TreesGreenville Turkey Day 8k - PR!

Racing is the perfect way to start Thanksgiving! My parents, Jake and my husband were going to join me but we woke up to rain...so Jake stayed with Mema and PopPop and my husband went with me to the race. It was actually quite warm out, but the wet makes you feel colder. I definitely warmed up quickly once I started running!

And we're off! My first mile was way too fast for me. I typically start off slower, but the crowds of a race always push me to go a little faster.

I was glad to have some energy to sprint at the end. There were plenty of long, gradual hills on this race but I enjoyed it a lot!

Ready to eat turkey! :) I'm so glad I did this race. I enjoyed it a lot and it really was the perfect way to start two days of eating turkey!!

Thanksgiving #1 at my sister's house.

Phil showing my sister how you snap beans in the south!

Jake golfing.

Me and Phil...finally got him to get in a picture! He prefers to be behind the camera. Jake was not interested in posing for this family photo. He was much too busy golfing.

My adorable niece!

I love being an aunt!

Now we head to Phil's sister's house for Thanksgiving #2! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone! There are more kids than adults, so it will be entertaining as always!

Training Updates and My Birthday Weekend!

I was on my own this week...no team runs scheduled. I wasn't looking forward to doing it myself, but was glad afterwards that I did it! On Tuesday I went to the gym (after hitting the snooze a couple of times - it's so much harder for me to get up when there's no one waiting for me!) and did 4 miles of speed work/intervals on the treadmill. It felt great! I love doing speed work, and it's actually easier for me to do on the treadmill. Then I did my core exercises.

Today I was very excited to run with my Dad again! I haven't really had the chance to since I started marathon training and running longer distances. I planned on doing maybe 8 miles, but soon after I started my stomach started hurting. It was later (much later) than I typically run and I ate just a few minutes before I ran - bad idea. So, I ran 3 quick miles, walked a mile with my Dad, ran 2 more miles (with Dad!!) and then walked a little bit. I was pleased with what I got in, though, because Dad runs fast! I am so proud of him. He's going to do great for our 5k in January! I wasn't disappointed with my run, especially because I'm doing the TreesGreenville Turkey day 8k tomorrow! It was definitely a last minute decision to do it. I wasn't planning to since no one else I run with was going to, but my cheerleaders (Mom, Dad, hubby, Jake) all wanted to watch me race (and I do love it!!) so I decided to go for it.

My Birthday:

I started off my birthday weekend with a great 22 mile run and ended it with an awesome present from my hubby!

A Garmin Forerunner 405!! I am so excited! I can't wait to use it...if I can just figure out how... :)

Here are some pictures from my birthday celebration with my family.

Jake and my nephew, Jude. Jake adores him!

Reading together. They're so cute!

Wrestling with Uncle Steve. Jake is doing his signature move.

Happy Birthday to me! Yes...I like frosting...a lot.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Taper Time & Marathon Tips?

We ran our last long run this morning - 22 miles. Wow, in February I never thought I'd even run another half marathon let alone run 22 miles! We met at 5:00 again (which means a 4:00 wake up time for me!). The weather was chilly but good for running. It was weird knowing this was our last long run after 3 months of training. We still have some shorter runs, but after 22 they won't seem quite that hard...hopefully. The first 6.5 miles on the Swamp Rabbit Trail went by really quickly. We were talking and even forgot to eat any Gu...except for Justin but he didn't think to remind us and it was dark so we didn't notice (I think he was hoping it would help him beat me). :) We got to our first stop then and had a quick drink and Cliff Bar. The next leg wasn't so bad either. I knew better than to get too excited, though, because I felt great around mile 10 of our 20 mile run but was absolutely exhausted by the end. We stopped one more time around mile 12 before running a few more miles through Furman. It felt so good to leave Furman and know we had "just" 6.5 miles left! I felt my second or third or whatever wind I was on come on then. I actually felt surprisingly well that whole time. Don't get me wrong, it was really tough, but I wasn't dying and ready to quit like I was when we ran 20 a couple of weeks ago. I did keep wanting to ask Len "how much further?" as we got closer to downtown, but I really didn't want to know. He started looking at his watch more often and sped up a little bit, which to me means the end is near!! But I didn't realize how soon it would be. When he said "stop" I was so excited! It was earlier than expected - always a great feeling.

So do any of you have ran a marathon before have any tips for me for these last three weeks? I'd love any ideas you have! I know these last weeks are important too!

Jake makes me laugh. I'm not sure why, but he looks to put things over his head and walk...and run into things.



















He ran into the cabinet.














Peaking out this time to make sure he doesn't run into anything this time. :)

Now off to hang out with my family for my birthday!

Proud Parent of an Honor Student

If you want to read about my running and working out, today is not the day! I took another day to rest this week. I figured with 22 miles this Saturday and my muscles being a little sore from my workout Tuesday, it wouldn't hurt. I woke up at 4:10 this morning and instead of getting up like I did the last two mornings, I snuggled back under the warm blankets and fell asleep until Jake got up at 7:30 (that's some serious sleeping in for me). It was wonderful. I feel rested and ready for Saturday!

But until then, here are some random things from today!

Jake got his first "report card", and he got an A+! :) My husband told him that he set the bar high and we expect this through college. Jake's response: "choo choo!" :) We have a new babysitter (who I LOVE) who happens to live right across the street from us! It's a long story, but we found out on Saturday our other babysitter wouldn't be able to watch Jake after the end of the year but she happened to be talking to her friend (our neighbor) who wanted to watch another kid a few days a week. It all worked out so perfectly. We will miss our old babysitter, but this new situation is even better for all of us! Jake will just love having new friends. He's very social like his Mommy. :)

Jake's first report card! We are such proud parents. :)














Our little honor student playing with a box...one of his very favorite toys! :)

My friend Amy and I had lunch with 4 of our cop friends we used to work out with. It was so fun to see them and catch up. Plus there's nothing like walking in a restaurant with four guys with guns, badges and handcuffs (Seriously! I didn't know they carried those around all the time). We are just enthralled by their stories. It's like Law and Order right here in Greenville! :)

My Dad is getting his scan in the morning to check for more cancer. We are praying there isn't anymore! He has gotten so strong and healthy in the months since his surgery. He is even planning to run a 5k with me in January! I am so excited!

Sunday I turn 31. Someone asked me if I was 25 the other day...he is now my new best friend. :)

Birthday Plans/Change of Plans

I am quickly approaching my (gulp) 31st birthday. My best friend, Kaite, is taking me out for a girl's night, which I am really looking forward to! And guess what's on the agenda? 2011 race plans! Her idea, not mine. Everyone makes fun of me and my planning (particularly her husband), so I have to note that she came up with that (fabulous) idea. I only have one race scheduled right now: Kiawah marathon on December 11th. I've been so focused on that but everyone keeps asking me, "what's next?" Even though I'm focused on the marathon, I'll admit that "what's next" has crossed my mind...more than once. I'm really excited! I spent some time this weekend looking up local races and am excited to plan our 2011 racing schedule! We are especially looking forward to doing the Paris Mountain Trail Run Series. We did the 7k trail run this year and loved it! Unfortunately I wasn't able to do the 11k this month due to marathon training, so I am really looking forward to hopefully doing all 3 (4k, 7k, 11k) next year.


Here's Katie and I after our race on my birthday last year.

Me and Jake on my birthday last year. Wow, he has changed so much! I love his look here. :)

extspan style="font-family:Arial;">Today we had a very early 10 mile run planned before work...which meant I get up at 4 a.m. It was raining hard all night long and still raining when I woke up...but, I had no cancellation text (bummer) so I got up and ready to go. I got to our meeting place and Len was there not looking so excited, like he mostly is at 5 a.m. :) Justin decided the rain forecast was enough to keep him home. We stood there for a while in the rain deciding whether or not we wanted to do this. The verdict: no way! I have to admit, I wasn't excited about 10 miles in that rain. So we decided to try again tomorrow.

Instead of a run I went to the gym. I was actually excited to have some extra time there. I hadn't done a strength training workout in a while. I had more time than usual so I got in a 3 mile run, a core workout, and did some weights. It was great! And the best part, no rain in the forecast for the morning so we'll be able to do our 10 mile run. Let's hope there's no rain on Dec. 11th because I'm not sure we could handle it for 26.2 miles. :) Keep your fingers crossed.

Sisters, Sisters

Does anyone else know that song, "Sisters", from White Christmas? My sister and I have watched that movie and sang that song forever (yes, we are cheesy like that). It's a tradition for us to watch that movie every Christmas. So when I was offered tickets to see the play, who else would I ask to join me? We had been looking forward to it for so long and the night was finally here! We decided to make an evening out of it and had dinner together first. It was just fun to spend some time with my sister and dear friend! We talk on the phone and send each other messages on Facebook (sad, I know), but with our kids and busy lives we don't get much time with just the two of us. It was great!

Afton really wanted to get in on GNO! Sorry, girl, it's off to bed for you! Don't even try to charm me with that precious smile.

My sister! Speaking of my sister, I have to put in a shameless plug for her book! It's for sale here.

Saturday morning I had tears in my eyes as I started my 12 mile run. No, not because my running buddies weren't with me but because it was so frigid!! I know my friends in Wisconsin and family in Illinois would make fun of me for saying this, but I have definitely adjusted to the weather here in the years I have lived in South Carolina and it was just plain freezing! My eyes were watering and tears were literally coming down my cheeks. But thankfully, somewhere during the first mile I warmed up. I started a little later since I didn't want to be alone in the dark, so I got to "sleep in" until 5:30! What's weird is that I felt the same as when I get up at 4:00...oh well. Anyway, the first few miles I wanted to take a shortcut to where I was meeting Katie but I pushed on and started feeling good around 3-4 miles. The rest of the first 8 miles were great. The sun was coming up, there were a lot of other friendly runners out, and I was keeping a good pace.

I finished a good 8 mile run and Katie joined me for my last 4 miles. I finished quickly because I was anxious to get some coffee to warm me up! We finished and then headed to our favorite Saturday morning spot - Dunkin Donuts!

It was a great run and the perfect start to the weekend!

If the shoe fits...

...buy several pairs!! I am so excited. I think I have finally found the perfect shoes for me! I have now run 20 miles this week in my new Brooks and my feet feel great! No blisters, no pain, and I think my 3 bruised toes may be starting to heal! I couldn't be happier. I definitely intend to do what Becky suggested and watch for a sale and buy more. That way I won't have this problem next time around.

My beautiful shoes!












Tomorrow I run 12 miles and part of it will be by myself because my teammates can't do our normal Saturday run tomorrow. I was bummed at first because I didn't want to run that far by myself, but then Katie agreed to join me at mile 7! I'm so excited! Katie and I used to run together all the time and ran our first half marathon together the beginning of this year. Katie decided to hold off on marathon training for now, so now we just get together for other fun things (i.e., coffee - our favorite past time together - or a workout at the gym). So even though I will miss my buddies, I'm really looking forward to running with her!





We are too cool. Admit it.














Have a great weekend!

My Veteran, My Hero, My Friend

Veteran: My Dad served in Vietnam and then in the Army reserves as a Drill Sergeant my whole life. He went active after 9/11 then finished his last 2 years up in the reserves. He loved the military and loved working with soldiers during basic training. He had such an impact on them that some still remember him to this day (he would only be with them for 2 weeks during their basic training). I am so proud of my Dad for serving our country.

PopPop got Jake this onsie. :)

Hero: My Dad truly is one of my heroes. There are so many reasons, but I'll just share a couple. My Dad didn't have a good home life. I can't even imagine some of the things he went through. He determined that it would be different for his kids. Never once did us kids doubt our parent's love for us. He sacrificed everything for us and loved us with all that he had! This meant even more for us knowing that he didn't have that when he was a child.

My Dad has (hopefully soon to be "had") cancer. He endured a grueling surgery and a difficult recovery yet he still managed to remain positive and think of everyone else around him first. Watching him go through that was one of the most difficult times of my life. My strong, tough Dad was laying in a hospital bed, sick as ever, and just skin and bones. So many doctors and nurses commented on his attitude, his love for his family and his strength (both inside and outside).

Oh yeah, he's one of Jake's heroes too! He loves being with "BopBop."

Friend: My Dad truly is one of the best friends I have. He is also a great friend to my husband, which means so much to me since I'm so close to my Dad. My Dad loves to talk with my hubby, probably because Phil is content to sit and listen (he's used to it with me). :) Dad is one of my biggest fans. He loves to come to as many of my races as he can and he brags about me as if I was the lady who got 2nd in the NYC marathon. :)

Dad chearing Katie and I on!

Dad ran my very first race with me! An 8k - October, 2008.

I love you, Dad!! Thanks for sacrificing for our country and loving us!

Love/Hate Relationship

I have this love/hate relationship with the time change. It was great to have a little light on our early morning run Tuesday, but my son has refused to accept the change which means we all have been missing an hour of sleep since Saturday night...not fun! I hope he adjusts to it eventually. And yes, we try keeping him up later, but he still wakes up at the same time every day...oh well.

Since I don't have much of a choice, I'll just focus on the positive. It was light by the end of our 9 mile run yesterday, and that was really nice! We kept a good pace and finished 9 miles feeling really good. This morning I did 3 miles on the treadmill focusing on speed. For the first 2 miles I increased speed every quarter of a mile. On the last mile I increased every tenth of a mile. Then I did a core workout. It was a great way to start a Wednesday! Tomorrow we'll run 9 miles again.

We met Daddy for a picnic for lunch today. It's so beautiful here today - in the 70's in November! Crazy!

I can't believe how much I love this little guy! I am so thankful that God blessed us with him! He has come such a long way from 2 pounds, 15 ounces!











Oh so fun.















I love how big the 12 month pants are on my 18 month old peanut. :)










I posted the other day about my shoe problems, and I have great news! I have now run 9 miles outside and 3 on the treadmill...and have no pain and no blisters!! I am so excited. If they are still good tomorrow after 9 miles I will know that I have finally found the shoes for me. All the other shoes started giving me problems either the first or second time I wore them so I'm feeling really good about these. I definitely agree with Michelle that it's trial and error!

And, because I know everyone is dying to see my shoes, here's a picture.


Out with the old, ugly Brooks in with the new, cuter ones! :) I know, I know...looks don't matter...but they are much cuter.













No wonder my toes hurt...no tread left on the front as my toes smash into the front - ouch!









If you need a good read, check out Rae's blog here. She has come so far with her running in 6 months! It's amazing what you can do if you put your mind to it! She is a true inspiration...plus she has 3 really cute kiddos! :)

Third Time's a Charm (hopefully!)

I remember when I first started running and told my husband I needed some good running shoes...that would cost around $100...and I would need to replace them every so many miles. That was an entertaining conversation. :) My husband is quite frugal which I typically love but it doesn't hurt to splurge once in a while, right?? Plus I count running shoes as a "need."

I typically wore whatever I could find that was on sale. My first year of running I ran in some Adidas shoes until they were literally flat on the bottom. I was running 3-4 times/week but rarely over 4 miles. I ran my first 10k that year, but I don't think I realized that my feet didn't have to hurt like they did. I just thought if you ran, your feet would hurt. Then I had Jake and started taking running a little more seriously. After signing up for my first half marathon I knew I needed new shoes. "Santa" (a.k.a. my hubby) got me new shoes for Christmas last year. I was so excited! We went to a local running store to find a pair that would work for me. I learned that I over pronate (I didn't even know what that was). They gave me a pair of Asics. They were so squishy and comfy...I loved them at first. My first run in them was just 3 miles, and they felt wonderful. On my second run I felt blisters coming on at mile 3. By the end of the run my poor feet were killing me. I brought them back to the store and the lady said, "Why did they give you those shoes?" Ummm, I'm not sure. She exchanged them for some Brooks. They weren't near as comfy as those glorious Asics, but they were right for me. I ran my first, second and third half marathon in them. When I started training for my marathon and my mileage increased, the sore feet and bruised toes started. I had to get new shoes.

For my anniversary this year (October) I received a romantic gift of new shoes!! Phil felt bad to give me shoes, but I assured him that's what I wanted. I went to a different shoe store in town. Long story short, I got shoes that gave me blisters, tried inserts which gave me more blisters, and then got another pair of shoes that left me in pain from just walking around the house in them. I decided it was time I did my own research.

As usual, I learned from other bloggers about what works for them. Becky wrote about how she pronates but the shoes she had were over correcting the issue. Caitlin had a guest post from someone who works at a running store that was very helpful. Then I started googling "stability", "motion control", "over pronating" and chose some shoes to try on. So, here I am on my third pair of shoes in a month. I'm crossing my fingers that these work for me!

Am I the only one who has so many feet/shoe issues?

Second to Last Long Training Run and Jake's Workout

This picture cracks me up. Jake is "helping" my Dad with his butterfly kicks. He also holds Jake while he does his sit ups and Jake sits on his back while he does his push ups. Some extra resistance for PopPop! :) Jake loves it.

We ran our first 20 mile run Saturday...just one more really long run before we start tapering! I can't believe how fast it has gone. We plan to do 22 miles in 2 weeks.

It was an interesting run. We met at 5 a.m. (which means getting up at 4 a.m....I was so tired...) and it was freezing out! Needless to say we didn't see another runner out there for quite a while. It's confirmed - we are insane. The first 10 miles went really well. We had a decent pace for a long run, chatted about work, and tried to thaw out. We got to Furman around 6.5 miles, took a quick break for a drink and ran through Furman for a little while. We really felt good and thought we had this in the bag! My hands were so cold, though. I was fine everywhere else but my fingers were numb. My shoe was too loose, but I couldn't even tie it because my fingers wouldn't work. Not good. I finally got it tight enough. We parted ways with Justin, ran a couple more miles through Furman and then headed back down the Swamp Rabbit Trail. I started feeling it somewhere around 16-17 miles. Wow...this was really tough! 20 miles is "no joke", as Len would say. I was so glad to have him because I for sure would have stopped. I suggested it, but he said it would be horrible starting back up again...I totally agreed and was glad he pushed me. He kept telling me we could do this. I didn't really believe him (just kidding) but kept on going. I had to finish, and I had to finish with him. We met back up with Justin by our cars and then still had one last brutal mile. It was rough, but we did it and even sort of sprinted near the end. I think we were just so ready to be done! I am a little sore but feel surprisingly well. Training does pay off!

My Uncle is here from Chicago so we were able to visit with him, and Jake was able to get everyone to read to him...over and over and over...

Reading with PopPop...

Reading with Uncle Ted....

Reading with Mema (I distracted him a little bit with the camera).

I Chose Sleep!

This morning I was planning on a short 3-4 mile run by myself. But when my alarm went off I heard the rain, stuck my foot out in the freezing cold air, thought about a run by myself and decided to sleep instead. Best decision I've made all week!! It felt so amazing to get another (almost) hour and a half of sleep. I was still so tired from getting up at 4:15 a.m. yesterday. Thankfully Jake got the memo too so I could get up and even shower before he woke up at 7:50 (late for him!!).

Sleep is definitely one of the parts of marathon training that I have been slacking on, and I need to fix that. I love sleep and typically need 8-9 hours a night to feel refreshed. But ever since I started running and working out in the mornings, I'm lucky to get 7. Somehow I have to fix this, though it seems nearly impossible. 6-7 may be enough for some people (like my hubby) but not near enough for me! He likes to remind me that it's probably because I'm a year older than him...a fact that he never lets me forget.

I was so excited to be featured on skinnyrunner's blog today! She's one of my favorites, and I love her Cat Lady Blogs. I'm excited to have some new readers from that post - welcome and thanks for reading about my crazy life and my love for running and my boys!!

Speaking of my boys, my little one is still loving his cowboy outfit from Halloween. He carries the gun and belt and wears the hat around the house. Sometimes he likes his mittens on to complete the outfit (?)....he's not normal...what I can say, he is just like his Mommy.

Got my stride back + my cute cowboys

I got up at 4:15 this a.m. to meet the guys for a 9 mile run. Am I insane or what?? Maybe a little, but with a kid, work, and hubby who works late, 4:15 a.m. is the answer! And I do love a morning run! It just starts the day off perfectly!

Anyway, I was a little nervous about our run today. I ran 3 miles yesterday on the treadmill before my workout (1 slow mile to warm up, 1 mile at my normal pace and the last mile I increased speed at every tenth of a mile). I felt great and ready last night but was still nervous after our bad run last Tuesday (following our 18 miler). I had pushed it at the half marathon on Saturday, so I was hoping that wouldn't effect my run today. All my worrying was a waste of time (as usual) because we had a good 9 mile run. I never really found my stride on Saturday, which was weird. I typically get into it around 3-4 miles. I kept waiting but it never came. Even though I'm pleased with my time from the race, it was a tough run for me. So I was anxious to see what today would bring. I felt okay even in the first few miles (not normal for me) and really started feeling good around mile 3, so I was really excited! It felt great.

Now I begin to mentally prepare for our 20 miles on Saturday...yikes.

This year for Halloween Jake was a cowboy. He came to my work to Trick or Treat...or really just to run around and try to steal everyone's decorations. Our CEO and his right hand man were also cowboys so we had to get a picture. Jake really wanted Mike's gun (even though it was smaller and not nearly as cool as his)...not really sure why.

My husband is not one to dress up for Halloween but somehow his team convinced him to a couple of years ago and he was "Tim McAudit" (he's an auditor). He doesn't like his picture taken either, but I couldn't resist posting it since Jake was a cowboy this year. Check out the belt he made out of aluminum foil - HA!

Sorry, Sweetie, I couldn't resist....

Here are the girl's (and one guy) from my HR team from Friday. They were the cutest witches ever!

I have to put a plug in for the GREAT company I work for. If any of you are looking for work in the Greenville area, check out our jobs here. You can also join us on Facebook to keep up with all the fun stuff we do! I am the recruiter so if you have any questions, let me know. I truly enjoy where I work, who I work with, and I love my job!