stuffy nose translation: under the weather.

yup….i think i’m coming down with a cold. Perhaps all that partying this weekend knocked my immune system down a bit. I never get sick! Crap!

photo 3

the “get well soon” arsenal

I am still nursing the ankle too but I do feel pretty confident it’ll be fine in another day or two.

photo 4

keeping it under wraps just to be safe.

So in other words i’m totally in tip-top shape for Sunday’s 18 miles (insert sarcasm here). Pray for me!

I read today’s latest entry from Mile Posts and couldn’t relate more. Seriously I felt like I could have written it myself (minus the sub 1 1/2 hour half marathon time goal lol!). She talks about when your pride gets in the way of running where you might rather opt out of running a race once you know you’re not trained for that PR you wanted.

This all has been stirring around in my head for quite a few weeks. I am NOT at all thinking of bailing on the NJ Marathon, and most of my training has been going just fine. But, I keep going over my goal time in my head over and over trying to do the math to see if I can really pull it off. With each training run I realize that maintaining a 10:40 pace for 26.2 miles doesn’t seem out of reach but then I remember how I like to walk through water stops and walk a minute here and there when i see my family or get a cramp and that freaked me out because really my pace would need to be more in the range of 10:15 for most miles to allow me those walk breaks. I immediately threw my hands up and said forget it. I’ll NEVER reach my goal. I also simultanously did the calendar counting to see i’ll probably be in the midst of my period (yikes probably day 1 or 2) and that made me feel the “why bother” aspect even more. But just within the last few days I sorta yelled at myself. I’m running this race for more than just the possibility of a PR but because I loved the course last year and I love that my family can see me at a few spots along the course and it’s fairly flat and the race director is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. I want to run this race regardless of the outcome. We must always remember we have more than one voice in our head and we have to battle for the strongest one to lead us.

Meanwhile, yes, I am totally capable of pulling out a 4:40 finish time (according to the McMillan calculator with a 57:26 10k and a 2:07:54 half I should be able to pull out a 4:29:18 marathon). But if it’s 4:50 who cares?

And of course I have this furry voice to bark at me when I talk smack…

photo 1

Interestingly I got this fortune with my dinner tonight…

photo 5

I concur. My heart will always see it right. Except when it comes to boys. LOL!

Question: Do you ever doubt yourself? How do you get back on track with yourself?

Hi there!

I’m exhausted. My girl’s weekend was a success!

photo 2-1

This is how my Saturday night ended.

I dropped off Duncan to hang with his friends…

1016320_10203577579866426_1750292164_n

And then met up with the girls. We hit the road about 3:30pm and were down in Atlantic City checking into the hotel at about 5:30. We quickly got dressed and headed to dinner. There may or may not have been some pre-game cupcakes and drinks in the room.

1795656_10203038171662772_1979995941_n

photo 3

The girls! Note to self: Heels are the devil.

We had reservations at Bobby Flay Steak, a steakhouse in the Borgata hotel. In one word I can describe the meal as perfection.

photo 4-1

I had filet mignon, a glass of shiraz, and we shared 4 amazing sides. Mashed potatoes, asparagus, cauliflower gratin and sweet potato gratin

photo 5-1

the desserts were off the chart! Baked alaska, 7 layer chocolate espresso cake and caramel apple bread pudding with spiced pears

After dinner we dabbled a bit in the casino. I actually had a lovely surprise and won a little over $300. I was so close to winning the progressive amount which was $48,000! But $300 is still nice.

photo 1-2

if that 100x Pay was up just a smidge i’d have won $48,000

And then we headed to the club to dance. I don’t dance and clubs aren’t my thing but there was some magical liquid courage involved and wouldn’t ya know I danced and had so much fun!

clubgirls

Somewhere before I passed out cold on the bed still in my dress I took this series of selfies! I think I was happy no?

photo 1-1

I woke up in the middle of the night and scared myself when I looked in the mirror

photo 1

I learned from Gina that she calls this hairstyle the Snork. Genius!

Things returned to normal this morning when I was back in my running gear! Gina and I went out for a quick run to sweat out the small stuff booze. It was 3 miles of good girl chat with some walk breaks. We both were suffering from war wounds of wearing heels the night before. Gina wore her FitBit all weekend and tracked our steps. Between the dancing and the running we’d covered over 10,000 steps! How cool is that?!

bwalkrun

I ran on a boardwalk again!

My calves were really tight most probably from wearing heels and while we were running I felt a twinge on the inside of my ankle and my achilles tendon. It got stiffer as the day progressed. Most definitely related to the tight calves. So when I got home I put on compression socks, and iced the ankle.

photo 3-1

 

I’m not exactly sure if this is a minor issue or a major issue but i’m not freaking out just yet. I CANNOT afford to make this any worse with next weekend’s 18 miler on the horizon. Here’s hoping that it’s minor.

I really enjoyed myself this weekend and was able to put all my stress on the shelf for a bit. It’s great to have gal pals to share good times like this with.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I’m too tired to ask you a question but if you have anything to share with the class please do. =)

 

This morning I executed my multitask plan so well. Was out the door at 6:30am. Dropped the Jeep off for service. Knowing they said it’d take a few hours, I went out for a 10 mile run. I had to actually run a lot of the same location as my 16 miler last weekend which included the boardwalk. I know! Rough to have to look at the beautiful ocean right?! But I did climb a big hill about 8 1/2 miles in to get me back to the main road where the service center is.

photo 5

About 3 miles in I got a FaceTime phone call from my nephew. I stopped running to chat with him a bit. It was such a nice surprise. I love my nephew. And my niece? Well, check out her little message she wrote me on the leftover butternut squash soup that my sister-in-law made me.

photo 4

When I arrived back at the service center they told me they were so busy and only had 4 mechanics so my Jeep wouldn’t be done until the end of the day. I burst into tears. Enough was enough. I have managed to maintain calmness through the events of Tuesday and Wednesday (wrong part was ordered not once but twice) but this had thrown me over the edge.The manager finally realized he had to do something so he arranged for a car rental for me. (at their expense).

photo 3

I stopped at a bench along the boardwalk to stretch my hamstring and may or may not have laid there for a while =)

So I’ve got me a lovely Jeep Patriot for the next couple of days. No 26.2 magnet on the back 🙁 LOL. I came home and immediately had a nice hot cuppa coffee and some blackberries. I am OBSESSED with blackberries lately. I want to eat them all day.

photo 2

my favorite mug!

photo 1

and my latest obsession 

I also ate a cinnamon raisin bagel with whipped cream cheese. But it was inhaled before I could snap a pic.

So now I’m packing what I need for my girls weekend and spending some QT with the doodle before he heads off to his friend Biggie’s house for a sleepover.

199124_1930016611799_8217447_n

duncan and biggie: BFFs

304100_2380329349336_6412175_n

best buds

Hope you have a very nice weekend and that you get to sweat out the small stuff…

Question: Latest favorite fruit? 

The doodle got a haircut:

photo 4

funny that i happened to be wearing green today and then they gave him a st. paddy’s day scarf. We’re really both ready for our Leprechaun and pots of gold!

photo 5

even the leash is green! He’s waiting for the possum to appear again.

These quotes struck my fancy:

1897655_10152245859746950_1522822975_n

RunEatRepeat posted this one today! I loved it!

1660212_653830511345296_910048422_n

take from Distant Runner’s Facebook page

1969351_720838014628171_1719397823_n

Taken from Runner’s World Facebook page

1975192_682728268436711_1889233529_n

take from I <3 to Run’s Facebook page

My Jeep is STILL not completely repaired. I won’t go in to the details but long story short there was a whole lot of not ordering the right part and lots of futile attempts but hopefully Saturday it’ll be good as new. I’ll have to wait while they repair it but since they said it’ll be 2-3 hours I figured I’d multitask and get in my 10 miler instead of picking at my fingernails in the waiting room.

Of course last night when I got home after picking up said unfixed Jeep I drowned my sorrows in this for dinner:

photo 2

always a winning combination

photo 1

yes please!

And while we’re on the subject of random dinner choices, I celebrated National Pancake Day on Tuesday with these lovely gems for dinner…

13239_10203259668514193_1009293495_n

pancakes for dinner? why of course!

Meanwhile, I think I might have mentioned that I haven’t been keeping the Jeep clean lately.

photo 3

the floor on the passenger side…a.k.a. the shotgun shit pile

It’s become a dumping ground for empty water bottles, and now add to that a few check-in tickets from the mechanic. Oh and one of the 3 broken umbrellas that I had been collecting still remains. I hate to let go thinking i can revive them. But my mom just told me she’s got a brand new Totes for me so i’m ready to finally say goodbye to this one. We’re supposed to have some great springlike weather this weekend and I’d give the Jeep a good cleaning both inside and out….but I have exciting plans! My “wolf pack” is headed out for a girl’s weekend in Atlantic City. We’re celebrating Lisa’s belated birthday, but more importantly it’s her IDBAC (I’m done being a cripple) extravaganza….you see she broke a bone in her foot last summer but by the time they realized it wasn’t healing on its own 3 months had gone by. And then they finally had to do surgery. She’s only now able to start wearing shoes other than sneakers. She spent months on crutches and/or in a boot. It was rough.

Here’s a pic of us last time we went to Atlantic City. It was the night Whitney Houston died. Let’s just say it was a memorable night =)

426981_10150541382837227_1415473823_n

Wolfffff Packkkkkk!!!!!!

My O’hammy is feeling much better today and so I made the last minute decision to run a few miles…

photoThe sun set and then I caught a glimpse of the moon. Life is good. And now it’s time to have a li’l dinner and then watch TV. I’m disappointed in American Idol this season. I watched last night’s performances today (love DVR) and fast forwarded through most of them. Oh well. Maybe Hoarders will be on or House Hunters.

Question: What TV shows do you watch during the week? Catch any lovely sunrises or sunsets lately?