Long Run with Some Old Friends

Bloggity blog, I'm sorry I have been neglecting you! I am in the biggest weeks of my 1/2 marathon training, very busy at work and just haven't had time to write.

Let me catch up.

Last weekend we planned on an 11 miler. My friend from high school was in town and he joined us. He's training for his first 1/2 marathon after just starting to run this summer! Awesome.
Then we asked another friend from high school to join us too! Four of us would go the full 11, then Jen would meet us to bring us in for the last 1 1/2 miles. Really great run, went by super fast! Here is a big daddy hill that we ran...whew. It's short, but it's a killer.
We were late meeting Jen, but she waited patiently, joined us and ran her farthest without stopping :) She will run her very first race next weekend! Good Luck Jen!Russ's post run chow...We have a few more weeks of training and then it's taper time! I am ready! Giveaway coming Monday =)

Stop Spitting on People!

Today is a rest day for me. Ahhhhh. Rest days, I love you. Funny though how I seem to be more tired on my rest days. hmmm.

Anyway, yesterday I went out super early for a 4 miler. I've kinda been freaking out about running before 6:30am because it's still dark out (hello fall!). But I've got 5 weeks until my race - it's time to GO!

I got up Thursday morning 5:00am, got all ready to go, stepped outside.....raining. Dang it. Go? Don't go? Considering a few Saturdays ago I still ran after barfing (I know, TMI), I'm thinking a little rain shouldn't keep me inside. I did decide that my ipod should stay home though.

The run was actually great considering the following events....

It was so dark out, and with no ipod I have no choice but to stare at the ground, spacing out to try to ignore that I really just wanted to walk. Yeah, that's when it happened.

I had to spit....it's 5:30 in the morning, noone around, so I just spit. OMG I totally spit RIGHT at the feet of a girl passing me. It was like slow motion spit. I saw her but the spit was already leaving....ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh nooooooo! Luckily I didn't hit her (I don't think, but come on, it's pitch black and raining, so who knows). I said I was sorry, she chuckled because I'm sure I looked like she scared the #(%& out of me. I honestly did not see her coming until she was literally RIGHT THERE.

Karma's a bitch you know....less than 5 minutes later I stepped in dog poo in my brand new, now soaking wet and smelling like poo Saucony's. :( poo. I love dogs, but seriously people, pick up their sh... don't leave it on the sidewalk.

Have a good weekend runners! Heading out early tomorrow for an 11 miler with my regulars and some new running friends too :) Yippee!

Weekend Wrap Up

Yes, I know, it's Tuesday. But since it was Labor Day weekend, it feels like a weekend wrap up Monday!

Much to update, I have been neglecting my blog. This training thing is getting in the way of my blogging!

11 mile run on Saturday, NO KNEE PAIN at ALL! I think I'm fixed! It feels great to say that. Every other piece of me was hurting Sunday morning (I felt about 100 years old getting out of bed!), but the knee was great. :) The run was really pretty good overall. We worked in a big daddy hill just for fun (our idea of fun? sick isn't it?!). The last mile I was out of gas, but a few stories from the ladies later, we were done!

The weather was AWESOME! You can't beat this!
The view was AWESOME! All foggy & mysterious like.
New shoes were AWESOME!
My first long run in my brand spankin' new Saucony's. 11 miles in new shoes is risky. I was worried - but they were great! No blisters, no problems at all. Saucony's seem to have a wider toe box, which I love cause my piggies need some room. But this makes them feel loose compared to my Mizuno's so I tied them pretty tight.

I think I may have tied them too tight cause my toes were feeling a little tingly. Loosened them up a bit and all was gooooooooooood. 11 miles later my feet were tired & a bit sore, but hey, it's 11 miles. I *heart* my new shoes! (I still secretly wish they were pink though) Penny showed up for our run on Saturday with the exact same pair! No, she didn't know I bought them. So now we are twinkies! Great minds think alike :)

Check out my friend's new running blog. He is smack in the middle of his first 13.1 training schedule! Thunder Road Racing

And just for a smile, I stole this from Shelly's blog:Giveaway coming soon! :) Have a great week!

New Kicks!

First impressions are positive, I think we may have a wonderful life together - my lovely Saucony's and I. We will get to know each other well on an easy 11 miler tomorrow :) Happy 3 day weekend everyone!

Weekend Run and My New Business!

I'm super excited for this post! But let me get down to running business first.

Our training schedule called for a 90 minute run on Saturday (we've been training in 'time' instead of mileage). Well, I'm a slow poke runner. So I started feeling a little worried that I wasn't getting the mileage base I needed for an October 1/2. When I trained last time, by this stage in the game I was already doing a 10 miler. Um, yeah, I can't do 10 miles in 90 minutes.

So, we decided maybe we should focus a little more on mileage this weekend. 10.75 miles on the log for Saturday :) Whoop! I felt like it was a really good run - although we took a few unscheduled breaks - but not because we needed it.

Do any of you pick up pennies along your route? We do. Saturday we hit the motherload! So with our picking up pennies stop and a bathroom stop, it took us quite a long time to get that 10.75 done. But, a few months ago I couldn't have DREAMED of 10 miles, so I'm gonna take it and be proud that we did it!

NOW. On to other things!

What you may not know about me is that I have a few obsessions. One of them is running (duh, of course) and the other is making cute little things for my friends. I'm a scrapbooker. My name is Suzy and I'm addicted to glitter. There I said it.

All this running we do got me to thinking. After a few races I ended up with some pretty fun pictures of me and my running friends at the race. After training with a few girls last year I decided I wanted to do something for them as a memory of our training and our hard work.

A scrapbook maybe? Nah, I didn't have enough pictures to do that for them. So, I took one of the pictures I had, made a mini-page, put a magnet on the back and wa-la! A fun, thoughtful gift for my friends was born.Then the next race, I made them for all the girls in our big group picture. Then this summer I made some more. And some more! Hmmm, everyone seems to think these are so cute, why not make them for everyone!

So that's it! Race Day Memories is my new side business! Let me make you and your friends fun momentums from race day or group runs! Magnets & mini books! Sure, you could probably do it yourself. If you only had the time .... Let me do it for you!

Interested? See more here!
Race Day Memories on Facebook
and here:
Race Day Memories blog

Craptastic Run & Choose You Giveaway Winner!

Ugh. I'm fighting a sinus cold/headache right now. Doesn't that cold know I have training to do?!?! I had to skip my run that was planned last night, I just wasn't feeling well. Today I tried a lunch hour run .... ugh. Just not good. But, I had 3 on the schedule, so 3 I did. Going to get some rest tonight, I don't have time to be sick! I have a 10 miler on Saturday!

Ok, enough whining, on to the winner of my Choose You giveaway!

I used random.org to pick a winner, it chose #1! Erika of Chasing My Monkeys 1 Mile at a Time! Congrats Erika!
Email me at
racedaymemories@yahoo.com
with your address and I'll get this box of awesome Choose You goodies on the way. I wore the shirt today to work, it's super cute! You'll of course get one that I didn't wear though. :)

MCM Mama Virtual Race

The race that started with a barf.

Ugh. Woke up Saturday morning all ready to run the MCM Mama Virtual race! Started out as a regular Saturday. Coffee, feed the dogs, start getting ready....uh oh. Feeling kinda weird. Oh no. Tummy is not good. Whew. I'm hot and sweaty. Barf.

Now any logical person would call her friends, tell her she's sick and can't make it. But we all know sometimes a runner's logic goes right out the window. My mind instantly goes where I know many of my runner friend's minds would go .... "I wonder if I should still run? I'm probably fine - that was just a baby barf. No big deal. Probably just a fluke. Oh no, I'm going to be late!" Then I run out the door.

I had to eat something in the car - I can't run 8 miles without eating a little something first. I was really nervous about my tummy, but figured I'd just give it a try. If I felt bad, I could just pack it in.

The run was ok! Spent most of the time ranting about some work stress to my good friends who are so kind to listen, and support. My hubs probably doesn't realize how much he doesn't have to endure because my running friends have such good listening ears!

I usually have a few shot blocks around 4 miles, but I was afraid to do that in case my tummy was upset. Had one, which clearly wasn't enough. Had a tough last 2 miles. Looking back at this pic, I'm really not looking so great!But! The 'race' was done, and we celebrated with coffee after (our Saturday tradition) Happy Birthday MCM Mama! Hope you had a great experience as race director!