Race Day, Baby!

What an AMAZING four days in Florida.  They literally flew by, especially today…which was race day!  We started with an extreeeeemely early wake-up call at 4:00am.

My personal race ritual is a small-ish carby “snack” to get something in my stomach.  In this case, it was half of my Pumpkin Muffin from Fresh Market, witha a smear of AB

It was then time to gear up, and head out!

We headed out in the somewhat chilly Tampa morning air towards the race!  We were a bit nervous at first, because the traffic was a bit backed up.  Kim being a native Floridian knew just the right back roads to get us just feet away from the starting line…which was INSANITY.

This was my first experience with what I would call a “big” race.  My first half marathon, The Haunted Half in October, was TINY compared to this bad boy.  What was so odd was the race “starting” and us not even crossing the start line until about 6:00 minutes in.  Totally bizarre.  Another frustrating thing was that for literally the first two miles, we were WALKING it was so congested.  It was really hurting our time, and stressing me out.  I was totally ready to maintain/beat our previous time of 1:46…but this was going to be a doozy.  Also…by mile *2* my knee started to hurt….bad.

I was in complete panic mode because I knew I had 11 more miles to go, and it was going to get 10,000 times worse.  The problem is in the left side of my left knee, slightly below my knee cap.  It starts out as a dull sharp pain, but progresses into a jabbing pain which if not stopped, totally messes with my stride and time.  I had to honestly put ALL my weight in my right knee, and run with my left knee/leg sideways.  I probably looks utterly ridiculous….but it was working somewhat.

Around mile 3 it finally started to clear up, and Emily and I maintained an 8:00/7:45 minute per mile  pace with the use of my trusty Garmin.

Don’t let the grin fool you…..I would have given up the rights to my first born child at this point to make the knee pain go away.

Luckily, beautiful scenery…an awesome running buddy…and some good tune-age distracted me from the pain somewhat.

At this point (around mile 5) I had a system developed.  I would run with the majority of my weight on my right foot for about a mile…or until my right hip started killing me due to the stress.  At that point, I would switch to a normal stride, and just live with the left knee pain.  This was I got a little break from one type of pain each time.  It SUCKED….hardcore.  But I could live with it, and was somehow managing to maintain our 7:45/8:00 pace.

I have never had to push myself so physically.  Knee/pain of any kind definitely adds a whole new dynamic to running.  I knew I could do it though, and I didn’t want myself or Emily down.  We were on pace and it felt great (mentally, that is.  ;-) )

We were almost there, 11 miles.  2 to go.  I knew I could do ANYTHING at this point…and when I saw this random guy’s shirt…it was on.

I don’t know if it was reading that slogan, or having a kick booty final song, but I went into full out SPRINT…knee about to bust.

WE MADE IT!  I literally almost buckled down, and my knee had had enough.  I DID IT!!!!!!  I was so worried, but we were able to almost match out previous Half time, and with it being so congested at first…I was beyond excited!

Shortly after, Kim joined us…and rocked it as well!  Go Krucker!!!!!!

At this point, I literally had to HOBBLE to the car, but I didn’t care…I had done it!  Free food helped ease the pain.

Once we made it back to the car…and to Kim’s house…we still had time to explore before out flight left at 6:30!  I was VERY sick to my stomach for about two hours, and literally just sat around and did nothing.  I didn’t even want to eat which is extremely rare for me.  ;-)  I have decided it is the Gu’s mixed with me NEVER taking water from the water stations.  I think it dehydrates me so much, that my stomach goes into major cramps.  It has happened before, but this time it was even worse.  It was totally worth it, though…check out the sweet medals!

Totally worth all the pain.  I swear!  Once my stomach FINALLY settled down, I grabbed some oatmeal from Starbucks:

Also…a beautiful Florida day, and a glorious beach never hurt either.

Perfection.

The munchies finally started to kick in on the way back to Kim’s to pack and get ready to leave:

Emily and I also participated in what can best be described as a pack of hyenas dis-assembling a small African gazelle.  It went un-documented but included:

• Various handfuls of cereal
• Leftover stuffed shells
• Biscotti
• Iced Coffee
• Lemon Loaf
• Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies
• Vanilla Wafers
• Hummus/Pretzels

That’s just a taste…but it’s all I can remember.  This happened shortly after:

Nah….she’s not dead.  She’s just in a food coma.

It was then time to LEAVE.  Sad and depressing times followed as we made our way to the airport, and flew back home.  It was nice to see familiar faces at the airport, we even had a SIGN!  I felt like a celebrity!

Sweeeeeeet!  :-D  I love my little Trey!  He is basically my son, the same one I would have given up had the knee pain go away.  On second thought, I think I could even endure the knee pain to see this face daily!

What. A. Weekend.

Had an absolute blast, and ended today on an extremely high note.  I came home and fixed a quick dinner.

2 wheatabix, plus Almond Butter, Strawberries, and Almond Milk.

I ate this in 5 seconds flat, and am ready to collapse immediately.

Do not ever, for one SECOND second guess yourself, mind, or body.  It is amazing what the human mind can and will do in despite of hardships that are presented to it.  Push, crawl, kick, scream, DIG your way to get what you want.  It may be a very long and hard journey, but it will ALWAYS be worth it.  Always.

This quote sums up the day:

“Many of us spend our whole lives running from feeling with the mistaken belief that you cannot bear the pain. But you have already borne the pain. What you have not done is feel all you are beyond the pain.” -Saint Bartholomew

We DID IT!!!

posting from the phone….but we did it!!!  My knee is literally about to pop in half…..and we were  totally congested for the first 2 miles…but we did it in about 1:48:00….and I am ecstatic!!!!  More later!!

Well, here goes nothing.

This is my last post before I run 13.1 miles for the second time ever!!!!!!!  Eeeeeeeek!!!!!!

We headed over to Kim’s brothers house where his wife had the perfect pre-run carb fest for the runners!!!

The “Greek” salad was about as legit as it comes.  She is Greek!

Enough of that green nonsense.  GIVE ME THOSE CARBS!

Pure, un-adulterated carb festival IN MY MOUTH.

Sometimes I think a long run is just an excuse to eat like a maniac and feel justified about it.

Stuffed Shells, Greek Salad, Potato Salad, and a hunk-o-bread the size of Rhode Island.

Sugar was also required in the form of an amazing strawberry/banana/angel food cake Trifle.

Wipe up that drool.  Thank you.  IT WAS AMAAAAAAAAAAAZ-AH-EENG.

Spent some cuteness time with Kim’s nephew Ryan…

And then promptly sped home to attempt sleep.  Wake up call is 4am, so we can get there by 5…and race at 6:00am!!!!!!!!!

*freakout*

Ok…..just gotta breath.  I hate these pre-race nerves!!!  What do you guys do to calm them? I swear that last 10 minutes standing there waiting to start is the worst. 10. minutes. of. Tyler’s. life.

Well, ready or not…it is time to do this thing.  I am hoping for the best with the knee, and prepared to push through the pain and rock this bad boy OUT!

The OCD in me had to prepare my outfit…complete with my new FITNESS pack (ok…it is totally a glorified fanny pack) which I can carry my CAMERA in.  If I am feeling froggy, there will be IN RACE pics!  Score.

See you guys at the finish line.  ;-)

Almost time for 13.1!

We just picked up our swag bags!!!!  Check out all the goodies that we got in our bag (there may have also been some purchased items.)

(tee hee hee)

I was slightly excited.

Let’s rewind to breakfast this morning.

Florida fruit anyone?!?!

Fresh fruit plus homemade lemon/banana bread.  Yes, PUHLEASE!  Gotta carbo load right?!?!  And c’mon, you know there was oatmeal involved.

Check out this spread!

My delicious portion:

Then it was off to the expo!!!

We had to get nice and pretty.

…and hydrated.

And we saw WATER!  Yay for the ocean!

Then it was time for the expo, which I think is the exact moment that Tyler entered shopping mode.  Shopping mode is a no-holds-barred crazed rage that is reminiscent of a lion stalking it’s prey.

Yes, I am.

It’s free stuff timeeeeeeeee!  *girl squeal*

Nothing like a free snack to get me through my spending spree.

They had this awesome wall with ALL the racers names on it!

Guess whoooooooo?

BAM!  Instant celebrity status…even if it was only centimeters long.

I was seriously in my own little world.

Look at the views we got to see today!

Arrrrrrrgh matey!!!  (first and last Pirate joke, I swear)

We went to a little local place for lunch…

I think I was able to find the ONLY veggie item on the menu:

Veggie burger goodness with FRIES!  I never get fries.  This is a special occasion, however.  I do have a small love affair with fried spuds.

On that note, it is time for massive amounts of delicious Cherry Coffee, and to Kim’s brothers house for a delicious homemade Italian pre-run FEAST!  So excited.

I AM SO PUMPED GUYS!!!!!!!  I got some new knee tape that I will be trying out on the ole knee, and I am still going to push to beat my last time of 1:46:00…..c’mon knee….it’s just 13.1 miles.  You can dooooooooo it!!!!!

Peace out yall!

That’s it…I am moving here.

Hello again from Florida!!!

Check out this dinner spread Kim’s amazing family had prepared:

We had this delicious spread which included an amazing fruit/spinach salad, as well as HOMEMADE mac and cheese.  It was heavenly.  They also had grilled chicken, which I substituted with my leftover Eggplant from lunch.

It was awful, TERRIBLE.  ;-)  I think if I wasn’t in the company of other human beings, I would have promptly grabbed the plate and licked it clean.  Common courtesy prevented that……..barely.

It was then time to head to Fresh Market!

Insert the biggest citrus fruit I have ever seen in my life.  Welcome to Florida, I suppose.

Bowling balls I tell you, bowling balls!!!!!

They even had FREE coffee.  This wasn’t just any coffee.  Check out the flavor, and prepare your mouth for moisture.

They also had the oddest chocolate I have ever seen.

Bacon. Chocolate.           I’m gonna let everyone think about that for a minute.  Go on, I will wait.

…..

…

..

.

Ok….back to goodness:

Plus the rarest dried fruit out there….dried Kiwis!

Then it was off to Publix!

Where I ran into my dear friend…

We finished grocery shopping (sad!) an headed to a fun harbor at Tampa Bay!

What a night.  Seriously best day ever!!!!!!!  I cannot wait!  Tomorrow morning I have a huge pumpkin muffin from Fresh Market to look forward to, as well as some fresh Florida fruit!  So stoked!  We also may do some shopping.  ;-)

G’night from down south!

P.S., how friggin cute is Kim’s nephew Ryan?!?!?

Florida Sun!

Ok, I am totally moving here.  Look what I woke up to

I think it became officially Florida when there was an ORANGE TREE in the backyard.

Look at this view!!

I am moving here.  It’s official.  We are staying with Kim’s family…and they stocked up on yummy organic food just for us.  Total love!

Oatmeal and toast it was!  I topped the oatmeal with the Almond Butter plus my homeade trail mix.  It was a mix of Kashi Strawberry Fields, Raisins, Soynut Trail Mix, and the LAST of my Dark Chocolate Covered Edamame Beans

Even in Florida I can make a mean bowl-o-oats.

Oats, Eziek, Smart Balance, Coffee.  YUM!

We hung out for a while and before we knew it.  Lunch was calling.  (ok, maybe we slept in slightly.)  ;-)

We were then off to have a lunch at one of Kim’s favorite local Italian places…

We started carb loading for the race a little early.

They had tons of tasty looking options..

Grilled Eggplant….yes, please!

This combo was absolutely amazing.  The melty cheese, pesto, peppers, and eggplant made a fantasmic combination!  I love these little local places.  Emily was in full force blogging and carb-loading as well.

After lunch it was time for stereotypical Florida tourist fun!

All I was missing was a Hawaiian shirt, big floppy hat, and fanny pack.  I am seriously in love with this weather!

Did I mention I was a major tree hugger.

Oh yes, I am rocking the flip flops.  Took a while for my feet to re-adjust to them!  It was like a body trying to reject a virus!  Don’t worry, it eventually caved and accepted the open toe-ness.

Snacked on my favorite while waiting on dinner…

Now we are back at Kim’s house waiting for a delicious dinner (I smell it wafting in my room which is a clear sign that I need to be tracking down the whereabouts of this amazing odor.)

We are going to do my favorite activity post dinner.  GROCERY SHOPPING!  Publix and Fresh Market are on the agenda.  Hey you Clearwater/Tampa peeps, where else do I need to go?!?!

FLORIDA!!!!!!! I heart thee.

I made it!!!!!!!!  This one is going to be short and sweet, because quite frankly….I am on the verge of collapse.

Between the packing and craziness, I was able to throw together a scrumptious fungi-lunch!

Covered this baby with some Laughing Cow Swiss..

Twas a baked mushroom beast.  Yummy!  Paired it with some of my favorite wheat crackers, and some spicey steamed brussels (red pepper flakes are your FRIEND, people)

Dessert was equally yummy.  Good ole Attune to the rescue.

I packed, re-packed…evaluated my packing…then packed some more.  I am anal about having everything I need, and in order.  The furry animals didn’t want me to leave.

 Sad times leaving them!!!

I headed to Johnson City to teach my KidFit class, and then rushed home for a quick dinner.  I was craving carbs…

2 Kashi Waffles covered in a diced plum/apple.  I made a “sauce” by combining equal parts Almond Butter, Greek Yogurt, and Peach Jam.  So good.

Once that was inhaled, I finished packing.  How does a blogger boy with limited space still pack nutritious goodness?!?!  Hide it in a shoe, obviously.

(I swear I managed to cram 13 bars in one shoe.)

Christie came over to take us to the airport!  I can’t believe it’s finally time!

And the best driver I could ever ask for:

Our plane arrived!!!

I was terrified.

Luckily once we got above the clouds…and it was snack time…I was back to being happy.

This handful times about 5…plus one of my new favorite bars!

The good thing about being with health junkies….plenty of snacks to share!!!!

Suddenly the plane anxiety dissipated as soon as the Trader Joe’s Pretzel Thins came out.  Funny how that happens.

Before I knew it, we had landed!  GROUND, glorious ground!

I made it, I made it!!! *jumps*

I cannot wait for tomorrow!  They have oatmeal here waiting for me (LOL) and I saw a Publix literally 5 minutes from here.  Tyler is going to be verrry happy this weekend.

Have a good one bloggies!!!!

Leaaaaaavin’, on a jet plane…..

don’t know when I’ll be back again.

Ok…I lied, I will totally be back Sunday.

Woke up to this, this morning:

Dearest Winter, 

I hate you with the fire of forty suns.  I curse you daily, and if you interfere with my flight to Florida, we are going to have issues.

Sincerely, 

Blogger Boy

SERIOUSLY I AM OVER THE SNOW!  Ugh.

Didn’t get a chance to update last night, but here was the dinner that I was working on from the last post:

I had made the veggie filling (mushrooms, zucchini, onions, spinach) before work and assembled it there with a whole wheat pita and some veggies/hummus.  Also added some natural provolone.  A little cheese never hurts, eh?

After dinner I had my favorite Easter candy of all time.  Now, I do not buy nor recommend buying things like this often.  This, however, falls into the category of “if you want it, eat it”.  Plus, it was the “mini” bag…and who can resist these:

Best. Candy. Ever.     I savored every egg.

Finished up work, and then headed to Wal*Mizzle to buy some of those tiny 3oz containers to take my shampoo, etc on the plane.  There was a woman in front of us (with of course, one lane being open in the ENTIRE STORE) who honest to goodness had an Encyclopedia Brittanica-esque book FULL of competitor ads.  She was price matching EVERY.  ITEM.  IN.  HER.  BUGGY.  I swear we were in line for 45 minutes, waiting on the woman to argue that “KROGER HAS TIDE ON SALE AND IT IS .30 CENTS CHEAPER!!!!!!! RAWR!!!!!”  I think the people behind us were beginning to plot her death, which was sure to be not only painful…but slow.  Do you guys price match groceries, or even frequent Wal*Mart?  It was seriously ridonkulous.

Headed home and started packing/freaking out for Florida.  I get big time plane anxiety, and mine is already starting to form.  It’s like that little feeling in your stomach right as you go down the gigantic hill on a roller coaster, and it will just gets worse as it gets closer to boarding time.  It’s only an hour flight though, which is what I have to keep reminding myself of.  I think that I have a fear of flying because there is a total lack of control.  As silly as it is, I feel like I am in control of my car.  This whole scenario is out of my hands completely.  What do you think about flying?

Breakfast this morning was spent with my favorite guy, Mr. Quaker.

I picked this up recently and figured it would be the perfect addition to some oats!

These oats had this yummy mix…plus the usual.  Heaping amount of flax, Almond Milk, Almond Butter, and a Truvia.

It was pretty much joyful.  

Well, off to pack/prepare for FLORIDA!  I cannot believe I leave in like 6 hours!!!  Eek!  Florida peeps, how is the weather in Tampa???

PS, how am I supposed to leave these faces?!

24 Hours To Go!

I am flying to Florida in 24 hours.  *has slight panic attack*  Seriously though, it is going to be cah-rae-zee.

I cannot believe it is finally time for the Gasparilla Half Marathon!!!

The medal is pretty sweet looking, no?  I am pumped!  I am just soooo worried about the knee!  Haven’t had any pain lately, BUT I haven’t ran since I was in North Carolina for AFAA training…I am paranoid/nervous that I have lost all running ability, but I think a majority of that dread is simply the nerves getting the best of me.  I will do fine, I will do fine, I will do fine.  I have to keep reminding myself of that!  Eek!

After a pretty kick booty bowl of oats this morning, I had another glorious nap with the puppers.  If you are active, have time for it, I would recommend that everyone nap on a daily basis.  Especially workout fiends.  It is so good to refuel your body!  If you feel like you need a nap, chances are you do.  I know I personally rarely ever get the recommended amount of sleep per night, so I feel like naps between teaching classes are my “catch-up” period on some decent z’s.

When I woke up from my hibernative state, I had one of my favorite bars for lunch:

This + Bluberries = Lurv.

Perfect fuel to power me through my second Spin class of the day.  I am totally digging the “Express Spin” class at the YMCA.  We do 30 minutes, but I choose the hardest/most challenging songs so that they “cram 60 minutes worth into 30″.  Basically, it is an instant sweat factory.  We were sliding all over the floor while stretching after, which I always know is a good sign.  ;-)  Plus the ever pleasing, collective “GRRROOOAAAAN” of the participants after the last song, in today’s case…Bad Romance.  Love it!

Headed to Kro-Gizzle after Spin to grab some Baby Spinach to make some dinner to take to work.  I also picked up some bars for Florida, and some Kashi Strawberry cereal.  I am impressed with their organic section, kudos, Kroger!

When I got home I prepared a nice, cold, fruity lunch…which is exactly what my body was asking for.  I did a cereal/fruit bowl, which is one of my favorite meals evah.  The possibilities with this type of meal are endless!  Today I started with a pear and an apple:

And then got my “wet” ingredients ready:

Mixed them together, with a splash of Almond Milk to thin it a bit…

Added my fruit

And my new Kashi cereal

Mixed her up, and added some dried raisins, cranberries, and blueberries:  (Secret is having sauce on bottom so its not a huge mess when you stir!)

I then got started on dinner for work tonight.  Started off by softening some mushroom, zucchini, and onions in a pan with Organic Pam:

When it was nice and golden (and soft), I added the infamous disappearing vegetable!

2 seconds later…

I swear I could add 400 lbs of spinach to a dish, and it would wilt down into 2 TBSP or so.  Amazing.

Packed this mixture up, along with a whole wheat pita pocket, and some natural provolone (for assembly at work later!)

Snacked on this while I fixed dinner:

I am loving my Attunes!!!!!  Yum.

Well bloggies, it is off to work.  Catch ya later for a dinner update…and keep those song ideas coming for my Half playlist!

Early Hump-Day

Good morning Blogville.  Is everyone groovy today?

I started my day off EARLY with a 5:45am Spin class!  At the last minute, Emily dashed in…so I went from being tired/un-motivated, to Super-Tyler (patent pending) in 2.5 seconds, thanks friend!  Did I mention we fly out for Florida in like…24 hours?!?!?!?!  Insanity.

Well, as I was rising from the dead this morning at the very cold and dark hours of the morning, I had a small bowl of cereal as some pre-spin snackage, it was the last of my Trader Joe Berry O’s.  :-(

Mmmmmm.

Taught spin with my newest CD, which has this song, which I am now fully obsessed with.  PS, keep those song suggestions for the Half coming, I still need some great ones.  I have downloaded several of your choices!!!  I will post the final playlist tomorrow!

On my way home, I was day dreaming about this guy:

Today’s Batch:

1/2 Cup Oats

1 Cup Almond Milk

3 TBSP of Flax Seed (I cannot get ENOUGH of this stuff in my oats)

1 Truvia Packet

(Nuked for 2:50)

Diced Nana

LAST of my Trader Joe’s Indulgent Trail Mix (Seriously…depression worthy)

Drizzle of Almond Butter

That, my friends…is a bowl of oatmeal.  ;-)

Have a great day!!!