Super Busy Super Bowl

I am currently watching the Super Bowl. I am currently doing laundry. I am currently working on homework, and I am currently not wanting to do any of it!

I really don’t care who wins, but I have two good reasons to root for San Francisco:

1. I now live in the Bay Area and
2. Ted Ginn Jr. plays for them

I have gotten a lot done today, going to the bank, grocery, returning something at Target this morning, then doing laundry, dishes, cooking a few items for the week, and cleaning this afternoon. I have 12 more homework questions to answer for an online class that I am very unmotivated to take, plus I need to enter in some scores for work, work on my thesis, and continue watching the 6th season of Everybody Loves Raymond, which I have become addicted to.

Greek Chicken Salad

Greek Chicken Salad

Anyway, I decided to make a new salad today, and thought I would review it here. It is called Greek Chicken Salad. Here is the recipe:

Serves 4
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar,
divided
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cucumber, cubed
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil

Cooking Instructions
1. Marinate chicken in 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to taste for 1 hour. Grill
over medium heat for 10 minutes per side. Cool and cut into cubes.
2. Combine chicken, cucumber, tomatoes, bell pepper, onion and feta in a large bowl. In a
small bowl, whisk together thyme, olive oil, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, and salt and
pepper to taste. Drizzle dressing over salad, and toss to combine.
Nutrition Information (per serving): Calories: 380, Total Fat: 21 g, Saturated Fat: 5.4
g, Cholesterol: 98 mg, Sodium: 660 mg, Total Carbohydrates: 15 g, Dietary Fiber: 3 g,
Sugars: 10 g, Protein: 32 g

TOTALLY DELICIOUS! One of the main reasons I made it was because it is very high in protein. I have to tell you, it is great. It is a very summery salad, but the flavors are amazing, and it’s very filling.

I am planning to do an ab workout tonight, then the next 4 days are hard core lifts, runs, and diet. Friday I head back to Ohio, and so I have to be prepared.

I wish you all a happy Super Bowl Sunday, and may the best team win.

It’s Been Awhile

Today was my first run over 10 minutes since the marathon. Wow… I am sore. My knees, my feet, everything. I struggled. But I made it, and I am happy to be back in business per say. I am still definitely having problems with my right foot. I would guess I probably sustained a stress fracture in the foot. It was painful after the 39.3, and it definitely bothered me today.

I have been lifting a little bit, and am really enjoying myself. It something that I used to love, and hopefully I can get back into it with some intensity.

I am in the middle of my 24 day challenge, and honestly, I am not doing great. I kinda decided to break this weekend, because I was just having so much trouble, then restarting on Monday. It’s a hard thing to do…

Oh well, more to come soon.

The Infection of a Toe

My infected toe... can you tell which one it is?

My infected toe… can you tell which one it is?

Here we are, 8 days out from the biggest racing weekend of my life. While I haven’t run since then, I have worked out twice, doing the elliptical, riding the bike, and lifting. The main reason for my lack of training is because I have an infected toe… After the marathon, my toe really hurt, so I wore flip flops. A day later, I realized that I had a ginormous blister underneath my toe nail! This turned into a full blown infection by Friday, and now I am knee deep in a large dose of antibiotics. It is feeling much better though. So much so that I have signed up for a 5k next Sunday at Golden Gate Park. I am super excited about this, because I have yet to be to the city since I moved to the Bay Area. YAY!

I’m having a sort of “BLAH” day today. I am feeling a little overwhelmed with all that is going on in the next few months, and a large amount of items have started to pile up on top of me. I don’t want to complain, but this is my blog, so I am going to do whatever I want.

Things that are bugging me:

My sick cat
Turning 30
School work
My thesis
I have a sunburn that is itching like crazy
Work/Selling advertising
Going home in 2 weeks

And to top it all off, I am on the Advocare 24 day challenge, day 4 to be exact, so I can’t go get junk food to make myself feel better. AHHH!

Ok, now that that is out in the open, I will end with saying that I signed up for the Disneyland Half Marathon today. Super excited to get my Coast to Coast medal. That will be really fun. Ok… to bed.

P.S. Believe me, I know how lucky I am that I am getting out of 40 miles with just an infected toe. I am an extremely lucky girl.

Mission: Accomplished

I am back home, back home after 39.3 miles on the roads of the Walt Disney World resort. I made it. The Goofy Challenge is complete, and I (excuse my language, but after almost 40 miles I think it is warranted) FUCKING ROCKED IT!!!! Thought I would give all my readers… if there are any… a summary of my race. So here it goes.

I have never really cared about my time when I run. It’s about completing a distance. Well that magically changed at WDW. I started the half marathon with 27,000 others on a crazy crowded course. It was jam packed with people who thought a half would be easy… very few serious runners. It was a very frustrating run, because of the crowds, and I ended up finishing in 2:45:05. My goal was 2:45:00, so I was very happy with that. I definitely thought that I could have run it 5-15 minutes faster without the mass of people I had to weed through.

I felt good the morning of the marathon, and was ready for a very hot day… A heat advisory was in effect due to the combination of temperature and humidity. As I crossed the start line, I felt amazing. Upon approaching the 5 mile mark, I realized that I was really doing great. My time was at exactly an hour, and I felt awesome. By mile 10, I was cruising. At the half way point, I realized that I had PRed from the day before, decreasing my time by 3+ minutes. It got very hot very fast on the course, and by mile 17 I started to worry a bit when I was getting the chills. I immediately made sure that my mind set was all about fluid, and I stopped at every water station there after. It continued to happen, but I was doing ok. I started really feeling the heat between mile 20 and 21, but I just slowed down a bit, and made it into Hollywood Studios with few problems. As Epcot approached, I was again cruising. It wasn’t hard, it was just a matter of continuing to move. I was nearly brain dead by the finish line, as I just couldn’t even comprehend what I had just done, but was overwhelmed with joy. I got a PR on my marathon by about 21 minutes.

So happy… I missed this amazing feeling that running give you. I am so happy to have it back, and I am not going to lose it again. More races are in my near future. Thanks for everyone’s support, kind words, and help over the past year of training. I am excited to re-evaluate my plan and continue to grow as a runner.

In the Words of Bruce Buffer…

Here We Go! I am currently sitting in the parking lot at Epcot. It is 3:14 am, and I am so ready to run this half marathon, it’s not even funny! I am so proud if myself for pushing hard enough to make the dream or running the Goofy a reality. When you work so hard for something, it makes the final experience so rewarding. But there are 2 things that are overwhelming me at the moment. The first is actually finishing all 39.9 miles with my body still intact, and the other is what I’m going to do when I get home from this. Training becomes such a huge part of your life, that’s it is super hard to be prepared for what to do next when it is finally finished.

As for now, I am going to go run…

On My Way…

Coming to you live from the Houston- George Bush International Airport… I am finally on my way to Orlando, Lake Buena Vista to be exact. I don’t know if it is nerves, or what, but I haven’t had the best day so far. I had a massive coughing fit this morning on my way to the airport. This has happened to me before, but during an interview, with the Chicago Bulls none the less. I think it is a way for my nerves to come through without acting live nerves. Thank God I haven’t thrown up yet… That tends to be a very common occurance in my life when nervousness is involved.

I left San Jose at 7 am on a flight that seemed much for like a roller coaster ride with lots of jerks, and bumps. At one point I couldn’t even keep my small glass of orange juice on my tray table. We were swaying so bad that it was going to spill any second, so I spent about 15 straight minutes holding it. By the end of the 3 hours and 50 minute flight, I was claustrophobic  extremely motion sick, and READY to get off of that plane. There are some major storms over the south right now, so I am fearing the same thing from Houston to Orlando… We will see how it goes.

My mom will be waiting there when I arrive, and I am anxious to be taken care of for a few days. Many of my Disney friends will be in attendance, and I am super pumped to see them and reconnect. Oh, and I am running 39.3 miles… and like i posted on my Facebook page yesterday, come hell or high water, I am going to run that 39.3.

Butterflies

Ok, it is really starting to set in. The self-doubt, the nervousness, and the tiny voice saying, “WTF am I doing?!?” I am really gonna run 2 very big races this weekend, and I am really starting to get nervous. I have been living on East Coast time over the last few days, getting up at 3:00 am, going to be at like 6 or 7 pm. I am going to finally pack tonight… which should have been done this weekend, but was put off because I didn’t want to feel this way any longer than I had to.

Gonna try to get a short run in tonight, then finalize stuff at work tomorrow before the big trip on Thursday. SO much to worry about, but I know it will all be fine. Heck, worst case scenario I walk, right??

Preparation

advlogoToday was all about preparation. I exchanged some running capris I got for Christmas at the Nike Store. I went to my new favorite store, Road Runner Sports for the first time… ADDICTED!!! Can’t wait to go back and get some new running garb after the Goofy. I bought a new waist pack, some gel blocks and a few packs of recovery drink.

I have an 8 miler tomorrow morning, and then the packing will commence. I have a lot to pull together, but I am excited to get it moving. The hardest part of all this: trying to live on Eastern Standard Time on the west coast. Knowing that I have to get up about 2:00 am EST to get to Epcot to run, I have been preparing myself by going to bed earlier and getting up earlier… like 4:00 am. Tomorrow I am set for 3:30 am. Hoping I can get into the workout room that early and get my run in. I love being in there when no one else is, which is rare.

There are lots of things I want to start with the new year, but I know it is in my best interest to wait until after next weekend. My lifting workout will change. I am also going to do another Advocare 24 Day Challenge, as that has helped me drop a significant amount of weight in the past. I have exactly 79 days until I turn 30, and I am going to look better, feel better, and just be better by the time that gets here.

I will let you know how tomorrow goes… Or let myself know anyway, when I read this sometime in the future.

 

Catching Up On Past Due Issues

Goofy LogoI am attempting to update my “Upcoming Runs” page tonight for the remainder of January. We will see how far I get, but hopefully I will have it totally done by the end of this weekend.

I am super excited for my runs this weekend, as they will be my final long runs before the Goofy Challenge begins next Saturday. Tomorrow, I am starting out with about a 4 mile jaunt, but I will be running on a treadmill, as I have to try out my warm weather clothes since I don’t think I will need my arctic wear in Florida this year. Sunday I will double my distance from tomorrow (I am assuming an 8 miler) and again test my warm weather wear indoors on the treadmill. I am super pumped about this final weekend, but I am even more excited to re-evaluate my goals when I get back, and work on scheduling the remainder of my races this year.

Here’s to a great weekend for runners everywhere!

I went back to the office today after a few weeks back in Kansas. I miss my dogs. I miss my boyfriend. Sometimes I wonder why I left. I know it was absolutely the right decision for me. I would not be happy if I had stayed in my old position at Fort Hays State. I was miserable there. I was a babysitter. I wasn’t running. I was working like 80 hours a week. It was all around a very bad situation for me. I lost myself there, which is funny, because I thought I would have everything I needed!

I am down to less than a week until I leave for Florida, and I feel that this will be a step back on the right path for me. One of the best years of my life was when I ran the first marathon 3 years ago. Running had helped me get through so many things, and being away from my family is one of those things.

I will leave you with this today, as it is how I decide my next move in life:

“Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious…and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”- Walt Disney