Marathon hopes and dreams and birthday parties galore!

UPDATED: I added the most recent sister picture! ;-)

(Note: Picture is from one year ago) HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY MELISSA! (Far left) This weekend we threw her a SURPRISE 40th birthday party and it was FABULOUS! Meliss is a great sissy and doesn't look a day over 30. An updated picture will be uploaded soon enough from the party. (A bad case of food poisoning has prevented uploading thus far!)

On to marathon thoughts. I know I seem melancholy and forlorn concerning this HUGE step in my running life, but seriously, I've been a crank pot for a couple of weeks! Attitude is EVERYTHING! I think the change in summer job schedule and my reduced workload (Inevitably less money), and being there for my hubby while he goes on interviews has really drained me. I want to be the girl in this picture who was having fun and looked forward to daily runs!!! After talking with some people at the party, I think I'm finally there (My brother-in-law is training for the same marathon as myself, and the other person is an experienced marathoner and cyclist). Here are my proactive steps I plan to take to kick my butt into gear. I'll call this my "July Jump Start".

July Jump Start Plan:

- Join a running group. There's one that meets in the park a mile away from me. I plan on joining this week. They meet 4 times a week including a long run. PERFECT for my training schedule!

- The public pool is opening. I'm going to try to swim.

- I'm going to know my limits, but take advantage of my time off and really focus on consistency and quality.

- BE POSITIVE!

Well, we'll see how this goes! Someone said something to me at the party that stuck with me,

"Well Kristin, looks like you've done everything you set out to do!" (Referring to my life plans at age 16!) And, well, I have! It was a funny thought; I got married at 24 like I wanted, I became a teacher, got my master's, it's fabulous! I need to refocus on the positives instead of majoring on the negatives.

Dog days of summer

So, Lambeau has decided that between 7-7:30am, when the sun hits his favorite perch on the back of our couch, it's time to get a tan! He sits in the intense sun and lays out as long as he can stretch. If you touch him, he's incredibly warm...and loves it! My breakfast time is a lot more relaxing without him crying/barking at me to throw his ball for him. He's such a teenager.

I can't wait to have the "Lambeau way of life" in 3 1/2 days!!! (School days that is!) Seriously, this last week is completely unnecessary and tedious and needs to end like NOW. Had a (beautiful) wedding Sunday, work end of year party Monday, and I'm TIRED!

In second job news, I got a SAT tutoring job with a company called Chyten. They are really high caliber, specializing in one on one tutoring. Largest groups they ever have are 3-5 students, and you get paid a lot more for that (Unlike Kaplan or Sylvan which are all group based). We'll see how this goes!

Running. Oh running. If I don't run 7 miles at one time within the next week and a half I'm throwing in the marathon towel. I'm sucking wind (Literally) right now. I was going well with 5am days, but I'm just DRAINED again! The heat shot up and we've been 85+ for well over a week, and it's 75 by 6am, which is NASTY and HUMID! EW!

Oh to be Lambeau...sleeping the morning away while basking in the sun...

Good bye to an old friend

Ok I haven't blogged in a hot minute...my apologies to you adoring fans! But I've committed to a cleanse and it's REALLY unfortunate and I hate it...I've gotten used to it, but I still don't like it. I've also faced some personal setbacks, so this is also a sad blog.

Ok. So I've been having some issues with food and digestion lately, and a friend suggested the candida diet to do a "natural health cleanse". So far, I think it's helped. I don't want to list all the do's and don't's, look it up if you wish. But basically, it's no carbs, no sugar, NO COFFEE, no nothin' that isn't natural! I've enjoyed being more "natural", but my energy level, YET AGAIN, has been low. This has taught me (Minus any workout) to be more conscious of what I'm eating; aka white flour vs wheat flour, etc etc. But boy oh boy, have I found a love for organic buckwheat pancakes!!!

On a sad note....

4 years ago, a man named Kevin Greene hired me at ESPN Zone in Times Square. I only had hostess experience with the Olive Garden in CT. I sold myself by saying, "I was supposed to work as a server in CT. If you hire me here as a server, I guarantee you I won't disappoint you." 4 years later, the doors of ESPN Zone closed unexpectedly. It's pretty sad. For one full year, I worked there full time; Monday & Wednesday lunch, Friday night Saturday double. When I graduated (After paying my Nyack bill in CASH and debt free - thanks ESPN) I got accepted into the Teaching Fellows, an amazing program that, by God's amazing blessing, I got in to. After that, the lovely Dave Bryson, GM of "The Zone", let me stay ESPN on Saturdays during the school year while I taught, and allowed me to work during the summer 3-4 shifts a week. It was a great job. I loved the people. They became my NYC family. But, last Wednesday, we found out they were closing. Now it's all over. I've cried my tears, hugged my friends, and gotten my severance check (!). I got hired at a tutoring institute. Wow. No more restaurant work for me? We'll see. This summer seems like a big mystery. I'm really nostalgic concerning my Zone friends, and how my summer doesn't include me there a few times a week. I'll miss the "dead" cookie sundae, seeing random celebrities (especially visiting MLB players), and most of all, the people.

Kevin Greene, you gave me a job when I didn't have any experience but a lot of enthusiasm to learn. Johnny Brasco, you showed me the rules of the Zone and how to get things done and "manage" each table...especially world cup tables...Katie Xanthis, now married with a a beautiful baby, you gave me the in's and out's of having an overloaded section and how to handle Europeans. I'll never forget the Monday "Get Fresh Crew", as well as confusing Ryan Matthews for my (now) husband.

Thanks ESPN Zone, for 4 years of being a server, and making incredible friends and meeting/seeing some pretty cool guests (Mark Wahlburg, Andy Pettitte, TI, the dad from the OC, POD, all 3 top NBa drafts two years ago, Nadal, Elizabeth from the View, Vanessa Manillo, Pixie Lott, and many many more...)

Ode to ESPN Zone: I'll miss you; no, people of ESPN Zone, I'll miss you most.

Eating out...kid style!

SO this morning I did some cross training at the gym because, well, my joints were a bit sore. P90X is kicking my butt! Anyway, so I did the elliptical. My relationship with the elliptical is bittersweet: I forget to look at my pace, so I'm really lazy, and then I suddenly realize that I'm taking FOREVER! Shockingly, I find the elliptical pretty challenging. So this morning, my workout went like this:

Mile 1: 10:10. Thought to myself, "What the heck?! I didn't get up at 5:10am for THIS!"

Mile 2: 9:00. Thought to myself, "This is better. Could throw up. Might not. Wait and find out."

Mile 3: 8:00. Thought to myself, "Why didn't I do this from the beginning!"

Even though I have been doing early morning workouts, I've been finding it difficult to push myself because I get the sudden urge to throw up. So I have to be especially careful in the gym. Like, literally, I have gagged frequently while running outside. Don't know why, it just sucks. But I suck it up (literally, figuratively, whatever!) and run it out.

So, this evening, Bri went to a Yankee game, so I had the evening free. My friend Lyss came and worked out with me, and then we ordered take out. The best. Take out. EVER. BAREBURGER! Picture below:

Now, everything is all organic, even their wood for the booths is recycled wood. Amazing. So I went on the menu online to pick what I wanted. When I looked at the options, I stumbled upon the kid's menu called the "cubby menu". I had three choices, the Grizzly meal, a burger (Beef, turkey, or veggie burger option!), the Panda meal, aka chicken fingers, or the Polar meal, a chicken wrap. But these meals came with an amazing salad and fries...for $5.99! That's a complete meal for me, and I jumped on it; SO glad I did! I got the Cubby meal with a beef burger. It was so good. .....I also got a vanilla shake... but that's besides the point... Lambeau and I walked the 12 min walk to pick up our food. It was lovely. The air was finally cooling down and getting less humid. It was seriously a great meal and the cost was wicked great. Mmmmm. Tomorrow again perhaps?!

Did you run on "National Running Day"? I did the elliptical shamefully...

Welcome baby Ella Ann! June: You're not so welcome

This is my new niece!!! Isn't she BEAUTIFUL!? (And *I* bought her that cute little outfit!) She was born on Saturday, May 29, and I was THRILLED to be home for it!!! She arrived ON her due date, which happens 7% of the time...Ella, you're going to be EXTRAORDINARY!

So, June is here. Did my weigh in at home. Not. So. Good. ZERO change. ZILCH. None. Um, hello, *may*keover, I'm supposed to lose weight! However, I did not exercise as much as in the past two years. My fatigue surrounding working overtime and completing my thesis gave me plenty of excuses to throw in the towel. This is a new month.

June is continuing with healthy living, and my husband is on board! We started P90X together, which I'm doing slowly but surely (I'm completely sore but not crazy sore!). And I know I have to go at my own pace, so if I rest for a minute, I rest. But I had to do SOMETHING different. It's all about muscle confusion, which I think is just what my body needs!

Also, I've officially decided to aim for the Hartford Marathon, as my NYC Marathon connection couldn't pull through and sneak me in! ;-( But hey, Hartford, "New England's Rising Star", HERE I COME! My childhood neighbor, and still close friend Mark, is helping me train. Mark has run 5 (or more) marathons, including Boston, NYC, and Disney. He's also running the Hartford Marathon, and depending on his status come race time, might run with me. So, this week I'm doing 3-4 miles 5 days, and then 6 miles for a long run. I'll be building up my mileage every week. I'm switching it up with elliptical and biking, because I'm not in great shape and need to pace my progress.

Another addition: protein shakes. I did a bit of research, and it looks pretty legit. I was scared it would somehow make me bulk up, but it is supposed to help with recovery from distance training, injury avoidance, and energy level. I've been doing some morning workouts (yes, more on that later) and it's been a great way to finish my workout: 1 scoop of Whey Protein, 3/4 cup of skim milk, and a quick pour of coffee...mmmm....

Yet another addition: 5am. Yes, ladies (And I doubt gents), 5am. My new wake up time. This morning's run was almost too hot. Scary! But I did an 8:39 first mile this morning, and that's definite growth for this NON morning runner. (Huh hmmm the other miles were just par for the course and not worth mentioning!)

What do you do to switch it up? I know it seems drastic, but I feel at the ripe old age of 25, I've plateaued, and that SCARES me! :-D

And my last day of teaching the kiddos is June 28! CAN'T. GET. HERE. ANY. FASTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!