Weekly Workouts

I feel like the weeks always go by so fast and I can’t even remember by the end of the week what I did when the week started so I actually wrote it down this week. After taking Sunday completing off from doing anything but laying around after my marathon on Sunday. I was ready to do something on Monday.

Monday I actually took an Aqua class. It was nice to be in the water doing the same moves that the instructor is doing on land. And some are very challenging. I can now see why some moves do not work in the water like they do on land and vise versa. I still have a lot of practice to do before teaching it myself. After class I was feeling good so I took a Body Pump. My legs were still pretty sore from my marathon so I made sure to do lighter than normal weights, especially on the leg portions of the class. After Body Pump I decided to stay for Body Flow. I normally never take this class but this was a nice compliment to Body Pump, especially after running a marathon that past weekend. It was really nice to stretch out and perform some moves I know I would not do on my own.

After class I was looking forward to getting a massage from the lady that I usually go to. It definitely is not a relaxing massage, but she gets deep into my muscles and I am always happy afterwards. I did not want to go the day after my massage because I knew my muscles would be very tender and would not enjoy it as much. But when I stopped in, there was a sign out front that said on vacation until a certain day. I knew that I did not want to wait until she came back and plus this was the only day this week I could go. I looked up a few other places and found one that was the same price for what I normally pay. I didn’t know what to expect going to an unfamiliar place but I was willing to take a chance. I was pleasantly surprised. It was quite enjoyable and very relaxing, opposed to the lady that I go to that makes me squirm off the table.

Tuesday morning I got up and taught the new release for my RPM 76(spin) class at the gym followed by my silver sneakers class and then Wednesday morning I taught the new release of Body Pump (103).

I had every intention of sleeping in on Thursday since I had gotten up all week early for my classes, but there was no such luck. I got up way before my alarm was set so I thought I’d make use of this time and go for a short run. This was the first run I have done since my marathon last Saturday. It was also my first run of the season where I had to wear a head warmer and gloves. I did a short 3 miles at a very easy pace. It felt great to just get out there and enjoy the fresh air. I kind of felt guilty earlier in the week when I didn’t run when it was so nice out. But I kept telling myself I just ran a marathon I can and should take a few days off! After my run I taught another silver sneakers class.

Friday I woke up to teach another Silver Sneakers class(I know what you are probably thinking, she teaches a lot of those class) Yes I do, however the one I teach on Friday is at a different facility so I get to see different faces and it is also a different format than I teach at my other classes. It was really chilly in the morning but turned out to be a beautiful day so I took advantage of it and ran 4 miles after class while listening to my new favorite podcast( Thanks Megan). It is a missing murder case. I must have been so focused on the story because a biker rode by me and I literally jumped and said you scared me! I felt like I needed to tell him why but he was older and probably didn’t even know what a podcast was…haha.

Later that afternoon I went to the expo to pick up my race packed for the Wicked 10k race I was running on Saturday then I stopped at the store to get some festive tights so I could wear them to class on Halloween.


Saturday- I Ran the Wicked 10k. Race recap coming soon!

What was your favorite workout last week? -L

We will be linking up with the gals from TOTR.

Weekly Wrap...October 29, Full of Mystery!

Sunday I was kind of in a funk all day. Scott had gone to the Steeler's game and I stayed home to recover from my race in Baltimore. I felt really good Saturday after the race and I wasn't sore at all. In fact, I felt like I could have kept on running.  However, on Sunday it hit me and I was a bit achy!  I did finally get motivated enough to do some chores around the house.

Monday I had a few goodies left over from race day in Maryland and was excited to have these chips with my lunch!

They are Crab Chips with Chesapeake seasoning. Yes, I know I can buy these locally but I would never just buy a bag a chips to keep around the house.  So yes, I was excited by a little bag of chips! 

Also on Monday I got out an went for a run with my mom.  I thought if  I pretended I wasn't achy that maybe I wouldn't be. It worked! I felt good during the run except for the fact that I had a very tight left calf. I came home and immediately stretched and foam rolled.

I did not see anything too interesting on this run, but afterwards I did.  As we were exiting the park in our car, we had to wait for all these ducks to cross the road.  There was a break in the action so the car in front of us could actually move ahead and then a ton more would cross the street and we would have to wait for them.  The grassy area to the right of this picture is just covered in ducks! 

Tuesday was a rest days. I did stretching and foam rolling.  It's surprising how an injury scare can make you commit to foam rolling! 

Wednesday I did some miles at the island with Scott.  We didn't start till late so I had a feeling it might get dark while we were still there so I took my RunLites.

I wore the original RunLite gloves and gave Scott the RunLite mittens that they sent me at the end of the season last year. I had not had an opportunity to take the mittens for a run last year so this is the first time they've been used. Scott said they were quite cozy and warm! 

Thursday was another rest day.

This Fall our thing on Friday nights has been going to Starbucks. I know, most people probably go to Happy Hour for a cocktail, but not us. We go to Starbucks and usually close the place down.

 I got the limited edition Zombie Frappucino and Scott got the Pumpkin Spice this time. Our friends all got Lattes but I just can't bring myself to ordering a hot drink yet!  My zombie frappuccio was quite tasty. It was green caramel apple flavored. 

I then went home and went to bed because I had a race in the morning.

Saturday I ran the Monster Mash and Lacey ran Wicked! This was a new race to me so I hope to tell a little more about it later this week.

Later that evening we had plans to do the Escape Room with some friends. This was SO MUCH fun! There were actually four themed rooms and the one we were in had a Wild West theme.  With in our Wild West room there were actually three rooms. We had to find keys that opened additional doors ( we did not know this at first). Our goal was to find  a diamond that was locked inside a box.  This particular room only had a success rate of 20%, so only 20 % of the people who did this room found the diamond and were able to "escape".  Our group found the diamond and escaped with only 5 minutes left!  I think we will be going back and trying out some of the other themed rooms! 

Afterwards we all went to dinner to celebrate our success! Then Scott and I came home and watched the last episode of the Missing Maura Murray series!  Are you following this case?  -M

Ever done an escape room?  Do you prefer Happy Hour cocktails or Starbucks? Ever had crab chips?

PS: We got official race pictures from the Baltimore Marathon and since pictures help tell the story better, we put them back in our race recaps! You can check them out Here and Here! 

My Fall decor

Happy Friday Y'all!

I'm finally starting to feel that fall crispness in the air now when I wake up in the mornings.  It's still warm in the afternoons for my runs though, so that's good!

I thought this would be a good time to finally share some of my fall decor! After all, I'll be taking it down next month and putting up Christmas decorations!

We put up our Fall decorations around the middle of September. I hate to do fall too early so I usually put things out the week of our Harvest Festival.  We bought a "Fall Porch Package" from one of our local Home and Garden stores for $39.99.

The packaged included the following:

2 cornstalks
2 Pumpkins (any size)
2 Mums (the big ones) I also got a yellow one that is not shown.
1 Hay bale
1 Kale (I didn't even know this was thing that people decorated with Kale, who knew?)
3 Gourds
3 Ears of Indian corn

I bought a wreath, a rug, and two hanging mum baskets all separately at another location.

When I bought the wreath and the rug I was planning on decorating with a blue and neutral theme. Once I bought the porch package I ended up getting away from the colors I wanted to use.

We actually bought these hanging mum baskets before any of the buds had bloomed so we really didn't know what color they were going to be. Scott and I were both very delighted to see that they were both multi colored plants.  I LOVE that they are multi colored because I've never seen ones like this before but I am even more thankful that they BOTH ended up being multi colored or that would have thrown my whole decorating scheme off.  Call it decorators OCD!

And then of course I had to add a few Labrador details.

I think I just about have a Labrador flag for every season!

This Lab planter is starting to get a bit faded. It's an oldie but a goody!

Did you decorate for fall? Did you know decorating with Kale was a thing?  -M

An InLinkz Link-up

Race Day: Baltimore Full Marathon

This weekend I ran my 14^th Marathon. Going into this I had no expectations because I signed up pretty much at the last minute and I therefore did not follow a training cycle. Even though my training for prior marathons is probably very minimal compared to other runner’s plans, I still do my version of training.  I like to get a least one 20 miler into a training cycle, but this time there was no time for that. My longest run was only a 16 miler and then I did a 14 miler the following weekend.

Well, here I was the morning of the race!  I made sure that I was up in plenty of time to eat breakfast and get dressed for the race. I decided to wear a skirt and a tank top since it was supposed to become very warm come mid-morning. We had the weather on that morning and even the news caster said it was going be unseasonable warmer than it has been in past years. I ate a bagel with peanut butter and had some coffee (I usually do not eat bagels before my runs, but I do before my races and it has always seemed to work out in the past).

Meranda, Heather, and I headed down to where Meranda needed to pick up the bus then Heather and I started walking back to the starting line.

 They had the bathrooms available for use at the Oriole’s stadium, which was very nice. The women’s bathroom did not even have a line.  The starting line did not have any corral placement but rather pace signs up. So we got in line at are respected starting places and soon the National Anthem started and we were off. I was worried that runners may not be in the correct corral placements when they do not monitor it like major marathons do, but that was not an issue at all.

 I set my Garmin for the range of pace I wanted to stay in, so it would beep if I was too slow or beep if I was too fast. In the past when I see that I am going too fast I try to slow down because I do not want to burn myself out too much if I push it too hard in the beginning, but usually by the end I do not have anything left and cannot speed up anyways.  Right from the beginning my Garmin was beeping up a storm, I thought it was telling me that I was going too fast like it always does in the beginning of races but when I looked down it said I was going too slow. How could that be? Maybe because I haven’t been training and I am not running the pace I am used to be running at. I thought for a minute that I have no business running this marathon today. I should have dropped down to the half marathon.

 A few miles later I found a comfortable pace and was feeling good. This time when my Garmin beeped it was saying I was too fast. I thought about slowing down, but then I remembered in past races when I did that I did not make up any more time later, so I was going to give all I could and if I burn out, at least I know I gave my best. And that is what I did.

I was around mile 4 when I was passing the zoo and I started to get a cramp in my side. I thought I may have been a little hungry since it was a late starting time at 8am and I ate breakfast before 6 am.  I took my first GU and that was just what I needed. I felt much better and continued on. Shortly after that I saw my sister at the transition spot and we waved to each other as I ran by. 

Usually I do not like hilly courses, but I actually really enjoyed the variations of the course. Once up a hill, you know a downhill run is shortly approaching where you can pick up some speed. I didn’t find that the hills were that steep either (when you run Big Sur, nothing else really phases you). I felt like it was a nice balance. Some of the things I did not like on the course were running on the cobble stone part around a turn. I felt like I could have twisted an ankle if I didn’t pay attention to where I was running. Also a lot of the course was on pavement which I am used to running on but there were many pot holes on the roads that you had to maneuver around. Another challenging part on the course was when we ran by the many bike paths that separated the bike area from where the cars drive with white short posts. With all the runners that were running in front of you, you had to be very cautious that you didn’t run into one of them. 

Regardless of the many obstacles along the course, I was still keeping a great pace all the way up to about mile 20 and then the wheels came off just a bit and I was a little slower than I wanted to be the last six miles. But overall I felt great throughout the race. There were some scenic views along the course especially running around mile 20-23 where I needed a little boost of energy. I was very happy that my Ipod did not die during the marathon. I still have the old Ipod Nano that has the wheel rather than the touch screen). The last three miles felt like it took forever.

 I never wanted to see that finish line so bad! But I am sure everyone says that when they are approaching the last stretch of their race. I felt like I sprinted the last .2 of the marathon across the finish line.

I finished with an unexpected BQ! I know it won’t be low enough to actually get accepted, but just to say you have is an accomplishment. I really did enjoy this race and would not mind running it again in the future. 

We got long sleeve teach shirts for running the full marathon and the medal actually opens up like a clam shell.

Ever run a race that was not a goal race and surprise yourself with great time? L


Click HERE to read about the Baltimore Marathon Relay.

*Some pictures are courtesy of Heather.

Baltimore Marathon Team Relay

This past Saturday my runner gal pals and I ran the Baltimore Marathon.  Heather, Megan, Ana, and I did the team relay and Lacey did the full marathon on her own.

Heather ran leg one, I ran leg two, Megan, ran leg three, and Ana brought it home for our team with leg four.

There was a 5K, a Half marathon, The Marathon, and the Marathon Relay all running today. In total there were 23,000 runners!  The Marathon and the Marathon relay started at the same time and place, so Heather, Lacey and I all left for our starting points together.   A HUGE Thank you to Ana for booking our room at the Holiday Inn, Inner Harbor.  It was a nice hotel and in a GREAT location. We were able to easily walk to the expo and to where we needed to be on race day.

Since I was running leg two of the relay, I had to get a bus to take me to my relay station.  The bus pick up was not at the start line, it was in front of the Raven's Football stadium, which was a few blocks away. I had to be on the bus by 7:30 am and  I believe Megan and Ana had to be at  their leg of the relay by 8:30 am.

Heather and Lacey walked me to my bus stop and hung out a while before they headed to the start line. Yes, I am carrying a map because I was afraid I would not find my way! Turns out, it was an easy find.

My relay exchange appeared to be on the outskirts of a park and it was very well organized.  It wasn't just a bunch of runners standing around hoping to see their teammates run by. There were actually signs that had a range of bib numbers on that you could stand beside to make it easier for your teammate to find you. Besides that, there was a guy with a megaphone announcing bib numbers as they ran by. There was one lane for marathoners and one lane for relayers ( that's how he knew which bibs to announce).

My bib section was on the first end, so I just decided to walk up the hill a little ways and watch the race where it was more sunny.

Pretty soon I saw Lacey run by. She was looking happy and running strong!  The Runner tracking for this race was lagging WAY behind. I actually just kept looking at my watch and estimating what time she would get to my station based on the pace I know she runs.  We had a quick Hello and then she was off.

Pretty soon my teammate Heather arrived. Guess what? She got to run through the zoo! Isn't that awesome?  Even with all the hills on her route and stopping to take pics in the zoo, she arrived at our relay station ahead of schedule. She did awesome!

We took a quick "good luck selfie" and then I was off for my leg of the relay.  I have to admit I was super nervous. I hadn't ran in over a week due to a knee issue. I was just hoping the rest days had done it some good and that I would be able to run at least half the route until I had to stop to walk .

I had my music on and as soon as I started running I felt great!  I was passing people left and right and of course that gave me an additional boost of energy.  I did feel bad passing the folks that were running the full because I know they had been running much longer than me at this point, but I was also passing a lot of  relay runners too.

A portion of my route was down hill and at one point there was a beautiful view of the skyline and the harbor below. Of course this picture does not do it justice but since I took the time to take the photo I thought I would post it!

I know it looks like I am struggling, but I am not. I'm actually having a good race!

The rest of my route was pretty flat.  I ran about 7 miles and the last half was an out and back past one of the museums and the Under Armour Headquarters.  Something I saw during this race that I never saw before were the Salvation Army Bell Ringers with their red kettles out. I saw several of them along the course and wondered what runners were going to stop and give change. Did any runners even have any change?  Of course they were probably hoping to get donations from the spectators but still, I thought that was odd.

There was definitely a lot of  crowd support during this race and when I came upon my relay exchange point I wasn't sure if they were runners or spectators.

Fortunately my teammate Megan was wearing a bright yellow top and pink shorts and I was easily able to spot her.  I passed our relay timing bracelet off to her and she was on her way!  I was  so excited that I had done so well with my leg of the relay. I had a really strong run, I too came in under my expected finish time, and I did not have to walk at all due to any knee pain. I did it!

My leg of the relay ended right in front of the Inner Harbor so I did not have to take a bus back to the festivities. I walked through and got a finisher picture right away (yes, this was before I even received my medal). I've done a different relay before and runners got their medals at the exchange point when they completed their leg. I think that is the best way to do it.  For this relay everyone had to walk back to the Inner Harbor to collect their medals at a race tent near the finish line.  This didn't bother me because I was very close and it was easy for me to get to. However, for runners who had a different leg it may have been a bit more challenging.

I made my way through the finisher tent and was given my medal. I grabbed a water and there was a whole variety of snacks.  I took an orange for right now and a snack for later and then made my way over to the finish line where Heather and I wait for Lacey to cross.

                            Lacey had a really strong race and will share about it later this week.

While we waited for our next teammates to finish, we wondered around the festival a bit. I had seen the massage tent earlier on my way through, so I took Lacey to where it was so she could get a massage (Heather and I went back later and I got a massage and she got acupuncture)!   There were also other goodies they were offering the runners so we stopped by the Phillips Seafood booth and had some Maryland Crab soup.

Afterwards we headed back to the finish line because it would soon be time for Ana to come through. Unfortunately during this time Megan (who did the 3rd leg) was on a bus that got lost so she did not make it in time to see Ana finish.

                                           Ana coming through the finish line looking so strong.

  I think we all ran a really good race and I am so proud of all of us! I feel like the race was well organized and very safe. There were helicopters hovering around the entire time, the finish line areas were secure, and we even saw some police officers on roofs of near by buildings.

There were plenty of post race snacks for all finishers. The race shirt is from Under Armour and is going to be one of my favorites. And how cute are these crab medals?  Also, we couldn't have asked for better weather. I know it got pretty hot there towards the end of the race but it really was a beautiful day weather wise over all.

My teammates will each be posting about the Baltimore Marathon relay and their thoughts on their portion of the relay so please be sure to check them out as well!   Thanks!  -M

Check out Lacey's recap of the Full Marathon HERE.

Leg one of the relay Here.
Leg three of the relay Here.
Leg four of the relay Here.

*Some pictures courtesy of Heather.

                                 We will be linking up with the gals from TOTR.

Weekly Wrap...October 22

This weekend was a big weekend for races. The Baltimore Running Festival was this weekend, as well as the Runner's World Festival, and today is the Marine Corp Marathon.  Then of course lots of  friends were running local Halloween races and such.

My area had their big race festival going on this weekend too (5K on Friday night, 10K on Saturday, and of course the half marathon today). I probably could have gone to spectate for the half marathon like I did last year, but I decided to just hang out here at home and recovery from my busy weekend in Baltimore!

As far as workouts go this week, I took it easy and did NO running. I was very concerned about my nagging knee/IT band issue.  I haven't felt this pain in over 2 years so I wanted to be cautious for sure! I did a fair amount of stretching and foam rolling as a precaution.

I also had some reflexology done this week. This is the first time I've ever had this done and I'm not sure if I'm a fan. I enjoyed when she worked on the soles of my feet, but I did not enjoy when she worked on my toes, that hurt. I did not tell her that though because I wanted to get the whole experience since it was my first time. I did tell her I was having a slight issue with my knee and she worked on the part of the foot that effects the knees. I was hopeful it would feel better after that, but it really didn't. The pain actually started to feel worse. I could feel the pain thumping on the side of the knee just when I would be sitting still.  My only saving grace was that when I would run up and down the steps at my house, I did not feel any pain.  This gave me hope that just maybe I would be able to run a few miles pain free too.

I took it easy the rest of the week and then Friday we started our girls only race weekend. I picked up Megan and Ana and then we drove to Baltimore and met Lacey and Heather.  We don't live terribly far from the city but we wanted to be there and spend the night so we could just relax and not rush.

The race expo really wasn't anything to be excited about, same old stuff.  Since we were going to be doing the Marathon relay, we got to spend some time studying the large wall map and looking at our individual routes and exchange points.

After the expo we walked to the Inner Harbor and found a nice place to have dinner.  We got a great table outside and we watched the race tents and signage go up for the following day!

I will stop here and leave our race day recap for tomorrow since I'm sure it will be a bit lengthy!

Did you run this weekend? Have you ever had reflexology? -M


We are linking up with Holly and Tricia for their weekly wrap!

Fall Treats for a Party

Earlier this week I had some girl friends over for some Reflexology.  My mom had Reflexology done when we visited the Hershey Spa earlier this year and she said it was absolutely delightful.

I had booked a Reflexologist to come to my house and she agreed to work on me and a few of my friends. I decided to give our little get together a Fall theme and made all Pumpkin-y snacks.

Since this week’s Friday 5 is about Fall Foods, I thought I’d share what was on my table!

Here is the spread I had laid out.

It included:

1. Pumpkin Tarts (Had a Graham Cracker Crust and pumpkin filling)

2. Pumpkin Spice Pop Corn (Microwave pop Corn from Pop Secret)

3. Pumpkin Cookies (Packaged by Betty Crocker but mixed up and baked by me)

4. Pumpkin Trifles

5. Pumpkin doughnut holes (from the grocery store)

Then of course we washed it all down with some pumpkin Spice Soda!

Happy Friday guys!  -M

An InLinkz Link-up