Marathon Training Week 12

Monday morning was week 12's long run, and it was a doozie. Let me explain, this week I put B in a dance camp, and it's only a half day camp. So, Monday morning we both slept in and all the time I had scheduled before camp to get organized was officially out the window. We were running out the door and I was barely presentable to the civilized world but I got B to camp, but I had to get home to get my stuff and get ready for the run. By the time I started, I was an hour late from when I had planned on starting the run, but I had to get the run in anyway I could.

This run was on my own, I had a good mix of music going, and was feeling good. The heat of course was an issue but then again, it'll be an issue for a few more months so I just have to suck it up and deal with it. I was a little wary doing this run on my own, but I think it's mostly because I've never run 9 miles on my own. Obviously, it didn't kill me, but there were a few points where I had to remind myself that I didn't need someone else to push me, I could push myself. At 5 miles into the run, I frantically texted Lesley and let her know that I only had time to finish one more mile before I had to get Bella, and asked if it was ok to finish the last three on the treadmill. She ok'ed it, but told me to minimize the time between, and I busted over to camp to pick Bella up in record time and we were off to the gym. I finished the last three on the treadmill but the legs felt heavy and I was just feeling sluggish at that point, but I got it done even if I had to get a little creative.

Tuesday, I had to get a mile in, and I needed it after the Zumba class I had. I had a front row diva, who decided she was going to be a distraction during the whole class. She would stop dancing at certain points, made faces, had snide little comments, and even hid in the bathroom during one song she didn't like. I am going to talk to her about it next week if she decides to be a pain again on Tuesday. Anyways, I was fuming after class, and I didn't even run with music, I was just angry and needed to get it out.

Thursday was my speedwork day, and I was a little scared and dreaded it just a little. To make matters worse, I couldn't get it done in the morning because I had a photo shoot. Not a total loss because momma got paid, I liked getting paid, and getting paid to do something I love. Anyways, this evening I headed to the gym to get it done. I had music ready to go, but the tv on the treadmill kept me thoroughly distracted, and I needed to be distracted. I also brought an extra exercise towel to cover up the treadmill display, because looking at my speed, time and distance messes with my head, so after the warm up, I covered that puppy up. I peeked occasionally, but I really made an effort to not look and mess myself up. It was going well, and I was almost done when this guy came up behind me and scared the begabbers (Bella said that sounded better than snot). I nearly fell off the treadmill, and I scared a few people working out around me, I wish I had it on tape because I am sure it HILARIOUS. He wanted to move the fan that I had pointed at myself, I told him to take it, as long as he didn't scare me again. Anyways, I hit my pace, I had some moments where I had the urge to slow down but ultimately I finished the drill and didn't slow down.

Saturday, I have a 4 miler on the books, and I am tempted to run The People's Health Day 5K. Not sure, if it's a good idea because we have some prepping to do for B's birthday. We're having a little family get together at MIL's on Sunday and also having lunch at the American Girl store. Then on Monday, her actual birthday, she wants to watch The Smurfs movie and go to lunch with a few friends.

Tales From The Treadmill

Due to the heat and the fact that I'm cheap and don't want to pay a sitter every time I have to run, I've been making friends with the treadmill. You might even consider us besties, next thing you know we'll have matching BFF necklaces and inside jokes. As soon as I step foot on the treadmill, the song "You're My Best Friend" by Queen plays...it's magical.

On Thursday though, I wasn't exactly happy with the tready. I thought I was going to die during the speed work session, obviously, I didn't but I wasn't happy with my dear friend tready. The workout was tough because it had been a LONG time since I had done any speed work. To add to that, whole body was sore from having gone to Group Power class instead of training with Amy the day before and pilates class before the run. If you aren't my dailymile friend then you haven't seen me complain about pilates, the class has been getting ridiculously challenging since she announced her pregnancy. I'm a little scared that the next couple of months in pilates might be the death of me.

Today, I got four miles in on with my BFF, I just felt the run out, watched a bit of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, chatted with K for a bit who was in the gym as well. It was nice to just enjoy the run, and not worry about anything in particular. Nothing too noteworthy about the run, it was just a good time. I'm going to spend the rest of the day with B and work on some choreo for my Zumba classes. Here's one of the songs that I am trying to work on.

Wright Socks Review

The people at Wright Sock gave me the opportunity review some of their socks. They sent me three pairs of socks to review. I've been wearing these socks for all but one of my training runs during this training cycle. 

Wright socks have a double layer anti-blister system, and they wick away moisture. I was intrigued by the double layer system because it's unlike anything that I have seen before, according to their site it helps reduce friction and eliminating skin shear. 

Click here to get more information on the double layer anti-blister system. 

CoolMesh II

CoolMesh II

The first pair I tested were their CoolMesh™II, and I was pleasantly surprised by these socks because I was used to running in a more cushioned sock. When I put them on they felt light, fit extremely well, but at first I wasn't sure how I would feel about these socks on a run. Imagine my surprise when I started running, and I enjoyed having these socks on. My feet stayed dry, the socks were comfortable and I didn't miss my old socks during the first run with these socks. These socks have become my go to socks for the summer, especially living in Georgia and running in the nasty heat here. I have also worn these socks for my Zumba classes and they were equally comfortable, and kept my feet comfortable. They are definitely my favorite of all the pairs I've tested. The overall fit and feel of these socks is impeccable, I will definitely be ordering a few pairs of these socks. I thought I loved super cushy socks until I tried these.

Cushion DLX

The Cushion DLX socks were the second pair of the wrightsocks that I tested. I wore these during some of my long runs of the marathon training cycle, as well as treadmill runs and during some of my Zumba classes. First of all, let me just say that these socks deliver on the cushion factor, they were comfortable and have felt great during all my activity. That being said, I preferred these socks for Zumba and just going to the gym, but that's just me.

Running II 

The third pair is the Running II sock. These socks were thinner than than the cushioned sock, but slightly bulkier than the cool mesh. They too kept my feet cool and the fit and feel of these socks were wonderful. These too have become some of my favorite socks, no blisters, no discomfort, I couldn't ask for anything more.

Do yourself a favor and check out Wright Socks, they are well worth it. Also, check Wright Socks out on Facebook.


Wright Socks provided me the product in exchange for my honest review of their products. 

Marathon Training Week 11

Can you believe it's already 11 weeks into marathon training?! I certainly can't but I think that the ankle issues sidelining me has made it feel like I'm not that far into it. I am confident that I will be ready come November 5th, I have a sticker that needs to go on my car, there's work to be done.

So, yesterday was my long run and I ran this with Danielle and Karen, Karen joined us for a 1.5 miles, because she had somewhere she needed to be. It was a great run, it was slow but it was hot so it all balanced out. We chatted the whole way, about a little of everything, nothing like a run to work out all of life's problems. Guess what?! I had a milestone during this run, I usually stop to use the restroom during my long runs and this time I didn't stop. I am sure that most times when I stop, it mostly because I have trained my self to stop as opposed to actually having to go. That being said, I was pretty happy to see the toilet when I got home, because I've had a kid and sometimes there is only so much bouncing my bladder can handle. Alright, that's enough pee talk, I'm sure that's not what you want to know about, the real draw is hearing about all the stuff we run into during the runs. It's summer and there is just a whole lot of nature going on around here, so we have a lot of redneck Disney Princess like moments with wildlife on the paths. Sadly, this run we were dodging a lot of woodland creatures that were not so lucky.Do we get bonus points for the weaving and dodging the whole way? Did I mention that after this run, I am going to have to retire some of my favorite socks? My experia socks actually rubbed my feet during this run and hurt. I am officially going to be running in my wright socks during the hot weather. Anyways, we did well with the run until mile 6, then we hit the wall, we were ready for the run to be over, it was a mix of heat, and just physical exhaustion. We finished but it wasn't pretty, and to be honest with you, I was ok with that. I got home, iced myself down and took a little nap because let's face it, naps are AWESOME.

Today, I had a training run scheduled before I taught my Zumba class and for the second week in a row, I've had to get the mile in after class. Unlike last week, I didn't nearly mess my pants, so I see that as a win. I love the treadmills at the gym that I teach at on Tuesday nights, they have Nike+ on all their machines, so the workout gets stored right onto my ipod. I listened to some Me First And The Gimme Gimmes to offset all the latin music I've been listening to lately trying to spice up my Zumba class.

Here's a little Me First And The Gimme Gimmes, I've had the Billy Joel version of this song stuck in my head for a few days.



I'll have some giveaways for you guys coming up in the next few weeks, I'm even going to have one that'll be for you local followers, so stay tuned.

The Treadmill Doesn't Always Suck

This morning I had 5 miles on the schedule, Patrick was working, and I didn't want to pay for a sitter, so off to the gym I went to get the miles in on the treadmill. I had been reading my Mental Training For Runners book before I headed out, and decided to use a few of the tricks that the chapter I was reading had just started to touch on. Plus, before I even walked into the gym I made the conscious decision that I was going to have a good run. This run wasn't good, it was great! I normally dread the treadmill, and when on the actual treadmill, staring at the numbers and praying for it to be over as quickly as possible. Well, this time was different. I had a movie loaded on my phone, I had good music, I had a plan to make this run work. I started out and I felt a little achy but as soon as I got warmed up all that went away. I felt great during the run, I watched the people in the Zumba toning class and listened to my music. For the first time ever, the treadmill did not feel like a chore. To add to the general awesomeness, the ankle felt great and so did the knees. EPIC WIN!

Three Things Thursday

1. Today was a tough day with motivation. I woke up late and was a few minutes late to pilates, then I put my run off until this evening because I was just having such a hard time getting it together. Once on the treadmill, I had to keep myself distracted with tv and people watching to get it done today. Some days are just better than others.

2. I've been hooked on Trader Joe's chile spiced mango right now. Have you tried it? It's awesome! I actually just love Trader Joe's in general.

3. I've been low on patience for BS lately. I've had to bite my tongue a few times in the last few days, to make sure that I don't say anything mean that I might regret later.

Lazy Blogger

I've been a lazy blogger lately, I had a ridiculously busy week last week. So, I was back to running last week and if felt great. I was a little worried about the ankle but it held up really well, which was a pleasant surprise. The issue that I had going on last week was the HEAT! Georgia's turned into a sauna, seriously, a friggin' sauna. Last week's runs were all fairly slow and I think that the heat and humidity played a hand in my extra slow runs. In the end, it didn't matter because I was so thankful to be running again. I had missed running, but I didn't realize quite how much until I was out there again. Oh, and in case you were interested, I've been running in shorts and I couldn't be happier. I think that next on deck will be a skirt sports skirt or a sparkle skirts tech skirt.... living on the wild side.

I am working on my first giveaway to help one of my very best friends who is running her first half marathon with DetermiNATION in November. Anyone have any tips on how to run this giveaway smoothly and maybe get some sponsors on board? So far, I've just purchased some things to give away.

Independence 5K Virtual Race Report

Monday morning was my first official run back since the ortho told me to lay off the running to let the ankle heal. Since, it was Fourth of July and since Lesley had me down for 3 miles, I decided why not make it a 5K and join a virtual race at that. 

I meant to wake up at 5:00 so I could get this run in as early as I could fathom doing it, sadly, I ignored my alarm and slept until 6:00. Not too bad under normal circumstances but I had to be back home in time for Patrick, Bella and I to head to the Fourth Of July parade. I got myself dressed and headed down to the lake.

The view was gorgeous

I decided to stick to 4:1 intervals for this run because I was terrified that I would kill my ankle if I just went for it. I started out and was pleasantly surprised when the ankle didn't bother me at all, except there was something else that was bothersome... my knees. Oh well, I didn't let it stop me although it did slow me down.

One mile in and I was feeling good.

Remember how I wrote about needing to buy some shorts and getting over my issue with wearing them. Well, I bought some shorts and I even wore them for this run. I assumed because it was so early, it would be a good way to get over my issues because there wouldn't be so much traffic on the paths. What I forgot to take into account was the fact that everyone and their brother was on the paths going to claim their spots along the parade route and where I run on the paths was very close to the parade route. So most of Peachtree City saw me in shorts, and to make matters worse it seemed that almost every golf cart that passed me had someone I know riding in it. I guess that was one way to get over my phobia of wearing shorts in public.

Almost done... hot, sweaty and a general mess.
(Just ignore the hanging arm skin...yuck)

The miles passed fairly quickly in my mind, I was people watching and enjoying seeing all the decorated golf carts. Every time I felt like walking and it wasn't a walk break, I kept reminding myself that I had to hurry it up and get home to shower and head out with the family, and it was pretty good motivator. I do have to say that the heat and humidity was a HUGE pain, I was sure that I was on my way to melting into a puddle. Gotta love Georgia in July! I finished the run, and was slightly bummed with the time but that was quickly overshadowed by the fact that I was out running again. How can you not love that?! I was so happy to be running again, I'd missed it a lot and had a bad case of running envy.

Not my best, not even close but it was the first run back after all. 

Expo Crashing

I might not be running the Peachtree Road Race on Monday, because I messed around and didn't enter the lottery. Not having a number didn't keep me from crashing the expo, alright, I didn't crash it per say because it was open to the public. I took B with me, and I will definitely be taking her to more expos because homegirl loaded up on freebies and she was just stinkin' adorable chatting up all the vendors at the expo. My main reason for going to the expo is because I knew that the people from One More Mile would be there and I wanted some of their shirts. So, while we are there I came up on the Galloway Training booth and guess who was there... Jeff Galloway himself. He and I chatted for a while, and he signed the mental training book that I bought. I realized after I walked away that I should have asked to take a picture with him, but when I went back, he had left the booth and I didn't want to be weird and wait for him to get back. The expo was pretty cool, but I went in the afternoon and by that time the place was CROWDED, it seriously felt more crowded than the Princess expo. Also, going to the expo just made me sad that I hadn't signed up for the race, I even considered buying a number from someone. Did I mention that people were standing outside of the building buying and selling race numbers. It looked like athletic drug deals going down. So, next year I will enter the lottery and hopefully I'll get a number, if I don't, I'll buy one. 

Here's the whole haul from the day.

Here's the haul

I just had to have this hat.

Some Sweaty Bands for B and I. Plus, I got us two headbands from
Hippie Runner. 

Remember how Shannon gave me a 13.1 sticker last year? Well, I thought
I'd buy myself a 26.2 sticker that I'll display after the big day
 and headband for motivation.

Had to get a 13.1 one too.

With the heat, I'm going to have to run really early so this is necessary
for safety sake.

Got a Hippie Runner race belt as well. Thought it's be good to have
GU and such handy with those loops.

The doctor who wrote this was giving out his book.

Thought this might help me up my mental game.

Jeff Galloway autographed it for me.

Front of shirt #1

Back of shirt #1

B wanted this necklace and I caved and got it for her.

Fabulous and Fierce Friday

First things first, today is Canada Day and I have already started the festivities. I wore my Canada tank to teach my Zumba class this morning, and even I high fived a fellow Canuck at CVS this morning. If I had thought about it when I was home, I would have picked up a pack of mix for the gravy that goes on poutine. Poutine, you ask.. well, poutine is a Canadian dish that's french fries, with gravy and cheese curds.  It looks nasty but tastes so good, I'm serious.

Since, I'm talking about Canada and such here's a list of some of the many famous Canucks. Us Canadians walk among you...



And then just because I love these two videos...





Alright, on to other things. I've been sidelined from running for a while because it turns out that my ankle was sprained. Imagine how jealous I get when I see all the runners around here running and generally looking so bad ass. So, I've been doing the rehab exercises and last week I was sporting a super sexy ankle brace. What?! You didn't know that ankle braces were sexy... well, now you know. Please try not to be too jealous that I still get to rock it when I work out and that I'll have to keep wearing it when I start running again. I'm considering decorating the thing with some fabric paint and such... I'll post pictures if I do. According to the orthopedist, I can't run again until Monday, I'm a little worried about it because of course no one ever wants to re-injure themselves. The ankle thing has been a blessing and a curse. I haven't been able to run but I've been working on the weight loss thing and it's finally getting back on track. Also, because I can't teach my Zumba classes like I normally do, I've had to get creative with teaching and really work on my verbal and visual cueing without actually doing some of the things. I really feel that it's making me a better instructor and my classes have all stepped up and delivered too. Gotta love that!

Hope everyone has fun stuff going on this lovely long weekend! Now stop reading my ramblings and go enjoy a FABULOUS FRIDAY and a kick ass weekend!