What do you think? Suggestions?
Marathon Running Weekend…Well, Not Entirely..
January 20, 2012 by · 4 Comments
But we do have a number of runs/races to tackle this weekend….Twitter Road Race, Northshore Trail Run, and Too Cold too Hold – ooooh my! We are up for a busy weekend and have definitely added a little variety to running. So with that said we’ll give you a little breakdown of just what we will be doing.
1.Twitter Road Race: You guys know how much we love twitter and our twitter running community so we jumped at the chance to sign up for this first ever Twitter Road Race. This idea is the brain child of @seedouglasrun and you can check out the details on his blog here, but basically this is an opportunity for twitter runners all over the country and even the world to run together! So many times we want to change things up and run different locations, places, and meet new people but that is not always possible. This is a great way to connect to more runners too which we love!
So how exactly does a Twitter road race work? We asked the same thing but basically we will choose a spot to run in around our neighborhood and complete a 5k. We will be running alone for this 🙁 BUT we will both run Saturday morning! Once completed we will tweet our run using the #TwitterRoadRace and give our results to Doug! It’s that easy and best of all it is FREE.
It is not too late to sign up either just go to this site and register and then you can race “virtually” with us too!
2. Northshore Trail Run: If you have followed us for a while you might have seen our first ever trail run post/pics. We have not ventured into trail running again so we thought would give it another shot. We have decided to branch out and are going to head out to Lake Grapevine Saturday afternoon! We will run the Northshore trail and according to the website is a favorite for area trail runners and says there are basically “rocks, roots and ups and downs”. We are hoping to get in at least 4 miles and we will def take pics and update you on how this goes.
(source)
3. Too Cold Too Hold: On Sunday we both signed up to run Too Cold too Hold. This was the first race we ran together last year (not counting WR ½ December 2010)and really love these events. We signed up for the 15k and plan on making this a good training run and not necessarily racing it. We are off our game a little still and are getting back on track to run our Disney Princess Half at the end of February. Can you believe we are this far through January already? We also wonder if the weather being like it is if it will actually be cold that day.
How many miles do you plan to put in this weekend?
New Things Friday!
January 6, 2012 by · 8 Comments
Happy Friday!! Well, we got a NEW header! All thanks to Beth’s sister, Kate!! What do you think??
Also, did you happen to notice earlier this week the appearance of a new button on our blog?? Right around this area —–>
We are SO happy to be able to tell you that we are ZOOMA Connectors for the 2012 Texas event which will be held in Austin on March 31, 2012!!
What is ZOOMA you ask? Well, it is a race series designed for women! We all love girls weekends, right? [well, all of us females at least :)] ZOOMA has basically gone and created a girls weekend for runners! You run your race and afterwards at the after party expo you are pampered with wine, massages, demos and shopping! What else is cool about running their half marathon is each finisher gets an exclusively-designed piece of jewelry! We absolutely love the theme of the ZOOMA events:
run. laugh. celebrate.
The ZOOMA race series is really all about promoting a healthy & active lifestyle! They really embrace that by finding Ambassadors in each city where a race is held to help train and inspire runners. Their big kick off event for runners and Ambassadors to meet is actually tomorrow morning at the Luke’s Locker on Sandra Muraida Way, so if you are in Austin and want to participate go here to RSVP to the event! There are a number of links on their site to inspire you and your training or just help you get started!
Ok, so we have really promoted this whole it’s a girls weekend aspect of the ZOOMA event, it really is just one big girls weekend, BUT men are welcome too! So ladies if you want to run this race and your husband/significant other/brother/etc. is looking for a race to run too, well, bring him with you!
Registration is open NOW for the Austin, Texas event on March 31, 2012 and if you sign up before January 7, 2012 [tomorrow] you will beat the price increase! The two of us will be heading down to Austin and running the half marathon portion of the event, so come and join us!
Sign up today and let us know that we will see you out there! 🙂
If you are one of our readers outside of the great state of Texas be sure to checkout the other 4 events in the ZOOMA race series and plan to make one of those!
Atlanta – April 22, 2012
Annapolis – June 2, 2012
Cape Cod – September 22, 2012
Great Lakes– October 20, 2012
New Year’s Double – Day Two
January 4, 2012 by · 5 Comments
The two days of racing somewhat blend together for us – perhaps we should have written some notes down after each day to help us out? We are sure you wouldn’t appreciate a recap that says “It was fun!” It would be the truth though! 🙂
New Year’s Day morning we headed out to the race course just the two of us as we are awesome and let Michael & Brent sleep in! We might have done a slightly better job of eating breakfast before today’s race, but maybe just slightly. Haha. When we got to Celebration Park we decided to sit in the car for as long as possible! Ever since White Rock Mary Teal doesn’t like to be cold if she doesn’t have to be and Beth decided on an outfit warm enough for running not for hanging out waiting to run and no throw away items.
Teal’s friend Cynthia was running the half marathon relay this day and it was her text messages asking us where we were that finally got us out of the car! We quickly found Cynthia and were able to chat some before the race started, and then found Heidi & Brian at Corral B! Before we knew it we were starting the race!
Teal: So if you think about how low my expectations were in terms of running for day 1 they were even lower for day 2. My foot (the bad one) was very tender and was even more tender on the outside because I ran on it for 13 miles the day before. I was thinking – “good lord, how much more can your poor little pinky toe take?” I had called Cynthia the day before and asked her what leg of the relay she was running because really my goal was to run the first leg with her to gauge pain, and then walk the second if need be. I had iced like crazy and stretched a ton the night before. My body felt much better than I had expected but still sore.
Beth: Almost immediately after we got home from Day 1, I was on my way to Run On to get a new pair of shoes! I refused to wear my tainted marathon shoes again and knew I had pain that wouldn’t be there had I already gotten a new pair of shoes. So I was ready to go for Day 2’s race and really wanting to make sure I ran the whole thing again – no walking!
Teal: Miles 1-3: I started in corral C with Cynthia, Beth and Heidi went out with Corral B and my running buddy from day 1, Brian, ran back with some other friends of ours. In my head I was like—“ boo, I really won’t make the second half because I will be alone.” The first 3 miles were slow but not bad. Cynthia and I stayed together and I kind of just played with my angling on my foot to control any pain. My knee on the left was sore, but not too bad and was shockingly for once staying in place!
Beth: I had my headphones with me today! Since I was so messed up with the mileage the day before I wanted to be sure and have periodic updates, but then sometimes I wouldn’t even fully listen to them. 🙂 Heidi and I got started together and our outfits matched just a whee bit this day! We had some chatter going again, saw a lot of people out there again and were sure to cheer them on as well! Seriously the seeing of other running friends out there was really the best part even though you are only passing them for a few seconds.
Thank you to Mama C for this picture out on the course!
Teal: Mile 3-6: Brian caught up to us! YES! I knew I had 3 more to go with Cynthia and when he caught up to us I felt better about the rest of the race. If he was going to keep running I could keep running. I started to feel tired and not in the mood to run anymore (even though I never really was in the first place) and 3-6 were actually pretty draining. It was at the point that I was like- You need to change your attitude because you will be out here for 9ish more miles whether you like it or not. I started encouraging Cynthia (not that she really needed it- she was doing great) and cheering on others, and thanking spectators, and chatting with Brian!
Beth: There was a sign out by the turnaround that said “Oh, Shut up, Princess! No one ever drowned in sweat!” that I absolutely loved and it got me excited because Teal, Heidi, Brian and I will all be out in Orlando next month for the Princess Half. This race weekend seemed like a glimpse of the fun the four of us will have out at that race! It was about this time we’d have our first opportunity to see Teal & Brian, and Heidi & I were both anxious to see how they were doing. I just wanted to make sure Teal was ok and that she wasn’t in any horrible foot or knee pain. When we saw them Teal was all smiles, so I felt confident that she was OK out there and was glad she and Brian were running together again!
Teal: 6.55-10: I left Cynthia here at the relay exchange and began the second loop with Brian. This stretch was not wonderful mind wise but we both basically said the pace was ok and manageable and that we weren’t going to walk. I told Brian that I was scared to lock up my knee and walking would basically mean I wouldn’t start again. We powered through and made the last loop for what we knew was just 3 miles left. We saw Beth and Heidi around here and knew at this point that they had to have been hauling! We cheered them on and just kept smiling to keep our moods up and not let the pain and annoyance of running so slow get to us!
Beth: After Heidi and I finished our first loop I knew we were on pace to make it under 2:10. Before day 1 of New Year’s Double the DRC Half had been my slowest half, mainly because it was treated as a training, and I made up my mind right then and there that I wasn’t going to let day 2 be my slowest or next in line for slowest half. At somewhere around mile 8 I was huuungry! So I got out one of my GU’s and fueled up which then resulted in me getting my second wind. Just the push I need to guarantee that sub 2:10 time for the day! One thing that has not been mentioned yet is the wind! It was out there and I guess making up for it’s lack of an appearance on New Year’s Eve. One of the main parts the wind really got to me was in mile 12 (or 6 if you were on the first loop) the ONLY thing that made up for it was the volunteer that was standing right about the mile 19th sign (I just mentioned far too many different numbers of miles). That was my fourth time to pass her that day and I finally said to her “you are the best cheerleader! Thank you!” Just as I said it a lady come out for another loop responded with “she really is!” She pushed me through, then the man I passed right before the 13 mile marker pushed me through, and then I got that awesome runner’s high from sprinting once I rounded the last corner. I also passed another guy in the small bit of course left after the last corner. 🙂
Teal: 10-13.1: I looked at Brian and was like “we eat 3 miles for breakfast” this is nothing. I am pretty sure I stole those words from our friend, Courtney. Three is nothing! We got around to 11.5, and I of course, grabbed some gummy bears again which made me super happy. The last 1.5 was fast. We talked ourselves up and just kept one foot in front of the other. We both crossed that finish line having fully run BOTH days! We high fived and that was that!
It’s really weird because both of us are in no way disappointed. We ran the 2 slowest half marathons ever, but were so happy at the end! This weekend was so much fun and was so empowering! Despite being slower than we both are use to and a lot of pain for Teal,who saw what her body was capable of, didn’t walk at all, and kept a good attitude. We were both shocked that not much endurance was lost having only run 8 miles for Teal and 14.3 miles for Beth since White Rock. Overall just proud of both of us and also feel super blessed that we were able to run with Brian & Heidi!
Results
Teal: 2:25:53
Beth: 2:06:41
The medal for day 2
You put the two pieces together in the challenge plate and this is the complete New Year's Double medal
After the race on New Year’s Eve we didn’t really get to stick around and watch some of our friends running the marathon finish, so we made sure we’d get to see them on this day! We watched Ninja complete his 2nd marathon in 24 hours and in the top 15 of finishers which earned him some fancy champagne glasses! We got to see Lesley J. out there with her Racing It Off ladies! Y’all looked awesome!
Overall it was an awesome racing weekend for us! We had so much fun being at an awesome race amongst so many running friends!
New Year’s Double
December 30, 2011 by · 3 Comments
We are beyond excited for this weekend because it is officially time for the New Year’s Double! This race is seriously unique and amazing and comes to us via Libby Jones, who we absolutely love! For those of you who don’t know her she is also the director of North Texas Runners, a full time race director and mommy! She runs like a wild women and is truly amazing! We admire her for her work, organization and passion about running. You can read all about the growth of this race since last year at here. It’s really incredible to see how this has taken shape.
This race is so amazing because it is a true double race. Runners could choose from a range of distances to run over a two day time from, either a 5K, ½ relay, ½ marathon or a full marathon and you could mix and match any way you choose to run one on New Year’s Eve Day and one on New Year’s Day. Brilliant huh?? What better way to start and end a year RIGHT! We decided that we would run two half marathons. So starting tomorrow morning we will head out and run our NYE half, marking the official end to what has been an awesome year. We felt that this was just so fitting to do and can not be more excited to end the Year of Running like this. After the race we will then go home, rest up, and get to watch a free screening for The Spirit of the Marathon courtesy of Cinemark Allen! Our boys will even go with us to this! 🙂
Then NYE we will spend with our significant others, eat and wake up NYD and do it all again! Seems nuts but this really is the best way to start out the year being active!
The race is located in Allen, Texas not far from us and is a a looped course. We will complete 2 6.55 mile loops. It’s a very nice course and will all be on paved sidewalk!
We will update you on the cool perks and loot from this race in our recap, we don’t want to give that away now 😉 Let’s just say if we really have ever been excited about race bling its for this race!
We usually set goals for our races as you have seen from the past, but we are not going to set time goals for this race. Coming off of the White Rock Marathon and the training for that we have definitely needed some recuperation. As many of you know Teal has had a nagging foot problem since the race and has been working hard to heal that foot (read about her foot problems here). She is still having some pain and has literally only run 8 mile total since White Rock. Beth has been keeping busy with yoga, Johnny’s, spin and has run very little as well and just healing her body.
Our goals are to run smart, safe, and to not be stubborn. We have never run a double before and while we know we can make 26.2 WAHOO! We do not know how our bodies will feel this weekend given the amount of running compared to the lack of running this month. The goal is to come out of this race enjoying the experience of a small, local, well put together race! It really is, as cheesy as this might be, a good time to reflect on the past year and to think about the year to come! Wish us luck! We’ll tell you all about it next week 🙂
The Holiday Weekend
December 27, 2011 by · 2 Comments
We hope you had a safe holiday weekend! Both of us are fortunate enough that the majority of our families including husband/fiance’s family live within the DFW metroplex, so any driving we do is around town! We kicked off the holiday weekend by hanging out with each other! We attempted to take a festive picture to put up here ON Christmas Day, but uhh, yah…..that didn’t happen. So here was the start to our weekend in pictures:
less talky Teal more picture taking!
Beths' turn with the Santa hat
Teal's Santa hat turn!
this one is a keeper!
Thanks to Kate (Beth's sister) for this one! Oh, and Michael (Teal's husband) for the use of his sunglasses! 🙂
So basically we had a great holiday weekend! 🙂 This was the first year we both received presents geared towards our running, and we were both SO grateful that we each had a parent who bought our registration for the Disney World Princess Half in February! Amongst the other running gifts were clothes! and books! We are lucky ladies!
What was your favorite gift this Christmas?
Also, thanks to Chase for taking our Santa hat photo shoot. Ha! 🙂
Three Things Thursday
December 22, 2011 by · 2 Comments
We’ve never done a Three Things Thursday post before…maybe because we’ve never just had 3 things to tell you, but today we think we do! Here goes –
1. We finally caught up with the times and we gave our little blogy blog here a Facebook page! Feel free to go here and like us! Also feel free to leave us a comment if your blog has a Facebook page and we’ll go like you! Or just click on the fun little like box over there somewhere ——->
2. We again finally caught up with the times and each joined DailyMile under our own names! So if you are want to connect with us there we would love it!
3. And lastly, happy holidays to each and every one of you! We are so grateful for the people who have been brought into our lives in 2011! We wish you and your’s a very Happy Holiday season!
What are you most thankful for this holiday season?
Runner Stubbornness
December 16, 2011 by · 14 Comments
I am pretty sure I am not alone when I say I am stubborn in terms of working out in some sort of pain. I do it basically every time. Some days are worse than others, but I have very few where something doesn’t hurt in a weird way. I basically have gotten used to it. I have been to the doctor a bazillion times, each time for them to basically say the same thing, “Well, if it hurts, don’t do it.” If I followed that rule I would be out of shape. I hate admitting something hurts; I would rather just be tough about it. I have terrible knees that grind and pop and have deterioration of cartilage much more than someone my age should have and arthritis in both. The knee doctor said my IT band was too tight and that he should not be able to see it and he can. This is partially to blame for why my knee doesn’t stay in socket. Recently I have some pain across my lower stomach from running so many miles and being so tight. See… Stubborn – I don’t really stop doing anything.
The problem is I think most of the aforementioned problems have resulted in this current one that I can’t make go away. One week before White Rock I ran a super easy 6.2 mile run, symbolic, yea probably, and I was nervous about the race so I wanted to run something. My foot was sore but not in pain. I ran 3 miles on the treadmill that Tuesday and have essentially been in foot pain ever since. The Thursday before the race I was seriously wondering if I could run it, I told Beth that day that it was bothering me but I really didn’t say much. Saying it out loud would be admitting that something was more seriously wrong.
I ran the marathon, obviously, but have not run since. We are basically two weeks out from the marathon and I haven’t so much as run a ¼ mile. Something is wrong. My friend Cynthia had foot pain so bad she ended up having surgery. She went to so many doctors and eventually ended up in surgery that really didn’t completely work. She has been lecturing me since I told her my foot hurt. I think it is time to not be stubborn because now I am just scared. Everything else has seemed manageable, but not this.
I ran across a blog post from The Trail Jogger the other day and I am going to share with you kind of what it says BUT shockingly enough I have to STOP BEING STUBBORN. You can read the full post here but here is the condensed version.
1. Stop Running: easier said than done, when it stops hurting start running with low mileage.
2. Ice: This bores me and I hate it but isn’t that rule number one when something is hurt?
3. Roll it: Use a tennis ball or golf ball and role the arch
4. Stretch: especially the calf muscles – apparently all of that stuff is connected
5. Hang your feet off the end of the bed when you sleep:– this is the easiest one! I’m 5’10”- apparently it helps in the morning when it hurts the worst
6. Support it:– Wear shoes all the time (this one is hard for me. I HATE shoes!)
As far as everything else goes- I am foam rolling everything, stretching and going to yoga to strengthen and stretch, and using the “Stick” whenever I can. Beth has had on and off hip flexor pain that she says has been so much better since yoga, so I am tagging along in that. We both attend Sunstone Yoga.
source
Here are some pics of the recovery process! This really is progress for me in terms of not ignoring something!
icing at home
rolling at work
Thank you to Emily for passing along the Ozarka bottle tip!
Yesterday we showed you our December running plan – I have essentially done none of it. This makes me SO nervous because I don’t want to lose endurance! That crap is hard to build. I hope to be able to run the New Year’s Double. My heart and mind say run the race- “How cool is this race, and the medal and the people,” but my body is like- “Really Teal, Why do you hate me?” I am torn and nervous. Essentially I know I will make it! I ran 26 miles on it already. I know it will work for 26 more especially split into 2 days (see the crazy rationalization) but how long do I want it to hurt, and how do you really stop being stubborn?
Beth hasn’t exactly been following the plan either. She keeps herself pretty busy too and now that the goal of a new unknown distance isn’t looming over her head she’s been enjoying some down time. She’s still pretty much making it to yoga, Johnny’s or the gym every day with a rest day or two thrown in the mix.
I can pretty much guarantee that you will see BOTH of us at the race! I’ll run regardless, even if it is slow and terrible, BUT perhaps admitting stubbornness is the first step to solving it?
Do you have any additional advice on treating Plantar Facsiitis?
December Tweener
December 15, 2011 by · 1 Comment
Thanks to Beth’s trainer, Johnny, for the term “tweener!” 🙂 At workout whenever one rotation of weights is completed he always gives a tweener before you start your second rotation. Tweeners are fun things like mountain climbers, cherry pickers, spider pushups…you get the idea!
Once we finished our FIRST EVER MARATHON 🙂 we knew we had a few weeks before we would do the New Year’s Double race, so if we were going to keep up with the running we needed a PLAN! So above is the plan we devised – we knew the first week of it would be questionable since we would have done our first marathon and had no idea how we’d feel after it. Do you know how we are doing? Check back with us tomorrow to find out! 🙂
Special Shout Out
December 13, 2011 by · 3 Comments
You’ve been seeing his name on our blog lately (like here and here) – he’s our friend, our running buddy and Beth’s cousin – Chase!
Who doesn't love a good baby pic?
We’d like to give him a little Birthday (Eve) shout out! Chase’s Birthday not so conveniently falls juuust before the Christmas holidays begin so for the past 6 or so years he hasn’t necessarily been around family on his actual Birthday. Chase is currently working out of Houston as a Manager, Teacher Leadership Development for Teach for America! Couldn’t be more proud of him! 🙂
back in 2007
Chase and I grew up for the most part 15 minutes-ish away from each other. We would see each other occasionally around holidays and for whatever reason never spent THAT much time together nor did we really know each other that well. It was probably all those times he would pinch or kick me when we were little- haha! I will never give that one up! 🙂
Brice (Chase's bro), Beth, Kate (Beth's sis) & Chase in May 2011
At some point while I was in college and towards the end of high school (I think) for Chase we decided to change that! We are no longer just cousins, but also friends! It is a friendship I truly cherish, and am so thankful that we are able to form once we both were adults! Even though as an Aggie it might be hard to forgive him for going to that other school down the road! 😉
So proud of you and what you’ve accomplished with your running this year and glad I could be a part of some of it! Can’t wait until our next race together!
Hope you have a wonderful Birthday tomorrow, Chase! We’ll celebrate when you are back in Plano! 🙂
P.S. – aren’t you glad I went a whole blog post about you without mentioning vacuums? Oh, wait….. 🙂