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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

I haz an i infuction.

I haz an i infuction.

Last week my allergies started to hit me hard.  Sneezy/wheezy/eye boogery.... pick an allergy dwarf name for me.  I was super excited to hit up my runner store's running group on Saturday morning, but when I woke up super congested, I knew it was not going to happen.  Once I finally crawled out of bed and cleared all the bats from the balfry (anyone else's parents use this term for when you had a booger hanging out?  no?  just mine?  that's cool.....) I realized my eyes really really hurt.  Upon further inspectation gah!  the light!  it's blinding me!  [cue blinded by the light... ie:  my theme song.  heh heh]

Minimal ouchies.

It's not uncommon for me to get eye infections when my allergies get super bad.  It is uncommon for me to get this bad of eye infections.  By Sunday morning I had upgraded this little bugger to the worst one evaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah (said in the Oprah giveaway voice.... fact:  a lot of things are super funny when said in this voice, give it a try on a rainy day.) 
Lots of ouchies. (yes I went out in public like this.....do not stare directly at the eye....)

After sleeping almost all of Saturday and most of Sunday, it appeared to stop oozing grossness, which meant one thing:  time for a run!  And what a run it was (heavy sarcasm).  I did 5 miles per my Hal Higdon marathon recovery plan.  And they were brutal.  My legs and particularly my IT bands just did NOT want to cooperate.  I could feel the choppiness of my stride.  My heart rate was slightly through the roof.  :/  It was hot.  And humid.  And windy.  The only thing it was missing was an icy path to run on.  Icky.

When can I haz my running legz back?


Monday night...still ouchies..... also EXTREME CLOSE UP (just say no to da drugz.....)
What your pupils are supposed to be the same size?? No one told me that....

Friday, May 27, 2011

First Post-Marathon Run + Half Marathon Photos From Deep in the Archives

Thursday night I set out for my first run post-marathon.  I'd like to say I was cautiously optimistic, but really I was just cautious.  I was extremely excited to try out my new heart rate monitor (Thanks TARA!) that came in the mail.  If anyone has any good reads on heart rate monitor training, please send them my way!  I had originally extended a cordial invitation to Kyle to join on the run, thinking that non-distance runner Kyle pace and Jeri's post-marathon pace would probably be somewhat similar.  Instead he wussed out.  (jk lol if you're reading this KK, although I'm sure you're not). 

I dashed out the door for a nano second forgetting that I was 4 days out from the 'thon and then was VERY QUICKLY reminded of this information.  Uff.  Sore.  Tight.  I slowed way down and was just tuned in to how things felt.  After the first 1/2 mile I seemed to warm up a bit, then the last 1/2 mile my IT bands got extremely tight, lending to some sore hips.  I had my screen of my Garmin set to HR, so I didn't know my pace, which was probably good.  I was extremely happy that I didn't have any shooting pain in my knee.... that's been my main concern given it's issues post-race.

I did 2 miles in 19:50.

I was cleaning off a folder on my work computer and stumbled across some old half marathon photos.  These photos were taken at the Sioux Falls Half Marathon in 2008.  This was my slowest half marathon to date (2:19:57), and I think I completed approximately 12 training runs total in the 12 weeks leading up to the race.  I was also a little bit hefty.  But hey, at least I'm still rockin' the GREEN!  Enjoy.

At the start.  Lap around the track.

Through Falls Park.
Evil look.... 2 inch stride.  YAYZIES!
I think I have 5 photos of me in this exact spot from the 5 of 6 years my parents have spectated this race.  That's kind of cool. OMG a through the years flip book is TOTALLY happening.

This photo accurately portrays how I felt during this race (around mile 9).

My best side. Haha. Man I loved those shoes.

Finishing sprint.
Slightly glad you can't see the finish time.  jk.
My roomies sporting the green. TEAM GREEN! :)
Notice the fam wouldn't touch my sweaty mess of a self.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Marathon Recovery and Weekly Wishlist

So turns out that recovery is pretty g.d. boring.  Saturday post race I was legitimately concerned that I had done something major to my knee.  I was unable to straighten it or bend it completely without intense shooting pain.  Luckily by Sunday the pain had subsided to normal post-marathon aches.

As of Tuesday, my hip felt 100% but I still had a lot of pain and soreness around my hip flexor/hip area in my right leg along with some knee pain.  After some rolling, I decided to take princess leia out for a short little spin to get the blood flowing in my legs.  8.5 windy miles later (can't escape the wind EVER apparently) I was finally able to walk normally!  YAYZIES!  I had some initial pressure under my kneecaps for the first 1/2 mile, but after that the ride was great.  Of course Wednesday brought some random hip shooting pains while just sitting at work, so who knows what's going on.

All I know is that this girl needs her endorphins!

Before I bring you to this week's wishlist, please visit Kristin's blog!  She is running NYC Marathon (her first!) as a part of Team World Vision and is seeking out your help for donations.  Please check out her page and donate generously.  If you need further convincing, she's a huge Packers fan too, so clearly she's a great gal.  I mean... her dog is named Lambeau.... sigh... a girl after my own heart.  ;)  KILL IT KRISTIN!


Interesting fun fact:  I was a NERDY with a capital -ERDY kid.  Amongst many other dorky things, I was obsessed with dinosaurs.  What's that?  You heard I had an extensive dinosaur eraser collection?  Well.  That may be correct.  Quiz me on some dino facts, let's see if I still got it.  Anywhosits, this necklace is probably the sweetest thing ever.  (too bad it's waaaaaaaay too expensive).

I definitely don't consider myself a very girly-girl, but I love a pretty/flirty skirt.  This one is so adorable.
My bfff wore a similar dress to a high school classmates wedding last summer, and clearly I'm still lusting after it.  She had a gorgo tan going, and the blue looked killer next to it.  Sheans!  I'm going to borrow this sometime this summer, k thx lovvvvve you. 


The girl in green strikes again!  Love this shade of green, probably my favorite (whoa! that's saying a lot!) and love that it's cutesy but still laidback.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Fargo Marathon Expo

After driving through some torrential downpours on our trip up north, (thank GOD Megan was driving, I seriously closed my eyes at times) we made it safe and sound to the Fargo Dome!  I knew that EO was shortly behind us on the interstate, and no sooner had we picked up our bibs that I found him.  Why yes, I am jealous that the Boston jackets this year were green, how did you know?  I made sure to stand reeeeeeal close to him in our picture just in case speedy sub-3 genes can be transferred by osmosis.


Megan and I meandered through the Expo and I managed to buy only one thing.  Whoo!  I found a super cute tech shirt with a funky Fargo Marathon map on the back.  Since the race shirts were zip-up long sleeves (super de duper cute!), I figured I was justified in my shirt purchase.  Although, I must say that I am fairly jealous of the guys who got lime green jackets (we had a royal blue color).  And I'm fairly certain the 10k'ers got kelly green.  Green with envy.....

My precious......(es).......

There were some really fab-o signage, so clearly I managed to snap a pic in front of all of them.
Megan and I looking ready to go.

I dare you to count all the turns.... might take you 4 1/2 hours.... ;)

As Megan and I were getting ready to leave the expo, we randomly ran in to Ed, a friend from Dailymile.  He was looking ready to run, as well.


And then of course we randomly ran in to Jeff, one of our favorite running friends who moved away last fall.  It was nice to catch up briefly and to listen to him and Megan talk about missing the marathon maniac aka Jenn.  Luckily for me, I had never been with Jenn pre-race so I didn't get to observe her psychosis first hand, but I had to laugh and it definitely helped to calm me down, since my brain is equally as crazed pre-race. :)


As we were set to leave, the skies opened up to a downpour, so we decided to take a seat and wait for it to let up.  Lucky that I did, because I ended up getting to meet Lisa, a bloggy friend.  Lisa was running her FIRST MARATHON and seemed cool as a cucumber about it.  Also, I'm glad we got to meet up here, because I ended up running in to her 3-4 more times throughout the weekend, and each time I was super scatter-brained and out of it.  Check out her blog because she ROCKED the race, seriously.


After we left the expo it was off to our hotel and then to dinner.  We expected to have a crazy long wait to get seated and to get our food, but we got right in, and our entrees came out when we were on bite #2 of our salad.  It was really really good.  Made me wish we were having that for post-race so I could enjoy some deliciously dairy filled fettucine alfredo and cheesecake for dessert... Mmmmmm.


It was back to our hotel and jammin' to a Lady Gaga concert on HBO while getting everything laid out for our race morning.  Megan and I snuggled up in our full size bed (definitely a snafu on the hotel's part) only to realize that Jenn had tried to call both of us!  We got to skype with her briefly which was great.  So wish she had been there for the weekend.  :)  





Monday, May 23, 2011

Race Report: Fargo Marathon

Saturday morning I got up 8 minutes before our alarms were set to sound and noticed that I already had good luck tweets from people, including the coolest depiction of me as a llama from Jodee, seriously...wow.  Just wow.  IT'S MARATHON MORNING!  Race morning went off without a hitch and we were off to the Fargodome.  We easily met up with some of the area Dailymilers, and were all ready to rock the race course.

Me and Ang looking ready to go in our green.

Me and Megan.

Some of the Dailymile crew.
1st day of school photo er.... pre-race photo.

About 20 minutes before the start I headed outside to find Kier and find our place in the starting line.  Kier was calm and excited to go, and I was just ready to rock out my 9 minute miles.  The sun briefly peeked out from behind the clouds and we were on our way.  Marathon #3, let's do this!

The first couple of miles were fairly congested, but Kier and I made our way through the people while staying on pace.  In the midst of mile 2, I saw our pace ~8:47 and knew I needed to slow down and let Kier go on her merry (fast) way.  :)  I started up my iPod and settled in to my 9 minute pace.  There were a ton (and I mean a TON) of turns on the course, so I made sure to keep my head up to see which direction the next turn was to make my way to that side of the road.  No tangent failing here!

Some of the early miles were in to the wind, and I started to wish I would've discussed a windy race plan with Jason.  Back off slightly in to the wind, and let the wind at my back make up the time?  I tried to find that "comfortably hard" pace and zone in on it.  My legs did not feel very fresh from the get go.  I'm not sure if I should've scaled back the first couple of miles until I was warmed up or what.

I knew my first split was at the 10k mark and that was going to be the first update some Team Green and Team Glitterfart members were going to see.

10k split:  56:26. 9:06 pace.


Around mile 7 I was feeling like my legs didn't have it in them for a sub 4 finish.  I'm not sure if I was on my feet too much at the expo, or if I'm doing something wrong with my taper, but definitely something I need to evaluate as my legs were shot at mile 1 of the Vegas Marathon, as well.  However, a 9:15-9:20 pace was still feeling easy, so I knew I could hang on to a slightly over 4 hour finish, and still knock out a monster PR.

Because there were so many out and back portions of the course, I got to see almost everyone I knew who was running the full.  This was such a great motivator!

It was a fairly warm day (especially compared to what I've been training in) with 65* temps at the start, and 80-90% humidity.  My one complaint for an otherwise really great and really well organized race, was that there weren't nearly enough water stops. especially early on in the course.  If I could go back in time, I absolutely would've carried my own handheld.  On my long runs, I usually only have a little sip every couple of miles, but I am also sweating much much less than I was on this warm and humid morning.

Around mile 9 I randomly saw my friend Justin, and was super de duper happy to see him.  I barely got his attention before I went barreling by.  Seeing friends on the course make so much of a difference when you're racing.  Seriously.  I get so spoiled at local races, I don't even realize it.

Around miles 11 or 12 my IT bands started to get... I'm not sure how to describe it.... stiff?  labored? tight?  I feel like my stride started to get a little bit choppy at this point.  Right before the halfway point, the 4:00 pace group passed me.  Sniffle.

Half marathon split: 2:01:53. Pace of 9:19.


It was here that my hopes for a PR were dashed, very abruptly.  I began to have a sharp pain in my left hip, almost feeling like my hip bone was popping out of alignment.  Neat-o.  I continued to run, but had to shorten my stride drastically, we're talking 10-10:30 max pace.  :(  Some quick mental math had me bummed out.

I totally wish I would've had my phone with me, because I needed some support big time.  Also, I wanted to let Jenn know that she could finally head off to bed (she was up at like 2am trying to follow my sub 4 finish on the other side of the world :P).  I just tried to keep my head down and block out the pain as best as I could.

Around 16 and 17 I started walking through the water stops so I could drink a couple of glasses of water at a time.  I was so thirsty and salty.  Getting going again made me realize that not only was my hip hurting, but my right knee was sporting some shooting pain of its own, likely from me changing my gait to alleviate some of the hip pain.

20 mile split:  3:15:27 (just slightly behind the 3 hour mark I originally was hoping for :P). 9:47 pace.


I thought to myself, hmmm.... if I could run my originally planned 9:40 pace for the next 10 miles, I could have a Fargo Marathon twinsy time with Jenn!  And I was off!  This pace lasted for about a half mile before I thought I was going to start crying from pain.  Hah.  (So not funny at the time, but ya know....).  I kept calculating my estimated finish time based on a 10 minute pace, even though I was clearly incapable of maintaining a 10 minute pace.

These last 6 miles seriously lasted sooooo freaking looooooong.  Cumulatively, probably the slowest 6 consecutive miles of my life, so that's something exciting too.  :P  The crowd support was awesome.  Almost shoulder to shoulder for the entire race.  Amazing.  There were people out handing out freezy pops.  Little dixie cups of water.  Kleenexes.  Jolly Rancher Candies.  Seriously...the best.  The bibs had a place for us to put our names, and hearing someone cheering for me when I wanted to die helped me to smile and put an ever so small pep in my step. :)

Through some of these water stops, I walked and also took a small stretching break to try to loosen up my hips.  It would help ever so slightly but the knee pain really kicked it up a notch, especially after the walk breaks.  With about a mile and a half to go, I realized that if I could run a 10:00 min pace, I could come in under 4:25.

True story:  When the race started falling apart for me, I told myself I HAD to finish under 4:30, because I had heard the rapture was to begin at noon (7:30am race start), and I was going to be damned if I posted my first race DNF! (pun intended).

There were so many people lined up the final mile of the race, it was great.  Coming up to the Fargodome I was ready to be d.o.n.e.  I knew I was going to hurt whether I walked it in, or ran my hardest, so I tried to kick it in to gear.  Luckily, I wasn't very tired since I had been slacking off the final 12 miles.  ;)  I ran by a girl at mile 26 who was walking and told her that she had 2 minutes left, and she could do anything for 2 minutes.  About 10 seconds later she ran past me..... uh no!  Competitive Jeri kicked it in to high gear and flew by her.  The finish line is a bit of a blur, but I do remember throwing my hands in the air and screaming out "whooooooooo!"  (Whoo girl for life, yo!)

Final time: 4:25:09.  10:07 pace.


To be honest, I'm really bummed out and shed a few tears writing this up.  I felt really confident in my ability.  It's very obvious that there are issues with a) my running form causing these issues during race/post race/and in training and/or b) I have some weaknesses in my legs that are causing other muscles to be too fatigued to quickly causing the pain.  Very much a wake up call to get it diagnosed and remedied asap.

It's definitely not the end of the end of the world, nor will it be the last time that I take on 26.2 miles.

And finally, the biggest and most sincerest thanks to all of you that were cheering me on.  Seriously, I get all teary eyed just thinking about the love and support that you all have given me leading up to this race.  Reading back through the tweets from during the race crack me the EFF up.  And the thing that ran through my head the most during the latter miles was how bummed you were all going to be for me that I wasn't going to make my goal.  You're all the best, and as a thank you present, I'm sending glitter farts to each and every one of you. :D  Bahahahah.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Fargo Marathon Race Goals

I am packing my final green items in my suitcase and am getting ready to jump in my car to meet up with my racing/road trip buddy to embark on our trip north.  FARGO BOUND! 

But before I go, here are my race goals for tomorrow's ::gulp:: marathon.

Maximum Glitter and Sparkles Goal (Goal A):  In case you've been living under a rock, I'm trying to finish this puppy sub 4!  3:5x or BUST.  My race strategy, as previously mentioned, is to run 9 minute miles until I can run no more.  Hopefully this is after the 26.2 point.  ;) 

Rainbow Covered Unicorn Goal (Goal B):  PR Party, current PR is 4:12:00. 

Giggling Penguin Goal (Goal C):  Finish and take great race photos.  Whenever you're not running fast, you might as well look cute doing it.  My personal motto. 

See you on the flippy flip of 26.2!  Tweet me if you're at the expo and want to meet up.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

10k Race Photos + Weekly Wishlist: Kate Spade Sample Sale Edition

After pouring through the 400 race photos that were posted from the Breast Cancer 10k, I was beyond bummed to not see one bright yellow sleeve in the bunch.  Imagine my surprise this morning when I get an email from Megan with race day photos attached!  In my bundle of raceday nerves, I forgot that we had even taken a pre-race photo, and her hubby ended up snatching some photos of me at the start and the finish.  YAYZIES!


Megan and I are Fargo road trip buddies this weekend. I love that she rocks a giant cheshire cat style smile as well! :)

At the start. One of my new favorite running pics. Go Meg's Hubby!

And nearing the finish line. It was weird as the 10k ended up catching up to the tail end 5k-ers. Weaving on tired legs is no fun at all.


Weekly Wishlist:  Kate Spade Sample Sale Edition

Kate Spade is currently having their sample sale, and everything is up to 75% off (ends tomorrow, 5/19!).  Sadly, my pocketbook said "no no no" Amy Winehouse singing-style, not Amy Winehouse to booze and drugs style, but that didn't stop me from some lusting.


I'm a sucker for stripes. I think they used to have it in navy and white which was super cute too. Buy it here.

I never do the wristlet style; if a book doesn't fit in my purse, it's not for me.  But this is super cute, and yellow is my new neutral. Buy it here.

So I may have succombed to the designer handbag cult in moderation, but I've yet to leap over to the darkside with matching wallet.  It's just hard to plop down the money that is in excess to most of the bags I own (I really only have one Coach bag, and one Kate bag.  And sold a Kate bag I didn't love to pay for the Coach bag that I *do* love.)  But I like the idea of non-matching.  Like black or white handbag and crazy bright wallet.

Buy it here.


Buy it here.

The color of this is the most beautiful thing ever.  However, I think the bag might be a little too "structured" for my style.  Still super duper pretty though.
Buy it here.
More yellow perfection. Buy it here.


Jeri, sucker, stripes. You get it by now, I'm sure.  Love that the lining is GREEN.
Buy it here.

Ok, so everyone go shop to your little heart's content and then let me know what you got so I can be a ridiculous girly girl and EEEEEEEEEEEEEE along with you. :)

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Run-domness

Attention:  I apologize slightly for the randomness of this post. You see, I've been practicing doing everything in 9 minute increments to prepare for my SUB 4 finish on Saturday, so clearly my brain can only fire in quick 9 minute flashes as well. ;)



Kudos and threeve bonus points to Bree and Sarah who were brilliant enough to get my sweet Will Ferrell SNL Jeopardy! skit quote.  There was a time in college (really a full semester and a half) where Will Ferrell's Best of SNL dvd was playing on a loop in our dorm room. 

This weekend I was the laziest runner girl tapering for a marathon in the history of the world (bold statements... I LOVE EM!)  Seriously, I went from Thursday to Saturday without a run.  It was a pretty easy decision given the dark/cold/gloomy/rainy/windy conditions.  And likewise, the taper crazies have been lifted as well.  I (and mostly KK) am/are seriously beyond thankful for that.  KK cracked a joke that I should never plan to run a marathon while pregnant, because the crazy hormones from pregnant plus the lose-your-mind insanity of the taper would cause me to end the world.  I told him to shut up and stop joking about me being knocked up.  So that's that.

Go figure, I was rewarded for slacking off on my runs all weekend with a gorgeous sunshiny day on Sunday.  Ignore the fact that it was 20-30 mph winds throughout, that's just come to be expected, ya know? (working on my Canadian/Fargo-ian accent for next weekend!)  I did 8 slow-ish miles for my last long run.  During the last mile I was bored so I did some 100 m. stride/pick ups to keep me from falling asleep on my feet.

Sounds like the plan for the expo on Friday is to be there in the 2-2:30 range.  This gives us 30 minutes of potty breaks en route to the great north.  This will probably not be enough.  Neat.  Let me know (if you haven't yet) if you want to meet up with me and Miss Megan!

And finally (as if this post weren't random enough), I have a fun little poll for you guys.  Except it's not truly a poll at all, but merely a question that I hope you will answer via comments or tweets.  When do you typically start to doubt yourself and your finish goal time in a marathon?  My thoughts: I'm hoping your responses will calm me and prepare me for when those doubts creep up on Saturday, and I'm able to say (in my head of course, because I don't want to be that creepy girl talking to herself while running a marathon), "Well [insert super fast runner friend here] wanted to give up at [insert mile marker here] and didn't and went on to run [insert super fab-o marathon time here] so suck it up and sub 4!"  Annnnnnnnnnnnd go!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

10,000th day + Studio Grandbois Pictures

About a year and a half ago, I read on someone's blog that they were celebrating their 10,000th day on the earth.  Naturally I was curious and had to figure out when my 10,000th day was, and it's been written on a blue sticky note on my desk at work since.  I randomly found it a week or so ago and was surprised to see that it was coming up quickly.  So happy 10,000th day on the earth to me!  (It's just shy of your 27 1/2 birthday, if that helps whether or not it's worth your time and energy to look.)  I'm not able to find the 10,000th day calculator, it appears to be broken, but here's one telling you the days you've been alive, if you're interested.

Edited to add: This was supposed to go up on Friday when Blogger was down for.ev.er.  So if you were planning on celebrating my 10,000th day with me, you missed it.  THANKS BLOGGER! >:O

Anywhosits.  As I've mentioned briefly on twitter, my photographer friend, Kathryn, (who previously took the fun library/bookworm inspired photos) was back in town last weekend and wanted to take some more photos.  She helped with the styling (because she's much more fashionable than me) and made my hair super cute.  I slapped on some make up and attempted to keep the goofy faces to a minimum.  Here are some of my faves.  :)

Kathryn is obsessed with this little hat. Ha.

Number of times I almost died from a broken ankle in these shoes: 27.


Fun Royal wedding inspired headband.



My favorite pic of the group. Not sure if I prefer the black and white or color.


This peacock feather headband is my favorite purchase for the day.


"It's funny because it's a little big hat....."
name that quote.

My new fishing hat. I will be very stylish on the water.


Love the lighting in this one. And my 17 foot long legs (jk I'm a shrimp!)

My second favorite shot of the group.


Nerd chic? Sure why not!

Feel free to check out her Facebook Fan page, because she's obviously neat-o burrito.