NYC Half Marathon training week 1 + a trip to the clinic

Well, this Sunday didn’t start off the way it was supposed to.  First, it’s the day before we have to go back to work :( and I was supposed to meet my cousin for lunch over in Orlando.

On Friday my ear and jaw started hurting, I thought maybe allergies but the pain hasn’t subsided yet so I knew this morning I had to make my way to the walk in clinic knowing I had to go back to work tomorrow.  It hurts to open my mouth, to chew, drink, sleep, talk.. I love to talk and well, tomorrow we begin reviewing for finals.  I hate going to a doctor I am not familiar with, especially a walk in clinic.  When I walked in I thought I was going to leave with more than I came in with.  Oh Well!

I started my morning with my 2 mile recovery run and it was drizzling, windy, and a but chilly but I warmed up by mile 1.5 and then I was done, showered and off to the clinic.  

They prescribed me the same medicine my cat is on, we are twinzies!  While I was waiting I bought some potato chips and when the meds were still not done, I decided it was after noon and I needed a snack!

Keeping it classy!

Today completed my first week of NYC Half Marathon training and here is how it went:

Monday: 4 miles - 1 warm up, 1 cool down, 2 at tempo  (We don’t have a tempo pace yet because I have no idea where my fitness was

Tuesday: Rest - DONE, like a BOSS!

Wednesday: 3 Recovery

Thursday: Orange Theory Fitness, I almost died

Friday: I recovered and rested like a boss, again!

Saturday: Long Run 6 miles in the wind, and rain.  11:41 pace which was almost 50 seconds faster that last weeks long run (Last week was miserable)

Sunday: 2 mile recover

Overall: This week was a nice training week, especially with being off from work.  I managed 17.3 miles (Which include my miles at OTF)

How did your weekend go?

Any great plans during the week? - I just have a few doctors appointments and getting acclimated to work again.

happy new year!

Happy New Year!  

Are you tired of hearing that yet?  We are constantly being reminded on all our social media sites, Facebook, twitter, instagram, but I guarantee I will be writing 2015 for a few months.

How was your 2015?  How was your New Years?  

I have to say my 2015 was pretty spectacular.  My students are wonderful, we adopted 2 beautiful kitties, I got married, and during the last week of 2015 I finally found my running mojo.

It has been so long since I've been here, to be exact it was October so I should catch everyone up on things that went on.

August I had my bachelorette party that my best bridesmaids planned and threw and it was so much fun!  It was great to get to see some friends I don’t get to see too often and wear tutus and party :)

The girls relaxing poolside with a selfie stick

My amazing sorority sisters

In October, I went up to New York and my aunt threw me a fabulous bridal shower!  it was great to get to see family since many did not come to the wedding.

Not the best but sister, mom, me, and aunt in NY

No caption needed

November,  My mom, sister, and a few bridesmaids threw me my bridal shower and the day was absolutely perfect!  We are so blessed to have so many amazing people in our lives. 

Bridesmaids

Behn and I got married and it was perfect!  Well marrying him was perfect but the actual day was a HOT MESS!  We are still talking to Carnival Cruise lines about so many of the wrongs and all I want is for them to take some responsibility.  Yea, I would not recommend going that route for a wedding but it did come highly recommended to us.    With that we also went on a cruise, it was a blast.

Surprise cake for hubby

Welcome dinner...

In December, I was accepted to run the NYC Half marathon again and I am so excited about that.  I lost my running mojo back in February after running the Gasprilla challenge and getting into this race was just what I needed to get my up and going.  I hired Abby as my coach and I am looking forward to working with her.  (I'll talk more about that decision on 

another post)

We also celebrated Joey's birthday and tomorrow we will have had him for exactly 1 year

We also adopted our Toby to make us a family of four.

Just chillaxin at the vets

That purse is mine?

I really cannot wait to see what 2016 holds for my little family!

I will certainly go into many more details about all that is gong on but wanted to give you a quick recap of the last few months.

What resolutions or goals have you made this year?  

Mine is to be happy and healthy

How was your 2015? 

That time I won an award!

Yes it is true, I won an a race.  I actually placed in my age group.  Miracles do happen.

Many, many moons ago I signed up for the Lakeland 10 miler because it was on super sale and after hearing a friend say wonderful things about it, I figured...1.5 months before the wedding, I will be in nice shape for the wedding with all this running. Yea, well that isn't exactly how it went down. 

If you noticed, I haven't really been around this blog often because I haven't had much to write, or I didn't know what to write about even though I wanted to blog.  I haven't' been running because its hotter than the sun here in Florida and it's just not enjoyable.  I really tried to pound out miles but I simply didn't want to, and after talking to a few people, they all said the same thing; "Find something you like and do it".  And that's what I have been doing, I have been busting my butt at Orange Theory and I am loving it!  I may not have lost weight but I see my body changing.  Sorry, I talk on tangents.

Many weeks leading up to the race I didn't know exactly what I planned to do, "Do I run the 10 mile race as a long slow run, or do I run the 5 miler"? I was actually all ready to run the ten miler.  I had my fuel, I was mentally prepared to stick to my 12 minute miles (hey, I will go faster if I can!).  I et some friends before the race, HI Laura, Hi Wanda!  I went to the bathroom the obligatory 5 million times and I was ready to go.  It was nice and humid bit it is Florida so that is expected.  All was fine and dandy and we were off.

I settled into a nice pace, I was surprised how "quickly" I was going and then all of a sudden I feel my hair against my back.  What was going on?  My second hair tie fell out, and while that may not be a big deal to most, it is to me.  My hair is being grown out because I have a wedding to get ready for in less than a month, so that being on my back was no good!  I started to panic!  Next, at the water stop, I took some nice refreshing water and I almost had to spit it out.  I had ben having tooth troubles for about a month that anything that is sweet, cold, hard, I cannot chew. (I surprisingly can eat potato chips without a problem)  Well, this water was nice and cold and it throbbed. My tooth hurts so bad it gives me a headache.  I knew then I would either have to cut the race short or go the ten miles without water, yea I only finished the ten miles.  At that point I was about 2.3 miles and I decided I should pick the pace up and "race".  I use the term loosely because there is no racing being done and I am severely out of running shape. 

At the point of picking it up I actually started to pass people because I started nice and slow at the beginning thinking I was going to do the 10 miler.  I didn't stop at all, I made no walking or water stops, I just kept going.  At mile 4 I started to feel my lack of in-shape-ness but wasn't gong to quick.  My paces for the rest were around 10:30s or so, again, not fast for me!  My Half marathon PR is much faster than this pace.    I crossed the finish line oh so happy.  After a while of waiting around and socializing I made it to see the race results and saw the 5 mile times without my name, I was hoping this would be corrected but it wasn't until I went over to speak with the Fitniche timing.  After it was all corrected, my 11 min mile pace won first in the 20-29 Age group award.  Yes, my old lady self won first and it probably is the most exciting thing ever!!!

SLS3 Review and Giveaway!

Is it already August and where did the summer go?  

I guess it is time to get those fall goals in check!  The wedding is just over 3 months away and I have a marathon in just over 2 months.  Time is flying by!

At the beginning of the month I began Half Marathon training and all summer I have been busting my butt at Orange Theory Fitness.  I am loving every second of OTF and running has taken a back seat.  With all the running on the treadmill with bursts of speed, inclines, and using different running shoes my calves, shins and ankles have been screaming at me!  Luckily the nice people over at SLS3 contacted me about reviewing their compression socks.  I have always been a fan of compression and their Butterfly Compression Socks are dainty enough for me!  Compression is said to help your body recover and body perform better, whether it actually is true or just my brain, I think it works.  

To get the proper size I sent them my shoe size and how large my calves were.  I was nervous because I am short and have massive baby cows (calves).  They fit fabulous and they are super soft.  I thought the heel would show when my sneakers were on and they did not.  There is a size chart on their website to help you out.  

The first time I wore them I wore them to sleep after a 90 minute Orange Theory class and my lower body was the only part of my body that didn’t ache.  I then wore them to class the next day.  I like wearing these socks to class because my ankles and calves often hurt and burn on that treadmill when we do inclines and they give me the proper support my flimsy shoes do not give me.  Since then not only do I wear them around the house and to class, I wear them on my “long” runs.  I say “long” because the longest I have gone since the Gasparilla challenge is 7 miles. These are perfect around my neighborhood because the county doesn’t like to cut the grass so in the wee hours of the morning having material there helps keep the pollen off my legs and I am less itchy.  I also haven’t had to ice my calves since wearing them and fingers crossed this stays true.  

Here is some additional information pulled from the SLS3 website that I found interesting:

SLS3 Butterfly compression socks boost bloodflow by about 34%. This increases oxygen delivery to the working muscles to enhance their performance. The circulation improvements also help the body eliminate metabolic waste products like lactic acid more easily. The combination of these effects allows you to work longer and harder, delaying the onset of fatigue.

The SLS3 Butterfly compression socks offer more targeted, significant support to the achilles tendons, tibias, calves and ankles, thus boosting the ability to reduce common ankle and foot injuries. 

They are recommended for running, cycling, walking, triathlon, skiing, traveling and lots of other uses.

The supportive effect and compression of SLS3 Butterfly compression socks reduce muscle vibration drastically, which leads to less soft tissue damage and less sore muscles. Your recovery time will be significantly reduced

• • 20-30 mmHG of graduated compression

• • Seamless TekWeb technology
  • Muscle Stability
  • Increased Bloodflow
  • Web knit for more support of arch
• • Cooling effect and UV protection

SLS3 is allowing me to host a giveaway for a pair of free socks or sleeves! You can enter here:

It will end on August 21st and I'll announce the winner and they'll hook you up.  

In addition to the giveaway they are offering a discount of 40% using code GENNA40. This is a seriously generous discount. 

Good luck!  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Giveaway ends August 2015 at 11:59 PM EST. Open to Residents of the US only.  Prizes cannot be shipped to PO Boxes.  Winner will be selected by Rafflecopter through SLS3 and be notified by email. Winner have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is selected. Please note that R is For Running is not responsible for sponsors that do not fulfill their prizes.  I have represented the sponsor with the expectation they will fulfill their prize and in a timely manner. I will contact the sponsor regarding your prize(s). The sponsor, in most cases, are shipping their items to you directly. I will make every effort to assist you obtaining your prize. If there is an issue with a sponsor, please notify the blog you won a prize from within 30 days for assistance, after that we may be unable to assist you.  The product provided for the review was free of charge from the company. The product offered for the giveaway is free of charge, no purchase necessary. My opinions are my own and were not influenced by any form of compensation.  Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Google+ are in no way associated with this giveaway.  By providing your information in this form, you are providing your information to me and me alone.  I do not share or sell information and will use any information only for the purpose of contacting the winner.

Fun "Outtakes" from my handy photographer Fiance!