instantmartian Member

Aww Thank you so much. I seriously needed to hear this. I was so miserable and so disappointed in myself during and after that race that I lost perspective of the big picture. You all have seriously made me realize that I should be proud of finishing despite all my challenges.

Chicken marinaded in equal parts Italian dressing and mayo is amazing. You can use light or low fat of either. Mix the dressing and mayo, dump in chicken, and stir around to coat. You can leave the chicken sit in the marinade for a while, but it tastes good cooked right after coating if you wish. I don't really notice much…

I lost my 58-year-old mother this past October, not even six weeks after she had been diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer. She spent two weeks on hospice before she passed and was more-or-less in some sort of coma during that time. She was legitimately my best friend. I'd like to say the loss gets easier, but for me,…

@5BeautifulDays: It was awful, and I want to try to figure out the swelling issue, though it seemed to only be my hands that were swollen. My feet, ankles, wrists, etc. appeared and felt just fine (aside from the cramping/muscle spasm thing). I will enter myself into the lottery for next year and see if I win a bib. I…

I've lost a couple nails over the past six years. I lost the nail on toe next to my big toe on my right foot twice. All I can figure is that that toe is a little longer than my other toes and my right foot is a bit smaller than my left, so my right foot must move around a little more than it should and bump against the…

This is actually too funny! My dad introduces Dave to people as my "friend," though Dave's mom and family go about business as if we are married. haha

@karllundy: I paid absolutely no attention to my finish time. I stopped my Garmin without even looking at it, and went on my (not so merry) little way. It wasn't until last night when my boyfriend showed me the tracking texts he got from the race when I realized I had negative splits. It was so damn proud of myself, and it…

@AdrianChr92: You are right. I feel stronger, I didn't die, and I certainly have a story for years to come. It was an accomplishment, and a great test of my will to finish. As I noted earlier, the thought of not doing it and not finishing never even crossed my mind until @WhatMeRunning pointed out that others may have been…

Thank you, @MNLittleFinn. @WhatMeRunning: It was certainly the most brutal race I've ever run. Funny thing is that giving up never even crossed my mind. I, too, hope my next attempt is better. I was in it for the experience, and I certainly had quite the experience, though it was not even close to the type of experience I…

Firstly, welcome to all the newbies and congrats to everyone on their races this past weekend. It seems like everyone was very happy with their results, and I can tell you that it truly makes me so much happier to know that others did so well because I know we all have our bad days and our good days, and I really need to…

I'm going to have to sit down and figure this one out based on my training plan, but I think I'm going to go for 45 for May. My next race after this Sunday is a 10K trail run in June, so I'll be focusing more on intervals and hills and such to prepare as opposed to miles, as most of my running over the past six months has…

@kristinegift: I was so annoyed at being placed in the last corral for the Broad Street Run that I never even considered that I can ask to change my corral at the expo tomorrow. Oops! I will definitely be doing that. I'd even be happy with second to last...at least there won't (read: shouldn't) be any walkers I'd have to…

The Bible verse story and the subsequent discussion seriously had me laughing. I agree - both Psalm verses definitely apply to some of my runs! :smile: So...I just got my bib number and corral assignment for the Broad Street Run on Sunday. I am a bit disappointed. Now, I know I am slow, but they have me in the last…

First, this is absolutely hilarious! Second, Catholic guilt is a very real thing and creeps its way into real life ALL. THE. TIME. It was something I struggled with for years. Seriously. I spent 3-year-old preschool through senior year in high school in Catholic School. It left me scarred for several years into adulthood.…

I have been a total slacker this weekend - Saturday was spent in New York City seeing Something Rotten! doing a little walking around, and bar hopping because we couldn't think of anything better to do with our couple hours before and couple hours after the play. Sunday was spent sleeping in, shampooing my carpet (it so…

To be honest, that's part of the reason why it was a good seven years before I ever got onto a bike, again. I was actually a little blindsided by the fat bike thing. Our friends have a hunting cabin in Rothrock State Forest, and we spend a weekend over there with them a few times per year. My boyfriend mentioned something…

You definitely need this for your 4th of July HM! :smiley:

Fun story about the Perkiomen Trail (I'm full of fun stories these days): I am not a bike person. Well, I'm actually getting into spinning much to my own surprise. However, the last time I was on a bike was when I, my boyfriend, and a few friends decided it would be a good idea to rent fat bikes this past January to ride…

Fun story: I was a CIS major in college. I wanted to work with computers so badly (I still do). I was a mediocre programmer, but I did love my major. After three semesters, I had an epiphany and decided I didn't want to spend the rest of my life sitting in a cubical testing code all day, every day. In order to change my…

I consider this a perfectly valid reason to use an elliptical! When I do run on a treadmill, it's never for more than 6-8 miles. It is excruciatingly boring, and I know for training purposes it's better to just suck it up and run outside in the cold, but I just can't bring myself to do so. I'd rather be bored out of my…

I HATE ellipticals! I have so many friends who use them, own them, and love them. They don't understand how I can run six-plus miles on a treadmill in the winter. I don't understand how they can stand being on an elliptical for more than two minutes. They claim it's the "best workout." I claim I can name about 500 things…

@MobyCarp: You certainly have a TON to be proud of. Not only did you qualify for the Boston Marathon, you finished AND qualified for next year. Of course we all have tweaking to do with training. I can guarantee there is no one out there who is 100% happy with their performance and training and don't want to improve. I…

I noticed that the elites were also a bit slower than they should have been. As I said, I can't really see/hear commentary because my employer blocks pretty much everything (honestly, I'm surprised I can even get on here) but I did read an article talking about the temps. I didn't see anything about wind, but I would…

I am so jealous of all of you able to watch the marathon in real time! My cell service is too poor at my place of employment to stream anything, and IT has all Marathon-related websites and streaming options blocked on our computers because it's "Sports." My friend hit some sort of wall between 30 and 35K. He finished, but…

@WhatMeRunning: We must like beer in Eastern Pennsylvania. :smile: @kristinegift: Well, the tip of my nose is already beginning to peel. :disappointed: I'm not entirely sure why I didn't even think of sunscreen, either. This is the first time I've had a significant sunburn in years. I'm usually very careful to slather SPF…

04/02 9.30 mi 04/07 2.00 mi 04/09 3.10 mi 04/13 1.00 mi 04/14 2.60 mi 04/16 3.73 mi TOTAL 21.73 mi 2016 Races: 02/21 – Disney Princess Half Marathon – 2:38:29 (included 16 stops to either take photos of something or have my photo taken with something) 04/02 – Philadelphia Hot Chocolate 15K – 1:44:22 15K PR 04/09 –…

It was great meeting @kristinegift and I'm sure we'll be running into each other, again. :smile: @Stoshew71 Most of the goof-off, keep-my-butt-motivated runs I do revolve around beer. :smile: Unfortunately, this year many of my favorites conflict with life/other runs. I've done the Yuengling Light Lager Jogger 5K, the…

I think this is a very good idea. If you're heart's not in it, it's not going to be an enjoyable run nor an enjoyable trip to Disney. Again, I wish your friend the best of luck. Cancer is absolutely awful. It does sound like she and her doctors have a solid treatment plan in place. Not knowing any details, and, based on…

There's another dry cider called Commonwealth Cider brewed by Philadelphia Brewing Company. There is regular, raspberry, and ginger and they are all wonderful. I am not a cider person because I find them too sweet, but these three are not sweet at all. The regular is very crisp, the raspberry has a nice, dry raspberry…

I appreciate this. So many people don't like when I say that I don't like pilates and yoga: "Oh, but it's so relaxing." "You just haven't found the right instructor." "It took me a while, but I finally found a class I like, and now I can't live without it." No. I just don't like them. I don't have the patience for either…