thanksgiving rambles

every year the sterling family does a football thanksgiving day pool for the games that are on. its $5 to enter (which i never have so ty always pays for me) and i never win. ever. (shocking). so heres how this year goes:
game 1 12:30 green bay @ detroit
  winner green bay (youre welcome jeri)
  total points 43
game 2 4:15 miami @ dallas
  winner dallas
  total points 40
game 3 8:15 san francisco @ baltimore
  winner san francisco
  total points 37

the winner is whoever gets the most games right. but incase of a tie:
closest to total points game 2
closest to total points game 1
closest to total points game 3

lets be honest, i dont know football. think of me as the roll of rachel or phoebe in friends season 2 thanksgiving episode:
rachel- "we should definitely play football more often... maybe theres like a league we could join or something"
phoebe- "isnt there.like a national football league?"
chandler- "yes they play on sunday and monday nights"
rachel- "oh shoot, i work monday nights"

(speaking of friends, this is what i did last night/this morning)

oh yeah, all the thanksgiving episodes

so trying to pick teams for this thing is way over my head. so i did what all non football watching people would obviously do... i let my cat make the decision (as if there were another way).

and how did i get total points? (do i even know how to score football? i once asked if you could throw it through the yellow things to get points. so the answer is clearly no). so i went to week 2 of the season (cuz 2 is part of 22 which is my favorite number) and took the scores from each teams game and added them up. brilliant! but 2 things: i didnt think green bay vs. detroit would be 78 total points (GB scored 30 that week, detroit scored 48) so i gave detroit 13, just because. that might be low but i dont care. also, i couldnt find the score for the baltimore game from week 2... cuz i was looking for the orioles. smart. so we'll see what happens.

i again ran the thanksgiving day 4 miler this morning. i started way too far back in the crowd and couldnt get a good pace going til the about a half mile in cuz it was so crowded with people (going much slower than i wanted to go). the weather was great (cold but not too windy) and i felt awesome! there was no starting line mat for pace so i (hope i) started my watch when the gun went off to get accurate timing...

if its right then i got a 2 second PR!!

mile 1: 8:32

mile 2: 7:36

mile 3: 7:20

mile 4: 7:38

see what i mean about that first mile?

and again speaking of friends, katie, ally and i have been texting back and forth with only friends thanksgiving episode quotes. this is absolutely why i love these girls.

  "happy needless turkey murder day!"

  "married a lesbian, left a man at the altar, fell in love with a gay ice dancer, threw a girls wooden leg in the fire, live in a BOX!"

  "when i get back i want you and your friends to be gone. thanksgiving is over. the vein has spoken!"

  "you won an adult thanksgiving day spelling bee? yes. Y-E-S."

  "come on Will, just take your shirt off and tell us about it"

 

oh the true joy this brings me...

and finally... happy thanksgiving. i am thankful for so many things its hard to put them all down into a list... but in no particular order

i am thankful for:

  ~the most amazing family and friends

  ~my supportive husband

  ~the support that we got this summer during an indescribably difficult time

  ~duke university hospital for giving the most amazing brother, son, fiance, brother- in-law, & friend, 3 more years on this unpredictable earth

  ~amazingly supportive co-workers

  ~my ability to run, work, breathe 

  ~dunkin donuts being open this morning cuz im too lazy to make it myself

  ~the best friend a girl could ever ever ask for

  ~my kitty for being such a spaz but keeping me on my toes
  ~ranch dressing, fried food, and complex carbohydrates

  ~sweatpants

this list could go on and on... :) happy turkey day to all!

turkey trot 5k, shutterfly, & early bday gift!

and for the 16th time (spoiler alert!) i did not get 22:xx in the dreaded 5k distance. ive even been doing core strengthening exercises which my chiropractor swore if i started doing i would get it (see if i ever trust him again... OR do any more core exercises. waste.of.TIME!) what i didnt account for was dead out sprinting in colder air than im used to (lets be honest, my runs lately havent exactly focused on "speed work"). add in the fact that i started off too fast (yet again, apparently i NEVER learn... hi 6:15 pace coming out of the high school), the wind in our faces from mile 1 to 2 (awesome), and again feeling like i had bronchitis coming up the last hill to the 3 mile mark, and we have you another 5k fail. end of story... but ill give you a little more just for shits & giggles.

this race has always been tough, with a downhill start and an uphill finish (who freaking designed THIS route?!) two years ago i went something along the lines of 7:05, 7:45, 9:12. EPIC third mile fail (this was the year i vowed never to do 5k's again, and since then ive done 11 more. i dont listen to myself too well). last year was a little better, but not by much 7:32, 8:00, 8:46.

i made sarah start on the starting line with me, much to her dismay. the race has timing D-tags (who uses D-tags anymore?!) but no starting mat (i KNOW!) so if i was going to get my exact time, i sure wasnt starting somewhere that was going to cost me a couple of seconds (we all know i wouldnt handle that well). mind you i know im not a "start of the pack" runner (the winner of the race finished in 16:15), but there i stood anyway. right after we took off i heard sarah scream behind me "i do NOT run this fast!!" hehe, well thanks for not leaving me alone up here! like i mentioned before, i took off like i was being chased and when i checked my watch it read 6:15 pace. whoops.

this race is in my hometown and my grammy (from illinois) is staying with my mom and dad for awhile so they drove up to the town center so grammy could watch me race (it was her first time spectating one of my races!). i knew they were going to be at my dentists office which is right around the first corner of the race, so i made sure to stay on the left side of the road so they wouldnt miss me. as i turned the corner i saw my mom and started to yell up to her. then i saw my dad with his camera (i have yet to see what those gems turned out to look like), and then my mom motioned to grammy in the van that i was coming. she saw me and she started waving like crazy with a huge smile on her face. of course i teared up and started blowing her kisses. it was a really special moment for me and her as well. (she just celebrated her 90th birthday).

so of course that started the whole "when you cry during races you cant breathe" thing, but i quickly got myself together and sprinted on. just before mile 1, jamie came up beside me and said "just maintain 7:20s and youll get it". i thanked her and told her good job, and she went up ahead. as i looked up at the mile 1 clock ahead of me it read 6:58. so much for consistent 7:20s.

mile 1: 7:11

we ran into the wind until the turn right before mile 2 (always fun). i think i had already given up on 22:xx idea at this point, but thought maybe just maybe there was a chance, so i wasnt going to risk it (since i did just bank time on that first mile... BAD way to think, i know). as i approached mile 2, hollie passed me (but apparently didnt recognize me), so i called out her name and we chatted for a few seconds.

mile 2: 7:40

then we went up the first hill... yuck. i looked at my watch and knew i had to kick some ass (since mile 2 was significantly slower than mile 1). then it was a slight downhill before another uphill. i really felt like walking up the last hill into the final stretch, but i gave it all i had (which was killing my lungs). as we turned into the school i saw the mile 3 clock read 21:30 but knew i still had over 0.1 to go (read: i MUST work on speed work).

mile 3: 7:59

i crossed the finish line in 23:41 (no it didnt take me 71 seconds to run 0.1miles, i dont need speed work THAT bad... the clock was still a ways ahead of me when we got into the school). i felt defeated once again... but it is what it is. ill get it at some point (as if you all thought i wasnt still going to try, HA!)

0.1 miles: 51 seconds (8:30 pace... ok yeah, need some speed work)

overall: 112/603
25/342 female
7/53 age group 30-34

i drank a few beers later on that evening and forgot all about it (of course ill be doing another 5k before the year is over) and then two awesome things happened this week which made me smile:

1. molly had a shutterfly card giveaway and i won! i never win anything, so of course im psyched! (although ty doesnt want to use a wedding pic for our holiday cards this year cuz "it was a YEAR ago" he says... yeah. THIS YEAR. ahem. (not my fault we got married on 1/1/11). this is the only year we can actually USE a wedding photo as our holiday card. hrumph. we'll see what happens.

and

2. the UPS guy came to MY house today and had something for ME!! eeeeeven though its not technically my birthday i decided to open it anyway. (dont worry, i texted cassie to see if she approved. she did) (side note, gift was from her, i didnt just call a random and ask)

its from thirty one!!

omg i am SO in love. obvs. love my best friend so much :)

my 12th half marathon

2011 All Women & One Lucky Guy Half Marathon
age group: 74th / 117
overall: 647th / 979
time: 2:15:05 (10:19)

and incase you were wondering...
1 lucky guy- Jeff Twombly, age 41
finished 317th in 1:59:44

*my first heart shaped medal

i was so happy to run with my friend Liz... she just moved back from arizona recently :)

fun fact:

i ran with her for her very 1st half in 2006,

and this race was her 5th!!

i thought it would be fun to look back at the many faces of my 12 half marathons...

(clearly for your viewing pleasure)

luckiest in love ornament swap!

do you guys follow Laura? well you probably should head on over there, cuz its that time again...



im so excited and i think it will be fun to find a fun ornament for someone!
sign up HERE

and for whoever gets matched up with me, please keep in mind were
again putting up the pink christmas tree this year!!

october recap, november goals, & challenge update

looking over the number of times i ran in october and the total number of miles, im slightly embarassed. so of course, why not let everyone know all about it! two of my favorite people do monthly recaps (go visit her and her) so im gonna steal a little bit from both of them and i know they wont mind (and if they do well fine, sorry, ill bring you beer and snacks and glitter? please dont unfriend me kthanksbye).

october recap:

days in the month: 31
days i ran: 13
miles run: 89 (tied with may for highest month)
races run: 2 marathons + a 5k
total running time: 14:06:13
fastest mile: 7:30
slowest mile: 11:30
highest weekly milage: 40 (highest ever!)
# of times i became a marathon maniac: 1
# of times i cursed the attempt to become a marathon maniac: 58
bike miles: 18
swim time: 0
# of days that involved beer: 28 (dont judge me)
ab workouts: what are abs?
# of triathlons i signed up for: 1
favorite run: MDI. hands down.
song on repeat: jet lag by simple plan ft. natasha bedingfield
favorite 365 project photo:

november goals:
less beer (or not)
discover your ab muscles
get in the pool
figure out a tentative 2012 race schedule (aka: choose a marathon, or 4)

(they may not be a whole bunch of "im gonna save the world this month" goals, but its a start. a slow, manageable start).

challenge update!!

did you forget already?

original challenge

and

challenge accepted!

jeri's current 2011 race times:
5k- 23:09
10k- 49:27
1/2- 1:50:57
full- 4:25:09
   total: 7:28:42

my updated current 2011 race times:
5k- 23:37 (took off 53 seconds)
10k- 51:06
1/2- 1:52:18
full- 4:18:03
   total: 7:25:04

current leader: DANIELLE. by 3 minutes 38 seconds.

  
jeri is running the philly marathon in 2 weeks and has a good chance to pull out ahead of me. to take the lead she needs a 4:21:30 or better (i think i did that math right...). im praying for strong head winds and maybe some snow... :) i have a half marathon sunday which i could maybe take off another minute or so, but thats pretty much the last chance i have (with only 2 more 5k's on my schedule). regardless this has been an awesome challenge and im excited to see how it ends up!

so whos up for a challenge next year? :)