Three more weeks to go!

That's right...just 3 more weeks until my 1/2 marathon!!  I did another 12 mile run yesterday and felt great!  I finished strong (not dying on the last mile like the last two times I ran 12 miles).  I actually smiled to myself as I passed the 1 mile and 1/2 mile markers at Forbidden drive.  I really enjoyed the run!

Here's my weekly recap:

Monday-7 miles, ipod did not record so no idea on time, 8X100 striders at end (total 8 miles)
Tuesday-off
Wedensday-6 miles, 1:03
Thursday-off
Friday-off
Saturday-12 miles, 2:09
Sunday-3 miles, 31 minutes

Ahhh...the weekend is finally in sight!

Wow...it has been one busy work week! I put in some monster hours as an off-site client meeting and need tomorrow to catch up on all my regular work!  Two days off site with no down time for email, phone, etc. can wreak havoc on a clean inbox!

I am looking forward to a long run at Forbidden Drive on Saturday...minimum will be 12 miles...I may push myself and try to go the full 13.1.  Saturday night we have a fundraiser event for the National Lung Cancer Partnership and ARL has a sleep over bday party to go to.  Other than that, a nice quiet weekend is on tap.  Just what I need after this crazy week!

Random fact...Do you know they don't have crickets in England?  I had some of my colleagues from the UK (and Spain and India) here with me this week for the big meeting.  One of the Brits was complaining he couldn't sleep because of the "bloody" crickets.  He tried banging on the window to get them to stop.  Too funny!

Weekly recap

Not a great week...missed an 8 mile run due to my little face plant on the sidewalk incident.  Regardless, here's what I did:

Monday-off
Tuesday-6 miles, 110 minutes.  Never stopped the ipod when I fell or when I stopped to clean up the blood dripping out of my mouth. 
Wednesday & Thursday-off...too damn sore
Friday-12 miles, 2:16
Saturday-3 miles, 30  min
Sunday-off
In other news, we redecorated Gidge's room.  She's outgrown the pastels and has opted for cheetah print.  Pics coming soon.

Mike ran the Shirley's Run 5K in Maple Glen this morning in the rain.  29:28 finish.  He wasn't pleased...but given the weather, I think he did great.

12 miles (again)!

I ran 12 miles at Peace Valley with Lisa this morning. My time was a little slower than last saturday (2:16 compared to 2:12), but I'm not stressing about it too much.  For one thing, I took a nasty spill this week.  This was my first run back.  I need to cut myself some slack, right? 

Another reason was the heat and blazing sun.  Last Saturday was overcast and cool and was perfect for running.  Today was hot and humid. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend planned.  We'll be painting Gidge's room.  Yup, she's growing up.  From yellows, pinks, & purples to tans, browns, and cheetah print.  My oh my, where did my little girl go?

Recovery

So, I bit it pretty hard on Tuesday and have been paying the price.  Recovery is slow and I missed two days of running.  I plan on going out tomorrow for 12 miles.  Hopefully, the run will loosen everything up and help me feel better. 

Injury report

You know it is never good with a post title like that...

I went out for my 7 mile run this morning.  About a mile and a half into it, I tripped and fell on the sidewalk of a pretty busy road.  The sidewalk was uneven and my shoe caught and I just bit it.  My left side of my body took the injuries...

 

4 skinned knuckles, bruised and swollen wrist, & a bruised and swollen cheekbone/black eye.  The worst of it is my mouth/lips.  My tooth tore a gash in the inside of my upper lip.  My mouth is swollen and no longer symmetrical.  It's pretty ugly when I look in the mirror.

 

What pisses me off is that 3 cars drove by and did not stop.  I understand it's rush hour and you have to get to work, but please...you just saw a runner face plant the sidewalk.  Have a heart, will you??

 

The fourth car stopped, she offered me a ride home or a cell phone.  I said I was OK and started running again.  Up ahead a few blocks, I stopped another runner and asked her how bad I looked.  She said there was blood coming from my mouth and asked me to check to make sure I had all my teeth.  She offered to get me home to her house to clean up.  I thought I would be OK, so I continued my run and just cut off the last extension mile in my neighborhood to take the run down to 6 miles.

 

It hurts to smile.  It crushes my ego to look in the mirror and see the nasty shiner under my eye.  

 

I'm going to drown my sorrows in a bag of pretzel M&Ms.  Have you tried them...they are quite good.

Week 9 Done! Almost there...

So, I have to admit, I'm getting a little cocky.  I felt so great after last week's 10 mile run that I decided to throw caution to the wind and run 12 miles this weekend.  The training plan called for another 10 mile run.  I rationalized that if I can do 10 with such stamina and endurance, what's 2 more??

I felt great the first 6 (lap 1).  We finished in 1 hour 4 minutes.  I popped a nuun in my bottle, refilled, and off we went for lap 2.   I felt great up until about 10.5 miles.  The last mile to mile and a half really kicked my butt!  Finish time for lap 2 was 1 hour 8 minutes.  Overall, I was pleased with the run and my time.  I was really pleased at my recovery.  I was feeling great within 3 hours.  I will definitely do 12 again this week!

The week in review:
Monday-off
Tuesday-7 miles, 1:17 with striders at end (total 8 miles)
Wednesday-6.3 miles, 1:10
Thursday-bike, arms, abs, and legs
Friday-off
Saturday-12 miles, 2:12
Sunday-3 miles, 29 minutes

I miss them, I miss them, I miss them...

So, it's Wednesday. That means switch-a-roo day where the kiddos get passed betweeen the grandparents. To this point, I have thoroughly been enjoying my clean, neat, tidy house, my lack of of cooking, my normal dinner hour, my decreased laundry, etc.

Something happened today...I think it was the quietness that got me.

Damn...I miss them. I want to hug them and kiss them. I want to hear their little voices (not the whining voices, just their regular voices). I want to crack up at the funny things that come out of their mouths and tear up at the touching things they say. I want to snuggle them into bed tonight and plant kisses on them. I want to sneak in when they are sleeping and watch them breathe.

Oh kiddos...I love you and miss you.  Looking forward to our Saturday reunion!

A week without kids!

Our summer nanny is on vacation this week.  As soon as I found out her schedule, I contacted the grandmom's.  "Wouldn't you like some 1x1 time for a few days this summer with your grandchildren?"  The result:

ALR is with my Mom from Sunday-Wednesday.  JAL is with my Mother in Law. 
Wednesday - SWITCH DAY
ALR is with my Mother in Law from Wednesday to Saturday.  JAL is with my Mom.

Sunday evening through Saturday morning we are kid free...yes, you read that right.  Sunday through Saturday with no kids!  Can you believe it?  What I'm most amazed at so far is how clean, neat and tidy the house is.  When I leave for work in the morning, everything is in exactly the same place when I come home.  AMAZING!  There is also a hell of a lot less laundry accumulating.  And food...gee, it's not disappearing at alarming rates.

So, what have we been up to? 

• Sunday night...a 3 mile run together with sushi for dinner. 
• Monday-work for both of us.  Shopping in the evening...we bought Jeans (old navy is having a great sale), a new digital camera, shoes, groceries.  I didn't have to say "NO" 100 times at the grocery store...hubby didn't beg for anything!
• Tuesday-work during the day, really nice dinner at a culinary school and gambling at the new Sands Casino in Bethlehem
• Wednesday-work, plan is to run 5 miles in the evening (hopefully together)
•  Thursday, Friday???

Anyone have any suggestions for Thursday night or Friday nights?  Movies?  More dinner out?

My new favorite accessory!

One of the running blogs I read featured a giveaway of a gift certificate to a store that makes jewelry. She has several lines of runner's jewelry.  I fell in love with many pieces, but limited myself to one purchase.   I chose a piece that would symbolize my commitment to running while honoring my Dad. The picture did not come out the way I wanted it to (time for a new camera)?  I promise you the piece is absolutely gorgeous!

• The 13.1 in the bronze circle indicates the distance of the half marathon I will run.  

• "In Memory of My Dad" is the two lines of text in the silver rectangle.  This is pretty self explanatory.  I started running to get ready for a 5K fundraiser race for lung cancer.  I lost my Dad to lung cancer in April 2008.  I've been running ever since.  My father was so brave and courageous in his battle that I thought it would be fitting to do something (like running) that would take me out of my comfort zone. 

• 9/19/10 is the date of the half marathon (Philly Rock-N-Roll Half) that I will run.  September 19 was my Dad's birthday.  He would have been 67 this year.  I will run a half marathon in memory and honor and tribute to him.  When I cross the finish line, I'll be sending some balloons up to heaven!  The date of the race couldn't have been more perfect!

If you want to check out some of Jackie's creations, go to www.thesilvermaple.com.   She does incredible work and her pictures are clear (she must have a nice camera)!

For those who are local, My family and I will be hosting a fund raiser dinner at Jack Creek Steakhouse in Allentown on 9/19.  If you are interested in joining us, please leave a comment and I'll email you the invitation.  You need to invitation to get in!  Jack Creek is donating a portion of their sales that evening to Team Charlie's Angels.  Their steak won best Filet on Regis & Kelly's Ultimate Hometown Grill Off contest!  www.jackcreeksteakhouse.com

Check out our team progress at www.freetobreathe.org, Philadelphia event, Team Charlie's Angels!

Week 8 Recap...6 to go!

Monday-should have been off, ran 7 miles in 1:15 instead
Tuesday-off day (switch with Monday)
Wednesday-5 miles, 55 min (Hot, Hot, disgustingly hot)
Thursday-30 min bike, arms, legs, abs
Friday-off, drank two caramel apple martinis!
Saturday-10 miles.  Yes, 10 freakin' miles.  1:47.  Second time in my life I've run 10 miles!
Today-3 miles, 31 min, 8X100 striders at end.  Tonight's run was great because I got to run with my Sweetie.  We rarely get to run together (someone has to hang with the kids).  Since the kids are with grandparents, we got to have a lovely pre-dinner run. 

Milelage total (including striders): 26 miles

And now I'm going to eat dinner...some sushi and crisp chard.  For those who are local, the Tuna Fantastic (appetizer) at Kumo is phenomenal.  One of our favorites. 

I hope you all had a great weekend and a good week ahead!

Already looking towards the weekend...

Well, it's Thursday. That means one more day to get past and then the weekend!  I live for weekends!

I got through yesterday (just barely) and am now caught up on laundry, dishes, cleaning, bills, and work.  Tomorrow brings more work (forecasting...fun!) and a nice break at lunch.  I'm seeing an old friend from 2 jobs ago...looking forward to catching up with her!  Tomorrow is also an off day for me on the training plan!  Gotta love those rest days.

Saturday is a 10 mile run (gasp...this will be the second time in my life I've run 10 miles) and a trip to Morris Arboretum with the family.  Sunday is church and and a short recovery run. 

What's on your agenda?

Just breathe!

That's my mantra lately. I am so freakin' busy I need to remember to just breathe! Between work, kids, activities, volunteering, running, looking for a manufacturing partner, and all the other usual cooking, cleaning, laundry, I'm feeling a wee bit overwhelmed.

Today's agenda is long...
All day at my largest client
coached run tonight at 6:15 (hubby is taking J to soccer)
Laundry needs to be folded, dishwasher needs to be emptied, bills need to be paid

Hopefully, I can get to that glass of wine by 9 pm.  The good news is that swim lessons are over!  Both kids made terrific progress.  I no longer have to have them at the pool by 6pm!  YAY...we can eat at a normal time again.

20 miles...3 days!

That's a new record for me!

Saturday-9 miles with the coached running group
Sunday-3 miles recovery + 1 mile for striders
Monday-7 miles with Lisa
Tuesday-Rest, Relax and drink wine.  I deserve it!

Hope your Tuesday plans are as delightful as mine!

1/2 way done! And a special welcome to my newest follower!

I've reached the 1/2 way point in my 1/2 marathon training and am so psyched!  The last few weeks have been brutal with heat and humidity and my running times were decreasing.  I was getting discouraged.  My coaches told me not to fret that once the heat broke I would be amazed at how well I do.

SO....here's a point of comparison:

Last Saturday:  9 miles, 1:48, heat index 110, walked twice, 5 water bottles
This Saturday:  9 miles, 1:33, high 60s, ran the whole thing, 2 water bottles

15 minutes quicker...AMAZING!!  That is exactly the motivation I need to get me through the back half of this program.

My week:
Monday-off
Tuesday-4.9, 52 min
Wednesday-6.7, 1:10
Thursday-35 min wii fit yoga and strength
Friday-off
Saturday- 9 miles, 1:33
Sunday-3 miles, 30'28", 8X100 striders at end

A big special welcome to my newest official follower...He's been a lurker for quite some time (which I never knew).  At dinner last night, he promised to officially sign on as a follower.  Thanks EDO!  Now, let's get our oldest off to sunday school where they can learn morals and ethics, instead of focusing their dramatic energy on bribery and theft.  Wink, wink.  Hope you all had a good time last night.  Let's do it again soon.