Join me as I travel around the country to fulfill my goal of running a marathon or half marathon in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

You know you have a problem when...

you seriously consider spending 50 cents on a Nutrigrain bar just so you can get to the Reece's Pieces behind it in the vending machine at work. 
You can't hide from me Reece's
On the other hand, somehow (probably by the grace of God), I found these at the grocery store and managed to not walk out with them:
Haha! I like how they try to make these sound healthy. Ummm, you aint foolin' nobody with that gooey-cheesy goodness.
In addition to poor nutrition, I've also been a terribly lazy blogger. I'll have to just quickly re-cap the past week. It's okay, you guys really love my schmorgisborg of topics in blog posts, don't you? (Are you impressed that I just guessed how to spell schmorgisborg and Urban Dictionary confirmed that I have excellent phonetic skills? I am.) Oh geez, quit your cryin' - it's mostly pictures ;)

 I was supposed to do a 17 miler on Sunday, but I was too tired from singing along with this hunk: (by tired I mean hungover)
You get your nasty cigarette out of my picture and away from Tim McGraw's armpit!!

Don't worry, your armpits are safe now, Tim.
 Instead of running I went to visit my great-grandma:
Isn't she adorable?! Love her to pieces.
 ...and help my aunt pack:
 I tried to do my long run on Monday after work because I don't want to fall behind on marathon training at all.
I spent a significant amount of time mapping out this stupid run.
There were several things wrong with this plan. #1 being that I cannot mentally prepare myself for 17 miles after a full day of work. #2 being that I obviously went right after I got home from work and didn't eat dinner - my stomach doesn't know what it's like to not have food every 2 hours and revolted against me. #3 being that this put a little wrinkle in my plan: 
Dayumm, Feds are gettin' stingy. Who closes a park at 5? People work til 5, ya know?! I had 4.5 miles planned behind these gates :(
Anyways the jist of the story is that it was a sucky run. Walked a lot, almost puked from hunger, and only completed 14 of the 17 miles. Oh well, back on track next Sunday. Wait, that's my birthday. No promises.

In other randomness, I would like to profess my love for craigslist. My best friend and I are backpacking through Ireland in Oct/Nov and I wanted one of those legit, monstrous hiking backpacks. A woman on craigslist was selling the one she had fitted to her height of 5'8", which happens to be my height too! I got a $350 backpack for $70. Now that's what I'm talkin' about. I'll take on any of those crazy coupon people on TLC any day. Just kidding, their savings are no joke! :)
And because I love learning about y'all:
1. Have you ever tried to do a long run other than on a weekend morning? Even though I'll probably never do it again, do you have any tips?
2. Does marathon training ever get in the way of your social life?
3. What's the best deal you ever got on craigslist?

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Nice pack! I never had any good deals with craigslist yet, but i intend to sometime soon

Education: Exploring Online Learning said...

1. I did 16 miles before work once. (But before I was a teacher.) I got through it because I was told I couldn't or wouldn't.
2. Marathon training (esp. with a husband training for the same marathon and a baby) takes most of Saturday. And I'm finicky about food.
3. My first ipod was from craigslist. And several sets of Legwarmers tickets.

Annette@(running)In the Right Direction said...

1. Have you ever tried to do a long run other than on a weekend morning? Even though I'll probably never do it again, do you have any tips? Yes, mostly because I had a big event on the weekend...or if I know I am going to not be in "training" mode...aka having a few cocktails. I am a teacher so I will get a sitter or just wake super early and be home by the time my husband has to leave.

2. Does marathon training ever get in the way of your social life? UM...absolutely! I didn't realize how much it would...this is my first. But it certainly does. I feel like I either have a run the next day or I'm super tired from a run. Dull and boring annette the runner!

3. What's the best deal you ever got on craigslist? Play yard for my kids...sells for 650 in stores...i bought for 100 and then sold it for the same price three years later!!!!!

Michael said...

Well if you passed on the pretzels and the Reese's you have done better than me. I can't seem to say no to anything lately....I'm in a terrible bad eating funk.

I'm impressed that you managed 14 after work. No way I could do that, my long runs have to be on the weekend or no dice...I'm just too slow of a runner I'd be running til midnight.

LisasFitLife said...

Sometimes I'll complete a long run during the week. But it has to be early in the day or else I get side tracked or who in the heck wants to run 15 miles plus after 8 hours of work :(

Margot (fasterbunnyblog) said...

I bought my road bike on craigslist! (although the fit isn't perfect so maybe I should think about that...).

I have done like 14 before work (I travel on weekends a lot so I had to do lots of long runs during the week!). No real tips though...just try to go to bed early (of course).

Alyssa said...

1. I did 17 miles BEFORE work last week. It required a 3am wakeup call but there was no way in hell I was doing it after.
2. Marathon training gets in the way of my social life like crazy. But, my real friends will plan stuff when I can do it, so I feel like a lot of the stuff I miss is like happy hours that are maybe a 5 or 6 on a fun scale of 1-10, so who cares. If there is something big (ex. concert) I'll rearrange my schedule around it. Plus I'm old and married so many times watching a movie and going to bed at 9:30 on a Friday night IS my social life.
3. We got the most comfortable chair ever and an ottoman for $1 total on craigslist. Our couch was bought new and quite a bit more than that, and 90% of the time I'm sitting in our $1 chair.

Happy early birthday! Glad you had fun at the concert!

Angela @ SF Road Warrior said...

Hi Sam! I just found your blog! :)

1. Have you ever tried to do a long run other than on a weekend morning?

I can't say I've ever done a long run on a weekend morning EVER, not counting races. I am normally a weekend afternoon / evening kind of runner. I think my top tip for afternoon / evening long runs is "don't be a morning person;" without the adrenaline of race day, I am really incapable of being functional enough to run before, say, 2 pm.

Now weekday long runs...ugh. Those are right up there with root canals and pap smears; occasionally, they just have to happen. I pretty much get through it by just repeating to myself, "You don't have a choice, it has to get done. You don't have a choice, it has to get done."

2. Does marathon training ever get in the way of your social life?

For me, training getting in the way of social life is pretty much the normal state of things. I try to juggle a little to keep them from interfering as much as possible, but inevitably conflicts happen and it has to be one or the other. Sigh.

Little Miss Runshine said...

I'm sorry about your bad long run! I had a bad long run this morning. But not as bad as yours! I just felt so tired. I haven't been doing a lot of miles so I knew in my heart I shouldn't do longer than 8 or so. I wanted to do 13, but I had to go to the bathroom so just tried to get a slow 8 in. I did, but didn't feel great!

I have done a long run on a weekday. I got up SUPER early. I brought my phone just in case I needed help. I did a very boring route and looped areas until it got light out. I brought water and gu. Make sure you eat a good breakfast too! I had my normal long run breakfast: oatmeal, banana and half a bagel. BUT having said all that, sometimes long runs just are bad runs! Better the long training run than the race! Hope your next run goes better!

Fruit Fly said...

"ONLY" 14?? I'd be so happy if I could whip out 4 on some days after work - and 14 on a good day of the weekend. But 14 after work is freaking impressive!!

Richelle said...

1. I pounded out a long run four days after my previous run, but it was still on the weekend, so I suppose it doesn't really count. I had moved into my new condo that weekend, so that's the reason why.

2. Sometimes, training does get in the way of my social life. Most of the times, it's work. :)

3. I haven't purchased anything via Craiglist yet, but my fiance is going to be looking at a china hutch tomorrow on his day off.