Sometimes I think my body is beginning to reject this whole running thing. I'm not talking about the sometimes achy joints and sore muscles. That comes with the territory. No, I'm talking about my diet. You would think all this running would make my body crave healthy, protein and carb-filled foods. Nope. Not even a little bit. I want Chipotle, Diet Coke, and ice cream on a daily basis. I am weak-willed, so my craving for Chipotle is constantly getting the better of me. It's gotten so bad that the cashier at our neighborhood Chipotle refers to us as her "favorite couple" and the guy who puts our order together jokes that the guac is like our crack and an intervention is near in our future. Should we be embarrassed? Probably. Will we be back tomorrow? Absolutely.
We finally made it to the Hyannis Half Marathon - the right place, right time, right weekend, and everything! (Sunday Morning). We had a delicious pre-race pasta meal the night before and a heart-healthy breakfast that we downed on our way to the Cape (complete with oatmeal and a peanut butter and banana sandwich - yum!). Despite the snow/sleet that pelted us throughout the race, it was a wonderful run. Micah and I were both at our best and we shaved 6 minutes off our previous half marathon time! I even had enough energy saved up to kick it up a notch in the last few feet and beat Micah by a second. There were professional photographers at the finish line who were able to capture this moment, solidifying my suspicion that I looked like a complete dork in those final seconds. But I won, daggnabit, and that's all that matters. After the race, we entered the expo where they were serving the usual bagels, bananas, granola bars, etc but also included some chowder and vegetable soup to help warm up the runners. As we walked around from booth to booth, waiting for our official time to be posted, Micah looked at me and said "you know what really sounds good right now?" Without hesitation, I answered "McDonalds?" He answered "yes, absolutely. That's exactly what I was going to say." I don't think we have ever loved one another more than we did at that exact moment. We gathered our free shirts and water and scampered to the car, desperate for some McNuggets and fries. Is this our bodies telling us that while we may refer to ourselves as runners (term used loosely), we can never escape our deeply-rooted love for fast food and things that can be deep fried? Why wouldn't I want to replenish nutrients and energy after a run instead of craving further depletion of my resources? Perhaps my body thinks this whole running thing is actually a search for pain, and if pain is what I seek then pain is what it will give me. Regardless, the McNuggets were a delight and nothing will ever beat a large fry and a large Diet Coke on the side. Now, pass the salt and get out of the way of the TV. Jersey Shore is on.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Update: It's Awards Season!
Congratulations to Micah Silletto for winning the Oscar pool. No, it was not a fix. It just so happens Micah researched the Vegas odds to make his picks (I know, shocking) and all the favorites won. Even better news: he donated his winnings to MFNE so the Oscar pool ended up raising $140 for MFNE. Success!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Sunday Morning
7:00 AM - Alarm went off, hit snooze
7:01 AM - Buttercup lays across my stomach and licks my nose. I choose to believe this is an act of love rather than a message to get my lazy butt out of bed because she has to pee.
7:09 AM - Snooze went off, hit again
7:10 AM - Sota paws my leg. Not sure if this is because she wants to play or because she also has to pee. Regardless, I roll over and go back to sleep.
7:18 AM - Snooze went off, hit again
7:27 AM - Snooze went off, hit again
7:36 AM - Snooze went off, got up, let the dogs outside, began to get ready
7:50 AM - Forced Micah out of bed and gave him some 'tude because he's known about our plans for today for at least a month. And informed him that we were late.
8:10 AM - Headed on our way to Hyannis, MA for the Hyannis Half Marathon, the first of the Cape Cod race trilogy. We were prepared with our running gear, oatmeal, granola bars, 3 clementines, 1 banana, 2 bottles of water, and saltines.
9:35 AM - Pulled into the Resort and Conference Center at Hyannis. Did not see any signs for the race or anyone else wearing their obnoxious running gear. Began to get worried.
9:38 AM - Asked the lady at the registration desk where we should go to get our packets for the Hyannis Half. She smiled and informed us we were a week early, but next week we could get our bibs at the next building over in the recreation area. Also need to mention, we were not the first to make this mistake.
9:39 AM - I hung my head in shame and apologized to Micah for making him get out of bed.
9:40 AM - Back in the car, headed for home.
Oops.
7:01 AM - Buttercup lays across my stomach and licks my nose. I choose to believe this is an act of love rather than a message to get my lazy butt out of bed because she has to pee.
7:09 AM - Snooze went off, hit again
7:10 AM - Sota paws my leg. Not sure if this is because she wants to play or because she also has to pee. Regardless, I roll over and go back to sleep.
7:18 AM - Snooze went off, hit again
7:27 AM - Snooze went off, hit again
7:36 AM - Snooze went off, got up, let the dogs outside, began to get ready
7:50 AM - Forced Micah out of bed and gave him some 'tude because he's known about our plans for today for at least a month. And informed him that we were late.
8:10 AM - Headed on our way to Hyannis, MA for the Hyannis Half Marathon, the first of the Cape Cod race trilogy. We were prepared with our running gear, oatmeal, granola bars, 3 clementines, 1 banana, 2 bottles of water, and saltines.
9:35 AM - Pulled into the Resort and Conference Center at Hyannis. Did not see any signs for the race or anyone else wearing their obnoxious running gear. Began to get worried.
9:38 AM - Asked the lady at the registration desk where we should go to get our packets for the Hyannis Half. She smiled and informed us we were a week early, but next week we could get our bibs at the next building over in the recreation area. Also need to mention, we were not the first to make this mistake.
9:39 AM - I hung my head in shame and apologized to Micah for making him get out of bed.
9:40 AM - Back in the car, headed for home.
Oops.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
I don't care if it's February, I'm calling this springtime
For all you cynics out there (Micah) who says it's only a couple days of nice weather, I say NO! I saw a guy in shorts, sandals, and a sleeveless shirt today. Normally I would never trust a man wearing a sleeveless shirt outside of a gym but since this guy's saying what I want to hear, I'll drink that glass of kool-aid. It's spring, dagnabbit.
Weekdays mean short runs (between 2 and 5 miles) and today is the first day this year I have been able to run a quality short run outside. Sure I was dodging Lake Michigan-sized puddles
but I will gladly take the puddles over inch-thick-ankle-spraining-icy sidewalks.
We ran a little over two miles tonight, just to get the blood flowing. The first loop we averaged 10:22 min miles. The second was 8:14 min miles. The difference? 1 squirrel and 1 dog at the .0001 mile marker. Sota hasn't seen a squirrel in over 2 months, so when we saw this jerk running across the electric lines I knew we had a problem. First she stands on her hind legs and whines. Then the screaming begins. The sounds that came out of this animal rivaled those of a mob of 12 year old girls at a Justin Bieber concert. Cars slowed down to see what the problem was. Mothers hugged their children closer. Micah and Buttercup walked away like they didn't know us. I dragged her away from the squirrel and settled her down to the point of only semi-embarrassment, just to the point where Micah would wave at me if I said hello. But she looked for that squirrel for the rest of the run. She dragged me through bushes, snow banks, and puddles for the rest of the mile ready to pounce on anything that moved. Needless to say, once we were back at the house she was thrown inside so Micah and I could continue on our run sans crazy monster dog. Add desensitizing my neurotic pet to small critters to my list of things to do.
Yay spring.
Weekdays mean short runs (between 2 and 5 miles) and today is the first day this year I have been able to run a quality short run outside. Sure I was dodging Lake Michigan-sized puddles
We ran a little over two miles tonight, just to get the blood flowing. The first loop we averaged 10:22 min miles. The second was 8:14 min miles. The difference? 1 squirrel and 1 dog at the .0001 mile marker. Sota hasn't seen a squirrel in over 2 months, so when we saw this jerk running across the electric lines I knew we had a problem. First she stands on her hind legs and whines. Then the screaming begins. The sounds that came out of this animal rivaled those of a mob of 12 year old girls at a Justin Bieber concert. Cars slowed down to see what the problem was. Mothers hugged their children closer. Micah and Buttercup walked away like they didn't know us. I dragged her away from the squirrel and settled her down to the point of only semi-embarrassment, just to the point where Micah would wave at me if I said hello. But she looked for that squirrel for the rest of the run. She dragged me through bushes, snow banks, and puddles for the rest of the mile ready to pounce on anything that moved. Needless to say, once we were back at the house she was thrown inside so Micah and I could continue on our run sans crazy monster dog. Add desensitizing my neurotic pet to small critters to my list of things to do.
Yay spring.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
It's Award Season!!
It's my favorite time of year! And with all the snow we've gotten recently, this is the perfect excuse to curl up and fit in as many movies as I possibly can before awards night. I've got a list of the movies I need to watch before February 27 so I can make my "educated" Oscar picks.
So, join my Oscar pool and see if you can beat me! I am an Oscar-force to be reckoned with. It's a double win, donate to the Melanoma Foundation of New England and enter to win some moolah for your movie knowledge! Each entry is $10 - $5 will go to the winner's pot and $5 will go to the Melanoma Foundation of New England. Payments can be sent through Paypal to massmas4444@yahoo.com or email me at silletto.allie@gmail.com to get my info to send a personal check. The Oscar pool can be found at http://www.funofficepools.com/.
To join, just click join pool.
If the link does not work, copy http://www.funofficepools.com/
And now, here is a good example of what Micah and I looked like running yesterday afternoon on the snow and ice packed sidewalks. Watch Sota as she runs past Micah...
Faceplant.
So, join my Oscar pool and see if you can beat me! I am an Oscar-force to be reckoned with. It's a double win, donate to the Melanoma Foundation of New England and enter to win some moolah for your movie knowledge! Each entry is $10 - $5 will go to the winner's pot and $5 will go to the Melanoma Foundation of New England. Payments can be sent through Paypal to massmas4444@yahoo.com or email me at silletto.allie@gmail.com to get my info to send a personal check. The Oscar pool can be found at http://www.funofficepools.com/.
To join, just click join pool.
If the link does not work, copy http://www.funofficepools.com/
- Pool Name: Silletto Charity Pool
- Password: allison
- Type: Oscar Pool -- select a winner from each category, win the points if you are right.
- Description: It's Oscar season! This pool will support the Running for Cover Boston Marathon team for the Melanoma Foundation of New England. Sign up for $10, half the registration will go to the winner's payout and the other half will be donated to MFNE.
And now, here is a good example of what Micah and I looked like running yesterday afternoon on the snow and ice packed sidewalks. Watch Sota as she runs past Micah...
Faceplant.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Snow Moat, Snow Problem
Another week and a 12 mile long-run down. As most of you already know, we have gotten a ton of snow the past couple of weeks. The best bet for finding a safe, non-icy long distance route is to stay on a main road and go out and back which makes for an exceptionally boring run. And, because of where I live, Mass Ave would be the only road with enough sidewalks to make a long run out of. Running on Mass Ave means running through Harvard Square and, for whatever reason, I never have good runs when I run through Harvard. To combat the unknown sidewalks, Harvard, and the cold, Micah and I split yesterday's long run between running outside and on the treadmill. It worked out well, except running on the street right after getting off the treadmill is not easy. I felt like I had sea legs and was a little wobbly on our way back home.
My running stories this week aren't really worthy of a blog so I'm going to turn this over to my two dogs, Minnesota (Sota) and Buttercup. Sota is master of escaping in general and the mounds of snow in the backyard has made it even easier for her to figure a way out. The neighbors had piled the snow from their driveway over our bushes and into our yard, giving her a bridge to get out. When I saw what they had done, I hoped that Sota's fear of everything would keep her in the yard. Unfortunately, Sota is afraid of everything but snow and jumping. In lieu of a run on Friday, I decided I would knock down her bridge and shovel a moat in between the bushes and our yard. After an hour and a half of shoveling and excavating of ice blocks, I had a pretty nice pathway.
Surely this would keep Sota's tricks at bay. I was very proud of myself and decided my hard work was certainly deserving of some hot chocolate. This sense of accomplishment was short lived. I was inside for all of two minutes before I heard barking. From the front porch. I opened the door and there was my little Houdini. Smiling and taunting me with her unbelievable escaping abilities. The only way I was going to be able to put a stop to this was to figure out exactly where she was getting out. I put my snow gear back on, took the girls outside, walked on the other side of the fence and called her. Please note that in the photo above that there are no trampolines of any kind in our yard.
Unbelievable. This isn't even fair.
My running stories this week aren't really worthy of a blog so I'm going to turn this over to my two dogs, Minnesota (Sota) and Buttercup. Sota is master of escaping in general and the mounds of snow in the backyard has made it even easier for her to figure a way out. The neighbors had piled the snow from their driveway over our bushes and into our yard, giving her a bridge to get out. When I saw what they had done, I hoped that Sota's fear of everything would keep her in the yard. Unfortunately, Sota is afraid of everything but snow and jumping. In lieu of a run on Friday, I decided I would knock down her bridge and shovel a moat in between the bushes and our yard. After an hour and a half of shoveling and excavating of ice blocks, I had a pretty nice pathway.
Surely this would keep Sota's tricks at bay. I was very proud of myself and decided my hard work was certainly deserving of some hot chocolate. This sense of accomplishment was short lived. I was inside for all of two minutes before I heard barking. From the front porch. I opened the door and there was my little Houdini. Smiling and taunting me with her unbelievable escaping abilities. The only way I was going to be able to put a stop to this was to figure out exactly where she was getting out. I put my snow gear back on, took the girls outside, walked on the other side of the fence and called her. Please note that in the photo above that there are no trampolines of any kind in our yard.
Unbelievable. This isn't even fair.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Baby, it's cold outside
January in Boston = Cold
As you are dodging snow banks and icy spots on the sidewalk, it's easy to think to yourself, "self, what is wrong with you? It's 29° out here. You could be watching Jersey Shore in your cozy living room. There's lots of unfinished business between the ladies of the house and Deena is definitely going to add to the trainwreck-nicity that makes the show so great." (I tend to ramble and make up words when I talk to myself.) But this is what I've signed up for. Unfortunately, you have to get through January to make it to April.
We've had two snowstorms so far, so Micah and I finally broke down and joined a gym. Planet Fitness at Porter Square. I can get there by walking, driving or public transportation so there is officially no excuse for skipping trainings now. And now I have equipment readily available to start training for the Tough Mudder 2 weeks after the marathon. It's not a 26.2 mile race, but there is mud and toughness involved so I need to be ready. I was really excited walking into the gym because I noticed that each treadmill had its own tv. There are only about 15 channels to choose from, but it beats staring at the timer for an entire run. However, I ended up running a 12 minute mile pace because going faster made the screen bounce. A girl can't watch Kind of Queens and Adventures of Old Christine on a shaky screen. To remedy the situation, I moved to a bike. Technically Wednesday is cross training day so this justified my move. All I can say is I hope I get better about running in front of a tv. I'm not sure if I will make it outside for an 11 mile run this Saturday and based on my first run at Planet Fitness, it will take me the entire day to watch tv/run.
For the record, I never watch either of these shows. I only cared because they were on.
As you are dodging snow banks and icy spots on the sidewalk, it's easy to think to yourself, "self, what is wrong with you? It's 29° out here. You could be watching Jersey Shore in your cozy living room. There's lots of unfinished business between the ladies of the house and Deena is definitely going to add to the trainwreck-nicity that makes the show so great." (I tend to ramble and make up words when I talk to myself.) But this is what I've signed up for. Unfortunately, you have to get through January to make it to April.
We've had two snowstorms so far, so Micah and I finally broke down and joined a gym. Planet Fitness at Porter Square. I can get there by walking, driving or public transportation so there is officially no excuse for skipping trainings now. And now I have equipment readily available to start training for the Tough Mudder 2 weeks after the marathon. It's not a 26.2 mile race, but there is mud and toughness involved so I need to be ready. I was really excited walking into the gym because I noticed that each treadmill had its own tv. There are only about 15 channels to choose from, but it beats staring at the timer for an entire run. However, I ended up running a 12 minute mile pace because going faster made the screen bounce. A girl can't watch Kind of Queens and Adventures of Old Christine on a shaky screen. To remedy the situation, I moved to a bike. Technically Wednesday is cross training day so this justified my move. All I can say is I hope I get better about running in front of a tv. I'm not sure if I will make it outside for an 11 mile run this Saturday and based on my first run at Planet Fitness, it will take me the entire day to watch tv/run.
For the record, I never watch either of these shows. I only cared because they were on.
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