Veggie Bee

Please welcome the newest addition to the Veggie Bee family!! My new exercise buddy, Lindsey.

Lindsey is a 2-year-old lab mix and was gifted to us by our friend Robyn, who already had two large dogs living in her home. They were a handful all together and Robyn thought it would be best to make sure Lindsey went to a home where she could get spoiled on her own. That’s where we came in. About a month ago, David and I were talking again about getting a dog and we both agreed that we wanted a female black lab. Less than a week later, we got an email from Robyn asking if we were still thinking about getting a dog, she wasn’t even aware of our earlier conversation! So I think the universe was bringing Lindsey to us and we are already spoiling her rotten. I’m still getting used to running with her, but I’m definitely doing more walking than ever. She’s going to be one fit doggy!

David and I, along with our friend Heidi, are already signed up and ready to start training for the Disneyland Half Marathon on September 6. I’ll post more about the training plan I’m using to try to beat my personal best half marathon finish, but here’s the recap of how our relay went.

First, however, five things to bring to the start line!  Here’s what I throw in my “throw away” bag for the start line:

• A sweatshirt, if necessary ~ I usually keep old sweatshirts specifically for this purpose. You may have to wait a while before you actually start the race, and it’s nice to be comfortable if it’s chilly outside, yet you don’t want to have to carry a sweatshirt with you during the run. Most races gather all the sweatshirts left at the start line and donate them to a charity.
• A Clif bar ~ in case I’m still hungry after my breakfast, which usually consists of oatmeal and banana. I’ll have half the bar and throw away the rest if I don’t eat it.
• Tissues or toilet paper ~ mandatory for the port-a-potties! You might end up in one that’s run out of TP.
• Antibacterial wipe ~ mandatory for after the port-a-potties!  Although, at the Rock and Roll last week, they had antibacterial dispensers outside, but I’m not going to rely on that.
• 5-Hour Energy Shot ~ I have this in case I don’t get to have any coffee the morning of the run. I typically drink coffee before I run, but maybe I just have an iron stomach. If you know of any all-natural energy shots, let me know. Since I only have this a couple of times a year, I’m not too worried about the artificial flavors or sucralose, but if there is another option, I would love to know about it.

Right before the race, I just throw everything away and set aside the sweatshirt on the corral railing for organizers to pick up. Easy breezy! 

Now for the recap… I posted this first on my other blog last week…

We actually had a lot of fun on Sunday, May 31, at the Rock and Roll Marathon… the relay is the way to go!!  Being there did make me want to run the whole marathon, until I got finished at mile 13.5 with what I had committed to do!  A full marathon takes so much focus and training, but the feeling of accomplishment is worth the few days (or more!) of recovery. At least we got a medal for the relay!  We’re already signed up to do the Disneyland Half Marathon on September 6, 2009 and by “we” I mean David and me!  Yes, he’s really going to do it. I am so proud of him!

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I know, I know… many of you are probably like my sister-in-law, you’ll never run from anything but danger!  But in the event that some of you are thinking about adding running to your exercise routine, I wanted to share an article in Runner’s World, Running 101, to help you get started. The article includes tips for running as well as a 10 week training schedule to get started safely and without injury. 

Happy running!!