9 miles and Street Sweeper Social Club

It was a busy, busy weekend!

Saturday morning, I headed out to meet Katye at the trail for some major miles. The goal for Katye was 12, and I suppose I was shooting for that, but only (ONLY??? REALLY???--Isn't it amazing how our perspective changes as we up our milage base?) ended up with 9.23. That is my furthest distance since my half marathon back in the middle of May. As in three months ago.

Remember those 8 miles I did on the treadmill last week? These 9 were harder. Perhaps it was the rolled ankle I hit at mile 2 (really, it’s the only injury I ended up with, which is really a victory in itself!)

I felt bad starting out because I knew I was going to slow Katye down. She has those long legs and I am more of a turtle. After some reassurance, I finally stopped apologizing and we went out. Our starting pace was a bit quicker than my normal long run pace, but it felt good so I went with it.
I don’t have a lot of great endurance to just run forever like some of the other bloggers I follow (and I admire you all) and I ended up having to do 1 min running/1 min walking on Saturday. I try not to beat myself up over it though, because in the end, I was moving and on my feet and enjoying a BEAUTIFUL morning. Honestly, I could probably have kept going one those minute one, minute off for another couple of miles, but it was getting HOT!

After the run (I was content to end at 9.23, but crazy Katye had to run a few more tenths to hit 12.5) we headed over to Wegman’s for some delicious muffins and fruit. After chatting a bit and drying off (ewwww) we parted ways, but I am really looking forward to our TNT run on Saturday (Dear Hurricane Earl—if you can miss hitting the East Coast on Saturday, that would be awesome. I would owe you big time. Love—E).
In the past, after a long run, my arches and feet just kill me for the next couple of days, so I am happy to report that it was not an issue this time. Maybe my body is getting used to this whole distance thing, finally :)

Sunday, I intended to work out, but the husband had tickets for the Rock The Bells tour in Columbia. I wasn’t thrilled about going, but husband was excited so I tried to be a trooper and went with him.

In the end it was a good concert. The best part of the whole show was Street Sweeper Social Club. Never heard of ‘em? Neither had , but they were awesome! The husband and I found them when we ventured back to a smaller stage when Lauryn Hill looked like a no show (she ended up being there, way late and we still got to see her) and were visiting with a friend of mine. When the band started, husband commented that they sounded like a Rage Against the Machine copy cat. I whipped out the iPhone and started googling them until I found out that the guitarist WAS Tom Morello and once our friends believed us, we all ran to the stage and were probably 4 people back from Tom Morello.  It was a huge shock to all of us and a very pleasant suprise!

Seriously, I’m not worthy—the man is a guitar GOD!!

This week is more of the same--running and cross training with a bit more available time. I am back to being a law school widow, so I don’t always feel the need to rush home following a workout.

Saturday is a TNT Training run (and the Iowa Hawkeyes first game of the year—by the by!!) and I am sticking around to get in 10 miles and Katye has promised to push me a little bit so I can work on my sub 5 hour marathon time! YAY!!!!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Happy Running everyone!

Three Things Thursday

1--Iowa Hawkeye Football starts in 9 days.  9 DAYS people.  Seriously--I could not be more excited!!!!  Lets hope a win over OSU is my birthday present this year!

2--I have 12 miles planned for Saturday.  Hopefully Katye does not need to carry me the last 3 miles of the run!!

3--Fall is almost here.  Seriously, I can not be more excited.  Cute clothes, cute colors and cooler (better running) weather.

Stay tuned--I'm sure there will be plenty to say about this 12 miler this weekend!

Someone has a Golden Horseshoe

I just had to chuckle when I got the number for the giveaway and found out who the winner was. 

Out of the 85 entries (thank you so much to those who donated money--I, as well as the LLS, appreciate your support!!), ramdon.org selected

Which made the winner TMB.  This lady wins all the good giveaways, so go (begrudgingly) tell her congratulations!  Enjoy your "Will Run for Cupcakes" charm :)  Email me here so I can get your information to Jessica at Jessica's Gifts so you can claim your prize!

Happy Monday all!  Have a great day!

Feeling on Top of the World

I had a great workout today.  I was supposed to meet Katye this morning, but mother nature had other plans (but I was able to sleep in, so good news there!!), so I took advantage of some free time with the husband (starting next Monday I become a law school widow again). 

I was finally all suited up to head to the train and it was raining again!  I decided to head to my gym instead and boy, am I glad I did. 

Let me be honest with you bloggy-world.  I have been a bit slacking on my runs.  I tell myself I am "tired" and let myself walk.  I am only cheating myself.  So, today, I vowed to tackle the 8 miles TMB Endurance has mapped out for me and went SLOW, which was ok.  You have to run slow to run faster!  No more being a wuss allowed!

Let me tell you, I wanted to stop.  I wanted to die.  But I kept going, and going some more, telling myself to just make it to the next half mile, and then the next quarter mile. Before I knew it (ok, not really--my eye was on my distance and time the whole time and I felt like it was dragging on forever!) I was done and because I am crazy, I decided to do some additional leg work with a series of leg curls, extensions and squats.  .  I left the gym feeling SUPER strong and SUPER upbeat.  To think, my motivation has been lacking lately too!  Its just nice to know I can do it, even if its slow!

I am currently 3 followers away from 50 followers (oh, I remember when I was excited to hit 10).  Once I hit that milestone, look for a giveaway, since I love you all so much!
 
Speaking of giveaways, remember, you have until midnight tonight (EST) to enter my giveaway.  I will announced the winner, selected at random, tomorrow by 10AM EST. 

Happy Running!!!


PS--For my Annapolis area peeps--on September 21st, I am hosting a spirit night at California Tortilla.  I get 25% of their sales from the night if you tell them my secret word of "Disney."  Please pass this along to anyone you think might be interested!!

Three Things Thursday

1.  I have a whole bunch of cross training to try now that I joined a new gym.  I am excited to try some new classes (sadly, they do not have jazzercise at all TheDawn) and see what works best for me in my efforts to become a sub-5 hour first time marathoner!!! 

2.  Being waitlisted for the Baltimore Half Marathon stinks--but its my own fault for waiting too long to register.  I am currently #146 on their waitlist.  I am anxious to see if I can still get in and training as such.  Fingers crossed that the running Gods are with me and I get in the race!

3.  Runningskirts.com's fall line will be out in a few weeks.  I am so anxious to see what they have up their sleeve!!!!

Happy Running everyone.  I am off for 3 miles of tempo run after work!

11:26

What is significant about that number? That’s the pace I need to keep to run the Disney Marathon at SUB 5 HOURS. Are you giving me a do-what? It’s ok; had a similar reaction when Katye first told me that the idea popped in her head on a run. I then started laughing uncontrollably; thinking of the bad couple of runs I had recently had (hello sucking for air). After a few encouraging comments and getting my head around it, I wasn’t laughing; I was determined, because I have awesome tools to achieve the goal. I have an awesome coach, a great support system and a heck of a lot of determination to get this accomplished. It’s not going to kill me to run it, and there are a lot of people who would KILL for the chance to be able to run. It’s worth it. Its going to be something incredible to accomplish!!

The first TNT run was awesome, BTW. It was a “know your pace” and a just a mile, but it was really nice to get to know the team and meet people who are working with you on a very worthy cause. I ran my pace way faster than I do in a race (woops) but I guess I should get used to it for the sub 5 I have planned! I’m looking forward to future runs with the team and having each other as a support system
In other exciting news, I was able to meet Julie this weekend. I feel like I knew her because of her blog and Facebook, so it was nice to really meet her and not feel so stalker-ish! She is a super sweet, beautiful girl who just started her first grown up job on Monday (go tell her congrats!!) and we were able to help each other out; I had a sofa to sell, and she had a living room with no furniture--Perfect :) Hopefully we will see each other again soon—perhaps at the Amish Country Bird in Hand Half Marathon

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway that ends on the 22nd. You won’t be disappointed--super cute stuff!!
Happy Running everyone!!

First TNT Run this weekend and a GIVEAWAY!!!

Happy Friday everyone!

I have my first TNT running with Katye and the rest of our group in Baltimore to figure out our pace.  Luckily, I am a bit ahead of the game and am pretty aware of my pace, but I am really looking forward to getting out there and getting started!  I am so excited about the program, training, and the race, even if it is 4 months away!

I have been pounding the pavement and emailing people like crazy to beg ask for donations to help raise money for my TNT fundraising account.  I was fortunate enough to speak to Jessica at Jessica's Gifts, who makes awesome handstamped sterling silver charms, among other items.  She was super supportive of my request for a donation (she is also a runner who has completed the Goofy Challenge at Disney) and has kindly offered the winner of this giveaway at $25 gift certificate to her store. 

See how cute her stuff is?  Check out her site here to see more.  It was hard to pick just a couple to put up in the blog.

How cute is this charm?  I may order one myself!

I LOVE this one too. 

(Photos Courtesy of Jessica's Gifts)

You want to enter?  Here's how:

1. Become a follower of my blog and post to tell me.
2. Add me to your blogroll and post to tell me.
3. Add this giveaway to your blog and send me the link in a post.
4. Donate money to my TNT page here.  This will get you an entry per dollar donated, but to encourage generosity, donations over $10 will be awarded additional entries.  You can email me that you donated here.  

Again, a huge thanks to Jessica for offering up the gift certificate and helping me with my fundraising and making this giveaway possible! 

What are you waiting for?  Get your entries in.  Deadline for the giveaway is August 22nd at midnight.  The Lucky winner will be picked at random and announced no later than 10AM the morning of the 23rd. 

Happy running everyone and have a great weekend!