Twenty-Nine

I turned 29 years old on Saturday.  For the first time in 4 years, I was able to travel home and spend my actual day of birth with my family and friends in the house and town I grew up in.  My heart is just so full from this weekend.

Training for Tuesday - Spring 2016

With a finish time of 2:02:37, I've wrapped up my spring race season. 33.1 miles (23.1 of which were the hilliest I've ever run) between 4/2 and 4/23. I think I've earned a nice long break from racing (well, until the fall anyway) ! 👟🏁🏅#running #runrdu #runlikeagirl #tarheel10miler #runhappy #10miler @tarheel10miler

A photo posted by Lisa Marie 💀 (@lisamdee) on Apr 23, 2016 at 2:55pm PDT

Rock N Roll Raleigh - Race Recap

My DC Weekend - Cherry Blossom 10 Miler

This past weekend was the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in Washington, DC where I got to see Alyssa & Tracy and run an awesome race in a pretty rad city.

What a great weekend with amazing people. 10/10 would do it all again ! After the race, @briandouglas138 and I got to hang around the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and the Air and Space Museum. Our step count ended up totaling 20 miles for the day !! 🇺🇸❤️🏁👟🌸 #cherryblossom10miler #cherryblossom #washingtonmonument #smithsonian #washingtonDC

A photo posted by Lisa Marie 💀 (@lisamdee) on Apr 3, 2016 at 4:46pm PDT

I'm Not Ready

I woke up on Tuesday with a sore throat and body aches. I left work early, holed myself up on the couch and binge watched Friends.  For the past 3 days, I have loaded up on Vitamin C & E, drowned myself in hot tea and honey and soup and Coldeeze.  It's Thursday, and while I don't feel worse, I don't feel like I could run a half marathon. I have a doctors appointment today because of course I have a cold or strep or the plague something.

My thoughts over the past few days:

Bloggers #RunOaks

I've been looking forward to this past weekend ever since Alyssa told me she was thinking about signing up for City of Oaks.  The fact that it's over already and I'm writing a recap doesn't feel real.  I hope that you've already been over to Alyssa's page and check out Tracy's as well.

Training Linkup: The Richmond Edition

In case you didn't get enough training talk yesterday, here's some more !

I need to be a Time Lord

I haven't written a post in HOW MANY DAYS !??! Jesus, where the hell is the time going ?! Someone get me a Tardis so I can go back and update this more often. I could have sworn I only wrote a post the other day and it wasn't THAT long ago. Le sigh. Well, since it's been forever and a day, how about some updates, yes ?

I'm Not Dead

Hi. Remember me ? I'm not dead [yet]. I just tend to fall off the face of social media for an extended amount of time. Especially one that requires thought and planning and effort and it's not that I don't love you guys but honestly

Story of my life for the past 2 months. Which I feel SUPER bad about and will probably apologize for over the next million blog posts.

Especially when the creation of this blog was to track my progress for a certain half marathon that, oh yeah, I KILLED in 2:14:14.

So would it be okay that even though I haven't been around in almost 2 months, I got a little braggy ? I mean, you do come here to read about me, right ?

Oh good.  Want some pictures ? Of course you do. And I just happen to have some right here:

(Finish line pic - Sweatband dude is my FAVORITE)

(YAY for this guy. I'd probably be dead if it wasn't for him)

(Let's talk about the unnecessarily GIANT finishers medal, shall we ?!)

And you'll never guess who I ran into (no not literally, she was TOTALLY done before me) ?! The super awesome Tracy !

It was one of those fun moments of "Hey ! I'm so excited to actually meet you and I smell and you're here with your family and I'm awkward and I really want coffee but high fives for awesomeness and I'm gonna go die now, kbye !" I only hope that one day I can run a sub 2:00 half like this girl. Damn !

THEN, I ran the Santa Paws 5K which was my first ever 5K last year. The course was in a different place than last year, I got lazy and hadn't run since the half and holy hills batman did that course hurt. But I still PR-ed with a 29:01 !

(Again, This guy ? Best. Ever.)

And lastly...I ran my first Turkey Trot 8K on Thanksgiving. That however, was not a fun run for me as my lungs have decided to suck A LOT. I still managed to do it in 51:58 but I walked WAY more than I wanted to.  Shout out to Big Mike for running and walking with me the whole time while I was pretty sure I was dying. [Asthma that has been dormant for about 15 years has decided to rear its ugly head again in the form of exercise induced asthma.  Currently on a steroid inhaler to kickstart my lungs so cross your fingers they stop sucking - metaphorically of course - and breathing becomes not so brutal.]

Otherwise I've just been relaxing and having awesome adventures (pictures to come once I get them all off my phone, obviously): Front row seats to a Hurricanes hockey game, fun trips to the zoo, Dracula the ballet, and lots of other fun things. I can honestly say for the first time in a VERY long time, I am so insanely happy with my life. Now if I could just get a job that doesn't make me grumpy...

What does the future have in store ? Once I can get my breathing under control, I plan on training for a TBD spring half marathon. Only this time ? NO WALKING. Now that I know I can complete one, I want to run the whole thing. And I also want to nail some PR's in the process.

I guess the only thing left is...are you guys going to hang out and see how it all unfolds ?!

Hello Sir Walter

Happy Friday Friends !  I know that usually on Friday we list a whole bunch of things that are favorites but work is KILLING ME and I have way too much to do BUT !!! I would be super sad if I missed a linkup AND I hope you don't mind if I use this to gush/brag for a minute about one of my favorite people ever in the history of everything.

Sir Walter Miler:  Tonight is this pretty awesome event known as the Sir Walter Miler.  Basically there's going to be a huge race tonight to see people run the mile as fast as they can.  The goal is to see if this guy, Sandy, can run a sub 4:00 mile.  

I know...crazy right ?! There's going to be over 200+ people hanging out at this track at a college to cheer on a bunch of people making 16 (is my math right on this ?) left turns.

Why is this included in a Friday Favorite you might ask ? Because in addition to 3 awesome people that I will be going to cheer for, the boy will be running as one of the competitors.  He will be reppin his Fleet Feet Store in the Raleigh's Finest Mile. 

To say that I'm excited for him is an understatement. I've made a shirt and currently have some fun things in the works for tonight (I would tell you what they are but I'm not sure if he reads this or not and don't want to spoil the surprise - I'll tell you all about it on Monday, I promise !).  

So people out there in blogland, cross your fingers and cheer your loudest tonight (the race starts at 9PM) and send good vibes that my guy has an epic race tonight.  He's been training and working hard, has his s and I can't wait to see him kick some serious ass on the track tonight :)  I swear I'm only a little excited...

Hope everyone has a great weekend !  If anyone in Raleigh is looking for something fun to do tonight, come hang out with me and well, everyone else I know, at Meredith College tonight - you can come scream and cheer with us.

(But in a good way !)

I didn't die

I know, I know....I'm a day late.  But better late than pregnant never, right ?! [For those of you who missed the golden girls reference, please leave this post, go here, watch the episode and then maybe I can forgive you.]

Let's get right down to it: my 5K on Saturday.

I woke up at the most insane hour of 6AM.  Thankfully I set up everything the night before because I knew I would be in zombie mode.  I dragged my feet to my car and drove to the boys place so we could take one car and also because I hate driving/parking in downtown and honestly, I don't function before 9AM.  I then spent the next hour trying to come up with every excuse in the book to NOT run.

(Sorry for the feels Dr. Who fans)

Once I got over my anxiety (and by "got over" I mean I could hold a conversation with friends without wanting to burst into tears), it was okay.  We took some fun pictures and they laughed at my shirt.  Don't hate me, but I don't actually have a good picture of it.  I was slightly worried about not coming in last in front of all my friends ! Oops !

(My eyes are closed but oh well !)

(at the starting line before I hid myself in the anonymity of the crowd)

I adore these people.  I only get as nervous as I do running around them because they are just hands down some of THE most awesome people I have ever met.  But back to my story.

Here's a quick rundown of what happened after that picture:

• Can't get a GPS signal on my watch.
• And they're off !
• "Shoot, Guess I'll just run until it picks up." (I should mention that my watch times my 3:30 run/1:00 walk intervals which it can't do when I'm trying to get the GPS to work)
• Running
• Feeling awesome !
• Nice view of downtown !
• Watch still hasn't picked up GPS
• "How long have I been running ?"
• Get GPS signal
• Start running 3:30 interval.
• "Pretty sure I'm gonna regret this when I'm done."
• "Oh, some uphill, no big - OW !"
• "Am I ever going to go downhill ?!"
• "Thank you directing traffic person !"
• My IT bands just noped the fuck out
• "I'll take 'What is Breathing' for One Million Alex."
• A montage of pain and confusion but I'm walking it off.

• "I have to be done soon"
• Brian comes backtracking and finds me.  I must have had an epic look of relief on my face because he started laughing.
• Meghan and Rita and Matt and all the awesome people show up to run with me.
• Less laughing/talking, more running.
• More Ow.
• Meghan teaches me how to breathe: instant relief
• Running fast !
• Yelling !
• Finish line !
• Run Walk quickly away from people and try not to throw up.
• Drink water and become normal again.

So in summary, I ran longer than I have in about 5 months, it hurt like hell (but I recovered almost instantly which was cool) and I finished sub 30.  When I looked at my watch it only tracked 2.6 miles which makes me figure I ran for about 8 minutes between a 9-9:30 pace before I took a walk break.  Bonus points for being able to go that long, but I feel like it would have made the whole thing easier overall if I had stuck to the original plan.

(The results)

I'm currently trying to figure out my next few races.  I've got just about 3 months to get ready for City of Oaks.  Let's do this !

Other noteworthy things of the weekend:

• Had my chiro appointment for my IT bands after the 5K - ice has been my best friend for 3 days
• Did a lot of laying around with the monsters. Mostly because I couldn't sit/stand/move without pain (BTW - so worth it)
• Finally saw Jaws for the first time ever.  Didn't freak out or have nightmares.  Major points for me.

There you have it ! I'm excited to run again tonight after taking yesterday and Sunday off to give my legs some time to recover.  Based on the 8:30 minutes I actually ran without stopping on Saturday, I'm going to see what I can actually do.  Time to start pushing my limits a little bit !

Hope everyone had a good weekend  (and a good Monday !)

Running Randomness

At this point in my running career, I've come to terms with the fact that I'm going to hurt.  

I'm currently sitting here, typing this for all of you, trying to ignore my legs. Because we're currently not on speaking terms this morning. They woke up (late, I might add) and were all "We're sore ! We're gonna put this knot in your calf ! Hey, we're throwing some shin soreness in there but don't worry because your IT bands are still going to hurt like always ! Nah nah nah nah nah nah !" and I'm all like

and as soon as I'm done laying some fun random running updates on you, I'm making a date with the stick (That's what she said ! Ah !) and going to town with the RockTape.  Hopefully my legs appreciate the attention because they're going back to work tonight.  I found a 3.1 mile route that didn't murder me and I'd like to try that again tonight.  

I have another 5K on Saturday ! I'm actually more nervous about this one than the last one.  Mostly because everyone I know will be running it.  I keep making jokes about how when they're all done, they can come back and get me.  It's funny but at the same time makes me pretty sad that I'm slow enough that all my friends will finish the race, probably walk around for a little bit and still be able to run back, get me and run probably another mile with me while I finish.  This will be the ultimate test of self confidence for me.  I just have to think about putting one foot in front of the other and finishing the race.  It's going to be hard to ignore how slow I'll feel, but the most important thing is that I finish.  I don't have a time goal or anything, I just want to feel like I did my best.  Or as best I can do with doing 3:1 run/walk anyway.  I could chance running the whole thing but I don't think that's my smartest move right now.

After this 5K it's time to buckle down and focus on preparing for the half marathon.  I need to focus on being consistent with how often I run, increase the mileage and avoid injury.  The biggest challenge for me is going to be my diet.

I eat like crap.  Chocolate is the main staple of my diet.  I survive on Goldfish and M&M's.  I'm lactose intolerant and despise fruit (bananas are okay).  I think it is absolutely okay to eat pizza for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (and I learned this weekend that it can also be dessert !) I don't know how to cook and am usually too lazy to go food shopping.  I don't know what food to eat to help with training.  I am THE pickiest eater you will ever meet. Also I'm lazy. If it takes more than 10 minutes to make and I have to use the oven or stove, well it's just not happening.  Cheap, easy, plain jane recipes (especially smoothies) are welcomed and encouraged if anyone has any !

I will leave you with this:  I should be getting my new shoes soon !  

I have been drooling over these babies for over a month now when I first got to try them.  And soon I will own them and it will be awesome and I'm so excited I can't even wait.

Can't wait to get back to Meredith College again tonight to run because last night's run went so well !  So there's your random running updates from me.  There will start to be more of these because, after all, I started blogging so I could share my progress.  As always, thanks for reading you guys !!

Weekending - What's sleep ?

It's Monday again...funny how that seems to happen every week despite my objections.  Oh well !  I'm very excited for today's post because I can finally tell everyone how my 5K went this weekend ! And while I'm at it, I figured I could do another linkup as well :)  I love these because I'm finding so many interesting bloggers to stalk follow.

I love seeing posts about "Oh it was great to sleep in" or "I didn't have to set my alarm and it was nice."  On Saturday I got up at the ungodly hour of 6AM to run 3 miles.  My immediate thought:

Followed by:

It was a small race of only 108 people.  I spent a lot of time going back and forth in my head of "It would be cool if someone I knew was here" and "Oh man I hope I don't see anyone I know here".  I was nervous and excited and afraid I would screw something up (not quite sure how as long as I kept putting one foot in front of the other, but I'm a constant worrier so it happens).  About 15 minutes before the race was going to start, I had the best cheerleader I could have asked for show up with tons of good advice (as he'd run the course before) AND he ended up running with me during the hardest part of the course.  I pretty much won at life right there.

I stuck to my 3:1 but since I had music in, sometimes I didn't hear my watch or think to look at it so it ended up being more like 4:1 sometimes (I actually forgot my watch was set for that once I started and did 6:1...oops !)  I loved the course. It was a trail which made it interesting (I've never run on anything not paved before) and it was actually really enjoyable.

The end results were:

(According to my watch)
Time: 30:12.3
Pace:  9:58/mi

(According to the chip)
Time: 30:10
Pace: 9:43/mi

I'm going to go with my watch time for the more accurate results.  And I'm a little sad because it wasn't 3.1 miles (at least according to my watch).  Regardless, I still kicked butt ! When's my next race ?!

(I look ridiculous and gross after the race but I had too much fun to care !)

The rest of Saturday consisted of puppy time at the park, a quick nap (for them) and a birthday party for a 6 year old, which was awesome...except for the ridiculous amount of 6 year olds.  

Besides the 5K, my favorite part of the weekend was a Sunday night adventure around the NC Museum of Art.  It was probably the best way the weekend could have ended.  Now it's back to the daily grind of the work week.  Not sure about anyone else but I am SUPER PUMPED that this is only a 4 day work week.

How was everyone else's weekend ? Tell me, tell me, tell me !