New carpet

Jerry and I had to get up early today to get all of the furniture moved out of our living room--a 3-piece sectional, a recliner chair, two end tables, a coffee table, two book shelves, our TV and entertainment center, and a treadmill--for our new carpet.

And when I say 'Jerry and I', you know I really mean 'Jerry', right? I watched, and I tried to help, but I think I was just in the way.

We got everything moved into the kitchen and bedrooms, so our living room was bare. I got really curious while we were waiting for the carpet guys, and I ended up ripping up the carpet myself. I knew our carpet was 9 years worth of gross, but good grief! I'm SO glad that we chose to spend our tax return on carpet. It was badly needed.

I chose to go with Berber carpet, which I really dislike. I just chose it because I know it's sturdy and doesn't get matted down, and it will last a long time. I can't say I love how my new carpet looks, but I do love that it's not gross and it will last a long time. And as far as Berber carpets go, it's not bad.

The carpet isn't done yet, so I can't show you the final look, but I assure you, Estelle is here for quality control, per usual:

I made plans with my dad to go see The Hunger Games today. We went to the noon show, and thankfully, there were only about 10 other people in the theater. I will never be one of those people that chooses to go see the midnight show on the day the movie comes out--because I can just see it the following day without all the teenagers texting and being super loud (yes, I know, I sound old and mean for saying that).

Jessica and her mom went to the show too, so we sat with them. Jessica brought me a Cadbury Cream Egg :)  Less calories and much tastier than popcorn! The movie was actually really good. It followed the book pretty closely, and the only parts they left out weren't all that important. One thing that I loved about the movie is that it periodically showed the gamemakers doing their thing, and talking about how they were going to manipulate the game. The book is all from Katniss's perspective, so you can't see what the gamemakers are up to.

Today's run

When I got home from the movies, the carpet guys were still here, and I had nothing to do, so I decided to go out for a 3-mile run. I was going to skip it this week since I have the half-marathon on Sunday, but I was bored enough to change my mind. While I was running, I was thinking about my half-marathon goal, and I finally made a decision.

I'm not going to go for the sub-2:00 on Sunday. I've been training for a full marathon for the past 10 weeks. My goal for the marathon is to finish--not finish FAST, but finish. So I haven't been doing much speed work at all. I haven't been training for a half-marathon, and certainly not a sub-2:00 half-marathon. When I hit my sub-2:00, I want to know that I worked hard for it.

I know that probably doesn't make much sense, but it does in my mind ;) On Sunday, I'll run an enjoyable 13.1 miles, and probably stick to a pace of about 9:45/mi--which will give me a half-marathon PR, but I won't feel like I'm killing myself to get it.

Then NEXT year, in Indy, I'm going to crush my sub-2:00 goal after training hard for it!

Tomorrow is our monthly Winers meeting. I'm kind of bummed, because I have the half-marathon on Sunday morning. I'm going to go to Winers, but I just won't stay very long and I won't drink more than a few ounces of wine. I'm also going to pick up my race packet with Jessica and Renee tomorrow. Busy weekend!

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Weight and marathon training

This morning, I was supposed to run with Jessica, but she canceled because she had some stuff going on at home. So I changed my plan from doing 4 miles at a 10:00/mi pace to doing 4 miles at my 'A' goal race pace. I wanted to see if it would even be possible for me to hold that pace on my race Sunday.

I don't know where I got the number 9:14 from yesterday--but to finish sub-2:00 on Sunday, I'll have to pull a 9:10/mi pace. I set my Garmin to beep an alert if my pace became faster than 8:50/mi and slower than 9:30/mi. I chose such a wide range because I didn't want it to be beeping constantly, and I wasn't sure how well I was going to be able to hold my pace.

I didn't realize that by changing these settings, my 'auto lap' feature would be turned off--which means I have no idea what my splits were for each mile. I only know my average pace for the whole run.

Anyway, I headed out for my run, and I tried my best to keep my pace as close to 9:14 as I could without going slower than that (I later learned this should have been 9:10). I think I finished the first mile in 8:58 or something, so I tried to slow down. A few times, I found myself spacing out and getting into my "zone" for running, and when I glanced down at the Garmin, I was at about a 9:07 pace.

So I think (I hope!) that my comfortably uncomfortable race pace for the half-marathon will be less than 9:10. But I'll really have to push it. My heart rate was about 160, which is uncomfortable, but sustainable. My average heart rate at my previous half-marathon, in Indy last May, was 161 bpm, and I ran a 9:59 pace. So my heart rate is the same when I run a 9:06 pace now, which means I'm getting more conditioned. Of course, I only did 4 miles at that today).

I know I'm putting WAY too much thought into this stupid race. I was thinking of it as a training run all along, but now that there is a possibility of getting my sub 2:00 half-marathon, I'm tempted to go for it.

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I was dreading writing about this, but I know I need to. My weight has gone up about 5 pounds since I started getting into the double-digit runs :(  I know this is actually pretty common in marathon training, due to a number of factors...

A tiny amount of it could be from the increase in glycogen stores from my increase in mileage (when your body stores glycogen, it stores water with it). But I know deep down that the real cause for it is due to my trips to Whole Foods or La Pita after our long runs. I've been using the calories burned during those runs as a license to eat much more than usual.

So in order to keep this 5 pounds from turning into 20 pounds, I'm going to have to nip this in the bud. I'm going to get my eating back to normal at least 6 days a week. On my long run days, I'll allow myself an extra treat--something I've been craving, or going out to eat with Jessica.

I'm going to go back to my "Wednesday Weigh-Ins" where I post a scale picture, and my body fat percentage, and my waist measurement. Hopefully this will keep me accountable.

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I have a big day tomorrow! Our new carpet is getting installed, and I'm going to the movies with my dad to see The Hunger Games. I started re-reading the book yesterday, hoping to finish today. I have about 100 pages left, so I better get going on it!

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Progression run

I was reading my Runner's World magazine and came across an article about pacing, and how it's important to try to keep a consistent pace during a race. My pace is usually all over the place--for a 5 mile run, I might have splits like 9:10, 9:45, 8:58, 9:15, 9:05. Maybe they aren't that extreme, but I rarely stay at a consistent pace for the entire run.

I always find it amazing that the elite runners are able to maintain the same pace within a fraction of a second for the entire distance of their runs. And they do this by feel--tell them to run a 5:30 mile and they can do it to within a second, based on how they feel when they run.

I have to use my trusty Garmin to tell me how fast I'm going. I always have some general idea, but I tend to take everything to the extreme. If I am running a 10-min/mi pace and I "should" be running a 9:45 pace for my training, for example, I will make a conscious effort to go faster--and then I end up running a 9:00/mi pace. I either go too fast or too slow for whatever my target is.

So my whole point of all this is that I want to work on pacing by feel. And one of the steps to doing that, according to the article, is to do progression runs. A progression run is just what it sounds like--a speed workout where you start at a comfortable pace and then increase your pace a little each mile until you finish at race pace, or close to it.

Today, Jessica and I had a 7-mile run on the schedule, so I decided to try and do a progression run. It sounds easy enough--just run a comfortable pace (I figured 11:00/mi to start) and then increase by 10 seconds per mile.

It was so much harder than I thought it would be! I hate looking at my Garmin constantly, but I kept doing that to check the pace. And when I noticed it was too slow, we sped up until we were going too fast, and vice versa. In theory, our splits should have read: 11:00, 10:50, 10:40, 10:30, 10:20, 10:10, 10:00. What they actually looked like was, well, not even close!

Progression run fail, for sure. I think I'll need to start with shorter runs and work my way up. Tomorrow, I'm going to try to maintain a consistent 10:00/mi pace for 4 miles.  Anyway, our run was pretty good. We went down a route that I'd never done before, and it was really pretty. Jessica let me try one of her Clif Shot Bloks at mile 5, just to see how I could stomach it.

The Shot Bloks are kind of like Gummy Bears, only they are in cube shape and probably the size of two Gummy Bears put together. Jessica had the black cherry flavor. I didn't chew it, but tucked it in-between my teeth and my cheek and let it dissolve. It took two miles for the thing to dissolve, and I liked having it in my mouth (go ahead, make dirty jokes). I don't know that I felt any energy from it that way. I like that when I eat a Gu, I feel a little pick-me-up from it; I didn't feel that with the Shot Blok (but I only had one and I made it last two miles).

Seven miles flew by like nothing. That's the best part about running 15 miles for a long run--the shorter runs feel so fast and easy!

I have a half-marathon race on Sunday, and I'm still unsure of what my plans are. It's going to take the place of our normal long run, so I could treat it like a training run and go slow and easy. OR, I could try and PR (sub-2:10:40), OR, go balls to the wall and aim for the sub-2:00 I've been dreaming about since last May.

I think I really have a sub-2:00 half-marathon in me (a 9:14/mi pace), but right now, it would be a torturous 13.1 miles. I wouldn't enjoy it at all. But last year, after running Indy in 2:10, I really wanted to aim for sub-2:00 this year at Indy. That was before I planned on running a full marathon just two weeks after Indy. I don't think it would be smart of me to go for my 'A' goal in Indy and risk injury just two weeks before my marathon.

I've been training at a much slower pace, so running the 9:14/mi pace would be really difficult. But I would love to bust out that sub-2:00! I could just aim for my 'B' goal, which is anything less than 2:10:40 (a 9:59 pace).

I'll probably decide on Sunday morning when the race starts ;) 

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What a piggy!

Not me--although I'm sure you were thinking it! ;)

Last night, Jerry, the boys, my mom, and I all went to a local dairy farm to get ice cream and see the animals. I didn't eat dinner, since I had La Pita for lunch just a few hours prior, so I just counted my ice cream as dinner. I couldn't decide between coconut ice cream or maple nut--so I had a half-scoop of each.

I actually really like the fact that this place is true to portions. They don't call it a scoop and then pile the ice cream a mile-high. One scoop is literally one scoop--a perfect serving size.

Anyway, we took our ice cream outside where we could smell see the animals while we ate. The geese are mean! They were hissing and being really pesty. We bought a bag of food to give them (which I'm pretty sure was just dog food in a paper bag), and the kids threw that around.

Jerry was terrified of getting eaten by a goose, so he used Eli as a shield. What a baby.

There were a couple of horses that came right over to us and were practically begging for us to pet them, but I was kind of terrified of them. I've never had a fear of horses before, but I discovered that I definitely do now. They're huge!

My favorite animals at the farm are the calves. They're tiny and adorable, and they always try to suck on my arm when I pet them. Jerry discovered what they do when you stand too close and don't pay attention:

(I showed Jerry that picture and all he said was, "Why do I look so ugly?!")

The pigs made me laugh so hard! There was one walking around (not confined at all) and I thought maybe he was blind or something. And maybe deaf, too. He walked right between where we were standing, without even a glance our way. And by walk, I mean strolled as slowly as possible. Then he parked his butt down right in front of one of the calves for a rest.

I thought he was super cute, because he was so chunky. But then I noticed another pig who took "chunky" to a whole new level!

This one didn't even blink (at least I don't think so--it's hard to tell because his eyes are so buried!) I wonder if he can even walk? I don't know, maybe it's normal for a pig to get that big.

There are a lot of animals that have something wrong with them--a cow with a bad foot, who they confined to a spot in the barn with a bunch of hay for soft footing until she heals; a cat who was missing one eye; the blind and deaf? pig; and probably some others. When we saw a bunch of cats roaming around, Jerry and I both said "Phoebe would LOVE it here!" She'd fit right in, too, because she only has half of a tail. Phoebe loves to be outside and would be in heaven on a farm.

We saw some pregnant cows who were laboring in a stall. One time when I was there, I saw a cow give birth. It was really cool to see! But my mom asked how close these cows were to giving birth, and the guy who worked there said it could be tonight or it could be another 3 days--hard to tell.

When we were getting ready to leave, we saw a goose walk by, and it looked like it was smoking a cigarette...

Isn't that funny? I tried to get closer to see what it was, but it kept running from me. It looked kind of like a clip of some sort hooked to it's beak.

The boys had a blast, and asked if we could go back tomorrow. I've taken them there plenty of times before, but they never liked it as much as they did last night. Maybe I can turn it into a Monday-evening thing while I do my long runs. Refueling with ice cream is the best!

Oh, and speaking of that... I think it's obvious that I have a sweet tooth. My cravings are awful sometimes most of the time! I've learned to live with it, and even to lose 125 pounds while indulging my cravings, but I really do think it would be best to cut back a little. When I saw a challenge on SparkPeople called "Tame Your Sweet Tooth" I decided that I should try it.

The first step is taking a quiz to see how your sweet tooth is... and my results?

My sugar cravings are "out of control". Shocking, right? I know, I couldn't believe it either.

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A couple of people asked me about sodium and running, since I mentioned on my blog yesterday that I made sure to eat a high sodium snack the night before, and I added a pinch of salt to my water. Here is a page from a book called Runner's World Best: Competitive Running:

 That explains it better than I can. I never really gave much thought to it before, because I only did shorter distances, but now that I'm marathon training, I have to make sure to keep my electrolytes balanced. For once, I'm not getting all technical with the numbers--just trying to increase my sodium a little for the long runs.

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Uncharted territory

Today was "the big day" for Jessica and me. Since we're both marathon virgins, anything over 13.1 miles was uncharted territory for us--and today was a scheduled 15 mile run. I was SO nervous.

After the disaster of our 13 mile run a couple of weeks ago, I was really dreading today's run ever since. I was worried about stomach cramps and messing up my feet. I think I solved both of those problems--the stomach cramps were caused from the Nuun, which I will never drink again, and I had mild tendonitis in my feet because my shoes had too many miles on them. So I started using my new shoes, and haven't had problems since.

Anyway, knowing that today was a big deal, I prepared accordingly. I had pasta for dinner last night, and had a salty snack before bed (pretzels and Goldfish). I woke up at 5 to drink a quart of water. I had oat bran with a banana, peanut butter, and milk for breakfast a couple of hours before the run. I packed two packets of Gu, and my water bottle--which I added a pinch of salt to, because the Gu doesn't have much sodium. I dressed in my most comfy running clothes and headed out to meet Jessica.

We were both nervous, and we didn't make plans to go eat lunch afterward, because we assumed we'd both have stomach cramps and just want to head home. We agreed to run a slow pace, because we're running a half-marathon race on Sunday, and we want to feel good for that.

I had plugged our race times into the McMillan pace calculator to determine our best training pace for a long run, and mine was 10:30-11:30 min/mile; Jessica's was 11:30-12:30 min/mi. So we agreed to keep our pace as close to 11:30 as possible.

When we first set out, it felt like we were going TOO slow, but I knew I didn't want to step up the pace because I didn't want to get cramps later. I didn't look at the Garmin much. We did a different route today, going through three different cities, and running past the car at mile 9. Jessica brought water to refill our water bottles if needed.

We actually saw quite a few people out walking or biking, and a couple of people running. I wanted to tell everyone, "We're running 15 MILES today!!" but I kept it to myself ;)

It was perfect weather for running--cool and overcast. I had my chocolate Gu at mile 6. Still no tummy troubles. When we hit the halfway point, I was still feeling really good, and started to think that maybe I'd make it through the run okay after all. We took a spontaneous small detour to go through a park, and then we ended up back at the car at mile 9.5 ish. Both of us were feeling really good at that point, and we each had half a bottle of water left, so we didn't even stop at the car.

We headed into the Metropark for the last 5 miles. There was fog everywhere, and it was really fun running surrounded by fog. I started to feel fatigued so I had my peanut butter Gu. My legs were starting to ache at about mile 12, but I didn't feel any real pain. At 12.25, we turned around and started making our way back to the car. We both got really excited when we hit 13.1 and kept going.

When my Garmin beeped at mile 14, I was excited with just one mile to go--and my Garmin has never seen anything above 13.1. At 14.5, I started smiling while running, because I knew we were actually going to DO IT. We never even stopped (or walked), the entire time we were running! We got back to the car and I heard the beep for mile 15. We both felt GREAT--no tummy problems, no real pain, just a little stiff and achy, but nothing unusual. We used the self-timer on my camera to get a picture of us in our sweaty glory:

15 miles, run and done.

Jessica's hard to miss with all that neon. I love her shoes!

 We were both feeling so good after the run that we decided to go to La Pita for lunch. La Pita is our favorite choice because it's not greasy or salty or any of the other qualities that restaurant food usually has. I got my usual, the chicken kabob (here's last week's pic of the same food--sorry I'm not too adventurous when it comes to La Pita):

I made sure not to eat too much this time, despite the fact that I was starving. I was wolfing down the pita bread and garlic sauce when I forced myself to slow down. And then, before I felt full, I stopped eating to avoid getting that horrible "too full" feeling. I felt very satisfied, but by no means FULL.

I just got home, and I'm actually feeling so good that I might take the kids to get ice cream tonight. There is a dairy farm not too far from here, so I think we'll go there and get the good stuff! The ice cream shop that is just a couple of miles from my house re-opened for the season, and I have made a vow not to go there at ALL this year. Last year, that is how I gained 15 pounds over the summer--stupid Reese cup flurries! If I want ice cream, I'll have to drive a lot farther to get it.

Damn, I feel good right now!

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Reader Questions & Answers #5

On Sundays, I will answer some readers' questions in a post. If you have a question that you would like me to answer here on the blog, just send me an e-mail with the subject "Q&A", and I may include them in a future Q&A post. They don't have to be about weight loss or running--anything is game!  (Remember, I'm not a doctor or dietician, or any sort of medical professional--I can only answer questions from my own experience).

Q. I was wondering how you found your running partners. Were you friends with them before you lost weight, or did you meet them along the way in your weight loss journey? I would really like to start running more, and eventually complete a marathon (sometime in my life). So far I have lost 15 lbs on my weight loss journey, and you have been a huge inspiration to me!

A. First, congrats on the weight loss! The question about my running friends has actually come up a lot lately. The truth is, I was strictly a solo runner until just recently. Before I started running, the only runner-friend that I had was Renee. She had just run her first marathon, and I didn't even comprehend then what that meant. She was the one who encouraged me to sign up for a 5K race, before I had even run one step.

My first 10K run (Evie, Jessica, Renee, me, Kerri)

Once I got hooked on running, I invited Renee and Jessica to do the Indy half-marathon. Jessica wasn't a runner at the time, but I told her she could walk it. She ended up running it and getting hooked on running as well. Jessica is probably the very definition of a "social butterfly"--especially when it comes to exercise. She loves taking classes at the YMCA and she almost always runs with friends (most of whom she met at the Y).

When we decided to run our first marathon, we wanted to train together to keep our super long runs from boring us to death. And it was through Jessica that I met some other runners.

So basically, if you know a runner, that runner probably knows other runners, and so on. I still like running solo on my short runs, because I can go at my own pace, but for anything longer than about 4-5 miles, I really enjoy the company!

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Q. Do you warm up and/or cool down after a run?  I'm signed up for a 5K in April and I just ran my farthest distance of 4.59 miles.  I have always had tight hamstrings, but I'd like to prevent them from being any tighter.  What is your pre and post- run routine?

A. I know what my answer *should* be. But honestly, I don't warm up before a run. I just head outside and start running. I only recently started cooling down, and that's because my legs feel much better when I do, especially after a long run. After Jessica and I finish a long run, I'll stop the Garmin and we walk for about 5 minutes. Then I usually stretch for a couple of minutes--nothing crazy, just some stretches that make my legs feel good. That's about it as far as my pre- and post-run routine. I just do what makes me feel good, and the post-run walking and stretching feels good!

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Q. Can you tell me what to expect from my first 5K?  Do we all take off at the word "go" like a pack of dogs? LOL. I'm wondering how you can even run in a crowd?

A. This is something that I was scared and nervous and excited about before my first 5K as well. I had no idea what to expect. 

Unless you get there right at the last minute, there is actually a lot of standing around and waiting at a race--waiting for your packet pick-up, waiting in line for the porta-potty, waiting for the start of the race... the race itself is the only part where you don't seem to be waiting.

Once you pick up your packet (in bigger races, you might even do this days ahead of time) and pin on your number bib, make sure you go to the bathroom one more time before the race. When you're ready, you'll go to the starting line. A tidbit of race etiquette: if you're a walker, go to the back of the pack. If you're a run/walker, go just a little ahead of the back. Save the actual starting line for the people that run 5 minute miles, and the 8-10 minute/mile people should be in the middle of the pack. It's really frustrating when you're much faster than the people standing around you and you have to dodge around them. And you'll annoy the people behind you if you stand with the 5-minute/mile crowd and you're running a 10:00/mi.

The Indy 500 Festival Mini-Marathon starting line

Once you are waiting at the starting line, they might have announcements, or something. Then you'll hear a loud horn (or whatever they use to start the race). It might take some time to get up to the starting line, so you could be shuffling forward slowly (depends on how many people in the race--in Indy, it takes me 30+ minutes to get to the starting line! At a small race, just 5-10 seconds at most). Your race time will start when YOU cross the start line (assuming that they are using chip timing--attached to your shoe or your bib).

Once you cross the actual starting line, you'll be able to pick up speed pretty quickly. You might have to dodge around people for a half mile or so, and you might feel overwhelmed if people are dodging around you. The first race I was in, I almost cried because I thought EVERYONE was passing me. But just try to forget about everyone else, and run your own race. The people spread out quickly, even in a larger race, so you won't feel like a sardine.

See how much fun I'm having? LOL

After a half-mile or so, you'll have some more space and you can pick up speed or drop speed if needed. It's important to try not to go out from the start too fast, especially if you feel like you have to keep up with people that are passing you. Something I always notice at races is that a lot of the people who pass me in the beginning drop to a walk after a mile or two, and I pass them. Just try and keep a consistent pace, and don't worry about the people around you.

Once you cross the finish line, you'll probably be able to grab a bottle of water and some post-race snacks, and perhaps they'll give you medal. You can hang around for a bit or just leave right away. If you're pretty fast, you might even win a prize for your age group--so I've HEARD from my speedy friend Renee, anyway ;)

I still get nervous before every race, but there is honestly no reason to--just try to enjoy it and not think too hard about it! Good luck!

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An AMAZING opportunity (for one of you!)

I am SO excited to share this opportunity with one of you...

Remember when I wrote about running the Ragnar Relay Florida Keys in January 2013? I've been working with a man named Rik (who I met through my blog--he has also lost a lot of weight and become a runner, as well as had the same surgery as me) to put together a team of people like us to run the Ragnar. (If you're unfamiliar with the Ragnar Relay, you can read my race report I wrote of Ragnar Relay Great River from 2010).

Ragnar Relay teams are made up of 12 people, and right now, we have a fantastic team of 11:

Rik (our team captain)
Me (from 'Runs for Cookies', duh)
Mary from 'a small loss'
Linda from 'Frickin Fabulous at 40'
Allison (no blog, but she's lost weight and taken up running)
Jen R (from 'From FAT to Finish Line')
Andrea (who was on Oprah for her weight loss)
Jen S (from 'Miles, Muscles, and Mommyhood')
Lealah (from 'Lealah on a Mission')
John (SparkPeople success story manager, and success story himself)
Ada (from 'The Biggest Loser' Season 10)

So as you can see, we have a pretty AMAZING group!! But we are one team member shy of a complete team, and I thought this would be a great opportunity to hear some of your success stories.

We are searching for the perfect twelfth team member... and it could be you! We have a couple of qualifications that you must meet for us to consider you, however. Our team is made up solely of people who 1) have lost a significant amount of weight without weight loss surgery AND 2) become runners through their weight loss journeys.

Ideally, we'd like to shoot for the moon and find someone who has lost 100+ pounds and run a marathon. I realize this is probably a difficult task, so if you think your story is pretty awesome (say you lost 80 pounds and ran a half-marathon) please still consider this! You don't have to be fast (although Ragnar teams must be faster than a 12:00 min/mile), nor do you have to be at your goal weight.

This will not be a random drawing for the spot on our team. I will accept e-mails (see below) and our team will vote on the person we think would be the best match for our team. If we pick you, you will still be responsible for paying all the costs that the rest of us have--airfare, hotels, van rental, food, race fee, etc. Rik has come up with an estimate of how much this adventure is going to cost, and with everything included, it is probably going to be about $800/person. The good news is, the race isn't until January, so you don't need ALL that money right now.

So, if you "win" this spot on our team, you will be running the Ragnar Relay Florida Keys with us on Jan. 4-5, 2013, so make sure that you're willing to commit to that.

To "apply" for the open spot on our team, please answer the following questions in an e-mail and send it to: Katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com, with the subject 'Ragnar Relay Florida Keys':

*How much weight have you lost?
*How did you lose the weight?
*How long have you kept it off?
*How long have you been running?
*How often do you run, and how far?
*Have you run any races? If so, what distance/time?
*Do you have a blog or website?
*Why do you think you would make a great addition to our team?
*Anything else you want to add?
*Please attach a before and after photo, too*

There are no right or wrong answers--these questions just help us get to know your story. I can't wait to read your stories!!  (FYI, there is a chance that this whole adventure may be filmed and turned into a documentary, so make sure you're okay with that if it should happen).

I also stole a few race pictures from my brother Brian's Facebook page. He just ran the 2012 Ragnar Florida Keys, and loved it so much he's doing it again in 2013...

Gorgeous sunset!

I had to share this pic of Brian because it's funny

The AFTER party on the beach in Key West--the best part!

I'm hoping that we will have chosen someone by March 26, but the sooner you can e-mail, the better!

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Hydration belts

I've been putting off writing this post, because there are so many different opinions on hydration belts, and mine is just that--an opinion. But after my last couple of long runs, some of you have asked me how I carry water with me while I run.

After running the 12-miler, I knew I was going to have to figure out a solution to hydrating while running. Since the longest distance I'd ever run was a half-marathon, I never felt the need to carry water with me. I always drink a quart of water before running, and I only really feel thirsty after about 10 miles. But in training for the full marathon, I knew that I couldn't do these long runs without water.

I could have planned routes that passed my house or car, but that just seemed too inconvenient. Jessica and I wanted to explore the Metroparks, so it wasn't always possible to pass the car. I normally don't like to carry anything with me when I run (not even an iPod) because it just seems to get in the way. And the one time I attempted to carry a water bottle with me, I was so irritated by the water sloshing around that I never tried it again. So I was dead set against getting a hydration belt (a belt that holds water bottles), because I was sure it was going to annoy me.

Jessica had bought one and she brought it along on our 12-miler. I decided to try wearing it for the last few miles of our run, to see how it felt. I was really surprised that I barely even noticed it! If anything, it gave me better posture. I didn't hear water sloshing, and I didn't feel any irritation from the belt at all. So I ended up buying one also.

The one I have is this belt by Amphipod. HOWEVER, after I got it, I saw some belts at Target (just off-brand ones) and I tried them on--they felt exactly the same as the Amphipod. If I had known that, I would have just gotten one from Target for much less money. I also tried on the Nathan brand ones, and they felt the same too. There is another one by Amphipod that is a couple dollars cheaper, but the belt isn't stretchy, which I why I chose this one.

Jessica mentioned this, and I think she's right about it--to keep the belt from bouncing, you should wear it around your natural waist (at the narrowest point), with the bottle resting on the small of your back rather than wear it low by your hips. I've tried it both ways, and it was very annoying when it was on my hips. But when it's around my waist, I don't even notice it. Jessica and I are about the same size, so I don't know how this would feel for someone who is much larger or who has a larger waist than hips.

The water bottle holds 20 oz of water, which has been just fine so far. We're probably going to have to refill our bottles once for our 15 mile run on Monday. The bottle is really easy to get in and out while running, which is nice. There is a pocket on the front of it, but you can't hold much in there. I can fit a couple of Gu packets and my car key.

Over all, I'm pretty happy with it. I won't use it on my shorter runs, but for runs that are longer than 8 or 10 miles I will need a drink. If you're thinking about buying a belt, I'd go to a store to try some on and see if they bother you. Try wearing it in different spots to see what is most comfortable.

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I had a moment of complete stupidity yesterday, and I just had to share it with you. I was looking at the cover of my new Runner's World magazine, and saw this:

I thought about it for a second. I was thinking, "How on EARTH could there possibly be 50 ways to open a magazine? Huh?"

It didn't come to me until about 30 seconds later when I realized that I was supposed to "open" the magazine for rest of the sentence '50 easy ways to'. They really needed to put a dot dot dot after the 'to' so people like me don't feel completely stupid trying to figure out 50 ways to open a magazine!

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I was supposed to do speedwork today, but I decided that since I ran the 5K race on Sunday, I could count that as a tempo run and just do 3-miles easy today. I haven't run my regular 3-mile route in a long time, and it was nice!

 Tomorrow and Sunday are rest days before the big 15-miler!

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Blue sparkles

Yesterday, I bought some more sequin fabric to make a couple more sparkle skirts for my races. I bought blue and purple. I just made the blue one...

I think I want to wear purple to my next race, so I'll make that one tomorrow. I'm getting faster at making them, but they are still a big pain in the ass to make.

I guess I was feeling crafty yesterday, because I also had the urge to knit or crochet something. But I wanted something quick and mindless, so I went with a very practical item--a dish scrubber. I've been making these things for a few years, and I LOVE THEM. They work so much better than any dish scrubber you can buy at the store, and they're super cheap to make.

I buy a skein of kitchen cotton and a roll of tulle. The tulle is probably about 6 inches wide on the roll, so I slide it off the cardboard roll and then I cut it in half and cut each of those in half--so I wind up with four long strips of tulle to hold together with the kitchen cotton while I knit or crochet a scrubber.

The cotton holds in the soap and water, and the tulle is a gentle abrasive to get off the crud from dishes. It's safe to use on non-stick pans, too. I hold the strip of tulle with the cotton and crochet two rounds out and then two rounds back in on the other side. The whole thing takes 15 minutes, and looks like this when it's done:

It's not very pretty, but it lasts a really long time and I just wash it in the washing machine.

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Anyway, I don't know what possessed me to do this today, but I decided to put my post-op lower body lift pictures back on my blog. The traffic I was getting from Pinterest has died down significantly, which makes me feel more comfortable sharing the photos on my blog again. I just hope I don't see them on Pinterest again! I will have to report it as a copyright infringement like I did before.

Pinterest has created a code that you can post to your website to prevent people from pinning photos, but I don't want to prevent ALL my photos from being pinned. Most of my photos I'm fine with seeing on Pinterest. But it's extremely embarrassing to have my post-op photos on there, and when I saw them, I was thisclose to deleting my entire blog. So please, if you view my post-op photos, leave them where they are.

I'm now four months post-op, so I think I'll have Jerry take some new pictures tonight.

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Today I had a scheduled 7-mile run. I was feeling extremely hyper and wound up this morning for some strange reason. I met Jessica at her house and we set out for our run.

I felt like I could run forever, and run super fast--unfortunately Jessica didn't feel as crazy as me, so we stuck to our training pace ;) I didn't bring water or Gu with me (I really don't need it if I'm doing less than 10 miles or so).

We ran into some guy that had his black lab with him (unleashed) and I kind of panicked. I'm really scared of dogs while I'm running because I've been bitten three separate times while on a run. People apparently think it's okay to let their dogs wander around without a leash. So when I saw the guy's dog today, I just kind of yelped and came to a dead stop, waiting for him to catch his dog.

Tomorrow I'll run intervals and then take Saturday and Sunday off for our big day on Monday--the 15-miler!! It will be new territory for both of us.

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Portion control

I've been having a hard time with portion control lately. While I was losing weight, I was fine having a carton of ice cream in the house or a pan of brownies and only have one or two servings for my daily treat. Recently, however, I've been having a hard time keeping any sort of treat in the house longer than a day or two.

So for the past week or so, I've been buying those tiny little Ben & Jerry's ice cream cups:

They're a little less than 1/2 cup. But they're pretty expensive (about $1.25 each) so until this week, I didn't buy them very often.

Today I decided to make my own portion-controlled cups of ice cream so I can quit buying these little things. I found carrot cake flavored ice cream (LOVE carrot cake ice cream) and I bought some little Tupperware containers that hold four fluid ounces--perfect for individual sized ice cream.

I got nine little portions out of that container (even though it claims there are fourteen 1/2 cup servings--I packed it in). That means each little container has 202 calories, which is actually fewer than the premium Ben & Jerry's.

I know that this might not make any sense, because if I really wanted to binge, I could just eat all those little containers. But something about having tiny little containers like that makes it much easier for me to stop with just one. If I kept that carton in my freezer, I would easily take a big bowl of ice cream and only get 3-4 servings MAX out of it.

I really ought to start doing this with peanut butter, too. Or at least the sugary nut butters that I like--Nutella, PB& Co., etc. I could put the nut butters into 1-oz containers and it would be much easier to stop with one serving. I know that it's sold that way sometimes, but it costs too much for me to justify buying it like that.

Sweets seem to be the only thing that I really have a problem with controlling portions. I just never feel full from them! I could keep a bag of chips in my pantry until they expire, but a box of cookies wouldn't last two days.

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I had a very interesting dinner last night. I was having a strange craving, so I just went with it... I chopped up a peach in to a bowl, then added dried cherries and a splash of milk. Then I crumbled up one of those Nature Valley Oats 'n Honey bars (the really crunchy ones) and threw that on top. Then I microwaved it for about 90 seconds, and it was delicious!

What's that on top? you might ask. Well, that would be my most recent nut butter find (read: something I should not have bought)...

I will say, however, that the Caramel Almond Spread wasn't AS good as I expected. So I won't be buying it again. It tasted kind of like a maple frosting--which sounds yummy, but I honestly wasn't super crazy about it.

Good grief, no wonder so many of you think I have an atrocious diet--lately, all I post about is the junk food I eat! I do eat healthy stuff MOST of the time, I just don't write much about it because it's not very interesting. The fact that marathon training has allowed me to eat a little more junk than usual makes me excited to post about my treats ;)

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