More New Shoes...and a Trail Run...

So last fall I applied to be a part of the Brooks I.D. program.  The I.D. stands for Inspire Daily.  I am still stunned that they even let me in, but I have worn my Brooks shoes all year, and some of the gear that I got from their pro site at a discount, logged my races on the online community website, and didn't expect anything else from it.

I got an email today that said:

Hey Becky,

Congratulations, you are the OK State Runner Up for the Brooks 2010 ID Race Series! You can expect to receive your Hoodie in the mail soon. The following code can be used on the pro site for one free pair of shoes:
Please place your order before December 31, 2010. If you have any questions please send them to Steve DeKoker at steve.dekoker@brooksrunning.com. Thank you for participating!
Happy running!

Seriously, I actually won something?  I guess the race series awarded points for the number of races and personal records and all that.  I am stunned that I actually placed for anything.

On the other hand, seriously?  I just bought my new shoes a week ago!  Oh well, they had the newer version of the shoes I just bought so I got them.  These have red on them too, so they'll match other things.  Ha!  I am a girl.

The program this year is invitation only, and I haven't received an invitation, so I am going to assume that they don't need me back.  Oh well, it was a nice discount while it lasted, and I got a free pair of shoes and a hoddie is on the way.

Speaking of running, I got up the guts and did a little trail running this weekend.  I am definitely not what you would consider "Outdoorsy" in the least, but I seem to be up for new challenges lately so I said what the heck.  The fact that it's too cold for bugs or snakes didn't hurt the situation either.  We ended up doing 9 miles total, and I must say it was lots of fun.  The miles seem to fly by when you are staring at the ground or the feet directly in front of you so you won't trip and fall.  The trees offer a nice break from the cold wind and I managed to stay on my feet the whole time.

I have new respect for the trail runners.  As a road runner, I know my stride, but when you are running on the trails it's completely different.  Kinda felt like learning to run for the first time.  My only complaint is that the trails aren't as marked as I would have liked them to be.  Kim and I got turned around at the end, but luckily there were lots of people in the group we were out there with and we got pointed in the right direction.  We made it through all 9 miles with not falls and no search parties.  Well we did have one fall, and I guess one guy ran into a tree on his bike.  I am not as comfortable as I would like on my bike on the road, there's no way I would take one on those trails.

My first trail race is coming up in February so we'll hit the trails some more between now and then, but I'm still a road runner!  I am really excited to sigh up for the Rock N Roll half marathon in Dallas in March, it's part of the Komen Marathon for the Cure series.  But more on that later.

New Shoes...Finally!

Finally, after running for as long as I could in my old Brooks Arials, I bought a new pair of real running shoes this weekend.

They are super light and so cute!  I was so excited when they fit me in something that actually came in pink and purple.  They don't seem as big and bulky as my old shoesand they fit really well.

I got to test them out for four miles on the treadmill last night and was very happy with how they feel.  Though my toes have not completely healed from the half they didn't feel any worse for the wear after the run last night.  I am expecting a lot of great miles out of these.

The First Half

I have officially earned my 13.1 sticker that resides in the back window of my car.  Though it wasn't exactly pretty I ran for 13.1 miles on Sunday morning.  2 hours and 16 minutes after I started it was over.

We could not have had better weather for it, it was cloudy and even though it was a little windy, especially when we ran over the river, the temperature was great.  I didn't even have to wear a jacket, just my short sleeve pink (of course) shirt.  I was feeling pretty nervous as Josh drove me to Veteran's part at 6:45, but once I got there I felt much better.  Choon, Kim, Bob and I were all assigned to corral C for our start, so we got to wait for our start 10 minutes after the first gun, and being among all the other runners really calmed my nerves.

It was pretty crowded at the start, with 9,000+ runners registered to race it was to be expected.  My goal was to finish under 2:20, and I just wanted to run my own race.  Bob didn't stay with Kim and I for long, and Kim and I stuck together for about 8 miles, except for when she took off for a potty break and then caught back up with me.  After about 5 miles my hips started killing me, and I had a hard time working through the pain for the remainder of the race.  I remember running over the river the first time, but I cannot for the life of me remember when we crossed back over.

At one point the marathon runners had an out and back off the course for the half and I saw a sign that said 10 miles and then one that said 16 miles and had a partial freak out for the next two miles thinking I'd gone the wrong way.  Apparently I passed Bob in the last two miles, but I didn't see him, it all seems like a blur.  Near the end I did feel like my legs were going to give out on me and that last small hill up to the finish line about killed me.  But aside from walking into the four water stops I took I ran the whole time, and I finished it.

Here's a picture of Kim and I after we finished.  Even though my hips hurt, and my feet have blisters, and it was a long walk back to the car that smile stayed on my face most of the day.  I am so glad I did it, and so glad that I got to run with a great group of people that helped me every step of the way.

So now I only have to decide what is next.  After this I feel like I can accomplish almost anything.  I'm taking a few days off and then I plan to be back at it, pounding the pavement in preparation for where ever the road takes me next.

Route 66 Half Marathon

Well this year definitely didn't turn out like I thought it would, but it has turned out so much better.

Who would have thought that in January that I would be where I am right now?  Certainly not me.  Finding out I have high cholesterol and was going to have to have knee surgery in the span of two weeks in January really helped the year turn out so much better, really.

So on Sunday I am going to be running my first half marathon in Tulsa, and even though it has taken about eight months longer to get to this point than I thought it would I think the race will be so much better because of everything I've gotten through to get here.

I can't say that I am not completely terrified, although being super busy at work all week and working really long hours have not left me much time to think about it.  I do feel completely lazy for not having worked out since Tuesday.  I think this is the most days off in a row I've taken since boot camp in April.  The added stress from would would have been much easier to handle this week if I had been going to the gym, but oh well.  I should be able to work out plenty of stress on Sunday.

All there is left to do is pick up my race packet tomorrow, decide what I am going to wear (Gotta look good if Kim is going to have a camera handy), and do a little carb loading tomorrow.  The weather is supposed to be beautiful and I can't wait to put that 13.1 sticker on my car!

Free to a Good Home...Maybe.

Free to a good home, one two-year-old French Bulldog.  Goes by the name Penny and comes with her own hand made tutu.

She is a delightful and loving dog, who is a bit stubborn at times.  Guess that's the bulldog in her.  She does have a tendency to pretend that she is house broken for months at a time and then for no reason at all start peeing and pooping in the house.

She has a tendency to intestinal issues, probably because she was over fed as a young pup, so she requires canned pumpkin in her food daily.  Don't worry she'll eat organic pumpkin if there is a shortage on canned pumpkin.

She loves to swim, although she is built alot like a brick with little stumps for legs, so we'll throw in her pink and white polka dot life vest for her aquatic adventures.

Oh Penny, how you frustrate me so!  My sister had a cat once, Spanky, that all of the sudden started going to the bathroom RIGHT NEXT to his litter box.  Once he started he never stopped.  Might have been the trauma of the two kittens we acquired, but who knows.  Maybe he just decided that he wanted to think outside the litter box.

The bad part about Penny is that she is so darn cute.  She will sit when you tell her to, and she is a very good snuggler.  I feel that she is mostly my dog now, since Lucy is gone, but I just don't get her.  She can just snuggle up when it's time for bed, go outside in the morning when she gets up and then come in and crap on the floor when no one is looking.  Maybe she thinks our steam cleaner isn't getting as much uses as it should.

I guess dogs are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are gonna get.  We have one very lovable, cute little dog with some strange tendencies I guess.  We will probably keep her.

La Crosse, Wisconsin

Traveled to Wisconsin this week for a customer conference for the maker of our software for work.  I left my house at noon on Sunday and it's been one adventure after another.  Flew from OKC to Dallas, and the flight from Dallas to Chicago was delayed.  When we got to Chicago, our flight to La Crosse was delayed.  It was delayed from 8:10 to 9:00, then the gate was changed, then the gate was changed again, then we got to board the flight only to have to get off because a thunderstorm rolled through Chicago and they closed the runways.  Luckily that delay was only about 30 minutes and we got back on the plane.  We should have arrived at 9 p.m., but we didn't land until almost midnight.

Turned out that it was alot colder in Wisconsin than I had planned for.  I should have brought a heavier coat.  On Monday all the local weather people could talk about was the wind storm that was moving through.  I have lived in OKC for a long time and we've never had a wind storm in the forecast.  Monday evening, I put in 4 miles on the treadmill, so boring, and ordered room service so I could get some work done. 

I brought supplies to paint my toenails, because it had been forever.  I managed to break the bottle of nail polish, all over me, all over the bed, and I had not packed near enough nail polish remover.  I spend about an hour scrubbing off a layer of skin to get it off and I left a tip for house keeping the next morning for making such a mess.

So it was cold and very windy, and rainy in Wisconsin.  Turns out the trip home has been from hell.  Our 9:20 flight was cancelled for technical problems.  So we were booked on a 12:40 flight into Chicago and then a 2:25 flight direct to OKC.  Score!  That would have put us home at 4:40, in time for Josh to pick me up on the way home from work and to surprise the kiddos at the Rec Center.  Well, our 12:40 flight didn't take off until about 1:15, and when we landed in Chicago, and at this point we might have been able to make it, the gate we were to deplane at had another plane in it.  We got to sit on the runway and wait for them to direct us to a different gate.  Then, they had to call someone to bring out the walk way, so another wait.  We ran through the airport but the plane was already gone.

The lovely American agent in Chicago booked us on the 4:10 flight to Dallas and said she booked us on the 9:05 flight to OKC.  There was an earlier flight but we weren't able to make it to Dallas in time to try to get on it.  When we got to Dallas and went to get our boarding passes we found out that they put Kerry on the 9:05 and me on the11:05.  Stupid Jerks!  So now I have three and a half more hours to kill in this dang airport. 

I am so not working tomorrow.

The First Step is Admitting You Have a Problem...

Okay, I can admit it.  I am a recipe junkie.  I love finding new recipes, especially new cupcake recipes. 

It is a rare day that I don't have at least one new recipe to print and take home with me.  I don't know if it'll be possible for me to ever even make everything I have so far.  Today I found this one for Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls.  Are you kidding me?  They look delicious!  I am a huge pumpkin fan, and even found 11 cans of canned pumpkin at Target this week.  (Yes, I bought all 11 cans, which is probably a little selfish, but I can't help it.)  You never know when the next pumpkin shortage will be and I can't be caught without any.

I love food blogs too.  Which is where I find most of my recipes.  It is a good thing I have co-workers willing to try my baked goods, and a husband that is willing to eat all the new vegetarian recipes I've found. 

So for now, I am a recovering iTunes junkie who has traded her music downloads for printed recipes.  I figure this is better, since all the recipes are free.