Hoka 10k 2018

Hoka 10k 2018

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The Domestication of Lisa

I'm the furthest thing from a housewife, but, lately, things are happening that scare me. I think God is trying to domesticate me! HELP! I find myself wanting to cook things...cook?! I'm looking up recipes and actually buying the ingredients to cooks them. I also find that the idea of having children doesn't annoy me as much. I'm still confident that I'll never be ready but I'm actually starting to consider kids as an option for my future. Wow...never thought I'd say that!
I also find myself wanting to participate more in holiday decoration. I was sad to see all of the Halloween decorations in my neighbors' yards because I wanted mine to look as cool! I decided I would start hitting up the clearance sales at stores after each holiday to start collecting decorations for future years.
Finally, I'm finding myself trying to develop relationships with other women in my church. I'm usually very shy and tend to stick with my group of friends or just my husband. Lately I've been connecting more with other women and feeling ok with it! Crazy!
These are just a few things on my mind lately. But it's enough to scare me! I think I might be growing up as I enter my 30's.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Goldrush Sangria

Mr. Boo and I went apple picking with some church friends this morning so I knew I had to think of fun things to do with all of the apples. Tonight, we are going to a Drinks & Desserts Party for married couples without kids...so I thought "I must bring a fun apple drink!" :) I did a lot of research and didn't quite find what I was looking for...so I used ideas from other recipes and came up with what I'm calling The Goldrush Sangria.
 

Ingredients:
1 bottle Pinot Grigio
2 1/2 cups Apple Cider
1/2 cup Spiced Rum
2 medium Goldrush Apples, diced
Cinnamon, a couple of shakes :)
 
First, I poured the bottle of wine into the pitcher and followed that with the apple cider. I was going to leave it at that but I couldn't get spiced rum off of my mind. I tasted a little sample of the first concoction with a little of the spiced rum...I was undecided and had Mr. Boo taste it. He encouraged me to GO FOR IT! So I added the rum. After putting in the diced goldrush apples, I put it in the fridge to let it chill for an hour. I was dying to try it to see if it tasted better chilled. Then I thought, "I wonder what it would be like with some cinnamon?" What did this Martha Stewart do? I added cinnamon, of course...and there you have it:
 
 
Goldrush Sangria. I hope others will enjoy!



Wednesday, October 24, 2012

My Next Goal: Becoming a Lean, Sexy Woman!

 
If I've learned anything this year it's that I have to set a fitness goal or I'll never make it to the gym/do anything physically active. Earlier this year it was the Run Cbus 10 miler...then the Race for the Cure 5K...and, finally, the Columbus Marathon. Anyone notice a trend?! RUNNING! I'm ready for a slight change. I still love running (probably always will), but I also love weightlifting.
 
For the next 10 weeks, until our Jamaican vacation, I'll be doing:
The Lean, Sexy Woman Workout by Jamie Eason (you can check it out here)!
It's actually a 12 week program but Jamaica happens in 10...and, let's be honest, I'm doing everything BUT workout when I'm there! Can I get a cocktail, please?!
Seriously, though...I'm thinking about taking weekly pictures to show my physical progress. I'll also incorporate cardio, of course. Less running. I'll continue with Hip Hop Fitness and probably check out some of the classes at the Y. I'm also interested in spin class and swimming. SO MANY GREAT OPTIONS!!!
Stay tuned for my experience :)


Monday, October 22, 2012

My [2nd] Marathon Story

If you saw my finishing time, 5:03:21, you probably figured out that things didn't go the way I had planned :) God had another plan and it was to teach me perseverance...but not the way I would have liked! To be completely honest, I was initially disappointed in myself. I was so mad that I didn't beat the time I got in my first marathon. But then I remembered the reason I was there. I was running for all of the kids at Nationwide Children's Hospital. Their stories are so inspiring. That, along with the cheers of my family and supporters (and God, of course!), helped me to cross that finish line. How could I be disappointed?! Here's my marathon story (I'll apologize early for some of the picture quality):
 
Me pre-race with the wicked city lights:
 
I may look comfortable, but it's frickin' freezin' out there! Here's a pic of the start line near 3rd and Broad:
 
Waiting to start was not fun. It was so cold...I was anxious...and my hips were hurting from being so cold! So I impatiently waited for this moment:
My chance to cross the start line!!! This was it...I was about to go on my longest running journey since my previous marathon in 2005. The first 3 miles were exciting...lots of supporters. Then we arrived in Bexley, where lots and lots of peeps were waiting to cheer us on. This is where my friends Lindsay and Jenny intended to see me run but they must have just missed me! It felt great knowing that they were going to be there to support me, so I didn't mind that I didn't see them. They were there in spirit! Then we headed back down Broad towards German Village and around Schiller Park. I saw lots of places I would have LOVED to stop and eat or grab coffee...but I had work to do! After this, we made our way back to High St. towards downtown where the 1/2 marathoners were getting ready to finish and where I had two things on my mind:
1) sneaking to the finish with the 1/2 marathoners
2) figuring out where I could use the bathroom! Yay for Port-O-Potties!
 
Now comes the second half of what felt like hell. At the halfway point, I still felt ok. Yes, I just finished a half marathon, but I was rockin' it. We made our way through the Short North...the place I will always remember as having the least amount of supporters. It actually kinda shocked me. I thought this area would be packed...especially since we had past the halfway point and were going for the long haul.
Now we were heading towards The Shoe. Here I am running through (the audience was in the student section):
 
Jimmy, his mom, step mom, and step sister were there to support me. Joan, Jimmy's step mom, made this sign:
 
It was awesome to see! It was after The Shoe (around miles 17 and 18) that things went to crap. That hip pain I had been blogging about the last few weeks of training...it came back to haunt me. It was accompanied by this insanely intense left foot pain...both of which worsened as the race went on. Fortunately, being a PT, I know when my body needs to stop or take it easy, and my body was telling me to slow down. At that point in the race, I began to walk periodically. As the miles went on, the pain grew more intense. I seriously have never felt this pain while running before...not even during my first marathon. I just wanted to cry...and did. When I began to get emotional, my breathing was out of whack. I began to hyperventilate. At that moment, I was doing some major praying. I did NOT want to quit...I was only 6 miles away!
These were the hardest and most intense 6 miles of my life. I did more walking than running. The pain was insane. The only thing that kept me going was knowing that I would disappoint a lot of people if I quit (that is probably false but it was my thought at the time). It was all a mental game at this point. I had to know that God would get me through this insane experience. We finally made our way through Upper Arlington, Grandview, and Victorian Village...and then I knew this was in my very near future:
 
 
 
THE FINISH LINE!!!
I had never been so happy to see a finish line in my entire life! It seriously took EVERYTHING in my power to run the last 1/4 mile so I wasn't embarrassed to walk through the finish. I only wish someone had noticed my pain so that I could have been carried through!
 
I have no regrets about the decision to do this despite the many ups and downs with my training and the race itself. I am SO thankful for the support of my family and friends through this process. Especially my boo for dealing with my training. I said to myself that I would never do a full marathon again but a guy during the race said, "I said the same thing 4 or 5 marathons ago!" That testimony scares me!  I don't foresee one in the near future...for now I'll stick with races 13.1 miles or less :) Here's my physical reward for my race:
Thanks again to everyone who supported me!

Sunday, October 14, 2012

MARATHON WEEK!!!!

 
I can't believe it's finally here!!! I have trained SO LONG and hard for this race. I've had a great week...of course, training was easing since things are winding down. I've had that weird hip pain the last couple of weeks, but, this week, I really babied it. Instead of doing all running, I incorporated some swimming. I felt like I was working just as hard, but my hip started feeling better. I'm going to try to enjoy this week and reflect on the task ahead of me. Here is me before my very first marathon in 2005:
 
If only I knew what I was about to get myself into! What an amazing and challenging experience! This is me after the race (with my youngest sister and her friend):
 
I survived that one...I know I will survive this one. I would encourage everyone who can come out to do so! It really is SO ENCOURAGING to see people you know (and complete strangers) cheering you on! Honestly, that is what keeps us going strong. I decided that I'm not going to bring my music and headphones. I really want to take in my surroundings and enjoy exploring Columbus. Plus, I want to hear everyone cheering me on! If you are interested in checking it out, go to columbusmarathon.com and it will give you all the info you need about the course, parking, etc. If you can't come out, please say a huge prayer that I finish injury free, meet my goal, and, most importantly, enjoy myself despite how my body says I feel!
 
Also, if you want to track my times, go to this link:
If you type in my name, it will allow you to sign up to get texts about my times on a few different spots during the course. Also, it will post it to facebook and/or twitter if you are interested in keeping up with my progress :) I would encourage my family to check this out! It will make me feel like you are there!

Monday, October 8, 2012

Love Thy Neighbor?!

I've actually had no problem loving my neighbors up to this point (the ones at the back of our house)...I just think my neighbors can't stand us! When we moved into our home, the woman of the household brought us some yummy cookies to welcome us to the neighborhood. She was so nice and I would talk to her anytime I would see her outside. I was never formally introduced to her husband but I see him out all the time. He's not quite as friendly...I always thought maybe he was a little shy and just liked to keep to himself. 
Two years later, things are completely different. They NEVER say hi or wave...they actually seem to want to avoid us! What went wrong?! What did we do to cause this?!
 
I think one reason may be Izzie, our mini Australian Shepherd. I think she's a sweetheart, but she's insane if she doesn't know you...very protective, very territorial. She barks like a maniac at our male neighbor and the kids the female neighbor babysits (she has a daycare at her home). I always feel tension in those situations. I try to stop Izzie but she can't be stopped...she's hard to catch and she doesn't listen to commands when she's barking at them.
 
Just when I thought things couldn't get more awkward with our neighbors, the following happened:
 
My puppy girls were outside and I was ready for them to come in so I could chill a little. I said the "come" command which usually gets a response...but today they were being brats. I finally had to get mean and loud with the command...they still didn't respond and come in the house. At the point, I noticed a couple of my neighbors blinds were pulled down (as if they were peeking out). I'm sure it was because they heard me yelling at my dogs. I finally was able to get my dogs in and noticed they were still peeking! Weird. When I got into the house, I looked out my kitchen window and they were still peeking. So what did I do?! I stared back, of course :) I'm such a jerk. I stared until they realized I knew they were being creepy.  I know I should have just ignored it but it's creepy to sneak a peek at people like that...
 
I don't know how to make things less awkward with these people. I'm sure they're convinced that my family and me are insane. I thought about inviting them to one of our many parties but they are older so I doubt they would come. Maybe I can get them a nice bottle of wine at Christmas...I dunno. Any suggestions?
 
 


Sunday, October 7, 2012

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Week 16: I'm in a Running Funk

Not gonna lie...I'm ready for this race to get here!!! I'm still VERY excited (and nervous) about doing a FULL marathon, but I am getting so tired of the commitment to training for it! I'm just ready to expand my workout options. I still love to run, but I've been running 4-5 days a week for the entire year and I'm ready to hit up the gym again. Fitness classes, circuit training, swimming, spin class, lifting...I miss it all! I will still continue to do some running...enough to keep me in shape for my next training program. I'm just bored and need a change.
 
Enough whining.
 
Training was messed up this week (to say the least). I had to go to Toledo for training and that totally jacked up my routine. I got back into it on Wednesday with a tough circuit training workout. I'm still sore from that! Then I did a tempo run the next day. I can still feel that hip thing I started getting last week. Today, I changed it up a bit to help with my current funk. I did 8 miles instead of 12, then I went to the Y to do some swimming with my boo. I didn't realize how much that works the legs!
 
I just need to be mentally tough at this point so that I can make it through the last 2 weeks of training. With regards to mileage, it will be the easiest two weeks of the entire program. I hope I can stay focused and motivated so that I can come close to my goal on race day!