Snatched!

This morning I was thrown into a van against my will.
The van had no windows and no seats. My eyes blinked at the darkness. There were already 2 other girls lying on the van's floor. I could tell from the dejected looks, there was no easy way out of here. I huddled against the wheel hub and prayed the driver would slow down so we wouldn't knock around. Over and over he stopped and threw other people in the van, mostly women. At first we didn't speak, we just stared at the floor, still in shock at how we got there. The van grew crowded and hot. The stench was unbearable. I wondered if we would ever get where we were going.
So, apparently, my body hates running. This is news to me. For I, or at least my heart and brain, love running. My body however, didn't get the message. And it's trying very hard to send me a message of it's own. Clearly.
I did not have a good long run today. Again. The goal was 20 and I started off strong. My head was in it, I was going to kick that 20 miles in the astronaut. Instead, it knocked me on my astronaut. Almost literally.
Around mile 11 my knee just gave out. It didn't hurt, but it wouldn't hold my weight. Unforch, my coach witnessed this and demanded that I sit on the curb. She whipped out her phone to call the SAG wagon. I pleaded with her not to. I was sure I could just walk it off. She would hear none of it. That's how I ended up in the crowded van. The agony of the SAG wagon.
I've rolled, iced and elevated my hip and knee. I'm hopeful that I'm not actually injured. My marathon is only 5 weeks away. This cannot be happening. Yet it happens to runners all the time. Gah. Can't I just wish it away?
I'm taking it easy today. Lunch at Red Robin might make me feel better. There is hardly an emptiness that steak fries can't fill.
I'm being dramatic. This I know. I'm planning on a strong 18 next Sunday and a visit to some type of smarty medical type person this week. I can't keep diagnosing myself on them internets! :o)
Keep you posted...

I have no clever title, sorry

It's been a busy week!
The good kind of busy though. Recently they opened a University Co-op in Dallas. It was at aforementioned Co-op that after much deliberation, and a little modeling, I found the perfect hat for the marathon. It's actually a technical fabric so hopefully I won't be trying to shed it come mile 9. Hook 'em!

Thursday, Jules and I headed to Fadi's to enjoy some yummy Mediterranean food. I often get the veggie sandwich and you just never know what delicious vegetables it will contain. They'll just throw in whatever they cooked that day. Spinach, eggplant, tabouli, green beans, potatoes...the list goes on. However, they have the best cauliflower ever. Ever. I get so excited when I see they have cauliflower. They didn't have cauliflower on Thursday, but I heard them tell another customer that they would make it for him! He declined, but I nervously asked if I could get cauliflower added to my sandwich. They did! Like manna. Keep in mind, while it certainly IS a large sandwich, it's on a bread plate! I could eat at Fadi's every other day. So delicous. And most everything is cooked healthily. Imagine that!

Later in the day we headed down the lane to take a tour of the Federal Reserve Building. You see, our "teambuilding" funds have been slashed to zero this year, so we are getting creative. The tour is free, and since we are also a financial organization, it made sense. You know what? It was great! If you have a Fed in your area (there are 12) check it out! We each got packages of shredded bills to take home. Here we are with our cumulative $240!We take our football very seriously in Texas. Very. This was homecoming weekend for our local high school. So even though we didn't go to school there, nor do we KNOW anyone that attends, we traipsed our merry little selves down to watch the Homecoming Parade. So fun! I loved the band, all the floats, the motorcycles, the cheerleaders! Made me nostalgic for high school. Also made me want a mum. Those things are gaudy as all get out, but oh-so-important! Girls who didn't get mums would actually skip school the Friday before homecoming so they didn't have to attend mumless. High school can be so tragic. I've been told mums are a Texas thing. Did y'all have mums for homecoming?Today I've been resting, hydrating and gearing up for another 20 miler tomorrow. I am currently on a mission to stock our freezer and pantry. I'm pretty bad about only buying what we need, and most of that is fresh food. Okay, so that isn't bad, but we usually don't have staples. No ingredients to actually MAKE things. Our freezer looks like this most of the time.Full of nothing but ice. You know, for the all important ice bath. I've found large plastic containers better than just cubes. They take longer to melt. OC there is my water bottle, frozen, in preparation for tomorrow as well. I think there is one fruit popsicle in the box. That is the only edible item. Pathetic. So I headed out and bought "in bulk" a few staples to keep frozen. Okay, so not all of it will freeze. But lots of extra nuts, breads, chicken (for Hubs) plenty of milk and a cutie pumpkin thrown in for good measure. And yes, those ARE white biscuits thrown in with that whole grain pita and Ezekiel bread. Hey, I'm from the South. Gotta have a little comfort food in that stocked freezer, right? Mmm, biscuits and white gravy. Biscuits and butter. Biscuits and jelly.

Speaking of, I'll be climbing in the biscuit soon. Gotta get my rest before my long run. I've only got 3 more long runs left before tapering begins. Where did the time go? Good luck to all those racing in the morning!

Running Warehouse to the Rescue!

I love Running Warehouse. The website makes me happy. It’s easy to use, they always have just what I’m looking for and always at the best price. Plus, no tax and free shipping. What’s not to love? This is my Go To site for running apparel and shoes.

I know I’ll need new kicks before my marathon and I wanted to have a pair a few weeks prior so I could break them in a bit, but still have ultimate cushiness for the race. Click, click, click and QUEL NIGHTMARE, they are OUT of my shoes!!! My shoes. My beloved Mizuno Wave Riders. What’s a girl to do?

Swiftly moving towards hyperventilation, I reminded This Pink Girl that having pink shoes was not the most important thing, support is. So I moved on to the green and blue Mizuno Wave Riders. Out. Panic begins to set in once again. Out? Out! How can you be out of my size so close to my race? What about me? Will I have to, gasp, pay retail? I noticed anticipated arrival dates for several other sizes, but my size, 7.5 B, completely gone. Like maybe Mizuno will never make size 7.5 B again.

Frantic, I was about to e-mail the nice folks at Running Warehouse, but then I spotted a toll free number. My fingers flew to the keypad and lickety split, the phone was ringing.

I proceeded to ramble like a maniac to poor Drew who picked up. Words just poured out of my mouth, I caught, “need sweet kicks for my marathon” and “will even settle for non-pink shoes.” Bless her heart, Drew mashed a few buttons, read a few notices and…informed me that my precious pink Mizuno Wave Riders will be in on October 15^th. A solid 2 weeks before the marathon. Sigh.

Drew honey, you just seriously made my day! I’ve always been very pleased with any transaction I’ve had with Running Warehouse. They ship fast and for free. The merchandise is first quality. The website it easy to use. And now I know, that even in person, they deliver superior customer service. Thank you Running Warehouse for saving me when I was almost reduced to tears. Thank you for handling my request so swiftly and reassuring me I’d even have time to break my new Riders in, and wishing me luck in my race.

And no, this isn’t a commercial for Running Warehouse. I’m a firm believer that great service should be recognized. Mad props to RW!!!

Happy Fall Y'all!

Today is the first day of Fall.

It's much cooler here, the air is crisp and there is the promise of a season change in the air. I've thrown the windows open to air out the house and we are celebratin' using our Fall "glassware."

This weekend I plan to watch "You've Got Mail" while eating home made soup to celebrate. What are YOU doing to celebrate the arrival of Fall?

Happy Fall y'all!

Monday Blessings

I am blessed beyond measure.
This I know for sure. I started the day off with 8.4 amazing miles. When I finished I knew for sure that I could easily run another 4 miles if I had the time. Funny how that works. Where was this mojo on Saturday??? Probably in bed asleep.
Where I should be now. 4:30 comes early. Per ush.
Part of my marathon challenge is to raise $2500 for the charity Run for Something Better. Today I held a bake sale at work. I prepared strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting and chocolate, chocolate chip poundcake. I love to bake and I love to make food cute! I cannot tell you what temptation having dozens of cupcakes on your desk all day is. But I did not eat one. Not even one! Okay, so I might have had a few crumbs of cake. Only crumbs though.

My goal was to raise $25. I raised over 4 times that! I am blessed to work with such amazingly generous people! I felt so much support today from each person that stopped by. Gave me some resolve to continue my training at full force. I won't let them down! Three weeks to tapering.

And yeah, I'm already looking for an early Spring marathon. This bidness is addicting!

Running is not always Fun

And other sad truths in life. So Saturday morning I gobbled down a peanut butter sandwich and head out to WRL with Michelle to run our first 20K. We caught the shuttle from the church and barely made it to the start line in time. But we were excited! Hey, the rain had actually stopped and dare I say it, the sun looked like it just might make an appearance! Tour de Fleurs we go!

Hmph. Well SOMEONE decided it would be more fun to just whine the whole way. SOMEONE was not thrilled about all the hills they threw in, apparently just to be cruel. SOMEONE was disappointed that she paid good money to run the same route her running group takes every weekend. SOMEONE felt like her hip was going to catch fire the entire race. SOMEONE thought she might actually puke on several occasions. I don't know exactly who that is, but it was SOMEONE with a very bad attitude. I'm surprised that SOMEONE didn't get knocked down on her whiney little tail.

Michelle practically dragged me across the finish line, believe me, I didn't set any records. I didn't even beat my best half time. (a 20K is 12.4 miles vs a half marathon that is 13.1 miles, and yes, I had to look it up) You know what? Some runs just stink. This one surely did. It stunk for 2 hours and 26 minutes. BUT I knew that we would be treated to fabulous food, as this swanky race is known for the swag. As we excitedly approached the festivities we witnessed in horror only empty food tables and abandoned tents. Yep, all the food was gone. All of it. No pizza, no Sonic breakfast burritos, no Pokey-O cookies, no Tiff's Treats, no Einstien Bagles. Nothing. We were lucky to get water, and in fact, we had to share that one. I guess they were 10K heavy and the six milers took all the grub. Insult to injury. Boo to your poor food planning!

Here we all are, mad that our bellies are empty. L-R Adriana, Me, Michelle, Elizabeth and Jenn.

I've decided that a 20K is not for me. I'd rather run the 10K and get food, or find a half marathon, tack on less than a mile and get a medal for it instead of just a hat. But all was not lost because the Dallas Arboretum is just gorgeous. They had over 40,000 pumpkins!

Later in the day my mom and I headed out to an estate sale where I swagged this super deal.

I've been wanting to make a wreath entirely out of ornaments for some years now. What I did NOT want to do is spent the clams to buy that many boxes of ornaments. And you know, I love vintage, so every time I'd come across a box of cheap old ornaments at a garage sale, well, they would end up on my tree. There is no way I'd put hot glue to a Shiny Brite ornament! But these are all no label and I was thrilled with the price. Even better when I got to the register and she looked up at me, thanked me for my patience and said, "How 'bout $7?" Deal!

Up early tomorrow for 8 miles. I'm holding a bake sale, let you know tomorrow how that goes!

Whoo Pooped?

Tomorrow is my first 20K. Which would sound like a much bigger deal if, you know, I didn't run further than that every Sunday. But I've never raced a 20K. Now the chances of me winning my age group, my zip code or even my block are pretty much zero. I am slow people. S-L-O-W. And marathon training has made me even slower than I used to be. My plan for tomorrow is to get back into racing mode. I haven't race is forevah. Forevah evah? Forevah evah. Like since April. Yeesh. It's cooler though, overcast and the chance of rain is 0%. Which is actually a pretty big deal since the sky has been leaking nonstop the past week.

Today was my day off. I sincerely thought Friday would never get here. Thankfully it did and to celebrate I slept until, wait for it, 8:45. Yes, a full 4 hours and 14 minutes later than usual. I love sleep. That's where I'm a viking. In between bouts of sofa surfing, I did some On Demand yoga.

Jules and I headed our this afternoon to visit our girl Lauren who just popped out baby Bryce on Sunday. He's so incredibly teeny, yet he has all his parts. Incredible! Not only does he have tons of hair, he's super advanced, only 5 days old and already he can hold his teeny little head up. Congratulations Lauren! (that's Jules in the photo holding baby Bryce)

Anywho. To the poop. Our garage is detached from our home. I went out today to pull my car out and...there was a big pile of crap by my car. So I moved Hubs' hockey gear (ba-dum-dum) and there was a big pile of poop. In our closed garage. This pile of poopy was right by my car door so it couldn't have been there when I parked my car, or I would have stepped right in it. (ewwwwww) Mystery: who pooped and where are they now? Cat? Raccoon? El Chupacabra? I've had the garage door slightly open hoping the pooper will leave. Please leave. Please. So gross. OC I had to share it with y'all.

Good luck to those who are racing! See ya tomorrow for a race recap.

Fat, Hot Socks

My feet are very important to me. They take me places, plus they are usually pretty cute. I try to take very good care of them, try to keep them happy. This can be a diffucult task while training for a marathon.

I'm currently testing out differnt cushioned socks before Race Day. Remember this post on Balegas? Yeah, I'm so over Balegas for my long runs. They squeak when my feet sweat (and believe me they sweat a lot) they got very pilly very quickly (just like I run Like a Girl said they would,) and they don't wash very well. I'm out on Balegas for really long runs.

Of course I still loooooooove my Feetures. Seriously, long term committed relationship with Feetures, but I can't seem to find a cushioned Feetures sock. Do they make one? Does anybody know?

This weekend I purchased the Thorlo Experia in pink, natch.

Their website is hilar, they acutally state that the Experia is NOT for people who are accustomed to the regular thick Thorlos. Hmm. Interesting angle. Well, I don't like regular Thorlos. They say these are for young, healthy feet. Hey, I have young, healthy feet! (well, if you don't count my sad, bruised index toes) I've worn them once, for 7 miles, haven't tried them out on a long run yet. So far, so good! Super thin except where I really need it. Yet the padding isn't as thick as the old school Thorlos. Plus, they come in fun colors. You know, like pink. Any suggestions for cushioned socks, that aren't all fat and hot? I don't like fat, hot socks!

Oh sun, where'd ya go?

It poured for Saturday's long run.
Well, to be fair, it actually rained lightly for the first 12 miles or so. Just enough to be annoying. Then the heavens opened up for the next few miles. Yeah, our planned 20 miles turned into 14.20. (don't forget the .20!) There just comes a point when it is raining so hard that you can hardly see, your shoes squish with every step and they weigh twice as much as they should. Plus your sweat rag is soaked, but not with sweat. Time to call it a day.

Yeah, we are totally hardcore. Michelle and I changed clothes twice. New shirts and hats after mile 11, and again before we got in the car. My toes were all wrinkly and we were just about the only people at the lake. Yeah, no cyclists, no dogs, no babies. Just a few insane runners. You know, and us. That's me, the super cool one with the head lamp. (and the still nasty bruise from my attack of the thorns)

The rest of my day was spent caring for poor blind Hubs. He's actually recovering from his Lasik nicely, if more slowly than expected. I did head to the grocery store and gasped with glee when I saw THIS at the entrance.

The first pumpkins of Fall! Of course I bought one. These are intended for cooking, but they are just so darling I couldn't resist one for our living room. I am passionate about pumpkins. I usually pick up another each time I head to Central Market. My very favorite are the sage green/taupe Fairy Tale pumpkins. Gorgeous!

I headed out this evening for a bit since I cut yesterday's run so short. I got in a solid 3 miles with six 30 second pick ups. It felt good to run fast! I need to remember to do this more often. What's 30 minutes? Not every run has to be in the double digits!

Tomorrow I'm back to work. I wish I felt rested, but I don't. Oh wells, there is another weekend in less than a week! Maybe I'll set some sleep then. My goal tonight is to be in bed by 9 pm. Can I do it? It's still rainly and gloomy, that should provide some good sleeping weather, plus, I love a challenge!

The Hips don't Lie

Some girls shake their hips.
Other hips wiggle. My hips just hurt. I've been keeping frozen corn on the offending hip and stretching like a rubber band. Hoping beyond hope if I'm really, really kind to it, the pain will go away.

Today's scheduled 20 miler turned into 16. Something about a holiday and lack of coaches. Whatever the reason, I was NOT disappointed to "only" run 16.


WITH MY NEW GROUP! That's right, I dropped down to the 11:30 group this weekend. Because I was tired of feeling unsuccessful in the 11:00 group. Mostly because the 11:00 group insisted on maintaining a sub 10 pace. Uh, not so eleveny. Too speedy for this girl! I loved running with the new group! Much smaller (less than 10 vs more than 20) and we did a great job of keeping on pace. My old group was full of fun characters that I'll miss listening to on Sundays, but my body is so grateful for this change.


Only one dramatic event to mar this wonderful occasion. I sorta got into it with a thorny tree branch that Mother Nature decided to leave in the road, just waiting to ensnare me. Ouch.

It looks much better up close and in person, due to the bruising and all. But I'll spare you the microscopically detailed view. I don't know why my toes look all gnarled in this shot. Maybe because it's challenging to take a semi flatter photo of your own leg. That angle, man it will get you every time. The best part was that because I was so sweaty...get ready this is gross...it looked like I was bleeding a lot more than I really was. Ah, running is so sexy.

I've enjoyed an ice bath, a long shower and Whataburger taquitos. Soon Hubs and I are hopping on a plane and heading for Minnesota! Sleeping late, multiple naps and plenty of magazine reading are in my near future. Put your hands up for relaxing vacations!