TV Crazy!

So you guys know I watch a lot of TV, right? I'm watching Private Practice as I type this right now, hahahahah.

The shows I currently watch are: Gossip Girl, How I Met Your Mother, LOST, Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, Desperate Housewives, 90210, The Office, Biggest Loser, Bones... and I'm catching up on House but I'm not current yet. With all this TV, you KNOW I need Direct TV.



Right now, this DirectTV site is offering all sorts of good packages, with free HBO, Showtime, and Star. Plus they have over 130 channels on DirecTV HD as well! And if you order DIRECTV today, you can receive a FREE HD DVR Receiver upgrade! SWEET.

I think these are some great deals, and I'd love to have a nice, new TV package soon.

Healthy Living Holly: Starting Over

My new blog is ready! It's nothing too fancy yet, but it's got the basics. The first post is a somewhat modified version of my post from a few days ago, because it sets the scene for the blog.

So, without further ado, I present... Healthy Living Holly: Starting Over.

It may be a little bumpy/spotty until my after my actual move (Oct 31st), but I promise to get back to regular posting after that!

GloBars!

I got up early this morning, excited for the release of Angela's GloBars making it to the US! Woooo! But everyone send a ton of love to poor Angela, her webhost keeps overloading, and no one can order. I know she's just scrambling over there. I hope the internet fairies save her soon. And that I can checkout with my sampler pack! Hehehehe.

I started work on my new blog last night. I'm making it over at Wordpress because that way if I want to take it even bigger and better, it will be easier to do that. Plus there are sooooo many options! It's overwhelming.

On the running front... um... there hasn't been any. The plan was 3 easy last night, but I put on my shoes and they hurt my right foot. So I didn't push it. This morning I was going to try again, after completing my GloBar order but A) It was really dark out and B) The order's not done yet! Tonight I am meeting a friend who is going to help me with the (gulp) divorce papers so I don't know that I'll get a run in, again. Tomorrow I'm working in Fairfield and I have to start driving before the sun is up! But I am checking out a gym in Fairfield after work, so I will at least get SOME workout in. And then Saturday morning it's long run time again. Why do I keep jumping from long run to long run???

I think this means I really need to knock out some easy miles tonight after meeting with my friend. As long as it's not dark, I will! I promise!

EDIT: at 7:35 am, it finally worked! Never thought I'd spend an hour and a half ordering bars! Hahahahaha. They will be worth it though!

Half marathon # 3 // Big announcement

First off, look who got her 3rd half marathon medal cowbell:



Official time: 2:17:59.

That is about 30 seconds slower than my first half marathon, and about 2 and a half minutes faster than my second. Not my best, not my worst. But I'm actually ok with that for two reasons: 1) This is part of my full marathon training, in which I am not concerned with speed, and 2) my training was SO impacted by my crazy life events that crossing the finish line, wait... even getting to the STARTING LINE, was a pretty good accomplishment.

And I'm finally ready to share publicly what has been going on with me. I hope you will forgive my sporadic blogging and terrible content as of late, and not hold it against me as a blogger. But.... it is a very sad thing for me to announce: I am getting a divorce.

This has been really hard for me to wrap my head around. We've been together for 7 years, and I really did sign on for forever. But it got to the point that the ONLY reason I was still here was BECAUSE I signed on for forever. Was being stubborn worth being miserable? And in the end, no, it's not.

With this separation comes HUGE changes. I will be moving away from Santa Rosa, where I have lived for over 6 years. On Oct 31st, I will move in half time with my friend Brooke, her husband, and animals (in Vacaville, CA) and half time with my mom so that I don't wear out my welcome (in Lincoln, CA). Jasmine (my wonderful cat) will live at my mom's house and I will smother her with love half time. After 3-6 months, once I have recovered financially, I will begin the hunt for a place for myself and Jasmine to call our own.

My move to Vacaville brings many amazing opportunities in my professional life, and I am excited to move towards my dream. I will be taking on more nursing home contracts, enough to be considered FULL TIME in my career! With medical benefits and everything! This wouldn't have been possible without this move. Which never would have come about if not for the divorce. It was as if the Universe is telling me this is the right move. I'm a full time Registered Dietitian. Wow.

But returning to this blog, I'm realizing that it's not going to be the perfect fit for me. Because my life is going to be about much more than running in the future. Cuz let me let you in on something:

I lost 80 pounds some time ago. It was because of that that I became a dietitian. But ALL of my healthy living, ALL OF IT, was done with a husband in the picture (a positive thing in the beginning, a negative thing the last two years).

I've never tried healthy living alone.

That's a big thing! And in anticipation of turning my life upside down, to moving and having a career and living like a vagabond for several months, I will really need to work hard to grasp that healthy living by the horns and make it mine.

So, on that note, I am going to start a much bigger, better, Healthy Living Blog. One that is not only running, but food/eating, cooking for one (in someone else's kitchen!), other exercising, and starting a NEW LIFE. Healthy Living Holly - Starting Over.

It may not launch before I move, because god only knows how good of a blogger I will be in the midst of boxes and unplugged computers. But I hope it will be even more entertaining that this one when it does.

Thanks for your support, Holly on the Run readers. I promise I'll be back, bigger and better, before you know it!

Choose my race outfit!

I am sorry I've been MIA for so long. When I tell you why, I'm sure you'll understand and forgive me. But I'm not ready to get into it all just yet.

Just know that it involves HUGE life changes, a big move, and might possibly result in a new blog for my new life.

Meanwhile, this is not even my excuse, but my trusty laptop, the one with the Garmin program, bit the dust. It has not been replaced, so all of my runs are still just chillin' on the watch, waiting to be uploaded. But last weekend, I ran 12.0 miles with my 9/1 pattern and it felt pretty good. Miles 9 and 10 were pretty rough (and hot, and not in the shade) but I finished it strong. I think I'm ready for my half marathon, which is SUNDAY. At least, I hope I'm ready.

But since I've done all I can for training at this point, and I"m staying hydrated and eating carbs, it's time to focus on more important matters: WHAT SHOULD I WEAR?

I have two awesome race shirts:



I wore the purple one for my first half, and the pink one for my second half. Please comment and vote for which one comes back for half #3!

I promise I'll come back next week sometime and let you know how the half went. :)

Double digits again!

I got myself a little present for accomplishing triathlon #3, the fuel belt I have been coveting:



I tested it out today on my 10 mile run. Here I am afterwards:


Ultimately, it's a winner. I really love all the compartment space and the big pack in the pack. I love having two bottles (I'd finished them both by mile 9, argh!) But, as they all do, it tends to ride up cuz I have really wide hips. Which isn't a problem, I just cinch it around the narrower part of my waist. But it is trickier with this pack cuz the bottles creep up on the sides and sometimes my arms hit them. I'll keep messing with it to find the perfect fit, but even if it stays how it was today, I am very happy with it and glad I have it for the rest of my marathon training. I would also totally take it hiking, it'd be much nicer than a pack on my back!

Anyways, on to the run. We met out at Dry Creek Road in Healdsburg and ran by the vineyards. This is the view for most of the way:


It's mostly sunny, but it wasn't too hot until the end. We started at 7:30ish, next time we'll go at 7! The route has some rolling hills, nothing crazy, but it's most definitely not flat:



I brought back the 9/1 pattern and it went pretty well. My friend Alisha was with me and she's much faster than me. She also wanted to do more mileage so I kept encouraging her to go ahead. Sometimes she'd circle back for me. There are 3 intervals you can tell I was running with her, ha:



But also, those splits are good all around (except for that 12, oops! Can I blame a hill? It's at mile 7...yes! Hill!) My average pace was 11:21, which was better than the 11:32 average I held on my last 10 miler (which was flat). And I accidentally turned around late, so I did an extra .5 mile. Sweet.

I am feeling good about running this evening! Woohoo!

Where Am I?

I am dealing with some personal life crisis stuff, which is why I've been MIA.

I did complete my third triathlon last Sunday, and I was waiting for some awesome photos from it before doing a whole race report. Waiting for other people's photos is annoying! So, the quick/short of it, THE RESULTS:



That's in my age group. I don't know why I didn't show that there were 19 in the age group, silly me.

What I would like you to notice are the red circled items:

1. FIRST PLACE IN THE SWIM IN MY AGE GROUP. ahem. That is a very good time for a 1/2 mile swim. :)

2. 5th in the run in my age group! Wut? My run was not feeling so hot! My PR is 27:24, and I was hoping for 30:00 but... yeah. I was hot, it was a trail/hilly, and I was tired.

But, my downfalls were: a slow T1, and my biking skills are just not as strong as I'd like them to be. A 15th place bike and the fact that this particular race is VERY bike-weighted meant I dropped down to #12 despite the #1 and #5 in the other categories.

Basically what happened was: I went out WAY too fast on the swim, paid for it on the bike, and ran out of steam on the run. At least, that's what I felt like. But I still CRUSHED my triathlon performance from last year and I have nothing to feel bad about. I did a great job and I've come so far. But I do know I have a LOT more in me. BRING IT.

Pictures later.

Exercise this week was pretty much non-existent. See above: personal crisis. I jogged around with my Girls on the Run team a little bit, but that's it.

Sunday I am doing a 10 mile run, gotta get back on track for running now that my triathlon season is over. I've got a half marathon in 2 1/2 weeks and a marathon in 2 1/2 months. Personal stuff be damned, I'll be getting in my long runs if it kills me.

I'll be back to my old cheery self soon, promise. Till then, wish me luck for 10 miles, k?