A Day in the 'Burg

Not Pittsburgh...

Not Harrisburg...

MILLERSBURG!

Millersburg is the town I grew up in. It is about 40 minutes North of Harrisburg. It is a very small town. I lived there my whole life and my parents still live in the house I grew up in. Paul and I decided to head up to Millersburg on Tuesday. 

(Instead of giving you the normal Weekend Wrap Up today, I'm going to tell you about our day in Millersburg!)

Our first stop was to visit my grandma.

Grandma just moved into an assisted living facility. It was the first time Paul was there, so Grandma had fun showing him her room and all of her pictures. Paul got a kick out of seeing my family members as youngin's. Paul also got to see pictures of my grandpa, who he never got to meet because Grandpa passed away a few years before I even met Paul.

I asked Grandma how she met Grandpa because I had never heard the full story. You see, my Grandma's first husband died in a car accident when he was only 24 years old. She found herself a single mother with 3 young kids. She told me that she had already known my grandpa and knew he was a nice man because her first husband used go boating with him.

After her first husband died, Grandma would take her children on walks around Millersburg. She would see Grandpa sitting on the steps of the hotel and they would always say hi to each other. Several months later, Grandpa showed up at my Grandma's house to give her kids Christmas presents! He got my uncle a toy gun. A few days later, the toy broke. Grandma mentioned it to Grandpa, and Grandpa went right out and got my uncle a new one. That's just how Grandpa was. They ended up getting married and had one child together- my dad!

Me and Grandma on Tuesday

Grandpa and I on my 9th b-day in 1991

That's a New Kids on the Block Doll- Jordan Knight!!!

Our second stop was the Colonnade.

The Colonnade was an old movie theater just 4 blocks from my house. Meeting your friends for a Friday night movie was quite the popular thing to do when I was in middle school and high school. Movies I remember seeing at the Colonnade: The Lion King, Scream, Titanic... just to name a few! The theater was really run down and ended up closing.

But the NEW Colonnade just opened! The building and everything in it is brand new. It stands right at the same spot the old Colonnade stood. Boy did it take me on a trip back memory lane. The new building is so much bigger and cleaner.

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Old Colonnade

New Colonnade

Guess what movie we got to see on Tuesday afternoon... THE GOONIES! I loved this movie growing up and probably saw it 100 times! I haven't seen it in 20 years, so it seemed fresh and new. Paul and I laughed so hard. I finally got some of the jokes I never understood when I was a kid. Isn't it funny how that works? Best part: I got the whole theater clapping when Sloth threw Mama Fratelli off the plank!

Amazon

shirtoid.com

Also, I need this shirt.

All in all, it was a great day in my hometown!

Do you know how your grandparents met?

Do you ever go back to your hometown?

Please tell me you have seen The Goonies and please tell me you LOVE IT!

8 Things I'm Loving Right Now!

A long time ago, back before anyone ever ready my blog, I used to do a series called “8 Things I'm Loving Right Now”, and it was just a list of all the things I currently loved. I am rescuing this blog series from the deep dark history of Meg Go Run and hope to keep up with it again! I don't know why the magic number is 8... It just is. Go with it!

1. Survivor Borneo This is the first season of Survivor, which aired in 2000. I recently borrowed it from the library and re-watched it for the first time since my senior year in high school. It is extremely different from the more current seasons. This was back before anyone knew how to play the game! Well, one person knew how. But most survivors thought it was ethically wrong to lie and form alliances. What!? That's what Survivor is all about! It was a hoot to watch again. If you are a Survivor fan and never saw this season, or haven't seen it since it aired, I highly recommend viewing it!

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2. Feliway. This stuff works. Chrissy's peeing has been cut down drastically thanks to this stuff! It's like a plug in but instead of releasing yummy smells, it releases cat pheromones that are calming to the felines. Sure it is expensive, but think of all the money we'll save on candles and paper towels!

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3. The library! I really only use the library 3 months out of the year. (I know, it is very sad.) Camp Hill has an awesome library and I have been catching up on some true crime books and memoirs I have missed out on over the past 9 months.

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4. Not having ice cream in the fridge. We gave up ice cream until Hawaii. Obviously, Hawaii is not happening anymore but we still haven't bought ice cream to keep in the fridge... which is a huge change for us. I'm the girl that likes to have 5 different flavors in there at a time! But it turns out that if it's not there, I don't feel the urge to eat it. Now, this is not to say we won't ever keep it in the house again, it's just that for now, it is working. (We did go to DQ for Blizzards last week and boy did they taste good!)

5. My garden. It is growing so nicely! So far I have had a few peppers and lots of parsley, cilantro, and basil. There are a TON of tomatoes but they're not ready yet.

BEFORE

AFTER

Mmmmm these are going to be good! 

6. This book, by Dan Savage:

7. Literal Book Covers at E! Online.

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8. This poem:

Tell me something you're loving right now!

When I'm sad I ...

-drink fake surgery drinks

-add salt to my food

-don't like talking to people who are super happy

-let my house get messy

-don't log my calories

-drink wine

-can't sleep

-eat croutons straight out of the bag and cheese right off the block

-don't care whether or not my knee hurts

-pet my kitty cats

Jelly can always cheer me up!

What do you do when you're sad?

Summer Weekly Workout #2

Here is the second installment of my week's workouts. As you will see from my workout on Tuesday, I am finally able to do walking lunges and Bulgarian split squats. I haven't done them since before surgery in January! My left knee felt weak during the lunges but I know doing the lunges will make it stronger. The bad news about all of these wonderful workouts I was able to do is that my IT band is really bothering me. Not during workouts, but after. It is so frustrating. I have a few stretches and I foam roll (not nearly enough), but do you guys have any tips to get rid of an achy IT band?

Here is what I was up to:

Thursday- 5 mile run, easy pace

Friday- REST

Saturday- 10 mile run, easy pace (with friends, woohoo!)

Sunday- 

Monday- Queasy, easy 6 mile run (We went out for breakfast and I had 3 huge pieces of French Toast. I totally over ate and my stomach felt terrible the rest of the day.)

Tuesday-

Wednesday- 5 miles, 8:19 pace. This pace was an effort due to the extreme heat. It was borderline dangerous. I had a few instances of feeling a bit light headed from the sun. I stopped at 5 because my body was saying, "Girl, get your ass home to the a/c!"

Pros: I took a rest day! And I kept my mileage down to a realistic number (30 mi) considering I am not training for anything at the moment. I am also happy about the lunges and Bulgarian split squats.

Cons: I am not happy with the lack of direction my workouts are having. I talk more about it here. I need to plan better. Oh, and the whole IT band thing...

Did you have a good weekend of workouts?

IT band magical cures? Anyone? Bueller?

I need to cut the crap.

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Do you ever know what you need to do as far as training is concerned, but for whatever reason, you don't do it. You make excuses. The excuses may be psychological, they may be practical, but they are EXCUSES.

I know what I need to do to have my body performing the best it can. I know what I need to do to keep rehabbing my knee and IT band. I need to take my own advice!!!


I need to...

Take more rest days, damn it! My goal for this year was to take 1 rest day per week. Then I had knee surgery and I took so. many. rest. days. My brain says I have some "rest day credit". But that is stupid. I am just looking for a reason not to take a rest day. I should be taking 1 complete rest day a week and 1 lower body rest day a week. That's what I need right now.

Do not do any lower body strength training on running days. I did this last week. I ran and then I did a full body strength training session. DUMB. If you haven't gathered it from my blog yet, I think it is counterproductive to lower body strength train on days you run. If your goal is to get stronger and faster, you should focus all of your energy on your lifts. Lifting days are lifting days. Just like you wouldn't go do 100 squats before a long run (or would you????) you shouldn't run 5 miles before you hit the weights. You shouldn't run AFTER either. First of all, if you do your lifting right, you shouldn't have energy to run. Second, you just broke your muscles down. They need to REBUILD to become stronger. Go eat some chicken and sweet potatoes. Do not run! (Wow, I didn't realize I was going to get so preachy on this one but I'm going to leave it in.) Clearly, I need to take my own advice on this one, as you will see from my Summer Weekly Workouts that I will post on Friday...

Get in 4 strength training sessions every week. This may seem like a lot but I used to do split body parts and organized it so I would always have 72 hours recovery between body parts. Example of my old strength schedule:

Mon- Chest/Shoulder/Tri

Tues- Back/Bi/Leg

Wed- Rest

Thurs- Chest/Shoulder/Tri

Fri- Back/Bi/Leg

Sat- Rest

Sun- Rest

*Rest indicates lifting rest, not rest from other forms of exercise!*

Spend more time stretching and foam rolling. Right now, I don't do it every day, and the days I do it, it is only for maybe 7-10 minutes. I have the time. There is no excuse. I just need to make it a priority.

Don't eat when I'm not hungry. Some nights, I eat something sweet right before I go to bed... just because. I'm not hungry, I'm not craving it, I just do it out of habit. I guess getting rid of the box of Oreo brownies we have in our pantry would be a good way to make this a little bit easier for me to do.

Wow, writing all of this out really helped solidify in my head what I need to be doing. I need to write out a weekly training schedule and stick to it. I can't be doing workouts because I "feel like it," or because the weather is "so nice that I may as well do a long run." It is counterproductive to my goals. I need to cut the crap.

Do you ever do anything that is counterproductive to your goals?

Do you need to start following your own advice?
What is your philosophy on lower body lifting on running days?

THIS or THAT Running Survey

I saw this survey over at Run To The Finish and thought it would be fun to fill out! I don't think I answered any of these specific questions before, so heeeeeeeeeeeere we go!


1. This or That: 5k or marathon? Oh they both suck in their own, unique ways! I'm going to go with marathon since long distance is my first true love.

2. This or That: flat race in the heat or hilly race in the cold? I'm all about summer right now so give me a flat course with some scorching sun!

3. This or That: new running shoes or new running outfit? SHOES. Shoes are expensive and I have to have good, quality shoes. I rarely buy running clothes. I just wear the same old stuff. I could buy nice running clothes if I wanted to but I'd rather spend my money on other things.

4. This or That: run a marathon without headphones or Garmin? I only used headphones once in a race and it was for 6 miles. I can easily go without headphones!

5. This or That: race because of the convenience (location, price, travel) or the swag? Convenience.

6.  This or That: PR but result in an injury or finish strong and miss a PR? I am sure you know my answer to this. I am over injury- let's finish strong!

7. This or That: 100 squats or 100 push ups? Push ups so my knee doesn't hurt after.

8. This or That: run without socks or run without sports bra? Without socks. My boobs are small so I don't need the support, I would just hate for my nipples to chafe.

9. This or That: treadmill for an hour or run around the same street block for an hour? I will actually go with the treadmill on this one!

10. This or That: Ragner Relay or marathon relay team? Marathon. Less commitment. I'm afraid of commitment.

11. This or That: run naked or naked yoga? Running. Easy. In fact, I already have a naked race in mind but I never got the courage to do it!

12: This or That: come in 4th in the Olympics or 1st in NYC marathon? 1st at NYC!

13: This or That: give up running for 3 years to BQ but never BQ and run as much as you want? I'd rather never BQ again and run as much as I want. Though if I never ran Boston, my answer could be different!

So, tell me one your "This or Thats"!

Weekend Wrap Up!

It's going to be one of those TRIUMPH/FAILURE wrap ups today!

I do have quite a few pictures to share with you as well!

TRIUMPH

Sunning at the Boiling Springs pool with my cool friend JK-L!

FAILURE

Not covering my entire stomach with sunscreen. I have a nice splotchy sunburn.

******

FAILURE

Driving all the way to Lancaster only to get stuck in traffic, get lost, have our 

GPS crap out on us, and miss our tour at Landis Valley Museum. 

We were hangry, hirritated, hannoyed, and hustrated!

TRIUMPH

Finally getting some yummy food and playing around at Overlook Park!

What kind of park has an interactive gaming system?

Most of the games had you hitting light up dots that made noise.

Just some silliness coming at you right now!

I don't know why, I can't stop laughing at this one!

I'm siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinging in the raaaaaaaaaaaain!

I would like to point out Paul's ripped calf muscles in which I have always been a huge fan of!

You had to run and jump on that thing and your weight/momentum would have you flying to

the other end like a zip line. Wheeeee!

FAILURE

Waking up early to Christmas walking on my stomach... and the strong odor of cat puhp.

Being a Maine Coon, puhp sometimes gets stuck on his furry behind. UGH! The stench had me wide

awake even though I got less than five hours of sleep!

TRIUMPH

Since I was up, I figured I may as well meet up with my running group 

for a 10 miler around the riverfront in Harrisburg and Wormleysburg.

******

FAILURE

Not wearing cute pajamas around the house. Sorry, Paul!

TRIUMPH

Getting to hang out with my pal Randy on Saturday night! We chilled on my back porch and did what

we do best- talked so loud the whole neighborhood probably heard us!

Rando and I the year we met- in costume for the musical Annie.

And now one more triumph for Saturday because clearly it was a TRIUMPHANT DAY!

TRIUMPH

It took him all day, but Christmas finally got all the puhp off his butt! He's clean as a whistle!

Now it's time to disinfect the entire house.

TRIUMPH

I harvested my first peppers from my garden! So far, I have lots of parsley, basil, cilantro, and these peppers:

FAILURE

Even though I stretched my ass off today, my IT band is still aggravated from my workout.

I'm ticked!

Turns out, nothing comes up when you do a Google image search for "IT band funny"

because there is NOTHING funny about the IT band.

Tell me a TRIUMPH and FAILURE from your weekend!