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