TTT.....Long Week Edition

1. It has rained here everyday since Sunday. I have been able to run. I did one indoor on the Mill and a 6 miler outside yesterday. My H is traveling this week and it is not great for brain. I don't sleep great when he is gone and I am just out of sorts this week. Not lucky is that all of the fields in our town have been closed all week and my two Lacrosse boys are losing their marbles. I found A in his bed with his lacrosse stick last night, sleeping......Thankfully, S is still riding or else it might be a little crazy here.

2. I am gearing up for my next half marathon which is Memorial Day Weekend. I am hoping for a 1:50 as I am trying to get into a coral at the Chicago Marathon. I have not really trained for a 1:50, but I am hoping that the stars will align and it will happen. This will be my 4th half marathon this year. It really is one of my favorite distances:)

3. I also found out this week that I got into the Falmouth Road Race. It is a lottery and I am beyond thrilled! I am already signed up for Beach to Beacon, now Falmouth and finally I am going to do the Gloucester Road Race. The three New England beach races. I am so excited! I have friends doing Beach to Beacon with me and the Gloucester race. I am on my own for Falmouth, but that is okay. I am hoping the my H and I can make a week out of it.

Happy Thursday friends. I hope that it is sunny and dry where you are....

When not to Detox

My chiro suggested a Detox for me to do. She said it would be easy, it was only for a week and she thought that I could handle it. She also said it might help me to drop that last 5 pounds. I jumped on board, bought it and decided to start it today. Today was the day my husband left for the week and I got my period. (sorry any male readers.)

Yes, my friends...no coffee, no dairy, no caffeine, no grains. Just my fiber drink and detox pills. I was ready to go.

Well....today was fine until dinner. When I made my salad and then put a pizza in the oven for the kiddos. And that my friends is when it hit....I was hungry not only hungry I was starving. I had had so much fruit and vegetables all day that I needed something with substance. I broke. Not only did I have all of my salad. I had pizza and a diet coke and a bite of spaghetti. You know me when I go, I go big.

My husband e-mailed me from the plane. I told him that I broke. He told me that this might have not been the best week. That maybe I should have waited for him to be home so that I had a bit more support. "Really Rene', no caffeine for the week I'm away?" I have to say he is right.

So...long story short I will do my best this week. I am hoping to cut back on my caffeine and eat a lot more veggies. Hopefully, it will work! YIKES!!!

Heartbreak Hill Half Marathon

Yesterday my girl M and I ran the Heartbreak Hill Half Marathon in Newton, MA. I was not totally sure about this race. I have been consistently running, my longest run being 10 miles, but not particularly training for a half marathon. So I went in with no big expectations.

We arrived at Newton South High School at 6:30 am for a 7:30 start time. It was raining. Not drizzling, RAINING! I looked at M, hoping she would say let's go home....but, she didn't and out we went to get our numbers. Number pick up was easy, it was not a big race. I believe that there were 400 runners between the half and 5K. The shirts were cute. We ran back to the car to get our gear on and back over to the starting line. The race started at 7:30....

The course was tough. Newton is hilly which I knew going in. Travis and I had lived in that area prior to moving to NH. The hills were consistent, but with each up there was a good downhill which we tended to make up time on. At mile 6 we got to Heartbreak Hill. It was not the bottom of the hill, more in the center and we went up to BC. Before the turn at BC we turned up this road that looked like it went straight to the clouds. I had one of those, "feet don't fail me now" moments. I just kept running, not looking up and finally making it to the top. It was an out and back course so we then started our return back to the high school. It was obviously the same hills, but mile 12 was up and it was up for pretty much the entire mile. We kept on trucking, we checked our Garmin's frequently (I can't help it!) and realized that we were at a sub 2 hour. We picked up the pace a bit, M- went ahead of me. (She is very quick.) and I just kept running. I saw the finish line and flew through....1:57 garmin time...1:57:48 race time. I was thrilled. Not bad for the hills and gave me confidence for my half in 2 weeks.

A few words about the race. It was a great race. Really good course support, good water stops and sweet helpful people. I would definitely do this race again.

I am taking today off from running. My house needed to be picked up and vacuumed and I needed a self day. Also...I started my cleanse today. More on that as the week goes along.

Happy "Rainy" Monday!

Look What I Did Today?

Today I went to Runner's Alley in Nashua, NH and bought myself a treat. Yes you are looking at them. Pink and purple Vibrams. I have been wanting a pair for a while. Reading MCM Mama's posts about them and one of my training besties wearing them for short distances made me think I that maybe they are something that I want to try.

I spent the day walking around in them. Modeling them. Seeing an old lady shake her head and say, "You kids' wear the strangest things today." (Kid....I'll take that) and coming up with a little training plan in my brain to running in them. Start slow on the mill and build up to run a 5K on June 9th. (Is this possible?) They are definitely for fun. I don't have any notions of running far in them. I really love my Mizuno's, but who knows, right?

The best part. When we returned home our friend was working in our yard, looking at my feet he said, "You have Vibrams?"

"I just bought them, we'll see what happens."

"That is all I wear to run. I am up to 6 miles in mine. You won't want to go back."

A/ I didn't even know that David ran. B/ It is funny to think of him in Vibrams. As Siri said when he was leaving, "Mr. Dave, you are very COOL!"

Here's to a happy weekend friends. Think of me on Sunday morning. Our race starts at 7:30. Wish me luck!

3 Things Thursday....Respect Edition

1. I am running the Heartbreak Hill Half Marathon this weekend. Am I prepared? Nope, not the least bit. I ran 10 miles on Monday, 6 on Wednesday and 4 this AM. When did I become so nonchalant about a half marathon. Honestly, I am running 13.1 miles. The first time I did a half I had a training plan, I changed my eating, in fact I think that I dropped 10 pounds. Now...I am like whatever happens happens. Scary and I am a little scared about how my body will feel after. I definitely am not respecting the distance.

2. I have not been respecting my body. I have been in 4 kids sports hell. Yes even my four year old is playing lacrosse and who said she would help coach....yes, you guessed it ME. Have I ever mentioned that I played Lacrosse in high school and college. It is so fun and I love seeing the girls in their goggles with their sticks, but I have no time for this. Thankfully it is only on Mondays from 6-7, which was my free night, but hey why be free. Oh anyway back to respecting my body. I have been eating JUNK. Anything that I can stuff into my mouth on the run. I am not feeling great. My stomach is bloated, my face looks a little bloated uhhh....I just feel disgusting. I was describing this to my Chiropractor yesterday and next week (starting Monday) I am going to do a cleanse. No caffeine, dairy, nothing white etc...and I am going to drink some fiber powder and pop some detox pills. It is just for a week and I am hoping that it is going to jump start positive eating.

3. Respecting my time....I am definitely not respecting my time. I am going in so many directions that by the end of the day I fall asleep wherever I am. I don't know how you working Mamas, school Mamas etc... do it? If I had to go to a job or school every day you might find me hanging from a bridge. So shout out to all of you that work so hard everyday! Wow!

Happy Weekend everyone!

It's Mother's Day

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!! We have been blessed with a beautiful day her in the Granite State. It is bright and sunny and even a bit warm....After spending the day at a lacrosse tournament yesterday we were all very tired, but don't worry because all 4 kids were up by 6:30 to start our breakfast in bed tradition. At our house it is actually funny, the kids make breakfast (with hubby's help of course), bring it up to me and then proceed to help me eat it:) This morning they were very excited about the present part of the show....Izzie (age 4) took everything out of the bag and described it to me. 3 new charms for my bracelet......a few treats from RunningSkirts.com (hmmmm....could it be the email that I sent H..at work?) and then a special treat from my husband...a pre-order on the new Garmin touchscreen. I was so excited, I am suprised that you didn't hear me screaming in your town or state....I am a sucker for gadgets and when I played with the Garmin 610 at the Boston Marathon expo I loved it. It is a little sleeker than the 310 and just fun. Wow I was one lucky lady!

On another note I ran a treadmill 10K the other night at the gym, (my friends were playing tennis) in 50:45 which is 13 seconds faster than my 10K PR from October. I am hoping to break 50:00 this year at a race. Fingers crossed....

I hope this mother's day finds you all healthy and happy. I hope that fun days and running are ahead of you and maybe even some cute treats too.

Three Things Thursday

1. I have no edition today. It seems like this week is flying by. Mostly with kids' sports and activities. I have been able to run 3 times this week and will run tomorrow and hopefully Sunday in between lacrosse games. I am feeling pretty good. A little quad pressure still, but nothing that is sidelining me.

2. I went to Body Pump the other day and am still having a hard time sitting on the toilet. uhhh...why, why, why....I know that I need to go to the class. I need strength training, but man it is so hard. I will not give up, but I think that I will need to take it a bit slower to start.

3. A very special shout out to EMZ who begins her 24 hour treadmill run for charity tomorrow. Please go to her blog or even give her a small donation. It is for a great cause and I know that you won't regret it.