Feeling great!

Starting to feel a little more grounded after being home for at least a day this week. Went running last night and did a quick and easy 4.5 miles (OK, maybe easy.,... quick is relative) and got a lot of things worked out in my head. I was all over the map yesterday with my thoughts and emotions so it helped to think it through and gain a little bit of clarity. I love running!

Tomorrow is a long run (10 miles) with 2 of my workers and boss who are also training for Chicago. I am getting it out of the way early and then meeting someone for brunch at my most favorite place in all of Charleston. Yes, another date. This whole dating thing is very tiring but I am accepting all setups from my friends and family and chalking it up to a social experiment. Perhaps I should start a new blog to outline the weird things these people say and do, such as a guy last week that retorted when I said I was training for a marathon to say, “Like that’s hard! I’ve done like four 5K’s before!” Amateur.

So, I am feeling good today. Last day of the month. Last day of the quarter. The office is abuzz. Beautiful weather outside. Pay day. I am wearing a new outfit.

Could life be better?

Sunday loooooong run!

Today was my scheduled 7 mile long run (hell, in a couple of weeks- 7 miles will seem like nuthin'!) so I laced up and hit the road. My marathon training coworkers have been doing their long runs on Saturday mornings together so I am looking forward to getting back on their schedule when the travel slows down.

It was pretty hot and humid this morning and I got to road test my brand new beautiful gorgeous RED Hall of Fame shirt, sent by Chief himself. I loved it!! It was so nice and cool, even though the thing was drenched in sweat halfway through the run. Thanks so much, CW! I wonder if he will ask for a discount on software now... muahhaaaa. Fortunately the red shirt did not show the Malbec seeping through my pores while I ran.

Speaking of...the wine tasting last night was awesome! I learned a lot about wine pairings and different types of wine that I would normally never try. I am anxious to show my skillz off at my next part-tay. The hosts were super awesome too! We capped off a fabulous night on the porch smoking some Cubans and enjoying the nice Charleston night.... already planning our next jaunt to Club Havana... perhaps Mendy and David can make it down sometime soon?!?!?

Alright, I need to get something off my chest. I am guilty- I did something horrible yesterday. I went to Walmart and picked out about 8 different greetings cards- Father's Day cards for all the men in my life, birthday cards, baby cards, etc. I put them underneath my pocketbook while I continued to shop and did not realize I forgot to pay for them until I got to my car in the parking lot. I did not know what to do!! I ended up not going back... am I a terrible person? (I also thought that I should have not been so cheap and gotten the $3.23 cards instead of the $.94 ones if I wasn't paying- HA!)

So today is gorgeous outside. I just threw on my bathing suit and plan to hit the pool. As I am writing this- I think I may head over to my parents' house to celebrate Father's Day and eat lunch and then hit their pool which is like 59 times bigger than mine. Yeeeeeeeeees. Pooooooooooool.

Happpy trails to everyone and HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all you dads out there!!!!!!

Stormy Day = Dreadmill Workout

Murphy's Law dictated my workout today. I prepped to go run outside twice this morning- only to be met with pouring rain and heavy winds due to the recent tropical storm. I finally gave in around noon and headed out to run a few errands. As luck would have it, it psuedo-cleared up, was only around 72 degrees with a nice breeze. I should've gone then! But... I could not miss the sale at the mall and not get a new pair of cute black wedge sandals!

So... I headed into work this evening to get some work done before my early morning flight to Chicago and packed my workout clothes to hit the work gym. It was hot and steamy outside (around 79 and sticky) so I resorted to a 2.5 mile tempo run on the dreadmill, 10 minutes on the elliptical, and 10 minutes on the rowing machine- finishing up with abs. The good part was that I could watch the Yankees/Red Sox game while I worked out and pump up the radio in the gym.

I am now following the 18 week Hal Higdon training program for Chicago and realized I have to actually decrease my mileage to start Week 1. Kinda funny, eh?

Well, I have thoroughly enjoyed my one day at home this week and it was such a nice treat to sleep in my own bed last night. Of course, I had my usual panic attack in the middle of the night- waking up in a cold sweat and having no idea where I was. It was awesome! The house phone next to my head rang super early this morning and I would have originally let it go right to the answering machine. But NO- I planned on picking it up and cussing out the person on the other line. Turns out it was a nice lady from Leukemia and Lymphoma Society looking to mail me some package or something that I am supposed to use to solicit money from my neighbors. I said I would do it to get her off the phone but now wonder what I committed myself to... oh well... it is for a good cause!

Happy trails to all!

Memorial Day Swim and Run

Happy Memorial Day to everyone!!

I woke up early this morning and did a 4 mile run, rocking out to my MP3 player while I waved at other neighbors out running, biking, walking, etc. A lot of my neighbors know I am training for Chicago so they yell out shouts of encouragement, honk the horn at me, or turn their sprinkler or hose towards me while I run by to cool off.

I finished the run and headed over to the neighborhood pool where I swam for about 25 minutes (no CLUE how far I went but it felt great!!) and then laid out in the sun for a couple hours.

Not a bad morning workout!

Now I am headed to pick up my parents and drop them off for a cruise they are going on out of Charleston (yes, I am totally jealous), play 9 holes of golf, run by the office, and then pack for my early morning departure to Vancouver!

Life is good!

Only 364 Days til St. Patrick's Day '08!

Thank heavens St. Patty's only comes once a year.... boy did we celebrate my 10K PR. Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate!

Here is the back of a really cool shirt that someone gave me last night. For some reason, people always give me really fabulous crap like this when I am out. The stuff around the shirt is some of the remnants of my St. Patty's Day getup that I so proudly sported. I would type more but my head hurts.



Hope everyone else had a good ole' time!

Beautiful day for a run downtown...

I am "working from home" today, meaning I will most probably head downtown this afternoon to hit one of my favorite running routes.... the Battery along the Charleston harbor.

And one day, oh one day, I will be able to just walk out my front door and run along the Battery. I've got my eye on the pink mansion on Rainbow Row.



Isn't it just perfect?

Back in Carolina...

My 3 week travel bender is o-ver! (OK, until next week) I am back in Charleston and enjoying some peace and quiet, low (or no) elevation, and not having to wear ski boots anymore. Those f-in things kill your feet!!!!

I did manage to get two runs in this week in the 6,700-7,000 ft altitude which was a new "high" for me... whoa... I wore my Garmin to graph the elevation. It felt so good to actually run and not have 49 pounds of ski equipment on!

Here is my favorite photo I took from atop the gorgeous slopes at Deer Valley (appr 11,500 feet at the summit which was a new record for me)... I had such a kick ass time!!

Bad bad bad bad bad Tiff

I intended to go out last night for just "one drink"... and ended up leading the troops like the Pied Piper throughout the city of Charleston on a bar tour... finally getting home at 2:30 AM.

Now it is 5:43 AM and I am hating life.

I have a race this morning.

Why did I do this?

Bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad Tiff.

One thing is for sure though... I never considered missing this damn race. Come hell or puke, I would be out there!!

Can I getta WOOHOO?