The interval class from... you know where ;)

I think I finally mastered the art of the interval cycling class today. This playlist was a doozy.

I managed this one twice in a row today! Average heart rate 153, max 192. 979 calories burned! (For that, I cracked open an Angry Orchard hard cider... one of my new favorite gluten free things!!)

Wilco - Summer Teeth -- Warmup

Rolling Stones - Honky Tonk Woman -- Easy climb

Metro Station - Shake it -- Make the climb steeper, really pushing the heart rate in the second minute of the song, then take the last minute to recover

Music Monday: Green Day - Last of the American Girls

I'm going to try and bring back the weekly feature thing, though I've never been very good at it :) On my playlist this week: Green Day - Last of the American Girls

2,000 hits in May!

I just crossed 2,000 hits for the month of May, thanks in part to Google searches for the Flying Pig Marathon! Highest month yet is 2,246 (August 2011). So... I have three days to get 245 hits :) Thanks for reading all!!

It's been a good Memorial Day weekend. Ran just two miles with MIT Saturday and logged 58 on the bike between Saturday and today. Also ate some ice cream :) Back to reality tomorrow!

Diva Night photos!

Last night was Diva Night at Fleet Feet Sports in Columbus! They bribed us with discounts if we dressed up (and I was in the market for a new pair of shoes): 

A group of us in Run DMC were asked to briefly change out of our heels and dresses to model some running clothes on a makeshift (and wobbly) catwalk. 

I really liked my Saucony outfit!!

I love a good bargain

(Off topic post!!) My mission today was to find a couple short sleeved shirts for work. After my assignment in Columbus, I plugged "Old Navy" into my navigation and headed towards Reynoldsburg. But, on impulse, I kept going on I-70 past an exit. 

I've been to the Goodwill in Buckeye Lake before, for apartment furnishings, so I figured I'd try my luck with clothes. I pulled up, and a sign outside was beckoning me: "All short sleeved shirts, on sale!" Score! Then I walk inside, and all clothing with a green tag was 99 cents. BAM! 

I made a trip to the fitting room with an armful of shirts and came out with five. Then I started rummaging through the rest of the clothes for green tags.

The end result:

-5 shirts for work

-7 tank tops

-2 pairs of shorts

-2 pairs of capris for work

-3 pairs of shoes

-One purse (badly needed, thanks to a slight incident with a bottle of body spray last week :-P)

$30.88.

(I'm very proud of myself.)

New kicks! Asics Cumulus 14

It never ceases to amaze me the situations I get myself in with the running community, whether it's running through a richy rich neighborhood in -2 degree temps or wandering into a Chipotle covered in mud.

Today, I found myself doing strides outside a Polaris shopping strip in a dress and hoop earrings.

Fleet Feet had a Diva Night! 20 percent off if you dressed up with bling! I'm sure photos will be posted soon, I'll add them when they are (I also got to play fashion model, but that's a whole different story!)

Back on track -- there was a discount to be had, and I was in the market for some new shoes. I left with a pair of Asics Cumulus 14s. Right now I'm on my fourth pair of Mizuno Precisions -- a neutral shoe, LOVE THEM!! But after my injury, my chiropractor suggested that I run on my heels instead of my forefoot.

(Pause for the running community to collectively gasp, and the non running community to collectively roll their eyes and wonder what the big deal is.)

Cleveland Marathon cheering and a college reunion

All I have to say to those that ran the Cleveland Marathon this weekend: Yowzas, you're brave. This heat was killer.

I was up in Cleveland anyway because I have a newborn niece and the reunion of Daily Kent Stater employees at Kent State University all happened to fall on the same weekend. So I was home but not really home -- I was up and running around the entire time.

I'll get to the reunion in a second, but to stay on topic, first: The marathon. Cleveland is a big one, so I wanted to make sure the runners I knew could see me. So I got a bright green posterboard, a bright green backpack and Mr. Fox in Socks.

The posterboard turned into this... 15 names in total on the sign, and turns out I forgot a few:

Note to self: Next time, don't skimp on the magic markers: My hands were covered in cheap ink by the time we left!

My fellow pace coach Richard B. was also in town to cheer so we met up and headed to Tremont, a really  cool town with lots of shade. We tried to catch our runners at Mile 9.5 but the crowds were so thick that we missed quite a few. We yelled after Deb M. but I don't know if she saw us. A very peppy Michele H. bounced over and gave us high fives. The 10:30 coaches Randy and Jill breezed by, I had no idea they were running! I saw a long lost friend from high school run past, my sister's sister-in-law looking strong in her first half, and college friend Kali, who blogs here.

Runners in Tremont.

This part of the race was fun. There was good crowd support and the temperature wasn't too bad. When we saw our last person, we headed over to Mile 22 on St. Clair and E. 55th street. Here, things were different.

"Go for the cliff, and 3, 2, 1, jump!"

Found this lovely video on my Facebook page this morning. It's hilarious so I thought I'd share:

And it reminded me of this scene in The Office when Dwight takes a Spin class:

Love it.

Coach Jessica

The 12:00 pace group had a team dinner Wednesday, and the pace coach asked me what my plans were for next season. Then I get a Facebook message from him asking again. I had been wavering back and forth, but after the Pig I was pretty much decided: Training for a full, staying around a 12:00 pace. Likely Columbus again, but of course that's still negotiable!

Then I got asked to coach the 12:00 pace team!! I'm excited!!

It has been a fun yet exhausting few days. Wednesday night was the Team 12 celebration, Thursday night was the 10:30 celebration. Friday was a super fun barbecue at Fleet Feet. Today I finally got back to teaching and had a great class!

Team 12 dinner at Champps.

Shopping in Columbus: Earth Fare

I finally got around to checking out the new Earth Fare store in Columbus, at Gemini Place, and it was fantastic!

It was slightly cheaper than Whole Foods, but not by much. But, the stuff on sale was really on sale so I found some great deals!! I found the store really easy to navigate and the Gluten Free stuff was really easy to find. I was there a half hour before close and the staff was really helpful. One guy was able to answer all of my questions about protein bars and helped me find a good one. Then another worker was really apologetic that they didn't have any Gluten Free ravioli ("no, we really should," she said) and then she took me on a tour of the freezer section and pointed out all kinds of yummy things I could eat.

I just checked and they post their sales online so I can check from month to month to see what the deals are. 

I just polished off the Gluten Free Mac and Cheese I bought. Next time I'll get the GF stuffed shells :)

Here's the loot I scored (my washer has become the unofficial staging area for food finds): 

For $42 I got:

1 organic watermelon

Frozen GF Mac & Cheese Dinner

2 jars of pomegranate fruit spread with organic cane sugar as the sweetener ($2.50 each, on sale, cheaper than Smuckers!!) 

1 jar sunflower seed butter (we'll see how it is!)
GF, low-sodium soy sauce

GF peanut satay sauce (for the pad thai recipe I want to try soon)

4 boxes of GF pasta, 2 brown rice, 2 multigrain ($1.50 each, on sale)

5 Kind bars with protein ($1.50 each)

And bonus: The other day I meandered into Big Lots. Really good deals on dry goods! I scored the following for $9: 

4 bags Plantain chips

2 jars pineapple salsa

1 bag white rice

1 bag brown rice

Now that I'm well stocked, it's time to stay away from stores for a little while!

Flying Pig: Even more photos!!!

Swiped these of the Pig's Facebook page :) Next time I'll have a camera on course!! Don't miss my race report here!!

Best water stop ever, the Blues Brothers!

Elvis!!

We started off running next to Forrest Gump.

Post pig, here's what's next

Now that the Pig is over it's time to rest.

I'm not going to do anything for a week... and no running for a month. My body needs a rest, to heal from all the issues I've encountered this training cycle.

After this week is up I'm going to work on swimming and weight training again, with the goal of doing a sprint distance triathlon by the end of the year.

This summer I'm signed up for two mud/obstacle course runs: The Gauntlet, a 10-miler with mystery obstacles, and the Coshocton Indian Mud Run, which is just 3 miles.

I'll go back to MIT when the month is up. Chances are I'll train for the Columbus Marathon (the full), but that could change :)

Race report: Flying Pig weekend

The Flying Pig Marathon was hands down the best event I have ever done. I ran for 5 hours, 21 minutes and 7 seconds and genuinely loved every second of it. (Separate blog post with more photos.)

Thinking back to how miserable I was the last 8 miles of the Columbus Marathon, trying to make a time goal, I wonder if slowing down and stopping to smell the roses (literally, Rebecca E. stopped and made me smell some pink ones), is the best way to go.

To bad I have too much of a competitive spirit!

This weekend was a whirlwind. I'll just whiz through the early details so I can get to the super-fun stuff. Woke up at 5 a.m. Saturday. Headed to downtown Columbus to see the MITers off for the Capital City Half Marathon. Had a blast standing on a freeway overpass for several hours ringing a cowbell, jumping up and down and yelling at the many, many members of my running groups competing. The incredibly awesome Sara W. cheered with me. She blogs here.  

Me and Sara

Sat in a Tim Hortons sipping tea for an hour -- as quiet of a moment as I was going to get that weekend. Met up with Brandie D. and Rebecca and headed out of town. Got stuck in traffic for an hour because of an Obama rally. Finally got out of the car on I-270 to stretch our legs. Saw cars moving up ahead. Screamed. Waved our arms. Ran back to the car. Many engines behind us revved up as a result.

Ick! Traffic.

Finally made it to Cincy. Found parking. Went to expo. Spent too much money at expo. Bought some yummy dried fruit snacks and some Flying Pig gear at 50 percent off. Loaded up on free samples of laundry soap, wrinkle reliever and undereye cream. Since Mr. Obama held us up we were there as they were closing and trying to get rid of stuff.

Loot

Went to Arnold's Bar and Grill for dinner with other members of Run DMC. Got some yummy gluten free pasta with portabellas and a bottle of Woodchuck cider. Made it to the hotel by 10 and crashed almost instantly.  

Run DMC after dinner

Our alarms went off at 4:30 a.m. We dragged ourselves out of bed, got ready and walked a good mile in the dark to the starting line. When I woke up I was petrified, but as we were walking across the bridge that separates Kentucky from Ohio, we heard "Born to Run" over the loudspeakers and saw crowds of people pouring in from every direction as the sun rose. The fear was gone, now we're just excited. We dropped our bags and got in the corral.

Brandie and I, up bright and early.

I loved, loved, loved this course. I wish I had brought a camera so I could document some of the things we saw. The course was windy, curvy and hilly. Around every turn there was something new, a mascot, someone in a funny costume, cute kids cheering, zombies, drunk people, a band, a DJ, people with hoses to cool us off. The miles just flew by.

More pictures from the Flying Pig

More photos from the weekend:

My updated wall of accomplishments

A flying pig, duh!

My dinner

Go time!!

<p>I've been posting regularly to Facebook but I figured I'd do a quick blog too. This will be short since I'm on my phone. Fantastic time in cincy so far, we had a great dinner and I scored some good deals at the expo. My outfit is laid out and we're ready for tomorrow.
Cap city this morning went really well too, it was great to see everyone, especially the first timers.
Wake up call in 6 hours...

Flying Pig tracking

Unfortunately, the Flying Pig does not have anything set up where split times will be automatically posted to Facebook or Twitter.

If you really care, you can follow my race by signing up for text alerts here.

Brandie, Rebecca and I are going to be doing a very slow run/walk because of the forecasted heat. I'm guessing we'll finish in around 5 hours.

Marathon music spring 2012 edition

To say that the nerves are kicking in would be a vast understatement.

So here's another music post! It will take the place of my normal spinning playlist because I didn't make one this week, I just used old ones.

I'm also so bummed, the Flying Pig doesn't post split times to Facebook and Twitter like the other races do, so I'll try to do a quick update on my phone as soon as I can after the race.

Here's what I'm super excited to listen to during the Pig:

Girl Talk Girl Talk Girl Talk!!! Free downloads here: http://illegal-art.net/girltalk/

Love me some Matt & Kim! I have two of their albums loaded up onto my iPod.

Eeeep!!!

Uh oh, I'm running 26.2 miles Sunday!

**Dislike button**

Race weekend is creeping up!

I'm very excited to head down to Cincinnati this weekend for the Flying Pig Marathon.

It's shaping up to be a hectic weekend! Friday I'm taking a half day at work and getting Lizzie to Worthington, where Molly was kind enough to offer to dog sit. Then it's off to Fleet Feet to pick up my favorite flavors of Gu, to the Y to teach one more class then home to pack.

Saturday I'll be up bright and early to cheer on all the MITers and the Run DMCers at the Capital City Half Marathon. I'm really excited to see so many people come through, especially those who are racing for the first time! I'll probably end up bumming around Columbus for a few hours until it's time to meet Brandie D., Rebecca E. and Ryan G. to head down to Cincinnati.

We'll get to Cincinnati around 4 p.m., then we're headed straight to the expo! I'm so excited to do a little shopping and load up on swag :)

Then we're meeting some other Run DMCers for dinner at 7 p.m. at Arnold's Bar and Grill in downtown Cincy. I'm so excited about this place, it has a gluten free menu and lots of pasta!

Somehow, I'm supposed to get a good night's rest, then it's up early again Sunday for a 6:30 a.m. start time! Hopefully Mother Nature will be good to us.

I've had a lot of ups and downs in the past few weeks so I'm not sure how I'll be feeling. I'll either run the whole thing at a 12-minute pace, or do a 4:1 run:walk ratio. I'm hoping for the former. No matter what, I'll be getting my medal!!