What's Your Threshold?

The other day I was reading a blog post where the author was talking about DNS  (did not start) and DNF (did not finish) in regards to racing.

This got me thinking about all the circumstances that one would encounter that could possibly make them not finish a race.  I have mentioned numerous times about how much pain I was in (due to ITBS) when I did my first marathon which was part of the Goofy Challenge. I did the Half marathon on Saturday and the full marathon on Sunday. Although it was painful to run, I never for a minute didn't think I would finish the race. I knew I would walk it on in to the finish if I had to, but I would not quite.

Finishers of the Goofy Challenge!

This reminded me of a story from the half marathon.  My sister and I were running together and after we were exiting the back lot of Magic Kingdom (which was around mile 5 or 6), there was a med tent there.  I may have stopped at the med tent to get Bio freeze, I don't really remember. But what I do remember was a young lady (probably in her 20's), that came up to the med tent and just nonchalantly asked the medic "What do I do if I want to quite?"  (Her exact words)

 I remember this instance so well. My sister must have heard this young lady too because at that time she looked at me and said "Don't even think about it, you're finishing this".

 I was never thinking about quitting but I was thinking about that girl and what could have possibly been so bad that she wouldn't be able to finish the last 7 or so miles of the race.  We were in an early corral (and I assume she was too since she was this far already) so she certainly would have had enough time to walk to the finish without being swept.  I wasn't doing so hot myself so I would have considered walking the rest of the race with her if it got her to the finish line. I wondered if it would have been her first half marathon.

So this got me wondering, what makes someone DNF?  Do you have to be physically down and out or would you DNF if you were mentally exhausted?  Would you even consider walking the rest of the way to the finish line or would you DNF if you know you can't make it by running?

What's your theory on this? -M

Running of the Elves

I don't have a book review for this week's TOTR topic but I do indeed have a little story to tell.....

On Saturday I ran the Running of the Elves 5K. I registered for this around Thanksgiving (cus I wanted to get in before the price increased), but I have to admit that a few days leading up to the race I was certainly thinking about just blowing it off.  The weather man made it sound like it was going to be SO cold on Saturday.  I had done a few runs earlier this week and was dressed properly (I thought) so I wasn't cold at all. I assumed I would wear something similar for race day and I would be fine.   However, I forgot that my runs during the week were done at 4:00 pm in the afternoon and the race on Saturday would be earlier in the morning.

On Saturday morning my running buddy text me to see if I was going and by that time I was already up and ready so he decided he would run too.

I don't think either one of us has ever ran a race in December before so we must have been expecting the worse. We both had layers upon layers on. I wore those tights I mentioned in my Weekly wrap, my Christmas socks, a running skirt,  a long sleeve race shirt, a (thin) fleece lined jacket, my windbreaker, and my Under Armour hood/mask.

My buddy wore thick pants, an Under Armour base layer, a T-shirt, a fleece zip up, and a pull over sweatshirt. Plus, he was kind of bummed that he didn't think to wear anything festive (since apparently he was more focused on staying warm) so I gave him that festive hat and God love him he wore it the entire time even though I knew he HAD to be hot.  Yes, we were WAY over dressed!

One fun thing about this race is that EVERYONE was decked out in holiday gear. There were runners in full Reindeer costumes, there was a snowman, multiple Santas and Mrs. Clauses, and a ton of elves.

Check out this dog that was there. He almost doesn't look real does he?

We all met in the cafeteria of the local high school and they had hot chocolate and donuts for the runners. We didn't have any though.  You could also purchase T-shirts. I understand this is a local race but I think t-shirts should be included in the registration. They had some "sale" shirts from previous years and there was even one design that didn't have any date on it.

They were actually nice long sleeve shirts and I considered purchasing a red one but when I came back around to this table they were gone.

Okay, lets get to the race start. Before we headed out, there was a nice candy cane arch set up that we could have got a photo under but we didn't.  There were no corrals but the race director did announce "Any 5 minute mile Runners come up front". At this point everyone chuckled and we all moved back. She called 6 and 7 minute milers to line up and then the rest of us just grouped together behind them.

Something unique about this race is that we were told that there would be gifts out and around the course and if we saw one to feel free to pick it up. My friend joked that "How would we know if something was a race gift or someone's yard decoration...haha".

We were off, I have to say that this was a very "fast" race, as most local races seem to be.  I was running an 8:35 minute mile and I still had so many people passing me that I felt as though I was in the back of the pack.

This is the race director dressed as Mrs. Clause leading the pack on her bike. (photo courtesy of the Race web site)

All of the on course volunteers were dressed in costume or holiday attire and that just added to the festivities of the race. After the first mile or so I realized how this gift thing worked. The volunteers  who were on the course were holding them. I saw one as I was turning a corner and as I went to run towards the volunteer I accidentally slowed down another runner and in that split second I thought I may trip her if I continue to run for the gift so I made the decision to just keep running on the course. I felt I was doing well anyway so I didn't feel bad not stopping.

Before I even left my house I thought about bringing my hand held water bottle but then thought for sure they would have water on the course so I left it behind. Turns out I should have brought it because my mouth and throat were SO dry and there were no water stops.   Another surprise on the course was a HUGE hill! We ran the hills of the local university. That was not fun. I ran the majority of it but just when we crested the peak of the largest one, I walked for a few seconds. Since I figured I was already behind my expected goal, I decided to just go ahead and grab the next gift I saw, except the girl in front of me snatched it first.

photo courtesy of the race website

This is my race buddy (see he's still wearing the hat) and behind him is Baylee's vet. Remember her from an earlier race this year?  They both ended up placing in their age groups!  I was happy with my finish time considering how over dressed I was and the surprise hills, but I didn't place. In fact, I came in 7th.

Instead of medals, they gave out these adorable Christmas ornaments for AG winners. I had seen them on the race web site and hoped that they were available for purchase, but now when I found out they were the awards, I thought that was very cool. what a great memento from the day's event.

Overall, I thought this was a great way to spend a December afternoon. The whole atmosphere was so festive and the weather was just fine. Had I known about the hills I wouldn't have signed up, so I'm glad I did it this once  to see that it wasn't that bad.  I was SO HAPPY that my friend won in his AG considering this was literally a last minute decision for him to sign up and run.  I think my dad wants to do the race next year, if so, I may do the race again and just concentrate on snagging a gift and not worrying about my finish time. That sounds like more fun, doesn't it? -M

We'll be linking up with the gals from TOTR.

Weekly Wrap... December 11

This past week actually started to feel like winter but I am proud to say that didn't keep me from getting out there and doing some runs.

I had a race on Saturday so I knew that during the week I needed to at least attempt some runs.

I started back at the gym this week and went consistently Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. As I looked back over my Garmin for the week, I'm not sure why I didn't run on Monday.

On Wednesday it was pretty over cast and chilly so I finally broke out a pair of long running tights from GAIAM.  GAIAM sent me these tights (and a long sleeve yoga shirt) to review two summers ago and since it was summer, I never wore them and I never reviewed them...womp womp. I actually thought they were just for yoga but since I was in need of long pants I thought I would give them a try. Turns out they worked perfect and kept me oh so warm.  I wore a long sleeve race shirt and my marathon jacket on the run and was more than warm enough. 

Since I hadn't run since Black Friday, Wednesday's run was just about getting back into the groove. I was only going to do 2 easy miles and stop and do the #RunChatHunt Scavenger hunt along the way.  Turns out my first mile was going amazingly, So I figured I would just use this run as "speed work" and just continue with the run without stopping. I am surprised at how good I felt.  I do a two mile loop because I start at the gym and run a loop on the north end of town and the two mile mark is right in front of my gym so that just works out. Plus, since I'm only training for a 5K, running two miles is plenty! I then spent the rest of my time at the gym .

I did the same thing on Friday, two mile loop and then a gym session. After my two runs this week I told myself I was ready for race day on Saturday. Do I have such a nonchalant attitude or what?

While at the gym one of my friends was telling me about a Christmas Tree farm/Christmas shop that she went too and she bought a black Labrador ornament. She said they had a ton of yellow lab ones and that I should check it out. So on Friday night after I cleaned up from the gym, Scott and I went to this place that claims to be the "Largest Christmas Shop" in the state.  And truth be told it was pretty huge. It had any kind of ornament you could imagine! It did have lots of dog breed ornaments but most of the lab ones weren't that cute. Apparently I have pretty high standards when it comes to Labrador stuff. 

However, this ornament completely caught my attention.

I noticed it said "Carrie in Paris" and I said to Scott, "Oh, that's like Carrie from Sex and the City" having no idea that when I turned the ornament over, the other side would actually say "Sex and the city" For a quick minute i thought about buying it for someone but then I saw that it was $20 and I thought that was kind of a high price for such a small ornament.  I noticed that this entire tree was themed with tv/movie ornaments.

Speaking of holiday decor, I mentioned to a blogger friend (who did a vlog of her holiday decor) that I may share mine too. However I was waiting on a piece that I order on Cyber Monday that hadn't arrived yet. 

I ordered this Lab pillow and when I checked out it said 3-4 days shipping. Well I tracked it on Saturday night and it said it would arrive on December 22!!! I was very disappointed to see this.  I checked it again today when I went to get this picture and it now says arrival between December 22 and January 7. WHAT????  I neglected to see that it was coming from China. See what happens when I see cute lab stuff. My heart goes to mush and my brain doesn't work. I would NEVER intentionally order something from China if I didn't need it. My sister ordered a dvd box set that was coming from there a few Christmases ago and it was just a disaster. 

Sorry this wrap went longer than I had intended. -M

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

New: 5 Products we gave a thumbs down

Since my last post apparently was not showing up, I'm going to try this one instead.   Like I mentioned last week, there are several items that we get to review and quite honestly, some of them we do not like!

Out of respect for the company that sent us the item, we DO try to find some redeeming qualities from the product. Afterall, a review is just one person's opinion and I would never buy or not buy an item just because of what one person says.  Just because I (or we) don't like an item, doesn't mean that it won't be a good fit for someone else. For that reason, we often try to just present the specifics of an item so people can make their own choice.

But right now, we are flat out telling you that these are items we won't be using again!

1     1. TRESemme Reverse System Shampoo and Conditioner – I love trying out hair products so I was so excited to get these large bottles of shampoo and Conditioner. The process is that you use the conditioner first and the shampoo second.  I used it this way for a few days and it only made my hair more knotted and elastic feeling. I than started using it the regular way (shampoo first and conditioner second)  and I still did not get the results I wanted.  I will say that the conditioner on its own (used after my regular shampoo) is actually okay.  I normally do like TRESemme products I just don't think this particular set is for me. 

2    2. The XCEL  Nail Polish System - This is supposed to be Gel nail polish without the use of the LED lamp. I have to say that for the time it took me to do all 4 of these steps, the result was definitely NOT worth the effort. The polish looked horrible on my nails. I don’t know if it was the color or if it was the way it was applied, but it was not good.  However, I do have another Gel nail kit that I love. It is called Sensationail. It takes several steps and has the LED lamp but this is SO worth it. You will get salon quality results!

3     3. I got the Coconut Cashew bar from Primal Kitchen to review in my Runner Crate recently.  I had high hopes for this because I like both cashews and coconut. I wont say that it was awful, but it just was not an appealing taste. It was a little too "nutty" and "seedy" for my liking and I did not like the texture. It was a bit too chewy and sticky. I brought this for my breakfast at work one day and as you can see from the picture of on the right, I stopped eating it at this point and threw the rest away. -M

I
       I almost feel guilty giving these next products a thumbs down because it's not like they are faulty or didn't perform well, it's just that I feel that they didn't add anything to my life (or performance) and for that reason I don't feel comfortable continuing to use them.  -L

3.       Capsimax-   I used this for the sole purpose of reviewing it and like with anything, its hard to say if it's the product that is making a difference in your performance or if it's just the amount of effort and energy you are putting into it yourself.  For that reason I've stopped using Capsimax and I will not become a customer of it. And yea know what, I'm doing quite okay without it.

4.       Aria Shoes-  Remember these oddly shaped shoes?  They were suppose to increase performance and speed because of their design. After wearing them for a few runs, I never really felt I could get into the groove. I have found other shoes that work better for me and for that reason I won't ever wear these again. 

Did you try any of these products?

An InLinkz Link-up

5 products that get a Thumbs Down

 Like I mentioned last week, there are several items that we get to review and quite honestly, some of them we do not like!

Out of respect for the company that sent us the item, we DO try to find some redeeming qualities from the product. Afterall, a review is just one person's opinion and I would never buy or not buy an item just because of what one person says.  Just because I (or we) don't like an item, doesn't mean that it won't be a good fit for someone else. For that reason, we often try to just present the specifics of an item so people can make their own choice.

But right now, we are flat out telling you that these are items we won't be using again!

1     1. TRESemme Reverse System Shampoo and Conditioner – I love trying out hair products so I was so excited to get these large bottles of shampoo and Conditioner. The process is that you use the conditioner first and the shampoo second.  I used it this way for a few days and it only made my hair more knotted and elastic feeling. I than started using it the regular way (shampoo first and conditioner second)  and I still did not get the results I wanted.  I will say that the conditioner on its own (used after my regular shampoo) is actually okay.  I normally do like TRESemme products I just don't think this particular set is for me. 

2    2. The XCEL  Nail Polish System - This is supposed to be Gel nail polish without the use of the LED lamp. I have to say that for the time it took me to do all 4 of these steps, the result was definitely NOT worth the effort. The polish looked horrible on my nails. I don’t know if it was the color or if it was the way it was applied, but it was not good.  However, I do have another Gel nail kit that I love. It is called Sensationail. It takes several steps and has the LED lamp but this is SO worth it. You will get salon quality results!

3     3. I got the Coconut Cashew bar from Primal Kitchen to review in my Runner Crate recently.  I had high hopes for this because I like both cashews and coconut. I wont say that it was awful, but it just was not an appealing taste. It was a little too "nutty" and "seedy" for my liking and I did not like the texture. It was a bit too chewy and sticky. I brought this for my breakfast at work one day and as you can see from the picture of on the right, I stopped eating it at this point and threw the rest away. -M

I
       I almost feel guilty giving these next products a thumbs down because it's not like they are faulty or didn't perform well, it's just that I feel that they didn't add anything to my life (or performance) and for that reason I don't feel comfortable continuing to use them.  -L

3.       Capsimax-   I used this for the sole purpose of reviewing it and like with anything, its hard to say if it's the product that is making a difference in your performance or if it's just the amount of effort and energy you are putting into it yourself.  For that reason I've stopped using Capsimax and I will not become a customer of it. And yea know what, I'm doing quite okay without it.

4.       Aria Shoes-  Remember these oddly shaped shoes?  They were suppose to increase performance and speed because of their design. After wearing them for a few runs, I never really felt I could get into the groove. I have found other shoes that work better for me and for that reason I won't ever wear these again. 

Did you try any of these products?









An InLinkz Link-up

Not sure why the text of this blog post is not showing. 

Now I can sit back and relax!

So, after reading what other bloggers have learned during their time running in 2016, I thought I would take my turn to reflect.

 I know I mentioned this before but I think this year was all about me finding balance 

 Since I have been taking up more group fitness classes I did find that my runs suffer a bit (not during the run, but just finding the time to run).

 I know cross training is a good thing, but whenever I did classes, I didn't do a run that day. On the other hand, on days I did run, I did feel much stronger and could tell that it makes a difference in my runs so I guess maybe it comes down to the quality of the run, not quantity. 

Also, another thing that I mentioned before, is not to put so much pressure on myself. When I do, it reflects in my run and I do not perform the way I'd hope to.

A perfect example is Chicago. In the back of my head my hope was to qualify for Boston, but if I did not, I knew that there would be other races and other opportunities to try again. Now that I qualified, I feel like all my races from here on out can be pressure free because I already proved to myself what I wanted to do and succeeded. So now I can just run for fun and remember why I do to begin with, for enjoyment. -L

What I've learned from Running this year

This year of running has been much different for me than years past because I was more focused on staying injury free than anything else.

The greatest thing that I learned this year was that it can indeed be done. Yes it's going to take time and DEDICATION, but I can do it. I may not be as injury prone as I thought. Like anything in life, you get out of it what you put in.

I learned that I can indeed PR again. I got a marathon PR this year (which I don''t know if I should actually celebrate or not because it was only my second Marathon and the first was ran injured. I'd be pretty bummed if I didn't PR..haha)

I learned that I actually enjoy running local races! Up until this year all my races have been Race-cations! I've really enjoyed running smaller races. I like the familiar courses and having friends and family there.

I learned that I can win AG awards! 2016 was the first year I actually placed in any race. That is a great feeling. I don't know if I'll be able to do it again next year, but that's okay. I enjoyed snagging two AG medals this year!

I also have to give credit to Wendy from Taking the Long Way home for confirming a thing or two when it comes to running.

I've learned that if you have the right pair of running shoes, there is no need to "break them in". Wendy confirms this.  I bought my favorite Mizunos on Saturday and then wore them to the 4th of July race on Monday with out incident!

I've also learned that there really is no need to stretch before a run! If you don't believe me, read Wendy's post HERE!

And a big Thank you to all of you for your encouraging words and words of wisdom throughout the year. I'm sure both Lacey and I learned a little something from each of you this year.

                                   We will be linking this post up with the gals from TOTR.