9 hours!!!!!!

AHHHHH!!!!! I can't believe I'm going to be running my first marathon in less than 10 hours!!!!!! It's going to be AWESOME!!!

I've got everything set out, my iPod and Garmin are charging, and I'm about to head to bed!

Ooh! It's almost time!!

It's almost time for my 2nd Half Marathon! Exciting! I'm feeling pretty good and I'm ready to go in the morning. It looks like the weather won't be too bad. I'm gonna take my time and enjoy the race. :)

Good luck to all those who who are running races this weekend!! I can't wait to hear all about them!

7 days and 7 weeks.

7 days until my next half marathon and 7 weeks until my first full marathon. It's starting to sink in that my first marathon's coming up. I can't wait, it's going to be FUN! I'm also a little nervous at the same time. I'm sure everything will work out perfectly.

Today I went to the PT and she said I was looking good, but I was REALLY tight. She massaged my IT band for a little bit and then showed me some more stretches and exercises. She thinks I'll be good to walk/run on Saturday. Oooh, and Saturday...you know what the weather's supposed to be on Saturday? THUNDERSTORMS. Fun, huh? Last year it snowed, this year rain.

Tomorrow I'm getting up early and I'm going to attempt to run a few miles. If it hurts I'll stop and walk, but I'm excited to get out there and get going. I can't wait to see what happens. :)

Ok, so this is non-running, but have you guys watched Avatar? I'm watching it right now and I think it's kinda lame, maybe I'm not far enough into the movie. I dunno.

More exercises and more advice.

Today I went to the physical therapist. She thinks it's my IT band that's giving me issues and my weak, uneven hips aren't helping it. Plus, I'm not stretching after runs or strength training or cross training so I'm pretty much asking for injury. You know, I've thought the same thing for a little while now, but it's all good. I'm sure it's a blessing in disguise.

This morning we went on a 3 mile walk as a family around the lake. I even raced B a couple times without any pain. It was fun, I would have liked to go faster, but J's back is hurt and he could only go so fast. I ran for a few minutes on the treadmill at the PT office and it didn't hurt that bad, but it was bad enough that I knew I didn't want to go any further. I don't want to undo the healing I've been doing.

So, the PT said I need to stretch, cross train, strength train and use one of those foam rollers. All next week no running just strength and cross training. I can keep doing my miles walking, but I've gotta include the other stuff. I may try to throw in a minute of jogging here or there, but the goal is to be good by next week so I'm cleared to continue with training.

Oh, those with RunningSkirts questions...I have both skirts the ones with briefs and the ones with shorts. The ones I was wearing have shorts, I loved them! They didn't ride up, but I'm not sure if it was cause the shorts are that awesome or if it was because of the Body Glide, but it worked. Maybe in a week or two I'll be brave enough to wear the brief ones, but for now those are the ones I wear with capris.

Tomorrow's the SLC Marathon 5k....I'll be one of the walkers out there! :)

Awww, poop....

No race tomorrow.

 I guess 12-14"+ of snow and ice aren't the best conditions for racing. If it was just me racing and I had a car that could make it up the canyons I would totally run it, Yak-Traks and all. LOL! But, I gotta think of my momma and like my dad said, sometimes I don't think things out and heaven knows I'd run in the snow, twist my ankle and then not be able to run my marathon. Soooo...no 10 mile run.

At least the race registration goes towards an 8k in June. It'll be the weekend before my marathon, but I think it'll be ok.

If my sis hasn't had a baby we might do our own little 10 miler tomorrow in the afternoon when the snow in the valley's melted.

Ooh, I dunno....

So, I got this email just a second ago....

Update Salt Lake 10 Miler
Well! The weather on Saturday morning is supposed to be bad and I know that there are some runners that are diehards and will run in anything, but be warned the roads could be slippery.
Again, if you don’t want to get out of your warm bed on Saturday morning, your registration will move over to the June 5th race.

We will keep you updated on the makeup race. Have a wonderful day!
Sports-Am

I'm one of those weirdos that would tough it out, but I don't know. It sounds like they might cancel it.  I think we'll end up going to the start and go from there. I'll bring my Yak-Traks, just in case. That or I'll let my mom use them and I'll put some screws in my older shoes.

I'm interested to see what happens tomorrow. The other thing I didn't mention is, I think I might be getting a sinus infection...I'm not feeling 100%. Oh, well.

1st Half Marathon Giveaway!

I'm SO excited about this giveaway! There's no better way to celebrate my first half marathon than by giving away some awesome gear to the people who help encourage me and cheer me along.

So, lets get down to business...

The great people at Sugoi Gear (and Outside PR) are giving a Sugoi Verve 3/4 shirt to one lucky winner.

"The Sugoi Verve 3/4 is a great looking piece, but is also performance-oriented. The flat seam construction and neck tape make it super comfortable and it has great little details like mesh inserts in the shoulder and sides and a hidden zip pocket. The Finotech material is super-wicking and comfy, too."

But wait! Not only do they get the shirt, the great people at Ryders Eyewear (and Outside PR) are including a pair of Ryders Drill Sunglasses!

"The Drill have optically-correct, shatterproof, scratch-resistant polycarbonate lenses that will protect your eyes from 100% of UVA, UVB and UVC rays. They have ultralightweight TR90 frames with low profile , high-strength pinned hinges that will survive the harshest treatment. And to keep them on your face- where they should be- these sunnies also have non-slip, hydrophilic nose pads and temple tips that actually get tackier (in a GOOD way) as you get sweaty. These sunglasses are tough as nails but light as a feather -perfect for running in any type of weather. Ryders are super-premium, high performance eyewear with a pricetag that loves you back."

Pretty cool, huh?!

Oooh, I can't forget! Just because you guys are so great, one lucky runner up will also get a pair of Ryders Drill Sunglasses.

Ok, so how do you enter? Leave a comment for EACH thing you do.

1. 
   
   Go to Sugoi and check out their gear and tell me what other cool stuff you like on their site.
2. 
   
   Follow me or let me know you already do! The more followers the better!
3. 
   
   Check out Ryders Eyewear and tell me which sunglasses you like.
4. 
   
   Link this giveaway on your blog, twitter, or Facebook. (Comment for each one you do.)
5. 
   
   Tell me about your favorite race/run that you've ever run. I love hearing people's stories, it's very motivating!

The winner will be announced next Saturday!

Thanks for all the support!!!

Another race

The alarm went off at 5:30, I got up and looked outside and saw....SNOW....lots of snow...snow coming down in big flakes. Ok, so here's the silly part, I got out  and ran all winter long, snow, ice, whatever, I ran. Today I saw the snow and thought "There is no way I'm running in that!" So, I turned off the alarm and went back to sleep. LOL! The crazy thing, all the snow melted by 4, but by then life had taken over and I wasn't able to get my run in. I did race my little girl on her bike a few times. She wanted me to run as fast as a could. It was fun. The joys of being a momma. :)

Tomorrow is March's race. Run for Red 5k! This race, 3 years ago, was the 2nd 5k I had ever ran. The first was in high school and doesn't really count cause I walked 95% of it. I really enjoy running this race just to see how much faster I can run it each year. This time I'm hoping to run it in less than 30 minutes. That will be my fastest 5k yet. Maybe resting today will give me an even better chance to run it in under 30. Is it weird that I still get nervous for 5ks? The REALLY crazy thing...I have my first 1/2 marathon in 3 weeks! CRAAAAZY!! I remember thinking that all those people, including my little bro, running the Provo City 1/2 were NUTS. But, this year, before July, I will have ran 3 5ks, 2 10ks, 1 10 miler, 2 Half Marathons, and 1 WHOLE marathon! Crazy.... I would have never thought I could do that last year. It's amazing what losing almost 50 pounds can do.

Today's food was pretty good. I had lots of veggies. :)

4 miles and a weigh in

I got up and ran my 4 miles. I noticed today that I don't hit my stride and I'm not completely warmed up until about 2.5 miles into my short runs. Maybe I need to warm up more before my runs, I dunno. I felt pretty good once I was all warmed up, my thighs are a little sore, but it's all good. The weather was kinda interestinng. It was snowing, but it was warm at the same time. Weird!

I went and weighed in today since my race is early tomorrow morning and I lost another .2. Urgh! It'd be nice if it was 2 whole pounds rather than .2, but it's all good. I'm thinking I gotta eat more and get in more protein. The only thing is when I think of protein I think of chicken. Do you guys have any good recipes that would help me get my protein in?

Oooh! I found a jacket to run in, it should be coming today or tomorrow. Yay! I love getting packages. :)

Oh yeah, my splits...
Mile 1: 11.20
Mile 2: 11.13
Mile 3: 10.53
Mile 4: 10.28
Total: 43.55 min

There's a lot of great giveaways going on right now, check them out on the sidebar------>

The day before.

So, today was an off day and I'm SO glad it was. I was going to do the 3 miles, but I cleaned the whole house and went to get Jason from the airport instead.

Then for some reason when I was driving to get him I was so completely tired. We went to Chili's for lunch, YUM! I was starving! I had a 3 egg omelet for breakfast and was starving 2 hours later. I wonder if all the miles + not enough food was kicking in.

So, when we got home I took what was supposed to be an hours long nap. I ended up taking a 2 hour nap and Jason and the kids woke me up. I must have been really tired cause holy cow, I was CRANKY. I did NOT want to get out of bed. But, I did and all of us + the dogs went to the playground for about an hour.

Spaghetti and salad was for dinner. Gotta get those carbs before the race. :) Now, I gotta get some sleep. We're leaving the house at 7 so I have plenty of time get there to warm up and get ready for my race.

The plan is a 1 mile warm up + the 10k + a 1 mile cool down. It's gonna be fun! My fist 10k of the year. YAY! It's gonna be a good race.