4 days out

I think this week I will just be titling my posts based on how many days are left until JFK. Of course, I have a crazy busy week going on, so who knows how many posts I'll be able to write, but that's the plan.

True to form, Monday morning I could barely drag myself out of bed after ten whole hours of sleep. But, this morning, I actually woke up at the time I intended, without pushing snooze, after only seven hours. Maybe the iron is kicking in?

I also decided to try and reduce my sugar intake as we approach JFK, so yesterday the only sweets I had were two thin mints. It doesn't sound like that's worth noting, but its a huge reduction for me. Especially lately, because I've been eating like I plan to audition for Biggest Loser. Which actually might not be a bad post JFK goal now that I think of it. Jillian Michaels is coming back, and I have a deep love affair going on with her. And we all know about my crush on Dolvett. And my possibly even greater love of eating. That's sounding like a win/win.

Trifecta

But seriously, I'm really going to try not to buy any chocolate at Breaking Dawn 2 on Friday. Since Breaking Dawn 1 made me gag repeatedly (due to bloody scenes, not the horrible acting), that might be easier than I think.

Last night I did an easy 4 miles (no watch) after work, today is a rest day, and I'm planning on two more 4 milers this week, although to be honest if they don't happen I don't even really care. Just to clarify, this is in no way a properly executed taper. If you want to read about how that looks, check out fellow JFK runner Kristin's blog. 

I do feel really lazy in the short term, but I am starting to get that "craving a run" feeling, which I haven't had in at least 2 weeks. So while physically, I should be running a lot more during this period leading up to the race, mentally I think it's the best thing I could do to prepare. Some runners seem to be able to keep up high mileage year round and never need a break, but I'm just not one of them. 

I got an additional workout last night at broomball. I played offense for three 9 minute quarters, and was exhausted. It doesn't sound like much, but try 27 minutes of sprinting on slippery ice and you'll see. Our team won 5-0, which is by far the highest scoring game I've ever been in or even heard of. A typical broomball game ends with something like a 1-1 tie. 

Eric even told me that I played really well and he was impressed. This may sound biased, coming from my husband, but trust me it's not. While Eric is an extremely wise husband, and isn't fooled by even the most sincere sounding "no, really, you can tell me the truth, do I look fat?", he's also the most competitive person I've ever met. We sometimes have issues because he does things like critique my bowling form when I didn't even think we were keeping score. So when it comes to sporting events, he's not doling out compliments unless he means them. 

He thinks I played so well because I got really pissed off after a girl smashed her stick full force into my foot. Did I mention this sport is also great JFK preparation? I also fell and hit my knee really hard. But we won, so who cares?


Who's the competitive one in your life (or is it you)? Do you run into problems as a result of differing levels of competitive spirit?

If you were on Biggest Loser, what would be the food they lock you in the room with (the one you just can't resist) during challenges? I think we all know what mine would be, but if it wasn't a dessert, it would be Cheez-Its.

Tapering 101 - just be lazy

Here's a little advice for you - if there's something that you know you should do, because it's good for you, but you really don't want to do, because it will be terrible, don't post it on a public blog while your mom is visiting you. She will make you do that thing. 

In my case, that was calling my doctor to get blood work done, to see why the hell I'm so tired lately. The universe was looking out for me though, and apparently my doctor doesn't have any availability until next year. Well, even though I really didn't want to go due to my paralyzing fear of needles, now I'm pissed, because that's just ridiculous. Also I already scheduled a flu shot, and if I have to overcome my fear for that it makes sense to just do some shots of tequila and knock it all out in one fell swoop.

So, here's my solution.

I took one last night, and my friend with three kids under the age of five said I looked tired a few hours later, so they are definitely not instantaneous. (She didn't say it in the bitchy "I'm trying to point out how disgusting you look under the pretense of socially acceptable concern" way, she said it in the "it's the late hour of 10:30 and I noticed you are yawning and looking at the door" way). 

So we'll see. I used to be one of those people who could not sleep late if my life depended on it. If I didn't set an alarm, I'd be up within 8 hours of when I went to bed no matter what. Now if I don't set an alarm, like this morning, I practically needed the jaws of life to pry me out of bed ten hours after going to sleep, and I still feel like I could easily fall back asleep right now.

It's my last weekend before JFK, and I am loving tapering so much. At this point, in my expert opinion, I've trained for the race, and nothing I am going to do is going to change things now. Well, I guess I could totally screw myself by starting Crossfit and doing too many jerks in the box. I actually really wish I was rich and could join a Crossfit box just so I could stand there and make that's what she said jokes the entire time. 

So in the interest of tapering for JFK, I cut pretty much all my runs short this week. Yesterday, I was planning to run 10 miles with Lily, but I got really bad side stitches and was doing that weird trying to hold back from throwing up thing the whole time, so I dropped it to 7. Maybe if I was still training I would have pushed through, but I'm not. Today, as previously mentioned, I just stayed in bed instead of running. Really, at this point, being rested is going to help me more than adding in a few extra miles, and that coincided perfectly with the fact that my bed felt extra wonderful this morning. 

Weekly total: 29 miles. So I think we can safely rule out "overtraining" as a reason for my tiredness.

Friday night, my friends Carolyn, Casi, and Sarah came over to achieve the lofty goal of watching all four Twilight movies. It is imperative that we go into Breaking Dawn this Friday with all of Bella and Edward's history fresh in our minds.

To me, it felt like we had just gathered for this event, and it was hard for me to believe it was an entire year ago. Of course, having a guest who hadn't even existed a year ago sort of drove the point home.

Team Jacob: Harper and Carolyn

Eric was really upset that we subjected a helpless baby who couldn't speak out to Twilight, but she loved it. Even when we tried to get her attention for a picture, she couldn't tear herself away from the vampire/werewolf love triangle.

We truly had the quad-fecta for a girls night: ridiculous vampire movie marathon (with Taylor's hot abs - I may be team Edward, but that body speaks for itself), wine, ice cream, and an adorable baby.

It wasn't easy, but we made it through 2.5 movies Friday night (the baby did not make it nearly that long) and then set our alarms and woke up "early" Saturday to finish. Mission accomplished. I can't even imagine what might be in store for me if I could apply this type of devotion to other areas of my life.

Saturday night I went to my friend Tess's 30th birthday party, a mustache bash. Some of my old work friends that no longer work with me were there, so I had way too much fun catching up with them to take any pictures, but our friends who planned the party did an amazing job. There was even a mustache photo booth that I didn't know about until I saw the pictures on Facebook the next day. I did manage to snap these two on my way out.

I forgot to grab one. Sad face.

Hard to tell but the cookies and homemade lollipops are mustaches!

The more 30th birthday parties I go to, the more anxiety I get about my own, because I just don't see myself being this creative and fantastic and throwing such a cool party. I might just decide to buy a bottle of wine, drive to my sister's, and drink it with her while playing with Harrison. 

What's the coolest theme party you have ever been to/heard of?

What's your quad-fecta for a perfect night? 

The perfect tights

Sorry productivity, you're about to significantly diminish, because we are now in the JFK ten day forecast.

So far, I like it.

Yesterday I met my BFFs Carolyn and Casi downtown and ran 6.15 miles with them. I think this actually might be the first time the three of us ran together and it was great. I had a training at work (running store) last night and didn't get home until after 10pm, so I barely made it up for four miles today. 4 miles felt exhausting, and I walked in the door feeling more like I ran 20, which bodes well for JFK. I know that every single time I have a race coming up this happens and it's all in my head, but it feels real!

Obviously, now that the race is next weekend, it's time to shirk all duties (other than checking the weather) and start to obsess about what to wear. I've been on the search for a new pair of tights, more specifically, the perfect tights. I got a new pair of Brooks tights this summer when I was doing a Brooks training and they were massively discounted, but they seem too big and keep falling down. 

I've gotten the distinct impression that my body (short, abnormally short legs, thighs that touch, whooty) was not the one running clothes manufacturers had in mind when designing running tights. The only pair that seemed to work was my old UnderArmour tights, but the problem was that they now smell like swamp, due to that time I wore them while I spent hours crawling through a swamp. Also known as GORUCK.

Under all that nasty mud, I'm wearing the perfect tights.

It's probably only noticeable to me (and FYI I soaked and rinsed them in vinegar like 95 times) but it's enough to bring back flashbacks. 

Still, I was open to new things, and last night the training I went to was on running apparel, so I got to see and try on (and buy with a huge discount - score!) all different kinds of tights. Some were supposedly made for short legs, but they were still way too long on me. Some were made to be more flattering and forgiving, which sounded pretty good. Upon further inspection though, the UnderArmour tights still seemed to be the only ones that would really stay up and be comfortable. They were neither flattering, nor forgiving. 

Like most women, I assume, I go through love/hate cycles with my body, and right now I'm in my favorite cycle, which I like to think of as "it is what it is and if you don't like it you can kiss my fat ass while I eat this brownie". Some might call that "acceptance", but that sounds way too self - help section for me. ("Travel.....travel...?").

So what that all boils down to is that I got the UnderArmour tights, so my fellow JFK runners will have the option to check out my ass jiggling along for 50 miles, while I'm nice and comfy in my tights. I'll take minimal chafing over flattering and forgiving any day.

PSA to runners - you probably will be tempted to check out my ass, because it's a good one, but seriously, on the AT trail, please keep your eyes on the trail to avoid injury - you can look forward to the view once we reach the canal.

If that wasn't enough of a disturbing peek into my mind for you on this Friday morning, tonight my BFFs and I will be having our second (and probably last) annual Twilight movie viewing event, in anticipation of the Breaking Dawn 2 premier in one week.

First order of business after work - FIND THAT SHIRT.

Last year this event was epic, and it seems impossible to improve upon that kind of perfection, but we did it. Obviously, this year there is another movie to watch, but also, our friend Sarah is bringing over her daughter Harper, who is one week older than Harrison. A few months ago I would have been pissed, now I can't freaking wait to see her. 

I'll just end with a picture of what life in our house is like. I asked Eric to say goodnight to me last night, and he responded in a zombie voice "I'm in a gun fight". Far be it for me to interrupt something so important.

He still doesn't know I took a picture.

What cycle are you in with your body now?

What mindless entertainment makes you look like Eric in that picture? Mine is obviously reading blogs!

Did anyone get my "travel.....travel?" joke? If so, you are my hero.

Kids don't know how good they have it

I ran 5 miles this morning, taper is boring, JFK is scary, luckily I have some other stuff to talk about!

I'm really confused about why adulthood implies moving out of your parents house. Based on my experience this weekend, having your parents live with you makes your life significantly better. They've been staying with us, which is great, but their house is much nicer, so I'm unclear why I moved out and got a job and all that.

Report cards are due this week, so I worked on them after work Monday night while they cooked me a delicious dinner of baked ziti with homemade sauce. That was the least amount report cards have ever sucked. They only took brief breaks to take pictures of how beautiful I looked while working.

This is my last time ever doing report cards,
I'm sending this straight to Vogue and beginning a
modeling career.

Sunday night, we realized we were really failing at documenting our visit with pictures, but I reminded my mom that we were going to see the baby Tuesday and we'd be sure to get plenty then. She responded "What? We're not seeing the baby". After some discussion, I realized in her mind "the baby" was Harrison, and she had forgotten that other babies actually do exist. Understandable. 

But there is another baby that we needed to see - Kara's new baby, Cordelia!

A little happy blogging running family

My new love of holding babies continues. 

This picture did make me want to steal her.

Usually the socially acceptable thing to do is to bring a gift for the new baby, but this chick is only one week old, she's not going to know whether or not she receives gifts. Obviously, we were looking for approval from the child who is old enough to know what's up.

A stuffed dog you can color on! Or....a pony you can ride!

Blurry, but you get the idea.

Eric tried to get a fist bump, but he got a side-eye. Maybe he should have handed her the gift?

You're welcome for cutting your head off, Kara's secret husband.

Vince was equally excited to see Peanut. The feeling was mutual.

She's too fast to capture on camera!

Unfortunately, long lines at the polls meant we didn't get to Kara's until much later than planned, and then we had to rush out. It's that time again....

BROOMBALL!

Broomball is basically hockey, except you wear sneakers, use a plastic "broom", hit a ball, and fall a lot. It's hard to explain though, so here's a video my  mom took of my sweet skills.

My parents are leaving tomorrow, which sucks because I won't get to hang out with them anymore and it means I have to go back to doing things for myself. Being an adult is the worst. 

Would you still live with your parents if it was socially acceptable?

Does this video make you want to join a broomball team asap?

The good, the bad, and the really weird

I appreciate all the comments on my not so subtle "something's wrong with me so I'll have my internet friends diagnosis me" post yesterday. I actually said to Lily on our run this morning that I was going to call my doctor and schedule an appointment for her to check my iron. For those who don't know me in real life and therefore don't have a true understanding of my fear of needles, picture Katniss chucking her bow and arrows into the stream and running through the arena screaming for the Careers (at the beginning, like maybe day 1 or 2 of the games). That's about the level of fear we're dealing with here. Now let's see if this bravado still exists once the doctor's office is actually open.

It could be overtraining, but I need a flu shot anyway, and I like to get my iron levels checked each year since I'm a veg-bac-a-tarian (I don't eat meat because it grosses me out except bacon so I'll eat that if someone else cooks it and it's not for moral reasons so don't lump me in with those annoying overzealous people).

I almost succumbed to insanity and went to WebMD, since it was the one of the two times each season that Eric's team (the Browns) were playing and I could have snuck on, so I appreciate you guys talking me down.

Regarding the picture I posted of our photo shoot, upon reading my blog, my stepfather was displeased with the quality (too blurry), so a do-over photo shoot had to be staged.

He couldn't remember the proper facial expression

While my parents have been visiting, here's some of the awesome things we've enjoyed, aka, 

"The Good":

Five and Below find - seems like it should only be funny if you're drunk
or a child, but it's hilarious for sober adults.

The reason I'm scared to have kids: My mom found this for me because
I told her howTrader Joes ran out this year before I could get any.
How can I possibly ever be that awesome?

Enough said. Get yourself to Target ASAP. Thank God I need to back to get iron pills.

The new Brooks Adrenaline 13s! Unrelated to our visit but I wore them at work
yesterday and loved them.

I woke up this morning to run, and actually ran 7 miles, instead of brushing my teeth and going back to bed. It was still slow, but I didn't hate it. Having Lily with me made a huge difference.

The bad:

Kari warned me, but I had to find out for myself.
Don't watch it.

The really weird: I've been listening to The Maze Runner series on audiobook during my long runs. It's a dystopian young adult book about teenagers with a lot of action, so I figured a movie had to be on the horizon. I found a full movie trailor Saturday night and I was thrilled. 

Further investigation on IMDB led me to finally figure out it was a trailer for the book. I thought "book trailers" were those little summaries that you find on the back, but this is a real trailer that looks like it could come from Hollywood (in my completely ignorant opinion). At any rate, it wasn't one of those fan made ones, not that I would know what those looked like or watched every one I could find right before the Hunger Games came out in theaters. 

 Have you ever heard of this "book trailer" thing?

Name something good and bad from your weekend!

Bringing sexy back

I just wrapped up a whopping, 40 mile running week. I'm supposed to be tapering, but I'd aimed for more like 50 this week. I don't know what came over me this week, but it was bad.

Monday and Tuesday essentially everything in Baltimore (and the whole East Coast, it seems) was shut down due to Sandy. Eric and I spent the entire two days either sleeping, laying on the couch reading or watching TV, or eating. Pretty much no movement unless we needed food or bathroom. That sounds bad, but let me assure you, all of my coworkers reported doing the same. My friend Kristin even wrote a great blog post about it.

So wouldn't you think that the logical turn of events would be that the rest of the week I'd be rested, refreshed, and feeling on top of the world? Spoiler alert, I've already posted, and that didn't happen.

Friday: Couldn't get out of bed to run, but I actually had a pretty good "naked" (aka no electronics, water, nothing) 9 miler after work. I even got to try out my new sunglasses, a gift that Kari recently sent me. I've never had sunglasses specifically for working out, and now I'm dying to ride my bike in them. Plus, they look damn sexy.

I left my ipod at home just so I could hear the many catcalls.

Saturday: "Long" run day. I needed to run 15 miles, because I made that up after not looking at my training plan for like the ninth straight week. I didn't wake up until nearly 9am - fail. I also had been too lazy to fill my camelbak the night before - fail #2. Since I was still too lazy to fill it that morning, I decided to do three 5 mile loops in my neighborhood. Fail #3. My parents, who were visiting, were drinking coffee and eating bagels in our apartment with Eric, so I had to force myself to leave that tempting scene twice to return to the windy, cold streets and run more. But I managed to cover the distance, slowly.

Sunday: I was positive this would be it. With an extra hour of sleep to enjoy and the winds finally dying down, I'd be up early and chomping at the bit for a nice, cool fall run. Um, no. I slept for 9 hours and easily could have slept for several more. I still could barely drag myself out of bed. I contemplated skipping the run or cutting it short about two million times. Even my brand new shoes didn't help. I stayed the course for my planned ten miles, somehow.

It seems that those two days of nothingness alerted my body to the fact that doing nothing is the best, and now I want to do that for all time, until my dying day when they need a crane to lift my 800 pound body out of our apartment.

The only other solution I can come up with is that I have some sort of rare disease that's sapping all my strength. I'm sure anyone who's ever been to WebMD will agree with this diagnosis. Eric banned me a long time ago, so I haven't checked, but I'm still pretty sure I know that's what they would say.

In news that's less whiny and full of complaints, my mom and stepfather are visiting this weekend, which is a huge highlight in my life. I've been looking forward to this weekend for a long time. We decided to keep the visit low key, so we've mainly been hanging out, chatting, watching TV, and playing games. They went to Goodwill while we were at work on Friday, and found this gem. Anyone who's ever been invited to an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party knows what a find it is, especially this late in the fall.

Now we must throw a party. It would be a crime not to.

When you have a professional photographer in the family, you can't just take funny iPhone photos to send to other family members. Here's a behind the scenes look.

I can't really talk about bringing your profession into your personal life, since I'm already trying to teach Harrison his ABCs. 

What weird rare unheard of disease do you think I'm suffering from? Could it be old age? FYI, it's not knocked up - itis, so don't even try.

Nailed it

I am nailing this taper.

After my monster week last week of 81 miles, I've swung the pendulum entirely in the other direction. Here we are on Thursday, and I've run a whopping six miles. I have a training after work tonight, so I won't be adding to that today, either. I took three consecutive days off, for absolutely no reason. For runners, that's practically a crime.

This training cycle has been nothing but highs and lows, with no middle ground. Either I love running and can't get enough, or I can't stand it and want nothing to do with it. At least that's what it feels like right now, while I'm 2 weeks out from the race and totally burnt out.

My attitude now is that training is over. I've done all I can do, now it's time to taper and rest, so if that happens to mean no more running until I'm at the start line, eh. Would that really be so bad?

I can't speak to how it would affect the race, but if I want my marriage to survive, that's not going to work. Yesterday, I just couldn't get out of bed, plus Eric told me there were a lot of street lights out, so being a chicken chicken seemed like a convenient excuse. 

Of course, every time I skip a run, I'm mad at myself and therefore on edge all day. The fact that my school had power and Eric's didn't, meaning he was sleeping when I left and got to spend the day relaxing, didn't help. If I was a good wife, I would have been happy for him. But I'm not.

I got home, and could have run before going out for Halloween, but you know what sounded better? The couch. I did massively improve my mood  when I FaceTimed with my nephew in his Halloween costume. I'm not going to steal my sister's thunder and post it, but trust me, you will die of cuteness.

Before going to bed last night, I told Eric "I HAVE to get up and run tomorrow. I can't take another day without running". He very seriously replied "I can't take another day without you running either". Poor guy. I don't know how he deals with me. Please read that in a non-sarcastic voice, which is how I meant it. 

I'm usually REALLY into Halloween. Eric and I even made costumes and went out and celebrated when I had swine flu (I was in recovery and no longer contagious, don't worry, I'm not an irresponsible citizen). 

Not when I had swine flu, but this was our best work

Much like running, I failed to summon up any motivation this year. I almost skipped our girls night out due to my lameness in the costume department, but my friend suggested a great idea at dismissal, and I was able to make it in about five minutes after work. 

Can you tell what I was?

If you don't get Casi's costume (with the rainbows), here you go. You're welcome.

What's the longest you've ever gone without exercise for no reason (not injured, sick, recovering, moving, etc)?

Did you dress up for Halloween? What were you?