ODDyssey Half Marathon

This morning I ran the ODDyssey Half Marathon for the third time.  In 2011 I ran a 2:07 and last year I ran a 2:06.  This has always been a really fun race because of a)the course, b)the costumes (that I don't wear but enjoy looking at), and c)the beer garden!  I signed up to be an "Ambassador" which meant that we would have our own tent, porta-potty, and VIP access to the Beer Garden.  How's that for a win-win-win?

 We potty in style!

I have to admit, I was a *little* disappointed with the Ambassador thing.  It really wasn't as special or exclusive as we'd hoped, since it seemed a little unorganized and the afore-mentioned porta-potty ended up being used by anyone who climbed over the plastic barrier.  Maybe next year I'll put a little more effort into pimping out our VIP area.  Maybe.

Anyway, I felt pretty good going into this race.  Since I'd run it before I knew what to expect (ahem, huge hill at mile 12) and the weather was MUCH more conducive to running than last year's heat & humidity.  I realized on the way to the race that I'd forgotten my Garmin, but I was okay with running naked.  No biggie.  We lined up in our "corral" and were ready to race!

All smiles!  Do you like my new running skirt?  I do!  Why don't I run in compression socks or sleeves?  Seems like everyone else does.

I decided to run with my homegirl Mary, with whom I ran the Trenton Half in November.  She knows I don't talk during races and tells me she's okay with that.  She forgot her ipod so maybe she would've liked to listen to my nonsensical chatter?  Regardless, miles 1-4 were pretty uneventful--straight and downhill. The course changed this year (a notification that was probably in the emails that I didn't read) which meant that at mile 4 we were greeted by an awesome NEW hill.  My pace slowed down considerably but I still felt good.  The course was 99% shaded and it was fun to see all the runners in costumes.  

A guy wearing this costume passed us at mile 2.  I kid you not.  Joe had a beer AND his picture taken with him after the race!  Lucky!

Enter mile 8... My stomach started to feel a little "off".  In my mind I'm thinking "Okay, you only have 5 miles left.  That's not so bad.  You can totally do this." but the "off" feeling got worse and worse until I realized I couldn't power through.  I told Mary at mile 9 that I was making a porta-potty stop.  I was really annoyed that my stomach was so uncooperative but I knew it was my only option.  

After that awesome pit-stop I ran faster than I wanted to catch up with Mary. We ran the rest of the race together, but miles 10-13 were rough.  The ginormous hill at mile 12 sucked so much I walked up it.  By that point I really, truly thought I was going to puke.  Ugh--I HATE feeling so sick and I HATE walking during races even more.  I shuffled my sorry ass across the finish line in 1:59:40--happy to finish under 2:00 but not happy that I wanted to vomit.

You KNOW you're feeling super-craptastic when you SKIP THE BEER GARDEN.  Yes, hell froze over when I passed up free post-race beer.  I just couldn't do it.  I am disappointed in myself for being such a wuss--what if that beer was medicinal and could've healed my stomach ailment?  I say that in hindsight, but in the moment a beer was the LAST thing I wanted.  

Post-race side plank!  On the outside I'm smiling, but on the inside I'm crying because I had to skip the free beer.

Overall this was a fun race.  The new course (minus the new hill) and costumes were awesome, and the free beer (when I'm not on the verge of yakking) is always a plus.  Will I run it next year?  Of course!  AND I'm going to punch my stomach issue in the face!

Thumbs up, private porta-potty!  Thumbs down, stomach issues!

Run the Gates 5-Miler

Yesterday I ran one of my favorite races, the Run the Gates 5-Miler.  This is the fifth time I've run this race.  Here are my results from those races:
2008: 46:43
2010: 51:58 (I'm chalking this up the fact that Shane was only a year old)
2011: 44:14
2012: 41:33 (3rd in my age group!)
And in 2013: 41:33--good enough for FIRST PLACE in my old-lady age group!  SO EXCITED.

Despite the fact that I'd already run this race FOUR times, my dumb brain didn't think to bring a hand-held water bottle with me.  It was HOT.  And considering the weather had been so inconsistent over the past few weeks, my body hadn't adjusted to the warm temperatures yet.  Despite the 120+ ounces of water I'd consumed on Saturday, I felt thirsty and dehydrated by Mile 1.  Multiply that thirst and dehydration by a million billion and that's how I felt at Miles 2, 3, 4, and 5.  Between miles 3-4 there was NO WATER, not even any friendly neighborhood folk spraying their hoses at us like the usually do.  I was grunting and heaving and swearing so loudly I'm surprised the medics didn't come for me.  As I'm dragging my tongue on the ground the jerk guy in front of me had the audacity to dump his water bottle over his head.  What the heck?!?! 

Despite the fact that it was a VERY uncomfortable race, my legs felt like lead, and I wanted to stop and walk numerous times, I think I impressed my kids by sprinting across the finish line.   They'd been playing on the playground all morning and were exhausted and cranky so we left before the awards ceremony.  Any honestly, I felt like my run was so crappy that there was NO WAY I could've placed.  (I felt AWESOME last year and placed third)  SUPER-SURPRISED to find out this morning that I placed first in my age group!  So what if I was the only 34-39 year-old who ran?  I'm thrilled!  (Kidding.)

I'm not smiling because I'm actually happy.  I'm smiling because the race is OVER.

LESSON(S) LEARNED:
1) Self-talk is really powerful.  I was screaming at myself to "DIG DEEP!" without caring who heard!
2) Encouraging others helps YOU.  By telling fellow runners to "Keep going!" and "You got this!" I started to believe it myself.  Go figure.
3) When in doubt, carry water.
4) Don't skip town before the awards.

Going for the Hat Trick

Crossing the finish line of the 2012 Philadelphia Marathon.  (This picture is copyrighted, can you tell?)  The smile is REAL--I ran the whole shebang with no music and kicked 20 minutes off my 2011 marathon time!

Am I three times the crazy?  I don't think so.  I've been toying with the idea of running another marathon for a while, but couldn't decide which one...
Enter my friend Cindy, whom I met two years ago while training for my first marathon.  She decided to run the Philadelphia Marathon with Team in Training again this year, and when I found this out I couldn't sign up fast enough!
I am oddly excited for this marathon.  I'm oddly excited to run 20 and 22 milers with some of the greatest people I know.  I'm oddly excited to push my limits and see how far I can go in this race.
I've got some BIG PLANS for my third marathon.  Some time goals that, right now, seem completely absurd and out of reach but that I am ready, willing, and able to work my ass off to reach.
I KNOW I'm stronger, faster, in better shape, and more confident now than I was in 2011 and 2012.  Because of this, I am really looking forward to rocking this race.  I'm also looking forward to meeting my fundraising goal for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  GO TEAM!

Bruised Arm, Bruised Ego

I have been running on treadmills for oh, I don't know, 20 years, and NOTHING like this has EVER happened to me.  So very very mortifying.

Tuesday afternoon I had a nice break in-between classes so I decided to hop on the treadmill for a quick run.  I was cruising along, about 1.5 miles into my 4-mile run.  I was feeling good and watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians when something funky happened to my Pandora station.  As I reached down to fix it, my phone went flying out of my hands and off the back of the treadmill.  No biggie, it happens all the time.  I hop off the treadmill, grab my phone off the floor, plug my headphones back into it, and attempt to resume my run.  

NOTE TO SELF: DO NOT TRY TO RESUME RUNNING AT 6.6 WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY PUTTING YOUR HEADPHONES BACK INTO YOUR EARS.  I stepped onto the belt funny and literally slid down the treadmill and flew off the back of it.  I made some half-ass attempt to grab the handles but I was going too fast and fell down too hard to stop myself.  

I kind of looked like this except I didn't have such nice form and I certainly wasn't smiling:

Seriously, I landed on the treadmill and as it propelled my body off the end, my entire left arm slid down the belt.  Holy rug burn!

After I landed on the floor, I sat there in a crumpled mess trying to catch my breath and process what the hell had just happened.  I also looked around to see who was snickering (or hysterically laughing out loud) at my mishap.  Apparently my Super Man impression went undetected by all but one fellow gym-goer who half-heartedly asked me from the safety and comfort of her elliptical if I was okay.  (Thankfully I didn't need to interrupt her workout with a request for First Aid)  Arm: bruised.  Ego: bruised.  Other than that, I was fine.

After about 2 minutes I collected my thoughts, dusted the crap off my arm, and (carefully) got back on the treadmill to finish my run.  My arm was busted, though, and hurt like heck!  Huge black-and-blue marks on my upper arm and forearm, significant rug burn on the back of my upper arm and forearm, and a big lump on my forearm.  Sexxy!

This has to be the single MOST embarrassing thing to ever happen to me at the gym.  I told no one (not even my husband!) except my bestie Suzanne about it.  You know what a great friend she is?  She told me that Beth from Shut Up + Run has done it multiple times, and Beth is really really cool so that made me feel infinitely better.

I learned two very valuable lessons on Tuesday:

1) The aforementioned lesson regarding inserting headphones

2) No one else at the gym really gives a shit about what you do 

Question for You:

What's the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you (or that you've seen happen to someone else) at the gym?

Did you help them, laugh, or ignore them?  ('fess up!)

Like Having a Newborn

I have a 3-year-old who's been sleeping like a 3-week-old lately.  And this is making Greg and me tired and cranky.  We have no idea why Shane is giving us such trouble at bedtime (and at 2 AM) but it's extraordinarily frustrating and, at times, enraging.  We vowed to wake up at 4:15 AM this week to work out, but that hasn't happened ONCE this week.  It's hard to muster up the motivation to work out at 4:15 when you've been awake with a screaming kid from 2:00-3:00 AM.  So on top of being tired from lack of sleep, we're cranky from not working out.  Double whammy!

Since Shane seems to have an affinity for our bed, Greg thinks it's because his toddler bed is a)too small or b)uncomfortable.  So we're off to the furniture store TOMORROW to look into a "big boy" bedroom set (BED) for him.  I'd gladly spend the money on furniture if it means he (and Greg and I) can get consistently uninterrupted sleep!

10 Things You've ALWAYS Wanted to Know About Me

Remember a few years ago when there was a "25 Random Things About Me" post going around Facebook?  I sat at my computer for HOURS trying to come up with 25 things about me that would be interesting, random, AND funny.  Since I don't have that kind of time anymore, here are 10 relatively interesting, random, and funny things you know you're dying to know about me.

1) I'm left-handed.  I got my husband a coffee mug for Valentine's Day and realized that it was for right-handed people.  How many other items are for right-handers only?  Hmph.

2) My "special talent" is my freakishly neat handwriting.  There's a huge market for professional handwriters out there, right?

3) I'm addicted to true-crime books and shows.  I can't get enough!

This channel has sucked me in too many times to count.

4) No matter how late it is or how tired I am, I must read every night before I go to bed.

5) A long shower after a long run is heavenly.

6) When I was a kid my life-long dream was to be a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader.  Can you say DREAM SHATTERED?

Imagine the horror when I came downstairs one day to discover that my older sisters had drawn mustaches on my poster!  I'm still in the process of forgiving them.

7) I don't care how tiny you dice them, I can pick celery, onions, and peppers out of my food.  I hate them!

8) Last I checked, my middle school pull-up record from 1987 still stands.

9) If you come to my house and rearrange, move, or reposition my picture frames thinking that I won't notice...you are wrong.  My husband tried this when we first started dating.  Lucky for him I married him anyway.

10) Cadbury Mini Eggs are my kryptonite.

I have such a love/hate relationship with these suckers.

Now it's your turn...

Tell me something random about you!

And I'm Off!

So here goes nothing.

A few months ago I tinkered with the idea of starting a blog.  For weeks it was no more than just that...an idea.  Who would read it?  What would I blog about?  What about my life could possibly be interesting enough to other people?  These questions kept my blog idea as a mere idea.
Yet, when January 1st arrived I decided to add "start a blog" to my list of new year's goals.  After a few weeks of deep thought and contemplation I said "Screw it!  I'm going to start this blog if the only person who reads it is my husband!"  So here I am.  Blogging!  

So what's with my blog's name?

From the Inside Out.

It's all about being healthy, physically (outside) and mentally (inside).  I've always been active.  I've always exercised and taken good care of myself.  The outside health has never been an issue for me.  It's the inside health that I've struggled with for a long time, and I've decided to take charge of my mental health the same way I've always done with my physical health.  

It is my hope that through blogging and expressing my triumphs, challenges, and struggles I can become the healthiest person I can be, from the inside out.