I Need More Sleep

I debated turning off my alarm last night. We stayed up later than I intended, and the thought of waking up early so I could go run didn't sound very fun.

When it did go off this morning, I hit snooze, and tried to come up with an excuse to go back to sleep. Tom convinced me to get up, and I made the drive to meet up with my weekend running group.

Of course, I'm so glad I did.

The weather was really nice after last weekend's sub-zero temperatures. The sun was out and it was in the 40s for most of our run. And as an added bonus, I felt really good for the entire 7 miles!

My GPS lost me at some point, because it only came up with 6.5 miles. I've run those trails enough to  know that's not quite right.

I'm really good at getting less sleep on the weekends than I do during the week. I stay up later and then wake up around the same time as I usually do. It's not the best system.

Do you get more sleep during the week or on the weekend?

Any exciting plans for your Sunday?

Thanksgiving, Playing Chicken and Shopping

How was your Thanksgiving?

We had a pretty laid back holiday, which was really nice. Tom was up dark and early to do a little sitting in the woods hunting with our neighbor. Buddy and I had a relaxing morning and I finally got myself out the door around 10 to go for a run.

My watch is back and fully functional!

TomTom customer service was wonderful and the only thing I had to pay for was shipping the busted watch back to them. I ran an easy 8 with my audiobook, took a short break at home and then went back out for another 2 with Tom and Buddy. Ten Thanksgiving miles before the big meal.

The house was too hot when we got home, so we spent a little cool off time in the yard. Sometimes when Buddy is running around the yard he plays chicken. He runs straight at you and then veers off to one side or the other at the last second and just keeps on running. Only yesterday, instead of holding still, I tried to move out of the way and took his giant head right to the side of my knee. I ended up on my butt, facing the opposite direction I had been standing. Tom did a really good job of making sure I wasn't actually hurt before he started laughing. There's definitely a bruise, but I'll survive.

We went to Tom's friend's house for dinner and had a nice time visiting with everyone and eating way too much food - as is traditional.

I spent most of today thinking that it was Saturday, and doing dishes. I have no idea how two people create so many dishes. We're just talented like that. Plus I checked out a few online black Friday deals and did a little Christmas shopping from the comfort of my couch. I don't do black Friday. People are crazy.

Did you brave the crowds and go shopping today?

What was the best part of your Thanksgiving? 

The Best of Both Worlds

One of the preschoolers I teach has decided that my name is Miss Betty. I tried correcting her the first few times, but have since given up.

Miss Betty at your service.

Buddy is a ridiculously good dog when it comes to food.

That chewy box behind his bed is his food, there's another bag of food behind it, and his new favorite bone on top. He leaves all of it alone, even when we're not home.

I did pretty much all of my marathon training without my iPod. People in our neighborhood drive like maniacs (even though the speed limit is 30mph) and I like to be able to hear if they're coming. Since my runs lately have been a little depressing, I decided to see if having some music would keep my mind busy so I could actually get more than a few miles in. The music definitely helped (I only had one headphone in so I could still hear cars) and I got a pretty good 5 miles in.

I used to tell my running friends that I wasn't happy until mile 4. Maybe I just haven't been running long enough lately.

I'm loving the new Pro Marathon Elite socks that Tom bought me for my birthday! They're the best of both worlds, cushy on the feet and tight on my calves. 

It was WARM and I ran in shorts and a tank top - what is happening November?

My TomTom decided I didn't nee to worry about my pace and refused to track anything other than the running time and my heart rate. The distance/pace showed 0.00 the entire time. Thanks watch.

Buddy and I spent some time working on his fetch game this afternoon.

He still prefers keep away to fetch.

Only a few days left to enter my hemp hearts giveaway - get over there and click on some things!

My Marathon Training Must Haves

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Now that I've (mostly) made it through my marathon training, I thought I would share a few things that helped me make it through this training cycle.

Shoes (duh) - I used to do most of my running on trails and the treadmill. This time around I was 100% on the roads, which meant that some of my favorite shoes didn't work as well for me as they had in the past. I used to do most of my running in Brooks PureFlows, but for most of this training cycle I have run in Mizuno Wave Riders and Saucony Zealots.

I have mixed things up shoe-wise for shorter runs, but for long runs, those are my go-tos.

Calf sleeves - This is the first training cycle I have run with calf sleeves.

I love the compression and support of PRO Compression Marathon socks (and wear them for post-run recovery), but the foot part doesn't work for me when I'm running. I need more cushion. I have had problems with my calves cramping during half marathons before, so I figured these couldn't hurt. I wore them for all of my long runs and I really feel like they have helped me. It's possible that it's all in my head, but either way works for me!

Shorts - Until this summer I pretty much always ran in capris. I could do that because I had my treadmill in our air conditioned basement. I haven't used my treadmill since we moved because it's currently in the garage, which is definitely not air conditioned. Every single run has been outside, which means I had to find some shorts that worked for me. Loose shorts ride up, move around and generally drive me insane, so I ended up finding a couple of pairs from Oiselle (the Long Flyte and Vela shorts). They have perfectly respectable inseams, so I don't feel like things are exposed. They're also super comfortable and don't ride up.

Body Glide - No matter how in shape I get or how thin I am, my thighs will always touch. That's just life. Body Glide has saved me from some serious pain this summer. It's cheap, it's easy, and it makes it so you can run chafe-free for hours. Necessary.

TomTom Runner Cardio - I'm addicted to the data. I need to know how fast, how far, the elevation, my heart rate (with no chest strap!) and anything else my watch cares to tell me. I have gotten better about not checking my pace every three seconds, but I love having the stats to check out after my run. Plus I'm terrible at planning my runs, so I'm a big fan of running out until my watch tells me I'm halfway, and then I turn around and head home!

Road ID - Especially if you're like me and you don't usually run with your phone (I pretty much only take it on long runs), a Road ID is a great idea. Mine has my name, birth year, Tom and my mom's phone numbers, my blood type, and the fact that I don't have any known allergies. All great information to have readily available just in case. You can personalize them however you want, and there's even space to add a motivational quote if you want. I keep mine with my watch so I actually remember to wear it on my runs.

Sunscreen - You don't need me to tell you to wear sunscreen, right? I'm a fan of the spray kind for my body because I'm lazy, and I absolutely love the Peter Thomas Roth Instant Mineral SPF for my face. If you read the reviews, you'll see that some of the bristles fall out, and that if you don't follow the directions you can make a big mess with it. Neither of these things is a big deal to me, and I love not putting goopy sunscreen on my face. I somehow made it through summer marathon training without getting a sunburn this year - gold star for me! The only sunburn I've gotten is when I was spectating at Tom's adventure race and completely failed to put sunscreen on my legs.

Hydration Pack - I hate carrying things when I run. I will do everything in my power to not hold anything. I have a Nathan Trail Mix fuel belt that has worked alright for me in the past, but the water bottles are tiny, and I knew they weren't going to cut it for my longer runs this summer. Enter the Teton Trailrunner 2.0 - you can't escape the sloshing sound no matter how you carry your water, and there is a slight plastic taste, but this pack does the trick.

It has a small mesh pocket on the front where I keep everything from my fuel to my phone (in separate ziplock bags). It is open at the top, but I never once had anything fall out. The only thing I really wish this pack had is a place to clip my house key.

Race day is officially a week away - I can't believe it's already here!

Pace or Effort?

I'm having a debate. I'm thinking about covering my watch screen with masking tape or blue tape for the marathon.

My favorite halfs have been the ones where I ran by feel and wasn't focused on my pace the entire time. I only get one first marathon, and I really want to take it all in and enjoy it.

At the same time, I've been told that pacing at the beginning of Steamtown is key. The biggest mistake you can make on the course is going out too fast on the early downhills. If I cover my watch I can't check my pace to make sure I'm not taking off too quickly.

I had a really good run today! I feel like it's been a really long time since I said that. It was a short (4 mile) pace run, and I was shooting for 9:00 pace. I was feeling pretty good and pushed the pace. I ended up running my 4 miles at an average pace of 8:30!

Tom spent most of the day digging a trench down to the septic pipes.

Parts of this trench are waist deep!

The plumber was here the other day, and apparently the septic was starting to back up. We're hoping replacing the old pipes fixes the problem because everything else seems to be working the way it's supposed to.

How was your running this weekend?

Should I cover my watch screen for the marathon?

I'm bad at bedtimes

No matter how hard I try, I can't make it to bed on time on Fridays. 6:45 was too early again today.

I started the day off with a peanut butter English muffin and coffee.

As per usual.

It didn't feel very cold when I walked Buddy, but the start of the run was definitely pretty chilly. A few brave souls were actually in shorts today!

I had fun poring over all my stats from my TomTom when I got home. I'm not sure about the default max heartrate/heartrate zones. According to my watch, I was in my top zone for over a half hour, which I don't think is right. I'm investigating. We covered 6.5 miles with an average pace of 8:59. As an added bonus, I didn't fall today!

After some more coffee (and apple pie) I tried out another workout from Gigabody. This time I tried the Ballet Body workout. Aside from feeling terribly ungraceful, I liked it and will probably do it again.

Buddy found some sunshine.

Sunshine is his favorite. And food...and Tom...

Tom made deep dish pizza for dinner. Buddy only acted a little weird while the oven was on.

Someone is coming to look at the house tomorrow...we have a bit of cleaning to do.

Do you monitor your heart rate when running/working out? Do you trust the "zones"?

Buddy's hiding and I cleaned the oven

I cleaned the glass on the oven door today. I don't really know why (other than the fact that it was dirty, but that's never inspired me before), but it's really clean now!

It's kind of hard to tell just how dirty this was, since I didn't think to take a picture until I had already started. I made a paste out of baking soda and water and let it sit for 20 minutes. Then I scrubbed and scrubbed and SCRUBBED.

And now it looks like this:

So pretty!

I did an easy 4 miles while I watched part of a documentary about Burt of Burt's Bees (It's called Burt's Buzz). It's pretty interesting so far, I needed a break from Gilmore Girls - I've only seen every episode 10+ times.

I also spent some time playing with the resistance bands I bought Tom for Christmas. :)

Buddy has been hiding on the side of the couch because Tom has the oven on and he's sure the smoke alarm will go off at any moment.

Crazy, neurotic dog.

I'm still figuring out all the nifty features of my new gps watch. I haven't used it outside yet, so I'm looking forward to taking it out on my group run tomorrow. Now I just have to try not to stay up way too late like I do every other Friday night.

...Right.

What shows/movies have you watched WAY too many times?

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Merry Christmas!

We had a fun morning unwrapping presents and watching Buddy unwrap his presents. We should have taken a video, it was pretty cute. He gingerly ripped little pieces of wrapping paper off and spit them out. Now he has a pile of toys for us to trip over.

And that's not even all of them.

Tom got me a TomTom Runner Cardio for Christmas - he's the best :)

Naturally, I had to take it for a short run (it can be used on the treadmill!) to try it out. It's really neat, and now I have all kinds of new stats I can keep track of. :)

We spent the rest of the day with Tom's family, eating tons of good food and visiting with everyone. I also spent some time calling my family (they're all on the West coast) to wish them a Merry Christmas. It was a fun day!

I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas!

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