Just Plodding Along

I worked out three times today so there has been a lot of this today I also found this to put in our kitchen since this seems to happen quite often to both D and I and lord help us if it hits us at the same time. The parents have been here visiting so much food has been consumed. We hit up Minnie's on my friend Kendra's suggestions and it was delicious. Southern home-cooked deep fried deliciousness. Do yourself a favor and try caramel cake. It is magic. We started last Saturday off right by heading to Oktoberfest on base put on through MWR (or the Family Morale, Wellness and Recreation Program). It was very well done with a lot of activities for the kids.Since D and I are a kid free zone we were in it for the food.   You had me at freedom fries (they taste more patriotic than the french version)  and ice cream. Cheesecake flavor to be exact.  The last few days have been nothing but fun and eating (well and working out- trying to stick to Pilat...

This week I did some pretty awesome cross training and even survived the body pump class.  Monday: Pilates- super love this new exercise. My core loves it less but I think this will for sure make me a stronger runner. Tuesday: Birthday fun recovery. When you go out on a Monday night and that night involves a lot of free shots due to birthday celebrating there is a pretty good chance that you are not going to the 6a.m. body pump class. Just FYI. Max and I did manage to walk a few miles though. Wednesday: Body pump and yoga. Two classes back to back. Yoga was a bit tricky since my arms were dead from body pump and we were doing a lot of arm work in yoga. Pretty much super awkward shaking going on the entire time. Body pump is fun and hard and makes my arms so sad so I should for sure keep going. Thursday: Pilates again. Friday: Three mile walk with my favorite four legged friend.   This week concluded the end of my two week running break so on Monday...

It feels weird to not have a marathon or half marathon looming in the near future. My next distance race isn't until the Georgia Marathon the end of March sooooooooooo now what. At first I was like "sign up for all the marathons in the area! Run all the races!" I don't know if it was getting sick and not being able to do Seven Bridges or just mileage overload the last .....uh.....like two years, but I don't feel the usual drive to sign-up for all the races. Instead I have signed up to run a couple 5Ks and a 10K. I have also joined the Y and have been trying different classes there. So far yoga and Pilates both destroyed me so I think I will keep trying to go to those as my schedule allows. Tomorrow I am going to try a body pump class which is basically weight lifting  class set to music so if I never post again it is because that class killed me. Been nice knowing ya. My general  plan for the next few months are to run but instead of distance I am going to focus...

Today I should be on my way to here to run the Seven Bridges marathon in Chattanooga Tennessee tomorrow. Instead I can not be more than a foot away from  as I have a super awesome cold. Luckily Yo Momma  (you are the best!) was able to find someone to use the entry I won so I don't feel like a total loser for taking someone's place at the race. Now I can sit around watching old seasons of Mobwives, doing shots of EmergenC without feeling like a total tool.  I am bummed I got sick and won't get to do this race but there are worse things in life I guess. The real bummer is that I swam and did yoga all week in an attempt to recover from Chicago quickly and I think it worked. My legs feel great. Oh well. Once I kick this cold I am going to expand my workout horizons by swimming more, doing a body pump (weight lifting) class, yoga and Pilates along with running. My next race goal is the Winter Series which includes 3 5ks and 1 10k over the next four months with...

After a 5 a.m. wake-up and bagel breakfast I got curb side service down to the race. Thanks Christine! The start area was fenced off due to increased security. If you had a bag to check it took awhile to get in due to bag inspections but I only had a little belt with my cell phone so I could walk right in. After cycling through the loo line a few times I got in my corral, corral F, and stood around freaking out- "I am at the Chicago marathon!!! There are so many people!!!! I hope I don't get trampled." Look at these guys on the left hand side- photo skills at their best. The race got underway for Wave 2 at 8 a.m. and I was through the start line by 8:02. I took off too fast and ran probably too hard for the first half. But it was just so amazing I couldn't help myself. The whole course was so amazing. Every neighborhood had its own style. Amazing buildings and landmarks. So many people cheering. It was a bit overwhelming at times.  Things that you don't n...

The Chicago Marathon was amazing. Too amazing for one post so we got to break up the awesomeness into two parts. Friday I landed at O'hare  with enough time to grab this  and wait for my mom's (aka cheer squad) plane. After we were picked up by Christine, my mom's cousin, scooped us up from the airport we headed to a wonderful Syrian dinner at my great aunt and uncle's house. The next morning we headed to the expo aka runner's paradise. And it was amazing! So many vendors and running stuff and samples and shoes and it was like rainbows and unicorns everywhere. Packet pick-up was a breeze- well organized. Guess you have to be with 40,000 people in attendance.  The expo is huge. Probably better to head there Friday or early Saturday, by the time we left it was packed and people just kept coming.  There was a giant wall you could write on or have people wish you well. There was tons of freebies and if you had forgotten to bring anything for th...

Today I am headed to Chicago to run the marathon on Sunday. When I woke up I was less than excited - tired from working, D just got back from the field and then I leave, airports are not my fav. But now that I am at the airport I am excited. Bad attitude - nothing a little coffee and glitter shoes can't fix. I didn't spend my normal amount of time stressing, packing and re- packing to make sure I had everything so fingers crossed both running shoes are in the suitcase. I did remember to bring my participant packet so I can get my race number at least. I don't know what I want to do with this marathon. Part of me wants to run hard and aim for a PR. It is supposed to be a great course for that. But part of me wants to just cruise along and soak it all in. This may be the only big city marathon I do so I really want to enjoy it. Maybe I will try for both. Head up and fast (fastish) legs.  Good luck to everyone racing this weekend!!!!

The best thing about working at a running store Learning about and trying new stuff and generous brand reps  The worst thing about working at a running store Must buy all the things Hey this is happening on Sunday Can't wait!