I'm surprised I still have this blog.

It's been almost a year since i've posted here. I'm really surprised my URL still works. A lot has changed in year. I work at a new dental office now and I am a marathoner. With Facebook I tend to forget about my blog, but it's nice to share race documents for those interested in reading them. I'm sure Alexis will be one of the first few people to read this as she enjoys that type of reading. I recommend reading part 1 first as it sets the tone for my marathon, but if you just want the race day experience only skip to part 2. I will update this blog with some photos after I get them transferred from my phone to my laptop or figure out how to update from my phone. Anyways, I hope you enjoy reading my experience and if you're a runner you will understand a lot of my frustrations. If you're not a runner you will likely think i'm crazy, but love me anyways.

Some of the tabs above are outdated....by almost 2 years. I will try to update those as well as my gear list.

6 months...*crickets*

Well, I don't earn a living blogging that's for sure. If so I would be living with a gang of raccoons in my Honda months ago. Six months....really???? Time flies and honestly I'm not sure what happened this time. Lazy? Yep. Crappy computer? Yep. Busy? Not enough to totally space out and leave you readers hanging for this long.

Good news. I remembered I have this blog, I just logged in, it's not shut down due to inactivity, and I am now the proud owner of a new Macbook Pro.

Bad news. I'm still trying to figure this computer out, it's late and i'm tired,  and this is all i'm writing for this evening.

I'll be sharing some race reports, photos, injury prevention and recovery, and lots of funny stories soon. Please tune back in.


**Multicolored stripes  appear on your screen and a monotone sound plays like 1980's television.

Good Night!

Jennifer...you have failed this blog.

Hold on!! Don't panic!! I am NOT pulling the plug on this blog. Actually it would require a lot more to delete than just pulling a plug, and I don't have any plugs on this computer to pull at the moment. The TV show "The Green Arrow" is playing right now on Netflix. One of the lines the Arrow commonly uses when he apprehends the bad person is "_______, you have failed this city." As I was watching this show and browsing online it occurred to me that I have my own personal website, and I can't remember the last time I posted to it. Yea, I know. I will post like crazy...then nothing for a month or two...or five. It's been less than a month this time so I'm getting better.

Over the last month a few great things have happened.

*We now have another hygienist at work, so that takes a lot of pressure off of me. It was so hard and stressful being the ONLY hygienist in a VERY VERY busy practice. This is the gal I hand picked and she's wonderful! Not only did I get some help, I got a small raise and some nice compliments that made me feel good.

*I went trail running in Cherokee Park and loved it! I didn't get lost, fall down and tear or break anything (I didn't even fall this time), abducted, or bored. I've been wanting to go trail running again for awhile but I didn't have anyone to go with and I was too afraid to go alone. However, last weekend I went alone and still enjoyed myself. The way the park is set up the trails are fairly short and there's a main loop around the park so you're always around others and you can see where you're going so you don't really get lost (the trail I was on was like that). I won't go somewhere with longer trails where I can get lost, unless i'm with a friend or two. I also tried out my Nathan Race Intensity hydration pack. It works GREAT and doesn't slosh or bounce around! I like having my hands free to climb and whatever when on trails. It offers nice storage, but not a lot like some other packs. For what I do the smaller size is great and I can carry what I need. If I was running through the mountains that would be a different story.

*I'm still trying to finalize my race schedule for next year. There's so many races I want to do but I have to be realistic in my abilities and finances (travel expenses add up quickly). I'm still trying to decide about a half Ironman. I missed the Ohio registration because that one sold out fast, but I was looking at Muncie because I feel like I have unfinished business there, and Augusta. I will admit the main reason Augusta is on my board is because the swim is a point to point swim WITH the current and wetsuit legal. Perfect! Also, their logo is a giant peach. Yes, I will admit to wanting to do race that offers cool swag and bragging rights. Nathan and I are registered for the Flying Pig half marathon in May. I'm not staying in Cinci and running those hills just for the fun of it!!! I want the awesome swine swag! Check out the page tab above to see upcoming races for 2016...maybe it will help you plan your season. I'm NOT doing all the races I have listed, but just a plan where I have options and can pick and choose. Some I will pre register for, but others I may register as the time draws near.

*I was able to celebrate with my tri peeps over the weekend. I don't get to see all my tri peeps (Alex, Alexis, Rennay, Ruth, and Beth I miss you gals) as often as I would like, but it's so wonderful when we get together! We had A LOT of things to celebrate this weekend.

*Nathan and I have been down to one vehicle for a month, but hopefully the electrical problem in his BMW will be fixed. We are going to get rid of that lemon as soon as we can because enough is enough. Somehow Nathan and I haven't strangled each other yet. I wasn't able to go run much because I had to find a ride home everyday and didn't want to make someone wait on me. So, I am out of routine and must get back into that.

*I got two rejection emails this month from a couple of brands I applied to for their team. It really did hurt my feelings especially when I thought I had a great chance with Coeur. I wasn't surprised at Betty Designs rejecting me because this was the second time I applied and not only do you need to be a certain physique (yea they don't say that but I'd like to see a woman with curves pictured in their ads) and cyber popular. Sorry, but my 3-4  blog followers wasn't enough for them and I don't Tweet,Instagram, FB, Snapchat, and whatever else you do with social media all day long. I did get a couple of nice coupons to use online for gear though. :) I will reapply next year.

*  TODAY I got an email from Honey Stinger saying i'm on their team and welcome to the hive!!! I was super surprised and excited to get that email! WooHoo! It gave me a much needed boost of confidence and energy. You will have to pardon the hashtags and food posts on Facebook.

This is just a few of the great things that's happened since my last post. I will try to do better and keep this more up to date. Thank you for your forgiveness and still being a loyal reader!

Just call me MacGyver

I've been on a cleaning spree today and my OCD has been in overdrive. I only had one cup of coffee this morning too, and it was regular not espresso. At least I'm not as sore as I expected to be after the half marathon yesterday. 

I've solved a couple of problems that I've been trying to figure out for awhile. I wanted to share the problem and solution with you in case you or someone  else has the same problem. 

I have too many tank tops. I realize that already. But in my defense they're all different and I do wear them all. My problem was that I could never find the one I wanted when I wanted it. The solution was easy (and less than $2). I bought a couple packs of cheap shower curtain rings from Wal-Mart. Just attach one tank to each ring and hook onto a hanger. You can find the tank you want, and you don't have to take 3 tanks off the hanger to get the one you want if you hang them all together. Brilliant! 

This worked great but...

I have lots of tanks and the weight was causing hangers to break, so I split it onto 2 hangers. That was fine until the hanger would bow and all the tanks would would slide either to the front or back of my hanger. I fixed that minor problem today. I used two hangers that have a vertical support piece on both ends (look closely at photo). This will keep the hanger from sagging and add extra support for the weight. You will see a couple thin bands of duct tape wrapped around the hanger. This is to keep the rings from sliding too far to one end. Simple and it works great. 

This hanger and shower curtain ring would probably work well for scarves or anything else you want to hang and organize. I use a belt/tie holder to hang my (large) scarf collection on. My Momma and I rotate scarves and share so I have more than this. My dear friend Alexandria makes scarves and I have a few pictured here. She sells them to help pay for mission trips she and her husband go on to Lyon, France. If you're interested in seeing some of her scarves let me know! I will post a link to her website after I ask for permission. 

You know you wanted to see this. 

The other MacGyver move I made today was finally fixing a pair of pants that the drawstring came out of too far. The end of the string was in the middle of the waistband. I tried safety pins, forks, a hanger with a straight end, and a few other tricks. Nothing. Finally today as I was gathering all the  loose hangers in the closet I came across a different one. It was a double twisted hanger. Hmmm. I bent the end to straighten it and pried open the end slightly. I was able to push the hanger into the opening, hook the tie into the loop of the hanger and just zip it right out. Brilliant! I somewhat folded this hanger and put it up for later use as I'm sure I will need it again someday. 

I hope this helps someone out and saves them some frustration. 

Happy Sunday! Time to get back to cleaning like a crazy lady! 

Urban Bourbon report

Today was the Urban Bourbon Half Marathon! This was the first time Nathan and I have ran this course, and it's a great course overall. Yea there's a few hills In the park, but not as bad as I was expecting. I wish I could say my race was as great as the course, but I can't. This is my 5th half marathon and I honestly did not appreciate or respect the distance or the amount of training that's required to run 13.1 miles. I was very undertrained for this race and I knew that going into it. I stopped going to my Pilates class a couple of months ago to save money and it wasn't until this week and today I found out how weak my core has gotten. With the weakend core, lack of running and distance training this was by far the hardest half marathon I've ever completed. I walked a lot more than I usually would and just wanted this race to be over. 

Nathan ran/walked right beside me the entire time! This is the first time we've ran or raced together more than a few miles. I wish I could've ran stronger and really enjoyed this race. I was so tired after 3 miles and by mile 5 was ready to be done. Honestly if it wasn't for Nathan I would have skipped this race, but we paid for it and I was healthy enough to run it even if I was going to be at a slower pace. Nathan didn't give me the option of staying home (I would have regretted it) so we went and met up with my tri peep, Connie. We always take a pre race photo and I'm still smiling at this point, and really wishing I had a short sleeve shirt. The temps were perfect and the rain held off mostly except for a light drizzle here and there. I was splotchy by mile 2 or 3 because I was so hot. For now on I will pack an extra top if I decide I need to make any last minute changes. 

The run started off and as usual I ran a little too fast. I tried to pace better because I knew I couldn't hold a 10:30 so I slowed it down. Miles 1-4 ticked away and other than tired I was doing okay. Once we hit got into the park I wanted to jump over to the other lane and take a shortcut, but I didn't and Nathan said we're going to go the full distance. I was really struggling with staying positive, not thinking that I was holding Nathan back, some discomfort in my foot, an occasional side stitch I think from crashing into that table earlier this week, and the other demons that haunt me. An officer said "looking great guys, enjoy your walk". I nearly burst into tears at the point because I wasn't walking, I was trying to run a little and we were going up an incline. It made me think about a deep rooted memory and how I wasn't good enough to be on the track or cross country team back in high school. I probably was good enough, but was told some awful things by the gym coach and it shut me down from running for over 10 years. It all came back to me at that moment because I was struggling with this race and wondering what I was doing out there. I fought back the tears and cleared my head with the help, love, support, and encouragement from Nathan. I considered quitting several times over the next few miles but Nathan reminded me that I had the strength to finish and I didn't want to quit because he knows I don't give up even when I want to. I hate it when he's right sometimes. 

I don't really remember miles 6-10 except how I was having more pain in my feet. The joint by my big toe ached and I was getting hotspots and maybe a blister. I was also concerned because I hadn't ran more than 6 miles at once in over 6 months (the Derby half marathon). I ran the Starlet Challenge last month but I had a little rest between races. My number one concern was not getting injured, so I kept the pace slow and steady as I could. A lot more walking the last few miles but it was nice to be with Nathan. I would run some and I would have some stomach pains (my feet and Achilles ached no matter if I ran or walked) I just wanted to be finished with this race! I drank a couple of gatorades and didn't like them so I wonder if that was part of the stomach issues. I don't  think I over drank on water and had the slosh. I ate my usual applesauce here and there just like the Derby Mini so that wasn't anything new. The only thing I changed was new running tights (I'm going to get another pair of those). I remember breaking the last bit up and just trying to keep going... Less than a 5k to go! 

The finish line was getting sparse because I was at the back of the pack. My pal Connie told me she would be waiting for me at the finish line but I figured she would be long gone by this point. I heard our names called out and we were almost FINISHED!! I heard my name yelled again and it was Connie!! I was so touched and happy to see her and the fact Nathan was with me the entire 13.32 (??? It's what my Garmin said) my heart was filled with joy. 

We didn't have time to get the free food, beer, and bourbon at the end. Nathan had to get home to get ready for work. I did get my chocolate milk at the end and that's all I wanted. I didn't bother to look where the bagels came from, but Nathan shared one with me and it was mighty tasty. I was so happy to be finished, but it also taught me a good lesson. Nathan and I had a nice chat about getting a plan together and training, and of course better nutrition to help fuel me. I still don't want to eat fish- that was a conversation for about 1/2 a mile or so. 

We didn't take a post race picture until we were home. 

I will come back to this race again but I will be prepared. I have a renewed motivation. I have my tentative race schedule posted above in the tabs section. I'm still working on finalizing but I will have a plan of attack. I am looking forward  to training with Nathan and my gals. I do all of my training alone so I want to try another approach. This was my 2nd slowest half marathon but I did it and I'm proud I won the battle against the inner demons and never quit. I am going to lose a toenail from this race, but i feel pretty good overall right now (7 hours later) and once I rest a day or so I'll be ready to train for my next adventure. CHEERS! 

Oh yea here's a little irony to make you smile- I received a new tech shirt from BarryS Coaching this week in the mail and it's been awhile since I've talked to either Coach Mike and Coach Barry. Today in the mail I got both October and November issue of Runner's World magazine. Ha!! That will be great to read while soaking my feet. 

I usually don't post splits or times, but it will be nice to have for my own record. I'm trying to get to a point where I don't give a damn what the numbers or other people say- I did it and went the distance. I already had someone (non runner) comment today about my time and I had to stuff my face with fruit to avoid spitting any venom on her. 

Race details

13.32 miles (Garmin) -------- 13.1 official 

3:05:07 (Garmin)  -------- 3:04:52 official  (Nathan crossed the line beside me and somehow his chip time is 3:07:04- not sure what's up with that!) 

Average pace 13:53 ----- 14:06 

Splits-11:53, 13:12, 12:52, 14:22, 13:13, 14:31, 15:08, 13:25, 14:02, 13:57, 14:14, 15:02, 14:43

I'm all over the board. You can really see where I was riding the struggle bus and after mile 10 I was walking most of each mile. 

Another one for the book

My pal Sara, along with a few other friends, has told me that I need to write a book about all my adventures and misfortunes. I will admit that it would be really funny, but I'm not good at writing stories. I would love to find someone that loves to write and just tell them all my crazy stories and have them put it into words on paper.  Someday I will get that book together, but in the meantime I will use my blog to record the incident(s) and give you all a good laugh once in awhile. 

Today was the second time that I've ran since October 2nd. I haven't been injured for a change, but between travelling for a wedding, being ill, a funeral, and overall lack of motivation I've found it difficult to lace up my shoes and go. The last 3 runs I went on (or planned to run but couldn't get out of the car for one) were pretty lousy. I think it was because I was getting sick and my body wanted the rest. For me it's so hard to start back after a break. I was nervous about running today for no reason...it was just a run at whatever pace and at least 3.1 miles. 

I started out running from work and right away felt a little uncomfortabe in my gut. I tried to focus on something else like breathing or form. Then I felt little twinges in my lower leg, but again just focused on something else and kept going nice and easy. I think it was just my body trying to figure out what the heck I was doing since it's been pretty musch 3 weeks since a good run. Once I got going it felt pretty good. I LOVE my new Saucony Hurricane running shoes and the bright colors are fun too. My pace was slow, but I was okay with that. I just wanted to move and feel better. I made it up to the YMCA (1.55 mi) and turned around to head back. Besides my second mile being even slower (more walking and a couple of small hills) I was enjoying the scenery. 

As I made my way back to downtown and less than 1/2 mile from my car I was feeling pretty good and keeping a slow but steady pace. I decided I wanted to run a bit farther than the planned 5k and I would throw in a good hill climb for fun. It felt great to be moving and the fall air felt so comfortable. I ran past a consignment shop (I think) that looks like a hoarders dream. I've never been in the store, but you can see stuff piled up everywhere. There is a beautiful kitty that looks just like our Baxter, but 15 years younger. He's usually in the window to greet me as I run by, but instead he was resting on top of a pile of books. I gave him a little wave (yes- I wave and talk to critters) and went on my way. I was doing well and wanted to keep the pace and momentum going. 

I was approaching the local coffee shop and all I could think about was how thirsty I was. I saw the lights on and was wondering if they were still open. I also tend to be nosey and randomly look in windows as I pass by. Well, I was distracted and didn't see the rather large metal table (no chairs) sitting outside the coffee shop. I hit that table full force and went flying over it as it tipped over. I'm still trying ot figure out how I landed without really scraping myself up. I guess I went over with the table and once it hit the ground I bounce or rolled off it and landed on my right hip/arse area. I just laid there for a moment before getting up. That happened really really fast and it really hurt. One young lady saw me wipeout, but I assured her I was okay as I got up and put the table back. I was walking towards my car that was maybe .15 ahead of me. I was thinking how that really hurt, but I'm glad I didn't get any road or concrete rash (ouch), break anything, or lose a tooth. My friend Sara drove by and honked the horn at me. I gave her my usual wave and a smile. I called her to see if she saw what happened, but she just missed it. At least I would have had a ride back to my car or the after hours care if I needed it. 

I was cracking up as I told her what had just happened. I'm okay and other than a little soreness I will be fine. Here's a running tip to follow... don't get distracted by window shopping or whatever while running, keep your eyes forward! So much for the extra mile and the hill climb. I stopped at my car, hydrated, stretched and called it a night. 

I really think I should see if I can get sponsored by Go-Pro. I would wear a camera all the time and I would probably also win the $100k grand prize for America's Funniest Home Video. Speaking of sponsors, I did apply for a few sponsorships for the 2016 season. I applied for Team Coeur, Team Betty Designs (again), and Honey Stinger Hive. These are just a few of my favorite companies and I really hope I get accepted to a couple of them. You can check them out by following the link to the right on my blog. If you're on a mobile device i'm not sure if the links show up on the sidebar... just Google them. 

Hope you all survived your Monday. I did...barely. 

Anyone already working on their race calendar for the next year? I am working on mine. You can click on the pages tab above and see what races I have for the rest of the year and what i'm planning (not set in stone) for next year. I am listing the dates in parentheses as I figure out when they are. I'm bummed because I alrady have a couple of schedule conflicts so I will have to pick and choose between races. 

Here's a picture of my new wireless mini keyboard and Sophia. She was laying down with her feet in the air, but moved as I was getting ready to take the picture. This keyboard is handy, but or some reason auto correct and spell checker doesn't work while it's turned on. So if I have any crazy typos you'll know why.

Sunday's Sunshine

What a beautiful day it is today!

Nathan and I are taking today pretty easy. It's been a really long week for us both. I was sick this week and shared the love with him. By Tuesday both of us were home sick with the chills and sniffles. That afternoon Nathan's Step Dad, Joe, unexpectedly passed away. We think it was due to a stroke since he's had some small ones lately. The visitation was Friday with the funeral Saturday morning. So many people came to see Joe and the rest of the family, it really showed how he was loved by so many.

Prior to the funeral on Saturday morning, I had a race to help with. I promised a dear friend of mine that I would be one of the race directors for the first Pink-A-Palooza 5k. I arrived around 6:30 am to get the course set up and get the awesome volunteers where they needed to be. We marked the course the night before so that saved us lots of time race morning. We had a great turnout! We had 39 runners race that morning and several that registered, but didn't show up. Everything ran pretty smooth, with only a minor glitch with the timing tracker. This was my first time putting a race together because i'm usually the one running. It definitely makes you appreciate all the work and organization that goes into these events.

Today has been pretty quiet with us just running a few errands in town. I enjoy lazy days with Nathan, watching Netflix and surfing the web. I've been working on planning my race calendar for 2016. Some of the fun races I would like to do are already SOLD OUT! WOW. The Star Wars Dark Side Challenge and Disney Princess Glass Slipper Challenge to name a couple that I was looking at.

What is on your race calendar over the next year? So many races to choose from!