Beaches + Post-Marathon Training Goals

I hope you all had a fab Mother's Day! I didn't see my mom yesterday, but I will be seeing her next weekend and I saw her last weekend. Isn't she cute?

Well, I'm getting a cold I think (sore throat, coughing a lot). I tried to go to sleep early last night so I could start off this week by exercising in the mornings before work, but I ended up tossing and turning all night and I didn't wake up until almost seven this morning! I guess I'm destined to run after work.

But yesterday was a pretty good Sunday. Unfortunately I did not run my 8 miles like I said I was hoping to, but that's the beauty of not being on a training plan :) Instead I lazed around a bit and then headed to the beach! (I was still really sore from my 12 mile bike ride on Saturday, and weird thing, my left hand was partially numb Saturday-Sunday and still kind of today! I guess I'm not used to road biking yet...)

I headed out to Folly Beach on my own, and found a new little walk way down onto the beach...


I spent a few hours out there sunning, reading my new Women's Health and studying (a small bit). The water was cool and it was just perfect. I decided to pack up and head out around 2 PM.


And as soon as I turned out of Folly Beach and headed back towards downtown, this is what I saw:


Where had that crap come from?? It was bright, sunny, blue skies at the beach! Not more than about 5 miles later, the sky opened up.


I guess I left at just the right time :) When I got home, I found this package waiting for me in the office! (I seriously love packages)

Inside was my Better Whey of Life yogurt samples I was sent to review! Unfortunately, they weren't cold once I unpacked them...but being the brave girl I am, I decided to stick them in the fridge and try them out anyways. (What I do for you guys...) I have tried 2 of the 3 and I'm feeling okay so far! Full review to come tomorrow so stay tuned :)

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So anyways, back to running! I am pumped about this week because I am officially going to be back into training mode.

I think I have decided to do the Marine Corps Marathon in October through the Charleston Team in Training. I haven't officially accepted yet because I have been weighing my options, but all in all, I think it would be fun to train with a team, it would be a great way to meet new people, and most importantly it would raise money for a good cause.

The only thing I am worried about is the $$ commitment. I can handle running a crap load of miles, but raising almost $4,000? That scares me big time. Anybody have any thoughts on this? Advice for me?

I have also added a 1/2 marathon to my fall schedule, the Raleigh City of Oaks Half on November 1st. This would be right after my marathon, so perfect timing! I am really excited about this one because I will be running it with my girl Meredith! (Who has been sucked into the blog world, woo hoo! Go check out three dogs and a dream :)

So there ya have it.

I'm still working on my training schedule, so more about that later on as well. Other than the yogurt review, I promise I am going to review my headphones this week too! (I need more hours in the day...) Happy Monday y'all!

North Meets South + Two Weeks to Go!

Hello lovelies! It has been a while, I know. I was busy all weekend romping on the beach, shopping on King Street, and drinking way too much wine with my BFF who now lives in DC. Friday however, I did manage to get in a measly 6 mile run. It was good, it was easy, and it was pretty quick for me. My last mile came in at 7:47!

I was planning on also getting in my 12 miler at some point, but really, there was just too much drinking for my light weight self and I didn't want to leave my guests at home alone without me for 2 hours while I ran...so I just cooked them lots of yummy food instead and decided to do my run tonight! Whatever, it's my taper and I'll do what I want.

**She has most of the weekend's pictures on her camera, so better ones should be surfacing later on this week.

Here's the weekend recap:

Thursday they arrived around 2:30, and I got home from work around 4:30. (Matt was sweet enough to pick them up at the airport.) We headed straight to Red's on Shem Creek for happy hour where we also ate some dinner and did some dolphin watching. We might have come home and ordered pizza. Maybe.


Friday morning I got up to run, then I made everyone a big breakfast of eggs, turkey bacon and toast. Then we went walking around Charleston/shopping/catching up and the boys eventually parted ways to go shooting. Yep, with guns. At a range. I was perfectly content with the shopping! Oh, and then we went and got a much needed pedicure. We might have also had some mimosas. Then I made stuffed chicken and baked sweet potato/regular potato fries and we played Scene It Seinfeld while continuing to drink.


Saturday morning I got up bright and early and made whole wheat flax pancakes with turkey bacon. On mine I added greek yogurt, PB and bananas. My pancakes are awesome btw. Then we headed to Isle of Palms beach and got sunburnt/a little drunkskies/the boys played horseshoes for 4 hours. The BFF also managed to get shat on by a seagull, literally less than a minute after I said, "I really hope I don't get shat on again." (It has happened to me 3 times before.) Then we went out to dinner downtown at the Noisy Oyster, hit up Wet Willie's for a Call a Cab, and played darts at Brick until we were about to pass out with exhastion.

This is how things were looking through my eyes Saturday night. Really dark and a little blurry.

Sunday morning we got up and ate MORE turkey bacon, biscuits, and I decided to do a "make your own" omelet station where everyone got to choose their own omelet fillers which included ham, black olives, steamed broccoli, chopped summer squash & zucchini, fresh mozzerella, two different kinds of feta & diced tomato. I make pretty damn good breakfasts I must say! Then we headed out to Folly Beach for a few more hours in the sun/more horseshoes/and a trip to Taco Boy for lunch! Oh and the BFF's boy got shat on as well! It was much worse than when she did... Later than night we grilled out bratwursts with cilantro lime slaw and played Spades.




We had a very relaxing and fun weekend and I was sad to see them leave this morning at 6 AM!! Although I know they are ready to be home in DC relaxing on their last day of vacay before heading back to work.

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So....tonight I am running 12 miles, and hopefully I will be okay enough tomorrow to continue on with my running without a rest day. I don't want to push the schedule back this week any more than I have to. These next TWO WEEKS before my first marathon are going to be filled with clean and simple eating, structured exercise and an all out detox to prepare myself for the race on May 2nd.

Any seasoned marathoners have any tips for me for these final two weeks?