Me, Keith and Bryan

THANK YOU JIM!!!!

Aren't those great?

I decided to do my long run today in case the rain decide to join the nasty wind we have.  Yes once again some wind for my long run.  I am getting a little tired of it.  9 miles today.  5 of those facing the freaking wind.  At times it was so strong I lost my balance.  Bill's response to that: "Put some weight on!".  No comment.   I took these 2 guys with me in my ears for my run:

I took the picture of Keith the first time I saw him in concert, front row seat, that was great.  REALLY GREAT.

I also took EFS liquid shot, this time vanilla flavor.  This one is better for me.  Less sweet. I can even take it while "running".  I have to slow down but no need to actually walk.  Last week I did not take any water with the EFS liquid shot.  This week I took some and followed Chris K's advice and took small sips after taking the shot.  It worked fine for me.  I cannot tell you how happy I am that this stuff works for me.

If I run like I did today for my next half marathon and even If I crash for the last 4 miles (WILL NOT HAPPEN) I would get a PR.  :)

Next week I won't have a long run, I am racing on Saturday (10K) and my best friend from Quebec will be in San Diego for a medical seminar and we are headed there to meet her! I cannot wait!  I have never been to the city of San Diego, I have been to the San Diego Zoo, that's it. 

Now time to go park my behind in front of the TV.  Loved the games yesterday! We have a true Cinderella in the tournament! VCU!  The look on the VCU coach's face says it all:

Yes EMZ I will be cheering for U fo A.

I am still leading my pool, even with Ohio loosing. That is crazy.

I still have a chance to win this thing, I need the CATS to take UConn OUT.

If I win, I will make another donation for EMZ's crazy 24h hour run on a treadmill.  You read that correctly.  If you don't already know about this go here: 

 http://royalpitatoias.blogspot.com/2011/02/dirty-little-secret-all-american.html

GO CATS!

Happy!

Today I had 3 miles on the schedule but since we are getting rain this weekend and tomorrow is supposed to be the worst day I decided to go for my long run today.
I waited for a break in the rain and I went out for the 8 miles I was supposed to do tomorrow.  No rain but lot's of WIND.  I would have taken rain and no wind I think.  It went pretty good.  I ran against the wind for the last 4 miles.  I kept a good pace for me. 

I decided to try this new fuel I bought:  EFS Liquid shot.

Chris K is the one who suggested I try this.  THANK YOU!
This is IT for me.
It works! No GI problems, no side pain, no cramps.  It stayed in the stomach.
No more GU or other gels for me!
I am so happy and optimistic for me next half marathon now.
Last time I did so bad at fueling during the race, I hit the wall at mile 11 and I finished completely dehydrated.  I won a pukie award but I felt like crap.

They have 2 flavors of that magic stuff, I tried berry today and next week I will try vanilla.
The only negative thing would be it is a bit sweet, but I did not drink water with it and next week I will.   It goes down very EASY.  It does not taste bad at all. It is great.
It is not cheap but for me it will be worth every penny!  I am a really low maintenance kind of gal so this will be my one crazy expense!!

So for the ones who have GI issues like I do (I have GERD, no gallbladder, gastritis) I am telling you: give this a try if the other stuff is not working for you.

OK off to watch the Aztecs play!
I have them winning so FOR TODAY ONLY AND BECAUSE MY BLUE DEVILS ARE NOT PLAYING TODAY:

GO AZTECS!
So far today I got all the games right and I am still leading the pool
29/34.

DUKE ALL THE WAY

EFS Magic potion has arrived!

This arrived today:

I have high hopes that this will work for me.  I cannot wait to test that magic potion.  NO GEL, no Gatorade.  It is not cheap but if it works the it will be worth it.  They were nice and added one extra bottle so I can try both flavors, vanilla and wild berry.  I almost wish I had a longer run on Sunday just to try it but I only have 5 miles.

3 miler this morning, I found something that is close to speed.  I ran this at what I think is my 5k pace and was not even tired at the end.  Maybe I CAN go faster then I think.

Tomorrow is speedwork.  Bring it on.  I have to do it at the gym, I think it will be better, I can control the speed without having to look at my Garmin 123 times per 30 seconds.  Will see how that goes.  I am bringing a bucket in case I need to show everyone what I had for breakfast...oh gross I know.  I kid of course.

Basketball practice in an hour, it is pretty windy here...should be interesting.

Here some pictures of our last game, our best effort so far by a mile no more like by a marathon!

 Before the game, thinking  that I should have eaten something after my 5 miles run.

That's my boy. These made me happy.  They all went IN.

What are they all looking at?  Will on the right asking for the ball  is the only one "in the game"  That was our basket right there.  See the one with the ball looking in the other direction?  I lost my voice yelling "shoot!" 1023 times that day. Notice my shirt?

Better view of my shirt for the Canadian lovers out there.  Kovas and Chris K: you can find these at Target for $7.00.  You're Welcome.

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****LAST DAY for  this great Giveaway that I really hope I will win!!! : Mike over at 26.2ismycooldown.com is giving away a Tanita BC-1000******

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3 things Thursday

1. Ran 3 miles this morning at the gym.  This week so far I ran every day, 1 outside and 3 on the treadmill.  All 3 days inside I got side pain.  It sucks and it hurts.  I have a hard time with those.  I was not going fast, I don't know why I get them more inside.  I tried changing my breathing and slowing down, pushing on it.drinking  little sip of water..nothing works. 

2. Every morning I take Will to school and I wait until the teacher shows up to leave.  Kids have to line up in the school yard and wait for their teacher.  A few parents stay and wait; mostly moms.  Mostly much younger then me moms.   This morning they were talking about getting older and botox (I live in Southern California remember).  I was just listening and then one of them says "Oh YOU, you are older, do you use it?" Geez...first thanks..and second I do have a name it is not YOU.  So I told them that no I don't use botox.  One of them says: "Maybe you should give it a try, you look like you must have been pretty when you were younger!" AOUCH....  This made me laugh mostly.  Who says things like that?

3.  Now that I have 2 half marathons planned I need to find the perfect fuel for me.  For my first half that was a problem.  I tried many different kinds nothing works for me.  The only thing I can tolerate is plain GU but even that is not really great for my GI track.  I am now looking for these:

This looks like the perfect solution for me.  No gel.  Problem is nobody carries them.  I went everywhere.  On their website they have a list of stores who are supposed to be selling these products but so far no luck.  Do you guys use these? Do you buy online only?