Soulshine

I love cats

2012-02-08T08:26:00.003-06:00

My college roomie showed me this video this weekend. OMG!!! I can't stop watching this either. It just makes me laugh!

I mean, come on! Don't you just love it?

Somebody that I used to know

2012-02-07T17:35:00.008-06:00

Perhaps someday I'll actually post something more exciting than you tube videos. I promise I have been doing exciting stuff. Until then... check this out.

Craig actually got me hooked on this song by Gotye. But I love this cover by Walk Off The Earth. I have been watching their videos all morning. They are fantastic musicians.

New additions to the marathon playlist

2011-12-30T17:40:00.001-06:00

This weekend is race weekend... I'm running a full marathon on December 31st and a half marathon on January 1st. I'm a bit nervous, but excited to see what my body can do. And you know I had to download some new jams for this... here's a sampling of what I'll be listening to and their YouTube link.

Everybody Talks- Neon Trees
We Found Love- Rihanna
Little Talks- Of Monsters and Men
Ni**as in Paris- Kanye and Jay-Z
Shake it Out- Florence + The Machine
The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie- Red Hot Chili Peppers
Miracle Worker- Super Heavy (the actual song doesn't start until 50 seconds in with this video)
Moth's Wings- Passion Pit
Angel Dance- Robert Plant

Alabama Shakes: Hold On

2011-11-25T09:05:00.003-06:00

I am obsessed with this song right now. I heard it one night while we were listening to Wold Cafe on NPR. I could listen to this all day! Enjoy!

What have I gotten myself into?

2011-10-02T18:49:00.007-05:00

Sorry 'bout that blogging hiatus y'all....

Several of the running blogs I follow have been getting into biking. I've never really put much thought into it, but lately I've decided that might be something I'm interested in. I should give it a try. I know it would be hella easier on my body than pounding the pavement all the time and great for cross training.

Then last week I had a dream about doing a triathlon. I talked to Craig about it, and he did some research for me about bikes. I made a pit-stop at the local bike shop on Tuesday to gather some information for myself and left there more confused than when I went in. I also talked to a few friends who ride and decided that I wanted to get a road bike... which I could easily do triathlons with if I decided to go that route.

Craig and I searched Craigslist for some great used bikes... and I found one I liked. I emailed the guy right away and called him shortly after he responded. Unfortunately, he had just sold it, but said he would give me a call if for some reason the guy couldn't come up with the money. I was totally bummed! I already had in my mind that this was my bike. So I said a little prayer to Baby Jesus... and an hour later the guy called me back. Apparently the person he sold it to was too tall for the bike and decided not to get it after all. So, Craig and I stopped at the bank and made our way up to Denton.

I really have no clue about bikes... but she's so pretty! Craig knows a few things, and we decided this was a pretty good deal. So after test riding it up and down the street a few times, we sprung. I named her Ruby and she's all mine!

(Please be jealous of my awesome photography skills and backdrop!)

And of course Craig and I both had to take her for a little ride.

Welcome home Ruby. I hope I can give you the wonderful life you deserve and don't kill myself in the process!

The maple kind... yeah.

2011-08-21T16:58:00.002-05:00

One blog I follow posted this video last week. I thought it was so funny! So, since I have nothing meaningful or exciting to post... I thought I would share it with you.

Gold Dust Woman

2011-08-15T07:23:00.003-05:00

Friday night Craig and I headed over to Grand Prairie to the Stevie Nicks concert. Earlier in the week, I found a Groupon for this concert... which brought the ticket down to $23 each. How could I pass this one up? I love Stevie! Don't worry... where we saved on tickets we made up for with $20 parking. Eeeek!

Basically the concert was great. We were in the "upper deck" and in practically the very last row, but we had a good time. She played old favorites like Stand Back, Gold Dust Woman, Landslide, Rhiannon and Edge of Seventeen mixed with new songs from her current album. I loved hearing all the stories she told from her past. And not going to lie, I had some tears in my eyes during Landslide, which she sang as a tribute to her father. She is gorgeous!

And since camera's are banned, I have no pictures of the event... but lucky for me, someone pulled a sneaky and captured my favorite song.

Also, Craig is now in love with Waddy Wachtel, the awesome guitarist.

Swampin'

2011-08-04T08:29:00.005-05:00

The boys at work got me hooked on a new show.

Swamp People.

Can you believe it?

When I pulled it up on Netflix, I was thinking I was crazy to watch this show. I mean, a bunch of crazy redneck Cajun's hunting alligators? But I fell in love with Troy and the others (but mostly Troy... how sweet is he?).

I finished up Season 1 last night and am looking forward to Season 2. Also, Craig keeps threatening to take me "swampin" for our next vacay. I'm definitely not ready for that!

Thrift Store Finds

2011-07-31T20:36:00.008-05:00

I had Saturday off this weekend, so I convinced Craig to go to Dallas. I had my eye on a few things at Ikea and needed his opinion. We have been talking about FINALLY doing something with our second living room area. Craig would like to build a bar... but he has ADD and we all know that may happen in 10 years. So in the meantime, let's do something! The room looks like we literally moved in last week-- not 6+ years ago.

So the other night we talked about our vision for the room and I think we have a descent plan. We are big into records here and Craig has a little setup in his office with the record player and whatnot... but we would like to move that out to the living area. In his research, he found a lot of people who used this little bookshelf by Ikea which fits records perfectly. We will put the record player on top. I love the idea of having the records where everyone can see and listen to them!

Of course we have a ton more that we haven't moved out front and the things on the top don't belong there, and we need curtains... but I think it will be cool.

Then we trekked down to Deep Ellum to hit up my favorite vintage/antique store. I can't get enough of Lula B's! I find so many treasures there and have to show a lot of restraint. I could easily spend a whole paycheck there. Eeeeekk!

My first find was this adorable little purse. It's actually navy blue, but looks black here.

Then I came across this porcelain dish from 1941. Don't you just love those colors? I think it was meant to be a serving dish... but not in my house. Here it shall be on display.

And this vase. Love the colors in it!

I have had my eye on some vintage baking dishes. Craig actually came across this one for me. It's pink! So, I don't cook.... I can still have pretty bake ware, right?

Then we wandered upstairs to take a look at the clothes. I found this cute high-waisted skirt. It does have a little stain on the front that I'm hoping will come out. But it still has the Neiman Marcus price tag on it. I'm still figuring out what shirt I'm going to wear with it.

And finally a casual t-shirt.

Such a good day!

Next up

2011-07-24T10:33:00.004-05:00

It's been 1 week since I finished my first Ultra Marathon. I did one short 2 mile recovery run at a VERY slow pace this week. But other than that, I'm giving myself a break. I know it is much needed both mentally and physically. Overall I'm feeling pretty good though. I had some soreness in my knees for a few days and my left ankle looked cankle-y for a few days... but I'm feeling pretty good now.

I signed up for my birthday marathon today. I'll be running the Dallas White Rock Marathon in December to celebrate my 32nd birthday. I ran this one last year and enjoyed myself. I was looking to cross another state off my list, but couldn't find one for the weekend of my birthday that I really wanted to do... or that was fairly close.

My goal for the next 5 months is to work on my speed. My goal for the White Rock Marathon is to break 4 hours, which would be cutting 16 minutes off my PR. I know I can do it if I train properly. Bring on the speed work!

My other goal is to start lifting on a regular basis. I know I should be doing more of this already... but frankly, I'm lazy. And by lazy, I mean I just like to run. I've heard a lot of girls use this book to get them started... so I borrowed it from the library and am going to give it a shot.

I'm giving myself one more week of being lazy. I think I deserve it! The new workout plan will start on August 1st. That gives me 4 full months to get back into racing shape... time to start working on that training plan!

Baseball in Minnesota

2011-07-23T18:17:00.009-05:00

Ok, so finally... the final day of our Minnesota trip!

I had a running date with my niece Emily (the cutie with all the rats) at 9 . My mom stayed with Craig and I at the hotel and needed to be at my brother's house early to go to a softball game... so we worked out a deal. I would run from the hotel to my brother's house to go for this little run. Actually, it worked out perfectly. It's about a 2 mile run, and was a nice little warm-up. So after leaving Craig at the hotel to deal with death of Chubby, (yes, our old dog died while we were away. More on that later. Basically, we are the worst parents ever!) I trotted over to pick up my niece. She is a senior in high school this year and is a pretty fabulous track and cross country runner. We had been talking about this run for quite some time. She claims to have been nervous because she was out of shape (track season ended 2 weeks before and she was taking time off). Ummm....I am not 17 anymore, and am therefore very slow! She had no need to be concerned. So we set out for a 5ish mile run. The run was great! Nice and cool, gorgeous scenery around Rochester and a great running buddy! I think I talked the whole way! We finished up with a little over 6 miles. It was so much fun! I felt like we ran pretty fast and I was pretty sore later in the day. Success! Thanks Emily!

Anywho, after the run I drove back to our hotel, got a quick shower and made our way up to Minneapolis because we had a baseball game to head to. The Texas Rangers were in town playing the Minnesota Twins. My current love vs. my childhood love. I was seriously the craziest Minnesota Twins fan when I was little.... CRAZY!!!

We went with my sister and her family, and while family time was groovy and all.... never again! Sorry! First, we had shitty seats. Well, the actual view wasn't awful, but I like to be a lot closer than top row of right field. It was cold. I was with people who didn't dress appropriately for the weather, or care about the game. Rangers played awful! And we were probably the only ones cheering for the Rangers.

The new stadium was pretty cool though. Afterwards wewalked around the stadium and took a few pictures, then went on a little bar-crawl. And boy did I need it!

Hello, Kirby. Love you!

After consulting a few locals, we followed the crowd to Kieran's for some people watching and a Harp and Finnegan's. Delicious.

Then we crossed the street to Glueck's.
Our plan was to have one beer and move on to the next location, but these fellas we sat next to decided to share their beer tower with us. And how could we say no to free Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy?
So after hanging out with our new friends, we walked by the stadium again to get some pictures when it wasn't all crazy.

Hey Kirby... heard of "the claw"?

And finally a little self-portrait. I love you Craigery!

El Scorco Cin5o... The day I became an Ultra Marathoner

2011-07-18T21:03:00.003-05:00

This past weekend was El Scorcho. It's a midnight run through Trinity Park in Fort Worth of either a 25k or 50k. One of my goals for this year was to run an ultra and I thought this one looked like fun. Last year I went to cheer on the runners for a bit and was hooked! So the day registration opened, I signed up to run the 50k.

I didn't take into account my crazy Spring marathon schedule. I ran 3 marathons in 64 days to qualify for Marathon Maniacs, and frankly I was totally burnt out. I didn't train for this race like I should have. I had dental surgery and had to take a week off, I was mentally and physically exhausted and I hate running in the heat! Not a great combination!

I tried to run as much as I could leading up to the race and contemplated changing my registration to the shorter race. I KNEW I could run the 25k without too much struggle, but isn't part of distance running the challenge? So I decided to just go for it! I knew if I was having a hard time I could always drop out... not that my stubbornness would allow for that... but I knew it was an option if I needed it.

I hydrated like crazy all week and ate healthy. I felt pretty great going into the race... other than I knew I wasn't exactly in race shape. On Saturday night my friend Richaay came over to our house to go with us to the race. He has been so excited about watching me in this crazy ordeal! With him he brought a guitar, a GIANT box of fun hats and 52 jello shots. This kid knows how to party! We arrived at the race site early and set up our little camp. I was so glad I stopped and bought glow necklaces and bracelets for us! It made night running pretty fun!

The race is pretty small, with only 500 participants running around a 3.1 mile loop. Basically the majority of the spectators sit around the start/finish area tailgating. So casual! I decided to wear my fuel belt for the first half of the race since I didn't know how I would do with the heat and where the water stops were. I was glad I had it with me at times! According to one blog I read, the temperature at the start was 90.5 and when he finished (which was a few hours before me) it was 84. It was hot!!!

The boys started with the hats immediately. It was fun to run by them and see what they had on next. It definitely made those miles go by faster!

As I finished up my 3rd loop, I played the hat game too.

The Christmas loop. They even had Christmas music playing.

I did know one person out on the course. I actually suggested that she run this race and we did go on a few runs together. Her support crew was right across the trail from my boys... and eventually they got to know each other. I think it was a combination of the guitar and the jello shots!
Then came lap 9. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect this to pop out at me!
But I laughed. I laughed a lot actually. And if you can still laugh at mile 28, you know something is right! I was literally bent over in the middle of the trail almost in tears from laughter. As I left camp and continued on my last lap about 5 different people commented on Spidey. He was a big hit!

And for the final lap, the dog came out! This kid was out of control!

I crossed the finish line in 6:30... with lots of tears in my eyes. Not a great time by any means, but it was about what I was expecting. This heat messes you up! And it is definitely had to prepare for a midnight run... running when you are normally sleeping. I had some stomach cramps throughout the race and even had to stop and use the bathroom. My nutrition during the race could have been better... I should have gotten more salt and not as much sweet stuff. But I stopped and refueled at our campsite every lap except one and that helped. It just gave you that added boost of encouragement to keep you going. For the record I did want to quit a few times around mile 15... but I didn't. I got teary eyed in a couple places during the actual race. In every marathon I run, I get tears around mile 23. It's just something about running that far and pushing your body that does that! And then again coming down the home stretch with my friends cheering me on. I couldn't help myself! Never in my wildest dreams would I think I could run 31 miles! Amazing!!!

I love my husband and Richaay so much! They were real troopers for enduring this race... although I think they had a good time!

I will definitely do this race again next year... but maybe the 25k instead. It was definitely fun and well organized and the volunteers were great! So brutal, yet so fun!

After packing up our belonging we headed for the car. On our way, one of the race directors gave us some light sabers... if only the boys had these DURING the race!

I was of course the Designated Driver... I had some very drunky boys on my hands at 7 AM!! It's a very cruel world when the girl who ran 31 miles has to drive everyone home!

Party Time... Excellent!

2011-07-12T17:45:00.000-05:00

So the reason we went to Minnesota was for my niece, Jessica's, high school graduation. They had her party on Friday night and the actual graduation was on Saturday. Due to a limited number of tickets to the actual ceremony, we just went to the party. But it was a mighty fine party!

Craig and I drove with mom down to Rochester after lunch to help with set-up. I'm a pretty awesome helper if you tell me what needs to be done. My job... the cracker tray.

So, I had some anxiety about this. I wanted it to look pretty, but frankly, I'm not artistic when it comes to cracker arranging. Who am I kidding? I lack all artistic ability, so I had Craig help. He clearly had the better arrangement. He made his look like a flower, while I made a cracker bridge. Seriously??? What the hell is a cracker bridge Tara? Cracker design fail. I'm sure nobody really noticed though.

After setting up, Craig and I headed to the hotel to get pretty for the event... and to procure alcoholic beverages. (I need a little liquid courage to be the social butterfly!) And here I am with the graduate! She's so freaking tall!

My sister-in-law is perhaps the coolest party-planner ever! She always seems to come up with some good ideas. The big hit here? A cotton candy machine!

I mean, who doesn't love colored sugar on a stick? So I had a hard time turning it down whenever one of those cute nieces ran up to me and asked if I wanted some. Hmmm... I just had some about 30 minutes ago, but SURE bring me another!

I think I consumed more cotton candy this day than I had in my entire 31 years! And for the record, it goes perfectly well with beer! :)

It was great to spend some time with my family. I haven't seen my sister or my nephew and nieces since my wedding... almost 5 years ago!

With my sister.
And with my nieces and nephew... Emily, Benjamin, Abigail and Sarah in the bottom photo.

And of course, some time with my mom and Uncle Chris.

And for the record, I am completely in LOVE with my uncle's glasses. They are vintage and he has had them for at least 30 years. I love that he still wears them and now that's the style again! Optical nerd!!!

And I managed to rope the Sands Clan into a photo-op. It's not everyday that we are together. There are quite a few of us missing, but I'm here... and really, that's the important part! :)

Here I am with my mom, brother Todd and sister Trudi. We are just missing my oldest brother Tracy and my sweet daddy.

This little cutie was the flower girl in our wedding!

Clean up was messy and aided by more barley pops. When cotton candy and chocolate fountains are involved... you can't help but get it everywhere!

Craig helps by entertaining the animals!

The graduate and her mom.
Congratulations Jessica! We are so proud of you!

Thunder Thighs

2011-07-04T08:42:00.005-05:00

This picture has been floating around in the blog-o-sphere for a few months. Of course I LOVE it!

Last night, Craig and I went out for a bit to listen to some music and drink some cold beer. It's HOT in Texas right now. Like to the point where we basically just sit quietly in the house with all the lights off and try not to drown in the pool of our own sweat. And yep, the AC is on. But it's been over a month of temps around the 100 degree mark. Ugh!

Anywhozies.... back to the point of my post. Craig and I went out last night and instead of throwing on a pair of shorts, I chose capris... because I don't love my thighs in most shorts. My calves on the other hand I LOVE!!! My thighs I'm totally self-conscious about.

So, we get to The Stockyards and of course half the girls there are wearing shorts. And they are people who have less than desirable thighs. And I think, "If they can wear those, why can't I?". I've realized that my thunder thighs aren't half as bad as some of those out there wearing shorts... in fact, they aren't thundery at all! So embrace them Tara! Throw on that pair of shorts today instead of sweating your ass off in jeans! Rock those thighs girl... you've worked hard for them!

Happy 4th y'all!

Oh Rats...

2011-06-30T21:04:00.006-05:00

My niece had her graduation party on Friday (pictures of that coming soon) and after all the clean-up we sat around with some tasty cold beverages. Ok, so Craig and I went out and bought our own beer before the party started and were the only ones there drinking during the party. We're the cool aunt and uncle! :)

Well, before we headed out to a few bars with my sister-in-law, my nieces had to show Uncle Craig their pets. First we saw Paul the Guinea Pig... a totally normal pet for a tween. Then Miss Emily brought out her pet rats. REALLY??? This cute little high-schooler has rats?!?!

It took some convincing, but Auntie Tara was fueled by enough Blue Moon to hold that little varmint.

Although, clearly I'm not too sure about the whole thing! Eeeeeekkkkk! But that little face is kinda cute, eh?

But I warmed up to the little sweetheart pretty fast. It's tail was super long and creepy though. Kind of gives me the heebee-jeebees just thinking about it.

While we may look happy, Craig and I have no intention to add these to our family... well, except for the occasional one that might be in our attic. :) But if I actually saw that one up close I would scream and jump up on a counter and wait for Craig to rescue me!

Minnesota: Day 1

2011-06-29T22:00:00.001-05:00

Three weeks ago Craig and I headed up to Minnesota for a visit with the fam. I have a brother AND sister who live in the Land of 10,000 Lakes and one of my nieces was graduating from high school over the weekend. I haven't seen most of them since my wedding... which was almost 5 years ago. Funny how tall all those kids are now.

We left bright and early Thursday morning to fly to Minneapolis. My mom and brother-in-law picked us up at the airport. A quick 2 hour flight makes the trip to the Midwest so much more enjoyable than a 12 hour car ride! After a little chatting, I took Craig to the Mall of America. Since my sister has lived in the Twin Cities FOREVER, I have been there several times... but Craig has never been. I'm sure he was thinking it would be pretty lame.

And then he experienced LegoLand, which I think changed his mind. He is a kid at heart.

Unfort, we didn't have enough time to ride any rides, because I wanted to shop. Next time, perhaps...

Then my niece, Abigail, had a softball game. We sat through two electrifying games in temperatures we weren't used to. I mean, when was the last time Texas saw 50 degrees? February maybe?
And this was the extent of the crowd. My family...

So, yep. It was a fun filled family day... More family time to follow.

OKC Marathon: A Run to Remember

2011-06-28T18:00:00.000-05:00

This is a bit delayed, but on May 1st I ran the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. They call this one "A Run to Remember". To remember all those that were senselessly killed 16 years ago. And for me, this marathon was definitely a run to remember!

First off, this was my third marathon in 64 days. My goal was to qualify for Marathon Maniacs and to meet the minimum qualifying standards, you needed to run 3 marathons in 90 days. You can read about my first two here and here.

Craig decided not to make the 3 hour trek up I-35 with me because we had nobody to watch the dogs. I wasn't exactly looking forward to the drive after running 26.2 miles, but I knew I would be fine. I headed up on Saturday to pick up my packet and get checked into my hotel and relax. Packet pickup and the race expo went great (I even signed up to run The Cowtown Ultra and 10k next year at a great price!), and I managed to find an Olive Garden for carb loading. The hardest part was finding peanut butter for my pre-race breaky. Who knew that finding my favorite peanut butter would be so hard! But after trekking around the city finding only regular Target's and Neighborhood Walmart's... I settled on some organic peanut butter and settled into my hotel room only to realize I forgot my toothbrush at home. Really Tara? Luckily the front desk saved from having to go back out in search of toiletries.

I had packed a few different clothing options, even though the forecast sounded like perfect running weather. Capris, shorts, tank top, short sleeved shirt, long sleeved shirt and leg hugs. I was prepared! The forecast called for possible rain and temps in the 50's. I decided on shorts and long sleeved shirt. But when I woke up and looked at the weather, I decided I would be fine in my short sleeved top. I switched my bib number to the other shirt and threw on my long sleeved shirt in case I got cold. As I was drinking my hot tea at 5 am, it started lightening... but not much rain was coming down. And then I realized I forgot my deodorant. Again, really Tara? You bring makeup, but forget the necessities?? Luckily the front desk came to the rescue again.

I followed a car of runners leaving my hotel to downtown. Unfortunately, I didn't know my way around and got stuck in traffic exiting the freeway. And the rain started coming down harder. This was not looking good! For a 6:30 am start, I was still stuck in my car at 6:15. I was looking forward all that goes on before the gun goes off and the tribute to the 168 people who died in the bombing. While sitting in my car, I began to rethink my wardrobe. I had a feeling I needed something warmer than that short sleeved t-shirt, so I started unpinning my race bib and re-pinned it to my long sleeved shirt. Great idea! Not enough time to change into capris, but I figured I would be ok. Eventually found a parking spot, tried to take a mental note of where I was and started following the others running to the start line. On our way, we passed a group of people (from Fort Worth) huddled under an awning, who informed us that the race was delayed 30 minutes due to lightening. Perfect! Now I didn't have to rush so much! So we all huddled under this awning talking for the next half hour. I should have ran back to my car and changed again, but I thought I would be ok. It wasn't THAT cold out. Probably in the 50's still... but some wind that wasn't great.

We made our way to the start a few minutes before the gun went off. I started running with my new Fort Worth friends, but got stuck with the slower runners, so I took off. The rain was still coming down... but I couldn't drop out! I drove 3 hours, spent money on the race and hotel and I needed this race to qualify for Maniacs. I think the course may have been fun if it weren't for the rain. So we ran. I had to stop around mile 7ish to pee. Soaked clothes are really fun to get in and out of when you are in a port-o-potty, by the way! There were puddles everywhere! I found it quite entertaining to watch everyone go around them when it was pouring out. Really?!?! Avoiding one little puddle isn't going to help much in this! So I splashed right on through them. My shoes and socks were already soaked... it would be ok!

I really don't know who I am waving at in this picture. I think it's probably the race photographer... but who knows! I was delirious, I'm sure! But yes, people were wearing garbage bags for the whole thing.

We did get a LITTLE break from the rain around mile 14... and the sun even came out! It was glorious! Then it started up again at mile 19ish. But for 5 miles we had good weather! 5 whole miles!!! That's ALMOST an hour!

The temperature also dropped after we started and the wind picked up. I was trying to shake out my hands, but found them frozen. I was having to take walk breaks to blow in my hands to try and restore feeling. In hindsight, I probably should have stopped at a medical tent to see if they could do anything... but hell if I was walking off that course! I just wanted to be done with this thing!

Then at mile 20ish it started to hail. Yes, hail. I'm pretty sure this picture was taken just as it started. It was one of those things where all you could do was laugh. I was out running 26.2 miles in 40 degree temps, rain and hail! God, this does qualify me for Marathon Maniacs!!! Also, I look slightly challenged in this picture!

I have no idea when this was taken, but I look pretty defeated!

And again, just trying to get through this! Along the route there were banners hanging from the lamp posts with the names of those who died. It brought tears to my eyes.

It ended up hailing again at mile 22ish. And I finally crossed the finish line in 4:43.24. I couldn't even press stop on my watch as I crossed the finish line. I was completely frozen. I just wanted to cry as I got my Mylar blanket and finisher's medal. I grabbed a cheeseburger from the Carl's Jr. stand I passed, ate it like a homeless man, got my finishers t-shirt and stopped to ask someone which way the street was that I parked on. I was at least 5 blocks away... plus another 5 blocks over. So I walked and even ran at times and cried. Big sobbing tears. I couldn't take the cold any longer.

I finally found my car and cried and cursed as I sat with the heater on full blast and tried to change into dry clothes. It is not an easy thing to do when spandex gets wet and you still can't feel your fingers. I called Craig and yelled at him for not being there with me. I really wasn't mad at him.... but it was miserable driving home by myself in these conditions. But I did find a stocking hat in the trunk of my car that came in handy!

Oh yes! Looking hot!

I would love to run OKC again. I think it is probably a really nice course and has some great things going on pre-race. I will be back!

So, I qualified. I ran 3 marathons and a half marathon in 64 days. Through Cowtown and the 80 degree heat and humidity in February, a trek through NYC in the cold, tackled the hills of Knoxville and braved the rain, lightening and hail in Oklahoma City. I am a maniac!

The rest of Knoxville

2011-06-22T07:40:00.000-05:00

So, I realize it's been FOREVER since I last posted anything of importance. I have some serious catching up to do. But apparently there is a problem when I try to upload more than one picture at a time, and then I get frustrated. I don't have the patience for that!

So at the beginning of April, Craig and I flew to Knoxville, TN for the Knoxville Marathon. Craig got a new camera the day before we left, so we took a ton of pictures.... me being the most popular subject, of course!

Our first night there we drove the marathon course with our friend Jennie and then checked into our hotel.

We were only a few blocks from downtown, we we put on our walking shoes and went to check out what was happening in Knoxville. We ended up eating a fabulous pizza, drinking some beer, shopping and checking out a fun band.

Saturday we did some more exploring of downtown.

I LOVE this sign!

And of course we hit up the marathon expo too.

At the expo they had a little photobooth set up. Craig and I walked by it the first time, but went back later to get some cute pictures! I loved this idea! It was so much fun!

Then we continued our afternoon with camera play time and a pasta dinner.

Here is our lovely host for the weekend. I love this girl! She was super busy shooting a wedding and rehearsal dinner, but had us over one night for beer and kabobs next to the fire pit. Plus, she carted us around to the airport. Thanks Jennie!
And don't you just love these rocking chairs at the airport? We had a delayed return flight, so we got a lot of use out of these. I want one for my porch!

And there you have it. I realize it's a pretty lame post, but who cares about what we did... it's all about the pictures!

Under the influence

2011-06-21T22:40:00.003-05:00

Back in March I chipped a tooth. A big giant chip on a molar. I immediately went to my dentist and he told me it was an "unfavorable" break and I needed a root canal, some gum surgery and THEN he could put a crown over it. Ugh. I hate going to the dentist!

Due to my work schedule and travel/marathon schedule, it took me until April to get in for the root canal (which honestly wasn't that bad!), and then I had to wait a certain amount of time before I could have this gum surgery.

Well, today was the big day for the gum surgery. I'm not exactly sure what they had to do, but it involved taking drugs and needing a driver. I had to take a pill to help me sleep last night, and then an hour before my appointment this morning I took 2 more of those pills. Craig, of course, was my driver. And like any good husband, grabbed the camera and took a few videos of me all drugged up. I have been laughing at them all afternoon, so I thought I would share! (And yes, I refer to myself as Rarey Berry B... short for Tara of course!)

On the way there, we stopped at a little bagel shop for breakfast. I really don't remember going there.

This is my favorite! Hilarious!

And afterwards we had to stop at the grocery store for some snacks... mainly ice cream!

Back at home. I'm pretty excited for my mini-donuts and ice cream!

Clearly I was a mess! The surgery went fine and I spent all day sleeping. Now only 6 more weeks and I can get my crown put on.

Amazing

2011-06-05T20:18:00.002-05:00

This song was played a couple week ago at the spin class I went to. I LOVE running to it

Amazing- Kanye West

Twinzies

2011-06-04T08:30:00.001-05:00

Clearly, I've been a complete slacker on the blog front. Life has been busy and I'm in a post-marathon funk. I need to snap out of it!

Anywhozies... Craig's twin brother, Brian, was in town Thursday for work and came by and hung out for a bit. I haven't seen much of him (well, other than looking at his exact replica every day for the last 5ish years), but it's so much fun to see the two of them together!

We took Brian out to eat at a Mexican restaurant. I had to lay the smack down and tell them they couldn't talk until they decided on what they were having for dinner... otherwise we would still be sitting there 40 minutes later without placing an order. Dinner was good and there was a lot of talk about electronics, stereos and cars. I had a lot to contribute to those topics, obvs.

After dinner, Craig had to show Brian all his toys. Guitars, stereo stuff, computer stuff, car stuff, tools, worms... I have no clue where the list ends. It's funny to see them interact though. And I've come to the conclusion that twins freak me out a little. The same voice, laugh, hand gestures, weird accent when they get excited about things... strange. And if you think your husband drives you crazy at times... try having a double dose of it! :)

Honestly though, it was great to see Brian if only for a few hours.

Becham joined the boys in the garage, but was clearly bored by all topics of conversation as well.

iPod additions

2011-04-25T21:20:00.004-05:00

I'm running the Oklahoma City Marathon this weekend... which means it's time for a few new songs on the old iPod. Another random mix.... as always!

Howl- Florence + The Machine
Audience- Cold War Kids
Hello- Martin Solveig & Dragonette
Little Secrets- Passion Pit
Sleepyhead- Passion Pit
Uprising- Muse
E.T.- Katy Perry
Blow- Ke$sha
Give Me Everything- Pitbull
Rumour Has It- Adele

Weekend Fun

2011-04-17T18:24:00.010-05:00

To kick off my weekend, I had my first root canal on Friday morning. I was anticipating it being a lot worse than it actually was though. I mean, it was just like a normal dentist appointment... except I got drugs at the end.

Unfort, I wasn't in THAT MUCH pain that I even needed to take said drugs. I guess that's a good thing! :) But to recover, I spent Friday afternoon on the couch watching Netflix, and started watching Ally McBeal. Oh the fabulous late 90's!

Saturday after work, Craig and I ventured down to Main Street Arts Festival in downtown Fort Worth. I think we have only been there one other time, but I always hear such great things about it. It was a gorgeous day out... but there were way too many people there for our liking. There were so many people, you couldn't really look at any art, we already ate so food was out, Coors Light was the only beer served (Blech!), and they were between bands. So, we lasted all of about a half hour and left. We honestly spent more time trying to find a parking spot than we did at the festival. Party people!

After leaving, Craig wanted to stop at a record store he heard about. LOVE!

There were a few clothes and other randomness, but mostly it was just records. I picked up a Stevie Nicks and 3 new Rolling Stones albums. Craig, on the other hand walked away with AC/DC, Janis Joplin, Neil Young, Free, The Who and Guns N' Roses. Between the two of us, we spent about $100, but we are building quite a nice collection.

Ultimate Nerd Alert! The shirt he is wearing matches this album cover!

In celebration of Record Store Day, they had free food, beer and bands playing out back. Now this was more my speed. No crowds... just people enjoying the day listening to music.

The band that was playing was called "Fish Fry Bingo", who call themselves a raucous 5 piece hillbilly jug band, and they were so much fun! I was smiling and laughing the whole time. Just some good old fun!

And then today was spent with a morning run and more lounging around watching Ally McBeal. The run wasn't great. It was hot out and I'm still recovering from the marathon 2 weeks ago... but I've got to buck up as the next marathon is only 2 weeks away! But I got a chance to try out my new compression sleeves... which I call "leg hugs". I'm a big fan of them and might have to rock them in Oklahoma City on May 1st.

And there you have it! It's been a fabulous, relaxing weekend!

Knoxville Marathon Recap

2011-04-11T07:00:00.002-05:00

So last weekend was the Knoxville Marathon. I originally signed up for it because a girl we met in Jamaica lives there and is a bit of a runner... so I convinced her to run it with me. Plus, it was marathon #2 of 3 marathons in 90 days to qualify me for Marathon Maniacs... and I got to check another state off my list.

Well, when I talked to my friend the week before we left, I found out she opted out of the race because she had a busy weekend with a wedding (she's a photographer). Boo! So we booked a hotel near the start/finish area and I went at it alone.

My friend told me this was a hilly course... so my goal for training was to add in some weekly hill runs. I would run them as I could, but there really aren't THAT many hills in North Texas. But I figured I would be ok. I'm strong... and how many hills could there really be? Well, when Jennie picked us up from the airport, we drove the first half of the race. I have never seen so many hills! And most of them had a pretty steep incline. I was just a little scurred!

I LOVED that we stayed at a hotel right next to the start. Best decision EVER!! Here I am the night before the race. That's our hotel on the left hand side. Perfect!

So race morning I practically just had to roll out of bed. I learned from the NYC half-marathon that it would be best to bring breakfast with me. So I packed my jar of peanut butter and carried on a package of bagels. After a cup of tea, I was ready to head down to the start.
We had gorgeous race weather for the start of this one. It was in the 40's at the start of the race. I learned from the NYC half that it was wise to bring some cold weather clothing, but I totally didn't need it.

I was pretty nervous for all those hills, but ready to get started! My goal for this race was to finish under 5 hours.

I bought a shirt at the expo. The front says: Knox "Hills" Marathon and has an elevation chart. The back: Who's afraid of a few hills?

It was a fairly small race. They had a full, half and marathon relay that all ran together, and a 5k that started shortly after we did. As we neared the start line, I noticed everyone around me was singing. I don't know that I had ever heard this song before... but I kind of love that everyone is singing along.

The first half of the course was gorgeous.

Around mile 9ish feeling pretty good. I ran up every single hill even though they were super tough. Who's afraid of a few hills, right?

Around mile 11 the hills caught up to me. I had to take a walk and stretch break. I knew that couldn't be a good sign. My hip flexors were so tight! But I knew I would see Craig around mile 12 when we ran by the start area.

Well, Craig thought I would be moving a lot slower up those hills... so he added 2 minutes to my normal pace, which means he totally missed me. I could have used that little pick-me-up as we split from the half marathoners and continued into the sketchy/slightly boring part of town. While it may have been boring to look at... the hills kept coming, and the sun was beating down. It went from 40 to 70 in the time I was out there. I was feeling pretty miserable... here's a video to prove it. Clearly I was defeated by those hills!

But then you make it to the top of a hill and you feel so much better.

Running over the Tennessee River at mile 20.

Then through some neighborhood and back into downtown. I was hurting a lot at this point. I was walking way more than normal... but I tried to just roll with it. My calves and hamstrings were cramping up pretty bad, so I had to stop and stretch quite a bit between miles 20 and 24.

As we made our way through Market Square, I saw my Craigory!! Not much else that can make you smile at mile 25!

And how about 1 final hill at mile 26?

We finished on the 50 yard line of the University of Tennessee football field. I'm not necessarily a Tennessee fan... but that was kind of cool!

Entering the tunnel about to run onto the field.

And the big finish was on the jumbo-tron for all to see. Unfortunately, Craig wasn't able to hoof it back to the stadium in time to see me finish. I finished in 4:58... accomplishing my goal for this race. It was so hard!

After finishing, we got our medal and a hat and we exited the stadium and went to the post-race festivities. And why not throw in another hill? Seriously?

This was by far one one of the hardest races I've ever done... but I'm proud to have finished it!

And then to get back to our hotel? You guessed it.... another hill! :)

The rest of NYC

2011-04-10T11:00:00.001-05:00

So, I forgot to blog about the rest of my New York City trip. Really though, the most exciting part was the NYC Half Marathon. It's not as much fun to play tourist when you are by yourself. Self portraits and big buildings only go so far... see for yourself.

I'm actually quite impressed with myself. I'm not normally one to go on crazy trips by myself... especially to a big city where I have to figure out how to get around and where I'm going exactly. But I did it.... with a little help from the hubbs at home.

When I landed on Friday, I found the ground transportation desk and hopped my shuttle to the airport. This was by far the cheapest way to get to my hotel. Rather than a $40 cab ride, I planned ahead and booked a $17 van shuttle. Of course we had to pick up a few other passengers which added a few minutes to the trip, but no big deal.

I stayed at St. Giles-The Court hotel... located in the Murray Hill area of NYC. I loved the hotel. It seemed like a short-ish walk to pretty much everywhere. I would definitely stay here again!

And just blocks away was Grand Central. Absolutely gorgeous at night!

The next morning was my photoshoot for Think About Your Eyes, then I hit up the expo.

I didn't have any classes I needed to take at this one, so I just walked around and looked at all the pretty new frames and new trends with glasses. I'm totally loving all the retro looks. I even have my own cat-eye glasses by Friezeframes that I got the week before I left for New York and rocked all around the city. LOVE them!

I wasn't much interested in the celebs they had at the expo, but I did stop and watch the fashion show with Casron Kressley. Super fun!

And on my way home in the cab? A commercial for the very company I was promoting that weekend. It made me smile!

I spent the rest of the afternoon exploring NYC and shopping.

And somehow I got out of there without buying a single thing!

Of course Sunday was the race. Afterwards I napped, hit up the expo one last time and walked around the city some more. I did a ridiculous amount of walking! And for dinner? A cupcake from Crumbs... which was only a few blocks from my hotel.

And Monday I went home. But not without a few travel difficulties.

My flight out of NYC was delayed an hour... which meant I missed my connecting flight in Memphis. I was transferred to another airline, and then had a 3 hour layover. Memphis is definitely NOT the most exciting airport to waste time in! But I did get a $50 travel voucher for my next flight on Delta. So, after arriving home 4 hours later than I was planning, my suitcase was missing! I ended up getting it the next evening at 6:30... so I was the really pretty girl at work on Tuesday. :)

Music that makes you cooler

2011-04-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

A few of my new fave songs that I've added to my running playlist.

Little Lion Man- Mumford and Sons

Listen to the Music- Doobie Brothers

The Cave- Mumford and Sons

Set Fire to the Rain- Adele

Paris (Ooh La La)- Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

and a few non-running songs that I'm loving

Windows are Rolled Down- Amos Lee

Into The Mystic- The Allman Brothers Band

Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise- The Avett Brothers

Dead Flowers- The Rolling Stones

Happy Opening Day!

2011-04-01T09:33:00.004-05:00

It's opening day for the Rangers!!

Unfortunately, as much as I REALLY wanted to go, we are headed to Knoxville, TN for a marathon. I seriously looked at what time the game started and tried to see what flights might be leaving AFTER the game got over... but it wasn't ideal. So I shall force my husband to buy tickets for something next week.

Dance Party USA.... Dallas-style

2011-03-29T23:15:00.006-05:00

A few weeks ago I decided I needed a new dress for my New York trip. Rather than go buy one, I sent my friend Stephanie a text to see if I could raid her closet. Of course, she said yes. Success!

So on a Saturday night, I trekked over to Dallas... getting lost a few times even with my GPS. Let me tell you. Tara does NOT do Dallas. But I made an exception for my dear friend.... and my need for a free dress.

After playing dress up in Stephanie's closet, we decided a celebration was in order. It's not every day (or every year for that matter) that I'm in Dallas. It's an hour-ish drive, you know?? So we got dressed up in dresses and dancing shoes and headed out to what I'm told is a "douchy" bar with her friends Ben and Tyre. Somehow I forgot my wallet at Stephanie's place, so I was that girl begging free drinks off everyone all night. Nice!

Basically the point of this post is so I can post fun pictures of my night out.... so enough with the chit-chat already.

It looks like we're in one big dress here!

This might be my favorite picture of the night. So random!

Pretty sure this was taken outside as we were waiting Mr. Valet Man to bring us our car. Either we're cold or I'm up to something....

I MAY have gotten in trouble for taking my shoes off at one point. The shoes were cute, but comfortable they were not!

Obvs I spent the night snuggling Stephanie. The next morning it took every ounce of willpower in me, to NOT pull over on the freeway.... because nothing says classy like a girl puking on the side of the freeway on Sunday morning. Apparently a few handfuls of trail mix is not an appropriate dinner before Dance Party USA. Duly noted!

NYC Half Marathon Recap

2011-03-27T21:45:00.002-05:00

Last Sunday was the NYC Half Marathon and to use one word to sum up my experience it would be fabulous.

I've mentioned it before, but I decided to enter the lottery for this race because it was the same week as Vision Expo East, the big vision conference that I wanted to go to. Obviously I got into the race through the lottery process and was so excited that I tweeted about participating in both events. Well, the power of social networking was on my side that day, because one of the people from Vision Expo contacted me about doing an article on me, the race and the conference. After several calls and emails, they decided I would be promoting Think About Your Eyes during the race. I had to wear a shirt that said "Think About Your Eyes.Com" and do a little photoshoot and in turn was compensated for some of my travel expenses. Who knew that all this would happen from just a little tweet? But more of the photoshoot later... but here is a little preview.

So I got into town on Friday, checked into my hotel and immediately went to pick up my race packet at the race expo. I mapquested the route and since it was only 1.5 miles I decided to walk there and back. Unfort, I wore boots that I thought were comfortable... but not for walking 3 miles. Once back home I found GIANT blisters on the back of both heels and one on the bottom of my foot. Not the best way to start out race weekend.

Sorry that this is gross... but check out the size of this thing! Obviously I made a stop by Walgreens for some blister supplies and popped this thing.

The race expo was actually pretty small for such a large race. I picked up my bib, got my t-shirt and picked up a new running skirt.

The race shirt is quite possibly the ugliest one I've even seen.

But in our goodie bag was a resistance band. Very cool! It might just make up for that ugly shirt!

Saturday was my photoshoot and I did more walking around the city. My feet were pretty tired. I called Craig that night (because I didn't have internet access) and asked him to find an Italian restaurant close by for some carb loading. Luckily, we found one two doors down... so my feet were spared. But after dinner I met up with some frame reps for a beverage. I told myself I would just have 1 and would be in bed by 10:00. Well, I got back to my hotel at 10 and was having fun, so I stayed out and had a few more bevs. I eventually got back to my room and was in bed just before 2. My alarm went off at 4:45. VERY short night!

So after waking up every 45 minutes throughout the night, my alarm finally went off. I was giving myself a lot of time due to the size of this race. Also, I was really nervous about transportation there and checking a bag for the first time. The race started at 7:30, but the cut off time in to be your corral was 7:10. I debated on what to wear. I knew the high was supposed to be in the 50's, so I took my chances with my new running skirt and my long sleeved race shirt. Bad idea. It was FREEZING out... 37 and windy. While I do like cooler weather for running, this was almost miserable... and I had about an hour and a half before the race actually began. Mental note: that throw away hat and gloves I bought a few months ago for this race would have been a nice thing to bring with me.

I set a few goals going into this race:
1. Run a 1:55
2. Just run better than my previous PR of 2:05
3. Have fun and take in the city

I was in corral 6. After hearing the announcers introduce all the professional runners, the race started right on time. They seemed to just move right through through the corrals and I was crossing the start line about 4 minutes after the gun went off. Not bad for a race with over 10,000 runners. I've been in much smaller races and had to wait over 30 minutes!

Central Park was lovely and quite hilly. After the race I watched part of the coverage online and the announcers kept referring to them as "undulating hills". That they were. I just tried to push though them and cruise on the downhill. We made one big 6 mile loop through the park crossed the start line and continued on another 2ish miles to exit the park and continue on to Times Square. So over half the race was in Central Park.

Immediately after leaving Central Park, we ran through Times Square. It was an absolute AWESOME experience. They announced at the start that Times Square is closed down only twice per year... once for this race and once for New Year's Eve. The crowd support there was spectacular!! I carried my camera with me and was taking pictures the whole time. It was hard to capture all the excitement... so I tried to take a video, but clearly couldn't figure out how to turn my camera to video. So instead you get lots of pictures.

After making it through Times Square, I started to get tired, but I kept on pushing. I had a time goal I was trying to meet and I was right on pace. As we got closer to the finish line the crowds got louder. I loved that there were signs counting down the distance you had left.

I ended up crossing the finish line in 1:54. One minute faster than my goal time and a full 11 minutes faster than my previous PR. 11 minutes!!!! And on less than 3 hours of sleep and crappy pre-race fueling. As I crossed the finish line I checked my phone and I was getting texts from my mom and sister congratulating me on the race. They had been following along with the online tracking.

I was freezing when I finished. I originally planned to do some sightseeing around Wall Street... but was much too cold and tired for that. So I hailed a cab, took a hot shower and a nice long nap.

I would definitely run this race again. The crowd support was amazing and it was a great way to see the city. Most of the race pictures from the professional photographer have me gawking at all the tall buildings. Awesome!

These streets will make you feel brand new.
Big lights will inspire you.
Let's hear it for New York.

Cowtown Marathon Weekend

2011-03-13T21:00:00.001-05:00

Two weeks ago was Cowtown Marathon weekend in Fort Worth. This year they changed it up a bit by moving the start/finish line and also split up the races. The 5k and 10k were held on Saturday and all the marathon events were on Sunday. This just invites the opportunity to run BOTH days and complete the Cowtown Challenge. Who am I to say no?

So Saturday I ran in the 10k. Perfect weather for running... nice and cool at the 7am start. I knew I wanted to take it easy since this was just my shake out run for the marathon. I just wanted to enjoy it. The course was quite lovely and there were a lot of people out running this one.

Although I did my best to go at an easy pace, I came in faster than I was hoping. My finish time exactly 1 hour. I'd call that semi-easy pace. But I definitely enjoyed this run.

I got so many compliments on my shirt I wore for the 10k. Obviously it's the race shirt, but it was the dry fit shirt I got for running the marathon... not the plain cotton shirt from the 10k. I thought it was funny how I go spend all kinds of money on cute running outfits and nobody ever comments on them-- but I wear my free Cowtown 2011 shirt and about 5 people stop to ask me where I got it.

Sunday was marathon day. After a gorgeous and cool day for the shorter races, marathon day was hot and HUMID. Not ideal running weather. The race started at 7 and Craig was my cheerleader and came with me. We ran into traffic on our way there, tried to find an alternate route and failed and finally made our way to the start line with about 20 minutes to spare. Thankfully, they delayed the start for about 20 minutes due to traffic, so I had a few minutes to stretch.

I sent Craig down the front stretch with his camera and hoped he could find me in the crowd. I started with the 4:30 pace group, but was hoping to run a 4:10 for a new PR. As my corral took off, I started looking for Craig. I knew if he didn't find me at the start, he would have trouble finding me along the course. Luckily, he is taller than most... so I was able to find him and screamed his name as I passed him. And he heard me!! I'm on the opposite side of the street waving at him as I went by.

The first mile took us through the park and onto the streets of Fort Worth. I was drenched in sweat by mile 1. This was definitely going to be an interesting day. But I settled into a nice groove quickly.

I carried my camera with me on this run... although I didn't end up taking many pictures. Craig and I had plans to find each other in The Stockyards... around mile 6.

Running through The Stockyards was so much fun! The brick streets, the crowds... it was my favorite part of the whole race.

I was looking everywhere for Craig and found him just before we left Exchange and headed toward downtown. I gave him a kiss, told him how hot it was and kept on going. When I was looking through the professional pictures taken throughout the course, I found this one. I am on the right side taking to Craig as he's wiping my sweat off his face. How funny!

Next we made our way into downtown. I noticed a guy running about the same pace as me and ran with him for a bit. I thought he had such an easy pace and it was right where I needed to be to meet my goal time. So I did my best to run with him (frankly, I noticed him because he had really pretty blue eyes AND was running a great pace). I ended up losing him at a water stop, but kept on going. He caught up to me just before the hill entering downtown at mile 8ish. This hill was a killer!

It just kept going! But I ran the whole thing!

I was expecting to see Craig somewhere downtown... but we missed each other. The crowd support there was great though!

Just after downtown, the half marathon split from the full and ultra marathon runners. Shortly after the split, my runner friend caught up with me again, so I worked up the nerve to talk to him. I figured I could be that creeper that just keeps pace with him from mile 10 to the finish... or I could strike up a conversation to make the miles go by faster. So we chatted. His name was Brad and he kept me company for about 5 miles. I was so thankful to have met him! I barely even remember those miles... but we did see Craig once and a table FULL of tootsie rolls! Two of my loves! :)

I took my first walk break around mile 16 to refuel. I talked to a few other runners as we went through the TCU area. I swear, I never talk to anyone out on the course... but I enjoyed the company on this race. I may have to be a Chatty Cathy more often. I saw Craig again around 16.5 as the wind picked up and a few rain droplets started coming down. I made him walk with me a bit, handed off my camera (which was good since his unknowingly died on him at the start line) and kept on trucking.

As we neared mile 20, I started recognizing the area as one that I ran several of my recent long runs through. It was such a pick-me-up to be familiar with where I was. And then I found Craig again at mile 20. Just as I should be hitting that wall. I was pretty far back when I saw him and started waving frantically and crossed over the street to chat.

I announced what mile I was at (20.3) and that I was busting through this wall. No time to chat... but time to take a quick picture. :)

So my mantra as I approach 20 is "Make that wall your bitch"... and that I did. Miles 20 and 21 were my fasted miles of the entire race at 9:00/mile. I was singing to myself and I felt like spectators on the course were cheering me on. Most people are struggling a lot at that point. At mile 21, I realized I was passing a lot of people. I wondered if I could keep it up or if I would hit that wall big time and get passed by everyone I just went by.

At mile 24 I passed a little table handing out beer. Of course I had to stop for some. And it was good! It was also around mile 24 where I started to hit my wall. I was hurting, but still so close to my time goal of 4:10 or definitely beating my PR of 4:19.

It's so funny when you are at mile 25 and you know you are so close to being done, but all of a sudden your body fights back. I was SORE. I had to walk more than I wanted to and got passed by the 4:15 pacer. UGH! Time to kick it in gear!

I knew the finish line well from running the 10k on Saturday and you could hear all the crowd support. We were at mile 26... coming down the home stretch. I caught up to the 4:15 pacer and ran by a man who was walking. I patted him on the back and gave him a "Come on. Only .2 left. Let's go." Well, what do ya know? He started running with me and grunted out a little "thanks". It was quite possibly the best feeling of the day!

And here we are crossing the finish line with smiles on our faces. And a new PR of 4:16.

I met up with Craig, got my goodie bag, beer and finisher shirt.

And with ALL my bling from running the 10k, marathon and an extra medal for completing the Cowtown Challenge! I also found out later from the race stats that in the last 7 miles, I was passed by only 3 people while I passed 87! How is that for busing through that wall?!?!

Despite the heat and humidity, it was a great day out there! I loved running the streets of Fort Worth! I'm now a marathoner x 5! Life is good!

Recent Happs

2011-02-16T20:24:00.007-06:00

Frankly I have nothing much to post, but I know I've been neglecting y'all for a while. So, here are a few pictures of the recent happs.

A couple weekends ago, we headed down to the Stockyards and ate at a new (to us) Mexican restaurant.

The wait was over an hour... so we enjoyed some margaritas at the bar.

Then on our way home, we passed by a Hookah Bar. Sometimes I get a wild hair up my ass and decide to do something totally random.... this was apparently the night. We swung into the Hookah Bar and partook in the partakings.

The lady across from us offered to take our picture. Apparently this was as good as she could get.

Honestly, I don't really understand the point... but it was random funzies. And I only had a 7 miler on tap for the next morning, so I lived it up. :)

Craig and his little shop dog built me a plyo-box in their garage.

Don't ya love it? It's kind of tall, so some shorter ones are on deck. But who doesn't love doing box jumps while watching tv?

And then there's this guy and his Christmas sweater. Craig keeps thinking he got into a pack of post-it notes.... which just makes me giggle.

And you know how we had that big snow a few weeks where Craig took the little dudes out for a walk? Well, here I am the following day. Running it out in my shorts. Gotta love Texas weather!

And that's all I have right now. Marathon day is only 11 days away! Whoot!

Snowed in

2011-02-04T13:43:00.004-06:00

So in my post last weekend, I was bragging about the gorgeous weather we were having. Apparently I spoke too soon.

Monday night it sleeted all night and we woke up to tons of ice on Tuesday morning. I was still planning on going to work, but it took Craig and I (mostly Craig) 45 minutes to get the car door open. At that point, I decided it wasn't worth it, so I called in. Apparently that was all it took for my boss to close down for the day. Rightfully so, since I'm the employee that lives the closest. If I couldn't make it, my coworkers that live out in the boonies weren't going to be there either. Craig decided to tough it out and went in though. I had a productive little day at home, but needed a beverage. Since I didn't really have a car to drive, I walked down to the gas station for a bottle of wine. :)

Wednesday was the same. Usually if we get weather like this, it melts after a day. Not this one. It's staying around for a while. Again, my office was closed and Craig went in to work.

Thursday I did venture out to work and Craig stayed home. It took me about 40 minutes to travel the 5.5 miles. And we actually had patients all day. Who in their right mind would venture out in all that ice for an eye appointment. REALLY? On my way home though, I paused for a moment at an intersection to let another guy through and my car wouldn't make it the rest of the way up the hill. After trying for several minutes some nice little hood rats walked by and pushed me up. Love those hood rats! After making it home, I polished off my bottle of wine.

Thursday night it snowed. DFW airport reports getting 12.5 inches, although we didn't get quite that much here. Snow on top of ice in a city without snowplows and only a handful of sand trucks is a disaster. So Craig and I both called in today. And our office will be closed tomorrow as well. That means I have worked a total of 2 days this week. I definitely needed the little mini staycation though! I've gotten a lot accomplished, but zero running. Hopefully it melts a little so I can get my 20 miler in sometime this weekend.

Craig took the pups out for a little walk this morning. I love how excited they get about going out in this stuff!

This picture of them crossing the street makes me giggle. Craig and Chubby both were slipping on the ice, while Beckham is totally unfazed.

What a glorious week for the SuperBowl to come to DFW!

Books

2011-01-31T10:00:00.000-06:00

Last week I finished the book "Born To Run".

May I just say that I LOVED this book! Seriously, if you are a runner and haven't read it, add it to your list! I now have a desire to run around barefoot for 100 miles. Obvs not gonna happen, but it did cross my mind! I think Craig might read this next. Even though he isn't a runner, I think he will like it.

I have 6 books on hold at the library right now. I went through and added a bunch online last week since most of them were on a wait list. What do you know they are all ready at the same time! Here is what I will be reading next:

And speaking of books... my mother-in-law gave me two new books for Christmas...

Eat, Pray, Love which I borrowed from the library when it first came out, got through the first 2 or 3 pages, was bored to tears and returned it promptly. Apparently she asked Craig if I would like this book and he said yes... based on the fact that there is the movie out with Julia Roberts (I have a girl crush on Julia). Ok, so we'll let that one slide... My hubbs doesn't pay close enough attention to me and was clearly sidetracked with other things.

The second book is called "Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage".

Ummm... no. Not a good title for a book from your mother-in-law who flew off the handle 2 months earlier because I did not eat a meal with her while she was visiting us, and I did not offer her anything to drink upon arrival when she came here for Thanksgiving in 2008. Yes 2008. Why not just get me a book called, "Hey fatty, Go on a diet." or "No Grandbabies yet? This is how it's done." It might be taken just as well.

Apparently it's actually the sequel to Eat, Pray, Love.... but still. Both books are in the pile to be dropped off at the used book store. Sorry to be ungrateful. Rant over.

Better get busy reading!

Weekend updates

2011-01-30T17:52:00.007-06:00

Friday was my day off and started out so productive! I woke up early thanks to the dog and got in some studying for the Personal Training thing. Went to spin class with my fave instructor ( I haven't been since October. My work schedule isn't too conducive to attending classes), went grocery shopping and then stopped at the park for a little 4 mile run. It was a beautiful day and I just couldn't help myself!

On my way home my car started acting funny, so I decided to pull into a parking lot. As I turned, I realized my car was dead and I really had to work to actually turn my steering wheel. Once safely in the parking lot, I called Craig. Technically I could have walked/ran home.... but I had a car full of groceries and my legs were tired. So, Craig left work early and came to rescue me! We still aren't sure what is wrong with my Charkie. :(
I still wanted to enjoy the day, so I raked some leaves when I got home. Whew! My legs weren't happy with me!

Saturday when I got home from work, our neighbor was installing our new laundry room cabinets. The guy makes custom cabinets for a living and we desperately needed more storage space. I think it took him at least a year and a half to finish this project. Once a month he would ask us if we still wanted the cabinets.... Dude, YES!!! Get on with it!

Anyway, it still needs to be painted, but I love it! So Saturday afternoon was spent organizing... not an easy task in our household! We'll see how long it stays "organized". And yes... we have the smallest laundry room EVER!

Today was long run day with 18 miles on the schedule. It is absolutely gorgeous in Texas right now! Friday and Saturday were in the 70's and today was in the 60's.... good enough for shorts and a tank. LOVE!!

I ran along the Trinity River in Fort Worth and took a new little loop. I managed to get myself a little lost. Luckily, I had 8 miles to find myself. No prob. I really wasn't THAT lost. I love running in new neighborhoods and looking at all the houses. It just makes the miles tick by.

I struggled with the last few miles though. My legs were so sore from my workout on Friday and my knees were killing me! But I sucked it up and got all the miles in. On my way home, I turned on the seat warmers in Craig's car. Even though it was so nice outside, the heat felt so good on my sore muscles! I ended the month with 110 miles. That's a lot of running!

After a trip to the Mexican restaurant down the street, I layed on the couch watching "Without Limits" and iced my knees. Beckham tended to his poor little momma bear.

Hope y'all are having a great weekend!

A new challenge: Personal Trainer coming your way!

2011-01-26T22:00:00.000-06:00

For the past couple of weeks (or years really) I've been tossing around the idea of getting my Personal Training Certification. If you flash back to my good ol' college days at Buena Vista University, I majored in Sports and Fitness Management. I had no idea what I really wanted to do with the degree... but I was a jock. It was perfect. Learning about fitness, nutrition, coaching (oh and biology, physiology and business) life was grand. But I still had no idea what I really wanted to do with my degree (still don't actually). One thought was to be a personal trainer, but frankly I was too cheap to commit to the process. Plus, what if I hated it and invested all this money into it?

Fast forward 9 years. Has it really been that long since I graduated? Yep... and here's the proof.
Chunky little baby faces all around.

I've been really into this whole fitness thing lately. Frankly, running and other random fitness ideas are in on my mind most of the day. Like, while I'm doing testing on patients and I have about 30 seconds for a test to finish, I find myself wanting to do wall sits. Or lunges in the bathroom while I'm brushing my teeth, or bust out a few push-ups while listing to my husband talk about his day. And honestly, I don't know how my husband can tolerate my constant talk about upcoming races.

So, after talking to a former co-worker who got his PT cert a few years ago, and doing a little research online.... I plopped down my credit card and signed up for the course to become a Personal Trainer through Cooper Institute. Why now? Great question... but I really don't have the answer to that. Maybe I realized I spend a lot more money on things that mean nothing. Why not have something to show for it? I haven't started yet, but it seems like you have to take the test within 90 days. This probably would have been a whole lot easier back when I was 22 and had all the muscle and movement information fresh in my brain.

I'm really excited about this new challenge. I'm not really sure how I will apply it to start with. Probably just subject myself, Craig and everyone at work to a beat down. Should be fun! I really just want to be able to say that I have my Personal Training Certification. So, here's to new challenges in the new year!

Home

2011-01-13T19:41:00.005-06:00

Nothing much has been happening in these parts. Just running and working. But this video I came across on a blog I stalk made me smile. I think I've listened to it at least 3 times today.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;from=sp&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;fg=shareEmbed&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;vid=ea6fa596-ec9f-4c7b-9422-2474408660bf&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;src=FLCP:sharebar:embed" target="_new" title="'Home' By Dad And Daughter"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Video: 'Home' By Dad And Daughter&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

There is just something about it that makes me happy... and jealous that my dad and I never had sing-alongs. Frankly, it would have been a disaster if we did... we aren't a very musical family.

Deal of the Day

2011-01-07T07:53:00.003-06:00

One of the blogs I read posted about a great deal on Shape magazine that was too hard to pass up. $3.99 for a year subscription?? Yes please! Thanks for the heads up Tyly!

The deal can be found on The Frugal Girls website. Here is the link for this offer. Hurry, the offer is only good until tomorrow!

Another Challenge

2011-01-06T16:50:00.004-06:00

After seeing a lot of my bloggy and Twitter friends commit to this challenge, I decided to join in on the fun.

The challenge is simple, really. Run 1000 miles this year. Given my current race schedule, I think I should be able to accomplish this. You can find out more about the challenge here.

After not completing my long run on Sunday afternoon. I headed out for what was supposed to be a 5 miler on Tuesday night. I felt really great, so I stretched it into 10. I love those days when everything just seems to click! I did run into one little problem though. At about mile 6.5, I went to tighten my pony tail and the rubber band broke. I stopped for a minute to decide what to do. I decided it would be quite annoying to run another 3.5 miles with my hair flying around everywhere, so I took off a glove and used that for a hair tie. I'm crafty like that! My hand was a little cold, but my hair stayed in place for the remainder of the run. Craig just laughed at me when I got home.

Today was a tempo run. One mile warm-up, 3 miles at tempo pace (8:39) and 1 mile cool down. I usually suck at staying on pace with these runs, but I managed to stick with it today. The splits for my 3 middle miles were 8:34, 8:34 and 8:30. Yahoo!!!

So here's to a great year with some great challenges ahead of me!

The Detox Diet

2011-01-03T19:49:00.000-06:00

While browsing a new blog a few weeks ago, I came across someone who tried this detox diet. I randomly think about doing a detox to rid my system of all the toxins, and after reading up on this book, I decided to give it a try. After all, it is the start of a new year, and I did indulge a bit over Christmas.

I bought all the necessary foods and started my detox the Monday after Christmas.

On paper it is a really simple process. Consume liver and colon loving foods for 7 days, do a 1 day water/miracle juice fast and follow up with 3 days of getting your body back to eating healthy. So, 11 days total. Easy peasy right?

Luckily I like all the foods I have to eat on this plan... greens, cauliflower, broccoli, eggs, berries, oranges, lemons, apples, etc. I did try kale and parsley in my morning smoothies and actually enjoy the addition. And I tried out dandelion tea for the first time... interesting, but not awful! My problem is incorporating protein into my diet and not eating carbs! Basically my normal diet consists of a lot of pasta, bread and beans. And since I can't have any of those right now, I'm struggling! I can handle the no alcohol or Diet Coke... but take away my mac and cheese and chocolate and I'm crabby! lol

I do feel a bit thinner and not as bloated, even though I did cheat a few times and had a small handful of cereal, a couple tortilla chips, a bite of pancakes, a granola bar and a couple pieces of chocolate. But, before the 1 day fast I am down about 2 pounds.

I did try and go out for my long run on Sunday and just didn't feel right. The energy I needed to run 12 miles just wasn't there and I felt a little light headed. So I headed home with only 2.5 miles. Clearly this diet is not meant to be combined with marathon training. Fortunately, I started this detox at the beginning of my training cycle, so I shouldn't have much of a problem of jumping back in.

Today was my 1 day fast. The only things I could consume all day were water and my "miracle juice". For someone who eats breakfast the second I roll out of bed, this was hard for me. Luckily we were really busy at work today, so I didn't even have time to take lunch. I'm hungry, but I think my biggest problem was giving up the action of eating.... that and someone brought in Sonic for breakfast this morning. Ugh!

So, now I just have to finish my 3 day follow-up diet, and we'll see how I ended up. It was a fun little experiment if nothing else. :)

Craig's Christmas Trip to San Fran

2011-01-02T18:50:00.000-06:00

Here are a few pictures from Craig's trip to San Francisco over Christmas.

His main reason to go was to see his college roommate Pasco one last time before he left for Hong Kong on December 24th.

Pasco and his wife Lee, have 2 kiddos... Aetos and Adrick. Apparently they were a big fan of Uncle Craig. Since Craig volunteered to adopt their dog, I told him he better not come home with any Chinese babies. :) But they are quite cute!

Craig and Pasco did some fishing one day. Apparently, Pasco caught an eel... which really creeps me out. Unfort, the camera batteries died before he could take a picture.

After spending a few days with Pasco and family, Craig met up with his family that was also in San Fran visiting his sister, Nelda.

Craig and Kevin managed to get a round of golf in one day.

A stop at a brewery.

Christmas with his mom.

Random sites around San Fran.

And a ride on a steam train through the Redwoods.

It looks like he had a great time!

Resolution Solution 5k

2011-01-01T22:27:00.010-06:00

To kick off 2011, I decided to participate in the Resolution Solution 5k in Fort Worth this morning. This was a bit of a last minute decision, but I thought it would be fun.

The race started at 10 am in Trinity Park in Fort Worth.

It was a bit cold out this morning and I debated on what to wear, but was happy with my new birthday capri pants, a long sleeved shirt and my gloves. I even managed to drag Craig out of bed to play photographer for this one.

The race was very small which was fun... it adds that little community feel to the race.

I decided I wanted to test myself on this one as I don't run 5k's very often and to see how fast I could run it. Mission accomplished. I finished in 24:30, which is just under an 8 minute pace... and I finished FIRST in my age group! Whoot!!

Not gonna lie, that hurt a little... but I kept going. What's a little 3 mile jaunt when you test yourself with weekly long runs of more than 10 miles? Plus, I have some goals for my marathons and half-marathons this year, so I considered this a little training for those races.

After I finished I looked around for Craig, but he was apparently off taking pictures of ducks and train tracks and missed me finish. Oh well.

The post-race table had champagne available, unfortunately I'm on a self-inflicted detox diet right now and alcohol isn't part of it.

But oranges and water are!!

I thought this was a nice little race and a fun way to start my new year. I would definitely run this one again.

And since I signed up to be a part of Run for the Bling of it... here is my race bling.

Happy 2011!

2011 Goals

2010-12-27T08:00:00.000-06:00

It's that time of year again. Time to set those "resolutions" for the new year that we'll never keep. Here are mine. Hopefully I keep most of them...

Qualify for Marathon Maniacs- As long as I'm healthy this one is in the bag. I'm scheduled to run marathons in February, April and May... which will make me a Maniac!
Run a sub 2:00 half-marathon- My PR is 2:05, so this is totally doable. I'm hoping to hit this at the NYC half in March.
Run a sub 4:10 marathon- My PR is 4:19, so again it's totally doable. I'm not sure if I'll shoot for this in my Spring marathons or build up to that new PR. Hell, who am I kidding? I'm sure I'll try for this at Cowtown in February.
Go back to school- I'm at that point in my life where I can't see myself doing my current job for much longer. I've talked to Craig about going back to school... and I just need to commit. I was thinking about taking a class in January, but now I'm thinking a fall start. Procrastinate much?
Run an Ultra Marathon. That MIGHT just make me crazy! I'm planning on signing up for El Scorcho-- a 50k in Fort Worth in July. More on that once we are able to sign up.
More core work. I really suck at finding time for ab work... but really need to work on this!
Maintain a better racing weight. AKA lose 10 pounds.
Run a race each month. I got the idea from this blog. I'm not sure I can do this one, because most races are on Saturday's and I usually work. But let's give it a shot. I'm already scheduled for some kind of race January-May. So it looks like I'll just have to plan ahead a little. Plus, planning ahead saves money! :)

Well, that's all I have for now... I think that should keep me busy!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-26T19:09:00.009-06:00

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. As I told you before, Craig was in California for Christmas... so it was just me and the pups this year. Which means I had limited selection of things to take pictures of... so you get bombarded with dog photos!

I sat around in my pj's most of the day on Christmas Eve... getting caught up on Lie to Me, blogs and facebook. Beckham helped of course...

I spent Christmas Eve with my friend Stephanie and her mom. We feasted on spaghetti and red wine. After dinner we decided to play cards... specifically poker. I know the basics of poker, but that's about it. Luckily I had some great teachers that weren't afraid to take my money.

Unfort for them, I had some beginner's luck! I started with about $1.75... and walked away the big winner.

Stephanie's mom has a lot of little brown bearded dogs running around. Every time I go over there a new one decides they like me... tonight it was Kramer. Kramer has the longest tongue EVER!!

And I have a little soft spot for Roxy... we share a love of peace sign necklaces.

When I left, I drove through downtown Fort Worth to look at the pretty lights. The hospital district has all the trees lit up in neon lights. So pretty!

On Christmas morning, I gave the dogs their treats. Santa was good to them this year.

When Craig called to wish me a Merry Christmas, I convinced him to tell me where my gifts were hidden. I had already opened my stocking that had a new ring and bracelet... and I got a CD in the mail.

Craig and I are really original and make lists of exactly what we want for Christmas. Nothing like a surprise! My hubby came through with exactly what I wanted. A Rolling Stones t-shirt, scarf, hat and mittens from Target. He gets an A+ for listening/reading my list!

Then I headed back over to Stephanie's house so we could go to the movies. I'm a little embarrassed to admit this.... but the last movie I went to was on my 29th birthday. Yep. 2 years ago. Ha ha! So I was REALLY excited about having popcorn and a Diet Coca-Cola Classic. We went to see The Tourist. Meh... I would rate it as ok. I would rate the popcorn as exceptional!! Stephanie and I tore through it!

Craig comes home from from California today. I can't wait to see him! It's been a long week without him here. So from me and my favorite boy... Happy Holidays.

Final Cabo pictures

2010-12-24T15:00:00.000-06:00

Ok, this is my final post about Mexico. If you missed my other posts, you can find them here and here.

We obviously did much more drinking.

We ventured down to the beach to do some parasailing. This was the one thing I wanted to do. I'm actually afraid of heights, but thought this would be fun.

Waiting for the boat to pick us up.

The view of our hotel from the boat.

This is my "Oh shit, I'm nervous... but I'm trying to play it cool" look.

And here we go!

A death grip on those ropes plus trying to take pictures is not ideal, so I passed over the camera to my husband.
It was actually quite fun. It wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be... although I held on as tight as I possibly could!

Shauna and John went into town and swam with the dolphins. Afterwards we met up at the swim up bar. Then, Craig met some Brazilian girls. They were leaving the next day, so they were doing all kinds of shots... so we joined in on the fun.

And they showed us an "interesting" way of doing tequila shots.
In the first glass is lime juice AND salt, then tequila, then a shot of tomato juice to chase it down with. They insisted that the chaser prevented you from tasting the tequila. Who are we to argue with that? Eventually we had a few other groups doing these shots. May I just say this was disgusting! Just looking at it makes me throw up a little in my mouth.

I was in charge of giving everyone directions on how to take these shots... in Spanish. I'm sure it was a self-nomination too. Really Tara? Just because you are in Mexico, doesn't mean you have to speak Spanish to everyone from America. Primero, Secundo, Tercero... like it was that hard to figure out.

And my FAVE picture of the trip... it just makes me giggle.

And of course we closed down that bar.

After poolside shenanigans, we headed back into town to eat.

Our final day we just took it easy by the pool, relaxed and soaked up as much sun as we possibly could.

And then for dinner we headed back to Gordo Lele's. We couldn't get enough!

And a stop at Rip's Bar outside Cabo Wabo.

As you can see, we had a great time. It was so great to see Shauna and John again and we definitely got some much needed relaxation in.

New addition

2010-12-19T21:00:00.000-06:00

So, I told you that Craig was going to San Fran around Christmas to visit his old college roomie who is moving back to Hong Kong, right? Well, Pasco has a little Schnauzer named Chubby who is 13 years old. During a phone conversation last week, Pasco mentioned that they were trying to find a home for Chubby, because they didn't think he could handle the 14+ hour trip. Later that evening Craig told me this story. I looked at him and asked if he wanted to adopt Chubby. Of course, I already knew the answer. He has known Chubby since he was a baby and didn't want to see him go to some stranger.

Craig and Pasco worked out the details of sending Chubby to Texas. He was originally going to try and get on Craig's return flight... but plans changed and our new bundle of joy arrived on Friday night.

We let Beck sniff the cage to start with, then let Chubby loose.

They actually get along quite well. I'm proud of my boy.

In no time they were snoozing on the floor together... and doing some core workouts on the BOSU ball. :)

Don't ya just love Chubby's little old man sweater? I'm not much for small dogs, or dogs with beards... so this should be interesting.

So Friday night we get a new dog, and on Saturday afternoon Craig leaves for a week... leaving me home alone with these guys. What have I gotten myself into?

We were still toying with the idea of adding a Doberman to our family, so today Beckham and I went to meet Tempo at the Doberman Rescue. Tempo was very sweet and he and Beck played really well together. He definitely wore Beckham out though. My baby is out of shape!

I talked to Craig on my way home and I think we have decided to just stick with the 2 dogs for right now. It's crazy enough with the two of them!

More from Cabo

2010-12-18T21:45:00.002-06:00

Ok... time for more pictures of our Mexico vacay.

Obviously we were feeling a little rough after Day 1, so we just lounged by the pool all morning reading. We did manage a few drinks at the swim up bar later in the day though.

At one point, Craig started calling tequila, "squeeler". We all thought it was hilarious and called it that for the rest of the trip. Here he is with a shot of squeeler.

Before heading out to dinner at the Mexican restaurant at the resort.

But the next day we were all well rested and ready to take on the pool bar again.

Shauna and I made up a new drink. Who doesn't love the smell of suntan lotion? Well, we love it so much we made up our own drink. We told the bartender we wanted: coconut, rum, some sort of pretty coloring and banana... mas banana! And this is what we got.

They were pretty good! Eventually we had several other girls drinking our signature drink!

We decided to go into town that night to eat and check out the sights. Our first stop was Gordo Lele's for some tacos. John heard about them online and that they are a must eat in Cabo.

When our cab driver dropped us off in front of this place, I wasn't sure what to think. Looks a little scary, no?
But it was great! The actual dining area is about the size of a small bedroom. The guy who owns it is a big Beatles fan and the walls are COVERED in Beatles pictures.

There are two menu choices... tacos or tortas. We all had tacos and beer. Pacifico was our only choice... AND they had Coca-Light! Our hotel only had Pepsi Light, so Shauna and I were in heaven! A Coca-Light in one hand and a Pacifico in the other. Not bad!

We were the only ones in there, and there was a little boombox right next to us. So, in my best Spanish, I asked they nice man if we got to listen to Beatles music. He turned on the music, got out a microphone and this little baby guitar and started singing! So much fun! Of course... I sang along, which probably ruined everything. :)

And then we had the best tacos ever!

We left and started heading for Cabo Wabo... and randomly I said how we should stop at every bar along the way and have a drink. Just then we passed this sign and apparently Shauna and I thought it warranted a picture.

Then decided we should go in and have a drink. Apparently all those "Suntan Lotions" made us feel good, because when the waitress asked us what we wanted to drink, Shauna and I yelled out "A Mamarita". Obviously we didn't actually read the sign we just took a picture of. And out comes this...

I mean seriously?!?! What were we thinking? According to the sign, it's the same as 25 standard margaritas. We basically just sat there and laughed the whole time. (Also notice we still have a Pacifico) We definitely needed AT LEAST 4 more people to share this with us. Craig also got a new nickname... Margarita Jesus. I think it's quite fitting.

I love Shauna's expression in the background of this one!

And to try to show you how big this thing really is... It's taller than my forearm and 5x bigger than Shauna's hand. Please disregard the awesome shadow.... Margarita Jesus was in charge of the camera and couldn't figure out that his finger was constantly over the flash.

Obviously we didn't even come close to finishing that thing. Instead we got a To-go cup and went on our merry way.

Next up was Cabo Wabo. At this point I think the sweetness of that margarita was hitting us, and we weren't too impressed. We stayed and listed to a band that sounded really great, but lost us when they played "Africa' by Toto. I mean, really? Nothing makes you want to rock out more than that song, eh?

So days 2 and 3 were a success. More to come...

I'm in!!

2010-12-15T00:25:00.003-06:00

I just found out I got accepted to run the NYC half-marathon in March!! Wahooo!!!!

Earlier this year my coworkers and I went to NYC for a work trip. It just happened to be the same weekend as the NYC half marathon. I actually didn't know anything about it until we got home and I saw someone post a blog about it. Once we got home I did some research, and determined that acceptance was based on a lottery drawing... and both events were happening on the same weekend in 2011. So, once they started taking applications for the race, I entered my name. That was in June. The lottery closed on 11/15 and the drawing was supposed to be on 12/15. On a hunch, I checked the NYC half facebook page late Tuesday (12/14) and saw that people were posting that they were in. So off I went to my status page to see if I held the lucky ticket.... and I did! And apparently they just snatch that $99 registration fee right from your credit card the moment they choose you. Merry Christmas to me! What could be better than running the streets of New York?

I was just talking to my boss today about going back to NYC for the expo. I happen to be on her good side right now, so chances are good that she will take us, or at least pay for me to go. It would be great to have a fun little weekend race getaway that the boss pays for! ;)

Another year older

2010-12-13T09:00:00.000-06:00

My 31st birthday was this past Tuesday. I managed to get the day off work and spent the day snuggling with the dog and watching movies.
Best.Day.Ever.

I did have to take the dog to the vet for some annual shots and heartworm prevention pills. Ugh... that little man is expensive! But definitely worth it! Now back to me. Check out my birthday gifts...

From my Craigory:

Entry into my birthday marathon! I registered for this over the summer, so I doubt he even remembers he paid for it... but he did!
Life by Keith Richards. While we waited for our connecting flight from Denver to DFW a couple weeks ago, we bought some new reading material. Craig and I sat in the airport and looked at all the pictures from my fave band. I haven't started reading it yet, but it's next up on my list.
A pair of running capris. I was going to wear these for the marathon, but changed my mind at the last minute. I love that these have a pocket in the back for all my stuff... and Craig just gave me his credit card and told me what my spending limit was. Love him!
And the new Rolling Stones DVD that he gave to me on my actual birthday. We watched it that night... and I sat there smiling the whole time. LOVE!!

And from my boss:

She got this random gift basket from one of the specialists we refer our patients to, but apparently she didn't want it. So, we had a drawing for it. I was the lucky winner! Since it was the day before my birthday, I consider this a birthday gift. Look at all that wine!!!
And a great mix of running stuff. I have most of this on my Secret Santa wishlist, so I know that's how she got the idea. I did take back the outfit and a few of the other things... but what runner doesn't love a little shopping spree to the sporting goods store? So now I have 2 new long sleeved tops to add to my collection.

I'd say I rated pretty well this year!

Happy Sunday

2010-12-12T18:33:00.005-06:00

It's been a lovely little day here. I went for my first run since the marathon. I made myself take a week off to recover a little. I've seriously been itching to get out there for a quick little jam though! So today I set out for a 3 miler. It was pretty chilly out, so I got to try out some of my new cold weather running gear. My legs felt really good and the soreness in my Achilles is finally gone. I have no real training plans for the Cowtown Marathon yet... I guess I need to get on that. But I do know I want to incorporate more hills and speed work into this training session.

Then Craig and I went to the Doberman Rescue to check out the dogs.

I check the website quite often, so I was aware of several of the dogs they had there. We had to go through an interview process that was pretty lame... but looking at all the dogs was fun. We really like a 3 year old male named Desperado. He was running around his fenced area and was hard to get a picture of.

And Tempo, a puppy who lives in a foster home. Tempo wasn't at the open house today, but we will definitely be contacting his foster mom to set up a meeting. These are a few pictures from the rescue website.

Doesn't he look like Beckham?!?!

I think Beckham would be much happier with the younger one. And while we were there we ran into a girl I used to work with at the YMCA 4 years ago. She and her husband were there adopting a Doberman too! Small world!

On our way to lunch, we drove by a park I heard about from some running acquaintances. So we stopped to look around a little and check out the trails. I think it would be a great new place to run! I get so bored running the same path for my long runs. The scenery was beautiful... it is a slightly cold, but gorgeous fall day here!

Lunch was at a new Mexican restaurant that I bought a Groupon for, and a stop at Kroger for some peppermint ice cream! My fave! I'm such a healthy eater today! :)

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Cabo: Day 1

2010-12-08T07:00:00.001-06:00

The week before Thanksgiving, Craig and I set off for Cabo San Lucas to meet up with one of my college roomies and her husband for a week. It was a MUCH needed getaway from work and all the craziness at home. I haven't seen my friend Shauna for a year and miss her dearly. The last time we went on vacation together was two years ago when we went to Riviera Maya.

We left DFW bright and early Sunday morning, flying first to Denver then on to Cabo. You'd figure living this close to Mexico we could have gotten a cheap direct flight... whateves.

The first treat for me was getting off the plane in Mexico. They just put the old staircase right up to the door and we walked onto the runway. I was freaking out about this!! Apparently this is done all the time, but this was my virgin runway debut. It's the little things in this world that excite me!

There was one small incident after getting our luggage. After going through customs, I thought Craig had both suitcases, when apparently he told me to grab one. After accidentally talking to the first person we saw (who we thought was our Apple Vacations person) and were about to leave the airport I realized we didn't have both suitcases. I thought someone stole it, but the guy we were talking to insisted that we only had one suitcase with us when we walked up to him. So.... Craig had to go on a search for it. Luckily, it was right where we left it and we continued on our way. Oopsies! I swear we hadn't even had a drop of alcohol yet!

Once we got outside and were waiting for our van to take us to the resort, we had our first DosXX. Mmmmmm......

We stayed at the RIU Santa Fe in Cabo. The hotel was very nice. Check in was easy-peasy and in no time we were drinking beer poolside and waiting for our friends to arrive.

Once Shauna and John arrived, we headed down to the pool bar and got caught up on life. Don't you love those friends that you haven't seen in over a year, and don't talk to on a regular basis... yet once you do get together you pick up right where you left off?? I feel that way about all my BVU college roommates.

Anyway, we sat and talked and drank beer. The bartender just kept setting 2 in front of us... so we kept drinking. We did one random, disgusting shot of tequila and then this fella came around with a bottle of some mysterious drink. So Shauna and I obliged by taking a shot.

More talking, laughing, drinking, making new friendzies and picture taking... and before we knew it, it was dark and the pool bar was closing down.

Then it was back to our room to get ready for dinner. And we had to stop along the way for more photos.

As you can tell.... we were having a great time! Maybe too great of a time! Somehow on our way to dinner, Shauna and I got separated from the boys. And even though we were walking to dinner and there was apparently only one place that we didn't need reservations for at the time, and we literally lost them right in front of the restaurant... the boys couldn't figure out where we were. So, Shauna and I ate by ourselves and talked to some Brazilian guys who were there for a soccer tournament. So... Brazilian guys who speak Portuguese and Spanish and only a tiny bit of English and Tara and Shauna who speak English and only a tiny bit of Spanish... and who are very drunk. I'm sure that was a GREAT conversation!!! I remember talking about our husbands, soccer and running marathons...

Eventually we found the boys and made our way back to our rooms and called it a night.

Well, we kind of called it a night....

These three characters all woke up with the Mexican stomach flu!

Yep. Night #1 ended with one person puking in the sink, one in the bed and one in the toilet. I am happy to report that I was the one who made it to the appropriate place!!! Who knew that was such an accomplishment?? This is shaping up to be an interesting vacation... but hey, at least no one fell and split their face open on a rock this year!

Stay tuned for more vacation fun!

Dallas White Rock Marathon Recap

2010-12-07T22:40:00.003-06:00

So, as you know, I signed up for the White Rock Marathon as my birthday fun run. What better way to celebrate your 31st birthday than to run a marathon, right??

I had everything laid out and ready to go. I knew it was going to be COLD, and I worried about what I should wear. It was supposed to be 34 degrees at the start with a high of 49. Nice cool weather for running... but would I be too hot in pants and a long sleeved shirt? Or would I freeze in shorts and a tank? Decisions, decisions. I finally opted for a tank AND a long sleeved shirt with my running skirt and new compression socks I got at the expo. I also bought a cheap little hat and gloves at Target that I planned to wear until I got too hot, and then toss on the side of the road. Best $3 I've ever spent!

I told the hubbs he didn't have to come to this race. It was HUGE and I knew there was no way he was ever going to see me once I set off on my journey and it was way too cold to just hang out outside all morning looking for me. So, I woke him up before I left and told him to watch for me on tv. Yep... the race is televised in DFW. I'm SURE he saw me somewhere in those 22,000 runners! ;)

The race was scheduled to start at 8 and I wanted to give myself plenty of time to stretch and get myself ready... so I left the house at 6. Even though I hate Dallas driving, it couldn't be that bad at that time of the day, right? Well, everything was fine until I got to the exit I needed. Traffic was at a standstill. I could have sat in that line of cars waiting to get to the race for AT LEAST an hour. So, I drove down 2 more exits and was able to get right off the freeway. A few other people had the same idea and all was great for a few minutes. Then we sat in traffic on Dallas streets. I think I sat there for a good 30 minutes before we finally got into the parking lot. I was so relieved when I finally parked my car and could get myself stretched out and to the start line.

TMI alert!!
But when I got out of my car to get all my gear, I realized I just got my period. SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?!?!?! Of course I didn't plan for this and had no tampon. So, I had to try to find one. I walked up to a van full of ladies and asked them if they had one. Of course, nobody did... but one nice lady gave me a quarter in case I found a machine. The place I parked was about a mile from the starting line, and it was so cold out. So I ran... and looked for any girl carrying a bag. But, like me, most people were just there to run and had nothing with them. It's not easy to conceal tampons in spandex running gear. So, I looked for mothers with purses and asked each and every one of them if they could help me out. Most of them were older and probably all dried up... so they looked at me like I was crazy. And perhaps I was! There were no machines in the bathroom... but I eventually found a group of girls who saved the day! Thank you girl! You saved me! All is right in the world again!

So, off to find my starting corral (I was WAY at the back) and do some stretching. The wheelchair runners started right at 8, and the elites started shortly after that. And then we had to wait for our corral. 45 minutes later, I crossed the starting line.

Since this race was just 6 weeks after my last marathon, my goal was just to go out and have fun and to run under 5 hours. Plus, I really only did 1 long run of 14 miles in that time and didn't know how my body would react. At the expo, I got the wristband that listed the splits for a 4:30 pace and thought that if I felt good at the halfway point I would go for it and try for a new PR.

My hat and gloves lasted until mile 2. At that point I was starting to warm up and decided to run without them. So I tossed them onto the side of the road. There were a few times in the next couple of miles that I wished I had them... but overall I'm glad I tossed them when I did. They served their purpose!

We ran though some great Dallas neighborhoods and the crowd support was great! I intended to bring my camera with me on this run... but obviously I had other things on my mind when I arrived at the race. I tried to Gu every 4-4.5 miles. At mile 8.8 I passed a group of people standing in front of their house with a sign that said "Beer and Mai Tais"... why the heck not?? I yelled "BEER" and sprinted toward them. That was the coldest beer I've ever had and it was quite delicious! And it made me smile. My next beer was at mile 20.8. Not AS delicious as the first, but still good. One thing I loved was the fact that our names were on our race bibs. So people were yelling "Go Tara!" as you ran by. That's a great boost!

I felt great and made the decision to pick up the pace a little at mile 12. I was a couple minutes ahead of a 4:30 pace.... so I decided to try for a 4:20 finish. I managed to make it to mile 21ish before I hit the wall. I think that was my first real walk break. Not bad! And after doing some quick calculations in my head I determined the splits I needed to run for my last 2 miles and went for it. Those were some tough miles.... but I made sure I didn't walk. My legs were so tired! I ended up crossing the finish line with a time of 4:19:22. A new PR!!

After drinking half a beer inside the finisher's area I made my way outside to figure out where I parked. I walked around the finisher's area a while and tried to figure out where the starting line was. Unfort, the way I was trying to go was all roped off for the finishing runners, so I had to hobble back the way I came from, walk around the building I was just in... then where was I supposed to go? I remembered that the Cotton Bowl Stadium was on my left when the race started.... which meant I was on the opposite side of my parking lot. I had to hobble around the whole thing, up to the start area and then the mile-ish back to my car. I was on the verge of tears at that point. I think I walked about 3 miles getting back to my car after the race... I was freezing and all I wanted to do was lay down.

My legs were pretty tired after the race. No blisters this time though!! I did get some awesome chafing on my right thigh... like rug burn looking chafing. Ahh... the joys of being a runner!

I am so happy with my time in this race and the way I finished. I would definitely run this one again! Now onto the recovery process. My next race is scheduled for the end of February, so I'm taking this week off!

More running music

2010-12-07T10:45:00.002-06:00

A few late entries onto the iPod just before race time. I really enjoyed hearing these songs during my marathon. They gave me that extra little boost I needed.

Bottoms Up- Trey Songz
Dark Fantasy- Kanye West
Stop Breaking Down- The Rolling Stones

Hello random music lover!

White Rock Marathon Expo and other shenanigans

2010-12-06T21:10:00.001-06:00

This past weekend was the 41st running of the Dallas White Rock Marathon. As I mentioned before, I signed up for this race as my annual birthday race. Exactly 1 year ago, I ran my very first marathon in Jamaica to celebrate my 30th birthday. What a fun tradition!!

Friday and Saturday were packet pick up day. I hate driving to Dallas, so I convinced Craig to come with me. I told him this could be part of my birthday gift.

So after I got off work Saturday Craig and I made our way over to Fair Park in Dallas. This is the first BIG race I have participated in. There were over 22,000 runners that took part in the half, full and relay marathons. So obviously this expo was MUCH bigger than what I have been accustomed to. I ended up buying some new Gu's and some hot pink compression socks that I have been eying. Luckily I woke up early enough to shave my legs... otherwise that poor man that had to measure my calves would have been in for a surprise. Also, it's REALLY hard to pull up the legs of skinny jeans. I seriously had to work at it for about 45 seconds. That skinny opening is just not meant to go up to the knees. Duly noted.... :)

After the expo, we drove around Dallas for a bit and ended up stopping at a little antique store that intrigued us. I was so overwhelmed in there! I could have chosen several things.... but instead limited myself to a new hippie dress (which I will be sending to my mom to alter. Thanks for unknowingly volunteering!), a giant belt and an awesome ring.

After all that shopping I was starving. So we found a cute little Italian restaurant downtown called Campisi's. We shared lasagna and pizza... carbo-loading at it's best. That's one thing I can do well! Unfortunately, I was so hungry that we didn't get any pictures, but trust me when I tell you it was good!

A drive by Neiman and their pretty Christmas decorations...

After a quick stop at Target for a hat and gloves for the race it was time to make the drive home to get everything ready for the morning.

Updating the iPod

2010-12-03T05:00:00.001-06:00

Sunday is Marathon Day... so it's time to add a new playlist to my ipod. Here are a few songs I'm digging right now that will help me get through the 26.2 mile trek.

Rolling in the Deep- Adele (I just saw her perform today on Ellen and I'm in love with this song. She has an amazing voice)
Beat the Devil's Tattoo- Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (This one was recommended to me based on my current music purchases on iTunes. It seems like a good zoning out song for a race)
Animal- Neon Trees (My local radio station has celebrities list their current favorite songs, and Ian Kinsler of the Texas Rangers listed this one a few months ago... Since he is one of my boyfriends, this has to be one of my favorites too. Plus the drummer is a chick. Love it!)
Share the Ride- The Black Crowes (This is from their new acoustic album Crowology. I couldn't find a youtube link, so you'll have to deal with a little blurb from Amazon. I seriously listen to this AT LEAST once a day in my care. LOVE!!)
Soul Singing- The Black Crows (Again, I love the version on Crowology. which you can hear on the previous linky. I used this video of their recent tour because I love the hippy dance moves and I get to see my other boyfriend Sven on the bass)
Sultans of Swing- Dire Straits (Again, another zone out song)
Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)- Shakira (I saw this video on another runner's blog and decided it would be fun to run to)

And there you have it. Once again, I'm all over the place with my musical interests.

Happy December

2010-12-01T22:07:00.005-06:00

Just a few random updates...

A month after the Frankenthon Marathon, I lost my toenail. I got a blister under it during the race and I could tell it was loose.... but all that sitting in the pool in Mexico helped the process. Luckily it waited until AFTER my beach vacay so I didn't have to worry about painting the stub.
Craig and I have been talking about adopting a dog from the North Texas Doberman Rescue. Beckham is part Dobe and we both really love these dogs. I think Beck would love a little (or big) friend to play with. We filled out our application and are hoping to go check them out next weekend. Of course, I just checked the site today and the one I love has just been adopted. :(
Craig's college roomate is moving back to Hong Kong on Christmas Eve and sent Craig an email last week to see if Craig could fly out to San Francisco to visit him before he leaves. Coincidentally, Craig's sister lives in San Fran and his mother will be visiting her for Christmas. Craig still has 4 days of vacation to use, so we will be spending Christmas apart this year. Honestly, I'm ok with this. It's usually just the two of us anyway and I don't get all excited about the holiday in the first place. I'm a Thanksgiving kind of girl.
No one but me home for Christmas means I don't have to put the tree up!!! You don't know how happy this makes me! I don't get all excited about Christmas... so I'll drag the stockings out of the attic and that will be it. Santa has to have somewhere to put a few goodies for Beckham.
Craig harvested his pepper crop this week before it froze. I have never seen so many peppers!! All of this from a 4x4 ft area! He has been making salsa and tobasco sauce all week and we still have peppers occupying every spare inch of counter space. The big bucket is the same one that held our turkey in the fryer... and then all the peppers separated into the different varieties.
After the all-inclusive Mexico vacay and Thanksgiving, the scale hasn't been my friend. So...I signed back up for Weight Watchers. My plan was to wait until after my marathon on Sunday--but I didn't like what the scale said on Monday morning, so I took the plunge a week early. So far, so good!
Yeah, so Birthday Marathon on Sunday. Ahhhh.... I'm nervous, but I'm out to have fun with it. Happy 31st birthday to me!

I'm still working on Mexico posts... so stay tuned!

Thanksgiving

2010-11-26T16:05:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We definitely did here!

It started Wednesday night. I had to run over to Luke's Locker to pick up Turkey Trot race packets for Craig and I. Pickup was quite fast and they seemed very organized. I was in and out in no time. I even had plenty of time to browse the pretty running clothes.... but decided it was best for my checking account if I didn't. Besides... someone has a birthday coming up soon! (hint, hint)

After pickup, I headed over to my old South Fort Worth stomping grounds to hang out with Stephanie. I don't see nearly enough of this girl... which is totally my fault because I refuse to hang out in Dallas. Luckily, she makes the trek to Fort Worth regularly to see her mom... and I will happily motor down I-35 to have some fun girl time. Once her mom got home from work, the three of us went out for hamburgers got caught up on life then went back to Ma's house for some Kool-Aid wine (Arbor Mist).

Then Stephanie and I met my old roomie, Steve, for some 7th street fun. First we hit up The Durty Crow and afterwards The Martini Lounge. We rehashed the latest events and relived the past 7 years. Can you believe it's been 7 years since I moved down here? I can't!!! I stayed out way later than I intended, but it was definitely worth it.

Craig stayed home and played with the chiminea and made his pumpkin pie (dubbed a "heavy metal" pumpkin pie with a guitar on top)

Thursday morning was Turkey Trot day. Craig signed up for the 5k and I ran the 10k. While it was 85 degrees on Wednesday, the cold front moved through during the night, and it was a chilly 44 degrees on race day!

Craig's race started 15 minutes after mine, so he stayed in the car while I made my way to the start line. Last year I was so frustrated with all the walkers and insane amount of people at the 5k race.... I'm so glad I signed up for the 10k this year. I tried to find my groove on the first mile, and ended up passing a lot of people. I definitely started way too far back... but I went with it. After the first mile I decided I was feeling REALLY good, so I took off. It was quite breezy out and there were quite a few hills in the neighborhood we ran in, but they didn't seem to bother me. My mile splits were: 9:18, 8:37,8:26, 8:33,8:03, 7:59. I wasn't chip timed, so according to Gunnar Garmin my final time was 52:49. I'm really REALLY happy with that time! At the very end of the race, the 5k and 10k finish together. I looked for Craig hoping that we could finish together.... but didn't see him. After I got some water, I looked over to the finish line to see if I could find him and saw him coming down the home stretch. I'm so proud of him!

As is tradition, we headed to Central Market after the race for gelato. Unfort, they didn't have any out... so we settled on some pre-packaged stuff and headed home to cook.

I was in charge of the mashed potatoes, jello and veggies and Craig was in charge of the turkey and stuffing. We have our priorities!! Confession.... I tried some stuffing this year. I don't think I've EVER tried stuffing... I just think it looks gross. Yep, 30 years without Thanksgiving stuffing!!!! But this smelled so good and it tasted about as good as it smelled. I may have to convert!

Beckham is such a good helper on Thanksgiving Day!

And because it just doesn't seem like Thanksgiving without hearing this song from SNL.

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

Viva Las Vegas

2010-11-08T20:40:00.001-06:00

Last month I went to Vegas for a little work fun that is known as Vision Expo West. I went last year and had a blast. This year I needed to get some continuing education classes out of the way... so why not? As I told you before, my friend from work wasn't able to go with me, so I made the trip by myself. Luckily, one of my bff's from DFW had a conference in Vegas the following week and came out early for some partying.

So, what is one to do while in Vegas by themselves? Work (which consisted of attending a couple classes and looking at pretty frames), drink and gamble of course! I'm sure I looked like a real winner! Which is why I only have pictures from one night. There are only so many pictures I can take of my room and me sitting next to a slot machine with a drink in hand. But just for the record, here is my room at The Flamingo....

Stephanie showed up Friday night and we went to a party held at The Flamingo by one of the frame reps.

I ran into these guys from Dallas before the party and we hung out with them for a while... and by hung out with, I really mean mooched drinks off of for a couple hours!

Got some awesome tattoos....

Unfort, my tattoo wouldn't stick to me, which is a shame because they look so classy in these pictures!

After a few hours, Stephanie and I ditched the Marchon frame party to have our own party we like to call "Dance Party USA". We ran across the street to Ceasar's and caught a cab to Eve Nightclub where we apparently paid $15 each for a vodka/cranberry, danced with some little Asian boys and took a random shot that had been sitting on the bar for a good 15 minutes. Oopsies!!! Apparently I was still really thirsty after my 3rd expensive bev and needed something free!! Leave it to me to gross everyone out! :)

Stephanie's college friend, Brad, lives in Vegas. He and his girlfriend met us at Eve for Dance Party USA.

Elevator photo shoot before leaving the club? These shoes were definitely NOT made for walking... or standing for that matter! But they do make my calves look pretty, and that's all that really matters, isn't it?

And eventually we ended up back at The Flamingo... shoes in hand.

Ahhhh.... good times. The only thing that could have made it better would have been Ace Pear and snarfing queso and tortillas on the floor at the end of the night.

The next morning we laid in bed for hours giggling over texts and pictures, while we tried to piece together events from the night before. I swear it was straight out of the movie The Hangover. Maybe that random shot wasn't such a good idea???

And finally, us rocking a massive hangover while people watching on the Strip. Best.entertainment.EVER!!!! The people watching, not the hangover part!

God I miss this girl! We must do this more often!

Next up in my running world

2010-11-07T11:00:00.000-06:00

Today I'm sitting in front of the tv watching coverage of the NYC Marathon. Yep... I'm that girl. One of our NBC channels is dedicated to sports coverage, and you can often find me watching Iron Man or marathon coverage on Saturday or Sunday afternoons. Boring for most... but I sit here crying over all the stories and watching the athletes compete. I'm a strange girl. I don't cry over everyday girly stuff, but give me a sporting event and I can bawl my eyes out.

So, in honor of Marathon day I will update you all on my upcoming races and current training.

My legs are feeling pretty good considering I just finished a marathon 2 weeks ago. I went out for a nice easy run 2 days after completing 26.2 and have been trying to get a couple of easy runs in each week. This week I felt pretty good and even got in a tempo run. Today I will go out for 12. Luckily the weather is awesome... so I don't have to try to beat the heat by setting out obnoxiously early.
My next race will be the Fort Worth Turkey Trot 10k on Thanksgiving Day. I usually run the 5k, but decided to change it up a bit this year... mostly because there are so many people in the 5k that I get really annoyed. Hopefully the 10k will be a little smaller. Of course, it might be a little rough because we will be in Mexico the week before and who knows how much running will actually get done.
My next marathon is scheduled for 12/5.... one month away. This will be my first year running White Rock Marathon in Dallas and I'm pretty excited. This will be my birthday race and I'm pretty excited to see how far I've come from the first marathon I ran on 12/5/09. I don't really have any time goals in mind for this one. I just want to go out and have fun with it.
I'm registered for the Cowtown Half in February, but am hoping to change my registration to the full. They made some course changes this year and it covers some pretty cool parts of Fort Worth.
Still waiting to hear about the NYC Half Marathon...
I've signed up for a spring marathon in Knoxville, TN. I decided I wanted to share this experience with someone I knew.... so I propositioned a few Facebook friends. The one who agreed is Jennie from Knoxville. We met Jennie and her husband in Jamaica a year ago. They are photographers and were there to shoot a wedding and sat at our table at dinner one night. Jennie has completed a couple of halfs and talked about how she wanted to run a full.... so my proposition was apparently just the motivation she needed. Jennie reports that this is a pretty hilly race, but I think it will be fun to run with a friend.
And to complete the trifecta of 3 marathons in 90 days to qualify for Marathon Maniacs... I plan to sign up for the Oklahoma City Marathon in May.

And there you have it. I'm keeping myself pretty busy, but I'm really excited about all these races.

Frankenthon Marathon

2010-11-02T11:45:00.000-05:00

A week and a half ago I went down to Austin to run in the Frankenthon Marathon. This was a very small marathon with only 150ish runners held on the trails at Brushy Creek Park in Cedar Park, TX.

I knew I wanted to run a race in October, but with my Las Vegas trip already planned, I missed out on the big races everyone had planned for 10/10/10. While searching for other races on marathonguide.com I came across this race. It had pretty good reviews and Austin is just a quick 3 hour drive for us. So, I bit the bullet. Craig's nephew and his wife invited us to stay with them.... and actually lived only 5 miles from the start of the race. How perfect!!! I honestly had no clue it would work out that way when I signed up!

Again, the race was held at Brushy Creek Park, which was under water a month before the race. The race director would periodically send us updates about water levels... which finally went down about 3 weeks before race day. The race was held on a "looped trail", each loop consisting of 8.75 miles. I wasn't sure how I would like this, but figured it would still be fun. Although, my impression of a "looped trail" was one giant circle that you ran around 3 times. Uh, no. 2 days before the race I checked out the course map and discovered it was actually more like an "out and back, out and back" that made up one loop. That was tough mentally for me... but I made due. I will say it was fun to be able to see all the runners. Those lead runners are crazy fast!! And it was great for the spectators... who could see us run by several times over the course of 26.2 miles. Craig was a big fan of that!

Craig and I left for the race a little before 6am, so we could figure out where we were going and I could pick up my packet. The race started at 7, so I had plenty of time to stretch and try to calm my nerves. The race was VERY small and informal (in a good way). It really felt like a Saturday morning run with the local running group. After the singing of the national anthem, the announcer led us over to the start line, and yelled "GO".

And we were off! My goal for this race was to finish around 4:45, which is running 10:45 miles. I tried to start out fairly slow and I think I did a pretty good job of pacing myself for the first half of the race.

I thought the weather was great! Later I heard a lot of people complaining about the humidity. I guess it was a little humid, but you can't have it all. Compared to the last 2 half-marathons I ran, this race was perfect. Awesome cloud cover and a couple of sprinkles on a gorgeous fall day in Texas. And check out this sunrise!

Around mile 5 I started talking to another runner named Beth. She was really sweet and we discussed 2 of my favorite things.... Texas Rangers and Mick Jagger! I was in heaven! :) Craig happened to be at this part of the trail and caught us in action.

My new running partner was short lived, as her husband called her and her pace slowed. Of course, if I was trying to run a marathon, talk on the phone and navigate my way through a water stop at the same time, my pace would slow too! So after mile 6 I was on my own.

I only had 1 Gu to bring with me, but I knew there were going to be snacks on the course. So, I tried something new and just went with the flow to fuel myself during the race. I stocked up on gummy bears a couple of times, pretzels, oranges and my favorite.... Freezy pops (which are better known as Flavor Ice). It was around mile 15 when the Freezy Pops came out. I was just going to stop for some gummy bears when I spotted these. I seriously yelled out "Freezy Pops!" and grabbed one from a volunteer as she laughed at me. I guess it's the small things that make my day... and her's too apparently! :)

I hit my wall around mile 17. I was keeping a pretty steady pace of between 9:30 and 10:00 up until that point, but slowed to a 10:30 pace pretty quickly. There were a few small hills and I got to the point where I was just walking up them and running back down. I was still confident that I could make my goal time and actually started calculating and realized I could probably finish in 4:30. That got my butt in gear a little!

At mile 20 I had to pee. I'm normally fine on my training runs, but with all the fluids consumed, I knew I couldn't hold it for another 6.2 miles. So I found a port-a-potty. I will say that it isn't easy to peel off sweat drenched shorts in such a confined space while trying to hold the rest of your gear. And I would also like to point out to whomever may have used that port-a-potty after me, that I took the time to wipe my sweat off the toilet seat! I hope it was appreciated! Yes.... I rock like that! lol

Anywho... the next 6.2 were pretty painful. My legs were screaming and I could feel a blister forming under my toenail. I saw Craig at mile 23ish and that gave me a boost. Best.huband.ever. to sit through these races!

I definitely look better than I probably feel at this point!

There was one pretty massive hill on the course. And of course it came at mile 25.5ish (and also miles 8ish and 17ish). It was hell getting up that hill. I, of course, walked up it. No shame!

My official chip time was 4:31:58. I was SO CLOSE to breaking 4:30! I probably would have if I wouldn't have taken the time to dry off the toilet seat! :)

But I was really excited with my time. That's a 20 minute improvement over my previous marathon. I did add a few speed work sessions and tempo runs to this training schedule.... so I guess I should continue with that.

After the race, I scarfed down a doughnut, pizza and a couple of Cokes. My Garmin said I burned 3200 calories... so I just needed to make up for that! :)

So, marathon #3 is over! Now I'm getting back into the swing of things and gearing up for my next race which is only 5 weeks away now.... White Rock Marathon in Dallas.

Worl Series: Game 5

2010-11-02T10:01:00.005-05:00

Sorry to bombard you with yet ANOTHER post about the Rangers.... but obviously with the loss last night this will probably be the last one you will see for a few months. :(

Craig and I managed to get there early again, but decided to go in and watch all the happenings. We actually saw batting practice.... who knew that even happened before the game? :)

The game was a lot of fun and Craig and I even got to sit together this time! I swear to you I was the only one cheering in our section. Yes... I'm that girl!

And just because I think it's kind of a cool picture. The sun setting with Cowboys Stadium in the background.

The game was scoreless until the 7th, when the Giants hit a 3 run homerun. The Rangers followed by a 1 run homer, but could never overcome the deficit.... even though I prayed to Kirby Puckett's spirit. (Come on, he was the king of hitting a homer in the bottom of the 9th inning when they needed it the most. It's appropriate!)

As the Giants celebrated on the field, we started the "Let's Go Rangers" chant. Gave me goosebumps again!

What a great season, but I'm sad it's over. Thanks for the memories Rangers. See you in April!

World Series: Game 3

2010-10-31T16:09:00.008-05:00

Last night was Game 3 of the World Series... and the first home game at The Ballpark in Arlington. We had tickets to this game, so right after I got off work we headed down to do some tailgating before the game. We went into this game dwon2 in the best of 7 series.

Once again, it was such a great experience. People were tailgating all over the parking lots, playing games and just loving the gorgeous weather.

We went into the stadium about an hour before the game started. I decided that the reason the Rangers lost the last 2 games we went to was becasuse I didn't have my traditional hot dog once we arrived. You'd better believe I got in line for my diggy dog the second we made it up to our section!

Fort Worth native, Kelly Clarkson sang the National Anthem and Nolan Ryan threw out the first pitch.

Once again Craig and I weren't able to get tickets next to each other.... but this time we sat in the same section. The guys next to me included me in all the celebratory high fives when something exciting happened.

And on a side note for my family.... I do call that towel I am twirling a Homer Hanky... even though that's from my die-hard Minnesota Twins days. I'm sorry, but rally towel??? No.

The game was awesome! A 3 run homerun by Mitch Moreland and another homer by Hamilton and we won 4-2. I cried a little when we won, and hugged the little old lady that made her way down to the front row next to me! It was just surreal to be at a World Series game. We are still down a game, but hopefully tonight we can tie it up!

After the game we made our way down to the fist level via the ramp, and all the fans started in with a "Let's Go Rangers" chant. It gave me goosebumps!

We then got as close to the field as possible to take some pictures.

Game 4 is tonight... we'll be watching this one from our living room. But game 5 is Monday night and we do have tickets to that one!

GO RANGERS!!

They Say It's Your Birthday

2010-10-27T07:00:00.000-05:00

Happy 36th Birthday to my husband and his twin brother. This week Craig is down in San Antonio celebrating his birthday with Brian... so I decided to dig out some pictures of the little cute-sters. I honestly can't tell them apart in most pictures until they get older... so your guess is as good as mine in most of these.

Craig is "Baby B" on the right

Craig is wearing the Baby Ruth hat.

I love this picture! I'm pretty sure Craig is in the yellow.

ALMOST makes me want a little clan of blondie boys... ALMOST!!

Happy Birthday Lovey Bear!

Marathon Playlist

2010-10-25T08:10:00.006-05:00

Well, I survived the Frankenthon Marathon this weekend! It was actually a pretty nice course (if not a little boring), I got a PR and my legs feel pretty good today. I will give you a full race recap soon... but Craig has my camera and is down in San Antonio this week. So look for that post toward the end of the week.

Just before the big day I downloaded some new songs and made a new playlist to keep me entertained. Here are a few of my favorites and their links to You Tube:

Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)- The Eurythmics
Sunglasses at Night- Corey Hart
Just Can't Get Enough- Depeche Mode
Lose Yourself- Eminem
Raise Your Glass- Pink
Just a Dream- Nelly
Club Can't Handle Me- Flo Rida
DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love- Usher
Rise Up- Truth and Salvage Co
Moving in Stereo- The Cars
Lover, Lover- Jerrod Niemann
California on My Mind- Wild Light
Running Down a Dream- Tom Petty
Howlin' For You- The Black Keys

Obviously I had a love affair with the random 80's jams and current pop hits.... with lots of all time faves thrown in there too. My goal was to run under 5 hours (4:45 specifically), so I made sure I only had that amount of songs on my playlist. Usually I add a TON more just in case something happens and I have a monumentally shitty run!

It's {still} baseball time in Texas

2010-10-17T17:55:00.000-05:00

Well folks... The Texas Rangers are in the playoffs! It's so exciting!! I have been to a game every month this season, so I couldn't miss the playoff games. I was in Vegas last week for the first round against Tampa Bay, so I had to settle with watching them on tv while playing slot machines. Not bad entertainment.

Now they are playing the Yankees in the American League Championship Series to see who makes it to the World Series! I told Craig we were going and I bought us tickets to game #1 which was played Friday night. I haven't been this excited in a LONG TIME!!! I ended up buying the "cheap seats" which were $60 each (normally $10)... but I just HAD to be there! The only problem?? There weren't any two seats together, so Craig and I sat two sections away from each other. Ha! Still, we both had a great time!

The game started at 7, but I wanted to get there early because I knew it would be a madhouse at the stadium. Before heading out, I stopped and bought a 6 pack of Bud Light tall boys so we could tailgate in the parking lot before the game. We always talk about doing this, but never get to the game early enough to do it. We parked, cracked open a beer and walked to will call to pick up our tickets. There was so much excitement in the air! Helicopters hovering over the ballpark, tv cameras, people everywhere taking pictures!

After picking up our tickets we headed back to the car to drink a little more in our little baby tailgate.

Checking out the view from the top before the game!

We found our seats and watched the pregame stuff. I was in the very LAST row in the upper deck... possibly the best seat in the house! :) I have never seen that many fans in the stands so early!

The game started out with a 3 run home run by the Rangers and we held a 5-0 lead until the 8th inning.... where we gave up 6 runs and lost 5-6. Disappointing! But so much fun!

World Series tickets went on sale this morning at 9 am. I was on the Rangers website at 8:59 and was immediately put in the "waiting room" because so many people were buying tickets. I had both computers out and every home game had a waiting list. After an hour I have up and purchased on Stub Hub. That's right.... I have tickets to games 3 and 5 of the World Series when Texas makes it!!! My credit card that was once paid off has a nice little balance on it now.... but I think this is worth it! :)

Go Rangers!!!