Mmm Big Gulps, Huh?

Welp, see ya later! If you're a fan of Dumb & Dumber you know that means it's time for a road-trip - and more importantly it's time to do the Strip at Night! Race weekend is FINALLY here! Excited - relieved - nervous: it's a myriad of emotions going on over here. I have to admit it's been a little rough this last month. Being sick took me out of the game for 3 weeks - then the time changed and it was too dark to run at night - we lost motivation for a bit - Ryan got sprayed in the face with pepper spray - it's too cold to run in skirts and I don't like to run in pants (I have more excuses - do you need them)? Unfortunately, weekend runs have been the only thing keeping us going. To be honest, it's helped take the pressure off! We're not so focused now on trying to get a good finish time as we are focused on just running to have fun. 13.1 miles will be over before we know it!

I'm thankful I've had such a great running partner; the past 5 months of training have been so much fun! It has been a delightful journey, a time for self discovery and a time for building a great friendship. You know what they say: Blisters Heal - Muscles Recover - Friendships Last Forever.

Of all things to care about Chanelle and I spent a good amount of time deciding what to wear (and true to form, she refused to send me a vanity pic - so she went all "wicked witch of the west" with it - she's a hoot). Chances are I will also have on a lime green jacket - color overload? Yes.

Well, bags are packed and we are taking off in a few hours. Wish us luck and stay tuned for a post-race update!

xoxo,

Chantele

FACT: Pepper Spray Is a Weapon

It has been far too long since the last post...so much has happened!  Let’s see, last weekend was our first long run (10 miles!) so we decided to run as group for moral support: Chantele, Lisa, Scott and I started out hopeful and energized.  Thankfully the weather was nice.  Scott and Lisa had other commitments and left us after 4 miles. Chantele tried to convince me that we should just do 4 miles Saturday and 6 miles on Sunday. I didn’t buy it and made encouraged her to finish because we were going out for Halloween that night – there was no way we would have wanted to run on Sunday. I was right.  The run went pretty well. We started out with "this used to be our hardest long run” when we got to 5 miles…then it went to “we got this" around mile 8… and finished with “wow next week will be better.” But let me tell you - next week hit and WOW!!!  I felt like I got hit by a bus.  I ran on Monday and that was it – I was drained – I had no energy and just wanted to sleep. Unfortunately, Chantele had gotten sicker than me and only ran Monday as well.  The 11 mile challenge on Saturday came up quicker than I had hoped and all I can say is disaster!  I picked a route I thought would be pretty and it ended up being nothing but hills, pepper spray, dogs and feeling like crawling to the car. Yikes!! Chantele still wasn’t able to run but Ryan did fill her in via text and I just have to laugh as it brings back the day:



He's such a trooper!



On a positive note I can't wait for next weekend as it will be the last long run (12 miles) before the race. Smooth sailing from there!

Live – Love- Run,

Chanelle

Too Windy, You Say?

It is safe to say the wind that blows through the Magic Valley is its own breed of miserable. Waking up Saturday morning to the familiar sound of the wind tearing through the trees upset me. It upset me because I had really been looking forward to a run outside, but more so because I started justifying why 6 miles on the treadmill would be a good idea. And I HATE the gym (I don't use the word "hate" often so this is serious.) I know I am stereotyping, judge me if you will, but every time I go to the gym here is what happens:

1. It is either too cold or too hot.
2. 5 minutes into a workout I am approached by a "gym rat" a.k.a. "lame dude I have no interest in".
3. It smells like sweat and rubber.
4. I feel like I'm in a fitness competition with a bunch of people I don't care about.
5. I don't feel treadmills get an accurate read on my running.

I could go on - but I will stop at 5. While I listened to the wind I struggled with the idea of the gym...and then I got a text from Chanelle "It's pretty nasty outside. Do you want to run at the gym?" Yeahhhhh. The gym it is. Let's just call this mistake #1 for the day.

I decided to put my distaste aside and focus on the task at hand. It's only an hour or so - I could deal. I'm sharing a photo of the lovely view of the gym, Chanelle's excitement to work the equipment (once she found one with a functioning TV) and my best fake smile.



Low and behold nearly every item previously mentioned rang true. Exactly 3 minutes into my run, I was approached by a gym rat. Lovely. I really enjoy pointless chit-chat with strangers while running. However, the worst part was the heat!!! Holy smokes - I am pretty sure they had the heater on. Chanelle and I were DYING. I would share an "after photo" of the two of us but will spare your eyes. Just imagine two drowned cats and know that would still be 100% better than we looked. Thank goodness we brought towels. We quickly decided 3 miles on the treadmill would be plenty and would welcome the elements outside to finish up. I will also spare you the choice words used to describe our decision to run at the gym. "Never Again" sums it up nicely. We finished on the treadmill and got ready to run outside. Let's call this mistake #2.

Apparently the 1 mile drive to the running trail was too much rest for our muscles. When we began the 2nd leg of our run, soaking wet from sweat and freezing from the wind, we couldn't even make it a mile. The trail was made of mud and bark - it felt like we were running in quick sand. Chanelle stopped twice to tie her shoe...for some reason there was a helicopter interruption... the wind wasn't letting up (I have more excuses than I know what to do with) but we officially stopped running. We walked the rest of our 6 mile requirement. Epic Fail.

On the bright side, it made for some good laughs and lessons learned! Although it wasn't our best day - we did get to run together and it is nice to know that we're always on the same page. Best running partner ever!

On another note (mostly because I love fall, I feel the need to share and make this post even longer!) we went to the pumpkin patch! I hadn't been to a real pumpkin patch in ages...let alone one that operated on the "honor system". This wouldn't happen in Scottsdale - only in good ol' Idaho! It was a lot of fun and made up for the disappointing run earlier that day!

XO,

Chantele

It's late...I'm blogging.

So, first off - we need to discuss this running situation. Chantele and I made a commitment to run together - yet we haven't been able to run together lately and running solo has been very difficult. The mind takes control and makes you think you need to quit before your mile allotment is done. Silly mind games - it is unacceptable and can be avoided when you have a partner to run with. It makes me wonder why it is that the things you want most in life you sabotage? I want to be able to run solo without trying to talk myself out of running. It should be easy to do.

Also, it should be noted Chantele and I made the top 10 athletes of the week for our race (according to the Magic Valley News... take that as you wish...I thought it was very exciting). Regardless, running alone has been a challenge. We have discussed this over the past two weeks...it just makes me think - what else am I sabotaging? Happiness in life? Successful careers? Relationships? It simply makes me wonder. Running 5 miles...6 miles...what-have-you leaves a person a lot of time to reflect on life.

It's 4am. I don't know why I am writing this right now. But I'm not even tired, are you?

Have a wonderful week!

Live- Love-Run -

Chanelle

Your Pace or Mine?

One fun run and a busy week in Seattle later I am finally able to recap our race!

Thankfully I was able to spend a couple days pre-race in town with Chanelle, giving us a chance to run together and to decide on our "plan of attack". Boy did we learn a lot before the race too -- thanks to observing Ryan (Chanelle's bf) run ahead of us we figured out we have been running wrong! Chanelle "the Gazelle" has been running for speed with long full strides...which is awesome...but I die (and eventually so does she). I have been running for distance with baby steps, except when I am with her, I get peer pressured into running like a gazelle. So we figured out our pace issue and decided to run for distance instead of speed.

Naturally, the night before the race we had to "carb up" with pasta...mostly wine. I don't advise this the night before a race. Nor do I advise going to various bars around town with pre-race excitement and decidedly more libations. I was wearing a hat...so we thought it was a good idea. Lesson learned.

Chanelle being very excited and our pre-race carb adventure.

So, morning of race, an extensive discussion on whether or not a jacket should be worn and a few photo ops later we were finally ready to run! I'd say we did pretty well too! We ran together almost the entire time. I walked once while hiking Mt. Everest climbing a small grade. Chanelle finished first, naturally and the post-race activities were pretty uneventful. We were happy with our accomplishment but neither of us felt like it was very well organized. Regardless, we got our medals, had a beer and went about our day. It should be noted, the girl who won over-all was about twice as fast as us. We have work to do!

Pre-Race/Post-Race...pretty much look the same :)

Now official marathon training starts. Yikes. I ran once in Seattle...I should have run 3 times. Not a good way to start a training program. Here is to a better week!


XO, 

Chantele

So, I'm Slightly Competitive...

Well, Chantele was right!  I must have a slight competitive gene as I naturally thought I needed to try and beat the outstanding time she conquered on Tuesday.  I didn’t quite beat her Tuesday time (which she has confirmed was a glitch) but I am happy to say we were within 15 seconds of each other and only 2 hundredths of a mile for yesterday’s run (and I beat her).  Very exciting!!  My tender quads this morning are evidence I must’ve pushed myself harder than previous runs.  That’s the point of training, right? As we prepare for back-to-back races at the end of this month I found this quote motivating… I hope you do too.

Live - Love- Run,

Chanelle

Are. You. Serious?

For the first time in 7 weeks I finally beat Chanelle’s pace/mile last night. And not just kind of beat it – I was faster than her by 2min/mile. Holy Smokes! So, I’m obviously pretty impressed with myself (and she suggested I blog about it – so I am).  However, true to my nature, I’m mostly skeptical. Last night I was on a new route – I was wearing my new Brooks Adrenalines – I tried a new wrist band thingy for my iPhone (which for the past 7 weeks has been shoved in my sports bra – TMI? – I’m sure it was hard to get accurate GPS in there) – really everything was different compared to my normal morning runs. I’m also thinking it could have been a glitch in the App we use. Who knows? We will see if I can repeat this phenomenon on Thursday... Regardless my run history will show I kicked ass last night and that’s all that matters! Oh, and that I beat Chanelle for once, that matters too.

XO,

Chantele

p.s. She is really going to step up her game on Thursday and I'm a little scared about it...

It's Dark and You're Cheating

Summer is coming to an end which means 6am is getting darker and darker. Every day that we run my texts to Chanelle start with “It’s dark.” followed by “Are you running with Koi? You’re cheating.” Seriously, her dog is huge – I’m certain he pulls her along during the runs. Cheating!  That has to be why she consistently has a better average/mile than me, right? To be honest, my 15lb Boston Terrier would pull me along if I let her – that is how slow I am. Slow and steady wins the race – that’s my motto! If I’m being really honest, the truth is Chanelle is pretty fast with or without Koi, I just don’t like to admit it. It’s similar to a sibling rivalry situation. Even though we are cousins, most of my life I considered myself to be the youngest of the Finley children – we are all two years apart – it just made sense.

Normally on Saturdays we get to run when it's light out – but considering I was moving this weekend I had to be out of town by 8am. Thanks to my comitted running partner a 6am run was on the agenda – on a Saturday – yikes. It was so dark the pictures I took of Chanelle and Koi cheating didn’t turn out. So in lieu of a Saturday running photo, I am including a little gem from 1986. I’d say we pretty much look the same – except now we have prettier hair. And prettier pajamas.

XO,

Chantele

Life Lesson #684

Don't wear thong panties while running - yikes!!!

Other than a bit of minor discomfort, I am happy to announce that things are progressing wonderfully!  Although we weren’t ecstatic about our time on Saturday we finished with a smile of achievement as it was our longest run nonstop thus far.  Plus, we got to try out our new Nike running skirts from See Jane Run. It's our new favorite store in Boise!

After reviewing our logs since our start date 5 weeks ago it is nice to see we have improved drastically.  This also sparked great laughter during our after-run coffee break (my favorite) while reviewing our progress and looking at our previous logs and maps (and to think we thought we doing great then…  I’m actually laughing again thinking about it)! And we are just in the first stages of our adventure - I can’t wait to see what else is to come.

Live - Love - Run,

Chanelle

You Want to do What?

Life, it's a funny thing. For the past few years "life" hasn't turned out like we had expected. At least not the "life" we had hoped to have full of adventure, excitement and travel. Good, bad or indifferent life has been strange. Plans change - people come and go - goals are lost and obtained. It wasn't until a major life change and summer of boredom (both on my behalf) that we realized we were tired of the same old day-to-day life. We needed to do something about it!

I had been pestering Chanelle to start jogging with me after work. I thought we could train for a 5k or 10k sometime in the fall. Chanelle was on-board to run the Rim-To-Rim with me in September and so we started our journey and completed our first work-out. It was really hot - I didn't track our time very well and there was a lot of traffic. Fail. We decided running in the morning would be better and we would meet up every other day and stick to our program. Mornings turned out to be the best. Sunrise on the canyon rim gave us plenty of motivation - it's so pretty.

So, we were going along for all of 7 days and I was happy with our progress; still certain the 7.5 miles up and down the canyon would be a challenge - but excited for it anyway.  And then I got a text: "I think we can be ready for the PF Changs 1/2 Marathon December 2nd." I thought, and maybe said aloud, "You want to do what?" That Chanelle, she always takes it one step further than everybody else - but that's why we love her and why she makes one hell of a training partner (more to come on this).  The grand optimist that I am replies with "For sure! Let's do it." I have actually ran if you can call it that a 1/2 Marathon before in Arizona. I did it by myself. Didn't train well. It wasn't fun. I promised myself I would never do it again. Clearly I lied.

So, we've committed. Since our decision to run in Vegas we have been training fools! Unfortunately, we live 2 hours apart so our week-day runs are now solo with very early texts to keep each other in-line and compare our pace and mileage. We get to run together on the weekends.

We decided on Born2RunFree so we can share our journey to becoming better runners. I'm sure, like challenges in life, there will be good runs and bad runs - but it will be an adventure! We'd like to do 3 or 4 1/2 marathons a year with smaller runs in-between. Who knows where it will take us - but that's the whole idea. The adventure has begun...

XO,

Chantele