What BFF's are for

~It's Kristin~ 

I'm working on a little art project tonight.  My sister gave me this great idea.  She has super cute pieces of paper or thank you notes or something framed all in a row above her bed and it looks fabulous.  I asked her to do some for me and she did the 2 pictured above as part of my Christmas present last year.  So now I'm making 7 new big ones for my entry hallway.

Here's my favorite print (above).

I was having a hard time picking the paper I liked best.... 

I called for reinforcements...

What are BFF's for anyway?  I mean, last night I went and looked at the shoes she was deciding on at Nordy's.  It's so nice to know you have a third opinion (after the husband's opinion, of course) available when you need it.  Incidentally, Matt also has excellent taste and helped me arrange and sort through most of the project!

I'll post a shot of the finalized display soon.  I'm excited!

And she went with me yesterday to pick out new running shoes!!  Yes, a trip to SLRC where we are regulars.  There was a new sales guy there- Dave.  At first we were not enjoying Dave.  He was the first to offer us help and we didn't know how to say, "Uh, no thanks, we don'' know you yet."  Dave seemed arrogant and made a statements about my PF being with me for life.  No, Dave!!  But then Dave grew on us and we may just work with him again.  We've been shopping for a new shoe guru since Seth, our running idol, quit.  (PS:  He came in 3rd in the St. George Marathon we ran in the fall!)

Here's my new garb!  Can you spy, with your little eye: a GU, Adidas, Smartwool, Matt's first pair of running socks, an extra jumbo sized body glide!, blister shield, Saucony's (40% off baby!), and (this is a hard one- bonus if you can spot it!) an injured foot.

I LOVE having new running stuff.  Can't wait to bust out the new shoes tomorrow.  I never anticipated buying a pair of Adidas, but Dave recommended them and they were so comfy and felt just perfect as far as arch support for my PF and all.  I jogged around the store and fell in love!  And I've always wanted Smartwool socks.  D's always raving about them.  I knew it was time for new shoes because I was having weird aches and pains in random novel places.  And I was past mileage for my other shoes.

Any of you runner girls recommend any sports bras?  Nothing fancy needed- I'm cheap!

D and I have a cool giveaway coming up so be sure to stay tuned!

XOXO

~K

It's all about relationships

by: Kristin

Now that the Bachelor is over, I'm bored of it.  But many of you emailed and asked about the results.  If you don't know yet- he picked VIENNA!  What can we learn from this, single people?  Infatuation is blind- you must use your head and listen to the unbiased people around you.  Interesting points in the episode?  Jake's family initially saw what a scary girl Vienna is and didn't like her.  Then they strangely "saw the light" and apologized for judging her and told Jake they approved.  Nooo!  You fools!  Did the producers pay you to do that or what??  Ali is the next Bachelorette!  (She's the one who had to leave the show cuz her job demanded she return.  She works for Facebook.)  Jake is going to be on Dancing with the Stars (as is Kate Gosselin- weird).  We all had fun yelling and rolling our eyes at the screen.  Danna said, "If Tenley says, 'I value marriage," ONE MORE TIME..."   I think Tenley did talk their relationship to death.  But she's sweet and I hope she meets a nice guy.  As for you, Vienna, grow up!

So, yesterday I ran with...you'll never guess who (unless you already read the sidebar)...Ma Husband!  Yes, and even more unbelievable is that HE was the one who requested the afternoon run.  I first suspected that he was an imposter in my husband's body, but no.  We had a great little run on the parkway.  So nice to run in the sun!  He looked super cute in his running garb- too bad I didn't snap a picture for you!  

Check out this amazing site D found with a list of every US marathon!

It's that painful time again when I have to fork out some serious dough for a new pair of running shoes.  What shoes do you pronators love?  I haven't loved my Ascics 2140s for some reason, but I love my Mizuno Wave Inspires.  I'm debating inserts vs no inserts...so hard!  And our favorite employee at the Salt Lake Running Company is quitting!  A running shoe relationship is crucial.  We start from scratch again.  Oh the agony.

XOXO

~K

So lonely...

It's been a bit of a lonely week. I ran/cross-trained alone each day because Danna has been nursing an injury and under doctor's orders not to run on certain days. (And she took Suzy with her to the elliptical machine so I didn't have her either.) She went back to Dr. Toronto (Sports Medicine), who is awesome by the way. He diagnosed her with "periostisis" (a bad shin injury!) and told her she was wearing the wrong shoes. What is amazing to me is that Dr. Toronto first of all agreed to skip his lunch to see her, and even read every page of her running log word for word!!!


We made a crazy trip to Salt Lake Running Company to get her some new ones. I got a new running belt which doesn't leak! It's fabulous. The SLRC is a great place to buy shoes, fyi. They do this whole assessment on you, and also give great running advice. All the employees are pretty much famous runners (the guy that helped me plans to break the St. George Marathon record this time, and the one who helped Danna was recruited from out of state to coach the runners at Westminister!).


I went running Thursday night at about 9 pm and it was still pretty hot! I did 4 miles on the High School track. This seems to be becoming a Thursday night tradition. After our Wednesday morning runs (this week it was 7 miles! Before work!) I am wiped, and can't drag my bum out of bed the next morning. It's amazing how the little things provide a distraction on a tough run. For example:

Laps 1 & 2: The wind started blowing hard and the track sprinkler system turned on and I got a little annoyed, and became a little cold...

Laps 3 & 4: The sprinklers started feeling good!

Laps 5 & 6: The sprinklers became necessary and I missed them when I ran on the other end of the track.

Laps 7 & 8: The sprinklers turned off! Aaa! I turned up my ipod and was glad the wind was still blowing at least.

Laps 9 & 10: A new set of sprinklers were turned on, and I veered to the edge of the track on every lap to get misted. :)

Laps 11 & 12: I began counting and re-counting the laps I had done and would have to do, thinking I must have counted wrong and constantly wondering if I was really on lap 13...I wasn't.

Laps 13 & 14: I started wondering if the track wasn't really 1/2 mile in circumference, and if I had really run 8 miles. Wishful thinking. I planned all the things I was going to write in this blog entry. Yes, my faithful readers- I was thinking of you. (Actually, I think a lot about what I'll blog whenever I'm running. I have some clever/genius ideas, but then when I actually go to blog, I draw a blank!

Laps 15 & 16: I kicked the speed up a notch and knocked 2 minutes off my mile! And then I ran through the sprinklers! So refreshing. Here I am after the run:
But for me, the loneliest thing of all is always the dreaded cross training. We are supposed to do cross training once a week, for at least 45 minutes. No one knows more than Matt how much I hate it. I whine and whine and put it off. I don't have a lot of great options. We've got the LAME equipment in our condo's clubhouse. The only usable option is the stationary bike with only one (easy) setting. Note that it is VERY hot in this room with no A/C. I could go for a walk I guess, or a bike ride, but they seem too easy and I feel I am not really cross training (and my bike has problems). I don't like the pool, so that's out.

Here are some pix of me leaving for, or coming back from a cross training session:

See how unhappy I look about the whole X training thing? Even though I'm done! (But look how much skinnier my legs are getting!! Sweet!)

After this photo was taken, I wouldn't actually leave. This is when Matt pushed me out the door- for reals. I think he even locked it. I thanked him later. Much later.

I decided to do "walking" for my XT, so I walked to Danna's (not a long walk!!), and she indulged my laziness. We drank raspberry lemonade, and swung on the hammock while we talked to Adam. Then I walked home. What a workout!

And we did a lot of laughing. Here we are discussing the chihuahua that tried to bite me.

I make funny joke!

For yesterday's long/adventure run, Danna and Suzie agreed to drive up and join me in Park City. I scoped out a trail called "The Rail Trail," which was a toughie! It was a gradual downhill slope for the first 5 miles, and uphill for the last 5! I was struggling, I tell you. I was so glad to be done, and poor Suzy had to run an extra 6 miles without us, so as usual, Danna and I iced and stretched and chatted.

Friends, Danna needs your prayers. Her shin injury is really a concern and she may have to modify her training a lot to be able to run the race. Will you pray for her to heal from her injury and to be able to run without problems? (As a side note, maybe you should also pray for her not to be a reckless rebel and run too much despite the pain, and despite my yelling at her about it!)


Well, there are a few people/objects that I need to thank this week for helping me get through the training. First of all, the Backstreet Boys and their Black and Blue album. Thanks for singing me through those tough miles, Boys! Natasha Bedingfield and her inspiring songs, Jeff and Hal- my coaches, Matt, my hubs, for literally pushing me out the door or forcing me to go to bed on several occasions! Danna, for always providing a cooler full of ice, a bag of towels and wet wipes, and a darn good time (that "darn good time" part goes for Suzy too!), and my cute student for starting the first therapy session without me on Wednesday mornings, and for every person on the Parkway who says, "Go girl!" or "Have a good run," or even the traditional, "Morning!" It's really amazing how much it helps. (By the way, I realized the habit of lifting a few fingers in a wave, and saying "Morning," has become so automatic for me I can't even stop myself. While running around the track, I realized I kept doing it to the same people lap after lap. I think they felt awkward after the second time, and frankly so did I.)

More pix from the aftermath of last week's long run:

This is my Smoked Salmon Benedict. Yum!!

I'm really excited to eat it. I'm also excited to be so sweaty and salty in a public place.

Pre-Season

When we refer to "pre-season" we are referring to the time before the official schedule actually starts. The schedule runs 18 weeks before the marathon, but we started training much earlier than that. In many ways we have no idea what we are doing, and without a schedule we thought we should just try to...well...run a lot. There were many unforgettable events and "land marks" during pre-season that we would like to share with you, our supporters.


First of all, I personally became obsessed with all things marathon. I began asking every person I know who has ever ran a marathon every possible question I could think of. What kind of GU did you like? (GU, pronounced "goo," is a brand of energy gel many marathoners eat/drink/suck on.) What did you wear? How was it? Which marathon? Tell me about your training, your belt, your injuries, where you put your Bodyglide...ha ha ha! But seriously, I needed to know every detail. I didn't want to show up on marathon day and be one of those noobies who ends up in the medical van because she thought it would be okay to wear her new ipod arm band during the race.

Matt (husband) went to the library and checked out a stack of marathon books for me. Books I have been consuming like I consume Fiber One Bars (which is voraciously) and I now consider myself somewhat of an expert on things that one month ago I had never heard of (e.g., Bodyglide, fartlek, GU, overtraining vs overloading, form, and Mizuno shoes). If you are considering joining me in this crazy lifestyle, I highly recommend the following books:

*Running - by Galloway, who in the runner's world needs no first name for identification (A really great comprehensive book that covers just about everthing)
*The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women - by Dawn Dias (Hillarious, sarcastic, and the inspiration for this blog! And, yes, it actually had some insightful advice too.)
*Marathon - by Galloway (My Hero!! :) The local running store experts recommended this one to me. Has a few more specific tidbits his other book doesn't have.)
*How to Run a Marathon - by Tim Rogers (This British author seems to think the London Marathon deserves to be mentioned on EVERY page. Okay, we GET IT! London is the best, blah, blah, blah. But it did give me lots of interesting info from his personal perspective. It also made me scared that I won't be running in England where the fabulous Brits would be cheering me on!)

OTHER PRE-SEASON EVENTS:

*Danna and I spend hundreds at the Salt Lake Running Company on things you wouldn't even think we would need- like special running socks and underwear, and it ain't ever cheap, baby. Here's a picture of my new stuff:


*Our husbands start a special support group (well, partnership) and start weeping frequently. Condolence cards and/or meals for the hubs' are welcome.
*I have an oh-so-painful in-grown toenail surgery on 6 spots and stop training for two weeks. I did, however really strengthen up my shin muscles by walking on my heels non-stop. No joke.


The next photo is my toenail now. As a result of the surgery it is skinnier, yellower, more jagged, and over-all weirder looking. I am sure to lose toenails in the marathon! (This is common for marathoners.)


*Everyone I know is asked to pray for my joints as we Memmott girls are known for our bad knees (if you are reading this- consider yourself asked!)
*I run during pre-season with a dorky, uncomfortable fanny pack. Enter chafing.
*We enter the lottery for the St. George Marathon as a team, and pray our guts out that we will make it.
*WE MAKE IT!!
*Amazingly, during pre-season we did not actually run a single run together, and we were very nervous that we had different paces.
*My physical therapist co-workers (who are anti-running) tell me I don't have a runner's body and should not do it. As a speech therapist, I tell them they do not have talkers' mouths, and that they can stuff it!
*My toes heal from the surgery very nicely! Yippee!!
*My husband takes great pains to find me the perfect pair of shoes on ebay at a much lower price than the running store.
*I upgrade from a fanny pack to a true runner's belt- no more getting whacked 400 times with my own Gatorade bottle.

As you can see, we had an exciting pre-season. When it came time to start our true schedule we felt we were more that ready for it- the right gear, the right toe-nail widths, and the right running partner(s). The old days of choosing our rest days and run distances are only a pleasant memory. THE SCHEDULE is now our master!