Hi!

How has your week been going? Yesterday was Earth Day. It’s sorta that for me every day. I love nature and spend as much time as I can outside. Yep. I’m a tree hugger =)

me hugging a tree

tree-hugger sally

I had to work from home yesterday to wait for the appraiser to come. I’m refinancing because the interest rate on my mortgage is ridiculous. I bought my house back in 2000 when the rates were between 7 and 8 percent. So now i’ll be down to 3.625 and I’ll be able to pay the house off sooner. Feels so good!

Anyway, I got some miles in…

earth day running

my penultimate training run. (I had a thing for vocabulary is school)

Just 3-ish. It really feels so weird to be running such low mileage but it works out ok because to overshadow my allergy woes, this past Sunday my sciatica/piriformis muscle decided to spasm. I’ve been dealing with horrible annoying pain since then. Remarkably running and walking make it feel a little better. I’m currently taking anti-inflammatories, rolling my butt on a tennis ball to massage the tight areas and rotating between ice and heat. I never get it right. Is it ice first then heat? or the opposite? I get this every now and then usually from sitting for too long or sitting the wrong way. But timing-wise it sucks. Hello! I have a marathon coming up in 4 days! 

Since most of my physical training is in the books at this point I am trying to work on some mental exercise because my mental muscle is mush lately. I started with a peaceful walk in the woods with Duncan. Green is finally popping up!

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I enjoy these walks because I can talk to myself out loud and there isn’t a soul around to hear me. Well I did scare away about 5 deer. Poor little guys were seeking out their dinner and when they heard me they bolted. All I saw were 5 white tails as they darted away.

I’d love if you all could share with me the sayings/quotes/mantras that help you feel confident and inspired.

I have been a little wishy-washy with my expectations for Sunday. I’m nervous and doubting my abilities lately…part of the taper madness? I want that fire to return for race day. I want to “crush it” as people say. But I don’t want to be disappointed if I have a slower finish time or if I struggle during the race. I did get in a solid 16 weeks of running but I never got on the bandwagon with things like strengthening my core or cleaning up my diet. So while my endurance is good, my weak core isn’t going to help me keep strong in those later miles. (Slapping my hand!) Maybe I need to just start singing that song from the movie Frozen…LET IT GO, LET IT GO! =) It’s all gonna go down just as it’s supposed to anyway. So long as I can keep smiling from the minute I line up in the corals to the minute I cross the finish line that’s all that matters right?

Just pulled out this pic. I took it the day before the NJ Marathon last year. It’s the finish line! Right on the boardwalk with the beach to the right. I will stare at this pic each day. I had an amazing day last year and set a PR. I’m hoping to have a repeat of that for this year.

NJ Marathon finish line

NJ Marathon finish line

Well, I need to get ready for work. I’ve got one of those days with back to back meetings. At least it will be a good distraction from everything.

Questions: How do you handle pre-race nerves? What are your mantras? Ice then heat or heat then ice? Tree-hugger?

Just like that we’re having a Winter flashback. Here’s the proof:

I don’t even know what to make of this.

Yesterday I took the day off so that I could celebrate Passover with my family. I ran another 4 slow easy miles earlier in the day.

Monday 4 miles

Then it was off to my brother’s house for the main event. After a few prayers and symbolic Passover traditions I ate and drank like I just completed and ultra marathon or something.

Dr Brown's Cream Soda

180 calories! That’s ridiculous. But I splurge once a year for this. So good!

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Matzah with horseradish and homemade Matzah ball soup

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The main course dishes were my mom’s traditional Pot Roast (with onion and carrots) recipe and a lemon chicken dish. There was also asparagus and sauteed mushrooms, and a traditional side called Charozet which is basically finely chopped apples and walnuts in wine with sugar and lots of cinnamon. It’s like having oatmeal without the oatmeal. And of course Matzah manages to be included in every course….EVEN DESSERT! My sister in law made a cake inspired by Ina Garten but instead of cookies she dipped pieces of Matzah in dark chocolate and crushed them to form the cookie layers. I paired the delicious cake with some fresh whipped cream, a drizzle of melted chocolate and some fresh fruit. Duncan waited patiently for something to fall to the floor. Then he scored big when a certain someone shared their pot roast with him.

My entire body aches tonight and I am so sleepy I’m worried I’m getting sick. Or maybe my body is rebelling against the 1,569,245 calories I consumed. Either way I’m sort of freaking out. I’m sure it’s partly the taper crazies.

I was overwhelmed with so many posts and articles in regard to the anniversary of the Boston Marathon attacks but secretly viewed almost each shared link and found myself quite emotional at work today. Today on Twitter I read a Tweet from PavementRunner that was exactly something I’ve felt for quite some time. For the last year I have hated that when you Google “Boston Marathon” you get so many horrific images from that day. A beautiful historic tradition has been maimed and marred. And I can’t wait for next Tuesday when hopefully we can all Google Boston Marathon and see awesome photos of triumph and smiles….especially from those who were affected so drastically last year.

twitter conversation

I’m trying not to think about my goals for the NJ Marathon obsessively but that’s about as easy as turning down dessert. Recently, I read this though and it struck a chord…

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So maybe that’s how I need to think of this. I’m going to strive to reach my potential. I know what I’m capable of. But we’ll just have to see how the day plays out. And this one gave me a good me laugh…

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Well folks, I’m turning into a pumpkin. Nighty night.

Questions:

Anyone running the Boston Marathon this year? Spectating? I’ve got a handful of friends who are. One who is returning because she only made it 25 miles last year before being stopped. I am so excited for them all.

Anyone have any delicious Matzah recipes? Totally forgot to tell you about the appetizer my aunt made— stuffed mushrooms….instead of breadcrumbs though she used Matzah! They were delicious

Happy Saturday!

I’m off to take the dog to the park and enjoy this sunny day. I’ll be sweating out the small stuff later but for now I leave you with some morning inspiration…

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ilovetorun.org

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ilovetorun.org

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ilovetorun.org

And in case you’ve ever made a salad and wished you had some croutons but didn’t, but you had some broken potato chips, let me tell you it makes the perfect crouton!!!!!

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And a little silliness from my dog…my niece told me it’s inappropriate and that he needs pants! LOL!photo 4 Catch ya later…