Country Fried Weekend

Brad totally surprised me last week when he suggested we go see Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan in concert in Atlanta this weekend. Um... YES!

I'm a sucker for live music of all types, but country music in an outdoor setting? SIGN ME UP. Not to mention, Luke Bryan is pretty.

I digress.

So we bought some tickets and headed to Atlanta on Friday night. Short tangent:  We bought our tickets on StubHub and the seller put the row in wrong. We thought we were getting row BB and they were actually row BBB. StubHub took care of it, found us comparable tickets (row BB in another section) without charging us a cent extra. Thank you Fan Guarantee.

This was the first time we'd driven to ATL from Asheville and I was pleasantly surprised to find out it only took us 3 hours to get there (you know I'm looking at races there now!). We got in around 10pm and headed out to find some drinks.

We ended up at this bar, it reminded me of a lot of bars in Lexington. There were people playing corn hole and just hanging out. There was an AMAZING DJ there, I really wanted to ask if she could make me a playlist for all my races but I didn't want her to laugh in my face.

Saturday we got up and did some shopping. The mall we went to had a Nike Running store. Just running. LOVE. I got some sunglasses that I'll take a picture of at some point and share with you all. I ran 10 miles in them today and they didn't budge.

Then we went to Rosa Mexicano for an early dinner. We ate at the one in NYC and knew we had to eat here! They're famous for making guacamole right at your table.

And for their pomegranate margaritas. Heaven.

Then we went back to get ready for the concert.

Brad wanted to make mean faces. Don't ask me. 

Brad cracks me up by the way. I was off Friday while he was at work so I went to the store. He told me to get some beer to drink before the show. Direct quote, "Get some beer, we can be as redneck as you want." Does he have any clue who he's talking to? Sometimes I wonder.

You're looking at my favorite summertime beverage. Bud Light Lime.

Anyways, we had a great time!

Sunday we had to get up and head back home. I got a quick 4 miles in on the hotel treadmill.

i was sweating BLL big time. but once i got started i actually had a great run!

What did you do this weekend?

What's your favorite kind of music?  I love pretty much everything, but there is just something about country music in the summertime.

Flying Pig Half Marathon:::: #4 of 12 in 2012

flying pig half marathon, cincinnati ohio

half mary # 5

race# 4 of 12 in 2012

time:  2:16:25 (PR)

division:  408/1116

gender: 2125/6772

expo:

The race expo was Friday and Saturday and it was the largest expo I've ever attended. If you want to read more specifics you can check out this post. There were tons of volunteers which was really nice. There were really long lines for all the booths that had free samples. We got tech shirts, posters, and duffel bags (all really nice).

race morning:

Traffic was pretty crazy on the Ohio side of the river. Luckily Brad's parents live in Cinci and are pretty used to it. We decided to park on the Kentucky side of the river (AKA the better side!) and walk over. That worked pretty well. I had my standard Clif bar and some G2. We arrived around 6am (race time at 630am). You'd think that would be plenty of time but it totally wasn't. I was hoping to see Jill and my friend Becca before the race (it was Becca's first half!!), but that didn't happen.  I got to my corral (pigpen) and the bathroom line was RIDIC.

Not happening. I could have stayed and went (chip timing) but I didn't want to have to bob and weave more than I was already going to have to.

the race:

I felt prepared for this race. Ready for the hills. Hoping for a PR.

Prepared but not super confident. I had an A goal. One that I shared with NO ONE. Super secret.

And my B goal was 2:20.

This was the first half that I've done that I ran with someone I knew (my friend from home, Jill).  Oddly enough, we had never ran together before. It worked out a lot better than I'd hoped. She is a little faster than me but she wanted me to pace her, she usually goes out too fast.

Here were are within the first half mile of the race. I was a little stressed trying to maintain a good, steady pace. I REALLY wanted to catch up to the 2:15 pace group, but that never happened. They started from the E corral and I never saw them again. [Side note:  I registered WAY early for this race and plugged in the only finish time I had-- 2:32. I could have/should have/wished I'd been in the E corral].

I felt really good throughout the race and Jill and I did well staying together until about mile 6 or so. We were going up a hill and she found a new gear! I walked for a minute, got my legs back then started back up.

The other races I've done have been more rolling hills. You get a little up, you get a little down. My strategy to this point has been to walk uphill if I need to, then run down. This course was different because the uphill wasn't steep, but it was pretty consistent over about 3 miles. I ran most of it but took a few walking breaks when I needed. Maybe one day I'll actually run an entire half! ;)



Anyways, I was really pumped up at the halfway point. My legs were getting a little tired and I was worried I'd emptied my tank by running some of those hills, BUT I was right on pace for a sub 2:15. Anytime I felt like slowing down I just repeated my mantra, "HUSTLE HARDER." I also used 'dig deeper' a couple times.

 

 

The crowd support at this race was amazing. This was my favorite sign and I thought it was pretty funny that Brad picked it out and got a picture of it too! I love me some Luke Bryan and I thought this was the sweetest sign ever. HINT HINT Brad! Some others:

My mother in law made this hot pink "C" for me and it says 'Go Courtney Go!' It was super sweet of her to make (this is my father in law carrying it) and it was also great because they held it up while they were in the crowd. I could always pick them out when I was running up to them throughout the course!

 

There were so many people out cheering us on, so many great signs and well staffed water stations. There was no GU supplied on the half course which I thought was odd for a race this size. Best moment of the race? A group of girls had taken those tube popsicles and cut them in half and were handing them out. BEST POPSICLE EVER!!! I grabbed one and Jill and I killed it!

 

As I came to the end of the race I was getting super excited. I totally had my sub 2:15!!! The weird thing was, as my watch hit 13.1 I STILL COULDN'T SEE THE FINISH LINE?!?! WTH?  So of course I started getting super frustrated, but I kept running.

 

So what happened? The course was long. My watch said 13.46 when it was all said and done. Everyone else I talked to said the same thing. I was PISSED.  I met up with Jill, she finished a minute or so in front of me. There was a lot of different food out for racers, but they didn't have any bags for us so it was kind of dumb. There was no way to carry stuff, I ended up dropping half of what I picked up. They had cold Gogurt, which was a good idea. No chocolate milk (bummer) and believe it or not I made it thru the whole chute without getting a water. Not cool.

 

I found my family and we loaded up to go to brunch. Brad, his parents, and his cousin and her husband all came out to support me which was really nice! We had an amazing brunch in KY after the race... I had french toast with fresh berries, chocolate drizzle and powdered sugar! YUM!

 

 

When I saw my final time for this race my initial reaction was disappointment. Then I had a come to Jesus with myself and decided I needed to get over it. I was being a turd. I reminded myself of all the things I should be thankful for, and I got over it.

 

Besides, I'm totally going to get that sub 2:15 eventually!

 

After brunch we went home to shower and Brad took a long nap. He'd had a tough day ;)

 

(This was in the AM before the race). While he was napping I met up with Jill, who organized 12 in 2012! We had been trying to meet up all weekend but we kept missing each other. We met at Starbucks and chatted for a while. It was so great to meet her and her beautiful family!

I stole this picture from Jill!

 

All in all it was a great weekend and I would definitely run the Pig again.

 

I wanted to give a big shoutout to my friend Becca who rocked her first half at the pig!!! She's already got the bug and I'm hoping we can do a race together later this year!

Under Armour What's Beautiful Project

Hey you guys I hope you had a wonderful weekend! I just wanted to share something real quick. I'm sure many of you have seen or heard about Under Armour's What's Beautiful competition.  I am taking part and posting my journey towards my goal of completing 12 half marathons in 2012. Basically you have to declare a goal then post as you work towards that goal.  Here's my profile page if you want to check it out!

I have been overwhelmed by the inspiration I've gotten from these amazing women [much like the inspiration and support I get from YOU guys!!]. Someone is always posting some new workout to try or what they're doing to push through their own personal battles.

I had the idea to try to get a bunch of the women to share their motto/mantra so I could put them all together to share. Here's the result, let me know what you think!

It's kind of hard to see here, but if you click on it it will get bigger and you can read it better!

What's your motto or mantra?

An Amazing Weekend!

Brad and I drove up to Cincinnati this weekend to visit with his family and so I could run the Flying Pig half marathon (#4 of 12 in 2012). We left Asheville on Thursday and drove straight through to Cinci, arriving around 130am.

Friday morning we got up and went to Kings Island. It's a big amusement park that we both went to a lot growing up. It was really fun, but we both decided that apparently our bodies are starting to get too old for that stuff!! Those roller coasters beat the crap out of us!

This is us on the Diamond Back coaster. The sun was obviously a little bright!

After Kings Island Brad thought it would be a good idea go ahead and get my packet picked up. I went to the expo while he went and had a refreshing beverage!

This was definitely the biggest expo I've ever been to. SO MANY VENDORS! I loved all the pig statues that were everywhere:

I got my packet then weaved my way through the booths. I noticed the Norwood Chiropractic booth and stopped by. They specialize in ART (Active Release Technique) and Dr. Lydia Ogden spent a lot of time with me and working on my right knee. I've got what we all seem to think is a piece of bone that has chipped off and right where it is I've got some pain that seems to come and go. It's worst when I do squats, but it's not there everytime I do them. When it does hurt it feels like my knee cap is about to pop through my skin, all through that one little spot.

I don't remember all the lingo exactly but Dr. Ogden said it was something along the lines of my right knee not moving in the line it should. Of course there was a medical name for it, but despite my being in the medical profession, I don't don't remember it. She did some ART on my quad and it hurt so good. I have bruises now, but I really think it helped a lot.

After stopping at the Norwood Chiropractic group the expo was starting to close up. I got my shirt, duffle bag, and poster and headed out.

Saturday we headed to the mall (they opened a new Lululemon store there!!), Costco, and the outlet malls. I got some tanks and Lulu, a bunch of stuff at Under Armour outlet and these at Costco:

Oh my gosh. YUM. I'm going to have to separate them into baggies and lock them up. If not I'm going to kill both bags in about 2 days. I also got a big old twist yogurt. Brad bet me that I couldn't finish it. I laughed. Me, not finish fro yo?!?!

He was right, I couldn't do it. Dangit. How wasteful.

Oh and at the mall I got Riley a present:

It's a stuffed pig and it has a rubber band that lets you shoot it across the room. He loves it!!

We had LaRosa's pizza for dinner then I headed home to get to bed for our early wake up call. I laid out all my stuff (and I can't get this pic to rotate):

 That thing in the middle is a pace tattoo that I picked up at the expo. What was the goal time?

My secret A goal that isn't so secret now. Did I get it? Unless you follow me on twitter you'll have to wait to find out!

Rearview Mirror: April 2012

running and training:  I'm not sure what the heck happened to my mileage this month (41 miles), but it plummeted. I think this was a weird month for me because I didn't have anything super challenging coming up. After the Spartan Sprint then the two halves in one weekend, it was hard to take training for the Pig seriously. For May I really hope to get my mileage back up in the 60+ range. 


This month I got three strength training workouts in each week. I was really happy with that and will definitely continue. I have fallen in love with strength training. I love feeling strong!


races:  The only race I did this month was on April 1st, the Knoxville Covenant Health Half Marathon. 

blogging:  If any of you are going to be in Cincinnati for the Flying Pig let me know if you'd like to meet up before the race or something! Also the blog makeover is coming up soon, right in time for my one year blogiversary!


reading: 

• Dune Road by Jane Green - definitely not my favorite book of hers. Boring, all over the place, and pretty predictable. I don't recommend it. 
• Fifty Shades of Grey series - I finished books 1 and 2. OMG. I had no idea what I was getting myself into! Definitely not the Hunger Games, but still fun to read. I'm in the middle of the last book now. 

weight loss journey:

So i hit the dreaded plateau this month. I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later... but YUCK. I don't feel like I'm close enough to my goal weight to hit the big P, but here I am. I ended up gaining a half a pound this month (-16 pounds total since January). I started the month well, but then gained and lost the same 5 pounds at least twice. I'm not going to lie, I'm FRUSTRATED. But I'm sticking with it. Hopefully I'll have a big loss next month!

have you ever hit a weight loss plateau? how did you get through it?

What the heck?

Holy crap, what's this new blogger setup? I just jumped on to do a quick post and I have no idea where anything is! Interesting...

So what have y'all been up to? I've been running and training and working and traveling.

I completed a 12 week challenge at the gym which consisted of weekly weigh ins and measurements and monthly fitness assessments (timed plank, wall sit, and half mile run, and push ups to failure). Here were my results:

Weight:  -13.2 pounds
Body Fat:  - 3.1%
Chest:  - 4 inches
Rt. Arm:  -0.75 inches
Waist:  -4.25 inches
Hips:  -4 inches

I am beyond thrilled with these results. I also met all of my goals for the fitness assessment (2:30 plank!!!). A trainer at my gym did this completely on her own time for school project. She was amazing. Our school gym did things like this all the time and I really don't understand why my current gym never does. We got points for various things, and I came in second place! I won 6 personal training sessions with Jessica (the trainer who put all this together). I'm mostly excited but a little nervous for these sessions!

The challenge ended Wednesday and I pretty much took a week off from tracking my food. I kept working out  (because I've gotten to where I feel like crap if I don't) but I wanted to give myself a break from the calorie counting. I've hit a little plateau and I wanted to get my mind right before starting back hardcore. Today was my first day back counting.

I trained legs this morning and then did Ab Ribber X tonight with a little bit of yoga.

I do love me some two a days.

We went to KY this weekend because one of Brad's cousins was getting married. I got up Saturday morning to go get my LR done and realized I'd packed everything but a sports bra, which unfortunately is a deal breaker for me. So we had to pick a new one up at Dicks and I ended up running 7 miles on Sunday morning instead.

What did you do this weekend? 
Do you ever do two a days? How often?

Knoxville Covenant Health Half Marathon:::: Race Review

Race #3 of 12 in 2012 (and second half in two days)


So on Saturday March 31st I Ran The Bluegrass in Lexington, KY and the very next day I ran the Knoxville Covenant Health Half Marathon. I didn't mean to do this but it turned out to be an awesome weekend for me (now if you ask B-rad who had to drive all over creation, get up early, and wait around while I ran, he might have other opinions).

My major gripe with this race was that there was no race day packet pick up. I know they want to get you to the expo and make you spend more time in the city but come on. I-75 South was a parking lot due to some construction so the trip was HORRIBLE. Long story short we took two different detours, I got a ticket for improper passing (and a lecture from an a-hole sheriff), Brad had a melt down because he thought we weren't going to get to see the UK game.... and all the while we're wondering if we're even going to make it to town in time to pick up my packet. IT SUCKED.

Luckily it all worked out but if I hadn't been able to pick up my packet, I'd have been out money for the race and a hotel room in Knoxville for the night. Makes me mad just thinking about it, but anyways.

We got up early and headed to the start line.

What I wore:
Nike Miler shirt
Nike Pro Combat capris
iFitness double pouch belt
Garmin
Active Band headband
Mizuno Wave Riders
Road ID wrist elite ID
iPod shuffle
Yurbud earphones

This race also had a full marathon, it's the first race I've done like that. It was kind of gloomy at the start, but the weather felt really nice. We ran around downtown Knoxville and the UT campus first, then went to more residential areas. The race finished on the 50 yard line of Neyland stadium. I'm not a Vols fan at all, but it was really cool running onto the field.

I started the race thinking, 'Take it easy. Don't hurt yourself. You got a PR yesterday, just take it easy.' I was mainly concerned with finishing. I took off running though, and around mile 3 I felt surprisingly great. Part of the course was along a green way and it was beautiful.  The course was unfortunately HILLY. Yes, I have a gift.

I walked the hills and ran the rest. As we were finishing they announced our names and also put us on the big screen in the stadium, very cool.

After the race, looking all squinty eyed. I've got to get some sunglasses to run in. This was the first race that I've done that gave out space blankets. Don't think I'm horrible, but after the race I noticed that the first aid tent was EMPTY. I knew that some ice would be great for my knees so I ran inside and the volunteers were amazing and hooked me up. I was in and out in about 5 minutes. ***No I wasn't injured and I obviously wouldn't have done this if they were busy**

Third half of 2012 complete. Here are the stats:

What am I happy about?
If I hadn't PR'ed the day before, this time would have been a new PR for me!
Look at my 10K split, my 10K PR is 1:09:21. I shaved off 3 MINUTES (in the middle of a half, my second half of the weekend!).
I ran two hilly courses in two days and finished strong.

Afterwards we went to a restaurant that B-rad picked:

The food was good but it took FOREVER. But we got to sit outside and watch the marathoners finish. Man I was in awe of those amazing people.

icing my knees while waiting for food.

he's just happy it's over and ready for some food!

As always, my iFitness belt worked great:

I came away from this weekend on a running high. Am I fast? Definitely not. But am I strong? Heck yes.

Isn't it an awesome feeling to challenge yourself then rise to the occasion? I highly recommend it.