll be doing with my running group and my first ever 10k.

So with all that being said, here is my updated schedule:

1. March 20th - 5k with running group (Downtown Annapolis area) The organization hasn't put anything out about it just yet, but we know for a fact that this is the set date! I'm very excited about this being my first one of the season. I'm sure I'll be feeding off of the group's energy the entire time.

2. March 27th - Keep Your Colon Rollin' 5k Walk/Run - I just signed up for this last week and will be doing this with a huge group of family and friends in honor of my husband's grandmother, who is currently battling colon cancer. This particular 5k course will be cross-country...small hills, grassy wooded areas, etc.

3. April 11th - Cherry Blossom 5k (Washington, D.C.) - Very excited about this one!

4.) June 6th - Zooma Annapolis 10k - My first EVER 10k!

Then as you all know I will be preparing for my first HM which takes place in VA Beach in September.

Anyway, I hope everyone who stops in has a great rest of the week. I just read that the resort we're staying at has a nice 1.5 mile jogging loop around it. Cross your fingers that I get my running homework done while I'm there. :)

Cheers!

Progress is a beautiful thing!

2010-02-22T06:54:00.000-08:00

Hi All! My weekend was pretty jam-packed as we spent a lot of time preparing for our upcoming Disney getaway. Friday evening I was dead tired from my first p90x workout the day before, but I still had to get my running homework done. So on my way home, I downed a SF Red Bull (so bad, I know…) but it gave me just the boost I needed in order to get in my much needed running homework of (3) 9 run/2walk sessions. I felt awesome when I was done. In fact, I think the running actually helped to loosen up my muscles from the day before. Is that possible?

Saturday morning I did my p90x shoulders/arms DVD (which I LOVED!) and then the fam and I were off to Target and Dick's Sporting Goods to pick up some vacation and baseball items.

My normal Sunday outdoor group run went really well! We started with our usual dynamic stretching routines and we did our walk warm-up. Then for the first time EVER...I managed to run (3) 10 min. run/2min. walk sequences. Whooohooo! Progress is a beautiful thing! Admittedly, it was a bit rough for me towards the end (especially the last minute) but I pushed through and got it done. I felt so proud when I was finished and to finally be over that mental hump of thinking "I can't run for 10 minutes straight"...is something I really needed. After the run, we had our normal lunch at Panera, then it was time for me to rush home to the family as we had baseball draft evaluations to get my son to. (Ahh...yes, baseball season is just around the corner for us, which puts us back into practices/games/crazy mode. LOL)

Tonight, I plan to pop in my p90x yoga DVD in hopes of getting in a great stretching session. I hope you all had a fantastic weekend. I'm off to catch up with everyone.

Dear Lord Baby Jesus – p90x

2010-02-19T11:58:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was a super busy day for me. Aside from my hellacious 1.5 hr. commute home from work, picking up the kiddos, popping dinner in the oven, settling in with homework, chores, etc. the husbando and I had our very first p90x session on the agenda for the evening.

We watched the intro stuff, reviewed the books, and managed to do our first DVD (back and chest) of p90x…and Dear Lord Baby Jesus what a KILLER workout it was. Now I will fully admit we were not able to do even half of what they were doing in regards to push-ups, pull-ups and reps, but boy did we push ourselves. It felt great to be done with 50+ minutes of an intense workout. I have forgotten how much I love weight training and I especially enjoyed working out with the husbando.

I do have to tell you guys that I was totally fine when I woke up this morning. I was a tad bit sore. Nothing really too bad. However, by 2p.m. this afternoon I am feeling as though a truck has run me over. The true soreness of the workout has really set in. ha! I haven't been this sore in a while. (and, it's the good kind of sore)

I don't plan to do p90x every day. I will basically be working it into my running regimen. So tonight, I won't be doing the plyo DVD. Instead, I will be doing my 9 min./1min. running homework to get in 3 miles. :)

I'll end this post by wishing you all a happy weekend! We have lots to do to prepare for our Disney/ESPN The Weekend vacay coming up next week. In one of my next posts I plan to share my upcoming 5k and 10k schedule. It's changed a tad bit. ;)

I see the light!

2010-02-17T07:14:00.000-08:00

Excuse my 5 minute Photoshop job/fake lens flare filter here on the left.;)

I am finally seeing the light with this running thing! I did a 5 minute warm up, then ran (3) 9 min. run/2 minute walk sessions with another 5 minute cool down + stretching. 9 minutes! That's almost 27 minutes straight, which in turn is also very close to 30 minutes! This is HUGE for me. I even felt like I could have kept going.

I don't know what's gotten into me, but I just feel like I'm finally making a turning point with this running thing. 3 miles is pretty much becoming a regular running distance for me and the upside is that I don't feel like dying afterwards. ha!

It's amazing to me, because so much of last year's running was a mental struggle. My mind would almost ALWAYS tell me, to stop, that I couldn't do it, or that I just had to walk after a minute or two. (Not to mention my ankle issues)

I truly think that joining the running group (w/my girlfriends) has helped me tremendously. Having the groups support is really helping me to stick to a real routine -- one that I can see and feel myself progressing.

I hope this journey and excitement continues, because I am truly loving every second of it!

Sharing a giveaway!

2010-02-17T06:29:00.001-08:00

This is my first time ever doing this in the bloggie world, but I love the thought possibly of winning a pair of yurbuds. I currently use the earphones that came with my iPod and those babies pop out of my ears all the time! LOL

Check out Christy's awesome blog for the giveaway!

Good luck to everyone!

Good things come in 3's

2010-02-15T08:32:00.001-08:00

1.) I rocked running group yesterday! I loved every second of being out there in the cool air. It was funny because after every other loop we ran, I was stripping off clothes. LOL I guess I tend to get warm rather quickly. First I threw away my scarf, then it was my fleece, and last were my gloves. It was a cool, and very windy 33 degrees yesterday. We ended up running laps in the parking lot since the track still hadn't been plowed.

I noticed a huge difference in my endurance while out there. I think being off work all of last week and being able to alternate running and long walks on the treadmill everyday has helped tremendously. We did a couple 7 minute runs/1 minute walks and then ended with 9 minutes running and 1 minute break. For the first time ever, I didn't feel like dying. I probably could have gone on even longer.

2.) Yesterday afternoon my left heel was feeling a tiny bit sore. So I iced yesterday, popped some ibuprofen and did a lot of stretching before bed. This morning? Nada! Nothing! Zero! My soreness is gone. Even after all my workouts last week I'm pain free which is HUGE for me. I'm thinking that my sad little ankles, arches and calves are getting stronger. Let's hope!

www.nataliedee.com

3.) I haven't mentioned it here on my bloggie, but for the past few months my skin has been very angry at me. I have never had to deal with pimples before but it seems as if turning 30 has something to do with my skin rebelling against me. (I like to blame everything on turning 30. :)) Anyway, I recently broke down and ordered Proactiv and after only 3 days, my skin has cleared up a lot. I'm actually surprised. Let's hope this stuff continues to work as good as it has been.

**eta - I finally broke down and ordered P90x for the husbando and I to start together! I will keep you all posted on what I think of it as soon as I do my first workout. I know...I know, it's going to kick our asses.**

Rockin' it all week!

2010-02-12T11:16:00.001-08:00

Thanks to all the snow and Federal Government closures, I was able to be home pretty much the entire week. During this time off, I've managed to spend the majority of it hanging around with the fam, watching ~~trashy~~ TV, shoveling our long driveway (a few times - ugh!), cleaning, cooking, stretching AND...rockin' it on the DREADmill every day.

With the weekend fast approaching, I'm really hoping that the track is plowed for running group on Sunday. We're supposed to be ready to up our running routine to a 9 min run/1 min walk ratio and I just know that the outdoor group setting would really help me tremendously at this point. *cross your fingers for me!*

On another note, will anyone else be watching the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics this evening? I'm really looking forward to it. Go Team USA!!!!

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! I'm off to catch up with all of you.