What to wear, what to wear

5 mile walk with SWP

So tomorrow is going to be 45 at around 9 when the race starts and will go as high as 55 by the end of the race. The "rule" is to dress for 20 degrees warmer than what it really is when you are running. So with that in mind, 65-75. I have no idea what to wear. My last race was the 1/2 unplugged and it was low 40's the whole time. I wore a pair of capris and 1/4 zip top.

I have Red, white, black, greenish/gray, purple and light blue. I wore the light blue at the unplugged and don't want to wear that again.

However, I am really loving my running skirts and wanted to wear one.

I have a white one and a black one.

The white one probably would get pretty muddy and might look like I pooped my pants like some runners....

So I think I will wait on the white until the roads, sidewalks, and trails are not muddy so there is no question in anyone's mind that I DID NOT have a bowel movement while trying to PR.

I also have a huge array of Nike Tempo shorts...

Can you tell that I am stuck though on what to wear. Shorts, Capri's, Tank? Running Mama what are you wearing?!?!!? BTW I don't have any running t'shirts so don't say capris and a t-shirt. Yes, I should probably get some of those in the future...we'll see. haha

Its a beautiful day - U2 aint got nothing on me!

Today is absolutely amazing out right now. I am jealous that I am not out for a run. However, I want to save my legs and keep them fresh for tomorrow. I think I have Alan conned into a walk with me so that should hopefully help me be less jealous of the people out running. OR will make me more jealous as we will see TONS of runners out on the bike paths. Oh well. Tomorrow is supposed to be gorgeous as well and I am pumped up for my 15k.

I have my "race pace" in my head and will set my Garmin's virtual runner to reflect that. I am really hoping to place in my age division and looking at last years times I MIGHT stand a chance. 3rd place female in the 20-29 age group ran an 8:34 min pace. I KNOW I can beat that if my head is in the game. 2nd Female in my age group ran an 7:21 m/m. That is a little fast for me but who knows. I have pulled off faster but shorter distances. I know I am not where I was pre injury but am hoping that I have gotten some of my speed back. WISH ME LUCK! I really really really really want a medal. (they are homemade I believe and super fun!)

Today Alan and I went out to brunch to a local pizza place, American Flatbread. They make the best breakfast pizza (eggs benny anyone?!?!!) I am also obsessed with their salad so that's what we got! Alan and I talked about my future with running and where I see my pace being at the end of this season. He said a lot of encouraging words and it made me realize how much I rely on him for my strength. If I didn't have such a strong, supportive husband that encourages me to pursue my running and listen to me when I have a good or bad race and helps me find ways to improve my weaknesses I wouldn't know where I would be. Thanks A-pod for being You! He even suggested, and volunteered to drive me to the start of my relay for the marathon and meet me at a few of the checkpoints to drop off water and fuel and to meet me at the finish next weekend for a "dry run". It made me really appreciative as it is almost 2 miles from where we live to the start of the relay and about 3 miles from the finish. I wanted to do a practice run but didn't want to do the extra 5 miles to get to the start and home from the finish. I think we will do this maybe next Sunday so that I still have a few weeks from the actual race to rest up and to gear up. How jealous are you that you aren't married to him. Yeah he is pretty amazing!

Well I am off to enjoy my Saturday with a nice....walk (bah) Check back for tomorrows race recap. Hopefully Alan will remember the camera and I can upload some great race pics for you all to see :)

Also, everyone should go check out the awesome give away that the pace of me is having. Mile Markers - The 26.2 Most Important Reasons Why Women Run by Kristin Armstrong. If I don't win this giveaway, which I never win any giveaway so not holding my breath, I will definitely be buying this book right after I finish Kara Gouchers book. So everyone head over and become a follower and enter to win the give away!!!

Well this is certainly a change in weather....

4.5 miles / 40:15

I skipped the gym, ran to Alan's work to pick Sirius up and we were off on a 10 mile run. Clearly we didn't hit 10 miles, or even 5. The 1.5 down to the office I was dying. It was hot, humid and miserable. I mean, it was gorgeous and I don't want to complain just a drastic change from the 30 and 40 degree weather we have been having.

I got to Alan's work got some water, picked up Sirius and made the executive decision to head home as I knew it would be too hot for lil' SWP to stand. Alan said I should go the long way home and against my better judgment, I listened to him. Around mile 3 we got to Oakledge park (we would have been home at mile 3 if I went the regular way home). Sirius was DONE.

Thankfully they had the water fountains turned on and I tried to get him some water. The fountain was a little too high for him to just drink from the fountain itself and the angle was a little weird so I couldn't make a waterfall towards him. I tried to pick him up and he hated that. The only way I could figure out for him to get water is if I held the water on with my right hand, and cupped my left and then ferried it to his mouth. Tedious, yes. Effective? Slightly.

I figured we were close to home and he would be alright. WRONG. after that he went from bad, to worse. We had to stop and walk, and then there were points where he found some shade and then would lay in the grass and just pant and look at me like PLEASE HELP ME. It was pathetic. We finally made it home and he got some water.

I remember now why last year I got up at 5am and went on my runs with Sirius. My morning routine will have to start up soon again. I refuse to put him through this again if I can help it. Sorry SWP!

You can tell from our splits how we went downhill....real fast....

On a brighter note, I printed the registration form for the 15k on Sunday and filled it out. They have race day registration so I am going to go early and hope that there is still room. The website didn't say it was closed and it looks like last year they didn't fill up the race so I should hopefully be all set. I am really excited and am hoping that I have a great race! Yay for race season!

Change of Plans

Monday and Wednesday's are my "gym" days. I usually go after work, run on the treadmill and then do my hour of body pump. Today, however, is so amazing outside. It has been raining and thundering for the past few days and I haven't been able to get outside for a run since my run on Sunday. The dog, apparently is also getting cabin fever as he has been naughty at work with Alan. SO, selfless, and as long as the rain holds out I am going to skip the gym and do a long run outside with sir sirius wikius doggus, aka SWP. There is only a 30% chance that it will start raining at 3pm and it increases to 50% for 4-5pm. I figure it isn't supposed to lighning or thunder and the most is a 50% chance that it COULD rain. I think I might take my chances. Basically as long as the skies are blue and it isn't raining at 3:30 when I get out of work I will be picking Sirius up for some outside running along the waterfront bike path. Hopefully the bike path isn't flooded or else we might have to find some alternate routes along the way. Maybe making a detour and running up battery street hill instead? Hmmm, might be good practice for the Marathon :)

you found my blog how?!?!!

I was just looking at my google stats to see where my audience is coming from. Mostly from Paula's blog (thanks!!!) but there were also some google searches that landed people here - running capris, kara goucher etc.

However, one referring site caught me off guard. Apparently I have been getting some views from people coming from....wait for it. Fantasy Fiend. I am not passing judgment and clearly I need all the followes I can get as I currently only have 12 - I appreciate you all - please don't ever de-follow, unfollow, whatever the terminology is! I was just caught a little off guard. I am sure it isn't what I am thinking - or maybe its exactly what I am thinking - but it made me chuckle. I would go to the site just to see what a fantasy fiend is but I am at work and am afraid it might not be NSFW.

Ok, now back to running. I am debating on if I should run a 15k race this weekend. Running Mama is doing it and now I want to too! Yes, I am like a child and get race envy and jealous if someone is running a race, or just running outside and I'm not. Yes, I might get jealous after I finish a killer run and am cooking down and a runner passes me and I wish I was just starting instead of just finishing. There even might have been on a few ocassions after getting passed I say what the heck and start running again as I am sure the insane jealously would kill me! Anyways, I really now want to do this race. I looked at the info and it is 20 bucks -not bad- and the thing that sold me, the top 3 finishers in each age group gets a MEDAL! I don't think I have a chance in holy hell to get a medal but just knowing the option is there makes me want to pee my pants and run this race! I will have to look at what the weather forecast is going to be this weekend and see if the race is still open. Basically, I have to be an adult and look at this from all angles (or is it angels?!?!? yes i am stupid!) before jumping in and doing it just because "i really really really want to!"

5 days...

Since the 15th I have run almost 45 miles. I still have 40 more miles to run to end this month up with 100. I didn't not want to reach 100 and be even further from my goal and make the next month more of a catch up month. I am a little stressed when I realized what numbers I need to put up for the next five days.

Yesterday I ran 7 miles, today according to my plan I need to run another 7. Wednesday 6.5, Thursday 8, Friday NBD 10, and Saturday a nice easy 9. Ummm. I don't really see this happening considering that my old shoes I have been running in are on their last leg. Which is why I think my hips, knees, calves, everything have been extra sore.

I need to break in my new minimalist New Balance that I got but I know that if I try to put up big numbers back to back in minimalist running shoes I will be dying from soreness. So...I see a lot of 4's and maybe some 5's in my future but certainly not 8, 9, or 10. Not in these shoes at least and I really don't want to drop any more money on another pair of shoes. Although, it will need to be done sooner rather than later as I like to have at least two pairs. One for the gym, and one for outside.

Currently I have my New Balance minimalists as my outdoor shoes, so maybe I will have to buy one more pair and then be done for another 300-500 miles. Sorry Alan. I am trying not to spend money. It's just hard sometimes!!!! Shoes are cheaper than more visits to the PT!

Exhausted

7 miles / 54:40

60 min Body Pump

I am completely exhausted today. My workout was exhausting. I blame the crappy food from yesterday that I ate. I ate a lot of sugar and sweets and know that that is why I am feeling so worn down and exhausted today and made my workout so much harder than it needed to be! Why do I do this? I know what I feel like after I eat unhealthy. Stomach aches, nausea, tired, and like everything is just 21093r50948 times harder than it should be. Harder to stay awake, harder to run, harder to lift weights. Harder. Grr. Oh well. Maybe eventually I will remember well enough and stay far far away from bad things. Over the years I have gotten better with remembering how crappy I feel after crappy food. I typically stay away from fried foods and usually stay away from sweets and sugar. Not yesterday! I made homemade macaroons for my dad and my mom made creme de menthe brownies. Delish! I might have had another brownie tonight for dessert and I might be nauseous again tonight. GRR. maybe tomorrow I will be smarter!

Mt. Philo Recap

3.5 miles / 30 something minutes

I did it! I ran up Mt. Philo! I felt strong, empowered, and like I could do anything. I got some crazy looks while I was running up the road and they were walking down it but it made me smile to myself because I knew that they were thinking one of two things. 1. "Dang, that girl is fit and she is running up the mountain. I wish I rocked as much as she does." or 2. "that girl is so crazy, she is running up a mountain. What a nutcase but dang does she look good in those spandex capris!" Ok, maybe I am still high off of the endorphins but I loved it.

Alan came along and he hiked up the trail with Sirius. I got to the top first and then ran 1/4 of the mile down and then ran back up. I forgot to restart my watch so that is why it only shows 3.22 miles instead of the 3.5. On the way down Alan walked down on the road with me and so I took the dog and I would run down and then back up and meet Alan and then run down and back up etc. I had a lot of fun. I think I impressed Alan too. He said I was cruising on the ups when he was with me. I think he is proud of all my training and hard work I have been putting into my training despite my minor set back.

Below you can see the elevation gain and loss and my splits.

Up the Access Road I Go

Wish me luck. Alan, Sirius and I are heading over to Mt. Philo. I was going to head out alone and Let A-pod sleep in, however, I took a nap and just barely woke up myself. I was up at 7 and then laid on the floor. Bad news! Anyways, we are all going to go and Alan and Sirius are going to do a walk and then I am going to try with all my might to get to the top running! WISH ME LUCK! My legs are still a little tired from Fridays 10 miler but they are fresher today than they were yesterday. We shall see. I see lots of Gu, and Cliff Shot Blocks in my future :)

Running for Women

I just started reading Kara Goucher's book, Running for Women. So far, it is really good. Again, I just started it but I am expecting it to be pretty amazing. I am a big Kara fan and read her blog and follow whats going on in her life/training etc. So pretty pumped that she wrote a book and that I am getting to read it now! Woo Hoo.

I really like the way that it is set up so far. She has chapters but also in the chapters they are sectioned off a little and feels semi bullet pointy. Maybe I am delusional as I am completely exhausted right now, but it really works for this book. It also is nice when you are completely exhausted and you see that you have 20 pages left to finish the chapter and realize that the way that the book is set up you can stop right now and write a blog post and then go to bed. So what if it is MAYBE 8:30 on a Friday night! I worked hard today people, and my alarm is set at 6:20 for tomorrow's saturday morning gym wake up! Here is hoping to some more great mileage on a treadmill and a great body pump class!

Happy good friday and Easter weekend. Hopefully the Easter bunny put Kara's new book in your basket :)

Spring has finally Sprung!

10 miles / 1:27:08

I had a great run today. I wasn't really planning on going as far as I did but it is just too nice outside to have not taken full advantage of it. I ran the first 1.5 miles down to Alan's office to pick up the worlds best running buddy, better known as Sirius Wiki and we headed down to the waterfront. He was so excited at the beginning but as usual he gets into his groove and we are set for the rest of the run.

I am definitely ready now for the great weather. I am also so glad that my knee is feeling so much better and that I am able to run in the nice weather. That was the one thing I was so bummed about when I wasn't running. I had run all through the winter in crapstastic weather and then just as things were starting to get a little nicer out, no running for me. I am glad that I didn't really miss all the godo weather!

I still don't feel like I am where I was before my injury but I don't feel like I lost everything that I had been working on. I still have 5 weeks left to build up my speed and to get a great time.

Just what I needed

3.4 miles / 1.0 / 24:10
60 min Body Pump
2 miles / 1.0 / 14:10

I had a great run, which was just what I needed. I have been mildly stressing recently with my running. I feel like I am not where I used to be and that my running has been more of a struggle. Maybe this is because I am doing more recently on the treadmill and less outside? Not quite sure. I just feel like it has been a struggle. I felt like today was a good day.

I am hoping that the rest of this week will be nicer than it was today, THUNDERSTORMS, and I can run outside tomorrow with the dog! I know he will appreciate that! I am hoping to go this weekend to Mt. Philo and run up the access road. Get in a good hill burn! Not sure how well I will fare but it will be great training and a great sweat!

60 miles short

5 miles / 1.0 / 34:30
60min body pump

I just put in my mileage for today and noticed that I am about 60 miles shy for being on target. I am a little disappointed that I was sidelined with an injury and am behind on my goal. I told Alan and he asked, "do you think you'll ever catch up?" I answered yes, and I truly do believe that in the next few months I will make up for my 60ish mile deficit.

On a brighter note, or whatever, I am off to lay in bed (yes, it is not yet 7pm) and am going to watch last weeks biggest loser while Alan monopolizes the tv and watches a stupid movie that I have no interest in watching. I might fall asleep before 8 too. I have been truly exhausted lately. Paula mentioned that I might have low iron. I might be going to the store to pick up an iron supplement soon!

Life recap

3.9 miles / tm / 32 min

60 min. body pump (did my hip strengthening exercises during lunges but did the squat track - baby steps people!)

Yesterday I ran down to Alan's work, picked up Sirius and then ran home. The run down was quick. I felt really strong and back to my old self. Looking at my splits you can tell my pace significantly went down when I got the dog! It was 1.5 down to the office and 1.5 back. Puppy definitely wasn't in the mood to run. He had quite the play date at the office with Alan's co-workers dog, Sebastian, and he just wasn't in the mood for the run like I was. I wanted to go further than 3 miles but knew it just wasn't going to happen so went straight home.

After my run I got home, showered and got ready for my girls night. A few of my friends and I got tickets to our local theatre for the musical Chicago. Chicago is one of my absolute favorite shows and two of my friends were in the cast so I clearly had to go to support them. I had so much fun. The play was amazing and am so thankful that we were all able to carve out time during our busy lives to get together. Girl nights are few and far in between and I miss them. I really want to start having them more often as I think it is really important to hang out with your girl friends. Plus, it is always hysterical to hear the new pick up lines from guys!

Last night when getting out of my car and walking through the park with my friend Kim we heard a guy shouting. I tend to ignore stuff like that so I kept walking. Then a girl walked by and said, "I like your shoes and clearly he does too." I was a little thrown off guard. What was she talking about? Kim then told me that the guy that was shouting was saying "nice shoes. I have a foot fetish." and apparently he also said I had nice legs. Gee, thanks! Although, it did make me slightly less self conscious since I was wearing my first ever skinny tight fitting pants and wasn't fully comfortable in them as they are soooo different then what I normally wear for pants.

Today, I got up and went about my usual Saturday routine pre injury. I got up at 6:20am took the dog out and got ready for the gym. The gym opens at 7am on the weekends and I get there right as they open the doors to ensure ample time on my treadmill.

I didn't want to push it too much since I am still recovering so I only did 3.9 miles. I was tired of seeing a fraction of a mile in my mileage tracker so thought I would end that today. I wanted to go further but like I said, still trying to recover and didn't want to push too hard too fast. My right foot is giving me a little bit of an issue. I think I tried to over compensate a little bit for my knee and tweaked my stride or something last weekend. Who knows. I started to feel it during the run so I called it quits.

It felt so great to be on a treadmill again though. I know, I am so weird. I just am so happy to be back to running. I missed it so much. I also had a lot of fun at Body Pump as well. I even did squats today which was "nice". I lowered my weight that I normally do by 1/2 so it wasn't too much of a challenge but at least got me doing the motions of them again. I skipped the lunges completely as I felt that would be too much for my knee and didn't want to push it. I also started to feel a pain in my knee during the squats and knew I was maybe pushing it too much for today. Baby steps.

After the gym I got home and foam rolled. I noticed tonight that I gave myself a bruise from my foam roller. The PT said that it is common but I have never heard of anyone bruising themselves on a foam roller. Am I weirdly talented for being able to cause myself bruising from something with the name "foam" in the title? I am basically a walking disaster! Oh well. At least I am a "running" disaster now! Thank goodness!!!!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend so far! I desperately needed a mental break from work and am so happy to be having a relaxing weekend!

Are you training or do you run for fun?

That question I get a lot. It's so hard to answer it too. I do run for fun. I am also "training" for the marathon (or 1/2) as well. I say "training" because I am really not doing anything differnetly that I wouldn't normally do during any other week. I am not doing speed workouts, I am not following a training plan/ schedule. I am just running because that is what makes me happy, thats what keeps me healthy (mentally and physically) and that is just what I do and who I have become. Clearly I am not following a schedule because my training plan would be horrible. Take 4 weeks off before one half then take another week off, maybe run another 1/2 then 4 weeks later run another. Yeah I don't really know how that would work out. Good thing I'm not training! haha.

I usually answer the question on my running with an, "I run because it is the one thing that I selfishly do for myself that I love to do." It's honest and to the point. The fact that it keeps me healthy, at a good weight for my height and gives me a free boost of drugs (endorphins) to make me happy doesn't hurt either. I figure since I run so much I might as well get some racing bibs to hang on my wall while I'm at it and a few free t-shirts are nice too!

Another question I hate to answer: So when are you two having kids? Is it so wrong that I am too selfish that I don't want to give up my freedom? Yes, I feel like I am a horrible person because I am missing that "i can't wait to get married and have kids and my life will be finally complete" gene. I just never envisioned myself as a mother. I never imagined what it would be like to raise my own child, to be pregnant, and to hold my own baby after giving birth. I just haven't ever had that dream. I feel like people pity me and think, "poor Melissa. She doesn't want kids! How sad!" I don't know why people feel sorry for me. It was a choice. Not a choice made by my body but made by me, or I guess not made by me as I never really thought about it to make it a choice.

People also automatically assume that since I don't want kids, that I don't know what to do with them. Or that I don't like kids. Or that I will hurt them, or drop them, or do whatever. Nope. I am not retarded. I know how to hold a baby. I was a nanny for a baby and a 2 year old. They loved me, and I loved them. It was fun. However, at the end of the day I could go home, stay up late and then sleep in. They weren't my kids and if I didn't feel like it, I didn't have to go that day. Nanny's get sick days. Mom's don't.

I don't know how my friends who are moms do it. Paula runs every morning before her daughter V wakes up. She then goes home and is a mom all day long. Just listening to stories from my friends makes me tired, and I am not even doing anything. I am just listening to what they have to do everyday. I cannot give moms and dads more credit. In my eyes they are amazing. Superheros. Yes of course sometimes the stories makes me jealous. Taking a nap during the day and snuggling with a warm little midget next to you. Or listening to the things that a four year old comes up with and cracking up and peeing my pants because it is so innocent and so brilliant all at the same time. I do like kids. I just have never thought I would have my own.

So for all of you reading this blog, please do me a favor. Stop asking me these two questions. I hate answering them, and I hate the look of utter craziness when I say that I run for fun and the look of pity when I say that having kids for my husband and I aren't on our radar and in our hand of cards. I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks for reading my rant. I promise after today the mileage tracker for this month will move and more running stories will be added. Thanks for not un-following me!

New Commute and PT update

Yesterday I had my Physical therapy appointment. It went really well. I was told that I could go a week in between visits. WOO HOO! I was also told that getting back into running is fine and if my hip or knee starts to give me issues to stop and reduce mileage etc. I thought that was good and agreed. I knew they were more than likly going to give me the green light to run seeing as how I ran 13 miles on Saturday. It would have been pretty hard for them to tell me to not run for a few weeks or something.


I checked the weather last night for what it was going to be like today. Sunny and gorgeous. So I finally made my first commute via bicycle to work today. I left at 6:15 and got to work at 6:40. Next time I can leave the hosue later as it didn't take me as long as I thought it would take for me to get ready once I got to work. A quick change of the clothes does not warrant 20 minutes! All in all though it was a great commute. Definitely not all flat; good uphills, and some sweet downhills. I am excited to start incorporating this more into a daily thing and really reduce my carbon footprint and not be so reliant on gas and oil. Which is nice when the gas prices are getting closer and closer to 4.00 a gallon in Vermont! I hope to only have to fill up my car once a month or better yet once every other month!!!


Also in other exciting news. Alan and I have been talking for years about joining a local co-op during the summer. We looked into several through the years and I finally sent in the check yesterday for Pete's Greens. We will be receiving once a week a portion of that weeks harvest. This will go on for 17 weeks. I am super excited. I am a huge fan of farmers markets and buying local, organic, fresh produce. I also really want to support local farmers that are working hard to provide local, organic and fresh produce. Win win! I cannot wait until June when we will receive our first weeks worth of food. I signed up for the vegetables and the extra stuff too so am really looking forward to getting some salsa, honey, cheeses and anything else that they might throw into our basket for the week! YAY! I hope I get a ton of tomatoes so that I can have lots of caprese salads and can make fresh tomato sauce and salsa of my own. Yes I am a dork and a hippy! Why buy preservatives and other additives when you can have fresh, local, homemade REAL food!?!?!?! Yeah, when given the option, there is no option! I will definitely do a recap of Pete's after the end of the season and will definitely give weekly updates on what we get for the money we spent so everyone can be well aware how great a co-op is!

Unplugged Review

13.1 miles / 1:57:42
*Garmin says it is only 12.88 so who knows....

Nothing like a pre race photo session

What did we sign up for?!?!?! 13.1? I thought it was 1.31...EEK

Air running is easier than REAL running...

ready to head out. We can do this!

I am very proud of my time considering last week I was getting ready to put my bib up for sale on craigslist!! Not running in four weeks, being in physical therapy for 2 weeks and onlyrunning 5 miles in those 4 weeks. I WILL TAKE IT and I AM PROUD. I ran the whole thing with Paulaand I am so happy and proud of her. She looked great during the whole thing and I was a proud mama bear!

Her husband was awesome support too! He drove us to the start waited in the car with us, listened to all our antics and our Q&A and then hopped on his bike to meet us at the 1/2 way point and then again at the finish line. THANKS ANDREW!

Also want to give a shout out to my own Husband, Alan. He gives me constant support and I knew he would be at the finish waiting with SWP. I felt so loved! Thanks Alan for listening to all my dreams and seeing them through with me. I love you! He also is the absolute best Epson Salt Shaker!

A little nervous waiting to start

at the starting line....

This course was great. Started at one end of the bike path and ended at the other end. We got to run along the waterfront the whole way. It was great. The weather couldn't have been better. It was a little chilly in the morning but after 3 miles you warmed right up!

The sun was out and it was absolutely temperature wise amazing. I really have nothing bad to say about this course. They tell you up front with their motto, "No hills, no frills". You don't get a finishers medal, you don't get gu along the way. You get water at mile marker 4.5, 7.5 and then at 10 I believe. Which was fine with me. I can pack my own gu! The after race picnic was pretty nice though. They had wrap sandwiches, tomato soup, gatorade, brownies, sodas, waters etc. I thought it was a great race and a great training race for those competing in the KBCM in 8 weeks.

After finishing. Happy to be done! Clearly I was really into the double thumbs up today!

Here are my splits for the race. I tried to keep us at a 9min/mile pace and felt like I did a pretty decent job. You can tell I was feeling pretty well at around mile 7 and picked it up but then tried to rein myself back. Sorry Paula!

average 9:08 not too bad of a job! You might not want to hire me as a pacer but not too shabby for a rookie....Yes I am tooting my own horn!

*I am really bad at coming up with captions for photos and I get uber cheestastic when thinking of them. SORRY!

**all photos were taken by Andrew. Thanks Andrew for being a great photographer!!!

Unplugged- plugged in

I picked up my race packet today and I am so ready for this weekends race.

I had to re add all my music on my new ipod due to the songs not getting downloaded right when I dumped them off of my old ipod and then now my old ipod is messed up so I couldn't re dump them so slightly annoyed but I think I was able to re-download the music I wanted and I had some on an external hard drive. I knew it was only a matter of time before my ipod crapped the bed which is why I got the new one. Good thing I did. Anyways, because I had to re-do everything I made a new unplugged marathon playlist. I am so excited to listen to it on Saturday - if I'm not too busy gabbing with P-diddy!

Notice how I strategically placed till I collapse right in the middle of the playlist! haha!

What I'm Listening to

Since I got a new ipod that has 2g's more than my last ipod (30g now 32g) I figured I would download some more music. Yes, I am a music freak and completley fill up my ipod and legit listen to all my music. I had to delete some before and it about killed me. Luckily I backed it all up and now have all my music. I probably should have spent the extra 100 bucks and got the 64g. Oh well. Next time maybe. Anyways onto the goods *some of these are older and some have already made guest appearances on my blog before. I made a little playlist for today and this is what it includes: Robyn - dancing on my own. I like the original but the remix is where its at! Rihana - S&M Britney Spears - Till the World Ends Katy Perry - E.T with Kanye Kanye West - All of the Lights The Roots - The seed 2.0 Rihana - Rude boy (this was my summer 2010 song along with Akon Sexy Bitch) Teenage Crime - Adrian Lux Axwell Remix On a side note: I downloades senuti to dump all my music from my ipod to my computer to my new ipod. I am not overly thrilled with what it did. Some of the songs that I have listened to didn't fully download and they are a little jumpy. Not impressed. I need to figure out which ones are messed up and re-download them or something. VERY ANNOYING. I probably should have weeded through things and done it manually instead of automatically dumping everything and uploading everything. Oh well. You live and learn!

I'm Back B!TCH35

I feel relief that I see the mileage ticker on the right going up. It stayed at the same amount for the past 3 weeks. Yesterday I put the first mile on for the month and the first mile in the past 3 weeks. Today I added 4 more miles to it. I finally am feeling like there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I will be running and back to cranking out mileage soon!

my mantra for this weekends race:

13.1 you are my bitch lover.

You are my bitch lover comes from the funniest movie ever, Wedding crashers. After I finished my 1/2 marathon on the treadmill last month it was the first thing I said to Alan about my run. It pretty much summed it up. I finished it and I finished it strong. I ran the whole thing strong. I might not run my strongest 1/2 EVER, but it will be, by far better than my first attempt in 2008 *2:27:48* and I still have another 1/2 that I can choose to do at the end of April and then I have the big one at the end of May. I am feeling like my old self and back in business.

4 miles never felt so good

4 miles / 35 min

I was told that I could run 5-6 today. That then got downgraded to 4-5. PT said, ugh why not just do 4. Clearly PT stands for Physical Therapist and NOT Personal Trainer. I listened and did my 4 mile loop. I loved every second of every foot fall. It was absolutely glorious. I didn't have a single knee pain during the whole thing. I got home and then did my stretches and did some strengthening hip exercises that I have been given, foam rolled the crap out of my IT band and showered. I feel great. Mentally, I haven't felt better in the past 3 weeks than I do today. I am at peace.

To top off such a great day, my special package arrived that I ordered on Sunday. It was my congratulations - for - saving - a - butt - ton - of - money - only - to - give - it - to - the - government - for - taxes - so - you - don't - lose - your - job - and - go - to - jail. I ordered me an Ipod touch. WOO HOO. I am so pumped. I love my regular ipod but after 5 years together and countless drops and sweat puddles and mileage of being bounced around the reality was that it wasn't going to be around for much longer. Alan broke the news to me and I handled it better than I think he thought I would. I just finished dumping all my music from my old ipod to my computer to upload to new ipod. It's all very technical up in the GMR household tonight!

On another exciting news front my books I ordered came in as well. I read Dean Karnazes 26.2 mile book in like a day. It was that amazing. I ordered his other books and those came in as well as The Runner's World cook book, The Athlete's Plate. I am very excited for a particular recipe (hint: its red, and velvety and yummy and is in a cake form but cupped.....) Red velvet cupcakes are my absolutely favorite dessert. I will deserve these after this weekends race!

I also did some soul searching today. Talk about a busy day for me huh? Running, soul searching and signing for packages from the UPS guy. Anyways, I did some thinking about the race this weekend. A few days ago I wasn't even sure if I could run the race. After todays run and the go ahead from the PT I know I can physically do it, and mentally I obviously can. However, do I really want to go all out, get a great time but maybe push too hard too soon after my injury and risk getting hurt again. The answer, obviously, was no. So, I thought about what I should do. Paula is running this race as well. Its her first race ever. She is crazy and skipped 5k's 10k's or any other race and is doing the 13.1 as her first race. CRAZY. Anyways, I have decided I will run the race with her. She is not a slow runner by any means at all. She pushes it and is quite speedy. However, I think it will be a good balance because her pace is slightly slower than mine however I haven't run in a while so she might have to push me a bit. I think it will also be good because I remember how nervous I was for my first race and it will be good to run it with a friend to kill any nerves she might have. Or that I might have :) I am not completely selfless. I am nervous too! haha.

Here is to a great race this weekend and no knee pain at all!!!! I am going to ice tonight just to be on the safe side and not have any pain for tomorrow.

1 mile never felt so good

Today at my PT appointment I was able to run 10 min. PT set the treadmill at 6.0 and then allowed it to be slightly increased a little. I finished a little over 1 mile in 10 minutes. Best 10 minutes of my life!!!

So sad that it brought me so much joy! However, it just shows me how soon I will be back up to running. She even gave me the go ahead to run 4 miles tomorrow as well! WOO HOO. I am so pumped to do those 4 miles outside with the dog. I cannot wait. I will sleep just about as a 5 year old on christmas eve!

I am holding out all hope I will be able to run a great run on Saturday at the Unplugged. It was reiterated though that I need to stop if I feel pain and maybe do a walk/run attempt instead of running the whole thing at my normal pace. I said, "we'll see..."

1 + 2 = oh Shoot....

I got back from dinner and the addition and mathematical equations start immediately. Well, they actually started BEFORE we even walked into the restaurant and continued throughout. I wonder if I will constantly do math in my head whenever there is food in the area. Do I ever want it to stop though? I remember when I used to "not care" and that was when things were a little different, like my pant size!

Anyways, here is the recap:

1/2 slice of bread, no butter = 50

1 of 3 anaheim stuffed peppers (1/2 length wise cut anaheim pepper filled with cheese) = 100

1/4 burger - cut the burger in half and then only ate 1/2 of the 1/2 (lettuce, pickles, onion, light mayo, ketchup, no cheese) = 250

1 espresso martini = 200

1 beer = 150

= 750 at dinner oops!

I am really hoping that these are high estimates as I have no idea how many are in anything. We shall see. I am nervous for the weigh in tomorrow.

Dinner and Taxes

Alan and I paid our taxes, finally. Yes, we owed money to the Man so therefore procrastinated to pay them. We finally did as the due date was nearing. As a congratulations for - saving so much money only to give it away - and to drown our sorrows, we are going out to dinner tonight. I am very excited. We haven't been out to dinner in a while due to trying to save money. We are going to the Daily Planet. One of my faves. We have a gift card with some money left over that the amazing and beautiful Paula gave to me so we are putting it to good use. Thank God we have a gift card otherwise it would have been Velveta Mac and cheese tonight for dinner, which would not have helped my weigh in tomorrow!

April Fools Day

I feel like the joke is on me when I changed the miles for this month from 65.5 to 0. I am mad that I only ran 65 for this month and am pissed that I failed to reach my 100 mile goal every month and pissed that I didn't meet my first goal of 80 something a month to reach my 1,000 by the end of the year. I know I was injured and I am being hard on myself, but I am still disapointed and I can't just hide that. Oh well. I have 8 months to make up for my poor performance this month and I have some half marathons coming up that I think I might be give the ok to run! So Happy thoughts on this friday.