Why Did I Stop?

So, it has been awhile. A good long while. Almost a year or so?

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I bet you're wondering (if any readers are still out there) where I have been? 

Or why I stopped blogging and interacting with the running community here in the blogosphere?

Those are valid questions, my friends. 

The long answer is this: I got engaged at Disney in February of last year and have been devoting a lot of time to wedding planning. I also got accepted into graduate school and so most of my free time is spent reading and doing homework assignments. I also was promoted at work to a position where I work a lot of crazy hours. On top of that, I was in a car accident in November and then ended up having emergency gallbladder surgery right before the holidays in December. 

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The short answer to your questions: I stopped running. After the Disney Princess Half, I did a few 5k fun runs, but I didn't have anything serious lined up and so I stopped running. Looking back on it, it makes me sad because running made me so happy. I don't know why I stopped, but I did and it stinks. 

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I want to get back into running, but I know it is going to be tough - almost like starting over from the beginning again. My body is still in the recovery/healing stages from my surgery. The doctor said I can only do some light jogging and weight lifting for now. Maybe in a few weeks I will be able to do more, but I have to go slow. I don't generally like to share this fact about myself, but I can be a rather impatient person (shocker, I know) and going slow is going to be incredibly difficult for me. I expect major results right away and get discouraged when they don't happen.

Does anyone have any advice for a "re-beginner" runner?

What are some exercises or routines you did after a major injury/recovery period?

A Rant and Getting to Know Your Cupcake

Well, it has most definitely been a hectic week. And it's only Wednesday. OY!

I've been kind of down lately because I got on the scale today and I've gained back 15 pounds. UGH! I'm so angry with myself I could spit! Maybe some of it is because I'm suffering a visit from a not-so friendly friend (ladies, you get my drift). Maybe it's because I just haven't been able to find the time to get my lazy butt to the gym. I've been working so many hours that all I do when I get home is try to unwind a bit and then catch some sleep. On the up side, seeing those numbers on the scale has definitely re-motivated me to get up and get back to the gym more often. I refuse to back track all of the hard work I did last year!! So, tomorrow, I am getting myself up early and going for a run BEFORE work. I'm not a morning person, but it's got to be done.  End rant- now to the fun stuff.

Recently, I was tagged in not one, but TWO different blogs for the 11 Random Things post. So, I'm going to apologize in advance for the super long post - prepare to learn WAY too much about me!

Rules of the Post:

1. Post these rules.
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
3. Answer the questions set for you in the post you were tagged in.
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
5. Go to their blog, FB page, or wherever you can grab their attention and inform them of their obligation to the blogosphere.

11 Random Things About Cupcake:

1. I LOVE baking cupcakes (hence the nickname). Seriously, I delight in coming up with various and sometimes random recipes for people. Apparently my cupcakes are pretty good too because I even got asked to bake them for a wedding in May (Sweet!!) My favorite cupcake to make is my pumpkin spice caramel- sooo yummy and SOOO under 300 calories (as most of my cupcakes are).

2. I am addicted to Bath and Body Works. It probably doesn't help that I work there part-time. But I legit cannot help myself from buying up all of their products! The lotions, the shower creams,soaps, wallflowers, candles... everything!

3. I truly enjoy dancing but have absolutely NO rhythm or dance skills whatsoever. Except when it comes to swing dancing. I took 2 years of swing dance lessons in college and can totally jitterbug with the best of them.

4. My favorite late night snack is a large bowl of mixed fruit (grapes, apples, bananas, berries) topped off with greek yogurt and a handful of gluten free granola and some almonds. YUMM!!

5. I went to an all-women's college and I have never regretted my choice. I loved my school because it was academically challenging and set up in such a way that it helped mold me into the empowered and intelligent woman I am today. It taught me leadership, responsibility, the true value of sisterhood and SO much more.

6. My bedroom is currently painted to look like an ocean. I'm a Pisces- I love water, enough said. One whole wall in my room is a mural (painted by one of my mother's friends) and has dolphins, fish, a beach, a ship, etc all done on it. The opposite wall has the moon and some stars.

7. I love pirates. Not just the Johnny Depp looking ones either, but all kinds of pirates. y family encourages my obsession by gifting me with pirate themed objects. My favorite gift is rolling luggage in the shape of a pirate treasure chest.

8. When I was a young kid (around 9 or 10) I was part of a children's chorus group that was invited to make a cd with Jose Feliciano (the original singer of Feliz Navidad). I went to his house in CT and sang in a sound studio and met his family and everything!

9. I have a candle addiction. At any given time, I have about $250 worth of candles in my bedroom. Totally came in handy during the freak October storm where I was without power for a week.

10. I enjoy painting my nails. It's something I tend to do on my "Me" nights. It makes me feel all girly and pretty. I've gotten much better at doing my own nails also. I don't make nearly as big of a mess as I used to.

11. I have my bartending license. Yup. One of the things I did after I graduated college was get my bartending license. You never know when you may need a second job to help bring in some extra cash. Plus, I love mixing drinks more than I love actually drinking them.


11 Questions I have to Answer:


Questions from Becoming An Ironman

1. What did you want to be when you were growing up?  What do you want to be now that you have grown up?         I remember being in sixth grade and having to write down what I wanted to be when i grew up. We then had to hand in our answers and go around the room trying to guess who answered which job. I wrote that I wanted to be a comedian. I love making people laugh! Now that I am grown up, I still want to be a performer, just not necessarily a stand-up comedian.
2. If you came into a large fortune all of a sudden and were set for life, what is the first thing you would do?     I would pay off all my parents bills and make sure they were financially secure. Then, I would pay off most of my debts, donate a large portion of money to various charities and then put some into my savings. Sensible, right?
3. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?    If we are going original- vanilla. If you mean "out of the box" flavors- peanut brittle.
4. Of all the places you've been - vacation, work, or any other reason - which was your favorite and why?    I LOVED Italy. Probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my entire life. The way that the past and present is so intermingled in all of the cities is truly astonishing and absolutely breathtaking.
5. What is your favorite time of day to exercise?   Mondays. I feel it usually helps me get my week off to a good start.
6. Everyone has an innate fear.  What are you naturally afraid of?  I am truly afraid of disappointing people. Random, but it's true. I can't stand having people being disappointed or upset with me- it eats away at my heart.
7. Which holiday is your favorite?, and why?   Probably Halloween. Not because of the candy- but because I get to dress up and act silly.
8. It's Friday night and you have the whole weekend ahead of you, what do you do?   I would probably be out performing in a show or watching a live show somewhere.
9. What was the very last meal you ate?   Fish, brussel sprouts and some mashed potatoes.
10. What is your big race this year?, and what is your goal for that race?  My big race is another half marathon- The DIVA half (hopefully). And my goal is 3 hours.
11. What is the toughest aspect of training for you?  How do you overcome it?  My toughest aspect is finding the time and maintaining the motivation to keep running. I'm still working on overcoming it. I feel if I start to set smaller goals for myself I might be more willing to continue.

Questions from BabyWilt

1. When and why did you start to run and if you don't run, why did you start to exercise? I started running in the fall of 2010 because I wanted to cross "finish a race" off my bucket list.
2. Where was you last vacation?  My last "vacation" was to North Carolina for my 5 year college reunion.
3. What phrase or word do you tend to overuse? I say "you're welcome" and "I'm sorry" a lot. (The first one I got from Chelsea)
4. How many hours of sleep do you average a night? I try to get at least 6.
5. How many siblings do you have? Two. One brother, one sister.
6. What is you favourite food and why?  My favorite food is sushi. I love seafood!!
7. What do you like to do most in your "me time"?  I tend to put on either a movie or some music and chill out while I give myself a manicure.
8. Have you ever done something you thought (or were told) you could never do? Yes. I finished a half marathon.
9. What is your favourite post exercise meal or snack?  I love peanut butter and bananas after a run.
10. What is your favourite time of the day?  My favorite time of the day is about 11:30am. At least, that's my favorite time to go work out.
11. I work at home at my computer so check blogs/emails/twitter/facebook regularly; How do YOU organise the social media in your life?   I have an iPhone that helps me keep in touch with social media. However, I have been slacking on a lot of my social media outlets simply because I just don't have the time to respond/post/etc. 

People I am Tagging:

Wells L @My Story... Chapter 2
Amy @Pumpkin to Princess
Suz and Allen @Cows and Lasers and Everything in Between
Carly @Chubby Chicks Run Too

Questions They Must Answer:

1. What is your all-time favorite season and why?
2. If you could run a race anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
3. What is your fondest memory?
4. What is something that you have done in your life that makes you proud?
5. What is something that you are terrifies of?
6. If you were stranded on an island and could only have three things with you, besides a form of travel and food, what would your three things be?
7. What is your favorite animal and why?
8. Have you ever wished upon a star? If so, did it come true?
9. What is the most current book you have read?
10. What is your favorite piece of running gear? Why?
11. How much wood could a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

A Hurt Ankle, Eggplant and an Award

So much has been going on lately, I feel like an awful blogger. 

I haven't had a chance to update as much as I would like.

Bah!

Anyway, as you may or may not know, I recently started rehearsals for a new show. Yay! However, in this show, we have to tap dance. Boo! I have never tap danced before and so didn't have any tap shoes. One of my cast mates lent me a pair to use for rehearsal the other night (since mine were still being shipped to my house). It was very sweet of her, only problem was they were a bit too small. Needless to say, dancing in them for a few hours was not the smartest idea and I somehow managed to hurt my ankle. I woke up the next day and could barely walk on my right foot. It was even worse trying to go up and down the stairs. I iced it, put heat on it, wrapped it and elevated it. I also did some band exercises to strengthen the muscles a bit. It took 3 days but it's finally feeling a bit better. The only trouble I have is going down the stairs still. I'm just frustrated because I was all intent on doing my 10 mile run yesterday and it didn't happen. Luckily, I have most of my week days free this week so I can get in a ton of runs. YAY! Silver lining wins again.

Another fun thing I did was make a new eggplant recipe with my mom last night. It's a sort of stuffed eggplant parm. My mom got the recipe from WeightWatchers and we decided to try it out.

Voila!

Doesn't it look so yummy?!

It is supposed to be a sauceless meal (for those of us who can't eat tomatoes) but both my parents put sauce on theirs anyway and said it tasted just fine. If you want the recipe, feel free to email me for it. I'd be happy to share! (my email can be found in the sidebar of my blog page  <-----)

And now, I've been nominated by Meg O @Watch Me Go Run for the Butterfly Blogger Award !

So now I get to answer some more questions and you can get to know me a little bit better :)

1. Favorite Color: As if most of you don't know already, my favorite color is PINK!! I used to actually hate the color but it grew on me and now I can't get enough. Currently I am sporting neon pink painted toes, pink glittery fingernails, a pink watch, 2 pink bracelets, a pink purse and pink sunglasses.

2. Favorite Song: That's a tough one, I have a bunch of favorite songs. But, to narrow it down, I'd have to go with Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. Every time I hear it, I can't help but sing a long! And I ALWAYS do the Wayne's World head bang with it! However, I will admit, Bohemian Rhapsody is not a good karaoke choice.

3. Favorite Dessert: Hmmm. I'm not generally into sweets but I do love key lime pie. Even better? Key Lime Pie ice cream. YUMMM.

4. What Wizzes You Off? Wizzes me off? Not sure what that means, but I guess it is asking what makes me angry. People who treat other people unfairly and people who mess with my friends and family. Those are my biggest pet peeves.

5.When You're Upset You: Usually listen to angry music and sing at the top of my lungs. It helps me release the tension. If that doesn't help, I usually will go to the gym.

6. You're Favorite Pet: Dogs are my all-time favorite pets. Especially my adorable dog Princess. She is a 13 year old, black and white shih-tzu. She is not a fan of the camera though so I don't have any photos.

7. Black or White: Like MJ once said, "It don't matter if you're black or white..."

8. Biggest Fear: Being a disappointment to my friends and family.

9. Everyday Attitude: Usually I'm pretty cheery and silly. Which is SO much better than the Negative Nancy I used to be.

10. What is Perfection? I think that perfection is contentment- and it's different for eveyone. When you can just sit back and be happy/content with yourself and everything that you are doing, that is when you have found your own perfection.

11. Guilty Pleasure: I love shopping. I'm quite a shop-a-holic. I especially buy tons of body care items (lotions, shower stuff, shampoo, make up), nail polish, scarves, purses, etc etc. I have a bad habit of sometimes spending money I definitely do not have. Oy.

Ok, so there you go!. Now, I get to tag some people:

Vanessa @ Gourmet Runner

Kristin @ Hollywood Runs
Fruit Fly @ Little Fruit Fly in Rainbow Colored Socks

Amy @ Pumpkin to Princess

Kurt @ Becoming an Ironman

Give Away Winner and Amazing Blogger Award

Kristin @ Running to Somewhere kindly bestowed the Amazing Blogger Award onto me the other day! I figured I would combine this post with my give away winner post (this way you have to read it hahahaha)

[Favorite Cartoon Character]

 This is a tough one as I have a couple, but my ALL-TIME favorite cartoon character is 

Stitch from Lilo and Stitch. 

He's just so flippin' cute!!

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[Favorite Thing to Photograph]

 I LOVE to photograph nature. I tend to go on random hikes, simply because I feel like taking photos.

Here are a few faves:

[Favorite Thing to Cook]

I'm actually MUCH better at baking than I am cooking. However, I do make a pretty darn good pot roast.

But really, my cupcakes are the bomb!

Pumpkin Spice with Caramel Drizzle (and they are low-cal too!)

 

[Favorite Way to Exercise]

I actually really do like running. 

But I also enjoy dancing as well. 

 That's yours truly front and center... this was during my last show "Chicago"

 

[Favorite Movie]

That's another tough one. I have SO many favorites.

Rundown

The Mummy and Mummy Returns

TransAmerica

First Wives Club

Frailty

13 Ghosts

Rocky Horror Picture Show

Some Like It Hot

Calamity Jane 

Noises Off!

Just to name a few.... haha

[Favorite Clothing]

My favorite clothing is probably jeans/shorts and a t-shirt. 

Whenever I'm home and want to relax, that's what I throw on to wear. 

(That's what I'm in now anyway lol)

[Favorite Flower]

My favorite flower is the lily.

While I do love all the various types of lillies (most especially those that you find in ponds, etc) 

bright, colorful lillies are my fave!

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[Favorite Breakfast]

Hmmm. I don't have a standard breakfast, it really depends on what I'm craving when I wake up.

Sometimes it's fresh fruit with Chobani (and a handful of peanuts) or sometimes it's an egg white omelette with spinach. Those would probably be my two favorites.

[Favorite Book]

This is impossible to answer as I love to read and almost anything catches my fancy. Crime drama, paranormal stories, fantasy, humor, sports, fitness, etc etc. Love it all!

[Favorite Place to Be]

Originally, when I read this question, I thought I might answer Italy because when I visited Italy it was probably the best trip of my life! However, after thinking it over, I have to say my favorite place to be is on stage performing. I went to school for music and theatre, and it is my passion. (I'd like to make a career from it actually). So here I am in a couple of different shows:

 Chicago

The Wildest (I'm in the green FYI)

Putting my makeup on for Pippin

Those are just a few examples- I've done many other shows :)

[Favorite Sporting Event]

I don't currently watch sports. But when I was younger I was really big into the WWE (ok, ok. I know it's not really "sport" so much as "sports entertainment" but whatever.)

Ok, so now I get to tag some people as AWESOME BLOGGERS!!

Amy @ Pumpkin to Princess
Wells L @ My Story...Chapter 2
RR @ Little Fruit Fly In Rainbow Colored Socks

Hooray!

And now, the moment you have ALL been waiting for-

The Winner of my 100th Post Amazingly Awesomely Fantastic 

Give Away is (as chosen by random.com):

Congrats Lauren!!!

Shoot me an email with your information (name, address) at biggergirlsrun2 (at) hotmail (dot) com and I will get your goodies out ASAP! 

Thanks again to everyone who participated in the give away! And a SUPER HUGE thank you for following my crazy self here on my blog.  

Y'all are the BEST!

Hitting A Wall

I'm excited! I had such a great run today! My friend Chris and I met up before we were to go see a show and decided to run. He lives across the street from a beautiful park called Walnut Hill Park. Absolutely gorgeous (and it is the same park where my May 5k is going to be held.)- it has a perfect 1 mile loop which means we could run and not have to worry about keeping track of mile markers. 


We ended up actually running about 2.5 miles in total, which is fantastic in my opinion, especially considering that both of us are novice runners. As we were starting our third mile I got a major cramp in my right thigh muscle. Well, more like my thigh/groin area. The same place that hurt when I ran to the library the other day. I ended up having to stop and do some stretches to work it out, but I was able to keep running. Yay fortitude! 


Anyway, I was going to wait to post my blog until tomorrow, but I saw an article on Active.com that caught my interest and I wanted to discuss it here. It was written by Jeff Galloway, "a 1972 Olympian who ran the 10,000 meters and was an alternate on the marathon team. He is the author of more than a dozen books on running, including Galloway's Book on Running". (Pretty impressive stuff, eh?) He wrote an article about how sometimes during races, or even training, you can "hit a wall" where your body loses energy and just cannot go any further. Galloway says that in order to prevent this from happening you should 1. reserve your energy while running by using a run-walk-run method and 2. while training, make your long runs longer than the race you are training for.


Let's tackle the first point: For myself, I use a run-walk-run method solely because I am a beginning runner and haven't yet worked up to being able to run more than 2 miles before my body needs a break. However, there are tons of people out there who can straight-run a marathon or half-marathon, etc. (And isn't that kind of the point anyway?) Galloway says that "Marathoners, for example, run an average of 13 minutes faster, in surveys, when they shift from running continuously to using the run-walk-run ™ method..." mainly because they start reserving their energy early on in the race. The earlier one stops to walk during a run, the better they will be able to perform because they are, essentially, stabilizing their energy levels and maintaing a consistent energy level throughout their entire run. This is as opposed to starting out fast and strong, exerting mounds of energy and then having none left for the later miles. 


Now, on to the second point: Most training schedules that I have seen have you run under the total miles you need to for whichever race you are training for, i.e. training for a full marathon and the longest run you have is 20 miles before tapering. I was told that the training is set up this way so that your body gets close to the mileage it has to run, but then you leave it wanting more. The tapering helps your body wind down so you are rested for the big day, but that the excitement of Race Day will help push you through those remaining miles. However, Galloway thinks that running over the amount of miles that you are training for, i.e. running 29 miles on a long run before starting to taper, is better for your body. I'm assuming it solely helps the body adjust to the distance it needs to endure before Race Day actually hits. 

Questions for Today:

1. What is your best 5k time?
Today's practice 5k which was 41 minutes (6 mins less than in December).


2. What do you think of Jeff Galloway's ideas on avoiding "hitting a wall"? (Most specifically, his longer long run theory?)