Yes Ma'am

So often when you are running to train, you have to make choices like running after work on St. Patrick's Day instead of going out for a few pints of Guinness with friends. Never the less, after four years of training on and off I had gotten pretty good at turning down invites and had long ago realized that if I wanted to be ready on race day I had to run, no matter what the holiday.

Since the weather was nothing short of fantastic, I had only shorter runs planned for the week, and Boyfriend is in the middle of training for a 5K in April, I thought it was the perfect chance for us to run outside together. I planned out a short route in which I would park about 2 miles away from his apartment, run from my car to his place, and he would run with me from his place back to my car. It could not be more perfect.

lately though I have been reading so many blogs and noticing that there are so many fabulous photographers out there. Even if it's just a 'how-to' post there are some great images to go along with it. This inspired me to take my camera with me on last night's run and snap photos along the way.

The sun felt so good on my winter white skin as I stepped out of the car and stretched out. Snapped a few pictures, lost my car key, found my car key, called Boyfriend and told him I was starting, and then took off.

Schuylkill River from my parking spot by Falls Bridge. It was at this point that I misplaced my car key for about five minutes only to find it tucked safely in the waistband of my shorts.

Only when I say "take off" you are undoubtedly picturing me sprinting off into the sunset. And it was nothing like that at all. I mean I ran in the general direction of the sunshine, but it was a pretty slow start. Making the transition from treadmill to road is often very difficult, I get used to feeling faster than I really am (thanks a lot treadmill...) so I make it a point for the first few times to run extra slow in order to avoid getting discouraged. IPod and Camera in hand I instantly got a mental picture of Zooey Deschanel's character in Yes Man, leading around her jogging photography group. Although my camera is quite tiny I must have looked awfully silly stopped every now and again to get a good shot. Next time I think I may try taking pictures as I'm moving. I predict it will be nothing short of a disaster!

Route 1 Bridge crossing over the river

So I alternate running, and stopping to snap some shots. I saw a lot of things that would have made great photographs but I knew that Boyfriend was waiting for me at the end of the trail and I didn't want to keep him waiting. For instance I ran by a parking lot with a group of bikers (as in motorcycles) milling around and up to no good. I'll admit I also didn't take their picture because I wasn't sure what they'd think of me. But I did go off route to get this next shot

Access bridge across the river. Had to squeeze through a break in the fence to get this one :)

I continued on down the street, past lots of other runners, walkers, and bikers (as in cyclists), past couples and groups of friends going out to celebrate for the night, and other groups who had been out all day and were calling it quits. Luckily I did not have to run past too many bars before I spotted the all too familiar entrance to the tow path. My feet probably started singing when they hit the soft gravel and dirt surface, as did my legs. It felt fantastic. If you can deal with the occasional smell that comes from running behind all of main streets great bars and restaurants than you would love the tow path. It's always so quiet in comparison to the street and there are always a few other runners or walkers out so you never feel completely isolated. The sun on my face felt great, my pace was slow and relaxing, and I got a couple of great pictures too!

Tow path by the Manayunk Canal (favorite photo of the night)

One of the many disintegrating factory buildings left on Venice Island. Manayunk Bridge in the background

Before I knew it I was almost at the end of the trail and I could see Boyfriend up head of me leaning on the fence, stretching out his legs. When I reached where he was standing, I turned around and we began jogging back towards my car. I was so distracted by our conversation about our work, life, and our plans for going out later in the night that I didn't even take a single picture the whole way back. Sometimes though, I enjoy those moments the most. The times when you are fully engulfed into them, and you forget to take pictures, and think about how you will write about it later. You just enjoy and life and live. And last night, running along the river, that's what Boyfriend and I did.

xx Sara

Will run for pizza

So I had finally done it. The weather had cooperated long enough to let me have a fantastic 8 mile long run along Kelly Drive. I was ecstatic. All the training I had done at the gym all winter had truly paid off and it was looking like I would finish half marathon after all. I was all too excited to plan my next weeks worth of workouts until I saw it. Rain. Rain. and oh yea, a little bit of RAIN. for four days!?

Dear Mother Nature,

I don't understand why you hate me. I like to think I am very good to you. I reuse, I reduce, I recycle (AND I Re-Lilly to some of my favorite younger cousins!). I enjoy nature. I like being outside. Why can't you provide me just a few hours of nice weather every weekend so that I may go on a long run?!

Love and kisses

Sara

Something tells me that letter wasn't exactly going to change the forecast for my weekend so I guess I was going to have to plan around the rain. The week before I had done 17 total miles. Even though my long run was on Sunday, I count it as part of the previous week. So this week I was going to have to run 20. Yikes! 2-0! Well I shortly decided that was not going to work out. Four days of 4+ mile runs was sure to not only burn me out but get me hurt. So I opted instead for another week of 17 total.

Quick pep talk with self.

"Ok Sara you can totally do this. Sure it's four days of running, three with out a rest in between. But the mileage is short and then you have ALL weekend off to relax! Come on, you totally want this race, prove to yourself you can do it."

"Ok Self, you're right, I'll suck it up and do it." So I grabbed my training calendar and planned our four days of running that would bring me up to 17 miles.

Monday: I was a litter nervous of how much I could handle but I did a nice four miles on the treadmill thanks to Ashley there to chat with. I also made time to do some crunches and other ab exercises before my run. I felt great afterwards, although a little bit tired.

Tuesday: was a rest day, and those always feel too short.

Wednesday: Minor setback when I got on the treadmill and found my small IPod was dead. ALMOST a tragedy until I remember his bigger brother was upstairs on my desk so I grabbed that one instead. Was supposed to be a three mile HARD run, but then it occurred to me, why would I run two five milers back to back Thursday and Friday? The three miler should go in the MIDDLE! So I quickly turned it into a five mile tempo run. One mile of warm up and then turned up the speed a little and ran 3 3/4 miles at the faster pace with a 1/2 mile jog to cool down.

Thursday: Quick weight workout with DesignerD, we did a few moves with the resistance band which is probably one of my favorite pieces of equipment. Then a three mile run. Whenever I do a short run I feel compelled to make it really hard. Because of course I know I can't make it longer but I can push myself more. Knowing I can push myself for a short distance makes it easier to push for a longer distance. The best part about pushing through a short run is my fast pace makes it even shorter.

Friday: Let me just say that I love running as much as the next crazy, but after three days of running in four days even super athletes are bound to get tired. It's cold, grey, and raining and all I want to do is go home, put on sweats and lay on the couch with Boyfriend watching out favorite Friday shows and eat Pizza. Because of course Boyfriend promised me a pizza after work today. Hey who knows maybe if I tell him how tired I am he'll go for that plan.

"Don't want to go to the gym. Help" I text him.

"No pizza until you run" He texts back. WHAT? Did Boyfriend really just try to withhold food from me? Does he want to get hurt? Ok well he has a point. I NEED to run, and I really want pizza.

"Jerk" I write back. Although we both know I don't mean it, proven by the fact that his next response is a huge smiley face.

I actually couldn't be happier with his threat. He'll be the first to tell you I am one tough chick. I do things that aren't fun, that sometimes are really hard, but I know they need to get done so I do them. Oh yea, and he says with such pride "She runs marathons"

So at 5pm sharp (I am not wasting any of my weekend time) I grab my bag and head down to the gym. It's empty because of course I am the only weirdo who wants to workout on a Friday night.

So I hop on the treadmill and start at about a 5.5 Speed. As I listen to the music blast into my ears I plan my workout. I know I want to do mile repeats, and I decide that 3 sounds like a good number. One mile warm up, mile fast, 1/2 mile cool down and so on. With that math I will finish my last repeat at 5 miles and be done with my run. The warm up is always good, and the first repeat always feels good, but it's that second repeat that always challenges you. You're nice and relaxed, you have caught your breath, you almost feel good and then before you know it it's time to switch gears. You give a little push and at first your body is in such shock from going slow to fast that the first quarter is nothing. But then you settle into the pace and realize man, this is going to be tough.

But Friday, something weird happened. I have always noticed, especially on the treadmill that I tend to run with my feet and legs.

"But Sara" you're thinking "aren't you supposed to run with your feet and legs??"

"NO!" I woud tell you "You run with your abs, your chest, your arms, you run with your WHOLE body!" It just takes so strength to have good form I don't do it as much as i should. But something about Friday, maybe it was the music I was listening to, or the promise of pizza when I got home, I was on fire!

I ran those repeats with every muscle in my body. I have never felt so amazing after a run. Talk about ending the week on a high note!

The hardest thing about running is you often don't feel great until after the run is over. Or maybe halfway through when you hit a really good stride or rhythm and for a few miles everything just falls into place and you are lost in the motion. But before the run starts, when your lacing your sneakers and your muscle are still cold and tight, it can be really tough to motivate yourself to get going. I am so thankful that I have Boyfriend to push me when I am not able to push myself

And of course, when I got home there was a medium pizza with green peppers and tomatoes with my name all over it!

xx Sara

A Time to Give

I am flat out CRAZY for a good cause!

As many of my friends and family already know, I got my REAL start in running thanks to a fantastic organization, National AIDS Marathon Training Program, while I was living in San Francisco. It was an amazing experience to meet people on my level, there were fantastic coaches and trainers with all sorts of advise, and best of all I was doing something good for my self while helping others. And now after a few years and a handful of races later I am looking to give back again, and in a HUGE way.

I have joined forces with Team Challenge in order to raise money and awareness for the The Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America while training to complete a half marathon on June 27th. If you know me, you know I would run a half marathon anyways, so you know that the real important part is doing something that touches others. And what's more there are people close to my heart that have been affected by these diseases and to be able to help them by means the world to me.

If your going to do something, you might as well go all the way right? So instead of just banging everyone over the head begging for dollars I am planning a few fundraisers, including a Pub Crawl through my very own city of Philadelphia!

But just in case you are too far away to attend any of my events, I can't stop you from visiting my fundraising page and making a donation!

xx Sara

If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

Some people would say I am extremely dedicated to running to be able to fit in as many miles a week as I do. But when I share my secret to success with friends and co workers they all give me the look as if a light bulb has gone off in their head. Are you ready for it? Do you think you can handle the secrets of a distance runner?

Make. A. Plan. Oh and then the important part. Write. It. Down.

IPods and pretty pink watches are great motivational tools but nothing beats the old fashioned paper and pencil. Plan ahead with your training schedule and hold yourself to it!

Of course it is true that I am dedicated, I couldn't make it work otherwise. But I also look at it like a requirement. If I want to run long distances, I have to put in the work required to get there. It's not an option, it's not extra credit, it's what has to be done so I do it. And in order to do it write I have a training calendar that helps me get there. I put it on the wall right in front of me at work so I have to look at it all day every day. I plan how many miles I need to run each week to be ready for whatever race or challenge I am working on. I write major events, work deadlines, sometimes even the weather. Anything that might interfere with my training has to go onto that calendar. And then you have to learn to plan around it.

Training days have to be treated, for the most part, as non negotiable. There are always days that I don't really WANT to hit the treadmill or head outside. I would much rather settle down on the couch with a glass of Pinot Grigio and a bowl of popcorn to watch trashy reality TV some nights than go through the pain of the workout. But I know I won't get where I want to go unless I put in the work. There are no short cuts to any place worth going my friend.

The best motivator is knowing that if for some reason I don't get to do my planned workouts, I have to erase them from the calendar and write down a lower mileage for the week. It may be only a personal disappointment but for me it's like admitting to myself that I have failed. It never puts me in a good mood and It always makes me work harder the next week. Kind of like a chore chart that you had when you were a kid? Except backwards.

I know what you're thinking, if I am not motivated to work out how can I be motived to plan working out? Well think about it this way, you can make your plan while you are still on the couch. But once you write it all down it will be hard to look at with out feeling guilty for skipping out on things you have committed yourself to. Don't forget to hang it up somewhere that you are constantly looking at. Hopefully it's the extra little extra push that gets you to commit to more workouts and see more results!

It's easy to skip essential moves like abs or slack on your workout towards the end.

Writing it all down helps remind you what you need to do!

xx Sara

"This time baby i'll be bulletproof"

Kelly Drive at Falls Bridge looking East towards the Philadelphia

Time to que up 'Eye of the Tiger' and get down to business - I'm making my comeback and it's never felt better! One month, one week and three days from today I have my first half marathon of the year and after all the setbacks that have happened I was starting to feel slightly less than confident. Between all the days the snow kept me from getting to the gym or work deadlines that had me at my desk well past dinner I just didn't feel like I had racked up enough mileage. Or at least I hadn't racked up enough mileage to be on plan for my long runs. And anyone that has run a marathon or a half knows that long runs make all the difference. It's your practice rounds, getting your body used to the distance. And when there isn't snow on the ground it is one of my favorite parts of running because (at least in my world of training) speed doesn't matter on a long run, only that you log the miles and then recover.

When I looked at my training calendar early last week and noticed '8 miles' neatly penciled in on the square for Saturday my heart sank a little. My first thought was '8 miles on a treadmill sounds like complete and utter torture' my second thought was 'even if I could withstand the boredom, could my body handle that distance?" And then several miracles occurred. First Monday's workout was a horrible disaster and had to be cut short, and then mother nature decided to bestow upon us the most wonderful gift imaginable. A warm, sunny, perfectly amazing in every way weekend. Hope has been restored! I can run outside!

Since my workouts all week would be 3 miles - I made sure they were HARD. I ran intervals with an incline on Wednesday, and a tempo run on Thursday. I made sure to do abs, arms and hamstring exercises before AND after my runs. By Friday night I was tres sore and it felt fabulous in ways only a runner could ever understand!

When I woke up Sunday I was a little unsure but I forced myself to think positive thoughts. I know enough to know that 50% of my success has to do with my attitude. If I let even a sliver of a negative thought into my head they multiply like rabbits until I am convinced to give up. I try not to focus on the fact that I haven't run on actual ground in MONTHS. I have been on a treadmill and I am not convinced that you work as hard on a treadmill as you do when your entire body is doing all the work.

After a breakfast of an egg bagel with butter, cereal, and coffee plus a big glass of water, and spending time letting that all digest while watching Top Gun with Boyfriend, I start to get ready. I pull on my running tights and chose a lightweight short sleeve technical tee, guessing that it's going to be warm in the sun but still cold until I get warmed up. Sunscreen, check. IPod, check. Inhaler, check. Keys, check. I guess it's now or never.

The first part of my route is an uphill climb, but it feels more natural than any run in the beginning of March has ever felt. I get so excited and once the road levels off I start running in beat with the music until I feel my breath start to get tight. Too much too soon. I slow down but keep my pace steady.

There is a slight breeze every now and again but I could never have asked for better weather. The sun is shinning bight on my face and not being tied to a machine or having to stare at my reflection makes me feel incredibly free. By the time I have covered two miles I have hit Kelly Drive, a runners paradise. The river is on my left, and people are out in all forms. Walkers, runners, skaters, children, dogs, all taking advantage of an early dose of spring. My eyes are on people watching overload as I notice each person and make up the stories of their lives. When I see other runners I wonder how far they are running today, how fast they can run, are they training for a race, or are they out for fun. Before I know it I have run four miles and it is time to turn around. I just may make it after all.

'Bulletproof' -by La Roux comes onto my IPod and I being to realize how serious I am about training for this race. I'm sure if you listen to the song it's about being burned in a relationship and not making the same mistake twice. But in my mind the relationship that burned me was the one with my last race. I have a half marathon coming up and I am not going to have it be a DNF like last time. First and foremost I want to finish this race, and second I want to run decent time. I have one last obstacle before I can call this run a victory though. School House Lane. Yikes!

There are a few different roads to get back to my house and the one I choose most often, although I am not sure why, is School House Lane. It is probably about 1/2 mile of pure uphill if not more. It starts out with a few switchbacks and then a decent incline of uphill, followed by a slight incline. All of those three on their own would be no problem, but one after another after another are KILLER! Some days the idea alone of running that route gives me an anxiety attack. But today I take it as slow as I need to, even if it means it takes forever. My feet are moving so slow I am practically walking. People driving by in their cars look over at me and I am sure they think I am crazy. They may be right, I may be crazy. But I make it to the top. I make it to the traffic light, and then the next light, and turn the corner for the last downhill stretch.

And then I am done. I see a stone bench on the corner and reach out to sit down on it but I don't make it that far. My hands land on it's cold rough surface and I remain there, bent over trying to catch my breath for a good minute. When I regain my strength to walk up to my house I feel nothing short of incredible. I have run eight miles many MANY times in the past years, I have run much farther than eight miles and I have run much faster than I did today. But the accomplishment I am proud of is the fact that I ran eight miles during the first week of March. I have never been in this kind of shape this early in the season. And it's because I was so determined not to let anything get in my way. Did I have set backs? sure. Tons of them. But no matter how many days I went without running, the second I had a sliver of a chance to jump back into the game I went for it. Just because things don't always go as planned doesn't mean you have to give up. Just use it as motivation to keep in going

xx Sara

Stone Soup. And other ways to make something from nothing

I am standing in the juice aisle at Acme, overwhelmed by the amount of choices before me. I scan over all the brightly colored labels for 100% juice. I am not a food snob, but there are certain ideas I have about the things I put in my body. Call me crazy but you only get one self, you might as well take care of it, even if it's difficult sometimes. I continue to browse, finally landing on store brand berry juice, it's cheaper than anything on sale and at least it is not labeled as anything 'cocktail' aka 'full-of-sugar'. Stopping to grab the last few things on the list, which is in my head I toss milk, granola bars, bagels into the cart. I hold my breath as the items go down the conveyor belt, hoping I managed to stay under my self set budget of $50.

"42.69" and I almost jump for joy. I am giddy with excitement as I push the cart out of the store. Was it easy to say no all the wonderful choices in the cookie aisle, definitely NOT. Did I enjoy walking away from the Kraft Mac and Cheese that was ridiculously ON SALE and super cheap? Ok well that I did enjoy because there is something that completely weirds me out about orange cheese power. I had to be very disciplined, but in the end it is worth it.

Welcome to my life as I continue down the road of "Wracked up too much debt in college and now am SERIOUSLY paying for it as I begin to grow up and plan for my future" FYI it's not a trip I would highly recommend but thankfully it's nearing the end of the journey. I am getting tough, sucking it up, pushing through those last few miles (so to speak) and doing what I know needs to get done. Just another aspect of life in which there are no excuses.

Back at home I unpack groceries all over the counter, begin to cook dinner, and at the same time play one of my favorite cooking games. "What can I make with the things in my kitchen" This game usually occurs when the fridge is looking a little empty, and my cabinet shelves are somewhat bare. And also, I HATE throwing away food. I collect a range of ingredients that could possibly go together and I attempt to make them into a meal. I am the queen of saving things in the freezer to make into other things later on. Tonights players include, beef juices leftover from a roast (wonderfully seasoned and smelling divine), one large can of crushed tomatoes, 1/4 of an onion, a chunk of steak leftover from making chili sometime back in the fall, and a can of corn.

To be honest I wasn't sure exactly what was going through my head when I decided that all these things should go together in one dish. Nor did I even have any CLUE what this dish would be. So I get started and open up the container of beef juices. As soon as I do this I have less confidence in this night being a success than before. It's not that it smells bad (because it smells wonderful!) or looks bad, but I am a total loss for how this is going to become a meal! Oh well here goes nothing, I strain the fat and other bits with my fabulous mini strainer that fits right into my medium sized sauce pan.

I think to myself "this is the kind of thing I see other people posting photos of on their blogs! I must take pictures". So I grab my camera and shoot away. But all I have is a picture with a sauce pan with brown liquid in the bottom. Yum! I open up the crushed tomatoes. Confession I cannot remember what crushed tomatoes actually look like, are they more like sauce? are they whole? Oh look at that, they are saucy and wonderful. But now how much should I put in, and I STILL don't know what this is going to be in the end. As I scoop about 1/2 a can of tomato goodness into the sauce pan which is now over a low flame, I get a whiff of their sour scent.

"Great," I am thinking "Tomatoes are not delicious out of the can, I now have a certified disaster on my hands, and how are they going to mix with this beef stuff??" But that doesn't stop me from pushing through. I take out the steak and dice into little pieces, chop up the onion and stir both into my tomato beef concoction.

Have you ever read the book "Georges Marvelous Medicine" By Roald Dahl? That pretty much sums up what is going on in my kitchen right now except these are all edible things.

I have come to the conclusion that what I'm making can be called 'soup'. I'll even get cocky and decide it can be more specifically called 'Tomato Soup'. In goes a clove of crushed garlic, a dash of salt, and a pinch of pepper. A not so foul, and dare I say it, pleasing aroma begins to rise from the bubbling pot. I dip in a hesitant finger for a taste and am alarmed by the result. This stuff is delicious! All the herbs and spices that the beef roast had been cooked in all those many months again proved to be the perfect flavoring and all I had to do was add a little bit of salt and pepper! Although super yummy the pot still looked a little empty so in went 1/2 a can of corn and two potatoes copped up into tiny cubes. As it simmered it filled the kitchen with the wonderful aroma of success!

And then I did the only thing a twenty something city girl who just completely made up her own soup out of nothing would do. I called my mother to tell her all about it.

xx Sara

When nothing goes right - just keep going

I am not thrilled when I realize that I did not pack socks in my gym bag. Of course I remind myself that I packed my bag on a Wednesday night, expecting to be snowed in at the office overnight on Thursday and I probably wasn't thinking straight. I remind myself that forgetting socks isn't as bad as forgetting a sports bra. I can live with going sock-less, I refuse to get one of my good bras sweaty. After a week off from running (thank you mother nature) I am not allowing myself any excuses.

I am less than excited when I realize my workout IPod nano is not in my gym bag like I thought it was. I now have to walk back through the commons to get upstairs to my desk and grab my IPod classic as a back up. This is not too terrible though because at least I am not yet in my gym clothes. You see our wholesale accounts are in the Pink Palace this week buying the Fall 2010 line, and they are often here well pas 5 o'clock eating dinner and writing orders. When I get upstairs I am happy to see I do have my nano after all. Score! I grab it, and my green ear buds and head back downstairs. Past the CEO, and all the important people all dressed up. I am in jeans a white teeshirt and gold flats, and I am jogging towards the gym.

I quickly change, and braid back the front part of my hair. You know, the short pieces that used to be bangs, never got maintained and are now too long but still fall out of my pony tail when I run. I head into the gym excited to begin my warm up. Disclaimer - my warm up is not a far shot from most people's actual workout.

I press the center button of my IPod only to have it mockingly flash the low battery sign at me. This workout just isn't destined to go well is it? At least I remembered my inhaler. That would have been the end all for me. So I walk over to the stereo and turn on Q102. It's not so bad because at least they play half the songs on my workout playlist. I crank the volume knob to a loud but tolerable level. There are, after all, very important people dining just on the other side of the door.

I start my warm up, which doesn't have a set routine but serves to get my heart pumping, my muscles warmed up, and my arms and abs to wake up. I grab 5lb weights and start. Lunges. Squats with a leg lift. Side leg lifts with an arm row. 40 crunches. 10 side crunches with a simultaneous leg lift. Hip raises (for my hamstrings) and something that looks much like a dog peeing on a fire hydrant (again for my hamstrings). See, I told you - much like a full workout to some.

I finally bite the bullet and jump on the treadmill. This is supposed to be an easy six. But easy six miles on a treadmill is an oxymoron. there is nothing easy about running on a stationary belt like a hamster. I get through one mile. Not too bad. no pain yet.

I am halfway through my second mile when R walks in. 'ANOTHER PERSON!!' I scream in my head. I am so often the only one in the gym that just having someone else there makes me feel like I can push a little harder. However it is then that my mind starts wandering to my plan for the rest of the week. I have a half marathon coming up in a month and a half! So then I calculate this crazy plan in my head. What if I run three miles today, three on Wednesday and Thursday and *gasp* run an 8 mile long run on Saturday! It's not like I have any plans (other than waiting for the cable guy... yipeee!) and Boyfriend was just giving me a hard time for not yet wearing my running tights running. Just for the record I have worn them snowboarding. Twice. So it's settled. I will only run three miles today. This may be the best news I have given myself all day - considering I can now feel the build up of blisters on the inside arcs of my feet. Do you think that stops me? no of course not. I crank up the speed every quarter mile for the last mile, finishing with a quarter mile cool down. By the time I get to the end and start walking i can practically SEE the blisters through my sneakers. But I keep going.

Things aren't always going to work out, but when things aren't going right, just keep on going. Sooner or later something good is bound to happen.

xx Sara