Running Towards Myself

What to Blog About???

2009-06-10T09:20:00.004-04:00

Well, my "running blog" is going to have to take on some new content...considering I have no running to blog about, but I still want to blog!

So, for now I'll just blog about whatever is going on in my life!

The last couple days I have spent a lot of time figuring out the best thing to do with this totally adorable litter of kittens that were born "out back" at work. There are 3 stray/feral cats that "live" out there and I already had plans to "Trap and Release" them (trap, spay/neuter, then return them to their "home"). I was just waiting until my ankle was good enough to hustle around a bit, but of course the one got pregnant and had kittens! They are SO freaking cute! Anyway, I have a friend that is a vet and she will spay/neuter the adults for me any day that I catch them. However, the kittens are a different story. They really need to be caught and then checked out by the vet, and then fostered to get them used to humans so that they can be adopted. Unfortunately I am going to be out of town about 11 of the next 15 days, so I can not foster them. However I have been getting them use to seeing me and recognizing that I am bringing them food and that I'm not going to hurt them.

There are 5 of them, but 2 are a little more brave! I got these pictures of them yesterday...

Aren't they adorable?!?!?!?! If you have any experience/advice on handling wild kitties, feel free to share!

Back in the Days....

2009-06-08T12:12:00.003-04:00

Well, I don't have too much to update on....I'm making progress, so that's good. I can't remember if I ever fully updated about my hip situation, in case I didn't here you go....the MRI showed a small tear in the labrum, so no surgery, just more PT. My ankle is coming along, I'm now able to do the stairmaster (for 5 minutes)!

Not running is still totally sucking, not going to races is sucking even more, missing out on all the fun is sucking the worst! However, I am able to walk around without being in total pain and I've even progressed to cute flats instead of sneakers for a "night out"!

As for the title of this post "Back in the Days"... I came across some old photos of me when I was about 13-15 years old. I used to be totally into horses and extremely competitive at horse shows, traveled all around to tons of them. Anyway, below are 2 pictures from "Back in the Days!"

The first one is me on my horse "Addison", he was so awesome! I had him from the time I was about 12 up to around my junior year in college.

The second picture is me on a horse named "SuperNatural", I started showing him when my horse (Addison) got hurt and was retired. This horse was totally cool too....

Just thought these were kind of cool pics and figured that most of my "blog friends" only know 2 things about me....I ran a marathon, and now I'm injured! So now you know a little bit more! LOL!

Just a Quick Check In.....

2009-05-27T22:08:00.003-04:00

I've been MIA......but I'm trying to get back on here....TONS of reading to catch up on.....I'll write a real post soon!
That's it for now......I'm off to see what you all have been up to!

Pittsburgh Marathon "Cheering" Report!

2009-05-06T17:23:00.013-04:00

This past weekend was the Pittsburgh Marathon! As many of you know I did the Marine Corps Marathon in the fall with Team in Training (http://www.teamintraining.org/) and raised money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Through TNT I made so many wonderful friends and have become very involved in their "Alumni Club". So, when it was time to get out and support the 115 Team In Training participants....my "inner cheerleader" came out in FULL FORCE!!! We had 45 people running the Full Marathon, 42 doing the 1/2, and the remainder doing the relays!!! In total they raised over $100,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!!! Isn't that AMAZING?!?!?!

I got together with a couple other alumni that were either injured or had chosen not to run Pittsburgh but still wanted to be involved and we started planning. TNT was "assigned" to mile 11-12 which came up Carson Street in South Side and across the Birmingham Bridge and into Oakland. We decided that we needed to make a bunch of signs to spread out through the mile and then base our "camp" at the beginning of the bridge to cheer the runners on over the bridge and get them pumped up to tackle the hill that they faced after the bridge.

Friday night Erin and I met at my work (we have huge cutting tables) to make the signs. We started at 7:30pm and didn't finish until 12:45am!!!
Then on Saturday night we went to a friends house for a Pasta Dinner (they were running), Erin and I decided that we needed to carb load for the next day! LOL! After that we headed to Erin's house where we finished up the signs and went to bed around midnight. Before we knew it it was time to get up....5am and we weren't running! This was to get the signs out there before the road closures!

We did 1 sign that had all of the "Half" names on it and 1 sign with all of the "Full" names on it....they were LONG! Here we are hanging the "Half" sign on Carson Street....yes, we brought our own ladders!

Next it was onto the "heart" of South Side and taping the signs to various poles along Carson Street.

As we got closer to "our bridge" I was getting so excited! I knew that it wouldn't be long before we would start to see runners. We still had to get the signs spread out over the bridge....

Once we had the signs up it was time to sit back and wait.....

Oh, I forgot to mention, Erin brought a Megaphone/Bullhorn thing.....not that I needed it....BUT I LOVED it!!!!! I noticed a "camera guy" hanging around quite a bit, then he made his way over to us.....I ended up on the news! http://kdka.com/video/?id=56954@kdka.dayport.comDuring the "interview" one of our good friends that we did MCM with came running by, I was SOOOOO happy to see her! I never would have made it through my training for MCM if Chrisie wasn't there, as you can see....it was a little emotional (all while camera man stands there!)!

Eventually we made our way to the finish line and got to see just about all of our teammates cross the line! It was amazing!!! By then it seems like we pretty much stopped taking pictures and were totally "in the moment"....but I never stopped using by Bullhorn!

It was an amazing race and I was so happy to still get to be a part of it, even though I couldn't run. It was a little bitter sweet, it only made me realize even more how much I want to be able to really be a part of it all again. I know it's going to be a long time for me though, but until then I plan on being the best cheerleader out there! GO TEAM!!!!!!!!

Anyone doing the Pittsburgh Marathon this weekend???

2009-04-29T19:08:00.002-04:00

This weekend is the Pittsburgh Marathon! Let me know if you're planning on running it! I'll be there cheering on Team in Training (and of course all the other runners)! We'll be between miles 11-12 on Carson Street at the beginning of the Birmingham Bridge.

Also, I went to the hip doctor today, xrays were fine (as we thought they'd be) and scheduled for an MRI next Thursday to see if there is a labral tear.

11 Weeks Post-Op Update/ I Want (part of) Last Year Back

2009-04-26T17:30:00.006-04:00

Here's the latest....I'm currently completely out of the boot, I'm wearing a very supportive ankle brace (sort of laces up and velcros) with sneakers pretty much 24/7. At PT I started doing heel raises, eccentric lowering (stand on 4" step with bad ankle and bend knee so that good foot taps the ground), and started doing "2 up 1 down". It's like doing leg extensions, except that you put a 4 lb weight around your 1 ankle then use the other foot to assisit it lifting the bad one up, then lower the bad one by itself. Let me tell you, it's very hard! Keep in mind that when I was "normal" I would go to the gym and do the leg extension machine and not struggle too much to do 90 lbs (obviously with both legs), and I'm pretty sure that I did 45 lbs for single leg extensions, I'm sweating doing 4 lbs. At least I'm doing them though.
Of course there's more to this update....2 more things actually, I'll start with a conversation regarding my future with running at PT.
PT: So, your Dr. has talked to you about running in the future, right?
ME: Yeah, basically no more Full Marathons (PT nods his head in agreement), which I say is fine since "I really just want to run a bunch of 1/2's".
PT: Like how many 1/2's are we talking about?
ME: Well, my plan before all of this was that I was going to do 5 this year, so I'd like to be able to return to that plan at some point.
PT: I'm not so sure about that......maybe 1 or 2 per year.
ME: Why? (tears filling up in my eyes)
PT: Why would you want to do that to your body? I know you love it but I don't think you understand...
ME: Understand what? (tears fully streaming down my face)
PT: Oh no, listen, I'm treating you as I always said I would, as if you were one of my family, one of my loved ones. Listen, let's say that when we're born God gives us Grade A+ cartilage.
ME: (nod my head)
PT: I'm thinking that for your cartilage to blow out so fast in your ankle, maybe you started off with Grade B, or maybe B-.
ME: (nod my head, wipe tears, curse at my fucking sub-par cartilage)
PT: Then you blow out a chunk of your B or B- cartilage and the Dr has to go in, clean stuff out, and then "pick" your bone to make it bleed and form scar tissue to "act" as cartilage in the place where you have none.
ME: (suck in the snot that's about to come out with a massive downpour of tears, curse my motherfucking cartilage again)
PT: So now we're talking about having an F in cartilage and maybe a C in substitue cartilage. It's not meant to be "beat up" like that.
ME: (trying to not sob, doing ok at keeping it together, nod my head) This sucks.
PT: I know, it does, 100% without a doubt totally sucks. Look, if it was your knee and you were so into continuing to run, I'd say - Well, alright go ahead, we'll try to keep you as healthy as possible, just know that you'll probably get about 10 years of running and then it will be time for a knee replacement, if you don't run you'd probably need one in about 20 years, so enjoy the next 10 years. BUT unfortunately, ankles are totally different than knees. An ankle replacement is shoddy at best, that's not an option for you, but if you keep tearing your ankle apart you are going to be left with horrible arthritis and not be able to function.
ME: fuck. what am I going to do now?

I'm not handling this well, at all. I know that I could swim, I could bike, but come on you guys - YOU are the only one's that know, they aren't the same. I know that no one can give me the answer here, because there really isn't one, it just sucks. Once again, it makes me feel like I got cheated, I just found running and all the great things that came from it, and I might not get to do it all again. Sure, I could do a 5K or maybe even a 10K at some point (which I'm sure I'll be very happy to do when the time comes), but the truth is I like 10, 11, 12, 13 miles. I don't really like 3,4, or 5. You guys know, doing a 5K and doing a 1/2 are completely different. I like how a 1/2 feels.

Part 2 of the update.......so, I was in "the boot" for about 9 weeks (6w/crutches and then partial to full weight bearing). During those last few weeks walking with the boot I started having major pain in my right hip, it was so bad that it was actually waking me up at night. So at PT we started treating that too, stretches, heat, ice, massage. It was really deep in my hip, more like my groin area, my iliopsoas was really tight and tender, so that sort of made sense. Well, after a couple weeks of treating that and not getting much of a response the PT tried moving it a few more ways, then steps back and says "I don't like this. I'm getting very concerned as to why we're getting no where." I say "I know, seriously, do you think something else is wrong?" He says "Look, I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't tell you this, but I need you to see a hip specialist, let's just hope that you are all jammed up from that boot, but I gotta tell you, you have a lot of the symptoms of a Labral Tear." Me "WTF?" PT "I know, look, let's just hope it's just jammed up and maybe you've got a strain in there, but you need to see someone, get some x-rays and an MRI." ME - (crying).

So, this Wednesday I will be seeing a hip specialist to figure this out. My hip HURTS, like a bitch. It hurts when I'm sitting here, it hurts when I'm laying in bed, it hurts when I'm driving, it hurts when I'm walking around.

Seriously, I'm done. I'm so over all these stupid injuries. I just want what I had last year back. I want the excitement of running in new places, meeting new friends, buying new Nike shirts, feeling good, actually feeling amazing, happy, proud, I want it all back.

That's it for now. I wish that my update was full of good news, and that everything was falling back into place, but right now it's not looking like it will. I think I need a vacation.....

Good Luck LAM!!!!

2009-04-18T13:42:00.004-04:00

Todays post is dedicated to Lam, who will be running in Boston on Monday! As many of you already know, not only is he an amazing runner but Lam always shares wonderful words of wisdom and support! I know his encouragement has meant a lot to me, so this one is for LAM!

Just wish my sign could be there "in person" for your BIG DAY!!!!!

9 Weeks Post Op Update

2009-04-10T20:11:00.002-04:00

Well, here we are, 9 weeks post op.....here's a rundown of where I am in the "healing" process...
-Physical Therapy 3 times per week for 2 hours each time (stretches, stim, ultra sound, exercises,...)
-When I'm home I wear a lace up ankle brace with my sneaker, I'm allowed to walk around in it, not up and down the steps
-Wear the boot at work and anytime that I'm out of the house

It's going OK, but then I'll be walking around in the boot and then all of a sudden I get those sharp stabbing pains again, they feel very similar to the ones I had before the surgery....they can last for anywhere from 10-40 steps, when it happens it's very hard to keep walking, and super painful. I've talked to the PT about it and talked to the Dr today, they say it's hard to tell what it means, but that most people don't experience pain when they're in the boot, we're going to continue on the plan and keep transitioning out of the boot, but I have to be honest...right now I'm not feeling so good about any of this.
I know it's very early in the recovery period, but it's definitely starting to wear on me. I need to find something else that I can do (right now) that I will enjoy, give me something to look forward to.....(what am I going to do....knit?). I have been going to the gym 3-4 times per week and doing upper body, but of course without any cardio the "crutch weight" (about 8 pounds) isn't going to vanish, and the extra pounds aren't helping in the "happiness" department. It's just so frustrating right now, on one hand I keep saying to myself "why did I have this surgery????", but then I remember that 3 Doctors told me I needed to have it......
Sorry that this is such a bitchy post, I'm just stuck right now.
I miss blogging about fun running stuff, but I'm glad that I still get to read all of yours!

32 to 33

2009-03-26T21:05:00.000-04:00

So, today is my birthday and wow, what a year it has been! In so many ways I feel like I've "come so far" yet in some other ways I feel like I've come full circle and I'm back to "before the starting line"! In January I was planning on doing a "year in review" (running and life) but I was so pre-occupied with my upcoming surgery that I never got around to it, so I'll take advantage of a different kind of "New Year", my New Year (aka my bday)!
A year ago I didn't have this blog and had never run further than a 5K. As a matter of fact, exactly 1 year ago I was at the beginning of a very long and stressful road, not one that I would be running on, but a road with a very dear friend of mine who was about to have a complete breakdown. My friend had dealt with depression and anxiety, they had good days and bad days, but I could feel in the weeks leading up to this day that something was really off this time, and they were in trouble, in total need of help. The weeks that followed were so emotionally and physically draining, I was constantly worried and stressed out about what was happening with them and if they were ok. In the week leading up to the breakdown and then through that week and in the early weeks of treatment, there were many times that I thought I was going to lose them forever, that there was no way they were going to make it out of this, it was the most painful thing to witness, and I knew that no matter what I did it still might not be enough. I remember on my birthday getting an awful phone call from them, they were a mess, in such pain and so deep in depression, I stopped what I was doing (driving to my bday dinner) and pulled over on the side of the road and talked, and talked, and talked until I felt like it was ok to get off the phone for a little while, went to my dinner and cut it short to get back on the phone. I remember thinking "they don't even realize it's my birthday" then feeling so guilty that I was thinking that....but realizing that it just made it that much more clear to me that they were so far off.
Thankfully after a serious intervention and intense help (and many months) they have been able to make tremendous progress, they are getting "back to themselves", sure they still have rough days but they are able to deal with them, they are looking forward to new things in their life, and they want to live. It's almost hard to believe that it was just a year ago today that I was so afraid of what was going to happen to them...I remember making my wish when I was cutting my birthday cake, I just wished "for them to be ok". Can I just tell you how wonderful it felt when I checked my voice mail messages this morning and the first one was from them, singing Happy Birthday.....it brought a great smile to my face.
While going through the above situation I felt myself getting "sucked in" and for some reason it caused me to question everything about myself, my strengths, my weaknesses, and honestly I was left feeling so weak, so "average" (something that I never like to be), basically I felt like shit. I knew that I couldn't do the work to "save" my friend, I could just lead them to the right places and support them, but I realized that I needed to do something to "save" myself. I felt like nothing I had accomplished was that great, like I had been coasting by in my life, afraid to fail, missing out on things, not taking chances, not committing , just going through the motions.
Once I acknowledged that I "needed" to do "something", something that wasn't going to be easy, that I had to work hard at, that for the most part I could control (meaning that I wouldn't have to completely depend on others to accomplish it), I knew it was a Marathon. That was something that I always said "I could never do" and I always admired those who were able to do it, the strength and discipline to be able to train for and complete a marathon....I knew I had it in me, it was in me just dying because I had been too afraid to let it out. I had to let go of my fears and go for it.....so I did.
My marathon training started in May (my first long run was 4 miles!), although I didn't tell many people until June what my plans were. I immediately felt a sense of purpose for myself again, that was something that I had been missing terribly. Everything was going well, then towards the middle of the month my 9 year old English Mastiff, Mister, started to fail. He had arthritis in hips and back, and on May 21 (which happens to also be the above mentioned friends birthday), I lost my boy. I had him since he was 9 weeks old, he had been with me through everything, I was crushed. I knew though I was so lucky to have him for so long, and I was so lucky to be there with him, he was never alone, never scared, he gave me one more big kiss and just went on in true Mister style....snoring peacefully.
Getting back to training was hard on one hand (all I wanted to do was sleep), but it was also the best escape. Training kept me out of the house, and that was a good thing (it was so empty without my 210 pound buddy), but it also gave me time to think about him and remember all of the good times that we had. Training also kept giving me back more of myself. Each weekend I was running further than I ever had, there were times I would cry in the middle of a run....sometimes I was crying because I lost Mister, sometimes because I still couldn't process everything I went through with my friend, sometimes because my feet hurt so bad, and sometimes it was actually because I was in disbelief that I was running 9 miles.
I did all of my training with Team in Training, and that was one of the best decisions of my life. I made so many new friends, learned how to train, learned so much about myself, all while raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Those group runs saved me, they gave me the support I needed to finish something that would change my life, but it wasn't finishing it that changed my life, it was every step along the way that did.
Finally my big day came, October 26 (exactly 5 months ago from today), the Marine Corps Marathon. It was amazing, it will forever be one of the most amazing experiences of my life (for a full re-cap of my experience click here for that blog entry).
The rest of the year was spent smiling ear to ear, still in shock that I completed a marathon, and in some pain, but hey, that comes with the territory, right???? When it was all said and done I knew I was on the right road back to myself, but we all know that isn't a journey that ever really ends, we are constantly defining ourselves. I just finally felt like I was on the right path, after being on the wrong one for so long!
Then the whole ankle thing happened, that's still recent enough that you don't need me to review that......surgery on Feb 5, in a boot on crutches, blah blah blah.....
And that leads me to today, My Birthday! I'm still in the boot and on crutches, but guess what I got to do today?????? I got to DRIVE!!!! So I'm making progress, but most importantly I'm getting some of my independence back, which will be very helpful in me getting back on the right path.
Physical Therapy is going well, it looks like I'm in the clear on the whole RSD thing, I might get to start riding the stationary bike next week, and hopefully I'll be out of the boot and off the crutches in about 2 more weeks. As for when I'll be running again, that won't be for a while, but I'm trying to just take it one day at a time and be hopeful for 2010.
Sorry that this post got so long (and so rushed at the end, but I'm getting sleepy)!
So, there you have my year in review, from 32 to 33.....what a year it has been.
Thanks to all of my friends in blogland, you've all helped me through the "downs" and celebrated the "ups" with me, I'm looking forward to another great year...hopefully full of "ups"!

6 Weeks Post-Op Update

2009-03-19T20:36:00.003-04:00

Well, here we are....6 weeks post op! Wooooooooo hooooooooo! Sorry that I haven't updated lately, it's just that, well....there hasn't been much to update!
I went to the Dr on Monday for my 6 wk check up, everything looks like it's healing nicely! I am now allowed to put weight on my foot (in the boot) while using my crutches. That is a nice break for my armpits! I also started Physical Therapy this week.....it was eventful to say the least.....
Everything was going fine, like a normal PT session (stretches, massage, resistance exercises,...) and then it was time for the hot/cold contrast therapy. We started off with the hot moist packs, that felt great. Then it was time for the ice pack.....I put my foot on it and one was wrapped around my ankle, I lasted for about 12 seconds then the pain was SO INTENSE I seriously started to freak out, it felt like someone was stabbing me in my arch, the physical therapist came into the room and I was like "OMG I can't take this" (he promptly pulled the packs off and called in the other PT guy), my face got all red, I busted out into this major sweat, got all dizzy, my heart was RACING!!!!!! Seriously, I almost passed out. He explained that what was happening could potentially be RSD (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy). According to the linked website "RSD/CRPS appears to involve a complex interaction among the sensory, motor, and autonomic nervous systems, and the immune system. It is thought that brain and spinal cord (central nervous system) control over these various processes is somehow changed as a result of an injury". Basically, the capilaries in my foot are staying dialated, sometimes after a surgery and being non-weight bearing for so long there is damage to the smooth muscle fibers (**NOTE- I could have some of this wrong, if you know something more...TELL ME!), so when my foot had the cold on it, it didn't react properly. The "sympathetic" part ties into the "Fight or Flight" reaction I had, it's like it's confused on how to react. It scared the s&*t out of me....BIG TIME! I was wiped out for the rest of the day.
The good news is that we caught these symptoms early. Now that I am partially weight bearing that will help to stimulate everything, and hopefully get me out of the "danger zone" on this.
When I went back the next day we did the hot/cold contrast with just a cool towel and I was fine. Then we tried the ice pack and I made it about 45 seconds, then the same thing started to happen. It's a good sign that I made it longer, it shows that I am adapting...yippeee!
Hopefully by the end of next week I'll be allowed to take my boot off and drive, then put my boot back on when I get where I'm going, and hop around.
I just want some of my freedom back. I want to drive. I want to go to the grocery store and not make someone carry all of my shit. Not to mention.....I WANT TO RUN!!!!! But for now, I'll settle for being able to just go for a WALK!
**And one more thing, my bday is next week, exactly 1 week from today and I'll be 33.....I'll have more thoughts to post about this over the weekend.....

Race to Any Place

2009-03-03T13:59:00.006-05:00

This past weekend was the Eighth Annual Race to Any Place, it is the largest stationary bike race in Western Pennsylvania, and an important team fund-raising event benefiting the Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Before I knew I was going to have surgery on my ankle, I volunteered to be the Captain of the Team in Training Alumni bike. Each bike has to raise a minimun of $500, and there are over 80 bikes (I'm not sure exactly how many, but A LOT!). Hopefully you'll get the idea from this picture...

This was one of the coolest events that I've ever seen! They hold it in this huge office building in downtown Pittsburgh, they basically take over the ENTIRE lobby with spin bikes and teams. It is a six-hour relay race, comprised of twenty-four 15 minute heats. Each rider must complete a minimum of a 15-minute heat, and teams may only change riders as new heats are announced. Here is our team cheering on Tracy! She and I did the Marine Corps Marathon together (not like "together"...she was much faster than me!)!

They keep track of how far each team bikes and give out prizes for the top distances. While we didn't win any prizes, we still biked 169 miles! Wooooo hooooo! And, our team only had 6 people (you could have up to 12) so some people did 3, 4, or even 5 heats!
My friend Char was in town from Maryland to visit me (and she is a TNT Tri Alumni), so she was my "stand in"!

It was a great event and it raised over $100,000 for the LLS!!!!! How cool is that???

In other news, I got my kitty's bloodwork back and it didn't show anything! Yay! He has been totally fine since his episode, so hopefully it will stay that way! Thanks for all of your messages about him!

Almost 3 Weeks Post-Op Update

2009-02-25T10:36:00.002-05:00

First of all, thank you to everyone for your continued support, encouragement and caring! It means so much to me to check back every couple days and see the comments that have been left, you are really helping me to feel like I'm not totally "out of the loop" and the fact that you take time out of your day to check in on me and my progress means the world to me.
I am finishing up my first week in the boot and it is of course WAY better than the cast! Everyday when I get home (or to my parents house) from work I take off the boot and move my foot up, down, side to side, pretty much continuously until it's time to go to bed. I have managed to make it to the gym with my Dad several times. It felt great to work out! I basically did an upper body circuit and tried to superset as much as I could to keep my heart rate up.
I did have a scare on Saturday monring. I was home by myself waiting for my friend from Maryland to visit (he wasn't due to my house until about 5pm). So around 10am I was going to take a shower, I was sitting in the bathroom getting my stuff together, my little cat "Joey" came in the bathroom, snooped around, then walked out (he was only 3-4 feet away from me), then he stood up on his back legs, made weird sounds then sort of rolled over, and his eyes rolled back, then he sat up and a little bit of drool came out of his mouth and his breathing was very labored and he was still making weird noises. I seriously lost it. I had to get down the steps to get the vet's number, couldn't carry him with me, by the time I got down there and made it back upstairs I couldn't find him. I talked to the vet and they said to take him to the emergency clinic (keep in mind I CAN'T DRIVE!!!!!), I called my mom in hysterics, still couldn't find him, not under the bed, not in the closet (his 2 regular hiding spots), at this point I am full on balling, I go back downstairs and look under the couches, not there, crawl back up the steps and look more, FINALLY find him behind this dresser that is WAY TOO heavy for me to move. He was curled up back there and looked exhausted. I was able to wedge my arm behind the dresser to pet him and he started purring. Finally my Mom got to my house and we took him to the vet. As more time went on he started acting more and more normal. They did blood tests and I'm still waiting for the results, but most likely it was a mild seizure. By the time I took him home he was totally fine, just very hungry and tired.
I was so thankful that he was ok, now I just have to wait for the results and hope that he doesn't have another one. I was so scared, and to not be able to scoop him up and carry him downstairs and just take off to the vet was the worst feeling.
Other than that everything has been going ok, I am going back to my house tonight and can't wait to see "my boys" as I call them.
If anyone has had any experience with cat seizures, please share!

Cast Off, Boot On!

2009-02-19T11:48:00.003-05:00

Just a quick update to let you know that I got my cast off yesterday (woooooo hoooooo!) and got my boot! Yeah! I can take it off to shower, and can take it off as much as I want while I'm sitting at home to start moving it around! Yipppeeee!!!! Still on crutches (non-weight bearing) for the next 4 weeks, but I am allowed to start putting weight on in when I'm standing still (like brushing my teeth).

So, here you go....a picture of my very stylish boot!

Thought you could use a VISUAL......

2009-02-09T15:19:00.007-05:00

Ok, so as I have said before I've set up "house" at my parents house due to the fact that I will not be able to drive for the next 6 weeks, and I'm stuck on crutches (non-weight bearing) for that entire time. I have to say, I totally under estimated what a pain in the ass it would be to do simple things (pour a cup of coffee, put milk in it, then go sit on the couch). At some point I will go back to my house for a couple days (for sanity and to see my Kitties), but then I'll be back. I am staying on the first floor, more specifically in their living room on their couch (and sometimes the recliner), my Dad's "office" has turned into my "changing room".

So, my parents live on 40 acres with horses, dogs and cats. There are 3 dogs and 1 cat in the house, the dogs believe that the couches belong to them. As you can imagine this could cause I problem because I can't have a golden retreiver (or 2) trying to lay on the couch with me and my cast. SO, we came up with a way to keep them off of my "bed".....check out the sheet from the very early 90's!

And yes, those are the "gates" off of the side of a crib leaning against the coffee table (which now holds all of my important belongings!). I am "protected" from the dogs once I'm behind the gates! For those of you that are thinking "Come on, would they really bother you?"....here are pictures from when I ventured out to the kitchen. The first one is of Spike and Buster...

The second is of Maggie....As you can see, they would actually like to sit in my lap, but since they can't they'll just lay their heads on me so that I can't go back into my cage!

Last but not least, in an effort to stay positive, today I'm wearing my Staten Island 1/2 Marathon T-shirt....that was one of the best days of my life. It was the first time that I really felt like I was "a runner". Here I was in New Jersey for work and I was able to rent a car and drive to Staten Island and do a 1/2 Marathon....something that only 6 months beforehand was completely out of the question. That is a day/event that I am so proud of, it was a huge turning point for me in many areas, it is my goal that the rest of my life is more and more like that day - everyday. I am proud that I had the confidence to enter the race, the confidence to rent a car and drive there on my own even though I had no idea how to get there and no GPS (and there are way too many bridges and opportunites to end up in the wrong state), and to just GO on my own, and make new friends, run the race, and have SO MUCH FUN DOING IT! So, here I am in my T-Shirt....I love you Staten Island!

*Sidenote - I just re-read my post and got totally teary eyed reading about the Staten Island Half.....I really can't wait to run again.....

Day 3 Post-Op

2009-02-08T12:02:00.003-05:00

First off, thank you everyone for your kind words, they really mean a lot to me!
So far everything is going pretty good. My nerve block wore off slowly and combined with the percoset every 2 hours I was able to make it through the first 12 hours pretty well. Right now I'm just taking the pain meds as needed during the day (which seems to be just 1-2 times) and then 1 before I go to bed. This morning I woke up with a HORRIBLE stomach ache (from the meds I'm sure) so I hopped into the kitchen and had some sugar free vanilla pudding, that totally helped. Then I hopped back to my couch!
Before my surgery I ordered this "wedge pillow", it has been a life saver! It keeps my leg elevated very comfortably, I can also imagine that I will like using it even after the surgery.
Today I also tried out the recliner, it was a great change from the couch! I'm on the couch now but I think I'll head back to the recliner soon.
I'm also thinking that I'd like to take a bath today (really, I'd like to take a SHOWER, I hate baths, but a bath would be better than nothing)! I'm starting to enter the "I feel like a sloppy pile of $hi#" land....this is never a good place to be during recovery. I do look a little "crazy" (hair in a wild pony tail, tank top is all twisted and crumpled, purple sweatpants have some dog hair on them) all around I feel like "ick".
I think I'm going to attempt to lay on the floor and do some abs, maybe try stretching a little bit, or maybe I'll just stay on the couch....oh the choices that I'm faced with.....LOL!
I go back to the Dr in 11 days to get the cast off. That will be FABULOUS!
Well, I'm going to figure out what to do now. Hopefully I'll write more later.
Oh, just want you all to know that I have really enjoyed catching up on your blogs! I'm trying to catch up and get in some comments, but I've decided to just comment on your most recent post (even though I'm reading the old ones too).
Hope you all have a great weekend!

Anke Surgery

2009-02-05T19:11:00.006-05:00

Just a quick update, my surgery was this morning and went very well. I'm "home" (on my parents couch!) taking pain meds every 2 hours in preperation for my nerve block to wear off. I went with the general anesthesia and nerve block from the knee down. The general anest. went pretty good until we were on our way home and I had roughly a 4 second warning that I was going to puke, good thing I had an empty bag in the car and were only 5 minutes from home!

Several years ago I had surgery on my other foot and had a nerve block, it was great until it wore off, then it was HELL.....I had to be taken back to the hospital for morphine. I'm just hoping that this time will go a little smoother.

Here are a few pics for your viewing pleasure!

Just thought this was funny....

Me in the O.R. before surery, obviously feeling a little "happy" already!

My BIG cast!

Well, I'm exhasted now....time to sleep again!

Hello Blog-land!

2009-01-30T20:42:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to stop back in and say hello! Things have been relatively boring in my world of running, seeing as though I haven't run.......at all!
My ankle surgery is this Thursday, February 5. From this point forward I will be using my blog to track my progress/experience with the surgery, and hopefully it will become a countdown to my "first" run, "first" race, and so on.
I have spent the past 2-3 weeks getting rid of A LOT of stuff in my house and getting it all organized for my "recovery" period. The projected recovery is 6 weeks on crutches in a boot, no weight on it and no driving (it's my right ankle). The first couple days to week I'll be staying with my parents, then I'll be going back and forth between my house and their house. Hopefully it will all go smoothly....I'll check in as often as possible, you can guarantee that I'll be reading your blogs!

Quick Update

2008-12-30T09:40:00.001-05:00

I'm in Maryland until January 5th, so I won't have much of a chance to post or read blogs, that just means that I'll have lots of reading to do when I get back!

Anyway, Christmas was great! I hope you all have a Happy New Year and I'll catch up with you all the first week of January!!!!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T04:51:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas! I know I haven't blogged lately....not too much to blog about! I've just been working, Christmas shopping and cleaning. You know how they say that when a woman is pregnant she "nests" and hustles about cleaning and organizing (NO i'm not prego)? Apparently the same thing happens to me when I face the fact that I'm going to be laid up for at least 6-8 weeks and not able to put weight on my foot! I want to get rid of as much junk as possible before the surgery, which will most likely be the first Thursday of February.

I did manage to do some activities.... last weekend I got certified to teach Zumba! Great, so glad that I signed up for that over a month ago and now won't be able to teach it for the next 6-8 months!!! It was fun though and a kick ass workout (in total we "danced" for about 4 hours that day). Then this past Monday night my Mom was teaching Zumba at a new gym so I went for "moral support", and let me tell you....she did not need me there! My Mom is the freaking BOMB!!! Keep in mind, she has danced her WHOLE life, owns a dance studio, has been teaching Zumba for over a year, currently teaches Zumba 4 times per week plus teaches dance plus weight trains 2-3 times per week, and she is 62!!!! She had at least 25 people in the class and everyone was sweating and smiling the entire time, it was awesome!

Well, here it is 5am on Christmas morning and just like when I was little I've been up since 4am! I'm sleeping at my parents house tonight, and I can see that "Santa" already came and put the presents under the tree and I'm counting down the minutes until it's an acceptable time to wake up my parents (seriously, I'm 32 years old???)! I'm totally clueless as to what my gifts could be....leading up to Christmas I told my parents "I don't want any 'stuff', all I want is to be able to go to all of those 1/2 marathons in different states, so a note from you that says 'This is good for a roundtrip ticket to Seattle and San Jose' would be perfect!"....then my ankle decided that it didn't want to travel the country doing 1/2 marathons (lame ass ankle!LOL) so who knows what I'm in for....kind of exciting though!

Well, I still have a good 2 hours to kill before I can make enough noise to accidentally wake them up....hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

100 Things....what have you done??

2008-12-18T10:47:00.005-05:00

I took this off of one of my friends blogs....the things I've done are in BOLDED in purple!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53.Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Thanks Everyone

2008-12-16T18:36:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to thank you all for your kind and supportive words on my previous post, you blogfriends really are something special.
I went to the Dr on Monday morning and saw the MRI, it was so interesting. There you could see everything so clearly, the tibia, the nice cartilage, then the the tear in it, and then the cyst that I think looked like it is above the tear (something about synovial fluid leaking out and forming the cyst). You could also see the tendinitis and the other general "funkiness" of my ankle. The good thing is that I am a very "visual" person, seeing it all helped me to understand (better, I still have questions, but I have a better grasp on it) what's going on in there, what needs to be repaired, and that it has to be repaired (it won't just go away).
I had the corisone injection (I think the reason for that is because I won't be having surgery until the beginning of February and that maybe it will help to "calm" it down and slow down the leak of synovial fluid so the cyst won't get bigger....I think). It hurt like a BE-YATCH!!!! Today it's still feeling pretty stiff and sore. I'm supposed to "take it easy" this week, and can do the elliptical next week.
The Dr felt that it was totally reasonable for me to think that I would be able to do my 1/2 marathon plan in 2010, so that's good. I just don't want to wish away 2009 before its even here! Overall most of today I have been feeling very thankful that I was able to do the Marine Corps Marathon, I didn't think it was possible that I could appreciate my experience with it more than I already did.....but I can tell you that as of today, I absolutely do.
Thanks again everyone, your words meant a lot to me!

Uuuugghh....Seriously???

2008-12-14T10:56:00.006-05:00

Ok, this is some sucky shit. A little history....I ran my first Marathon on October 26. During my training I had a few minor injury issues (mainly hip pain that was pretty much fixed through a lot of PT, and the random broken rib). During the marathon everything went pretty well until about mile 17-18 when my right ankle started to kill. When people asked how it went I told them everything felt pretty good until mile 17-18 when it felt like my someone "stole" my ankle joint, leaving me with "bone on bone" (my visual demonstration for this was making my hands into fists and hitting them together....bone on bone). In the days/weeks following the marathon my ankle still hurt, some days were worse than others. There were times that it would feel like it got "stuck" really deep in there and if i put weight on it, it would hurt bad, but then it would go away. Finally one day while I was out shopping the pain got pretty bad and I could barely walk on it, so I headed to Med Express for an x-ray (thinking it was a stress fracture). They didn't see anything but also said that it would probably need an MRI to see it and to call my ortho dr. So I did that, he couldn't see me for 2 weeks, so I waited, then had to cancel my appointment because of work drama and re-schedule the following week. During those 3 weeks it felt pretty much better, just sore on the outside. So when I went to see him he did a basic exam and said that I had tendinitis and gave me a prescription for PT. Cool. But them I went to cardio kickboxing that Saturday, and during the "jumping jack and shuffle" my ankle "went". It felt like someone opened up my ankle and put a "jack" (you know, the pointy thing that you play Jacks with) in it then I jumped up and landed on it. PAIN!!!!! I had felt this same thing after the marathon, but just kept trying to get passed it, and eventually it faded out, but it was BACK. I couldn't put any weight on it, then it went away, then came back, took 2 steps, it came back, finished the class barely putting any weight on it, walked out of the room to the weights, it happened again and had to sit down. Finally I managed to leave, and it was gone for the rest of the day except for a few steps. Over the next couple days it came back sort of on and off. In the meantime, it was Thanksgiving (I did the Turkey trot), everyone was busy, blah blah blah (I didn't make a Dr's appt right away).

Fast Forward to the Jingle Bell Run, everything went well, except that my knee hurt and my ankle didn't feel great. I was fully trying to ignore that there might be something wrong and I didn't want to go back to the "Above Dr". However on Monday of last week I decided that I needed to get everything checked out and made an appointment with a different Sport Medicine Ortho for Thursday. At the appointment she was super thorough with my knee and ankle, even addressed a weakness that I wasn't aware of in my quad and hip and gave me a scrip for PT, along with the tendinitis in my ankle. Then back to the ankle, she felt that there was "something else" going on deep in there, possibly a stress fracture or torn cartilage, and set me up for an MRI on Friday morning.

Friday afternoon I heard back from her...........upon initial review of the MRI it's apparent that there is cartilage damage in the ankle joint, comparable to a "pothole" in the cartialge (WTF? am I going to need asphalt dumped in my ankle???) that would most likely need to be addressed surgically, often they drill tiny holes into the bone to make it "bleed" and make new cartilage (**I'm sure I'm off on some of this....if you know more, feel free to chime in!). Hmm, tiny holes in my bone, YEAH!!! That sounds GREAT!!!!

"Luckily" for me, one of my best friends just happens to be engaged to the "THE" foot/ankle surgeon here (and the same one that this Dr would refer to me). So, I called him and he went and looked at the MRI yesterday. In addition to my "pothole" I also have a cyst on the tip of my tibia, which he told me "is a rather unusal place for this type of cyst" (cool, i'm so unique!). Most likely I will need the surgery to address the cyst, cleanup the cartilage, and repair the "pothole". My next question was "What's the recovery like?" Believe me, you don't want to know. 6 WEEKS non weight bearing on crutches (and I forgot to mention, it's my FLIPPING RIGHT FOOT, aka THE DRIVING FOOT, which means NO DRIVING), then 6 weeks "intense" physical therapy, and basically "you're looking at about 6 months until you are getting back to "normal". WTF???? That doesn't mean that in 6 months you'll be ready to run a 1/2 marathon, that means that in 6 months you might be able to do a 5K.

HOWEVER - Since I said that I would want to wait until after the Holidays to do the surgery he suggested that we at least try a cortisone injection first, just to see if somehow I can avoid the surgery and to also help in seeing if this is really the source of pain. So, he's fitting in me in at 7:45am Monday for the injection. After the injection I need to take it easy for 1 week, then return to normal activitiy (along with PT) and see what happens.

Bottom line, I am hugely disappointed. I cried forever on Friday, I kept thinking about my "Rock Star Plans" for 2009 and how much I was looking forward to becoming a "better runner". I know that this is all still possible and maybe it won't be in 2009, maybe it will have to be in 2010, but I wanted it now. I was finally feeling like I found something that I enjoyed, that I could work on and get better at, I love all of the running friends that I have made and I was looking forward to getting to do so much more with everyone this year. If it all happens to work out and the injection "fixes" everything, I will have an even bigger appreciation for it all, but if the injection doesn't work.....that is just going to suck.

So, anyone have any experience with this? Anyone have a spare ankle? Sorry for such a shitty post, but it's where I am right now.

Jingle Bell Run - I WON -

2008-12-07T07:54:00.007-05:00

......the Costume Contest! Here is a picture of the lovely plaque that I won!

It was such a great time! In addition to winning the "individual" costume contest, our group "The Team in Training Reindeer, Santa, and Snow Princess (me!)" got runner up in the best "Team" costume!

**I ended up being the "Snow Princess" as opposed to "Mrs.Claus" because our "Santa" is really married and I didn't want their to be any confusion....I was hoping to come across a potential "snow prince", but no luck!

The run was great, but it was FREEZING!!!! Seriously, it was only 19 degrees!!!!! There were a lot of people dressed up, and everyone had on Jingle Bells, it sounded so pretty while we were all running. I ended up with a finishing time of 31:40, not too bad considering it hurt to breathe!!!

My favorite other costume was a guy dressed up as Elf....

So funny!!! After the race our whole group headed to Eat N Park for breakfast, sooooo good! Some of my teammates had to park kind of far away from the race, so I loaded them into the back of my truck and gave them a ride....

They were such good sports with their antlers, it totally looked like I was kidnapping them!

Hope you all had a good weekend! We've got some snow here, just in time for the Steelers to whoop the Cowboys!

December Goals

2008-12-03T14:21:00.002-05:00

I can't believe that December is here already! I'm "borrowing" the goal idea from The Gazelle, so here we go!
1. Get into the gym 3 times per week. I can take a class, run on the tradmill for 30 minutes, lift, spin, anything!! Just get in there 3 times per week.
2. In addition to the gym time, run for 45 minutes (outside if weather allows, or as an additional workout at the gym).
3. Make more progress with getting rid of "stuff" at my house. Wait, that is too "broad". Each week I need to get rid of 1 large trash bag of clothes (donate) or general junk.
4. Would love to lose the 5 pounds I've been carrying around since the marathon, so that means START COOKING AGAIN!!!!!! Get in more veggies and drink more water!
5. For this one I'm just going to say - Do what needs to be done. I don't really care to elaborate on this right now, but I know what it means.

In other news I've got a Happy Hour planned with my TNT Girlfriends on Friday night, and then we are doing the Jingle Bell run on Saturday morning! There is a "Holiday Costume Contest" at the run, so I'm totally working on a cute "Mrs.Claus" type costume!!!

Hope you are all having a great week!

Thanksgiving Re-cap

2008-11-30T18:23:00.005-05:00

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)!

2008-11-26T18:30:00.003-05:00

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!!!

2008-11-25T12:05:00.003-05:00

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!

2008-11-25T10:36:00.002-05:00

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!!!

2008-11-24T10:15:00.003-05:00

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)

2008-11-21T12:28:00.004-05:00

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!

2008-11-20T09:24:00.006-05:00

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!

2008-11-19T07:59:00.002-05:00

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!

2008-11-09T08:02:00.003-05:00

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?

2008-11-07T08:29:00.005-05:00

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

2008-11-01T08:50:00.004-04:00

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!!!

Marine Corps Marathon Race Weekend Report

2008-10-29T13:35:00.016-04:00

The Marine Corps Marathon Weekend was AWESOME! My parents and I headed down in Friday morning and checked into our hotel. We quickly got ready and headed over to the Expo to pick up my packet and Bib! I was so freaking excited! There was plenty “eye candy” (code for cute men in uniforms!!!)!
After picking up my bib we headed into the rest of the Expo and the shopping began! I got lots of cute MCM gear….I’m a serial shopper!

After that we headed back to the hotel for dinner. The restaurant at the hotel (Finn and Porter) was excellent! From there we headed up to our rooms and before I knew it was asleep! Next thing I knew I woke up around 7am…yipppeeee I actually slept through the night!!!
Saturday morning we headed off to Georgetown to some shopping! Back when I lived in Maryland I used to love going to Gtown on the weekends, it was so nice to be there again. I did some SERIOUS damage and this great store called “Cusp” (it’s a boutique-y store by Neiman Marcus), absolutely fabulous! Next door was Juicy where I picked up the cutest freaking boots….love them!
Keep in mind, all day it was POURING down rain….but the forecast kept calling for “clear sunny skies” on Sunday, thank GOD!
I headed back to the hotel to wait for the rest of my friends to arrive. Once everyone was there and settled in we got ready and headed to the Team in Training Pasta Party over at the Crystal Gateway Marriott. Before we left I got a call from our TNT leader letting me know that she had special shirts for all my 7 “guests” (aka my Posse!) to wear. Once we arrived they all pulled on their white TNT T-shirts, and we got new Gray TNT shirts to wear, very cool!

We took the escalators up to the ballroom, we were then greeted with a crowd of TNT volunteers with cowbells, whistles and clapping! They formed a “tunnel” that we went through, it was so amazing, totally gave me chills, and of course got me all teary eyed!

From there we got our food (which was amazing) and headed into the ballroom. The guest speakers were amazing, we even got to hear “The Penguin” speak, he was great!
After the dinner I headed up to my room and hoped to get some sleep….

Thankfully I drifted right off to sleep and the next thing I knew the alarm was going off at 4:50am!!!! I hopped up and started getting ready. My friend from Maryland, Charlene, stayed with me that night, so she helped with getting me ready (and keeping me calm)!!! Our team met in the lobby at 5:45 and headed for the metro station and off to the race!

It was all so exciting, there we all were, we each had raised at least $2,600 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, we had trained together almost every weekend over the course of the past 6 months, for many of us it was our first marathon, but for all of us we were on our way to an unforgettable experience. Walking from the metro to the race was very surreal….it was dark and cold, we were walking down a road that was blocked off, and there were so many people….it looked like a scene out of a movie. Once we were there we had time for the porta-johns and then made our way to the start!

I started out in shorts with sweats over them, my TNT tank, the Adidas socks on my arms, and a sweatshirt that a teammate gave to me (seriously, totally saved my ass from freezing!!!). I ended up ditching the sweatpants just before we got into our corrals. It was so exciting!!!!
The coaches went over our strategies with us the night before the race. I decided I was going to start in the 4:30 or 4:45 corral, hoping that would allow me to get started at a decent pace.

Once the gun went off it took me about 6 minutes to cross the start line, and from there I would say that it took about 2 miles before you could even get a chance to work on your pace.

I was really worried about starting out too fast, but that was never even an option! That was fine by me though, I really enjoyed taking in everything in!
Around mile 3 I ran into Coach Mike, we ran up the GW Parkway and crossed over the Key Bridge into DC.

We stayed together until about mile 8, from there I ran with Coach Chris all the way through Georgetown which was AMAZING!!!! Here I was running in the Marine Corps Marathon down the same streets that I was shopping on the day before! The crowds were awesome!!! We headed down M Street and then turned onto Wisconsin, then onto K Street. There were oranges right after Mile 9, they were great! Then right after we passed the 10 Mile Marker I saw my friends and family!!!

It was a great feeling to hear them all yelling my name!!! Coach Chris stayed with me until about mile 12 or so, then he headed off to meet up with 1 of our teammates that was hoping to qualify for Boston (and she did!!!!).
I was feeling great through 13, but somewhere between 13 and 15 I started to get major pain in my knee. This was pretty new to me, so I wasn’t sure what was going on. Up to this point my running 2 songs walking for 1 minute had been working great. I was able to make up for the slow start and stay on track for a sub 5 finish. Once the knee thing started I had to stretch and walk a little more. While I was stretching at one point I saw 2 of my teammates coming up behind me, I was so glad to see them! I picked up and started running with them, they asked if I was ok and I told them about the knee thing, thankfully they had Tylenol with them, so I chewed up a Milky Way and wedged the Tylenol in there and swallowed it down. YUMMY! I knew I would be seeing my “posse” around Mile 16, so I knew they were coming up soon. When I finally saw my parents on the left side of the road I was so happy!!!! I ran over and gave them a hug!! They told me the rest of the group was across the road, then I could hear them screaming!!!! As you’ll see in this video, they were AWESOME!!!! It was like a NASCAR pit crew!!! They hooked me up with Bio Freeze on the knee, Propel, Jelly Beans and a Milky Way stuffed in my top!Don't be scared by the "painful" face below...not sure why that's the still image for the video...can't get it to change!

Miles 17, 18, 19 were pretty much the same….run, walk, run, walk, stretch, walk, walk, walk, run, run, walk, stretch, drink powerade, eat anything that anyone was giving away, walk, run, stretch, run past my friends again and grab a handful of oranges out of the baggie! Obviously somewhere along these miles I realized that sub 5 wasn’t happening, and that was totally fine by me! In addition to it feeling like someone was trying to steal my knee cap off of my left leg, it now felt like someone else was trying to steal my right ankle! But then I saw someone with little Snickers bars….and I smiled!
During all of our training for the MCM you hear a lot about “Beating The Bridge”. “The Bridge” is shortly after mile 20 and you have to maintain a 14min mile and get across the bridge by a certain time, if you don’t….you’re out. They open the bridge up to traffic and your race is over. Don’t worry, that didn’t happen to me, just needed to throw that info in there because The Bridge was coming up next.
So, around mile 19 as I switched from running to walking this nice older man on the side of the road made eye contact with me, I’m sure he could tell I was struggling, he looked right at me and so convincingly said “In less than 3 miles YOU WILL BE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BRIDGE, JUST 3 MILES AND YOU’LL BE OVER IT”, I started to run again. I made it over part of the bridge and seriously felt like I no longer had an ankle, just a bone coming out of my knee that went straight into my foot, it was time to stretch….again. So I pulled over on the bridge and stretched and these 2 girls were there cheering everyone on, they were awesome. The one girl saw that I was struggling and poured me a cup of Gatorade, seriously, talk about crowd support! There was a lady holding a sign that said “This Bridge Sucks But You Rock”…it was classic!
Once I was over the bridge we made our way into Crystal City. I met up with Coach Chris again and ran with him for a little while. At about Mile 23 I told him that I was fine, and to head on out to round up some others. I was pretty confident that I knew what I needed to do (run, walk, walk, run, walk, walk, run)! There were great crowds in Crystal City, so that was pretty cool. 24-25 felt like they took forever, but I was getting so excited because I knew I was almost there and I knew that without a doubt pretty soon, I was going to finish my first marathon! Coach Mike ran with me for bit through there and told me that one of the mentors, Dave, was “catching us” at 26 and seeing us through to the finish line. As I got closer to the 26 mile marker I could hear the crowds, my heart started racing, I just wanted to be able to finish the race running. Then I saw Dave and we headed up “THE HILL” to the finish, it was the most amazing experience ever! Just as I was getting closer to the finish line I saw my parents and friends in the front row of the bleachers on the left, my eyes started to tear up and my smile was beyond huge! Before I knew it I was crossing the finish line, and I was a Marathoner!

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Race Report Coming Tonight!!!

2008-10-29T11:49:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the delay, I tried getting it up today but was having issues with the video and then lost part of the post...I will get it all working tonight!!!
Also, sorry I'm behind on everyone's blogs, I promise I'll get caught up soon, jsut trying to catch up on work!!!
Thanks!!!

I did it! I did it!!!!

2008-10-26T20:34:00.002-04:00

Just a quick update to let you all know that I did it, I am officailly a Marathoner!!!! It was the most amazing, life changing experience of my life!
I finished in 5:16! That was my "good goal", I missed my "dream goal" (sub 5), guess that gives me something to work for!
Thank you to all of you for everything, you have made this even more of an amazing journey!
I will post a full report tomorrow evening with pictures and videos!

Getting Ready to Leave!

2008-10-24T07:31:00.007-04:00

Well, I'll be leaving around 9am today and heading to DC for the Marine Corps Marathon! Thank you to EVERYONE for all of your Good Luck wishes, advice, support and encouragement! You have all been an amazing part of my journey, I feel very lucky to have found such a great group of bloggers!

Contest Update - Erin, Aron, and Jess - your prizes will go out next week, sorry for the delay!

Check this out - The girls over at Twenty Six Point Two have chosen me to be their "Weekly Pace Setter"! The post should be up on their site later today!

**IPOD SHUFFLE QUESTION - I usually use my Nano, so this shuffle thing is a little new to me. When you connect your Shuffle to your computer and pull up ITunes, should I be able to click on "shuffle" (under "devices") and see what songs I have on my Shuffle? If so, mine isn't letting me do that. Under Devices my Shuffle shows up, but then the screen to the right just says "Itunes Store" and is blank....any thoughts? I just want to see what songs I have on there. Any help would be appreciated!!!!

Well, I better finish getting my stuff together!!! I'll be updating from DC, so be sure to check back!!

Days of the week - Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Marathonday!

2008-10-23T06:31:00.002-04:00

It's getting closer!!!! I totally couldn't sleep last night, I went to bed around 10, was awake from 1am-3:30am and then slept until 6:15.

The weather is looking good for Sunday, high of 66 low of 50, 20% chance of precipitation. I think I'm sticking with wearing my shorts....any thoughts on this? Do you think my legs will be too cold? I'm figuring that the temp for most of my run will be between 50-58.

And finally, here is a picture of the sign that my "Little Neighbor Girls" made for me....

How awesome is that?????

Final Run!

2008-10-22T14:06:00.002-04:00

Well, I can't take it anymore, I'm leaving work at 2:30 and heading to the gym. I've decided to do my last run on the treadmill, I'm still dealing with this cold and figure that it would probably be best to keep the "chill" off of me. After that I'll head home and really start packing!

It's Almost Time for The Marine Corps Marathon!!!

2008-10-22T10:09:00.002-04:00

Wow, I so cannot wait! I don't have too much more to post, other than....yipppee!!!
Last night I got a massage, and worked on getting a few more things together. We are leaving on Friday, I just want to get there! I just want to be where all of the excitement will be. Sitting at work is getting harder and harder as the time gets closer....I have watched more MCM videos on You Tube than I can even count....thank god my last name is on the building here or else I would totally be getting fired!!! LOL!!!
That's it for now, I'm sure I'll post some more randomness later!

Tuesday Taper!

2008-10-21T11:09:00.003-04:00

So as many of you have said before, tapering feels weird! I'm feeling pretty good though, went our for 5 miles last night, just enjoyed the time on the trail. I had the overwhelming urge to tell EVERY person that I saw "Hey - I'm doing a Marathon on Sunday!!!!", however, I controlled myself!
My "Little Neighbor Girls" had me over their house on Sunday night and made me THE BEST sign! One of my friends that is going to the race will be in charge of holding it for the race. I will post a picture of it as soon as I download it from my camera, but it says -
"Hey Margo You ROCK!", how freaking awesome is that??????
I am driving to the marathon with my parents and my Mom got magnets for the truck that say "Good Luck Margo" and "On Our Way To The Marine Corps Marathon"! I'm hoping to get some "beeps" on the highway for our drive.

Now onto CONTEST NEWS.....we have 2 more winners!
1. Runners Rambles (Aron)
2. Run Girl Run (Jess)
Email me your full names and addresses and I'll get your prizes out to you! mcicci76@yahoo.com
Woooooooo hooooooooo!!!!

TGIF - My TNT Race Shirt!

2008-10-17T13:16:00.003-04:00

I haven't kept up on the TGIF Photos, but I've got one for today! See NikeMom if you're interested! So, here is my Team in Training shirt that I will be wearing in 9 days at the Marine Corps Marathon!!!!!

We Have Our First WINNERS!!!!

2008-10-17T12:37:00.003-04:00

Sorry I didn't get to post this last night, I totally fell asleep (thank GOD!)!!!
Today I have drawn 2 winners and they are.........
1 - JAHOWIE
2 - ERIN LEIGH

Woooooooohoooooooo!!!! To claim your prize you just need to email me your "REAL NAME" and address! You can email me at mcicci76@yahoo.com !
As for what you have won.....there are "Girl Prizes" and then "Boy/Girl Prizes", a have a couple of each one, I don't want to say what it is yet....but Erin is getting the Girl Prize and JAHOWIE is getting the other!
Congratulations winners!!!!!

Feelin' a bit better!!!

2008-10-16T12:51:00.003-04:00

I'm definitely feeling better today! Still congested, sneezing, coughing, but overall MUCH better! I am also finally getting caught up on reading everyone's blogs!
I am still home from work, so I decided to do a "Dress Rehearsal" for the Marathon! It was VERY EXCITING!!!!! I went with JAHOWIE'S suggestion of wearing the knee socks on my arms like long gloves.....LOVE IT! Of course I had to buy a pair of black Adidas Soccer Socks so it would look cool, LOL!!!
Up next, I'm heading to the craft store to get some fabric paint....I need to put my name on my race shirt! SO EXCITING!!!
On the schedule today was also 5 miles....my plan is to go to the gym and do between 3-5 on the treadmill. It's rainy, damp and cool here, I'm thinking staying inside would be a good idea.
Now for what you have all been waiting for....CONTEST INFO!
For everytime you have commented on my blog since October 1st I will write your name on a piece of paper and enter it into the drawing. There will be a few different drawings for different things.....first drawing will be tonight!

Still Sick

2008-10-15T12:01:00.002-04:00

Ok, I'm home sick again today. I was supposed to leave for Chicago (for work) on Friday and come back Monday, but luckily another co-worker is going instead. That is a huge relief, the last thing I neeed was to be on another airplane and running around all weekend. Now I've got more "down time" to just rest and get better.
Thank you to everyone for your advice, I'll keep pounding the fluids and getting rest.
Also, I'm working on the "contest details"....more to come soon...

I'm Sick!

2008-10-14T18:26:00.002-04:00

Ok, I'm totally sick, and freaking out a little. I went to the Dr yesterday, they said I have an upper respiratory infection, no antibiotics, just nasonex, clartin d, mucinex dm. I feel way worse today then yesterday....come on!!!
I'm coughing so much, of course I'm worried that I'll irritate the rib, but this needs to end. At least it's taper time but I should be feeling strong! I was supposed to do 5 miles today and Thursday, needless to say I'm not running today, hoping to do something Thursday.
Any advice?

Weekend Report!

2008-10-13T08:18:00.005-04:00

The Staten Island 1/2 Marathon was AWESOME! I said it before and I'll say it again, I FREAKING LOVE RACES!!!! This was the perfect race for me to do just 2 weeks before my Marathon. It gave me so much confidence for my race! My plan was to run it at "training pace", not "race pace", but I think I've mentioned this before - I don't really have 2 paces yet (I'm working on that!), so i just went with the flow, stuck to my "Run 2 songs walk 1 minute" plan.

My very first Half that I did in September was pretty much a flat course on a crushed limestone trail (2:13), so I was very interested to see how I would do on "real roads" since that's what my marathon will be. Wait, totally forgetting something -
*Most of you have an idea of the relationship struggle I've been dealing with on and off since the beginning of this blog, and with that whole thing falling apart and making me question everything in my life, I "found" running. Well, that relationship and it's issues came to a boiling point on Friday. Bottom line, I couldn't sleep Friday night (maybe 3 hours), and then was so stressed on Saturday by Saturday night I was getting sick. My throat was killing me, and once again coule barely sleep (probably about 3 hours total again). I almost didn't go to the race. Then I thought - "F THAT! This is FOR ME! I rented that friggin car (around $110) and was looking forward to this until "THAT" happened, get your ASS UP and go!"

I am SOOOOOOO glad I went! I was figuring my time would be around 2:30 (given that I had'nt slept, my throat was killing me, and the roads / hills), and guess what??? I ended up finishing it in 2:18!!!! I was soooooo happy! The course was great, there were some crowds along the route, and the water / Gatorade stops were super organized! And they had this "New York Road Runners Finisher" thing that you could get your picture in front of!

I met up with the NY Team in Training Group before the start of the race, they were awesome! Their coach, Steve, was great! When he would see me out on the course he would say "Go Pittsburgh!!!", totally pumped me up!

I felt awesome pretty much the whole time, I don't think I ever stopped smiling. I ran with my Gu in one pocket and Chloraseptic lozenges in the other other pocket, they worked great!

Now, it's less than 2 weeks until the Marine Corps Marathon (seriously, my eyes are filling up as I type this), I can only imagaine what it is going to feel like. I have loved every minute of getting ready for this. This truly proves that the saying "It's not the destination, it's the journey", although I do know htat this destination is going to be equally life changing and mind blowing as the journey.

Now I just need to get rid of this cold, and I will be all set! It's Taper Time for me!
Thank you all again for the Good Luck Wishes!
PS- Sorry I am totally behind on everyone's blogs!!!! I will catch up today/tonight!
****Stay tuned, I will be announcing a CONTEST soon!!!! Oooohhh, aaaahhhhh prizes and everything!!!!

I've Been Tagged!

2008-10-09T10:38:00.003-04:00

Teacherwoman and Run Girl Run both tagged me, thanks girlies!

Read below and Consider yourself TAGGED!
1. Hot Thick Chick
2. Runners Rambles
3. Chrisequious
4. JA Howie
5. Running Wild (NC Runner12)
6. POM
7. Beginning Running
8. Ramblings of a Running Addict

9. Steeve in a Speedo
10. Recast in Iron

So, here are my 6 random things......

1. I used to show horses competitively from the time I was about 9 up into college (rode on the University of Maryland Equestrian Team for 1 year until I decided that it was time for a break). I qualified for Nationals at the age of 15, which was pretty young. I did the hunters and jumpers, I would jump fences that were up to 4' tall and 3.5' wide.....now the idea of doing that scares the crap out of me!

2. I have broken quite a few bones and had random injuries (figure skating age 4 - broken leg, car accident 3rd grade - broken arm, horse flipped over on me age 13 - broken collar bone, horse smashed his face into mine 12th grade - broken nose, age 22 - stress fracture to sesamoid bone in left foot, that bone ended up pretty much "dead" and had to be removed age 27, trying to get sports bra off hurt shoulder age 29 - ended up tearing my shoulder "SLAP" lesion and needing surgery, and last but not least.....broke a rib running age 32).

3. I love all kinds of music, literally ALL KINDS!

4. I have ALWAYS been a "Dog Person", not that I didn't like cats, I always liked them, but I was just a "Dog Person". I got my English Mastiff, "Mister Man" while I was in college, he was "my boy". This past December I came across these 2 kittens at the ARL...they had just come to the shelter, they were both gray, one had long hair and a short tail and had thrown up all over himself, the other one had short hair and a normal tail. They kept looking at me. And looking at me. And looking at me. The next day I went back and got them, and they became best friends with my Mister Man, they learned how to act like a "cat-dog" from him. About 5 months later I lost my Mister Man at the age of 9 years and 9 months. I think those kittens were a gift from Mister, he knew there would never be another "like him", so now I have my 2 "cat-dogs" that greet me at the door, roll onto their back to get their tummy rubbed, and wait outside my bedroom door, just like Mister did. They have been amazing buddies through a rough year. I am now a "Cat-Dog Person"!

5. I believe that unfortunately some broken hearts never heal, and that sometimes all the time in the world won't fix it.

6. Once I believe in you....getting me to stop is nearly impossible.

Staten Island 1/2, Here I Come!!!!

2008-10-08T11:38:00.003-04:00

I'm so excited that our running coach agreed that the Staten Island 1/2 would be a good idea! He said to remember to not get caught up in the race, use it as a training run, use it as a test run for my Marathon strategey.....THIS IS SO EXCITING!!!! Wow, I can't believe this is all happening!!

My plan is to rent a car on Saturday, then drive to Staten Island on Sunday morning. According to the directions to the start it looks like parking is about 2.5 miles away from the start, so it says that you can take the "city bus" from the parking area to the starting point, that should be good.

I'm a little nervous about going "by myself" (meaning there won't be an extra person to hold something or deal with my nerves of figuring out where to go), but it will be a great adventure!!!

Here we go again with questions.....anyone ever done the Staten Island Half??? I'm hoping "The Laminator" will chime in here!!! Tell me what it's like, how's parking? The "city bus"? Looks like there are plenty of water stops, so maybe no need to use my fuel belt? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

As always, thanks in advance for your input!!!

19 Days 'til Marine Corps Marathon!!!

2008-10-06T09:10:00.004-04:00

I'm at the airport waiting for my plane back to "The Burgh"! Dallas was good, lots of good food (note: that does not help in the "get this fat off my a$$ before the marathon plan!!!)!
Thank you everyone for your comments on my 20 miler!!!
Blister Update - It's popped and drained for the most part, still sort of black/purple looking (gross), but feeling pretty good.
Rib Update - Feeling really good, I think I'm pretty much healed! AMEN!!! My obliques on that side are still sore, but I think that will just take some time. Overall it is 1,000,000 times better than it was last week!!!

Sorry that I haven't been able to get back to everyone that has posted lately, being "on the road" has really cut into my blogging time (damn that job)!!!!! I promise I will catch up soon!!!

Here's where I stand on the rest of my time until "The Big Day" (which I know for most girls my age usually means their wedding, this is my version of "The Big Day")!
My TNT Running Coach was really happy with how my 20 miler went! Originally there was another 20 scheduled for the weekend of the 12th. I am going to be in NY/NJ that weekend, so I was hoping I wouldn't have to do that there. He said that since the 20 went so well (yipee!) I don't have to worry about getting in another 20 (THANK GOD!)! So here's the proposed plan -
Thursday the 9th: do 12-15 Miles
Friday 10th: Leave for NY/NJ
Saturday or Sunday 12th: 8 Miles
Come Home Sunday night
Tuesday 14th: 10 Miles
Then continue with taper plan (pretty much standard plan).

However, I just saw that there is the Staten Island Half Marathon on Sunday....that is about 40 minutes away from where I'll be staying. I'm wondering if I could just do 8miles on Thursday, then Sunday do the Half, and then on Tuesday do 8-10 miles?
What do you guys think? I wouldn't do the Half at "Race Pace", I would use it as a regular run. My hesitation to doing the 8 miles on Sat or Sun is that I'm not sure where I'll run in New Jersey (Meadowlands area), and I don't know that it's worth getting all the way into Central Park on Saturday morning to run with the TNT group for 8 miles. I am supposed to be working on Saturday and Sunday in NJ, with Saturday being the most important day....if I had to skip out for a chunk of the day that would be ok, but better if I didn't have to. It just seems like doing the Half would be so much easier in a way.
And let me just be completely honest with you.....I just think it would be cool to do another Half, and in Staten Island on top of that, what other time would I ever do that?
As always, I'll take any and all input/advice/encouragement!!!!
Looks like it's almost time to get on the plane, can't wait to get home!

20 Miles...CHECK!!!!

2008-10-03T17:52:00.008-04:00

Wooooooooo hooooooooo!!! We did it!!! Who is "We" you might ask...that would be me, my Dad, and all of you bloggers! I couldn't have done it without you guys and your support/suggestions, or without my Dad meeting me at various points on my run! Although I am totally in pain right now, I am still smiling, I can't believe that I did it! I'm not kidding you when I say that back in May the furthest I had ever run was about 4 miles, and that was monumental to me then!

So, here's how it went...I got in the truck to drive to the trail and noticed that the trail was 17.2 miles away....I was going to run FURTHER than I was driving?????? I must be crazy! When I got to the trail it was totally raining and my Dad was running late. So I hopped out of the truck and got in a mile and a half to figure out if I was going to need my jacket thingy (it was about 48 degrees), quickly realized I would be too hot, so stopped back at truck and dropped it off, called Dad, still not close. Decided to sit in truck and wait. Good thing I did, he had taken a wrong turn and got there about an hour late, which ended up being perfect because the rain stopped!!! From there I took off and knew I would be meeting my dad at this little ball field about 6 miles away. I decided to stick with my "Run 2 Songs Walk 1 Minute Plan" (very scientific!). My Dad was wearing a bright red Maryland sweatshirt (Go Terps!!! Love that my Dad was fully supporting me, rockin my college sweatshirt and all!), at about 5 miles(actually, I have no idea how far away I was from the tunnel, I suck at guessing that stuff) I could see the tunnel that I would run through and right in front of it I could see a tiny red dot...I wondered if that could be my Dad??? As I got closer I could see it was him, I was so excited that he was there!
He went through the tunnel with me and then we were at the ball filed (Mile 8). I stopped there to refill my Powerade and Water and eat a couple bites of a cliff bar and took off again. I ran up to 10, turned around and saw my Dad again at 12. Took a port-a-john break, and made plans with my Dad to meet at the next point where he could get to the trail (which ended up being Mile 14). At Mile 13 my time was 2:12, so I was 1 minute faster than my Half Marathon time from a couple weeks ago, yippee!

Here is a picture at Mile 14...

From there I headed on down the trail and knew I would see my Dad one more time around Mile 17, that was just a brief passing, we waved and I told him that I was getting considerably slower and not to worry if it took me a really long time to get back to our starting place!! From this point on my walking time increased to about 1.5 - 2 minutes, and my running decreased to about 1.5 songs.

When I got back to our starting point I still had about 2 miles to go (forgot about the extra miles I did in the beginning...duh!!). So I went past the start point, then turned around. When i got to my Dad's truck I was 19.3 Miles,uuugggghhhh!!! I could not run anymore, so my Dad hopped out of the truck and Powerwalked the last part with me until we heard the sweet sound of the Garmin beeping!!! 20 Miles, Holy Shit!!!!!!

Final Time - 3:37:11, I am BEYOND THRILLED!!!!

I did stop my Garmin a few times when "chatted" with my dad for a while, but I wouldn't say that it would any more than 7 minutes to my time.

So, now I'm home, icing the hell out of my knees, feet and left shin. I did get a nasty battlewound on my right big toe....

After the run we went to Bob Evans to eat, so freaking good!!! Now I'm ready for round 2 of food, and then off to bed! Oh yeah, I still need to pack for Dallas....oh well!

Thanks again for everything!!! I hope you all have a great weekend!!!

Getting Ready!

2008-10-03T07:10:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to post a quick update, I'm meeting my Dad at 9am for my 20 miler! Looks like I'll have to do at least some of my run in the rain....oh well, at least I'll be able to test out my new hat!
I'll post later on today when I get home!

Seriously, you all are the best!!!

2008-10-01T11:54:00.003-04:00

First off, thank you to everyone for their advice!!! I totally appreciate it! The trash bag idea makes sense, and I love JA Howie's idea about the knee socks (and what I love even more is that just from reading my blog, he knows that "cuteness" is still important)!!!
So, I've decided what I'm going to do for the 20 miler.......I'm doing it "by myself" on Friday. After much thought and talk with my TNT Mentor, she felt that the deal breaker for Saturday was that I'd have to be on a plane for about 4 hours afterward and that was not a good thing. So, luckily my Dad has totally stepped up and will be joining me at different points on the trail. He's even thinking about riding my bike for part of the time! Too bad you can't have horses on this trail, my Dad does Team Roping....maybe he could have ridden behind me and tried to lasso me!!! That would be freaking classic!!!!
I think what I'll do is start at 8am and have my Dad's first meeting time at 9:15-9:20, that should put me somewhere between 7-8 miles.
He can bike with me from 7-10 and then back for 10 -13 (I think he can handle 6 miles...it's pretty flat). Then he'll be back to where he parked the truck and can put the bike back in and drive down to 16, then hopefully finish the final 4 miles with me. From there we can throw the bike into my truck and drive back to his.
My Dad will be equipped with fluids and what not (knowing him he'll have some really great snacks too), so that should be pretty good.
Any thoughts on my plan?

Another Marathon Question: This question also relates to the weather. I haven't run much in the rain (been pretty lucky all summer), and when I have it's been "hot summer rain" so my gear needs didn't change. Any thoughts on the "cold fall rain" that we can get and what to wear? Obvious answer is some type of rain parka, I just imagine myself sweating to death. Or do you just run in it with nothing extra? Thanks in advance!!

Time to FOCUS!!!!

2008-09-30T15:20:00.004-04:00

Ok, as of today I have 25 days until my Marathon.....
25 Days!!!!!
That's not a lot of time, and with my little rib set back and all of my traveling, the nerves are starting to kick in!!! I know that I have already overcome the hardest parts of the training, now I just need to stay on track and keep myself healthy. Las Vegas really knocked me out (I partied like a Seasoned Rock Star when honestly, I would barely qualify for Rock Star Pre-School)! I didn't make it out of the house for my run last night, then totally slept through my alarm this morning. I have my clothes with me and will be heading out for my run right after work.
Here is my question - I have to do a 20 miler this weekend (was going to do it Friday with a teammate, but now she can't get off of work). My Team is meeting Saturday morning at 8am, I have to be at the airport by 11:15 to go to Dallas. Should I -
a) Suck it up and do the 20 miler by myself (if I go by myself I'll "make" my Dad meet up with me at some point so I'm not totally alone). I've never run more than 10 miles by myself.
b) Go to the group run early (like 6am) and get in 2 hours by myself and finish up with the group by 10 am then clean up and head to the airport. Keep in mind the flight is about 4 hours.

Here are the other things I need to a grip on, ASAP!!!!!!
*Weight - I came back from Vegas 5 pounds heavier than I left, I'm down 2, so 3 more to go.
*Nutrition - MUST start eating better. I was doing great, but the past 2-3 weeks have been less than acceptable. Have to bring a better lunch to work and have a better dinner (more veggies, brown rice, chicken, and so on)
*Water - Seriously, I am not drinking NEARLY enough!!!! Starting today the minimum will be 90 ounces.
*Running - Wait, how did this end up at the bottom....MUST STAY ON SCHEDULE!!!!!!

Question: To those of you who have done a marathon before, when you started the race in the morning was it "cold" outside? If you answered "no" you can skip this question, if you answered "yes" then continue.

Did you start out with a long sleeve shirt on? Where did you pin your number? I just ordered this race belt that I can put my number on, plus it has 2 pockets that I can put my gu and stuff in. Any thoughts/experience with these?

I think that's everything, I just don't want the Marathon to get here and feel like I could have trained better at the end.
Feel free to add your thoughts / advice!!!

Viva Las Vegas!

2008-09-29T11:35:00.002-04:00

Seriously, I could never make it as one of those "socialite girls" that party every night!!! Let's put it this way, on Friday and Saturday night we were out so late that it made more sense to eat breakfast BEFORE we went to bed! Saturday night we went to Prive and I danced from 11:30pm until nearly 4am, which by the way I decided was equal to running 8 miles! As for running in Vegas, the only running I did was while shopping (as in "running in and out of stores!)!!!
My rib is feeling pretty darn good, major improvement over last week. So now it's time to buckle down and get back on schedule! My plan is to run Monday, Wednesday, and do my 20 mile long run on Friday.
Hope you all had a great weekend!!!

Back on the Run!

2008-09-24T21:24:00.003-04:00

Cut to the chase.....I ran 4 miles, and I felt GREAT! My plan was "to do 3-4 and do them on the slower side". I did 4 and I finished in 39:24 (which is not my "slowest side", more on my "normal/feeling good side")!
Rewind to the beginning of today...I started off really early this morning and headed downtown to pick up stuff we needed for our conventions. On my way back I stopped off at my chiropractor (he's known me for YEARS) to run the whole "broken rib" thing by him. He was a little skepitcal of the whole thing, but once he had a chance to poke around the area, he said that definitely seemed to be the case (of course w/out the x-ray it wouls be hard for him to say). His thoughts were that most of my pain at this point was coming from the cartilage between the ribs being totally irritated and slightly torn. Then he did a bone density scan on me, and my bones are nice and dense! Wooo hoo!
Then I was off to work, totally busy all day, especially since I am LEAVING FOR VEGAS in the morning! Finally I got out of work and headed home.....the took a detour to the hair salon. See, I got my hair done on Friday and I didn't "love it". The color was very pretty, but too natural looking and plain (I like lots of chunky color and high lights!), so I stopped in and this new girl was able to squeeze me in (I was sooooooo nervous)!!! She did an AWESOME job, I left with tons of Blonde chunky highlights, totally love it now!
Then I made it home in just enough time to change and get to the trail to get my run in before my nail appointment (seriously, this makes me sound super high maintenance), and now I'm finally home. Oh yeah, I still have to pack, and it's 9:41pm and my flight is leaving at 9:40am....I better get off of here and get to packin!
I'll try to update from Vegas! Hope you all have a great weekend!

I Miss You....

2008-09-22T21:10:00.004-04:00

Dear Running-
I just want you to know that I miss you. I hope that you know the reason I haven't "been" with you for almost a week is not by choice. I haven't been off having all sorts of fun with Gym, Bike, Weights or any of the other guys that I knew before you. Without you my evenings feel so empty, my weekend without our usual LONG date felt insignificant, instead of my body aching because of you....it is now aching for you! I knew that you meant a lot to me, I just didn't know how much until now!
So my Dearest Running, I will be back before you know it! Just another day or 2 until we will meet again.
All my heart, sweat, blisters and broken rib-
M*J*C

Seriously, I miss running. To most of you that are reading this you are probably thinking, "of course you do, did you really think that you wouldn't?" Well, sure I knew I would sort of miss it, but I'm missing it on a whole lot of levels, and maybe it was a good thing for me to learn that now, so I can appreciate it more through the rest of my journey to the Marathon.
I am getting a little worried about getting back on track. With the Marathon being only 5 weeks away from this coming Sunday I am getting into the critical point of my plan with the "REALLY Long Runs" (this is another term that I have new respect for)! So, here's what I'm thinking....
I am hoping to run 3-4 miles on Wednesday, then leave for Vegas Thursday. I would like to do 5 miles on Friday, and then maybe another 5 on Sunday (if I didn't party too much on Saturday....). Scratch that, I AM going to party too much on Saturday, come home on Sunday night and then run on Monday. I'll go for 7 Monday, 5 Wednesday and then do my long run on Friday (so I don't have to jump right onto a plane after it on Saturday). My schedule called for a 20 miler this coming Saturday, but I missed the 18 miler this past Sunday. So, I will shoot for 18 miles on Friday.
Any thoughts, suggestions, words of wisdom??? Feel free to share! *keep in mind, I know that all of the above is based on it all "feeling good"...it goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway) if there is major pain in the rib area I'll stop and re-evaluate.

What Can I Say???

2008-09-22T10:55:00.003-04:00

I have no running report for you today since there was no running for me this weekend. I did however manage to eat lots of salty picnic food on Sunday and wake up weighing 4 pounds more...lovely!
Note To Self: If you don't run 18 miles you can't eat like you ran 18 miles. Got it? Let's not make this mistake again!
On the bright side, I'm leaving for Vegas on Thursday and CAN NOT WAIT!!!!
Hope you all had a great weekend and ran a few miles for me!!!

I've been keeping a secret from you...

2008-09-18T15:53:00.006-04:00

So, about 2 weeks ago on my 15 mile run I had a sharp pain in my side after a water stop. A REALLY SHARP PAIN. I thought Holy Mother of God, this is the Motherload of all "sidestitches"!!! I was running with my TNT buddy Chrisie (thank god that I have a witness!!!), and I said to her, OOOOH...I gotta walk a minute, you go ahead without me. Then I finished my 15 miles and went on with my day. The pain has not gone away, I figured it was a pulled oblique of some sort. I didn't want to blog about it because it seemed so "lame". Keep in mind, since then I have done a 1/2 Marathon, all my weekday runs, and another long run of 14 miles. Even ran 5.5 miles last night. The pain has still been there, particularly when I twist, sneeze, cough, laugh....hmmmmm, sounds like something else....can't be though...can it?

Finally after not being able to sleep last night I went to get it checked out and they did an X-ray, Drumroll please.................

Yep, I have a BROKEN RIB! NOT a fracture or a crack, BROKE in 2 pieces. Rib #9, that bitch!

So what does that mean for me....thankfully it's not a deal breaker. Just NO lifting, pushing, pulling of any sort for 10 days. Lay low on the running for 7 days, and then re-x-ray.

For real, who breaks their rib running? I guess I must run SO fast that they just break...LOL!!!

On the bright side, I am HARDCORE!!!!!

Song of the day - Break Stuff by Limp Bizkit

QUICK Question

2008-09-16T13:46:00.002-04:00

Anyone know of anybody else in Blogland that is doing Marine Corps Marathon???? If so, I'd love a link to their blog!!!

The Next 6 Weeks of My Life

2008-09-15T13:08:00.002-04:00

Wow, I can't believe that the Marathon is 6 weeks ago from yesterday. It's hard to believe that it was 6 months ago that I got this crazy idea in my head, and now it is fully happening....it is the best thing ever!
With all of that said, I am in for a little bit of a crazy time over the course of the next 6 weeks. I have A LOT of traveling coming up....here's the schedule-
9/20-21: In town, 18 miles on schedule for Sunday
Thurs 9/25-Sun 9/28: VEGAS!!! This will be a fun filled weekend, with minimal running on the schedule (only a 6 miler that weekend), lots of going out and living like a rock star!
Sat 10/4 - Run my FIRST 20 MILER in morning, then be on a plane by 12:55pm to Dallas for work....let's just say I'll be so freaking stiff by the time I get there that I'll be lucky if I don't need a wheelchair off of the plane!
Sun 10/5 - Work in Dallas
Mon 10/6 - Come home
Fri 10/10 - 10/12: In New York for work, meet up with the NY TNT for the Group Run 17-20 miles, work all day Saturday and Sunday
Fri 10/17- 10/19: In Chicago for work, Saturday run 6 miles work all day Saturday and Sunday.
Fri 10/24 - LEAVE FOR THE MARATHON
Sun 10/26 - RUN 26.2 MILES in the MARINE CORPS MARATHON!!!!
Mon 10/27 - Try to remember how to walk again, and find a new purpose for the next 6 months of my life!!!!

One of the biggest challenges for me will be to NOT gain 8 pounds over the course of traveling every weekend out of the next 6 weeks! It will be hard enough to haul this ass all the way around the marathon course, let alone this ass with an additional 8 pounds on it!!!
My other challenge will be getting enough rest / sleep. I cannot F up on that part, it's way to critical!

Attention "Weather" - it's FALL and I don't live in the AMAZON!

2008-09-14T17:35:00.002-04:00

Dear "Weather"-
Please take a look at YOUR calander, then look on the map and see where PENNSYLVANIA is...it's in NORTH AMERICA, not SOUTH AMERICA! Now that we have this cleared up, can we get the weather headed on the right track? You know, just nice mornings without 90% humidity, maybe even a breeze? If you could get this squared away by next weekend I'd really appreciate it! Thanks!!

As if you couldn't guess, my run this morning was a COMPLETE struggle! I met up with 3 of my TNT Teammates to head out for the planned 17 miles. I got out there a little early and dropped off water and Powerade Mountain Blast (it's the "official" drink for the Marine Coprs Marathon....so exciting!!) at the 2 mile mark and the end of the trail, which was at 5 miles. Our original plan was to run out to the 5, back in 2.5, back to the 5, then head back down the trail and double back for an additional mile up and down at another point to get to a total of 17.
Well, at about mile 1.5 I was like "WTF??? Why are my lungs filling up with water, are we swimming???" Yes, that's right, I was thinking that 1.5 miles into it.....we knew it was going to be a LONG run! Shortly after that we did decide to scale back in the heat and go for 14 instead, an excellent decision in my opinion...fluids ended up getting low and the sun was blazing!
We struggled through it, TG my teammates were there, I soooooo would have laid down on a bench! My girl Chrisie reminded me that this will be the run that I pull my strength from during the marathon at mile 23 and I am looking for a bench anywhere to lay down and die! THIS will be the run that I remember and say "F the bench bitches, I'm finishing this!!!!"
In retrospect, we might have been way better off starting a little later, the humidity was so intense for the earlier part of the run, it just sucked the life right out of me!
All in all, I am just glad that it's done, and that I had my Teammates with me!

UPDATE on the Cat - Well, he/she's not hanging around my house anymore, but I keep looking everyday. I'm hoping that means that they found their way home! Thanks for the good luck wishes with him/her!

Friday Picture of the Day

2008-09-12T12:24:00.007-04:00

It's Friday again, that means it's time for Picture of the Day (as started by NikeMom). Well, today's picture is of a little white cat that appeared at my house last night, and is acting like he lives here! I'm in the process of trying to find this little guys owner....
I've posted the picture on Craigslist and called the local vets, no luck yet. When I get home from work if it's still around I'll call the police and they will come to my house and scan it for a microchip...I hope it has one!!!

Finally Done! (non-running related!)

2008-09-11T14:18:00.004-04:00

Well, last night I finished my LAST suit for the season!!! While it is something that I love doing, the hours and stress that come with it can be enough to wipe you out!!! Every girl has to be measured and then the suit is made to fit, in her color choice, with her choice of rhinestone design. I convinced the girl that picked up her suit last night to let me take a picture of her in it (even though she is "not contest ready" and isn't all "tanned up"!). I promised that I wouldn't include her head! So, here it is!!!

Yesterday was also a big day at my "Regluar Job", our catalog finally returned from being on press and the bindery! It looks absloutley amazing!!!! I am beyond thrilled with it, it is such a relief to have it in our hands! Here is a quick picture of the cover -

My picture of it does it no justice....but believe me, it's beautiful!

That's it for now, just soooooooo happy to have these 2 things compeltely done!!!!

More Race Pictures!

2008-09-08T15:27:00.009-04:00

Here are some more pictures from Saturday's Half Marathon!
Here I come....I'm in the pink behind the guy in burgundy...you can just see a little bit of me! I was so excited to see my Mom and Dad at the finish line, and couldn't believe how much "more" I could keep pushing across the finish line!

Here I am with my Mom! And here's Dad! On the left is my Marine Corps Marathon Teammate, Chrisie (in yellow), and on the right is another TNT Teammate that is doing the San Francisco Nike Marathon, Erin. This is some more of our Team in Training group, Nicole (doing San Fran I think) and Justin, he's one of the mentors.

And this is me after the race, apparently pointing to my truck...not sure what was going on here but I liked that you could see my number and the medal!!!
I'm still flying high today from the race! I can only imagine what it's going to be like after the Marathon!!!!
Thanks again to everyone for their good luck wishes! A special Shout Out to "NC RUNNER" for his comments/input on the whole run/walk thing!

Race Day!

2008-09-06T14:06:00.005-04:00

The race was GREAT! I can officially say that I LOVE RACE DAY! The excitement, seeing everyone, the start, the finish...I love it all! One of my favorite parts of the race is when you are running a long, and then the really fast people have already made it to the turn around and are running towards you (at mile 5 on my side!!), it just makes you go faster!!!

So, for this race I decided that my strategy would be "Part Galloway" and "Part Margo", and I've decided to call it the "Margo Music Method"! Here's how it works, run for 2 songs then walk for 1 minute, repeat until you're done!!! Here's the breakdown (according to my Garmin)-
13.26 miles/2:13:29/10:04
1 - 9:26
2 - 9:44
3 - 10:05
4 - 9:49
5 - 10:12
6 - 9:55
7 - 9:52
8 - 9:57
9 - 10:11
10 - 10:28 (1:39 at 10 Miles)
11 - 9:47
12 - 10:36
13 - 11:08

Keep in mind that the course was 1 mile down hill, then relatively flat with 1 long-ish uphill grade leading up the turnaround, then flat the rest of the time, so I'm sure this was a little on the "faster side" than normal for me...none the less....it was way better than I thought I'd do and it felt GREAT!
I felt really great pretty much the whole time! I didn't start feeling any pain until the last 2-3 miles, then as you can tell from the last mile time I started to get a little slow (had to stretch a few times), but I was able to finish looking strong! My parents were waiting for me at the finish line and it was so great to see them, along with the rest of my teammates!!!

My "neighbor girls" couldn't make it to the race (they had soccer), but here are pictures of us after the race! I'll have more once I get them off the camera!

Now I'm just hanging out icing my knees and feet...they are pretty sore already! Tonight I'm going to go out for a good dinner...can't wait!

Night Before the Race

2008-09-05T22:49:00.002-04:00

Well, here I am....it's 10:50 and I am ready to go to bed! I've got everything all set out...except my damn favorite sports bra! I have 2 of them, and I can't find either one...I have back ups, but I'm going to look for it one more time in the morning while I'm making my coffee. My plan is to get up around 5:30 and leave around 6:30, registration is open until 7:30 and the race starts at 8:00!
I haven't really talked about my goals for this race, mainly because of the hip trouble that I've been having I've just been focusing on running without hurting. I'm hoping to finish it around 2:25. I am going to do my run/walk intervals starting after mile 5. Most importantly, I just want to finish and feel "pretty good"!
Alright, time for me to catch some ZZZZZ's!

Friday Pic of the Day

2008-09-05T15:14:00.007-04:00

I'm joining in with NikeMom and posting a picture every Friday...so here it is, one of my favorite T-shirts! Marcy is also doing the pic of the day, so check out her blog as well!!
*Thanks Melanie for help with the links!!

Best.Video.Ever.

2008-09-04T21:01:00.002-04:00

This video is THE hottest thing! Travis Barker (from blink182) drumming to Soulja Boy...could he be any more intense????
Turn up the volume.....and enjoy!
PS-thanks to D10 for the help with posting this!

The Weekend is Almost Here!

2008-09-04T15:15:00.005-04:00

Sooooooo glad this is a short work week, I'm ready for the weekend! Thank you to everyone for your input on my "marathon strategy", it was really helpful to hear all of your suggestions and experiences!
With all the excitement of THE Marathon, I feel like I've almost forgotten about the 1/2 Marathon that I'm doing THIS weekend! I'm really excited for it! I haven't done any races since 4th of July and I totally love the excitement of Race Day! A lot of my teammates are doing this race too, so it should be really fun.
I'm looking forward to trying out my strategy in a "real" race setting, hopefully it will go well!
I had physical therapy again today for my hips, they always feel so much better after I get stretched out really good. Oh, I also went to my FIRST Yoga Class last night! It was really good, I'll definitley be heading back for more. My plan will be to do that 1-2 times per week, it really felt good to relax and truly focus on stretching and feeling where my body was.
Keep the comments/suggestions coming on my "marathon strategy"!!!
I added a new gadget thingy (saw it on Marcy's blog and loved it)! See it...it's over there to the right..."Who's In?" So, add yourself and then that will be the link to your blog!
*Can anyone help me with adding a You Tube video to my blog post? I've been trying to figure it out all day....driving me crazy!!!

Weekend Recap

2008-09-01T17:39:00.003-04:00

Hope you all had a fabulous Labor Day Weekend! On Saturday I made it through my 15 miler!!! Woooo hoooo! It looks like my "strategy" for the marathon is going to have to involve "scheduled walking", which I am not totally thrilled about, but I pretty much knew I would need to, but was hoping that I wouldn't have to. What I did on Saturday was the following -
Run miles 1-6
Starting at 6 miles I walked for 2 minutes then ran 2 miles. That didn't seem like the "magic mix", so I switched to run 15 minutes walk 3 minutes. That was good for a little bit, then it switched to run 10 minutes walk 3 minutes, finally by the time I got to mile 12-13 it was pretty sporadic (run 1 song, walk half a song, run 2 songs, walk half a song), basically anything to keep going. It's my damn hips (how old am I???????). The rest of my body could just keep on going, but my freaking hips would like to quit! However, this week was NO WHERE near as bad as the weekend that I did the 13 miles, so I think I'm making progress. Overall my time wasn't bad, I ended up averaging 11:32/mile.
So, here's my question to all of you (especially those of you that are "newer" to the running thing), did you ever go through this, or were you just able to run the whole time? PLEASE share your stories!!! Any advice???
After the run we had a DELICIOUS breakfast waiting for us!!! Eggs and potatos, but totally gourmet!! From there I went home and showered, then did the ice bath, then napped. I met up with my parents for dinner at Joe's Crab Shack where I ate a TON of shrimp and crab legs!!! Then I hit up Coldstone Creamery....absolutely sinful!!
I woke up on Sunday morning to find myself mighty "puffy" from my salty feast the night before....not good! On top of that the stiffness was sinking in big time!!! I just hung out the rest of the day and did some shopping.
Today was pretty productive, I splurged on a cleaning lady to get me back on track (best money ever spent!), so while she was doing house stuff, I got caught up on laundry. From there I headed to the pool with my neighbors and their 4 daughters, they are too much fun!
Now I'm just waiting to put some chicken on the grill and hang out!
Hope you all enjoyed the weekend and have a great week!

A Summer of PR's!

2008-08-29T09:04:00.010-04:00

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!

2008-08-27T14:53:00.007-04:00

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!

2008-08-26T13:08:00.005-04:00

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!

2008-08-25T18:34:00.002-04:00

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!

2008-08-22T10:02:00.002-04:00

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....

2008-08-19T11:21:00.003-04:00

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

2008-08-18T14:21:00.006-04:00

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!

2008-08-16T16:56:00.003-04:00

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!

2008-08-15T21:32:00.005-04:00

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!

2008-08-13T11:00:00.009-04:00

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

2008-08-11T08:30:00.002-04:00

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

2008-08-07T17:34:00.005-04:00

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

2008-08-05T21:02:00.004-04:00

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!

2008-08-03T19:41:00.003-04:00

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

2008-08-02T16:22:00.005-04:00

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!!!!!!

Definitely Feeling Better!

2008-07-29T13:20:00.003-04:00

Last night I went out for 5 miles, and felt so much better than Saturday, TG! My time was 47:58, my plan was to do mile 1 & 2 "quicker", mile 3 slower, then 4 & 5 quicker again. It went pretty good, I liked knowing that I was going to get a chance to recover. I also tried out my new water belt, I really liked it! For those of you that have asked, there have been NO Trail Hottie sightings, I'm starting to think that he was a mirage!!!

I don't remember if I included this info in my post from Saturday, but I also have new insoles that I'm trying to get used to, so I'm sure that was part of the problem. The new insoles were reccomended by the Ortho Surgeon that I saw on Friday for my on-going foot problem. Since I had that bone removed 4 years ago, the nerve on the side of my foot has "shifted" out more and has become really inflamed. It's also in the same spot as the infamous blister! So, the insoles are supposed to slightly change the way my foot hits, thus keeping it from rubbing in the same spot. It seems to be working, but they aren't as "cushy" as before, but we'll see how they work out. I would love to be able to switch them out at some point....

Today I am on sight for a photo shoot for work, I might try to post some pictures from it later! We are shooting the cover for our catalog and a special ad that was my idea, very exciting!!

Longest 12 (ended up being 10) Miles EVER

2008-07-26T13:22:00.002-04:00

So, this morning should have been a great run. I was scheduled for 12 miles with my Team in Training group, the weather was great, I went to bed early, all good stuff. However, since Thursday, my legs have been SORE and TIGHT. Thursday morning I met with my other group at the track and did lots of sprints and laps and some jumps (side to side like you're skiing). Really good workout, but I haven't done it in a couple weeks. So as the day went on I could already feel that I was getting a little tight, but oh well. Thursday night I went out for 6 miles and did really good, I don't have my Garmin right here, but I finished it right around 56 minutes. I was totally struggling by the end but kept pushing. My legs were beat!
Back to this morning, I felt like I was running in wet concrete. Every part of my legs and feet were killing me...totally disappointing. I finished the first 5 miles in ok time (however I forgot to push start on my Garmin at the beginning and ended up catching it a little less than 1/2 through the first 5). When I came in from the first 5 loop I knew I wasn't going back out with the same group and that I wasn't doing 12. I waited a little while and kept drinking until the run/walk group came in (they run 5 minutes walk 2) and decided to head back out with them. I only stayed with them for about 3 minutes because there was no way that I was going to be able to run that slow then stop to walk every 5 minutes, I wanted these 5 frigging miles OVER! So I decided to run 1 mile walk 1 minute. That's what I did for the rest of the time, so it took me around 1,000,000 hours to go 5 miles. Oh well, what can you do? I know one thing is for sure, I'm never sprinting on a Thursday ever again, only on Mondays or Tuesdays, that's it!
I feel a little better now that I'm home and all cleaned up, definitely ready for a little nap! Later tonight I'm heading out to dinner at Cheesecake Factory with a group of girlfriends, can't wait!!

Music Must Haves - Tell Me Yours!

2008-07-23T14:19:00.005-04:00

I am in the process of updating my IPod with all my favorites, and got to thining, I bet there are a ton of songs that I've totally forgotten about. So, what are your favorites for the long runs? Favorites for the short ones? Heck, you can tell me your favorite tunes for anything! I LOVE music! If someone found my ipod they would definitely think it belonged to at least 3 different people, totally a diverse mix of music.
What are my favorites? Funny you should ask....
Need pumped up? Gotta go with "List of Demands" by Saul Williamson. Best Song Ever!
Wanna pick up the tempo? Try "Sour Cherry" by The Kills
Going for the longer, slower pace, feeling a little mellow? "Falls Apart" by Sugar Ray
Need a pick up in the middle? "Not Given Up" by Natasha Bedingfield
Looking for a little "dig deep" music with a Country twang? "How Bad Do You Want It" by Tim McGraw will do the trick (*even if you don't like country this song is worth listening to)
Some of my other favorites -
"Salute Your Salution" The Raconteurs
"Bleed it Out" Linkin Park
"Pork and Beans" Weezer
"Psycho" Puddle of Mudd
Soooooo many more!!! I can't wait to hear what your favorites are...

Update from Tuesday Nights Run
Went back to Peters Trail (no sign of the Trail Hottie!)
I had 4 miles on my schedule, my goal was to pick up my pace, and I'm pretty happy with how I did. Keep in mind, this whole "faster than 10 minute miles" is new to me!
Total time - 37:16
Mile 1 - 8:32
Mile 2 - 9:55
Mile 3 - 9:54
Mile 4 - 8:50

I'm looking forward to doing this again, but my goals will be different. I think I'll shoot for keeping them all under 9:15.

Recommitment Day!

2008-07-21T17:28:00.005-04:00

Well, today is the day that our "recommitment paperwork" was due into Team in Training for the Marine Corps Marathon!!! I was so excited to fill it out and send it in, I'm amazed that I've made it this far! Honestly, when I signed up in May I was so scared that when this day came I would be checking the "I am unable to fulfill the requirements box", it almost kept me from signing up at all. Now, here I am, running miles, upon miles, upon miles!!!! On top of that I am getting stronger and stronger (both physically and mentally)!!!

This weekend was totally busy! In addition to my "regular job" I started a side business 3 years ago, I make custom competition suits for women that compete in Fitness and Figure Competitions (think tiny bikinis covered in Swarovski Rhinestones on SERIOUS bodies!!).

Here is a picture of 2 of my clients in their suits -

So, this weekend was a huge competition in Pittsburgh and I had a booth there selling my line of tank tops, sweatpants, and suits. So that was all day Friday and Saturday, both nights I didn't get to bed until after 12:00. Then on Sunday I had my long run with my Team in Training group.

I was so tired when I got up Sunday, I was totally struggling to get to the run. When I got there I couldn't find my Garmin in my bag, so I figured I must have left it on the kitchen table, not happy about that at all! I love that thing!!!! Lucky for me I was able to pair up with another girl that is doing the MCM and she was planning to do the same distance as me, around 12 miles. It was great running with her, it worked out really well. We ended up really running a total of 10.7 miles and walking a total of about 1 mile, so for me that counts as a total of 11.7 miles! I was really happy with it, especially after such a crazy weekend and the extreme heat!
Today I have been super tired and have had a headache pretty much the whole day, I'm guessing that I haven't been able to catch up on my water? I decided to just relax tonight and tomorrow night I will hit the trail and keep an eye out for "trail hottie"! LOL!

Song I've been rockin' out to all day - Pork and Beans by Weezer!!! Sing it with me "I'ma do the things I wanna do, I ain't gotta thing to prove to you" and my other favorite line - "I'm finally dandy with the me inside One look in the mirror and I'm tickled pink I don't give a hoot about what you think"

Some More About Me (SMAM)

2008-07-17T10:41:00.005-04:00

Ok, so far I've kept this bolg pretty much on track with running, and it've been debating going into anything else. I've decided to share a little more, but not too much!

Of course it involves the whole guy situation/dating. For a quick re-cap on what got me into this whole running thing, read my very first post, or here is an excerpt from it -
"I'll spare you the details (for now), but I went through a situation with a friend of mine right around my 32nd birthday, and it wore me out....completely. It was stressful, painful, scarey, and exhausting. The thing is, it wasn't "about me", I was merely helping this person out when they were in a very bad place in their life. Eventually it took a toll on me and left me questioning everything about myself, somehow it rocked my confidence and left me low, to pick up the pieces on my own.Sometimes to find yourself or "get yourself back" you need to push outside of your comfort zone. Show yourself how strong you are and exactly what you can do, prove that you are not broken. Well, at least this is the way my brain works. So, that is exactly what I did."
So, that "person", has been a significant part of my life, on and off, for nearly 10 years. We are now in differnet states, but sometimes you would never know it. We are TOTALLY NOT together, at all, I am completely single. It's the relationship that won't go away, but it's the relationship that won't work. We've always been there for each other (moment of honesty - I have always been there, his attendance is more like 60% at best). Anyway, I should have walked away a long time ago, actually I should have sprinted! There have been some other random dates for me, NOTHING of any significance, as I have still been "carrying the torch" BIG TIME!
Things can go on for a couple weeks, few phone calls here and there, no big deal, and then something happens and it's like a bomb, and everything spirals out of control (for me). In reality, nothing really happens, but at the moment it feels like something really bad has happened.
That is what happened yesterday. Something (that was really nothing) happened, and there I was - spiraling away! The rest of the day pretty much sucked......until I went out for my run last night. It took a lot of prodding to get my booty out there, then I remembered I might run into the "trail hottie" from the previous post, and got myself out there. I never did see "trail hottie", but the more I ran the better I felt, so I ran a little further and a little faster than I planned. When I was done I felt a million times better, like I got myself back.
This will be an ongoing challenge for me (moving on), but I am up for it.
So here is my plan (always gotta have a plan)!!!
1. Keep getting out there more (happy hour, running groups, ...)
2. Keep everything in perspective and not let the actions of someone else effect my day in such a huge way.
3. Work on "keeping the distance" from the negative, and FOCUS on my progress, my goals, and all things positive!!

Enough of my "other stuff", here's a re-cap of my run last night-
Back to Peters Trail, did 5.5 miles. My 5 mile time was 47 minutes!
My Blister - it came back. So sad, but I'm going to get rid of it, one way or another!!!!

Gotta Catch Up!

2008-07-15T09:43:00.002-04:00

Wow, where do I begin? I feel like I've been away from Blogland forever! I'll go for a quick review!
So last week I ran with the "People who run Downtown" on Tuesday and then again on Thursday. The Thursday night group was bigger, definitely a good time. Afterwards a bunch of us hung out and ate dinner at "Jo Mamma's", I had the BEST pizza!
Saturday I ran with my Team in Training group at North Park. I was hoping to do 12 miles, but after our 7 mile loop I could feel a blister brewing on my left foot. I went back out for the 3.4 mile loop, I could really feel it them. So when I came back in and took off my shoe....yikes! There it was, gross. Our running coach, Coach Chris, looked at it and said the damage I would do running on it would outweigh the good of getting in another mile and a half. Booooo. Good news though is that for the first 7 miles I averaged 9:17/mile, so I was happy with that. After the run I went to my nieces Birthday Party, too fun! I was psyched to see that they were having pizza, I was starving!!! The rest of the day was a blur, I basically napped, ate, napped, ate, etc.
Sunday I took my bike out for a ride on the Peters Trail. My friend Linda met up with me and we did 11 miles. The whole time I kept thinking - this is so much easier than running! I think my foot was happy for the break!
Monday morning I met up with my group at the track, we did our 2 mile timed run. My first mile was 8:15 and second was 8:06!!! AWESOME!
Monday night I hit the Peters trail to get in the 6 miles that were on my schedule, it went pretty good. I had to walk a few times because of that freaking blister, but I got it done in 59 minutes (that's technically less than 10 minute miles!). But the best part about the Monday night run was the HOTTIE that I spotted on a bike!!!!!!!! Seriously, I will be frequenting this trail with the hopes of spotting him again! I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure he was checking me out, after he rode past me (we were going in opposite directions) we both did the "turn around and look", I was ready to do the "turn around and chase" LOL!!!!
Well, time to get to work! We have photo shoots today and tomorrow, so long days ahead!
I will post more details from the past week later on!

Running Downtown: Pretty Good!

2008-07-08T21:08:00.002-04:00

Well I'm back from my first run with the "downtown group" and it was pretty good! I had a hard time finding the place, so I was a little later than I wanted to be, but luckily 2 people had hung back for the "stragglers" and there ended up being 5 of us that headed out together. The beginning of the run was very tough, total climb up this mountain of a hill. By the time I got to the top my mouth was soooooooooo dry I could barely swallow, and of course I forgot my gum!! Also leaving with no water was completely stupid on my part, even though no one else had it, I NEED WATER!!!!
The rest of the run was pretty cool, we went across one of the many bridges in Pittsburgh then down the South Side trail, turned around and crossed over a different bridge then back to the meeting place. After the run a lot of people hung around outside, they had pitchers of water and veggie tray. There was some decent socializing, everyone seems really nice and they told me about another group that meets on Thursday nights to run. This will definitely help with getting in the miles during the week.
Overall I ended up getting in 5 miles, it took me WAY too long, but I'm glad I got the miles in! Not bad considering the extreme heat and the fact that my mouth was so dry!!!
Thanks to everybody for the encouragement to give the group a try!!

Trying Something New...

2008-07-08T11:37:00.002-04:00

So, I've been realizing that I REALLY need "get out there more" (be more social, meet more new people, potentially start dating....yikes!!!), in addition to that I HAVE to start getting in more miles during the week. Sooooooo, today after work I am going to venture into Downtown Pittsburgh to meet up with a group of runners group called "People Who Run Downtown". They meet every Tuesday at a different location (usually a restaurant) and have 2, 4, and 6 mile maps. From there you head on out and that there is usually a decent group of people so finding someone at your pace shouldn't be too hard, so we'll see how it goes. After the run they grab a drink or some food at the restaurant (not sure how that will work considering when I'm done running I don't think anyone will want to stand near me let alone eat a burger!), and that's it. Chances are I'll bail before too much socializing can happen, but maybe I'll be pleasently surprised! I'm always hoping to meet some new girl friends (not a "girlfriend", lol), most of mine are popping out kids and hanging out with their husbands!
I'll be sure to post an update after my outing!

Brentwood Firecracker 5k - PR!

2008-07-04T21:45:00.002-04:00

I did it! My goal was to finish the 5k under 30 minutes and I did it in 28:34, I was totally happy! There were 1,278 people, that put me in 767th place overall (so funny to hear that!) and 76th in my age group. Wooooooooo hoooooooo, that's all fine by me!
After the run I helped my mom out with the parade, the kids were so cute with their pom poms, it was a great parade!
Once I got home I was ready for a nice nap, then it was off to my neighborhood block party. TONS of food and plenty of margaritas! Now I'm home and ready to get to bed!
I hope everyone had a great 4th!

The Weekend is Almost Here!

2008-07-03T10:00:00.002-04:00

It is so nice that today is the final day of the work week! Tomorrow I will be running in the Brentwood Firecracker 5K. It's a great "out and back" course that is usually packed with runners and spectators. My Mom's dancing school is in Brentwood, so every year her students (the 3-6 year olds) are in the parade that follows the race. So after I finish my out and back I will head back down to the turnaround of the race, that's where the parade starts. I'll "march" along with them and keep the little one's in line! It should be a fun time though!
I'm excited for the 5K, I haven't run much this week because my foot has been bothering me. I'm hoping that it will feel pretty good for tomorrow though. I haven't done a 5K under 30 minutes in a while and I am REALLY hoping to finish it under 29.
Hope you all have a Happy Fourth of July!

7:58 Mile?? Who, me????

2008-07-01T08:25:00.006-04:00

So, yesterday I met with my workout group in the morning at the track, it was really good (except for my foot hurting, but I'll get to that in a minute!).
We started off with a 1 mile run for time and as you could guess from the title of this post, I did it in 7:58!!!! That means I did it in less than 8 minutes (which is also less than 9 minutes!!!!)!!! I was blown away, I didn't know I could go that fast! Of course as soon as I finished, I was DONE! If you would have told me "Skip 10 feet down the track and I'll give you an ice cream cone", I would have told you "Skip your ass down there, get it and bring it back to me, I just ran a mile in less than 8 minutes!!!"
After that we did some sprinting drills on the field, along with side shuffles and a few other random things. My left foot and my right ankle were still bothering me from Saturday's run (and Friday night's Zumba). Sidenote - my left foot has been a "pain" for about the past 7 years. It all started with a stress fracture to the sesmoid bone that would not heal. Eventually after 3 years of dealing with it they ended up taking the sesmoid bone OUT of my foot...lovely! So, this is always a weak spot for me, if something is going to go wrong that's where it will be.
After all the drills we went back on the track for another mile....yeah, that didn't work for me. After about 1 lap I decided to walk and stretch, realizing that at this point 1 more mile was going to cause more pain than it was worth!
Overall it was still a great workout. I iced my foot on and off yesterday and this morning it is feeling much better. I'm icing it again at this moment while I'm at work...gotta love frozen peas!

Week in Review (well, part of it any way!)

2008-06-29T20:02:00.003-04:00

What a busy week it's been! First of all my computer AC adapter/charger thing died and I had to wait to get a new one from Dell, I felt so out of touch with everything without my computer! Then for work we had 2 photo shoots back to back, but thankfully they went really well, just left me completely exhausted!
I was able to get a short run in on Wednesday morning, just about 3 miles, but I was glad to fit it in. Then on Thursday night I decided to go out! Let me explain - I rarely go out! That is also one of the new things that I'm working on changing, I have to get out there more!!! So, on Thursday night I GOT OUT THERE, and paid for it ALL DAY Friday! The good thing is that I had a great time out, the bad thing is my head was killing me until 4pm on Friday!
Then on Friday night I went with my Mom to a "Zumba Master Class". My Mom is an amazing dancer and certified Zumba instructor, smokin hot too! This class kicked my booty! I have taken Zumba a bunch of times, but the whole "master class" thing was awesome! It ended up being 2 hours long! Very fun, totally awesome workout!
Then on Saturday morning I went for my long run with my Team in Training group. We ran at North Park which was awesome, it was my first time there. One lap around the big lake is 5 miles, it has some nice rolling hills, but nothing too crazy. Part way through the first lap I noticed that I could sort of "feel everything" a little more. It was really humid, and my hip flexors will killing me from all the dancing! At the end of mile 5 I re-fueled with a gu and water and a swig of G2, then headed back out in the opposite direction for the next 5. One of the TNT head mentors, Rob, paired up with me for this part. I'm so glad that he did because I was struggling by mile 7. Thankfully he kept my mind off of it with lots of good conversation! As we got to mile 9 the rain started and I was so glad we were almost done! We ran in strong for the final mile and then joined up with our group for some HOMEMADE Blueberry Coffee Cake that was made by my mentor, Audrey! It was SOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!!!
Once I was done with my coffee cake (and grabbed a 2nd piece to go....come on, according to my Garmin I burned 1,056 calories!!!!) I headed home. Shortly after I got in the car I noticed I felt "different" than I did from 10 miles last weekend! I could really feel it in my feet and ankles and of course my hips! I'm just hoping that this was from all the dancing on Friday night!
I woke up pretty stiff this morning, I still feel like my ankles are sort of "jammed". Not sure why, but just hoping that it will pass!
I feel like there's so much more to write, with my computer being down most of the week I'm totally behind! This will be it for now......Hope everyone had a great weekend and is ready for a great SHORT week!