I have to run 16 miles today and I am scared.

This is going to be short and sweet, guys. The title says it all. 

I have to run 16 miles today and I am scared...

I'm scared it will be really freaking hot.

I'm scared my knee will hurt.

I'm scared I will be tired by Mile 3.

I'm scared I won't be able to finish.

I'm scared I'll get bored.

This is will be the longest run I have done in over a year. Maybe even over two years. I have already run 34 miles this week. The 16 miler will bring me to the magic number of 50 that I wanted to reach.

16 miles is the longest run done in the Hansons plan, but we do several of them. Hansons says that due to cumulative fatigue, the 16 miler is supposed to feel like the last 16 miles of the marathon, not the first 16.

16... 16... 16... 16... I AM TERRIFIED!!!!!!

I'm trying to pump myself up by saying...

"You will feel so good when you're done."

"You've run 16 miles a million times."

"This heat is no match for you."

"You don't have to run 16 miles today, you get to run 16 miles today!"

"You are tough, you got this."

"Think of all the podcasts you will get to listen to over the course of two and a half hours!!!"

Well, that's all I have to say. Just wanted to keep things real on Meg Go Run.

When was the last time you were scared of a run?
How do you pump yourself up?

Community Aid wouldn't take my shit!

I should have published this post awhile ago, but better late than never!

Oh, and I am experimenting with putting profanity in my blog post titles to see if they get more page views than other blog posts... (jk, sort of.)

In the beginning of the summer, I finished up our epic house cleaning project by tackling the storage room. Our basement is half finished (Paul's man cave) and half a storage area. You would think we wouldn't have much to store since it's just the two of us, but we actually do! It may be because I have a lot of Christmas decorations...

I vowed to go into the storage room cleaning/organizing with the mindset of "GET RID OF ALL THE THINGS".  It actually wasn't super hard to do. I managed to easily get rid of several things that had sentimental value since there was no real reason to hang on to them.

Here are the items I was able to finally get rid of:


1. Swim team ribbons. I did summer swim team for several years and we always got ribbons after competing in events. I kept all of these ribbons in a shoe box but finally just straight up threw them away. I didn't even look at them first. Now I kind of wish I had...

2. Musical t-shirts. Ever since I was in 4th grade, I performed in musicals- sometimes up to three each year. It seems that for every show I was in, I bought the t-shirt as a keepsake. Now, I didn't throw out all of the t-shirts, but I threw out the ones that I didn't really feel connected to. The ones I kept I know I will never wear, but I just like having them. Maybe someday I will throw those away too, but not yet!

3. CDs. I didn't have a huge CD collection, but I had some. And again, I didn't donate them all, but I donated a lot. For instance I didn't need to save my Boyz II Men CD or my J-LO CDs, but I did need to save all my Madonna and NSYNC CDs! Fun Fact: The very first CD I purchased was Michael Jackson's Dangerous!

4. Sweet Valley Twins and Fear Street books. I did not own every single book in these series, but I did have a lot. And they were in mint condition because I was a crazy little girl who was very, very careful with her books. The first place I tried to donate these was the Community Aid store on the Pike. Unfortunately, they were not accepting books at that time. "Are you sure? Because I have about 50 Sweet Valley Twins and Fear Street Books in mint condition," I teased the attendant. That didn't change his mind. Oh well. Their loss is Good Will's gain!

5. VHS Tapes. I had quite the VHS tape collection. Not only did I have several musicals, but I also had almost all of Madonna's world tours on VHS tape! It was actually hard for me to make the decision to get rid of these, but I reminded myself they surely exist on Youtube. Community Aid wouldn't take the VHS tapes, even after I dangled Madonna's Blonde Ambition tour in front of the attendant. Whatever.

OH LOOK, YOU CAN WATCH THE WHOLE FREAKING TOUR RIGHT HERE ON MEG GO RUN!!!! ;)

My one regret about being born in 1982 was that I was too young to go see Madonna's Blonde Ambition Tour. Don't worry, I got to see her twice while I was in college!

6. Barbies. I was totally a Barbie girl. I had a Barbie house, a Barbie car, and lots and lots of clothes. I even had the Wet n' Wild Fun Park for a couple days but my brother pushed me and I landed on it and broke it. I forget which brother it was. Perhaps one of them remembers? Before I threw out all my Barbies and Barbie clothes, I went through all the clothes to look at them one last time. Oh my gosh, the MEMORIES!

You are proud of me for getting rid of all that stuff, right!? Well, there was one thing I just COULD NOT GET RID OF....

MY BABY-SITTERS CLUB BOOKS!

This was my favorite one! So spooky!!!! Have you read it!? Do you remember who the "ghost" was?

Guys, I was OBSESSED with The BSC when I was a kid! I have easily over 100 BSC books IN MINT CONDITION. I could sell them and make a little bit of money, but it's not worth it to me. I want to give them to a little girl who will read them and LOVE THEM as much as I did! Unfortunately, I have not found anyone yet, but if you know of anyone who would just be OVER THE MOON to have my Baby-sitters Club collection, I would love them to go to someone who would enjoy cherish love BE OBSSESSED WITH reading them

Is there anything you are hanging on to that you just can't part with?
Were you a Barbie girl?
What were your favorite books to read as a kid?
What was the first record/CD you ever bought?

Friday 5! (Randomy Randomness!)

 

Today's Friday 5 theme is FREE! (per the rules of the Friday 5 Link Up).

This means I can talk about anything I want to!

Don't worry, I will actually write something this week. (Last week my panties were in a twist about my car.)

So today I will talk about random stuff...

1. I DECIDED TO BUY A PIANO! The piano I am using now is my uncle's and it is so old and doesn't hold a tune very well anymore. I found some great leads on used pianos that are in mint condition, tuned, and offer free shipping within a certain mile radius. I am hoping to actually pull the trigger on this before I go back to work. 

2. Paul and I booked a quickie beach getaway! In mid August, we are heading to Cape May, NJ for a day and then Wildwood, NJ for a day. After I booked the hotel, I realized it coincides with our 8 year wedding anniversary! How perfect!

3. On Tuesday, I got to hang out with my work friends at a BBQ. I am so lucky to not just like, but LOVE the people I work with. Not everyone has that! We all respect and trust each other. I have their back and they have my back. They make me laugh and they are truly like family.

4. NEW EARRINGS! I got these at Kohl's the other day on a whim. They are Jennifer Lopez, originally $18 but on clearance for $5.20. We got 30% off, which took the grand total down to $3.64. I AM IN LOVE!!!!!

5. And just a few funnies/food for thought for this Friday!

Have a great Friday, friends!

Today, I'm linking up with the DC girls for Friday 5!

About yesterday's post... AND SOME MEG GO RUN NUMBERS!

First of all, about yesterday's post... It always fascinates me what sort of posts get a lot of attention! On Tuesday afternoon I had nothing scheduled for Wednesday and decided to write about our pool trip and Humping Umbrella Boy on a whim. Then whaddaya know, the post gets more comments than normal and 215 views within the first 24 hours alone!

Also, if you type "Hampden Pool" into Google, yesterday's blog post is the third link listed!!! Who knew this is what it took to make it big!?

Guys, my blog is itty bitty. I don't get 197 views on a single post normally. I usually get less than 100. If it's a training update, it's less than 50!

I know I actually had a good title, so that helped. Having a profanity always helps to bait people to click on the link. But this also confirms what I thought for awhile... Most people who read my blog don't read it because it is a running blog. I think they read it more for the other random shit I decide to post about!

Now, I have lots of interactions with children (I am a teacher!!!!) but normally I can't write about them because I don't think it would be appropriate. The only reason I was able to write about Humping Umbrella Boy was because I didn't know him at all.

If only I could tell you actual stories about the students at school. You would be rolling. But obviously I can't do that! Most of those stories I will have to take to my grave!

Since I am talking shop in this post (as in, I am talking blog stuff in my actual blog), I thought I would also share some blog numbers with you...

Meg Go Run By The Numbers!

I have 18,900 comments total... half of those are me replying to comments because I reply to every single one. If I don't reply, chances are 99.9% of the reason is probably I forgot!

I literally just realized (when looking at my numbers for this post) that I have 1474 spam comments. I just deleted all of them and plan to check up on the spam comments more regularly. Maybe when my blog eats your comment that is where it goes? I am sorry!!!!

Meg Go Run has 1145 posts. I have posted every day since I started my blog. One day, I posted twice by accident.

338,131 = number of page views on my blog. Considering all the spam comments I got, I bet a lot of that is from spammers!

Top countries in order that read my blog the most: United States, Canada, France, Russia, Germany, United Kingdom, Australia, Ukraine, China, Japan.

I have one ad on the side of my blog, and so far I have earned $67.31 from my blog! That's almost 6 cents per day! I am not sure how to cash in on that money. I will have to look into adsense and see how that works because Paul and I could go out for sushi like TWICE with that kind of money!

Hope ya all are enjoying your week!

Bloggers, talk some blog shop with me! About how many page views do you get a day? Any other numbers you want to share?

Non bloggers... are you more into reading running related posts or just my random every day life type of posts?

A short story about a little f*cker at the Hampden Pool.

On Monday, Paul and I decided we were going to go to the Hampden Pool! I hadn't gone swimming yet this summer, and since the real feel temperature boasted 99 degrees, I thought it would be the perfect day to get our swim on!

Even though this pool is only about two miles from my house, I never went there for fear of seeing... STUDENTS. (Dun-dun-dun!!!!!) Spoiler Alert: I did see one student who is now in 6th grade, and it was a delight to see her!!!!

Daily admission was a little expensive- $9 each for Paul and I, but it was a really nice pool. When we got there, it was very crowded, but there was plenty of grass to lay our towels without being close to other people. There was an adult swim for 15 minutes each hour (yes!!!), a diving well that was 12 feet deep (I love the deep end!!!) and a cool water slide!!!! I don't know if you know this about me, but I LOVE WATER SLIDES!!!!!

It started to rain after we were there for only a half hour and that cleared out the pool. Then it got very hot and sunny, so I am glad we stuck around. When everyone was leaving, we scored a huge umbrella to sit under. These umbrellas were very tall and sturdy- cemented into the ground. It wasn't anything you could adjust, move, or anything like that.

I enjoyed lounging and reading, then jumping into the pool when I got really hot. The water was warm. It was really just perfect! Totally worth $9 per person, in my opinion. But of course it was just me and Paul. Daily admission for a whole family (even though kids are cheaper and children under 3 are free) could get a little expensive. But my guess is most families buy season passes.

Are you wondering when I'm going to tell you about the little fucker at the pool??? Okay, here it goes!!!!

So Paul and I were sitting under the huge umbrella I just described to you. He was listening to some music and I was reading a book. There was a family with their towels about 10 feet from us who were packing up to leave. The parents looked like they were in their 40s. There was a young girl and a young boy. I can't remember what age the girl was, but the boy was probably 11 or 12.

Suddenly, the boy ran over to our umbrella, grabbed the pole with one hand, and started gyrating on it!

He was basically doing what this robot is doing, but very fast and with an arched back.

So, I wasn't offended by this kid. I was more like... WTF???? Who the hell does this to strangers? In front of their parents??? This kid was basically humping the pole like 2 feet from me. What's wrong with him!!!!???

I looked over at his parents. And get this...

They were laughing.

The mom was literally laying on the grass, covering her head, laughing.

WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????????

I cannot explain this situation. I don't even know what to say.... It was literally the oddest thing I ever saw. Not only was the 11-12 year old humping our umbrella odd, but the parents laughing at it was even MORE ODD.

I didn't laugh, I didn't smile, I didn't scowl. I just looked at the parents with a neutral look on my face. I watched them until they picked up their things and left, which is precisely what they did after they were done laughing.

Very nice day at the pool, but a very weird situation indeed!!!!

I don't even know what to ask???

What would you do if your kid did that???

Do you have a pool or do you belong to a community pool?

Via Marathon Training: Week 10

I did not follow the exact plan this week, but I did get in a long run, a tempo run, and a bunch of easy runs. 

I only lifted one day, which I have no excuse for as I had plenty of time to lift. Oh well, I hope to do better with that next week!

Oh... I RAN 47 FREAKING MILES THIS WEEK! The plan called for 50, so I wasn't too far off.

Monday- 6 miles. I don't remember anything about this run. I am seriously wracking my brain but can't remember anything about it!

Tuesday- 12 miles! It went really well, except I almost crapped my pants. This run was to make up for the 15 miles I was supposed to do on Sunday. It was hot and slightly hilly. I averaged around a 9:20 pace. I call this run a win! I walked 2.5 miles with my friend Bree later on in the day. I wrote more about the run here in case you are curious!

Wednesday- 6 easy miles. I was no worse for wear from my long run the day before. Woo! I walked 3 miles later on in the evening because I was feeling pretty down about something (non running related) and I just needed to get my thoughts together.

Thursday- Chest @ Home.

Push Ups- 5x10
Chest Press- 5x12x25lb
Shoulder Press- 5x10x20lb
Tricep Dips- 5x15
Stability ball knee tuck- 5x15
Bicycles- 5x40
Plank- 5x45 seconds

Friday- Tempo Run! (10 miles total) 1 mile w/u & c/d and 8 miles @ MP, which is supposed to be 7:49 but I did 7:46. The real feel temperature was 92, so I ran a 2 mile loop around my house (5 times) and stopped to cool off and get some fluids after each loop. I could not have done this run in that heat without cooling off in the a/c. What I did was grab some water (had Nuun in it), went inside, and walked around my house for about a minute or two as I drank. Then I went back out for another loop! I feel great about this run!

Saturday- 5 (ish) easy miles on the AT. I met my friend Donna in Boiling Springs and ran for about an hour on the trail. We didn't have our Garmins so I am not quite sure how far we went. But it wasn't about the miles, it was catching up with an old friend who I haven't run with in years! Donna and I have put in a lot of miles together. In fact, we both ran Boston together in 2009!

Sunday- 8 easy miles @ 8:58 pace. The real feel was only 84, which is totally doable as long as I have water! My knee felt weak during this run, but my feet and butt were all good.

Training Goals:

1. Rest days = complete rest! F (I lifted.)
2. Walk 1 min per mile run. B
3. Stretch after each run. B (I skipped one day!)
4. Foam roll when needed. A
5. Glute/hip exercises 5 days per week. C. (Sometimes this aggravates the PIMA so I was purposefully skipping these.)
6. Stick to the prescribed paces. A
7. Practice proper hydration and fueling. Read as much as I can on the topic. C
8. Alter training if I feel potential for injury. A

NEXT WEEK MY PLAN CALLS FOR 61 MILES. UM, NO. NOT GOING TO DO THAT. MY GOAL IS GOING TO BE 50 MILES! AND I AM GOING TO MAKE MYSELF MAKE A DECISION ABOUT THIS RACE BASED OFF THIS UPCOMING WEEK.... Oh, also, the week ends with a 16 miler... which I really want to do, and do well.

How were your workouts this week?

Weekend Wrap Up!

This weekend sure made up for a yucky week!

I hope ya all had fun this weekend. Here's what we were up to...

I did a whole Day In My Life post for Friday! If you don't feel like checking it out, the short story is:

1. I got my car back!
2. I had an awesome tempo run!
3. We ran ALL THE ERRANDS.
4. I finally met my new nephew, Clark!

Are you ready for this? I GOT UP AT 6AM!!!! I know, what the hell got me out of bed that early? A run with my good friend, Donna, who I haven't seen in years. Donna and I used to put in a lot of miles together. In fact, we ran Boston together in 2009. Today, we ran for about an hour on the AT starting in Boiling Springs. Donna is someone I could talk to for hours! No wonder we have always been such good running buddies!

It was weird being all stretched, showered, and back in my jammies by 9:30AM, but that's what happened! I was pretty tired and Paul wasn't even up yet, so I spent the next couple hours watching TV, blogging, and catching up on all the tragic world events.

It was Jelly's birthday, so he celebrated like a champ!

That afternoon, I rode up to Millersburg with my brother and his family. Both of my brothers were playing in an alumni soccer game, so my SIL Debby, her little baby Clark, and I went to the game to cheer them on. My oldest brother even scored a goal! I was so proud of him. 

Honestly, I didn't watch much of the game because I was having too much fun talking to my SIL and cooing over baby Clark!

Little bro Tyler.

Little bro Tyler in white and Cousin John in maroon.

Older brother Julian on the right.

We had a little bit of family time after the game. How cute are my nieces and nephew!?

 Little baby Clark!

 Clementine

 Ellie, Nanny, & Clementine

I slept until 10:30... dang, I have been sleeping so much these past couple weeks! That meant my 8 miler was going to be pretty hot. It actually wasn't as bad as Friday's run as the real feel today was only 84. 84 is totally doable as long as I have water.

The rest of the day I pretty much just did house stuff and chilled. We watched the movie Election, which definitely stands the test o time and is still hilarious!!!!

How was your weekend?
Any movies you think stand the test of time?