Two Ears One Mouth

Well my friends, we are now officially under 1 week until marathon day and I have a lot going through my head but am surprisingly less panicked than I was expecting to be. I'm still panicked. Trust the training. I'm panicked that my mysterious leg injury will flare up and cripple me. I'm panicked that I didn't get that 20 miler in because of said leg injury. I'm panicked that something will happen this week to throw everything off. Was I right to swim and bike in place of running when my leg was really acting up or should I have run through it? Or should I have seen a doctor and now my leg is too weak to carry me through? Endurance events are hard. I don't think I'm shocking anyone with that groundbreaking sentence but there's so much more that adds to the difficulties than just the sheer distance. The great Kara Goucher once talked about how amazed she is by marathon runners who aren't professionals because not only do we have to balance tra...

That pretty much sums up my weekend. I'm a big fan of being inspired. I love watching documentaries and becoming obsessed with the subjects and their relentless pursuit of whatever random feat despite their randomly difficult circumstances. There's nothing like watching someone overcome something. Anything. I would watch a documentary of an aspiring hand model getting rid of a hangnail in order to compete in the World Amateur Hand Modeling Championships and start googling nail technician programs so that I could someday be equipped with the necessary tools to aid other aspiring hand models in the future. Not only am I easily inspired, but I also like to be involved. The problem  with my obsession with inspiration is that it always leaves me wanting more. It makes me want to go harder, faster, longer! *insert our collective immature giggles here* As I sit here fresh from watching 10 hours of coverage of the Ironman World Championships on Saturday and 2 hours of the Chicago M...

How was your weekend? It was a wet one here. Very, very wet. So wet in fact that we made The Weather Channel's Facebook page! Yes, I liked The Weather Channel on Facebook. Anyway, due to the weather both group workouts planned with a few of the lovely ladies from my tri club fell through so aside from a quick and hilly (oxymoron?) 3 miler early Saturday morning I didn't do much to get moving over the weekend. Since I'm in a full taper now for the marathon (did someone say 2 weeks from yesterday?) in addition to wrapping myself in bubble wrap and preventative ace bandages I've also been trying out KT Tape to see if it could do some work on my mysterious leg injury and nagging hip ailment. I think the only reason anyone knows what KT tape is is because of the lovely Kerri Walsh, I mean, she's even on the box! Anything I can do to A: replicate Kerri Walsh and B: cure myself before getting to the start I'm willing to do so I headed out to Fleet Feet ...

This just happened! For three days I've been going to the Ironman 70.3 Raleigh website, clicking the "Click Here to Register" button and staring at the screen. After a few hours of leaving the tab open I close it and go about my business. Not today! Today I did it, pulled the trigger and clicked submit and now I'm doing my first Half Ironman! Look out Raleigh!

CONGRATULATIONS to Elena who won the Group Giveaway sponsored by Kaliwood ! Elena is in for some fun goodies so next time make sure you enter so you can get in on the action! Now for your regularly scheduled programming.... Hi there, another absence I apologize for but my life has been crazy in good and bad ways. First with the bad: I'm officially about 3 weeks out from the marathon and still can't really run because my leg is not getting any better. Who runs a marathon after 6 weeks of slow, sporadic and moderately painful run/jogs? This girl. Should be a spectacle. I'm experiencing some PTSD after the Tri for Sight and am afraid to swim because I'm afraid of sharing a pool lane with someone. It's starting to really interfere with my swimming which I'm going to need to start doing more of since I'm planning that 70.3. I have not actually picked a 70.3. I was originally on board for Rev3 Cedar Point . Which then became the NashVegas Triathlon . W...

I am totally experiencing the Murphy's Law of marathon training. The race is a month away and I haven't run longer than 16 miles. I haven't run consistently in 2 weeks. I ran the 5K Sunday as part of the tri but when I tried 5 miles on Tuesday I made it 2.5 before the mysterious leg pain reared its ugly head. I decided to take it easy and hold out for the 18 miles scheduled on Saturday (aka today). I'd really like to say I'm coming to you from a sore and satisfied place but I'm not. There was another wrench thrown in. Remember that head on collision I had in the pool during the Tri for Sight? No big deal right? I drove back home Sunday and things were fine. Had a little headache, neck and left shoulder were a little stiff but nothing new for after a race. I took Monday off from workouts which depressed me of course and then had the failed run Tuesday. Tuesday morning my neck was incredibly sore and I figured I'd slept on it wrong plus I'm always a litt...

Quick note to let you know about a fun giveaway I'm a part of this week! For my portion, I'm giving away 6 tubes of ZipFizz (3 fruit punch flavored, 3 orange soda). I used ZipFizz during a long run a couple of times and found it a little sweet for my tastes but The Colonel liked it and it did do its job of providing energy. Designed as a 5 Hour Energy alternative, ZipFizz is vegan (yay!) and comes in a powder form that just needs to be mixed with 16 oz of water. It's also not syrupy or chalky like some drink mixes can be. I got a great deal on some at the Ironman Louisville expo and even though I don't love it for long runs (it's also a teensy bit carbonated) I'd say it's a nice little energy booster. *Disclaimer: It IS an energy drink! So please treat it with the respect any caffeinated beverage deserves and drink responsibly. Also, I am in no way being compensated for my opinions and my opinions are just that. See below on how to enter and thank the lady ...