2012 in Review

Clearly we are better runners than we are bloggers. Since it is January I figured I try this whole blog thing again.

Let's start with an update on what Caro and I have been up to since we last blogged. 

1. We both moved. Caro moved to Baltimore from Florida to take a sweet gig which was awesome because we were super close to each other for like a month. Then my husband got relocated to Texas, and closed my private practice in Virginia to take a job at a university.

2. In September Caro and I headed to Orlando to run the Tower of Terror 10 Miler with my Dad and my 2 sisters. As usual we probably spent more time talking about our outfits than we did actually training for the race. We dressed as pirates. The weather on race day was SUPER hot, and I am pretty sure that I have run a half marathon with better time than this 10 miler, but in the end it was all worth it because we achieved what every RunDisney fan only dreams of.... we made the DISNEY BLOG.  NBD...but here is the LINK TO OUR DISNEY FAME

3. Sadly, we did not win the costume contest (that's only because we didn't know we were even on the blog until after the vote, and thus were not able to launch the eMarketing/social media campaign necessary to seal a win in the Disney arena). I am also sure we did not win because the photo was not of the entire pirate crew! Here are some pics from the race to show just how much fun it can be to run in 1,000 degree heat in a pirate costume.

From left to right: Caroline, Melanie, Dad, Amanda, and Christine

More pirate fun!

We even had time to play in Disney!
We got awesome matching shirts from RAW THREADS

The medal glows in the dark!
Also has a working elevator!

4. On the running side of things the end of 2012 was fairly uneventful as the only race I managed to do was the Turkey Trot in Arlington, Texas. Not sure about Caroline... A professional blogger would have corresponded with her before writing this post, but that's just not what this blog is all about these days. 

SO WHAT WILL 2013 BRING? 

I am still working on my race schedule which is likely to include the Cowtown Half Marathon and the Zooma  Women's Half in Bastrop, Texas in early 2013.  I can confirm that both Caroline and I were selected in the random draw for the Nike Women's half marathon in Washington DC in April which means we have got to get to work on our costume ASAP. 

Hopefully 2013 will bring a little bit more bloggin!

-Red

We've Been Busy

Maybe our reader(s) have not been informed that Caroline and I have been busy making life choices. Here is just one example of a recent development. Since Caroline and I both have June Bdays we have been planning to do a race together...

Christine 'Schmidt' Evans shared a link.

11 minutes ago

booooo! i was gonna recommend this race, but it is full!!
http://www.run4virginiawine.com/

Virginia Wine Country Half Marathon - Destination Races

www.run4virginiawine.com

Experience the beauty of Northern Virginia in the inaugural running of the Virginia Wine Country Half Marathon. Produced by Destination Races, this is the fifth event in the Wine Country Half Marathon series, and the first held in the eastern United States

 ·  · Share

• • 

    Caroline J. Fernández BOO!! :(

    13 minutes ago · 
  • 

    Christine 'Schmidt' Evans everything else listed seems to be 5ks.... I know we both think 5ks are un-fun... but I could reconsider for time with firefighters ... www.richmondfirefightersbeattheheat.org

    

    2012 - Beat the Heat 5k

    www.richmondfirefightersbeattheheat.org

    Beat the Heat 5k.

    9 minutes ago ·  · 
  • 

    Caroline J. Fernández THAT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!

    8 minutes ago · 
  • 

    Christine 'Schmidt' Evans YES!!!thought you might like that =).... AND the race is only 20 bucks...maybe I can arrange to get us some kind of flame costume like Katniss in Hunger Games

    7 minutes ago ·  ·  1

Shamrock Half Marathon Recap

Happy St. Patrick's Day to our reader(s). I traveled to Virginia Beach this weekend for the Shamrock Half Marathon.  We arrived to the expo at a great time and had no issues with packet pickup. I was super excited because my race technical shirt wasn't big enough for an elephant to wear. I then was  beyond giddy  because there was a spring craft expo next door to the race expo. Too bad I had my husband with me. I tried to think of every reason possible for why it was a good idea for him to go to the craft expo. Sadly, there was never a chance.

Meanwhile back in runner's world, we went for a Saturday pasta dinner at Macaroni Grill where I promptly realized at 7pm the night before my out of town race that I forgot my cute pink Mizunos at home. Since I wear custom orthotics this was potentially a runner's worst nightmare. We had to take an emergency detour to the only open sporting goods store which of course did not  sell my shoes. I ended up buying a pair that felt similar and hoped for the best. As you can tell from the photo to the left, I made it through the race ok despite my lack of orthotics.

The race was a pretty good route, and there were lots of cute green tutus and green running gear along the way. We ran through a military base and got serious of cheers from soldiers. Kinda felt funny getting cheers from them, pretty sure I should have been giving them applause! The finish line was like Christmas as we got a medal, a hat, a hoodie, and a shamrock cookie. We then got to promptly enter a beer tent and drink beer at 9am and watch a concert. Robert was happy to join me for that party.

Now with this race done, I am one race closer to running again with Caroline at the Tower of Terror 10 miler!

We Do Blog Blog Blog?

So we are seriously the worst bloggers ever. Here are some updates:.

1. Caroline ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon, and looked amazing as Silver Mist the Fairy!

2. Christine is running the Shamrock Half Marathon this weekend, and has an amazing outfit made.The pics are of the back of the shirt and hair bow. More pics to come

3. Daylight Saving Time has made for wonderful evening runs.

In other news, I am pretty sure that  our blog is now at the place where we can get guest bloggers to talk about why they run, and other running related topics. That would also probably make sure we post more regularly and that we have posts that even grammar nerds would like to read.

Long Weekend Fun!

We had a bit of winter this weekend in Richmond. What I mean by that is that it was 60 degrees and sunny on Saturday, and 30 degrees with 4 inches of snow accumulation on Sunday. Today it is 50 degrees and the snow is melting.

Lucky for me I chose Saturday to do my long run, and Sunday as my day off this week from running. I took today off (with the exception of one client at 4:00), and I am pretty sure that by 4:00 today things should be clear enough on the roads for me to run without too much distress.

All this time off this weekend has given me the chance to get caught up on the important things in life, like my laundry, and episodes of the Real Housewives of Orange County.

I am getting pretty pumped that in about a month I will be running the Shamrock Half Marathon in Virginia beach. Wardrobe details to come!

Pre-race food

Sorry I've been slacking on posting! I promise I will start regularly blogging come Feb. 1, 2012. I will make an attempt to blog ever 2-3 days with my workouts. Pinky promise :) Anyway, so today, I would like to talk about what I eat before I run. I'll start this post out with a horror story:

When I ran the Disney Half-Marathon last year, I was running past the Grand Floridian. I believe this was around mile 7. At this point, the course turned to being 2 lanes. Here, you didn't want to get stuck behind someone slow and the rules of running (unwritten) came in to play. So, picture this, I was running and a SLOOOOW lady ran with all her might to get in front of me only to slow down once she got in front of me. I thought to myself, "Wow, that was a dick move." But then I caught a glimpse as to why she may have slowed down... she pooped herself... and I saw it. I was looking at her butt for whatever reason, and I saw her spandex pants fill up with poop. And then I smelled it. And then I ran on the grass to go past her because if not, I would have barfed.

You may ask yourself why I would share such a gross story. Well, the reason is, I find it important to be careful as to what you put in yourself because you don't know if your body will reject the food while exercising. Poor lady in front of me ended up pooping herself during mile 7 of 13. I don't know if she finished or not, but here's to a DNF.

I've run my share of races in the morning and evening. I don't particularly like evening races because I don't really know how to eat for a race starting at 10pm. Usually, before a race, I like to wake up, do my thing and eat half of a bagel with crunchy peanut butter as close to the start as possible. I drink about 8-16oz of water when eat that bad boy, too. Mainly so I don't choke because at that point, I will be fully hydrated. If I have one, then I eat a banana, but there will usually be some on the course and I'll eat one then. And to be honest, that's all I eat before morning runs.

During evening runs, I usually like to have some sort of pasta (about a cup) with another protein (beans will do) about 2-3 hours before I run. Then, I have a PB&J sandwich (or 2) and a banana about 30 minutes before running. Again, with 8-16oz of water so I don't choke. I've found that this combination has left me not hungry and with enough energy to run a long race and not want to die in the end.

I guess I could have written this post with just two words: Peanut butter. It keeps you full and will not give you the Grand Floridian Mile 7 effect. Oh, and before I go, be sure to check out my humorous yet true tips to eating before running.

Some advice: 

• DO NOT TRY SOMETHING NEW BEFORE YOU RUN. I'm sure you've all heard of the Chipotle effect. Well, little known fact, I love eating Chipotle before 10+ runs BUT NOT anything more than 20. At that point, my stomach rebels. If you're not used to the food before a run, avoid it. 
• DO NOT drink pedialyte before a race. I know it's important to stay hydrated, but only drink it if you plan on stopping ~4 times DURING your run to urinate. Or you could always go on yourself. I added an HOUR to a run because I had to keep stopping to use PortoLets. This also holds true if you CARBOTOOMUCHLOAD. If you have too many carbs, the old diarrhea machine might come after you. 
• With that being said, don't overhydrate. If you drink to much and don't pee, you swell up and that is ungood AND uncool. 
• Eat something before you run. It doesn't have to be a full on meal. In fact, don't eat a full meal before running, but eat enough to sustain your energy. If not, you'll probably feel terrible during the run. 
• Eating TOO MUCH fiber leads to too much gas. We're not jet powered... yet. 

Disclaimer: I'm not a dietician nor do I claim to be one. I just know what works and what doesn't work for me and am offering advice to those who want to read it. 

Hooray for Sun!

Since I moved to Virginia a few years ago I think I have spent more time in the months of October-March complaining about how cold this place is than I have running.

Last winter was pretty much a nonstop snow-fest, so I am pretty sure I attempted to run the Disney Princess Half marathon with like 4 long runs under my belt. I like to pretend that if I continually tell myself that I like to run in the cold, I will actually like to run in the cold. Unfortunately, I still seem curse each and every time that cold wind hits my face.

Thankfully as of today at 1:30 I can say we have not had one flake stick here in RVa. In fact, today is sunny 65 degrees!  I am pretty sure it is because I have spent every single day of winter trying to send positive thoughts to the running gods and because someone up there realized I ended 2011 about half a tick from a nervous breakdown.  Global warming, shobal warming...blah blah....

The mild temperatures have made it possible for me to enjoy going out for a run even more, which in turn helps me feel less like a nervous breakdown, which in turn allows me to be more productive at work, and life. It's really a win-win, I think.

So here's to a great week of runs, and a snow free January!