Runs in Tutus Is Moving!

Hello friends!

The Runs in Tutus blog is getting a makeover and stepping it up a notch! Please continue to follow us at runsintutus.com for more posts regarding DIY race crafts, fitness tips, race recaps, cosutme making and more. 

Happy July!

Happy July, fellow blog friends.


I have started training for the Tower of Terror 10 miler and in order to keep myself motivated to run in the lovely summer Texas sun, I  have already made our race crew some tote bags, and training books.

We are also trying to coordinate costumes for the race. I think we have decided on going with classic villains this year, but we are still in the works in the costume department. I have been a bit of a Pinterest addict lately compiling ideas. It's hard work avoiding all the work I should actually be doing.

The other reason for my serious costume searching is that we have to coordinate 2 costumes for the Glass Slipper Challenge in February, and I am pretty sure we have like 40 of our closest friends running with us...I think I'll have to devote an entire blog to the sheer logistics of our February Disney trip. #magicalproblems

Since I love summer I have been happy about the sun, but it certainly does present some training challenges. I am finally realizing I  may have to bite the bullet and become a morning runner. I tend to prefer to run in the evening, but that may not be an option in Texas in July. Anyone in the bloggy world have any tips for making yourself get up early to run? I am up for any ideas you have.


In case you are interested, here is a sneak peek at our race goodies for the Tower of Terror race....

Race Training Journals/ Scrapbooks

Tote bags for the Expo and Disney Fun!

Sorry for my terrible photography skills. Maybe when our blog hits the big time we can spring for better photographs. I will say Caroline is a much better photographer than I!


Talk to you soon, virtual friends!

Nike Women's Half Marathon -Washington, DC Recap

Hello Blog Buddies. My sincere apologies for the lack of blogging. This time I can actually say the lack of bloggin'  was not in fact due to my procrastination. Our blog was temporarily down because some not so nice internet leech infested our blog with malware via a spam post. Google had our blog on isolation precautions.

 No worries reader(s). We have been to the free internet clinic, we were treated, and can now say our blog is 100% disease free. Wish someone would have given me some kind of internet transmitted disease brochure when we launched this rookie blog. Guess it's just one of those live and learn scenarios. Well, Internet, we have been around the block now, and we are now fully protected. So to all those promiscuous blog skanks, you can take your malware elsewhere.

Since I haven't blogged in a while, we'll make this a mega post to make up for our lack of blogging.

 Caroline and I did our first race of the year together in DC in late April. We ran the Nike Women's Half. It was a bit of an emotional week for us as two weeks prior we watched the horrific events unfold at the Boston Marathon. Caroline and I decided to honor the spirit of marathoners everywhere and the victims in Boston by running and posting happy race pictures. We also made the decision to wear Boston themed running gear while racing. To the left are our shirts from RawThreads


As with the other Nike races, the Expo left a bit to be desired as it doesn't have the vendor diversity you can find at a race that isn't sponsored by an athletic apparel company. There were some great speakers, and a cool option to make your own cheer card.

 The race gear made by Nike was top notch. The biggest pre-race excitement was the quest to purchase the limited edition shoe for the race. Since Caroline lives in DC, she was able to score a pair of shoes early in the week at a local running shop. I had to wait until I raced off the plane. My first stop was to the Nike store in Georgetown, and lucky for me, I got the last pair of the shoes in my size. I am sure I spent more on gear than I did on the race entry. Well played, Nike. Here are the shoes in all their glory.

!!!!

After the shoe hunt, we played around the town. Here are some of the goofy pics: 

Race day went pretty well. We had no trouble getting to the race. Caroline came by metro, and my sister dropped me off by car. Bag check was well organized. Once at the start, we were pretty crammed getting to our corral, and thus didn't actually end up getting into the line until well after our corral had started. I was so impressed with the turnout, and the enthusiasm of the runners in the wake of tragedy in Boston that the crowd didn't really bother me. Had I been hoping for a PR at this race, the crowd would have been an obstacle for sure. Because there was such a bottleneck at the start, and due to the fact this race was a Team in Training event with lots of run/walk racers, I didn't really end up at my full pace until almost halfway through the race. Again, this is NOT a complaint. I was so thrilled to be running, and to be able to run, that it didn't bother me a bit. Just writing this as an FYI. 

The race course was gorgeous and with lots of DC monuments. Nike also had cute signs on the race with sayings like, "blue boxes ahead." There were lots of spectators with somewhat topical signs such as, "binders full of runners."

My attempt at photography while running. #fail

 The only thing I would warn runners of in regards to this race is the fuel situation. There wasn't any name brand sports drink available (no Gatorade or Powerade).  They used a product called Nuun (which to me tasted AWFUL). I rarely drink sports drinks at a half marathon, but unfortunately since some of the Nuun flavors look clear, I ended up with Nuun instead of water twice during the race. Yuck!  I never consume Gu or other gel-like substances while racing, so I can't comment as to the selection of those at this race.

The best part of the race was the long anticipated TIFFANY'S NECKLACE! The finish line was a red carpet, and when we finished, a man in a tuxedo handed us a little blue box! Afterwards we stuck around and took post race pictures, and hung out for post race festivities. All in all, it was a great race! Here are some general pics of the race and the bling. 

Start

Crowds at Start

Finish

The Bling!!

Up next for Caroline and me is another trip to Disney! We are running the Tower of Terror 10 miler in October. We are also excited to announce  we will be running the inaugural Glass Slipper Challenge in Disney in Feb.2014! 

Race Recap - Cowtown

Hello, Internet! Hope all is well with you. Once again I am sorry for our general lack of blogging. I bet you thought we "ran" away (pun intended).  Hopefully YouTube has been keeping you entertained with cat videos while we were away.

Since we last talked I got to run the Cowtown 10k in Fort Worth, Texas. I had planned to do the half, but thought it would be way more fun to run with a friend who was doing her first 10k. It was a great race, a little chilly, but not too miserable. Fort Worth is such a great place to run and the Cowtown never lets me down. Expo location is great, and there is plenty of space on the race course.

For our race day fashion we wore shirts that said "Keep Calm and More Cowbell." Because let's face it, we all need more Will Ferrell in our lives, and everything can use more cowbell!  To complete the ensemble, we wore bows with cows on them (don't ask why I had foam cows #ConfessionsOfaSpeechPathologist). Pictures of our race fun are below. For those of you who are not SNL junkies. Here is the link to the SNL more cowbell skit CLICK HERE FOR MORE COWBELL

I am super excited because Caroline and I will run together soon at the Nike Women's Half Marathon in Washington, DC. I have no idea what our race-wear will be, but Caroline left me a Facebook post saying race outfits were "a go" and that I would just have to be surprised when I arrived. So we will all just have to be left in suspense until the race day. I am sure the race outfits will rock, and extra-sure that getting a Tiffany's necklace at the finish will also rock!

Race Shirt!

Cow bows!

Race buddies. Congrats to Leslie on finishing her first race!

First Race of the Year

Greetings to our blog fan(s).  We've had some wonderful weather here in DFW which has really helped with training. I am currently gearing up for my first race of the new year. I"ll be running the Cowtown as a 10k with a good friend.

While I have run 10Ks before, this race has been a particularly fun endeavor because I am getting to see my friend find the joy and satisfaction of training for your first race. It will be her first race ever, so I have had the pleasure of running with her on her first training runs. It is fun to watch her fall in love with running.

I can't wait to cross the finish line with her at the end of February.

After the Cowtown race I'll be headed to Austin in March for the Zooma Women's Half Marathon, and then to DC for the Nike's Women's Half.

 I'm sensing a bit of a "girl power" theme to my running in 2013. So,  with that I say.... Throw your hands up at me!

Ballet...for cross-training?

Almost 10 years ago I had a major abdominal surgery to treat my carcinoid cancer. I had a 60% liver resection,  gallbladder removal, radio-frequency ablation of a bunch of tumors, and biopsies of portions of my small and large intestines. I was so fortunate that my cancer was operable, and as I come close to my 10 year survivor mark, I am feeling healthy and happy.

Since the surgery required an almost 14 inch incision right under my rib cage,  I was left with essentially no feeling in my upper abdomen. It has made any sort of core work a pretty tricky endeavor. I have tried Pilates  yoga, personal training (with 2 different trainers), crossfit, P90X, Bob Green's Total Body Makeover, standing ab routines, Zumba, boot camp, and stability ball class all with the effort of trying to regain sensory and motor control over my abdomen. I can say it has certainly improved over time, but nothing has produced dramatic results. 

One day last year I had the idea of trying ballet as an option for cross training. Ballet dancers seem to have pretty rockin' bods, and the cute clothing and pinkness fit my number one criteria for starting a workout program. This fall 3 of my friends and I enrolled in an adult ballet class, and I have to say it has really changed my body and my core! The slow concentrated effort on the upper body, along with precise directives from a pro ballet teacher were exactly what I needed. On the third class the teacher approached me and adjusted my rib cage to the more ballet friendly form, and suddenly I felt my abs engage! 10 years of trying, and it took a ballet teacher 3 classes to get my core going. Never saw that coming.  Each class I do, I feel more and more control over my abs. 

In addition to the obvious breakthrough in my core, I am pleased to say that the stretching and barre work have been an excellent compliment to running. My hips feel so much better, and my stride has improved with my increase in flexibility. I have added 2 days a week of ballet to my workout routine this year, and couldn't be happier to dance my way into my 10 year cancerversary! 

Running Confession

Confession: I never time my runs, and I don't care how fast I run at a race.



Don't get me wrong, I am a perfectionist to the core. I am competitive at nearly everything I do (even tailgating...which reminds me, I need to get to thinking on how we can have a better setup next season. Other tailgates around us had way better decor..but I digress).  Perfectionism is a blessing in some cases, but can really be a party pooper when it comes to the fun things in life. After running for 10 years I am still shocked I have managed to keep the perfectionism monster out of my running life.

I started running because a friend told me she wanted to run a marathon and I decided that sounded "fun." Of course then I realized I had never actually run before.  Being the nerd that I am, I went to the local bookstore (yes, it was before we bought everything online) and bought a book called The Non-runner's Marathon Trainer. The book is based on a course developed at the University of Northern Iowa that is designed to  help a new runner train and FINISH a first marathon. The book encourages mental preparation and physical preparation.  The main theme of the book is to go into your first marathon without a goal for time. Only a goal to finish. All of the training runs are only for distance, and you are asked not to time yourself. The author has you use rate or perceived exertion and heart rate as metrics instead. Their reasoning is that a marathon is a tremendous accomplishment, and that it would be sad for you to spend months training for the race, finish 26.2 miles, and then feel bad because it took you 10 minutes longer than you wanted.

Lucky for me, I subscribed to that train of thought, and never consistently timed myself while training. I can say I really enjoyed and finished my first marathon. People asked how I did. I simply said, "It was great. I finished!" Perfectionism took a holiday during marathon time.  Ever since then I have continued to run for the sheer joy of finishing. I like running, and I find joy in simply running. When I think about it, I can't even imagine wanting to get "better" or "faster" at running.  I have tried timing myself, and honestly, it just feels funny. I'd rather just run because I can. I am fine if you get to the finish line before me. It will be there when I get there.

 Maybe I should work on taking a few other aspects of life out of the "because I wanna be the best" category, and into the "just because" category?