1st Official Marathon Training Day!

Today is my first official day of training for my first full marathon!! It's a rest day :) I could get used to this training stuff!

I just got back from a week long vaca in Colorado with the boytoy! It involved some serious adventure, camping, hiking, hiking, camping, old friends, and new friends. I'll leave you with some teasers for now but expect a full update throughout the week.

sweating pink on day 2

hiking up 14er Mt. Sneffles on day 3

top of Mt. Sneffles...still sweating pink

Beer tasting and beer bread

Disclaimer: this post involves almost nothing healthy. If that is what you are looking for, skip on down to the last bit.

The past couple of days have managed to involve beer! NO complaints here! I made this puppy a few days ago thanks to pinterest. Honey beer bread. It's super dense but wreaks of beer and is quite tasty. I would have eaten the entire thing right out of the oven if 1 chunk slice didn't fill me up. I'm serious...dense!

honey beer bread

Then last night, a buddy of mine invited me to a beer tasting at Miss Lily's Cafe in Townsend. They have started a beer club and once a month they pair a dinner with beers. It was great! I got to catch up with old friends and try some tasty beer!! (I was too busy having fun that I forgot to take pics...oops!)

Before the fun, I managed to get in a quick run with Ari! It has rained every afternoon for the past 2ish weeks until yesterday! Hellooo blue skies! Ari and I ran the greenway that goes beside a creek. In 3.5 miles, I let Ari off leash 3 times to play in the water to keep him cool in the hot hot heat. Seemed to do the trick!! I had all of 15 minutes to rinse off and head to the beer club. I was sweating like a pig and after the shower I was sweating like a smaller pig. Anyone ever had that problem?? I just hope the deodorant and squirt of perfume were enough to ward off the bootay smell!

Somedog is Not a Morningdog

I can't help but think Ari doesn't like our morning-time runs...

this is becoming a trend

I AM a Runner

Lately I've found myself saying things like "runners wear stuff like this" and "a good stretch for runners looks like this". When I talk to my bike friends (Joel gets most of the runner babble in particular), I talk about runners but never admit that I am one. But I AM a runner, dammit.

Joel has said it before that I am one of thoooose people but I have never said it.. until yesterday. Over the weekend, I volunteered at the SERC mountain bike race that was in town. Susie, the girl that was working the road crossing with me, asked if I am a runner. I thought about it for a minute and said.."yes, yes I am a runner."

Finally put it out there! I AM a runner.

Morning time run

Today was the day that I finally got around to running before work. I have set my alarm early on many days but sleep won every time...until today! Between Ari begging to go outside and Joel pushing me out of bed gently encouraging me to get out and run, I managed to get up! I'm actually really glad I did! I thought I would hate it but it was really nice! Over the past couple of weeks, the weather has either been 105 or raining. This morning we had a break in the rain and it was low 70s! The humidity was fairly high but the temp was perfect! So Ari and I set out on our run...Ari made it 1.5 miles (he's not a morning dog) and I threw in another 1.5 at a comfortable pace.

When I came back in, I grabbed my water and chocolate soymilk (sooo delish after a run) and stretched for a few minutes. Ari likes to help me stretch..read licks-all-the-sweat-off-my-arms-and-legs. I gave up and laid down after a few minutes and this is what happened...

big ol baby lap dog

He stayed like that until I made him move. Can't help but love that dumb dog.

Lessons Already Learned

Before I get to the lessons I already learned, here's a quick weekend recap.

Friday night we took the mountain bikes out for a spin! We had some nasty storms the day before and there was debris everywhere so I cut my ride a little short. Joel and Ari had some good fun though!

Concord Park trails

Saturday morning I did a road ride with my dear old dad. Really nice morning but got hot fast!

just image that's me in the yellow jersey

Sunday is were the lessons come in. You see, Saturday after the bike ride, Joel and I hit the pool with some Skinny Girl Margaritas and then grabbed dinner at Savelli's Italian Restaurant. They are a mom and pop shop with some of the best Italian in Knoxville!! They are also BYOW (bring your own wine) so we had a bottle in tow "just in case" we wanted some. Drank the whole bottle. Cue Sunday morning. I had planned on waking up early to get in a beat-the-heat run. That turned into a 9am omg-I-think-I'm-going-to-die run. I did some things I know I shouldn't based on experience. Like run in the full sun while dehydrated/slightly hungover. And drink coffee to try to knock off some of the daze. And eat a bowl of cereal with milk to fuel before the run. These were all lessons I had learned in the past typically = a terrible run! I only did 5.2 miles but it was brutal! I was sure by mile 4.5 I was either going to have an accident in my britches or puke (I was hoping for the latter). Luckily neither happened, but my tummy was all kinds of messed up.

I have no pupils

It's over and I will never do those things again. Hopefully.

4th of July Celebrations

UPDATE: My chip time was 25:55!! They only posted gun time in the beginning as that is what awards were based on. 

The 4th celebrations started Tuesday night. The Knoxville Track Club hosted the 28th Annual Pilot Fireball  Moonlight Classic 5k Run/Walk at 9pm! It was my first nighttime run and it was awesome!! Convinced Joel to run as part of our team...his first 5k ever! He had invested in some real running shoes just a few days before and it was time to put them to the test.  

team MoJos..Joe, Joel, Me, and JB pre-race

I managed a PR of 26:14!! Although my watch said 25:55. Not a huge difference...I'm thinking I may have delayed starting my watch. I'll still take it! Joel came in at 23:16! Not bad for his first race ;) Our team got 5th place!! Heck yeaaaahh!!

the team after-race

threw this one in for giggles

this is where we found JB after the race

For the 4th, we had plans to do about 6 different things. What really happened? We woke up and relaxed while watching DVR'd stages of the Tour de France. We made our way to the local park for an easy jog/walk to loosen up our legs and let Ari get some energy out. Then we hit the pool for a bit, got back to the house and showered, drank a beer while catching up on Olympic trials, and then fell asleep! Our 5 minute cat nap turned into an hour. Our plans of hanging out with friends turned into a nap/trip to Sweet P's Barbeque and Soul House.

some of the best bar biiiii q in Knoxville

After gorging ourselves with delishusness, we walked around Sweet P's dock and found some amazing 70s house boats! This is where I tried to convince Joel that we needed to sell both of our houses and move in to this beauty!

future home??

Joel wasn't feeling well all day and it just got worse and worse, so we stopped by Walgreens to get the essentials. Probably the longest yet most entertaining trip to Walgreens ever. The crowd that shows up at 8:30 on the 4th of July is quite a spectacle.

We made it back with just enough time to harass Ari for a few, then hit the fireworks!

festive Ari

our view for the evening

fireworks!

All in all, an unexpectedly relaxing day.

Holy Heat!

Knoxville set a record over the weekend!! 105 degrees for 2 days in a row! Man it was brutal! The Joelster and I spent most of the weekend relaxing in the pool. There may have been margaritas involved :) We did manage to get in an early morning "beat the heat" trail run that was still hot and humid. Not my best run.

I carried my Camelbak water bottle, mentioned here, and while it's pretty awkward to run with, I'm glad I had it! I've taken it on a few runs lately and it works just fine..no water shooting at your face while running, keeps the water nice a cool (although I suggest starting with ice), has a decent size pocket for key, id, and gel packs, etc. I still prefer to run empty handed if possible but this is a good alternative for the hot days!

Not only has the heat made running difficult, it's sucked the energy straight from my body! Apparently it has taken the same evil tole on Ari as well.

I don't want to get up either, big guy

Any big plans out there for the 4th?