ooh breathe, just breathe

dear monday...

2012-02-13T12:45:00.000-05:00

care to join? link up...

dear monday, for the 2nd week in a row we meet up nice and early for 800m sprints and a bike brick. dont get used to this. come may 5th this is all ending. maybe.

dear blog, sorry i avoided you all week. i know i really need to catch up, which will happen tomorrow. or wednesday. maybe.

dear indeciciveness, (or dear dictionary... indeciceviveness? too many e's and i's... i dunno)... anyway, dear waivering back and forth, cut the shit and just make a damn decision. no more maybes.

dear icanhascheezburger, you make my monday THAT awesome. i mean really, who doesnt love cute kittens?

dear 5k race distance, i think i just may have this whole consistency thing down now. after two races in a row going sub 23 i feel like that might be my new speed. and i kinda like it. but a 22:59 is cutting it real close, even if there was snow. and a cliff at mile 2.

dear self, i vaguely remember you saying "OH HELLZ NO, NO MORE RUNNING 5Ks"... oh like in november. of 2009. (fact.).

dear megan, thanks for tagging me for the 11 things... i havent forgotten about you! give me just a few more days, k?

dear drama from this weekend, seriously? what are we in high school? i just need to laugh.

dear whitney, i hope that you can find comfort and be at peace now. the countless number of times i cried listening to "all at once" when i was younger...

dear monday...

2012-02-06T14:15:00.000-05:00

i decided to start something new today... feel free to join every monday, and link up with megan if you do

dear monday, here you are again...

dear work, thank you for allowing me to have the morning off. sleeping until 8am was beyond awesome.

dear chips, i understand that you love to wake me up every morning by tapping on my cheek with your paw and butting your little head into mine. but mondays when i can actually sleep in are not the day to do it.

dear treadmill 800s, i have a serious love/hate relationship growing with you right now. sure you may think i that smile and head bob is for you, but i had some fantastic tunes goin on this morning and i got lost in my music. nothing about you makes me want to smile and head bob. go find sarah. she likes you more. but ill see you again next week and i will dominate you.

dear tom brady, ugh.

dear bella, i hope i get some answers soon cuz you really should have picked jacob.

dear mom, im glad we taught you how to text message this weekend but you might want to find out if you have a texting plan now that youre texting us every hour.

dear extra 5lbs, wtf?

dear coffee, thank you for your yummy deliciousness this morning. it was exactly what i needed to start this week off on a good foot.

dear HIMYM, im happy to have a new episode tonight but seriously, if you dont hurry it up and end this charade i might freak out a lot.

dear stupid cell phone battery, cut the shit. i charge you every night, i dont see why you have to continuously die in the afternoon. i dont want to buy one of your fancy dancy big batteries. im sure the 6 zillion texts i send a day dont help. ill try to get better if you try. k thanks.

dear monday, bring. it. on.

mid winter classic

2012-02-02T15:35:00.000-05:00

its no real surprise that its cold in maine in the winter time. and while the (seemingly) entire country is 60+ degrees and everyones posting all over the internet that theyre wearing shorts, theres snow on the ground here and its in the 20s. so you all can just keep your damn warm weather, cuz were still running here, just a little more bundled up. end of rant....

for the past few years ive looked forward to running the mid winter classic 10 miler on superbowl sunday in cape elizabeth (where my parents live/i went to high school)... if not for the sole purpose of running 10 miles before stuffing my face with yummy food and downing many liquid calories. the weather can go either way... one year was brutally cold and windy, another in the 40's (and i was way overdressed).

last year it snowed the night before the race and they rescheduled the race, only to have race day be in the 40s and sunny/beautiful. then there was another snow storm on the day of the reschedule, so they cancelled the race. boooooo. i ended up running it on the treadmill anyway (participants in the race were told that people couldnt even come out and run along the course... not sure how they policed that one).

this course is pretty tough, with about 9ish good sized hills.

so running it on the treadmill last year wasnt as tough as the course, giving me a 1:22. the two previous years on the course i got 1:26:08 and 1:26:08. yes i got the very same time. i dont even know how that is possible. i got pretty upset, but its all in perspective i guess. i dont need to PR every race, im just happy i can run.

the weather report for this weekend looked pretty good (a little cold but no snow), and i was excited to run with a great group of people. sadly, my grandma passed away this past weekend so i will be flying to st.louis in the morning to head to her funeral. ive really been training with a lot of speed work over the past few months and i knew that i had it in me to blast the 1:26 on this course, so i thought i would just go run it on my own. the weather report for yesterday looked better than today so i tried to get myself psyched up to run. the rain wasnt helping.

welcome to cape elizabeth sign

the roads didnt look great, but it was 34 degrees and had been raining so i figured they wouldnt be too slushy and hopefully not icy.

the start

before leaving i looked up the pace for each mile in order to try and go 1:22. i didnt know if i really had it in me, and without others around me to push me i figured it was going to be pretty tough. but im ~~always~~ usually up for a good challenge, and i wanted to push myself. so i wrote the mile splits i needed on my arm. along with one of my favorite phrases:

(it looks a little red, rest assured i didnt tattoo myself)

the first mile or so is flat/downhill, so i figured i would be pretty fast. when i got to mile 1 and saw 8:04, i was pleased. the roads werent slippery at all, but i did have to be cautious with the cars since the sides of the road were limited due to the snowbanks (we dont have to deal with that during the race since they close one side of the road to cars... but i managed). knowing this course as well as i do, i knew the next mile had 3 gross hills, so i figured i would slow down a bit on those, and then maybe catch up on the flat mile after that.

the 3 hills came and went (not without me cursing the 2nd hill... yuck!) i like to power up the hills and then recover on the way down, and this seemed to work well. by the time i got to mile 3 i was warming up nicely, my feet were still dry, and i was actually enjoying this run. yay!

mile 3-4 is flat, and then you head up a hill, then a slight downhill, and another uphill towards mile 5. then you go over a marsh which is notorious for its wind. luckily it wasnt too bad (but it smelled!), and i grabbed my espresso love gu and continued on. i had added a few new tunes to the ipod which really powered me along.

another hill... then another one... and another one... blah. mile 6.5 brings the start of the beach to beacon 10k course which brought back memories of fun times and warmth! sadly, those great thoughts were short lived as i felt like i was about to throw up. my legs felt heavy, my stomach was doing funny things... i looked at my watch and it read 7:25. whoops! slooooooow down! i eased off a little and knew i didnt have much further to go. i hadnt even glanced at my mile splits on my arm at this point cuz i knew i needed 8:12s to get 1:22 and each mile had been way under so i knew i had banked a good amount of time. i remembered mile 8 split reading 1:05 something, and when i got to mile 8 my watch said 1:04... i was so excited, i knew i was going to do it! (but the last mile of the course is uphill, ugh...)

i think its about mile 8.5 when it starts to go uphill towards the high school, then its a downhill finish. although its not a huge incline, its a steady hill which i think sucks even more. but i powered through with some good tunes and sprinted towards the finish. when i stopped my watch on 10 miles, i couldnt even believe what my watch read:

holy!

i didnt think i had 1:22 in me... and i did 1:19!! a 6 minute and 56 second course PR :) heres how the splits actually turned out:

ill take it!

im extremely happy with how my run turned out, but im still sad that i wont be there to run with everyone on sunday. i need to be with my family and that is more important to me. and of course ill be back in time to watch the pats kick some new york a$$!!

january recap

2012-02-01T09:48:00.002-05:00

january recap

days in month: 31

# of workouts: 25

runs/miles: 16 runs/52.3 miles (up from 2011 9 runs/33.2 miles)

bike/miles: 5/35 miles (up from 2011 3/24 miles)

races: 2- frozen 5k & twitter road race 5k (up from last year, no races, but i ran in punta cana... that sadly did not happen this year)

# of 5k PRs: ONE! 22:02. sub 23 finally!!!!

# of new sneakers bought: 2 pairs of saucony kinvaras. love.

# of times ive gone back and forth about running a marathon this year: 6

# of times ive almost pressed submit on a marathon registration page: 2

# of times i thought about registering for THIS: once. then i almost threw up.

favorite run: hands down the frozen 5k race. i was successfully able to maintain a steady pace without completely bonking out during the 3rd mile.

# of times ive yelled "NO!", "GET OFF THE TABLE", and/or "STOP IT" to the cat: 358

# of hours spent on pinterest: countless. such a time suck. and i love it.

current song obsession: shake it out by florence + the machine

fave favorite 366project pic:

winter finally decided to show up in maine

february goals

ride more miles than feb 2011 (45 miles)
525m swim in 11 minutes (current time: 11:20
plank a day

the other day (maybe it was yesterday, this week has been weird) i saw Danica tweet this idea for the month of february, and i saw a few other people that are doing it too.... sometimes its tough to figure out pics of the day for my 366project, so i thought i would do this for february:

officially.sucked.in.

2012-01-30T11:59:00.003-05:00

ive known for a long time that im really really good at sitting in front of the computer and randomly searching for things. blogs. clothes. photography ideas. facebook stalking.

and then i found pinterest.

source: somewhere on google images

o.m.G. if this isnt the biggest time suck of all the things i already was so good at searching the internet for all in one spot, i dont know what is. but alas, i think its safe to say i might be addicted. have i pinned everything on the planet? no. am i likely to ever buy any of the clothes or make any of the recipes? probably not. but the last few days have been kinda fun trying to figure it all out (thank you, sarah, for aiding in this new obsession).

found here

fact.

so i thought i would put together some of my favorite outfits like my very own pinterest board. but i didnt really know how to do it like other people do on there so i came up with my own way. and since picnik is leaving us high and dry on april 19th (waaaaaa, sarah understands my pain even more than me), i figured i would use them. and my clothes is way cheaper than the ones you probably will find on pinterest cuz im poor. well not really poor, but more like cheap. and i wear clothes until they fall apart.

for those days when i actually go to work...

(dont worry, i wear socks and understuff too)

(the hoodie is essential... the hospital is ALWAYS cold)

its finally winter time here in maine
(throw in a headband and some gloves too)

(i have at least 10 pairs of those feetures socks. love.them.)

since i only work 3 days a week, i usually roll out of bed on my days off and get into something comfy... like these...

(i have been known to leave the house and go out in public wearing that as well. i have no shame)

buuuut if for some odd reason i have to get dressed, this is usually the norm

and if i head to the gym cuz its just toooo cold to run outside

these are my go-to items

(yes i often wear a hat or headband)
(and i just got the lululemon tank yesterday but i forsee wearing that every day. forever)

incase any of you were thinking: where are her cute scarves to accompany those awesome outfits? what about the matching nail polish? bangles and earrings?

hahahahahahahahaha. no.

im sure this is just a fad, although i think its been around for a while now and im just jumping on the preverbial bandwagon late in the game. whatever, it keeps me occupied amidst chasing my crazy cat all over the house doing things she shouldnt. feel free to follow my randomness if you so desire...

11 things

2012-01-27T11:20:00.001-05:00

yesterday i came upon christy's newest blog post.... and she tagged ME to do the 11 things post that everyone is doing. yay! (i had really wanted someone to tag me, so thanks christy! i knew someone would come through haha)

the rules:
1. you must post the rules (ok, well i guess here they are... do i have to follow them?)
2. post 11 fun facts about yourself (ill try to make them "fun" if only for a certain somebody who tends to think im not fun in any way, unless i hurt myself)
3. answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and then create 11 new questions for the people you tagged
4. tag people and link to them on your post
5. let them know youve tagged them (um hi christy, you didnt let me know!! good thing i found out myself!)

alright, so the fun facts about me:

1. i only drink water, milk, beer, and the occasional glass (bottle) of wine. no juice, no soda, no hard alcohol. i had a really bad experience with vodka one time, and that was the end of it.

2. im not sure what a "brazilian blow out" is, but i hear it advertised on the radio. and it truly freaks me out.

3. ill take looking at pics of jennifer anniston and rachel bilson over hot guys with no shirts on any day. my husband is aware of this.

4. i have to shave my legs in the winter. im not one of those people that can just let that go.

5. i want to marry josh turner. or at least have him sing me to sleep every night. again, my husband is well aware.

6. whenever the llbean catalog arrives i go through and cut out the golden retriever puppy pics and hang them up on the cork board in the kitchen. i have issues.

7. i can get ready for work or to go out in 10 minutes if i have to. shower, hair elastic, clothes. done.

8. ive painted my nails while driving before. im pretty sure if texting is illegal while driving, painting my nails sure should be as well.

9. i often wear my senior year college basketball sweatsuit. out in public.

10. i dont understand tosh.0 or chelsea handler or that show 30 rock. not interested, dont care. add all the housewives of wherever. no thanks.

11. ive only ever had my eyebrows waxed. im extremely scared of anywhere else. ouch.

and the questions that christy asked us to answer (cuz shes just dying to know, im sure)

1. how long have you been blogging and what made you start blogging?
i started blogging over two years ago, october 27th, 2009 to be exact. i really dont know what made me start blogging but im so glad i did, for many reasons.

2. whats your favorite way to spend a saturday and/or a day off of work?
oh you mean like today? id say i love to sleep in, but that usually doesnt happen. i enjoy getting caught up on stuff around the house and just relaxing, reading, and working out.

3. do you wear makeup?
i occasionally wear eye shadow and mascara. i dont own foundation. i have lipstick from my wedding, that i wore once. that day.

4. if you could tell your 15 year old self one thing about where you are now, what would it be?
be patient and dont doubt yourself.

5. whats your favorite easy go-to meal?
peanut butter toast with banana. with a side of thin mints.

6. are you a sports fan? whats your favorite sports team?
absolutely!! duke mens basketball is my favorite sports team, mens college bball is my favorite sport, then the red sox, then the cardinals, then the patriots.

7. do you like to travel?
yes but i dont do it nearly enough. and i hate to fly.

8. if money were not an object and your boss said to you tomorrow "go take a week off and do something fun", where would you go and what would you do?
id go back to punta cana and have our honeymoon allllll over again.

9. do your family/friends know you have a blog? do they read it?
they sure do! i know my mom and mother in law read it. a few of my friends read it. i dont think my dad knows i have one. my step dad doesnt know how to turn on a computer. i think ty skims it every now and then (and for my wedding gift he got my first year of my blog book bound for me... inscription read: danielle- this book, and the pages within, chronicles a year of humor, ambition, determination, and love. i couldnt think of a better way to memorialize the day of our wedding than to give you a tangible example of all the qualities i love about you. love always, ty). awwww.

10. whats your favorite fashion accessory?
fashion? whats that? i wear the same necklace everyday (have since 2003, only have taken it off a handfull of times)... my mom gave it to me for my college graduation- its a solitaire diamond necklace with the diamond from her engagment ring with my real dad.

11. valentines day- yay or nay?? i like cards and chocolate :) i think flowers are a waste of money, but i usually get them haha

tagged people (dont worry, you dont HAVE to do this... but you should, duh.)

Sarah E. - tales of a running mom
Ally - the shabby princess
Jessie - kissing frogs
Julia - double d athlete
Sara - middle aged runner
Leah - eat breathe sweat
Sarah A. - feet fail me not
Jen - running with the girls

11 super awesome questions for you

1. what is your favorite blog(s) to read and why? (bonus points if its mine hahaha jk, kinda)
2. if you are a runner/swimmer/biker/all 3... whens your next race?
3. coffee or tea?
4. what is your favorite recipe? (write it in here so we can all have it!)
5. what tv show do you never miss?
6. what is the best book you've ever read?
7. peanut butter... discuss.
8. if you could eat one thing for the rest of your life for all meals what would it be? (i like food, can you tell?)
9. what article of clothing do you own that you would be devistated if you lost or it somehow got thrown out?
10. what kind of cell phone do you have?
11. are you going to the movie theater on march 23rd???

fun fact friday

2012-01-20T13:29:00.000-05:00

1. i actually got dressed today. with real clothes. i dont really know why, i have nothing to do (read: should have just stayed in sweatpants and a hoodie).

2. my closet is color coordinated. its really sad but i would never find anything if it wasnt this way.

3. ive lived in missouri, illinois, maine, new york, massachusetts, and arizona.

4. random things/texts/pics/etc makes me smile.

5. i would love to have a "shop" on etsy. just gotta figure out what i would sell...

6. this morning i was too lazy to clean out the dishwasher (clean dishes) so that i could put the dirty ones in there. so instead i washed all the dirty dishes by hand. in my head it made sense. now i still have to put the clean dishes away.

7. i set 2 alarms when i need to get up in the morning. i get afraid the power will go off or my cell phone will die.

8. i make to-do lists for EVERYTHING.

9. my cousin is 11 months older than i am. we spent so much time together when i was younger and i really looked up to her. she has 5 kids (vs my zero). i dont know how she does it.

10. ive broken my nose twice. once heading a soccer ball (yes im aware i did it wrong), and once was jumping into a jeep with the top down and i hit the roll bar.

10 day you challenge- 1

2012-01-20T09:35:00.001-05:00

one picture (of yourself)

how do i even choose ONE picture of myself? i take pics of myself all the time!
is it supposed to be a pic of me right now? (i havent showered, ill pass). a recent one? old?
its my blog, so i can do what i want.

the morning of my 5th marathon (mount desert island)

this photo says a lot about me... im smiling before running 26.2 miles (knowing whats coming!)
its my 2nd marathon in 2 weeks.
im a little crazy, im ~~always~~ usually happy, and i love it.

10 day you challenge- 2

2012-01-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

two songs

anyone that knows me well enough knows that i am constantly finding new

songs and falling in love with them. picking two is tremendously difficult... but if i have to...

1. come away with me - norah jones

2. better days - goo goo dolls

10 day you challenge- 3

2012-01-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

three films

shes having a baby

wizard of oz

st. elmos fire

10 day you challenge- 4

2012-01-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

four books

10 day you challenge- 5

2012-01-16T08:58:00.001-05:00

five foods

1. french fries

2. ranch dressing

3. monkey bread

4. chips

5. salmon

im soooooo healthy.

10 day you challenge- 6

2012-01-15T11:34:00.000-05:00

six places

1. hamel/prairietown, illinois

2. punta cana, dominican republic

3. cape elizabeth, maine

4. phoenix, arizona

5. disneyworld

6. elmira, ny

10 day you challenge- 7

2012-01-14T15:30:00.001-05:00

seven wants

1. a nap

2. my student loans/credit cards paid off

3. calorie free french fries and ranch dressing

4. a puppy

5. jennifer anniston as my neighbor (that would benefit so many more people than just me!)

6. to find out who the mother of teds children is. seriously.

7. clarity.

fun fact friday

2012-01-13T13:35:00.000-05:00

1. i really love my work schedule: 12 hour days/3 days a week. ive had a 9-5 job once when i lived in phoenix and i hope i never have one again. (other jobs have been 3-11p or 4p-12a).

2. goo goo dolls. forever.

3. ive got a pot roast in the slow cooker and im making whole grain chocolate chip cookies.

4. we bought our tickets this week: 91 days til im lying on myrtle beach!

5. for the amount we pay per gallon for propane, i think they should have to shovel their own damn path to our tanks.

6. some things are just better left unsaid.

7. i refuse to leave a bottle of riesling unfinished.

8. i think i would like to visit DC this year.

9. my brother seriously wants to marry paula dean. can you blame him? mmmmm butter.

10. i now own a pair of purple hunter boots.

11. a) at two of my friends weddings (i was in both of them) i took over 500 photographs. each.
b) someday i hope to photograph a wedding. and get paid to do so.

12. i feel i have some sort of creativity inside me that hasnt yet flourished.
13. i wish i was left handed.

14. i already want another tattoo.

15. i drink milk chocolate muscle milk.

16. i got my belly button pierced for my high school graduation in 1999. they pierced it with an eyebrow ring, so i have few options in the way of jewelry. ive worn the same belly button ring (barbell) since i got it pierced. ill take it out midway through my 1st pregnancy and then im done with it.

17. i have 9 other piercings. all ears. i only wear the first holes.

18. where does all this laundry come from? you'd think we were a family of 6.

19. one is never enough.

happy friday everyone!

10 day you challenge- 8

2012-01-13T11:53:00.000-05:00

eight fears

1. death (my own and losing the ones i love)

2. flying. i seriously need xanax, and/or a lot of alcohol.

3. snakes

4. spiders (i know im so cliche, but really, those 4 are real fears)

5. michael flatley lord of the dance! ("his legs flail about as if independent from his body!") (come on, you knew that would be in there)

6. someday ill look as old as i really am (side note: someone said to me yesterday "youre like what, 20?" haha)

7. everything (everything) that can happen to my child (future child/children) (working in health care/as a respiratory therapist doesnt help that fear)

8. not being enough.

10 day you challenge- 9

2012-01-12T11:26:00.000-05:00

nine loves

1. my husband

2. ranch dressing (might be tied for 1st) (just kidding) (...maybe)

3. family & friends

4. fall in maine w/pumpkin spice lattes

5. taking pictures

6. thoughts of the future (future sometimes includes tomorrow. i get easily excited)

7. just baked oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

8. pink

9. girl scout cookies caramel delights. they will forever be samoas to me.

(side note: omg i just found THIS)

10 day you challenge- 10

2012-01-11T15:42:00.001-05:00

i saw this a few days ago (got the idea here) and decided i would give it a shot. something to do :)

what secrets do you guys not already know?? (oh there are soooo many)

im gonna go more with things you might not know about me, rather than secrets.

its safer that way.

1. im an elmira college mark twain scholar. hes an interesting guy, no joke.

2. im really bad at checking my voice mail. it could sit there for weeks, unlistened to. ill see you called and call you back... dont bother leaving a message cuz youll just repeat what you said when/if i call (see #6 below)

3. i have yet to decide if im team jacob or team edward. im leaning towards team jacob. especially since he's 6'7".

4. ive used the same wallet since march of 2010.

5. one of my calves is legit an inch smaller than the other.

6. id really rather not talk on the phone. it bugs me. unless im drunk, obviously.

7. when i was in 5th grade a large group of girls, me included, did a dance for the talent show. oh did we ever have some talent! we practiced in someones basement and put together some sort of ~~shitshow~~ awesome performance to "jump" by kris kross. we wore our jeans backwards, our "coed naked" shirts backwards (blast from the past there, huh?), and backwards hats. someone somewhere has it on video.

8. i wish i had closer/stronger relationships with some members of my family.

9. i used to have a guitar. my aunt got it for me. i used it to hold my pennies.

10. i have regrets... but over the past few years ive realized they have made me the person i am today. and i really love that person.

22:xx

2012-01-10T17:28:00.001-05:00

for about two years now ive been desperately trying to get a 22:xx in a 5k. ive come close a few times, and totally crashed and burned a few times. ive come to hate the 5k distance. a lot. i always start off too fast (6:58 for the first mile... yeah thats never good), then die around mile 2.5 (mile 3 has been known for its 9 min/miles). its never pretty.

in the last few months ive started doing more core work and speed work, in hopes that maybe a 22:xx 5k could be in my future. i did it a few times on the dreadmill, but i really wanted an official time in an official race.

last week i remembered that the scarborough frozen 5k was coming up, a race i had run back in 2010 for my 12 in 2010 resolution. (recap: here). i remembered it being flat, and it gave me a PR at the time. the race also starts at 1pm which is nice, especially in january when it can be very cold. i wanted to run but i decided not to tell anyone cuz i was sick of saying ok im gonna do it today! and then having to admit defeat. so i only told 3 people i was doing it.

then i came down with some stupid respiratory infection and felt like crap on saturday night. ty suggested i probably shouldnt run the race, which i agreed with... but ultimately changed my mind. i was going to suck it up and see what happens.

so my typical 5k looks like this:

1. wake up, oatmeal, coffee, water, ibuprofen.
2. leave for race, arrive, hang out with people, head to start line.
3. run race. fast for 1st mile, slower for 2nd mile, shitty for 3rd mile.
4. be disappointed in prosecution of shitty race.
5. go home. look for next 5k.

on sunday, i decided to change things up a little:

1. woke up, oatmeal, coffee, water, ibuprofen (some things will never change)
2. race started at 1 (woo hoo!) so i stretched a little (who am i??)
3. left for race, arrived, and ran a warm up mile (warm up? whats that?)
4. took an espresso love GU 15 minutes prior to race
5. run race:

so this is what happened... (side note: before i got out of the car, one of the people who knew about the race texted me "good luck". it was the 22nd text from him in our conversation. it was a sign!!)

i started on the start line since there wasnt chip timing. i took off at a 6:25 pace, and immediately slowed it down. we went up a slight hill to begin with but i knew the rest of the course was flat, so i settled in at a good 7:15 pace and tried to just keep my head into it. i got to mile 1 (7:04) and thought "oh great, another too fast start". but i felt really good so i continued on. my watch went back and forth between 7:10 and 7:25 pace, so i knew i was ok. when i got to mile 2 (7:14) i knew i had it unless something really bad happened in the 3rd mile (not unheard of). even on my worst days i knew i could run a 9 minute mile, i just had to continue to put one foot in front of the other and believe that i could do it.

at mile 2.5 i looked at my watch and the pace read 7:20. i was shocked... i think my thoughts were "i could probably walk the rest of this and still get 22:xx"... but i wasnt going to let that happen. i powered through the end and as we got close to the finish i saw the timing clock ahead and it read 21:56. holy shit i was really going to do this! (side note: if i had sprinted the last couple hundred yards we would have been talking 21:xx. new goal? ahhhhhh!)

i crossed the finish line and my watch said 22:02. BOOM! my 3rd mile was 7:19... although positive splits, i didnt do what i usually do during that 3rd mile and completely fall apart. i was beyond happy with my consistency and finally got what ive been trying for so long to accomplish.

age group 3rd place winner!

so i guess changing things up a little and actually stretching/warming up really helped. the espresso love gu also helped power me through those miles. i felt strong all the way through, despite breathing issues with this dumb respiratory infection.

so this means i dont have to run 5k's anymore, right?

i'm out.

2012-01-07T08:46:00.002-05:00

back in december i posted my 2012 race schedule (along with a pretty classy wedding photo... not talking about the royal wedding, although one of those is in there too).

anyway, that race schedule has 6 races on it. not one of those is a marathon. if you know me and have been following along for the last few years, thats probably a surprise to some of you. and to be honest, i even surprised myself.

ive gone back and forth about what i want to do in terms of my running... races, training, simple enjoyment. ive seemed to have lost that feeling... just putting on the sneakers and heading out the door. ive been training for marathons since 2009. i just.need.a.break.

thats not to say i already dont miss it. my original idea was to do either shamrock or national marathon, and training would have started pretty much now. then i decided to take a year off. then i changed my mind and decided to do sugarloaf in may. but the more i looked into training plans and sneakers and and and.... i couldnt commit. my mind is only half into it, and it needs to be 110% into it. my body tells me daily through the minor aches and pains that its had enough (for now), yet ive continued to ignore it day after day.

i want to run marathons again (yes, pleural). i want to run them strong and FAST. the sub four will be mine, one day. but not today. and not this year. i have a list of marathons that i want to complete someday, and i know in my heart i will make sure it happens. my husband, although he doesnt fully comprehend how/why i love running so much, is extremely supportive and i couldnt ask for anything more than that (he spends his money on expensive golf stuff and whiskey, ill spend my money on sneakers and races. and bud light, of course).

so all that being said, i made another big decision this week:

i pulled my application for the 2012 nyc marathon.

last year was the last year you could enter into the "if you dont get picked for 3 years in a row you are automatically guaranteed entry into the 4th year", and i did that. i had to enter this year to keep that open. so i did. then i thought more about it.

do i really have a good chance of getting in this year? no. but is it possible that i would get picked? yes. and this being the year that im not doing any marathons, chances are i would be picked just because i dont want to be.

if i got picked to run the marathon this year and i couldnt run it, i could defer it and be automatically in for next year! sweet, right? think again: the price this year to run the marathon (just to step foot on the starting line, run for 4 hours (well, 3:59:59 obviously), get your pic taken (smile!) and get a medal and maybe some bananas... $255. yes you read that right, no i didnt put the decimal place in the wrong spot. so if i got picked, and had to defer for some reason, i would PAY the $255, this april, and NOT run. and then next year, where im guaranteed to get in, i would pay $255 (or probably more im sure) AGAIN. so it would be $510. for bananas.

throw in there that i live 6 hours away, so i would have to drive. gas in november of 2013 will probably be like $5/gallon. do i know anyone that lives in nyc? um... susan? could i stay with you? who knows. so a hotel it is. $$$$$$$$$

with things that are going on right now in the way of money, i think the chance that i would have to pay $510 just to run ONE marathon is absurd. then i thought, well maybe i should take the chance and really hope i dont get it... ill only have to pay $255 next year or the year after to run it. (yes, i actually tried to rationalize this!).

please compare with me:
sugarloaf marathon: $60
maine marathon: $65
mount desert island marathon: $90

total for ALL THREE: $215

give me a break, nyc. when i put it in perspective, ill run around nyc someday when i go to visit. for free. i emailed 3 people at ny road runners and made a phone call and hadnt heard back so i figured there was no way they were going to take me out of the drawing. but alas, i got an email last night.

i'm out. for this year, and for the "hope" of getting in for 2014. for the sake of my bank account, im just fine with that.

fun fact friday

2012-01-06T09:36:00.004-05:00

1. im anxiously awaiting an email that ill probably never get so that i can write a blog post. sounds fun, right? stay tuned...
(update: got the email. blog tomorrow.)

2. im at work and feel like crap... again, so fun. this IS "fun" fact friday after all

3. i have maybe 6 different colors of nail polish. i rarely paint my nails, and when i do, it stays on until it cracks off/grows out

4. im pretty sure i sent a TMI text to a good friend yesterday. i do that sometimes.
(do you too want TMI texts? see #13 below. i have a lot of freetime, and love new friends)

5. im really going to try and take less kitten pics for this years 366 project (its a leap year). a puppy this spring should help.

6. with what little running i plan on doing this year, i think i will look into kinvaras. or vibrams. yes, i just said it.

7. i started lifting again. the bar is delightfully heavy (read: no upper body strength).

8. ive decided when it comes to the end of 2012, ill take a look back and figure out what i either did everyday or didn't do this year and make that my new years resolution. prediction: breathe & no pickles! its just easier.

9. my patients families in the intensive care unit this week are awesome. they also want us to get fat. this morning there were boxes of chocolate frosted donuts and harry & david goodies. who can resist?

10. seriously, why do they even make rye bread?

11. drinking a gallon of water a day is not always the easiest thing to do, but i have it down to a science... almost. 1 nalgene = 1/4 gallon... drink one from 9a-noon, noon-3p, 3p-6p, 6p-9p.

12. #11 causes me to pee. a LOT. and as added fun to my day, i just dropped my pager in the toilet.

13. i text like a teenager. its probably a really good thing i didn't have text messaging when i was a real teenager.

14. my basement is such a disaster i can't even go down there right now. maybe in the spring.

fun fact friday- 2011 recap edition

2011-12-30T16:46:00.014-05:00

january

1. we had a wedding

2. our DJ showed up late. looked like crap. didnt bring his 2nd man (who we paid for). he suddenly disappeared part of the way through the reception.

my husband found him sleeping in his car. he told us he would give us all our money back. he still owes us $200. when we last emailed him for the remainder of what he owed us,

HE told US to go fuck OURSELVES.

his name is Joe Lerman. he works for 107.5 frank FM. do NOT use him as your DJ.

3. we went on a honeymoon to the dominican republic

4. i drank a LOT of pina coladas. for breakfast.

5. on jan 1st i started my 365 project

february

6. we had some scary adventures in house hunting

7. 365 project continued

march

8. i had a slightly different scary adventures in babysitting

april

9. the hunting continued, and we found THE house

10. i tried a pickle. gross.

11. i joined lovely ladies on boylston for some 26.2 cheering

12. we had a roof top party to celebrate sub 3 for sam

13. katie and i drank. at 10am.

14. kept taking photos...

may

15 . a friendly bet ensued (runners are funny people)

16. a bunch of dirty little freaks were wrong in all the right ways

june

17. we bought our first home

july

18. we spent the majority of our time here

19. i spent the 4th of july with two of my faves on bustin island

20. can you guess?

august

21. heaven gained another angel

september

22. i learned a great way to pack a lunch box

23. i finally got the sub 23 5k

october

24. i ran my 4th marathon in the pouring rain

25. and 2 weeks later i ran my 5th marathon,

making me a marathon maniac

26. more. photos.

november

27. remember that friendly little bet? well i won :)

28. and this chica came to visit and we invaded llbean, at midnight, intoxicated.

29. we brought this little girl home with us

30. and then we brought this home with us.

december

31. this happened

32. we got this for a xmas gift. perfect.

33. and for the 3rd year in a row, i completed my new years resolution.

**please note**
that is NOT my ultrasound. danielle = really really NOT pregnant

2011 was filled with the highest of highs, and the lowest of lows.

but it was full of friends, family, and love all around.

cheers!

operation jack satellite 10k

2011-12-29T18:33:00.003-05:00

i wish i could put into words my feelings about the race i ran this week. i didnt win any awards. there was no timing chip, no water stops, actually i was the only person running the race on everett st/bridge st/methodist rd in westbrook, maine. but i wasnt the only person running this race in the united states. hell, people even ran it in another country! but it was the same race. for the same cause.

autism.

Sam started Operation Jack as his way of fighting autism, not only for his son, Jack, but for all other families and individuals affected by autism as well. he started with an idea and a gift to use his legs to run long distances, and his plan took off. sam ran 61 marathons last year (and i thought my 2 was a lot!) and raised a lot of money. on december 26th last year, the day of sams 61st marathon, there was also a "satellite option" where people could donate or fundraise and run 6.1 miles to honor what he was doing/had done throughout the year right from their own front door.

so we did it again. sam had another Operation Jack Marathon in california, and people from all over ran either a marathon, half marathon, 10k, or 6 hour race.

here were the facts sam came up with:
- Approximately 380 registered runners at the 2nd Annual Operation Jack Marathon in Manhattan Beach, Calif.
- 40 participants in the 2nd Annual Operation Jack Northwest Challenge in Portland, Oregon.
- 24 participants in the Operation Jack Satellite Marathon/Half Marathon in Houston.
- 15 participants in an Operation Jack Satellite Marathon/Half Marathon in Kabul, Afghanistan (yes, America’s finest were out there participating!).
- More than 50 people participating in satellite runs all over the country.

and, well, we all know of two people in texas who didnt run. (read THIS to read something really disturbing).

last year we had a great group of runners who represented Team Maine, tackling the distance on one of the coldest days december had to offer us (before a huge snow storm!) but we all came together and braved it for a great cause.

it was so cold even my camera fogged up!

due to the hecticness that is the holidays, we all just could not get together like we did last year, thus we were all running on our own. it was a beautiful day, about 40 degrees, and i went out to just enjoy the run and think back on this year. it ended up being a really great run, and i had negative splits (8:37, 8:30, 8:25, 8:18, 7:53, 7:20).

i thought a lot about sam, and jack, and everything else going on in my life. i had a rather emotional run but i smiled the whole way thinking that i knew what i was doing was making a difference somewhere. and its something i love to do and often take for granted. my lungs felt good, i could breathe in and out. my legs felt great, i could move them one in front of the other with ease.

2011 Operation Jack 10k: 50:32

best.medal.ever.

fun fact friday

2011-12-23T05:39:00.001-05:00

welcome to yet another super exciting edition of fun fact friday! (applause, applause). i know you are all so happy to be here, so lets see what awesomely interesting things i can come up with for you today! (read: i am lame and bored and my lifes not all too interesting or exciting but im gonna try to pull some random stuff out for you to spend the next few minutes reading about and then move on with your day).

1. theres this part of the highway i drive to work on where the speed limit starts at 55 and then about 5 miles later turns into 65. more often than not i forget the increase and cruise along at 55 for a few miles before i realize i could go faster.

2. ive gotten so many speeding tickets its ridiculous. cruise control is now my best friend.

3. picked up a night shift tonight. only 5 more hours to go... saving lives, no big deal. its a special power i have.

4. i wish i could like the "we fell in love in a hopeless place" song. i just cant. they just keep repeating that line over and over! (on a related note, she's making a hell of a lot more $ than i am just on that one song alone. sigh.)

5. the radio in our staff office just randomly turned on, playing 'step into Christmas'. neat.

6. ill admit to making a salad to bring with me to work and stopping at mcdonalds for chicken nuggets to put on it. sarah finds this highly amusing.

7. i often listen to my ipod in my car. the radio stations just don't do it for me all the time. and then ill forget and try to turn the car radio volume down. minor blonde moments.

8. i heard a song earlier from wicked that i really love... the lyrics were: "ive heard it said, that people come into our lives for a reason...". im a firm believer of that, for people past, present, & future. but there are people who are no longer in my life who once were and i miss them sometimes.

9. life is too short to not do what you want and have fun. im reminded of that each and every day.

10. my favorite movies are "st.elmos fire" and "shes having a baby". dont ever watch the second one if youre pregnant. someday ill make tyler watch it.

11. my phone ring tone is "ooh breathe, just breathe" by anna nalick, my blog is named after that song, i just tattooed "breathe" on my body... yet i do not have that song on my ipod.

12. i didnt apply to be on big brother this year like i said i was going to, but im still considering it for the future.

13. i dont remember the last time i applied any sort of make up.

14. i think ive talked more about jennifer anniston in the past few weeks than i have this whole year. thanks to sam.

15. im running two 10k's this weekend.

16. i have a complex over how the toilet paper is placed on the holder. it needs to roll OVER, not under. i change it if i find them under.

17. this warm december weather kinda freaks me out. maine is supposed to be cold and white right now.

18. i go skiing approximately once every 3 years. i am NOT good at it. i like taking breaks to have hot chocolate and french fries in the lodge.

19. my feet are always cold.

20. i feel strangely good about my decision not to run a marathon next year.

21. it needs to be march soon so i can go see hunger games. SO excited.

22. a) i put shane battier on my nba fantasy league team. i will still run away with you shane, give me a call. then we'll pick up Jennifer anniston and live happily ever after.
22. b) i dont even watch the nba, so my team should do real well.

happy snowy friday!

2012... we'll see what happens

2011-12-19T18:37:00.001-05:00

ok so there are 13 days left in the year...

hold up

wait a second

back the train up... THIRTEEN FREAKING DAYS?!

what happened to this year?!

....i think we all remember the first day of the year....

best set of progression photos EVER. hands down.

that.just.happened.

BUSTED!

and then there was this...

and im sure the bud light led to this...

classy.

it boggles my mind that that was 50 weeks ago.

anyway, moving on...

a lot happened this year, and quite fittingly i documented our first year of marriage... all the ups and downs, highs and lows, with my new years resolution.

no i wasnt really there.

yes i took a pic of the tv.

(that was pic # 119)

i havent quite figured out what im going to do with all of the photos just yet but ill figure it out.

i also havent yet figured out a resolution next year (no i will not be giving up potato chips again)...

(yes that really happened in 2009).

my whole 50 in 2011 wasnt a huge bust, a few just werent feasable. maybe ill carrry

it over into next year. my cousins getting married sometime so that will get us back to st.louis i hope.

so after going back and forth on a few things...

danielles's 2012 race schedule(please note this doesnt include boston. sad panda)

2/5- Mid Winter Classic 10 miler

2/11- Polarbear 5k

2/26- Hyannis Half

4/7- Great Bay Half or Race the Runways Half

5/5- Polarbear Sprint Tri (yikes!)

5/18- Mass RTB 200 mile Relay

and thats it.

yes i know its only til may.

im gonna volunteer/cheer my head off for lots of people i do & dont know.
(this also doesnt include boston. please dont hate me all my boston peeps,

myrtle beach is calling my name)
and im gonna get THIS girl to the finish line of her first 26.2 if it kills me.

and then some other stuff might happen next year.

we'll see what happens....

fun fact friday

2011-12-16T12:57:00.001-05:00

1. i downloaded the blogger app and this is my first post. not sure how i feel about it... i like the computer.

2. you guys all know we got a kitten... and many of you have commented on how cute she is and "omg i just want to squeeze her and hug her and keep her for my very own!". id like to remind you that you do not in fact live with her. shes a spaz.

3. i stopped drinking coffee on monday. NO im not pregnant. YES im crazy. i had major withdrawal effects on monday/tuesday. ive never slept better than the last three days.

4. i sent out over 75 Christmas cards this year. some were generic, some were wedding photo, one was a postcard. i hand decorated many of the envelopes. next year everyones getting an email. or a mass tweet/facebook post.

5. everyone i know is getting pregnant. im hoping the stork didn't get the memo we moved.

6. im supposed to get in the pool soon but i got a tattoo so that means not til another month, right?

7. im hoping to have some big scary awesome news for everyone on monday (it has nothing to do with #5).

8. 900 miles for the year just.might.happen.

9. it doesn't feel like Christmas this year... warm weather, no snow, i have to work xmas day, not gonna be the same without Aaron.

10. im growing my own cat grass. sign #1 im becoming a cat person.

11. sign #2, chips has her own stocking.

12. yesterdays 12 miles on the bike confirmed i will never hear the words "Danielle Sterling, you are an ironman". and im ok with that.

13. im super anxious about race planning and resolutions for next year. no idea why.

14. i wish they made mint hot chocolate all year long.

15. ive been listening to christina perri's "a thousand years" on repeat on youtube. i finally actually watched the video. ruined the twilight series for me (im only on book 2).

16. im super nostalgic about our wedding right now and cried listening to my father daughter dance song/looking at pics last night. i want to go do it all over again this year!

ornament swap

2011-12-15T18:18:00.000-05:00

if you guys didnt get involved with the 2011 ornament swap from laura, you missed out! this was the first year that i participated in something like this (i also saw secret santa stuff on daily mile, and card swaps via a few different blogs)... but i thought this was a fun way to get to know someone and get a cute ornament id be able to put on the tree every year.

i was paired up with jackie, and we quickly found out we had a lot in common! we both got married this year and our favorite color was pink :) it was also really cool that we lived probably the furthest apart that we possibly could (well in the US anyway), with me in maine and her in california! thanks again to laura for putting the ornament swap together and matching me up with jackie!

i had a few ideas in mind what i was going to send her, but ultimately i went with the L.L.Bean ornament, since that is such a maine thing. i added in a lobster candy and some peppermint bark and sent it on its way. i had thought about sending a postcard from maine but i thought she might think that was lame....

a couple days later i got her package...

handmade PINK glittery ormanents!

holiday erasers... LOVE!

hometown postcards (apparently my idea would not have been thought of as dumb lol)

cute cute cute xmas card

it was so fun doing this and i cant wait to do it again next year! thanks jackie for my ornaments and my goodies!!

our tree is all up and decorated, minus the bottom foot or so (the recent addition of a kitten to our household has warranted some kitten proof things, the tree being one of them). shes already learned to climb (horray) and im sure shes done her fair share of eating (enjoy that trip to the bathroom!)

please note the discheveled (spelling?!) tree skirt. cat.is.obsessed.

as jeri so lovely put it: "I iz in yo tree. Being ur twinkle lightz."

and my very favorite ornament of alllll

happy holidays!!

a little bit of everything

2011-12-02T12:35:00.001-05:00

november recap:

days in the month: 30
days i ran: 17 (up from last month by 4 days haha)
miles run: 69 (down from last month by 20. whoops)
races run: 3 (5k, 4 miler, half marathon)
fastest mile: 6:58
fastest run: 3.1 miles in 22:20 (finally!)

highest weekly milage: 26.1
# of new trucks we bought: 1
# of french fries i ate: ZERO (did i not feel good the whole month?!)
# of kittens we brought home: 1

hi!

current song(s) on replay: kiss me slowly by parachute, home by dierks bentley, we own the night by lady antebellum
favorite 365 project pic:

my timed photo camera skills at its best

november goals:

less beer (or not)- the "or not" worked well...
discover your ab muscles- i did something for my abs every day... i do actually feel stronger (go figure)
get in the pool- this was a goal? whoops...
figure out a tentative 2012 race schedule (aka: choose a marathon, or 4)- um......

december goals:
more beer? or egg nog... (im so good at drinking)
keep working those abs (it will pay off... someday)
should i even try that pool goal again?
really... that damn 2012 race schedule...
pay off one credit card (im one payment away... this goal will happen!!)

so yeah... november FLEW by... lets be honest, this YEAR has flown by. and what a year its been... a wedding on the first day of the year, a new house, numberous one way flights and spontaneous 17 hour road trips, a funeral this summer, 2 marathons back to back in october, a new kitten... ill never forget this year, one of the best and one of the worst of my life. as it quickly comes to an end, i think back on all the good memories and times i shared with family and friends and im always so thankful to have each and every one of them in my life. i love the holidays and everything about it and i just wish it would last all year! (i was also loving the warm weather we had this week, but now its 25 degrees and my nose is running. hrumph)

oh- by the way, did everyone see jeri's post yesterday? click HERE! :) we definitely had fun with this challenge and hopefully we can come up with something for next year. anyone else want to join in? i cant wait to get my care package from so dak hehe

happy holidays everyone!

(we finally decided, thanks again to Molly for her shutterfly giveaway that i won!)

thanksgiving rambles

2011-11-24T13:01:00.003-05:00

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!

2011-11-22T19:23:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-14T10:10:00.001-05:00

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!

2011-11-10T14:00:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-03T10:00:00.002-04:00

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? :)

my first vlog

2011-10-28T15:02:00.001-04:00

i have no idea why i decided to do this... haha, enjoy! (ps- dont know why i said my birthday was a month from tomorrow... its a month from today! still feel free to send me stuff)

MDI marathon

2011-10-20T18:33:00.000-04:00

early last year i had registered to run both the maine marathon & the mount desert island marathon, 14 days apart, with the goal of becoming a marathon maniac. i had my first ever "DNS" for the 2nd marathon due to poor planning on my part (got the dates of a wedding wrong). however, im a firm believer that everything happens for a reason... and i am so happy that it fell through. albeit my training this year was far from stellar, the marathon training i had last year was awful, i ran maine hurt, got a personal worst finishing time, and i know i would have completely fallen apart somewhere along the mdi course and would not have enjoyed the experience. the emotions i felt over the last 3 weeks were unlike anything ive ever experienced before while running and i wouldnt change it for anything.

a quote i posted from my first marathon fits really well- "pushing my body to limits never before experienced with a goal of experiencing 26.2 miles ill never forget". after having run my 5th marathon this past sunday (all 5 marathons in the state of maine), i can honestly say i will never, ever, forget MDI. i cursed the course many times during the day. i swore up and down after it was over i would never run it again, but i think we all know thats a lie. it took a while for everything to kinda set in... i dont even know if ill be able to adequately recap it... you just have to go run it yourself and see what its all about. and i promise, you will not regret it.

2010 DNS

i picked up Ally from the airport on saturday afternoon and we headed up I-95 for the trek to bar harbor. Sarah had already picked up our bibs to ensure we got our x-small jackets, but we still wanted to check out the expo incase we needed any last minute goodies (no one bought anything). we got to talk to mary, a fellow "dirty little freak", and check out the awesome mile marker banners that were made for the auction. another fellow DLF had made one that was SO beautiful (sadly i dont have a pic) and i think she raised the most money, yay kate!

i took a pic of this sign they had at the expo... i know i outlined the bibs in my last post but i just think its such a cool idea. it was really neat to know who the "first timers" were along the course, and i talked to quite a few... the bibs were definitely a good conversation starter!

too bad this wasnt my first, team green!

after the expo we headed to downtown bar harbor to get some food. we ate at a restaurant called "guinness & porcellis", and a sign outside said "bar harbor's #1 carb loading destination"... perfect! only ally could pronounce anything on the menu, and when i asked her what one of the items meant she said "pasta with cheese"... ill take that! when it arrived, i cut into what i thought was chicken on the top... only to have it leak yellow. my pasta was topped with a poached egg! delish! (fun fact: i called the restaurant last night and asked what the name of the meal i had was since its not on their online menu- bucatini with pecorino. ill learn to make it one of these days!) and of course, in true tourist fashion, we just had to get out pic taken with the giant ice cream eating lobster! only in maine!

and of course our weekend wouldnt be complete without sing along hour to broadway musicals!

"high on a hill lived a lonely goatherd..."

after a few hours of sleep, plus a middle of the night slumber party-esque giggle fest with ally, my alarm went off and it was time to get ready. as i hit my alarm muttering shutthehellup idontwanttogetup imsowarminmybed(!!!), i heard sarahs alarm going off in the other room blasting "raise your glass"... that pumped me UP!

yaaaaay time to run a marathon!!

we got to the start line a little after 7:15am and walked around seeing friends, taking pics, and cursing about how it was starting to rain a little bit. i was able to chat for a few minutes with Bethany & Ryan and finally met Jamie.

(another) jamie, sarah, ally, me pre race

the royal sisters

before we knew it, the national anthem was being played and the cannon went off. within the first mile i began realizing what i had gotten myself into... sucks that you figure that out in mile ONE!

looking ahead.... road goes up.

looking back after mile 3... still climbing

this looks "flat" but i promise you it didnt feel like that
(it did look this beautiful though)

the atlantic ocean was the only thing between us and europe

beautiful harbor

somewhere around mile 6 i started getting really light headed. this is something that has never happened to me before in any of my marathons. it wasnt really all that hot out, but wiping my forehead all i felt was salt, despite knowing i was hydrating fairly consistently. i decided i should probably take my long sleeved shirt off and try to cool down a little (i had images running through my head of passing out, getting a DNF... yikes!). this seemed to help and i carried on.

stopping to pose for donna along the way

stopping to pose for sarah (cant pass up a photo op!)

before the race i had decided to run without my music. i had been forced to do so during the maine marathon due to the ear phones getting water logged from all the rain and the ipod completely shutting down on me. i had a great time talking to other runners and figured this might be my new thing! along the first 3 miles (that were all uphill), i decided that was a really horrible decision. i wanted my music so bad... so when i saw sarah around mile 4, i yelled ahead and had her grab my bag and get my ipod. i didnt use it the entire run, but i had it when/if i needed it. sorry to all you non music users out there, im not converting just yet!

just after the first relay exchange, the runners had to be diverted over a makeshift bridge. it was so windy and dirt was flying up everywhere. when we got back onto the road, i saw two guys running up ahead of me, one of which had a "marathon maniacs" singlet on. it instantly put a smile on my face, knowing thats what i was out there trying to accomplish. i caught up to them as we were heading up the hill and chatted with them for a bit (hi Oliver! hi Loren!) they got ahead of me for awhile and i caught back up to them around mile 24 and talked to them a bit more before powering up the last few hills.

it was shortly after this that i spotted a familiar tshirt (team "Ma, the meatloaf!" from reach the beach relay that a few of my friends were on)... i caught up to him and it saw it was Jonathan. we chatted a bit and then both headed on our seperate ways.
around mile 8, a few songs came on that i had added before maine that reminded me of aaron. i knew when i added the songs it was bound to make me an emotional wreck, but i also knew he would be watching over me as i ran and they would keep me moving forward. "fix you" definitely had the tears streaming down my face, and as with every other time i cry during races, i could barely catch my breath. i stopped for a few seconds to get it together and then pushed on. "never alone", which i can never make it through without crying, actually brought a smile to my face. i knew aaron was there with me (as his fiance pointed out to me yesterday, he can finally watch me run my races... something he had never seen me do before). people driving by me must have thought i was in pain, but i was smiling through my tears <3

i saw sarah & co. again right before mile 13. they had been great support throughout the previous miles, giving me ibuprofen and replacing my gu's... but i didnt feel like i needed anything so i just said hi (actually, i think i said "i feel like crap and these hills are killing me!" but i really meant "this is the most beautiful race ever! thank you for convincing me to run it! im loving it so much!!"... yeah something like that). so i didnt take anything and ran on. whoops, mistake. i had taken packed two gu's on me at the start of the race, and had taken both, plus replaced one at a previous stop. as i passed by them i realized i probably wouldnt see them again until the end of the race, so i was going to be one gu short. in a crazy twist of fate, there was a gu stop later on in the run! as i heard them yelling up ahead "vanilla gu", i almost threw up a little in my mouth (ill save you that whole story, just trust me. dont.eat.the.vanilla!) but when i got up there, they also had chocolate. yes! it was just what i needed.
i originally had big plans to live tweet this race, and even call a few people at various points along the way... what i hadnt planned on was not having any cell service. yay middle of nowhere coast of maine! although i didnt have a real specific goal time in mind before the race, i did pack a 4:40 race pace band in my handheld and also kept the 4:20 pace band in there as well (i didnt think i would do it after just having run a 4:18 two weeks earlier), but i thought what the hell, we'll see what happens. at mile 17 i texted Jeri saying i was still on track to go 4:20, but i didnt think i could keep up the pace for the rest of the course, especially not knowing what was up ahead hill wise. i was surprised i was feeling this good through 17 but i knew that unless i totally fell apart, i would not get a PW (4:43:30).

before i knew it we were heading into the last 10k of the race. i got to mile 20 at 3:21, and got really excited at the idea of going sub 4:30. i had purposely not driven the course so i didnt know what was coming, and im so glad. mile 21-25 were up... up... up. awesome. i did a lot of self talk during those last few miles, and tried to pump up other runners who were walking and looking defeated.

my fave #

(not to be confused with my fave mile, aka my slowest mile)

at mile 25ish was this restaurant... the "its all downhill from here" note was a little bit of a lie, since the finish is uphill (shocking), but the last mile is down.

i kept looking at my watch during the last mile to make sure i didnt bonk as we got closer to 4:30. as the course started to head back up a hill, i saw the mile 26 marker up ahead of me and all of a sudden BOOM. hamstrings seized up. i have NEVER had hamstring issues before. lovely. really? right now? with 0.2 miles left?! i dont THINK SO! i stopped for about 8/10ths of a second to try to stretch them out, and shuffled along. the spectators were awesome along this last stretch and helped push me to the finish.

finished!

and its official...
#4338

after i finished i went over towards the food tent and ended up running into Brian, who i had talked to on daily mile a few days before the race. how i happened to find him is beyond me... and we then ran into him at the top of cadillac mountain on monday too!

royal sisters finishing pic!

my stats:
time: 4:28:38 (pace- 10:15)
place: 416th / 925
age group: 20th / 62 (female 30-34)

best mile: 9:04 (mile 4)
worst mile: 11:30 (mile 22)

woooo hoooo i made the MDI website!
(dear runners world: feel free to add me to your mag, i wont mind!)

race recap in one photo:

...and this. shooooot me.
(i might as well have just run up a mountain and then back down)

elevation gain: 1,416 ft

elevation loss: 1,428 ft

(from my garmin)

final thoughts:

this whole experience really showed me what my body was capable of, and i know that with adequate training (including dreaded hill training/more speed work) i could really rock this course. im thinking my first two maine marathons (4:43:00/4:43:30) were flukes, and im really a sub 4:30 marathon runner (my PR is 4:15). i LOVED this course... i told the race director afterwards that i have absolutely not one bad thing to say about the race as a whole. if anyone is looking to be in the "50 states" club, make this race your "Maine" race.

i had said before this race that after i completed it i was done for awhile. by done i clearly meant "til spring". which unfortunately means training in new england during the winter... bring it on! i am in love with running, its true (dont worry, ty... i still love you mostest!). im not looking to make myself a real fast marathon runner, i just enjoy the challenge. i know you wont believe me but after ONE MORE marathon, then ill really take a break (many of you already know why).

so this begs the question, which marathon will i run? a potential lottery bib into boston from my track club that will be drawn in december will determine if i have to pick among other marathons (read: if i get into boston im not running any of the other two... maybe...), and the two im choosing between are:

1. shamrock marathon 3/18/11 (lots of free yuengling beer....)
2. national marathon 3/26/11 (lots of free katie... and beer...)

any comments about either race? any other suggestions?

and whats up for the remainder of the year?

MDI was my 59th road race... so of course i need just one more this year :) but how about a few more?

10/29 pumpkin run 5k
11/6 all women & one lucky guy half marathon
11/20 turkey trot 5k

11/24 thanksgiving day 4miler
12/4 jingle bell 5k

12/26 operation jack satellite run

goals for marathon #5

2011-10-14T11:35:00.001-04:00

not sure if i told anyone yet... but im running another marathon. THIS.SUNDAY.

yuuuup. im pretty pumped about it too.

if you get runners world, you may have seen this:

most scenic marathon, and runner up for best overall marathon!(someday ill get out to missoula to compare... maybe)

they might try to scare us by showing us the comparison chart for another kinda popular marathon... sorry boston, we might be a bit more hardcore

this year marks the 10th year that MDI has done their marathon,
so naturally they needed to add a little flare!

blue: experienced marathoners (thats me!)

green: first time marathoners

yellow: early starters

purple: charitable fundraisers

orange: team relay divisions

these shirts have been on sale online for a while now, but im hoping i can still find one when i get up there... hard ro read, but it says "mount desert island, the way running should be"

official race course map

and now...

scenes from the race

(stolen from their facebook page)

(im chosing to ignore what looks like a hill in this photo)

dont you wish your marathon was awesome like this one?

see, flat! (trying hard to convince myself...)

so lets see... goals for marathon #5

1. finish... with a smile! this isnt hard, im a pretty happy chick.

2. dont let it be a PW... soooooo sub 4:42:xx
3. finish even if it is not sub 4:42:xx
4. enjoy each and every step... only 26.2 miles and i will be a MANIAC!!!

incase anyones interested, i decided im going to have fun, and that means i will be live tweeting. and may even have a few #surprisephonecall 's :) who wouldnt like a phone call from me?!

look at me im FLYYYYYING!!!!!

2011-10-13T17:41:00.003-04:00

dear company that takes pics at the race i ran in the pouring rain 11 days ago,
im not going to say your name so that you hopefully dont find this blog i post and try to sue me for using your photo. first of all, i dont have enough money to give you if you did in fact try to sue me, so really, dont waste your time. if you still tried to pursue taking me to court for copying and saving your photo (that, i might add, you didnt print your name all over my body so you couldnt even tell what i actually looked like, nor put some sort of "were only giving you a smaller than life thumbnail so you wont copy it" or "your computer will self destruct in 2 seconds if you even attempt to share our awesome photos"), id probably end up going to jail since i dont have the money to pay you for whatever it is you would try to sue me for. and i dont think i would enjoy jail. in fact, i KNOW i wouldnt last. not even an hour. second of all, your company needs to add the option to add what race this is on the bottom of the photo so that i know for the future (as if i could forget). and i know it looks kinda funny that our bibs are all wrong, were just super special in maine. dont judge. i also have a grudge that i only got two pics from this race... i know it was raining and all but last year, if that was your company, they sent like 5 people and i got at least 6 pics to choose from. i guess ill give you credit for at least getting one of the two photos making me look semi alright. next year, bring more people and tell them to bring umbrellas.

so if infact you do find this and get upset, please note that i paid the $12, plus some sort of tax and shipping and handling (total $15something) for this pic. and i only did it cuz this race was so bad ass... pouring down rain for 26.2 miles... 25 minute course PR... last 0.2 miles at a pace of 7:45min/mile. and this pic shows that i was FLYYYYYYING!!!

love, danielle

fun fact friday

2011-10-07T11:18:00.000-04:00

1. i got a new phone (again). i think ive finally found the one. but i still have 14 days to decide.

2. im still on such a high from sundays marathon, even though running 4 hours and 18 minutes in the rain gave me a rockin cold/sore throat.

3. im really over "the band perry" and their song "if i die young". i like their new stuff, so if the radios could play those songs more often that would be great.
4. despite not really loving it when i bought it, im falling more and more for this hot pink computer.

5. today is the 280th day of the year, and there are 85 days left. this has been one of the best years and simultaneously one of the worse years of my life.
6. ill also be 31 in 52 days. whoa.

7. i never wrote about a race i had two weeks ago, and i really need to. maybe this afternoon. its still a tough one for me to wrap my head and heart around.

8. i became co-director of above said race last night. i am both scared and humbled at this opportunity. keep your calendars open for September 30th, 2012.

9. when im lounging around the house reading or cleaning, i put on music choice pop hits or todays country.

10. before sundays race i was nervous as hell and said "after MDI im gonna take a break from running marathons" (i say that like i run them every weekend.... no.) sunday night i was searching for spring marathons and i may have convinced 5 friends last night to travel to virginia beach in march :)

11. i spent $16 on a bottle of pumpkin spaghetti sauce from williams-sonoma last week. totally worth it.

12. my armpits are sore from 50 push ups yesterday. arms = weak.
13. ive had my next tattoo planned for months now but im stuck on body placement. im deciding between 3 places, 2 of which i dont think my husband would approve. my body not his, right?
14. ive finally stopped "dropping in" to the animal shelter and ~~playing with~~ looking at kitties.

15. i think floss is way overpriced. (yes i still buy it)

marathon #4

2011-10-03T13:40:00.003-04:00

i spent about the first 5 miles of yesterdays marathon virtually writing this blog post in my head. i had a few funny things and a good way to lay it all out. think i remember anything from all those thoughts? nope.

ive always had a difficult time writing my marathon recaps... anyone who has ever written one should understand the amount of emotion that comes with this great accomplishment. its not easy to put it all into words... the good, the bad, the highs, and the lows. yesterdays race was the same distance as all the other marathons ive done (yes, i know its shocking, but ALL marathons are 26.2 miles....) but it was so very very different from the other 3 marathons ive ran.

as i wrote on facebook yesterday, the list of things that went wrong yesterday is so much longer than the list of things that went right.

what went right:
1. i survived.
2. 4:18:03- course PR by 25 minutes!

what went wrong:
1. race bibs
         not that this was a huge issue, but we got an email saturday night saying that there was an error with the way the timing chips were placed on the back of the race bibs and due to this mistake everyone needed to wear their bibs sideways or else their times may not be recorded going over the start/finish line. if this snafu keeps me from becoming a maniac i might kick someone...

2. no bread
         i ALWAYS eat the same thing for breakfast before my races. one, if not two, slices of toast with peanut butter, and a cup of coffee. i woke up yesterday morning and realized i had forgotten to get a loaf of bread. so no pre race toast. i ended up eating oatmeal instead, knowing its never a good idea to change things up the morning of a race (let alone a marathon!), and then downed 3 tums before heading out the door. just incase.

3. rain
         were talking torrential down pour. i hoped it would lighten up before the race started...

4. bag drop off
         after hanging out inside the university of southern maine gym pre race (to keep dry and use the real bathrooms vs. port-a-potties... which actually didnt smell any better...) a group of us headed towards the start with about 10 minutes left before the gun went off. there were puddles EVERYWHERE. i really wanted to try to at least keep my feet dry until the start of the race, but it didnt happen. although there were only 3500 runners, the start was still pretty crowded and jen and i were running around trying to find the bag drop, unsuccessfully. we thought it was at one place so we walked through puddles and mud only to find it wasnt there. then they announced that the race was starting in 3 minutes and runners should get on the road. so here we are, still carrying around our bags, not knowing what to do. we finally found the truck that was taking the bags and saw that the two lines were about 30 people deep each. we made a quick decision to just drop our bags in the windowsil of some building behind the food tent. whatever, if someone wanted my fleece pants, old sneakers, and 2010 MDI hunting orange jacket, feel free. oh yeah and my car keys... to tyler's rusty car (hehe... please take it?). so yeah, HUGE fail. we jumped through a huge puddle to get ourselves onto the road, and the gun went off. not how i wanted to start this race. (i also forgot to turn my garmin on to get satellite service... which takes a lifetime when its raining. it didnt say i had satellite service as i took off but somehow it caught up and actually was ahead of the race mile markers? no clue.)

5. soaking wet
         oh yeah, the rain never let up. actually, thats a lie. it let up for awhile after mile 10. but at that point, i was drenched. i had started the race wearing a long sleeved tech shirt and ended up taking that off when i saw ty at mile 10 cuz it weighed a ton! i had thought about taking off my tshirt too and putting on a dry long sleeved shirt i had packed for ty to bring for me, but i was so used to just being soaked i decided against it. also, most of the race is shaded along the roads with huge trees... i had thought maybe the trees would be good protecting against the pouring rain but with the 15-20mph winds, the trees were just dumping more water on us. yay.

6. ipod fail
         i always run with music (unless its 4am and dark, and then im only running a few miles so i can handle it). the most ive ever run without music was last years beach to beacon 10k. i specifically added more music yesterday when i woke up incase i was still running on tuesday (i clearly didnt have high expectations for this race). i started the race without my ipod on cuz i love hearing all the cheers going out of the starting line, and then i turned it on. the first song was "jet lag" by simple plan. i love this new song, and it really pumped me up. i purposefully put "belle of the boulevard" as the 2nd song, since the race starts on baxter boulevard. i think i heard about 3 more songs, and then my earphones starting crackling. i had so much water in my ears and i could barely hear the music. awesome. i gave my ipod to tyler at mile 10 and asked him to figure out how to dry the headphones out and give them to me later on. he and our friend kenny had put them on the heater in the car, dried them out, and when he gave them back to me at mile 16 they worked again!... for 2 songs. and then no sound at all. nothing i could really do, so i just enjoyed the sound of the rain, the feet hitting the pavement, and ended up meeting a lot of cool people and talking to them around different parts of the course. (side note: im actually thinking about not even bothering with an ipod for MDI marathon... who am i becoming?! another side note: during my early morning trainings without music for whatever reason i would always sing "ma ma ma my sharona!" it.drove.me.NUTS! luckily this did not happen yesterday).

7. crying
         im a huge emotional runner. i dont know whether its the amount of time spent out there on the road where i do a lot of thinking or what, but i always cry during the marathon, usually around mile 25ish when i know im almost there. i cried 5 times yesterday, starting at mile 3. ive definitely learned the hard way that crying doesnt allow for adequate breathing while trying to run, so the tears are short lived. but the marathon is definitely an emotional thing for me. and when i got to where there was a mile and a half left yesterday, and i knew i was going to kill my previous maine marathon times, and someone i passed said to me "where are you getting all of this energy!?" (i was running an 8:45/mile pace), i knew aaron was there helping me and i just started crying and talking to him along that last lonely mile. i knew i wasnt alone.

i say the list of things that went wrong was much longer than what went right, but regardless of how crazy/weird the marathon was, it truly was awesome. regardless of the pouring rain, thousands of runners came out and accomplished something that a lot of people have never done. and even better, there were SO MANY SPECTATORS & AWESOME VOLUNTEERS! thank you thank you THANK YOU!!! sarah's husband, mom, dad, and brother were at about mile 2 and took this funny pic :)

i saw our friend josh's fiance and mom & dad around mile 5, then ty & kenny were at mile 6 (a big spectator spot, and the marathon relay 1st exchange spot). i was feeling really good when i went by them, but had already had many thoughts leading up to then about whether or not the race was really worth finishing (the rain was not fun). buuuut i kept going. i was also running splits that kept me about 2 and 1/2 minutes ahead of where i wanted to be in order to finish in 4:20. (in the back of my mind, however, i knew this course and ive run it twice before. both times i felt great til mile 18 and then slowly fell apart.... was today going to be the same?)

shortly after mile 6, the course for the half marathon turns around and the marathon keeps going. its fun to see the runners in the half coming back by you, and i always cheer them on. i even saw joan benoit samuelson... shes speeeeeedy fast! but once you pass that turn around cone (which i always ask the flagger if i can change my mind, hehe) it gets a little lonely. i saw ty & kenny again at mile 10, which is another big spectator point. my knees were starting to ache a bit, but i was still running about a 9:50/mile pace which surprised me. the race course goes out and back with a little loop, and before i knew it i was at mile 17 (where mile 10 is on the way out). i saw ty cross the street up ahead of me, so i figured he had seen me and was getting on the right side of the street to exchange my handheld. but when i got there, he wasnt there. i yelled for kenny to bring my bag to me and i started going through it. apparently ty hadnt seen me and headed off into the woods to go to the bathroom! i grabbed some ibuprofen, my new full handheld, two GU's, and my ipod. right before i was ready to head off, ty came running out of the woods. good thing he didnt miss me!

i headed off up the hill and immediately took down a chocolate outrage GU (thanks, andrea!). i had felt pretty good about my fueling throughout the race... i had 3or4 gu chomps before the race started (i didnt think the oatmeal was going to be enough), then a tri berry GU at mile 5, and an espresso love GU at mile 10. but right before i got to mile 17 my stomach was growling so i knew i needed more. i had one more tri berry GU at mile 21 and just hoped that would keep me going.

i couldnt believe how fast the time was going by, and was surprised at mile 20 that my legs were still feeling really good. i had some knee pain on and off from mile 10, but the ibuprofen seemed to help. i looked down at my garmin and checked my 4:20 pace sheet and realized i had 63 minutes to run a 10k in order to finish with my goal time. i was shocked! at mile 22, i thought the wall was fast approaching, but i stretched for a few seconds and kept going. the last 5 miles felt great. the closer i got to the finish, the better i felt. there were more and more spectators as the rain had lightened up, and the energy level was encouraging. at one point along the last 2 miles there were a group of college kids blaring music from their apartment and dancing around and giving high fives to all the runners. i ran onto the boulevard (1.5 miles left) with a huge smile on my face knowing i had about 18 minutes to run the distance to make 4:20, and i knew (even if i had to crawl!) that i would kill my course record.

the feelings among the last mile are indescribable. i passed a few people who commented on my energy level and i honestly dont know where it came from. i saw ty & kenny along the side of the road at mile 26, threw them my handheld and teared up. i saw mark & christine right before the finish, smiled for the camera man, and fist pumped crossing the finish line seeing the timing clock read 4:19 (knowing i was about a minute ahead of the clock).

sadly my mom didnt make it to the finish line in time to see me cross through since i told her i was figuring about a 4:30 finish. also sad that i didnt have anyone take my pic with my finishing medal! hopefully the race photographer got a good pic :) im still on such a high... i still cant believe my time having had the crappy training i had. it seemed like the race flew by, and as much as i had been dreading doing the two marathons back to back (well, 14 days apart), im now really excited for it! the feeling of crossing the finish line after running 26.2 miles is amazing, and im glad i dont have to wait long to do it again.

stats:
13.1- 2:08:30
26.2- 4:18:03 (9:54)
146/401 female
29/59 age group 30-34

stuff you need to run 26.2 miles

2011-10-01T18:06:00.000-04:00

wouldnt it be nice if you could just walk out the door in the morning, afternoon, or evening... and just go for a run? tshirt, sports bra, shorts, underwear, socks, sneakers, hair elastic. really, those are the basics, right?

in two weeks from tomorrow i will be able to do just that. but until then:
TOMORROW is the MAINE.FREAKING.MARATHON! (ok, minor freak out over. well, for now)
first of all, one of my bestest friends andrea sent me this super awesome marathon survival kit this week! she wont be at the start or finish line tomorrow but she will be there in spirit!

(and yes, that is my face on p.diddy's body... cuz "i wake up in the mornin feelin like p.diddy!")

i headed on over to the expo this afternoon and was pleasantly surprised at the ease in which parking, getting my gear, and getting out of there was :) needless to say the maine marathon isnt exactly the boston marathon, thus the expo doesnt take too long. but the volunteers were awesome (as always) and i checked out the booths before heading back outside to wait for john (who i was meeting up with to go for a little 2 mile jog).

sleek new look this year...

...compared to the past two years of NEON!

the bags this year were FULL of such yummy goodness, and other fun stuff too. (side note: there was also a bag of kettle cooked potato chips, which i ate on the drive home from the expo)

cant forget this! just wish our names were a littttttle bit bigger

again for the 2nd year the shirts ROCK! aaaand i love love love the sleeves

rockin the purple in support of cystic fibrosis awareness

these hot lookin puppies are gonna take me to sub 4:43!! (hope they dont mind getting wet)

aaaand ill be drinking out of this for the rest of the night

my original goal for this race was sub 4. a little thing called "life" got in the way this summer and my training went out the window. so here are my goals for tomorrow:

1. FINISH! (can my goals end there?)

2. sub 4:43:00 (my first ever marathon, this one, was 4:43:00. the second time i did this course i got 4:43:30. i want to kick this course in the face!)

3. kinda sorta hoping, if the stars align and the wind is at my back on the back 13, and my knees hold up and and and and....
yeah. 4:20. putting this nice little cheat sheet in my handheld just for safe keeping. (yah know, for that whole challenge thing with my running twin)

ive gotta bring this for the pre race, to make sure i dont melt in the rain (and to psych me up knowing that not only am i about to run 26.2 miles, in the rain, im going to run another 26.2 miles in 14 days. i need to remind myself that i make stupid choices.)

no ones gonna miss me!

so everything is all laid out and ready to go (i tooooold you it takes a LOT of stuff to run this freaking far!). ive already checked it three times, and im sure i will check it about 100 more times before leaving tomorrow. i saw the race starts at 7:45am (good to know... since ive run this marathon/half marathon 8 times) so i figure ill meet up with people about 7ish. GOOD LUCK to all runners, but especially sarah, christine, jen, john, melissa, and everyone! (that covers you if i forgot)
see ya in 26.2 :)

til death do us part (?)

2011-09-28T05:22:00.017-04:00

two conversations with the husband that occurred the other night, almost one right after the other (maybe he is learning?)

conversation 1:
me: so, do you think that after we have our first child you will say that day was the best day of your life or our wedding day was the best day of your life?

husband: well, the pats winning the superbowl was actually pretty sweet.

conversation 2:
husband: why did you make an apple butter pumpkin pie?

me: cuz im the best wife ever. im sure you will like it. but if it actually tastes horrible what are you gonna do about it?

husband: eat it for breakfast tomorrow too.

according to our vows, i have to love him. right?

challenge update

2011-09-22T08:57:00.000-04:00

remember back in may when i had this huge marathon goal and told everyone i was going to kick my current marathon PR in the a$$?

yeah. i dont know that its gonna happen. life really kicked ME in the ass this summer. it happens. and im a stronger person for it, but not so much a faster person. and im alright with that.

BUT, there is still a challenge going on. remember THIS? and THIS?
oh its still on. (but im pretty much already planning what sort of maine goodie basket will be sent to so-dak, haha).

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

my current 2011 race times:
5k- 24:48
10k- 51:06
1/2- 1:52:18
full- TBD

so for me to win this challenge as it stands right now, i need 4:20:29 for the marathon next sunday. however, jeri is still planning on racing another 5k, 10k, AND half. ugh. im still hoping to finish the marathon by some point on tuesday.

i do have a couple 5k's and a potential half i could do, but we'll see. i gotta get myself through the next 4 weeks before i even think about racing anything else....

65 roses 5k satellite run!

2011-09-14T09:59:00.000-04:00

i am SO EXCITED to announce that it was approved this morning to allow for "satellite" runners for this years 2nd annual 65 Roses 5k run to benefit Cystic Fibrosis (many thanks go out to Sam!). this race in general means a lot to me, as it is for a cause very near and dear to my heart. after hearing about the passing of my brother-in-law, Aaron, the race director asked if it was ok to dedicate this years race to Aaron. obviously i said OF COURSE!! what a great honor... i wish that more people in this world could have had the opportunity to meet Aaron, but all who did were touched in very profound ways.

please consider registering for this 5k run and running it in your own town. gather up a few friends, run on a treadmill, take a 3.1 mile walk through the mall... its for a GREAT cause and would be a great honor for me and my family to have you participate with us. ive been a part of many great virtual races and an AWESOME satellite run (oh yeah, doin it again this year too http://ojmarathon.com/)... i dont have any prizes for you all, goodie bags wont be sent out, but for a $20 donation to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation you can help support awareness and the search for a cure.

REGISTER HERE
visit the facebook page

any questions please contact me via twitter @RTdanielle09 or by email 65rosesCF5k at gmail dot com
feel free to share your stories with me, email pics, etc. thanks for your consideration and participation!

ooh breathe, just breathe

2011-08-28T09:58:00.000-04:00

Aaron Thayer Sterling

July 6, 1981 - August 27, 2011

Aaron, I wish I could accurately tell you how much you mean to me. Your passion for life was immeasurable. As much as you didn't want to believe it, you were, and continue to be, an inspiration to so many people. This life isn't fair and someday we are going to find out the answers to why. I know you probably heard me as I talked with you yesterday when we got to the hospital, but you are the reason behind my profession and the compassion I have for what I do. I will never stop fighting to help others like you. I know you'll be watching over all of us and I hope that I can make you proud. I feel comforted knowing you no longer have to fight for your own breath, something that we all take for granted. I want you to be comforted knowing we will be ok, whatever "ok" means. You will never, ever be forgotten. I love you, A-dog.

"They were angels in waiting. Waiting for wings to fly from this world, away from their pain. Treasuring time, til time came to leave, leaving behind sweet memories. Angels in waiting, angels in waiting for wings."

On September 18th, a great fundraising event will take place in Durham, NC through the Lung Transplant Foundation. Please check out Aaron's Lungapalooza 2001 fundraising site HERE. Thank you all for your continued love and support. Someday we will find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis so that no one has to suffer from this disease ever again.

fun fact friday

2011-08-26T08:07:00.000-04:00

1. i have major anxiety attacks over flying. i would much rather drive.

2. i seriously dislike chit chat. a lot of times if i see people from afar at places (ie- grocery store, mall) that i know im going to "run into" and have to carry on some sort of fake conversation (oh hi, how are you, what have you been up to despite the fact i already know since i stalk you on facebook but want you to tell me anyway...), ill walk the other way and make sure this chance happening doesnt happen. sorry, its not you, its me.

3. at the doctors office on that little survey you always have to fill out, i find it easier to write in '2 - 3' for the "how many drinks, on average, do you have in a week" question. week, night, whats the difference really?

4. i accidentally on purpose ended up at the animal refuge league today and fell in love with only two kittens. i swear one of them answered to the name ~~ive~~ weve picked out for our future kitten.

5. i have matching vera bradley lunchbox and checkbook cover.

6. i might be the only person in the entire world who still keeps a balanced physical paper checkbook register.

7. while youre reading this im supposed to be out running 20 miles. dear god please let this be happening. and if you so choose, please text me/tweet me (@RTdanielle09) to make sure im out somewhere in the middle of falmouth/cumberland actually doing it.

8. yes, i will text/tweet you back when im running.

9. when i run early early morning (like were talking 3:30am early. yeah.) i dont wear music so i can really focus on my surroundings. for God only knows what reason, i somehow always end up singing "ma ma ma MY sharona". it is not awesome.

10. i cannot wait until the day starbucks starts selling their pumpkin spice latte. one just might not be enough.

11. i own more hooded sweatshirts and pairs of flip flops than anyone really ever should own.

12. im kinda over facebook.

13. i didnt start drinking coffee until after i graduated from college. i dont know how i ever lived without it.

14. i finally convinced ty to take me to gray animal farm so i could see a real live moose. they were so big!

hope everyone on the east coast stays safe this weekend in the threat of hurricane irene! also head on over and check out katies page later on today as she always has fun friday randomness and a list of others who do too!

fun fact friday

2011-08-19T16:25:00.000-04:00

1. it drives me up the wall when people dont pronounce their H's (ie: humid --> umid)

2. i barely read 6 books in a year... ive read 10 in the last three months.

3. my coffee intake is on most days almost equal to my water intake.

4. i ate an entire avacado yesterday like it was an apple. this is a common occurance.

5. in the months of july & august i spent more days in a hospital than at my house.

6. even a brand spankin new house still has "projects"

7. i know how to fold a fitted sheet... and now you can too!

8. if i was on this summers big brother season i would absolutely have been the first person kicked off. actually i probably would have asked to go home so i wouldnt have to spend the summer with rachel. shoot me.

9. my brother in law was put on a different ventilator on wednesday. its breathing for him at a rate of 9 breaths per SECOND. thats 540 breaths per minute. dont try that at home.

10. i think people who put ice in their milk are weird. well alright i wont judge. i think the act is weird. you people are probably fairly normal. except for that.

11. two weeks ago i went and switched my ~~piece of shit~~ old/outdated cell phone for an andriod incredible 2. i had fun with the apps, words with friends, a much nicer touch screen than mine... and i returned it and went back to my old phone. i dont need all that crap. but i do miss the little green guy that waves to me when i call people.

12. when i moved back from phoenix i bought a bike. i never rode it, then sold it to my brother. now i want a bike again. which im sure i wouldnt ride.

now go check out katie, who is my inspiration for starting fun fact friday back up again (i wont copy her and change it to random fact friday, although thats really what these are. but random can be fun.)

beach 2 beacon 10k

2011-08-12T11:31:00.000-04:00

ive said it before, but the beach 2 beacon 10k race in cape elizabeth is my all time favorite race. ever. hands down. it was developed by joan benoit samuelson, its in my hometown, its along the ocean, the volunteers/crowd support is amazing... there are just so many things that make this race truly outstanding. im sad it has to be capped at 6000 (up from about 3500 when it first started i think) because a lot of people miss out, but if you are able to get in, you MUST put this on your race bucket list.

ty was out of town for a work golf tournament on thursday and friday, and he didnt get home until about 11:30pm friday night. couple that with his lack of training and someone was not excited when the alarm went off at 5:30am saturday morning. we left our house about 6:15, knowing how bad the traffic has been in the past but had very few issues getting to my parents house, about a mile from the starting line.

my parents neighbor, amanda, walked over and met up with us before my mom drove us to the starting line. it was already in the low 70's and it felt rather humid, so i knew this race was going to be a hot one, although the news said they felt conditions were ideal for a potential course record breaking day. we dropped off our stuff at the baggage bus and met up with some friends, and walked up towards the crowd at the starting line. amanda and i both agreed our nerves were making us feel like we had to pee, so we decided to brave the woods (along with a lot of others not wanting to wait in the line for the bathrooms).

amanda, me, and ty pre race

they coral you in like cattle at the start (see aerial photos below) so it was difficult to get into a good spot, but we found a small opening right around the 8:00pace sign and settled in there. before we knew it the national anthem was being sung, the wheelchair race started, and then the gun went off for the race start. its stop and go for a minute or so, and then we crossed the starting line. weaving in and out of the crowd we settled into a spot and got comfy, running about 7:55s for a few minutes. about a half mile into the race i saw Jen and we chatted for a bit. my goal was to stay around 8s or 8:15s, so i continued on.

i felt great for the first 3 miles, albeit VERY hot and sweaty. i couldnt even keep my sunglasses on cuz they kept fogging up. i knew a PR was out of my reach by the halfway point so i just enjoyed the scenery, the music and crowd lining the streets, and just kept running. i met up with Terri Ann, a woman i met last year at the first race of 12 in 2010, and chatted with her as we trudged up one of the many hills in the last mile. i told her i felt i needed to walk and she said to me "push through it, just like old times"... and push through it i did. she told me just what i needed to hear at that moment, and i gave it my all.

my finish wasnt my best, but it wasnt my worst either, and i smiled crossing the finish line.

gun time: 52:23

net time: 51:06 (pace 8:14)

age group place: 90/471

overall place: 1739/5875

splits: 8:01, 8:01, 8:06, 8:09, 8:16, 8:45, 1:48 (yeah, that damn 5th mile bloooows)

ty made it too 1:06:28

ty and vince, thumbs down to our friend jamie not running with us

me and amanda

a big group of awesome runners

(and i finally met Jen!)

sarah, maddy, brendan, and me

i also "ran" into Hollie at the finish line... she came up to me and introduced herself :) the running community through daily mile and twitter has been so awesome!

the following pics are courtesy of Kevin Morris via helicoptor

starting line

finish line view 1

finish line view 2

hoping to run/walk once more next year, make it my 10th beach 2 beacon race :) care to join me?

its that time again already?!

2011-08-05T18:11:00.000-04:00

first of all, where has this year gone?! i cant believe its august already... how have we been married 7 months?! but more importantly (hehe) ITS BEACH TO BEACON 10K TIME!!!!!

i super duper heart this race. its in the town i grew up in (so of course im biased), its a beautiful time of year in maine, its on the ocean... what is there not to love? (according to my husband- "the running part". needless to say he isnt as excited as i am). this will be my 9th year running this race and it still gives me goosebumps and the silly tummy butterflies on race day. this race is just that damn awesome. if youre lucky enough to get in on registration day (in MARCH mind you), give it a try. you wont regret it.

past b2b times:
2002- 1:08:47 (didnt train, still pretty much hated running)
2003- 58:07 (started loving running, trained a lot. to PR a 10k by 10 minutes is kinda sweet)
2004- 55:19 (i think this was the year i went to a bbq the night before... stayed up til almost 3am, smoked and drank a LOT. i still got a 10k PR, but i did not feel well)
2005- 53:02
2006- 52:08
2008- 1:00:29 (i ran with ty for his first b2b... and please note, his time was 1:00:30 hehe)
2009- 47:50 (my current 10k PR... i still have NO idea how i did this. none.)
2010- 49:47

my most recent 10k was on the fourth of july, running 51:31. i think that course is a lot tougher than the b2b so who knows whats gonna happen tomorrow. in no way do i feel like im fast enough this year to go sub 48, but im hoping for atleast 8:15s or even 8's. regardless, im going to have fun cuz this race always seems to go by so fast! (and if I think this race goes by fast... the course record is 27:27 (thats 4:26/mile!) set in 2003 by Gilbert Okari from Kenya. i was a spectator one year, and i think think their feet even touch the ground... im just at the halfway mark when they're done! i.n.s.a.n.e!)

starting line

finish line

portland headlight, cape elizabeth, maine

and after we finish they make us walk up this hill... EVIL!

the shirts are pretty sweet this year...

front

back

and look what i happened to find at the expo!

thanks, bondi band!

and even though this is my 9th year running this race, when my friend amanda asked me on facebook what time our shuttle was leaving for the race in the morning, the following conversation ensued:

amanda: what time is the shuttle leaving Jewett?
me: ooooh i dunno. i figure we will try to leave about 7:15... race starts at 8 right? haha you would think i would know by now. ill check the website.
me: yup, 8am. and ps- this conversation is definitely going in my blog tonight haha. who runs a race and doesnt know what time it starts the night before? especially when its my NINTH time running it!

yes. this is my life. good luck to all racers this weekend!

alright, time to fess up

2011-08-02T20:44:00.000-04:00

confession: i havent been following my marathon training plan quite as accurately as it is printed in this nifty neato little book ive got here.

excuse #1: sometimes the book gets lost in the midst of moving boxes and random crap scattered around the new house
truth: i might sleepwalk and hide it so when my alarm goes off in the morning i dont know where it is and just figure its probably only a 5 miler, easy pace
actual truth: its sitting on my table. with a book mark.

excuse #2: my legs are tired.
truth: i dont stretch as much as i should, i work 12 hour days and its tough to get long miles in, etc.
actual truth: im lazy.

excuse #3: i just dont think i can do it.
truth: i really just dont think i can run this much.
actual truth: im scared.

ive done the maine marathon twice. both times the training has gone out the window for one reason or another. the first year it was ITband isues. and i ran reach the beach two weeks before. i was very injured but i still ran the marathon. in 4 hours 43minutes and 13seconds. not smart. recap here.

last year i nearly got heat stroke and never got a long run in longer than 16 miles. i figured "hey ive done a marathon before, i can do it again". false. you still need to train. this marathon provided a personal worst. recap here. 4:43:30. are you joking me 17 seconds?! damn you elizabeth and your jello shots at mile 25.

i know i can run a marathon faster than that. i did sugarloaf in 4:15:25. i even had a week of training where i logged ZERO miles. (seriously, who does that?! oh yeah, me.)

so here i am. a little over 10 weeks into training, a little over 8 weeks left to go. lets really look at what the hell is going on.

what the book says/what ive actually done:
week 1: 33 miles/18.6
week 2: 36 miles/27.2
week 3: 40 miles/10
week 4: 42 miles/ 22.25
week 5: 45 miles/19.56
week 6: 37 miles/36.12
week 7: 50 miles/4.45
week 8: 54 miles/13.1
week 9: 48 miles/12

total should be: 385 miles
total really is: 163.28 miles
longest run should be: 20 miles
longest run really is: 16 miles

w.t.F. seriously. how are those 50 mile weeks treating me?

i just feel deflated. i guess a 4.45 mile week is better than a 0 mile week, but still. a lot of my runs have gone really really good, and many have gone really bad. i know i have speed, i just lack the endurance to use that speed for 3 hours and 59 minutes.

im not going to quit reaching for this goal. july was the hardest month i think ive ever had. life absolutely threw me curve ball after curve ball. God surely tested me, and i felt knocked down. but im gonna get back up. im not going to quit. will i get my sub 4 hour marathon goal? we'll see. am i upset with the way my training is going? yes. do i hold anyone else accountable except myself? no.

pain is temporary. quit is forever. regardless of what happens ill still know that on october 2nd i will again accomplish something that not everyone can say they've done. and for that i will be grateful.

lets compare, shall we?

2011-07-31T09:05:00.000-04:00

disclaimer: i know running in extreme heat/humidity isnt good for you. i know that it makes your heart work harder/beat faster. i know i dont always make the smartest decisions, and im ok with that. i wasnt trying to prove anything with the ~~death run~~ track workout last week during the heat wave, i just think the following comparison that occurred among a few runs showed some interesting results.

july 20th
4:00am
64 degrees
5 miles 45:08

mile 1: 9:17 (avg hr 159)
mile 2: 9:00 (160)
mile 3: 9:06 (162)
mile 4: 8:55 (166)
mile 5: 8:48 (172)

july 21
5:30pm
93 degrees (aka death run)
5 miles (one of the miles is warm up laps)- this hr based track workout is as follows (especially for you Jeri, since you left the comment asking about it... which i now realize i never got back to you about):

warm up lap to get hr to 130 (for garmin users, turn off your auto lap option before running and press lap after this first warm up lap). run one mile keeping hr at/around 130, press lap. 90 second rest, press lap.
warm up lap to get hr to 140, press lap. run one mile keeping hr at/around 140, press lap. 90 second rest, press lap.
warm up lap to get hr to 150, press lap. run one mile keeping hr at/around 150, press lap. 90 second rest, press lap.
warm up lap to get hr to 160, press lap. run one mile keeping hr at/around 160, press lap. 90 second rest, press lap.
warm up lap to get hr to 170, press lap. run one mile keeping hr at/around 170, press lap. 90 second rest, press lap.

well, just walking around the track had my hr at 131, so i decided to say screw it to the 130 attempt. during the 140s laps, my heart wanted to beat closer to 150... during the 150s laps, my heart wanted to beat closer to 160... i just couldnt win. (and whats the deal with my 150s laps being slower than the 140s and 160s? weird).

so yeah, this is how it turned out....
mile 1: 11:37 (avg hr 146)
mile 2: 12:20 (154)
mile 3: 11:51 (165)
mile 4: 10:25 (175)

and lets compare it to 6 weeks ago when i did this track workout on a much cooler/slightly rainy morning:

mile 1: 12:24 (avg hr 134)
mile 1: 11:08 (144)
mile 2: 10:00 (153)
mile 3: 8:56 (163)
mile 4: 8:12 (174)

dear maine marathon, once again im begging you please please please, low temps. k thanks.

and back to a cooler run...
july 26
3:00pm
72 degrees
5 miles 43:49

mile 1: 8:40 (avg hr 147)
mile 2: 8:51 (165)
mile 3: 9:08 (162)
mile 4: 8:43 (164)
mile 5: 8:24 (169)
still glad i live in maine and not any middle of the US hot humid gross sweatfest all summer long places.

hotter than hades virtual half marathon

2011-07-25T18:26:00.000-04:00

its summer. its hot. the past few days we had this so called "heat wave" in maine. apparently a "heat wave" is technically when the daily maximum temp exceeds the average maximum temp by 5 degrees celsius for a period of 5 consecutive days. im pretty sure 5 days of 65 degrees in maine could be termed a "heat wave"... ha. but in all seriousness, it was freaking hot. mid to high 90's with high humidity. one day was 102 (see 5.1 mile run below, ~~smart~~ stupid decision). im from st louis so i know what "hot" is... but for maine, it was wicked hot. yup, just said wicked. so of course, why not run a virtual half marathon during these days! i mean, it is called the "hotter than hades" virtual half marathon for a reason!!

fitness collaborative put out the call to anyone wanting to get involved...
http://www.fitnesscollaborative.com/hotter-than-hades-virtual-halfmarathon/
so many people signed up, which is great! get out there and be active (just be safe... hydrate, and wear sunscreen!!)

run #1: 5 miles- a nice easy pace on a cooler/yet humid morning. i dont like to leave my neighborhood before the sun starts coming up, and since i leave for work at 6:15, i need my runs to end by 5:30. runs starting at 4am leave only one option... laps around the block. 5 miles on the map look like a continuous figure 8. booooooring.

run #2: 5.1 miles. on the hottest.night.EVER. at 7pm it was still 93 degrees. holy sweatfest. i thought it was a good idea to do a track/heart rate workout. the goal was to run a mile at HRs 130, 140, 150, 160, 170. yeah, that didnt happen. i think my resting hr was in the 90s, so even walking got me to 130ish. the 140 mile took over 12 minutes, and that was a fast walk at best (and the hr wanted to stay closer to 150). the 150 mile was about the same in minutes as the 140 mile. the 160 was a little better and a little faster, but not by much. and the 170 mile, which felt great (and should ultimately be about my marathon pace)... was a pace of 10:25.

f.a.i.l. i KNOW the heat isnt good to run in and i KNOW my heart works faster/harder to do the same work. im not worried about that. but i find it interesting just how much it does affect it (i did this same workout 6 weeks ago and my pace at a hr of 170 was 8:54). dear maine marathon gods: PLEASE pretty please im begging you, 60 degree temps and overcast. xoxo

run #3: just a light jog with ty. humidity was high but the air was cool.

thank you to fitness collaborative for putting this event on! and thanks to their sponsors:

~RoadID (love love LOVE this product and everything they stand for. wear it!!)

~BondiBand

~Ryders Eyewear

~Wildskins

~Sportline

~EASports

~Attune Foods

~Hydrapak

~GU

~Reflect Sports

angels + the power of prayer

2011-07-15T17:00:00.002-04:00

im not really sure how to write everything i want/need to... i dont even know i really understand how i feel at this moment in time, but i felt like i needed to write something... mostly for myself, but also for everyone who has been so supportive with their emails, texts messages, thoughts, and prayers who may or may not understand what exactly is going on. for anyone who has ever gone through any sort of family medical emergency, you know how much it means for even the littlest bit of hope. i truly appreciate everything you all have sent me more than any of you will ever know.

a lot of people have been asking questions, seeing friends of theirs asking for prayers for me and my brother in law, so i thought this might help answer some of them and allow you all a little deeper into my world right now. if i cant be honest on this blog, i wouldnt have it in the first place.

back in 2006, i started taking classes while i waited to get into nursing school. i was currently doing social work with teenagers in the juvenile justice system and really, i just couldnt do it anymore. i knew it was a good place for me when i had started doing it, but long term it just wasnt going to be something i could do for the rest of my life. i needed to help people, that i did know. so i felt nursing was a better choice for me.

shortly after starting school (quite literally a week into it), i met my husband... pounding beers around a beer pong table in the basement of his fraternity house. class class class. our relationship continued to grow throughout the next few months, and i soon met his family. for a brief moment, i spent some time with his brother, aaron. i learned he had a lung disease called "cystic fibrosis", and had already had a double lung transplant. ty had already told me about the transplant shortly after dating, but the whole story was complete once i met aaron.

aaron was diagnosed with CF within the first 3 months of life. he was in and out of the hospital throughout his childhood for this treatment and that treatment, constant issues with his breathing, build up of mucus that he couldnt get out with normal coughing, etc. ty, as a younger brother, was always sticking up for aaron... ty now standing 6' 7", aaron a much smaller body frame and only 5'10", he is quite literally the "big(ger) brother". growing up, aaron was constantly bullied by other classmates for being so small, and ty really played the role to make sure aaron was protected. but aaron still showed he was the real big brother... he once steered tys tricycle straight into a tree and then told ty the doctors were going to stick a huge needle into his eye when he went to get stitches in his forehead. one year he got tys tooth brush ready before bed for a whole month prior to april 1st so that on the night of april fools day he went up and put garlic paste on the brush. anyone whos had an older brother knows aaron fit the role pretty well.

aaron was once bigger than ty...

but it didnt last too long

(holy huge head)

cystic fibrosis is a progressive disease, where thick, sticky mucus builds up in the lungs. overtime the body just cannot absorb the mucus, the body cant cough it out, it takes over the areas where oxygenation and gas exchange takes place, causes infection in those areas, and essentially the lungs become unusable. early detection of this genetic disease is essential in order to start on proper medications, and in the state of Maine it was recently made a law that every baby born is tested before they leave the hospital. both the mother and father must be a carrier of the CF gene in order to have the 25% chance of their unborn child to have CF, so you can also get tested before having a baby as well.

in 2003, aaron needed a double lung transplant. ty went out on his own and got his blood type/matching capability checked. he was a perfect match. a fraternity brother of ty & aarons dad heard what was going on and also checked out to be a perfect match. they both offered to be live donors for aaron. in december, all three men went into surgery. as they took out tys right lower lung lobe (your right lung is made of two lobes, your left lobe three), his body went into shock on the operating table. his heart was stopped for almost 4 1/2 minutes. they shocked him twice. finally the doctor stuck his hands inside his chest and manually pumped his heart until it started up again. post op his lung collapsed twice. they always say the donor typically has a tougher time in surgery than the recipient.

and just like that, aaron had two new lungs. a new chance at life.

fast forward to 2007. aaron developed pneumonia and then got the flu on top of it. his body is already fairly weak and extremely immunocompromised as it is, so even a cold or the flu that you and i can fight pretty easily, is very difficult for aaron to fight. he was rushed from the hospital in bangor down to mass general in boston and was intubated/put on a ventilator (breathing machine). ty and i packed up and headed down to the hospital (i was in such a blurred mental state... i packed my anatomy book, two pairs of socks, a pair of sweatpants, a hooded sweatshirt, and my tooth brush. no wallet. no underwear. to this day i still havent lived this down). we stayed with him for over a week until he was able to be taken off, but the interim was very very painful. since i was just getting into the nursing program i was very interested in the whole picture, what was going on with his body, with all the meds, and especially with the machines. i watched the respiratory therapist manipulate the vent, explain what it was doing and why. i was intrigued.

aarons condition improved and he was able to fight off the infection. his left lung was in need of replacement, while the right lung seemed unscathed. i went back home and sat with my anatomy & physiology teacher one day after class and told her about why i hadnt been in school, and i mentioned that i was interested in the respiratory program the school had as opposed to the nursing route i was going through. my teacher, jane, told me she was one of the 3 respiratory professors at the school. was this a sign?

i had no idea what all went into respiratory. i knew aaron needed a new lung and i saw one of the respiratory machines that were used, yet on that day i went to admissions and applied to be in the upcoming class for respiratory therapy. i didnt tell anyone except my mother that i did this.

i was accepted into the RT program that summer (2007), and started in september. aaron had another lung transplant in january of 2009, and i graduated that following summer and started working right away. i can honestly say that i really love going to work every day. sure i have my bad days, but i know i am there to help my patients BREATHE. its one of the most important life functions, and ive seen first hand on someone i have grown to love how important it is to be able to do something that the majority of people take for granted.

on this past monday night, we got a phone call saying aaron wasnt doing well. he had been in the hospital for a few weeks fighting an infection the doctors couldnt find. his breathing had gotten increasingly difficult and his oxygen requirements were increasing. they had put him on bipap (a machine that helps with breathing... it doesnt breathe for you but allows you to work less... it also helps to push fluid out of your lungs as well as help to get rid of extra carbon dioxide that builds up in your body when you cant effective breathe it out on your own). tys dad started driving down (a 15 hour drive from maine to north carolina), and ty went with him. i had to go to work. over the course of the day aarons carbon dioxide level continued to rise (normal is 35-45, his got up to the 70's), and the bipap wasnt working to get rid of it. intubation and a vent were the next, and only, step.

aarons mom and fiance had gone home to get a few hours of rest, and aaron told the doctors he refused to be intubated until they could get back to the hospital. debra and kellie rushed in and the doctors showed them aarons recent CTscan compared to the one a week prior... the left lung was almost completely useless, the right lung, tylers lung, the strong/"go to" lung, was now, for the first time in 7 years, beginning to reject. with a carbon dioxide level in the 70's and climbing, they needed to intubate. but ty and his dad were within an hour of the hospital, so they doctor said they would wait so they could talk to him. essentially, maybe, to say goodbye.

i got home from work tuesday and bought a one way ticket to leave in the morning. i specifically made sure i packed underwear this time, but i had no idea what else i needed. i think i cried more from tuesday evening to wednesday morning than i have in the past 10 years. i went through 4 of the 5 stages of grief in about three hours. anger, depression, denial, bargaining.... over and over and over. praying to God that he was strong enough to get through this, although i knew that might not be the case.

i figured i would get super ultra searched at the airport, having bought a one way ticket less than 12 hours before leaving... but they only grabbed my hot pink duffle bag and searched that. how'd ya like my 12 pairs of undies old TSA man? i never carry cash... ever. but i knew my father in law would have been pissed had he knew i traveled without any, so i got $40 out of the atm. i knew i should probably eat something to soak up the 5 beers i downed in about 25 minutes when i got home from work so i grabbed a bagel and a water at the airport. the total came to $7.04... i handed the lady a $20 and 4 pennies. she said "today is the 13th day of july and i will give you 13 dollars in change. may you have much luck on this day." little did that lady know just how much luck i needed indeed. everything happens for a reason.

until i got to north carolina i had no idea what to expect. my stomach hurt so bad, just thinking about everything. i knew i needed to comfort my husband, and needed to be strong for him... but i was just in shock myself. but when i got to him in the baggage claim of the airport... he was smiling. it was then i learned that aaron was awake. he was not in the medically induced coma. his labs were looking good. his oxygen was looking good. this was not at all what i was expecting, and i felt much relief.

when i got in to see aaron, we brought him a white board so that he could communicate with us... and off he went. writing up a storm, and acting like the same old aaron we know and love. it was like 100 pounds was lifted off my chest all at once, just seeing him smile. lucky #13 was right. over the course of the day he grew tired just from all the interaction with people, and they let him rest again over night on the vent, but when we got back in on wednesday morning the respiratory therapist came in and kicked us out... cuz he was going to take the tube out/take aaron off the ventilator. what?!!!

within 30 minutes, we were back in his room and he was talking to us. it was amazing to hear his voice. overnight that night and last night they put him back on the bipap just to assist him in resting and give his lungs a little rest, but his oxygen has been getting better, his carbon dioxide level is at 44 today, and his chest xray has showed a bit of improvement. the emotional roller coaster from tuesday to now has been crazy, but the power of prayer has been so great. aaron is a fighter. he loves his life, lives it to the fullest, and it shows.

as i write this aaron is still in the intensive care, but he was up for a walk earlier today, and hes currently playing blackjack on kellies kindle, while watching the british open. i dont think were out of the woods just yet, but were hoping for him to be moved to the step down unit soon (which i kinda think is backwards... i would think getting out of the ICU would be a step UP... but i dont make the rules. although i often think i should). no one is still sure as to what caused this sudden episode. there could be an infection somewhere that they still cant find. but regardless, in this moment things are looking good. we are all full of hope and so much love. i cant stress enough how amazing the support has been from everyone around us, and we are all so greatful. i feel so blessed to have met aaron and the sterling family, and now to be a member of their family as well. please continue to keep aaron and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

sam sent me this video on tuesday, and i cant help but cry every time i hear it. aaron really is tylers biggest fan and greatest hero... they have been best friends, and they always will be. ty has truly given aaron the gift of life. aaron is definitely an angel in waiting, but his wings arent ready quite yet.

i am a firm believer in angels.

breathe, just breathe

2011-07-12T03:14:00.002-04:00

playing catch up

2011-07-09T19:30:00.002-04:00

things ive done in the past month that may or may not be of any interest to you but figured i would play catch up so i can start blogging like a regular person again.

my boss and i measured our calves... please note the difference in mine
(disregard that yes, my calves are ridiculously ginormous)

pinnacle whipped vodka + pinnacle cake vodka + chocolate syrup = heaven

yup. BOSTON baby.

saw the most awesomest red sox bumper sticker EVER.

somehow i learned to garden

my family grew a little bigger

we shut the door on our first apartment together

we went to hershey park!

and rode some ~~really scary~~ wicked awesome roller coasters

and spent time with great friends

meet rupert, claude, and norman... who made for a wonderful dinner

again, with great friends

and homemade ice cream!

i discovered my camera doesnt have a "star" option

ran the 4th of july 10k with julia

forgot a pretty big part of the coffee maker one morning...

above mentioned pretty important part

and we've continued to turn the front porch white

(next time i hire someone)

9 weeks of pure entertainment starting yesterday...

aaaaand i chopped off all my hair!

next up: my very first trip to the chiropractor! hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of july weekend

OMGIHAVEINTERNETAHHHH

2011-06-14T12:35:00.000-04:00

for about ten minutes, i have access to the internet... so i figured i would just put in a small update for all of you that are totally missing me in the blogger world (come on, just admit it. its ok... support group will meet tomorrow night, at the bar).

ive been running... not great runs, and not exactly what the training plan calls for, but its running none the less. ill really step things up next week. i promise.

were also all moved into the house. i spent my first night there alone last night as ty was in north carolina for work... a few scary noises, and i thought someone was lurking around downstairs when i was up in the bathroom, but other than that things went fine. we still have no cable or internet but im through the entire first season of glee, and many episodes of friends. needless to say ive kept myself occupied.

here is my favorite part of the house so far (well my two favorite parts):

master bedroom ~~time out chair~~ corner seat

wedding montage

hopefully ill be back in the world of internet next week, were off to visit friends in pennsylvania this weekend... including hershey park! mmmmm chocolate :)