Q&A part 2 - How I became a runner

That Pink Girl asks:

How did you get started running and when did you start identifying as a "runner"?

I was always active growing up. I played softball from when I was in 3rd grade until I was in high school. I also rode bikes and played drive-way basketball, among other things. When I was in 8th grade (1994), I saw a flyer during gym class for a Jingle Bell Run. I took the flyer home and showed my mom and told her I wanted to run the mile youth run. She thought it was a great idea and signed herself up for the walk. I came in first place for the youth mile and my brother's friend's dad (did you get that?) approached me and suggested that I join the cross country team at the high school next year. I didn't take his advice.
My mom was frustrated with the walk and said she couldn't believe how some of the people who walked were so competitive and were declaring others cheaters and whatnot. She vowed to run the 5k race at the same event the following year. I, not to be outdone by my mom, vowed to run it with her. We were both a little scared and intimidated by the 5k length but we went for it. We would head over to a nearby baseball field that had a 1/3 mile crushed limestone trail around it. We didn't time ourselves and we didn't follow any specific plan - we just ran (and probably walked some). Eventually, the day of the race rolled around and we ran together until the last tenth of a mile or so when I sprinted ahead so I could beat her (what a nice daughter I was, eh?). I also proceeded to lose the contents of my stomach - orange juice (NEVER drink orange juice before a race... you've been warned). I think we finished in 29:xx. We were both pleased and we continued to run.
As I mentioned above, I did not run cross country as a freshman in high school. I was in the band so my fall was very full with competitions and football games. In the spring, I tried out for the softball team. I was a decent player but I did not make the team. That turned out to be the best thing to ever happen to me. As a result, I joined the track team and ran the 400, 800, 4x800, and 4x400 races. Then, I decided to join the cross country team as a sophomore, you know, to stay in shape for track... Little did I know that I would fall in love with cross country and then only run track to stay in shape for cross country.

As far as identifying as a runner, I guess it happened pretty early on for me. I mean, I was running for a school team so it was difficult not to just accept the title of runner. I also ran a few road races with my mom during the off season (though I managed to get a lot faster than her due to my training with the team). My high school cross country team was really, really good. In fact, we won states my junior and senior years. I was usually the 4th or 5th runner for the team and my PR from that time was around 22:xx. I can only dream of being that fast these days.
After high school, I tried to keep running but it didn't last. My mom and I ran as a mother/daughter team that summer and neither of us were well trained and we did awful (I believe I reached my puke threshold in this race too). I ended up calling it quits for a while but continued to run occasionally, just no more signing up for races.
Fast forward to 2005 when I got my current job. After a few months sitting in a cube all day and eating out for lunch more than I'd like to admit, I decided something needed to change. I joined the gym in my building and slowly became a runner again. My first race back was a 10k in 2006 and I haven't looked back.

Q&A part 1 - The wedding questions

I got a lot of great questions the other day and I'm going to break the answers up into a few posts. Today I'm going to focus on the wedding related questions because we are getting down to the wire with the wedding planning. RSVP cards arrive daily and it is exciting to check the mail! If you think of any other questions, or you missed that post, feel free to leave them in the comments here or over on that post. Thanks for playing along.

Morgan asked:
Question: How were you able to handle not knowing for sure if the venue site would be available or not when it was so close to your actual date? I think I'd go crazy, even if I was 90% sure I'd be ok.
 Answer: I'm a super relaxed and laid-back person in general so I really wasn't too worried. I am not one of those people who had dreamed of their wedding since they were 6 and I had no real ideas in my head of how my wedding would look, other than I knew I didn't want to splurge for anything too fancy. I decided that if the venue I wanted was booked, we'd just change our plans slightly and have the reception at the church if we couldn't find another place. The only downside to that would be no alcohol. Luckily, we were able to book the place we wanted and I already picked up the alcohol permit. :)

Lindsay asked:
Question: Are you stressing about the expenses a wedding brings? What is something you (or whoever is paying the bill) are splurging on? What is something you're using creativity to do to save some money?
Answer: Joey and I are paying for the wedding mostly ourselves. His dad and my parents both offered some money but I'm not expecting it and am planning things based on if we were paying for the whole thing.
That being said, the venue I booked is very low cost. It is a building that you can rent out for any occassion and you bring your own food. They have tables and chairs and a kitchen but you supply the rest. We are planning to bring sandwiches from here, chicken nuggets, sweet tea, and lemonade from here, and then we'll have veggie trays and chips. We also plan to get a keg and a bunch of wine from here (but I have to drive to VA to get it - stupid MD laws).
We ordered plastic table clothes, paper plates, and plasticware from here. We ordered our invitations from here and ended up paying less than $1 per invite.
As far as splurges go, I would say we splurged on what we are wearing for the day. My dress wasn't too expensive as far as wedding gowns go but it still felt like a splurge. I LOVE my dress though so it was worth it. I am wearing shoes that I already own. Joey went out last weekend and bought a new suit. He actually spent more money on his suit than I did on my dress... granted he got two shirts, two ties, jacket, pants, shoes, belt, tie clip, and pocket silks.
I originally wasn't planning to have decorations at the wedding, but my invitations have pinwheel-like designs on them so I thought maybe I'd make some pinwheel decorations out of paper. If I end up doing this, I'll definitely blog about it.
My flowers will be really simple. My coworker/friend/running buddy does flowers for weddings occasionally and offered to do mine (I made favors for her wedding in October). I am only having a bouquet for me and my maid of honor and then a few boutonnieres. I don't plan on having flowers at the church or as center pieces/decorations at the reception.
We are not going to have a traditional wedding cake. My parents are planning to pick up a sheet cake at my favorite bakery and I told my mom she could have it decorated however she wanted.
A friend of ours bakes cakes/cookies and offered to make us some cake balls for the wedding. We have had them before and they are absolutely delicious. (I don't care if it is kind of trendy or whatever).
One more splurge - we aren't too concerned about the wedding/reception but we splurged majorly on our honeymoon. I'm SO EXCITED! We are going to Hawaii again.

I think that covers the wedding questions. I'm sure you now know more about my wedding than you really wanted to know, but if you have any more questions, please ask in the comments.

11 Randoms

Morgan tagged me in a 11 random things post and since I've been struggling with what to write about lately, I'm going to accept the challenge.


Here are the rules: 
1. Post these rules
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
5. Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them
6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people!

11 random things about me.
1. I used to eat ketchup on almost everything. My cousin even gifted me a room-service-sized ketchup bottle (that I still have, unopened after over 15 years - I promise I'll never open it). Now I rarely eat ketchup but I still put some on mac 'n cheese (only the box kind) occasionally and Joey thinks its gross.
2. I used to work at a ski resort as a lift attendant just so I could get a season pass. It was also nice to get a paycheck since my retail job wasn't terribly lucrative after Christmas.
3. I grew up in Maryland but didn't eat a single crab until I was 19.
4. I also didn't eat Chinese food until I was in college.
5. I've learned never to declare that I dislike a certain food item because it could likely become a favorite in the future (i.e. mushrooms, olives)
6. I enjoy playing rock band and guitar hero but only if I get to play the drums. I occasionally rock the guitar but I'm not as good at it as the drums.
7. I once bought a playstation 2 just so I could play Tony Hawk. I actually bought the game and a controller before I bought the game system.
8. I've never lived in a house with a fireplace before but I love that I have one now. Fires inside are so cozy and warm.
9. I love to camp. My family owns a small piece of land on a lake and I like to go up at least once every summer and camp out, in a tent, on the ground.
10. I haven't had cable since April when I moved into my new house. The only thing I really miss is watching all the football games. We've gone to the bar to catch a few Steelers games though. We plan to get cable before next football season.
11. I recently signed up for Daily Mile but it mostly just makes me feel inadequate, which is probably why I hadn't signed up before. That being said, I'm now on my way to my highest mileage for January ever, which is still ridiculously low, but better than ever before.

Questions from Morgan:

My Questions for the Tagged:

1. What is the last thing you took a picture of? (I'm keeping this one, could be interesting.)
I decided I wanted to do the January photo a day challenge but not in January so I snapped a pic of it with my phone for me to reference whenever I decide to begin.

  2. What finally made you decide to write your blog?
I had been following a friend's blog who moved away. I then realized that other blogs existed and really enjoyed reading them. I started my own but didn't tell anyone about it for a really long time. Then I discovered running/tri bloggers and decided to focus more on that. I'm glad I did.
3. If you had to listen to one song on repeat for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Umm... I don't know. Maybe Inside Out by Eve6? 
4. What's one item on your 'bucket list'?
I don't really have a bucket list but I would like to ride in a hot air balloon someday.
5. If you could be on any TV show, which would it be?
How I Met Your Mother. I love NPH and Jason Segel
6. If you could start your own race, what distance would it be?
I have no idea. Probably not anything long-distance if I was the one in charge because that sounds complicated. Maybe a 5k or a mile? 
7. What would you name said race?
 The Run Your Heart Out One Mile Race
8. If you were forced to eat like something other than how you eat now, which would you choose? (Vegetarian, Vegan, Paleo, Pescetarian, Kosher, Cannibal, etc...)
I would definitely choose Cannibal... haha.  No really, I think I could be a vegetarian if I had to but it would take me a while to get over a few tasty meat items (I love burgers and juicy steaks).
9. If you could rid the world of one social application, which would it be?
 All those stupid FB games that I don't play.
10. If you could choose just one person to train with for a training cycle who would it be?
I'd choose Kim. She seems fun and we run about the same paces. 
11. If you were a guest at our wedding what would you bring as a gift based on what you know about Spike and I? (Ha ha, this could get very interesting...)
A candy dish

Alright, I guess I have to tag people now. I am not sure if I know 11 people. 

• Kim
• Beth
• Andrea
• Fran
• Lindsay
• Gina
• Kim
• That Pink Girl
• Victoria
• Katie
• Michel

Ok, now to my questions.

1. What is the last thing you took a picture of?
2. If you eat eggs, what is your favorite way to make them?
3. What is your favorite board game?
4. Do you prefer dogs, cats, or some other pet?

6. Cake or pie?
7. If you could move anywhere in the world, where would it be?
8. If you could go on vacation anywhere in the world, where would it be?
9. What is your favorite color?
10. How many siblings do you have?
11. If you were invited to a wedding reception but not the ceremony, would you be offended?

Ask away

Thank you so much for all your great advice on registering. We ended up going with Crate & Barrel (instead of Macy's) and Bed, Bath, & Beyond and I think we're finished adding things. I realized that I really liked the style at C&B and was super overwhelmed by the amount of stuff Macy's had to choose from.
In other wedding news, I finished addressing the invitations on Monday morning so I dropped them in the mail that afternoon. They went out on Tuesday at 2pm (according to the box I dropped them in) and several people have already received them! As of right now, 4 people are officially attending my wedding. Exciting stuff over here.

In other news, I've been struggling with ideas on what to write here lately. My running isn't terribly exciting these days, so I'm going to open up my comments section to a Q&A. If you have any questions about me, the wedding, my running, my upcoming tri, anything really, leave it in the comments and I'll do my best to answer (I reserve the right to not answer if I don't want to).

Help me fill my registry

My invitations arrived in the mail last night and I had my girls over after happy hour to help me address them. I think we got about half way finished and now I am just waiting for Joey to get addresses for his family so I can finish them. So much for getting them in the mail by the end of the week... Likely won't be until Monday. Oh well. No big deal.
In other news, I started our first registry online and just began putting items on it this morning. I think we'll likely go to the stores to work on it this weekend and also add more stuff online when we have time to go through the sites more. We plan to register at Macy's and Bed, Bath, & Beyond.

So tell me, what would you register for at either place? Any items you love or wish you had received? I'm all ears. Links are always welcome in the comments!

Irrational fears

When I was in high school, I was very involved in extra-curricular activities. My parents had a rule that I couldn't go out on school nights unless it was school related so I joined a lot of teams. I was in the marching band for 4 years, track for 4 years, cross country for 3 years, bowling (yes, really) for 2 years, and the billiards team (yes, really) for 1 year. Basically, I added a new activity each year. I was also part of the ecology club and each year we would go on cool field trips to the bay. Oh, did I also mention that I had a morning paper route and still somehow managed to get good grades? I was busy, to say the least.
Anyway, with everything going on back then, nearly every fall, I would begin to get an irrational fear that I was going to get injured/hurt. The first year I can remember it happening was my sophomore year when I had cross country states (for the first time since I didn't run as a freshman) and our big Atlantic coast championship band competition (we were really competitive and we were really good - 2nd on the Atlantic coast in our division). For both sophomore and junior years, my irrational fear was that I was going to fall down the stairs. I have no idea why I thought that was the way I would get injured but everytime I was on stairs, I was extra cautious.
My senior year my fear was way more obscure. I had a fear of getting hit by a deer while riding my bike while delivering papers in the morning. Just typing that out made me laugh at little because the odds of that happening are slim to none,* which I was aware of at the time. However, one morning (prior to this fear forming) I was riding along and a deer shot across the street a few yards in front of me. I was then extra cautious in the mornings on my bike and tried to be more alert (as alert as one can be on a bike between 5-6am).
I never did get injured or hurt during these times but each year I had the same concerns. I think part of it was because there was some (healthy) pressure to be able to perform during my two main fall events since my cross country team and band were good (my cross country team won states my junior and senior years.. we had some speedy girls and I used to be much faster).

Yesterday while walking to my train after work I had a twinge of irrational fear set in. I think I'm getting nervous** about the wedding and hoping that I'm healthy and not injured or hurt for the big event and the honeymoon.
I don't think I mentioned it here, but the week before Christmas I fell on the railroad tracks (in front of about 20 people) crossing them to wait for my train in the morning. I was wearing a skirt and tights and I fell onto my knees pretty hard. My hands were full so I didn't actually land them at all. By some miracle my tights did not tear or run and there wasn't any blood. I did have a good lump and bruise on my knee for a little while but I'm better now.
I also think that my mom breaking her ankle (for unknown reasons) and dealing with a cast and crutches (and now a walking boot) has made me cautious. I'm still running (though probably not as often as I'd like) and still doing normal daily activities but I am more aware of what I'm doing lately.

Do you ever have any irrational fears when you have major events happening in your life? Have you ever actally been injured before a major event?

*Although a deer did run into a girl during a race I was running once, so maybe it wasn't so irrational afterall?
** Nervous about being sick or injured or that the weather won't cooperate, not about actually being married. My feet aren't cold is what I'm saying.

*insert triathlon pun here*

The new year is upon us and I have a lot of exciting things lined up for this year. In fact, I booked my wedding venue this afternoon and my wedding is exactly 2 months from today (I know, booking a venue should be done much further in advance but it's not a regular venue and they wouldn't take reservations until the same calendar year as the event... crazy). Now I am in all-out invitation mode and hoping to have them ordered by tomorrow so I can get them out ASAP.

In other news, I registered for my first real triathlon! It's on June 2nd and was super cheap for a triathlon so I finally decided to give it a try. I say 'real' because if you've been here for a while you may remember that I did a tri a few years ago (a super sprint - 1.4 mile run, 4 mile bike, 250 yrd swim) but the events were in reverse order and the swim was awful for me (last event... in a heated pool... in a heated building... in March... after running and biking in the cold rain). This time I am doing a real sprint triathlon with a ? yrd swim, 8 mile bike, and 5k run. Funny I just checked the website but I don't see the distances listed and I can't remember the swim distance. I do know it's an open water swim in a lake that I grew up swimming in every year and that on June 2nd it is likely to be quite cold (which is the main reason I've never done this event). I am excited about it though.
Any advice you wish to give to a newbie triathlete, please let me know in the comments.

Catching up

I hope everyone had a merry Christmas (or other holiday that you celebrate this time of year). Mine was alright. I headed up to my parents house on Christmas eve morning, just me and the dog. Joey was spending Christmas eve with his family and then doing Christmas morning with them before I met up with him later that evening. This will  be the last Christmas we spend apart (I hope). I missed him more this year than usual. But that's not the point of this post. I'm just going to do some bullet points because I don't have the brain capacity for anything else.

• Joey got me a camcorder for Christmas! Maybe if I ever figure out how to do anything with the videos, I'll post some. 

It's smaller than my DSLR camera!

•  I haven't been running as often as I probably should but that's ok. I'm taking a break I guess. However, I did go out on Wednesday when it was windy and cold and none of my (few who were actually in the office) coworkers wanted to go with me and my mp3 player batteries were dead. I did my normal 5 mile loop around the mall and dodged a ton of tourists here for the holidays. I got a wild hair to try to run fast and I was actually wearing my garmin (I haven't worn it much since the marathon). My average pace ended up being 8:39 with my slowest mile (my first) at 9:25 and my fastest (my 4th) at 7:49!! I felt good and strong during this run.

• I went to a holiday party and made peppermint meringues. They were pretty good and very easy. They were a HUGE hit with the kids there.

I forgot to take a photo after they were baked.

•  Delilah has been really bad lately but that deserves a post of it's own. I'll get to it soon. We did have a huge success with her in that she didn't eat anything she wasn't supposed to while at my parent's house for Christmas! Last year you may recall she ate a pound of chocolate covered peanuts (if you click that link there is a video of Delilah barking in her sleep) and at Thanksgiving she ate a full box of sugar cookies.

• My friend Lisa (the one who is photographing our wedding and did our engagement photos) got me a lens adapter for my DSLR. It says it's a wide angle .45 lens but I have no idea what that means. It also says the word "Marco" on it and it does take fabulous up-close photos.

• This morning I headed out for my annual New Year's Eve run. I like wasn't sure how far I'd go but I managed to get in 6 miles. It was a gorgeous morning with temps in the 40s. I headed out for a trip around my lake and loved seeing the morning sun shining off the water. 

Anyone have any exciting plans for tonight? We are having people over for a delicious appetizer spread (I'm making buffalo chicken dip and stuffed mushrooms and Joey is making sliders and our guests will be bringing more to share). We will be playing games we got for Christmas and enjoying some adult beverages. Happy New Year everyone!