From FAT to FINISH LINE

Stay tuned!

2012-02-28T19:38:00.001-05:00

Sorry that I've been MIA -

The winner of the Go Sport ID will be announced within the next day or so.

I have so much good stuff to tell you about!

Stay Tuned!
XO
Jen

Thursday I'm flying to Kentucky for business! So excited
source

Saying goodbye to your toxic friends

2012-02-23T20:58:00.001-05:00

OK. So I don't mean "friends" like the cranky b*tch who shows up to a cocktail party and proceeds to bring the whole vibe down.

I'm talking about other friends and by friends I mean food and food products.

I've broken up with a lot of "friends" during this journey. Long ago I said good-bye to mayonnaise, ice cream, potato chips, soda… even diet soda... Oh sure, we bump into one another every so often but for the most part - they've been kicked to the curb.

I take great pride in having a "pretty good" diet most of the time. Whole grains, veggies, fruit, healthy fats are the base of most of my meals but deep down inside I know that there are other changes I need to make that I've been resisting. It's just annoying to have to give up freaking everything.

Like what?

Breaking up is hard to do

Like artificial sweetener. I use the stuff in the yellow packet or I did. It was my friend. So sweet, so tasty - no yucky aftertaste and no calories. Ah. What's not to love? A Weight Watcher's dream. I mean I shouldn't have to give up a sweetener. Pout. But...

Deep down I had suspected that this can't be the greatest stuff in the world for you, I mean it's pretty much a chemical - no? But I lived in denial of it and then my mom posted a link on Facebook that read: Toxic Chemical being sold as Health Conscious Sweetner. It wasn't about the pink or blue stuff. It was about my stuff.

Now, it's not like I'm downing fifty cups of it a day. A packet here and there in my coffee and occasionally some in other items like oatmeal.

But still. Why am I going to use something that can be considered harmful? It's dumb. I quit smoking and mayonnaise and now I'm going to get cancer because of this crap? Ugh. So I have to say goodbye to my friend.

And please Mr. Yellow Stuff - don't come after me - what do I know? You might be 100% safe and awesome - I'm just not taking any chances.

I bought this tonight:

welcome to the family

And though it's got calories, it's low glycemic and I'll just have to use it in moderation. I *think* it's better than regular refined white sugar. I hear there is some debate about Stevia too - so I will skip that.

Who's next?

Well I am a salt addict and I have to work on breaking that habit. I also should say goodbye to a few of the pre-packaged processed frozen meals that I rely upon for the occasional lunch in a pinch.

All in good time. I can only lose so many friends at once.

These friends, however, I have no plans of saying good-bye to:

I will not be saying goodbye to coffee, wine or my
occasional martini - so sue me. Girl's gotta have some fun

How about you? What's your poison? Who do you have to break-up with?

XO
Jen

If you could run with anyone…

2012-02-21T21:04:00.000-05:00

Who do you want to run with?
Photo Credit

I am a Facebook Fan of the ING NYC Marathon - I figure I might as well be as I'm planning on getting very lucky in the lottery this year and running it this fall. (Hey it's just as easy to be optimistic than not… so might as well put it in the universe. And if I don't get in, I can stalk all the people I'm jealous of…)

Anyway, every so often they pose questions to their followers - the other day they asked, "If you could run with any celebrity who would it be?"

There were runners who'd wanted a little comedy:
Big Ang (from Mob Wives)
Jim Carrey
Peter Griffen
Whoopi Goldberg
Ricky Gervais
Robin Williams
Robert Downey Jr.

There were runners who wanted to be uh, moved, by sexiness:
George Clooney
Ben Affleck
Scarlett Johanson
Ryan Gossling
Natalie Morales
David Beckham
Mila Kunis
JLo

Some wanted to run alongside political icons:
Obama
Nelson Mandella
Hillary Clinton

And finally others went a more Elite route:
Kara Goucher
Lance Armstrong
Dean Karnazes
Katherine Switzer
Mutai
Meb

So got me to thinking - what celeb would I want to run with? Hmmm. I've thought about it all weekend and I'm having a tough time coming up with one! I would want someone who ran about my pace - someone that could muster something funny and / or motivational when need be. Huh. Gotta keep thinking about this.

But what about you? Who would be your celebrity running mate?

XO
Jen

Keeping safe and Go Sport ID giveaway

2012-02-18T12:44:00.001-05:00

With the heinous disappearance of Sherry Arnold, safety has been on my mind a lot lately.

I admit, I've been guilty of hitting the road and having accidentally forgotten to bring any kind of ID. I've been lucky but foolish to not make it a bigger priority.

Recently, I became twitter / FB friends with Go Sport ID - when they were kind enough to recognize a recent blog of mine, I decided to reach out to them to see if they'd be interested in doing a giveaway with me. They said sure. They were even kind enough to let me try one out for myself too.

I got mine in the mail a few weeks ago and I love it. It's comfortable and strapping it on has become as second nature as putting my sneakers on before heading out. I have some peace of mind knowing that if something happens while I'm out during a run, someone can use my emergency contact numbers that are strapped around my wrist.

I like Go Sport ID because they are functional, stylish and affordable. Here's the one I got (and I ordered those colorful bands on the side to mix it up for fun!)

So if you are interested in winning one, it's mandatory to be a follower of my blog and then just leave a comment below.

No matter what you do, be safe out there!!

If you want to visit Go Sport ID on Facebook - find them here.

Jen

PS: I was provided with the Go Sport ID to check out but there has been no compensation for this post and the opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own.

LA Firecracker "Year of The Dragon" race recap

2012-02-14T21:18:00.000-05:00

Well I'm back in the dirty Jerz and reunited with my family. I missed my husband and son tremendously so it's great to be home.

Before flying back East on Monday, I participated in the LA Firecracker 'Year of The Dragon' 10K on Sunday.

I was pretty excited about this race, it sounded cool, starting in China Town and running up to Dodger Stadium.

view of Dodger Stadium

Now I was warned prior to the race that it was a little hilly. Eh. No sweat. I'm from Jersey. I am used to hills. Bring them on.

Me and Ang - I got a new green shirt for the occasion

Uh.

This was my very first timed 10K. 10K is a tricky little race - I mean in a 5K you kinda run balls to the wall, it's 'only' 3 miles and I can suck it up and run as fast as I can for that… And then for 13.1, so much of that is about pacing. So what to do in a 10K? What to do in a 10K where the first 2 miles are uphill?

Well. If you're me, you start off too fast and run as hard as you can until you feel like you're gonna die. Uphill

I don't know why I did that but that was my strategy.

Ugh.

The first two miles were not just hilly, they were entirely up steep hills. The hill felt like it was never going to end. Many around me walked, I pushed and ran and ran until I finally had to white flag it for a minute and walk, and then I ran and walked again. Boo.

Hill - OMFG when will it end?

Ugh.

When I tucked a gu in my race belt I thought I was being dramatic. "It's only a 10K" I thought. "I'll never use it" i believed. As I reached 2.5 miles and I was starting to feel spent, I was happy I had it and took it. It gave me the 2nd wind I needed.

I have to say, these hills sucked so bad that I cursed like a sailor for a good portion of it - I had to dig deep. I vacillated between hating the world and telling myself to suck it up, "you are training for awesome." The other thing that was annoying was the pavement was cracked and jacked the whole time so you had to be careful of footing in addition to booking up hill.

My legs were burning - I even had cramps in my glutes. A literal pain in the ass.

If the first 2 miles were hell, the next 2 miles were glorious - mostly down hill. It felt so good, letting gravity help pull you forward after all that work. I thought the hills were behind us until what we came upon what I've affectionately called, "WTF mountain." Now, "WTF mountain" wasn't really a mountain but it was enough of a steep hill for me to literally growl WTF? when I saw it. I was not happy to see it but up and over it I went.

Finally, the finish line was in sight and I turned up the engine as much as i could and raced past several people to finish strong.

well earned

Final time: 1:02:44 - about a 10:08 mile 49th out of 161 in my age group. All in all I'm super happy about this time. I could only imagine how much better I would've done if only the first 2 miles weren't uphill and if I hadn't walked twice. This time far exceeded my expectation. :)

While I swore to myself I would never do this one again, I have to tell ya - I really would. It was fun.

XO
Jen

Personal photo's courtesy of Angela's Facebook page ;) Thanks, Ang!!

Big workouts, big news and the big winner of the Healthmaster giveaway!

2012-02-10T21:35:00.000-05:00

This week in California I've really gotten my workouts in. I remember in the old days I would dread trips because I would inevitably skip workouts, eat too much and make excuses why I can't stay on track away.

Not this time.

As most of you know I kicked off the trip with the Surf City half marathon, I've been running in the mornings, I'll be running a 10K on Sunday and Tuesday evening I took Cardio Barre - the hot new workout in Hollywood.

I enjoyed this class more than I thought I would and I was glad I did it.

Every morning this week, I've run a few miles, soaking in the gorgeous Southern California weather. The only morning I didn't run was this morning because I knew I was going to be attending Barry's Boot Camp that afternoon.

On paper, Barry's Boot Camp sounded like hell to me. I was seriously scared of it. It's the 'it' Hollywood workout to get your ass kicked into shape and I was fearful that I couldn't hang with the big boys.

I was seriously apprehensive. I have to admit, I would've never volunteered willingly for this class. But Angela pretty much said, "on Friday we're doing Barry's." And that was that. OK then.

Leading up to the class I was super nervous. Truth be told, I was silently praying anything else would come up to 'foil' our plans for this. This is the workout to the stars. Their clientele list has more A-list names than a Hollywood Hills Oscar soiree - these people are in shape. Sure I can run… but could I do this??

We got to the class and met our instructor. She seemed too nice to be the devil, so I felt a little relieved. Well, she was tough. We did intense legs then would do these sprint drills on the treadmill then we'd jump off the mill and do arms, then we jumped back on the treads and did uphill sprints… at one point the tread going all the way up to a 15 mile incline! This workout isn't for the weak or a beginner.

Then we did more floor/oblique work before finally hitting the treads for one more sprint session.

SWEAT poured from every part of my body.

I LOVED IT.

I learned a lesson here. No matter how fit I've become, I still let fear hold me back. I realize that my nerves and apprehension all stemmed from still holding a deep, subliminal belief that I'm a 236 pound, out-of-shape person who'll be the fattest, most unfit, unable to do it, girl in class. I truly believed that I was not cut out for boot camp that I'd be ashamed of myself for not being able to accomplish this.

What should 'shame' me was that I didn't even really want to try. WTF? Why haven't I learned this lesson already? I talk a big game about having the "courage to start" with running yet, a one hour workout class was scaring me away.

I could do it. Just like in running - I learned that first of all, I'm fitter than I give myself credit for. Many were walking instead of jogging during the jog recovery parts - I jogged/ran/sprinted the whole time. I even (puffs chest out proudly) killed the guy next to me with speed work. I'm sorry that I doubted myself. I'm glad that Angela ~~made~~ encouraged me to take these classes because I wouldn't have on my own.

Our gorgeous instructor Astrid McGuire…
and some creepy guy checking us out behind us

So… I better get fitter and fitter because this leads me to big… no. HUGE news!

I've been invited to participate in the Ragnar Relay in Key West, Fl in January 2013! The Ragnar Relay is a 200 mile relay where a group of 12 rotates running for two days. (Average miles per runner is around 20 each!)

Everyone in our group has lost significant amounts of weight, most 100+ pounds! So it's a very special group of runners and we're coming from all over the country to do this together. I'm so honored and excited about this challenge.

Amongst my teammates are bloggers:

Mary from a small loss

and Katie from Runs For Cookies

Here's the map of our run from Miami - to the Keys:

More about this in the weeks and months ahead.

Finally the winner for the HealthMaster Elite is number 29 who happens to be:

LAUREL C!

Laurel, you have 1 week to contact me or post here with contact information or I'll be going back to the drawing board!

Hope all is well with you all!!

Jen

Happy Running Birthday to Me!

2012-02-08T13:50:00.000-05:00

Yippee! Today I turn 2!

It was two years ago today I made a decision that has changed the course of my life. I had no idea that I was about to embark on a journey that would help me to shed the last 50 pounds of my weight loss, make countless friends, take amazing adventures and profoundly change me inside and out.

If I stop to think about all the priceless gifts that running has given me, I become truly overwhelmed with emotion and gratitude. I have no idea where I would be or WHO I would be today if I hadn't decided to take that first step.

Along with my running birthday, I celebrate the 2nd anniversary of this blog!

I appreciate each and everyone of you who has supported me in my journey with your advice, words of kindness, jokes and kicks in the ass. If it weren't for the running community and the love and support out there - I'm not sure I would be still running. I had so much help along the way.

For my running birthday and blogging anniversary, I took a 3 mile run around the neighborhood. Still in LA working and it was nice to see this kind of landscaping and blue skies on my run:

perfect day for a running birthday

In case you feel like taking a walk down memory lane - here was my first post. And here was my post from my first running birthday - which also coincidentally happened while I was in LA last year!

Jen

Surf City Race Recap

2012-02-07T17:04:00.001-05:00

First of all, I was super excited to run Surf City.

In fact, in a small way, I owe the Surf City half marathon a huge debt of gratitude because it was one of the prime movers in getting me to take up running in the first place.

You see it was right around this time in 2010 that my friend Angela posted about her medal and accomplishment in running 13.1 in this race.

Angela talked about the medal and her accomplishment on FB and I marveled how it would be cool to be able to do such a thing someday. At that point I was about 40 pounds into my weight loss journey (with still having 50 to lose) and thought it was an impossibility. I mean, me run? Not for 13 seconds, never mind 13 miles. Ha.

But it was the perfect storm - between her pictures, my kind of wanting to do it and my making a "life long bucket list of goals" more about the back story here… and in any case, just a few days later (my bloganiversary is tomorrow in fact) I was signed up for my very first half.

So back to Surf City.

I wasn't sure I'd ever run this one even tho it looks awesome and beautiful. Primarily the issue was that it happens on Super Bowl Sunday every year and that's pretty much a holiday in my family. Being away on Super Bowl Sunday is worse to hubby than being away for his birthday or our anniversary but somehow I was able to finagle it this year. (If the Jets were in the big game, however, that would be grounds for divorce… unluckily/luckily, the Jets remain tried and true - and out of the Superbowl…)

Anyway I made it happen and got out here for it.

The day before we went to the Free Wheelchair Mission dinner. Angela raises money for them every year and they are the main charity tied to the race. It was a beautiful dinner. The Free Wheelchair Mission raises money to provide wheel chairs for people around the world. Their mission is to literally "lift" people up and off the ground. In poorer countries, if you have a disability that affects your mobility you are literally forced to drag along on your hands. It's quite touching what these folks do.

Lin, one of the recent wheel chair
recipients.

At the dinner Josh George, a primo wheel chair racer athlete who's taken the gold in event after event for the USA was the key note speaker. He's heading to London in August.

He was awesome and even let me take a picture with him:

with big time athlete Joshua George - awesome guy

I can't think of anything more motivational or inspiring pre-race than remembering how lucky we are that we GET to run and use our feet, legs, and heart to move. These healthy legs are such a gift!

After dinner, I careful laid out my race-day clothing and we hit the sack.

4:45 AM rolled around quickly and we were up and raring to go - we strolled downstairs, waited for the shuttle and off we went.

Ready to go!!

As we shuffled around the starting line - I had to pee a million times - but I'm glad I got it out of my system pre-race because this was the first race that I didn't have to stop at all for a porta-visit during the run! Yay. I'm a big girl now!

So we were off. I felt good and I was rarin' to go. I kept trying to pace myself as to not start to fast. The first two miles - i felt a little stiff. Probably from the traveling and I was on my feet a lot leading up to race day, unfortunately. By mile four, I was in a groove and feeling great. I definitely was feeling awesome.

It was a pretty place to run. I kept my pace, enjoyed my music, and had my gels and beans in a good rhythm. I skipped the sports drink they were serving because I'd never had it and didn't want to risk a San Diego repeat. I grabbed water thru every stop but ran thru them - never walking.

I couldn't remember my Jersey Shore half time but wasn't thinking I was gonna beat it. That was my previous PR race. I was mid-marathon training at that point and long runs were 16 -18 miles. In any case, my goal this time was to finish this one under 2:30.

So I ran, and pushed, and ran. Around mile 6 or 7 I started to get annoying side stitches. Nothing too terrible but annoying - eh, I've run thru worse - I shook it off and kept going. The 10th and 11th miles I was definitely starting to feel tired and my legs were starting to feel pretty fatigued. But I was in the homestretch! I like to pour it on in the last mile and did all I could to pick up the pace.

I love the finish chute - the crowds, the excitement, that big beautiful "FINISH" sign. Ahhhh - I crossed the mat. I thought I came in around 2:24 or so - Yippee! I well beat my 2:30 goal. I couldn't exactly remember my Jersey Shore half time so I looked it up: I did the Jersey Shore in 2:24:47 (11:01 min mile…) Another medal on the books! :)

sweetest medal

As far as PR, it was going to be close. My Nike + was a little off (actually was reading 13.3 miles for a 10:48 min mile… it's kinder than my mother) so I was going to have to hold my breath and wait for the chip time results… When I went online I was psyched to see:

HELLO PR!

YIPPEE! 2:23:47 A PR by mere seconds… And I broke out of the 11min mile avg - something so pretty excited about 10:59 ;) I'm also pretty proud of the split time as you can see on the bottom left.

A great race overall.

Me and Ang after the race!

I would definitely recommend Surf City and hope to do it again next year (that is if the Jets don't make it to the Super Bowl. Hey. Stop laughing. It could happen… ;)

Jen

Hello from California

2012-02-06T16:46:00.000-05:00

Cutest race shirt and swag bag ever!

Surf City was fabulous. What a great race - if you are ever considering this one I would definitely recommend it.

Sorry I haven't been around, lots of work, travel and other stuff to talk about!! I'll be in Los Angeles the rest of the week movin' and shakin'. I may be doing the Chinese Fire Cracker 10K in LA on Sunday while I'm out here.

Remember - I was going to do it last year and then injured my ankle in an accident when I decided to have a few cocktails and wear heels. Ooops.

In any case, just wanted to check in and celebrate that half number 5 is in the books! Yippee :)

Hope you are all doing well. Post a recap very soon.

xo
Jen

Giveaway: Win a Living Well with Montel HealthMaster Elite!

2012-02-01T11:45:00.000-05:00

Want to make smoothies?

Your very own frozen yogurt?

How about breads, soup, pizza dough, baby food, dips, salsas and even an occasional margarita?

Well, you can do all that and more with the Living Well With Montel HealthMaster Elite!

In full-disclosure, I was recently hired to write some blogs for the Living Well HealthMaster and I've been well-familiar with the product for years (I used to work for Montel Williams) and remember early-on when he wanted to help develop a solid product, at a reasonable price point for the health enthusiast.

This is a great versatile kitchen appliance and I enjoy having it. I primarily use it to make smoothies, hummus, soup, pesto, frozen drinks, almond milk and I also make a mean gazpacho with it.

So, anyway, thanks to my side work with the HealthMaster folks, I was able to finagle one of these bad boys for my very own giveaway!

If you'd like to enter here's what you need to do:

Be a follower of my blog and leave a comment (mandatory)

Earn extra entries (you must leave a comment for each entry):
1. Tweet or Facebook share this giveaway
2. Follow me on Twitter
3. Like HealthMaster on Facebook and let them know "Jen sent you"
4. LIKE ME (From Fat To Finish Line) on Facebook (thank you) :)

Contest will be open from Feb. 1 - Feb. 9th. Winner to be announced on or about February 10th.

PS: If you like them on Facebook you can also enter their own Facebook giveaway for the HealthMaster!

PSS: While I am paid to write health blogs for the HealthMaster website, I was not paid by them for this giveaway or review - just thought it might be a cool giveaway for someone!

Have a great day,

XO
Jen

Confessions of a Running Sinner

2012-01-30T08:16:00.001-05:00

"I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the Saints… The sinners are much more fun…"

- Billy Joel

Or maybe you needed to stretch a bit? Nah…!

I am here to confess.

I am a running sinner. I'm hoping to repent and start afresh and remedy some of these sins.

I'll admit it, if I could get away with sinning, I would. But I do believe in karma of all sorts -- and sooner or later - it catches up to you.

So today I speak my sins out loud and look to you to help me see the light. I know some of you are sinners too so feel free to confess if you feel the need to… If you are a saint, then go a head and brag about it - you've certainly earned it.

Sin #1 - The warm-up.
Hardy-har-har-har. Warm-up? Does the 30 seconds of fast walking at the beginning of my run as I get my Nike+ set and pick my music count as a warm-up? I kinda try to run my "slowest" mile for the first one but it can hardly be called the true warm-up that Runners World recommends:

"Always warm up, Always! After a 5 minute walk, walk and jog for 5 minutes, then jog for five minutes more so you're basically warming up for the very slow first mile of your run."

Um. I've never done this. NEVER. Does anyone do this walk/jog walk thing for a mile? I can't think I'm alone here…

But the mortal sin is on race days. Especially a 5K - I show up, shuffle around a bit, maybe fake a stretch and then bolt. BAD, BAD, BAD.

EXCUSE? Usually, limited time. If I have 3 miles of training, for example, I don't have time to futz around with a light jog and walking nonsense for a mile… also, (admittedly this is dumb) but I want credit for that first warm-up mile and I don't want that first mile to bring down my "running pace average" too much, so I run faster than I probably should. SOOOO dumb. But it's the truth.

REPENT: I'm going to try to slow my roll a little more for the first mile (or at least half a mile). I can't promise I'm going to walk/jog but at least jog/run the first 5-8 minutes. On 5K race days, I'm going to try to get a little five minute, shake-out, pre-jog in to get a little warmed up, rather than just break into full on racing.

Sin #2 - Rest Days.
Over the course of my running journey, a funny thing has happened. A BIG shift in my attitude about rest days. I once LIVED for my rest days, "YAY! I don't have to run today!" Now, it's like, "Rest day? Nah, I'll just do a 2-3 miler. I don't need no stinkin' rest day." I have grown to crave/value/need my run. No matter how short/long/fast or slow I love my running. So much so, that I've even actually gone on running streaks without realizing I was on a streak. Generally speaking, (with no judgement on streakers - if done correctly, I'm sure this works for some) runners NEED rest days. Our bodies and minds need to repair, recover and rebuild. I hate my rest days - but especially now that I'm increasing mileage, I'm going to (gulp) take them.

EXCUSE? Addicted to running, fear of not burning off extra calories, fear of a rest day leading to a loss of motivation and an eventual not running at all (yes I'm insane), and a need for "me" time.

REPENT: I can't promise to be perfect but I'm going to try to honor my rest days. I will cross train/walk/bike/do some weights/dance around the living room or something else if I really feel the need to move.

Sin #3 - Stretching.
I don't ever stretch. It's bad. I've never been flexible to begin with and I never feel like I'm doing it right. I've read that you shouldn't stretch before running, I've read that you should. I've read that you should stretch after a run, but over-stretching on tired muscles could injure you. I'm way confused and I hate stretching so I just don't. Not sure if this a sin or what - but I'm confessing anyway.

EXCUSE? Lazy/ignorant/confused.

REPENT: I don't know? I guess I'll start doing more research and incorporate it if necessary.

Other sins I commit and you might too? Running on old sneakers/the wrong sneakers, upping mileage and speed too quickly, improper fueling/hydrating, not allowing enough time to heal after an injury, trying new stuff on race day, and so much more.

The problem with these sins are you can only commit the crime for so long before you have to do the time… And unfortunately, "the time" is usually being side-lined by injuries raging from torn hamstrings to shin-splits and a "fun-filled" range of "good times" in between.

So what are some sins you've committed? What is your saintly advice for my sins and some of the others mentioned?

Do you warm up with a walk/jog for a mile?

Do you stretch?

XO
Jen

Freeze Your Thorns Off Race Recap and my new Saucony Loot!

2012-01-28T20:42:00.000-05:00

I'm NUMBER 1! Oh. So is everyone.

There was no freezing for my "Freeze Your Thorns Off Race." It was a lovely 48 degrees - which is lovely running weather for this time of year. I felt pretty good out there and was very proud of my split from about mile 3 - 10:

Happy that I was able to really pick up that last mile - and on
the way back I was running in a pretty good head-wind...
Uphill. on one leg

So yay. Another virtual race under my belt and a good run to boot.

In other news…

My Saucony prize package came this week. In case you hadn't heard, here's something to be super jealous of, I won a $500 GRAND PRIZE from Saucony's "Find Your Strong" Facebook Sweepstake! Right!? Best win eva!

Anyway - so the loot came and this is what I got:

squeal… 3 pairs of new running sneaks!

And I also got arm sleeves, a mask/neck thingy for when it's super cold out, a warm headband thing, compression socks and running pants.

Loving all my stuff! Thanks Saucony! :)

Hope you're enjoying your weekend.

Jen

Friday hodge podge and Team Gab race recap

2012-01-27T20:06:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday I posted about this virtual race:

There is still plenty of time to sign up and all proceeds go to raising money for kids with cancer. I signed up for the 10K - helping a fellow blogger? Taking on Cancer? Taking on Cancer that goes after kids? No brainer.

So I went off to run my very first official 10K. I've done 5K and halfs but never a 10K.

I had to do it on the treadmill because it's was still icy out and I don't "roll" like that.

Anyway. It was a good run. Of-course at around 5.6 miles in, i went to activate my "power song" on my Nike + app and it instead "ended" my workout. I really ran more than a 10K because I didn't have time to figure out what was left and just an until I'd covered the minimum distance. So my report miles were in two parts:

so- yeah. whatever the math on 5.88 and .67 is… = Jen's 10k

I was losing steam in the middle of the run but I kept thinking of that sweet face and it kept me going!

And in other news...

Tomorrow I'm doing another Virtual race too: The Boring Runner's, second annual:

luckily it's gonna be unseasonably nice no freezing my, uh, Thorns off

Report on this one to follow. I'm thinking of trying to get a 10 miler in.

And finally, Jennifer at Moms Running It tagged me in her own 11 random things post so I figured I'd go ahead and answer her questions below…

BTW, it you don't follow this woman - go check out her blog NOW - it's great and I can stare at her killer abs all day…

1. What are you afraid of? Losing someone I love. Terrified. On a less deep level, horror movies always creep me out and then I can't sleep.

2. Where would you most like to visit? Greece

3. What can you not live without running wise? I guess a good pair of sneakers…. but if those are a given, my iPod

4. What is a dream of yours that few people know about? Hmmm most of those cats are out of the bag. People know that I dream of doing 70.3 ironman but I guess the big dream is doing Kona someday.

5. What is a guilty pleasure? Dirty martini's and reality television

6. What is something that irritates you? People texting / talking on the cell while driving

7. What makes you giggle? The Boring Runner's blog. (Two Shout outs in this blog about Adam - I better hit this guy up for a kick back.)

8. How did you meet your husband/boyfriend? I was a salesgirl at The Chess King in 1990 and his friend worked there - so he'd come in and hang around.

9. Do you have a bad habit? Just one? I'm a lazy housekeeper…

10. Favorite food? Hmmm that's like picking a favorite child! But I really love Greek, Italian and Chinese… a rotation between those as my fav. will have to do. I just can't commit.

11. What did you do before running? Before running today? I did a little work - in life, a lot of things but fitness wasn't much a priority, I daydreamed about becoming the active person I am today. :)

Happy Friday!

XO
Jen

11 Random Things

2012-01-25T19:02:00.000-05:00

Jen at Miles, Muscles and Mommyhood tagged me in this post - AND Emz from 'You've Freaking. Got. This.' also tagged me! I feel so loved...

So here we go…

The rules:

1. Post these rules
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
5. Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them
6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people!

Eleven random things about me:

Ah. to be 20 something - I'm Miss White Pants right next to Slash

1. GO MAURY: Some of you may know that I have a small film and TV company that I've been working at launching with partners called Media Meld Studios - you may also know that I worked for Montel Williams for 15+ years building a career in entertainment - but did you know I got my start as an intern with The Maury Povich Show - long before he was declaring, "You are NOT the father…"

2. VEGGIE TALES: My favorite vegetable is Kale my least favorite is bell peppers but at 39 years old, they are finally starting to grow on me.

3. LOFTY GOALS: As a little kid the first thing I wanted to be when "I grow up" was a nurse. Specifically, "Nurse Miller" because I thought all nurses took on a nurse name. The second thing I wanted to be was, "a dedicated tennis player" because it wasn't enough to merely be a tennis player. I never played a game of tennis in my life at that point… in fact it was probably another 15 years before I finally took a lesson. So much for dedication.

4. NAME DROPPING: I've had a few cool celebrity moments in the day thanks to my TV jobs thru the years: Shots with Mathew McConahay, teaching Slash how to play tournament-style poker, chatting up Judd Nelson at an Oscan party, doing wardrobe for Joan Rivers, crashing a Ben Affleck movie premiere party and getting to meet him and his mother -- just to name a few.

5. PARLE VOUS FRANCAIS? French was my favorite class in high school - I was even named the president of the french honor society for my school. My second favorite class was English Lit. I sucked, sucked, sucked at math.

6. FIST PUMP IT! I am third-generation Jersey girl. Garden-state (haha) thru and thru. Which means I don't pump my own gas, get great pizza and hear endless jokes about "New Joisey," "The Sopranos," and "Snookie."

7. J-E-T-S. Yes. I'm an unfortunate fan. It's not easy being green.

8. VICES. I used to drink a lot, gamble a lot and smoke a lot of cigarettes. Not gonna lie, I still would love to do all three, however I'm trying to not be a broke/alcoholic with lung cancer, therefore I refrain 99% of the time from 99% of my former vices. A pack a day habit probably wouldn't be supportive of my running goals either lol. ;) (Quit smoking in 2001)

9. U2. My first concert was when I was a freshman in High School - I went to see U2's Joshua Tree tour. LOVED it.

10. IRONMAN 70.3 dreams. I don't know why but I really want to do one someday. I haven't swum a lap in years and haven't been on a bike since I was 12. That doesn't scare me. I signed up for my first half marathon before I had ever run for a second in my life. If I had the money to upgrade to a gym with a pool (the only one in our area is 3 times more expensive than my current membership) and could make all the other financial and time commitments i would already be training for one. Don't be surprised when I figure out how to start training for one, one of these days.

11. LAST NAME. When I got married - 17 years ago! (OMG) I never changed my last name. I kept my maiden name. No hyphen, nothing. No one did that then, but I did because it felt weird taking on a new one. I always hated my last name but when faced with giving up, I didn't want to. It's never been a big deal although when people call my husband by my last name accidentally - it irks him a bit. Interestingly, my twin sister made the same decision to keep her maiden name too.

11 Questions from Jen:

You are stranded on a deserted island. Tell me

1. What are the 5 foods you would pick to have with you? Pizza, dark chocolate, leafy greens, oatmeal, pineapple

2. What 2 things would you pick to drink? ~~fresh water~~ chocolate milk and red wine

3. What book would you want to have? Picture album of my loved ones

4. You are visited by ONE person for 24 hours only, who is it? I would have to flip a shell to determine whether that would be my identical twin sister or son or hubby… jeeze. HARD ONE -- probably have to be my son - though he's a rowdy four year old… A deserted island might be nice for a few days.

5. You can have ONE skill that you do not currently posses? What is it? If I'm still on the island, I would say making fire. If I'm off the island maybe singing? Maybe being a 'dedicated' tennis playing-Ironman?"

You just won 5 million dollars! Tell me

1. What is the first thing you do? Scream 'holy sh!t'!

2. What is the first thing you buy? A new car

3. Who is the first person you share your winnings with? hubby

4. Would you relocate? Where? Maybe. Would definitely get a new house. Either someplace in Jersey or head back out to Southern Cali.

5. Would you donate to charity? YES

6. You must buy me a gift, what do you get me?? 10 training sessions with Chrissy Wellington at fantasy Ironman training camp.

EMZ's 11 questions:

1. Do you love or hate the treadmill and why? Love. I prefer outside but I love having the option and for all these reasons too.
2. Describe yourself in three words. Loyal, funny, creative
3. Describe your best friend. loyal, passionate, funny, awesome, partner in crime
4. Text or call? text
5. Favorite place to eat? Ruth Chris
6. Where did you first see your wife/husband/significant other? I was working as a sales girl at Chess King in 1990!
7. Do you buy lottery tickets? Occasionally
8. The first thing you do in the morning. pee while already thinking about my first cup of coffee
9. Favorite recovery drink. Chocolate Honeymilk
10. If you could have any car in the world, which would you buy? BMW SUV
11. What do you collect? hmm. I don't think I collect anything. Though I seem to hoard everything.

Here are my 11 questions for those I tag:

1. What was your first job?
2. If you could only hear one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
3. Favorite quote or saying?
4. Disney World, Vegas or a cruise?
5. Your favorite "kid" movie?
6. Celebrity crush?
7. Dream race?
8. Favorite blog? (Bonus points if it's mine… just kidding. not really.) :)
9. Italian food, Greek Food or Asian?
10. Favorite sports team?
11. What was your first concert?

AND I'm tagging you folks…

Lesley - Racing It off
Michel - Baby Weight My Fat Ass
Fricken' Fabulous at 40
Sara at Words To Run By
Nicole at The Scenik Route
Courtney at A so-called runner
Caroline at Canadian runner in Exile
Erica at Life as a Running Mom
Jeff at Detroit Runner
Amanda at Miss Zippy
Lisa at Turtle Lisa

WHEW. Longest blog ever. If you read this all… Thank you. If you didn't - I don't blame you! ;)

XO
Jen

Dear new runner: An open letter

2012-01-23T10:06:00.000-05:00

Dear new runner:

My very first 5K stuff

Congratulations on your decision to go on this uncomplicated yet complex journey of running. Lace up your sneakers and charge up your iPod, you're in for an exciting and challenging road ahead.

This is the letter that the runner I've become would've written to the "running hater" I once was.

Listen, I know it's hard at first. That's why you rock. It's hard but you're gonna do it anyway. Others talk about it, but you're doing it. This already makes you a winner. You might have to walk/run, keep your distance short, take it slow and experiment with running on a treadmill/track or outside. In fact please concentrate on not over-doing it in the early days. The worst thing you can do is injure and burn yourself out. When in doubt, it couldn't hurt to 'under-do' it even. I'd rather you come back from a five minute run feeling energized, accomplished and excited to do it again than do a 25 minute run feeling miserable and defeated.

Go sign up for a race. Seriously. Don't let it freak you out. Pick a 5K for 3 months from now (sooner or later based on your fitness level) plunk down your money and sign up. Right now. Go. I will still be here. Don't think about it - just do it.

Found one? Good. Now tell everyone about it. Go post it on Facebook, Tweet it. This is your "official" start to your running life. Congrats. Start your "5K" training program. There are several out there. You see, there's something about setting a definite goal that makes your running moving forward and it helps keeps you motivated, "I have to run today, I'm training." To this day, I need to have a race on the schedule to help keep me progressing.

As a beginner, you might feel a little soreness in your back, your muscles or even your knees and ankles. I did. A little soreness (especially if you're carrying excess weight) isn't unusual. Do not confuse soreness with injury. Follow the R.I.C.E method and if you suspect injury, see a doc.

You should go to a running store as soon as you can and get proper running shoes. Please believe me that this is not the place to cheap out. I literally tried to run in Payless "running sneakers" and learned very quickly that this was a BAD IDEA. If you don't live near a running store - you can learn here how to figure out a good running sneaker for you.

Please don't compare yourself to other runners. I started by running at a 4.0 on the treadmill and would eye people that were flying at unfathomable speeds. This is your training. It will be your race. Your journey. You'll always be slower than someone else and right now you are faster than the guy on the couch on his second bag of Doritos!

Running can support your weight loss journey but running does not give you a license to eat. Focus on fueling yourself with healthy foods, don't over-do extra calories or you won't see a loss if that's what you are looking for.

The running community is AWESOME. Support is EVERYWHERE. Go online and look for running bloggers, follow runners on twitter, Join running communities at places like DailyMile and Runners World. Connect, ask questions and join the club.

You are a real runner! Whether it takes you 15 minutes to run that mile or 6 minutes - you are a runner. Don't "weight" to get out there - who cares if you're not the fastest in the pack. Don't think you have to wait to be 20 pounds less to run. You can do it. Here's a very inspirational story of someone who started at 349 pounds - a guest post on "Runs With Cookies." (Slim Katie has a pretty inspiring story herself.)

As John Bingham says, Whether you are the first or last across a finish line, it's the same finish line!! Get out there and be proud of you! You have to be your own biggest cheerleader. You are a rockstar. Believe it.

Finally, you might not love it today. You might not love it tomorrow but someday you're going to wake up and crave running. Your life will be changed. You will find fitness, what 'runners high' is all about, confidence and passion. You will find out that you can go further than you thought. You will learn that you're tougher than you ever gave yourself credit for. Your world's of "I cant's will change to I cans."

You will find the indescribable joy of setting goals and accomplishing them. The thrill of the finish line.

I'm so happy for you. Enjoy your journey and see you out there.

"Everyone is an athlete. But some of us are training, and some of us are not." -Dr. George Sheehan

XO
Jen

7 reasons to stop hating the treadmill

2012-01-20T16:59:00.002-05:00

at least I can watch the muscle heads at my gym

Ah, The good 'ol ~~dreadmill~~ treadmill.

Many of us have a hate-hate relationship with it.

Some more than others. I myself have grown to tolerate the treadmill. I will admit that it's easier to deal with it when runs are 6 miles and under but I've used it to run up to 14.

Not everyone hates the treadmill. I mean powerhouse runners and bloggers like EMZ runs on one and even did her own 24 hour treadmill fundraiser on one! Lesley from Racing It Off also often turns to tread work without mention of dread. She clocks some serious miles on it too!

Today I woke up with a groan at the thought of hopping on the treadmill… So on the heels of yesterday's post about being positive I started to talk to myself about all the good things about the good 'ol tread.

So in honor of national treadmill day… (never heard of national treadmill day? Well that's because I made it up…)

I'm listing ~~ten~~ seven (I couldn't come up with ten) reasons why we should stop hating the treadmill:

Climate control. No ice, no rain, no snow, no heat wave, no cold weather gear, no coming home and waiting for your thighs to defrost or cursing the sunscreen that's sweated into your eyes… Just go time.
Reality television. It's so much harder to watch an episode of the Jersey Shore running thru a park… well. unless your park is in the middle of Jersey (like mine) where you might sight a Snookie or two…
A handy dandy dash board. No figuring out where to carry your Gu, hydration, music, towel, iPhone, uh. remote control for reason number 2 - treads have all kinds of cup holders to stash your crap. And talking about crap...
Potty perfect. Gu hit your tummy hard? Too much pre-run hydrating? Running so hard you feel like puking? Never fear, a potty is near!
No dogs, children or sidewalk cracks to trip you up. On my run the other day thru the hood, I made the mistake of running by a middle school just as the tweens were getting out. Oh the horror. Weaving in and out of walls of kids with heads buried in their cool smart phones was a great time if you like running a 15 minute mile. Also, I'm good for catching every little bump in the road just at the right spot to trip.
Mindless Miles. It's not to say they aren't worthy or important miles. Sometimes it's just a relief to run without thinking of anything. I can blast my music and truly tune out. When I'm running outside I'm on heightened alert for above mentioned dogs and sidewalk cracks, plus cars, bikers, predators and other things that can harm ya. I like that I can completely zone out.
Hill and speed control. Wanna run up hill - no need to go out and find one! That's so old school. Incline it up, baby! Want to know what it feels like to run a 5 min. mile? - Set it to 12.0 and have at it. Good luck. Modern technology! I do like challenging myself to running faster and faster on the tread.

So what's your thoughts on our poor, often hated friend the treadmill? Love him or hate him?

What's your favorite thing about the tread? Your least favorite?

Jen

Talking to yourself: Not just for crazy people

2012-01-19T14:19:00.000-05:00

"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." - Henry Ford

Ugh. I mean, hills make me strong

I am a great believer of self-talk. In fact I live or die by it. I used to be filled with self-doubt and negative self-talk and I didn't even realize it! I would wake up in the morning already groaning internally about the weather, the traffic, the 'tough' day ahead. I had to consciously change that thought behavior and I work every day at it by using positive self talk.

I love the Ford quote above because it's so friggen true. When I was 236 pounds I could've said to myself, "I'll never lose weight, run a block, be healthy… I'm a failure." And I could make that all true. Or I could've said to myself, "I'm going to stick to my health goals, run what I can at any given moment in my weight loss journey and become healthy."

Luckily, I chose the second statement and I chose to repeat it, repeat it and repeat it. Most of those times even "faking it til, I made it" in those earlier days.

In addition to positive self-talk, I find mantras, words, phrases to be very helpful during runs - or even in tricky food situations. They say that thoughts become words and words become action. I don't know the science of it all but I know that it works for me.

It seems I'm not Polyanna perky by nature. My first thoughts usually go negative, "this sucks" or "this is hard" when it comes to certain situations like long runs or hills. I have to be very aware of my tendency to do that and squash it quick!

I've started repeating things like, "I love long runs because_________" and I fill in the blank with 5 - 10 things. I have to. Or my brain just wants to say, "it sucks." Ironically, I do like long runs but that mental game of 'finding the time' and just doing it can often get thwarted by my evil, negative brain trying to talk myself out of it.

During a workout where I'm feeling drained and like cutting it short I might think or say:

You are strong
There will be a day you cannot do this, today is not that day
Suck it up buttercup
You don't have to do this - you GET to do this - it's a privilege, enjoy it
Pain is temporary, Pride forever (got thru my first half marathon with this one)
This is joy
I love this run
Hills make me strong
This might be tough, but I'm tougher
This is the part that counts, so don't back down now
I'm a warrior
If this was easy, everyone would do it
I'm an athlete
This is your time

Most recently, blogger Maria Simone at Running A Life, quoted triathlon & running coach Bobby McGee with this:

"Be the kind of person who does the types of things to have the results you want." I know that my friend Jason from Cook, Train, Eat, Race has been living by these words.

Words are powerful.

When I first started running, I called it the voices in my head that were like a bunch of mean girls… always telling me reasons why I can't… At least for the most part now-a-days - the mean girls have been hushed by a chorus of "you can's."

As you can see, I'm doing a lot of talking to myself. And sometimes I'm sure I look crazy. That's OK… I'd rather be crazy than lazy! ;)

Do you talk to yourself during your runs?

Do you have a favorite go-to mantra?

Do you have a favorite running quote?

Jen

DNF and the success of "failure"

2012-01-16T22:39:00.000-05:00

DNF.

For those of you who are newer to running DNF = Did not finish. As in I tried to run this marathon but broke a leg at mile 16 and got a DNF.

DNF is a big scary fear I've had and I would venture to say a fear for many of my fellow runners. Why? Because in my mind (and possibly others) DNF somehow = failure.

The fear of DNF is what motivates us to train, get out there in sub zero weather and plug away at the miles but DNF has an evil side as well. The fear of DNF prevents many of us from even trying.

And DNF isn't just for runners or running. How many things in our lives do we limit ourselves in because of some sort of looming and scary threat of DNF.

For the New Year it struck me that many people are so fearful of "DNF" that they don't even bother to set goals or resolutions at all. More than once I heard, "I don't set goals because then I don't set myself up for disappointment."

There was something profoundly bothersome to me about that type of statement.

I'm not trying to judge, here. Believe me I was once that person as well.

What I've learned is, we have to get over our fear of DNF. DNF fear holds us back. When we aren't willing to fail we limit ourselves and we wind up living lives less of what we are capable of.

Words To Run By

My friend Sara from Words To Run By, didn't let DNF scare her from signing up for the GOOFY challenge in Disney World. The Goofy challenge is a two day ultra marathon. One day running a half marathon followed by a full the very next day both taking place thru Disney theme parks. This challenge is not for the faint of heart.

Sara trained, she tried and she gave it her all. You need to read her journey of it, it's amazing. Talk about strength, fearlessness, perseverance, pride, passion. She completed her first 13.1 on Saturday and started her day two full marathon in pain, with a blister the size of Wisconsin and very little sleep - but she went into it with open arms. She was an absolute warrior and stotan thru more than 22 miles until her body gave up and the volunteers made the call to take her off the course. She left it all out there. But is Sara sad that she only (ha) completed 35 out of 39 miles? UM no. Nor should she.

35 miles out of 39 - failure? I think not. Anyone would consider that a triumph and an incredible accomplishment. A roaring success in my book.

She fearlessly ran with a DNF hanging over her head. She didn't reach the physical finish line but shit. She had the courage to try. DNF shouldn't mean did not finish - it should mean - did not fail. We are never failures if we are trying and dreaming big and going for it with gusto. Failure is placing limitations on ourselves. If Sara decided to "shoot" for a 5K, 10K, or just the half she would've been "successful" in reaching the finish line… but Sara and her "did not fail" got so much more from not being afraid to dream big.

Someone commented on Sara's Facebook page, DNF is better than DNS (did not start) and that is something that will stick with me forever. I will gladly take a DNF over a DNS any day of the week.

Stop being afraid to fail. If you never fail, you're not aiming high enough.

Along the same theme - I saw this amazing video yesterday:

XO
Jen

Sh*t runners NEVER say

2012-01-14T12:13:00.000-05:00

As I was writing yesterday's post "Sh*t runners say" I realized that there are even more things us runners would NEVER say.

Sh*t runners never say:

25.2 already? Damn, only one more mile.
No, no. I don't want the medal - running was its own reward.
I'm not hungry.
I like being the slowest in the group.
I really hope I don't PR this time.
What does BQ mean?
I decided to race without my Garmin.
One pair of sneakers are plenty.
How many miles is this marathon?
I'd rather be walking.
This sport would be so much easier if it was all uphill.
Can you pass me my jean jacket - going for a run.
Nothing sucks more than crossing a finish line.
I hope there are a bunch of dogs off their leashes at the park today!
Oh, how fun. An ice storm.
I'm so glad I had the burrito and hot wings before this 16 miler. Great call.
I hope I "pants my poop" this time ;)
Awesome! I'm injured - now I get to rest for a few weeks!
Thank God for the wall of walkers in front of me, now I can slow down.
Woot! I just ran thru a pile of dog poop - It's my lucky day.

Now I'm sure I'm missing at least 20 more so bring on your own 'sh*t us runners would NEVER say' in the comments below!

Have a great day!

Jen

Sh*t Runners Say...

2012-01-13T11:04:00.002-05:00

more funny chickens found here

I've seen all of these videos popping up on FB - "sh*t white girls say, black girls say, club people say, etc, etc…"

So it got me to thinking…

What is some sh*t runners say?

Hmmm. How about…

Big news!

I'm gonna just do an 'easy' six miles today.
I was supposed to do a long run but only got 10 in.
I wonder if I should just pee on myself and try to PR this race?
I know I just ran 26.2 miles but I am disappointed. I only shaved 1 minute off my last time.
Don't forget to DVR the Olympic Trials.
Fartleks.
Yippee! GU now has a peanut butter flavor!
Hell no I won't get chicked.
Hell. I just got chicked.
Yes! Negative splits!
All I want for Christmas is a new Garmin. And maybe some cold weather gear. Oh OK and a copy of "Spirit of The Marathon."
Woo hoo / boo hoo - hill work.
Lost another toe nail. Oh well.
"Please don't pants my poop."
I totally bonked after hitting the wall so today I'm just going for a recovery run.
Ugh. Taper sucks. I just want to get out there and run.

What am I missing?

What would you add to the list?

Happy Friday all…

Jen

California Dreamin' - Racing on the west coast

2012-01-12T21:32:00.000-05:00

Signing up for races is addictive!

I made a decision to spend a few days in LA to convene with my Cali business partners, get some meetings done and yadda, yadda, ya so I figured I'd do that in conjunction with a race.

My business partner, Angela, who was the one who introduced me to running to begin with runs Surf City ever year. She kept inviting me to run it with her and I was hemming and hawing… I mean it's Super Bowl Sunday and as a big football fan, I had to take that into consideration! Well with my crappy team safely out of any chance to make the big game, I had nothing standing in my way.

me and Ang after Jersey Shore half 2010

Yesterday, I decided to make the commitment to run Surf City on February 5th - it's supposed to be a beautiful run along the ocean - and it's flat and fast (with typically ideal weather) so I hope to use this one to PR. I'm so excited. And I'm very excited to run with Angela again. She ran my very first half with me in Jersey. She was waaaay faster than me but she paced me the whole time and made my first experience awesome.

Then, today I decided to pull the trigger and sign up for The Hollywood Half. I mean, that race just has my name all over it.

The race is on April 7th. It starts at Universal Studios and you run parts of Hollywood Blvd and Sunset and look at how cute the bling is:

Hoooray for Hollywood!

So my first two races will both be on the West Coast - which is cool because I can always justify the trips there with work related stuff in addition to the fun of the run! Plus a trip in February and another in April breaks up the winter very nicely.

I'm also planning on running the New Jersey half marathon in Long Branch again. In fact, my hubby says he's gonna run it too! (Woo!) He just started running again and training. That would be awesome.

I've decided not to run a full this spring though, I'm loosely following a marathon training program. I've been doing the weekday 'assigned' runs and then slightly modifying the long runs (like 8 miles instead of 10 and 10 miles instead of 13) but still overall increasing my weekly mileage.

My grand plan is to continue my lucky/winning streak and get into the NYC marathon in the fall and if for some reason (perish the thought) I don't get in, I'll find an alternate fall race.

Hope you are all doing well!

What races do you have coming up?

Did you apply to the NYC lottery?

Jen

Surf City, here we come… (Mostly) Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-11T11:04:00.000-05:00

Soooooo excited - First race is ON THE BOOKS…

sure beats Jersey in February!!

Hello super cute medal!!

Jen

A year in miles, Saucony rocks and other things to be grateful for

2012-01-10T20:27:00.000-05:00

I've been feeling really great lately. Running has been on point even with my little trip from the other day. Luckily my ankle has been fine. I have a wee bit of soreness in the arch of my foot and knee but it doesn't really hurt to walk or run so I don't think it's much concern.

I've been feeling super grateful lately. I am a lucky girl in so many ways and for so many reasons.

Tonight I ran pretty speedy (ahem… trying not to say it…for me) and it felt great. 2 miles in 19:20 which is 9:39 average. When I first started running my average was 12:30 - 12:40 with impossible DREAMS of a 11:30 or less.

And what made it even more satisfying is it didn't feel like I was 'racing.' Yes, it felt harder than my long run pace but it was only slightly - medium harder than a comfortable pace. Does that make sense? I still felt I had more in me if I wanted to crank it up or were racing. It's just awesome to be able to look back and track the progress.

Also I really do love daily mile. I love that when Nike craps out (like tonight) I can manually keep track of my miles and pace. Here's my yearly report - not bad.

Finished the year strong!!

And what else do I have to be thankful for? Never mind a running streak - I'm on a winning streak!! This week I got an Email from Saucony, which I assumed to be the standard Email of thanks for entering our contest blah, blah, blah or advertisement… No what I found out was:

Hello Jennifer,
Thank you for participating in the Saucony Find Your Strong in 2012 Giveaway on our Facebook page and referring friends! I'm reaching out to you because since you referred two or more friends you were eligible for the Grand Prize and were selected as a winner! The Grand Prize is $500 of Saucony Gear!!
Congratulations on being the grand prize winner in the Giveaway and I look forward to hearing from you!

WHAT! GET OUT OF TOWN!! You know I love Saucony - I mean how many times have I posted my own Saucony sneakers:

Saucony: My very first pair of 'real' running sneakers

And I loved them so much, I bought them again.

And then I got these.

Saucony carried me for my first full marathon

And most recently I got these - current sneakers...

So, needless to say, I am one happy Saucony wearin' winner!! :)

I'm the luckiest and so grateful. $500 smacker-roonies. I'm going to pick out a great pair of running sneakers, treat myself to a good pair (or two!) compression socks, and then get some other gear.

Want to see some of what I might pick out? Visit Saucony.

And see my name in "lights" on the Saucony Facebook page.

And on a sad note -

I'm also grateful that I've been safe and sound after all of my runs. I'm heartsick and praying for missing runner Sherry Arnold who went out for a run on Saturday morning and is still missing. SUAR is closely related to her - read more about it here. It's a reminder that we are vulnerable out there. Be safe my friends.

Jen

Streak? What streak?

2012-01-07T20:53:00.000-05:00

Here I am with all this 'streak' speak the last few posts and yesterday I decided to break the streak.

I was in Atlantic City and having a good time. To be honest, there was really not good reason to not figure out the 'streak' mile other than, I just didn't feel like it. So I didn't make it a priority and I'm OK with that.

The fat lady has sung

Ironically, breaking the streak was the best thing that could've happened for today's run (or at least I'm choosing to believe unstreaking was the reason). I had a long run of 8 -10 miles planned to day and hit the road. Holy gift-from-God the weather was perfect. I took my slightly over-dressed ass and started running.

It was one of those runs where it was absolutely effortless. The miles seem to fly by and I was in a comfortable groove. I was surprised to when Nike would tell me how fast I was going at the end of my miles but then I would realize that I was sweating and a little out of breath… Guess I was pushing harder than I thought but loving it.

Anyway…

Of course all can't be perfect in love and running and around 4.5 miles in I nicely rolled my left ankle. Yippee-ki-Ay. Awesome.

There was too much going on - I was sucking down a GU (as I decided i was gonna go 10 miles) running down hill into the wind, and navigating a crazy busy car wash - cars coming in and out. I was looking up trying to make sure that I wasn't going to be crushed by a car which took my eyes off the pavement… I got foiled by a cracked sidewalk. I barely lift my eyes off the road when I'm running around town because the sidewalks and pavement is just jacked up everywhere. It's like urban trail running.

not even close to as bad as it gets in my 'hood

Sigh.

But it felt OK enough so I ran home.

Funny, in the old days I would justify quitting a run/exercise because of some 'fake' pain and now with real pain, I find a way to justify running on it another four miles.

Loved today's run. Ankle rolling, carwash patron avoiding and all.

Average mile was something around 10:30 which is speedster McGee for me for a long run. (Sorry Jason, it's true.)

Came home iced, rested, elevated. It feels slightly sore but no swelling. I'm thinking it was more strained than sprained.

No streak means rest ankle tomorrow and get back on the road on Monday.

Oh. And in other news - I reached ONE WHOLE YEAR maintaining my weight loss of 90+ pounds! No flash in the pants here. No losing all that weight only to gain it back… Hell no, I'm no statistic. I'm keeping it off this time for good!

Yay.

XO
Jen

PS: Loving all the comments on the blog lately - keep 'em coming I so appreciate it and thank you!

Discipline

2012-01-05T10:22:00.001-05:00

So I'm on 'streak day #16' which conflicts with the 'rest day' suggestion in my training program.

I'm still torn about the whole streak thing. On one hand I think it's a fun thing to shoot for, could be a great motivator to keep going and one of those 'anything that keeps ya running' things.

You hear about people who've been on run streaks for years and years and they seemingly remain injury free.

You read about and admire the Dean K guys who run 50 marathons in 50 days or clear across the country.

Did Forrest Gump ever stop to take a rest day during his streak? can't be sure but I think not.

one of my favorite movies by the way

On the other hand some (myself included) worry about if a streak will eventually set you back. Will you push too hard? Go too far? Suffer burn-out, become obsessed with "not breaking the streak" to the point of being stubbornly stupid?

I'm not sure. I'm taking this one day at a time. I didn't start this to prove anything - I've just been looking forward and needing my daily run a lot lately - so I've done it. Part of it is fueled by a small panic of the indulgent holidays (and a few pounds that showed up on the scale) another part of it is fueled by thinking about Spring races and the last part is fuel to keep mentally happy.

Anyway, back to the discipline thing.

a little dramatic but effective

It occurred to me during my 'rest' day slowed-down jog/run this morning that 90 pounds ago it used to take an incredible amount of discipline for me to just get to the gym and then just push myself to run at a 4.2 on the treadmill for a bit. Now, it takes a tremendous amount of discipline to keep the treadmill between a 4.5 and 5.0 for only only 20 minutes to keep myself at a "rest pace." How it has all changed!!

Discipline is a tricky thing and true discipline requires balance.

The 'disciplined' dieter who restricts calories to the point of starvation is not showing true discipline… he begins to cross the line into obsession which negates the point of having discipline in the first place.

I guess the same holds true with running. Where does discipline start to cross the line into obsession -and is there ever too much of a good thing?

The thing I have learned about discipline is this - it's necessary for driving yourself forward towards your goals but it is also very, very addictive. With discipline comes power over yourself and control. If you've ever heard some anorexics speak, they'll say the power over their food was the only thing they could control - it could begin as a good feeling of pride for having 'such discipline' and then cross that line.

I take pride in the discipline that I've developed. No doubt.

And I like to think I have discipline because I really am trying to approach this thing with a day-by-day, not afraid to break the streak, approach. But maybe I'm just fooling myself?

In any case. I did keep my pace to around a 13 min. mile for my 1.5 rest day run - and that took mucho discipline because I wanted to RUN.

I'm heading to Atlantic City tonight and I'll be required to have some food/alcohol/gambling discipline… or maybe I'll loosen up just a bit. ;)

Thoughts?

Do you have discipline? Do you grapple with extremes? Any further thoughts on running streaks. Where are other places in your life that you work at being disciplined?

XO
Jen