The Road to..

Hell a marathon is paved in good intentions.  I started off last week really well.  I ran every day.  Thursday, I could feel the back of my throat getting scratchy and my head started to pound, but I was able to pound out 4 miles.

Friday, I woke up, and Holy Heck, was I getting sick.  Vice squeezing my brain, sore throat.  Its my sure fire sign that something bad was coming.  I was super disappointed.  I was supposed to go out with friends to celebrate a birthday and I was going to see Katye (both of us would be in normal street clothes too!). Somehow, I managed to pull through the day, take a quick nap and had an enjoyable evening with some old friends and new one as well.  If you are from the Baltimore area, check out Alewife.  The menu, while small, is full of tasty items and the selection of beer is impressive. I have been there twice, and nothing I had was bad (though I LOVE their duck fat fries and buffalo chicken soup!).  We also saw Mr. Greengenes, a great cover band that plays the area a lot (and any time I have seen them has been free!).  It was nice to see Katye in a non running setting, and we had a great time, great laughs, and a few sangrias.

Perhaps that was the problem though.  We stayed out until about midnight, and I wasn't in bed until almost 2.  I woke up and felt like death warmed over.  I was too dizzy to try and run, so I ran a few errands, ran home and tucked myself into bed. Sunday, I woke up and worse than the day before!  Come on!!

Tuesday, I finally felt human enough to try to go for a run, and had a pretty successful 4 miles on the treadmill.  Wednesday, I tried to brave the 95% humidity at 9PM for a run, but it was short.  Tonight, I will attempt another 3 miles after the sun sets (yeah, we are having that nasty heat out here too).

I am excited because I have a new running buddy who has decided we should be accountability buddies too. I sure use this blog as a forum for my own accountability, but I am looking forward to having a friend out there that I won't be slowing down.  We are going to attempt 5 miles on Saturday at 7, and I have started to prepare my will now!

How is everyone's running going?  How are you dealing with this unbearable heat?    Do you have a favorite band you like to see?

Oh, and don't forget to enter my popchips giveaway.  You have until Wednesday!

Happy Running!

Popchips for a Month??

I have a new snack obsession lately-Popchips.  I first tried this treats at the National Marathon when they were handing out bags during the race.  Instantly, a new love was found.


Seriously, have you ever tried them?  These tasty little chips are not fried (gross) and not baked (again, gross), but potatoes cooked under pressure with some heat that pop.  They are crispy like chips and full of flavor and have made a happy home in my pantry (when I kind find them, that is).  You can read more about them here and here.


So, here is the good stuff about pop chips:

• They are delicious
• They are a healthy alternative to other potato snacks out there
• No preservatives
• No artificial flavors of colors
• No Cholesterol
• No Gluten ingredients
• No more than 120 calories per serving
• They have a variety of flavors
• Original
• Barbeque
• Sour Cream & Onion
• Cheddar Potato (My absolute favorite)
• Sea Salt & Vinegar
• Salt & Pepper
• Parmesan Garlic
• They are very filling.
• Did I mention they are delicious?

The Bad:

• I could eat the whole bag--like a jumbo sized bag
• They can be hard to find, especially in certain flavors.

Luckily, for you guys, I have your solution!  Lauren at Popchips has offered up a months supply of these tasty snacks to one lucky reader!!!

In order to enter, you need to:

• "Like" Popchips on Facebook (tell them I sent you) and post here to let me know
• Follow @Popchips on Twitter  and post here to let me know.
• Spread the word.  One extra entry for posting this giveaway on your blog and letting me know you did so.

The last day to enter will be July 25th at midnight.  The winner will be announced by Noon EST on the 26th and you will be on your way to obsessing over a tasty new snack!

So, what are you waiting for?  Pop over to Facebook and Twitter and post this on your blog.  Good luck to all!

Last night

I planned to blog last night, I really did.

I left work and went for a nice, easy 4 miles.  All was well until about 15 minutes into the run.  My gym was EMPTY (out of 30 treadmills, 3 were in use).  When the gym is that empty, I make every effort to put a buffer between everyone else working out.  I am sorry, but my personal space bubble is slightly larger than others.  I like my space.

I have seen this girl before and have run on the treadmill next to her before when the gym was packed and there weren't any others available.  With a TON of empty treadmills, you have to imagine my surpise when she picked the one right next to me.  RIGHT NEXT TO ME.  LIKETHISCLOSE.  Really?  REALLY?

Listen, I am a sweaty beast when I work out, even when its an easy workout.  Why on earth would you want to get next to this red faced, sweaty girl when you have plenty of options available down the line?  Every time I sped up, she did.  Every time I increased my incline, she did as well.  For 10 minutes, then she was done.  Guess she couldn't hang with this awesomeness!

Am I the only one that picks what machine is most isolated and uses that?  Its not the first time this has happened, and its surely not the last time, so while annoyed, I was not too worked up about it.  She didnt reek of perfume or smoke, wasn't singing (though she runs very heavy--clomp clomp clomp) so its not like its that big of a deal (thought she didn't wipe down the machine) but I am just curious.  Do you just jump on a machine at the gym?  Do you evaluate where there are less people and select based on that?  Do you have any rules you would like to put on an unofficial list of treadmill (or other equipment)?

After my 4 miles were done, I headed to one of my best friends' house to check out her new babies. :)  Her twins (just released from the NICU 4 days ago) were two of the sweetest, tiniest little nuggets and i just was able to love on them all night.  Surely you can understand WHY my blog was neglected after that :)

So I know I promised you my outfit for the MCM. 

Here is the shirt:

At the suggestion of a friend who has run the MCM several times, I am putting my name on the front of my shirt.

And I always tell people I shuffle instead of running.  LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem has become a favorite of the summer, so I figured it was a nice marriage for the shirt (and a little inspiration from Jamie's Facebook helped).

Couple this shirt with a yello running skirts skirt, I think I have a cute, bright and appropriate outfit.  Any thoughts?  Suggestions? 

Happy Running everyone!

And just like that

I am back on track.

Monday, I had a date with the dreadmill because of the unbearable heat in the DC area.  After 2.5 miles( in 27 minutes, thank you very much), I had to scoot (I had dinner plans and was running short on time).  Woke up this morning and felt pretty good.  Maybe a touch sore, but hey, those muscles haven't really been used.

Today, I was going to try and meet with Katye for a run (on the treadmill again, because it was HOTTTT!) but our schedules didn't mesh up, so she gave me instructions for my run today.  1 mile at an easy pace, 2 miles at tempo pace and 1 mile cooldown.

The first mile was nice and slow (she said easy!) at 12:45.

The second mile, I worked in my intervals of 10 min/mil for 2 minutes, walk for a min at 15min/mile. (all at a 1% incline)  I kept up the same for the third too.  By the time my fourth mile came around, I was feeling pretty good (aside from being BEET RED from it being so stinking hot in the gym) I decided I would do one more tempo mile.  That might have been the mile that almost killed me.  I pushed it out and felt great by the time I came to my last mile of cool down at a 12:45 pace.

I felt great when I left, but stiffened up in the car.  Am I getting old?  I had to come home and put some frozen corn on my knee because it was killing me.  I took a nice hot bath too (they kind of gross me out, but I have noticed they really help when I am all achy), so all in all, 2 days into training, I am feeling pretty good!

Would any bloggers out there be interested in a group run on Sundays on the National Mall in DC?  I am relatively close to the area and I spend a lot of time down in DC on the weekends.  I think it would be a lot of fun to get a group of bloggers together to get out and take on the Mall, so shoot me an email if you are interested!

Happy running!

I Can Be Bribed

I know, I know.  You have seen me disappear into the abyss and then make my way back promising to blog more.  And I lied.  I never did.  And like blogging, my training has fallen by the wayside. 


I wish I could offer up a better excuse, but the only one I have is I made other parts of my life a priority instead of running and blogging.  What?!  I spent a lot of time working with my trainer, spinning in lieu of running, studying for the CPA exam and partying it up being social and making new friends.  Lame, right?


This time is different, I swear.   Really, I do!   For one, I have a marathon in 16 weeks.  16 WEEKS.  Holy Crap--how in the heck is already the middle of JULY!!!!?!?!?!?  Summer, where have you gone?!  Also, I have been persuaded into running the Disney Pricness Half in 2012--and some extra incentive was thrown in if I started blogging again (I am not above bribery--in fact I respond very well to it--Katye knows this and used it to get me back on the wagon).


Lets face it.  I know where my strengths and weaknesses are and I need to be held accountable.  I need to report on my training runs, long runs and other races, otherwise, they may not every happen.  Lets just say that I don't envision a SMOOTH Marine Corp Marathon without sufficient training (and, I want to hit 5:15 on the MCM---its going to be WORK and I need to make sure I am doing it so I can be successful.)  And wait until you see my outfit for the MCM.  Seriously, I have it all figured out.  Do you like the "Party Rock Anthem" from LMFAO?  Then you will LOVE my shirt--the whole outfit is REALLY cute!


As a little reward for sticking around, I am going to be hosting a giveaway in a few days. Just an easy peasy, lemon squeezy entry to thank you for occassionally checking this out to see if I have resurfaced or am still alive.  Let me work out the details, but you will be rewarded, my dear readers, for sticking it out with me. 


Additionally, if anyone needs a brand new pair of Brooks Trance 9, size 9 and never worn, please let me know.  I have a pair I am looking to sell (I need a wide size) so please, shoot me an email here and we can work out the details.


Happy running all :)

Maryland Half Marathon

Today, I made my second attempt at the Maryland Half Marathon.  You may remember, that last year, this was my first half, the hills were brutal, the weather was gross and I only got by because of Katye. I was promised this year when I registered that the course was flat and fast and it would be a good course to run.  Last week, in a run with my cousin's husband B, I learned that this course was not flat.  At all.  It was a hilly e'ffer.

Luckily, the race was all of 5 minutes from A and B's house, so I was able to stay there Saturday night and sleep in until 6:30.  For some reason, I was not able to sleep; it was rather restless and I was up about every hour, but I still felt well rested.  I put myself together, ate a protein bar and B and I headed out.

Cute right?  My nails are even painted bright red--how coordinated of me!

At this point, the sky was gray, the day was kind of dreary and the temperature was nice.  The air was humid and heavy.  ICK.  The nice part about this race is now small it is.  Only 2000 runners, so all the logistics of a bigger race are not really factor.  We parked, walked to the start (I even managed to sneak into an unofficial stink box and avoided the nasty porta pot lines) and were ready to go in no time.  After some lovely chats and pep talks from the race organizer (who I may have called a liar under my breath) and sponsors we were off.

I started up with B, which was my first mistake.  I started way too fast for me. But I pulled back, started with my intervals and felt ok.  And then the hills started.  And kept going.  And my calf (remember how it bugged me really bad on Monday) started acting up.  I kept my intervals, cursing hills and thanking people (because honestly, how cute was I?) and kept going.  I decided at the first medic tent I would see if there was anything I could put on it and keep going.  But you know what, I never saw a medic tent (there were supposed to be 2 on the course).  I was a bit frustrated, but kept going.

And as I kept going, the hills kept going.  And remember how I said it was overcast and dreary?  Yeah, then the sun came out and I had left my sunglasses at home.  The sun was bright (I got sunburned!!) but I just kept going.

Honestly, I wish I had kept track of what was going on when, but I was kind of in my own head, thinking about things, listening to my tunes and focusing on not wanting to die.  To say I was unprepared for this race is an understatement.     Going into it, I didn't have an expectation of of where I wanted to finish, but more that I wanted to finish and have a good time, which I was able to do.

I finally saw the finish line as I rounded a corner and tried to sprint, but couldn't; my legs were spent.  I just kept my eyes ahead (and totally missed A yelling for me) and finish.  I even managed to PR by two minutes, even with as unprepared as I felt going into it.    How cool is that?

So, now I have two nice pieces of hardware.  If only I ran the inaugural year and had the first medal!

Happy running all!!

Making it rain

So, I bought a groupon a while ago for this great gym that Katye goes to that offers the amazing treading classes.  And I totally got suckered into a membership.  I got free enrollment and 10 free ½ hour sessions with a personal trainer.  Luckily, I still have my handy student ID (shhhhhhh) and got a discounted rate because of that.

I am super excited because this gym is AWESOME.  Great equipment, lots of great classes and lots of perks.  I am excited to work with my trainer too (I specifically asked for a mean one) and developing a training plan outside of running that will really help me meet my various goals for my upcoming races.

Last night was my first night of my membership, so I decided to test out the calf and give treading a try.  It was great.  There was a far less annoying instructor (there is one girl who talks ALL THE TIME) who likes to kick you butt with some serious incline intervals.  I took my speed down a bit so I would not be pushing my calf speed wise, but I turned up the incline (hello, 12%) and had a killer workout.  Seriously, at one point, I kept feeling water splash me.  Oh, that was sweat flying off my crazy pony tail.  YUP.  I was drenched.  Thank you, treading class J

It’s hard to believe that my half marathon is almost here.  Seriously, how in the heck did that happen?  Here is a few things that I am not thrilled about with the race.

First, this week has been amazing here in Baltimore. Clear, sunny and overall perfect.  So, it would make sense that on race day, the forecast looks something like this.

Jealous of my mad paint skills, aren’t you?

Just for giggles, here is the course map and the corresponding elevation chart.  Lets hope I don’t drop dead. 

I am pondering my outfit.  I ran this race last year (it was my first half marathon) so I was thinking about busting out last year’s shirt (that doesn’t break any race day protocol right) and my red and white mini dot skirt and my black CEP socks.  Sounds cute right? 

I am excited because I am going to have an on course cheering section.  My awesome (and preggo—sorry A—totally stole your thunder in the blog-o-sphere) is going to come out and cheer for her husband and me J  Have I told you how much you rock??  Because you totally do.

OK folks, I am off.  Gonna get myself all prepped for Sunday!  Happy running!