A Summer of PR's!

Can you believe that Labor Day Weekend is here and summer is coming to an end? I can't believe how fast it has gone! Time for a little stroll down Summer Memory Lane.....

My memories of this summer mainly consist of running, running, and more running! Every weekend the highlight was running further than I ever have in my life, and running faster in many races than I ever have!! That means that I set roughly 10 PR's this summer....Here they are:

1 - First time running 6 miles
2 - First time doing a 10K
3 - First time running 8 miles
4,5,6 and 7 All in one day! - First time running 10 miles (4), which also means that it was my first time running 9 miles (5)and it was in the Baltimore 10 Mile Race (6) and I set a PR for time by doing it in 1:46 (7) (I guess any time would have been a PR, but hey, I'm counting it!)
8 - First time running 11 miles
9 - Setting my 5K PR of 28:34
10 - First time running 13 miles


How exciting is that???? I can actually look back at this summer and DAMN!!!!! I accomplished more this summer that I would have ever thought I could! And just think, this weekend I am on track to run my FIRST 15 MILER!


It is now official.....

This is my MOST favorite saying in the world, it is now my goal to be the Bees Knees every day of my life, cause DAMN it feels good!


**This is my friend's son, Asher, on the phone with me - he just confirmed that it's true, I AM THE BEES KNEES!!!

So, tell me about your summer high lights! Were you "The Cat's Pajamas"?

Pics From the Happy Hour!

Here are a few pictures from the Happy Hour Fundraiser! Thank goodness Chrisie's parents took pictures, I totally forgot to!

Here is a picture of Chrisie and me!

Another one of us, this time trying to figure out how we should go about selling the raffle tickets.

Me in front of the food table (sooooooo goooooood!!!!)
A picture of one of the raffle tables.

Yippppeeee for raising money!

Tuesday Morning Ten - CHECK!

Wow, I have to say that I had the most beautiful weather to run in this morning! I only wish that my mornings were free like this everyday! Our catalog (for work) is on press and today we had a "late start" so that allowed me to get my 10 miles this morning without stressing about time. Speaking of time, it was pretty freaking good! I did it in 1:41:23! However, I ran into a good friend of mine that I never see (her husband has been very ill, and she was able to get to the trail for a quick walk) so I stopped to talk to her at mile 7 (of course stopped the G) for about 20 minutes. Definitely NOT what I would normally do, but I was so happy to see her!

Other good news....I think I have found my "new sneakers"!!!! I listened to everyones advice (thank you!!!) and talked to some of the running peeps, then called Road Runners and talked to one of their sales people (who was totally awesome!!). I ended up going with the Saucony Pro Grid Hurricane in a size 9. I also got the Wright Socks (that are double layered), and after my 10 miler this morning.....NO ISSUES!!!! I am keeping my fingers crossed that I haven't been "duped" into falling in love again....time will tell!
Question: According to my training schedule I will run 260 miles between now and my marathon, will these current shoes (which right now have 13 miles on them) be "OK" for the marathon??? Any input on this would be great!! Thanks in advance!

On the "love" front, I'm feeling much better today after yesterdays aftershocks. I know there is still some more to come until this is all resolved, but I will get through it all!

Fundraiser - Success!

The Happy Hour Fundraiser was AWESOME! My Teammate Chrisie and I each walked away with $468! Yippppeeee! I'm getting close to my goal!!!!
It was so great to see all of my friends, family and neighbors in one place having so much fun! The raffles were a HUGE hit, especially the Mario Lemieux autographed hockey stick!!!
As for the "Pepsi Guy".....he was a no show, however, the funniest thing happened....So, I'm walking around selling the raffle tickets and I think I spot him...I got all nervous and headed directly to my group of friends. As soon as they saw me coming they were like "Is he here? Is he here?" And I said yep...and they all guessed that he was the guy at the bar that I saw and thought was him! So, I walked right up to the guy (the WRONG GUY!!!) and was all "Hey, how are you?"--------then I realize it's NOT PEPSI GUY!!!!! How freaking funny!!!! Anyway, he ended up buying some raffle tickets, so it's all good!!!
On the training front, I have many, many, many miles to run this week! Although I've been having fun with the happy hour, the pepsi guy, and all that stuff, I've had a little "strain" going on from the "Original Guy" , and my energy level is low. Nothing major has happened, sometimes I just think that relatioships ending are a lot like earthquakes....you have the major earthquake that just about does you in, then every so often there are the "aftershocks", sometimes they are for no apparent reason, none the less they wipe you out a little.
My schedule for this week is as follows:
Mon - 5
Tues - 8
Thurs - 10
Sat - 15 (longest run EVER)

My work schedule this week won't work with the 10 on Thursday, but I don't have to go into work until 10:30 tomorrow morning, so I'm going to do my 10 on Tuesday morning. Not sure what will happen this evening, I've got a lot of work to do, and as mentioned above I'm feeling wiped out. Now I'm feeling like a wimp....but hey, I'm just being honest.
Hope you all had a great weekend!

Happy Hour Tonight!

Once again, I wish you all lived closer! Tonight I will be "hostessing" a Happy Hour Fundraiser to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! It will be held at this great bar in Pittsburgh called "Town Tavern".
I just got exciting news last night about one of the raffle items I've been waiting on.....I will have a Hockey Stick signed by Mario Lemieux to raffle off!!! I am super excited about this!!!
I will post pictures from the event tomorrow!

Hey Pepsi Guy....

Ok, so we have a Pepsi machine at work, and today a new Pepsi Guy brought our delivery...he was quite cute! Sooooooo I just happened to be on my break with my co-workers and they were giving me "the eye" and spurring on the conversation.

Anyway, we all talked a little, then he was leaving and my co-workers were like "COME ON!!! What are you doing? You should have made a little more of a move!!!" So, I got brave and grabbed an invitation to the Happy Hour that I'm hosting for my fundraising this Friday and ran it out to him! He was VERY receptive and said he would definitely be there! We'll see...either way it was very funny! Oh and remember last week when I was talking about putting in some effort to get ready for work...yeah that didn't happen this morning because I had to leave my house at 6am for PT! So here I am in a plain tank top, no makeup, hair in a ponytail and these random sweat shorts from Target! Hahaha!

Good news at PT today, I can start to get back "on schedule" with my training! So this weekend I will do 11 miles, next weekend 15, the following will be the 1/2 marathon and so on!

Thank you everyone for your input on the shoes, I am going to head to the running store and see what their thoughts are and I'll let you know the outcome!

Sunday's Run

So, Sunday's run went pretty well! I was able to run pretty much the whole time (10.5 miles) with just a few stops for stretching. I went slower than I had been going, and I am fine with accepting that that might be what I need to do.
Afterwards I had the MOST AMAZING french toast....so yummy!!!!
The rest of the day I still felt pretty good, so much better than that run a couple weeks ago where I was sure that my legs were going to snap off!

However, I need some help/input with the shoe situation. Here's the deal -
I have Asics (keyanos) and Sauconys (forget their name..pro-grid something, maybe hurricane?). I bought both at the same time, here is the story -
*Started in the Asics for a couple runs, thought I was in love.
*Tried out the Sauconys, also loved them, but then got blister on the Left Foot.
*Went back to the Asics - No blister problems, as the miles got highter and higher they made my left foot (the "bad" one) hurt...kind of bad. I ran in them up to a point, started having definite foot pain around 4th of July, switched back to the Sauconys.
*Ran in the Sauconys some more, blister came back. Got insoles, I hated them but didn't get a blister and figured I'd get used to the insoles.
*Ran in the Sauconys on Sunday with the insoles, got the FREAKING blister again!!!!

I am starting to get really anxious, I want to know what my Marathon shoes will be and start breaking them in!

The blister area is on the side of my where the GREEN MARK is (don't mind the red mark on the diagram by the heel). It ends up being a long sort of thin blister.

My "normal" shoe size is an 8.5, my Asics are a 9, and the Sauconys are 9.5.
Do you think it's possible that my Sauconys might just be a little too big (and I should try a 9)? At this point I'm thinking that the Asics are definitely out. I have tried about 4 different types of socks and I put body glide all over that spot, and it still happens. Any input would be great!

Yard Sale - Success!

The yard sale was really good! Made some money, got rid of a lot of stuff (still have a lot more), totally tired!

On the running front, tomorrow is my group training and the PT has me doing 11 miles. I think that sounds pretty good, I'm a little nervous about it, but it should be fine. It would be really awesome if I could just have a "good" run tomorrow, no hip issues, no foot issues, just a nice, easy, enjoyable run....I've got my fingers crossed! Good news is that we are running on the Montour Trail which is mostly gravel and soft, and even better news, my mentor is making Strawberry Stuffed French Toast for our teams "after race snack"!!! YUMMY!!!!!
Hope you are all having a good weekend, I'll check in tomorrow after the run!

Yard Sale Saturday!

I wish you all lived near by, I am having a kick butt yard sale tomorrow! I have spent all day today getting stuff together and trying to organize it, I am beat! Here is something about me that you don't know, I am a SHOPAHOLIC and I RARELY get rid of things. The amount of clothing in my house is enough for at least 4 girls (and they could be 4 different sizes - 2, 4, 6, and 8)!

I have been addicted to Adidas pants, but it's time to let a lot of them go. Along with a group of brightly colored Nike Capris, shorts and tops.

I am also a Jean Whore, I admit it, LOVE Jeans, ALL Jeans, so much so that I have roughly 30 pair.........and of course I wear about 5 pair since those are the 5 that fit the best (and they include my new True Religions, 7's and Citizens). Keep in mind that I said I RARELY get rid of things, there was a pair of jeans in my stack that I remember wearing on a date in 1999!!!!!!! Honestly, there were at least 10 pair that were from the late 90's early 2000's.

And Purses, well they are in a league of their own!

I'm hoping to get a good turnout, whatever doesn't sell is being picked up by the Vets next week. I'll just be glad to get it out of the house! Sad thing is....there's more of it where it came from! But hey, you gotta start somewhere, right? I'll update with pics of the action tomorrow!

Combined Update!

Ok, so it has taken me forever to get to the fun stories from the weekend, which sorry for all the hype, they aren't "crazy fun" just fun. So, I'll do 3 parts to my update -

Part One
This past weekend Pittsburgh was host to the "New American Music Union" concert and it was awesome! My friend, we'll call LL, came into town and we had a blast! She is one of those "go with the flow" peeps that can have fun anywhere. So before the concert we grabbed a bite to eat outside and had somewhere between 2 and 5 sangrias....I can't count after 2! The weather was PERFECT! Then we headed in for the show...I finally got to see my FAVORITE band, The Raconteurs! Soooooo freaking good!!! While there we got to do one of my other favorite things, people watching. I LOVE to people watch, and let me tell you this was the place for it! I kept looking around thinking "apparently these people came from the 60's/70's and traveled through the punk era in London on their way here, while I took the express jet from the 90's! Keep in mind, amongst my friends I am often considered to be pretty damn trendy, first with the new shiznit and all that (point in case, I am currently rocking steel grey nail polish and have been for about 1 month....it will be everywhere in September, for you "nail polish fans" it could possibly be the new OPI "Lincoln Park After Dark"). Anyway, it was awesome to see all these different styles, some were way cool, others were way off. To illustrate this, I took some pics of the "Way Off". Case #1 - Older Guy Trying Hard - How freaking long do you think these jeans are if he has them cuffed this high????

Case # 2 - How about this bandanna and hair...and his friend with the white hat? What you can't see is that Yellow Bandanna guy has on the TIGHTEST jeans with one leg tucked into his cowboy boot and one leg over his boot.

There I was in my boring black tank top, bootcut jeans and cork wedges! This led LL and I on to a discussion about "re-inventing" yourself, and I've decided there are some parts of me that need re-invented! Not that I'm gonna start cuffing my pants all crazy or wearing yellow bandannas, but these people put some effort into their outfits. I always put in effort when I'm going out, but to work, that is a different story. I have the luxury of wearing whatever I want (today it's jeans and black tank top....hmmm, sound familiar?) I'm more likely to wear "cute sweats and sneakers" than I am to wear dress pants and heels. Eventually that leads into wearing "not cute sweats", hair always in a pony tail, and so on. So, I am going to make a better effort at "getting ready" to go to work.


Part Two
This has to do with some emails from a person that we'll call AR. AR is probably in his mid 40's, runs with my group, is in general a "nice" person, I thought he was married, I have ABSOLUTELY NO interest in him, no way in hell would I ever have interest in him, definitely didn't indicate anything like that.
As you all know I totally struggled with my run the other week, AR noticed me struggling and ran with me for while. Very nice of him, and I appreciated it. There were some comments made like "at least you still look cute even though you're in pain", and honestly, I could do without those, but seriously what was I going to do at this point...run away? I would have had to try and "shuffle" away since that's what my stride had turned into! I really didn't think anything of the comments, probably trying to make me feel better, maybe laugh a little since I was on the verge of tears from the pain.
So, a couple days later I get this email from AR -
"BTW, I have been thinking about this long and hard. If you can lower your standards enough, I am willing to step up and be your "boyfriend" until a man suitable for your standards comes along. ;-)
Let me know your thoughts....
(I hope I didn't just make you hurl!)"
Ok, WTF? Seriously, WTF????? So, I needed to respond before what was now an uncomfortable situation became unbearable. So all day I thought and thought about the best way to respond so as to not be a bitch (ie saying "Dude, my standards don't go THAT low") but get the message across. Finally I decided to play it off as if he was funny and that was a good joke. So I emailed back -
ROFLMAO! You're too funny! I actually have a "promising" date lined up for the weekend...we'll see how it goes!
Have a good one-
I don't have a "date" but he doesn't need to know that, and I figured that would be a way of making him not feel like a d-bag for crossing a line.
Then he responds -
Glad I was able to brighten your day. You always brighten mine (seriously!)
Good luck on the "promising" date.
and my offer still stands
Seriously? I'm thinking I should have gone the bitch route.


Part Three
I ran 7 miles last night! Woooooooooo hooooooooo! No hip pain and my time was better than I thought it would be, 1:07. Around mile 5 my knees started to get super tight (like when you're foot is coming off the ground, you're knee is bending and the foot is coming up off the ground). So I emailed the PT, I see him again tomorrow. I'm wondering if that has always been happening, then I start to run all weird and that is what wrecks my hips?
Any thoughts on this?

Partial Update

Just wanted to get a quick update in! I went for more PT on Saturday morning, then was allowed to run 4 miles on Sunday. My run went REALLY well, I averaged around a 9:30 pace and my hips felt really good. There was some tightness after 2 miles, but it didn't continue to get worse, so I think that's a good sign!
I go for more PT on Tuesday and Thursday morning, so we'll see how it all goes!
I have some fun stories from the weekend, hopefully I'll get to post on those tonight!

And More PT

I had more PT today, so far so good. I was a little surprised when he told me NO running until Sunday, and only to do 5 miles, but hey, I'll do whatever he says! I swear, I SERIOUSLY feel like I have Brand New Hips! I can't wait to take them for a spin down the trail....I'll bet I'm going to feel like a Million Bucks!! (Please God - Let me feel like a Million Bucks, not 3 cents like last weekend!).
I learned a new stretch for the hips, it's called the Thomas Stretch. So keeping your back flat against the table (or when I do it at home I'll be doing it on my kitchen island!), raise your left knee towards your chest and let right leg hang down for 10 seconds, then lift it a tiny bit, then back down for 10 seconds. Repeat that 5 times, then do the same thing again but this time when your leg is just hanging down bring your heel towards the table (using your hamstrings), do that 5 times. Switch to the other side and do the same, except for me we noticed that I've got the beginning of a tight IT band on the left side, so for the second 5 I focus on lightly squeezing my left knee in towards the center. Super interesting! I totally love my PT and the girls that work in his office are awesome.

The only bad thing is that I was supposed to do this crazy race on August 16 called "Team Urban Race For Fifty". You bike, run and kayak, no "set course" but you go out after "points" and you can go in any order, you just have to stay within 50 meters of your teammate. I feel bad because I'm letting my teammate down, but she knew from the beginning that the marathon was my first priority. So today my PT said "Nope, you won't be doing that race. We're focusing on 1 race here, and that's your marathon." I totally agree, just hate to disappoint.

That's it for now, hope you are all racking up the miles this week and feeling FABULOUS!

Physical Therapy

So, after my painful run the other day one of the coaches suggested that I see this PT. So I got an appointment for this morning, and seriously, I feel like I have new hips!

After some evaluations he determined that my right hip was sort of rotated and shifted upwards. So he did some "manipulations" and stretching, then they did some heat. Basicially he "re-set" my hips (I thought that could only happen when something was broken!), then worked on my "iliopsoas" (mainly the purple part on the diagram). I was laying on the table with my knees bent and feet flat on the table and worked into my abdomen pretty deep (I was thinking that he had to be near my appendix LOL), then he got to a point that was REALLY tender, and asked me to try and lift my foot off the table...OUCH! That was it, I couldn't even lift my foot up. So that confirmed that we were in the right area, after some more stretching after the heat they showed me some exercises to do, and I was on my way. As I was walking out to my truck I thought everything felt "different", then when I went to step up into the truck I noticed something VERY different....it didn't hurt, AT ALL. Later when I got to work I went to go up the steps and was like, WAIT, I have not felt like going up steps in a VERY LONG time, so long that I have just gotten used to it. Seriously, the whole day I've been walking around totally amazed at how painless everything is, this has been going on for way longer than I thought!!!

So, I go back to PT on Thursday and then again next week on Tuesday and Thursday. He told me no running tonight, no spinning tomorrow morning, he'll let me know what I can do after I report in to him on Wednesday.

Needless to say, I am feeling really hopeful and thankful!!!

13 Miles - CHECK!

Yep, I did it! What a relief, I was beginning to think that I was destined to be 10-11 mile runner! My first 7 miles went pretty darn good, then things started to slow down quite a bit after that. My freaking hip flexors get SO tight, I feel like they are literally going to snap, which would then leave me leg-less and completely unable to finish! Once they start to get tight my stride gets freakishly short (I swear I'm only covering 10cm per step!LOL), then everything else begins to tighten (quads, knees, ass). So, beginning around 8.5 I switched to running for 8-10 minutes then walking/stretching for 2 minutes. Not what I really wanted to do, but it had to be done. Thankfully one of the mentors buddied up with me, it helped to not be totally alone. At one point he looked at me and said "We have to stretch now, I can't take the painful look on your face any longer!" I just started laughing (and stretching)! When we were "done" and back to our meeting spot my Garmin had me at 12.06 miles.....F*&%! So after a couple of sips of Gatorade I was ready to head back out, I was NOT going home until that thing said 13! Thankfully my teammate, Chrisie, joined me and helped to get me through the last bit! Once G-Man hit 13 I was like AMEN, someone please pick up my legs for me!
Afterwards our group was treated to THE BEST yogurt parfaits that my mentor Audrey made! They were sooooooo amazing, total taste of HEAVEN!!!
After I got home and showered I did the "ice bath" thing for a little while, then took a long nap. I laid in bed for too long, and decided that I had to get out of the house and walk around, so I headed to Target....of course I spent way too much on random stuff, but it was fun!
So, all in all, not too bad! I'm glad I finally got to 13, and I'm just hoping that it's not going to be this painful forever!
Hope you all had a great weekend!

Tomorrow

So, tomorrow is my long run, and I desperately need it to be good! I have been struggling to get past 11.7 miles for 3 weeks....and I'm OVER IT!
Tomorrow, I will kick the ass of 13 miles, that's right, all freaking 13.

Memo to my Left Foot:
Buck up buddy, tomorrow you are going to get after all 13 miles AND like it! There will be NO BLISTERS. Just go along with the plan, it's very easy, as a matter of fact you don't even have to do it by yourself, as I'm sure you know "Right Foot" has been there every step of the way, dividing up the work and picking up the slack. Let's all show up tomorrow, 100%, and have a great run.

Come on Left Foot, you can do it!!!!!!