what i decided to do this weekend...

I just punched in my Visa... So I'm running the Wild Side 9K on Saturday. Or walking.

This afternoon as I was killing myself on a 5 mile trail run, I was contemplating whether or not to sign up. I was especially considering the fact that my running buddies were saying that they were not ready for the race. I'm trailing behind them on all these runs, and for some reason I'm thinking about running this and they aren't. Hmm.

My two major concerns:
1. I don't want to get down on myself if I can't run the whole thing. And it's very likely that I won't be able to.
2. I don't want to be last. Honestly, I'm worried about it. In any 5K you're always going to have walkers and people who are just starting out. I've never done anything more, I don't know what the crowd will be like.

Why I decided to do it anyways:
1. I couldn't run the first 5K I ran this season and it didn't discourage me at all. It just made me more determined to be able to run the next one.
2. I'm going to have to man up and get over it. I've signed up for a half in September and last time I checked it's more than a 5K. Yes I plan to train for this. Have a trained for the 9K? No. Even if I drag my booty across that line dead last... I'll still be draggin' it across. Which is way better than doing nothing.

Whether you think you can, or think you can't... You're right!
- Henry Ford

love these!

Check out Kiley's blog Daily Vitamin F. She's giving away two of these hilarious shirts that she makes.

So head on over and enter yourself to win one. I love running but this is so true, it does suck a big one sometimes!

working on holiday weekends is for the birds

Today sucked. Every drug addict within 50 miles decided to swing by my store today. Let me just tell you, dealing with the public is one thing. Dealing with the public on drugs is a whole nother ballgame. I have NEVER. I can't make this stuff up. I don't want to turn this blog into my work bitchfest, so let's just leave it at this, it was a stressful day.

What did I do to de-stress? Signed up for races! I signed up for a 5K at my church on June 11th. The proceeds go to an orphanage in Haiti. It's part of their VBS week. I also signed up for the Firecracker 10K that is of course, on the 4th of July. The race is a 8am (I signed up thinking it was 8pm) and I'm supposed to work 8-4 that day. Here's hoping I can switch, if not I'm out 30 bucks. And speaking of 30 bucks, why is it more money to run the 10K when you don't get anything else? The 5K racers get the same stuff. Someone enlighten me.

I have a couple more days to pick a race for next weekend. I'm either doing nothing or a 9K. Hmm.

New Gear!

It rained all day Thursday and Friday so we did a 5 miler in the arboretum. It was a lot more flat (but not flat) than Wednesday's run. I stopped a few times. And wanted to stop about fifteen three more times. I was proud though, we ran the second 2.5 miles straight back and it took about 23 minutes. I think it is going to help me so much to have someone to push me. I just hope I can help motivate her somedays too (eventually!).

I also got some new trail shoes.

Wow that picture is super small. Anyways, they are New Balance 573 Trail Runners. I found them at discount shoes for 50 bucks. I don't usually buy running shoes without doing a lot of research (and I haven't bought anything other than Mizuno Wave's for three years) but I figured I can't be running trails in the street shoes.

Even though they are the best shoes ever. I was nervous that trail shoes would be heavy, but this pair is really light and I actually really enjoyed running in them. We'll see, but so far so good. I'm worn out, I really need to go visit my friend Bob though.

Weight loss yoga. I need to stretch, badly. But I want to sleep! Not enough time in the day!

It's My Lucky Day

I had to get up early this morning to be at work at 8am. I was NOT feeling it. As fate should have it, I get there and another pharmacist is already working. SCORE. I scooted right on outta there. I made a successful trip to Target (Vitatops and movies). Successful trip to Target = spending less than $50. I got Definitely, Maybe and also replaced my copy of the Notebook (it's been stuck in a broken DVD player for a year, easy).

Then I did something that I've been debating for a while. But today I bit the bullet.

I signed up. I'm making progress on my own, but I really think I'd be doing more on WW. I haven't been since they changed the program and I wanted to see what it's all about. I'm especially inspired because my awesome momma has being doing it and hit her 10% goal this week. She's pretty amazing! She and I did WW the summer before I started pharmacy school and we both did so well. I really miss not being able to do stuff like this with her. She motivates me so much. So I'll let you know how it goes.

On my way home I stopped at the library (which is one of my favorite, favorite places) to see if they had anything good. Look what I found:

Meghann (at Meals & Miles) has been talking about this book and I'm very interested to see what it has to say. I haven't lifted consistently since my freshman year of college (Intro to Weight Training anyone?). Hopefully I'll find some good stuff in here.

Until then... I'm off to eat my Panera bagel and watch The Notebook.

I hope you're having a great day too!

Trail Running... Where Have You Been All My Life?

So long story short, I have no running buddies in AVL. Sometimes B-rad runs with me, but he runs faster, I run longer, and he'd rather watch Sportscenter he doesn't love to run.

I made a friend and she took me on an A-MAZING trail run. My only trail running experience was the small part of the Biltmore Classic and I really enjoyed it. This was a whole 'nother level. We went to Bent Creek.

I loved every minute of it. Mostly. The hills were killer, but it made the breaks and the downhill that much sweeter. And the last mile or so was single track. The miles flew by thanks to good company and great scenery. God has truly made such an amazing place for us to enjoy. We did 4.5 miles in about 55 minutes. Kinda slow, but I'm still super proud. This was so much more than what I normally run. All the grade changes and really having to be aware of my feet. Honestly I'm quite suprised I didn't face plant at least once (just call me Grace).

We're going back on Friday, if it isn't raining cats and dogs like it is right now. We're also planning on doing it after it gets dark. Wearing these:

Good idea? Bad idea? Comments welcome.

After our run, B and I went to see this:

What is this a PF Changs? Loved it.

And, I'm back!

So as soon as I hit publish on the last post we did, in fact, open the bar. Most people think it's cool to close down the bar. We all know that the most bored while stuck in airport coolest people open it.

I greeted the bartender with a "Can I drink yet?" and we all became fast friends. A few hours later we actually boarded our flight and made our way to our destination...

NYC! I've been threatening to drag patiently waiting for B-rad to go on this trip. He's never been and wasn't that interested. But after a lot of begging he agreed. I won't bore you with the whole trip, but it was SO fun. Friday we shopped around, saw some sights, and went to FAO Schwartz (I'm a Harry Potter geek, by the way). This is Professor McGonnagall's hat.

Later we had amazing mexican at Rosa Mexicano. The best guacamole I've ever had, and they make it fresh at your table. LOVE.

The pomengrante margaritas were also great. They were small and expensive, but packed a punch!

Saturday I got up and went on a long run/walk/jog in Central Park. Probably one of my favorite parts of the trip. Sunday I talked B-rad into joining so i got to take some pics.

Me with Alice: 

Saturday we ate lunch at this place:

I had an egg and cheese sandwich (meaty menu, but what do you expect at a deli?). Brad had this GARGANTUAN sandwich. No really, that's what it's called.

It easily had two more layers that I cut out with my shotty photography! We went to Ground Zero (pics are on my real camera) and then went to see...

It was sooooo good! Rafiki and the bird were the best parts, although Timon and Pumbaa were pretty funny too. All the costumes and sets were so great. It was really cool to see how they brought all the animals to life. Plus they did a lot of stuff in the aisles. These are our, we're going to see the lion king faces:

 Creepy? Yes. Roaring? Probably not.

Pouting to get him to smile. Nice.

So anyways, now we're back and worn out. The upstairs AC is broken. But on the bright side I did score two $100 credits with US Airways.

US Airways is Not My Fav

So what am I up to this morning? Oh you know, just getting up at 5am, busting my tail to get the AVL Airport only to find out that our flight has been cancelled. Fan-freaking-tastic! We got pushed to a later flight, so we've got about 4 hours to kill. I'm blogging and B-rad is doing what he does best when we fly... Teasing me for buying US Weekly then shamelessly reading it cover to cover. Love him.

I'm aggravated that I'm awake, and that we're missing about 4 hours in our destination... but I'm sure God has a reason for it. Also, AVL doesn't have a Starbucks. That kinda stinks. So I got a generic cinnamon latte (that cost just as much as Starbucks btw) and some reading material.

I found this package of awesomeness in the shop and it reminded me of one of my favorite movies:

Anyone? I guess someone would actually have to be reading this blog to guess. Technically.  Well, we're off to kill more time until the bar opens before our flight.

Surely it's socially acceptable to have some margaritas  one mimosa or something?

Biltmore Classic 5K/15K Race Review

This was the 13th annual running of the Biltmore Classic. The race proceeds benefit Kiwanis International Children's Charities. In previous years the race has been run at the Biltmore House (kinda sad I missed that), but this was the first year at a new location, the North Carolina Arboretum. I have been interested in the Arboretum as a potential place to run, but have put off going because they charge $8 a car to park. I'm not $8 interested.

You might have guessed from my earlier post, but my biggest complaint about the race is the generic website. Very little information. I'm new at this and I'm a nerd, so I want all the info I can get. But everything else was pretty great. It was a cool morning, I arrived and got checked in very easily. We were given T-shirts and Earth Fare coupons. They had the one of the buildings open so we had good bathrooms and could hang out in there until it warmed up. I walked around the grounds a little bit (had to see if it is worth the parking pass!!), and it was beautiful!

I loved the water features and all the beautiful flowers. Plus, I found out that they have LOTS of trails for running/walking/biking. The website says 10 miles worth. The race started right on time and the first half mile was downhill (which I loved, except I knew that the start line was also the finish so i knew we were coming back up them at some point). About a mile in the terrain switched to gravel, which was different. I just tried to concentrate on not tripping.

The distance wasn't marked well, but I had my Nike+ to give me an idea of the mileage. I didn't pay attention to my pace, so I was very happy when I got close to the clock and saw 32 minutes. After the race they had bagels, bananas, orange slices, water, Coke Zero, some chocolate/peanut butter bars and some animal crackers. Pretty good for such a small race. I also really enjoyed being able to go back and wait for the 15K runners.  I decided right then and there that I would not be running the 5K next time... 15K here I come.

I also think I'm gonna purchase the annual parking pass and do some training on all the hilly trails in the arboretum. It'll be good prep for the ACT Half.

Let's Just Be Honest...

I worked 12 hours today. I am TIRED. All I wanted to do when I got home is grab the whole bottle a glass of this:

Put on my pajamas, curl up with this guy:

And catch up on this:

It sounded so good. Even now I'm wondering why I didn't. But I managed to dig up some motivation (mostly from the fact that I haven't worked out since Sunday and I won't be able to fit in another until Saturday) and drag my booty to the gym. I got in a 5K on the treadmill. Took me 33:50. Great time, no. Better than chilling on the couch, probably. Now I think I'll go put a dent in have a small sip of the bubbly.

I Want This Job

Sign me up! I could SO be their donut person. I could also weigh 400 lbs.

I Did It

Managed to cross the line yesterday with a new PR! 32:43 Beat my old one by a full minute. I am so happy about this, especially considering how tough the course was (hilly, gravel, hilly). I even walked for a tenth of a mile, so I'm feeling very confident that I can break 30 minutes this season.

As always after a race, I have the fever. I come home and spend hours figuring out which to choose next. My next weekend to race will be June 4/5. There are two races around here that weekend, a 5K and a 9K. I'm seriously considering the 9K, but I don't know what to do. The 9K is in the Arboretum like this race was. I'm nervous because I've never raced that far, and it'll be hilly, and I haven't ran more than 3.5 miles in training yet. You don't have to sign up until June 1, so I think I'll work on my mileage then make a decision.

What do you think? 5K or 9K?

Lance Armstrong Showed Me How to Use Moleskin This AM

I laid out my gear last night (is it layed or laid? I never mastered that one). I got up around 545a, our foster doggy was barking like crazy. I got her and Riley out and fed then got myself put together. I had about five Sharkies for breakfast. Before my last 5K I had apples and PB before the race and felt horrible. This worked a lot better for me and my stomach felt great.

Then I had to deal with a blister. The other night I threw on some socks and shoes so that I could walk the dogs up and down our mountain. I don't usually workout in the pair of socks that I grabbed, and I earned myself a blister with that decision (more thoughtlessness, less decision... you actually have to think about it to make a decision). So after work last night I picked up some of this:

Then this morning I realized I had no idea what to do with it. I was leaning towards just cutting it and slapping a piece over the blister. But since I had a little extra time (thanks Chandler for waking me up at the crack of dawn) and my last bout of carelessness put me in this situation in the first place... I decided to do what I always do when I am unsure of how to do something... I googled it. I found this gem. Thank you Lance Armstrong.  

Pardon the dog hair, but other than that I was pretty proud of myself. And it worked like a charm!

I got to the Arboretum around 7a, got registered and warmed up. And I was wrong, I did get a shirt.

They started the race right on time which I was really happy about. I hate waiting around. I'll review the race later, but I was very happy with it and my time. Possibly a new PR?!? You'll have to wait and see, I'll post when the official results go up. I'm off to take a nap and eat my weight in protein.

Biltmore Classic 5K/15K

Tomorrow I'm running the 14th annual Biltmore Classic that is put on by the Kiwanis Club. I'm doing the 5K... If it actually goes down. I'm feeling a little skeptical and a lot confused. When I signed up for the race the website was mostly under construction. I figured I was just early (which should have been the first clue, because I am rarely that) and they were slow.

I signed up and based on the fact that they did not ask for my shirt size, I'm assuming no shirt for me (my deduction skills are amazing, no?). After a little googling, I found out that for the last 13 years, this race has been run on the Biltmore Estate.

Awesome. I have amazing timing. Yes I have been to the Biltmore more times that I care to count, but it would be really cool to run a race there. But for whatever reason, the race is no longer happening there. It's supposedly happening at the NC Arboretum, which is about a half a mile from our house but we've never been (mostly because they charge like 10 bucks a car to park there). I found out that they offer a pass that is reasonable if you go a lot and I have been looking for a place closer to home to run. I've been putting it off until tomorrow to see what it's like.

Anyways, the website is still crap. No new info. All I know is that there had better be a race tomorrow. Because if I get up at 6am for nothing, I'm gonna be MAD!

Asheville Citizen Times Half Marathon

ACT Website

So as I mentioned before, I have officially signed up for the ACT Half Marathon. We moved to Asheville during the Summer of 2009, and I considered doing this race in 2009 and 2010. Both years I was scheduled to work, so I made excuses and didn't sign up. I am scheduled to work this weekend, but I'm just taking a leap of faith that I can somehow get out of it. I'm not going to let work be my excuse. Also, husband pointed out that if I'm going to do this, why not do one close to home?

If you're wondering what the title of my blog refers to... This is it. Two times I have put myself through months of training for two different half marathons. Round one went down my first year of pharmacy school. We had a wellness project and for it one of my classmates, one of our mutual friends, and I decided we were going to train for and run the Kentucky Derby Mini Marathon. We began training in January for the race that was the last week of April. We worked our butts off, got up at 5am to get our runs in, and completed all of our training runs (we used a training plan for novices on the race website). Our longest run was an 8 miler. What happened? Spring Break happened.

Spring break consisted of a whole lot of these. I don't remember much else (kidding... mostly). What I do remember was that it was H-O-T in Orlando and we all forfeited a week of training. When we made our return to reality, we were all burnt out and my friend found out she had a stress fracture. So what did we do? I hate to say the word, but we did. We quit.


Fast forward 2 years later to Summer of 2010. We are in Asheville and the way our jobs work we have a lot of days off during the week, AKA: I don't have kids to keep me busy, shopping everyday is seriously depleting my checkbook, and you can only watch so many episodes of Glee, Gilmore Girls, and One Tree Hill (to name a few). I also needed some motivation to workout, and having a "plan" that I can follow and check off as I go usually works really well for me. So I started training again. Once again I made it to my 8 mile long run... Then I quit. It's hard to put my finger on why I quit this time. I was training alone. In the heat of summer. I never actually signed up for a half so I wasn't excited or committed financially.


So yeah, I've been a quitter in the past, but I'm going to change that this time. I know I can make it to 8 miles, so there is no reason why I can't do it again. And I'm going to keep goint after the 8 so that I can run this half. That's where the blog comes in. I need YOU to hold me accountable. Because obviously I haven't been able to do it myself!

Workout:  4.73 miles Probably ran about 3 of those.

Being as I just signed up for the half, I spent forever reading all about it, looking at the course, blah blah blah. The thing that seems clear is that it is full of hills. Lots and lots of them. So what do I do? Go run hills, duh.

They wore me plum out. I'm expecting to be a little sore tomorrow. I'd like to recover with some spinning tomorrow, but we'll see. B is off and he often likes to throw a wrench in my workout plans... In his defense I'm easily distracted. Let's go sit on our butts and watch Swamp People and eat... Twist my arm.

Saggy Crotches and Beautiful Bodies

Workout:  45 minute Rush Ride

Took my new seat with me to spinning today and it helped SO MUCH. A little backstory (pun intended)... Last Thursday I took my first spin class, then proceeded to spend the whole weekend driving to/in/around my old KY home. My butt was sore! So I stopped at Dick's Sporting Goods to try out padded shorts and seats. In my mind I was thinking I needed something like this:

Overkill maybe? I was in serious pain though. I don't even know what these are for, maybe for training those police dogs that tackle people? They look like something that all the guys from JackAss should invest in. Anyways. I tried on some shorts and had a consistent problem. Saggy crotch. Yuck. Plus I couldn't see myself strutting through the gym in those tight things. So I got a seat instead.

Avenir Softee Saddle Pad. I paid $19.99 and when looking for pictures I just noticed you can get it online for $15.99. Grrr. On the bright side, it helped so much! Which I'm really happy about because I really enjoy the classes. Enjoy in a hurt so good way.

B met me at the gym (and brought me my seat that I'd forgotten at home) and did some running and biking of his own. Afterwards we went to see Thor. It was pretty good and funny at times. I love Natalie Portman, and the guy who played Thor, Chris Hemsworth, was very easy on the eyes.

You're welcome.