16.

 About to go on the longest training run so far...no...the longest run of my life! 16 miles.

Oh boy.

Ab-tastic!

Here are our after pictures...you be the judge. 

Turns out I still like my desserts way more than I like doing ab workouts :-)

Ty did a ton of ab workouts this past month. I did some, maybe two a week, but ran A TON. My mileage is really picking up for this marathon and while it's super challenging, I am still loving it :-)

Good to know that with just a little motivation (and even a little bit of dessert) I am totally comfortable in my own skin. 

M. 

LOVE.

Half marathon #1 is done and in the books...and let me just say, I. LOVED. IT.

It was the perfect length...just long enough that I felt super challenged, but not too long that I doubted I would finish.

For this particular 13.1 I had two goals: 1) Run the entire race (meaning no walking EVER), and 2) break two hours.
Goal #1 I completed with ease, the longest run of my life thus far and I could do it. I never even wanted to walk. (That's a lie...about mile 11 I was kinda hating life, but I knew I could finish).
As for goal #2...I ran 2:00.59...can you freaking believe that? I was 59 seconds over my goal time! GRRRRR...avoiding the numerous snot rockets I launched during that race would've let me go under two hours...ha! Oh well, Next time will be well under 2 hours, you can count on that.

And I definitely see many more half marathons in my future...but after running 13.1 and realizing I'll have to do twice that IN A ROW this summer...well...this just might be the only marathon I ever do. 26.2 is a long freakin way...just sayin'.

About two and a half months until my first 26.2...lots of work to do...but still totally looking forward to it. :-)

M.

Half #1

3 days until my 1st 1/2 marathon...

13.1 miles...

the farthest I've ever run is 12...

Who's bright idea was this?!


Oh yeah...mine. Oh boy. 

I am totally looking forward to it and completely dreading it all at the same time. 

My goal is to break two hours.

But two hours or not...I am going to DQ afterwards...and I won't be having the mini.

:-)

You be the judge.

So the boyfriend and I have the most extreme bet going on.

A super ab contest.

We each one month to totally transform our abs, the one who makes the most progress by June 1st not only gets to eat a delicious sushi dinner paid for by the other, but gets indefinite bragging rights! Not to mention killer abs just in time for summer. 


We decided to judge by before and after pictures. We were going to look at who's belly just looked plain better by June, but then Ty would totally have anatomy on his side. WE ALL KNOW it's way easier for guys to look in shape than it is for girls...plain and simple. Ty can eat a bag of chips and a pint of Ben & Jerry's and his abs will look better than when he started! Mine...not so much. It makes me wanna beat him up.

So you be the judge...here are our before pictures:

The next set will be posted June 1st. He is going down.

P.S. I need a tan.

Long time no see.

Hi, I'm Megan, and I am a slacker. 

Was my last post really a month ago???

Though I am one slackish (is that even a word?) blogger...I have not been a slackish marathon wannabe! Training has been going great! I have been religiously running and keeping up with my mileage (I even hit a 40+ week last week!). And I have been doing strengthening circuits. I really feel great, and my legs are starting to look and feel like they did when I was running track in college. It feels good to be back :-)

In fact...on a whim two weeks ago I upped and signed up for my 1st half...and it's next Saturday!

I'll be running the great Idaho Potato Marathon...my very first 13.1. 

I am SUPER excited, and altogether scared outta my mind. 

I'm crossing my fingers for sunshine...and a tailwind during my last 5 miles...I'm gonna need all the help I can get :-)

Peace. 

Saddest run of my life.

I might as well get right to it...today on my run a dog ran out of its driveway to come say hi to me. He was so cute and white and scruffy. I loved him at first sight. Then...I saw this dog get run over by a car. :-(

Oh. My. Gosh...

I couldn't believe it. 

A car just so happened to be coming down the street when the dog was running out of its yard, and slammed on its breaks a split second too late. The poor pups leg was stuck under the front tire of the car...

I frantically banged on the lady's car window and was yelling at her to back up her car. 

When she did we saw that the doggy's fur had been all skinned off it's lower leg, there was blood everywhere, and he definitely couldn't use it. He limped back to his owner and laid down right at his feet. 

I ran over to the owner to ask if there was anything I could do to help...maybe go grab his phone or something, I wasn't sure what I could do but I felt soooo sad for the dog and the owner. The owner said the dog seemed fine (like in no danger of dying or anything, phew!) but he thought it had a broken leg. He was going to take it to the vet. He kept saying "I should've closed the gate". 

The rest of my run my heart felt super heavy. 

I thought of Zoe and how I would feel if anything ever happened to my lovable, big black pup. uhh I don't even like to think about. 

Well white scruffy dog, I hope you're doing okay tonight, and that you got enough pain killers than you are sleeping peacefully by now!

And Zoe...you should listen very carefully when I tell you to stay on the sidewalk!

Good girl,  Zo :-)

...and folks, please train your pups :-)

Slump no more.

I hit a running slump for the past couple weeks.

And I beat it!

I spent the weekend reading a ton of stuff about marathons...training tips, gear, injury avoidance, how to fuel, blogs of other first timers like me, and did some major reflecting.

I spent a lot of time this weekend talking to my friend Kelly, who ran her first marathon in Hawaii when she was 13...yes I said 13 YEARS OLD! Can you believe it?! That is amzaing.

Anyway, she has  been running marathons ever since and in 4 weeks this 40-something is running Boston...her lifelong goal. Just last Thursday she ran 20 miles to prepare...which was a whopping three hour tour for her (did I mention it's winter...and she does all of her runs outside...and she lives in Cascade where it's freezing!?) She is the bomb.

And my spirit is renewed!

This is something I totally want to do. And I was letting my busy schedule get in the way and not making running a priority. While some days it totally sucks to have to lace up the old shoes and go run, I would definitely rather do that then run through 4 hours of pure torture come race day. So I am a newly-motivated-meg for now...and for good.

Here is my training schedule for the week:

Monday: 30 min. cross train
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 4 miles. Post run: hip strength routine
Thursday: 6 miles. Post run: back strength routine
Friday: 30 min. cross train (I am thinking I'll hit the pool this day)
Saturday: Same as Wednesday
Sunday: 8 miles. Post run: Back strength routine
...and I mix hot yoga in when I can make a class with my crazy schedule. Did I mention I LOVE hot yoga?...it rocks.

:-)

Peace.

Love me...love me not.

Most days I LIKE running. I enjoy getting my workouts in, and especially enjoy the way I feel after the run is done. My mind is clear, my body is the right amount of tired, and I am definitely in a better mood. Ask my roommates...when I don't workout regularly, I am not fun to live with...a certain b-word comes to mind!!

If I am lucky, once a week I LOVE running. I'll turn my IPOD to Train or Cee Lo Green, find my groove, and chug along like I could run for hours. I'll look around and admire pretty lil' Boise and smile at people that pass...and I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing. 

Then there are days like today...ones where I absolutely hate running (did I accentuate that hate enough?). I know if I am having one of these days right when I wake up. I battle with myself all day, really not wanting to go run, and kicking myself and feeling guilty that I am being such a sissy. 

I'd be lying if I said I loved running all the time. Some days I dread it. There are even days where I would rather CLEAN than run (and for those that know me know that I am as messy as they come).  

Today I laid out every excuse in the book not to do my 6-mile run. "I had to coach...I was hungry...it's cold...gotta catch up on homework...I'll just run tomorrow instead." And here I am tonight, with no run under my belt, and...well shucks...now it's too dark to go! ha. 

Though I loved LOVED LOVED running track in college (it's really true, I did), I finally, for the first time I can remember, feel totally free. and it feels good :-) 

For the first time in my WHOLE LIFE I get to pick the days I want to run. And I listen. If I am totally not down to run one day, I just won't. It's important to me that running never becomes a chore. If it's a chore, I'll end up hating it more than I like it, and that's no good for my mood (or my pant size)! 

That way, when I am 85 years old I will still (hopefully) be chugging along to "Hey Soul Sister" on my iPOD doing something I truly like (and somedays love) to do. 


Tomorrow I will run. 

Peace :-)...and adios to Paige, who is in Spain. 

P.S...last Monday...longest run of my life so far! 12.44 miles in 1 hour 41 minutes. Hurt like heck but I did it and kept pace. High five :-)

Definition of Torture:

...8 miles on a treadmill.

Never. Ever. Again.

Hurry up warm weather :-/

I'll miss you Dairy Queen.

I have officially been training for my FIRST marathon for a whopping three weeks now. And I love it!

I have missed the regular routine of workouts since track ended last June, and haven't been able to motivate myself without a goal in mind. I did yoga and kickboxing once a week, I'd run a couple times a week, never lift weights anymore, and it just wasn't the same. And my pants didn't lie...

Who am I kidding, I kind of missed working out like a crazy woman, but what I really missed was being able to eat anything I want! Let's just say I am quite fond of dessert. I LOVE it! I crave it, I covet it, and look forward to my almost weekly trips to Dairy Queen.

And with 25 miles a week and counting, I am determined to make my whole lifestyle healthy like it used to be.

My boyfriend bet me I couldn't give up blizzards for one month. but I CAN, and I WILL.

but I am NOT happy about it :-(

Bye bye blizzards.

.

Marathon Wannabe

There are two new truths in my life. 1. I can no longer eat whatever I want and 2. My workout mojo is easily lost when I don't have a goal in mind. Can you believe it?! I was shocked, too!

I have had this image of myself. I was a totally dedicated runner that would eat, sleep, and breathe track and all included, including healthy eating.

Correction: I used to be a totally dedicated runner.

Well now track is over, and what's left is the admittance (and SHOCK) that I LOVE desserts (and would really have a hard time giving up...so I refuse!),  no longer have the metabolism of my former 19 year old self, and often choose to watch reruns of Glee over going for a run. Uhh...Who have I turned into?

So this is me trying to get my mojo back. I spent the fall after my track "retirement" running many 5k and 10k races, that I found I could do with little training, so I would. Can you say slacker?! Yes, that is me. And that was my Fall:
Monday: Yoga
Tuesday: 20 minute jog
Wednesday: Dairy Queen and oops...too late to go to the gym.
Thursday: Grey's Anatomy and pizza.
Friday: Too tired, so I'll do some push-ups.
Saturday: 10K
Sunday: burger and fries! What? I ran a 10k yesterday, don't I deserve this?
Hence, the pitfall.

I was in complete denial, telling myself I was still serious about running. Oh, Megan...you make me laugh.

Well, 10 pounds later, I realized I needed a change.

Hence #2, the marathon!

Why a marathon you might ask?

First, I needed a BIG challenge. I learned about myself that I need a race or something to look forward to to motivate myself to be in any kind of shape at all. And 5ks or 10ks once a month just wasn't cutting it. A marathon is scary...and so far has been scaring me enough to get my running shoes (and running pants that are a bit too tight these days) on everyday, whether Glee is on or not, and just go run.

Second, I never thought I would run a marathon, so I just upped and signed up. I was a sprinter in college, and rarely ran a race that was longer than a minute. For myself I want to do this, to say that I did and I can, and to show others around me that I did, and maybe they can do something they never thought they could.

And third, I still LOVE to run. Plain and simple. (And now I do...a lot). 

So this is my journey. And new focus of my blog.
The countdown begins: 165 days until my first 26.2.

Yawn...

Bored. That is how my blog makes me feel.
I need a new focus, new blog to come :-)

26.2

I made a list!

On it are tons of different things I want to do, go see, learn, etc.

One item in particular is to run a marathon...and hopefully eventually run lots of 'em.

I was a sprinter in college, though I like to run long distances. (Ha did I say run? I call it running, my boyfriend says 9 minute miles is more like jogging, but I beg to differ!)

July 31st I am running my first full marathon in good ol' San Francisco-my favorite city in the whole wide world. One day I will live there, even if just for a little while. That, too, is an item on my list.

I have been "officially" training for a week now, and yesterday I ran 11.5 miles. Not too shabby for these retired sprinter legs.

 Today I feel like I have the knees of an 80 year old.

I'll publish my list in the days to come. My goal is to do at least 100 of these things in the next 1000 days.

"100 in 1000" has a nice ring to it!

...and now 99 to go. :-)

Peace!

This is my problem...

I think it all started about 24 years ago...24 years, 1 month and 29 days to be exact. That was the day we moved in together...into a crib we shared. There are pictures of us as just teeny tiny babes with our heads wedged together into a corner of the crib that we scooted into but found it too tricky to navigate ourselves back out. (My mom said we always wanted to be next to each other, yet we both can't believe this is true, ha!...I'll try to find the pic)Of course there were actually two cribs, matching cribs that sat across from each other with matching blankeys (different colors of course...Paige's green, and mine whatever was my favorite color at the time). 

At 3 we got twin beds, that we soon after broke from jumping back and forth across and practicing our flips. In second grade we got bunk beds where we never once used the ladder. Instead we jumped from the bottom bed using our hands to hold onto the railing and swing our legs over the side of the top bunk and reach the top the fun way (isn't that how you're supposed to do it?) Needless to say the bunk bed didn't last long either. Back to matching twin beds that we had until we moved out, broken or not. [One did get broken in high school from, again, doing flips] We weren't (and still aren't) very gentle with our things. I think my mom will faint when she sees I've admitted to that. Turns out moms actually do know what they're talking about. 

 

Not until age 20 did we finally get our own rooms...ok, they were in the same dorm suite, but our own rooms!! [To our credit I did move out for one day in 4th grade, until I saw the awesome lights Paige hung in her window and let jealousy get the best of me and moved right back into her awesome (and bigger) room so that those sparkly lights could be mine too!].

Here at 24...and 1 month and 29 days...we still live together. Correction: As of April Fool's Day, 2011, Paige is moving on out! No this is not a joke, despite the day...she is leaving! It is liberating! and altogether devastating. 

Now you may say it's about time! Which most people, especially our boyfriend's and ever patient college roomie-Kayleen- will definitely say. It marks the end of our battles, the daily fights about clothes and messes and stealing each other's things. Never again will anyone have to listen to our hollering about Paige stealing my black skinny jeans, or me simply borrowing her green hoodie. I am sure Ty (my bf), Schmaz (Paige's bf), and Kayleen are relieved to see those days come to an end. And our dear lil' mom who had to and is still putting up with our never-ending complaining and phone calls about each others annoying habits. She deserves an award, twins is no easy task. 

Yes I am relieved. I will not miss the fights. I will not miss going to the closet and finding the shirt I so desperately wanted to wear is missing. I will not miss her nagging me to do dishes or get my clothes out of the dryer. 

But I will miss my Paige.

Growing up as a twin makes you SUPER DUPER close, sometimes SUPER DUPER mad, and makes splitting up SUPER DUPER hard. 

What's a twin to do...?

The best place to start.

Ha. Those who know me know that I don't have any favorites. 

I like everything, and I like nothing. I thought I was ready to get my blog on. But then I couldn't pick the background I liked best. 

Or font. 

Or color. 

Typical Megan.

As a result I am sure these things will change quickly and often, until I find my thing. I change my mind often, and as a result don't ever have a favorite. However, this does make shopping rather easy for me, and frustrating for my sister...but we'll get to that later. I do, however, have many MANY things I like, and that list is always changing.

I am Megan. I am a runner. I am a twin [a mirror twin...I'm a lefty and she's not]. I like to read. I love my family and my black lab. I like most desserts and peppermint flavored coffees and chapstick and lotion (for it's peppermint-y scent, not the taste, duh! :-) ). I consider myself creative though I wish I could paint better. I can cook if I try. I can clean, but choose not to. 

And I blog. 

Sort of.