I ran my long run solo this weekend because of the unexpected trip to DC. Because Brad was supposed to fly into AC we had to go TO the AC airport Friday night to get his luggage because somehow his luggage made the flight and not him. ANYways, it was a blessing in disguise because we spent the night at his OCNJ house (since it was so late Friday when we got back to NJ) and I got to do my long run at the shore!

Just a typical winter running outfit. So far running tights, a cold weather long sleeved shirt, light vest, headband and gloves have been perfect. I suspect once the  temps drop another 10 degrees in the mornings that I will be layering up more.

Our TNT training plan called for 5-6 miles and going with our coach’s suggestion, I want to keep on the high end of mileage as long as there isnt snow and ice on the ground. I finished 6 miles in 59:20 which I am very happy about! I just want to keep my pace under 10 minute miles and so far I have done that for most runs.

Here’s a quick summary of my training this week:

• Monday – 3 miles with Melissa
• Tuesday – off
• Wednesday – 2.5 miles
• Thursday – personal training session
• Friday – lots of mall walking (before lots of driving to DC!)
• Saturday – 6 miles
• Sunday – light yoga/stretching

Mileage is on the low end this week but I expect to kick that up over the next couple weeks for sure. With the holidays  coming up I have several days off and plan to run during the day which will be nice! If anyone in the West Chester area wants to run leave me a comment!!

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TNT Fundraising Update – I am officially 63% of the way to my fundraising goal and have set a date for my Happy Hour event! Check back for details after the holidays!!

Time to get ready for the work week-it’s a short one for me!!

Ta-Ta!

It was a 1pm race which was really nice; gave me time to sleep in, eat a good breakfast (wheat bagel with PB, duh) and clean some. We met around noon and walked to the race start to snap some pictures and stretch before the 5 mile race began. We were all about having FUN – this was Meghan and Erin’s first race and I was so excited to be running it with them. We agreed to stay together and make the best of the super hilly course. We took some glamour shots before lining up at the start

Meghan!

Erin!

Me!

We had a great race-we walked when we needed (the hills were brutal!) and finished in a kick ass 54 minutes. I was so happy with how well we all did considering this was a super hilly course and it was a first race ever for two of us!

Instead of waiting in the crazy long lines for some post-run food, we decided to take the party elsewhere and went to our favorite bar/restaurant in West Chester – Side Bar! They always have great beers on tap and the food is awesome. We immediately ordered some post run refreshment: Troeg’s Mad Elf

Soooo good and perfect post-run. We ordered a couple dishes to share and they were gone fast. It was a great way to finish of a really fun Sunday!! I think I can speak for all three of us when I say that we will be running another race together soon!

Before I go I just have to say a BIG thank you to everyone who has donated to my marathon!!! In one week alone I have raised almost HALF of what I need to meet my goal!!! So THANK YOU to everyone who has donated. For those of you who would still like to donate, here is my website. You can also support me during an event I will be hosting in early February. I don’t have all the details yet but it is going to be really fun so stay tuned!

Ta-Ta!

The long weekend was packed with friends, family and lots of food! I will say that I am definitely all set for cold weather running gear (except for compression sleeves and socks!) thanks to my aunt/uncle and my parents and sisters. They’re the best and having some new fun gear is really making my look forward to marathon training which “officially” starts next weekend! I’ll be running a 5mile race next Sunday so my first run with the team wont be until the following weekend.

Since I’ve still got gifts on the mind I figured I would get the holiday season started with my Christmas wish list!

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I have been wanting a pair of rain boots for um, ever. I just haven’t been able to justify buying a pair for myself but I figured why not ask for Christmas! These are perfect because they are great for rain and winter. Size 9 please

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Love these earrings! They are from Stella and Dot which has the CUTEST jewelry. I usually don’t ask for/buy jewelry but these earrings are awesome-as is the necklace and bracelet they show with it.

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I’d love a pair of camel or cognac colored oxford booties. Something I could definitely wear with black and brown. These are just an example, but you get the idea; although these are $15 off through Monday!! size 8.5!

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I want a pair of reasonably priced aviator sunglasses and my sister has these and loves them.

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I really want this camera case to carry instead of my big bulky camera case at times. I like that you can hang the camera from your shoulder but the actual camera itself is still somewhat protected.

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I saw this bag on Etsy and knew I needed it. It would be perfect as a beach bag or for running errands and it is made from recycled coffee bags from Nicaragua. Love it!

Sooo I hope that gives my family some good ideas on what I would like. In addition Gift Cards always work and are perfect gift for picking out clothes.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed their long weekends. I’m off to get ready for a run with Meghan!

Ta-Ta!

I hope everyone had a good start to their week. Mine was, shall we say, busy and er, just a tad stressful. We just started this huge project at work and being on the back end/administrative side of things is so much different than dealing with people every day like I’m used to. It is definitely a learning experience (a great one!) and will probably make me the most organized gal this side of the Mississippi

So last Thursday was my Team in  Training kick off meeting. It was so great to meet others who will be training/running the NJ Marathon! I made a few running buddies and we have plans to run together in the evenings during the week. I am really excited about our coach as well. He has been running for 40 years, coaches track and cross country at a nearby college and is president of the  Greater Philadelphia Track Club. I’m looking forward to taking advantage of his expertise and experience in the coming months.

In addition to meeting people and getting info, we also got these sweet tech shirts that are to wear during training.

I love the purple-they match my lululemon shorts . Here is the front!

Oh what’s that? Were you blinded by my shoes?? Say hello to my new Nike Free Run 2′s! I have been running in the Nike Free Run’s and it was about time for a new pair. My friend April was able to pick me up a new pair from the running store she works for. I told her to surprise me with the color and they couldn’t be more perfect!

I am all about fun/bright workout gear.

Annnd last but not least, I got my hair cut!! As you may recall from my last post, my hair was getting a tad long and definitely needed some sprucing up. I went on Sunday and really like the new ‘do. Please excuse my “ijustcamefromthegym” look-just keeping it real.

I had close to 6 inches cut; my hair feels so much lighter and healthier! Now I need some fun headbands!

Ok well that’s all I’ve got for you tonight. I’m meeting with my trainer tomorrow evening for some dead lift fun!

Have a great night!

Ta-Ta!

I’m just killing some time at the Starbucks near work before the official Team in Training Kick Off Event. I’m pretty excited to meet the coaches and others who will be running the marathon in May. I’ll tell ya all about it this weekend but for now, two things I need to address:

My Hair-

1. It is really long. Exhibit A

2. It needs a cut! And no I am not doing Locks for Love. I love my locks and have donated before-just not up for suuuper short hair again. Exhibit B

That being said, I do plan to give my locks a chop soon. I’m thinking probably four inches or so but we shall see. Any suggestions for style are welcome! I honestly am not picky about my hair style-I usually just trust my stylist.

Next topic….

My cell phone-

My co-workers are probably sick of hearing me talk about it, but in 2 short week I will officially be an iphone owner and could not be more excited!

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I currently have a Droid and while I do like that it fully supports Google programs, I am over how craptastic the touch  screen is and how it turns off 6+ times a day just by being SET ON A HARD SURFACE. So annoying.

So again, any and all suggestions are welcome for awesome apps to download/buy.

And on that note, I’ll be going. Time to pretend like I’m not scared sh*tless about having signed up for a marathon. Eek!

Ta-Ta!

First up, GLOVES. I have an old pair of fleece gloves I’ve used and frankly, they suck. Lets just say wiping boogies and sweat on fleece isn’t ideal. I need something more like this:

Next up, a headband. Hats make me too hot but I definitely need to keep my ears warm. It HAS to stay on my ears as well. I can’t stand headbands that slip off my ears while I run. Something like this would work since its pretty wide:

As I mentioned above, I have one pair of Under Armour cold weather running tights, but I wouldn’t mind another pair or even a pair of crops but something like this

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I have one cold weather top but definitely need at least one more long sleeved running top and perhaps a 1/2 zip pullover like this one from Target. I have a cool weather shell jacket I can layer over both if needed

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And lastly, something I was asking about on twitter today-compression socks. I still don’t know what brand is best but I know I definitely want to try a pair out!!!

I’d love to hear from other runners what they consider essential cold weather running gear. I actually prefer running in the cold than heat, I just want to be fully prepared! If I had a money tree in my backyard I would probably also mention that I would love a Nathan hand held water bottle, some awesome warm running socks, a running vest and probably a bunch of other fun stuff .

Now I just need to find a way to get it all!

Hope to hear from you other cold weather runners!! I’ll be back later this week to let you know how the TNT Kick Off meeting went!

Ta-Ta!

Since then I wouldn’t say I have done a LOT of races, but I’ve done my fair share; half a dozen 5ks, two ten milers and a half.

So yea, I’m sure you can guess where I’m going with this…

I’m running a marathon!

I am going to be training with Team in Training and couldn’t be more excited and terrified. I have two friends who have lost their spouses to Leukemia and knew I wanted to honor their lives by raising funds to help find a cure for those currently fighting and who will fight blood cancers.

I plan to blog as much of my journey as possible so please check back here regularly! I also have a page on the TNT site. You can visit that page  here. I will be doing some fundraising between now and the New Year but plan to kick it into full gear January 2012.

Here’s to an exciting and challenging six months ahead!

Ta-ta!

We got some wicked storms last night but it ended up giving us a pretty nice Friday. I’m heading into town soon with Meghan for some drinks and food at a friends house. I hear wine spritzers are on the agenda; definitely not complaining!

Earlier this week I was really missing the bf (only 11 more days!!!! But who’s counting??? ) and wanted to do something to make myself feel better. No I didn’t eat a pint of Ben and Jerrys, but I DID cook!

I love hearing about Nicaragua and what’s going on down there. Brad and I have something of a system in order to talk on the phone. I use skype  to call his Nica cell phone but because he doesn’t always get service he has to call me and hang up, which lets me know he is in an area with service. Fun huh? ANYways, one of the things Brad has talked about pretty often is how they eat a LOT of chicken, beans and rice. So I decided to recreate a meal he typically eats; Beer in the Butt Chicken, beans and rice!

OK, I know probably everyone has heard of or made BITB Chicken but this was a first for me. First time ever handling a whole chicken too. I hit up TJ’s for the chicken. Added 1/2 can of beer, some olive oil spray and seasoning and that’s it! While the chicken was on the grill I made up some brown rice, kidney and black beans and sliced tomato all seasoned like the chicken (I think it was Caribbean Seasoning).

Ok so this picture is NOT of chicken but I just had to show off my green thumb. I LOVE porchulacas and planted these about two months ago and boy have they grown! Ok back to chicken.

It. was. AWESOME. So flavorful and delicious. My Dad, I mean my ROOMMATE thought it was delicious as well .

Looking forward to a relaxing weekend! Yoga tomorrow AM then over to the WC Growers Market! Have a great weekend everyone!

ta-ta!

So it’s been about a week and a half since I moved back home and things are going well. I thank the Kindle gods daily because without my Kindle, my 50 min train ride each way to work and home would suuuuck. If you have any book suggestions please send them my way! I’ve read Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series, Hunger Game Series and The Help for starters.

A couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of trying my hand at video blogging (vlogging???) on behalf of Newman’s Own. I know I won’t be winning any awards with this video but it is fantastically cheesy and a fun little exercise in video creation. So check it out! I wouldn’t be opposed to creating another video should someone provide me with a fun topic

ta-ta!