13 is one of my lucky numbers.

HAPPY 2013

It's gonna be a good year, I can feel it.

I know that I've disappeared for a while ::slaps own hand::. 
I lost my blogging desire...hell, I lost a lot of my running desire. Things got a little out of control towards the end of 2012. But, like most slackers, with the switch to a new year, comes the need to change oneself and get back on track.  This means setting goals, changing my diet, getting back to an exercise routine, blogging more frequently and bettering myself in other ways outside of fitness and health.

So the big changes ahead of me...

1.) Starting the Paleo/Primal Diet.  Monday's the day, so I'll blog more on this topic later (I'm working on that post already).  It's time to get my carb/sugar fetish under control because it's been so out of control for so long that it makes me physically sick. It's time to get moving to a more whole foods, healthier lifestyle.  Time to lose some more lbs. Time to get my energy back.  It's just damn time for some change fronds. So much more to talk about and discuss, but we'll get into that later... so come back soon!

2.) Training for the Pittsburgh Half Marathon starts in early February.  Time to get back to it.  My goal is to do better than I did last year.  This should not be a problem.  I'm not going to over train like I did previously and I'm going to take care of my body better with the proper fuel, rest and recovery. I will also plan on doing other races in 2013, but haven't quite worked out my schedule yet.  I'm sure a post will come along regarding my race schedule.

3.) Hot yoga at Yoga Flow in the South Hills a minimum of once a week, but preferably twice a week. I started taking yoga recently and it has done wonderful, wonderful things for both my mind and my body.  It's really hard to explain how much it affects me, but I love it. I never dread going to class.  I look forward to it before hand, enjoy it during and feel like a million bucks after.  It's fabulous. My strength has increased, my flexibility is better and most important to my running, my hips are becoming stronger and more flexible.  If you remember my IT band has been an ongoing issue.  My physical therapist told me that one of the main reasons I experience pain is because my hips are so tight, so they put major strain on my knees.  And boy oh boy are they tight.  I can't even get into certain poses during class because of how tight they are. So hopefully yoga will do good things for my running, my body and my mental health.  All good things fronds!

4.) Tracking my workouts on daily mile.  This means tracking volleyball, running, yoga and whatever else I decide to do this year.  I want to have something to visually view my progress, especially at the end of 2013.  This will also keep me honest because I won't want to look like a total slacker!

5.) Take better care of my hair and nails.  I love nail polish but my nails are a train wreck. So I'm working on taking better care of them and also painting them more frequently.  Seems like a silly change, but I hate when my nails look like a little boys (haha). Also, taking better care of my hair.  My main reason for this is because I want to donate my hair to Locks of Love.  I have hair that is fine and shiny, but breaks easily.  So I'm working on making it beautiful and strong so that I can cut it off and donate it to an organization that makes wigs for financially disadvantaged children with long term medical hair loss.  I will need 10 inches.  Luckily for me, my hair grows quickly, it just desperately needs some TLC.  So perhaps I'll blog about my nail and hair strengthen adventure as well.  

So here goes nothing fronds.  Wish me luck and please follow me on this journey.  I'll need help, support, recommendations and reminders along the way. You're the best.

Day One of the #RWRunStreak

It felt great to head out for a run today.  I only did 1.62 miles, but I was a sweaty mess by the time I got back.  Gosh it's hot today! 

I only felt a small amount of annoyance/pain on my first run.  MUCH BETTER THAN A FEW WEEKS AGO!  Haha.  I can't stress that enough.  The true test will be how my leg feels tomorrow.  If it's bad, then I'll just stick to one mile a day until it's better. 


I'm going to stretch and foam roll and really get this leg back to business.  


There is still time for you to join us on for the streaking.  Here is the link to the blog where we will be tracking mileage for all involved.  


http://2012runchallenge.blogspot.com/ 

Planning the Next Move

So the run on Monday... well that didn't go so well.  We only made it about 1.7 miles until I had to stop.  The pain was bad and I didn't want it to get any worse.  So we stopped and walked for a while.  I went home and foam rolled and stretched.  I was curious to see how bad the pain was Tuesday morning.
I was definitely in pain Tuesday. Sad panda.
Everything seems to be feeling better today, but I know that it's time to figure out where to go from here.  Now is the time to rest up and get this leg back to business.
So I'm planning, thinking and researching. I know that I want to do the Erie Half Marathon in September and the Great Race in Pittsburgh, also in September.  I won't have to start training for those until later in the summer.  So now I have a bit of time to get stronger and faster. 
I know that I can't run just yet, so I need to find some other forms of cardio to get some calories burned.  Fishy is feeling like a fat manatee lately! I also need to get some strength training in.
I want to do hot yoga (Vinyassa), I have 4 classes purchased that I need to use.  I also am contemplating doing a boot camp class.  I have also started researching Crossfit.... don't tell PJ haha.
I want to get stronger and more fit.  I want to be healthier. The problem right now is that I'm going to be travelling for the next 3 weeks for work.  No point in paying for classes and such when I won't actually be able to partake in them.
So I'm going to have to come up with a routine to do in the gym at the hotel and/or in my hotel room. Time to get this fat ass a-movin'! 
Please feel free to leave comments and suggestions.  And if you're a woman and a crossfitter, I'd love to hear your thoughts/opinions.  I have heard from guys but I want to know what women feel about it.  


PS babysitting my nephew Noah tonight... can't flipping wait to eat those cheeks!  

IT Band Update, One Week Post Half

So it's officially been over a week since the half marathon and I can honestly say I'm still as motivated as ever to keep running and to get in better shape. BUT we have a little issue.  STUPID IT BAND.

I took a week off of all exercise for a few reasons, but the main one being my IT band.  Now that the half is over and I have a break before I conquer my next training plan, I could finally give my leg a break.  I know, from my experiences with this re-occurring injury, that overuse is usually the main reason for the soreness. 

Sometimes all I need to do is give it a break and stretch/foam roll the knots out of it.  Sadly, the pain was really bad this week, and it wasn't the sore type of pain, but the shooting pain that caused me to limp the first few days after the race, and then the next few days, limp every time I sat with my leg bent for too long.  The pain was so bad, that I didn't even foam roll.  Bad Fishy.  The thought of putting that foam roller on my already hurting leg just made me cringe.

Even after a week of rest, I'm still at the limping every time I sit with my leg bent for too long stage...   :(

This displeases me greatly.  I know now is the time to get this leg back to good, with no required long runs, etc.  But I feel like a fat lard, and I'm really itching to get out for a run.

So tonight, the plan is to test it out.  Weather permitting, I want to get a short run in with PJ, just to see how the leg feels.  I just need to know how badly it hurts during and after a run, so I can plan ways to get in physical activity that doesn't cause me further pain.  I have to do something, I can't just sit here another week! So fingers crossed that it's not too bad after a run, a foam roll and a killer stretching session. 

I am a RUNNER of STEEL!

Brief note before I give a re-cap...I realize that I haven't blogged since April 20.  Partially was from being a slacker but the other main reason was because I had a recent, very quick change in my work load and job description.  I was chosen to participate in a training for my job. My entire workload was taken away from me and I have been traveling to Philadelphia to receive training for a new initiative at my job.  I will spend about a month training and then about 8 weeks rolling the initiative out in my office, teaching my peers.  It's a lot to take on, and everything was very last minute.  My life, the week before the half marathon was thrown a huge curve ball, and it has been a bit overwhelming, so unfortunately my blogging had to be put on the back burner.  But alas, I had some free time tonight to finally provide a re-cap of the Dicks Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Half Marathon on May 6, 2012.

I have so much to talk about, I actually had to outline my thoughts on paper prior to writing this, just to make sure I said everything I needed to say.

So Saturday evening, the night before the race, Omar, Shay, Sarah, Big Al and Ben crashed at my house so that we could commute down to the race together.  We attempted to go to bed early, but all of our nerves were a bit shot, and most of stayed up much later than we wanted to.  I tossed and turned for quite a while.  I just kept thinking about how the race was already here.  These 5 months of training, 274 miles run, all lead up to this one day.  I kept worrying about the dumbest things, like driving down to the race and getting caught in traffic, or possibly getting into a car accident and injuring/killing all of my friends heading to the race, peeing/pooping myself during the race, etc...my mind was just going all over the place.

We got up bright and early, 5 am, to grab something to eat and make our way to the North Shore.  We used Omar's parking pass and then walked the bridge to the start line.  Sometimes, Omar working for the Pirates comes in handy and this was one of those situations.  We used the bathrooms in the parking garage lobby.  Unfortunately, by the time we got to the starting line, Sarah and I both had to go again.  Port-o-john lines were freaking ridiculous, so we just decided, against our better judgment, to just hit a port-o-john as soon into the race as possible, in hopes that others weren't doing the same thing. 

Before the race we got a group photo


From L to R: Omar, Me, Big Al, Shay, Sarah and Ben

 Omar purchased us the throw away shirts.  We matched. Aren't we a cute couple??
Here the girls prior to the race, ready to start the half (Shay, Big Al and myself) and the full (Sarah).


From L to R: Me, Sarah, Big Al, and Shay

 And me and my man

Waiting for the race to start was SO nerve wracking and all I could think about was how badly I had to pee. When I could get my mind off of the fact that I was about to run a half marathon, the longest I've ever run in my life, I tried to look around and just take the scene in. Over 25,000 people were signed up for the race, and it was just awesome seeing them all lined up for the race to start.  We were in the last corral, so it took us 20 minutes to cross the starting line. 

Ben was in corral c so he was way ahead of us and Big Al booked it as soon as the race started so we did not see her again until the end of the race. 

Shay, Sarah, Omar and I stayed together for a short while, until Sarah ducked off to use the port-o-john.  Omar, Shay and I ran just a bit further (a little shy of 1 mile) and waited for about 10 minutes to use the bathroom.  Frustrating, frustrating, frustrating.  I didn't want to have to stop during the race, but I had to pee so badly I honestly thought my bladder was going to explode.  I'm just so scared of being dehydrated again, so I was too loaded with liquids for my own good. I knew that I would only need to go once, and I'd rather get it done with early and not have to stop again during the race.

The first 6 miles went by VERY quickly. Too quickly, in my opinion. Shay, Omar and I were taking in the sites and enjoying ourselves.  We were weaving in and out of people trying to get a caught up a bit from our time lost going the bathroom.  It worked out well because the crowds had thinned and we could make some headway in the race not being completely surrounded by people, like we were in the beginning. I'm pretty sure I had a smile on my face the entire first half of the race.  This was the first large race I completed, and it was such an awesome thing, being surrounded by runners and having people in every neighborhood of Pittsburgh cheering you on.  Each neighborhood decorated with balloons and tents and were lined with people. Some were cooking out, had horns and whistles, signs and sometimes food for runners. Very cool.

The weather was beautiful, but pretty hot for early May in Pittsburgh.  The sun ended up being quite relentless.  Not enough clouds in the sky...every water station was a Gatorade or two down the hatch and a water thrown on my head and neck.

Around mile 7 things started to go a little downhill for me.  All of a sudden, my IT band in my left leg started to hurt.  Not badly, just enough to let me know that it was there, it was a re-occurring injury, and that if it wanted to, it could flare up and really force me to slow down.

In the West End, we got to see Shay's Mom and Aunt Nancy and that cheered Shay up and added some pep to our steps. By about mile 8.5 my IT band was really starting to hurt.  Why? I have NO IDEA.  I was pissed though. It hadn't been bothering me on runs since I got a foam roller and rolled it every night.  I blame being away from my house the week before the half and not having my foam roller in Philly.

Around mile 9-10, in South Side, we saw Omar's sister Mona and Omar's mom.  They were cheering us on with cow bells and signs.  We gave them both high fives.  That definitely put a big smile on my face.  It's really awesome seeing people you know while you're running, so if you're reading this and your friends and loved ones are racers, go out and watch them.  Support them.  Cheer them on.  It's SO appreciated by those who are running. 

By mile 10 my IT band was killing me and it continued to get worse, a shooting pain in my left leg the entire rest of the race. The pain was the worst on the downhill.  It felt like quad was going to detach from my knee.  I could tell that my form was really suffering and I was limping a bit, but we only had 3 miles left and I just refused to walk at that point. 

After crossing the Birmingham Bridge, the final of 5 bridges that you cross during the race, we thought the course would be most downhill until the end.  Boy were we wrong; way to throw 2 hills into the last 2 miles of the race marathon planners...RUDE!  By this point, the 3 of us agreed that we were ready to be done running, ready to finish.  We each would chime in the occasional encouraging phrase to push ourselves up these last 2 hills, before the final downhill decent to the finish line. 

The last half mile was thrilling. Running the last bit of the race, seeing the finish line in sight, and running down the street lined with people cheering you on.  Exhilarating!  Like nothing I've ever experienced in my life.  A complete and total high. 

Very close to the finish line I heard a familiar voice yell Shay's name, a bunch of her friends and boyfriend were watching us and were cheering us on during the final stretch.  We picked up the pace and gave it all we had, crossing the finish line with our hands raised above our heads in victory. 

Omar, Shay and I ran the entire race together. We supported one another to the finish line.  We laughed, danced, acted like fools, and made it 13.27 miles to the finish of Shay and my first 1/2 marathon and Omar's second. I definitely don't know if I could have pushed myself through the pain to finish the race without the support of those two. Running my first half marathon with my ever supportive, awesome boyfriend and one of my best friends. Shay motivated me every step of the way.  That girl is one of the best running partners anyone could ask for.  She is positive and peppy and definitely kept a smile on my face even when I was in pain. Omar is more of the quiet, supportive type.  He doesn't like to make small talk when he is running, but it's like he knows when you're struggling and when you need someone to push you.  It's at that point that he always has something encouraging to say.  Two very different support systems, but both helped in more ways than I can describe. What an amazing experience and memory to share with them.

Here was our final time (I paused my watch for the bathroom break)

I was hoping to get closer to 2:10, but I have no complaints.  Overall, my main goal was to complete the race.  I'm officially a Runner of Steel. BOOM!

We were all so happy to be done and show off our bling. Big Al killed the half with a sub 2 hour time. You go GUUUURL!


From L to R: Big Al, Omar, myself and Shay

I didn't get to see PJ at all Sunday  :(  So here is a celebratory picture that I stole from his facebook.  Where is your smile Joshy?  PJ's goal was sub 2:00.  He killed it with a 1:56.  I couldn't be more proud of ya buddy!!

And Susan (momswimbikerun) with her PR of 2:07.  You're such an inspiration!

Kim killed her first marathon with a 4:04 time.  You're amazing Kim!!!

AND, no picture sadly, but brother Ron also ran his part of the Marathon Relay.  6.4 miles in 56 minutes.  FANFREAKINTASTIC BROTHER!

And last but certainly not least, Sarah finished the Full Marathon.  I couldn't be more proud or inspired by my frond. She had an emotional week due to a sudden loss in her family.  My heart broke for her during the week and then again when she told me she decided that she was not going to run the marathon.  At the last minute, she changed her mind and decided to do the race, and I think she is happy she did. I have so much respect and admiration for this girl. She has inspired me so much during this entire training process.  Love her to pieces and I can't wait to run a race with her by my side.



Beautiful sisters!

It's been 3 days since the race and I'm still on a high. It's really hard for me to put into words every emotion that I felt during, and more importantly, after this race.  Sunday was hands down one of the best days of my life.  Is that pathetic??  I don't even care if it is.  I have never been so inspired to get myself in better shape, to be faster, to be stronger, to be healthier and most importantly to run more races.  I can't wait to get back into things and start training for my next half.  I'm officially addicted.  Who would have ever thought that would happen to me, the girl who has always hated running?

A Letter to You

Dear Body,

It's been a while since we've had a chat, but right now you're starting to scare me. You seem to have turned against me, and I'm not exactly sure why.  I think you find it humorous to consistently throw me small kinks in my path to a healthier, happier lifestyle and I'm starting to get frustrated.

I know that I've been working you hard the last few months; taking away so much of the food you love, forcing you to work harder on less calories and consistently pushing you to build muscles you didn't even know you had stored under those layers of flubber.  I get it, you're not happy, but now is NOT the time to lash out at me.

You've done so good so far, only minor aches and pains and tweaked muscles.  For the most part you have been handling this half marathon training plan like a champ.  Please do not crap out on me now.

I know that I've been putting a lot of stress on my IT bands.  I know that I have very tight hips and my legs could use some more strength training.  I know that I have overworked you in the past to the point of being unable to walk without pain behind my knee and I know that you enjoyed the 4-6 weeks of minimal activity and physical therapy, but for the love of God, please don't do this to me now, because there will be consequences.

Sure, you might get those few days of rest, but I will come at you like a spider monkey.  I will foam roll those knots right out of you while screaming in pain.  I will stretch you and I will ice you and I will do whatever it takes to beat you into submission, because I have come too far and I will not let you win this time.  

Read this article on Beating the Band. (Courtesy of Omar). You're going down IT band.  GOING.DOWN. I am armed and ready to fight back!

Love hugs and kisses,

Fishy

Foam Rollers, GU's and Water Bottles, Oh My!

So much to blog about today, so this post might be a little lengthy and full of fun stuffs.  

First off, let's start with something pretty.  This weather has been unbelievable lately. This has been one of the best winters to train for a half marathon because it's been so mild.  Spring is in the air and flowers are starting to poke their pretty little heads up.  These are the first flowers showing up at my house.  

I didn't plant them, obviously.  I think I might get serious about gardening next year, when I have time to plan what I want to do with the yard.  This year will mainly be fixing up the inside of the house, next year will be the outside! One of the biggest things I need to learn is to space out my projects.  I'm the type of person that wants everything done, right now.  Immediate gratification, please.  Obviously with the house, I'm going to have to space things out and save my money to buy what I want.

Second, I purchased some new fun tools/items yesterday for my half marathon training.

I loaded up on these bad boys so that I can get some more practice with using them, making sure they are what I need to help me get to the finish line without bothering my stomach. 

A lovely hand held water bottle.  This makes me look like a real runner! Haha.  I'm nervous about using this, just because I don't like the thought of having to carry something when I do my long training runs, but after Sunday I realized just how important it is to hydrate, especially when the weather is warmer and I'm sweating more. I won't be using this on my shorter runs unless it's very hot.  This will mostly be a long run tool.

Foam Roller, take 1. Rolo was curious about this new thing and kept walking in front of my pictures. What a jerk!

Foam Roller, take 4.  Rolo botched takes 2 and 3. 

So, I've been reading about foam rollers and the benefits of using them, and honestly what could it hurt?  It's only going to make my performance better and help with my IT band issues.  It's win, win.  

It's also pain, pain.  MY GOD WAS IT PAINFUL!  I, fortunately for you, did not attempt to take any pictures of myself while rolling.  Although, a video of me wincing in pain would have probably been pretty amusing for you to watch.

So here's the article I read and tried to emulate while rolling.

Foam Rolling for Runners

I also read this blog entry

One Twenty-Five

And watched her foam rolling video here. Watch this and you'll see just how painful it is.

Foam-roller-it-band-issues-i-am-not-a-doctor

I didn't really experience much pain while rolling my glutes and my hamstrings.  I felt a good bit of pain while rolling my calf muscles and excruciating amounts of pain while rolling my hips, my quads and ESPECIALLY my IT band. "Knights of Columbus that hurt!" I do realize that this is partially my fault, for not doing a good enough job of stretching my muscles, and I promise you I will be working on that!  You don't realize just how tight and knotty your muscles are until you roll them.

So rolling will now be a part of my running routine.  I will RUN<ROLL<STRETCH! And on days I'm feeling particularly sore, I will roll even if I don't run.  The key for me is to increase my flexibility and prevent injury.  I need all the help I can get in those departments. 

I expected to be bruised today, like E was in her blog entry, but surprisingly I was not. I find this really odd, because as stated previously in other blogs, I bruise like a peach.  And apparently I burn like toast, according to my brother Ron haha.  PROOF- my March sunburn from Sunday

My legs are very tender to the touch today, but otherwise they are feeling pretty good.  I have had a busy schedule and my legs have definitely been fatigued lately.  Running 4.76 Saturday, 8 miles Sunday, vball Sunday night, zumba Monday, and 5.1 miles Monday with Polish Josh meant my legs were T-I-R-E-D and needed a break Wednesday. I am not looking forward to rolling tonight, but no pain, no gain, right fronds?

Next on the agenda is the awesome snack I stumbled across (on pinterest) and decided to make yesterday. Okay, bare with me here... I know they sound gross... but I made Baked Parmesan Kale Chips yesterday.

photo and recipe from Gina at skinnytaste.com

I cut the recipe in half and used a little less parmesan cheese.  This were light, crispy and surprisingly flavorful.  I was shocked by how good they tasted!  Just go light on the cheese and olive oil and you'll have a crunchy, delicious, low cal snack. YUM!  EDIT: These are a good make then eat right away sort of snack.  Leftovers, not as good...

My last little comment.  Today I have on a belt AND I tucked in my button-up dress shirt AND I don't feel like a fat lard.  WOAH (said in my Joey Lawrence from Blossom voice).  I also had 2 people at work tell me I look skinny today. Skinny... me?  Skinny?  WHAT?  haha.  I wouldn't say I'm skinny just yet, but I definitely find the words of others encouraging to keep pushing myself.  I REALLY need to go clothes shopping though.  Everything is starting to hang on me and my clothes are not complimenting my frame. I guess that's sort of defeating the whole purpose of weight loss.  I just hate shopping and I hate spending money on clothes when I know I need to spend so much to get my house in shape (furniture, carpeting, air conditioning installation, paint etc).

So, this was probably my longest post, ever.  Have a great day fronds!