Kandi Land

RFF

2012-02-17T08:50:00.000-05:00

Today I'm going to RFF a la Katie

I learned to swim in a lake.
The first time I swam laps in a pool was for my lifeguard certification. I passed but the instructor told me I should only work at pools, not any open water swim areas.
When I took the driving test to get my license (on my 16th birthday), I had the option to drive an automatic Ford Ranger pickup or a 5-speed Geo Metro. I chose the Metro.
I stalled out 3 times during my test but still passed since I didn't panic, just restarted the car and continued on.
I hardly ever stalled out while learning to drive but I was nervous during my test.
I still drive a 5-speed.
Before I had a car, I used to ride my bike everywhere. I even had an odometer for my bike.
As a result, I'm very comfortable on my bike but I've never really ridden one for exercise before, only as a means to get around or for fun.
I'll be wearing pearls at my wedding. I didn't always like pearls but they are my birthstone so I have receieved a few over the years. As the years have gone by, I've really grown to love them. Simple, yet elegant.
I like going to the beach during the winter. It is cold, but it is way less crowded. It is gorgeous to see the ocean without a ton of tourists around.
I'll be spending this weekend with my girls celebrating the last of my single days at the beach!

V-day

2012-02-16T07:06:00.000-05:00

Things have been more hectic here lately. I have a few things I want to blog about but just haven't found the time. I'm sure it's only going to get worse in the next few weeks (17 days until the wedding)!

Joey and I celebrated Valentine's day in our traditional fashion. We didn't buy each other gifts and we didn't go out to a fancy dinner. Instead, we had a fancy dinner in. We really enjoy cooking together so many, many years ago I decided it would be more fun to create a dinner together than it would be to fight the crowds and go out. We are also both not too interested in celebrating just because the date implys we should.
This year we decided to make homemade manicotti and caesar salad. I hadn't used my pasta maker in a long time and figured tubes of pasta would be way easier than noodles, and I was right! Joey and my friend Lisa (oh yea, we invited a friend to our dinner too. heh) got to work on the sauce while I did the pasta. While Lisa was making sauce happen, Joey got to work making homemade caesar dressing. Did you know it has anchovies in it? Sounds gross but it is surprisingly tasty.
Joey got the cheese mixture ready and then we all helped roll out the pasta, stuff it, and get it into the oven. We all work in the kitchen like a well-oiled machine since we've been doing it for so long.
It didn't seem to take long at all to get dinner ready and aside from using every bowl we own, it didn't take long to clean up either. We enjoyed our tasty dinner (we even made homemade croutons) with a glass of prossecco I picked up this weekend while buying wine for the wedding.

Do you do anything special to celebrate Valentine's day?

Three Things

2012-02-09T14:23:00.000-05:00

1. I ran a quick 2.5 miles today during my lunch break with a new running buddy! My former roomie got a dog this past Sunday and asked if I could drop by since I was working from home to take her new pup outside. He's such a sweetheart! He ran the entire time with me and only tried to trip me up a few times. I think I ran faster than usual because I got tired faster than normal. I'll have to borrow her pup in the future when I need a buddy since Delilah isn't much of a runner.

He was difficult to photograph with my phone because he kept moving!!

2. I ordered a waterproof camera from one of those online deal thingys and it arrived today. It looks like a real camera (unlike the waterproof one I got my parents for Christmas). I hope it works! It says it takes pictures and videos. We are going to take it to Hawaii with us.

3. When I got back from my run today, I noticed that some tulips are peaking through in my front garden! I also noticed that I really need to clear the leaves out of there soon. I think all the poor plants around here are confused and think it's spring already. Some of the cherry trees in DC have already started to bloom. I hope my tulips don't die before they get a chance to bloom!

Bullets

2012-02-08T08:44:00.000-05:00

I haven't had a lot going on lately other than waiting on RSVPs to arrive, trying to get some work finished before I take nearly 3 weeks off for wedding/honeymoon, and enjoying the unusually warm weather we've been having. How about a bullet post? ok.

I made some really tasty food this weekend. A french toast casserole for Joey's sister's birthday brunch, some bacon-wrapped jalepeno poppers, and some monkey bread pizza.

I went to see Dia Frampton on Saturday night. Her band is aka Meg & Dia. She was on "The Voice" apparently and made a name of herself by coming in 2nd (I think? I didn't actually watch) so they are now touring under her name but her sister Meg is still part of the band. Anyway, it was a great show even if she didn't sing any of the songs that I wanted to hear. I enjoyed the ones she did sing and the couple cover songs they did. We also got our photo taken with her and Meg after the show but my friend's sister hasn't sent it to me yet.
I curled my hair so it was wavy for the show. I liked the way it looked and it didn't take terribly long but I don't usually like to spend more than 5 minutes on my hair so I probably won't do it too often.

I got carded the other day at a liquor store and when the clerk saw my date of birth, she looked at me and said "you look really young". That made my day. When we were at the concert the other night I also got carded. It may have been because I was with a 26 yr old (who looks really young) and her 21 yr old sister (who looks even younger). Either way, it makes me feel good that these people can't determine my age.
We currently have 77 people coming to our wedding and only 2 people who are officially not coming. The RSVP date is Feb 15th so people still have time to respond but so far it doesn't feel like we're going to get a 90% positive response rate (which I heard was typical). The people who can't make it are people I expected to not be able to come. I think we still have a decent number of people who have not yet responded. I was hoping to keep it under 100 people but that may not be the case. I guess we'll find a way to make it work.
I am looking forward to my bachelorette weekend! Me and some of my girlfriends are heading to the beach for a weekend of fun during the off season. It might be cold (unless this gorgeous weather continues) but we'll still have a good time. My BFF from high school is flying up from FL for the occasion and I CAN'T WAIT!
I ran more miles in January this year than I probably ever have in any January in the past. It was still only 58 miles total, but usually I'm a slacker in January and only run 35-40. I'm guessing the warm temps mixed with my desire to workout prior to my wedding/honeymoon have kept me more motivated.
I've been doing some upper body weight workouts and ab workouts recently. I did both on Sunday before going to a friend's house to watch the game and I was sore on Monday!

That's about all I've got for today. Anything new and exciting going on in your life?

If you had a wedding, do you recall what your positive response rate was?

I swam!

2012-02-03T06:57:00.000-05:00

Remember when I signed up for this little triathlon? Well, I haven't exactly been training for it yet (other than running). Last night, that changed a little.

I SWAM!!

A friend of mine said she takes her daughters to the pool in my town every now and then to wear them out before bed while she swims some laps. I have never been to this particular pool before and I'm always a bit intimidated by going new places by myself so I was very excited when she invited me to come along.. and pick me up so I wouldn't even have to find it on my own. :)

I was glad to be there with someone who was familiar with the facility because it was surprisingly large. There were two lap pools and a huge kids pool area with a ton of water slides. We sent the kids off and headed to the recreational lap pool. Both lap pools were really busy with some sort of classes or masters swims going on. There were a few lanes at the end that only had a few people so we jumped in and got started.
I started with 4 laps of freestyle and then switched to breast stroke for 2 laps. My original goal was 10 laps, just to get a feel for it. I switched back and forth between breast stroke and freestyle and really tried to focus on my breathing (the most difficult part for me) during my freestyle laps. I did pause for a few seconds at the end of most of my laps to wait for my friend (we were in a weird end lap thing by ourselves). Once we finished 10 laps, I wanted more! My friend suggested that we do 3 laps without stopping at the end. I managed to do 3 freestyle laps with breaths every 3rd stroke for 3 laps without stopping but I still found it difficult to regulate my breathing. Does that get better with practice? How do you get used to not having constant access to air?!
Anyway, we then decided to do 16 laps... but once we did those, I was still not satisfied. We ended up doing 20 laps total. I felt like I could have kept going, but I didn't want to overdo it on my first day.
We went down one of the water slides and then hit up the hot tub for a while before heading home.
Now that I am familiar with the facility, I can't wait to go train there!

Q&A part 2 - How I became a runner

2012-02-01T13:10:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-26T09:28:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-21T10:47:00.000-05:00

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.

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

2012-01-19T15:00:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-11T09:19:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-05T12:26:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-03T15:07:00.001-05:00

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

2011-12-31T11:49:00.000-05:00

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!

Secret Blogger Gift Exchange!!

2011-12-22T08:37:00.000-05:00

This year I decided to participate in Jill's secret blogger gift exchange. Last year I wasn't following Jill's blog but I had heard about her all over the blogosphere. I dropped in from time to time to check out who this awesome lady was... and then read on many, many blogs about the gift exchange she hosted last year. I was too shy to sign up last year but this year I was interested in meeting some new people and sharing a gift with someone. Jill also was a huge support to me this year while I was training for my marathon. I always appreciated her advice and thoughts.
I mailed my gift out on Monday and I expect the recipient to receive it by the end of the week (I hope). I will share more on that once he/she receives it. I also have something special in mind to go along with what I sent in the mail. More on that later.

My gift arrived in the mail on Tuesday and I was SO excited!! I knew that someone had been snooping around my blog but I had no idea who it was. I assumed I didn't know the person (because I don't think I'm well-known, which is totally fine with me) and I was right.
Without further ado, Jess was my secret blogger! Since she snooped on me to send me an awesome gift, I snooped on her as well. She just ran her first half marathon this year and it sounds like it was a doozy with a lot of hills. It also looks like it was very scenic being on an island! Based on her photos in the sidebar, it looks like she plays the piccolo, which is amusing to me because I played the flute until I graduated high school and occacsionally would play the piccolo too.
Anyway, she got me an excellent gift and a nice card to go along with it.

Two Bondi Bands! I have seen these all over blog-land but did not own any. They are soft and super comfy. I was excited that one of them has the marathon distance on it so I can show how bad-ass I was for completing a marathon! Thanks, Jessica for the thoughtful gift. And thanks, Jill for hosting this awesome exchange.

2011 Review

2011-12-19T14:12:00.000-05:00

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?
Trained for and ran a marathon. Bought a house. Got engaged.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I ended the year WAY over my goal running mileage. I don't recall if I had any other resolutions. I had no intentions of running a marathon but it happened.
I will probably set some sort of mileage goal but don't intend to try to beat 2011 because I will not be marathon training this year.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My good friend in PA.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Thankfully, no.
5. What countries did you visit?
None this year. I didn't really travel much in general this year - two trips to Florida and to visit my parents/brother. Nothing exciting.
6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you didn’t have in 2011?
A husband.

7. What dates from 2011 will be etched upon your memory, and why?
March 11 - closed on my house. March 25th - got the keys to my house and got engaged. June 24th – I turned 30.
8. What was your biggest achievement of this year?
Home buying, running a marathon... I feel like this is redundant
9. What was your biggest failure?
I can't really think of any failures...
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
A few colds but nothing major. I'm very thankful I made it through the marathon and training without getting injured! It was my biggest fear.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
A house. New furniture. Smart phone.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My fiance. He supported me through all my training and everything else going on in my life. He has stepped up and helped so much with the new house and I love him all the more for all he does for me and our little family (Delilah).
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
I can't think of anyone... which is a good thing for sure.
14. Where did most of your money go?
House, furniture, honeymoon (which is booked and paid for already). The bulk of the other wedding expenses won't come until 2012.
15. What did you get really excited about?
Finding my family once I finished the marathon!!
16. What song will always remind you of 2011?
Raise your glass - Pink
17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?
Happier I guess but I'm always pretty happy in general.
Same.
Richer I suppose.. if I don't look too closely at my retirement fund.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Cooking and meal planning. Packing my lunch. Stength training. Speed work. Cleaning my house. Craft projects - knitting/sewing curtains/etc.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Eating out for lunch.
20. How will you spend Christmas?
I'm heading to spend Christmas Eve and day with my parents. Then heading to Joey's dad's house to visit with his family. Then Joey and I are sleeping in on Monday (our paid holiday) and making delicious breakfast.
21. Did you fall in love in 2011?
I was already in love and it grows stronger everyday.
22. What was your favorite TV program?
30 Rock. HIMYM. The Office. Community. Friday Night Lights. (all watched via Netflix or hulu)
23. What was the best book you read?
Bossypants. Hunger Games (I'm reading the second one now).
24. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I started listening to some dance and hip hop music earlier this year as a result of seeing playlists from other running bloggers.
25. What did you want and get?
A house that I love.
26. What did you want and not get?
A promotion at work.
27. What was your favorite film of 2011?
Super 8. I didn't see very many movies this year though. I did LOVE Super 8 though.
28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 30! My good friend and I celebrated our birthdays together with a camping trip with our close friends. She was born in late May so we split the difference and camped in early June. On my actual birthday, Joey made me spaghetti and meatballs and my friend Lisa came over. We went out back to the lake and went fishing. It was low-key but a fantastic day. Unfortunately my other good friends were out of town so they couldn't celebrate with me.
29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
If someone paid for and planned my wedding for me. :)
30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2011 ?
Sometimes put together, sometimes not. I definitely have nicer running clothes this year.
31. What kept you sane?
Music. Running. Joey.
32. What political issue stirred you the most?
I'd like to keep my job. I don't want to get into it on here, but we've been on shaky ground a few times (no fault of my own) and it's not terribly fun to go through.
33. Who did you miss?
Friends who live far away. My brother's family even though I get to see them a few times a year.. my nieces are growing so fast! My good friend from high school who passed away over 10 years ago.
34. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.
I can will myself to do incredible things if I put my mind to it.

Christmas tree

2011-12-17T08:06:00.021-05:00

As a result of my parents coming to visit, they brought me my Christmas tree! I had seen one in an ad and asked my dad if he could pick it up for me since they live way closer to the store than I do. He agreed so I got to work setting it up as soon as I opened the box! I know some people probably frown upon fake trees but I am allergic to the smell. For years we got real trees while I was a kid and every year I would suffer from the most horrible 'cold' ever! Complete with stuffy nose, sneezing, headaches, etc. Not fun. At some point I realized it was a result of the tree and vowed never to put a real tree in my house. I can't even handle the smell of pine scented candles for too long so I avoid those too.
Anyway, I set up my tree immediately but I didn't have any lights for it. After two trips to the store, that was remedied (I didn't buy enough the first time so I had to go back for more - fail). I did have some ornaments though. I bought a 100 piece shatterproof ornament set while I was out shopping on black friday so I got to work putting those on the tree. I also picked up some cheap garland. I did not get a star or angel for the top of the tree though. For now I made my own tree topper with a couple large snowflake ornaments that were included in the set. Check it out.

We also picked up a key ornament to represent the new house. I'm hoping to get an ornament for our engagement and my marathon as well - this was a big year for me! Eventually I would like to have a tree covered in ornaments that mean something to us and represent our life together. :)

Do you have a preference for real or fake trees? Do you have a weird allergy to real trees?
Do you prefer to have a pretty tree with all matching ornaments or do you like sentimental ornaments?
Do you have a preference for multi colored lights or solid color?

Happy Birthday to my Dad!

2011-12-15T08:06:00.000-05:00

This past week has been hectic but awesome. My dad's birthday was last Thursday and I had some extra leave from work I needed to use up by the end of the year so I took two days off work to celebrate with him.
I met my parents at the town in between ours (an hour drive for each of us) to do some outlet shopping. My dad actually enjoys shopping because he really likes watching people. He has taken us to crowded malls, parades, sporting events for years and he just loves it. Since my mom is in a cast and can't put any weight on her leg with the broken ankle, they borrowed a wheel chair for the trip. She was able to crutch her way through a few stores but when we got to the outlet mall I wheeled her around.
We enjoyed shopping and lunch and then headed back to my house for ice cream cake and burgers (dad's choice for dinner). After dinner, my dad and I headed out to a bar to watch the Steelers game. Joey and my friend Lisa were supposed to go with us but they were too tired and both had to work early the next morning. It was fun to have a night out with just my dad and I - that doesn't happen too often. Since my mom isn't really a football fan, I set her up with my netflix instant and let her watch whatever she wanted (I don't have cable which is why we couldn't watch the game at home in the first place). My dad and I ended up staying until the 2 minute warning at the end of the game because it took that long for us to feel content with the score of the game.
The next day, my parents and I headed out for some more shopping. The original plan was to do sight seeing in DC but I wasn't sure how easy (or not easy) it would be to take my mom around in the city in a wheel chair. We opted to hit up another outlet mall instead. We had a good time shopping and eventually made it back to my house for some more ice cream cake before they hit the road to get home.
My dad proclaimed that it was the best birthday ever. :) It was also a big birthday since he hit the big 6-0! He also retires in a few short weeks!!

Silver Linings

2011-12-06T11:07:00.000-05:00

Despite the logistical problems during the race this weekend, I decided I'm really glad that I ran it. I had been seriously slacking since the marathon and needed the boost from that race. It was the furthest I've ran since the marathon and I was able to run it much faster than I thought I could at this point. I guess I still have some left over fitness from the marathon. Either that or the longest taper of all time was helpful. heh.
Lets look back at how horrible my November shaped up. My total mileage for the month was 35 miles. Sad, but true. I took 8 days off following the marathon since I got so sick. I wanted to make sure I was recovered before I got back out there. Then I got lazy. I ran only during my lunch break and only 5 miles at a time. Most weeks I got out for two runs but one sad week (when I had work training for two days) I only got out for one. I guess I needed a break. I was supplementing these low-mileage weeks with some core work and weight training at home so I guess I wasn't a complete slug.
Another positive from the race is that I have another race buddy. My SIL's friend just got into running and racing and I'm certain she's caught the fever. She raced a 5k in November and then did the 5k at the race on Saturday (though they had to walk a portion due to the issues). She tried to switch to the 15k but the organizers didn't get back to her (even though she asked prior to the deadline for switching). She is also registered for her first half marathon!! She will be doing the National Marathon on March 17th. (She asked if I would be doing this race but I will still be on my honeymoon, so the answer is no).
Her and I have known each other for years but we finally exchanged numbers at the race on Saturday. She was a bit riled up about not being able to run during some of the 5k so she asked if I waned to run an 8k with her this weekend. We had two options but both ended up deciding not to race this weekend.
I'm thrilled that I'll have somebody to head to some local racees with in the future and that I can offer support and encouragement to a new runner!
In hindsight, I guess the run wasn't a complete waste of my time... and based on other race reports I've read, my experience wasn't all that bad.

Hot Chocolate 15k race recap

2011-12-04T09:31:00.000-05:00

Sorry this is so long. Fee free to skip this post if you don't want to read a giant rant. My time was 1:21:13 but it may have been a slightly shortened course (9.1ish compared to 9.3). I'm thrilled with my time despite the craziness that was this event.

From what I've seen, many people have had way worse experiences with this race than I did. That said, this race was horribly organized and I will not be participating in this race again. I was pretty sure this was a one-time deal for me when I paid $65 to register. However, my old friend, Beth, was registered and we've been trying to plan a race together for a while now. Also, the premium was a windbreaker and they offered chocolate fondue and hot chocolate at the finish. The last appealing thing was that it was in December and would not be too hot.
I started to get nervous about the logistics of this race when I realized it was on a Saturday (not Sunday like most races in this area) and that there was no same-day packet pick-up. When I registered, they made me check a box to make sure I was aware of no same-day packet pick-up but they had no other information about how that process would work. It ended up not being a huge deal for me since I work in the city and a coworker drives in and offered to take me over during lunch on Thursday. For me, the pick-up went really well and I was impressed with how smoothly it was running. I also picked up the packet of my future sister in law without any hassles. The jackets ran really small but I tried it on and decided it was good enough so I didn't swap it out with a larger size. I was still not happy we had to pay $3 in parking just to pick up my packet.
About a month or so prior to the race, an email was sent out talking about how the parking at the National Harbor (but you could if you carpooled and paid $10 in advance) was limited so they offered two other places to park and would include free shuttles from those locations. I had already made arrangements to carpool with the future SIL and her friend so I made arrangements to park at the closer of the two locations for free and then shuttle over.
My SIL was running the 5k so she had to be there a bit earlier since her race was scheduled to run at 7:30. The email said she needed to be on the shuttle by 6:15 so I made the plan for us to leave my house at 5am... for an 8am race that was less than an hour away (without traffic). This seems like it was the best decision because we had no problems on the beltway or getting to the parking lot or getting onto the shuttle or getting to the National Harbor. Everyone on the shuttle was in good spirits and excited to run the race.
We arrived at about 6:15 and I had to figure out how to get my corral fixed on my bib. It was supposed to be C and it said O. I found the info services tent and without any hassle, they gave me a C sticker.
We all used the port-a-potties with no wait (since it was still so early) and then wandered over to the merch tent to huddle together with the other participants trying to stay warm. We stood there for a while and I was trying to get in contact with Beth. It was around this time that I realized I had forgotten my garmin. I figured it didn't matter because I was sure Beth had hers. If I couldn't find her, I figured it wouldn't be too horrible to run blind.
Around 7 we headed down to the 5k start to send off SIL and her friend to line up in the corrals. I waited for a while with SIL's boyfriend (who was graciously holding our stuff for us while we ran). The race did not start at 7:30 like they had planned. We could not hear the announcer so we had no idea what was going on. I tried calling Beth but with no answer. I knew she was at the race and was walking to the start but I had no idea where she had parked or how far away she was (the Harbor parking was really far from the star).
I took off my warm jacket and gloves and passed them off to my SIL's boyfriend at about 7:50. I was still oblivious to the fact that the races were both going to start really late. I left him and went to where the corral staging area was. I have never run a race with corrals so I wasn't really sure what I was doing. I stood next to the sign for a while before I realized that people were lining up on the other side of the barricade. I then showed the volunteers my corral letter and they let me in. I stood next to the entrance in hopes I'd still run into Beth.
I stood there for over an hour. I could see the highway from the corral and you could tell that traffic was a nightmare. I checked twitter to see if Beth had updated anything but no dice. However, the race organizers had posted a link to their facebook
In the time I was waiting (I did have a very thin throw-away jacket) my feet felt like they were frozen. They hurt because they were so cold. Just over an hour late, they started the 15k race. (The 5k was delayed because the people who parked at National Harbor had to walk through the 5k course to get to the start... FAIL). I never did find Beth so I was just going to run my own race. I was looking at it as a long run and I wasn't concerned with time at all. I just wanted to get it over with so I could meet up with my crew and go home. I did not have any fun waiting in the freezing cold. I eventually made it to the start mats and the crowd was so thick we could barely run. I didn't pay attention to the clock at the start (if there even was one) so I wasn't sure how far off clock time I was running.
We headed up a slight uphill and then made it over to a highway where they had one lane open and it was an out and back that was far too narrow to accommodate all the runners. Luckily I had started in the corral I did so it wasn't as crazy as I have heard others say it was. My feet hurt so bad during the first 2 miles of this race. I was also shivering through the first two miles and couldn't keep my chin from quivering. The course featured a ton of hills and lots of hairpin turn around spots. And on the way back up the highway, we were running between cones about a lane wide with traffic on the other side of those cones, which included many dump trucks. I felt bad for those poor people who were stuck in traffic on a Saturday morning due to this race.
It was thick with lots of runners, some running 3 or 4 deep, but I managed to get around people here and there. All the sprinting around people must have helped my pace. This was the longest run I've done since the marathon... and longer than my weekly average in the past month. The hills were brutal but I powered up them. I refused to stop because there was no space at all for walkers on the course -- there was barely space for the runners.
Around mile 5, there was a screaming downhill that lead to the Harbor. Then back up a hill and over to what could only be a construction site? It was pressed dirt and rocks with some loose rocks on top. We did finally get to glance the water here but I was busy paying attention to my footing. Then we headed through the main street that goes along the front of the Harbor. Then onto a narrow crushed shell bike path with large rocks on one side. I just tried to stay to the side/middle away from the large rocks. Then we headed through a very small tunnel and finished the last half mile or so up a steep hill. I was determined to finish this race so I could just not be running anymore. I can say I was happy 99 percent of my marathon and unhappy 99 percent of this race.
I have heard that a lot of people had issues with the water stops along this course. When I went through, a lot of them had only a few volunteers but I was able to get water each time (and accidentally got gatorade at the first stop and I didn't like it). I also walked a few steps while I drank the water at the stations. I have heard that other people had to pour their own water.
After I finished, my future SIL and her boyfriend came running over to me. We started to head for the chocolate so I could eat and drink and get the eff out of there. Then some volunteer or perhaps a photography worker told me I needed to make sure I went over and got a finishers photo. I told him that was ok and that I just wanted to leave and he kept insisting and trying to tell SIL and boyfriend that they had to make me. I ignored this and just walked up to get my chocolate. I ate it so quickly because I just wanted to get out of there. It was good and they actually had the chocolate tents well manned and organized but it was not worth the entry fee or the horrible delay at the start of the race.
I met back up with the crew and we hit up the port-a-pots before we headed to the car. I had to pee pretty much the entire race. I would have been fine if we had started on time. I almost stopped at a few port-a-pots along the race course but I didn't want to wait in line and I just wanted to be off the race course.
A friend of ours had a few volunteers with her so she had to be there extra early (the volunteers got orange hoodies that were WAY nicer than the thin, crappy jackets they issued to the runners). She had parked really close and offered us a ride back to our car. Luckily, we had no issues getting to our car or on the drive home.
When I crossed the finish line, the clock read 1:25:xx. I was still not sure what my official time would be or if the course was a true 15k since I wasn't wearing my garmin. I read a lot of people online complaining about a lot of aspects of this race, including that it was short. I checked the results and I ran a 1:21:13 for an 8:43 pace! I have no idea how that is possible but I'll take it. Even if the race was a 9.1 mile course, my pace would be an 8:54... I never in a million years would have thought I could run that course that fast under all the horrible circumstances. I guess sprinting around all the people paid off?
So this race was an unorganized mess but I think I actually had it pretty good compared to a lot of people I've heard from. I've already read a few race reports and seen a lot of complaining on twitter and facebook. I'm going to look at it as a positive and be happy that I got to see the train wreck up close and not just read about it the next day. I will never run that race again, but I probably wouldn't have wanted to anyway (due to cost, location of the event, size, etc.).

The marathon that keeps on giving

2011-11-28T14:38:00.000-05:00

I know that MCM was a month ago (seriously? where did the time go?) but I have had a few positive experiences happen as a result of this race and I just wanted to share (and to remember).

My mom fractured her ankle (she has no idea how and it was even fractured when she walked all over DC for MCM!!) and she is in a cast and on crutches. I feel so bad for my mom because she can't run or hula hoop (her new thing) and she isn't super great at getting around on her crutches (but she's getting much better at it). As a result of this injury, my mom asked me if I could go to the store for her on Wednesday when I got in for Thanksgiving. Please note that I love my mom very much because I was willing to go to the grocery store on the day before Thanksgiving! As luck would have it, I arrived at the same time the lady I ran with in a 15k back in 2009 got there. It was nice to see her and her husband for sure. It was even cooler because when I chatted with her during that 15k back in 2009, her and her daughter were training for their first marathon! I mentioned to her that I likely would never do a marathon. Well, I guess I was wrong. I was even wearing my new MCM finishers shirt at the store because it arrived the day before. Anyway, she was so excited to hear that I had run a marathon and told me about how her and her daughter have gone on to run several others. Her husband has gotten back into marathoning too. I love that it's a family event for them. I probably talked to these two for 15 minutes. It was so nice to see them and to catch up, especially since I didn't make it to the Turkey Trot the next day.
Today at lunch I headed out for a 5 mile run. I need to mention how amazing the weather has been this entire month. What happened to regular November weather? Most days it gets up into the 60s!! It's been glorious. After my run, I was in the locker room just finishing up when this adorable Russian lady who goes to my gym walked in. I have a tough time understanding her sometimes because she has a thick accent but she is very sweet. Before the marathon she was asking me about it and had a ton of questions for me. She told me she heard they were going to have marathon coverage on TV and that she would be sure to watch it so I had better wave. haha. I promised her I would ;). I haven't been at the gym nearly as often since the marathon with being sick and then just being busy with work. Today was the first time I've seen her since. She was so excited to finally catch up with me to see how I did. She was pleased to hear that I finished and met my goals. She then asked what was next, was I going to run coast to coast? haha. Before I left the locker room she told me I was her hero. I definitely don't think I'm a hero just because I ran a marathon, but I think it's so sweet that this lady that I barely know was so inspired by and excited for me.

Friendsgiving 2011

2011-11-23T07:12:00.000-05:00

Recently I started getting a subscription to Bon Appetit magazine. I think we just received our 4th issue. Every month when it arrives, Joey and I pour over the pages and get inspiration from the photos and recipes. I can't say that we've ever followed a recipe exactly (oh wait, we did follow the homemade ricotta recipe) but we are always inspired enough to create our own recipes based on those in the magazine.
The November issue was labeled the 'Thanksgiving Special' and contained a lot of traditional Thanksgiving items with a gourmet twist. An idea was born. You see, in my family, we eat the same foods for Thanksgiving every year. They sometimes evolve depending on who eats what and how those people like the items (for example, we usually have baked sweet potatoes instead of canned and I now make a cranberry sauce from fresh berries). The items still lack adventure though because my dad is very picky and likely wouldn't eat if thing deviated too much from the norm. After looking through the magazine, I turned to Joey and said "We need to have a mock Thanksgiving meal with our friends where we make traditional food but with a twist and items that we know our (my) family would never let us get away with on real Thanksgiving. Thus, Friendsgiving was born.
We ended up setting aside all day this past Sunday to the event. We had planned the menu and shopped the day before so we were all set. Joey prepared and cooking a turkey breast (this was the most traditional item on our table but SO good with the spices Joey rubbed on). Joey also made a delicious stuffing that included spicy Italian sausage, over toasted bread cubes, carrots, celery, onion, mushroom and herbs. I had never made my own stuffing before.

I decided to make a sweet potato casserole of sorts, despite having never made one before. I boiled the (peeled) potatoes and mashed them with some butter and cinnamon. Then I spread them into a baking pan. Next I prepared the topping by browning a stick of butter. Then I added a some brown sugar, chopped pecans, vanilla, and a bit of bourbon. I poured this sticky concoction over the potatoes and baked them for a bit with the stuffing. Then we finished both off with the broiler. This was my most favorite dish of the entire dinner. The browned butter pecan topping was incredible!

We also had some (not so exciting) green beans (that I made but wasn't happy with), corn, gravy, biscuits (a friend brought these), wine, a meat and cheese plate with crackers, glazed carrots, and mashed potatoes with mascarpone cheese, butter, and cracked pepper.
We had quite the spread.

For dessert, my friends brought over an awesome cake. Remember when I took cake decorating classes? Well, Adrienne's boyfriend Brian was the mastermind behind that idea. He had worked at a grocery store for a while as a cake decorator and wanted to learn new skills. Anyway, Adrienne made the cake and Brian sculpted and iced it. Check it out.

So we had an fantastic Friendsgiving and we've been eating left overs ever since... and now I'm less excited about real Thanksgiving food... but that will be alright because I will have my nieces there to distract me!
Oh, I almost forgot... in the middle of our cooking, Joey and I took a quick break for some dancing. I'm certain Frank Sinatra was playing on the ipod.

I love cooking with Joey! So fun.
Oh, and Delilah was there too.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Wedding planning update

2011-11-15T12:28:00.000-05:00

As some of your know, I got engaged back in March!! Then I proceeded to not talk about it since then.
Joey and I are pretty relaxed about this whole process and are planning our wedding very slowly. It is being planned though.
Over the summer we started throwing around ideas for a wedding date. I know the traditional way is to find a venue and then schedule the date according to what is available... or set a date that you love for one reason or another (I hear 11/11/11 was a big day for weddings) and work around that date. Well, that isn't exactly what we did. Being somewhat of a numbers geek I suggested we get married on 9/10/11 but Joey wasn't as amused as I was. Anyway, he suggested March so I looked through the Saturday dates and chose 3/3/12! So yes, we will be married in less than 4 months! It sounds crazy but I also can't wait.
In the spirit of being non-traditional, we also have no yet booked our venue. I know, I know, that sounds crazy with the wedding being less than 4 months out but the place we want to rent won't take reservations for 2012 until January. So we will just have to call on the first business day of 2012 and book the place. It shouldn't be a big deal. It's not a tradional wedding venue by any stretch of the imagination and I doubt it would be in high demand in March. No worries.
Next up, I HAVE A DRESS!! I not only have a dress but I have a dress that I LOVE and can't wait to wear. It didn't break the bank and it is very "me". I took off a day from work and took my two best girls shopping with me. We had a great day of dress shopping and lunch in Georgetown. Shopping in Georgetown a few weeks before running down M st. in the marathon made that portion of the race that much more fun for me.
I also have a Maid of Honor! I asked my best friend and former roomie to be my one and only attendant in the wedding. When we went dress shopping, she also picked out a dress of her own to wear. I was very lenient and told her she could pick her style and color (but I had to approve of the color). She was really drawn to the shades of purple but I was less enthusiastic with those options (I want to wear red shoes and don't really want a Ravens colored wedding). So we settled on a blueish green color... except the dress she loved didn't come in that color so she ended up with red. So my wedding colors are red, black, and white. Sounds formal but I assure you this wedding will be anything but.
I just booked our honeymoon! I'll share details of this after we get back. I'm VERY excited though.
I picked out our invitations online but I haven't pulled the trigger on them yet. I want to make sure that we get the place booked before I print the invitations. We plan to print them as soon as we finalize all the details and then send them out ASAP!
We mostly finalized our guest list last night. Now I just need to gather addresses so we can easily send out the invitations when we get them.
Oh, maybe I should mention how the wedding itself is going to work. We plan to have a small, intimate family wedding in a church followed by a reception with our extended family and friends. I say small and intimate but Joey comes from a big family so with our close friends and family we could have anywhere from 20-30 people at the actual wedding ceremony. The reception will be anywhere from 75-100 depending on who actually comes. Joey has a lot of family out of state that we aren't sure will travel for the event (and we honestly don't mind if they can't make it <--- that sounds mean but I don't mean it that way, just that we aren't looking for a big fanfare so it's no big deal if people can't come).
We already have ideas of the food items we want to serve at the reception and ideas for desserts. We also have a photographer. Our best friend, Lisa (who took most of the photos in my marathon post) will be doing all the photography. She assists at weddings for a professional photographer and has done a few weddings by herself. She also did our engagement photos.

Well, I don't think I have any other updates but you can see we've made a lot of progress!

I'm still here and favorite marathon signs

2011-11-13T09:45:00.000-05:00

I'm feeling better and I have run a few times since the marathon. The first time I got out there it was a little tough. I did my regular 5 mile lunch-time loop and the first two miles or so were rough. My legs were not exactly sore anymore but they were just not feeling it. By the turn around point they were mostly back to normal though.
I have had thoughts of things I want to write about in this space but I've been busy and haven't ever gotten around to it. I promise to continue to write though.
Here are some final thoughts on the marathon that I don't want to forget.
The spectators were great. I especially enjoyed reading all the signs. I mentioned how Megan had the sign "You run better than Metro" and that was definitely a favorite. I wanted to mention a few others before I forget.
"You've done worse for longer!"
"You're not even close" (spied around mile 11)
"You're almost there" followed directly by "That's what she said"
"Beat Oprah"
"Worst Parade Ever" (this sign I saw at least 5 times. It was funny the first time but a tad over used)
There were some other really good ones but I can't remember them now. One that I saw within the first 2-3 miles was particularly funny but it was too early in the race and I can't even remember what it was about.
The other thing I enjoyed was reading the back of people's shirts. Some people were running to honor love ones who passed and they had photos on their backs.
Others just wrote funny sayings or quotes. Around the 10k mark I passed a guy who had a sign on his back that said "I thought this was a 5k". Later on in the race I passed a guy who had a Princess Bride quote written out "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." And another from Monty Python "I'm not dead yet. I feel happy." (I saw this one around mile 20 and it made me laugh out loud).
Although I have no other marathon or any other race with so many people to compare it too, I definitely appreciated all the signs, especially those that made me laugh or crack a smile.

That's all I have today. I have been enjoying my time not running long on the weekends, though I do miss it a little. I am just not ready to get back out there. I have been cooking, baking, cleaning my poor neglected house, and walking Delilah. We've been enjoying the beautiful fall weather we are still having!

Post marathon sickness

2011-11-06T09:35:00.000-05:00

Hi. I'm still here. It's been a crazy week. I've been thinking of some posts I want to do to remember some other aspects of my first marathon. Hopefully I'll get to that before I forget. We'll see.

Anyway, I didn't mention it here, but last Friday night I noticed the slightest tickle in my throat and I was a little scared that I was going to be sick on marathon day. I woke up on Saturday and my throat was a little sore but I was still hopeful. I bought some cough drops. I drank a ton of water last Saturday.
I woke up Sunday morning and luckily I didn't feel too bad. My mom was concerned because she knew that 26 miles is long enough when you're feeling good. She didn't voice her concerns to me because she didn't want to make me any more nervous than I already was though. I put my cough drops in my camelbak and just hoped for the best. I was only a little congested and my throat was mostly ok.
I only noticed a little during the race that I wasn't 100% healthy but it wasn't worth focusing on so I had a great time and enjoyed myself during the race. It wasn't until I stopped running that I realized I was in for something horrible. My throat was raw and I could barely talk. I asked someone where I could find the family link up area and where I could find water but I'm sure she could barely hear me.
I finally met up with my family and of course wanted to tell them every last detail of the race but it hurt to talk. That didn't stop me though, I probably talked the rest of the afternoon.
I had already taken Monday off from work to recover so it wasn't an issue that I was sick. However, I ended up taking Tuesday and Wednesday off as well because I was fighting sore throat, cough, congestion, and on and off again fever. :( It wasn't fun to be sore from my marathon and have a horrible cold on top of it.
Speaking of soreness, my legs were feeling rough the afternoon after the race but it wasn't too bad all things considered. I tried to take a nap but my legs were sore and achy so I just laid on the couch for a while to rest.
On Monday I realized that my back was almost as sore as my legs and I was hobbling around. Despite being sick, I knew I needed to walk to work out the soreness. I took Delilah out for a mile and a half walk in the gorgeous weather.
Tuesday my soreness was slightly better and I took Delilah out for another long walk. This time I took my camera.

Beautiful path on a gorgeous day.

Red-headed woodpecker!!

Delilah leading the way.


Leaves on the water.

By Wednesday, my legs felt like I could have gone for a run. There were still a few aches but mostly I felt recovered. My cold kept me from attempting to run though. I took Delilah back out for a nice walk and called it a day.
Thursday morning I was finally well enough to go to work but I still wasn't ready to run.
In fact, I still have not gone running. I still have an occasional cough and some congestion. I'm almost back to normal though. I have every intention of heading out tomorrow for my first post-marathon run!

My First Marathon!! (MCM recap)

2011-10-31T11:44:00.000-04:00

Alternate title: the day the stars aligned and everything went as planned.
This will be a looooooong post. If you are only interested in my time, I ran a 4:26:34!!

Let's start from the beginning. I woke up at 4:30 and ate a bagel with peanut butter and a bit of jelly. I HATE eating that early in the morning and it was all I could do to swallow that down. I also took care of some bathroom stuff and put body glide on every place imaginable. We were supposed to be in the car by 5:15 but I think it was closer to 5:30. I had my support crew of Joey, Lisa, and my parents with me. We got to the metro moments before a train pulled out so we had to wait 10-15 minutes for the next train.

We had to transfer to yellow line and when we got to the Pentagon metro station, it was CRAZY crowded. We had to wait in line to get up the escalator and then to get through the turn stiles. They let me go ahead because I had a smarttrip card but my crew had day passes so they had to wait. Eventually the metro people realized it was dangerous to have that many people in the station so they just opened up the gates for everyone to pass through.
We then headed to the start line, which was about a half mile walk from the metro. They were well into the opening ceremony at this point and as soon as we were off the metro we saw giant war planes overhead!

I kept peeking at my watch because it was getting closer and closer to the start time and I couldn't see the start line. Just before we got to runner's village I may or may not have gone down to pee in the bushes by the river with all the boys. It saved time that I would have spent waiting in line at the porta potties.
Next thing I know I'm at the start of the race and I can see the pace signs for lining up at the start. I stripped off my throw away clothes and gave them to Joey (so I didn't actually throw anything away). Then said goodbye to my friends and family.

Then I lined up with the 4:30 group and waited a few minutes for the race to start. (perfect timing).
And we were off! I think it took my 10-11 minutes to get across the start line once the gun went off. I felt painfully slow during the first mile but that was what I was told by everyone would be the case so I just tried to keep myself in check. It felt like I was barely moving and was by far the slowest I have ever started any race of my life. My first mile was a 10:19. I still tried to keep myself in check for my second mile and there were a few hills. Then I allowed myself to speed up a little bit because I was feeling good and the weather was fantastic. My first 5k was the slowest part of the race for me. I had one other mile that was in the 10:2Xs but I'll get to that.
There was a kinda killer hill just before the mile 7 marker but it didn't compare to the hills I train on. The worst part of the first 10 was the water stop at mile 7. There was a bottleneck and everyone stopping for water. I just wanted to run through but struggled to find space. I didn't get water here but that was ok because I had my camelbak.
Next up was running down M st. in Georgetown! This was one of my favorite parts! There was music and the street was wide! They were playing 500 miles by the Proclaimers and I was dancing while running down the street and singing. SO FUN!
I knew to expect to see my friends and family between mile 10 and 11 so I then prepared myself to see them. My dad wore his BRIGHT YELLOW work-issued jacket so I could easily spot them. It worked perfectly. As I rounded the corner near the Lincoln there was a band playing. The first song I heard them sing was Possum Kingdom by the Toadies! Have I ever told you how much I love the Toadies!?! And how they are pretty much my favorite band!? Way before Joey and I dated, he introduced them to me and it's been love ever since. So anyway, they started playing that song and I was SO EXCITED! Then I saw my family!!!! Hands down my FAVORITE PART OF THE RACE!

Throwing my 'arm warmers' to Joey.

Next I headed down to Haines Point, which I have heard was a difficult part of the course because it's kind of quiet down there and it's about 3 miles around. Luckily they changed it a year or so ago so that you run that section between 12-15 instead of 17-20 like I heard it was before. Then I headed back to the mall. I felt really good and was still maintaining a nice pace. At the half I realized that I was only halfway through but I immediately dismissed any negative thoughts and tried not to dwell on the fact that I was only halfway done. I felt strong and was still smiling!
As soon as you leave Haines

I was SO AMUSED by this sign and I was staring at it contemplating telling them how great it was when Megan yelled out my name! She was with her friend Jess with that sign!! How awesome was that! I was too busy looking at their great sign to even notice it was Megan. It was SO good to see them on the run. As you know, Megan has done quite a few long runs with me this training cycle!
Around this point in the race I kept hearing people along the course talk about how the 4:30 pace group was just ahead of me. I knew that was a great sign because I did not start with them but I was slowly catching up to them! I then saw the white sign with the balloons on it just ahead of me. I also may have seen Drew Carey on the course. Based on our times, I had to pass him at some point. I am waiting for the pictures to come out to confirm based on what he was wearing.
Around mile 17, my family saw me again but I did not realize they would be there so I wasn't paying attention.

So it figures that Lisa got a lot of pictures of me at this point and I didn't even see her! haha. I was in the zone.
I saw them one last time just before mile 20 at the 'beat the bridge'.

Disregard how painful the way I'm stepping down looks. My feet were killing me at this point.

I was a little sad that I wouldn't be seeing my family again until the finish but I was just that more determined to finish strong! Plus I knew some awesome ladies waiting for me on the other side of the bridge. The bridge kinda sucked. I just kept pushing through and I saw a sign that said "Beat Oprah" and I wanted to yell out 'I'm trying'! Once across the bridge I knew I had an out and back in Crystal City and then just a few more miles to the finish line. By this point I realized I sucked at running tangents and had already run almost a half mile more than the mile markers were indicating. I was struggling a bit with my speed around mile 22 and saw on my watch that I was on my way to an 11:06 mile but I was so determined to keep all my miles under 11 by that point that I didn't want to give into it. It was right around this time that I saw Morgan in her sparkly silver pants!!! I was SO excited to see her that it put a lot of pep in my step. She wasn't paying attention and I saw her and started yelling her name! Then I went to the turn around and on my way back she was standing in the middle of the road by the cones with her camera! I didn't get to see her awesome new engagement ring because she was wearing gloves. She offered a hug but I didn't want to lose my momentum and I was afraid if I stopped at all that I wouldn't be able to get started again. She took some pretty great photos though.

Then I had about 3 miles left and I was running strong. I attempted to dedicate each of the last 6 miles to people who have inspired and supported me through my training but it was so hard to focus on something specific for too long. I had thoughts of old coaches, my running crew at work who all couldn't run with me, all the great people I've met through this blog, my parents, Joey, Lisa, and Joey's mom (who passed away over a year ago but always took an interest in my running). I also had specific thoughts of how Jill is going to enjoy her first marathon next month and how Megan is going to crush her next marathon. I also thought of Kim and her upcoming NYC marathon. It's amazing how many thoughts can run through your head in what is probably a short period of time.
I realized that I was picking up the pace and I was hungry for the finish line! I skipped over the final water stop around mile 25 since I didn't have that much further to go. I also realized that I didn't have any water left in my camelbak but it served me well.
I pushed hard during the last miles and it showed! On my garmin, my last mile was at a 9:28 pace, my fastest mile of the race! I finished up the last 0.66 on my watch with a 9:35 pace. The last 0.2 of the race was on a kind of steep uphill with a turn and it was a tight bottleneck. Some people were struggling up the hill and I tried to push hard but it was difficult with so many people walking ahead of me. I resorted to tapping on people's backs to try to get through. Then, when I was about 10 steps from the finish line, THEY ANNOUNCED MY NAME on the loudspeaker! I was in a huge group and it was obvious they didn't announce everyone but they singled me out! So fun.
The time on my watch read 4:26:34, which is exactly what my official finish time was! My pace per the official results is 10:10 but based on my poor ability to run tangents, my garmin pace was 10:00! I'm SO thrilled with my time. As you may recall, my 'A' goal for this race was to finish under 4:30 and I succeeded! I also ran every step of the race. I ran through water stops and while drinking. I didn't even take time to hug Morgan, though I wanted to. I was so afraid that I would lose momentum and that it would be difficult to start once I let myself stop. That's not to say I am against people walking in a race. I also think it would be easier to handle if I had planned to walk certain intervals and forced myself to run again at the end of those intervals. I did not train this way though and I didn't let myself walk because I wasn't sure I could muster up the strength to start again.

Now I want to talk about my nutrition a little. I had 2 packages of gu chomps (strawberry and orange) and then two gu gels with me during the race. I took one or two gu chomps every two miles for the first 20 miles. If I didn't feel like I could handle two then I would only take one. I ended up having just enough to make it to mile 20. Then I got out a lemon lime gel and held onto it for a while. After I saw Morgan I ate half the packet but found it a little difficult to swallow. I almost gagged so I only had half the packet. Then around mile 24 I ate the rest of it and decided I could make it to the finish line on that. I drank water each time I ate anything whether it was at a water stop or from my camelbak. By mile 20 I was kind of sick of the sweet fruit flavor and kind of wished I had brought a mocha or chocolate flavor with me to break it up a bit but that's ok. I still managed.
Once I crossed the finish line, it felt like forever before I was able to get out! I had to wait with a bunch of people who were barely moving before we got our space blankets. Then we walked very slowly to where we were presented with medals by a marine. I thanked him for her service. Then I asked someone in my hoarse voice where the family link-up was located. She gave me a general direction and told me I should get my finisher photo taken first. I then asked where I could find water and she pointed in the same direction. I was going to pass up on the finisher photo in front of Iwo Jima but decided the line wasn't too bad and went for it. Then I finally found water (they gave me a Gatorade G2 first which was a horrible tease because you have to open a seal before you can drink it!! Not cool!). Finally I got some water and it was the best water of my life. Then they handed me a box of food and a banana and bagel and I was on my way to shuffle with the others up to our families. I had planned to meet my family at the family link up area but I had no idea where that was located. I tried to look at my phone but the sun was too bright to see the screen and I had too much stuff in my hands. Finally I got to the side of where people were walking and put my phone under my space blanket so I could see it and I called Joey. My Dad saw me and was yelling my name while I was talking to Joey! I was so happy to see them. I almost cried, I was so happy. Joey gave me my fleece and Dad took some photos of me with my medal (that I do not have yet). Lisa took this photo.

Then we headed to the metro and home. I did not partake in any of the post-race festivities and I'm ok with that.
Sorry for the longest blog post I've ever written. I'm so happy and proud that I was able to do what I set out to accomplish. I'm glad that I didn't really hit any walls and that I felt strong virtually the entire race.
I am so thankful for all the support from friends and family and blog friends.

Tomorrow is the BIG day!

2011-10-29T13:28:00.001-04:00

I think it's finally sinking in that I am running a marathon tomorrow. I just cannot believe it!
And in case you haven't heard, it's snowing in these parts!! Nothing major where I am but still snow/sleet.
This is what I woke up to today.

Don't mind the screen. I didn't want to go outside to snap this pic.

My parents woke up to a winter wonderland... I think they are supposed to get 4-6 inches of snow today. They are on their way down to my house now and said the roads were pretty bad at some points. My dad sent me a picture of 3 snow plows on the highway ahead of him. They brought their 4-wheel drive pickup just in case they had any issues.
Anyway, back to the marathon. It's tomorrow. Luckily the weather is supposed to be more cooperative tomorrow. It is supposed to be dry with highs in the upper 40s and lows in the 30s. I can handle that. I decided to go ahead and wear my capris and a short-sleeved shirt with home-made arm warmers during the race. I figure I can ditch the arm warmers if I get hot enough and I like my capris more than my shorts anyway. I was kind of hoping the weather would be exactly like this so I could comfortably wear my capris so I wouldn't have to worry as much about chafing.
Anyway, here is my outfit for the race tomorrow.

Pink shirt w/ green "arm warmers" and black capris.

Joey's old soccer socks make nice makeshift arm warmers.

Didn't you want a boob shot?

My bib # is 16322 if you want to track me. I also signed up for live twitter updates. Feel free to leave encouraging comments here or on twitter.
I went out earlier and got some fuel for the race tomorrow. I checked out my kind of local running store and I LOVED it. I can't believe I've never gone in there before. The people working there were super nice and helped me find exactly what I was looking for. It was a small store but the people were friendly and the stuff they had looked really nice. Plus they had an excellent selection of gels and chews. I'll definitely have to go back and check them out. They entered me into their frequent shopper program so I expect to get emails from them. The guy wished me luck on my first marathon. :)

Tomorrow is going to be a super busy day for me so I may not get around to publishing a race report. I took off work on Monday though so I will try to write out all my thoughts then.
Thank you to every single one of you that has offered me support and advice during this journey. I have appreciated every comment. This blogging community is wonderful and I plan to dedicate one of my last 6 miles to you guys.

Edited to add that I will also be wearing my blue Camelbak. I know some people are against wearing them in races but I'd really like to have access to my water and it will be nice to have storage for my phone and gels and stuff.

My marathon training by the numbers

2011-10-26T15:07:00.000-04:00

Number of days I've been registered: 245

Number of long runs I skipped: 0

Number of times I felt hung over after a long run: 2

Number of friends who had to drop out of the race: 4

Number of times I've checked the weather for Sunday: 49

Number of days until the race: 4

Number of double digit training runs: 9

Number of 20 mile training runs: 2

Number of previous marathons: 0

Number of times I wanted to give up and not run the marathon: 0

Marathon thoughts and goals

2011-10-24T14:31:00.000-04:00

MCM is only 6 short days away! The time flying!
Mostly I am speechless, which is why I haven't really gone into much detail of what's going on in my mind as this marathon approaches. I know it's a big deal since it's my first marathon but I haven't sorted out my feelings yet. Mostly up until this point I was just excited and anxious for the day to finally arrive so I can just run it already. Now, as it gets closer and closer, I can feel my nervousness setting in a bit.
Now that fall marathon season is in full swing I notice a lot more talk on the blogs I read as everyone gears up for their fall races. Some share the same emotions I do as they prepare for their first while others are seasoned veterans sharing what works for them. I've been absorbing as much marathon talk as I can in these past few days.
Now is as good of time as any to throw out some goals:

Finish the race with a smile on the face and soak it all in as I run.
Run more or less the entire race (with maybe a few walk breaks to drink water).
Finish in under 5 hours.
Finish in under 4:30 hours.
Don't get injured!
Don't start too fast! (I know that I'll be tempted to run fast with all the starting line adrenline flowing. I also have NO IDEA what it will feel like to run with 30,000 of my closest friends. I need to make sure I stay focused.)
See as many friends and family as I can along the course.

That's essentially it. I don't have any ground breaking goals. I mostly just want to finish, but if I can finish strong and beat any of my time goals I will be pretty thrilled. Hopefully I'll get around to posting a bit more before the race. I'd like to talk about my plans for fueling and hydrating and my race-day outfit.
I checked the 10-day weather forecast and it is currently calling for high of 57 degrees, low of 45 and sunny. This sounds downright perfect!! I wouldn't mind if it held closer to the low for the whole race for sure. I also don't mind the sun, though I wouldn't complain if it's cloudy.

Seen on the run

2011-10-20T16:43:00.000-04:00

I worked from home today and went out on a quick run at lunch. I was inspired by all the beautiful fall photos I've been seeing on everyone's blogs so I took my phone with me to snap some photos. I haven't run with a camera in a while because I can't find the charger for my point and shoot. The last time I saw it was before I moved back in April. :( One of these days I'll either find it or I'll invest in a new one. In the mean time, my camera will have to suffice. It does take really nice photos though. Enjoy.

A small creek that feeds into the lake.

The lake with some fall foliage.

The spot where I got engaged back in March (right behind my house).

The lake trail covered in leaves.

A cool panoramic photo taken from my engagement spot. Click on it to make it a little larger.

Last double digit run before MCM

2011-10-18T22:05:00.000-04:00

On Sunday morning, I woke up early to meet up with Megan for my last double digit run of this training cycle. She had 20 on her schedule and I was only planning to do 12.
I metroed into DC and met her at Union Station to begin our run. We headed to the mall and ran to the Lincoln Memorial and across the Memorial Bridge. Once across the bridge, we headed south on the Mt. Vernon trail past Reagan National airport and then down to Old Town Alexandria. I have done a similar route down the mall and onto the Mt. Vernon trail while training for my half marathon last year but I had never been that far south before. It was so cool to watch planes coming down right over us as we ran along.
I have also never really spent any time in Alexandria. I can understand the allure of wanting to live down there. It is very pretty being right on the Potomac River and so close to the city. It was a bit out of my price range though and I'm a Maryland girl so I never even thought to move to VA. Very pretty city though. Almost quaint for being so close to the big city. The trail was quite scenic. Megan took a few pictures while we ran (click the link above to check them out).
My original plan was to meet up with Megan, run my 12 miles, then grab a bike at one of the bikeshare stations and bike with her until she hit 20 miles. Plans changed though, when we couldn't locate a bikeshare easily from the trail we were on. I didn't think it would be that difficult to get over to Arlington from the trail but it was a no go.
I ended up running nearly 14 miles instead of the 12 that I had planned. I wanted to keep going but I knew I shouldn't. Since finding a bike was problematic, I apologetically left Megan and headed to the airport to catch the metro back to my car.

Megan finished up her 6 last miles while I rushed home to watch some football!
I got home minutes after Joey did (he worked Sunday morning) and we rushed to shower and head out to the bar to meet up with some friends. The stars aligned this week and all of our respective teams were playing at 1pm so we met up to watch them all and eat wings and drink some beer.

I don't usually like to go into the city on the weekends since I commute down everyday during the week but I'm glad I did. The weather was gorgeous and it was nice to get in one more long run with Megan before my marathon.

I'll try to post a little bit about my thoughts on the marathon and some goals I have in mind.

20 miler - I'm ready for MCM2011!

2011-10-13T12:04:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I had a 20 miler on my schedule. I also had the luxory of a 3-day weekend and gorgeous weather! I decided right away to not put off the 20 miler so I could enjoy said weekend without the thought of long runs on my mind the entire time.
On Friday night, my good friend Lisa was over for dinner. She has really been wanting to ride her bike with me during a training run but her work schedule has not been conducive to this - until this weekend! She needed to be somewhere at 12:15 so we had to make it early-ish but she was enthusiastic about wanting to ride with me.
She met up with me at my place at 7am and we headed out to the C&O canal (where I ran during most of my last 20 miler). Maybe it's kind of cheating to do my longest run on the canal since it's mostly flat and somewhat shaded but it was the most ideal place for me and for Lisa to follow along on her bike. She was a bit hesitant to ride up and down the hills of my town and alongside some roads. The canal path is safe and flat (she is a little timid on the bike). It was also a gorgeous day and the trees are starting to change! The other reason I wanted to hit the canal again was because last time we accidentally ran in the wrong direction than I had planned and it was kind of boring. This time we headed towards Great Falls! The scenery was amazing! We didn't go out to the main overlook but it was still very nice (bikes weren't allowed on the overlook trails and we didn't want to risk her bike being stolen so we just hit up a small overlook bridge and called it a day).

Great Falls (about 9 miles in)!

Lisa!! I was so thankful for her company.

Gorgeous day... just a bit foggy.

The run itself went really well. It just flew by! It was a bit chilly when we began but I wore a tank and shorts because I knew I'd warm up quickly. Before we knew it we were at Great Falls, about 9 miles into the run. We stopped very briefly for a few photos and then continued on. At exactly 10 miles, we turned back and headed to the car. I stayed steady the whole time. Lisa hasn't watched me run much so she was amazed at how I was able to maintain my pace and talk to her on and off the whole time. My average pace was 9:55 with my slowest mile (my first one) being at 10:10 and my fastest mile being around 9:45. My first mile and my second to last mile were my slowest and the only ones that inched above 10 minutes.
I felt good and strong for almost the entire run. For nutrituion, I was taking a shot blok every two miles. I had Gu with me but I didn't end up taking any of them. At mile 18 I started to feel a bit yucky. My stomach started to feel bad and I had to concentrate on my breathing a lot here. I could feel myself slowing down a bit but I didn't want to give in to the slow. I also managed to get a small rock in my shoe at this point (which wasn't a big deal but I knew it was there and didn't feel like stopping to remedy the situation). By mile 19 I had managed to overcome the stomach issue and I pressed on to finish up the 20!
I felt so good during this run! It gave me such a confidence boost! I mean, I honestly haven't had many issues during my long runs but this one just felt amazing. It makes me a little nervous that I will have trouble in the actual race but I'm staying positive and trusting in my training.
I can't believe how far my legs have been able to take me and how strong they have become.

Just over 2 weeks until Marathon day!!! I believe I'm mentally and physically prepared to take on this race! MCM, here I come!!!

And then there was one

2011-10-04T09:39:00.000-04:00

Back when I registered for the Marine Corps Marathon, a coworker had registered minutes before me and the competitive spirit in me couldn't let him do this alone. I needed to keep up with him and train and run the marathon too. The marathon sold out in about 28 hours and within that time frame, three other coworkers were registered as well. Fast forward a few more weeks and a 5th coworker decided he wanted to try to purchase a bib (they allow transfers) and run with us. Basically, it was a big ol' marathon party in the office.
In mid-August, two of those people (the one who was trying to get in and one who had already registered) got engaged. They wanted to have a fall wedding, as in THIS fall. Due to schedule conflicts and whatnot, the only date they could schedule the wedding for this fall was Oct. 23rd, aka the week before the marathon. They decided that it wouldn't work for them to continue training for the marathon and then realized they'd still be on their honeymoon anyway so they were out.
A third coworker (who also just got engaged... it's an epidemic in my office this year) hadn't trained well so back in August he decided to not run the marathon also.
The fourth coworker has a history of knee issues but had run the half marathon last year without pain and decided he didn't want to be left out of the fun. He signed up to run the half with me this year but just before he noticed his knee was starting to act up again. He completed the half but needed to take some time off afterward. He decided that anything longer than a half was just not a good idea for his knee so he dropped out as well.
That left the coworker who started this whole process. He had been following a similar training plan as me and was actually completing the training runs. I was excited to get to run with him and glad he was still able to since it was his idea in the first place. You can probably see where this is going... Last week he was on schedule to do an 18 mile long run. He ran it before work last Tuesday but he said he missed the mile marker he was going to turn around at and would have run 19 miles... except he had to stop after 17.5 miles and walk the rest of the way home. He told me yesterday that his knee has been hurting ever since and he hasn't run on it. He tried a treadmill run yesterday but said he didn't even make it 10 seconds... so he is out for the marathon. :( That leaves me to run it by myself.*
I KNOW I can do it! I'm strong! I'm both physically and mentally prepared for this race! There is no backing out now for me because my training has gone extremely well (knock on wood) and I'm ready to tackle the 26.2 mile beast. I also know that I will have a wonderful support crew cheering me on during the race. My parents are coming down just to witness this crazy event and Joey will be there too. I'll also have a cheering squad!!
I can't freakin' wait to run my first marathon!!!

*With 30,000 of my closest friends...

15k Race Report - Pacing My Mom

2011-10-02T19:24:00.001-04:00

This weekend, I drove up to my parent's neck of the woods for a 15k race with my mom! I headed up Friday night after a delicious dinner out with Joey.
Race morning: When I woke up Saturday morning, I put on my capris and a long-sleeved shirt and went downstairs for breakfast. My mom reported that it was 50 degrees outside so I might want to reconsider the long sleeves. I had anticipated temps in the 40s. I then went back upstairs and changed into a short sleeved shirt. I got back downstairs and my mom was heading in from outside and she reported that it was now in the 40s and it was raining! And it was cold rain! I had already committed to the short sleeves though so I didn't change. (I had already attached my bib). I had a bowl of cereal and we were off to the start.
The race is a point to point race and if you meet at the finish line, a bus will take you to the start. My dad took us to the race though so we didn't have to bother with the bus. He was planning to drive along the course and stop to take photos and cheer us on along the way*.
My goal for this race was to get in my scheduled 9 mile long run for the week and to bring my mom in strong to the finish line. Mission accomplished!!
I haven't downloaded our splits yet but I know we did not negative split the race. It was my mom's first race longer than a 5k and she did slow down a bit as the race went on. It is also a challenging race to negative split unless you reel yourself in at the start because the steepest down hill is in the first mile, followed by 2 more miles of downhill... followed by 5 more miles of flat and then a small hill during the last mile. A very good course to set a PR. In fact, my 10k PR might be the first 10k of this race!
We ran the first mile in just over 9 minutes and I was fairly certain that mom couldn't hold that pace for the entire race. Each mile after that was a few seconds slower with each passing mile. I was really proud of my mom though because she didn't stop to walk at all and she kept powering through. I kept giving her pep talks along the way and encouraging her to keep up her pace. We managed to pass several people**.
In the first mile, there was a family standing out in their driveway with signs that were cheering on the runners. The little boy yelled "Read my sign!" and I had my mom read it for me since I wasn't wearing my glasses due to the rain. It said "You can make it!". I used that mantra during the race to encourage my mom. I also kept telling her how strong she was and how good she looked and that she's got this!! She thanked me after the race for all the pep talks.
The race wasn't chip timed and we started a little ways behind the start so my watch read that we ran 9.4 miles in 1:33. According to my watch we rocked a 9:56 pace. According to the race results we rocked a 10:01 pace. Either way, I'll take it! My mom freakin' killed her first 15k! She said she doesn't think she would have finished as strong if it weren't for me. I had a fantastic time pushing my mom to do her best. :)
My dad ended up stopping about 7 or so times along the course. During his 3rd or 4th stop he was at a gas station and he ran in and got an egg sandwich. He said he was amazed at how fast we got there as he hadn't had time to finish his sandwich.
At the finish line, we ate donuts and drank coffee while waiting for the awards to begin. It was cold and it started to rain again (it stopped not too long after we started the race and only drizzled). We managed to find a dry place to stand while they read the awards. It took forever because they had a 5k race along with the 15k and age groups were every 5 years. I ended up 8 out of 10*** in my age group. My mom ended up winning 2nd**** in her age group.
Getting home and taking a hot shower was the best thing ever! I had a fantastic race with my mom and I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving where my dad claims that he will be joining us!!

Heading into the finish

I was looking at my mom and encouraging her to the finish!

Mom's "sprint" to the finish. Go, mom, go!

I guess I heel strike sometimes. Still looking at my mom.

Go, mom, go!!

*He also stopped for breakfast at a gas station.
**Very small race so we only passed a few and were only passed by a few.
*** For such a small race I could not believe how many people were in my age group! Also, based on my previous 3 times for this race I think I could have came in 2nd or 3rd if I had been going for time.
**** There were only 2 people in her age group but the first place woman was only 4 minutes faster than us. And it still totally counts! She won a trophy!!

14 miles and a treetop adventure

2011-09-25T12:22:00.000-04:00

It seems that every time I do a 14 miler, I follow it with an adventure.

I had 16 miles on my schedule for yesterday morning and I had planned to run them with Megan. This time I headed over to her neck of the woods and ran at a park near where she lives. It was a gorgeous park with a lake and a ton of runners everywhere! They were also having a heart walk there.
Megan wasn't feeling super great and hadn't slept much the night before so she was skeptical she could get in the 18 she had planned. I had mentioned that I'd likely do the 18 with her instead of my 16 but obviously would have been happy with 16.
We headed out around the lake and then ran through a neighborhood to a different lake. It was gorgeous! The leaves are starting to change and there was a waterfall where the lake was dammed. Lots of trees and trails all around. We decided to just explore the trails and stopped every now and then to consult maps they had of the trail system. I mentioned to Megan that my goal was to get her as far away from the park as possible so she'd have to run the miles in order to get back to our cars. ;) About 10 miles in we decided to head back to the park and only do 14 miles. I guess we had run a lot of different loops and stuff because it didn't take us very long to get back to the park. We ended up doing one last lake loop and finished up with 14 miles.
The run was very pretty but it was also pretty hilly. It reminded me of the runs I do around my neighborhood and into the park near my house. Very different from our run last week on the C&O canal path.
I decided 14 was enough for this week since the hills put a lot of pressure on my butt (it's sore today but in a good way) and I had plans for the afternoon that involved a lot of climbing.

I got home and ate lunch, showered, and then took a quick nap while Joey finished watching a movie. Then we headed out to a treetop adventure ropes course park! I didn't take any pictures there because they discourage them while climbing - they don't want you to drop them or be distracted by them. It was a blast though!
They had difficulty rankings on the different courses (yellow, green, blue, black, and double black (similar to ski resort rankings)) and we started out on a green course. We got there at 3:45 but didn't get started on our first course until 5:30. We had a groupon for this event and waited until the last day to redeem it - we weren't the only ones. We got started out and were making good time but then got stuck behind about 4 small children navigating the course with 2 adults. The guy in front of me was with his daughter and then the guy in front of him was with 3 children. We caught up with them when one of the little girls couldn't get her caribeaner unattached from one of the cables. There was no way for an adult to get up to help her so they just had to talk her through it. Eventually she got it and we eventually made it through the course. It felt kinda like being held up at a mini golf course except that you can't play through. By the time we finished the first course, it was dark outside!
They allow night climbing and give you headlamps to help guide you through. We decided to try a blue course next. We picked one that other people weren't starting at the same time and we were off. Joey and I were cruising through the course, although it was a good bit more difficult than the previous course. Eventually, we had caught up with a few people. Joey was doing really well with the course despite his finger injury. We decided to not complete the blue course though since it was late, the dog still needed to be fed, and we didn't want to wait for the people ahead of us. We ended up taking an escape route ladder and then zip-lined to the ground.
It was a very safe facility. It is designed so that you have to always have one caribeaner attached to a cable at all times. It was pretty ingenious actually.
Joey and I had a really good time and never once fell and had to rely on our harnesses. I did have to rely on the cables for most of the elements though because my balance isn't all that great after running 14 miles. My legs did hold up pretty good during the climbing though. Only a few of the elements caused me to really stretch out my legs.
I would definitely go again if I had a decent opportunity! I love climbing on things and zip-lining was so much fun!

My first 20 miler

2011-09-18T15:22:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, Megan met up with me for a long run on the C&O canal. I have been on the C&O before but never on this particular section. I figured it would be a good place to do a long run because it's scenic, flat, and straight. It is also a soft surface trail so it's easier on our joints. It's also shaded, though that wasn't necessary yesterday because it was nice and cool outside (high of 67!).
Megan had 16 on her schedule and I had planned 20. I decided to do the 16 with her and then run 4 more when I got home. I didn't want to run on the canal by myself. We crushed the long run this week! We started out at a nice pace and basically kept steady the entire time. We stopped briefly at the turn around point for a quick bathroom break and then were on our way back.
When we hit about mile 12, Megan started getting impatient so we picked up the pace a smidge to get the run finished. We ended up running an average of 9:47/mile and our last mile was our fastest! It's kinda crazy considering that my half marathon last week was run at a 9:38 pace. That just shows that weather had a huge impact on me last week and I'm sure the hills made a difference too.
I snapped a few photos and got a few from Megan that we took at the turn-around point.

Sign showing all the ways the Potomac river can kill you.

Megan down by the river

Me down by the river.

Once I got home, I was freezing and was tired. I did NOT want to go back out for 4 more miles. I asked Joey if he would run 2 with me but he had already showered for the day and didn't want to go. I sucked it up and just went though. I put some more water in my camelbak and I hit the lake trail by my house. I knew my watch battery wasn't likely to make it for 4 miles but I knew if I did 3 laps it would be 4 miles. I pushed myself around the lake 3 times and felt worn out. My watch hung on for just over 3 miles (though I haven't downloaded the stats yet) and I think I maintained about a 10:30 or so pace. I thought that was decent considering the previous 16 miles and the new terrain - hilly and on blacktop. I just wanted to be finished running for the day.
I got home and was on shaky legs. Joey had gone out while I was out and bought a big bag of ice for my first ice bath! Joey started running the bath for me and I got in and sat down to acclimate to the water before he added the ice. I essentially followed the steps laid out by Sweaty Emily and it wasn't so bad. I wore a hoodie and shorts and got used to the cold water, then Joey dumped half a large bag of ice into the water once I was completely submerged. I then tried to read a book as I waited for the 15 minutes to be up. I would go back and forth between being comfortable and shivering. Ultimately it felt really good though. Then I took a nice warm shower and was ready for the day.
Joey and I watched a movie and lounged around for a while, then I helped him make dinner (beef stew with crispy spicy kale). I feel asleep on the couch around 8 and tried to rebound an hour later but I was done. I was in bed by 10 and slept so much last night!
I am really enjoying my marathon training but I am looking forward to getting some normal semblance back to my weekends.

Pics from my 2nd Half Marathon

2011-09-16T14:50:00.000-04:00

The photos are in from my 2nd half marathon! Check it out! I look like I'm about to die, but that's what I'm supposed to look like, right?

I look happy here. Also, check out my mid-foot strike!

Focused!

My personal fav - heh. Looking rough! That's Meganerd in front of me.

Still rockin' the mid-foot strike!

They had a fantastic photo of Megan crossing the finish line with her flag in hand and a big smile on her face but I wasn't included even though I was RIGHT NEXT TO HER!!

Picture me just to her right in front of that man... I had my flag up and was smiling too, I promise, despite the lack of photographic evidence!

Running with Mom

2011-09-14T08:44:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, my lovely mother emailed me to ask if I wanted her to register us to run a 15k on October 1st. Yes, please!

I have run this particular 15k three times in the past 4 years. It's such a fantastic race. It's a point-to-point race near where my parents live (where I grew up!) and it's mostly downhill with a small hill just before the end of mile 9. Oh, and it's only $15!
The swag isn't terribly exciting, as you get a cotton t-shirt and I haven't been a fan of the design (though I think they may have changed it last year but I missed that race for my niece's birthday party). The finish line refreshments are somewhat non-traditional but they are my favorite. Instead of bagels and bananas they offer coffee and donuts from my most favorite bakery. They do offer gatorade and water too. I can already taste the delicious donut though.

Enjoying my favorite donut with my mom after this race back in 2009.

The other exciting thing about this 15k is that it's a very small race. I think they usually have less than 200 people toe the line. I've placed in my age group all three times I've run this race. However, I do not anticipate winning any awards this year, but I do expect this to be my favorite to date - I will be running with my mom and pushing her to finish the longest distance she's ever run! Up until this point, she has only ever trained for an ran 5k races. This is HUGE for her. She is so nervous and told me she thinks it will take her 2 days to finish. I know this is not the case though as she can run a 5k in under 30 minutes and usually can hang onto a 10 min/mile pace pretty easily. I think it's mostly a mental block for her to overcome. I can't wait to help her get to that finish line in less than 2 weeks!

Running with my mom during a chilly 5k.

A little back story on running with my mom... Back in 1994, I signed up to run a mile youth fun run that was for the Arthritis foundatioin. It was in conjunction with a 5k run and a walk. I was young enough to run the mile and my mom signed up for the walk. During the walk, she was frustrated and decided she wanted to train to run the 5k the following year. I placed first for girls in the mile but was then too old to compete in the mile after that year. I was determined to not let my mom outrun me, so I told her I would train with her and we would do the 5k together the following year. In December of 1995, my mom and I ran our first 5k! I think we even finished it just under 30 minutes (though I can't remember exactly and I can't find the results from so long ago). The one memory I had of that race was that I stupidly drank orange juice beforehand and ran with my mom up until about the last 0.1 miles in which I sprinted ahead and then proceeded to empty that orange juice into a mud puddle by the finish line.
From then on, my mom and I trained for various 5k races together. I ended up running track in high school all 4 years and was recruited to run cross country for my past 3 years. Those were the best times and I'm so thankful that I got started with running, mostly thanks to my mom. I don't think I would have been motivated to train for a 5k all on my own. We did many races together over the years and competed as a mother-daughter team several times (and always lost to speedier mother/daughter teams). We both took a hiatus from running at the same time but got back into it eventually. I love running with my mom!

4 Second PR

2011-09-12T08:18:00.000-04:00

The results are IN! I finished this year's Parks Half Marathon in 2:06:15!! Last year I ran a 2:06:19! Yay 4 second PR! haha. At least I'm consistent.

And here are a few pictures I swiped from Megan's blog at the post race party.

2nd Half Marathon Race Recap

2011-09-11T17:42:00.000-04:00

I finished my second half marathon this morning!!

I had a great time at the run this morning. I wished I could have ran faster but it just wasn't in the cards today.

I woke up at 5am and got ready quickly. I didn't mention it in the goals post but I was not having a good day with my stomach/intestines yesterday. I probably went #2 five times yesterday and it wasn't pretty. I was a little nervous that those issues would continue this morning. I wasn't 100% when I woke up this morning but I popped two tums and felt pretty good about the race.
I headed out the door and met up with my coworker prior to the race. We headed to the start area where I checked my bag. I managed to remember my bib and chip this year (thanks for the reminder, Kim) but I checked my bag without remembering to grab my nutrition! Oops!! Oh well. I figured I'd live.

I got over near the stop and I mentioned to my coworker that I wanted to hit up the bathrooms before we started. Then I ran into Meganerd! She was next in her line for the port-o-johns so I left her to go wait in line myself. I made it just in time and Megan saw me standing behind the 1:55 pace group. She came up to join us and we started the race. It was quite humid but the temps were around 67 and it wasn't raining. The course wasn't even super muddy, as the volunteers did a great job clearing the trails of debris and such before the race. I noticed at least one spot where they had to clear some downed trees recently.
I started out with Megan and my coworker and we were talking about our pace and what we needed to maintain to get a sub-2-hour. I thought it seemed doable but I didn't anticipate the hills and how I wouldn't be able to get deep breaths of air into my lungs to help with my speed. Not having nutrition may have also played a role.
I stuck with Megan for about 4 miles and then she gained a slight lead. I could still see her in my sights for a while and then around mile 5 the coworker broke off and caught Megan and kept going! He crushed it! I managed to keep Megan in my sights through about 6 miles or so but wasn't having much luck after that. Right around mile 7, the 2 hour pace group caught me which dashed my hopes (they started 2 minutes behind me). I did not have enough in me to keep up with them so I just held onto the hope that I could stay ahead of the 2:05 group.
I hung in there and just ran my own race. I seemed to leap frog with about 10 other runners on the course as some would stop to walk and then catch and pass me, then walk again. No idea if they were doing galloway or if they were just worn down.
The first few miles weren't too bad and had a few decent hills but overall was downhill. By mile 10 there is a pretty significant hill as you leave the park trails and go through a neighborhood before meeting up with a different park trail. The last 2 miles of the race are slightly uphill and brutal! I kept trying to speed up but my lungs would not have it. My feet were also sore from my shoes (the inside ball of each foot is calloused and I could feel each and every step). I was determined not to walk and just kept pushing forward. According to my garmin, my last mile was actually my fastest moving pace mile (my overall was higher because I stopped to double fist some water!). I felt pretty good about that. Around mile 12 or so I caught a glimpse of Megan ahead of me. I kept her in my view and hoped that I could catch her but I wasn't convinced I could do it. If Megan had any kick at all I knew she'd lay it on heavy at the end. We got to the 13 mile mark and before we enter into a tunnel before the finish, girl scouts were handing out little flags for each runner to carry to the finish line in remembrance of 911. At that point, I thought I could catch Megan! I then pushed myself to get us to cross the finish line together! Unfortunately, she was having a tough time with her knee and struggled across the finish, but we finished together and will likely have finishers photos together. :)
Once we were done, I lost track of Megan as she went to the medical tent to get ice for her knee. I sat down to remove my chip and found Joey and the coworker. He thinks he ran close to 2 hours but isn't sure what his exact time was. I finished in almost the same exact time as last year! The race results have not been posted yet but last year I ran a 2:06:19 and my garmin said 2:06:17 this year. At least I'm consistent! haha.

This race was really fun and run through gorgeous parks you wouldn't imagine to be so close to DC. It is a little tough with the hills but it's worth it. It is also affordable and has an awesome Brooks long-sleeved technical shirt as the premium. Instead of a medal, they handed out fleece hats at the finish this year. They had water stops every 2 miles which I took advantage of every time. I ran through the first two (took gatorade at the second one) but then needed to stop to drink during the others. I was SO thirsty! I was double fisting the water on the last three stops.
They had pizza, pasta, sandwiches, watermelon, bagels, and orange slices at the finish line party. They also had live music. I ate part of a slice of pizza, two watermelon wedges and two orange slices. I wished I had passed on the pizza and just grabbed a ton of orange. It was SO good.

I should also mention that I ran with my contact lenses in during this race and it was likely the first time I've worn them since last year's half marathon (they were a fresh pair straight) but they are not my current Rx and they may have given me a headache. :( Around mile 5 I noticed that my head hurt a bit but couldn't do anything about it. Luckily I think I'm out of contacts so I won't be doing that again anytime soon.

Overall it was a good race and I'd definitely run it again. I would like to branch out in the future though and try a new half marathon.

2nd half marathon goals and water photos

2011-09-10T16:57:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow morning, I will be running my 2nd half marathon!

I will try to outline some of my goals in this post.

First and foremost, I want to have FUN! I ran this race last year and had a blast. It is a beautiful course, for sure as it runs on park trails and is point-to-point.
Second, I want to PR. Last year I ran a 2:06:xx. The weather is supposed to be about what it was last year - 60s with 90% humidity and possible rain during the time of the race. It could also be a bit sunny during the run if its not raining. Should be a challenge for sure to push through.
My A goal for this race would be to finish under 2 hours. I think I have the physical ability to run a half marathon in under 2 hours. My only real issues are weather related. It's going to be so humid tomorrow morning. I kinda hope it rains if that would break some of the humidity! The other issue is the TON of rain we got this past week. We've had over 6.5 inches of rain since Sunday and there has been a lot of mild flooding in this area. The park trails run along a creek and it sounds like there will be a lot of puddles and mud along the course. They are working to remove debris and mud from the course but it will be a muddy, splashy mess for sure.
Ultimately, I want to act like a kid and jump in puddles, get wet, muddy, and have a blast! But still try to take the race mildly seriously and attempt my PR. I will probably be running this race with Meganerd and I'm hoping she can push me to under 2 hours! I will also be meeting up with a coworker for the race.
I also wanted to show some pics I took during my run on Friday. I headed out at 9am and the trails were not covered in water, but I could tell at least one section had been under water because it was a muddy mess.

There are large rocks that are usually exposed for about 6 feet in the foreground of this photo. You can kinda see the tops of them if you make the photo larger. People often fish from there.

A Great Blue Heron sits among the debris in the smaller lake by my house.

Some pretty, water-logged flowers I saw during my run.

A giant caterpillar! He was the size of my finger... I almost stepped on him.

Muddy shoes from what section of the trail that had previously been underwater. These shoes will be wrecked after the half marathon but I'm too nervous to wear older shoes that are worn out.

Labor Day Update Bullets

2011-09-04T22:14:00.000-04:00

I had a nice step-back week but didn't get out nearly as much as I had planned. I am not going to stress out about it though. This week was rather stressful and crazy.
I got in a nice 6 mile run in the humidity today. It was tough but I got through it.
Joey got his bandages removed from his surgery on Thursday. It his first time seeing his finger since the incident and my first time seeing it. It is kinda gross looking and I call it Franken-finger but it's healing and could be way worse. He starts PT on Wednesday and will be out of work for at least 3 more weeks. He is now going bandage/band-aid free since yesterday and he's getting used to it.
I got Bon Appetite magazine as an online deal and it has inspired Joey and I to cook more and try to be a little more adventurous. Yesterday we spent 2.5 hours or so in the kitchen and we made homemade chili, homemade ricotta cheese, peach salsa, and pizzelles.
Joey and I ordered new phones online yesterday and they should arrive on Wednesday. We are joining the rest of the world and getting smart phones!
I refinanced my house this past Wednesday. I got a much better rate and got a decently lower monthly payment. Pretty crazy since I just bought the house in March of this year.
I had a job interview this past Wednesday also for a possible promotion in my current office. I'm not getting my hopes up but it would be awesome if I got it. It's very competitive.
My good friend/coworker/running buddy is engaged!! I am so excited for her! They set a date for a week before MCM so she can't run it as she planned but this is definitely a good excuse to not run a marathon if you ask me.
I ended up taking Friday off for a dentist appointment so I am enjoying a 4-day weekend. So far so good.
I hope everyone else in the US is enjoying their holiday weekend.

101 miles of August

2011-09-01T11:15:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note to tell you that I reached my highest mileage month ever!! Last August (my previous highest mileage month) I had 86 miles while training for my first half marathon. This year I surpassed that while training for my first marathon and ran 101 miles!

On Monday, I did a quick calculation to see where I was mileage-wise for the month and realized I was 9 miles away from 100! I managed to get in 5 on Monday and then 5 more on Wednesday to make it to 101. My Saturday long runs have really helped get me to this point. It'll be interesting to see how much I am able to accomplish in September and October as it gets closer to Marine Corps.

This week is a step-back week for me and I have 6-8 on schedule for my long run. I think I can manage that. ;)

How many miles has your highest mileage month been? I know some of you have banked much more than 101 in a months time.

16 miles before the storm

2011-08-28T09:46:00.000-04:00

I was having trouble deciding when to get my long run in this weekend. I was originally supposed to head down to the Eastern Shore of VA to visit my brother and his family along with my parents. I had originally thought I'd be doing my 16 miler on Thursday after work, but that sounded like a horrible idea as I prefer to do my long runs in the morning. Once we realized that Irene was on her way to wreak some havoc, we opted to not go down to visit my brother.
I worked from home on Friday and took a half day even though I wasn't going to my brother's house as planned. I sort of thought I would do my long on Friday afternoon but it was humid and warm and the sun was out in full force. We took the dog for a walk instead and I was glad I wasn't running.
I ended up staying in town to take care of Joey and make sure the house was ok and noticed that it wasn't supposed to rain until around noon so I woke up at 6am to be sure to be out the door by 7.
My first thought as I went out the door was the humidity. It was in the low 70s but the humidity was at nearly 100%. In fact, every now and then it would spit rain at me. It was intense. I wore my pink skirt for the first time on a long run and I wore my new shoes that I thought I had broken in enough with my two runs earlier this week. I ran a similar route to my 12 and 14 milers. I tried some new nutrition options during this run taking a GU (my first ever) at mile 5 (espresso love - surprisingly tasty and not as weird as I had imagined. Much easier to eat while running than the shotbloks). I also had some GU chomps at mile 10.
My pace for this run was a bit slower than the two long runs prior. I 100% blame the humidity. It was tough to breathe! My legs didn't feel too bad, though my right foot (I ended the run with a blood blister on my right foot) was having some issues which was causing my lower calf, knee, and hip to have random bad feelings. I stopped to walk and stretch out my hip/knee for a few seconds around mile 13. That worked and I was back to running.
I ended with 16.2 miles for the day and an average pace of 10:38. I tried to keep all my miles under 11 but I don't think I succeeded. Towards the end I just wanted to get through it and stopped caring as much about my pace.
This was one of the toughest runs I've done to date, which makes sense I guess since it was the furthest I've ever run. However, I think it would have been much better without the humidity. I'm just glad that my mental positivity keeps me going. Whenever I encounter an issue while running, I tell myself that any number of these things could happen on race day and just push myself through it. If I really thought I was at risk for injury, I would stop and walk or call to be picked up, but essentially, I know that I need to be just as prepared mentally as physically.
Oh, and I had my camelbak and I was afraid I'd run out of water so when I got to a bathhouse at the park around mile 11 I refilled with the water fountain. By the time I got back to my house, it was empty. I drank a ton of water on this run.
I continued to drink once I got home and cleaned up. Then I took a short nap. I woke up with a headache and ate some food and drank more water. Eventually took IB profen.
Then I got a text from my old roomie saying they were moving furniture and boxes into her new house and would I be free to help? Oh man you guys... she's lucky she's such a good friend and that she helped me move into my house. I got up and got dressed and ate some more food and headed over. Luckily they had most of it unloaded by the time I got there.

Irene didn't cause too much damage at my house. We were lucky and didn't lose power (so far) and only have some leaves and small branches down. I'm still waiting to see how my brother made out down on the shore. The biggest pain was when we went to get dinner last night and the first two places we tried to go were closed due to the storm. It was raining at that point but the power was still on and the wind wasn't too horrible and I was HUNGRY. We eventually found a place open though so it wasn't too bad.

Update: new shoes, surgery, and earthquakes

2011-08-23T17:34:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I worked from home so I could take Joey to his doctor's appointment in the morning and not miss a full day of work. After work, I met up with his sister who lives a mile away for a run/walk.
I got to try out my new shoes! And I wore my super pink running skirt.

Verdict: I LOVE these shoes. They felt so light and cushiony and I can't wait to break them in and run t he marathon in them.
I ran a mile to Joey's sister's house to meet her and I managed an 8:51 minute mile! I haven't run that fast in a while so it felt really good. Then I ran a slower 10:29 mile with her. We walked a bit and then eventually did another half mile of running. We continued to walk after that for a while and then went back to her house so she could give me some tomatoes and peppers. I was planning to walk home since I had a bag of produce but decided to run the last mile (10:13). It wasn't my exact plan for a run last night but it was really nice to walk with the future SIL and break in the new shoes a bit.
Joey had his surgery this morning. We sat in the waiting room for a really long time. We left my house an hour before we needed to be there because DC traffic is unpredictable. It was fine and we made it with plenty of time to spare which meant plenty of time to wait in the waiting room. We got there at 9:30 and I sat there until nearly 1:30. He was called back at noon (was supposed to be 11:15) and they prepped him and gave him an IV (which he was not happy about). Then they let me go back to see him off to surgery. He said it wasn't long after that when he blacked out from anesthesia. At 12:50 the surgeon came out to tell me everything went ok and that it wouldn't be much longer.
I helped Joey get dressed, ran to get the car and we were on our way. We had planned to stop at the pharmacy to pick up his pain killers and then grab some lunch. We arrived at the pharmacy and a lot of people were standing on the sidewalk outside talking very loudly. We tried to go inside and then realized they were closed. They asked us if we felt the earthquake that had apparently just happened. No, we did not feel it because we were in the car. We ended up driving to another pharmacy about a mile or two away and they were open. That was when we realized that texts and phone calls weren't working due to too many people jamming the network.
Everything at the house seems fine. My work let our a little early but even if I had gone it likely wouldn't have affected me because I think they announced it after I would have already left. I'm very glad that I was off today though because the trains are severely delayed. Hopefully they'll run ok tomorrow though.

Did anyone else feel the earthquake?

14 miles and a kayak adventure

2011-08-20T17:35:00.000-04:00

This morning I woke up at 7 and after a breakfast malfunction (I dropped my peanut butter and banana toast on the floor :( ), I was ready to head out on my 14 mile run - the longest run I've ever done! My first PDR day this cycle!
I started out with a lap around the small lake by my house (1.34 miles) and then ran a route similar to my past two long runs. I added a section on a new road by my house which ended up being just over 2 miles out and back. Then I ran over to the park and turned around to head home. It ended up being exactly 14 miles. I stopped very briefly to blow my nose and drink from the fountain (I had my camelbak but I was running low) and then continued on my way. I felt strong, despite the soreness I could feel on the inside ball of my left foot. I have a pretty good callous built up there but I could tell something else was going on. I now have a small red blister but I'm not that concerned. I just bought a new pair of shoes and as soon as I break them in I'm hoping to be able to do my long runs in them from here on out and then wear them in the marathon.
The weather was nice with low(ish) humidity and not terribly hot. The sun was out though so it was a little more intense than when I did my 12 miler last week. I didn't end up running out of water and I was proud of myself for being able to eat my shot bloks while running. I took 3 at 5 miles and 3 more at 10.
I don't normally post my splits, but I want to for this run for my own recollection. I had no idea that I sped up during the last 4 miles. I guess I stopped paying attention to my watch by that point.

14 miles: 10:22, 10:15, 10:13, 10:09, 9:50, 10:25 (ate 3 shotbloks), 10:12, 10:17, 10:23, 10:07, 9:43 (ate 3 shotbloks), 9:47, 9:49, 9:35

When I got back from my run, Joey and I went to the store because we're having my old roomie and her boyfriend over for a cookout tonight. I was tired but I really wanted to get the store out of the way because I was meeting a friend to kayak at noon. I was drinking a lot of water to make sure I was hydrated enough to spend 3 hours in the sun. I packed two bottles of water (and she brought me a frozen bottle of water). We had a blast. It was a gorgeous day (although very sunny) to be out on the water. We went out on the lake behind my house and I took my garmin. It read 3.77 miles before the battery on my watch died. We were kayaking about 24 minutes per mile. We weren't trying for speed though. We ended up staying out for 2.5 hours and enjoyed looking at birds and turtles. I even saw a snapping turtle under the water!

To say I'm tired now is an understatement but I'm trying to stay awake because our friends are coming over in a few hours for burgers and pesto pizza on the grill. Maybe I should make some coffee. :)

Will run for chocolate

2011-08-19T10:03:00.015-04:00

Moments before all the excitement from this post, I registered for another race!
I am now officially signed up for the Hot Chocolate 15k on Dec. 3rd.

I'm hoping that I don't completely destroy my legs at Marine Corps and will be able to run this event. My friend Beth* will be doing this race with me! Ever since I saw she started running, we've been trying to schedule a race together. Our schedules finally worked out!

* She dated a good friend of mine from college and then we started talking again via facebook.

Fingertips are overrated

2011-08-18T08:05:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday, I received a call in the morning from Joey telling me he had an accident at work and was on his way to the hospital. The incident involved him losing the fingertip of his right ring finger. Not cool.
I was at work in DC, roughly an hour away from him. I asked him what I could do for him at that moment but the answer was nothing. He said I could take the earliest train home if I wanted so that I would be home around the time he expected to get home. I told him that I wouldn't get home much earlier due to the horrible train schedule but that I could find alternate means to get home if he needed me. I ended up taking my regular train and ended up beating him home anyway.
He was taken to a doctor and then was sent to see an orthopedic specialist. His finger is all wrapped up in gauze and he is on pain killers and other medication. The nature of his injury puts him at risk for some diseases that are not good (not that any disease is good). He is on preventative medicine just in case and will continue to have periodic blood tests to make sure he's ok.
He's in good spirits so far. He even made a joke at the doctor's office soon after it happened and he said the doctor looked at him and said it was too soon to be joking about it. haha. In Joey's world it's never too soon to make something a joke (i.e. inappropriate jokes about his mom dying last year that were only appropriate because they were coming from Joey and his mom would have been amused).
I know he's going to be bored at home. He will be off for likely a month because the doc told him it will probably be 3 weeks post-op before he can go back to work. I feel bad for him because he can't play video games or use his right hand much at all. He can get on the computer a little and he is in the middle of a long book so at least he has that. We also have netflix (but no cable). He is able to take walks but is not able to run right now. He doesn't run too far but he did just start getting into a running routine again and he's sad he has to put it on hold.
If you guys have any suggestions on what he can do to pass the time while he's bored at home (he already told me he'd clean the house at some point and he's volunteered to make me dinner) let me know.
Also, if you're the praying type, please pray that his surgery goes well and that he didn't catch any horrible diseases.

12 awesome miles and a sore neck

2011-08-13T18:16:00.000-04:00

On Thursday morning, I awoke at 5 despite getting to sleep in a bit since I was working from home. I noticed that my neck was really sore and I assumed I had slept on it wrong, which hasn't happened in years. When I did wake up for work, I took some IB profen because it hurt that bad. At lunch time, it was sore but as long as I kept my head facing forward, I figured I could do a quick run. I did just under 3 miles and it felt alright.
As I worked that afternoon, I was massaging my sore neck muscles. It was only on the right side and I could start to feel a knot in my muscle. It mostly only hurt when I tried to turn my head to the right.
At 3, I left the house to meet some friends for what ended up being an early dinner for me and a drink. I was telling them about my neck and I realized that the "knot" in my neck was actually more like a swollen mass in my muscle. I have no idea what it was but I was beginning to suspect it was a spider bite.
I got home around 5:15 and showed it to Joey. He told me to take more IB profen and to put ice on it. He said he'd never seen anything like that before and he didn't want to touch it.
After icing, it did get a little less swollen. I woke up Friday morning and it was still sore but the swelling had gone down considerably. I ended up leaving work a bit early Friday afternoon because it was just a nagging pain and it was unpleasant.
This morning I woke up and it was feeling a lot better but still a little sore/tender when I turn to the right. I hoped that I could still get in my 12 mile run.
This week I ate a piece of toast with peanut butter and banana. I made the mistake two weeks ago of not eating before my 10 mile run and my pace suffered as a result. It was considerably cooler outside this morning and it was overcast during the entire run. A bit humid but nothing horrible. I wore my new xersion shorts and had no chafing issues! Success!
I ran a similar route to the 10 miles I ran two weeks ago but added a section that had a downhill and then back up. At the 6 mile mark I walked down a rough spot in the trail and ate 3 clif shotbloks. Then I continued running up the hill into the park near my house. I felt amazing!
Just like during my 10 mile run, my last mile was my fastest. I felt good at the end and knew I could keep going if I had wanted to. In fact, I ended up running an extra 0.2 because it started to rain and I still had a bit to go to get to my house. I ran the last 0.2 at an 8:30 pace and I was still feeling strong. I ended up with an average pace of about 10 min/mile. Great run!
To put it in perspective from my 10 mile run, I ran the 10 miles in 1:49. This week, I ran 10.75 in 1:49... so it was a much better run. I think the weather played a huge role but I'm sure fueling beforehand was important too.
My legs are still feeling great and this run really helped with my confidence! I'm looking forward to Marine Corps in 11 weeks!

Sweetness

2011-08-11T13:30:00.000-04:00

Today I worked from home and headed out at lunch for a quick 3 mile run. I have 12 on schedule for Saturday and just wanted to shake my legs out a bit.
I got back home and heated up the last slice of left-over pizza. I was three bites into it when I saw the UPS man turn onto my street. No big deal. I watch people come and go all day when I work from home and it's not unusual to see the UPS man. Only this time, he walked up to my door and knocked!! He left me a package.

How very exciting! Not only is it a package, it's flowers! For me!

Two dozen red roses!! What a huge surprise!
They came rolled up and the packaged included a nice rectangular vase.
It took me a few minutes to cut each stem and remove the lower leaves. There was a note card inside the roses that said the outer 2-3 petals should be removed and that they were left on to protect the roses during shipping. I'd never heard this before but noticed that some of the outer petals were a little rough on the edges so I took some off.

It did make a beautiful little pile on my counter!

Oh, and we also got engagement photos taken the other day by our good friend, Lisa (she's shooting our wedding too! (for free!)). They are not edited yet but I will share one with you.

This was one from when we were just joking around. I think we got some really great shots (and some pretty funny ones).

Finish the sentence

2011-08-10T13:20:00.000-04:00

Kim's sister posted a meme on her new blog and I thought I'd play along. Feel free to leave your answers in the comments or post on your own blog. If you post on your blog, comment here and let me know.

The clothes in my closet are mostly …
I usually go to bed around …
My favorite magazine is …
My favorite color is …
A blog I visit every day is …
Something I collect is …
I clean my floors every …
I shower every …
The perfect temperature for me is …
My biggest weakness is …

My answers:

The clothes in my closet are mostly black, white, blue, and red.
I usually go to bed around 10pm. I wake up at 5 everyday to get to work early.
My favorite magazine is I don't have one.. I don't read magazines too often. I just got a deal on Bon Appetite but it hasn't come yet.
My favorite color is blue.
A blog I visit every day is google reader. I click through to my favorites to leave comments often but I don't usually visit any one blog everyday. I also don't get on a computer everyday if I'm on vacation or at home.
Something I collect is shot glasses from places I visit. I also started collecting souvenir playing cards from places I visit.
I clean my floors every 2 weeks or so. I am new to this homeownership so I'm trying to keep up with the cleaning. I run a vac on the hardwood floors usually once a week or more to pick up Delilah fur. The carpets usually get vacuumed every other week.
I shower everyday but I don't really like showers. Sometimes I shower twice in a day if I run but I don't always wash my hair.
The perfect temperature for me is 50 if I'm running and upper 70s for everything else. Ok, maybe in the 80s if I'm at the beach.
My biggest weakness is savory foods. I could give up desserts if I really wanted to but I love savory food!

Weekend update

2011-08-08T07:27:00.000-04:00

The past week just flew by! I have been busy at work and trying to get a lot done at home.
Last week was my first step-back week in my schedule. My long run was only 6 miles and I managed to squeeze that in during lunch on Friday. The weather finally broke and it was a bit cooler here so it wasn't too bad of a run.
This weekend I didn't actually make it out to run. I probably could have made time if I needed to but it was nice to take a break before my long runs start getting super long. In two short weeks I will be venturing into the unknown with runs longer than 13 miles!
Saturday morning, as soon as we were awake, we headed to drop my car off for an oil change/tire rotation. I always get this done at the dealer since I get a discount but it's such a pain because it's often crowded on weekends and can take a long time. I opted to have Joey pick me up and we headed to the mall.
I had one place in particular that I really wanted to go. I really wanted to go to JCPenney to check out their Xersion shorts that Kim got for her birthday. They only had two pairs, a small and a medium, and I think the shorts I got are a tad longer than Kim's, more like bermuda shorts. I can't wait to try them out for long runs! Hopefully they'll stay in place and not chafe, as promised on the label. I also bought a skort in the same brand that is pink and has pleats in the front. It's a little girly but I figured why not? The shorts underneath are a little different than the plain shorts but hopefully they won't chafe either and I'll love them as well.
Of course, as soon as I came home with my new shorts, I found old long run shorts and the sports bra that has been MIA for a few months now. I still had a box of random stuff in my closet from the move where they were sitting right on top, hidden in plain view.
Joey and I accomplished so much this weekend. We got new (to us) living room furniture last weekend and it was all just sitting in the living room with the futon that had been used as the couch. It was very cluttered and Delilah had to walk through a furniture maze to get to her crate. We moved the futon upstairs and organized the rest of the furniture. Now it looks way less cluttered and like a real living room. Photos soon! I love my new furniture (purchased from Joey's sister).
We also cleaned almost the entire house yesterday. We got a ton of stuff done. We've been having a bit of an ant problem in the kitchen and we made sure everything was spotless before bed last night and we finally didn't accidentally leave something out for the ants to get. We bought more ant baits and set them out yesterday and we sprayed a vinegar and water mixture (I read that it would mask the chemical trail that ants leave for other ants to follow). I think it will take a few more days of diligent cleaning but we'll get there (I hope).

MCM training: 10 miler

2011-07-31T19:51:00.000-04:00

This weekend I planned to run 10 miles. This was my first double digit run of marathon training!
I woke up at 7:30 on Saturday morning and was out the door at 8. I had no real plan in mind of where to run up until I was headed out the door. The trail that leads to the park by my house was closed down for construction so I wasn't sure where to run. My legs were a bit tired from running 2 of my 3 weekday runs from home where it much hillier than DC. I decided if I ran a ways down on the road that I might be able to catch the path at the other end and still be able to run into the park.
I had a camelbak full of water and a package of lemon-lime shock bloks and I was on my way. I ran away from the path first to try to make sure I would get the full mileage in. I started out pretty slow and looped around until I was at the start of the path. I knew from the start of the path that it was about a mile and a half back to my house so I measured it from there where I needed to turn around to get in 10 miles.
Once I got to the trail that leads to the park, there was a sign saying the trail was closed. I ran on it anyway (and walked down a rocky section and ate half the package of shock bloks. I wasn't wearing my glasses and didn't want to fall on the rocky section) and asked a guy if the path was open to the park. He said it was so I was on my way up the hill to the park. This run was also hilly. I don't think I can do a run anywhere near my house that doesn't include rolling hills.
I had my sights on getting to the bathhouse so I could refill my camelbak (it was HOT). It turned out that was the exact distance I needed to make it back to my house with 10 miles! Score! I took about a 2 minute break and headed back. I was feeling pretty good at this point. Once I had 1.5 miles left, I began to pick up the pace. I think I was so anxious to get back to the house that I found energy I didn't know I had. After 10 miles, I felt like I could have kept going but was so glad to be done for the day.
I then rinsed off in the shower and waited for Joey's sister to bring me furniture for my living room. It's so nice and it matches my decor perfectly. I'll share pictures soon.
Once that was taken care of, I went out to cut the grass and get my second workout of the day, all before noon. I was spent! I took a shower and ate some lunch. Then Joey and I watched a little tv and I took a nap around 5 that lasted until 8! Oops!
Marathon training is going so well for me and I hope it continues! I've really been enjoying it so far.

Random Ramblings

2011-07-28T10:16:00.000-04:00

I've had a lot of little things I've wanted to blog but then I forget so I'm going to cram them all into one post.

1. A week or so ago I got my hair cut and highlighted (trying to blend in my roots and the gray hair!).

2. Back in mid-June, my neighbor was leaving when I got home from work one day with his daughter. She very excitedly said "Did you know you have a snake friend in your yard?". While I didn't share her enthusiasm, I'm not overly scared of snakes, especially if they are not poisonous, so I just told her that no, I had not seen my 'snake friend'. We kept our eye out for him though and sure enough, he was hanging out in the flower bed directly in front of my house. Joey attempted a few times to get him away from the house but he would always get away (he hid under the cement slab by the spigot but we weren't willing to move it). When we got back from the beach back in late June, I was telling my friend about the snake and sure enough, it was out in the flower bed. It had shed a layer of skin and it was now evident it was a garter snake.
I told Joey and he grabbed the stick he had used in the past to try to pick him up to take him back by the lake. Success!

He was an angry snake and Joey had to walk it down a steep hill to get it to the lake but he hasn't been back. No bites!

3. I went berry picking with Megan on Tuesday after work.We picked the most incredible blackberries I've ever had. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever had blackberries before and I wasn't sure if I really liked them but WOW these might now be my most favorite berry.

I inverted my lens to make it into a macro lens. Never done this before but it was pretty cool. Very zoomed in!

We also picked blueberries with the little time we had left. They are delicious too.

4. My blisters are all getting better. Yesterday I ran without a blister bandaid thing for the first time since I posted about them. I put some body glide between my toes and ran 3 miles. It seemed to do the trick. I have 5 miles on the schedule for today so I'm going to body glide again and see how it goes.

I heart veggies

2011-07-24T17:05:00.001-04:00

Earlier this year, probably before I even moved into my new house, I purchased a deal online for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). It was one of those website dealies where you get huge discounts on a good or service. Anyway, I thought this one would be a really good idea, especially once I was all moved into my house. I love to cook and I love fresh produce.
I grew up having a good sized garden in my backyard. My mom is a master gardener having grown up on a small farm. My favorite are her homegrown tomatoes. They taste amazing! It makes me sad that most of my time living at home I did not appreciate how delicious they were.
Anyway, I kind of procrastinated. The deal was set to end on August 1st. It was good for 3 CSA shares and a farm tour. It also paid for the annual membership fee. I finally got my act together and signed up for the CSA this past Wednesday. It was just in time because they send out their email to reserve your share on Wednesday evenings.
It is the perfect farm because Joey drives right by it on his way home from work! I set up the pick-up and print the receipt and he stops by on his way home to pick up the goods. Easy peasy.
The only issue was that I was required to use up all 3 shares by August 1st but I'm under the impression that you can only get one share per week. Turns out I wasn't the only one who procrastinated so they decided to offer up another option! Now I can purchase more shares at a reduced cost and extend the expiration date of the deal! Score!
Joey picked up our first share on Friday after work and said it was really cool. He told me I have to go with him next time to check it out for myself. I already can't wait for the farm tour.
This weeks load included 1 green bell pepper, one yellow onion, two zucchini,one large cucumber, 2 kohlrabi (I had never seen these before but look forward to trying them! Any ideas on what to do with them?), 1 cubanelle pepper, 4 ears of corn, some green beans (not pictures), and one small eggplant.

I left work early on Friday and met up with two girlfriends for a late lunch so I wasn't starving when I got home. Joey made his own dinner and I just wanted something quick and to use some veggies. I boiled an ear of corn and then cut up a yellow squash I already had and some green beans. I put the squash and beans into some olive oil I had heating up on the stove. I then seasoned them with salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, and a 21 seasoning mix that I bought at Trader Joe's. It turned out delicious! The corn was amazing!

Yesterday after my long run, we decided to use up the eggplant. I am not usually a fan of eggplant and Joey had never really eaten it but knew a lot of people who don't like it. So we were skeptical.
My idea was to make pizzas with it. I have seen online that people grill it and then put pizza sauce and cheese on top and it always looks delicious. Joey had the bright idea of making it a mexican pizza since we had left over mexican cheese and salsa. It was a fantastic idea. We put some olive oil, salt, and pepper onto the sliced eggplant and then put it on the grill until it was cooked. Then sprinkled the mexican cheese and added salsa. It was kinda like eating nachos with eggplant instead of chips. Surprisingly good.
It looks like I'll be enjoying veggies from this farm for the next few weeks. I have two more shares from the deal I bought and I intend to buy 3 more shares. Hooray for eating local, delicious produce!

9 miles

2011-07-23T16:02:00.000-04:00

Last night I was trying to decide when I should do my long run this weekend. As you may have heard, the DC area is having a heat wave, along with a lot of the rest of the country. Thursday and Friday both were in the upper 90s low 100s with a heat index around 115. It's HOT you guys.
This morning I slept in until 9am and then told Joey that I had a few ideas of how I could get in the 9 miles on my schedule. The first option was to run all 9 miles on the treadmill at his apartment gym (he doesn't officially lose his apartment until the end of next week). The second was to run the 3 miles to the gym, run 3 miles on the treadmill, and run the 3 miles home (or run 6 miles on the treadmill and make Joey come pick me up when I was done). The third option was to wake up at 6am on Sunday and run when it was slightly cooler.
At 11am I decided that I wanted to do the 2nd option. So I quickly got ready with my camelbak, some shot bloks, my phone, id, and a few bucks. I headed out for the 3 mile trip to the gym. It was hot but it wasn't unbearable as I thought it would be. The first mile and a half was on a road lined with trees so there was a little bit of shade. The second mile and a half was out in the sun and it was a bit hotter but I knew I only had a bit left before I was in the air conditioned gym. I sipped from my camelbak as I ran.
Once I got to the gym, I headed straight to the drink machine. I got a powerade and then headed to the treadmill. After drinking a bit of powerade (which I've never drank on a run before), I ran my three miles while watching people swim in the outdoor pool. After each mile, I would stop for a second to drink more powerade. The three miles went by pretty quickly. Then I headed out for my run home. I really didn't feel like making Joey come get me and I was losing interest in the treadmill.
The run back wasn't too bad. It was a bit hazy/overcast so the sun wasn't as intense as I had feared. I even had some energy as I ran. I did not end up eating any shot bloks since I had the powerade. I made it home and was very pleased with my run today.
I think it helped to break the run up into three pieces. I was mentally prepared for each section and nailed them all. I ran my 6 outside miles with an average pace of 10:16 (including the few stops I had to make to cross streets and exit ramps) and my 3 treadmill miles were around 9:30 pace. I tried to run slower on the treadmill but I kept running into the front and decided to just go with what felt comfortable.
Overall the run felt really good and I think it was nice to have the 3 miles inside to recharge with the a/c.

Five Year Dogiversary

2011-07-22T08:25:00.000-04:00

Five years ago today, I went to pick up my very first puppy! I mean, I had puppies and dogs growing up, but this time it was going to be a dog of my very own. It was a little scary and a lot exciting!

The first picture I took of Delilah! She was SO little!

My mom, A, and I were at my sister-in-law's bridal shower and I can remember leaving from there and driving the 3 hours to pick up this precious little pup. Luckily when I arrived, they still had one pup left! I had called and told them I wanted one but I'm not sure they would have actually saved her for me. They had two puppies when I got there but they said they were keeping one and I could have the other. At least I didn't have to decide which puppy to take home. I think it was meant to be!

Delilah with her "uncle" Dakota.

We have had an amazing five years together and I really couldn't have asked for a better dog. She gets in trouble occasionally but she listens really well most of the time. She's very food motivated though so if whatever she is doing that is bad involves food then all bets are off that she'll listen to me. On the other hand, if I have food in my hand for her, she'll do almost anything I ask.
I couldn't decide which pictures to post, so I'm just going to throw a bunch up. There is no such thing as too many puppy pictures, right?

I think she was about 5 months old here.

She wanted that pear so bad! Just wasn't tall enough and hadn't figured out how to jump yet.

Running!!

Sleepy dog or how she spends 90% of her day now.

Playing Twister with Joey

The day after I picked her up, we took her out on the boat. I hope she didn't suffer from shaking puppy syndrome!

Heres to many more happy years together!

Blisters suck

2011-07-20T21:07:00.000-04:00

Over the 4th of July weekend, I did laundry like any other weekend, including my running gear for the week. I packed up my gym bag with clothes for the week and went to work that Tuesday. When I headed down to the locker room at lunch, I came to the realization that I had forgotten to pack socks! What was I thinking?
I really needed to get a run in though so I decided to run without socks. Not the smartest thing I've ever done but I remember doing it once before with no consequences.
That other time was surely with a different pair of shoes and I can't even recall what the weather was like. Anyway, it was hot and humid the day I ran without socks and I ended up going 5 miles. It wasn't until about halfway through the run that I realized that I was getting blisters and there wasn't much I could do about it. I was 2.5 miles away from work and it would take too long to walk back so I sucked it up and just ran. With about a mile left to go, I thought I had a rock on top of the tongue of my shoe but nope, it was rubbing my foot and causing yet another blister.
It ended up not being so bad overall though and none of the blisters have kept me from running. The biggest one I had was on the arch of my right foot. Then I had the small one where the tongue rubbed my right foot. My left foot seemed ok until the next day when I had a small sore spot on my little toe and it limited the shoes I could wear comfortably to work.
Since then, I have worn socks and been mostly ok. The blister on my right arch started out looking kind of like a liquid-gel pill but when I ran on it with socks, it got squished out flat into a quarter shaped blister. It did not pop and I have yet to pop it. I'm letting it take its time to heal so it doesn't hurt.
Last Tuesday, I noticed another issue but I'm not sure if it was related to the no socks incident. I ran 5 1/3 miles at lunch last Tuesday and I could feel my big toe on my left foot rubbing against the toe next to it. I had just talked with Kim about toe blisters. She tends to get blisters on the end of her second toe because it is longer than her big toe. This is not the case with me but I am not getting a blister on the inside of my littler toe. Not cool. It wasn't so bad after Tuesdays run so I did nothing. Then I ran 8.5 miles on Saturday and it got aggravated. It didn't bother me for 7.25 miles, but when I got back to my house and ran another 1.25 it seemed to hurt immediately.
This time I wasn't so lucky and the blister was taught and annoying even while walking. I ended up having to pop it. It didn't hurt right away, but by Monday it was sore. I put a band-aid on it and still managed to run Monday evening and Tuesday at lunch (3.5 and 5 miles respectively). I happened to be at Target yesterday and decided to look for moleskin or something to help it feel better while running but had no luck. I did manage to get a box of band-aids (for some reason I didn't own any!) and then I saw a product I've never heard of. I picked up a box of band-aid advanced healing for fingers and toes bandages. They have cushioning so my big toe doesn't irritate the blister. I put on one this morning and so far so good. I'm going to run with it on tomorrow to see how it goes.

Fancy, shiny box.

Please disregard how awful my nails look. The bandage works great and I barely know its there.

8.5 glorious miles

2011-07-17T21:23:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, I really needed to get in my first real long run of marathon training. I have done a couple 6.5 - 7.5 mile runs in the past few weeks to get ready but I had 8 on the agenda for this weekend.
I was checking Twitter while at work on Friday and I saw that a blog friend, whom I had never met, was looking for new running buddies. See, Megan, from Meganerdruns just moved from Florida to Maryland and doesn't know a ton of people up here yet. I told her I was planning to do 8 on Saturday and she was game.
We met in Damascus because she was planning to do some berry picking at a farm not far from there after the run.
Megan had planned to do 7 miles so we set off on a beautiful trail. It was mostly flat with some decent hills mixed in. We ran out and then turned around and headed back to where we parked. On our way back, Megan saw a deer right next to the trail and she jumped about 3 feet in the air! I guess there aren't deer in Florida. It was amusing and we stopped briefly for her to take a picture. Then we continued on. She was a little worried that we were lost when the trail didn't go exactly where I had thought it did. We ended up running the last quarter mile or so along the road, which kinda sucked, but we managed.
It was a beautiful day for a run and the time flew by.
I said my goodbyes to Megan and then headed back home. I had planned to do 8 miles though and only had banked 7.25 miles on the day. I decided on my drive home that I would do another mile or so when I get home. As soon as I got home, I ran 1.25 miles to make it 8.5 for the day. I have no idea if that will help me in my training (anyone know?) but I sure was glad to get in the distance I needed.
One weird thing was that I drove home with the windows down and with the low humidity, my sweat dried and I was cooled down by the time I got home. I began running again and I was worried that I was dehydrated even though I ran with my camelbak on. I didn't seem to be sweating and my skin felt cool with the air hitting me as I ran. So weird. I realized that I just wasn't warmed back up right away because within 10 minutes, I was sweating again and no longer worried. I spent the rest of the day hydrating though, just in case.

Pictures and questions answered

2011-07-12T09:12:00.057-04:00

I finally got around to uploading some photos from both of my cameras. I wanted to share some photos from recent activities and also answer a few reader questions.
First things first, I have had several people ask me what half marathon I registered for. It's called the Parks Half Marathon in Maryland. It's a great race and very scenic. I just hope the weather cooperates since it's on Sept. 11th. It's kind of a crap shoot.
The other question I got was from ajh. She wanted to know why I made 6 regular sized cupcakes. Very good question with a very logical answer. I made the cake mix and it said it would make 24 regular sized cupcakes. I decided I wanted to do the mini ones because they would be more enticing for anyone who didn't want to commit to a regular sized one. So I was scooping batter with a tablespoon and I made three trays equaling 72 mini cupcakes... I was tired of doing the tiny cupcakes and I still had a lot of batter left. It was one tablespoon of batter per cupcake. I decided to just use the rest to make regular sized cupcakes. I ended up making 6 and each one was 4 table spoons of batter. I would have been able to make 24 more mini cupcakes with that much batter and I was just exhausted by that point and gave up. It turned out to be a good thing though because my friend's boyfriend was thrilled that there were regular sized cupcakes. I think he ate 4 of them.

1 of 72 mini cupcakes. Yum

Kim wanted to know how the meeting of the parents went. I think it went well. :) I figured it would.

Now, on to some recent happenings.
On July 2nd, my old roomie, A, and I decided we wanted to go to a winefest. I met up with a friend of ours and A and her boyfriend met us out there for some fun in the sun. We got wine glasses, wine tasting, and an outdoor concert. They also had wine for sale for consumption at the event and to take home. We packed some snacks and sat and enjoyed the entertainment and had some tasty wine.

At the housewarming party, I should have taken more photos. However, this photo was priceless of my soon-to-be nephew. Apparently a dog crate is a big hit with the kids. Rest assured he put himself in there and shut the door.

Note the awesome crate topper that my dad made! Now it's also an end table.

And last but certainly not least, a few photos from my niece's first birthday party!

She's apparently been walking for over a month already.

Beautiful little birthday girl

My 3 yr old niece hamming it up

burgers and dogs

My dad, the grill master

Acting like we like each other.

Busy, busy, busy

2011-07-11T14:53:00.000-04:00

This weekend was quite chaotic but oh so rewarding.

On Friday, I rushed home from work (well as quickly as I could will the train to go!) and got to work getting my house ready for my housewarming party scheduled for Saturday afternoon. First things first, I had a lot of cleaning to do and menu planning/cooking. In the middle of this madness, Joey was moving his stuff in! Talk about down to the wire! I mentioned a month or so ago how nice it would be if he was moved in by the housewarming party so that we would have actual furniture in the living room. Up until this weekend, we only had a dog crate and an empty bookshelf.

My friend Lisa had some over so I ran through my menu with her and then we ran to the store to pick up the essential items. Once back at the house, we were cleaning and helping Joey with boxes. He decided not to move his furniture because it was raining and we were going to get that on Saturday morning. Did I mention that the party was at 2pm? Down to the wire!

I had a nice and easy menu of my famous guacamole w/ tortilla chips, veggies w/ hummus, sandwiches from Jersey Mikes (SO DELICIOUS!), mini chocolate cupcakes (trader joe's mix) with whipped cream cheese frosting, and chocolate chip cookies. I also made iced tea and bought an assortment of sodas. We also had some guests bring dishes and beer and wine. Joey's sister's boyfriend made this amazing trifle with layers of homemade whipped cream, butterfingers, oreos, and vanilla pudding. It was a hit and the 4.5 quart container was empty when they left.

Friday also marked the day that my old roomie, A, closed on her new house!! She was excited (as she should be) and invited us over for a tour and pizza. We took a well-needed break for about an hour. So fun to share in her new house.

Anyway, everything with the party went down without a hitch. Joey got all his stuff moved in and helped me clean and organize everything. I made 72 mini and 6 regular sized cupcakes on Friday night and then iced them all first thing Saturday morning. I loved the mini cupcakes because they were practically bite-sized. I also went around and cleaned all 4 bathrooms. My parents arrived at 10:30 and I put them to work walking Delilah and helping to wipe down the table and chairs on the deck from Friday's rain.

Once everything was clean, including me, I started making my famous guacamole. My mom asked if she could help but I didn't really need much help at that point. She washed the cilantro for me and a few other random things. Otherwise, her and my dad just watched me make it and they were impressed. My dad said I looked like a little chef and they both asked questions the entire time I was making it. I felt like I was on a cooking show because I was chopping things and throwing it all together while answering their questions. Kinda like in Molto Mario where he cooks for his friends and they ask questions as he goes along. It was actually quite fun. Once I was finished, I let mom and I taste it to make sure it was seasoned correctly. She really liked it. Then I tried to get my dad, the pickiest eater ever, to try some. He didn't like that it had avoados and greek yogurt in it. He also didn't like that it was green. I did make him try a bit on a chip and he actually said it tasted good but probably wouldn't eat anymore of it. Fair enough. At least he tried it! He never tries new things.

I ran out to Jersey Mikes with my mom to pick up the sandwiches (which were a huge hit) and by 2pm had most of the food set up on the table. Slowly, guests started making their way in. I think I had about 24 people show up, which I thought was a pretty good turn out. Mostly it was family and friends from work. A few other friends couldn't make it due to other obligations. I got to show everyone the house and catch up with some old friends. My parents also met Joey's family for the first time - I know, strange but true. We also got some very nice, thoughtful gifts.

Most people had left by 6pm but Joey's sister and her boyfriend stayed until around 9. We passed the time by playing rockband and watching Netflix shows (we still don't have cable). It was a lovely day. I should also mention that the whole thing was made possible by my awesome realtor who paid for all the food and helped me buy the house in the first place.

Sunday morning saw us going to church and then heading up to my hometown for my niece's 1st birthday party! Her birthday is on tomorrow and they wanted to have her party at the same park where my other niece had her 1st party. It was good family time and we enjoyed some nice hot dogs and hamburgers thanks to my dad. We got stuck in some traffic on the drive home but overall wasn't too bad. It's about 2 hours on a good day and I think it took us 2.5 yesterday evening. I was spent by the time we got home.

I did not want to wake up for work this morning but I pressed on and got to work at my regular time.

This just in...

2011-07-06T15:03:00.000-04:00

I have registered for my 2nd half marathon!!!

I am doing the exact same one I did last year. It was affordable, very organized, beautiful course, great race shirt (Brooks), tasty finish line food, and not too far from my house. Hopefully the weather will be nice and cool on September 11!! And I remember to take my bib and chip to the race this time.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and enjoyed the holiday (if in the US or Canada). I have a few things to report on from the weekend but I don't have time to post right now. I have some pictures I need to upload too. I am having my housewarming party this Saturday so I've been trying to get ready for that on top of everything else. Fun times over here.

Sweat your thorns off 5k

2011-06-25T09:36:00.000-04:00

I decided, for the first time ever, to participate in a virtual race, the Sweat Your Thorns Off 5k hosted by the Boring Runner. I really wanted the motivation to get out and run this morning and now that I have a Garmin, I figured, why not?

Lets start from the beginning...

I spent the night before (my 30th birthday!!) carb-loading.

Joey making me my special birthday dinner.

Delicious homemade sauce!

Amazing mozzarella filled meatballs!!

I also had a little of this for dessert.

Fresh picked strawberries and blueberries with biscuits and homemade whipped cream. YUM

Also, I had some unpictured beer. A perfect birthday evening for sure. We also did some fishing. It was a gorgeous night.

I woke up at 8am to try to squeeze in my race before we head to the beach this afternoon (I still haven't packed a thing). After taking Delilah out and drinking some water, I was out the door.
I had the course all planned out. A few weeks ago I ran a loop that I walked Delilah on once to measure the distance. I realized it was exactly 1.55 miles long! Perfect for doing a 5k!

Before the race, in front of my house.

My goal for the race was to finish under 30 minutes. I haven't been running terribly fast so I wasn't sure what I would be able to run, especially after having delicious meatballs and beer the night before.
I ran the first mile in 9:01 (although the garmin map of the first lap does not exactly match the second at the beginning... interesting). The run was very scenic and half of the course is right along the lake with rolling hills.

Heading onto the lake trail.

The lake is just through those trees.

I ran the second mile in 9:16 but I made a quick stop for some water at my house and to tie my shoe. The beginning of the 2nd mile goes right by a community pool that was having a kids swim meet. I pretended that the cheering was for me.
The third mile I was beginning to be worried that I wouldn't be able to maintain a good pace. I think that caused me to actually run faster because I was so concerned I was going to slow down. My third mile was an 8:28!
The little 0.1 was run at a 9:10 pace but there was a good hill to run up during that chunk of the race.
My final time was 27:41.

Pros of this race:

It was super convenient because the start was my front door
The course was very scenic
I got to choose the start time
I was home as soon as I completed the race
I came in first! ]
It was free

Cons of this race:

I was the only runner (missed the social aspect of a race)
It wasn't chip timed so I had to rely on my Garmin
There were no after race snacks
No spectators

All in all, this was a good race. I had fun and met all of my goals!

If I had thorns, I certainly sweated them off during this race.
Thanks Adam for hosting this race!

30!

2011-06-24T07:19:00.025-04:00

Today is my 30th birthday!

Camping for my 26th Birthday... tattoo tongue.

No idea which birthday this was... 26? 27? 28? Who knows. You can tell I ran that day though #redface.

Anyway, I'm actually very excited to be turning 30! No sad face here. I'm also excited to jump up into a new running age group. Not sure if it'll be any easier to win age group awards, but my speedy coworker will no longer be my competitor (for another 3 years!).

Interesting fact: My brother and I share the same birthday! He was born 2 years before me... I'm sure I was his favorite birthday present ever. He will be 32 this year and has a wife, a house, and two beautiful little girls to show for it.

I've had quite the year too. Where to begin...
Since my last birthday, I have

run my first half marathon.
placed 3rd overall in a 5k race!
started running with a Garmin.
bought a house!
gotten engaged!
registered for my first marathon

What a year! Definitely one for the record books. I can't wait to see what this next year has in store for me.

To celebrate, Joey is making me homemade spaghetti and meatballs tomorrow evening. I can't wait! Then Saturday morning we will be leaving to spend a few days at the beach. We are meeting my parents, brother, SIL, and nieces on Saturday evening for dinner to celebrate our birthdays and the rest of the time will be spent with Joey's family. Joey has told me that he plans to take me out to a nice dinner while we are down at the beach. I can't wait. This whole trip was actually just a coincidence that it fell right on my birthday weekend. Sounds good to me. :)
If I'm MIA next weekend/early next week, that's why. Have a great weekend everyone!

An actual running update

2011-06-20T14:39:00.000-04:00

I thought it was about time that I updated you on my running life. I've been steadily hanging onto my running fitness over the past few months but haven't really had any races scheduled. I may pick up a race or two this summer but highly unlikely since I despise running in the heat.
Despite my hatred of running in the heat and humidity, I still mainly do my runs during lunch, as the day is heating up to it's worst temps! I combat this by wearing my camelbak on super hot and humid days and trying to supplement these runs with morning runs at home on the weekends. These weekend runs have not been happening yet for me. I always have such grand ideas to get runs in and then they don't happen... but that is about to change as I begin marathon training!
I've been maintaining a base of about 15 miles per week pretty consistently from April until the present. Most of my runs are around 5 miles each so I've been managing about 3 runs per week. Last week my runs were a little different since I ran to National's Park to buy tickets to the Saturday game (we ended up with 4.5 miles) and went with some coworkers to run an errand or two later in the week (about 3.75 miles). Then I worked from home last Thursday and was determined to do at least 6 miles. I began with a plan in mind to do an out and back. I knew I could run on the lake trail and end up in the park on the new trail and eventually make it to a water fountain. I had no idea how far this would end up being. Luckily, it was 3.2 miles and once I was back home, I did a quick out and back to make the run exactly 6.5 miles - my longest run in a long time. Now its time to begin training for Marine Corps! I just need to work out all the details (I've been putting this off for as long as possible).
Today I decided that I wanted to run a hill workout. I got 3 of my coworkers to commit to the idea and we headed over to Capitol hill and did 5 hill repeats. Each hill run is about .2 miles long. Once we were finished our hill sprints, we circled back around the Capitol and headed back to the office. A pretty good workout for sure. My legs will likely be sore tomorrow, I can feel the tightness right now! Can't wait to get home and foam roll!!

Parents weekend

2011-06-19T16:23:00.000-04:00

This weekend, my parents came down and stayed over night for the first time ever. Up until recently, I've been renting apartments with roommates and my parents only live 2 hours away, so all the trips they made to visit me were just day trips. Now that I have a house, and some furniture, my parents decided to come down for the weekend.
It was very fitting since this weekend was father's day! I ran (literally) to National's Park on Monday to pick up tickets for us to go to the National's vs. Orioles game in DC on Saturday. My parents arrived Saturday morning and we headed into the city. Dad drove and I navigated down to my coworkers apartment in downtown to pick up some furniture before we crossed town to south east to the stadium. Some of the roads we wanted to turn onto were blocked off so it took us a bit longer than expected but we got there in decent amount of time. We missed a few minutes of the game but found our seats just in time to watch the Nat's hit a homerun. It was pretty hot but at least it didn't storm and there was a bit of a breeze every now and then. The Nationals won (my Dad is a Nats fan so yay)!

After the game, we didn't get lost and we found our way home without any incident (always a good day if you can get to and from DC without getting lost). Joey was waiting for us when we got home (he had to work earlier and couldn't make it to the game with us).
We headed out to get fishing poles and licenses. I haven't gone fishing in 15 years! Once we got our gear, we headed home and put everything together while we waited for the pizza we ordered. Then we had dinner and headed out back to the lake for some fishing fun. I wasn't overly excited about putting worms on the hook but I did manage to do it a few times. It took me a few minutes to remember how to cast but once I got the hang of it I did alright. In fact, I caught a blue gill! I was the first to catch a fish and I was pretty excited about it. Then a few minutes later, my Mom had to out-do me and catch a bass! It was a pretty good sized fish. Then she caught a small bass right after that. Then we ran out of worms and called it a night. We only catch and release but its pretty fun. (I have a picture of my fish on my phone but its not letting me upload it right now so I can't share the photo).
This morning we woke up bright and early and had coffee and cinnamon muffins on the deck, took the dog for a walk, then headed out to pick blueberries and strawberries. I live fairly close to an awesome orchard where you can pick your own and buy them for a good price. So fresh and delicious. We ended up with about 11 pounds of blueberries and 2 quarts of strawberries (it's the end of strawberry season).

Once we were finished with the berries, we headed to Trader Joe's. My parents have never been to one and I've shared some coffee and other treats with them before so they wanted to check it out for themselves. My Dad is a very picky eater but my Mom likes more of a variety. They didn't buy too much but they had a good time checking out all the cool stuff they have.
We headed back to my place and then they were on their way. We had a great weekend. I'm so tired now. I feel like we spent the whole weekend out in the sunshine.

Around the house

2011-06-12T17:05:00.000-04:00

My house is really starting to come together. I definitely still have a long way to go, but let me show you some of the things we have done so far.

We have a grill on our deck! We grilled up some delicious steaks the other night for dinner. Yum.

We also have a planter with fresh herbs growing. I plan meals around using these delicious herbs.

Here is a photo of our patio furniture. Nothing fancy but it fits nicely on the deck and it was inexpensive. At some point in the future we might upgrade to something nicer. Also pictured is a solar lantern. It is a garden light so it's more decorative than anything and it glows green at night.f

I bought this dog bed for Delilah last summer before we went camping. It isn't the most convenient camping bed because it doesn't fold up and it doesn't fit into my truck unless we take it apart. Joey put it together and set it on the deck this morning. I think it will quickly become a favorite spot for Delilah. She loves to sun herself on the deck, even when it's 100 degrees and sunny!

Next is our fancy service bell. Joey joked that we needed one on the ledge between the kitchen and dining room so Lisa got us this awesome brass one. I ding it at least once a day. It's fun.

Yesterday, I took a trip to the outlets and to try to score curtain panels for the basement doors. My basement is finished and it has a very nice door but we wanted black out curtains so people could sleep down there and we could watch movies in the dark. I don't have a picture of the curtains yet but I do love them. While we were at Kohl's, I found these lovely throw pillows. They are pretty but they are also soft so you can use them comfortably.

We also finally hung some art that I bought at Kohl's a while back. I love it and I'm impressed that I have somewhat of a color scheme going on in my basement. I'm not very good at decorating but I'm pleased with what I've done so far.

Hope you enjoyed a glimpse into how my house is shaping up.

Sleeping on the ground

2011-06-09T20:45:00.000-04:00

My friends and I went camping this weekend and had such a great time. We headed up to my favorite lake to my Mom's campsite that she owns with her brother and sister. I've been going to this spot on the lake since I was born and it's beautiful and awesome. The lake has gotten more populated and more and more DC folks own homes and take weekend trips up to it so it's much different than when I grew up, but our campsite is still relatively primitive and there aren't any houses nearby. We just have the few trailers that have been there for at least my whole life and nobody lives in them anymore. It's a great place to camp.

My two best girl friends and I headed up early on Friday morning with Delilah. We had the day off so we decided to take care of all the food and go set up camp so the boys could meet us later after they got off work. Delilah ended up staying at my parents house that night because we weren't able to fit her in the car after we did our last minute shopping trip.

Delilah did enjoy sleeping on the console on the drive up though.
The weekend was excellent weather, it got down to the 40s on Friday night and was a bit chilly, but otherwise it was in the 70s and perfect. We even swam in the lake a few times and it was so warm. I guess the heat wave over Memorial day weekend really heated things up. We did our traditional swim across the lake on our first day there.
We also saw a bald eagle.

On Saturday, my parents came up to meet us in the boat and they brought Delilah along. We went over to a local bar to check out a band and sat on the lawn for a while. They had these giant chairs for us to climb on.

Oh, and as soon as we got to the campsite, we saw some fawns! Poor Lisa almost ran over one because it didn't move until the last second! We saw a second one laying by a tree behind us and we headed up to take its photo.

Fun times.
We had a fantastic time and only got rained on once the whole weekend. Joey, Delilah, and I stayed mostly dry (aside from the drips hitting me in the face) but poor Lisa had a wet sleeping bag and got her pants wet too. At least it was our last night camping and she was able to finish sleeping in her car.
I absolutely love camping and I love the lake. I am not sure we'll make it up there again this year but I look forward to more camping in our future.

I survived

2011-06-08T21:48:00.000-04:00

Today was the day of my first presentation at work. I was a little nervous but it ended up being ok (it always does, doesn't it?).

So I mentioned that I had a presentation in my last post but what I failed to mention is that I thought my presentation was on Thursday! I was told about this presentation at the very end of May and was told that it was scheduled for June 8th. I checked my calendar and for some reason thought it was on a Thursday. I reviewed the slides for my presentation and got a little work done on everything last week but didn't start really focusing on it until this past Thursday (because I had other stuff going on at work to keep me busy). I was off on Friday for my camping trip and my boss told me he wanted my presentation complete by Monday, close of business. I worked hard and had intentions to meet up with my boss and co-speaking coworker on Tuesday morning to do a practice round. It was then, at 9:30 on Tuesday morning that I realized that my presentation was really scheduled for Wednesday, June 8th and that it was the VERY NEXT DAY. After my practice round I realized that I needed to take more detailed notes about what I wanted to say about each slide.
For the first time in approximately ever, I took my work home with me last night. I printed my slides and studied and took more notes on the train ride home. Then I reviewed my notes and gave a sample presentation to Joey and Delilah (they were riveted, I swear).
I went in bright and early this morning and I felt pretty good about everything. I met up with my boss and coworker just before 8am and we did a quick run-through to make sure we were ready. I was so thankful for my boss' support and confidence in us.
We headed down to the conference room and presented everything. I felt so confident and even fielded questions from the participants. I dare say that I actually enjoyed myself a little.

Happenings

2011-06-02T18:54:00.000-04:00

Life has been extra busy these days. Memorial Day weekend was spent having a good time, relaxing, getting things done around the new place and hanging out with friends. A lot of other stuff has been going on lately and here are some bullets because I don't feel like putting my thoughts together today.

It is HOT here. Today is the coolest its been in over a week and it was 85 today. I've been running in it (and at lunchtime too, I'm so smart) and I finally broke out the camelbak this week. I have also been feeling slow but not sure if that's heat related or not.
I finally bought a foam roller. I've been reading about this thing on nearly every running blog but had no idea what I was looking for or what any of the colors/sizes meant. After emailing with Kim, I ended up with this one.
I got the foam roller because my calves have been tight ever since I fell and sprained my finger in that trail race on April 30th. I sprained my right finger and the tightness is mostly in my right calf so maybe it's correlated. It's loosening up now and the foam roller is likely helping.
I also bought a new camera lens to go along with my foam roller. It takes awesome pictures.
Work has been crazy busy and its only about to get worse. I even have a presentation next week (!). I am not a good public speaker so I'm a little nervous but I'm trying to suck it up and just go with it. This is my first work presentation ever.
Delilah turned 5 last week! I can't believe she is that old. Seriously, where does the time go?
Speaking of birthdays, my best friend and former roomie just turned 30 (!) last week and I turn 30 (!) in 22 short days. We are celebrating our birthdays with a camping trip this weekend. We head up tomorrow morning to my family's camping site on the lake. CAN'T WAIT.
I have been engaged for just over 2 months now and we have not yet set a date. We are hoping to get married either this fall or next spring but we'll work those details out eventually.
My internet connection is driving me bonkers. I tried to hook up my new wireless router that I bought from Amazon and in the process of making that happen I effed up the modem connection. I couldn't get the router to work so I tried to revert back to the old one and then nothing worked. Eventually I was able to get the modem to work if I hardwired it to my laptop... but I still can't make either of the routers work.
This whole thing caused issues this morning when I tried to work from home. I hardwired my work laptop and it would not connect!! So frustrating. I went to a coffee shop to use their wi fi but I still couldn't connect. I tried 3 different shops to no avail. I came back home and called tech support at my work and they couldn't fix it. Then I called the stupid cable company and they were able to fix it. Something about the IP Address and not receiving a signal even though it was wired to the modem. The guy sent a new signal and then it worked fine. Then my personal laptop wouldn't work after I finished working but all I had to do was restart the modem. I hate internet connections and the companies that provide them.
I bought patio furniture the other day! Exciting stuff around here I tell you.

That's all I have for now. Hope everything is going well for you. In the mean time, enjoy some pictures I took with my new lens!

A night at the races

2011-05-29T09:29:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone. Hope you're enjoying the 3-day weekend (if you're in the states). We've had gorgeous weather here.
Yesterday evening, the girls and I headed out to West Virginia to hit up the races! I know not everyone agrees with horse racing, but we always enjoy a day at the track and we always watch the triple crown races and sometimes even bet on them. We are not big gamblers, we mostly do it for entertainment purposes and just do $2 bets, sometimes a bit more.
I started the evening with a $20 voucher and my main goal was to not lose all of my money. I was even hopeful that I would leave the track with more than I started with but I know that doesn't always work for me, especially since I place such small bets.
Before each race, we would review a list of the horses names, ages, and jockey that my friend A printed before we left. I didn't want anymore information than that because I find that the less I know about a horse the better. I wanted to choose my horses based on name and looks and nothing else. Once I was set on a horse, I would then check out their odds up on the big board.

Once we all were decided on our horse(s) we headed back inside to place our bets. They have nifty machines where you can just insert your voucher and then use a touch screen to place your bet. Easy peasy. Then we would head outside and stand on the rail to watch the race. Yesterday it was pretty crowded since it was a Saturday evening, so we weren't always able to stand directly on the rail but we could still mostly see.
I ended up having a fantastic night with my horse choices! I didn't make a ton of extra cash but I did win something in nearly every single race, which isn't usually the case for me. I think there was only one race that I did not win anything from. So a good night, for sure.
Before one of the races, my uncle* came over to talk to me. He lives up in my hometown and he goes to the track a lot to bet on the horses. I hadn't been up there in a long time but I did keep my eye out to see if he was around. He asked me my pick for the next race and I told him. He said he hoped I was right because he bet on the same horse. Well, the horse came in first!! I didn't win much off him but it was still cool. The very next race, he came up to me after I bet on the next race and I told him my pick (#7). He said he went with #9. We headed out to the rail knowing that was the last race we were going to watch before heading home.

I'm not sure if you can tell, but that is the #7 horse in the lead in that picture. This was a long race and this was the first time they passed by the rail we were at and then they had to complete another lap. Believe it or not, my #7 horse kept that lead and managed to come in first! It was so cool. I ended up making a $5 bet for the last round. It only paid out $7 but it put me on top for the evening, leaving with $24.80. :)
The weather was fantastic and it was nice to have a girls night at the track. It also didn't hurt that I won some money (and more importantly didn't actually lose any).
Have you guys ever gone to a horse track before? Do you follow the triple crown?

Back when we were freshly graduated from college, I was still living up in my hometown, and A moved back to the area I currently live. We used to meet almost weekly at the track to watch the races because it was more or less a halfway point for us. We use the track as purely entertainment purposes and would go into each evening only allowing ourselves to blow $20.

*He's not really my uncle but he may as well be. He's lived with my aunt for as long as I've been alive and he more or less helped her raise her kids after her husband passed away.

Beach running

2011-05-23T07:12:00.031-04:00

While I was in staying in Jacksonville Beach for my friend's wedding last weekend, I decided I HAD to get out on the beach for a run. The last morning we were in Florida, I headed out to check it out.

The beach there is rather wide and the tide comes up pretty high at night so there is a wide stretch of compacted, wet sand to run on. I thought this would make running on the beach a lot easier. I suppose it did, but it was still pretty rough. I headed out around 8:30 am and it was already pretty humid out there. I also ran into a few jellyfish along the way.

I wore my Garmin and without it I probably wouldn't have run as far as I did. I was determined to run 3 miles but it felt like it was taking forever. I looked down at my pace when I started, thinking that I was running pretty quickly, and it said 12:30. Hmm.. So I decided to try not to care about the pace and just enjoy the beautiful scenery and the weather.

Of course once I decided to not care about my pace, I felt like I slowed down. I looked down at my watch and it said I was running around 10:30. That was weird but I just went with it. I ran down the beach 1.5 miles, then turned and headed back to the hotel. I think my last mile ended up being my quickest. I did stop a few times along the way to snap some photos. I likely stopped more on the way out which could also explain why my last mile was faster.
It was definitely a challenge to run on the beach. I almost skipped it since Joey wasn't feeling up for a run that morning, but I decided to go without him and I'm so glad that I did. I hadn't taken any pictures on the beach up to that point because I kept forgetting my camera, so it was also nice to get some pretty photos. I love the beach!

Another form of cardio

2011-05-21T13:27:00.000-04:00

Today, I cut the grass at my house for the very first time. I mowed my own lawn! Not a big deal I suppose, people cut grass all the time. But check out my lawn mower:

Old school lawn mower given to me by my Dad. It's not one of those newer knock-offs. This thing is ancient!

It was quite the workout! I have a small lawn (thank goodness) but it was still a lot of work. I was sweating and huffing along. That thing is surprisingly heavy. I even got a good blister on my left thumb.
This isn't the first time my lawn has been mowed since I moved in back in April but Joey has been sweet enough to mow it so far. He probably would have mowed it this time too except he's been working a lot lately. He worked something like 19 days in a row before we left for vacation, then we got home at 10pm on Tuesday and he woke up at 5am to begin another 12 day work streak. He is crazy, but he does enjoy the overtime pay. Luckily he is off all Memorial Day weekend so he can relax a bit.

Anyone else use an old school lawn mower to cut their lawn? It is very "green" and it's a good workout, but it doesn't cut all the blades of grass. I have this weird weedy grass mixed in with my normal grass that is tubular and taller than the rest and it doesn't really cut through those pieces. Eventually we'll probably get an electric weed-whacker but this will do for now.

Jacksonville and Savannah

2011-05-18T14:34:00.000-04:00

So I just got back from a fantastic vacation!
Last Thursday, I took off from work and ran errands, cleaned the house, and packed for vacation. At 7pm, Joey and I got into the car and left for Jacksonville, FL. We were heading south for a friend's wedding and were planning to make it a vacation. We stayed in Jacksonville Beach from Friday through Sunday, then headed to Savannah, GA until Tuesday.
Our hotel reservation was for Friday but we decided to leave Thursday evening and drive overnight. I figured out that it would take about 12 hours so the plan was to arrive at 7am. It was planned perfectly because I pulled into the hotel parking lot at exactly 7am. The drive was uneventful with a stop for dinner and a few stops along the way for bathroom, coffee, and gas. I worked on my personal driving distance record and drove the ENTIRE way! It was about 750 miles and 12 hours in the car. I think my record before was about 500 miles when I drove to Canada by myself.
Anyway, we made it and I was deliriously tired when we arrived. I went into the hotel and asked very hopefully if they happened to have a room ready that early - no go. So I changed into shorts and we took our beach blanket a block to the beach and tried to nap in the Florida sunshine. No dice. We were both too tired yet wired to sleep. So we sat in the lobby and watched tv for a while, read the newspaper, etc. Then we went on a 3-4 mile walk and got back at 11. Luckily they had a room available! So we showered and slept for 5 hours.
While in Jacksonville, we enjoyed some delicious food and attended my friend's gorgeous wedding. We also had some time to hit up the beach and do a little shopping. I also got in a 3 mile run along the beach! Sunday came soon enough though and I let Joey drive us to Savannah.
Savannah is a gorgeous city and we had a fantastic vacation there. We had a hotel in the Historic Downtown and could walk to River St., City Market, dozens of small parklets, and Forsyth Park. We enjoyed some delicious food including Georgia BBQ, pizza, and sandwiches from a small cafe. The weather was fantastic! We walked a ton each day and even went on a self-hosted pub tour around the city.
Yesterday we woke up and walked around Savannah one last time, picked up some last minute souvenirs and hit the road. It wasn't as bad of a drive because we knew it would only take 9 hours, but it was still a long day in the car. Joey drove the first 6 and then I took over. Miracle of all miracles, we did not hit any rain on our drive.

Fleece Blanket Tutorial

2011-05-11T21:16:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time, I posted about a cute blanket that I made for a friend's baby. Well, I went up to PA this past weekend for another friend's baby shower so I made another blanket. Anyway, a reader requested a tutorial and I decided it's better late than never. Feel free to skip this post if you're not interested in learning how to make a fleece tied blanket.

The first step is to go to a fabric store (or order online) two pieces of fleece. I usually pick a print for one side and a coordinating solid for the other - however, once I used a tie-dyed looking mostly solid as the accent side and it looked pretty awesome. For the blanket I made last week I chose these:

For baby blankets I usually go with a yard and a half of each piece of fleece but that makes a fairly good size blanket for baby. You could also do 1 yard or if you want to make the blanket for an adult (I made a Steelers blanket for my brother a while back) I usually do 2 yards of each.
The other thing I use for this project, though you could use scissors (but it seems like a lot more work), is a rotary cutter, a ruler thingy, and a self-healing cutting mat. Mine was a gift from my late would-have-been mother in-law. It was a set that was purchased in the quilting section of the craft/fabric store.

Next you put the two pieces of fleece against each other trying to match the edges as best as you can. Once you have them lined up, pin them together with safety pins (I know you runners have safety pins!).

I then used the rotary cutter to make the edges match more closely (since when they cut it in the store it isn't always straight and one edge usually isn't pretty). I don't worry anymore about the blanket being perfectly squared so I just eyeball it and try to make it as square as possible.

Next, you can line one of the corners up with the grid on your self-healing mat.

Then I use the ruler thingy to cut approximately 1 inch by 4 inch fringe around the entire blanket.

I use the markings on the ruler to measure down about 4 inches and I use the markings on the mat to get the fringe pieces 1 inch wide. I used to be more precise with my cuts but then I realized it didn't matter once they were tied together, so I am able to speed through the cutting. I think it took me an hour to cut and tie all the fringe on a 1.5 yard blanket. This is what the fringe looks like as you're cutting it:

Once all the fringe is cut, you can begin tying them together by tying the patterned fringe piece to the solid piece.

Once you have the whole blanket tied, I usually go back through and make sure the ties are tight enough. Then I remove the safety pins and the blanket is ready to be gifted. I can make one of these in less than 1.5 hours. I think the first time it took me about twice that long. I've gotten a lot more efficient over time.
Here is the finished product.

It's very warm and very soft and super cute! The best part is that all the mother's that I've gifted these to use the blankets pretty regularly, especially in the winter.

Happy blanket making!

5 Mile Trail Race Report

2011-05-04T17:47:00.001-04:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I ran in a 5 mile trail race this past weekend. Despite my fall, I had a great time at this race and would definitely do it again.

It was in the 50s and sunny for this race. It started at 9am and warmed up a bit as the day progressed. Perfect running weather for me! I raced in shorts and a t-shirt.
The dynamic of the race was that the women got a 4 minute head start on the men. Me and one of my coworkers lined up at the start ready to run. Our other coworker had to start 4 minutes after us with the men.

Before the start. I'm still rockin' the pink glasses.

We got off to a decent start and must have gone out at the correct pace. In the first mile, there was a single track path for a while and we kept up with the girls ahead of us. Once the trail widened, we passed a few girls but were never passed by any other girls. I wasn't even passed by a girl after I fell! It was awesome.
The first two miles seemed to take forever! The course wasn't super hilly but there were some rolling hills and uneven terrain, as you would expect in a trail race. The course hugged the shoreline of the lake and it was really beautiful.

I made it about 9 minutes before the first guy caught me. I knew him and knew he was super fast so I wasn't too concerned. I didn't know until later that he was running the 10 mile race! I knew the next few guys that passed as well, and my one good friend passed me around 12 minutes. There are some super speedy guys in my hometown.
My coworker split with me at the 2 mile mark. I was able to keep her in view up through about mile 3 but then I lost her. I tripped and fell at about 3.4 miles in (I actually remembered to check my watch). I have yet to download my Garmin stats but I know my first two miles were my fastest and I think my fourth mile was my slowest.
I came out of the woods right around the 4 mile marker and hit up the water stop. I had forgotten that people across the lake can see you at this point and I stopped to rinse the dirt, gravel, and blood from my hands. My dad snapped a picture of me.

My mom was confused because I stopped while I was rinsing my hands and she knows that I never stop at water stops. The water stop was when I realized that my finger was not well. I kept pushing on though and finished the last mile and strong as I could.
The last mile was a little hilly and a good bit muddy. A guy passed me in the woods and he said "I don't really have the energy to pass you, but its muddy up ahead and I don't want to splash you." heh. I love my hometown. All of the guys who passed me let me know which side they would be passing on and many of them added encouraging remarks.
I finished the race in 47:28, which was slightly off my goal of 45 minutes. I figured it would be a challenge to hit 9 minute miles on a trail but I was hopeful! I think I nailed the goal for the first 3 miles but then I struggled from there.

Post-race shivering from the ice on my finger.

After the race, I immediately got ice for my finger and some snacks while we waited for awards. As I mentioned previously, I still managed to place 3rd in my age group! I won a bag! The race premium was a running skirt. I love it! It's from runningskirts.com. They must have gotten a great deal on them because registration was only $25 for this race. Definitely worth it! And it benefited Habitat for Humanity! Very awesome race!!

Here are some photos of my injury. Nothing too exciting.

I have to keep my finger taped, I untaped it a while last night but it got really sore. The white stuff on my hand was a weird result of soaking my hand in peroxide while trying to get the gravel out. The other hand did not do this - so weird.

The scrapes on my left hand after soaking them in peroxide. I am not sure I got all the dirt/gravel out.

I did not take any pictures of my cuts and bruises on my legs, rest assured there are some.

All in all, I had a fantastic time at this race. The trip to urgent care wasn't fun but it could have been way worse.

Sprained

2011-05-01T19:52:00.000-04:00

Back in this post, I mentioned that my only X-rays were of my teeth. Well, not anymore.

See, I ran this awesome trail race yesterday... it was a perfect day for running and I'll get to my race report a bit later when I have the pictures. I was running well but the terrain was a little rough in places. The race went around a lake in 5 mile loops. There was the option to run one loop or two. I was only planning to run one loop and I'm SO glad that I did. I got 3.4 miles into the course, and a guy passed me crossing a bridge. Then I took a few steps off the bridge onto some gravel. I must have tripped over a rock or something and I took a hard dive into the ground face first. I didn't hit my face, but I scraped up my legs, hands, and arms pretty good. The guy in front of my turned back to make sure I was alright. I assured him I was fine and he saw the tag from my bib on the ground and reminded me to make sure I carried it with me (they use it for scoring since the race wasn't chip timed). I shoved it into my bra and continued on my way without much hesitation. Not long after that, I got tripped up again but I didn't fall. The guy ahead of me yelled back to make sure I was still ok and we both went on our way.
At the 4th mile, there was a water stop and I grabbed a cup of water to rinse my hands and to drink. My parents could see me from across the lake and were wondering why I had stopped since my Mom knows that I never stop to drink water in a race. It was then that I realized that my finger hurt. I guess up until then I hadn't tried to bend my fingers at all. I kept going and back in the woods, I tried to bend my finger - it hurt. I decided not to mess with it until I got to the finish.
I crossed the finish line in 47:28 and immediately went over to a friend and told him I thought I broke my finger. He asked me what happened and I pointed to my dirty scraps all over me and told him that I fell. Then I went over to my parents, as I started to cry a little - mostly because I was upset I was injured, not because it hurt so much. I was also nervous thinking about trying to bend it. Anyway, I told my parents that I thought I broke my finger and then I went into the bathroom to rinse my hands and wipe the tears away. Then a woman at the race told me there was a doctor there that could take a look at my finger. They walked me over to him and he had me set my wrist on his leg so he could examine my finger. He told me there was a chance that I tore some ligaments but that I pretty good range of motion in my finger. He recommended ice and going to get it x-rayed to make sure that I didn't have a fracture.
A very nice lady went and got me a bag with ice. The doctor then asked me if my parents were at the race with me. They were both standing there in front of us and we all said yes. He then asked me where I went to school. God love this man, he thought I was still in school! I told him where I went to college and mentioned that I graduated quite a few years ago. hehe.
I decided I wanted to stick around for the awards. I ran the race with two of my coworkers and I was pretty sure that at least one of them won an age group award. She was in my age group but she beat me so I wasn't sure if I would win one too. We had to wait a while because the 10 miler runners were still out on the course. I snacked on some cookies and trail mix and drank some water while we waited. My Mom was concerned because I was shaking, but I had a bag of ice on my hand and it was still kinda chilly outside.
I ended up winning 3rd place in my age group and my coworker placed 2nd! We rocked that race!
After the race, we all went back to my parent's house and got cleaned up. I then figured out how much it would cost to go to an out of network doctor for an emergency and we found an urgent care center that we could go to. I showered and then we went to lunch at my favorite local restaurant. I sent my coworkers on their way and my parents and I headed to urgent care.
It was a rather painless process and after about 15 minutes and 3 x-rays later, I was told I had a sprained pinky finger and to tape it to my ring finger for 7 days, ice it, and take ib profen as needed. It is still sore and I do not have full range of motion. I'm hoping it heals rather quickly.... it's difficult to type, write, carry things, etc.. but I'm managing.
When we were looking at our results before the awards ceremony, a woman said she thought she ran a respectable pace. I told her that I ran a great pace considering that I fell and thought I broke my finger.
Anyway, I never imagined that the first major injury I would get from running would be a sprained finger. On top of that, I also have scrapes on my right shin and thigh, both knees, both elbows, and both palms. My palms more likely than not still have gravel in them. I tried to scrub it out and I used peroxide and tweezers and a needle to try to get it all cleaned out but I don't think I got it all. Yes, that whole process was as painful as it sounds.
Despite my injuries, I still had a fantastic time at this race and I got a pretty cool running skirt as a race premium. I'll be sure to share pictures of the skirt and from the race soon. I also want to write more of a race report, though this kind of turned into one. I haven't even loaded my Garmin stats to the computer yet.. though I forgot to turn it off when I crossed the finish line.
Have you ever sprained anything while running or any other activity? If so, how long did it take to recover?

Getting ready to rock some trails

2011-04-28T21:26:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow evening I'm heading to my hometown with two of my coworker running buddies. We are all going to stay with my parents and run in a fun trail race on Saturday. It's a skirt chaser type race where the women start 4 minutes ahead of the men. It's a 5 or 10 mile race. We all opted for the 5 miler though because we haven't been running on trails and we haven't run more than a 10k in a while. I think it will be sufficient. Hopefully doing our training runs in pancake-flat DC won't hinder us any in this race.
I've never done this race before but I'm excited about it. I love small town races because they are inexpensive, not too crowded, and usually have decent swag. The premium for this race was a running skirt for the women if they registered prior to April 1st. I'm hoping it fits as the size guide was weird. It had skirt size and then what that translates into misses sizes and also the waist measurement for each size... but mentioned at the top that the sizes run small. So I couldn't figure it out and just chose the correct size from the guide. *fingers crossed*
Oh, and did I mention that this race only cost $25? And that all proceeds go to Habitat for Humanity? Yea, it's an awesome race.
Anyway, expect a race report sometime early next week. I'll be hanging out at my parents all weekend. We will be celebrating my mom's birthday a bit early and possibly doing a little mother's day celebration a week early since I'll be in PA next weekend for a baby shower. This weekend begins a series of crazy-busy weekends for me!
Good luck to anyone racing this weekend!

The Red Wall

2011-04-25T19:07:00.001-04:00

I finally got internet at my house last week. It's still been pretty busy around these parts between work, play, unpacking, and life. The weather has been hit or miss between rain and warmth. I have another race this weekend, a trail run! I am really looking forward to it! Anyway, I wanted to do a quick update and show some of my progress on my house.
When I got the keys to my house, there were a few walls I wanted to paint. There was an orangish colored wall in my dining room that I wanted to paint and I wanted to paint all the walls in my bedroom. I finally uploaded pictures to my computer so I'm going to share the progress on the dining room.

Here is a picture of the wall color before. I'm sure I have another picture but this is the best I can do right now. The paint that we wrote our names on the wall with were colors they left in the basement. There were two gallons of the purple paint my name was written in and about a 1/4 of a gallon of the red paint that Joey wrote his name with. We decided to go with the purple so we wouldn't need to purchase any more paint. We slept on it though and when we went back to the house with Adrienne and Lisa, we all decided we liked the red much better than the purple. So I took the can of red paint to the big orange store and asked them to match the paint color.

Three coats of red paint later, we had a red wall! I still need to take a finished picture without the paint but you get the idea. It's a little brighter than this in person. I am loving my red wall though.
We also painted the bedroom but I'll save that for another day.

10K Race Recap

2011-04-18T09:40:00.000-04:00

Yesterday morning I toed the line of a particular 10K race for the 5th year in a row! I've written previous reports for last year and the year before. A coworker of mine has done this race with her sister for the past 10 years and encouraged us to join her for the past 5 years. It's a great race and quite popular. They also have a huge post race party at the finish line with tasty food and booths.
The morning of the race, I had planned to wear shorts and short sleeves but when I took Delilah outside, the wind nearly knocked me over and it was bitter cold! I decided I should switch it up and wear capris instead. I had a bit of an equipment fail because I had to leave all my previous week's running gear at the office because I went to a concert after work and then was off on Friday. I didn't have any of my capris because I apparently packed them for last week. Oops. I did find my running clothes that I packed for the move and found some pants. I opted for them because I figured it wouldn't be so bad as long as I had on a short sleeved shirt. I opted for bright green.
I also had a shoe dilemma. I have two good pairs of shoes. I keep one pair at work and I have a new pair at home that have been broken in a bit. I left the work pair at work and thought for sure I could find the new pair at home. I thought I packed them in a place where I wouldn't be able to miss them. WRONG. I looked in every box I haven't unpacked yet but they were nowhere to be found. I have two older pairs of shoes that I could find so I debated and ended up with an old pair of Adidas. Not the best, but not bad I guess. I hadn't run in them in months though.
I got to the race with time to spare and met up with my friends. We all found each other before the start and we lined up in the 9-10 minute pace corral. I had no idea what my pace would be but I was ok with starting back with everyone else. My friend Meg was running this race again with me (she's done this race for 10 year now!) as well as her sister, who is 4 months pregnant. I assumed her sister would still beat me, even while pregnant, but she stayed with her husband during the majority of the race. She still finished with a respectable time but I did manage to finish ahead of her.
I broke away from the group almost immediately because I like to fall right into a comfortable pace for me. Meg caught up with me and stayed with me for the first 5k. We chatted a bit and it felt like any other lunch run. We clocked an 8:37, 8:42, and 8:35 in the first 3 miles and then Meg picked up the pace. She looked back at me and asked if I had slowed down. I told her that she had sped up, a lot. So I told her to go if she felt good and off she went.
The rest of the race, I tried to increase my pace and tried to see if I could catch up with Meg again. I think each mile was about 8:15 from the 5k on so I definitely ran negative splits! I'm not sure I've ever done that in this particular race before (though I don't really know since this was my first year running with a Garmin). I don't have my Garmin splits yet because I don't have the internet yet at my house and therefore haven't uploaded my Garmin data. I have yet to download the program onto my computer... but that should all happen soon.
I finished the race in 51:59! Not my PR (50:08) but much faster than I had thought! I was so happy when I crossed that finish line! I felt so good for the whole race! I did try to sprint at the end but I couldn't get my legs to turn over any faster. I then looked up my time from last year and I ran 7 seconds faster than last year. Who knew? I didn't remember running that fast last year.

After the race, I enjoyed some tasty food at the finish - pizza, pulled pork sandwich, italian deli sub, water, juice. They also had ice cream, donuts, pasta, meatballs, fried chicken, and more but I didn't have any of those things. I was pretty full after my post-race meal and headed to help my old roomie move from our apartment. It was work to go straight to the apartment and carry boxes down three flights of stairs over and over but it was better than doing it the day before the race! Once we were finished with that, I went home, walked Delilah, took a shower, and then a nap before Joey picked me up to take me to his Dad's house for a birthday party. Nearly everyone in his family is born in April so they had a party for all the April birthdays. I was exhausted by the time I got home last night. I ended the night with a glass of wine on the deck with Delilah enjoying the beautiful evening.

Quick update

2011-04-12T08:30:00.000-04:00

This week is crazy! Let me throw some quick bullets at ya.

I spent all day Saturday and a few hours on Sunday moving from my apartment to my house. I am now 99% moved (I still have a few things at the apartment and I need to clean the apartment).
Moving things from a 3rd floor apartment (no elevator) sucks! My legs are feeling wrecked as a result of all the trips up and down with heavy objects. Oh, and my arms and back are feeling sore. Between all the painting and the moving, I feel like I got in some good weight training.
I ran 5 miles yesterday in the 80 degree weather. It was gorgeous out but my legs were dead from moving so I really had to push myself mentally to get through the miles.
I have a 10k this Sunday. I'm hoping my legs won't be too dead for this race so I'm trying to rest them up for the rest of the week. I'll get in about 2 more short runs and call it a week.
My old roomie is moving from the apartment this coming weekend. Her and her boyfriend helped me move, so I feel obligated to help her as well... so my legs could be dead for the race on Sunday if she moves on Saturday. She is leaving it up to the weather which day she moves.
I do not currently have internet at my house yet. I'm working on it and hope to remember to call today to get it set up.
This means I'm behind on reading blogs and haven't had time to update this site with all that's going on. I have some pictures of the way the house is coming together (and not coming together) to share.
I cooked my first meal in my house last night! I made spaghetti and despite the kitchen being a mess, it was awesome. We still need to do some cleaning before we can put things away. I hope to get to that this evening.
Delilah got pretty stressed out on Saturday when we were moving but I think she's finally calmed down and realized that she has a new house now. I think she likes it... except she's still getting used to having to walk up and down stairs inside the house.

An engagement story

2011-04-07T08:05:00.001-04:00

The day started as any other, with the exception of being over excited about getting the keys to my house as soon as I was home from work. The day passed quickly enough and I headed over to my house for the final walk-through and passing of the keys. It was so exciting to finally have access to the house that I closed on two weeks prior.
I had been planning for at least two weeks to have my closest friends over for a camp out/empty house party. Joey met me at the apartment beforehand because we needed to hit the grocery store for some essential items and we needed to make a plan for ordering pizza. Joey brought over some beer for the party and a bottle of prosecco. I assumed it was to celebrate getting the house and I was grateful for his thoughtfulness! We made a plan for my roomie and her boyfriend to go pick up the pizza and Joey, Delilah, and I headed over to the new house. It was Delilah's first time seeing the inside of the house and we were excited to show her around. She hasn't been back since that night so she still has no idea what is going on... but she's been really sad that we keep leaving her every evening to go paint! Dogs and painting don't mix so we've had to leave her at the apartment.
So once Delilah was introduced to the house, I asked Joey if he wanted a beer. Joey then asked me if I wanted to walk down to the lake with him. This seemed kind of odd to me but I figured since the lake was steps from my backyard, maybe Joey was excited to be that close to the lake too. I hooked Delilah's leash up and she shook her head and she flung drool onto the kitchen floor. I wiped it up with my finger and then went to get a paper towel out of the bag of stuff we brought. In that moment, I managed to knock my full, freshly opened can of beer onto the floor! Joey came over and helped me clean it up and I'm sure he was anxious to get down to the lake so he wasn't terribly amused that I spilled my beer right away. (but cheers to me for being the first person to spill in my new house!)
We walked down to the basement and out the back door and down the hill to the lake. We had walked down by my house so many times in the weeks before that we knew there was a path down to the shoreline right out back. As we were walking down that path, Delilah broke free from her leash because I had absentmindedly attached her leash to the ring with her tags instead of her collar. Oops! So Joey is moments away from asking a life-changing question and he is now trying to hook Delilah back up and make sense of the fact that her tags are now littering the path. Luckily Delilah didn't even know she was unhooked, and even if she had, she is not a runner so it would have been no big deal. I picked up her tags and put them in my pocket and Joey hooked her back up to the leash.
We got down by the shore and I'm looking around the lake. Then Joey tells me to 'hold her' and hands me Lilah's leash. I wasn't paying that much attention but when I turned back towards him he was down on one knee with a fancy opened ring box and asking me to marry him!! I was shocked for a few seconds and realized that it probably felt like an eternity to Joey so I said yes and he jumped up and hugged and kissed me. Then I put the ring on my finger and it fit perfectly.
The whole thing was perfect for us and everything I could have ever wanted in a proposal. To top it off, and to bring tears to my eyes, the ring belonged to his mom. She went for 35 years or so of marriage without a diamond engagement ring or wedding ring. She wore a gold band for all those years, and while she loved it, I guess she longed for diamonds. For Christmas (in 2009 I think), Joey's dad surprised her with this ring and she LOVED it. She showed everyone she knew and was so excited! She even went out a few days after Christmas and bought a 'matching' diamond band.
I am so honored to get to wear his mom's rings and so thankful and blessed that his (three) sisters love me enough that they were ok with me getting her rings. Joey said he talked to his dad on Thanksgiving about wanting to marry me and his dad insisted that he have his mom's rings, but he wanted to check with his sisters first. Then he sneakily (and then not-so-sneakily) tried to figure out my ring size so they could get the rings resized.
Once I had the ring on my finger, we went back up to the house to wait for our friends to arrive with the pizza. My roomie had also picked up a bottle of sparkling wine to celebrate the occasion, and it turned out that she didn't even know about the engagement! She said she thought it was a good reason to celebrate and then I said "and this is too" and showed her my ring! So crazy.

In our painting clothes at the new house.

Monday Brain Exchange

2011-04-04T08:29:00.000-04:00

It's Monday Brain Exchange time. Hosted by Jill.

Topic: Building Mileage
Question: Regardless of the distance you train for, or whether it be road racing or triathlon, training is time consuming. What are your tricks for fitting all your training into your schedule? How do you balance family, friends, work and training?

My trick for balancing training time is to run during lunchtime at work. I'm very thankful that my work allows me the time to get in a good solid run at lunch and I have some great coworkers to run with too! We have a gym at my work ($10 per pay period) that has a locker room and some nice equipment for when I can't go outside. They also offer another locker room that you don't have to pay a membership fee to use. I do the majority of my training runs at work so it doesn't cut into my family/friends time much. If anything, it is nice to chat with coworkers whom I consider good friends while running at lunch. When I'm training for a long race I do incorporate long runs on the weekends. I try to get them out of the way early so I can have the rest of the day to do whatever I want.
How do you balance your workouts with the rest of your life?

Cherry Blossoms

2011-03-31T21:44:00.001-04:00

Thank you all for your comments on my last post. I'm very excited and I really want to tell you the story of the proposal and all that good stuff, but I've been super busy at work and busy with painting my new house so that will have to wait a few more days. In the mean time, I actually want to talk about some running related stuff.

As everyone is probably aware, DC has their annual cherry blossom festival every spring. For me and my running buddies, this means that we go out of our way to do a cherry blossom run during lunch at least once during this time each year. I started this tradition the first year I started running in the city. I normally aim for a crummy weather day so that there aren't as many tourists out and about, but this year we went on chilly but sunny days and it was decently crowded. It just added to the adventure I guess.

So far this year, we've done the cherry blossom run twice. We headed out this past Friday but I didn't have my camera. On Monday, another coworker had heard about our run and wanted to go so we did it again. It ends up being a 5.5 mile run, which is right around the cutoff of how many miles I can squeeze in during lunch. On the Monday run, the cherry blossoms were at about 99% peak and I remembered my camera! Enjoy a few pictures.

The Washington Monument

The Washington Monument hiding behind the cherry trees

The Jefferson Memorial and the Tidal Basin

Cherry trees and the Jefferson

My running buddies avoiding tourists by running through the grass.

A little scary without a railing but so beautiful

I also took a couple videos while running. It's so pretty down by the water with all the trees.

And completely unrelated, here are a few Delilah photos... for good measure.