My name is Cassandra and I am not the next American Idol.

Yep, you read that right. I understand this is NOT a running related post, but singing is one of my other passions, so I thought I would share it here. :)

I actually decided to try out for American Idol last Friday (7/29). I only told a hand full of people (3!) I was trying out because I didn't want to be embarrassed and have people asking me to sing for them. The people I told all heard from me, "I know I'm not good enough to get through, but I'm not bad enough either." The only way I would be able to get in was to have a good personality. Now that it's in the past, I can totally talk about it. ;) So here is my Idol experience...

Registration opened on Wed. 7/27 at 7 am. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not a morning person and would sleep until noon every day if I allowed myself to... I decided to go down there around 10 am to get my wristband and ticket. I went so early to ensure I would get a good spot and not have to sit around all day on Friday waiting for my turn. When I got there at 10:15, there was absolutely no line and I walked right up to the table and got the things I needed for audition day. Then I headed home.

Above is my wristband to get into the stadium. Below is my seat ticket.

I couldn't believe I was actually going to do this. Anyone who knows me has never heard me sing besides in a group (although I did do a duet ONCE in middle school). The reason for this is that I am absolutely terrified of letting people hear me. I think I'm a good singer and by keeping my voice to myself, nobody can tell me anything different. I am so afraid of people judging me and I don't think I would take the criticism well... MY OWN mother hasn't even heard me. That's how shy I am. However, put me in a group in front of 8,000 people at the Key Arena and I am totally fine!

So I'm guessing by now you are wondering why in the world I decided to try out. There were two reasons:

1. To check it off my bucket list and say I did it. I wanted the American Idol experience.
2. To face and overcome my fear of singing by myself.

Fast forward to Friday morning. I didn't get much sleep the night before because I was nervous. I got up at 5:45 am and got ready. I left the house at 7:10 am and arrived at Invesco Field by 7:45 am. I was SO thankful there was no traffic! I was worried about hitting that 8 am traffic but it was non-existent so that was a plus! I got in line and just waited. A few minutes after 8, they started letting people in. To be honest, there was less (WAAAY LESS) people there than what I was expecting. I saw an old co-worker who now works at the stadium and chatted for a few minutes before I went to my seat. She told me there were only 5,000 people there, and about half were "support" people. They were expecting 15,000 people to show up.

Above is a blurry photojournalistic shot I took while walking to my seat. ;)

When I got to my seat, we filmed the crowd scenes where we wave, clap, shout random things ("I'm the next American Idol" and "American Idol is the original"), and sang the group song which was River Deep, Mountain High by Tina Turner. Filming was done by about 8:30, then we just had to sit and wait until it was our turn. So I started chatting with the people sitting around me to pass the time. Did I mention I HAD NO IDEA WHAT SONG I WAS GOING TO SING?!? The one most important decision I had to make and I didn't have a clue!

The stadium was pretty empty. It was crazy!

It was hot (like mid 80's by 8:30) and everyone was sweaty and miserable. So people started heading into the concourse to get out of the sun and get some snacks. I finally went in there around 10 am and to my surprise, a group had formed a large circle and people were taking turns singing for each other! I thought it was pretty cool. :) At one point, I actually FORGOT I was at an audition and was just having fun watching people sing! It also could have been the fact that my brain cells were dying from the heat and I mentally checked out. ;)

Here's that large circle I just told you about.

By 11:30 am, it was time for my section to go line up to march into battle. By then, I had decided to stay true to myself and sing a Sweet Adelines song that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE called "If You Loved Me." (Plus I felt like the words sort of fit) We retired this song after International Competition last year and I was so sad to see it leave our repertoire. So we lined up in rows of 4 and waited on the field to be told which table to go to. We were sent to table 11. I was still not nervous, which is pretty good for me! I kept telling myself, "Just think of this as a Sweet Adelines performance where everyone else forgot to show up." ;)

This is what the audition tables looked like from my seat.

We went to table 11 and there was one man sitting there (one of the producers). I ended up in the position to go FIRST in my group. *GULP* I started getting shaky at that point. I stepped up and handed him "My Story" which was a bunch of questions about me then he told me to go ahead. OH BOY, I started to freeze up. I almost started singing 3 times in a 10 second time period before finally just going for it.

I hadn't practiced AT ALL the entire day and I've never sang that song outside of my head voice, but I belted it out with my chest as good as I could. I stayed in pitch and had every single word right. I've NEVER heard myself sing the way I did at that audition table. It wasn't bad, it was weird. If I had to compare it to anything, I'd say I channeled my inner Orphan Annie. (HAHA) I actually had an out-of-body experience at one point during my song which was REALLY weird. I sang for about 35 seconds and got through 2 verses before I stopped myself at an appropriate place. The producer looked into my eyes THE ENTIRE TIME and while I was singing, the other 8 people standing around completely disappeared and I forgot they were even there. He said thank you and I stepped back. The second girl sang "Circle of Life" from the Lion King and I SWEAR she was tone deaf. ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE. The producer actually asked her to stop singing! The third girl sang something I didn't know and she was ok (side note: she sat next to me in the stadium and was from Olympia, WA). The last girl sang something with a bunch of runs and the producer asked her to sing a second song with more melody. He called me and the second and third girl to the table and said, "Thank you so much for coming out. You guys were good but not what we're looking for" and were sent down the walk of shame. The fourth girl (Sarah) ended up making it through. I felt bad for the girl from WA for wasting her money and coming out and not getting picked. I would never go out of state to try out, I just got lucky that it came to my city and since I don't have a job right now, I figured it couldn't hurt to try. :)

So... Even though I didn't get a golden ticket and get to move on to the next round, I still feel like I won. What I mean by that is: I put myself in an EXTREMELY uncomfortable situation and forced myself to face my fear. I did just that and I am so proud of myself for it. :) Since I went in there not expecting to get a golden ticket, I wasn't disappointed with the outcome. AND actually, I think coming away from this experience has made me MORE confident in myself and my singing! So how's that for a twist!

Here's my fake sad face that I didn't make it.

Up next in fear conquering: auditioning next Tuesday for a solo in my Sweet Adelines western show this month! Wish me luck, I hope I get this one. :-)

BolderBoulder 10k 2011 Memorial Day Race Recap

Yesterday, I ran my favorite race EVER, the BolderBoulder 10k which takes place in none other than Boulder, CO! This is the second largest 10k in the country with close to 55,000 people participating in it every year, and I feel it is also the most well organized race I've ever participated in. They have 90 wave starts based on your finish time, and many of the waves require a qualifying time. This was my second year running this race, and I was in group CA for the second year in a row...

So lets rewind to yesterday morning...

Sunday night I was in bed by midnight and I set my alarm to go off at 5am, which meant I was going to get about 5 hours of sleep. I assumed this would be fine. However, I didn't sleep all that well... Waking up almost every hour on the dot, looking at the clock, then trying to get back to sleep. Not a fun way to spend the night before a race.

This time, I was nervous about running this race without proper training. I wasn't sure what I was capable of and I was so worried about beating last year's time of 48:47. I went on FIVE training runs for this race, the longest of which was 4 miles. I should have spent 6 weeks getting ready but I was just so burnt out after the Salt Lake City Marathon that it was hard to get back on my "running horse."

The alarm went off at 5am, I got up, ate a banana, then headed out around 5:40am. I was SOOOO nervous the entire drive up to Boulder (which was absolutely stupid, I can run a 10k in my sleep!). I was just unsure of whether my body could carry me to the finish without being 100% ready. This was my FIRST race I've ever run where I wasn't prepared and I think it definitely showed.

Here's a photo I took on my drive up to Boulder. It was rainy and cloudy but I still think it was really pretty out. :)

When I got to Boulder, I drove to the 29th Street Mall for a parking spot. I got there around 6:30am and I thought I was going to find a spot with no issues. Little did I know everyone else had already got there before me and parked! I drove up and down a few of the aisles, and there was nothing. Then I came across an aisle that had a semi-truck parked in the middle of the it. The end spot was taken, and there was a spot next to it! I contemplated for a minute, and decided that because I drive a MINI, I COULD fit between the semi and Jimmy my way into the spot. IT WORKED! But ONLY because I have a MINI Cooper. If my car was ANY bigger, I would have been screwed. So I'd like to thank God for saving that spot for me, it was perfect! :-)

I hit the port-o-potties and went to the starting line. Still nervous, but I was going to push myself as hard as I could so I could beat my old time (because I am the most competitive person on this planet!).

The trumpet and the gun shots started! The first wave was off! I was in the 8th wave so I only had to wait another 7 minutes before it was my turn! I quickly had a Gu gel to try and give me that extra boost that I felt like I needed. Before I knew it, my group was up! They announced we had two men in our group who had run all 32 years, and they also asked who was ready for the race. ONE man raised his hand. ONE. I all of a sudden felt like I was in the same boat as everyone else: NONE of us were ready! YAY! lol I set my garmin for a 7:50 pace per mile and got ready to go. The trumpet and the gun went off and we started the race!

The wave start is great because everyone I was running with was about the same speed as me. This makes it easy to just pace yourself off of those around you. Mile one went by pretty easily, I was making good time with about a 7:30 pace. I thought to myself, 'I can actually do this! I can beat my time!'

As soon as I passed under that Mile 1 marker, I felt myself starting to lose it. Mentally, I told myself I could do it but physically, my body started giving up 8 minutes in. I started to become terrified thinking I wasn't even going to make it to the finish.

Mile 2 went by pretty well, I was still under an 8 minute pace but I was feeling hot. Like the way I used to feel after running the mile in high school. NOT a good feeling.

By the time I got to mile 3, I thought I was going to die. I was feeling slightly light-headed and suuuuper hot. My legs were starting to feel like lead weights and I thought at any point I could pass out. Literally. I was however, entertained by the people who had slip-and-slides in their front yard, and the people trying to give out free beer to the runners.

Mile 4 were pretty uneventful besides the big hill, but I just kept pushing myself. I knew I was not going to be able to beat my time, and I accepted the defeat. I learned that I REALLY need to train to improve my time and almost laughed at myself for thinking I could get a PR without preparing for it!

Mile 5 came along and I was SOOOO happy to have a little over 1 mile left before I was done! I also really like running on Pearl St. through all the little shops. :)

Shortly after passing the mile 6 marker, you have to start heading UP HILL to get to the finish line. I hate this about the race, as you are tired towards the end, why don't you run up a hill? After getting to the top of the hill, you turn in and start running around the outside of the UC Boulder football stadium. Then before you know it, you are inside running around the inside track and crossing the finish line!

My official time was 51:15, which is an 8:15 pace. this is a personal worst for me at the 10k distance, but how could I have expected anything more? I understand that most people think this is an amazing time, but for me it is so unacceptable because I know I am capable of doing so much better. I know now that if I go into a race and I'm not ready, I cannot set high expectations for myself or I will be sorely disappointed.

I'd also like to report that I slept 12 hours last night after the race, and woke up with sore achy shoulders, back, and legs. It feels like I was run over by a truck. I should NOT be feeling like this after finishing a 10k, it's soooo embarrassing! This kind of pain is reserved for half and full marathons only from this point forward! ;-)

Because the official race pictures haven't been posted yet, I'll leave you with a picture I had taken at the finish line festival (see what I mean about "red face?" I get tomato red when I get hot!). Their photo booth is fun and I had to do it again this year. :) I can't wait to run the BolderBoulder again next year, except next year I'll have a BIG smile on my face the whole time because you can bet your @$$ I'll be ready!

Salt Lake City Marathon video!

I just finished my marathon video that you all have been waiting for! :-D

It seems like the marathon was over such a long time ago now, and this video has taken forever to complete. When I got home from Salt Lake City, I packed my bags for 6 days in Albuquerque to visit with my husband's family. My brother-in-law is moving to Australia (he is sitting at the Auckland airport as I type at the Denver airport!) and we were sending him off. It was so great visiting with everyone. :)

Now I'm sitting at the DIA airport waiting for a flight out to LA for 10 days. I need to clean everything I've ever owned out of my mom's house. (Think: 18 years worth of stuff is there!) This is something that I should have done a LOOOOONG time ago, but it was just easier to ignore than do anything about. I'm excited to see my mom, dad, and sister because I haven't seen them since last November! I'm sure it will be a fun trip even though my main focus is cleaning. ;)

So without further adieu, here is the video you have been waiting for! It's 11 minutes long, so I apologize for that. I REALLY tried to cut it down as much as possible. ;)

(For some reason, it won't let me embed the video here without uploading it. Youtube would not let me upload the file from the airport wifi, so I had to upload it to vimeo.) The file is HUUUGE so I'll just give you a link instead. Enjoy! :-D

http://www.vimeo.com/22958466

Salt Lake City Marathon recap

First of all, I want to say this was my BEST marathon EVER! Remember my last post with my goals for this one? Well I totally beat ALL of them!!!

Hello cute little number 3, my official finish time was 3:55:51!!! But now I'm getting ahead of myself... Let me tell you the WHOLE story (which will probably be really long, but I promise it's interesting!)...

Ok, so the day before I had cheese pizza for lunch and for dinner that night I had fettucini alfredo (I don't have pics, but I'm sure you can use your imagination!). I had to carb load the night before to top off my gas tank, and the pasta was perfect! (I actually started carb loading 3 days before the race)

When I went to pick up my race packet, I had to go to a different table because I opted for the early marathon start, which was at 6:15 am. The regular race started at 7 am. I KNEW I wouldn't sleep the night before, so I just decided to start early and get it out of the way. ;) It turns out, the early start was supposed to be for SLOOOOW people who were going to walk the whole race. The city was only keeping the roads closed until 1 pm, so they wanted the walkers to have about 7 hours to finish. (Side rant: REALLY? You want the SLOW people who are WALKING to start out IN FRONT of the people who run 5 minute miles? Do you UNDERSTAND how ANNOYING it is to try and get around the slow people? It is NOT fun and I usually get frustrated REALLY easily by this. End rant) The guy at the table tried his HARDEST to convince me to sign up for the 7 o'clock start... "You DO realize you will start running at 6:15 right? Are you REALLY sure you want to start THAT early? I think you should sign up for the later start." No thanks, I decided to keep the early start. And I'm SOOO glad I did, it gave me a COMPLETELY different experience which I'll go into detail in a minute...

The night before the race, I was in bed at 11 pm and I needed to get up at 4 am, which was going to give me 5 glorious hours of sleep! The night before a race is always SO MUCH FUN (sarcasm here) because I don't sleep all that much. I'd say I stared at the clock most of the night and if I'm lucky, got somewhere around 1.5 hours of sleep collectively.

The alarm went off at 4 am (I was already awake, so I didn't actually need the alarm) and I got up and ate my banana and some water. I got ready and headed out. I am SOOO thankful they decided to have buses take us to the start (which was 3.5 miles away), I was not looking forward to walking down to the train station and standing in the cold for 20 minutes waiting for it. It was also RAINING. UGH, all I kept thinking about was LA this year and how people I know ran in the LA Monsoon Marathon and I did NOT want the experience of running a marathon in the rain.

By the time we got to the start, the rain had pretty much stopped which was great! I took this pic on my phone 5 minutes before the start of the race. (YES, I wore the headband the entire time)

There were only 146 people running the early start, so this was definitely strange for me because the race felt SO small and not like anything I had ever experienced. I walked to the starting line and scarfed down a Gu gel for energy right before taking off. They blew the horn and we were off!

I started out sort of towards the back of the pack, but it was really easy to get around people since there was literally nobody there. It was still dark outside which made it weird. I'd say within 5 minutes of starting, I was in fourth place. There were 3 guys ahead of me. I was totally ok with that because I felt like I was at a good pace (around 8:30 per mile) and I was sort of using them to not push myself too hard in the beginning.

The mountains were absolutely GORGEOUS to see the sun come up over, I was in awe of them. The first few miles went really smoothly, and the downhill course really helped a lot. Around about mile 2, I passed one of the guys putting myself into third place! Woo!

Somewhere around mile 3, I ended up passing the two remaining guys who were in front of me and took the lead! It was SOOO surreal and strange to be at the VERY FRONT of the marathon. Definitely a new experience for me and something I will likely never have the opportunity to experience again. I WAS WINNING a marathon! :-D

Around mile 4, the course entered a park and as soon as I got into the park, the road forked. THERE WERE NO SIGNS telling us which way to go. NOT COOL. So I had to yell back at the two guys I had passed which way to go and they told me "straight." I prayed they weren't pulling my leg so they could take the lead but I trusted them and went straight. After going up a hill, I saw a water/powerade table and knew I was on the right track. WHEW!

About mile 6, the course left the park back onto the street we had come down before. There were NO cones, signs, or ANYTHING telling me which way to go! I actually had to STOP and yell across the street at one of the cops to ask where to go. They told me to turn right, go to the stop light, and turn right again. I got SOOO frustrated at this point because the road should have at least had SOMETHING telling you where to go and it didn't. Man, I felt like this being in the front thing wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. :-/

I continued on my merry way, sucked down another Gu gel, and was constantly looking behind me to see where those two guys were. The gap between me and them slowly widened to a point where I couldn't even see them anymore. It was surreal. I was totally winning the marathon!!! I finally knew what it felt like to be a Kenyan, and it felt AMAZING!

At about mile 9 or 10, there was an uphill which sucked some energy out of me. I kept wondering when I would be at the top and back on my way downhill. Shortly after, I was over the hill and continuing on. The course went straight on this one street for like 5 miles through this REALLY NICE neighborhood with mansions and private gates. It was really cool.

I hit the mile 13 marker and knew the Kenyans would be catching up to me pretty soon. Since I got a 45 minute head start on them and the 7 am start group, I figured they would most likely catch me around here. Still no other runners in sight. Mile 14 marker comes along and still nobody...

At mile 15, the time had FINALLY come: the Kenyan passed me! It was SOOOO weird to have someone SO FAST run right past me during a marathon. One second he was next to me, then he was gone! It was fun for me to pretend like I was an elite runner keeping up with the fastest guys in the race. I've NEVER started a race at the front (because I'm not THAT fast) so I've NEVER seen these guys start, run, or even finish a race because I'm one of those average paced runners. About 5 minutes later, another Kenyan passed me. Then a white guy passed me who was also from the 7 am start. I was still first from the early start though, which was so fun for me! I felt like I was winning! ;-)

A few more guys passed me over the next few miles, but I hadn't seen any ladies yet which made me feel awesome knowing I was still first. My ankles started getting sore and I started getting worried. I was still ahead of my pace to beat my goal time, but I wasn't sure I was going to keep up the running...

Around mile 19, I HAD to take a walk break. My ankles were in SOOO much pain at that point, so when I got to a water/powerade station, I took some powerade and started walking. I ended up walking for 3 minutes, which actually helped I think. Then I started up running again knowing I would need to push myself to get the time I wanted.

At mile 21, the marathon course joined back in with the half marathon course and there were all of a sudden a lot of people surrounding me! It made it feel like I was in a marathon again! EXCEPT one small detail: like 98% of the people from the half were walking. REALLY?!? You are doing a half marathon and you're walking? I'm glad they were participating, but I felt like they should at least try. Maybe I'm just UBER competitive and think everyone else is too. I guess for some people it isn't about a time, it's just about finishing.

Sometime before mile 22, I had to take a second walk break. This time, I was only allowing myself one minute to walk. After my minute was up, I started running again (although at this point it may look like jogging).

This picture was taken somewhere around mile 22. I got TONS of compliments on my outfit, EVERYONE loved it! That made me feel good too and I think gave me a confidence boost. :) (I forgot to mention the temperature was about 50*, which is probably my favorite temperature to run in-not too hot, not too cold). Since it was chilly out, I opted for the arm warmers and tights/pants to keep me warm. I was DETERMINED to wear the dress for this marathon so I added things to my outfit to make that possible. ;)

Here's another picture of me looking all happy because no girls had passed me yet! This was somewhere around mile 23 I think...

A little after mile 24, I saw my hubby! YaY! Seeing a loved one is just what you need to carry you through to the finish! I really feel like I start to slow down in these last few miles every time, so it was nice to see his smiley face. :) I may not look as happy here because there was an uphill right in front of me, and I really don't like uphills all that much.

At mile 25.5, I sort of lost it. Garmin said my time was 3:51 and some odd seconds, and I started getting all emotional and teary-eyed (I actually have this on video) because I knew I was going to beat my goal and my brother-in-law's best time of 3:58:02 (Remember, I'm super competitive?). This was such a great feeling knowing I had set out for something and was actually going to accomplish it!

I turned the corner and headed towards the Gateway, which is where the finish line was. There was another .3 miles or so left, and the course had a tape running down the middle to separate the marathoners from the half marathoners. I obviously went to the marathon side and one of the race guys got on his walkie-talkie and said, "the first woman is coming in and she's wearing a red bib." I thought it was pretty awesome I WAS going to be the first girl to finish the marathon! I had NO idea what was about to happen next... (This is my I'm about to finish a marathon face! Tired and exhausted!)

As I got closer to the finish line, I realized they were getting the ribbon out for me to run through! OH MY GOSH everyone, I was SOOO NOT expecting that! You can clearly see the excitement on my face of actually feeling like I was going to win the marathon! (Also, notice there are NO other marathoners anywhere behind me?)

Then this happened:

And this:

OH MY FREAKING GOSH, I was on cloud 9! I felt like a rockstar! Forget all that pain I was in, I just got to run through the ribbon and experience WINNING a marathon and it was indescribable. Then on top of that, I had 5 people surround me and ask if I would do an interview for the local paper! WoW, I ran through the ribbon AND get interviewed? So this is what it feels like to win! I know now WHY all those elite runners run marathons (not the money part because I didn't win any), but just the feeling of all those people cheering for YOU and running through the ribbon! OMG, absolutely amazing. The people from the newspaper even brought me water, an apple, and some pastries! I was getting the royal treatment and it felt GREAT!

Ok, so I know I didn't win the actual marathon that started at 7 am, but I WAS the first woman to finish from the early start. :-D I didn't intentionally sign up for the early start trying to win because I didn't originally know it was for walkers, I was SURE someone would pass me (and it just so happened that there were no women elite runners in this race so no women ever did). I am sooooo glad that I did decide on the early start though because I got to experience something at this marathon that I KNOW I will never experience again.

I am currently working on creating a video with the footage I took from my ipod during the marathon (and the day before the marathon). It's about half way finished, and I am soooo super excited to share it with everyone!

I know I said this was going to be my LAST marathon ever, but I feel like I just can't give it up! It's too addicting! Runner's high, endorphins, and that awesome adrenaline rush are all trying to lure me back in to run another one! I'm definitely going to take some time off though before doing another one, but I'll be back!

If you want to see the rest of my pictures from this race, head on over to my facebook album.

I'll leave you with this picture of me after getting my medal. I am SERIOUSLY glowing in it. It was definitely one of the best days of my life and I will NEVER EVER EVER forget it. :-D

Goals for the Salt Lake City marathon tomorrow

Well, I usually like to keep my goals to myself, just in case I am unable to achieve them. I don't like to feel stupid if I say I can do something and can't. However, this time I've decided to share them. :)

Tomorrow will be marathon #3 (in state #3!). My previous race times:

1. LA: 4:16:11
2. Denver: 4:00:53 (UPDATE: apparently I ACTUALLY finished Denver in 3:59:34 according to the competitor website! News to me, I JUST now found out! AWESOME!!! lol)

Based on my training runs this time, I think I am going to have the best race yet! My 20 miler was the fastest this time of all previous 20 mile runs, and recently I've been able to set some really good pace times and make some speed records for myself (which I'd like to say are thanks to GU gel!). So, here are my goals:

1. Beat my brother-in-law Joe's best marathon time of 3:58:02 and take the family record. ;)

2. Finish in under 4 hours.

3. Finish faster then my Denver time of 4:00:53. (I was SOOO close to being under 4 hours, I couldn't help but kick myself!)

4. If all else fails and I get a bad injury or something, beat my LA time of 4:16:11. I don't think I'll be slower than that. ;)

Oh, did I mention this is going to be my FATTEST marathon? I'm up 4.5 pounds from my NORMAL marathon weight (which I will not share). I am really not sure what happened this time, but I'm going to blame the weight on muscle mass. My legs seem to be the most muscular they've ever been! ;-D

I've also been taking tons of video here in Salt Lake City to document my journey. I'm planning on making a short video for everyone to see after the race is over. :-)

Stay tuned for my results!

P.S. I registered for the New York City marathon lottery last night! This is the ONLY other marathon I REALLY want to run. ;-D

These are a few of my favorite things

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens... OOPS, wrong post. ;)

I've been running races since May 2009. This has given me a lot of time to try different things, and you can bet I've come to love and stick with my favorites. :) So here they are:

Garmin: My running best friend! My watch is the Forerunner 405.

Camelbak: My OTHER running best friend! I NEVER EVER leave home without it for a long run. I'm really paranoid about hydration (plus Denver is SUUUPER dry). I've been asked about running with a backpack before, so this is what you see in my pictures! It's great because I don't have to stop and pull out a bottle which spills everywhere. Just bite the mouthpiece and suck the water out of the straw! I also like that it has two zipper pockets for me to put a snack, tissues, my phone, keys, id, and chapstick in!

Drink: After my runs, I like to drink Powerade to rehydrate. My favorite flavor is blue! ;)

Sports chews: Since moving to Denver in late 2009, I fell in LOVE with Sharkies chews. They are organic and vegetarian! Double score! I used to take these with me on any run longer than 4 miles and eat them during my workout.

Gels: To be honest, I NEVER liked gels. I tried the PowerBar gels over a year ago and due to its warm texture, I gagged and threw the rest of the pack away. So the Sharkies worked great because they are like gummy snacks. During the Denver Marathon last year, they were handing out GU Gels (they were a sponsor) and I decided to try one. OMG, it didn't taste bad or have a gross texture! So I've fallen in love with GU and I feel like the energy they give me during my workouts are WAAAAY superior to the Sharkies. (Sorry Sharkies, but I'm a GU girl now). YUM!

Shoes: Nike Air Pegasus+ Trail Shoes. The image below are the current shoes I run in. I'll be completely honest: since I started running races, I've ONLY used this particular model of shoe. It just works for me, so why should I try something else? I really like Nike because they are on the wider side, and my feet are wide. So it's a perfect fit! ;) (If you are interested in buying them, click the picture!)

Socks: My ABSOLUTE favorite are Injinji toe socks. I was NEVER a fan of toe socks (my sister can vouch for this), but with suuuuuper sweaty feet, they are perfect! They wick away all the moisture and make my runs very comfortable. :) I'll be honest, they are like $11- $15 a pair, but they are SOOOOO worth it! (I own 5 pairs!)

Bottoms: I've come to stick with Adidas pants, 3/4 pants, and shorts (although I'm sure there isn't much difference between them and other brands).

Sports bras: I also stick with Adidas for my sports bras. I like the climalite and clima365 series. I've tried others but theirs seem to fit me best, nice and tight. ;)

Tanks: I love the Nike Fit Dry tank with built in bra. My favorite tank is becoming harder to find these days, as they made a newer model which can be seen here. The image below is the newer version, but mine differs because the sides are mesh so you get airflow. ;)

Skirt Sports: Dresses and skirts! How could any girl NOT love their products?!? You look so cute! (Plus they're located locally in Boulder, CO! Support local!) (Image is me running the BolderBoulder last year!)

Race: My FAVORITE race I've ever run is the BolderBoulder. I ran it for the first time on memorial day last year. (See the pic above!) This was the first race that I ran that had wave starts! I LOVE this idea. At most races, they shoot the gun and blow the trumpets ONCE and 20 minutes later, you are crossing the starting line. NO FUN. But with the wave starts at the BolderBoulder, they shoot the gun and blow the trumpet 60+ times! This makes it so fun because you feel like you are actually a participant and racing with the people around you! I am SOOO looking forward to this race next month and I'm also excited I got to pick up my racing packet for it today! Looky what I got! (The Crocs were free, I did NOT pay for them. ;) )

In other news, I checked in for our flight tomorrow to head out to Salt Lake City! GAAAH! The marathon is ALMOST here!!!

xoxoxo

Marathon training has come to an end...

And I feel like I've lost a great friend. What I mean by this is: running for me is like a good book for others. You are sad when there is no more to the story. This is the end of another book in my crazy running life.

I ran my last run today, a whopping 2 miles. The 2 mile run is always bittersweet because it's a 2 mile run! What's not to love about it? It's so short! But it's also the end of an 18 week training program. A LOOOOONG 18 weeks. It also means I have to run a marathon in like 2 days!

Yesterday during my 4 mile run, I started getting teary-eyed thinking how close I was to the end of my journey (and I think the guy riding the bike in front of me could hear me breathing harder). Here are the thoughts that were going through my mind last night that I posted to Twitter:

My last run is tomorrow! It's only a 2 miler & MAN is it gonna be emotional. The end of training is like losing a great friend.

Then one hour later, I posted this:

Getting really bad urges to sign up for another marathon already. Must. Resist. Hi-I'm addicted to #running. I think I need sleep.

Oye. I think I have a serious problem here. I really think I'm addicted. But it could be worse: I could be addicted to food. Or drugs. Or alcohol. Or even hoarding. 

This Saturday will be my third marathon in 13 months. I know I said this will probably be my last marathon. EVER. But I feel like I need to take that back. Running has become such a BIG part of my life. It takes up so much time during those 18 weeks, but it's so rewarding in the end. I feel like I NEED it, and running needs me and my competitive spirit out there on the race course... So I think I'm going to sign up for the lottery for the New York City Marathon. If I don't make it, I would be totally ok with it. But you can bet your @$$ I'll be trying again next year! And the year after that! After trying for 3 years in a row and not getting picked, you automatically get an entry! ;-D  

The 18 weeks it takes to get to the starting line of a marathon can often be TORTURE. This time I wanted to quit my training. SO MANY TIMES. At the end of the day, I just couldn't give in and give up. I pushed through and I'm so glad I did. I feel like it has made me even stronger...

I like to look at my marathon training program as if it was a journey (a torturous, learning experience with a wonderful light at the end of the tunnel - the marathon finish line). I've always called my long runs journeys and often ask myself "what I will learn on my journey today" before heading out. I quite often learn new things about myself that I think would not have been possible if I hadn't been out there in the sunshine for hours on end with just my ipod and my own thoughts. 

With the race a little less than 2.5 days away, I'm really excited for this one! I feel like this WILL be my best marathon to date (as long as this stuffy nose I have goes away!).

Check back in the next two days for two more posts: one on my training favorites and one with my goals for this race! :-)