Dressing The Part

I don't mind mismatching while running around my neighborhood. I have been known to wear the same sports bra twice in a row if I don't get "too sweaty". I blow the occasional snot-rocket in cold weather and might have used my sleeve a time or two during said snot rocketing. And 99% of my running attire is bought at Marshalls/TJMaxx/Etc or on serious sale at the local sports store. Pure Class.

I mean, I just sweat in it after all.

Enter....The Raceday Outfit. 

Yup. I plan it out. I color coordinate. I go for comfort AND style while in public running situations. Why? Cause I'm a girl. And when I feel cute, I feel good. Don't act like you don't do it either. (Psh)

I have a few rules:

1.  Never, ever, wear the race shirt for the race you are running in that day. Nuff said.

2.  Just like food/drink/routine, don't practice or test on race day.

3.  Embrace your inner girly girl. Wear pink. Or sparkles. A tutu. Or whatever makes you happy.

4.  The Paparazzi is out at races, just remember that. Smile!

5.  Look at yourself at all angles in a mirror. I don't want to torture the women behind me while wearing shorts that might accentuate my cottage cheese/big butt/whiteness, etc. 

6. Always dress as if it's 20 degrees warmer than the weather is expected to be. Being hot sucks, trust me...honey those black cotton capri pants for a half marathon in March are not good. I live in AZ after all.

7. Plan ahead. Wear it once if it's new. Wash it and lay it out the night before.

So yes, just 1 week until I am debuting a new outfit. I was feelin extra sassy last week so I took my happy ass down to the local Lululemon store and treated myself to pair #2 of my new favorite shorts (tracker short II):

And a new shirt....

Love. Ran in them both last Friday. Promptly took shirt off after mile 3. Set on side of road with my water bottle stash. Collected shirt after 10 sweaty-ass miles. It'll work.

Look cute. Feel good. For me anyway...it won't make me faster, but at least my ass will look good.

Feel Good Decisions

Insomnia much? It's 1:13 am...and here I sit.

But, it's been a while my friends....so what have I been doing the past week?

A lot. (not sleeping apparently)

A wedding, mid-week dinner/baseball date, planning for an amazing event that is happening tomorrow, working, running, sweating, dog-walking, decision making, picnic attending, meetings....oh so many meetings...and naturally with all that, drinking. Basically being an adult. An awesome adult. 
 
I made a big decision in my professional life this week. It stressed me out. It made me worry, lose sleep, plan and scheme and make lists...and at the end of this week, I'm confident, happy and excited about my decision. And that my friends, feels good. 

I am really looking forward to a vacation that is quickly approaching. Until then, I have another VERY busy week and weekend ahead of me.

Busy is good. Busy is happiness. Busy is success. Busy is being loved and loving back.

A few pics...

BFF and her teeny lil baby bump, so cute.

Getting my makeup on.

Greasyface

I like to take these and prove to Wade I really do workout/sweat.

The Great Birthday Week

This week is a favorite of mine. Four of my favorite people were all born within a week of each other. Two of them on the same day and year.

Lot's of birthday wishes, cake, celebratory drinks and little gifts to show my love.

Sara. One of my oldest and dearest friends. Lover of all things fashion and fabulous. Fellow candy lover. Secret holder. My Confidant. She has a love for life that brightens any room and she sees beauty in the small things. Future Mommy (10.31.12)

 Cynthia. My Mexico traveling companion. Soul sister. My logical thought processor. Sensitive and sweet, with a little German sass mixed in. Mother of my beautiful Goddaughter.

Gabe. Brother from Another Mother. Years of entertainment, laughter and true friendship. Shoulder to cry on. Drinking buddy. True. Honest. I can always be me around him. 

Jamie. My sister. My childhood. Who I admired for so many years...and still do. Horse lover. Polar opposite. Silly, smart and beautiful without knowing it.

Happiest of Birthdays, my Friends.

Eleven

11 more runs until I run 26.2

I'm sitting here staring at the clock....I'm meeting Kara at 6:00 to bust out a tempo run. 1/5/1 = 7 miles.

Kinda scared of it too.

I could use a good run because I haven't ran since Sunday, but the heat....the heat is here. Ugh.

I'm tired.
I'm hungry.
I don't wanna.

I need some motivation.

Oh wait...here it is.

Better go lace up!

"Speedy" Gonzales

Welp, I'm 24 days from the OC Marathon...and tomorrow is going to be my LONGEST run of this training cycle, 20 miles! I'm nervous and excited to meet and beat the challenge.

I am thanking the Weather Gods...forecast for tomorrow:

For Phoenix in April, that's simply amazing. I might even get crazy and wear a t-shirt vs. a tank

So wild.

This is the first week of this training I have felt like all I do is run. And really, I don't. Not even close. My max mileage is 38 miles this week...which is nothing compared to "real runners". But for me, it's a lot...I'm happy I'm able to do it, and I'm actually getting excited for the actual race. After being injured and taking over 2 weeks off, slowly building my miles back up and being overly cautious to avoid irritating the injury, speedwork went by the wayside up until this week.

Man it felt good to run fast. (OK maybe not fast for some people, but for me, yes)

It was hard and I was really tired when I was done, but it felt glorious. I have been loosely following the SmartCoach plan from Runnersworld.com the last few weeks in an attempt to get my ass in gear (sorry Hal H. you are forever my #1 homey) and this speedwork sesh was new to me.

Tuesday - Speedwork

Dist: 6 miles
Warm; 1 mile
3x1600 in 7:59 w/800 jogs
Cool; 1 mile

My 6 mile easy run on Wednesday was anything but....my legs really felt this little challenge, they were heavy and I was literally dragging ass. But like they say "you gotta run fast to get fast". After the OC I plan on incorporating a speedwork back in on a regular basis and working on my 1/2 marathon PR.

I'll be pounding water today, eating bland and taking the day off of exercise to prep for tomorrow's 20 miler. This is my professional plan to avoid shitting my pants. Classy.

Wish me luck!

Dumb Phones

My posts have been few and far between lately. Partly because I haven't done anything super exciting, my phone has been jacked up (eff you Verizon) so I haven't been taking photos, and partly because I haven't felt inclined to blog.

So what right?

Pretty much.

Oh, and I've been pretty busy too. Life just gets in the way sometimes.

I had a busy and eventful weekend, friend filled...food and drink filled as well. A baseball game for Easter, some running, some working and very little downtime.

WHY the eff do iPhones NOT let you rotate photos? So.Damn.Annoying. 

How DARE you ruin my photo.

I'm looking forward to crossing my next long run off the list..it will be the longest to date and then the start of a mini taper, and spending some QT with Wade over the weekend. (no plans, yesssss)

Random thought....but has anyone ever visited the website/forums of "Get Off My Internets"? Holy shit those forums scare me. I mean, Bloggers have to expect some mean comments and ridicule because let's face it, everyone talks shit and people on the net do it much more...it's easy to judge from a far and hide behind a computer but dayuuuuuum these people are mean! Anywho.....night!

Hoppy Easter!

Today is the first year ever in my life that we are NOT celebrating with a ham dinner at my parents house....instead, we are taking them to a Dbacks game.

I'm embracing this change. Pretty pumped.

AprilPhotoOfTheDay

One of my favorite bloggers @ meals & moves does this neat little photo challenge each month....and recaps them at the end of each month so I thought I'd try it out, just for fun...

And of course, because I love the camera feature on my phone.

Party of One

My weekend has been great so far...more on that later.

However, something is bothering me. Remember this post?

My fear. My excitement. My need to hold Wade's hand to ease these feelings.

Welp...I will be standing alone on May 6th. Of course, I feel sorry for myself because of my own fears and neediness but last night was the first time Wade really let me know HE was upset.


Gosh, how insensitive of me.

We were on our nightly dog walk and in my excitement I said to him "I can't believe I ran over 30 miles this week and I ran ZERO just 3 weeks before, and I feel soooooo great".

He didn't say anything...just kept walking.

I kinda poked at him and this is what he said to me:

"Have you considered that I am upset that I can't run this with you? That I was excited to run a full marathon with you and now I can't even run at all?".

(he might have also gone girly on me and possibly mentioned his waistline feeling bigger & rounder)

I stopped dead in my tracks.

I hadn't. You see, Wade doesn't get too excited about vacations, running or races like I do. I just assumed he didn't really care and does these things to appease me. But he does. My heart broke a little bit at that moment. Because he was genuinely sad.

I wish I could heal his Achilles and make it go away. But I can't.

Knowing he will be there, out in the crowds cheering me on helps, but I can't help but feel disappointed both for him and for me, for my own selfish reasons.

I guess there's always another race, right?