DONE!!!!

Holly and I are DONE! We ran the half marathon yesterday morning and finished without stopping. It was hard, one of the most physically demanding things I've ever done in my life for sure. The support of our friends and our families has been unbelievable. I'd like to thank everyone who came to the run to cheer us on and to the brunch after. You guys are honestly the only reason Holly and I were able to finish the race.

To talk about the actual run quickly. We showed up to the race about 45 minutes before it started and it was around 35 degrees and still dark out. We handed in our bags to be taken to the finish line and waited at the start line for over a half hour. Everyone was very cold and excited to get the race started. I will say, the event is run incredible well and these people have everything down to a science. The run started and Holly and I were nervous. At the 2 mile mark I saw my family and got pretty excited and more relaxed. After that there were a lot of hills that we did not know about in central park. We were in the middle of nyc city running up hills that you'd think would be in a mountain range (not exactly but it felt like it at the time). As soon as central park was over, 8 miles, we started heading down 7th Avenue. I got to see my family again as we made our way down and took a right onto 42nd towards the west side highway. That's when we saw Holly's family and friends. After that we made our way down the last 3 miles of the west side highway to the finish. That was the longest part of the race for me. You know your close but not that close and just praying to see the mile signs coming up soon. We "sprinted" the last 100 feet and finished strong.

After the race I could not feel my legs. They were completely exhausted. Holly and I both said that we actually weren't that tired or out of breath at all, our legs were completely shot though. I think my legs would agree that it was by far the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. After the race I went with my amazing family back to my apartment where Holly and I put together a brunch for the family and friends who have supported us through the past 3 months.

Once again I would just like to say thank you everyone. You were all so amazing helping us raise money, letting us complain to you almost every day, and truly helping us believe that we could finish the race. I'm sure I speak for Holly when I say that we thought of each and every one of you while we were running to help us finish. Thank you so much!

We're DONE!!!!!

Last Week, Day 4

Let's Go UConn!!!!!!

Final Week, Day 3

As the half marathon is getting closer, Holly and I have been raising money for our 2 charities. Holly did an amazing job reaching her goal a few weeks ago but I am still doing a final push for my last $200. If you would like to donate to Big Brothers Big Sister of NYC please click on the link below. Because it is the organization I work for, I am lucky enough to see mentoring changing the lives of NYC's youth every day.

http://www.crowdrise.com/bigbrothersbigsister52/fundraiser/LauraTrzasko

Thank you to each and everyone one of you who have been supporting us by reading and following the blog. It means the world to Holly and I that we have such amazing friends and family!

Love you guys!! 5 More Days!!

Final Week! Day 2!

Hello All! So as the week is going on I am finding myself get more and more nervous about Sunday. As you all know we're so excited for it to be over, but it's going to be hard! My 5 mile run yesterday went fairly well with my knees only bothering me a little in the begining. Just to think that I'll be running almost 3 times as far as I did yesterday makes me want to die.

Now, as race day gets closer I am most concerned with an important issue. What am I going to wear? As of now they're saying it's going to be in the high 40s or low 50s, but in the morning that's probably between 38 and 45 degrees. Holly and I are def wearing long spandex because it's the most slimming. I have to wear my BBBS of NYC shirt, but do I wear something under it or over it? I should wear it over everything but what if I get hot? I'll be stuck with whatever I decide to wear. They also say that you're suppose to write your name on your shirt so people can cheer for you. I have no idea what to wear!

I'll take any suggestions...

OMG!!! ONE LAST WEEK!

Holly and I have 7 more days until this half marathon is behind us! I could not be more excited for this thing to be over. This week's key, per the advice of a marathon expert my friend Meredith, is to hydrate as much as possible, eat healthy, and only go for a few short runs. I have a lot of confidence in us finishing the race without stopping but I am worried about how painful that accomplishment is going to be. Holly and I have worked so hard over the last 3 months and are just excited to see the cultivation of what we've done and enjoy the day.

I think our schedule this week will be to run today and wednesday and then take it easy for the most part with a long walk Saturday to get the legs moving. I'm pretty sure this is all I will be thinking about this whole week, so if my boss is still reading the blog, don't expect too much work from me. Just kidding.... (my dad is going to yell at me for saying that)

Keep your fingers crossed for us all week that the race goes well!!

Week 10, Day 5

So guess who woke up at 8am this morning?? I did! That's right, I am well on my way to being ok with waking up at 6:30 for the race next Sunday. I didn't run yesterday because I went to dinner with my BF for our anniversary (we're so cute). It rained all day last night anyway though, so I'm not even sure if Holly made it out to run.

I'm leaving work early today to make my way to the great city of Washington DC. Of course me being the cheap person I am will be taking the bus, but thank god for netflix and UConn playing at 7pm tonight! I am visiting a few people in DC but will be running 10 miles with my best friend who is a marathon runner. A.K.A. one of those people that signs up for a half marathon like 2 weeks before because they're so in shape all the time. When I told her we had to run 10 miles she used the words: great, excited, and fun. I don't think she understands that I will have been dreading this run the minute the 9 mile run was over last Saturday. It should be interesting.

Since I'll be in DC I don't think I'll be getting back to the blog until Sunday night or Monday morning. Although I think I deserve a little credit for posting every day this week!

Have a great weekend!

Week 10, Day 4

I got to spend part of my Wednesday night at my favorite place in the world, Boom Fitness. Because Wednesdays are technically cross train days and my knees have been killing me, I decided to go on the elliptical for a half hour. Its amazing how I used to go to the gym and almost die after being on the elliptical for a half hour and now it doesn't even feel like a workout.

After Boom I went over to Holly's apartment and we started talking logistics for the race. What we are going wear, what we're bringing, where should we tell people to go to try to see us when we're running? It's a lot to think about. So while I tried to plan Holly sat and laughed about how I have serious OCD when it comes to planning things out. It's a lot to think about and not having cell phones with us before, after, or during the race will be the hardest part.

Anyway, I got to sleep probably around 11:30 last night and set my alarm for 8. So obviously I woke up, turned off my alarm and slept until 8:40, even later than I usually wake up. This is going to be way harder than I thought.

Week 10, Day 3

Yesterday was a 5 mile run. It actually went better than I thought it would with the exception of my knees hurting the most they have so far. By the end of the run I could barely bend my legs. Oh well, we are down to only 10 more days of training!

After my run last night my BF and I went on a double date (my fav. thing to do) at Dave and Busters. Now, what people don't know about me is that I spent much of my weekends as a child at a wonderful place called Grand Slam. Grand Slam was like an arcade but then also had mini golf, basketball courts and batting cages. So when I was little my dad played basketball with all his buddies at Grand Slam every weekend and he would bring my brother and I. We would each get between $10-$20 to play games while he balled for 2 hours. We weren't the only family that did this so all of my friends from the neighborhood would be there and we'd run off to the arcade. I was ok at games like skee ball and pop a shot but where I really excelled was the claw. Girls would give me their coins to win them teddy bears, candy, and anything else you could imagine.

So after at least 5 years of going to Grand Slam I have completly mastered the claw. It's almost like it's an extension of my body now. Anyway, I got to show off my skills last night and won a knicks teddy bear for the BF. Pretty exciting stuff!

I got sleep right around 11 and started waking up around 7 this morning but still laid in bed until 8:30. Slowly this will start happening for me.

Week 10, Day 2

So... as expected I did not go to bed until 12 o'clock last night and once again woke up at 8:30. I need some serious recommendations. Granted it didn't help that I went to the Knick game last night and watched them kill the Jazz. It was one of those games where as a girl I almost wanted the Jazz to score a little more because I felt so bad for them. Julia Stiles was at the game last night and if you don't know, it was very exciting for me because Save the Last Dance is my favorite movie ever. Don't judge me because of that. I have different standards for favorite movies, they are the ones I could watch every day without getting sick of it. Easy A is starting to replace Save the Last Dance though.

Anyway, today Holly and I will be running 5 miles outside because it's suppose to be a fairly nice day. I of course made plans for dinner tonight and will probably not be going to bed until late again. I think my new strategy will be to just start waking up early so my body is tired earlier in the night... who knows.

Crunch Time!!

Wow, less than 2 weeks away from the half marathon and Holly and I are officially freaking out. We ran 9 miles on Saturday along the east river and didn't stop once! But after we were done we both could barely walk. Hopefully after recovering yesterday and today we'll be ready for our 5 mile run tomorrow.

I would like to point something out that I've been missing a lot in our blog and I feel like everyone else probably has too. Boom Fitness! Because of the nice weather our visits to Boom have been very limited. I went one time last week and the weather was awful so there wasn't really anyone there to complain about. I miss it. I guess we all knew the time would come when we wouldn't go to Boom as much and we'd have to run outside, I just didn't think it would be this soon. I was thinking more the week before the half marathon. So sad.

Starting today I am going to attempt to go to bed early for the next 2 weeks. My normal schedule is to go to sleep around 12ish and wake up around 8:30. In 2 weeks I need to change my schedule to waking up at 6 and going to sleep by 10. This is never going to happen unless sleeping pills are involved and I refuse to take them. I guess I'll have to try reading a book, counting sheep, or any other stupid methods for falling asleep that don't work.

Week 9, Day 4

Good morning everyone. I have been pretty behind on posts because work has been doing a good job of keeping me busy all day, they have some nerve. But I wanted to update everyone on our progress because I know it helps get all of you through the day. Tuesday Holly and I ran 5 miles, with basically no problem. Sooo gross that I can say that. Yesterday was either a cross-train day or a 3 mile day, hmmm I wonder which one I picked. My friend Emily and I decided yoga would be a good thing to do instead of running. Bad move, I would rather ran 3 miles than do yoga with her for 30 minutes again. It was so hard, I haven't been able to touch my toes in over 5 years and basically every move required that low level of flexibility. So now I'm sore, pissed I didn't run 3 miles yesterday, and dreading running 5 miles at the gym today because the weather decided to be 30 degrees out.

Anyway, I think Holly and I have decided that as long as we run 3 times during the week and the long run on the weekend, we'll be ok. My confidence is a little better after the 8 mile run last weekend, but we'll see. Holly and I will be doing 9 miles on Saturday in hopefully beautiful weather. This weekend's run is a huge deal because after it we only have 2 weeks left of training and only one more long run. I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and it looks AMAZING!

Week 9, Day One

I know I start every week saying this, but can you believe we are nine weeks into our training!? This weekend I had an awesome time visiting my friend Janet in CT for some wonderful wine tasting and I even managed to run 4.5 miles Saturday morning. We went to 5 vineyards and I ended up only bringing back 4 bottles of wine with me, which I feel is an accomplishment. On the train ride home I complained to my friend Emily for at least a half hour about how I was suppose to run 8 miles but didn't feel like it and blah blah blah. Bless her heart for not punching me in the face. Anyway, when we walked off the train into NYC, the weather was almost 50 degrees and sunny, I had to run. After laying on my wonderful couch for 2 hours and spending time with my bf I feel like I haven't seen in a month, I ate a skinny cow and went. Note: Never eat a skinny cow and then go running, worst idea ever. Anyway, I made it all the way down to the Brooklyn Bridge and back without stopping and felt amazing. Yeah my knees felt like they were about to break and I wanted to throw up my skinny cow, but I did it!

So now Holly and I are less than 3 weeks away from the race. We only have 2 more weeks of hardcore training and then the last week is mostly resting and light cardio. I need to start working on going to bed early and waking up early, the complete opposite of what I do now so I'm sure that's going to be interesting considering the race is at 7:30 in the morning and that's an hour earlier than I wake up for work.

Today is a stretch day and then Holly and I will be going for a 5 mile run outside tomorrow. It's getting closer!!

Week 8, Day 4

So Holly and I are making our way through the week with little motivation. I blame it on the long weekend. We skipped our tuesday workout and ran 3 miles yesterday at the gym. Today is 4.5 miles and it's looking less and less likely to happen. Any encouraging words would be awesome. Holly leaves for a ski trip tonight and tomorrow I leave for a wonderful weekend of wine tasting. So while Holly is being active, I'll be wasted and too hungover to workout. We have already declared that we need another motivational meeting Sunday night. We're both waiting until Monday to do our 8 mile run together which will really show where we are physically.

Wish us luck because we are seriously hitting a wall. I also want to apologize for this weak blog post, I've only eaten chocolate today and I'm starting to crash.

Week 8, Day 2

So I'm sure you are all dying to know how Holly and I did on our run together. Holly came and visited me at my parents house in the great state of New Jersey for the weekend so we could run together on Saturday. When the weather man says that it's going to be windy you normally think to yourself, that shouldn't be a big deal, it'll be like 20 MPH winds max. Nope, not saturday, we were running against 60 MPH winds at times during our 7.5 mile run. I took the lead on our run because I knew the area and at one point Holly literally blew past me because of the wind. Long story short we only ran 7 miles but it felt like we ran 20 because of the wind. But we do have an awesome story from the run....

Holly and I were running down a back road and we saw that a car had driven right into a telephone poll head on, probably from the wind. We stopped to make sure the girl in the car was ok but a few people were already with her so we kept running. On the way back there we police men blocking off the road in both directions because the telephone poll looked like it might fall. The policeman told us that we couldn't run past the accident and had to turn around and go around (at least 5 additional miles back to my house). Our faces looked so defeated. We had both reached a point where we wanted to just stop and go home from all the running and the wind. I think the man saw the desperation in our faces and offered to drive us to the other side of the accident. Thank God! Then the best thought ever passed both our minds at the exact same time, we are about ride in the back of a police car for the first time!!! After all the excitement of the 100 yard ride we got out and ran the mile and a half back to my house.

So even though the run was awful and I think we're feeling a little less motivated right now because it seriously took a lot out of us, we do have an awesome story to tell.

Week 7, Day 3

Since I've been a slacker the past 2 days, I'm feeling pretty rested! It's almost nice to walk up stairs without feeling like someone is stabbing me in my knees. But today is a very exciting day, Holly and I will be running outside together for the FIRST time. Can you believe we haven't actually ran together yet?? Now this starts to make me a little nervous. What if she runs a lot faster than me? What if I need to stop and she doesn't? Should we listen to music or talk the whole time? Soooo much to think about. On the bright side, I'm so distracted by being nervous I'm forgetting that we're running 4.5 miles.

For those of you not in the tristate area, the temperature is suppose to reach 60 at some point today, so I'm sure there will be a ton of runners out. Which brings me to another point, whose going to set the pace? The slowest person (me)? The fastest person (Holly)? This run will set the tone for runs to come and the half marathon. Theres a lot of pressure for this to work out. I feel like I'm going on a date.

Anyway, wish me luck. Hopefully she'll be gentle the first time and let me take the lead. My hands are getting sweaty already!

Week 7, Day 2

I can't believe we're 7 weeks into this training. I'm not going to lie, I'm truly shocked we made it this far. We have 33 days until the half marathon and after this weekend I have a feeling those days are going to start flying by.

Like I told you in the last post, I ran on Monday because I was doing something after work yesterday, drinking. I went to happy hour with a friend and can I please tell you how awesome it felt to leave work and not go to the gym. It was AMAZING! I didn't even feel that guilty because I had ran the day before. I'm sure most of you are making fun of us because we're freaking out over running 13.1 miles and it's not even a full marathon, but that's really far. We have been training almost every day for the last 7 weeks and when I took yesterday off, I saw the light. And let me tell you, the light at the end of the tunnel looks really good. It's a world of working out 3 days a week, running 2-3 miles and being able to have a fulfilling social life. I can't wait!!

But for now I'll dream at work of having a life filled with happy hours, workout free days, and not thinking about running a half marathon. I will once again be missing our workout today for a work meeting so I'm being a huge slacker this week. The run tomorrow should be interesting but at least it'll be outside is 54 degree weather!

Happy Day After Valentine's Day!!!

Now, as most of you were either celebrating Valentine's Day or hating it in a dark room eating everything you saw, I was looking forward to today. The day after Valentine's Day is one of the best holidays there is. It comes in at a close second to the day after Halloween. This day, this magical day, is when you can walk into any drug store in the great country of America and all of the candy from Valentine's Day is at least 50% off! They are practically giving it away, shelves and shelves of candy.

I'd like to invite people to share the amazing candy deals they see or indulge in on our blog. I know no one will but as anyone who knows me can tell you, I love a good deal, even if I'm just hearing about it. So pleeease do it!

To talk about our training really quickly, because I have things tonight and tomorrow night I did my 4.5 mile run yesterday. That also may have had something to do with me asking my BF for a cake for Valentine's Day and knowing I was going to gain 5 pounds in one night. Holly will be doing her run today and will hopefully do a post tomorrow.

Happy Day After Valentine's Day Everyone!!!!

Week 6, Day 2

I can't believe we are 6 weeks in and have less than 6 weeks to go in our training. I think I can speak for Holly when I say we are a mixture of nervous and excited for the half marathon at this point. I'm not going to lie, this weather is killing us. The treadmill is getting pretty old and there are only so many episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond a person can watch while running until they break down. We just want to get outside! Thank god it's 15 degrees right now, thanks mother nature. While I'm running few thoughts run through my head, but they all seem to be the same:

- How much longer?
- Why am I doing this?
- If I stop running and get thrown off the treadmill can I quit?
- How much does it hurt to break your ankle because I don't think that can heal in time for the race?
- How many times does Ray have to be a horrible husband to Debra before she leaves him?
- This sucks

So as you can see my PMA (positive mental attitude) is really flowing while I'm running. I hope everyone is praying for an early spring and for us to make it through training!

6 Miles Done!

Sunday marked a momentous occasion. Holly and I ran 6 miles! I haven't run that far in almost 10 years, that's just sad. For those of you who don't live in the NYC, yesterday and today have been right around 40 degrees and after the winter we've been having it feels like it's 60 degrees outside. So Sunday was the perfect day for a long run while the snow that has been ruining every ones lives melted. The down side to melting snow is not just that it looks ugly but that it creates HUGE puddles on flat surfaces like a running path. I felt like I was in a video game running along the path trying to avoid puddles, except instead of loosing a life when I stepped in a puddle, my shoes and socks got soaked. It's the worst feeling ever.

The bad thing is, when I get excited that I just ran 6 miles its not because I just did something that I wasn't able to do a month ago or that we're one step closer to getting ready for the half marathon, it's that now I have just over 600 more calories I can eat today b/c I just burned them. And considering yesterday was the super bowl, 600 extra calories to eat was very easy to find. So I stuffed my face like everyone else at a super bowl party but for the first time I had no guilt about doing it. This is the first positive thing to come out of training! I'm sure at some point there will be a lot more positives, but I'll take what I can get.

Today is a lift and stretch day, so there shouldn't be too much complaining tomorrow.

Week 5, Day 4

I'd like to start this post off by saying that I'm no prude. I've been changing in locker rooms with girls since 7th grade, which is why I know what happened in Boom Fitness last night was not ok. For a little background, normally when I'm done working out I like to leave as soon as possible to go home and die on my couch. I keep my stuff in the front of the locker room (in an unlocked locker which Holly thinks is horrible) because I change at work so I can spend the least amount of time at Boom. So I basically throw my stuff in the locker and go.

After my 4 miler yesterday I was exhausted and just wanted to go home. When I walked in the locker room after my run I turned the corner and there was a naked women right in front of my locker. I have no problem with people changing in the locker room, obviously, that's what it's there for. But I feel like there is an understanding among women that I don't want to see what you have under your towel and you most likely don't want to see what I have. The locker room is full of women of all sizes and shapes so everyone tends to go about their business and then leave. It's not like how guys picture a locker room with hot skinny women walking around naked doing each others hair talking about boys and making out with each other.

It's also an understanding that if you're going to get naked in the locker room, you at least change in an aisle instead of the entrance. But this annoying lady proceeded to change very slowly and positioned herself in a way that I couldn't get to my locker. So I had to ask her to move because apparently being naked makes her very distracted and she didn't see me standing there. After about 30 seconds of pure awkwardness I quickly put on my coat even though my body was 300 degrees from running and got out of there.

This is what Holly and I have to deal with while we're training for the longest run of our lives!!