Snow Day 2014

I have come to the conclusion that I am not sure that I could be a runner if I lived somewhere that snow and ice was a frequent thing.  It is not running in frigid temps that would bother me, it would be the constant fear of hitting black ice and breaking something.  With that being said, I had a not so romantic date with the treadmill Tuesday.  This was my first "task oriented" run that I have done since the marathon.  Other than it being on the treadmill, it went pretty good.  It was a tempo run varying between marathon pace, half marathon pace, and threshold pace.
Now for the snow and ice.  So, I am sure you are all aware of our "massive" winter storm in the south.  I was so excited for our one snow day of the year or every other year, and the boys were pumped as well.  We stared out the window all afternoon Tuesday waiting on it to happen.  We waited and waited.  The boys finally passed out a little after 9.  Around this time we started to see some freezing rain and sleet and then around 11 p.m. a little snow started to mix in.  We were keeping our fingers crossed for a few inches so the boys could build a snowman and get a little sledding in.  All we got was a little dusting (maybe an inch accumulation) but, that didn't stop us from being rednecks in the snow.  By rednecks in the snow, I mean we improvise on our sleds.  Ours happened to be a top from a 60 quart cooler.  I had to laugh at how time, age, and parenthood changes your use of items.  10 years ago we would have worried about keeping that lid on the cooler to keep our "drinks" cold now, we say to heck with that cooler that top looks like a sled for the boys!  I wouldn't trade today's outlook on things for anything in the world.
Here are a few pictures from our snow day.......

The Big Hill In Town

(my sister in-law somehow got her hands on a real sled)

 Love their expressions.  

 Proof not a lot of snow is needed for sledding

 Mommy gets a turn on the "sled" too

How did others enjoy your snow day?

What have you turned into a sled?

T Minus 12 Days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ready or not, here I come.  I am 12 days out from my first marathon.  I have in some sort of way been preparing my mind and/or body for this for over a year.  Charleston Marathon I am on my way!
I am not going to lie and say that I am as ready as I will ever be, because I am not.  I could have trained more but, I am a wife and mother first.  Life happens and logging all of the runs that my plan called for just didn't happen.  I do not think I will finish in near the time that I initially set out to do but, I am confident that I WILL FINISH and I WILL HAVE FUN.  At this point I will say that I believe this will not be my first and last marathon.  I have enjoyed my training for the most part.  The training I did was a plan that I downloaded from Marathon Nation .  I felt like the plan was totally doable and didn't take me away from my family for hours on end.  I will say that I have had to tweak the plan the last month or so due to life =) .
In the last month, I have teamed up with a long time friend for runs.  She is doing the half marathon of this race.  She has really done a great job!  I am not sure if we have enjoyed our running together in itself, or 2 + hours of adult conversation the most.  Now, we are looking forward to a little retail therapy along with our marathon weekend.

Any advice for my final 12 days?

Anyone else running the Charleston Marathon?

I Need Words of Wisdom

20.01 flipping miles I ran today. This is the longest mileage I am to run withmy marathon training plan. During my last mile, I was pretty sure that I was going to die. My calf muscles were tight, quads hurt, and cramps in my hip flexors. I am looking for suggestions in what do do in the next 4 weeks to make sure I cross the finish line in my inaugural 26.2.  

I Stay So Hungry....

I can't believe I am up this late on a week night. I better get use to it though. I have accepted a new position where I will be working some nights. I have worked nights in the past so, I know I will manage. I  really excited about my job opportunity but, a little nervous about starting somewhere new and learning the ins and outs of the position.  It will be fine and I will manage.

On a running note, I had to get my run in on the #dreadmill. I just wasn't in the mood to do anything except get my boys and come home when I got off work. Supper ended up taking way longer to prepare than I expected and next thing I knew it was 8:00 and the boys still needed to have a bath.  Got that done and pulled out the treadmill and got my tempo running on. I did 2 sets of 6 minutes at marathon pace 6 minutes at half pace and 2 minutes long run pace. At least I got to watch some duck dynasty. 

My burning question for this post is about #runner nutrition. Do you follow some sort of written plan?  Have a nutritionist? Don't care cause you can eat what you want and not gain weight?  I have been so hungry lately and I almost consider myself bing eating. I cant even but Nutella anymore for my kids because I end up eating it befor they get any. So, what do you suggest to get my appetite under control?