Friday Five: Marine Corps Marathon Weekend!

It’s a new Friday tradition! I’m linking up with fellow DC Trifecta bloggers Mar from Mar on the Run and Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC for a Friday Five linkup. Do a Friday Five post and link up with us below.

No, I’m not running the Marine Corps Marathon, but in honor of MCM, we’re dedicating this Friday Five to the Marine Corps Marathon weekend and calling it “MCM” or “Race” Edition.  I had fun doing my Friday Five about the Army Ten Miler last weekend, so here’s five random things about MCM Weekend!

1. MCM Excitement – this is a huge race, and the city is excited about it. I ran the MCM in 2007 and it was really thrilling. So many spectators – the energy from the crowd totally pumped me up.  I remember running through crowd-lined routes and it really pulled me through. Except on Hains Point. That gets a little rough for me – every time I do a race in DC I come with a mental block against Hains Point. Maybe some day I’ll handle that stretch better!

2013 MCM Map with Elevation Chart

2. MCM Street Closures – Since my office building is on the marathon route and we have public events happening that day, people get stressed about how to get to work, and the audience getting there! But there’s ample information about the marathon in the news and online. If you have to get anywhere in DC on Sunday, check this link for street closures.

3. MCM Training – If you’ve thought about the Marine Corps Marathon or another marathon and are not sure you have the time to train, I recently wrote some tips on marathon training for busy people. I only had one child at the time, and thought finding time to train was really hard then. It definitely was, I won’t discount that. But if I could go back and tell the “ME” of 2007 that I’d have three kids in 2013 and fit in training for a triathlon, I wouldn’t have stressed so much. It was the first time in my life I was learning to balance my own time for fitness and running with being a full-time working mom. I learned a lot.

If you’ve trained for MCM and you’re ready for the race, try to take some time to look around and soak up the sights, the crowds, and the experience. Shout out to my neighbor Jerry who has been working so hard and is READY – ROCK THE RACE JERRY!

4. MCM Injuries – I changed up my shoes during my training, and while I did everything textbook-right (not too close to the race, eased into it with shorter runs), I still got massive blisters on the backs of my feet during peak training time. This really derailed me. Then I started to get knee pain which plagued me during the race – I think I was running slightly off my normal strike and stride because of the foot blister issue, and this caused a knee issue.

If you’ve come this far injury-free, congrats and have a great race! If you are running Sunday with an injury – try not to stress. Do what you can to finish and soak up your accomplishment. Our bodies are not machines and you don’t want to permanently take yourself out of running for the future. Try to enjoy the atmosphere and do your best.

5. MCM Finish – Due to my injuries and my difficulty fitting in training on my own, my finish time was not what I had hoped. I had run my first marathon pre-kids in 2005 with a finish time of 4:17:03 and thought I could do this one with a similar time. I really learned to soak up the accomplishment and not stress about the finish time for MCM: 5:00:17.

Link up your Friday Five here!

Have you run a marathon? Which one(s)?

Friday Five: Army Ten Miler Weekend!

Happy Friday!

Well, hopefully you’re having a happy Friday and not an unhappy Friday. I’m feeling excited and happy because it’s Army Ten Miler weekend!

It’s no secret that I get insanely excited about races, and this one is no exception. You would think it wouldn’t have the same level or excitement as other races, since I run in DC regularly, and have done several races in the city – the Marine Corps Marathon, the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, and most recently the Nike Women’s Half Marathon – all in DC. But this race is a “bucket list” race. And more importantly, I have some friends running too and we’re making a fun weekend out of it – Melissa from I Thought They Said Rum from Texas, another friend from North Carolina, and two local friends – and they’re all coming over for a pre-race dinner at Casa Cynthia tomorrow night.

So the real point of this post is a fun Friday Five. I love lists, my brain is full of random thoughts today, and this week was a very random week in terms of workouts, so today felt like a good Friday Five day.

1. Army Ten Miler Expo – This afternoon I need to get to the expo to pick up my race packet. I hear this expo is huge. Can they please confiscate my wallet upon entry to stop me from Buying.All.The.Things.

(Didja like my meme? I think it was the first one I’ve ever created. Patting myself on the back now.)

2. Lazy Days Are Best Spent Cooking – Sunday I was lazy and didn’t work out. I had worked two concerts and come home late the night before, it was still raining, and I just couldn’t get it together to do my long run before my husband left on a business trip mid-day. So I spent most of the day cooking. Whole 30 is giving me a new spark for cooking up veggies. The day started with giant veggie omelets, which a certain 1-year-old LOVED.

3. Columbus Day 7-Mile Run – Monday was Columbus Day, and I had the day off work. Alas, this does not mean I’m a lady of leisure – I describe days like this as “Trading One Full-Time Job For Another” because I’m Mom all day long – like on the weekends!

It was great – some extra time with my kids, some things done around the house, and being a shuttle  to/from elementary & preschool, and to/from my daughter’s chorus rehearsal that afternoon.

I had thought about doing my long run with Finn in the stroller while my big kids were at school in the morning, but the running stroller was in the car the au pair had. Doh. I did, however, have our au pair scheduled for the evening for some extra help since my husband was out of town. I decided to run with the local running club (I’m a member again!) for their Monday night 7-miler. It was great – hilly and dark, but great company and a good pace for me.

(Yes, that’s the same shirt as in all the other recent pictures. The only long-sleeved shirt that fits. Yes, I wash it.)

I really need a reflective top and a headlamp. Maybe they sell them at today’s expo… [BUY ALL THE RUNNING THINGS!]

After the run I bought a Halloween costume, went to the grocery store, and got gas in the car. Not a bad use of 3.5 hours of babysitting!

4. Whole 30 Going Strong – I posted about starting the Whole 30 diet – I’m now on Day 13! I am feeling good and definitely look different this week. I’m suddenly getting TONS of comments about weight loss, so I think something has changed in me this week. And I feel good! I am doing fine not eating baked goods and sugar, but I still miss wine, cheese and chocolate, and can’t wait to add them back in… gotta be honest here. But I am loving cooking new and interesting combinations of things, breaking my bad mindless eating habit, packing more lunches (which saves money), and enjoying when I buy salad from the employee Canteen for lunch.

Oh, but I still hate ghee.

5. Random Workout Week – I hereby declare this week “Random Workout Week”. After Monday’s 7-miler with the running club, I thought I’d take it easy Tuesday. It’s a good thing, too, since I took the Metro to work and was super motion sick.

I often have a motion sickness problem, but this really hit me hard. It was all I could do to walk into my office with weak knees and nausea. So I did the noon Pilates class that day, and it made me feel a bit better.

I did NOTHING on Wednesday – I had slept poorly due to zombie nightmares from watching the Walking Dead right before bed, and so by Thursday I had to do something. I had also slept horribly that night due to the 4-year-old waking (and being cranky), so I turned off my Thursday morning workout alarm. I knew I had to get it done at night, but by the time the kids were asleep, going to the gym didn’t sound like fun. So I pulled out something I hadn’t done in ages – Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred and did Level 2.

I forgot how hard a workout it is – 10pm is a great time to jump around and get sweaty!

Do you get motion sickness?

Do you have zombie nightmares after watching The Walking Dead?

Do you have a favorite exercise video or workout you do at home?

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Eat Pray Run DC has a Friday Five Linkup – add yours or go there to discover other Friday Fives!

First Friday Five

I love lists. Preferably lists with little checkboxes next to them. I can often be found adding an item to a list just to be able to check it off. What, you don’t do that too? Just me then?  Be thankful that all my posts aren’t just lists with little checkboxes.

I was inspired by my buddy Courtney from Eat Pray Run, DC and her Friday 5 lists, and since she’s been doing a Friday linkup I thought I’d go for the list post today. It’s as if she created this linkup just for moi so that I can find other list-loving people… Sigh, I’ll dream of lists tonight. It would sure beat my Walking-Dead-esque zombie nightmares that I have sometimes. Unless my dream will include a list-eating zombie.

Okay, well back to business: here’s my first Friday Five, a totally random assortment of things from my week:

[cue the drumroll…]

1. Some restaurants are amazing and really care.

I’ve mentioned before that my youngest has food allergies, so we rarely go out to eat and when we do we bring food for him. Our lives are filled with constant fear and stress over his potential anaphylaxis, and avoiding sunflower, peanuts, and tree nuts at all costs.

We read recommendations for Not Your Average Joe’s, a small chain of restaurants in MA, MD, & VA, and how conscientious they are about food allergies., so we decided to try the one near us – and they exceeded our expectations. We had a personal visit from the manager and the chef before the food came to understand his allergies and explain how they were going to keep him safe. Then another visit (or two) from the manager and chef after the food came to check in and make sure we were comfortable. And the food was delicious, we all loved our meals! So for anyone with food allergies – or without! – we say GO to Not Your Average Joe’s, they are awesome.

2. Running with an almost-4-year-old is harder work than running with a 1-year-old.

Duh. On Sunday, I had to work an outdoor rehearsal and concert in the heat for 8-9 hours all afternoon and evening, but I needed to get in a run. I wanted to run with the 1-year-old in the stroller, but he was happy playing with his big sister, so I succumbed to the middle child’s begging and let him hop in.

It was hot. He was heavy. It was a great upper body workout in addition to the running.

And when we returned, a very jealous 1 year old freaked out when he saw his brother in the stroller, and wanted his turn. Sorry, mommy is overheated. Can you spot the jealous Great Dane in the picture?

3. Doing a triathlon means Cynthia buys lots of stuff.

I know I don’t need every little thing out there, but after the Duathlon, I vowed I’d get those no-tie laces to speed up my transitions. I finally tried the Xtenex laces I bought at a store recently on the run I mentioned in #2. I’ve now used them twice and the jury is still out since they bother the top of my foot. I know I can survive in them for a 2.5 mile run at the tri so I’m going to use them this weekend and then play around with the tension when I run next week.

4. Losing more weight means nothing fits.

Of course this is a good problem to have, but seriously – one week before the triathlon and my sports bra doesn’t fit? Yikes! I took my daughter to Fleet Feet Sports and she got an education in bra fitting, lucky her. Hopefully she doesn’t need to worry about that for several more years, but it was fun to have her along. Another weird thing I discovered is that somehow I’ve turned into a size Small in Nike clothes – how the heck did that happen?! I’ve never been a small so maybe they are being generous with their sizing these days.

5. I’m writing this list instead of packing for my triathlon.

Yep.

Tomorrow morning I leave for Iron Girl Rocky Gap.  I’m a little anxious and a lot excited. I really should get back to obsessing over my triathlon packing list and throw in a load of laundry.  And then I’ll add “LAUNDRY” to my To Do List and check it right off.  CHECK!

Are you a list lover too?