Kill the germs part 2 (or is it 3...)

This morning I walked around the house with a bottle of Lysol and sprayed anything that anyone might have touched in the past week. Especially my Dad, who was sick all last week coughing and blowing his nose everywhere and not cleaning anything afterwards. Well, actually he did start cleaning a few things yesterday after I started feeling miserable. I almost didn't make it through church yesterday. I sat there listening and trying to figure out how to take a breathe without having my chest hurt. Not the feeling I wanted with only 10 weeks to train for my next race. Fortunately a nap and a whole bunch of vitamins seem to be helping. This I found my last packet of powered wheat grass, mixed it up, and chugged this morning! If it helps like it says it will then I need to stop by Whole Foods later and get some more for the week because I need to get in a 14 mile run on Saturday to stay on schedule. I don't know if I'll be able to run tomorrow or not. My chest is still a little heavy, but at least it doesn't hurt anymore. The germs need to go away. I'm so over them!!

I have an answer to what is next!!!

For weeks people have been asking what race I'm doing after Thanksgiving's half marathon, and now that I have run and eaten my way through the day I have an answer!!! If you read my last post you know that the 13.1 miles went really well. That and I chatted with a friend along the way who had signed up for a flat race herself, and I came to a decision. So here's the 2010 race schedule as it currently stands:

• Tallahassee Marathon February 7, 2010
• ING Georgia Half Marathon March 21, 2010
• Big Peach 5k
• Peachtree Road Race 10k July 4, 2010 (assuming I get in)
• fall marathon (currently thinking about Chicago)
• Atlanta Half Marathon (loved it!!! totally want to do it again)

So, now it's time to figure out a training schedule with only 10 weeks till the next big race!

Atlanta Half recap or running for turkey!!

Ah revenge is sweet!! Take that lake Merced!! and the great highway too!!

As you might have guess I had a pretty awesome run this morning :). But I'm getting ahead of myself. I got a really good night's sleep Wednesday night, and jumped out of my bed when the alarm went off. It took me a minute to remember why I had set the thing for so early. Fortunately I had gotten everything ready the night before and all I had to do was eat my usually peanut butter and honey sandwich along with a shot of wheatgrass. Don't ask me why. I had a wheatgrass shot on Wednesday and spent most of the morning bouncing off the walls, so I thought it might be a good thing to have before the race. I also decided to wear my Nike finishers necklace (it says run like a girl!!) for the race this morning partly as a reminder of what had happened, and partly to show it who was boss.

It was freezing when I walked outside. I decided to keep my jacket on for the first part of the race instead of checking it since I was just wearing my TNT singlet, arm warmers, and gloves. It turned out to be a really good decision! I got to see a bunch of my TNT friends before the race, which always makes me happy, and we headed over to the starting area to figure out our corrals. I was in the green corral (yay, my favorite color!!), which in normal language meant I was in corral 3 and got to start right at 7:00! My friend Sally and I started off together and only seperated for a few minutes when I had to go play mentor :). But that also meant that we found Andy who joined us for the rest of the race. Honestly, it was a blast!! it felt like we were the three amigos running down Peachtree Road, and getting dirty looks from the people we were passing as we ran happily down the street. I had originally thought of trying to run in 2:00 hours, but decided early in the week that it would be more enjoyable to just run for fun. Whatever happened would happen. I just wanted a nice enjoyable long run. Holly cow!! I'm still really happy about it (the Starbucks girl said I must be on a runner's high if I was going to go home after running 13.1 and cook a turkey. Umm apparently she is right). We just ran and talked. We said high to other runners we knew, and ran into a couple of awesome TNT coaches. (seriously whoever the coach at mile 12 was you rock!!). We got cheered on by a couple of Nike teammates. And then the sprint downhill to the finish started. Um, yeah, so it wasn't sprinting all downhill. There was a hill in there too. Kind of knocked the wind out of me, so I slowed for just a bit, and then the finish line appeared, and the next gear kicked in. Oh finish line, I think I love you!! :) In the end it was an awesome run, and a new PR (2:11). Have I mentioned I'm still really happy about it :). My Mom and sister came out to cheer us on too! My sister made a couple of signs for me and had some fun with my camera:

Pretty awesome. I also like to run for pumpkin pie :).

All in all, I feel really great. I got tight, but nothing major bothered me. I'm ready to sign up for some more races now! Say something flat that might take place the first weekend in February in the capital city of Florida...

So, take that great highway & Lake Merced!! This girl is so ready to run more fabulous races!

The dogs really wanted a walk when I got home. They felt forgotten...

Thankful

I am Thankful for:

1. my family
2. 2 crazy dogs who make me smile, love me no mater what, and drive me crazy :)
3. wonderful students who put up with their crazy violin teacher
4. that I have a job
5. that I have the ability to do something very creative
6. that I get to be a musician and get paid to do something that I love
7. that I can run
8. for Team in Training and all of the amazing people I've met over the past 1 1/2 years
9. friends
10. a roof over my head and food in the fridge
11. for a teacher who believes in me, and thinks I'm doing good
12. for coffee. After all I'm a musician
13. laughter and silliness
14. for good mentors in my life (I want to grow to be just like them :))
15. for a cup of tea of a rainy day
16. for Karen Tuttle and Heather Mudd who are always there for the big & little moments. When's the next trip?!
17. for Anne Marie who said that training for a marathon was only a little further than a half marathon. I'm glad I was running when you said that and couldn't really think about distances at the time, but I'm so glad you talked me into them.
18. hugs, especially bear hugs (that may or may not come after a run with a certain group. Thanks Jim :))
19. bagel crack :) (and Carol)
20. for family and friends who never hesitate to donate towards my races for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
21. Lori Rasmussen for all your words of encouragement
22. the ladies from my bible study (Anna Beth, Ashley, Megan, Lydia, Caroline, Stacy and, Anne Marie). Even though we don't see each right now I loved seeing you every week, studying the Bible, and encouraging and supporting each other.
23. the plan God has for me, even when I don't see it
24. running with friends
25. orthotics that keep my high collapsing arches in check so I can run pain and injury free
26. that tomorrow is always a fresh start
27. humidifers
28. really good bow hair!
29. cookbooks
30. for my life, no mater what is thrown my way

What's next?

I seemed to get this question a lot this morning from my Team in Training buddies. What's next? Well there's the Atlanta Half Marathon on Thanksgiving day. No, after that? Ummmm..... I don't have a clue, and to be honest it's slowly driving me up the walls. What is the next race? I've had many ideas:

• Callaway Gardens Marathon or Half Marathon - it's in January, which seems to early, and all the reviews complain about hills. Umm, this is Georgia, and we do have hills. Besides Callaway Gardens is on a mountain people.
• Tallahassee Marathon or Half Marathon - the first week in February still seems kind of early, but it's appealing because it's flat! And I have a sister and lots of friends down there... But it's in February....
• ING Georgia Half - will probably end up running this one. I don't have time to do the full because I have to teach a violin class that afternoon. Dang it!
• Country Music Marathon - this is one that I've started thing about more the past couple of days. It's not until April, which gives me plenty of time to get ready for it, and I've been told that it's not a hilly course. Might be leaning towards this one, but will probably train as an alumni and save the big fundraising race for the fall.
• Peachtree Road Race 10k - I love this race!! And my time gets better every year. I'll be back as long as I get in :)

Hopefully I'll have a better idea after the 1/2 marathon on Thursday. Don't even think about asking what I'm doing in the fall yet. I've got some ideas. It's pretty much between 2 races, and I think I know, which one I'm leaning towards. That's all I'm going to say. You'll just have to come back and find out :).

Have a race suggestion?

An old friend in a new place

It's been a year and a half since I first signed on the dotted line with Team in Training. It's hard to believe it's only been that long. I feel like it's been much longer than that, which is a good thing. A really good thing! See Team in Training combines two things I really love, fighting cancer, and running. Every Saturday I get excited about heading out to the GTS whether I'm training with the team or on my own because I get to see some of my all time favorite people. Oh, and I get to run :). We're not just about running though, we're about making a difference in the lives of cancer patients with all sorts of endurance events.

Do you live in Georgia?
Want to find out more about Team in Training?

They have a new blog!!! Head over to Team in Training Georgia's new blog and find out more. You'll never regret it!

cleaning, taking care of the to-do list, and practicing after sleeping late this morning :) #win5000

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Sticks & Stones

My neighborhood got sidewalks last winter, which as a runner made me feel safer because I wasn't forced to run on the street amongst the speeding cars. Now, I'm not so excited about them. One section wasn't finished and City of Atlanta workers dumped gravel and all sorts of junk on the unfinished part. Last Wednesday I took several bad steps on that section. Now I have a sore ankle, knee and IT band. Apparently the homeowners with sidewalks on their lots haven't realized that they are in charge of cleaning these wonderful sidewalks. There are many places where the sidewalk can't even be seen because of all of the leaves on the sidewalk. Underneath the leaves are rocks, acorns, and sticks. I keep stepping on them, and it bothers my sore ankle, knee, and IT band. This morning I stayed off the sidewalks and did a workout on the stationary bike. Stationary bike = happy IT band. I followed that up with a 20 minute yoga for runner's workout. My legs are pretty tight. Now it's time to ice the afore mentioned sore knee & IT band. I'm annoyed that I can make it through an entire marathon training program uninjured, but one run with hidden sticks & stones does me in.

Dear Atlanta Homeowners, if you have a sidewalk please clean it! My sore ankle, knee, & IT band thank you in advance.

Dear City of Atlanta, please finish the sidewalks you started a year ago. If you just removed the dirt & gravel you dumped it would be really easy :)

It's beginning to sound like Christmas

This week I started teaching Christmas songs to my violin students. Mostly this is because of a performance coming up that has lots of Christmas music on it. Now, you might think that I have a bit of a bah humbug attitude going on, but remember I'm a musician. I perform for a living. So, all of those nice Christmas concerts you're going to have to have musicians to play those lovely Christmas songs, which requires practicing on our part. It always seems like I play the same songs over and over again this time of year. Add 4 hours of teaching the same Christmas songs over and over 4 days a week, and well, you would feel the same way too. I don't dislike Christmas music, but I've been listening to it for 4 weeks because people have been teaching it or practicing it for a while now. Somehow it never seems to be my favorite Christmas songs. That's okay though. My students love it and they always get really excited when I pull out the Christmas music. So I have swapped Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for Jungle Bells.

Today's run wasn't as good as yesterday's. My knee is being really cranky today, so I cut the run short and headed home and cracked out the ice pack. We'll see how it's doing. I may not run again until Saturday. Honestly, as long as I can run my race next week I'll be happy!

Amazing Notes and Tempo Tuesday

Several of my violin students played on a recital Sunday, and they all did really well! They didn't all feel that way. I've noticed a trend with several of my students. They tend to dwell on what's wrong rather than what they did really well. I thought one of them was going to break out in tears after she played Sunday. She didn't think about the wonderful sound coming out of her violin, or the fact that she got up in front of people to play, or that she completed the whole song from memory. She didn't see how proud everyone was. All she remembered were the mistakes. I have another student who gets upset when things aren't perfect, which actually reminds me of myself when I was her age. So, I decided that they need a little reminder that they are very good little violinist, so I got out some paper and markers and started working on a little something for their violin case. (I have a few more to make today)

I have something similar in my violin case, but I didn't move it over to the violin I'm borrowing from my teacher. I think part of it was because I wasn't sure I liked the violin at first, and thought about giving it back after my auditions. Well, that's not happening :). So today I'm moving my wonderful notes over to the borrowed violin. We all need a little reminder sometimes!

Tempo Tuesday is back on Tuesday! Honestly I hadn't really planned on doing a tempo run this morning since my hip and knee have been a little sore. So, I started out with the idea that I was just going to run at whatever pace my body wanted to go. It would just be a fun run. Of course I stepped outside to sprinkles. What is going on with all of the rain on Tuesdays? Of course now that I'm done running it is no longer sprinkling. Go figure. Turns out I had another awesome run!

Total distance: 4.04 miles
Total Time: 35:32
Average Pace: 8:47 per mile
Mile 1: 8:13
Mile 2: 8:13
Mile 3: 8:13
Mile 4: 7:04

I'm taking a little break from whittle my middle. I think it's part of the reason my hip and lower back are bothering me. So, it's back to 3 days a week of abs instead of 5 days.

Did 20 minutes of yoga to start the day off right. #win5000

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A weekend of Nike fun!

What a crazy weekend!! It was a whole weekend of Nike Team fun too! For the first time since our race a month ago (what a whole month!!) a bunch of us got together at the GTS for a run together, and in typical Nike Team fashion it didn't disappoint. I had a fantastic 8 mile run (under 9:00 miles for most of the run!) and got to catch up with tons of friends. On the way home I grab some coffee as a treat and got what I needed to bake for our Nike Team reunion party on Sunday. Pumpkin chocolate chip cake with cream cheese icing!! I ended up paying a little bit for my great run with a cranky knee that I've been icing and stretching. It seems to be okay when I'm walking around. I had several funny steps on my Wednesday run for everything that was all over the sidewalks. My massage roller is helping a lot too. I think I'm still good to go for my Thanksgiving 1/2 marathon (with a bunch of my Nike friends!).

The party was awesome! I don't think I have ever seen so much bacon in one place before! Angela H. I have discovered your evil plan of taking over the world using bacon :). I ate, and then ate some more. It was all so good. Yummy chicken chilli and this amazing brie with cranberries & figs on top! Soooo good. I ended up bringing a whole cake home, making my Dad very happy! Everyone was eating things that were already pre cut and finger food, so neither of the cakes got eaten. No worries. It just means I have something yummy to eat for desert!

I can't believe it's Monday already. After playing for 2 church services, practicing, and having students playing on a recital it was a crazy weekend!! Is it Friday yet? I need a weekend fast!

Remembering the Nike fun!

Went for a fantastic 8 mile run with good friends this morning #win5000

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One of my favorite things

I got inspired yesterday after Angela's post about Green Monsters on Oh She Glows. I remember reading about green monster smoothies on another blog over the summer, and couldn't figure out what the heck the person was talking about. So, I clicked on the link and magically went over to the Green Monster page and started poking around. I wasn't too sure about them at first since one of the major ingredients is spinach and other greens. I got a little scared at first, but was dieing of curiosity. I kept going back to the website and thinking about whether I should try one. See my dentist gave me a no juice, no sugary drinks, no added sugar prescription after my December cleaning after finding 2 more cavities. I really don't like cavities. I don't mind getting my teeth cleaned at all, but I get very nervous at the end when the X-rays are reviewed and my dentist starts checking to see if everything is okay. I've had at least one cavity every 6 months for many years now making me officially cavity prone. They have some ideas, which is why the sugar had to go. It was hard! I love juice, and smoothies, and I had to change a lot of things in my diet, especially when it came to running. My follow up cleaning was back in June after a 10 day family vacation to Italy, home of gelato. I was rather nervous. I had gotten an awesome Sonicare tooth brush, started brushing after every meal, flossing, using fluoride toothpaste & mouthwash, the whole works. (I should say that I had pretty good dental hygiene before, but I really stepped it up. I don't like the drill!) Finally I got a clean bill. No Cavities!!! For the first time in at least 5 years. So, one day I was relaxing at home watching "The Spirit of the Marathon" on hulu and I decided to make a green monster smoothie. I tried just the basic one to start, and loved it! You can't taste the spinach in it at all. I started making the chocolate green monster and can't get enough of them. Some days I have so much energy I bounce off of the walls, or practice for an extra hour. They are one of my favorite things to have after a long run! Chocolate & milk, you just can't go wrong! My favorite way is to make it with Amazing Grass Chocolate Amazing Meal (it has some protein powder added to it and has no sugar in it!!!!!), which I'm out of at the moment, so I'm using Chocolate Amazing Grass Superfood instead, which I'm totally hooked on to. Doing something good for myself helps me feel better, inside and out. I think that's part of Angela's message. Take care of yourself, nurture the good, and let it shine through on the outside. Reading her blog is definitely one my favorite things to do everyday. To make this wonderful smoothie I use one scoop (or packet) of Chocolate Superfood or Meal, 2 handfulls of spinach, banana, skim milk, and 4-8 ice cubes. Blend and enjoy (Angela suggests a fun glass).

So, is there something you do just for yourself? Something that makes you happy & just glow? We all deserve a little happiness!

A Hilly Thursday

My car doesn't smell good =(. Since it's been raining for 2 days in Atlanta I knew right where to look... the sunroof! It has been a thorn in my side all year long. The last repair (as oppose to the 2 before that) was back in August when one of the tracks had to be replaced due to a visit from a tree branch. The tree in question has done untold amounts of damage to my car. So, I was rather annoyed to find water sitting underneath the brand new track. I called the company that installed and they said that this was normal and that the water would run forward to the drip lines and drain out. Um, what part of "there is standing water in my car," did you not understand. Again they tried to say that this was normal. Um, my car smells like mildew. I really don't think that's normal. Call me crazy.

Since I was rather put out after all of that I decided to head to rehearsal after teaching my 2 students. I've been playing with a community group at a local church for several years. The director and I go way back (he use to accompany me on piano when I was in middle school). It ended up being exactly what I need. Gone was the frustration over another car problem, and in it's place was a new sense of confidence in my playing. I played really in tune! My sound was crisp and clean, and I really liked it! I can definitely see what my teacher said about my playing becoming more consistent. It was awesome!

If there was any frustration left over the car it was gone by the end of my run this morning. It was amazing!! I decided to try something new and start adding hill repeats to my Thursday runs every other week (I'm going to try some intervals on the weeks I don't do hills). So, I picked an easy hill on my route (living in Collier Hills gives me lots of options) and did 2 hill repeats sprinting up the hill each time. It was awesome! I love sprinting!!!!! I even threw in an extra hill sprint at the end of my run on a longer more gradual hill just for the heck of it and then flew down the final downhill. It was such a great feeling, and my average pace was even better than my tempo run on Monday! It makes me feel pretty good about my race coming up on Thanksgiving.

Are you whittling you middle with Oh She Glows? Day 2 of getting those abs back into shape

Relaxing & More Rain

I will admit that I was not in the greatest of moods when I got home from work last night. See I've had a really annoying sinus headache for days now, and the advil had worn off midway through the work day. So, I really wasn't happy that the kitchen was a mess and no one seemed to show any signs of doing anything about it (I should mention that I live at my parent's house). So, once again I had the pleasure of cleaning the whole kitchen, which is not my favorite thing to do. Have I mentioned I was in a rotten mood? So I decided that some relaxing was in order before bed, and tried out this wonderful video from Tara Stiles

Oh my goodness!! It made such a difference. I was so relaxed and fell right asleep, and got a great night's sleep (totally jumped onto the yoga bandwagon). I was really hoping I would wake up to a nice dry morning. Instead, it was still pouring, but I worked up the courage to go for a run in the rain hoping that my route would be flood free. Strike two. Half way around I found a lake that is actually Peachtree Creek across the road I wanted to run on. With a small change I headed up to Peachtree Road and Cardiac Hill, which is actually part of the route of my next race. Planning ahead!

By the time I made it close to home I was tired of being wet, and had to stop to carefully get out onto the street to get around a tree dangling from a power line (now I know why the power has been blinking on and off!). So, it was time to go home for a nice hot shower and an awesome bowl of oatmeal! One of the blogs I read is Kath Eats Real Food and she has a whole page of oatmeal recipes. I've been trying the oatmeal, almond butter, cinnamon, vanilla, and fruit (this morning it was blueberries!). It hit the spot! So yummy and filling.

One of my other favorite blogs has a core challenge that starting at Oh She Glows and I love a challenge! Besides it will help prevent injuries too!

Shop, Save, & Give Back

Ah, shopping!! One of my favorite things :). Because of the economy I haven't done much lately, but now I have to. Between my parent's washer discoloring things, and items wearing out I need to get out there and shop. I've tried lately, but just haven't found much that I like. Does it seem like every store has the same designs? So much for variety being the spice of life I guess. Mom and I are headed up to the outlet stores on Friday, which is perfect timing for the Gap's Give & Get sale. Follow the link for a coupon good for 30% off at the Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy and their outlet stores November 12-15!!!! Plus the Gap will give 5% to your favorite charity. If you use this coupon you'll be giving 5% back to my favorite charity The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. So shop, give, and be merry!!

You're Invited... For 4 days, enjoy 30% off while we give 5% of the amount you spend to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. So in a time when our communities need it most, your shopping counts for more. In-store Barcode (For multiple uses) This offer is also good at Gap Outlet and Banana Republic Factory Store!

Gap find store Old Navy find store Banana Republic find store

Gap.com values its customers and respects their privacy. Please review our privacy policy for more information. If you have any questions about the Give & Get program, contact gap.com Customer Service via email at custserv@gap.com, call us at 1-800-GAP-STYLE (1-800-427-7895) or write us at gap.com Customer Services, 100 Gap Online, Grove City, OH 43123-8605. Offer valid November 12, 2009 through November 15, 2009 at Gap, Gap Outlet, Gap Factory Store, Gap Generation, Banana Republic, Banana Republic Factory Store and Old Navy stores in the US (including Puerto Rico) and Canada. Not valid online or at Edition by Banana Republic store. 30% discount cannot be combined with other offers or discounts. Discount applies to Eligible Purchases ("Eligible Purchases") which are merchandise only, not gift cards, packaging, applicable taxes, or telephone orders placed to stores or customer service 1-800/888 numbers. Not valid on Gap (Product) RED™, Junk Food™, Converse®, Havaianas®, Medela®, CharmIt!®, Robeez®, Stella McCartney for GapKids, Stella McCartney for babyGap, or the following babyGap Home items: strollers, car seats, high chairs and nursery furniture. Not valid for cash or cash equivalent. Gap Foundation ("Gap") will donate an amount equal to 5% of Eligible Purchases to a nonprofit partner ("Partner") only when one is designated by the Gap Inc. best customer ("Best Customer(s)"). If no Partner is designated no donation will be made. If the Best Customer selects Donorschoose.org as its Partner the Best Customer can also select a specific project on Donorschoose.org to receive the donation. Gap’s total donations to all US and Canadian Partners shall not exceed US$2 million. Such donation does not entitle the Best Customer or any offer recipient to claim a charitable contribution deduction. Merchandise cannot be put on hold during offer period. Return of discounted merchandise will be for the price actually paid. Exchange for different size is permitted; however, the discount will not be applied to exchanges for different merchandise. Reproductions or photocopies of offer card will not be accepted. Not responsible for lost or stolen offer cards. Offer is not transferable or valid for resale. No price adjustments are allowed on previous purchases or on purchases made with this discount. © 2009 Gap Inc.

http://www.gapinc.com/giveandget/lls/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=LLS%20-%2009%20-%20Gap%20Give%20&%20Get%20Nov09%20-%20National&utm_content=javier.dejesus@lls.org

Consistency

Yes, it's the dreaded word of consistency :). Well, maybe not so dreaded. I've found that it actually has helped a lot in my violin playing. Why couldn't I have discovered that sooner? It's something that I work on trying to teach all of my students. Some get it better than others. It's teaching them to go slow and make sure that things are right before speeding up. Unfortunately kids only have one speed, fast (or maybe 2 speeds and the other one is faster).

My violin teacher said something to me that made me very happy yesterday. He said I was getting more and more consistent every week. I never realized what a huge difference it makes in playing. A difference in sound, intonation, and confidence. When people asked me if I was any good before I kind of himmed and shrugged an I guess so. Now I know I sound good! I wish all of the contractors and personal managers knew the same thing! Getting some freelance jobs would send my confidence through the roof right now! (know of anyone who needs a violinist? :) )

I've always been one to stick to a schedule. I do the same thing almost everyday at the same time. Get up, go running, eat breakfast, take a shower, practice, lunch, more practicing, teach private lessons, eat, wind down, and finally go to bed. It's just the way I work. Imagine what happens when you apply the same consistency to your job, or in my case my violin technique. Making sure that everything is working right every time, and if it doesn't find out why and fix it. My teachers calls it adjusting instead of reacting, and it's certainly helped a lot. I'm actually looking forward to the next time I have an audition because I know that things are consistently starting to work for me, and that's the only way I'm going to land one of my dream jobs. The slow down in the economy has been frustrating, but it's given me more time to focus on things and make them right the first time instead of putting them off and trying to fix them later. All that leads to is disappointment, frustration, a lack of confidence.

Do you have something you do to help you be consistent? Has it made a difference?

Tempo Tuesday on a Monday?

It's back!! I'm so happy that I can run again!! And to celebrate and start getting ready for my next race in 2 1/2 weeks I thought I would try a tempo run and just see how things went, no expectations. Weather.com has a 100% of rain for Atlanta tomorrow, and seeing as I'm just finally getting over a 2 week cold I thought it would be better to run today and take tomorrow off. I would have been happy with 10:00 or 9:30 a mile. I was most pleasantly surprised to discover that my average pace was 8:54! Now that doesn't include a couple of breaks I had to take after some of the hills on my route, so it probably comes out to be 9:00 a mile, which is right where I was before the marathon!! It felt sooooo good despite being a little sore from yoga yesterday (it's so nice to be sore again!! ;) ). And since the weather was that weird 50 degree in between temperature I tired out my new Nike arm warmers. They rock!! I picked up a pair at the Big Peach (I love the Big Peach) since they are sold out on the Nike website. They were a little tricky to get off since I had my iphone strapped on over them, but they worked so well. I can't wait to use them again!

Total Mileage: 4.00 miles

Total Time: 35:39

Average Pace: 8:54 per mile

Mile 1: 8:13

Mile 2: 8:13

Mile 3: 8:13

Mile 4: 7:03 (downhills are awesome!)

Now it's time to get practicing and enjoy more chocolate amazing grass superfood! (I just opened a new container yesterday and I felt so good afterwards, which made me put this container straight into the fridge this time!).

Don't forget your ID!

As runners we don't always think about the dangers that might come during a run. All it takes is one car to change a great run into something horrible. The Georgia Chapter of Team in Training knows this all too well. Five weeks ago one of the Team members was hit by a car while on her morning run. The good news is that she survived and is making good progress. However, she had no ID on her and was a Jane Doe for 30 hours before the brilliant hospital nurses remembered that she came in with an ipod. They got her ipod, and called Apple with the serial number to discover her name. Because of this our coaches have continuously reminded us to be safe and above all else carry ID. And that's where the partnership with RoadID began thanks in part to another Team in Training runner. If you haven't heard of RoadID you need to! They offer a variety of IDs that can be worn while training. It's super to order off their website and there are a lot of options and suggestions for what to include on your ID. Here's mine:

You can add as many phone numbers as you want, plus any drug allergies or blood type. I also have one of my favorite phrases on it (although I did think about Because I eat, or love to eat. What can I say...). And it's super easy to put on your shoe if you choose this style:

Right next to my Nike+ sensor :). Super easy, looks good, and could save your life! I got great service too! The owner e-mailed me to let me know it shipped and it got here 3 days sooner than they indicated! Now that's service! Be safe, make sure someone knows where you are, and never forget your ID!

Still waiting

Germs, germs, go away, and don't come back!! Between this cold and the fall allergy season things haven't been fun lately. It's been 1 1/2 weeks since my last run. It feels like eons!!! This morning I attempted a two block walk with the dogs to see how things were doing. HA! I started coughing the minute I walked out the door and continued for most of the first block. Maybe my lungs just needed to clear things out? One can only hope. At least I'm not winded when I play my violin! Must stay positive!!! I tired some yoga when I got home from the walk. I can till my legs have recovered from the marathon already, which is great because I have a 1/2 marathon coming up on Thanksgiving Day. Yeah, running again would be awesome! I've been doing a lot of yoga since the race. I love how good I feel afterwards, but someone is going to have to explain how downward dog is a resting pose. Because yoga focuses so much on stretching it's really great for runners and musicians! Never tried, but always wanted to? Here's a little introduction from one of my favorites (you can check more at her website www.tarastilesliving.com):

How did they know?

Oh, Runner's World how did you know?! My issue of Runner's World came over the weekend and it was like they just knew that my race didn't go the way I had hoped it would because on page 43 was the article "Let it go." A whole two pages on how to get over a race that doesn't go the way you had hoped. I have to say it would work pretty good for a bad audition too =).

1. Wallow - check. Been there done that. It's okay to be unhappy if something doesn't go right after working really hard towards a goal, but just for a little bit.

2. Find a positive - admittedly this one can be harder especially if you're still in the wallowing phase. There is no such things as a bad sound playing a violin or a bad race. Everything is a learning experience. Learn and be better for it!

3. Analyze - you can't learn from the experience if you don't look back at it objectively. I've learned a lot over the years by making small adjustments after something goes wrong and I keep getting better!

4. Set new goals - I'm a very goal oriented person. I always like to have something that I'm working towards. Plus it helps stay motivated to do the work whether it's practicing or running.

5. Manage Expectations - I'm not really great at this one. I always have high expectations whether it's winning an audition or trying for a certain time at a race. I need to focus more on what is going on at the time and adjust (not react as my violin teacher always tells me).

Pretty timely! What do you do after something doesn't live up to your expectations?