Monday, December 30, 2019

Coastal Delaware Marathon Training Week 2


I should’ve known marathon training during the holidays would be a bit crazy but it wasn’t as bad as I expected! Due to all my free time, I got in a good amount of runs except for my botched long run on Sunday. Luckily it’s early in the training cycle so I’m not too worried about missing it! I hope you all had a great Christmas week and got in some relaxing!


Monday: 3 miles + Strength Training

Tuesday: {Christmas Eve} REST


Wednesday: {Christmas Day} 3 miles with Dale

Thursday: REST

Friday: 3 miles with Dale + Ashley

Saturday: REST

Sunday: 6 miles 2 miles with Dale

Weekly Total: 11 miles


Question of the Day: What does your family do to celebrate Christmas? Do you have any fun traditions?

Monday, December 23, 2019

Coastal Delaware Marathon Training Week 1


This week kicked off week one of CoDel Marathon training! It was a super light week considering 4 out of the 7 days were spent mostly on the road as we travelled down to South Carolina to watch my little brother graduate as a United States Marine! I still managed to get in 2 runs even though I was sick during one of them so I’m calling that a win! Although this coming week will be busy, I am looking forward to getting back into a strong routine!

Monday: REST

Tuesday: 2 miles

Wednesday: Left for SC

Thursday: Family Day aka the day we finally got to see my brother!

Friday: Graduation + begin drive home

Saturday: Continue drive home + finally get home

I wore a Christmas sweater sweatshirt to be cute but ended up taking that off + rolling up my pants by mile one...

Sunday: 5 miles


Question of the Day: Do you have any races on your 2020 calendar yet?

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Coastal Delaware Marathon, Here I Come!

For those who haven't heard yet, I am running my 5th marathon in 2020! It's no secret that I love the marathon distance and the training that comes along with it. Something about pushing myself to do what seems to be impossible makes me feel immense joy. 


My best running friend, Rachel, and I have been discussing running another marathon together since I joined her for her first marathon last November! As much as we both love the Philadelphia Marathon, we decided to broaden our horizons and try a new race. After much research and discussion, we finally decided on the Coastal Delaware Marathon in April!

I'm not really sure what really sold us on the race but there are a ton of nice perks! For one, the cost wasn't terrible. It would've been cheaper if we registered back when we first kind of made a decision but we wanted to be sure before forking out the cash. The race highlights include a finish line party, big finisher medals, a scenic & flat course, free photos, and more! Overall it sounds pretty exciting!

When it comes to my training schedule, I am doing a mix of two schedules. I have followed both a Hal Higdon program and Run Less, Run Faster program in the past and enjoyed both. This go around I am combining the two, which basically means I am following the mileage from Hal Higdon but throwing in the speedwork from Run Less, Run Faster. Bottom line: I am winging a lot of it. 

Prepped to start running during the most RUNderful time of the year!

This will be my first time training for a marathon through the winter. I have trained for a half during the winter before but that training is a lot less involved than full marathon training. I am actually looking forward to winter training but am already anticipating many treadmill runs or even missed runs due to weather conditions. I think the second biggest concern of mine {besides weather conditions}, is the time of day I run. Before work is the most ideal for me but it is obviously darker and colder then. Running after work is possible, but I am usually a lot less motivated and tired at that point in the day. Overall, it will be a learning experience for me but I think I am going to end up enjoying it! I tend to enjoy running in the cold so that should make it good, right? Haha.

I will be documenting my training weekly so keep an eye out for my training updates every Monday! 

Monday, December 16, 2019

My Week in Pictures XXXVII

I’m checking in quite excited this Monday for many reasons! It’s not only my last week of work before my winter break, but it’ll be cut short! I leave Wednesday to go see my brother graduate as a marine from boot camp. The drive takes about 13 hours one way but we are driving down with my sister and her little family which should be fun.  It’ll be a busy week but so worth it! See what I was up to all last week in today’s Week in Pictures!

Monday was my birthday so I obviously stopped at Starbucks on my way to work for my free beverage!


After a long day at work, John took me to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We brought our dessert home and ate it in bed while watching TV.

Tuesday was my school’s holiday concert. The kids did great!


John ran errands on Thursday night so I took it as a chance to relax and eat soup while catching up on This Is Us.


I got to see my nephews on Friday. Tommy loves taking pictures with my phone and he snapped this cute one of Joey and I.


I caved and went to the Body Care Day dale at Bath & Body Works on Saturday. I got some awesome things for such a low price! I even got some stuff for gifts ;)


We were out a majority of the day looking at cars for John so I relaxed later on with a face mask. I got this one from Dollar Tree a couple weeks ago!


John’s parents brought us to Maggiano’s for dinner to celebrate my birthday a little late. I ordered my favorite moscato mojito :)


Sunday was another mix of getting things done but also relaxing on the couch with the cats.


I managed to finally peel myself off the couch and go for a run. It was nice enough for shorts!


I wrapped up my day with packing for our trip and using this amazing stress relief body scrub!


Question of the Day: What is something fun you did this past weekend?

Friday, December 13, 2019

Friday Favorites

Wow what a long, yet good, week! I started out the week on cloud 9 because we had heard from our new MARINE {my brother} on Sunday and Monday was my birthday. Work was busy since we are trying to wrap things up for the year. I have a semi-relaxing weekend ahead of me with just plans to celebrate my birthday with the in-laws on our agenda. Other than that, you will be able to find me parked on the couch with a blanket and Grey's Anatomy! Before I truck through this Friday, I'm sharing a few things I've been loving this week.


Mahogany Teakwood B&BW Candle
Thanks to the suggestion from Maureen, I picked up this scent while at the Bath & Body Works Candle Sale this past weekend. Not going to lie, I wasn't 100% sold on the scent just by smelling it but the jar was gorgeous so I figured I'd try it out. I am so glad I did because it gives the room a warm and cozy feeling. The candle is a mix of rich mahogany, black teakwood, dark oak, and frosted lavender with essential oils. It is pretty strong so I don't recommend it for those who like a more lighter scent.


Vanilla Bean Noel Whipped Confetti Body Scrub
This was an impulse buy while at B&BW on Saturday because 1. I had a coupon and 2. I can't pass up a body scrub that has the word confetti in the name. I've used it a few times already since buying it and I'm in love! It has a wonderful vanilla scent without being overpowering. I use my hands to apply it and it actually starts to create a light lather which is cool. I'm actually surprised at how moisturized it leaves my skin but of course my eczema makes it where I still need to put on a ton of lotion post-shower.

I'll talk more about it in a post next week, but I am running a marathon in April which means I'll be training through the winter. I trained during the summer for my other marathons and did half marathon training during the winter once but that is different. I turned to the good ol' internet this past week to find some helpful tips/information to help motivate me and out of all the articles I read, this was one of my favorites. They went beyond the basic tips of what to wear and how to be safe, which is what I was looking for. I just wanted something to get me pumped to run in the winter. I won't spoil the whole article, but my favorite tip was that winter training helps you not feel so "bleh" during the colder months when you're so tempted to just hide under blankets and snack on junk. I tend to gravitate towards comfort foods during the winter which leaves me feeling not my healthiest. Following a marathon training plan will keep my body moving and make me eat healthier, feel good foods, which makes me more motivated for this spring marathon!

Question of the Day: What is something you're loving this week?


Monday, December 9, 2019

Cheers to 27 Years!

Happy Monday AND happy birthday to myself! Since today is my birthday, I have been thinking for a couple weeks about what kind of special post I should do for it. Considering I am 27, writing a list of 27 things just seemed exhausting. Instead, I decided I would share with you some lessons I have learned so far in my life. They might not be anything life-changing, but maybe one of them will help somebody out! Also enjoy some photos of things I did during my year as a 26 year old {aka my favorite age/year}.

Married my best friend!

Be kind. You truly never know what others are going through so just treat each and every person you meet with kindness. 

Ran my 4th marathon!

Take chances. You never know where a little risk-taking could take you! 9 years ago I took a chance and told my best guy friend how I really felt about him. Today we are happily married :)


My brother left for marine boot camp!

Do what makes YOU happy. I CANNOT stress this one enough! For years I have been a people-pleaser. I may still be, but I am working hard and making decisions that make ME happy and not basing my decisions off of making everybody else happy.


Adopted Jax!

Go at your own pace. I used to think that I was "behind" in life. I graduated college a little late because of transferring issues. I was still living at home at 25 years old. John and I waited over 8 years to get married. It took me a long time, but I finally realized it really doesn't matter what pace you go, as long as it works for YOU. I spent so many years comparing myself to other people when I should've just been enjoying my own life.


Became an auntie for the second time to this little cutie, Joey!

Treat Yo' Self! I've spent plenty of my years being cheap as heck for myself and then spoiling others. In the last couple year or so I've been letting myself splurge on the things that matter or make me happy, such as good running shoes or a chai tea latte.

Question of the Day: What is your favorite way to treat yo' self?

Friday, December 6, 2019

Friday Favorites

I'm checking in exhausted today since I just had the longest week! We had conferences at school all week and they just drain me of my energy. It also didn't help that last night was John's work holiday party. It was a blast but it was a late night! Anyway, I have a busy weekend ahead of me so the fun doesn't stop here. My mom's 50th birthday was yesterday and my birthday is Monday so we will be celebrating together on Sunday. My brother should also be calling us so we are looking forward to that :) Before I push through this final day of the work week, I'm sharing some things I've been loving lately!

Pop Socket
I am wayyyy late to the Pop Socket game but I'm glad I finally joined. When I first saw them a few years ago, I thought they were a bit bulky on phones. Lately I've been hearing how useful they are so I figured I'd buy one eventually. As luck would have it, I was able to snag one for free at the Philadelphia Marathon expo. What made it better is it's not some random design, it's the marathon logo! I've had it on my phone for over a week now and it's making such a difference. How'd I live without one before?


Purple Heart Donation
In the past few weeks my mom has asked me to clear out the rest of my belongings taking up space at their house. That turned into me figuring out a majority of the items were junk that I no longer wanted/needed. I filled up a couple bags of items to donate. I was thrilled when I realized how easy the process would be through the Purple Heart. All I had to do was bag up the items, fill out a form online indicating the day and area for pick up, leave the items outside for them labeled with "Purple Heart," and BOOM! Done! I sound lazy, but filling up my car with the bags and then lugging them into a Goodwill or throwing them in a donation bin takes effort and this was just too easy not to do. If the Purple Heart comes to your area and you have things to donate, I highly recommend having them pick up your stuff!

Last years haul!

Bath & Body Works Candle Sale
I'm here to share some great news with you! Tomorrow, December 7th, is the Bath & Body Works Candle Sale! All 3-wick candles will be $8.95 when they are originally $24.95. What?! It's such a good deal! And it's even better if you have a 20% off or a $15 off $40 coupon laying around! Last year was the first year I found out about this sale {it's apparently always the first Saturday in December}. When I told my mom about it, she was all on board to get there early in the morning. We mayyy have gone a bit nuts but hey, my house smells good every day! This year we invited my sister to our little candle shopping spree and to say we are excited is an understatement {I already have a list of candles I want!}. We are even planning to make a whole morning of it and grab breakfast :) I am pretty sure this sale is online as well so join in anyway you can!

Question of the Day: What is something you're loving this week?
Bonus Question: What is your favorite Bath & Body Works candle scent(s)?

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

2019 Goals: November Update

This is coming at you a little late but my schedule got a bit mixed up with my marathon recap last week. We are sooo close to being done the year so I didn't want to give up on my updates this late in the game. I am already thinking of some goals for next year and how I want to go about them. I'll be putting together that post throughout the month so I can post in when the new year begins! It's so crazy that 2020 is just a few short weeks away... Crazy, right?


Goal 1: Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle
With WW (formerly Weight Watchers) introducing their new plans, I have been switching up my meals lately and it's making a difference! As most of you know, I ran the Philadelphia Marathon on November 24th so my fitness was on point for a majority of November in order to prepare for the race.
 

Goal 2: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
I finally splurged and purchased a Stash reusable sandwich bag and it's a total game changer! John loves packing sandwiches for lunch and the one I purchased is the perfect size for them.

Goal 3: Reduce Phone Usage
Work keeps me busy enough during the day that most days I don't end up playing on my phone until bedtime. I did have a good chunk of time off work this month which led me to playing on my phone a lot. I am trying my best to find other things to do with my free time rather than go on my phone such as organizing, reading, and cleaning!

Tilapia with rice and mixed veggies made for an easy and yummy dinner :)

Goal 4: Try New Recipes
John jump started this goal this month by coming up with some new dinner meals. My favorite was tilapia which is now in our dinner rotation. Shoprite sells a bag of individually sealed filets that we purchase and take out just as much as we need when we make it. 


Goal 5: Give Back
This month I did a good amount of purging old things I didn't need. I chose to donate all the items to the Purple Heart. It was such an easy process! I just put everything in bags and boxes and then scheduled a pick up. On the day of the pick up, I left the bags and boxes on my front patio where they picked them up.

Goal 6: Save Money
With our new budgeting app, saving money has been so much easier for us. It really makes me think about every purchase I make. Black Friday was the first time in a few months that I actually purchased something for myself {a new tank top!}, other than an iced coffee, and it felt so strange. We've been really good about only spending money on groceries, gas, and the occasional meal out so buying things other than that is odd to me.

Question of the Day: How are your 2019 goals coming along? Have you completed anything on your 19 in 2019 list, if you made one?

Monday, December 2, 2019

My Week in Pictures XXXVI

Hi everybody! I am coming at you awake and refreshed after a relaxing 4 day break. It was a much needed break and I'm now counting down the days until winter break! I may also just be counting down the days because that is also how long it is until my brother comes home!

I realized it has been over a month since I shared a week in pictures. Although this past week wasn't anything exciting, here it is anyway :)


Of course I brought my medal to school on Monday and let my students pass it around. They got a kick out of the bell!


I also wore my race shirt because why not? ;)


Rolling my legs was a MUST throughout the week!


We made cute little hand turkeys in school on Tuesday!


Wednesday was a half day due to the holiday so we let the students watch a few different Thanksgiving movies.


We also gave them their own Charlie Brown feast!


I spent Wednesday night baking cookies for both our family's Thanksgiving dinner's the next day.


Thursday started off nice and relaxing with Jax before I got a burst of energy to go clean the garage.


I got to see this little turkey for his first Thanksgiving!


Joey and Tommy didn't disappoint with their name tags this year :)


Somebody got ahold of my phone and took a ton of selfies on it...


My sister and I took pictures with a photo of my brother since he couldn’t be there.


On Friday we decided to go out later and do a little bit of shopping. We didn’t really need anything but we had fun, especially in the kitchen store in the outlets!


Saturday night called for Red Robin and Ticket to Ride with our friends!


We had a lazy Sunday morning. Eventually we made waffles. We’ve been loving Kodiak Cakes lately!


We spent most of the day lying around while also getting some things done around the house. We had a cheese tray for lunch!


Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Race Recap: 2019 Philadelphia Marathon

I am so excited to be typing up this recap for the Philadelphia Marathon this past Sunday because to be quite honest, I'm shocked I made it to the finish line. For those of you who didn't know, I ran the Philadelphia Marathon this weekend with minimal training considering I won the entry just a few short weeks ago. You can read all about that here if you'd like!


So like I said, I went into this marathon with very little training. For the other 3 marathons I've done, I put in 18 weeks of training with long runs going up to 20 miles. Because this was a last minute decision, I followed a half marathon training schedule up until the Hershey Half at the end of October. After that I ran a 17-miler, 12-miler, and 8-miler as far as long runs. I actually felt good going into marathon weekend. I'm sure I would've been fine if the weather hadn't been less than ideal. My best running friend, Rachel, and John braved the cold and came with me to cheer me on! Anywho, onto the recap which just a bit of a warning, probably will just be a jumbled mess of my thoughts so bear with me! It was quite a day...

The expo was fun, as always!

The forecast called for rain most of Sunday morning so I tried my best to dress accordingly. I wore capris and a tank with a long sleeve tech shirt over top. I started the race with a light jacket over top but more about that later. When I woke up that morning, it was lightly drizzling out. Once we got over to Philly and parked, it has started to let up. At that point I made the decision to wear the light jacket over my long sleeve shirt and a pair of throw away gloves. The coat is sort of water resistant so I figured it would work well. Unfortunately, it had rained all night so there were a lot of puddles everywhere and my feet were already getting wet on the walk over. We got through security fairly quickly. I made the decision to use one of the first port-a-potties I found and honestly, it was the BEST decision because the ones closer to the corrals had ridiculously long lines. I went a bit earlier than usual but I probably wouldn't have even gotten the opportunity to go if I didn't stop earlier.


John and Rachel stood with me for a bit near my corral until the first corrals were starting to leave. They moved towards the start at that point so they could cheer me on as I crossed the start line. As usual, I was in the last corral (#teamturtle) so I didn't end up starting until about 25 minutes after the first corral. Like almost every big race, the start is crowded so I spent the first mile or so darting around people so I could fall into a comfortable pace.

Within the first 3 miles I started to get an odd feeling on the inside of my right foot. It felt like the sock was bunched up so when I stopped to use a port-a-potty at the first group of them where the line wasn't ridiculously long (I think around mile 3?), I tried fixing it. Once I started back up running, it still felt funny so this time I stopped and actually took my shoe off. At that moment, I found the last thing I wanted to see this early in a race: a huge blister forming.... I quickly got out my phone and called John to see if there was any possible way he could get to me before mile 14 (it was planned for them to see me at the start, around halfway, and the finish) with moleskin, bandaids, or any other stuff that could help me. He looked at the map and sadly could not figure out a way to get to a drug store and make it to where I was in a timely manner but he'd get something for me to put on at mile 14. I was bummed until a lightbulb went off and I remembered I had a spare piece of KT tape in my hydration backpack that I kept there for emergencies. I ended up wrapping it around where the blister was forming in hopes it would protect it and stop the pain. While it was a great idea, unfortunately it helped very little. I also ended up having a second blister form on the inside of my left foot.

This looked prettier in person...

I focused most of my attention on the pain the blisters were causing as I cruised through the earlier miles. Normally the hills between miles 7 and 10 would absolutely kill me but I couldn't even think about them. I honestly don't even remember if it rained again at all. I was so excited to see John and Rachel around mile 14. I made the decision not to put any of the bandaids on that John had gotten in fear that if I took my shoes off, I'd never want to put them back on. Instead I handed off my light jacket and gloves as I was getting pretty warm. 

BIG. MISTAKE.

Once I left John and Rachel, it started to rain again. Like, freezing cold rain that was permeating everything I was wearing, making me feel frozen to the core. The rain was angled so it was going right in my face. At this point in the race, we were running along the Schuylkill River so the winds were much stronger and frequent. I tried my best to focus on the sights (I absolutely LOVE Boathouse Row) and all the spectators. I was honestly surprised at how many people still came out the spectate even with the weather. 

So glad John captures this wonderful picture of me as I ran up to him haha I must’ve looked miserable the whole time. 

As I headed towards Manayunk, around mile 18ish, I was starting to lose my motivation. I began thinking about how I'd feel if I just gave up at this point. I knew that quitting this late in the race would just be silly since I had less than 8 miles left to go. I would be lying if I said the thought didn't cross my mind a couple more times before I finished...

Manayunk pumped me up like always! It's like one big party as you cruise down the main street towards the turn around. And then the party keeps going until you leave the town. Once I left Manayunk, the spectators started to die down and so did my drive. The frustrating part is that for the back of the packers, like me, you see a lot of spectators cheering on those between miles 23-25 while you're still around mile 16 because of the way the course is. Those people also cheer for those on the other side of the course which I mentioned above that I saw. But once you get to that area like an hour later, there aren't many people left. This usually is my least part of the race and it was again this year. Spectators are what keep me going at this point and without them, I was left to my own thoughts.

The new mural going into Manayunk is so nice! I just had to stop on my way out to snap a picture. 

The last few miles or so were brutal. I was absolutely soaked. Even the one dry spot on my back that was covered by my hydration pack was wet at this point. I kept getting chills, my teeth were chattering, and the only thought going through my head was "I have no clue if I'll ever warm up after this!" Since my hands were frozen, I hadn't eaten a Gu since at least mile 16 and I struggled to even hold the mouthpiece on my hydration pack so I could drink some water. Millions of thoughts were running through my head. One that kept returning was that thought that I'm not sure I've ever ran a race that was this brutal before. I've ran the marathon distance 3 other times, ran a half marathon in the snow, ran a 10-miler and a half marathon in the rain, and yet this was truly the toughest of them all! I was getting pretty out of it at this point. I've heard of people starting to get a bit crazed at this point in the race and for the first time, I was. I honestly couldn't even keep track of my mile markers and my body just kept shaking with cold.

Once I hit mile 26 on my watch, I knew I only had less than a half mile to go. My watch was off by about .20 throughout most of the race. At this point I just wanted to be done so I put the pedal to the medal and pushed myself to that finish. I knew John and Rachel were somewhere towards the finish line so I scoured the sidelines for them. I heard them yelling my name before I even saw them. At that same time I heard them announce my name over the intercom along with all the other runners who were finishing at this point. That was all I needed to fly right through the finish line. I literally stopped running as soon as I crossed the line because I was DONE. Usually I'll go a bit longer to stop anybody from running right into me but I didn't even care. I was close to tears as I got my medal and heat sheet. I couldn't believe I actually did it! For a race I was considering giving up on as early as 3 miles in, I couldn't believe that I was able to push myself to that finish line!

I’m just smiling because I could see the finish line... oh, and I love running!

I probably looked like a hot mess as I tried to collect my snacks in the tent after the finish line. A pretzel and a banana dangled from my frozen fingers as I tried to also hold a cup of warm chicken broth. Not going to lie, I thought about that warm chicken broth for at least the last 10 miles. I stood there shivering and drink the broth when I finally saw John and Rachel walking up. They had thought to bring me my jacket from the car and oh my goodness I could've cried! They hugged me and all that fun stuff before we made our way to a less crowded spot to take pictures. I looked like a drowned rat and I couldn't hold my medal too well so those pictures turned out just wonderful... From there we went to the car so I could start to defrost. It probably wasn't until we got home and I removed every piece of wet clothing and put on sweatpants and a sweatshirt that I finally started to feel some sort of warmth.


There is probably so much more I could've added to this recap or even took out, but this jumbled mess represents how I felt during the whole race. Never have I felt so defeated during a race. I thought to myself many times that I should've just used that free entry for the half marathon but in a way I am glad I did the marathon. It was a chance to prove to myself that I can do hard things if I set my mind to it. I am strong!

Marathon recovery = chai tea and fuzzy socks!