Car shopping, Hurley style

Those of you that know me know that Dan likes cars. As in, likes to get a different one every year or so. It's a disease. He has a spreadsheet of all the cars he's owned in his life, I saw it once, I think there are close to, if not more than, 40 on there. And for someone that is 39.....yeaaaahhh. He has slowed down a bit in the last few years though, he's only had 3 different cars since we started dating in 2005. And 4 motorcycles, but I digress.

I have been saying for a couple of years that "this is it! No more cars!", but now I mean it. I dont know, somehow it just doesnt seem very responsible to be trading cars like they are freaking baseball cards when you have a kid. Call me old fashioned. His latest car was a PT Cruiser, which I HATED, and may or may not have made fun of him relentlessly for driving. And my friends may or may not have gotten in on the action. But in all practicality, it's a pretty small car, and with 3 dogs and a new baby, I just thought we might want something bigger. Especially since I'd like to be able to keep a car for a while and use it when we have a second kid. Two kids and three dogs in a PT was DEFINITELY not going to work.

So here is what happens when someone like that marries someone like me who is all "I need immediate gratification, stop hem hawing, just do it NOW!":

Julie: so, I think we should trade the PT in on something bigger.
Dan: How about a Crown Victoria? (WTF?)
Julie: Um no, how about a Pilot?
Dan: OK
Spend a few days finding links to used Pilots
Julie: Want to go look at this one?
Dan: Sure. Tonight?
Go testdrive Pilot, be underwhelmed.
Salesman: Well if you like Pilots, you'll love the CX-9. Want to drive one?(we were at a Mazda dealer)
Dan: OK
Julie: OK
Testdrive CX-9
Julie: Wow, I really like it!
Dan: Me too!
Julie: Want to get it?
Dan: OK.

And that is how car shopping goes in the Hurley household. Although to be fair, it DID stretch into two days, because the first night we went to look, the banks were closed by the time we were ready to talk numbers. So we had to deal with all that the next day. At least we slept on it.

14w3d

Its a....

Baby! Yep, definitely a baby in there. I had an ultrasound last week at 13w1d (13weeks 1day, for those of you not up on the pregnancy lingo) to check for certain birth defects. It's called an Ultra Screen (or 1st Tri screen, or NT scan) and includes a blood test. Then they plug in the measurements they took on the ultrasound and the results of the blood test and your age into some program, and it spits out the probability of your baby having Down Syndrome and a few other chromosonal defects. It's optional testing, though I think most doctors recommend it if you're over 35. I'm not, but since I'm adopted and dont know any family medical history, figured it would be a good idea. Ok I'm lying, I just wanted an excuse to see the baby. Because even though I KNOW I'm pregnant, and my doctor had found the HB with a doppler at my last appointment, and I had an ultrasound at 6 weeks and saw the little flickering blob in there, and have been feeling like death....I still didnt really believe it. In my warped mind the blob we saw at the last ultrasound could have been some sort of tumor, and the HB I heard could have been mine. Granted, it was 176 bpm, but hey, that is a pretty normal running HR for me, so not out of the question. Except, I wasnt running at the time. But still! You never know. Anywho, here is the little bugger:

See, definitely a baby. Not a tumor. She was wiggling around all over the place and getting pissed when the doctor jiggled my belly (like a bowl full of jelly. Har) to get her to switch positions so he could get the measurements he needed. And I am calling it a her, even though we obviously dont know yet. I just think of it as a girl, and I dont like calling the baby IT. Conjures up images of scary clowns. And with the u/s picture already making the baby look like Skeletor, I dont need to think of scary clowns too. I truly, truly dont care what it is. Dan on the other hand, is hoping its a boy. But doesnt every guy? I keep telling him that he's so scared of having a girl that that's what we'll end up with for sure. And on that note, I made my appointment for the BIG ultrasound, so we should get to find out on April 21. Not too much longer!

Other than that, things are good. I'm officially in my 2nd trimester, and starting to feel better. Still feeling pretty crappy first thing in the morning and at night, but much more functional during the day. And, it's starting to get nice out, which is giving me the itch to go run. One of these nights I'll have to give it a whirl....if any of my running shorts still fit, that is.

It's the small things

Last week was more of the same, laying around the house and eating out. On Friday we headed out to Pennsylvania to visit my sister-in-law and her husband. She moved out there before we even got married, and we still hadn't been to visit. Oops! They are also getting ready to put their house on the market, so between that and and the baby, we figured we had better get out there. Plus, we found out last Monday that she is also pregnant and due about 3 weeks after me. So our wee one will have a cousin the same age. Fun!

On Saturday we went up to Hershey, and while you might think that the CHOCOLATE was the highlight of the trip (especially for a pregnant chick), it wasnt! Nope, it was these too cute for words, tiny, single serving ketchup bottles at the Hotel Hershey!

I need to figure out where to get them and buy a stash. I love tiny, miniature things. Like those teeny tiny binder clips. You know, the ones that only go around like 10 sheets of paper. Those are the best. So anyway, if you happen to know where to get those tiny ketchup bottles, LET ME KNOW!

Sunday before our flight left we hung out in downtown Baltimore, and had a late lunch at a great little Italian place. When we walked down by the harbor after that, I made the mistake of setting my to-go box down on a bench, and this seagull decided to try to get into it. I guess I cant blame him.

Sunday happened to be a really nice day out there and there were TONS of people out for a run down around the harbor. That, and just being by the open water made me want to do a race BAD. Ah, nothing beats jumping into a big body of open water and taking off on a swim with a pack of other people. So I was all "dude, I could totally do a race at the end of May, I wont even be 30 weeks, and I shouldnt be too big yet". Right about then I bloated up so bad I thought my stomach was going to burst and my head started pounding and I realized I was EXHAUSTED from a weekend of eating and driving around....and a 15 minute walk. So that killed my race fantasy. But man, I cant wait until next year! And yeah, I'm smart enough to know that racing while one is pregnant, especially if said person has been a total lazy-ass for the last 3 months, probably isnt advisable. But there is nothing like knowing that you CANT do something to make you really, really want to.

So that was the excitement of the weekend. We missed out on some sleet here, and for some reason our plane was delayed leaving from Baltimore because KCI had run out of de-icer. Not really sure why that matters when you are landing, but mmkay.

My goal for this week is to make dinner 3 times, and by "make dinner" I mean MAKE DINNER, not fish sticks and fries. Cooking just really holds no appeal to me right now, which is weird, so we'll see how that goes.

I'm not dead

I know, again with the lack of blogging. But I have been doing stuff. Since I started this blog as a training blog when I was getting ready for IMFL, blogging about anything less than IM or marathon training seems kind of....pointless. With the three marathons last year, I was able to have SOMETHING to blog about, even though it was never as consuming as IM training. I DO want to keep blogging, I just need to reconcile myself to the fact that it may not always be about an 18 mile run followed up by an 80 mile ride. And if you are OK with that, so am I.

So, if you get bored with the direction I decide to take, I apologize in advance. But, I wont be writing too much about any awesome training adventures or races this year. In fact, I wont be doing any races at all. But I do have something pretty exciting (at least I think it's pretty exciting) planned for Labor Day, or thereabouts. Yup, we're adding to the family, and no, it's not another dog. This addition will be of the baby human variety.

As of today, I am 10 and a half weeks pregnant (and no I have not announced it at work, so keep your mouth shut you know who you are), so I have about 30 to go. So far, pregnancy has been "interesting". I always swore I would never be one of those pregnant women who ate junk every day and sat on their ass watching TV. But sadly, thats what I have been doing most of the time. I swear I dont want to though! But when your "morning sickness" lasts all day, and you are doing good to keep your eyes open past about 2pm, thats what happens. The closest thing I can think of to compare morning sickness to is a hangover without the headache, and it's been with me for about the last 4 weeks straight. They tell me it's supposed to subside when you get into your second trimester, so I've got another 3 weeks to tough it out. And really, I HAVE been feeling better, the last week or so I kind of get a break during the middle of the day. So Dan probably thinks I'm a total faker since all I do at home is laying the couch but manage to function at work.

And I'm not ashamed to admit that so far I've gained about 8 lbs, which can no doubt be attributed to the fact that my body has decided all it wants to eat are McDonalds french fries and chocolate shakes. Oh, and lets not forget the complete and total lack of exercise the last 2 months. I have become one of THOSE pregnant women. Yuck! But, once I stop feeling like I'm going to hurl every time I stand up, I plan to get back at it. Of course I realize I wont be out running any marathons in the next few months, but I'd at least like to keep SOME of my fitness this year. And pregnant or not, I'm just not used to being sedentary this long (and eating this much fast food), so it will feel amazing to get moving again.

So! I dont plan to turn this into a total pregnancy or baby blog, but that will probably start occupying a lot of it. Hopefully pretty soon I can start talking about the fun of trying to run with a passenger, and next year move on to the adventures of dragging along my child AND husband to some races. Should be fun :)

2 Years

2 years ago, I was about 50 minutes into the bike portion of IMFL feeling like I was going to die. I had major stomach issues after that swim, and the first 12 miles of the bike royally sucked. But I did it! Man, I cant believe it's been 2 years already. In some ways it feels like a lot longer, and in some ways it feels like I just did it.

I just got done reading my recap and boy, does it make me want to do another one. I will, just probably not anytime in the near future. The next time I do it, I will be better. Just like the next marathon I do, I will be better. So I've got a lot of work to do!

Speaking of that, I've been doing good with getting myself to the gym, and last night I did my first interval workout on the treadmill. I only did 4 quarter mile repeats, but I did them at a sub 8:30 pace, and I didnt die, so that is a good thing! I'll get that sub 30 minute 5K, then we'll work on a sub 60 minute 10K. Right now my half marathon PR is about 2:35, so I'll have to assess things and figure out a new goal for that. And we all know what my marathon goal is. All in good time!

So, since IMFL, here is what has kept me occupied:

- I took a year off to be fat and lazy

- I got laid off, and spent 4 months getting caught on my Soaps instead of taking advantage of the time off and training. The only productive thing I did was paint the kitchen cabinets.

- My sister in law got married in Colorado

- We sold our old house (in 3 days, I might add) and bought a new one

- I turned 30

- Courtney got married

- I hosted a fetus party (baby shower) for my friend Julie

- I got to touch Chrissie Wellington

- I did 3 marathons

- I did a grand total of 2 tris, including HyVee

So, I guess I've kept busy enough.

Lets ban slow people from running!

Earlier today, a friend of mine from RE forwarded me the link to this article in the NY Times discussing "plodders" doing marathons:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/sports/23marathon.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=marathon&st=cse

Ironically, she sent it to me about an hour after Dan sent me this article about the woman who was proud to be DFL at last week's KC Marathon:
http://www.kansascity.com/637/story/1524835.html

Both ends of the spectrum there! First off, I am a slow runner. I think we have established that by now. When I first started running, I was sort of embarassed about it. And it was for exactly the elitist attitude that is displayed in the first article. But I quickly got over it. Because I enjoy doing it, and it makes me feel good, and I'm proud of myself for getting out there and doing it instead of sitting at home on my ass watching 90210 reruns every Saturday morning. Not that I havent thought many a time that I would rather do that!

Yes, I would like to get faster. But "faster" for me is not the same as "faster" for you, or for anybody else. For me, it means being able to run a sub-30 5K and a sub-5 hour marathon. Those are MY goals. There are always going to be people, like those quoted in the NYT article, who will think that those time goals are totally lame and that I'm not a REAL runner. Well, pardon my French, but they can fuck off. The thing is, no matter how good you are at something, somebody will always be better. And VERY few people are born with such natural talent that they just start off being an amazing athlete. Everybody has to work at it. And just because some of us have to work really hard to get under 5 hours in a marathon doesne make our efforts any less valid than people who have to work really hard to get under 3 hours in a marathon. So, whatever.

Thankfull, I have encountered very few people who are so enamored with themselves that they look down on anybody else's pace or ability. And really, if you have to look down your nose at what other people are doing, doesnt that sort of take the joy out of what YOU are doing? I think it must. So tomorrow morning I'll go out and run 6 or 8 miles at a nice 11:40 pace and go home feeling good about what I just did, and then sit on my ass and watch football. Sounds like a perfect Saturday to me!

Speaking of which, I have to be pace group leader tomorrow morning because Kristi is out of town....and we're going to Ponaks tonight. I learned early on that mexican food on Friday night + Saturday morning run = bad idea, but here I go. We were invited out, and I cant turn down Ponaks! That's sacrelig. Or maybe I just like to punish myself.

I'm actually looking forward to running, I havent run since Chicago and I'm ready to get back out. Well, I did go to the gym a couple of times this week (which felt great) and one of those times I got on the treadmill after I lifted with the intention of jogging for 20 minutes. That turned into a 10 minute jog because my legs were toast. Woooo boy, were my legs tired. I dont know if it was still from the marathon, or from lifting again for the first time in a couple of months. Probably a combo of both. But, it was a good week, and I'm excited to get back to running and get back in the gym.

Go faster

I was just catching up on some blogs, and a paragraph in Liz Fefofsky's blog stuck out at me:

The best long course athletes come from short course backgrounds. Speed & technique before endurance. Why? It is much easier to make the neuromuscular changes required for good biomechanics/form when you are working on shorter distances. The more you can hold form over longer distances, the more efficient you will be, the faster you can go. Want to stay at the same slow speed? Shuffle a marathon year after year.

Hmm. Uh, yeah, that would be me, shuffling a marathon year after year. And I wonder why I'm not really getting faster. I don't mind putting in long runs. In fact, I kind of enjoy it. But I hate, HATE doing speed work. I also have convinced myself that it is a waste of money to do any races shorter than a half marathon. Sigh. For a reasonably intelligent person I can be pretty dense sometimes.

So. What am I gonna do about it? Well for one thing, I really do need to be doing some shorter races. 10Ks would be good. Also, and I know I have been saying it for-ev-er, but I need to get back to some strength training. In looking at pictures of myself at races several years ago back when I WAS doing strength training, I had much better form. Here I am at my first ever tri back in 2004.

Look, I'm actually striding out! Suffice it to say, I do not look like that in any pictures from more recent races, and I know it's because I'm weaker. Weak body = poor form = slow times.

And I know I've been saying this one for a while now too, but I really need to drop 10 lbs or so. It's not even an question any more, if I am going to get a faster marathon time, I NEED to do it. It was all so much easier when I was single and spent 2 hours a day at the gym and basically ate nothing but chicken and rice and green beans! Because here's the thing, cooking for just yourself is boring. So it was just easier to have a pretty basic, clean diet. But I do love to cook, and in the last 3 years that I've been married, I've been doing a lot of it. I try to make pretty healthy foods, but it ain't chicken and rice and green beans. I think my biggest problem is portion control, I don't exactly need to eat as much as Dan eats.

So! Here is my plan.

• I am not going to do a spring or summer marathon next year. I wont have the time to work on speed if I have to start ramping up my mileage right away after the first of the year.


• I will do a fall marathon, and really, I'd love to do Chicago again.


• I will do a spring half marathon, maybe Olathe again, and PR there.


• I will also do at least 2 5ks and 2 10ks by the end of the spring session of RE. Right now I couldnt even tell you what my PRs for those distances are, as I cant remember the last time I've run one.


• I will sign up for the spring RE speed sessions.


• And by God, I will lose 10 lbs!

It's fun to just have to worry about going far. But, I think it will be even more fun to go far, faster!

Chuck Norris never ran the Chicago Marathon

I did not make 5 hours. It wasn’t for lack of trying, it just wasn’t in the cards. Which is kind of a bummer. But then I realize that I DID PR by 8 minutes, which is certainly nothing to be bummed about. Actually, it’s really kind of hard to be bummed about much of anything when you think “hey, I just finished a marathon!” I really hate people that get so competitive with themselves or other people that if they don’t meet a goal, they act like the whole experience was a waste of time. Because it’s never a waste of time.

So anyway, we rolled in to Chi-town Friday evening. We were staying with some friends up in Glencoe, which was really convenient and nice not having to pay for a hotel downtown. Friday night was pretty low key for me, Dan and his friend Heath on the other hand were up until 3 playing Golden Tee and doing shots of Patron. I was woken up around 5:30 by Dan sleepwalking, throwing a pillow at me and trying to find the bathroom, and he was still drunk when I got up at 8:30. I’ll cut him some slack though since Friday WAS his birthday. I’d need to drown my sorrows in Patron too if I were turning 39. Haha! Almost 40 :)

Saturday we watched the KU game and then drove downtown to packet pickup. I have never seen such a huge setup for a race expo before, it was crazy! We caught the tail end of it though, so I didn’t have to stand in line or fight any crowds, which was nice. Saturday night was another low key night, just dinner in and then early bed time for me.

The thing I had the most trouble with in getting ready for this race was deciding what to wear. It was COLD. Not chilly, as in its 50 degrees out, cold as in its 30 degrees and people are wearing winter coats. Luckily I brought a pretty wide assortment of clothing options. What I ended up going with was a short sleeve shirt, and 3 long sleeved layers on top of it. Then I wore some old pants over my running shorts, along with a head band and gloves. I had planned to wear my pants right up until I crossed the start line, but ended up taking them off before I even got into the starting corral because my top layers were keeping me warm enough.

Once I made my way into the starting corral, I positioned myself behind the 11:00 min/mile sign. I talked to a guy from Lawrence who was wearing a Turkey Trot shirt from a few years ago, as well as a whole bunch of other people standing around. We were so far back, we couldn’t even see the starting line. When the gun went off, it was like a clothes hamper had exploded. People started throwing shirts and jackets and pants everywhere! Dan was standing along the side somewhere, and a pair of pants in my size actually landed on him, so he stuffed them in his backpack for me. Ha! It took a while for us to start moving, and once we did it was lots of “walk a few steps, stop, walk a few steps, stop”. I had expected that with a race this big, so it was fine. There was so much clothing on the ground though, and NICE stuff. Adidas and Nike technical jackets, pants, etc. Looking at my results, it took me about 17 minutes to reach the start line, which really isn’t bad at all.

After I got going, it was just one huge mass of humanity. I normally really hate crowds, and it was definitely crowded, but not so bad that you had no room to move or people were constantly bumping into you. So it was actually really enjoyable. Almost right away we went through an underpass that was over a block long, so my Garmin lost reception for a couple minutes and threw off my readings for the rest of the race. Oh well.

The first several miles were all through the streets of downtown, and they were just PACKED with spectators. It was so cool, I’ve never experienced anything like it. This whole way, people were still shedding clothes left and right. After about the first mile or two, I started getting warm and decided to take off my top 2 layers. Let me tell you, the homeless people in Chicago cleaned up on Sunday. There were so many clothes being tossed aside, I guarantee they all are being put to good use.

The first few miles ticked by so fast, but I was making sure to stay on my target pace and not speed up with all of the adrenaline. It was hard to do, because it was all so exciting! Another funny thing while we were in the middle of downtown, I have never seen so many guys pulling off and taking a piss on the side of the course! Every alley we passed was lined with guys peeing on the side of buildings. Oh, to have it so easy.

I hit the 5K point in 36 minutes, which was just about right for my target pace. I was feeling great, the weather was perfect for running, there were tons of spectators, and I was trying to just soak it all in. I hit the 10K point at 1:12, which again was just about right for me. We headed north through Lincoln Park, then turned west for a couple of blocks before heading back south. Now, I love Chicago, but I don’t know too much about the specific neighborhoods though. But this was most definitely the gay neighborhood because there were tons of tranny and cross-dressing cheering sections. Ha! I loved it! You don’t get that everywhere!

I was still chugging along, feeling great. Hit 15K at 1:47 and 20K at 2:22. Right around that 20K mark Dan spotted me and yelled my name, and I managed to see him for a second as I ran by. I think I was in the middle of eating a pouch of sport beans at the moment. We turned west right before we hit the halfway point, and I about died when I heard what song was playing as I came up on it. They had some huge speakers set up right by the 13.1 mile clock, and they were playing….the Nebraska tunnel walk song! I know Nebraska isn’t the only team that uses it, but talk about motivational!

The part of the course where we headed west was probably the most boring and had the fewest spectators, but the streets were still lined with people. They just weren’t necessarily 10 deep like they were when we were downtown. Whenever we made a turn and headed back towards downtown, I kept my eye on the Sears Tower (I know it’s not technically called that anymore) to try and judge how far out we were. Right about here is when it started feeling like I had a LONG way left to go. Up until this point I had been doing really well with only walking through the aid stations long enough to drink, but I was starting to take longer walk breaks. I was still feeling OK, but my knees and hips were getting really tight.

I hit 30K at 3:40, and according to the text update that Courtney got, I was still on pace to finish in 5:10. That’s when things went downhill. And looking at the course map now, I can almost pinpoint exactly where things started getting really painful.

A few weeks ago, I had been talking with some people during a Saturday run about how marathons are so hard because they are mentally tough, and they don’t really HURT, they are just uncomfortable, but that you start thinking that it WILL hurt and that’s when things get bad. I had been telling myself the whole race that that was the case, it wasn’t going to hurt, it might be uncomfortable, but it was nothing that was going to kill me. Well let me tell you right now, that is just a lie that runners tell themselves in order to get to the starting line of another marathon. Because that shit HURTS! I have a pretty high pain tolerance, and I was hurting. Bad.

My knee was getting really painful, but almost the worst part was my groin muscles were getting really tight, which was making my whole torso hurt. My abs still hurt today. I was trying to stay positive, but I was definitely at that “IhaterunningandIamneverdoingthisfuckingshiteveragain!” point. So, the last 8 miles or so I spent a lot of time walking and being pissed at myself for thinking a marathon was a good idea. But everyone else around me was obviously in the same boat, so that did help some. I wanted to stop and lay down more than I’ve ever wanted anything, but every aid station had a “runner drop out” tent and I’ll be damned if I was going to use one of them. So, slowly and painfully I just kept going. I obviously wasn’t going to make 5 hours, but I really didn’t care.

FINALLY we turned back north and we had less than 3 miles left at that point. 3 miles really isn’t a lot, but it sure feels like it when you are at mile 23. Around mile 25 I saw something that actually did make me laugh out loud. A guy was standing on the side of the road, cigarette in one hand, the other hand holding out 2 cans of Miller High Life. Ha! I doubt that anybody took him up on it, but it was pretty funny at the time. If I hadn’t been hating life so much right about then, I might have grabbed one just for the comic factor of crossing the finish line with a can of High Life.

When I finally made it to the “1 mile left” sign, I was determined to run the rest of the way in. It was more of a limp/shuffle, but I like to tell myself that it looked better than walking. Finish lines are always sort of anti-climactic for me, but it sure did feel good to cross it! The finish chute was so long, I didn’t think I’d ever make it out of there. First they had people there to give you a foil blanket, which was good because as soon as I stopped moving I was cold. It was still about 40 degrees, afterall. Then they had people handing out medals. Then were the people to cut your chip off. Then were the tables with Gatorade, then water, then bananas. All they had were bananas! Not that I felt like eating anyway, but come on, give me something besides a freaking banana. Then they had free beer, which I DID take. Yum! Too bad that holding my beer meant I couldn’t keep my blanket around me, and it was too cold for that, so I just had to drink as much as I could and then ditch it. I wanted to sit down so bad, but they made everyone keep moving through the finish area. I swear, finally about a mile later I was out of it and was able to get to the runner reunite area to find Dan.

After I found him, one of the first things I said was “I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking, but I am not doing KC!” Ha! Um, yeah, so about that. I would still like to run KC this weekend. But my body is laughing at me saying “you dumbass, that is the stupidest idea you have ever had, there is no way you are running 2 marathons in 7 days”. I know enough to listen to my body or else I’ll just tear myself up, so I will be sitting it out. I know a lot of people running it though, so I’ll just go cheer.

So once I got some warm clothes on and sat down for a bit, we went and met up with our friends Tyler and Amy who had moved up to Chicago last year. Tyler ran it too, and finished in 4:10. We walked around a bit looking for a place to eat, and we were GOING to go to Chipotle, but for some reason that my brain cannot comprehend, the Chipotles in downtown Chicago are closed on Sundays! WTF?! Come on now, it’s not like downtown KC that it completely deserted on the weekends. But I guess they lose enough business to not make it worth it. But they could have cleaned up this weekend with all of the marathoners! What goes better after a marathon than an 1100 calorie burrito!? NOTHING! So anyway, we found some food, and then Dan and I headed up back to our friends’ house in Glencoe.

My finish time ended up being 5:36, which yes, is a little disappointing, especially considering I was pretty close to my goal pace up through the 30K point. But like I said, it’s hard to be disappointed at all when you finished the damn thing, regardless of the time. I absolutely LOVED this race, and will most definitely be running it again. I could even make this a yearly thing. So maybe I’ll be back for 2010!

Really??

I would never wish for the heat they've had for Chicago the last 2 years, but come on now. Below freezing?!?!?! People! I know it has been a mild summer, but I am not ready to run in 30 degree temps yet. Oh well, I have run in much worse. The trick will just be staying warm before the race starts. I typically warm up pretty fast, so I guess I'll just have to wear lots of layers that I dont mind tossing. Thanks to our own personal Runners Edge meterologist (aka Brett Anthony), we've got a pretty good forecast for the race:

Time Temperature Wind Precipitation
7:30am 30 degrees, mostly clear West 10-15 mph None
10:00am 36 degrees, sunny West 10-15 mph None
Noon 41 degress, sunny West 13-18 mph None
1:30pm 43 degrees, sunny West 13-18 mph None

I'm shooting for 5 hours, so factor in a good 30 minutes for me to actually make it to the starting line once the gun goes off, I should finish around 1. Lets split the difference and say it will be 42 degrees. Awesome. Dan had better bundle up. Or find a bar that's open early. I have a feeling he'll be doing the latter.

If hard work pays off, the easy work is worthless

I know I havent posted in a while, but things have been pretty uneventful. And, I'm almost afraid I'll jinx it if I talk about it, but damn, things have really been clicking! All of my runs have felt awesome.

A couple of weekends ago I had a 20-miler that turned into a 19-miler and left me with some sore hips and blistered feet. But, that was because I had accidentally worn my old, worn out shoes. The right shoes truly make that big of a difference! As luck would have it, we were running from the Garry Gribbles store in Lawrence, and there was a NewBalance rep there that day letting people "test drive" their shoes. We started off with an 8 mile loop through the KU campus, then stopped back at the store before heading out for the rest of the run, so I was able to switch into a new pair of NB at that time. They were better than my old shoes, but definitely not for me. I'm an Adidas girl, and even when my shoes are new, they feel good to me. These did not. Of course, my feet were already blistered, so that probably had something to do with it. But really, that's my only "bad" run of late.

I've got my pace band for Chicago and am feeling good about being able to hit my time goal. Last weekend I did 14, and ended up with a negative split for the last half. I hooked up with some people in a little faster pace group, and pushed myself to stay with them. I ended up doing that last 7 at what will be my race pace, and I still felt great at the end. So, that really boosted my confidence. And all of my weeknight runs I've been doing faster than race pace, so that is feeling good too. Just under a month to go, I'm starting to get excited! And I'm still hoping to do KC that following weekend assuming that I feel good. October should be a fun month!

Now, I know that a lot of "pure" runners do not run with headphones. They say you should be listening to your body and concentrating on your stride and breathing and all of that, not zoning out listening to music. Well, I like to listen to music while I run, and I think it helps me. I dont wear headphones on my long Saturday runs since I'm with the group, but I do during the week. Nothing makes me pick up the pace like a little Nelly or Luda coming on!

I always like hearing what other people have on their running playlists, and people sometimes ask me what's on mine. Some of my favorites are:

Best of Both Worlds- Van Halen
Cold Hard Bitch- JET
Fuel- Metallica
Get Back- Ludacris
Heart of a Champion- Nelly
I Don't Care- Fall Out Boy
Ladies and Gentlemen- Saliva
Let it Rock- Kevin Rudolf & Lil Wayne
Lose Yourself- Eminem
Move Along- The All-American Rejects
Rollin- Limp Bizkit
Runnin' Down a Dream- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Stronger- Kanye West
Whiskey in the Jar- Metallica