There goes my PR

Uh oh...this can't be good. We just ordered champagne.

Live from the airport

Yeah! I'll be able to blog from New Orleans! KT is cool with her fancy iPhone. I'll let you know how the run goes

A New House!

We just got back from settlement on the new house. Everything went really smoothly and we were in and out rather quickly, after signing our life away of course! We were going to go out for a celebratory lunch/drink but decided to run some errands first. We leave town very early tomorrow morning to head to New Orleans for the Mardi Gras Half Marathon. With the crappy week of work behind me and settlement over, I'm going to throw my running clothes in a bag and get into vacation mode!! I am really looking forward to around 9am Sunday morning when I'm done running and the fun can begin!

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend. I won't be back on line until mid next week, but it will be a post filled with exciting race news (please PR!) and probably pictures that I really shouldn't post. KT and I plan on earning our beads! ;-)

Now it's time for some packing, a quick nap, then off for celebratory happy hour.

My First Award!

Look what showed up in the mail today! My award from the Philly Distance Run!! It's my first award and needless to say, it's going to be displayed proudly in the new house.



This really cheered me up, since I've been having an insane week at work. Not only do I not get to check in on all the blogs I follow over lunch, I've been working at night from home so I haven't had a chance to do it then, either. Grrrr...don't you hate it when work gets in the way of blogging?? So my apologies for not commenting lately.

Even with work being nutso, I have been getting my workouts in. I ran 5 miles in a hurry on Monday after work and was happy with the pace (mile 1 - 8:30, mile 2 - 8:00, mile 3 - 7:40, mile 4 - 7:30, mile 5 - 7:30-8:00), finishing 5 miles just under 40 minutes. I realized that I really don't push myself enough. I could easily have done several more miles under the 8:00 pace. I felt like I could still talk and wasn't that spent afterwards. After the half marathon on Sunday, I'm going to start running harder a few times a week. I think I should wear my heart rate monitor to keep better track of things, too. I'm planning to run 6 miles tomorrow morning and a few on Friday with some added cardio and lifting. I'm off from work on Friday for settlement so I am going to get a long workout in since Saturday will be shot traveling to New Orleans.

Eye Twitch

I get an annoying eye twitch when I'm REALLY stressed. It's been twitching for a few days straight now...ugh, so annoying. Work is piling up and it's not stopping (and yes, here I am blogging), settlement on the new house is this Friday, then we leave town on Saturday for New Orleans. I'm not nervous about the race, but really excited!! I'm past the point of getting nervous for runs now, the marathon cured that!! I'm just completely overwhelmed with house stuff. There is so much to do, line up, order, buy, organize, decide, decide, decide! I've never renovated a house before, on a timeline nonetheless. I know it will all fall into place, but just thinking about all that's to come over the next 2 months is very overwhelming.

I didn't run this morning because Andy decided to sleep in and since it sounded so nice, I thought I'd join him. I will head out after work for a 5-6 miler, though. I'm also going to do one more progress test for the 100 push up challenge. See if doing them later in the day when I'm all warmed up makes any difference. If at this point I'm still not ready to move on to week 5, I might call it quits. Will kill me to do that, but I've already repeated week 4 twice. This 6 week challenge is going to turn into a 6 year challenge at the rate I'm progressing. I won't stop push ups all together though because I've noticed a HUGE change since starting this. Instead, they'll become a part of my routine lifting.

*Fingers crossed* that I can squeak out at least 31 solid, good form push ups tonight!

Not Race Ready

I just got back from a 12 mile run and I am a little disappointed. I just don't feel like I'm in shape to run a race. Now, it could have been the conditions. It was cold and we were running on packed down snow so it was pretty slippery. But I just felt slow and out of shape. My body wasn't tired, I just didn't have much to give. I finished what I set out to do and averaged a 9:37 pace (total time 1:55), just wish I felt better at the end of it.

Next Sunday I'm running the New Orleans half and I was hoping for a PR (need to beat 1:46), but I'm not sure that's going to happen. Today's run just left me feeling sort of defeated. :-( I have 10 more miles to get in to reach my goal of 100 each month so I'm thinking of doing that early this week and then not running the rest of the week. Maybe a little rest would help me feel more into it come Sunday morning.

I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Frosty Fingers Photo Friday

Well, it's Photo Friday over at Nikemom so I thought I'd post a picture I took on Monday after my run in the snow. I have Raynaud's Syndrome, sometimes referred to as a "Raynaud's Phenomenon." I have it pretty good not only in my fingers, but also my toes and nose. When it happens I can't feel my fingers and they are extremely sensitive to temperature. When the blood starts to come back, they burn like hell and turn fun shades of blue/purple/red. (I'll have to get a picture of this for next Friday!) It is almost always triggered during cold weather, but air conditioning and even eating cold foods will also cause it to flair up. It's really bizarre. While it's usually contained to just finger tips, Monday after my run I could just not warm up (story of my life!) and I lost feeling in ALL fingers, the entire finger. This picture doesn't do it justice because I had to wait for Andy to get out of the shower to take the picture for me. At that point, the blood was starting to come back a bit.

I took today off from running and did the elliptical instead. My IT is feeling sooo much better since I've been using the painful, but oh so wonderful, foam roller. But now my left knee is hurting. I thought I'd give it a rest since I'm planning a 12 miler tomorrow morning. We have a little bit of a heat wave here so it will be in the 30's for my run tomorrow. Woo hoo! That's almost shorts weather!

I Could Be An Ultra??

Wow, I can't believe how much support I'm receiving for my Lone Ranger run. I just started fundraising on Monday and I've already upped my fundraising goal! This is such a great cause I'm going to continue fundraising right up till race day. I mean, why not?


I took yesterday off from working out. I got close to ZERO sleep on Monday and could not get myself to the gym. I did get in a beautiful 7 mile run on Monday, in the snow, so at least I had some mileage in for the week. I lifted today, did Day 3 of Week 4 for the 100 push up challenge and am really looking forward to my run tomorrow morning. I'm all pumped up now that I have 20in24 to look forward to. I was doing some reading today and read that any distance over a marathon is considered an ultra marathon. How cool is that?! So while I'm shooting for 6 - 8.4 mile laps, if I go just a little over 26.2 I could be an ultra marathoner?? I googled ultra marathon training plans today to see what running 50 miles would entail and actually, the plans don't seem that bad. Relatively speaking. Most of them look like it's really about the time spent on your feet and getting used to that. Needless to say, distances like this are not run at a fast pace. Well, they definitely won't be run at a fast pace by me! Since I'm going to follow a plan, just for some general guidance, I'll post the one I finally decide to go with. I'm planning on starting right when I get back from New Orleans since some of the plans are up to 25 weeks long. If I do this, what will I sign up for next...??

Big Announcement!!

I ran my first half marathon in Las Vegas in Dec 2007. Less than a year later I ran a 210 mile relay race in New Hampshire and then my first marathon. Thinking about what was in store for this year, I really wanted to do something new in 2009. And I found what that something new is...

I'M A LONE RANGER

I registered for 20in24 as a Lone Ranger. This is an event to support Back On My Feet, which I've mentioned in my posts before. I will be running as many 8.4 mile loops as I can in 24 hours. The event starts at 10am July 18th and goes until the following morning. Now, the weather out here in July is not exactly great for running with the disgusting heat and humidity, but I'll be prepared and play it safe. Lone Rangers are actually watched pretty closely by the race committee and they can make the call for a runner to stop at any time. They even weigh you throughout the day to make sure you haven't lost an unhealthy amount of weight. Since this isn't a timed race, I'm going to take each loop easy and just have fun with it. My ultimate goal is to do 6 loops, but I will be happy with whatever I complete. Lone Rangers are allowed to have pacers with them so if anyone is interested in doing a lap with me, I'd LOVE it!! I was even thinking that some other Philly locals might be interested in this. You know who you are...ND, Laurel, Abby, Flyers26, JoyRuN. Any out of towners interested??

I am fundraising for this event, which will complete one of my goals for 2009 of being a fund-racer for BOMF. If anyone is interested in donating to this cause, please click this link http://www.active.com/donate/bomf20in24/20n24DTerry to take you to my fundraising page. Any little bit is greatly appreciated.

I am REALLY excited for this! It's going to involve some interesting training, but I'm ready for it. I'm a lone ranger, baby!

GO EAGLES!!

Heading out to watch the EAGLES spank Arizona today. In preparation of some cocktails, I worked out for a little over 2 hours. I really wanted to run today but I had to give my knees a break. Instead I did the bike, elliptical and lifted. I used the foam roller after my workout to massage the IT band and while it felt good, it hurt like hell!! I'm going to run out and buy one of these today. I need to get this IT business under control so I can start racking up some serious miles. I am going to need them if I take on my next challenge. Which I hope to commit to this weekend.

I'm feeling a little bothered by my weight lately. I was doing really well but the week after Christmas I sort of feel apart. After reading so many great blogs with food suggestions, I decided to expand my horizons a little bit. Well, all I'm realizing is that I can't have a lot of options in the house. One it overwhelms me and two, I end up eating more than I should. I went to bed last night feeling frustrated and woke up feeling the same. I hate when that happens. But it's a new day and I need to not dwell on the number on the scale. Maybe it's time for Andy to hide it again.

Wussed Out

I wussed out and didn't run outside this morning. It was only 6 degrees out (not accounting for the wind chill) and I just didn't want to 1) lose my nose to frostbite 2) risk getting hurt because I never warmed up enough 3) be coughing up a lung the rest of the weekend. So instead I ran 10 miles on the treadmill at the gym. I was dreading it but it wasn't that bad. The first 6 miles went so fast! The last 4 were a little rough due to the IT issue, but I finished. Afterwards, the pain is so bad, though. It calms down after I stretch but right after I'm done running the pain actually makes me wince and I find myself saying "ouch" out loud. I stretched really good, took some Advil, and iced it when I got home. I'm thinking about ordering The Stick. Anyone use it for IT issues?

My run today brought me to 65 miles for this month. I'm on target for my 100 miles a month but realized it won't be as easy to hit this goal each month because January is longer. (has 5 weekends).

I did A LOT of thinking during my run today and I'm hoping to sign up for something this weekend. Hopefully some other bloggers in this area will join me. Stay tuned for a big annoucement!

Some Randomness

Not much going on right now. Work has been kicking my butt this week so I'm really looking forward to having tomorrow and Monday off. It would be a perfect weekend to get some nice long runs in outdoors but it's FREEZING here. The high is only in the teens tomorrow so I guess I'll be spending some quality time with the treadmill at the gym. I am planning a 12-14 mile run for Saturday though, so I better get my parka out!

Since I don't have much to say, I'm just going to jot down some random things...

1 - I ran after work on Tuesday, instead of in the morning, and I had a GREAT 6 mile run. I felt so light on my feet and ran hard and could have kept going if I wasn't so hungry and ready for dinner.

2 - I did the performance check for the 100 push up challenge after week 4 and I need to repeat week 4. I maxed out at 28 and needed 30 to move on to week 5. BUT, after the assessment I lifted and I felt like my normal weights were no challenge at all. I ended up upping all my weights, had a great workout and am perfectly sore today.

3 - Chapter 4 was missing from my Personal Trainer text book. The entire chapter...just not there. Thankfully they sent me a new book and didn't make me return the other one because I had notes in the margin and stuff highlighted.

4 - I find something really weird about Andy. Well, I find lots weird but something in particular I find really odd. Andy will fart and not excuse himself. Same goes for burping. In fact, both bodily functions are quite funny to him. And fine, I can accept not excusing yourself for a toot when it's just us two, especially since I've been known to have my own issues. But here's the weird part...whenever he coughs or sneezes he says "excuse me." And when he says it, he says it in this really soft, sweet, tone like he's truly sorry and shocked that something so horrific was expelled from his body. Does something not seem right here?

TAG - I'm It!

I was tagged the other day by JoyRuN. I have to be honest, I sort of ignored it because let's face it, I'm just not that interesting. But then I was tagged by Raulgonemobile and Marlene and I realized that people must be dying to know more about me. ;-)

Well, I'm not kidding when I say my life consists mostly of sleeping, working, exercising and the too often bender with friends. Since I didn't think I could come up with 4 items for each topic, I listed whatever I was able to think of.

Favorite Memories from 2008
1 - Philly marathon
2 - Reach the Beach

Favorite Movie from 2008 (movies rarely hold my attention)
1 - Little Miss Sunshine

Favorite Foods from 2008
1 - Oatmeal
2 - Crunch n Munch
3 - Oatmeal
4 - Crunch n Munch

Favorite Places in 2008
1 - Negril, Jamaica
2 - Home

Things I liked in 2008
1 - Not traveling over the Holidays (I more than "liked" this part of 2008)
2 - Finding and buying our new house
3 - Training for Philly
4 - Starting my blog and meeting all these great people

Things I'm looking forward to in 2009
1 - My first Niece!! *
2 - Moving into our new house
3 - Running more races
4 - Being able to say I'm a personal trainer (fingers crossed)
5 - More oatmeal

*My sister and brother in law are adopting and will be heading to Russia soon to pick up their new baby girl! We can't wait until she gets here!

Maintenance Needed

I feel so lost not following a training program, I do much better when I hold myself to a routine. So I did some searching today and I found a maintenance plan that alternates between 30 and 33 mile weeks. It's 5 days of running with the long run being either 10 or 12 miles. Now 5 days of running is ok, but I need 2 days for lifting so that equals ZERO days off. How do I always end up with no days off? If I had more time in the day, I could do lifting and running on the same day, but there's just never enough time. I like to do total body when I lift so I need a fair amount of time. I guess I could break it up, but I know I'll still feel rushed. I hate feeling rushed when I lift.

I had to drag myself to the gym today. Slept like crap last night because of Newman. If he wasn't so cute I'd probably kill him. Anyway, I got there and did the elliptical because I wanted to save my knees for a longer run tomorrow. Also did Week 4/Day 3 of the push up challenge and it went really well. Maxed out at 20 on the 5th set. Next up is a progress test then moving on to Week 5...hopefully. This is where it really picks up and you do 8 sets instead of 5.

Weekend was good, busy, and a little crazy with some friends! Did a ton more house stuff yesterday and made the decision to put the hardwood floors in ourselves. Yes, the couple who has never done a home renovation before has decided to lay about a thousand square feet of hardwood flooring. This may be the end of a very beautiful marriage...

One Hundredth

Wow, this is my one hundredth post already. When I started this blog over the summer, I wasn't sure I knew what to talk about. Now...well, I've shared more than I ever thought I would!

Anyway, went on an easy 10 mile run today. One of my running partners is coming off an injury so the plan was to run an easy 9 min/mile pace. This turned out to be a really good thing as my ITB hurt as soon as we started. It doesn't bother me nearly as much when I'm on the treadmill, if at all, but it really acts up when I'm running outdoors. It was a great morning for a run. There was a light coating of snow on the ground and everything looked so pretty! It was only in the 20's and freezing out, but there were a ton of other nut cases, oh I mean runners, out there. We passed a large group of runners from Back on My Feet, out for their morning run. It was inspiring to see people who are taking matters into their own hands, trying to better their situation and it's all starting with running.

It's been a relaxing Saturday so far. I was going to go take my second nap of the day (I did get up at 6am for the run!) but I think I'll go do some studying instead. Currently I'm reading about all the different bones and motions of the body. I'm not kidding when I say there have been a few times when I read an entire sentence and could not pronounce a single word. I'm going to make a great PT!!

Thanks!

I can't tell you enough how much I appreciated all the nice comments you left on my last post. After I posted that, I actually turned my computer back on and almost deleted it. I'm really glad I didn't. It's nice to get it out once in a while and know that I'm not alone...and not crazy (well, that might still be debatable!). Anyway, thank you. Your comments meant a lot.

It's been a crummy week in general, but I'm starting to get out of my funk. Maybe because it's Friday?? Even though the weekend if full of more house stuff, I'm looking forward it. I'm running 10 miles tomorrow with some friends and hope to get it in before the snow/rain comes. I don't mind running in either, just don't want it to be slippery out.

Since I'm keeping track of my monthly mileage (goal of 100 miles per month), I added a new gadget to my sidebar...thanks to RunToFinish. I stole the idea from her! I haven't figured out all you can do with this log yet, but it's so cool!! Check out http://www.logyourrun.com/ if you're interested.

The only other thing I have to report right now is that the 100 push up challenge might be impossible. I did day 2 of week 4 today. Good Lord! I'm glad I made this a 2009 goal because it might just take all year for me to accomplish this one!!

And since it's Photo Friday over at Nikemom, I leave you with this. My babies...

Too Much Information

I'm in a funk today. There's no hiding that I have a few issues, but I have never really written about them in detail before. I joke about being crazy but that's just my way of dealing with it and keeping things light hearted. Truth is, I have battled depression and anxiety and have had a lot of issues surrounding eating/food. Currently, I am doing great. I'm getting the help I need because I realized after years of trying to "fix it" on my own, that it wasn't something I could just make go away...or live with any longer. And I didn't want Andy to have to live with me like that any longer, either. I know I wasn't pleasant to be around and the last thing I wanted to do was to push him away. So, I've been getting help, made significant improvements and am doing really well. However, I have always had a brain that would JUST-NOT-SHUT-OFF! I mean, my mind is going all the time, rather obsessively. Usually about food and what I should/shouldn't eat, and constantly planning what I'll eat for the next snack, meal, day. It's absolutely draining to have a constant battle going on in your head and right now I just feel like I want to cry.

*deep breath*

Anyway, I know I've been making progress because I'm realizing how much I really do obsess over the food issue and how it's the onset of my anxiety. I always knew I thought about it a lot, but I never realized how bad it was until recently. I think before my depression masked the anxiety I was feeling. But now I feel the anxiety...full force. And it sucks. So, that's it. I'm going to talk to the Doctor about this. I'm sick of feeling mentally exhausted all the time.

Sorry if this was too much information. When I'm feeling like this, I don't like to talk at all, not even to Andy. I wanted to try to write about it to see if it helped as an outlet for some frustration. And you know, I'm actually feeling much better than when I started this post.

Please don't stop following! I'm not that crazy, really!! :-)

Re-Do

With all the running around for the new house over our Holiday break, I didn't have time to study for my Personal Training certification like I wanted to. I was hoping to make a lot of headway, but before I knew it, it was back to work. I don't do well starting, stopping and then picking up right where I left off. So, today I started over. Now, I'm not that crazy. I was only on the beginning of chapter 2. But don't get me wrong, chapter 1 was long and I felt overwhelmed when I read it the first time! I'm hoping once I get past the heavy anatomy portion and onto the more familiar topics it will go much faster.

I took yesterday off from working out after my almost 3 hour workout on Sunday. But I was back in my routine this morning and ran 6 miles before work. I'm *REALLY * toying with the idea of a spring marathon. But that would mean training would need to start on Monday!! Am I really ready for that again? I just got to the point where I was able to stay awake on the drive into work and not have to head to bed at 8pm! While I wouldn't train as intensely as I did for Philly, I think it will be something good to keep me on track. Why does the NJ marathon have to be the same day as Broad Street?? Ugh. Anyone out there running the Pocono or Delaware marathon??

I just signed up for the Frostbite 5 miler in February, a few weeks after the New Orleans half. I'm also keeping my eye out for a good 5k. I think I convinced my sister Jeanette to run one. She's not a runner (yet) but is willing to give it a try. Who knows, maybe I'm rubbing off on her...

Lucky 13 - Hopefully!!

I could not get myself out of bed this morning to workout before we headed out to do more house stuff. It actually worked out better, though. I headed to the gym a little after 2pm today and didn't leave until they announced that the gym was closing at 5pm!! I wanted so badly to get 15 points on the last day of the HBBC but ended up with a measly 13. ;-) I was going to go for a walk after dinner to get in another 2 miles, but now that I'm showered, full and cozy, I think 13 points will have to due. My workout consisted of running 4 miles, lifting for an hour, elliptical for 30 minutes and then the bike for another 30 minutes. After all that, I took my time with abs and stretching and doubled my usual time and spent a half hour on this. I can't wait to see who won! Now that it's over, I'm taking tomorrow off! I haven't had a day off since Dec. 11th, I think I deserve it.

I'm looking forward to getting back into my routine tomorrow and a quiet month before we go to New Orleans. We ended up buying a dining room table today, when we went out to pick out hardwood for the floors, so I'm putting myself on lock down for a while. Now that I have important stuff to buy, I'm done buying stuff unless I need it. We'll see how long this lasts!

Oh, and before I go for the night...is it acceptable to blow a snot rocket at the gym? In doors?? Into a trash can?? I mean, there are paper towel dispensers everywhere! Can't you just blow your nose instead of spraying snot out of each nostril??

Only 2 days left

Only 2 more days left to earn some HBBC points. More great prizes were added for the winner of the challenge. I don't know how Runtofinish organized all this, but I think she deserves something after all the time and work she's put into this. Maybe all the participants can put our heads together and think of something nice to do for her. I'm really bummed because I over slept a little yesterday and didn't get in the amount of time I wanted at the gym. I did go for a 7 mile run this morning though and did some weight lifting. I think I might lay down for a nap and then head out for a walk or something to earn some more points. Needless to say, my entire day tomorrow will be spent working out!!

On a side note, I killed one computer and infected another by using facebook. Yup, got 2 viruses. So I don't have a computer right now and might not be able to be back on line until Monday. Be careful if you're on facebook...our computers are pretty well protected and something still got us.

Enjoy what's left of your vacation. I'm very bummed it's all over and am not ready to go back to the craziness of work. Andy and I are going out for our nice holiday dinner tonight, though. I'm looking forward to some good sushi!! Mmmm.

Happy New Year!!

I hope everyone had a safe New Years Eve. We went to a party at our friends house and stayed over. I haven't been up that long in ages! Didn't go to bed until after 3am. Then at 7 something this morning, Andy was telling me he was awake and ready to head home. UGH. I managed to roll myself out of bed to the car around 8 and we headed home. As soon as we got here, I went right back to bed until noon! Needless to say, I've been feeling sluggish and gross all day. But, I did make it to the gym but it's only because of HBBC! I am beginning to think I am way too competitive!! Total points as of today = 157.60

It's been a busy few days and I can't believe my long vacation is coming to an end. I really don't feel like I had much down time while I was off. We did manage to get a lot done for the new house, though. We went furniture shopping and bought living room, family room and master bedroom furniture. All that's left in terms of furniture is a dining room table and some end tables. We even ran out today and bought a new mattress. And I have to say, mattress salesmen are pretty intense. I didn't know it was so "used car salesman like." We are meeting with a contractor tomorrow to get another quote on the kitchen renovations. This is the biggest stress for us right now so once we get the kitchen ironed out, we'll be able to relax a little.

As for running, I ran 10 miles yesterday and feel much better now knowing I still have some of the distance in me. I'm going to try to run at least a 10 mile run each week from now until the New Orleans half. I really need to get serious with some ITB stretches, though. I don't put myself out of commission. Well, I'm off to bed. I'm exhausted and want to get up at my typical work day time tomorrow and head to the gym. I need to start getting back into the routine...