The LOVE Run and a Giveaway Winner

OK, let's just be clear from the start.
The LOVE Run sucked.
I doubt any recap you read of this race will say anything different. Don't get me wrong, for a first ever race, they did a decent job. A few glitches that never would have bothered me any other race.
But there was rain. SO much rain. It was cold. I was wet. I.was.miserable.
But let's start at the very beginning. (You know that song will be stuck in your head all day now. You're welcome.)
We woke up Sunday morning, and got dressed fairly quickly. I realized I forgot breakfast, but that wasn't worrying me. I had my Honey Stinger waffles, so I was good to go.
We went downstairs, secured late checkout, and headed out for the race. It was chilly, but not too chilly. Actually, just right. No rain. Holy heck, we were excited! If the weather stayed that way all day, it would be the perfect race! Hooray!
Yeah. No.

We got to the starting area, and found our team tent. We even had our very own team porta potty. It was gloriously sweet smelling and line-free. Perfection. There were many photos taken, and lots of fun to be had.

see the rain in this pic? Weather fail.

What a great team. There are more photos, but I am saving them for Wordless Wednesday. During the photo ops, the rain started. Mostly just a mist. And then it started to full on rain. Oh joy. We huddled under an empty team tent. And then the team showed up. Luckily, it was time to join the corrals. Mine was weirdly ahead of my friends, but I bumped back to be with them. You could barely squeeze in, it was so packed. Race director fail, but nothing too annoying. It kept us warm. Colleen had gone to the bathrooms and never came back,  but right after the anthem ended, she texted me to wave so she could find me. Too many people, and I am short, so we started off hoping she would catch up.

We crossed the start about 5 minutes after the first runners, which wasn't too shabby for the amount of people at the event (about 10,000). My watch was being wonky, and kept losing it's signal. It didn't work properly at all, but I figured it could at least count the time, whether it could find a signal or not.

I planned on stopping and taking tons of pics, but that never happened. The rain was miserable. At first, it was just drippy, and no real problem. Eileen was about a mile ahead of me pretty much the whole time, and I had no music, but I managed a 12 minute mile average for the first 8 miles or so. My first 3 Halfs this year were all over 3 hours, unheard of for me, so I was excited to see that I might finish at about 2:35-2:40.

We hit a very lovely hill at about mile 7 or 8, though, and it all went south from there. The rain started back up after a reprieve of about 3 miles, and it POURED. I was wearing a cotton team shirt, and it was soaked through within minutes. It felt like it weighed 20 pounds. It was stuck to me everywhere. My watch kept reverting back to the home screen, and trying to see my time was a pain, so I just quit on that. Luckily, there was a clock at every mile marker. And water. Plenty of water. Every darn where.
The group of strangers I was running with all whined collectively, and somehow got through the next few miles. I saw Eileen at the turnaround, which was at about mile 10 or so, and knew she was about a mile ahead. Just after I turned, I saw Colleen, and she yelled to meet at the hotel,  and not to wait since it was so miserable! She was about a mile behind me.
At about mile 11, I checked on my phone, which was in my Sparkle Skirt pocket. Still dry. Whew! I pretty much gave up here. My legs were heavy, my heart was heavy, and I was soaked and cold. Colleen passed me somewhere around here as well. I did a run/walk until I hit mile 12. I was dreading the clock, but it said 2:40ish, and I realized I could still finish in under three hours!

Renewed energy lasted about half a mile, though. I was so tired! I finally saw the finish, and they announced my full name, and said I was "Barking Mad" which was rather cool! I finished in about 2:54! My watch had stopped at some point, and it won't turn back on! I know they are water resistant but I think it was just too much water! It isn plugged into the charger now, and the screen came on, but I am not sure what will happen with it. It should not have run out of power before the finish!
As I got my medal, I saw Eileen waiting. We trudged towards the table, and waited eagerly for our mylar blankets. They ran out. The volunteers were wet and cranky, and not helpful at all.
No one was directing us, so we just wandered until we saw a tent marked Athlete Food. Hooray! The race had promised hot chocolate, so we rushed over. We were given Uncrustables, soft pretzels, Butterscotch Krimpets, potato chips, and a banana in a small plastic tote bag. Score.
No hot chocolate though, and we were so tired and grumpy, that we left without it!

The walk back was miserable as well. About 1.5 miles, walking in the rain, clutching our food bags to us to keep the food dry. Ugh. Oh, and I caught every.darn.traffic light.
We got into our room, jacked up the heat, and stripped off our wet clothes. Ewwww. We huddled in robes and towels for a little while before getting dressed. Luckily, the teenie was with us so we sent her to McDs, for chocolate milk and coffee. What a useful little teenie.

It wasn't Nesquik, but it wasn't bad!
We had originally planned for some shopping, and the teenie wanted a milkshake from Max Brenner's, but we were all so miserable that we just left to go home.
Sad but true.
The ride home was wet and miserable. Our GPS has been on the fritz, and it pretty much gave up on us. It kept getting confused as to where we were, and misdirecting us. Luckily, I knew how to get out of Philly, and ignored him (We named it Rory, and it was a Brit, after a character in Doctor Who). We ended up taking a longer route, but it was familiar, and that is just what I needed!
After a warm piping hot shower and a cuddle under the blankets in front of the TV, I felt a bit better. And then this happened.

My birthday is this Wednesday coming up, but the hubs ordered me a cake early, from the greatest place on earth. Confections of a Rockstar. This place is heaven, we get cupcakes there ALL the time. He got me lemon curd filling with lemon buttercream. I kid you not, the angels wept. It was perfection.
Only, there was so much of it left! I made the hubs take most of it to work today, so I wouldn't just chow down on it all day. Because I would totally do that! I just ate lunch, and I am already dreaming about it.
Check out that top pic! He also got me a Garmin! It is the Forerunner 220, and I cannot wait until tomorrow so I can play with it properly! The sun just came out, and I am tempted to just run quick mile before I try out one of the 21 Day Fix workouts!

OK this was long, and you were patient, so I will tell you the winner of the Jillian Michael's DVD Giveaway!

The winner is Lisa Jones! Lisa, email me at Kprytherch@gmail.com with your address so that I can mail it to you!
Congratulations!!!

Did you race in the rain this weekend?

Love Run Expo

Today the teenie and I went to Philly early so she could attend the U Arts open house.

It poured all day.

She loved it! We were soaked to the skin all day long! 

After lunch, Eileen and I hit the expo. It was super organized and we had our swag quickly.

I live that my bib is personalized! We walked the expo  but didn't buy anything. They had anything you could possibly need but we are ready for the rain!

On the way out, they had a huge sign that you could write on.

I couldn't resist!

It is supposed to rain all day tomorrow, cross your fingers that it is a light rain!

Are you racing tomorrow? What will your weather be like?

Flat Mama Friday #rockthetutu #tutusrock

Sunday, I will be running the LOVE Run in Philadelphia with my team, Love Saves the Day, to benefit Cole Porter.  You can see his tribute video on Vimeo. 

I gladly added a black tutu to my costume, although I am considering a trip to the store to buy tulle to make a bigger, badder, black and pink tutu to wear instead!

If you are at the Love Run, I will be high giving anyone and everyone wearing tutus, and shouting Rock the Tutu, a la Braveheart every chance I get!

Will you be rocking a tutu this weekend?

#TutusRock #RocktheTutu

This may come off as a bit of a rant, because no matter how long I wait, I am still angry. I won't be linking to any companies or pages, because this is not an advertisement for any of them.

SELF Magazine requested a pic of runners wearing Tutus from Glam Runners, a company that makes seriously cute tutus. For runners. They chose to use the pic to poke fun at runners in tutus. Is this allowed? Yes. Is this okay? Absolutely not. Calling women who wear tutus "lame" isn't just bullying, it is just plain incorrect. More than one race can boast that their winner finished in one.
To choose a pic of a Cancer survivor rocking a tutu, and calling her lame, is adding insult to injury. It is cruel, heartless, insensitive, and irresponsible. There has been a retraction, however their apology seems a little ridiculous to me. The runner's bib, clearly shown in the pic, shows she had Cancer. Did they not even look at the pic before they used it? The profits from these "lame" tutus benefits Girls on the Run. Lame? I think not.
What I do love about this whole situation is the way that the running community, men and women, came together to show the love and support for Monika at Glam Runner.

I love that MRTT is using this as a way to donate to Monika's Charity of choice, Girls on the Run. I already posted my picture! Mine came from the start of Rock n Roll USA, one of the times I wore a tutu instead of a running skirt.

On Sunday, when I participate in the Love Run in Philly, I will again be wearing a tutu. My Flat Mama Friday pic will show it off. I also made a Pinterest Board with pins on how to make your own,
just in case you would also like to show the love!

Have you ever worn a tutu in a race? Would you ever wear one, if you haven't?

Wordless Wednesday

13.1 NY recap

My race weekend started with a drive to Long Island to crash with Gigi from Running on Candy. It was so kind of her to let me crash, and save me from having to make the drive on race morning!

I was proud of myself for making that drive, I have never driven that close to NYC before, it was stressful, but I managed it with no problems!

We got up at a nice, reasonable hour and hopped right over to Flushing Meadows Park to pick up our bibs and tees. The line was long but it moved quickly! We soon had our bibs, our tech shirts, and our bags and met up with some of Gigi's running friends and Kaseedee, a fellow Swirlgear sister and Running Buddy lover!

We posed for a billion pics, and stowed our stuff with Jeff, the Team Boyfriend, who so kindly held everyone's crap and took tons of pictures. He was a good sport! I gladly handed over my beer ticket in exchange for his services :) Well, I gave it to his wife, but that's the same thing. Right?

For real, all the stuff in my jacket pockets made me look preggers and this pic is splashed all over social media! Too funny! This is the Half Fanatic picture!

It was super cold so we decide to use the ball park bathrooms, which were gloriously heated. We never wanted to leave!

After hanging out a bit more it was time to hit the start, and then pose for a bunch more pictures.

We began the race, knowing in advance we would be doing a 3:1 run/walk. Gigi's friend wanted to take it slow and Kaseedee has been sick the week before, so we stuck together and decide to just have fun!

The course was a series of loops, so we actually crossed several areas twice. 

We passed a lot of great photo ops!

This was at mile 3 or so, I believe. We stopped to take a mile marker photo and I couldn't resist this pic. The sky looked amazing!

These giant globes were right after the ship! I don't know what purpose they served, They were off to the side. We rounded a corner to find some animal statues, and being mature human beings, we jumped right on!

We passed the zoo right after, which smelled like cows, and approached this amazing structure! Do you know what movie used this structure?

There was some more silliness, and of course we took pics!

We crossed a bridge, one that we would cross four times during the race, and Laurie decided to use the porta potty. There  was a DJ, so of course the rest of us started dancing. No pics though, sorry! This was also about the time we started getting lapped by the front runners!

We moved on and around a lake, where the wind really picked up! Yikes it got cold! After the lake we headed back to that bridge. Yay.

We saw this amazing drum band, they had such energy and they really cheered us up!! 

Around another corner and we finally got a close up of the giant globe that we could see during the race.

Time to loop back and right near the rocket at mile 3, we snapped this pic at what was now mile 8.5

Back over the bridge for the third time and I stopped at the area of the porta potty to snap this photo of an upcoming race of mine (I am doing the half):

I actually took the pic because that star is where I live, but I noticed something funny...... Can you tell what it is?

We posed for one last mile marker photo, all together for this one thanks to a volunteer.

Back around the lake, over the bridge for the fourth and final time. We started to notice the course being taken down around us. This was a little frustrating. All of the course volunteers were gone and we had to follow cones to figure out the course. Good thing Gigi ran this race last year and knew where to go!

We approached a large pond, and knew we were almost done. Mostly because a girl who had already finished came back to cheer on her friend. She was upbeat and perky and whenever we stopped to walk she told us to pick up our feet and finish strong. I'm pretty sure we all wanted to squish her.

We reached the final stretch, and our friends were all there cheering. Danielle took our jackets so we wouldn't have them on our waist in the finish line photos.

The finish was great. They had volunteers putting medals around our necks while another was handing us water. They had fruit cups, bananas, oranges, strawberries, muffins, Oreos, and pretzels. We loaded up and headed out to take pics and search for chocolate milk.

Alas, no milk was to be found, but I will be sure to get some for after the Love Run. It was a very fun race, with amazing ladies, and so worth the long drive.

What did you do this weekend to keep your body moving?

Flat Mama Friday, 13.1 NY Edition

I am packing my bags and getting ready to drive to NY after work tonight to stay with my good friend Gigi from Running on Candy so we can take Queens by storm tomorrow!
We will be running the 13.1 NY Half Marathon, sponsored by Michelob Ultra.  The course looks interesting, I have never really been to Queens, and I have never been to Mets Stadium, so I am pretty excited. Not that I am a Mets fan, I just love baseball stadiums. You couldn't pay me to watch a baseball game on TV, but get me to a stadium, and it's a whole other ball game story!

I was pretty worried about this race all week, I must say! I have not been on a run since my long run last Saturday! Why? First it was the crazy weather, and then I was in a little fender bender. I can't go into details, but I was rear ended and I ended up with a sore shoulder for a few days. UGH.
Yesterday, however, I played a rousing game of hide and seek with the Wonder Twins, and all was well. This morning, I woke up with no pain at all, just a little tightness. Hooray!

I will also be running this race for my pal Bryce, as part of the Irish Upon a Star Virtual Race. The medals are 2 Shamrocks, that fit inside each other. One for me, one for him. I plan to run this race with them in my pocket, and then sending his to him afterwards. I am hoping to get some fun pics of his medal all around Queens, but only if the weather is cooperating! They are predicting rain! Booooo!
I packed for the rain, though. I have my handy dandy Hat Trick cap from Runner's World, which I ran last October. This was the race where I got to run with Gigi and Danielle for the first time!
The shirt is Swirlgear, and the jacket is Digital Running. It has so many great pockets, it will, hold everything I need that doesn't fit into my Running Buddy! (not pictured, blogger fail!) I never run without it, it is perfect for my cell and my Honey Stingers!
The skirt is a Sparkle Skirt, I bought it to wear as Lightening McQueen when I ran Dopey. I will be wearing capris underneath!
I packed all of my essentials, including a pair of compression socks for the ride home! It is a two hour drive back to the beach, and I want to be sure I am comfy! I always wear sweats or PJ pants to drive home in!
I think I am ready! I cannot wait to hang with my girls tomorrow, and meet some new FB friends and fellow Swirl Sisters! I love meeting up with fellow crazies when I race!
I will be sure to write up a recap on Sunday! Saturday will be crazy because after the race I have a Memorial to attend for a family member who passed this month. If I can, I will post some teaser pics on Saturday!
Are you racing this weekend? What's the forecast for your race?

Wordless Wednesday, Pretty Muddy Edition

Emotional Eating, and a Week of Workouts

I struggle with Emotional Eating. I have struggled since my miscarriage over 15 years ago, and am finally taking steps to do something about it! I ordered two books about it, and one has 21 days of steps to take, the first step being to write about how it all began.
What a painful thing to write! I hate to admit I have no control, I am a control freak! It grabs me at the strangest times, and often I will eat until I feel sick. I can't keep certain foods in the house, because I often lack the control to resist them when I am stressed or upset! I am hoping that these books will give me some insight and some tips!
The first thing the book asked me to do was read some signs that you are an emotional eater. If you said 'yes' to five of them, then you are an emotional eater. I said 'yes' to fifteen. Yikes!
I will keep you updated on the progress, but if you are an emotional eater as well, these are the books I am reading:



On the workout front, I have had a much better week than I have in a while!
Monday: A 2.3 mile run in my new shoes. It was excruciating, whether from the new shoes or from a lot of movement two days before, I don't know. I banged it out though, and will try the new shoes again tomorrow!

 Tuesday was a rest day. I did go grocery shopping and walked two miles, to get my steps in for the day!

 Wednesday I ran 3.1 at the local park. It had workout stations so every few laps, I did one of the stations. Lots of ab work, and a pathetic attempt at chin ups. Some dude showed up and was banging out the chin ups and I was trying not to be a hater. I failed. I also attempted speed work. Each lap was a quarter mile, so I tried jogging one, running one. It was so windy that after two rounds, I was whipped, so I just did the remaining laps at whatever was comfortable. Once you subtract the time I spent doing the exercise, I had a nice 11 minute mile average.

 Thursday: I started doing the #Spartan30 and this month it is squats. I started late and did 270 squats my first day. Ouch! I am keeping up much better now, and I am actually ahead thanks to today's FIRM workout! I also did a FIRM workout, actually two back to back, and completed the Thin in 30 workouts. Perfect timing......

 Friday was another rest day. I had to walk in front of the TV at one point to get my steps in!
Saturday I did my long run at the beach. We started in Belmar, ran to Spring Lake, doubled back for a potty break, ran to Asbury and then back to Belmar. My friend did 16, I did 10. My extra weight, combined with a tank top (it was 60* out. One day later, and we have snow in tonight's forecast!) meant some lovely chicken arm chafing. I.must.get.fit. This is ridiculous! I can run a marathon but I cannot lose weight. I am such a wreck!
I love taking pics of my chocolate milk. I have said it before, I know, but for my new readers, I am lactose intolerant. I hate pills, so I won't take lactaid. Instead, I wait for a long run and guzzle guzzle guzzle that chocolate milk. I swear the angels sing while I drink. I worship the girl at last year's RnR USA who told me that your body needs it after a long run, and forgives you for drinking it. No stomach pain. No gas pain. Just sweet chocolatey bliss. For real.

 Today, I did a plank for one of my challenges, my squats during my workout. The workout was FIRM Classics Volume 1. From 1986. They wear leotards, tights, and leg warmers. For real. I have never seen so many nipples in a DVD before. They all wear light colors. It is hysterical. That being said, when my son was born almost 15 years ago, these DVDs helped me lose 60 pounds in less than a year. When Collage Video announced that they were going out of business, I stocked up on all of the Classics, plus a few of the old Tracie Long DVDs, and some pilates DVDs as well. I made rotation calendars for the next few months to keep me going! Once the 21 Day Fix gets here, my life will be complete! The Spartan calendar isn't updated, but I am all caught up, plus some extra. My legs are mad. Really really mad!

I am hoping to get a run in tomorrow in my new shoes. I am counting down the days until I go to NY to invade my friend Gigi from Running on Candy. We are doing the Michelob Ultra 13.1 in Queens. I am super excited to be running with my fellow Digital Running Ambassador. We are gonna look awesome in our matching green outfits!

Did you race this weekend? Was the weather as amazing for you as it was here in NJ?

Spring Into Fitness #Giveaway Blog Hop

Thanks to our Host!

I am so thrilled to be joining another Blog Hop hosted by Runaway Bridal Planner, this time she is joined by cohost Cat Lady Runs!
I decided to go with some great cross training items this month. I have started getting into the groove of doing other workouts besides running. I earned part of this prize through Viggle. Viggle gives you points for watching TV shows, via an app on your smart phone. Whenever I watch a show, I try to use Viggle to earn more points. In the past I have earned Barnes and Noble and Starbucks gift cards, but this time I went for a workout DVD to share with my readers!

I figured that since you will be sweaty while you workout, you might want a headband to keep the hair out of your face, and some snazzy shoelaces for your kicks!
Be sure to check the links at the bottom, because there are a bunch of other blogs joining this hop, and they will all be giving away items for fitness lovers!
SO, how do you enter my giveaway? Simple!
Comment below, telling me how you plan to get fit this Spring!


That's it!
Want some bonus entries?
Follow me on Twitter
Tweet about the Giveaway, and tag me :)
(I want to win a @JillianMichaels  DVD from @BarkingMadRun and you should, too! #giveaway at http://bit.ly/1fufGQm @bondiband #sweatpink )
Follow me on Instagram
Like my Facebook Page
Follow me on Pinterest
Let me know below that you did theses things, one comment will do, letting me know which extras you did.

Ok, now on to the links for my fellow bloggers! These will be live after 8 am Friday March 14!

Wordless Wednesday, puppy edition

Ok, so they aren't puppies, but last month Nugget turned three and last week Memphis turned four, so they got to have cupcakes :)

Nugget couldn't wait for the camera

Memphis was super patient but super Barky!

Monday Musings

After a crazy weekend consisting of a long run, night out with great friends, and a 24 marathon I am ready to get back into the swing of things! 

Our long run was at the beach! We followed it with a long walk, another six miles! The hub and I walked another two miles after I got home!

Korean Tacos from Mogo are the new fave at our house! We met friends in Asbury Park to eat there, they are addicted now as well!

Today's run was a bit of a train wreck. My new kicks finally arrived, and they felt great on my feet. My shins hurt like crazy the whole run. Not sure if it is the shoes or leftover from my long day on Saturday! Time will tell!

This pic is if my workout area for a challenge but, more importantly, the pics is also of two books I will be reading to try and get a handle on my stress eating. It is totally taking over my life and it is time I did something about it! 

I am in the parking lot right now, waiting for Girls on the Run to start! I can't wait to tell you all about it!

Have you ever had a problem with stress eating?