20 Miles Done!

This weekend was pretty uneventful bc I had my first 20 miler ever. It is my last double digit run before my marathon.

I spend Friday hydrating and eating. Matt made my usual pre long run dinner and it is always so good! I had hot tea the rest of the evening bc I was freezing and Jager agreed.

I woke Saturday and had my usual salted cashews and a packet of Welch's fruit snacks and was on my way to Shelley Lake. I was very overwhelmed about doing 20 miles, so I broke it up in my mind into four five milers and that helped. I also did short videos for every five miles on instagram (JenHaught) and that was kinda fun.

I was doing decent the first 15 miles, but then I got very tired and my legs were heavy. I think I pushed too hard in the beginning. I'm VERY nervous bc I'm super slow and I have a six hour course limit. I'm a super slow runner and my finishing time was concerning: 

I have a few weeks to make adjustments but I will be livid as myself if I get disqualified. Fingers crossed for me, but I'm worried. I think I will change my intervals from 3:1 to 2:1, maybe I'm tiring out bc of that? 

I will share some pictures from my run. I saw a group of people in kayaks cleaning up the area and I thought that was great. The last picture is a picture of McDonald's and man it was hard to pass that place FOUR times and not stop. I was over cashews and fruit snacks and ran out of water at mile 15.

Here are my five mile times, I just got slower and slower and slower: 

All and all I felt well on my 20 miler. My knees didn't bother me, but I had a issue with the inside of my left foot, my right ankle and finally a killer cramp in my left calf. At the end of my 20, I felt that I could go further, but I just don't know how fast.

I treated myself to an amazing dinner and it was cooked by my very understanding husband:

Matt also hung up my poster while I was gone on my run and I love it. My ultimate goal is to qualify for Boston by the time I'm 40, so this is a great daily reminder.

I can't believe this marathon is only a month away! Wish me luck! 

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1 Week Left!

I can't believe the first race of the Raleigh Triple Crown is on Sunday! Insane! These eight weeks have flown by!

First, off..... Guinness's path came back fine! We are super happy!

After taking a week off from running, I was a little nervous bc I thought I'd feel leg heavy, but I didn't. I think the week did me a whole of good and I did really well, I even got my fastest time on two miles so far! 

Rachel and I did our last long run at Shelley Lake. We did 8 miles and I felt pretty good. My heel is still flaring up but not too horrible. 

So, race #1, Run Raleigh, is on Sunday at Cameron Village and I think we are ready! Thanks for the support! 

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This Blog is Officially "And Counting"

Saturday was my 34th birthday, so this blog will now be focusing on the "and counting" part of my life. I'm very much looking forward too all the things ahead!

So, Saturday started with a 10 miler in Cary and it went well. My Garmin pissed me off bc it got full at mile 5 and we had to count our intervals out and then it stopped our time completely, so I'm not sure what our final time was. After our run, Rachel surprised me with AMAZING cupcakes and sang me happy birthday.

After our run, Julie and Jess took me to Southpoint for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and shopping. It was fun! I got four fun shirts and a ring for New Orleans next week. 

After I got home, Matt made me a great late dinner and we had some cupcakes. All in all, a GREAT birthday! 

Today, we were all super lazy and napped on and off most of the day. We got up eventually and went to the Outback for dinner and I had steak and lobster tail. Yum! 

One of my favorite cards was from Denise and it is so funny! 

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7 Miles And Going Strong!

What a gorgeous weekend! Maybe spring is finally here! Matt and I actually got a few things accomplishment this weekend. Matt raked the front yard and then we worked on cleaning our office and guest room. We have yet to put away our Christmas decorations, but hopefully they will be put all away tonight.

 Our run this weekend went really well. We did seven miles at Shelley Lake in 1:42:11 and I felt great after. I had moderate pain in my heel but it feels better today. We changed our intervals to 1:50 walking and 1:00 running, so that's what I will change my weekly runs to now. I can't believe there is only five weeks til our first race for the Raleigh Triple Crown!


         

JT was on SNL last night and he is super talented. I love his new song "Mirrors". It is looking pretty good that my friends and I will be at Fenway in August to see him. I don't want to get too excited just in case it falls thru, but hopefully we know something by the end of April and can book our flights for a visit.

So, I think that's it! I had a great training week last week, so hopefully my luck will continue and my heel won't get any worse. Have a great week! Thanks for reading! 

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Bird-a-ful Run

I seem to be back on track, which is great. I weighed in today and down 2.7lbs after last weeks 6.9lb gain.....so, heading in the right direction again. I'm hoping with the half marathon training plan we have I'll be racking up more activity points and be able to lose a bit more weight. I will also be getting my thyroid labs re checked this week, so I might be due for another dose change if it shows I'm still off.

Saturdays Rachel and I headed to Shelley Lake again for our long run. We did our intervals and finished up our four miles in about 58 minutes. I'm surprised I didn't run faster bc there were so many birds! I'm straight up terrified of birds and it seemed like every bird in the city was there....ducks, geese, cranes and even giant hawks. I don't think I've seen so my birds in one place. I can't even tell you the pure terror I feel when I see a pack of Canadian geese.  I took some pictures but, it is kinda hard to see the birds. The hawk was hanging out on the garbage can.

I ate pretty well today and spent most of the day reading bc it was snowy and slushy out. The oatmeal was 8pp and the shrimp salad was 3pp. Not bad.

Other than that, nothing crazy new is going on. I would like to give a shout out to my parents bc the sweatshirt they got me for Christmas came with a hole in it and I had to send it back. They finally got the refund on it and they sent me this:

VERY cool! I love it! Thanks, Mom and Dad! 

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I've Been A Bad, Bad Girl

Yeah, this past week was a major DISASTER!

Yeah, I GAINED 6.9lbs in a week! Disturbing and impressive. It truly shows what happens when I don't work out, eat insane portions and eat crap. I don't think I saw a fruit or veggie (unless you count the pizza sauce I ate) all week. I barely drank any water and I felt sluggish and nasty all week. I gain so fast bc well, duh I ate insane portions but also bc my metabolism is super slow and it's probably due to my thyroid. I did a metabolic breath test at my nutritionist office and she confirmed that my metabolic rate is crap, below average. So, it just means I have to work harder to get the results I want. 

So, I'm training for my sixth, seventh, and eighth half marathon. I'm doing the Raleigh Triple Crown and I'll be doing a race in April, May and June. I really needed a new challenge to get going again. Rachel and I had our first training run on Saturday and it was pretty chilly. We are starting with intervals of 2 minutes walking and 1 minute running. We went to Shelley Lake and did 2 miles nice and easy. 

After the run, we headed to Panera and I got a Breakfast Power Sandwich with egg whites for 7pp and it was great! I LOVE Vermont sharp cheese!  I stayed contently full until lunch time. 

In health news, I got my MRI done on Friday for my 6 month check of the pituitary mass I have and hopefully I'll get the report/results tomorrow. I also got the results from my CIMT tests and I have the arteries of a 28 year old, so that is good to know. Just gotta keep watch on those cholesterol numbers! 

OK, so I've got to do a quick mile run today and then will get my meals ready for the week. The only other plans I have today is watching JT in the Grammy's! I AM SO EXCITED to see him! 

Here's to a successful week!  

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