Ugh

Workout 3.1 27:10

Well I had to walk on my run today. I got a late start then I wanted and I just couldn't get in my groove. I woke up last night with a huge hot flash but also tingly. Ever had that happen? it felt like I was being poked by needles all over? I eventually feel back asleep but when I woke up..yea around 9am My legs were so numb. But I got up and gave it a shot anyways. About a mile into the run my hands and face were tingly too.

Of course I picked the route by my house so I hit hill 5-9 of my bike route. By hill the 3rd hill I had to walk. It was driving me crazy. I had to try to relax before I could push any further. I finally made it home but didn't run up the driveway like I usually do. So instead of the 3.3miles I only ran 3.1.

I quickly drank a Gatorade Recovery Protein drink and started to feel better. But IDK I haven't had much to eat all day. Just feel in a funk. Hopefully I can stretch out tonight and maybe drain some lactic acid from my legs before bed.

QOTD: Ever had weird feelings in your legs on runs? Has it ever affected you during the night too? Could it be restless legs or related to the recent shin pain?

The numbers....

I have seen several of you do this so I am going to give it a shot. I started doing the numbers during my workout yesterday and this is what I got.

14- miles I biked
1- time I swore during my workout
9- total hills I biked up yesterday
8- hills I made it up without standing up!!
65- minutes to do 14miles!
10- minutes faster it took to bike yesterday than it took last week! (thanks to katie for the advice on getting up those hills)
0- pain I feel in my knees this week from biking!!
3- people I talked to from DirecTV yesterday
2- people who I yelled, cried and was mean to from DirecTV
1- person from DirecTV who actually was willing to help me
$49.00- that DirecTV refunded me for their stupidity!
12- noon when DirecTV will be here to give me ANSWERS!!
4- mental break downs I had due to stupid stuff! (that is what is called Stress-A-Beth)


So that sums up yesterday. Hopefully today runs smooth. I have an afternoon run planned with Dud. Then going to go pick up my car from being inspected.

What are some numbers from your day yesterday or today?

tears.....

It's official!

Thank you for registering for the 2011 MVP Health Care Rochester Marathon!

We have received your race application and you are officially registered.


Whoohoo! Now I want to see my name on the websites confirmation list!

I am still raising money for the Arthritis Foundation here.

I also booked myself a room in Rochester for the night before the Marathon. It is for convenience for sleep, travel and a quiet place to relax. My folks live 45mins from the race and I have stayed at their place for the past 2yrs I ran the half marathon. BUT....the niece and nephew will most likely be there that night. Which means I would be sleeping on a couch. So I got a room with 2 queen beds.


Anyone want to join me!! My folks are gonna drive to the halfway point and then to the finish and my sister will be at the start and finish. IDK if the oldest sister and BIL will make it they have a wedding the day before. Hence the kids being at my folks place.

82 more days!!

TV's and Giveaways

Rest day.....I actually feel really good after my run yesterday. Tomorrow is Bike day again....hopefully I can power up those hills with less cuss words.

Well interesting thing happened today.........I bought a new awesome LCD LED CD TV.....now thats alot of capital letters! Well we had it delivered for one....it wouldn't fit into my car. Two....Just easier especially when it is free. Well that's what we thought...

OK OK so here are some numbers first.....our driveway..... (.21mile long, with a few turns, and it goes up...a "I just finished a 8mile run i am not running UP my driveway too!") So I had Bri's phone on me waiting to get a call about the TV on its way. I got two calls that sounded like the driver didn't have service. So I got thinking hmmm I wonder if they can't find our place. I started to walk down our driveway when I saw...the guy pushing our tv up the driveway! ARE. YOU. SERIOUS!

He told me he tried to back up our driveway and his back tire went off into a ditch. (At that point I took a better look at the TV box...yup it was torn). So I told him to put the the TV back on and drive up the driveway FORWARD! He was not pushing the tv up a hill I rarely willingly walk up.

I hated doing it but I woke Bri up (he works tonight) this guy was a little too coo-coo for me to trust getting the TV in the house.

Well long story short here........Bri and the guy got it in the house finally. We took it out of the box check it over, gave the guy a gatorade for his troubles and sent him on his way.

Bri and I spent a bit getting it all hooked up and it is AWESOME. (Bri wouldn't sleep until he knew it was fine)


Now if only DirectTV would show up...or should I say call so they would show up we could watch normal TV. But so far NCIS season 4 looks great and so did Percy Jackson & the Olympians The Lightning Thief.


Now to what you all should be doing tonight is....go check out the giveaways out there!

First is Active Bands. Who wants a $50 gift card from them!! I haven't tried them out yet but I just put in an order to give them a try. They also gave out a 30% off code.

Next is Gourmet Runner has a giveaway of BumbleBars. YUM!

Last is Hungry Runners workout clothes giveaway!! Awesome looking capris!

Day 1 Marathon Training!

Workout 8.3miles 66 degrees 1:13:34 Lots of hills

This is the one 2mile stretch that I went down in mile 2-3 and then went back in 6-7

The goal for today's run...being the day after a very tiring race and all...was to get it in and try to stay marathon pace. I chose my pace the other day to start at 9:20 and hopefully work down to 9:00min to aim for a PR and get as close to 4:00hours. I ran Disney in 4:15 and had fun with it. This one there aren't a million Disney characters to stop at so it will be me and the pavement!

I also got my winnings in the mail yesterday from the Train 4 Autism. I wont the Nathan Trail H2o pack. It took about 4miles to get it to the right tightness but I got it all figured out. I only filled each bottle halfway knowing I was only doing 8miles. But it was already 9am so I knew I would need something wet today.


My new love is the Crystal light energy boost pouches. I mixed one of those in a bottle and put a little in one of the bottles in the belt. I took sips right before I had to power it back up the hills. I felt great using this! It is right up there with my love for Diet Pepsi!!


Also at about mile one I started feeling a nice big old blister but I was not going to cut the run short. (please excuse the goose bumps...I am always really cold when I finish running).


All in all it was a great start to my Sunday and marathon training. My pace for the 8miles was 8:52. As I get into the double digit runs I will really try to hone in on the 9min pace! Also...the marathon is ALL flat and I held this for HILLS!!! :)

Ok off to eat lunch and watch Harry potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 for the 10th time!


QOTD: do you get blisters often? Have you tried out any new products on a run recently?

Post 100 and race recap

Wow 100 post already~ I can't wait until it has been a year! I am loving what blogging has done for me! I do not facebook, or twitter or other crazy stuff! I get on here and just share the craziness for whoever wants to read! Thanks for joining me!

Now the race.........Dud and I met up around 8:15 since we were pre registered there was no reason to be early. It was about 66 degrees so PERFECT weather! I didn't see too many of the usuals today but a lot of new faces. So who knows what the race will be like.

I started upfront and Dud started a little back from me. I quickly got in my groove and kept telling myself to relax and do my pace not the girls in front of me. My Garmin was off from their mile markers. So my Garmin had 7:15 first mile (yikes!) but there mile marker had 7:35 (where I would want to be).

The next mile had gradual down and then we turned back around. The wind was in our face no matter which way we went either. But I was trying not to think about it. I talked and cheered and high fived a few people when we turned around. I knew a few people running that hadn't raced before or hadn't raced in a while. My Superintendent ran, a girl from Girls on the Run ran, and one of the boys I coached High school XC and track a few years ago ran. The guys really didn't want me to be near them. (they kicked butt under 20mins!). But I did beat the ones brother!

I really really wanted to be under 23mins today knowing it was all flat! We were to run the outside of the baseball field and then finish at third base. When I entered the field I had a minute to run the outside of the field. I had very little gas left in me. I crossed the line with my Garmin saying 23:15 but they recorded 23:09....of course I will take their time! I might have hit the button late! I was so close again! I have only hit 22mins once in the years. Overall 7th women and 2nd in my age group....sorry no pictures. I have been slacking there lately.

But I need to start putting more focus on my distance runs now with the marathon coming up soon!!! I hope to get a nice 8mile run in tomorrow while Bri sleeps. Hoping to have pics of this run.

Did you race today? Anyone that ran Seattle how did it go?

Just another Friday

Workout 3.2 28:40 65degrees with Dud at 6:40am!!

Finally another morning workout. All the girls are gone for the weekend so I asked Dud if he was able to run in the Am. We are doing a 5k together tomorrow so it was SUPPOSED to be easy to shake out the legs. Well......my mouth got running and my legs went with it. It was a good run though.

Bri and I spent the day going through the top part of the property cleaning up all the JUNK that the previous owner just threw all over the place!

Things we found.....beer cans (LOTS!), a cord for a water fountain, invisible fencing for their dog, random pieces of metal, nails, broken glass (took awhile to clean up).

We also tore apart the old pool shed. Lets just say.....i had jeans on but only a tshirt...so I got attacked by a nasty nail while working on the taking apart the roof. It still burns...hoping my tetanus is up to date.

We got lots accomplished...including a nasty call to the tv people. I received a call this morning from a third party asking if I recently wasn't able to get my dish hooked up....some how this party got my number and info and direct tv says that they did not give it out. Well.....someone did and I was mad! So...the manual labor and tedious work of picking up junk helped me calm down.

Now dinner.....NO CLUE~

QOTD: Does manual labor help you release stress like running does??

Ever gotten a bad cut/injury by a nail?

Rest day

Yup thats right today was a complete rest day. No hurtin bum from biking and no running for me. The day started late as Bri and I both slept in (him longer than me). I got a call from Direct TV saying that they could come to the house today instead of Saturday to fix our broken Satellite Dish. I was so happy with 2 days earlier of a visit.

But.....


They couldn't fix it. The guy said that he couldn't put it back on the tree because he would lose his job it isn't allowed. We didn't want it on the tree anyways....but....then we have no place to put it.

There is a big tree (forget which kind it was but I could point it out to you!) that blocks most of the view so we would need at least a 15foot pole of some sort.

So the guy left and said his manager will have to come back out to see what can be done. So...I have to wait for a call from him.

Did I mention I paid $50 for the guy to come out and say he couldn't do anything?? Yea not cool. So I will be making sure I get that money back and the money for the week I have not had TV again!

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Tomorrow is an easy run day since Dud and I are running a race Saturday. I will be meeting up with Dud at 7am to get a run in.Hopefully it isn't humid out that early. It was rough last night running with Heather and Dud. It was disgusting and I forgot water again! I did the unthinkable and got water from a Wendy's bathroom! But they are brand new as of last week so it wasn't years worth of yuck in there! Plus I am still breathing today so it hasn't killed me yet. Hopefully we get our new tv tomorrow or Saturday and the dish fixed as well. I am ready to get back to normal around here!


QOTD: Have you ever gone without TV? By choice or because it was broken?


PS everyone go check out Janae's awesome giveaway! I really want those capris!!!

Biking troubles

Let me start off with this......I bike but I am not a biker/cyclist. I know I tell all those people that don't call themselves runners that they are if they get out there and try. But no way am I a biker!! I have to count on two hands the times I grunted or spoke out loud to get my big behind up the hill!

I started my 14mile ride off with the nice mile uphill by my house. I was still trying to get back into the whole biking groove. I haven't rode in 2 years and the gears are different now that it is all fixed up. I pushed way up knowing it was a nice 3miles downhill afterwards. Let's just say that was some serious downhill too! I think I was actually doing he speed limit!

I got to the bottom to the Known Crazy Corner. There are 5 corners with one without a stop sign. I slowed as much as possible but I did not have a stop sign and I was continuing on straight. I saw an SUV with a trailer on my right at the stop sign. He looked behind him out the rear window to look for cars coming from the way I was coming. But I knew he didn't see me because I was ahead of that view. I started coming to a complete stop .......YES he pulled out and I came to a stop right next to his car and he STILL did not see me until I screamed some very bad words at him!

I think I will turn next time before that corner. My stomach was in my throat when that happened.

Anywoodles....I made it to work in 20mins! Only because there was so much downhill! I stayed at work for the day. Got some things together for tutoring then had the session at 3. I headed back home around 4pm.

It was so humid out I was sweating just getting on the bike! I went home a different way I came hoping to avoid so much up hill. Did not happen! The route I run all the time was very bad swear word to bike!! it took 40 mins to get back home! I will not give up I just want to get better at getting up those darn hills. I am not an expert at when to shift or what gear to be in that is easier. My knees are sore today because I had to stand up on the bike a few times to push it up the last bit of some of the hills.

QOTD: Do you bike often? How do you attack the hills?

A day with FAMILY!

A day at the museum with the niece and nephew!

We started off with a good old car race!

Then climbing of the beanstalk! Henry has no fear going up...the coming back down isn't so easy.


Then the best part of all! The butterfly house!! There are hundreds of butterflies, hummingbirds and a toucan in there.


There was also some really cool looking flowers and plants.

Evie and Henry saying hello to a little bird.

Then a butterfly enjoying the smell of Evie's shampoo!! A butterfly landed on my phone when I tried to take this pic and i couldn't get a pic of that obviously!

After running wild in the museum for 2 hours we headed outside to the gazebo to have lunch!A nice picnic lunch with Grammy and Aunt SB!

It was a great day with FAMILY! I love my two little hummus thieves! Yes I brought that for lunch and it was all they wanted to eat too! It took 2mins in the car for them to fall asleep too! I was so happy to have this time with them and hope next time I head up there Bri can join me!


QOTD: Have you ever enjoyed the museum like you were 4yrs old again?

There are no pics to prove it but I played A LOT of the games with or without the kids!!



I am still trying to raise money for Arthritis Foundation for my marathon in September. I am 75% to my goal!! http://2011RochesterMarathon.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=464217&supId=323269467

Photo blog of father's day

For Father's Day I drove home the 2hour drive after the race. We had a great picnic dinner..which I have no pics of. Yea dropped the ball there. BUT..........my niece and nephew we're playing in the sprinkler a lot so most of the time they had no clothes on. So I couldn't post many pics here.

Sunday I spent sometime with my mom in the morning at a festival. They had a church service in the park where 3 different churches came together. So all denominations were welcome. I LOVED it! It was my kind of service!

After the festival I headed to the mall to meet up with my sister. I helped her shop for some new clothes! We found some great tops that were great colors for her! We had a great afternoon!! I then visited Apple because my iPhone will no longer connect to WiFi. It was a bust. I will have to upgrade to a newer phone.

That evening my mom, dad and I went to the lake to relax, have snacks and people watch. It was really nice. Yet the intense conversation about the reason to buy ereaders was interesting. Lets just say tools and hunting supplies would come first in my dad's eyes.

Here are a few pics from our time at the lake.


I learned that my butt isn't too big to fit between two car seats in the back of my parents car.

I just couldn't get to the seat belt......but I am sure my hips couldn't get through that spot without my whole body turning left or right.

Beautiful Canandaguia Lake with a lot of boaters

I swear my folks smile sometimes...

The family of ducks that came to visit!

More pics of my weekend to come!

Race recap and long drive home

Today I had the Irv Z. 3.5mile race. I have on and off days with this race. Today I would have to say time wise and the way I felt were on days!

Here are a few pics from the beginning of the race~

There is a nice few uphills in mile one and you do that loop twice.

The second time around you go further up the hill but you nicely go down hill for the next mile.

I was really trying to go easy the first mile with all those hills. In the past I have just gone out my normal pace and then died in the last mile.

I was able to complete the course with a 26:40 (7:37 pace for the 3.5miles). I felt great no pain in my shins and my bell handled the Chinese just fine! It was really muggy with no sun so my sunglasses stayed on my hat the whole time.

Hence this lovely post race pic!

I was going for the stand up straight look and show off my new Skinny Runner shirt!! But my sunglasses are messed up!

After the race I jumped into my car to make the 2hour drive to my parents house for Father's Day. Let's just say I was really tired at points! Though I had 2 potty stops and one food stop...Can you guess my post race JUNK??? (No cheating Hey Hey and Manda!)

YUP all JUNK JUNK JUNK!

Yea I know not smart... but I ALWAYS crave grease and sweets after a good race. Plus there is none of this at my folks place!

Awesome race Hey Hey, Dud, and Manda!!!

Have a great weekend all!

Pre race preparations

Workout: a few laps around the track during the Girls on the Run race! (They all did awesome and we got all the girls to get 9laps done in less than an hour!)

I finally got my bike back and I learned a lesson. When you have a bike that you bought in 1992....your best bet is to invest in a new one! They fixed everything on the bike without telling me about it....so the final bill was $132!! I will not have one excuse not to ride my bike this summer AND fall to earn back that money! Bri happily took me to Walmart to compare what I just paid to get mine fixed and what a new one cost. OK OK he was right all along...should of got a new one. But now mine looks nice and pretty LOL!

Tomorrow is the next race on the schedule. A 3.5mile run....it is hills at the beginning and then you are on one road for a VERY long time and can see EVERYONE in front of you BUT it is down down down. Just have to play it smart. It is down but there is still a lot to run!

Bri headed out for a guys weekend this afternoon so I started my pre race night off with a little of this....

I wanted to get Gnomeo and Juliet but settled for Tangled. It was a good one with lots of singing! I am now semi-watching Battlefield L.A while blog stalking....we will see if I like it. I also got Chinese from the local grocery store Wegmans. I love their Chinese! We will see if my belly loves it on race day! Honestly I did not feel like cooking for one tonight.

I might be talking about a lack of money here soon. I purchased a BIG TV last night! It is being shipped to our house by the end of next week.....yes too big to guy and bring home! We have dealt with a tv with only the color blue for 2 years so I am so excited!!!

QOTD: Are you running a race this weekend? What is your pre race night routine??

A Bear and Giveaways

Trail cam pics!




Can you see the bear on the right? It is just its nose sticking in there. We put this hunting camera up to help Heather and her Hub watch for Coons on our property. We have seen a couple coons and now a bear!!

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A couple of giveaways to know about. I have Run is holding a giveaway for Gotein. Walk a Mile in My boots is hosting a raffle for Cancer! Shut Up and Run is having a Zensah Bra giveaway!


Go check them all out!

Team work

Today's theme at Girls on the run was running in a team. The goal was to see how many laps 4 members combined could get. They had to pick how many they wanted to get then see if they could. I was very proud of my "runners". The 4 girls that run the entire time. They do the run straight ways walk the turns. They completed 45laps. All in all they ran 3.5 miles individually. These 4 girls worked so well as a team!!! Their goal was 40 laps...even after they met it they kept going! Though they were all running in a pack they are ones that don't want to chit chat!! I kept asking questions, trying to get them to talk but they just wouldn't jump in! But.......running in the pack they beat what they did in the past two days!

As a reflection these girls did realize they do better working as a team!

I began to reflect on this too.....when do I do better in my workouts and races? I feel like when I can talk to someone and or just be next to someone I do sooooo much better. In races where I have a huge gap and no one is around I get in a slump too. It is when I start to get in my head and it holds me back. These summer runs I am on my own and I am trying to focus on my goal for that day whether it was to be easy, tempo, or just for distance. But I do miss my runner partners!


When do you feel like you get a better workout? With a running buddy or on your own?

Who knew......

.......a group of third/fourth grader girls could run me to the ground! Yup that's right the run I did with them was enough mileage to stay on my schedule! They did 3.5miles today!! They were awesome. I had 6 new girls stay with me today and they just didn't want to stop! I kept saying ok how about we walk this lap and they said NO! I was beat by the end of the run! I was a sweaty mess!!

I got home and there was no way I could keep my eyes open. I slept for an hour then got back up to head back to the school to tutor. I got a solid hour in with my kiddo and he was so eager to do what ever I threw his way! He wants to come tomorrow too! But I explained to him its summer dude!!! Only two days a week we will work together.

OK...I am exhausted and I really wish that Girls on the Run lasted more than a week! Tomorrow starts back up Bri's long weekend. So we will be back to house work in the afternoon. Hopefully he will let me take a little nap! I bet the girls will get closer to 4miles tomorrow!!

QOTD: Have you ever trained with a kid? Your own children? Did they give you a run for your money?

AWESOME DAY!

My morning started with getting myself to day 1 of Girls on the Run. I know about 5 of the girls from my school and was excited to meet the other 15 girls.

We started off with a few intro games and a pre-test about how the girls feel about themselves. I sat with one of the girls I know to help her read through it. It is a difficult test I think. Asking 4th graders if they have a positive attitude towards themselves. Then showing them pictures of different body shapes and to circle the one they think they have and then the one they want to have.

I was very shocked at how some of these girls answered the questions. I am hoping this week with them that they feel different at the end of all this!

We went outside to the track and it was my turn to help them out. (there are 3 other coaches but none of them can run) I jogged the first lap and quickly found some girls that wanted to run as much as they could. I talked to them about feeling good while running and how to get through the side stitches. Walking, breathing through your nose, arms over your head, and being able to talk while you jog. We got into the jog the straight ways and walking the turns. With that method they did 2.5miles in the 30mins. I was so proud of the 5 girls that stayed with me!! They even ran the entire last lap!!!

My goal for tomorrow is to get with 2-3 other of the girls and share the same with them. I want to see if the 5 I ran with today and get each other through it without me. I only have 4 more days with them to teach as much as possible!! We also have a 3k race on Friday!!! The girls I was with today already feel VERY confident that they will get through the 1.5 miles because they did 2.5 today!!

So excited!!!!
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Tomorrow is also my first tutoring session I have with one of my students. I am trying to get the lesson altogether tonight. The mom will be with us while I teach. Now that is a little nerve racking. I am ok looking stupid in front of a 7 year old but the parent will think I am nuts! But I am doing what is right....no summer school is offered so I am offering my time for free for this little guy. I can get through my nerves to help him.

QOTD: Have you ever offered to do something for free for the greater good??

Long weekend

Is it wrong to sigh because the weekend is over?? Well my summer is going to be like this I think. Wed-Saturday I will be on Bri time where we are going to be working hard around the house getting projects done. I learned this week just how much that takes out of me. We were not in bed before 11pm once in the past 4 days. I tried several times to get up early and run but ended up turning the alarm right off and falling back asleep. I am going to have to figure out a good balance between helping here and making time for my runs.

By this morning rolled around I was so exhausted and in a very grumpy mood. I didn't want to do a single thing that involved thinking. I was blog stalking, reading my book and just making a good butt print on the couch! But I was just so GRUMPY! I have to use two hands to count how many times Bri said "cheer up buttercup" to me.

So I made him dinner and put my helping in the fridge. I headed out FINALLY for my long run. (I only had a granola bar the whole day....note to self not good fuel for 8miles)

So hit the bike path for a 4mile out and back run. Around mile 2 I came up on another girl running. I was sticking to my pace and went to go around her. SHE TOOK OFF! I was like really? She never let me go around. Every time I tired she would sprint. This went on for 3miles!! She finally turned around and I continued on for another .75 before I turned around so i could just do my own thing and not have someone in my way. It is fine when you know the person you are running with and no one cares who is where but when someone absolutely refuses to let you pass....REEEAAALLLYYY?? I had music on but I swear she was swearing every time I tried to go around.

I kept checking my garmin to make sure she wasn't messing up my pace and the only reason I tried to pass was when she backed off.

But My mood is better now that I was able to focus some time on me and my runs. Now it is time to get geared up for girls on the run!!!!

QOTD: Have you ever come upon someone else on a run? Any bad experiences with people while running?

photo show of today's events

The morning started with sanding and staining the last of the molding and trim for the doorways

Then putting on some of the trim for the sliding glass door

It is a bad pic but the final product of the sliding glass door

Then this tired bug showed up and quickly zonked out for an hour and half on my couch!

Then she woke up! Wearing only a sweatshirt with her arms zipped inside. Thanks Aunt Manda!

Let's try adding to the outfit with Mommy's flip flops! So stylish!!

Auntie Sb (ME) added the headband! Such a flowerchild LOL!

Now we know what happens when LeLe mails SB a letter with Princess stickers on it! She covered her face!

What did you do today? Race/run?

I planned a run and it didn't happen....just want to get the remodel stuff done. That is priority on days Bri doesn't work.

Girls on the Run

Earlier this spring our school counselor sought me out to help with the Girls on the Run program. My background of coaching high school track/cross country and starting the middle school program at my previous job will hopefully help me. I got trained last night and met the other coaches this afternoon. We are given a curriculum to follow the covers physical, social and emotional issues that 3-5th grade girls might face. After being on a team myself for 3years in high school and 3 years in college I actually faced or seen some of these issues. I have seen girls struggle with boys, eating disorders, balancing life, and family issues. I have not experienced this with girls of this age level yet. I am excited now that I know some of the girls from my building that are involved. I know some of their problems that they have in school and I am excited to use running/exercise to help build them up as individuals!

I also learned that GOTR has a charity called SoleMates. I haven't read enough on it yet but I believe it is similar to the virtual race. I will get back to you all on that as I read more on it!

Plan for tomorrow: early 2mileish run then lots of sanding and staining the trim and baseboards!

Loving mornings now

Last night was a rough night. I drank a glass of generic crystal light that has energy boosting vitamins in it around 7pm. Then I had a glass of chocolate milk around 9pm. Then at 10:30 PM I was WIDE AWAKE!! I was so tired after zumba I was sure I would sleep well last night. Nope....I saw 12:54am and 2am. I was texting Bri while he was at work bc I was awake. I eventually feel asleep while reading around 2:30am. I heard the alarm at 6:30am but don't remember turning it off. Bri got home and I guess the pillow I was using was on his side. So he took it and pushed it out of the way. (Lesson 1 of the summer....don't be cranky to Bri on Wednesdays!!!) He works nights Sunday-Wednesday AM. He is very very tired by Wednesday mornings. During the school year I don't see him until evenings after he sleeps. Well when he took my pillow I was very upset...lets just say that pillow met my face real quick! OOPS lesson learned! So I took that as time to get up and run :)

I drove over to the awesome riverwalk and got in 4.1 miles in 34:26 (8:24pace). I really needed to do this asap because it is forecasted to hit 97 degrees today. I was around 75 degress when I ran. On the way out I was running into some wind and when I turned around I was running into the sun and was dripping of sweat everywhere. I made the big mistake of forgetting a drink. It is a good thing the cops don't sit on the back roads because I sped home to get a drink and banana!

The view at mile 2 on the riverwalk

I think I actually figured out how to smile and take a self portrait on the iphone!

I have to have such big sunglasses because I get headaches real easy with no sun!

Is it ridiculously hot where you are today? What are you doing for a workout to avoid the heat?

All over the place post

Workout bust! I crawled into the upper part of the garage last night to get my bike down so I could start my cross training. I planned on a 12mile ride this morning hoping to beat the thunderstorms. I sat the bike out so we could put air in the tires this AM when Bri got home. Well.....the tires are rotted...:( I took it to the country and ski shop this morning to see about getting new tires.

I HATE STANDING AROUND AND NO ONE IS WILLING TO HELP!! After listening to 3 guys gossip about racing....yea I was even bored by the story....15mins I stood there before I resorted to dirty looks and walking right up to them before they asked..."Is there something I can help you with?" DUH!!! Like I know what I was doing in front of a bunch of tires! Yea not in a happy mood. I was the only person in the store too!!!

Then I told the guy what bike I have and he said "Yea that means nothing to me" ARE YOU KIDDING! Who hired this guy at a sports store. He could of at least faked it. Any who I took him to my car and had him unload it LOL. So....he told me he is the boat guy and the bike guy wouldn't be in today. Gee thanks for sharing. He thinks he found tires in the store that will work and that it would be A WEEK till I get my bike back UGH!!! I will be calling in the morning when the bike guy is there to make sure the tires will work. So I will be heading over to Zumba this afternoon for cross training and hoping I have my bike back before next Tuesday.
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The rest of the day I got laundry done and just chilled out. I ate very well today too. I had greek yogurt for breakfast with a handful of walnuts. For lunch I had baby spinach, left over venison chops, cherry tomatoes and a little too much ranch dressing.

I decided to watch a little tv this afternoon and turned on 8 Simple rules. Why is it every time I watch that show it is the episodes when John Ritter had passed away. I watched 3 episodes and cried like crazy. I just could not think of being in that position. Shakes you to the core watching or hearing of people that died too young and left families behind.

Always in our hearts Marc Campana 9-5-05

First Morning run

Workout hills 8am 67 degrees 3.26 32mins I took it slow to enjoy the view, take pics and not push my shins too much


I was so happy to finally be able to take my time and get around this morning. I woke up when Bri got home from work. I lounged around with him while he ate breakfast and watched a little E! news. Then he went off to bed and I went out for my morning run!! I decided to stick around here so that meant HILLS! I took my camera with me to capture what I mean!

The view of the downhill side to bad I turned left to go up again.

The beautiful PA hills

My two peaceful friends out for a morning walk too. Yea it isn't the best iPhone picture but there are deer in that front yard.

Now for the best thing ever invented! I purchased Zensah compression socks a week ago and have now worn them for 2 races and a few runs. Last week when I did hills my shins were heavy and a bit sore. Today I didn't feel them at all!!! Awesome :)


Got to love the pink. No one really knows what they are when you are doing 5ks. But once I get to the longer bigger races I won't look crazy!!!

Have you ever......

This post has been building up all week with the crazy things that have happened.

1. Have you ever....needed a package so bad and fast that you called UPS and asked where their truck was? I did...then I drove to where the truck was going next to get my package off the truck!! Yes I ordered water bottles for everyone who did the fitness challenge a month ago. They finally were on the truck on Friday the last day of school and last chance to hand them out. School was out at noon and at 11:30am I tracked down the truck! They were all handed out in time :)


2. Have you ever.....loaded up your cart in Lowes with lumber/molding, pushed it all the way to the check out, stood in check out, then you guy says.....I don't think I really like this??!! Then you have to get back out of line go all the way back to the back of the store and unload it??

Oh yes Bri was having one of those indecisive days Saturday. I was not going to let him buy it just because it was the only option there!


3. Have you ever......seen a cat get their head stuck in a door??

LOL as funny as it was she did not get hurt don't worry. We just put the screen door on in the living room so Kubbi is not used to it.. I hadn't latched it and she pushed it but it was too heavy to get all the way out. poor kubbi!



4. Have you ever.....walked into a door/screen door? LOL I haven't but Bri did!! LOL they didn't have the screen when we first put the door up. So all week we have just had it open and walking in and out. Friday Bri put the screen on when it finally came in. He forgot all about it Saturday morning and walked right into it!!! I heard it from downstairs but didn't get to see it!



QOTD Have you ever done any of these things? What is something crazy that has happened or have you done?

Virtual 5k/Run 4 Kids recap

Friday was a big day all around! It was the school day of the year, it was the last day for my superidentent, and it was the day I planned on running the virtual 5k for Alicia Runs.

Dud, Hey Hey, Manda and I got down there for preregistration real early because this race always has a good turn out and gets crazy to register. After that we actually left and went back to the town house. The con of this race every year is that they do not follow a schdule. For a race that is a Friday night it defiently should stick to time frames.

We came back around 6:15 and the race was supposed to start at 6:30. It did not as always. The had the kids run at 6:30 (it was scheduled for 6pm). It is always fun to watch though! Some of those 9yr olds can run!! Some of them even ran the 5k afterwards.

We finally got started and I was excited. I have not been consistent with this course because the weather is always really hot and there isn't much shade. I saw a guy I usuaully can hang with so I put myself a little behiind him so I didn't start out too fast. Well I still hit 7:14 for the first mile...oops. I pulled back a tiny bit because there were 3 girls ahead of me I needed to catch at some point.

Around mile 2 I surged up and caught one of the girls. Who ever said girls with longer legs could out run one with short legs was wrong! She tried to stride out and stay with me but I just shuffled past! LOL Two more girls to go! They were friends running together coaching each other on. I caught up but we were in a coned out lane with traffic coming at us so I couldn't jump out around them. So I waited a bit then made my move. The girls did not like it one bit. They surged and wanted to play cat and mouse. With a mile still to go I let them go back ahead for a little (probably like 30secs bc it made me mad). Then I put on a nice surge and got a good cap ahead of them. From there on I picked my speed back up but I only caught one more guy. I had hit the cap where the runners were all spread out. The closest girl was 20secs ahead of me.

I got to the home stretch and was pushing it, I heard foot steps and got freaked it was one of those girls coming back so I sprinted my short legged sprint! I held them off! But when I turned around to see who it was it was a 10yr old boy!!!! OOOOPPS I would have let him pass me so he would have felt good about it!

I am very happy with this race. I ran for two very good causes at once! Time for pics and times!Yes that says 23:22 a 7:32 pace!!!! I am getting faster on these darn flat courses!!!


I also placed 3rd in my age group. That girl 20secs ahead of me was in my group too. But overall great race!

Hey Hey and Dud were right behind me too!!! Manda belly hurt but she still finished with a good time!

Thank You

I just wanted to say a huge thank you again to all that helped out this holiday weekend on our upstairs guestroom.

First and foremost....Dud who took 2 days off to help out. He was a trooper helping and putting up with my biggest stress-a-beth break down ever!

A HUGE thank you to Mister and Manda! Manda took off Friday and dove into helping out with installation! She and I tackled staining on Saturday as well! They then came back Monday night and worked hard cutting pieces so we could get the puzzle piece wall done! YOU TWO ARE AMAZING!

Momma was also a great help with doing dinner on Sunday for me and keeping track of the booger!!! Some how Robyn didn't get in a picture but she helped with staining and Sunday night dinner too! Thanks ladies!

Joe Fro helped Bri with the scary wall. Half asleep he got himself there and jumped right in to get more wall boards up before the picnic! Thanks Thanks! (No easy comment today on ya Joe!)

Our #1 Trooper was Kubbi. She dealt with strangers and hiding in the hottest room in the house for most of the time. She now is clinging to my side when no one is around. Hopefully she isn't too traumatized because it isn't over yet!

Thanks again to everyone who has helped out. It was a big project and Bri and I will def. be there when you need our help!!

Love ya!

Virtual 5K

Everyone needs to go over to Alicia Runs and check out her Virtual 5k for Autism!! I have donated and printed out my bib. I plan on racing with number 2442 this Friday night at the Run 4 Kids. So I am running for two causes at once! Go check it out soon it ends June 10th:)


Happy National Running Day everyone. I celebrated by running a slow and steady HOT HOT HOT run with Dud and Hey Hey on the bike path/park loop. We did 3.53 in 31:12 today. After Friday nights race I will be done with afternoon runs!! Yea for summer break and morning runs/workouts!!

I am also still trying to raise money for the marathon I am running in September. You can go to the following website to donate!

Dash and Splash 5k Recap

Saturday morning the girls took a break from construction to run a local 5k. This was the first year for the run so there are a few pros and cons to share.

The race was located at the pool, which couldn't open last year because of funds. They had a fund raiser last year at the Dairy Queen but couldn't raise enough. Throughout the year the money was raised to open this summer. This race was to help give the pool a little extra money. Since I work in this school district I knew I had to go and help support them!

It was in the high 70s by the time we were going to get started so it was OK. The sun was out but there were a few clouds in the sky.

When we were at the starting line we realized running right towards us was the kids race! It was a cute idea instead of holding it afterwards. The kids crossed the start line as their finish line. I knew most of the kids and was happy I got to cheer them in. They quickly headed over to the pool to play!

My plan for this race was to take it easy. My shins still weren't 100%. I had received my Zensha compression sleeves in the mail the day before so I was trying them out. I wanted to stick with Robyn this race too. We got started and my legs were feeling pretty good! The sun quickly went behind the clouds too!! I kept looking over my shoulder or listening for Robyn. There were a lot of turn arounds so I could see where Robyn and Manda were at! I gave thumbs up that my legs were doing good!

Now...the turn arounds....you could tell that not everyone working the turn arounds understands running a race. we came to an intersection and were to turn left. so they said stay to your left so all the runners went on the inside. Not a good idea the leaders were coming back down the road and turning into us. Finally I said why are we criss crossing. They changed it so the people coming up the hill stayed right and went around cones!!! YEA! But I almost collided with a guy when I went through. So there is one thing that could be fixed for next year.

A pro though is that not one car drove around or towards me. There were at least 6 police officers and they had all the roads blocked off. It was very nice to see that!

After we hit the roads for 1.5mile we headed back to the park to run around the outside and then to the finish. As I was going through the park kids from my school we at the corners directing you. How awesome! Yet I had my hat and sunglasses on so no one knew it was me!! LOL.

There was a girl a bit a head of me that I really wanted to get but I kept telling myself don't push you legs too much.

I crossed the line with a 24:25 which I was ok with. I was really hoping for 23mins. But then I looked at my Garmin and it showed 3.19miles!!! It was too long! So I just might have been able to get it. My overall pace was 7:37 for that distance which is the fastest pace I have had since January. Oh if it was only the right distance!! I ended up being 3rd in my age group....those darn running clubs were there and they all finish around 21mins!

I had a nice police officer take our picture on our way to the car.

Me, Robyn, and Manda

Would I do this race again? Yes it is for a good cause and the kids deserve to have a place to go and play and cool off.

Next race is Friday night. Run 4 Kids!