A friend had convinced me to come work out with her.  She loved kettle bells and was willing to do some sessions with me for free.  I knew I needed to mix it up a bit, and I couldn’t kick a gift horse in the mouth.  So a couple Mondays ago we met for the first
time.  That first workout was awesome!  I came out of there feeling like Rocky Balboa
on the Russian Farm in Rocky IV.  I couldn’t believe how much fun it was and that I had been denying myself this other outlet for sweating it out.  I was hitting a tractor tire with a sledgehammer…shaking those large ropes like you see on The Biggest Loser…and doing pull-ups with the help of a rubber strap under my one knee.  I came out of there
feeling GREAT!   I moved muscles that I never knew existed.  I was hooked!   I hadn’t sweat so much in years…truly, years!

As if to nonverbally say: last time was easy, this is the real workout…the second time we met, I was like “Holy Crap”!  I could barely walk for a week!  My thighs hadn’t screamed that hard since my Marathon in ‘08.  The whole downward movement…walking down steps, sitting down on the toilet…DOWN SUCKED!!!  Two Mondays went by before us getting together again.  Thankfully!!!  Because it took me that long to recover to normal
walking and stance, yet here I was again.

Walking lunges holding kettle bells over my head…slamming 10lb. medicine balls to the ground and squatting to pick them back up for a round of 10…plank rows with 12lb. kettle bells…and my favorite move of all: “BURPIES”!!!  I don’t know how to spell it, and I surely
don’t know how to put it in writing to make you fully appreciate the fatigue and torture it ravaged my body with.  If someone were to say the word BURPIES to me, I’d be looking for the dancing leprechaun and a pint of Guiness!  Not huffing and puffing, begging for mercy because to do these at the end of a workout is no doubt part of a Navy Seal truth serum strategy!

So here I am again, two days after a Monday workout, walking around in agony as if every muscle in my body is in full permanent contraction!  I think my ER patients yesterday were privately requesting: “please don’t give me the nurse with the perpetual grimace on her face…is she OK?”

I did though make myself run today… hoping to loosen things up, but a pathetic 3 miles was all I could muster.  I defaulted to the treadmill thinking that having the option to pull the cord and roll off, would be better than the township mistaking me for a dead deer on the side of the road, and placing a large “X” on my butt! Thankfully, I have a few more days to detox my lactic acid before we meet again on Monday and I say: “please miss, may I have another”!

Lace Up And RUN!

My goal day to jumpstart my running was Black Friday.  My plan was to unleash the masochistic Runner demons that some Runners get motivated by, and give it all I had.   I don’t think my experience was much different than the psychotic Black Friday shoppers
at WalMart.  It was pathetic, exhausting, and downright embarrassing.  The
differences…where most Black Friday shoppers will come away with a sense of
euphoria having gotten the last of (15) 60” TVs for only $200, euphoria was nowhere
to be found.  And where normal shoppers can steer clear from the pepper spraying crazy shopper, assaulting the innocent for that last spot in line, I COULDN’T HIDE FROM MYSELF!  With Mr. T on one shoulder saying: “I pity the fool who ate too much cheesecake and can’t run a block”, and Betty White on the other shoulder saying: “Don’t worry Dear, you can have a cookie when you get home”…it was quite a dichotomy!  My
shoulders were so tense they looked like congenital earlobe appendages.  And my torso was bent over so far, I looked like a bull ready to strike a red cape!   It wasn’t pretty but I finished!

Today, I tried to redeem myself.  Mother Nature was taunting me with temps in
the 60’s, and I had my superfood, Craisins, on board!  Having silenced Mr. T AND Betty White, off I went.  The pluses???: my shoulders were no longer an earlobe disfigurement, and my charging bull had been left in the stable.  Minuses???: I had to walk…A LOT.  I was also breathing like a freight train trying to climb Mt. Everest!  (Try to control THAT noise when you pass another Runner/Walker.  I was like a steam boat ready to blow!!!)  But as I walked the last ¼ mile home, I decided to give myself a little pep talk.  I have been here before.  It’s not always pretty, but eventually I get back.  My body will be tired, but my mind clear.  And for me, the mental reward is so much more important than the physical.  Running makes me better…a better person, a better Mother and a better Wife.  If I have to build back up again, then so be it.  (Just please don’t call 911 when you see me…it ain’t always pretty.)

So for all of you who have hit a slump, or are in a rut…you’re not alone!  It’s bringing yourself back up to the surface that’s important.  Lace Up And RUN!  You’ll be glad you did…even if it ain’t always pretty!

(Emailexcerpt from 10/28/2008, written to my long distance running buddy before we
ran the ING NYC Marathon on 11-02-08)

I have to share with you my new found attitude about this whole thing. Lately, I
had really been letting the nerves get to me, and focusing on the fact of
finishing and what time etc. Worrying about every possible thing that could go
wrong…all things that are basically out of my control. Last Thursday I had
gone for my last longer run. It was a beautiful day, I hadn’t run the day
before. I felt good, nothing really was hurting. And I had such clarity. I
decided to change my focus. I decided that I/we have really already achieved a
victory. We have gotten through the hardest part and done well. And I decided
that getting to the start is what I should be thrilled about. Finishing is the
icing on the cake, not the whole enchilada. I have already proved to myself
that I can run 20 miles and live to tell about it. I have put myself as a
priority in my own life. I have shown my girls by example what it means to have
a dream and go after it, how to set such a huge goal and be determined to achieve
it. I am in the best shape “cardiovascularly” since college. And I
will continue to run long after Sunday, Nov. 2nd. We are going to be a part of
something so awe-inspiring. The City of NY will be shut down for a day so that
average people like you and me can show that our will is stronger than the odds
stacked against us. WE are not on the sidelines watching someone else do it. WE
are not spectators, WE are the players. We should feel lucky and proud to have
gotten to this point. We should feel proud for having the courage to even sign
up for this in the first place. We have already triumphed, now is the time to
enjoy all our hard work. It is an event, a glorious day, an invigorating
spectacle that we can say we joined IN on. And if one of the many variables
that play into this day decides that it is stronger than me, then so be it. I
will still walk proud, and I will still enjoy every moment of Sunday, because I
had to GET there first, and that was no easy task. Sunday is going to be a
great day, whatever happens. We have earned our spot at the starting line, and
we will bask in the glory of the finish line. I am so glad to have traveled
this road with such a dear friend. As one of the first quotes I passed on to
you says: there will be days when I don’t know if I can run a marathon, but a
lifetime knowing that I have! Amen!  Love you much, Missy

Best of luck to all the Marathoners, especially those who may be freaking out about their first!

Lace Up And RUN!

A fond memory of my childhood was going for walks with my
sister and having a contest over who could crunch the most leaves.  It’s not something you think about, or wish
for any other time… but when they are right there in front of you, you throw
off your cadence and hit every leaf.  They
give such a satisfying crunch when you step on them.  And I have to say the satisfaction doesn’t
waver as you get older.  As a matter of
fact, I think you appreciate the act more
as you get older.  I’ve even found myself
changing my route, just to run over a patch of fallen leaves.  It’s like they are calling me to give a
little extra step to the right or left, leaving no leaf uncrunched!  It’s the simplest of pleasures, but worth
every second it adds to my run.

The one Fall favorite I can’t even mention without
salivating is Edy’s Pumpkin Ice Cream!!!
At this time of year my training schedule is not a fixed one.  I’ve finished my Fall race, with my next race months
away in May.  This is usually a period of
time when I rationalize the benefits of hitting the asphalt versus staying in
bed a little longer.  It’s the same time
every year I say I’m not going to lose my “base” and force myself to start over
in the Spring.  So, I actually THANK Edy’s for inventing such a
glorious treat!  If it weren’t for the approximate
formula that 100kcals = 1 mile of running to work it off, I may still be in bed
right now.  But knowing that the store
clerk at Stop & Shop is starting to think I have a problem considering the
amount of times I have frequented the store to replace what I’ve already
consumed…that quick formula reminds me that I have no choice but to hit the
asphalt if I want to enjoy another night with Edy’s Fall feature flavor!

For those of you who don’t experience the season changes,
yet enjoy beautiful weather to run in on a daily basis, I hate to say it but you’re
missing out.  I’m usually jealous of you
during the heat of the summer when I’m stopping at every visible hose in the
suburbs, to cool myself down.  But then
Fall hits, and I say: “Thank you Mother
Nature”!!!  I will take the seasons,
good and bad.  Because there is no better
time to run than in the Fall.

Lace Up And RUN!

Considering I’ve been
listening to the same music I trained for the NYC Marathon with (2008), it was
well past time for a new playlist. I’ve definitely been in a RUNNING RUT lately…bored with my music, lacking energy
and needing GU at the 1-mile mark, sleeping in past my alarm and opting for the
treadmill when I could have absolutely gone outside! My husband must have sensed
my flat affect (or noticed my fat jeans in the wash), because he surprised me with a new playlist! From
Eminem to Pink, to Everlast and my forever favorite MJB…I couldn’t wait to go
for a run!!!

He couldn’t have had
better timing. Enjoying the long holiday weekend…staying in our pj’s due to
scattered thunderstorms, baking cookies cause why not??? No work, no sports, no
plans…nothing but well needed downtime. Not only did I entitle myself to my
favorite Ben & Jerry’s flavor for a 5-day run week last week, we then
enjoyed dinner at The Bone Fish Grill. I chose a fish dish which I was
subconsciously trying to rationalize as healthy. Maybe if I scraped off the
creamy, cheesy, shrimp-crabmeat-scallop sauce it was drowning in, it probably
would have been. Not to mention the key-lime pie my daughter didn’t
like…couldn’t let that go to waste. Although I’m not one to get psycho over
what I eat, I know when I’m in or out of my 5 pound window…and this weekend definitely put me OUT of the window!!! I sure couldn’t
wait for a good run with my new playlist.

I woke up this morning
still full from last night’s gluttony! But knowing my new playlist was waiting
for me, my ass was getting out on the asphalt! It was very foggy, a general
dampness in the air, good temp to run in…and miraculously, I had myself out
by 6:30a.m. I easily passed mile 1, no need for GU…my new music was circling
around in my head and I felt like I could run forever! Thank God it was foggy
and early in the morning on a holiday. I’m sure I would have ended up on you-tube somewhere if anyone saw me. There were times I
had to decide between running or rockin it out down the middle of the street, initiating my
own 4th of July parade!!! With Pink dropping F-bombs across my auditory canals,
and Katie Perry kissing girls (not my thing, but you know I’m heading straight
to Walgreens for some Cherry Chapstick!!!), it was pure heaven! I decided my
own private cerebral celebration was the best way to continue, and continue I
did.

Runners are simple people.
We get excited over a new pair of socks let alone a new playlist to run to! I
had forgotten how much music motivated me! I haven’t had a run like this in
months! I actually went an extra 1/2 mile because I couldn’t bear to stop
during a Rihanna song that had me double-timin it. And when I got home, I lifted weights,
jumped rope, did floor exercises…Jane Fonda would’ve been proud! Where did
all this energy come from??? I guess you could argue that I had enough food
storage from this past weekend to fuel the US Olympic track team…and the
foggy morning created my own personal sprinklers every time I blinked because
my eyelashes were covered with the morning dew…but I’m goin with The Music!!! It was the new playlist, without a doubt!

If you’ve been listening
to the same songs for a while, make a new playlist today (or throw your fat jeans in the wash so your husband will make one for
you)! You may be surprised how much it inspires you!

Lace Up And RUN!

Getting to the start is always a juggling act.  Once you are there you are fine, but getting to that point is always entertaining to say the least.  Personally, I had to switch work weekends with another nurse so I could be off, and then coordinate soccer carpools for my daughter in case I didn’t make it back home in time to take her to her game.  The race was an hour south from my house, and the soccer game was an hour north from my house…you do the math!  I ran into a friend at the Expo who was commiserating with her own juggling act of getting a babysitter for her kids because her husband had to work.  Hmmm, who was coming to cheer us on???   HA!  Regardless, we were both pumped, and knew we just had to make it to the start the next day and all the stress would sweat away!

My mother-in-law and fearless running buddy was doing the race with me.  After sitting in unanticipated bumper to bumper traffic to get to the start, we literally made it to the parking in enough time to use the port-o-john, get the bus shuttle, and get to the start with 5 minutes before the sound of the gun.  We ran the race, both setting a PR for ourselves, gave a few high fives then hustled back to the bus shuttle so we could get to my daughter’s soccer game.  We barely took time for a stretch, and while walking to the shuttle my mother-in-law literally fell to the ground with a serious Charlie Horse!  I thought she broke her ankle!  As I am trying to help her stretch it out, I was laughing so hard I nearly peed my pants.  THIS WASN’T ON THE SCHEDULE!!!  WE HAVE A SOCCER GAME TO GET TO!   Only a grandmother would agree to this insanity!  We got home in enough time to spit shower the salt crystals off our faces, then sat in more bumper to bumper traffic on the Parkway North!  Needless to say, the expletives were flying out of my mouth by that point (my daughter luckily knows to keep that to herself!).  And to top it all off, as we’re texting the coach we’d be late due to traffic, my gas light came on!   We finally arrived at the game only to find that the person on “orange duty” for that week was a no-show!   So there I was, Team-Mom to the rescue…  I hustled to the nearby Quick Chek and luckily found bananas ($25 later), and made it back in time for the half.  When I finally sat down next to my mother-in-law who is crazy enough to experience these race day adventures with me, I just laughed.  We should have worn our medals to remind ourselves what we had already accomplished on that day (and everyone else for that matter)! 

Some times I will say to my sister, “I can’t wait till I come back in my next life as a man!”  But truth be told, I wouldn’t have it any other way.  We moms are AWESOME!  We are strong, we are confident, we are invincible!  We handle more than most could even contemplate, and we do it with grace, making it look easy!  A huge fist pump to all the running moms out there!!!  Never stop!  Keep running!  Even if the rest of the world has no idea what you’ve just fit in, in less than 8 hours, we do!!!  Happy Mother’s Day!

Lace Up And RUN!

This year I am turning 40!  There’s this feeling of having to make a huge gesture with this birthday.  I can’t explain it, it’s just big…like you are definitely getting older.  I decided that there would be no better way to celebrate turning 40 then to run NY again.  ( I know it’s kind of an oxy-moron…let’s torture ourselves for a birthday present.)  Participating with a charity again was out of the question.  The added stress of having to raise thousands of dollars while training was definitely something only to be done once.  So like hundreds of thousands of other hopefuls I joined the “lottery”.  For those who are unfamiliar with the lottery, huge races like New York are very hard to get into.  If you don’t have a qualifying time, and aren’t one of those runners whose first name will be written on their bib, you fall into the category of ”average Joe’s”.  We are placed into a big pool of runners and hope our name is picked on NYC Marathon Opening Day.  Well yesterday was Opening Day…

Hence the title of this blog, my name was not picked!  I am Irish, but I am a Murphy…so any Irish luck I may be entitled to simply on genetics, is inevitably overrided by the perpetual stalking of Murphy’s Law!  I really thought that the powers-that-be would realize this was a necessary year for me!!!  Not sure what happened?!?!  So since I can’t run NY to acknowledge my big b-day…and I wouldn’t look good as a blond…I guess the only thing left to do is get a tattoo!!!

…and continue to: Lace Up And RUN!

The funniest part of the entire experience was the end of my run which coincided with the end of the movie.   The end of the movie is very sad with the father dying of cancer while his teenage daughter stays by his side.  (Sorry if I ruined it for you!)  I started sobbing!!!  There I am with my treadmill pace set at 7.2, hyperventilating!  For the mid-pack runner that I am, 7.2 is a pretty decent pace to sustain.  The fact that I was trying to maintain it while blubbering like an idiot to a teen-scene movie…what a crack-up!  Talk about desperation for a treadmill distraction?!?!?!  Thank God no one was home, I would’ve had to fake an injury to explain all the tears! 

I finished my run with chest pain and a whole new reason for re-hydration since I lost half my volume in tears.  The typical burst of endorphins was partnered with the way one feels after a good cry…a little good, a little drained.  As I was stretching I started to seriously laugh at myself!  The scenario definitely satisfied any requirements in the *desperate-for-a-treadmill-distraction* category!  What a hoot!  So, if you need a good distraction for a treadmill run, I definitely recommend watching a movie.  If you need a good cry, I definitely recommend ”The Last Song” (even if you’re almost 40).  But I definitely would not recommend combining the two!

Lace Up And RUN!

Sunday into Monday brought one thing…a BLIZZARD!  A FREAKIN’ BLIZZARD!!!  Euphoria…straight to depression.  Does shoveling count as cross training???

Lace Up And RUN!

I’ve been having trouble finding my running groove since Thanksgiving…finding one excuse or another why I can’t fit in my miles.  So this past Monday, I decided to pull a little tough love on myself.  I checked the weather on the local station…got dressed “appropriately”…and out I went.  I didn’t even give myself a pause.  I started running when I hit the bottom step of the doorway.  At first, all was well…nice and brisk, cloudy but bright.  Then it hit me.  I couldn’t breathe thru my nose because the mere thought of it left my nostrils victim to frost bite.  So I decided to sacrifice my lungs and go for the total chest freeze (similar to brain freeze when you eat icepops too fast, but oh so much worse).  I had gotten far enough down the road that I wasn’t turning back.  I would just have to suffer with my decision to “go for it”.  Apparently, I had forgotten what appropriate dress would be since I decided that 29 degrees (and did I mention the huge headwind?) didn’t warrant my silk long johns.  But don’t worry, my thighs which were on fire from cold friction reminded me of my neglect.  It’s all good…because by the time I reached my half way mark, everything was so cold that I no longer felt it!  Losing layers of skin on my inner thighs, snot frozen to my upper lip, lungs feeling like they’ve just come through a catastrophic fire, right calf in a Charlie Horse because I just “went for it”…  I’ve never listened so closely for my Garmin to chirp that yet another mile was done.  I was wishing for more than a chirp.  I was wishing it would say something like: OK you SISSY, you can turn around now! 

There’s no way that 29 degrees is the coldest I’ve ever ran in.  God knows my mother in law (and anyone else who runs in sub-zero temps rerularly) is getting a good chuckle.  If they were running in 29 degrees, it would be in a tank top.  For me, how clear it is that without a goal, or a reason to be out in ANY cold…what the hell was I thinking!  There have been many times over the winter months that I’d rather poke my eyes out with a dull pencil than run on the treadmill.  But as I reconsider…if my options are to brave 29 degrees or less, I think I’ll be sticking with the treadmill.  Apparently, the motivation (or delusion…whatever you want to call it) that you feel with your first marathon, makes you numb to anything that at any other time makes you a sissy!  Maybe I should change my motto to: SUCK IT UP then Lace Up And RUN!