Revisions

Really want to be running again? When Lord? When? Good news is knee is feeling much better in general. Bad news is it still hurts when I actually try to run. I did start some aqua therapy today which was interesting to say the least. Running in a pool with a ski belt tied around my waist and bungee chorded to the side of the pool doesn't afford much forward movement. I still don't get it as the actual movement of running doesn't hurt, but the foot strike is where I get pain. Not a lot of foot strike in 6 feet of water but what do I know? Doc said to give it 6 weeks of therapy and if I still can't run then he would script an MRI. The funny part is that the PT told me today if I hadn't told him which knee was hurt he would have guessed the left. I guess the therapy I have been doing is helping, since it is the right knee that is cranky. :) Stay tuned.

STILL NO RUNNING!!!! Grrrrr. I am so bummed. Work has been incredibly stressful and my outlet has been cruelly removed from my arsenal. My knee is still really mad. I am seeing a PT and working on some imbalance but every so often I get some really sharp pain. Like last night, I took a step and kinda stumbled and it sent a shooting pain through my knee and then it was sore the rest of the night. And this morning still not feeling great. As much as I hate to admit it, it may be time to go see a doc. Bleck. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem going to doctors. I am the first one to head in when I think something is wrong. I just have a bad taste in my mouth when it comes to MRI's. My first and only one ever revealed a nasty cyst in my foot that had to be removed and killed my running program for 2 solid years. So not super excited to go do that again. But this pain isn't getting that much better. So I guess I will give it a few more days and then make the call if there isn...

Still not running. Total bummer.

Oh my gosh I am so here....... "Many runners feel a certain kind of loss the days after a marathon. I have even named this feeling the post-marathon blues. It makes sense if you really think about it. You have been consumed with one goal. It defined a huge part of your life for quite some time. Now what do you do? Should you start planning now for something else? When should you start running again? What do you do with those sore, cranky legs? Never hurry. Never worry. That is your motto for the next 26 days. Many runners don’t plan the few weeks AFTER the marathon and experience injuries, burn out, bad runs and bad moods. Here's what you can do to recover quicker and make you a better runner:" By Julie Isphording, Former Olympian It has been 9 days since my marathon and I haven't run a lick. I tried to run a little on Saturday because I had foolishly signed up for the Nike + Human Race 10k. Yeah no dice. I had immediate pain in my cranky knee. By Monday I was teeteri...

One of the greatest parts of this race is the finisher's medal. Instead of a big crazy medal that will hang in your study or somewhere, the finisher's medal for the Nike Women's race is a necklace designed by Tiffany's. Yep it even comes in the little blue box. It is a unique design each year and we couldn't wait to see it at the finish. We were not disappointed. It is beautiful and I have not taken it off since Sunday. Take a look.

Ready to Race!! Mile 2 Mile 11 Mile 14 Last hill Home Stretch Yep, we did it.

The day has finally arrived. I woke up early so I had time to lay in bed and read my bible and just really calm and focus myself before the race. I finally got up and took time to stretch my legs and use the foam roller while my bagel toasted. I spread it with peanut butter and topped it with some sliced banana. I had laid out all my clothes so I just had to pull on my awesome Roxy sports bra and shorts. I sprayed myself down with sunscreen and donned my cool new highly personalized TNT purple singlet. Hair up in a pony and teeth brushed, I tied on my shoes and grabbed my hydration belt and extra shirt and headed over to Steph’s room. We made sure Andy had all our supplies before we left and I texted my mom to let her know we were headed to the start. I forgot to leave my phone with Andy so we had to run it back up but we still had plenty of time. We met with our team downstairs and the excitement in the air was palpable. Everyone had trained hard and was ready for this race. We took o...

TOTAL bummer

When I got to San Francisco, we took off on a whirlwind of activity. Not to mention the hotel charged for internet use. SO I didn't check my FB until Saturday, but when I did I was overwhelmed by all the well wishes on my wall. I have some awesome peeps in my life!

How cool is this. It's my race!

This was awesome!! I felt like an elite athlete. TNT rocks

Day 2 in San Francisco was kinda a blur. I got up early to do some super special Nike + member shopping at Niketown before the store opened. I got a cool new bag and a shirt for Steph. Must have a memento of the weekend. From there I went back over to the Expo to try out the Lunarglide shoes and get a gait analysis. Kinda cool. Check out the video below. When I got done there I had a text that Holly and John had arrived so I cabbed it over to the Ferry building to meet them at the Farmer's Market. It was fantastic. We walked around and sampled a bunch of scrumptious morsels then settled into T's for lunch. We split up after that with plans to meet up in the evening as I needed to rest a little and I had a team meeting and the inspiration dinner to go to. And what an inspiration it was. I had no idea as we got to the door of the convention center, the mayhem that awaited me. All the TNT coaches and mentors lined the walkway from the door, down 4 flight of stairs and into the ban...

How cool is this. I got to try out the new Nike Lunarglide shoe and they took a video of me running and analyzed my gait. Lots of fun stuff at the Expo. True to form I am a neutral runner. Here is the official "analysis" Your Gait Neutral: The outside of the heel strikes the ground first and the foot rolls inward. The foot pronates within normal limits. View or download video of your footwear trial captured at the Nike Women's Marathon Expotique. Then click on the link below to see the Nike Running shoe best suited for you. For more information on Nike race weekend activities for you and your favorite spectators, click here. Also follow the links below to find out how to customize your finisher gear with Nike iD and to get more information about the Nike+ Human Race 10K.

Thankfully it's not this bad but this sure is funny. :) ">

It wasn't under 5, but with the hills of San Francisco I will totally take it.

We Came We Saw We Ran 5:01:49 More to come

It’s the night before my trip to San Francisco for the race. Of course on the last night I am scrambling around like a chicken trying to finish up last minute stuff. I still had not packed but I wanted to do the t-shirts for the “Tiara Trotters” fan club. The graphics that Steph’s friend did turned out really cute so I made shirts for Holly, John and Chloe. I made one for JZ too, even though she isn’t going to be here and I know she won’t wear it. Regardless I was cutting and ironing and peeling until about 10 pm. Never mind that my packing still wasn’t quite finished. But they turned out really cute and of course I was sporting my tiara while I worked. I even made one for me, minus the fan club part, because Steph and I are the Tiara Trotters, after all.

We made it to SF in one piece and as a big Team in Training Group. The Southwest flight attendants even gave us a shout out after we took off. Our team for this season so far has raised over $390,000. That is so crazy to me. Thanks to all the people who have been so generous. We grabbed our luggage and hopped on the charter bus to the city. We got checked in and Steph and I headed over to the expotique to pick up our race packets and enjoy some of the festivities. We sampled the Safeway smoothies that were blended by peeps on spin bikes, we picked up our bibs and goodies bags, made some cheer signs and we filled our lungs at the oxygen bar. It smelled soo good. I think I got a little carried away. Hehehehe From there we went over to Niketown and found our names on the wall and played in the photo booth at Cole Hahn. One of our very important errands was to go to Chinatown and pick up tiaras for Step and our Mentor Michelle. We found a little cafe that I had been to before and grabbe...

Steph invited me over on Wednesday night. The plan was to paint our toenails, the TNT official colors of purple and green of course, and to decorate our race singlets. I got to her place and we had to run to Andy’s to pick up the printer because she had some T’s designed for the race. One for Andy that says “Tiara Trotters pit crew” and we did some for our cheerleaders that say “Tiara Trotters Fan Club”. So we got back to her place and made some ridiculous salads while our baked potatoes cooked. We had to carb load right? Then we got down to the business at hand. I got to work on my singlet while she made Andy’s official race jersey. I got some crazy iron on letters to decorate my shirt and once I got them ironed on I realized I may lose one or two during the race so I had to sew some of the edges down. I just hope I don’t get chafing from the thread. And thankfully I didn’t prick my fingers too badly with that needle. We got so involved in the T’s and eating that we never did get aro...

So we are two weeks out from the big event and I am feeling very indecisive about my chosen running shoes for the race. I ran in Asics Nimbus 10 all season with fabulous results. Then at that 14 mile week with the knee issues, I decided it was time to get new shoes. Those pink Nimbus have some serious mileage on them. So off I went to Road Runner to replenish my shoe supply. Jorge the sales guy was really helpful and after listening to my whole long drawn out training recap, he gave me a few pairs to try. He got me the new Nimbus 11, but also suggested that I try the Saucony and the New Balance. I tried one of each and after a couple quick jogs on the treadmill, we both came to the conclusion that I am an Asics runner. I kinda already knew that but one must be open to new things, right? Ok so 2 new Asics on my feet and I did a little trial run on the treadmill so he could check my gate. Because the new Nimbus had a little wider toe box I went back to the size 9 I normally wear. After ...

My marathon will be here before I know it. It's a busy week at work while trying to eat right, sleep a lot, run smartly, and figure out what to pack. I think San Francisco could be a tad chilly and since I trained in Orange County in the middle of summer I didn't exactly get to train in pants. I am a little worried I am either going to freeze or get serious chafing if I wear pants. What's a girl to do? I still am having a hard time believing it's really time to do this. I feel ready and I feel like I can do it, but now my mind is playing the trick on me of wanting to do really well. I mean I have always wanted to do well at it, but I think I figured it was my first one so just take it easy and leave it at that. Now I want to finish it in 4-5 hours, preferably closer to 4, and the pace I have been training at puts me closer to 5. Hmmm. Must not focus on this. Must run the race. Must get out there and feel out my body and push when it feels right and hold back when it do...

Well today was the last long run until the big marathon next week in San Francisco. Half the team is running the Long Beach Race tomorrow and my running partner is in Seattle so I decided to sleep in this morning and skip the final team run. I am kinda tired of running in Irvine and I really wanted to sleep in a little today so I made plans to run Back Bay in Newport instead. It was nice to get a good night's sleep and wake up without the alarm when it wasn't pitch dark outside. I called my friends Holly and John and they offered to ride bikes with me while I ran, and I am not one to turn down company, so I headed to their place and we took off. John was even pulling Chloe in the bike buggy. I don't know how he got up some of those hills pulling that thing. Give me running shoes any day. It was nice and overcast and the run was pretty uneventful. We all just chatted and kept it going forward. We turned around at 4 miles which just "happened" to be at the bottom of...

We are in the home stretch and I have a feeling over the next two weeks I am going to be tearing up more than normal. I can't believe that in two weeks I am going to run my first ever marathon. I remember walking into the Wheeler library in May just to get some info to maybe do the Long Beach Half. I just wanted to sign up for a race to get back to running regularly and now here I am, 19 weeks later, ready to run a Full. I am so excited and so nervous and so full of emotion. It has been an amazing experience, full of laughter and tears and hard work and fundraising and I am so glad I decided to do this. Team in Training has been everything I had hoped it would be. I have made new friends, I have had excellent coaching and support, I have done something for someone other than myself and that in turn did something for me. There have been a lot of miles in the last 19 weeks, but they have been fun and challenging and memorable all at the same time. Today we ran 12 miles and that makes...

Running has made me a little crazy. No, let me rephrase that, running has confirmed the fact that I am a little crazy. You have already been privy to some of the less than lucid thoughts that run through my brain on early morning runs. We won't rehash them, some of them are not pretty. Entertaining to be sure though. SO Thursday when I was running and singing along to my favorite tunes on my ipod, KC and the Sunshine Band came crashing into my brain. It was "Boogie Shoes" and I started to feel KC's groove but I also started making up my own lyrics. Running appropriate of course. The bet part was when I started giggling because I couldn't wait to dedicate it to my RB Steph. I am quite sure she will approve. So I give you the remix of "Boogie Shoes" aptly title "Running Shoes" Girl, To Be With You Is My Fav'rite Thing Uh Huh And I Can't Wait Til I See You Again Yeah, Yeah I Want To Put On My My My My My Running Shoes And take a run Wit...

I finally feel like I an officially call myself a runner again. It has been a long time coming. Here is the evidence that i have gathered so far. My first marathon is in less than three weeks. I am already trying to figure out when to schedule my next one. I am already trying to figure out which half I want to do next and I want it to be soon. My stack of running shoes could give my stack of high heels a run (pun intended) for their money. I check out the new flavors of Gatorade in the grocery store. And check out these ankles. Seriously. The first time, which implies that this is a regular occurrence, I thought I had not put on enough sunscreen and had gotten a really bad farmer tan. NOPE, ready for this? Yep, it's dirt. My ankles get "that" dirty when I am running. You have already seen the shoe comparison. If you don't remember check out "Miles to go before I sleep" in July So, I officially claim to be a runner now. No namby pamby pristine treadmill run...

Not sure if this is a big enough file to not be super pixelated when I post it but here is Steph and I as we finished our 20 mile run. From Anaheim Hills to the beaches of Huntington. You can't tell from the picture because we can fake it with the best of them but she and I were trying not to bawl the last 50 yards because of the signs on each side of the path with honored angels. We were also exhausted...hello 20 miles and it was a tough last 4 or so. But in true princess fashion we pulled out our best smiles and hammed it up for the camera. Yep that's what we do.

I was remiss in my wording a few posts back and would like to retract a previous statement. Andy will not be hired as a pack mule for the upcoming race as that brings to mind sweaty, not so fresh smelling and certainly not fleet footed beasts, if you will. No, Andy has been hired as the pitt crew. That has a much nicer ring to it, don't you think? It also redefines his responsibility to the two well honed, high performance machines that he will be working with on October 18th. :) So Andy, my new friend, you are the pitt crew chief. Glad to have you on the team.

I am finally making some progress toward my fundraising goal. Thank you to all who have donated so far and please keep passing along my info to your family and friends who might be feeling philanthropic. Wanted to share a link with some pics of our honored teammate. He is little Alexander. His nickname is Gubben and he is such a cutie. Thanks to all your support he is doing well and heading back to school. And he is getting to play soccer. Shouldn't all little boys get to play soccer? :) SO thanks you guys, your support means a lot. http://web.me.com/npain/Site_8/Killer_Whales.html#7

Speaking of tats. Thanks to my running shorts and a 20 mile run, I am sporting a bar code-esque tramp stamp on my low back. Take a look. Nice right? Yeah that is one tattoo you will never see on this body.

Ok seriously? How cute is this stuff? I think these two pieces will have to come home with me as souvenirs of my kick butt marathon experience. Love love love them

Steph and I love to take pictures when we are running. Well, I love to take pictures and she always has her iphone so I make her take them. Must document every aspect of this thing. So for our 10 mile run, one of our teammates actually had a crew of shooters out on the course. Steph got some of the pictures and so in honor of our 20 mile run here is our commemorative photo. We had to use all four hands to represent. I hope we looked that happy yesterday. :)