Come on down! You know you want to!

Hey guys! Before I forget to mention it, if you've ever wondered what Pippin might look like in pants.....click here. Yup, that's right - Target has swimwear for dogs now! I love Target!!

Today is a very exciting day - registration for the 1st ever Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon has opened! I am so excited! This is the marathon that's been discussed on our local running board for a while now and is going to be kick ass! I love the way they describe it: "We will time and measure the distance, but the course will not be certified, we will not use timing chips, and it will not be a Boston qualifying event. There will be no bands, cheerleaders, wave starts or crowds. We promise no marathon Personal Records, but we guarantee every runner a PR - a Permanent Remembrance of a well-earned marathon finish." I love it! It seems like every big race now is about having some sort of massive, overwhelming experience - this one is all going to be about kick ass running. "From the moment you start "the 11.2", as the locals call it, you know you are in for a treat. A challenging one. As you wind your way through the tree-shaded Park, you endure over 1,100 feet of elevation gain and loss, encountering grades of up to 10-12% at times. Mercifully, you will also pass an occasional long, flat stretch around open fields and densely-forested glades. " Sweet!!! The 11.2 (plus some added on miles) is where Brent and I have been training for the Pig, and it's is so tough but an awesome feeling of accomplishment when you hit the bottom. And on November 19th we get to do the loop TWICE! Here's the elevation map:

Fun! So are you with me?? Brent and I are registering tonight, the field is pretty limited (100 runners!) and all the locals are really excited. Register here! Now!

Tonight we ran an easy 5 miles (right below a 9min pace) as part of our taper. We were supposed to have loads of rain but instead it was bright and sunny, not a cloud in the sky! There were a lot of people out enjoying the sunshine, the park was packed with kids playing ball. For the first 3 miles my stupid right leg was bothering me, my form was crap. I knew it would happen because I wore some really cute new strappy slingback shoes with my cute gaucho pants today (or grouchy pants as Brent calls them) and of course they didn't do good things to my feet. My hammies were really tight so my form was all kinds of crazy. I finally got it together in the last 2 miles so it's all boring flats for me the rest of this week and next week. Other than that it was a pretty vanilla run.

Last night I worked out with a new DVD I bought. I bought 3 DVDs off Ebay almost 3 weeks ago, and just got the first two yesterday. I am SO angry at the seller, and I think I'm through with Ebay for good. I only buy from people with loads of good feedback, but it seems they're all still jerks anyway. I'm not sure what they don't get about buy it NOW. My items weren't even in stock and one of them is still on backorder???!! For $11 shipping I expect some service. I only bought from Ebay vs Amazon to save about $5-6 bucks, if I had known how slow they would be I would've bought from Amazon. ANYWAY, they'll get appropriate feedback from me!

So, I did Crunch: Ab Attack last night. It's OK, I'm a little disappointed. It's only 30 minutes long, and I really like an hour workout. The first part is a standing cardio/ab section that's a little hard to follow. She's pretty dancy and doesn't do the best job explaining. I broke a light sweat but wasn't really out of breath. Then we moved to the floor and did a million types of crunches and some other stuff. None of it was particularly hard and I never had to quit. Then it was over! I think next time I'll do it twice. None of the moves are particularly innovative and I HATED how she danced with all the other class members as the credits rolled. SO CHEESY! Today my abs are definitely NOT sore AT ALL (bummer), but they do feel stronger in some weird way. So, the jury is still out and I'm going to give it a go again soon.

Take care everybody!

Rachel

Exercise-
Mon-1 mile am walk with Pippin, 30 mins Crunch Abs, 20 mins toning (arms)
Tues - 1 mile am walk with Pips, 5 mile run with Brent