Official Boston Marathon Jacket is in!

This past Tuesday I got my Official Boston Marathon Jacket! My store sent it down from Boston and as I walked in to work on Tuesday my manager says "guess what's here?!" This year's colors are black and green, which is very fitting for Boston - I like it. It's a lot heavier than I imagined them to be but it has a nice mesh lining inside and is going to be an ideal jacket for when the temps drop. This jacket is pretty sweet. When I was looking at them online, I learned that this year, they actually screwed up and did a screen print of the logo in the front where it's usually embroidered. To remedy the mistake, they knocked $5 off the jacket's price. Even with this mess up, the jacket is still awesome and something I am super excited to have finally gotten. Now to ask the question... is it bad luck to wear it before running the race? I haven't even tried it on... I think I need to wait until I cross the finish line.

Cherry blossoms & a long run

Yesterday I ran *almost* 21 miles (20.95 to be exact). It went pretty well too! It was cold out (46 degrees) but it was my day off and I had to get one of my last two long runs in - rain or shine, warm or cold. I decided to wear my CEP compression socks during the run as well because my calf's were screaming at me all day on Wednesday with pain and I wanted to avoid all possibilities of hurting even more yesterday. I also gave myself the day off from workouts Wednesday to rest and prepare for the run (even though I worked and was standing straight from 8am-5pm). I gotta say, the CEP socks worked wonders! They are my new best friend on long runs - and I am seriously considering running Boston in them after yesterday. My legs felt amazing the entire time and when I was done I didn't feel completely spent like I have in my previous longer runs. I'm a believer - even if I look goofy running in knee high socks. I finished in 2:55:47 which put me at a pace of 8:23min/mile.

My route took me around the mall, down hanes point, around the Jefferson Memorial and Tidal Basin, over the bridge to Mt. Vernon Trail, back over the bridge and another loop around the mall. The cherry blossoms are just days away from their peak so I got to see a bunch of them starting to bloom - so pretty!! AND, I don't know if I was just really sad on my run or I have really bad allergies (which I didn't discover I had until I moved to DC last summer) because my eyes were tearing the entire run which was super annoying. Anyways, here are two pictures from my run:

Same Ride, Different Day

(On our way to lunch after our bike ride. Spring is here!)

Liz had today off from work so we wanted to get a good training day in but also had some other errands to run. Our compromise...we quickly headed out for the same 45 mile ride I did yesterday. I've added the Garmin link below in case you care to compare the stats.

3/20 Ride to Potomac

A Little Catch-up on Training

Today's supposed 60 degree, rainy day turned out being 65 and sunny...so instead of the trainer, I took advantage and went for a ride from our apartment to Potomac, MD. This was pretty much a variation of the ride we always do (just a bit shorter) since its the only safe ride out of the city and into some 'country-ish' roads. I followed up the ride (garmin data below) with a 30 minute brick run around the National Mall.

As for training as a whole, it's been going really well but fairly inconsistent. I'll be good about the diet, then splurge for 2 days. I'll do hard workouts 4 days in a row then miss 2 days. I now have a good base in my run/bike so lately its been adding more distance. My long runs are in the 12-14 mile range and my longest bike rides this year have been 56 miles. In another month I'll start adding some speed. In the meantime, I need to keep my momentum going and quit skipping workouts.

You probably noticed I left out swimming above. Every year I promise to focus on my swim and every year I procrastinate. This is the one leg of races that kills me time-wise...especially in shorter races. I've been averaging 1-2 swims per week but my effort has varied. To fix the problem, I signed up for a Masters swim course. I'll write another post on this later since I've only been through 2 practices but my first impressions are positive. I've gotten some advice on form and being forced to keep up with a group of swimmers prevents me from slacking off. I'm hoping to have a competitive (or at least average) swim time for my age group by TriRidgefield. I'll keep ya posted on how that's going...

3/19 Ride to Maryland
2/18 Ride to Maryland

Signs of spring

Daylight savings was this past weekend and Justin and I walked around around DC on Sunday to explore new areas we haven't really been to. During that time, we 1) bought a box of girl scout cookies at a local farmers market, ha... who would expect that? 2) tried horchata for the first time at a street vendor - it was good, 3) saw a lot of fancy schmancy embassies, 4) picked up a new running hat for Justin, 5) tried cupcakes from the new cupcake store in Georgetown called Sprinkles - $3.75 for a cupcake... prob the first and only time I'll eat one of those, and 6) snapped a picture in front of a blooming tree - the true signs of SPRING!!! It was nice to take the day off from training since we BOTH weren't working and get to spend some quality time with Justin : )

Today I ran 20.5 miles, the first of three 20 mile runs. It was ok - the course I routed out ended with a lot of hills which was prob a really bad idea (even though I got through them) but I could feel it. Downhills hurt bad, I was just wishing for flats for the last couple miles. When I got home, I felt like I was going to throw up. I laid down on the floor for awhile and drank my recovery mix and then showered. I then headed to the grocery store across the street to pick up food for dinner and rewarded myself with Cadbury Mini Eggs - YUM. Easter is the only time of the year I can get these candies and i LOVE them. I am snacking on them right now as I type :) Now I think I am stuck on the couch for the rest of the night - I have no desire to get up anytime soon. Here's to what I expect will be a restful nights sleep tonight :)

What is cornhole?

For those of you wondering (and who have asked), here is a quick explanation of cornhole... I have also provided a drawing for you :)

The game consist of two slanted boards, each with a hole carved out near the top, the boards are laid something like 28ft across from each other. There are two teams, two players on each team. One team member stands at each board. Each team has 4 bean bags. The two players standing at the same board take turns throwing their colored bean bags to the board across from them. After they have tossed all their bags, the other two players at the other board collect the bean bags and toss them back over to the other board. If your bag lands on the board you get 1 point, if you get the bag in the hole you get 3 points. The goal of the game is to be the first team to reach 21 points (or how we play in the league, the team who scores the most points out of 8 rounds). However, if each team gets a bean bag on the board, they cancel each other out. Same goes for getting the bean bag in the hole. It's pretty fun but can also be extremely frustrating when you aren't playing well. My team is 50/50 right now and the league championships are next weekend. It was a fun thing to do every Thursday night throughout the winter...

I ain't complaining, cause I love the rain

You know the chevy commercial? It's raining, it's pouring, but I ain't complaining, cause I love the rain!

It's a rainy day and unfortunately it's my day off :( I'd prefer the sun. BUT, since that isn't going to be happening, I trying to pump myself up so I can get outside and run the 7.5 miles I have scheduled for today. Boston is just over a month away so I can't be missing runs! When I get home I'll hop on the bike for a hard spin. At least the 60 degrees makes up for the weather just a little bit.

This morning I cuddled up under a blanket and finally watched The Social Network (I've tried watching it twice before and fell asleep within 10 minutes both times). I wish I could watch movies all day on the couch but than I'd feel guilty at the end of the day. Perhaps when I am done with my run and bike and before I have to leave for corn hole tonight (yup, Jus and I are totally in a corn hole league) :) Out I go!!