Holiday catch-up.

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Justine Lorelle

First things first, it’s time to announce the winner of the Printcopia giveaway!

Drum roll, please…..

It’s Kayla!

I just emailed you about the prize. Congratulations, and thanks to everyone who entered!

Now, the matter at hand.

I’m pretty sure I’ve forgotten how to work a normal full work week.

Between the storm(s), our California trip, and Thanksgiving, I’ll have Gina e full month since my last complete week of work by the end of this week.

I mean, I’m not really complaining. I enjoy working for home, even just a few days a week, and obviously everyone lives vacation and time off of work. I love my job, but it still provides me with just enough stress that I look forward to days when I don’t have to worry about it.

Thins are still going well, though. A few big projects that I’ve been working on are finally coming to fruition, and I’m even interviewing a couple of people today for an assistant position under me.

My very own assistant: every girl’s dream, right?

Plus, the partial week before a holiday is always pleasant to work. Sure, there’s a but more pressure to get the same a amount of work done in a shorter period of time, but everyone is usually caught up enough in festivities that the atmosphere is pleasant and no one is overly stressed.

Though this will be my first holiday at the current job, so maybe I’m entirely wrong about that. In that case…at least it’s only a 3-day week!

In other news, I’m running a 5-mile turkey trot on Thursday, but my left heel started really aching a couple of days ago. Not cool. My plan is to take it easy until Thursday, and then I might have to take a couple of weeks off of running. I’m already miserable at the prospect, but I think it’s my only option. Sigh.

Anyway. Enough about me. How is everyone else doing?

On the things we’re afraid of.

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Justine Lorelle

An email exchange between Annie and me:

From: Annie
To: Me

Want a peak into my weird brain that ends with a question for you….

So Al and I have been running in the mornings – but its pitch black, but i’m not afraid of running because I’m with someone.

You run in the mornings, and Joey doesn’t go with you….is it still pitch black? Are you all “on alert”

Then Annie brain goes to – well scary people aren’t awake at 6am so I shouldnt be worried…unless they are so crazy they dont sleep at all…or all totally nocternal so they are actually at peak time of crazying.

So….do you run alone in the morning dark?

From: Me
To: Annie

Haha funny you should ask!

Yes, when I run in the morning it is dark. I tell myself much the same thing you say, that the crazies aren’t up yet. There’s actually a really hilarious scene from 30 Rock that I repeat to myself a lot, where Elizabeth Banks’s character gets back from an early run that goes like this:

Jack Donaghy: Where were you?
EB: Jogging.
Jack: Who else is out at this hour?
EB: Almost exclusively women who look like me. God help us if the pervert community ever gets wind of morning jogging.

So that is what I TELL myself, but I also know for a fact that there is a homeless man who sleeps under a bridge I have to run over. I know this because, while he is still asleep when I start out, he is ALWAYS just waking up and shaking out his sleeping bag when I’m on my way home. We made eye contact last time I ran. Obviously, this is how I’m going to die.

At least now I’ve told someone? If I disappear on a morning jog, it was probably the homeless man under the bridge on W******* Avenue over S****** Highway. [Ed. note: See? I'm too paranoid to even tell you the roads near where I run!]

…I’m probably not helping your crazy paranoia, am I?

From: Annie
To: Me

ummm….i almost turned around this morning because there were two weird looking people just standing in the street ahead of us……

…….kids with backpacks waiting for the bus…….

From: Me
To: Annie

I just chortled out loud imagining that. Mostly because, this morning, when I was driving to the train station, these two girls walking to their bus stop passed in front of my car, and one made a point of waving at me until I waved back. It wouldn’t have been weird if she hadn’t been, like, 13. All I could think was, “WHAT IS SHE UP TO?”

This is why we’re friends. (Also, I’m for sure blogging this.)

Breaking away.

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Justine Lorelle

So I survived my third half marathon.

Honestly, this was my best one yet. Not only did I shave about eight minutes off my last time, but I felt the best I have so far at the end of a long race. Usually my stomach bothers me, but this time I felt solid.

Only took me two years of racing. Go figure.

(Me pre-race)

This course was similar to the Long Island Half Marathon, though a little less interesting because we didn’t cut through any towns, instead sticking to main roads and parkways. We started and ended in a park.

People always ask me what I do or think about while I’m running long distance. It’s a fair question: we’re talking up to two hours of time for intense self-reflection.

Sometimes I’m daydreaming, sometimes I think about things that are bothering me. A lot of the time I’m calculating my current speed an trying to figure out what time I will finish, or planning the rest of my day after the run. It’s helpful for me when the course is new or interesting because I can forget I’m running if I have other thugs to focus on.

Because yesterday’s course was fairly flat and boring, though, I found myself thinking a lot about races in general.

I decided my favorite part of a race (besides the finish, of course) is that moment right when you finally break away from the starting line crush, after bobbing and weaving between people who really shouldn’t have started in the pace bracket they did, and you have some clear road to find your pace and just enjoy the run.

Sometimes I feel like that’s the moment we’re all waiting for — when we can finally outrun the madness and the obstacles and just hit our stride.

(I know, I’m super deep, right?)

This was also the first race that I really pushed myself in terms of speed. I knew I was running faster than I normally do, but I didn’t want to check my actual pace on my iPhone app in case I would psych myself out. Instead, I just decided to let myself run until I started to feel uncomfortable or get a cramp or something, and that moment never came. (Huzzah!)

Plus they handed out tiaras and feather boas and cookies at the end. Obviously, I was a happy girl.

My future running plans include: another half in April and…a full marathon next fall.

Eee!

I feel ready to take that on. The main thing I’m nervous about is fitting in all the training runs. I feel like its going to be a test of “how many runs can I skip or cut short and still finish?” Though hopefully, by then, my schedule will be as such that I can stick fairly closely to a schedule.

Speaking of which, do any of my runner friends have a training schedule to recommend? I’ve used the half schedule on MarathonRookie.com for all my half marathons, so maybe I’ll stick with that? Obviously, I’m open to suggestions.

So anyway. Today, I’m a little tired and a little sore, but overall feeling pretty good. How was your weekend?

Everything that’s wrong with me right now.

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Justine Lorelle

Hooooooo-shah, folks.

Let’s have a little update on the state of Justine, shall we? Or, really, another blog post of topics I couldn’t flesh out into full posts. Because…well…you’ll understand by the end of this.

First (and most pressing) things first, something is wrong with my shoulder. At least, I think it’s my shoulder. Last night, something in left shoulder, upper back, left side of my neck suddenly shifted out of place, and now certain movements result in quite a bit of pain. Especially when I’m lying down. (ASK ME HOW AWESOME SLEEPING WAS!!!)(Or rather, not sleeping.)

So…yeah. Awesome.

Fortunately, I recalled that I had an Amazon Local voucher for an hour-long massage and chiropractic evaluation. SCORE. Unfortunately, they’re closed on Thursdays, so I can’t go until tomorrow. BUT A GLORIOUS DAY TOMORROW SHALL BE.

I also have a physical tomorrow, so hopefully I can talk to the doc about my sore heel and finally get a referral to a dermatologist so I can get my skin cancer check. Party.

SPEAKING of that sore heel. Welp, folks, it finally happened. Despite not having any kind of running injury for a couple of years (sigh), all is not well. It started a little over a week ago, when I began getting these little flushes of heat in my left heel at random times. It’s the weirdest feeling. One second I’m just sitting there, the next it feels like my left heel floods with warmth. It’s not uncomfortable at all, it just feels weird. But the actual heel doesn’t feel warm when I touch it. Has anyone experienced anything like that?

Anyway, then it started just feeling sore from time to time. Not good considering I have to start training for my third half in a couple of weeks. Not good at all.

So for now, I’m trying to keep up with my cardio without actually running. Last night, I got on an elliptical for the first time in literally years. Blah.

In other “Justine’s body” news? I need to get my hair did like whoa. Right now, I’m sporting what you might call “accidental ombre.” Or rather, my roots are just quite grown out. The appointment is on August 4th. Let’s DO this, remaining 16 days.

In other words, I’m falling apart. Such a great precursor to turning 25 in just over a week. Excellent.

Let’s all whine together, guys! Leave me a comment telling me something that’s bugging you. I promise to respond with RESOUNDING agreement that you don’t deserve whatever is happening to you.

So…this happened.

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Justine Lorelle

They finally put up all the professional photos from my half marathon. And (apparently) they thought it would be better to turn the background into a green screen instead of just leaving it the normal backdrop that they had set up for the photos.

If you ever wondered what would happen if you wore a green shirt to a race where they used a green screen backdrop, it would look something like this:

And in case you ever wondered what would happen if they tried to get all patriotic on you, well, it would be a little like this:

I AM the American flag, y’all. A sweaty, exhausted American flag. M’erica.

The 5 People You Meet at Marathons

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Justine Lorelle

So I officially have two half marathons under my belt. And if you’re wondering if that means I spent most of yesterday wearing my shiny new medal everywhere I went, well…I didn’t not do that.

In all seriousness, yesterday’s half was a much better experience than my first half. I think it helps that I had been through it, and my body sort of knew what to expect. Plus, the course was a million times more interesting than the Westchester one (a bunch of local bands and people came out to support, which made running through town a lot more entertaining).

Whereas last time I finished thinking, “I am so glad I never have to do this again if I don’t want to,” this time I was actually excited to do the half I have planned for October. Yay for progress!

Speaking of progress, I also made my goal time of under two hours! My official time was 2:01, but I stopped to go to the bathroom midway, so I was actually about 2-3 minutes under. Meaning I just made my goal time, but I’ll take it. And, in case you’re a competitive person, I was 1,792th place out of 4,440, 78th out of my division, and 585th out of all the ladies. Obviously not breaking the sound barrier or anything, but respectable all the same.

me at the finish. (so tired)

What’s that? You want to see a photo of me running? Well, they haven’t put them up yet, but I do have this:

What? You don’t see what I’m talking about? Maybe this will help:

Well, I mean, that could be me. Ain’t I a cute green speck? (I have no idea if that is me. But I was wearing green. And it’s kind of fun to pretend, isn’t it?)

If you’re interested in all the final results, you can view them here.

Now that all the details are out of the way, we need to discuss something else. Something important and unavoidable.

We need to talk about the five people you ALWAYS see at EVERY race.

You think I’m joking. How is it possible that all five of these people are at every single race? Well, if you haven’t experienced it, you’ll just have to trust me. (And if any other runners want to verify or add onto this list, please feel free to do so in the comments.) My only regret is that I don’t have photos of the actual people from yesterday’s race, but I have included google images to give you a reference point. BECAUSE THEY ARE REAL AND THEY ARE EVERYWHERE AND THEY WERE EASY TO FIND PHOTOS OF.

1. That hippie guy who runs barefoot. Every race has at least one barefoot runner. Honestly, I don’t care if you want to run without shoes. And I’m sure you could make a really good case about why running barefoot is better for your body and builds up your feet strength or whatever. But the fact remains that it makes me really nervous. We’re not on the beach or some unspoiled natural landscape. We’re running on major roadways. There are glass shards and trash and dirty water and, you know, rocks and stuff out there. It’s a dangerous, germy world. But this guy doesn’t care. In some cases, he will run entirely naked except for a tiny pair of shorts. In other cases, he wears his hair in a long, thin ponytail down to his butt. Either way, you know him when you see him. He runs barefoot, folks. To be closer to the earth. Or something.

2. The girl that runs with her hair down. Can we just talk about how much I don’t like this girl? I mean…I just don’t understand. It’s not like she’s even sporting a chic little bob. She has a legit mane of hair flopping around back there. And I simply refuse to believe she isn’t sweating like crazy. I can’t imagine anything more annoying than a blanket of hair sticking to my sweaty neck for 13.1 miles. And the full face of makeup? Dude. You’re killing me. And, it has to be said, it’s also really annoying that this woman is usually faster than me. HOW DOES SHE DO IT? IS THE HAIR/MAKEUP A SECRET WEAPON?

3. The techie with every running gadget you’ve never even heard of. Want to know how fast you’re running? He can calculate it. Want to know the direction you’re going in? His Garmen watch can pinpoint your location within a few feet. Need tunes for the race? He has a Bluetooth ear chip that adjusts to play songs that match the tempo he’s moving. Want to know exactly how much water you need to drink every forty-five minutes? He has a computer chip installed in his stomach that can tell you. Ok, I made up the last two. But I’m sure there is something similar out there…and he probably has it. There’s always at least one person outfitted to the nines with every running-related technological device. (My husband pointed out that he’s also usually wearing a backwards cap AND sunglasses. Because that makes sense.) I always imagine that maybe he or she is just not that athletic, so when they decided to run the race, they figured all that hardware would give them a leg up. Or maybe they’re a seasoned runner and they hope this will give them an edge. Who knows. The point is, they are more machine than man when they lace up their running shoes. Personally, I like to run with as little on me as possible, but to each their own.

4. The guy who wants everyone to know just how much he drank last night. Hey, hey you guys! This guy got so wasted last night! You guys! Did he tell you how he drank like seven beers! You guys? Honestly, I don’t care if you want to drink before running a marathon. I mean, I think it’s kind of a cruel thing to do to your body. I don’t have any intention of doing that anytime soon. But what do I care if you want to feel like death by mile six? What I don’t want is to hear you brag for the first four miles about what a champ you are. I’m busy, bro.

5. The really serious runner. This guy is sort of similar to number three, but slightly different. He’s wearing the smallest, most aerodynamic pair of shorts and the tightest shirt he could find. His sunglasses were actually designed for running. His shoes cost more than your smart phone. He has at least three flavors of energy gel in his miniscule running fanny pack, and his fluid-intake schedule was designed by a medical professional. Make no mistake; this isn’t his first rodeo. In his defense, he is probably going to smoke you on the course. But considering he isn’t getting paid for this, you can’t help but wonder if he isn’t taking things a smidge too seriously.

Of course, even the quirks you see aren’t overshadowed by the overall atmosphere of awesomeness you feel at races. Everyone is excited, full of endorphins, and super encouraging. I’m incredibly grateful to all the locals and DJs and musicians that came out to support and give us something to distract us from the tight hamstrings, aching feet, and miles of pavement.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some serious sitting to do for the next few days.