Balancing Life and 26 Miles

New Blog!!

2010-06-01T21:48:00.001-04:00

I did it!! Ok, well, J and I did it......

In any case, I have a new blog! Please head on over to www.mile26andmore.com for more life, racing, and Heatha fun! Do it. Now. You won't regret it.

Oh, and make sure to update your blogrolls and google readers (that is, if I have any faithful readers - I mean, there's gotta be at least one, right?...............maybe??!).

Let me know what you think - I'll see you there!

Peace out, Blogspot.

Final Farewell

2010-05-30T10:12:00.000-04:00

Last night we tried not to be too sad as we headed out to dinner.

We met my BFF, Nikki, and her son, Evan, at Rockbottom Brewery for our final farewell.

The sign when we walked in:

It's hard to be sad when this guy is with you, though:

SO CUTE.

These guys aren't too bad either:

There are still Rockbottom Brewery's in Pittsburgh, Columbus, and Chicago so we hope to make our rounds! Nikki and I discussed maybe making it a tradition to travel to one for our birthdays every year. I love new traditions!

We killed those pretzels........they didn't stand a chance...... :)

In other news, C and I got up early today and took the Diddy-man for a mile walk, and then we headed back out to Einstein's to pick up bagels for the boys. We decided to run the 1/2 mile there and back, and my knee started to hurt on the way back! I'm glad my friend cancelled on me to run this morning because I think it needs another week break. It wasn't an intense pain like last Sunday, but it was enough to make me concerned and to know that a 6+ mile run today was NOT a good idea. I think a long bike ride is in the cards instead today. It's supposed to be a hot one!

Hope you're enjoying your Memorial Day weekend wherever you are! Make it a good one!

Question of the day:

Have you started any new traditions lately?

Getting My Fill

2010-05-29T17:03:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a long day. What do I do to relax at the end of a long day?

Bake!!

These are my boy's favorite cookies!

You can tell it was a long day by the clock on the wall behind me - 9:40 and I was only on the 3rd cookie sheet!

We went to bed shortly after because we had an early Saturday morning wake up call for C's LAST soccer game of the season:

Doesn't he look sleepy still? :)

THE FORCE:

The weather was perfect this morning, too. What a great day to round out the season!

Though, I think this guy might have thought it was too hot. Check out that tongue on our ride home!

Tonight we're headed to Rockbottom Brewery for our Last Supper. So sad! I might eat the whole soft pretzel appetizer myself. I mean, who knows when I'll next be at a Rockbottom. Better get my fill, right?

Plus, I'm meeting a friend for a run in the morning so it won't hurt to carbload!

Are you getting your fill of your favorite foods this weekend?

Weekday Wine

2010-05-27T15:09:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a great day!

I had a package waiting for me when I got home from work:

Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!! My first product due to the blog!!

SO.TOTALLY.EXCITED.

Take a look inside:

Please know that I received these samples free from POM Wonderful, and intend on giving you my honest opinion and hopefully even a recipe or two!

I immediately put the box in our refrigerator, and headed out for my hot date night with Allison from GreenDogWine at Wine Bar in Rocky River.

Allison is seriously so down to earth, relatable, and is just a kick ass girl. Love her.

There was laughter, and lots of this:

I mean, it IS named Wine Bar for a reason.

We shared 2 appetizers (which were delicious!) and talked for hours.

It was a fun night!

Did you do anything to break up your work week?

Feels Like Summer?

2010-05-24T19:12:00.001-04:00

The title has a question mark at the end of it because I know how Cleveland weather has fooled me in the past. I think it's summer and then, BAM!, we have snow again! Ok, maybe not that extreme, but you know what I mean. Clevelanders are quite comical because as soon as it gets nice everyone is wearing shorts and flipflops and driving their convertibles with the tops down!

So, since Sunday was BEAUTIFUL. J and I spent our lunch here:

We rode our bikes down to Edgewater park and ate on the rocks overlooking the lake. It was the perfect day for it!

After lunch we decided to ride around the city some. We ended up riding 15 miles!

I had tried to run early in the morning. But after 1 mile the outside of my left knee started hurting again. I don't think I mentioned it, but it's been hurting ever since the Cleveland marathon. I've been using the foam roller on it since then, and I thought it was better, but after a mile I had to turn around and head home. I wasn't going to make it much further than 2 miles. I have to give my body some rest. Two marathons in two weeks is a lot. I have to keep telling myself that! It's not a secret that I'm not 20 years old anymore!

So after our ride, I spent some time doing this:

Hurts so good.

And, in case you didn't know, this is what happens when you try to use a self timer with a pup in the house:

Hahaha!

And, yes, it hurts that bad - those pictures are of me trying to smile! :)

Is it summer, summer, summertime where you live??

Peace.

Crazy Cleveland Weather

2010-05-23T09:20:00.000-04:00

Good morning!!!

I hope it's as nice wherever you are as it is in Cleveland today!

Though I wish I could say the same for yesterday. Only in Cleveland does the weather go from this:

To this:

In less than 2 hours.

C's game started at 1:00, and as I started my walk down to the park it started to drizzle. When I was almost there, the thunder had begun, and the rain was coming down. Obviously the game was on delay.

This was the first game of the season and first time C was playing in the "big leagues". The team definitely needs some work, but they'll get there.

By the time the game was over it was hot and muggy!

Poor C looks like he got his Mama's sweat genes, huh? :)

And this guy was SPENT by the time we got home:

He's in for a surprise once it finally gets hot around here.......

I went for a short 2 mile run this morning, and J and I are planning a bike ride for this afternoon. Can't wait!

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Not Our Lucky Day

2010-05-22T17:13:00.000-04:00

Hi Friends!!

Hope you all had a fantastic Friday!

After work I headed to a new salon to get my hair did. Crazy Mullets (hehe, love the name!) opened in Lakewood about a year and a half ago and, needless to say, I was VERY tentative to give it a try. You see, a friend of mine from high school works at Ladies & Gentlemen, and cut my hair for years, but he has since gotten so good that he's too expensive for me anymore! I have yet been able to find someone since him who I love. So, I followed the reviews on Yelp! and booked an appointment with Brett at Crazy Mullets.

What do you think?

It's BLOND! And short!

I just hope when I straighten it that it looks as nice!

We then headed to Sweet Melissa in Rocky River for dinner. Ugh, what a disappointment! They have redone the whole place. They took all the sandwiches off the menu, changed the kids menu, and even removed my favorite veggie chili! The look has even changed. We used to find the restaurant very homey and welcoming, and now it's a little more upscale and overpriced. Total bummer.

I guess it wasn't as upsetting to C because this is what he did while we wait for our food:

Gotta love an 8 year old, huh?

And check out my new shirt:

I figure if I'm running a marathon, then I'm buying a shirt that says so! Maybe one day I'll have a collection??

After our disappointing dinner we headed to my BFF, Nikki's, house to visit the fam. Remember Baby Evan? Well, he's 4 months old already!

Aren't they all beautiful??

I had such a good time getting my baby fix.

Ummm, yeah, it was past his bedtime at this point. :)

It's a good thing we ended the night on a good note, because we also found out yesterday that the Rock Bottom Brewery in Cleveland is CLOSING and next weekend is their last weekend open!! This is our favorite restaurant in Cleveland (even though it's a chain....), so much that we even had our rehearsal dinner there. What horrible news! You'll definitely see a post next weekend about this, as we've already made plans to go there for dinner next Saturday! J loves the beer and I love the soft pretzel appetizer!

I guess today wasn't our lucky day for restaurants, huh?

Was today your lucky day??

The Finish Line

2010-05-20T19:49:00.000-04:00

The official marathon photos are finally up!

They are going to be a little blurry, as we "borrowed" them from the website, but I was too excited when I saw these that I couldn't wait to share them:

TEAM HEATHA bringin me home!

Doesn't that picture just make you smile?

Here we are coming down the home stretch:

And crossing as a family:

I'm so so so glad the photographers captured this moment since we didn't get any finishing pictures.

Don't let the timer fool you, my official time was 4:29:02. I'm proud of that time, yo!!

Hope you're having a fantastic Thursday - I'm excited that tomorrow starts the WEEKEND!!

Let the relaxing begin!

Dual Celebration

2010-05-19T16:05:00.000-04:00

Hey, hey!!

How is your Wednesday going so far? I'm in a great mood because it's finally sunny here again in Cleveland! What's it like in your neck of the woods?

So, after the marathon on Sunday, Team Heatha headed back to the Wood (Lakewood, for you non-Clevelanders) for a post-race and birthday celebration.

Whose birthday was it, you ask?

My mom! 39 again, right? hahaha.... :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KATH!!!

So, after some much needed showers, and per my mom's request, we headed to Danny Boys in Rocky River for some GRUB. By this time, I was HANGRY!

The waitress was super nice. When she saw my shirt, she brought us out some complimentary breadsticks. And if you've ever been to Danny Boys, you know that their breadsticks are TO.DIE.FOR. Seriously, they are puffy, doughy, garlicky bread deliciousness. Go there. Now. You will thank me.

And no birthday is complete without (cup)cake, right?

Are you tired of seeing cupcakes from Main Street Cupcakes yet? Because I will NEVER get tired of this place. We split them all 4 ways and taste tested our way through. The peanut butter chocolate was my absolute favorite!

And you know we didn't leave without a silly picture like this one:

I love C's face in this picture. He's so into it!

Do you have a certain picture/pose you have to always take/do?

The Second Half

2010-05-17T20:39:00.000-04:00

So, as I shook my head in disbelief after I split off from the half marathoners, I started my way down the LONGEST stretch of the course. Miles 12 to 16 were HARD because we were right along the lake running INTO the wind. Plus, it was the most difficult part of the course for spectators to get to so there weren't many bodies around, or any activity at all. Surprisingly, even with these obstacles, I was still feeling good. My breathing was steady and I was just moving along. I remember thinking to myself how happy I was. I was running along the lake, the sun was shining, and I was still feeling strong!

At mile 16 we turned onto Martin Luther King Drive and I knew I had one mile or so before I saw my family. I hit a pretty steep hill right after mile 17 and halfway up decided to walk so that I wouldn't burn myself out. I thought "I hope they aren't right at the top of this hill and see me walking!". And, wouldn't you know it, they were RIGHT at the top! It was the coolest thing ever, though, because I saw them and they saw me as soon as I came over the top and started on the decline. I saw my mom point me out to C and it made me smile so big.

J actually hopped in with me at this point and ran miles 18 to 20! He's not much of a runner, but he was such a trooper. What a husband! This was probably the prettiest section of the race so I was just trying to take it all in. The volunteers and spectators were so motivating through here, too. These 3 miles went by so fast! We had one more hill at the end of that area and C ran to the bottom to run up with us:

Anyone see a "family marathon" in our future??? Hehe.

Beka joined me at mile 21, and ran with me to the finish (even though she had already run the 10k!). I have the best of friends who are willing to sacrifice their time and energy to support me in these crazy endeavors!! We had to run down Euclid Ave and not through the best part of the city. This was probably the most boring section of the race. I felt bad because I was starting to feel the pain - my hamstrings were super tight and calves were burning - and I was starting to complain.

But Beka was fantastic. She never let me get down on myself, and really pushed me to the end. At one point I remember saying to her "I can't talk anymore. You have to talk without me." Haha. I was getting frustrated and just wanted to finish!

Once we turned the corner and could see the finish line in the distance I actually kicked it up a little! I couldn't believe I had it left in me.

Beka jumped out at mile 26 to let me finish and as I was running down the finish corral, C and J jumped in with me and we finished all holding hands! It was so emotional!

The announcer at the finish line even came up to read Colin's shirt and announced into the crowd "TEAM HEATHA!!". It was pretty darn cool.

Official results: 4:29:02. HECK, YES!!! I secretly wanted to come in under 4:30... :)

We walked around the after party a little bit so I could stretch my legs and they had a booth that had the official race results. How cool! I had literally just finished the race 5-10 minutes before and they were able to tell me my official race time. I was psyched! Especially since my Garmin told me I ran 26.48 miles!!! I know Allison's watch said she ran 26.34! WTH, Cleveland?? Whatevs.

I just want to thank my family for being there for me. You all seriously ROCK.

What a great day.

So, will I do another one? You betcha!!

Be on the lookout tomorrow for the post race celebration.....!

Hugs----

The First Half

2010-05-17T10:03:00.000-04:00

Hello! What a day yesterday was!!

Saturday night we headed to bed early and I was actually able to fall asleep by 10:30 (with the help of some Advil PM!). I slept straight through until my alarm went off at 5am! I debated with myself on what to wear, and ultimately went with the tank top and arm sleeves, which turned out to be the best decision, btw!

My friend, Beka, was running the 10k with her friend, Monica, so they met at our house at 6 to drive downtown together (me, Beka, Monica):

We got downtown at 6:30, met up with Jenay, and it was 6:50 already (race started at 7:00)! It was perfect timing since we didn't have to wait around too long. Jenay and I said our goodbyes, and headed out to join the mass of people running the half and full marathon. The 10kers were starting at 7:15 so Beka and Monica had a little time before they started.

We didn't have to wait long before the gun went off, and it only took about 3 minutes to cross the start line. It was crowded, but everyone seemed to be in good spirits so it was fun! We ran past the Science Center and Browns Stadium first and then up to West 6th Street. We were running a pretty steady 9:30 pace but I knew I wouldn't be able to keep that up if I didn't want to burn out early. I was feeling good, though, so I decided to stick with it for awhile. Jenay was running the half marathon, and trying to PR, so I didn't want to hold her back. We ran over the Carnegie Bridge and made our way towards Tremont. I knew my family was going to be there so I was in a great mood knowing I was going to see them around mile 4.

It was quick hello/goodbye and I was off again! After we left Tremont we had to run towards the westside of Cleveland on Lorain. Not the best area of Cleveland, but I was feeling great so I didn't mind. And the miles just seemed to be flying by. It was right around Mile 8 that I told Jen good luck, gave her a hug, and said I'd talk to her later. I knew I wouldn't be able to finish if I kept that pace.

Then I ran into Team Heatha at mile 9:

See me? I actually got teary a little bit at this point seeing C in front of me. I loved having him there cheering me on. Having family and friends there to support you really makes all the difference.

After a quick hug and kiss, we headed past Edgewater on the shoreway (I always find it funny to be running on the freeway, how bout you?) towards downtown. I desperately needed a bathroom break and stopped at mile 11 to use one of the porta pottys. I'd never stopped during a race like this and surprisingly didn't feel rushed! I stretched my hamstrings while waiting my turn and it felt so good!! I was trying to be smart this time around.

I got back into my groove and it was at mile 12 where the half marathoners split off. I actually laughed out loud to myself and shook my head in disbelief as to what I was doing. :)

I headed to the left as the halfers turned to the right and was still feeling positive. I knew I had a long stretch before I saw my family again (they were going to be at mile 17-18) so I turned up my music and kept on.

Second half coming later today -- stay tuned!!

Have a good Monday!

Today Was a Good Day

2010-05-16T20:07:00.000-04:00

I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.

THIS is the feeling I was looking to gain 2 weeks ago in Pittsburgh. I'm SO GLAD I decided to run today!

Gonna go relax and stretch. Hope everyone had as fulfilling of a day as I had!

Details tomorrow!

Hugs----

Cleveland Rocks & Runs

2010-05-15T14:28:00.000-04:00

OMGOMGOMGOMG -- it's here!!!

I would think that my mind would be so much more at ease about tomorrow since now I know what to expect. But, like I said before, I am so anxious for this race for some reason. And maybe it IS because I know what to expect?! All I know is that I'm a basket case right now (but what else is new).

In any case, we picked C up from school yesterday and headed straight downtown to the Expo at the Cleveland Convention Center to pick up my bib and such. I thought it would be fun to show C what all the hype is about and to get him involved. I think he found this the most amusing:

Must be a boy thing to find rows of porta pottys funny? Haha...

I think the back of the shirt is my favorite. I love that the slogan is "Cleveland Rocks and Runs"! The guitar is made up of all running related terms - it's cute.

Though, the loot we got isn't very impressive:

I mean, Reese's and Kit Kats? Oh well.

I did pick up some new socks to try (though I won't be wearing them tomorrow!). I've heard good things about these:

Is it bad I get excited about socks these days?? :)

Well, the plan is to have an early dinner at home tonight and get to bed early. I'm not sure what the outcome will be tomorrow, but I'm going to give it my all. As I tell C, "Try before you cry!". Who knows, I may just cry.........

Have a good weekend, Friends!!

Best Gift Ever

2010-05-13T22:27:00.001-04:00

LOVE:

Ummmm, please don't mind my double chin!

Here's a closeup:

My mom helps out a friend of the family and works at his jewelry store on the weekends and once during the week. His store is located in the quaint, downtown Willoughby area, and is called W Brown Custom Jewelry and Design. He specializes in custom orders, and even made my engagement ring (check out the "Heather" here)! If you're ever in the market for something special I highly recommend you check him out, Bill's such a great guy and works to create just what you want. How cool is it knowing you have a piece of jewelry that NO ONE else will ever have?

So, earlier this week I was telling the hubby that I wanted a necklace similar to this and he told me I should call Bill to have something made and then my mom showed up with this tonight!! I'm still super excited:

Can you tell??

THANKS MOM!! LOVE YOU.

Get My Head In The Game

2010-05-12T19:23:00.000-04:00

Did anyone else have a horrible storm this past weekend? Cleveland got hit pretty hard, and the winds got up to 50-60 mph! It was intense. Luckily we never lost power, but most of Lakewood did. Are you asking yourself yet where I'm going with this?

Well, today I went out for a short 3 mile run and ran down to the park and back. While running around the park (which is right on the lake), this is what I saw:

Holy crap! And those are only a few of the trees that were down.

I also saw these guys on my run:

It's that time of year again! Let's hope it warms up before their first game in 2 weeks.....

A great thing about Lakewood Park is that dogs are welcome now!

I always thought it was weird they didn't allow dogs. So now we can bring this guy:

Awwwww.........did you just fall in love?? Sorry, he's mine. :)

My legs felt a little heavy tonight, so I'm going to take it easy the next few days since the Cleveland marathon is this Sunday!! I'm totally freaking out. I explained to my friend today that I haven't forgotten about the pain and struggle I faced in Pittsburgh yet. It's like when you have a baby or drink til your sick and vow never to do it again, and then some time passes, you forget the pain, and think to yourself it would be a fun thing to do all over again. Well, I'm not to that point yet and can't stop thinking about it. I need to get my head in the game. I can't go into this race on Sunday with a negative attitude, I'll be screwed from the beginning if I do that.

Anyone have any advice for me??

Good to be Wrong?

2010-05-10T20:21:00.000-04:00

How was everyone's Mothers Day? Good, I hope?!

Mine was fantastico!

I even got a present:

Do you love it?

It's a HORRIBLE picture of me considering this was at mile 26, and I was completely DYING. But, it was also a great moment, and I love the date and time at the bottom! J made me one of these for my 1st half marathon, so they are now side by side in our living room.

We met my folks for a late lunch at the Waterstreet Grille downtown. It was ok, the food was nothing spectacular, but it was nice to hang with my parents.

Serious:

Silly:

I love my little guy.....

When we got home I relaxed and rotted my brain by watched a Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane marathon (love her!) while J and C put this together:

I think Diddy wanted to play!!

Baseball season starts in 2 weeks - time to practice, as C is "playing up" this year. I'm still on the fence about this, but J is convinced he's ready. Hmmmmm, I'm not so sure. And for one time in my life I really think it would be good if I were wrong......

Have you ever wished you were wrong?

How Far She's Come

2010-05-08T22:07:00.001-04:00

This post is dedicated to my Mom.

Doesn't she look so young?

I can't say that we have always had the perfect relationship, or were best friends as I was growing up, but today we are probably the closest we have ever been. I'm so proud of her for how far she has come the past few years.

Here is a picture of us from 2005:

And 2006:

Now, check us both out in 2007:

And I'm sure you can see the difference in the picture above from my wedding in 2008!!

What a journey she has had. She lost 100 pounds, and did it without any gimmicks, pills, shakes, etc. Pure will power and determination. Though, I think a lot of it had to do with this guy:

She is 100%, without a doubt, the BEST grandmother a kid could ask for. Now that she is healthy, and taking care of herself, she is the most active grandma, too!

I mean, I love my grandparents, but I never had the relationship that C has with my mom. He is the luckiest kid in the world. She is there for every concert, school event, soccer game, baseball game, and basketball game. They go to cooking classes, movies, you name it, they do it. It's pretty cool, actually.

She's an inspiration, and I'm proud to call her my mom!!

Love you, Kath!

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there. Take the day to do something for yourself - you deserve it!

Run for the Border

2010-05-06T19:11:00.000-04:00

For Cinco de Mayo, J and I decided to tackle the "Run for the Border" race held in downtown Cleveland. Here's a description of the race from the website:

"This is a 3 to 3.5 mile run with no set course! Beginning at 5:00pm, you will be given a map of the area and the locations of the checkpoints. You will then determine the quickest route to each checkpoint. At 6:30pm, the race will begin with teams starting every 10 seconds. Each team will receive a green card that must be stamped as you reach each checkpoint. Partners must run together and pass each checkpoint as a team. Teams not reaching all checkpoints will be disqualified.

Pretty sweet, right?

J was ready:

Just let me tell you how excited I was that he wanted to run this. He's not much of a runner, so anytime he says he'll run with me I make sure to lock him in so he can't back out!! Ha!

The race started at the Blind Pig on West 6th Street:

Wait, no headband? Who am I??? :)

Anyways, the 3 checkpoints were Carney's, McCarthy's, and Zocalo. J mapped out our course ahead of time, and we were off!

Our first stop was Carney's, where we were given a sombrero to wear and maraca to carry for the rest of the race. Everyone else must have had the same idea because we ran into this line when we got there:

Some random guy at the bar offered to take our picture, but this is what we ended up with instead:

Hahahaha!!! So funny!

This is much better:

We then headed to McCarthy's, which was luckily only a few blocks away. Here one team member had to throw 3 limes into a bucket that the other team member held on his or her head.

(sorry for the blurry picture, but we were in a hurry!!)

We were then off to Zocalo. Well, J thought he found a "shortcut" (I cringe anytime I hear that word, how bout you???) and took me a different route than anyone else. Well, he had me climbing fences!!!!

It got us there, but I'm not quite sure it was any faster? Anyways, at Zocalo we had to sit down and take a shot of tequila!

Blech.

Then we headed to the finish line. J did a great job of running the whole race, and Steve gave me a final distance of 3.19 miles.

Of course it was raining. I seem to have this bad luck with rain and races. Let's hope my bad luck wears out before next weekend!!

Hope you all had a fun Cinco de Mayo!!!!

Any other city have a fun race like this?

What now?

2010-05-05T21:11:00.000-04:00

Thank you for all the well wishes about the marathon!! They are really mean so much and are helping me through my "post marathon letdown".

I mean, what do I do now? What comes next? Hmmmmm......

Anyways, after we all headed back to the hotel, showered, and stretched after the race, we went to Primanti Bros for a post-race lunch. If you are a Clevelander, and have eaten at Panini's, Primanti Bros is the Pittsburgh version. You know, the huge sandwiches on white bread with the french fries and coleslaw stacked nice and high?? OMG, drool.........

Here's the crew:

See Kris? She's the 1st girl on the bench on the right (in green). She ran the marathon in 3:55!!! Talk about speedy. This was her 13th marathon, and she's only 27! Inspirational.

This group started "Team Journey" a few years ago in an effort to complete a marathon in every state. Not all of them are runners, but the cheerleaders count just as much!! Not sure I can run 50 marathons, but maybe I can do a handful? We'll see...

I'm still a little sore from Sunday, but it's nothing I can't handle. I'd be able to handle my sore hips/quads if my darn feet didn't hurt so much! These blisters need to heal asap. I was even able to teach my regular Group Step and Group Power classes yesterday without too much of a problem. Not too bad.

So, what's next for Heatha?? Well, the Cleveland Marathon is on May 16th (less than 2 weeks away!) and as long as I'm back to 100% I'm going to try to run it (call me crazy!).

Say your prayers for me at night that the rain stays away that day!!!

Tonight J and I did something super fun.........here's a little preview:

Did I actually run another race 3 days after the marathon???? Stay tuned......

Marathon Post

2010-05-04T21:54:00.000-04:00

The title of this post has a dual meaning: 1. the marathon recap (duh) and 2. it's going to be a long post, so put your feet up and settle in!

I was lucky enough to sleep ok the night before the race. It took me a long time to fall asleep, but once I was asleep I was OUT until the wakeup call woke me up at 5:30.

I rolled out of bed, got dressed (easy peasy since I already had everything laid out ahead of time), and made my regular oatmeal breakfast so that I would have enough time to digest before the 7:30 start time.

I met my friends from home in the lobby at 6:30 so we could walk the 10 blocks over to the start line. I think I look pretty calm in these pictures, but my stomach was already doing flips at this point. I knew the weather said it was supposed to rain, and be 78 degrees, my 2 worst nightmares (rain AND heat!).

As we walked over to the start we felt a few rain drops, but nothing to worry about (yet).

The starting line was craziness. Once we got close, I gave J and Mandy kisses goodbye, and Lauren and Danielle and I made our way to the 4:20 pace group, and Alisa (on the Left) made her was to the 5:00 pace group.

Right away I had a bad feeling about our pacer. She wasn't very friendly, and only seemed to talk to the people surrounding her even though we introduced ourselves and asked questions, etc. Plus, Steve (my Garmin) would NOT pick up a signal.

Soon after, the race started, and we didn't cross the start line until 7:40 minutes in!

The first 2 miles were exciting, though very congested. People were elbowing and tripping their way through - it was really hard to get into a groove. Then at mile 2.5, the rain just started coming down. And I mean it DOWN POURED. I remember thinking it was kind of funny at the time, but I had no idea how much I was going to despise the rain soon enough. This was about the time Steve finally caught a signal, but by then it was too late. I was so bummed after running with him during all my training and then he blew it on the big day. *Sigh.........*

I thought the crowd would thin out by mile 5, but no such luck. Right around mile 4 or so I ended up losing Lauren and Danielle because we were dodging around people and when I looked around they were gone! I couldn't even see them behind me anywhere! I made a split second decision to try and stay with the pace group, as I was feeling pretty great at this point still. However, I could tell the pacer was running much faster than the 9:55 minute miles that would put us at a finishing time of 4:20. Steve said miles 7 and 8 were 9:15 and 9:17!

Here I am around mile 7, about to give my sis a high five, and still feeling good (even though I look a little crazy!):

We crossed over a few bridges, and the half marathoners split off around mile 10 or so. This is when the crowds finally died down and we were able to spread out. It was also around the time I stopped at a water stop and totally lost the pace group. I knew there was no way I could catch up to them, as the hills were really starting to take their toll on me by now, and my shoes and socks were soaked through enough that they were squishing. It felt like each foot weighed 10 lbs each. I was starting to get down on myself at this point, but I knew my friends and J and Mandy were up at mile 14 so I kept on. I was so excited to see them and J even hopped in to run with me to the top of the hill I was on (thanks, Babe!). I had started walking the hills at this point, as there was no way my body was having it anymore.

At mile 17, I saw everyone again, and our friend, Chris hopped in to run with me. I was so grateful to have him. We didn't even say very much (I was completely dying at this point), but it was SO NICE just having someone next to me. I owe him big time. Here I am coming around the corner at mile 17 and meeting up with Chris:

I felt bad for him because I was so down on myself at this point. I couldn't understand why my training went so well, but that this race was so horrible. I know that my 10 lb shoes, the rain (it was still raining!), and hills were huge factors, but it didn't matter at this point. It was all a mental game, and I was losing. Plus, I was having trouble breathing. I've never had trouble before, but the only way I can describe it is like asthma. My breath was real short and quick, I couldn't seem to catch my breath at any time from here on out. I'm not sure if it was the humidity, or anxiety, or what, but it totally sucked.

Around mile 22, I noticed a girl come up next to me and I screamed! It was Danielle!!!! She was so funny, this was her quote "OMG, Heather, I could totally make out with you right now! I'm so happy to see you!" Haha! Love her. She had lost Lauren early in the race because Lauren's right knee started hurting and she had to walk/run almost the entire race.

We kept walking the hills, but at least the rain had stopped at this point. My body was spent. Those last 3 miles were the longest , hardest 3 miles of my life.

As we were coming down the home stretch, I could barely run anymore. I had blisters from my soaking socks and shoes, chaffing from my wet pants, and my quads were on fire from all the stupid hills. But we were determined to bring it home.

Can you see the pain on our faces?? It was so nice to see everyone near the finish line, but it was hard to smile! Danielle and I crossed the finish line together with our arms in the air with a time of 4:38:13. Not ideal, but pretty good considering it was our first marathon, and the challenges we were given.

This was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. Honestly. I have never faced something so mentally and physically challenging as this. Marathons are NOT easy, and I am so proud to say I conquered these 26.2 miles.

I couldn't have finished this race without my husband and sister. I dedicate this race to them, as they were my guardian angels and life savers. I love you both!!! (bottle it up!)

Pre-race Day

2010-05-03T19:56:00.000-04:00

Ahhhhh, so where do I start??

I guess I'll start at the beginning.....

I made sure we were all up bright and early Saturday morning for the 2+ hour drive to Pittsburgh (my sis may have said I was being a little overbearing, controlling). :)

We made it there in great time, checked into the Hilton, and started our walk to the expo. We saw some fun sites along our walk. We got to walk right along the river!

The expo was held at the Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh:

It was a little overwhelming, but very well organized. I was able to find my bib number quickly, and we head to the packet pickup center.

Check this out. They had everyone's name who was registered for the race on this board:

After some browsing around, and just taking it all in, we headed out to lunch. It was already 2:00 and I was HANGRY! We walked across the Roberto Clemente bridge (towards PNC Park) to find some grub. We found some cute outdoor seating restaurants and just chose one.

It was so nice just to relax and enjoy the weather (and try to calm my nerves!).

(took this photo with my iPhone - love the app "hipstamatic"!)

Afterwards we just toured the city some and picked up some last minute supplies. I was so glad we had gotten into the city when we did because the traffic at this point was ridiculous!

At this point we just decided to head back to the hotel for some relaxing, as we had dinner plans with friends at 6:45 at The Spaghetti Warehouse.

Dinner was fun! It was nice to meet some new people, and catch up with old friends (there were 18 of us!), but I have to say, the food wasn't that fantastic. It definitely wasn't what I remember when we used to have a Spaghetti Warehouse in downtown Cleveland! In any case, it served it's purpose.

Then we headed back to the hotel. I met up with my other friends who had gotten into the city a little later to discuss meeting times, strategy, etc. Laid out my gear for the next morning, popped some Advil PM, and hit the hay:

You can't see it, but I'm totally freaking out right here. It took me over an hour to fall asleep!

Little did I know that my strategy was not in the cards for me the next day........I had no idea what I was in for........

Stay tuned!!!

26.2 - check!

2010-05-02T19:16:00.000-04:00

I did it!

It wasn't pretty, but I finished!

Just got home from Pittsburgh, so I'm gonna relax tonight and STRETCH.

Recap to come.....hope you had a nice weekend!!!

Team Heatha!

2010-04-30T23:27:00.000-04:00

Check it:

The fam surprised me with these sweet shirts today after work! My parents and C won't be at the race on Sunday, but they'll be there in spirit. J thinks has this thing with putting people's faces on shirts. I shoulda known.

This picture look familiar?

I laughed so hard I cried. At least they're bright enough I'll be sure to see them!

See you on the flip side!

Real Runner?

2010-04-29T21:20:00.001-04:00

So, I had this title in mind when I was running tonight after work. I thought to myself "What makes a real runner?" Do these:

I gotta be honest, they make me feel pretty bad azz. After checking (and re-checking) the weather for Sunday I finally broke down and purchased the Nike Armwarmers. The weather channel is predicting 75 degrees with a 70% chance of RAIN. Warm AND rainy?? Yuck. I didn't know what I wanted to do, as I think long sleeves will be too hot, but I don't know how warm it will be in the early morning and the beginning of the race. These armwarmers are a perfect solution. They are so light and thin that if it gets hot I can tuck them in my running belt until I see J or Mandy to hand them off to.

They are a size XS/SM, which I initially thought would be way too small for me, but they fit perfectly. I'm guessing this is because the are unisex? In any case, I wore them on my quick 3 miler today and they were pretty darn great. They didn't slip or fall down, nor did they cut into my skin - a perfect fit! I felt a little silly running around the city in them, but screw it. I needed to test them out before the race.

J told me I look like LBJ. What do you think?

(source)

Kinda? Mmmmmm....yeah, maybe not.

I was NOT a basketball player ever - don't ever ask me to play on a recreational team - you will regret it, trust me.

So, funny story, after my run I went to get my nails done. While I was sitting and waiting at the salon a lady said to me, "Excuse me, but were you running earlier?" She the proceeded to ask me if I saw her pull up on the curb when she was parking and I did! Haha. But, the reason I'm telling you this is because she then asked me "So, how long have you been a runner?" I immediate explained that I'm not really a runner, that I'm just training for my first marathon. She looked at me a little puzzled and I realized I was selling myself short. I mean, doesn't that make me a runner?

So, armwarmers or not, tonight I am declaring that I AM A RUNNER.

Do you ever sell yourself short? How do you get over that hurdle?

Good night!

Smart......or Crazy??

2010-04-27T20:55:00.001-04:00

So I did something totally crazy today. I registered for the Cleveland marathon!!

I know it's only 2 weeks after Pittsburgh (it's on May 16th), but I got an email yesterday that the race is almost sold out. Besides, I'm already trained, and the half is already sold out so I can't run that. Jenay is running the half, so I have her to run the first 13 with, and my friend, Lauren, said she'd run it, too. We're just going to run it for fun and for the experience - NO TIME goals or worries. Plus, I wouldn't mind another medal! Haha!

So, maybe I'm not crazy?? Maybe this is me being smart instead? Well, that's what I'm telling myself......

5 days left...............my stomach has been in knots all day today thinking about it.

Good night - off to watch the Biggest Loser with my Hubs!

Sun Spray Salon

2010-04-26T21:49:00.001-04:00

Yo, did you check out the countdown?? Every time I look at it my heart skips a beat or two. Kind of what it does when I look at these two:

Cue..........awwwwwwwwwwww.........! Hehe.

So, I have a confession........yesterday I think I ate enough to feed an elephant. No joke. My first instinct when I am stressed, anxious, nervous is to cook, bake, and/or eat. Well, I conquered all three. I spent my entire Sunday afternoon and evening in the kitchen. Snacked my way through the whole day.....and then some. Ugh. I know today is a new day, and I need to let it go, but it's such a hard habit to break. In any case, I cleaned up my act today, and will for the rest of the week, as I want my body to be properly fueled for Sunday! I still can't believe the race is this weekend.

Enough of the downer talk, I have something FUN to show you!

SPRAY TAN!!!! LOVE.

Looks like I just got back from a Caribbean vaca, right?? Another instructor at my gym opened her own salon, Sun Spray Salon, and even rented out a space at the gym which is so convenient for me! The room is very private and comfortable. The girl who sprayed me was completely professional, and friendly enough that she was able to take my mind off the fact that I was basically standing neked in front of her (that's saying something)!

It's super cool, and just like the show, Sunset Tan. Anyone else not have a life and watch that show on E!? Anyone? Bueller? Come on, who doesn't love the Olly girls?? :)

Anyways, it took less than 15 minutes, and they'll even do touch-ups if you need them. What a great way to get a tan, without the UVA/UVB damage. I'm all about it.

My legs look a little dark, as they don't normally get this tan, but it just takes some getting used to I guess. They say the tan lasts 7 to 14 days, so I'll keep you updated on the upkeep!

Here are some fun pics, C and I had an impromptu body building competition tonight:

What do you think?

We called it a draw:

So, if you're in the Cleveland area, and looking for a tan, check out Sun Spray Salon, you won't regret it. They have 2 locations, one in Rocky River, and one in Avon. You can view their website at www.sunspraysalon.com. Ask for Dori, she's AWESOME! And you'll be ahead of the curve with summer so close........

Have a good night!

6 days and counting...........ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

Run Like a God

2010-04-24T19:07:00.001-04:00

Today was a success!!

Today was my last long run before the Big Race, and The Cleveland 10 Miler fell into my training perfectly. Plus, the new race course runs so close to my house that I couldn't pass it up. J even biked down to the next street to be the paparazzi (thanks, Babe!).

Before the race:

I have to be honest, for as much as Cleveland really hypes up this race, I was a little disappointed. The start of the race was very anticlimactic, as some random guy just yelled out "Ready, Set, Go!" along with some cow bells. I mean, really? And then, at the finish line, the lady handing out the medals kind of threw one at the person who finished the race in front of me and it landed on the ground. She could have at least said "Congratulations!" as she was handing them out, right? Ten miles is a big deal for most people!! The race was sold out, so I thought they might put a little more time and effort into making the experience special for the runners. Oh well.

In any case, I did pretty well, especially considering I wasn't out to shatter any records. My goal was to run slower, and just treat the race as any other training run.

Here we are around mile 3 or so:

But, check this out, see those 2 people directly in front of us? Well, they decided to completely STOP so that the photographer could take their picture. Totally unprepared, this is what happened:

Haha! It's a good thing we have a good sense of humor!! :)

The course went out 4 miles or so, then doubled back before we looped around to the end. J hung around and caught us on the way back, too:

This was around mile 5. I was feeling good, but was staying at a consistent 9:20ish pace with Jenay. Once we hit mile 7 I decided to speed it up. I was feeling too good not to! I lost Jen, but she didn't finish far behind me! My last 3 miles were fantastic: Mile 8=8:58, Mile 9=8:41, and Mile 10=8:01 (!!). I finished in 1:31:19, averaging 9:08/mile. Not too bad for a "training run"!

In any case, this race really gave me the confidence boost I needed for next weekend. It really made me feel that I can do this, and do it well.

So, check out the back of the shirts we got at the race today:

I did just that! :)

Non running related, I got a spray tan today. Super cool! I'll post about it soon.....

Happy Saturday, everyone!

In My Dreams.....

2010-04-21T21:14:00.000-04:00

........I am a Kenyan.

How fun is this bondi band??

So, from my other posts, you guys know that I'm a big fan of bondi band's lycra headbands, but they didn't stay put very well when I was running. Let me tell you, it is not very fun running with bobbi pins poking in your head! So, I decided to try out the wicking headbands that are made to stay in place. I tried it out on a short run on Monday, and really liked it! It didn't move, but it's a little big that I don't know how comfortable it will be once it gets warmer. But for now, I'll take it. I bought the one above, and another that says "Run like a mother" - cute!

Since I was home Monday night instead of teaching at the gym, I took advantage of the weather and ran down to the park, with Colin and a friend riding their bikes.

It was such a nice night. I got a 3 mile run in, and spent some quality time with my big guy at the same time. It's all about balance, right?

Maybe one day I'll be able to be a stay at home mom.......I keep asking my hubby, and he tells me.........

..........In your dreams, Babe.

Still sleeping

2010-04-19T19:25:00.000-04:00

Have you ever used Restaurant.com? You can get gift cards for restaurants in the area for about half price, and I had a promo code for another 40% off, so I bought $100 worth of gift cards for $8!! Score!

I had heard great things about Amp 150 from Alicia, so I thought we'd give it a try. AND It just so happened that Tina had posted about Amp 150 the day before, so I mentioned we were headed there and she and her husband met us for dinner! It was nice surprise! Tina is just as funny in person as she is on her blog. She and her husband are a riot! We left the restaurant at 9:00, and J and I went straight home. I had to bake some treats for him to take to his family the next day, and then I headed right up to bed to get some rest for the 16 miler I had on schedule for Sunday morning. Check out Tina's post on what she did after dinner! Ha! I'm so lame............

I was up bright and early on Sunday (my guess is Tina was still in bed):

Please excuse the bags under my eyes, and my less than stellar expression. These early morning are HARD on me!

So, I met up with the group:

Lauren's friend's, Jen and Craig, are training for the Cleveland Half Marathon on May 16th, so they joined us to see how they would do. (btw, they did AMAZING and should totally train for a full marathon - they'd do great!)

We ended up losing Lauren about 3 miles in due to some tummy troubles, and she ended up having to run the rest of the time by herself. We all felt so bad!!!! But she insisted that we go on ahead.........what a trooper.....and dedicated runner!

At the turnaround:

Still looking good, right? We were feeling good at this point, too. However, my legs were starting to get really HEAVY on the way back. The last few miles were a struggle for me. Not sure why some days are so easy and others suck like this. I PRAY that Marathon Day is a GOOD DAY. In any case, we finished our run at an even 9:30 pace. We're definitely consistent, that's for sure!

J was headed out of town Sunday morning for a family emergency so I booked it home as soon as we were done and got home just as he was leaving. Check out what I came home to:

HUBBA, HUBBA!!!

Though, who looks hotter:

Isn't he so lucky?? Haha!

Who wants to bet me that Tina was still sleeping at this point???? :)

Lol, love you, girl!

Spandex Alert

2010-04-18T17:25:00.001-04:00

So, I finally broke down and bought another pair of running pants last week. I figured that for as much as I run I should have more than one pair (ok, let's be honest, I'm just tired of washing those darn pants).

A little warning, the picture below has lots of SPANDEX.

I think you can tell from my face that I'm not so sure about these. I'm not much of a tight spandex girl. But, I definitely love a tight-ER pant when I'm running, as that results in NO chaffing! So, after my photo sesh, and getting over my fear of running around the city in these tighties (you know, in case I saw anyone I knew), I headed out for a 7 mile run. It was 75 and sunny, so you know my run resulted in this:

Hot, sweaty mess!! Ha!

Here are my thoughts on the pants:

Pros:

Moisture wicking was fantastic (a must for a sweaty beast like me!)

Didn't sag in the tush

Didn't move in the waist really at all (ride up or down)

Has a zipper pocket above tush for key/Gu/cash/etc.

Cons:

Tight, tight, tight!

The bottom of the pants ride up from my crazy, big calves:

Does this happen to everyone, or just me? My pair of Reebok running pants are looser around the bottoms so this doesn't happen when I run. Looks good, or silly?? Not sure.....

In any case, I rate these pants "FAIR". I like my Reebok ones better, but I can't find a pair that doesn't have a stripe down the side, I want just plain black without any design! Anyone know if they even care plain ones??

This morning was a 16 miler. Is it sad that in my head I think "cool, only 16 this week"?? :)

Next weekend is the Cleveland Ten Miler, and then we're Pittsburgh bound!!!!

See you in a bit for my recap of this morning's run!

Help?

2010-04-13T21:20:00.001-04:00

OMG, check out miles 12 to 14! I mean, seriously, Pittsburgh?

Any suggestions?

Still smiling

2010-04-11T19:21:00.000-04:00

I think I say this every Sunday, but I can't believe the weekend is almost over already. Plus, Spring Break is over, and the kiddo goes back to school tomorrow!

So, yesterday was the big day. Peak training day. This is what the clock said when I came downstairs:

Keep in mind I had already gotten dressed, brushed my teeth, etc, before I came down! That's EARLY for a Saturday! Right? And, trust me, I am NOT a morning person. But C had a 10:30 soccer game, and I wanted to get this run over and done with. Here I am at 6:00am:

I was real anxious at this point. I was meeting the girls at 6:30 so we could do a drive through and drop off our waters and gatorades at the "check points". It was our goal to be running by 7:00.

It was cold yesterday morning - around 40 degrees I think?

See the Fitworks sign in the background? :)

Anyways, it seemed like my Lucy long sleeve shirt wasn't going to be warm enough as we started running. I had a short sleeve shirt underneath, but I was really feeling the wind cut through. As we took the hill down into the valley, though, and entered the park the wind died down and I was perfectly warm. It was actually perfect! I wore my thin gloves and headband, too, and never felt too warm.

The first 10 miles were uneventful, and me, Lauren, and Danielle fell into a pretty even pace, staying right around 9:35 each mile. Here we are at the turnaround point (don't ask why I'm standing like that, I have no idea!):

Stretching:

We quickly wrapped it up, and headed back. It mentally helps me when we break the run up into segments. I knew from here we only had 5 miles to the next water stop, another 3 to the final water stop, and then 2 to the finish!

I knew we weren't going to be done before C's 10:30 soccer game, but luckily he plays right in the metroparks so we got to his field right before his game started. The timing was PERFECT.

I quickly gave hugs and kisses, and said I'd be back in a half hour. We had 2+ miles left to go!

So remember in the middle of this post, when I said we "took the hill down into the valley"? Well, we had to go back up this hill at the end. It's a good thing, as I know the hills in the Pittsburgh marathon are extreme, but that doesn't make it any easier!

We killed it, and finished the official run time in 3:11 (our second half splits were faster than the first half!).

And we're still smiling!

All in all, I felt that if I HAD to, I could have run the additional 6.2 miles yesterday. Next weekend we're going to try a little "raceday" experiment and start our run when the race actually starts, and not stop at the water stops, but instead walk through them.

Today I have been resting. J and I took Diddy for a mile or so walk, but that is it. Total break for these legs, which was totally needed. Plus, I think I deserved this day off.

Back to the grind tomorrow. I'm teaching Group Power at 5:30am again!

Hope you all had a great weekend - what did you do that you're proud of??

Week Wrap up

2010-04-10T15:28:00.000-04:00

Helllloooooo!!!

So, I never got around to showing you what I got in my Easter Basket:

Get this, I never even asked for them, J bought them without any guidance from me! Good job, hubs! They're from the new Liberty of London line at Target. I totally love how the bowls are all different sizes - I actually used 2 of them for dinner last night!

I also got this (front):

And back:

LOVE IT.

Of course, I can't rock it out until after May 2nd, so it's waiting patiently in my closet until then. And don't mind the random dog hair on it, I had to lay it out on the carpet to get the pic. :)

In other news, I went to the Cleveland Blogger Dinner on Thursday night at Johnny Mango's in Ohio City. The girls were all so sweet and really made me feel welcome (esp. considering I'm so new to this whole blogging thing!!). But seriously, how could they not be AWESOME being from C-Town, and all. You can see a list of all the girls, and their blogs, on Allison's blog. Thanks again for organizing the meetup, Allison, I can't wait for the next one!

And last, but certainly not least, this is what I did early this morning:

20 MILES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Recap to come...........have a great Saturday everyone!

The Challenge

2010-04-06T22:05:00.000-04:00

So, when I first posted about J's ice cream sundae failure on his birthday, my sister claimed she could totally kill the sundae he couldn't finish. Well, J immediately challenged her to an ice cream showdown and yesterday was the day.

The rules were set:

20 minute time limit

Same sundae - the Nutmalley, but could pick any flavor of ice cream they preferred

If both finished in 20 mins, they'd move on to single cones

5 minute time limit on the cones, and if both finished then they'd get another, etc.

It started off pretty great, as the waitress even weighed the sundaes for us (coming in at 4 lbs, btw!!!)

Mandy took an early lead, and even finished her sundae a good 2 minutes before J:

They then moved on to sudden death. Not sure if Mandy gave in to the pressure, or what, but J killed her in the cone round. She just couldn't do it anymore.

Jay took the title, and I couldn't be more proud of my hubby: (lol!!)

How funny is that headband, btw? J totally pulled that out of his pocket as I was about to start the timer, clapped his hands, and yelled "It's GO time!". Hahaha!

It was a good time, and even the waitresses and other customers were cheering them on! Here are mine and C's dishes compared to their's:

Mine's the little one on the left, and C's is on the right (can you tell he ordered Superman ice cream?? Every kid's fav, right?).

Well, needless to say, neither one of them felt too great afterwards. Here's Mandy as soon as we walked in the house:

Hot mess, right?? Hahaha, luv you, sis!

Here's me and C - we felt great when we were done. Ha!

We did the challenge around 2:00 in the afternoon and when J left for his soccer game at 8:30 he was still completely full! :)

I'm glad I wasn't involved in this challenge, as I had to teach Group Step at 5:15, which was AWESOME. It was a full class and everyone was in great moods, with fantastic energy. LOVE classes like that.

Anyone else ever do a Man vs. Food type challenge? :)

5 Minutes of Torture

2010-04-05T15:37:00.001-04:00

What a beautiful day! I'm so glad I took today off of work - I couldn't have asked for a better day! My sis doesn't go back to Chicago until 6:00 tonight, and I wanted to maximize our sista, sista time.

Now, that doesn't mean I got to sleep in this morning, as I had to teach Group Power at 5:30am. I dragged myself out of bed, taught to a small class (everyone else must have had a hard time getting out of bed this morning, too!), came home, and went right back to bed! :)

So, yesterday I gave you a sneak peak of my ice bath after my 18+ mile run. Last week I complained about my hips hurting on Facebook and got several responses suggesting an ice bath. So yesterday I called J on my way home to start the bath for me. We only had one bag of ice in the freezer so he just filled up the tub with cold water and added the bag of ice. Here's the progression:

OMG, IT'S COLD, IT'S COLD!!!

I can do this, I can do this.....

Ok, maybe not....

It was at this point that I handed J my watch and said "Tell me when 5 minutes is up - no longer!"

I'm not exactly sure how long I am supposed to stay in there, but 5 minutes seemed long enough!

So, I have to be honest, yesterday I wasn't sure if this helped at all as my hamstrings were mad sore all day. BUT my hips didn't hurt me one bit. So I couldn't really make a determination.

But when I got up at 5:00 this morning, my leg felt pretty darn good! My knees were a little achy, but that's normal. My hips were A-OK! Yes!!

So, can I say that this was all because of the 5 minutes of torture? No way. But I do think it HELPED. I'll try again next week and see if it's the same outcome - anything for an easier recovery!!

Now I have to get ready to teach Group Step at 5:15 - double duty day! We just got home from the first annual Ice Cream Challenge. When Mandy saw J fail at finishing this ice cream sundae from Malley's, they challenged each other to a competition. Well, today was the day. Check it out:

Bad ass, right? Details to come............!!

New Love

2010-04-04T21:01:00.000-04:00

What a long day! I hope everyone has been having a RAD Easter, or fantastic Sunday, for those of you who don't observe Easter. We are loving this Spring weather!

Yesterday was an exciting day for the hubby:

He's an Apple Geek, and was so stoked for the iPad. The kid actually got up and was in line at the store by 6:30 Saturday morning! I think I may have just been replaced as the love in his life......

The Easter Bunny came to our house this morning - did he come to yours? C got some brand new soccer cleats and sweet David Beckham shorts. His first game is next Saturday so he is SET:

He got the usual candy, too, but we try to emphasize the healthy lifestyle in our house!

After he found his Easter basket (took over a half hour this year!) I was out the door to meet my friend, Lauren, for an 18 mile run! I was a little nervous, as I had never run with Lauren before, but it turns out we run almost the exact same pace and really pushed each other. The run went super fast, as we had a lot to talk about, and it was a course I had never run before. We ran through the metroparks, and there were a bunch of other early runners out this morning, too. It was such a nice day!

Here we are at mile 11:

We actually ran past a family of deer, and saw these huge fish jumping in the stream. It was pretty cool.

Can you see them all? You have to look hard, but they're there!

We averaged a 9:41 pace for the entire run - pretty great considering we were running for almost 3 hours straight. Trust me, that's a LONG time, yo.

After the run I raced home to shower and change before we had to get to my mom's for brunch. But first, I took one of these:

My very first ice bath! I'm going to post specifically about this tomorrow, so this is just a sneak peak!

Brunch at my mom's was great, as always. She made:

banana nut muffins

strawberry muffins

chocolate/banana cherry bread

ham, sausages, and bacon

eggs and biscuits

fruit salad

Enough to feed an army! Everything was fantastic - I definitely ate more than my fair share, and I wasn't even stuffed!

Now we're home and my sis is having a sleepover with C. He definitely takes advantage of her when she's home - she doesn't know how to say no! They're playing Wii, and I'm about to head to bed - I have to teach Group Power at 5:30am! Here's hoping my legs are recovered!

Peace.

Fantastic Good Friday

2010-04-03T12:25:00.000-04:00

Hope everyone had a fantastic Good Friday! Mine was great!

My work was closed at noon due to the holiday, so I got to leave at 11 since I start work at 7 - HOLLA!! I swear, there's nothing better than leaving work at 11:00 for the weekend - the drive home is so happy. As soon as I got home I suited up and set out on my 8 mile run. Being typical Cleveland, the weather has changed dramatically this week. It was 75 and sunny yesterday - perfect running weather, but also perfect sweaty Heather weather, too. I have been trying a new deodorant, to stop my pits from sweating for no reason, and check this out:

Holy heck, no sweat marks!!! Sweat everywhere else of course, but the deodorant is working wonders! Lol.

Looking at that picture makes me realize I need to buy a black shirt for the marathon - something that doesn't show all that sweat. I need something longer, though, because I have a really long torso - any suggestions?? What's your favorite running shirt?

OH, and I averaged an 8:57/mile pace on my run!! ROCK OUT.

And, what else made my day yesterday? MY SIS CAME HOME TO VISIT!!!!!!!!

Here she is with my dad. Love her. I love her even more because she just bought her plane ticket so that she can come to my marathon!! Luv you, Mandy!!!

So, if you're a Clevelander, you might be able to recognize where the above picture was taken:

MELT! We always talk rave this place, but never have time when Mandy is home so we headed out for an early dinner. There was still a long wait, but we just stuck it out. Totally worth it. They make the BEST grilled cheese sandwiches on the planet, and the vegetarian chili is TO DIE FOR. Seriously, if you ever come to Cleveland this MUST be on the top of your list to try. Just beware, the wait is never shorter than an hour, and they don't take reservations.

Here are the rest of us at dinner:

I taught Group Step this morning, took Diddy for a nice long walk, and now I'm off to shower and get ready for the day. I think we're meeting my parents and Mandy at Legacy Village for some shopping. I'm going to try and talk my sis into going to H&M with me at Beachwood Mall, too, to help me shop. She's the pro!!

I think today is going to be another great day.

I'm meeting up with a friend from the gym tomorrow morning to run 18 miles (!!). Wish me luck!

Have a nice Easter everyone!

Too Cool for School

2010-03-31T21:49:00.000-04:00

Today was a good day.

After work I managed to squeeze in a quick 3 mile run, while C rode his bike. How could I not - I even ran in shorts and a t-shirt it was so nice!! We went down to Lakewood park and back - an almost even 3 miles.

Cute, right?

Afterwards we had an even quicker dinner, got changed, and started the short walk to school because C had his Spring Concert! Since he is in a 2/3 combined class he got to perform with the older kids and was super jazzed. Here he is with all the "cool kids":

He's the cute kid on the end kinda waving to his mom, but not really because he's with the cool kids and doesn't want to look dorky in front of his friends. :) Little do they know he was just bike riding/running with his mama an hour before!

Grandma had the brilliant idea of heading to Malley's afterwards for some ice cream. That blew my "cut the crap challenge" right out the window. No, really, it wasn't that bad. I'm limiting myself to one treat a day, and this was it. Though Easter Sunday could be a whole other story!!! Watch out cereal, here I come!!! Sidenote: I've already bought my 3 favorite Kashi cereals and they are waiting not-so-patiently for consumption after my 18 miler on Sunday.......I can't wait!

Typical Mom/Son pic:

DEFINITELY the cool kids.

Peace.

It's a challenge!

2010-03-30T08:00:00.001-04:00

So I haven't mentioned this, but all this running has caused me to gain some extra pounds the past few months. Well, let's be honest, it's not just the running. I know that when I train for a race I tend to gain some weight in my legs, butt, and thighs, but this is just getting out of hand. (I'll never understand those skinny, scrawny elite runners - my body does NOT react that way!) And it's hard when you run 17 miles, and burn almost 2,000 calories to NOT be hungry!!

Anyways, Allison, over at Green Dog Wine (love her blog, btw!), is doing a Cut the Crap Challenge for the next 20 days until April 14th. I will, of course, have my own rules, but she's the one who inspired me to get my butt in gear.

Why I am doing this challenge:

I'm feeling "soft". I used to be nice and toned, but I'm feeling squishy - especially in the belly area! Eww....
I want to look as strong as I feel
I want to be in the best shape I can be when I run the marathon on May 2nd
I want to fit into my designer jeans again!

Here are my rules:

No snacking (this is my #1 bad habit). If I'm going to eat something, I will put it on a plate and sit down to eat. No more handfuls of this and handfuls of that.
One treat per day. I have a serious sweet tooth. Enough said.
No white bread.
Limit processed food - this isn't too hard, as I don't eat a lot but there are times when I resort for the quick fix.
Have ONE serving and give myself time to digest. I'm a fast eater so I tend to eat more than I need before I even realize I'm full. SLOW DOWN, Heather!

I don't want to limit myself completely, but I do want to clean up my act. I'd like to break my snack attack habit (this is especially bad in the evenings) completely. I thought to myself earlier today that if I was strong enough to stop biting my nails 10 years ago (after doing it all my life!) I can do this.

Determination and will power are what it takes, but most of all accountability! If I don't tell anyone what my plans are I will let them fall wayside. So I'm relying on my friends and family to hold me responsible for my actions! Of course I know I have to believe in myself first and foremost, and I think the key to this challenge is actually stepping on that scale. I haven't done this in over a year when I first noticed myself gaining weight. I think seeing that number will give me that final push I need.

p.s. Did anyone think of the lady from SNL who says "It's a match!" when they read the title? LOVE that skit!! :)

Long Day to run 17 miles!

2010-03-29T21:13:00.010-04:00

So, here it is, the 17 miler recap.

It takes a lot of planning to run 17 miles, let me tell you. I was meeting Jenay to run the last 10 miles at 4:00 at my mom and dad's house. One good thing about running later was that I got to sleep in! I seriously can't remember the last time I slept in - I think I got out of bed at 8:45? (!!) Well, anyways, my parent's live on the east side of Cleveland, about 25 minutes from me (I'm a west sider! insert hand signal here). So after my lunch of an almond butter and banana sandwich I started getting ready.

After packing my bag and all essential electronic equipment including my ipod, Steve, HRM, iphone, etc, (and Market Day chicken I had got for my mom, leftover tupperware containers to return, a can of black beans she needed for dinner - talk about everything and the kitchen sink!), I headed to my Aunt Mary's house to drop of some fuel. She was going to be our halfway point this time! I got to my mom's house about 2:20, unloaded, said hello, and was out the door for the first 7 miles. I tested out my new headphones:

I have such a hard time finding headphones that stay in my ears when I run without a headband. You see, I sweat like a crazy person. Seriously. I can be standing still in 70 degree weather and my nose will have sweat on it. I blame my dad for handing down his sweat glands to me. I mean, my sister, NEVER sweats! WTH?

I read a review on these and snatched 'em up right away! I have to say, they worked fantastically! They never slipped and stayed in my ears the entire run, and considering it was raining the whole time I give them 2 thumbs up! And, seriously, it was RAINING, not drizzling. You can see here:

That is not sweat, people (ok, maybe some of it is). But you can definitely tell from my hat and pigtails that it was raining. The wind was crazy, too, very challenging, but I actually enjoyed it!

As soon as I arrived back at my parent's house, Jenay showed up (good timing!). I quickly threw my hat in the dryer while I changed shirts (I was soaked from the rain - and maybe some sweat) ate 2 Sharkies, grabbed my hat, and we were out.

It was 5 miles to my Aunt Mary's house. The rain was now a light mist, and we were running with our backs to the wind so we were feeling strong. We got there in pretty decent time (average 9:40/mile) and had a quick visit so we could stretch and see this pretty girl:

This is my cousin, Lily - isn't she cute??! Another baby! My aunt is only 4 years older than me, so it's not unusual for my aunts to have babies younger than C.

Once we were done getting our baby fix, we headed out for the 5 mile run home. Man, the last 2 miles were tough. My hamstrings were super tight and I just wanted to be home in my warm, DRY clothes. Jen and I pushed through and really kicked it in for the last mile (finished that mile in 9:27!) - not bad for being in uncharted waters! 16 miles was the furthest run I had ever had until Sunday. Let me tell you, it felt like we were sprinting that last mile when, really, we were running a pretty steady pace. What a kick in the pants.

Luckily C's dad dropped him off at my parent's while we were on our way back. And here we are with C being a goofball in the back:

Not sure how I'm going to do the day of the marathon with how much I sweat. I'm definitely going to need an "ensemble change" (channeling my inner Mariah). I sweat too much to go 4 1/2 hours without changing my shirt! Oh well, I'll figure it out, but any suggestions are welcome!

2:44 total - not too bad, right?? I'm proud of myself - AND I'm being smart with my recovery and taking care of my body. I made it a priority to ice my knees as soon as I got home that night. Which wasn't until 8:00, btw. I was gone from 1:30 until 8:00!!

I won't even tell you how long it took us to pack everything back up to go home.

Talk about a long day.

Baby snatcher!

2010-03-29T19:47:00.005-04:00

Hellooooo!

So, before I get to my 17 mile recap from yesterday, I thought I'd catch you up on mine and J's beautiful Saturday. It was really chilly in Cleveland, but sunny and bright! The sun makes everything better, doesn't it?

After our morning trip to the gym (which I mentioned in my last post), we decided to enjoy the sun and take Diddy for a walk:

Can you see how he's pulling J along?? Haha. Yeah, we have no control over our 20lb pup.

We then showered up and headed out to Crocker Park. J headed here:

And I headed here:

Yeah, we definitely split up! I get mad bored in the Apple store, and J would rather cut off his arm than wade through H&M. I wanted to check out their new garden line that my sis tipped me off on. The stuff is cute! But does anyone else feel a too old to wear those cutesy flowers? And the dresses can be super short! Especially for someone as tall as me (5'9"). Speaking of which, I did pick up one dress, but it's a khaki shirtdress, not one of the new summer dresses. I need to find some cute sundresses that are age appropriate!! Any suggestions?

The big trip for the day was to here:

We had both been wanting to try Indian food, and heard really good things about this place. Well, here's my review:

OMG, never again. I barely ate a thing - what a disappointment. The service was bad, AND the food was barely edible - NOT a winning combination. J ate almost half of his but he got to a point where he pushed his plate away and said, "I can't do it anymore". Haha! We laughed about it and got some ice cream to cheer us up:

Ahhhhh........much better!

Then we headed to visit our friends with the new baby. They just built a new house, too, and J hadn't been to see it yet. I just wanted to see little Evan:

J calls me the baby snatcher. Anytime our friends (or not even our friends!) have babies and I'm around, they get snatched right up. So cute!

So, dinner wasn't fabulous, but the rest of the day made up for it. Babies make everything better.....

We left later than we expected, and headed home for a full night's sleep to gear up for my 17 mile run I had planned. Recap to come!! Stay tuned.....

Also, I think a challenge is in the works. I'll post about it when I have more details. Have a good night!

Busy Bee

2010-03-27T14:14:00.003-04:00

This week has been quite the whirlwind! Though, somehow I feel like I'm always saying this?? Anyways, this week was my "on" week for subbing a friend's 5:30am Group Power class at the gym on Monday and Wednesday. It's a great way to start the day, but hard when I work full time AND teach Group Step Monday night at 5:15! I like my double duty days to be back to back. Oh well, Monday wasn't actually too bad, but Wednesday was HARD to crawl out of bed. You would think when you have a whole class of people waiting on you to work them out it would be motivation enough, but, yeah, not so much. Not at 4:45am when my alarm goes off.....

This coming week is my "off" week from those classes, though, so it's back to the normal schedule (for this week, at least!). Whew. So, needless to say, my marathon training wasn't fantastic these past 6 days. It was hard getting runs in when I had to teach 7 classes this week! GAH! Especially when there was lots of this to do:

Lots of homework for the 2nd grader this week!

I had time to run after work on Wednesday, but my body just wasn't feeling it. I was TIRRRRED from my 4:45am wake up call that morning. So C and I did some of this instead:

He's quite the yogi. :)

On my way to the gym on Thursday after work it started snowing (yes, snowing) so I resorted to 4 miles on the treadmill after Step. You would think this weather would help me convince J to move (anytime now, Hubs, anytime)..........

Friday I ran 4 miles with my friend, Christina, and then crashed for the night. Hubs and I watched the Blind Side, which was fantastic, and that was it. Oh, except that I made strawberry shortcakes - AWWWWESOME!!

This morning I had to teach (again) and we stopped at Dick's afterwards to pick up some sports beans for my long run tomorrow. I scored a new hoodie for C for $7.50 on clearance (!) and when we got home I saw this:

I knew Dick's was sponsoring the marathon, but I actually exclaimed out loud when I saw this on the bag! 5 weeks and counting..........let the nervousness begin.......!!!!!!!

So, tomorrow is 17 miles. The plan is for me to run the first 7 miles by myself and then pick up Jenay to finish off the last 10. I know my mid-week training runs were pretty much non-existent, so tomorrow should be interesting. I really just hope to get through it, and pray that next week is better. The marathon is CLOSE, there's no time for slacking now....

Wish me luck!

Back to Back

2010-03-21T19:20:00.003-04:00

What a fantastic weekend! The weather in Cleveland is always so iffy, but we were blessed the past few days. I even ran outside on Friday in short sleeves! Crazy!

Anyways, C went home after school with a friend on Friday so I got to enjoy my run "guilt free". I'm getting faster, all this training is really paying off! I ran 8 miles at an 8:55 average pace. Not bad, not bad at all. I've been feeling pretty confident the past few weeks - I hope it keeps up!

Yesterday we went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D with some friends of ours and their son. The boys really enjoyed it. To me, it was OK. Nothing spectacular, and definitely not worth the $11.00 matinee price! I never really like the original movie, though, so maybe that's why I didn't like it? Or maybe I'm just getting old......?

On the schedule this weekend was another 16 mile run like last week. Two in a row! The weather this morning was fantastic - about 40 degrees and sunny. I set out to tackle the first 10 miles on my own.

Kinda creepy, right?? Let me tell you, I am NOT a good morning exerciser, never have been. I prefer my evening workouts, fo sho. AND today was a little earlier than my usual Sunday runs. I was meeting a friend for the last 6 miles and she was coming over at 9:30 so I had to get out early to make sure I finished the first 10 miles before then. The picture above is me before 8:00am - NOT a happy camper. J was still in bed and C had just gotten up and was happily playing his DS in his room when I headed out.

I ran a 5 1/2 mile loop, came home for a quick drink, then headed out to do 4 1/2 more. When I got home, the boys were still in their PJ's!

Christina showed up, and we were off! My hamstrings were a little tight at this point, but running with Christina helped me slow down and just enjoy the run. Chit chatting the whole way quickly helped me forget about my tight hammies! We ran down to Edgewater Park:

I love this area of the city. It's like it's own little community that not a lot of people know about - such a pretty view of the city!

This was the turn around point so we headed back:

Check out that sunshine!!

All in all, I finished the 16 miles in 2:32:36 - a 9:32/mile average. The first ten I ran an average of 9:04/mile!! Holy guacamole! I don't mean to toot my own horn, but TOOT TOOT. I'm feeling strong, and liking it.

Thanks for a great run, Christina!!

Gotta jet - I have a 4:45am wakeup call so I can teach Group Power at 5:30am! Oh boy......

Night all!

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

2010-03-17T19:51:00.003-04:00

Hey, hey!! A big shout out to my fellow Irishmen out there!

Can't say I drank any green beer today, but I did set a new PR! I ran a quick 5 miles, and I'm not kidding when I say "quick". I still can't believe it. Check these splits:

Mile 1 = 8:52

Mile 2 = 8:39

Mile 3 = 8:36

Mile 4 = 8:41

Mile 5 = 8:23

For a total of 43:17, and an average of 8:39/mile!! HOLLA!!!! This might not be fast for a lot of you, but this is SPEEDY for me. My fastest prior to today was 44:58 in a 5 mile race 3 years ago! KILLED IT, and then ate it for dinner. Ha!

Now that I'm done bragging, let me back up. As I said yesterday, Sunday was my longest run yet of 16 miles. I drove to the eastside to run so that I could run with Jenay:

Love it! Jen met me at my parent's house as I was just returning from the first 6. We then headed out to tackle the last 10 together. We ran a 5 mile loop to my grandparent's house so we could fuel up and use the restroom, etc. This dog is outside my grandparent's house. Let me explain, my grandma and grandpa are both blind. My grandpa has had a seeing eye dog for as long as I can remember, so dogs are a part of his life (but the pictures are still funny, right?!). My grandparents are pretty amazing, they are both blind and raised 16 kids (yes, 16!!). It's pretty cool, actually. My mom is the first girl (9 girls and 7 boys), I'm the first grandkid, and C is the first great-grandkid! Pretty sweet. Here's me and Grandpa on Sunday:

Isn't he cute??? :) Love you, Grandpa!

After our short "visit" Jen and I headed back out for the 5 miles home. I kept telling myself "only 5 miles left, only 4 miles left", etc - it was much easier broken up into smaller segments. Here I am at Mile 15, my first PDR (before finishing the 16, obvi!):

Don't I look excited? You can't really see, but that brown building behind me across the street is my high school alma mater. What up, Eastlake North High??! **fist pump**

We finished those 16 miles pretty strong, and feeling great. What a difference from the 14 I ran the week before. I felt great the rest of the day, too! No stomach issues or anything. I even got up and taught Group Power at 5:30am on Monday! I'm helping out another instructor the next few months while she's out on maternity leave. And never did I think that class would be crowded, but holy cow! That gym's got a ton of die hards, I tell you. Wasn't a bad way to start my week, that's for sure.

This pic isn't from today, but here's the hubby toasting us Irish:

It's no green beer, but this is the best pic I've got. Can't say he DIDN'T enjoy the green beer today. :)

Enjoy the night!

It's been awhile....

2010-03-16T20:52:00.008-04:00

Helloooo! Wow, it's been awhile, huh? I have so much to catch you up on! You probably think this is going to be a long post because of that, but I have a hot date on the couch to watch Biggest Loser. Quick recap tonight and tomorrow you'll get the gritty details.

So, check out the hubby! Cute, right??? Last week during one of my 4 milers he decided to join me. I did a quick 2 miles, looped back to the house, and he jumped in for the last 2 miles. I love when he wants to run with me! The time goes by faster, and it's nice time to spend together.

Here we are afterwards: hot, sweaty messes!

On Sunday I ran 16 miles!!! A new PDR for me (Personal Distance Record)! It was fantastic, what a difference from last week's 14 miles. Here's me and Jenay afterwards:

Other than that, the hubby and I went to see Robin Thicke at the House of Blues Sunday night. OMG, what a concert! We both love him, one of his songs was actually our first dance at our wedding, but I think I'm more in love now! He was FANTASTIC. I can't tell you enough....if you've never heard his stuff you need check him out (ladies, he's super sexy, too - ow ow!!).

Speaking of sexy:

Water Logged

2010-03-08T20:51:00.011-05:00

As promised, this post is a dedicated to our trip to the water park. Every year around this time, the kids (and husband!) start to get cabin fever so we plan a trip to one of the multiple indoor water parks in Sandusky, OH. Castaway Bay is by far my favorite of the 3:

Smaller, so I always know where C is. Some are so big that I'm in panic mode the entire time worrying where he is and if he's safe (even though he swims like a fish!). This way I get to enjoy the trip, too.
Has an awesome wave pool that the kids play in forever.
Has an awesome indoor/outdoor hot tub that the adults play in forever. :)
Cheapest of the 3!

Every indoor water park has to have one of these:

Check out the 2 kids laying on their backs about to get dumped on! Ha!

Here are pics of C and J coming down one of the multiple slides. Can you tell who is who??

Love the splash difference - too funny!

The kids enjoying their time together and being silly:

One of the best things about this park is that the kids feel like they aren't being watched constantly. They feel like they're given a little more independence. I know they look young, but they are the best behaved kids ever. I am a very lucky mom, as is my bff, Jenay (nickname, obvi):

True story:

Jen and I both found out we were pregnant on the same day (Mother's Day to be exact)
Jen was induced on a Saturday, had her daughter at 9:15 that night, and I went into labor the same night and ended up in the hospital at 4:00am. I had C at 1:16 that afternoon. The nurses hated us because we were always in each other's rooms!
C and G are still great friends to this day (they are 8 now!), as are we. Love you, Jenay!

The kids (meaning, the 2 male adults) played a lot of basketball:

You can tell the guys really took it easy on the kids, huh? Tough love....

I think this was our best trip yet, and we've been doing this for 5 years now! It definitely gets more fun, and easier, as the kids get older. I recommend it!

No run yesterday or today. I'm going to try to get up early tomorrow before work to squeeze in a quick 3 miler. We'll see.....this girl is NOT a happy morning person.

Peaze!!!

2010-03-08T07:13:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to send a shout out to my friends and family who read the blog!

IF you do read the blog, leave me a comment. You'll probably have to do it "anonymously" as I can't see to figure this part out, but just sign your name at the end of your comment so I know it's you.

I just want to who's secretly stalking me............hee hee hee

Luv ya!!

Reality Check

2010-03-07T19:41:00.009-05:00

Happy Sunday!! What a busy week it's been! Sorry the blogging is so sporadic, but life has sadly been getting in the way. Once work slows down and I'm back to normal hours things will be better. I promise....

So, I had 14 miles planned for yesterday. 14 miles is the longest I've run in over 5 years! Needless to say, I had a hard time falling asleep Friday night thinking about it.

The morning started off good, as this is what I saw when I peeked in C's room before getting dressed for my run:

That immediately put me in a good mood! So cute!

Steve and I always "gear up" at the same time:

I like to turn him on (haha!) and put him on a windowsill as I get dressed. This helps him locate the satellite quickly and I spend less time pacing around waiting for him to find a signal when I'm ready to go!

So, my run was a crazy reality check. Wow. I felt so defeated when it was over. Last week was so busy that I didn't have time for my smaller training runs. What a difference they make! Whoever invented training programs sure knew what they were doing. Anyways, I was SLOW SLOW SLOW. I knew less than halfway in it was going to be a struggle. BUT, I did it, and I finished. I averaged a 9:43 mile, and was totally bummed when I got home. I think you can see how I was feeling in these pictures. J was such a good blogger husband, as when the pup started barking he knew I was home and grabbed the camera:

Mommy's home! Finally! (I thought she would be home earlier....??)

CRAWLING up the street:

Glad to see my husband, but upset with myself:

Knowing I'll be glad I documented my run:

I know I need to not be so hard on myself, but all my other runs were cake. This run made me SUPA nervous about the marathon. I'll be honest, it really made me doubt myself, and if I can do it. I've never been one to back down from a challenge, but this is very intimidating. Plus, add that to the weight gain I've had recently and I am one unhappy camper. I don't know if my body is holding onto the weight knowing it's going to need the fuel for the long runs or what. All I do know is that my pants are so tight in the butt and thighs. Sick. Any recommendations/advice from anyone training for a marathon (or any other endurance sport)??????

On a good note, after I was home, fed, and showered, we immediately left for this place. I was a little worried about how my stomach would hold up after the 14 miles and being at an indoor waterpark with limited access to a bathroom (tmi?), but it was surprisingly the best recovery I've had yet! Funny how that works, huh? Horrible run = great recovery, and great run = bad recovery. Not sure what to make of that yet. Anyways, here's me and C in the lobby being silly as usual:

I'm planning a more detailed post on the waterpark this week. Stay tuned!!

Have a fantastic week - Peace out!

Tale of Three Cities

2010-02-28T19:30:00.012-05:00

WOW - what a weekend! It is really Sunday night already? Bummer......

Where do I start? Friday C finally had the snow day he'd been wishing for! Luckily J works from home so it doesn't cause too many problems, and this is what they did in the afternoon:

That's C going backwards on the little "ramp". The kid is fearless.

Here are all the kids. J and C went with some friends of ours from the gym. C's on the ground in the back - but how cute is the little one in front??? Such a ham.

Friday night the weather was just as great (hint the sarcasm) so we stayed in and baked cookies. These m&m cookies are from this site. Her baking is A-mazing, and these cookies are the guys' favorite!

Cute, no?? :)

Saturday was pretty uneventful. C had his last basketball game in the morning so J and I headed to the gym afterwards. I had a pretty bad cold so we ended up lifting for about 10 minutes and then took our lazy butts home. I just wasn't feeling it, and I wanted to be 100% for my 12 miler today. Again, Cleveland was blessing us with a ton of snow so our dinner plans got nixed. We ordered takeout from Melt, and found out they were taping an episode of Man vs. Food there at that exact time!! J tried to get some pictures when he picked up the food, but it was pretty crowded and he couldn't get close enough. It was still exciting, as I just referenced that show in this post.

I got to bed later than I wanted last night (after midnight!!) so when the pup woke up at 7:30 this morning I was less than thrilled, to say the least. But I sucked it up and got up to let both devils, I mean dogs, out. I decided to just stay up and try to get my run done earlier than later. I was out the door by 9:30 this morning (I am NOT a morning runner!!). The first 3 miles were rough, as my stomach was a little queasy, maybe from the late night? Maybe from the grilled cheese? Whatever it was it passed and I really enjoyed miles 4 to 8. I took these pics with my iphone around mile 8.5:

This is a view of downtown Cleveland from an area real close to Edgewater Park. Normally you have full visability! The weather is just ridic here. Everyone was out plowing when I was running:

This guy actually drove past me on another street about a mile later and honked his horn! You know you're on a "long run" when you run past 3 different city Welcome Signs!

While I was on my "picture break", I ate 3 of these PowerBar Energy Gel Blasts:

They were actually pretty good! I'm still experimenting with snacks, but I think the Sports Beans are my favorite so far.

I ended up finishing the 12 miles in 1:53:40 - a 9:28 average pace. I was hoping to be a little faster, but I'll take it considering the snow and slush I was running in. My miles were all pretty consistent between 9:11 and 9:35 - even towards the end. My toes got really cold towards the end and I noticed my shoes were brown from the slush on the toes. Well, when I took my shoes off after I got home this is what I saw:

No wonder they were cold, the slush leaked through my shoes!!!

12 miles done! Not bad.

Almost halfway there!

What a marathon post (ha!)! I gotta jet. My 2 boys are busy playing - I think they may need me to mediate:

Priorities

2010-02-23T20:54:00.002-05:00

Two posts in two days?? Who am I? Don't worry, this won't be a regular occurrence, I just actually have time to post and something to talk about! I don't have many pictures today, but I wanted to talk about something important to me.

Today was about priorities. My busy season at work is from January through April/May. We are not supposed to request time off during Jan-March because of this fact. I work full time during the months of February, March, and April because of this, too (every other month of the year I leave at 2:00). Well, today was C's school field trip to the zoo and he asked me if I would volunteer to be a chaperone. I said yes, not thinking that the teacher would actually ask me. Can you believe that she did? Knowing how important this was to C, I requested the day off of work (and cringed thinking of all the work I would come back to). But I reminded myself what's important in life, and he's not going to be young forever!

I set my alarm for 6:45 this morning (an hour and 15 minutes later than normal!), and got up to run 3 miles. It was rainy, wet, and cold, and the ground was very slippery since the rain was freezing. But I did it anyways, knowing that this run was for me only (priority). After I got back, I was actually able to have a nice breakfast and take C to school, which I absolutely LOVE since I'm never home to do (another priority).

After I showered and packed my lunch I was off to school for the field trip. It was cold, but the kids had a great time. I'm glad I can participate in activities like this with C. Our lives are very busy, and I can't always be at every event/sports game/activity, but I when he asks me specifically to be somewhere I do everything I can to make it happen. Priorities people.

So, even with being swamped at work, training for the marathon, teaching at the gym, and being a wife, I make it a priority to be a good mom. I love my little man:

And now I'm making it a priority to head up to bed early because I'm exhausted.

Night everyone!

Wake up Call

2010-02-22T19:52:00.008-05:00

Hi there!!

So this past week is exactly what this blog is about. Whew, what a week. We were so busy that I barely got to do any of my midweek training runs. Considering it was hubby's birthday, and we were preparing to go to Pittsburgh for the weekend (J is from Pittsburgh..........hopefully I don't lose any readers from that fact!!), it was definitely worth it, but that led to me being very fearful of the 11 miler I had planned on Sunday. But let's back up:

Thursday was J's birthday. I had to teach at the gym that evening so I picked up takeout from our favorite local pizza joint, Danny Boys. If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend you going here. It's A-MAZING! After our dinner goodness we gave J his presents.

And, if dinner wasn't enough, we headed to Malley's for some (much needed) ice cream. I didn't make a cake because I knew J's mom would have cake at her house on the weekend. But I think this sundae all but made up for the lack of cake:

Needless to say, he didn't finish all that, but that doesn't mean he didn't try! As C said, "Man Vs. Food, Food wins!" Lol!

Friday night we headed out to Pittsburgh to visit with J's family for the weekend. It was a nice weekend - and I had found out my one good friend who is also running the marathon was in town, too (her bf is from the same suburb of Pgh J's parents are!). So we met up Sunday morning for our 11 mile run. Well, what a wake up call. The hills are KILLER!! It's like a roller coaster: up/down, up/down - wow, I still can't believe it. Plus, we took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in the total country:

It actually ended up being a pretty great run (except for those stupid hills). The sun was out, and the scenery was excellent! We saw some cows and horses, and the people who were out were super friendly! We were a lot slower than usual since we had to walk some of the hills and stopped to ask directions, but that run really put me in a good mood. Those hills, however, really did a number on my hips. They are still hurting today. Anyone have a good hip stretches???

Here we are afterwards:

Almost halfway there!!

I tried a G2 afterwards to replenish my electrolytes because I seem to have stomach issues after my long runs. I think it may have helped! I don't know if it was a fluke or not, so I'm going to try it again next week and see what happens.

Have a fantastic week!!

In love with cupcakes?

2010-02-14T19:41:00.010-05:00

Happy Valentines Day, Friends!

My handsome son woke me up this morning with a homemade card and this most beautiful box:

Let me explain: I LURVE cupcakes. So much, that at one point I was contemplating going to culinary school so I could open my own cupcakery someday. Knowing that I'm not one to enjoy working at 4am on Sundays, the love of working/owning a bakery sadly diminished to just eating them.... :) So, when my husband proposed, I knew I wanted cupcakes involved in the wedding somehow. I found Main Street Cupcakes online and they made fantastic centerpieces for our rehearsal dinner.

So, last Saturday when J and I were out with some friends someone mentioned the new cupcake place that opened in Rocky River. My ears perked right up and a few minutes later realized it was the same Main Street Cupcakes that we used for the wedding, just a new location (and about 5 minutes from our house, which, let's be honest, is very dangerous)!! So, imagine my excitement when I opened that box this morning!

C and J both dug right in and each had a cupcake right in bed! I took bites, but held off on full cupcake love knowing I had a 10 mile run to tackle in a bit. And just in case you're wondering what I bought the love of my life for VDay:

I buy him energy bars, and he gets me cupcakes!! Oh well, he at least acted like he was excited. These are his favorite pre-soccer game bars, and the vanilla crisp flavors are hard to find so when I saw a whole box last week at the store I scooped them right up!

So, onto my run. Whew! 10 miles! First of all, I am SO ready for winter to be over. These cold, snowy, slushy runs are not for me. It took me so long this morning to get my butt out the door. BUT, it ended up not being so bad!

I was so proud of myself when I saw this:

I somehow maintained a 9:13 average! Check out these splits:

Mile 1 9:16

Mile 2 9:06 (!!)

Mile 3 9:13

Mile 4 9:14

Mile 5 9:07

Mile 6 9:11

Mile 7 9:09

Mile 8 9:26 (uphill for the first 1/2 mile or so)

Mile 9 9:15

Mile 10 9:18

FANtastic!! I could definitely feel a difference in my legs during Mile 8. My hamstrings start to feel it first, they get real tight. I wonder if the further I go, the slower I need to start so I can finish. Or am I supposed to try and keep this pace since I'm slowly increasing my miles? Any advice?

After my run I showered the nasty salt off my body because even with the low temperature I still manage to sweat like a crazy person! I had lunch, and then ate one of those lovelies from the box above. I'm in LOVE.................with cupcakes.......

Have a great day, and thanks for reading!

2010-02-12T19:30:00.010-05:00

Happy Friday, Friends!!!

What a week! I don't want to bore you a full week update, so I'll just give you the "highlights" (yes, we live exciting lives here in C-Town!). First off, C brought home an origami book from the library this week. What, what??! What 8 year old brings home an origami book?? Too cute. So the guys got to work making foxes....

Let's just say they aren't professional fox makers......and after listening to lots of bickering I finally had to be the mediator and jump in to help. See what happens when you actually read the directions:

Mom to the rescue!!!!!!!! :)

We were also hard at work making cupcakes for C's valentines day party at school.

AND, check out the loot he brought home from school today. Since when did Valentines Day replace Halloween? What's with all the candy?

I got some loot today, too. Check it:

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this new running shirt I got from Lucy!! I could see the package in the door when I pulled in my driveway after work and got super excited. Call me gross, whatev, I wore it without washing it first. Yeah, it kinda smelled like a plastic bag, but it was too cute to wait! It was actually a little too cold outside to wear this today, but I only had to run 3 miles so I wore it anyway. The material is AMAZING, so stretchy and soft. And the shirt is actually long enough for tall mammoths like me! The thumb holes in the arms make me happy, too, as the sleeves are long enough that they don't pull like some of my Nike ones do. I googled Lucy coupons and found a 20% off code that worked. Try it!! You won't regret it.

Oh, my run wasn't too shabby either. I'm kinda diggin running in the cold - I swear I run faster? Don't know if it's because I'm freezing my booty off and want to get home or if there's just no heat or humidity to slow me down...... Whatever it is, I LIKE IT.

Have a fantastic weekend. I'm off to prepare for classes I'm teaching at the gym tomorrow morning. Then it's relaxing tomorrow night in preparation for my Sunday 10 miler (eek!!!).

See you Sunday!!

Teach 'em young

2010-02-07T18:57:00.009-05:00

Hello!! Anyone still out there??!

I know it's been awhile, but the family has had a rough week. Sadly, we lost someone very important to us this past week. So things have been quite busy.

In any case, I've still managed to get my training runs in. This morning I woke up to 17 degrees here in C-town. I just can't catch a break. It's 20-30 degrees during the week, and then in the teens on the weekends. Sheesh. So, I ate breakfast and, like any sane human being, kept putting off my run. I finally forced myself to man up and just do it. I ended up finishing in 1:14:39 (9:19 average!!). Woot woot!! I wish I could show you a picture, but in an effort to keep this blog PG, I'll spare you. When I got in the shower after my run, my skin was so RED and BLOTCHY. Kind of like when you've been out sled riding for too long? I think I stood in the shower for 20 minutes just trying to warm up (shhhh.....don't tell J I was in there that long wasting the water)!! If you look closely, you can see the sock lines on my legs in this picture:

Sexy, no?

Yesterday was also an exciting day in that I got new running shoes! My last pair of Nikes gave me blisters during my half marathon, and Friday our puppy, Diddy, got ahold of one of them, pulled out the in sole, and chewed away. So, sadly, I had no choice. :) Here were the options:

In my heart, I really wanted the Pearl Izumi's (first pic) to be the best just because they look cool, but I ended up with the Saucony's (last pic). They are freakin fantastic - SO SOFT!! If you're ever in the Cleveland area, check out Second Sole for your running needs. They are so personable and fit the shoes to your feet/needs. Thank you, Second Sole!

I have so much more to share with you, but I think I'll save the rest for another post. But I'll leave you with this:

That's right, people, I teach 'em young! :)

Happy SuperBowl Sunday!!

The Masked Bandit?

2010-01-31T19:30:00.005-05:00

Is it really Sunday evening already?? I can't believe how fast the weekends go anymore......boo.......

Saturday was mad busy. I taught Group Step, 15 minute Abs, and Group Power in the morning, came home, showered, and went BACK to the gym to practice with the other instructors for our new launch next weekend. I was at practice for another 2 hours! Man, what a day. In my absence, the boys had a great Saturday. C had a basketball game in the morning, where he rocked it out and made 2 baskets and even blocked a shot! Then since I was going to be gone in the early afternoon they decided to go ice skating! No fair.

The husband had to leave unexpectedly last night to go be with his family. So, my mom came to the rescue!! We drove to my mom and dad's house this morning so I could do my 7 mile run today. Mind you, it's less than 20 degrees in Cleveland right now. I don't think I warmed up until mile 4! It felt so great, though:

I miscalculated somewhere and ended up with 7.26 miles. Not bad! Here's what I looked like:

I walked in the door to my parent's house and my Dad says "Hey, it's the masked bandit." Hey, I don't care what I look like, as long as I keep warm! My mom bought me that mask when I first started running 5 years ago and it's amazing. Thanks, Mom!!

Other than that, C and I made this sign for J while he was gone. Check it:

We love you, Babe!

Off to watch the MJ tribute on the Grammy's with C - have a good night!

Welcome to the World

2010-01-29T20:33:00.009-05:00

World, meet Evan:

Isn't he the cutest newborn EVA???? Well, except for maybe this guy:

The above picture is my little one, C, who just turned 8 this month. Has it really been 8 years since he was born????! **sigh**

Anyways, Evan was born yesterday to my very best friends, Nikki & Bob. Baby and Mom are both doing great, and they even got released from the hospital today already!

So, I thought I'd dedicate this post to Nikki. We met while interning at Sherwin Williams our Junior year of college at Cleveland State. I was already working (I'm the dedicated one! ha!) and Nikki started shortly after. We hit it off almost immediately, which is funny because at first sight I resented her for wearing a suit to her internship. Looking back at it, I was probably just jealous! It's actually pretty amazing that we are still BFFs. After college she moved to Arizona for a year and I decided to get married and have a baby. And, although our lives were completely different, we still managed to have something in common. Yes, we grew apart some during that time, but once we both got a little older our friendship grew stronger than ever. She moved home, I got divorced, she lived downtown and met her husband, I lived with my parents for a little, etc. We've never really been on the same life schedule actually. I was in her wedding 3 years ago, and then she was in mine when I got remarried a year and a half ago. Anyways, I think you get the picture. She's my gurrrrll. Period. :)

I thought I'd leave you with some Sa-Weet pics of us:

Luv ya, sista!!

On the training front, I ran 3 miles on the treadmill yesterday with minimal knee trouble - YES! Today was supposed to be 4 miles, but I decided to go visit that beautiful bundle of joy you see at the top of the post instead. Sunday is a 7 miler - I'm praying it gets a little warmer! Come on, Cleveland, show me some LOVE already!!

Peace.

2010-01-27T20:39:00.004-05:00

Happy Hump Day!!

The last I left you was on Sunday when I ran 6 miles on the treadmill. Well, when I woke up Monday morning my right knee was not feeling good. I've had a problem with it in the past, so I have been trying to be cautious. I wear this McDavid Jumpers Knee Strap when I run or do STEP, and I have sworn by it because my knee has been 100%. That is, until Monday. So, I decided to skip my Monday training day (3 miles), took it easy when I taught Group Step Monday and tonight, and, instead, have been doing a lot of this:

Check the bag of edamame. Yep, that's how I roll. No ice packs here - we use bags of frozen fruits and veggies! :)

In the past I haven't been smart about taking care of my body when it starts to hurt. I know that with the marathon I need to listen to my body - I'm not 25 anymore!!!

Here's what I say to that:

That's my mean/mad face! Ha! (can you see my No Meat Athlete T hiding underneath my sweater?) I heart that shirt.

ANYWAYS, any doctors out there? I need a diagnosis! My knee hurts on the inside and underneath (still on the inside). Anyone else ever had this problem? I'd love any insight you have.

Since it feels almost back to normal today, tomorrow I'm going back to normal scheduled programming: 3 miles tomorrow, 4 on Friday, and 7 on Sunday - wish my luck that my knee holds up. I'm still just in the beginning of training!

PEACE.

Try Before You Cry!

2010-01-24T18:41:00.007-05:00

Sup, everyone?! How was your weekend??

Mine started pretty fantastic on Friday. Check it:

HOLLA!!! I suprised myself!! Here are my splits:

Mile 1: 9:26

Mile 2: 8:55

Mile 3: 8:56

Mile 4: 8:45

I had no idea I could run that fast on a normal day! Sure, race day is always a little different (and a SHORT race day, like a 5k), but not a plain old training day. The whole time I was running I had to push myself like crazy because I just wasn't feeling it, but maybe that helped me run faster? Who knows, I'm just glad I did it!

I also tried out my new Bondi Band I bought last week:

It worked pretty good. Stayed put, and even covered my ears to keep my lame headphones in (another post coming shortly about that). But does it make me look like a ninja? Honestly, I really don't think I'm cool enough to be a ninja. Anyways, today I wanted to try something different and I wore it casually:

Not sure which way I like it better. What do you think?

Saturday was C's first basketball game. Sadly, I had already committed to teaching at the gym for the next few Saturdays so I couldn't go. Luckily, my hubby took some pictures - and C even made a basket!! Not too bad for his first game, and only 2 practices.....

He's #92. So, take a good look. Can you notice the difference between the 2 pics?

His t-shirt is off in the 2nd picture. If you know him, you know he gets hot REAL fast and is always taking his shirts off (especially if he has 2 shirts on, one has to come off as soon as we're home, and the same with his socks!). I swear to you, the kid is always stripping - it's pretty funny actually.

Last night I set my alarm for 7:00 knowing that the weatherman called for rain today. So, when I woke up there was no rain, but it looked like it was on its way so I hurried up to get ready and, I'm not kidding you, as soon as I took the dogs out it started pouring. *heavy sigh* Anyways, I thought about postponing my run, but just decided to get it done. I headed to the gym and ran 6 miles on the treadmill. I wanted to quit so bad after mile 3 but I knew I'd be mad at myself for quitting later on so I gritted my teeth, dug in, and finished. Sometimes those are the runs I'm most proud of. Like I always tell my son, and my classes at the gym, "TRY BEFORE YOU CRY!" :) So true today.

Hope you had a nice weekend!! Did you try before you cried??

You'll Be Fine!

2010-01-21T19:25:00.003-05:00

Have any of you other first time marathoners heard that phrase? I'm going to be honest, I can't stand it. Whenever I'm talking to someone about the marathon and express my nervousness, concern, etc, they're first response is "Oh, you'll be fine!" WHAT? Have YOU run a marathon before? I don't get it. Do people not think running a marathon is a big deal anymore? It's HUGE!! All the training and the time commitment and punishment you put your body through? I have mad respect for people who run marathons, heck, for anyone who runs period! It's not easy. Anyways, I got that tonight at the gym from not one, but TWO people. Oh well, vent over.......*sigh*

I taught Group Step tonight to a small group of people. It's hit or miss on Thursdays - we'll see if the class lasts or not. I'm hoping it starts to pick up! After class I hit the treadmill for a 3 miler. I've decided I hate the treadmill for multiple reasons:

1. I'm a lot slower

2. It's crazy boring

3. I hate people behind me while my butt is jiggling while I run :)

I got through it, though, and now I'm home chillin. C is at basketball practice, and from what I hear we've got some work cut out for us. At least he looks cute (!!):

Come on, who wouldn't love that face?? :)

The size of my head

2010-01-20T19:29:00.007-05:00

Now, there are lots of things bigger than my head:

1. Basketball

2. Christmas wreath

3. Earth

4. My butt....... (I kid, I kid)

But never did I expect this when I ordered my protein powder online last week:

I literally laughed out loud when I opened the box this came in! WOW! Bigger than my head! LOL.

Check this out:

Cup Cake Batter flavor! I can't wait to try this baby out in my oatmeal - YUM!

Anyways, I decided to purchase the protein powder since I am a vegetarian. I have never had a hard time getting enough protein in each day, but I want to make sure I'm treating my body right and repairing my muscles with all the marathon training that is to come. I will let you know if I notice a difference!

On that note, there was no run on the schedule today. I ran 3 miles on the treadmill Monday, and have 3 miles to run tomorrow. I did teach Group Step tonight, though, and my legs are TIRED - I need to go stretch these bad boys out.

I'll leave you with this:

Tonight we had "Iron Chef: Battle Marshmallow" in our house! We're Food Network junkies. :)

What channel is always on your TV?

What the Fog?

2010-01-17T19:17:00.007-05:00

Hello!

Today was a typical winter Cleveland day: cold, wet, and dreary (can you please help me convince my husband that we should move to a warmer state??). Despite the weather, my day started off fantastic with banana pancakes. YUM! Then C told me he wanted to run with me, so I jumped all over it. Here are pics of his first 2 races:

The first one was taken last summer during a 1 mile kid's fun run at the city park. I was so proud of him - he ran the whole mile and never quit (and check out that finish!). The 2nd race was the Thanksgiving 5k Turkey Trot we did in my husband's hometown near Pittsburgh. The race had crazy hills that we CRUSHED!

Today was a little different, as it was freezing, slushy, and C wanted to take the pup. So the 3 of us suited up and took off. We ran a mile, and I'd by lyin if I said there was no complaining for those 12-13 mins. BUT he finished strong, and that's what counts! Here we are:

Check out that mad fog!

After we got back, I grabbed my iPod and took off for my 5 mile run. I averaged a 9:23 pace, with my last mile being 8:49! That's FAST for this girl. Trust me, this body is not built for fast running. Despite the cold temps, I felt like I could have kept going - I felt pretty darn great! My hips are now bothering me a bit, but they normally get sore when I first start running regularly again. On that note, I'm off to spend some time stretching these old lady hips. I think foresee some frozen yogurt in my future, too!!

Peace out!

Party Day!

2010-01-16T19:17:00.009-05:00

This morning was FAB, yo - I got to sleep in until 8:00! Since I wake up at 5:30am (eek!) during the week, 8:00 is DA BOMB.

However, waking up at 8:00 didn't leave us with a lot time to get ready this morning. See, I teach at 10:00 Saturday mornings at the "away" gym. Let me explain: I teach at two gyms (same gym, 2 locations) and the "away" gym is 10 miles away, but takes about a half hour to get to since there's no easy way to get there - the "home" gym is 3 miles away and takes 10 mins, but we don't have that luxury on Saturdays. The 3 of us go to the gym together sometimes, as J (the husband) takes my Group Power class, so C gets to live the life and spend an hour in the Playland while we're working out.

Anyways, we didn't get home until 11:40, and C's 8th birthday party was at 1:00 at the ice skating rink here in town. We came home, showered, grabbed a bite, and even picked up a friend on the way (yeah, we're pretty awesome). I think his party was a success. Check it:

C is in the PUMA sweatshirt in front. Cutie, right (takes after his mom!)?

Anyways, no run today. I'm beat, though. Being the mom at a birthday party for 9 eight year olds who don't know how to skate (plus one husband who thinks he can skate) is exhausting! Here are a few more pics:

Can you tell we don't take serious pictures in our household? Love it.

What was your favorite birthday party when you were younger? I remember a surprise party my friend threw me in either 8th or 9th grade. We all were rockin those college sweatshirts you could buy at Dots. Awesome.

Catch ya tomorrow for a 5 miler!

Meet Steve

2010-01-15T18:58:00.012-05:00

Say hi to Steve:

Steve is my new BFF!! He's named after the running legend, Steve Prefontaine. Not that I will ever be a running legend, but a girl's gotta have dreams, right?

Steve and I went on our 2nd training run today (yesterday I did 3 miles on the treadmill solo). The snow is finally starting to melt here in Cleveland so we bundled up to brave the cold weather. This is the view from the front of my house looking down the street. Doesn't look very appealing, huh?

Anyways, our run was great! We averaged a 9:16 pace, which is fast for me, and pretty amazing considering this is what we were dodging for 4 miles:

Here we are afterwards. I think we're going to be besties for a long time (or at least until May 2nd)!

I want to leave you with one more picture. I took this on my way home from work today! WHAT IS THAT????

Have a great night! I'm off to enjoy "family movie night" with my favorite 2 boys!

I did it!

2010-01-14T19:35:00.000-05:00

After a year of reading my favorite blogs, I finally decided to create my own! I guess it took me registering for the Pittsburgh marathon to convince myself I had something blogworthy (is that a word?) to write about. I'm hoping the blog will help keep me accountable with my training, as well as keep me in check at home. Luckily I have an amazing support system. My husband and 8 year old son are my biggest cheerleaders (although I'm sure they don't appreciate me calling them cheerleaders!).

I'm excited, and also very scared, for the marathon. I can't imagine running 26.2 miles. I'm a person who thrives on goals and accomplishments and, other than giving birth to my son, this is going to be my biggest accomplishment yet. I can feel it. This blog will be a place for me to express my feelings towards training, and balancing life at the same time. So please welcome me to the blog world and join me on this crazy journey!

Balancing Life and 26 Miles

New Blog!!

Final Farewell

Getting My Fill

Weekday Wine

Feels Like Summer?

Crazy Cleveland Weather

Not Our Lucky Day

The Finish Line

Dual Celebration

The Second Half

The First Half

Today Was a Good Day

Cleveland Rocks & Runs

Best Gift Ever

Get My Head In The Game

Good to be Wrong?

How Far She's Come

Run for the Border

What now?

Marathon Post

Pre-race Day

26.2 - check!

Team Heatha!

Real Runner?

Smart......or Crazy??

Sun Spray Salon

Run Like a God

In My Dreams.....

Still sleeping

Spandex Alert

Help?

Still smiling

Week Wrap up

The Challenge

5 Minutes of Torture

New Love

Fantastic Good Friday

Too Cool for School

It's a challenge!

Long Day to run 17 miles!

Baby snatcher!

Busy Bee

Back to Back

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

It's been awhile....

Water Logged

Leave a comment

Reality Check

Tale of Three Cities

Priorities

Wake up Call

In love with cupcakes?

Teach 'em young

The Masked Bandit?

Welcome to the World

Try Before You Cry!

You'll Be Fine!

The size of my head

What the Fog?

Party Day!

Meet Steve

I did it!