1st Annual River Ramble

Let's start off by saying that I am sorry that I haven't been blogging like I would love too, but work and life sometimes get in the way of free time. And, when I do get some free time I try to do some sort of cross training to make up for the missing runs or I simply just cuddle with my daughter. The latter has been winning lately :) Anyway, since my trip to Chicago 2 weeks ago I haven't completed many runs. I don't even think I did any aside from the stairs since then. So, yesterday I made it to kinda run with BCR. I say kinda because 1- 730 is really early in the morning, but 2- it's even earlier with a toddler who I refuse to wake up in the morning, so by the time I got to where BCR was running they had already started. But, I was there none the less. I really didn't have a mind set on how far I wanted to run, I just really wanted to stretch my legs out and see how they felt. I ended up doing 3.62, which is good considering it was my first run in way too long. I also didn't want to push myself because of the race I was doing today.  Today was the first annual River Ramble Fall Classic.  It was held in the Delaware Water Gap, which I have to admit is one place I have never been before. It was put on my Ready Set Run which is a running store in the Poconos. There was a 5K and a 10K which the option of changing your mind out of the 10K mid course. But, I made up my mind yesterday running that I don't think 5Ks are long enough, and with all the driving we did to get there I wasn't going to just run a 5K. So, at the 5K turn around I kept going. But, wait, let me back up. I found about this race from a girl named Sam who contacted me via twitter after the Runner's World Half Marathon with something along the lines that we run at the same pace. So, due to peer pressure, I totally signed up for this race not knowing anything about it. Nothing. I didn't even know where the Delaware Water Gap was, although I did know of the general vicinity. Oh, I did forget to mention that one of the perks of this race was that they weren't giving away race t-shirts but instead race sweatshirts! Yes! Something different. So, Yesterday after running and then showering (in that particular order) we headed up to Ready Set Run to pick up the race packet. It actually was pretty cool, with some free pens and a free cup from Bushkill falls. The ladies that work there must not get out of the Poconos much because they thought it was cute that I went to breakfast after I run. (I guess they didn't get the whole Breakfast Club Runners on my sweatshirt).  That leads me to today, race day. We left the house at 730 to head to the race. We left with extra time to spare because River Road (which I later learned was the main road) closed 10 minutes before the race and since I didn't know what to expect I didn't want to have to scramble to get ready. We got there with plenty of time to spare and found a good parking spot. There was still some time to wait before the race, but since I was meeting Sam IRL for the first time, I wanted to make sure I actually ran into her. With the race capped out at 500, I didn't know how hard it would be. It actually turned out to be pretty easy. After I met up with her, there was still some time to kill so I went and got a free stretch. I am not sure if I will continue to stretch before I run, but it was still nice.  Much easier to find her than to actually find the race. My only complaint of this entire race is that they should have done a better job with the signage on actually getting there. So, with 10 minutes before race time, they send the walkers to their starting line and then had us runners line up at ours.  They did a bunch of chattering on the bull horn, but nothing that I could really understand. It was at this time that they mentioned that you could change your mind at the 5K turnaround if you wanted, and no one would have to know. I think that should have been my warning, but I ignored it. Someone sang the National Anthem, and then some cheers. Then we started. We started out of the park and immediately went up an incline. It was not to bad as the hills I am used to running, but it was still a hill when my legs still felt cold and stiff.  We then continued onto River Road and ran away from the park. Up and down hills. The website was not kidding when it said rolling hills. The course was well marked and East Stroudsburg Softball team was there to cheer us on as well as the many volunteers. At mile 1.5 was the first water stop which was nice to have.  A little after that was the 5K turnaround. Again, that should have been my cue, but I kept trucking along. Up and down hills, along a windy road. I pushed hard up the hills, relaxed on the down slope and just tried to maintain my momentum. I NEVER once looked at my Garmin, I wanted to run based on how I felt. Right before the 10K turnaround was another long and windy hill, but then we went downhill. At the turn around I thanked the volunteer and told her she was my favorite person of the day. So that awesome hill that we went down, yes, we had to go up it. But, not only did I have to conquer that hill, but also the pitch in the road. I didn't notice how much the road pitched because coming into the turnaround we were on the upside of the slope. There were some nice ladies who at this point passed me, and they were helping me figure out what part of the road to be on. I chose to just run along the yellow lines, that had to be the straightest part right?

After this hill there was a small descent and then more of the same. At this point 2 other ladies passed me, but thanked me for pacing them up the hill. I told them I didn't think I did anything, but they were welcome. We then came to a mile marker with 2 miles left, then again with 1.5 miles to go and then the water stop. Again manned by the ESU softball team. They cheered and gave you water all at the same time. More hills and then a small respit of flatness. Which, of course we all know NEVER lasts long. At mile 5, there was a really long rolling hill. I guess I never noticed how much of a hill it was because of running it in the opposite direction, but never the less it was one more hill to conquer. Right before mile 6 we started our return to the park. More ESU athletes, more cheers, more excitement. Once we got back into the park there were athletes everywhere. One girl even offered to run in with me, and I said sure. She took off like a bat out of hell, I had to remind her that I was 5 miles ahead of her so she was way too fast for me. Just when I could see the finish line ahead of me, I turned on my jets and sprinted to the finish.

This race really took a lot out of me. Not emotionally, but physically. Not like I couldn't walk, but I think because of all of the hills, and twists and turns and the pitching of the road. I really felt done after this race. My right foot did hurt a little bit and because of it I am going to call a doctor this week to have it looked at. I want to make sure there isn't something really wrong with my foot.

The after race party, and I do mean party was really nice.  They had free stretches again, (which I used and will do at every race that offers it from now on!), hot oatmeal, fresh fruit, bagels with every imaginable topping, danishes, hot chocolate, coffee, tea. They had raffle prizes to give away as well as the top 3 from each age group. I think it was well organized and that they made it enjoyable for all. With it being sold out it's first race, I am sure others will race it again, especially since the money goes to help educate more Forest Rangers.
Overall, nice race. Well organized (except for the signage), good race swag, race grub, and scenery. I will most likely do this race again!
That is all I have for now. It's off to bed I go, I have a date with Jillian Michaels and her 30 day shred in the morning. I am also going to try to add abs again to my daily workout. My core is NO WHERE near where I want it to be. But anyway...have a great night!!   
 

The Stairwell to Mt Everest

If you follow me on instagram or Facebook you would know that I had a rough week between working out (or lack there of) and eating (not the best work this weekend). Anyway, one of my awesome friends posted how today was a clean slate and clean plate. So, I vowed to pick myself up and brush it off. I cannot change last week, but I can move forward one step at a time starting today. So, I did. I woke up knowing that I needed to eat better, especially with all of my talks about running more half marathons and maybe a full or 2 next year. I know that when I eat better I want to work out. So. I ate healthy. Maybe not enough for breakfast (that always seems to be my problem) but I ate healthy. Then, I hit the steps. No, not your average stair stepper. I headed off to Lafayette to run their steps their. When I did it on Friday, I made it a game. Yes, I am aware that I am making myself sound crazy. But I thought that If I break it up into sets, then I won't lose track of what number I was on. So, I run all the way up the top, do 10 crunches, run down and then do 10 more crunches. I take a 5 second break and then do the halfway steps. At the top of these steps, I do 10 crunches, and then run down and do 10 more crunches.  This is one set. I rest longer in between sets. I give my heart rate time to come down, and catch my breath.  I did 5 sets; 10 total stair repeats. That is what Bob and I have been doing, except that we sometimes lose count. By early spring next year, I want to continue with the sets, but instead of each set containing 1 long and 1 short, I want them to be all long. I think that will definitely help with training for my running.

Anyway, I posted this picture at the end of my workout today...

And while I know this is a corny picture, (I am terrible with self-photography) when I posted it to instagram, I got the best reaction from a follower who I didn't know was actually following me. Anyway, this person said this... "is this the stairway to Mt Everest of what? Can't even see the top. You rock!!!" I responded how it wasn't the stairway to Mt Everest but just steps at a local college's stadium. And how they just made me feel bad ass.  They responded back "We've done stairs but nothing like those! We've got to get our game back on!!"

Thank you instagram follower designerwhey1 for making me feel bad ass! You helped refuel my drive again! Remember, if you are reading this and are ever in my area, bring it, there are plenty of enough steps for all of us! Even if it isn't to Mt Everest.

Tomorrow I will go back to the 30 Day Shred. Jillian Michaels needs to kick my butt and I enjoy it.
Have a great Monday!

Foodie PenPals

I know this is late, but without internet, I was not able to post my foodie penpal reveal on Oct 31. This month, my foodie pal, Caitlin did an awesome job with picking out a few of the best treats that I have ever had.

 

 

 Those stickers, yeah, they didn't last long, my daughter snatched those up right away!!

 Resealed for more enjoyment, yes, that does say Pumpkin Spice!!

 Yumm, more Pumpkin!!!

 These are the best! They even made awesome inflight food on our recent trip to Chicago. I so NEED a Trader Joe's!

 I haven't tried this yet, but today is definitely going to be the day!!!

 I have no idea what Cashew Butter is, but I love cashews and I am always looking forward to a new way to treat my bagels...tomorrow, I will be trying this badboy!!

 These did not last, at all! I love this so much better than the other brand!

 All of the loot! What an awesome treat!!

 

ACK!!!

OMG! I feel like I have blogged in forever, and it wasn't that I didn't want to either. With hurricane Sandy taking our power in almost everywhere, we were ones of the fortunate ones who didn't lose power, but we did lose internet/cable/phone. Until this morning!! Back to a normal life I guess. Anyway, let me back track up to today...
Friday, we left bright and early for Chicago to visit my sister. You can read all about that over at my other blog Shelze's World (not yet, I didn't blog there yet, come one I just got internet back). Anyway, I knew that while I was there I would have some able bodied person more than willing to watch the babes so I could go for a run. I forgot my Garmin in the haste, so I had to use my mapmyrun app on my iPhone.  Saturday I chose was the perfect day. It was my first run since my half marathon, so I didn't plan on running far, just slow and steady to stretch out. I ended up going 4 I think. I love my sister's neighborhood, it was nice and flat and had a beautiful park with a 0.44 track in it that I incorporated into part of my run. Between the sights being all new to me, and the constant airport and trains, there really was no boredom for me. It felt really awesome to run again, and I didn't even have any pain. I really only planned on getting in that one run, but I packed so much fitness clothes just in case.  With hurricane Sandy, we found out on Sunday that our flight was canceled for Monday so since I knew we were spending another day there, I decided to run on Monday. With my mapmyrun app on hand, I set out for a 6 mile run. I don't know how accurate my speed was, and I hope it was really accurate, but since I didn't have my Garmin for me to constantly check, I actually ran all 6 miles with splits less than 10 min/mile. ALL 6 miles of them!!! I was so totally stoked. The run itself was awesome, no pain (I really hope it was just my shoes) and I thought I could run forever!! I absolutely loved how flat it was. I think I have made up my mind about one of the full marathons I want to run next year! (ACK!!)
While we were there, I did plan on continuing my 30 day Shred, but with the lack of sleep (I am totally ok with that) I chose to continue my week of rest post half. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't completely inactive. With 4 kids under 6, there were lots of walks to the playground and lots of walks themselves. It was nice to get to hang out with everyone, and come Monday morning I will be back in the zone for 30 Day Shred.

Yesterday I received in the mail a flyer from Lehigh Valley Road Runners with all of the upcoming races in the next month. I am so excited, there are so many races I haven't raced before, so I am looking forward to running this year. Thank you LVRR for a well timed and mailed flyer!!!

Today, I plan on running steps at Lafayette. Me and my arch nemesis doubt have a date so I can kick it's ass. Tomorrow I will be back to running with BCR to an undetermined distance at this point. In 9 days I have my first race since the half and I am looking forward to it.

Have a great Friday and an awesome weekend!!

Runner's World Half Marathon

This is a long overdue race review, but sometimes life happens. Anyway, as you know, almost a week ago now I ran my second half marathon. Everyone asks me how I did. I don't really know how to answer that. Physically, I finished. Was I pain free, no. Was it my IT band, no, actually, that felt really good. See, back in May I began to develop some foot pain on the ball of my right foot (yes, only that foot). The pain was not constant, and it only occurred once I reached mile 6.5. (yes, I know that that too is weird). I took it as my body telling me that my shoes were worn out and that I needed a new pair. So, I bought the next generation of my current shoe, because even though I love those shoes, they are not available. Fast forward to 6 weeks before the half. Still having the foot pain, although I relate it now to breaking in the shoes. Went back to the store where I bought the shoes and they allowed me to exchange the shoes for wider ones. Now, I know these new shoes won't be broken in on time for the half, so what do I do. I try to wear the new ones on long training ones to give my old shoes a break. Still pain :( So, fast forward to last Sunday and just know that I am wearing old shoes. Mile 6.5 came and my foot started to hurt. By mile 8, I really wanted to quit, but I had Holly and April to help motivate me. (Well, really they carried me through it because I didn't want to let them down). So, I guess you can say that I should be happy I finished. I am. I knew in the  back of my mind that I should be able to do it in about 2.28, that was my time at St Luke's. But, my runs had been cut down between life and work so I had my official goal to finish in less than 3 hours.  I am happy that I was able to finish it in 2 hours and 35 minutes, but I am not happy that I had so much pain. The nurse in me decided that it is not a stress fracture, 1 because it only starts to hurt at 6.5 miles and 2, because it doesn't hurt all the time. But, I am also going to be smart about it. I am going to see a podiatrist to look at my foot just to make sure there isn't something mechanically wrong with it. If I am going to survive a full marathon in 2013, I need to be able to run longer than 6.5 miles pain free.
Ok, so now, what did I think of Runner's World Half Marathon and Festival. I think that the organizers of St Luke's should take some notes. Having the expo in a tent outside allows for people like myself to feel less overwhelmed and claustrophobic. It really did allow a lot of free movement in an out of the expo. However, I do not think that there were a lot of vendors and definitely no free samples. (St Luke's was very crowded and very overwhelming, so I do not know if there were a lot of free samples, but, I do know that I did receive a few).  The race loot. I do not know how I feel about the "virtual race bag." I think it takes away from the whole race feel. We did get a pretty decent race shirt, but that was it. No bag, no free sample of the magazine, no pen, nothing. Then, when we went to the vendors, they didn't have bags either. So if you were planning on spending a lot of money, you wouldn't have had any place to put the goods. My only other gripe with the expo was that Shalane Flannagan was there on Sunday (race day) but she was only available from 10-11. I don't know about you, but if a race starts at 830 (it did) where would most average Joes be at 11 am (still running!!!) I was and still a lot disappointed that I didn't get to meet her.
The area for the half both the start and finish was awesome! I haven't been exposed to a starting area like this one, but I definitely thought it was awesome. Definitely enough bathroom facilities at the starting area, just not enough in the finish area.  I don't know how the food was, I didn't stick around for it, but I hear I shouldn't have missed it.
   Now, onto the race. What can I say about this race. One word hilly! The first 6.5 miles was the bulk of the hills, with one more long hill at I think mile 10. I am really glad that I had done the stadium steps because I believe it helped me with the hills (I will definitely continue that torture). Once we got out of Bethlehem proper, I think the run was beautiful. The fall colors really were a nice backdrop for the run, and we also couldn't have asked for nicer weather. It was beautiful.  I appreciate all of the effort that the citizens of the neighborhoods that we invaded did in supporting us. I definitely appreciated the "Got Chafing" sign, because it was at that point that I realized I had forgotten my body glide. I wish that the water and gatorade stops were a little more organized, but I do appreciate their timing. It seemed like every time I needed water we were at a water stop. I do wish there was more entertainment, although I am glad I found out before the race that there was none otherwise it would have been a longer 13.1 miles.
The finish area was awesome, although I really think that mile 12 was really mismarked. I think I was at 12.2 on my Garmin before the race marker came up. I know that really isn't a huge discrepancy, but when running 13.1 every mile marker matters. At this point of the race my feet were on fire. I got to see my family at mile 12,

photo courtesy of my husband

I briefly paused for my daughter to give me a kiss, and heard her crying as I ran away. After 12, it was only a matter of time to the finish. Every since I started running, my cousin told me to make sure you don't get passed at the end, that you do the passing. I KNEW I had to finish hard. Somewhere after 13, the road turned to bricks. I knew then that it was a matter of seconds until I was finished. As soon as both feet were on the bricks, I turned on the jets. I knew I HAD to finish hard. It was for all of the training. I believe I passed like 4 people at the finish.

I crossed the finish line and that was it. No one hung the medal around my neck. No one draped with me the alien cape. I walked around people loitering in the finish area. I finally got my medal. It was a really nice medal, I just wish it was put around my neck, not just handed to me.

Will I do this race again, most likely. Will I complain about the hills, definitely. Will I do it faster than 2 hours and 35 minutes, YOU BET!
Happy Friday!!

Race Day!

Today is race day! It is what the last 12 weeks have been for. I am not sure how I will do, all I can hope is to do my best. I know how fast I am capable of running, I know how fast I want to go, but I am just going to start, finish and enjoy every moment. It is the first time this race is being done, so there are no expectations. After mile 7, the race is all down hill or flat. Just have to make it that far! So, for today, here are my mantras....

 

 

 

Good luck to all the runners today who are running the Runner's World Half Marathon. I hope that no matter what your goal is, you will achieve it, but that you will also remember to have fun doing it! Good luck! Kick ass!!

WIAW + Fitness update

Good morning! I know it has been a while since I have blogged. I try to make use of as much free time as I can, but sometimes life just goes by quickly, ya know! Anyway, let's just start with how in the world is it almost time for my half marathon already?!?! I feel like I just started training, and now I am getting more nervous as the time gets closer. But, while I know I haven't been running as much as I used to, I NEVER missed my long runs and made sure that I am doing something in the form, of cross training. I am also trying to eat healthier, which lately, I have been struggling with since quite my running has been cut backed. So, I found a picture of something I JUST HAD TO TRY on instagram from someone I hope to meet in real life @mymissionimpossible. I never thought I would pair eggs, with peanut butter and chocolate chips and walnuts, and it ACTUALLY taste good. Well, let me just tell you...

 

 

 

while this doesn't look appetizing it was absolutely Divine. Since it also had vanilla whey protein and vanilla almond milk in it, it tasted more like vanilla with yumminess that I forgot that there were eggs in it.  I will definitely make this again, maybe not for breakfast (although I wanted something sweet today) but definitely for a late night snack since it is healthy for me.  Since it isn't lunch time yet, this is all I ate so far today. Hopefully, I will be able to continue with the healthy eating, and hydrating since I don't want to dehydrate on Sunday.

 

 

As you know, I have been doing Jillian Michael's 30 day shred. I am on Level 2. Today was my 9th day on level 2. It definitely is a slight bit easier than when I started it, BUT I definitely wouldn't say that I am ready to move to Level 3 yet. It hasn't killed me yet, BUT I do feel like I am dying ever.single workout.  In the 20 minutes of the workout, I am covered head to toe in sweat. After the 20 minutes, you would have thought I ran for like an hour; in the middle of the summer; with 90% humidity. I LOVE IT! I don't know how it will help with my running, Sunday will be a great indicator. I do have some other plans for cross training, but I will not be crossing that bridge until I feel more comfortable with Jillian. The only drawback to Jillian is how repetitious it is. I LOVE change, but I can know tell you what exercise is coming next, and that takes away the excitement for me. But, I will stick with it. I started it, and I have been doing it for 17 days now. I have 13 weeks left of the 30 day Shred plan. I don't know if I will be shredded by then, but if I keep it up, and get back to eating healthier, maybe just maybe I too can be Shredded.

 

But, I better go. I have a very important date with those pictured above. Today though, I will only be doing half of them. Or well, that is what I say. Who knows.

 

Have a great Wednesday!