Nike Women's Half Marathon San Francisco-Race Review

So, would I run the Nike Women's Half in SF again?  YES!  But, I hear that it's not coming back (could be a rumor) and it definitely was an expensive adventure...but 100% worth it.

Here are my thoughts about the good and the bad of the whole race experience.

Good

• Awesome location
• Tiffany & Co finisher medal (seriously, my two medals-DC and SF-are the ONLY race medals I wear daily)
• Nike race swag and SF half marathon gear for purchase
• Fantastic crowd support
• Smooth organization and race execution

Bad

• Lack of communication about key race details
• Nike deciding to not mail race packets only 2 weeks prior to the race
• Crazy long, unorganized finisher boutique lines
• Nike gear is $$
• $20 ticket for a shuttle back to the start

I'd love to hear about your experiences.  The Nike FB page was full of very angry comments, which made for some highly interesting reading during our flight delay on the trip back home :)

We literally made the most out of every minute of our time in SF.  After the race, we shuttled back to the start (and pretty much the front door of our hotel), we showered and headed out to lunch.  The 49ers were playing, so the first place we attempted to go was full.  We ended up at an Irish pub and the food was pretty good.  BUT, my friend's credit card was overcharged $300...so BOO to that establishment and the fact that they won't respond to her to fix the issue.

Post lunch and fully refueled, we hopped on a cable car again and headed back down to the pier to bike the Golden Gate Bridge.  Nothing like running a half marathon and biking a bridge in one day.

The ironic part was on the ride down to the pier, we discussed how the weather had been nice and the traditional SF fog was not an issue.  We spoke a little too soon.  The bridge adventure was a little drizzly and definitely foggy.  But gorgeous nonetheless.

We rented bikes and followed the bike path (which wasn't as easy as the dude made it seem, although maybe our exhaustion hindered our critical thinking skills).  The path had one big hill and was a bit much for us and we walked our bikes some.  There was no actual bike path at this part and we were nervous nellies about it!  It also was getting dark, to be fair.

We sped back to try and return our bikes before the place closed, but we didn't make it, so we had to go a little further to their larger store and make the drop there.  We ended the night with some souvenir shopping and yummy Mexican dinner.  

That pretty much sums up our whirlwind trip.  Checkout was super early for us (5am-ish) and we hit the Bart and headed back to the airport.  Thankfully the only travel delay we experienced was the last leg of our trip.  Our final flight was 3 hours delayed and we didn't get back to our homes until 3am.  Totally.worth.it.

You can see my other race recap posts here, here, here, and here.

Nike Women's Half Marathon San Francisco-Race Results

So I know you've all been waiting on pins and needles to hear about my results and the end of the race.  Or not :)

I've been super busy pretty much since the school year started.  In fact, today seemed to be the first weekend day that I didn't have anything on my agenda.  It's been glorious.  And now I'm here to wrap up my SF Nike Women's Half recap.

As I previously stated, I had three over all performance goals. And I came EXTREMELY close to hitting the most ambitious one.

Here is the breakdown of my run...probably more than you'll ever want to know.

So I was obviously monitoring time and attending to my goals during the run.  When I got to the top of the hill around mile 10 (dear God that was tough) I knew that I was definitely on track to beat goal #1 (faster than my last 1/2) and also goal #2 (be done by 9:30am).  What I didn't realize was how close I was to my PR time!  Part of it was due to the fact that I couldn't remember the exact time.  FAIL.  I thought it was either 2:24 or 2:26.  Turns out I was wrong on both accounts.

I was 29 seconds from setting a new PR.  29 seconds!!!!!!  If I had known that I was that close, I would have a) run more of the giant hill and b) not walked at mile 12 when I ate my last Shot Blok.  So yes, I was a little frustrated with myself (and the cell reception at the finish line b/c I couldn't get my phone to pull up my Shamrock time!); however, the fact that I was even that close to my time makes me happy.  This course was MUCH MUCH tougher than the fast, flat Virginia Beach course. I also know that I could have pushed myself harder.  What this means is....I'm going to BRING it at next year's Shamrock.  I'll elaborate more on this goal closer to the race.

My last Nike post will be a race review and detail the fun we had post-race in San Fran! 

Nike Women's Half Marathon San Francisco-Race Day!

I can honestly say that I have NEVER, EVER slept so well the night before a race.  I guess the long travel time combined with a day of sight-seeing left me with no other choice.  And it was delightful.  Our 4:30 am wake-up didn't seem insane.  Probably because we were both fast asleep before 9 pm.

My pre-race ritual is to wake up; enjoy coffee, a banana, and a peanut butter chocolate chip Larabar; and then get myself "ready" for the run.  This process includes stuffing 3 Gus into my bra in a manner that doesn't irritate me, filling my hand-held water bottle, and getting dressed and bibbed up.

We walked out the door of our awesomely placed hotel-thank you fast running friend-and headed to the start line.  Despite lacking in the communication department, the Nike Women's Half was extremely well organized.  My fast running friend was in a faster corral than me, so we snapped a quick picture together (with her phone I think...) and parted ways.

Each corral was super well organized with its own set of porta-potties and gear check.  The only waiting I did that morning was for the race to start and then for my corral to be released!  I don't run with my phone (blogger fail, again) so I snapped a selfie and had a random new friend take a picture before I gear checked my phone.

Yes, it was dark for the start of the race.  The first corral took off right at 6:30 am and it was right about 7 am that I crossed the start line.  I had three goals in mind...I always have three.  Goal #1 was to beat my last half marathon time, goal #2 was to finish by 9:00, and goal #3 (which I told myself I was not serious about, but maybe I was) was to PR.  That goal seemed a bit far-fetched since this course was super hilly and what not...

I have zero course pictures because I run phoneless; however, the course was gorgeous, full of support and awesome runners!  The water stops and fuel stops were amazingly well run and had tons of volunteers working to make everything go smoothly.  Again, despite their lack of pre-race communication, Nike sure knows how to put together a great race.  And the race includes free photos!  

Here's a selfie I took after retrieving my stuff from gear check.

And this is my official finisher photo (or one of them at least).

Nike Women's Half Marathon San Francisco-First Night

After packet pick-up, we settled into our hotel room (which I TOTALLY forgot to snap pics of...still getting used to this whole blogging thing) and decided to head down to the Wharf/Pier area.  We hit up some public transportation again, but this time we took the cable cars!

We took the cable cars both days we were in San Fran and both times proved to be highly entertaining, and costly!  $7 for a one-way ride.  Yikes!  The drivers on our first trip were very cautious about our safety and were constantly reminding riders to lean in, especially when cars or other cable cars/buses passed us!

The view of the hill we were climbing was gorgeous and terrifying for the next day's run!

This picture was taken at the top-ish of the hill.  Please note that the climb up mirrored the drop down that you can see here!  Eek!

Once we got down to the water, the view was even more spectacular.

To the right of this picture was Alcatraz.  One day I'd love to take a tour, but you have to book weeks in advance and be prepared to shell out around $100.  Not quite budget friendly :)  But definitely an experience, from what I hear.

We took the cable car back to the hotel, although the trip took longer than we would have liked.  Apparently the drivers take their shift changes very seriously, and we straight up waited in the cable car, in park, in the middle of the road while the first crew left and the second crew arrived.  Literally it was a car full of folks with no attendants.  Got to love a union state.  Here in the Old Dominion we don't roll like that.

After dropping our stuff off at the hotel, we wandered for a hot minute before finding a pizza/Italian diner for dinner.  I definitely didn't take any pictures here and barely remember the meal.  We were both absolutely exhausted and couldn't wait to crawl in bed.  We both knew we'd sleep great the night before the race, since we'd been up for 24+ hours!  We had a 4:30 am wake up, so sleep was necessary for many reasons...

Nike Women's Half Marathon San Francisco-Arrival and packet pick-up

This past weekend was one of the most fabulous weekends that I have had in a long time.  Don't get me wrong, I have had some awesome weekends recently, but this one takes the cake!!!  I ran the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco, California.

I enjoyed this fabulous weekend with another runner friend who is also a reading specialist.  I met her through my grad school cohort and we were fast friends!  Ironically, she is actually quite a fast runner too ;)

Our journey started around midnight on Friday.  I picked my fast runner friend up and we headed up to Reagan Airport in DC.  Traffic was quite light, not surprisingly since we left at midnight and we made great time.  We rolled into economy parking (which FYI is a bit of a misnomer, as it's $17 a day!), woke up the gate person, and were on a shuttle to the airport by 3:15 am.  Thankfully both flights took off and arrived on time and we landed in Cali around 9:45 am.  I even caught a few zzz's on the plane, which is rare for me.

The real fun began as we navigated the public transportation system to get from the airport to our hotel in Union Square.  We took an airport shuttle to the Bart station and then stared at the Bart map for a solid 5 minutes before determining which stop we needed and which line would get us there.  It took another 10 minutes to purchase our tickets at the kiosk, and not because we were clueless, it was just a slow process.

We were quite proud of ourselves! :)

We met a super friendly guy on the Bart who gave us some key tips that really proved to be helpful over the course of the weekend.  We hightailed it from the Bart station to check in to our hotel.  We stayed at the Hotel Beresford and I would highly recommend it.  They staff and facility were awesome!!!

After we dropped off our bags, we headed to packet pick-up at the Westin.  It was super well organized and we were in and out in a matter of minutes.  The whole weekend was well organized, the only issues we had were related to the lack of communication from Nike.  But I will get into that more in a future post reviewing the actual race.

We left the Westin and bee-lined to the Nike store to shop for SF gear and find our names on the wall.  I found mine and was even able to pose with it!  Woot woot!

After waiting in line to check out at Nike and dropping $125 on two items (which I LOVE) we headed back to the hotel to make our game plan.  Stay tuned for our evening adventures on night #1.

Down for the count

So between trying to work two jobs  (I got a new job, but couldn't start until I had a replacement at my old one, so I was half in both positions) and getting sick, I've been totally MIA. Ugh bronchitis, ain't nobody got time for that. But I'm on the mend and am feeling better.  I got in a good run Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. I'm headed out for a good one shortly, I hope!  Yesterday I tried out my San Fran run outfit. Always try out race day apparel prior to the big day. You never know how things work out on the road. Here's my nod to Tiffany and Co and Nike....the race sponsors.

 Everything worked great, except for the socks. Those ended up with a hole in the toe. Good thing they're old. Guess I'll add that to my pre-race shopping list. What do you wear for races? Do you like something new, like me?  :)

Speed Work + Me = Love; BUT Long Runs + Me= Nothing Good :(

So as the title of this post might imply, my long runs have not been super fantastic.  Last weekend I had 10 miles scheduled and I did 7.  Hey, both numbers end in "n" so I was kind of on track.  Not.At.All.

But, all of my short runs and speed work/hill runs have been great.  On Monday nights I attend a free running group through Biffledinked Running, and this week's session felt great.  Wednesday I had 9x400s scheduled and I nailed them at the paces I wanted.

BTW, this is what I came home to after my Wednesday morning run.  It was about 5:45 am when I got home from the gym.  Guess he's not a morning pup.

Today I completed the run that I was scheduled to do on Thursday, but didn't make it b/c of time issues.  I did my normal routine of 3 bridge repeats over the Great Neck Bridge.  It was hotter than it's been all week and more humid, but my run felt GREAT!  Once again Speed Work + Me = Love!  I spotted these tally marks at the bottom of the hill and knew that my running group friend had done her own hill work here recently.

Ignore my creepy shadow.  One day I'll learn how to take normal pictures, or at least better ones.  Tomorrow I'm supposed to run a 15K race.  I couldn't find any, so I'm mapping out a route around my neighborhood.  Wish me luck!  I'm also in a weekend challenge for Fitbit, so that might motivate me to complete the long run.  Need those steps!

Challenge Preparations

So today was Day 1 of the AdvoCare 24 Day Challenge.  And it's gone GREAT! :)  Food tasted yummy and I got some great speedwork training done.

But, before the whole clean eating thing got kicked off today, I had some super dirty food yesterday. \ Dirty, ya see what I did there?!

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Man, I need to work on my picture cropping skills.  And by work on them, I mean use them.

Anyhow, while those treats might be decadent and sinful, they did NOT include any soda or fast food.  Haven't touched either of those since I did my first challenge.  Yea for small victories.

More on Day 1 tomorrow!

Running Research

So I conducted some very official running research today.  I'm thinking this is good practice for if/when I ever begin a doctoral program.  Now, based on my past career as a science fair judge, I believe I need to repeat this trial at least 3 more times to truly reflect on my data.

At this point, I'm sure your bursting with curiosity about said running research.  Whelp, I busted out some new running shoes today to see if it would jump start my long run slump.  I decided that since I've had some issues with my toes hitting the top of the shoe (yes, I have the right size...) I would attempt a strategy that I came across on Pinterest.  I figured it wouldn't hurt the situation and it's a free potential solution!

**Ignore that fact that the source appears to be drinksvelte.com?  I sweat I've seen this many other places, but this graphic was the most succinct.  Anyhow, today I tied my left shoe with this new way (top configuration)

and my right show the regular old way...

Here's the side-by-side comparison.

1. Laces Out!  Ace Ventura, anyone?!
2. I don't understand how the single foot shots are facing one way and the feet shot is facing the other.  I swear I took them all back to back.  Weird.

Anyhow, I know that you are DYING to know the results of my lace-off.  Yes, the left toes definitely seemed more comfortable and didn't seem to get pushed towards the front of the shoe as much.  BUT, while both feet had some blistering, the left foot had slightly more.  The blisters showed up in the area where they always do and there could be many factors-new shoes, recent pedicure, or the lacing pattern.  I'll let you know how trials #2 and #3 go.  I'm leaving them as they are for now.

And this is what I came home to...

Ruff life!

AdvoCare 24 Day Challenge

Yesterday something very exciting arrived in the mail....

My AdvoCare 24 Day Challenge products!  I am SO excited to kick off this challenge and get back to eating clean.  Dropping the 5-10ish lbs that I gained this summer would be a nice bonus too.  You can check out the products here.  Drop me a comment if you want some suggestions on how to cut costs (although it's tough to not want ALL these wonderful supplements).

The Challenge starts with a 10 day cleanse which detoxes your body and helps restart your metabolism.  The cleanse and fiber drink are gentle and won't have you running to the bathroom urgently...I promise!  I actually felt the need to urinate more frequently rather than, you know, the opposite end.

After the 10 day cleanse you can pulse check by hopping on the scale, which I will be doing and then you start the 14 day max phase.  Here you continue eating clean and bump up your vitamin intake.  I had some GREAT runs the last time I did the Challenge during this phase.

The Challenge even comes with an app available in iTunes or the Google Play Store.  I love it because I'm Type A and it let's you check off little boxes as you move through the day and log your meals, supplements, water, and exercise.

Finally, we have a Challenge group going on the FB.  If  you're interested in following us, you can find us here.

Have a wonderful weekend.  I've got a 10 mile run (fingers crossed it's good!), lunch with my little sissy, church, and then dinner with my grad cohort family!

Taking Time Out

So this weekend, I did something that I rarely do.  I took the entire weekend off from running.  I actually took a long weekend, including Labor Day.  Not a bit of running or gym time was put in.

So how do I feel about this break??  One word.  AWESOME!  My two runs thus far this week have been wonderful.  I feel like I'm re-energized and ready to tackle the rest of my half marathon training.  I seem to hit a wall about halfway through a half marathon training cycle.  I think I took an entire week off last time!

I decided to repeat last week's training because I had some craptastic runs and I have time built in to my training calendar.  So Tuesday morning I had 4.5 miles on tap and I think I did about 3.25 before I had to cut it short to, um, ahem, head home and hit the restroom.  #runnerproblems

Yesterday I hit treadmill and did the same 40 minutes that I attempted last week. You can read more about that here.  This is how this week's redo run went.

Ignore the insanely sweaty hair (which I JUST had did last night and promptly messed up with this run) and super twisted necklace; focus on the thumbs up!  The long weekend break definitely did me good.  Here's the final shot of this 40 minute workout.

I took this picture as I was starting to cool down.  I basically ran almost an entire half of a mile more than I did in the same time last week.  I started my speed at 5.5 and increased by .1 every 10 minutes(ish) until I was up to 5.9.  Yup, I'm slow, but this is actually an improvement for me.  Anyone can become a runner!!!

Not so great runs

So yesterday I had a 40 minute tempo run on deck.  I made the decision in the morning to sleep more and not hit the gym as planned before work.  As a result, I had to go after work.

Yesterday was a LONG work day.  We arrived at our normal times and had to stay until 6:30 for our meet and greet night.  This is for parents and students to come and meet their new teacher.

Don't tell anyone, but I snuck out around 5:45 to head to the gym.  Hey, I was meeting a friend for dinner at 7:15 and had to be done!  Also, I had been there since 8 am!  Anyhow, I got to the gym, changed into my clothes, and saw my lifting friend on a treadmill.  She had an open one next to her, so I hopped on and we chatted for a bit.  She said seeing me motivated her to do extra cardio (she's more into weights, which I get!).  We took a quick selfie once she finished her cardio and headed off to do some chest work.  BTW, she's and awesome fitness champion and has a great FB group called Getting Fit For Life.  Look it up!

If she hadn't said that to me, I might have quit my run altogether.  Her words literally propelled me to finish my run.  I'm not even sure that I can call it a run, because I walked more than I should have.  Ugh.  Here's the end result.

And here's how I felt once it was done.

I know that not all runs are good, and this doesn't stress me out like it used to.  I was also reminded that what you put in your body affects your performance.  I've eaten like total crap, enjoying all the yummy food that is offered during teacher week.  I guess pizza for lunch isn't the best fuel for a 40 minute run...

Three-A-Days

So this Thursday, I inadvertently committed to three workouts.  And I'm definitely paying for it today (Saturday), two days later.

Thursday morning started out with "Leg Day" at the gym with my weight training girl.  This was our last week of day time gym meet-ups because we're both back to school next week.  We did four leg exercises, most of which focused on the back of the legs with one that worked the inside and outside.
We did 4 rounds of 10-12 reps for each exercise-dead lifts, hamstring curls, calf extensions, and side squats off a step with a leg lift.  These were actually really good for me, because I seem to end up focusing on the quads and front of my leg and need more work developing the back muscles to even it out.

Here's our post-Leg Day selfie.

My friend always comments about how much she sweats on leg day.  Any leg work is going to activate some cardio because the legs are such a big muscle group.  Bonus!

I did my normal Thursday routine-3 miles of hill repeats after walking the dogs to loosen up the legs a bit.  Then I headed to the beach to catch as many rays as possible before school starts.

I ended the day with Form by Force bootcamp.  Holy cow, what an amazing workout.  I love that it's super varied every time and the coaches really push/motivate you.  For Hampton Roads locals, you can find out more details and register for a session here.  

The coaches are always snapping pictures and taking videos during the session.  Nothing like some potential camera time to make you tighten up and keep moving.  Well, I made their Instagram feed this week.

Too bad my butt was WAY high up in the air, showing off some bad plank form.  My friend who also went did point out that this was my 2nd or 3rd trip through the obstacle course and I was clearly tired.  I was also my THIRD workout of the day.  YIKES?!

Anyone else out there ever done a three-a-day?

Cross training and selfies

So, what do you all do for the whole cross training thing?  Apparently just running 5 days a week isn't enough.  Even when your runs are varied, etc.  I can actually attest to this fact.  When I make time for cross training (which for me is usually a Les Mills class), my running improves.  Bonus!

Tonight I was slated to go to bootcamp with friends, but they all started back to work today and lost their mojo.  I am sore from yesterday's Body Pump, so I was okay with chillaxin' on the couch, but I figured that I should use the time I'd already blocked out for some sort of exercise.

I settled on a Spin class at 7:30.  NOT my favorite workout time (too late!), but I like the instructor and the bikes at this gym.  These spin bikes have a lever that you use to increase the resistance and screens that show a number.  So you can increase to level 10, 12, etc. instead of arbitrary quarter turns, half turns and what not that regular bikes have.  Some folks don't like them, but I do!

I got this "Get Sparked" T and rocked it today to do some work at school and then to Spin class.

I do love me some Spark!  You can learn more about it here.  I am a distributor so I have instant access to all the products and get them at a discounted price.  I'm currently in love with the pink lemonade and fruit punch.

So I meant to take a selfie once I was on the spin bike, but I forgot.  Being new to blogging=I need to step up my selfie game!  How else will you know every inane detail of my life?!

Do you take gym selfies?  Regular selfies?  Any selfie stick user out there?

Chasing that elusive sub 30 min 5K and fuel (aka food)

So this morning I had a 10k race on the schedule as part of my half marathon training plan.  I couldn't find a 10K, but it happened to be the East Coast Surfing Championship weekend here at the beach and they have a 5K race.  In fact, I ran the race last year so it was familiar.

My initial plan was to get down there early, run the first 5K before the race, and then do the final miles in the race.  Well, I accidentally overslept and so that plan was foiled.  So I decided that I would run the race and then add on the extra 3 miles.

The course was different from last year.  The year before, we ran down Atlantic Ave. and then back down the Boardwalk.  This year the race was an out and back on the Boardwalk.  Both years were quite windy and it definitely made the "out" part tough, but gave an extra push on the return I guess.

Anyhow, last year I finished in 33:04.  And this year...

So, so, so close to that sub 30 minute 5k!  Shaved 2 min and 30 seconds off of my time from last year, but still not quite there.  I'm mad at myself because I walked at the mid-point turn around and two more times during the last mile.  I need to work on slowing down my running instead of walking.

Also, this is what I had for lunch.  Does anyone else make meals from whatever is laying around in the kitchen/fridge?  I knew that my lunch needed the following components: healthy carb, fat, fruit, and protein. And this is what I landed on.

It was totally delicious and I'd do it again!

Hill Repeats

So I'm running THIS RACE in October.  I am so excited.  I love all the things involved-Nike, Tiffany & Co, San Fran (granted I've never been there, but I'm pumped to go!). I'm obsessed with all things Tiffany and LOVE that the finisher medal is a necklace from there.  I literally have not taken off the one I get after the DC half in April of 2014.  I wear it under all my other necklaces.

I also love Nike apparel and shoes.  Sadly, I haven't been able to run in any Nike shoes-see here about the shoe thing.  I have created a Nike/Tiffany inspired race outfit that I will share closer to the day.  Yes, I've had it for about a month now and the race is in October.  I'm THAT excited.

Anyhow, I have read about a million reviews on the race, the course, etc.  I know that it's hilly and at approximately mile 9 or 10ish I will be running uphill for a mile straight.  Dear God help me.  In order to not die there and miss out on another Tiffany finisher medal, I have been trying to incorporate some hill work into my runs.

Unfortunately, actually fortunately for this runner usually, I live in a very flat area.  Like you have to actively seek out hills and they are usually found on bridges over water or at Mt. Trashmore.  So for the past three weeks, my Thursday run has consisted of three up and over repetitions of this bridge.

So this might not look like a big hill from this view point.  Confession, I had already walked back to my car and cooled down and wasn't trying to walk any further back towards it :)  One full up, over, and back rep is a little under 1 mile.  So three attempts gets me to the 3 miles I need on the book for Thursdays.  My goal has been to 1. Run more/as much as possible each week, and/or 2. Get faster, i.e. log a faster overall pace.

Any other ideas on how to prep for this SF course?

Finally a good run!

So I've been struggling with my runs the past twoish weeks.  Like most of them have been major suckage, with wayyyyy too much walking.

I think I might have broken through that awful trend today! Woot woot!  I have a great 4 mile run this morning that involved enjoying a nice sunrise.

So what do I think made today's run better?  First of all, I got my a$$ out of bed and was running before 6 am.  This made for a MUCH cooler experience over all.  Also, I was reflecting on said craptastic week of runs and noticed that I had not had a day off from working out in 9 days.  I usually participate in a speed work running group on Monday nights, but I took this week off.  I just did my usual Body Pump and otherwise rested.  Let's hope tomorrow feels just as good.

Off to bootcamp...

How have your runs been?  Ever suffered through a slump?!

How much do you glisten?

Okay, let's be real, it's sweat folks!  I'm not sure I'm down with the glisten analogy.  Especially with the volume that pours out of me within minutes of beginning any type of workout!

Exhibit A.  My LEGS after this morning's Barre class.

I have always been a sweater (Haha, not the wool kind! Ironically I tend to avoid those due to the perspiration factor.), especially in the summer.  Well since I've gotten into running, I have learned more than I probably care to about sweat.  I know that I am a salty sweater (I guess more than normal?!  I thought sweat burned everyone's eyes and dried on their skin/clothes post long run) and that means I have to work hard to replace the lost electrolytes.  Thank goodness for Smartwater and the Kroger brand equivalent!

Anyhow, I am currently on Day 13 of the Advocare 24 Day Challenge.  Full post about that experience to come after day 24!  But so far, after the cleanse day, I'm down 12.6 lbs.  Woot woot!  Back to sweat.  One of the supplements in the challenge is Catalyst, which protects and helps build muscle and burn fat.  I swear it makes me sweat 3 times what I normally do.  But I guess that helps the toxins and what not come out.  Right?!

Gym Etiquette

Is it just me, or is wiping down cardio machines after you're done something that folks just don't seem to be doing much of these days?!

Maybe I'm a little OCD when it comes to germs, but I ALWAYS wipe down my machine with the spray and rag (admittedly, I'm not 100% sure that the rag is super clean), but still.  Even if I've just hopped on for a 10 minute cardio warmup before hitting weights, I'm going to wipe down that machine.  I wipe down weigh machines, benches, mats, etc. after I use them too.



I'm a sweater, so maybe that contributes to my hyper awareness of the need to wipe, and the lack thereof that seems prevalent at my gym.

PSA-Wipe down your machines folks!

Shoe Graveyard

As I previously mentioned, I am ALL about some running gear.  My #1 running expense is most definitely running shoes.  I don't even want to think about the money that I've dropped over the past two years since I became a runner (runner defined as running multiple times/week).

Here's the current situation.

When I initially started to dabble in running, about 10 years ago, I went to a local running store and was fitted for shoes.  I learned that I'm a neutral runner without any real shoe needs-except that they have to feel right.  Up until I started half marathon training in 2013, I would say I probably purchased 4 or 5 pairs of running shoes.

Since I started running half marathons, I've probably purchased 10-15 pairs of running shoes.  Now, each shoe should last for 300-500 miles of pavement pounding.  Clearly I have a problem.  I have not run enough miles to justify the excessive shoe purchases.  But they're just so fun!  And sadly some have not worked out well for running and they get relegated to the gym workout shoes rotation.  As do old running shoes.

Really all of this is to say.....

What had happened was, our local Fleet Feet had a clearance sale on shoes.  They were either $30, $60, or $90.  Of course the pair that I liked the best fell into the $90 range (isn't that ALWAYS the way); however, I believe that I'm saving money in the long run because they retail for close to $150.  

Also, I'm working on curtailing my shoe purchasing frenzy and will not start wearing these until mid-September or October.  Help me stick with this.  Check my pix for what shoes I'm sporting!

Do you run with anything in your ears?

So as I was sweating out a run today on the treadmill, I was wondering what everyone out there does to keep from quitting at minute 7?  Side note-this was harder than normal for me today...although most treadmill runs are full of "let's quit" moments, I prefer to run outside.

Anyhow, when I run outside, I rock my iPod shuffle and some great playlists.  I used to do the same when I ran inside and would occasionally mix that up with a great audio book.  Enter Serial.  This podcast changed my life.  Serially.  I mean, seriously.

I love a good crime mystery and the fact that this one is real and the main players are my age just sucked me right in.  I started listening about halfway through the first season (two more are in the works!!) and was left eagerly awaiting the release of each week's ep.  Since it seems like I'm always training for a half marathon, I decided to listen to the Serial episodes when I had to run on the treadmill because of weather (which ended up being a lot this winter.  Boo.) or for speedwork sessions.

I was super sad when the story ended and craved more discussion.  I jumped far down the rabbit hole and found myself listening to podcasts about the podcast.  Yup.  Some were better than others, but they all fed my need to continue reflecting on the case.

Enter Undisclosed.  This podcast is put on by three attorneys who are delving further into the case.  I highly recommend it.  They have biweekly episodes with an addendum that usually drops on the off weeks.

And in case that's still not enough for you (it wasn't for me!) you can also listen to Serial Dynasty.  It's a wonderful podcast that compliments Undisclosed and references Serial.

So this is what got me through my time on the treadmill today.  Just a 35 minute tempo run (during which I wanted to quit like 18 times) with some food for thought to distract me.  

Oh, and I totally rock some old school behind the head, foam covered headphones.  Old school style, yo.  Earbuds don't stay in my teeny, tiny ears.  

What do you listen to while you run?  Nothing?  I can't understand that...hearing myself pant is awful!  How do you drown that out?

Getting My Feet Wet

So this is my first attempt at blogging.  I've been religiously following a growing number of blogs for the past few years and decided I'd try my luck with it.  I don't take myself too seriously, which will become increasingly obvious through the exploits I will post about on this little space.

Let me introduce the "runner" aspect of me first.  In 2013 I made a New Year's resolution to run one race a month for the year.  By the summer of that year, I had signed up for my first half marathon.  This was huge for me because I'd started off as the "I'll only run if someone is chasing me" and "I'll never run a half marathon" girl.  I had watched and cheered on numerous friends as they chased their running goals.  It was a tough first half; however, within a month I'd signed up for my second.  And now I guess I'm a runner.

I am currently training for my 6th half marathon and recently rolled into the gym after a full day of leadership training.  I headed to the bathroom to do my thing and change into the workout gear that I'd packed that morning.  A post on my insane amount of workout clothing will undoubtedly appear shortly.  Anyhow, after putting on my capris and two sports bras, I realized that I'd forgotten my tank top.  Knowing that I only had 6 .25 mile sets of speedwork to do, going home and getting my top was not an option.  That would have resulted in me arriving home and promptly crashing on the couch.

So I did what any dedicated, mildly secure runner would do.

I used my hair rubberband and tied up that dress into a shirt.  A fluffy, awkward looking shirt that only came untied once during my 20 minutes on the treadmill.  Then of course, I did what any self-respecting person would do and promptly called myself out on social media.  Just in case anyone happened to see this hot mess on the treadmill in her dress.

Did I mention that I don't take myself seriously?!