Tidbits

I am loving this weather lately! It's been in the 30's for the past few days when I've woken up, which is perfect for running (and wearing sweatshirts and jeans). I put my fleece sheets on my bed--those things are heavenly! And I dug the electric blanket out of the closet.

Today was my long run, and it feels silly even calling it a "long" run--because I just started a new training schedule, the long runs start at 5 miles. I thought about doing 10, just because I'm capable, but I was really looking forward to following the training schedule as written. It says 5 miles for week one, so that sounded good to me! ;)

As I was getting the kids ready for school this morning, Eli asked me if I would drive him to school today instead of taking the bus. He never asks me that, so I said sure. His school is about a 10-minute drive from home, and it's halfway to the Metropark, so I figured I could just drop him off and then go do my run at the Metropark.

I wore my Cold Gear running tights for the first time this season, and a long-sleeved top. I even wore gloves today! This time I made sure to remember to put on my heart rate monitor, too. After I got Noah on the bus, I ate breakfast, and then drove Eli to school. When I got to the Metropark, I realized I'd forgotten the most important thing (besides my running shoes)--my beloved Garmin. I remembered my heart rate strap, but forgot my watch!

I was super bummed, but I was 20 minutes from home, and certainly didn't want to go get it. I decided to use the Map My Run app on my phone (I hate using phone apps for running, but it was that or nothing). I didn't really have a goal for today's run, but the recommended pace for my long runs is 9:33-10:50/mile--that's where my easy pace falls anyway, so I didn't think that would be a problem.

I started the workout on the Map My Run app, then spent about 10 seconds fumbling around with my gloves on, trying to put the phone in my Flipbelt so I could start running. I felt pretty good once I started running, and there is something about running in the colder weather that just makes me feel so happy! When I hit the one-mile mark, there was a (very loud) voice on the app that announced my time, pace, and distance. My pace was at 10:05, which included the 10 seconds or so of not moving at all in the beginning, so I was doing okay on pace.

I stopped on the bridge and took a couple of photos, because it looked so pretty outside this morning. The lake was really calm.

In the third mile, I was completely lost in thought as I was running through the woods, and suddenly, right in front of me, was a doe. I could have reached out and touched her, she was so close! My heart leaped into my throat, and I think I scared her half to death as well, and she darted into the woods a little. She stopped and we just stood staring at each other for a little bit. I dug out my phone to try and get a picture of her.

She's hard to see here, but she was just standing there staring at me

Surprisingly, even with the stop for the deer, my mile time was still under 10:50. The last couple of miles were uneventful, so they were faster. The run went by pretty quickly--not that I expected it to be long, at just 5 miles ;)

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I don't really have a whole lot to write about, but here are some random tidbits that didn't really fit in anywhere else...

My sister bought some Jamberry nail wraps and brought them to Michigan with her for us to try. She, my mom, and I watched a video on YouTube how to do it, and then we all gave it a try. I never knew what the nail wraps were--I always assumed Jamberry was a brand of nail polish. But they are basically stickers that go on over your nails, and they last a long time (up to a few weeks). I never paint my nails, because they chip within hours, so I was curious how well these would work. I was surprised at how easy they were to apply, and I loved them when I was done!

My hand is on the right--a checkerboard pattern

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I recently tried something new for breakfast, and I'm in love. I've been pretty obsessed with sourdough toast for breakfast for a while now, and I've been spreading real butter on it. But I finally tried something that my friend Jessica and my mom told me about several times before, and it just didn't sound good to me--spreading coconut oil on the toast instead of butter. It sounded kind of gross to me, which is why I never tried it, but I finally gave it a try recently, and I love it! It has a really mellow coconut flavor, and I can get away with using less of it than butter (I use 2 tsp. for 2 slices of toast). 

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I've been 100% on track all month with counting Weight Watchers points. I think taking a break from the counting was good for me, because I finally feel like I have my whole heart into it again. I am super determined to be back at goal by the time I go to Portland in March, and because of that, I haven't even had a hard time sticking to it. I even counted everything while I was on my blogger trips last week (including an overindulgence of wine one night). I got frozen yogurt while I was in NYC, and instead of just saying, "Screw it! I'll eat everything in this store!", I was conservative with the toppings and I estimated the points spent.

See? Conservative. ;)

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Estelle's favorite thing EVER is the electric blanket. She hasn't moved from this spot on the couch in days.

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The gerbils are extremely smart. They piled all the wood chips under their wheel, to keep the wheel from spinning, and then climbed to the top of it. The black one has been working on chewing a hole in the plastic at the top of the aquarium. 

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Halloween is a week from today. Normally, I'd be very excited for Halloween--it's always been my favorite holiday to celebrate, because it was also Mark's birthday. I've always looked forward to going to my parents' house to have dinner, birthday cake, and ice cream, and to give Mark his birthday gifts before handing out candy while we sat next to a fire. (If you're new to my blog, you can start reading about Mark here. He was a friend of our family who was intellectually disabled, and had known my dad for 35 years. He passed away in March of this year from advanced lung cancer, which you can read about here.)

This was taken last Halloween, just before his stage IV cancer diagnosis.
We had no idea it would be the last time we'd celebrate his birthday. 

This year, I'm dreading Halloween. I'm so sad that Mark isn't here, and handing out candy won't be the same without him. I don't plan to go to my parents' house to hand out candy, because it would just make me feel worse. My kids really want to go to Jerry's parents' neighborhood to trick-or-treat, so his mom is going to take them; changing things up in that way will be helpful, I think. I'm not sure what I'll do. I think I may go bring some candy to the nursing home where Mark spent his last months. I've never handed out candy at my own house, because we've always gone to my parents' house, so maybe I'll start doing that this year. Regardless, I know what I won't be doing, and it makes me feel sad.

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I hate to leave on a sad note, so here is a picture of Phoebe just begging to have her belly rubbed ;)

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Back on "track"

I did something yesterday that I'd been putting off all summer long--speed work. After training so hard for the Chicago Marathon last year, and then continuing on with Hansons' Half Marathon training for the Heartbreak Hill Half in June, I was so burnt out on running. I never wanted to do speed work again. I cut my training days down to 3-5 (usually settling on 4) per week, and I can probably count on one hand the number of double-digit long runs I did over the summer.

I was starting to wonder if I had ruined running forever by training so much last year. I watched as my pace got slower and slower, and my mileage got shorter for the most part. I didn't do many races over the summer, either; and the ones I did do were to run with someone else.

But I gave myself a date to get over it and start training again--the week after the Runner's World Half & Festival, I would start a half-marathon training schedule, including speed work. I set some goals, and the first is to get my half-marathon time back under two hours at the Indy 500 Festival Mini Marathon in May (if this first round of training happens to go REALLY well, then I may aim for a PR in May, which would be sub-1:52:07).

As of right now, I have no idea what my race pace is. I haven't really "raced" in a long time, so my half marathon time could be anywhere from 2:00 to 2:20--and that's a big difference. If I had to make a fairly educated guess, I would say probably around 2:08 (based on my last 10-mile training run).

My first plan of action is to follow Hal Higdon's Intermediate Half Marathon program (slightly modified so I can do my long runs on Fridays). When I was at my fastest, in early 2013, I had followed this plan (again, with a couple of modifications), and my speed went from 10:45-ish long runs to 8:45-ish long runs in a matter of just 3-4 months. I was also at my goal weight then, which probably had a lot to do with it. I've been working hard at Weight Watchers this month to get back to goal, so I am doing what I can in that aspect.

I have speed work scheduled on Mondays, and a short easy run on Tuesdays, but Jeanie asked me to go for a run with her on Monday--I was super tired from the weekend, so it was actually best for me to switch the two workouts anyway. Jeanie and I ran three miles together at the State Park on Monday, and then yesterday was the day I'd been super nervous about... a track workout!

Something about going to the track makes me really nervous--I think it's because I expect the best of myself, almost like when I'm racing. Yesterday, I honestly had no idea what to expect. On the schedule was 5 x 400's with 400 meter jogs (plus a 1600 meter warm-up and cool down). Basically, this means:

Run 1600 meters (four laps) at a very easy pace to warm up.
Run 400 meters (one lap) at a very hard pace (I wasn't sure what pace this would be yet).
Run or walk 400 meters to recover.
Repeat the 400-meter intervals for a total of five hard laps and five recovery laps.
Run 1600 meters at a very easy pace to cool down.

Jeanie went to the track with me, but she was just going to run five easy miles while I did the speed work. I was bummed when I realized I forgot my heart rate monitor, because that would have been good info to have, but I didn't want to go home to get it. My plan was to do the 400's as hard as I was able, and still be able to finish. My hope was to at least do them under 2 minutes each, which would be a sub-8:00 pace (At my fastest, I was able to do them in about 1:40, which is a 6:40-ish pace.)

It was pretty cold and drizzly with rain outside, so I didn't procrastinate once I got to the track. I just started lightly jogging around the track to warm-up. I didn't set my Garmin to do automatic intervals, because I wanted to do true 400-meter laps, as opposed to a quarter-mile. A quarter mile is actually 402.336 meters, so it's a couple of steps longer. Does it make a big difference in training? No, not at all. I just wanted all of my laps to start and stop in the exact same spot, instead of gradually shifting forward.

As soon as I reached the line for the fourth lap, I pressed the lap button my Garmin, and started running hard. About 100 meters in, I knew I was going too fast--there was no way I could hold that. I looked down and saw it was a 7:11 pace, which was better than I'd expected, so I decided that running all my intervals under 2:00 was definitely possible.

Intervals are tough! Usually once I'm about 200 meters in, I start to think about how I went out too fast, and there is no way to sustain it. Then at about 300 meters, I think, "Only 100 meters to go! You can run 1/4 of the way around the track... keep going!" Then I give it my all the last few steps.

Because I was going to be pushing myself so hard on the intervals, I decided to walk (rather than jog) my recovery laps. So as soon as I crossed the 400-meter line, I pushed the lap button on my Garmin and slowed to a walk. I walked about 300 meters, then jogged the last 100 before starting the next interval. And on it went. Every time I do intervals, I always get through one or two before I start thinking there is no way I can do all that I have on the schedule. But somehow, I mentally talk myself into doing "just one more" until I get through them all ;)

That's exactly what happened yesterday--I felt spent after just two, but I kept going. I told myself it was okay to slow if I had to, but I was going to get them done, no matter what. In the end, I was pretty happy with how I did!

My interval splits were: 1:54, 1:55, 1:58, 1:57, 1:56.

I was aiming to keep them under 2:00 each, so I managed to do that, which was great. And hopefully, from here on out, I'll see them improve as I continue to work on speed. I felt really good all day long that I did that workout and met my goal for it. I feel like it's a good start to this round of training.

My legs were pretty tired all day after that, but my sister took Noah to get his own running shoes, and he wanted to go for a run when he got home. He was really excited about getting the shoes, obviously (Brooks Adrenalines), so I told him I'd run with him. We just ran a mile, taking a short detour to my parents' house. Noah was running at a 10:00-ish pace, which seemed to be pretty easy for him, and his dear old mom was struggling to keep up ;)  He even sprinted the last tenth of a mile or so, and I certainly couldn't keep up then!

I love that he still wants to run even though cross country is over now. We are running the Wicked Halloween 5K on Sunday--I'll run with Noah, so he can actually run the entire 5K for the first time, and Jerry is going to stick with Eli, who will likely walk most of it. I'm so curious to see how Noah does, especially compared to his first 5K. I'm sure he's going to have a pretty major PR!

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Nathan's first marathon!

I could not be any prouder than I was on Sunday when I saw my "little" brother, Nathan, cross the finish line of his first marathon! It was an amazing day, and I'm so glad that I was there to see everything.

I got up super early on Sunday, because we had to drive Nathan up to Detroit for the Free Press Marathon at 4:45 a.m. I'd been planning this day for weeks--exactly how I was going to be the best, most supportive spectator that ever spectated a race! ;) Also going along to cheer him on were my mom; my sister, Jeanie; Jerry; and Kendall, his girlfriend.

Kendall had gotten us shirts that said "TEAM NATHAN" to wear to the race. It was going to be pretty cold outside, so I dressed in a lot of layers--I had on two pairs of Cold Gear tights, FIVE shirts (four long-sleeved, including Cold Gear, and the t-shirt on top), gloves, and a hat. I felt like I could barely move my arms because of all the layers, but the clothes ended up being a good choice. I also wore my rainbow-colored tutu, just to be easy to spot.

I made a few signs, but forgot to get pictures of them!

"26.2... Yeah, b*tch!"
"Hurry up! The Kenyans are drinking your beer!"
"Nate the Great, you just passed mile 8!"
"Remember when you thought you couldn't do this?"

When Kendall came over, I found a couple of good ideas for her signs as well:
"I don't do marathons; I do a marathon runner!"
"Marathon runners do it longer!" ;)

I also ordered an enormous cutout of Nathan's face to hold up. I'd seen a lot of people with them when I ran the Chicago Marathon, and I loved the idea. I asked my older brother, Brian, to conspicuously get some nice/funny close-ups of Nathan, and he got some good ones. I uploaded one to Shindigz.com, and placed an order for a 3-ft. cutout. Just 24 hours later, it arrived on my porch! That was uber fast service, and I hadn't even paid extra for fast shipping. Here is a post-race photo, so you can see what the cut-out looked like:

Nathan knew nothing about it, and I didn't want him to see it until he saw us cheering at mile 8. We arrived in Detroit and parked at the casino to meet up with Kendall, and then we went down to the starting line. There was a bar right next to Nathan's corral that was letting people in for $2, just to sit and stay warm. We had about an hour until the start of the race, so it was worth it. We got coffee and hot chocolate, and waited until it was time for Nathan to go to the corral.

About 10 minutes until race time, Nathan got in his corral (E) where the 4:00 pacer was. He hoped to finish under 4 hours, and barring any unforeseen stomach issues or something, I was sure he would do it as long as he didn't start out too fast. Once we dropped him off in the corral, we wanted had to head back to the car to get the signs, and then make our way to mile 8 (which was just after the tunnel coming back into the U.S. from Canada). We took the People Mover (a small train that runs in a 3-mile loop around downtown Detroit) to mile 8, and just as we got there, the wheelchair participants were coming through.

I've been battling a cold all week, and my voice was pretty hoarse--but I brought clackers and cowbells to make some noise, and I yelled when appropriate. I was really hoping to see Adam from The Boring Runner, because I knew he'd be running. He wrote a guest post for me a couple of years ago about "The Unmentionables of Running", and I've been reading his blog for a long time. I felt like such a stalker, tweeting him several times that morning, but somewhere around the 3:20 pacer, I saw him go by. He knew I'd be carrying the "head" sign, and he later said I was super easy to spot--success! ;) That was the last I saw of him during the race, though--I was hoping to get a picture with him, but there were so many people there, that it was impossible to find anyone!

After the 3:55 pacer went by, I got really nervous about spotting Nathan. I really didn't want to miss him, and I certainly didn't want him to miss us. Someone from the newspaper came up to me and asked for my info as well as Nathan's info, because she'd gotten a photo of us from across the street--how fun! A friend saw it on RunMichigan.com today:

I wish they'd snapped the picture when I was actually cheering instead of looking desperately for Nathan, but it's a pretty cool pic :)

Right on pace, we saw Nathan! He looked surprised and we yelled and cheered like crazy, and then just like that, it was time to go to the next spot. Our next plan was to go to mile 15.5. We had to take the People Mover back toward where the car was, and then we had to drive to E. Grand Blvd. There, we had to park and walk about a third of a mile to get to the course. We got there right as the 3:20-ish groups were going by.

That was a good spot to cheer, because a lot of the runners were starting to look tired. The pace groups were getting smaller, which is what happens in a marathon. We just hoped that Nathan was still on target and having a great race.

Just ahead of the 4:00 pacer, we saw Nathan! He ran over to our side of the street for high fives, and then he ran to Kendall to give her a kiss. He nearly biffed it when he stumbled on the curb (yikes) but he stayed upright and kept on going.

He was feeling good at the halfway point, so (against my advice) he picked up the pace a little, and was slightly ahead of target. After he passed by, we just had to walk one block to where the 19-mile mark was. We saw a lot of the same runners going by once we were there. That was a fun place to cheer, because the runners go onto an island right after that (Belle Isle), and then off the island at mile 22.5. It was at mile 19 that I kind of fell apart when I ran the Detroit Marathon back in 2012, and the island felt like it was FOREVER long. Later, Nathan told me the same thing happened to him--it was all he could do to keep on going, and he wanted to quit, but it would be stupid to quit that far in!

Again, just ahead of the 4:00 pace group, Nathan went by, looking very strong and like he was doing great. After he went by, we knew we had to book it to the car. I had been hoping to stay to see him at mile 22.5, but there was no way we'd make it to the finish line on time if we did. When we got back to the car, we had to drive back to the casino to park. It took longer than planned, because of the road closures, and when we got there, they were charging $40 for parking! It had been free before we left, but there was a Lions game in the afternoon, so they started charging for that. We didn't have much time to find an alternative, so we just sucked it up and parked, then took the People Mover as close to the finish line as we could.

When we finally got to the finish line, the 3:45 pacer went by, so we had made it just in time. We were searching for Nathan, and finally, we saw his bright green shirt, so we yelled and cheered as loudly as we could as he ran the finisher's chute. He crossed the finish line in 3:57:06!

We started making our way to the runner's exit, which took a while because it was super crowded. As we waited, I held up the giant cardboard head so that he'd know where to find us. I saw a woman take a photo, and it later wound up on the Detroit Free Press website:

When Nathan came out, he looked extremely pale, and I was a little worried about him. He wasn't talking much, which I knew meant he wasn't feeling all that great. We took a couple of pictures, but Nathan said he nearly passed out at the finish line, so we wanted to get him to the car ASAP.

Nathan and Kendall

By the time we got to the car, he was feeling better after eating a protein bar and drinking some chocolate milk. We had plans to go home to shower quickly, and then go to Anson's, our favorite place to get pizza. Jerry and I drove separately to Anson's, because I wanted to "set up" his "cake" before he got there. Nathan's not big on desserts (yet we are blood-related--what the hell?!), so instead of getting him a cake, I made him a "cake" out of his favorite beer:

I also got him a card and the book signed by Bart Yasso. My dad and kids joined us for pizza, as well as a few of Nathan's friends, so there were quite a few of us there for pizza. We ordered all kinds of yummy pizzas, including Reuben, chicken bacon ranch, jalapeño popper, barbecue chicken, and a couple of others. I ate four pieces, and easily could have eaten more (it was the first I'd eaten all day), but I reined it in after tasting those four that I really wanted to try. ;)  The pizza was delicious, and perfect after a day of running all over Detroit! (I'd gotten in about 15,000 steps)

We got a picture of our TEAM NATHAN group--Jerry, me, the kids, Kendall, Jeanie, Nathan, and my parents:

I was SO COMPLETELY EXHAUSTED after the week of traveling, getting up early, and running around spectating that I actually fell asleep on the couch at 6:30. I went to bed at 7:30, and slept the whole night. As tired as I was, I wouldn't have missed it for anything--I am SO proud of my brother! I know how hard it is to train for a marathon, and he's only been running for a year. He works 12-hour midnight shifts, and he never missed a training run. He's lost about 40 pounds, and has gotten super fit in the process. The whole day was just amazing, and I hope that we made his first marathon experience as memorable as it could be :)

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Motivational Monday #83

Happy Motivational Monday! This has been a crazy-busy week for me. I had a very fun week, but I'm also proud to say that I counted every Weight Watchers point eaten all week long. I had two blogger trips, so I was worried about how I'd eat while away from home, but I just made the best decisions I could, and it worked out really well!

It looks like a lot of you had a great week also. Here are some motivating stories for this Monday:

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Alma (in purple) ran the Long Beach Half last year, and lost the running bug a bit. She thought about doing the 5K this year with her friends, but couldn't get excited about running. At the last minute, one of her friends realized she couldn't make the race, so she offered Alma her bib. She actually was pretty excited about it, considering she had friends doing the race also. She ended up finishing the race in 34:21, completely crushing her goal of 40:00! Best of all, she says she feels like she was bitten by the running bug again :) (Alma's blog)

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Jennifer finished her FOURTH marathon at the Chicago Marathon! She actually met a girl on the train on the way to the expo, and they hit it off as fast friends, so the two ran the race together. Nothing like running a marathon and making a new running friend in the process!

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Jennifer just completed her first marathon! She ran the Chicago Marathon, and finished just under 6 hours with a time of 5:59:53. She ran the race as a St. Jude Hero, helping raise over $2500, and she said the experience was amazing and rewarding. Her family from Detroit went to cheer her on, along with her college roommate and a surprise appearance from friends.

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Kathleen (on left) started losing weight in August, and she signed up for a beginner's running class with her friend, Meredith (center). The class would prepare them to run a 5K on October 19th, the Pumpkin Run 5K. They started by just doing one mile--running 30 seconds, then walking 30 seconds.  She said she nearly died that first week--it was tough! Each week, the running volume increased a bit, but Kathleen stuck it out and even bought good running shoes and compression capris. Her goals for the race were to finish (hopefully under 45 minutes) and run the entire way. She ended up finishing in 41:40, never stopping or walking!

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Jen just completed the "Remix Challenge" at the Rock 'n' Roll St. Louis weekend of races! She completed a 5K on Saturday and a half-marathon on Sunday. She was hoping for a PR, and ended up finishing in 2:32:05--a PR of over 6 minutes, despite a hilly course! (Jen's race report)

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Anne wrote in to share her dad's big accomplishment--he ran his first 5K! Steve turned 65 this year, and spent the last two years losing weight and getting into shape. His only goal was to not come in last, and he didn't even come close to last. He got to drink a post-race coffee while watching the other participants finish :) He shaved 10 minutes off of his training time, and has already signed up for two more 5K's!

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I have to brag for a moment about Dean as well. He didn't ask me to share his story, but I tell everyone I can when I get a chance to share his accomplishments! Dean first submitted a Motivational Monday early last year to celebrate his first 5K. He's been working like crazy to lose weight and get faster at running, and yesterday, Dean ran his first marathon--in 3:52:43!! You would never guess that he used to weigh 317 pounds. Now he's super speedy and just about to his goal weight. (Dean wrote a guest post here before, as part of my Ragnar SoCal team, but I've asked him to write another post because so much has changed since then. You can read his blog here.)

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As always, a huge congrats to everyone who is celebrating an accomplishment this week--big or small!

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Runner's World Half & Festival, Day 3 (race report)

I tried to get this written on my super short layover in Boston yesterday, but it didn't happen. This has been such a busy week! I have another post that I'm excited to write about my brother's first marathon, so I'll post this today and that post on Tuesday.

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I was wide-awake by about 4:00 on Saturday morning for some reason, but that was better than struggling to wake up at 6:00 to head to the races. Our hotel was just under a mile away from the start of the race, so it was only about a 15 minute walk.

I wasn't sure what kind of weather to prepare for, so I brought all kinds of options. I ended up wearing my Heat Gear capris and a tank top, which turned out to be a great choice. The weather was PERFECT for running this morning! 50-something degrees and overcast.

I stopped in the lobby of the hotel to grab a quick breakfast (toast with peanut butter and an apple), and then Charlene and I headed to the race start. We got there way too early, but that ended up being a good thing, because I had time to return a shirt I had bought at a gift shop (I brought it along in my gear check bag just in case I had time). I walked up and down the whole starting line area a few times, and then sat and waited until it was time to get in the corrals. The 5K start time was at 8:00.

The Runner's World announcers, Whit and Bart, both do a fantastic job at making the race really exciting and fun. The atmosphere is really energetic, which I love. And the scenery! The old buildings are so cool. If they were in the bad part of Detroit, the buildings would look trashy; but because they're in the middle of this beautiful city, they just look really cool.

I had no idea what my pace would be during these races. I figured I would aim for 9:30-ish, because my last 10-miler was about 9:45. I got in the corral near the 9:30 pace sign. While I was standing there, a runner near me came over and said she was a reader. Her name is Nicole, and she was with her husband, Ben, and a friend. When she told me that she was from The Dale Road Cat Project blog, I definitely remembered who she was. She sent me a link to her blog a long time ago, and it's been on my blog list ever since.

We chatted for a few minutes, and I discovered she would be doing roughly the same pace as me. I was tempted to ask if she wanted (my) company to run with, but she had her husband and friend there, so I felt bad asking. Just as I was thinking of that, I saw Kristen from Fit Bottomed Girl walking by, heading to the corrals behind me, so I yelled to her and ran over. She was going to be running alone, so I basically just invited myself to run with her at whatever pace she had planned. I wasn't planning to race, so I really wanted some company to run with me!

She liked the idea, too, and said she does a 3:1 run/walk method, which was fine with me (run 3 minutes, walk 1, repeat). I liked the idea of having someone to run with more than trying to aim for a certain pace, so it worked out well.

Once the race started, we quickly fell into conversation, and we had a great time! We didn't care at all about our pace, and we got excited when the walking parts were on the uphills (which actually didn't happen very often, haha). The course was really hilly! (At least it was for me, because I'm not used to any hills at all). Something I noticed about the RW races is that there are a LOT of aid stations, which is awesome. I don't need to stop at every one, but it's nice that there is one when I do need it. The whole time I was running, I kept thinking about how it would be a great first 5K for someone, because it was very runner-friendly, fun, and doesn't have a super competitive vibe (although there were some pretty speedy people there--including Lauren, who ended up winning the 5K!)

We cruised through the finish line of the 5K, and then met up with a bunch of the other bloggers. It was the perfect opportunity for a group photo, so we asked David from Runner's World to take one.

The 10K starting time was at 9:30, so we had a little while to hang out and chat before we had to head to the starting line. Kristen and I decided to run together again. As soon as the race started, I couldn't believe how stiff my legs felt! I felt like I had just run 12 miles, not a 5K. Kristen said hers felt the same, so the first mile or two was really just about trying to loosen back up a little. The 10K was just as hilly as the 5K, but it was fun to have someone with me to help distract me from the hills ;)

We cruised through the finish line with our arms raised high, and just like that, it was over. I was a little disappointed that I wouldn't be there for the half marathon the next morning, but I was also really excited to go home and be the best spectator ever at my brother's marathon. I walked back to the hotel with Kristen, Ali, and Lauren, and I took a much-needed shower. I really wanted some frozen yogurt, and there was a shop that I had passed several times going to and from the expo center, so I decided to get some for lunch.

I walked there, and unfortunately, the second I opened the door, I smelled Chinese food. It was basically a Chinese restaurant that also had a soft-serve machine with one flavor--plain tart fro-yo. I tasted it, just to see if I wanted some, but I didn't like it at all, so I just left with an empty stomach. I went back to the expo to check out the seminars.

First, I chatted with Golden, founder of Altra running shoes, about the shoes he had sent me. I told him they were super comfortable to walk in, but that after a couple of miles, my heel spur would bother me. He said I had chosen the wrong model, and I should have picked the Paradigm, which is the most similar to the Brooks Adrenalines that I've been wearing for four years. He very generously swapped them out for me, and I couldn't believe the difference it made. The Paradigm ones felt much more like what I was used to, but they still had the zero-drop heel and the foot-shaped toe box, which offer the benefits that he had explained in detail at his presentation. They felt really good, so I wore them for the rest of the day. (I haven't worn them to run in yet, but so far, so good.)

After I talked with him, I was absolutely starving, so I got a flatbread pizza from a food stand in the expo center. It ended up being really good!

I even shared a piece with the Golden Retriever at the table next to mine who was silently pleading with me.

For some reason, I thought that the seminar I'd wanted to see started at 1:00, but it was actually at 1:30. I didn't have time to see it at 1:30, because I had to head back to the airport at 2:30. So, I just ended up walking back to the hotel. I got the rest of my stuff packed up, and then headed downstairs to the lobby. Matt and I both had flights on Saturday evening, so we rode together. When we got to the airport, I said good-bye to him, and then made my way to the gate.

It took a while to get home (first, I had to fly to Boston, then from Boston to Detroit). When I got to Detroit, I noticed that my Fitbit steps were at 33,000-ish. I had never hit 35,000 before, I started walking around at the airport while I waited for my bag to get in some extra steps. That was the most I'd ever gotten in a day! Jerry picked me up at 10:00, and when I got home, I looked at my Fitbit again--34,999. I took one step, and received a new badge!

I went to bed at nearly midnight, knowing I had to get up at 4:00 for Nathan's race today. My bed felt SO good! It was really hard to get up this morning, but I was super excited for Nathan's race. (To be continued on Tuesday... tomorrow is Motivational Monday!)

(A huge thanks to Runner's World for inviting me to take part in the blogger program this weekend. They put on a fantastic "festival" for the weekend, and I am honored to have been a part of it! In full disclosure, Runner's World sponsored my participation in this event by paying for my travel and race fees, but I was not paid for any posts or required to write about it. Everything is, as always, my honest opinion.)

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Runner's World Half & Festival, Days 1-2

Yesterday morning, I had a flight from Detroit to Boston, and then from Boston to Philadelphia. The weather was bad yesterday, and my nerves were pretty shot on the planes with all the turbulence! It was so nice to finally arrive at the Philly airport. I met up with Dani, Matt, and Charlene (my roommate for the weekend), and a driver took us to our hotel in Bethlehem.

As soon as we got to the hotel, the other bloggers were waiting on us, so we all hopped in a shuttle bus to take us to the Runner's World Headquarters. I was SO excited to see the offices where they make the magazine! Right when we got there, we had dinner, and then Bart Yasso took us on a tour of the building. My favorite room was actually Bart Yasso's office--he had a ton of memorabilia in there!

Race bibs on the door

Another spot that I thought was pretty cool was a wall that was lined with the entire December issue of the magazine. I immediately looked to see if I could sneak a peak at who won the RW cover contest, but they had page holders there instead of the story.

The top three rows are past covers, the bottom rows are the December issue

After we toured the office, we went outside to make s'mores! How fun, right?

I didn't end up eating any s'mores, though, because I knew I'd be spending a lot of Weight Watchers Points this weekend on other stuff, so I was trying to use them wisely. We chatted for a while, and then boarded the shuttle to go back to the hotel. This is a really great group of bloggers, and it was so nice meeting everyone. The bloggers racing this weekend:

Dani from Weight Off My Shoulders
Ali from Ali on the Run
Doug from Rock Creek Runner
Jamie from From Couch To Ironwoman
Beth from Shut Up And Run
Lauren from The Foodie Runner
Katie from Ms Fit Runner
Presley from Run Pretty
Charlene from FAB Running
Kristen from Fit Bottomed Girls
Matt from No Meat Athlete
Sarah from Picky Runner
Dick from Better Cheaper Slower
Aliah from The Get Fit Diva

The only ones that I knew from the Heartbreak Hill Half were Dani, Presley, Charlene, Matt, and Sarah. Most everyone ended up hanging out at the hotel bar for a few hours, getting to know each other, which was fun. I really enjoyed talking to Beth from Shut Up And Run--she is genuinely a very sweet person.

I went to bed late, and got up super early at 5:30. We all met in the lobby of the hotel at 7:00 to start the day. First, we were doing a surprise activity, which ended up being an "amazing race" sort of clue hunt. It was all done on foot, and ended up being a 3-4 mile run altogether. The scenery was breathtaking! I love seeing all the old buildings.

We ended at the venue for the race expo, which was going to start at 3:00. When we got there, we had breakfast and sat down to listen to a presentation by Altra about their running shoes. I wore the shoes they sent me and liked them, but after listening to the presentation today, I think I really want to try to make the switch over to using them exclusively. I really liked the story of how the brand came to be. After the presentation, Golden (from Altra) took us outside to give us a quick lesson on proper running form. It was really interesting as well, and I'll save that for another post.

We also listened to a presentation by Budd Coates of Runner's World. I found his presentation fascinating--it was all about breathing while running. Sounds boring, I know, but it's a topic that I never even thought to research. He explained how we can use synchronized breathing (inhaling/exhaling in rhythm with steps) to reduce injury and train our best. Runner's World gave us his book, Running On Air, and I'm excited to read it and apply it. Budd is super fast--a 2:13 marathoner--and a four-time qualifier for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.

We saw a presentation by iFit, and it basically made me want to buy a fancy new treadmill ;)  I'm not going to, because mine works just fine, but it's so cool to see the new technology on treadmills (they can mimic any course you create from Google maps, and automatically adjust the incline settings for it).

After those presentations, we went across the street to do yoga for an hour. I've never done yoga in my life (I tried to once or twice, but I didn't even last five minutes). iFit was so generous and gave each of us a yoga bag with a foam roller, foam block (I had no clue what that was for until the class today), a mat, gloves, and a resistance band.

I wish I could say that I love yoga, but alas, I still do not. My favorite pose was the "corpse pose" at the end, where you basically just lie flat on the floor and relax ;) I'm going to try it again at home, though!

We had lunch after the yoga session, and it was all food made from the Runner's World Cookbook. I had a mushroom taco, which was AMAZING. I can't wait to make them at home! The white chili was also really good, as was the cornbread.

After lunch was a session that I was really excited for--a talk by Sean MacMillen, an Army veteran who used running to save his life, basically. He spent three years in Afghanistan, and became an alcoholic. When he returned to the states, he had such a hard time adjusting to "civilian" life, and he just drank even more. He had PTSD, and he suppressed his feelings with alcohol. He wound up in jail from five DUI's, and he even attempted suicide by overdosing on Tylenol, which put him in the hospital for a month.

Eventually, it was running that saved his life. He stopped drinking, and started running. You can read more about his story here. After his talk, I went up to thank him for sharing his story, and ask him a couple of questions. I was curious about what family members of veterans can do to help them adjust to civilian life, but he didn't really have a definitive answer. He said that the family can do everything right, but the veteran really just has to want to change and live a positive life. He said that the best thing he could do for his recovery was to talk about his feelings and thoughts--instead of being a "badass" who didn't have any feelings, he started to open up and that was therapeutic for him.

Because his story hit so close to home for me, I loved hearing what he had to say! He's going to be sharing his story tomorrow, also, to anyone who wants to come. So if you're doing the race, I highly recommend going to his seminar at noon tomorrow.

After that, Charlene and I walked back to the hotel to shower and then go to the expo. The expo was nice, and I ended up buying more than I probably should have:

Another of Bart's books, My Life on the Run (this one is for my brother), Running & Being by Dr. George Sheehan, RUN! by Dean Karnazes, and a Runner's World t-shirt. I'm excited to read the books--I really loved Karnazes' book, Ultramarathon Man.

After the expo, Charlene and I stayed to watch the kids' races. There were three--1/4 mile, 1/2 mile, and 1 mile. Seeing the little kids do the quarter mile race was SO adorable!! Bart Yasso himself keeps them on course by leading with a bike.

I have to say, Runner's World really does put on an AMAZING race weekend--and not just for the bloggers. The announcer (I believe his name is Will, and I wish I could find his last name) was absolutely fantastic with those kids! He did everything he could to make them feel special--each and every one who crossed the finish line. I didn't have any kids running the races, but I still cried watching, haha.

Isn't that an awesome backdrop for a race?!

After the races, Charlene and I headed back to the hotel. We stopped for dinner at a little Italian place, where I had a piece of bruschetta pizza--it was delicious. Now it's time to hit the hay because I have two races to run tomorrow!

(In full disclosure, Runner's World sponsored my participation in this event by paying for my travel and race fees, but I was not paid for any posts or required to write about it. Everything is, as always, my honest opinion.)

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Purina's Better with Pets Summit

I started to write this last night (Wednesday), but I had so much to get ready for this weekend that I just couldn't finish it. Instead, I got to the airport a couple of hours early so I can write while I wait. I don't want to forget anything! I'll be in Bethlehem this weekend for the Runner's World Half & Festival, so I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to post, but I'll try!

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I got home late Tuesday night from Purina's Better With Pets Summit in New York, and it was AMAZING. Cats and running are my two favorite topics, so to be surrounded by fellow cat lovers (and, yes, dog lovers!) was so much fun. I've done two events with Purina now, and I really enjoy them because they aren't a big sales pitch. I can tell that the people who work there truly love their jobs, and of course they love pets, so the summit really was just a celebration of pets in our lives. (In full disclosure, Purina covered my travel expenses to attend the summit, but I was not paid for this post, or even required to post about it at all.)

There were SO many things discussed during the day that it's hard to write a post about it--I don't want to leave anything out! Here is what the schedule was for the day:

I'll just go through those in order, and write anything notable that comes to mind.

The emcee, John Hockenberry: This guy was phenomenal at his job! He was very entertaining, quick with the one-liners, and excellent at interviewing the speakers.

Brooke Martin: At 12-years old, Brooke invented a way to stay connected with our pets even while we're away from home. It's called the ICPooch, and it's basically a way to video "chat" with your pet, and even deliver a treat (remotely) with the push of a button. Brooke was extremely well-spoken, especially considering she's only 14 years old now, and her invention is so smart!

Scott Stulen & Will Braden: Scott is the curator and producer of the Internet Cat Video Festival (a competition that celebrates cat videos on the internet). Will submitted his cat video to the first festival, and was selected a winner of the Golden Kitty Award. You may have seen his videos on YouTube (they are HILARIOUS)--just search "Henri the cat". Now the two men work together on creating the video festival.

Ed Creagan: Ed is a doctor who spoke of how important pets are to people who are dying. He works with patients who are dying, and has had over 30,000 encounters with them in his career. He said that having a pet gives people hope, and helps them to fight their diseases. It has even helped family members reconnect.

B.E.A.T. NYC: A group that was very entertaining to listen to! Hard to describe, but they are a rap group. I took a video, but had trouble uploading the video at the airport. Grr! I'll try and add it here later.

Dogs of Instagram and Cats of Instagram: If you're on Instagram, and you like photos of dogs or cats, you've got to follow them!

Stan Marks: Stan told us the story of Bean, a dog that was nearly euthanized because she was constantly getting pneumonia from aspirating her food (a side effect of her muscular dystrophy). After testing and scanning, they learned that when she tried to swallow, the food wouldn't go into her stomach, so it would come back up her esophagus and then she would aspirate it into her lungs. Bean became the first canine to receive a total laryngectomy. Her life was saved with the surgery and a feeding tube (her owner now "feeds" her through a tube directly into her stomach). She gotten a lot stronger, gained weight, and is now happy and healthy.

Janet Jackson: Janet is a researcher at Purina research and development, and she spoke of a topic that was of particular interest to me--keeping your mature pet's brain sharp. I had never given this topic any thought until it was very clear that Paolo had dementia. It slowly progressed, and the last year or so, Paolo had all the classic signs and symptoms. Janet showed a video of a dog that had the "signs of old age", like confusion, difficulty walking and understanding commands, and constant pacing through the house. Purina's research and development team discovered that by adding MCT's (medium chain triglycerides) to the dog's diet, they could reverse those symptoms. Seeing the "after" video of the dog was very interesting to me! The symptoms that were in the first video had been reversed, and the dog was doing much better. Purina put the MCT's into a new food line, which will be available in January.

Victoria Stilwell: Victoria is a dog trainer that uses positivity to train dogs. Everything she said was completely the opposite of what I'd read/heard/watched before, mainly from Cesar Milan. She explained that dogs don't see us as dogs, but as people--we are an entirely different species, obviously--so therefore, they don't think of us as a "pack leader". She explained how positive reinforcement (particularly with food) is the best way to train a dog, and she backed it up with scientific proof. I don't have a dog, so I can't really give an opinion, but I thought her argument was very convincing.

Adam Wade: Adam is a comedian, and 18-time winner of The Moth Story SLAM. He told us the story of how he obtained proof that his cat was the smartest cat in his extended family. His uncle would always brag that he had the smartest cat, and one day, Adam witnessed his own cat peeing in the toilet--he said it was like seeing a unicorn. So he did what any 12-year old boy would do, and camped out in the closet with a video camera for weeks on end to hopefully catch the cat doing it again. (Spoiler: he did, and the uncle was dumbfounded when he saw the video). Adam played the video for us, and his cat certainly did pee in the toilet ;)

Dan Smith: Dan works in research and development for Purina, where he and his team imagine up best case scenarios for pets, and try to figure out how to make them happen. "Imagine if your dog or cat could live a longer, quality life with a healthy body?" So they spent 14 years researching how to make this happen, and they discovered that by eating less food, the pets lives (and quality of lives) were extended--and they changed the recommended feeding schedule on all their formulas. Another scenario was, "Imagine if you could go to work all day and not have to worry about letting your dog out to go to the bathroom?" This one wasn't so successful--they developed a dog litter, so dogs could use it like cats. But they discovered that people enjoy taking their dogs for walks, and it just wasn't a very popular item ;)

Rita Garza: Rita is with Urban Resource Institute (URI) of NYC. URI provides vital services to victims of domestic violence, and after a ton of hard work, they finally created a shelter for people to stay WITH their animals. She said that there were so many women who would stay in abusive relationships out of fear for their pets, because pets weren't allowed in the shelters with them. A woman named Pamela, who is a domestic violence survivor, shared her story and how she was extremely grateful to be able to keep her "fur family" with her when she left her abusive husband.

Lisa Spector and Joshua Leads: Lisa and Joshua came together to create music for pets after Lisa (an amazing pianist) discovered that her dog was calmed when she played the piano. Joshua is a sound researcher and music producer who studies the effect of music on the nervous system, both in people and animals. Lisa and Joshua came together to create "Through a Dog's Ear" and "Through a Cat's Ear" CD's to play for your pets. I was extremely skeptical about this until I saw the video of the music being played in an animal shelter. The dogs were all sleeping calmly, and not barking and jumping all over the place like they usually do in a shelter. I got a cat CD while I was there, so I'm curious to see if it has an effect on my kitties!

Mayhem Poets: I really wish I had gotten this on video, because it was amazing! Three poets--Kyle, Scott, and Mason--gave a poetry reading (MUCH more entertaining than it sounds!) about pets.

Mark Deadrick: Mark is literally a rocket scientist, and when he saw pictures of a chihuahua, TurboRoo, who was missing his front legs circulating online, he decided to use a 3D printer at work to create a mini prosthesis for the dog. After a couple of failed attempts (he had no idea just how tiny TurboRoo was, so they were too big), he created one that fit really well, and now TurboRoo can run around like the other dogs ;) He was absolutely adorable!

Pia Salk: Pia is a psychologist who has always had a special bond with animals. When she assisted with Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts, she spent her time rescuing pets. She explains that it's normal, and not at all shameful, to love your animals just as much as you would people, and that the bonds formed with our pets are just as special.

Kurt Venator: Kurt is a veterinarian for Purina, and he talked about how the roles of pets are changing in our lives. He gave the example of his grandfather, who owned a dog. The dog was only allowed to sleep in the dog house outside, and when Kurt tried finding a photo, there weren't any photos of the dog. In the next generation, dogs were brought into houses, and taught tricks. And now, pets are treated like members of the family.

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So, that was the summit in a nutshell. I left with not only a longing to see my cats, but also a new appreciation for dogs. I don't think I'll ever be a "dog person" in the way that I'm a "cat person" (usually, it's one or the other), but I learned quite a bit about them. I'm grateful to Purina for inviting me to the summit--it was not only interesting, but very fun, too!

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Motivational Monday #82

When this post goes live, I will be in NYC (!), so I'm obviously preparing it ahead of time. So if you emailed a Motivational Monday submission after Sunday evening, I will get to it next week.

This week, I am most proud of the fact that I stayed 100% on track with Weight Watchers. I've been eating really well, and while it's been hard to get back to counting, I am SO determined to be back at my goal weight by the time I go to Portland in March. This week of traveling is going to be difficult, but I am hoping that I have good things to report when I get back :)

Anyway, here are some motivating moments this week:

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I have to start by apologizing to Kim--last week, I posted this photo and forgot to include the story! In May 2004 at 285 pounds, Kim had gastric bypass surgery and lost 120 pounds. Unfortunately, the weight crept back on, and she found herself back up to 239 pounds this past February. She signed up for a 5K in April, and finished in 42:53. That motivated her to set a goal to finish under 40 minutes. She had a couple of teasers, where she finished in 40:08 and 40:04--so close to her goal. Finally, on September 27, she crushed her goal, finishing her 5K race in 36:33! Kim is continually inspired by her friend's baby who passed away last year. They wear their Team Liam shirts to promote the 5K held in his honor (and raise funds for families in similar situations as that of Liam's).

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Tiina completed her first half Ironman distance triathlon--70.3 miles of swimming, biking, and running! The temperature of the open water swim dropped over 20 degrees overnight (it was 73 degrees at packet pick-up, and the morning of the race, it was 52). There were several people that dropped out of the race due to the swim, but Tiina tried to focus on getting through it, and she did. Her hands and feet were completely numb going into the biking, and she admits she was very close to calling it quits, but she pushed through the mental barrier and finished the race strong in 7:25:37!

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Kathryn just completed the Twin Cities Ultra Looney Challenge--which consisted of the Twin Cities 5K and 10K last Saturday, followed by the full marathon on Sunday (a total of 35.5 miles)! She said it was a great experience from start to finish, between the perfect weather and fantastic spectators. Even more impressive is that Kathryn lost 100 pounds and started running just 4 years ago, and now she's a three-time marathoner!

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Gigi completed her first full marathon at the Glass City Marathon last weekend! She trained for months, but was still terrified at the thought of run/walking 26.2 miles. She expected to finish in 7 hours, but secretly hoped to finish in 6:30. She stuck to her 1:1 ratio of running and walking, and crossed the finish line in 6 hours with a big smile on her face! She felt great--walking up and down stairs afterward, and even able to sit on and get off of the toilet without help (haha! I remember how hard that was to do after my first marathon). (Gigi's race report)

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Congratulations, everyone! You have every reason to be proud :)

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