shop out the small stuff

25. April 2014 · 7 comments · Categories: fuel, labradoodle · Tags: , , , , ,

I celebrated the final training run with some shopping yesterday. I hardly ever buy anything other than running gear lately but yesterday I picked up a couple of pretty tops and a pair of cropped jeans at Macy’s.

I got this very summery Free People top:

Free People shirt

Free People shirt beautiful model not included (photo from Macy’s website)

But I bought a purple cami to wear underneath instead of the one in the pic above. It’s a great style for my shape (apple!) No bargain here though 🙁

I also got this sheer, floral, long sleeve Lucky top.

Lucky floral shirt

Lucky floral shirt…god i love her hair! (photo from Macy’s website

Again, no bargain…but I LOVED how it tied in the front. Sometimes tunic style tops overwhelm my short 5′ 3″ body and I don’t like dressy button down tops that have to be tucked in because they get wrinkly and fussy. So this will be great. I’m going to wear this today so I’ll post a photo to my instagram later.

And to round out the bottom, I got these Tommy Hilfiger cropped jeans:

tommy capris

tommy capris- (photo from Macy’s website)

Then I went to the grocery store to get my pre-race fuel stash:

Super Pretzels

Super Pretzels and some fresh flowers just for kicks

I picked up these pretty carnations too. Don’t they look so pretty on my table?

carnations

fuscia and celery green carnations.

Then I got suckered into the half price Easter candy at the register.

half price easter candy

half price Easter candy balanced out with organic spinach!

But I evened out the sugar with my “family size” container of organic spinach!

Tonight when I get home from work I’m taking this boy for a little shopping spree too!

Duncan and Sally

Curl overload!

Well we’re just going to the pet store for poop bags and dog food but I’m sure he’ll score a treat at the register.

Hope everyone made it throught the week ok.

Question: What are you doing this weekend? Anyone have a race?
Last chance to suggest inspiring songs or quotes/mantras to me….

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Thankful Thursday

24. April 2014 · 3 comments · Categories: running, Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , ,

I’m thankful for the invention of the heating pad which I took to work with me yesterday to help keep the Piriformis muscle loose. It’s been helping a lot!

butt-warmer

butt-warmer!

I’m thankful that my friend Lisa wanted to catch up over a sushi dinner last night.

I’m also thankful for the fried green tea ice cream we had for dessert.

fried green tea ice cream

fried green tea ice cream

I’m thankful for the invention of the selfie….especially ones that I can share with this pup.

doodle and me

doodle and me

I’m thankful that that today is my day off!

I’m thankful that I completed my last training run today!

photo 3-1

Really thankful!photo 4

 

So thankful that i even made a short video.

I’m thankful that I get to donate my used running sneakers on Saturday at the Expo to a cool organization called the More Foundation Group.

old sneakers

gonna miss you guys

I’m thankful that I’ll be heading out soon Trader Joes and Stop and Shop to get groceries including a nice stash of my favorite pre-race fuel

Super Pretzel

Super Pretzels! What I eat before every marathon! 

What are you thankful for today?

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Ice then heat or heat then ice?

23. April 2014 · 2 comments · Categories: injury, inspiration, labradoodle, recreational fun, running · Tags: , , , , ,

Hi!

How has your week been going? Yesterday was Earth Day. It’s sorta that for me every day. I love nature and spend as much time as I can outside. Yep. I’m a tree hugger =)

me hugging a tree

tree-hugger sally

I had to work from home yesterday to wait for the appraiser to come. I’m refinancing because the interest rate on my mortgage is ridiculous. I bought my house back in 2000 when the rates were between 7 and 8 percent. So now i’ll be down to 3.625 and I’ll be able to pay the house off sooner. Feels so good!

Anyway, I got some miles in…

earth day running

my penultimate training run. (I had a thing for vocabulary is school)

Just 3-ish. It really feels so weird to be running such low mileage but it works out ok because to overshadow my allergy woes, this past Sunday my sciatica/piriformis muscle decided to spasm. I’ve been dealing with horrible annoying pain since then. Remarkably running and walking make it feel a little better. I’m currently taking anti-inflammatories, rolling my butt on a tennis ball to massage the tight areas and rotating between ice and heat. I never get it right. Is it ice first then heat? or the opposite? I get this every now and then usually from sitting for too long or sitting the wrong way. But timing-wise it sucks. Hello! I have a marathon coming up in 4 days! 

Since most of my physical training is in the books at this point I am trying to work on some mental exercise because my mental muscle is mush lately. I started with a peaceful walk in the woods with Duncan. Green is finally popping up!

photo 1-1

 

I enjoy these walks because I can talk to myself out loud and there isn’t a soul around to hear me. Well I did scare away about 5 deer. Poor little guys were seeking out their dinner and when they heard me they bolted. All I saw were 5 white tails as they darted away.

I’d love if you all could share with me the sayings/quotes/mantras that help you feel confident and inspired.

I have been a little wishy-washy with my expectations for Sunday. I’m nervous and doubting my abilities lately…part of the taper madness? I want that fire to return for race day. I want to “crush it” as people say. But I don’t want to be disappointed if I have a slower finish time or if I struggle during the race. I did get in a solid 16 weeks of running but I never got on the bandwagon with things like strengthening my core or cleaning up my diet. So while my endurance is good, my weak core isn’t going to help me keep strong in those later miles. (Slapping my hand!) Maybe I need to just start singing that song from the movie Frozen…LET IT GO, LET IT GO! =) It’s all gonna go down just as it’s supposed to anyway. So long as I can keep smiling from the minute I line up in the corals to the minute I cross the finish line that’s all that matters right?

Just pulled out this pic. I took it the day before the NJ Marathon last year. It’s the finish line! Right on the boardwalk with the beach to the right. I will stare at this pic each day. I had an amazing day last year and set a PR. I’m hoping to have a repeat of that for this year.

NJ Marathon finish line

NJ Marathon finish line

Well, I need to get ready for work. I’ve got one of those days with back to back meetings. At least it will be a good distraction from everything.

Questions: How do you handle pre-race nerves? What are your mantras? Ice then heat or heat then ice? Tree-hugger?

Related posts:

  1. Meh

Bunny Runner Sunday and Marathon Monday

22. April 2014 · Write a comment · Categories: labradoodle, running · Tags: , , , ,

Hi everyone,

I hope you had a lovely weekend and if you celebrated Easter that you aren’t in a sugar coma.

Yesterday, Duncan tested out my running gear bunny ears before me. And then I turned into the Bunny Runner and set out for an easy 5K around the neighborhood.

bunny runner

hippity hop

bunny 5k

bunny runner 5k

Duncan and I headed upstate to visit with my friend Sue and her family. Duncan’s partner in crime Lucy (a Jack Russell) was so excited to see him. They collaborated mischievously to devise a plan on how to score some of the pork tenderloin that was cooking. But next thing you know someone opened the screen door and said “squirrel” and they went out to the yard to investigate.

duncan and lucy

we want to come back in where that pork tenderloin is

They were so embarrassed that they fell for that old trick. But eventually, when we were cleaning up our plates we gave them a few pieces =) It was a really nice day.

This morning I put on a blue shirt and pinned my handmade Boston Strong ribbon to it and headed to work.

boston strong

Boston Strong

I worked while simultaneously watching the live stream of the Boston Marathon.

live streaming

This is awesome!

Shalane Flanagan sure set pace for the elite women to blaze a trail. The course record was broken by Rita Jeptoo who crossed in 2:18:54. While Shalane actually placed 7th, she had a 3 minute PR finishing in 2:22:02 and really ran an amazing race. While I’ll never come close to that type of running I can’t help but be incredibly inspired. So inspired that I’ve decided my goal for next weekend is to take twice as long as she did. LOL! Yup, I’m shooting for 4:44:04!!!

And MEB!!!! What an amazing finish. He became not only the first American to win Boston in 31 years but he is also the only person in history, man or woman, to win Boston, New York City (2009) and an Olympic marathon medal (2004)!

I also want to congratulate 2 of my dear running peeps.

rog-carey

Back in 2008 Roger weighed quite a bit more than he does now. He was determined to run the Boston Marathon as his dad did years before. This video shows how he made that happen. And Carey is an avid supporter for Every Mother Counts. She’s always strong and steady with every finish. Last year she was just a mile away when the bombs exploded and she was pulled off the course unable to finish. So this year she got to finish what she started! She’s now run a marathon in 24 states! And a big shout out to camera shy Jorge too! I’ll see him next weekend in NJ so I’ll make sure he lets me take his pic. =)

My Monday was moving along quite nicely and while I was waiting to hear back from a few people at work I took the opportunity to sneak away to the NY Auto Show on my lunch break. I’m quite partial to Jeep if you haven’t figured that out by now….I even took a ride in one at their Camp Jeep Outdoor Off Roading Ride Along.

1511363_10203600898564731_2231137312513396662_n

secretly more stoked about the FREE reusable tote-bag they gave!!! But it was fun to go up and then down the big hill =)

photo 1

photo 4

a view of the stability part of the ride along from outside the vehicle and inside the vehicle

photo 5

what goes up…

photo 3

pretty color options

photo 2

my requirement for a vehicle is spare tire on the back. So by process of elimination it looks like I’ll be getting a Wrangler in the future.

And now I’m downloading some new tunes to put on my playlist for Sunday and reading the handy dandy NJ Marathon handbook and reviewing course elevations etc. I’m so excited! Never really did get the marathon taper crazies. But I also still don’t feel those fresh legs yet. (FREAKING OUT!)…

What was your favorite thing today? 

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