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 🙂

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Wordless Wednesday No. 14

December 28, 2011 by · 9 Comments

Our 2011 Race Medals!

 

Our favorite medals for 2011!

Oops…we are putting words in this post!!!…..We each picked our favorite medal for 2011 as you can see above. Teal picked the medal from our Disneyland Half in September because it was her fastest half and most memorable run in terms of the crowd and scenes.  Beth actually had a hard time choosing between three (Disney – SO memorable like Teal said and Rock ‘n’ Roll SA – went sub 2 hours on a half again!) but ultimately picked the Dallas White Rock Marathon medal!  What you probably can’t really tell is Teal has one more medal than Beth – remember back in September at the Heroes for Children 5k where she hit a major PR AND won her age group?  Yah, she’s got a medal to prove that!

Top left to bottom left: Rock 'n' Roll Dallas, Wounded Warrior, White Rock Centennial Half Marathon and Disneyland Half

 

DRC Half, White Rock Marathon and Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio

 

These are our 2011 medals!  All of these medals represent our original goal for this year, BUT we still have half of a medal to earn December 31, 2011 and complete the other half on January 1, 2012 at New Year’s Double!

Do you have a medal you are most proud of this year?

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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! 🙂

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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!

source

What are you most thankful for this holiday season?

 

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Wordless Wednesday No. 13

December 21, 2011 by · 3 Comments

Welcome to the world, Eliza!  We love you already and are so excited for your parents, Rebekah & Zac!

 

Eliza’s daddy, Zac, is a fellow marathoner who with his last marathon on December 11, 2011 in Bryan, TX became eligible to be a  Marathon Maniac! We are so proud of you, Zac!  Rebekah is one of our best friends who has not only been a cheerleader for her husband at races but also for us.  We love you guys! Congrats!

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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?

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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! 🙂

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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….. 🙂

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Crazy Food Prep Day

December 11, 2011 by · 17 Comments

About 2 years ago I weighed in a range from 25 to 30 pounds heavier than I do now. I had tried to lose weight and get back in shape on my own ( I literally did nothing for about 4 years) but it really was not working out too well at all. I had worked out for about 3 months, lost about 5  pounds alone and I was annoyed. I really was not pushing myself, I mean, after 3 months I was barely even running a mile.  A MILE!   Seriously hard to believe now, but I wasn’t. I could not make it down the street without feeling like death. When I got married I literally weighed the most I had ever weighed in my life and I look at that time now and am like – what the heck Teal? I got a trainer, (you’ve heard about Will before) and we hit the ground running .  Well sorta. I started on the elliptical, then Stairmaster, then running for cardio and we focused on the weight training in sessions. Over 2 years I have dropped a lot of my weight, but I really still want 10 more… ok really 15 pounds off. Who doesn’t?! I’m sure tons of us and if you don’t, I quite frankly am jealous!

2009 and 2011

Despite the exercise I have learned that it really doesn’t matter only about the workout side and I don’t mean that in a ‘don’t work out kind of way’. I actually really enjoy it, obviously, and it has so many more benefits to it then weight loss! I run like crazy and am at the gym all the time BUT the weight does not come off unless you eat right – FOR REAL and right MOST of the time. The key too is also being honest! Sometimes I really am not and if I want to get it off honesty is the best policy. This is a difficult task, especially when we are all busy. I am a full time teacher, I have been a full time graduate student for the past three years, and I also work a part time job. I am officially off one day a week and I usually do not get home until way late, sometimes not until 10pm or later on days that start at 5 am. I say all of this because the only way I was able to lose all that weight was because I planned, not only my workouts but my FOOD.

I have given this plan a nick name “Crazy food prep day.” Original, I know… but I really didn’t know what else to call it because it really is nuts. My kitchen on Sundays turns into an assembly line of food prep madness. I think it might even drive my husband nuts, but it works. I have been somewhat of a slacker lately- I blame long runs and my ability to eat what the kids eat at work. GROSS! But I do it, or I shove whatever in a bag and go.

I have been stuck at the weight I am at now for quite some time so I have decided to bring “Crazy food prep day” back from hiding. Plus it is the start of FAT WEEK at work and if the name of next week doesn’t scare you you should just see the mess that comes into work. It’s delicious but eeekkk, definitely will not make this booty any smaller! Fat week cannot win! So I figured with the impending doom of Fat Week and the fact that the marathon is over and I want to focus more on the weight, I figured I would share this with you guys! So here it is.

The menu:

(yep I eat the same thing EVERYDAY) I change it up each week.

Before workout if I go at 5am: Sunrise bar – these are from Costco and they are awesome 130 calories and a 5 year old can read every ingredient!

Breakfast: English muffin, 2 egg whites, 2 slices of turkey bacon, tangerine

Snack: Fage 2% greek yogurt and 2 nature valley granola bars

Lunch: Flat out roll, chicken salad, small spinach salad with Newman’s Own organic dressing

Snack: Apple and string cheese

Dinner: Orzo, veggie, and chicken soup (Tuesday Beth and I have Bunco (yep we are 95) so I’ll skip this soup and eat there- our friend Elizabeth is making homemade Chili and I am not all that concerned with it being crazy unhealthy!)

*If I am hungry late I will eat Jello or blueberries or raspberries*

I log my calories on myapex.com and have for a while so here is a screen shot of basically what this day looks like calorie wise and the protein, fat, carb breakdown. Apparently that is pretty important!

I basically did this entire thing from 7-8pm Sunday night. The total price of all this food $63.72 (not counting the sunshine bars) that’s literally 6 meals a day for 5 days! 12.74 a day! As you can see it is pretty simple stuff and it is easy to prepare.

all the food packed and ready to go!

– Teal

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Thankful Thursday

December 8, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
While a marathon is an individual event it is not something that happens alone or without support. We are so grateful to be surrounded by tons of family and friends who support us more than they may even know. We wanted to thank you guys today for everything you have done to help us get through this year of races and to achieve this crazy goal. We love you all and are beyond thankful.

Quote from Matt Long's The Long Run which perfectly describes how White Rock Marathon went for us

Michael – I am not sure how you have put up with me for so long. Thank you for encouraging me and cheering me on since day one. You deal with the light switch on at 5 am, banging of the doors and waking you up to say bye when you are in deep sleep! You deal with my endless amounts of sweaty cloths and shoes all over the place without complaint! You have never once become annoyed or frustrated. You deal with my insane schedule, running not included, and are so flexible when I added all this into the mix. You are seriously my rock! You support me more than anyone ever has and I know that is not going anywhere. Mmmmmmmmm.

Brent – A big, huge thank you to you, honey!  You’ve endured my lame Friday nights so I could get up early and run Saturday mornings.  You’ve given up drinking wine with me in effort for me to be the most prepared that I can be for races.  You’ve had confidence in me and pushed me when I was down on myself.  You have been such a huge and needed support system for me this year and don’t it all without a single complaint! I love you so much for it! 🙂

Kate – Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the times you rescued just one or both of us on long runs!  For putting up with our stinky selves as we lay on the den floor in pain after our long runs! For your willingness to see us at races and organize getting the rest of our family together!  You’ve been such a big support for the two of us!  You’ve picked up slack for me in SO many ways when I was trying to squeeze in a workout before a family or social commitment!  You are the best big sister ever!

#FancyNancy – Mom, thank you so much for also being someone that came to our rescue and picked us up from a long run!  Thank you for the many prayers I know you’ve said for me and for Teal as we are out running whether it be a training run or a race!  I am so glad you’ve gotten to see me do a couple of races this year and seen me in action! Thanks for enduring cold temperatures for both of those and thank you for all of your support! Love you!

Bossman – Dad, Pops, JSL, you support me in so many ways…you put up with me going to yoga at lunch a lot! Leaving work a little early to make it in time to an expo for a race or head out of town for a race.  You encourage me in all of my races that I am running! Thank you so much for coming out and seeing me complete my first marathon!  Thanks for coming out there with one of your fancy cameras and catching us on film! You are the best! Love you!

Johnny – Hopefully you know that I have been thankful for you ever since I met you & Angie back in 2007!  Thank you for continuing to be there for me this year, for pushing me harder, having the confidence in me, being there when I need advice & just putting up with me in general!  I couldn’t imagine there being any other trainer out there as amazing as you are! Oh, and “not today, baby, not to today….it’s too cold!” 🙂

Will –  Thank you for always looking out for me and calling me out when I am being stubborn and for worrying about my knees even when I don’t.  I would not be anywhere close to where I am now without your help and encouragement every week. Thank you for pushing me beyond what I think I can do or even want to do. I truly feel like you care about me as a person and not just a client. You are consistent and motivating and I couldn’t ask for a better person to train with. Thank you so much for coming and cheering me on it means more to me then you can imagine.

Cynthia – Thank you for being my wake-up call, last text of the day to remind me to get up and my motivation to actually go! You make working out so much easier and more enjoyable at the crack of dawn. You are loyal, constant and such a good support system for me. You look out for me and keep me in the know! I am so glad that we have become friends and I thank you so much for everything you have done for me these past couple of years!

Bitner, Chase, Joe, Mary Alice & Zac – Running buddies!  Running races with each of you this year has been awesome!  We have loved having the opportunity to share those times with you and some of you actually do training runs with!  Hoping for many more runs together!  Each of you mean so much to us!

Ashley, Emily, Heidi, Brian & Jason – Or should we say @ciaobella7 @EmilyRatcliff @HeidiRuns @bmlueb @reigning1 – Twitter friends who became real life friends!  To the ladies – we did it!! We are marathoners!  Thank you for all your support, for the laughs, for sometimes freaking out with us and for being awesome friends!  To the guys – thank you for always supporting all of us ladies and reminding us that we can do it! You two are wonderful men. Heidi & Ashley, you married well!

Chris– I am so glad to have a fellow running buddy here at work. I have enjoyed every conversation we have had this year about running! You are an awesome person to just be able to complain, rant, discuss, and brag to. Thank you for being so encouraging and you are an inspiration to me. I say daily that I don’t know how you do all the running you do and the way you do it. Can’t wait to hear more and you are an awesome runner, coworker, and person.

Mandy, Josh & Meranda – We cannot believe you drove ALL the way over from Ft. Worth in the cold and horrible weather to see us run by for two seconds, but we are so grateful to you guys for doing that!  It was such an awesome surprise to see you! Love you guys!

Sommer, Edward, Lilia and Brad – Thank you for braving the elements, traffic, and crowds on Sunday to come watch us even though we know there are 10,000 other things you could have been doing. We truly loved seeing you at the finish line and it makes this experience so much better.

Bossman #2 -Thank you for dealing with my crazy Saturday work schedule and not complaining when I have to rearrange everything, your flexibility is awesome. Thank you for dealing with my tardiness due to long runs and all the whining I do while there. Thank you for texting me with your support and being there for me.

Aunt Neil & Uncle Fred – Thank you for your support & encouragement!  I appreciated the text messages on Sunday and heard you both tried to make it out to the lake to see me.  That means the world to me!  I am so lucky to have such great family members!

There are numerous other family members, friends and tweeps we have to thank for merely asking us about and encouraging us in our runs and races.  We hope you do not feel like you have been forgotten because we can assure you that you have not!  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

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