Halloween/Road Runner Sports Giveaway Winner!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN YA'LL!!

Hope you guys had some fun, costumed or not today.  Two days out from my COMPLETED MARATHON (what's uuuuup!?) I'm fairly certain that gives me a little buffer room for Halloween candy.  Listen, it's Halloween--and I'll be damned if I'm not going to dip into a little fun-sized action for a day.

 

Mind the VERY SCARY, no makeup, tired pics below. If you're easily frightened, maybe skip ahead quickly!

After 26.2 miles, a shower, and a MAC truck hitting me.

 I did it, 26.2. ACTUALLY 26.26--so there ya go. I got tons of awesome support from family, friends, and all my readers and twitter peeps.  THANK YOU! Like I said before, it means so much.  My husband wanted to celebrate so he brought home a metric shitton of chicken wings and champagne.  

Celebration :) We may or may not have gone overboard-but I couldn't give a damn.

Speaking of fun things...are you ready for the winner of the $100 Road Runner Sports Giftcard?!

*drumroll*

Tiffany Carabello!  @TLCinSeattle

Tiffany, email me at forkyourselves AT gmail DOT com with a mailing address by 10PM, tomorrow, Friday, November 1st to claim your prize.  

****If the prize is not claimed by tomorrow at 10PM, I will choose another entrant.*****

UPDATED 11/1/13 @ 10:04 PM

Original winner did not email within 24 hour period.  Prize is forfeited and I have picked another winner at random through Rafflecopter.

Krissy Murphy! @krissymmurphy

I have to say, I like the way the randomizer thinks....ANOTHER KRISSY! YES! :)

Krissy, Email me at forkyourselves AT gmail DOT com by 10PM Friday, 11/2/13.

***If prize is not claimed by 10PM on Friday, 11/2/13, prize will be forfeited to another entrant***

Thank you everyone for participating--what a great giveaway to one of my FAVORITE stores.

That's all for today, guys! Hope everyone had a fun Halloween!

Keep it tuned here, I've got more giveaways and good times up my sleeve :)

Go Fork Yourselves,

Krissy

PS:  CONGRATS MY RED SOX!!! My ol' stomping ground! WOO WOOO!!

   

Nope, I Can't Let It Go

Okay, it's been a week since the my sick-induced marathon DNF(blech) and I've had plenty of time for reflection.

So...I lied.

I can't let this go.  I know I said I was going to, but I can't--it's fucking eating away at me.  I can't let the training go to waste-I can't let all that time become a waste..and most importantly, I can't and I WON'T let myself down.

This is what I am doing instead--this past week was a crazy low mileage week for me.  Let's call this another taper.  In that time I went only and ordered my own marathon finisher medal, picked another date, and am going to run this damn marathon.

 I didn't say much to anyone, but, it's tomorrow.  Tomorrow is the day I WILL absolutely run my marathon-earn my medal, earn the right to keep my 26.2 training sticker on the back of my car, wear the 26.2 bracelet my best friend, Mel gave to me, and be able to wear the awesome marathon embroidered jacket and shirt I got at the expo(dude, I spent $75 on the friggin' jacket-I need to wear it!.  Sure..it's not THE Baystate Marathon, but it'll be MY Baystate Marathon, and I'm okay with that.

I'm sure some people may still think of me as a fraud, but I don't care.  This is what I need to do for myself, and no matter how you slice it 26.2 miles is indeed a marathon.  No matter where and how you do it.

I think this will get me back to feeling better mentally, because I've basically been beating myself up over it, even though I legitimately got sick.  It just doesn't sit well.

"Krissy didn't do it, she couldn't finish."

Indeed, Willy Wonka, you weirdly sexy man you.

Wish me luck.  Or don't. It's cool, either way--because I'm doing this either way.


Til tomorrow, guys.



Go Fork Yourselves,

Krissy

Fuck you, Marathon.

***This is going to be a very long, angry one with lots of trash language.  If you don't like it, don't read on. But I need get this out.***

God dammit.

I knew at some point I was going to have to sit down and write this, I guess sooner then later is better.  Rip the Band-Aid off, and then move the fuck on.

Six months of training, FIVE 20+ miles runs, flying halfway across country, TELLING EVERYONE I was running a motherfucking piece of shit son-of-a-bitch marathon.  STUPID ME--running for just over a year, a few pretty successful halfs and 10 miler (well, I FINISHED)  thinking, oh yes, Marathon is next.  Totally.

The past few weeks runs have been pretty good--and my last 20 miler was fantastic. 

I had everything setup EXACTLY the same for race day...

Briefly(or not...), here's how that shitstorm played out:


My stomach had felt wonky all day the day before--chalked it up to nerves. 

Went to bed at an okay time, woke up at 4:30 to get shit together--My stepmom was up and we watched some recaps of the Red Sox winning (nice!)the ALCS.  Had some coffee, as usual.  Around 6 the folks got in the car to drive me down to Lowell.  My stomach hurt the entire time--I thought it was just nerves, again.  I tried to scarf down a banana and some plain multigrain waffles--my stomach just would not get it down.

Got to the start line area, and stood in line freezing my ass off waiting for a port-a-potty...finally got in the port-o-potty, let's just say--it was not good.  Okay, fine.  Went to go stand at the line, walked back and forth, got my ipod ready to go, texted my husband and mom, and then it was go time.

I promise you, not even a mile and a half in--I knew shit wasn't going well.  I wasn't warming up, and my stomach was still feeling funky.  But, then I said, "Krissy, you know you need 3-4 miles to warm up."  Around mile 3, I was still nauseous..and freezing.  Mile 4, I still was not in the groove.  By mile 5, I had tried to gear down a bit, still nauseous, freezing, and my chest was starting to feel heavy--couldn't get air in.  I started to get a little scared, because for a couple minutes my breathing got wheezy, and it felt like nothing was getting getting in.  THIS WAS A 5-6 MILES---ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!  That's like...usually cake for me.  I can do that in a shot, not problem-o.

So, WHAT the fuck was the problem?

At this point, I already started to take walk breaks so I could get air in--which is total bullshit.  Somewhere between mile 7 and 8, I was miserable.  I texted my mom.  "I feel awful."  She texted back asking if I was okay.  And I sent back "I don't know..."

Then I was like, run, keep going...and then I couldn't breathe again and I thought I was going to throw up.  I started to feel like a 13 year-old goth emo kid and started to tear up.  I texted my mom again at mile 8 and a half.  "I don't think I can do this."

She and my step-mom text back, "Do you want us to come get you?"
I didn't say anything back. Then another text "If we don't hear from you, we're coming to get you."
And I said, "Will you think any less of me?" And I got back "Shut the fuck up.  There is no shame."

So, miserable, covered in cold sweat, not able to feel any of my extremities--I walk/ran, defeated, until I could get in my folk's car.  I had a few marathoners one their second lap headed to finish, lap me at mile 10.  Some of them telling me, "looking good", "keep it up"...and I could not take it.  I wanted to tell them to knock it off, because they had no idea how NOT looking good I was.  I appreciate, I do--but at the time I felt so belittled by it. 

 

I had trained so long, and so hard--and now I was barely half-way, ready to fall over and just puke. A week ago I ran 10 without a hitch.

What THE FUCK happened?

I finally texted my amazing husband--"Babe, I'm done."

Hubs: "No Way", "What?" "Are you okay?" "What's going on?"
Me: "I feel awful"
H: "Like sick? Are you still running?" "How far are you?" "You have enough water?" "One step at a time." "You've run long distances, you know you can do it" "Listen to your body and be safe."
Me: I'm done, chest is hurting, nauseous, not sure---something doesn't feel right.
H:I love you just the same no matter what happens.  I'm 100% in your corner, and I just want you to be safe. Listen to your body. I love you, I love you, I love you.
Me: Yep, done-freezing miserable.
H:I'm proud of you anyways, love you lots and lots.

This about made me almost cry again.

The kickers to this story?

As I was pathetically dragging my pale, heavy-chested the last few miles, this couple..this EASILY 85-90 year old couple passed me. Not anything against them--I mean, good for them, that's awesome.  They passed me and said "Looking good!" stopped, walked a bit, held hands and then they ran again a bit. 

It was like a god damn sitcom.

Dude. This shit was over.

Saw my folks car finally, they beeped, waved, flashed the lights--and I have never been so happy to stop running.  Got in the car, sat down and said, "FUCK THIS SHIT."  My sister said something about my paleness and looking zombie-esque.

Then, I kid you not, Queen's (my fave) "Another One Bites the Dust" came on the radio.

I looked up, and shook my head--and said "You've GOT to be joking."

Then we all laughed and it seemed like, yes--I'm going to move on from this.

The entire way back home, I had waves of nausea, was cold and sweaty, and just all in all have a rough time focusing mentally.  When we did get home, I was doubled-over, couldn't stand up straight, ran into the house and into the bathroom turned on the hottest water possible for the shower and collapsed over the toilet head first, thinking I was about to welcome back last night's dinner, half of waffle, and a couple ShotBloks making sweet mildly-digested love. 

My mom pretty much told me to not worry, go up to my room and sleep it off.  Turned the heating blanket on to max, made a small cave for myself and pretty much went comatose for 3 hours.

How I felt upon waking....

When I woke up, checked the date and time, and I finally found my way downstairs to watch the Patriots play some ball.  When I came down, they were crushing it. 

...AND THEN THEY LOST.

Today, guys, it was just not in the cards.  It's all past, and there is NOTHING I can do to change that.  This is something I can either deal with or obsess and berate myself over it.

I'm gonna pull up my big-girl pants and get off the pot--I'm just going to go back to Texas and go back to running, without anything to train for in specific and find my way back to enjoying it as much as I did prior to marathon training.

That's it, guys, that's all I have to give right now.



Go Fork Yourselves,


Krissy

Sorta Silent Saturday-Visiting Family Edition

My mother the mafioso at the beach....

 

 

Hugs and Go Fork Yourselves,

Krissy

Throwback Thursday, as they say...

For the first time in three years, I am experiencing some fall foliage--and despite it being a bit too chilly for me--it is quite gorgeous.  Especially when the wind blows and all these colors come falling from the trees...just awesome.

Straight from my folks' property

As I turn the corner for the last few days as a pre-marathoner, I am looking back to old interviews I did with a couple of awesome running blogs--unfortunately, one that looks like they've since stopped updating--though, I very much know how that happens.

Please, take a peek--It's really humbling to see where I was last year at this time...Just starting half-marathon training! WHAT?!

One with awesome Jess at rUnladylike.com:

http://www.runladylike.com/2012/11/09/friday-fitspiration-2/


And one with, EatBlogRun.com:
http://www.eatblogrun.com/ebr-rock-star-krissy-shreeve/


Thought it would be fun to share these for a short post while I'm up here in New Hampshire, trying to keep my Texas ass warm.

The only type of frozen I can appreciate.

DON'T FORGET--ENTER MY $100 RoadRunner Sports Giveaway! 


Peace, love, and go fork yourselves,


<3Krissy

The 'Krissy's actually gonna run a marathon' RRS Giveaway

Okay, I had every intention of getting this puppy up earlier today-but real world demands just didn't allow for enough time--but anyways, hold on to those running shorts, people---this giveaway might blow them off!

Undies blown off from me telling a few peeps about the giveaway---Told you.

T-minus 10 days until I'm toeing the start line at the Baystate Marathon.  Correction--actually closer to 9 days at the moment--and I certainly won't be toeing the line, I'll be hanging in the way back dancing around in a trashbag-because this Texan will be freezing her ass off in New England in October.

Yes, I lived much of my life in New England--however, I've acclimated to this toasty Austin weather quite well.  Call me a pansy, I'm cool with that.

Briefly--Taper had been...fine, I guess.  I am just feeling like I'm not doing enough--though I'm told this is totally the norm, so I'm trying to roll with it.  Though, I was told I should only run 7-8 miles for a long run this week...and..I did 10.  I'm too stubborn, I guess.  That was yesterday and NO problems whatsoever today, so I think I'm fine.  Going to try and do something like 5-6 tomorrow then we're really going to gear down, doing a couple more 3-4 milers until I hop the plane to New Hampsha.

So, I'm doing this.  Yes.  I just have to remind myself a few times a day.

To blow my wad early and celebrate, me and the AWESOME folks at Road Runner Sports have teamed up to giveaway something fantastic to one of my readers...

I love, love, LOVE RRS--and they've sent me some awesome gear from their own line that have been great.  Two of my faves are their compression capris and this fabulous hoodie WITH THUMBHOLES---love that shit!

After Sunday's run-a hot mess, as always.

Not to mention, that RRS gear has great quality and far more affordable then a lot of running gear I've come across.  They have tons of stuff for you gals--AND your guys, too.  Not to mention GPS watches, socks,foam rollers, fuels, and ALL THE RUNNING SHOES EVER(which you have 90 days to run in and return if you don't like 'em!).

Plus, if you hook yourself up with their VIP membership--you always get super quick free shipping and an everyday discount--it pays for itself the first order--seriously.

You guys know I don't promote anything I don't believe in--and I actually tell everyone that asks me for gear advice to check out Road Runner Sports.

"So, okay, Krissy, what's the giveaway?!"

Okay, dude, how's a $100 giftcard to Road Runner Sports sound?!  Pretty friggin' sweet right?

I've included a few different options for you to enter--see below, nothing crazy--I'm just pumped to giveaway such an cool prize.  Entries need to be in by 11:59PM on Halloween, because I'm going draw this puppy on November 1st! 

You can enter with each option, EVERYDAY--so be sure to get on that :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Happy Marathon Giveaway, everyone, and let's hope I'll actually finish it ;)




Go Fork Yourselves,


Krissy

Nailed it---Notes to Self

Okay, I'm officially in taper mode.  WHAT?

Did my last 20 miler of training this morning---and can I tell you....I'm going to anyways-- it rocked.  

After a few weeks of craptastical long runs--today's was great.  I prepared all my chews, my hydration, my gear--everything was laid out...so when I eventually did get out from under those awesome, warm, soft blankets--it was like, well, I guess it's business time.

I think I've got a good schedule for fueling during the race, what I planned out for today worked really well, outside of feeling a little stomach cramping around mile 15 which passed.

Like, I've told you guys--I sweat...hard.  A couple miles in a could like like I'd be running 10 in Kenya--it's ridiculous.  Seriously though, I'd had a hard time working around that for a while.  My sodium depletion led to awful stomach cramping at the end of both my  'official' half-marathons.  I thought it was just because I pushed myself hard and my body just wasn't used to it--but the more I trained and the more I did my research, I found that I may have very well been in the starting stages of Hypoatremia .  In the most basic of explanations, a lot of salt loss.  I focused so much on carbs/sugars and water hydration, that sodium loss hadn't even occurred to me!

So here's what worked really well for me today:

(NOTE: NOT TRYING TO ADVERTISE HERE, JUST WHAT WORKS FOR ME AND MY PERSONAL FAVORITES)

Pre-Run

1)Ate a Belvita package beforehand/getting ready.

2)Took 1 S-Cap prior to starting running.

Running

3)About 45 min in, grabbed 3 Clif ShotBloks (margarita flavor)

4)About 60 min in, took another S-Cap

5)Sipped Lemon-Lime Nuun throughout (my personal favorite flavor)

Repeat steps 3-5 for entire run--in this case 20 miles.

Post-Run

6)The biggest glass of delicious chocolate milk

Yeah, I'm a wee sore--but I don't feel like falling over or like I need to run to the bathroom every 5 minutes.  

Added bonus, because I feel like I was great in warding off the stomach cramping--my mindset is flipped from, "What a dumb idea." mode to "Nailed it"  mode.

I COULD NOT help myself.

I'm thinking if I can stick with this fueling plan, I should make it through the marathon while still being able to function afterwards and have some quality time with my folks visiting New Hampsha!

How do you fuel for your runs/any workout?  How about recovery?  I'm always curious about this stuff--so please, comment, tweet me back, ect. ect.

Til next time, when I'm suffering from long-run withdrawls on this taper...

Go Fork Yourselves!

<3Krissy