Margarita's. 3.5 Miles. Broken Ear Buds.

Don't judge me based on the title, I wasn't drinking, driving and running- but you probably clicked on this one! :)  I did however go to happy hour with a co-worker.  I had planned for a 3.5 mile nice, easy, slow run tonight in the cool weather- until my co-worker wanted to grab drinks, because her husband was away for the night.  On such a beautiful day, who can pass that up?!


So we went to a local restaurant that has fantastic margarita's and a nice little area outside to sit.  I'm not a fan of tequila, but for some reason mixed with strawberry or raspberry, I love it.  So I immediately ordered a strawberry margarita- then the waitress said they were part of the happy hour special, even better.  All of this being said I am an extreme light weight, and am quite content that way.  I save myself money and calories, what's not to like.  We also of course had the courtesy chips and salsa, which were quite good.  My co-worker opted for the top shelf margarita and her margarita beat mine bar none in comparison- it was a work of art.  We continued to chat and finish our chips and salsa, then got the bill.  This is when I realized my so called margarita- probably wasn't a margarita by definition at all.  My total for a sweet strawberry drink on the rocks was $4.99, my co-workers work of art came to $9.95, which is explanation enough for me- I had paid for sugar water.


After leaving I ran some errands in the area, then went home.  It was such a perfect day weather wise- I just had to get outside.  I opted for a 3.5 mile walk, since running with happy hour in my stomach was probably a bad idea.  As soon as I got to the park I just couldn't stop my legs- they were running whether I wanted to or not.  I ended up running about 3 miles when my right ear bud fell out.  I specifically bought "Ironman" earbuds that have better holding power against sweat- but have been failing me recently.  When I went to put the ear bud back in, it was silent (I truly feel for anyone who is deaf in one or both ears), it was horrible.  I had loud music in the left and nothing on the right- quite frustrating during any part of a run, especially the end.


So I have come to the conclusion if I drink a high fructose drink before a run- I will perform pretty well.  My body reacts to food in strange ways before a run- a lot of runners eat a banana or peanut butter on a carb.  For some reason this type of food seems to irritate me more.  I apparently can run after having a drink as fuel, and when I trained for my 10 miler in May I could eat oreo's before a run and have an awesome workout.  I wouldn't recommend doing this, but it's interesting to see how the body reacts.


Vacation running is oh so soon.  A few early morning runs with sand between my toes- can't wait!

8 miles

Woke up at 6 today for a "glorious" 8 mile run.  Given the heat the past few days, I was scared- but we were also running at 7am.  Picked up my running buddy and headed to a 2.6 mile loop park, which already had a pretty packed parking lot at 7am (were other people as crazy as us)?

I didn't eat breakfast because I didn't want to be sick- opted for a strawberry banana gel instead.  That will be the first and last time I try that flavor- any banana flavored goo is just not good- ever.  We started off and I was feeling good for about the first 2 miles.  Then it happened, the ITB starting acting up, again- and it got hot, again.

The remaining 5.8 miles were a struggle to say the least- I was playing mind games the whole way.  "Well if that lady can run, I surely can run.  Oh that guy was walking before, and just passed me- so not cool" were some of the thoughts racing through my head.  I also brought along a peanut butter gel to take halfway through since the gels really seem to reduce my "running hangover" feeling later in the day. 

Mile 4 hit and I was just excited to eat my peanut butter gu (I'm a total fat kid at heart).  This is all that got me through my half, looking down and counting down the minutes on my watch till i could take another gel.  During my runs whatever it takes to get me through will work: thinking of water, a shower, nap, gels, or beer post run seem to do the trick.  I don't typically think of my sense of accomplishment or the runner's high.  During the run I'm usually pretty annoyed that I again, thought training for a race was a good idea.

So 7.8 miles are complete, I didn't really care to finish the remaining .2 today.  Today I questioned why I am running as my body ached and my skin burned.  Maybe later tonight I'll feel a greater sense of accomplishment.  Given that it was around 8:20am when I finished was accomplishment enough.  I just ran 7.8 miles while most people were asleep, boom!

And I realized my ITB is probably hurting because I need new shoes- can I find a money tree, please?

Holy heat

The weather lately has been hot, the sweaty, slimy and disgusting hot (especially when I get out of my car-which the air conditioner conveniently stopped working in).  Can you tell I don't like the heat?  Actually I can do the heat a bit, it's the North East humidity I can't take.  And who am I kidding, I can't do the heat.  All of my European ancestors were from countries with rain, clouds and well, more rain.  Unfortunately, I have no built in air conditioner or sun protectant- I sweat like a pig, turn maroon and burn.  Yes, after this marathon i'm going to be a sight.


I took the last two days of my pre-training off to observe and fear, the heat.  I decided I should probably get back to workouts today, so I did.  I went to Bodypump and followed it up with a half hour swim.  Bodypump is a funny class- if I miss a week and haven't been in 7 days or less, my muscles appear to have lost it all.  Maybe that's a bit dramatic, i'm still able to lift what I had been prior, but I do struggle.  Today's class was no exception and not due to my lack of attendance.  The class prior to mine was spin and the room felt and looked like a sauna.  After finishing an hour of what I think of as torture (weights are not my thing, but I know I need to lift for running and to have "strong bones"), I went to swim.


This time I actually remembered flip flops so I didn't have to skeeve the nasty Y locker room floor on my walk to the outdoor pool.  Nice day, sun was shining, old ladies to the right taking some class with kick boards- and 3 open lap lanes, yes this was a good find.  So I started swimming breaststroke, not sure why this is my stroke of choice when swimming laps- but I think deep down I feel like a little kid again, or a frog.  About 10 minutes in, because my brain isn't in it enough to actually count laps- the lifeguard came by.  Great, are they closing the pool because some kids diaper exploded was my first thought.  Wrong.  They were removing the 3 glorious lap lanes that now had swimmers, to make room for the summer camp kids.


Summer camp kids and the Y, where to begin.  After working in the city and going to the Y during lunch when summer camp was happening I have my reservations.  Having the summer camp kids crawl under the bathroom stall you were in, open the curtain to the changing room you were in, or stepping in their hair or trail of pool water, I can't say i'm a fan.  No, i'm also not a radical single person who hates kids- just dislike kids with no manners.


So after the three lanes were moved I had to relocate.  Relocating meant attempting to swim with the two old ladies walking down lane 1; jumping into lane 2 with a high schooler whose crazy mom was telling her to swim faster and perfect her stroke and a random guy; or lane 3 pretty much the only viable option, with one guy swimmer.


Having not swam in years I had NO clue what swimming etiquette exists, but figured I'd see if this guy was ok sharing a lane.  But then again, we all pay to go to the Y, so big deal if he wasn't- I was swimming.  He agreed and I started to swim.  I got to the other end where said guy said "umm, can we just split the lane"- sure whatever floats your boat dude, apparently I wasn't sharing properly.


Now to rest up and hydrate tonight, for an 8 miler at yes, 7am tomorrow morning!

Testing my cross-training options

I signed up for the Philly Marathon November 18th- yet never really counted down my training, figuring it would start soon.  Boy, was I wrong!  I have a little less than a month until full on training kicks in- I'm kind of excited!  I can get my pre-marathon workouts in order and be in tip-top shape when training begins.

I have an interesting work schedule during the summer and have had off a lot more than in past jobs.  So yesterday I decided I would spin and swim- and see if I could move today.  Total success!  I was able to kill myself in spin then swim laps and cool off for a half hour.  Minus the super tight suit and looking like a 12 year old boy (reminiscent of swim team when I was younger), it was a great workout.  I ended up in a lane between two old men.  Even though there were clearly much older then my parents- I decided it would be a good idea to "race" against them, even though they weren't aware.  All in all swimming for 30 minutes straight never felt better.

Maybe my next race with be a triathlon, now I just need to get a bike.

The "long" run..

I'm training for my marathon with a friend who is training for a marathon a few weeks before.  I have someone else to endure this pain with!  yippee  We planned to run 7 today to get this training in motion and planned to meet at 8am at a local park (thinking we'd beat this heat early in the day).

After discussing how our family and friends think we are crazy, we started our 7 mile run.  My head was in it, I was doing 7 if it took me all day, or so I thought.  After running about 2.5 miles my IT band starting acting up forcing me to walk- which I can't stand!  All in all we ended up running about 3.5 and "yogging" which i use loosely, another 1.5.  At this point not only was my IT band acting up, the heat had become unbearable.  Thankfully my running buddy agreed, and I was happy I wasn't just being a baby.  We decided next Saturday we will run at 7am- yes, we are really giving up sleep for torture. 

After discussing our early morning run plans I realized my next 5 months are going to be, erm, dedicated for lack of a better word.  Realizing my weekend plans would probably revolve around prepping for my next run, I knew my social life was going to take a hit.  Not only will I be eating and sleeping to run great the next day, my weekly plans will also revolve around the big run of the week.  Thus my dating life (or let's be honest, lack there-of) will become almost obsolete.  

So instead of worrying about the future 5 months- I was hungry.  So I ate this delish, juicy watermelon- straight from the cutting board.  Nothing better after a run.

I was still annoyed with myself- even given the heat and IT pain.  So I went shopping, I know- bad idea, but actually it wasn't.  I've been on a hunt for an actual swimsuit so I can swim for my cross training during this adventure.  I love spin, but spin and running start to really wear down my legs, so I'd prefer the least impact- voila welcome swimming!  And here's my super interesting, zipper back, Nike suit I got for $20, instead of the retail $72- thank you Marshall's.  Saving money and running- it's the little things. :)

Happy running!  They never said it would be easy- just worth it.

It's the little things..

When I first started running it was strictly on the treadmill- so I could watch the time and the interesting gym rats.  As I started signing up for 5k's, I realized running outside was a must.  There is just a different runner's high so to speak, outside.  Taking in the weather (the good, bad, and ugly) and realizing you just ran x miles in the craziest sun, rain, snow, ice, and wind- is pretty fulfilling.


In between half training ending and marathon training beginning I refused to fall into a rut.  I've been averaging about 15 miles a week with my small run at about 6 miles (mind you, years ago this would've been the "long run").  Apparently a lot of runners going into some sort of depression after a race ended, so since I didn't want that to happen, I started to train, again.  hhmmppph


I don't do heat, and running in the heat is just a no-go.  I'd prefer the snow and ice to overheating.  I was on my 6 mile run at a 1.75 mile loop park.  Anyone running more than 1.75 miles you were bound to pass once, twice, or even 6 times.  Every single person you pass who is running smiles, waves, says hi.  There are always a few who ignore, but I write them off.  I won't allow a rude runner to ruin the reputation of all the awesome ones out there.  It was around 7am when I arrived to avoid said heat.  I kept passing the same 4 friendly faces and decided the heat was becoming an issue.  I had mentally shut down and decided a 5 mile run, would do.


I had checked out and planned to run another 1/2 mile and go home- until I passed the lady in the pink shirt.  We had passed each other about 7 times during the course of my run- each time looking like death and kind-of smirking because we had no energy left to smile.  I came around what I thought would be my last half mile and passed the lady in pink- who gave me a thumbs up!  Not only did I realize I was doing it, and someone else had congratulated me, but I really think God sent that woman into my last mile to get me moving.  At this point, whether or not any of the above actually happened- I decided I was doing it.  I was running the full 6, all because I got a thumbs up.


It's the little things in life that really matter, and the other day a simple thumbs up, was it.

Marathon

I've been running (for the purpose of just running), for about 4 years.  Looking back I should've realized this was my fate.  I played soccer and field hockey growing up and always loved the "wings", because you got to run.  Yeah, I was that kid- excited to run for an hour straight.  Lame, I know.


So this all boils down to creating a blog.  Not at all to brag about how awesome it is that I can run, and torture myself for hours as my body screams at me.  More so the opposite- so I can laugh.  They say laughter is the best medicine- I guess I'll find out the truth around mile 20.  By the way, who is "they"?


I just ran my first half-marathon the end of May.  Not knowing what to expect and somehow "bypassing" the elevation chart with beautiful hills- that aren't so beautiful on mile 12 of 13, I did it!  I finished in 2:33:44, I would've preferred less, but I'll deal.  Like I said, i'm not a complete newbie to running, but looking at me, you probably wouldn't peg me as a runner.  My Mom likes to remind me these hips were meant for "birthing babies", not running- and when she says this, I run more.  Because of this I still have a nagging ITB "injury" since running the half and a ten miler earlier in May.


So this starts the next roughly 4-5 months of my life.  I am going to balance life as a single girl, volunteering, family, and friends with training for a full on marathon- not a 5k or even a half- a MARATHON!  Here goes nothing but Eating, Praying, and Running- and whatever else may happen in the next few months.