Races ahead

Hey everyone, I've spent the last three days trying to plan out my race calender for the next 6-8 months. I love lists and planning ahead so I have been enjoying searches races.

I have found a few already and I have done my best to make sure Greg knows what I am planning even if he responds to my questions of  "Do we have any plans the middle of May" with "Umm, I have no idea thats really far away". We will figure it out.

I am home this morning from work so I can wait for our gas company to come by and check our pipes. Apparently they do this every three years and today is the lucky day. I am supposed to get a phone call from them sometime between 8-11am so I continue to wait and hopefully will have time to get in a run before I work at 1pm.

Races:
Feb 3rd Great Stew Chase 15k
March 2nd - Black Cat 10 miler
March 17th -New Bedford Half Marathon
April 7th Cherry Blossom 10 miler (D.C)
May 5th Middlebury Maple Run half marathon (VT)

So there it is, thats wat I have in the books for the next few months, I just have to stay motivated to continue to run even when its 24 degrees outside. Blah.

Its a quick post today, I have a bunch of things to cross off my to-do list before I head into work. Hopefully one of them includes showing the gas company where the pipes are in the basement... they have 1 more hour to show up.

New Year, New Goals

Hey everyone,

So its no secret I havent been the best at keeping up with this blog. For a while I was great at it and had fun, and then this summer life started to get alittle crazy. I was busy, I was traveling, and I was trying to get to the bottom of this anemia issue. Since then I have started a new job, I am enrolled in classes for grad school, and I have created some wonderful fun and hopefully rewarding goals for myself for 2013.

So here it goes...

* Blog more - Yes, I want to get back into blogging. I have found some really wonderful people through blogs and its also a great way for me to decompress and think about my day or week and what I have done or learned.

*Keep track of my running mileage - I didn't do this much after July and I want to make it a goal again. I found that when I keep track of what and when I run I end up increasing my speed and motivation.

*Do at least one kind thing for someone every day- I dont want this to be something kind that I do as part of my work, or school or relationship. I want this to be something special. I want to be able to share something kind once a day either with a stranger, a friend, or a co-worker. No strings attached.

*Get back into lifting weights - I was great at this until May, and then I fell off the lifting bandwagon. I think adding strength exercises back into my routine will not only be great for my running, but also my mental endurance.

*Take (and post) more pictures. - I have a wonderful camera, I just never remember to take it out at social gatherings or even to take out the black memory card out of the camera and put it into my computer.

* Try new foods - I have done this in the past, but especially with my new food journey ( hello Celiacs) I want to become more comfortable with trying new recipes, foods, and restaurants.

*On the same note as above, I want to make an effort not to cry, get frustrated, or pout when I cant have a certain food - Alright, this is a big one. I have been known in the past to cry in a public place once or twice when I read a menu and there was little to nothing on it I could have. This is silly and immature and I am going to try my very best to get past this and look on the bright side of the things that I CAN have. Celiacs is not the worst thing in the world, and most restaurants are very accommodating I just have to join in.

*Meal plan more - Greg and I used to do this ALL THE TIME. We got lazy with it for a while, but have started it again and its great. It saves us money and almost always tastes better than take out!

*Spend more time with family - This means even if its not exactly easy to do so. I need to make more effort and plan ahead so I am sure to see my parents and sister as often as possible. I really miss them and as I become busier that's when I  notice I miss them the most.

*Include Greg in more of my decisions - This might sound a little strange, but I have a wonderful habit of just agreeing to do something  like run a race somewhere, go home for the weekend, or sub an extra class and then telling Greg after the fact. This isn't always a big deal, but when it interferes with time we could spend together during a busy work week or a busy month I need to include him in the DECISION process, not just the "oh, hey did I tell you I am going to do this?"

Well, there you have it. I'm not going to post goals like " make sure to put lotion on my face" or "keep my side of the bedroom clutter free" because those are things that I think know eventually I will make into a habit. My goals are based on things I want and need to do to make myself a better person for the new year.


Happy 2013 everyone!!! I hope its a great one!

Thankful

Hi everyone,
 

I know I promised a post about celiac and my gluten free life as I’ve learned more these past 3 weeks, but today I wanted to touch on something much more personal and dear to my heart.

I had a lot of friends over the weekend run the Philly marathon, or half marathon. I read their facebook updates, or blog posts for months in anticipation of Sunday when they would run their hearts out and see what they were made of. I spent all morning yesterday tracking my friends running the marathon and waiting for facebook updates. I was completely absorbed in their races, and they experiences. 

Later in the day I headed out for a run. I was (and still am) sick with a cold but I knew I needed to get out and run, especially after taking Saturday off. While running my legs felt great and my breathing was easy. I finished up 6 miles in 51 minutes and felt amazing. 

During my run I just kept thinking of all of the runners I knew and the races I have done. I thought about the highs from getting a PR, especially in my case, a PR that came from nowhere, to the lows when your race is just plain hard. I thought about the mental aspect of running, and then how running really does open up doors to new friendships and experiences.

I am thankful to be a runner. I am thankful I can run, and most days I can do so easily. I know that not everyone has this opportunity, and not everyone wants to be a runner. But through running I have learned so much about myself. I am stronger than I ever imagined, and I have created long lasting friendships and relationships with people who I am proud to call running friends.

I am so proud of all of my friends who have recently ran races, or who are planning to run one in the future. No matter how the race or run goes, getting out there is something to be immensely proud of.

A little rest, and some exciting news

Hey everyone,

I believe I left off on Tuesday trying to make you all believe that I was going to go for some glorious long run Wed morning in the early hours of the am.

Well, I woke up, I got ready, I headed out the door, and I ran aprox .3 miles around our block before I came home and called it a day. I am currently battling a cold, and Wednesday morning my body was not in the least bit interested in cooperating with my desire to run. My nose was running and my eyes were watering and I figured it wasn't going to be an enjoyable run so I might as well call it a rest day. Love my logic on this one, cause ya know...all runs are amazing ( not)

Instead I walked the 3 miles to a training I had to attend for work. That was plenty of fresh air and exercise for me for the day.


Greg and I made an awesome GLUTEN FREE dinner Wednesday night!! We made a big fratata with broccoli raube and a salad. It was delicious!! I will post the recipe soon! It was so simple and filling. No butter, or eggs added and it didn't need them!!

- My next post will include my adventures so far with Celiacs Disease and going Gluten Free.


Thursday I taught spin and sucked it up ( stupid cold)  enough to do some speed intervals on the treadmill after. I always do my speed work on Tue and Thurs after I teach spin. I know that realistically its not smart to work on speed after teaching spin for 45 min, but its so easy to do since I can just hop on the treadmill and bust it out without having to make an extra trip to the gym later in the week.

Yesterday I didn't have to work, so i ran a bunch of errands and busted out a long run including 4 miles with Stacy during her lunch. I'm still fighting a cold, but I'm drinking lots of tea and eating Clementine's like they are going out of style so I hope it helps soon!

The exciting news is that a bunch of my friends and I have come together and entered the lottery for the NWM half marathon in D.C My sister entered too!!!!! This will be her first half marathon and I so hope we get in!! There are some amazing women and great friends who have all joined to enter this race as a big group. It will be so much fun if we get in! Cross your fingers for us!!

8pm Bedtime

Happy Tuesday everyone!! It was a busy one around here, I taught spin this am at 6:30 ( class was awesome) and then worked 8:30-6:30. ugh.  Thank goodness I don't ave to do these long days very often.

I am currently planning out my winter/spring running schedule and I must say its looking pretty fun!! My running friend Stacy and I are thinking about doing the Disney Princess half marathon, and I am also looking at doing a race somewhere in Feb and Jan. As for Dec, I just have a few 5ks lined up, but that doesn't mean I'm not interested in other longer options! Anyone have some suggestions?

This 8pm bedtime is (surprisingly) not mine... its Gregs. He conked out about 45 min ago, and I don't see him rallying anytime soon. I'm exhausted, but more physically and mentally than really tired and ready for bed. I'm going to try to head to bed soon though, my goal is to get up early tomorrow am for a longer run before work at 8:30. The reality of this will be determined tomorrow am when its cold and dark when I wake up.

How was your Tuesday? Any fun runs planned??

Beautiful November weekend

Hey everyone,

This weekend was a blast. Friday I headed down to see my amazing sister and her boyfriend in CT. We had very little planned, and just spent the day and night talking, making dinner, and relaxing. My sister just moved into a beautiful new apartment. Its huge compared to their last place, and I fell in love with it instantly!!

After I got home yesterday afternoon, I ran a few errands, and ended up back on our couch completely wiped out by 6:30pm. I learned it tough when you have new diet restrictions, and no food in the house. Greg had eaten a huge lunch while I was driving back from CT so he wasn't hungry when dinner time rolled around. He came up with a bunch of suggestions and offered to go out to dinner knowing that I had to find gluten-free options. Any reasonable girl would have loved that her boyfriend was going to all of this effort to feed her, I was not that reasonable girl. I was hungry, I was tired, and I was annoyed that I had to pay attention to a menu for more than 5 seconds to find something to eat. I chose to make a grilled cheese on Udis bread ( awesome for all of you gluten-free lovers out there)  and a banana cut up with peanut butter. It wasn't fancy, but it did make me feel better.

We watched Clue the movie before I headed to bed early.

This morning I woke up and embraced the warmer weather ( 49 when I left the house) and headed out on a long run with Stacy. 8 miles later I made it home. Our run felt great, and we explored a part of the bike path in Arlington I had never been on.

After our run, I got ready and headed out to brunch with Greg, Matt and some friends. I knew I couldn't have the potatoes or the bread that came with my omelet so I ordered greek yogurt with granola to go with it. Unfortunately for me, I forgot that granola is not gluten-free. Darn. I remembered about half way though and decided to call it a wash and finish it. Baby steps....baby steps.


Now we are relaxing before heading out to see Skyfall. Has anyone else seen it? Loved it? Liked it?

Lets get caught up

Hi everyone,


I know its been a few months since I blogged. I took some time to get my running back in order, and to get my health back in order as well. I'm sure not all of you wanted to read about my Doctor appointments and blood draws and my minimal running here and there, so I took some time away.

Lets get caught up shall we?


I am back to running and enjoying every step. I've ran a few races in the past few months including a couple 5ks and a half marathon last month. The half was nothing spectacular, I hadn't really trained, and busted through 13.1 miles in Swanzy NH with my great running friend Stacy.

I have finally solved ( i think/hope) all of my anemia issues. It turns out I have Celiacs Disease. This was a surprise but it makes sense with my unexplained anemia. Going gluten free has been tough. I would be lieing if I said I have embraced the concept with open arms. I have had my fair share of tears, and tantrums as I have tried to figure out what has gluten in it and what things I can substitute my previous carb heavy diet for. I will be sure to get more in depth with this soon, but for now, I would welcome any and ALL helpful suggestions or recipes!!

On a side note, I just signed up for this awesome cause - Huricane Sandy Recovery Its a virtual race for a 10 dollar donation. I can't wait to get out there and race this month! I just also signed up for Wolf Hollow Half Marathon . It should be chilly, but a ton of fun!!


Happy running!