Run, Dream & Laugh Out Loud

Registered for a race and shin splints

2012-03-05T22:21:00.000-08:00

I'm officially signed up for the Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon!

On leap day there was an great deal for Rock and Roll events, $29 off. I had to register for Seattle RnR!

If I could only choose one race to run a year this would be the race. Not because I love the course, cause this year they changed it so I really have no idea what to expect, or because I kind of feel like Washington is my home even though I only lived there for 3 years (yes I miss it there but I do love Idaho). I would choose Seattle RnR because of Wear Blue Run to Remember. It's more than just another race I get to add to my list or medal I get to hang up. Every step means something. Every step honors a Soldier that is no longer here with us. Every step puts a name to a face so that we may never forget. Every step honors the service and sacrifice of the American Military.

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I am hoping I didn't register for this race prematurely. If anything I can always drop down to the half but I would rather run the full and drop my spring marathon. I'm hoping that won't be necessary though.

I did get in 3 runs last week. A 3 miles on Tuesday (outside), 3 miles on Thursday (treadmill) and 8 miles on Sunday (outside). On my Tuesday run I felt a little bit of soreness, but it would go away and then come back. It wasn't painful to the point that I needed to stop or anything. I iced and compressed and took the next day off to see if it felt any different. Honestly I didn't really feel much but just a slight soreness going up and down stairs, same on Thursday.

On Friday I decided to do some cross training so I spinned for 30 minutes then did around 20 min of walking lunges with 12 lbs weights, squats with 12 lbs weights, 15 lb kettle bell swings. Then I did 10 minutes of stretching/foam rolling. When I woke up Saturday my whole lower body was SORE!! My butt was even sore! I decided to wait to do a longish run on Sunday which worked out perfect cause Cambry text me that day to see if I wanted to get together for a short run. And it was also 60 degrees!!! A beautiful and welcome changed from the cold weather we have been having.

View of downtown Boise

Cambry and I met at the Train Depot and ran to downtown Boise and back which was exactly 3 miles. We just talked and enjoyed the sun. I did feel soreness in my shin when we first started out and we stopped and stretched at the lights. At about mile 2 I didn't feel much soreness anymore.
After she left I went down to the greenbelt and ran 5 more miles. I would only feel soreness in my shin after I would stop and start running again. I did wear my compressing socks (with a running skirt, yay for skirt season!!) and I also wore some k-tape.

I'm not sure if the compression socks or k-tape helped but today the only time I feel any soreness is up and down stairs. I did take today off but tomorrow will try another run on the treadmill and see how it goes.
As of now I am just trying to figure out how to jump into training. If all my runs this week go ok I will attempt a double digit run this weekend.

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Here's another picture from my 8 mile run yesterday.

There was a photo session going on but I had to get a pic of the depot :)

Hope you have a great week!

Five days

2012-02-27T14:39:00.000-08:00

That's five full days that I've taken off from running if you count today.

Shin hurt the day after my 1.2 mile run/walk last Wednesday. I've been icing, stretching and wearing my compression socks hoping that it helps. I also have been massaging the calf muscle, the doctor I work for showed me some massage techniques to help the muscle so it's not so tight.

I actually took 4 full days off from working out too. I had a whopping 6 miles total mileage last week. Sad :(

Marathon training is supposed to start tomorrow with 8 miles. Yea that's not going to happen but I am going to attempt a run tomorrow. Somewhere between 3-5 miles.

Funny thing is when you can't run is when you want to run the most. Fingers crossed for no shin pain during or after the run and then I can modify my training plan from there to ease back into some mileage.

And here's a picture that has nothing to do with running but I just thought was cute...

My dogs Dash and Lilly...

Best Friends

Catching Up

2012-02-22T11:56:00.002-08:00

Lets play catch up with bullet points!

Thanks everyone for your comments on my last post about switching marathons. I have decided to go ahead and run the Lake Lowell Half Marathon on May 5th and run the Famous Idaho Potato Marathon on May 19th. I think it was just a better choice for me. This also means I get to meet and run with these two ladies (here & here) at the Lake Lowell Half :) This also pushed marathon training back 2 weeks.

My strength training has been going awesome. I've been doing about 2-3 strength training workouts a week. I am still using Jamie Eason's Live Fit Trainer. I don't follow every workout to a T but I have seen lot of strength improvement. Arms, back & chest are the area I've been working on most. I want to look good in those tank tops this summer! This past Saturday I did some kettle bell swings while Gene did some heavy rope wave exercise. We take turns usually doing 30 seconds. I always start sucking towards the end and can barely get the wave to go to the end of the rope. Then we did some tire flips. Man that thing was heavy! I did a few of them before we called it a day.

My mileage has been low these past two weeks. Part of it is cause I've been a little lazy in the running department (not the best thing since marathon training starts soon). I haven't had the motivation to get outside so my runs have mostly been on the treadmill. The other part is cause I've been experiencing some lower leg pain on my left leg. On Monday I did a 5 mile hill workout on the treadmill. I started at .5 incline for a mile warm up then did quarter mile repeats where I increased the incline from 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, then back down to 5, 4.5, 4 with a flat cool down. It made the 5 miles go by pretty quick. After the workout I felt a little bit of soreness on my lower left leg. I've felt this off and now for a few runs. But yesterday, the day after the hill workout, I could actually feel more pain than the day before. And it hurt more when I went up and down stairs. This obviously freaked me out and I was thinking the worst so I turned to the internet for answers, cause you know that's the easiest way to self diagnose yourself. I found that pain I was experiencing was just like posterior shin splints. I've never had shin splints so this wasn't the first thing that popped into my head. In fact I always thought shin splints were only on the front of the leg (Anterior Shin Splints). I found this picture that shows exactly where my pain is (Posterior Shin).

I tried some of the stretches that work the calf muscles that are tight (Gastrocnemius and Soleus) and I definitely feel the tightness. I also did some icing and wore my compression socks yesterday, which I read the compression can help. I did do some slow running today after my strength training. I did a walk warm up with some slow running then a walk cool down for a total of 1.2 miles. I could feel the pain, or more like soreness, at the beginning of the run and I could feel myself wanting to change my stride to compensate for soreness. Towards the middle of the run it started to fade and my stride was feeling more natural. I did some stretching after the run. I wore my compression socks again today and it actually doesn't feel as sore as yesterday. I can feel the tightness going up and down the stairs but not the way it felt yesterday.

I read that hill training and speed training can cause it as well as outworn shoes. I think the hill workout I did caused the pain to become more apparent instead of just a light soreness I had been feeling the past few weeks. And also wearing my shoes longer than I should have and that may be were why I was feeling the soreness off and on for the past few weeks. I did get 2 new pairs of shoes recently and had a new pair on when I did the hill workout.

For now I will wear my compression socks, ice, stretch and take it easy on the running this week and see how it goes :/ I have some K-tape at home and I also have access to it at work that I was thinking about trying to see if it helped any.

On Monday I also registered for the Race to Robie Creek Half Marathon. This race sold out in 9 min and 49 seconds. What makes this race so special you ask? Well it's dubbed the "toughest race in the Northwest" and apparently there are 2100 people who are crazy enough to want to run it and I was one of them. I still am not sure what I got myself into. But this is one of the biggest races in Idaho and I have to try it at least once. You can read the course description HERE. It starts at Fort Boise (elevation 2725′), 8.5 miles up Rocky Canyon and over Aldape Summit (elevation 4797′), to a 13.1 mile finish at Robie Creek campground (elevation 3065′). Translation: You run up hill for 8.5 miles, followed by a steep downhill till mile 12 where it finally flattens out. Should be fun right?

I was pretty surprised I got in. I had been going back and forth on if I wanted to run it or not. When it was registration time at 12pm on Monday I logged in at about 12:05 and filled out all my info then hit submit and waited till my transaction processed 3 minutes later and I got my confirmation that it went thru fine. When I logged back onto facebook I read the race had already sold out so I just barely made. I was surprised by the amount of people that were pissed off they didn't get in and were complaining about the registration process. They use Active which is what a lot races use but if you have that many people wanting to register for a race at the same time there is bound to be problems and servers crashing. Guess it pays to have fast internet :) They do have a second chance lottery drawing and from what I've been reading there's always people selling their bibs as it gets closer to the race. They have a theme every year and this year it's Samurai Sailtoad... I have a few costume ideas floating around in my head :)

Have you ever had shin splints?

Any recommendations on what I should do to improve?

Virtual Run for Sherry: Courage. Strength. Grace

2012-02-11T19:44:00.000-08:00

Today I ran 9 miles in honor of Sherry Arnold

I ran along the Boise River. Just me, my bib and my thoughts of Sherry.

It was a quite, beautiful run. I ran with no music.

I just enjoyed the scenery and the sounds around me.

The river was calm and very quite on parts of the run.

I thought of Sherry. I prayed for her family and friends. That they may find peace, strength and courage during this difficult time.

I hoped that Sherry was smiling down on everyone running and walking today. Running to remember and honor her life.

Her bib is up on my wall, I will never forget.

Sherry Arnold - Courage. Strength. Grace.

Never Forget

Kinda changing my mind about the marathon

2012-02-09T13:12:00.000-08:00

Look at the sweet medal I received in the mail earlier this week...

Love getting medals and I haven't raced yet this year :)
It was for running 2 Rock n Roll events last year. Seattle RnR marathon and Las Vegas RnR half.

So I didn't get around to posting a recap of my workout last week.
I ran 18 miles total. The best training day I had was last Friday. I had the day off so I went to the gym in the a.m. and ran 1.1 miles on the treadmill and did about an hour of weights. Then later that morning went out for a 13.1 mile run! It definitely was an awesome way to start the weekend. But I noticed that I can't lay around the house for too long or it gets harder and harder for me to get out the door. So there was no running on Saturday and Sunday.

This week has started off slow. I have only ran 2 miles. I'm hoping to get to the gym after work and get a few more miles in and some do some strength training too. Which I have to say I am loving! I can feel myself getting stronger and starting to see more definition in my arms. I have mostly been focusing on my upper body but would like to start incorporating lower body too. I just have to find the time for it all.

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So I am having some second thoughts about the marathon. Do I still want to run one this spring. YES. My second thoughts are which one. The one I wanted to run is the Lake Lowell Marathon. The reason I am thinking about running a different one is cause there is only 14 people registered for this one. I'm sure more people will register as it gets closer but I doubt very many more. I just don't know if I want to run pretty much all 26.2 miles alone. Can I do it? Yes, the majority of all my training runs are alone especially the long runs. But I love running races to get that energy from other runners. Especially at the end of the race when all I want to do is stop or walk I focus on runners in front of me and try to "catch" them. I tell myself just keep running till you catch the one up ahead and pass them and so on till I get to the finish line.

The only other option for a local marathon is the Famous Idaho Potato Marathon which I ran last year. It's on May 19th so it's exactly 2 weeks after Lake Lowell. Last year there was around 200 - 250 people. I know the course well since most all my long runs are on it but I didn't like the heat from last year. Guess that means I need to finish faster to avoid it :)

So right now my thoughts are to switch down to the Lake Lowell half marathon and run the Famous Idaho Potato full marathon. But I haven't decided 100% yet.

Any thoughts are welcome...what would you do?

Running for Sherry

2012-01-31T21:53:00.000-08:00

Saturday's I usually wear my Wear Blue Run to Remember blue shirt and run to remember our Soldiers.

On Saturday February 11th I will be wearing my blue but will also be wearing this bib in honor of Sherry Arnold

You can read about her story here

You can also go here to the Facebook event page

And click here to download the bib

You don't have to run. You just have to put the bib on, do something active, and remember Sherry.

Weekly Review & a long run

2012-01-31T21:39:00.000-08:00

I'm a little behind on last week review.

It wasn't my best week but still managed 24 miles and a good long run

Monday - Rest

Tuesday - Rest

Wednesday - 5 mile run

Thursday - 1 mile run & Strength - Shoulders & Abs

Friday - 6 mile run

Saturday - 12 mile run

Sunday - Rest

The thing about not following a training plan is I run which ever days I feel like it and usually just plan how many miles I want to run that day. Apparently I was a little more tired the first part of the week so sleeping in felt nice. Most of my workouts during the week have all been in the morning starting at around 6:30 am. It still isn't easy to wake up this early but I have noticed that once the alarm goes off once it takes me a while to try and fall back asleep so it's just better to get up and head to the gym. Because I have limited time in the mornings I didn't get another day of strength in either.

I'm still pretty happy with the 24 miles even if it isn't the 30 miles I put as my weekly goal. Maybe this was a "recovery" week :)
Overall I'm just happy to be consistently running, building my base, and hitting my long runs.

Speaking of long runs I was really pleased with my 12 miler this past Saturday. My friend Tim posted on my Facebook about meeting up for a run. And I'm all for running with other people! The majority of my runs are always alone so it's nice to have someone to chat to help the miles go by faster.

I took my hand held filled with nuun and my awesome Gu chomps I got for xmas from this BRF with awesome little messages.

I also took my new Brooks Vapor Gloves that I won in a contest in December but had just received in the mail. Sadly they are too big :( They are a small and I should have got an extra small. There was just too much space at the tips of the fingers that kept bothering me.

I didn't take any pictures with Tim but he's made an appearance a few times on here at other races we have been at.

He is pretty speedy and usually places at most of the races so I was nervous I would slow him down. He is more a short distance runner, he is aiming for a sub 19 min 5k this spring, I think his current PR is 19:30 or somewhere around there. But he wants to run his first marathon this year so is trying to build up his long runs again. I know he was just running a pace that was comfortable for me. We were averaging about 9:30 pace for the first 5 miles then progressively were picking up the pace and averaged 9:16 pace for the next 5 miles. The last two miles he said he was going to test his speed so was going to run ahead. I said ok and my goal was just to keep him in my sights. Figured it was good training to pick up the pace on tired legs. He got out of my sight for a little bit on a turn but I ended up running the last two miles in 8:36 & 8:38. I definitely have some work to do in the speed department but I'm not stressing over it.

Plenty of time to improve and marathon training starts in exactly 2 weeks from today so there will be more purpose to the runs I do each week which will help with my speed and endurance.

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Thanks so much for everyone input on my long run days from my last post. I think I will go ahead and keep them on Sunday. If I need to juggle them as the training progresses I will do that.

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I managed to run 75.22 miles for the month of January. Pretty good considering my December mileage was 44 miles.

I think I'm ready to start marathon training. I'm pretty nervous cause this schedule is more demanding. But I think it will help me with some future races. I will post my plan in a few days!

Was January a good month for you?

Are you training or will you be training for a race soon?

Bed time and training plan question

2012-01-25T13:51:00.000-08:00

My son and our dog Lilly

When it's my son's bed time, it's Lilly's bed time too. If she isn't in his room when it's bed time he calls for her and she comes running down the stairs and jumps in his bed. That night she decided she wanted to be a doggy pillow.

Every night, before I go to bed, I always go in his room to put the covers back on him. This is what I usually see.

Sometimes she takes over all the blankets, sometimes she's laying right next to him using the other pillow, but there never goes a night when she isn't snuggled up next to him. Even on the days he sleeps over at his friends, she is laying right on his spot of the bed. We have a nice big pillow bed for her, but she prefers the bed and my son loves for her to sleep in his bed too cause she keeps him warm he says :)

It's the cutest thing ever!

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I had some extra time at work so I was typing up my 12 week marathon training plan that I will start in about 2 and a half weeks. All of the long runs are scheduled for Sunday. But my marathon is on a Saturday.

Should I change the long runs to Saturday's to reflect that? Or should I leave them on Sunday's?

If I do it on Saturday I will have to run early cause that's the day we usually have stuff planned and then Sunday would be a rest or cross training day. I will also have to move all runs up a day on the training plan.

If I run it on Sunday, I don't have to wake up and run to early since that day we don't usually do to much but relax or I go visit my family that lives about 30 min away. So I could run in the am then relax the rest of the day. And all I would need to switch on the schedule would probably be the last week or two to reflect the Saturday marathon.

So what would you do? I'm kind of leaning towards Sunday long runs but I just can't make up my mind.

10 miles that turned into 12

2012-01-22T19:39:00.000-08:00

Thank you everyone so much for the birthday wishes!

I had a fabulous day that included lunch at Jimmy John's with some of my coworkers...

The boss, Gene, me, Katie (across from me) and Rylie

Jimmy John's has the best bread ever. We tried to get a free loaf of bread for my birthday but they said they didn't do that :(

It actually was snowy out and took some time to get there but it was one of the last times we will all be together since Katie is leaving us and moving to the city where the young retire... Portland. (Reference to Portlandia.. do you watch that show? It's stupid but in a funny way)

I'm sad she is leaving cause she made work fun. We would joke around, quote movies and songs all day long. I might have to make a trip to visit her sometime this year. Her and her mom actually just signed up to run the Portland Half Marathon in October. It will be their first half! I'm so excited for her and glad she could come to me for advice on training plans, sports bras (I recommended Moving Comfort they are my fav!) and running shoes.

Anyway you can obviously see I'll miss her. Good thing we text each other random crap about once a day to make each other laugh. So back to my birthday...

All I really wanted on my birthday was to keep warm and snuggle up to my boys so that's what we did! Much better than being outside in the cold and driving around on a stormy day.

Keeping warm when I did venture outdoors. I heart my Brooks Run Happy beanie I won at the Las Vegas RnR expo

Snuggling with my boys (minus Gene he was taking the picture :)

Gene made us a fabulous spaghetti dinner! And after we had some yummy birthday treats...

Is it a brownie or is it a cookie??

Brownie mix with cookie dough on top

It's both!

So do you think it's called a brookie? or a coownie?

And yesterday Gene bought me this bad boy...

I had my sliver with some milk not the beer in this picture haha.

This cake is huge!! You might have seen it at Costco. All I could handle was a small sliver it's very rich but oh soooo good! I gave a huge slice to my brother and our friend so they could take some home. I will probably do the same for my coworkers.

After all the desserts I was definitely wanting to go out and run off some of those extra calories I consumed all week.

So today I set out for a 10 mile run that turned into a 12 mile run. Yay me!

The day was actually pretty. Which means it wasn't snowing or raining, a change from the last few days. It was a little bit cold but the crisp air felt good. I set out on an out and back course. I had no specific pace in mind just wanted to keep it at a relaxed easy pace. At about mile 5 I was feeling good so decided to go out one more mile. The first 6 miles were without music. I just enjoyed the sounds around me and the scenery.

Icy lake and finally some snow on the mountains in the background.

At the turn around I turned on Pandora and was enjoying the sun breaking through the clouds for a few minutes. There was a headwind that was making me cold but yet I was sweaty and hot all the same time which made for a gross feeling.

I thought the wind was slowing me down but looking at my Garmin stats after the run I was actually progressively increasing my speed ending with mile 12 with an 8:49 pace. I was pretty happy about that since lately during my long runs my last few miles were slower than the first and I never felt the extra energy kick in to make me want to speed up. Today I did.

12 miles in 1:53 for an overall pace of 9:28

My week looked like this...

Monday - 8 mile run

Tuesday - 1.2 mile warm up & Strength- Chest & Triceps

Wednesday - Birthday! 2.5 mile run with one mile at at 7:53 pace to see if I had some sub 8's left in me. Strength - Shoulder, Abs & push ups

Thursday - Cross train- 35 minutes on the spin bike followed my stretching and foam rolling

Friday - rest day

Saturday - rest day

Sunday - 12 mile run and .3 mile cooldown walk

Total running mileage - 24 miles.

I just missed my goal of at least 25 miles. I should have ran Friday or Saturday or ran a little longer one of the other days.

I also wanted an extra day of strength but I'm happy with at least 2.

This coming week I hope to have my mileage at about 30 miles and 2-3 days of strength.

How did your training go this week?

Have you ever had a Costco cake?

They are HUGE but delicious! I love their pumkin pie's too.

Birthday Sweat Session

2012-01-18T08:36:00.000-08:00

Outside the gym this morning right as the snow started coming down.

Well not quite the birthday sweat session I wanted but it will do :)

Headed to the gym today and got in a 2.5 mile run (at 1% incline) with mile 2 at a 7:53 pace cause I wanted to see if I still had at least a little bit of speed left in me. Since I'm focusing more on mileage increase I haven't been focusing on speed but I will start incorporating some in next week.

After the run Gene and I did a few sets of push ups then we headed home. He had an early meeting and the snow was really start to come down.

I wanted to get in a few more miles, outside, today. But as you can see in the picture below that isn't going to happen.

View from my living room widow

And I'm ok with staying in today. I could hop on my treadmill but it's in my detached garage, and something about walking even just a few feet into the cold snowy day makes me not want to run that bad haha. I might do a little at home workout to supplement my morning workout though.

School is still open even though it looks crazy out there!I remember now that it takes a lot for schools to close here. They would literally have to be a minimum of 12 inches on the ground haha. My son wasn't happy I didn't have to work today and he had to go to school. He said it wasn't fair. I told him well it's my birthday. He still wasn't impressed :)

Hope you all have a great day!

One of the best weeks in a LONG time

2012-01-16T21:31:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone sorry it's been a while since my last post. I pretty much left you all hanging after my goals post. But I am still here and training has been going pretty good especially this last week.

In fact it's been one of the best weeks I've had in a really long time.

You can follow me on Dailymile HERE

I've been focusing in trying to increase my mileage before I start marathon training in a few weeks. This past weeks wasn't very high and not where I want it to be yet. But coming off the last few weeks where I've barely even ran, I think this was a perfect increase and way to get back into a regular running schedule.

A break down of this past weeks workouts.

Monday - 5 mile run & yoga*

Tuesday - 3 mile run

Wednesday - Spinning & strength training

Thursday - 1.2 mile run, strength train, then a 6 mile run later that day for a total of 7.2 miles

Friday - rest day

Saturday - 5 mile run & core work

Sunday - rest day

*Monday was a 24 minute yoga workout . We bought a new game for our Xbox 360 Kinect called Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012. It's pretty cool cause it scans your body so you actually see yourself on the screen and not an avatar. It keeps track of how many calories you burn and you can set goals for yourself. There's lots of other workouts on it I haven't had a chance to try out yet but I am really looking forward to it on a day when I can't make it to the gym or just as a supplement to my workout that day.

I added 2 days of strength training and one day of core work this past week. I asked a friend of mine if she had any recommendations on strength training workouts and she recommended Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer. I have been obsessed with her website and love that they show videos for each workout in case your a newbie in the weights area like me and don't exactly know how to do each workout. She has some really great recipes video's on her site that I am wanting to try out soon. With just 2 days of weights my arms were so sore. I found out I am a weakling haha. But can't wait to see improvement.

I also added one day of cross training. This past week is was the spin bike. I only had time for 18 minutes which was about 5 miles.

I'm also happy to say that Monday, Tuesday and Thursday's workouts were all before work, starting around 6:30am! I'm pretty proud of that. I can feel my body getting used to working out early in the morning. It still isn't easy to wake up but I'm so glad I do. I have so much more energy throughout the day and it feels good to know once I get home I can spend that time with my family and I don't have a workout hanging over my head. Gene has been my motivation. He is more of an early riser than I am. Once the alarm goes off he is up. I'll lay around for a few minutes and finally get up and then we head to the gym together. I also prefer going to the gym at 6:30 am versus 6:30 pm. Wednesday we went in the evening and there was way too many people there and hardly any cardio machines open and lots more people using the weights so we had to wait around for a little bit. This isn't the case in the mornings.

This coming week I'm hoping to have my mileage around 25-30 miles and also add a few more days of strength training.

It's already been a great start to a week with an 8 mile run today and then I spent time with my niece who decided she wanted to paint my nails :)

My birthday is also in 2 days so this week can only get better right?

Maybe it will include a shopping day, I've had my eye on a new running jacket and tights :)

Have any of you tried Jamie Eason's LiveFit trainer? Liked? Disliked? Saw results?

I've seen a few bloggers out there using her program and have had some good results but they also follow the diet plan. I am loosely following it. It's primary focus is protein and I will definetly need more carbs once I start marathon training. But I am focusing on eating healthier carbs. Mostly I am looking foward to building my strength but seeing some nice muscle tone won't hurt :)

Hope you all have a great week!

2012 goals

2012-01-04T20:59:00.000-08:00

I'm not a believer of resolutions. They are usually just broken a few weeks or even days after you make them.

I am a big believe of goals though. Goals are what helps to keep me motivated whether it's in health and fitness or personal goals.

So here are my 2012 goals in no particular order

This year my main goal or overall focus is keeping my motivation since it disappeared on me for a little while there at the end of last year.

I hate the way I felt physically and mentally after losing all motivation to go out and run, one of the things I love to do most. Running helps me "find my happy place" if that makes sense to anyone. I just feel better overall. I want that feeling back and I want to keep it with me year round.

(I have my Runner's World calendar up at my desk at work to help keep me motivated every day. Love looking at all the different quotes, exercises and pictures of that month. There's even one from Idaho in this years calendar!)

This year I would like to run 1,500 (+) miles.

Last year I was on a good track to run 1,200 miles. The first half of the year I had some great months averaging 100 miles or more a few months, then the last half of the year I had some crappy mileage months and just all together held myself back cause I just figured, well my goals is 1,000 I'm close to that, I know I will do that before the end of the year. I need the extra challenge this year. Even if that (+) is just one extra mile, I would like to be over 1,500 for the year.

Cross train & strength train more.

Well one reason cause it will help me become a better runner. And two if I'm not motivated to go run, I need to find another activity to do and that's cross/strength training.

We already have the gym class schedule up on our fridge. There's a few classes Gene and I want to try out. I also have the Xbox Kinect and have seen some pretty cool workout games that I want to try out. We are downloading a trial version of one. If anything it will be a fall back cross training workout and fun pictures to post on here for you all to laugh at :)

Run a sub 4 hour marathon.

My current PR is 4:07:34 at the Seattle RnR marathon. I would like to break 4 hours at the Lake Lowell Marathon on May 5th. Breaking 4 hours was one of my goals last year, but I didn't really focus on it too much. This year I'm putting in the training and the pace runs specifically needed for a sub 4 marathon (I'll talk more about my training plan on a separate post)

Run a sub 1:50 half marathon.

I noticed last year that I ran my best half marathon time of 1:53 when I was in marathon training and not specifically training for a half. My current marathon training plan calls for "tune-up" races, I would love one of these to be my sub 1:50. We will see how the training and scheduling goes though and if I need to focus on just a half marathon after marathon training is over.

(Thanks Michelle for predicting this goal and the sub 4 marathon, though I really really wish I could run in Germany with you :)

Eat healthier.

This is on my list every year. I usually do a well rounded job except during the holidays and there's cookies every time I turn around. I know how my body feels during training when I eat healthy and when I eat junk. It's obviously 100x better when I fuel my body right. Not only that but my weight is down and it's less of an effort to run "fast". This will be my motivation to fuel properly to help me achieve my above timed goals.

Wake up early to workout.

Not everyday, but at least 1-2 times a week I would like to workout in the morning before I head to work. I always feel so much better throughout the day if I run or workout in the morning. And then that means I can come home after work and relax. I actually woke up early today and got some miles in on the mill at the gym thanks to Gene for helping me wake up and going with me!

I need an alarm that is going to motivate me to wake up and not hit the snooze button. I'm thinking I need to somehow find a way for Dolvett to record a personal wake up greeting for me :)

Read more books

This is more of a personal goal but it can help me in my health and fitness goals if they are running/health type books. Last year I read 2 running related books and 3 non running related books (Hunger Games which I LOVE and can't wait for the movies) I started other books but just never finished them. That's pretty sad :( I have this lovely new Kindle Fire I got for Christmas and I need to put it to good use! Even though I already have one running book (Advance Marathoning) and one magazine (Running Times) I'm reading on it. So if you have any recommendations please tell me in the comments so I can start reading something now!

Continue my education

I'm not quite sure where I want this goal to take me yet. I do know that I'm not 100% happy in my job. And I know that my Bachelors degree isn't enough anymore and I need to get some type of certification or get my masters and find a job that will make me happy. So this year I would like to get everything in order to go back to school. What I would love to do is go to school for Physical Therapy, but the closest school is 3 plus hours away and we don't plan on moving there so I need to figure out what else I would love to do. After all I can't get paid to run can I?

Well that's pretty much my overall goals for 2012.

I'll leave you with a picture of my 2011 medals and my wall of motivation.

A look back at 2011

2012-01-02T09:58:00.000-08:00

A recap of 2011...

January
Started my blog!

February
I moved from Tacoma, WA back to my home of Boise, ID after living in WA for the last 3 years. As I go back and read those post it definitely was a bitter sweet time.

March

Ran my first race in Idaho

St. Patty's Day 5k

April

-My son is officially in the double digits (he was more excited about that than me, I was more sad that my baby boy isn't a baby anymore *insert crying mommy here*)

-Ran 20 freaking miles on the treadmill!!! (read about it here) I'm pretty proud of that accomplishment. Takes more mental toughness I think than to run 20 on the pavement. At least for me it does.

-Gene is officially retired from the Army after 21 years in the Military. So proud of him.

May

Ran marathon #2!!!

Famous Idaho Potato Marathon

June

Totally killed my sub 2 hour goal at the See Jane Run Half Marathon with a time of 1:53:24

A week later I ran my 3rd marathon!

Seattle RnR Marathon

This was probably the most memorable and emotional race I have ever run. Re-reading my recap and looking at all the pictures makes me tear up.

I PR'd by 10 minutes with a time of 4:07:34. I look forward to running this race every year with Wear Blue Run to Remember

July

July was more of a step back month after 2 months with marathons in them. There was lots of camping and relaxing going on.

But Gene and I did go on our longest run together of 8 miles.

August

This month was full of fun races!

First Gene and I ran the Boise Foothills XC12k race and it totally kicked my butt!

But the view was beautiful and I still want to buy these pictures of us. They are some of my fav race pictures yet.

A few weeks later we ran the Project Athena 10k race

And finally this month I ran the Boise Dirty Dash 10k Mud run. Probably one of the funnest races yet!

September

This month is where I kind started losing my motivation :( and found every excuse there was not to run.

-My part time job that I liked so much turned into a full time job that I wasn't liking so much and was taking away from my training and family time. I'm still currently working there. Without getting to much in detail about all the reasons I am looking for another job I will say that I like people I work with and the type of job it is. I just don't like my hours and wish I got paid more for the amount of work I do among other things I wish were different there. I would love to find a job that offers free massages every month especially with marathon training coming up, but unless some changes are made, I just don't see myself working there for very much longer.

October

I started to find my motivation.

I ran the City of Tree's Half Marathon and got to run the last mile of Linzi's Marathon with her as well as with Cambry

I decided to run a last minute race this month and loved the hilly challenge. High Speed Pursuit Half Marathon

November

This month I primarily just focused on getting ready for Las Vegas RnR half

And also spending lots of time with family and celebrated my loves birthday :)

December

Reunited with my BRF's Tiffany and Tiana in Vegas.

Ran the Las Vegas RnR half marathon.

Didn't get the PR I was hoping for but had a fabulous time cause it was Vegas!

Ran the Christmas 10k Run with Linzi & Cambry

I met both these amazing ladies through blogging this year and I'm so glad I did.

And finally finished off the year with a New Year's Eve run helping me meet my mileage goal of the year to run 1,000 miles. Finished off the year by running a total 1,001 miles!

In summary I ran 1-5k, 2-10k's, 1-10k mud run, 1-12k, 4 half marathons and 2 marathons!

This year I definitely learned a lot. I know there is room for improvement. I know I need to figure out how to keep my motivation and not lose my love for running. I know I still have so much to learn about training, pacing, nutrition etc. I can't wait to improve in every area in 2012!

Next up goals!

Last RUN of the year... Happy NYE!!!

2011-12-31T16:03:00.000-08:00

I did my last run of the year this morning.

I have ran a total 1,001 miles in 2011!!!

I'm ready and excited for 2012.

I wouldn't have worn any other color for my last run of the year...

Wear Blue Run to Remember

I'm working on my 2011 recap and 2012 goals post that should be up within the next few days.

I am enjoying reading everyone's recaps and goal posts. It helps to get me motivated and excited to see what 2012 has in store for me!

Hope you all have a safe and

Happy New Years!!

YMCA Christmas 10k Run

2011-12-20T18:14:00.000-08:00

Let me just say that I love running for fun, with no time in mind, with fabulous girls and dressing up!

Here is my outfit for the YMCA Christmas 10k Run this past Saturday

Santa's little helper?

I met up with Cambry and Linzi at the starting area and we took some pics.

Love this one with Santa!

Santa loves runners

Another pre race photo.

Before the start of the race we watched the costume contest...

I'm lovin baby Jesus

Boys with nothing but a box on and Santa in his pjs I think?

Buddy the Elf even made an appearance (Penguin girls looked cute too!)

I'm kind a partial to my own glittery costume, with even my jacket decorated with snowflakes.

This was after the race so the snowflakes started falling off

Once the race started it was nice and flat for the first mile and a half or so...I knew there was a hill coming soon I just didn't expect it to last so long. Linzi, Cambry and I did a run/walk combo up the ~~hill of death~~ Highland Hill. Linzi said she had done some training runs on it when she was training with Team In Training for the Nike Women's Marathon. They would do their long runs on it! So I asked her a few questions about it cause I think I may do some of my own training runs on it, I have a few races next year that have some hills and I'd rather be over trained for them then under trained.

The hill actually reminded me a lot of 30th St hill in Tacoma, WA. (But Highland hill was a lot worse cause it seemed to never end) Which made me think of my running adventures there and of my BRF who was running the Santa Runs 5k at the same time with a fabulous group of bloggers all dressed up as super cute candy canes. (I ran this one last year with her, we dressed up as snowflake girls and crossed the finish line together cause it was my last race in WA before I moved to Idaho)

When we finally reached the top of the hill and then picked up some speed on the downhill. We rounded a corner and saw some people dressed up singing Christmas carols. Finally one more corner, smiled for the photographers and sprinted into the finish line.

I didn't wear a watch for the race but we chose to go down the finishers shoot to be timed. We finished in 1:07.

After the race we got some warm soup, oranges, a cookie and chocolate milk. We found a place indoors to keep warm and enjoy our goodies...

This was such a fun race. Difficult considering the long hill but fun overall and can't wait to do this again next year.

Linzi I hope you are coming back to run this with me and Cambry next year. I know that's the whole reason you came from Georgia, had nothing to do with visiting your parents for Christmas, nope, it's so you could run with me :)

No pressure

2011-12-16T20:50:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow morning I'll be running a local 10k Christmas Run with these lovely ladies...

Cambry, Linzi and I at the City of Trees Marathon & Half Marathon.

What's nice about this race is I have no pressure to meet a specific time. I just plan to enjoy the run and catch up with Linzi who is visiting from Georgia and Cambry who I haven't ran with in a while.

It's also nice I have no goal time cause there's a 1.5 mile hill right at the beginning. And it's also going to be in the 20's at the start! I planned on wearing an elf themed outfit but I at this point I just want to keep warm. My bottom half will be decorated with striped socks, my capri running pants, and my red team sparkle skirt, but my top half will be warm with a few layers of clothes that include my running jacket. And of course I'll be wearing a sparkly santa hat to match my sparkle skirt :)

I'm almost thinking about not even running with my garmin watch, I might feel a little naked since I rarely run without it. We will see if I can bare to leave it at home tomorrow.

Besides running my weekend will include lots of shopping. Yes I am a procrastinator and haven't finished my xmas shopping. Hey at least my house is decorated and has been for a few weeks now :)

Do you ever run without your Garmin? I know this girl has got some awesome PR's running pretty much sans gps

Doing any fun races this weekend?

Have you finished your Christmas shopping?

The rest of my Vegas trip in pictures…

2011-12-11T19:42:00.001-08:00

After landing and checking into the Flamingo we headed to the expo to meet our friends Tiana and Bill. I only picked up my packet that day (Friday). We didn’t walk around the expo till Sat.

Got my bib! Runner #6935

After picking up my packet we headed to California Pizza Kitchen for lunch while we waited for Tiffany and Will to land. (Sorry no pics of CPK but it was delicious!)

There was a little bit of gambling of course

Had to play the Sex and the City slot machine!

Gene was more excited about this slot machine…

After some walking around and getting excited to be imagining myself running on the strip…

It was time for dinner! We decided on Hash House A Go Go located in the Imperial Palace. Their food was D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S!! They started by bringing out some homemade biscuits topped with honey.

Their portions were HUGE so we all shared an appetizer of Fried Green Tomatoes and chicken

I only had a few bites of it cause the honey biscuit was still calling my name.

Gene and I decided to share the chicken pot pie

In case you need a comparison on how big it actually was here it is next to my head haha

Yea we didn’t finish it.

We were all so completely stuffed from dinner we all needed to do some walking around and site seeing…

And a little bit of drinking too…

We also some some Storm Troopers…

On the way to breakfast on Saturday we just about froze in the wind, we were wishing it would disappear before race day…

Gene took some fabulous pictures

Before we reached the Cheesecake Factory we had a little fun at the Forum Shops (which Tiffany and I visited on Sunday before the race to get our shop on)

We were very excited to be at H&M.

We tried to apply as a job being a mannequin. What do you think are we hired?

At breakfast Gene got surprised by his cousin Jay (far left) making the trip to spend Vegas with us

After breakfast it was time to be silly at the expo!!

Don’t mind that my glasses are crooked, they were broken, either that or I was drunk and couldn’t put them on right.

Ran naked…

Won a sweet beanie from Brooks that says Run Happy

The place was just to busy and they had already ran out of sizes of some of the shirts we liked so we left.

After dinner at great at Il Fornaio in New York New York, we headed over to Mandalay Bay for the blogger meet up at Eye Candy Lounge. I don’t have any pics of that but there are some great ones out there. I got to say hi to Jess from Blonde Ponytail and meet Janae from Hungry Runner Girl who has some great dance moves!

After dancing a little bit our selves we went in search of the boys in our group but got distracted by this candy shop.

Apparently my tongue is blue.

After all that it was finally time to rest of for Sunday, or in our case rest up to go shopping then go running. You can read my race recap here

Before our trip ended we had to make one more stop to have breakfast at Hash House A Go Go… best food ever! I had the French toast with banana’s and walnuts on top… Yummy! Oh yea eggs and potatoes but those hardly got touched.

The rest of the day was spent shopping and site seeing before we caught an evening flight Monday evening back to Boise.

A few more pics…

I think we took this picture some time after the expo when we were lost trying to find our way back but it’s to pretty not to post

Tiffany and I love being silly

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite pictures, I didn’t get to shop in this exact store but we did head into Sephora at the Forum Shops. (This one was at the Venetian.)

If you can’t tell, I prefer to spend my money shopping instead of gambling

Las Vegas RnR Half Marathon Recap

2011-12-07T15:16:00.001-08:00

Oh where to start on my fun Vegas trip... Let's start with the race recap since I know that's what you all want to know first :) then i'll back track on a later post on the rest of the weekend :)
This is a long post so I won't feel bad if you skim thru for the results.

So Sunday we decided to have breakfast at the Cheesecake Factory. I had a little bit of eggs, potatoes and a bagel with cream cheese. Delicious and a perfect breakfast, just enough to fill me up that I almost wasn't hungry before the race.

After breakfast Tiffany and I decided to do some shopping at the Forum Shops. Maybe walking for the last few hours before the race wasn't the best idea but it was Vegas! And I would have never found these beauties...

I had planned to wear them after the race but that didn't happen, more on that later.

After shopping we decided to head back to the hotel, we stayed at the Flamingo. I had a cliff bar back in my room so we decided to get some bananas at the coffee shop in our hotel. Yea I paid $2 for it. Most expensive banana I've ever eaten. I already had all my clothes laid out and ready to go...

I couldn't decided between my under armour skirt (top with pink lining) or my ruffled Lululemon skirt (bottom) I went with the UA skirt cause it had a bigger pocker for gels.

We all met in the lobby for some prerace photos...

Tiana, Tiffany. We were taking flight or something :)

We finally got on the monorail that took us to Excalibur which we then had to walk to the start at the Mandalay Bay. Not sure on the distance but it didn't feel like a long walk. Right as we got off the monorail I realized I had left my ipod in my hotel room :( That really bummed me out cause I had spent so much time downloading new songs and arranging them in the order I wanted. The longest I have ran with no music is 12 miles. That was at the Seattle RnR marathon. But this was different. I knew I would want to zone out to try and hit my goal pace or better. Oh well it happens so no reason to stress over it I told myself.

Once we got there we took a prerace photo

Tiana, Tiffany and Will

and then headed to find the porta potties. The lines were long and I still had to find my way back up to corral 6 so I decided just to try and hold it in (I should know better than that). By this point there was so many people I could hardle move. I still had to find Gene to give him my phone and stuff in my pockets. I finally found him trying to squeeze his way thru the crowd and make his way to the hotel. I also was going to give him my jacket but it was so cold and windy I decided to hold on it, which I then ended up taking off during the race cause I got pretty warm. After we said our goodbyes I tried again to squeeze my way thru all the crowds. There was so much pushing and shoving I tried to squeeze thru openings and finally made it to the back of my corral just after they sang the National Anthem. Before I knew it we were running forward.

I started with this guy that was pretty much naked except for a thong type thing he was wearing attached to some suspenders that were holding in his junk. It was actually funny. Wish I could have taken a picture haha. I saw him walking about a mile into it posing for a picture and drinking a beer.

I was struggling to find my pace with the amount of people and all the weaving I was doing. And the constant feeling of having to pee wasn't helping either. I finally saw a porta potty, can't remember what mile it was at but I know it was before the 3 mile marker. I could hear someone puking in the stall next to me so I hurried and got back on course.

I looked down at my watch to try and figure out how much time it took me but I realized my garmin had freaked out and wasn't even recording my time :( I figure it took about 1.5 minutes total. I tried to reset it but it wasn't cooperating, I think it was frozen. At the 3 mile marker I reset it and it finally worked, figured I'd have something to go off for the last 10 miles.

My official 5k split time was 28:07 or a 9:03 pace, which is more than 30 seconds off my goal pace.

With all that weaving I felt like I was using up so much energy. The water stops were littered with cups and I saw one girl slip :( I was trying to alternate water/cytomax but I would always be on the wrong side and of where they were offering it and I was trying to stay on the right side cause marathoners were coming thru on the left. I saw the 3:10 pacer and the guy on the bike yelling at half marathoners to stay to the right of the cone, no one really listened. I felt bad for those speedy people.

Official 10k split was 54:25 or a 8:45 pace. Speeding up but still not my goal pace of 8:29 or better

The part off the strip was pretty boring especially with no music. I focused on everything around me. People complimenting my outfit, the outfit of other runners (lots of sparkling skirts but only a few Elvis costumes) and some random guys saying I was a cute little girl, not sure if that's a compliment or not haha. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't get into the grove and speed up the way I wanted. I never find that perfect "zone". Once back on the strip I just tried to focus on my surroundings and walking them the previous days and how it wasn't too much further.

Official 10 mile split was 1:27:46 or an 8:46 pace.

The Mandalay Bay seemed to take forever to get to. I could feel the previous 2 days of walking plus the earlier hours of shopping in my feet, they were hurting the way they would for the last few miles of a marathon. I just wanted to be done. I knew it wasn't a PR but that wasn't going to stop me from trying to speed up that last mile. My legs didn't really want to go any faster. But I started to think about our Soldiers who are no longer with us, their families, about Wear Blue Run to Remember; I was dedicating that last mile to them and remembering that I GET to run. While I was thinking about this I looked up and saw a person up ahead with the Run to Remember shirt on. It was such an inspirational moment to look up in a sea of thousands of runners and see that shirt at that exact moment. I tried to speed up to chat with him but he was just too fast.

It did help me speed up and I finally crossed the mats:

Official time 1:55:58
Pace 8:51
3807 out of 33123 overall
214 out of 3177 in my age group
1218 out of 21051 in my gender

Once I crossed it was a complete stop. I got to the side figure that was my best bet to get some water/food and get out of there. I got water, my medal, stood in line for a bit for my finishing photo, got some food beyond that then waited for a bit for Tiffany. There was just to many people that I didn't see her when she passed so I went to the letter H where we had decided to all meet. Our friend Tiana came in next then Tiffany's husband Will. It was so so cold and windy out there I was freezing! I was glad I decided to keep my coat even if I had to tie onto my waist during the run. It help me keep just a little warm.

Tiana is such a sweetheart, she wrapped her space blankets around us so we would stay warm.

We went back to Mandalay Bay where Gene was waiting, that seemed to take forever! Gene was such a good man and had some jello shots waiting for us :)

Once we were in there it was warm but so crowded. We decided on taking the monorail. It would have been quicker to walk but it was so cold I didn't want to go outside again. The monorail was obviously extremely crowded. There was no space between you and other people. Once it would arrive people would start to shove and push. It took 3 times for us to actually be able to get on. But not before the lady next to us was about to pass out. I started to get really warm and didn't want to pass out myself so I took off my coat and space blanket I had wrapped around me. When we finally made it back to the Excalibur things cleared up a lot more and there wasn't so much congestion. We took our time walking back and stopped to get a drink and another jello shot :)

Pina Colada anyone??

Post race kisses

Will enjoying his Foster's

By the time we made it back to the hotel it was after 10pm. My feet were hurting so I knew there was no way I was going to wear my sparkly new heels. Which by the way I fell on my ass when I was trying them on. I went to sit on the bench and it slid from under me causing me to land on my right cheek. It still kind hurts :/ I think the lady next to me probably thought I was drunk haha. We showered and met for drinks in our friends room then headed down to have a burger at the Burger Joint in our hotel.
I may not have got to wear my sparkly heels but Tiffany and I loved our Team Sparkle Skirts so much we decided to wear them after the race over our jeans.

After that we were all tired so we headed up to bed. Not the ended I had planned for finishing a race in Vegas but staying off my feet felt so good.

Final Thoughts...
Running on the strip was so much fun. The worst part was obviously the over crowding. I think if I ever ran this race again I would stay a lot closer to the starting area to avoid any type of transportation to take at the end. I would also arrive the day before the race instead of 2 days before.
I've seen both sides of feed back of a great experience, but more negative feed back on the race. I have only ran one other Rock n Roll series which was the Seattle RnR and I loved it. I think they have a lot of improvements they need to make for this one next year. Not sure how it will all work out if they rumors are true that they want to increase the participant size to over 60k.

Love my glow in the dark medal!

Here are my race day photos, I tried to do a little posing :)

If you read all the way to the end thank you :) And thank you everyone for the sweet comments on my last post. You guys are awesome!

Shake the glitter off your clothes

2011-12-01T09:55:00.001-08:00

Shut up and put your money where your mouth is

That's what you get for waking up in Vegas

Get up and shake the glitter off your clothes now

That's what you get for waking up in Vegas

That's my current theme song! Tomorrow I'll be flying out to Vegas! I'm soo sooo excited if you can't tell. Excited to run an awesome night race on the Vegas strip! To spend some time with Gene! To see my friend Tiffany, her husband and other friend I haven't seen since my last visit to Washington in June. Tiffany, Tiana and I all ran our first half marathon together in June 2010 so I'm excited to be able to run with them again.

Tiana, Tiffany, Me... yes we really are that excited to be running 13.1 miles. Isn't everyone?? :)

The outfit has been picked out. We will be rockin the Red Team Sparkle skirt, poker suit arm sleeves and tall socks, black tank top, and my red sparkle head band to tie it all together :)

As for my goals...

The goal i've been training for is 1:51 which is 2 minutes faster than my current half marathon PR.

I just hope to soak it all and and have as much fun as possible.

Love long weekends

2011-11-29T12:19:00.001-08:00

Hello friends! Sorry i've been MIA for a little bit.

I was mostly busy with work as usual but I did get a 4 day weekend where I spent lots and lots of time with my family. It was very much needed. I got to spend Thanksgiving with my family here in Idaho. Since I was living in WA for the last few years I hadn't spent it with them in a while. Spending this time with them made me realize how I take living so close to them for granted. I'm only a 25 min drive away versus an 8 hour drive when I lived in Tacoma but I only visit every few weeks. I need to change that and at least visit on a weekly basis.

I didn't take much pictures from the weekend but here's my son and my nephew on Thanksgiving.

Besides indulging on way too much food over the long weekend I did lots of reading.

Have you read the Hunger Games? If not I definetly recommed them! I read the first book in 2 days and am now halfway through the second book. I love it when I find books that I can't put down and just have to know what's going to happen next. (if your interested in buying them Target has them on sale and you also get a $5 gift card with the purchase of 2)

I was in the middle of reading Racing Weight when I started reading the Hunger Games.

I may have to start over on reading this one but so far I like it and I think it will help me with achieving my goals for next year :)

Besides reading I've been getting ready for the Las Vegas Rock n Roll Half Marathon this Sunday!!

We leave on Friday and I'm so ready and excited! This week couldn't go any faster!

I'll be posting my goals for this race later this week as well as a sneak peek to my outfit :)

I'll leave you with a picutre that has nothing to do with this post but it's just too cute not to post and some questions...

Anyone else running Vegas RnR?

Have you read the Hunger Games or Racing Weight? Thoughts??

Recommend any good books??

Running and a birthday!!

2011-11-17T16:42:00.001-08:00

Today I got to do something that usually only happens on the weekends.... I got to run during the middle of the day! I didn't have to be at work till 2pm, perfect opportunity to go on a run! Well not really go on a run, more like go out to my garage and run on my treadmill. It was pouring down rain and windy so I figured it was a better idea to do my tempo run on the mill.
I love speed work and hill training on the treadmill but tempo's on there on not my fav. I ran a 1 mile warm up with 5 miles at 8:13 pace and a mile cool down. I was glad to be done.

I really liked going to work later just for the reason that I could get my run in before work. I feel much better coming home knowing I have already ran for the day. Not sure if I'll get to do that again though.

-----

And on to the most important part of this post.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GENE!!!

Yesterday was his actually birthday so we had a birthday dinner with the Burtons!

I'm so thankful to have you in my life. You are the most amazing person, always putting others first. Making sure we are always taken care of. Always continuing your education whether it's here at home or when you were deployed. All of your Soldiers loved you and now in your new career you are loved by all your clients! I don't blame them, it's really hard not to love you :) We may have our ups and downs, but I wouldn't trade any of it in. I heart you and I can't wait to spend many many more birthday's with you! I love you!

Today we honor you.

2011-11-11T10:58:00.001-08:00

It's Friday and I have yet to run this week. This whole time change has really been messing with me. It's so dark when I get off work I feel like it's bedtime! I either need to wake up early and run before work (since it's dark then too) or maybe try running at lunch time. Only I don't want to go back to work sweaty. Either way no excuses right!

Today I am reminded of one of the reasons I started running and continue to run. For our Soldiers. Today I remember our current heroes and those that have made the ultimate sacrafice. My miles today are dedicated to you...

Gene and I, Military Ball 2009 before he deployed to Afghanistan OEF 2009-2010

http://www.wearblueruntoremember.org/

Gotham City is safe for another day....

2011-11-07T20:05:00.000-08:00

I know I'm a week behind on my Halloween post. But it was another busy week... that may or may not have involved some crime fighting with these super heroes....

Batman & Robin

Cat Woman, Wonder Woman, Batman & Robin

There may not have been much work going on during Halloween, who wants to work anyway when we can have our own photo shoot... and what's a photo shoot without a fan to blow the cape around.

With all the flashes going off making me feel famous I suddenly got inspired to pose like the paparazzi were photographing me... well either that or I had to go to the bathroom really bad and was trying to blow a kiss at the same time...

And who was being our fan holder?? Well the doctor of course...

It was the least he could do for us since he totally wasn't within our super hero theme.

Flo from Progressive decided to make an appearance at our party.

The night couldn't be over without us practicing our flying moves... I know Batman and Robin don't fly, but they do in my super hero fairytale...

The work day couldn't be complete without a proposal. Save the date for Batman and Cowgirls wedding!

Since Robin is the best woman they let me have a matching ring.

The fun didn't end there.... Robin and his friend the wrestler Randy Orton had some bad guys to beat up.

Be scared of his bulging muscles and tattoos...

Batman & Robin fought hard that day, and ~~Boise, Idaho~~ Gotham City is safe for another day.

No Excuses November!

2011-11-03T11:21:00.000-07:00

Saw this this morning on PlanetGear.com facebook page and I had to share with all of you!

Read this article HERE that talks all about No Excuses November.

Goal is to make no more excuses this month. Set two goals for yourself. One to achieve in November and the other to achieve by the end of the year.

I've always thought the best way to achieve and stick to your goals is share them with others. I shared them on facebook and now here. For November I want to stick to my training plan and get all my key runs done so I can have an awesome PR at Las Vegas RnR half. For the rest of the year I want to meet my goal of running 1000 miles this year and hopefully surpass it! I'm about 100 miles away so I just have to keep running even after the race in December. What do you think... is 1200 possible? If I run 100 miles this month and 100 next month it is :)

The article had some great quotes...

"Procrastination is the grave that success is buried in."

"Someday is not a day of the week."

"You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." - Martin Luther King Jr.

All of these remind me of a picture I saw posted on Dirty Dash facebook page yesterday...

This is what I need to tell myself when I'm getting home from work and even though the first thing on my mind is a run, it's the last thing on my list of stuff I have to get done.

Will you participate in No Excuses November?? What will your goals be? Please share!

It's a beautiful day for a RUN

2011-10-30T19:45:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful weekend it was here in Boise!

The weather was beautiful! I got in two awesome runs for a total 17.5 miles this weekend.

Saturday was my long run of 10 miles but ended up running 11 cause it felt good to be outdoors and it was just one of those runs where you feel like you can keep going and going.

Today I ran 6.5 with no specific pace, just enjoying the beautiful fall day (picture above is from my run this evening). My legs felt heavy for most of today's run. I have a feeling it's been all the halloween candy i've been eating :/ Tomorrow is our work halloween party and after that I'm going to try my hardest to clean up my diet and try to feel "lighter" on my feet for Vegas RnR.

Speaking of halloween party, we are all dressing up! Our theme is super heros :) It's going to be AWESOME! Make sure to check back this week for pics of that and of my son's costume after we take him trick or treating :)

Well now that I just finished watching one of my favorite tv shows, Walking Dead, it's time to clean up the kitchen from dinner, oh and I probably should take a shower from my run too, then it's bed time :)

I'll leave you with a few more pics from my run this evening.

High Speed Pursuit Half Marathon

2011-10-26T21:01:00.000-07:00

So last Sunday I ran the High Speed Pursuit at the Prison Half Marathon.

I kind of decided last minute to run this race. My work was supposed to have a booth so I registered on Monday (the week of the race), but they ended up not being able to attend the race. Either way I was glad I registered. It benefited the Peace Officers Memorial Fund. I love when registrations fees go to a great cause.

Getting ready to head to the race, wearing my BLUE, capris cause it was kinda cold and sparkle red headband

The race started out at the Idaho State Correctional Institute (the prison). It's actually about 25 min away, out in pretty much the middle of no where. The beginning was kind of chaotic. They had odd packet pick up times (Wed and Thur the week of the race only between 4-6) so I had to pick up my packet race morning. The odd thing was they had 2 lines to get your stuff. The first line was bib/shirt pickup and second was timing chip pick up. I was chatting with the girl behind me how we were cutting it close to the starting time and still had to stand in a whole other line when she ended up recognizing me from a race earlier this past summer, funny thing about small races is you see a lot of the same people :)

I finally made it thru both lines and still had to go drop of my stuff in my car so I sprinted back dropped it off and tried to do a quick warm up to make my 14 miles for the day. I wanted to use the porta potty one last time but there was a huge line. I was debating going out to where all the cars were parked and told that to the lady in front of me, she was thinking the same thing so we said lets just do it. So we sprinted out to the cars with about 4 minutes till start time, squatted and did our business. We both laughed and ran to the start line. The national anthem was being sung and there was also a stunt plane doing some tricks up above. Before we new it there was a loud bang and then the prison alarm sounded as we all took off. I thought that was actually really cool. A few yards away was the prison CERT team (Correctional Emergency Responce Team) lining both sides of the road with full on gear (sorry no picture but they looked similar to a SWAT team with full on shields).

There was also a 5k and 10k and we all started at the same time which was odd but it didn't bother me too much. I started far enough back to not start out to fast with all the short distance runners but also far enough ahead to not be held up by walkers.

The website didn't really have a course description and I didn't know anyone who had ran this race so I didn't really know what to expect when I got out there. My plan was to at least average out a 9 min pace cause that was my goal pace for my 14 mile training that day anyway. I felt surprisingly good and was holding about an average 8:30 pace for most of the first half. This pace actually felt really good. My pace started slowing at about mile 8 and I could feel that we were running at an incline now. I had to walk a few times on some of the bigger inclines. And then I see the 12 mile marker, but right after that is a big hill. I cursed whoever made up this course and how evil they were for putting a hill at the last mile. I tried hard to run but I ended up walking a little bit too. But right after the hill I refused to walk and sped up as much as my legs allowed. The person in front of me was too far up to catch but I made sure no one passed me at the end.

The elevation map from my garmin confirmed the second half being at an incline but overall I was very happy to cross with a sub 2.

Official time was 1:56:32. 7th in my age group (out of 27) and 40 out of 166 overall.

My sweet medal...

Here's a few pictures from the race...

Short one on the right ;)

My attempt at smiling for the photographers...

And I'll leave you with the cutest picture ever... as I was trying to take pictures of my medal and race shirt my dog Dash decided he wanted some attention....

Finding motivation through others

2011-10-24T12:42:00.000-07:00

So it's been over a week since my last post where I said I would blog more, but I promise it's just been cause I've been busy. Busy with work but I was also able to get in some good runs!

Saturday before last I set out for a 10 mile run on the Boise Greenbelt. I knew my brother would be running his first ever 5k race that day with some coworkers so I sent him a good luck text while I was out.

On my way back at about mile 8.5 I saw the runners heading towards the Boise State stadium. I asked the volunteer what time the race started and figured my brother hadn't reached that point yet so I waited to see if I could him. Unlike me my brother is tall so he was easy to spot and I started waving like a crazy person to get his attention...

I ended up jumping in and running half a mile with him into the Boise State stadium where I went around to try to see him finish. I can't say enough how proud I am of him. I was so excited for him when he first told me he was running a 5k. He ended up placing 3rd in his age group!

They got to finish in the BSU stadium and hang out on the blue turf

After chatting for little while I finished off my run ending with 11 miles for the day. But just being so proud of him for running his first 5k helped me get motivated to get out the door and run.

As if that isn't enough motivation I had a running date with Linzi last Thursday.

This run was nothing shorter than AWESOME. I forget how much fun it is to run with someone else, just forget about pace and distance and just run for the fun of the company. If you read her blog you know she is moving to Georgia this week so we chatted about that, our races and hopefully some destination races in the future :)
I attempted to take a picture with the beautiful view of Boise in the background but it didn't work too well

Here's the view I was trying to get :)

We ended up with 5.5 miles of pure fun. She definitely motivated me by just being there and running with me. I'm sad she is moving since we just met and started running together but also excited for her and all the places she will be able to race at. Good luck Linzi I can't wait to read about all your adventures!

With all that motivation I registered for a half marathon which I ran this past Saturday! I'll post the race report on that tomorrow but my time was 1:56 which I was completely proud!

I've learned that the motivation is there, you just have to look for it. No excuses. Just get out there and do what you love to do. For me, it's running.

It's been a long time....

2011-10-11T13:27:00.000-07:00

Hello my blogging friends. It's been a long time, too long!

I kind of disappeared for a little while. It wasn't really a planned break. I just lost motivation there for a little while. Well a long while really. So many things piled up, mostly just excuses that prevented me from getting out the door and doing what I love to do. First it started with my work schedule, working 9 plus hour days, getting home after 6pm. Then I would feeling guilty for going out to run after I was gone all day instead of spending that time with my family. Then it was the hot summer days I wasn't used to (nothing like the weather I was used to running in the PNW) and being to lazy to wake up before work to get my run in. Then I got sick for about a week, then after that I kind of just gave up trying to make up excuses. I would occasionally get a run in here and there, but my training was pretty much out the window. It actually made me sad cause when I did go out and run I could barely run 3 miles without having to stop and walk. Yes granted I would still try to go run when it was blazing heat outside and that had a lot to do with it, but I would be mad at myself for letting myself get to this point when I had built up such a great base of speed and endurance.

So now all there is left to do is stop beating myself up for letting myself to get to this point and just start over. This weekend gave me lots of inspiration and motivation. Even with such little training I ran a half marathon this past Sunday. It wasn't my best race, and probably wasn't the best idea to run it but I felt like I needed to for myself, I love the race atmosphere and I thought it would give me the motivation I needed again. I walked a lot more than I have in any half marathon and the last two miles were probably my slowest. No matter hard I tried to run faster my legs just wouldn't go. I managed to run it in 2:01:17 which is my second best time.

Before

After

After the race I was happy to be done and glad I ran it too. I waited around for a little bit and thought about going home. But instead I decided I should support my friends running the race. I drove to try and find my friend Kacey who was running her first marathon and Linzi who was running her second marathon. I text her to see where she was and started driving slowly, feeling like a stalker looking at all the runners haha. Then suddenly I spotted Linzi's pink hat and honked and cheered! I drove back to the finish line, parked and ran back on the course to wait for her. I saw lots of runners as I waited for them. Many of them shuffling along, in obvious pain, other's with family members following them on their bikes along the course. I thought of the way I feel at the point in past marathons I have run. How much everything in your body hurts and you just want to be done. But also how good it feels to hear people cheering for you, so that's what I did, cheered for each runner and told them good job as they ran by. It actually was quite inspiring to watch them run by, so close to finishing yet so far away. At least for me those last 2 miles seem to take forever. For a second I wondered how I could put my body through that (3 times), but then I remember how good it felt to know all your hard work and months of training was finally paying off. I realized I missed that sense of accomplishment.

I saw Linzi and Cambry running towards me. I cheered and hopped on the trail to run the last bit with them.

This was actually the first time I have met Cambry. She ran the last 9 miles with Linzi and it was also a mileage PR for her. You can read all about Linzi's marathon HERE

I also got to see my friend Kacey finish her first marathon and was her official finish line photographer

She made me remember how just a year ago I had ran my first marathon.

All those feelings from my first marathon came back to me and made me smile. I was glad I could be there to share that moment with her.

Kacey, Cambry and Linzi probably don't realize how much they inspired me.

Kacey helped me remember the sense of accomplishment after running your first marathon. Knowing you freaking ran 26.2 miles and that marathon runners high you feel for the next few weeks. How even though her first marathon was rough she finished it and knows she wants to do another, just not soon :)

Cambry helped me by remembering what it was like when you reach that first mileage PR. The longest distance you have ran and how bad ass you feel and how you know your goal of whatever race distance you have set for you is attainable.

And Linzi, running her second marathon, looking like a rock star even at mile 25. All smiles and cheerful. Even though she wasn't going to meet her goal she was still going to finish strong and not let anything get her down. She was so inspiring, watching her sprint to the finish line. I was honored to be able to run the last bit of the marathon with her and cheer in to the finish line.

I'm telling myself this was a small set back but I WILL get back into solid training and back to just doing what I love, running.

And I WILL start blogging again. Not cause I feel like I have to. But because I love the friendships I have made through blogging. I met Linzi and now Cambry through blogging as well as other inspiring bloggers. I need to use my blog as a way to motivate me again. It does make me feel good to know that there are people who enjoy what I write and miss my blog (thanks Ashley for the motivation on dailymile :)

I'm going to learn from this set back and hopefully rock my training the rest of this year :)

Dirty Dash 10k Mud Run

2011-08-30T20:35:00.000-07:00

aka the FUNNEST race EVER in pictures!

Our team the Dirty Booty Chasers and our pirate mascot Dash

Gene, Linzi, Me, Dash and Elisa

Credit to our awesome photographer, my brother Jojo for waking up early to be around a bunch of crazy people.

My sister Elisa, brother Jojo and Me (Yes I got the short gene in the family)

This race was definitely the funnest I have ever ran. It was nice to not wear a watch and just run for fun and get dirty while doing it. The company was amazing! Check out Linzi's blog for her recap.

The pirate family that runs together stays together

Before our 9:20 wave started we had a great time looking at everyone's creative costumes

Having some fun waiting for our wave to start

And finally it’s our turn! Can you see me in the sea of dirty dashers?

I don’t have any photo’s from course itself (waiting for the official photos). It was a little difficult in the beginning. No not the obstacles, the running up the mountain! We were running up the ski hills all while climbing bay hales, jumping through tires, going through mud tunnels, climbing walls with mud pits on each side and at the top of the mountain was a secret obstacle… the beer chug! Did I chug a beer? No. But I did have a few drinks of it which was refreshing after the climb.

Then came the slip and slide!

It washed all the mud off me

And then the funnest obstacle of them all.. THE MUD PIT!! Time go get dirrttyyy!

The mud with rocks in them didn’t feel good when people were throwing them at us though..

It was more like a muddy swimming pool...

And the finished product of the mud pit…

I can’t wait to run this again next year! Who wants to be on my team???

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(I have been trying to post this all day but Live Writer didn't want to upload the blog post :( Sad day I love Live Writer it has never failed me before. I had to resort to posting this thru blogger

Dirty Booty Chasers

2011-08-25T20:54:00.001-07:00

The last few days have been busy so this post will be all over the place….

My son’s first day of 5th grade was on Wed.

I still get emotional when I drop him off on his first day. No I don’t cry, anymore But I imagine I’ll get emotional till the day I drop him off at his college dorm.

On the way to school his first day he was talking about the mile test. Last year he was first in his class and a spot to participate in the super mile against other kids in his school. This year he wants to do better so I told him I would help him if he wanted. Today he mention the track team and possibly joining this coming spring. That makes me super happy! But I will let him make his own decisions on what sports or activities he wants to play. The rule in the house is he can choose what sports or activity he wants to participate in, he just needs to do something so he can stay active. When we were in WA last year he chose swimming lessons which he really loved. Since moving to ID we haven’t been able to sign him up for anything but with the new school year we will have more opportunities for him now.

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This week has also been really hot! Not as hot as some of you have to deal with and it isn’t humid thankfully but it’s been at least 100 the last few days and tomorrow 102 is predicted. Normally I wouldn’t mind this cause we have air conditioning so it makes it bearable, but this week the air con broke at work! So it’s been extremely hot! Making me very tired and grumpy by the time I get home. Needless to say I haven’t got in any cross training. I am just way to tired to want to go to the gym after spending my day in a sauna. I have done all my runs this week so far. I run first thing in the morning before work to get them out of the way before it gets too hot. Thankfully I’ve been staying hydrated with some Nuun at work.

Shout out to the Nuun HTC team this weekend!

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And finally I went to pick up our races packets today for the Boise Dirty Dash 10k on Saturday!

It’s going to be sooo much fun! Our team name is “Dirty Booty Chasers” It’s a pirate theme

I really like the shirts too!

Our team has 4 members including Gene and I. And Linzi from Beyond Destination 26.2 is also on our team! Linzi and I are going shopping for some costumes tomorrow.

I have been looking forward to this race all week!
I ran the Ft. Lewis Mud Run in Washington last year and it was so much fun!

Be sure to check back this weekend for muddy pirate pictures!

And to end on a random picture. This is me trying to use the foam roller this evening but Dash wanted me to pay attention to him instead.

Best way to get attention is with kisses right?

Spider Pig

2011-08-23T20:46:00.001-07:00

Today’s track workout and Saturday’s race has me feeling speedy!

Today’s Run Less Run Faster Key Workout #1 was:

1 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down with 200m rest intervals in between the following:

1200m goal 5:27 – actual 5:27

1000m goal 4:30 – actual 4:34

800m goal 3:34 – actual 3:38

600m goal 2:40 – actual 2:40

400m goal 1:45 – actual 1:45

200m no specific goal – ran it in 50 sec

I really loved this workout! Not sure why. Maybe cause I was able to hit the majority of my goal paces. I liked knowing that after each interval I would be running less and less laps so it helped me mentally want to go faster. I focused more on my form and breathing. I find that when I run fast I run out of breath easier which makes me want to slow down. Focusing on my breathing helped me maintain my speed. I started off just under goal pace and would progressively speed up and sprint it in at the end.

I wore my New Balance 10 Minimus Trail which I absolutely loved for speed work!

I have worn them for other runs and for the Foothills XC12k Trail Race but today was the first time I wore them for speed work. They were light weight and I think helped me with my form. I love my Saucony Kinvara’s but the NB Trails definitely will be my go to shoes when I want to run fast! I didn’t have to transition much into them. Probably cause the Saucony Kinvara’s are considered to be a good transition minimalist shoe. I have to agree but I can definitely feel the difference between the Kinvaras and the NB Trails. There is still more cushioning in the Kinvara’s which I prefer for longer runs.

I wonder if they would have helped any with my 10k race last Saturday?? Not that it matters I was completely happy and surprised that I could run at an 8:04 overall pace for 6.3 miles. Not sure if I could keep that pace for any longer my legs were definitely wanting me to slow down. I do think the Run Less Run Faster has helped me gain speed even only 4 weeks into the plan. I look forward to the speed workouts each week, they are my favorite from all the 3 key workouts.

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Have you watched the Simpsons Movie? Remember the Spider Pig song Homer sings as he holds a pig up to walk on the ceiling? No, well here’s the video

So SPIbelt is having a giveaway contest on Facebook for whoever comes up with the best SPIbelt jingle, chant, song, motto etc. So I told Gene about it and he had the awesome idea of coming up with a jingle to the tune of Spider Pig. This is what we came up with (sing it with the same tune to Spider Pig)

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SPIbelt, SPIbelt,

Holds whatever you want it to hold,

Doesn’t bounce or shift while you run,

The reflective belts keep you safe at night,

The waterproof ones keep your things dry and tight,

Lookout here comes a runner with a SPIbelllllttttt!!!!

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Might not be the best lyrics but we thought it was funny and had fun with it. Gene was trying to claim the prize if we win cause he came up with the idea, but I told him I really want the black with pink polka dots and I just have to have it. So he said he would take my current one. And if we don’t win it’s still on my list of stuff I want to get.

Well off to bed I go! Little man’s first day of school is tomorrow!

Project Athena 10k Race and after

2011-08-21T21:01:00.001-07:00

Project Athena is a non profit organization that was founded in 2007 by “two‐time adventure race world champion, 10‐time Ironman finisher and professional firefighter” Robyn Benincasa.

“Robyn was diagnosed with stage 4 Osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease, in 2007, and completed a marathon 20 weeks after hip resurfacing surgery as a proud owner of two metal‐on‐metal bionic hips. Inspired by a support group of girlfriends who were also survivors, Benincasa started the Foundation to create a “god and goddess” network, to help other women who face medical setbacks embrace recovery and conquer physical fitness and adventure goals.”

100% of the registration went directly to the foundation to help local and national survivors. This was the first year they held the race in Boise so it was actually very small. I’m not sure on exact numbers because they haven’t posted results online.

Gene and I picked up our goodie bag and race bib the night before.

The tech t’s were really cute and they had men and women's fit which was actually really nice. I don’t really like unisex shirts, they never fit me right. They ran out of smalls though but they said I could exchange it the next day at the race. I just ended up keeping the medium.

We didn’t get our timing chips till race day. I actually had never seen this type of timing chip. It’s one that you wear on your wrist. I thought it was weird and worried that it would bother me during the race but I actually didn’t feel it and would prefer that kind over the type you have to wear around your ankle.

We got to the race about 30 min before the start and their was hardly anyone there. There were more volunteers than runners at that point. But they slowly started trickling in.

We decided to take some pictures before the race to keep us entertained.

Purple sparkle skirt making it’s first race appearance :) which I absolutely love and got some compliments on.

Gene has actually been sick the last few days so I wasn’t really sure if he was going to run it. Race morning he said he was feeling good enough to run. But wasn’t going to be able to run fast. Our plan was to run together for the race but once there we saw how small the race was Gene told me he knew I could run run fast and beat a lot of the people there so I should go for it. It actually made me feel really proud to hear him say that. Feels good to be told that you run fast So I gave him a kiss and said ok!

I wasn’t really sure what pace I should run at. I haven’t ran a 10k since last year, the Aflac Iron Girl Seattle 10k with a time of 57:37, I knew I could run faster than that. I initially thought I should run around an 8:30 pace.

Once we took off the course was a little confusing and the lead runners turned the wrong way and were being yelled at to turn around. We had to make a sharp left turn which was a tight fit and felt like everyone was bottle necked. The mile markers were off from my Garmin even though I started it right as we crossed the mat. I don’t remember exactly how much off the first few miles were but I knew they were short.

I looked down when my watch beeped and it said mile 1 in 8:03. I wondered if this was too fast and was debating on slowing down. Then miles 2 and 3 came in both in 8:01. Well guess I decided not to slow down. Mile 4 I could feel the fatigue in my legs and I was extremely thirsty! They had a water stop back at mile 2 and I had some water then but I was really wanting some water now. Mile 4 split was 8:06. At mile 5 they finally had a water stop so I tried to walk quickly to drink as much as I could, I was feeling the hot sun! The greenbelt is a section I run a lot so when we turned the opposite way from the direction where the finish was I thought it was weird and probably how we would make up distance since the mile markers were short. This actually was a little mentally hard on me and I could feel my legs slowing down. Mile 5 split was 8:17. When I saw that I knew I had to pick up the speed only 1.2 miles to go.

The last mile my goal was to pass 2 women that had passed me around mile 4, I had kept them in sight the entire race. As we came around the bend I passed one of them and sped up to catch the other one. I was running right next to her and finally saw the finish so decided to I needed to sprint it in and passed her as I did. Right as I was nearing the mats the girl I had just passed all of a sudden came up next to me and pretty much ran into me. I seriously felt her nudge my shoulder. I don’t know if this was on purpose or accident but I gave her the WTF look as she crossed before me. Not quite sure what was up with that. If you want to pass then just pass me, more power to you for running faster, but no need to run someone over while doing it.

Mile 6 was in 8:08 and the last .38 was in 7:40. Finishing in 51:33 (Garmin time, no official results yet). An overall pace of 8:04. Definitely a lot faster than I thought I could run it in! I ended up placing 4th in my age group. The other 3 girls ahead of me ran it in 42 and 43 minutes so there was no way I would have caught up to them they were speedy!

My neighbor Bob aka “Pop” came out to support us and took this photo as I crossed the finish line.

He said he saw me almost get ran over by the other girl.

After I crossed and got my medal I went back to find Gene. He was less than half a mile from the finish line so I ran with him and then told him to go for it and let him cross the finish line. He freaking rocked it coming in in 58 min. Pretty awesome after having a chest cold for the last few days.

We met up with Bob and had some pictures taken.

My friend Tim that I met at another race earlier this year ran the 10k as well. He is fast and has placed in a lot of the local 5k’s. He placed first in his age group winning a necklace and a $110 gift card for a pair of Merrell shoes!

The tiniest little girl also ran the 10k. She was only 5 years old! She finished in 1:10. She ran the race with her dad and apparently has ran multiple local races and has been running since she was 3! She was the cutest little girl and placed in the 18 and under age group :)

I did win a $25 gift card to Tree City Juice and Smoothie Café in a raffle which was really awesome! They gave away some great raffle prizes and Gene was hopping to win the Idaho Steelheads hockey tickets but no luck. We did get some other goodies from Bodybuilding.com

And the medal is really nice and now has it’s new home next to my other medals

Overall this was a great race! I definitely recommend it if it’s coming to your town (Seattle friends!)

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I still needed to get in 4 more miles to get to my total of 10 for the day but didn’t want to make Gene wait for me so I decided to run them on the treadmill at home. It wasn’t as fun as running outside but I got them done!

After 10 miles I decided it was time for some well earned drinks and food! Since little man was at a birthday sleepover it was some nice alone time for Gene and I.

We decided to go to a restaurant called Bonefish Grill in downtown Boise. Their food was absolutely amazing!

I decided to have a glass of Sparkling White Mango Sangria…one word…yummy!!!

It was only in the 80’s (which is cool considering its usually in the high 90’s) so we decided to have our lunch on the patio. It was fun to talk and people watch.

We decided to share the ceviche to start out with which was delicious!

I had the fish tacos with fresh mango salsa and a spring salad which were soooo good and Gene had the chicken marsala which he said was amazing.

Just looking at the picture makes me want to go eat there again.

Overall it was a great evening. We had a few more drinks at another place but this post is long enough so I’ll leave you with the pics Gene took there.

Repeats and sparkles

2011-08-16T21:20:00.001-07:00

Sometimes you just have one of those “off" type weeks. Well last week was like that for me. My run days were all mixed up and I didn’t get to get my long run in. I also missed my goal pace for my tempo run cause I decided to run around 3 pm when it was in the 90’s. Yeah it wasn’t pretty. I could have kept my goal pace but I seriously thought I would die of a heat stroke and figured not passing out and finishing the run was better than any goal pace. I had to stop way more than usual but luckily most of the run was near the river so I had some shade and a little cooler temps.

I decided to take a little break and wished I was floating in the river with everyone else.

But this is a new week and I wasn’t going to beat myself up for not getting all the runs done on my schedule. Sometimes things happen that aren’t always in your control so you move on to the next week.

Well this week has definitely started off right!

Today I had track repeats on the schedule. Gene and I headed over to a local high school track and I set my garmin on the interval feature. Goal was 6 x 800 meter repeats in 3:34 with 90 sec rest intervals.

After my mile warm up my repeats were as follows: 3:28, 3:35, 3:39, 3:49, 3:48, 3:58 (then a 1 mile cool down)

Gene ran the first two repeats with me then after that he did .25 mile repeats. He was a good pacer cause the first two were near goal pace or better but after that I was too slow when I was on my own. I also wasn’t paying attention to the time too closely, I would forget to look at the starting time and just go when the watched beeped that my 90 seconds were up so by the time I did I couldn’t figure out if I was on track I just wanted to be done with that repeat.

Can’t you tell by this picture right after I finished haha. “Water… I need water!”

Of course Gene looks good running his as usual :)

Overall this was a tough but great workout and only the start of an awesome training week. Redemption for next week!

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On Saturday Gene and I are running a 10k. I have a 10 miler on the schedule so I figure I’ll run the 6 then add on 4 either before or after. It’s the Project Athena Race Series which:

“100% of entry fees will help support local Survivors that live in your community as well as on a national level by providing Athena-ship grants that help women live their adventurous dreams!”

You can check out their website for more info. They also have an event in Seattle and other areas if anyone is interested. I love running for a cause and maybe I’ll get a new 10k PR :)

I also get to wear my new purple Team Sparkle Skirt. They have prizes for best God and Goddess costumes but not quite sure how to incorporate the skirt into a Goddess costume. Any ideas out there??

I absolutely love the color and am thinking about which color to buy for the Las Vegas RnR Half. Sparkles and Vegas definitely go hand in hand!

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How do you bounce back from an off training week?

Any idea’s for a Goddess costume?

Which color would look good for the Vegas half? The red keeps catching my eye, then I could use it for a xmas fun run too! I guess I should decided if I want to have a theme, showgirls anyone? haha

Men in spandex and beer

2011-08-10T20:55:00.001-07:00

I’m a little behind on making my weekend post. But here is :)

After the hardest race I have EVER ran, we had tickets to go watch WWE Wrestling. My son is a HUGE fan. He watches it religiously! He sets the DVR for Monday night Raw and Friday night Smackdown so he never misses an episode. For Halloween last year he was Rey Mysterio. Like I said he is a HUGE fan. So me, being the coolest mom EVER, got him tickets when I heard they would be in town. Now I don’t watch the shows unless he wants to show me something but I know a few of the wrestlers that he always talks about. So it was actually really cool to be able to see them live and well it wasn’t that hard to look at a bunch of big muscular men with little spandex shorts ;)

We saw Randy Orton’s bus pull up while we were waiting in line so we waited to see him get off. He waved to the crowd but didn’t come over to sign autographs.

You can see him getting off the bus here

We got inside and found our seats. I didn’t bring a camera so I only had my iphone to take pictures.

I joked that we should all be happy cause Izaiah was able to see his favorite wrestlers, Gene was able to watch the Diva’s wrestle, and I was able to watch men spandex wrestle haha.

The Diva’s wrestling

This guy in the middle was huge!

The main event. Randy Orton vs. Christian

Just in case you need a better view of Randy Orton I found this picture on line :)

They had a contest and picked 4 people out of the crowd. They picked 3 adults and 1 kid. They all took turns dancing. The kid was too embarrassed and just stood there with his arms crossed. At the end we had to cheer for the favorite one. The kid got the most cheers and won. I asked little man if he would have danced if he was picked to go up there. He said yes and showed me his moves, I have to say he would have won with his sweet dance moves :)

I took him to the merchandise table to get a shirt but they didn’t have one that fit him, they only had adult sizes in the shirt he liked, sad. So he got some arm sleeves instead.

It was so funny to see him watch the show live. He knows that it is fake, but he still gets so pumped over the matches and would boo or cheer or get upset and yell out when they match wasn’t going the way he wanted. I’m so glad that I took him to this event. I know this is something he will always remember

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On Sunday little man went to spend the day with his grandma so we decided to go to Barley Brother’s Traveling Beer Fest.

For $25 you got a 4 oz cup and got to try as many beers as you wanted. They had over 200 beers.

I’m not a beer drinker but I had a few sips of Gene’s. He tried one that I actually really liked and had him go back for another cup of it.

We took Dash with us and he was having a great time! He even made a new friend.

I can’t remember his name but he is a Great Dane and he was BIG! I stood next time him and his legs were longer than mine!

But he was such a sweet mellow dog. He even had his own wrist band incase he wanted to drink beer lol.

They had all the beer kegs set up in tents but I tried not to spend too much time in there. It would get hot and muggy with the amount of people there.

Overall it was such a fun time, even if I wasn’t drinking beer at a beer fest.

And I got to spend it with these two guys

My next post probably won’t be till this weekend cause we are leaving camping tomorrow after work! I haven’t had time to write up last weeks workout summary :( But if your interested you can follow me on Dailymile (link on the right)

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Anybody out there watch WWE??

I remember my friends going to one of the events when I was in school but I never really watched it so didn’t go.

Keeping on track with your workouts?

I missed my track repeats yesterday so I had to make them up today. But at least I did them right?!

Foothills XC12k Race Recap

2011-08-08T21:26:00.001-07:00

Race morning I woke up feeling extremely nervous. I hardly get nervous for races anymore let alone an 8 mile race. My stomach was in knots.

Maybe it had something to do with this picture…

This was the elevation profile from my Garmin.

This was a small race with 200 participants. The announcer said it was the first time in they reached the max participants so they were very excited.

The start and finish were in the same area. Just a tent with some flags and lines spray painted in the pavement to indicate the start and finish.

You can see the start/finish in the background here…

One of our friends, Danny, said he was also running so we found him and talked till the race started. The day before the race Danny posted on Gene’s Facebook that he would be wearing “the shortest, most disgusting, most revealing shorts possible” for the race so we should prepare ourselves.

He didn’t disappoint…

This was taken after the race

After one last stop at the porta potty we made our way to the starting line. The announcer said he would run with us up to the start of the “Trail of Tears”. Great, when I heard that name I remembered why I was so nervous to begin with.

Going up to the start of the Trail of Tears…

During those first 4 miles my fat cells were definitely crying!

See those tiny little specs at the top of the hills on the picture below… those are people. That’s what I was looking up at and thinking how the hell am I supposed to run up to get to there.

Needless to say there was lots of walking going on during those first 4 miles. Gene was doing awesome. He actually was ahead of me on a lot of those first miles and would stop along the side to wait for me. He told me I didn’t look so happy every time he would smile and turn back to look at me. Not going to lie I was cursing that freaking Trail of Tears. I was running with my hand held and at one point I asked him to carry it. Well more like told him very frustrated that “I NEED you to hold this for a while”. It seriously felt like I was running with a 10 pound weight up that hill!

I was sooooo looking forward to the second half of the race. I just had to hold out for the down hill part and hopefully I could make up some time. Only it wasn’t that easy. The down hill was hard too cause you had to watch your step for fear of flying forward. This would have caused a train wreck cause the trail was single file running only so if someone was coming up fast behind you you moved to the side quickly to let them pass.

The views were beautiful and I definitely tried to use them to distract from the pain of the uphill.

If you zoom in to this photo you can see runners in the center of the photo. Beautiful view but heart breaking to see how far we still had left to go haha.

The second half had one more hill at mile 7 that we walked for a little bit to the final water station. I wanted to make it in under 1:30. I told Gene this and sped up a little as we were nearing the bend to the finish area. I wanted to cross the finish line together for our first race and we did! We crossed together in 1:28:36 (official time) for 7.96 miles official course distance (but my Garmin said 8 miles.)

It may not look like I am sweating but I promise I did! My friends already gave me a hard time saying I wasn’t even sweating and this was a piece of cake for me. Believe me it was not! I just know how to look good for pics haha.

Dirty legs!

It was so much fun to be able to run together and encourage each other along the way. Gene was doing so awesome on the up hills I think he is a faster and stronger runner than he lets on. He likes to use the excuse that he is old and hasn’t run in years, well now I now better! This 8 mile run was a few seconds faster than the run we did a few weeks ago on the greenbelt! Have I told you guys he ran the Honolulu Marathon in 1998 with no training? Yea, all cause his friend asked him the night before if he wanted to run it with him and he said ok. With no “official” marathon training. Just the running he did every morning during PT in the Army. So he definitely has some speed and endurance him.

At the end they were doing a random drawing for prizes and then just started throwing out water bottles. I got an awesome Camelbak water bottle with some socks in it.

Here’s our official race photos. Beautiful view of Boise in the background.

Notice the look on my face. I was carefully watching my step. I almost fell a few times and I was worried I twisted my ankle. It hurt a little when I got home so I iced it later that evening. But it was fine the next day thankfully.

Overall this was a great race, well marked course and I will be running it again next year. Pain and all! I have a time to beat now. And this time I’ll do a few practice runs up the Trail of Tears!

Ready for Race Day!!

2011-08-05T19:15:00.001-07:00

We got our packets picked up, our clothes set out and are ready for tomorrows trail race!

I’m runner #122 and Gene is #82

I’m so excited we get to officially run a race together!

Check back this weekend for our race recap

Babies, Races and nails!

2011-08-03T22:09:00.001-07:00

This weekend I was visited by my beautiful friend Michelle and her little guy Jeremiah.

They are currently stationed in Savannah, Georgia. I hadn’t seen her in over 3 years so it was so nice to be able to spend some time with them. Plus I hadn’t ever met her little guy. Who is the cutest ever!

(He decided he wanted some of my food too)

He almost (ALMOST) makes me miss having a baby around.

(Dancing to some Depeche Mode)

It was so much fun to be able to hang out with them. I am hoping to be able to visit them next year. They are only a few hours away from Disney World so a Disney Race may be in my near future :)

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I spontaneously registered for a trail race this Saturday. Well maybe not too spontaneous, I had been thinking about it for a few weeks and decided just to go for it. I was a little hesitant only cause it’s title is Boise Foothills XC12k Race which means 1. it’s on trails and I have not run on the Boise trails before 2. it’s title has the word hills in it and I haven’t done ANY hill training since Seattle RnR Marathon. But I figured it will be a fun experience, not like I’m trying to win the race. There’s a cap of 200 people and there’s only 2 spots left so it should be a great small race.

Here’s the course and elevation map.

Looks like a steady climb for the first 4 miles. FUN!! And the best part is I registered Gene for it too! So at least I won’t be out there alone And it will be our first race together!!

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I went to Target tonight and picked up the coolest polish ever!

It’s an overcoat that crackles as it dries. You can put it over any color. I put on a blue base and the pink crackle over coat

I bought the Fuchsia Shock and Vintage Violet but I want to go back for more colors.

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Hope everyone’s having a great week!

52.4 miles in his honor

2011-07-30T16:23:00.001-07:00

Tonight, Lisa Hallett will run an ultra marathon to honor her husband CPT John Hallett.

Starting at midnight she will start at the Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno and run 26.2 miles to the start of the San Francisco Marathon where she will run another 26.2 miles.

52.4 miles in honor of her husband CPT John Hallett.

Lisa’s courage, strength and powerful way to honor her husband is so inspiring to me.

Running was my way to cope with deployment and now I run to honor her, her husband and all our Fallen Soldiers and their families who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

Our Fallen Soldiers are not just a casualty number. They are husbands and wives, sons and daughters. They are mothers and fathers who will never get to hug or tuck their children in at night.

Click on the links below to read two powerful articles about Lisa’s ultra marathon journey.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/other-sports/ci_18561038?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2011%2F07%2F24%2FMN8L1KCHD1.DTL

To learn more about Wear Blue Run to Remember click HERE

You don’t have to be part of the group to support them. All you have to do is want to remember and honor the Service and Sacrifice of the American Military.

This weekend, put on a blue shirt and run or walk any distance in honor of our heroes.

Fallen but not Forgotten

RLRF and decisions…

2011-07-28T21:59:00.001-07:00

I finally was able to finish up my book Run Less Run Faster on my camping trip last week.

It really is a great book and I learned a lot from it. I wasn’t planning on doing a review cause I’m not really great at that sort of thing but if you anyone does want an overview of it let me know and I’ll try my best to make a post about the main points.

I have loosely been following the plan because I hadn’t decided what race I should run using the RLRF plan.

After running a PR of 1:53 at the See Jane Run Half Marathon I know I am capable of running faster. That pace felt good and I was able to pull off sub 8:30 the last 4 miles with mile 13 at an 8:05 pace. I have the confidence in myself and my abilities but the problem lies somewhere else….

You know how some people have a little angle and or devil on each side of their shoulders telling them what they should or shouldn’t do… well I have a little runner girl on my shoulder telling me. “Run another marathon. You know you want too!”

I kind of wanted to run one more this year. The only one I could run this fall is on Sept 4th. (Gene and I are running the City of Trees Half Marathon together and I want to run every step with him so that’s why I decided not to run the full for that one this year.) But at the same time I want to focus just on half marathons this fall so that I can get faster.

On my previous Run Less Run Faster post Alma from The Average Woman’s Running Blog had this to say about the plan….

That looks like some awesome results! That’s why I want to give the RLRF a full chance and follow it’s 18 week training plan to see how much I improve. I still have the little runner girl on my shoulder telling me to run the Sept full marathon, but as of right now I have decided to use the RLRF to train for the Las Vegas Half Marathon on Dec 4th.

I made a tab for my workout schedule you can find above. It starts next week. I hope to post weekly workout recaps to hold myself accountable for the workouts but also to be able to look back at my improvement throughout the 18 weeks. I only posted the City of Trees race on the schedule but I actually have a couple of other races I plan to do within the next few months. I know the running part won’t be a problem it’s the cross training that I slack on. I have 3 days of cross training on the schedule and one rest day but I know one of the days will be more of a strength training day (which I can do at home) and the other may be an easy or recovery run day.

I’m really excited to “officially” start training next week! This week I’m playing catch up on my miles for the month. I have hit at least 100 miles every month since Feb and I don’t want to stop the streak now! I’m almost at 700 miles for the year. That means only 300 more to go for my 1000 miles in 2011 goal!

How are you doing on your yearly mileage??

Any fun races you are excited to start training for?

Too legit to quit

2011-07-27T19:27:00.001-07:00

Friday we celebrated my sister Crystal’s 30th birthday. I bought an outfit for the event the night before we left camping. Her theme for the girls was black and white dressy attire. This was my outfit…

Don’t mind the look on my face, it’s my semi pissed off and I’m not ready to take a picture yet look

We started with dinner at The Matador. I’m not much of a tequila drinker but Gene decided to try out the Tequila Flight taster (1 oz each of 3 different kinds of tequilas). Instead of lime they came with an orange slice with cinnamon on it.

She had mostly close friends attend her party but I was most excited to be able to hang out with her and my brother Jojo.

After everyone was done eating we sang happy birthday :)

After dinner we decided to walk downtown and have some drinks. As I was walking out I caught a glimpse of Santa on vacation. I only was able to take a picture of him as he walked away. He seriously had the beard, hat and looked just like him!

We decided to take a quick picture as we left The Matador. My brother is a year younger than me (I’m the middle child) but he is taller as you can see so we don’t call him little brother anymore :)

We headed to a place called The Lobby. The walls going to the bathroom were all chalk board so I wrote a message to my sister

This of course called for another sibling picture :)

After one drink we decided to head to another place called Montego Bay. At this place she got a VIP table and a VIP gift card for drinks!

We ran into our uncle there which was nice cause I haven't seen him in 2 years I think.

We ended the night with some dancing! I think she had a great birthday overall. Living in WA the last few years I’ve missed some birthdays and holidays with the family so I’m glad I was able to spend her 30th birthday with her :)

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The fun didn’t end that night though! The next day we headed over to the Boise Music Festival where we met her and some friends there.

It was an awesome event that had a couple of stages with different bands playing

But it was HOT out so I stayed cool by drinking an iced tea.

Little man decided to have an Italian ice cream to keep cool.

We also decided it was a perfect time to have an ice cream potato… yummy….

But the real reason I was there is to see me some MC Hammer!

“Too legit... Too legit to quit (hey…hey…)”

“U can't touch this
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh) Stop Hammer time”

Bet I just brought back some memories huh

Anybody every own a pair of parachute pants?

Did you know you can still buy them online?

I can honestly say I never owned a pair, I was only about 7 when U Can’t Touch This came out. I was still into all pink outfits (literally pink head to toe, it was not pretty haha).

Getting a fish hook in your arm isn’t fun!

2011-07-25T21:57:00.001-07:00

So Wednesday after working 10 hours I went home, packed up my bag and we were off on the 2 hour drive to our camp site (Gene packed the rest of our things earlier that day).

Our neighbors had a reserved campsite, they had been there since Monday. We set up the tent, sat around the fire for about an hour then headed to bed. I was exhausted from a busy day!

The next morning was much better. I was up early and ready to start the fun day! But not without brushing my teeth of course…

My little man was already up and fishing

It was a cold morning.

Gene made us a yummy breakfast.

My handsome boys

Our beautiful view from the campsite

Doesn’t everyone look like this when they sleep on their hammock?

Hanging out with Dash

Reading my magazine… Runner’s World of course!

Gene wanted a turn too

This camping trip was one to remember for my little man. Before we left he had cut his finger with his first pocket knife he had just got earlier that day (he was trying to break into his piggy bang, which he knows the combination too!)

The next day he was fishing with the boys and got a fish hook stuck in his arm! He handled it really well and it wasn’t in too deep so they yanked it out with some pliers. This is him showing off his battle wound.

Later that day he was riding a razor scooter down a paved hill and crashed with only inches of his face hitting the cement. He scrapped up his legs and arms but nothing too bad. I think he was the only one to use the first aid kit this weekend.

After a long day of, well of doing nothing I decided to wait my turn on the hammock again.

I have my pillow, book, magazine and PowerAde zero. Gene even made a little canopy for me.

Later that night it was time for some smores!! I know it doesn’t look dark enough for it but it was already about 9 or 9:30 pm.

Dash was one sleep little guy. He also was very traumatized. I had to wrap him up in the blanket and hold him for a long while cause he was extremely afraid of any bugs flying in the air. I think a bug must have bit him. I don’t blame him for being afraid of them, they were practically as big as him! (Don’t mind the tired look on my face, I just need a few more hours of sleep)

Lilly on the other hand loved every minute of being outdoors. We unfortunately had to have the bigger dogs tied up cause the camp post guy was a jerk and strictly enforces rules. Even though our dogs were very well behaved.

Our friend Rob getting some kisses from his dog Tika

The next morning it was time to pack up and go so we decided to do some walking around the campsite.

It was so beautiful and peaceful

On the ride back home both my boys were tired and decided to use me as a pillow

We had such a great time. I really love making these memories with my family. Especially with my son. I want him to remember the summers we went camping when he gets older. It’s such a great way to just unplug yourself from the world, no phones, tv or video games. Just quality time with each other.

Hopefully we will get to go one more time before school starts next month.

I’ll post pictures tomorrow of my sister’s 30th birthday!

Gone camping, be back soon!

2011-07-20T16:35:00.000-07:00

Going camping right after work today!

Will be back just in time to celebrate my big sisters 30th birthday!!

One of the best parts of camping is eating smores!

I'll be back this weekend to post some pictures of camping, playing dress up for my sisters party and from another run with Gene... I'm calling it "Our piles of miles together"

Our first of many miles together

2011-07-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Gene and I went on our longest run to date together, 8 miles.

Saturday’s are Wear Blue: Run to Remember’s group run days (in Dupont, WA) so we wore our shirts for our run.

We started at about 10 am and it was already HOT outside! We ran along the Boise Greenbelt which helped keep us cool when we were along the river for the first 2 and last 2 miles of the course. The in between miles were the hardest cause they were in direct sunlight along a golf course with little shade.

At the turn around point Gene said his ankle was hurting. I think it was more due to the shoes but could have been cause of the mileage increase. He is following a Runner’s World training plan which made his first long run 8 miles. This is actually a big jump for his first week of training since he hasn’t ran in about a year. I should have paid attention to this before hand but we are going to look over the training plan and adjust the long runs to something that suits his better right now.

I knew his ankle was really bothering him at about mile 6. I felt bad cause he is relying on me to help him with his training. He is stubborn and if his training would have put him at a 13 mile run he would have done it and finished it even if he was hurt. He tries to compete with himself and wants to have the endurance and speed he had 2 years ago before he had deployed. When he was in Afghanistan he didn’t have much time to run or workout. But I know at the end of this training cycle he is going to be running circles around me again. That’s ok, he may have the speed waiting to be unleashed but I have the endurance :)

After the run we took a few pics as we cooled off. It was hot and I really was contemplating jumping in the river to cool off!

I had so much fun. And he admitted that he did too! This was of course a few minutes after the run. During the run I think he may have secretly been cursing me haha.

I can’t wait to do it again! What’s even more exciting is that we plan to try out some new trails I haven’t been too.

Do you run with your significant other?

Things I am loving

2011-07-15T11:15:00.000-07:00

Frozen fruit, especially blueberries. It prevents me from eating the Klondike bars and Tillamook Udderly Chocolate ice cream in my freezer.

Amazing home cooked meals by my love

Roasted asparagus, salmon, saffron rice and pasta salad (beer was not included in mine :)

I love coming home to finding my gels/energy chews replenished without me even asking. They were on sale for .77 cents a piece so Gene bought a couple

Working out with this handsome guy

This photo was taken last fall so obviously we need some new running pics together. Maybe tomorrow, he has an 8 mile run plan. It’s my job to make sure he sticks with the training program :)

I’m also loving the SkyView app on my Iphone. I’m not sure if you have to have internet when you use it but I’m hoping to use next week when we go camping. You point the camera to the sky and it tells you what constellations you are looking at, points you to where there are others in the sky, makes things look more 3D and you can even search for satellites or space shuttles in the sky. We had some fun with it last night. I’ll have to remember to take some screen shots to post.
And lastly I’m loving the fact that one of my good friends will be here a week from Sunday. Along with her little guy whom I haven’t met yet! They are stationed in Savannah, Georgia right now so I haven’t seen her since 2008!

I also realized that I could not find any pics of her and I together, sad! So I will make sure to take a few with her and that handsome baby of hers.

What things are you guys loving right now??

A fun relaxing weekend.

2011-07-11T20:17:00.000-07:00

This weekend was relaxing and fun. Just what I needed.

The weekend started Thursday after I got off work. We hung out at home and watched a record 2 movies! I love to watch movies but Gene not so much. He doesn’t hate it but he prefers shows that around 30 min.

I have Friday’s off so we decided to have a friend and my brother over for dinner. I didn’t think to take any pics though. But it was a fun night. My love made my favorite Mojo chicken, couscous, pasta salad and beer bread…it was all delicious! Or maybe I should say carbo-licious! I don’t know if I had so many carbs without eating pasta.

The carbo loading came in handy cause Linzi from Beyond Destination 26.2 asked me to go on a 10 mile run Saturday morning with her. I gladly accepted! All my runs are usually alone so I was having trouble controlling my breathing at the start of the run. I forgot how to breath, talk and run at the same time haha. The miles were flying by. It was so much fun getting to know her. She is getting married later this month so she busy busy! I can’t wait to go on another run together!

Later that evening I got to go on a little date with my love. Just the two of us out for a few hours having some drinks. It was so nice to talk and enjoy each others company. Sometimes life gets busy and we have to remember to slow down and take time to ourselves.

This picture was taken at the same bar we were at Saturday night but about 3 or 4 years.

Sunday was spent lounging around the house and eating more than I should have. But this week we are both getting back on track with our healthier eating and running, together! Gene is going to train for a half marathon this fall with me! I’m super excited! We went out and got him some new running shoes, nothing makes you more motivated to run than new running gear! I need to get some new running shoes too cause my current ones have got me through lots of training runs, 2 marathons and one half marathon this year, the Saucony Kinvaras. But I’m also thinking about getting a pair of Saucony Hattori’s. Anyone try them out yet?

Hope you all had a great weekend too!

If you have a chance check out my friend Courtney’s new blog Running, Raising and Praising.

She is a military wife, mother, runner who is training for her first marathon this October, which I hope to run part of it with her. And check out her before and after pics on the tab Size 14 to 4

Run Less, Run Faster

2011-07-08T16:24:00.000-07:00

Apparently I can't get enough of running. When I'm not running I like to read about it.

Yesterday we went to Hastings to rent some movies and I wondered over to the book section and found this...

I read a few pages last night and this morning while enjoying a cup of coffee.

So far I find their training approach very interesting. I'm excited to finish the book and hopefully make up a training plan for my fall marathon.

I've read multiple blogs that have used the FIRST training program and have had success so I'm excited to see what it can do for me.

I like the idea of quality over quantity runs but I also like running more than 3 days a week. So I may incorporate an extra day of running.
I know I need to cross train more. I still have my gym membership but since I started working I haven't made time to go back. No more excuses though!

I'm also going to use the FIRST program to make a training plan for Gene. He wants to run a half marathon this fall. I think this approach will help him get back into running and start to love it again. He does better with running when he has a very specific plan that tells him exactly what paces he should run at.

If you have used the FIRST training approach did you like it and would you recommend it?

Any good running books you've read lately that you recommend?

I was thinking about running a local half marathon tomorrow morning but decided against it. I have had two awesome PR's for a half and full marathon both within the last 4 weeks (one week apart from each other I might add). Although I love racing, the energy and adrenaline draws me in every time, I don't need to run every race. So what did I do with the money I would have spent on the race? I went shopping of course. For non-running clothes too!

One of my outfit purchases

Hope you all have a nice weekend!
I'm super excited to go on a 10 mile run with Linzi from Beyond Destination 26.2 !

Camping with butterflies

2011-07-06T21:08:00.000-07:00

So this past weekend we went camping, only for one night though. We went with some friends to a beautiful campsite about 45 minutes away from Boise. It was so much fun!

Our campsite was right off the creek which helped to cool us off since there was no shade and probably around 96 degrees.

My little man had some fun in the sand

Lilly loved hanging out in the creek with our friends Tyler and Adrea. But she was very protective of me standing in the middle of the creek alone. She would bark at me constantly. I think she was telling me to be careful…yes I understand doggy language :)

Even Dash went for a little swim which was funny to watch. He was very cold after so I wrapped him up.

Gordies isn’t much of a water lover so she just hung out in any shade she could find

The best part was that there was a ton of butterflies right around our campsite. I love butterflies!

Can you see them flying around?

I even got to pick one up! You can tell I’m excited by my big smile

Tyler wanted to lay down to see if they would land on his stomach. Yea it didn’t work. But I had to strike a pose when I saw the camera pointing my way :)

Later that night we ate smore’s and told ghost stories.

The next morning Lilly was cold so she sat in front of the fire all wrapped up.

I was happy to be able to spend some quality time with my boys

We have another camping trip planned later this month with our neighbors. This place will have running water and porta potties, which I prefer especially if we are staying more than one night. It’s so much easier for boys. I think I need to plan a trip to Cabela’s to see what fun camping stuff we can find.

Do you guys like camping?

Our neighbors have a pop up tent trailer which I think is awesome. I would probably go on more camping trips if I had one.

The before & after in pics

2011-07-02T21:46:00.000-07:00

We decided to drive up to Seattle Thursday morning. Washington of course welcomed us with rain.

Dash picked out his favorite spot for the ride up

Once we got to Tacoma I had to take a pic of my beloved water front where most of my runs occurred when I lived there.

And I of course had to take a pic of 30th street hill. Maybe I will get to run up it one day again.

We stayed with some friends in south Seattle and they have 2 Chihuahuas of their own so Dash loved every minute we were there.

Ken Ken is on the left, Dash in the middle and Pepper on the right.

On Friday I met up with Tiffany and her husband and kiddos to pick up my race packet and check out the awesome expo.

Race bib for marathon number 3!!

Expo fun with Tiffany!

The expo had something for everyone :)

After the expo we had lunch and then headed over to Tacoma and had to rush back up to Tukwila for the bloggy dinner hosted by Mel Tall Mom on the Run

I didn’t take any pics (bad blogger I know) but I “borrowed” this from Jess @ Blonde Ponytail

I was really excited to meet these ladies who’s blogs I’ve been reading for a while and who inspire me.

Jess @ Blondeponytail Mel @ Tall Mom on the Run Amanda @ 5 Miles Past Empty

Sad I didn’t get to meet the famous EMZ at the race tho!

I was excited to meet other bloggers that I now follow thanks to Zoe for created some awesome trading cards with everyone's blogs listed on them! And thanks to Kerri for creating some super cool name tags! Both of them inspire me. They ran their first marathon together every step of the way! I got to chat with them for a little bit and see them a few times along the course.

We also got an awesome goodie bag thanks to OnlineShoes.com that had some great some from NUUN and Gu

I was a little sad I didn’t get to meet up with Tiffany at the start of the race and run a few miles with her. We haven’t ran together in such a long time! She owes me a race… when you coming to run one here Tiff?? :)

But we got plenty of pics after the race together.

I also got a post race massage from the cutest little guy ever! Tiffany’s little guy.

Afterwards we went to have some lunch at the Cheesecake factory! Yummy!

We finally ended the night with a drink at Naked City Brewery

I had a yummy Ace Pear

I loved every minute of being back in Washington. I can’t wait to go back. Maybe sometime this fall for another race!

Seattle RnR Marathon- WBR2R

2011-06-28T18:35:00.000-07:00

I have been having some trouble writing this post. It's really hard to find the words for Saturday's race. So I'm going to talk about just the race in the post, and pre and after race in separate posts.

Saturday morning I woke up at 4:45am, got dressed, ate some breakfast and was out the door by 6 am. Got dropped off at the start and proceeded to corral 17 wear my fellow Wear Blue Run To Remember (WBR2R) team mates would be.

Right after the National Anthem was sung the people in our group read the 43 names of the Soldiers killed in action.

I teared up as the woman in front of me had her head bowed and cried when her husband's name was read.

As we headed toward the starting line, the announcers talked about Wear Blue Run to Remember and the names were once again read out loud, this time by the announcers.

Here's a picture of the starting line sea of blue in corral 17

Once the race started everyone ran at their own pace. Every time I passed a WBR2R runner I patted them on the back and encouraged them along the way. I ran next to one Soldier that was running the entire half marathon carrying a full sized American flag.

As we ran around Lake Washington at mile 7.5 there wear two signs that read "Wear Blue: Run to Remember" "Honoring the Service and Sacrifice of the American Military"

Right after this were the photos of the Soldiers KIA

Then the flags, each with a black ribbon with the name of our fallen heroes embroidered in gold.

The flags were held by mothers, fathers, husbands, brothers and sisters of the fallen.

It was very emotional running through here. This is why I was running. For the Soldiers that can't be here today. To help the families find some kind of comfort. They were cheering for us as we ran by, but I was cheering for them. For their strength and courage.

Sybil Williamson ran the marathon in honor of her son SGT Patrick Williamson who was killed in Afghanistan in 2009.

As we passed each other on the out and backs along the course we cheered and encouraged each other. Giving thumbs up. I got to run for a few minutes with Lisa Hallett at mile 16. She is the co founder for Wear Blue: Run to Remember. She ran as a way to cope with her husbands death and started the group to help other wives and families affected by deployment.

There were many times where I would think about the reason I was running and I would start to tear up. I would think about the pain these families have gone through and any pain I was feeling running would suddenly seem so insignificant. I ran through every hill even the mile long stretches of incline around miles 17-20 except for mile 25 when we go up the over pass, got a bad side ache.

As I turned the corner heading towards the finish line I was getting cheered on by my fellow blue runners on the sidelines. I remember the announcer saying, Cynthia Ibarra the girl in blue. I ran faster and pointed my fingers to the sky to show that this was for them. Our Soldiers.

Finished in 4:07:34

A 10 minute PR

If you are interested in finding out more about Wear Blue: Run to Remember check out there website at www.wearblueruntoremember.org You can join their facebook page, donate or find out how to start your own chapter.

I look forward to running this event with WBR2R next year. Please check out their website if you would like to join the group and be a part Seattle Rock n Roll next year either as a runner or volunteer.

Thank you to Ingrid Barrentine from the NW Guardian (www.nwguardian.com) who was kind enough to let me use the photos he took on Saturday for this post.

You can check out more of the photos HERE

Seattle here I come!!

2011-06-22T21:34:00.000-07:00

Thank you everyone for the comments on my kickass 1:53 half marathon!

This week has been very busy! I barely had time to squeeze in a run yesterday. I'm hoping to maybe get a quick one in early tomorrow morning. Just 2 or 3 mile to get my legs ready for the road trip! We will be driving to Seattle tomorrow. It's about an 8 hour drive. I think I will play catch up on all of your guy's blogs during the drive!

I miss WA. Weird to say cause only 3 years ago I was crying that I missed Idaho. But I grew to love the state and the people. It's kinda nostalgic going back because WA is wear my running adventures started. It will be fun to hang out and enjoy our time there, and RUN.

I will be in corral 17 starting with the sea of blue - Wear Blue Run to Remember. If you are running, volunteering or just cheering on someone, be sure to thank the people in blue if you see them on the course or at the water station for mile marker 5. They will be Soldiers, Army wives, Gold Star wives and family members running in honor of hero's that were not able to make it home.

I probably won't make another post till after I return from Seattle but you can follow me on twitter @CynthiaRuns for marathon updates!

See Jane Run Half Marathon Recap

2011-06-19T18:04:00.000-07:00

I freaking did it! I ran a sub 2 hour half marathon! ME ME ME

Garmin stats:
Distance: 13.24 miles
Time: 1:53:28
Pace: 8:34 min/mi

Official stats:
Distance 13.1 miles
Time: 1:53:24
Pace: 8:40 min/mi
35 out of 531 runners
9 out of 80 in my age group

To say I'm sooo very happy with my time is an understatement. I am HAPPY and PROUD of MYSELF. This is a 10 min PR for me!

I went into this race with a starting goal of 1:55 (8:47 pace), if I felt good I would speed up half way thru the race and then pick it up some more the last 3 miles.
I was actually nervous about being able to keep a sub 9 min pace for 13 miles. But I had confidence in myself. I wasn't going to let self doubt creep into my head. I COULD do this.

I picked up my packet from the See Jane Run store on Friday night.

I love the shirt! It's probably the cutest I've received from any race. I wanted to wear it for the race but already had my outfit picked out, plus I knew lots of other would be wearing theirs.
I wore a light blue tank and my Lululemon skirt that I haven't raced in yet.

After the race at home. Dash wanted in on the photo too

I got a ton of compliments from other racers, volunteers and spectators including a man that yelled out "Nice plaid skirt!" and another runner dressed head to toe in Lululemon with temporary Lululemon symbol tattoos on her calf's. I love this skirt not only cause it's pink but because it has pleats on the back.

Ok enough about cute running clothes back to the race...
The starting was very busy but I was helping the girls from my work set up their booth with massage tables and stuff. I decided to go to the bathroom and the lines were extremely long! Luckily this is an area I run on frequently so I ran to the next restroom which was about a quarter of a mile away. That was actually quicker than waiting in the lines!

When I got back I said bye to the girls from my work and set myself up a few feet back from the start. I had made a music playlist and titled it "Music to PR by". I set up every song specifically where I thought I would need it in the race and started it as soon as I crossed the starting line.

I decided to wear a 1:55 pace band so I wouldn't have to figure out later in the race if I was still on track to where I wanted to be. This actually helped me with not constantly looking down at my watch. I would look to make sure I wasn't going too fast/slow at times but mostly just looked when it beeped at each mile. I focused on every 3rd mile and made sure I was on track for my goal.

The course was along the Boise Greenbelt (where I usually run). The weather was a little warm but nothing too bad and once we got on track back by the river it would cool down more. Because I knew it would be warm I decided to run with my hand held bottle full of cytomax and took water a few times at the water stops. I took some Hammer energy chews at mile 5 and then took a Triberry Gu at one of the stations and decided to take that at mile 10.

First half splits:

Mile 1 - 8:56
Mile 2 - 8:41
Mile 3 - 8:41
Mile 4 - 8:44
Mile 5 - 8:41
Mile 6 - 8:45

I was feeling good and was going a few seconds faster than goal pace but I felt good and kept going hoping it wouldn't come back to bite me towards the end.

For the next 3 miles I picked up the pace some more

Mile 7 - 8:30
Mile 8 - 8:33
Mile 9 - 8:38

I was actually completely surprised seeing those split times at each mile. I was running negative splits even though I actually felt like I was going slower. There was a section, I don't remember what miles it was where the trail was being repaved so it was all gravel and didn't feel good on my feet so I actually thought it was slowing me down.

At mile 10 I decided to pick up the pace some more. I could feel the fatigue in my legs so I didn't know if they had it in them but I was going to try and hope that my legs held out. I tried not to look down at my watch and just went by feel and was hoping it was fast but not too fast. Each time I looked down at my splits I was surprised at how fast I was going.

Mile 10 - 8:29
Mile 11 - 8:28

By this point I just wanted to be done. My legs were starting to feel like jello. I wanted to walk. I kept giving myself pep talks that I could do this. That I could walk when I was done. I was almost there. There was a woman in front of me that was wearing a grey Lululemon skirt who I passed once but then she passed me again. I kept her in site. Her form looked strong so I focused on my form. By the time I realized it I turned the corner and there was the finish line! So I picked up the pace passing the Lululemon lady and about 1 or 2 other women.

Mile 12 - 8:16
Mile 13 - 8:05
Last .2 ran it in 1 min 52 sec or a 7:41 pace

I was so happy to see a 1:53 on the clock! But my legs were tired and felt like jello, I remember just saying f**k and trying to catch my breath as I walked up to one of the volunteers removing the ankle timing chips.

After that I grabbed my champagne glass, water and some bagel and banana pieces and walked over to the booth my work had set up to help out. Yes I worked right after I ran a PR half marathon! Stood on my feet for an extra 2.5 hours making sure runners came and got their free massage.

It was great to be able to help out. To see these woman whether they ran the 5k or half marathon, they were all happy and enjoying their day. I normally don't stay long at races but because I was working I was able to see the awards ceremony and also the last runner come in. I went over to the side line and cheered her on as loud as I could along with everyone else there. It was so inspiring. When she rounded the corner she saw the clock was at 3:59 so she ran faster as we all cheered her in. She crossed in 4:05 but the official time was around 3:50

I was also able to meet a local blogger too! The super cute Linzi from Beyond Destination 26.2
She also ran a PR half marathon and is training for her second marathon The City of Trees
We connected through email and I told her I plan to run that marathon so hopefully we will be able to get together for some runs!

This was such a great race. From the expo to the course I had a great time. I plan to make this race a yearly event!

Here are some more pics from the race

Start/Finish line

Some goodies I got after the race. They had a photo booth where they printed your pic for free so I took one of myself and one with the girls from my work.

My champagne glass rimmed with chocolate and medal

And one of me :)

I am still on a runners high!

I hope you all had a great running weekend too!