Tick Tock - 4 days till MCM!

Our race shirts came in! They are awesome - I can't say enough about them....brought a tear to my eye. We had the kids model them - very cute.

Now the drama. So, I picked up the shirts. 4 shirts for marathon runners, 1 10k race shirt, 5 kids shirts, and 1 shirt for my mom (super supporter!). I got home, unpacked the box, and started to put them in piles of where they belong. I quickly realized I was 1 marathon race shirt short! I went out to the car - it must have fallen out. Nope. Not there. I went to my room, opened up my t-shirt drawer and my race shirt was still in there! I NEVER BROUGHT IT TO THE SHOP! I instantly wanted to pass out and throw up at the same time. I called the shop and explained that I'm an idiot. They told me to bring my shirt over ASAP and they would handle it. Whew! Crisis averted!

We will all have race shirts (even my husband wants one now!). I'm going to make tie dye shirts for my kids to wear under them - they are obsessed. It's pouring rain today, but the forecast for Sunday is nice, 62 degrees and sunny. Gotta love it!

I'm supposed to have my first track workout with Team Fexy tonight. Not sure how that's going to work with all this rain. Yuck! I'm hoping it clears out and dries up. I have a babysitter and everything! I can't let that go to waste.

Then and Now

The before picture is from after having baby #2 (April 2008). I gained ALOT of weight. I was pretty miserable (notice the horrible grey outfit and lack of smile). The after picture is from about a month ago (Notice RLAM shirt, huge smile, and race bibs in the background).

Recently I was having some weight issues that are steadily getting better (down 9ish pounds in about a month!). Who gains weight training for a marathon? I do. It sucked. BUT looking at these pics side by side makes me proud. Seeing all I've accomplished makes me happy. Not living in sweatpants makes me jump for joy.

This week was week 2 of my taper for MCM. Week one was painful. Lots of self-doubt and a cold. This week? AWESOME! I followed the plan TO THE LETTER. 20 min run = 20 min run. 3 mile run - i did not take one step over 3 miles. It's nice to have some extra time on my hands and not feel stressed or rushed to get runs and workouts in. I have really enjoyed the process of training for this marathon, really didn't know what was going to happen.

The plan is to get my packet next Friday and meet up with some friends. I'm praying that Skirt Sports does not run out of camo skirts - I MUST WEAR ONE! We are going out for dinner that night. Saturday night, night before the race, I will slumberparty with Alyson (BF) and maybe others that are running. We are having shirts made - gotta call on those today - and I have a shirt for after all picked out! I haven't even tried it on yet, don't want to jinx it.

Last long run is this weekend. A measly 8 miles. That's like a sneeze compared to the numbers we've been putting in lately. I never thought I would look forward to an 8 mile run. I'm pretty sure I have issues, maybe even a sickness. I love it though. Running makes me so happy and I'm a sucker for a goody bag and bling.

My husband and I went to a HH with a Tri team on wed. Lots of fun, great group of people. I might do a training run with them on Sunday (lots of them doing MCM). I'm on the hunt for my next race, pretty sure I'll do the Jingle All the Way 10k and then in my sites? A TRI. WAHOOOOOOOOOO!

Sammy singing Baby Got Back

Here is my 3 year old jammin out to "baby got back". He cracks me up. He is also a lady gaga fan

Death by jogging stroller

So I'm getting over the flu/cold/something. I am also in tapper mode - which makes it even worse. Mentally I'm freaking out about the marathon (am I ready?) and physically I haven't been feeling great. Yesterday I felt much better and decided to go for a run. For some reason I dusted off the double jogging stroller and loaded the boys in. They were SO excited to go running. The picked some books and we got settled.

I was going to do 3 miles, easy/breezy. Did you know that pushing two kids in a jogging stroller is HELL? My arms were burning, they kept yelling "faster mommy", and my arms were burning. I ended up doing 2.4 miles, which easily counts as 10 miles. I really think 20 miles was easier. Whew!





Sam joined us on his bike. He just started a new blog (www.fatguyinalittlesuit.blogspot.com), which is hilarious. Makes me feel horribly lame and not funny at all. He rode hard, doubled back, rode next to us slowly, then went out for another sprint. It was a nice family affair. We stopped at his parents house for dinner and then jogged everyone home.















This morning was not as enjoyable. For some reason my alarm was not set, didn't go off, and my 6am wake up call was a 6:50 "mommy? i'm awake". OH NO! I had to throw on some clothes, throw the boys lunch together, throw my lunch together, and then figure out some breakfast for me - on the go of course. I came up with pumpkin puree, banana, greek yogurt, pumpkin pie spice, and skim milk. Yum-o! I loved it! I cannot get enough of this pumpkin stuff lately. There's a blog I LOVE that I'm getting recipes and ideas from. www.katheats.com It's amazing. Her oatmeal tribute makes me drool.



I'm still feeling better today, which is great. Less than 2 weeks until the Marathon. I got a flu shot today, I'm going to the grocery store for a few things, need to do a 20 minute (what! that's it?!) run and then some strength training. Feeling good!

My husbands new blog!

Just in case you want to check out his blog.....here it is! I get a shout out in the 1st paragraph! Cool!

www.fatguyinalittlesuit.blogspot.com

Just another manic monday........

Weekend was great. We had 4 parties in 2 days! Saturday was a baby shower that we brought the boys to. We weren't sure how that was going to work out, but we got there and they had hired a babysitter to watch all the kids! It. was. awesome. After that we went to a Korean friends 1st bday, which has some customs and beautiful clothes associated with it. Sunday we went to church, our neighbors 6th bday, took naps, then went to another 1st bday. The boys were great all weekend!

I am finally starting to feel better (other than all the wine I drank last night). 2 weeks until my first marathon! It hasn't really sunk in yet. We did plan to have a girl sleepover the night before. I'm taking off of work the friday before to get my packet, hang out at the Expo, and really take it all in.

Sam (husband) is starting his Olympic TRI training today. He's hitting the pool after he drops the boys at daycare and before he goes to the office. I'm slightly jealous. I feel like I've been running forever. I did get a bike ride in yesterday. It was great - and FREEZING!

The boys have soccer today at 3:30 and I need to get a couple miles in. Nothing big, since I'm in taper mode. Tapering is weird. I feel like a slacker or like I'm cheating. It's nice to have some extra time on my hands though.

There is a new blog I'm obsessed with. www.katheats.com. I LOVE it. I had one of her recipes this am. Pumpkin Smoothie. YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. I used a couple of her recipes and they haven't disapointed yet.

PS. I'm SLIGHTLY obsessed with tri's right now! We are going to a tri happy hour wednesday and look at the loot I picked up at Amazon!

The cough that wouldn't die....and screwed up my runs!

I have not run since Sunday! I did 20 miles Sunday and crossfit and core work on Monday. Then the cough that wont die hit me. I had the cough a little bit before my 20 miler, but nothing too bad. Now it's awful! I feel fine, until a coughing fit comes.....then I cough so hard that my tummy hurts and my head hurts! UGH!

Marine Corp Marathon is just over 2 weeks away. The 1st week of tapering and I take it to the extreme of "no miles". I'm not totally freaking out, but I am not feeling this cough anymore. Any tips on how to tame a cough?

I'm going to try and do a nice easy outdoor jog today, see how it goes. Hopefully I'm building some serious abs with this cough. :) I know I can do this marathon since I did 20 (I'll crawl 6.2 if I have to).....but I don't want to be sick. Everything I've read and heard about tapering says it messes with you - you feel sick, injured, unprepared........crap!

Sorry for the vent........

HAPPY FRIDAY! on a positive note I get a mommy happy hour tonight.

20 mile run done! Taper city for me!

Wahoo! 20 mile run done! We did 10 miles out and 10 miles back.....took us 3:49! Felt much better physically than 18 did - but of course that mental aspect was there.

We started at 6am. Pretty much pitch black dark out. We did not really think about that part. Alyson spooked a deer as she attempted to squat in the woods, many chipmunks scared us, and a few wild noises that we never determined what they were. At mile 9 we stopped at 7-11 and refilled our water and used the potty.

We saw tons of bike groups and running groups today. Even a few we knew! We did make one new friend - can't remember name. He is from Russia and training for his first Ironman (SO jealous!). He ran with us for a few miles and we talked and asked him questions about training. He was very nice. His first Ironman is in November in Cozumel.

Now we are in taper mode. Feels so nice that we have 12 miles next weekend and then 8 miles and then the race! I am more excited and ready for this Marine Corp Marathon than I thought. We also signed up for the Pacers VIP tent! It's right on the start/finish line and they are promising a champagne toast!

Ladies Night! and I won new shoes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I still can't believe it! I went to Ladies Night at Potomac River Runners last night from 7-9. They promised Whole Foods Catering, wine, beer, water, sales, giveaways, goody bags.....why wouldn't I go? It was GREAT!

The goody bag is a reusable Brooks tote and the shirt is a Potomac River Runner dry fit shirt. I walked around bought some GU Rocktane, a TRI magnet, and a fuel belt bag. I drank some wine, walked around some more.....then it was time for the raffle.

You had to be there to win so alot of people were out just because they had left. SCORE for me! They gave away some shirts, some bags, some mineral bath soak (supposed to be like an ice bath - i'm totally intrigued)......and shoes. I. won. the.shoes!

Brand new Brooks Ghost 3 lime green shoes! I have not worn brooks before, they are pretty comfy. I still feel like I stole them :)

Here's all my loot:

Where did you start? Where are you now?

This has been one of those weeks where I've needed to remind myself how far I have come. Not sure why that happens....but it does. So here it is:

Started running: April 2009
First Race: 5K

Last race I did: 1/2 Marathon and a Sprint Triathlon

Where did you start? How long have you been writing down miles, buying new shoes, growing your t-shirt collection? Where are you now?

I have a few more bibs to add to the wall - but I do love to look at how hard I have worked and how far I have come. Good reminder for those days when even 3 miles seems like torture!

Giant Acorn Sprint Tri - Race Results

Ok - the post before this one is the pictures. Why can't I figure out how to get pictures and text lately?! Grrrr....

I'm Tri-Obsessed! This was WAY TOO MUCH FUN! I kicked my husbands butt too! Yeah! Here's my #'s:

750 m swim: 22:57
T1:3:17 (huge area to cover)

Bike 12.2 miles: 47:05 (fastest I've ever gone...but got a penatly :( )
T2: 2:23

5K: 28:18
Total: 1:44 and some change I think

I know I'm in great shape thanks to marathon training - but I felt like I could have done the Olympic distance Sunday! The water was warm (yeah!) and I had my mom and my two sons there cheering. It was great to do a race with Sam (hubby). He was not as in shape as he wanted to be, but he'll get there.

I can't wait to do it again! I'm still in a little shock that I did it.........WOW!!!!! Can't wait to see the professional pics. Thanks for all the good thoughts for the race!

Giant Acorn Sprint Tri - Pictures