Stick a fork in me cause I'm done!

Short and sweet version: I'm so stressed out from work right now, it's not even funny! It makes other aspects of my life feel wrongly tainted and horribly wasted. Last night my plan was to go to the gym *if* I got off work on time. I stayed 30 minutes overtime and all I could think about was eating Pho on my couch. Gym, eh.... no thanks! If I didn't have my husband and my dog, life would certainly be unhappy!

And 4,031 is the magic number...

Post Holiday Tuesdays at work are the worst days ever. Ever. I work in Veterinary Supply Distribution as an in building customer service person for our sales staff. Well, that's what I try to do but most of the time I end up chest deep in the distribution side of the job. I fill, verify, and pack orders all while trying to make it to the phone within 60 seconds and remain happy and slightly perky. If it sounds like a lot, its because it is a lot! But don't tell my coworkers that I actually work because if they truly knew (and appreciated) how much I work, they wouldn't have anyone to bad mouth anymore! (it's a good thing the sales staff appreciates my hard work because otherwise, my job would be so sad.)

We had 4,031 product lines ship out yesterday (hence, the magic number) and I didn't get home until after 7:30. It's a lot of work, sweat, and silent sobbing. For reference purposes, we generally have 3,200 lines on a normal Monday and 2,700 product lines on a normal Tuesday. This is one of the main reasons I was stressing about my blisters because it's a huge day and everyone has to be at work to work their asses off. And we did.

Speaking of blisters, mine are almost gone! Yesterday was the first day I've been able to wear shoes without support from bandages. But now, the backs of my knees hurt a little bit and I'm a little concerned. When I have extra time (and don't feel like wasting it on blogging), I'm going to need to look into good knee stretches and strengthening exercises. I know that I will end up needing to strengthen everything from my hip down but I could at least focus on what will help my knees the most. Good thing I have a gym membership!

And another thing! I feel like I have so many topics to cover because I have so many things on my mind! *grin* I am going to rent a dress from RenttheRunway.com. We have a wedding to go to this summer and two weddings in the fall and I don't have dresses that fit me. This is such a great thing because they are all TOO BIG! I'd love to go dress shopping but I don't want to fill my closet with more clothes that may or may not fit in a couple of months. You know... I could lose weight, my waist could shrink, my waist could expand, my belly could expand *wink*, I could magically grow three inches (not likely but certainly welcome!), or I my legs could magically end up looking so great that I want to show them off by wearing a shorter style dress! So many possibilities! But yes, I'm going to see if Rent The Runway works and if it does, it'll be my go to for special occasion wear!

My Pinterest "My Style" board... is here!

Dear Feet, I have just one thing I'd like to say...

I went on my first post-half run yesterday. It wasn't as successful as I was hoping it would be and my feet are really sore this morning. I guess this is to be expected, I was just hoping it wouldn't be like this.

Slightly over a week ago, I made it 13.1 miles without an ounce of digestive upset. Yesterday, I could hardly make it half a mile without my stomach jumping and churning. I ran through it but had to cut my run short by a mile so I could run home and go to the bathroom. It makes me so frustrated because I'm not sure how I can prevent this from happening. Do I need to be more hydrated? Do I need to eat differently? Do I need to wear adult diapers when I run? I can stand the first two questions being answered with a "yes" but the last one would be going too far. Plus, my pants are too form fitting for me to get away with wearing anything other than underwear. This problem will get fixed.

I added Countdown Widgets for my half marathons on the right side of my blog and it looks like I have 89 days to train for Santa Rosa. I'm actually thinking about jumping behind a marathon pace group since they are following the same loop. I don't think there is a rule against it and it may just be helpful for me to be paced. One other positive about going to Sierra Running Company will be my ability to ask about local running groups. I should probably join one.

It's true, I think I'm turning into an addict.

I did it and I can't believe it. I haven't even been on another run yet and I've already signed up for TWO MORE half marathons!

Santa Rosa Marathon & Half
Two Cities Marathon & Half

The Santa Rosa Half is in my other hometown and it is at the end of August. The Two Cities Half is in Fresno and it is at the beginning of November. I've heard great things about both races and I'm really looking forward to training and beating my time from the California Classic.

Speaking of the California Classic, ta-dah! Here's my picture!

Running like a champ. Facebook caption is: "Running AND Smiling?! Inconceivable!"

I am giving myself another week to get my shit together before I start back on a training program. I figure I can do some short runs in the shoes I have but I need to go get a new pair sooner than later. I'm planning a trip to the Sierra Running Company in Fresno. You know, I've spent so much time worrying about going to the gym and having people see me on a treadmill and now I'm going to walk into a store and run on a treadmill in front of everyone. I don't consider myself a runner and I'm going to go into a store where all the employees are runners. I know they will give me good, priceless advice but it will still feel weird.

I also want to get back on the eating plan I was on a couple of months ago. I've really let that go but my metabolism has been so ramped up that I haven't seen my weight yo-yo back. Plus, I feel like complaining some more about only being able to eat 17 grapes at a time. *smile*

My short, but really sweet trip to San Francisco

Big Rec Ball Park, Golden Gate Park

I love having the chance to go home, even if it's just for a short time. This time, I went with my best friend, Amanda and we were there for about eight hours. It was a beautiful day and we found parking everywhere we decided to go. We did a lot of walking and I took a lot of mental notes of where I'd like to run next time I'm in the city. (Honestly, I have no idea what is wrong with me. I've never liked running and in the last few months I've had the desire to run from point A to point B and back. I'm slightly scared of myself. Oh the things a half marathon will do to your mind!)

Anyway, our first stop was right in the thick of my old neighborhood. We went to Gordo Taqueria for lunch and ate at Big Rec. Usually there is some kind of baseball game happening but yesterday, we watched a ton of people flying kites. I'm really jealous because in all my attempts, I've never been a successful kite flyer.

Yo-Yo Competition... what?!

From there we walked to the Music Concourse. This is the area between the Academy of Sciences and the De Young Museum. I haven't been to either of those places since they reopened but the outsides of the buildings are pretty amazing. I was really surprised because we got to witness a legitimate yo-yo competition. These kids were pretty serious competitors and found that I was really jealous AGAIN because I've never been able to yo-yo either! I wanted to snap some pictures of these kids but I didn't want to seem like a creeper. On the way out of the concourse, we stopped in the Japanese Tea Garden for some photo ops. We watched a proposal in the middle of the Tea Garden and it was so amazingly cute.

Rustic Bridge (to Huntington Falls and Strawberry Hill)

Next stop was Stow Lake, one of my all time favorite places in Golden Gate Park. I roller bladed here as a kid with my friend Kristi, we would stop at the boat house and buy ice cream, and we would get in trouble for roller blading on the side walks. It would always end with a lot of laughing and silliness. A lot of places in the park have changed but I found that Stow Lake stayed the same. The rustic bridge is my favorite bridge and I've always wanted to get a good picture of it. We went across the bridge, went through the Chinese Pavilion, and climbed the stairs to the top of Huntington Falls (a waterfall that has been there since 1891ish). We didn't go all the way to the top of the hill but the views are still cool from the top of the falls.

Before we went back to the car, we stopped at the Children's Playground because I was hoping to catch a ride down the cement slides. There were too many people, it didn't seem right for an adult without a kid to run to the top of the slide and wait in line for a turn. *sad face*

Sutro Bath Ruins

We drove down to the beach and caught an unexpected glimpse of the USS Iowa leaving the bay for the last time. It was amazing but I didn't get any pictures. We did walk to the Windmill then we drove up to the Cliff House. We went down the hill to the Sutro Bath Ruins but were really hoping to get some Land's End photos of the Golden Gate Bridge. When that didn't work, we hiked it back to the car and drove down to the other side of Land's End. And score, we got great pictures of the bridge.

Happy 75th Anniversary to the Golden Gate Bridge!

After we got the pictures we wanted, we went to my Grandma's House to converse and visit. Then we repeated the process at my Aunt's house. I love stopping to visit my family and I need to do it more often! All in all, it was an amazing jaunt through SF.

I'm really glad to be home tonight though because my husband is making Ribs on the BBQ. Diet? What diet?

Had to stop at Fuddrucker's on the way home for a Buffalo Burger.... don't you judge me!

They call me Tenderfoot, Melanie Tenderfoot.

So yesterday, I finally found a way to wear my shoes without them touching my blisters while staying within the (strict) guidelines of  the work dress code for footwear. The bad news, it only works if I'm not walking. Once I start walking everything kind of goes in the crapper. I really need to get this figured out before next Tuesday when we are slammed with post holiday orders and I'm required to run around like a dying chicken.

I am walking fine without shoes and I hope that trend continues because my bestie, Amanda and I are planning to go to San Francisco for a girls weekend. I was hoping to spend most of our time walking but flip flops are less than ideal to walk in for long periods of time. Plus, it is going to be a cool 57 degrees and I can't look like TOO much of a tourist in my hometown.

I have a list of "To-Do"'s for our trip this weekend but other than that, it will probably be a free for all..

1) Breakfast at Art's
2) Lunch or Dinner at Gordo Taqueria
3) Haight-Ashbury
4) Children's Playground (cement slides! woot!)
5) Buffalo
6) Windmills
7) Japanese Tea Garden
8) Stow Lake

I really wanted to stay away from highly populated touristy areas but I'm not sure if Amanda wants to see anything in particular. (Here's to hoping she reads this blog posts and thinks on it for a bit!) It's kind of a tour of the San Francisco that I know and love but totally up for some improvisation . I wanted to hop the Muni for transportation but I just found out that the Adult fare is $2 for a single ride with one transfer ticket. Ew.  When I was a kid, I paid 50 cents to get on the bus. Perks of childhood I suppose!

I guess it is time to get ready for work. Dear sneakers, please be nice to me today! Thank you, XOXO, Melanie Tenderfoot.

And in other news...

(The results for the marathon were posted and my time WAS slower than I expected by several minutes. That's OK because I didn't finish last AND I finished! And you know what, I have shocked all the naysayers with the fact that I finished. So there, spootheads!)

Recovery, Day 3. From everything I've read, the day of the half marathon is considered the first day of recovery so if you are questioning my math, now you know how I'm counting. I'm really counting down the days until I can get out and start training for my next half marathon. I have a personal record to beat and you better believe that I will be beating it!

In my current condition, I feel like I will never run again but I want to so, so badly! I am sore from my knees down and when I analyze this, it makes me feel like from my knees up, I conditioned myself correctly. My feet are the sorest part of my body and I think it is because of my shoes and socks (both of which are being replaced, STAT). I have HUGE blisters on the backs of my heels that have already popped without prompting from me. And to make blister matters worse, I got two more at work yesterday because I was trying to hard to keep my shoes from rubbing against my heels. Serves me right because I ended up getting blisters on my longest toe on both feet (my second toe, BTW). The heel blisters are keeping me from walking correctly because when they are exposed to air, they dry out and I can't bend my foot without pain from crackly skin. All I can say is that I will be reading up on preventing blisters and I am pretty resolved to never have them this badly again.

My Dad told me after I finished the half that if someone had asked him 10 years ago, "Do you think your Daughter will ever do a half marathon?" that he would have told them that he knew I was capable but he didn't think it was going to be an addition to my bucket list anytime soon. I laughed because 10 years ago, when I was 16, I did everything in my power to get out of running. I hated it and I mean I truly despised it. But I do not have any memory of being prepared to run. We were always just told to start running and I am 100% certain that caused my hatred. We were expected to just do it and we were graded on how many laps we could complete. That is not the way to run, I mean after all you have to walk before you can run, right?

If you haven't heard already, I finished a half marathon!

Bah-duh-dum! Race recap for my first ever half marathon. As written from my couch where my legs are propped up, my hair is a mess, and my feet are screaming.

EYE-Q CALIFORNIA CLASSIC -  FRESNO, CA - MAY 20TH, 2012
So like I said in my last post, I woke up really early on Saturday morning so I could prep myself for a good night's sleep. I also, though unintentional, spent a lot of time working outside on Saturday. We installed sod in our front yard (the contractors on the house next door ruined our lawn and did a shitty job "fixing" it) and we put down humus in our backyard. So let's just say I was exhausted when I went to bed at 8:45.

P.S. Sweet Mini Peppers are really good with Baby Bell cheese

 Oh and Saturday night I had a kick butt dinner. I know, this really isn't a necessary part of my recap but it's important to me, so you are hearing about it!  I had Grilled Chicken with Baked Zucchini and Red Potatoes. As a last minute addition, I added sweet mini peppers and carrots AND I harvested basil and cilantro from my garden. Yum...mmmie! I feel like this meal was the start of my day for this morning, so I was glad I opted out of the burgers.




I am the princess of prepping and preparing the night before I do something. So when I woke up well rested and relaxed this morning, everything was ready to go. First thing I did was eat a protein bar, some strawberries, and downed a bottle of Vitamin Water (my regular Powerade was nowhere to be found at the store). I ended up having a good two hours to digest before the race. I got in my car five minutes later than I planned because I was having a shoe meltdown. I wasn't literally having a meltdown but I WAS trying to get my shoes tied correctly. And I went back and forth between my running shoes and my day-to-day work running shoes. My order for new insoles never went through at work this week because the medical side was having credit card issues. They are Spenco insoles and have to be cut to size for your shoes, so I couldn't just put my work insoles into my running shoes. I decided that since I've clocked my longest runs in my running shoes, I needed to wear those. Then I remembered that I have a shoe problem and I'm SO picky about how my shoes feel (my mom is probably having flashbacks to arguments at the shoe store with the child version of me). So imagine me jumping around at 5:15 in the morning making sure my shoes feel OK. Luckily, the only witness of this tom foolery was Hank and he thought it was pretty fun!

I made the 25 minute drive to Chukchansi Park and made it there before the huge 6AM crowd showed up. I parked, got my number on my shirt, retied my shoes, and made my first trip to the porta potties. After, I ended up sitting  on the ground and stretching for about 20 minutes while the crowd thickened and then decided at 6:30, that I needed to use the restroom one more time. My pre 6AM trip to the PPs did NOT include a 15 minute wait in line. The problem was that there were about eight lines going at once for a group of 20 PPs. It was ridiculous. (it is worth mentioning that despite my anxieties, I didn't need the restroom ONCE during the race. Big win for me that my food and hydration choices limited my GI Tract upset!)

After that adventure, I stood closer to the starting line, did some warm up walking, a little more stretching, and I people watched. There were women in tutus, women in cat costumes, and a few people wearing crazy wigs. I also listened to the people around me to see if they were talking about pacing strategies. I ended up picking up some good, though last minute advice. The started making announcements and things about the runner corrals but I couldn't hear anything. They were supposed to do more organizing at the start line but failed. When the gun went off, I had no idea that it was even time. Well, to be fair it was 7:00AM on the dot but who knew that half marathons actually started on time?

I was in a pack of runners that were moving slightly too fast for my comfort, so I hung back a little bit and made it to mile marker 1 in about 12 minutes. I passed mile marker 2 about 12 minutes after that. (I found out later that the front runners passed Mile 3 in 15 minutes... crazy!) I was already indulging in the water/vitamin water mix in my camelbak and I decided at Mile 3 that I was going to dig into my snacks. I went out and bought PowerBar Energy Blasts and they were actually really good and I feel like they really helped me. By mile 3, I was already walking a bit. I found someone who I overheard talking about pacing before the race and I followed 20 feet or so behind her and tried to match her paces. That helped me until about mile 5 when she took off.

I was at mile 6 by 8:13, so I kept a pretty steady 12 minute/mile pace up until that point. I had made myself a promise not to look back to see how many people were behind me BUT there were a lot of points where you doubled back and ran towards the people behind you. It happened three times between Miles 2 and 7. I was probably mid pack at Mile 7, so it was actually nice to see that I was doing so well. The zoo portion was great! There was a ton of shade, the animals were out in their exhibits (which is not normal, usually they don't come out until after the zoo opens later in the morning). Notably, I saw the grizzly bear, the sea lion, and the giraffes. Did you know a Giraffe can run a marathon in 25 minutes and that a Zebra can run it in 20 minutes? Neither did I but the zoo was so helpful in posting these facts along the zoo trail. I can ride a horse so would it be possible for me to hitch a ride on a zebra? That would be a great picture at the finish line!

Mile 8 hit me like a brick wall. I was well hydrated, I wasn't having horrible lactic acid burn (thanks to my PowerBar products and new found ability to eat at the right times) but I did become very aware of my feet. I felt like the asphalt was burning right through the bottom of my shoes and I (thought) I could feel blisters on the bottom of my feet. So I walked through to Mile 10 but still kept great time. At Mile 10, my mind completely shut off. I think when we got to that mile marker, I audibly swore. Something along the lines of "shit". Loud enough to where the person directly next to me heard me and asked if I was OK. I just smiled and nodded and kept going. Even had a little celebration with the volunteer who was standing there chanting "3 more!" but other than that, I just wanted to be done. I have no memory of passing mile marker 11 so when I got to 12, I was really confused. I asked the girl holding the water cups if that mile marker was right and she smiled and nodded. I "whoooped!", drank one cup and poured another on top of my head.

I got a huge spurt of energy after crossing over that Mile 12 marker and ran a majority of the final mile. I stopped briefly half way through because my legs were SO stiff. I stretched out a bit and ran into the finish. We had to run down the ramp into the ball park and across to the finish line which was located right by home plate. I ran harder in that last spurt than I had the whole race. I actually passed 4 or 5 people in my rush to the finish. I don't know my official time but I know it is just over 3 hours. At first I was thinking 3 hours and 4 minutes but it might be slightly more than that. Either way, the minutes don't matter to me too much because I stayed in the 14 minute mile range even though I walked about half the race. I didn't finish last and I most definitely finished before the finish line closed!

I grabbed my medal, a bag of ice, and a cold water and found a spot to meet my husband. He came to see me cross the finish but didn't actually see me cross the finish. Oh well, pictures will be posted within a week so he will be able to live the moment with me again.

Speaking of pictures, I am aware of at least 5 pictures of me somewhere in the bunch of pro pictures snapped in the event. I'm resolved to purchase the one where I am giving a huge toothy grin to the photographer. Might as well have some fun, right? ;)

Looking back on it, even though I spent some time being uncomfortable, it was a fun race. The volunteers along the course were really enthusiastic. My favorite signs were "Pain is only temporary but pride is permanent. (Oh.. BTW... Big hill coming to your right)", he flipped that over and it said, "Stop reading my sign and keep running!", and "Why do all the cute ones keep running away?" I also got to see parts of Fresno that I haven't been to before or hadn't been to in a long time. I also remember now how eclectic the Tower District is and I have a few shops that I want to go browse in at some point soon.  And you know, for Fresno, there sure was a lot of shade!

And just to add some humor to your day, this is "Hank's" Facebook post from the afternoon, "I don't update my status often but I have something I really need to say. I am so upset because my Mom didn't take me to Fresno today to run in the half marathon. I've been training so hard for this moment and she says, "They don't allow dogs." Don't they know I'm not a dog, I'm HANK. Pffft... oh well. She let me wear her medal so I guess that's OK."

Hank's Facebook is not a place where I actively post. I mainly use the account to help me with those annoyingly addictive Facebook games that require friend involvement. I just wanted to throw that out there so you don't think I'm an uber crazy dog mom.

Oooh! To add even MORE to this post, I wanted to share a few songs on my playlist that completely lifted me up and just made me feel so much better... (I finished the race before my 3 hour and 15 minute playlist was completed.. yay!)

Grooveshark Playlist - If you are interested in listening...
So What - Pink... this one came on as I passed Mile Marker 7. Yes, Pink. I am a rockstar!
Runaway - Mat Kearney
Footloose - Blake Shelton version
Sexy Silk - Jessica Cornish.. not really a "running" song but it made me smile.
Ready, Steady, Go - The Meices
Cruel to be Kind - Letters to Cleo
All or Nothing - Athena Cage

Lucky Number 4147

Looking over the map and trying to memorize my number, you know... in case someone yells it at me. "Hey 4147, nice sunglasses!" or "Hey 4147, try and run a straight line, ok?!" or the most likely, "Hey! 4147! I need the porta potty too!"

I woke up with the sunrise this morning. It was almost intentional because I told myself, get up early so you can fall asleep tonight before the race. It's not like it matters though, knowing me it will take me hours to fall asleep and I will be running on four hours of sleep. These feelings actually remind me of my first horse show. I was so nervous because the horse I was leasing, Woody, bruised a hoof two days before the show and I ended up riding a different horse. I ended up trapping all of that nervous energy and doing really well considering the circumstances. I'm trying to use that experience as a reference point and also trying to rein in my anxieties.

I picked up my participant packet in Fresno last night at the California Classic Expo. It was surprisingly easy and really quick. When I got to the Expo, the parking lot was PACKED so I expected to be in line for at least a few minutes. But nope, I walked in and walked out. There is a ChronoTrack Timer on the back of my number that I am seriously worried about folding as I am a nervous paper folder. Oh well, we'll see what happens to that. Literally the moment I walked into the house last night proudly waving my number, my husband jumped for an opportunity to lecture me. What it comes down to is that he doesn't think I've trained hard enough or long enough and he's worried about me. But then today when he tells me we are having burgers for dinner and I tell him, I can't eat that tonight. Well, you want to be worried but you want to feed me a fatty burger? That will hurt me more than anything tomorrow. So Potatoes, Zucchini, and Chicken it is!

(Runner's Nutrition - I found this while I was searching for "pre race meals" and "recovery meals". Informative article written by the Terrio Nutritionist, who also happened to put together my meal plans for the challenge I did from January to March.)

I actually started writing this blog post at around 7 this morning but my husband and I have been doing yard work all day. I still have so many things to do before tomorrow and I am actually thinking about hunting down my camelbak to wear during the race tomorrow. It doesn't look like it is going to be too hot in the morning tomorrow but you never know, I might feel the need for water before the first water station. Usually when I wear my camelbak, I mix 50/50 Water and Gatorade. I think it may be wise so I don't overindulge or drink too quickly at the water stations.

Now that I've had a little more time to assess my nervousness, I find that I'm not worried about running. I'm worried about my stomach. I've been having digestive issues pretty consistently over the last couple of weeks. It's nothing serious but I do have a stomach ache right now. I've been tweaking my diet and it seems to have helped. I just worry about having GI issues on the course. But I guess I won't know unless I try...

Recap to come tomorrow! At some point. After I start to recover.

Does anyone still follow?

Hello out there! Can anybody hear me????

Now that I've gotten THAT out of the way, I need to apologize to my legion (of 4) fans. I have not written and I have not thought about writing for the last month. I've been slacking. I'm sorry. But now it is time to get to BUSINESS.

I am running a half marathon on Sunday. Yes, this Sunday. I am currently freaking out because I am so nervously excited that I can't really find words to express how nervously excited I am. I've been plagued by self doubt and it has been made worse by the doubts of the people around me. The number one question that I have been asked is, "Wow. Do you think you can even run a half marathon?" Well no, I know I can't run the whole thing but that is not the point! I want to participate and fully complete a half marathon. I want to have a time to beat for the NEXT half marathon. Why can't innocent bystanders just say, "Wow. That's really cool. How are you feeling about it? Are you excited?" or "Wow. That is such a great accomplishment! Good luck!"

That all being said, I have several people who have given me some great advice. (Insert a big thank you to Jaime right... HERE :)) I also have a coworker who is going to be running the race as well but he seems a lot more focused. He is constantly asking me, "Melanie! Are you ready for this?!!??!!" And before I get the chance to respond he says, "Are you following a training plan? Because I am but it is making me so fatigued. Are you to that point? Are you ready for this?!!!???!!!!!!??" He is a really nice guy but he's... exuberant.

My training has gone OK. With the increase in temperature lately and my lack of desire to go to the gym, I've had some really bad runs. But I've also had some really good runs too. My best run to date was running for 45 minutes straight without needing to stop for a quick walk break and my recovery time was quick that day. I think I had a 60 second recovery and I was good to run another 30 minutes. My strength training has been non existent and my diet has just gone in the crapper over the last few weeks. I need to get back on the wagon with the healthy eating because my body has just been rebelling over the last couple of weeks. I need to be back to the point where eating a Sweet Potato is the highlight of my life!


Really quick before I need to go to work...

GOALS FOR MY FIRST HALF MARATHON (in order of importance)
1. Finish
2. Finish before the finish line closes
3. Take pictures and run at the same time (If you've seen the movie "Yes Man", raise your hand)
4. Do not fall, trip, or throw up.
5. Do not cause another runner to fall, trip, or throw up
6. Run at least half of the half marathon.
7. Do a happy dance at the finish line.
8. Be coherent enough to drive home after the race.

TO DO LIST
1. Pick up my packet (has to be done pre-race on Thurs or Fri)
2. Buy new insoles for my running shoes (perk of working where I work, I can get nice ones from the medical dept.)
3. Break in new insoles.
4. Do one more short run.
5. Create a new running playlist.
6. Buy Shot Bloks