Speedwork, Tacos and Great Deals!

Thank you to everyone who replied to my post about change needed in my training plan!  SPEEDWORK seems to be the most common response to the questions. I am taking your great advice and will now be incorporating speedwork into my training starting this week!  I have a new training plan that I will be following for my next marathon in February, 2012 and believe me, speedwork is definitely a part of it.  I am optimistic that I will see some improvement which will result in a marathon PR!

My long run this week was for a whole 13 miles.  It was the longest run I have completed since my marathon on October 9th.  It felt good to get back out there and start working towards another goal that will bring me a little bit closer to my goal of a BQ.  I am not sure how long I will be chasing Boston but I am determined to get there someday!

My Friday night was pretty fun.  The whole gang took the 45 minute trip to eat carne asada tacos at our favorite taco truck, El Taquito!  I used to live out that way so I grew up eating these tacos.  I ate four tacos and had an agua de pina(pineapple water) to wash it all down. It was delish and then we finished the night off at Yogurtland.  We actually hit up two locations in search of different flavors that we had never tried before. We did find Kona Coffee Blend, Taro and Matcha Green Tea, so my husband took advantage of these flavors and the rest of us waited until the next stop to get ours since they did not have two of my favorites. I had my usual, Red Velvet Cupcake Batter, Devil's Food Cupcake Batter and Pistachio topped off with almonds and walnuts! My daughter and her boyfriend had never been to Yogurtland before so they over-indulged.  Can you guess which ones belong to them?

Buster is still here and boy did he have a surprise waiting for us when we got home on Friday night.  I usually leave him in the garage when I am going to gone for a while but on Friday night he was not having it. When we got home we discovered that Buster had bitten his way through the security screen door and made his way into the house.  I am not sure how he did it but he did!! He did some damage to his little mouth so I think we got the message...Buster wants to be in the house and not the garage! We have been honoring his request as long as he stays in his designated area and he has been good so far.



Buster destroyed the security screen door!!

Notice the redness around his mouth!  Poor Buster!

Buster was hiding out after that episode!!

Other than Buster's incident, I had a pretty relaxing weekend and did my long run in Bonelli Park early Saturday morning which resulted in a pretty lazy Sunday. I missed church and stayed in bed watching David Tutera's "My Fair Wedding."  I think I might have even fallen asleep for a bit here and there!  I can't wait to see Chic Runner's wedding on the show which is due to air in February, 2012. 

Deal of the week!

After my run on Saturday, I took care of all my errands like grocery shopping, pet food shopping and the boys got their haircut.  I also stopped by Kohl's to see what they had and ended up scoring a pretty good deal on some Nike running shorts. They were on clearance for $6.00 and I had a coupon for another 30% off, which resulted in a pretty good deal...$4.20 each!  DEAL!!  I was pretty excited about it since running clothes can be pretty pricey in the absence of a good sale or coupon.

I am excited that the weather has finally decided to cool down a little bit this week since it makes my training a little easier.  The temperature has been in the upper 80's to low 90's lately so the change is appreciated. 

Have a great week!

I've Got Some Good News and Some Bad News......

This pretty much sums it up for me with my marathon one week away!

I had a very easy week and managed to get 22 miles or so in this week. The Long Beach Marathon is just a week away and I feeling nervous yet anxious all at the same time.  I ran 10 miles on Friday and 8.3 miles on Sunday because I have been having some pain in my left calf close to my Achilles tendon.  I did a little bit of Googling and think that I may be coming down with a case of Achilles tendinitis!  Just what I needed after the ten day forecast shows great marathon weather!  The pain is really low on my calf and I am almost positive that I have self-diagnosed correctly.  I found some great videos on YouTube on how to deal with this and I have been foam rolling, icing, doing wall push-ups and taking ibuprofen.  I am hoping that I can kick this within the next week and still be able to run Long Beach without any major problems. In any case I will be out there running/walking/limping/crawling/crying, etc.  I refuse to earn my first DNF but will settle for a PW!

Now on to the positive things! I was shopping at Target on Friday and finally decided to buy some Quaker Steel Cut Oats and give them a try.  I see them all of the time but am always hesitant to try them. I am glad that I gave in because I fell in love with them! The only problem is that they take a good 20-25 minutes to prepare and I usually do the instant stuff at work. I threw some brown sugar and bananas on top and washed it all down with milk.  I love milk and just can't live without it! My favorite breakfast to date has been Perfect Oatmeal with brown sugar and nuts from Starbucks but I think I have found something new that I really, really like! I am also overjoyed that it keeps my tummy full for a long time!   

I also scored some great deals at the Nike Outlet this weekend.  I had a $25 off of a $50 purchase coupon and purchased two new running tanks.  I own quite a few of them already but some of them are not in the greatest shape anymore.  I bought a hot pink one and a gray one which match up with most of the Tempo shorts that I already own.  I also bought a new running skirt from lululemon but no special deal on this purchase!  Lulu sells out of the cute stuff so quickly that you are forced to pay full price for their stuff.  I only splurge at lululemon once in a blue moon when I think I deserve it. To be honest, I often find myself making up excuses for deserving new running clothes or other gear!

In closing I want to wish all of you GOOD LUCK in your upcoming races.  I know that The Long Beach Marathon and the Chicago Marathon will both take place on October 9th so don't forget to tell me all about it! It is always great to hear how hard work/training pays off and results in great races and PR's!

Great Deals and 22 Miles!

On Saturday I found some amazing deals at the REI Used Gear Sale.  My husband was hoping to score a great deal on a used road bike but you have to camp out for a great deal like that and I wasn't about to do that!  There was tons of people at the sale by the time we arrived and we saw lots of good things in other people's hands like Garmin GPS watches, road bikes, bike racks and running strollers.  REI has a great return policy for their members who pay their lifetime $20.00 membership fee. Due to this great return policy, their customers return everything and anything they can and then REI has this great sale every three months or so for the rest of us. I think I even saw a pack of toilet paper at the sale! Really, no joke but I guess it is safe to assume that it wasn't used!  I was able to grab a few things at some great prices that are gently used.  I am not usually into buying used items but I couldn't pass these items up.  Here is what I scored:

1) A pair of Pearl Izumi All-Road Bike Shoes for my spinning classes that I can never seem to make it to. These retail for $85.00 and I haven't bought a pair because I wasn't ready to pay that much for them especially when I have a hard time getting to the classes due to time conflicts.  The tag says that they were only worn twice and returned because they were too tight in the toe area. I paid $20.00 for these! They don't look worn at all to me so I was excited when I saw these laying on the ground all by their lonesome! I now have a good reason to start going to spin class again and sticking to it! Hopefully I don't get athlete's foot from my new but used shoes!

2. I also picked up these Amphipod Running Belts for $9.00 and $12.00.  They don't include the water bottles but I don't think I would want to drink out of used water bottles anyway. Now I have three running belts and they are all different so depending on what I want to carry with me on any given day, I now have a variety to choose from! I paid $40.00 for the one that I already own so this was a excellent deal!

3. This item was not part of the used gear sale but my son has been bugging me to buy this for him because he gets tired standing out on the course waiting for me to finish my races! He tells me that I take too long. I guess that is his way of telling me that I am too slow!

My son and my niece Kia'a trying out the new chair

On Sunday morning I ran 22 miles which is my last super long run before the Long Beach Marathon on October 9th. I didn't do as well as I thought I should have so I am hoping for the best! I was hoping to get it done much faster but I didn't and I have no excuses. I am hoping that the adrenaline and excitement that I usually feel on race day will carry me to the finish line!

Hey, It's Free!!

The one thing I love about my birthday is all of the free offers that I receive from all of the restaurants and shops that I frequent.  This year I collected a ton of freebies and I am pretty excited about it! Here is what I collected this year:

1) Free Scoop of Ice Cream from Baskin-Robbins

2) Free Dinner from Soup Plantation

3) Free $30.00 Dinner from Benihana (This is one of the best offers!)

4) Free Birthday Burger from Red Robin

5) $10.00 Gift Card from Macy's

6) $10.00 Gift Card from Kohl's

7) Free Birthday Brownie from Buca di Beppo

8) Free Birthday Dessert from TGI Fridays

9) Free Drink from Starbucks

10) Free Meal from El Torito

11) Free Meal from Hooter's

12) $10.00 Free Game Play at Dave and Busters

13) Free Meal from Mimi's Cafe

14) Free Medium Tots or drink from Sonic

15) Free Movie Rental from Redbox

I'm sure you know that most restaurants will give you a free dessert if you dine with them on your birthday.  One of the best desserts ever is the pizookie from BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse.  A chocolate chunk pizookie (pizza cookie) with vanilla bean ice cream is my all time favorite and my greatest weakness!

I will be busy the next couple of weeks redeeming all of my free offers, meals and desserts and gaining lots of weight! Am I missing out on any good offers?  Let me know if I am.