Winter/Spring Races!!

I was productive over the past few days lining up my race calendar for the winter/spring. I had been going back and forth as to whether or not I wanted to race a marathon in March and then run Boston for fun, but I just couldn't get myself to pull the trigger. I was absolutely sure I wanted to race a marathon before I got into triathlons this summer (more on that to come!) and I was positive Boston was not the one to race. I'm too focused when I race and too strict leading up to it. I want to enjoy every step of Boston from the moment I get there, through the race, and up until I leave. Racing is not conducive to that. So yesterday, with just under 12 weeks to go, I registered for Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach!! I ran this last year and even though I blew up, I had such a great weekend and learned a ton. As long as I put in the effort to train hard for this, and it's not as hot as it was last year, I think know I can get my redemption for Philly down there. So, there it is...I'll be racing harder than I ever have at Shamrock. I got a kick ass training plan with the help of a friend and I feel more driven than I have all year. After analyzing the plan for a few minutes, I called Andy and said, "Shit, the next 12 weeks are going to be SO hard. I can't wait!"  I'm actually excited to buckle down and put in the hard work. It will be the toughest 12 weeks I've done yet and I'm hoping the hard work pays off with a sub 3:35 finish. I'll share more of the training soon but first, this is what else I have lined up...

February -  I'll be racing Frostbite 5 miler, which I run every year. I'm hoping to go balls to the wall with this one to gauge where I'm at for Shamrock. I ran a 37:08 (although my garmin had me 10 seconds faster, grrr) last year and was in no shape to be racing at that point. I'm hoping to see an improvement in 2011 with a solid month and a half of training under me.

March - Shamrock Marathon...going for that PR. Enough said.

April - BOSTON!!! Plan on putting in a good effort but will have a blast out there collecting kisses from the college students and doing cartwheels across the finish line!

June - My first TRI!! I registered for a little sprint TRI just to get my feet wet. It's a 1/4 mile swim, 10 mile bike ride and 2 mile run. I'll cross train all through the winter to get ready for this and am considering a bigger TRI mid to late summer. I love the sound of 70.3...just gotta get the guts to register!

Here's my schedule for the week:
Mon - 3 mi, cross train (AMT)
Tues - 5 mi with 6 strides at 6:58
Wed - lift total body, bike trainer
Thurs - 5 mi, cross train
Fri - 16 mi
Sat - cross train
Sun - 3 mi, cross train, lift total body

Good News!

It's been a nice little break from bloggy land. With the holiday and all the celebrating, I just didn't have time to think about blogging. In fact, just today I was wondering if I really had anything to even write about now that things are slowly getting back to normal. Then I got a little letter which I have been anxiously awaiting...

We were told a few months ago that the Brooks ID program was changing for 2011 and there would be different levels of membership. I wasn't sure what to expect since I was new to the program in 2010 and had my first injury which kept me sidelined, but I knew everyone currently in the program would be invited back in some way. As I read the forum posts about people getting their letters, some disappointed and some happy with where they fell, I started to worry about what Brooks was basing their decision on. I'm not an elite athlete. I'm not winning races or taking home the grand prize. And I sure as heck have had my share of falling apart during races. Sure, I may win a few age group awards from time to time but other than that, I'm just an ordinary runner pushing myself and trying to improve. And while I'm doing it, I try to smile and inspire others to run.

Well, turns out that's all that matters!! I was invited to join the Brooks 2011 Inspire Daily PACE (Performance and Coaching Elite) team today. I'm honored, ecstatic and love that having a passion for running has opened doors like this for me. I feel very lucky to be selected for this team and I am looking forward to a year of kicking ass and spreading the word.

Hope everyone had a great holiday. Santa was very too good to me and we got to spend a lot of time with the family, which is my favorite part! I'm hoping to have a few giveaways in the beginning of the New Year and I have another little annoucement to make later this week. Stay tuned!

Happy Medium

The Holidays are such a rough time of year. Way too much celebrating going on and not enough structure for this girl who loves routine! This time last year, right after Philly, I was lost without a gym membership, got caught up in all the Holiday eating and drinking, and put on a few too many pounds. Running wasn't enough to keep me on track and I was struggling to find the motivation after a busy year of running an Ultra then going right into training for my BQ attempt. I remember trying to hide the few pounds I gained and can still remember how crummy I felt on Christmas morning. My clothes were tight and I just felt horrible. But the celebrating continued through the new year and I remember times when I actually didn't want to go out because I couldn't stand how my clothes fit. I resolved to get back on track in the new year but I struggled for most of the winter and even into the summer to get things under control. 

Now I'm back at my most hated time of year and struggling to stay focused. I'm counting down the days till I go back to work and am back to my safe routine away from lazy days and partying nights. Thankfully I have a gym membership again, my motivation to workout is in full swing, and the pounds are (barely) staying off. But once again, I find myself struggling to find that happy medium. I want to be able to have fun and not beat myself up the day after because of it. I want to enjoy my time off work rather than dread the next few days of non stop Holiday parties. I'm envious of people who can enjoy cookies, candy and cocktails and not think twice about it. Don't get me wrong, I'm having this stuff, too, but I can't really say I'm enjoying it. At the time, it's fun but the next day, it's all about remorse.

I'm finding myself wanting to cancel some plans I have coming up just because I don't want to expose myself to the temptations, but at the same time, I know that's no way to live. I want to be able to have fun and not worry while I'm sipping my champagne that my pants might be a little tight because of it. Life is too short and I wish I could learn to live more in the moment and not worry about the stupid stuff.
I think I know what my 2011 resolution is going to be...

My schedule for the week:
Mon - 6 mi
Tues - 6 mi, cross train
Wed - cross train, lift
Thurs - 15 mi
Fri - cross train
Sat - however many miles I want!
Sun - cross train, lift

Nice Little Break

There's not much to write about when you're taking a week to recover. While I haven't been running, I've been finding other ways to kick my butt in the gym and earn some HBBC points. I found this new little piece of equipment, the AMI, and love it. It takes a while to get used to the movement but once you have it down, it is an incredible workout. I'm able to get my heart rate much higher than when I run and I burn more calories. A little about the equipment...

"Freedom of choice. This is what makes the AMT so unique. By allowing you to alter your motion at the slightest whim of your imagination, no two workouts have to feel the same. This keeps your mind engaged and your body torn between wanting to experiment with new movements and needing a second to catch your breath."

My break this week from running wasn't so much to recover from the marathon because truth is, I don't feel like I ran a marathon last weekend. I have never had such a quick recovery where nothing hurt. But even though I could have run this week, I decided to cross train to give my brain a little break. I need to push things into high gear rather quickly for Boston (and possibly a marathon in March) so I wanted to make sure I didn't get burned out right from the get go. I actually enjoyed my few days off from running and my body has appreciated the non impact cross training. Since I was feeling so good this morning, I decided to go for a little 4 mile run after a boot camp type circuit class. I'm glad I went to this class because I needed the reminder about how stale we can get when we stick to traditional type workouts. We did jump rope, plyo jumps, bosu ball abs, shuffling, medicine ball squats and throws, and rope throwing. Definitely a fun workout and I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow.

Tomorrow I'm going to hit the pool then it's back to the long runs on Saturday. I have a good endurance base and I want to keep that right through Boston. Hopefully I can find time to get my training schedule mapped out before next week because that's when I want to really start focusing again on some hard, quality workouts. It's been fun just winging it, but I need to get serious again.

I'm waaaaay behind on reading/commenting. Work is nuts and life is busy with Holiday craziness. I'll catch up soon!

Rehoboth Beach Marathon Race Report

On Friday night we headed down to Rehoboth Beach for the marathon. This is a really small event with less than 700 runners...618 finishers to be exact. After an easy packet pick up we checked into our hotel and headed out to find some dinner. Usually I'm so strict with what I eat the night before but since I wasn't racing this, I wasn't too concerned. In fact, I even had a beer with dinner and I've NEVER done that before. Back at the hotel Snowflake and I preped our stuff for race day and talked strategy for getting Snowflake that 3:50. I wasn't quite sure how a 3:50 would feel for me having just put a hard effort into Philly 3 weeks before, but I felt pretty confident that we could do it and I was as calm as could be. I didn't have any pre race jitters and got a great nights sleep.

On Saturday morning (which by the way, Saturday marathons are the best!) I woke up feeling great. I always eat toast and banana before marathons but I changed it up and had oatmeal, banana and coffee. Crazy changing things up on race day, but I took my chances. Snowflake was nervous and knowing exactly how she was feeling, I couldn't wait to get to the start. The hotel was right next to the start so we stayed warm in the lobby until about 15 minutes before it was time to go. As we waited for the gun, I felt great and knew it was going to be a good day. I didn't have any time to prepare for the 8:46 pace we were shooting for, but come hell or high water, I was going to nail that pace for Snowflake and keep her on track. I thought it might take me a mile or two to dial it in, but apparently I'm pretty good at pacing. ;-)

Mile 1 - 8:44
Mile 2 - 8:43
Mile 3 - 8:40
Mile 4 - 8:46

We kept it right around there until around mile 6-7. For the previous few miles I caught Snowflake checking her watch a lot and I just had the feeling that me being there was stressing her out or that the pace wasn't feeling right for her. Around this time she told me that I should just go. I really didn't know if I should listen or stay and try to push her. But I did NOT want to make this a miserable experience for her and I also needed to prove to myself that my crap out at Philly is not me. I needed to finish the year knowing I'm capable of running a marathon and finish feeling strong and good. So I said goodbye to Snowflake and did my thing.

I tried not to look at my watch and just run by feel. I felt fantastic and my nutrition was going just as planned. The oatmeal held me over until mile 5 and at that point even though I wasn't hungry I started eating one blok every 2.5 miles. The miles were ticking away and before I knew it I was at the half way point at 1:54 and just under where I should be for a 3:50 finish. I chatted up a lot of people along the way and tried to take in the scenery and enjoy the morning. I made it a point to thank every single volunteer on the course and even the spectators, which were few and far between.

As the miles ticked away I knew I was running faster than the first half and a few times I tried to pull back a little. Since I wasn't really going for a time I didn't want to burn out and suck the last 6 miles but at the same time, my legs just wanted to go.  Around mile 18 a guy came up to me and told me that I had been pacing him for most of the race and that he was counting on me to get him to the finish. Um, hunh? I'm all about someone using me if I'm holding a pace they like, but I don't care what you need buddy, I'm doing my own thing over here. We did end up running together the remainder of the race but when he pulled ahead, I stayed and did my own thing. He would walk the water stops and then catch up to me and we played this little game until the last mile.

So, the last mile...again, I had no idea what I was going to finish with. All I knew is that I was under a 3:50. When I look at my pace band and see that I'm 2 minutes off the total time needed for a 3:50, I can't calculate what that does to my finish time. I apparently need to work on this. See, around mile 25 I saw my friend's husband, Troy, on the side of the road sort of walking/stretching. He just ran Philly 3 weeks ago and had bad experience. It was his first marathon and was running Rehoboth for redemption. I knew how badly he wanted this so as I approached him I told him to run with me. I asked if he could at least do a 9 minute mile and that would definitely get us in under 3:50. He said he would try and off we went. He was cramping bad and then at one point dropped a water bottle. As he slowed to pick up the bottle, I slowed as much as I could to give him a chance to catch up. It was then that I glanced at my watch and realized "holy shit! I have a shot at a BQ here!" Troy had yet to get back to me from dropping the water bottle so I took off like a bat out of hell for the last 3/4 of a mile. I knew it would come down to seconds and it was likely I wouldn't get it, but I tried so freaking hard. I couldn't believe I had that much left in the tank this late in the race and I was running in the low 7's to get to that finish. I needed a 3:45:59 to get Boston 2012 but it didn't happen.

I finished 3:46:42. Oh well, I wasn't going for a BQ but it would have been a fun way to end the year. I do wonder if I didn't slow down at mile 25 if it would have happened, but you know what, who cares. If I gave Troy even the littlest boost, then that's more important than a BQ. I could not be happier how this race went down. Not only did I beat my time from Philly, I felt great out there and proved to myself that I am capable of running a marathon without falling apart. This race was a huge confidence booster and there's definitely something to be said for running a marathon for fun. I had NO pressure on myself and it showed while I was out there. I was relaxed, happy and had a great time. And it must have showed because I had spectators comment on the huge smile I was wearing.

So, # 7 done. 3rd one in 8 weeks and I can now call myself a marathon maniac. I'm taking this week off completely from running and will just cross train. Then it's time to kick it into high gear because I think I found a race in March to get my 3:35...

Gentle Reminder

Some times when I'm down about my weight, I need to a gentle reminder (or slap in the face) about how far I've come....

Key West 2004

(I can't believe I posted this...horrifying)

Wedding/Honeynmoon Jamaica 2004

(At least I know Andy loves me even when I'm chubby!)

October 2005

(~40lbs lighter)

Christmas time 2006



Christmas Eve 2007
(Andy doesn't have a gut AT ALL...this is just a weird angle. He told me to take if off because he looked like he had "paunch" :-) )

Christmas Eve 2008

(still wearing my post 1st marathon perma smile)



October 2009

(not the best year for weight managment)



Late July 2010

Your Goals are My Goals

I have a little friend named, Snowflake. She runs a gazillion marathons a year. Not only does she run them on consecutive weekends, but I was there to see her finish strong at Asbury Park marathon after running one the day before. Needless to say, there's not much time for recovery, speed work and training for a PR when you're pushing through 26.2 miles over and over again, but Snowflake keeps crossing the finish line. She's the definition of a marathon maniac.

We signed up for Rehoboth Beach marathon together and planned for it to be a fun little long run. Our last one for the year with smiles, giggles, and butt tickling along the way. Well, I've been stressing over this run since crapping out at Philly. As much as I want to race it, I know I'm not ready this close to Philly and I don't want to end the year on a miserable note. But, I do know I'm capable of putting some effort into it and having fun at the same time. After countless emails with Snowflake about this, we somehow decided (or I might have bullied her) that this will be the race that Snowflake goes for her PR...and I'm going to be there to experience it with her!! With her current PR of 3:52, we're going to toe the line on Saturday sporting our 3:50 pace bands.

Honestly, I can't express how excited I now am for this race. Before I was on the fence. I didn't know how I felt about it and what I should shoot for. I thought I could at least go for another BQ attempt to make myself feel better about Philly but that wasn't making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Neither was treating it as a fun long run. I just felt blah without a goal in place. But now that Snowflake has set her sights on a PR, that's my goal, too. I know what it feels like to get that PR and I can't wait to be there when she gets hers!!

With all the marathons Snowflake has done over the past few months, this will be a challenge. And she knows it. But I think it's cool that she's even willing to give it a shot. It's all about guts, people. You don't know what you have in you until you try!

So, bring on Saturday. 3rd marathon in 8 weeks and marathon # 7. Can't wait! :-)

The Giving Season

Since it's the holiday season and all, I thought I'd mention something other than running for a change. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that my sister and her husband recently adopted a little girl from Russia. I've always thought adoption was an incredible thing to do and at times have thought about doing it myself. I've never wanted to have my own child but felt if I were to have kids, I'd much rather give a child in need a chance and a loving home. Seeing my sister go through the adoption process and bringing home her baby girl is an experience I will never, ever forget. My niece has been home since May and every time I see her I have to fight back the tears. I'm so happy she was given the chance at a good life, surrounded by a family who loves and adores her.

Gracie

First Thanksgiving together as a family

I know times are tough for a lot of people but as we all seem to find the cash to pay for over priced races and running clothes, I wanted to pass along a link to Reece's Rainbow. Andy and I sponsored a child through this organization this year and our little Christmas ornament showed up the other day. I love it!! My sister even had the boys pick out a child they wanted to sponsor and they had very sweet reasons as to why they picked the child they did.

We are blessed to have way more than we will ever need so until I'm ready to have a child of my own, the least I can do is try to help kids find their way into a loving home.

Falling Apart in Pictures

I couldn't figure out how to snag these pictures without the "proof" mark so I zoomed in on my face and then stole them. They say a picture is worth a thousands words. Well, here's how falling apart looks.



At the start, all smiles.

(wearing a Brooks ID shirt tends to get you in a lot of pictures...I'm not that worthy)

Just past the half way point, feeling ok.

Starting to hurt but still hanging in there.



This is the exact spot that Dave later told me he knew something went wrong. Geesh, I wonder if the look on my face gave it away.

Trying to be a good sport.

Shocked, happy, relieved that I actually made it to the finish!

After the finish, teary eyed and cramping terribly. BUT, still smiling!! My body might have crapped out, but I still finished.

Brain Recovery

I'm having weird thoughts. Weird thoughts about running. Usually I'm amped up about what I can sign up for next and what's already on the calendar but right now I want nothing to do with it. It's not my typical burn out feeling because I'm enjoying my runs and want to get out there. But since Saturday I've had a little voice in my head telling me I should take a break. It might have to do with the pain I'm feeling on top of my left foot and my aching back, but a little pain has never sidelined me before. I'm wondering if it's because I haven't shut my brain off since I crapped the bed at Philly marathon a week ago. From the second I crossed the finish line, I've been trying to find a race that would fit in nicely before Boston that I could race and earn my redemption. Well, with that idea comes NO time off from training. Boston training already starts early in the new year and if I pick a March marathon, well, technically training already started. I want to maintain a fitness level where I could handle the endurance and distance of the marathon at any given time but maintaining a level to race the marathon is a different story. And I'm just not sure I have that in me right now. I think I need to take a week and let my brain recover from Philly before I make any decisions. I also have one more marathon to get through on Dec 11th. Maybe how I feel that day will be the deciding factor.

On the running front...I took off early last week from running and just cross trained. On Thursday I woke up to huge, pretty snowflakes and set out for my first easy recovery run. My legs were a little heavy but they carried me 6 miles through the trails. Listening to the snow hitting the trees and leaves was so peaceful and I didn't want to stop. Thanks to the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge I kicked my butt at the gym on Friday cross training and then took the new bike for a 6 mile ride when I got home. How in the world will I ever be able to sit on that seat for hours? Good God the va-jay-jay was sore. Then I capped off the week with a 10 mile run on Saturday and that's when the mysterious foot pain started. I managed to go for a 4 mile walk with Andy yesterday but it hurt the entire time. It's not sore to touch or flex but is definitely sensitive when I put pressure on it. I am keeping everything crossed that it's nothing.

As for my schedule this week, I don't have one. :-) Aside from a planned 15-18 mile run on Saturday, I'm doing whatever my little heart desires this week.

Introducing Cosmo!

I am stewing over how things went down on Sunday. It's absolutely killing me to know I was on pace for a 3:32 up to mile 20. The thing that's most frustrating is that I can't just turn around and try again this weekend. I was tempted to go for it at Rehoboth Beach marathon on Dec 11th but I'm going to be smart about it. The last thing I need is to go for it when I'm not fully recovered and fall apart. I've done a ton of thinking about what could have gone wrong and I really think I was dehydrated. Not because I didn't hydrate leading up to it, but because my stomach was off the days before. Saturday night I mentioned to Andy after I had been drinking a ton of water that I wasn't peeing nearly enough. Usually water goes right through me but that wasn't the case on Saturday. I also noticed when I finished the race on Sunday I wasn't covered in my usual salty crust. So I'm fairly certain that something was just off because like I said the other day, my nutrition was spot on the week leading up to the race. I did what I could and I can't change how it turned out. I will get my redemption and am already looking for that race. I'm thinking a month before Boston would be a perfect time to go for it, then I can run Boston for fun.

In other news...look at what I got on Monday!!! A Specialized road bike! Kids, I'm one step closer to my Ironman dream!! I took it for a test drive as soon as I got home, not knowing if I could even ride a bike since I haven't rode one since I was a kid, and I fell in love! I was giggling and waving to people in the neighborhood wearing a huge grin on my face. I can't wait for this summer to enter the world of Triathlons!!!!

"Cosmo"



I love that Andy didn't tell me the big yellow "Reflective - remove before wearing" sticker was still on my helmet when I headed out.



Have a great Thanksgiving. Gobble, gobble.

Philly Marathon Race Report

The marathon Gods can be fickle. You never know how race day will go and unfortunately, yesterday didn't go as planned.

Leading up to yesterday, my nutrition was spot on. In fact, I don't think I ever handled race week nutrition as well as I did this time around. But with that being said, my stomach was a little funky the few days before and I found myself going to the bathroom (#2) a ton on Friday and Saturday. I didn't think much of it and made sure I hydrated like crazy. I usually get a ton of sleep the week of the race but between working long hours and a sick kitty, I got very little sleep. Friday night was terrible and Saturday, I only got a few hours in bits and pieces.

But, I woke up Sunday morning feeling good and ready to go. I was excited on the ride down and confident as I toed the line. I was a little cold and couldn't feel my feet, but the weather turned out to be perfect. I placed myself a little behind the 3:30 pace group with the goal of running 8:10's and not getting caught up with them, but keeping them in site. This year the half marathoners were mixed in with the full marathoners and it was packed in the corrals. When we took off, you couldn't really go out too fast even if you tried. The streets were tight and there was very little room to get around people. And of course you have the people who put themselves in a corral where there clearly don't belong. So frustrating.

It took a few miles for me to be able to feel my feet but the miles were ticking away and I felt great. I kept telling myself to just get to the half way mark because that's where my friend Dave would be waiting to pace me the back half. I could forget about pace and just mindlessly run. My pace felt great and I was going a little faster than I needed but I was comfortable so I stuck with it.

Mile 1 - 8:07 (PERFECT!)

Mile 2 - 7:49

Mile 3 - 7:48

And those 7:50's are how it went until mile 7. At that point, I found my 8's again and hung around an 8-8:10 until the half way point. At mile 13 I was at 1:44:27 which was 2 minutes faster than where I needed to be and was putting me right around a 3:32 finish. When I met up with Dave a half mile later, I filled him in at where I was at with the time and told him that I hit a rough spot but was coming out of it. A few miles earlier I started having a hard time eating. I eat a shot blok every 2 miles but for some reason that wasn't working for me yesterday. I just didn't want to eat...which is not good that early on in a race. I had also felt a little fatigue around mile 11 but figured I just needed my second wind.

So off Dave and I went. I tucked in behind him and just let him lead the way. This was going fine but around mile 14 when I shoved a blok down my throat I realized we had a problem. I started to feel nauseous and really off. A found myself letting out some sighs and wanting to slow down but I tried to push along. I finally spoke up around mile 17 and told Dave I needed to back off for a second. We did but then Dave took control again and we picked back up.  Before we headed into Manayunk, with is a gradual incline from mile 19-20, we had a little out and back over Falls Bridge. It was here that everything went to shit. As we came back across the bridge I could feel myself falling apart. At mile 18 I was dead on for a 3:32, but knew it wasn't going to happen.

We headed into Manayunk which is usually a big pick me me up with people lining the streets but this year it was pure misery. I was dying climbing the hill and wanted to walk so badly. I tried one more blok and couldn't even chew it. I gagged it down, it got caught in my through, and I was burping like I was going to puke. On top of that, I started cramping from my feet all the way to my shoulders. We pushed along, turned around and instead of my usual perkiness for the last 6 miles, I contemplated not even finishing. At the bottom of the hill in Manayunk, I told Dave I had to walk. *sigh*

The last 6 miles were rough. It was a run-a-little walk-a-little with me making strange noises from discomfort. For a while I still had a shot at a PR but it just got uglier as we chugged along. Around mile 23 the 3:40 group passed me and I tried to run with them but the effort was short lived. I had nothing left in the tank. Funny thing, it didn't even upset me when they passed me.

Mile 20 - 9:30
Mile 21- 10:04
Mile 25 - 12:13 (shoot me!)
Mile 26 - 10:16

There's no point in reliving the last 3 miles. Thankfully, I was able to run the last 3/4 of a mile where the streets were lined with spectators but I'm sure I looked like I was dying. When I crossed the finish line it was the worst I have ever felt after a race. The pain from the cramping made every step miserable and I couldn't even stand the sight of food. I tried to sip some gatorade but I didn't want anything. I made it to the meeting area, fell to the ground in an attempt to sit and shed some tears. It took me over an hour to eat a soft pretzel and I couldn't get comfortable from the cramping. My right foot cramped so badly that I couldn't even touch it.

I'm not sure what went wrong out there yesterday. I can't help but wonder if I gave up. I mentioned that to Dave last night and he assured me I didn't. He said he could see it happening once we crossed the bridge after mile 18 and that I just hit the wall. Maybe I went out too fast? Maybe it was dehydration from poo problems the days before? I just don't know. What I do know is that I have a sub 3:35 in me. I absolutely have that in me and I'm going for it again. Soon.

Official finish - 3:47:49

If a 3:47:49 is my finish on a horrible day, I guess I can't complain too much. I just can't shake this feeling that I gave up. I know they all can't be PR's but after yesterday I KNOW I have this in me and it's going to eat at me until I get to go after it again. This morning, I'm feeling ok. Sore, sore feet and my body hurts to touch from the cramping but what hurts most is my ego. Marathon # 6 done, now time to get ready for # 7 in 2 weeks.

Carbs and a Winner!

I have no idea what went wrong on Sunday when I did my squats and lunges but I'm still paying the price for it. My legs are killing and I can't even walk normal let alone do stairs. I do this routine all the time so I have no idea why I'm this sore, it's really unusual. I did get in my 4 miles at marathon pace yesterday but decided to take today completely off to rest up. Hopefully this does the trick.

So a lot of people think of carb loading when getting ready for a marathon. Am I the only one that doesn't do this? Too many people use carb loading as an excuse to eat more when in reality you should swap food within your daily total calories to get a few more carbs. In other words, carb loading doesn't mean you need to eat more calories than normal. Now if that works for you, that's great. But for me, I prefer to eat a little less the days/week leading up to the race. With working out and running less, the last thing I want is to head into race day feeling bloated (for lack of a better term) because it absolutely affects how I feel running. I stick to my normal routine for the most part, with a few minor changes. For one, starting today I will consume a few less veggies than normal. I'll still eat my 5 different veggies throughout the day, but I'll eat less of them. On Friday I'll cut back the veggies substantially and on Saturday I will have very little with lunch only (think small salad). In addition to this I will eat a bigger than normal dinner on Friday and my big meal on Saturday will be at lunch time. The last thing I want is a big stomach of food the night before the race and if I eat earlier, I think it has more time to get out of me and lessens the risk of me crapping myself. :-) The only other thing I do to prepare is to keep some salty pretzels around to nibble on throughout the day on Saturday and then I'll have some oatmeal right before bed. This helps keep me from waking up real hungry the morning of the race so all I'll need to tie me over is some toast and a banana. So, that's what works for me...do you carb load??

And now for the winner of the Sof Sole socks giveaway...picked randomly by Andy through IM chat this morning:
9:07 AM Denise: pick a number between 1 and 46
9:08 AM Andrew: 17

Congrats to Shellyrm!! Email me at dclaffey76@yahoo.com and I'll get you hooked up with some socks!

So Ready!

The countdown has begun!!! Six more days until I'm running through the streets of Philly. Everything clicked during my 10 miler on Saturday and when the run was done, I walked away saying to myself, "I am so ready!" In fact, I might have mentioned it to Andy a gazillion times on Saturday when I got home, too. For the first time during this training cycle I feel like I actually have this in me. I know it won't be easy but I know I can do this if things go as planned. My goal for Saturday was to run the first 5 comfortably then run the last 5 at marathon pace. Thankfully, I kept having to slow myself down, rather than speed up, and we finished with an average 8:04 pace. One mile we actually hit an 8:10 but the rest of them were just under 8 minutes. The good thing, I felt great. The pace was smooth and comfortable and my breathing and conversation were normal. Now, there won't be any talking on race day, but it's nice to know the pace isn't going to have me sucking wind for 26.2 miles.

So now that I know I'm ready, I can stress about the weather and the stomach bug that is going around my office. The woman who sits next to me had it last week and now there are 2 other people out sick with it today. I really wish I could work in a bubble. As for weather, right now it's looking damn near perfect! A low of around 40 and a high of 56 with clouds and sunshine. It's going to be hard to figure out what to wear since it'll be a little chilly before we start but as long as it's not 20 degrees like it was two years ago, I'll take it!!

I have a really easy week and I plan on taking full advantage of resting up the legs. Especially since I spent a little too much time at the gym yesterday doing squats and walking lunges and now I can't even lower myself down onto the toilet without holding on to something. Me and my great ideas.

Mon - 2 mi and bike and/or walk
Tues - 4 mi (at MP)
Wed - easy bike
Thurs - 4 mi (with some strides)
Fri - 2 mi and walk around expo/city
Sat - rest up!!!
Sun - 26.2 mi (holy crap I'm excited!)

Don't forget to enter the sock giveaway. I'll pick a winner mid week.

Did I mention I'm excited??? This is going to be the longest week ever!

3 Things Thursday GIVEAWAY!!!

1) I ran with the club on Tuesday night because I wanted a hard, fast workout. Turns out that's exactly what I got. I ran 5.3 miles averaging 7:46. I was so happy when I checked my laps and saw a negative split run with my last mile at 7:19! My legs felt great and the turn over came really naturally. The only problem was that at the end of the run, my Achilles felt a little funny and I had some weird twinges in it when I did the stairs. That along with a really sore lower back for the past few days, which has me walking crooked, is worrying me just a teeny bit. Hopefully it's just taper madness setting in.

2) Turns out Asbury Park was so happy to have me and my friends run their marathon that they put our picture up on their marathon home page for 2011 registration!! How am I not going to run this next year? I mean, I'm part of their advertisement! I wouldn't be surprised if they had a monster showing next year. ;-)  Check out this these bad ass chicks...too cool!!

Bonnie, Me, Val, Snowflake

3) And finally, GIVEAWAY time. I recently tried out Sof Sole Cool Max Trainer socks. With all the socks out there, I've definitely become a little picky with what I'll wear and find myself always reaching for the same ones. I tested out Sof Sole on my mid week runs and really liked them. You can read my full review here but one thing I had to say is...3 pairs for $9.99!!! I pay at least that for ONE pair of socks. I definitely think you guys should check these out. Oh, and if you want to win a pack, Clara from Sof Sole is offering one up to a lucky commenter, to be picked at random by me next week. Rules: be a follower; leave a comment telling me your favorite brand of running socks.

The Decision Has Been Made!

Less than two weeks to go and I'm feeling a lot better about what I want to do come race day. Got some good, honest comments to my last post and a fiesty email from a good friend which put me in my place (thanks Snowflake!!). A few comments really stuck out and got me thinking. Irunyourun suggested I not worry about a PR and just run because I can and bet that back in July I would have given anything to be able to run 26.2 miles...even if slow. You are SO right and I think about this a lot actually. Although I love to try to out do myself, finishing the marathon is just as special to me and it's another huge accomplishment regardless of how fast I do it.  I am so happy that I'm able to run this race and am definitely not taking it for granted.

Then Iampreppy asked if I still like to run and if running is fun. The answer to both of those questions is YES. I love running and enjoy it more now than ever after being injured. I admit that I put pressure on myself but I can't help it, it's how I'm wired. I enjoy a challenge and part of the fun is seeing what I have in me. I've always said though, "if this ever becomes not fun, then I'm doing something wrong." I know my limits and that's exactly what I was trying to get across in my last post. I want to have fun at Philly marathon regardless of my time. In order for that to happen, I want to make sure I go into it with a goal that won't ruin the experience.

So, I made up my mind. I thought about the race a lot this weekend and felt myself getting more mentally prepared. I could sense myself getting fired up because it's all I thought about while I was out on my runs.  The day after my 15 miler I ran a quick 5 miles with my last mile at 7:43 and I felt incredible! Then Sunday I ran to the gym, lifted (total body), then ran home. My legs were a shaky mess when I left the gym but my pace held steady in the mid 8's and I was completely comfortable. Then while running this morning, I realized my game face was on and I was completely focused. I wanted to run forever and all I could think about was race day and how it's going to play out. So kids, the decision has been made. I'm going for it!

• A goal = 3:35
• B goal = 3:35
• C goal = 3:35

Now all I need to do is make the pace band and figure out if I want to line up at the front of the 3:40 group or tuck in behind the 3:30...

Here's my schedule for the week:
Mon - 3 mi, bike
Tues - 5 mi (want some MP miles here)
Wed - lift total body
Thurs - 3 mi, cross train
Fri - 10 mi (last few miles at MP)
Sat - 5 mi
Sun - cross train/lift

Serious Doubts

I mentioned the other day that I was having some doubts about Philly. Truth is, I've been having serious doubts for weeks now. Training has been going fine but I just don't feel like I'm prepared for this. I mean, I know I can run the distance; I'm just not sure I can race it and get that 3:35 finish. I've been trying to think back to this time last year and I know I was a nervous wreck but I don't remember feeling so under prepared. Deep down inside I knew I had it in me last year and I wanted it SO BADLY. This year, I'm not sure I have it in me and there's not that desire for a BQ in the back of my mind.

What's worrying me? Well, for starters, I only ran 5 miles in July. FIVE. I got a really late start with this training and had to take it so easy when the boot came off. Now, I did anything but sit around and get lazy while I was in the boot, but I wasn't running. I had a few weeks where I only ran 5-10 miles TOTAL and I didn't hit 10 miles for my long run until mid August (but I increased my weekly long run pretty aggressively from there). Then there's speed work not really starting until late September. And I definitely didn't get in the marathon pace practice that I would have liked. Last year that 8:20 pace was drilled into me and that's all my legs knew. I dunno, with all of this, it just doesn't feel like I got in a solid 12 weeks of training to justify the goal.

But on the flip side, a few weeks out of the boot I ran two 5ks, within a week of each other, while I was sick, and ran a PR of 21:30 at one of them. Then I had a really successful half marathon where my attempt at marathon pace turned into running just under 8 minute miles. On top of this, for the last 6 miles at Asbury Park marathon I ran close to marathon pace and felt incredible.

So there have been some good things over the past 12-15 weeks but is this enough? I'm not so sure. I feel extremely cocky thinking I could even attempt a 3:35 right now. I know it's only a 3 minute PR but to be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about attempting a 3:38-3:40 right now either. I don't want to go for it and have it turn into a miserable experience because I went into it without being fully prepared. Sigh...but I also don't want to not go for it because that's taking the easy way out. 

People are telling me to go for it and then back off if I feel it's not going to happen. That's easier said than done because if I tell myself to go for something, I go for it.

Final Practice

Well, my bike fitting didn't go as planned. The sales guy neglected to mention when I stopped in the week before to set up the appointment that there was a $250 charge for the fitting. Yup...TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY dollars. Now, that comes off the price of the bike but still. I had no intention of throwing down any money on Friday. If I'm going to drop over $1000 on a hobby I'm not even sure I'm going to like, I'm going to do my research and make sure I'm getting a good deal. So after the "interview" process the guy says, "ok, now I'll take some measurements and we'll do the fitting. That's $250." Um, what? With a shocked look on my face, I politely informed him that I wasn't ready to make a commitment that day and left the store. I'm bummed because I liked this place and thought they were really knowledgeable. But since they didn't tell me about this upfront, they lost their credibility. I'll be taking my cashola elsewhere...

I had my last 20 miler on Saturday which I used as my final practice for race day. Thankfully it was cold enough to break out the tights and some warmer tops to see what might work. Good thing, too. I looked like I had a dump in my pants and kept having to pull up my tights. Not something I want to deal with on race day. I also practiced my nutrition, which I have pretty much nailed down already.  But since I usually start to feel hungry around mile 4 I wanted to see if some more for breakfast would hold me over a little longer. Instead of eating one slice of toast and a banana before the run, I added a second slice of toast this week. The extra toast didn't cause any stomach problems (which is what I was worried about) and I noticed at mile 5 that I wasn't hungry yet. Looks like it worked! Even though I wasn't hungry, I started my bloks and took one every 2.5 miles. Doing this with the bloks works perfectly for me, not too much sugar all at once. The run was going great and flying by but my legs were really tired around mile 13. I thought for sure I'd end up slowing down over the remaining miles but I kept pushing and got my second wind. We ran an awesome progression run with the last few miles in the mid to low 8's. I feel really comfortable at that pace but I'm having some severe doubts and worries about Philly...more on that later when I get my head wrapped around these crazy thoughts.

I celebrated the beginning of taper like any birthday girl would with friends and copious amounts of sushi and champagne. Needless to say, I paid the price for it on Sunday with a painful 5 mile recovery run. Then ate gross amounts of candy to make myself feel better. Lovely, I know. But now it's time to batten down the hatches...no more silliness until after the race.

Here's my schedule for the week:
Mon - 4 mi and cross train (bike)
Tues - 6 mi (2 ladders)
Wed - 4 mi and lift
Thurs - 5 mi (marathon pace)
Fri - 4 mi and cross train
Sat - 15 mi (last few miles at marathon pace)
Sun - cross train and lift

Bike Fitting and Photo Friday!

Had all intentions of running this morning but when I woke up, I just didn't feel like it. So, due to my new relaxed approach to training and not putting pressure on myself, I'm sitting on the couch with the cats, drinking coffee and watching Saved By The Bell (Oh, come on...don't deny it. Everyone loves a little Zach and Kelly drama). Maybe I'll run later today or make up the miles on Sunday. Either way, it's not a big deal.

I have an exciting little appointment today...a bike fitting!! It's a 2 hour appointment and I'm so excited to see what I learn. I have no intentions of walking out with a new bike today, but after this I really need to decide if I want to make this commitment and give it a shot. I'm hesitant for so many reasons...What if I crash? What if I don't like it? What about my running? Then there's the expense and technology of this sport. It's extrememly overwhelming with all the different options and it's anything but cheap. And lastly, there's those silly little cycling outfits...I'd rather ride naked than wear one of those.

Here are some recent race pics before I go. Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Approaching the finish line at my first 5k since coming out of the boot.

Just before the race at Asbury Park marathon. Sporting my Brooks uniform and game face!

Ok, so I know the glasses are terrible on me. I know!! But this pic pretty much sums up how I feel when I'm running. So happy!!



Birthdays and Winner!!

Wheee, it's my birthday!! Another year closer to being in my mid 30's and rounding up to 40, but not there yet. Instead I have one more year to see what I can do in the 30-34 age group! I just read my birthday post from last year and I talk about how each year is better than the one before. Thankfully, I'm able to say that again this year. I promised myself last year that I was going to spend the year focusing on myself and my health…spiritually, mentally and physically. And looking back, I think I accomplished a lot in all those areas. Of course I'm still a work in progress and have a ways to go, but I'm getting there! I accomplished a lot during this year from qualifying for Boston, running 3 other marathons, learning how to be a smart athlete while I was injured to facing my fear and finally sitting for my personal trainer exam. I'm blessed that I came out on top of all I set out to do this year and can't wait to see where I am a year from now. I'm truly looking forward to year #34 and I will be back a year from now stronger and healthier. Mark my words.

So, in honor of my birthday, the winner of the Go Headband! giveaway is the person who left the 27th comment: JenniferLeah. Email me at dclaffey76@yahoo.com and I'll hook you up!

Is It Taper Time Yet?

Four weeks and counting. I feel like I say this all the time, but time is flying. It feels like just yesterday I was in the boot and the thought of running Philly, let alone racing it, was a huge stretch. Now here I am, 4 weeks out, counting down my last week so I can get to taper!

I was doing fine and feeling like I wasn't ready for the taper until this past Saturday. After the marathon the previous Sunday I didn't take any time off to recover. Not only that, I didn't take my runs nice and easy like I probably should have. On Thursday night I headed out for 7 miles and decided to just keep the workout easy with some strides. Well, after four strides I wanted to see what else I could do so I ran a few miles at marathon pace. The pace felt hard and my legs were screaming, but I pushed through. When I got into bed a few hours later, my legs were aching so badly and I couldn't get comfortable. Needless to say, when the alarm went off at 5am Friday morning, I knew the 5 miles I had in front of me wouldn't be pretty. Being half asleep probably didn't help but I could not get moving and my legs had nothing in them. Let's just say it was one of the longest 5 milers I've had. I didn't even bother to look at my pace because at the end, I was just happy to have finished it.

I tried to stay off my feet the best I could on Friday because I had an 18 miler and a blogger meet up with Abby on Saturday. Unfortunately, that didn't really help and my legs felt like lead the entire run. Thankfully there was good conversation and getting-to-know-you-talk to keep me going!! Abby is so sweet and I'm glad we finally got to meet up. Unfortunately there's no picture, Abby headed out for 2 more miles and there was no way I had any more left in me at that point.

After the run I threw on some recovery socks and Andy and I headed out to plant trees along the Green Ribbon Trail. We were volunteering to support an Eagle Scout project to restore trees which were attacked by some Japanese plant species. It was really nice to be out there doing something good for the environment. Anyway, when we were done, I crashed on the couch and didn't move the rest of the night. After a hard week of running, I topped it off with 45 minutes on the spin bike yesterday and am now begging for taper to start. One...more...week....

Here's my schedule for the week:
Mon - 5 mi
Tues - 8 mi (with 6 mi at MP)
Wed - cross train/lift
Thurs - 8 mi (with 4 mi at MP)
Fri - 5 mi
Sat - 20 mi
Sun - cross train/lift

Don't forget to enter the giveaway!!

Weekend GIVEAWAY!!

Before the giveaway...I've been reading a lot of posts mentioning CSN lately so of course I went over to check them out. CSN has is one of the top three on line US retailers of home and office goods and the site is huge! They have about 200 stores and you can find pretty much anything you're looking for...from outdoor furniture and luggage, to a great selection of kitchen gadgets and appliances. I personally have been eyeing up some of the console tables to use as an entry way piece in my living room. If you haven't been over to CSN yet, go check them out!!

Now, for a little weekend fun! Recently, Kat from Go Headband! was nice enough to let me try out a headband (you can read my review here). One thing about me is that I never, ever run without a headband and am pretty picky with what I'll wear. But, I'm happy to say, these stood up to my test! 1) they don't move around or slide off your head and 2) they absorb the sweat. Each one is made by hand, by Kat herself...which I think is pretty cool. And these aren't just for women. There are 2 sizes to choose from and a ton of different colors so even the manliest man could wear them.

So who wants to win a new headband?? Since it's that time of year, and I love scary movies, all you have to do is be a follower and leave a comment and telling me your favorite scary movie. I'll pick a winner at random next week. (if you don't watch scary movies, just tell me your favorite movie).

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I'll be running, planting trees at a volunteer event, and watching the Phillies!! (Sorry, Katie, but the Giants are going down!)

Boston Hoopla

Is anyone a little tired of the Boston hoopla? Geesh, I wonder what the non running world is doing with their time these past few days? Thankfully, I got in...after an hour and 15 minutes of hitting submit and sweating nervously. Hopefully in my panic stricken mode I entered all my info correct and I'll pass their verification process and actually have a spot. It sort of sucked that as soon as it closed all anyone could talk about was how the qualifying times need to be change, that they are too easy for woman, yadda, yadda. But I'm not letting that bother me. I worked hard, qualified and earned my spot at the starting line. If they want to change things up, go right ahead, I could use a new goal!!

What are your thoughts about how things went down on Monday? I understand the disappointment of it selling out before your goal race as I was in those shoes last year. But some people seem down right angry about it. I even heard someone say they are not interested in Boston anymore because too many repeaters are taking the slots and newly qualified people aren't getting a shot. A bit extreme...??? I think this year more than ever the allure of Boston has been hyped up. I can't wait to get there and see for myself what it's like.

I took Monday off after the marathon and went for a recovery run last night. Turns out I didn't have much recovering to do! I started off slow with some stiff legs but finished 6.25 miles feeling great. I definitely didn't feel like I had run 26 miles two days before and managed to run a few miles in the low 8's. I am going to continue to take this week a little easy but am gearing up to start focusing on marathon pace. Running those last 6 miles at MP on Sunday really made me think that I might have this in me. If I can learn the pace, and drill it into myself, I know my tired legs will do what they are told come race day.

Here's my schedule for the week:
Mon - off
Tues - 6 mi
Wed - cross train/lift
Thurs - 7 mi (mid miles at MP)
Fri - 5 mi
Sat - 18 mi
Sun - 5 mi or cross train/lift

Asbury Park Marathon Race Report

First I want to start off by saying that although I was running this marathon as a training run that does not mean I took it lightly. I have huge respect for the marathon distance and do not believe there is such a thing as an easy marathon.  It's 26.2 miles regardless of how you tackle it.

With that being said, on Saturday night it hit me that I was going to be running a marathon on Sunday. I started thinking about my training and realized I had only run one 20 miler up to this point and I usually like to have a few more under my belt before I do a marathon. So that started the panic and I began to worry if I was actually ready, and capable, of running 26 miles. Andy assured me that I was and that I would do just fine. Not sure how he would know, but I tried to believe him.

The course is an 8 loop course with the first loop being 2.65 miles. Then the middle 6 loops are 3.35 miles with the last lap being 3.45 miles. You run a small portion on the roads then do an out and back on the boardwalk along the beach and ocean and then run through the convention center. It was a really small field of runners and due to the loops the run is geared more towards relay runners. The marathoners, or "teams of one" as they called us, wore a different colored bib and were few and far between.

I ran with a friend and we decided to walk the water stops, there were 3 on each loop, and take it easy. If I felt up to it, I had planned to run the last 2 loops or 6 miles at marathon pace. But since I was a little unsure of what I had in me, I decided to make that call at mile 18. I have to say, the loops didn't bother me at all. I quickly lost track of miles and just stuck to counting down loops. There was one part of the run when you came off the boardwalk onto the roads that we hit some pretty crazy headwinds. This was the only mentally challenging part of the course for me, but thankfully it was such a short distance until we turned and headed back to the boardwalk that the challenge was short lived. Entering the boardwalk was a perfect little pick me up and then running through the convention center was great!! Music was blaring and the relay team members waiting for their turn were in there cheering us on. Since we kept running through this area, you never had long to wait to get a little boost. And I have to say, being a "team of one," I felt like a celebrity. The marathoners really got a lot of crowd support and respect while we were out there. I have never received so many positive comments and cheers as I did yesterday. Thank you spectators at Asbury Park!!

The run flew by and other than my sciatica flaring up at mile 11, I felt great and my legs wanted to go! But I held back because I knew it was important to stick to my plan. I wasn't ready to race this and it was suppose to be a training run. But since I felt so good, I made the decision at mile 18 that I would run the last 6 miles at marathon pace. My legs were definitely tired at this point so what better time to try race pace! So at mile 20 I wished my running partner luck and set off.

mile 20 - 8:28 (feels great but faster than this??)
mile 21 - 8:15 (a little better, but still faster!?)
mile 22 - 8:16 (I'm trying...)
mile 23 - 8:13 (ok, that's about it)
mile 24 - 8:11 (oh yea!)
mile 25 - 8:01 (this is fun!!!)

Official results aren't posted but according to garmin, I finished 26.5 miles in 4:10:55. I did exactly what I set out to do and had a great day. I loved the course, thought this was easier than some of my long training runs and would consider racing this course next year. The only thing that got a little old was towards the end when you had to run right past the finish line chute. It didn't bother me until I started loop 5 and realized how nice it would be to be finishing right about now. Passing the finish chute two more times was hard but I tried to not pay attention to anyone finishing and just focus on myself.

To sum it up, I finished feeling really strong and am so happy I was able to pull off those paces that late in the race. That 3:35 at Philly is sounding a little less scary right now.

My 2 little presents to remember Asbury Park:

And of course a parking ticket. You would think advertising ample street parking as a perk to the marathon that they might have included it wasn't free. Didn't they just make enough money off all of us?

Ok, it's 8:58am...I gotta run...biggest race registration of the year starts in 2 minutes!!! Boston, here I come!!

Only 5 weeks?

Where is this year going? How is Philly marathon only 5 weeks from Sunday? Can someone please slow things down a bit for me?

When I realized I only had 5 weeks until Philly I started to panic a little. My distance is definitely there and I'll be running a marathon this Sunday as a training run, so that doesn't worry me. It's the pace that has me concerned. I have been doing some speed work but I don't feel nearly as conditioned as I did this time last year...at least I think I felt more ready than this last year. Maybe I need to go back and read some old posts, but I just don't remember thinking that I didn't do enough to prepare. So while I have to fit in more sharpening sessions and a taper over the next 5 weeks, I'm hoping I can do it. Even though I'll slowly decrease the distances, I'm going to focus on marathon pace and some speed sessions right up to two weeks before the race. Back in the beginning of August when I came out of the boot I didn't think for a second I'd be where I am now, so hopefully I can make a ton of progress over the next few weeks.

I'm running Asbury Park marathon this Sunday. Just a slow training run with no time goal. It's an 8 loop course so I'm contemplating running the last 2 loops at marathon pace. I tried to run at marathon pace on Tuesday night when I ran with the club, but it didn't go so well. It's a fast group and I got caught up in it all and ended up turning my marathon pace into 7:30-7:40's. The good thing is that the pace felt great, the bad thing is that I have to learn what marathon pace feels like.

I'm off tomorrow and Monday and am ready for a long weekend. Dinner plans, marathon, outlet shopping...oh, and I have big plans for Monday morning at 9am. :-)

I'm a PT!

Holy crap...I'm a personal trainer...With a client!! I love the sound of that!

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted since I passed the PT exam on Friday. Not that it would have been the end of the world if I didn't pass, but I put a lot of pressure on myself to succeed. The days leading up to the exam reminded me of the week before my BQ attempt at Philly last year. I had a lot of anxiety about how the day would turn out but in the end, I knew I did everything I could to get ready for it. See, when I really want something I usually push myself to the point where not getting it isn't even an option. I obsess over it, push myself and let it consume my every thought. Maybe not the healthiest mindset, but it's how I'm wired and it's what works for me. Once again, just like that BQ, I was so happy I was able to come back to all of you on Friday and tell you that I passed. There's something about putting your goals out there for anyone to see that makes reaching them all the more important.

So now that exam is behind me, I not only feel a sense of relief, I feel like I have a new set of standards to live by. As I got ready for my long run this weekend and went back and forth in my head about whether or not I really had to eat while I was out there, it hit me. I have to practice what I preach. There are more times than I'd like to admit that I take pretty terrible care of myself when it comes to nutrition and training and I would never tell a client to do that to themselves. It really hit me like a ton of bricks this weekend. I need to take better care of myself so I can take great care of my future clients. Maybe this is what I finally needed to see how important it is to live a healthy lifestyle. Not just be fit and workout, but to actually be healthy about it.

Now that another big goal is crossed off my list, I'm left wondering what will be next. I'm sure it won't take me long to find something else, though. I always have to have something going on!! I'm thinking the nutrition certification will be my next step.

Question: would anyone be interested in a weekly post about fitness/training/lifting? You can leave a question in the comments and each week I'll pick one to answer. Let me know what you think!

Here's my schedule for the week: (no speed work, cut back week and a marathon on Sunday)
Mon - 5 mi
Tues - 8 mi
Wed - off
Thurs - 7 mi
Fri - 5 mi
Sat - off
Sun - Asbury Park marathon

The Results Are In...

I'm officially an

ACE Certified Personal Trainer!!!

Too excited, tired, emotional to write much more. It was a tough exam and that makes passing even better. I can't wait to see where this takes me...and if it wasn't for a long run tomorrow morning, it'd be taking me to the liquor store to get some champagne. I guess now that I'm a trainer I better keep my priorities in order.

Let's start lining up the clients!!

Wet Sheets

Like Mondays aren't bad enough. It's cold and raining, I got zero sleep last night and I woke up to wet sheets. Thankfully it wasn't me that peed the bed. My problem child cat had an accident, at least that's what we're hoping it was. Either that or he was just pissed that we decided to sleep in till 6:30 this morning and thought it would be nice to wake us up with a golden shower. This has never happened before so I hope it's not a precursor to something serious. I definitely can't handle something being wrong with him right now; I have a lot of my mind...

I sit for my personal training exam on Friday and spent the entire night tossing and turning going over information in my head. I spent 7 hours yesterday reviewing notes and taking practice exams freaking myself out more and more with each passing hour. This is pretty much how I've spent my weekends over the past few months and this is on top of studying most nights after work. I go back and forth between feeling prepared and feeling completely overwhelmed. There is so much information and even if I study more, I'm not sure I can cram anything else into my brain. Thankfully, I think I can honestly say that I've done all I can do to get ready. I didn't take this lightly and I put in the time to get ready. Now it all comes down a 4 hour exam on Friday. This exam means so much to me. In fact, I've never wanted something so much.** So much that I put it off for years because I was too scared of failing. It took TEN YEARS to finally have the guts to sit for the exam and I can't believe it's this week. I feel shaky and emotional just thinking about it, which I'm sure the lack of sleep isn't helping. So if you don't hear much from me this week, it's because I'm a little preoccupied. I really, really hope I get to do a post on Friday titled, "I PASSED!"

** I also really want a GPS, bigger diamond earrings, a platinum band with diamonds for my right hand, a bike -- gentle reminders for Andy since my birthday is this month.

Here's my schedule for the week:
Mon - 5 mi
Tues - 7 mi, mid miles at marathon pace
Wed - cross train/lift
Thurs - 7 mi, with some 800's
Fri - 5 mi
Sat - 18 mi
Sun - cross train/lift

Biggest Loser Rant

This is a record number of posts for me in one week. I'm not sure why I'm posting again because lately I hate my blog and have been thinking of killing it off. I feel like I have nothing interesting going on, when really, that couldn't be further from the truth. But anyway, I just had to check in and vent about The Biggest Loser.

After a few years of not watching, I decided to give it another shot. Why is the show so intense now? I understand the workouts are going to be rough considering these contestants haven't worked out in years or in some cases, have never worked out. But I swear it's just a matter of time before someone drops dead! People are puking all over the place, falling off treadmills, fainting, hyperventilating...way to make exercise look fun! Maybe I'm ultra sensitive since I take my personal training exam in a week (eeek!!) but I can't imagine putting someone through something so torturous. I know, I know, it's television. But to me it's conveying the wrong message and it's anything but "reality" TV.

Another thing that really gets my panties in a bunch is Jillian Michaels. I've mentioned my despise for her when commenting on other blogs but never talked about her here because I didn't wanted to get all fired up. Does she have to be such a beotch? And the yelling...will you just shut up?!? She should take some lessons from Bob. Me likey Bob. But I'll be honest; my extreme dislike of Jillian isn't solely due to her rants and scary mean face on the show. The day I flipped the page in a magazine and saw the ad for her weight loss supplement line put the nail in the coffin. I find it very hypocritical that she's out there teaching people about a healthy lifestyle and whole foods and yet she's pushing a flippin' diet pill which claims "Two Capsules Before Main Meals and You Lose Weight...That's It!" Makes...me...sick.

And lastly, does anyone else think it would be that big of a deal if they let the contestants keep their shirt on when they get weighed? I understand that fraction of a pound the shirt adds will affect their weight loss percentage and may put them under the dreaded yellow line, but I feel like it's exploiting the contestants a little bit. Especially when the camera man zooms in so you can see every stretch mark. Give them some respect. What we fail to think about is that after these contestants drop a ton of weight, they still have to deal with what the weight did to their physical appearance. They will have to carry around pounds and pounds of excess skin and some will resort to surgery to remove it. Some people will struggle more with what they look like after losing weight than what they looked like when they were heavy.

Any thoughts? Right now I'm thinking I'm done with the show. I tried...