We be old.

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Guess what my husband and I have been doing EVERY night for the past two weeks?

Relax. We've been playing cards.

Monopoly Deal has been our go-to card game for the past 2 years. (Try it. It's ADDICTING!) Recently, we decided to spice things up.

First we added Rummy. But after I beat Paul in a best of three tourney 5 nights in a row, he decided we should learn some new card games to play. Now, Casino Royale and Golf have both been thrown into the mix.

Wine is very important to my Rummy strategy.

Paul does not like having his picture taken.

I do, as long as it's not a close up when I have on zero make up 

and my cruddy blue fleece.

I've determined we're officially old. Of course the fact that we play cards every night is not the first sign we're getting older.

We already spend Friday nights grocery shopping and running errands. 

Staying up past 9pm on a work night is scandalous. 

When I go into Aeropostale, they call me "ma'am".

On runs, I've been noticing garage doors that I find appealing. 

(Garage doors! I don't even have a garage.)

I guess the next step is to pop out a few kids!? (Just kidding. Never gonna happen.)

What card games do you love?

Is there anything you and your love do that makes you think, "Mmmm... now we're old!"?

A change of plans...

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I think I know why I don't plan my workouts. Because the plan always changes!

As of Sunday night, my Boston plan has changed a bit. I talked to my friend Anne... you know, wonderful Anne who I ran 50 miles with? Anyway, she is very wise, an extremely accomplished runner, and I trust her advice/opinion. Based off a conversation I had with her, I have tweaked my Boston plan a bit!

This Saturday will not be a 15 mile run. It will be 18-20 miles... 20 minutes running, then 5 minutes walking. This should take me a little less than three and a half hours. The reasoning to walk/run is to preserve and stretch out my knee and work different muscles. The reason to do it this coming weekend is to give everything a good 3 weeks before the race to repair and for my knee to have another 3 weeks to get stronger.

My goal is to find someone to do this crazy run with me, but if I can't (which is likely), I shall just download a shit ton of pod casts and enjoy a long, warm trek on the rail trail all by my little lonesome.

I've done many long runs solo, but I haven't done any lately. I guess the last one would have been my 21 mile training run for the Harrisburg Marathon way back in November, 2012. Sheesh! That was a long time ago.

That was definitely the longest training run I did solo. I've run a lot of races solo... one of the longest would have been the last two legs of a 70 miler relay through the beautiful Laurel Highlands. I ran about 24 miles solo with no headphones. I naively thought there would be other runners around to talk to. Boy was I wrong. By that point in the relay, everyone was all spread out, and while I passed people from time to time, there was no one to run with.

I'm still wondering about Boston. People are either telling me, "You are being so smart and careful!" or they are telling me, "Be careful not to push yourself too hard, you just had surgery." My brain is giving me conflicting messages as well. One minute I'll be up, the next minute I'll be down.

There is one thing I know for sure. This was definitely not how I envisioned this spring going for me. I thought I'd be healthy and looking forward to the marathon. I thought I'd be basking in all the pre-Boston glory. I thought I'd be enjoying the hell out of my reward for BQ'ing. Instead, I am worrying, second guessing myself, and wondering if my ego is what is driving me to try to run this thing and not my brain.

Is running Boston even going to be worth it? Would I be happier if I just canned the idea now so I would no longer have to worry about it? I know these are questions I have to answer for myself, but I do not know the answers!

What's the longest you have ever run by yourself?
Do you find yourself constantly changing training plans or do you stick to the schedule?

Weekend Wrap Up! (And WINNERS from my 2 Truths & 1 Lie post!)

But first... on Saturday, I posted a contest- 2 Truths & 1 Lie.

Annnnnnd... we have a... WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER!

Congratulations, to Heather @ Girl Goes Running.

She correctly guessed my lie!

1.   I was an extra in the movie Girl Interrupted. <--Truth.

2.   I quit track in high school after 5 practices. <-- Truth.

3.   I wrote for the student newspaper at IUP- The Penn. <--- LIE! LIE! LIE!

Most of you guessed #2. But I did join track in 10th grade and I did quit after only 5 practices. It was not a good experience. At like the second or third practice, the coach made me run 5 miles. I had never run more than 1 mile and she made me run 5 FREAKING MILES!!! What was she thinking? I quit, of course!

I did not write for the newspaper at IUP. At IUP, I basically just studied and watched Forensic Files in my room. Most of my workouts were on the elliptical with the occasional run on the treadmill. I was really a hermit. I had 2 close friends in college and I only keep in touch with 1 (very casually) via Facebook. I guess I missed out on the whole "college friends" experience, but that was my own fault for being such a hermit.

Back to our regularly scheduled blog post.

I didn't do a whole lot this weekend! My activities and thoughts would be best broken down into list format for this week's wrap up, so that is what you are getting! Hope you have a fabulous Monday and a good start to your week!

1. The wonderful thing about Friday is that I got to hang out with two of my gal pals who I haven't seen in a long time. We talked, we laughed, we went for a late night walk...and we ate a lot of bean dip! I had a blast!

2. On Saturday, I went on my longest run in several months!

3. Our new camera arrived this weekend! Now my dinners won't look like cat food when I post them on my blog! This camera is now known as the "Hawaii Camera" (since we're taking it on our trip). In the meantime, I've been testing it out on the most beautiful specimens...

4. Speaking of Hawaii, I took a trip there on Sunday morning. Not a real trip, just planning. But whenever I plan, I feel like I was there. I seriously got wrapped into trip planning for a good 3 hours. I did some itinerary tweaks. It's gonna be good.

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Oh, you know, just the lobby of our hotel.

5. Sunday was also a complete rest day. I had a rest day coming, plus I can't stand the gym on the weekends. I did do one thing- as many push ups in a row as I could do. I made it to 45, which is only 6 more than I could do several months ago. I went until I was shaking and making weird noises. Paul came to check on me. I think he thought I was reading 50 Shades of Grey.

6. We had the most delicious pizza for dinner. Boy did we clean up!

Yup, we ate all of that ourselves!

Do you like my kissing kitty cat salt and pepper shakers???

Tell me something wonderful about your weekend!
How are you in the push up department?
Did you play any sports in high school?

12 FREAKING MILES! (And things NOT to do before a very important long run.)

Saturday was my second long run in my Boston training plan. It was 12 miles. I did it! I didn't know if I would be able to. I was nervous before my run. I was nervous every second during my run. I was nervous afterwards... What if my knee got really wonky after my run? So while I am very excited I was able to accomplish the run, I definitely wasn't having a carefree time out there!

I ran on the road in the neighborhoods around my house. It was relatively flat because I wanted to mimic much of the Boston course. I didn't stop to walk or stretch or anything. I allowed myself the option, but I didn't need it.

Here's what went down....

• My knee did not hurt.
• From a cardio standpoint I was fine. I wanted to push my pace after Mile 8 but I did not.
• All other parts of my body felt fine- no weird pains during or after my run.

• My knee went back and forth between feeling weak and feeling 'normal'. I would say it felt weak 70% of the time and normal the other 30%.
• It continued to feel weak for the rest of the day it I could tell it was a little warm and probably inflamed a bit. (I iced and stretched the heck out of it.)

**Sunday Morning Update: Knee feels relatively normal today. (Not NORMAL, but not weak like it did all day yesterday after my run.)**

I have a lot to think about. My knee is not totally healed or back to normal. If I didn't want to run Boston so badly, I would not have run 12 miles today. I really have to think about if this training and eventual race is going to be good for my body or not. Just because I can run 12 miles doesn't mean I should.

I am excited to see how it feels in the coming days.

The cool news is... I did some more math, and even if I could only run 15 miles of the marathon (I totally could have done 15 yesterday if I had to.) I would still be able to walk the last 11 miles with almost two hours to spare before the cut off time. Walk/running would definitely not be as fun as RUNNING, but it is looking like a viable option. Yet I still can't bring myself to look at all of my e-mails from the Boston Athletic Association and start researching things to do race weekend. I don't want to do all of that until I know for sure we are making the trip.

Now, onto some other thoughts. You all know that today's run was pretty important to me. So you would think I would have taken impeccable care of my body in the 24 hours leading up to my run?

Nope.

1. Lay on the couch for 3 hours before the run, giving your knee ample time to get tight and creaky. (I had to blog and watch Sex and the City!)

2. Stay out until 11:30 pm the night before. (I'm 31, so that's the equivalent of staying out until 1:30 am for all you people in your 20s.)

3. The night before, drink unmeasured amounts of scotch to get your body good and dehydrated. (I was at my friend's for Girls Night and brought a flask. There was no measuring, just pouring.)

4. Eat copious amounts of cheese, broccoli, and bean dip. (Scotch lowers my inhibitions and makes me not care about calories and macros.)


Oh well, my run was not deterred by my poor Friday night choices!


Tell me, what is the stupidest thing you did the night before an important run?

2 Truths and 1 Lie

I have seen this blog topic floating around for months now, but I’m not sure where it originated. If I knew the source, I would certainly give that blogger credit! The one place I’ve seen it is on Lis’s blog- 26.2 x 2.  It’s such a fun idea so I thought I would join in.

Two of the following statements are true about me. One is a lie. Can you guess the lie?

1.   I was an extra in the movie Girl Interrupted.

2.   I quit track in high school after 5 practices.

3.   I wrote for the student newspaper at IUP- The Penn.

Leave your guess for the “lie” in the comments below! I will announce the answer in a few days! The winners get… BRAGGING RIGHTS! (Sorry, I don’t score free samples of things to give out.)

Things most runners do that I DON'T.

There are many things I do that most runners do... 

- I get mad if you call me a “jogger”. 
- I poop a lot. 
- I get hugely pissed when my Garmin can’t locate a satellite. 


But there are a few things that most runners do that I don’t.

1.   I don't blow snot rockets.

I have never, ever, blown a snot rocket in my life. If I have to blow my nose on a run, I either use TP that I brought along (remember, I poop a lot.) or I do a little wipe on my shirt. That's still gross but not as gross as a snot rocket!

**Fun fact: Someone blew a snot rocket on me during the Philadelphia Marathon. It was a guy in American flag boxers.**

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2.   I don't log my miles. (Anymore.)

I’m a pretty anal retentive person, so you’d think I’d log all my miles. Alas, I do not. I used to, but then I lost my password to the website I tracked them on and never started again. This was about 3 years ago.

**Fun fact: I used to log around 2,000 miles a year! I was a whack job.**

 

3.   I rarely race.

Racing is definitely fun from time to time, but it's EXPENSIVE. I have never been someone to race a lot. Four races per year was probably my “peak”.

**Fun fact: I was still in the bathroom when the Baltimore Marathon started. No worries. Chip timing.**

 

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 I'd lay down some cash to run the Honolulu Marathon!

4.   I don't listen to music.

I’ve mentioned this many times, but I rarely listen to music. I listen to NPR pod casts or The Savage Lovecast.

**Fun fact: I did listen to music during the last 6 miles of the Harrisburg Marathon. This was the race I used to qualify for Boston this year. I finished while the Indiana Jones Theme Song blasted into my ears. It was very uplifting and surprisingly not the cheesiest thing I've ever done.**

5.   I don't put race or mileage stickers on the back of my car.

I will never, stick anything on the back of my car. Not a stick family, not even an “I love my cats” sticker. Certainly not a mileage sticker. I do not feel the need to announce to the world my racing accomplishments. That’s what my blog is for, duh!

**Fun fact: If I had to put a sticker on the back of my car, it would say something like, “If you can read this, get off my ass!” I hate when people tailgate.**

Are there any quirks/habits of runners that you do not do?

Have you ever listened to the Savage Lovecast? It is so informative!

What stickers do you have on the back of your car?

Thinking Out Loud!

Thank you to Amanda @ Running With Spoons for hosting  this Thinking Out Loud link up! Let the random-ness commence!



1. I started a new thing... putting white cheddar goldfish on my salads. It is so yummy!

2. I was listening to the Book of Mormon soundtrack on my runs this weekend, and it made me wish I was a young, 20 something male. They have all the good roles in musicals!

3. I mentioned in an earlier blog how a friend (who still remains nameless, but HELLOOOOO there!!) let me borrow her copy of 50 Shades of Grey. I skimmed through eight chapters but had to stop. My take: It is definitely the literary version of porn- bad writing and a stupid story with graphic sex scenes. I won't hate on the book because it's not like it's trying to be something it isn't... It says right on the back that it's "Erotic Romance". I don't think it's supposed to be some deep, thought provoking novel. However, on the back cover it claims that the book will "obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever". Ummm... false!

4. And this, because it is so funny and so true!

Right, runners!!??

I hope you are having a wonderful Thursday! Tell me something random... Think Out Loud!