I can’t believe this Sunday is going to be the 3rd week of training with Team Challenge already!! A new season brings a whole new group of people, but a majority of us were all out on Sunday morning in the freezing cold ready to run. And I use the term “ready” loosely.

We discussed the importance of pacing and leaving some gas in the tank for the end of the run.

The first week of training 75% of people went out too fast and were dying at the end. I explained how good it feels at the end of a race when you’ve still got some kick and you’re able to pass other racers instead of being the one getting passed!

I hope that if I keep reminding them of this they’ll finally listen to me.

I was impressed with everyone’s enthusiasm this past Sunday, though, and other than my knee hurting, the run went great!

In other related running news, what do you guys think of the Boston Marathon’s new qualifying times and registration procedures?

Obviously, the new times don’t affect me because I’ll never qualify for Boston. BUT I personally don’t really have a problem with it. Boston is an elite event for elite athletes, and should be treated as such. There are a million other fantastic marathons in the world that don’t require qualifying, so those of us who can’t qualify for Boston should cheer on those who do and be inspired by their ridiculously speedy legs! Heck, I’m inspired by anyone who runs a marathon period!

I know some other people have posted about this Adidas ad that ran a few years back, but I couldn’t not post this picture:

I can totally relate. Hehe. (you can see more pictures here)

Hope everyone’s having a great Wednesday!!

Today was a productive day! I finally broke down and headed to the CVS Minute Clinic tonight after teaching Group Step. This sickness has been going on since last Tuesday and I just couldn’t take it anymore.

I have to say, they were very efficient in getting me in and out of there. It was so convenient, too, with the pharmacy connected. One stop shop!

I was diagnosed with a sinus infection. I have never had a sinus infection in my life. And now I totally get why people complain about them!! Ugh, this has been a nightmare. In any case, the doctor said I should be feeling better by Thursday, so I’m looking forward to it!

In addition to my clinic visit, I also made an appointment today with a sports medicine physician about the knee problems I’ve been having.

See that itty bitty arrow I was able to create? Yeah?? Well, that’s where it hurts (obviously this picture is from last summer). I took over 2 weeks off from running and it didn’t help. And now with Team Challenge training started, I’m not getting any better at all. It’s a constant cycle:

• Sunday: I run with the Team (no more than 3 miles yet) and knee hurts not even a mile in
• Monday: Knee kills, it hurts to walk (and I teach Step on Mondays!)
• Tuesday: Slight pain, can’t cross my left leg over my right or it causes more pain
• Wednesday: Getting back to normal
• Thursday: Back to normal

And then Sunday comes around and the cycle starts all over again. Ugh…….totally blows. And I’m over it. So I have an x-ray and doctor appointment scheduled for next Friday. I know it’s over a week away, but it’s better than nothing. It gives me a little hope that maybe this will get diagnosed and I can get better!

So as much as I try to avoid doctors, today I had no choice. Again with these stupid grown up decisions…..

Do you mind going to the doctor? I seriously hate it, and avoid it at all costs (obviously)!

Happy Sunday, guys!! Hope you all had a great weekend! My weekend was spent celebrating J’s birthday.

His actual birthday was Friday so we kicked off the weekend with a home cooked meal of pulled chicken sandwiches and sweet potato fries. C tried to convince J to request meatball subs (his favorite!), but J stuck to his guns. Hehe.

J’s only real request for his birthday was that we go to Malley’s for ice cream. Yes, I’m married to a 12 year old. Even when it’s just the 2 of us on a “date night” J suggests Malley’s. I’m pretty sure it’s his favorite place on the planet. And, yes, they do have a pretty kick azz chocolate quartet ice cream, but this ice cream also likes to stick to my azz. Not the best place for me to go very often. But birthdays are a special occasion.

Before we could go to J’s favorite place, there were presents to open!

And my mom even brought cake!

She somehow convinced me that J couldn’t have a birthday with only ice cream. And normally I would agree. But not when your ice cream sundae looks like this:

Do any of you remember this sundae? This is the sundae that my sis and J had their ice cream throwdown with.

So even with having a little piece of cake first, it doesn’t look like J had any problem puttin this thing down:

I think he’s trying to prove to Mandy that he’s still got it.

Perhaps there’s another throwdown to be had???

And if things weren’t sweet enough this weekend, this morning after our run with Team Challenge I made J some birthday pancakes.

HOLY COW. Ummmmm……..have you tried these??? Jessica is a genius.

These have now become the official birthday breakfast in our house. Without a doubt.

So, despite still feeling under the weather (I can’t seem to kick this thing!), it was great to spend the weekend celebrating J’s birthday. It makes me happy making him happy.

What about you? Are birthdays a big deal or just another day? Birthdays were a HUGE deal in our house when I was growing up so I still make a big deal out of them today. Plus, now I love any excuse to have birthday pancakes………

Thanks for all the get well wishes – you guys are the best! I’m still under the weather, but I think I’ll have this kicked by the weekend. Keep your fingers crossed!

So, last Friday I had the pleasure of participating in a fundraiser put on by Secondhand Mutts, a local dog adoption center. I think Allison did a great job of summing up the night and the cause, so please see her post about it. And me? Well, I’m gonna recap the little pre-party fun that we had.

Who’s familiar with this?

Yeah, ummmmmmm……I’m only a little obsessed (little being a bit of an understatement).

Suzanne, Katrina, and I met at Allison’s for a little pre-bowling dance party. My favorite part of this video game is watching people who have never played it before do it for the first time. Come on, we all gotta have a sense of humor when it comes to stuff like this.

And lucky for me, I took pictures that night so there are no pics of me dancing!

Ha! (though if I remember correctly I think there may be a video floating around on someone’s phone??)

To help us seem like we actually looked as fly as the characters in the video, we indulged in some cocktails as well.

I mean, who goes to Allison’s and doesn’t get offered wine?!!

These pups always steal the show, don’t they?

After about an hour, we reluctantly took off our dancin shoes and put on our bowling shoes. But not without a few more of these:

Yes, we know how to keep it classy, people.

I’m so lucky to have found these friends (aka blends). They’re pretty freakin awesome.

Have you played Just Dance2? Do you love it or hate it? I’m dying to get the Michael Jackson game!

Unfortunately, I must have caught whatever bug C had last week. I’ve always heard of illnesses spreading throughout family members, but that has never really been the case with us. We’re a pretty healthy family.

But I came home early from work today totally out of it and trying not to hack up a lung (does anyone else feel like a total loser when they have to ‘call in’ or leave work sick? I feel like I’m too old for that!).

*cringe* Not pretty, I know.

I spent my afternoon on the couch dosing on and off and watching Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane. Yes, I’m intellectual like that.

Regularly scheduled blogging will resume tomorrow. Because for now I’m about to resume my position on the couch.

And pray that whatever I have doesn’t spread to anyone else……

Hope things are happy and healthy in your homes!!

Happy Valentines Day, everyone! Can you believe J’s post?? I was so confused when I started getting emails referring to the “Valentines Day Hijack” post. It took me a few minutes before I realized what had happened.

It was the perfect Valentines Day surprise.

Nothing can top J’s surprise, but if something was going to come close, it would be these:

Cake balls!!!

Allison was a sweetheart and made J, C, and I some of these when J was sick. They were so incredibly good that I had to try them for myself.

I then considered it fate when Jessica posted about them recently. She said to use a mixer to combine the baked cake and frosting, which is genius. I was going to use my hands to mix it up!

The mixer worked like a charm. Check out the gooey center:

SO GOOD. And perfectly acceptable to eat 40 of them since they’re bite size, right?? Though my thighs might not agree…….

The pink ones are strawberry cake mixed with vanilla frosting and covered in white chocolate with a little food coloring mixed in.

The chocolate ones are white cake mixed with vanilla frosting and covered in dark chocolate.

They are both divine, but the strawberry is definitely my favorite! Next time I’ll probably stick to covering them in white chocolate, though, because I felt like the dark chocolate overpowered the flavor of the white cake. Maybe I need to dip the strawberry cake in the dark chocolate? Hmmmm…..the possibilities are endless…….

These definitely took some time, but they’re worth it. They are perfect for any occasion!

Have you tried cake balls? What’s your favorite flavor combination??

Time sure does fly when you are having fun

We have all said that phrase a million times, but never has it been more true for me than over the last 1,972 days of my life. I’ll explain.

Day #1: (September 22, 2005)
Meeting on a kickball team organized by a mutual friend of ours, we had our first non-date when a group of us road-tripped to Erie, PA on a random Thursday night to see The Clarks play. Later that weekend we would have another non-date when we saw The 40 Year Old Virgin and then had some late night muchies at Eat’n Park afterwards. (there’s some free dating advice for you gentlemen as it must have worked!)

Day # 1130:
Our wedding day and without a doubt the best day of my life. Things had been so fantastic between day #1 and now that if we didn’t have the pictures to prove it, I wouldn’t believe it myself

It’s also my best day because I went from having a family….

…to being one. Love you guys.

Day #1,972 (today)
Heather, you are my inspiration, my motivation, my strength, and my rock. My life is soooo much better with you in it. I love you so much.

Happy 6th Valentines Day.
Love, Jay

P.S. Happy Valentines Day to all of you bloggies out there as well. My apologies for hijacking your normally scheduled programming, but a man has to do what a man has to do.

  

Gosh, I feel like every time Sunday comes around I have so much to blog about! But that’s probably because I haven’t blogged since last Wednesday…………

I didn’t blog Thursday night like usual because I was busy with the kick-off party for this season of Team Challenge.

The best part of the night? Meeting this lady:

I love meeting other local bloggers in person. And I love even more that she signed up for Team Challenge!! Our Sunday long runs are going to give us plenty of time to get to know each other more (she’s excited about that, I’m sure).

Then this morning was our first Team run. It was an easy 30 minute run, with a shoe clinic scheduled at the Second Sole in Rocky River right after.

We met at the store ready to run at 8:15.

Good lookin Team, huh? I like to think so…..

The weather proved to be a little bit of a challenge (ha, get it, Team Challenge?? hehe), but we managed.

Even with the weather warming up to the mid-30′s(!!) this morning most of trail was still snow/ice covered.

At least they plow the area, which is all we can really ask for in Cleveland this time of year.

Then most of the Team got fitted for new shoes based on their foot type and running style. Second Sole is a fantastic asset to the running community. The staff is super friendly and and, even better, specializes in helping you find the best shoe for your needs. Their website states:

“we specialize in running specialty shoes, apparel, and accessories, carrying the highest quality products and brands on the market. we pride ourselves on our vast selection of brands, sizes, widths, and specialty items, as well as our expertise in helping you hit the road, happy and healthy whether you’re an old veteran or a newbie to the sport.”

You can tell this is true by the amount of shoes they offer. Check it:

The owner, Bill Dieter, was kind enough to open the store early for the Team, and even offered bagels and water. Thanks, Bill!

And he helped me pick out a new pair of running shoes, as well as these sweet-azz kicks:

I “needed” (wink, wink) a new pair of everyday tennis shoes and I couldn’t pass these up. They’re killer, right??! (Kimi, I’m giving your pink shoes a run for their money!)

If you are in the Cleveland area you should definitely check out Second Sole. Bill and his team are awesome and really know what they’re doing.

Whew, that sure was a long post. Guess that’s what I get for not blogging since Wednesday. Oh well. Hope you had a great weekend!

What about you? Do you have a favorite athletic shoe store??

So, I feel like the blog has been focused on the “and more” part of my life than the “mile 26″ part lately. This is because I haven’t been straight up honest with you guys lately. Yeah, the mile 26 part? Not gonna happen. Not this Spring at least. After my 12 mile run 2 weeks ago my right knee/leg was a mess. I haven’t run since and have decided not to run the Ann Arbor Trail Marathon on May 1st.

This was a hard decision. I’ve never been hurt before – it was really hard to take a step back and realize that it’s OK not to train right now and to wait until I’m back to 100% before I get into it hard core again. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve still be teaching (except the past 2 weeks I’ve had lots of subs!), but I’m taking it easy. I haven’t been using weights for the legs tracks in Group Power and I’m taking it easy during Group Step. I’m making a conscious effort to get better.

However, I’m seriously dying for more cardio!! So, I made a decision on my drive home from Pittsburgh on Sunday to get this:

I was totally crazy to buy this while J wasn’t in town. You should have seen me and C trying to get this monster heavy box in the house Sunday night!

And if that wasn’t bad enough, then I saw this:

I texted J this picture and he wrote back “I dare you”.

I’ve never been known to back down from a dare.

So I got to work.

I couldn’t have done it without C’s help to be honest. He was the greatest helper ever (and photographer!).

This is what I look like after a long weekend in Pittsburgh, a 3 hour drive home, working at the office for 3 hours in the afternoon, and then assembling a bike for 2 hours:

Not so glamorous. Though, I feel like most of the pictures I post on here are pretty much this way. I should probably work on that……. (total tangent, I know)

But despite being tired, I made it happen.

Success!

I rode it for 15 minutes Sunday night just to test it out and my butt and inner thighs were SORE the next morning. —–> Loves it

Tonight I rode for 45 minutes and my leg/knee doesn’t hurt one bit. It feels so good to work hard and not feel any pain!!!

I need to get my butt in gear because this Sunday starts training with Team Challenge. Luckily it’s a beginner training program and I can ease back into it with the Team!

I’m disappointed about the marathon, but I still have the half marathon in Virginia to look forward to. Better to be smart than sorry…….. (and it totally sux getting older and having to make adult decisions, btw……)

So, my goal is to keep the blog a good balance between some running, biking, weight training, core work, friends, fun, and definitely family!

How do you bounce back from a disappointment? Do you focus on the future, or reflect on the past?

Two days down……..only three to go! I’m really looking forward to this weekend already – I think since we were SO busy this past weekend that I’m looking forward to a little R&R. We actually do have some plans for the weekend, but I’ll share those with you later. Right now I want to recap our weekend in Pittsburgh!

I swear we spent 75% of our time there playing Just Dance2! Have you ever played? It’s totally 100% addicting (and quite a workout)!!

Other than that, Saturday we went to an indoor putt putt place. And I’d be lying if I said it was just for the kids.

This place was pretty kick azz – way better than the places in C-Town.

Then we had to hit up the arcade where C hit the jackpot not once, but TWICE, and I proceeded to get my butt kicked in that stupid shooting hoops game. I’ll never claim to be a basketball player. Ever.

And if the day couldn’t get any better, we headed back to Jay’s parent’s house for dinner and CAKE!

Jay’s mom makes the BEST homemade frosting I have ever tasted. She was nice enough to even save me the leftovers from when she frosted the cake when I got there on Friday. So, yes, if you think about that………I ate frosting by the spoonful. And it was delightful.

And THEN out came the money machine. I mean, really, whose parents have a money machine??!! They totally win coolest grandparents ever, right?

The “kids” gathered together and said a chant for good luck:

Go Team!!

And then it was game on:

Each kid brought home over $10 I think? Pretty sweet deal if you ask me!

Know what else is sweet? I found my favorite shirt this weekend, too:

Can you see the girls with the booties dancin? A friend bought this for me years ago and I forgot about it. I used to be obsessed with this song by Snoop and all my friends made fun of me for it. I don’t care. I still dig Snoop and I can totally still Drop it Like it’s Hot.

So, there you have it. Pretty great weekend for everyone. But can you see why I’m looking forward to a weekend of R&R?

Have you ever been in a money machine? If so, WHY???!