Eight more days!!!

Yup, that's right folks...just 8 more days till I run my third half marathon!  Something I did not imagine myself saying 10 years ago!!  I have been obsessively checking the weather forecast and so far it is looking pretty decent.  There were a few days that it was showing rain for race day but that has changed.  For anyone who knows me or follows my blog, you know that I ran this race last year....in the rain....the whole way :(  it was not fun (said in a little old lady voice from the insurance commercial when she is talking about her son's motorcycle...love those commercials...but that is a completely different story).  I am getting super excited because this year I have a few friends who are going to be running the race as well and we will be driving to the race together and will be able to meet up after the race for the after party!  And then there might  be an after, after party waiting for me and my neighbor and favorite running partner when we get home!
So today I ran 5 miles, I think it is three tomorrow and then 9 on Sunday and then it's taper time...not really much of a taper but I used this same training plan last year and it seemed to work fine.
So until next time, keep running, think of me when you see those insurance commercials (I am that lady), and stay strong!! 

Two weeks to go!!!

So I have been MIA lately...my only excuse is that life has gotten a lot busier...kids are back in school, I am back at work, and still preparing for Smuttynose half marathon.  The race is two weeks away and I am happy to say I have completed two 10 mile runs!  I have been trying to keep up with my strength training at the gym too but this is not always easy.  I don't really feel as though I have been losing any muscle, so I must be doing something right.  

One of the most exciting things is that my  flower came yesterday!!!!

Isn't it pretty?!  I will be proudly wearing this flower in my hair for my half marathon and can't wait!!!  It took me a few months to make up my mind on what color I wanted to order and which one meant the most to me.  If you have never visited the fellow flowers website, I highly recommend that you do: 

www.fellowflowers.com

They are also on Facebook and Twitter and frequently post some motivating messages.

So until next time keep running and stay strong!

One month and 16 days to go

So I am one unhappy, unlucky lady tonight...one month and 16 days to go till my half marathon and I have two sore quads!  I have a new trainer at the gym who is having me do step ups onto a weight bench and lunges...not a good idea maybe.  RICE is the word of the day and I am really hoping it works because I have 7 miles to run in two days and 8 miles to run this coming weekend....wish me luck!

So until next time, please be careful, stay strong and keep running...unless you are injured and then remember RICE :)

Week 4, Here I Come!!!

Today starts the beginning of week 4 in my half marathon training and I have to say I am feeling great!!  O.k. maybe not right at the moment but for the most part I am killing it!  I say that I am not feeling so great right now because I am having some back soreness.  I so don't want to admit it, but I think it is my shoes.....the Brooks Pureflows.  I have only been wearing them on short runs of 2-3 miles but I am finding that they just don't feel quite right and I have been feeling a few more aches and pains after I run in them.  But I sooo wanted these shoes and wanted to be able to have a pair of shoes to use to avoid putting all of my training miles on my sauconys so that I would not need new shoes before the big race!  It was to be a perfect plan....until it started not working to well.  It is looking more and more like they will be come gym shoes.
This weeks events:  Monday:  Gym
                              Tuesday: 2 miles
                               Wednesday:  Gym
                               Thursday:  6 miles
                                Friday:  Rest
                                Saturday:  2 miles
                                Sunday:  7 miles
Now to see if Miss Mother Nature is going to cooperate with me for my Thursday run....

So until next time, having good running shoes is important, keep running and stay strong.

"What are we gonna go today?"

This is the question I get asked on a daily basis by my two kids who are home for summer vacation.  Every single day..... so imagine their surprise when the answer today was "hike a mountain!".  I am not sure surprise is a very good word for it. With a backpack packed for each of us off we went to hike up Mount Uncanoonuc in nearby Goffstown, NH (a little under half hour drive).

I won't bore you with all the details...we did have a tough time finding the parking for the trail, but once we got there we had a great time.  I found I needed to remind my kids many times that we had all day to complete this hike and that we did not have to rush at all.  I knew the entire hike was not going to be very long so I knew I was safe telling them that.  We had to stop a few times to rest which was fine with me...some of the trail was pretty steep!!  Each of them had a camera to take pictures of what ever they wanted to...I had given them a photo scavenger hunt to do but they did not really seem to interested in that. 
Once we reached the summit of the mountain we were treated to this pretty view:

BUT, we actually missed the view we had wanted to see....all because of one trail we decided not to go up.  Oh well....maybe next time!
Of course what does anyone do after they finish hiking?  Get ice cream of course!!

Oh and note to self...maybe a three mile run the same day as a hike up a mountain is not such a great idea.  Boy are my legs sore....but it was worth it.
So until next time, go hike a mountain or a trail, get outside with your kids (or someone else's kids), don't forget the ice cream and stay strong!

A tasty treat

Hey!  Yes I am posting twice in one week!  Yay me! 
I just had to share this tasty little treat I discovered today on facebook.  I don't know if it has an official name but we can call it chocolate peanut butter bites.  All you do is take bananas and slice into slices and sandwich peanut butter between them (I would imagine you could use almond butter instead), freeze them, melt chocolate...I used a large special dark chocolate bar...dip the banana sandwiches in the chocolate and freeze again!  That easy....and soooo good.  They can't really be all that bad for you, right?  I mean think about it...there is protein in peanut butter, potassium in the banana, and dark chocolate is a health food, right?
Here's the finished product:

Looks Yummy, right?!

Let the training begin!

Yes, folks, for those of you have been following my blog for a while now, half marathon training has once again begun!  I am going into my second week and it seems to be going well, so far.  I am getting ready for the Smuttynose Rockfest Half Marathon in October and really hoping it does not rain all day again.  This time around I have a lot of people who are training for this race too so it will be nice to have people to talk to about training and people to meet up with at the race!
Oh, and I survived the Foamfest 5K and had a blast!   It was a very hot day which created some challenges but I managed.  Just wish some of the pools of water we had to go through were colder!
Remember the big slide I was dreading?  Well it turns out they had three of them in the beginning of the weekend and were down to one slide by the time I got there and the wait for the slide was over an hour...so we skipped it.   Needless to say I wasn't really too disappointed.
I am still waiting for the official pictures to be ready, but here are some shots we did manage to get on our own.

Had a blast, I can check this off my "bucket list"!
So until next time, stay clean, or run dirty if you want, stay strong, and keep running!