Hair Ideas?

Tonight after work we watched the CMA's. Is Taylor Swift annoying or that just me? I think she is an amazing singer, but that OMG! I won again?! thing she always does gets old. Sorry had to vent... Carrie Underwood on the other hand...WOW! She remains my favorite (of the younger singers.)

I think she is a great speaker and wish should could of won Vocalist of the Year for the fourth year in a row!

Anyways, seeing all the girls all dolled up, I started testing out different hairstyles for my photo shoot next weekend. Should I do light curls?

Wavy?

Or a romantic sweep?

Tommorrow I'll let you know what I am wearing since I'm sure that would be helpful. But, for now - I'm off to bed!!

Happy Thursday!!

"Fall In Love"

Having the future hubby back in town sure does take up a lot more of my time than I thought it would. I have been trying so hard to keep up with things on here, but unfortunately it falls to the end of the totum poll most days. Today, however, I am sick. So, there isn't much more to do than sit on the couch, catch up on some shows from the Food Network, and tell you some of my thoughts. This blog is turning most likely going to turn into a wedding blog and more so when the marathon is over. So first the marathon:

I can't believe how quick the time is passing and we are getting to such high miles! Everyday my best friend and I text each other, "Did you run?" We are struggling to find motivation to do the long runs on the weekend. I know the feeling from finishing a marathon must bring you to tears - now I know why. I still hope to join the local running club ASAP.  Then I can have some other crazy buddies who need to run 15 - 20 miles on the weekend.

This week the schedule is:
Tuesday: 3 miles
Wednesday: 7 miles
Thursday: 4 miles
Saturday: 15 long long long miles.

My week is pushed back a day, however, because I was under the weather today. I'm hoping after I sleep tonight I'll feel much better for tom.!

This past weekend we had lots and lots of fun with our good friends the "Bears" . We had an amazing dinner!! Mrs. H made Bruschetta that was to die for and if you are reading I still need the recipe for ;-)

After dinner we had a very very long weekend. I did get to babysit the nephew again. It was so much fun! We always have a great time reading, eating, and watching his Baby Can Read Video.

He LOOOOOVES that video. It really works too!!

Mr. Incredible and I have started nailing down some of our wedding details. We have written down our tentative wedding party, picked a hopefuly venue, and decided our theme. I can only tell you one of these things. Our theme will be:

"Fall in Love" But that isn't ours. That's an idea our photographer sent me. Oh! That's the other detail we have worked out! Our Engagement pictures are next weekend (the 21st). We are SOOO excited. More to come on that.... For now that I have to get some rest and hopefully get the little dog feeling better. I can't take much more of his sneezing all over me! Long week/weekend ahead...

Happy Humpday Tommorrow!!

"Since I've Been Gone"

Thought I was never coming back? Haha for a minute neither did I. Posting on a blog all the time is hard to do, but well worth it. A lot has changed since my last blog post - which is the reason I have been absent.

Mr. Incredible and I went to his Lake House where on the middle of the lake...He proposed!!

We suprised our friends at our "Engagement Party" and told them the big news. The whole restaurant knew of our news after the screams of surprise and congratulations. We had such a great night with everyone! Don't worry I have already started all of the planning! My good friend and I went shopping for wedding books as soon as I got back from vacation.

We picked up an etiquette book and also a coupon book for the groom - which basically just has "stop nagging me about the wedding" coupons. My sister - in - law also got me a wedding planner.

In the meantime Mrs. Future H has gotten hitched!! Congrats to Mrs. H!!

She had the most beautiful wedding!! Look at the sky!

Back at work - whitters and i went on our first and probably only timber tour.

Yes we matched. This paticular mill was a plywood mill - mostly pine. This is what I do - value the timber before we sell it to the mills.

It's time for fall! I love the weather and all of the holidays coming up!

These are two of my youngest nephews. Kids are soo cute.

Anyways want a running update?

Today I ran 12 miles and I basically don't have any clue how I'm ever going to run a marathon. 12 miles hurt - bad! Around 9 miles I didn't think I was going to finish. I will say with Mr. Incredible back in town I'm not eating/sleeping as well as I usually do. But, hopefully that will change this week. I have 13 miles coming up next weekend. And, we'll be in Tallahassee for homecoming weekend with our beloved Noles. Oh and PS. the gels - "Cliff" gels are nasty! Blahh I hate gels and almost feel like I'm going to throw up as soon as I put them in my mouth. I don't think any of the flavors are going to change my mind either. Ughh. Well I"m off to use my "stick" to try and get some of these knots out of my legs. Next weekend I am definately icing if I can.

Have a great night!!

SUSHI NIGHT!

Mr Incredible is back in town! I finally got to see him after I got off work at 7:30.. I went for a quick 3 miles and then met up at a local restaurant for some sushi! I haven't had such a a great dinner in a long time! I've been so busy at work this week, but I'm still trying to keep my thoughts on the marathon, eating right, and staying hydrated. I started to think this might be the reason I haven't been able to stick with work out plans as well I thought I could. Now, because there is a goal in sight - and such a high goal - I keep drinking water instead of a soda and eat granola when I would rather have dorritos. All in all these goals are keeping me healthy. Too many times, I get caught up in all the busyness of life and do whatever is convient at the time. Training for a martahon you really have to make a change in your life- to make good decisions no matter what the circumstance.  Fall is very busy for me, but I know I can keep on track. Keep me on track!

Mr Incredible got the top one....crazy for a baseball player to get that one...but very excited!

I got the bottom one. WHAT IS THE NEWS?

The water is gone...but left quite a mess. That used to be green.

WEEK 3 HAS BEGUN

It looks like there is a lot of treadmilling to come for this week! AHHH noo!! I envisioned training for this marathon to go much differently! I thought it would be more like waking up early to beautiful sunrises after running 5 or 6 miles. Hopefully, that can still happen. So far, however, the rain has sort of put a damper on things. The trail that I normally run 3- 6 miles has been lost - at least for the next couple of weeks.

This one was taken on my lunch break. After work, it looked like part of the river.

This is the entrance to the Chatahochhee River Park.

The river consumed this road too.

A view from the bridge that barely goes over the river.

The River?! No...just the parking lot. My TRAIL!!!! GONE!

Monday was my day off, but tommorrow I will either find somewhere to run or hit the dreadmills as Morgan likes to call it. This is the week's training schedule:

Tuesday: 3miles

Wednesday: 4miles

Thursday: 3 miles

Friday: off

Saturday: 5 miles

Sunday: Cross Training

I was hoping to join a running group who's monthly meeting was today, but because of the weather they cancelled it :-( Hopefully, I can still run with them next Saturday on my 9 miler. Which reminds me, as I get closer to running the longer distances I was wondering what gels I should start buying to get me through my runs. Any advice? (from my 3 followers) :-(  I did try something else new today!

I'm not a huge fan of yogurt, but I kept seeing it on Caitlin's blog and thought I should give it a try. As I stomached it down with some granola and a bannana, I started reading how good it was for you! Most yogurts - if they are any good have "active and live cultures" which are good bacteria that help the immune system. This "Stonyfield" yogurt has 6 live bacteria's ! And when I visited their website I learned that it can also help people who have a lactose intolerance (me). Good to know! Hopefully, it's an acquired taste, though, because it wasn't my favorite thing in the world - I think maybe because of the texture. Anyways, got to get to bed early. Running day tommorrow!!

Rain Rain Go Away... I Hate Running on Treadmills!

(I ran on the one sticking out)

Long run today!! I thought it was going well in the beginning, but after about 3 miles I hit a wall that was hard to recover from. I didn't eat and hydrate as well as I could have, but I did finish my 7-mile run in less than an hour. I had planned to wake up early this morning and run on the trail by the river, but the lightning storms pushed my run till almost 4:30 when I finnally gave in and ran on the treadmill. Whenever I run inside I have to watch sports - for inspiration. I watched the first half of the Bears - Steelers game. Da bears ended up winning - I don't really have preference for either, but kept thinking if they can play hard for 3 hours or so, then I can finish these boring 7 miles on the treadmill.

I had to run errands/ finish laundry after my room and did so without any energy! The back of my left leg is very tight. I need someone (uhhemm - Mr Incredible) to rub out that muscle. I have been stretching and will probably do some striders tommorrow to try and get out any extra lactic acid- which causes the stiffness.

I discovered a new sports drink today! I have been trying new "healthier" foods every week. (I try not to buy a lot of new foods at once - in case I don't like it and wasted all my grocery money on food that I don't like.) This Cliff drink was pretty good. I had a bannana with it. Mmmmm. They are a little pricey, but definately delicious!

Triple A Champions!

Mr Incredible has had quite a year this year! After a long season - that felt more like a roller coaster - the season has almost come to the end. Tuesday night his team will play for the Triple A Championship (on ESPN 2). They celebrated a sweep last night to win the Pacific Coast League Championship. Champagne bottles were popping as they shutout their opponent for another sweep. Right now they are postseason perfect! I can't wait till Mr Incredible gets back to ATL, but I am excited for his baseball victories! Go Redbirds!

Mine is the blue eyed hot-e in the middle/bottom of the picture. :-)

Also, Congrats to my alumnus! F-L-O-R-I-D-A S-T-A-T-E, Florida State, Florida State, Florida State, whooo!!!

"Girl Crush"

Did you see the finale of America's Got Talent? Well I didn't, but I happened to flip through when Shakira was performing. This is my favorite song right now - to run and dance to. I listened to it this morning on the way to work...

"When There are Clouds in the Sky, You'll Get By"

I don't think it's stopped raining in Atlanta for at least 3 days :-( It's been extremely hard to get up in the morning when it's still dark. It's especially difficult to muster up some enthusium about running when it's so soggy and gross out. I was able to get in a good run Monday and also yesterday- both on the treadmill. I decided to take a rest today. This week's schedule is almost the same as last week except the long run is 7 miles instead of 6. HOPEFULLY, it won't be rainy like this on Saturday. Poor Heidi-bear is also hating the weather. She never wants to go for a walk when it rains like this, so instead she pouts.

 Many blog posts in the works...but for now - happy running!

Nike Plus

I have been using my nike plus chip for about 3 years now. I've gone through about 7 of them - due to my dog taking the chip out of my shoe and chewing it up. For the most part I would say that the chip is pretty accurate. Recently, however,  I purchased a new one and it has been a pain in the ***  trying to calibrate it. I noticed it was way off - telling me I had run a mile when on the trail it had only been a little over a half. So... I calibrated it on the trail.

Tonight I was running on the treadmill at 8 mph and after I ran the first mile I noticed my chip was only at half a mile. It also said I was running 11 minute miles - which I know I wasn't. Sometimes I want to throw my whole ipod in the river but there are reasons that I don't:

1. If I'm running somewhere that isn't marked it gives me some clue as to how far I have run.
2. If I just want to run for a certain time - I can just use the time settings.
3. It's fun to do challenges against your family and friends.
4. I LOVE when Lance Armstrong tells me how good I've done after a work out.
and last but not least
5. It's a great way to journal all of your running and look back at your progress.

So if you use nike plus think twice before you toss it out. It does have its moments when it makes you happy. :-) Tommorrow I'll try to get to a high school track and properly calibrate it. I'll let you know how that works out..
On another note.... TRAINING HAS BEGUN! Today was the official start to our 18 week program. This is this week's schedule:

Wednesday: 3 miles
Thursday: 3 miles
Friday: 3 miles
Saturday: Cross Training
Sunday: 6 miles

My week is starting a day late - due to Labor Day weekend. Yah for running! :-)

"Nipple Patches?"

So I was reading this article that outlines usefil tips for marathoners. Most of the article was pretty normal - stop at all of the water stops, consider wearing a water belt, wear comfortable shoes (I should have stopped there.) Then I read this:

Your Bare-Bones Marathon Survival Kit You'll need more than just a good pair of marathon running shoes to run 26.2 miles. Unless you're a fairly fast and serious competitor, wear a small waist-pack style water carrier – one with a zippered pouch. Virtually all marathons provide multiple water stops – but they don't come often enough for the average runner. Before the race, fill your bottle with cool water or an electrolyte solution that you're already accustomed to drinking. In the pouch, carry the following: • A couple of packages of energy gel. Twenty-six miles is a long time to go without nourishment. • At least four 3/4” round adhesive bandages. These are to prevent “runner's nipple.” This painful complaint results from the fabric of your running top chafing the nipple raw. • An anti-friction product, such as “Runner's Lube” or “Body Glide” for thighs, armpits, etc. • Two or three adhesive bandages in both 3/4” and 1” widths for quick blister patches.

I have NEVER heard of a "runner's nipple," but, I guarantee I'll be thinking about it every time I run now. I will definitely test this theory whenever I get to some of the longer runs. If so, I also will definitely be looking for a very comfortable sports bra on race day. I'm not so sure about wearing band aids on them.

On another note - Tuesday is the big day! The official start to the 18 week training program. Happy Running!

"The Biggest Loser"

Have you caught an episode of the biggest loser lately? I rarely watch it, but, whenever I do, I am so amazed at what these people are able to do! Sometimes I watch thinking - could I even do that?!

I have always wanted to run a marathon. Two of my best friends had already signed up for the Disney Marathon in January, but I was resistant, thinking that it would at least take a year to train for a marathon right?! Wrong!

Since I have been a pretty active runner already - but usually nothing over 4-5 miles at a time- most training programs suggest a 16-18 week training schedule. I found Hal Higdon's marathon training guide on the web and will train as a novice.

There are so many things to learn and so many things to do before the big day. One thing I will keep in mind is that if the contestants on the biggest loser can run a marathon at the end of their big feat, well then so can I! 133 days till the big race! Just do it!