Team Heatha!

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?

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??

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

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

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.....

........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

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

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?

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

  

Any suggestions?

Still smiling

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

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

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:

1. 20 minute time limit



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



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



4. 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? :)