Don't be THAT runner...

I found this a while ago and couldn't stop laughing. I meant to post it but forgot. The other weekend I saw a guy running EXACTLY like the Stiffy. I wanted to jump out of my car and correct him I felt so bad for the guy!

Anyways, runners will get this. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll think about your form the next time you go running...

Bad, blogger! Bad!

I fell off my self imposed blogging bandwagon! Oh well, it happens...

Anyways I am back and hopefully I will update a little more frequently this time.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and was able to get out and do a turkey trot of some length. I did not do a turkey trot this year, but I did go for a 3.1 mile run by myself and it was great. The morning was only a little chilly and it was nice to burn 300 calories before the big meal.

I did our local Turkey Trot 10K last year and I really enjoyed it. You run all around the University of Richmond and it's surrounding neighborhoods. The course is hilly and challenging but really beautiful. I hope that I can run it next year since I skipped it this year.

It's hard to believe that we are in the holiday season. It totally snuck up on me. As I have mentioned, I am a teacher and you can totally tell the kids are ready for a break...although I can tell you, we teachers are probably more ready than they are.

I haven't had much time to just sit, but after this weekend I should. I have my first craft show coming up and I am so excited! I haven't been running because I have been making pottery every afternoon after work and I am ready for that to be over with so I can run again.

Now that I have the running down, I am also working on living a (slightly) healthier lifestyle. One little discovery I made while training for the half was a new smoothie! I haven't had it in awhile and I think I might have to make a batch over winter break. I follow this vegan blog, Oh She Glows, and I am by no means a vegan but I like a lot of her recipes. I am kinda tired of eating "crap" and I am veeeery sloooowly trying to put healthier foods into my diet. One easy way to do this is post run smoothies!

I made her recipe for pumpkin butter, and then I had no clue what to do with it...so I scooped some into the blender one morning and this is what I came up with!

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

1-2 big spoonfuls of pumpkin butter
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1/2 cup (or "glugs" to be technical) of almond milk (or any kind of milk)
1 banana
3 cubes ice

Blend and serve!

So easy and so tasty! Enjoy!

Richmond Half Marathon #4

Yesterday was my fourth time running the Richmond Half Marathon and it was also my fifth half marathon. I'm still stunned by this fact. Just four short years ago I was overweight, out of shape and miserable. Little did I know that back in the fall of 2007 I would be running 13.1 miles one year later. My, my things do change...

Thursday night was the first night of the expo. I was so excited about it that I left the house at about 4:30 to be there when it opened at 5. Traffic was my enemy though and it took over 30 minutes to get there. Arg! When I finally did get there, I was filled with that giddiness you get from your first race. It was thrilling. I spent quite a bit of time checking out the merchandise because this is the first year that Richmond really stepped it up with the merch. I got a little merch happy...



I got a t-shirt, hoodie, sticker, magnet and headband! Threw my race shirt in there for fun.

I was really excited about the sticker. Yes, I am a big fat dork.

After I finally made it out of that mad house that was the Richmond merchandise area, I worked my way around the rest of the expo. I *almost* bought a pair of teal Sauconys but I figured I could find them cheaper online at some point. And I did learn that I do NOT want a pair of Saucony Kinvaras like I thought...they are way too light, and don't have much between your foot and the road, and they are not for long distance. So, not for me. I learned about some other cool races that I am interested in doing at some point and grabbed brochures as a reminder. Got some free chapstick too. Woot!

After the expo I met my husband for dinner at Kitchen 64. I carboloaded :-)

So anyways..the race...

Saturday morning was COOOOOLD!!! The first 2 years I ran this race it stormed really bad the whole week before and we had nasty, humid weather on race day. These past 2 years it has been freezing!!! But it makes for good running weather even though you are freezing until you finally start. I thought about wearing my running jacket but ditched it at the last minute (well I didn't really ditch it, I gave it to my hubby to hang on to cause he's awesome like that).



OMG it's frickin freezing!! How is that dude wearing shorts??

 The start went really well. I kept telling myself to hold back, and I felt like I was, but every time I glanced at my Garmin, I was running a little over a 10 minute pace. I thought, "Whoa Tori, slow down girl!" And even though I tried to slow down, and it felt like I was, I kept running at that pace! This is kinda fast for me but it felt slow. Basically a 10 minute mile pace that feels easy tells me I have really improved. By mile 3 I was running at about 9:44. But don't worry, I messed it all up when I had to stop for 5 minutes or so and wait in line to use the friggin bathroom...that's one of the few times in life I wish I was a guy...

It was hard to get back on pace after that but I think I did OK. I knew what was coming and as I neared Joseph Bryan Park I thought, "Oh no, here we go..." Although the park was GORGEOUS this year (I can't get over the leaves!) it also has some killer hills that always slow me down. Really if there is one thing I could change about this race, it would be the hills. Maybe I should do more hillwork next time...I slowed down after that, but kept chugging along. I got to see my #1 supporter at the start, mile 4, mile 9 and the finish. This always keeps my going :-)



This picture just makes me laugh. Look at that perfect form!

I was really struggling by the end of the race. There was another runner dancing on the side lines and I started dancing with her as I ran by. She gave me a high five and this seriously gave me the extra boost I needed to finish. When I rounded the corner and headed down the hill to the finish, I started pumping my arms as hard as I could and started flying downhill. I didn't even bother to look for my hubby, I just concentrated on not falling down. Now I know what it must be like to run like a Kenyan.  I'm glad I didn't look for him though because as it turns out he was up in a parking deck so he could get better pictures. He's so smart :-)


Flying downhill!

Every year I have had a goal. My first year goal was to finish before the 3 hour mark. I just made it with a few minutes to spare. I probably would have done better if it weren't for my injured hip but you know we all have to start somewhere.  My goal every year since then has pretty much been to just beat my previous time. Except for last year when I was aiming for 2:15. Unfortunaly it didn't happen because I was running with a sinus infection and could hardly breathe after about mile 7. This year I went out with no goal in mind. How did I do? I beat my time from last year by 6 minutes :-) I know that may not sound like a lot to some people, but to me, its a pretty darn big difference.

I'm glad I ran it again this year, but now it is time for a break. Last year I ran 13 races in 8 months and I am a little worn out. I finished that back in May and it was hard to get back into the training routine for this race. Make no mistake, I am glad I did it, I am always happy and proud of myself, but I think the Sauconys are going to be sitting in the closet for a little while with the exception of a little afternoon run here or there. My body is telling me its time to slow down. My sciatic nerve was killing me yesterday and my knee is pretty sore today...imagine how it might feel after someone has whacked it with a golf club...kinda like that. I think I am going to listen to my body and take a break. Also going to try to make a workout routine and stick to that for awhile and do a little less pounding of the pavement. Don't worry, I will still have plenty to post on here, I have lot's of races I have not posted yet...and if I know myself, I'll be back out there soon enough. I just think the races will be a little more spaced out from now on.

"From the moment you cross the start line, you know that crossing the finish line will be one of the best moments of your life." ~ Author Unknown

I love this sport, for all it's benefits, for making me a better person and for helping to keep me sane through the darkest days of my life. It made me stronger physically and mentally. Even though it's been 4 years, I still grow and become a stronger, better person with each step I take in each race. Running is how I erase the past and make my way to the future. I can't imagine a life without it now. I want to be that 85 year old lady that runs marathons. And if I can't do that, I'll run around the outside of my nursing home, walker in tow.

And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.

-Mumford and Sons-"After the Storm"

Here we go...

Tonight I am preparing for the half marathon tomorrow. My FIFTH half marathon.

Wow. Just...wow.

I am as excited about this one as I was about my first. I have a lot of thoughts bouncing around my head right now that I want to put here, but I think I will save it till tomorrow. After I run my 5th half. Fifth.

Wow.

So for now I leave you with this...

"You have a choice, you can throw in the towel, or you can use it to wipe the sweat off of your face." ~ Gatorade 3

I will be wiping the sweat off my face. See you bright and early in the cold, kids.

awesome

This. Is. Awesome.

Can't wait to get mine at the expo on THURSDAY!!!!!

Wicked 10K 2011

This past weekend was the Wicked 10K in Virginia Beach. This is my favorite race of the year because I LOVE Halloween and the fall and last year the weather was awesome and the food and beer afterwards is great!

This year...ummm yea...

As seems to be the trend with my races as of late, I was SICK. Again. The weather was gorgeous all week and then on Friday we woke up to frost. And every time the weather flips so suddenly like that, I get sick. I felt it in my throat on Friday afternoon. C and I drove down to Virginia Beach when he got home from work and I just felt worse as the night went on.

I woke up with a head full of snot. Awesome.

The weather was OK during the race. It was actually rather hot if you were running. I got a little overheated. I did pretty good to begin with. I was running about 9:40 miles. Then I had to make a pit stop and I never got my pace back. It was also extremely windy, which was horrible to run in to but there were a couple of times it actually pushed me along. I was really glad I wasn't wearing a costume like some people. There were bits and pieces of different costumes all over the course.

I was very happy to see the finish and the sun even came out for a second! I finished in 1:06. Not my best, but not too bad considering how bad I was feeling.

C missed me crossing the finish line and luckily I ran into Rebecca and used her phone to call him*. This also gave Becca and I a great time for a photo op!


Showing off our medals!

 We tried to head down to the tents after that to get our beer and chili, but then it started to rain...so for some reason we thought it would be a good idea to head back to the car...and we got drenched. Before we got to the car the rain completely stopped. Should have stayed for the chili and beer, oh well, lesson learned.

I still enjoyed the race. The course is fast and flat and I love running next to the ocean. Next year I hope for better weather, because it really is a lot of fun to hang out afterwards.

2 weeks till the half. My legs are giving me mized signals these days, so they are getting a nice long rest after that.

*Note to self, start carrying cell phone in pocket during races.

Wicked 10K 2010

Last year I ran the Wicked 10K in Virginia Beach. It is my favorite of all the races I have done. Since it is right around Halloween, they have a costume contest and some of the costumes were unreal! People did such a great job and had such great ideas. It was fun to see them.


(This was the shirt I got for the race. It says "From Zero To Witch in 6.2 Miles". I thought it was hilarious!)

The race was flat which was a nice change from the hills of Richmond. I ran a consistant pace of 10:30 a mile and finised in 1hr 5 mins, which was a PR for me at the time. My Garmin was dead and I had left the charger at home so I had to just go for it and I think I did pretty good.



We got really great swag as well. I was surprised. I got a long sleeve technical shirt, a metal water bottle (at the end of the race with water in it!), a race hat, and the medal which was also a bottle opener!



And then there was the after party! It was so cool to end right on the boardwalk and have the party right there on the beach! Baker's Crust provided food which was chili in a bread bowl and a cookie. It was delicious!! And of course the main sponser, Blue Moon, gave away free beer. Can't beat that!

In 2 days I will be running this race again and I am starting to get really pumped up! Last year the day was so gorgeous and I had a really great time. This year I am looking forward to trying to set a PR and having another beautiful day. I highly recommend this race to any runner of any level. Its just a great time.

This is what 10 miles will get you

 

Awesome! Or not...

Now, let me just say that I have some tough feet. The last time I got a pedicure was last May and that was only because my awesome friend Christel took me out as a gift. I used to get pedicures ALL THE TIME. Who doesn't love getting their feet rubbed and scrubbed and having shiny, pretty toes? Then I started running and that put an end to my pedi fetish. My feet are pretty kick ass now and they can take a beating. The one thing they cannot take, is high heels.

For some odd reason I thought it would be a good idea to WALK all through BOSTON in 3 inch HEELS. Where I got that idea from...yea you can blame society and the fashion industry. I'm a girl that feels great wearing pretty shoes until they start to hurt. Props to Beave for piggy backing me when I couldn't walk anymore. I ended up with a nasty blister right where this one currently is.

The old blister healed up and went away and then I did my 10 miles this past Saturday. My feet ached when I got home and I asked the hubs to rub them for me. Being the wonderful, caring, loving spouse that he is, he rubbed my feet and informed me I had a blister. Since it didn't really hurt I didn't pay any attention to it. I sat down yesterday to lace up my Sauconys and saw it, WOW. That's a doozie. I guess the new skin from the Boston blister isn't as tough as the rest of my foot.

So....taking it easy and hoping this bad boy mostly goes away before my race this Saturday. I'll pack those giant Band-Aids just in case.

Training Weeks 5 & 6

Oops, looks like I missed a week. Not a whole lot happened really, it was 2 odd work weeks and being out of town threw my running schedule off. Oh well, it happens. Only 2 big things to report anyways.

1. Last week I decided to run a mile as fast as I could and I finished in 9:36. That's pretty fast for me and it's nice to know I still got it.

2. This past Saturday I did my longest run of 10 miles and it was rough. I think part of it was my shoes. The first 5 miles weren't too bad, but the last 5 were horrid. My knees and hips were not happy with me and my feet ached. The next day wasn't bad at all though. I was shocked that I was not sore.  I'm definitely only wearing my blue Sauconys for races and long runs from now on because my white ones are getting close to done.


So, in short, the big long run is done. I have the Wicked 10K this Saturday and I am getting really excited! It is my favorite race :-) Look for an update about last year's race sometime this week and a post about this year's race sometime this weekend.

Quote

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'

Quote

“The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg-not by
smashing it.” – Ellen Glasgow

Capitol 10 Miler

Capitol 10 Miler medal

I did this race last year thinking it would be a great way to get in a long run for training for the half. Little did I know how much I would enjoy it. The day was gorgeous and the weather was perfect. The course was a bit hilly which caused some trouble for my knees, but I did get to run through some interesting parts of the city. The course had some great views of the river and the memorials. It also was not a totally packed race so people were able to spread out and have room. This one lady and I fell into pace together and even though we didn't talk, we spent over half of the race running side by side and in a weird way it was nice to have some company.

The medal for this race is pretty awesome looking too. Part of me wanted to run it again this year but I was out of town for it. Right now I am trying to concentrate on the half and other things, so I am OK with not running every race I hear about. 

Conquering another hill!

Crossing the finish line!

Beautiful fall day in the river city and at the state capitol.

Quote

"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going."-Jim Ryan

Training Week 4-finding a groove

This week went pretty good. I have started to make spin class a part of my routine. So I run Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and I am going to spin Tuesdays, Thursdays and possibly Sundays.
Monday I ran and it went well, although my knee is starting to give me some trouble. It started with a sharp pain that quickly subsided when I walked, but then it felt like someone was gently tapping on my knee in the same spot over and over when I ran. Never had that happen before and it worried me.

I went to spin on Tuesday and whoa did that kick my butt.

Wednesday I was bad and skipped my run because I was up late the night before and was just exhausted after work. Plus it was C's birthday so I had things to do for that. Happy birthday hubby!!!

Thursday I have a doctor's appointment and didn't get home till 6ish but I made myself go for a quick run anyways. I'm glad I did although my knee was bugging me again.

Yesterday I had my long run of 8 miles. That is the farthest I have gone since like last March. I forgot how much it can hurt but how good it feels when you are done. I think even when I am not training I am going to try and work these long runs into my running routine more often. I feel great today. I ran a 4 mile loop that started and ended at my house, so when I hit four miles I took a quick break, stripped some layers and took a gel (which was nasty, I will never eat the citrus orange again, it tasted like soap) and headed back for the same 4 mile loop. It made the run seem a lot shorter than it was. I think I will stick with making a loops from now on instead of getting lost in all the neighborhoods.

I also started using Daily Mile and added the widget to my page. I'm excited to see those miles rack up!

Totals this week: 3+3+8=14 miles.

Just for fun, here's another picture from the Freedom Trail Run in Boston. We were waiting for the ferry.

Virginia Is For Lovers 14K

Last February I ran the Virginia Is For Lovers 14K in Virginia Beach. C and I headed down on Friday night. We went to the Red Star Tavern for dinner and I had mac and cheese with fried chicken. It was REALLY good. My other friend that was running the race and her husband and another friend met up with us there and we hung out for a bit before heading back to the hotel to get some sleep.

I was a little worried about the race because two weeks before it I had the flu and bronchitis. I finished my z pac on Monday but had a funky cough all week that veeeeery slowly went away. A 14K is 8.7 miles and that's not something you want to run when you have bronchitis. Luckily I was pretty much over it so it didn't go so bad. I also had a huge boost of confidence when I got my bib and saw that I was in corral 1. CORRAL ONE!!!!

I have never been that far forward in a race! I was determined to start with my corral so I pushed through the crowd and hopped fences to get in. C thought I was crazy. You have to be a little crazy to want to run miles upon miles for fun.

Anyways the race wasn't too bad. We ran around the Virginia Beach Amphitheatre which was pretty cool. It had snowed at the beach a few days before so there was still ice on the ground and as it got warmer out it got muddy. So we had to run through some mud and slide on some ice but for the most part it was good. The first few miles were pretty good but then I started to get winded. I had to walk a bit but I found that as I was walking I started coughing so I kept running to keep from coughing.

I finished in 1:39 which isn't too bad for not having run that far since early December. I had to skip out on my free food and beer though because we had to rush back to the hotel to check out. The after party was inside anyways which means it was loud and cramped. The shirt was a long sleeved technical which I really like and the medal was pretty cool too. Each lady that finished the race also received a carnation. :-) Hey, it's the little things.

My pretty medal that is also a bottle opener :-)

This was my 20th race. I have been running for almost 4 years now. Wow. That is hard to believe. I've done it though. I've set goals and I've stuck to them. I've worked hard and pushed myself to do things I never thought I would do. I've proven to others and to myself that I can set goals and achieve them. I'm pretty proud of myself.

Domestic Violence Awareness

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month!

This is a cause near and dear to my heart. Show a purple ribbon, help educate people on this great cause. Find a walk or a run that supports it.  Put a purple ribbon on your facebook page. Get out there and spread the word! Because love shouldn't hurt. 

5 Facts You Should Know

1. One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime
2. 85% of domestic violence victims are women
3. Females who are 20-24 years of age are at the greatest risk of nonfatal intimate partner violence
4. Most cases of domestic violence are never reported to the police
5. Witnessing violence between one’s parents or caretakers is the strongest risk factor of transmitting violent behavior from one generation to the next

Break the Cycle

Avon's SpeakOut Campaign

Domestic Violence Awareness Project

 

Protein

Yesterday I had something happen to me while running that I have never had happen before.

I swallowed a bug.


Yup. It was pretty gross. I think it was a decent sized gnat. I saw it at the last second, felt it hit my lip, and since my mouth was open and I was breathing, it went right in and hit the back of my throat. I immediately started gagging and spitting but the bug never came up so I guess it went down.

I suppose that's one way to get your protein.

Running around Beantown

This past weekend we flew up to Boston to see my hubby's best buddy, Mike. Or as we call him, Beave...short for Beaver. Don't ask. We were also joined by another couple, Heather and Tim. Tim, Beave and Cory all played lacrosse together in college. It was a really great weekend and we had a lot of fun. I really liked Boston and was slightly surprised at how nice and clean the city is. I am excited to go back at some point. 

Hubby makes an appearance on the blog! We got free coozies and that was exciting.

I've been traveling with my parents since I was 12 years old. We've been all over Europe, England, Scotland and lots of Caribbean islands to go scuba diving. I couldn't go to a place like Boston, with so much history and not see the historical sites, so I got on Trip Advisor to see what was recommended. I found a guided tour that follows the Freedom Trail, and the best part was that you RUN IT! I mean, why not?? This is Boston we are talking about, home of the king of marathons. Beave had to play football and no one else was interested in running around the city so I signed up to do the tour by myself. I didn't care, I had a blast. If you're ever in Boston, you've got to do this.

First stop was the Massachusetts State House.

Our tour guide, Eddie-O was great. He told us so many cool little things about the places we went that we probably would have missed had we been just walking around without a guide.

Next was Granary Cemetery. It is filled with quite a few famous people. The graveyards were probably my favorite part of the tour. I'm ready for Halloween and these graveyards are just what I think of when I think of a creepy haunted Halloween.

Granary Cemetery

Paul Revere's grave on the left. The tiny one on the right is thought to be his original grave. They gave him a bigger stone when he became famous, which wasn't until after his death.

Skulls were all over the head stones. Graveyard filled with Tri Sigmas maybe?? (That's a shout out to my sorority sisters)

John Hancock, who is buried here without his head. Someone stole it before they could get his body moved back to Boston. Poor John.

Sam Adams. I don't remember what he was famous for but his beer is good!

Here we are at Kings Chapel. I want to go back and see the inside of this place. Eddie-O told us some really cool and creepy things about it.

Eddie-O!

This is the grave of Elizabeth Pain. She inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne, to write the Scarlet Letter. He was enthralled by her headstone. Notice how her symbol looks like an A? Every other month, a dozen red roses are left on this grave.

BONUS! The upcoming movie R.I.P.D. starring Kevin Bacon was being filmed at one of the places we stopped! We didn't see Kevin, but I got a few pictures before someone yelled at me for my flash going off. Oops.

Then we ended up at the Old State House. This is where the Boston Massacre took place in 1770. The balcony there is where Queen Elizabeth and President Ford stood when she came for a visit. He gave her a check for $33,000, the amount of the cost of all the tea that was dumped into the harbor by the Boston Tea Party. Ha! This is also where the Declaration of Independence was read to the people of Boston after it was written.

Old State House

We ran over the site of the Big Dig after this. It is where there used to be a highway and they dug a tunnel and put the highway underground. It cleaned up the area and made it more inviting. There are now gardens and fountains where there used to be highway.

From there we went over to the Italian area and ended up at Paul Revere's house. It is the oldest house in the US that is about 95% original. 

Paul Revere's house

From his house we went over to his statue. You can sort of see Old North Church behind the statue, which was our next stop. I didn't take a picture of this, but the story is pretty cool. The British knew that something was up so they were watching everyone pretty closely, men weren't even allowed out at night. The night that they hung the lanterns in the church (one if by land, two if by sea) the British came running into the church to find who was hanging the lanterns when they spotted them in the window. The man that hung them jumped out the back window because he knew the British would be blocking the doors. Today the window is bricked over.

Good Old Paul.

Old North Church while we were running to the next thing. That's part of our group. The red brick line on the ground is the actual Freedom Trail. You can follow it around the city yourself and find all the big historical sites.

This grave was in the last graveyard we stopped in. I can't remember the guy's name but the British hated him because he was a bootlegger. Since they couldn't catch him in life, they used his headstone for target practice. You can still see the spots where the bullets hit.

The Boston Skinny House! It is only 10 and half feet wide.

Once we left our final graveyard and the skinny house, we went to the Bunker Hill Monument...which isn't actually on the real Bunker Hill. That part was kind of confusing. Apparently the patriots back in the day went to the wrong hill...

This is the first monument in America. Look familiar? That's because the George Washington monument was modeled after this one.

It was getting really overcast at this point so I was glad that the tour was almost over. I was surprised by the weather. All week the forecast had called for rain but I got really lucky and it was only overcast and sprinkled on us. The weather was actually great for running. Just a bit humid, but I will take the humidity over a thunderstorm any day.

The U.S.S. Constitution, or Old Iron Sides. It is the only surviving ship out of the 6 that were built as America's first fleet. She launched in 1797. Her canons are fired twice a day, and they are so loud they set off every car alarm in the surrounding area.

Of course the tour wouldn't be complete without a picture of me running. And since I was alone, and wasn't going to ask someone to take my picture, I just took one myself. So there you go. I stayed in the back of the pack for this so no one would see me, lol!

I love running! And my friends think I'm crazy.

Boston Harbor. It was so cloudy, but I had to take a picture. I thought the pilings were pretty.

After the run and the football game we re-grouped and went to the Sam Adams Brewery and took a tour. The brewery is really tiny, so we looked at 2 rooms and then got to drink a fair amount of free beer. Most of Sam Adams is produced in their other 2 breweries which are not even in Massachusetts. The Boston Brewery only produces 1% of their beer. P.S.-If you find any White Ale, please send it my way.

The boys in the tasting room. They are too cute.

Once the tour was over our tour guide told us about an old bar down the road that bought the first keg of Sam Adams and served it, we could also get a special deal there where we could keep the swanky Sam Adams glasses, so we had to go do that of course. But we took a car, we did not run to the bar.

 

Our group!

The weekend was awesome. Boston is awesome. Running through Boston like a crazy woman was awesome. I fully intend to go back one day and do the run again. It was a total of 3 miles, but you stopped so frequently that you didn't even notice nor did you run out of breath or need water. The tour guide was super friendly and it is a fantastic way to make sure you get to most of the major historical sites if you are on a time crunch. Maybe next time someone will run with me!

Or maybe next time I will be running the marathon ;-)

Gear Time-kicks

Our running shoes are really erasers. Every step erases a memory of a past failure. Every mile brings us closer to a clean slate. Each foot strike rubs away a word, a look, or an event that led us to believe success is beyond our grasp.

John Bingham

I found this quote last night while checking out other running blogs and I fell in love with it. It is so true how your shoes help you "erase" the past with every step you take. If you read my story, you know how running helped me overcome difficulties in my life. I continue to run because I love it and it does so much for me, not just physically but emotionally. There is nothing like the high you get when you finish a great race or a great training run. 

So what shoes do I use?

As you know, I had a rough start in the shoe department. Since I was broke when I joined my first training team and knew nothing about running, I wore an old pair of New Balance All Terrain Shoes. Hey, they worked for gym class, right? Wrong.

Ouch.

After that I went out and got a relatively cheap pair of Nike running shoes from Kohl's. Again, not the best decision, but they worked. I did make the rookie mistake of getting a pedicure about 2 weeks before my first race and ended up having to stick moleskin over my blisters so they wouldn't get any worse. 

When I started training for my first half I decided it was time for some real running shoes, so I headed down to a running store in the city and got fitted for my first pair. They were Sauconys.

Oh man...do I love my Sauconys! I am to the point that I will wear no other brand.  I have since tried on other brands, but they just don't feel as good so I have stuck with the Sauconys. My first pair of Sauconys were motion control. I have found that I tend to walk on the side of my feet and at the time had done some research on pronation and decided I needed some motion control. These shoes were great and super comfy, but a little bulky. After I ended up at the sports medicine doctor she had me bring in my shoes. She watched me run on the treadmill in slow motion, held up one of my shoes and said, "Are these motion control?"

"Umm...yes? Is that bad?"

She looked at me like I was an idiot. Apparently I am a neutral runner even though I have a tendency to fall off the sides of my feet while walking in Danskos. Or maybe that is just Danskos...or anything else that is tall. Maybe I am just a clutzy idiot. Hah, I dunno...

Anyways, I continued to wear them because I had just spent a lot of money on them and wasn't going to just toss them aside. A year later when it was time for half marathon #2 I went and got a new pair cause the old ones just weren't cutting it anymore.

I got these...

The Triumph 7! I loved these shoes, and yes one of the main reasons I wanted this one was because it looked cool. I know...I know...you are not supposed to buy running shoes based on looks...but I saw these and my heart fluttered. And they felt awesome. And they turned out to be a lot lighter than my other shoes which meant I actually ran faster.

I wore these shoes out pretty quick because I ran in them THAT much.

A few months back I decided they weren't cutting it anymore, my feet were hurting after running so they got retired to "anytime" shoes and are now in the back of the closet covered in mud. One day I will clean them off...

So I went back to the running store and told them I wanted the Triumph again...which they didn't have in stock...but they did have the ProGrid Ride 3. I was a little nervous at first, but they ended up being lighter and more comfortable than the Triumphs. I didn't think that was possible, but apparently it is. I bought them, went home and looked them up on the internet...and found them cheaper...and in BLUE!

Oh yea, I bought those bad boys.

I train in the boring white ones and save these for races. The crazier the shoe, the happier I am, so needless to say these make me VERY happy. By rotating my kicks I have been able to keep them going a little longer than the others. Next time I buy a pair, I am searching the internet BEFORE going to the shoe store to try them on.

Haulin' a$$ in my blue Sauconys!

So, long story short, I love Saucony. I highly recommend them. They really do know running shoes. Like their add campaign says, "We know, because we run." And that's true.

Here's some interesting facts about Sacouny I found out as well.
"The company's first factory was founded in 1898 at Kutztown, PA on the high banks of the Saucony Creek^. In 1910, Russian immigrant Abraham Hyde started a shoe company in Cambridge, MA called Hyde Athletic Industries. Over the years, Hyde became known for making athletic footwear including brands such as SpotBilt and PF Flyers; Hyde Athletic Industries bought Saucony in the late 1960s, and moved it to Cambridge. By the late 1990s, when Saucony became Hyde's dominant brand, the name of the company was officially changed from Hyde Athletic Industries to Saucony.
Saucony's shoe boxes once had the phrase "sock a knee" printed on them. The Saucony brand represents the Saucony Creek's constant flow, and the boulders lining its creek bed."-Wikipedia

Oh and it's pronounced just like that, "sock-ah-knee". I'm glad I finally know how to pronounce the name, because in high school everyone called them "saw-coneys". Way off there fellow Eagles.

I also love that the symbol is a creek. Pennsylvanians are crazy about their mountain creeks. I should know, I am married to one.

Pine Creek-where my in-laws live. Ain't she purdy?

 What is your preferred brand of running shoe? What do you love about it?