A Nice Suprise!

I came home from work last night and found this on my dining room table :D

Such a sweet & thoughtful gift from Brian & Sarah!

        With quite a nice card about inspiration and dedication....


I think as it is getting closer to the race date I am actually relaxing a little more (whhhaaat?) I mean if you know me, that is pure craziness. 
Perhaps it is due to the fact Mike actually accompanied me to a hot yoga class last night. I know, I know, can you believe it?! His first ever, Black Opal. And I must say he did pretty amazing and I think he enjoyed it, especially the frozen ice pops they were giving out at the end.
Or it could be that I ran my last 3 miles before the 26.2 on Sunday this morning, in the drizzling rain while visualizing crossing the finish line. 


Hope you all have a great day!

Some pics

 The Map for the Race-note the Elevation & Hills (who knows why those             
 white dots are there...)        

Mike's awesome support drawing. Hey, if he gets bored w/medicine, 
looks like he's got another option.

Some goodies!

Made by my sis, pretty a-mazing! Love

The Week Of....

Hard to imagine the last 21 weeks of training are coming to an end this Sunday as I will be in San Francisco. And exciting as well! Plenty of hot yoga on my horizon this week so I can chill out a bit :) Although I have already mentally packed, I am still second guessing pretty much all of my choices but I am sure as the week goes on that will subside, hopefully (crosses fingers!).

I have received soooo much support from loved ones, as well as some pretty awesome care packages preparing me for both before and after the race. It is truly amazing.

Mike & I have some fun plans to explore the scenery in SF including Fisherman's Wharf, the Expo Nike will be hosting all weekend as well as riding a trolley car throughout the streets. We are looking forward to our trip together.

*Pics to come later of goodies in my care packages, training pics and the course map!*

Happy Wednesday!

This week has been a little laxed if you will, at least as far as my training is concerned. It is always more pleasant to hear my alarm go off at 4am instead of the usual 3:15am for a long run Wednesday morning. I enjoy that time of day because everything is how it should be; the air is usually very still and the only thing I can hear is the sound of my footsteps on the pavement and my deep breaths. That is why I prefer early morning runs vs. afternoon when the air feels different, cars are plentiful and who knows how long it has been since I have eaten my lunch.
This morning was fastest I have ever finished a 10k, 8:19/mile pace. Eeekkk! I try to not put so much pressure on myself as far as time is concerned for the marathon, as my focus should be on completing it. However, that can be difficult since when I started running a 10-minute mile was pretty good for me. But I truly believe it is all relevant to how much training you put into it.

Am icing my ankle since last week it was pretty swollen, seems to be improving though. I am not really giving it an option since there is only eleven days to go! 
I have been trying to monitor what I eat since a good portion of my run is contingent upon my diet. That said, I am glad my mileage is tapering off this week so I can store my energy :) My sugars have been fluctuating a little this week, could be stress, could be my pump or I suppose it could just be.

I am looking forward to hot yoga tonight and have even attempted to recruit Mike to join me, I feel like one more week and maybe he will! I am hoping he can make Black Opal his first class since it has a prefect blend of flow and vinyasa as well as beginners to advanced and there is music. Also, the temperature is "only" 92 degrees.

Hope your day is going well!

Miami and the end of summer

We just got back Sunday from visiting our dear friends, Jasmin & Brandon, in Miami, FL before they move to London and what a GREAT trip Mike & I had w/them! It will definitely take some time getting used to them not being here, but we are very happy for them.

                                                      South Beach & Mojitos!

10.16.11

Seventeen days until I will run my first Marathon and I can hardly believe it!!  Although it has been time consuming and energy draining, it has changed my life for the better and helped me truly understand what it is to push myself beyond what I thought I was capable of.  My sugars have been up and down with me throughout my 23 week training program, but my intentions are to run with my pump on.  I believe Mike is going to be on the sidelines (if I can find him amongst the huuumuungo crowd, or so I hear) and will have my meter available so I am able to check at least once if not twice while I am running.


I could not be where I am today without the support and encouragement of my family and close friends. Between Mike's 5:00am texts cheering me on when I am on mile 8 and have 10 more to go, him waking up at 4:15am to come save me from my owl attack and most recently picking me up on the side of the road at 8:30am during rush hour because it was a terenchal downpour out and I was worried about my phone getting ruined.  My sister's constant support, telling me about recipes I may like to try while training and sending me new gear for raceday.  My parents giving me my Nike shoes that I have trained with for 15 weeks that I will use for the Marathon and sounding so proud eveytime I speak to them and they ask about the race. Mike's parents getting me gift card so I could further support Nike and purchase some sweet outfits for the race. And to all my dear friends who listen to me discuss my knee injury after I fell, the blisters and calluses that cover my wish-it-wasn't summer feet, failing to have appetite control since I was a bottomless pit for the majority of my training and congratulating me when I was both mentally and physically exhausted.


More updates & pics to come later today!

NWM 26.2

Week 8 of training for the Nike Women,s Marathon in San Francisco in October! Pretty amazing that I got chosen, at random, to run a full marathon. Although, I am not quite certain what I got myself into ;) I have been very dedicated and excited about the race. With that said, there are times when it can be a little overwhelming. I did trip and fall about 3 weeks ago and have been recovering since. Am doing well now, and in fact, will have run 26 miles in 4 days this week!

Eeekkk....only 10 more weeks of training!