Goals for 2012

It's that time of year...and while I dislike calling them resolutions, I will call them goals. It's nice to have an excuse to try new things and better myself, right?

1. Get more sleep each night. Especially work nights.

2. Go to at least 1 group fitness class most weeks.

3. Run a race over 26.2 miles.

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4. Practice yoga once a week. Then maybe I'll be able to do the above scorpion pose.

5. Complete an open water triathlon so I can call myself a real triathlete.

What are your goals for 2012?

Survival of the (not so) Fittest

Wow, I knew I hadn't blogged in a while, but I had no idea it had been a whole month.

The good news - I survived the holidays.  The bad news - I didn't work out very much.

Oh well, you win some and you lose some.

 A recap of our holidays:

Sidney loves her Santa beard. I tried to compete with it in my tacky bedazzled hat I got to make at work one day, but Sid is WAY cuter. Sidney and I spent a lot of time on the couch. Our Christmas tree helped with the Christmas cheer a little this year.

I did have a few favorite December work outs I would like to share with you:

Caber tossing (because who doesn't toss cabers on Christmas Eve Eve in their friend's front yard?), speed work out on the treadmill, a little arm work out with the world's largest cowbell, and Marc tossing the caber (and winning the contest!).

I also got to run with my friend Jen who was in town visiting family for the holidays. Many thanks to you Jen for running with me in the wet and cold weather!

10K on Turkey Day

My sister and I started running a 10K on Thanksgiving together a few years ago. While the logistics have become harder for us to do this, I decided I still needed to do a race this year. I registered for the 10K on Turkey Day in Deerfield Township. Mojo Nation was loud and proud and I'm very thankful to be a part of this group.


Team Mojo pre race



I had only run once or twice since the Indy marathon, so I really didn't know what to expect. Two miles in I realized I forgot to eat breakfast. Oops! I ran most of the race with people I also ran the Columbus marathon with as well as my swim coach.

The course was a little hillier than expected, but a pretty nice course. I KNEW I needed to run this Thanksgiving...and once I started I didn't want to stop.


I finished in 48:36. 34th woman, 8th in my age group, and 122nd overall (out of 732 runners).




LOVE the back of the shirt!

 I wish it had been faster, but then again I wish a lot of things were different this holiday.

I hope everyone had a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

Equation for Soreness

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60 minutes with an INSANE instructor

I attended my first STRIKE class at LT this weekend. I know at certain times I looked like a complete goofball but that would happen even if I wasn't in the class. I was nervous, as I am anytime I attend a class for the first time, but I really enjoyed it. I've taken a few kickboxing classes before, but this was by far my favorite.

My body definitely feels the workout. I'm not so sore I can't walk, but I can definitely tell where the muscles are that I don't work out often enough.

Thank you Leslie for encouraging me to go and thank you Christy for kicking my booty.



GOTR 5K!

The Girls on the Run 5K was Saturday at Sawyer Point. We had a gorgeous, sunny fall day. It started out a little chilly, but by the time the race started the sun was out and it was perfect!

They danced, made tiaras and head bands, painted their hair and danced some more!

Then they ran a 5K!

All of the girls did awesome! The pride and smiles on their faces must last the rest of the weekend!

The spring and fall GOTR races are definitely 2 of my favorite days of the year!

Thankful Thursday

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1. Healthy family. Although the last 6 months have sucked been very hard, everyone is healthy, alive, and well.

2. Friends. New, old, ones I see every day, ones I rarely see, friends I talk to everyday, friends I haven't talked to in years. I am blessed to have true friendships that melt away the days, months, years we go without seeing each other or talking as soon as we reconnect. For this I am very grateful.

3. Being able to turn my heat off for several days earlier this week! 70+ degrees in November!

Why I Didn't Tri More

I know I've hinted at the mutliple reasons I didn't do more triathlons this past season, but I have yet to actually blog about it (at least if my mind serves me correctly).

So here it goes...

1. They are expensive. I invested in a bike, cycling shoes, tri gear, etc. this year. It all adds up so quickly, but at least I won't need to buy all that again next season!

2. Since I just bought my bike this spring, I was nervous on it at first. 150 miles in 2 days helped cure that!

3. Several of the triathlons I wanted to do (and were close by) were on days we already had something going on or were out of town. We had a very busy summer!

So now that I already have my gear and I feel more comfortable on my bike I am ready to focus on my swimming this winter (yikes!). My plan is to focus on strength training and swimming while continuting to do one running speed work out a week along with one long run and spinning class at least once a week as well.

I hope I can stick to it and become a REAL triathlete next spring/summer.

Thankful Thursday

1. Shannon is getting married tomorrow! So thankful for such a great, long (since Kindergarten) friendship with her and being able to be in her wedding tomorrow!

Louisville finish, Columbus goodies, Indianapolis

2. Running 3 marathons this year injury free! (Knock on wood)

3. Lots of girl time this weekend. Bridesmaid pampering all day Friday then Cindy (my college roommate) comes to visit! Yes!

Marathon #8 Race Recap: Indianapolis Monumental Marathon

The 26.2 crew pre race

After much debate about what to wear due to the weather prediction, I opted for capri tights (just below the knee) and short sleeves. It was 33 degrees at the start, but going to be about 50 by the time I finished. I had a throw away zippy that I ended up wearing until mile 4 or so which is a little longer than I normally wear throw away clothes.

Me and my new friend Dan

I started out with the 3:55 (8:58 minute/mile) pace group. I didn't really like them though. We were too fast, then slowed down and it was very difficult to follow the group in the early mile congestion. I finally settled in just ahead of the group when I came upon 2 runners I had seen with the pace group the first few miles. I started chatting with them and we continued to run together. The girl fell back after a short time, but the guy (I later found out his name is Dan) and I ran from mile 6 to mile 22 together. We would chat for miles, then be silent for miles. It was actually really nice. We kept each other in check and made small marathon talk.

We had an amazing cheer crew: Carter, Steve, Marissa and Jeff. It was an awesome surprise to have so many friendly faces to look for. And of course you could hear Carter and his ginormous cow bell from a mile away!
I felt really great the whole race. I had been very worried all day Friday because I had a really bad knot in my upper left calf. The course was very pretty and every time we passed a gigantic house I looked for Peyton Manning. Unfortunately I never saw him.

The first hill I remember was not until mile 15 and even at that point in the race, it didn't seem like a very big hill. I was feeling strong and knew I was on track to PR.

Thankfully I didn't have any dehydration issues like I did in Columbus.

Mile 23

The last 2 miles I just didn't have a whole lot left in me. I remembered Maureen telling me after Columbus that's how you should feel if you have given it 100%, but I still had 2 mile to go! I knew this was the mental part. I kept a decent pace and crossed the finish line in 3:53:20.

A NEW PR!!! Only by 2 minutes and 35 seconds, but it's still a PR!

Some of our group ran the half marathon, so they were at the end cheering us in and had a nice morning cocktail waiting for us!
I went and sat by myself for about 10 minutes after finishing then headed back to the finish line to look for Megan, Jen, Erin and Jess. We all met up shortly after that and everyone was happy! We had a first time BQ (way to go Megan!), PR's and just feeling good, solid races all around.

I would recommend this race to other runners. It was a great size (but I'm sure growing each year as it is only a few years old), however they need to close more roads or have more cops on the course. I know this adds a cost to the race, but there were a few times I was afraid a car was going to hit me or someone near me. Overall though it was a well run, well organized race with a pretty (and flat!) course. Downtown Indy is also very nice and the hotels, start, finish and packet pickup are all very convenient and it is easy to walk to everything.

Indianapolis Success!

Friday morning I picked Jen up from the Cincinnati airport then we made our way towards Indianapolis.We arrived before noon, parked at the hotel then walked over to the Convention Center for packet pickup. The downtown area is so nice and everything was so convenient. We walked right past Buca - where are dinner reservations were that night - so we knew where everything was after just a few minutes of arriving.




After packet pickup we had lunch as Paradise Cafe. A very cute soup, salad sandwich place - and you get a chocolate chip cookie with your order! Thanks for the suggestion Sarah!

Once we checked into the hotel (with the minor "we're not allowing any late checkouts" fiasco behind us) we settled into our room. A little stretching, a little unwinding, a little napping (short one for me while Jen went for a shake out run), some very entertaining Say Yes to the Dress and a show about a guy who spent several years in a Turkish prison before escaping in the 70's. A perfect pre race day!

We met up with friends for dinner at Buca. Jen and I shared garlic bread and gnocchi. Yum!

Then we headed back to our room for the night.

With three girls (Megan stayed with us!) trying to decide race day outfits, sharing running stories, puking (after running) stories, and looking up races we could do in a few weeks it is needless to say we laughed a lot. 

I feel very lucky to know such fun, neat, amazing people to share my running with.

Race recap coming soon!

Thankful Thursday

Gratitude in pictures with a side note: I've learned to be thankful doesn't necessarily mean you have to be happy about it.

New Love

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Sometimes you just come across something and you can't stop thinking about it.

This website is one of those things. Believe I Am was started by 2 professional runners - Lauren Fleshman (Lo) and Roisin McGettigan (Ro).

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These images are from their site and are a few that they use on their clothing lines. Do you see the words in the pictures? Beautiful. Strong.

Check it out. And feel free to buy me presents. Just kidding. Kind of.

Race Week!

It's finally here!

I'm really looking forward to time with friends and marathon #8 this weekend! And the best part is, there is still no pressure since I ran a decent race a few weeks ago.

I'm attempting to be very good this week...comfy shoes at work, lots and lots of water (really hoping to avoid the dehydrated feeling for this race), stretching, and attempting to get good sleep each night. I still don't know what my race day plan is, but we'll just see what happens.

Sid says happy belated Halloween!

Columbus Recap

Wow, It's been over a week since the marathon and I haven't posted my race recap, the days are flying by!

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I met my running group outside of a church a few blocks from the start of the race. This church was having an all you can eat pancake breakfast for spectators. It was cute to see the spouses and children of runners all bundled up and eating a nice hot breakfast before they went on to cheer for their loved one.

This same church was also having a service for runners. Since I was very early I decided it was meant to be so I went inside for the service. I didn't stay the whole time so I could meet my group, but it was a nice start to my morning.

Five of us ran together for almost the entire race. Maureen and I were looking for a good training run, Amber was running her first marathon, Susan was aiming for 4 hours and Chris promised to help Susan meet her goal.

For the first 14 miles I didn't even realize I was running. We were having fun, telling stories, laughing and attempting to keep our pace in check. Around mile 15 or 16 I did something I have never done in a marathon before - I took a vaseline stick from volunteers. I felt the band of sports bra burning my skin and decided I was in dire need of vaseline. Just a few seconds later I look up and there is vaseline! It was a little awkward getting a big glob of it in the right spot, but I didn't feel it burn anymore (and now it's all healed!). It did not feel good in the shower that afternoon though!

I felt really good until mile 23. I didn't hit the wall, my stomach wasn't upset, my legs weren't cramping. I was THIRSTY. Usually towards the end of a marathon I have to force myself to drink more gatorade and water, but not this time. I took 2 cups of water and 1 cup of gatorade at the mile 23 station and had to walk in order to get enough liquids in me. I really wanted to turn around and go grab 4 more cups. I couldn't believe how thirsty I was.

When I started running again (I only walked for a minute or two) the 4 hour pace team was right behind me. I decided to tuck in with them to distract me from my immense thirst. I stuck with them until a little past mile 25.  I decided to try to catch up to Chris and Susan. We all ended up finishing between 3:58 and 4:01.



I contemplated walking myself right to the first aid tent to get an IV, I just felt so incredibly dehydrated. However, I ended up chugging a bottle of water and after 15 or 20 minutes I drank a chocolate milk and started to feel a little better. I jumped in my car and headed back to Cincinnati with my medal still around my neck.

From mile 20 to the finish I passed 191 runners in the overall category and was passed by 64. It's funny they can tell you that stat. I'm just happy I passed more than was passed!
Since I didn't run as myself, the division and gender places don't mean much, however I did  place 1341 out of 2854 males.

Columbus puts on a very nice race (although the expo this year was a hot mess). I really enjoyed the race again this year with the bonus of NOT breaking my foot afterwards.

Marathon #7 was a success!

Thankful Thursday

Who doesn't love flowers on their desk?  Especially bright pink ones in a bright pink GOTR "vase". And say hello to Peyton too!

This morning was the Inaugural Empowering Girls Breakfast for Girls on the Run Cincinnati. My mind was blown away by this event. The people, the stories, the cause...all of it chokes me up.

How do you go sit in a cube for the rest of the day after hearing Molly Barker, Erin, a coach and a GOTR participant speak? At least I have the flowers to brighten my cube.

I've heard Molly speak one other time and she is amazing. Her story is remarkable and inspirational. I also always love hearing Erin talk about GOTR. Her passion is visible and it gives me goose bumps and tears in my eyes. I would love to have 1/1000 of the impact on girls/women that Molly and Erin have had.

So, today I am SO thankful for GOTR and the opportunity to attend the breakfast this morning. SO thankful for having Erin in my life. She inspires me every day, encourages me in everything I do, is an amazing friend through happy and sad times and makes me feel like an amazing, strong person every time I see or talk to her.

My Secret Marathon - Columbus 2011

This weekend was full of surprises: a secret marathon, a Boston Qualifying time and an engagement. Only one of those is mine though!

Not the BQ....

Not the engagement...

Just the secret marathon!

The week before the race I decided running a marathon with people I've been training with is much, much better than running a training run of 22-23 miles alone. Then when I heard of someone that couldn't use their bib anymore, I decided it was fate. And you shouldn't mess with fate.

With the help of a very few people I was able to pull it off without telling hardly anyone. Blake and Sarah were kind enough to watch Sid and Dana was awesome enough to allow me to crash at her place.

All in all it was a good race. I went into it thinking I just needed a good 22-23 miles and we would just see what happened after that. I'll post a full race recap soon.

My official time was 3:58. You  just have to call me Greg in order to see the time and full details :)

Maureen took 10 minutes off her spring marathon time and qualified for Boston 2012!

Sunday night Sara and I went to PF Chang's for dinner where we witnessed an engagement. It was a very  strange cheesy hide the ring in the dessert engagement with no hugging, hand holding or shrieks of excitement. Maybe she said no.

Thankful Thursday Friday Edition

Better late than never, so they say!

What I am thankful for this week:

1. The treasures my sister found of mine at the old house. I wrote an autobiography when I was 8. It was very funny, I was am awesome a dork. It's in the recycle bin now. I also received a B+ in Wearable Art in Jr. High. Proof that I am not crafty. (First, this is a class, really? Second, my only B. I must have been  pissed, however I have no recollection of even taking the class.)

2. Crazy hat day at GOTR. I mean seriously, who doesn't love to wear a crazy hat with 15 8 year old girls. Nonstop giggles.

3. The Sing Off. I LOVE this show. It's impossible to be in a bad mood while you're watching it. Even Marc enjoys watching it with me! How do they figure out they can make those noises with their mouths?

This Little Piggy...

got hurt.

Ouch.

A rambunctious Sidney getting teased with her favorite toy Mr. Moose is the cuplrit.

I hope it feels better by this weekend!

Prepping

This weekend is a 22+ mile run. I have been trying to take these weeks seriously, treating them like race weeks as much as I can. Here's what I've been doing this week:

Drinking LOTS of water. Yum!

Enjoying 5-8 mile runs in this gorgeous weather and enjoying the beautiful scenery. Ben and I saw 3 turkeys (and no Marc wasn't one of them) last night on the trail. Unfortunately I didn't have my phone with me to get a picture, but they were only 3-4 feet away from us and didn't seem to care.

Breaking in my new running shoes.

My legs look really weird here

Reading Bossypants. Hilarious. I heard laughing is good prep for long runs.

And of course attempting to get a good night's sleep every night. Unfortunately that is easier said than done for me. I'll keep trying though!

"Easy Run"

Today was supposed to be a quick, easy, flat 10 miles. It was quick and it was flat. Definitely not easy.

I ran with someone new today and was pushed to my limits. Most of our miles were between 7:45 and 7:55. It was hard but it felt good to have someone new really push me. I mean, I can't look like a slacker in front of someone I just met, right?

This person also inspired me to really use my Garmin and all of it's bazillion abilities. I need some lessons, so Youtube here I come!

Thankful Thursday

1. My sister. I don't know what I'd do without her.

Me and My sis the Bride at her wedding. Almost one year ago!

2. Upper 70 degree weather in October! It's been beautiful running weather. I can't wait to get out for another run tonight!

3. Girl's night out this weekend. It's always good to have girl time. Especially when celebrating the upcoming wedding of someone you've known since kindergarten!

One Month!

Less than 750 hours til my next marathon! Woohoo! Indy, here we come!

Inspiration

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Last night I finished The Long Run. It was truly inspiring. In 2005, Matt Long is riding his bike to a work out before work during the transit strike. He is hit by a 20 ton bus and given a 5% chance of living. The book is very well written and you learn about the person he was before the accident along with the accident, recovery process, and his return to endurance sports.

Between this awesome book and Healthy Ashley, I feel like a slacker!

Back Again

After 2 weekends out of town and unable to run with my group, I was very excited to meet up with all of my friends again on Saturday. A lot of them were starting their taper for the Columbus marathon. Mo and I joined in on the lower mile long run with the intent of going longer next weekend then 22ish the weekend of Columbus.


We did 12+ miles in under 1:50. I had long sleeves on and didn't feel like exposing my hands to the cold weather to start and stop my watch at lights. The weather was quite different than what we've been running in! It was in the low 40s when we started and WINDY. I feel like every fall/winter I have to re-teach myself how to dress to run.

Our run flew by since we hadn't seen each other in 2 weeks. We had races, weddings, and other news to catch up on. The best news was that Mo's son was sworn into the Marines this past week. It has been quite the saga for the last 9 months and everyone is so excited. There was a fabulous party Sunday afternoon at their house to celebrate that I was able to attend after the bridal shower for my friend.


After running I met Marc at his niece's soccer game. I got there late and only got to see her play for  a quarter, but at least I got to see her play! Then it was time to head home for a HOT shower and cleaning before a Mexican dinner and night out with Marc.

Today I am nice and sore from barbell yesterday. Oh, how I missed it! Hopefully I can keep going until it gets too close to marathon day!

Thankful Thursday

Wow, Thursday again! Last Thursday we were headed up to the UP for a wedding and so busy with work and getting ready before Thursday that I didn't do a thankful post. Oops! Here it goes for this week:

1. Sunrises. For a week or so I was arriving at work during peak sunrise time. Now I get to work too early :( But it was nice while it lasted.


One of my favorites from 9/16. Poor quality phone pic, but still pretty

2. Safe travels. Everyone made it to the UP safely (with only a few minor detours along the way). And when I returned Sunday night I was able to see Tara and her family who were visiting from Texas.

3. Staying home. After 2 weekends in a row traveling the entire weekend, I am ready to stay home this weekend! A good long run, a trip or 2 to the gym, cooking, cleaning, football and a bridal shower. Yay for relaxing weekends! That's not sarcasm, that really does sound relaxing to me!

Indian Run Race Recap

This seems outdated now, but I have been so crazy busy I haven't had much time at all to blog. So even though the race was over a week ago, here it goes!


Erin, Carter, Marissa, Mary Pat and I arrived at the start to the race around 8:45 Saturday morning. We could start anytime between 9 and 11 and were planning to meet Megan after her first 20k loop and join her for loop #2.


Our timing was great. We checked in with the human timer (even though chips were used you had to check in with a person for your start time since you could start any time between 9 and 11) as Megan was changing out water bottles, etc. Megan went ahead but we caught up to her a short time later.


There was quite a variety of terrain during the race. I really enjoyed the different scenery and terrain, it was definitely a nice change of pace!

After we finished our loop we cheered Megan on as she took off for her third loop. At this point she had already run 24.8 miles! Go Megan!

I was surprised by Marc and Sid at the finish line! Marc drove me back to the cabin and I got to keep an eye on Sid for the next several hours while he went to a 3D archery course with his friend.



Yes, I really sat in the back so Sid could sit shotgun!



We took showers and got a little something to eat before heading back to the finish to cheer Megan on. Erin was brave and did the 30 ish steps and last mile with her while the rest of use waited at the finish. Megan finished like a champ and placed first in her age group!

I had a great time with my friends and getting to know Megan. I am now fully inpsired to do an ultra. I just hope I can find someone to do it with me!

Hocking Hills Indian Run Weekend

This past weekend I traveled to Hocking Hills for my first trail race! We had a great time. The race was fun and scenic, our cabin was amazing and peaceful and the company was fabulous!

Friday night we arrived at our cabin. I traveled with Erin, Carter and Megan. Mary Pat and Marissa met us there.

We had beautiful views all around us.

We (and by we I mean Erin, Carter and Megan) made a wonderful pre race meal Friday night. We had 2 choices of pasta, salad and bread. We ate, chatted, laughed, then it was time to get a good night's rest before the big race. Especially for Megan since she was running the 60k race!

Race recap will be up next, stay tuned!

Thankful Thursday

1. My grandpa. He turned 89 years old yesterday. He lives on his own, can still drive, mow the lawn and walks with a group every week. He is superman!

2. GOTR. Second day of practice today. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE GOTR before?

3. Being healthy and able to run my first trail race this weekend. One of the bloggers I read every day is not so lucky (although she is lucky to be alive and on the road to recovery). Ashley was in a cycling accident on Friday and in the hospital with a broken pelvis. Check out her story here. Send some thoughts and prayers her way.