Category Archives: Let the Sunshine In

February 3rd: Pepcid, Sleep and lots of coffee

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what doesn't kill me

Yesterday, my stomach was DESTROYED by that half marathon…  I was starving and ate well for breakfast but by that afternoon, I couldn’t even look at food.  I just sat in the fetal position on my aunt’s couch and wished that whatever was bothering my gut would leave by whichever means necessary… but it wouldn’t.  On top of that, I had been awake since 3am and had not taken a nap all day.

This is not the first time this happens.  It seems like all of my recent races have basically put my body into shock and I’m out of commission for the remainder of the day… WHAT THE HELL!!??  I was looking forward to some celebratory cocktails or a juicy steak or something!! Not laying on the couch and turning all shades of green!!

My poor aunt gave me a Pepcid, I got home and I went to sleep a little after 7:30pm.  I slept all the way until 6am this morning and STILL felt that I needed a gigantic mug of coffee to wake up.  Why am I so masochistic?  Why do i participate in these things if they mess me up this bad?…  ’cause I’m not gonna die from a tummy ache but running it was pretty awesome  🙂

I’m going to start researching why my body is behaving this way.  I’ve read after just a brief search that it could be due to dehydration.  Considering how hot it was yesterday, that could be the key.  More info to come…

February 2nd: Miami Half Marathon

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ing 1

The alarm went off at 3am and we were out the door by 3:50am as planned.  We had an hour drive, a crazy search for parking and quite a wait to start (25,000 participants meant it took Georgette and I 28 minutes to just cross the STARTING line).

This is my third time participating in the Miami Marathon and Half Marathon Event.  It was the first half marathon I ever ran in 2008 and the first (and only) full marathon I ever ran in 2010.  Now that I’ve run a few races, (this one was my 12th half marathon) I have concluded that I don’t like big events.  Unless you are an elite runner and have qualified to start from one of the front corrals, its just no fun… You spend more time running sideways to get around people than you do forward to pass people.  Even if you just want to participate in the race for fun and not for time, like Georgette and I did at the Disney Princess Half Marathon last year, you’ll get really frustrated with the insane amount of people that will keep you from even hitting your stride.  (Side note:  Disney races are really, really fun but only for those who plan on walking part of it and don’t care about their time.  All of them are very crowded and many of the participants are not actually runners but people who just want to check something off their bucket list while wearing a ridiculous tutu.  I freely admit to having done the Princess Half in a tutu so…. check)

The race today was not as crowded as the Princess Half but, it certainly was nothing like the under 2,000 participant races I’ve been getting used to doing.  Its no excuse for not having made my time goal, though.  I clocked in at 2:10:20 (fooey) but thats ok.  I had fun, spent some quality time with some quality people and got to run through some of my old stomping grounds.

February 1st: Sister Time in SoBe

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run expo

Today, I am grateful that I get to spend time with my little sister, Georgette.  She has come down for the weekend so that we can run the Miami Half Marathon together this Sunday!

Today, we went through the grueling task of driving to Miami Beach and circling around Lincoln Road for an hour until we found an available parking spot near the Miami Beach Convention Center.  We needed to pick up our packets for the race which included our bib numbers/ timing strips and race shirts… The plan was to have lunch there afterwards but the crowds and craziness made us loose interest at the whole thought of sticking around any longer than we had to.

Showers, pjs and bowls of pasta on the couch were much more to our taste this afternoon, so that’s what we did.  Nothin’ better than watching tv in bed with your little sis like the good old days when you used to share a bed… nothing worse than knowing you have a 3am wake up call the next day.

Miami Half Marathon, here we come!

New Favorite Exercises for Butt and Thighs

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butt

Most women, like myself, have issues with their butt and upper thighs…. Especially us pear-shaped (or Spanish-guitar-shaped, as I prefer to be called) girls.

Here are some exercises that I’ve been doing listed order of most to least favorite.  They are fun, fast and easy to do right after a run or as a quick go-to workout when you have no time for anything else. The bonus is that they strengthen muscles necessary when running which takes the pressure off joints and ligaments… less knee and hip pain AND a better looking tush?… yes, please 🙂

5 Moves for Your Butt: I like the video and how it gives you time to press pause between exercises

http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/butt/exercises/butt-shaping-exercises/?page=2#page=1

3 Moves for Your Thighs:  It gives Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced versions of each exercise

http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/thighs/exercises/sleeker-thighs-in-3-moves/#page=1

More for your Thighs

http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/thighs/exercises/top-thigh-exercises/#page=1

Silly Dr Oz video but good info

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/saddlebag-workout

January 21st: Sticking with it!

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never giving up!

Today I am thankful for not giving up.  You know that frustrating feeling you get when you think about how in-shape you were, how great your clothes used to fit you, how amazing you felt back in the day?…. well, I’m resolved to never feel like that ever again.

There will be no starting over because there will be no giving up.  I am deciding as of right now that I will always be “In the Best Shape of My Life”… for the REST OF MY LIFE.  Who’s with me?

January 20th: I Beat Her! (and by “her”, I mean myself)

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I will beat her 2

Today I am grateful for feeling awesome!  I’m healthy, my legs and hips are not in pain and I’m thinking I might just kick some serious ass in a couple weeks at my next half marathon: The Miami Marathon and Half Marathon on Feb. 2nd (formally the ING Miami Marathon).

This running season has been epic for me so far.  I’ve been putting in some serious efforts.  I’ve been running hard, cross training, eating well, making some sacrifices, taking some chances and believing in myself more.  And its paid off!  I have improved my personal best at each race by AT LEAST 2 minutes.  And although it may seem ridiculous to some, this is the first time in 6 years of running that I sincerely consider myself “a runner.” All these years, I have felt as though I have wanted to be a runner but could not quiet classify myself as one because I just wasn’t good enough.  But, I AM good enough.  And I’m owning my awesomeness today.  🙂

January 19th: Being Outside

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blue sky

I must say I had a pretty amazeballs day….  It started off with Max’s first trip to the dog beach with a friend and his dog, breakfast outdoors and a great little walk through an art festival.  THEN I made up for the run I missed yesterday right smack in the middle of the day!  When else in Florida can you run 9 miles at noon and not die of heat exhaustion?!  To be honest, it was so nice out I barely felt myself sweat!  The icing on the cake was an impromptu dinner-date with my dear childhood friend.

Gorgeous blue skies, great company, getting some mileage in, hanging out with your girlfriend, spicy Chinese food AND a frou-frou drink to top it all off?!  What else can a girl ask for?

January 18th: Taking it easy on yourself

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treat yo self

Today, I am grateful for being in-tune with my body and what it needs.  This morning, as all Saturday mornings, I was scheduled to do my long-run with my running group at 6am.  This requires me to wake up even earlier than I do to go to work and be dressed and at the running store with my friends on time.

After what felt like an entire week of fighting the slight beginnings of a cold and feeling exhausted all day, I looked at that alarm clock when it went off at 5:30am and did what I normally HATE myself for doing… I turned it off, rolled over and snuggled with Max (my dog, remember?) in bed for another 3 hours.  The only time I’ve skipped a long run in the past year has been because I was either out of town or truly sick (like that upper respiratory infection I had in December… yuck!).  I don’t like to be wishy washy about my commitments and get really angry at myself for not following through with things I know will be good for me either physically or emotionally/socially.

Its a good thing I did!  I ended up having to spend the entire morning at the mechanic getting something fixed, went shopping then had lunch with my aunt then hung out with some girlfriends on Miami Beach!  I didn’t get home until around midnight and was exhausted… add running 9 miles to that at the break of dawn and I think I might have finally gotten the cold I was fighting all week.

Life is good when we treat ourselves good (well) 🙂

January 14th: Run!

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running-cheaper-than-therapy-square

Today I am thankful that, despite my crazy schedule and exhaustion, I made myself get out there and RUN.

I was EXHAUSTED all day… When I got up in the morning, I kinda phoned it in and didn’t put on any eye liner and my hair looked sort of like I had styled it with an egg beater.  One of my co-workers took a look at me and asked if I was sick… (Jeez! Do I look THAT bad?!…. Unfortunately, “yes”)  The last thing I wanted to do was do exercise when I got home but I knew it would be the best thing for me.  Besides, I have a race in a few weeks and need to be ready!

Before I had too much time to think about it, I got in my running clothes and headed out for my usual 3 mile loop.  Surprisingly, I was flying!  It was the fastest week-night run I’ve done in a long while and the best part was that I felt as though it had brought the life back into me!  I was more awake, alert energized and ready to go.

Best type of therapy. (And that says a lot coming from a therapist! :))

 

January 4th: Personal Record and Injury Free!

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west palm 1:2 jan 4th

Today I am grateful for having broken my personal record at the Sunshine State West Palm Beach 1/2 Marathon without injury.  As you may remember, I have set a goal to beat my race times by one minute each race this season.  I have surprised myself by actually beating my PRs by 2 minutes for the past two races.  Today, I beat my last race time of 2:10:31 by 2m 31sec.  I passed the finish line as the race clock ticked at exactly 2:08:00.

I am so incredibly proud of myself and, to be honest, have never been more emotional at a race… Not even my Full in 2009.  I prayed last night, and throughout the race, that the muscle in the back of my left thigh wouldn’t seize up on me as it did last March during the Coral Springs 1/2 that I ran with my sister.  It was very painful and forced me to hobble past the finish and take about a month off of running afterwards.

This past week, the same muscle has been tight and achey and I have been panicking to myself about it because I have been training so hard and looking forward so much to possibly getting a personal record at this race.  It started to get a little sore and tight around mile 8 but I decided that “I’m not going to think, I’m not going to feel, I’m just going to fricken’ do it” … And I did! 🙂