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Showing posts from 2011

Christmas Came Early (thanks to Vega Sport)

Do you get excited when you get something in the mail? This is one of the reasons I love ordering things online. I love to get "fun" mail. I also love the holiday season because I get something "fun" in the form of a Christmas card almost every day. A few weeks ago, I got something really fun in the mail. It was like Christmas came a little early. I got this box full of goodies. The type of goodies a runner loves. And since the box arrived, it has been the gift that keeps on giving (name that Christmas movie). The box from vegasport.com was full of Vega products. It claims to be "the first complete natural, plant-based sport performance system." And based on my experience, I think it just might be. I'll be honest. I was a little put off by the Vega name. I am not vegan or vegetarian. I like my meat. But then I realized a lot of sport nutrition products are probably vegan or vegetarian without even trying. So I have been adding the Vega products to m

The (Runner's) Christmas Song

Runners braving the elements, boogers freezing in their nose. Yuletide carols blasting through their headphones, and toenails missing from their toes. Everybody knows a Garmin and some chocolate GU, help to make the run go right. All the runnerds, with their eyes all aglow, will run 'til they get that high. They know that running makes their booty tight, and crazy runners will even go at night. And every runner's child is gonna spy, To see if mommy or daddy runs by. And so I'm offering this simple phrase, to runners from one to 92... Although it's been said, many times many ways Happy Running to YOU .

My Little Runnerd

The Princess got new running shoes the other day. The next morning, she woke me up to tell me she had learned how to tie her shoes. That is how excited she was to wear her new running shoes. There was no waiting for mom or dad to tie them. She was going to figure it out herself. And she did. Then she wore her new shoes ALL day. And insisted on taking them for a real run on the treadmill. All the running and jumping around the house wasn't testing their run-ability enough for her. So she ran on the treadmill. 1/2 mile. And loved every minute of it. When I grabbed the camera to take her picture, she told me I should take pictures of her running and put them on my blog "to show everyone my little runnerd." Her words. Words that made me smile. A lot. (She insisted on a picture of the tread. She likes every inch of her new Sauconys, even if she keeps forgetting how to say Saucony.)

Race Report: Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon

I know it has almost been a week since the RnR Las Vegas Marathon/Half Marathon, but it has been a busy month week. And it is still busy, so I'll do my best to keep it short. We headed to Vegas on Saturday afternoon. I spent most of the drive playing on my phone and annoying the hubs. When we finally got there, we checked in at the hotel and headed to the expo, which fortunately was just across the street from our hotel. I picked up my bib and then found out they had run out of goodie bags. LAME. So we wandered around for an hour, since that was all the time left before they started boxing up everything. And they didn't wait a minute past the 8:00 pm closing time. I tried to buy a t-shirt at the last minute, but they had already roped off the area and were herding people to the exit. The expo was a little disappointing. I had pretty high expectations based on the size of the race and the comments from other people who have been to other RnR race expos. The view from our room,

The Future's So Bright...

I don't have an amazing outfit planned. I have only talked to one person about meeting up. And I haven't printed out (or even read) the race info I keep seeing in my email inbox. But I am running a race on Sunday and it is starting to sink in, if only because it forced me to do a load of laundry today so my running capris are clean to pack tomorrow. I also thought about the race a little while I was running this morning, debating whether or not to pack my Garmin. I am doing the race for fun, with no time goal in mind. So what do you think -- take the Garmin or leave it home? It would be my first half without it. One thing I know I will be leaving home: my running sunglasses. I have a pair of Smith sunglasses I wear when I run. But with an evening start time, I don't think I will need them. Instead I'll be packing my awesome new(ish) Margaritaville shades. Usually I wear a pair of $12 sunglasses I got at Aldo. I haven't had a pair of sunglasses that cost more than

Ch-ch-ch-changes

I went for a run today. In spite of still having a sinus infection that makes my teeth hurt like crazy and an ear infection dulling my hearing, I headed out the door while the girls were busy learning at school. I figure I need to get a few runs in before I attempt this: For the record, I am running the half instead of the full. I am in no shape to run 26.2 miles right now. But the one good thing that came out of forced rest was a hip that feels like it's finally back to normal. And while I am not overly excited about the race, I am excited for the weekend. A little nervous to be without my girls, but excited for a grown-up weekend! And to see some of my favorite people. Also for the record, I did not run the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. After being up half the night because my ear ached, I went to Urgent Care instead of to the race. Don't be too jealous. I am now on antibiotics and finally feel like this mess of a cold/sinus infection/ear infection is on its way out. As far as

Turkey Trotting, Toilets, and Three-Year-Olds

Happy Thanksgiving Eve! I can't believe it is already here. And because I don't have a turkey defrosting or rolls raising, it doesn't feel like tomorrow is Thanksgiving. We are spending tomorrow at family's, so I don't have much to do today. There is a pumpkin pie in the oven though, because we need to come home to some kind of Thanksgiving "leftovers." What have I been doing lately, since planning and executing Thanksgiving dinner obviously hasn't been keeping me away? Well I made this last week. My first wedding cake. And I delivered it and spent a day at the wedding and reception. Hard to believe my beautiful cousin is married. Making the cake was stressful but fun. And it was easier than running a marathon. Or at least I only said "I will never do this again" once. I said those same words dozens of times during and after my last marathon. I can also tell you that I now know wedding cakes are worth every penny of what they cost. And I have

Things I Love Thursday - NOT Having Food in My Teeth

Image Credit Blogging? My running blog? YOUR blogs? No I haven't forgotten about those things. It's just that I've been making fondant and baking cakes and chasing down the text for some work projects. And when I've had a little extra time, I've been running and biking and 30-day shredding and getting a miserable cold. I meant to write a post on Monday that included an apology to Janae , who I ran into at Costco on Saturday. I'm pretty sure I had food in my teeth the entire time we were chatting. But that's what happens when you go to Costco on a Saturday (which requires a level of insanity I now realize I have) and they have a sample at the end of every isle. I also managed to eat all 1200 of my calories for the day at Costco. And since it wasn't even noon yet, I clearly exceeded my total for the day. I have pretty much every day though. I just can't live (happily) off 1200 calories per day. In addition to running into Janae and realizing we are bot

Harder than running?!?

Some days running is harder than others. If you read this blog, there is a good chance you know that from personal experience. This week I discovered two things that might possibly even be harder than running on those days when you just aren't feeling it and your legs aren't having it. The first is jumping rope. Because my running has been limited lately, I am trying new things. One of these is a circuit that included several 1-minute intervals of jumping rope. One little minute. But it is HARD. The first 15 seconds or so, I think it is going to be cake. Then it gets harder and harder until I am begging the second hand on the clock to move faster. I'm not sure I have ever broken a sweat in less than a minute before. But by the end of every jump rope minute, I am dripping. The other thing that, for me at least, is seriously hard is eating only 1200 calories per day. Since I'm trying to lose a few pounds and I can't rely on running to help me out much, I decided to cu

Do your body parts talk to you?

You know that "F" word we don't say at our house? Well it has been A LOT harder not saying it lately. Because it is exactly how I've been feeling. Maybe it's because I kept eating like I was training for a marathon when I couldn't even run. Or it's because the time I spend on the bike and elliptical doesn't kill as many calories as time spent on Millie. Whatever the reason, I am trying to do something about it. It is crazy how just one run made me feel a little better though. After more than a month of cross training and NO RUNNING, I was able to run on Monday. I ran three miles. They were a little slower than I would have liked, but I did have the incline at 3% because it seems to be a little easier on my hip. And speaking of the hip, it was very cooperative. It is still not at 100 percent, but it doesn't HURT. It just talks to me a little every once in a while. And it only whispered off and on during the run. I'm still taking things easy and

Still love it

It may have been a little slow , but after 36 days of not running... I'll take it!

Princesses with crazy eyes

It's harder than you think to be motivated to write on a running blog when you haven't run for the past month. Yes, as of yesterday, it was a month since my last little (26.2 mile) run. Another visit to my doc yesterday and another possible two weeks without running. Fingers crossed the things I've been instructed to do for the next two weeks have me running before my re-check on the 15th. And while there hasn't been running, I realized I can wear this year's costume if I ever run a Halloween race. My costumes from this year and last year are both running-friendly. I didn't think about that when I bought them but realized it when I was looking (jealously) at all the Halloween Half pics on Facebook over the weekend. Instead of running 13.1 miles on Saturday, I went to an awesome Halloween party where we devoured a spaghetti skeleton, tried to eat donuts off a string and saw princesses with crazy eyes. Hope your Halloween was as fun! And since the Halloween fun

Bustin' My Bootie

My (lack of big) boobs have been a lot happier recently. I have been searching for some new sports bras that are affordable and also do their job. I finally decided to order a few that looked promising. Two out of three were a complete fail. But the other one = happy, happy boobs. I actually just ordered it because it was on sale and was a max support bra, which I figured should be good for running. Turns out it is perfect in every way. And although I didn't get a picture of myself in the awesome new bra, I have to say I even like it more than this one . Here's a picture of my new Champion 360 Max Support Sports Bra floating in the air: I love it so much that I sent the two failures back and got two more of this one. In different colors, of course. Supporting my girls will come in handy as I tackle this: I signed up for the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge in 2009 and 2010 as well but didn't really stick to it or accomplish much. This year will be different, which is why

On the other side of the treadmill

Source Today I busted out eight miles on the elliptical. Then I worked my legs until they were jello and my abs until I ran out of time. My at-home cardio options are limited to the stationary bike or the treadmill. And since my 5-minute attempt on the treadmill was a total fail yesterday and resulted in an hour on the bike, I headed to the gym for today's elliptical time. I listened to music but was dripping sweat too much to attempt to read. So besides the music, I kept myself entertained by watching the people running on the treadmills, which were right in front of me. Here are my most profound thoughts from the experience: If you are pregnant and have GIANT hooters as a result, STRAP THOSE THINGS DOWN. Sketchers Shape-Ups on the treadmill = cringe! Standing on the sides of the treadmill to rest while the belt is still moving doesn't mean you actually ran 2.5 miles or 30 minutes when you are finished. The rest of the runners were pretty mundane. And I wasn't close eno

Kind of a BIG Deal

Some days, things just don't go according to plan. Last night, the plan was to spend an hour on the bike and then get some strength training done after my girls went to bed. This was a reasonable plan since my girls are usually settled for the night by about 7:30. But I was still snuggling my Bean when The Princess called me into her room with a sense of urgency in her voice. "Feel my loose tooth," she said. I wiggled the tooth that has slooooowly been getting looser over the past few months. It was just barely hanging on. I told her if she pushed it down really fast, it would probably fall out. She tried but just couldn't do it. When she tried, she pulled her finger away at the last minute. So she asked me to do it. And out it came. Then the tears came. She decided she didn't want to lose teeth. (The Princess is not a fan of change. At all.) So last night The Princess lost her first tooth. This is a BIG deal. After the tears stopped and she decided it was pretty

Things I Love Thursday - Inspiration (and Giveaways)

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to interview Terry Hitchcock, the subject of the movie My Run. I had my list of questions ready to go, but many of them remained blank when the interview was complete. The reason is because Hitchcock was so easy to talk to, and one subject would inevitably lead to another. Our 15 minute interview turned into closer to 45 minutes without even a glance at the clock. It was interesting to hear his story in his words and his own voice. Here is some of what I learned, straight from Hitchcock himself: Terry Hitchcock didn't plan to make his running journey into a film. "I did the run and then said to myself 'I'm going to go on and do other things.' I did the run with no real fanfare, he said. "Every day I was competing with the Olympics in the news. I did my run and then it was over. Then the idea of making it into a movie started snowballing over the years..." One of the reasons Terry's accomplishment is so notable:

I Love to Laugh

This makes me laugh every time I see it. And it is way too true. I have the race photos to prove it. Happy Tuesday!!

Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Cake Makes Me Smile

I know it's not the end of the month, but it is the start of a new week. And hopefully this week will bring some running. In the meantime, here's a recap of last week's work outs and an update on some of the things this runnerd is up to lately: Elliptical workouts planned/completed: 2/2 Bike workouts planned/completed: 2/4 Runs planned/taken: 1/0 (I took two steps, if that counts; unfortunately they were two painful steps.) Strength training workouts planned/completed : 6/5 Ab workouts planned/completed: 3/2 Current Reads: Just finished The Long Run yesterday (review to come). Decided it was time for a mindless beach read since I plan to spend a lot of time reading as a treat to myself tonight (aka my birthday) , so I am reading One Fifth Avenue (which I purchased for $2.40 when Borders was going out of business) . Current Shame Inducing Pleasure: Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cake from Baskin Robbins Current Obsession: Christmas music, including this: Current

My Run, Your Run, Terry Hitchcock's Run

My last run was 26.2 miles. It was 13 days ago. With my hip still on the mend, I am biking and ellipitcalling like it's my business. And until I can spend some quality time with Millie again, I have been getting my running fix from other runners. Yep, you guys. Through your blogs and from two great running books (more on that later). And now I want to give you the chance for a little inspiration from Terry Hitchcock's story in My Run . After tragically losing his wife to breast cancer and struggling to raise three young children on his own, real life super hero and modern day Forrest Gump, Terry Hitchcock seized on an idea. He wanted to accomplish the impossible: run 75 consecutive marathons in 75 consecutive days to bring attention to the incredibly difficult lives of single-parent families. He ran in spite of freezing rain and unbearable heat, in spite of chest pains and bone fractures that wracked his 57-year-old body. He just kept running – each day, every day – strengtheni

That's What Friends Are For

First I have to say I agree with most of you and your comments about the expectant mom who ran the Chicago Marathon at 39 weeks pregnant. I think it is great that she ran through her pregnancy. And since she had the go-ahead from her doctor and her husband was with her during the race, I think it is amazing. Just my $.02. Now for what I really want to talk about. Tonight I am going to dinner with my friend Joyce. We have been friends for ten years. We have gone months at a time without talking to or seeing each other. Yet we can pick up the phone any time and talk like we just saw each other yesterday. She is the one friend I knew without a doubt I'd see at the hospital the nights my girls were born. And nothing could have stopped me from seeing her little guy the day he was born. Sometimes we celebrate each other's birthday months after they happen or exchange Christmas gifts in February, but life can get crazy and we both recognize that. I can tell Joyce anything and trust he

St. George Marathon 2011 Race Report: Mourning a Marathon

Before the race, I met up with Julia , Frances and Rachelle . We rode the bus up together and then hung out until the start. Julia, Frances and I started together and ran together quite a bit in the first half of the race. It was great to have someone to talk to when I needed a distraction and we all had a sub-4:15 goal. My hip was sore but bearable and actually felt the best on the uphills. I carried my handheld with Powerade and finished it off about the mid-point. I refilled it with water, but it became obvious later that I should have sucked it up and downed some of the lemon-lime Gatorade along the course. The first 20 miles I maintained a pretty steady pace and felt pretty good, in spite of the rising temps and my hip. Then came the five stages of grief. Denial - This started about mile 20 of the race. I didn't want to believe I was getting dehydrated. I tried to find other things to blame, but the truth was my body was shutting down. My mind couldn't overcome my body.

St. George Marathon - Giving it my all

I meant to post before today, but this week has been chaos and I have been a mess. Dealing with my hip pain has put me on a roller coaster of emotions, but after an x-ray and MRI resulted in a green light from my ortho, I am packed and ready to head south to St. George to run the marathon and meet my goals. Since I have to go get The Princess from school in a few minutes, I'll just say I am going to give it my all. I'll give you more goal specifics in my race report. If you are the praying type, throw in a little prayer that my hip pain eases up as I get going. And if you are running St. George tomorrow too, look for me! I'll be wearing a teal tank and black running skirt. Good luck to everyone running! Everyone else...have a great weekend!

Super Bass, Stereo Hearts and a Party Rock Anthem

The countdown is on. Four days until the St. George Marathon. That means it's time to update the iPod so there's more than two hours of songs on there. A sub-2 hour marathon might be inevitable, but it won't be set by me. Shocking, I know. I figure if I can't run, I'll get ready to run. I shot an email to my doctor this morning to see if there is anything else I can do to help speed things along with my hip since the only times it hurts now is when I first get up in the morning and the Celebrex has worn off or when I try to run. Until I get his response, I will distract myself with music. Last week I got an email of the top ten workout songs for September from Chris at RunHundred.com and was pretty excited. Perfect timing for updating my iPod. And I'm letting you in on the list too: Pitbull, Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer - Give Me Everything (Sidney Samson Remix) - 129 BPM Nicki Minaj - Super Bass - 128 BPM Switchfoot - Dark Horses - 83 BPM Gym Class Heroes &