Vacation? I don't need no stinking vacation!

So we finally got all packed up and ready to hit the road for a much needed mini-vacation.  After my father's illness, I really was ready to de-stress and more importantly, try and salavage what's left of the summer for my boys.  About 2 hours into our 4 1/2 hour trip up to Avalon, NJ, my oldest (who had been complaining of stomach 'pain' since the evening before) barfed.  Yup.  Barfed.  Seriously??  We sat at a rest stop for about 30 minutes trying to figure out what to do.  The problem was that we were going to be staying with my step-sister and her 5 kids, one of which is a 1-year-old.  Would I want someone bringing a barfing kid into my vacation house?  No.  I absolutely would not.  So we turned around.  Turned around and drove 2 hours back home.  Yeah.

We spent the day yesterday in kind of a 'what the hell do we do now' daze, my son showing obvious signs of improvement as evidenced by the dirty breakfast dishes in the sink.   So we've decided to make a quick trip up to Baltimore tomorrow to catch a baseball game - something my youngest son has been wanting to do all summer - then on Sunday, head to the Maryland Science Center at the Inner Harbor which should please both of them.  It's not the beach but it's a hotel stay (why are kids so facinated by hotels??) and a bit of a quick fix to our 'what do we do' problem.

And I've decided to have a really fun winter.  Why do people wait until summer to have fun?  Well, I'm putting a change to all that!  Bring on winter baby!  Woo-hoo!  Snow! Wind!  Cold!  It's going to rock!

After a bit of a hiatus, I'm trying to get back into gear.  I spent the last week up in Boston where my father was having surgery but now that is done, he is on the road to recovery and it's time to try and get my focus back.  I know, I've said this before, but this has been a difficult summer to say the least.

I missed the long run this past weekend but I know my running partners ran 15.  The weekend before, I ran the Leesburg 20k and am calling that my long run.  I finally got a run in yesterday of only 7 miles, but I'm trying to get back into it.  Another wrench is that we are leaving for a last minute beach trip tomorrow afternoon through Sunday.  My goal is to use this trip to unwind and get over the stress of the last 5 weeks so I'll be honest, I'm not sure how much running I'll do when I get there but I did pack my running clothes!  Then once I return, I'll get back to updating the training schedule.

Thanks to those of you have hung in there with me and my sporadic posting this summer.  Hopefully things are on their way back to normal!

Training Training Training

Right.  Now I remember why interval day was not my favorite day of the week when I was training for the Delaware Marathon.  After Sunday's 18-miler and an ankle that has been a problem for 3 months now, I took Monday and Tuesday off.  Today I got back to it and did the interval run listed on the training page.  It was a tough run.  I push through and refuse to quit because I know from my Delaware experience that they work but oh how I hate doing them!  This was the first one in quite some time so I know it will get a bit easier but holy crap, I was panting like a 3-pack-a-day smoker.
After the run, I had my version of my favorite Starbucks drink, the Vivanno. 

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 banana
1 scoop Solgar Wey to Go vanilla protein powder
1 1/2 tablespoon organic cacao powder
ice

Yum. Yum.  Yum.  So good, so quick, so easy and beyond refreshing after a tough run.

I'm going to do the 7 mile easy run tomorrow then the 4 mile tempo run on Friday.  I'm going to stop putting days of the week on the training schedule and just list the runs.  It really doesn't matter when you run these, at least in my opinion it doesn't.  It's more about seeing how you feel on any given week and adjusting accordingly.  I've got a 20k race on Sunday so I don't want to run 7 on Friday, just makes more sense to me to run 4. 

As for Body Pump, haven't been this week.  My husband is on the road and I have a really hard time putting my boys in the gym day care because they are 7 and 10 and it's pretty much all babies and toddlers in there.  They are beyond miserable.

Now I have to get totally off topic and talk about apps again.  So I told you last time that I'm addicted to Words With Friends and that's still true but I've found a new addiction.  My husband and I were in the Apple Store in Reston over the weekend upgrading to the iPhone 4 and while he got all geeky with the Apple dude, my boys and I played with the iPads.  First off, it was the first time I've played with one and fell totally in love.  They cost a bomb though so I don't see one falling into my lap anytime soon.  The point is, they had Diner Dash on the iPad I was playing with and I got crazy addicted right there in the store.  I know I'm really late to the party as this is a pretty old game but holy mother of all time wasting crap balls, I am loving this game!  I'm on the last restaurant though so I'm a little bummed about that.  I tweeted about my new love and got a response from the makers of BarStar.  I downloaded the free version to give it a try and it's basically the same as Diner Dash only rather than waiting on tables, I'm a cocktail waitress in a bar serving drinks.  Hello!  Clearly I need a more exciting life, but these time management games are right up my alley.  Got any favorites for me to check out?

First Long Run of Training Done!

Well, somehow I managed to stick with the group and complete Sunday's long run.  It was an 18 mile run which come to find out, was also a very hilly run.  Bill is our group leader and he determines the distance and route of our long runs.  He had sent us an email letting us know it was going to be 18 and the basic directions of the route but I had no idea that it was non-stop hills throughout the entire run.  Around mile 12, I started getting that, "I really don't think I can do this" feeling and wanted to quit.  Fortunately for me, I run in a group and (a) not one of the members was going to stop, and (b) I had no idea where the hell I was (talk about country roads!) and if I stopped to walk, I would have gotten lost for sure so I plowed on and eventually, the feeling passed.  I'm incredibly pleased that I was able to get through this run given my lack of running lately.  Good to know that the endurance that we work so hard for doesn't leave you overnight!  Here is a screen shot from my Garmin so you can see the elevation (the gray represents elevation).  The hills were pretty hard and unfortunately, during the last 6 miles, those down hills that look like they'd be so great hurt almost more then going up hill! By then, my legs were screaming and going down hill was torture on the quads.

This Sunday is going to be a 20k run.  I'm running in the Leesburg 20k on Sunday morning so I'll treat that as my long run.  Then I'll get back to the scheduled run the week after that.

Fall Marathon Training and Fun iPhone Apps!

Can I just whine for a minute about my quads??  Holy mother of all soreness.  Apparently, I really over did it by jumping back into running and going all out in Body Pump.  I can't remember the last time I was hobbling around like this - it's pathetic really!  I took Tuesday off then yesterday, ran an easy 7-miler.  I was going to do Pump again today but I think I need a good stretch session instead!

I put the first week of fall marathon training up this morning.  It's up there under the "Training" tab.  I have to say though that although it says 18 miles for this Sunday, I don't know that I'll actually run all 18.  The group I run with is set to do 18 but they've been running every weekend so this isn't a big deal to them.  My plan is to start with them and see how it goes.  The good thing about this group is that we take these weekend runs very, very, very slowly so I'm hopefully that I can stick with them for much of it.  We'll see.  Monday is (as it will be every week) an off day.  Tuesday starts the oh so fun speed sessions.  I always do my speed work on the treadmill regardless of how nice it is outside.  I just find it so much easier to control the speed and get a good workout done. Tuesday is an 'easy' paced run, Thursday is a rest day (or cross training) and Friday is a short tempo run.  Yay!  I'm pretty excited to get back to it.  I love having a schedule and I love having a goal to work towards.

Does anyone have an iPhone or iTouch?  I was just turned onto the free app (yes there are ads, but just hit 'skip', no biggie) Words With Friends.  I'm totally addicted!  It's basically scrabble that you play with friends.  You can take your turn whenever you have a moment and it goes back and forth.  It's tons of fun.  If anyone has this app, I'd love to swap user names.  I know this sounds totally stupid but right now, I only have one other friend that has this app (I'm trying to get my husband to download it) so I play against her but I'm also playing against random people that the app selects and I have to say, it's a little weird playing against a total stranger because I'm really horrible at scrabble and I'm pretty much getting my ass kicked.  I'm sure I'm being laughed at which would be easier to take if I knew the person!  Another app that I'm addicted to is Traffic Rush which is free for now.  Really fun, super quick play.  I also was crazy into Star Wars Cantina (even though I'm not a Star Wars person) but I've managed to get through all the levels and there hasn't been any updates with more.  What are some of your favorite apps?   I'm always looking for new ones!

I Can't Say No to Fries.

Today I met a dear friend for lunch that I haven't seen in forever.  She works full time so I told her to pick the time and place that would fit into her schedule.  Well, she chose Red Hot and Blue.  Seriously.  Have you been to this place?  It's all pig and french fries.  I know I'm getting a bit obsessive but I had no idea what to eat!  The salads were all fried.  The sandwiches were all pulled something "smotherd" in some kind of sauce.  Ugh.  So I finally settled on a grilled chicken sandwich with no mayo.  It was your standard grilled chicken breast, 1 big lettuce leaf and a sad slice of tomato served up on a big crunchy (and delicious) roll.  And I ate the entire thing.  Did I mention the side of fries?  I know, I should have told them to hold the fries but I didn't and then I ate one and one led to about 20 more and, honestly,  I don't really want to talk about it anymore.  I feel like a mess.  It's only Tuesday of my "I'm going to be good and healthy and perfectly wonderful this week!" week and I've already bonked.  And no, that is not my stomach, I would never write on my stomach.  That would just add insult to injury.

I'm keeping up with my workout end of the bargain though.  Ran my 45 minute run both Sunday and Monday (did an hour on Saturday) and I also went to Body Pump yesterday.  I have to say that taking 2 weeks off of any kind of exercise then jumping in with both feet (hardy har har har) is not exactly recommended.  I'm walking around with quite the interesting limp.  My legs are sore people!!  I was actually going to skip today's run because I don't want to be unable to do a long run this weekend but we'll see.  Maybe I'll find some running mojo tonight.

Also, I'm finally getting a training page started.  There is a tab up top that will eventually take you to my training schedule for the Marine Corps Marathon with is only (gasp!) 15 weeks away!  Time to get moving!!  The plan officially starts on Sunday so I'll get up week one by tomorrow.

Marathon Weekend Has Come and Gone

As you know, I didn't go out to San Francisco for the marathon this weekend because my Dad has some health issues.  We were expecting to hear from another doctor on Friday and guess what....shocker of all shockers, we sat by the phone all day for nothing.  Yet another doctor told us he'd call after viewing some tests but didn't.  I don't get it.  How can they do that??  They know they have a patient and his entire family anxiously awaiting a call that he said he'd make but then just decided not to?  Or forgot?  Totally unacceptable if you ask me.  Anyway, staying home from the marathon was a good decision for sure.  I just am not 100% with it mentally and while a marathon requires quite a physical effort, I believe that a very large piece of it is mental.   Having said all that, I'd  been spending my days on the phone or researching on the internet and eating which I know I also have mentioned.  This weekend I decided enough was enough.  I'm certainly not helping my dad any by sitting around getting more and more anxious so I decided to get back to running and today, I'm getting back to the gym.  It's so hard to do anything knowing what he is going through.  Even leaving to take the boys to a movie last week made me feel guilty. 

My new goal is to get back to my 2-day a week Body Pump class and for this week, run a minimum of 45 minutes a day, baring any unforeseen issues, just to get me back into it.  And two days in, I'm quite the success....ran for an hour on Saturday then 45 minutes yesterday...yup, two entire days.  Body Pump is today and Wednesday and I'll keep up the running.   I also put all the carb snacks back in the pantry and pulled the fruits and veggies back out.  Incredible what stress can do to a person.  I couldn't get enough crackers and other unmentionables.  And let me tell you, after a long time of eating very healthy made just 2 weeks of eating a ton of processed crap feel like I'd been doing it for years.  The bloat was back, my face broke out and I generally feel like shit.  And the stomach pains I was so used to dealing with on a daily basis were back too.  I still need to figure out exactly what food item is causing it but it's something in crunchy/cracker form, that I can be sure of.

After my run on Saturday I made a big 'ol salad and paired it with a piece of fruit.  Yum!  And after only 2 days of this, I'm already starting to feel better.  I'm better able to deal with my Dad and am starting to get my old energy back.  Hopefully by the end of the week, the bloat will be gone...blah!

On the running front, it's time for me to put San Francisco in the past and start prepping for the next race which is Marine Corps Marathon on October 31st!  I've never run it before but have heard that it is a total blast and should be on everyone's 'must run' list so I'm excited for it.  I've got an incredible friend who happens to be an Iron Man who trained me for Delaware and because of him, how much he believed in me and his awesome (yet hard!) training schedule, I was able to meet my goal.  I'm turning back to him to get me back in shape for MCM.  I don't feel an overwhelming desire to PR (which I know, as a runner, is a bat shit crazy thing to say) because my PR is my BQ time and holy hell was that hard, but I would like to get in under 4 hours.  I'm going to add a page to this blog, which I just learned how to do in blogger,  with my training schedule in case anyone is interested.   I'll start with that schedule next week.  This week is all about slowly getting back into running.