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? :)

5 Minutes of Torture

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

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

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!