Chilly?!

The road from my eyes this morning...




















Love these country shots! Oh, and I need to apologize to the various motorists that passed me while running this morning. I got over as far as I could without rolling an ankle, and I appreciate you scooting over so as not to hit me! I'm sorry that the road is narrow and there isn't a shoulder. Ah, I feel better now, having said that:) This morning I felt very rested because I took a hearty nap yesterday afternoon and slept really well during the nighttime. The alarm sounded, and I wanted to wait until the sky was lightening before heading out on the road because I don't want anyone to get me!! So the cars were a welcome observance of my run this morning!
The miles felt pretty good! I did 4 pretty quick and then it was time for work because I have 3 lovely students that are coming out to my classroom to help me move some stuff and organize the chaos! I stopped on my way to work and took pics of my route and then I looked down at my watch and realized: I'm LATE! Geeeeesh!! Happy thursday!! :)

Li'l help!

Good morning all,

I woke up thinking: I could use a little help here! Training is difficult and fatigue is setting in! I would love a li'l help along this journey! So, if you feel so inclined, leave me a shout out, please:)

I ran 6 miles this morning, right before it started DOWN POURING! It is crazy raining today and it just makes me feel very sleepy! :)

Gotta get to work now!

Talk to you all later:)

Jack got sprayed by a SKUNK!!!

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwww!
Holy majoly that little pup sure stinks now! Jack has this curious and playful spirit that isn't quite sure of boundaries yet! He likes to chase and play with things/people/his tail/inanimate objects--and this skunk wasn't having of of that! JG let's him run free as an expression of his true self along Linear and well, he gets into stuff! Anytime Jenny knocks on my door and says, "we've got a problem!" It's no small thing!! Needless to say, JG took him to the Vet to get cleaned x 3,000 times so he doesn't stank up our house! Until then, he was banished to the outdoor patio:

So I told ya'll about this Bliss Fest for the Vegans and Raw-foodist--it was interesting to say the least! Lots of hippies, lots of seeds and lots of alternative-everything! There were some cool jewelry stands, yummy italian ice--not sure if that was made from some alternative sugar/coloring source, but it was good and a food tent that was selling samples of raw pizza, smoothies, and chili. I'll let the pics do the talking:


This part felt like a rally of some sorts...I lots of passionate (preaching?) of the advantages of being a raw foodie...oh and how we can change the world!

LOVE Whole Foods! Cute pic of the Mama!
Yoga in the lawn anyone?


The wooden spoons felt very Renaissance Festival to me...I'm not sure why?!




Some crazy voo-doo vibration healing thing! I watched and gawked like a casual tourist while snapping a few pics!


Really liked how charming downtown Parkville was...very quant:)

Back from KC--had a fast run this morning as I am back to work (kinda) cleaning/organizing/planning stuff in my classroom! I did 3 miles in exactly 26:00 and then a cooldown. Pretty excited to watch the Season FINALE of the Bachelorette tonight!! The drama and suspense is killing me!! :)

happy Monday all!

Shower discovery

I know what you're thinking--get your mind outta the gutter! I've realized that after THE LONG RUNS that getting in the shower is where the feet hit the pavement. I mean you have this run you have mixed feelings about it and then when you get in the shower and the hot water is slowly relaxing your muscles, that's when you know: did I or did I not chafe during this activity??
The answer for me: YES YOU DID! dangit, those cries of agony from the shower post long run are just deafening! I mean I look at this little red line or area and I think you should be gushing blood for how bad you hurt right now! And then the rest of the day, I'm limping around not because my logs are killing me, but because of a little chafe action from my soaking wet shorts!

So, yes, I did do the long run today in KC with my lovely friend Beth! We started out at Tomahawk Creek trail headed all over Lea-HOOD (haha, ya right, ain't no hood 'bout it--except for me apparently) and we snaked our way all over the place! Cool scenery, paved trail, passed LOTS of other athletes on bikes and running and had ample water supply. Beth did NOT wipe out on the bike, and she was a great companion the whole way. We did get a little trail-confused around miles 5-7ish but managed to squeeze in an extra loop and it was all good. In my head I divided the 12 miles into 4 parts and kept thinking about 3 mile increments. That helped me think about it in sections as opposed to a never-ending run. We were chatty and I was able to talk because I was going slower than usual for me. I really wanted to have negative splits and did manage that most of the last 6 miles. I wanted to get DONE so I told B I was picking it up at the 8.5 mark and that helped my legs actually feel better-believe it or not. Making my stride longer helps my knees so I need to pay a little more attention to that. I will be honest, the last mile and half were REALLY difficult! I wanted so badly to be done so I tried to go faster, but that wasn't happening very easily so it was tough. B, again was a rockstar, and provided some distraction questions and I think all I wanted to do was be done so my "what would your dream house look like?" was a pretty shabby response! We walked for .63 afterwards and I definitely feel stiff and tired. I really wanted to finish under 2 hours and did!! 1:57!! (that's HOURS)

Here's some pre/post pics of the journey!
The trail ahead, it was open at parts and other times it felt like running through an enchanted forest where all your dreams could come true..
At the park, ready to disembark, nope, it's not dark....I'm done.
And whodda thunk little Avalon could haul a bike? I did, but I didn't expect for the weird thumping sensation that I hear and feel now that I'm in KC... :(
Look at that loyal friend! She's ready to ROCK that bike with her cycling shoes and safety-first helmet! :)

Post-run wetness.


Gu pack trash. No, I will not litter along the trail! A word about the GU--NOT a fan! I mean, I spit a lot when I'm running and the stuff I spit out, it was like what was in those GU packs. It was like trying to swallow snot-rockets! I know that's sick, but honestly, I was like phantom chewing and trying to swallow GU! Not my favorite thing--like chews much better, I know it's weird.

Well friends, that's quite a recap:) I'm off to a Vegan/Raw food festival today with the 'rents; it's bound to be entertaining! I'll take pics for posting later!

Have a great weekend!!

One of my favorite places in Manhattan

Hello friends,

Today I am going to briefly introduce you to one of my favorite places in Manhattan. I love coming to this place for the view, tranquility and fun times all rolled into one location. Because this is not my house I never quite know what the experience will be like, but I always leave glad I came out. This is Katie and Gar's house. Gar built it when he was a bachelor (hence, the fish tank/aquarium in the wall) and it has the best view of the lake I've ever seen! Simply gorgeous panoramic spread of creation! The other night I was sitting on this rock on the edge and the sun had gone down but the sky still shown brilliant pinks and oranges reflecting off the water. It was so peaceful and it does something really special to my soul. Kinda like balm, slowly rubbed in, soothing.


Cool fire pit that doubles as a trash receptacle. :)


Yesterday Katie and I hung out with Miss Lainey Kat and she was super giggly and entertaining! We laid out by the kiddie pool that we tried to keep Lainey in and entertained by.

Okay, I have to mention last night's "So you think you can dance"--personally a little too much hype for me. I mean it was cool to see Katie Holmes singing/dancing, but I really wish her singing would have been live not "previously recorded" that was a bit of a let down! Sad to see Janette go :(

Tomorrow is a 12 miler. This will yet another first for me and I definitely have some pre-run jitters! I'm going to KC later today and have a pretty good, familiar route that I am hoping will be good! Wish me luck!! :)

Happy Friday!

Girls Night Out!

What a hot group of teachers! Summer is so good for us:)

Oh yes it's ladies night! We had a great time enjoying some yummy eats at Coco Bolo's in honor of Janie's upcoming Wedding! $5 Sangria carafe was also a terrific bonus! (I think our table enjoyed about 4 of these...)

Below is Megan's plate, but mine looked really similar, and ofcourse I don't take a picture until AFTER the food is gone! Deep breath: they put CHICKEN in my wrap!! I asked for the chick/shrimp wrap sans chicken, but she thought I said no cheese..so the little shards of cluck cluck went down the hatch. My tum felt funny later and it was super crowded otherwise I would have had her get me another one...I still enjoyed it because I was super hungry!

Lainey Kat, Mama Katie and Anna, aren't they cute! :)

Megan, Janie and Megan--super fun bunch with GRRRREAT stories :) Happy Wedding Janie!

Anna was being really good at entertaining Lainey Kat, and Lainey was very interactive and fun!
On to the latest run...
So this morning I slept in a bit, and was chugging a lot of water last night and today...had a great time out with the girls, but wasn't too sure how it was going to make me feel this morning. I ran 3 at a pretty quick tempo and then did 4.25 in cool down mixed with some speed work. After that I decided that it was too gorgeous out to be inside just yet so I hopped on my bike and did 9 miles on some country roads just taking it all in:) THEN, yes THEN....the garden went under some more grooming! This time the mailbox area and more in front of J's room at the house! I think I get confused sometimes between gigantic weeds and possible pretty plant and don't want to hurt the pretty's. So..let's just hope I did the grooming correctly! I'm headed out the door to hang out with Katie and layout at her beautiful house!:)

Happy Thursday!
PS-So You Think You Can Dance-100th episode tonight! Can't wait!!

It's getting tough

Hello all,

As the week is beginning I'm definitely starting to feel the weight of 10 weeks of training. I've been thinking and the phrase that keeps repeating in my mind is: okay, this isn't easy anymore. It's such a surprise to realize that marathon training
isn't just a physical trail, but it's also mental and emotional. It's getting hard to stay mentally-fit
and determined to complete the training AND marathon. It's getting hard to stay motivated when my alarm goes off in the morning and I'm tired. It's getting hard to lace up my shoes and hit the trail.

Nope, you're not seeing things, those are my 2 different colored pairs of the same shoe! You see, pounding the pavement (gravel/trail) day after day takes a toll on everything, including my pair of Mizuno's. So yep, 2 pairs, identical, except for the color. The fit the same and will share the load of my training by being rotated everyday so as not to wear out too quickly! I was attempting a little artistic flare on my blog with pics today!

So, while it's getting hard, I feel like talking about it has helped me process it a bit. I've been encouraged to take the risk and continuing to train. I wasn't going to quit, but as I think about it I realize that this task is scary and BIG and it would be much easier to just settle on this, "yep, I can run 10 miles." But, no, I'm going to pursue the greatest challenge this mortal has yet to attempt: 26.2 miles!! This morning I ran 6 + .75 cooldown. So take THAT big scary marathon!!

On to my FREE lunch! (and who said there's no such thing?!)



Blogger in action!









One of my favorite local Chefs, J.G. at Bluestem Bistro whipped up this Mediterranean special of spinach, red onion, long grain rice, red bell peppper, cuc, feta all tossed together in a lovely bowl! JG is sooo good to me;) Now she's peering over my shoulder saying, "I would have made it pretty if I'd known you were going to post it!" I think it looks great!

A little bird told me they might be serving up some Guiness Gelato here later on and let's just say...that bird hasn't let me down yet!

Wish me luck, I'm getting my knees a little shock action from a local Chiro--hope to relieve the stiffness in my joints. If this doesn't work, then somebody better find me an oil can or me and the Tin Man might be living together in Oz real soon...:)

Have a great afternoon!

Cha-cha-changes, time to make a change

Welp, it's the last official week of summer vaca for this bum of a teacher! I have thoroughly enjoyed my time and become quite the accomplished napper, home-care-taker, outdoor enthusiast, and movie-watcher! I know you're jealous, and let's face it, the gift of time is priceless--just like those mastercard commercials!
Let's see today and I have been quite the Becky-homecky, cleaning the house, mopping the floors, polishing the kitchen from top to bottom, and making my room more personalized and playing with Jack Stack. (the dog-not the BBQ joint) This morning I decided a little extra sleep would do my body good, and then I woke up and headed out for a quick 3 miles in 26:00 flat! Then Jack and out went out on my bike before returning home. I wish I had a big 'ol basket for him to ride in, but instead he trots along side me and tries not to get run over..he's GOT to pay attention!

On to the changes: I've decided the best way for me to up my mileage at this point in the training is to 2 days of a lower mileage from 3-4 miles depending on the day and then Tuesday's do a longer run which will be half of the distance I will be running on Saturday. So this week it's 6 tomorrow and 12 on Saturday. This change is primarily based on a one Hal Higdon and also various other training programs I've looked up online.

Stay tuned for more updates from Becky-homecky!! I'm off to the grocery store, can hardly wait!! :)

and I wonder.....who's loving you?

Sang by Michael Jackson...ahh, something catchy about that one!

I don't really have a post that hinges on that line, it's just been going through my head this morning. I slept in today! Sunday is a perfect day to do that! Yesterday was the long run day. It's a cut back week, so I ran 7 miles on a gravel, hilly, cut-ney road! The scenery was beautiful, and believe this or not, but my skin was COLD! It was 7 AM and there wasn't any humidity, the sun peaking up and the air was crisp! I had to keep reminding myself that it was July! B-diddy rode my bike alongside me while I ran. It was a good combo and we were able to talk during the run. It was a first for me to be able to voice that my legs felt stiff and tired at the beginning and just weren't moving very quickly the first half of the run. I had times where striding out felt good down a hill, but for the most part, I felt kinda sluggish the first half. Then, turned around at 3.5 and my pace quickend and I was feeling really good the whole way. The last mile I was really able to pick it up and run 1 minute faster (8:50) than the previous miles. I liked finishing strong! Beth finished strong as well...and has the gravel-scars to prove it :) (B-I HAD to mention it...now, the telling of the story, that's entirely up to you! see: www.smollerfamily.blogspot.com) haha!

Anyway, since it was so nice out yesterday I decided it was a perfect day to hop on the bike and do a nice leisurely ride around Manhattan! I got on Linear Trail and rode the entire length over to the west side of town! It was 9 miles one way-and then 9 miles back! Quite the ride, and my bum and logs were pooped when I was done!

Happy Sunday all, I hope it's refreshing! :)

These logs and nice looking running man!

Good morning all!

I am thinking about my logs (spoken in a scottish/british tongue) and how these are the only logs I'm going to get. I took the picture sitting down looking at my legs after this morning's work out. Since these are the only ones I'm going to get I want to treat them well and listen to them when they're hurting or sore, or stiff and thank them for being able to do what I want them to do!

I'm not sure if I turned my alarm off in my slumber or if I forgot to turn it on last night, but I woke up at 6:44 and was like: oh man...that's an hour later than I wanted to wake up. And then I thought to myself: do I have to be anywhere? nope. Got a major schedule today? hmm, nope. And I felt ok about my oversleep after that. I knew I was doing 5 miles today and I was trying to get my mind right--ya know? like pumped up for the run! As I started out with my handy-dandy fuel belt (yes, my roommates DO make fun of me) ipod, and Garmin all set to rock my logs felt like dead weight! I was like: oh great here we go...dead weight is NOT fun and I had just started.
Luckily I stayed with it and hopped on the trail outside of the park. I was startled a bit when a really nice looking running man passed me. I looked it his stride and somehow, subconciously my stride started to pick up. He ran a bit and then his 2 other very nice looking running-man friends passed me too. Again with the picking up of the stride. Then the stop and stretch it out or do whatever...watching me as I approach. So I pass them, turn around and pass them again. So that's 3 passes in literally 5 minute time-span. Well, everytime I passed the first nice looking running man there was some serious eye contact and smiles to be had. Needless to say, I sucked in my gut, didn't pull on my shorts straightened out my torso and ran like the inner-Olympian I know myself to be. Actually, I just hoped I didn't look like I was struggling too much;)
As my run continued with various other loops and concluding back at the park, whom do I notice but very nice looking running man again?! I would be lying if I said I wasn't scanning my terrain for another connection throughout the run:) We pass eachother AGAIN, this time without much connection because of the angle and before I knew it I was cooling down. So friends that's 5 miles at a 9:15 pace wrapped up quite nicely.

But the story of the nice looking man isn't over yet!! It ends like this: I get home chug some gatorade and hop on my bike and flush my logs out a bit and I decide I'll just head back up to the trail. I try to tell myself it's because I want to ride on gravel, but as I got closer it was more like I wanted to see how the nice lookers were doing:) We pass eachother AGAIN, this time I can see him coming and as he gets closer I say: "that's a lot of running." He says, "what?!" [PERFECT! a one chance encounter and I say something dumb and he couldn't understand me!! awesome.] I repeat my comment, " that's a lot of running..he ....he.. smile." he says," yeah, that's a lot of exercise.smile." I say, "it's good." and we're done. Could that have been more anti-climatic? Sorry if I jacked up your blood pressure for nothin! Ohhhhhhh man, gotta love awkward encounters where you're walking away thinking: shoulda said this, wish I could have had a few beats longer to redeem my last comment..etc
That concludes today's adventures on Shelby's road, tune in next time where I will make up jokes while I run so I'm always prepared to win over strangers! :)

Weeds

I have a lot of them. Literally, the front, side and basic perimeter of our house is being swarmed by weeds. Now, as a renter I realize that since I'm not the homeowner it's not necessarily my responsibility to pull them. BUT, as I live here, I have this continued feeling of slowly, but surely being OVERRUN by the weeds, big ones, small ones, really nasty bug-infested ones, all kinds! So I'm working on this slowly. I've tried to make a grand spiritual analogy out of this, but all I keep coming back to is the crap in our souls--it's gotta come out, and thankfully God has really strong, sturdy gardening-gloved hands.

On to the runs...outside, not in the toilet. Although, one of my favorite roommates likes to think that I always have some sort of digestive something because in her mind I go through a roll of toilet paper a day. I do NOT go through a roll-a-day friends, and if you hear otherwise, deny the rumors!! :)
I ran yesterday feeling pretty tight and sore still from the 10-miler, so I went slower and did 4.5 miles. Then, I hopped on my new tricked out bike, complements a one N. Parker, and rode for another 30 minutes or so. I love going fast on my bike and covering lots of terrain. Seeing as I don't ride very often I needed to get my "bike-legs" back under me so I don't just fall off at an intersection. It could happen. I also got an email from World Vision charity with some inspiration as I continue training. The subject line read: don't feel like running today? So I thought it was going to be some grace-filled message like: it's okay, take a day off, do some cross-training, enjoy the day blah blah. Nope. The first line read: Too bad. Do it anyway! So I stuck out my lower lip, cinched my eye-brows and read it like the sour-puss I like to be sometimes! This morning when my alarm went off at 5:41AM, I thought, I am UNABLE to get out of bed. Heck, I am unable to really open my eyes. So I laid there and pondered what my next move would be. After much debate, an 1 hr. of more sleep, I decided to bike to the gym, do my speed-interval workout on the treadmill for 3 miles, then so some weights/core work and bike home. I thought it was a good decision and now here I sit.

I really enjoy our kitchen and I'm sipping coffee looking at, yep you guessed, the weeds. I'm going to pull more today and think about this:
God's love is meteoric,
his loyalty astronomic,
His purpose titanic,
his verdicts oceanic.
Yet in his largeness nothing gets lost;
Not a man, not a mouse;
slips through the cracks.
Psalm 36:5-6 (the message)

I guess that means, that all those weeds, big ones, small ones, He's seeing ALL that go in the trash! And He sees me.

Love to you friends!
S.M. :)

P.S. Rach-thanks for yummy coffee this morning!

My first double-digit run!

I still can't wrap my brain around how far I actually ran on Saturday morning. I know there are lots of people that run far, and further than I ran yesterday, but for me, the novice distance-runner, it was a huge milestone! I feel like a new frontier has been crossed and embarked upon--there's no turning back now!

Let's get to it--started the morning by looking out my kitchen window to see dense fog/haze/humidity. NOT my favorite morning conditions by far! I decided to putz around a bit meaning, eating a powerbar, some watermelon, drinking water, trying to wake up by brushing my teeth, and finally heading out the door. My run took place from Beth's neighborhood along the "Nike commercial" road in between St. George and Wamego. This road is less frequently traveled by cars, and that friends, made all the difference for me! It was quiet, peaceful, and nice and steady. I tried to remind myself not to get discouraged by a slower pace that what is considered "normal/average" for me and just keep putting one foot infront of the other. The humidity was a wet blanket I couldnt' shake the entire time I was running. New obstacles were discovered during the trek. For example: wringing my shorts out and getting RID OF SWEAT, hearing my shoes get squishy as they too got soaking wet, using a "fuel belt" with water bottles, and pocket for some handy-dandy electrolytes! All new things!

It was exciting to experiment with new things. It was exciting to be along on this road, crossing such sweet terrain on foot. It was exciting to look at my Garmin and know that I have done 10 miles at one time! I know this is one small step for marathon training, but one giant leap in Shelby's-runner heart!

Thanks for reading this and being interested. P.S. Major shout to a one Nathan P-diddy out there who tricked out my ghetto-sad-neglected-garage-sale bike and made it brand new. It no longer was the outcast, now my new BFF! :) can't wait to play with you and take you on all kinds of adventures:)

Back to the daily mileage log tomorrow morning: 5 miles, bright and early!

Good night!

The beauty of 5AM..ish

So, I used to think that waking up in the 5-o'clock hour was the closest thing to torture I have ever experienced. I think it was the screaming alarm or the fact that it was dark/cold/hot/humid/DARK...etc! But, today, believe it or not, I enjoyed getting up so early and was kinda excited for a killer spin class. Spinning, aka: indoor cycling, was quite the burn today! Spinning is one of those unique activities that is not only a killer cardio/muscular workout for the lower body, but it's also one of those gut-check activites. It's like when you're peddling and cranking up the resistance and you think you're going as hard or as fast as you possibly can, somehow, by the grace of God, you manage to scrunch up your face let out a audible (slight) snarl, grit your teeth and push HARDER! I don't know why or how really, but the "max" tends to be a line that keeps creeping farther and farther away from me as I gut it out...in a good way:)

I spinned it out this morning at 5:45--did some lovely AB ATTACK, courtesy of Jami that instructor with washboard abs, and some arm reps. Gotta keep them arms strong to keep up with the legs!

Tomorrow morning bright and early I am running my first double-digit run! Eek! kinda nervous, kinda excited, hope its a good one! Tune in tomorrow for a recap:)
Have a grrrreat Friday!

Today's run

New Royals stadium view--birthday celebration!
Amy and I--self-posed shot, always classic
Mom and Dad lookin' fancy for a night out
Chicago river shot, and Jenny's head checking it out
Yummy eats devoured at the Moroccan restaurant.
Taste of Chicago, fresh options: GIGANTIC watermelon chunk
Me and Jenny looking excited...as always:)
Yes, that is a tower of ice cream...yep, seperated by brownie/cookie layers.

Seared tuna and fresh greens...mmm!
Inside one of the coolest restaurants I've ever been to. Carnivale was host to Oprah's cast party for the Color Purple and the wrap party for The Dark Knight!

Well, this morning's alarm was unstoppable. It just kept going off, every 9 minutes. I didn't even hear it the first 18 minutes, and then all of a sudden it's 5:50 and I'm still staring at the clock! Whew, got out of bed, peeled an orange, brushed the teeth, laced up the kicks, slapped on the visor and me and the Garmin hit the road. The clouds were billowing up really high and all kinds of cool contrasting colors, I really love seeing the sun come up! The park was beautiful, the grass was wet, the trail was nice and off I was for 5 miles. A really sweaty shirt/short combo later and 5 miles were done, plus a .7 cool down. It felt good and wasn't too bad. Don't love the blister on my foot, but I cannot blame the brand spankin' new kicks! They are too new and too expensive! Anyway today's run recap is over.

here's a few pics of the past few happenings:) (see above)