Rain, go away!!!

So i brought my brand-new Garmin to work yesterday to charge it & get acquainted with this baby. My plan was to take it out for a test run after work.

And then the skies opened up and said "Yeah, right."

My view on the drive home.

I was so disappointed.  I know some of you are hard core and running in the rain aint' no thang, but not me. I'm a wimp. :)

Today is looking better. It's going to be coooold, but hopefully the rain holds off. I can't wait to try it out!! After the run i am picking up a friend from the airport who will be in town for New Years. We are heading over to Tom's brother's house for NYE, what are your plans?

PS. Just signed up for the Lost Dutchman 10k!! And guess what: TOM is running it with me too!! I may have to drag him kicking & screaming, but I registered him & there is no turning back now...mwahahaha.

Snooooow

Well looks like I'm going to have to wait until i get back to Phoenix to try out my Garmin. Woke up to this...

About 7"...and still snowing!

BUT Pops & i got in the hot tub while it was snowing...that was pretty cool! Walking out to the hot tub almost gave me frost bite though...

Here's hoping the snow clears before my flight back on Tuesday...

Merry Christmas!!

I can not believe it is Christmas day. Where in the world has this year gone?!

I hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas. Mine has been pretty great - I'm out in Virginia with the family, who i only get to see about twice a year. :( So far it's been filled with tons of good food (my weigh in with Weight Watchers next week will be interesting), lots of laughs, and now expectant snow of 6-10 inches....yipes!

I've seen both Black Swan & True Grit since i've been here - i recommend both. Black Swan was weird, but i liked it. And True Grit just had amazing acting all the way around.

I've only run once since being here - and man was it hard! I am SO not used to running in such cold temperatures, and my legs/lungs were not having it. May just stick to the elliptical for the rest of the trip...

Saw this driving back from the  movie theater - come on, you have to laugh.

My parents' neighbor got their little girl a guinea pig for Christmas, which we got to babysit until she went to sleep. So cute!

"Santa" you rock!!! Can't wait to try this bad boy out. :)

Less than one month...

until the PF Chang's Rock & Roll 1/2 Marathon! I feel prepared....for the most part. I've been slacking on my long runs, but hope to get in a couple 8 or 10 milers over the next two weeks. Trying not to stress about it - until January. :)

Had a nice 4 mile run last night - i seem to be pretty consistent in the 53 -54 minute range. (Yes, i'm a turtle. I'm accepting it!) However my ankles started to feel pretty tight halfway through...i've never had ankle problems before. Maybe it was just my form?

I take off tomorrow night (12:35am to be exact) to head to VA to see the 'rents & sisters. Excited to see the fam, but NOT excited for the cold. Let's compare, shall we?

This is what i'm used to:

Ahhh 60s & 70s, perfect.

This is what will greet me in VA:

What are these numbers that begin with 3 & 4?? And snow?!!

Here's hoping i don't freeze to death!

Finally Friday

Nothing new to report here...i wasn't able to run last night due to being sick (tip to the wise: if you have the flu, DO NOT COME INTO THE OFFICE. Other people will get sick! Sigh.)

Anyways, here's a short survey i stole from Setting You Free:

1. What was your toughest race? I definitely have to say the Aflac Iron Girl 10 miler. Mentally, i was just not prepared for this race. I seriously contemplated walking off the course at mile 5, but stuck with it. It was hot, i had freaked myself out regarding the distance, and it was just not a good experience. But i finished! :)

2. What are your goals for 2011? I would love to beat my 1/2 marathon time from last year. (3:03) I feel confident I can do this, but I hope I don't beat myself up too much if it doesn't happen. I'd also like to run more races this year, maybe one every couple of months?

3. If you could live anywhere where would it be? Hmm...this one is hard. I could say VA, because then I'd be close to my family. Or i could say Hawaii, but I've never even visited there. Perhaps Cali - close to the beach. That is if i had an endless supply of $$$. :)

4. What is my guilty pleasure tv show? Um, what show isn't?! I'm a TV junkie. Some shows I'm (a little) embarrassed to admit i watch: Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Celebrity Rehab, Hoarders, Teen Mom, 16 & Pregnant, House Hunters....yeah, my DVR is full. :)

5. How do I keep my sense of balance? Honestly, some days I feel I totally fail at this. Even though I am not a mom and don't have kids to worry about, I still feel myself being stretched too thin at times: work, running, doggies, boyfriend, friends, family, and oh yeah me-time....it's hard! I like to schedule - but it can backfire on me. If my schedule doesn't work out according to plan, it can send me into an OCD tizzy. :)

Happy Friday!!!

Custom Tech Tees?

I'm excited about the upcoming half, because i have two friends (and sorority sisters!) flying in to run with me! Corrie & I are tackling the half while Kathy is being a bad ass and doing the full marathon.

We'd love to have matching tees & here's where i need your help...any suggestions on custom tee websites? I want them to be technical tees, but so far i can't find any afforable options. (Most sites i have seen have a minimum order which we don't meet.)

If anyone has ordered custom tech tees before, i'd appreciate your input!

PS. Tonight's 3 mile run was a little pathetic. It was my third running day in a row & my legs could feel it. Taking a rest day tomorrow for sure!

Well, hell.

Oh, Nike+ GPS app, why do you frustrate me SO MUCH?!

You can never be accurate, even though you claim to follow GPS.

Case in point:
Yesterday & tonight i ran the same route. Exact. Same. Route.

Yesterday's stats:
Distance: 4.06
Time: 54:07
Pace: 13'18"

Tonight's stats:
Distance: 3.86
Time: 53:51
Pace: 13"55

Um, what? And if i do the distance on MapMyRun.com, it comes out as 4.19 miles.

How the heck am i supposed to know how far i am going?! And let's also mention that yesterday i (felt) i was running really slow and took some walk breaks. Tonight i ran the entire way & felt i was going much faster. Yet my time doesn't reflect that....sigh.

I hope my parents decide they love me enough this Christmas to get a Garmin...!

Oh, Vegas.

Bad news, kids. Christmas has been canceled due to the Vegas blackjack tables taking all my money!! Ugh. The tables were not kind to me this trip. I won $20 the first night, the second night i was up $60....and lost it all and then some. Let's not even talk about the last day.

Moral of the story? Blackjack sucks. ;)

But we did have fun, and i am glad we came back last night because i have today to recover!

I'm off for a run here in a little bit. Today should be my long run, but we will see how i feel after a weekend of not eating so great. :(

I made Tom stop by the Niketown store with me & i saw this really cool quote on the wall. Totally applies to me, seeing as how i will never win a race!! :)

Vegas!!

So i have been a bad runner this week. As in, i only ran on Tuesday night & was a measly 1.6 miles. And i didn't run last night. And i won't be running until Sunday because this afternoon I am headed to LAS VEGAS! :)

I'm trying not to feel too guilty for taking a break from running...we all deserve one every now & again, yeah? :/


Wish me luck at the blackjack table - momma needs some $$ for Christmas presents!!

I'll be back next week - and back to running, i promise. :)

Time for some giveaways!

Thanks for your comments on my last post! Really appreciate all the advice. :)

There are a couple giveaways that are going on in the blog world that i wanted to alert you to!

Katye over at Long Legs on the Loose is hosting a Sporty Girl Jewelry Giveaway! I had never heard of this company before, but she certainly makes some cute stuff. Check it out! (If you enter, be sure to drop my name in the comments. ;) )

Erin at The Making of a Runner is hosting a pretty awesome giveaway. I can't even tell you what all she is giving away, you need to see it for yourself! She's raising money for TNT - we all know how tough fundraising can be, so go help her out if you can! :)


Tonight & tomorrow's run will be 3.5 - 4 milers. I'm hoping for good runs like i had last week!!

Short runs vs. long runs

Haha....runs.

Anyways.


How do you guys feel about short vs long? (This post is just off to a great start.) Lately, i've been able to bust out 3-4 mile runs with a pretty decent pace & feel great afterwards. But this morning i went on my "long" run (7 miles) and it was pretty craptastic.

I don't know what it is about me, but i have the ability to completely mess up my runs mentally. It's like i'm afraid of the distance and set myself up for failure before it even begins. Talk about frustrating!!

Anyone else have this problem? Any tricks for ignoring the mental mind games when running long distances?

For your time, i leave you with Epic Sax Walrus. Watch it. You won't be disappointed. :)