Turkey Day!! (Race recap)

So if you have been reading along, you know that on Thanksgiving my sister and I ran a Road Race in the morning before turkey time!

I have to say it was the best race I have done to date. I think it helped having someone to run with that I knew, as well as not being one of the last to finish!!

Here are pictures from our day...starting the the starting line. This was a gathering of roughly 1300 people!!

I have yet to do a race that big! I still am having trouble trying to imagine the 16,000 some odd women (and some men) in the Princess 1/2 in February...(which is now 100% FULL!!!)




My sister and I (below) before the race as we make our way to the back area of the start group. They set up areas
for people to line up in in terms of how long know/think
it will take them to finish the race. I didnt even notice it
until we started running!



Dont know if you can tell...but we are waving!



The Road Race Map!

And here we are after out dramatic finish ( we leaped for joy over the finish line!)

And here are our official times!!

Place

Name

City

Bib No

Chip Time

Gun Time

Time Back

Total Pace

988	Courtney Stevens	MD	886			39:19.0	40:07.4	20:09.0	12:56/M
989	Stephanie Nartowt	MA	710			39:19.3	40:07.6	20:09.3	12:56/M

 I am not really sure what the "Gun Time" and "Time Back" means...but hey, it was awesome! I was wildly impressed by my sister who is not a runner...and was able to keep up with me! I told her to let me know anytime during the race if we need to slow down, walk or whatever because I know she wasnt used to it. But she kicked butt!! Having her there with me made it so much fun and made it go by so fast!!

After the finish, we enjoyed a mini cupcake or two and made our way home for a shower and to get ready for Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a wonderful day and great time with family and loved ones!

Did you run on Thanksgiving? Was it in a race or alone?

-Stephanie

Winners finish last!

That is right, I said it. Winners finish last....you're just for starting and for making it to the end. For pushing through and defeating yourself!

Sunday was the Gobble Gobble Road Race. There was a 5k and 10k option...I of course went for the 10k.

Here is my Race Swag of course!

The race began at 10am. I had a goal to beat my previous 10k....and I did. But first a little summary of the race.
Both 5k and 10k runners began at the same time. I tried my best to begin slow, it is hard to start out walking in the middle of a huge group but as always I start to fall behind in the group, but I was ok with that. 
What I was not ok with, was the feeling I had before I even hit mile 2. I was ready to quit. I was pretty tired, at least my legs were. I was almost ready to settle on stopping at the 5k. But I pushed on.

By the time we were approaching the Mile 3 marker, I wasnt alone, and I wasnt alone. Which was nice, but then I made it ahead of this runner...but she was only doing the 5k...so I had 3 more miles to go.
So as I am passing volunteers...who were absolutley AWESOME btw, they kept telling me how great I was doing, and I only had a little more to go. Little did they know (until I told them) that I still had a long way to go! haha!
Once I hit the 5k/10k group split, I was on my own. Volunteers were all set up around the rest of the road...which was great...and unlike the last 10k I was in, none of them were packing up to go as I was approaching them.

Now here is the kicker! The fun part! They had someone driving around in a van from the agency that put the race on, around the coarse road...obviously to make sure no one was hurt, and obviously making sure everyone had finished. Well since I was last, the van came along and was creeping behind me for the last 2.5 miles. I felt like the freakin PRESIDENT!!

So I finished! Made a PR!! Finished in 1hour and 18-19minutes. They still havent posted offical times. I forgot to hit stop on my phone app right away, so my time was a little off, and so was my distance (6.2miles). But I felt so awesome!! I beat my previous 10k time by roughly 6 minutes!!

 

Holy Cow!!

Princess 1/2 Marathon update!
The 1/2 marathon is now filled up to 99%!!!! On the 19th the www.runlikeaprincess.com revealed a discount for those who had not registered yet. So that is where the big boost in registrations came from. It was at only 95%  on the 19th by 9am and 97% yesterday morning!

 

Cant wait to run with all you wonderful Princesses!!

Biggest Loser update
10/22/2012 - 171 lbs
10/31/2012 - 167 lbs
11/5/2012 - 168.5 lbs
11/13/2012 - 165 lbs
11/19/2012 - 165lbs
 No loss this week...bummer. Hopefully I will still lose by next week, even with Thanksgiving just tomorrow.

But tomorrow has some excitment! My sister is coming in tonight from MD and will be running and 5k tomorrow!! So I will have updates and fun pictures for ya'll!!

"When you wish upon a star"
-Stephanie

Less than 100 days!

There is now less than 100 days until the Princess Half Marathon Weekend!
Whos pumped!!??? I know I am!!!

I have a 10k on Sunday, its a Gobble Gobble Road race and then a 5k on thursday. I am really excited for the 5k because my sister Courtney will be joining me on that one! Yay!!
Hopefully I will have some photographic updates on that one...

I was going to go to the gym today. I got there..but didnt work out. I was in the bathroom, changing, and as I pulled out what I thought were my workout shorts...was actually a tank top! And there was no way I was exercising in my jeans, and I wasnt about to go home then come back...its not exactly close...more out of the way. I think I need to change my gym!

Speaking of exercise, I have been losing weight still. Here is my update from my Biggest Loser competition at work:
10/22/2012 - 171 lbs
10/31/2012 - 167 lbs
11/5/2012 - 168.5 lbs
11/13/2012 - 165 lbs

So I am back down this week. I am hoping to be down again when we weigh in on Monday. I think it would be to ambitious to think I could be down to 161, down 10lbs...but ill take at least 2 or 3!

I am really trying to be disciplined when it comes to eating right. I had work three nights in a row which made it hard to get to the gym. So I am hoping to take advantage of the coming week.
Like I said, I have a 10k on sunday...I would like to go to the gym tomorrow just to get some form of exercise in.
I would like to go to the gym on Monday and then wednesday morning or after work. I only have work at school on Monday and Tuesday this coming week, and work at Yankee Candle on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. So there is plenty of room for some exercise...as well as Thanksgiving treats!!

Tomorrow is pretty exciting. Rich and I are going to look at a house! Its only about 10min from where we live right now, but its a house! Who knows what it is going to be like in person...pictures are one thing, but I will report back.

"Take it from an old spectator. Life’s not a spectator sport. If watchin’ is all you’re gonna do, then you’re gonna watch your life go by without ya."
-Stephanie 

Who Am I?

Ok, so a few weeks ago I went to iParty looking for some costume supplies and this past weekend to get some fabric for my costume for the Princess 1/2 Marathon.

Im sure if you have been reading my blog, you already know who my costume is and it isnt to hard to figure out from the picture! But here it is anyways!

So...any of you care to take a guess!???

Post a comment and let me know what you think!
Plus I just like to see who is actually reading this thing!

So who am i?
Who are you going to be at the Princess 1/2 Marathon?
If you arent going, but have done a race...did you wear a costume?

"What would i give to live where you are. What would I pay to stay here beside you. What would I do to see you smiling at me..."
-Stephanie

Brrr...it's cold out there...

...There's still some runners in the atmosphere!

Yea thats right...good ole New England, time to be cold!

Sunday was Daylight Savings Time, our "fall back" which was nice...but I didnt sleep any longer than usual. I was awake by 7:30, or at least my eyes were open. I ended up falling back asleep at 10 and slept until 11:30, in time to get ready for work.

Anywho..Monday came this morning, and went to work...as usual. It was a pretty good day.

Today was week 3 of our Biggest Loser competition at work. This was our 3 weigh in, including the initiail weigh in. Well there is really good news and some tiny bad news. When I weighed in last Wednesday (we lost 2 days due to Sandy) I had lost 4 pounds according to the scale!!! But even better, I was told that the scale was off by a 1lb, meaning I really lost 5!!!
Then today, I got to work with a fear that I gained it all back. I ate some Buger King this weekend, went out for dinner on Friday...and didnt exercise on the weekend. But I only gained 1.5 pounds back!!

So..
10/22/2012 - 171 lbs
10/31/2012 - 167 lbs
11/5/2012 - 168.5 lbs

I will keep it up to date as I can each week. I will not hide, I am not ashamed of my weight, because I know that I still look good even though I have a high weight!

So anyways, I came home and was determined to go for a run, and I did, just not as long as I was planning on. First of all...again, thanks to Daylight Savings, it gets darker earlier, so I didnt get out until almost 4, so I was only able to get a little over 3.5 miles, not bad.
I bundled up of course, with some gloves and some kind of ear/head band thing that kind of snaps around the back of your head. I also had long compression pants on and a Reebok insulated compression top. I feel like I might need some warmer pants though, as much as I was running, there were still times when they were pretty cold.
This may be TMI, but I would think that running in cold weather, certain areas of the body would not have become so warm and well, sweaty as it can be when someone exercises.

How do you bundle up in the cold for a run?
Any tips for running in the cold/winter?

"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing."
-Stephanie

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/walt_disney.html#ewKRaQc6E1mPmgO4.99

SOLD OUT!!!

Thats right the Princess 1/2 Marathon Race Retreat has sold out!!!

 

Only 2 days ago was it 98%!!!
The 1/2 Marathon is still only at 81%

I cant believe it!!

The course map was posted this past week...which from what I have seen isnt any different from the past years...and after some figuring...i finally was able to post a picture of it! Because it was a PDF I wasnt able to just save it and upload it, but then I figured out how to create a screenshot of it, save it as a JPEG and bada bing, bada boom!

 

 

What I really like is the mini park maps on the sides that show you where you enter and exit in Epcot and Magic Kingdom!! It gets me wicked psyched and cant wait for that awesome photo opp. in front of the castle!!

Today was a gym day. I ran on the treadmill for 30min and ran 2.33 miles! Still hit under a 13minute mile...which makes me happy. I am starting to feel opposite of how I used to about the treadmill. When I first began really getting into it, I liked the treadmill, which gave me more control, and I didnt worry about if I was going to fast and then becoming to tired. But now on the road, I feel like I have been able to gain some kind of control, and know how fast I can go and keeping the pace steady. So now I feel like I haven been running faster and getting my average pace down, which is great! But now I need to find that happy medium on the treadmill so that I keep my pace down and it doesnt go back up.

Well Im off from runnning until Sunday.

"If there ever comes a day we can't be together, just keep me in your heart and I'll stay there forever"
-Stephanie