Been a long time since I posted, but felt the need.

This post is for purposes of a huge shout out and thank you to Joanna Chodorowska at www.nutritioninmotion.net. As some of you know (and many do not) I have been suffering with Charlie Horse cramping issues in my feet and legs which has progressively gotten worse. It became a concern to me recently after the problem kept me awake at night for a week straight in the days leading up to Escape the Cape Triathlon. After discussion with my doctor, it was determined that this was a problem with electrolytes and dehydration. She recommended that I stay hydrated and make sure I replenish my electrolytes even on days that I don't work out.

But how do I properly do that? Where do I turn? Yes, I eat bananas. I drink plenty of water and Gatorade (I thought). I take magnesium and calcium supplements. Even the occasional shot of pickle juice! But I must be doing something wrong. Thankfully, I turned to Joanna. After a long conversation with her, she was able to make suggestions, steer me in the right direction, and make suggestions of products which may better help me stay hydrated and replenish electrolytes. We also talked about different things I could add to my diet to help with potassium, magnesium, and calcium levels.

And I am feeling better, back on track. The cramping has diminished and each day, I feel better. And as a result, I think I'm getting stronger in my activities, running, riding, and swimming.

Again, Joanna Chodorowska, I am so glad I reached out to you for help.

My Love of the RunBucks Series and the Delaware Canal Towpath

First, let me preface this by saying I am just a girl who loves to run.   In August, 2012, about 3 years after I discovered my love of running, I made a big decision.  I was ready to move to the next level in running and run a full marathon.  I began searching the events and found what I felt was the perfect fit for me.  Turned out to be a decision I’ll never regret, the Bucks County Marathon by RunBucks. www.runbucks.com

This is where the marathon starts:

The Bucks County Marathon takes place along the towpath trail of historic Delaware Canal State Park from Washington Crossing Historic Park north through New Hope, Pennsylvania.

I wrote more about that first marathon experience here.  What an amazing journey that was.
http://journey2succeed.blogspot.com/2012/11/my-first-bucks-county-marathon.html

Since that first marathon, I have returned to run many of the RunBucks series and it has become my favorite. Now I'll tell you why.

History - The RunBucks events start at Washington's Crossing Historic Park located in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, a town full of history.  Formerly known as "Taylorsville", it is most famous for Washington's crossing of the Delaware River on the night of December 25-26, 1776 during the American Revolutionary War.

There is much to visit and learn about on return trips, so consider an extended stay in the area for a weekend visit.  From wonderful shopping villages to restaurants, there's lots to explore.

The scenery and wildlife is beautiful.

Whether enjoying the bright green lush colors of spring and summer, listening to the birds sing, watching the wildlife, running on the towpath along the canal in the spring and summer is so refreshing, especially after a tough winter full of cold, ice, and snow.

As summer turns to fall and the colors of foliage begin to change, the views along the towpath are still  spectacular and there is still some color that remains as the marathon approaches in November.  

I'm told that even in the winter, after a dusting to an inch or two of light snow, there is a wonderful calm and peaceful feeling to running along the towpath.  Unfortunately, with the heavier snowfalls we had this past winter, I was not able to experience that.

In addition to the beautiful scenery, the Bucks County Marathon Series, has so many other positives in my opinion:

Smaller group of runners - Avoiding the hectic rush and anxiety of race morning that you see with the bigger races is a huge plus for me.   Since the RunBucks events are limited to a field of 500 runners, the prerace anxieties are reduced and it is a much friendlier atmosphere.  Shorter potty lines, less transportation and parking chaos, and just an easy feel to race morning.  This leaves time to relax and stretch, meet up with friends, a chance to say hello to runners I've met at past RunBucks events, and to shake off any prerace butterflies.

A welcoming feeling from staff - the staff of RunBucks are very friendly and welcoming, always available to answer questions about the events, the trail, offer suggestions, and the volunteers are there along the towpath at water stops, directing us around a turn, or just to cheer us on.  I had the pleasure of volunteering for the first time this past year for Chasing the Unicorn race, a race organized to provide runners an opportunity to qualify for this year's Boston Marathon after the bombing.  I loved volunteering.   It gave me a new perspective to distance running, seeing it from the other side, and I plan to volunteer more this year.

Variety of races, distances and themes - There is such a variety of events throughout the year, 5ks, 10k,
10-miler, 15k, half-marathons, 20-miler, full-marathons.  There are also themed events such as Run the Lights (Christmas) at Shady Brook Farm, New Year's Eve Midnight Run, and Christmas in July.   I am looking forward to participating in a few of these this year as well.

In addition to all of the above, the runners of the series events receive beautifully designed finisher's medals and tech shirts.

My opinion is that the RunBucks series is not just for the elite runners.  These events are for runners of all levels. Everyone is made to feel welcome.  I love the out and back course.  I love that as I am making my way to the halfway point, the runners in the lead are on their way back.  It's an exciting part of the marathon for me to be able to cheer them on as they FLY past me, but the cool thing is the wonderful feeling I get when some of those runners are actually cheering us on as well!

It’s always a great group of runners.  I have met so many wonderful people along the towpath while running during the events and look forward to meeting many more.

So for me, although I do enjoy the excitement of the big events and will  continue to participate in them as well, my heart belongs to RunBucks, and that's where I will return this year to complete my second full marathon.

Maybe I'll see you out there on the towpath this year!

Rocking Towards the Next Goal!

Hello!  I'm still here.  Yes.  Yes.  I know.  I've been so quiet, but I'm here.  My last post was all about whether I should go ahead and cancel my gym membership or actually use it and go back to the gym.  I am happy to report that I am USING IT and LOVING IT!

I am still fighting to get these few pounds off to get me back to my goal weight. It was only 5 pounds, but just a battle to get there, but getting very close; one pound to go.  I've had some little health issues over the past 9 months, dealing with migraine headaches, what the doctors call daily chronic headaches, but I am feeling much better now, more and more myself every day.

Started training.  Training for what?  Well, first up, half-marathon.  In May, I'm running the Wild Half in Wildwood, New Jersey, and in addition, there are events in the Bucks Marathon series that I'll be running leading up to hopefully my second full marathon, the Bucks County Marathon in November.

This time around, I am handling things differently.  Not only running but I am trying to institute other cardio and cross training, swimming, biking, and elliptical.   I feel stronger already.  I am so far straight running now without walking intervals, which is a huge change for me.

So we move on from here.  Day by day, doing what feels good, eating as healthy as I can, each day, each situation, making smart choices, and just being happy with where I am.

I am not an elite runner.  I am not a fast runner.  I am not a young runner.  I am a woman who loves to run and who loves to feel good!

To Gym or Not to Gym

My blog postings are far apart these days, but not because I don't want to post.  Just so busy with work and planning for the approaching holiday, training for my half marathon last week, and getting through a lot of appointments.  Crazy!

I feel like I am finally starting to feel better.  After 5 months, the migraines are no longer every single day and the intensity isn't as much.  Fighting those migraines for 5 months together with the medications really took a lot of my strength and it was very difficult for me to continue with the training to the marathon.  So I made the decision to switch to half-marathon and so glad that I did.  On November 16th, I ran my third half-marathon, Delaware Canal Half Marathon, which takes place on the towpath along the beautiful Delaware Canal, starting in Washington's Crossing in Pennsylvania.

I had high hopes going into this race.  My training had been great for the past few weeks.  I felt I handled the carb loading properly over the course of 10 days rather than the night before.  I tapered leading up to the race.  I had my mind set that I was going to GO OUT SLOW.  I was ready.  But things don't always go as planned, and I did go out too fast, and I did struggle at the end, but I finished.  So I'm going to take pride in that.

I want to now take the next few months to build my strength back, get stronger physically and mentally, not just in running.  So my question comes back to what do I do?  My love is running, but I know that I should not run every day.  That's all I want to do though.

I have a membership to the YMCA that honestly, I have not used in a year.  I ask myself if I'm not going to use it, why not cancel it and save myself the money.  For our joint membership, it's about $600 a year.  When you're living on a budget, that's a big dump of money that could be used somewhere else.

But am I sacrificing my own well being?  Yes, it does take a little more time out of my day to get to the gym and work out versus just throwing on the running gear and getting out for a run, but the gym is perfect for cross-training and core.  I know that, yes, and I constantly battle with it.  Once I get into the routine of going to back to the gym, it's kind of addictive.  It's just that one giant step to get me going back, and it's really bad timing with the holidays approaching and work being so busy.

What do I want?  What do I really want to achieve over the next few months to help me do better in the next half-marathon, which is in May?  Well, I think that dropping another 5-6 pounds would definitely help, as would building core and upper body strength, neither of which I have.

But is there a way for me to attain these goals in another manner and still cancel the Y membership, save the $600 bucks a year?  I guess that's the answer I'm searching for.

So it's time to make a decision.

Football Sundays Now vs. Football Sundays Then

So I got to thinking today how much things have changed.  Who knew back then that it would change so drastically, but sadly, it has.

These days, my perfect football Sunday consists of hanging out in my kitchen, preferably after a good run on a cold crisp morning, dressed in fleece pants or jammies and a sweatshirt, cooking something yummy for dinner, prepping some meals for the week, and watching the games while I enjoy a glass or two of wine or a martini (or two) at happy hour and hanging out on the internet.

But my football Sundays of the past were a WHOLE DIFFERENT BALLGAME!

Beer, lots of beer, of course!  In fact, I so clearly remember my orientation when I joined Weight Watchers and realizing that I was going to have to give up all that beer on Sundays!  Horror of Horror!  No!!!!!  But I did.

Then there was the FOOTBALL FOOD.  Those memories came back to me today and I couldn't stop thinking about it.  I can't even imagine eating today the way I ate back then.  No way.  Hot wings.... I can eat one or two occasionally now, but bowls of them, as an appetizer, with all that blue cheese dressing!  And  how about the nachos that we used to make!  The homemade beef topping, the two or three kinds of cheese topping, refried beans, the sliced jalapenos, sour cream, black olives and salsa.  Actually, I would still enjoy that, but would be afraid I couldn't stop and how I would feel after.   Better to stay away

Chili with cheese over pasta!  That was another favorite for Sunday football.  Oh, THEN THERE WAS THE FRENCH ONION SOUP!  Oh, my god, I could go on forever.  How did I ever survive?

Well, at least I have the memories.  Some of those foods I can modify but will never be the same.  They will never be the same.  I remember my Weight Watcher leader telling me one time about "The Burger in Her Mind".  She never had another burger, because no burger would ever be as good as the one that she had dreamed of.  That's kind of the way I remember football Sunday.

So I'll stick to my new way, and leave the past behind.  I'll enjoy the occassional wing or two without the Pepcid or Tums.