Thanksgiving Re-cap

The Turkey Trot was a lot of fun, it was great to see so many of Team in Training teammates! The weather was great (still pretty cold, but at least it was clear and the sun was out in spots) so they had a really good turnout, so good that they ended up starting it 20 minutes late to accomodate all of the "day of" entries.

My friend (and teammate) Chrisie was there, it was so good to finally see her again! We started the "Trot" together, it didn't take too long though before I was struggling. I can't believe what 4 weeks off will do to you....big surprise, right?!? Chrisie was kind enough to hang with me, even when I was like "I can't believe this, I have to walk" (it's a friggin 5k!!!). Finally as we got close to the end I told her to take off, I finished shortly behind her with a time around 33 minutes. Not awful, pretty much what I expected. I just wanted to have fun, and I did!

After the race I headed home to finish getting ready for the Thanksgiving Feast! The turkey was smelling gooooood in the oven!!! Before I knew it my Brother, Sister-in-Law and niece arrived, then shortly after that my parents. Here is a picture of the table

I made the yummiest sweet potatoes!

And the Turkey came out really good!!!

The dinner went really well, my family loved everything! We had a lot of fun and played some games after dinner (Uno and this new game Pictureka!).

Friday I worked at the mall (I always work Black Friday) and did some shopping! Lots of good stuff!!! Saturday I got up and headed to the gym for Cardio Kickbox class, definitely a good workout! And then this morning I met up with the TNT Alumni group for a run! I only did 3 miles because I had a baby shower to get to, but I'm still glad that I went.

I hope that everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

TTT (Turkey Trot Tomorrow)!

Ok, so I'm feeling a little "funny" about the Turkey Trot tomorrow.....I have hardly run in 1 month, and I have no idea what it will feel like tomorrow! I have no idea what my time will be, but I'm guessing that I'll go back on the "plus" side of 30 minutes. Oh well, I'll just have fun with it, afterall it is called a Turkey Trot!!!

I've spent most of the day getting things ready for Thanksgiving. My Niece (Eva, she is 6) keeps telling everyone "I'm going to Margo's for The Feast"! How freaking funny is that?!? She's totally serious about it, I imagine that in her head she see's a grand table setting, with a huge cornucopia (sp?), and big wine goblets.....straight out of a movie! Hope she's not disappointed with the 6ft folding table that I bought at Lowe's!

I'll check in at some point tomorrow with some pictures hopefully.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

2 Posts in 1 day....Look out!!!

Ok, keeping with my theme from yesterday's post "Keep Moving" I'm trying to come up with something fun to do over the Holidays (specifically between Christmas and New Years). Not sure what or where, so I'm taking suggestions! My usual traveling "partner in crime" now has a boyfriend.....
Also, I think I remember reading something somewhere about a blogger meet up? Did I make this up? I'm hoping I didn't, because the whole idea of it sounds really fun!
I'm getting really excited to start planning out my travel adventures to becoming a "Rock Star" next year! I would love to start a list of anyone that is also doing any of the Rock N' Roll events that I'm planning on doing! It would be great to meet up with more bloggers along the way. Most likely I'll be traveling "solo" to most of the races, so I'll be up for Pasta Dinner Parties and Victory Parties! My plans are to do Nashville, Chicago, San Jose, Virginia Beach and Seattle.
So, let me know if you're planning on doing any of these!

So I took this post idea from JAHOWIE !
This is a challenge!Subject: SCATTERGORIESSCATTERGORIES. Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following. They have to be real places, names, things.. nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

WHAT IS YOUR NAME: Margo
BOY NAME: Mark
4 LETTER WORD: Mood
GIRL NAME: Mary
OCCUPATION: Muffin Maker
A COLOR: Midnight Blue
SOMETHING YOU WEAR: Mini Skirt
BEVERAGE: Mocha Latte
FOOD: Mango
SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM: Makeup
A PLACE: Miami
REASON FOR BEING LATE: My cat took my keys!
SOMETHING YOU SHOUT: MOVE!!!!

Keep Moving!!!

Ok, so I'm finally starting to get out of the rut...just HAVE to keep moving forward!!! I tried desperately to find something fun to do Friday night, but everyone "had plans" or had dates...great! So I ended up buying paint at Home Depot and finally painted my powder room (it was a light lavender, I painted it a really pretty brown). This is something I've been wanting to do for about a year, so I'm glad I finally got it done, and just in time for Thanksgiving (which I'm hosting at my house this year)! I did one coat Friday night, then headed out early Saturday morning to get some shopping done (needed new decorations for the powder room). I didn't really find much...so I came home and then did my second coat Saturday night. It looked pretty good!

On Sunday morning I FINALLY went to the "New Gym" and did the "Body Works" class (which was basically weights with music), it was great! Keep in mind, I haven't lifted in FOREVER!! It was a great re-introduction to weights, my poor arms were killing me by the time we were done! I'm so glad I went and I'm looking forward to getting there a lot more often!

After that I went home and got ready (got to wear my new boots!) and headed out to meet my friend for Brunch at Bistro 19....OMG it was SOOOOOO GOOD! I got the Fliet and Egg Hash...seriously, to die for!!! That and 2 Bellini's to drink.....perfect Sunday morning! From there we headed to South Side for some shopping. I found some things for the powder room and then hit up Urban Outfitters (I LOVE that store)! I actually ended up putting in an application there for part time holiday work, I really hope I get called in. I need a "change of scenery"...my "real job" has NO social opportunities at all. I feel like even if I'm working on a Friday night, at least it will get me "out there", and I'll already be in South Side so it would be very easy to meet up with people afterwards to go out. So, keep your fingers crossed!

This week I'm planning on getting to at least 2 more classes at the gym. Then on Thursday I'll be doing the Turkey Trot 5K! So, it finally looks like I'm getting close to being back on track!

4 Folder Copy Cat (taken from POM)

Wasn't sure what to post today....so I'm copying what POM did yesterday!

1. Pick the 4th folder on your computer

2. Pick the 4th Picture

3. Explain the picture

4. Tag 4 more people

Here's the picture....

RANDOM!!! This is me in the dressing room of Bebe! I was looking for a dress to wear in Vegas and was taking pics with my cell phone to send to my friend for their input!!!

So there you have it!

Run the Lights Report!

The Hartwood Acres "Run the Lights" was great! Althought I did much more walking and talking than running, it was still a great time! It was COMPLETELY FREEZING outside, so we were layered up beyond belief!!! Here's a picture before the run, notice that we're sporting our TNT Pittsburgh Marathon T-shirts (coming this May 3rd)! I'm in the back with the reindeer antlers on!

Here are some of the pretty lights.....

Here's our group in the "tunnel" ....

The "course" was quite hilly, but like I said, I ended up talking and walking most of the time it didn't really matter! The lights were beautiful and it was great to catch up with my teammates!

Now I'm definitely in the Holiday Spirit!!!

I'm on my way back!

Hello Blogworld! As you may have noticed, I've been on a little "hiatus" from blogging....and running. Leading up to the marathon I was slacking big time at work, so when I got back there was a TON of work to catch up on, and on top of that we had our BIG convention coming up (which was this past weekend). So I had been staying late at work to get everything organized. It involved a fashion show with about 120 models (ages 3-18) wearing a total of 240 of our costumes. All of this had to be fit into 1hr45minutes (the approximate time it takes me to run 10 miles...I love that I think of things that way now).
Anyway, the show was great! I was completely wiped out afterwards, and ended up taking yesterday off of work (which was MUCH needed)!
So, today is the day that I return to running! I am meeting with my TNT Alumni group to run at an event called "Run the Lights" at Hartwood Acres. It's a big park that is all lit up for the holidays and normally it's open to cars to drive through and see the lights, but tonight they close it of to vehicles and open it up to runners! It should be really fun!
I'll post pictures tomorrow!
**Even though I havnen't been blogging, I've still enjoyed reading all of yours!!! Thanks for your continued inspiration and motivation!

I've been tagged!

Thanks to Nike Mom and Teacherwoman for tagging me! Sorry it's taken so long for me to "get it done"!!!
So, here are the rules - list 6 things I value and 6 things I don't and then pass this award on to 6 people!
What I Value
Honesty and Integrity
Friends and Family
Animals
Creativity
Physical Strength
Choices

What I Don't Value
People who are deceitful
Taking the easy way out
Too many Friday nights without plans
People that are Self Righteous
Dissappointment
The current economy

Now to pass it on, if I tag you and you were already tagged...sorry!
JAHowie
HotThickChick
Chrisequious
NCRunner
Jess
Beginning Running

Hope you all had a good weekend! I'm off to Yoga....and then to shop!

Where have I been?

Answer - MIA! Seriously, I have been a total slacker. With the time change I have been going to bed WAY TOO EARLY, and doing nothing else. I'm giving myself a few more days to get straightened out.
I did go to Yoga last night, so that's good. Tonight I have a Happy Hour with my Team in Training group, and on Sunday I'm going SHOPPING!!! Somewhere in there I'll do something physical...not sure what.
I went to Physical Therapy yesterday for the knee and ankle, all good news. Just "over use" (ya think? 26.2 miles is over use? not for everyone, but for me it is!)! So I've got some stretches and strengthening exercises to do.
The issue previously known as "the relationship" has come back into play, and nothing has changed. Which makes an even stronger case for "the REAL end". I'm not going to waste anymore blog time on this than I already have, I'll just say this.....it still amazes me that I can let myself get pulled back into it all and be brought down by it, enough already.
Video of the Day - Carolina Liar "I'm Not Over"

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Post Marathon Life

Well, this week has consisted of resting, smiling, wearing my medal, and.....a lot of time thinking about "what next?"
Overall I feel pretty good except there is something definitely going on with my right ankle. It hurts, kinda bad. If I stand for more than an hour or walk more than block I start to limp....I think I need to get it checked. It's a little swollen, but nothing major and there's a tiny black and blue mark on it. I'm sure it's just strained and a little beat up, but I think I'll make an appointment for this week.
I'm joining a new gym today, so that should be good. It's one of those "mega gyms" (LA Fitness), has tons of cardio equipment, weights and classes, and it's 7 minutes from my house. When I started really running in May I totally gave up the gym, mostly because all I had ever done was gone to the gym and I was so happy for the change, and the fact that I ran outside 99% of the time was awesome. Now that winter is on it's way I figured it's a good time to change things up and incorporate some of the old stuff back in along with adding some new things.
I am planning on staying involved with Team in Training in their "Alumni Club" which should be a lot of fun. It will help me to stay connected to my new running friends and continue running. We will meet as a group before local races, get together for runs on the weekends, and so on all while sort of promoting TNT.
As for my "Official Running Plan", here we go! I loved doing the marathon, and I will definitley do another one (or 10!) at some point, just not sure when it will be. Since I really only started running in May and then did the Marathon in October I think I might take the next year to take more time to work on becoming a "better runner". With that being said, I LOVE 1/2 Marathons, seriously, I LOVE THEM!!!!! In addition to that, I LOVE BLING (fancy medals)!! So, I WANT THIS-

This is the medal you get from the Rock 'n Roll Marathon Series if you complete 5 of their 8 events, and all 5 can be 1/2 Marathons! Of course, there are a lot of things that have nothing to do with running that will have to fall into place for this to happen (my schedule, travel costs, and so on), but I am really going to buckle down and start planning!

My choices are Arizona, Seattle, Chicago, Virginia Beach, San Antonio, San Jose, and Nashville (there's also San Diego, but that is only a Full).

In addition to those I would also like to do the Baltimore 10 Miler again, that was a great race! And of course there will be random 5 and 10k's.

So, any thoughts??? Who else wants to be a Rock Star???? Anyone have hookups with hotels that they'd like to share???LOL!!!!

One more thing - Good Luck to Lam and NC RUNNER this weekend!!!