Wednesday, February 29, 2012

The extra day of the year.

Happy spare day!
It's a day for fixing a flat-day! I however was mostly lazy.

This morning I headed to the gym for some stationary bike, lifting and a dreadmill run due to the amount of rain falling.  The workout had to be cut short due to the rain and my sister needing to get downtown to my sister-in-laws place to watch the kids. I rushed through 3 miles on the bike, got all of my arm-focused-lifting in and then jumped on the treadmill for an exciting leap-day-year-day-thingy.

2.29 miles for 2/29. I would have run 29 miles but my legs probably would have fallen off.  This makes my runstreak hit 15 days! I spent a large chunk of the day icing all of my joints and being lazy. Not sure why but with all the extra time I had today I just let it pass by. Once my workout was done I felt done for the day. I think I need to get lactic acid out of my body. I'm insanely sore all over and exhausted.

In good news, I'm still in contact with a job at the Navy Yard downtown. Just so that no one thinks I'm not trying to get a job, I swear I am. Not having a job right now however has helped me sort some thoughts out and get back into the shape I was in before senior design blew me away.

Tomorrow I'm going to be participating in the first ever Road Runner Sports adventure run! I have a t-shirt and everything. It is a raffle/run/race/beer/food/more-beer event! Sponsored by Sierra Nevada! I am beyond excited to meet some new people. I wish I had someone coming along with me but...well the BF is stuck in Baltimore and wouldn't be able to make it down here in time for the run after work. Plus, he has is own friends to make at a group run with Charm City Running.

I'm sure I will have pictures and funny stories tomorrow after this 'adventure run'. For now however, I'm off to stretch and do some knee stability exercises.

Run Happy everyone!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Aches and pains

Dear lord, I forgot how much running hurts sometimes.

I'm on day 14 of my runstreak and my body can feel it. It doesn't help that I'm finally getting back into a lifting routine. Today I lifted legs and did a bunch of knee-strengthening exercises because my PT woman says my VMO muscles aren't strong enough. This was after a spin to get some of the lactic acid out of my legs that have been building up from my speedy speedy runs.

Did I mention I ran from something today?
Clearly I had to have been. I ran 4 miles at 8:30 pace.
HOLY HELL WHAT?!

It was a good runstreak day. I'm excited for my next race, should be a PR. I guess injuries do go away. It just takes time.
Meaning forever.

I'm super excited for another run with my new friend Jerry! We ran last Thursday together and 4 miles went by super fast. Our Monday run-date will def need to include some post-run pancakes of some sort.

I am exhausted and it is time for some bio-freeze on my various achey joints.  And finding some new music for my possible hill day tomorrow!

Night all!

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Sunday Driving

Oh Sundays. I love them so much.
They are perfect! You can sleep in, workout, roam around outside somewhere. Enjoy the day of the weekend that does not have the expected going-out-at-night part due to work the next day.
That and the BF and I always do something cutesy.

Anyway today was spent at a place in B-more called Second Chance, a second hand furniture/home repair/stuff place. They had everything you could need to build a house, it was incredible. And a lot of it was very, very old.

Then we went downtown and picked up this beautiful specimen of a dog.
Codie!
This is Codie, my brother's dog. She is SO cute, and dumb. Gotta love dumb dogs. We perused the market, I bought some fresh produce, and then made our way back to Arlington for some food from the Italian Store. All in all, it's been perfect.

I do still have to run today, but I have a feeling it will be a short one. My knees are pretty tired, but it IS beautiful outside! In prep of any more cold runs I must do (since I'm a baby) the BF and I went to Charm City Running to get some 50% winter wear. I bought some awesome Brooks gloves that have a little windproof mitten to go with and a cap for my ears/head. I also tried on the new Brooks Adrenaline GTS 12. The pink ones are very cute, and feel great. I will be ordering a pair very soon. While I was there I found one of these sitting on the counter:
Run to live lager!
How cute is this?! I got very excited about it and the man who checked me out gave me one! I love it I'm so excited to have a regular pint glass. Especially a Brooks one.

The runstreak is going well. I'm on day 11, today will make 12. I've run 39 miles so far and besides some general soreness/knee aches I feel great! I've also been sleeping like a rock. A pet rock if you will.

My first race in a long time is in 20 days!! I'm only hoping the 10k goes well. The real excitement is at the end of the race....my golden into the MCM! Ahhhh first marathon jitters already. This of me dancing around and singing this!

Well It's time for me to go get ready for a jog for the day. The BF has assumed the position. Meaning he looks like he's going to pass out in a recliner.

One more parting cute picture of my nephew, Corbin, who is only 3ish months old! 


Happy running everyone! Hope your Sunday is as amazing as mine!

Monday, February 20, 2012

Gift to myself

Hello one and all!
Well, hello to the few who read this.

The last week or so has been amazing. I've spent tons of time with my loved ones and received very sweet gifts for my birthday and valentines day. The BF sent me two dozen roses on my birthday and bought me some RIDICULOUS (read: fantastic) chocolate from a top-10-in-america chocolatier in Baltimore. I got a lot of various gift cards to favorite stores and mommy P bought me some more business clothes from Express. Including an amazing bright red pencil skirt and very hip/trendy style shirt to go with it. I also got gifted with the presence of one of my best friends from school. My Annie came to visit and we celebrated with a mardi gras party that involved 30$ all you can drink bottom shelf and a mechanical bull. I can tell you now, bottom shelf = all over pain. We had a blast though and I miss her so much. On top of these fun gifts I gifted myself with a gift only a runner would find fun.

A RUNSTREAK! I will be running at least 2 miles a day (this is my minimum, although I doubt I'll do less than a 5k) for at least 23 days in honor of my 23rd birthday. I've needed this kick in the butt for motivation for a while. The ankle injury really upset my mojo.

So far I'm on day 6, I've run over 20 miles and not less than a 5k at a time. I feel great, although I think my shoes are about done and I need to order some new ones. My knees are feeling a bit rough but I'm currently icing and have some tirgger-pointing to do. I'm so excited for a run with Jerry, my new found twitter-to-real-world friend, on Thursday on Custis trail. WOOO Hills!!

I hope everyone is doing amazingly and is running happy lately.
Finally, after a long time, I'm back to running happy!

Time to go roll out some knots and watch TV with the twin. 


Saturday, February 11, 2012

Jameson shot epiphanies

Next week is Valentines day, and my birthday. I will be 23 years old, currently living at home and hunting for a job. Not exactly where I wanted to be, but I couldn't be happier.

Thursday night I went out to an Irish pub/bar in Arlington with my sister and some friends. An evening that started with a Guinness, ended with Jameson shots bought by a tall blonde woman. This was after someone else purchased me a second, and very not needed, long island. As annoying as this hangover was the next day, I realized just how happy I am here in Arlington. My life has been turned upside down. I left Atlanta, got in an accident, totaled Vinny and I job hunt constantly. Yes, I miss my Atlanta friends a lot however, I'm home. I'm with my family and my dog. I'm with my BF and some new-old friends. I may not know what I'll be doing in a few months but I do know where I want to be in a few years. I know who I want to be with and I know what makes me happy. I think that knowledge is worth a headache.

What is funny about it though is that a little over a year ago I had Jameson shots bought for me. Bought by people no longer in my life. I was not even close to as happy with where I was or where I was going. I worried all the time and I didn't think very highly of myself. I would never have known then where I would be today.

I guess if I had known, I would have hurried a little.
As my mother always says, everything happens for a reason.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Ice. Stat.

Well today has been super fun! I got the BF's valentines day gift under control and made some more cards.
I know, boring gushy things.

Onto the real stuff.
I looked at the clock, and stared at my day-by-day broken down workout schedule for the next 6 weeks and sighed. The blocks were blank and I felt crappy. Why is it that I cannot get back into a set routine like I used to? I think that when I was training for my half marathons it was a large enough/long enough distance that a training schedule felt needed. My next race however, is a 10k. Mind you most would not need any regimen for this but I have been out of the game since July. My ankle is STILL bugging me and honestly I have race jitters, and it's not even close.
So I sighed again as I watched Nigella Lawson make another delicious looking meal and decided to just go. I threw on shorts and my new charm city running shirt, grabbed my phone, jacket and golds card and left.
Let me say, the day got much much better.

Ran over to the gym, ran another 3 miles on the dead-mill and then went down to the manly-man weight room and got my free weights on. And gave my abs some work. It was wonderful! I then ran home.

This brought my daily total to 5.62 miles! It's been a while since I've put that much work into a day.
I'm going to hurt. Probably pretty bad. 

I was mildly confused while on the treadmill watching a girl in front of me. I have a very negative stance on treadmills so maybe it's just me, but she looked like she was more...bounding? Leaping maybe? than running. Mind you, her treadmill speed was more than mine, I could have been injured-bitter, but really she couldn't have been touching the ground enough to really be running that fast. Is that real? Or am I making something like that up? One of the reasons I don't like treadmills are because they can give you a false sense of speed. Her bounding was fun to watch though.

Tomorrow is a spin class! AND I get to go to a GTDC alumni happy hour with two of my friends from school. It will be a perfect day.

Oh last thing before I say goodnight. I wanted to give everyone a picture of me on the treadmill. 5' 10", white,  a little more gangly than the average female and trying to dance WHILE on a treadmill to this.

It's ok. I laughed too.

Goodnight everyone!

Monday, February 6, 2012

Weekend Wrap-Up

Dear all, I am exhausted.

If only I could say it was because I had a ridiculously active long-run-filled weekend. 
But I can't.
Friday night was another amazing evening with my  brother, sister in law and kids as well as my sister and BF. This has become our new tradition, Friday night dinners. This week was burgers. For some reason my brother was VERY excited.  I love hanging out with my family and being close to my brother and sister in law is really important to me. 

Then BF and I drove to Baltimore where we crashed very early, me still coughing and full of sickness. 
Saturday was supposed to be a run day but turned into a grocery run and movie day. After bargain grocery shopping we watched Atlas Shrugged Part 1, and if you haven't seen it...you must.

After this was where the day started to turn for a much less productive turn. BF took me out to take photos at Fells Point, which I loved, and then somehow the rain that started drove us into a bar, where we stayed for a while. 
Too long, actually. 

Here are some photos!



Needless to say Saturday after we had "a beer" was very unproductive. However Sunday my sister came over and we had a super bowl party with BF's coworkers! It was so much fun, I love being a hostess! 
Twinsie!
Beer!

Needless to say the weekend was one big party, but I really enjoyed it. It didn't help my cold too much, which is still lingering for a bit longer than desired, but it was worth it. I hope everyone else had a great weekend and is excited for this week!

I will be back out on the trail and in the gym running and spinning my little tush off! 

Oh, and I wanted to let everyone know that today I've been making my own Valentines Day cards!! I can't wait to show you guys when they are all done!

For now, I'm exhausted. It's time for bed so I can be more productive tomorrow. And get to Golds. 

Goodnight all!

Friday, February 3, 2012

Big Plans

Well my sweet, loving, not-like-me-at-all twin got me sick. So after a weekend of partying with the BF and his co-workers I spent the whole week sick. I'm still coughing/gross. This has put a kink in my workouts after a really successful last week!
The good news is now I can't ignore running. I finally signed up for a race!
I will be running, with the BF, in the Irish Sprint 10k at Quantico.
By entering into this 10k I get automatic ticket/registration into the...

pause for effect

Marine Corps Marathon!!
That's right, this year is the year. I will be running/training for my first full. Might as well be now, there's no point in putting it off. The ankle has been doing well, I have been eating well and I live where the damn race is! It is time to stop saying "I'll never run a marathon" and "oh the BF is the marathon runner".
I want to be the marathon runner! And he already promised to run it with me.

What more could I ask for in a man?

So it's the Irish Sprint 10k in March, the Historic Half (also Marine Corps) in May and the Full in October! I also think I'll be doing the Under Armour half in Baltimore for the BFs birthday in early October.

Speaking of birthday, did y'all know mine is February 15th? I'll be 23!

In other news, I received the settlement check for Vinny and am on the market for a new vehicle. Also, the job hunt is going...well I think. Fingers crossed and prayers go up for a job downtown! I hope everyone has been enjoying the random warm weather/lack of winter that has been occurring lately, I know I've at least been out walking the dogs a lot!

Well, it's off to pack a bag for another weekend with the BF. We are entertaining coworkers for the Super bowl! I am SO very excited. I just love cooking for people. Here is a parting picture of my absolutely adorable nephew, Corbin.

Almost 3 months old!

Happy February everyone!