Speedwork, Annie Dog, and a scramble!

Yes, that's me, yet again jumping into the pool after a hot run with speedwork! It was hot but I knew I needed to get it done, so after coffee I went at it. I did a 3 mile speedwork run where I pushed myself consistently and focused on, well, being FOCUSED! I tend to go off in my mind and be smooth but not timely in my runs. So I stayed on straightaways and only did a couple of hills so I could really push it. Then, as a 1.5 mile cooldown/easy run, I picked up my Annie dog. SHE IS SO LAZY! My dad claims she's a "house dog"...SHE'S A BLACK LAB! She pooped TWICE, I know I know, TMI, but I had to clean it up! UGH! She slows me down but she needs the workout. She just doesn't work as hard as me in the heat! Poor old girl...at the ripe old age of 3, which in human years is 21. But today was the first day that the pool was WARM and not cold! Oh boy, that means the temp got high enough to keep the water closer to lukewarm rather than frigid.

On another note, I was a spectator at a race today! My sister Jen and her hubby Jon ran a 5k "scramble", which goes over all sorts of terrain; cement, stairs, grass, trails, everything! They were TIRED at the end, but they were encouraged by my BEAUTIFUL sign that I whipped up in a jiffy! I know how important it is to have support when running, so we (Myself, Bri, and my sis Melissa) cheered loud and proud for the Clark duo! My sign read "Go JC2" the two was the exponent 2 because they have the same initials "JC". So, great job Jon, who came in just over 24 minutes, and great job Jen, who came in at about 25:40ish! WAHOO! Still beat my 5k on calmer terrain!

In other news, I want a Garmin. I mean I REALLY want a Garmin. If anyone wants to get me one, by all means, I'm willing to receive it.

Oh Deer!

A DEER! Can you spot it?! Well, look at the group of 3 trees in the middle, and below the middle tree ....can you see it?!?! Well, if not, the iPhone doesn't have zoom, so sorry. I was running in the trail at the Community College down the street from my parents and decided to start by going left (I never go left first!) and at the top of a LARGE hill was a HUGE mommy deer! I got about 4 feet from it and it ran away, then two seconds later its baby came out to find it! CRAZY! Again 3 feet from me a BEAUTIFUL fawn (That's the right word right?) at 4:30pm. So quaint. After they cleared the 4ft tall fence (AMAZING ATHLETES!) I followed them for about a quarter of a mile and saw them go through the soccer fields into the woods. It was such a nice piece of nature, then it scared me because that mommy deer could have messed me up! Anyone seen Tommy Boy?! EXACTLY! I also got freaked out by two bunnies. Nature has become a foreign thing to me since living in the city! Also, the thought occurred to me that the trail is not that safe...when I was a teenager my sister Kate and I, maybe with a few friends, would rollerblade there ALL THE TIME...and I never thought about how UNSAFE it is! There's no one around! When it first opened there were a lot of people, and I'm sure the heat didn't help bring people out to exercise, but I was seriously the only one on the trail for 45 minutes...I saw a biker in the first 5 minutes but he left! Therefore, I may not be running there again on my own...even with a cell phone ;-)

But it was a nice run, VERY slow because it was about 90 degrees with 80% humidity, but since I had to bow out of a long run sunday because of lack of water and nausea after about 4.5 miles (My body is still getting used to this heat!), I waited till Tuesday to really go for it. I was unsure if I had made it 9 miles though, because I had on the iPhone with GPS from mapmyrun, and low and behold, the GPS lost signal way in the beginning! So I just kept going! Almost 2 hours later (Again, at a SUPER slow pace) I jumped in the pool with my running clothes on; possibly the best feeling in the world. I've determined through google maps that my running on actual roads was 7.8 miles, not counting the trail, and I guarantee it was at least 2 miles on the trail, so I may have even overdone it a bit! But it felt good.

Any other good running stories? How's training/exercising going ladies? My hubby, dad, brother, and his son are at a rock quarry park thing today with rope swings, cliff jumps and zip lines, OH MY! So I'm stuck all my by myself with my doggy Annie Girl. I like to refer to her as my sister. She's seriously the sweetest dog that ever existed. She follows me everywhere and is decently obedient and INSANELY quirky! I'll have to post some pictures of her.

So, in summary, training is going ok. I may be backed up a few days, but I'm getting my miles in!

10 miler story...one week later...

So I went on a 10 mile run last Monday because I skipped it Sunday, and it was interesting to say the least. It started out really strong, and finished REALLY weak. I hadn't done a double digit run since April, in fact, maybe since my half marathon! BADDDDD. So I ran over the 59th st bridge and into Central Park to the 6 mile loop where I did my half marathon (two times around the loop) and my 10k in June. I was about 7 miles into my run and I seriously felt like stopping and dying. I had stopped to fill up my fuel belt at a water fountain because I had already drained 3 out of 4 bottles of water, and I take the Ryan Hall approach of walking when drinking so you actually get some hydration in your body instead of the awkward throw in the mouth and hope it makes it down! So I walked for 30 seconds to drink MORE water, and I prayed and said, "God I really don't know if I can do this. I wish Brian would call me or ANYTHING to keep me going!" No more than 1 minute later a biker goes by me and comes up next to me and says, "Nice run. I saw you back on the bridge, that's impressive. Keep going." I was then INSTANTLY reminded of how Anna had written a blog about encouragement, and how she had encouraged me to go out on my long run, and this guy continued what she had started! He didn't have to say anything, my gosh it's NYC, people don't TALK to each other! ;-) So I then encouraged this lady (my hero) running while pushing a jogging stroller with a baby no more than 2 months old and told her she looked great and the baby was BEAUTIFUL. She was so thankful. So, the run home (which I thought was 2 miles including the bridge) was actually 2.66 miles, so when I got to the bridge and walked up the hill part I felt totally defeated, nauseous (I even bought a banana because I had remembered I hadn't eaten!) but I ran the second half because I figured downhill is easier....which it was. When I got home and checked, I thankfully realized that I had covered about 11.3 miles, so there's gotta be 10 miles of running in their somewhere! ;-) And this past week was an ATROCIOUS first week of training because of...

being in a parking lot for 3 hours...

being in an outdoor venue by the beach for...

Dave Matthews Band...

11 rows back from the stage!

After all this, the very next day we headed to PA for Jodi and Alex's wedding! We went through many thunderstorms and it was a bit scary for a minute there, but we made it and the wedding was BEAUTIFUL! Enjoy:

My favorite decoration: Green floral ball!

The beautiful altar

Communion; my favorite picture: THE BEAUTIFUL/YUMMY CAKE!
I didn't see my husband for many moons!
Chopsticks were the favor. They do missionary work in China

Friends forever! Sweaty and danced out! Possibly my favorite picture of all time:

I hope you all enjoyed this...I'm thinking of doing my 9 mile run now...I wouldn't call my first week of training a success...as you can tell, I was a bit busy!

GET OUT THERE! Happy Sunday!

7 months!

I know I know I sound like a silly girl in high school counting months...at least I'm not counting weeks! Ha ha but today marks 7 months since I married the love of my life. Here are some of my photog's pictures...forgive the scrolling message across them, copyright stuff you know! I'll discuss my 10 miler tomorrow...I'm just not ready yet ;-(

My dress & Sex & the City Shoes:

Our invite:

End of the night...blogger loads things backwards sorry!

The only time he said he'd ever dance for me:

My mini-me. She really did steal the show!

My party were TROOPERS! It was FREEZING! I had Uggs on ;-)

The snow backdrop is real. Trust me!

There was no heat except US in this gazebo!

Happy having only been outside 10 minutes! The red just POPS!

"You may kiss the bride..." I'm 5'2" he's 6'2"...do the math

The chairs were my "must have". I cut corners on a lot of things, but the chairs HAD to be covered. The elegance is evident ha ha ha!

I LOVE YOU BRIAN!

Running Behind...

THANKS SUSIE FOR THE ADVISE ABOUT THE TEXT/PICTURE/LINK PROBLEMS! Today I did 4 miles this morning then took the train into work (EEK! We were tired...) and ran my BUTT off at work! I do all sorts of things to make it a workout, such as carrying other people's dishes, stacking glasses even though it's not my job, just about anything to workout! So yes, I'm TIRED at the end of the shift! Thankfully we were busy, but I wish I could have done a longer run this morning. The picture above is where I will be running tomorrow! (It's the view from my Apt. Can't lie, it's wicked sweet) I'm contemplating how long my long run will be. Monday starts my training chart. Maybe I'll go for 10. Manhattan. I'll try to get some picks in Central Park...only problem is, I can't figure out how to get my phone pics off my Palm Centro phone! Ha ha, I'm sometimes so tech savy, and other times SO inept!

Yesterday we had a FABULOUS day at the beach with our friends Shaun and Amanda, but I woke up late (hit the snooze button 3 times, let's be honest) and didn't get a run in! Plus we went for wings when we got home...this being healthy thing just isn't goling well! I've pretty much eliminated sugar except in cereal, which I got Kix with barely any sugar anyway. Ugh. These 7 lbs have GOT to go! I feel like I'm always running behind, like my running isn't what it should be since I've been out of school. I guess I'll just have to work harder!

We're going to Dave Matthews Band next week at the Nikon in Jones Beach! So excited! And our friends Jodi and Alex are getting married next Friday.

I think tomorrow I'm going to do a random post...I found some pictures from April that I didn't post, and some cute ones of myself doing tricks with my dog...hold on to that anticipation, Annie is coming to my blog!

6 miles yesterday

Yesterday was a decent running day. We FINALLY came back from Connecticut and I took advantage of the wonderful weather! It was hot though. When I run in Queens I don't run for time, and I didn't make great time yesterday. I do the distance thing. I have to dodge people, wait at some crosswalks etc. Once I start up my half marathon training program I'll go into Manhattan to Central Park more often, which has a 6 mile loop just for runners and bikers. But I have to say, I LOVE my fuel belt! Sarah loves her fuel belt as well! As dorky as I look, it really helps when I'm running for over an hour! And I put my bottles in the freezer 15 minutes before leaving, which was GENIUS because it kept my water cold. Towards the end it got a little warm, so I'll just put it in for longer next time!

Today we're trying to go see Letterman because we're bored. The restaurant hasn't been scheduling us...darn recession! ;-) It'll all work out. I'm contemplating a spin class tonight, but I don't know if we'll make it back in time with seeing Letterman.

QUESTION! Runners: I need good running socks! I keep getting blisters and I don't think it's my shoes. Share your knowledge!

We went to the grocery store yesterday and tried to get the minimum amount of food for maximum price. With traveling so much (We have a wedding next weekend!) We're trying to only buy "bare neccesities" instead of stocking up on regular things that I'll always use. We'll see how it goes...and I'm going dress shopping for the wedding next weekend! Shockingly I don't have anything truly appropriate, so many of my friends got marred in the fall/winter/spring that I don't have a "summer" dress! I'm going to deal find at the Macy's

Training is about to begin...and more 5k pics!

1. That's me in the pink...my dad decided to try to give me the iced tea sample! (He's a trip, in case you didn't notice!)
2. All of us before the race....apparently Jen didn't expect me to be SO friendly!
3. Whole group after the race; the other two who aren't my sisters are Deb (Blonde) and Anne Marie (Brunette)
4. Part of our cheering section: OUR mom and dad! We felt like little kids!

I NEED BLOGGER HELP! when I upload my pics, all I see is script, not the picture. Hence my captions underneath. It used to be the full on pics, and now it's just codes and words etc. IT's annoying because I can't move them around. Anyone else experience this?! HELP! I also STILL can't figure out how to put in a link to someone's blog by using their name with the ability to click on it as a link. HELLLP!

I printed up my training chart again. It worked really well before, so I decided to stick with it for this half. It's Ryan Hall's Half Marathon Training Program: http://www.runnersworld.com/charts/hallchart.html I've decided this time to do the long program instead of the short program. We'll see how this goes. If time does not permit it, I will do a short program long run if necessary. I'm really excited to have a training schedule again, I've somehow been floundering without it. And I'm excited to do this on vacation when I'm in Virginia, because it's a GREAT running spot and scenic...I'll just have to wake up WICKED early to avoid the crazy heat! The longest run on this schedule is 16 miles. That's a personal best distance wise. I'm nervous, but I really want to try for the 20 miles to see if I can do it in order to examine if I can try a marathon. Wow that sounded WAY too teacher-ish!

Now I need your help for two things. First, does anyone know of a blog about buying houses? Or have you purchased a home? The hubby and I are considering purchasing a home in the next two years or so and I want to be more informed. He's good at this kind of stuff, but I want to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly, in order to better prepare for this (sometimes stressful) experience! Second thing, now this is goign to sound REALLY strange: I rode horses as a teenager, and was helping my mom clean out my old room. I found a BRAND NEW pair of outdoor riding gloves...not leather ones, they're almost like running/biking gloves with grippies. If you ride horses, you know what I mean! So, if you know anyone who does ride horses, I would LOVE to donate them! They're probably worth $20 and never worn. It's not an official contest, I don't think THAT many people who read this ride horses ;-)

After reviewing this blog, I see it's very needy. PLEASE HELP! Thanks ;-)