Encouragement

I've said it before - having people who are supportive and encouraging make all the difference. On that note, I'd like to get my thanks for 3 people who are constantly encouraging me through this process:

My aunts: Bonnie boo and Susan. I get these out of the blue text messages or posts from them about how proud of me they are and how great of a job I'm doing. They usually come at just the right moment when I'm tired or struggling or need a push. I love you both MORE.

KS - K is also doing her first ever half marathon and happens to be on the HMTT group. She's on a different team but always seems to pass me on Saturday mornings :) Thank you for all the awesome messages. I can't wait for us to cross the finish line on 11/12!! Strong is the new sexy.

2011-09-17 HMTT Week 7 Videos

So this is a little snap shot in to the HMTT life. Imagine 1000 of us running through the small streets of Richmond City every morning! We're a herd...

Over half way there...

This past Saturday was 7 miles. To help put that in perspective - it's the LONGEST that I have EVER run! And it's over half way to the finish line of 13.1 miles. HMTT has made this such a great experience for me. In the past, I sign up for races and say that I'll train but never do and then I'm disappointed at the outcome on race day. This time (because if I didn't train I would die) I've stuck to my training and now that I know several people in my group - I actually look forward to my Saturday morning runs.

This week was even better because my running buddy J was back from being out for several weeks due to an ankle injury. So glad she's back!

HMTT last year had some 450 runners I was told. This year - we have over 1000 runners on Saturdays! Here's a small peak of what it's like watching all of us thunder down the small streets of Richmond City:

Training Team Video

And here's me and J:

Notice the fancy new running belt?! It's not all that flattering but it was ridiculously convenient to have fluids handy when I felt parched. As an added bonus, my arms weren't dying from holding the water bottle when I ran.

This is J's first half too and the amazing thing about her is that she has already signed up for her second half! The Shamrock Half in VA Beach in March. I told her I would have to see how November went before signing up :)

From here on out, ever Saturday sets a new record for me and all the first timers on the training team. Next week: 8 miles!

Next post: Taking care of your body with all this running....

run baby run!

I just ran 16 miles and it felt INCREDIBLE!! I definitely could have kept going... feeling a little sore but that's to be expected:) 10 more to go!!

I have some fabulous recipes to share with you once Mike uploads the photos:) Coming soon!

Have a fabulous Saturday!

xoxox K

Mt. Vernon Trail LOVE vs. Gluten hatred!

 Today I had to run 10 miles for training and while I thought I was feeling good the night before, this morning I woke up feeling not so fabulous. This past week we had RIDICULOUS rain everyday to the point that it was flooding a lot of Northern VA including parts of my school. Because the flooding was so bad they closed FCPS schools on Friday. Some of you are thinking "LUCKY!!" but it was the first week of school, the 4th day of school to be exact, and we were already knocking off one of our "snow days"... not good! Instead of whining about it I went to one of my bff's houses Regina in Reston with two other of my bff's and we just hung out all day. We talked for the first 4 hours, made pizza and watched Broke back mountain (what a movie!!). It was a fabulous day to say the least.

I knew that by eating the pizza there was a possibility of my stomach hurting later because of the oh-so-lovely gluten but I ignored it and ate it anyway... Well much to my surprise this morning I felt less than stellar:( I started running with my friend Kerri and immediately started cramping. At the point I knew it was going to be a long run (and it was only 10 miles!! In comparison to the 15 I have to do next weekend) I tried to push through as much as I could but inevitably I had to stop and walk it out a few times. I wasn't happy about it because I could have easily avoided this horrible feeling by saying NO to gluten... but I chose not to. Stupid food pressure!!
Any who I finished the 10 miles (the last mile or so being straight up hill) and was proud I finished but annoyed at how crappy I felt the whole time.
On a positive note it was BEAUTIFUL OUT! We ran on the Mt. Vernon Trail along D.C.'s waterfront to Reagan National Airport and it was gorgeous! It was a little humid and quite crowded but none-the-less lovely!

Isn't it beautiful?! It definitely made the pain in my side seem more bearable being able look out at all of D.C. Moral of this story.... I CANNOT eat gluten (even if I really really want some and it's just a little) because it was severely hurt me the next day... and at this point in my training (and life for that point) it's not worth it. Now if only I can stick to that when I get tempted... hmmmm :)

I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

-xoxox K

TnT - Training and Tailgating

After Hurricane Irene reared her ugly head and we lost power for 3 days - it was time to get back in gear. I had a conference for work in Charlottesville last week through Wednesday night. If you don't know Charlottesville, it's a beautiful place but full of hill when compared to Richmond. Ergo, running was not nearly as much fun. However, I did get a great 3 mile hike in with a great friend and his dog while I was in town on Tuesday. 

Wednesday, I ran 4 miles - no stopping and came up with a new route outside of the neighborhood to keep it interesting. The run went really well! I ran later than expected because of some work items that needed to get taken care of and my Garmin GPS watch needed a little juice (Let's be clear, I cannot run without my Garmin). This reminded me that I really need to pick up a reflective vest or something since I'm running on main road in the dark...

It also reminded me that if you take your run and break it up in to small chucks, it's not nearly has intimidating AND that it's high time I bought a water bottle for my long runs. Because all of this is so new to me (remember, that I never managed to train for my 10ks in the past...why bother?!), every thing is a learning experience. So when I know that I need to go for (what I think is) a long run, I get really nervous and immediately think that I'll never make it. This week when I started my 3-4-3 schedule during the week, I would break up the run in to half mile sections in my head. I know that I can run a half mile so every time that I hit a mileage goal, I would tell myself that I can easily run another half mile and I was 5/12ths of the way through as an example. Once I hit the half way mark, I find that I get another burst of energy because I'm so thrilled it's half over. And once you've run half - you have to run the second half because you're nearly home.

Thursday was back to a 3 mile run. I'm definitely finding the the 2nd and 3rd days are a lot tougher. I'm just not used to running back to back. But I made it through.

Matt and I are building a house that we're scheduled to move in to at the end of September. So Friday night after work we took the opportunity to get some much need house shopping checked off our list - we bought our appliances, went by the house to measure of window treatments and started talking paint colors. While we were out, we decided to stop by Dick's Sporting Goods to stock up on all the running things that had recently made my "need" list.

Hand held water bottle

This was one of the purchases that I was most excited about for some reason. I had debated between this an the water belts but (and don't here) decided that my hips were already wide enough without adding more junk to my trunk. And Viola! 

I also bought....Body Glide. If I haven't told you the story about running with Kendayl while at the beach, here's the short party - I wore my skirt, and a seem managed to rip the skin off of my body. I'm still recovering - it's awful.

Saturday mornings have gotten easier to get up at 5:30 for the training run. This week was 6 miles - I've only ever run 6 miles during a race with lots of screaming fans cheering me on so my stomach was in nots. So I broke out the power outfit and wore my running SKIRT! 

So I showed up with bells on, looking fantastic and I ran. I ran until my feet fell asleep. Seriously?! Has this ever happened to you? It was wickedly humid on Saturday an all of a sudden my right foot fell asleep. I kept running hoping it would fix itself but then my calf cramped because I'm sure that I run favoring my right foot somehow. So I stopped and stretched and this awesome HMTT training stopped and told me loosen my shoes - I already had I told her. NO - from the TOES! Not from the top. Genius. No sooner had my right foot regained feeling - my left foot then fell asleep. I'm a disaster.

All in all I ran my 6 miles in 70 minutes which is the slowest that I'd ran 6 miles in years. But I finished and I learned some valuable lessons about running in different weather and listening to my body. I also learned that I HATED running with the water bottle. My right arm was killing me within a mile of starting my run.

So I'm going back to the store and adding more junk to my trunk with a water belt.

After 6 miles my reward was in site....HOME OPENER UVa GAME!!! GO HOOS!!!

Sorry - this was taken on my cell phone and evidently of poor quality. You get the idea. Sear sucker - obnoxious hats....oh so perfect!

My oh My how things can turn around!

Last weekend I ran 12 miles and it was horrible. In fact, it sucked. It was so muggy that I was dripping sweat at mile 1... not cool. I wasn't excited to be running, I wasn't enjoying it, and I walked quite a bit. However, I finished 12 miles and to be honest I told myself I wasn't going to run the marathon after that run. I gave up because I had a hard run. I talked to some friends and my sister and mom and they reminded me/asked me why I was doing the marathon. I had to think for a moment... was it for me? Is it something I really want to do? Am I doing it to prove something to other people? I thought about this for awhile and realized a few things. I realized that running a marathon has been on my bucket list for awhile now and I'm ready to get if off my list. I'm also running it because it's a new challenge for me and I LOVE new challenges. Those 2 reasons alone are for ME. I chose to sign up for this race to try something new and to push myself further.

Although, in the back of my mind I'm running this for my Grandma. She was and always will be the rock of my family. She was strong, determined, loving, and encouraging. She passed away in March and unfortunately wasn't healthy. She gave up years ago, probably when the love of her life passed away, my Grandaddy. My sister and I talked after she passed away about how we want to be healthier, not just NOW but for the rest of our lives. We want to be able to be in each others lives for as long as we possibly can. That day we promised each other, ourselves, and our family that it was time to make living healthy a priority. We started blogging together on this blog which was once called "Cooper is a Trooper" (my personal blog about working out, travel, recipes, etc.) and has now turned into "Bushel and a Peck". I don't think we've ever explained the reason for the name of this blog. My grandma always told us before we left her house, or a family function, or got off the phone with her "I love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck". It stuck. It's our families motto. Thus becoming the inspiration for our blog.  Here's the original song:

Ultimately this marathon is for ME. But I'll tell ya what when it gets tough I can hear my grandma telling me to keep going and not to give up. To push through the pain and hard runs. And when those runs are over I can hear her say "I love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck". She's my number cheerleader right before my amazing family and friends!

Grandaddy and Grandma when they got married! Aren't they adorable?!

So what turned around for me you ask? My attitude and motivation! I'm not a quitter! And I'm not about to start being one! No matter how hard a run may be I am determined and committed to run this marathon not only for myself but for my grandma.

This morning I ran 13 miles and told myself although I was nervous it was going to be a great run and I was going to get through it. Well a positive attitude sure does the trick! I ran with my friend Kerri all through D.C. and it was incredible! It was cool outside, great temperature, and we couldn't have asked for better scenery... THE NATIONS CAPITOL! It was perfect! I finished the run with a great attitude and better outlook on my running.  

I mean isn't it BEAUTIFUL?! I totally don't take advantage of the city enough but knowing how relaxing and beautiful it is for running I've fallen in love all over again!

It's true: When the going gets tough the tough gets going! So for anyone out there who is struggling or has struggled with something as yourself this... Who are you doing it for? If your answer doesn't start with YOURSELF then you should really rethink why you're doing it. And as Nemo says "Keep on keepin on!"

What gets you through the tough times??

ps: I started doing SPIN at the gym!! It's awesome!!!! more on this later:)