I have a problem...

I have a problem..I will admit it..I may need counselling.  I think I may be addicted to socks..especially running socks..but really I just realized this morning that I have a crap load of socks in general   I guess this is what you find out when you are on spring break and it is snowing and you decide to clean your room and go through some drawers to get rid of stuff.

How many drawers of socks do you have?  I have two..One large drawer is for my funky socks.  I will claim that I buy them for school...you know that the kids love it when I am wearing fun socks.  But really I just like some crazy socks.

I also have a smaller side table that holds a crap load of white socks..many purchased specifically for running.  I love running socks!  I have toe socks, feetures (love some of them), bulega, nike, adidas and every other sock under the sun.  The funny thing is that I am not loyal to one brand of sock (obviously with all of the different brands in my drawer.)  I have some Bulega's that are ok..I have one grey and pink pair that I love!  I also have some Feetures that are ok..the elite I can wear on short runs, but not on long runs..the grey pair of Feetures..love them in the winter!  I guess you could say I'm a sock whore...my love is not just for one pair/brand.

When I was sad because my green hairband did not come in the mail before the RnR USA what does Megan say to me to try and make me feel better..hey maybe you can find some nice running socks at the expo to take your mind off of the green headband.  :)  Yeah I may have a bit of a problem.  And it seems like my friends may know about my problem too.  

I usually pick up a new pair of socks when I head to the local running store.  I mean really what is one more pair of socks thrown in with my running purchase, right??  

Do you have anything in your drawers or closet that you think..why am I buying another one of these??  Or am I the only one?  Please tell me I'm not the only one with issues... :)

5 things Friday

1.  SPRING BREAK!!!!!

2.  New running capri's...can't wait to run in them.  There is just something about new workout clothes!  

3.  I guess there was a fire ball in the sky and I missed it..

I guess I was partying it up too much on my first night of spring break..that's right I was watching How I Met Your Mother and missed the fireball that touched down on the Maryland/Delaware border..oh well..goodness gracious great balls of fire!

4.  I caved and purchased the download for my RnR USA pics..They so overcharge for their pictures.  I don't normally purchase marathonfoto pictures, but I didn't look like I was hating life too much in the pictures..so I caved.

Looking towards the finishline

Megan and I waiting to start the race

5.  Winter weather..we are supposed to get some snow on Monday.  I was hoping to play in my garden and try to clean up my backyard..why are we getting more cold weather?  It is supposed to start to warm up!

Aiming for some running tomorrow morning..  Hope everyone had a wonderful running weekend!

                               

Dear Little Piggie..I'm sorry

This just in...I ran twice this week!  Yep I'm a rock star.  I ran on Tuesday at run club (after Saturday's half marathon) and I ran yesterday at the gym.  I'm calling it a successful week!  16 more days until Cherry Blossom Ten Miler!  I should be ready..hopefully it will be rain free and warmer than the lower 30's that it was this morning.  Its starting to feel like winter around here instead of spring.

Dear Piggies I am sorry that you had to take one for the team..I'm sure that your blue-ish purple-ish  color on the second smaller toenail is cool and envied by all of my other toes.  All I know is that the toes that normally get blisters or the lovely purple bruise are all fine..I know little piggie, you have never changed colors before..but it will be fine.

Hope you have been a rock star this week and have gotten out there and ran some!

Rock n Roll USA and a PR

Thursday night Megan and I headed over to pick up our race packet.  You know you've been to a lot of race expos when all you walk away with is a green head band.

We did get to squeeze in a run through the finish line in flats!  

Saturday morning I got up at 5 and by 5:35 we were on the road heading towards our first half  marathon of the year.  We wanted to meet up with some half fanatics for a picture, but the metro ended up running really slow and we missed it.  So after we got off the metro we dropped  off our bags at the correct school bus.  Which turned out to be a great idea, because while we were standing in the portapotty line we saw the buses start to drive off..and then I saw quite a few people running the race with their bag on their backs.  How uncomfortable would that be to run with a bag on your back for 13.1 miles. 

After bag check we headed over to the long portapotty lines.  We thought we picked a good line, but our line was slow.   Like it took 1 hour to get up front!  Yeah we missed the start of the race.  I figured I was ok since my corral was 31.  Megan ended up just jumping in on corral 30 and taking off because her corral already left.  But at least we didn't have to stop on course!  

I didn't have my Garmin with me. It had a seizure that morning and claimed it wasn't charged so I was running Garmin free.  So I was trying to figure out my time based off of the clocks on course.  I think I was running a pretty steady 11 min. mile until mile 6.  Which is good for me.  Normally I am either all over the place or I start with a time and just steadily get slower.  I was feeling great running.  It is amazing how great a race can feel when you actually run and train before the actual race!  Well anyway, mile six turned into a mountain straight up towards the National Zoo.  Ugh!  I ran up half of it and then walked because I didn't want to spend all of my energy half way through the race.  Once at the top it was pretty flat and I started running again.  Some of the water stops looked vacant.  Not a lot of volunteers at many of the water stops.  Lucky for me I had my handheld so I didn't stop at too many water stops.  When I did stop, I just filled my bottle from the water barrels.  I felt good for most of the race.  That last 5K sucked though.  For some reason I just hate the last 5K of a race.  Really from mile 11 on I was ready for the race to be done.  At one point I thought I could walk faster than what I was running..but I was still running!  

When I was heading towards the finish line I was thinking that I just might have finished with a PR (if my math was correct)  Although I wasn't really sure because the first clock I saw was at mile 1 so I was doing all of my math off of that first clock.  But I was really happy with my time.

As I cross the finish, Gary from Run Club was there.  We always joke that he has teacher radar, and yep his radar must still be working!  Odd that no matter how large the race we usually end up running into Gary!  We grabbed some food and water and got some finisher photos and then headed to the meeting spot where I was going to meet up with Megan.  Well Megan wasn't there because the bag pickup was a mess.  Long lines, slow bag pickup didn't make for happy runners at all.  

The race weather was perfect!  I would like to think it didn't rain because I wore my hat.  (I'm not a huge fan of hats, but I thought I would want one if it was going to rain) It was overcast without a bunch of wind.  Maybe that helped me knock off 4 minutes from my last PR!  I'm slowly chipping away at my half marathon time.  Now that we finished it was time to celebrate with some french toast.

Afterwards I headed home to shower and take a nap.  But before that I checked the mail and look what came...

Yeah my Bic Bands came! lol..  well maybe I will have some for the next race!  

Next up is the Cherry Blossom 10 miler.

Dear DC

Dear DC,
I'm not sure if you are aware that there is a race happening on Saturday.  Thousands of people will be running your streets and admiring the beautiful views of the city.  Please be kind to those runners.

Today it is super windy.  People do not really enjoy running in the wind so please if you can blow all of your wind around today and take a break on Saturday you would make a lot of runners very happy.  Also I saw this weather report today...

Now the weathermen have been wrong more than they have been right this year.  Please let this be one of those times when they predicted incorrectly!  I do not want to run my first rain race!  I promise that the next time it is raining (but not torrential downpours..I'm not crazy) I will put my shoes on and run outside.  If you must rain on Saturday, please make it during the evening or even during the afternoon.  I do like the 57 degrees, thank you if that happens.  

Just in case I may bring an entire change of clothes for french toast after the race.  I know this may sound like I'm asking a lot..but please remember that I am not asking just for me, but thousand of other runners too!  

Sincerely,

Running Librarian

next up...RnR USA

So this weekend is Rock n Roll USA!  I hate to write this but I'm going to anyway..I have a good feeling about this weekend.

I feel pretty good about my running lately.  So fingers crossed.  This weekend was not the best for mileage, but I am ok with that.  I have felt like I have been more consistent with my running so that can only lead to good things I would think.

 I've been stalking the weather..yeah not exactly what I want to see.

I don't think I have ran a race in rain..except for a little bit of it during Kentucky Derby but it was so brief I wouldn't even count it.  The only good thing is that it is only 30% and it is a few days away anything could change (for the better not the other way around)  Temps look pretty good.  

I think I have my outfit all ready.  I am going to head out to find some shamrock socks to cut off and make arm warmers. I may be running in a tutu.  I figure if it bothers me I can always ditch it.  Since I have a green tutu I might as well wear it right?  

I ordered a bic band

It has not made its way to my house yet.  I'm hoping that it comes in the mail before Saturday's race.  I really do not have anything to keep the hair back that would be great for a St. Patrick's Day weekend race.  Please mailman deliver me some hair goods.  :)  

As far as my goals are concerned..they really are the old stand by..

A goal - PR..beat my 2:43 time

B Goal - have a good race and enjoy less than 3

C goal - finish without dying.  (which is always a great goal)

And as always I look forward to some french toast..all great races end with french toast right?  

Jealous

So I realized I am a bit jealous of some people.  Its ok I will admit it freely.  I am jealous of those of you who do not sweat!  In the past few weeks I have just about had it with sweat!  I hate it..I hate the salt left on my face after a good workout.  I hate the sweat in my eyes most of all.  Ugh! And the worst part is I am the person that sweats just thinking about working out.  I usually judge my workouts  by my sweat ring.  If the top boob sweat meets the under the boob sweat..it has been one good workout!  And the horrible part is that I am complaining about it in March..I have just begun to sweat!

Four Courts Four Miler and a PR!

This morning I ran the Four Courts Four Miler with Becky to help celebrate her birthday!  It was a perfect day for a run!  I did realize that I was a bit overdressed for the race.  Which is a good thing because I think next weekend's RnR Half will have the same temps..so note to self do not wear a long sleeve shirt.

I think I may wear the tutu for the half next weekend though. I figure if it annoys me I can dump it along the run.

There were lots of people running Four Courts.  I had almost forgotten how packed it feels right before and right after the run.  I guess when the race ends at a bar people tend to stick around.  I was hoping to see my favorite old man runner in red..but I didn't see him this year.  He really is one of my favorite runners.  I hope when I am his age I am still running (he has to be in his 70's or older)

The course is straight down a hill and then you turn around and run straight up the hill..ugh..the downhill is great, the uphill not so much.  We stopped to get a picture at Run Club's water station.  Even with the stop I still PR'd by over 2 minutes!!  That's right...ran it better than last year!  I guess all of the running I have been doing is starting to pay off. :)  

Afterwards we met up with some friends and enjoyed some beer.  Can't beat running and having some beers to help celebrate a birthday run!

Next race:  Rock n Roll USA Half..

looking back on my running

I know it sounds like a New Year's post..but sometimes you just realize how far you have come from that first time you started running.  Today was yet another snow day!  Yippy!!  Today I realized I needed to get out and run.  If I sat anymore on my couch I think my a$$ would turn into a couch.  I decided to explore a new neighborhood.  I knew what would happen if I went in my hood (a one mile circle) I would be able to stop and head back to my couch at some point after each mile..not what I needed to happen.  So I headed to a new neighborhood hoping that it wasn't super hilly.  Turned out it wasn't bad..some hills..ended up running 7 miles.  Very nice day for a run..50 degrees outside...the only down side was some puddles from all of the snow melting.

   

Look! I do not look really miserable after my 7 miles!

After my run I got to thinking how far I have come with running...lets take a little walk down memory lane...

I remember last week at the beginning of my running journey hating to run 3 miles.  How was I going to run longer distances?  Ok I am sure I didn't really think of running longer distances, just not really enjoying running on my own.  I have always loved running on race day though.

Then I was talked into running my first Cherry Blossom 10 miler!  The first time I ran the Cherry Blossom I didn't train properly.  I had ran 4 miles before running 10 (smart I know!)  Ugh!  After the race I didn't know if I wanted a banana..to throw up to sit down or needed to walk..I was so disoriented!

The back of this shirt says it all..  I'm only doing this to post the pictures on Facebook!  

I remember feeling horrible after this race.  Running 10 miles after running your longest of 4 miles is not the smartest thing to do.  I wasn't sure what my knee would be able to do..but I hope it would allow me to run 10 miles.  I didn't know about gu chomps yet..or wicking fabric.  That lovely cotton shirt that we made weighed a ton after soaking up all of my sweat.  Ugh..never again!  

After that first 10 miler I started running more races.  I loved race day!  I still love race day.  Most of my races were 5k with a few 10K's thrown in. Since then I learned that you do have to run longer than 4 miles..it does make a difference which shoe you run in.  Wicking fabrics are my friend!  I also slowly started to read more about running and runner's blogs. Somewhere along the way I purchased my first subscription to Runner's World. I love when that magazine shows up at my door!  

don't I look happy in this Cherry Blossom picture?  Much better the second year!

My second Cherry Blossom was not nearly as bad as the first.  I actually ran more than 4 miles and discovered that gu chomps work for me. ( I still have issues with staying with my training calendar)  I found out that the gu chomps help to make sure that I am not dizzy after the race and I don't feel nearly as bad as I did after that first 10 mile race.  I felt so much better that second year that my friend Kristen and I decided to sign up for our first half marathon!  Yeah we were a bit crazy.  

My first RnR Philly race was a disaster!  We both must have picked up something from the hotel because we were both sick as a dog after the race.  Ugh...so disappointing because I actually had my best training runs prior to that race!  Now I don't know if I could ever run Philly again because of that one experience.  I think it took me a month to realize that I wanted to attempt another half.  Philly left an awful taste in my mouth and I needed another race to get rid of the bad after taste.  The Flying Pirate turned out to be the perfect follow up!  

Why was I taking a walk down memory lane today?  Well I had a pretty good run.  3 years ago I don't know if I would go out to run a 7 mile run and come back home and still be able to function.  My feet are a bit tired, but other than that I am feeling pretty good.  Amazing how far I have come since those first few races...and I still have lots more to learn.  Bring it!

What to do on a snow day...

So what do you do on a snow day?  That little christmas gift of a day that you get to sleep in and not feel guilty...  why I do not run..that would just be crazy!!  It is early afternoon..I may head to the gym later we will see..but if not that is ok.

Last night I decided since I was pretty sure that we were getting the day off, to head to run club.  I know it is a Tuesday of course I was going to go to run club.  But I had my mind made up that I wasn't going.  I had to stop off at a viewing for one of our kids at school whose parent had passed away, and I thought well no way can I do that and run at run club.  So afterwards, since no rain was in sight (and it was supposed to start off as rain first)  I figured I was pretty safe to make the trek up to run club to socialize, not run.  Glad I did..always fun seeing friends.  On the drive home it was crazy how quickly the weather changed..I went from absolutely nothing, to rain..a few mile later it was sleet (but nothing was sticking b/c it was still 35 degrees out) and then ten miles from home it was a whiteout (but still nothing was sticking to the roads.)  I made it home, with no real problems, to snow on cars and grass and feeling really good about a snow day.

Finally they call the day and I feel so excited..I just can't hide it..I'm about to lose control and I think I like it...

Anywhoo...today I thought I could sleep in but mom called at 7 am. to ask if I had a snow day.  And after that I made some yummy snow day cinnamon rolls (they were homemade from the pop-can)  I had a hunch and thought I would enjoy some yummy cinnamon rolls on my day off so I picked up a can at the store a few days ago.  I haven't had them in years.

I know you are thinking after that I probably went for a run..umm  no not really.

I did take Riley for a walk.  I love walking in the snow.  This snow was not really that much fun to walk in. There was so much water with this snow.  As soon as it hit the roads it would turn slushy...causing me to have wet boots and wet socks.

Where's Riley?  He starts to blend in with the snow.

The view of the backyard this morning.

I did see the local Marine Runner running in da 'hood.  I asked him if his feet were soaked he said not yet as he ran by...hmm  my feet need wrung out after a short walk..how could his feet be dry?

After the walk I caught up on some tv and a nap.  There is something about snow day naps!  Afterwards I headed to Panera to enjoy some soup, since I had a dollar off of soup.  I may head to the gym later to hit the mill..but if not that is ok...it is a snow day after all!

Hope everyone enjoys the day!

lessons from a 6 mile run

Well this weekend was a very low key type of weekend.  I made it to the gym and I got in a run.  Can't complain about that!  Saturday I headed to get a facial.  I haven't had one since last spring so I knew it was going to be expensive because I have no more product left.  So Merry Christmas to me!  She did yell at me (ok she didn't raise her voice, but I could tell she wanted to yell) for not wearing sunscreen when I run.  I have not found anything that doesn't run into my eyes.  The last thing I want is burning and stinging in my eyes as I run from product..I have enough issue with the sweat in my eyes.  Anyone else have this problem and thus stay away from sunscreen while running?  I will apply when I am just out and about but nothing is on my face when I run.  I do wear a visor or hat to help keep the sun off of my face (better than nothing, right?)  Afterwards, it was  perfect day to just lounge around and read and watch some TV.  After the crappy week, this was perfect.


On Sunday I wanted to head out the door for a 9/10 mile run..I waited for late morning because it was cold and windy.  I thought I could out wait the temp and wind.  Really it was the wind that I was hiding from.  The  upper 30's I could deal with.  Well they say that you learn something every time you run..today was one of those days. Last night I didn't really have dinner..I just picked on random snacks since I wasn't really hungry.  Well this would turn out to be a huge fail on Sunday's run .  I started out and immediately hated life.  The wind was just pushing against me.  Ugh..I hate wind!  Then as I kept going I just felt like the wind was stealing my breath away.  My chest was hating the cold too.  I felt like I was wheezing while I ran.  Turned out that I did manage to squeeze out 6 hated miles.  I guess the lack of food from the night before didn't help my energy levels while I was running against the wind.  Next time I will make sure that I have something good for a run the night before.

I did come home and have some yummy lunch..I made some chili since it is supposed to be a bit of a cold spell this week.  I don't think I have made chili at all this year, so sounded perfect to me this week. I came in to the yummy smell of chili in the crockpot.  I headed up and took a quick shower to help warm me up and settled down to some very yummy chili.  Perfect food after a windy run.

I

I'm not a huge chili fan, but this just hit the spot today..

Learning to read a calendar

Well it looks like I will not be moving up in Half Fanatics since I do not know how to read a calendar.  I thought the Chambersburg Half was on a Sunday which works out great, however once I learned how to read a calendar looks like it is a Saturday race so no half before RnR USA which means I am not moving up in Half Fanatics (I needed 8 halfs in 365 days.)  So I guess I can work towards 8 this year.

Here is what I have on my list for this year:

March - RnR USA - This will start off my racing season..it is the first long race of the year.

April - Cherry Blossom 10 miler (doesn't count towards moving up in Half Fanatic Land..but it is still on the calendar)

May - Marine Corps Historic Half - I know I said I would not run this race again after last year's hill horrors..but I'm running a mountain in June and hilly Pittsburgh so I figured it would help get me in shape. And who can say no to a race that is fifteen minutes from home?  I hope I don't live to regret this race.

June - Hatfield McCoy Half - this should be a really great race (except that I am running up a mountain)  Anyone  have any thoughts on a hotel..must book this soon.

August - Biggest Loser Half in Erie - I'm running with my friend JoAnn, this will be her first half marathon. So hopefully she will enjoy it and start to run longer distances more often.
              RnR Pittsburgh - I have yet to see the route, but I am sure that it will be over at least one bridge (it is the city of bridges)

September - RnR VA Beach - I know I hated the heat last year.  I am sure I will still hate it this year..but it will give me three RnR races which means extra bling!!  And I can stay with my friend Kristi so who can say no to that?

October -Heritage Historic Half - this is the race that I had my last PR.  I like the small race atmosphere so this is an easy yes to run for me.

December - I would like to run the Blue and Gray Half - once again it is only 15 minutes from my home.  I wanted to run it this past year, but it didn't fit in with my schedule.  Hopefully this year it will fit in better.  If I end up with tickets to a Steeler game this weekend there will be no Blue and Grey Half for me.

It looks like I need one more half to move up in Half Fanatics..I will be looking at a calendar to see what is out there and what I would like to run.  I might just have a very busy running year again.